George Armstrong Custer. Just this man’s name alone can cause various reactions. All depending upon which side you stand on. We weigh his bold personality, military leadership skills, and decision-making skills. And of course finally, his last stand at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. This man’s ego was large, without a doubt, and yet some of his feats backed up his boasts. He had achieved numerous victories over the years. Under other circumstances, though, his brashness ended the lives of numerous soldiers, which many say were preventable. There are many questions about Custer. Even the Bones of the brash General are in question.

Bones of the Brash General – Is he Really Buried at West Point?

However, controversy normally ends with a person’s death. Yet after his demise, Custer continues to circulate doubt about an odd subject. That being the location of his remains after being killed during the Battle of the Little Big Horn. The normally accepted location of Custer’s body was and still is at West Point, the U.S. Military Academy. However, this may not be true at all. The body that lies there may be an enlisted man of unknown background, essentially the Unknown Soldier. But is this true? What are the facts and new evidence from both historians and experts in anthropology? Here, we will tackle this relatively new mystery about the brash General and allow you to form your own opinion. Does he rest solidly under the ornate monument at West Point? Or are his bones are still scattered and lost across the once blood-ridden battlefield. 

Custer’s Controversial Life

Custer began his life relatively uneventfully until he arrived at West Point Military Academy. There, he was lacking academically but was the jokester of the bunch. He was constantly pranking other cadets and receiving disciplinary action as a result of it. Eventually, he did graduate from the academy, coinciding with the outbreak of the Civil War. This immediately thrust Custer into action, as he was involved in the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861. Afterward, Major General George B. McClellan noticed his leadership traits. Custer soon joined his staff, establishing beneficial connections with other senior officers.

The Boy General

What followed was Custer being promoted to a brigadier general of the U.S. Volunteers at a very young age. He became a force to be reckoned with in numerous battles. These include the Battle of Gettysburg, the Battle of Yellow Tavern, and the Third Battle of Winchester. It seemed the “Boy General,” as he was called, couldn’t falter. Yet he did a few years later. After the Civil War ended, Custer was ordered to assist in “controlling” the Plains Indians. They wanted to illustrate the power of the United States Military. This was easier said than done. The Indians’ ways of warfare were confusing to Custer. Instead of adapting, he began a series of orders and actions that were erratic and highly irrational. Custer immediately had deserters of the army shot. Custer was also known to abandon his regiment to visit the love of his life, his wife, Elisabeth.

He was court-martialed and found guilty for his actions. His sentence was being suspended from both rank and pay for one year. He was returned to duty ten months later. This was because the army needed an aggressive, non-nonsense leader to snuff out the Plains Indians once and for all. Custer did just that, but instead of a solid victory against Indian warriors, it’s widely believed that he overcame some Indian tribes that were mainly comprised of women, children, and elderly members. This added just more controversy to his seemingly brave and dominating victory. 

His Biggest Mistake

Multiple events contributed to the U.S. Military deeming several Indian tribes non-compliant. They were instructed to report to reservations, and they were quick to ignore such orders. Because of this, a military strategy was constructed to eliminate the problem. With nearly eight hundred and fifty men, Custer was sent out on June 22nd, 1876, to scout the Sioux camp.

Unfortunately for Custer and his men, his location was spotted by Indian scouts This forced him to divide his forces first and then make a key decision in the upcoming battle. Whether to engage or retreat. Although there is some ambiguity about what truly transpired and why, Custer attacked the tribes, thinking their numbers were similar to his own army. However, Custer’s forces were outnumbered by nearly 10 to 1 or perhaps by even greater numbers. This decision to engage cost all of Custer’s men and Custer himself to perish under the might of the combined Indian forces. 

The Aftermath of Little Big Horn

Having no man under Custer’s leadership survive the Battle of the Little Big Horn prevents the exact truth of what occurred during that faithful morning of June 25th, 1876. But there is no denying the sheer carnage that was seen when Major Marcus A. Reno reached the battlefield and surveyed the absolute carnage that had occurred. Body after body were found stripped of their clothing, scalped, and mutilated by the victors. Bodies were found with missing limbs, eyes gouged out, skulls bashed in, and strips of skin sliced from the corpses. Bullet holes and arrow punctures saturated the bodies of many soldiers, as well as large gashes in their torsos that seeped internal organs and fluids onto the dusty earth.

