Custer's First Last Stand-A "Living Triangle" - Louisa VA - U.S. Civil War Sites on Waymarking.com

Custer's First Last Stand- A "Living Triangle"
— The Battle of Trevilian Station —

Nearby stood Trevilian Station, south of which Confederate Gen. Wade Hampton had parked his wagon train on the evening of June 10, 1864. At daylight the next day, Gen. Matthew C. Butler and Col. Gilbert J. Wright advanced north on the Fredericksburg Stage Road to probe for Federals.

About 8 a.m., Union Gen. George A. Custer's Michigan Brigade turned west onto the Gordonsville Road from the Nunn's Creek Road at Mildred Crossing, with Col. Russell A. Alger's 5th Michigan Cavalry leading the way. Alger, seeing Hampton's parked wagons and horses, charged and captured most of them. His charge, however, carried him beyond the wagon park and into Gen. Thomas L. Rosser's brigade, which was galloping south to counterattack. Rosser drove Custer's troopers and the captured wagons east into Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's division, which was approaching from Louisa Court House. Butler and Wright turned back to join the fighting and help surround Custer's command, which spent four hours alone in a "living triangle" and suffered heavy losses.

During the fighting, Custer's guidon bearer was mortally wounded and handed the brigade's flag to Custer, who ripped it from its staff and stuffed it into his shirt. Custer later carried a badly wounded trooper of the 5th Michigan Cavalry to safety and personally led a dismounted charge that retook one of his artillery pieces. Lee's men recovered Hampton's wagon train and horses and captured Custer's wagon train, including the headquarters wagon and all of Custer's personal effects.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   06/29/2023 Don.Morfe visited it