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Sheridan and Grant liked Custer because he was aggressive to a fault and a fighter. He had come to prominence earlier, however, as one of Alfred Pleasanton's "boy generals." Particularly in the eastern theater, confederate cavalry had ridden rings around the federal cavalry in the first two years of the war. Some of this was a matter of organization, employment and doctrine. Some of it came down to command personalities. It's quite a complicated story, and one on which I will defer to the cavalry experts. But bottom line, the federals recognized that they had a problem and set about fixing it.

Pleasanton's reputation has not fared well, but one of his great services to the cause was to promote three young officers -- Custer, Elon Farnsworth and Wesley Merritt -- to brigade command. They were chosen quite specifically for their aggressiveness, the idea being to get out and smoke Jeb Stuart. Farnworth was killed at Gettysburg (at age 25), but Custer and Merritt emerged, along with Tom Devin, as a highly competent command trio that in 1863-64 slowly wrested cavalry dominance away from the confederates. John Buford might well have figured prominently in this command evolution as his star had steadily risen, but he fell ill and died in the winter of 1863. It's a small world department: one of Buford's aides at the time of his death, and present at the bedside, was Myles Keough, who would die with Custer at the Little Bighorn. Devin was one of Buford's brigade commanders at Gettysburg.

Myles Keough is also an interesting character. Hollywood made him a romantic hero of the Little Bighorn, much assisted by the fact that his horse, Comanche, was the sole recovered U.S. cavalry survivor. (The Indians took or killed all the other surviving horses. They left Comanche because he was so badly injured. My guess is that they took him for dead, or they might well have finished him off with a mercy killing.) Comanche went on to a long and distinguished military career as the U.S. Army's favorite mascot. He ended as an honorary officer and received full military honors at a formal funeral, after which his remains were preserved and displayed at the University of Kansas. I don't know if they're still there.

Keough was born in Ireland and as a young man volunteered to fight for the Pope in the Italian wars of the time. He served gallantly, became an officer in the Papal forces, and was for a time a member of the Irish company in the Vatican Guard. When peacetime service in the Vatican proved boring, he came to America to find adventure. In this, he succeeded. He was a classic 19th century soldier of fortune and adventurer.

Keough's most colorful Civil War moment came at Port Republic in the 1862 Valley Campaign, when he led the Union cavalry detachment, ranging ahead of Shields' division, that dashed unexpectedly into town and almost captured Stonewall Jackson and his staff. The confederates had been preoccupied with Fremont's command approaching from the west. They had beaten Fremont at the Battle of Cross Keys the previous day and had been careless about Shields' approach from the north, which led to the close-run Battle of Port Republic.

Indeed so.

By the way, Custer was promoted 5 ranks that day !

It would have been interesting to see what Farnsworth would have contributed had he not had the misfortune of getting killed immediately.

The promotion was just before Gettysburg.

In the movie, they portray the promotion as a mistake, that the generals were going to punish Custer, and accidentally signed his name to the promotion document instead in the confusion of battle.

However, given that Pleasanton promoted all three at once, and that Custer was his aide, it seems to me the promotion was deliberate.

Custer immediately set to work making his special uniform.

However, it was just a few days later that Custer, in disobedience of a direct order to move his forces, stayed and helped fight Jebs cavalry in the east Gettysburg battle.

Lees plan was a pincer move. The Cavalry was to arrive in the rear.

Had not Custer stayed and stopped the confederate cavalry, the battle may have been lost. It was a close enough run as it was.

Custer led his cavalry charges in repeated charges and saved the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9flLRKJivI

https://www.sierratoysoldier.com/ourstore/pc/Custer-Charge-at-Gettysburg-c1234.htm