Buckskin coat
date: label: date made
content: ca 1870
name: label: wearer
content: Custer, George Armstrong
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description
label: Description
content: Double-breasted buckskin coat, with fringe on the pockets and collar and along the sleeves.
label: Description
content: Specific History
label: Description
content: This buckskin coat was worn by Custer when he was a lieutenant colonel with the 7th U.S. Cavalry in the Dakotas. It was one of several owned and worn by Custer, who preferred to dress like a frontiersman while out West.
label: Description
content: In 1912, Custer's widow, Elizabeth, donated this buckskin coat to the Smithsonian as a tribute to her husband.
label: Description
content: General History
label: Description
content: George Armstrong Custer was born in 1839 in New Rumley, Ohio; by 1857, he was enrolled as a cadet in the U.S. Military Academy at West Point upon appointment by a congressman. He graduated last in his class of thirty-four. During the Civil War, he became known for his fearlessness (some said recklessness) in battle; indeed, he was promoted to the rank of Major General by age twenty-five. He figured prominently in General Philip Sheridan's campaign in the Shenandoah Valley in 1864; at the surrender at Appomattox in April 1865, Sheridan gave Custer's wife Elizabeth the table on which the surrender was signed.
label: Description
content: After the war, George Custer reverted to the rank of captain. He was given command of the newly formed Seventh Cavalry in 1866 and elevated to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He gained a reputation as an Indian fighter who often ignored orders if they did not suit his sense of self-aggrandizement. His recklessness finally caught up to him on June 25, 1876, when he and his five cavalry companies were annihilated by a combined force of thousands of Sioux and Cheyenne warriors at Little Big Horn, Montana.
label: Description
content: In 1864, George Custer married Elizabeth (Libby) Bacon. Libby followed her husband on campaign during the Civil War, and even went with him to the frontier. After his death, she crusaded to perpetuate the image of her husband as a gallant soldier; to this end, she undertook speaking engagements and wrote several books.
label: Description
content: In 1912, she donated this coat to the Smithsonian in memory of her husband.
place: label: used in
content: United States: Montana
label: used in
content: United States: North Dakota
label: used in
content: United States: South Dakota
topic: label: related event
content: Indian Wars
label: related event
content: The Development of the Industrial United States
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Military
label: See more items in
content: Military
label: See more items in
content: Clothing & Accessories
label: See more items in
content: National Treasures exhibit
label: See more items in
content: ThinkFinity
label: Exhibition
content: Price of Freedom
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Kendrick, Kathleen M. and Peter C. Liebhold. Smithsonian Treasures of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Elizabeth B. Custer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AF.013044
label: catalog number
content: 13044
label: accession number
content: 54045
objectType: label: Object Name
content: coat
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: buckskin (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 27 in x 24 in; 68.58 cm x 60.96 cm