Campaigning With Crook - free ebook by Charles King

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880, by

CHARLES KING, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. Copyright, 1890, by Harper &amp; Brothers ....

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PREFACE.

Ten years ago, at the request of the editor of a paper at my old home, these sketches of the Sioux Campaign of 1876 were written and, finding favor with comrades to whom a few were sent, were published in pamphlet form. Now, reinforced by certain other sketches which have since appeared, they are given a new framework. They were the first-fruits, so to speak, of a pen that has since been seldom idle. They were rough sketches, to be sure, but no rougher than the campaign; and in the early days of

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CHAPTER I.

FORT HAYS AND THE START. The disastrous battle on the Little Horn, which resulted in the annihilation of General Custer and his five favorite companies of the Seventh Cavalry, occurred on the 25th of June, 1876. On the 4th of that month, we of the Fifth Cavalry were far to the south, scattered over the boundless prairies of Kansas. Regimental headquarters and four companies occupied the cosey quarters of Fort Hays, nearly midway between Leavenworth and Denver, Missouri and the mountains, and Com

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CHAPTER II

THE TRAIL AND THE CHASE. A shot in the dead of night from an outpost in the heart of the Indian country is something that soon ceases to be either exciting or of great interest, but the first that is heard on the campaign makes the pulses bound. Men sprang to their feet, horses pawed and snorted, and the sergeant of the guard and myself made rapid time to the point from which the alarm had come. There was the sentinel alone, unharmed, but perturbed in spirit. To the question, somewhat sternly pu

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CHAPTER III

THE FIGHT ON THE WAR BONNET. The chase of July 3d, besides killing two and using up a dozen horses, rendered our further presence in the valley of the Cheyenne clearly useless. No more Indians would be apt to come that way when they had the undisturbed choice of several others. General Merritt was prompt to accept the situation, and as prompt to act. Early the next morning, "K" and "I," the two companies engaged in the dash of the day before, took the direct back track up the valley of Old Woman

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CHAPTER IV

THE MARCH TO THE BIG HORN. Chasing the Cheyennes from the War Bonnet and Indian Creek to the reservation, our seven companies had struck cross country, and until we neared the high bluffs and ridges to the north of the agency, it was not difficult for the wagons to follow us; but it was generally predicted that Lieutenant Hall would never be able to get his train over the ravines and "breaks" which he would encounter on the 18th, and the command was congratulating itself on the prospect of a day

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CHAPTER V.

THE ASSEMBLY OF THE B. H. AND Y. Friday, the 4th of August, 1876, was a busy day in the camp of General Crook. He had been waiting impatiently for the coming of the Fifth Cavalry, in order that he might resume the offensive, and, to use his own words, "finish the campaign in one crushing blow." The tragic success of the Indians on the Little Big Horn, of June 25th, resulting in the annihilation of Custer and five companies of the Seventh Cavalry, compelled General Terry to fall back to the Yello

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CHAPTER VI.

THE MEET ON THE ROSEBUD. That General Crook's command, now designated as the "Big Horn and Yellowstone Expedition," started upon its campaign in the best possible spirits and under favoring skies, no one who saw us that bright August morning could have doubted. Unhappily, there was no one to see, no one to cheer or applaud, and, once having cut loose from our wagons and their guards, there was not a soul to mark our progress, unless it were some lurking scout in distant lair, who trusted to his

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CHAPTER VII.

AWAY TO THE YELLOWSTONE. Never before, and never since, has the valley of the Rosebud beheld such a gathering as was there to be seen on that brilliant 10th of August, 1876—brilliant, that is to say, as nature could make it, for in General Crook's command, at least, there was nothing of embellishment. The war of the Revolution, the huts of Valley Forge, never exhibited so sombre an array of soldiery as we presented when General Terry and his brigade confronted us at the great bend. It may be sai

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CHAPTER VIII.

AGAIN ON THE TRAIL. Our first impressions of the Yellowstone, as seen from the mouth of the Powder River, were dismal in the last degree; but it was an undoubted case of "any port in a storm." General Terry's supply boat put in a prompt appearance and we drew rations again on Friday and received intimations that we might move at any moment. "Which way?" was the not unnatural question, and "Don't know" the laconic yet comprehensive answer. The rain that had deluged us on the march down the valley

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CHAPTER IX.

THE FIGHT OF THE REAR GUARD. Ragged and almost starving, out of rations, out at elbows and every other exposed angle, out of everything but pluck and ammunition, General Crook gave up the pursuit of Sitting Bull at the head of Heart River. The Indians had scattered in every direction. We had chased them a month, and were no nearer than when we started. Their trail led in as many different directions as there are degrees in the circle; they had burned off the grass from the Yellowstone to the mou

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CHAPTER X.

