© 2007 by Jerome A. Greene
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Dedicated to the memory of Don G. Rickey,
who knew these men.
Books by Jerome A. Greene
Evidence and the Custer Enigma: A Reconstruction of Indian-Military History (Kansas City, 1973)
Slim Buttes, 1876: An Episode of the Great Sioux War (Norman, 1982)
Yellowstone Command: Colonel Nelson A. Miles and the Great Sioux War, 1876-1877(Lincoln, 1991; Norman, 2006)
Battles and Skirmishes of the Great Sioux War, 1876-1877: The Military View (Norman, 1993)
Lakota and Cheyenne: Indian Views of the Great Sioux War, 1876-1877 (Norman, 1994)
Frontier Soldier: An Enlisted Man’s Journal of the Sioux and Nez Perce Campaigns, 1877 (Helena, 1998)
Nez Perce Summer, 1877: The U. S. Army and the Nee-Me-Poo Crisis (Helena, 2000)
Morning Star Dawn: The Powder River Expedition and the Northern Cheyennes, 1876(Norman, 2003)
Washita: The U. S. Army and the Southern Cheyennes, 1867-1869 (Norman, 2004)
(Co-author with Douglas D. Scott) Finding Sand Creek: History, Archeology, and the 1864 Massacre Site (Norman, 2004)
The Guns of Independence: The Siege of Yorktown, 1781 (New York and Staplehurst, UK, 2005)
Fort Randall on the Missouri, 1856-1892(Pierre, 2005)
CONTENTS
Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Indian War Veterans, 1880s-1960s
Part I: Army Life in the West
Press Interview with Five Veterans
A Typical Entry in Winners of the West
Finding the Right Drum Major, 1872, by John Cox
Ten Years a Buffalo Soldier, by Perry A. Hayman
Cavalry Duty in the Southwest in the 1870s, by George S. Raper
Wyoming Service in the 1870s, by George F. Tinkham
Relocating with the Sixth U.S. Infantry, by William Fetter
Battling in the Little Bighorn, by Alonzo Stringham
Fourteen Years in the Army, 1881-1895, by Ernst A. Selander
Fifth Cavalry Service, by Charles M. Hildreth
An Incident at Fort Abraham Lincoln in 1884, by Archibald Dickson
Reminiscences of an Eighth U. S. Cavalryman, 1883-1888, by Frederick C. Kurz
Twelve Years in the Eighteenth Infantry, by Phillip Schreiber
Cemeteries at Fort Laramie, by Michael M. O’Sullivan
Life as a Rookie, by John T. Stokes
A Boyhood at Tongue River Cantonment and Fort Keogh, 1877-1882, by Dominick J. O’Malley
The Border-to-Border March of the Eighth Cavalry, 1888, by William G. Wilkinson
Sidelights of the Eighth Cavalry’s Historic March, by Soren P. Jepson
Memories of Old Fort Cummings, New Mexico Territory, by Wolsey A. Sloan
The Fort Custer Dance, by Maurice J. O’Leary
Christmas at Fort Robinson, 1882, by Martin J. Weber
Incidents of Army Life at Fort Wingate, 1892-1893, by Frederick H. Krause
Part II: Battles and Campaigns
A. Northern Plains and Prairies
The Fetterman Tragedy, 1866, by Timothy O’Brien
Note on the Fetterman Fight, by Alexander Brown
The Relief of Fort Phil Kearny and Fort C. F. Smith, 1866, by Bartholomew Fitzpatrick
Guarding the Union Pacific, by Laurence W. Aldrich
A Reality of Warfare, by Samuel H. Bently
A Skirmish at Heart River, Dakota, 1872, by John W. Jenkins
The Yellowstone Expedition of 1873, by William Foster Norris
Notes on the Yellowstone Expedition, by John Walsh
A Buffalo Stampede during the Northern Pacific Survey Expedition, 1873, by William D. Nugent
Bates’s Fight in the Owl Range, 1874, by James H. Rhymer
Service at Red Cloud Agency, Nebraska, 1874-1875, by Lines P. Wasson
With the Third Cavalry in 1876, by Oliver C.C. Pollock
Fighting at Powder River and Rosebud Creek, 1876, by Phineas S. Towne
Attacking the Cheyennes at Powder River in 1876, by John Lang
A Sioux War Diary, by George S. Howard
