Ellsworth American., 1876-07-13

| twelve veteran companies. lett camp at the
mouth the Rosebud To follow Ahe trail of "A
very large band of hostile Sioux leading
| up river and westward ia the direction OF
+ the Big Horn. '.he signs indicated that
| the Indians were making for the eastern
/ branch of the last named river. marked on
/ the map a. Little Horn. At the same time
/ Gen. Terry with Gibbons command of five
I companies of infantry. four of cavalry aud
the gattling battery started To ascend the
Big Horn. aiming To assail the enrmy IN
! the rear. The march of the two columns
was so planned a. to bring Gibbons force
within cooperating distance OF the autiC pa
cd scene oi action hy the evening Of the.
/ 18th In this way only could the infantry
/ be made available a. II would not do Ia EN-
/ cumber Clusters march with foot soldiers
( On the evening Of the 2Ith Gibhon'. CON.
mand MAS landed on the south bank OF the
| elbow >,onc near the mouth OF the Big
Horn; and on the 2jlh. was pushed -
4 Uilcs over country 80 rugged that the en-
4 durance of the men ~a> tasked Ia the ut
1 most The infantry then hated for the
/ night. hut the department commander with
1 the cavalr, advanced twelve milu. further
/ II the mouth of the Litic Big Horn. marching
1 illl midnight with the ho,e OF Opening cotBmu-
| nIcation viii Custer
I The morning OF the 2Gth brought iniciiiscu.,,
communicated 10y three badly frightened ~ 4
scouts. OF the battle of the previous. day and IL /.
result. The story was not credited because IL
/ uas not expected that an attack wou ld bc made
/ earlier than the 9th and chiefly Dccause no one
/ could believe that force such a. Custer com
mande'l could have met with disaster. sun
b the report wa In no way disrcgarled
All dav long the toilsome march was plic,l
snd every eye bent upon cloud Of smoke rest
4 ing over the southern horizon. which was hail
I ed A. sign that Custer was succsssful aud had
/ hred the village. IL was only when night was
falling that the weary troops laV down upon
/ their arms. Tho infantry h,d marched - mic.
The march ol The heat morning T,Nsal,d .i e, T.
cry step some evidence OF the conflict which
! had taken place two days before. At an early
/ hour the head Of the column entered a plain
half a mile in width bordering on Ia, lcft ban
oi the Little Big Horn,wherc recently had been
an Immense Indian village. extending three
miles along the stream. aud where were stand
ing funeral lodges with horses slaughtered
/ around tlfcm and containing the bodies Of nine
/ chiefs. The ground was .ircwn everywhere
with csrcassss Of horses. cavalry cquipmt mt :
/ besides buffalo robes. packages OF dried meat
| aud weapons and utensils belonging to the In
dian.. on ihi, part Of the field wa. found the
! clothing Of Licuis. siurgis and Porter piercrd
with builet-. and a blood stained gauntlet l..-
I longing 10 Col Yates.
Further on were found the bodies of the men
just then brrsthless scout arrived with the
! intelligence that Col. Reno with remnant of
/ the sth cavalry was enircuchcd on a blun near
/ hy waxing tor relief. The command pushed
rapidly Gu and soon came Ia sight Of a group
surrounding a cavalry guard upon the right
bank Of the river.
/ Gen Terry foriod the stream snI road TO the
I spot. All the wsy the slopes were dotted with
/ bodies Of men and horses. The General ar-
/ preached and the men swarmed out of the
/ work. aud greeted him with cheers
" iihin was found Reno with the remain. of
seven eompanie. OF lhr regiment. Reno, com
mand had been fighting from sunday noon the
I .Ith. tall the night Of the 2Bih. when Terr, !,
arrival caused the indians To retire. In 10 thi.
time Reno and those with him were In com.
I plsts Ignorance ~ rho fsts of tho other tr.
companies which had been separated from
! them 0niy on the 21tl TO make an attack under
Custer, on the village At another point.
/ w hile preparation, were being made Tor ih =
removal Of the wounded party wa. >ent on
tu,teTs trail 10 look Tor traces Of hi. command
/ lhcN found awaiting them a sight Ia appaI IN.
