The Last Days of George Armstrong Custer Read Online Free PDF Page B

standing-room-only congregation of witnesses. Reverend Erasmus J. Boyd, who served as principal at the seminary where Libbie had attended school, performed the ceremony, assisted by Reverend D. C. Mattoon.
    Custer, with hair cut short and wearing his dress uniform, chose his adjutant Jacob Greene as best man. Libbie wore a traditional gown, described by her cousin, Rebecca Richmond, as “a rich white rep silk with deep points and extensive trail, bertha of point lace; veil floated back from a bunch of orange blossoms fixed above the brow.” Libbie was given away by her father, who later boasted, “It was said to be the most splendid wedding ever seen in the State.” The judge also said: “Elizabeth has married entirely to her own satisfaction and to mine. No man could wish for a son-in-law more highly thought of.”
    The wedding party was whisked away in sleighs with bells jingling for a reception in the Bacon parlor that was attended by more than three hundred guests. The judge provided a generous buffet of delicacies that featured tubs of ice cream.
    The bridal party—four couples—boarded a train at midnight and arrived in Cleveland at nine the following morning. After an afternoon reception and an evening party hosted by friends, Armstrong and Libbie traveled to Buffalo, then on to Rochester, where they attended a performance of Uncle Tom’s Cabin . The honeymoon continued with calling on Libbie’s upstate New York relatives and a trip down the Hudson River to visit West Point, on to New York City, and finally to Washington, D.C., where the Custers dined with Michigan members of Congress and other dignitaries.
    Custer then returned to duty to command a dangerous diversionary mission into enemy territory during the ill-fated Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid on Richmond. The plan called for a force commanded by Hugh Judson Kilpatrick to free prisoners held in Richmond as well as cause general mayhem. Meanwhile, Custer would draw Jeb Stuart’s forces away from the Confederate capital, a mission he capably executed. The raid was a miserable failure, however, costing the Union 340 men killed, wounded, or captured. Papers found on Ulric Dahlgren, who was killed, instructed the raiders to burn the city and kill President Jefferson Davis. The Southerners were incensed by this plan, which inspired within them a renewed fighting spirit. Custer was commended for his actions, which was little consolation.
    Major General Philip Sheridan assumed command of the cavalry and convinced Grant to change the mission of his force from support to active operations. Grant obliged, and Sheridan planned as his first mission the elimination of the legendary Jeb Stuart, whose cavalry had been such a thorn in the side of the Union.
    May 1864 saw Custer victories in the Wilderness, at Beaver Dam Station, and on May 11 at Yellow Tavern he personally led the charge that resulted in the death of Jeb Stuart. An elated Sheridan, who would be Custer’s mentor throughout his army career, was compelled to say, “Custer is the ablest man in the Cavalry Corps.”
    Custer’s momentum was somewhat slowed the following month at Trevilian Station. Custer always exhibited an aggressive spirit of competition when facing any of them across the field of battle, his best friend, Tom Rosser, in particular. But it was Rosser who bested Custer at the June 11–12 battle of Trevilian Station. Custer’s brigade became trapped between two Rebel divisions—“on the inside of a living triangle”—struck from behind by Rosser. Custer eventually fought his way out but left behind in Rosser’s possession his adjutant and his cook, as well as the trappings of his headquarters—wagons, bedding, field desk, clothing, cooking outfit, spare horse, his commission to general, his letters from Libbie, and an ambrotype of her.
    Custer was not demoralized by the loss, however. After this battle, Custer wrote to