X._My life on the plains

The winter of 1867–’68 was a period of comparative idleness and

quiet, so far as the troops guarding the military posts on the Plains

and frontier were concerned. The Indians began their periodical

depredations against the frontier settlers and overland emigrants and

travellers early in the spring of 1868, and continued them with but

little interruption or hindrance from any quarter until late in the

summer and fall of that year.

General Sully, an officer of considerable reputation as an Indian

fighter, was placed in command of the district of the Upper Arkansas,

which embraced the Kansas frontier and those military posts on the

central plains most intimately connected with the hostile tribes.

General Sully concentrated a portion of the troops of his command,

consisting of detachments of the Seventh and Tenth Cavalry and Third

Infantry, at points on the Arkansas river, and set on foot various

scouting expeditions, but all to no purpose. The Indians continued as

usual not only to elude the military forces directed against them, but

to keep up their depredations upon the settlers of the frontier.

Great excitement existed along the border settlements of Kansas

and Colorado. The frequent massacres of the frontiersmen and utter

destruction of their homes created a very bitter feeling on the part

of the citizens of Kansas toward the savages, and from the Governor

of the State down to its humblest citizen appeals were made to the

authorities of the general government to give protection against the

Indians, or else allow the people to take the matter into their own

hands and pursue retaliatory measures against their hereditary enemies.

General Sheridan, then in command of that military department, with

headquarters at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, was fully alive to the

responsibilities of his position, and in his usual effective manner set

about organizing victory.

As pretended but not disinterested friends of the Indians frequently

acquit the latter of committing unprovoked attacks on helpless

settlers and others, who have never in the slightest degree injured

them, and often deny even that the Indians have been guilty of any

hostile acts which justify the adoption of military measures to

insure the protection and safety of our frontier settlements, the

following tabular statement is here given. This statement is taken

from official records on file at the headquarters Military Division of

the Missouri, and, as it states, gives only those murders and other

depredations which were officially reported, and the white people

mentioned as killed are exclusive of those slain in warfare. I am

particular in giving time, place, etc., of each occurrence, so that

those who hitherto have believed the Indian to be a creature who could

do no wrong may have ample opportunity to judge of the correctness

of my statements. Many other murders by the Indians during this

period no doubt occurred, but, occurring as they did over a wide and

sparsely settled tract of country, were never reported to the military

authorities.

TABULAR STATEMENT OF MURDERS, OUTRAGES, ROBBERIES, AND DEPREDATIONS

COMMITTED BY INDIANS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI AND NORTHERN

TEXAS, IN 1868 (EXCLUSIVE OF MILITARY ENGAGEMENTS), AND OFFICIALLY

REPORTED TO HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI.

Key to Column Headings:

A Murdered.

B Wounded.

C Scalped.

D Scouts Murdered.

E Women outraged.

F Men.

G Women.

H Children.

I Horses and Mules.

J Stock Cattle.

K Houses attacked, burned, and plundered.

L Stage Coaches attacked and impeded.

M Wagon trains attacked and destroyed.

N Indians k’d and w’d in these attacks.

==============+============================+=====================================+=======+==+==+==+=====

| +-----+--+--+----+----+---------------+ STOCK | | | |

| | | | | | | CAPTURED. |STOLEN.| K| L| M| N

DATE. | PLACE. | | | | | +----+----+-----+---+---+ | | +--+--

| | A | B| C| D | E | F | G | H | I | J | | | |K.|W.

--------------+----------------------------+-----+--+--+----+----+----+----+-----+---+---+--+--+--+--+--

