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,"
Last stand of Thermopylae. The situation can arise in several ways. One situation is that retreat by the defending force would lead to immediate defeat, usually due to the surrounding geography or shortage of supplies or support, as happened to the Royalist infantry on Wadborough Hill after the Battle of Naseby. Some military thinkers have cautioned against putting an opposing force into a last stand situation, recognising that trapped men will fight harder. Sun Tzu wrote: . Similarly, they have sometimes suggested deliberately putting their own forces in such a situation, for example by burning boats or bridges that could tempt them