George Armstrong Custer emerged as a dashing, aggressive cavalry leader in the Civil War, known on both sides for lightning, overwhelming charges and for the colorful youth and personality that made him the "Boy General." Major General Phil Sheridan of Somerset, Ohio, Custer's last Civil War commander, inspired him and taught him many lessons. From Gettysburg to Appomattox, first as a brigade commander and then as a division commander, Custer gained fame in actions including the Woodstock Races, or Battle of Toms' Brook, in 1864, where he opened the fight with a gallant bow to the Confederate commander, his West Point classmate General Thomas Rosser, and afterward declared that never since the opening of the war had there been such a complete decisive overthrow of the enemy's cavalry. His service in the Shenandoah Valley brought him the second star of a major general, and at Appomattox in April 1865 he received the white towel that signified General Lee's readiness to surrender. His Michigan cavalry brigade charged with the cry, "Come on, you Wolverines!" and his slashing attacks were said to strike fear in Confederate hearts; Abraham Lincoln, introduced to Mrs. George Armstrong Custer at a presidential reception in 1864, remarked, "So this is the young woman whose husband goes into a charge with a whoop and a shout."