Ohio History Journal

634      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications CUSTER, THE MAN OF ACTION ADDRESS BY COLONEL RALPH D. COLE* Mr. Chairman, Fellow Citizens, Ladies and Gentlemen: The character of a man is determined by the reaction of his natural endowments to the spirit of the age in

which he lives. If he has the power "to breast the blows of circumstance," the courage to accept the challenge * Delivered at New Rumley, Harrison County, Ohio, on the 22nd day of June, 1932, on the occasion of the dedication of a monument to the mem- ory of General George Armstrong Custer.

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George Armstrong Custer          635

of his time, he rises to the mastery of himself, is able to

meet and overcome all emergencies that beset the path-

way of life, and to enjoy the lasting esteem of his fellow-

men.

General George Armstrong Custer had both the

courage and power to challenge and conquer in every

crisis; even his death removed the last barrier to national

progress "as westward the course of civilization has

taken its way." This uncounted multitude of his coun-

trymen assembled, after the lapse of two generations, to

dedicate this monument to his memory, is proof of his

exalted place among American immortals.

Character of General Custer

General Custer lived in a time of tragic conflict,

when elemental human forces were engaged in a mortal

struggle to achieve a new and nobler estate, when com-

promise had lost its power to pacify, when the coolness

of deliberation had changed to the heat of passion, and

the scene was transferred from the forum of debate to

the arena of war. This was an age of action. But these

circumstances alone cannot account for the qualities of

his character nor the brilliancy of his achievements. The

career of General Custer is the unmistakable mark of a

man of destiny, endowed with the genius of heroic

action, living in an age of "irrepressible conflict."

Among his many sterling qualities the genius of action,

fearless, bold, amazing action, stands forth as his chief

characteristic, luminous as the sun, dominant and

supreme.

These traits of character--courage and power--the

primary elements of a life of action, were revealed in

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636      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications early youth. As a junior member of the local militia, young Custer studied in the school of the soldier and un- der the instructions of his father learned the manual of arms and executed the orders with commendable skill. Like other boys of the pioneer period, he attended school

in winter and ran errands and did chores for his parents in the summer. Until his sixteenth year he lived the life that was typical of a normal American boy. The celerity of his intellectual development is shown by the fact that he qualified as a teacher at that early age, but his rest- less spirit could not be content in the cloistered retreat of

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George Armstrong Custer         637

student or teacher. The urge of destiny, impelling, con-

trolling, directing, was upon him.

Cadet at West Point

War clouds hung on the horizon and he must pre-

pare to meet the coming storm. He appealed to his con-

gressman, the Hon. John A. Bingham, for an appoint-

ment to West Point. Though of different political faith,

the personal appeal was sustained with such sincerity of

purpose that his application was approved and he entered

the military academy at the age of seventeen. In later

life, in commenting on his record at the academy, he

said, "There was little to excite the emulation of future

students." He stood at the foot of his class, but let not

the indolent seek solace from his example. His stand-

ing as a student was not the result of idleness, but of

excessive energy, the boundless love of life and action

that chafed under the curb of discipline. As the gallant

steed that needs its head with unchecked rein to win

the race, so the genius of General Custer demanded free-

dom of action to unfold its magic power. He knew that

success in life depended upon the acquisition of useful

knowledge and the ability to apply it in practical affairs.

Napoleons are not made at school. Schools are neces-

sary to store the mind with knowledge and harmonize

mental processes with the laws of logic; but men of

action know that it is "in the flaming forge of human

experience our fortunes must be wrought." Genius is a

law unto itself in the fulfillment of its destiny. The

talents of General Custer demanded the freedom of the

field and not the chamber of scholastic leisure in their de-

velopment. But he did learn the fundamentals of mili-

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638      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

tary science and tactics and thus equipped, faced a war-

ring world.

Custer in the Civil War

The life of General Custer is identified with and a

part of two great epochs in the annals of the Republic;

the Civil War for the preservation of the Union and the

Indian wars on the western plains to make possible its

expansion into a continental empire. Fortune smiles on

the man equipped for his appointed task and fate paves

the way for great leaders of men. Three days after

leaving the quietude of the campus, he was fighting amid

the thunders of Bull Run. He learned the lesson of

Bull Run--is it still the unlearned lesson of our national

life?--the necessity of preparedness. On the altar of

unpreparedness the flower of American boyhood has

been sacrificed in all our wars.

