Sixteen

The Bristoe Campaign

 

On September 16, Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer, the hometown boy made good, returned to Monroe, Michigan. He would put that town on the map nationally when the October 3, 1863, issue of Harper’s Weekly depicted Custer, his saber drawn, charging into the midst of Confederate guns.

Prominent families, especially those with eligible daughters, competed to invite him to dinner, or parties, or other private and public affairs to show him off and be seen with him. The local celebrity was much in demand, particularly from the young ladies, who would stand outside the Reed home, twirling their parasols, hoping to catch the eye of the handsome young general. The son of the former town smithy, who previously had been looked down upon for his low station in the world, was now the toast of the upper crust of Monroe society.

But Armstrong only had eyes for Libbie Bacon. He was confused, however, about the mixed signals that Libbie had relayed through Nettie Humphrey’s letters, and set out to “attack,” as Libbie would later call it, this girl of his dreams.1

Custer executed a frontal assault that Jeb Stuart could not have withstood—calling on Libbie, strolling with her, and sitting beside her in church. When he first called on her, Libbie “saw him at once, because I could not avoid him. I tried to, but I did not succeed.” But that would be the last of her deception. Libbie could not deny it to herself any longer. It was soon apparent to everyone—Libbie Bacon was madly in love with Armstrong Custer.2

On September 28, Armstrong escorted Libbie to a masquerade ball given in his honor. He attended dressed as Louis XVI, and she as a gypsy girl complete with tambourine. Later that night, under a tree in the Bacon garden, Armstrong proposed marriage.

Libbie recalled, “The General’s proposal was as much a cavalry charge as any he ever took in the field. First on the astonished me who knew that in books lovers led up to proposals by slow careful approaches and chosen language, and so had some of the General’s predecessors, quite living up to the poetic or romantic. But this vehement, stammery disclosure of years of purpose I had no breath to protest. (Sometimes when greatly excited he had a slight hesitation in speech, then out poured a torrent of words.) Proposing a second time I saw him as a violent contrast to the ambling ponies of my tranquil girlhood.”3

Libbie readily accepted this proposal. The only drawback was that she insisted that the engagement not be announced until Custer had asked for and received her father’s blessing—that would be the second cavalry charge, and must be calculated with the greatest of tact and sincerity. This proposition would test the mettle of the young cavalry officer.4

On October 5, with Libbie, Judge Bacon, and other friends seeing him off, Armstrong Custer boarded the train for his return to duty. The gallant field general who had time and again confronted his enemy with wild abandon had not been able to bring himself to ask for Libbie’s hand from Judge Bacon. He did, however, promise to write the judge about a matter that concerned them both. “Very well,” the judge responded, and Custer bid them farewell.

After Custer had departed, Libbie wrote in her journal, “I never was kissed so much before. I thought he would eat me. My forehead and my eyelids and cheeks and lips bear testimony—and his star scratched my face. I read him in all my books.” She longed to “feel his strong arms around me and his dear lips to mine.” Perhaps remembering those nights when she dreamed of being swept away by a military dream lover, she wrote, “When I take in the book heroes there comes dashing in with them my life hero my dear boy general. Yes, I love him devotedly. Every other man seems so ordinary beside my own particular star.”5

While he traveled back to army life, Custer wrote a hopeful letter to Nettie Humphrey from Baltimore, “In every city I pass through I see something to admire, and am struck with wonder at man’s art and ingenuity in improving that which Nature already has made beautiful. But my heart turns lovingly to our unassuming little town on the banks of the Raisin. I have thought much of my intended letter to Libbie’s father, my mind alternating between hope and fear—fear that I may suffer from some unfounded prejudice. I feel that her father, valuing her happiness, would not refuse were he to learn from her own lips our real relation to one another.”6

On October 8, Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer reported to his unit, which was camped southwest of Culpeper Court House, and received three cheers from the troopers as the band played “Hail to the Chief.” In his absence, the men had bestowed upon him a new nickname. To honor the golden locks that he had vowed not to cut until he rode into Richmond, the troopers now affectionately called their brigadier “Old Curly.”7

While Custer returned to the adulation of his men, General Robert E. Lee was in the process of implementing his latest strategy. Lee had never abandoned his ambitious plan to maneuver his army between Meade’s army and Washington, and now commenced amassing his troops with the intention of marching west around Meade’s right flank. Meade was unaware of the extent of Lee’s plan, and chose to wait until further intelligence could be gathered before moving out to challenge his enemy.

