The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1879-01-17

A COMPLETE SURPRISE.
For the moment Consideration seized the well dis
ciplined troops officers as well Nor this
unnatural. The warming had been unheedcd. the
companies by had gone to bed as usual I'M
dressed and unbooted. as if nothing extraordinary
expected to occur. and before they could
themselves from the deep sleep of the soldier and
put ON their clothing much time was lest
and considerable Roadway given to the DASH
ing and hurrying redskins. who were already
doing the work of slaughter and. death. Had
the warning of Wild Hog been regarded. or had
even company been continually kept on the q,1
rire, while the Cheyennes awaiting, In their ter
rible obstinate mood the ultimate disposition to be
made Of them not an Indian could have escaped. and
it is very doubtful if any such rash attempt would
have been made.
Again the officer of the day. Lieutenant Simpson.
who was at the adjutants Office adjoining and whose
duty more especially to that the safety and
security of the camp assured was not impressed
with the necessity of strengthening the guard or
forestalling by close investigation the bloody eeute
which surprised him just after he left his house
visit the guard.
WARNINGS THAT WERE Needed.
Others there who were not careless Of the
warnings which had been given. The surgeons at
the post hospitals were engaged in preparing their
also reported that it was well known that
the Indians had made clubs out of the timber Of
the barracks and were seen tearing up the floor. I
am also informed that officer stated that the win
dow sashes were fixed SO to be thrown down, and
yet the careessness seemed to control those in
command
AFFAIRS CAMP ROBINSON
While the greatest uncertainty exists to the
whereabouts Of the nineteen Cheyenne braves who,
with some thirty squaws and children, made good
their escape out of the terrible series of fights that
followed the fight from the prison house. the inn
mediate condition of things at this camp deserves
attention. There lull here for the present after
the bloody events of the past few days. The best
attention is paid to the wounded. both Indians and
soldiers. Among the wretched captives The scenes
very moving. They are kept huddled together in
long. narrow apartment the barracks that was
their former prison. They there of all ages. All
this met my eye as entered.
HEARTRENDING CONTRASTS.
Near the door lay squaw Of sixty years in the
throes of death, insensbe and pierced in DIFF
ferent places with bullets while within five feet of
the expiring woman female child seven years old
was combing and carefully plating the hair of her
infant orphaned sister and singing in thoughtful
hum some Indian lullaby strain
SUFFERING IN SILENCE.
On down along the narrow aisle-like space the
frightfully wounded men and women. old and young.
crouched or recline1 without word groan. but
staring at each other in speechless melancholy and
mourning their dead and stricken people. Thus
they lay in grim silence, with hair hanging down in
dishevelled locks and unkempt, as is the Indian
fashion during hours of grief Gazing at their
bronzed features and their mute agony could not
help recalling the children Of Egypt smitten with
grief when every household mourned for the death of
its first born
THE PRINcEssEs.
At the eastern extremity Of the apartment sat the
remaining daughter of the old and principal chief
Dull Knife who. well her grown sister. who
one Of the killed, has been known among officers,
soldiers and visitors as the Princess account Of
her beauty and aristocrac lineage. By her side
a little girl, who. like herself, remarkable for
SOFT gazelle eyes and bright sunny -hued features.
The little one had made doll out of old blood
stained blanket and was tenderly nursingit in her
arms. swayng to and fro with it If endeavorng
put it to sleep.
MorHra SID child.
Just beyond her mother who had been very
seriously wounded was holding in consolation the
hand Of her tweve-year-old daughter, who was
brought in from the Hills, than two miles dis
tant with infant strapped to her back. which she
had been directed to for during the hazardous
and rapid midnight flight.
THE FALSE CHARGE OF BUrcHERY
The saving and sparng Of this wretched people
must speak for itself in strong and convincing tones
of the tenderness the officers and soldiers and in
utation of the false and malicious charge that
children and infants shot down by them in cold
blood. OF course many were wounded, but in the
night and during necessary fire to check the fugi-
fivo Cbov varr 4 mr. bo bep md
is regretted by none more than themselves that it
was unavoidable.
MO HEADS STORY.
An interview held in the presence Of your cor
responder by Lieutenant Chace with the principal
and only Indian able to talk, named Big Head.
When asked what the plan Of the chiefs for the
escape Of the imprisoned Cheyennes he replied that
there was none agreed upon. but that some Of the
young warriors had determined to make the attempt
and the rest followed. When it was undertaken
many were. he said, in bed asleep. and when the
excitement commenced men, women and children
just jumped out of the windows after them. He
further asked where the escaped Cheyennes were
going and with true Indian tact and evasion he re
piled he did not know.
THE SCENE OF THE ESCAPE.
The appearance Of the barracks lately occupied by
the reckless prisoners attests different Of facts
from those asserted Dy Big HEAD. Az tho western
moet end the boards of the floor were torn up A
capital breastwork of earth had been taken from
underneath the building and thrown up in lunette
FORM evidently to defend against an attack through
the windows. Of which there three To the left
this position the door is barricaded by huge wood
stove placed against It, tits supposed that when the
flooring was torn up the and children were to
be placed for safety during the fghtng between the
beams and in the excavations mole in the ground.
Everything lay in Wild confusion. Barburic
accoureents lay tossed about here and there among
them the saddles made out OF deer and elk bones
with fastcnings of buffalo and deer hide. Old bows
and arrows. torn garments, and hundred things Of
use in savage life. but thrown aside a. supcrfuous
attest the wness and desperation of the bold stroke
for liberty. the whole resembling what might
be the scene ships deck when vcrything is
left Just before the na hour Of wreck and hopeless
ness. Under tho planks had been concealed the
Indians rifles. of the most improved patterns,
caibres forty-four and fifty, which were not taken