Custer Reckless, But Lucky, Before 'Last Stand'

Almost every American school kid is familiar with the story of Custer's Last Stand, that infamous day in June, 1876 when George Armstrong Custer divided his cavalry force into three parts, then foolishly led one of those small contingents against an enormous Lakota Sioux village camped on the banks of the Little Bighorn River in what was then the eastern portion of the Montana Territory. Custer failed to perform even the most rudimentary reconnaissance of his adversary that day, and managed to get himself, two of his brothers, his brother-in-law, a nephew, not to mention the rest of his command, slaughtered as a result. Almost everyone is familiar with that story. But what many people are unfamiliar with, is that during the Civil War, that same, rash George Armstrong Custer had managed to put himself and his entire outfit into exactly the same predicament – getting his Michigan brigade cut off and surrounded by Confederate cavalry to the point that, had not timely reinforcements broken through to his relief, Custer's entire force might well have been destroyed.