Arizona republican., 1899-11-25
THE SIMPLEST OF SOLDIERS
Crook Was "Grsy Fox" to The In
dams, but "GgneraY' to His Men.

Young officers fresh from West Point
looked at him in wonderment. Instead
of u somewhat unapproachable digni-
tary, in precise uniform and epaulets
and embroidered sash and belt, they
were welcomed by a cordial handc,as2
from a tall, bushy bearded man, with
twinkling gray-blue eyes, in an old
SLOUGH felt hat, flannel shirt, rough
canvas shooting coat and trousers and
common soldiers boots. Generosity his
beard was tied up with string or red
tape-the only use he had for that
usual military indispensable. He sat
at camp fire or in the simply furnished
parlor of his army home, listening to
the chat about him, rarely speaking,
ana assiduously playing solitaire with
a pack of cards produced from an in
ner pocket. He could play a capital
hand at whist, bub fought Shy of a
game with careless or forgetful play
ers. He heard everything that was
SAID and saw everything going on
about him, but seldom gave a sign.
From the so-called pleasures of So
clety, dinners, dances and receptions,
he shrank in dismay. He ate only the
simplest food. He never smoked. He
hated wine. He wouldn't touch spirits;
he marveled that any man should 1T
spoils his shooting" said he: and our
general was a capital shot He could
foot it through an old fashioned quad
rifle or Virginia reel, but nothing else,
and would always get away on social
occasions into the first obscure corner
he could find, and then out would come
the old pack of cards.
He rarely read anything but natures
books, although he had a mathemati-
cal gift. and not only stood well in sci
entific studies at the Point, as did
Grant, but he helped along his mathe-
NAUTICAL roommate, Sheridan. Writing
was something Crook abhorred He
could hardly decipher one Of his own
pages, and his letters and dispatches,
like those of old Rough and Ready"
General Zachary Taylor, were gener-
ally penned by come brilliant staff Off
Ger.
Children he loved and treated with
shy tenderness that was sweet to see,
but he had none of his own. His wife
was a Maryland girl who won his heart
during the war days, while her brother
and other enterprising "rebs" made
war with his body, capturing him by
q daring night raid into Cumberland.
Like Grant, he was simplicity itself
in speech, rarely lifting up his Voice.
and only once did I ever hear him
speak an impatient word or one that
family resembled an expletive; but
that was in the thick OF the Sioux
campaign of 1867, and when he had
much to try him.
We had to eat our horses that year
to keep alive. We had no tents, and
hardly a change of underwear could be
found in the whole column. We were
wet, bedraggled and dirty when we
reached the Yellowstone, but the gen
eral was as badly off as the humblest
trooper. and minded it less. There we
met the spruce command of General
Terry, and Terry himself, in handsome
uniform. the picture of the gentleman
and soldier, came over to our bivouac
TO call on Crook. 1 was drying my
bGckskins at a fire as he approached,
and stepped forward to salute him
Where shall 1 find General Crook?'
said he.
For a moment I~eoald not answer.
Then an old trooper grinned and nod.
ded toward the river, and there, squat
ted on a rock, well out in the stream.
stripped to the waist and scrubbing
away at his shirt, was our general, and
Terry was too much of a gentleman
even to look amused at the sight 8
The Indians called him the Gray
Fox" The soldiers had their pet
names, but we. his officers, who fol-
lowed him all over the west, from the
Mexican border to the upper Yellow
stone, spoke of him always as the
general our general. That meant Of
course, Crook. the simplest soldier I
ever knew. In all the years it was my
fortune to serve under him in Arizona,
Wyoming, Dakota. Montana or at his
headquarters in Omaha or Chicago,
never saw him in the uniform of his
rank until he lay dead in his coffin, his
guard Of honor grouped about him.
General Charles King in the Youths
Companion.