The Kevin review. [volume] (Kevin, Mont.) 1922-1929, 1923-07-12
Indians Surround Them

Indians Surround Them
We had been in this position but a shorr
time when they advanced in great NUMBERS
from the direction in which we came.
They made several charges upon us anC
we repulsed them every time. Finally they
surrounded US. Soon the firing became
general all along the line, very rapid ane
at close range. The company on the rlgn1
of my company had a number OF men KllleC
in a few minutes. There was a high ridge
on the right and an opening on the righ'
Of our lines, and one Indian in particular
/ must give credit for being a good shot
q shot and killed the fourth man on my
right. Soon afterward he fired again and
shot the third man. His third shot wound
ed the man on my right, who Jumped pack
from the line, and down among the rest
Of the wounded. l thought my turn was
coming next. l jumped up, with Captain
French, and some half a dozen members
Of my company, and, instead OF t1ring
straight to the front, as we had been DOING
up to the time Of this incident, we wheeled
to our right and put in a deadly voiiey'
and / think we put an end to that Indian,
as there were no more men killed at that
particular spot
Captain French was as brave an officer
as ever served in the Seventh cavalry, and
was known to have killed several Indians
on different occasions. He had a Spring
field rifle, caIiber 80, breech-loader, and
it was his custom, whenever he shot an
Indian, to cut a notch in the stock OF that
gun.
/ remember on one occasion he fired at
a curlew, two or three shots, and he did
not hit it. He felt so discouraged that
he took the gun and threw 1t away. A
little later / picked it up and rolled it in
a blanket, and put it in one Of the govern
nent wagons, and brought it into Fort
Rice, Dakota, after the expedition broke
up, unknown to him, and when he learned
that had 1T he reclaimed IT.: ne retired
/ have been informed that he since met
with a fatal accident.
When darkness set In, it closed the en-
to work with what tools we had, consisting
Of two spades, our knives and tin cups and,
in fact, we used pieces OF hard tack boxes
fer spades, and commenced throwing up
temporary works. We also formed breast
works from boxes Of hard bread. sacks Of
bacon, sacks Of corn and oats, blankets,
and in fact everything that we could get
hold of.
During the night ammunition and the
rations reached US where we were en-
trenched in the lines, but we suffered sew
ereiy from lack of water. Although the
river was only three or four hundred yards
the Indians held the approach to it.. Dur
ing the night several men made attempts
to get water, but they were killed or driven
back.
About the middle Of the night we heard
a trumpet call, and the men commenced to
cheer, thinking it was Custer's men who
were coming to our assistance. MAJOR
Reno ordered one. of our trumpeters to
sound a call, but 1t was not repeated, so
we made up our minds that it was a decoy
on the part of the Indians to get US out
of our works.
Benteen Hard Pressed
The trumpet that they used probably be-
1onged to one Of Clusters trumpeters, but
we did not know it at that time. We had
no thought of leaving cur works. as we
had q number Of our men wounved there,
and coma Of them nrottV badly.
At intervals during the night we could
hear the Indians riding back and forth
across the river. have an idea that they
thought we were going to maxi a rush
and get out of there.
The next morning, being the Goth, two
shots were fired just before daylight by
time we were wondering what had become
of Custer and his troops. This began the
of another day. In a few
the battle ragged in earnest, the
advancing in large numbers and
to cut through.
Captain Benteen's company particularly
hard pressed, and the men did their
utmost to repulse those Indians who were
called out to Major Reno for re-
Inducements, saying: 1.-THE Indians are do
ing their best to cut through my lines, and
it will be impossible for me to hold my
M was Immediately withdrawn
from that part of the line which they oc-
and rushed to the assistance Of
Captain Benteen's company. Both com,
drove them down the hill, but in doing
80 we lost a number Of men. This section
Of the battlefield was a little higher than
The balance Of the ground.
Private Tanner Killed
Had the Indians been successful, the
lay would have been lost, and Reno's
command would have shared the tate OF
brave men, as Captain Benteen
said afterward.
Private James Tanner Of Company M.
was badly wounded in this charge. and
lis body lay on the side OF the bluffs in
In exposed position. There was a call for
to bring him down, and l grab
BED a blanket with three other men, rush
ID to his assistance, rolled him into the
lin from the side Of the bluffs to where
our wounded lay. Fortunately none OF the
party received anything more
han a few balls through their clothing.
placing Tanner with the rest Of the
wounded, he died in a few minutes.
There was a gray horse belonging to my
that was ridden by. Captain
french, and he was the best buffalo horse
lorses near the wounded, and an Indian
hot him through the head. He was stag
,erfng about among the other horses, and
Private Henry {. Voyt, OF my company,
way of the other horses, and Voyt at the
anne instant had his brains blown out.
buried Private Tanner, about whom |
lave made some explanation, and Voyt
n the same grave the next morning.
hen we made a head board out of a
'iece Of hard tack-box, and marked their
with a lead pencil on the board,
nd drove it into the ground.
Indians Fire Slackens
Late in the day the fire of the Indians
lackened, except on the point OF a high
huff in the direction in which it was
opposed that Custer had gone. Here
he Indians put in a few well-directed
that laid several Of our men low.
do not know what kind Of a gun one
( those Indians used, but it made a
noise, and, in fact those In
ians were out of range of our carbines,
,hich were Sprin gfields, caliber As.
Captain French Of my company asked
1e II / could do anything with those
ndians, as they were out Of range Of
be carbines. I told the captain that ]
,ould try, and as I was the owner Of a
5-pound Sharp's telescope rifle, caliber
Is, which / had had made in Bismark
efore the expedition started out, and
-hich cost me 500, l fired a couple Of
bots until l got range OF that group Of
Then / put in half a dozen
in rapid succession, and those
indians scampered away from that point
{ the bluff; and that ended the firing
q the part of the Indians in that mem
engagement, and the boys set up
ute a cheer.
The Indians all scampered from the {
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