Year: 1876

AA~~~-e-~e


With the terrible death of Custer and
his brave regiment fresh in thought the
public mind very naturally considers the
best means TO administer punishment to the
Indians. That the army in the West is in-
adequate to such task is seen at 8 glance
by those who have read estimates Of the
hostile Indian bands. To arrive conclu-
sively at the numbers Sitting Bull has un-
der him is almost an impossibility. When
Custer dashed into battle against him, he
met force at once overpowing, and the
unfortunate soldier, no doubt, more than
once thought during the scene of carnage
that they had miscalculated the numbers
of the foe. The attack was a failure in
every detail, for the reason that the foe had
been miscalculated. /. If not, Custer would
have been able to make more stubborn re-
sistance. But the opposing forces wereive
to one, they evinced courage and deter
mination hitherto unknown, even TO Custer,
who had frequently encountered them;
With weapons superior in warfare to his
own and with the advantages Of familiar
ity with peculiarly constructed country
of which the whites knew but little, they
were completely at the mercy of the In
dian. That this is 90, is told in the story
of blood that comes to us from Gus
ter's last battle.


In conducting warfare against the In
dians, our generals to be successful have
other things to consider besides the numer-
ical strength of the enemy. This is, of
course, an important point of information,
and one that was not understood in this last
expedition. 1t is important that the in
dans' strength of arms should be known,
preparations against the advantages he has
Of fighting in his own country should be
made, and troops had who understand the
stratagem of the Indian in fighting. Di-
vestiny the question of all association that
it has with politics, and meeting the mat
ter as one Of great seriousness, in which
is involved the safety of the white man in
the far west, and it will be secen that the
necessity of understanding perfectly just
such tactics in indian warfare as those we
have named, are imperative.


The indian question has assumed more
dangerous phase now than ever before.
Sitting Bull is flushed with victory, he has
greater confidence in his powers as war
rior, and his last fght,one of complete vic
tory, will give him stimulous to make the
next even more determined. The tribes
upon the reservations, it is understood, are
already chatting under the restrictions that
the government places upon them, and,
only await an opportunity for resentment
Sitting Bull is rapidly gaining recruits to
his forces, and with a knowledge of these
facts it is peremptory that the strongest
preparation should be made to meet him at
ar equal advantage with his own in bat
IT,.


The regular troops cannot contend
against the Indian, in his own country,
successfully. They have been accustomed
to tactics entirely different to our own; the
Indian fights from instinct; he is willy, and
understands the ground upon which he op-
poses his foes as well as the lion or panther
does the jungle. 1t is therefore necessary to
meet him in equal combat to nave troops
that understand him. Men whe have lived
in country that he has compelled, by his
depredations, to meet him, without warn
ing. Men who are acquainted with his
modes of warfare. Men who have had the
rifle as constant companion, and exchang-
ed shots with him frequently. These men
are the frontiersmen, who are accustomed
to border life, and are expert marksmen.
Ifregiments of these were organized, we
could meet the Indian in battle with bet
ter success, for the regular army would be
as raw in Indian warfare as fresh troops
under leader tnat knew nothing of his
surroundings.