Love in the Civil War: George Custer and the Confederate Wedding

war represents humanity at its most exposed with that juxtaposition between heroism and horror one thing that isn't often discussed is the connection between war and the strongest of human emotions love war reveals that bond between brothers and arms or even between enemies across a field of shared sacrifice or the strength of love that can develop when ordinary people are exposed to extraordinary circumstances maybe it is that period of great sacrifice or the fear that you might not live to see another day that reminds us of what is most precious that time when george custer attended a confederate wedding during the civil war is history that deserves to be remembered george custer had a strange path into the military he grew up in a large family where the siblings played pranks on each other the detroit news wrote in 2013 custer had three younger brothers and a sister it was a rough and tumble existence armstrong's brothers and his father who was described as a childish himself constantly teased and played practical jokes on each other well into adulthood but his childhood was marred by the death of his mother the news continues his mother died when they were children so custer's half-sister lydia ann who was 14 years older became his surrogate mother at the age of 14 george called auty by his family lived with lydia ann and her husband david reed to attend school he graduated from normal school at the age of 17. ottie wanted to be a soldier and attend the united states military academy at west point but there was a problem the website history net explains the only hitch was that custer needed the requisite congressional appointment but the local congressman was a staunch republican and the custers staunch democrats but salvation came in an interesting way he started an affair with a local girl her father was an influential republican and he secured custer's appointment to west point in order to keep him away from his daughter george has been described as west point's worst cadet not only did he not take his studies seriously but he remained a merry prankster who led the academy in demerits historian hal funk writing in the springfield news leader wrote if he'd had a few more demerits he would have been completely dismissed in fact he seemed to know exactly how many demerits he had cadet would be expelled if he reached a hundred demerits in six months history.net notes custer earned 90 citations in only three months but managed to restrain himself for the next few months without a single misdeed at one point he managed to get by with 98. custer had more fun gave his friends more anxiety he walked more tours of extra duty and came nearer to being dismissed than any other cadet i've ever known a classmate recalled custer himself would later write my career as a cadet had but little to recommend it to the study of those who came after me and less as an example to be carefully avoided but for all his pranking custer was popular with other cadets as historynet notes what custer lacked in academic excellence he made up for in popularity as a cadet custer made many friends at the academy among them was john willis lee uh gimlet is a small tool for drilling holes and lee had been given the nickname gimlet because he was tall and thin there's a little record of their dealings together at the academy but as would become clear they must have become close friends custer did poorly on his exams although he excelled at horsemanship and cavalry skills he might never have graduated given his academic record and his eventual total of 726 demerits but history.com explains the union needed officers to fight its newly begun civil war george custer graduated at the bottom of his class 34th out of 34 in 1861. the website essential civil war history writes the loudest and most enthusiastic hurrah for any cadet of the us military academy graduation of 1861 came when the name george armstrong custer was announced many of his fellow students and instructors doubted that he would receive a diploma after all he'd been the class clown prankster had finished last in his class due to his fun-loving personality but custer was also the most popular man in his class but his friend gimlet lee didn't graduate on north carolina and he had resigned from the academy to join the confederacy he was made a captain of company i of the fifth north carolina infantry regiment george custer was commissioned a second lieutenant the detroit news writes he returned to detroit in 1861 a second lieutenant and met with michigan governor austin blair at the michigan exchange hotel for approval to join the michigan cavalry as an officer detroit historian silas farmer noted that blair was distrustful of custer's flowing blonde hair and otherwise effeminate appearance but eventually signed his approval custer joined the second united states cavalry with whom he participated in the july 21st first battle bull run by may of 1862 kuster joined the staff of major general george mcclelland in the peninsular campaign custer was among those brave enough to wreak an order in the gas-filled observation balloons and among the first union officers to discover that confederate troops under general joseph johnston had abandoned their defensive positions around yorktown reterrating to defend the confederate capital at richmond mcclelland ordered a pursuit leading to the battle of williamsburg one of the first pitch battles of the civil war force of some 41 thousand federals attacked an approximately 32 000 strong confederate rear guard protecting johnston's retreat the battle was quite bloody and inconclusive while the union made some gains especially when general winfield scott hancock's brigade threatened the confederate flank the federals were not able to follow up and johnson's army was able to continue its retreat george led a charge during the battle the essential civil war curriculum writes soon after custer was serving on the staff of brigadier general winfield scott hancock when the union troops were ordered to charge into a line of confederate soldiers at williamsburg the ancient union troops hesitated custer impatiently spurred his horse and burst from their midst to lead the charge the union soldiers obediently followed this gallant one man charge which resulted in routing the confederates into retreat custer later returned to friendly lines with a captured officer and five enlisted men and the real trophy a confederate battle flag the flag appears to have been abandoned on the field and hinted to custer by an enlisted man yet it was the first confederate battle flag of the war captured by the army of the potomac mcclellan called custer's charge a gallant affair and complimented custer personally after custer was surveying the field in an area where a confused confederate attack had been devastated by union fire historian carson hudson of the williamsburg battlefield trust explains they had been hurrying forward towards the fighting and had lost contact with the rest of the brigade after they entered a thick and tangled piece of forest trying to find their way they emerged onto a large muddy field and found themselves under a murderous fire from a sizable union force on their left their commander lieutenant colonel john c battam ordered his men to turn and charge but as they changed their direction and began to advance colonel battam went