Post by conz on Nov 6, 2007 11:40:48 GMT -6
Just some interesting notes out of the autobiographical history of Crook's Sioux campaign by one of the participating officers, then Captain Charles King, of the 5th Cavalry...
Campaigning with Crook and Stories of Army Life, by Charles King, 1880, original copyright by Harpers, 1890 (this volume is a reprint by Xerox's March of America Facsimile Series, 1966).
Experience of the frontier officers:
"And so we got our orders for the Sioux campaign of 1876. To the officers, of course, it was an old story. There was not one of our number who had not seen hard campaigning and sharp Indian fighting before."
Attitude of the rank and file Soldiers:
"In ten minutes the news was all over the post. A wild Celtic 'Hurray, fellows, we're going for to join Crook,' was heard in the barracks, answered by shouts of approval and delight from every Paddy in the command."
Soldier experience:
"'K' is a veteran company. Its soldiers are, with few exceptions, on their second and third enlistments. Its captain ranks all the line officers of the regiment, and admirably commanded it during the war while the field officers were doing duty as generals of volunteers. There is hardly a trace of nervousness even among the newest comers, but this is the first chase of the campaign for us, and all are eager and excited."
Their initial part in the campaign:
"On the 22d [June 1876], our companies were ordered straight to the north to find the crossing of the broad Indian trail from the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail reservations, by which hundreds of Indians were known to be going to the support of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse."
Protected watering holes for patrolling cavalry forces:
"At 10.15 we sight the palisade fortifications of the infantry company which guards the spring at the head of old Sage Creek."
Good example of a cavalry forced march:
"We have marched eighty-five miles in thirty-one hours, and here we are, square in their front, ready and eager to dispute with the Cheyennes their crossing on the morrow."
In comparison, Custer's approach march to LBH made 70 miles in two and a half days.
Cavalry attitude after LBH:
"...we thought of Custer and his comrades lying yet unburied only a few miles farther across that uplifted barrier in our front, and then we hurried on, eagerly praying that it might be our fortune to avenge some of those sacrificed lives..."
Part of Crook's "strike force" order as they launched a maneuver to catch the Indians:
"The regiment will march at seven A.M. to-morrow, 'prepared for action,' and company commanders will see to it that each man carries with him on his person one hundred rounds carbine ammunition and four days' rations, overcoat and one blanket on the saddle. Fifty rounds additional per man will be packed on mules. Four extra horses, not to be packed, will be led with each company."
Then the inevitable inspection:
"Officers ride slowly along their commands, carefully scrutinizing each horse and man. Blanket, poncho, overcoat, side-line, lariat, and picket-pin, canteen and haversack, each has its appropriate place and must be in no other. Each trooper in turn displays his 'thimble belt' and extra pocket package, to show that he has the prescribed one hundred rounds."
View of a cavalry column:
"Riding 'at ease,' the men talk, laugh, and sing if they want to. All that is required is that they shall not lounge in the saddle, and that they keep accurately their distance, and ride at a steady walk."
"The cloud of dust, in fact, rises from the whole column, and extends way back up the Rosebud, and even as I am wondering how far it can be seen, my eye is attracted by just as thick a cloud around the point, apparently coming up the valley."
Training during a campaign:
"General Carr, to keep us from rusting, ordered inspection and mounted drills on Sunday and Monday morning."
Hunting on the Powder River:
"Several small herds of buffalo were sighted, and some few officers and men were allowed to go with Cody in chase."
"Camped on the west fork of O'Fallon's. Game abundant all around us, but no firing allowed."
Administration on the march:
"Thursday, the 31st, with a cold norther blowing, we went down the Beaver ten miles to the north, halted and conducted the bi-monthly muster demanded by the regulations..."
After Slim Buttes:
"Through the mud, mist, and rain we plunged along, and by half-past ten were exchanging congratulations with Mills and shots with the redskins in as wealthy an Indian village, for its size, as ever we had seen. Custer's guidons and uniforms were the first things that met our eyes - trophies and evidence at once of the part our foe had taken in the bloody battle of the Little Big Horn."
I wonder where those re-captured guidons are today?
A cavalry skirmisher firing line:
"Along our line there is a business-like taciturnity, an occasional brief, ringing word of command from some officer, or a half-repressed chuckle of delight as some Patlander sees an Indian reel in his saddle, and turns to mutter to his neighbor on the skirmish line that he'd 'softened the wax in that boy's ears. Occasionally, too, some man suddenly drops carbine, claps his hand to leg, arm, or side, and with an odd mixture of perplexity and pain in his face looks appealingly to the nearest officer."
