The Portland daily press., 1895-01-05
was hacked and mutilated in the most hor-

was hacked and mutilated in the most hor-
rible manner.
Il This is the story of that battle as inter
preted by the insensible records. 1t was no
more butchery than was Thermopyiae. III
was battle-a mistaken one. but nevertne-
less battle fought tactically and with IN
telligence On Clusters part. We talk OF
Balaklava and its record of hero1sm, out
of the Four Hundred of the Light Brigade
who Charged the Russian batteries on thab
day more than one-half returned I'M,
scathed. Two hundred and sixty Two rode
with Custer and 262 died overwhelmed.
With the last shot was silence. The report
might have been written :-' None wounded;
none missing, all dead" No living tongue
of all that heroic band was left to tell the
story. The miserable half-breed scout,
"Curlsy," who may yet be seen hanging
around Fort Custer, claims TO have been
with Custer when the engagement began,
but he pulled Sioux blanket over his head.
mingled with the enemy and ran away at
the first fire. He could only tell that there
had been a battle.
AS to the duration of the battle little is
known. One Indian .old Campbell that the
fight lasted about as long as it takes hum
CRY Indian to eat his dinner, and another
said that 1t lasted as long as a candle
would burn about quarter OF an inch.
From this it is inferred that the struggle
lasted about twenty five minutes. And
every man fought. The empty shells from
the carbines found around the field showed
that every cooper fought fiercely and fol-
lowed his leader. At one part of the field
where Clusters detachment first became
heavily engaged l saw. hundred yards
across ravine, little white stone telling
where troopers body had been found. 1t
was far from the other fallen comrades,
and as horribly lonely as all these white
stones seemed this one was sadly so.
II found a body there said Mr.. Camp
bell, ''and it may have been that of pan
ic-stricken man trying TO get away, but /
suspect that the man was wounded and
that his panic-stricken horse carried him
over there
HERE LIES THE CORRESPONDENT.
There is no evidence that anybody else
tried to get away. Near the high ground
and not far from where the monument
stands. the body of Kellogg, special cores
pondent of the New York Herald, WAS
found. He was bravely following the gal
liant Custer and the guide points out the
little wooden slab which marks the spot,
for he died like hero, too, in the line of
his duty.
1t will always be open question
whether Major Reno purposely failed Gus
ter or erred on the side of caution. He
knew that his chief had set out to attack
the foe and he should have been ready to
lend assistance. It is claimed by many
that he might have heard the 1Ting. l do
not think so. The formation of the hills
would have prevented that. Had Custer
mad a couple of pieces of light artillery he
might have notified Reno that the fight
was on. but owing 10 the bad roads he car
ried no artillery. There was no yolley fir
ing and the Indians did no more shooting
than was necessary, for they didn't want to
kill or wound the horses, which they COW
eted. An Indian told Mr.. Campbell that
both Lieutenant Chittenden and Keogh
were killed with clubs while on their horses.
Colonel Cody has always insisted that Re-
no kept away out of pure cowardice, and
at a dinner given some years ago by officers
OF the Fifth cavalry. Major Reno being pre-
sent, he made assertions which greatly in
censed that individual. Smarting under
the affront be informed Cody that if he was
a officer of the army and a gentleman he
would challenge him. Colonel ''Bill'' de-
clared that for his part be would waive all
army regulations. and as for gentility he
would let his record stand as against that
OF man who could sit supinely by while
his helpless comrades were being
slaughtered like sheep in the shambles.
And there the matter rested.
AS stood on this field. which will ever
cradle the memory of Custer and his glori-
Gus band-the great brown hills flooded
with sunlight and the silence as oppressive
as the mystery which surrounds their
deaths-I tried TO form some idea of the
awful sensation which must have come to
each of these brave fellows when he real
lied the sickenfng horror Of the situation
on that dread day. That death awaited
every man was evident after the first ten
minutes. But my eyes rested on the little
white marble sentinels which marked the
steady, compact advance, and every hero's
cenotaph seemed to see carved the word.
"Duty.
The lesson is there for all who may read
a lesson which will be ever remembered by
the brave men of our regular army. There
is not q trooper who follows a guidon of
the Seventh to-day who does not feel Proud
of the little band which rode to death
fighting heroically on these barren hills.
The REQ uiem of the winds over the graves
there can never be sadder than on that
golden evening when turned my back up
on this battlefield, at once the most pathet-
ic and most mysterious of all that our sun
shines on.
JOHN A. COCKERILL.