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George Armstrong Custer (1839–1876)
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In April 1861, when Fort Sumter was fired upon,
George Armstrong Custer had still to take his final
examinations at the United States Military Academy.
He graduated that June, last in a class of thirty-four.
Custer’s ambition to fight in the war was realized
immediately, and he participated in the conflict
from beginning to end, from Manassas to Appomattox.
Fearless and fortunate, Custer made the most of
every opportunity of engaging the enemy. Promotions
followed. Having entered the war a second lieutenant
in the 2nd Cavalry, Custer became a brigadier general
of volunteers two years later. At twenty-three,
he was the youngest officer ever to wear a star.
Before the war was over, he was donning a pair and
was commanding the 3rd Division of Sheridan’s cavalry
corps. In the days just before Lee’s surrender,
it was Custer’s men who played a supporting role
in blocking the enemy’s retreat near Appomattox.
One of the white surrender flags was even presented
to Custer himself. |
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Unidentified artist
Ambrotype, 1863
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
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