Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1908-02-07
CHAPT-R XXI.
The Fight in the Valley.

~ uclOW, III inc 1edrI OF Inc sunny
- ~pre' sion bordering the left bank Of
re little Big Horn, the stalwart
., )rers u"der Reno's command gazed
VI 'eel bluff to wa, : fa-eM Ill to
the. o. ~. - disapy earihg to he
right. ST # ii, C,t-r t4lted mis-
horse an n M s. .4--t inst
the blue sky, Id sw ~, ~. :; At b.
fore squirting out of sight.
The plan of battle was most simple
and direct. 1t involved a nearly sim
ultaneous attack upon the vast Indian
village from below and above, success
depending altogether upon the prompt
cooperation of the separate detach-
ments. Scarcely had Clusters slender
column of horsemen vanished across
the summit before Renos command
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 defend
ing warriors to their front, while Gus
ter's men were to charge upon the
rear.
A half-mile, a mile, Reno's troops
rode, with no sound breaking the ST.
lence but the pounding of hoofs, the
unkle OF accoutrements. Then, round
ing a sharp projection of earth and
rock, the scattered lodges of the In.
dian village already partially revealed
70 those in advance, the riders were
brought to sudden halt by a fierce
cracking Of rifles from rock and "a.
vine. Men fell cursing, and the fright
ened horses swerved, their riders
struggling madly with their mounts,
the column thrown into momentary
confusion. But the surprised cavalry.
men, quailing beneath the hot fire
poured into them, rallied to the shouts
Of their officers, and swung into
slender battle front, stretching out
their thin line from the bank of the
river to the sharp uplift of the west.
ern bluffs. Scarcely $50 white troop
ers waited to stem as best they might
that fierce onrush Of 1900 battle
crazed braves. ...
For an almost breathless space those
mingled hordes of Sioux and Chey.
snnes 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 audacity," 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 in
slant he was guilty of hesitancy,
doubt, delay. He chose defense in
preference to attack, dallied where he
should have acted. The observing
savages, gathering courage from his
apparent weakness, burst forth in re-
dstless torrent against the slender,
unsupported line, turned his flank BY
.O0e fierce charge, and hurled the
struggling troopers back with a rush
into the narrow strip of timber border
ing the river. -'-
The whole narrow valley seemed to
swarm with braves; they poured forth
from sheltering coulees and Swallowed
ravines; they dashed down in count.
leas numbers from the distant village.
Custer, now far away behind the
bluffs, and almost beyond sound of
the firing, was utterly ignored. Every
savage chief knew exactly where that
column was, but it could wait its turn.
In leaderless effort to break away
from that swift-gathering Gordon, be.
fore the red, remorseless folds should
close tighter and crush them to death,
the troopers, half of them already dis
mounted, burst from cover in an en-.
deavor to attain the shelter Of the
bluffs. The deadly Indian rifles
Aamed in their faces, and they were
hurled back, a mere fleeing mob,
searching for nothing in that moment
Of terror but possible passageway
ACROSS the stream Through some
rare providence of God, they CHANGED
b strike the banks at a spot where
the river proved fordable. They
plunged headlong in, officers and men
eommingled, the Indian bullets churn.
Ing up the water on every side. The
loss in that wild retreat (which Reno
later called "charge") was heavy,
the effect demoralizing; but those who
escaped found spot we'll suited for
defense. Even as they swung down
from Of their wounded, painting horses
and flung themselves fat upon their
faces to sweep with hastily leveTed
earbines the river banks below, Ben.
teen came trotting CALAMITY down the
valley to their aid, his troopers fresh
and eager to be thrown forward on
The fring-line. The worst was over,
and like maddened lions, the rallied
soldiers Of the Seventh, cursing their
folly, turned to strike and Stay.
A line Of skirmishers was hastily
thrown forward along the edge Of the
BLUM while volunteers, urged by the
agonized cries Of the wounded, en-
deavored vainly to procure a supply
Of water from the river. Again and
again they made the effort, only to bs
driven back BY the deadly Indian rils