Editing George Armstrong Custer (section)

===Hanover and Abbottstown===
On June 30, 1863, Custer and the First and Seventh Michigan Cavalry had just passed through [[Hanover, Pennsylvania]], while the Fifth and Sixth Michigan Cavalry followed about seven miles behind. Hearing gunfire, he turned and started off to the sound of the guns. A courier reported that Farnsworth's Brigade had been attacked by rebel cavalry from side streets in the town. Reassembling his command, he received orders from Kilpatrick to engage the enemy northeast of town near the railway station. Custer deployed his troops and began to advance. After a brief firefight, the rebels withdrew to the northeast. This seemed odd, since it was assumed that Lee and his army were somewhere to the west. Though seemingly of little consequence, this skirmish further delayed Stuart from joining Lee. As Captain James H. Kidd, commander of F troop, Sixth Michigan Cavalry, later wrote: "Under [Custer's] skillful hand the four regiments were soon welded into a cohesive unit...."<ref>James Harvey Kidd, ''Personal Recollections of a Cavalryman With Custer's Michigan Cavalry Brigade in the Civil War''. (Ionia, MI:The Sentinel Press, 1908), pp. 132–133.</ref>

Next morning, July 1, they passed through [[Abbottstown, Pennsylvania]], still searching for Stuart's cavalry. Late in the morning they heard sounds of gunfire from the direction of Gettysburg. That night at [[Heidlersburg, Pennsylvania]], they learned that General [[John Buford]]'s cavalry had found Lee's army at Gettysburg. The next morning, July 2, orders came for Custer to hurry north to disrupt General [[Richard S. Ewell]]'s communications and relieve the pressure on the Union forces. By midafternoon, as they approached [[Hunterstown, Pennsylvania]], they encountered Stuart's cavalry.<ref>Tom Carhart, ''Lost Triumph: Lee's Real Plan at Gettysburg and Why It Failed''. (New York: G. P. Putnam & Sons, 2003), pp. 126–127.</ref> Custer rode ahead alone to investigate and found that the rebels were unaware of the arrival of his troops.

Returning to his men, he carefully positioned them along both sides of the road where they would be hidden from the rebels. Further along the road, behind a low rise, he positioned the First and Fifth Michigan Cavalry and his artillery, under the command of Lieutenant [[Alexander Cummings McWhorter Pennington Jr.]] To bait his trap, he gathered A Troop, Sixth Michigan Cavalry, and called out, "Come on boys, I'll lead you this time!" and galloped directly at the unsuspecting rebels. As he had expected, the rebels, "more than two hundred horsemen, came racing down the country road" after Custer and his men.

He lost half of his men in the deadly rebel fire and his horse went down, leaving him on foot.<ref>Tom Carhart, ''Lost Triumph: Lee's Real Plan at Gettysburg and Why It Failed''. New York: G. P. Putnam & Sons, 2003, pp. 132–133.</ref> He was rescued by Private Norvell Francis Churchill of the [[1st Michigan Cavalry]], who galloped up, shot Custer's nearest assailant, and pulled Custer up behind him.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Connell|first1=Mike|title=Custer and the Man Who Saved im|url=http://archive.thetimesherald.com/article/20111009/OPINION02/110090313/Custer-man-who-saved-him|website=The Times Herald|access-date=June 10, 2015}}</ref> Custer and his remaining men reached safety, while the pursuing rebels were cut down by slashing rifle fire, then [[Canister shot|canister]] from six cannons. The rebels broke off their attack, and both sides withdrew.

Spending most of the night in the saddle, Custer's brigade arrived at [[Two Taverns, Pennsylvania]], roughly five miles southeast of Gettysburg around 3:00&nbsp;a.m. on July 3. There he was joined by Farnsworth's brigade. By daybreak they received orders to protect Meade's flanks. At this point, he was about to experience perhaps his finest hours during the war.