Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, D.T. [N.D.]) 1875-1878, 1876-07-12

that night the animals were watered.
The fight closed at dark, opening again
next morning, and continuing until the
afternoon of the 9th. Meantime the
men became more and more exhausted,
and all wondered what had become Of
Custer. A panic all at once
was created among the Indians
and they stampeded, from the hills
and from the valleys, and the village
was soon deserted except by the dead,
and Reno and his brave band felt that
succor was nigh. Gen. Terry came in
sight, and strong men wept upon each
others necks, but no word was had from
Custer. Hand shaking and congratula-
tions were scarcely over when 1t. Brad
ley reported that he had found Custer
dead, with one hundred and ninety
cavalry men. Imagine the effect: Words
cannot picture the feeling of these,
his comrades and soldiers. Gen. Terry
sought the spot and found it to be too
true. OF those brave men who followed
Custer all perished !; no one lives to tell
the story of the battle. Those deployed
as skirmishers, lay as they fell, shot
down from every side, having been en-
tirely surrounded in an open plain.
The men in the companies fell in pla-
toons, and like those on the skirlnish
line, lay as they fell, with their officers
behind them in their proper positions.
General Custer, who was shot
through the head and body,
seemed to have been among the last to
fall, and around and near him lay the
bodies of Col Tom and Boston, his
brothers, Col Calhoun,h his brother in law,
and his nephew young Reed, who insist
ed on accompanying the expedition for
pleasure, Col Cook and the members of
the non.commissioned staff all dead
all strippedof their cloth'ngand many of
them with bodies terribly mutilated. The
squaws seem to have passed over the field
and crushed the skulls of the wounded
and dying with stones and clubs. The:
heads Of some were severed from the
body, the privates of some were cut OFT,
while others bore traces of torture, ar
rows having been shot into their private
parts while yet living, or other means
of torture adopted. The officers who
fell were as follows; Gen G.. A. Custer;
Coils Geo. Yates, Miles Keogb, James
Calhoun, W. W. Cook, Capts Nc Intosh
A. E. Smith, Lieutenants Riley, Criten-
den, ,sSturgis, Harrington. Hodgson and
Porter, Asst Surgeon De Wolf. The
only citizens killed were Boston Custer,
Mr.. Reed, Charles Reynolds, Isiah, the
the interpreter from Ft. Rice and Mark
Kellogg, the latter the TRIBUNE correspon-
dent. The body Of Kellogg alone remain
ed unstripped of it's clothing, ard was
not mutilated. Perhaps as they had
learned to respect the Great Chef, Gus
ter, and for that reason did not mutilate
his remains they had in like manner
learned to respect this humble shower of
the lead pencil and to that fact may be
attributed this result. The wounded
were sent to the rear some fourteen
miles on horse litters striking the Far
West sixty odd miles up the Big Horn
which point they left on Monday at
noon reaching Bismarck nine hundred
miles distant at 10 Pm.
The burial of the dead was sad work
but theywere all decently inferred. Many
could not be recognized; among the
latter class were some of the officers.
This work being done the command
wended its way back to the base where
Gen Terry, awaits supplies and approval
of his plans for the future campaign.
The men are worn ont with marching
and fighting, and are almost wholly de-
stitute of clothing
The Indians numbered at least eigh-
teen hundred lodges in their permanent
camp, while those who fought Crook
~