The New York herald., 1879-10-30
General Sheridan's Opinion Of Re-
cent Indian Troubles.
JUST CAUSES OF Discomfort.
The Erection of Another Military
Post Recommended.
INADEQuATENEss OF THE ARMY.
[DY TELEGRAPH TO THE HERALD. |

| [DY TELEGRAPH TO THE HERALD
| CHICAGO. H.. Oct 80. 1879.
| Lieutenant General Sheridan has forwarded to
| Adjutant General Townsend. at Washington. his
nual report of the operations of the army in the
Military Division of the Missouri. together with the
animal reports of the department. commanders.
Generals Pope. Crook; Terry. Ord and HATCH In the
report of tho Lieutenant General it will be that
| he aludes to the numerous complaints which have
been forwarded to the War Department. showing
that there has been insuficiency of food at
of the Indian agencies and that the allowance made
is not enough for the wants of the Indians The i'm
preston has been that the Interior Department
abundantly provided with an appropriation to feed
the Indians well. and as the complaints have
come to the Lieutenant General officially and been
| forwarded by him the question arises. Who is
| sponsibe for this lack OF subsistence?
cAUsKs oUTBREAK.
In another part of the report tho General gives
what is undoubtedly the secret Of the rising the
Utes THAT they were suspicious thxt they to
be deprived Of their homes by concentration else
| WHERE and that the approach of the troops to
enforce the order for their removal. The following
| is the report in full
HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSOURI.
CHICAGO. ILL.,. Oct. 22. 1879. !
| Brigadier General E. D. TowNsEND. Adjutant General
| of the Army. Washington. d. CT
| GENERAL have the honor to submit herewith,
for the information of the General OF the Army the
following report Of operations within the limits Of
my command since October 25, 1878. the date OF my
annual report The organization Of the division
remains unchanged and consists of the following
The Department of Dakote. which comprises tho
State of Minnesota and the Territories OF Montana
and Dakota, is earrsoned by twenty-one permanent
| posts and four temporary encampments. COM
manded by Brigadier General Alfred H. Terry.
The Department Of the Platte. consisting Of the
States of Iowa and Nebraska and the Territories or
| Wyoming. Utah and portion Of Idaho garrisoned
by seventeen permanent posts. commanded by rig
1tarH Gan GaAwf
The department Of the Missouri, consisting of the
States OF Illinois. Missouri Kansas and Colorado.
the Indian and New Mexican Territories and two
posts in Texas. Forts Elliott and Bliss. garrsoned
by twenty permanent posts and eight encampments,
commanded by Brigadier General John Pope.
The Department OF Texas. which embraces the
Mexican frontier garrisoned by thirteen permanent
posts and ten encampments. commanded by Briga-
dier General L. o. G. Ord.
-. THE FORCE INADEQUATE.
In my last annual report called attention to the
fact that our forces too small properly per-
form the duties incumbent upon them throughout
the vast extent of territory they occupied The ratio
of the force was one man to every seventy-fvc
square miles in the Departments of the Platte Dakota
and the Missouri, and one man to every one hun
dred and twenty square miles in the Department
of Texas. and there has been change in that re-
spect up to this time Tho forces of the division
assigned to the several departments as tollows:-
In the Department of Dakota-Oficers and men.
cavalry, 1888 infantry, 3,649.
In the Department of the Platte-Cavalry, 1463;
infantry. 1925.
In the Department of the Missouri-Cavalry, 1860;
infantry, 2.0S1
faIltry. 1.7s7; artillery. 1SS.