1868. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

August 10. |Saline Valley | | | | | 4| | | | | | 6| | | |

August 12. |Settlements on Solomon River| 15 | 2| | | 5| | | | | 10| 5| | | |

August 14. |Granny Creek, on Republican | 1 | 1| | | 1| | 1| | | | 1| | | |

August 23. |Northern Texas | 8 | | | | | | | | |300| | | | |

August 23. |Two Butte Creek | 3 | | | | | | | | 25| | | | | |

August 23. |Pond Creek and Lake Station | 2 | | | | | | | | | | 1| 1| | |

August 23. |Bent’s Fort | | | | | | | | | 15| 4| | | | |

August 24. |Bent’s Fort | | | | | | | | | | | | 3| 1| |

August 28. |Kiowa Station | 3 | | | | | | | | | 50| | | 1| |

August 31. |Kiowa Creek (near) | | | | | | | | |200| 40| | 2| | |

September 1. |West of Lake Station | 2 | | 2| | | | | | | 30| | | | |

September 1. |Reed’s Springs | 3 | 3| | | | | | | | | | | | |

September 1. |Spanish Fort, Texas | 4 | | 8| |3[b]| | | | 15| | | | | |

September 5. |Hugo’s Springs | | | | | | | | | | 5| 1| | | |

Sept. 6 and 7.|Colorado Territory | 25 | |20| | | | | | | | | | | |

September 8. |Turkey Creek, near Sheridan | 2 | | 2| | | | | | 76| | | | | |

September 8. |Cimmaron Crossing |17[c]| | | | | | | | 12| 75| | | 1| |

September 9. |Between Sheridan and Wallace| 6 | | | | | | | | | | 1| | | |

September 12. |Bent’s Old Fort | | | | | | | | | | 85| 1| | | |

September 17. |Ella Station | 1 | | | | | | | | | | 1| | | |

September 17. |Fort Bascom | 1 | 1| | | | | | | 30| | | | | |

September 29. |Sharp’s Creek | 1 | | | | 1|1[d]|1[d]| 1[d]| | | 1| | | |

October 2. |Fort Zarah | 1 | | | | | | | | |160| 1| | | |

October 2. |Between Larned and Dodge | 3 | 3| | | | | | | 50| | | | | |

October 4. |Near Fort Dodge | 2 | 1| | | | | | | | 68| | | | |

October 7. |Purgatory Creek | 1 | | | | | | | | | 38| | | | |

October 6. |Sand Creek | | | | | | |1[e]| 1[e]| | | | | 1| |

October 14. |Prairie Dog Creek | 1 | 1| | | | | | | 26| | | | | |

October 15. |Fisher and Yocucy Creeks | 4 | 1| | | | | 1| | | | 1| | | |

October 23. |Fort Zarah | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2|

November 7. |Coon Creek | | | | | | | | | 1| | | 1| | |

November 19. |Little Coon Creek | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | 5|

November 19. |Fort Dodge | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2|

November 25. |Indian Territory | | | | | | | | | 20| | | | | 2|

January[A] |Northern Texas[C] | 25 | | 9| | | | |14[g]| | | | | | |

February[A] |Northern Texas[C] | 7 | | | | | | | 5[h]| 50| | | | | |

June[B] |Northern Texas[C] | 1 | | | | | | | 3[i]| | | | | | |

| |-----+--+--+----+----+----+----+-----+---+---+--+--+--+--+--

| Total | 154 |16|41| 3| 14| 1| 4|24 |669|958|24|11| 4|11| 1

--------------+----------------------------+-----+--+--+----+----+----+----+-----+---+---+--+--+--+--+--

[a] This scout was William Comstock.

[b] One of these three women was outraged by thirteen Indians,

who afterward killed and scalped her, leaving a hatchet

stuck in her head. They then killed her four little

children.

[c] Fifteen of these persons were burned to death by the

Indians, who attacked the train to which they belonged.

[d] These persons were Mr. Bassett, his wife, and child. The

Indians having plundered and burned Bassett’s house, took

the inmates captive; but Mrs. Bassett, being weak and

unable to travel, was stripped, and, together with her

child (two days old), left on the prairie. Mr. Bassett is

supposed to have been murdered.

[e] Mrs. Blinn and child, afterward murdered by the Indians

during Custer’s attack on Black Kettle’s camp.

[f] These scouts were Marshall and Davis.

[g] These fourteen children were afterward frozen to death

while in captivity.

[h] Two of these children were given up to Colonel Leavenworth;

the remaining three were taken to Kansas.

[i] These children belonged to Mr. McIlroy.

[A] Committed by Kiowa Indians.

[B] Committed by Comanche Indians.

[C] Additional murders and outrages committed by Indians, not

heretofore enumerated, reported by P. McCusker, U. S.

Interpreter, and S. T. Walkley, Acting Indian Agent.

The mass of the troops being concentrated and employed along the

branches of the Upper Arkansas under General Sully, thus leaving the

valleys of the Republican, Solomon, and Smoky Hill rivers comparatively

without troops, and the valleys of the Upper Republican being, as we

have in previous chapters learned, a favorite resort and camping-ground

for the hostile tribes of the upper plains, General Sheridan determined

that, while devoting full attention to the Kiowas, Comanches, Apaches,

Arapahoes, and Southern Cheyennes, to be found south of the Arkansas,

he would also keep an eye out for the Sioux, Upper Cheyennes, and

Arapahoes, and the “Dog Soldiers,” usually infesting the valleys of

the Upper Republican and Solomon rivers. The “Dog Soldiers” were a

band of warriors principally composed of Cheyennes, but made up of the

turbulent and uncontrollable spirits of all the tribes. Neither they

nor their leaders had ever consented to the ratification of any of

the treaties to which their brothers of the other tribes had agreed.

Never satisfied except when at war with the white man, they were by

far the most troublesome, daring, and warlike band to be found on the

Plains. Their warriors were all fine-looking braves of magnificent

physique, and in appearance and demeanor more nearly conformed to the

ideal warrior than those of any other tribe. How they came by their

name, the “Dog Soldiers,” I never was able to learn satisfactorily.

One explanation is, that they are principally members of the Cheyenne

tribe, and were at first known as the Cheyenne soldiers. The name of

the tribe “Cheyenne” was originally _Chien_, the French word for dog;

hence the term “Dog Soldiers.”

To operate effectually against these bands General Sheridan was without

the necessary troops. Congress, however, had authorized the employment

of detachments of frontier scouts to be recruited from among the daring

spirits always to be met with on the border. It was upon a force raised

from this class of our western population that General Sheridan relied

for material assistance.

Having decided to employ frontiersmen to assist in punishing the

Indians, the next question was the selection of a suitable leader.

The choice, most fortunately, fell upon General George A. Forsyth

(“Sandy”), then Acting Inspector-General of the Department of Missouri,

who, eager to render his country an important service and not loath to

share in the danger and excitement attendant upon such an enterprise,

set himself energetically to work to raise and equip his command for

the field. But little time was required, under Forsyth’s stirring zeal,

to raise the required number of men. It was wisely decided to limit

the number of frontiersmen to fifty. This enabled Forsyth to choose

only good men, and the size of the detachment, considering that they

were to move without ordinary transportation--in fact were to almost

adopt the Indian style of warfare--was as large as could be without

being cumbersome. Last but not least, it was to be composed of men

who, from their leader down, were intent on accomplishing an important

purpose; they were not out on any holiday tour or pleasure excursion.

