Custer did have a breveted general’s rank at the age of 23 in 1863, fought at Gettysburg and received the first Confederate flag of truce at Appomattox and was there for the surrender. He supposedly took off with the table the surrender was signed on. It’s ironic that he is remembered for his final fatal failure, but the same traits, going right in at the enemy, are what made his career during the Civil War.
The table that Custer had, which Grant and Lee used to sign the Confederate surrender at the McLean house in Appomattox, was in the town museum in Monroe for years. People would make special visits to see the table, like people visit the USS Missouri to see where the Japanese surrender was signed. After Custer’s death the statue of him was put in the town square. Some years later the town city council wanted to reclaim the land where the statue was for development so they decided to move the Custer statue away from the town square. Custer’s widow objected to the move but the city council did it anyway. So she gave the table to the Smithsonian Museum, thereby causing Monroe to lose all of the Civil War tourist trade they otherwise would have enjoyed. It’s a great example of how city leaders have always been jackasses, like the many jackasses that are responsible for the collapse of cities throughout this country today, particularly now with the COVID-19 lockdowns and unfettered rioting.