Year: 1876

MARROW ESCAPE.


deplOyed the men as skirmisheTs and
we moved forward on foot toward the
river When we got nearly to the river
we met FIVE Indians on ponies, and they
fred at US. l returned the fire and
the Indians broke, and we forded the riv-
er the water being breast deep. We
finally got over, wounded men and all,
and headed for Reno's command, which
l could see drawn up on the bluffs along
the river about mile off We reached
Reno in safety. We had not been with
Reno more than fifteen minutes when I
saw the Indians coming up the valley
from Clusters fight. Reno was then
moving his who'd command down the
ridge toward Custer. The Indians cross
ed the river below Reno and swarmed
up the bluff on all sides. After skirm-
ishing with them Reno went back to his
old position which was one of the high
est points along the bluffs. 1t was now
about o'clock, and the fight lasted
until it was too dark to shoot As soon
as it was DARK Reno took the packs and
saddles off the mules and horses and
made breastwoTks of them. He also
dragged the dead horses and mules on
the line and sheltered the men behind
them Some Of the men dug rifle pits
withe their butcher knives, and all slept
on their arms At the peep of day the
Indians opened a heavy fire, and


DESPERATE FIGHT


ensued, lasting until 10 o'clock. The
Indians charged our position three or
four times, coming up close enough to
hit our men with stones, winch they
threw by hand Captain Benteen saw
a large mass of Indians gathering on his
front to charge, and ordered his men 70
charge on foot and scatter them. Ben
teen led the charge and was upon the
Indians before they knew what they
were about, and killed a great many
They were evidently much surprised at
this offensive movement, and | think in
desperate fighting Benteen is one of the
bravest men | ever saw in a fight. All
the time he was going about through
the bullets, encouraging the soldiers to
stand up to their work, and not let the
Indians whip them.


He went among the horses and pack
mules and drove out the men who were
skulking there, compelling them to 60 into
line and do their duty He never shel.-
cred his own person once during the bat
tie, and [ do not see how he escaped be
ing killed. The desperate charging and
fgh ting was at about l o'clock, but the
firing was kept up on both sides until
Iate ia the afternoon.


SUFFERING OF THE MEN.


forgot to state that about 10 o'clock
in the forenoon, and soon after Benteen
made his charge the men began to
clamor for water. Many of them h ad
koz koA No- Fo- h.
fighting and hot sun parched their
throats. Some had their tongues swol-
len and others could hardly speak. The
men tried to eat crackers and hard tack,
but could not raise enough saliva to mOis-
ten them Several tried grass, but it
stuck to their lips, and not one could
spit or speak plainly. The wounded
were reported dying for want of water,
and a good many soldiers volunteered to
20 to the river and get some or perish in
the attempt. We were fighting on the
bluffs, about 700 yards from the river,
and ravine led down from the battlefield
close to the waters edge The men had
to ruQ over an open space of about
100 yards to get into the head of this
ravine, and this open space was Com
manded by the Indians on the bluff
The soldiers, about fifty strong, dashed
over the open plateau and entered the
ravine. They rushed down it to the
mouth and found 1t closely guarded by
party of Indians posted in the timber
across the river. The water could be
approached to within about 80 feet under
cover; but then one had to step out on
the rive- bank and take the Indians fire.
The boys ran the gauntlet brayely.
Some ouId dash down to the river with
camp kettles, till them, and then take
shelter in the bend Of the raYine be-