GEORGE A CUSTER | Indian Fighter | Civil War Cavalry
George A. Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn
George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 - June 25, 1876) was a United States Army cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. Promoted at an early age to a temporary war-time rank of Major General, and later made a permanent Lt. Colonel, he was a flamboyant and aggressive commander during numerous Civil War battles, known for his personal bravery in leading charges against opposing cavalry. He led the Michigan Brigade whom he called the "Wolverines" during the Civil War. He was defeated and killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, against a coalition of Native American tribes comprised almost exclusively of Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapahoe warriors, and led by the Sioux chiefs Crazy Horse and Gall and by the Hunkpapa seer and medicine man, Sitting Bull. This confrontation has come to be popularly known and enshrined in American history as Custer's Last Stand.
Books about George Armstrong Custer on Amazon
Custer's Last Stand
George Armstrong Custer early life
Custer was born in New Rumley, Ohio, to Emanuel Henry Custer (1806-1892), a farmer and blacksmith, and Marie Ward Kirkpatrick (1807-1882). [1] Throughout his life Custer was known by a variety of nicknames. He was called alternately Autie (his early attempt to pronounce his middle name), Armstrong, Fanny, or Curley. When he went west, the Plains Indians called him Yellow Hair and Son of the Morning Star. His brothers Thomas Custer and Boston Custer died with him at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, as did his brother-in-law and nephew. His other full siblings were Nevin Custer and Margaret Custer, plus he had several older half siblings.
The Custer family had emigrated to America in the late 17th century from Westphalia, Germany. Their surname originally was "Küster". George Armstrong Custer was a great great grandson of Arnold Küster from Kaldenkirchen, Duchy of Jülich (today North Rhine-Westphalia state), who settled in Hanover, Pennsylvania.
Custer's mother's maiden name was Marie Ward. At the age of 16, she married Israel Kirkpatrick, who died in 1835. She married Emanuel Henry Custer in 1836. Marie's grandparents, George Ward (1724-1811) and Mary Ward (nee Grier) (1733-1811), were from County Durham, England. Their son James Grier Ward (1765-1824) was born in Dauphin, Pennsylvania and married Catherine Rogers (1776-1829), and their daughter, Marie Ward, was Custer's mother. Catherine Rogers was a daughter of Thomas Rogers and Sarah Armstrong, which is the source of Custer's middle name.
George Custer's Seventh Cavalry - George A. Custer
General George Armstrong Custer
GA Custer
Family life
The Custer family had emigrated to America in the late 17th century from Westphalia, Germany. Their surname originally was "Küster". George Armstrong Custer was a great great grandson of Arnold Küster from Kaldenkirchen, Duchy of Jülich (today North Rhine-Westphalia state), who settled in Hanover, Pennsylvania.
Custer's mother's maiden name was Marie Ward. At the age of 16, she married Israel Kirkpatrick, who died in 1835. She married Emanuel Henry Custer in 1836. Marie's grandparents, George Ward (1724-1811) and Mary Ward (nee Grier) (1733-1811), were from County Durham, England. Their son James Grier Ward (1765-1824) was born in Dauphin, Pennsylvania and married Catherine Rogers (1776-1829), and their daughter, Marie Ward, was Custer's mother. Catherine Rogers was a daughter of Thomas Rogers and Sarah Armstrong, which is the source of Custer's middle name.
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