George Custer - Monroe, Michigan - Statues of Historic Figures on Waymarking.com

Custer is posed sitting proudly in the potrait position, astride his horse. He is shown wearing his Civil War fatigues. His left arm holding the reins, his right arm lowered and holding his hat. The horse has all four legs planted.

The sculpture is larger than life bronze, and stands approx 15 feet high. The plinth is polished Concord Granite, with the text CUSTER engraved on the side faces.

From Wikipedia;
"Throughout the statue's century long lifespan, it has been placed in three different locations. The statue was originally located in the middle of the brick-laden intersection of First Street and Washington Street in front of the courthouse in the present day Old Village Historic District. His widow Elizabeth Custer, who spent much of her later life improving Custer's reputation and public image, argued that the statue was in a less-deserving location in Monroe. Others complained that the statue was a traffic hazard since it was located in the middle of an intersection. When it was first erected, traffic was sparse in Monroe, but automobile traffic was drastically increasing. On June 20, 1923, the statue was moved to a new location in Soldiers and Sailors Park along the River Raisin. The statue remained in relative isolation and was eventually obscured by unkempt scrubs and trees.

Because of public protests, the city moved the statue to a better location in August 1955. When movers arrived to take the statue to a new location, they originally could not find it within the overgrown vegetation. The statue was moved to its current location on the southwest corner of Elm Avenue and North Monroe Street along the River Raisin. Its current location is at one of the most prominent intersections in the city, and the statue is well lit at night. The statue is now one of the most recognizable objects in Monroe" Text Source: (visit link)


More from Wikipedia: Monument:
"Proponents of the statue argue that it represents Custer's spectacular service to the Union during the Civil War and not his failed efforts at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. The statue shows Custer wearing his Civil War fatigues, and since he did not die during the Civil War, the horse in the sculpture traditionally has all four legs on the ground, even though Custer did die in a battle years after the end of the Civil War. The historical marker commemorating the statue reads:
Major-General George Armstrong Custer. Born in New Rumley, Ohio, George A. Custer grew up in Monroe in the home of his half-sister, Mrs. David Reed. February 9, 1864, in the Presbyterian Church here, he married Libbie Bacon, only daughter of Judge Daniel S. Bacon. During the Civil War, he received six brevets and was made Major-General before he was 26 years old, a rare distinction. From 1866 until his death at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, General Custer commanded the famous Seventh Cavalry Regiment, leading them in scouting and Indian fighting throughout Kansas and the Dakota Territory. This statue of General Custer, created by Edward C. Potter, was erected by the State of Michigan, unveiled by Mrs. Elizabeth B. Custer and dedicated by President William Howard Taft, June 4, 1910. The statue was rededicated September 3, 1955, by the First Cavalry Division of which Custer's Seventh Cavalry Regiment was a part." Text Source: (visit link)

URL of the statue: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
You must have visited the site in person, not online.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   05/30/2023 Muskoka Pearl visited it 05/30/2023 SweetPea57 visited it 01/20/2022 bobfrapples8 visited it 08/16/2020 just for the fun visited it 06/27/2013 The D Zone visited it 06/17/2013 veritas vita visited it

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