1. Thomas Ward Custer was a United States Army officer and two-time recipient of the Medal of Honor for bravery during the American Civil War.
23 Facts About Thomas Custer
1. 2.
Thomas Custer was born in New Rumley, Ohio, the third son of Emanuel and Marie Custer.
3.
Thomas Custer enlisted in the Union Army, in September 1861, at age 16, and served in the early campaigns of the Civil War as a private in the 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
4.
Thomas Custer saw action at numerous battles, including Stones River, Missionary Ridge and the Atlanta Campaign.
5.
Thomas Custer mustered out in October 1864 as a corporal.
6.
Thomas Custer distinguished himself by winning successively the brevets of captain, major, and lieutenant colonel, although he was barely 20 years of age when the Civil War ended.
7.
Thomas Custer was the first soldier to receive the dual honor, one of only four soldiers or sailors to receive the dual honor during the Civil War, and one of just 19 in history.
8.
Thomas Custer earned his first Medal of Honor for actions during the Battle of Namozine Church, April 3,1865.
9.
Thomas Custer took three officers and eleven enlisted men as prisoner, took them back behind the federal column, and requisitioned another horse, as his had been shot during the charge.
10.
Similar actions in the Battle of Sailor's Creek resulted in Thomas Custer being the first American soldier to receive two Medals of Honor.
11.
Thomas Custer discharged his pistol to both sides, scattering the enemy.
12.
Thomas Custer noticed Confederates attempting to make a new battleline and saw the color bearer they were rallying to.
13.
Until 1948, official references for the date of actions for which Thomas Custer was awarded the Medal of Honor were listed as April 2 and 6,1865.
14.
The Civil War Army recipient who follows Thomas Custer alphabetically is Byron Cutcheon, whose date of action was May 10,1863.
15.
Thomas Custer was wounded in the Washita campaign of the Indian Wars, in November 1868.
16.
Thomas Custer later served with the Army during the Reconstruction era, assigned to keep the peace in South Carolina.
17.
Thomas Custer participated in the Yellowstone Expedition of 1873, where he fought in the Battle of Honsinger Bluff, and the Black Hills Expedition of 1874.
18.
Thomas Custer was appointed captain in 1875 and given command of Company C of the 7th Cavalry.
19.
In 1874, at the trading post at Standing Rock Agency, Thomas Custer participated in the arrest of chief Rain-in-the-Face, suspected in the 1873 murder of Dr John Honsinger.
20.
George A Custer and died with his brother on June 25,1876.
21.
Thomas Custer's corpse was so badly mutilated that the remains were identified only by a recognizable tattoo of his initials on his arm.
22.
Thomas Custer was exhumed with other soldiers the next year and reburied in Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery.
23.
Some historians believe that George Custer had become sterile after contracting gonorrhea while at West Point, and that the father of these children was his brother Thomas.