Their object was to find Indians; a difficult matter for a large force

to accomplish, because the Indians are the first to discover their

presence and take themselves out of the way; whereas with a small or

moderate-sized detachment there is some chance, as Forsyth afterwards

learned, of finding Indians.

Among all the officers of the army, old or young, no one could have

been found better adapted to become the leader of an independent

expedition, such as this was proposed to be, than General Forsyth. This

is more particularly true considering the experiences which awaited

this detachment. I had learned to know him well when we rode together

in the Shenandoah valley, sometimes in one direction and sometimes,

but rarely, in the other; and afterwards, in the closing struggle

around Petersburg and Richmond, when his chief had been told to “press

things,” General Forsyth, “Sandy” as his comrades familiarly termed

him, was an important member of the “press.” In fact, one of the best

terms to describe him by is irrepressible; for, no matter how defeat or

disaster might stare us in the face, and, as I have intimated, cause us

to ride “the other” way, “Sandy” always contrived to be of good cheer

and to be able to see the coming of a better day. This quality came in

good play in the terrible encounter which I am about to describe.

The frontiersmen of the Kansas border, stirred up by numerous massacres

committed in their midst by the savages, were only too eager and

willing to join in an enterprise which promised to afford them an

opportunity to visit just punishment upon their enemies.

Thirty selected men were procured at Fort Harker, Kansas, and twenty

more at Fort Hays, sixty miles further west. In four days the command

was armed, mounted, and equipped, and at once took the field.

Lieutenant F. H. Beecher, of the Third Regular Infantry, a nephew of

the distinguished divine of the same name, and one of the ablest and

best young officers on the frontier, was second in command; and a

surgeon was found in the person of Dr. John S. Movers, of Hays City,

Kansas, a most competent man in his profession, and one who had had

a large experience during the war of the rebellion as surgeon of one

of the volunteer regiments from the State of New York. Sharpe Grover,

one of the best guides and scouts the Plains afforded, was the guide

of the expedition, while many of the men had at different times served

in the regular and volunteer forces; for example, the man selected

to perform the duties of First Sergeant of the detachment was Brevet

Brigadier-General W. H. H. McCall, United States Volunteers, who

commanded a brigade at the time the Confederate forces attempted to

break the Federal lines at Fort Hell, in front of Petersburg, in the

early spring of 1865, and was breveted for gallantry on that occasion.

As a general thing the men composing the party were just the class

eminently qualified to encounter the dangers which were soon to

confront them. They were brave, active, hardy, and energetic, and,

while they required a tight rein held over them, were when properly

handled capable of accomplishing about all that any equal number of men

could do under the same circumstances.

The party left Fort Hayes on the 29th day of August, 1868, and, under

special instructions from Major-General Sheridan, commanding the

department, took a north-westerly course, scouting the country to the

north of the Saline river, crossed the south fork of the Solomon, Bow

creek, north fork of the Solomon, Prairie Dog creek, and then well out

toward the Republican river, and, swinging around in the direction of

Fort Wallace, made that post on the eighth day from their departure.

Nothing was met worthy of notice, but there were frequent indications

of large camps of Indians which had evidently been abandoned only a few

days or weeks before the arrival of the command.

Upon arriving at Fort Wallace, General Forsyth communicated with

General Sheridan and proceeded to refit his command.

On the morning of September 10, a small war party of Indians attacked

a train near Sheridan, a small railroad town some eighty miles beyond

Fort Wallace, killed two teamsters and ran off a few cattle. As soon

as information of this reached Fort Wallace, Forsyth started with

his command for the town of Sheridan, where he took the trail of the

Indians and followed it until dark. The next morning it was resumed,

until the Indians finding themselves closely pursued, scattered

in many directions and the trail became so obscure as to be lost.

Determined, however, to find the Indians this time, if they were in

the country, he pushed on to Short Nose creek, hoping to find them in

that vicinity. Carefully scouting in every direction for the trail

and still heading north as far as the Republican river, the command

finally struck the trail of a small war party on the south bank of

that stream, and followed it up to the forks of that river. This is

familiar ground perhaps to some of my readers, as it was here Pawnee

Killer and his band attacked our camp early one morning in the summer

of ’67, and hurried me from my tent without allowing me time to attend

to my toilet. Continuing on the trail and crossing to the north bank,

Forsyth found the trail growing constantly larger, as various smaller

ones entered it from the south and north, and finally it developed into

a broad and well-beaten road, along which large droves of cattle and

horses had been driven. This trail led up the Arickaree fork of the

Republican river, and constant indications of Indians, in the way of

moccasins, jerked buffalo meat, and other articles, were found every

few miles, but no Indians were seen. On the evening of the eighth

day from Fort Wallace, the command halted about five o’clock in the

afternoon and went into camp at or near a little island in the river, a

mere sand-spit of earth formed by the stream dividing at a little rift

of earth that was rather more gravelly than the sand in its immediate

vicinity, and coming together again about a hundred yards further down

the stream, which just here was about eight feet wide and two or three

inches deep.