Custer, whose men were prepared to move at a moment’s notice, found the time to write a letter to Nettie Humphrey, “I arrived last evening and was welcomed in a style both flattering and gratifying,” he told her. “I feel that here, surrounded by my little band of heroes, I am loved and respected. Often I think of the vast responsibility resting on me, of the many households depending on my discretion and judgment—and to think that I am just leaving my boyhood makes the responsibility appear greater. That is not due to egotism, self-conceit. I try to make no unjust pretensions. I assume nothing I know not to be true. It requires no extensive knowledge to inform me what is my duty to my country, my command … ‘First be sure you’re right, then go ahead!’ I ask myself, ‘Is that right?’ Satisfied that it is so, I let nothing swerve me from my purpose.” The charming and thoughtful suitor of Libbie Bacon enclosed some flowers for his fiancée that had been picked in front of Headquarters near the Rapidan.8

Custer’s letter writing was interrupted when his pickets along the north bank of Robertson’s River were attacked and a portion of the line was forced back upon the reserves. At the same time, heavy enemy columns moving toward Madison Court House had been sighted by scouts. Custer advised Meade about this Rebel movement, and the commanding general decided to dispatch two divisions of cavalry—Kilpatrick and Buford—across the Rapidan on a reconnaissance to determine precise enemy positions.9

On the morning of the tenth, Jeb Stuart sent Colonel O. R. Funsten, commanding Jones’ brigade, as advance guard toward Woodville on the Sperryville Pike and led his remaining troops toward James City. Stuart drove enemy pickets at Russell’s Ford back to Bethsaida Church, where the 120th New York Infantry waited. General James B. Gordon’s brigade drew the attention of the New Yorkers from the front while Stuart led his detachment through the woods to the right and rear. The First South Carolina was ordered to charge, and quickly routed the whole line, capturing eighty-seven prisoners in the process. Stuart then led his troops to James City, a two-and-a-half-mile ride.10

At 1:00 P.M., Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer received orders to advance to James City, and arrived two hours later to discover Stuart already in possession of the town. Custer ordered Alexander Pennington to open up and shell the enemy position in the woods at the edge of the village, while Colonel Russell Alger and one battalion of the Fifth Michigan charged the artillery battery. Stuart met the advance of the Wolverines with sharpshooters from the First South Carolina, and, in Custer’s words, the charge “failed for want of sufficient support.”11

The opposing cavalries traded sporadic fire throughout the remainder of the day, but for the most part were content to observe each other from parallel positions of high ground with James City located in the valley between.

Kilpatrick received urgent orders at about 3:00 A.M. to move his command across the Rappahannock toward Culpeper Court House to cover the withdrawal of the infantry. By seven o’clock, the Union cavalry was in the saddle, with Custer’s brigade on the eastern flank. Stuart noticed this withdrawal, gathered his troops, and hurried down the Sperryville Pike toward Culpeper.12

Kilpatrick’s division had passed through Culpeper, oblivious to the fact that Meade had already removed the infantry from the vicinity, virtually abandoning the cavalry in enemy-held territory. The horsemen were finally informed of Meade’s action, and raced toward the Rappahannock to avoid being caught in an exposed position without infantry available for support.

Custer’s brigade rode at the end of the column. The first word of the potential consequences of this predicament came from a young woman in Culpeper who informed the rear guard that “You will catch it if you don’t hurry.” Custer had departed town, following the tracks of the Orange & Alexandria Railroad, when his rear guard was struck by Stuart’s cavalry. Kilpatrick was some distance ahead, and Custer would be on his own if the enemy chose to attack in force.13

Jeb Stuart, riding with his advance, the Twelfth Virginia, had ordered the charge. His men bravely responded, but encountered a wide ditch and a stone wall, which effectively aborted the advance and, for the time being, saved Custer.

Custer reacted to Stuart’s initial charge by deploying his troops on the ridges north of Culpeper, and dug in to prepare for an attack.

