Who was General George Custer?

George Custer, the infamous brigadier general who died at the Battle of Little Big Horn, has been a national icon since the horrific battle in Eastern Montana.  What most people do not know is that George Custer was a romantic, arrogant and a rebellious man at heart.  Mr. Custer fell in love with Elizabeth Bacon in 1862 but did not receive consent from her father to marry until 1864.  Custer would write Elizabeth, or Libby, love letters saying “I would sacrifice every earthly hope to gain your love”.  George was also a very arrogant man.  He would often attack enemy forces much larger than his own because he did not fear his own death; in fact, he enjoyed the thrill of putting his life at risk.  He would go on to explain his feelings when finding part of his regiment slaughtered by natives in his book “My Life on the Plains”: “How painfully, almost despairingly exciting must have been this ride for life!  A mere handful of brave men struggling to escape the bloody clutches of the hundreds of red-visaged demons who, mounted on their well-trained war ponies, were straining every muscle to reek their hands in the life-blood of their victims.”  Lastly, Custer was not an obedient soldier as he often disobeyed his commanding officer.  A God-like complex had been growing in Custer since his early years as he had eluded countless near death experiences unscathed.  This attitude almost led to a court-martial as Custer once left his men without warning to go meet his wife.  General Custer will always remain a prominent historical figure as he was one of the leaders in the American West.

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