Auction Name: 2026 February 26 Historical Manuscripts & Texana Signature® Auction

Lot Number: 47098

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/6328*47098

George A. Custer Autograph Letter Signed. Eight pages on Hotel Brunswick letterhead, 5 x 8 inches, New York City; [December] 10, 1875. An intimate personal letter from Custer to his wife, Elizabeth, addressed tenderly to "My darling Rosebud." Written during a visit to New York only months before the Black Hills Expedition, he describes his loneliness without her, a visit from his brother Tom, and the "dull" state of speculation on the stock exchange while "Mr. Gould" was out of town. In part:

"This is Sunday - our day - and although I remained in bed as long as I could...the day seemed interminably long and to say that I have been lonely - even in this wounded metropolis - but presently expresses my condition. I find as I grow older and more settled in life's ways that I grow more and more dependent upon you for society and intimate companionship. The joys and attractions of the outside world are fleeting and delusory unless I have you at my side to share them with me. I heartily concur in the truth of the saying that a good wife divides her husbands cares and doubles his pleasures for I am sure that in my case this is more than doubly true."

He goes on to write about a visit from his brother Tom, who was losing money gambling in the city: "Tom came over to see me while I was at breakfast. He and Cook are a little discouraged, their expenses have been heavy - more so than I believed were necessary. They have lost a little on the races, and they talk some of going west soon. I hardly think they will go soon..."

He closes with a note about the markets and his wish for Libbie to join him: "Mr. Goulds absence has made speculation in the stock market dull. His return will probably produce a change for the better...I am very anxious to have you come. In other words I want you here or nearby provided we will be content to practice economy for a while at least. So you decide the matter and if you can decide to come telegraph me...I am as the children say just crazy to see you again it seems so long since I had that pleasure. I shall wait impatiently for your decision confident that it will be for the best..." Signed, "Your devoted boy, A."

Custer was a familiar figure in New York's high society, where he was frequently invited to receptions and parties, due in no small part to his celebrity as the "Boy General" of the Civil War. He was known to have speculated in the stock market and gambled heavily, habits that later left Libbie facing considerable debt after his death in 1876.

Condition: Lightly toned with smoothed folds.

Provenance: Presented by Elizabeth Bacon Custer to May Custer Elmer; thence by descent and inheritance to our consignor.

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