George Armstrong's Contributions To The Civil War

George Armstrong Custer was a United States cavalry officer who served with distinction in the American Civil War and was the youngest ever brevet brigadier general at age twenty-three (History.com Staff, 2009). Custer had various disciplinary issues throughout his career ranging from abandoning his post for romantic reasons to leaving the field without searching for a slain reconnaissance unit (History.com Staff, 2009). His expedition in 1874 that led to the discovery of gold, was in violation of the treaty of 1868 wherein the Black Hills were recognized to belong to the Sioux Nation. Custer was known to have a reckless temperament and was often at odds with superior officers. Nevertheless, as a Lieutenant Colonel assigned to the Seventh Cavalry Regiment out of Fort Riley, Kansas, Custer was tasked to lead the force against Sitting Bull’s alliance (History.com Staff, 2009).

Social. "The honor of his country weighed lightly in the scale against the glorious name of ‘Geo. A Custer’. The hardship and danger to his men were worthy of little consideration when dim visions of a star (promotion) floated before the excited mind of our Lieutenant-Colonel." T Ewert, Private 7th Cavalry. Custer was a glory hunter and would let nothing stand in his way. The pact that he had made with the Lakota meant nothing when it impeded the progression of his military career.

Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer led an Army expedition in the Black Hills (present-day South

The Peninsula, Va. Lt. George A. Custer with dog. 1862. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. www.loc.gov/item/cwp2003000100/PP/. Web. 28 Mar. 2017.

Cavalier in Buckskin, a book about George Armstrong Custer’s life up until his death on June 25, 1876 at the Battle of Little Bighorn, taught me many things about how Custer lived and acted. It also taught me a lot about Custers personality in battle which made me come to the conclusion that he was a very confident man in what he did and how he fought his battles which in turn possibly could have ended his life because overconfidence can be deadly.

“I have chosen guerrilla warfare to revenge myself for wrongs that I could not honorable revenge otherwise. I lived in Kansas when this war was commenced. Because I would n to fight the people of Missouri, my native State, the Yankees sought my life but failed to get me. [They] revenged themselves by murdering my father, [and] destroying all of my property.”

Colonel George Armstrong Custer was the man who started a battle with Sioux and Cheyenne Indians in 1876. The Government wanted the Indians land, but the Indians were reluctant to give it up. They wanted to Indians to give up their nomadic lives and live on reservations. This battle became the most famous conflict in the Plains Indians Wars. It was called the Battle of the Little Bighorn, or also known as Custer’s Last Stand. Custer teamed up with Major Marcus Reno and told him to go attack the Indians and Custer would back him up. Reno went down into the valley, cross the Little Bighorn river and attacked. Custer decided to do his own thing and left Reno and his men with no back up. Little did they know they were about to face two thousand armed Indians.

When we compare the military leaders of both North and South during the Civil War, it is not hard to see what the differences are. One of the first things that stand out is the numerous number of Northern generals that led the “Army of the Potomac.” Whereas the Confederate generals, at least in the “Army of Northern Virginia” were much more stable in their position. Personalities, ambitions and emotions also played a big part in effective they were in the field, as well as their interactions with other officers.

Ulysses graduated from his class and performed well as a captain during the Mexican War in 1846 to 1848, winning two citations for bravery and one for praiseworthy conduct. Ulysses was born in Point Pleasant Ohio to Jesse Root Grant, a tanner and

Following the civil war the Army was downsizing. Custer was a captain in the regular army. In July 1866 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel made second in command of the 7th Calvary at Fort Riley Kansas. As the settlers, along with the railroad, were pushing west, there were conflicts with Indians. Custer’s mission was to tract down these roving Indian, war parties. This was a new type of war for Custer. It was guerrilla warfare. Custer tried to track down the Indians as if they were the confederates. He would camp on hill tops so he could see all around him. At night, his men would build big fires. The Indians would see this and flee. This lack of success drastically brought the morale down in Custer and his men. Before long, a group of 15 men deserted, Custer ordered them to be tracked down and shot. He then went on a forced march with his men just so he could spend a day with his wife regardless of the repercussions to his career. Major General Hancock gave a court martial to Custer for the execution of his men without trial. Custer was suspended in pay for one year.v

After the Civil War ended, Custer was offered the rank of Lieutenant Colonel with the command of the 7TH Cavalry Regiment4. Custer served in many campaigns the U.S. Cavalry conducted including Major General Hancock’s campaign against the Cheyenne and the Battle of Washita River against the Black Kettle5.

Here is a little background on George Armstrong Custer. He was born December 5, 1839 in New Rumley, Ohio. Custer was known for leading his men against Lakota and Cheyenne warriors at the Battle of Little Bighorn and all his men ended up dying, but he remained to be one of the best generals to lead men in a war/battle. Custer was a very smart and knowledgeable man, but he wasn’t trusted by many others. “According to Reno’s own testimony, he did not trust Custer’s judgement; as a result,

Britain and the United States had a destructive relationship after Britain was defeated by the US in the Wars of Independence. In 1812, United States tried to take over Canada and failed. Britain did not like the invasion of the US and in 1814 Britain attacked and burned the Capitol in Washington. The states in the North of the United States didn’t like the idea of a possible takeover by Britain. The Northern states required high import fees and that hit Britain’s export trading hard.

The American Civil War is the bloodiest war in American history, claiming the lives of 720,00 solider and an indeterminable number of civilians. But these four years were a larger battle for survival against a third unseen enemy: disease. A battle that took two out of three soldiers from disease; most commonly pneumonia, dysentery, typhoid, tuberculosis, smallpox and malaria. Malaria was a constant threat to humans in all places with infected mosquitos. As seen in a census map of 1874, before the discovery of malaria’s transmitting host mosquitos, in the marshy land of the coast and rivers of the South malaria caused 14 percent of the deaths. Most at the time believed in the miasma theory where malaria was caused by bad air and humors. This threat indiscriminately effected both the Union and Confederacy as they struggled to produce and utilize the one proven aid; Quinine. With its’ chills, fevers, nausea, diarrhea, profuse sweating and headaches malaria would quickly debilitate a solider and possible lead to his death. Quinine was a crucial factor in the fate of the Civil War from its production, to its implementation and its power over the soldiers, leaders and civilians.

The American civil war that majorly involved wars amongst states took place between 1861 and 1865.The "union" was a term used at the Civil War in America with reference to the federal government of the U.S. The federal state was backed up by five border slave states and twenty free states. It, however, received opposition from the southern slave states that had decided to secede and join to form a confederacy. The civil war was, thus, between the North, which was referred to as the union, and the southern, which was advocating confederacy. The Union viewed confederacy as illegitimate and, hence, failed to recognize it. The major issue explaining the civil war is slavery, but there are other reasons for the war. In this excerpt, issues such as the slave trade, causes and effects of civil war, political interference in the civil, and solutions to the war will be discussed.