OCT 10: Custer Laid to Rest

An Army caisson transports Custer’s remains to West Point Cemetery. (Credit: Library of Congress)

On Oct. 10, 1877, the remains of George Armstrong Custer are reinterred at West Point Cemetery in West Point, NY. The US Army conducted the funeral with full military honors for Custer. His body was initially buried in a shallow grave on the Little Bighorn Battlefield in Montana following his death on June 25, 1876. Later, his remains were moved to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., before final interment at West Point.

Harper’s Weekly reported:

Custer’s burial site at West Point Cemetery. (Credit: Library of Congress)

“The remains of this gallant officer were laid in their last resting place in the West Point Cemetery on the 10th or October, with appropriate and impressive ceremonies. Early in the forenoon the body was taken from a receiving vault at Poughkeepsie, where it had been lying since last August, and conveyed by steamer to West Point. Thousands of people liked the banks on either side of the roadway as the procession approached, and stood in silence till it passed. It halted in front of the chapel, where the remains lay in state until 2 p.m., at which time the regular funeral service was commenced. Before the doors to the chapel were opened, an immense throng gathered in the vicinity, and some endeavored to gain admission, but the guard on duty prevented. Finally, a surging of the crowd in front of the building showed that the funeral party was approaching. An officer ordered the entrance made clear, the doors were swung open and the mourners passed slowly in.”