The debacle at Bull Run resulted in the relief of

General Scott and the appointment of General George

B. McClellan as Commander-in-Chief of the Union

forces. He proceeded to organize, equip, and train an

army that could stand the shock of battle, and then

entered upon the peninsular campaign in Virginia. In

recognition of meritorious service Lieutenant Custer

was assigned to a position on the staff of General Mc-

Clellan and promoted to the rank of Captain.   His

great ability as a military leader began to unfold. His

exploits in this offensive were distinguished for personal

bravery and tactical skill. He captured the first Con-

federate flag taken by the army of the Potomac. Fear-

less himself, he inspired his command with his own in-

vincible spirit. General McClellan was relieved of the

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George Armstrong Custer         639

command in the fall of 1862 and Captain Custer was

assigned to the Fifth United States Cavalry.

During a short interval of inactivity, he went to his

home in Monroe, Michigan, on furlough and met his

fate. For the only time in his illustrious life, he sur-

rendered. He surrendered to the captivating charms of

Miss Elizabeth Bacon, the daughter of Judge Bacon of

that city. Cesar said, "I came, I saw, I conquered."

Custer could paraphrase, "I came, I saw, she con-

quered."

There was formidable opposition from the bulwarks

of parentalism, but Captain Custer was a skillful tac-

tician. He turned to the arena of war, engaged in

severe fighting, distinguished himself in a number of

notable battles and so impressed himself on General

Pleasonton, his superior officer, that he soon returned to

Monroe armed with the commission of a Brigadier Gen-

eral, signed by Abraham Lincoln. Later. Custer re-

turned and Miss Bacon became the guiding star of his

career until the closing scene on the Little Big Horn.

Her devotion to General Custer is one of the golden

memories of that tragic time. She remained with him

in camp and on battlefield, whenever it was possible, en-

during hardships of this association not only in the Civil

War but on the western plains. One writer declares

that "Finding him good, she left him perfect and her

sweet and gracious influence can be traced in all his

after life." Mrs. Custer herself says, "It was a sudden

plunge into a life of vicissitude and danger, and I

hardly remember during the twelve years that followed

when I was not in fear of some immediate peril that

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640      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

threatened." Ohio is erecting this monument to General

Custer. At the same time let us pay tribute of love and

honor to the noble woman still living, and listening in

on this program in New York City, who was the solace

and inspiration of his dauntless spirit.

On June 29, 1863, President Lincoln commissioned

Custer, at the age of twenty-three, Brigadier-General in

command of the Michigan Cavalry, and three days later

he led his troops to the battlefield of Gettysburg.

Battle of Gettysburg

Encouraged by the futility of McClellan's peninsu-

lar campaign and elated by victories at Fredericksburg

and Chancellorsville, General Robert E. Lee, with the

audacity of a conqueror, prepared for the invasion of

the North. With an army of eighty thousand men, the

pride of a proud and puissant people, he was sweeping

north, to dictate terms of peace in Philadelphia or New

York. The remorseless tread of his triumphant army

struck terror to the heart of the Union. General George

Gordon Meade, assigned to the army of the Potomac, on

the 27th day of June, prepared to strike the line of ad-

vance at Gettysburg and Lee accepted the gauge of

battle. On the first day of July, General Custer was

dispatched to assist Kilpatrick in repelling an assault of

Wade Hampton's division of cavalry. General Custer

appeared on the battlefield in the afternoon of July 2nd

and was stationed on the extreme right wing of the

Union line to guard against flank movements of the

enemy. Charges and countercharges were waged inces-

santly with Jeb Stuart and other great Confederate

cavalry leaders until the afternoon of July 3rd, when

the final assault was made. Four fresh regiments of

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George Armstrong Custer        641

Confederate cavalry appeared on the field. Custer had

but one regiment in reserve. Taking personal command

he led the charge. Although outnumbered five to one

he routed the enemy and drove them from the field, as

the curtains of night closed down on the greatest drama

of battle in the history of America. The next day, July

4th, Lee retired and began his retreat back to Virginia.

In the battle of Gettysburg the fate of the Union

trembled in the balance. While the victory was not im-

mediately decisive its ultimate effect settled the issue in

favor of the Union. The fourth of July, 1863! What

a day of our history! Grant victorious at Vicksburg;

Lee defeated at Gettysburg. That day sealed the doom

of the South as an independent power and the relentless

waves of secession that beat against the very base of

the Republic rolled back to the land of their birth, never

to rise again. While General Meade was victor, he was

too stunned to press his advantage by a sustained pur-

suit, but the dauntless Custer hung on the trail of the

retreating army, capturing many prisoners and taking

great stores of supplies. With four companies of men

he captured an entire brigade of the enemy.

