Description:

George Custer signs a photograph only months before he was killed at Little Big Horn!

GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER (1839-1876) Scarce Signed Photograph, ''Sincerely, your friend, G. A. Custer, Washington, D. C., Apl 16/76.'' on the verso of a 4.25" x 6.5" cabinet card featuring a bust portrait of Custer, published by W. H. Illingworth of St. Paul, Minnesota. Scattered soiling and toning, else very good.

Custer was in Washington to testify before the Senate Committee on Military Affairs and he stirred up some political controversy after insulting President Grant and his family. Grant at first demanded that Custer be removed from his post at Fort Lincoln but relented after the intercession of Custer’s allies in Congress and Generals Sherman and Sheridan, who insisted he was the ideal candidate to lead an expedition against the Sioux. Returning westward to his post, Custer was killed in the Battle of the Little Bighorn just two months after signing this photograph.

Illingworth was a renowned Western photographer who traveled with Custer throughout his 1874 expedition to the Black Hills, which is likely when this portrait was taken.

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