The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1873-09-06


enterprise jusi nov. except inEsy 10 gen
ersl terms tha, IL was Aills And R0dmAnl
affair. Iu reference 10 repeated Inquiries
he stated be bad not invested 10 any eH
lIeus In the enterprise, but that his nAms
WGs used 10 assist Olheui1 iheifcii1rts u
make.ihe company success.
General CustaI's OGietAl Report oi
The AIlRek On the YeiIOWHtOns Ia.
PedItiOH.
NEW YoRE, Sept. 5.--GenerAl CusIar's ;
official report OF the Indian attack upon
the Yellowstone Expedition nesr Tongue
river on August 4lh, and Al Big Horn on
the llth, WHICH will appear in the 1ri5uEe
10 morrow. says six Indians appeared 10
front NJ his command on the 4th oi August
while eneMnped Ia the wood about ten
miles TO advance 0i the main body. The
ieTpedItiun Of General Cus,ar, with
two orderlies. al well mounted,
rode toward the Indisns, who kept
on toward heavy wood In advance OF
the camp Amer following them for some
distance General CustGr halted, when The
Indians Alsu came 10 stand. Finding
their nlsc "a dccuy The troops into the
wood unsuccessful, The Indians discovered
their abush aud three hundred OF them
rode boldly out aud charged the cavalry
and endeavOred 70 intercept CuStat'S lit
tie party. OF the attack General CustAf
SAYS Il directed Lieut.. CustAr 10 quick
" throw forward the dlsmounted limo ol
troopers and endeayor TO empty lew
Indian saddles. The order was oOeyed
with the greatest alacr;ty, and as the
Sioux came dashiGg forward, expecting
10 ride US down, line Of dlsmounted
cavalrymen rose from the grass and deltY'
cred almost In the faces OF the warriors q
volley of Carbine bullets, which broke and
scattered their ranks In all directions and
sent more than one Sioux recliug from his
saddle. This check gave Us time TO make
our dispositions TO resist the succeeding
attack, wkiCh we knew our enemies
would soon make on us, The entire
squadron, except the horse holders, was
dismounted and ordered to fight on foot,
The Indians oulnumbcring us five 10 one
were enabled TO envelope US completely
between their lines and the river, which
flowed AT our backs. The little belt OF tim'
Der, In which We had been first attacked,
formed very good cover tor our leu
horses, while the crest OF second table |
land, conveniently located from the tim
bCr, gave us IN excellent line ol defence:
The length OF our line aud the number o!
the enemy prevented US from having ANY
force In reserve Every available officer
and man was On the skirmish line, which |
was in reality our line OF battle. Even
the number ol men holding the horses
had to be reduced, 80 that each horse
holder held eight horses until the Indians
were made to tAste quite freely OF our
lead. They displayed unusual D0ldness
frequently charging up to our line and
firing with great deliberaiIon and accn'
racy. Finding their Efforts TO force back
tho troops unavailable, the indians then
resOrted TO another expedienL By an
evidently precOncerted plan they ss' .ss sst
in several places to tho tall grass winch
covered the ground in the front OF them,
hoping by this means 10 force tue
troops back TO the river, and
then finish them AT their pleasure.
Fortunately, there was no wluu
prevailing at the time, while the grass
was not dry enough TO burn rapidly. Inc
Indians Crept up under cover OF the smoke
and often obtained a shot al close range
The troops adopted the same tactics with |
great success About o'clock, alter four
hours fighting, Gen. Custsr mounted his
and put the Indians 10 flight
without difficulty. The Indians were fol.
lowed until it was discovered that they
had crossed the river.
On August 1lth, General Custar's
was discovered by the ln'
diaps. who Immediately opened a brisk
fire from the opposite bank. They soon
began 10 appear in strong numbers above
and below the troops and brisk SEirmish
Cnsued, during which several Indians
were killed. Believing the time for often
sivc action had come, General Custar
gave the necessary orders and the troops +.
moved forward 10 the tune OF "GArry
Owen" The Indians had evidently come
out prepared TO do their best and with
out misglvings as TO their success, as the
mounds and nigh bluffs beyond the river
were covered with groups Of squaws, old
men and children, collected to witness our
destruction. In this instance tho pro-
verbal power Of music to soothe the say.
age breast utterly tailed, Tor no sooner did
the band strike up the cheerful notes oil
"Garry Owen" and "The sqladrons
Advance to the Charge" than tho In.
dians exhibited uumiBtakAble signs OF
and then the resistance be:
came more feeble, until finally, satisfied
of the eASnestneSs Of our attack, they
turned their ponies heads and began
disordCrly flight.