General Custer, in commenting on the conduct of his

command, said of his last engagement at Gettysburg, "I

challenge the annals of warfare to produce a more bril-

liant charge."

In the spring of 1864 Grant was promoted to the

rank of Lieutenant-General and placed in the command

of the Union armies. Leaving General Sherman in com-

mand of the armies of the West, General Thomas in

command of the armies of Tennessee, he took personal

command of the army of the Potomac and began his re-

Vol. XLT--41

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642      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

morseless pursuit of Lee in Virginia. The cavalry was

organized as an independent army and General Philip

Sheridan placed in command. General Custer was as-

signed to the army of General Sheridan. This army of

cavalry cooperated with General Grant, subject to his

orders in his great campaign of 1864 in the Wilderness

and Cold Harbor and fought their way to the very gates

of Richmond. Grant found it necessary to close the

Shenandoah Valley, the mountain protected avenue of

approach to the city of Washington. He dispatched the

cavalry under General Sheridan to perform this duty.

General Early, the great cavalry commander of the

South, was in command of the Confederate army in this

sector. In September of 1864, the Union army, led by

General Custer in person, attacked the Confederate

forces at Opequan and Winchester, driving them as far

as the city of Staunton, Virginia. Then Sheridan re-

tired the army to Cedar Creek and was called to Wash-

ington on a special mission.

On October 19th, General Early attacked the Union

army in the early hours of the morning, a complete sur-

prise, resulting in utter confusion of the Union forces

at the point of attack. General Sheridan had spent the

night at Winchester. He heard the cannonading and

made the famous ride, immortalized by Thomas

Buchanan Read:

 

"Up from the South at break of day,

Bringing to Winchester fresh dismay,

The affrighted air with a shudder bore,

Like a herald in haste to the chieftain's door,

The terrible grumble and rumble and roar

Telling the battle was on once more,

And Sheridan twenty miles away."

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George Armstrong Custer         643

When Sheridan arrived on the field of battle, he

found a part of the army in retreat. He gave the com-

mand, "Turn, boys. Turn. We are going back." But

he found Custer with his command in battle formation,

ready for action. Sheridan gave the command, "Go in,

Custer!" "And he whose coming was the whirlwind

when he swept the battle plain" went in. No power

could stay the tide of his impetuous assault. The battle

raged during the afternoon, but nightfall found the

enemy in full retreat. When Custer came out, the valley

had been swept clear of opposition. The gateway to the

north had been locked and the stage set for the final

scenes of the Civil War.

General Grant's remorseless hammering at Lee re-

sulted in the surrender of Petersburg, the evacuation of

Richmond, Lee's army in full retreat, Grant in pursuit

with Sheridan and Custer to cut off the retreat.

Sheridan stopped Lee on his way to Burkesville for

rations. Lee turned towards Appomattox for his sup-

plies, and found Custer in his way. The mighty leader

of the chivalric sons of the South found himself sur-

rounded by an impenetrable wall of steel. Further sac-

rifice was in vain. He dispatched the flag of truce to

the Union forces and General Custer received the flag.

In the action of Sailor's Creek in the final scenes of

the war, when the tide of battle was at a standstill,

Sheridan exclaimed, "I wish old Custer were here; he

would have been into the enemy train before this time !"

"Old Custer!" What a tribute of endearment from his

great commander Sheridan, many years his senior. "Old

Custer!" Young in spirit as eternal youth, ancient in

wisdom as the everlasting hills, dazzling in achievements

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644      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

as the noonday sun was the Boy-General of the Union

armies at the age of twenty-five. A boy in years he was,

but in ability and fame as a cavalry commander he stood

with Sheridan, immortal.

Then came the surrender of Lee at Appomattox and

the table upon which the peace pact was signed by Grant

and Lee was presented to Mrs. Custer and is still one of

her most sacred possessions. General Philip Sheridan

made the presentation, in words of glowing tribute to

the great field marshal, with whom he had fought dur-

ing the last year of the war. He said he knew of "No

person more instrumental in bringing about this most

desirable event than her own gallant husband."

