, 1879-01-29

'lgl0 AZ fH8i ttfne.'
"Do you still assign itf''
II still heltcre ti,at was. the cnnse OF the
stampede out of the ttmber.''
What Other fcaaon tliti you have for think
ing tint he rode TO The edge OF tho ttnbcr than
that which yuu have just assigned,-the killing
OF ths indlhn nnd tue woundnR OF the white
Vie lcft.-he rru,-anl the men started In no
Naasled n my mind that be was running at tllat
ln8tAnt.n
11nur. HAIR
was called, and his direct examination resumed.
lie thought ti'e s command might tays remained
by 4 chol ntnl carcsul use OF their ammunition.
as long as an hour, although this wonl.i depend
upon. tllc movement OF the indians. It was
left Custer until bcntcen catna up. Witness
vas tten ordered by Reno u get Til. ktrafn
up as soon Is posdble. Returning from the
cktra't', he va dl ceted L, tell wc!r 70 open
would Join then, soou. The ortlcr was skecut-
ed, and Weir set out: The command followcd,
but the nttack upon Weir BY tho lndtans shnwed
ss1n asn0 u t he + o'ss "S b eoss e sos
hack, the eommn,u! was placed around
the 'hill In Tho form Ut 40 c1lipso, aud
in this form received tl!e tndians' attack. The,
supposition had been tint Custer would suppors
Reno, ai.tl, as hc lad not lnuc no, Il vas
thought that l,c must 10 somewhere on the line
Of advance Witness also hcarts firing In the d.
1ie heard th!s arinr jist before I!c started for
the paek.tratn. The reason tie advance move
incnt was abandoned wAs TINT Weir's pos!ttont
| - Kano said, was not good one for a staul.
was important that ! good positlon should be
selected. There was no belief TINT Custer
md remain out ot tho nght hin,.eli:
VA rss received BY Reno ti,at Custer was not
going u support him. As the result Of the
battle showed, Custers Hank inoyctncnt on tho
village va 20 support at 81; I!,e witns::
| selected on the bill was the best poa!tion 70
make the stand, and Noj. Rano said hs thought
so too. ~ -..--.-,
country In nnd arounl the village aud tho hui
and along The river banks. Rsnos command,
lle stated, threatened tic village. but II did
indIpns In the village. lie did not believe there
while Reno was In the timber.
TIE POSITION IN TuR TfHDER
was a good ono for defence. Tcntecn might
DougaIl, with the pack.trafn,. cetlid. lu fact.
twenty Indians could have kept McDougall
fron, RcttinE down The bluffs; they could either
ltave done that or guttcn all bis pack.mucs. llu
The rear had vanished wien lseno lett the tim
ber, but he did not know why it left there, nj
though his own private opinion Mt tic thlu WAS
that had ihcy stayed there twenty minutes
longer they wOu1u llayo been 50 hemtned TT that
they couldn't have gotten out. Ills impression
was that Reno thought they would be hcmn,cd in
there, md TINT the best way tu get out was to
charge. Witness thought now and at that tmu
that, II they were to get out Ut the bOttoH,, tho
tactical movement rcsorted to by ltenn WIS tlc
very best It waa possible to takr. Still, the
movement out Of tho timber didn't strike him
Is absolutely necessary at tho t!mc. IN almost
the next breath tue witness admitted that the
camnantl, ii tile Indians Ind followed It close
| on tlle retrcat, would have lastoa nbOut ten
| minutes, while 1t would have iasted about
twenty minutes longer lad It Remained Ill TIC
Tho wltncss' cstimnte put the fighting force
| Of the Indians at 1, 600 warriors. He remember
cd hearing Ksno say to !s men, yhen D.! nsnseen ,sss
60 and avcnge the loss of our eunra1cs. !" AZ
for anything Cowarl1y OH Rono's part he had
failed to sec It. fIe thought lieno's actions a.!
dispositions saved what Hns left Of the regt
inct. Rcuo's conduct was always good, .alld ne
WIS atways cool.
ho thought, must layu begun his fight at o,
near M" about the time REM left The woo'1s'
Ncpulscd at TINT point,--tho ford or Watering
way. to tile Two posLtlous "E" md "D,n where
m0st of thu dead bodies wcre found, "E" beinH
the final stand. -.-
not present when tbs battalion was divided or
tue u,urtluR OF tue 25th knew nothing Of hen
teens orders, and did not know whether 1tcne
knew as to what thoso orders were. a person
at tue timber could sec clear hnek to the CROSS
Ing at ia" II Reno had kept on towards tn
village, witness didn't think tbs command woult
have ever gutten out Of there. II hu tad rollt
on 3y0 yarls, he tliln't think Reno could hayt
gotten man out Iu bis opinion, Rcno's courst
was the only thing TINT saved them. On the re
treat tic men were little in disorder nt Arst,-
In the reas,-bnt beforc rcaching the river the,
been the case Ind tile nicn been deuloraiizcd
. | Weir cea1cd Ills advance movement III lie d1rec
!, tton OF Custer's column, l}ecausa there vas
forco Of 1860 Indiana fl stght ot bis trout, mn
The selection ot tho final stand was tho result
lie brief consultation between llcuo a,ul f]cn
! teen, the commanding otlcer mud tho second Il
Thc Witness was then tntcrrogated as to II,
| character OF tho country about "l nnd In III
rour.o of his replies aatd hc regarded ti'o sor
III" as about u good NJ tho ford "a" Eur
tsr dow from ~ ~, = nnofr , ,r q Sn wSt
: shat the Indians had crept up from behi,'d "a
! they could casily lo, ,-ald then bred upon then
Tile position of t!.e bodies tndlcntcd that u
!, tcr and Ills men could hardly havo lasted oyc
threr.uaftefa ut an h0r.
= in RENo's CONDUCT ON THE HILL,
witness saw Gotnlng to Indicate cowarsltcc. I'll
II other officers, from their poxtttons, could nc
u l nkF0 kGtG 4t2lu " hlA ktuaSbF HEAc 1lo wv
. out OF their sight Ao might very well have hes
d!sclaraing all tho duties Of h's oillcc. III
l. gray horse column, hud II beet. !
iihe point "a," on the ouposiso bans
r when tho sktr'nLsh-lino was belI.
tippIoyed tn tie tiniber. would, in hs opn!0'
ID haye lad plenty Of stne 10 rsayh tho forA ~
). leforu tno rstfeas waa made from tl,o ti.'be
In fact, Custer's column would have thirty sn!l
utes tho advantage III potnt Of time OF tic II
tliaus who were ID thu timber and wliu were 'c
on tl,e loft bank when lteno crossed On bis :
II treat. While gu tw bill hs heard Ut !lc,lo 81
ing urdcrs 70 tho iuen when they werc besnE d
ptOyel III sk!rtn!sh-tlne,
y, Tn the rc'i!.ect, witness said m officer wis Il!
~ expected To know tbs natuFo Ut tho eIuu1ry
j, wss attacking IN ADVANCE: lic n'uat 10 In as
:. ilght al.t Aaa 1t Out. no thought there l,u
~ ~ been very hesyy fighting ut A,ld around "D
!" II Cusscr had, while passing point ~. e..
y Kemo dcpioyine bis sEirmls.l-ilno he could ha'
-. ~ easily seen that there were nbout live ttuea
!" many Indians - troop4;, ~ to whed,
suppose, under ti!e ctrcumataaec1. That Rel
would hive regretted in thirty MINUTES, H., he d
W Tfpnn IN rratn until reinforced. he tnjRlt la