George Custer - The Trevilian Collection

It was June 11, 1864. The Confederate cavalry, led by General Thomas Rosser, surrounded General George Custer and his "Wolverines" and a six hour battle ensued. The Wolverines suffered 416 casualties and their commander sustained minor wounds. Custer's headquarter wagon was captured, his military correspondence sent to Richmond and love letters from his wife Libbie were distributed in the South, where some appeared in the Richmond newspaper. The rest of Custer's personal items were sent back to Texas as war trophies.  Libbie's love letters were later daringly recaptured by the Custers' friend General William Blackmar.


 The Trevilian collection remained intact and was transferred only five times in over 150 years before being acquired by Cisco’s. The collection includes Custer’s wedding uniform, travel bags, writing desk and dress sword, which was made by Tiffany’s and presented by the 5th Michigan Cavalry on June 29, 1863. Also included is General William Blackmar’s diary with an original letter by Libbie thanking him for recovering the love letters.
 
     Over the past 15 years, the collection has been rotated between the Custer Battlefield National Park Service, Monroe County Historical Society and the Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, with over 2 million viewers. Cisco’s is honored to have the collection on display in the gallery through September 2018.