Vain Glorious Valor: The Custer Contradicition
George Armstrong Custer is a contradiction. He is the dashing boy general of civil war fame. He is the heroic leader, resolute in the face of overwhelming odds, bravely fallen with his entire command in a tragic last stand. His image is burnished by two biographies commissioned by a devoted and loving wife. He comes down to us today through Hollywood history in all his glory; and yet in spite of all the carefully cultivated notoriety, his record dogs him with doubt even in death.
Custer’s career is littered in contradiction. He finished last in his class at West Point. He was court-martialed and convicted twice; the first before leaving the academy, the second while serving in the west following the war. He was commissioned to active duty after the first offense, owing to the demands for an officer corps to fight the war of secession. He served with distinction rising to the rank of major general. He was widely criticized for aggressive, some said reckless, tactics that won victory at the expense of excessive casualties. He was reduced in rank to Lieutenant Colonel in the post war down-sizing of the officer cadre. His ego never recovered. A personal favorite of General Philip “Fighting Phil” Sheridan, he assumed command of his beloved Seventh Cavalry on the western frontier where he continued his pursuit of personal glory. General Sheridan and General in Chief of the Army, Wm Tecumseh Sherman prevailed on President Grant to reinstate him after his second court-martial offense.
The Custer contradiction can best be examined in the events that led up to that fateful Sunday June 25, 1876. The 1874 discovery of Gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota effectively ended the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. The Black Hills, held to be the sacred center of the Sioux Nation, were given to the Sioux by terms of the treaty that ended Red Cloud’s war. In 1874 Custer led a survey party into the Black Hills for purposes of siting a fort to protect Indian lands from illegal incursion by white prospectors, following rumors of gold deposits there. The fort was never sited or built. The Custer expedition’s most notable achievement confirmed the gold discovery. The following year the Black Hills were overrun by white miners. Terms of the treaty were cast aside on the bones of promises already broken. The Black Hills rang with the drum beat of war.
Next Week: The Custer Contradiction Part II
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
Custer’s career is littered in contradiction. He finished last in his class at West Point. He was court-martialed and convicted twice; the first before leaving the academy, the second while serving in the west following the war. He was commissioned to active duty after the first offense, owing to the demands for an officer corps to fight the war of secession. He served with distinction rising to the rank of major general. He was widely criticized for aggressive, some said reckless, tactics that won victory at the expense of excessive casualties. He was reduced in rank to Lieutenant Colonel in the post war down-sizing of the officer cadre. His ego never recovered. A personal favorite of General Philip “Fighting Phil” Sheridan, he assumed command of his beloved Seventh Cavalry on the western frontier where he continued his pursuit of personal glory. General Sheridan and General in Chief of the Army, Wm Tecumseh Sherman prevailed on President Grant to reinstate him after his second court-martial offense.
The Custer contradiction can best be examined in the events that led up to that fateful Sunday June 25, 1876. The 1874 discovery of Gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota effectively ended the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. The Black Hills, held to be the sacred center of the Sioux Nation, were given to the Sioux by terms of the treaty that ended Red Cloud’s war. In 1874 Custer led a survey party into the Black Hills for purposes of siting a fort to protect Indian lands from illegal incursion by white prospectors, following rumors of gold deposits there. The fort was never sited or built. The Custer expedition’s most notable achievement confirmed the gold discovery. The following year the Black Hills were overrun by white miners. Terms of the treaty were cast aside on the bones of promises already broken. The Black Hills rang with the drum beat of war.
Next Week: The Custer Contradiction Part II
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
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