The watercourses in this part of the country in the dry season are mere

threads of water meandering along the broad sandy bed of the river,

which during the months of May and June is generally full to its banks,

and at that time capable of floating an ordinary ship, while later in

the season there is not enough water to float the smallest row-boat. In

fact, in many places the stream sinks into the sand and disappears for

a considerable distance, finally making its way up to the surface and

flowing on until it again disappears and reappears many times in the

course of a long day’s journey.

Encamping upon the bank of the stream at this point--which at that

time was supposed by the party to be Delaware creek, but which was

afterwards discovered to be Arickaree fork of the Republican river--the

command made the usual preparations for passing the night. This

point was but a few marches from the scene of Kidder’s massacre.

Having already been out from Fort Wallace eight days, and not taking

wagons with them, their supplies began to run low, although they had

been husbanded with great care. During the last three days game had

been very scarce, which fact convinced Forsyth and his party that

the Indians whose trail they were following had scoured the country

and driven off every kind of game by their hunting parties. The

following day would see the command out of supplies of all kinds; but

feeling assured that he was within striking distance of the Indians,

Forsyth determined to push on until he found them, and fight them

even if he could not whip them, in order that they might realize

that their rendezvous was discovered, and that the Government was at

last in earnest when it said that they were to be punished for their

depredations on the settlements.

After posting their pickets and partaking of the plainest of suppers,

Forsyth’s little party disposed of themselves on the ground to sleep,

little dreaming who was to sound their reveille in so unceremonious a

manner.

At dawn on the following day, September 17, 1868, the guard gave the

alarm “Indians.” Instantly every man sprang to his feet and, with the

true instinct of the frontiersman, grasped his rifle with one hand

while with the other he seized his lariat, that the Indians might not

stampede the horses. Six Indians dashed up toward the party, rattling

bells, shaking buffalo robes, and firing their guns. The four pack

mules belonging to the party broke away and were last seen galloping

over the hills. Three other animals made their escape, as they had only

been hobbled, in direct violation of the orders which directed that

all the animals of the command should be regularly picketed to a stake

or picket-pin, firmly driven into the ground. A few shots caused the

Indians to sheer off and disappear in a gallop over the hills. Several

of the men started in pursuit, but were instantly ordered to rejoin

the command, which was ordered to saddle up with all possible haste,

Forsyth feeling satisfied that the attempt to stampede the stock was

but the prelude to a general and more determined attack. Scarcely were

the saddles thrown on the horses and the girths tightened, when Grover,

the guide, placing his hand on Forsyth’s shoulder, gave vent to his

astonishment as follows: “_O heavens, General, look at the Indians!_”

Well might he be excited. From every direction they dashed toward the

band. Over the hills, from the west and north, along the river, on

the opposite bank, everywhere and in every direction they made their

appearance. Finely mounted, in full war paint, their long scalp locks

braided with eagles’ feathers, and with all the paraphernalia of a

barbarous war party--with wild whoops and exultant shouts, on they came.

There was but one thing to do. Realizing that they had fallen into

a trap, Forsyth, who had faced danger too often to hesitate in an

emergency, determined that if it came to a Fort Fetterman affair,

described in a preceding chapter, he should at least make the enemy

bear their share of the loss. He ordered his men to lead their horses

to the island, tie them to the few bushes that were growing there in

a circle, throw themselves upon the ground in the same form, and make

the best fight they could for their lives. In less time than it takes

to pen these words, the order was put into execution. Three of the best

shots in the party took position in the grass under the bank of the

river which covered the north end of the island; the others formed a

circle inside of the line of animals, and throwing themselves upon the

ground began to reply to the fire of the Indians, which soon became hot

and galling in the extreme. Throwing themselves from their horses, the

Indians crawled up to within a short distance of the island, and opened

a steady and well-directed fire upon the party. Armed with the best

quality of guns, many of them having the latest pattern breech-loaders

with fixed ammunition (as proof of this many thousand empty shells of

Spencer and Henry rifle ammunition were found on the ground occupied by

the Indians after the fight), they soon made sad havoc among the men

and horses. As it grew lighter, and the Indians could be distinguished,

Grover expressed the greatest astonishment at the number of warriors,

which he placed at nearly one thousand. Other members of the party

estimated them at even a greater number. Forsyth expressed the opinion

that there could not be more than four or five hundred, but in this

it seems he was mistaken, as some of the Brulés, Sioux, and Cheyennes

have since told him that their war party was nearly nine hundred

strong, and was composed of Brulés, Sioux, Cheyennes, and Dog Soldiers;

furthermore, that they had been watching him for five days previous

to their attack, and had called in all the warriors they could get to

their assistance. The men of Forsyth’s party began covering themselves

at once, by using case and pocket knives in the gravelly sand, and soon

had thrown up quite a little earthwork consisting of detached mounds in

the form of a circle. About this time Forsyth was wounded by a Minié

ball, which, striking him in the right thigh, ranged upward, inflicting

an exceedingly painful wound. Two of his men had been killed, and a

number of others wounded. Leaning over to give directions to some of

his men, who were firing too rapidly, and in fact becoming a little too

nervous for their own good, Forsyth was again wounded, this time in

the left leg, the ball breaking and badly shattering the bone midway

between the knee and ankle. About the same time Dr. Movers, the surgeon

of the party, who, owing to the hot fire of the Indians, was unable

to render surgical aid to his wounded comrades, had seized his trusty

rifle and was doing capital service, was hit in the temple by a bullet,

and never spoke but one intelligible word again.

