Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, D.T. [N.D.]) 1878-1884, 1879-02-22
GIRARD GETS IN his GRAFT.

ulnAnU ull = tN IItO unhFl
AVID sMITES POP RENO HIP
ANDfH:THIGH.
Your Wsrst Enemy, Major, Is q
I. Statement OF Faetsp--HoI and Bit.
ter Resume Of the Major's Career
Questions Of Veracity Settled by
DatesA General Islashing.
70 the Editor Of 1'heS7ribune.
AN OPEN LETTER.
FoRT LINCOLN, DE-: T., Feb. 15.-Will
you kindly give publicity to the following
open letter to Major Marcus A. Reno:
Major; In the issue Of the Chicago
Times of Jan. 8, you are reported as testi-
flying Gn your effort to acquit yourself Of
the charge of cowardice) that you dis
charged Girard from the government serv-
ice in the latter part Of 1876, because you
believed him to be guilty of stealing.
Those who do not know you, sir, may
not make due allowance for you, and may
do me the injustice stoplace absolute con-
fdence in your veracity, and to guard
against such an error, j take the liberty of
confronting you with your worst enemy, a
statement Of facts.
You did discharge me as Post Interpre-
ter, May 6, 1876, assigning as a reason that
you expected to go ohtsin command of the
Lincoln column that you must econo-
mize and that YOU could employ three
teamsters for my salary. l can now un-
derstand the economYin
DIsCHARGING ANiINTERPRETER,
as you probably foresaw that there would
| be no occasion for one SO far as your rela-
| tions with the Indians were concerned
Gen. Custer, contrary to your plans and
| expectations, returned and assumed com
mand, and after hearing your reason for
my discharge, from Hyourself, restored me
to my position on the 18th of the same
month.
Why did you not make official COM
plaint to your superior or institute pro-
ceedings yourself against me? The fact
is, you displayed another trait Of charac-
ter always associated with that which dis
tingulshed you at the battle of the Little
Big Horn petty tyranny. Custer you
could not harm, but you could his hum
BILE friends, SO you discharged Girard.
Major, what evil genius tempted you to
suggest comparison ,bf character between
you and me; you, whom a too generous
country educated and trained foran hon
orable profession q see you conspicuous
only for a meanneSSssSS and unman]iness in
your capacity Of sMalmandng officer at
Apercrombie, whesa VI AsE,Yl II ". 81
s-1Ns
Of brother otfcerasAWife, aroused the in
dignation of the whole country, and cul-
minating in your dismissal from the mill
tary service for conduct unbecoming an
officer and a gentleman; you, | say, do
yourself an injustice in contrasting your
self with an humble interpreter whose sim
Ole ambition never arose above the humble
discharge of his hnmble duties. Your
name since that fasco has secured to itself
some prominence by its association with
a chief whom you betrayed and this has
ended in an inquiry into your conduct at
the Little Big Horn. commend your
prudence in this course, II not in others,
as more than two years and a half elapsed
before your wounded honor asserted itself
and asked for a court OF inquiry.
THE COVETED REGIME.
You are safe at last, sir, and safety is
the goal you have been striving for most
Of your life But remember, Major, you
once secured a certain kind Of safety, but
was it worth the price? Your modesty
would not allow you5to imagine that your
feat of horsemanship on that occasion
would excite such seprofound interest in
the minds Of your countrymen. Nor did
you believe when behind the barricades
on the hill, where you SO strategctlcally
eluded the sight of your command and the
fire Of the Indians, that you would be cx-
posed and plllorried. as you have been in
Chicago
Pity for you prevented your comrades
from charging you with quality of which
the public verdict convicts you l, too,
commlserate your condition, and gladly
award you all the benefit of the doubt i'm
piled by the scotch verdict mot proved
You are not my ideal representative
American officer. [ cannot recall any IL
lustrious person in our military history to
whom you bear any resemblance, and yet l
am informed that you sometimes
ASSUME NAPOLEoNIC ATTITUDES,
but they are only attitudes and are not
significant Of anything warlike.
Major, among the other amusing eie-
ments of your statement before the court
was your attempt to criticise Clusters mil
itary abilities What must his comrades,
especially Gen. Merritt, have thought as
you with your limited capacity and mar nal
row, beclouded horizon; attempted to crit
ic;se a soldier whose life is a challenge
to your own dead-level, and whose death
you will never emulate.
CREDULoUs sFABR1CATIoNs.
In answer to a question by Ke-
corder Lee, you state that you heard l was
there Cat Little Big Horn) was this the
source of your. Information? Perhaps So.
It's in keeping with your recollectlons
of the memorable 25th of June, 1876. And
you swore you wouldnot believe any report
hrOu pht to Won tv me- on that occasion