Bones of the Brash General

Custer’s body was eventually found among the 210 dead bodies. The Indians removed his clothes, yet he wasn’t scalped or mutilated like the others. Some speculate that the Indian leaders highly regarded Custer, so he was spared a scalping. However, it’s most likely because Custer, who was balding then, cut his hair short before the battle, leaving little hair that could be scalped. This battle illustrated Custer’s luck and aggressiveness coming to a painful end, along with the lives of over two hundred soldiers that followed him. Custer was buried better than some of his fellow soldiers, who only had a few shovels of dirt covering their bloated bodies. He was initially buried in a grave eighteen inches deep and six feet long. Not long afterward, his body was transported to West Point Military Academy for a proper burial, funeral, and memorial…or did it? 

The Mystery

Custer’s memorial at West Point was his final resting place for years. But now, there is speculation that the bones buried there are not those of George Armstrong Custer, but rather some no-named soldier who died horribly, along with his comrades, on the battlefield. This idea can be attributed to many factors. First, the bodies were lying dead on the battlefield for three full days before a burial detail arrived at the site. The bodies were bloated and blackened, which made initial identification difficult. These men, tasked with burial duty, had only about eight shovels in their possession, so, as mentioned earlier, they could only superficially cover the bodies, giving only Custer’s body a slightly better burial a foot or so deep in the dirt.

Second, the winds and rainfall were intense in that geographical area, so the bones were quickly exposed to the elements. A full year then passed before a second burial team went back to the battlefield due to its remoteness and ongoing fighting from other tribes. They had orders to retrieve Custer’s body along with a dozen or so more bodies and return them to the east for proper burial. However, upon reaching their destination, the burial team found bones, clothing, hats, boots (with human foot and leg bones still inside), and other objects scattered about. Custer’s body was also removed from his grave, most likely due to predators in the area, including coyotes and other scavengers. 

Conflicting Reports

The ambiguity of the situation evolved from statements spoken, as well as casual talk discussed among themselves by those belonging to the second burial detail. Lieutenant John G. Bourke led the search, and after misidentifying Custer’s skeleton (a letter in the nearby jacket pocket belonged to a corporal), he was sure he found the correct set of bones. However, others at the site were not too sure. One participant in the undertaking said, “I think we got the right body the second time.” With ‘think’ being the keyword in question, the speaker does not offer a convincing tone, as indicated by others. Another burial team member also heard a high-ranking official say, “Nail the box up; it’s alright as long as the people think so.” This offers great doubt that some or all of the bones retrieved were those of Custer. 

Bones of the Brash General – Experts Lean Towards Imposter

With such questionable eyewitness reports from the exhumation team, as well as the simple fact that the bones of the fallen soldiers were displaced from their initial, impromptu burial three days after the battle, both historians and anthropologists lean towards the idea that Custer’s bones are not at West Point. They believe that they are forever lost and possibly mixed among the bones of his fallen men. The fact that the exhumation officials couldn’t say how Custer was identified further added doubt to the minds of many back then and today.

There is, however, a clue that gives credence that the bones buried at West Point now are, in fact, Custer’s, and that pertains to a few strands of hair found with the remains. These hair strands were auburn in color, quite similar to Custer’s own, and they were sent to his wife, Elizabeth, for identification. She confirmed they matched her late husbands, but this fact, like many others in this story, is circumstantial. 

It Will Remain A Mystery

To fully prove or disprove that the bones at West Point are Custer’s, an examination of the bones would have to be performed. Theoretically, a conclusion could be reached by using characteristics of the bones and matching them to facts and traits known to Custer. However, this will never happen due to the Custer family strictly forbidding an exhumation of the remains. Descendants of Custer have stated, “Absolutely not,” and thus, the mystery will remain a mystery. 

Whether George Armstrong Custer’s remains are at West Point or contained within a mass grave at the site of his final battle, his legend, controversial decisions, and accomplishments on the battlefield won’t change in the minds of both his supporters and his critics. His mark on history will forever be studied for his successes and failures. There is no denying that Custer was a brash individual whose aggressive leadership contributed to the expansion of the West, and it’s fitting that he still ignites controversy even today, long after his death.

For more information, visit: https://www.nps.gov/people/george-armstrong-custer.htm

.