THE BATTLE OF THE BAD LANDS.
General Sully, an unpretentious man, with clear perception, appeared to
know where the Indians were, and what they would do. His service in the
regular army peculiarly fitted him for this service, and this, with his
genial temperament, made him an agreeable commander.
The boats were unloaded, the command supplied with sixty days' rations
and divested of all surplus clothing and equipments, made ready for a
vigorous march after Indians.
The troops were reviewed by the commanding officer, General Sully,
who, by the way, was at one time Colonel of the First Minnesota,
and afterwards promoted to Major-General of Volunteers and Brevet
Brigadier-General of the regular army. The review of the troops
constituted the celebrating the Fourth of July, 1864.
When the column finally moved, which was on July 19, it marched out into
an unknown and unexplored country, from the white man's standpoint.
[Illustration: Resting Before an Attack.]
What a transformation,--then unknown and unexplored,--no highways, no
railroads, no civilization,--to-day the onward march of our race has left
its imprint by railroads, beautiful farms, busy cities, busy factories,
Christian civilization, education and the "little red school house." But
I am anticipating; turn back the leaves and we are again on the Knife
river, and we snuff a battle, for the Indians are ahead in great numbers.
It was on July 28th, among the foothills of the mountains, that a large
camp of Indians was found. In this camp were no less than one hundred
and ten bands of hostile Sioux, and they meant business, for they had
congregated here for the express purpose of cleaning out the white
soldiers, and they felt confident they could do it.
The Indians, on their horses, were stripped for the fray, and began
leisurely to ride in line of battle toward the white enemy. When within
rifle shot, the soldiers opened fire, and instantly the scene was
changed. The bands concentrated, and, uttering their war cries, they
dashed at full speed on our lines, firing, and, like the wind, whirled
to the rear, loading as they went, when they would again face the enemy,
and, coming within gunshot, fire again.
They were so confident of success that they did not attempt to save their
own camp, which was the objective point of the soldiers; and they did not
realize their dangerous position until they found that their terrific
onslaught on our lines did not in the least impede the progress of the
troops.
Soon the artillery was brought up, and the shells were sent thick and
fast among them. By this time they began to realize that retreat were the
tactics now.
There were 1,600 tepees filled with women and children, with the usual
supply of dogs,--not less than two dogs to a tepee, and such a stampede.
It was a grand sight in one sense and sad in another. To see this great,
moving mass of 10,000 or 12,000 souls, with their camp paraphernalia,
including dogs and ponies, rushing over the prairie; the fleeing
multitude spread out as far as the eye could reach on either side,
rushing on in mad haste, as though fleeing from the city of destruction.
It was the sight of a lifetime, but sad to contemplate that the sins
of some were being showered upon the heads of the innocent women and
children.
The loss to the Indians in killed was estimated at 100 to 150; the
wounded they carried off the field. The dead were buried in the night in
large trenches, the earth leveled off, and the troops marched away.
The Indians were not satisfied with the result of this engagement; they
naturally would not be. They claimed that the best of their young men
were off hunting for our troops in another direction, and they should at
once call them in and give battle again.
The last six days had been very exciting, and was a nervous strain on the
soldiers. One hundred and seventy-five miles had been made, a battle of
eight hours had been fought, and the camp of Indians destroyed.
The march to the west was resumed over the prairie, with the Knife
Mountains to the north and the Black Hills to the south, looming up in
the distance like great sentinels, standing to contest the approach of
civilization and defying the elements of ages.
In the immediate front, off towards the horizon, was what seemed to be a
level plain,--it was level, but for a little distance, and then broke to
your view what might have inspired a Dante to write a more recent edition
of Inferno; for, as far as the eye could reach, north and south and for
forty miles to the west, the body of the earth had been rent and torn
asunder, as though giant demons, in their infuriated defeat, had sought
to disembowel the earth.
General Sully said of it: "It is hell with the fires put out."
We are now in the Bad Lands, and it is Sunday,--the Lord's day, and in
such a region,--where devils had fought. White men's eyes had probably
never before seen this region, and the Indians were afraid of it; they
looked upon this region as the abode of evil spirits, and that the great
gorges and buttes and yawning chasms were but the product of their wrath.
The Sunday passed quietly until after noon, when a reconnoitering party
returned and said they had been fired upon by Indians.
About five o'clock on this Sunday General Sully changed the position of
the camp and went four miles farther up the river, in order to be in
better position to prevent a surprise or repel an attack.
The Indians were interested observers, for while this move was being made
1,000 of them were quietly sitting on their horses on the surrounding
hills, observing.
General Sully, being sick in his tent at this time, the command devolved
upon Colonel Thomas, of the Eighth Minnesota, and to him he gave orders
to "have everything ready to move at six o'clock in the morning, in
perfect fighting order; put one of your most active field officers in
charge of a strong advance guard, and you will meet them at the head of
the ravine, and have the biggest Indian fight that ever will happen on
this continent; and let me further say that under no circumstances must
any man turn his back on a live Indian."
