FAST FACTS:

In 1861, Custer entered the Civil War as a second lieutenant, Company G, 2nd U.S. Cavalry. Some of the battles he fought in included Bull Run, Gettysburg, Chancellorsville, and Culpepper Court House, where he was wounded. During the Civil War, Custer attained, by battlefield commission, the rank of General. However, After the war ended, the commission was revoked and reverted to the rank of Captain.

Custer was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the newly commissioned Seventh United States Cavalry, July 28, 1866. On October 11, 1867, at Fort Leavenworth, a court martial found Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer, Lieutenant Colonel, 7 th U.S. Cavalry guilty of being absent without leave from his command and "conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline" He was sentenced to suspension from rank and command and loss of pay for one year.

He and the 7th were sent to the Plains and stationed at Fort Abraham Lincoln, North Dakota in 1873. The Sioux Campaign began in early 1876. On June 25, 1876, Custer and his unit discovered a Lakota camp along the Bighorn River. Custer divided his regiment into three columns and moved in to attack. Custer and his column were destroyed by a superior force of Lakota warriors. The 7th Cavalry lost 272 men during the battle, almost half the regiment.