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{{Short description|United States cavalry commander (1839–1876)}}
{{Redirect|Custer}}
{{use mdy dates|date=July
{{Infobox military person
| name = George Armstrong Custer
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| rank = [[File:Union Army LTC rank insignia.png|border|35px]] [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]], [[Regular Army (United States)|USA]]<br />[[File:Union army maj gen rank insignia.jpg|35px]] [[Major general (United States)|Major General]], [[United States Volunteers|USV]]
| unit =
| commands = [[Michigan Brigade|Michigan Cavalry Brigade]]<br />3rd Cavalry Division<br />2nd Cavalry Division<br />[[7th
| battles = {{tree list}}
* '''[[American Civil War]]'''
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''' George Armstrong Custer''' (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a [[United States Army]] officer and [[cavalry]] commander in the [[American Civil War]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Armstrong-Custer|title=George Armstrong Custer {{!}} Biography, Battles, Death, & Facts|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2020-02-06}}</ref> and the [[American Indian Wars]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historynet.com/george-armstrong-custer-changing-views-of-an-american-legend.htm|title=George Armstrong Custer: Changing Views of an American Legend|last=Kraft|first=Louis|date=2006-09-01|website=HistoryNet|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-06}}</ref>
Custer graduated from [[United States Military Academy|West Point]] and, though characterized as
In 1864, he served in the [[Overland Campaign]] and [[Philip Sheridan]]'s army in the [[Valley Campaigns of 1864|Shenandoah Valley]], defeating [[Jubal Early]] at [[Battle of Cedar Creek|Cedar Creek]]. In 1865, he destroyed or captured the remainder of Early's forces at the [[Battle of Waynesboro, Virginia|Battle of Waynesboro]]. His division blocked the [[Army of Northern Virginia]]'s final retreat and received the first flag of truce from the Confederates. He was present at [[Robert E. Lee]]'s surrender to [[Ulysses S. Grant]] at [[Battle of Appomattox Court House|Appomattox Court House]], Virginia. After the war, Custer was commissioned as a [[lieutenant colonel]] in the Regular Army and sent west to fight in the Indian Wars, mainly against the [[Lakota people|Lakota]] and other [[Plains Indians|Plains Peoples]]. On June 25, 1876, while leading the [[7th Cavalry Regiment]] at the [[Battle of the Little Bighorn]] in [[Montana Territory]] against a coalition of Native American tribes,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/george-armstrong-custer|title=George Armstrong Custer|date=2009-11-04|website=American Battlefield Trust|language=en|access-date=2020-02-06}}</ref> he was killed along with every soldier of the five [[Company (military unit)|companies]] he led. This event became known as "Custer's Last Stand".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-the-Little-Bighorn|title=Battle of the Little Bighorn {{!}} Summary, Location, & Custer's Last Stand|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2020-02-06}}</ref>
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[[File:Hunting and camping party of Custer (standing in center) and invited guests. Fort A. Lincoln on the Little Heart River, - NARA - 530885.tif|thumb|upright=1.6|Hunting and camping party near Fort Abraham Lincoln, 1875. An illustration of the variety of uniforms worn by Cavalry Regiments in the west. From left to right: Lt. James Calhoun, Mr. Swett, Capt. Stephen Baker, Boston Custer, Lt. Winfield Scott Edgerly, Miss Watson, Capt. Myles Walter Keogh, Mrs. Maggie Calhoun, Mrs. Elizabeth Custer, Lt. Col. George Custer, Dr. H.O. Paulding, Mrs. Henrietta Smith, Dr. George Edwin Lord, Capt. Thomas Bell Weir, Lt. William Winer Cooke, Lt. R.E. Thompson, Miss ; Wadsworth, another Miss Wadsworth, Capt. Thomas Custer and Lt. Algernon Emery Smith.<ref>https://dp.la/item/4da699d78eed3bd9e9c46dd4d45fc32a</ref>]]
On February 1, 1866, Major General Custer mustered out of the U.S. volunteer service and took an extended leave of absence until September 24.<ref>{{
Following the death of his father-in-law in May 1866, Custer returned to Monroe, Michigan, where he considered running for Congress. He took part in public discussion over the treatment of the [[Southern United States|American South]] in the aftermath of the Civil War, advocating a policy of moderation.<ref name="utley-39"/> He was named head of the Soldiers and Sailors Union, regarded as a response to the hyper-partisan [[Grand Army of the Republic]] (GAR). Formed in 1866, it was led by Republican activist [[John A. Logan|John Alexander Logan]].