/ siouic-t heart. A, point about three mile
down the risht banking of stream custer had
! evidently attempted To ford aud attack the VIII
I lagc from the ford. The trail Wa. found 10
/ lead az 10 the Bluff aud TO the norihward a..
/ II the troop had been rcpul>ed a.d compelled
| 10 retreat, and At the same time had been cut
OF from segsinlng the forces under Reno All
along the slopes and ridges and the rayil,, w.
/ ing ~ they had fought. line behind line, show
where the defensive positions had been success
fully taken up and held III none .eft To fight
/ then huddled 10 a narrow compass. horses and
men were piled prOmlscuou.ly.
! NJ The highest point OF the ridge Law Custer
/ surrounded 10y chosen band. Here with his
/ two brothers and hi. nephews. Mr.. Read col,
! aies and Cooke and Capt. smith, all living in
Il circle of few yards their horses be- iis them
Here behind aies' company the last stand had
been made. and here one after another those
last survivors Of Clusters i've companies had
met their death, and the companies had sscces-
/ sivcly thrown themselves across the path OF
the advancing enemy and been auulhilated
/ Not u man escaped 10 tell the tale, but it wa.
/ inscribed on the surface Of the barren hills in
/ language more eloquent than words. POI bod
/ ies have been buried from Cu.ier'- and Reno.
command The last one found was that OF Mr.
| Kellogg. CORES spondent o. the Bismarck Trib-
unc. and also believe Of the New York Her
/ aid.
The following are the names of the Off
I GERS whose remains are recognized /:
= Gen. Custer. Col. heogh, Col. Yates.
| Col. Custer. Col. Cook. Capt. Smith. L.
Melntosh. 1t. Calhoun. 1t. Hodyson
and 1t. Reilly. All OF these belonged to
| the 9Th eavaliy. Ii. Crittenden Of the
"a infantry was serving temporarily ith
| the regiment. LIS. Porter. Sturges
and Harrington and Assistant Surgeon
| Lord, are reported missing. IA their re-
Inaihs are not recognized. but there j.
small ground 10 hope that any OF them
/ surviv ed, as ii is obvious that the troops
I were completely surrounded by a force of
/ ten tunes their number.
| The history OF Reno's Operations com
prises all that Is now known OF this sang
uinary affair. Ii seems Custer. with eight
/ companies, reached the river on the fore
noon Of the 18th, having marched couiin-
uosiy all the previous day aud night e.
/ Seeing the upper or southern extremity
of the village and probably under siiniat-
I extent n nf,l..fl.i Ran. Ia. f.rsl fi...
river aud charge the village with three
| companies, while he with five companie.
moved down the right bank, aud behind
| the b. lnffs to make a similar attack at the
/ other END. Reno made his charge. but
fuding lac Was dealing with force many
times his own humber. dismouuted his
men aud sought shelter ia the timILers
which fringed the river bank. The posit-
lou appearing 10 him untenabie, he re-
mounted and cut his way to the river
! forded under a murdereus lire. gained the
blum, where he was subsequently, found.
Here he was afterwards Joined by Col.
Benton, with three companies which had
just reached the field, and by Capt. Nc
Dowell. with his company and the pack
Of mules. The position MAS afterwards
completely invested by indians. who for
more than "A hours allowed no rest and
inflicted severe loss.
But for the timely arrival of relief the
command would have been cut of to
man. The number saved with Reno was
1923, including 81 wounded. The loss
among the Indians was probably consid-
cradle, as bodies have been found in ev-
cry direction and they lett behind only
small portion Of their dead.
We remained nearly tive days on the
scene of this disaster to bury the dead and
prepare for transporting the wounded to a
place OF safety. The neighbOring county
was still full OF scattering bands of Indians
Watching our movements and doubtless
were prepared to take advantage Of any
want of vigilance to add To the numbes Of
their victims. species Ol rude horse lit
ter was constructed OF poles and strips
Of hide and on these the disabled were
carried 20 miles to the forks OF the Big
Horn. where they were placed OD a steam.
er aud last night brought down TO the