Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-30
CHAPTER VII.
The Fight in the Valley.

(, tie Big Horn, the stalwart troopers under
| Reno's command gazed up the steep bluH
| to wave farewell to their comrades disap
! pearng to the right. Last of all, Custer
halted his horse an instant. silhouetted
against the blue sky. and swung his hat be-
| fore squirting out of sight
| The plan of battle was most simple and
| direct. It involved a nearly simultaneous
| attack upon the vast Indian village from be-
| low and above, success depending altogether
upon the prompt cooperation of the sepa-
| rate detachments. This was understood by
| every trooper in the ranks. Scarcely had
| Clusters slender column of horsemeR van
| ished across the summit before Reno's COM
! mand advanced, trotting down the valley.
| the Arikara scouts in the lead. They had
been chosen to strike the first blow, to
| force their way into the lower village, and
| thus to draw the defending warriors to their
| front, while Clusters men We're to charge
upon the rear 1t was an old trick of the
/ It'll, and not man in saddle ever dreamed
the plan could fail
A half-mile a mile. Reno's troops rode
with no sound breaking the silence but the
| pounding of hoofs the tinkle of accouer-
ments. Then. rounding a sharp projection
| of earth and rock, the scattered lodges of
| the Indian village already partially revealed
| to those in advance the riders were brought
| to sudden halt by fierce cracking of RI
fles from rock and ravine. outburst of
| fire In their faces, the wild. resounding
| screech of war cries, and the sCurrying
! across their front of dense bodies of mount
| ed warriors. hideous In paint and feathers
| Men fell cursng, and the frightened horses
| swerved. their riders struggling madly with
their mounts. the column thrown into mo-
mentary confusion But the SURPRISED cav
| alrymen. quaillng beneath the hot fire
| poured into them, rallied to the shouts Of
! their officers. and swung into a slender bat
tie front stretching out their thin line from
| the bank of the river to the sharp uplft Of
the western bluffs. Riderless horses crashed
through them, neighng with pain; the
| wounded begged for help: while. with cries
| of terror. the cowardly Arikara scouts
| dashed their ponies in wild efforts to es
! cape. Scarcely one hundred and fifty white
| troopers waited to stem as best they might
| that fierce onrush of twelve hundred bat
| tle-crazed braves.
| For an almost GREATNESS space those
| mingled hordes of Sioux and Cheyennes
| hesitated to drive straight home their death
blow. They knew those silent men in the
| blue shirts, knew they died hard. Upon
| that slight pause pivoted the fate of the
| day; upon 1t hung the lives of those other
| men riding boldly and trustfully across the
| sunlit ridges above. "Audacity, always au-
| dacity.'' that is the accepted motto for a
| cavalryman. And be the cause what 1t may,
| it was here that Maj. Reno failed In that
| supreme instant he was guilty of hesitancy
| doubt delay. He chose defense in prefer
ence to attack. dallied where he should have
| acted. Instead of hurting like a thunder
! bolt that handful of eager fighting men
| straight at the exposed heart of the foe
| making dash and momentum, discipline and
| daring. an offset to lack of numbers, he lin
| gered in indecisiUn, until the observing saw
ages, gathering courage from his apparent
weakness. burst forth in resistless torrent
| against the slender, unsupported line,
| turned his flank by one fierce charge and
| hurled the struggling troopers back with a
| rush into the narrow strip of timber border
| ing the river.
| Driven thus to bay. the stream at their
| back rendering farther retreat impossible.
| for few moments the light carbines of
the soldiers met the Indian rifles giving
chance for successful attack had vanished;
the whole narrow valley seemed to swarm
| with braves; they poured forth from shell
tering couleeS and Swallowed ravineS; they
! dashed down in countless numbers from the
| distant village. Custer, now far away be-
hind the bluffs, and almost beyond sound
of the firing was utterly ignored. Every
savage chief knew exactly where that col
umn was, but it could await its turn; Gall,
| Crazy Horse and Crow King mustered their
| red warriors for one determined effort to
| crush Reno, to grind him into dust beneath
their ponies hoofs. Ay, and they nearly
did it,
| In leaderless effort to break away from
that swift gathering Gordon. before the red,
remorseless folds should close tighter and
crush them to death, the troopers, half of
them already dismounted, burst from cover
in an cndeaVor to attain the shelter of the
| bluffs. The deadly Indian rifles famed in
mere fleeing mob searching for nothing in
that moment of terror but possible pas
sageway across the stream through some
| rare providence of God, they CHANGED to
strike the banks at spot where the river
| proved forbade. They plunged headlong
| n officers and men commingled. the In
dian bullets churning up the water on every
| side; they struggled madly through, and
| spurred their horses up the steep ridge be-
| You'd A few cool-headed veterans halted
at the edge of the bank to defend the pas
| sage; but the majority. crazed by panic and
forgetfu of all discipline, raced frantically
for the summit. DIR. De Wolf stood at the
very waters edge firing until shot down;
Mcintosh, striving vainly to rally his de-
moraliZed men, sank with bullet in his
brain; Hodgson, his leg broken by.a ball,
chung to a sergeant's stirrup until a second
shot stretched him dead upon the bank.
The loss in that wild retreat (Which Reno
later called "charge') was heavy, the eff
feet demoralzng; but those who escaped
found spot well suited for defense. Even
as they swung down from off their wounded,
painting horses, and flung themselves flat
upon their faces to sweep with hastily lev
eled carbines the river banks below, Ben
teen came trotting CALAMITY down the val
ley to their aid, his troopers fresh and eager
to be thrown forward on the firing line. The
worst was over. and like maddened lions,
the rallied soldiers of the It'll, cursing their
folly turned to strike and slay.
The valley was obscured with Clouds of
dust and smoke. the day frightfully hot and
suffocating. The various troop command
ers, gaining control over their men, were
prompt to act. A line of skirmishers was
hastily thrown forward along the edge of
the bluff, while volunteers. urged by the
agonized cries of the wounded, endeavored
vainly to procure supply of water from
the river. Again and again they made the
effort. only to be driven back by the dead
ly Indian rife fire. This came mostly from
braves concealed behind rocks protected
by the timber along the stream, but large
numbers of hostiles were plainly visible,
not only in the valley, but also upon the
ridges. The firing upon their position con-
tinued necessarily. the warriors continually
changing their point of attack. By 3
o'clock, although the majority of the saw
ages had departed down the river, enough
remained to keep up calling fire, and hold
Reno strictly on the defensive. These reds
skulked in ravines, lined the banks of
the river, their long-ran rifles rendering
the lighter carbines of the cavarymen al
most valueleSs. A few crouched along the
edge of higher eminences, their shots
crashing In among the unprotected troops.
AS the men lay exposed to this continuous
shipping fire, above the surrounding din
were borne to their the reports of dis
from he