"BUFFALO BILL" AND "BUFFALO CHIPS." In all these years of campaigning, the Fifth Cavalry has had varied and interesting experiences with a class of men of whom much has been written, and whose names, to readers of the dime novel and New York Weekly style of literature, were familiar as household words; I mean the "Scouts of the Prairie," as they have been christened. Many a peace-loving citizen and thousands of our boys have been to see Buffalo Bill's thrilling representations on the stage of th

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CHAPTER XI.

THE "CHIEF" AND THE STAFF. With the death of our scout, Jim White, that eventful afternoon on the 9th of September, 1876, the skulking Indians in the ravine seemed to have fired their last shot. Several squaws were half dragged, half pushed up the banks, and through them the hidden foe were at last convinced that their lives would be spared if they would come out and surrender. Pending the negotiations, General Crook himself, with two or three staff officers, came upon the scene, and orders were

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CHAPTER XII.

THE COMBAT OF SLIM BUTTES. It is a stirring sight that meets the eye as, scrambling up from the shelter of the ravine in which we have been interviewing our captives, we gain the hillside and look hurriedly around. The whole landscape is alive with men and horses in excited motion. We are in a half-amphitheatre of picturesque and towering bluffs. North, south, and west they frown down upon us, their crests enveloped in eddying mist and rain clouds, the sward at their base rolling towards us in s

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CHAPTER XIII.

A RACE FOR RATIONS. The village of Slim Buttes destroyed, General Crook pushed ahead on his southward march in search of the Black Hills and rations. All Sunday morning Upham's battalion of the Fifth Cavalry covered the rear, and fought back the savage attacks upon the column; but, once well away from the smoking ruins, we were but little molested, and soon after noon caught up with the rest of the regiment, and found the entire command going into bivouac along a little stream flowing northward

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CHAPTER XIV.

THE BLACK HILLS. It was on Wednesday evening that our good friends, the pioneers of Deadwood and Crook City, reached us with their wagons, plethoric with all manner of provender, and the next day, as though in congratulation, the bright sunshine streamed in upon us, and so did rations. The only hard-worked men were the cooks, and from before dawn to late at evening not an hour's respite did they enjoy. Towards sundown we caught sight of Upham's battalion, coming in from its weary scout down stre

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CHAPTER XV.

DROPPED STITCHES. Now that an unlooked-for interest has been developed in this enterprise of the Sunday Sentinel , and that in accordance with the wishes of many old comrades these sketches are reproduced in a little volume by themselves, many and many an incident is recalled which deserves to be noted, but which was omitted for fear of wearying the readers for whom alone these stories of campaign life were originally intended, so that in this closing and retrospective chapter there will be noth

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ROSTER OF OFFICERS

SERVING WITH THE FIFTH CAVALRY IN THE BIG HORN AND YELLOWSTONE EXPEDITION OF 1876. Colonel Wesley Merritt, Brevet Major-General . Lieutenant-Colonel Eugene A. Carr, Brevet Major-General . Major John J. Upham . Major Julius W. Mason, Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel . Captain Edward H. Leib , Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel. Captain Samuel S. Sumner , Brevet Major. Captain Emil Adam . Captain Robert H. Montgomery . Captain Sanford C. Kellogg, Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel . Captain George F. Price . Captain Edwar

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CAPTAIN SANTA CLAUS.

There was unusual commotion in the frontier mining town when the red stage, snow-covered and storm-beaten, lurched up in front of the Bella Union and began to disgorge passengers and mail. The crowd on the wooden sidewalk was of that cosmopolitan type which rich and recently discovered "leads" so surely attract—tough-looking miners; devil-may-care cow-boys with rolling hat-brims and barbaric display of deadly weapons; a choice coterie of gamblers with exaggerated suavity of manners; several impa

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CHAPTER I.

Placid and homelike enough were all its surroundings, one would say. It seemed the very last place to look for romance or mystery—the very last place in the world to be confronted by a foul and savage crime. There was not a shadow on the bright, breeze-ruffled mill-pond whereon the ducks were splashing and quacking noisily. Not a willow drooped its mourning branches over the sunny shallows above, or the foaming, rushing, tumbling torrent below the dam. Not a tree with heavy, spreading foliage st

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CHAPTER III

That night Nellie was fitful and constrained in manner. Dick went home restless and unhappy. It was very late, but there was the light burning brightly down at the office. "Who are there?" he asked the lad who did odd jobs around the miller's house, and who slept in Graham's cottage. "Mr. Morrow and Frost. Gosh! how the old man has been cussin' him. He cusses everybody round here now, don't he? I heerd down in the village you was going to quit." Graham made no reply, but turned gloomily into his

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CHAPTER IV.

A week passed, and with no tidings of him. Detectives had been scouring the country in every direction. A man answering his description was arrested in Chicago, and turned out to be somebody else. A dozen times it was reported that now the sleuth-hounds of the law had run down their victim, but the entire month of July passed away, and the community had gradually settled down to the belief that Graham had made good his escape and taken with him some five hundred dollars of his murdered master's

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CHAPTER V.

