The Custer Story: The Life and Letters of General George A. Custer and His Wife Elizabeth

by Marguerite Merington (Editor), Elizabeth Bacon Custer, George Armstrong Custer

During separations enforced by the military, Lieutenant General George A. Custer and his wife, Elizabeth, corresponded about the Civil War, the perils of frontier life, and the chain of events that would lead to his tragic death at the Little Big Horn in Montana Territory. Their letters reveal the nuances of personal and political loyalties rarely expressed by historians and novelists. And they reveal a devotion rare among wartime marriages. He was her "Autie," her "Darling Boy," and she was his "Libbie," his "Darling Sunbeam."When Elizabeth Custer died in 1933, after fifty-seven years of widowhood, she left behind these treasured letters. Her friend and literary executor, Marguerite Merington, edited them, adding related materials and a thread of narrative reaching from Custer's birth on an Ohio farm to the final fury at the Little Big Horn.

Genres: History, Biography, Westerns, American Civil War, Nonfiction

351 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1987

Reviews

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

We all know the outcome of the Battle of the Little Big Horn but this book tells the story leading up to the battle using a collection of selected letters written by George Armstrong Custer, his wife Libbie, their parents, and a few others. It is an up-close-and-personal glimpse into a time and place that has become historical cliché.

There should be a photo of Libbie Custer next to the word "Optimist" in the dictionary. She is a master of the understatement which sometimes leads to her letters being [unintentionally] funny.

Libbie to Mrs. Sabin, 1866, near Fort Hays, Kansas:

Dear Aunt Eliza - I am never happier than when sleeping in a tent. It is so comfortable. Storms are our only trouble - thunder, lightning, freshies, wind. But our tent is well staked. We were at Ft. Leavenworth lately, but could not get back for three weeks, as a storm had destroyed culverts, railroad bridges, also six miles of the railroad.

Even after the road was repaired the country was flooded. There was another storm like it last week. It will cost the company about $4,000 to repair the damage.

Streams rise about a foot a minute. A few nights ago the creek near by began to rise. All hands were set to work to bring cook tent, dining and servant's tent up the hill, a rapid move at night.

There are drawbacks to Kansas, but it is a fine spot to begin life in, with good farming land.

There is some trouble with Indians, within twenty miles from us, coming down from the North. A part of the regiment is still in camp, so that I am not afraid, near such a large body of men.

Mails come irregularly, on account of freshies. also sometimes the Indians cut the tracks.

[noreast_bookreviewsnh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Custer Story : The Life and Intimate Letters of General George A Custer and His Wife Elizabeth - edited by Marguerite Merington
.
.
A treasure trove of personal correspondence following the incredible life and rise of an American icon George Armstrong Custer. Born in Ohio and raised in Monroe, Michigan, Custer would attend West Point and graduate in 1861 at the outbreak of the Civil War as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US cavalry. Custer would achieve great success during the Civil War as an audacious and risk taking fighter and would rise to the rank of Brevet Major General whilst only being in his early 20’s. After the war Custer would be assigned to restoring order throughout the south and protecting rail lines for the new railroads going west. He would again gain great acclaim as an expert Indian fighter in the west culminating in his unfortunate demise at the Battle of Little Bighorn along with his entire troop of over 200 men while engaged with a large group of Sioux and Cheyenne Indians led by Sitting Bull in 1876 in Montana. This book gives intimate detail of his life and deeds through firsthand letters between him and his wife Elizabeth, as well as many letters between Custer and military leaders of the period (Sheridan, Sherman, Nelson Miles, Alfred Terry). Highly recommend!
.
.
#bookstagram #read #book #bookreview #custer #littlebighorn #indian #indianwars #west #civilwar #civilwarhistory #westpoint #georgearmstrongcuster #generalcuster #union

[Ó Ruairc · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of letters written by Custer and his wife, Elizabeth. Most of the letters contained in the book are missives that husband and wife wrote to each other; however, the reader will also find letters written by the Custers to other people: relatives, friends, and associates.

Though there are a few notes in parenthesis, this particular book should have explanatory footnotes for every letter. While perusing the correspondences, the reader comes across a lot of names that are quite unfamiliar. Footnotes explaining who these people were would have made this book all the more engaging. There may be a similiar book somewhere that does this, but this one does not.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Copies of letters between George Armstrong Custer and his wife Elizabeth. They help define Custer's character and ego. These letters are good background regarding Custer's character.