In the review of the Grand Army of the Republic in

Washington, General Custer received a mighty ovation

from soldier and citizen alike, as he rode down Pennsyl-

vania Avenue. The undying affection of his comrades

was manifested in the hour of separation. Veterans

that had stood like statues of steel and stemmed the

onset of the enemy or plunged at his command into the

burning caldron of battle were swayed with a storm of

emotion, and tears of pride, love and gratitude, marked

the closing scene of his service in the Civil War.

Custer was born on this spot in New Rumley, Har-

rison County, Ohio, on the 5th day of December, 1839.

This heroic statue marks the place of his birth. It has

been erected by the great State that sheltered his child-

hood, and it shall stand throughout the ages as Ohio's

majestic tribute to her honored dead. Ohio! "Queenly

thou art, with glory on thy brow as a diadem." In that

crown of honor jewels shine of fadeless luster. Grant,

Sherman, Sheridan, Custer, McPherson, Ohioans all.

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George Armstrong Custer        645

What a contribution of military leadership to the nation

in the supreme crisis of our national life!

Indian Wars

The close of the Civil War marked the beginning of

a new era in the history of America. The stability of

the government re-established and the question of

Federal sovereignty settled, the liberated energies of the

people began the building of the mighty empire of the

West. The tides of immigration that had been tem-

porarily stayed by the stern demands of war were now

renewed. The thrill of adventure, the hope of a new

home, of opportunity and advancement impelled multi-

tudes of sturdy men and women to challenge the hazards

of frontier settlement. The Rocky Mountains loomed

with irresistible fascination above the plains--the golden

gates of the sunset sea, the ultimate goal. But obstacles

arose more ominous than oceans, more dangerous than

deserts, more menacing than mountains, the red race of

America, the Indians of the Great Plains.

The moral question involved in the dispossession of

the Indians, I leave to the judgment and conscience of

the generation charged with that responsibility. The

determination of governmental policy on questions of

peace and war is with statesmen and not soldiers. A

soldier obeys the commands of his country. The govern-

ment had determined upon a policy of expanding the

frontier to the Pacific coast; the allotment of territory

to the Indian tribes upon which they might live and aban-

don their migratory customs of the past. The great

Indian tribes of the Plains rejected this policy and re-

sisted by force of arms the advance of the whites.

Depredations of the most brutal character were com-

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646      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

mitted from which offense the white man was not

wholly free.

Services in the West

In 1866 General Custer was ordered by the govern-

ment to Fort Riley, Kansas, to prepare for the defense

of the homesteaders and the men engaged in the con-

struction of continental railways.

General Custer inaugurated a policy of conciliation.

He held conference with the chiefs of many of the In-

dian tribes south of the Arkansas River and prevailed

upon them to accept their allotment of lands without

resorting to military force. Sometimes it became neces-

sary to capture the chiefs of the tribes and hold them as

hostages until their followers consented to abide by the

decree of the government. In the pacification of the In-

dian in the southwest there was only one serious conflict

with them. This occurred at Wichita in 1868, in which

he surprised and captured many of the warriors of the

Cheyenne tribe. The orders to the troops were to fight

the warriors only, but some of the Indian women par-

ticipated in the fray and were killed. General Custer

never resorted to harsher measures than were necessary

to carry out his orders in the execution of the policy of

the government. From 1865 to 1876 he protected the

frontier, engaged in skirmishes with the Indians, en-

during indescribable hardships, but never failing in the

end to accomplish his ultimate purpose. It is impossible

to recount the multitude of hazardous experiences dur-

ing these troublous years. It was a continuous battle,

not only with the hostile Indians but with the elements

of nature, the bitter cold of winter and the intense heat

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George Armstrong Custer        647

of summer, accompanied with hardships and sufferings

that only a constitution of iron could endure.

Having pacified the Indians in the southwest and

established them on their allotted reservations, he was

dispatched to the northwest, where the great tribes of

the Sioux nation had mobilized to resist the further ad-

vancement of the white men in both railway construction

and permanent settlements.