Combatting Cheyennes at Powder River and the Red Fork, 1876, by James N. Connely
Campaigning with the Seventh Infantry in 1876, by George C. Berry
Memories of the Little Bighorn, 1876, by Jacob Hetler
Some Thoughts about the Battle of the Little Bighorn, by Theodore W. Goldin
With the Water Carriers at the Little Bighorn, by William D. Nugent
Fought with Reno on the Bluffs, by Henry M. Brinkerhoff
Mutilation of Custer’s Dead, by William D. Nugent
News of the Custer Battle Reaches Fort Randall, Dakota, by John E. Cox
The Skirmish at Warbonnet Creek, 1876, by Chris Madsen
Witness to Cody at Warbonnet Creek, Diary entries by James B. Frew
Surrounding Red Cloud and Red Leaf, by Luther North
Battle of the Red Fork, 1876, by James S. McClellan
Dismounting and Disarming the Agency Sioux along the Missouri River, by Theodore W. Goldin
Scouting with Lieutenant Baldwin in Montana, 1876, by Joseph Culbertson
Fighting Crazy Horse in the Wolf Mountains, 1877, by Luther Barker
Surrender of Chief Dull Knife (Morning Star), 1878, by Louis DeWitt
An Incident of the Fort Robinson Outbreak, 1879, by James E. Snepp
An Encounter with the Cree Indians near the Canadian Line, 1881, by Lawrence Lea
On Patrol in Montana and Sitting Bull’s Surrender in 1881, by John C. Delemont
The Killing of Sitting Bull, 1890, Account of James Connelly
Arrest and Death of Sitting Bull, by Matthew F. Steele
Two Letters Regarding Fort Yates and Sitting Bull’s Death, 1890, by George B. DuBois
Scouting for Sioux in 1890, by John Rovinsky
Time at Wounded Knee, by William J. Slaughter
An Army Medic at Wounded Knee, by Andrew M. Flynn
A Memory of the Pine Ridge Campaign, by Henry B. Becker
A Trooper’s Vignette, by Frank Sturr
On the Pine Ridge Campaign, by Grant C. Topping
Infantry Operations at Pine Ridge, by Richard T. Burns
Recollections of the Pine Ridge Campaign and Wounded
Knee, by August Hettinger
Incidents of Wounded Knee, by Joseph Monnett
Maneuvers in Montana during the Ghost Dance Crisis, by James E. Wilson
The Leech Lake Uprising of 1898, by Harry V. Wurdemann
B: Central and Southern Plains
Supplies for Colorado in 1864, by Elias J. Quick
Campaigning in Colorado and New Mexico, 1860s, by Luke Cahill
Service with the Eighteenth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry in 1867, by Henderson Lafayette Burgess
On the Kansas Plains during Hancock’s Campaign, 1867, by James P. Russell
A Skirmish with Kiowas in Colorado Territory, 1868, by Edward Mayers
Combat near Fort Hays, Kansas, 1867, by George W. Ford
A Memory of Beecher Island, 1868, by Reuben Waller
Sully’s Campaign in the Autumn of 1868, by A. C. Rallya
The Fight at Beaver Creek, 1868, by Edward M. Hayes
A Buffalo Soldier Recalls Beaver Creek, by Reuben Waller
Kansas Troops and the 1868 Campaign, by W. R. Smith
Trials of the Southern Plains Campaign, 1868-1869, by Henry Pearson
With Custer at the Washita, 1868, by Henry Langley
The Battle at Palo Duro Canyon, 1874, by John B. Charlton
The Battle of Punished Woman’s Fork, 1878, by Albert Fensch
C. Mountain West
The Fight at White Bird Canyon, 1877, by Frank Fenn
Reminiscences of White Bird Canyon, by John P. Schorr
The Nez Perce War and the Battle of the Big Hole, 1877, by Charles N. Loynes
The Bear’s Paw Campaign and the Surrender of Chief Joseph, by Luther Barker
Bannock War Service, 1878, by Ernest F. Albrecht
Fighting the Bannocks, by George Buzan
Action in the Ute War of 1879, by Eugene Patterson
Merritt’s Relief Column to Milk River, by Jacob Blaut
Reminiscences of the Ute Uprising, by Jacob Blaut
The Fifth Cavalry Comes Through, by Arthur S. Wallace
Occupation Duty in Utah, 1879-1880, by George K. Lisk
