George Custer and lieutenant George was born in New Rumley Ohio in 1839. Custer attended West Point Academy, and in a class of 34 students, George finished dead last in his class. It was June 1861 and a civil war was brewing. Lt. Custer rushed to Washington,D.C. to defend George's country and arrived there promptly. Riding on a borrowed horse and wildly excited about being where the action was, George arrived in washington and got ordered to join General McDowel's army to the west in Manassas Junction,Va. George Armstrong Custer joined the cavalry there and the after action reports after the battle show that Custer performed admirably.