WHAT THEY WERE CALLED

If you've watched movies that feature Custer, you'll have noticed that nobody seems to know what to call him. George? Armstrong? General?

He was a Brevet Major General, but his rank in the U.S. Army was Lieutenant Colonel. During the Civil War, the US didn't give out any medals except the Medal of Honor which was only awarded for deeds very much above and beyond. It also mattered whether the promotion came from the regular army or the volunteer army.

Custer's younger brother, Tom, won two, the only man to do so during the war.

Officers were awarded brevet ranks for specific events; they also were of course moved up when the men above were moved up. I won't go into all the detail because it's pretty complicated. After the war, when everyone reverted back to their regular army rank - and pay.

But being status conscious, officers were called by their brevet rank. It could be a mine field for newcomers to the military society. The bars on the man's shoulder straps didn't tell you what to call him. Tom Custer, for instance was a brevet colonel but his straps said lieutenant. His big brother was a brevet major general but his rank was lt. colonel. Most everybody called him general.

By the way, Libbie's pension was that for a lt. colonel, $30. Friends petitioned Congress to give her the upgrade to a general's which would add $20. She eventually got it.

Anyway, back to the names. Custer's family called him Autie which was his baby nickname. when he tried to say Armstrong. It took me some reading, especially of letters, to nail down the fact that his friends and even acquaintances called him Armstrong, not George.

His men evidently called him all kinds of things, not the least of which was Iron Butt because he could stay in the saddle for hours.

Something else I've noticed is the spelling of nicknames, which everybody had. Instead of ending a nickname like Jimmy with a "y" as we would, they spelled it with an "i", for men and "ie" for women. Hence Libbie with an "ie" instead of a "y' as we would have it now. Of course, Jimmi would probably be assumed now to be a girl's nickname.