The FReeper Foxhole Profiles Major General George Armstrong Custer - Jan. 10th, 2005

www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk ^

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
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FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

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Major General George Armstrong Custer
(1839-1876)

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George Custer, the son of a blacksmith, was born in New Rumley, Ohio, on 5th December, 1839. The family was poor and when he was ten Custer was forced to live with his aunt in Monroe. While at school he met his future wife, Elizabeth Bacon, the daughter of a judge. Custer did odd jobs for her family, but was never allowed into the house.

Custer wanted to become a lawyer but his family could not afford the training so he decided to become a soldier instead. He attended the Military Academy at West Point but he was a poor student and when he finally graduated in 1861 he was placed 34th out of a class of 34.

After leaving West Point he joined the staff of General George B. McClellan and during the American Civil War he saw action at Bull Run (August, 1862), Antietam (September, 1862) and Gettysburg (June, 1863). Custer emerged as an outstanding cavalry leader and at the age of 23, was given the rank of brigadier general and took command of the Michigan Brigade.

Custer developed a reputation for flamboyant behaviour. He led his troops into battle wearing a black velvet trimmed with gold lace, a crimson necktie and a white hat. He claimed that he adopted this outfit so that his men "would recognize him on any part of the field".

In August , 1864, Custer joined Major General Philip Sheridan in the final Shenandoah Valley campaign. Sheridan and 40,000 soldiers entered the valley and soon encountered troops led by Jubal Early who had just returned from Washington. After a series of minor defeats the Union Army eventually gained the upper hand. His men now burnt and destroyed anything of value in the area and after defeating Early in another large-scale battle on 19th October, the Union Army took control of the Shenandoah Valley.



Custer was a strong supporter of his own abilities. He said of his performance at Gettysburg: "I challenge the annals of warfare to produce a more brilliant or successful charge of cavalry." He also managed to persuade journalists to share this view. After Custer took part in the Shenandoah Valley campaign E. A. Paul of the New York Times reported that "Custer, young as he is, displayed judgment worthy of a Napoleon."

On 1st April, Philip Sheridan, William Sherman and Custer attacked at Five Forks. The Confederates, led by Major General George Pickett, were overwhelmed and lost 5,200 men. On hearing the news, Robert E. Lee decided to abandon Richmond and President Jefferson Davis, his family and government officials, was forced to flee from the city.

By the end of the war Custer had been breveted for gallant and meritorious services on five occasions. Although only wounded once he had 11 horses killed under him.


Gen. Custer prepares for battle at Hanover, June 30, 1863.

In January 1866, his commission as major-general expired and he reverted to his 1862 rank of captain in the Regular Army. However, in July, 1866, he was commissioned lieutenant colonel (he was also given the honorary rank of major general) and made second in command of the newly created Seventh Cavalry. He was posted to Fort Riley in Kansas and spent the winter of 1866-67 preparing his troops to take part in the Indian Wars.

Custer's behaviour continued to be erratic. In July 1867 fifteen of his men deserted during a forced march along the Republican River. Custer ordered a search party "to shoot the supposed deserters down dead, and to bring none in alive." Soon afterwards he deserted his command in order to spend a day with his wife. As a result of this actions he was arrested and charged with disobeying orders, deserting his command, failing to pursue Indians who had attacked his escort and ordering his officers to shoot down deserters. Found guilty he was suspended for a year without pay.


Washita River Massacre
Four years after the Sand Creek massacre, Black Kettle and his wife took the rest of the Cheyenne survivers to a new reservation at washita River in Indian territory. But at dawn on november 22 1868 when the Cheyenne villiage were sleeping, the 7th U.S cavallry regement led by George.A.Custer charged the peaceful villiage.

General Philip H. Sheridan recalled Custer to duty and on 27th November, 1868, Custer destroyed the Cheyenne village of Chief Black Kettle on the banks of the Washita River. Custer later claimed that his men killed 103 warriors. However, the majority of the victims were women and children. This action was highly controversial as the Cheyenne were not at war against the Americans at this time. General Harney pointed out: "I have worn the uniform of my country 55 years, and I know that Black Kettle was as good a friend of the United States as I am."

One of his own men, Captain Frederick Benteen, also criticized Custer's behaviour during this operation. He was mainly concerned with what happened to Major Joel Elliott and 18 of his men who had been sent off to pursue fleeing members of the Cheyenne tribe. They had been cut off and massacred by warriors from neighbouring villages. Benteen accused Custer of abandoning these men and had been responsible for their deaths. General Philip H. Sheridan rejected these claims and complimented Custer on his "efficient and gallant services" during the attack.


George Armstrong Custer, his wife Libbie and his brother Tom, who also died at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876

In August 1873, Custer was involved in protecting a group of railroad surveyors. The group were attacked by a Sioux war party near the mouth of Tongue River. During the raid two of the surveyors were killed. Later, Charley Reynolds, an Indian scout, told Custer that Rain in the Face had led the attack at Tongue River. Rain in the Face was living on the Standing Rock Reservation at the time and so Custer had him arrested. Custer forced Rain in the Face to confess but before he could appear in court he managed to escape.

