Flying back down the Gordonsville Road toward the train station, Rosser found that Custer had failed to picket the road and that his route of advance was clear. With Rosser leading the attack, the screaming Laurels drew sabers and pitched into Custer's ranks with the 11th Virginia and the 35th Battalion of Virginia Cavalry leading the way.
Rosser spotted his old friend and rival, Custer, calmly barking orders as the fighting whirled around him Major Holmes Conrad, one of Rosser's staff officers, drew a bead on Custer's color bearer, Sergeant Mitchell Beloir and shot him down.
The mortally wounded sergeant made his way to Custer, saying, "General, they have killed me! Take the flag! The charge of the Laurels shattered Custer's thin line and drove it back. The hard-charging Laurels recaptured the wagon train and cut off Alger and a small band of 40 officers and men.
Only quick thinking by one of Alger's staff officers kept them from being captured when a Confederate officer asked them, through the dense underbrush, what command they belonged to.
The staff officer replied, "Hampton's. The other 28 men, left to their own devices, spent two weeks hiking across hostile territory before making their way to safety. Rosser's charge swept up more than half of the men of the 5th Michigan. Wright's Georgia brigade joined the Laurels in attacking Custer. The gunners of Lieutenant Alexander C.
Pennington's Battery M, 2nd U. Artillery, tore down a stout wooden fence and unlimbered. Their severe fire blunted Rosser's attack and brought the Laurels to a screeching halt about a mile to the east of the station. As the fighting swirled around him, Custer was seemingly everywhere. He rescued a badly wounded trooper of the 5th Michigan while under heavy fire, and was badly bruised by two spent balls that did not break the skin.
The officer responsible for the wagons asked Custer if he could take his prize to the rear. The distracted Boy General said, "Yes, by all means. As he rode off, one member of the 7th Michigan heard Custer inquire, "Where in hell is the rear?
Fitz Lee's lead elements eventually joined the fray. Soon, the Wolverines were completely surrounded, hemmed in, "on the inside of a living triangle. Lomax's Virginians led the way, recapturing nearly all the wagons, five of Pennington's caissons, Custer's headquarters wagon, and his personal cook.
Four Confederate brigades squeezed Custer's lone brigade. They captured one of Pennington's guns, and only a determined attack led by Custer himself saved it. Custer wrote, "The enemy made repeated and desperate efforts to break our lines at different points, and in doing so compelled us to change the positions of our batteries.
Custer's line was in the form of a circle and he was fighting an enterprising foe on either flank and both flank and rear. Only a timely attack by three brigades of Federal cavalry saved Custer's Wolverines from total destruction.
The relief column finally slashed its way through to the Michigan men, freeing them from their trap. Hard fighting by the Wolverines and Custer's legendary good luck had barely saved his brigade from utter destruction at the hands of the Confederate horse soldiers. As it was, the Michigan Brigade suffered 11 killed, 51 wounded, and captured, for total losses of , including half of the 5th Michigan.
However, unlike another June day twelve years later, Custer received reinforcements that rescued his beleaguered command from its trap. And, unlike that hot dusty day in June , George Custer had survived his "first last stand. Civil War Article. Custer's First Last Stand. The Battle of Trevilian Station. Hampton real chance to catch Sheridan unawares; he planned to attack at dawn.
Related Articles. Left to right are Generals Francis C. Barlow, David B. Birney, Winfield S. Hancock seated , and John Gibbon. Each of these officers was wounded during the Battle of Gettysburg.
Hancock carry out a shock-and-awe campaign to overwhelm the tribal nations. At the end of the campaign, Custer deserted and joined his wife at Fort Riley. He was court-martialed in and suspended without rank and pay for one year. The fact that Custer—a highly-decorated and well-respected commander—deserted perplexed many of his men and his superiors.
It also demonstrated his inclination to make rash decisions, a trait that some say would have deadly consequences later. In September , he returned to duty before his court-martial sentence was up and resumed command of the 7th Cavalry.
On November 28, he led a campaign against a village of Cheyenne led by Chief Black Kettle, killing all Native American warriors present and earning himself a reputation as a ruthless fighter. Over the next several years, Custer discovered that fighting Indigenous people was much different than fighting Confederate soldiers. The Indigenous warriors were spread out. They rode fast ponies and knew the terrain better than Custer ever could.
Little did Custer know at the time the two Indigenous leaders would play a role in his death a few years later. In , the U. However, after gold was discovered in the Black Hills in , the government had a change of heart and decided to break the treaty and take over the land. Custer was tasked with relocating all Native Americans in the area to reservations by January 31, Those that could, left their reservations and traveled to Montana to join forces with Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse at their fast-growing camp.
Thousands strong, the group eventually settled on banks of the Little Bighorn River. The U. Army dispatched three columns of soldiers, including Custer and his 7th Cavalry, to round up Indigenous people and return them to their reservations. Crook was delayed but Terry, Custer and Gibbon met-up in mid-June and after a scouting party found a trail headed toward Little Big Horn Valley, they decided Custer should move in, surround the Indians and await reinforcements.
Instead of waiting for reinforcements, however, Custer planned a surprise attack for the next day. He moved it up when he thought the Native American forces had discovered his position. Custer divided his more than men into four groups. He ordered one small battalion to stay with the supply train and the other two, led by Captain Frederick Benteen and Major Marcus Reno, to attack from the south and prevent the Indians from escaping.
Custer would lead the final group— men strong—and planned to attack from the north. Come on, Big Village, Be quick, Bring packs. When a number of tribes missed a federal deadline to move to reservations, the U. Army, including Custer and his 7th Cavalry, was dispatched to confront them. Custer was unaware of the number of Indians fighting under the command of Sitting Bull c. Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse c.
Army ignored previous treaty agreements and invaded the region. By the late spring of , more than 10, Native Americans had gathered in a camp along the Little Bighorn River—which they called the Greasy Grass—in defiance of a U. War Department order to return to their reservations or risk being attacked.
In mid-June, three columns of U. A force of 1, Native Americans turned back the first column on June On the morning of June 25, Custer, a West Point graduate , drew near the camp and decided to press on ahead rather than wait for reinforcements. Among the Native Americans, word quickly spread of the impending attack.
The older Sitting Bull rallied the warriors and saw to the safety of the women and children, while Crazy Horse set off with a large force to meet the attackers head on. Custer and some men in his battalion were attacked by as many as 3, Native Americans; within an hour, Custer and all of his soldiers were dead.
Army defeat in the long Plains Indian War. The demise of Custer and his men outraged many white Americans and confirmed their image of the Indians as wild and bloodthirsty.
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