The Sun.
London, England, 1865-10-02 00:00:00

AMERICA.

(hvin the Times' Correspondent.)
NEW YORK, Sept. 20.
I referred a few weeks ago to a remarkable epi-
sode in the long series of little wars carried on by
the United States Government against the Indians
in this country. The particular tribe against which
hostilities were directed in this instance is known
as the " Cheyenne Indians." Since I wrote upon
the subject I have had access to the official papers
containing all the particulars relating to the attack,
and they present so striking, and it is to be hoped so
unusual, an illustration of the way in which the red
man is disappearing before the progress of the white
that the whole story is worth relating. The facts
were elicited in evidence taken before the committee
appointed by Congress to inquire into the " conduct
of the war," and it is frem this evidence that I re-
peat to you the narrative.
The Cheyenne Indians inhabit a part of the terri-
tory of Colorado, which, within the last two or
three years, has come into prominence on account
of the immense mineral resources that have been
discovered within it. Several other tribes of Indians
have been in the habit of waging their savage and
pitiless warfare against the settlers in this territory,
and in the summer of 1864 an expedition of
Colorado volunteers, under the command of Colonel
Chivington, an officer of the regular army, was
fitted out to check their depredations. The Gover-
nor of the territory, Mr. Evans, thereupon sent
round a notice to the Indians inviting such of them
as desired to be considered friendly to the whites
to repair to the nearest military post, and the
Cheyennes were the first to return a message that
they intended to go to the .post of Fort Lyon, and
deliver up some white captives whom they had pur-
chased of other Indians. Major Wynkoop was in
command of this port, and he at once met the
Indians, and took back with him several of their
chiefs to confer upon terms of keeping peace. Some
of the tribe of the Arapahoes were with the
Cheyennes, and they all declared themselves friendly
to the whites. Three of the chiefs were known to
have given great assistance to the agent of the Go-
vernment, in enabling him to suppress the outbreaks
of dangerous tribes, and this agent, by name Mr.
Levenworth, declared, in his evidence, that they
had travelled with him " hundreds and hundreds of
miles," and had said that " the whites might murder
their men, and do anything they pleased to them,
but they would never fight the whites." Soon after
Major Wynkoop held his conference with these men
he was removed from Fort Lyon, and Major
Anthony was ordered there in his stead by the com-
mander of that military district, Colonel Chiving-
ton, upon whom rests all the responsibility of the
subsequent proceedings.
Major Anthony's first step was to order the
Indians to surrender their arms, and this they im-
mediately did. His next vh.s to stop the ration s
which had been served out to them since their de-
tention at Fort Lyon, and to order them to go to
some place where they could obtain a subsistence by
hunting. They went away, according to Major
Anthony's own evidence, upon the understanding
that if he received any instructions to act otherwise
than in a friendly way towards them he was to let
them know it. The committee declare in the report
that all this time the Indians " conducted themselves
quietly, and in every way manifested a disposition
to remain at peace with the whites." The Indians were
not interfered with at all until towards the end of
last November, when one morning they saw a large
number of troops approaching them. It was Colonel
Chivington, with 700 mounted men and two pieces
of artillery, and he was shortly followed by Major
Anthony, with 155 men and two more pieces of
artillery. John Smith, employed by the Govern-
ment as an interpreter, was with the Indians at this
time, and he deposed in his evidence before the com-
mittee, that when they saw the troops coming, Black
Kettle, the head chief of the Cheyennes, ran up the
American flag, with a white flag beneath it, " as he
had been advised to do in case he should meet with
any troops out on the prairies." Mr. Smith thought
the soldiers might be unaware of the Indians upon
whom they were advancing, and went out to explain
matters to them; but he was instantly fired upon,
and returned to his lodge. The committee asked
him, " Did these troops know you to be a white
man ?" He answered, " Yes, sir; and the troops
that went there knew I was in. the village. They
could not help knowing it. I had on pants, a sol-
dier's overcoat, and a hat such as I am wearing now.
I was dressed differently from an Indian in the coun-
try." Moreover, after he re-entered his lo,lge, Col.
Chivington rode up to within 50 yards of him, and
called out " Run here, Uncle John"( by which name
he was known) ; " you are all right." He obeyed
the direction and loft the Indians to their fate.

