[portfmgr]

I certainly don't think that he was one of the greatest commanders of all time (this post was prompted by your mention of Jeb Stuart), but I just finished watching a documentary about General George A. Custer, and I had no idea he was such a major figure in the Civil War. According to the documentary, he modeled some of his cavalry tactics after the success of Jeb Stuart.

He led an interesting life (was promoted to General at age 23), and even more interesting now is that he is perceived to be such a racist, idiotic villain.

[kms61]

IMHO it's hard to find much that's admirable about Custer. Arrogance and ambition got him killed, along with the rest of his command.

[bandleader]

George Armstrong Custer was quite a daring combat-leader.He became a darling of"Little Phil"(Sheridan)becuse of his exploits.The PC crowd has denigrated him for obvious reasons,but he was a superb cavalryman.There are a number of fine books on Custer,but one that relates solely to his Civil War duty that I would recommend is"Custer and His Wolverines"(The Michigan Cavalry Brigade 1861-65)by Edward G.Longacre.I mispoke when I elevated JEB Stuart to the top ten list.I meant Nathan Bedford Forrest.