The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1934-11-30

etH1 W. was sorest. When, desperately pur-
hin1nnnrlNE suing he died on the heights above
ljllllIa the Little Big Horn, Glory, the per-
SQUUD1 W verse, relented and gave eternal
brilliance to his name"
So begins chapter one Of new 'nowit-can-
ba-told" Observation-Disclosures F. Van De Waters
"Clory Hunter" published recently by the Bobbs-
Merrill company. The "Glory Hunter" was
"George Armstrong Custer, Lieutenant Colonel,
7tb United States Cavalry, Brevet Major-General
United States Army, the Boy General with the
Golden Locks the 'Murat of the American
Army the good sword, the hero, the martyr"
Around his name has ragged endless contro-
versy, for he was the kind of man who seems
to have been capable of inspiring either the Bit
terest hatred or the blindest loyalty Chief among
the axemplars of the latter was of course, his
wife, "who was to devote the rest of her life to
adornment of her husbands memory" Long be-
fore his tragic death in 1876 there were those
who had reason to hate him but chose to hold
their tongues. After that event there were whis-
pers of suspicion but little, If any, fullvOiced
denunciation.
elizabeth Bacon's fifty-odd years of glorifica-
ton have enshrined her husband in the folklore
of America She proclaimed him hero and, since
she was his widow, men who thought otherwise
held their peace" Last spring she died, as did
Gen. E. S. Godfrey, another staunch defender of
Clusters name. Therefore 'now-it-can-be-told"
biography can appear without giving pain to
these two honored devotees to a partly true
legend.
If indeed, as the poet tells us, the child Is
father to the man, then several incidents in the
childhood of the boy who was born in New Rum
ley, Harrison county, Ohio, just 95 years ago
December 5, 1889 are significant of the man
he was to become When war with Mexico
threatened, his father Emanuel Custer. Joined the
"New Rumley Invincibles," militia company,
and provided his little son, "Autie," with min
iature replica of his uniform. One day the young
ster amazed his father by lifting his arm in imi-
tation of an older half-brother who had been
speaking piece" at school and declaiming in
his boyish treble my voice is for war!" For the
next 30 years "Autie" Clusters voice was to be
raised for war-to be heard in wild shrill
whooping in the forefront of hundred cavalry
charges"
The Clusters were staunch Jacksonan Demo
Gratis even though their community was FREEDOM
inantly Wing. One day Emanuel Custer took his
four-year-old son to the doctor to have tooth
pulled AS they left the office. the boy gave
bloody grin and, apropos of nothing exclaimed:
"Father you and me can lick all the Wings
in Ohio" In 1876 he felt the same way about
the Sioux in Montana and he died because of
that belief.
When he was four years old a new brother
worthy of mention If for no other reason than
that he was so different from the rest He lived
and died In peace farmer. Thomas w. Custer
appeared on the scene In 1S45, Boston Custer in
1S4S and Margaret Emma Custer in 1852. They,
especially Tom Custer became the first hero
worshipers to send their older brother on his pur-
suit Of glory and they were to share in the
tragic end of his quest, as was his halfsister,
Lydia, who in 1S49 married David Reed of Mon
A.. 1fow.
town on the shores of Lake Michigan, she took
"Autie" with her. He lived there off and on for
the next six or seven years and there he met
the girl Elizabeth Bacon. whom he was to marry
10 years later.
Returning to New Rumley again. Custer took
the first step in his glory-seekng career. Despite
his fathers strong Democratic principles and
consequent disapproval of his sons actions. Gus
ter was not ayerse to asking Republican con-
gresham to get him an appointment to the
United States Military academy at West Point.
Unsuccessful at first, Custer was so importunate
that finally John A. Bingham, the congressman,
gave it to him and on June 3. 1857, he entered
West Point. There he was "a defiant insubOrdi-
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 slovenly soldier and 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 class of thirty-four
1.-TWO years Of campaigning would turn West
Points Indifferent sloven into soldier" writes
van De Water. 1T would not change his sub
stance Battle that reconstructed Others sober
ing and deepening their spirits. would only sharp
EN- George Armstrong Custer. He would become
q keen weapon, terrible TO the enemy. difficult
for weak superior to WELD. yet lntrinsicaly he
would remain the raucous and reckless youngster
who had defed his parents to clasp the hand of