She spent most of their twelve-year marriage in relative proximity to him despite his numerous military campaigns in the American Civil War and subsequent postings on the Great Plains as a commanding officer in the United States Cavalry.

[3] She had briefly encountered her future husband George Armstrong Custer as a child, and socially met him again in the autumn of 1862, when he had returned to Monroe on leave from the first year of the American Civil War.

She eventually returned these feelings, but her father refused to allow then-Captain Custer into the Bacon home or to permit her to meet him outside it, much less get married, as George proposed in the final week of 1862.

[4] After Custer, just prior to the Battle of Gettysburg (where he played a significant role), was promoted to Brevet brigadier general, Judge Bacon finally relented and they were married in Monroe at the First Presbyterian Church on February 9, 1864.

Life on the frontier outposts was difficult, and his career was plagued by problems including a court martial (brought about by his having left the field to be with his wife).

From there, the general led the Seventh Cavalry in pursuit of Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and the Sioux and Northern Cheyenne who refused to be confined to the reservation system.

After her husband and 5 of the 12 companies of the 7th Cavalry were wiped out at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June 1876, many in the press, Army, and government criticized him for having blundered into a massacre.

[5] Elizabeth began writing articles and making speaking engagements praising the glory of what she presented as her "martyred" husband.

Despite having spent her life traveling extensively throughout the United States (including winters in Florida) and the world, she never visited the Little Bighorn River valley.

She was said to treasure a letter from President Theodore Roosevelt who stated that her husband was "one of my heroes" and "a shining light to all the youth of America.

[12] After an initial period of distress dealing with her late husband's debts,[13] Elizabeth spent her over a half-century of widowhood in financial comfort attained as the result of her literary career and lecture tours, leaving an estate of over $100,000 ($2.43 million in 2024).