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By the time of Custer's [[Black Hills Expedition|Black Hills expedition]] in 1874, the level of conflict and tension between the U.S. and many of the [[Plains Indians]] tribes (including the [[Lakota Sioux]] and the [[Cheyenne]]) had become exceedingly high. European-Americans continually broke treaty agreements and advanced further westward, resulting in violence and acts of depredation by both sides. To take possession of the [[Black Hills]] (and thus the gold deposits), and to stop Indian attacks, the U.S. decided to corral all remaining free Plains Indians. The Grant government set a deadline of January 31, 1876, for all Lakota and [[Arapaho]] wintering in the "unceded territory" to report to their designated agencies (reservations) or be considered "hostile".<ref>1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. The Cheyenne were not part of this treaty and had no designated agency. The reservation was for the Lakota and Arapaho.</ref>
At that time, the 7th Cavalry's regimental commander, Colonel [[Samuel D. Sturgis]], was on detached duty as the Superintendent of Mounted Recruiting Service and in command of the Cavalry Depot in [[St. Louis, Missouri]],<ref>{{cite web |url =https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Army/USMA/Cullums_Register/1303*.html |title= Online version of Cullum's Register of Graduates of the United States Military Academy – Class of 1846 – Samuel D. Sturgis |access-date = 10 December 2018}}</ref> which left Lieutenant Colonel Custer in command of the regiment. Custer and the 7th Cavalry departed from [[Fort Abraham Lincoln]] on May 17, 1876, part of a larger army force planning to round up remaining free Indians. Meanwhile, in the spring and summer of 1876, the Hunkpapa Lakota holy man [[Sitting Bull]] had called together the largest gathering of Plains Indians at Ash Creek, Montana (later moved to the Little Bighorn River) to discuss what to do about the whites.<ref>Marshall 2007, p. 15.</ref> It was this united encampment of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians that the 7th Calvary met at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in the [[Crow Indian Reservation]]<ref>Kappler, Charles J.: Indian Affairs. Laws and Treaties. Vol. II. Washington, 1904, p. 1008-1011. Treaty with the Crows, 1868.</ref> created in old Crow Country
Around June 15, Major [[Marcus Reno]] while scouting, discovered the trail of a large village on the [[Rosebud River]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.army.mil/books/r&h/R&H-7Cav.htm|title=Seventh Regiment of Cavalry – Center of Military History|author=U.S. Army Center of Military History}}</ref> On June 22, Custer's entire regiment was detached to follow this trail. On June 25, some of Custer's [[Crow Indian]] scouts identified what they claimed was a large Indian encampment in the valley near the [[Little Bighorn River]]. Custer had first intended to attack the Indian village the next day, but since his presence became known, he decided to attack immediately and divided his forces into three battalions: one led by Major Reno, one by Captain [[Frederick Benteen]], and one by himself. Captain Thomas M. McDougall and Company B were with the [[pack train]]. Reno was sent north to charge the southern end of the encampment, Custer rode north, hidden to the east of the encampment by bluffs and planning to circle around and attack from the north,<ref>Welch 2007, p. 149.</ref><ref name="amfourthreeseven">Ambrose, Stephen E. (1996). ''Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors''. New York: Anchor Books. {{ISBN|0-385-47966-2}}, p. 437.</ref> and Benteen was initially sent south and west to scout Indian presence and potentially protect the column from the south.
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It is unlikely that any Native American recognized Custer during or after the battle. Michno summarizes: "Shave Elk said, 'We did not suspect that we were fighting Custer and did not recognize him either alive or dead.' Wooden Leg said no one could recognize any enemy during the fight, for they were too far away. The Cheyennes did not even know a man named Custer was in the fight until weeks later. Antelope said none knew of Custer being at the fight until they later learned of it at the agencies. [[Thomas Bailey Marquis|Thomas Marquis]] learned from his interviews that no Indian knew Custer was at the Little Bighorn fight until months later. Many Cheyennes were not even aware that other members of the Custer family had been in the fight until 1922 when Marquis himself first informed them of that fact."<ref>Gregory F. Michno, ''Lakota Noon: The Indian Narrative of Custer's Defeat''. (Missoula, MT: Mountain Press, 1997) p. 293.</ref>
Several individuals claimed responsibility for killing Custer, including [[