Stuart at this time learned that the Union infantry had crossed the Rappahannock, and decided not to strike Custer’s position. Instead, he devised a plan designed to trap the enemy cavalry between his division and that of Fitz Lee’s division, which was presently located north of Culpeper. Stuart left behind a detachment to harass Custer, withdrew the remainder of his troops, and led them along the back roads toward Brandy Station.14

When it became evident that an assault by Stuart was not forthcoming, Custer mounted his men and resumed his desperate ride toward the Rappahannock in an effort to rejoin Kilpatrick, Buford, and Pleasonton.15

The Wolverines had ventured only a short distance when Stuart’s horsemen once again commenced nipping at the heels of the column. At the same time, Custer noticed a strong gray column—Fitz Lee’s division—on his outer flank racing to intercept his line of march. Rather than halt and deploy, Custer pushed his men in the direction of Brandy Station—riding directly into Jeb Stuart’s trap.16

Lieutenant George Briggs, the adjutant riding with Colonel William D. Mann’s Seventh Michigan, described the action with the rear guard, “To unflinchingly face and hold in check the advancing enemy until the receding column of your comrades is out of sight; to then break to the rear a short distance and again face about to meet an on-coming and confident foe, is a duty that only brave and well disciplined troops can properly perform. Breaking to the rear only to repeatedly face about in a new position, which must be held as long as safety will permit, is one of the most trying services that a soldier is called upon to perform.”17

Judson Kilpatrick, however, was not entirely fooled by Stuart’s ploy, and ordered Buford’s Second New York into the fray. Custer’s men rode to save themselves from being cut off, while Fitz Lee encountered Buford’s New Yorkers at the railroad tracks on the outskirts of Brandy Station and forced them into a fighting retreat across Raccoon Creek. Lee, expecting that Buford would make a stand at Brandy Station, chased his enemy in that direction.

Tom Rosser had something to celebrate and something to prove. He had been officially promoted to brigadier general and named in command of the Laurel Brigade that day. Rosser detached the First Maryland and Fifteenth Virginia from Fitz Lee and spurred ahead in an effort to maneuver in front of Custer at the river.18

Stuart, riding with Hampton’s division, pressed forward, and encountered a battalion of the Fifth New York that had been separated from the main column. He ordered the Twelfth Virginia and the Fourth and Fifth North Carolina to charge. The Union troops held their ground by blockading the road and preparing to fight with drawn pistols. Stuart then dispatched the Seventh Virginia into the Union flank, killing and capturing many of them.

Stuart’s vise was closing when, unexpectedly, he came under heavy artillery shelling—originating from the direction of Fitz Lee’s guns. Stuart’s advance had been so rapid that his horse artillery could not keep up, and he therefore had no way of notifying Lee of his arrival. Lee had mistaken Stuart’s command for enemy cavalry. The only manner in which to reveal their identity was to attack the Yankees. The Twelfth Virginia was formed, and prepared to charge into the scattered enemy.19

When Custer and his Wolverines arrived at the depot, Rosser was in a position at his front, which cut him off from the river. Custer reported, “The heavy masses of the rebel cavalry could be seen covering the heights in front of my advance (where it is remembered that my rear guard was hotly engaged with a superior force), a heavy column was enveloping each flank, and my advance confronted by more than double my own number. The peril of my situation can be estimated.”20

Jeb Stuart had successfully surrounded Custer’s command. The only question was whether or not the Knight of the Golden Spurs could coordinate his various detachments effectively enough to deliver the killing blow before the Wolverines could escape.

Custer ordered Pennington’s six-gun battery to blast their way through the impasse, but the Yanks were soon quieted by heavier Rebel shelling. At that point, Generals Pleasonton and Kilpatrick surprisingly braved the ride through the enemy to confer with Custer. There were few options, and, when Custer proposed “to cut through the force in my front, and thus open a way for the entire command to the river,” Pleasonton approved, saying, “Do your best.”21

Custer wasted little time mounting the Fifth Michigan on his right in a column of battalions, and the First on his left in a column of squadrons. The Sixth and Seventh would guard the flank, where Stuart’s horsemen had been poised. The Boy General then scanned the enemy position with binoculars in an attempt to discern a weak point.

Moments later, satisfied that he had located a likely spot, Custer rode to the front of his men, and ordered, “Draw sabers!” He waited for the clanking of the heavy metal weapons to die down, and then informed them that they were surrounded, and all they had to do was open a way with their sabers. “I told them of the situation frankly of the great responsibility resting on them and how confident I was that they would respond nobly to the trust reposed in them. You should have heard the cheers they sent up.”22

Custer, looking over that sea of sabers and anxious faces, called out, “‘Boys of Michigan, there are some people between us and home; I’m going home, who else goes?’ They showed their determination and purpose by giving three hearty cheers.” The enthusiasm of the command was heightened when the bandmaster was ordered to play “Yankee Doodle”—the official song for a charge.

