Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1886-06-24

"REMINISCENCES OF CUSTER.
a National Born soldier who Die,
a Soldiers Death

"a National Born soldier who Died
a Soidiec's Death.
Chicago Herald: Gust after the Gus
ter massacre" said . soldier who
appeared, for some reason, to be in q.
very talkative and confidential mood, II
was talking to a scout who was one of
the first party that arrived upon the field
of slaughter. He told me that he saw any
number Of cavalrymen with their hunt
ing knives in their hands, with the
blades broken, and it was evident that
they had been killed while endea-
voring to extract the cartridge shells from
the barrels of their Uarbines. You see
the idea 10, with these breech.loading
carbineF, that after the shot is fred the
empty cartridge shell will be partially ex-
pelied when the barrel is raised and then
it is easy enough to pull it out, but these
earblnes Custer's men had, or some of
them, we're ill made, and after the first
round had been fired these poor fellow $
had to take their hunting knives and dig
out the shells. OF course, while they
were SO engaged til Indians were pour
ing hot fire into them all the time, and
it is moro than probable that scores of
them were shot down after firing their
first and only round. 1t seems too bad
that these brave troopers should have
been thus sacrificed, for, if their guns
had been in good condition, Custer and
his less than 400 men could have proha-
bly, stood off Sitting Bull and his $500
warriors. The seventh regiment is com
posed of lighters, you can bet, and braver
men than those who died with Custer
never rode horse or wore uniform.
"By the way, l see that Gen. St1rgis,
for so many years the colonel of the
seventh. has been retired. He had a
boy Jack, as fine young fellow as ever
lived, killed with Custer, and he, though
commanding the regiment was in st.
Louis at the time in the enjoyment of q
nice, easy position there. He wrote a
letter to st. Louis paper rejecting on
Custer, who was the lieutenant colonel
of the regiment. intimating that Custer
had pushed his officers 70 the front
| while he himself remained in the rear
This was pretty talk on Sturgis' part
against Custer. Why wasn't Sturgis,
| the colonel of the regiment, at the front
himself, where he ought to kaSe been
And then he lmpugned Clusters bravery
when Custer was dead, something nc
man would have dared to do had Custer
been alive.
Cluster was very severe with hls men
and some even went so far as to call him
the hero of the LASH Not far from
Ellis, on the Kansas Pacific road, il
Kansas, they will shew you place
where, they say, he shot two OF his OWE
mon for desertion-shot them himself
won't vouch for that though. That,
what they told me whom l was out there
But then Sturgis, during the war hae
some of hia men whipped for stealing
vegetables out OF rebel gardens in Mis-
souri,, and if some of those men ever ge
sight of Sturgis they'll be apt to LAY
him out. However, Sturgis was nc
fighter and Custer was. He'd rather
| fight than do any thing elsa, and he loveG
to send his troops, or lead them rather
into battle to the tune of Gary Owen,
or something brisk like that. One q
his old men, a fireman now, says tina
the regiment came on an Indian villag,
early one morning. 1t was an Arapho,
village and one Custer had been looking
for. The moon shone brightly and th,
snow lay Oh the ground. The villag
was at the foot OF slight, decliyity ant
the regiment was formed at the top. Th
band was stationed to the right on
ilittle knoll, and as it struck up Gar,
Owen Custer shouted 'Charger Ava,
the regiment went and it wasn't NOR
than few minutes before it had wipet
that village out OF existence. Custe
hated the Indians and they had no low.
for him. He was magnificent sight OF
horseback and he loved to ride like tn
very devil himself. He was o natura
! born soldier and he died soldier
!, death."