A contrasting version of Custer's death is suggested by the testimony of an Oglala named Joseph White Cow Bull, according to novelist and Custer biographer Evan Connell. He says that Joseph White Bull stated he had shot a rider wearing a buckskin jacket and big hat at the riverside when the soldiers first approached the village from the east. The initial force facing the soldiers, according to this version, was quite small (possibly as few as four warriors) yet challenged Custer's command. The rider who was hit had shouted orders that prompted the soldiers to attack and was next to a rider who bore a flag, but when the buckskin-clad rider fell off his horse after being shot, many of the attackers reined up. The allegation that the buckskin-clad officer was Custer, if accurate, might explain the supposed rapid disintegration of Custer's forces.<ref>Connell (1984), pp. 413–414.</ref> However, several other officers of the Seventh, including [[William W. Cooke|William Cooke]], [[Thomas Custer|Tom Custer]] and William Sturgis, were also dressed in buckskin on the day of the battle, and the fact that each of the non-mutilation wounds to George Custer's body (a bullet wound below the heart and a shot to the left temple) would have been instantly fatal casts doubt on his being wounded or killed at the ford, more than a mile from where his body was found.<ref>Wert, 1996, p. 355.</ref> The circumstances are, however, consistent with [[David Humphreys Miller]]'s suggestion that Custer's
During the 1920s, two elderly Cheyenne women spoke briefly with oral historians about their having recognized Custer's body on the battlefield and said that they had stopped a Sioux warrior from desecrating the body. The women were relatives of [[Mo-nah-se-tah]], who was alleged to have been Custer's lover in late 1868 and through 1869, and borne two children by him. Mo-nah-se-tah was among 53 Cheyenne women and children taken captive by the 7th Cavalry after the [[Battle of Washita River]] in 1868, in which Custer commanded an attack on the camp of Chief [[Black Kettle]]. Mo-nah-se-tah's father, [[Little Rock (Cheyenne chief)|Cheyenne chief Little Rock]], was killed in the battle.<ref name="greene-169">Greene 2004, p. 169.</ref>
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When the main column under General Terry arrived two days later, the army found most of the soldiers' corpses stripped, scalped, and mutilated.<ref>Marshall 2007, p. 11</ref><ref>Welch 2007, pp. 175–181.</ref> Custer's body had two bullet holes, one in the left temple and one just below the heart.<ref>Welch 2007, p. 175.</ref> Capt. Benteen, who inspected the body, stated that in his opinion the fatal injuries had not been the result of .45 caliber ammunition, which implies the bullet holes had been caused by ranged rifle fire.<ref>Connell (1984), P. 410.</ref> Some time later, Lieutenant Edward S. Godfrey described Custer's mutilation, telling Charles F. Bates, that an arrow "had been forced up his penis."<ref>Richard Hardoff, ''The Custer Battle Casualties: Burials, Exhumations, and Reinterments''. (El Segundo, CA: Upton and Sons, 1989, {{ISBN|0912783141}}), p. 21.</ref>
The bodies of Custer and his brother Tom were wrapped in canvas and blankets, then buried in a shallow grave, covered by the basket from a [[travois]] held in place by rocks. When soldiers returned a year later, the brothers' grave had been scavenged by animals and the bones scattered. "Not more than a double handful of small bones were picked up."<ref>Richard Hardoff, ''The Custer Battle Casualties: Burials, Exhumations, and Reinterments''. (El Segundo, CA: Upton and Sons, 1989, {{ISBN|0912783141}}), pp. 25, 45.</ref> Custer was reinterred with full [[Military
==Controversial legacy==
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General [[Nelson Miles]] (who inherited Custer's mantle of famed Indian fighter) and others praised him as a fallen hero betrayed by the incompetence of subordinate officers. Miles noted the difficulty of winning a fight "with seven-twelfths of the command remaining out of the engagement when within sound of his rifle shots."<ref>Barnett (1996), p. 311.</ref>
The assessment of Custer's actions during the American Indian Wars has undergone substantial reconsideration in modern times. Documenting the arc of popular perception in his biography ''[[Son of the Morning Star]]'' (1984), author [[Evan S. Connell]] notes the reverential tone of Custer's first biographer Frederick Whittaker (whose book was rushed out the year of Custer's death.)<ref>Connell (1984), p. 287.</ref> Connell concludes:
<blockquote>These days it is stylish to denigrate the general, whose stock sells for nothing. Nineteenth-century Americans thought differently. At that time he was [[Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard|a cavalier without fear and beyond reproach]].<ref name="c411">Connell (1984), p. 411.</ref></blockquote>In the same year, W.A. Graham stated in ''The Custer Myth'':<blockquote>But for the "blaze of glory" that formed the setting for his dramatically tragic departure at the hands of yelling savages, he would probably be just another name of a long list of names in our histories of the Civil War, in which as "The Boy General" he made an outstanding record as a leader of Cavalry, as did also numerous others who have been long since all but forgotten.<ref name=":1" /></blockquote>
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* On July 2, 2008, a marble monument to Brigadier General Custer was dedicated at the site of the 1863 Civil War [[Battle of Hunterstown]], in [[Adams County, Pennsylvania]].
*'' [[Custer Monument (West Point)|Custer Monument]]'' at the [[United States Military Academy]] was first unveiled in 1879. It now stands next to his grave in the [[West Point Cemetery]].
*Custer Memorial Monument at his birthplace was erected by the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical society in 1931. It is located near the remains of the foundation of his birthplace homestead in New Rumley, Ohio. Custer Monument is managed locally by the Custer Memorial Association.<ref> https://www.ohiohistory.org/visit/browse-historical-sites/custer-monument/ </ref>
==Dates of rank==
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