General Custer issued the order to move forward, and the command responded at the trot. “I never expect to see a prettier sight,” he later wrote to Nettie Humphrey. “I frequently turned in my saddle to see the glittering sabres advance in the sunlight.”23

At his chosen time, Custer rose in his stirrups, pointed his saber, and shouted “Charge!” The buglers echoed the call, and the Wolverines bolted toward the ranks of the Southerners. Captain William Glazier described the scene, “Custer, the daring, terrible demon that he is in battle, dashed madly forward in the charge, while his yellow locks floated like pennants in the breeze. Fired to an almost divine potency, and with a majestic madness, this band of heroic troopers shook the air with their battle cry.”24

Within forty rods of Stuart’s cavalry, Custer’s opposition wilted away—but within moments wheeled around and charged his flank and rear. General Tom Rosser explained his actions, “I withdrew my regiment, and advised the other colonels to fall back so as to avoid the heavy blow in our rear. These troops were moving at a full gallop; they were not charging upon us, for we stood in line off to one side, and for a moment I looked on in amazement at the performance. I soon concluded that they were being pursued, and charged them in flank.”25

Jeb Stuart supported his horsemen with a vicious artillery barrage. Custer was blown from his horse by a bursting shell, quickly scrambled to remount another, which was slain by a bullet, and he resumed the charge atop a third mount.26

The two cavalries charged and countercharged throughout the afternoon and into the evening—the Federals trying to fight their way through Confederates who were just as determined to stop them. Judson Kilpatrick rode into the fray to yell at Colonel Russell Alger of the Fifth Michigan, “You charge and give them hell, and I’ll give them heller.”

Stuart placed Lomax’s and Chambliss’ brigades on the right to pour a cross fire into the Union flank, while the main force attacked the front. At one point, Kilpatrick’s wagons and ambulances were threatened, but the Sixth and Seventh Michigan thwarted Stuart’s men long enough for most of the train to escape.27

Brandy Station, in the words of Confederate officer Henry McClellan, was once again the scene of a “sanguinary cavalry battle. [The Union cavalrymen] fought bravely, even desperately. Several times [our] dismounted men, while eagerly pressing forward, were surrounded by the enemy’s cavalry, and either fought their way out with their carbines and revolvers or were rescued by charges of their mounted brigades. Five times did the 5th, 6th, and 15th Virginia Cavalry make distinct sabre charges.” Tom Rosser added, “Never in my life did I reap such a rich harvest in horses and prisoners.”28

However, Custer successfully punched a hole through his enemy, opening a route wide enough to allow the cavalry to commence withdrawing across the river to Brandy Station.

By the time Fitz Lee realized what was happening and joined Stuart, the beleaguered Yankees, supported by artillery, had managed to occupy Fleetwood Hill. A series of counterattacks failed to dislodge the resolute enemy, and Stuart eventually declined to send his troops against such a strong position.

Colonel Pierce M. B. Young arrived with his Georgian brigade just before nightfall. Young deployed his men as sharpshooters and commenced a determined barrage that deceived the Federals into believing that infantry support had arrived. As darkness descended, Confederate campfires were built along a two-mile line, and the brass band played “Bonnie Blue Flag” and “Dixie” while the Union cavalrymen quietly slipped away in the night.

By about eight o’clock, every able-bodied Yankee had crossed the pontoon bridge and reached the relative safety of the far side of the Rappahannock River—but had left over five hundred of their comrades behind as Jeb Stuart’s prisoners.29

General Alfred Pleasonton had accompanied the Michigan Brigade throughout the battle, and had nothing but praise for Custer and his men. “Boys,” he said, “I saw your flag far in advance among the rebels.”30

Later, Lieutenant George Briggs would write, “The salvation of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade from capture or destruction at Brandy Station was little less than a miracle. That it was saved for its subsequent career of brilliant services was due to its fighting qualities, its confidence in the leadership of the beloved Custer, and the failure of the enemy to take advantage of a great opportunity.”31

No one was more pleased about the performance of the Michigan Brigade than its commander, however, who wrote that night to Nettie Humphrey, “Oh, could you but have seen some of the charges that were made! While thinking of them I cannot but exclaim ‘Glorious War!’”

