Custer 1861-1865: The Custer America Forgot

Copyright © 2012 by Paul D. Walker

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ISBN: 978-1-4759-3999-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-4000-8 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-4001-5 (dj)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012913536

iUniverse rev. date: 9/5/2012

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1 The Early Years

Chapter 2 The War Begins

Chapter 3 The Seven Days Battle

Chapter 4 Antietam

Chapter 5 Brandy Station

Chapter 6 The Battle of Gettysburg

Chapter 7 Custer’s Finest Hour

Chapter 8 The Abelest Man In The Corps

Chapter 9 Custer’s Original Last Stand

Chapter 10 Shenandoah Valley Campaign

Chapter 11 Appomattox

Epilogue

Post Script

Custer Bibliography

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to express his deep personal gratitude to those who have contributed to this book, particularly to my wife Virgilia who provided much advice on organizing and contents of the various chapters, and my thanks also to Jerry McClure, commander United States Navy retired, for his professional and detailed editing of the book. To both I extend my warmest and most sincere appreciation. Finally, I want to recognize the influence of Stephen E. Ambrose who inspired me to write this book, which completes the record on THE CUSTER AMERICA FORGOT.

Introduction

George Armstrong Custer stands as the classic example of a fallen American hero. During his lifetime, he was revered by a grateful nation, as the youngest, bravest, most colorful and most successful general of the Civil War. Then almost immediately after his death at the Little Bighorn, he was reviled as an incompetent, immature butcher who had recklessly led his regiment into a needless slaughter in the search for glory.

Despite this rough handling of his memory, he is still one of the best-known military leaders in American history, but his fame is for the disaster at the Little Bighorn and the legendary Custer of the Civil War is all but forgotten. To illustrate this point, if the names of all the great American military leaders were placed on a list and shown to every school age child in America, it is almost a certainty that all would draw a blank on those listed except for one. Virtually all would be able to identify George Armstrong Custer and connect him with the Battle of the Little Bighorn. It’s remarkable that over one hundred and thirty years after his death he’s still the best known soldier in American history.

Most of us learned at an early age, about the Battle of the Little Big Horn, or Custer’s Last Stand and were taught some of the brief details of the battle. We learned that Custer, with his greatly outnumbered force, was surrounded on a hilltop in the Montana Territory, by a band of vicious, blood thirsty Indians and slaughtered to the last man. This horrible image of a savage death on the barren, windswept frontier is the vivid picture most of us have of America’s greatest fighting general and unfortunately few ever learn anything more of his life or career.

It’s a sad commentary on our appreciation of American history that the country should erase from its collective memory, the brilliant career of its most successful Civil War general. But following his death at the Little Bighorn, Custer’s reputation, honor and integrity were almost immediately subjected to a relentless, mean spirited campaign to vilify, defame and degrade him. Part of the reason for not having his own success story told, has to rest with the nature of cavalry. During the Civil War, these highly mobile units quickly moved from one threatened area of the battlefield to the next, which didn’t allow officers much time to document their battles or write glowing after-action reports like the other branches. Another consideration was the fact that, unlike the infantry, which moved more slowly and hauled, desks, chairs, tents, secretaries and large staffs, the cavalry, because it was always on the move, was only able to carry a very limited amount of baggage. Then, because most newspaper correspondents traveled in a wagon or buggy, their habit was to follow the slow moving infantry where they were able to interview participants immediately after an engagement and then generally slant the action in the direction of the Infantry or Artillery.

In order to accompany the cavalry, a correspondent would have to be able to ride well and would often find himself in the midst of the action. So for their own safety, few chose to be in the line of fire with the cavalry.

Despite these handicaps, there has always been ample information available regarding Custer’s war-fighting ability. The majority of Civil War generals participated in only a few battles, 12 would be a large number for even the most active of these officers. In contrast, Custer, as a general officer, participated in well over 100 major battles and most of these produced a significant victory. Primarily because of his habit of volunteering for the most dangerous missions, his brigade, and later his division, with Custer out in front, would regularly move from one threatened area to the next, insuring plenty of action. Then, during the final two years of the war, he is credited with capturing more Confederate battle flags than any other Civil War general. No less than General Philip Sheridan often bragged that Custer had shortened the war by at least 12 months.

Starting with Brandy Station, the largest cavalry battle of the war, Custer, while still a lieutenant, took over command of a brigade, when its commander was killed. His aggressive leadership abilities and decisive actions restored order to this demoralized brigade and energized its fighting spirit so that it played a major role in the battle.

This was the first battle where the Northern Cavalry was finally able to hold their own against the South’s highly rated Invincibles commanded by JEB Stuart. Custer’s actions this day helped to turn the tide of battle. Then because his commander, Major General Pleasanton, was able to observe his actions, Custer was rewarded with a brigadier’s star.

