This Site:
Civil War
Harper's Weekly
Civil War Battles
Confederate Generals
Union Generals
Indians
Indian Tribes
Indian Territory
Custer's Last Stand
Republic of Texas
Westward Expansion
Mexican War
Slavery
Civil War Medicine
Civil War Art
Winslow Homer
Thomas Nast
Mathew Brady
Western Art |
Up | General Custer in the Civil War | Custer's Last Stand | Pictures of General George Custer | General Custer's Last Words | General Custer's West Point Funeral
THE LAST HONORS OVER THE
GRAVE.
FUNERAL OF GENERAL
CUSTER.
THE remains of this gallant
officer were laid in their last resting place in the West Point Cemetery on the
10th of October, with appropriate and impressive ceremonies. Early in the
forenoon the body was taken from the receiving vault at Poughkeepsie, where it
had been lying since last August, and conveyed by steamer to West Point.
Thousands of people lined the banks on either side of the roadway as the
procession approached, and stood in silence till it passed. It halted in front
of the chapel, where the remains lay in state until 2 p.m., at which time the
regular funeral service was commenced. Before the doors to the chapel were
opened, an immense throng gathered in the vicinity, and some endeavored to gain
admission,
but the guard on duty
prevented. Finally a surging of the crowd in front of the building showed that
the funeral party was approaching. An officer ordered the entrance made clear,
the doors were swung open, and the mourners passed slowly in. First came
Major-General SCHOFIELD, commandant of the post, with the widow of the dead hero
on his arm. Next came General CUSTER'S father and sister, and then followed more
distant relatives of the deceased, and intimate friends of the family. The
family group were seated upon the right of the main aisle. Besides other floral
offerings, the cadets had placed upon the casket a column of immortelles two
feet high, and near it rested the dead chieftain's sabre and helmet. At the foot
was a beautiful wreath encircling the words " Seventh Cavalry,"
and around all, entwined in
a tasteful manner, was a large American flag. Back of the chancel against the
wall hung a large flag in festoons, and at the apex was a blue silk flag, on
which, in letters of gold, were the words :" God and Our Country."
The funeral was conducted by Dr. FORSYTH, chaplain of the post, who first read a
portion of the Episcopal burial service, after which the choir of cadets chanted
the thirty-ninth and ninetieth psalms. When the hymns were finished, the
services in the chapel were ended, and the guard of honor removed the remains
from the edifice. By this time all the people who intended to be present were on
the grounds, and were massed in the vicinity of the chapel. Drawn up in line
fronting the. chapel were the cadets of the Military Academy, with the
government band, and further back was the artillery, with horses attached to
caissons. Opposite, and facing the cadets, were the organizations from abroad.
When the remains reached the open air, the cadets presented arms.
The funeral procession, as shown in our illustration on page 841, marched along
the picturesque route from the chapel to the beautiful little cemetery at the
north end of the post. The grave is just inside the entrance, to the left of the
gate. In the same plot are the graves of HARTSUFF, ANDERSON, HITCHCOCK, M'CRAE,
HOOK, PHILLIPS, BOWERS,
SCOTT, and BUFFORD, in the order named. Close by these
illustrious men was chosen the resting-place of CUSTER. The body was lowered
into the ground, earth was sprinkled upon it, the burial service was completed
by the chaplain, and the battalion of three hundred cadets fired three volleys
over the grave. The echoes reverberated from side to side of the river, flung
back from cliff to cliff, and died mournfully away. The funeral services were
over, and the body of the brave CUSTER was left to rest where his comrades had
laid him.
BEARING THE REMAINS TO THE
CEMETERY.
THE FUNERAL OF GENERAL CUSTER
AT WEST POINT.-[FROM SKETCHES BY THEO. R. DAVIS.]
|