On Bill Cody:
"The Fifth had a genuine affection for Bill; he was a tried and true comrade -- one who for cool daring and judgment had no superior. He was a beautiful horseman, an unrivalled shot, and as a scout unequalled [sic]."
On treating Indians:
"We have captured a dozen or more rabid Indians who but half an hour ago were strewing the hillside with our dead. Here's one grinning, hand-shaking vagabond with one of Custer's corporals uniforms on his back -- doubtless that corporal's scalp is somewhere in the warrior's possession, but he has the deep sagacity not to boast of it; and no man in his sound senses wants to search the average Indian. They are our prisoners. Were we theirs, by this time we would be nakedly ornamenting a solid stake and broiling to a juicy death to the accompaniment of their exultant howls. But fate ordains otherwise; we are good North American citizens and must conciliate..."
Officers and fire control, typical example:
"As the general swings into the saddle and out to the front, the skirmish line is spreading out like a fan, the men running nimbly forward up the ridges. They are not well in hand, for they fire rapidly as they run. The volleys sound like a second
Spottsylvania, a grand success as a *feu de joie* but, as the colonel indignantly remarks, 'They couldn't hit a flock of barns at that distance, much less an Indians kipping about like a flea,' and orders are sent to stop the wold shooting."
"The principal occupation of our officers, staff and line, has been to move along among the men and prevent the waste of ammunition."
Soldier marksmanship:
"These men crouching along the ridge are Company 'F', of the Fifth...One of them, a keen shot, has just succeeded in knocking an Indian out of his saddle and capturing his pony."
A neat trick:
"It was part of my duty to record each day's progress, and to sketch in my note-book the topography of the line of march. A compass was always int eh cuff of my gauntlet, and note-book in the breast of my hunting-shirt..."
There is your regimental record-keeper someone was looking for earlier. He was the First Lieutenant of one of the companies, but acting Adjutant, performing Cooke's job for the 5th Cav.
At finding a straggler from the column mutilated by Indians:
"The maddest man about it was our Sergeant-Major, Humme, an admirable shot and a man of superhuman nerve and courage; yet only a few months ago you read how he, with Lieutenant Weir, met a similar fate at the hands of the Utes."
Clair
Campaigning with Crook and Stories of Army Life, by Charles King, 1880, original copyright by Harpers, 1890 (this volume is a reprint by Xerox's March of America Facsimile Series, 1966).
Experience of the frontier officers:
"And so we got our orders for the Sioux campaign of 1876. To the officers, of course, it was an old story. There was not one of our number who had not seen hard campaigning and sharp Indian fighting before."
Attitude of the rank and file Soldiers:
"In ten minutes the news was all over the post. A wild Celtic 'Hurray, fellows, we're going for to join Crook,' was heard in the barracks, answered by shouts of approval and delight from every Paddy in the command."
Soldier experience:
"'K' is a veteran company. Its soldiers are, with few exceptions, on their second and third enlistments. Its captain ranks all the line officers of the regiment, and admirably commanded it during the war while the field officers were doing duty as generals of volunteers. There is hardly a trace of nervousness even among the newest comers, but this is the first chase of the campaign for us, and all are eager and excited."
Their initial part in the campaign:
"On the 22d [June 1876], our companies were ordered straight to the north to find the crossing of the broad Indian trail from the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail reservations, by which hundreds of Indians were known to be going to the support of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse."
Protected watering holes for patrolling cavalry forces:
"At 10.15 we sight the palisade fortifications of the infantry company which guards the spring at the head of old Sage Creek."
Good example of a cavalry forced march:
"We have marched eighty-five miles in thirty-one hours, and here we are, square in their front, ready and eager to dispute with the Cheyennes their crossing on the morrow."
In comparison, Custer's approach march to LBH made 70 miles in two and a half days.
Cavalry attitude after LBH:
"...we thought of Custer and his comrades lying yet unburied only a few miles farther across that uplifted barrier in our front, and then we hurried on, eagerly praying that it might be our fortune to avenge some of those sacrificed lives..."
Part of Crook's "strike force" order as they launched a maneuver to catch the Indians:
"The regiment will march at seven A.M. to-morrow, 'prepared for action,' and company commanders will see to it that each man carries with him on his person one hundred rounds carbine ammunition and four days' rations, overcoat and one blanket on the saddle. Fifty rounds additional per man will be packed on mules. Four extra horses, not to be packed, will be led with each company."
