DEC 1: First Custer Book Following His Death

On Dec. 1, 1876, Sheldon, a New York book publisher, releases the first authoritative biography of Custer following his death the previous June. “A Complete Life of Gen. George A. Custer” is written by Frederick Whittaker and is “based on papers made available by Elizabeth Bacon Custer.”

Born in London, Whittaker migrated to America in 1850 and fought for the Union in the Civil War. Though he did not serve under Custer, he claimed the two met briefly in 1875. News of Custer’s death at the Battle of Little Big Horn in June 1876 prompted “a devastated Whittaker to contact Custer’s widow with a proposed biography,” according to Sheldon.