Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-06-05
BOTH FOUGHT AGAINST SIOUX.
Old Indian Fighters Will Again Servo
Toqether.

Old Indian Fighters Will Again Serve
Together.
Brig. Gen. ]. w. Bubb, who has
been ordered to st. Paul to assume
command of the department Of
Dakota, and Major Friedrich w. Sib-
ley, the commanding officer Of the
third squadron of the Second Cav
airy, now stationed at Fort Smelling,
saw service together against the In
dians during the campaign Of 1876
against the Sioux. Both were at that
time young lieutenants. Gen. Bubb
had been promoted from the ranks
during his service in the civil war,
while Major Sibley was then a young
officer out of West Point. They
served throughout Gen. Crooks Big
Horn and Yellowstone expeditions
and Gen. Miles campaign through
Montana-Gen. Bubb with the Fourth
Infantry and Major Sibley, then, as
now, with the Second Cavalry, says
the st. Paul Pioneer Press.
One little incident of Lieut. Bulbs
bravery is related by the famous war
correspondent, afterward Congress
man John F. Finerty, in his book,
"Warpath and Bivouac, or the Con-
quest of the Sioux" The incident
occurred in Wyoming in May, 1878.
1t Is thus described by Mr.. Finerty:
Some officers informed us that the
ferry between the camp and Fort
Fetterman had been broken down,
and that we could not get our mail
or send dispatches. The river at that
point is so rapid and so full Of whirl-
pools that few men care to swim 1t
and most horses refuse to do So
A wagon driver, together with SER
geant and two private soldiers Of
the Second Cavalry tried the expert
ment of swimming their horses over
few days before and all were
drowned. 1t was absolutely necessary
for us to cross the river.
when we reached the ferry we
found that II had been patched up In
temporary manner and concluded
to go across. When near the Fetter-
man bank the rope broke, and we
should have been swept down the
stream at the imminent risk Of
drowning but for the heroism Of
Lieutenant and Commissary Bubb,
who plunged into the river on horse
back, caught a cable which somebody
threw toward him and towed us in
safety to shore amid the plaudits Of
the spectators"
all of the celebrated engagements Of
that war.
The "Sibley Scout Is famous
among Indian fighters as having one
Of the narrowest escapes from saw
ages now on record. 1t was in 1876,
at the time of the Custer massacre,
when Lieutenant Sibley was ordered
out with twenty-five mounted men to
look about the country and see what
was going on. Frank Grouard, half
breed and chief of United States
scouts, accompanied Sibley. The
young officer was fresh from West
Point and rather inexperienced in
frontier warfare, so cautious Gen.
Crook bade him heed the scouts ad-
vice should emergency arise, and off
the trooper started almost at the
same hour when Custer, a hundred
miles away, was being cut to pieces
by the cutthroats Of Sitting Bull.
Mr. Finerty was also on this ex-
pedition. He tells first n his book
Of his meeting with Lieutenant Sibley
and later has a page portrait Of Lieu
tenant Sibley and devotes a chapter
to 1.-The Sibley Scout-A Close Call
In describing his Introduction to
Lieutenant Sibley he says:
Capt. Sutorius introduced me to
| TWO officers of the Second Cavalry
Capt. Wells and Lieut.. Sibley. Lieut.
| Sibley, with whose career l was des-
| tined to be linked under circumstan.
attention Of the continent, and which
will long live in the tales and tradi-
| rions of our regular army, was a
young West Pointer, who had dis
tinguished himself under Gen. Rey'
nolds in the attack upon and capture
| Of Crazy Horse on March II Of tina,
eventful year." Joe De Barthe in his
Life and Adventures Of Frank Grou
ard, Chief of Scouts" also has a full
page portrait Of Lieut.. Sibley and
chapter called "A Miraculous Es-
cape" describing the incident OF
which Major Sibley was the hero.
The incident was as follows: The
scouting party travelled two days
without incident. AS they neared
the mountains Grouard, who always
travelled ahead of the soldiers, sud-
denly signalled to halt. Signs of In
dians were seen. From an eminence
commanding a vast area Of the roll
ing country little specks could be seer
here and there. The glass proved
| that each speck was a squad Of sew
eral Sioux in war costume. The
specks began to concentrate. They
moved toward the trail made by the
troops, but without discovering 1t for
a long time. They were entirely ig-
norant of the presence Of the soldiers
After holding a powwow one Of the
Indians chanced to ride toward the
telltale trail. He found it and re-
turned to the other braves, waving
his blanket and gesticulating. II
then seemed to the young cavalry
officer that Indians fairly sprang from
the earth in all directions to see what
they had discovered. There were
swarms of them, but happily they
were miles away. Then began the
race for life.
| The horses were urged up the
mountain. On came the Indians.
They were seen occasionally, along
the canons in the rear. The band
had divided and was trying to head
off the soldiers and surround them.
Suddenly as the soldiers ascended the