Description:

George Custer
New York, NY, February 22, 1871
George Armstrong Custer Writes Wife from New York City about Boredom and Progress on Stock Sales
AL

GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER, Partial Autograph Letter, to "Darling Mm'e," [Elizabeth B. Custer], February 22, 1871, New York, NY. 4 pp., 5.25" x 8.25". Expected folds; lightly toned; very good.

In this letter, Custer writes from New York City to his wife in Kansas while he is on an extended leave and exploring business options. He mentions having received a letter from Captain Myles Walter Keogh (1840-1876), one of Custer's officers among the 7th Cavalry, who also died at the Little Bighorn, and tells of Keogh's flirtations with Mrs. Huff. He also mentions having sold $10,000 in mining stock to one of Commodore Vanderbilt's sons-in-law.

According to Custer, Huff teasingly quoted from Thomas Moore's early-nineteenth-century poem, "'Tis Sweet to Think": "when we're far from the lips that we love, / We've but to make love to the lips we are near...."

Complete Transcript
Fifth Avenue Hotel
(Darling, Griswold & Co.)
12 AM
New York, Wed 22d 1871
Darling Mm'e.
Your second letter from [?]th has just been recd Also one from Keogh. I am glad Mr Weston was so kind but it is just like him. Keoghs note was very brief simply telling of the troop which had gone &c. &c. and sending his regards to Mrs. [Lewen?] and his love to Mrs Huff. I dislike to take up time referring to his senseless remarks but I must refer X to his allusions to Mrs Huffs quotation regarding When far from the lips that we love &c &c (The rest I forget I never knew) It was in teasing Col Keogh that Mrs Huff said "I believe in the sentiment of ——s lines "When fire from the lips &c &c." Keogh said Oh that is villainous. I enjoyed his discomfiture and like I often do said what I do not mean, but in this case I only said "That's right Mrs Huff it is a good principle" Mrs Huff replied "We believe in it Genl dont we" to which I simply assented, more to side with Mrs Huff than anything else. Keogh was so amazed because Mrs Huff would not hold forth the idea that she pined in his absence, and exhibited his arrogance so plainly that Mrs H & I shouted with laughter. But let this matter drop. Keogh knows that you love me and that I love none but you, whether he pretends otherwise or not. Iago knew that ‘Othello loved Desdemona' with his whole soul and she was equally devoted to him but this did not prevent him from endeavoring to sow dissension & doubt between them. When I leave to doubt your love or mistrust you it will not be from from the lips of others. From you and you only will I receive my impressions even though all the world should attempt otherwise. On the other page you will see a mark like this X just as I had finished the word preceding it an envelope was handed me to my address. Also the words in one corner with M Belmonts compliments. The note was to inform me that Mr Banker (Vanderbilts son in law) had decided to take ten thousand dollars worth of stock of me. This was almost unexpected good fortune as I did not hope to hear from him

Historical Background
In early 1871, Lt. Col. George A. Custer went to the financial district of New York City during an extended leave to assess his future options. He was also offering mining stock for sale to investors. Cornelius Vanderbilt "The Commodore" had a son-in-law named Smith Barker, but he died in 1869, so it is unclear to whom Custer refers in this letter.

Custer and portions of the 7th Cavalry were transferred from Kansas to Elizabethtown, Kentucky, to enforce federal authority by opposing the Ku Klux Klan and suppressing illegal distilleries.

Cadet William Baird (1851-1930), the son of Brigadier General Absalom Baird, was reported as intoxicated and absent without leave from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, in early January and forced to resign. After a Congressional investigation into the incident, Cadet Baird was allowed to return to the Academy in July of 1871. He graduated from West Point in 1875 and spent his career in the military, rising to the rank of captain before retiring in 1897. He returned to active duty in 1900-1901, and again in 1917-1918, when he again retired as a lieutenant colonel. His father, Absalom Baird (1824-1905), graduated from West Point in 1849 and was a recipient of the Medal of Honor for leading his division in a charge at the Battle of Jonesboro outside Atlanta in September 1864. After the Civil War, he served in the Inspector General's Department until his retirement in 1888.

George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876) was born in Ohio but spent much of his childhood in Monroe, Michigan. He entered the United States Military Academy in 1857 and graduated early in June 1861, last in his class. Commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the cavalry, he participated in the defense of Washington and the Peninsula campaign of 1862. He received promotions and by the summer of 1863 was one of the youngest generals in the Union Army at age 23. He served as brigadier general of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade. For action at the Battle of Gettysburg, he was promoted to major in the regular army. He married Elizabeth Clift Bacon in February 1864 and led his brigade in the Valley Campaigns of 1864. Custer's division blocked Confederate General Robert E. Lee's retreat, forcing his surrender at Appomattox Court House. General Philip Sheridan gave the table on which the surrender was signed to Elizabeth Custer. After he mustered out of volunteer service, Custer returned to the regular army and received a commission as lieutenant colonel of the 7th Cavalry regiment, headquartered in Kansas. He participated in various actions against Native Americans over the next decade until killed by the Sioux at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June 1876.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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