On October 18, General Meade ordered Judson Kilpatrick to confirm reports that Robert E. Lee was withdrawing his army. At three o’clock that afternoon, the Third Division, with Custer’s Michigan brigade in the van, crossed Bull Run and moved down the Warrenton Turnpike. Stuart was covering Lee’s withdrawal, and his horsemen offered only token resistance at Gainesville before retiring when the First Vermont advanced. Kilpatrick’s troops bivouacked at Gainesville for the night, while Stuart deployed Wade Hampton’s division, which remained under his personal command, into a strong defensive position just three miles to the west at Buckland Mills.32

At daybreak on the cold, rainy morning of October 19, General Custer’s brigade, with Major James Kidd’s Sixth Michigan in the advance, moved down the Pike from Gainesville to Buckland, and encountered only light skirmishing. Shortly before noon, however, the Wolverines approached Broad Run and came under intense small arms and artillery fire from three cavalry brigades located on the southern bank. Custer quickly dismounted the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Michigan, and placed them on both sides of the Warrenton Turnpike. The mounted First Michigan and First Vermont were held in reserve. Custer understood that an assault under the circumstances would not be prudent, and therefore dispatched the Seventh to move through the woods downstream in an attempt to cross the creek below the Rebel right flank.33

Jeb Stuart was aware of Custer’s intention to try to turn his flank. While contemplating a tactic to counter this threat, a courier from Fitz Lee arrived. Lee’s division, he informed the cavalry commander, was approaching from the east. Lee suggested that Stuart withdraw toward Warrenton and lure the Yankees into pursuit, which would permit his division to strike from the flank while Stuart could turn around and hit them from the front. Lee would fire a cannon shot to indicate when he was in position. Stuart gladly accepted the plan, and commenced pulling back.34

Custer waited for the Seventh Michigan to engage the Rebels on the flank, and then sent Colonel Alger and the Fifth Michigan on a charge across the creek. New York Times reporter E. A. Paul wrote, “The skirmishers, not to be left behind, boldly waded the river, and not withstanding all the obstacles to such a movement, kept up an excellent line, the whole command pushing forward under a very heavy fire. The conflict, though comparatively brief here, was sharp, the enemy contending manfully for every foot of ground.” The Confederates began to withdraw in the face of this assault.

Custer was of the opinion that he had forced Jeb Stuart’s horsemen from their position, and halted after a mile or so of pursuit to allow his hungry men to prepare dinner.35

Judson Kilpatrick arrived with Davies’ brigade and, after complimenting Custer on his actions, ordered him to mount up his troops. Custer protested that his men had not eaten since the previous evening, and Kilpatrick agreed that they should eat.

“It was characteristic of him to care studiously for the comfort of his men,” explained James Kidd. But in this instance, Custer had apparently wanted a respite from the fight in order to assess the situation. Old Curly did not feel comfortable, and purposefully warned Kilpatrick that something was amiss, that his lone brigade should not have so easily dislodged an entrenched enemy division. In addition, his scouts had observed great numbers of Confederate infantry on both flanks that could have been merely stragglers without horses from Hampton’s division.

Custer advised his commander to be wary and proceed with caution, that the wily Stuart might be attempting to cut the Third Division off from Broad Run. Kilpatrick scoffed at his subordinate’s concern and ordered Custer to follow the last brigade that passed. Kilpatrick then rode off with Davies vowing to overtake Stuart’s retreating troops.36

Stuart had hidden his division behind ridges at Chestnut Hill, two and a half miles northeast of Warrenton, and watched as Kilpatrick and Davies rode toward them along the turnpike. The Union cavalry was within two hundred yards of Stuart’s position when Fitz Lee announced his presence with cannon fire. The Southerners attacked Kilpatrick’s column from the front and flank, and the blue-clad cavalry had little choice but to flee for their lives.37

At about 3:00 P.M., Custer had just gotten under way when his Wolverines came under attack by a line of foot soldiers. General Fitz Lee had sent Colonel Thomas Owen’s Virginia brigade up from Auburn as an advance unit to strike Kilpatrick’s rear. Lee’s entire division had followed, and two brigades of Kilpatrick’s division were caught in dire circumstances, unable to retreat back to Broad Run.

