er simply didn't do his homework, was late for class, and paid little attention to his teacher. When Emanuel and Maria Custer sold their house in town and moved to a farm in the country, Custer was placed in a new school which he disliked even more. Because of Custer's dislike and failure in school, his parents allowed him to drop out to school and pursue an apprenticeship at a local furniture maker. Custer ended up hating this job, and as a result, his parents decided to send him to live with his half sister in Michigan, and attend school there (Lawrence Frost, "Custer Legends", p. 8).
             After graduating from high school, Custer applied to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Although he had some trouble getting his local congressman to recommend him for the appointment, on January 1857, Secretary of War Jefferson Davis notified Custer that he was accepted into West Point. While at West Point, Custer earned a reputation as an independent minded cadet. On several occasions he received demerits for not following orders, goofing off, and not taking his studies seriously (Wert 28). Custer also became friends with almost everyone in his class, and was well-liked by both his fellow cadets, as well as his teachers.
             As in high school, Custer did not apply himself 100% to his studies. On two occasions Custer was in serious danger of being expelled from the academy because of poor grades, but his friends helped him study and get out of these situations. During Custer's final year at West Point, it was becoming obvious to most people that civil war
             was almost a certainty. This became a reality in early 1861 when numerous southern states started to secede from the Union and Abraham Lincoln was elected President. In
             April of 1861, the Civil War began when southern artillery opened fire on Fort Sumter. At West Point, most southern cadets and instructors returned home to show loyalty to their ...