, 1879-01-26

life. [lauehtcr.7 he didn't know abou
Porter's being BY The side Of wounded man II
the timber, but he lid know that Porter was b,
his (wItncss'l side and that he (witness) wasp'
wounded: [Lauehter]
.rs,do %pid Maj: Reno betroy any evidence OF COW
ardice during the period Of time you saw hin
IN the t1nber!" askel Mr. Gilbert.
No, SIR" responded Capt. Moylan. <sThere
Was certain amount Of excitement that wal
visible in his face as 10 every ones else under ,h<
failed to discover it,"
"What woall have been the result to the
command Il he had continued to charge dowr
that val1ey?n
Il think if he mad continued 10 do it aud bae
gon9 "a. on = lar enough, he would have been there
| Estate whether the purpose Of leaving tht
hnner Was not to save the commaud!"
| ~ thtng that was the purpose"
What, in your Judgment, would have beer
thc result, under thu circumstances, il the coin
mand had remained in the titnbe=!"
Well, IN my Judgment, / think the com
manu without assistance, would have been an
| nililated TT the tfmber,"
| "Qucstiuns have been asked you with refer
| ence co "hat would have taken place II
COL. REAreEN's COLUMN
had Joined Maj. Rcnos column, and the pack,
| train had come up. Was not Mai Reno unable
tn form an estimate OF what the effect OF the
union Of those commands would have been UPON
| himself unless he had known tl,ut they had been
ordered to join him2'
| ~ think So"
! Witness vas then asked as to where be had
| nrst seen the Indians while in the bottoms, the
! dust-clouds, the impossiDfltty OF seeing through
that dust the number OF lodges, ETC., and re-
/ piled much rs he did on the direct. When asked
! as to the propricty of the movement from the
| timber and Reno's position during that move
| lnent, be replied that it would be very proper
for commanding officer to know tue nature Of
the country ahead, but it was equally as proper
! and equally rs necessary for him to know what
was going OH in the rear. He hadn't heard Of
an impression Oh the part Of anybody at the
time that the movement from the timber was
what might be called triumphant march
exactly. laughter.
4 great deal having been'said BY some Of the
witnesses about tile command reuching the hill
in q detected and dcmoralizcd condition, MIR.
Gilbert asked the Captain il he wouldn't rather
bc detected on the hilltop than dead in the
timber.
II would very much prefer being detected
anywhere than dead in the TIMBER" was the re-
ply fLaugnter.]
Continuing, be said he had heard Reno giving
orders on the 25tt, but bad seen nothing Hike
cowardce on that officers part. Alter reaching
the hill there was really very little necessity for
orders, and everything moved on like clock
work. He was not aware that 1t was fact TINT
q commander was responsible Tor the behavior,
the bravery, or want OF bravery, OF his men.
On the hill he saw more OF Benteen than any
body else, and Benteen's conduct was simply
superb. Nothing short Of that would e1-
press it.
-, Ard Ma{, Reno n n made special mention Of it,
"Yes, sir" was the reply.
"And descrycdly?'
II think so.n
estate whether, from the indications as you
saw them uf
THE COMPANY UNDER CALHOUN,
there y as any evidence Of making sudden re-
sistnnce to the Indians like that which was
found in the circle where Lleut.-Coi. Custer
lay.'
IT saw none Those men that before men-
toned as having been killeu In this ditch had
evidently been fighting, but there was no evi-
dcnce OF it. There was very little evidence that
they had rctreatcd or we're falling back at rcgu-
lar Intervals. But such evidence rs existed
about Calhoun's company existed nowhere else
that saw"
"Were Calhoun's men in that position in
which men ought to have been, or would nat
have been,' because there cannot be anything
said about Lieut.-Col. Custcr's soluierly quali-
ics,-if there bad been resistance, according to
the rules Of military sciencaa"
Lieut.. Lee began the redirect by asking Capt.
Moylan
HOW DR.. PORTER DID HIS DUTY.
tin a superb manner, MIR. Recorder" Has
the Captains reply.
Mr.. Gilbert interposed that he had no charge
to make as to MIR. Porter.
'tHe had great deal to do continued the
witness, stand he did it we'll"
tsYou said," continued Lieut.. Lee, that Dr..
Porter said to you that be WAS never so scared
in his life. Wasn't that excitement general!"
IL think so. When DR.. Porter made that re-
marx be made It in a laughing, joking way, and
may not have meant what he said. 1t was
made several months-probably year-aftcr-
ward, 50 that he didn't realize, perhaps, what
he saia." .... ..o xno.
being frightened implies that he is 4 cowardl"
mo, sir; not at allh
ssDidn't Maj. Reno and everyone else present
the appearance Of being frightenedl''
ss1 rather think they were all little bit
shaken up" laughter.1
s'Maj. Reno's command deployed as skir-
mIst,ers. Would the sight OF that indicate to a
command OH the opposite side Of the river any
great or particular danger!'
"A command passing over the trail, seeing
another command dcploying as skirn,ishers ia
the bottom-ccrtafnIy this command wouldn't
imagine that they we're in any particular danger
or afraid Of anYthing.''
ttIf Gen. Custer mad been there and seen that
dcploYn,cnt, would it have led him to thirk that
the command was going to retreat in twenty or
forty minutcs!"
mo; think Gen. Custer would think that
the command would hold its position there"
1Gu 6A4N t4lAk SfEt lIlll1E NEAL uu IlkE CLOCK
work on the hill. Was that after Col. Berlccn
came up?"
"Ycs, sir, after.h
stThen the clock-work wasn't in going up the
hill?"
"It was a little more rapid than clockwork
thcn.'' Laughter.]
" You were pretty we'll wound up thcns"
Renewed laughter.
s.Ycs.'
Wouldn't 1t have been better to have been
DEAD IN THE TlMBEn THAN DIsHoSoRED ON
THE HILL
as so}dier2 You have stated, believe, that
you would rather be detected in any place than
dead in the tlmber2"
Mr. Gilbert objected on the ground that no |
eyidepcc had been aduced to show that any dis |
honor attached to Capt. Moylan's being on the |
hill. lie did not seriously press the objection,
however, and it was about us good as apparent |
that the Court, the Recorder, and Mr. Gilbert !
himself, would just as soon hear the witness !
express himself on this point as not. ne did.
:'Of COURSE" said he, " i would rather be on |
the hill than to be dead in the tfmbcr''
"But," continued Lict- Lee, "if you believed !
your duty as a soldier required you to remain in
that timber, what would you rather do-remain
and die, or be discredited in going away from
it!u
swell, don't know that that is hardly
nroper question to put to me-" REPLIED tile Wit |