“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 4, pg 140) he seemed like a stubborn, ambitious man, who was not afraid to do what it took to become great. But could this also show vanity?
These aspects of his life contradict each other, so I am unable to make a strong statement about his heroism. Or was it rather his cowardice?
Many people had different opinions of Custer, Some thought he was a brave warrior and others thought he was over-ambitious and selfish.
“He was a brave warrior and died a brave man”
Low Dog (a chief at Little Big Horn)
“”A cold-blooded, untruthful and unprincipled man, despised by most of his officers”
(General David Stanly, US Army)
These are only two opinions from two very different people. The first statement by Low Dog, suggests that he had a very high opinion of Custer, so it could possibly not be truthful. The comment made by General Stanly suggests that Custer did not co-operate well with his peers, and was not highly thought of by many people.
Custer did not plan the “Battle of Little Big Horn”, it was Sheridan. The communications between the columns of men were good, so neither column knew what the other was doing. Their knowledge about the amounts of Indians was imprecise; they only thought there were about 800. The first mistake made in the Battle was when General Crook stopped for a break but was attacked by 1500 Indians. Firstly, Custer refused more men when he was offered them. He must have thought that he could manage it with the men he had because they thought that there were less Indians. Secondly, Custer disobeyed orders and rode south, and crossed the Wolf Mountains. When he found the Indian camp, he ordered his men to attack, but with terrible consequences. Custer was outnumbered by the Indians and was killed in the Battle. Custer wanted a great victory, so that he could get the honour and glory for himself.
In conclusion, I think that Custer had a great amount of opportunities, but made the wrong decisions. These lead to great downfalls in his career. I feel that Custer’s decisions were unplanned and impetuous and I think this would have led to his downfalls.
