George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars.

Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, but as the Civil War was just starting, trained officers were in immediate demand. He worked closely with General George B. McClellan and the future General Alfred Pleasonton, both of whom recognized his qualities as a cavalry leader, and he was brevetted brigadier general of volunteers at age 23. Only a few days after his promotion, he fought at the Battle of Gettysburg, where he commanded the Michigan Cavalry Brigade and despite being outnumbered, defeated J. E. B. Stuart's attack at what is now known as the East Cavalry Field. In 1864, Custer served in the Overland Campaign and in Philip Sheridan's army in the Shenandoah Valley, defeating Jubal Early at Cedar Creek. His division blocked the Army of Northern Virginia's final retreat and received the first flag of truce from the Confederates, and Custer was present at Robert E. Lee's surrender to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox.

After the war, Custer was appointed a lieutenant colonel in the Regular Army and was sent west to fight in the Indian Wars. On June 25, 1876, while leading the 7th Cavalry Regiment at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana Territory against a coalition of Native American tribes, he was killed along with all of the five companies he led after splitting the regiment into three battalions. This action became romanticized as "Custer's Last Stand".
His dramatic end was as controversial as the rest of his career, and reaction to his life and career remains deeply divided. Custer's legend was partly of his own fabrication through his extensive journalism, and perhaps more through the energetic lobbying of his wife Elizabeth Bacon "Libbie" Custer throughout her long widowhood.
Q9212
United States Army
Concept
Q47315
cavalry
Concept
Q8676
American Civil War
EVE
Q849680
American Indian Wars
EVE
Q9219
West Point
Concept
Q310192
George B. McClellan
PER
Q2520510
Alfred Pleasonton
PER
Q33132
Battle of Gettysburg
EVE
Q6837468
Michigan Cavalry Brigade
UNK
Q313583
J. E. B. Stuart
PER
Q4871093
East Cavalry Field
EVE
Q739644
Overland Campaign
MEDIA
Q355452
Philip Sheridan
PER
Q2543603
Shenandoah Valley
EVE
Q257497
Jubal Early
PER
Q1710916
Cedar Creek
EVE
Q689847
Army of Northern Virginia
MEDIA
Q165557
Robert E. Lee
PER
Q34836
Ulysses S. Grant
PER
Q1355391
Appomattox
EVE
Q493898
lieutenant colonel
Concept
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7th Cavalry Regiment
ORG
Q205422
Battle of the Little Bighorn
EVE
Q205422
Custer's Last Stand
EVE
Q5362363
Elizabeth Bacon "Libbie" Custer
PER
Q188205
George Armstrong Custer
PER
1839-12-05T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
December 5, 1839
DATE
1876-06-25T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
June 25, 1876
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1861-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1861
DATE
1864-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1864
DATE
1876-06-25T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
June 25, 1876
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23
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7
NUMBER
military branch
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conflict
date of birth
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