I shall not recount the tragic details of Custer's Last

Stand. It was seared on the heart and burned in the

brain of the nation; but now mellowed by the flight of

time, let it so remain. I shall give simply an outline of

the movements that led up to the climax and collapse

of the Indian Wars and the exit of the mighty spirit

that conquered even in death. The eight tribes of the

powerful Sioux nation had mobilized their warriors

somewhere beyond the Black Hills. A campaign was

organized to discover their location and either compel

their surrender or disperse them by force. General

Terry prepared the plans of campaign. Three divisions

were to proceed from different points and converge on

the Little Big Horn in western Montana. General Terry,

with Custer's Seventh Cavalry was to proceed west from

Fort Lincoln, General Gibbon to come east from Fort

Ellis and Crook north from Fort Fetterman. The entire

army numbered about 2700 men. Crook with 1300 men

was defeated on the Rose Bud River by the Sioux under

command of Crazy Horse, on June 17th. Terry, Gibbon

and Custer met as planned, and dispatched scouting

parties to locate the Indians. The scouts reported that

the Indians were probably on the Little Big Horn. The

three detachments thereupon took different routes to

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648      Ohio, Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

meet on that river. Custer's orders from his commander,

General Terry, were if he found the enemy to use his

own judgment as to attack. He found the Sioux camped

on the west bank of the Little Big Horn. On the even-

ing of the 24th day of June, 1876, General Custer dis-

covered the exact location of the Indians and resolved

upon an attack the next morning. His regiment ad-

vanced in three detachments. One detachment of 150

men under Major Reno was to proceed to the south, ford

the river and make a surprise attack upon the camp.

General Custer was to advance, ford the river at the

north end of the camp where a majority of the Indian

warriors were stationed, after Reno had thrown the

enemy into confusion. While the Indians knew of the

approach of General Custer with his detachment, Reno's

advance was protected by hills and ravines. While

Major Reno surprised the enemy and threw a portion of

the camp into confusion, the enemy warriors rallied and

Reno's movements were unsuccessful. This left prac-

tically the entire force of Indians, estimated at three to

four thousand men, free to attack Custer. The river

was fordable at this point. The Indian force crossed

over and under the shelter of hills and ravines, com-

pletely surrounded General Custer and his command.

No witness survived to tell the story of Custer's Last

Stand. Only the imagination can portray the heroic

struggle of the Seventh Cavalry and its great com-

mander to stem the irresistible tide of death, but we do

know that he died as he lived, fighting with the power

and courage of an unconquerable spirit.

It has been charged that he was reckless of his own

safety and that of his comrades. Custer's quick and

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George Armstrong Custer         649

flashing assault may seem reckless for what appeared to

be lack of preparation and planning. Genius divines

rather than deliberates; reason reckons with facts; in-

tuition sees truth before logic begins; action with Custer

followed thought as the thunder's roar the lightning's

flash. Bold action may seem reckless to the cautious,

and yet be the very secret and means of the greatest

safety. Was it recklessness in the battle of Gettysburg

to charge four renowned regiments of veteran cavalry

with one? On the contrary it was the only plan that

meant safety for his men and victory for his cause. Was

it recklessness when he attacked and captured a brigade

of Lee's great army with one battalion of his own? It

may seem so to less dashing leaders, but to him, it was

life, natural as storm or cataract; the method of the

genius of action, that won countless victories, and lost

but one.

The character of man is not measured by a single

act but by the sum of his deeds. The Maker measures

human worth. The method of great Custer may have

cost his life and that of his comrades June 25, 1876, on

the Little Big Horn; but sleep in peace, mighty man of

action, for it saved countless thousands in the brilliant

course of your military service and adorned your coun-

try's flag with imperishable honors.

Devotion to country, discharge of duty were the

overpowering motives that guided his great career. His

life was consecrated to the service of the Republic and

he fell fighting its battles on the frontier of civilization.

The institutions for which he lived and died must

live. They are ours to use, ours to enjoy, but they are

also ours to preserve. If they become warped from their

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original design, they are ours to restore to their pristine

form and purpose. This rich inheritance of freedom

and opportunity came to us free and unincumbered from

the hands of our ancestors.  It is not ours to mort-

gage with burdens, which neither this nor future genera-

tions can endure.

It is ours to defend.  "This government of the

people, by the people and for the people shall not

perish." It shall not be wrecked on the rocks of mili-

tarism, nor its strength sapped and power destroyed by

the puerility of pacifism. Dictators shall not seize the

scepter of authority, nor anarchy tear down the safe-

guards of law, but it shall stand as the guardian of

liberty under law, with the courage and power of Custer-

like action to sustain it.

These institutions are ours to use, to enjoy, to pre-

serve and defend, but most sacred duty of all, "a

voice from out the past admonishes, a voice from out

the future petitions us" to hold sacred that trust and to

transmit these institutions to the oncoming generations

robed in all their original splendor and radiant with the

light of eternal truth.

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