They were married for twelve years .. she spent five years in Kansas Territory on the front lines, two in Kentucky and five in the Dakotas in the field with her husband. After his death, she defended every attack on his character .. President Grant being the most outspoken. She raised funds for his statue and is one of the few women allowed to be buried at West Point along side her husband .. George A. Custer the youngest General until 1917.
Here is a picture of her cotton dress ..
http://collections.theautry.org/mweb...x=97_179_1.jpg
I was so impressed with her book "Following the Guidon" that I bought her other two .. "Tenting on the Plains and Boots and Saddles." She wrote them for income as she was only getting $30 a month as a General's widow (57 years). I am reading them now. After campaigning Congress for all wives of service members .. her allotment was increased to $100 before she died.
I have General Custer's book .. "My life on the Plains" which tells of both of them and their outstanding assistant .. Elisa .. who deserves a Congressional Medal of Honor for saving seven men from a flood along with Mrs. Custer and several of her visiting girl friends from the East.
Standing in the mud in their bloomers .. they tore up their tent, their sheets and made a rope during the night and attached it to a Gatling Gun next to their tent on a knoll. Together, they pulled seven men out of the waters.
Guess who was in charge .. the only lady with guts enough to visit the front lines during the Civil War .. shells bursting overhead .. and serve her General his coffee .. and very quickly all the officers on the front line .. Eliza. She was captured twice and escaped and returned to the General.
Widow Elizabeth Custer
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