Matters were now becoming desperate, and nothing but cool, steady

fighting would avail to mend them. The hills surrounding the immediate

vicinity of the fight were filled with women and children, who were

chanting war songs and filling the air with whoops and yells. The

medicine men, a sort of high priests, and older warriors rode around

outside of the combatants, being careful to keep out of range, and

encouraged their young braves by beating a drum, shouting Indian

chants, and using derisive words toward their adversaries, whom they

cursed roundly for skulking like wolves, and dared to come out and

fight like men.

Meantime the scouts were slowly but surely “counting game,” and more

than one Indian fell to the rear badly wounded by the rifles of the

frontiersmen. Within an hour after the opening of the fight, the

Indians were fairly frothing at the mouth with rage at the unexpected

resistance they met, while the scouts had now settled down to earnest

work, and obeyed to the letter the orders of Forsyth, whose oft

reiterated command was, “Fire slowly, aim well, keep yourselves

covered, and, above all, don’t throw away a single cartridge.”

Taken all in all, with a very few exceptions, the men behaved superbly.

Obedient to every word of command, cool, plucky, determined, and fully

realizing the character of their foes, they were a match for their

enemies thus far at every point. About nine o’clock in the morning the

last horse belonging to the scouts was killed, and one of the red skins

was heard to exclaim in tolerably good English, “There goes the last

damned horse anyhow;” a proof that some of the savages had at some time

been intimate with the whites.

Shortly after nine o’clock a portion of the Indians began to form in a

ravine just below the foot of the island, and soon about one hundred

and twenty Dog Soldiers, the “banditti of the Plains,” supported by

some three hundred or more other mounted men, made their appearance,

drawn up just beyond rifle shot below the island, and headed by the

famous chief “Roman Nose,” prepared to charge the scouts. Superbly

mounted, almost naked, although in full war dress, and painted in the

most hideous manner, with their rifles in their hands, and formed with

a front of about sixty men, they awaited the signal of their chief to

charge, with apparently the greatest confidence. Roman Nose addressed

a few words to the mounted warriors, and almost immediately afterward

the dismounted Indians surrounding the island poured a perfect shower

of bullets into the midst of Forsyth’s little party. Realizing that a

crisis was at hand, and hot work was before him, Forsyth told his men

to reload every rifle and to take and load the rifles of the killed and

wounded of the party, and not to fire a shot until ordered to do so.

For a few moments the galling fire of the Indians rendered it

impossible for any of the scouts to raise or expose any part of their

persons. This was precisely the effect which the Indians desired to

produce by the fire of their riflemen. It was this that the mounted

warriors, under the leadership of Roman Nose, were waiting for. The

Indians had planned their assault in a manner very similar to that

usually adopted by civilized troops in assailing a fortified place. The

fire of the Indian riflemen performed the part of the artillery on such

occasions, in silencing the fire of the besieged and preparing the way

for the assaulting column.

Seeing that the little garrison was stunned by the heavy fire of

the dismounted Indians, and rightly judging that now, if ever, was

the proper time to charge them, Roman Nose and his band of mounted

warriors, with a wild, ringing war-whoop, echoed by the women and

children on the hills, started forward. On they came, presenting even

to the brave men awaiting the charge a most superb sight. Brandishing

their guns, echoing back the cries of encouragement of their women and

children on the surrounding hills, and confident of victory, they rode

bravely and recklessly to the assault. Soon they were within the range

of the rifles of their friends, and of course the dismounted Indians

had to slacken their fire for fear of hitting their own warriors.

This was the opportunity for the scouts, and they were not slow to

seize it. “Now,” shouted Forsyth. “Now,” echoed Beecher, McCall, and

Grover; and the scouts, springing to their knees, and casting their

eyes coolly along the barrels of their rifles, opened on the advancing

savages as deadly a fire as the same number of men ever yet sent forth

from an equal number of rifles. Unchecked, undaunted, on dashed the

warriors; steadily rang the clear, sharp reports of the rifles of the

frontiersmen. Roman Nose, the chief, is seen to fall dead from his

horse, then Medicine Man is killed, and for an instant the column

of braves, now within ten feet of the scouts, hesitates--falters.

A ringing cheer from the scouts, who perceive the effect of their

well-directed fire, and the Indians begin to break and scatter in every

direction, unwilling to rush to a hand-to-hand struggle with the men

who, although outnumbered, yet knew how to make such effective use of

their rifles. A few more shots from the frontiersmen and the Indians

are forced back beyond range, and their first attack ends in defeat.

Forsyth turns to Grover anxiously and inquires, “Can they do better

than that, Grover?” “I have been on the Plains, General, since a boy,

and never saw such a charge as that before. I think they have done

their level best,” was the reply. “All right,” responds “Sandy”; “then

we are good for them.”

So close did the advance warriors of the attacking column come in the

charge, that several of their dead bodies now lay within a few feet

of the intrenchments. The scouts had also suffered a heavy loss in

this attack. The greatest and most irreparable was that of Lieutenant

Beecher, who was mortally wounded, and died at sunset of that day. He

was one of the most reliable and efficient officers doing duty on the

Plains. Modest, energetic, and ambitious in his profession, had he

lived he undoubtedly would have had a brilliant future before him, and

had opportunity such as is offered by a great war ever have occurred,

Lieutenant Beecher would have without doubt achieved great distinction.