Even those who carefully study the American Civil War are only vaguely aware of Custer’s larger contributions. This is partially because Custer never completed his war memoirs. Another factor was the notorious habit of other generals taking credit for his successes or in omitting him completely from their narrative.

An example of this omission or rewriting of history is illustrated by Henry Capehart, a brigade commander in Custer’s 3rd Cavalry Division. After reading General Sheridan’s autobiography and the writings of other officers, he exploded in anger to a friend:

I have seen him (Custer) under the most varying and critical circumstances, and never without ample resources of mind and body to meet the most trying contingency. If he was counted by some as rash it was because he dared, while they dared not. There can be no doubt that he had a positive genius for war; while Merritt, Devin, Wilson, Crook, etc, were comparatively but mediocrities. If I were to begin giving instances of his daring, brilliancy and skill, I should never stop. Sheridan was under obligations to him that he could never have repaid had he tried, and that he should in his memoirs condescendingly praise him on a plane with the others was not a little irritating to me; and that he appropriated success of Custer’s with which he himself had nothing whatever to do. (Custer Victorious, Urwin, P35)

Custer had ridden to great heights during the Civil War. Then after Appomattox, when the military was downsized, he found himself reduced to the grade of Lieutenant Colonel, and second in command of a single regiment, when during the war he had commanded 16 regiments, sometimes even more.

The mission of this post-war regiment was to hunt down and pacify scattered bands of poorly trained and ill-equipped American Indians. During the war they had been allowed to terrorize and run rough shod over settlers on the western frontier. It was a thankless job, with little recognition or publicity. The post Civil War army was top heavy with too many high-ranking officers, so Custer remained in grade for over 10 years, with bleak prospects for promotion. The routine and monotony of western duty did not dampen Custer’s enthusiasm and when an opportunity arose to chase and kill or capture Indians, he jumped at it with all his energy.

The details of the massacre at the Little Big Horn were so powerful and overwhelming that it shocked and outraged the American people. It changed the focus of history from Custer’s achievements during the Civil War to his exploits as an Indian fighter, who was killed by a band of untrained, American Indians. Additionally, most historians today would agree that regardless of what happened at the Little Bighorn, Custer’s testimony before congress in 1876 would have effectively ended his military career. Custer had provided damaging information to a committee investigating the link between President Grant’s brother and abuses in the Indian Department. It then comes as no surprise that following the Little Big Horn massacre, after the president had publicly criticized him for providing the key evidence to convict his brother, that very few senior military officers spoke up for Custer. Additionally, the generals in command at the Little Big Horn, Terry, Gibbon and Crook were quick to cover themselves, lest any blame fall on them for the massacre. It was much easier and safer for their careers to say that Custer disobeyed orders, was reckless, irresponsible and a glory seeker who needlessly sacrificed the lives of his men.

Another step in history’s transformation of Custer from successful cavalry commander, and hero of the Civil War, to doomed, hopeless Indian fighter, was the Indian movement of the 1960’s. The radical politics of this antiwar period turned America’s most famous Indian fighter into a scapegoat for all the nation’s failed Indian policies. The Battle of the Little Big Horn came to represent, how America had treated the Indians for over 400 years. To make their case, supporters of the Indian cause made Custer out to be a fool, a glory hunter, incompetent, reckless and insensitive.

This effort to destroy a true American hero has succeeded to such an extent that books, movies, television programs, and particularly the Indian movement, have convinced several generations of Americans, and virtually the entire world, that Custer was so irresponsible, and incompetent that he should never have been commissioned an officer of cavalry.

Of course, this portrayal or perception of Custer ignores the weight of available evidence which proves otherwise. This book is an effort to balance the record and enable Americans to learn the true story of one of our nation’s greatest national treasures. He was a man who fully represented a triumph of the American can do spirit and serves as a shining example of the old American adage that says, anyone, can rise as high as his talents will take him. It is a story about, the most successful general of the Civil War, THE CUSTER AMERICA FORGOT.

Chapter 1

The Early Years

To fully understand Custer the man, it’s necessary to have a look at Custer the boy and his rather unusual childhood. He was a curious energetic lad; always in search of adventure or mischief and in this quest, was constantly escaping from one mishap after another, usually by dashing through backyards, over fences and down alleys, with a gang of playmates tagging along behind him. Often with an irate property owner or the local Sheriff in hot pursuit.

His nighttime adventures, nervous energy and the need for little sleep, caused his weary parents much concern and it’s safe to say, that during his youth and at West Point, he never let education get in the way of having a good time.

