side giving him a rakish air. His
golden hair fell in graceful luxuriance nearly or quite to his
shoulders, and his upper lip was garnished with a blonde mustache. A
sword and belt, gilt spurs and top boots completed his unique outfit.

A keen eye would have been slow to detect in that rider with the flowing
locks and gaudy tie, in his dress of velvet and of gold, the master
spirit that he proved to be. That garb, fantastic as at first sight it
appeared to be, was to be the distinguishing mark which, during all the
remaining years of that war, like the white plume of Henry of Navarre,
was to show us where, in the thickest of the fight, we were to seek our
leader--for, where danger was, where swords were to cross, where Greek
met Greek, there was he, always. Brave but not reckless; self-confident,
yet modest; ambitious, but regulating his conduct at all times by a high
sense of honor and duty; eager for laurels, but scorning to wear them
unworthily; ready and willing to act, but regardful of human life; quick
in emergencies, cool and self-possessed, his courage was of the highest
moral type, his perceptions were intuitions. Showy like Murat, fiery
like Farnsworth, yet calm and self-reliant like Sheridan, he was the
most brilliant and successful cavalry officer of his time. Such a man
had appeared upon the scene, and soon we learned to utter with pride the
name of--Custer.

George A. Custer was, as all agree, the most picturesque figure of the
civil war. Yet his ability and services were never rightly judged by the
American people. It is doubtful if more than one of his superior
officers--if we except McClellan, who knew him only as a staff
subaltern--estimated him at his true value. Sheridan knew Custer for
what he was. So did the Michigan brigade and the Third cavalry division.
But, except by these, he was regarded as a brave, dashing, but reckless
officer who needed a guiding hand. Among regular army officers as a
class he cannot be said to have been a favorite. The meteoric rapidity
of his rise to the zenith of his fame and success, when so many of the
youngsters of his years were moving in the comparative obscurity of
their own orbits, irritated them. Stars of the first magnitude did not
appear often in the galaxy of military heroes. Custer was one of the
few.

The popular idea of Custer is a misconception. He was not a reckless
commander. He was not regardless of human life. No man could have been
more careful of