The Indians still kept up a continuous fire from their dismounted

warriors; but as the scouts by this time were well covered by their

miniature earthworks, it did little execution. At two o’clock in the

afternoon the savages again attempted to carry the island by a mounted

charge, and again at sunset; but having been deprived of their best and

most fearless leader by the fall of Roman Nose, they were not so daring

or impulsive as in the first charge, and were both times repulsed with

heavy losses. At dark they ceased firing, and withdrew their forces for

the night. This gave the little garrison on the island an opportunity

to take a breathing spell, and Forsyth to review the situation and

sum up how he had fared. The result was not consoling. His trusted

Lieutenant Beecher was lying dead by his side; his surgeon, Movers,

was mortally wounded; two of his men killed, four mortally wounded,

four severely, and ten slightly. Here, out of a total of fifty-one

were twenty-three killed and wounded. His own condition, his right

thigh fearfully lacerated, and his left leg badly broken, only rendered

the other discouraging circumstances doubly so. As before stated, the

Indians had killed all of his horses early in the fight. His supplies

were exhausted, and there was no way of dressing the wounds of himself

or comrades, as the medical stores had been captured by the Indians.

He was about one hundred and ten miles from the nearest post, and

savages were all around him. The outlook could scarcely have been less

cheering. But Forsyth’s disposition and pluck incline him to speculate

more upon that which is, or may be gained, than to repine at that

which is irrevocably lost. This predominant trait in his character

now came in good play. Instead of wasting time in vain regrets over

the advantages gained by his enemies, he quietly set about looking up

the chances in his favor. And, let the subject be what it may, I will

match “Sandy” “against an equal number” for making a favorable showing

of the side which he espouses or advocates. To his credit account he

congratulated himself and comrades, first upon the fact that they

had beaten off their foes; second, water could be had inside their

intrenchments by digging a few feet below the surface; then for food

“horse and mule meat,” to use Sandy’s expression, “was lying around

loose in any quantity;” and last, but most important of all, he had

plenty of ammunition. Upon these circumstances and facts Forsyth built

high hopes of successfully contending against any renewed assaults of

the savages.

Two men, Trudeau and Stillwell, both good scouts, and familiar with the

Plains, were selected to endeavor to make their way through the cordon

of Indians and proceed to Fort Wallace, one hundred and ten miles

distant, and report the condition of Forsyth and party, and act as

guides to the troops which would be at once sent to the relief of the

besieged scouts. It was a perilous mission, and called for the display

of intrepid daring, cool judgment, and unflinching resolution, besides

a thorough knowledge of the country, as much of their journey would

necessarily be made during the darkness of night, to avoid discovery

by wandering bands of Indians, who, no doubt, would be on the alert

to intercept just such parties going for relief. Forsyth’s selection

of the two men named was a judicious one. Stillwell I afterwards knew

well, having employed him as scout with my command for a long period.

At the time referred to, however, he was a mere beardless boy of

perhaps nineteen years, possessing a trim, lithe figure, which was set

off to great advantage by the jaunty suit of buckskin which he wore,

cut and fringed according to the true style of the frontiersman. In

his waist-belt he carried a large-sized revolver and a hunting knife.

These, with his rifle, constituted his equipment. A capital shot

whether afoot or on horseback, and a perfect horseman, this beardless

boy on more than one occasion proved himself a dangerous foe to the

wily red man. We shall not take final leave of Stillwell in this

chapter.

These two men, Trudeau and Stillwell, after receiving Forsyth’s

instructions in regard to their dangerous errand, and being provided

with his compass and map, started as soon as it was sufficiently

dark on their long, weary tramp over a wild, desert country, thickly

infested with deadly enemies. After their departure the wounded were

brought in, the dead animals unsaddled, and the horse blankets used

to make the wounded as comfortable as possible. The earthworks were

strengthened by using the dead animals and saddles. A well was dug

inside the intrenchments, and large quantities of horse and mule meat

were cut off and buried in the sand to prevent it from putrefying. It

began to rain, and the wounded were rendered less feverish by their

involuntary but welcome bath.

As was expected, the night passed without incident or disturbance from

the savages; but early the next morning the fight was renewed by the

Indians again surrounding the island as before, and opening fire from

the rifles of their dismounted warriors. They did not attempt to charge

the island as they had done the previous day, when their attempts in

this direction had cost them too dearly; but they were none the less

determined and eager to overpower the little band which had been the

cause of such heavy loss to them already. The scouts, thanks to their

efforts during the night, were now well protected, and suffered but

little from the fire of the Indians, while the latter, being more

exposed, paid the penalty whenever affording the scouts a chance with

their rifles. The day was spent without any decided demonstration

on the part of the red men, except to keep up as constant a fire as

possible on the scouts, and to endeavor to provoke the latter to

reply as often as possible, the object, no doubt, being to induce the

frontiersmen to exhaust their supply of ammunition. But they were not

to be led into this trap; each cartridge they estimated as worth to

them one Indian, and nothing less would satisfy them.

