Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-04-19

ington, of the 18th inst, contains the
following. The General Forsythe
herein mentioned, is chief of General
Sheridan's staff, and is well known to
be one of the most reputable and dis
tinguished officers in the army. He
plainly proves Custer a liar, and this
will probably send him to his well
merited retirement and disgrace, for
conduct unbecoming an officer and
gentleman, to-wit: lying. If this does
not fix him, the well established fact
that he has been Systematically dcmor-
alizing and defrauding the financial
officers of his command at the gaming
table will ultimately rclegate him to
private life.
But here is his testimony, given in
hot haste against Secretary Bclknap,
who was then down, and the reply of
general Forsythe, who was on the
spot: #
In an interview yesterday, General
Belknap pronounced the statement of
Gen. Custer, as made before the Com
mittec OH Expenditures of the War
Department, as far as it refers to him,
as a collection of falsehoods, mean in
situations and gossipy lies. He stated
that General Custer, as he has the
documents to prove, has not hesitatcd
To Il a.. L. .A
OF War, from time to time, and while
he granted some of them, he conclud-
ed that the very proper refusal of
others is the cause of Clusters wrath.
Below is given a correct extract from
General Clusters testimony before the
committee concerning his treatment
Of the Secretary of War at the time of
his visit to Fort Lincoln in August
last, i'm which testimony he cndeavors
to make it appear that he acted to-
ward General Belknap with gross in
dignity. The latter was accompanied
at the time of this visit by General
Marcy, General j. w. Forsythe, of
General Sheridan's staff; Col. Giles
pie, of the engineers, and Gen. w. E.
Strong, of Chicago, all of whom are
familiar with the facts, and all of
whom, il is said, will bear testimony
to the untruthfulness of General Gus
tar's testimony as given below, and to
the correct description given by Gen.
FOrsythe in his letterto Gen. Belknap
which we also publish, of the extreme
courtesy extended to him by General
Custer. This letter utterly refntes
Clusters testimony, and shows to the
charitable how defective is his MEN,
DRY:
WASHINGTON, March %, 1876.
General George A. Custer sworn
and examined:
By the Chairman
g. Where are you in command
A. At TT. Abraham Lincoln, Da-
Q. How long have you been in
command there?
A: Three years.
BY Mr.. Robbins:
Q. With whom did the Secretary
of War stay when he was on this Wis
it to your post? A. Well, sir he did
not stay with anybody.
@. How long was he there. A. He
was there but few honrs. He came
down the river, and 1 knew of his
coming, and gave him such attention
as his official position required. A
salute was fired, but my knowledge
of his transactions, and my opinion
of them was such that did not meet
him at the edge OF the reservation, as
was customary, / staid at my door
aud waited till he came and transact
ed what business / had to transact
with him, and he went away.
q. Who did meet him?
A. / did not. Mr.. Seip, the day
before, sent me note stating that he
understood that the Secretary of War
was about to visit the post, and he
thought / would like to entertain
him, and he sent up three baskets OF
wine, and sent back the wine with a
note, saying that did not drink wine
myself, and in any event / did not
propose to entertain, the Secretary OF
War with wine. So returned it.
Q. Then you did not entertain him
A.. No, sir, did not, except as
was required in an official way. I. ~.
@. Was he entertained by any one
at the fort? A. No sir.
LETTER FROM GIN. FoRsYTHE TO GEN
BELKNAP.
HEAD'RQs MIL. Div. OF THE MIs'RI,)
CHICAGO, ILL.,, April 5, 1876. (
Mr. DEAR GEN. BELKNAP: In &C
kn0wledging the receipt of your let
ters of Friday and Sunday, 1 take the
opportunity Of saying that your rec.
objection Of the visit TO Fort Lincoln
is correct. Upon our arrival at the
steamboat landing at Fort Lincoln the
report was brought to us that Gen
Custer was i'll, and i supposed from
what was told me that we would find
him in bed but to my surprise, when
we drove mp to the front of his quar-.
tcrs Gen. Custer came out in uniform
TO the sidewalk in front of his house
to meet us, and welcomed yon h
house and post. During our stay al
Ii oln had few moments private
conversation with him, and he theI
told me that he had been very sick al
night with dvsentry or diarrhea /; that
he was in bed when our arrival wai
reported, but thai he had made tn.
effort, got up and dressed SO as to b.
able to personally meet you, show
you his post, NC.
j remember that Mrs. Custer was
DESTROYS that we should stay fol-
luncheon with them, and said that sht
| would send out and invite all the
ladies OF the garrison ; that they were
all anxious TO see the Secretary OF
War, Nc. When Informed by yon OF
your limited time and stay with them
she expressed her regret, and spoke OF
the disappointment to the ladies OF
the 7th cavalry.
Gen. Custer drove you around the
post, both the upper and lower one,
and upon your return to his quarters
sent for all the officers of his COM
mand and presented them to yOu.--
When we left his house Gen. Custer
got into the ambulance, or wagon,
and accompanied YOU to the steam
boat landing; went ON board Of the