Custer the Resplendent

 

In the early days of the American Civil War, George Armstrong Custer wore his hair long, and wore a braided black velvet jacket and a flaming red necktie.  When a female friend asked Custer why he had dressed in such a fantastic manner he replied:

"I was but a boy, just from West Point and I felt young and insignificant. There were men in my brigade old enough to be my father. I wished them to know and recognize me at once from any part of the battlefield. I chose a uniform that would catch their attention and individualize me."

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