The Savannah morning news., 1900-08-27

had some misgivlngs as 10 his honesty.
fearing II was a ruse by which he was
/ trying 70 get US into trouble. We worked
al the forenoon without getting any sit
isfactory results. In the afternoon. how
ever. Walter A Burleigh OF Yankton. who
was clerk of the Far West took the In
dian into his ONCE 10 make last effort
at escertaining the real nature o. the
message Bur.eigh Drew a map OF the Vel
l5wStone and the Big Horn rivers. but the
Indian added the Little Big Horn 10 the
map. and with the pencil he followed The
jln- II ire TWO rivers from the point
where the heat / y 20 the point vine .
the battle lad occurred. Al that 20 nj
h made a circle and by dots on The pa
FER aud by throwing himsslr ostrate
on ne floor ana appearing dead. he indi-
Gated that the waite chief ana MS men
were dead. ] was in favor Of detailing
few men 70 proc ed Up the river az enc
10 see VIE .h.r the Indian Ia tod the
Truth. but Capt Baker VINO. IN Gen.
Terry's absence was IN command. dit
not heHrv- that We had interpret cor
r-ctly wnat the Ind an rad int nled .
cell, and would not tax the risk OF such
a moVeHl- nt
NJ having much 70 10 On the TO-
living day ore OF The e1gi GERS Of the
boat and I went some distance up tie
our lines when We heard the no sc
Of a horse galloping across the prairie.
on Looking up. far ~ on h blu1 We
could see a lone horse man approa hing
az fun gallop. on dlsooy+ ring MIN 10 b.
d white man ! proc. eded to meet hin
l fouuI il 10 b. Musgings Taylor one Of
the most daring scou OF the Indian
country. who had been assigned duty with
Mai Reno. In the skirmish which Reno
had NTr haIfA fg0 NO - rcd
from the main command, ard for more
than three days had skuIke1 around in
iavir es 10 escape tire Indians, and at last
hai got far enough away to attempt 70
ind Terry and inform him OF Clusters
fail and Reno's perilous position. We hur-
Iied back 10 the boat ard delivered the
ssd message.
Terry in Pursuit.
Gen. Terry gathered In his scouts and.
with mis- light artillery. proceeded 10 the
scene Of the battle. On hearing Of Terrys
approach Sitting Bull fed northward.
There scattered over the brow OF the
hill and over the slope that extends down
on the west side to the Little Big Horn.
lay Clusters 4l6 brave soldiers stili bleach
ing in the hot summer sun Decomposi-
tion had set in 10 such an extent that
many Of the bodies could not be identi-
fled. Clusters BODY was found a little
north Of the point where the thickesI of
the fight had occurred and in a circu-
lar heap around him were a large num-
Der of his men, who had died in his de-
Tense. Not far from where Custer lay
was found the body of Charley Rey-
nolds, his chief of scouts. In the heat
of the slaughter he had shot his own
horse, and from behind IL as breastworEs
he had moved down she savages Around
him for some distance were evidences
that scores of redskins had been brought
down with his Winchester.
In another part Of the field we found
the body of Clusters brother His scalp
had been taken and his heart had been
taken out. 1t was afterward learned that
carly in the fight he had been singled out
by Chief Rain-in-the-Face, who entertain
ed feelings Of the bitterest of the bitter
Sioux hatred toward him because some
three years ago Custer had been obliged
to arrest him and have him disciplined
for a disturbance ne had created on the
reservation. As soon as Custer fell, il
is said Rain-in-the- Face cut out his
heart and ate it with a fendish relish al
evidence of the satisfaction of seeing him
dead.
"On the divide about four miles be-
yond where Gen. Custer fell we found
Mai Reno and the remnant of his com
mand In a most terrible condition Reno
nad mace an attack at the point agreed
upon, but on account OF the difficulty in
fording the swollen river and on account
of The overwhelming number OF Indians
he saw The cause was a hopeless one, nd
accordingly he had withdrawn his men
to the cop of the hill while he could
and there threw up breastworks to pro-
tect them against the onslaught of the
savages. The next day after the battle
the sun came out scorching hot and the
men were obliged to lie unprotected in
the trenches. No relief coming. they at
tempted 90 get water for themselves and
their furnishing horses from the river
about two miles distant No sooner did
the water carriers get beyond the range
of the rifles behind the breastworks than
they We're shot down by the watchful saw
ages. one after another made the at
tempt even after IL became known it
meant certain death. On the third day
one after another of the horses were shot
and their blood drunk 20 slacken the IN
endurable thirst of the furnishing SOL
ders. Later in the afternoon of the
fourth day Sitting Bull fled before Terry
and the garrison, nearly dead from hun
ger and thirst was relieved. and Maj
Reno heard for the first time of the real
fate of Gen. Custer"