On the night of the 18th two more men were selected to proceed to

Fort Wallace, as it was not known whether Trudeau and Stillwell had

made their way safely through the Indian lines or not. The last two

selected, however, failed to elude the watchful eyes of the Indians,

and were driven back to the island. This placed a gloomy look upon

the probable fate of Trudeau and Stillwell, and left the little

garrison in anxious doubt not only as to the safety of the two daring

messengers, but as to their own final relief. On the morning of the

19th the Indians promptly renewed the conflict, but with less energy

than before. They evidently did not desire or intend to come to

close quarters again with their less numerous but more determined

antagonists, but aimed as on the previous day to provoke a harmless

fire from the scouts, and then, after exhausting their ammunition in

this manner, overwhelm them by mass of numbers, and finish them with

tomahawk and scalping knife. This style of tactics did not operate as

desired. There is but little doubt that some of the Indians who had

participated in the massacre of Fetterman and his party a few months

before, when three officers and ninety-one men were killed outright,

were also present and took part in the attack upon Forsyth and his

party; and they must have been not a little surprised to witness the

stubborn defence offered by this little party, which, even at the

beginning, numbered but little over fifty men.

About noon the women and children, who had been constant and excited

spectators of the fight from the neighboring hilltops, began to

withdraw. It is rare indeed that in an attack by Indians their women

and children are seen. They are usually sent to a place of safety

until the result of the contest is known, but in this instance, with

the overwhelming numbers of the savages and the recollection of the

massacre of Fetterman and his party, there seemed to the Indians to be

but one result to be expected, and that a complete, perhaps bloodless

victory for them; and the women and children were permitted to gather

as witnesses of their triumph, and perhaps at the close would be

allowed to take part by torturing those of the white men who should be

taken alive. The withdrawal of the women and children was regarded as a

favorable sign by the scouts.

Soon after and as a last resort the Indians endeavored to hold a parley

with Forsyth, by means of a white flag; but this device was too shallow

and of too common adoption to entrap the frontiersman, the object

simply being to accomplish by stratagem and perfidy what they had

failed in by superior numbers and open warfare. Everything now seemed

to indicate that the Indians had had enough of the fight, and during

the night of the third day it was plainly evident that they had about

decided to withdraw from the contest.

Forsyth now wrote the following despatch, and after nightfall

confided it to two of his best men, Donovan and Plyley; and they,

notwithstanding the discouraging result of the last attempt, set out to

try and get through to Fort Wallace with it, which they successfully

accomplished:

_On Delaware Creek, Republican River_, Sept. 19, 1868.

_To Colonel Bankhead, or Commanding Officer, Fort Wallace._

I sent you two messengers on the night of the 17th instant,

informing you of my critical condition. I tried to send two more

last night, but they did not succeed in passing the Indian pickets,

and returned. If the others have not arrived, then hasten at once

to my assistance. I have eight badly wounded and ten slightly

wounded men to take in, and every animal I had was killed save

seven which the Indians stampeded. Lieutenant Beecher is dead, and

Acting Assistant Surgeon Movers probably cannot live the night out.

He was hit in the head Thursday, and has spoken but one rational

word since. I am wounded in two places, in the right thigh and my

left leg broken below the knee. The Cheyennes numbered 450 or more.

Mr. Grover says they never fought so before. They were splendidly

armed with Spencer and Henry rifles. We killed at least thirty-five

of them and wounded many more, besides killing and wounding a

quantity of their stock. They carried off most of their killed

during the night, but three of their men fell into our hands. I am

on a little island and have still plenty of ammunition left. We are

living on mule and horse meat, and are entirely out of rations.

If it was not for so many wounded, I would come in and take the

chances of whipping them if attacked. They are evidently sick of

their bargain.

I had two of the members of my company killed on the 17th, namely,

William Wilson and George W. Calner. You had better start with not

less than seventy-five men and bring all the wagons and ambulances

you can spare. Bring a six-pound howitzer with you. I can hold out

here for six days longer, _if absolutely necessary_, but please

lose no time.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

(Signed) GEORGE A. FORSYTH,

U. S. Army. Commanding Co. Scouts

P. S. My surgeon having been mortally wounded, none of my wounded

have had their wounds dressed yet, so please bring out a surgeon

with you.

A small party of warriors remained in the vicinity watching the

movements of the scouts; the main body, however, had departed.

The well men, relieved of the constant watching and fighting, were

now able to give some attention to the wounded. Their injuries, which

had grown very painful, were rudely dressed. Soup was made out of

horse-flesh, and shelters were constructed protecting them from the

heat, damp, and wind. On the sixth day the wounds of the men began to

exhibit more decided and alarming signs of neglect. Maggots infested

them and the first traces of gangrene had set in. To multiply the

discomforts of their situation, the entire party was almost overpowered

by the intolerable stench created by the decomposing bodies of the

dead horses. Their supply was nearly exhausted. Under these trying

circumstances Forsyth assembled his men. He told them “they knew their

situation as well as he. There were those who were helpless, but aid

must not be expected too soon. It might be difficult for the messengers

to reach the fort, or there might be some delay by their losing their

way. Those who wished to go should do so and leave the rest to take

their chances.” With one voice they resolved to stay, and, if all hope

vanished, to die together.

At last the supply of jerked horse meat was exhausted, and the chances

of getting more were gone. By this time the carcasses of the animals

were a mass of corruption. There was no alternative--strips of putrid

flesh were cut and eaten. The effect of this offensive diet was

nauseating in the extreme. An experiment was made, with a view to

improving the unpalatable flesh, of using gunpowder as salt, but to

no purpose. The men allayed only their extreme cravings of hunger,

trusting that succor might reach them before all was over.

