Another bit of trivia about Custer:
During the CW, he was with a group of staff officers and a General when they came to a creek. The General wondered how deep it was and the staff sat there and dithered about it a few minutes. Custer got tired of it and rode out midstream where the water reached his hips. “It’s this deep.” he said.
That’s an interesting tidbit, and tells a lot about the man’s personality.
I just happened to catch a PBS show about his life in the wee hours last night. I winked out before seeing it all, but I did catch the part where they talked about his life right after the Civil War.
Apparently, Custer wasn’t doing so well as a civilian, and was just about going bankrupt, when he got a telegram asking him to re-enlist to fight the Indians in the Dakota territories.
Unfortunately, he answered that call, and went on to commit some egregious horrors against the Lakota Sioux, which also led to his death at Little Big Horn. I think it was a sad chapter in our history, and blemished the name of a man who would have otherwise been well remembered.
That’s my take. Your mileage may vary.