Later at the head of his Cavalry these same youthful qualities and seat of the pants reactions, often allowed him to win victory after victory under impossible conditions.

George Armstrong Custer was born on the recently settled Ohio frontier, December 5, 1839 in a large frame house in the little village of New Rumley. His father Emanuel, a blacksmith, had been married twice, his first wife died in 1835, leaving him a widower with three children. Then within a year of his first wife’s death, he remarried to a widow named Maria Kirkpatrick, who had two young children. The couple then proceeded to have 5 of their own, with George Armstrong, being the first born of the new family.

It was a very active household with 10 growing children and George, called Audie, was the most vigorous of the lot. He was filled with a boundless energy and a constant curiosity, usually being the leader to his younger brothers and neighborhood playmates. Young Custer loved to ride horses and lead his hounds on hunts for coons, foxes and rabbits. He was up for virtually anything that involved adventure.

In this large extended family there was much interaction between parents and children. His father, Emanuel Custer would often join in the children’s games and wrestle and play with them in their big grassy yard. The parents were understanding and tolerant and placed few restraints on the children’s conduct or discipline.

The Custers attended church regularly and Emanuel didn’t drink or gamble and used tobacco sparingly. Politics was considered his only vice, talking constantly of politics and often engaging in debates of local issues.

When George was 9, the family had been reduced to only five children because of the older children moving out and so the family moved two miles away into a smaller cabin. One can only imagine the crowded conditions and stress in a small cabin with 5 children that included young Custer, who was often described by his parents as a handful to manage. It was not long after moving to the new house, that Audie, now age 10, was apprenticed to a cabinet-maker in the nearby town of Cadiz. Although Cadiz was small, it was more prosperous, with brick homes, a printing press, a tannery and an iron foundry. The sights, sounds and smells all entranced the young man and broadened his horizons.

From a historical point of view, Cadiz, Ohio was famous as the birth-place of Edwin M. Stanton, (future Secretary of War) and John A. Bingham, (congressman who would nominate Custer to West Point). They also first practiced law in the small town. Both would go on to play important roles in the Northern Government during the Civil War.

When Audie was 11 his parents, after receiving numerous complaints about unruly behavior and inattention to woodworking duties, decided he would never be a cabinetmaker and sent him to live with his half sister Lydia, who had married David Reed of Monroe, Michigan.

Monroe was a town of just over 4,000 inhabitants, but had more of the refinements of a much larger city. It was linked to the rest of the world by lake steamers, as well as a modern railroad. If one reads between the lines, it is obvious that young Custer, with his boundless energy and constant activity, was a difficult child for his parents to control. But as he grew, these same traits that had been so difficult for his parents to manage, would become positive qualities for a career in the wartime military.

Living with his sister and her husband allowed him to grow and develop with more independence. However, his efforts in school continued to be less than desired. He preferred to do just about anything but study.

During his teenage years, young George was always attracted to pretty girls. He was exciting to be with and a good storyteller of his many adventures in Rumley, Cadiz or on the road. Numerous stories were later told of the practical jokes he had played or the interesting dates he would have with not just one girl, but several at a time, sleigh riding, treasure hunting, horse back riding or swimming naked in the local water hole.

While thoroughly enjoying his childhood, Custer finally began to get serious about his future and to worry about his poor performance in school. To make up for these shortcomings, his parents enrolled him in a normal school, (a school that prepares students to become teachers) located at Hopedale, eight miles from Cadiz.

Completing his studies at the normal school, Custer was offered a job teaching in a little one-room schoolhouse at nearby Locust Grove, earning 28 dollars per month.

He enjoyed interacting with the students and during recess, often played ball with or chased and wrestled with the boys on the playground and even took special pleasure in rubbing snow in the girl’s faces. Years later, when Custer had become a famous cavalry general, newspaper reporters interviewed many of these students about their young teacher with the long golden hair. Most recalled that he was likable and that he had taught them much about the 3Rs, but the girls all remembered his good looks, long curly red-gold hair and dancing blue eyes.

Teaching had caused him to appreciate the importance of a good education and he was determined to find a way to get one. He had discovered that a fine education could be gotten for free at the United States Military academy at West Point. The only problem was finding a willing congressman to nominate him for an appointment to the academy.

His local congressman was the honorable John A. Bingham, but he was of the opposite political party, (the new Republican Party) and prided himself on his avowed hatred of Democrats. Realizing the hopelessness of the effort, Custer nevertheless, wrote the congressman numerous letters requesting an appointment with him on his next visit to Cadiz from Washington.

The congressman was impressed by Custer’s persistence and the frankness of the young man’s letters and by the earnest and sincere letters from others on his behalf. There was an exchange of correspondence and Congressman Bingham finally did meet with Custer and was persuaded by the charm and determination of the young man, enough so, to recommend him for an appointment to West Point.

