DEC 9: Chiggers in Texas
Putting up with chigger bites in Texas was one trial Libbie Custer overcame to be with her man in the summer and fall of 1865.
DEC 8: Famous Cities of the West - pt. 2
Learn more about the founding of three historic cities of the old West: Deadwood, SD; Omaha, NE; and Laramie, WY.
DEC 7: Grisly Find Near Washita
The bodies of Major Joel Elliott and a contingent of 17 soliders, under the command of Lt. Col. George A. Custer, are discovered two miles from the Battle of Washita on Dec. 7, 1868.
DEC 6: Tensions High Following Whitman Massacre
The murders of Presbyterian missionaries Marcus and Narcissa Whitman in 1847 near present-day Walla Walla, Washington shock fearful white settlers in the region.
DEC 5: George A. Custer Enters the World
Emanuel Custer and his wife, Maria, welcome a baby boy, George Armstrong Custer, into the world on Dec. 5, 1839, in New Rumley, Ohio.
DEC 4: Like Father, Like Son (pt. 2)
Union General Philip St. George Cooke set the stage for his son’s military career… in the Rebel Army. Learn about Confederate General John Rogers Cooke.
DEC 3: Little Mac is Born
George B. McClellan, who would become commanding general of the U.S. Army during the Civil War, is born on this date in 1826 in Philadelphia.
DEC 2: Custer’s Half-Sister Weds
George Custer’s half-sister, Lydia Ann, marries David Reed this week in 1846 in Monroe, Mich. Custer spent much of his teenage years living with the Reeds.
DEC 1: First Custer Book Following His Death
New York publisher Sheldon releases the first authoritative biography of George A. Custer following his death the previous June at Little Big Horn.
NOV 30: Disastrous Confederate Defeat in Tennessee
Union Maj. General John Schofield repels a Confederate assault at the Battle of Franklin in Tennessee on this date in 1864.
NOV 29: Massacre at Sand Creek
Col. John Chivington unleashes 675 Colorado volunteers on a peaceful village of Cheyenne and Arapaho people at Sand Creek, killing 230.
NOV 28: George and Libbie Meet
George Custer meets his bride-to-be, Libbie Bacon, at a dinner party in Monroe, Michigan.
NOV 27: Custer Attacks Peaceful Cheyenne at Washita
Lt. Col. George Custer and cavalry troops attack the village of peaceful Cheyenne chief Black Kettle near the Washita River on Nov. 27, 1868.
NOV 19: Denver City is Platted
The town of Denver City is platted this week in 1858 in what was then Kansas Territory.
NOV 18: Miles Moves on Sitting Bull
Four-and-a-half months following the Custer massacre at Little Big Horn, Col. Nelson A. Miles sets out to force Sitting Bull onto the Great Sioux Reservation.
NOV 17: First ‘Unheroic’ Custer Book Comes Out
One reviewer in 1934 labeled ‘Glory-Hunter’ the first biography of George A. Custer to depict him in unheroic terms.
NOV 14: Cavalry Expanded in 1866
Congress added four new cavalry regiments to the U.S. Army in 1866, including George Custer’s famed 7th Cavalry.
NOV 13: Custer Becomes Chief of Cavalry
George Custer becomes Chief of Cavalry of the Department of Texas on Nov. 13, 1865.
NOV 12: Custer Presents Captured Rebel Flags
On the cover of its Nov. 12, 1864 issue, Harper’s Weekly runs an illustration showing Maj. General George A. Custer presenting captured Confederate battle plans to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton.
