A Complete Life of Gen. George A. Custer - Paperbackby Frederick Whittaker (Author) George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Raised in Michigan and Ohio, Custer was admitted to West Point in 1857, where he graduated last in his class in 1861. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Custer was called to serve with the Union Army. Custer developed a strong reputation during the Civil