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{{Short description|Wife of General Custer, journalist, memoirist (1842–1933)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Elizabeth Bacon Custer
| image = Elizabeth Bacon Custer - Brady-Handy.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Custer,
| pseudonym = Libbie Bacon
| birth_name = Elizabeth Clift Bacon
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}}
'''Elizabeth
Left nearly destitute in the aftermath of her husband's death, she became an outspoken advocate for his legacy through her popular books and lectures. Largely as a result of her decades of campaigning on his behalf, General Custer's
Elizabeth Custer never remarried and died in 1933, four days short of her 91st birthday. She has been portrayed by a number of actresses, starting in the 1940s in films and later on television.
== Early years ==
Elizabeth "Libbie" Bacon was born in 1842 in [[Monroe, Michigan]]
Tragedy marked much of her childhood, with her three siblings and mother all dying before
She had briefly encountered her future husband George Armstrong Custer as a child, and socially met him again in the autumn of 1862, when he had returned to Monroe on leave from the first year of the American Civil War.
== Married life ==
Elizabeth Custer and her husband George had a loving but tumultuous relationship. Both were stubborn, opinionated, and ambitious. Their private correspondence was filled with sexually charged [[double entendre]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://frontierpartisans.com/5212/those-lusty-custers/ |title=Those Lusty Custers — Victorian 'Sexters' |last=Cornelius |first=Jim |date=November 29, 2015 |website=Frontier Partisans |access-date=April 5, 2020}}</ref>
<div style="float: right; margin: 1em; font-size: 85%; background:#cfd; width:26em; max-width: 40%; padding:1ex">
... we gave ourselves the privilege of a swift gallop...
The next day the general thought I might rather not go with him than run the risk of such frights; but I well knew there was something far worse than fears for my own personal safety. It is infinitely worse to be left behind, a prey to all the horrors of imagining what may be happening to one we love. You eat your heart slowly out with such anxiety, and to endure such suspense is simply the hardest of all trials that come to the soldier's wife.<ref name="Elizabeth Custer">{{Cite book |last=Custer |first=Elizabeth |year=1913 |title=Boots and Saddles |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.153908 |publisher=Harper and Brothers |location=New York and London |pages=76–78 }}</ref>
— '''Elizabeth 'Libbie' Custer''', from her first book ''Boots and Saddles'', on her life and adventures with her husband.
</div>
After the war, George reverted from his wartime rank of major general to his [[Regular Army (United States)|Regular Army]] rank of [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]], although he did receive a brevet (honorary) promotion to major general which allowed him to wear the uniform and insignia of that rank. He was assigned to a series of dreary and unsatisfying assignments in [[Texas]], [[Kansas]], and the [[Dakota Territory]]. Life on the frontier outposts was difficult, and his career was plagued by problems including a [[court martial]] (brought about by his
The 1876 campaign against the Sioux seemed like a chance for glory to George Armstrong Custer. The couple's final home together was at [[Fort Abraham Lincoln]] near what is now Bismarck, [[North Dakota]]. From there, the general led the Seventh Cavalry in pursuit of [[Sitting Bull]], [[Crazy Horse]] and the Sioux and Northern Cheyenne who refused to be confined to the reservation system.
== Defender of her husband's legacy ==
After her husband
Elizabeth began writing articles and making speaking engagements praising the glory of what she presented as her "martyred" husband. Her three books—''Boots and Saddles'' (1885), ''Tenting on the Plains''—(1887), and ''Following the Guidon'' (1890) aimed at glorifying her
[[File:Taft and Libbie Custer 1910.png|thumb|250px|left|alt=Howard Taft unveiling the Custer statue, 1910|An elderly Elizabeth, seen looking at [[William Howard Taft|President Taft]] in black hat and dress from the far left of the frame, attends the unveiling of the [[George Armstrong Custer Equestrian Monument|Custer statue]] in [[Monroe, Michigan]], in 1910.]]
Elizabeth remained utterly devoted to her husband and never remarried. Despite having spent her life traveling extensively throughout the United States (including winters in Florida) and the world, she never visited the
▲Elizabeth remained utterly devoted to her husband and never remarried. Despite having spent her life traveling extensively throughout the United States (including winters in Florida) and the world, she never visited the valley of Little Big Horn. She was said to treasure a letter from President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] who stated that her husband was "one of my heroes" and "a shining light to all the youth of America." <ref>{{Cite journal | url=https://newrepublic.com/article/86343/theodore-roosevelt-reagan-wilson-progressive |title = A Boy's Own Story|journal = The New Republic|date = April 7, 2011}}</ref> It wasn't until over half a century later that historians reexamined George's actions leading up to and during the battle and found much to criticize.<ref name="Wert, Jeffry D. 1996 357">{{Cite book |last=Wert |first=Jeffry D. |year=1996 |title=Custer: The Controversial Life of George Armstrong Custer |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=0-684-81043-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/custercontrovers0000wert/page/357 357] |url=https://archive.org/details/custercontrovers0000wert/page/357 }}</ref>
After an initial period of distress dealing with her late husband's debts,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barnett |first=Louise |year=1996 |title=Touched by Fire: The Life, Death, and Afterlife of George Armstrong Custer |publisher=Henry Holt and Company, Inc. |location=New York |isbn=0-8050-3720-9 |page=
== Portrayals in movies and television ==
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==External links==
* [https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2009/02/libby-custer.html Libby Custer], Wife Of Union General George Armstrong Custer
{{Wikisource author}}
{{Wikisource|Woman of the Century/Elizabeth Bacon Custer}}
{{Commonscat}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Elizabeth Bacon Custer}}
* {{Librivox author |id=7200}}
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