The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1941-12-27
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Porfrait Of a Hero.

GOftFutt VI q ASFOs
One Of the unsolved mysteries Of
history Is how Custer hurdled the
military promotion system and over.
night rose from a mere lieutenant
to a general All anyone knows
Is that he returned to headquarters
one day after being out on mis-
sion. and chufns greeted him as
General Custer thought they
we're kidding. because he always
boasted that he'd be a general be-
fore the war was over, and he was
all set to start punching. One Of
his friends grabbed him BY the arm
and took him to his tent where he
found an envelope containing bis
commission addressed to Briga-
der General George Armstrong
Custer" Custer, who was only
q years old. turned pale and passed
out cold.
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Custer Is the man who turned the
tide Of the Civil war by saving the
Union army from defeat at Gettys-
burg. At the time Of the Battle Of
Gettysburg he was about Is miles
away. His brigade had been or
dered (along with the rest Of the
cavalry TO wait at Big Roundtop,
where deb Stuart and his Confed.
crates were expected 10 attack i.
Stuart fooled the Yankees BY at,
lacking from the opposite direction
instead Hearing Stuart's gun
fire. Custer disobeyed the orders he
had received. headed straight to-
ward the sound Of the guns and,
charging four times. stopped the
Confederate forces dead IN their
tracks s. But for Clusters trigger
thinking. the Union armies would
have been routed at Gettysburg
The bitter irony is that the man
who was defeated because Of Gus.
ter's coup) was Fitzhugh Lee, the
divisional commander Of the Con.
federate attack. Lee was the in.
structor who had saved Custer from
being expelled from West Point by
reducing his dement's.
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One Of the greatest military wiz
ards Of an time. Custer was almost
expelled from West Point for hav.
ing the worst record" Of any stu.
dent there Any cadet who
gets 100 dement's lover a period Of
six months) IS automatically tossed
out Of the military academy. Dur.
ing his first half year at West Point
Custer piled up l29 dement's. Gle
was saved By sympathetic instruc-
tor who reduced thern) In his
studies he was at the bottom Of his
class. and probably the only reason
he was graduated was that the Civil
war started and the Union army
needed officers.
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Custer always believed in lighting
an enemy when he saw one, with
out stopping to consider the cosi
When he was a kid, he once
attended a dance ard noticed one
Of his enemies poking fun at hin
outside by making faces and ges-
lures through the window Gus,
ter rushed up to the window anc
pushed his fist right through the
pane into the guys snoot
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Custer was q Snowman who knew
how to do things in a manner thai
hit people between the eyes. At the
end Of the Civil war, the army pa.
raded Ia review before the Presi
dent AID other dignitaries in front Of
the White House Just as be
approached the reviewing stand. bis
horse reared and started to run
away. With flourish, Custer
mastered il and onlookers cheerec
wildly as Custer gailoped back int
his place IN line and passed the re.
viewing stand a second time
He insisted Il was So accident bui
rivals argued that his horse neve,
acted up before or after that parade
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II took a menth TO make Custer
last stand for the film, They Died
With Their Boots On Histori.
ans believe the actual battle couIdn'i
have lasted more than from hall tc
three-quarters Of an hour. Clusters
men were so hopelessly oumurn.
bered Although Sitting Bun i:
usually credited with having beer
IN charge Of the massacre, aetualEy
he was as far away from the battle
as bis horse could get him. AS soou
as he heard Of Clusters defeat Sit
ting Bull returned, claiming that
he had been in the hills using his
power with the Indian gods to bring
about victory The Indians
didn't know until after the battle