Sam Morrow told his story in a few words. He had served in the Seventh Cavalry for five years under the name of Samuel Moore, and two years before, while with his troop on the Yellowstone, the man calling himself Frost was a sergeant in another company. He was only a short time in the regiment, but his fine appearance, intelligence, and education led to his speedy appointment as sergeant, and as Sergeant Farrand he had been for a few months a popular and respected man; but as soon as they got ba

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Books By Capt. Charles King.

CAMPAIGNING WITH CROOK, AND STORIES OF ARMY LIFE. Post 8vo, Cloth, $1 25. A WAR-TIME WOOING. Illustrated by R. F. Zogbaum . pp. iv., 196. Post 8vo, Cloth, $1 00. BETWEEN THE LINES. A Story of the War. Illustrated by Gilbert Gaul. pp. iv., 312. Post 8vo, Cloth, $1 25. In all of Captain King's stories the author holds to lofty ideals of manhood and womanhood, and inculcates the lessons of honor, generosity, courage, and self-control.— Literary World , Boston. The vivacity and charm which signally

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Boots and Saddles;

Or, Life in Dakota with General Custer. By Mrs. Elizabeth B. Custer . With Portrait of General Custer, pp. 312. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50. A book of adventure is interesting reading, especially when it is all true, as is the case with "Boots and Saddles." * * * She does not obtrude the fact that sunshine and solace went with her to tent and fort, but it inheres in her narrative none the less, and as a consequence "these simple annals of our daily life," as she calls them, are never dull nor uninteresti

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Books By W. D. Howells.

THE SHADOW OF A DREAM. A Story. 12mo, Paper, 50 cents; Cloth, $1 00. A HAZARD OF NEW FORTUNES. Illustrated. 8vo, Paper, 75 cents; 12mo, Cloth, 2 vols., $2 00. Never, certainly, has Mr. Howells written more brilliantly, more clearly, more firmly, or more attractively than in this instance.— N. Y. Tribune. This new novel is distinguished by the possession in an unusual degree of all the familiar qualities of Mr. Howells's style. The humor of it, particularly, is abundant and delightful.— Philadelp

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Books By Constance F. Woolson.

JUPITER LIGHTS. A Novel. 16mo, Cloth, $1 25. EAST ANGELS. A Novel. 16mo, Cloth, $1 25. ANNE. A Novel. Illustrated. 16mo, Cloth, $1 25. FOR THE MAJOR. A Novelette. 16mo, Cloth, $1 00. CASTLE NOWHERE. Lake Country Sketches. 16mo, Cloth, $1 00. RODMAN THE KEEPER. Southern Sketches. 16mo, Cloth, $1 00. Delightful touches justify those who see many points of analogy between Miss Woolson and George Eliot.— N. Y. Times. For tenderness and purity of thought, for exquisitely delicate sketching of charact

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Books By Charles Dudley Warner

A LITTLE JOURNEY IN THE WORLD. A Novel. pp. iv., 396. Post 8vo, Half Leather, $1 50. STUDIES IN THE SOUTH AND WEST, with Comments on Canada. pp. iv., 484. Post 8vo, Half Leather, $1 75. A witty, instructive book, as brilliant in its pictures as it is warm in its kindness; and we feel sure that it is with a patriotic impulse that we say that we shall be glad to learn that the number of its readers bears some proportion to its merits and its power for good.— N. Y. Commercial Advertiser. Sketches m

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The Captain Of The Janizaries.

A Tale of the Times of Scanderbeg and the Fall of Constantinople. By James M. Ludlow, D.D., Litt.D. pp. iv., 404. 16mo, Cloth, $1 50. The author writes clearly and easily; his descriptions are often of much brilliancy, while the whole setting of the story is of that rich Oriental character which fires the fancy.— Boston Courier. Strong in its central historical character, abounding in incident, rapid and stirring in action, animated and often brilliant in style.— Christian Union , N. Y. Somethin

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Books By Lafcadio Hearn.

Two Years in the French West Indies. By Lafcadio Hearn. pp.517. Copiously Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth, $2 00. The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard. By Anatole France . The Translation and Introduction by Lafcadio Hearn . 8vo, Paper, 50 cents. Chita : A Memory of Last Island. By Lafcadio Hearn . pp. vi., 204. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1 00. To such as are unfamiliar with Mr. Hearn's writings,"Chita" will be a revelation of how near language can approach the realistic power of actual painting. His

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Ben-Hur: A Tale Of The Christ.

By Lew. Wallace . New Edition. pp. 552. 16mo, Cloth, $1 50. Anything so startling, new, and distinctive as the leading feature of this romance does not often appear in works of fiction.... Some of Mr. Wallace's writing is remarkable for its pathetic eloquence. The scenes described in the New Testament are rewritten with the power and skill of an accomplished master of style.— N. Y. Times. Its real basis is a description of the life of the Jews and Romans at the beginning of the Christian era, an

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