On the morning of September 25, the sun rose upon Forsyth and his

famished party with unusual splendor, and the bright colors of the

morning horizon seemed like a rainbow of promise to their weary,

longing spirits. Hope, grown faint with long waiting, gathered renewed

strength from the brightness of nature. The solitary plain receding in

all directions possessed a deeper interest than ever before, though it

still showed no signs of life and presented the same monotonous expanse

upon which the heroic band had gazed for so many trying days. Across

the dim and indefinable distance which swept in all directions, the eye

often wandered and wondered what might be the revelations of the next

moment. Suddenly several dark figures appeared faintly on the horizon.

The objects were moving. The question uppermost in the minds of all

was, Are they savages or messengers of relief? As on such occasions of

anxiety and suspense, time wore heavily, minutes seemed like hours,

yet each moment brought the sufferers nearer the realization whether

this was their doom or their escape therefrom. Over an hour had elapsed

since the objects first came in sight, and yet the mystery remained

unsolved. Slowly but surely they developed themselves, until finally

they had approached sufficiently near for their character as friends or

foes to be unmistakably established. To the joy of the weary watchers,

the parties approaching proved to be troops; relief was at hand, the

dangers and anxieties of the past few days were ended, and death either

by starvation or torture at the hands of the savages no longer stared

them in the face. The strong set up a shout such as men seldom utter.

It was the unburdening of the heart of the weight of despair. The

wounded lifted their fevered forms and fixed their glaring eyes upon

the now rapidly approaching succor, and in their delirium involuntarily

but feebly reiterated the acclamations of their comrades.

The troops arriving for their relief were a detachment from Fort

Wallace under command of Colonel Carpenter of the regular cavalry, and

had started from the fort promptly upon the arrival of Trudeau and

Stillwell with intelligence of the condition and peril in which Forsyth

and his party were.

When Colonel Carpenter and his men reached the island they found

its defenders in a most pitiable condition, yet the survivors were

determined to be plucky to the last. Forsyth himself, with rather

indifferent success, affected to be reading an old novel that he had

discovered in a saddlebag; but Colonel Carpenter said his voice was a

little unsteady and his eyes somewhat dim when he held out his hand to

Carpenter and bade him welcome to “Beecher’s Island,” a name that has

since been given to the battle-ground.

During the fight Forsyth counted thirty-two dead Indians within rifle

range of the island. Twelve Indian bodies were subsequently discovered

in one pit, and five in another. The Indians themselves confessed to

a loss of seventy-five killed in action, and when their proclivity

for concealing or diminishing the number of their slain in battle is

considered, we can readily believe that their actual loss in this fight

must have been much greater than they would have us believe.

Of the scouts, Lieutenant Beecher, Surgeon Movers, and six of the men

were either killed outright or died of their wounds; eight more were

disabled for life; of the remaining twelve who were wounded, nearly

all recovered completely. During the fight innumerable interesting

incidents occurred, some laughable and some serious. On the first day

of the conflict a number of young Indian boys from fifteen to eighteen

years of age crawled up and shot about fifty arrows into the circle

in which the scouts lay. One of these arrows struck one of the men,

Frank Herrington, full in the forehead. Not being able to pull it

out, one of his companions, lying in the same hole with him, cut off

the arrow with his knife, leaving the iron arrowhead sticking in his

frontal bone; in a moment a bullet struck him in the side of the head,

glanced across his forehead, impinged upon the arrowhead, and the two

fastened together fell to the ground--a queer but successful piece of

amateur surgery. Herrington wrapped a cloth around his head, which bled

profusely, and continued fighting as if nothing had happened.

Howard Morton, another of the scouts, was struck in the head by a

bullet, which finally lodged in the rear of one of his eyes, completely

destroying its sight forever; but Morton never faltered, but fought

bravely until the savages finally withdrew. Hudson Farley, a young

stripling of only eighteen, whose father was mortally wounded in the

first day’s fight, was shot through the shoulder, yet never mentioned

the fact until dark, when the list of wounded was called for. McCall,

the First Sergeant, Vilott, Clark, Farley the elder, and others

who were wounded, continued to bear their full share of the fight,

notwithstanding their great sufferings, until the Indians finally gave

up and withdrew. These incidents, of which many similar ones might be

told, only go to show the remarkable character of the men who composed

Forsyth’s party.

Considering this engagement in all its details and with all its

attendant circumstances, remembering that Forsyth’s party, including

himself, numbered all told but fifty-one men, and that the Indians

numbered about seventeen to one, this fight was one of the most

remarkable and at the same time successful contests in which our forces

on the Plains have ever been engaged; and the whole affair, from the

moment the first shot was fired until the beleaguered party was finally

relieved by Colonel Carpenter’s command, was a wonderful exhibition

of daring courage, stubborn bravery, and heroic endurance, under

circumstances of greatest peril and exposure. In all probability there

will never occur, in our future hostilities with the savage tribes

of the West, a struggle the equal of that in which were engaged the

heroic men who defended so bravely “Beecher’s island.” Forsyth, the

gallant leader, after a long period of suffering and leading the life

of an invalid for nearly two years, finally recovered from the effects

of his severe wounds, and is now, I am happy to say, as good as new,

contentedly awaiting the next war to give him renewed excitement.