I was pondering an American military family of Heroes. In it was a boy from West Point who rose during the war to the youngest General in the United States.Another son would join at 16 years of age, as a private, rise to the rank of Corporal, become assistant to Generals, before coming as an aid to his brother serving tirelessly. In that, he would be a Second Lt. and in bravery rise to the rank of Major in the United States Army. His feats would be twice being awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
In one case, he would be shot in the head with the bullet passing out through his neck, whereby he would ride back with the enemies battle flag to his brother, and have to be ordered to back to hospital as he was going into combat again with blood pouring from his wounds.
Two other brothers would attempt to enlist, but due to illness they would be discharged from the military.
A brother in law would serve America and die in battle, as would a nephew civilian in the same battle.
The family I speak of is the Custer family from Ohio and Michigan. In June of 1876, that family would have slaughtered 3 brothers, George, Tom, Boston, a nephew in Autie Reed and a brother in law James Calhoun.
For the record Boston Custer and Autie Reed were safe with the packs being delayed by Capt. Benteen, but when orders were issued from Gen. Custer that the packs were to be brought up as the battle was on, Boston and Autie left to join in the battle on that fateful day.
The reason I am addressing this again, is I would sincerely like to know just what it is the people who hate George Custer want from him almost 150 years after his sacrifice?
Is not an entire family wiped out serving Americans be enough?
For Indians, I often hear their ignorant slurs when the historical facts are Gen. Custer saved the southern Cheyenne from annihilation and risked his life bringing in the Arapaho without battle.
In 1876, Gen. Custer was on the plains because he was protecting Crow Indians from predation by the Sioux, the same Sioux who has slaughtered Soldiers and committed genocide on neighboring Indian tribes.
That bears repeating in Gen. Custer was on the plains protecting Indians from other Indians.
So what exactly for the people filled with hate yet for someone they have never met, but who gave all for them, do they really desire? Perhaps scraping his bones a bit more for a pound of dust in revenge for their own hate filled souls?
Personally, I was not a fan of the Custers several years ago. I was like many indifferent people who had "heard" the propaganda and had not much time for this family. Yet due to being moved on other subjects, I started researching the Custers in personal letters, Congressional records, military journals and I soon found a people I began to respect and in time adored them.
They truly were American in every form of duty and in good naturedness. The fact of the matter is if you did not get along with the Custer's the problem was with you and not them.
I have recorded a great deal about George Custer and the assassination of his command, that I would like to share a little about the family which American turned her back on.
I literally mean this, because in the Civil War it was General Custer and Major Tom Custer, both gallant and as stated wounded and awarded twice the Congressional Medal of Honor.
For this service, the regular Army made the General a Lt. Col. and Tom a Lt. again. Tom would in 10 years of service to America attain the rank of Capt. again, but in a decade Lt. Col. Custer was still a Lt. Col.
This was a Lt. Col. who quelled Texas after the war. Subdued and brought peace to the southern plains in a successful winter campaign.
This was a Lt. Col. who literally face court martial on petty jealousy, and was petitioned early back into the military to deal with the central plains Indians as no one else could handle the operation.
This was the Lt. Col. who undertook the greatest expedition of the era in the 1874 Black Hills exploration which was a monumental feat of navigation.
This was the Lt. Col. who literally had more forts under his command than most Generals.
For this, America did nothing but abandon and attack the Custer family.
Tom Custer was a remarkable person in bravery and humor. On the 1874 expedition, which was Boston Custer's first time in the west, Tom informed the boy that there were water rocks and if he soaked them for day, that he could drink water from them.
For 3 days everyone enjoyed the joke before Boston figured out he had been had.
This was an extremely close family. After President Grant in pettiness due to Gen. Custer exposing the eastern robber barons were arming the Indians in stealing their money all linked back to Grant corruption, removed the Gen. from command, Gen. Sherman and Terry pleaded to Gen. Sherman who was in command of the military to undo the damage the President had caused as no one else could lead the summer campaign.
In this period, the General and Libby were kept so long in Washington that winter was on the plains and in Minnesota their train was stuck in a snow bank. They almost died out there.
By fortune they used the telegraph and contacted Fort Abraham Lincoln, to which Tom's first query was, "Where is the old girl?"
The General had made no mention of the "old girl" in Libby, and that is the person Tom was most concerned about.
Without orders or comment, Tom took a sleigh hundreds of miles through those snows to rescue his family.
Libby would relate in fear that as they plunged into the ravines of snow she thought they would never come out again.
I adore Libby Custer as she was the first liberated woman in America. She did it without pretext or political aim. She went on marches with her husband. Almost died in Texas of malaria, was almost drown in Kansas from a storm, had her tents blown away by tornadoes, nursed her husband back to health in a blizzard and was the maternal hand which guided the entire 7th Cavalry.
In return for this on the death of her husband, she was shown the door as she was just a "hanger on" to the military.
To survive Libby would write several books, be a constant champion of her husband from the same detractors who are conspiring against Sarah Palin today, and became one of the most noted lecturers in America.
She would die at an old age of "nerve disease", but finally find rest buried next to her husband at Arlington National Cemetery. It might be noted that Mrs. Custer was perplexed for some time in there was an issue if she would be allowed to be buried next to her husband she so adored due to regulations.
I do wonder in all of that suffering just what it is the ignorant want from the Custer family. It would seem thankless service, duty, honor, honesty and their slaughter would be enough, but it is not.
They nitpick yet, bringing up issues like George Custer supposedly fathered an Indian child with a Cheyenne squaw, forgetting that there were numbers of blue eyed blondes in that command, including one single male named Tom Custer.
All of this is supposed to sully the Custer family with accusations as Gen. Nelson Miles stated, "It is easy to kick a dead lion" when no one is around to defend them.
There should be shame on the people who have done their worst to smear this noble American family who took nothing from America, and had all stolen from them.
As people need to hate, they can not turn that hatred upon themselves, but turn it onto some conjured form of humanity they seize upon at the moment. The Truth does win out though as the lies of the Grant patricians is slowly coming to light and the truth of the Custer family assassination prevails.
There were not secrets at what happened at the Little Big Horn. It was all detailed and the Custer family laid the blame on President Grant. The regular Army took revenge on Maj. Reno and Capt. Benteen for their part in this assassination and court martials followed in time.
Certainly the Reno and Benteen relatives are still trying to convert history to their fiction, but the fact is Reno abandoned Gen. Custer along with Benteen, when several mass distress volleys were heard by their command noting the exact position of the Custer command.
To this Reno got drunk and Benteen went not to the aid of his fellow Soldiers.
The people who want more of the Custers, will have it, as the more they scratch at the graves, the more the Truth comes out which has been buried in the greatest assassination of an American family since the Kennedy clan.
agtG 224
