Overview
Thomas Ward Custer (1845–1876) was a soldier from Ohio. At age 16, he enlisted in the 21st Ohio Infantry and served in major Civil War campaigns, including the Battles of Stones River, Chickamauga, and Missionary Ridge. Distinguished for his bravery, he became the first double Medal of Honor recipient for actions at Namozine Church and Sailor’s Creek. After the war, he joined the 7th Cavalry and rose to the rank of Captain. He was killed at the Battle of the Little Big Horn alongside his brothers, George and Boston.
Facts
- Full Name: Thomas Ward Custer
- Birth Date: March 15, 1845
- Birthplace: New Rumley, Ohio
- Parents: Emanuel Henry and Maria (Ward) Custer
- Education: Undetermined
- Occupation: Soldier, Military officer
- Positions: Captain (USA)
- Spouse: None
- Died: June 25, 1876, Big Horn County, Montana
- Buried: Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery, Kansas
Biography
Early Life and Education
Thomas Ward Custer was born on March 15, 1845, at New Rumley in eastern Ohio. He was the third of four sons of Emanuel Henry and Maria (Ward) Custer to survive childhood. Custer also had a younger sister and several half-siblings. His oldest brother was the bold, flamboyant George Armstrong Custer, a graduate of the United States Military Academy and a noted officer in the U.S. Army during and after the Civil War. Custer’s father was a farmer and blacksmith.
Civil War
In 1849, the Custer family moved to a farm north of New Rumley. In 1860, they moved to Tontogany in northwestern Ohio. It was near there that Custer tried to enlist in the Union Army at sixteen years of age after the Civil War began. His father’s intervention with the recruiting officer thwarted Custer’s first attempt to enlist. Seeing his son’s determination, the father relented and did not object when Custer lied about his age and attempted to enlist a second time. On September 2, 1861, Custer joined the 21st Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry. On September 19, he mustered in at Camp Vance in Findlay, Ohio, as a private in Company H.
Service with the Army of the Ohio
Soon after Custer enlisted, the army trained and equipped the 21st OVI at Camp Dennison near Cincinnati and then moved them to Northern Kentucky to take part in the Big Sandy Expedition—a Federal undertaking to thwart a Confederate incursion into the neutral state. For roughly the next year and a half, Custer and his unit campaigned in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama as part of the Army of the Ohio (USA). During this time, Custer saw little combat until the Battle of Stones River (December 1862—January 1863) near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Chickamauga and Chattanooga
In April 1863, officials assigned Custer to escort duty on the staff of division commander Major General James S. Negley. Custer served in that capacity at the Battle of Chickamauga (September 1863). During the Chattanooga Campaign (October–November 1863), Custer served briefly on the staff of Major General Ulysses S. Grant and saw action at the Battle of Missionary Ridge (November 1863).
Atlanta Campaign
Early in 1864, Custer reenlisted in the army, and officials promoted him to the rank of corporal. Following a furlough in February to attend the wedding of his brother, George A. Custer, he returned south to take part in General William T. Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign.
A short time later, Custer joined the staff of Major General John M. Palmer, commander of the 14th Corps, also known as the Army of the Cumberland (USA).
During the Atlanta Campaign, Custer took part in the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain (June 1864) and the Battle of Jonesborough (August–September 1864).
Franklin-Nashville Campaign
After Union forces captured Atlanta in September 1864, Custer and the 14th Corps pursued Confederate General John Bell Hood and his Army of Tennessee (CSA) northwest during the Franklin-Nashville Campaign (September–December 1864).
Promotion to Second Lieutenant
In late October 1864, Colonel James H. Kidd offered Custer a commission as a second lieutenant in the Michigan 6th Cavalry. This was done at the behest of Kidd’s former brigade commander and Thomas Custer’s older brother, General George Armstrong Custer. On October 3, the General wrote to Kidd, offering his “sincere and heartfelt gratitude for this great favor.”
Two weeks later, on October 23, 1864, Corporal Custer mustered out of the 21st Ohio. On November 8, 1864, Lieutenant Custer assumed his new appointment and promptly joined the staff of his brother, who was commanding the 3rd Division of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Shenandoah (USA), which was commanded by Major General Philip Sheridan.
Two-time Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient
Although Thomas Custer served as a staff officer, he did not avoid combat. In March 1865, officials brevetted him to first lieutenant and cited him for bravery during the Battle of Waynesboro (March 1865).
Soon thereafter, portions of Sheridan’s Army of the Shenandoah joined Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant near Petersburg, Virginia, for the final push against General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia (CSA).
At the end of March, Custer received a brevet promotion to captain for bravery during the Battle of Dinwiddie Court House (March 1865). He received another brevet promotion to major just two days later for action during the Battle of Five Forks (April 1865).
Custer’s reputation reached unprecedented heights during April and May 1865. On April 3, 1865, while leading a charge of the Second Brigade against a Confederate barricade during the Battle of Namozine Church, Custer personally captured the battle flag of the 2nd North Carolina Cavalry. Three days later, during the Battle of Sailor’s Creek (April 1865), a Confederate standard-bearer shot Custer through the cheek and neck as he captured the battle flag of the 2nd Virginia Reserve Battalion.
