George Armstrong Custer

Epic card · No. 7559

George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated in 1861 from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, last in his class. Custer's initial class had consisted of 108 candidates of whom 68 men passed the entrance exam. However, following the start of the American Civil War, many of Custer's classmates departed the academy in a series of resignations to fight for their respective states. By his graduation date, Custer ranked 34th among 34 remaining classmates. Nonetheless, Custer achieved a higher military rank than any other U.S. Army officer in his class. Following graduation, he worked closely with future Union Army Generals George B. McClellan and Alfred Pleasonton, both of whom recognized his abilities as a cavalry leader. He was promoted in the early American Civil War (1861–1865) to brevet brigadier general of volunteers at the...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Photographer is Mathew Brady (died 1896) and his field staff, Public domain