D. West Coast
A Close Call in Oregon, 1868, by John M. Smith
Scouting during the Modoc War, 1873, by Oliver C. Applegate
Murder of the Peace Commissioners, by Oliver C. Applegate
Incident in the Charge on the Modocs, January 17, 1873, by Jasper N. Terwilliger
E. Southwest
Pursuing Indians during Utah’s Black Hawk War, 1865, by Joseph S. McFate
An Apache Fight near Camp Bowie, Arizona, 1871, by John F. Farley
Combat at Salt River Canyon, 1872, by an “Old Non-Com”
Memories of Lieutenants Hudson and Tyler, by Peter Lacher
A Personal Bout with Apaches, by George O. Eaton
The Fight at Cibicu, 1881, by Anton Mazzanovich
Notes on the Cibicu Creek Fight and the Fight at Fort Apache, by William Baird
Campaigning in Arizona in the 1880s, by John E. Murphy
The Fight at Black Mesa, 1882, by Earl S. Hall
Certificate of Merit for Combat in New Mexico, 1885, by Sylvester Grover
The Campaign against Geronimo, by Henry W. Daly
The Fight in Guadaloupe Canyon, 1885, by Emil Pauly
After the Apaches, 1885-1886, by Clarence B. Chrisman
Service in Arizona, 1885, by John P. Gardner
Trailing Geronimo by Heliograph, 1886, by William W. Neifert
Remembrance of the Apache Campaign, by Samuel D. Gilpin
To and from Mexico, 1886, by Albert Willis
Present at the Surrender, 1886, by Arnold Schoeni
Chasing the Apache Kid, 1892-1894, by Richard F. Watson
Suggested Reading
Index
Maps and photos have been inserted through the text for the convenience of the reader. A full-color gallery of rare Indian war veteran-related medals, ribbons, and badges begins after page 212.
Commission certificate appointing Albert Fensch as National Aide-de-Camp of the National Indian War Veterans and signed by Commander-in-Chief John H. Brandt in Los Angeles, 1925. Editor’s Collection.
Preface and Acknowledgments
This book comprises a reader embracing significant personal accounts by army veterans of their life and service on the trans-Mississippi frontier during the last four decades of the nineteenth century, the core period of Indian-white warfare in that region. The essays are drawn from various sources, each as indicated, but with most from the constituency of the National Indian War Veterans Association via the group’s periodical tabloid, Winners of the West. The first articles, those dealing with veterans’ reminiscences of their routine day-to-day experiences on the frontier, are presented in chronological order. Those describing elements of campaign and warfare history are arranged chronologically within geographical areas of the West and constitute the largest part of the book. A few of these essays have appeared elsewhere, although none have previously been widely disseminated.
In all instances, the intent has been to reproduce the content of each essay so that readers might derive the author’s original meaning clearly and comprehensively, despite obvious variances in writing technique and ability. Occasionally, minor grammatical, punctuation, and spelling changes have been introduced editorially without brackets to improve readability. Rarely, too, words have been interjected to complete and improve factual representations, such as in giving an individual’s full name and/or military rank. (Infrequently, for example, authors of some pieces have referenced brevet or honorary rank in introducing officers, and this has been consistently corrected to reflect proper Regular Army rank usage throughout.) In no way has the substance of an article been altered or otherwise miscast. Footnotes have been scrupulously avoided in the essays for the purpose of insuring an uninterrupted reading experience.
