Somehiw Custer managed to get promoted from Captain to General.
The movie on Custer portrays the promotion as a mistake that the Generals were then going to remedy the next day.
However it happened, Custer was bumped five ranks that day from CPtain to General.
He was immediately in the thick of the battle.
Hunterstown, Day 2.
He blunts Stuarts advance with his troops.
http://custerlives.com/custer26.htm
Quote”. Gettysburg: Cavalry Battle At Hunterstown
The Hunterstown Cavalry Battlefield, also known as North Cavalry Field at Gettysburg, marks the first time George Armstrong Custer made a name for himself as a gutsy Cavalry Commander. The cavalry battle was waged there after 4:00 PM on July 2, 1863. Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer led his beloved Michigan Cavalry Wolverines against the Confederate States of America’s very capable Brigadier General Wade Hampton.
Battle lines were established about a mile apart, General Custer’s artillery at Felty-Tate Ridge on the northern end and Rebel General Hampton’s artillery at Brinkerhoff’s Ridge to the south. General Custer had ordered most of his Troopers to dismount and lie in wait as he attempted to lead the Rebel cavalry into a trap. Elements of the 6th and 7th Michigan Cavalry dismounted and moved south on foot along both sides of Hunterstown Road. The Michigan Troopers were hidden by tall wheat while they waited for the Rebels to be led into a crossfire.
To complete the trap, the Confederate horsemen would have to be lured into the crossfire. Leading from the front as always, General George Custer led the “bait” himself. The Boy General took about sixty mounted men of Company A 6th Michigan on a daring cavalry charge toward the Confederate position. Riding forward at a gallop, General Custer’s small contingent of Michigan Wolverines established contact with the Confederate Troopers. General Custer then retreated, hoping to draw the Confederates back north to the waiting trap.
The Confederate Cavalry chased General Custer and his Wolverines about a quarter mile up the narrow Hunterstown Road between the fences which hemmed them in. As soon as the Union Cavalry Wolverines cleared the dismounted Union Troopers, the trap was sprung. The Confederate Cavalry was caught in a devastating crossfire. Many of the Confederates continued on, hoping to race past the trap. Unfortunately for them, Union artillery concealed by a barn opened fire at close range, sealing their fate.”
Thanks for the post, I'd never read details of Custer's assault on Stuart before.
Always heard it was just a "mad dash".
In fact, there was serious planning and tactics.
So, at least at Gettysburg, Custer wasn't just reckless, but also smart.