author
George A. (George Armstrong) Custer
1839–1876
A flamboyant cavalry officer who became one of the most famous and controversial figures of the American frontier, he rose with startling speed during the Civil War and met his end at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. His life has long sat at the center of debates about heroism, ambition, and the violence of westward expansion.
1 Audiobook
My life on the plains : or, personal experiences with Indians
by George A. (George Armstrong) Custer
About the author
Born in New Rumley, Ohio, in 1839, George Armstrong Custer graduated from West Point in 1861, just as the Civil War began. He quickly gained a reputation for fearless, aggressive leadership and, while still very young, rose to the rank of brevet major general in the Union Army.
After the war, he served with the 7th U.S. Cavalry during the campaigns against Native nations on the Plains. His career brought him fame, but also lasting controversy because of the role he played in the U.S. Army's wars of expansion.
Custer died in 1876 at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in present-day Montana Territory. Since then, he has remained a powerful and disputed figure in American history, remembered both for his battlefield daring and for the larger conflict and tragedy surrounding his final campaign.