AUG 1: Back to Reconstruction

Klansmen in Moore County, NC, plot the murder of John Campbell on Aug. 10, 1871 in this illustration from Leslie’s Weekly. (Credit; Library of Congress)

On Aug. 1, 1871, Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry arrive in Hardin County, Kentucky, where they were assigned duty in Elizabethtown. Their mission included suppressing the Ku Klux Klan, harassing carpetbaggers, and breaking up illicit distilleries.

During the early 1870s, racial violence was so prevalent in Kentucky that the federal government stationed troops at posts in Frankfort and Elizabethtown.

Custer last pulled Reconstruction duty in January 1866 when he served in Texas as Chief of Cavalry for the Department of Texas, commanding cavalry soldiers in Louisiana and Texas. He was mustered out of volunteer service of the U.S. Army on Feb. 1, 1866. He was commissioned in July of that year as a Lt. Colonel with the 7th Cavalry.

George Custer had an affinity for canine companionship. Here he is with one of his dogs during the Civil War. (Credit: Library of Congress)

Custer and the 7th U.S. Cavalry, and a company of the 4th U.S. Infantry, were posted in Elizabethtown and directed to limit the activities of the Ku Klux Klan and other regulator groups. They were also tasked with breaking up illegal distilleries. The presence of the federal troops was expected to reduce racial tension in the area.

While in Kentucky, resolving race disputes wasn’t atop Custer’s priority list. He reportedly enjoyed the state’s horses and horse racing. He bought several horses for his personal use and regularly attended races in Lexington and Louisville. He enjoyed ample free time, which was spent sport hunting with dogs across the area’s rolling hills. Custer reportedly owned a pack of between 40 and 80 canines while in Kentucky.

After the Great Chicago Fire was extinguished on Oct. 10, 1871, Custer and the 7th were sent north to that city to maintain public order. Upon returning to Kentucky, the men of Custer’s command were ready to return to active operations. In February 1873, Custer and the 7th concluded Reconstruction duty in Kentucky and were reassigned to the Department of Dakota.

Federal troops were eventually withdrawn from all Southern states following a pact reached by Northern Republicans and Southern Democrats, known as The Compromise of 1877.