Being there . . . to finally look, meet, and greet the real George Armstrong Custer, as far as is
known, was born in 1839 and, as we certainly know, died violently in 1876 at the age of 37.
Continually sheltered by close friends for his “uniquely mysterious” personality, then later
enshrouded by historical myth, which many of his unfriendlier, NAY, jealous, military equals,
referred to as “garment-coverings for the grave”, George, sullied and tarnished, smiled and
went about his business. In truth, raised in somewhat of an aloof family, he was neither icily
unapproachable nor sultrily ingratiating. Simply put, he sucked up to NO one. Those few friends
who understood him best, intelligent, perceptive, and most of all kind, noted an honest
character of irrevocable fortitude, resilience, and especially a brave resoluteness, all traits for
the talent of winning military strategies. Occasionally, his loving wife, or a good friend or two,
noticed a hint of effervescence, but never vivaciousness. Of course, like all his contemporaries,
he possessed a quiet, thoughtful zest for life, but the sort that typifies the ordinary obedient
farm boy assigned by dad to hand cut the entire field of alfalfa behind the house by suppertime.
George was a confirmed individualist, in opinions and style. Among his harmless enemies, he
never allowed their doubt to replace the convictions of respected allies, or himself, submitting
his independence to any form of ill will or discourteousness. A peculiar boy, then young man,
he realized early on he was a singular phenomenon who had to be diligent in excelling all
others.
“OH, NO, NOT A N O T H E R BIOGRAPHY POLISHING GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER? FOR
GOODNESS SAKE, W H Y?? BECAUSE THANKS TO CASEMATE PUBLISHERS (WHO ELSE?), WITH
THEIR COMMERCIAL POWERS OF KNOWING PUBLIC LITERARY INTERESTS, HAD ACCEPTED AND
PUBLISHED THE BEST CUSTER BIO MANUSCRIPT YET WRITTEN! CO-AUTHORS TED BEHNCKE
AND GARY BLOOMFIELD HAVE MADE USE OF ALL CUSTER’S KNOWN WRITINGS, ALONG WITH
HIS WIFE’S, AND THE RECOLLECTIONS AND REMBERANCES OF HIS CLOSEST FRIENDS. ADD THE
ENCOUNTERS AND THOUGHTS OF HIS RIVALS ABOUT THE GENERAL HERE AND THERE,
COMMINGLING ASTONISHING MILITARY ACHIEVEMENTS, AND SOMBER FAILURES, TO LITTLE
KNOWN TRUTHS OF HIS PERSONAL LIFE, BUFFS LIKE US ARE SOON ABSORBED IN THE REALITY
OF A TRULY ENGAGED CAVALRY GENIUS WHO LIVED, THOUGHT, FOUGHT DEFIANTLY, AND
LOVED DEARLY. IN SHORT, YES, ANOTHER CUSTER BIO WAS NEEDED AND NOW PRESENTS
ITSELF BECAUSE TWO WISE, SAGACIOUS EX-ARMY MEN BELIEVE NATURE RARELY REPRODUCES
SUCH A HEROIC MAN . . .
Reviewed and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED by Don DeNevi
“CUSTER – – From the Civil War’s Boy General to the Battle of the Little Bighorn”, by Ted
Behncke and Gary Bloomfield. CASEMATE PUBLISHERS: originally published in 2020, rereleased
in June 2024, 243 pages, 6” x 9”, softcover, select photos, maps, 19th Century historic drawings,
$24.95. Visit www.casematepublishers.com.
As Ted Behncke and Gary Bloomfield, two of the Army’s better brilliant “brass” now retired,
and enjoying a strong collaboration for intellectual production, point out, the reader shouldn’t
become entangled with George Armstrong Custer’s life until he measures, “What in the h- – –
happened at the Little Bighorn?” We all know that prior to that eventful day the then Major
General had been an excellent, indeed, extraordinary Union cavalry commander during the
American Civil War, acknowledged and praised for his near-death fights, the last being at the
Bighorn, in the Plains where the Indians fought their best battles. All historians and writers on
the American west, and a surprisingly number of the lay and secular readers, know Custer only
as a fearless and resplendent, even showy, leader, uneducated regarding his high competence
and self-assertive leadership. Not many even realize, which Ted and Gary acknowledge
correctly that Custer was only 23 when promoted to the brevet rank of brigadier general and
was among the few invited Union generals to be present observants when Lee surrendered.
Postwar years found George Armstrong reverting to his regular rank of lieutenant colonel.
And, yes, he embarrassed nearly the entire Union Army in 1867 when he was court-martialed
for absence without leave. Punishment? A year-long suspension without pay. He returned to
duty commanding the 7 th Cavalry in 1868 and eagerly sought to handle the Winter Campaign
ordered by General Sherman for the slaughter of Black Kettle’s Cheyenne on the Washita. Then,
in 1874, Custer led the expedition into the Black Hills of South Dakota initiating the Gold Rush.
Chapter 4, entitled, “Little Bighorn”, pages 162 to 242, is obviously the biography’s most
sensational and critical, followed by a serious, all-inclusive Conclusion. Throw in a heart-
warming Preface and the general reader is sure to be pleasingly mesmerized. The co-authors’
narrative style of writing is crisp, and often hard, but riddled with old and new information
recently meticulously retrieved or researched, then combined as a whole. Even the aficionados
of George Armstrong Custer will be happily appreciative, undoubtedly the first to order and
purchase on-line for their own private libraries.
