CUSIER
CUSTER
sand liorsemen, held in check, with the aid of a
few batteries, 20 000 Coufederate troops flushed
with the victory of the niorniBg, and the cavalry
thus allowed the demoralized Federal infantry to
reform behind their effective sabres, when or-
dered to do so by Sheridan as he came up at the
end of his historic ride. Custer's jiart in this
fight won for him the brevet of major-general of
volunteers a few months later. His division of
4600 men joined in the last raid of Sheridan and
on March 2, 1865, at Waynesboro, Va., he met
and overpowered Early, taking eleven guns, 200
wagons, 1600 prisoners and seventeen battle
flags. The news of his prowess secured from the
mayor of Charlotteville the keys of the town as
he approached the place, and the next meeting
with Early at Frederickshall Station nearly re-
sulted in the capture of the Confederate leader.
The battles of Five Forks and Dinwiddle Court
House were further witnesses of his valor and he
received for the services there rendered the
brevet of brigadier-general in the U.S. army to
date from March 13, 1865. In the pursuit of Lee"s
army he received the first flag of truce with
overture for surrender and he was one of the
officers present at the surrender at Appomattox,
receiving as souvenirs of the occasion the towel
used as a flag of truce and the table on which the
agreement for surrender was written. In gen-
eral orders addressed to his troops from Appo-
mattox, April 9, 1863, he recounted as among
their achievements in the past six months " the
capture in open battle of 111 field- j^ieces, 65 bat-
tle-flags, upwards of 10,000 prisoners including
seven general officers," and the record of having
"never lost a gun or a color" and of having
"never been defeated."' He took part in the
grand review at Washington and was -then or-
dered to Texas, where he was mustered out of
the service as major general of volunteers. He
then asked for a year's leave of absence in order
to accept from President Juarez the position of
chief of cavalry, in the struggle of the republic
of Mexico against Maximilian, but the govern-
ment refused and he rejoined his regiment, the
7th cavalry, at Fort Riley, Kansas. In the spring
of 1867 he joined General Hancock's expedition
against the Cheyenne Indians, his first experi-
ence in Indian warfare, and he closed the cam-
paign by defeating them at Washita river, Nov.
27, 1868, killing one hundred and three warriors
and taking prisoners fifty-three squaws and
children, almost annihilating the band and forc-
ing the remnant back to their reservation. In
March, 1873, his regiment was ordered to Dakot--^
to guard the Northern Pacific railroad construc-
tion and here he first met the hostile Sioux. In
July, 1874, he headed an expedition to the Black
Hills, and in the spring of 1876 formed a part of
the expedition under General Terry sent against
the Sioux tribe, when he was directed to take his
regiment up the Rosebud river to the head
waters of the Little Big Horn to co-operate with
General Gibbon's command sent up the Big Horn,
another tributary of the Yellowstone. The plan
was to surround the Indians and prevent their
escape. At 8 a.m., June 25, 1876, he had made
seventy-three miles and had crossed the divide
between the Rosebud and the Little Big Horn
rivers, when he separated his foi-ce into three
commands, one under Major Reno, another with
Captain Benteen in command, and with the five
remaining companies he moved up the right
bank of the Little Big Horn, expecting the other
commands to operate on either flank of the In-
dian village when discovered. He struck the
Sioux village of 9000 warriors in the centre and
it extended one and one quarter miles to his
right and left. Reno's division had reached the
village on the extreme left, given battle and
retreated before Custer came up. and the Sioux
greatly outnumbering his little force drove him
from point to point, annihilating company after
company. Finally, left with only forty officers
and men. Custer fought the unequal battle for
three hours and all were slain. The general's re-
mains were removed to the U.S. cemetery at West
Point, N. Y. , in 1877. He published My Life on the
Plains (1872). He died on the battle-field of the
Little Big Horn. Mont., June 25, 1876. His wife,
Elizabeth (Bacon), whom he married in Feb-
ruary, 1864; has published Boots and Saddles
(1885); Tenting on the Plains (1888); and Fol-
loicing the Guidon (1890).
CUSTER, Thomas Ward, soldier, was born in New Rumley, Ohio, March 15, 1845; son of Emmanuel H. and Maria (Ward) Kirkpatrick Custer. Being but sixteen years old and small of stature when the civil war began he failed in all his efforts to enlist until late in 1863, when an Ohio infantiy regiment received him as a private and he served in the west. His brother. Gen. George A. Custer, then in the army of the Poto- mac, succeeded in having him appointed on his staff as an aide-de-camp and he was commis- sioned second lieutenant in the 6th Michigan cavalry, to date from Nov. 8, 1864. He rode by the side of his famous brother in many cavalry charges and at Namozine Church, April 2. 1865, he captured a Confederate flag. He took a simi- lar trophy during the battle at Sailor's Creek, April 6, and in the encounter was severely wounded in the face by the discomfited color- bearer. L^ndertaking to charge the enemy a sec- ond time he was ordered by his brother to the rear to have his wounds dressed, and not l)eing obeyed, the general placed the brave boy undA»- arrest. Congress awarded him a medal for thi&
