George Custer

George Armstrong Custer was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Raised in Michigan and Ohio, Custer was admitted to West Point in 1858, where he graduated last in his class. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Custer was called to serve with the Union Army.

Overview
Custer developed a strong reputation during the Civil War. He fought in the first major engagement, the First Battle of Bull Run. His association with several important officers helped his career, as did his success as a highly effective cavalry commander. Custer was eventually promoted to the temporary rank (brevet) of major general and promoted major general of Volunteers. (At war's end, he reverted to his permanent rank of captain.) At the conclusion of the Appomattox Campaign, in which he and his troops played a decisive role, Custer was present at General Robert E. Lee's surrender.

After the Civil War, Custer was dispatched to the west to fight in the American Indian Wars and appointed lieutenant colonel of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment where he and all his men were killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876 fighting against a coalition of Native American tribes. The battle is popularly known in American history as "Custer's Last Stand." Custer and his men were defeated so decisively at the Little Bighorn that it has overshadowed all of his prior achievements.

In television
George Custer was referenced in the Showtime television series Penny Dreadful. In the pilot episode, "Night Work", the traveling wild west revue, Colonel Brewster's Wild West Show and Emporium of American Curiosities performed in London, England where sharpshooter Ethan Chandler bragged about serving at the Little Bighorn in Montana. After the show, spiritualist Vanessa Ives challenged Chandler's claim, noting that he was just a boy when General Custer died, and it was well known that nobody survived the Battle of Little Bighorn.