Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant trial in the Senate during the Summer of 1876 and acquitted. Congressional reaction to the losses suffered by Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer's unit at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876 was shock and dismay at the failure of the Peace Policy. Grant blamed Custer wholly for the defeat stating that the sacrifice of troops was unnecessary. The Indian appropriations measure of August 1876 marked the end of Grant's Peace Policy. The Sioux were given the choice of either selling their lands in the Black Hills for cash or not receiving government gifts of food and other
George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer Custer developed a strong reputation during the Civil War. He participated in the first major engagement, the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861, near Washington, D.C. His association with several important officers helped his career as did his success as a highly effective cavalry commander. Custer was brevetted to brigadier general at age 23, less than a week before the Battle of Gettysburg, where he personally led cavalry charges that prevented Confederate cavalry from attacking the Union rear in support of Pickett's Charge. He was wounded in the Battle of Culpeper Court House in