George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars.

Raised in Michigan and Ohio, Custer is admitted to West Point in 1858, where he graduates last in his class.

However, with the outbreak of the Civil War, all potential officers are needed, and Custer is called to serve with the Union Army.

Custer develops a strong reputation during the Civil War.

He fights in the first major engagement, the First Battle of Bull Run.

His association with several important officers helps his career, as does his success as a highly effective cavalry commander.

Custer is eventually promoted to the temporary rank (brevet) of major general.

(At war's end, he reverts to his permanent rank of captain.)

At the conclusion of the Appomattox Campaign, in which he and his troops play a decisive role, Custer is on hand at General Robert E. Lee's surrender.

After the Civil War, Custer is dispatched to the west to fight in the Indian Wars.

His disastrous final battle overshadows his prior achievements.

Custer and all the men with him are killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, fighting against a coalition of Native American tribes in a battle that has come to be popularly known in American history as "Custer's Last Stand".