On Monday morning, bright and early, on August 8th, 1864, the columns
were formed. The General was in an ambulance at the front, and in
admiration looking up and down the lines of the soldiers who were so soon
to engage the Indians in battle, gave vent to his feelings in words more
expressive than elegant: "Those fellows can whip the devil and all his
angels."
General Sully himself was unable to go farther, but when he grasped
Colonel Thomas, who was in immediate command, by the hand he said: "You
must make some history to-day."
"Forward!" and the column is marching out, and not a sound is there to
indicate that its progress will be impeded, as we enter the narrow gorge,
only wide enough for a wagon trail. Almost an hour passes in steadily
climbing up the narrow and secluded way, and when near the head of the
gulch, from the beautiful stillness of the morning the pandemonium of war
broke loose.
The artillery advanced in a gallop, and, in position, soon commenced
planting shells among the redskins. This was followed up by the steady
advance of the dismounted men, who pressed their lines, and they
commenced to fall back. The General, sick though he was, and in the
ambulance, could not endure being there when the fight was going on, so
he ordered up his horse and, mounting, rode to the front, but nature
resisted, and he was obliged to dismount, which he did, and seating
himself on a boulder, with his field glass took in the whole situation.
Colonel Thomas, who was in command, hearing that the General was on the
field, sought him out and said: "I am ready to advance, sir."
The General, pointing his hand toward a range of hills, said: "Go ahead,
you will find the camp beyond those buttes; hold your men well in hand,
push the Indians; they will fight for their families; protect your
flank, and I will protect the rear."
The fight went on; the wounded were sent to the rear, and for twelve
miles we drove the Indians from point to point, but darkness came on
before their camp was reached.
In the bivouac at night the scene was a varied one. At the roll-call
there were names not answered, for the unerring arrow and Indian bullet
had done its work. At the next muster it would be necessary to mark after
some name: "Killed in battle in the Bad Lands August 8th, 1864," or,
"died of wounds received from Indians in battle in the Bad Lands August
8th, 1864," for there were 109 killed and wounded on this day.
The wounded received proper attention at once, and the other soldiers,
well tired out with the day's fighting and marching, were soundly
sleeping and dreaming of home.
There were 8,000 warriors engaged in this battle, and as nearly as could
be estimated they lost 350 killed and from 600 to 800 wounded. It was a
bloody battle, and the field was named by the Indians Waps-chon-choka.
The Indians, after this decisive battle, broke up into small bands and
went in every direction, so that the soldiers, as an army, could not well
follow them.
The war had ended so far as the Indians were concerned, but there was
another fight on hand. Bad water and lack of rations are not a happy
condition of affairs, and the soldiers had to look this square in the
face. And hot! The tongues of some of the men were so swelled from thirst
and heat that they could not talk. The animals suffered equally with the
men, and in numerous instances it became necessary to put them out of
their misery by blowing out their brains.
And thus things went on from day to day until August 12th, when glad
news came from one of the scouts, who came riding back and frantically
waving something in his hands. It was simply a little chip of wood, and
why should this create such unbounded joy among a lot of war-begrimed
veterans? It was freshly cut and evidently came from the steamboat men,
as it was borne down on the bosom of the cool waters of the longed-for
Yellowstone.
The weary soldiers, thirsting and starving, viewed this little harbinger
of plenty with delight, and their strength began to return as they
increased their step in the march toward the river.
O, that beautiful river:--"The Nectar of the Gods." How life-inspiring
its fluid, as discipline was forgotten and joy and happy shouts took the
place of misery in the command.
The thirst was slaked, and now for something to eat, for soldiers,
poor mortals, get very hungry, and how often they longed for some good
home-made bread and sugar and cream for coffee. And pies; well, our
mouths used to fairly water for pies. But, on this especial occasion,
almost anything would do, for the boys were awfully hungry, and the
commissary was like "Old Mother Hubbard's" cupboard--empty.
There were timber bottoms a little way down the river full of elk and
black-tailed deer, so the Indians informed us.
A detail was made, and the hunters went out in search of game, and before
night they returned with the evidence of their day's hunt with them. They
were like the spies sent out in Bible times, who came back laden with
grapes, and reported that the country which they had explored was rich,
and flowed with milk and honey.
So, too, our soldier-hunters said the bottom lands were alive with elk
and deer; and, by the next night, the luscious ribs and steaks were
sizzling in the blaze, and hunger was being appeased as well as the
thirst had been.
The war being practically over, the several commands returned by various
routes to the points from whence they came, and were at once ordered
South to take their places in some of the other armies. The campaigns of
1862, '63 and '64 were successfully carried out, and we will recapitulate
our desires, our journeyings, our hopes and our fears and our rejoicings
in another chapter, and bid you adieu.
[Illustration: Examining the Colors After the Campaign.]