ipl-logo

George Armstrong Custer In The Civil War

1176 Words5 Pages

George Armstrong Custer’s role in the Civil War Dallin Hodgkin Mountain View High School What does a man have to do to leave a mark in world history? What kind of man does he have to be? The truth is that there are many ways that a man can be remembered. Perhaps to be a man of this nature you must face trials most likely leading to your impending doom, or maybe you have to simply be the one to forget the odds and keep on fighting. Many soldiers in U.S. history are remembered for these exact reasons. They are thought to be strong, brave, and willing to fight to the last man for their country. One such man was George Armstrong Custer. He affected the Civil War with his spirit, fighting, and legendary image. Custer grew up …show more content…

Officers started to take interest in Custer and at age 23 he was promoted to brigadier general (Custer 2014). His skills and determination had to be higher than most to receive such a promotion. From this feat, he earned himself the nickname “The Boy General (Urwin n.d.). Custer went on to fight in the battle of Gettyburg and prevent a weakening to the Union army (Custer 2014). Custer had a huge impact on the civil war because of this battle alone. In battles to come, he would even change his uniform to add his own personal flare to it (Custer 2014). This shows how Custer rode the thin line between bravery and stupidity, but in all honesty, those can be defining characteristics of a great general. Towards the end of the war he fought with his men in a cavalry raid (McNamara, n.d.). More and more people began to notice Custer and an artist by the name of Alfred Waud started to draw pictures of Custer and print them (McNamara, n.d.). Waud wrote "Custer charged and charged again here capturing and destroying trains and making many prisoners.” Custer continued to fight and helped end the war by cutting off General Lee’s last escape route (Custer 2014). He was a general filled with energy and bravery that is hard to find anywhere these …show more content…

It reviewed many facts about Custer’s life and showed many pictures of Custer himself. Through this article I was able to better understand Custer and what he really wanted to be, but at the same time I learned how confusing he was. The website I received this from is called “about education.” The author of the article is Robert McNamara who is a 19 century history expert. He has worked on many magazines and studied history and journalism at New York University. There was no date to be found but once again I believe that everything indicates that it is up to date. Sifakis, S. (n.d.). George Armstrong Custer Biography. Retrieved April 04, 2016, from http://www.civilwarhome.com/custerbi.html This was another great article that had a lot of information on Custer during his service in the war. I found lists of his battles and how he came out victorious. It also gave me a little image of how the war looked afterwards. It was a basic overview of everything I needed to know about Custer. The author of this article is Stewart Sifakis. Sifakis is very well qualified due to several books he has written on the Civil War. They contain basic but helpful information on the Civil War. This article was published in 2014 and is clearly up to

Show More
Related

  • Who Is Gouverneur Kemble Warren A Good Leader

    971 Words  | 4 Pages

    When he first was drafted into the war, and the Civil War was in its early stages and just about to erupt into an all out war, “In the years prior to the Civil War he worked with Andrew Humphreys on the Mississippi River, on transcontinental railroad surveys, and explored, surveyed, and mapped the trans-Mississippi West. At the start of the war he received a commission as a Lieutenant Colonel of Volunteers in the 5th New York Infantry Regiment, and by the fall he was a Colonel and regimental commander. Promoted to Brigadier General in September 1862 he served as Chief Topographical Engineer and then Chief Engineer, Army of the Potomac” (The “ Hero of Little Round Top,” Gouverneur K. Warren, USACE). So it is quite obvious that his prior knowledge of not only war strategies and tactics , but of the land of which the Battle of Gettysburg was held greatly helped him and the Union Army really lock down the victory of the Civil

    Read More

  • How Did Ulysses S. Grant Come To An End

    236 Words  | 1 Pages

    While he was serving under his generals he paid attention to their military actions and strategies and also their leaderships skills. He was then later known for his bravery when

    Read More

  • Overview Of Sitting Bull Champion Of The Sioux: A Biography, By Stanley Vestal

    557 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sitting Bull Champion of the Sioux: A Biography, by Stanley Vestal, is a great book to read for anyone wanting vivid, yet serious, insight of the lives of the Sioux Indians, or more specifically, one Sioux Indian, Sitting Bull. There are three sections in the book that describe three major time periods of Sitting Bull’s life. Each section focuses on a different time span. The author highly exceeds his goal of “writing the first biography of a great American Indian soldier and statesman in which his character and achievements are presented with the same care and seriousness they would have received had he been of European ancestry.” (xxi)

    Read More

  • Ulysses S. Grant Research Paper

    614 Words  | 3 Pages

    He then led the Northern Army to victory (Ulysses S Grant

    Read More

  • William Tecumseh Sherman Essay Outline

    522 Words  | 3 Pages

    William T. Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman was born in Ohio in 1820. He was named after Shawnee Chief Tecumseh. After graduating school William served in South Carolina and Georgia during the Mexican War. He later resigned from the army but then became superintendent of the military academy. Sherman joined the Union army during the Civil War.

