From mid-September into October of 1867, a General Court Marshall was held at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for then Brevet Major-General George Armstrong Custer.
Custer faced two main charges:
- Absence without leave from his command
- Conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline
You can read the proceedings of the trial starting here.
Here's a page from the testimony of one of the men that Custer instructed to "get on your horse and go after those deserters and shoot them down."
Custer provided a written defense which he said he had "sought to compress ... within the smallest possible compass and if it still seem long, it is because fewer words could no be employed to express what I believe to be a fair and temperate review of the evidence now before you." The written defense rambled for 45 pages.
The Court found Custer guilty on all charges and sentenced him, "to be suspended from rank and command for one year, and forfeit his pay proper for the same time."
In September of 1868, William T Sherman sent this telegraph asking for that Custer be reinstated because of a need for "active young field officers of cavalry":
Other interesting Custer related documents on Footnote include:
- A larger number of photos of Custer in the Brady Civil War photos collection. There may be more photos of Custer in the Brady collection than any other individual. It's interesting to watch his hair grow.
- An account of the "Scene of the Slaughter of Custer's Command" in the July 7, 1876 Chicago Tribune.
- A Civil War Pension Index card for Custer that gives his place of death as "Little Bighorn Riv., Mont.
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