The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1863-09-22

ture, getting tired or short OF material, on
finishing up Northern Minnesota and
Dacola, had dropped the res; at random,
saying f" Anything will do for the Mis-
souri, Coteau" =
FoRr ApERCoMBiE, Aug. 22--I com
menced this letter at the Missouri River,
intending to finish it before arriving at
Camp Atchison, but receiving sun
stroke the day of Our arrival there, |
have since then been quite unwell, not
sick enough to be laid up or to go into
the hospital, but with that dull lis,less
prostration that always follows undue ex
element and over fatigue. The suffer
ings of man and beast on the trip Of over
800 miles in chase Of the Indians, and
back, can never be fully realized by
( those not an eye witness. | have seen
men, after an eight hours march under
I the blazing sun, fall down insensible, and
! were obliged TO be carried TO the ambu
; lances by their sympathizing comrades.
) have seen a string Of six mules attach
cd to an empty wagon give out so com
nletelv as no. to be able 10 pull pound,
and after being lt."ned loose, neither
force or persuasion coulu oudge mem
an inch, they were abandoned to sheh
fate. l have drank from little puddies
thick with mud and green with slime,
and thought it delicious, and as for hun
ger, the 24th of July, at the battle OF
Big Mound, we marched 80 miles, part Of
the time on tie double quick, with 10th
T ing to eat for 80 hours, save lig'al
) breakfast. We were forced 10 burn IL
or Is wagons on the march back, and
arrived at Camp Atchison with the last
cracker in our haversacks. As for the
battles, you have doubtless had full ac-
counts before this can reach YOU l was
an eye witness to all three, Big Mound,
2 Buffalo Lake, and Stony Lake. In the
; latter we led the advance and got few
2 shots, but you might as well fire at the
wind as mounted Indian, they skim
hitler and thither like birds upon the
5 wing, and ii is a lucky man that can
{ bring one down. The cavalry had ali
. the fun, and deserve all the honor. The
e Indians dread now the "horse knives
, Gas they derominate the sabres almost
e as much as rotten balls" (shells. As
t for the number killed it has been vastly
{ overrated. From the best information
e can gain from so TO go is tie outside
r limit and such is the opinion Of those
, better able to Judge than |. Only Al
G bodies were found aud buried, and the
. enemy were certainly too hard pressed
e and in too much Of a hurry TO cucumber
S themselves with many dead. We gave
\ them hot chase however, ana could
E we have got up with them before they
y crossed the Missouri, they would have
F.. received a lesson never to be forgotten
r Tons Of buffalo meat, teepee poles, robes,
&C., slrewcd the prairie, which they had
h left behind in their hcadlong flight, and
u most il not all Of their wagons were left
behind at the crossing OF the river,
which we destroyed. Take it all in all
they have been tolerably well punished,
and made to feel the power OF the white
man, and their sufierings will be extreme
for the lack OF food during tie coming
winter That the expedition has been a
failure | deny. That it is success
commensurate with the magnitude and
cost Of the undertaking., IS rs far the OH
= er way, bu. much OF the failure is owing
> to the extreme drouth Of the season and
! the silly belief that any concerned in The
massacre or even belonging to lie Sioux
aa22tion would give themselves up after
hearing that thirty nine braves had per
y isaed by the halter. One thing is set
u lied that Infantry, with five mile train,
i its 10000 raiions, and vast amount o.!
y, baggage, can never catch the nimble
- footed mounted Indian As well might a
/" man attempt to run them down with a
mess chest dashed to lis back, or over
take them with caravan of elephants
What is wanted i cavalry and light ar.
' lilIery (fying,) with these and Tue rem
i devious and base Of supplies at Fort
" Pierre and Fort Abercrombe, il may be
, done. but il is a query if chain OF posts
:. along the frontier, and two or three forts
; on the Sheyenne and Red Rivers, leay
7, ing the savage 10 roam over his msera
" be country, would not be cheaper for
Z the government and give greater pro.
" lection to the State Of Minnesota Well
the expedition has fulfilled its destiny,
and is thus far upon its homeward
march. We have not performed any
very heroic deeds, or been in any very
desperate engagements, but as Col Ba
ker remarked TO Us, 1--WE have done all
- they would let us do AS for myself
have seen as much Indian fighting, on
i foot especially, as want TO see, and am
= perfectly wiling to give others a chance
: to try their hand in. 1t is spendid
sight 10 see from 900 to | 500 mount.
- ed warriors dashng down upon you
!, with bgandished guns, streaming blank
! cts, and snoring horses, and ii is still
more splendid to have a few shell thrown
" among them and see them scurry back
! over the hills again like frightened pig
:. cons when a hawk swoops by, but when
! you have marched day after day in pur,
: suit aud hope that battle is at hand
and YOU find that they are only laugh.
: ing at your jaded men and horses, while
. they take very good care to keep orr Of
harm S way, il MAJ be pretty f,en. bui