The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1879-07-22

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Crook, and hat my old commander,
General Carr. was in command. He
had written to military headquarters at
Chicago to learn my whereabouts, as
he wished to secure me as his guide
and chief of scouts. / then ave up
the idea of overtaking General Crook,
and fastening on to Cheyenne, where
the Fifth Cavalry had already arrived,
l wa met at the depot by Lieutenant
King, adjutant Of the regiment, he hay
ing been sent down from Fort D. A.
Russell for that purpose by General
Carr, who had learned by a telegram
from Chicago that 1 was on the
way. ! accompanied the lieuten-
ant on horseback to the camp, and as
we rode up, one Of the boys shouted,
"Here's Buffalo Bili' Soon after there
came three hearty cheers from the regi-
ment. Officers and men all were glad
to see me, and / was equally delighted
to meet them once more. The general
at once appointed me his guide and
chief of scouts.
The next morning the command pull
ed out for Fort Laramie, and on reach
Ing that post we found General Sheridan
there, accompanied by General Frye
and General Forsyth, en- route to Red
Cloud agony. As the command was to
remain here a few days, I accompanied
General Sheridan to Red Cloud and
back, taking d company of cavalry as
escort.
The Indians having recently COM
mitted a great many depredations on
the Black Hills road, the Fifth cavalry
was sent out to scout the country be-
tween the Indian agencies a%ndthehills.
The command operated on the South
Fork of the Cheyenne and at the foot
Black Hills for about two weeks, hay
ing several small engagements with
rowing bands of Indians during the
time. General Wesley Merrit-who
had lately received his promotion to the
Colonelcy of the Fifth c~avalry-now
came out and took control OF the regi-
ment. I was sorry that the command
was taken from General Carr, because
under him it had made its fighting
reputation. However, upon becom
ing acquainted with General Mer-
rift, l found him to be an excellent
officer.
The regiment, by continued scouting,
soon drove the Indians out of that sec
tion Of the country, rs we supposed,
and we had started on our way back to
Fort Laramie, when a scout arrived at
the camp and reported the massacre of
General Custer and his band Of heroes
on the Little Big Horn, on the 25th of
June, 1876; and he also brought orders
to General Merritt to proceed at oncs
to Fort Fetterman and join General
Crook in the Big Horn country
Colonel Stanton, who was with the
Fifth cavalry on this scout, had been
sent to Red Cloud agency two days be-
fore, and that same evening a scout
arrived bringing a message from him
that eight hundred Cheyenne warriors
had that day left the Red Cloud agency
to join Sitting Bulls hostile forces in
the Big Horn region. Notwithstand-
ing the instructions to proceed immedi-
ately to Join General Crook by the way,
Of Fort Fetterman, Colonel Merritt
took the responsibility OF endeavoring
to intercept the Cheyennes, and as the
sequel shows he performed a very i'm
portant service.
He selected five hundred men and
horses, and in two hours we we're max
ing a forced march back to Hat, or
| War Bonnet Creek-the intention be-
ing to reach the main Indian trail run
ming to the north across that creek be-
fore the Cheyennes could get there. We
arrived there the next night, and at
daylight the following morning, July
18th, 1876, ! went out on a scout, and
found that the Indianshad not yet cross
edthe creek. On my way back to the
command ! discovered a large party of
Indians, which proved TO be the Chey-
ennes, coming up from the south, and i
huhAiSo ' v thc camp viii luis import
ant information.
The cavalrymen quietly mounted
their horses, and we're ordered to re-
main out of sight, while General Mer-
rift, accompanied by two or three aides
and myself, went out on a little tour of
observation to a neighboring hill, from
the summit of which we saw that the
Indians were approaching almost direct
ly towards us. Presently fifteen or
twenty Of them dashed off to the west
in the direction from which we had
come the night before; and upon closer
observation with our field glasses, we
discovered two mounted soldiers, evil
IDENTIFY carrying dispatches for us, push
ing forward on our trail.
The Indians were evidently endeayor-
ing to intercept these two men, and
General Merritt feared that they would
accomplish their object. He did not
think it advisable to send out any sold
iers to the assistance of the couriers,
for fear that would show to the Indians
that there were troops in the vicinity
who were waiting for them. 1 finally
suggested that the best plan was to
wait until the couriers came closer to
the command, and then, Just as the In
dams were about to charge, to let me