Congressional Medal of Honor
On April 24, 1865, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton presented Custer with the Congressional Medal of Honor for his gallantry at Namozine Church. A month later, Stanton presented Custer with a second Medal of Honor for his actions at Sailor’s Creek. Custer was the first U.S. serviceman to receive the Medal of Honor twice. He remains one of only 20 two-time recipients of the award.
- First Award, Citation — The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor (First Award) to Second Lieutenant Thomas Ward Custer, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism while serving with Company B, 6th Michigan Cavalry, in action at Willicomack (Namozine Church), Virginia, for capture of flag on 3 April 1865.
- Second Award, Citation — The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor (Second Award) to Second Lieutenant Thomas Ward Custer, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 6 April 1865, while serving with Company B, 6th Michigan Cavalry, in action at Deatonsville (Sailor’s Creek), Virginia. Second Lieutenant Custer leaped his horse over the enemy’s works and captured two stands of colors, having his horse shot from under him and receiving a severe wound.
Post-War Army Officer
While Custer recuperated from his wounds at Sailor’s Creek, Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, 1865.
As the war came to a halt, Custer remained in the volunteer army. He served in the South on Reconstruction duty until he mustered out of volunteer service in Detroit on December 31, 1865.
In February 1866, army officials commissioned Custer as a second lieutenant in the regular army and assigned him to the 1st U.S. Infantry. On July 28, 1866, officials promoted him to first lieutenant and transferred him to the 7th Cavalry.
Indian Wars
Custer spent the next ten years with the 7th Cavalry campaigning against Native Americans in the West. On December 2, 1875, the army officials promoted Custer to captain, and two weeks later, they gave him command of Company C.
Death at the Battle of the Little Bighorn
On June 25–26, 1876, a combined force of Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians engaged the 7th Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in south-central Montana. In a stunning victory, the Indian warriors killed 263 U.S. soldiers and attached personnel, including George and Thomas Custer, their younger brother, Boston (a civilian guide), and their brother-in-law, First Lieutenant James Calhoun.
Burial
Soldiers who discovered the massacre initially buried Custer’s badly mutilated body on the battlefield. In July 1877, army personnel exhumed Custer’s remains and re-interred them at the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery in Kansas on August 3, 1877.
Accomplishments and Milestones
- September 2, 1861 — Enlisted in the 21st Regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry at the age of 16, lying about his age.
- September 19, 1861 — Mustered into the Union Volunteer Army at Camp Vance, Findlay, Ohio, as a private in Company H.
- 1861–1863 — Campaigned in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama with the Army of the Ohio.
- December 31, 1862 – January 2, 1863 — Participated in the Battle of Stones River, near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
- September 19–20, 1863 — Served on Major General James S. Negley’s staff during the Battle of Chickamauga.
- October–November 1863 — Briefly served on the staff of Major General U.S. Grant during the Chattanooga Campaign.
- November 25, 1863 — Took part in the Union assault at the Battle of Missionary Ridge.
- 1864 — Reenlisted and was promoted to corporal.
- May 7 – September 2, 1864 — Participated in the Atlanta Campaign, including the Battles of Kennesaw Mountain (June 27) and Jonesborough (August 31–September 1).
- September 18–December 27, 1864 — Served in the Franklin-Nashville Campaign.
- October 23, 1864 — Mustered out of the 21st Ohio Infantry.
- November 8, 1864 — Joined the Michigan 6th Cavalry and served on the staff of Brigadier General George A. Custer, his brother.
- March 2, 1865 — Brevetted to first lieutenant for bravery at the Battle of Waynesboro.
- March 31, 1865 — Brevetted to captain for bravery at the Battle of Dinwiddie Court House.
- April 1, 1865 — Brevetted to major for bravery at the Battle of Five Forks.
- April 3, 1865 — Captured the battle flag of the 2nd North Carolina Cavalry at the Battle of Namozine Church.
- April 6, 1865 — Captured the battle flag of the 2nd Virginia Reserve Battalion during the Battle of Sailor’s Creek.
- April 24, 1865 — Received the Congressional Medal of Honor for gallantry at Namozine Church from Secretary of War Edwin Stanton.
- May 22, 1865 — Received a second Congressional Medal of Honor for actions at Sailor’s Creek, becoming the first double recipient of the honor.
- December 31, 1865 — Mustered out of the Volunteer Army in Detroit.
- February 1866 — Commissioned as a second lieutenant in the regular army and assigned to the 1st U.S. Infantry.
- July 1866 — Promoted to first lieutenant and transferred to the 7th Cavalry.
- December 2, 1875 — Promoted to captain.
- June 25, 1876 — Killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, alongside his brothers George A. Custer and Boston Custer, and his brother-in-law James Calhoun.
- 1876–1877 — Initially buried at the battlefield. Later exhumed and reinterred at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery on August 3, 1877.