Then the inevitable inspection:
"Officers ride slowly along their commands, carefully scrutinizing each horse and man. Blanket, poncho, overcoat, side-line, lariat, and picket-pin, canteen and haversack, each has its appropriate place and must be in no other. Each trooper in turn displays his 'thimble belt' and extra pocket package, to show that he has the prescribed one hundred rounds."
View of a cavalry column:
"Riding 'at ease,' the men talk, laugh, and sing if they want to. All that is required is that they shall not lounge in the saddle, and that they keep accurately their distance, and ride at a steady walk."
"The cloud of dust, in fact, rises from the whole column, and extends way back up the Rosebud, and even as I am wondering how far it can be seen, my eye is attracted by just as thick a cloud around the point, apparently coming up the valley."
Training during a campaign:
"General Carr, to keep us from rusting, ordered inspection and mounted drills on Sunday and Monday morning."
Hunting on the Powder River:
"Several small herds of buffalo were sighted, and some few officers and men were allowed to go with Cody in chase."
"Camped on the west fork of O'Fallon's. Game abundant all around us, but no firing allowed."
Administration on the march:
"Thursday, the 31st, with a cold norther blowing, we went down the Beaver ten miles to the north, halted and conducted the bi-monthly muster demanded by the regulations..."
After Slim Buttes:
"Through the mud, mist, and rain we plunged along, and by half-past ten were exchanging congratulations with Mills and shots with the redskins in as wealthy an Indian village, for its size, as ever we had seen. Custer's guidons and uniforms were the first things that met our eyes - trophies and evidence at once of the part our foe had taken in the bloody battle of the Little Big Horn."
I wonder where those re-captured guidons are today?
A cavalry skirmisher firing line:
"Along our line there is a business-like taciturnity, an occasional brief, ringing word of command from some officer, or a half-repressed chuckle of delight as some Patlander sees an Indian reel in his saddle, and turns to mutter to his neighbor on the skirmish line that he'd 'softened the wax in that boy's ears. Occasionally, too, some man suddenly drops carbine, claps his hand to leg, arm, or side, and with an odd mixture of perplexity and pain in his face looks appealingly to the nearest officer."
On Bill Cody:
"The Fifth had a genuine affection for Bill; he was a tried and true comrade -- one who for cool daring and judgment had no superior. He was a beautiful horseman, an unrivalled shot, and as a scout unequalled [sic]."
On treating Indians:
"We have captured a dozen or more rabid Indians who but half an hour ago were strewing the hillside with our dead. Here's one grinning, hand-shaking vagabond with one of Custer's corporals uniforms on his back -- doubtless that corporal's scalp is somewhere in the warrior's possession, but he has the deep sagacity not to boast of it; and no man in his sound senses wants to search the average Indian. They are our prisoners. Were we theirs, by this time we would be nakedly ornamenting a solid stake and broiling to a juicy death to the accompaniment of their exultant howls. But fate ordains otherwise; we are good North American citizens and must conciliate..."
Officers and fire control, typical example:
"As the general swings into the saddle and out to the front, the skirmish line is spreading out like a fan, the men running nimbly forward up the ridges. They are not well in hand, for they fire rapidly as they run. The volleys sound like a second
Spottsylvania, a grand success as a *feu de joie* but, as the colonel indignantly remarks, 'They couldn't hit a flock of barns at that distance, much less an Indians kipping about like a flea,' and orders are sent to stop the wold shooting."
"The principal occupation of our officers, staff and line, has been to move along among the men and prevent the waste of ammunition."
Soldier marksmanship:
"These men crouching along the ridge are Company 'F', of the Fifth...One of them, a keen shot, has just succeeded in knocking an Indian out of his saddle and capturing his pony."
A neat trick:
"It was part of my duty to record each day's progress, and to sketch in my note-book the topography of the line of march. A compass was always int eh cuff of my gauntlet, and note-book in the breast of my hunting-shirt..."
There is your regimental record-keeper someone was looking for earlier. He was the First Lieutenant of one of the companies, but acting Adjutant, performing Cooke's job for the 5th Cav.
At finding a straggler from the column mutilated by Indians:
"The maddest man about it was our Sergeant-Major, Humme, an admirable shot and a man of superhuman nerve and courage; yet only a few months ago you read how he, with Lieutenant Weir, met a similar fate at the hands of the Utes."
Clair