The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1934-12-07

nate cadet, forever in trouble and as constantly
on the verge of more. >. The impartial voice
Of the Academy records portrays George ARM
strong Custer as a sovenly soldier and a deplor-
able student" The approaching crisis of the Civil
war resulted In the academy's fve-year course
being compressed into four and two classes were
graduated In 1S61-one in April and another in
June. Custer was in the latter group his stand
ing being thirty-fourth in a class of thirty-four.
1.-TWO years of campaigning would turn West
Points Indifferent sloven into a soldier" writes
Van De Water. at would not change his SUBJ
stance. Battle that reconstructed others, sober
ing and deepening their spirits, would only sharp
en- George Armstrong Custer. He would become
a keen weapon, terrible to the enemy. difficult
for a weak superior to WELD yet intrnsicaly he
would remain the raucous and reckless yOungster
who had defied his parents to clasp the hand Of
political foe and had been the Academy's
chronic insurgent His nature was bright and
volatile, yet durable past the power even Of war
to alter"
1t was during these two years that the tradi-
ton of Clusters luck began. For nothing else
but luck could have made him brigadier-general
at the age of twenty three, the youngest in the
army. q. At least the historians have never
been able to find any good reason why in 1862
he should have been advanced from first lieu
tenancy in the Fifth cavalry to the command Of
the Second brigade of the Third division, rocket
ing past the ranks Of captain, major, lieutenant
colonel and colonel True, he distinguished him
self in wild charge at Gettysburg but at least
twice thereafter he narrowly escaped annihila-
ton at the hands of that cavalry genius in gray,
Jeb Stuart.
The appointment of Phil Sheridan as chief Of
the Union cavalry gave Custer his chance for
fame. 1T was Sheridan who overlooked insubor-
dinations by Custer with unwonted charity. -. 4.
Here was no strategist but tireless body and
mind as hungry for war as bent bow. Custer
was a weapon that Sheridan knew how to use"
He used him in the raids which devastated the
Shenandoah valley where Custer seems to have
learned willingly enough the lessons Of ruthless
ness so necessary to those who engage in the
dirty business Of making war.
By the spring of 1865 he had become MAJOR
general and it was Clusters luck" again which
enabled him to be Sin at the death" For it was
Custer and his cavalry who swooped down upon
Appomattox Station and slammed shut the door
to Lees only avenue of retreat After Lees sur
render, Custer issued the oftquoted congratu-
latory general order to his Third division, whose
record he declared was unparalleled in the
annals of war;"
This is more ornate but scarcely more accu-
rate than other battlefield procamations," says
his biographer whose calm analysis of the rec
ord shows that 1t was much less remarkable
tndH the nerO-WOrSnlperS would nave us DeneVe.
While admitting that Custer was flair tactician
and a smart disciplinarian and as physically
a valiant man as ever drew sword" summing
up of the evidence leads inevitably to the con-
clusion that George Armstrong Custer had few,
II any, of the qualities which make really great
commander and 1t is doubtful If he can be set
down an outstanding cavalry leader in the
same class with Stuart and Forrest of the Con-
federate army or Sheridan, Merritt and Torbert
Of the Union army.
His weaknesses as 8 commander became even
more apparent in his Indian fighting days than
in his Civil war career When he became heu-
tenant-colonel Of the newly organized Seventh
cavalry and busted himself with molding that
outfit into what he believed cavalry regiment
should be, the strict discipline which he en-
forced and his callous disregard for the well
fare Of his men brought him close to disaster.
In September, 1857 he was court martialed at
Fort Leavenworth on seven charges, the most
serious being that he had deliberately dsobeyed
orders of his superior officer. General Hancock,
had deserted his command In the midst Of hos
tile Indian country to hurry to Fort Riley where
the cholera was raging and from which his be-
loved wife was writing letters filed with lonef-
ness and terror and that he had ordered some
of his officers to shoot down without mercy de-
serters from the regiment
Former Custer biographers have either ignored
passed lightly over this court martial. but the
fact remains that Custer was found guilty on
all seven charges suspended from rank and com
mand for year and his pay for that time for
feited But before the year had passed Sheridan,
who had more than once overlooked Custer In
subordination. came to his rescue. campaign
against the hostile Indians under General Sully