St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1898-08-17
Fighting Seventh.

When retired army officer opens
right up and says what he thinks
of the government in any of its rela-
lions or actions, it may be put down
that he is in deadly earnest; for his
whole training has been to silence
or the most discreet utterances. This
fact adds force to the language re-
Gently used by one of these gentlemen
in Detroit.
81 want this country to know one
thing" he said, Indignantly, "and I'd
like to see an explanation demanded
from the war authorities. Everybody
knows the famous old Seventh cavalry,
the regiment of Custer and of Forsyth,
of Little Big Horn and Wounded Knee.
There is body of the toughest, hard
lest troopers in existence. They have
done more hard service in the field
and had more members killed since the
civil war than has all the rest of the
regular army put together. That
sounds like an exaggerated statement,
but it is absolutely true and verified
in the records.
"Do you know where the Seventh is
in this time of the war when they
could do more to hunt down and eX-
terminate the skulking Spaniards in
| Cuba than could any other like or
ganization in the service of the ma
ton, who know most about their style
of fighting and how to meet it? They
are scattered through the southwest
in little army garrisons of one and
two companies, keeping an eye on the
Indians to see that they behave them
selves on issue day and the brief Pc
Rod of exuberance that follows. They
faithfully carry out the daily routine
of military life, go through the usual
evolutions on the sun-baked parade
grounds every day, mount guard and
attend with prompt precision to every
other duty. Not man among them
utters complaint, but their bronzed
faces bear the marks of disappoint-
ment as they read and discuss the
war news which reaches them through
belated newspapers. Every old sol
der knows how they feel, how their
blood warns and their nerves tingle.
Yet they, the tried and seasoned fight
ers of the army, the mel who have
followed the most daring leaders, are
out there doing police duty while raw
recruits are sent to the front to com.
bat foe that employs the same tao
tics with which the Seventh is so ia.
miliar and has always so successfully
met.
my own opinion is, and it is shared
by other disinterested military mer
of the country, that the Seventh ha:
taken up too much space in the army
history of the country for the past sc
years, that there are certain men anC
cliques of influence that are jealou.
of its record, and that it is being
ruthlessly suppressed. More thar
once its dashing officers have beer
brought upon the carpet after some
brilliant victory over the Utes, Apaches
or Sioux, only to be eXonerated ant
complimented from the war depart
{ ment. There is some unworthy animu
behind such harassment of brave men
and | believe that it is still operativ
against the Seventh. Public sentimen
should be aroused, at least to the eX
tent of demanding an explanation. l
would have been just as foolish and in
eXcusable during the civil war to hav
J placed the followers of such men a
Custer and Sheridan on post duty il
some peaceable section of the coun
try."-Detroit Free Press.