The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1858-02-20


or female felynes sixe or ssyenne, e.s.s.z
To chsunte there hymne round mp abode,
Asse thoI1h it were ye Tomme catte's heavcnI 9.
THE UTAH EXPEDITION.
The March Of Col. Cooke. Division from For.
.R@ Leavenworth to the Black Fork. ztF
HEADouARrERs I'd REGIMENT OF DRAGONS,
CAMP ON BLACK Fork, U. T., Dec, 1857,
SrR-As required, have the honor to
report that, in obedience to instructions
from the Colonel commanding the army of
Utah, marched in command Of six eompa-
nies I'd Dragons three miles from Fort
Leayenworth, and encamped on the after
noon of the 18th September. atag
The regiment had been hastily recalled
from service in the field, and allowed three
or four days only by my then commanding
officer to prepare for march of eleven
hundred miles, over an uninhabited and
mountain wilderness. In that time the six
companies of the regiment who were to,
compose the expedition were re-organized; !;
Ito transfers necessarily made from and to
other companies; horses to be condemned,
and many to be obtained; the companies
paid, and about fifty desertions occurred
the commanders of four of them changed.
To these principal duties and obstacles-
implying great mass of writing-were to
be added every exertion OF experience and
foresight, to provide for line of operation
Of almost unexampled length, and mostly
beyond communication. On the evening Of
the 10th, at the commencement of aIain
storm, an Inspector General made hurried
inspection by companies, which could not
have been very satisfactory to him or others.
The company commandcrs, amid the confu-
sion of Fort Leavenworth, presented their
new men-raw wrecruits-whom they had yet
scarcely found or seen, under the effects
usually following the pay table.
L marched them on the l7th. My prepar-
ations, though hurried, were as complete ms
was possible. Then it was to be proved that
three or four more days were to be lost in
waiting for the Quartermaster's department
to supply the absolutely necessary trsnspor-
tation. On the 18th, l07 mules were fur
nished, which the same day had arrived from
a march of, perhaps, 1000 miles, to and
from Bridger's Pass; above loo of the 9TH
ers we're nearly worthless from want of age,
and requiring several hours, to harness q
team. On the morning of the 10Th, twenty
seven teamsters were wanting, and men
were furnished utterly ignorant of tho busl-
ness and without outfits. l marched late
that day, fourteen miles, and the last of the
train reached the camp Mt II NJ. on the next
day, the. Goth, eleven wagon tongues having
been broken. On the 2lst, after hard
rain, marched six miles, which, on slippe-
ry roads, was as much as such a train could
well accomplish; and cnly that night nearly
half of one of the companies whom We had
met returning to Fort Leavenworth, from a
march of six hundred miles, reached my
camp. 4s! st. ail5Tes IS E5 ~ ~
Half allowance, or six pounds day Of
corn for horses and mules, was the largest
item of transportation three or four laun-
dresses, with their children, were with each
company. f.sT sais E ~
September 2S.--I received an application
of Gov. Cumming for forage for his (54)
public animals, and was first informed that
an order from the War Department. COM
municated to the Quartermaster's Depart-
ment at Fort Leayenworth, ordered it fur
nished. R &saaia t tssi& s8t@
The weather now for ten days proved very
fne; but there was generally q deficiency Of
grass, that was not compensated BY the corn
allowance. This was owing to the many
troops and contract trains which had passed,
the camps bcing on streams running Across
the ronte. ss f7.1lsEssi -5f 4eSFe2f7 ss{
October lon the Little Blue reached
the train Of twenty-five wagons and teams
which the Colonel commanding had there
stopped from their return from the Cheyenne
expedition, to make out my outfit for the
longer marches beyond assistance. Hard
bread for tho whole march to Salt Lake City
was to be taken from Fort Kearney. Such
was the condition Of the young mules fur
nished at Fort I.eavenworth, that only four
teen of these additional wagons were avail-
able, sixty-six mules being necessarily ex-
changed. Here, as had been ordered,
Assistant Surgeon Covey joined tho regi-
ment, relieving Assistant Surgeon Nlilhnn.
October 3.-There was so severe anorth-
east storm that | lay in camp; knew there
would be no fuel at the next, on the Platte
river. ~ s1s i@ 8sSn /
October Al marched in tho rain, and
on the 9Th arrived at Fort Kearney at lOA.
NJ, my rate Of marching after September
81 having averaged swcnsy zone miles day.
could not increase the number, Of wagons
but exchanged q few mules; nor could the
required amount Of corn be furnished.
c On the 7th marched in the rain, which
had continued since the I'd Of the month.
|, Up to the l2th--eleven days--the rainy
weather continued, clearing up with thick
ice, but the marchcs averaged twenty-one
miles. The grass was very scarce and poor.
Itwns not = season and prospect for delays;
every care was taken to sustain the horses !;
they were led, at that time, about two hours
3 day, and graSed on spots Of grass found
on the march. The length Of the marchl was
also accommodated 10 IL, and dilligsnt