The Press., 1896-01-09
(From the Chicago Times Herald.) GENERAL MILES STRATEGY IN
 INDIAN WARFARE.


 GENERAL MILES STRATEGY IN
 INDIAN WARFARE.
 Few people have any idea of the strat- egy employed by General Miles i'll his In dian campaigns" says Major Girard, who is now stationed at Fort Sheridan, but who was with General Miles on many campaigns against hostile Indian tribes of the Northwest. "Here is little incl dent showing that he knew how to deal with them, and that in an emergency he was quick to think and act, and that his measures Were effective. Up on French mans Cr"e<, near the British line, our band nf 120 inch were 50 placed that every on" fell a riff uncomfortable. Within twentY miles Of our camp was band of 2,OO0 Sioux warriors, armed and anxious for Il fight. The chief of the tribe came to our camp for cOnfab with General Miles. Sering that a satisfactory aud peaceful settlement of the difficulty could not be made, and knowing that the Indi- an forces far Outnumbered ours and that they were nearly as well armed, General Miles ordered Hotchkiss gun to be load ed and trained to bear on a rock a mile away. At his command the gun was l fired, and, of course, the rock was shat tered, the pieces flying in all directions The astonished chief went back to the camp and told his warriors that it was best 10 leave Bear Coat alone, as his guns shot twice-once at the muzzle and again mile off
 He utilized Indian against Indian, and did not rely on any particular tribe ol man. In his band of scouts were repre- sentatives of all the tribes-Blackfeet l Sioux, Crows, Pawnees, Arapahoes, Nez Perces, etc.-and in every Indian camp within 500 miles he had his spies, whose duty it was to report the course of actiOT decided upon at the war council. Conse quently he was enabled to anticipate the movements of a hostile party and meet them at such point that the advantage was all on his side and victory was com paratively easy.
 ''Oue time, in garrison at Fort Keogh the cry arose that a big mountain lioI was in a thicket near the post, and we banded together and went out on a hunt for the animal. We had been searching for some time without success, when noticed that General Miles, who had g wagon, had remained some distance be. hind, and was not, apparently, as much interested in the hunt as were the rest oi us. Of & sudden, the post trader, who had been an army officer, and was thor. oughly good fellow, discovered the lion in 1 the thicket. Being determined to have the hide, he boldly advanced, gun in hand straight toward the crouching animal He fired 8 number of times, seemingly without effect, for the lion did not move. An investigation was made, and it was found that the supposed savage lion was simply 8 stuffed figure. General Miles had caused it to be placed there, and greatly enjoyed seeing the rest of us ex- hibit our various degrees of bravery. The 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 sent a young and inefficient officer with two mounted companies to ascertain the exact 1 location of 2,000 Sioux Indians, who were supposed to be hunting buffaloes in the Iyo0 oh hn Tr, dians, but, instead of carrying out orders and reporting immediately to General Miles, made little war on his own &C., count, and was drawn into a running fight. Soon surrounded on all sides, he began to realize that he had made a mistake, and sent a courier for aid. General Miles inn mediately ordered Boots and Saddles sounded and started to the rescue. We started on rapid trot, but becoming anx- ious, urged the general to order a more rapid pace. Said he: If wear out tho horses at the first, we can't do anything when we arrive The horses were kept at trot, with an occasional gallop, the whole twenty miles. Arriving at the scene of action, he deployed the command into three lines, made a mounted charge, and soon had the Indians scattered far and wide. We camped halfway back to the main camp; and General Miles sent for the young officer and talked to him kindly and firmly, and relieved him from command of the scouts-a very light pun ishment but General Miles was always as element as he could be and maintain the strict discipline for which he was fa- mOuS"