Custer: The Making of a Young General

Description

This illuminating biography of the famous general's Civil War years makes an "excellent contribution to the literature on George Custer" (The Civil War Monitor). The name George Armstrong Custer looms large in American history, specifically for his leadership in the American Indian Wars and his dramatic fall at the Battle of Little Bighorn. But before his time in the West, Custer began his career fighting for the Union in the Civil War. In Custer, noted Civil War historian Edward G. Longacre provides fascinating insight into this often-overlooked period in Custer's life. In 1863, under the patronage of General Alfred Pleasonton, a young but promising twenty-three-year-old Custer made an unprecedented rise to the rank of brigadier general and was placed in charge of the untried Michigan Calvary Brigade. Custer would eventually lead the Wolverines to prominence after facing early tests at Hanover, Hunterstown, and Gettysburg. In these campaigns and subsequent ones, Custer's reputation for surging ahead regardless of the odds was firmly established—with results that appeared to validate his calculating recklessness. Custer is a study of a military man's formative years: his character and personality; his attitudes toward leadership; his tactical preferences; his trademark brashness; his relations with subordinates; and his attitudes toward the enemy. Longacre goes into great depth and detail, firmly refuting many of the myths and misconceptions regarding Custer's personal life and military service.