New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-07-09
lUsrER,s FIGHT AND DEATH.

lCSTEAS F1OaT AMI DAAA AAs
Since the death of General Candy, who
was killed by the Modocs, nothing has so
aroused feeling in the army as the slaugh-
ter of General Custer and his gallant
squadron of cavalry in the Yellowstone
region of Montana. Candy was killed
while out with q broadbrimmed peace
commissioner. The Terry expedition, of
which Custer was part, was out for the
purpose of driving the Indians back on to
their reservation, in accordance with the
desire of the civilians of the Indian Bu-
reau. Whenever civilians meddle with
the army, the army suffers and bears the
blame. General Sheridan once said,
''There are no good Indians, excepting
the dead ones" The sentimentalists who
make heroes of tho dirty red men, and the
poets who sing of noble Hiawathas. keep
always at safe distance from the
objects of their alteration. tits plain that
the Indian can not be civilized, and as he
will not stay on the wild lands reserved
for his occupation, he must be killed.
The resolve is cruel, but the government
must be cruel to offenders to be kind to
those needing and deserving protection.
The settlers of Montana are trying to de-
velop that rich country: they have right
to be there; many of them have served IN
the army, and look to the army and the
government for protection. The old resi-
dents are the red men, who mount and
ride away from their own lands to make
war on the new corners. From the high
est officer of the army to the shortest pri-
vate in the rear rank there is unit of
feeling that the war against Indians must
be one of extermination. The sentimental
writers and speakers are filed with horror
at such an idea; there are pictures drawn
of the noble red man driven sadly to-
ward the setting sun, deprived OF his
possessions; and. on the other hand, year
after year there has been the real spec
tacle of Indians drawing rations and
blankets from the government in winter,
and numbering white women and children
when fresh grass grew along the war path.
The question must be decided whether
civilization or the Indians must 60 back.
Who is to be blamed for the inactivity of
the army against the savages? Not the
President, nor the generals of the army;
but the human;tarians. and the gentlemen
Of Congress who see retrenchment and
reform and applauding constituents
in the mastering out of colored regi-
ment and marine band. The
present Congress has advocated the
reduction of the army and the mastering
out of all colored troops. The sapient
Cox says, "We want no army and no
navy, at least until after November" and
when he says his party has resolved to
withhold all appropriations for the War
Department, the mob applauds and tells
him and his kind to ''stick" to the resolve.
We have but the skeleton of an army now,
scarcely big enough to do garrison duty
from Eastport, Maine, to San Francisco,
from Key West to Dakota, to say nothing
of Alaska and the separate corps required
to watch the seals. The Indian question
is one of great moment and Of vital i'm
portance to the honest settlers who are
trying to build up homes in the far West.
Its solution is not found in the st.
Louis platform, and the demand
in the Cincinnati resolutions ''that all
necessary laws should be passed to pro-
tect emigrants, in the absence OF power in
the States for that purpose" is hardly
strong enough to meet the new emergency
which has arisen. There is no lack of law
for killing Indians, but there is lack Of
guns, and there is an opposition to Indian
determination found in public opinion.
If we were to believe the Democratic
oracles of this State we should feel salts
fed that Governor Kellogg is to be blamed
for the Sioux depredations, as he has
been charged with responsibility for yel-
low fever and overflow. One paper is
satisfied that the cause of the Indian out
RACES can be traced directly to the
President and his response to Marshal
Packard for troops, thereby weakening
the main army. Another newspaper
Jomini thinks General Sheridan should
be held personally responsible. Anything
to beat Grant Such an argument is the
talk of children, without reason. Sup
nose the three hundred infantry soldiersin
Louisiana had been with General Terrys
command instead of here, could they
have saved Custer? Could the plodding
in the rear have saved the life
of the daring cavalryman who rode to the
front to meet his death? This leads US to
question the responsibility for Clusters
5aa.h. All men must say that his valor
,varca NE his discretion. He was directed
10 find AID feel the Indians, but not to
bring on an engagement until the
General comma nding. and the support
ing infantry arrived. Custer found
!he Indians, and he dashed in to give
hem battle on their own s.rouno' having
less than four hundred men to PIT against
four thousand warriors. He mt1ss nave
known the strength of tie enemy, for 10
discovered the village of one thousand
eight hundred lodges. and his familiarity
with Indians gave him knowledge that
each lodge furnishes at least four fighting