On this day in 1863, Monroe native George Armstrong Custer was promoted to brigadier general and took command of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade, playing a key role at Gettysburg. Also, in 1928, Michigan launched its first major pollution control effort to protect lakes and streams.
TRANSCRIPT
Raised in Monroe, Michigan, George Armstrong Custer was a junior officer for the first two years of the Civil War, but today in 1863 promoted to brigadier general, as well as command of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade. Several days later, Custer and his command played a key role in stopping Rebel efforts to break the center of the Union line in the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg. But history will likely always remember him for the fatal errors at the Battle of Little Bighorn, still known as Custer’s Last Stand, which arose from settlers breaking treaties with the Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne tribes.
Also on this day in 1928, the Michigan Conservation Department and Department of Health launched a joint program of pollution control, the state’s first concerted attempt at eliminating human and industrial waste in Michigan’s lakes and streams.