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Before making his last stand in the Battle of Little Bighorn, Gen. George Armstrong Custer was stationed in Alexandria.

This is a short way of answering a question posed by Alexandria resident Cynthia Jardon, asking for details about Custer's reported stay in Louisiana. 

Well, as stated earlier, yes, it's true. But, of course, there's always a story behind the story.

Custer's Louisiana story began after the Civil War's end, and, as central Louisiana historian Michael D. Wynne puts it, "there's a lot more layers to this onion than people realize."

Wynne is author of the 2022 book, "Custer in Alexandria and Other Fascinating Wartime Stories from Central Louisiana."

"Everybody thinks the Civil War ended on April 14, 1865, with the surrender at Appomattox," he said. "But it didn't. There were a lot of Confederates who did not want to swear allegiance to the United States, and they ran off to Texas and Mexico. Of course, you have Juneteenth, when the slaves weren't even completely released in the United States until June 19, 1865. We were entering reconstruction, and President Andrew Johnson sent troops into the South to completely get control."

So, Gen. Philip Sheridan was stationed in New Orleans. He was a close associate of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and was instrumental in forcing Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia.

Sheridan chose two of his generals to be cavalry commanders in the city, one being Gen. Wesley Merritt. Custer was the other.

"Custer went there with his wife, Libbie, who wrote a tremendous amount of letters about everything," Wynne said. "Most of the letters have been salvaged and published, so we know a lot about Custer because of his wife's letters."

Still, Custer wasn't the type of personality to be upstaged by anyone, including his wife.

"He was also the first man in the army to be his own public relations man," Wynne said. "He planned to run for president, and he put out news releases about everything."

One other interesting fact about Custer: He rose to the rank of brigadier general in the U.S. Army at age 23."

"He rose faster than even Eisenhower rose," Wynne said. "He lived an amazing life."

Meanwhile, back in New Orleans, Sheridan sent Custer to Alexandria in June 1865 to gather together several regiments, then head west. The redheaded general traveled to Alexandria by boat along the Red River, entering the city by way of the Red River Landing.

"The war was over there, and it was an ungodly summer full of mosquitos," Wynne said. "The city was a disaster area. There was the great fire from the Union's burning of the city, and many of the Union soldiers there had fought the full 4½ years, and they wanted to go home."

Custer wasted no time in issuing orders not only for his soldiers but for people living in what was left of the City of Alexandria.

"One of the orders was that the Confederates had to disarm," Wynne said. "They couldn't walk around with ammunition, so they had to turn in their guns to the provost marshal. But the biggest issue was the enslaved people's problems."

People who were enslaved were either kicked off or left nearby plantations at the war's end. Living quarters were nearly nonexistent within the city because of the fire, and many former slaves were wandering the streets with no direction.

"They were living off scraps from what the military men were eating, and the military men were eating poorly," Wynne said. "So Custer issued an order that was kind of a de facto slavery. If the former slaves were going to be in town, they had to clean up the streets, and if they wanted to move from one place to another in Rapides Parish, they had to have passes."

Custer also demanded that his soldiers spit polish their boots and have their horses saddled each morning for inspection. Now this is where tension starts rising in Custer's rule.

The Louisiana heat seemed unbearable, so much that Lt. Leonard Lancaster, of Wisconsin, decided to defy the general. Why muster for inspection each morning on the parade grounds — now the parking area in front of Alexandria's City Hall — when they weren't going anywhere?

So, Lancaster led his fellow troops in pranking Custer by wearing their coats inside out and their weapons on the wrong side, then placing saddles on backward on their horses.

Needless to say, Custer was not amused. Capital punishment was outlawed in the Army, but that didn't stop the general from issuing an illegal order for Lancaster's execution.

Yes, Lancaster was issued a death sentence for a prank. 

"Lancaster was arrested, and he was held in a makeshift jail," Wynne said. "A deserter from the Army was also captured at that time and put in jail. The regiment was devastated. They signed a petition saying it wasn't Lancaster's fault but theirs. They begged Custer not to kill Lancaster, and some started making plans to kill Custer."

Word of the possible assassination reached Custer, but the general was not deterred. On the day of the execution, an unarmed Custer mounted his horse and looked directly into the eyes of each soldier as he rode by the regiment.

The firing squad took its place in front of the condemned, aimed and Custer pulled Lancaster from the line of fire before the bullets flew. Only the deserter was executed.

"What nobody knew is that Sheridan heard about this, knew it was illegal and sent an order to Custer not to kill Lancaster," Wynne said. "Custer had the order, and nobody else knew about this. Lancaster fainted, and when he woke up, he was dishonorably discharged and sent to Dry Tortugas, which was federal prison in south Florida."

Sheridan eventually issued a pardon to Lancaster, who returned to Wisconsin. He also packed along a few tall tales in which he stars as a hero.

"He said, 'I forgave Custer,' and he said he fought in all of these battles that he never really fought," Wynne said. "Now they consider him an absolute hero in Wisconsin, and he wanted to make sure that his stories were never tracked. So, he said he was in Alexandria, Mississippi."

As for Custer, he stayed in Alexandria through October 1865, when he left for Texas with his five regiments in tow. He would meet his Waterloo against Chief Sitting Bull's Lakota Indian tribe in the 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn in the Montana Territory.