Thomas Custer

Thomas Custer

Thomas Ward Custer (born March 15, 1845 in New Rumley , Ohio , † June 25, 1876 in Little Bighorn , Montana ) was a captain and brevet lieutenant colonel in the United States Army . He was awarded two medals of honor during the Civil War and fell under the command of his older brother George Armstrong Custer in the Battle of Little Bighorn during the Indian Wars .

Life

Civil War

Custer was born the third son, Emanuel and Maria Custers, and enlisted in the army in 1861 at the age of 16. With the rank of private he took part in the American Civil War. Among other things, he was used in the battles on the Stones River , Chattanooga and the Atlanta campaign . In 1864, at the age of 20, he was given the rank of corporal and served his brother as personal adjutant in the last year of the war . During the war, he was awarded the Medal of Honor twice, making him the first of 19 soldiers to date to have received this award twice.

Indian Wars

In 1866, Custer was appointed first lieutenant of the 7th US Cavalry Regiment, with whom he also took part in the 1868 massacre on Washita , where he was wounded. He also took part in the reconstruction and took part in the Yellowstone and Black Hills expeditions . In 1874 he was involved in the arrest of Rain in the Face for the murder of Dr. John Honsinger involved. In 1875 he was promoted to captain. In 1876 he fell with his brother in the Battle of Little Bighorn, he was slain by Rain in the Face.

Custer was first buried on the battlefield, but later exhumed and buried in Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery . A memorial stone was placed on his original burial site.

literature

• Carl F. Day: Tom Custer: Ride to Glory . University of Oklahoma Press, Norman 2002. ISBN 978-0806136875