In 1873 Custer was a member of General David Stanley's Yellowstone expedition. Later that year he took command of Fort Abraham Lincoln on the River Missouri. In 1874 Custer led an expedition into the Black Hills of Dakota. Later he published an autobiography, My Life on the Plains (1874).

Custer was called to Washington in March, 1876, to testify before a Congressional committee probing frauds in the Indian Service. President Ulysses Grant was furious when Custer's evidence damaged the reputation of his former War Secretary, William Belknap. Grant was so angry he deprived Custer of his command. However, after protests from senior officers in the army, Grant backed down and Custer was able to return as commander of the 7th Cavalry.



At this time the Sioux and Cheyenne were attempting to resist the advance of white migration. On 17th June 1876 General George Crook and about 1,000 troops, supported by 300 Crow and Shoshone, fought against 1,500 members of the Sioux and Cheyenne tribes. The battle at Rosebud Creek lasted for over six hours. This was the first time that Native Americans had united together to fight in such large numbers.

On 22nd June, Custer and 655 men were sent out to locate the villages of the Sioux and Cheyenne involved in the battle at Rosebud Creek. A very large encampment was discovered three days later. It was over 15 miles away and even with field glasses Custer was unable to discover the number of warriors the camp contained.


Before the Little Big Horn

On June 25,1876, the sun rose on a bright Montana morning. The Seventh Cavalry, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, was arrayed on the high ground of the Little Wolf Mountains after an all-night march up the valley of the Rosebud.
Crow scouts returned with alarming reports of a large encampment of Sioux and Cheyenne close by, along the Little Bighorn river. Headstrong and audacious to the bitter end, Custer led his troops down off the mountain and toward their date with destiny.

Instead of waiting for the arrival of the rest of the army led by General Alfred Terry, Custer decided to act straight way. He divided his force into three battalions in order to attack the camp from three different directions. One group led by Captain Frederick Benteen was ordered to march to the left. A second group led by Major Marcus Reno was sent to attack the encampment via the Little Big Horn River.

Major Reno was the first to charge the village. When he discovered that the camp was far larger than was expected he retreated to the other side of the Little Big Horn River. He was later joined by Captain Benteen and although they suffered heavy casualties they were able to fight off the attack.


Major Marcus A. Reno

Custer and his men rode north on the east side of the Little Big Horn River. The Sioux and Cheyenne saw Custer's men and swarmed out of the village. Custer was forced to retreat into the bluffs to the east where he was attacked by about 4,000 warriors. At the battle of the Little Bighorn Custer and all his 231 men were killed. This included his two brothers, Tom and Boston, his brother-in-law, James Calhoun, and his nephew, Autie Reed.

The soldiers under Reno and Benteen continued to be attacked and 47 of them were killed before they were rescued by the arrival of General Alfred Terry and his army. It was claimed afterwards that Custer had been killed by his old enemy, Rain in the Face. However, there is no hard evidence to suggest that this is true.


Captain Frederick W. Benteen

General Philip H. Sheridan concluded that George A. Custer had made several important mistakes at the Little Big Horn. He argued that after their seventy mile journey, Custer's men were too tired to fight effectively. Custer had also made a mistake in developing a plan of attack on the false assumption that the Sioux and Cheyenne would attempt to escape rather than fight the soldiers.

Sheridan also criticized Custer's decision to divide his men into three groups: "Had the Seventh Cavalry been held together, it would have been able to handle the Indians on the Little Big Horn." His final mistake was to attack what was probably the largest group of Native Americans ever assembled on the North American continent. President Ulysses Grant agreed with this assessment and when interviewed by the New York Herald he said: "I regard Custer's Massacre was a sacrifice of troops, brought on by Custer himself, that was wholly unnecessary".

Despite this criticism George Custer was given a hero's burial at West Point.

[GailA]

Job hunting...if I can get past the emotional stuff. I've been a stay at home mom/wife for nearly 20 years...which means minimum wage jobs..which won't even pay the monthly bills even if you work 40 hours a week. I went to the state unemployment place today...they are a 'real' big help, they take you info and don't even talk to you...1 factory job for a guy was available.

[SAMWolf]

Morning stand watie.

We're "profiling" Custer, everyone can make up their own minds about him. ;-)

[SAMWolf]

Morning bmwcyle.

Thanks for the info on Lt. Col. Moore and the 7th Cav.

[SAMWolf]

Except for the stay at home mom part, I know that story. I found that the State agencies are pretty worthless.

Good Luck on your job hunting.

[colorado tanker]

Not that Custer was a Tony Franks or anything like him

Yep. 34th out of 34. Custer was brave, but wasn't the sharpest bayonet in the armory.

