CUSTER AND HIS COMMANDS: From West Point to Little Bighorn

On 1st July 1857, 17 year old George Armstrong Custer reported to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Enthusiastic, ambitious and proud, Custer had the makings of a dashing soldier. Prone to practical jokes, Cadet Custer during his first few months in the field as a new lieutenant hardly distinguished himself from the many others who fought for the Union. Gradually he took part in a number of skirmishes and even went up in a hot air balloon to observe enemy operations. By 1862 he was serving with the Fifth US Cavalry and gained a temporary upgrade to Captain and an appointment as an aide-de-camp. This post bought him to the attention of the Commander of the Army of the Potomac, Major McClellan, who described him as a 'reckless, gallant boy undeterred by fatigue, unconscious of fear.' At the tender age of 23 he was promoted to Brevet Brigadier General of Volunteers and was living the life of the beplumed warrior horsemen he had read about as a youth with his long flowing blonde hair and flamboyant custom-made uniforms which also made him a target of ridicule for this distinctive dress. At the Battle of the Little Big Horn one fact is clear - Custer and over 225 of his men went down in defeat to overwhelming numbers of Sioux and Cheyenne warriors and the death of Custer and these men was pronounced a massacre. News of 'Custer's Last Stand' flashed eastward. This superb visual record from the famous GU illustrated series presents the uniforms and equipment and over 100 rare and unusual images from private collections showing Custer's stylish uniforms, weapons and artefacts, and revealing the faces of the men who rode into legend with him. 72 page 18.4 x 24cm softback, colour.