Boston Custer (October 31, 1848 – June 25, 1876) was the youngest brother of U.S. Army

Lt Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

George Armstrong Custer 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. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his clas ...

and two-time

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor ...

recipient

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Thomas Custer Thomas Ward Custer (March 15, 1845 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed serv ...

. He was killed at the

Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, No ...

along with his two brothers.

Early life

Boston Custer was born in

New Rumley, Ohio New Rumley is an unincorporated community in central Rumley Township, Harrison County, Ohio, United States. It is famous for being the birthplace of George Armstrong Custer. The Custer Memorial by Erwin Frey is located along State Route 646 o ...

, one of five children born to Emanuel Henry Custer and Maria Ward Kirkpatrick Custer. In 1863, the family left Ohio and moved to

Monroe, Michigan Monroe is the largest city and county seat of Monroe County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Monroe had a population of 20,462 in the 2020 census. The city is bordered on the south by Monroe Charter Township, but the two are administered autonom ...

. Boston's older brother Nevin became a farmer due to asthma and rheumatism, while two other older brothers, George and Thomas ("Tom"), became military officers in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

. Boston had been unable to officially join the Army due to poor health.

Battle

A civilian contractor, Custer served as forage master for his brother George's

U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment The 7th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army cavalry regiment formed in 1866. Its official nickname is "Garryowen", after the Irish air " Garryowen" that was adopted as its march tune. The regiment participated in some of the largest b ...

in the 1874

Black Hills The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk P ...

expedition. He was employed as a guide, forager, packer and scout for the regiment for the 1876 expedition against the

Lakota Lakota may refer to: * Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language, the language of the Lakota peoples Place names In the United States: *Lakota, Iowa *Lakota, North Dakota, seat of Nelson County *Lakot ...

Indians. On June 25, 1876, along with his 18-year-old nephew Henry Armstrong "Autie" Reed, Custer was with the

pack train A packhorse, pack horse, or sumpter refers to a horse, mule, donkey, or pony used to carry goods on its back, usually in sidebags or panniers. Typically packhorses are used to cross difficult terrain, where the absence of roads prevents the use o ...

at the rear of

Lt. Col. Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel ...

George Custer's troops. Hearing from a messenger that Lt. Col. Custer had requested ammunition for an impending fight, they quickly left the pack train. The pair passed by

Frederick Benteen Frederick William Benteen (August 24, 1834 – June 22, 1898) was a military officer who first fought during the American Civil War. He was appointed to commanding ranks during the Indian Campaigns and Great Sioux War against the Lakota an ...

's detachment and joined Custer's main column as it moved into position to attack a sprawling Indian village along the Little Big Horn River. Had they stayed with the pack train where they were assigned, Boston Custer and Autie Reed might have survived the battle.

Death

Like his brothers and nephew, Boston was killed at the area known as "Last Stand Hill". A marble marker commemorates the approximate place where his body was found and identified. Though originally buried on the battlefield, Autie Reed and Boston Custer's remains were exhumed, the only exceptions to the rule that only commissioned officers would be shipped home for reburial. They were reinterred January 8, 1878, at Woodland Cemetery in Monroe, Michigan, near today's

Monroe County, Michigan Monroe County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 154,809. The largest city and county seat is Monroe. The county was established as the second county (after Wayne County) in the Michigan Ter ...

Museum.

Film

Boston Custer was portrayed by actor Patrick Johnston in the TV miniseries ''

Son of the Morning Star ''Son of the Morning Star: Custer and the Little Big Horn'' is a nonfiction account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876, by novelist Evan S. Connell, published in 1984 by North Point Press. The book features extensive portraits ...

'' (1991).

References

Bibliography

External links

George Custer Lobbies for Boston Custer Second Lieutenant Appointment, 1872
Shapell Manuscript Foundation

*
Boston Custer's marker (not his headstone)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Custer, Boston 1848 births 1876 deaths Burials at Woodland Cemetery (Monroe, Michigan)

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

American military personnel killed in the American Indian Wars People from Harrison County, Ohio People from Monroe, Michigan People of the Great Sioux War of 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn United States Army personnel of the Indian Wars United States Army civilians