Custer's First Last Stand

Custer's First Last Stand (HM2NR)

Location: Louisa, VA 23093 Louisa County
Buy Virginia State flags at Flagstore.com!
Country: United States of America
Buy United States of America flags at Flagstore.com!

N 38° 3.053', W 78° 4.439'

  • 0 likes
  • 0 check ins
  • 0 favorites
  • 545 views
Inscription

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 along 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.
Details
HM NumberHM2NR
Series This marker is part of the Virginia Civil War Trails series
Tags
Placed ByVirginia Civil War Trails
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Saturday, October 25th, 2014 at 6:52am PDT -07:00
Pictures
Sorry, but we don't have a picture of this historical marker yet. If you have a picture, please share it with us. It's simple to do. 1) Become a member. 2) Adopt this historical marker listing. 3) Upload the picture.
Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)17S E 756745 N 4215503
Decimal Degrees38.05088333, -78.07398333
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 38° 3.053', W 78° 4.439'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds38° 3' 3.18" N, 78° 4' 26.34" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)540, 804, 434
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 17437-17551 State Rte 613, Louisa VA 23093, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

Is this marker missing? Are the coordinates wrong? Do you have additional information that you would like to share with us? If so, check in.

Nearby Markersshow on map
Check Ins  check in   |    all

Have you seen this marker? If so, check in and tell us about it.

Comments 0 comments

Maintenance Issues
  1. What historical period does the marker represent?
  2. What historical place does the marker represent?
  3. What type of marker is it?
  4. What class is the marker?
  5. What style is the marker?
  6. Does the marker have a number?
  7. What year was the marker erected?
  8. This marker needs at least one picture.
  9. Can this marker be seen from the road?
  10. Is the marker in the median?