A Complete Life of General George A. Custer: Major-General of Volunteers; Brevet Major-General U.S. Army; and Lieutenant-Colonel Seventh U.S. Cavalry

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------To the American people whose liberties he so gallantly defended and especially to the American cavalry past and present whose greatest price and brightest ornament he was I dedicate this memoir. --Frederick Whittaker Dedication in A Complete Life of General George A. CusterA Complete Life of General George A. Custer--Major-General of Volunteers; Brevet Major-General US Army; and Lieutenant-Colonel Seventh US Cavalry is the first biography of General George A. Custer published in 1876 six months after Custers defeat at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.It was with assistance of Libbie Custer General Custers wife that author Frederick Whittaker wrote this extensive biography in which he presents Custer as a brilliant and heroic military leader. This image set the tone for future biographers and continued for decades in the American public mind.