The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1913-07-24

troops had melted away into the dark
and disappeared. No word, no sound
had come back. They could only wait
in faith on their comrades. The men
were dismounted, each holding his
own horse In instant readiness for &C.
ton. Not a few, wearied with the
days work, while still clinging to their
brides, wrapped the capes of their
o~vercoats ove their heads and threw
themselves down in the snow, and fell
asleep.
At the first sight Of dawn Hamlin
was sent down the line to arouse them.
Overcoats were taken of and strapped
to the saddles, carbines loaded and
slung. pistols examined and loosened
In their holsters, saddles recinched,
and curb chains carefully looked after.
This was the work Of but a few mo-
ments, the h%alf-frozen soldiers NOV
ing with an ~eagerne6s hat sent the
hot blood coursing fiercely through
numbed limbs. To the whispered com
mand to mount, running from lip to
lip along the line, the men sprang
joyously into their saddles. their
quickened ears and eager eyes ready
for the signal.
Slowly, at a walk. Custer led them
I'D toward the crest of the hill,
"a Usage guide watched
thro.. nectral light of dawn
the doom. beneath. To the
uplift Of a ha. 'rmn halted,
and Custer and hls ont for
ward. A step behind the
Sergeant, grasping the reins
horses, while a little to the righ.,
yond the sweep Of the coming charge,
waited the ~regimental band.
Peering over the crest, the leader
saw through the dim haze, scarcely
five hundred yards distant, dotting the
north bank of the Washita for more
than a quarter of a mile, the Indian
village. There was about it scarcely
a sign of human life. From the top
of two or three of the tepees light
wreaths Of smoke floated languidly
out on the wintry air, and beyond the
pony herd was restlessly moving.
Even as he gazed, half convinced that
the Indians had been warned, the vii.
lage deserted, the sharp report of a
rife rams out in the distance.
Hamlin saw the General spring up
right, his lips uttering the sharp COM
mand, Sound the charged" Even
while the piercing blare Of the bugle
cut the frosty air, there was a jingle
of steel as the troopers behind spurred
forward. Almost at the instant the
three dismounted men were in saddle.
Custer waved his hand at the band,
shouted PLAY" and to the rollicking
air of Garry Owen" the eager col
umn Of horsemen broke into a mad
gallop, and with ringing cheers and
mighty rush, swept owe the ridge
straight down into the startled village.
To Hamlin, at Clusters side, reins in
his teeth, a revolver in either hand,
what followed vas scarcely a memory.
1t remained afterward as a blurred,
indistinct picture Of action, changing
so rapidly as to leave no definite out.
lines. He heard the answering call
of three bugles; the deafening thud
of horses hoofs; the converging cheers
Of excited troopers: the mingling ring
Of revolver shots; a sharp order cleav'
ing the turmoil; the wild neigh of q
stricken horse; the cultural yells OF
Indians leaping from their tepees into
the open. Then he was In the heart
Of the village, firing with both hands;
before him, about him, h%alf-naked saw.
ages fighting desperately, striking al
him with knives, firing from the shell
ter of tepees, %spTinging at him with
naked hands in a fierce effort to draE
him from the saddle. 1t was all CON
fusion, chaos, a babble Of noise, his
eyes blinded by CLINT of steel and glare
Of fire. The impetus Of their rush car
ried them irresistibly forward; ovei
and through tents they rode, across the
bodies of living and dead; men reeled
and fell from saddles; riderless horses
swept On u%nguided; revolvers emptied
we're flung aside, and hands closed
hard on sabre hits. Foot by foot
yard by yard, they drove the wedge
Of their charge, until they swept
through the fringe Of tepees, out into
the stampeded pony herd.
The bugle rang again, and they
turned, facing back, and charged once
more, no longer in close formation, but
every trooper fighting as he could.
Complete as the surprise had been.
the men of the Seventh realized now
the odds against them, the desperate
nature Of the fight. Out from the shell.
tering tepees poured a food Of war.
riors; rifles in hand they fought saw.
agely. The ream Of women and
children, the bowling and baying of
Indian dogs, the crack Of rifles. the
wild war cries, all mingled into an in.
d~escribable din. Black Kettle was al.
most the first to fall, but other chiefs
rallied their warriors. and fought like
fiends, yielding ground only by inches,
until they found shelter amid the trees
and under the river bank.
rTN M NONrrINTIEn