Was Custer a Hero?

The first 200 words of this essay...

Was Custer a Hero?

Was Custer a hero? In my opinion, I think he had the ability to become a hero, but made some terrible mistakes.

His first downfall was when he graduated last in his class at the United States Military Academy. This tells us that he was neither very academic nor very intelligent or maybe he was lazy. From this point, he shot up through the ranks in the army: first he became Captain, then Lieutenant-Colonel and finally Brigadier-General at the age of 23, becoming the youngest General ever in the US army. This tells us he must have been talented, had the skills or showed strong leadership qualities.

"Custer had a flair that caught the eyes of powerful men. Custer made perhaps the most extraordinary series of leaps in rank in the history of the US Army..."

(D. Nevin, The Soldiers, 1974)

His major downfall was in 1867, when he was court-martialled and suspended from duty for abandoning his command. This gives me the impression that he is a coward, or maybe he disagreed with his orders and thought his way would help him to achieve greatness? In his portrait (Source