The number of permanent posts in the division is
seventy-one. which. together with twentytwo tenn
porary encampments. gives Us aggregate Of
ninety three stations to provide during the sum-
mer. These posts have been garrsoned by eight
regiments Of cavalry. aggregating 6.09s; four COM
panies OF artillery with aggregate OF 1SS; nine
teen regiments of infantry. with aggregate Of
9OI2, and 200 Indian scouts making grand total OF
15,517 officers and men.
| NEW NORTHWESTERN POST RECOMMENDED
For the details of the various Indian troubles and
movements OF troops throughout the division refer
you to the accompanying reports of the department.
commanders. The report Of General Terry. CON-
manding the Department of Dakota. is compre-
hensve and fully describes the operations in
his department. and especially the expedition Of
| Colonel Miles and the beneficial effects ars ing from
it, to which wish to add just commendation by
saying that Colonel Miles, in the organization of his
column and his sodierly bearing, has given salts
faction to his superiors and inspired confidence in
| the officers and men under his command When the
buffalo again return south OF the northern boundary
line they will be followed by the Indians now living
north OF that line at least by their limiting
ties. and these Indians are dependent for their
main supplies OF animal food upon the buffalo herd
1t will be exceedingly difficult to establish any inter-
national conditions which will prevent such an nva-
| sion of our territory. The number of Indians de-
pendent upon these herds for subsistence aggregate
| many thousands. therefore concur with General
Terry in his recommendations for the establishment
| OF another large military post about midway be-
| tween Forts Buford and Assnaboine and to
the northern boundary line the local conditions
| will permit and recommend that an appropriation
OF s2OO.OOo be asked for its construction The rapid
| up the Northwest with hardy pioneers and emf
| grants. and the establishment OF this new post
should take place during the summer OF 1850.
| THE AFFAIR OF CAMP ROBINSON.
The report of General Crook illustrates the condi
tion of affairs in his department. The reference
| which he makes to the Camp Robinson prisoners
only wish to supplement- with the remark that it is
to be regretted that the small number of troops then
available did not admit of large force at that
place at the time OF the outbreak as might have by
Its presence sufficiently intimdated the determined
and sanguinary ges who there confined. 1t
is useless for me to speak about the grievances OF
these Indians. They belong to system which
a.,l.t md f,rt uaarl la mol for ma
to say that the poor Indian fully sustained his
cruel nature by making brcastwork of his women
and children in resistance to the orders which sent
| him back to his agency, where he alleges hc
| pinched with hunger and his people were dying
with fever. arising from certain climatic conditions
OF the country. In what occurred at Camp Robin
the troops had no responsibility. They had but
to obey the orders originating in requests from the
Indian Bureau and tho only thing TO DO regretted is
that the occurrence might have been avoided had
had an overwhelming force to meet it, but we had
not. 1t is also to be deporcd that guilty of
! the band OF Northern Cheyennes. which escaped
about the same time. have not been punished. They
murdered men, women and children in Kansas and
gone free. and this circumstance will be likely
to give encouragement to these and other Indians at
| some future time TO attempt the same thing.
| vicroEIA's OUTBREAK.
| In the Department OF the Missouri much trouble
was occ asoned by an invasion of tho Indian Terri
| tory by squatters. but the prompt action of tho
President of the United States In giving full author
ity TO the troops to act has resulted in putting
stop for the present to these restless advcnturers
| and we hope very soon TO clear the Territory OF
another class of desperate characters who for long
there. In New Mexico a band of Apaches. under
Chief Victoria. broke away from their reservation.
to which they had gono reluctantly, and the result
has been bloodshed. expense and anxiety. They have
killed Ave soldiers, two scouts and fifteen or sixteen
citizcns, including one, IL not more. families of wo
| men and children, but have to some extent been
| already punished by the troops, who are still
| i'm pursuit The most recent Information from
| New Mexico, though not yet officially confirmed.
goes to show that great obstruction to life and dam
age to property have been committed in the Mesilla
| Valley by those same indians, although they
constantly and energcticaliy pursued by our troops.
| their tactics being to attack and plunder some
given point, then to scatter like quails and meet
| again at distant point previously understood
for punder and again scatter. Therefore IL IL ex-
| cceiingly difficult for troops to overtake and
| punish them. At present, however, the prospect
looks fair that they will soon be ovcraken and killed
or captured.
| n OF rHE UTEs.