Flags and Artifacts from Major General George Armstrong Custer

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Flags and Artifacts from Major General George Armstrong Custer
ZFC0312 A transcript of General Custer’s message to 3rd Cavalry Division at Appomattox of on the day of Robert E. Lee’s surrender, April 9, 1865. It was Custer’s 3rd Division that received the message from Lee’s army that they wished to surrender. See ZFC0489 & ZFC0490 for Custer’s flags. Read more
ZFC0490 General George A. Custer’s Headquarters Command designating Flag, 3rd Div. Cavalry Corp., and General Custer commanded the 3rd Cavalry Division in 1864 thru the end of the Civil War in 1865. This flag served with Custer during 1864 and 1865 alongside his 3rd Personal Guidon (ZFC0489). Read more ZFC0489 General George A. Custer’s Third Personal Civil War Cavalry Guidon This flag was handmade by General Custer’s wife, Libby Custer, in 1864. This flag was only flown when Custer was on the field. This was one of Custer’s more famous flags from the campaigns in the Shenandoah as well as other engagements during its use. Read more
ZFC0536 Harper’s Weekly, Nov. 12, 1864, General George A. Custer is featured in the cover illustration entitled, “General Custer Presenting Captured Battle Flags at the War Department, Washington” depicting Custer presenting the Confederate flags captured by his command. Read more ZFC0491 U.S. Cavalry Tactics Manual, published in 1861, and signed by George Armstrong Custer in 1862. Custer was a cavalry 2nd lieutenant in a camp near Washington DC in January 1862 when he inscribed his name, rank, unit, camp location and date inside the manual. This autograph is one of the few by Custer to include the flourish after his middle initial. Read more
ZFC0492 General George A. Custer’s sword-belt plate, belt and sash from the Civil War. General Custer was married wearing this belt and buckle in 1864 and there are period photos of him wearing this ensemble. This belt and plate are both high-quality private purchase items. The red sash was worn by all company and field grade officers. Read more ZFC1492 Photo of General Custer, his wife and staff. This is a print taken directly from the historic William H. Bowlsby photograph of General George A. Custer with his wife and staff at his headquarters, the M.Y. Mason mansion, in Winchester, Virginia, on the 25th of December, 1864. It clearly shows both his Personal (ZFC0490) and Headquarters (ZFC0489) guidons. This is a US Government print taken from the original direct contact albumen print at the Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monument, Crow Agency, Montana. Read more
ZFC0198 J.E. Taylor Drawing, “Custer Attacking Early’s Infantry at Hupp’s Hill.” This is a print of the original drawing by the famous 19th century artist J.E. Taylor. This image was created in 1898 from Taylor’s 1864 battlefield sketches. It includes images of two of General George Armstrong Custer’s Civil War flags (ZFC0490 & ZFC0489) carried at the Battle at Hupps Hill. The original drawings are at Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio. This is an official copy. Read more ZFC0322 A photographic copy of a lantern slide of General Custer and staff at the headquarters of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade, Stevensburg, Virginia in February 1864. It clearly shows Custer’s 2nd Personal Guidon which was replaced by the 3rd Personal Guidon, now ZFC0490. The original slide is at the Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monument, Crow Agency, Montana. Read more
ZFC0737 Print from original photograph of General George A. Custer taken by William Frank Browne, in January 1864. Custer is wearing the sword belt and plate (ZFC0492) currently in the Zaricor Flag Collection. The original photograph is at the the Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monument, Crow Agency, Montana. Read more ZFC0830 A photographic copy of an original imperial albumen print of General Custer and staff at the headquarters of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade, Stevensburg, Virginia in February 1864. It clearly shows Custer’s 2nd Personal Guidon which was replaced by the 3rd Personal Guidon, now ZFC0490. The unique original photograph is at the Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monument. Read more
ZFC2493 This Custer carte-de-visite dates from May of 1865, after receiving the flag of truce and participating in the surrender of Confederate General Lee at Appomattox, General Custer sat for a series of photographs in the Washington D.C. studio of acclaimed photographer Matthew Brady. This carte-de-visite was marked “Beers & Mansfield National Gallery, 242 Chapel St. New Haven, Connecticut”, who sold them in response to Custer’s wartime popularity. Read more ZFC0327 This is a print of Edgar S. Paxson’s 1899 painting “Custer’s Last Stand.” The original was the product of years of historical research which he then imaginatively reconstructed to summarize a great moment in history. Although not one of the flags in the painting, Gen. Custer lost his fifth personal guidon at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, identical to ZFC0490. The original painting is at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming. Read more
Custer Books from the Zaricor Flag Collection Library
ZFC2774 Important Indian War & Western Memorabilia was the auction catalog for the auction held at Butterfield & Butterfield in San Francisco on 4 April 1995. The sale consisted mainly of items related to General George Custer that were acquired by two individuals who served with Custer on the Sioux Expedition of 1876. These men were General Winfield Scott Edgerly and Corporal William O. Taylor. Also offered were a number of items from the Custer family, including ZFC0489, ZFC0490 and ZFC0492. This catalog was autographed and inscribed to Mr. Ben Zaricor by Mr. Richard “Dick” Custer of Monterey, California in 1995. Mr. Custer was the great grandson of Nevin Custer, the younger brother of George and Tom Custer; and named for his great uncle Thomas Custer. Dick Custer, the consignor, met with Ben Zaricor, flag collector, to sign authentication documents for ZFC0489, General Custer’s 3rd Personal Guidon after its purchase by Ben Zaricor. Read more
ZFC2823 The Custer Story: The Life and Intimate Letters of General George A. Custer, edited by, Marguerite Merington. This volume contains the edited letters of George A. Custer and Elizabeth B. Custer during their 12 year marriage. The Custers are the narrators of these vivid first person accounts which include reference to the use of Custer’s 3rd Cavalry Division Headquarters Guidon and his 3rd Personal Guidon, now ZFC0489 and ZFC0490. Read more ZFC2627 Custer in Photographs by Katz D. Mark is the 1985 definitive study of the known images of General George Armstrong Custer. Taken almost exclusively from the original images the book’s period illustrations depict many of the Custer artifacts in the Zaricor Flag Collection, ZFC0489, ZFC0490 and ZFC0492. Read more ZFC2708 East of Gettysburg - Custer vs. Stuart by David F. Riggs chronicles that portion of the Battle of Gettysburg that despite involving nearly 13,000 cavalrymen from both sides, receives scant mention in most Civil War histories. In this action Custer displayed an earlier version of ZFC0490. Read more