The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1876-08-04
THE KNIGHrLY CUSTER.
His Military Character and Career-The
Greatest Cavairy Leader Of His Time.
To the Editor Of the Philadelphia Times

His Military Character and Career-The
Greatest Cavairy Leader of His Time.
To the Editor Of the Philadelphia Times.
Before the tragic death of George A..
Custer becomes a tale Of yesterday it is
due to the memory of one of the most
gallant soldiers our army has ever produced
that we should reach a fairly just estimate
of his character and service. If this COM
munication shall contribute in any degree
to such result shall be gratifed. 1t was
my fortune to serve under General Custer
til ses He day lie
assumed command of division Of Sheri-
dams famous Cavalry Corps until the close
of the war. The regiment which I coni-
manded (the Second Ohio Cavalry hap
pened to be peculiarly effective one,
owing to the exceptional character of it's
rank and file, and for this reason it was
called on by General Custer, uneomfortably
| often, to lead an attack and to cover q
DAM gerous retreat. This frequently gave
peculiar opportunities to judge on the spot
of the correctness of our Generals fore
sight, the effectiveness of his plans of
action and his conduct on the field.
| Tt must be remembered that in fighting
with cavalry, which was Clusters forte,
instantaneous quickness of eye-that is,
the lightning-like formation and execution
Of successive correct judgments on a rap
ly-shifting situation-is the first thing,
and the second is the power of inspiring
the troopers with that impetuous yet intel
ligent ardor with which mounted brigade
becomes a thunderbolt, and without which
it remains a useless mass of horses and
riders. These qualities General Custer
seemed to me to manifest, throughout the
hard fighting Of the last year of the war,
to degree that was simply astounding,
and i'll manner that marked him as one
of the few really great cavalry commanders
developed by the wars of the present cen
tury. OF tear, IN the sense of death or
bodily harm, he was absolutely destitute !;
yet his love of life and family and home
was keen and constant, leaving no room in
his nature for desperation, recklessness or
conscious rashness. In handling his divis-
ion under SheIidan's general oversight, he
seemed to act always on the belief that in
campaigning with cavalry, when a certain
work must be done, audacity is the truest
caution, and with hardly an exception, that
recall this belief, with Custer to illustrate
it, proved well grounded, as it did with
Sheridan on a larger scale.
In action, when all was going well and
success was only a question of little time
or Of steady pounding" General Custer
did not unnecessarily expose himself, but
until the tide of battle had been turned in
the right direction, and especially when
disaster threatened, the foremost point in
our divisions line was almost invariably
marked by the presence of Custer, his
waving division tri-color and his plucky
staff. How he ever escaped alive from the
showers of balls and the bursting shell
which his standard and his advanced posi-
tion attracted never could quite compre-
hend. Had he fallen at such time many
would have blamed the I" rashness !" which
thus exposed an officer of his rank and
command but he did not fall, while the
example and inspiration of his presence On
the skirmish line turned the scale in many
an unrecorded engagement.
Although in his own command General
Custer had the reputation of being always
ready to fight, and dead cavalrymen in the
Army of the Potomac were no longer
novelty where his victorious regiments
marched, yet think the official records
will show that in no instance did his
abounding courage lead his command into
disaster or serious unnecessary loss. On
the other hand the history of his Third
Cavalry Division is from beginning to end
record of continuous and brilliant sue
cesses-a perfect epic of victorious war.
General Custer Judgment in civil affairs
was not faultless. The manner of his brief
political afiliation with Andrew johnson
was in thoroughly bad taste, but this can
not affect our estimate of his abilities as
soldier, or dim the lustre of his splendid
service to his country. He was not a
Napoleon. He himself never dreamed of
being fitted to do the work that was done
by Grant OF Sheridan but, for the COM
mand of ten thousand cavalry in the field,
with definite work to do, he probably has
had no superior at any time or in any land.
The purity of General Custer's life and the |
soldierly uprightness of his character were
not less marked than his military ability
and success. If he was prominently a
knight without fear, he was equally a /
knight without reproach.
Shortly after the capitulation at Apo
mattox. General Sheridan presented to the |
wife of General Custer the table on which |
Lee had signed the terms of surrender and |
in the accompanying letter used these
strong words: &C know of no person more |
instrumental in bringing about this most
desirable event than your own most gallant |
husband = Custer was Skeridan's right |
arm, and making all due allowance for the
chiefs fresh enthusiasm over his lieuten-
ants then recent exploits, the. language of /
the Lieutenant General has significance
that neither official jealousy nor private
malice can hope TO impair.
A major-general Of wide and splended
fame at twenty five, and now slain at thirty
six, the gallant Custer had already lived
long II life be measured by illustrious deeds;
and no matter where may be the blame for
his cruel slaughter, he Willnot have died in
vain if tile sacrifice of himself and his noble
comrades shall burn into the consciousness
Of the nation these truths First. That
our whole Indian policy is fundamentally
absurd and o crime against both races
second, that two absolute sovereignties can
not and should not exist In the same terri-
tory at the same time third, that the saw
aue lAWless and tribal nontlIaf ion altelnafa-