The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1864-10-15

10
being unacquainted with the labyrinth
like paths could follow one who was.
Our forces were mostly dismounted and
thrown forward az skirmishers, one fourth
of each dismounted company leading the
horses Of the others. These led horses,
with the train along, followed near the CEN
ire of the line of battle.
Heavy reserves Of cavalry were held on
either flank, aud the batteries, with three
companies Of cavalry as q support, marched
p0ar the centre.
These Indians. who are rs untauaad a.
the Wild man -of Australia, swarmed on
every side on their feet little ponies,
painted for battle, with shield and lance az
vel! as more formidable weapons dashed
wildly t.gether or dispersed, ut tie signal
of their chiefs .but the whistle Of our long
range4 guns 1nd the fate Of many of their
comrades told them in tones too plain TO be
mistaken that the white man had weapons
tsekpQre formidable than any yet sold to
Tinass ssSa, again tas the eagle .plamsd
batou of the chief waved as sfgbal for
concentration, then dash would be made
that would besfollowed by an equally rapid
retreat, in which the savages would be
OduAy puulSucu, O0VIuK lUOlCtcu UUt IItClO
injury, while they could be seen to fall ut
each successive volley.
In the midst Of the battle, under coTer Of
large mound, heavy force moved found
to our rear undiscovered, and commenced
an attack. A Eiece Of artillery under COM
mand Of Lieut.! Whipple, was put in posi-
ton. It was leveled with such precision
as to kill i've Indians and their ponies the
first dire. The exploding shell tore three
OF the ponies literally to pieces. This, with
the prompt action Of q company Of caval1
~, thoroughly discounted them, and they
retired, badly chagrined because they were
unable to reach our train. ~ w -
Toward the close Of the battle the enemy
seemed to press heavily upon the right
flank Of our forces, threatening an assault,
when Gen. Sully ordered a charge, which
was CALAMITY performed by Major Bfack-
ett's Minnesota battalion, with drawn SAL
bers. They dashed upon the enemy. and
drove him distance OF oue-and- &-half.
-, dispersing Tim in all directions,
edAn. aas sid Nhls,1he Indians left q
men dead on the field, alA4nof Yhom were
killed by the saber alone. M ku.fnxj
'NThis charge terminated IN batt1eS n,
46.kat-o IN wnic9 our folhl91
lostNbut two killed and nine wounded, or
the Indian loss we can give no exact ac-
count, es they we're frequently seen to en-
danger aheir own lives, for e6e purpose of
carryingaway some deceaSed friend, but
200, we think, would be q moderate est.
mate OF the euemy's killed, towards which
The artillery Contributed not a littlsE-SS y
y At tHo o clock the next morning Our for.
ces MsEeop ia pursuit, but were, stopped
spoken. TAisseoppedscha chase. The COM
mand then returned bsear to the Indian
camp, and spent the remainder of the day
collecting = tOgethers for destruction, which
was completed by c6hsuming all in gen.
sraf cOndagration. Their camp seemed to
be well provided with TODD aud household
furniture, aud the lodges were Of the ASst
1rAfter having avsebs the Can; csnp with the
Bosom Of destruction, our forces returned
to the cOrrel on Heart river, on the 3lst of
July, having travelled distance uf 15O |
miles, fought a battle, and completely van>1
quished the foe. and all Ia but six days.
emigrant kain broke camp at the corral on |
Heart river and took up their line Of march |
ia northwest direction aud ON the 9th |
reached another portion Of the Manvais /
Terres OF the little Missouri. From the |
edge Of the high table land where they come |
upon the Monvais Terres the scene COM
pietely beggars description. 1t is only
such scene as can be realized in some
wild, distorted, nightmare dream-pinna-
c!es, terraces, pyramids, mounds and RAJ
vines. Of every conceivable shape and size,
description and color, from grey to q bright
red and from Ave to ave hundred feet high,
thrown together in inconceivable confu-
sion by Nature, in one of the widest peaks.
The next day, by digging and dint of
they succeeded in reaching
the river, distance OF II miles. On the |
Sth they crossed, aud the road for several i
miles was the dry bed of a stream so mar
row in places that but one wagon could
pass at time. Tue banks in severa! places
were several hundred feet high.
DismOCnted men were deDloyed TO seize
all the commanding points along the bluffs.
The wisdom OF this was demonstrated in O
few minutes, for scarcely had the passage
begun when they began an attack in which |
they were badly beaten. Our loss was
slight, having none killed and but few
while the enemy lost heavily in |
both killed and wounded.
On the 18th they reached the Yellow
Stone river, in latitude 4So 90, and longi-
tude l0ao 30t, distance Of l6O miles from |
the corral on Heart river, aud ON the 10th |
reached Fort Union, distance of thirty
i've miles from the crossing.
Between the 10th Of July and the 10th OF |
August the expedition had travelled dis
lance of 457 milee, fought three days. ford
ed several rivers and dug their way through |
q country almost as impenetrable as the |
Alps, demonstrated the practicability Of |
navl8aung the GLOW Stone, surveyed |
region Of country unexpiored heretofore,
and found immense deposits Of coal laying |
in all directions, but the future alone will |
decide its value to the northwest.
Gen. Su!lys command now returned to |
Fort Rice, which place they reached on |
the 9TH Of Sept. but their work was not |
yet done. Col. Dill, OF the 3Oth Wis. com.
handing at Rice, had, without authority |
dispatched guard with Capt. Fisk's emf
grant train, this guard so in number was
attacked when lsO miles out from Rice, by |
an overwhelming force of Indians. They |
fought CALAMITY, SOME with desperation.
One, stood his ground and fouyhf>till II ar
rows were shot into him. Twelve of these
men are known to have been Killed by the
few who escaped to tell the fate of their
comrades. The fate OF the train is not
known. Those who broke through the
lines and came to Fort Rice say the enemy
were closing in on all sides. They were
u -