Lot 310
Custer, George Armstrong (1839-1876) United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. On June 25, 1876, he led 210 men of the 7th Cavalry into battle at Little Bighorn against Lakota and Cheyenne warriors. Custer and all of his men were killed in the battle.
Autograph letter signed ("G A Custer/ BtMgen") and initialed ("GAC") in pencil, 1 page, 9¾ x 7¾ in., on a leaf of blue ruled machine-laid paper, "Fort [Abraham] Lincoln, D[akota] T[erritory]", March 31 (probably 1875). To Major [John] Carland, a close military acquaintance of Custer serving under General Alfred Terry's command of the 6th Infantry at the time of the massacre at Little Big Horn. Custer vowed to root out all thefts of military goods. Here he orders Major Carland to arrest a man named Hannons "as his employer will be arrested on a similar charge…I have seized several government missiles concealed near Apple Creek by Bis[ma]rk. Cause his arrest also on this charge." He speculates that if the man sought by Carland "could be placed here [Bismarck] for safe keeping by the Marshall I think information of value could be obtained." Small stains and soiling; pinholes at horizontal folds.
Custer was said to have told Carland that he did not want the support of the 2nd Cavalry and Gatling guns at Little Big Horn as he wanted "all the glory for the 7th". On the day of the massacre, Carland saw smoke coming from the battlefield and thought Custer was victorious. He and General Terry discovered Custer's body on the battlefield. A very important Custer association letter.
Reference: cf. Whitaker, A Complete Life of General George A. Custer (1876), pp 523-524.
Estimated Value $5,000 - 7,000.
Sotheby's, November 1, 1993, lot 43.
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| Realized $3,600 |
