Mr. Custer Mr. Custer "Mr. Custer" is a march novelty song, sung by Larry Verne, and written by Al De Lory, Fred Darian, and Joseph Van Winkle. It was a song in the United States in 1960, topping the "Billboard" Hot 100 singles chart for the issue dated October 10, 1960, and remained there for one week. It is a comical song about a soldier's plea to General Custer before the climactic Battle of the Little Bighorn against the Sioux, which he did not want to fight. In 1964, Verne recorded and released a sequel novelty song entitled "Return of Mr. Custer,"
George Armstrong Custer without permission. On May 3, a member of Sheridan's staff arrested Custer as he arrived in Chicago. The arrest sparked public outrage. The New York Herald called Grant the "modern Caesar" and asked, "Are officers... to be dragged from railroad trains and ignominiously ordered to stand aside until the whims of the Chief magistrate ... are satisfied?" Grant relented but insisted that Terry—not Custer—personally command the expedition. Terry met Custer in St. Paul, Minnesota on May 6. He later recalled, "(Custer) with tears in his eyes, begged for my aid. How could I resist it?" Terry wrote to Grant attesting