The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1895-11-15
General Miles Strategy,

HOW HE OPERATED AGAINST The IN
DIANs-HIs KINDNESS.
..Few people have any idea of the, STRAIT
egv EMPLOYED by General Miles In his In
dian campaigns" says Major Glrard, VINO
ia now stationed at Fort Sheridan, Dut VINO
was with General Miles on many cam
naipns against hostile Indian tribes OF the
North west "Here is little incident
showing that he knew how to deal Win
them. and that in an emergency he was
0uick to think and act, and that his meas
ures were effective. Up on trenchmann,SS
creek. near the British line, one band OF l20
men were so placed that every one lelt d
trife uncomfortable. Wltnln no ~ ln.le ,,; VI
our camp was a band of 2OOO warriors,
armed and anxious for fight. The chlef
of the tribe came to our camp for confaO
with General Miles. >eeing at satlS-
factory and peaceful settlement OF the dliil-
Guilty could be m de, and knowing that tne
Indian forces far outnumbered ours ana
that they were nearly as well armed, Gen-
eral Miles ordered a Hotchkiss gun to be
loaded and trained on rock mile away:
At his command the gun was fired, ana, OF
course, the rock was shattered the pieces
fvng in all directions The astonishtd
chief went hack to the camp and told MS
warriors that it was best to leave Bear
Coat alone as his guns shot twlce-once
at tn emuzzle, and again mile OIL.
Gle utilized Indian against Indian, and
did not RELY on any particular TRIBE or man.
In his band of scouts We're representatives
of all the tribes-Blackfeet, Sioux, crows,
Arapahoes Nez Percps. etc.-and in every
Indian village within 800 miles he had MS
sojes, whose duty it was to report the
curse of action decided upon at the war
council. &C Consequently he was enabled to
anticipate the movements of h0stlle party
ard mt tthem at ch a point that the adj
van,are was all on his side, and victory
comparatively easy. -,
"0np time in garrison at Fort keogh,
the crv arose that big mountain lion was
in a thicket near the post, and we banded
together and went out on hunt Tor the
animal We had been searching Tor some
time without success, when L n0uced that
General Miles. who had wagon, had re-
manned some distance behind, ana was nol,
apparently. as much interested in the hunt
as the rest Of us. OF a sudden the post ira
der. who had been an army officer and was
a thoroughly good fellow, discovered the
lion in the thicket. Being determined 10
have the hide he boldly advanced gun IN
hand, straight toward the crouchlng animal
He fired number of times, seemingly
without effect, for the lion did not move,
An investigation was made, and 1t was
found that the supposed savage non was
was simply stuffed figure ,General Niles
had caused it to be placed there, and great
ly enjoyed seeing the rest of us exhibit our
Joke was on the post trader, and when we
were back at the post he did the proper
thing under the circumstances.
"During a campaign General Miles sem
Young and inefficient officer with two
mounted companies to ascertain the exact
location of 2 600 Sioux Indians. who were
supposed to be hunting butfaloes In the
neighborhood The officer found the In
dams, but. instead of carrying out orders
and reporting Immediately to General
Miles, made little war on his own &C
count, and was drawn into running hgnt
Soon surrounded on all sides, he began 10
realize that he had made mistake, and
sent orders for aid. General Miles lmme
diately ordered boots and ddles' sound
ed. and started to the rescue. we started
on rapid trot, but becoming more anxious,
| urged the general to order more rapid
pace. Said he, If | wear out the horses at
the first, we can't do anything when we
arrive The horses were kept at trot,
with an occasional gallop, the whole ~
miles. Arriving at the scene OF action, ne
deployed the command into three INES,
made mounted charge, and soo2 had the
Indians scattered far and wide. we
camped halfway back to the main camp,
and General Miles sent for the young ON
Ger and talked to him kindly but flrmly,
and relieved him the care of the scoutS-a
very light punishment. But General Miles
was always as clement as he could be and
maintain the strict discipline for which he
was famous" Chicago Times Herald.