Custer was already famous for his exploits during the Civil War, but his attack at the Washita made his reputation as an Indian fighter. An attack on a sleeping village, the killing of twenty women and children and a handful of warriors would seem a pretty slim basis on which to build a western military reputation, but reputation in the wake of the Civil War was more about self-promotion than soldiering. Custer was a master of self-promotion. He already had a clear path to follow. Sam Patch, Davy Crockett, and P. T. Barnum had pioneered American celebrity. Custer followed them.
