Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1874-11-19
Reports Of Gems. Sherman and Sher'
idan.
WASHINGTON, Nov
GEN. SHERMAN.

WASHINGTON, Nov. g.
GEN. SHERMAN.
Gen. Sherman's annual report to the
Secretary of War shows the total num-
Der of enlisted men in the army on Oct.
Is to have been 26,441 1t estimates that
this number will probably be reduced
through natural causes by the LIST of Jan
uary, 1875, to the 81, 900 allowed by law.
1t deprecates the inadequacy of SO small
an army for the demands of so large an
area of territory as it has to be scattered
over, involving the necessity of with
drawing troops from one department
to meet the requirements Of others
a long distance away 1t compliments
the high efficiency of Gen. Sheridan and
his subordinate officers in maintaining
comparative peace in the Indian coun-
try. 1t says the reports of the COM
handing officers demonstrate that the
small army of the United States, called a
peace establishment, is the hardest
worked body of men in this or any coun-
try. The discipline and behavior of the
officers and men have been worthy of all
praise; and whether employed on the ex-
IRENE and distant frontier, or in aiding
civil officers in the execution Of civil
processes, have been model for the inn
ithtion of all good men.
In regard TO the removal Of his head
quarters to st. Louis he says: >, / am
prepared to execute the duties that may
devolvc upon me by proper authority.
Here / am centrally located, and should
occasion arise can personally proceed
to any point on this continent where my
services are needed"
GEN. SHERIDAN.
Lieut.. Gen. Sheridan, in his annual
report touches slightly upon Gen. Gus
ter's Black Hills expedition, which
IL pronounces successful recon
noissance. The country of the Black
Hills was found to be much better than
was expected, with plenty of good tim
Der and considerable good soil at high
attitudes and an abundant supply of
good water and grass. Some gold was
found near Harney's Peak, but of its
abundance there is at present no reliable
information. Sufficient tine could not
be given by an expedition such as that
OF Gen. Clusters to prospect and deter
mine its quantity. Gen. Sheridan again
| recommends the establishment of II large
military post in the Black Hill country.
OF the Indian troubles Gen. Sheridan
says: {" respectfully differ with Gen.
| Pope as to the chief cause of these In.
dian troubles, and attribute it to the i'm
munity with which the tribes have been
| treated. In all their raids into Texas for
the past three years their reservations
have furnished them the supplies with
which to make the raids and sheltered
| them from pursuit when they returned
with their scalps and plumber. No
| man of close observation, it seems to
| me, can travel across the great plains
from Nebraska and Wyoming to Texas.
| and see the established ranches, with
their hundreds of thousands of head of
cattle, sheep and horses, together with
the families of the owners, and reason
| ably think that these people, so much ex-
posed and having such valuable interests,
are DESTROYS of provoking Indian wars.
There was a time, possibly, when the
population of the Indian frontier may
have been DESTROYS of Indian troubles,
| but that has passed long ago.