The miserable creatures, seeing now quite plainly
with what fate they were threatened, began to flee in
every direction. There were at least 500 of them in
the camp, of whom " more than one-half were
women and children." The men had already given
up their arms, and consequently they were unable
to make any resistance. The wretched crowd were
slaughtered indiscriminately by the troops. Nor was
this the worst. " Not content," report the com-
mittee—

" With killing women and children, who were incapable
of offering any resistance, the soldiers indulged in acts of
barbarity of the most revolting character, such, it is to be
hoped, as never before disgraced the acts of men claiming to
bo civilised. No attempt was made by the officers to restrain
the savage cruelty of the men under their command, but
they stood by and witnessed these acts without one word
of reproof, if they did not incite their commission. For
more than two hours the work of murder and barbarity
was continued, until more than 100 dead bodies, three-
fourths of them women and children, lay on the plain as
evidence of the fiendish maliffnity and cruelty of the offi-
cers wLo had so sedulously and carefully plotted the mas-
sacre, and of the soldiers who had so faithfully acted out
the spirit of their officers."

This language of the Commitee of Congress,
strong as it is, is fully justified by the evidence. Part
of it is too horrible to quote—it tells of atrocities
which almost surpass belief ; but the general features
of the story may be gathered from a few passages
taken from the sworn testimony of the witnesses.
Mr. Smith, after describing the massacre, had this
question put to him by the committee—" Were there
any acts of barbarity perpetrated there that came
under your own observation?" He answered, "Yes,
Sir; I saw the bodies of these lying there cut all to
pieces, worse mutilated than any I ever saw before;
the women cut all to pieces." " HOW cut?" he was
asked. " With knives; scalped; their brains knocked
out; children two or three months old—all ages lying
there, from sucking infants up to warriors." "By
whom were they mutilated?" was another question
put to this Mr. Smith, and he answered, "By the
United States troops." Major Anthony (the com-
mander of Fort Lyon) was also asked what he knew
about the mutilations alleged to have been committed.
With evident reluctance—the committee call it
Plainly or Anthony acknow-
ledged prevarication"—Mai
'edged that he saw one of his men seize a knife and
try to cut off the scalp of a woman. He saw a great
many who had been scalped. He also saw bodies on
the ground that had been mutilated. And he con-
fessed to having looked on at an incident which his
own words describe best
There was one little child, probably three years old,
just big enough to walk through the sand. The Indians had
gone ahead, and this little child was behind following after
them. The little fellow was perfectly naked, travelling on
the sand. I saw one man get off his horse, at a distance of
about 75 yards, and draw up his rifle and fire ; he missed
the child. Another man came up and said, Let me try the
son of a bitch ; I can hit him.' He got down off his horse,
kneeled down, and fired at the little child, but ho
missed
him. A th'.rd man came up and made a similar remark,
and fired, and the little fellow dropped."
Feeling it necessary probably to make some excuse
for these inhuman crimes Major Anthony coolly told
the committee, " It is the ganeral impression of the
people of that country that the only way to fight
them is to fight as they right ; kill their women and
children, and kill them. At the same time, of course,
we consider it a barbarous practice." This is only
equalled by the despatch of Capt. Cree, commanding
the 3d Colorado cavalry, giving his account of the
" battle." He winds up with this passage :

"As for the bravery displayed by any one in particular, 1
have no distinctions to make. All I can say for officers and
men is, that they all behaved well, and won for themselves
a name that will be remembered for ages to come. The
number of Indians killed by my battalion is sixty (60)."
Such is Capt. Cree's notion of honourable renown
and lasting fame. The Committee of Congress do not