With Congressman Bingham’s recommendation, West Point accepted Custer for admission and soon a letter of instruction arrived that he considered frightening. The letter warned him that the academy course of instruction was difficult, especially in mathematics. It went on to explain that more than half of the candidates in every starting class failed or dropped out and that if he had any reservations about his abilities or his desire to attend, he might save himself, his family and community further embarrassment and humiliation by declining the appointment. The letter was signed by the Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis.

A 1930’s movie, seen by generations of Americans, entitled, They Died With Their Boots On, fancifully depicts Custer’s arrival at West Point. In the movie, he’s dressed in a flashy Napoleonic era general’s uniform, sitting on a giant horse with a half dozen hunting dogs surrounding him. In this make believe story, Custer’s arrival created a circus atmosphere, as he demanded a place to keep his horse and arrangements for his hounds. While Custer’s identity was being sorted out, a group of upperclassmen gathered off to the side and immediately began to plot how they would take the starch out of this new student.

The actual arrival of Custer in June of 1857 was much more subdued than the movie version. He did in fact, arrive by riverboat and along with several other boys, was transported by stagecoach to the academy. Here as in the movie, upperclassmen like John Pelham, Wesley Merritt and Judson Kilpatrick took great delight in hazing the newly arriving cadets.

These newly arrived recruits, who were not yet considered cadets, were required to take a series of rigorous entrance examinations over the next 30 days, during which time they were simply addressed as mister.

After two weeks of intensive study, designed to improve an applicant’s chances on the examination, a group of faculty professors administered the tests individually, one subject per day. Custer, primarily because of his varied experiences and travels, managed to pass all of these comprehensive tests. Others however, were not so fortunate, of the 108 tested, only 68 passed.

But those who remained were still not considered officially admitted. The next step in this long process, involved a six months trial period, two months in the field and four months in garrison. Those who survived these six months would be formally admitted to the academy’s then, five-year course of instruction.

During the trial period Custer was earning 30 dollars a month, and was now almost on the path to success, although his appearance was marginal and he seemed to be slouching in a uniform that always appeared wrinkled and untidy. Despite these minor shortcomings, his morale always seemed to be soaring, with constant jokes and laughter following him wherever he went during those first six months.

In early January of 1858, a notice appeared on the company bulletin board grimly announcing, All plebes not proficient in the coming examinations, should settle their accounts and prepare to go home. Then on February 6th those 49 lucky cadets who had passed their examinations and field duty, were marched to the Chapel. Inside, they were given the oath of allegiance to the United States and each was presented with his cadet warrant.

During the 2nd year of instruction, the cadets were introduced to mounted drill and it was here that Custer excelled. Horsemanship was his specialty and he usually put on a show for his classmates, standing on the saddle to the delight of his classmates, effortlessly riding bareback, out-performing his classmates in jumps and hurdles and expertly slashing dummies with a saber. In temperament as well as riding ability, he clearly showed an aptitude for the cavalry.

But in the study of cavalry tactics, Custer received poor grades. A contributing factor may have been his high-risk habit, while riding at the rear of any column, of quietly dropping out of formation whenever they passed a tavern. Then with beer on his breath and his thirst quenched, racing to catch up before his absence was discovered.

A well-worn tale is still told at West Point about the lengths Custer would go to in order to stay at the academy. As the story goes, in January of 1861, on the eve of graduation, he along with 32 other cadets were found to be academically deficient, with too many low grades. However, prior to dismissal, the cadets were given one last chance to remain at the academy by passing a rigorous re-examination.

To help his chances on the exam, Custer broke into the instructor’s room to obtain a copy of the questions, in the midst of copying the questions, footsteps were heard in the hall. In great haste, Custer ripped the page from the test book and fled. When the instructor discovered the page missing the next day, he simply changed the questions.

A fellow cadet and friend of Custer’s, Telly McCrea recounted the above incident in a letter to his cousin, adding: He is one of the best-hearted and cleverest men that I ever knew. The great difficulty is that he is too clever for his own good. He is always connected with all the mischief that is going on and never studies any more than he can possible help. He has narrowly escaped several times before, but unluckily did not take the warning and now it is too late and he will always have cause to repent his folly.

McCrea completely underestimated the clever ability of his friend to often pull victory from the jaws of defeat. Further, it was not too late for Custer, who was never on record as having repented his misdeeds. One could also make much of the fact that of the 33 cadets facing expulsion, Custer was the only one who passed the reexamination and stayed at the academy. The point normally taken from this incident is that only when punishment or dismissal loomed over him, did Custer allow his studies to interfere with his fun.

While at the academy his classmates observed that Custer