The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1876-07-08
INDIAN WAR!


management Or laundering, drifled into the
biggest Indian war it ever had on its hands
The scene Of the war is in Southern Montana,
on the Upper Yellowstone and its tributaries
the Rosebud and the Big and Little Horn
rivers. The command of operations IN that
region seems TO be entrusted to Gen. Terry,
who made his headquarters at the mouth OF
the Big Horn on the Upper Yellowstone a
point to which steamboats, ascend. Inc nos
tile Indians, to the number o. three or Tour
thousand, had collected In that region. CROOK
was somewhere on the boardcrs of Wyoming,
near the beadwaters of the Rosebud, and on
the 18th OF June met Sitting Bull with enough
Indians to outnumber him three to one, and
in sharp encounter got evidently the worst
of the fight and had to fall back on his basis
of supplies, as mentioned in our last
Meantime Terry, at the mouth of the Big
Horn, 100 miles away, knows nothing of
what has happened to Crook, but sends Gus
ter and Reno, with twelve companies of cav.
airy, on a scouting expedition up the Rosebud
and across the Little Horn to find out where
the Indians were, and then JOIN Gen. Gibbon,
with more cavalry and regiment or two OF
infantry, at the mouth Of the Little Horn,
Custer IN his march encountered large
body of Indians, bnt instead of obeying ord.
ers, as is alleged, and returning to report the
fact, imagined the Indians were running
away, and gave chase. Reno, with seven
of Cavalry was ordered to the left,
at the head Of the valley, while Custer, with
five companies, moved off to the right. Reno
soon found himself surrounded, and after des-
peratc fighting, finally, towards evening",
gained bluff 800 feet high, on which he for
tilted himself, but the troops suffered terribly
for want of water, until relieved by Colonel
Benton, who joined him 30 hours afterwards
with four companies of cavalry. Meantime
Custer had pressed on up the Rosebud to the
right, and encountered force of thoroughly
equipped Indians immensely exceeding his
own numbers, and before he knew it was in.
,xtricably hemmed in and coralled on all
sides He seems to have made desperate
light, but not Il man Of all his five companies,
ave an Indian scout, got away to tell what
occurred Rcno's command on the 2jth,
when released from their own Imprisonment
md joined by Gen. Terry with Gibbons
command and his own infantry, went to hunt
lin up, and found only the dead bodies of
CUSTER and his brave companions. Caster
vas found stripped naked, but not mutilated,
md near him his two brothers, Col Tom and
Boston Custer; his brother.in.law, Col. Cal
loun, and nephew, Col. Yates; Col, Keogh,
capt Smith, Lieut.. Chlttenden, a son of Gen.
Lieut.. Sturgis, a son of Gen.
,turgis; Col Cooke, Lieut. Porter, Lieut..
harrington, Dr. Lord, Mark Kellogg, Tie
}ismarck Tribune reporter, the only cores
ondent with the expedition, and 1870 men
nd scouts Custer went into the battle with
ompanies C. L, |, + and E, OF the It'll cav
Try, the staff AMI the non-commissIOneds staff
{ his regiment, and number of scouts, and
My one Crow scout remains to tell the tale.
There is left only the poor satisfaction of
moving that the Indians lost heavily in the
attic. When Terry reached their village the
amp was strewn with robes gaudily painted
18th finely dressed hides and interesting or
aluabe Indian trlnkets. In burial tent
ley left nine of their chiefs, whose spirits
ad flown to the happy hunting ground, ar
lyed most gorgeously. In the ravines the
cad were abandoned by the Indians, evi.
emily in their solicitude for the wounded.
[ere was found the Crow scout who survived
lie battle by hiding in ravine. He believes
leir loss to have been greater than the loss
the whites, tor in the battle they were so
iuch more numerous and were the assault
lg party after the first dash. Col Reno and
is officers agree with tins estimate The {
illagc numbered 1900 lodges, and many S
illow tepees had been added within a few I
avs. 1t is believed by those who fought !,
lat the warriors must have numbered 1000. Y
Gen. Terry reports the outlines of these /
cts to Gen. Sherman, at Philadelphia, and 5
tributes the disaster to the failure of Custer =
adhere to his plan of operations, but is not C
lady to blame Custer, in the absence of de- 6
ills of how he was drawn into the fight.
The Morris Reformer, like the Pontiac Free /
rader and other former democratic journals a
this state with strong independent or .