[Professional Engineer]

Hi miss Feather

[Professional Engineer]

Hiya Sam. Thanks for setting the record straight. I assume the whole circle has to be "zeroed" on some fixed point, North?, before it can be used properly. Correct?

[Professional Engineer]

Howdy ma'am

[colorado tanker]

Whoa, look at the size of the trains in that photo of the Dakota expedition. And people complain about the size of the logistical tail today.

G'day all.

[Aeronaut]

Hi Sam.

[SAMWolf]

Doesn't have to be North, you use at least 3 known points from a declination station.

DECLINATION CONSTANT

Since the magnetic needle of an aiming circle does not point to the grid north determined from a map, it is necessary to correct for this difference by using the declination constant. The declination constant of an instrument is the clockwise angle between grid north and magnetic north; that is, the grid azimuth of magnetic north. This constant differs slightly for different instruments and must be recorded on each instrument. The constant also varies for the same instrument in different localities.

To determine the declination constant, proceed as follows:

a. Declination Station. Declination stations are established by corps artillery, division artillery, and artillery battalion survey teams to determine the declination constants of instruments and to correct for local attractions, annual variations, and instrument errors. When a unit moves from one locality to another, a station should be established where all instruments are declinated. If the declination constants for all instruments of a unit are determined at the same station, grid azimuths measured with each instrument will agree with the map grid, and all instruments will agree with each other. The point chosen for the declination station must have a view of at least two distant, well-defined points with a known grid azimuth. Two additional points are desirable, one in each quadrant, as a check.

b. Procedure for Declinating Aiming Circle at a Declination Station. Where a declination station is available, the procedure for declinating the aiming circle is as follows:

STEP 1. Set up and fine-level the aiming circle directly over the declination station marker using the plumb bob. STEP 2. Place the grid azimuth of the first azimuth marker on the scales using the recording motion. Place the vertical cross line of the telescope on the azimuth marker using the nonrecording (orienting) motion. The aiming circle is now oriented on grid north.
STEP 3. With the recording motion, rotate the instrument to zero. Release the magnetic needle and look through the magnifier. Center the north- seeking needle using the recording motion, then relock the magnetic needle.
STEP 4. Notice the new azimuth on the scale, which is the declination constant--record it.
STEP 5. Recheck the aiming circle level and repeat steps 2 through 4 using the remaining azimuth markers until three readings have been taken. If there is only one marker, repeat the entire procedure twice using the same marker.

Not as hard as it sounds

[SAMWolf]

And they were no where as efficient as today. ;-)

[snippy_about_it]

ooh. Thanks for posting this song Valin. Now I get to hear Sam sing it...all day long. ;-)

[snippy_about_it]

Morning Colonel. How are you doing?

[snippy_about_it]

That's one long wagon train!

[snippy_about_it]

This would be similar to what surveyors use, right?

[SAMWolf]

Yep.

[SAMWolf]

Sound effects and all. :-)

[PhilDragoo]

1968 Lyle Menendez NY, accused of killing his parents (Menendez Brothers)

And the sad thing was that after that he was an orphan.

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The Gatling Gun Patent Drawing
By Richard Jordan Gatling, 1865
Ink and watercolor on paper
14-1/4" x 18-1/2"
National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Patent and Trademark Office

The Gatling Gun

The Gatling gun was the first successful rapid-fire machine gun. Invented by Dr. Richard Jordan Gatling, a physician, the first model had six barrels revolving around a central axis. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler of the Union Army first used the gun at the siege of Petersburg, Virginia, in 1864-65. Shown here are two drawings of the improved 10-barrel, .30-caliber model which fired 400 rounds a minute. The gun was patented on May 9, 1865, and was officially adopted by the U.S. Army on August 21, 1866. It proved superior to other rapid-fire guns of the time and, for more than 40 years, the Gatling gun was used by almost every world power.

"Battery Gun"
By Richard Jordan Gatling, 1865
Ink and watercolor on paper
18 3/4" x 14 1/4"
National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Patent and Trademark Office

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M134 7.62mm minigun (GAU-2B/A)

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This just in: Porter Goss has pink-slipped Dr. Henry Kissinger, Bob "I'm a Clymer" Kerrey, and Adm. William Crowe from card night at Langley.

Here's to President Richard Nixon for doing the bombing LBJ refused to do the very month and year Hal Moore led his team to such a victory.

The kinder, gentler comes after their hearts and minds are pounded to mush.

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THE GATLING GUN

A fascinating page of facts regarding Gatling and his gun. And the true origin of the term Indianapolis Colts.

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1985 Daniel Ortega Saavedra inaugurated as President of Nicaragua

John "Cambodian Shambo" Kerry, Tom Heapodung, Mary Mapes, Daniel "Rapist de su Hija" Ortega, 1985

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CBS still can't say its documents were forged--but we can. Anyone with Microsoft Word can duplicate what was impossible in 1973.

[snippy_about_it]

You know I love to hear you sing. ;-)