    Read More

  • General Armstrong Custer's Last Stand

    503 Words  | 3 Pages

    Set in the backdrop of the Great Sioux War of 1876, the battle was led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull against the might of the American 7th Calvary, who suffered through terrible living conditions while on the Great Plains. As the documentary illustrated, Major Reno’s charge, which was made without the knowledge of the size of the Native American village, ignited the blood bath that ensued when the Lakota resisted fleeing and fought the men. Soon, the other Calvary forces charged into the trap that decimated the men and proved a major defeat, but the victory was short lived as these tribes, already weakened by the destruction of the buffalo, were corralled into reservations. In the aftermath of the slaughter, the media enhanced the arrogant actions of General Custer as a golden example of sacrifice in films and paintings, while highlighting the savage conduct of the Native Americans even though they were defensing their territory. The lawless landscape that emerged in the western towns from the lifeline of railroads were dominated by infamous outlaws within James-Younger gang that was pursued by Pinkertons, whose sole purpose was to bring an end to their disruptive robbing spree.

    Read More

  • Sitting Bull's Death: Grand River, South Dakota

    189 Words  | 1 Pages

    His education was hunting skills and learning how to survive. He was a very powerful man. He stood up to the U.S government. He earned Chief in his tribe. Sitting Bull held numerous war parties.

    Read More

  • Ulysses S. Grant The Unlikely Hero Summary

    277 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ulysses S. Grant, The Unlikely Hero by Michael Korda is a story about the life of Ulysses S. Grant. Grant became one of the first presidents to be elected without barely giving a speech. One lesson that can be learned from his life is that one shouldn't give into substance abuse. Grant’s habit of smoking eventually ended his life through throat cancer.

    Read More

  • How Did Jefferson Davis Impact On American History

    1184 Words  | 5 Pages

    Four years later, he graduated West Point twenty-third in a class of thirty-four(“Jefferson Davis Biography”). This shows that as a cadet, he was only average, if not considered below that. However, after graduating West Point, he was assigned the position of Second Lieutenant of the first infantry and participated in the fighting of the Blackhawk war of 1831 (“Early Military

    Read More

  • Battle Of Bighorn Analysis

    500 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Native Americans many times did not understand what the soldiers were doing, from this the Sioux became scared and fled. Furthermore, Reno’s battalion had coverage from the landscape which cause mass confusion, among both groups. From the eyes of George Henderson, the Native Americans truly never faltered; however, as it was mentioned they could not truly see the battalion. The one statement made from both sides was the Native Americans fled. Though no party considered the other weak, they both felt fear, both the battalion and the Native Americans became confused during this battle.

    Read More

  • Little Bighorn Mission Command Analysis

    1814 Words  | 8 Pages

    This village was likely between 6,000-7,000 Native Americans, with up to 2,000 warriors amongst them (Stewart, 2009). When Terry received reports of signs of this large village (albeit with no indication to the size of the force), he gave the order for Custer to pursue the village from the south while Gibbons maneuvered north, in order to interdict the fleeing Native Americans (Neumann, 2001). As a brief synopsis, the execution of the mission command philosophy is guided by the implementation of the six mission command principles: building cohesive teams through mutual trust, creating shared understanding, providing a clear commander’s intent, exercising disciplined initiative, using mission orders, and accepting prudent risk (Department of the Army, 2012). In the example of Custer’s infamous last stand, we will analyze his implementation of the principles of building cohesive teams through mutual trust, creating shared understanding, providing a clear commander’s intent, and accepting prudent

    Read More

  • How Did Colonel Shaw's Change In The Film Glory

    616 Words  | 3 Pages

    He showed the true characteristics of a leader and a hero doing so by believing in equality and his men's determination to fight for their

    Read More

  • How Did The Westward Expansion Affect The Lakota Sioux Tribe

    679 Words  | 3 Pages

    One group that the westward expansion affected greatly was the Lakota Sioux tribe. While Sioux derived from a word that meant “snake”, Lakota meant “friend”. Lakota is one of three major subdivision in the Sioux tribe, the others being the Dakota and Nakota tribes. One famous Lakota Sioux is Sitting Bull, who was affected by the westward expansion greatly.

    Read More

  • Why A Custer Executed Poor Mission Command During The Battle Of Little Bighorn

    569 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer executed poor mission command during the Battle of Little Bighorn by failing to create a shared understanding of the operational environment and exercise disciplined initiative. Custer was the commander of a battalion in the Battle of Little Bighorn during the Indian Wars1. Little Bighorn was the location of a nomadic village of Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes2. Custer approached the unified Indian village with his force of nearly 650 men from the east and south to act as a hammer. Following Custer’s advance, additional infantry and cavalry approached from the north to act as a blocking force or anvil in support of Custer's movements2.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of General Custer

    895 Words  | 4 Pages

    Article Reviewed Potts, J. B. (1994). General Custer and the Little Bighorn reconstruction-again. Journal of Military History, 58(2), 305-314. George Armstrong Custer joined 210 troopers in death at the hands of Sioux and Cheyenne warriors; but his famous last stand has lived on in public memory. Generations of historians, novelists, and poets, along with painters, illustrators, and motion picture and television producers, have made Custer the nation 's most remembered soldier and the Little Bighorn the most frequently depicted battle.

    Read More

More about George Armstrong Custer In The Civil War

Open Document