171 TERRY PIERCE - THUNDERING COURAGE: GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER.

"Promotions or a coffin!" To George Armstrong Custer, war is the Devil's own fun. And his luck-"Custer Luck"-peaks during the Civil War, keeping him alive against all odds. Yet, for the first two years of the war, Custer luck has not earned him a command-until, three days before a brewing battle at Gettysburg, Captain George Custer is promoted to brigadier general. Possessed with raw courage, rare gallantry, and reckless heroism, Custer becomes the youngest general in the Union army.
Hugely spirited, tactically flexible, and fiercely ambitious, Custer, on July 3, 1863, trots in front of the First Michigan cavalry regiment, grips his sheathed saber, and pulls. The blade swishes from its metal scabbard with the sleekness of a swooping hawk. "Come on, You Wolverines!" he yells. And the 23-year-old leads one of the greatest cavalry charges in the annals of warfare.