The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-07-03

the relief detachment returned to the fort
bearing the terrible news. Some of the
sklrmishers had gone near enough to the
slaughtered band to discover Fetterman's
body lying among his men. He had led
and had fallen at his post.
The next morning Col. Darlington
marched toward the battlefield with de-
tachment Of eighty men. The Indians had
gone and he found the field just as it had
appeared the day before to the troops when
the Indians were permitted to look on from
a distance. The fighting had taken place
along a trail which descended a ridge into
the valley from the way of the fort and as
cended on the opposite side. Bodies Of sol
diers and of horses were found in the val
ley above and below the roadway, and it
was plain that the fighting had commenced
on the farthest hillside where, the surgeon
had seen the command on the eve Of battle.
Here Fetterrnan had been met by strong
party of Sioux warriors, and Immediately
other bands had moved in along the valley
from both directions to the road in his
rear, and had SO hemned him in complete
y. Turning, he had attempted to cut his
way back along the road to the fort, losing
men at every step, and making a death
stand with a few followers far up the side
of the valley nearest the fort. Here, among
four huge rocks, were heaped many bodies
of soldiers, and Fettermau lay upon them,
with a revolver shot through his temple.
Capt. Brown, commanding the cavalry,
lay near him, shot in the same manner,
and it was surmised at the time that they
had been the last to die and bed killed each
other to save themselves from Indian
torture The bodies OF the brave victims
had been mutilated by the fendish Sioux
In a manner that defes description. Eyes.
teeth and hands had been torn from their
sockets and carefully placed around upon
some slightly objects to give them ghastly
prominence. One body contained 500 ar
rows. These atrocities, far from inturtng
the dead, were an unwttting tribute to
their prowess, for they showed that the
destructiveness of the soldier's fire had
been such as to arouse the savage vim
dictiveness to the highest pitch
There were no Indian bodies ON the
battlefield, but pools Of dark blood all
along the valley and on the hillsides
showed where the tTeacherous Sioux war
Tiors had bled under the bullets of their
brave but unfortunate fcemen L vast the
ambush over again that had done the fstaI
work, but the willy savage had paid heavily
for his triumph
The slaughtered soldiers were buried
near the field, their officers among them
A monument was erected and fence was
put around tho little cemetery. Twenty
two years Later, when the fence had been
destroyed and the iron posts hauled away
to do other duty on the nesghboTing farms,
and the brick of the monument likswiss,
the remains were taken up and placed in
the Custer Nstlonal cemetery, where they
lie beside the gaIlant band who fell in a
similar way on the Lixls Big Horn, IN
1875. The formal orders under which Col
Fetterman acted IN this fghs were 'sTo
support the wood trim, relieve It and re-
turn to the fort;;" bat il hss been Chained
that Col Carrington twice cautioned him
incidentally not 10 go eeyond the frxt
ridge which would hide kiEn fre1 ths fort
The wood train, however, wEs Tar beyond
that and waS enc1capa$sea vfsh savages-
To have hSfeed wfEaoct attempting TO cross
the valley snd sRccor the train wUuJd have
been cowsrdly. 10 go forward and do the |
duty esGEDed IneS<n Ge-Et - any hRzard |
snd the brave c5z7EGans1sr who had vol 1
unseeEed toe Leadership chose tae latter.