George Armstrong Custer 651
GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER
BY GOVERNOR GEORGE WHITE*
On December 5th, 1839, the people of
New Rumley
were extending their neighborly
congratulations upon
the birth of a boy. Today, after the
lapse of nearly a
hundred years, the people of Ohio are
extending to the
village of New Rumley their
congratulations upon the
same event; and the nation honors Ohio
as the birth-
place of George Armstrong Custer, a
national hero.
In the unveiling of this splendid
statue, the State of
his nativity pays a deserved, although,
perhaps, a be-
lated tribute to a military figure
whose record is unique.
A general at the age of twenty-four,
his impetuous gen-
ius had already earned for him the
confidence of his
superiors in rank; and at twenty-six,
when the Civil War
came to a close, he ranked in the
esteem of the army, and
in popularity throughout the country,
among the tower-
ing figures of that terrible conflict.
He stands in history
against no background of mediocrity.
His companions
in arms were Sheridan and Sherman,
McClellan, Meade,
and Grant. His opponents were Jeb
Stuart and Jubal
Early and Robert E. Lee. Yet in this
company his name
shines forth upon the scroll of time
and gathers lustre
with every passing year.
Men, even heroes, are the products of
their heredity
and of their environment. In honoring
Custer, we also
pay our tribute to the people of this
community. They
too are descendants of the pioneer
stock and have lived
among the everlasting hills of Harrison
County. Who
* Address delivered at dedication of the
Custer monument, New Rum-
ley, Ohio, June 22, 1932.
652 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications can say whether there may be here today another lad destined equally to bring honor to his birth-place in the service of his country? Custer's success did not come to him by chance. It was the product of effort. As, in imagination, we see |
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him working on the farm, teaching school, preparing himself for entrance to West Point, we think of the words of Lincoln: "I will labor and prepare myself, and one day, my chance will come." Custer's chance came and it found him prepared. He met opportunity |
George Armstrong Custer 653
with confidence and grasped it with a
firm, sure hand.
Our history might have been different
had he failed.
Until the day of his death, failure was
a word which
Custer never knew. Almost immediately
upon his en-
tering the Union army his impetuous
daring brought
him to the attention of General
McClellan who assigned
him to staff duty. Earning promotion
after promotion
by outstanding gallantry and merit, he
became an in-
dispensable part of the now famous
cavalry arm of the
service whose development marked a new
stage in mil-
itary practice throughout the
world. But while he
helped to develop a new system, he
always remained an
individual. His talents required room
for individual ac-
tion and his superiors soon learned to
trust him to his
own resources. A bold daring to seize
the chances,
which a quick intelligence perceived,
characterized his
career throughout a life of fighting.
His yellow hair
streaming in the wind became to his comrades
an ori-
flamme and to his enemies, a portent of
consternation. He
bore, as it seemed, a charmed life, and
his success ap-
peared an augury of fate. His life was
a living example
of the extent to which a dynamic and
contagious per-
sonality can affect the conduct of a
multitude. Truly,
he was of the stuff of which heroes are
made.
This son of Ohio is dead; and for many
years his
body has slept in its native soil. But
his body lives on
and his memory is immortal in the
hearts and the minds
of his countrymen. He played his manly
part in the
stirring life of his generation and his
example will affect
the lives of countless persons in
generations yet to come.
We do well to erect this monument to
his memory. It
will become a shrine to which the feet
of thousands will
654
Ohio, Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
wend their way. But Custer's enduring
monument is
more than a thing of bronze. It stands
in no particular
spot in Ohio. It lives in the lives of
his admirers. It
permeates the thought of Americans
everywhere. Wher-
ever men love courage and honor and
high-souled de-
votion to duty, there you will find his
monument. He
has left a heritage in which we all may
share.
The mighty conflict between the states
has long been
stilled. The bitter feelings it
engendered have been
soothed in a growing spirit of harmony
between the
North and the South. Grandsons of the
boys in blue
have fought side by side with the
grandsons of the boys
in gray in another, and still a
mightier, conflict beyond
the seas. Together, under one flag, the
various sections
of our country have gone forward to the
accomplish-
ment of a national destiny undreamed of
in Custer's day.
Together, under the same flag, we now
face peace-time
problems commensurate in their
magnitude with those
of war.
By the loyal and united effort of our
people, we have
met and solved our military problems.
Only by loyal
and united effort can we hope to win
through the difficul-
ties which confront us now in peace.
May we not, in this time of stress,
draw inspiration
from the man whose memory we honor here
today?
Youthful always, the love of life was
strong within him.
Yet in the hour of his country's need
he counted not
himself but placed his country's need
beyond his love of
life. In this spirit a brave and united
people can con-
quer every fate. I have an abiding
faith that America
will conquer hers.