down shot through the forehead his men fared no better moving forward through the mud the fifth north carolina was shot to pieces losing over 300 men killed and wounded in just a few minutes a 2013 issue of the chicago tribune rights after the bloody assault failed to dislodge hancock from redoubt number 11 custer joined many of the horrified but curious union men picking through a killing field so thickly covered with fallen southern soldiers that it was hard to avoid stepping on the dead and wounded as he made his way across the grim landscape he discovered the bloody form of a west point classmate when george found gimlet lee shot through the legs hudson writes in his 2019 book hidden history of williamsburg people thought they were brothers custer wrote to lydia on the 15th when we first saw each other he shed tears and threw his arms around my neck and we talked of old times and asked each other hundreds of questions about classmates on opposing sides of the conflict i carried his meals to him gave him stockings of which he stood in need and some money this he did not want to take but i forced it on him he burst into tears and said it was more than he could stand his last words to me were god bless you old boy the bystanders look with surprise when we were talking and afterwards ask if the prisoner were my brother lee overcome with gratitude wrote in custer's journal williamsburg 5-6-62 if ever lieutenant custer usa should be taken prisoner i want him treated as well as he has treated me lee's wound would change his life in a 1930 interview williamsburg resident zachary goodwich durfee 14 years old at the time of the battle recalled there wasn't a hospital or anything of the kind here to take care of the wounded the confederates and the yankees were all down in a barn and my father went down he heard that men were suffering there and he took his carriage down and asked if he could bring up some of the wounded soldiers to his house his father was the well-to-do colonel goodrich durfia supporter of the confederacy who owned a house in williamsburg called bassette hall named after a previous owner burwell bassett nephew of martha washington and one of the soldiers he brought back to his home to recover was captain lee there he would be cared for by the colonel's 17 year old daughter margaret a friend of the derpy's named harriet carey described lee and another officer taken there spent the rest of the day at colonel dees where there are two of our wounded very interesting gentlemen captain lee and lieutenant hayes both doing quite well the former the happiest soul i ever saw and that happiness had everything to do with margaret durfy hudson wrote by the end of the month lee was able to get around on crutches and within the next two months having secured the permission of her father he and margaret announced their engagement meanwhile lieutenant koster had returned to his duties in may he encountered another confederate friend from west point lieutenant james barrel washington george washington's great grand nephew and an aid decamped to general johnston who had been captured at the may 31st battle of seven pines when the two met they talked for several hours and custer had their picture taken in june the dashing lieutenant custer was promoted to the rank of captain in august he would see gimlet lee again the website emerging civil war explains when the army of the potomac withdrew back through williamsburg following the seven days battles custer now a brevard captain serving on george mcclellan's staff sought for and received permission to locate gimlet lee kuster found him a prisoner on parole at bassett hall after visiting for an evening custer returned to camp and received permission to visit lee again when he arrived again at bassett hall lee informed custer that he was to be married to margaret and requested that custer joined the wedding party as groomsmen the chicago tribune writes the couple decided to move their marriage up by a week and married the next evening with custer standing up as lee's best man margaret's cousin maggie was the bridesmaid custer said of them i never saw two prettier girls custer described the ceremony in a letter to lydia lee was dressed in a bright new rebel uniform trimmed with gold lace i wore my full uniform of blue the minister arrived at nine and we took our places on the floor lee made the responses in a clear and distinct tone the bride made no response whatever except to the first question she was evidently confused though she afterwards said laughing that she neglected to respond purposely so as to be free from any obligations when lee noticed that the bridesmaid was crying he suggested it was because she wasn't married and then suggested that she marry george right there on the spot he said george would be happy to carry such a pretty bride away from the confederacy she responded according to custer while captain lee you are just as mean as can be george obtained permission for leave spent another two weeks at the house he wrote lydia that he never had a more pleasant visit among strangers they played cards lee winning every time maggie tried apparently to rib auti by playing confederate tunes but even the tune dixie didn't seem to disturb him in september he wrote lydia the approach of the rebel army to williamsburg and the departure of our army rendered a longer state dangerous in more ways than one lee has been exchanged is now back again with the rebel forces fighting for what he supposes to be right william gimlet lee would be wounded two more times during the civil war in the may 1863 battle of chancellorsville and then in the september 1864 third battle of winchester he ended the war a colonel in command of the fifth north carolina infantry in april 1865 he was an acting brigade commander at the battle of appomattox courthouse george was there too by then a brevard major general the youngest in the history of the united states army hudson writes that gimlet joined ottie in his tent for dinner the night of april 9th after robert e lee's surrender and they talked of old times after the war john willis lee became an episcopal priest and he and margaret raised six children margaret passed away in 1883 and lee passed away in 1884 from blood poisoning at the age of 45. george custer would have his own love story marrying elizabeth clift bacon in february 1864. he died in combat fighting the sioux in the june 25th 1876 battle of the greasy grass among his effects left behind was his incomplete memoir leaving unfinished his personal description of the battle of williamsburg i hope you enjoyed this episode of the history guide short snippets of forgotten history and if you did enjoy feed the algorithm by making a comment or clicking that like button if you have suggestions for future episodes please send those to our suggestions email box check out our web page at thehistoryguy.net and of course we're on facebook instagram and twitter you can book a special message from the history guy on cameo and check out our merchandise at teespring.com and if you'd like more episodes of forgotten history all you need to do is subscribe [Music] you

Channel: The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered

Views: 129,003

Keywords: history, history guy, the history guy, civil war, george custer, virginia

Id: -T-9vABw9HU

Length: 14min 19sec (859 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 06 2021