The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1923-07-13

When they moved the captain of my
company, Thomas Fl. French, and l 1lreu
of our two guns, and those were the last
shots fired in the battle of the Little
Big Horn. That was we'll known by every
man in Reno's battalion.
Major Reno, Captain French, Captain
Benteen, Captain McDougal, Captain Weir
Lieutenant Godfrey and, in fact all of the
officers did all that they could in order
to defeat the Indians, and some of the
others must have had charmed life the
way they stood up under this heavy fire.
/ think the Indians took some of our
men prisoners, and when other REINFORCE,
ments Joined us we found what appeared
to be human bones, and parts of blue
uniforms, where the men had been tied
to stakes and trees. Some of the BODIES
of our officers were not found, at
least not at that time. Among them were
Lieutenants Harrington, Porter and Stur-
gis,. / understood that some parts of their
clothing, uniform or gauntlet gloves were
found on the field, which showed that
they were. killed; In burying the dead
After the Indians moved out of sight
we jumped out of our works, built bet
ter rifle pits, and unsaddled our horses,
which had not been unsaddled since the
evening of the twenty fourth.
as Men Killed
We also took the packs from the mules.
Then we got water from the river in
camp kettles and made a better shelter
for the horses and wounded, for we ex-
pected that the Indians would attack us
again.
Reno's command lost, between the en-
gagement in the bottom and the entrench-
ments in the bluffs, somewhere about 45
men killed and 60 wounded, which will
show how desperate the engagement was.
In my company, out of 45 men and horses
that went into the engagement, IA men
and the second lieutenant were killed, 10
wounded, we lost about Is horses killed
or disabled.
That night everything was quiet as
far as the Indians were concerned. The
next morning at daylight we could look
from the bluffs over the timber to where
the Indian camp was, and we saw that
it was deserted with the exception of
the lodge poles, which remained standing.
On the other side, a long way off from
the Indian camp, we noticed large cloud
of dust arising and a body of either In
dams or troops coming towards the In
dian camp, but at the time we could not
distinguish which they were.
Some of the officers turned their field
glasses on, and thought they were troops.
Reno Immediately dispatched a couple of
scouts, and it proved to be the balance of
our expedition, and General Gibbons COM
mand under General Alfred Terry. 1t ap-
battlefield and they counted the dead
bodies of POI men. They then crossed the
river.
Terry Joins Reno
They then crossed the river into the de-
serted Indian camp, and followed up the
valley of the Little Big Horn until they
struck that part of the field where Reno's
dead lay. They moved a little farther on
near the bend where Reno's command re-
treated across the river, and went into
camp. General Terry and his officers rode
across the river and Joined our officers
on the bluffs, and it made our hearts
jumn to see those men.
AS soon as Terry's officers notified Reno
and his officers what they had found on
the Custer battlefield, Reno's command
went to work and buried all the dead that
lay on the bluffs. The unexpected news
filled the hearts of all the men with sad
ness.
We took all the extra guns belonging
to the dead and wounded, broke the stocks
of them, and built fire and threw them
into it. We also destroyed all the extra
saddles and bridles as we had no way
of carrying them.
Terry's men removed their clothing and
carried our wounded men all down from
the bluffs to their camp. After destroy
ing the guns we examined the horses
been wounded and would not live, we
killed. Some of the men hated to part
with their horses, but there was nothing
else to do.
moved over the range of bluffs, in the di-
rection of the Custer battlefield. AT the
end of this bluff there was a ford and /
think Custer attempted to cross at that
some of the bodies of his men lying there.
Helps Bury Custer
Those were the first bodies we found be-
longing to Clusters command. N
The battlefield was divided off into five
sections The company commanders went
in body over the field, to find the bod
les of the commissioned officers. The first
of each company had orders to
advance with their companies over a Ger
tain space of the field, burying what men
we're found, and keeping an account of the
number. and who they were. / helped to
bury As of Clusters men. Among them
were General Custer, Capt. Tom Custer,
Lieut.. w. W. Cook, and l am not positive
IS to who the other two officers were, al
shough think one was Lieut.. Van Riley,
Ind the other Lieut. James Calhoun, Gus
-er's brother-in-l law.
Clusters men were destitute of all cloth
ng, with the exception of Mark kellogg,
he editor of the Bismark, Dakota Trib
Inc, and he was not scalped. He carried
| Spencer carbine with him and rode 9
small mule. He wore peculiar shaped
boot, we knew him by that.
The other bodies were cut up and mu-
Hated in a most brutal and fiendish man
lone by the squaws, while the men lay
upon the field, as we found a
lumber of their stone mallets. They were
Implements made from round stone,
attached to a raw-hide handle. These
we're used for breaking bones.
The burial did not amount to much, as
We had only a few tools, so we simply dug |
lp a little earth beside the bodies and |
brew it over them.
In a great many instances their arms |
nd legs protruded Many of their threats |
we're cut, and they were split down |
through the muscle of the arms and thighs. |
I counted as many as 80 arrows shot |
nto one mans body and left there. 1t
ppears that many of the Indians sat
N their horses and jabbed the lances
nto the PROSTATE forms of the men, as
great many lance wounds were found |
n them. We could not tell who many |
f the men were If their uniforms had |
een left on, we probably could have.
hey lay there three days in the hot sun,
nd the stencil was terrible
The bodies were scattered over the bat
lefield, probably one and half miles
quare. First we found two or three to-
ether, then probably a dozen, and then
catered ones. 1t seems that the COM
anies made stands at different places, and
yere driven back. Strange to say, none
f the saddles or horse equipment, not
ven a strap that could see nor cart
idge shells, could be found on the field.
kept five or six shells that were found
nder General Clusters body. I picked up
hose shells and gave them to the cap
ain Of my company, and they were after
ards sent to Mrs Custer, with a lock OF
he generals hair. which / had James
eaver of company NJ, remove from his
cad. 4
As we were about to bury the last of
ne men we found the body of General