While an ex-soldier might occasionally exaggerate recollected facts or conditions, he might also make factual errors, and in such instances bracketed insertions have been made to correct grievously erroneous data. Also brackets have been used sparingly wherever brief introductory, transitional, and clarifying material was deemed appropriate. In most instances, the titles of individual essays have been changed from the headline format of the original presentations to better convey the content of each. And wherever parts of an article wavered from its purpose or became irrelevant to its subject, those parts were omitted and their omission indicated with ellipses. Finally and importantly, as testimony reflective of the periods during which the veterans performed their service (the 1860s-1890s) and later wrote their pieces (generally the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s), the references to Indians are often disparaging and occasionally brutally racist. As such, the remarks mirror a temper of thought grounded in ignorance that existed during those times. However objectionable they seem today, they nonetheless provide useful insights into the thinking of this element of early twentieth-century American society, and they have not been sanitized herein.
I wish to acknowledge the following individuals and institutions for their assistance in this project: L. Clifford Soubier, Charles Town, West Virginia; Douglas C. McChristian, Tucson, Arizona; John D. McDermott, Rapid City, South Dakota; James B. Dahlquist, Seattle, Washington; Thomas R. Buecker, Crawford, Nebraska; R. Eli Paul, Kansas City, Missouri; Paul L. Hedren, O’Neill, Nebraska; John Doerner, Hardin, Montana; James Potter, Chadron, Nebraska; David Hays, Boulder, Colorado; Gordon Chappell, San Francisco, California; Dick Harmon, Lincoln, Nebraska; John Monette, Louisville, Colorado; Paul Fees, Cody, Wyoming; Judy M. Morley, Centennial, Colorado; Robert G. Pilk, Lakewood, Colorado; Paul A. Hutton, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Neil Mangum, Alpine, Texas; Douglas D. Scott, Lincoln, Nebraska; Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Crow Agency, Montana; and Jack Blades of Night Ranger. Special thanks go to Sandra Lowry, Fort Laramie National Historic
Site, Wyoming, for her help in providing full and correct names for many of the enlisted men mentioned herein.
My thanks are also extended to everyone at Savas Beatie who helped get this book into print.
Introduction
The Indian War Veterans, 1880s-1960s
They called themselves the “Winners of the West.” They were the soldier veterans of the U. S. Army and state and territorial forces in the West, many of them survivors of Indian campaigns between 1864 and 1898, and they regarded themselves as the vanguards of civilization on the frontier. Some had fought Sioux, Cheyenne, Nez Perce, Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache warriors at renowned places like Washita, Apache Pass, Rosebud, Little Bighorn, White Bird Canyon, Bear’s Paw Mountains, and Wounded Knee, although the majority who also claimed to be Indian war veterans had performed more routine and unheralded duties during their years beyond the Mississippi River.
While in many ways their service facilitated the economic exploitation of Indian lands wrought by mining and settlement, as well as the internment of the tribes on reservations that followed, like most Americans of the time they embraced concepts of Manifest Destiny, by which they justified their own and their government’s actions. Most of them were former enlisted men, drawn together by camaraderie but also for the purpose of bettering living conditions for themselves and their families by championing pension benefits from a seemingly distant and unsympathetically frugal federal government that had extended its largess more charitably to the disabled veterans of the Civil War and the Spanish-American War.
The creation of associations specific to the interests of Indian war veterans followed a course similar to that of other veterans’ groups after the period of focus their service represented. Groups composed of veteran officers generally reflected their fraternal interests, as did, for example, the Society of the Cincinnati for those who served in the Revolutionary War; the Society of the War of 1812; the Aztec Club for former Mexican War officers; the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States for former Civil War officers; and several smaller societies observing officer service in Cuba, the Philippines, and China late in the nineteenth century.1
Enlisted veteran organizations, generally more concerned with welfare issues, had roots in various municipal and regional relief organizations founded during the Civil War to help needy soldiers and which continued to promote relief programs after the war. In the immediate postwar years, a profusion of groups evolved that eventually (1866-69) merged into a single association, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) that included both former Union officers and enlisted men. (A parallel and smaller body, the United Confederate Veterans, later served the interests of those who had fought for the South.)