Custer quickly discovered that, with Davies in retreat, he had been left on his own—abandoned by Kilpatrick. He posted the dismounted Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh in the woods, with the mounted First Vermont and First Michigan in reserve, and ordered Battery M to open up. The woods quavered with gunfire and were choked with plumes of white smoke as Major Kidd’s Sixth Michigan fired into the long gray line of dismounted cavalry.38

Lee countered with his own artillery and an overwhelming number of troopers advancing on foot. The Rebels charged time and again, but the Wolverines made a series of valiant stands against this seemingly endless flood of aggressors. There were twelve enemy regiments against them, and only his posting of the skirmishers in the woods had averted disaster. Custer deployed one of Pennington’s guns and the First Vermont to guard any attempt by the Confederates to take Broad Run bridge. He worried about the fate of Colonel Davies’ brigade, but the enemy was simply too powerful. He must try to save his own men.

Confederate Major P. P. Johnston, who was commanding a section of the artillery, reported, “The battle was of the most obstinate character. Fitz Lee exerting himself to the utmost to push the enemy, and Custer seeming to have no thought of retiring. Suddenly, a cloud of dust arose on the road toward Warrenton, and as suddenly everything in our front gave way. The mounted cavalry was ordered forward, and I saw no more of the enemy.”39

Custer had wisely perceived that he was in peril of being trapped between Lee and Stuart, and had no other choice but to order his men to withdraw across Broad Run and ride away to save themselves from certain annihilation.40

General Custer led his Wolverines toward Gainesville, where they found safety behind the pickets of the Sixth Corps. He would later call the episode “the most disastrous [day] this Division ever passed through.” To add to Custer’s anger and humiliation, his baggage and correspondence had been captured. Confederate William Blackford noted, “Some of the letters to a fair, but frail, friend of Custer’s were published in the Richmond papers and afforded some spicy reading, though most of the spicy parts did not appear.”41

Colonel Davies’ brigade did not fare as well as the Michigan boys. They had passed through New Baltimore, four miles west of Buckland Mills, when Kilpatrick was informed that the enemy held the turnpike to their rear. Kilpatrick dispatched his wagons and two regiments on an alternate route, leaving Davies to engage the enemy. Eventually, Davies ordered an every-man-for-himself retreat, and the regiments dissolved as the horsemen raced to save themselves.

Jeb Stuart’s cavalry chased the Union cavalrymen for five miles, and along the way captured about 250 prisoners and eight to ten ambulances. Kilpatrick and Davies were able to save themselves, but the episode was certainly not only costly in lives but an embarrassment for the Union. Stuart termed this hasty retreat by the Union the “Buckland Races,” and boasted that he was “justified in declaring the rout of the enemy at Buckland the most signal and complete that any cavalry has suffered during the war.”42

The Knight of the Golden Spurs and his Invincibles had regained, at least for the time being, a dominance over the enemy, which had been a matter of contention in recent days.

The Bristoe Campaign had come to an inglorious end with Robert E. Lee once again getting the better of Union forces. George Meade had been forced back forty miles from where the campaign had begun, and had been denied use of the railroad at Bristoe Station for over a month. The Yankee cavalry had performed in spectacular fashion, however, but had more than once been placed in peril without support and were fortunate to have been able to fight their way out of harm’s way on their own.

Perhaps the most displeased—to put it kindly—officer on the Union side at the way the recent actions were conducted was George Armstrong Custer. And his wrath was directed at one man.

“Under very distressing circumstances,” Custer wrote to Nettie Humphrey on October 20 from Gainesville, “I turn to you and her [Libbie Bacon] for consolation. It is for others that I feel. October 19th, was the most disastrous this division ever passed through … I was not responsible, but I cannot but regret the loss of so many brave men … all the more painful that it was not necessary.”43

With those words, Custer for the first time displayed criticism of Judson Kilpatrick. The loss of 214 Wolverines killed, wounded, or captured in the previous ten days, combined with the previous day’s debacle, compelled him to break his silence in correspondence, if not in private to confidants on his staff. Kill-Cavalry had ignored Custer’s warning about a potential trap at Buckland, and only Custer’s foresight had averted a worse disaster for his own men. The battered Michigan Brigade would require an extended recuperation, clothing to replace their “rags,” and the replacement of hundreds of mounts lost in the fighting.

The relationship between Custer and Kilpatrick would never be the same, and it may have been on Custer’s mind to confront his superior about his reckless disregard for the troops, but good judgment won out—at least for the time being.44