of military men in the Indian country, but would warn them against the arts of the selfish and unprincipled, who need to be watched as well as the Indians." When we call to mind that Congress, with this report before it, with General Sherman's name attached thereto, had confided to him the duty of seeing that the provisions of the treaties were fulfilled, and voted him $500,000 for that purpose; that he had done nothing beyond assigning General Hazen to the command of the district, and placed in his hands $50,000 to be expended for the benefit of the Indians; that Hazen had not then (October 15th) been to Fort Cobb, but three days later (October 18th) was among the Kaw Indians, receiving offers from them to supply warriors to join Sheridan's expedition, and tendering his own services as their commander, the language and conduct of General Sherman are extraordinary indeed. It is not necessary to analyze or criticise either. Every intelligent reader will arrive at his own conclusion in the premises. The subject will be resumed in the next chapter. CHAPTER XII. GENERAL SHERIDAN'S OPERATIONS.-MOVEMENTS OF GENERAL CUSTER.—HIS SURPRISE AND DESTRUCTION OF BLACK KETTLE'S VILLAGE, CALLED BY THE GENERAL SHERIDAN left Fort Hayes about the middle of November, 1868, expecting to overtake his invading army at Bear creek. From that point he was to move toward the Indian Territory, but there was an impression that he would not set out thence immediately. The newspaper correspondents with him said he had a large supply of extra horses, and the best outfit that had ever taken the field on the plains. He had, in advance, sent forward 400,000 rations to Fort Dodge, -300,000 to Fort Lyon, and 300,000 to Fort Arbuckle, and thus prepared for his winter campaign. The one-tenth of this amount of food given to these homeless Indians, would have accomplished all that was necessary, and completely composed and quieted all that were excited, as the small gift to the Sioux satisfied them the fall before. To have supplied these Indians with food would not, however, have been a gift, but the simple performance of an obligation, under the treaties of Medicine Lodge creek. But to have done this would not have met the views of the "ignorant and corrupt," such as criticised the conduct of the peace commission in the case of the Sioux. Nor would it have satisfied General Sheridan. He had decided on a winter campaign, the objects of which were "to strike the Indians and force them on the reservations set apart for them," and if this could not be accomplished, "to show the Indian that the winter season could not give him rest, and that he and his village and stock could be destroyed; that he would have no security, except in obeying the laws of peace and humanity." He had various columns in operation, whom he called "beat ers in," but these were not expected to accomplish much, except to crowd the Indians south, and concentrate them in the Washita valley, in the direction of old Fort Cobb. General Sheridan arrived at Camp Supply on the 21st of November, where he found the forces of General Sully engaged in erecting houses, digging wells, and such other improvemeuts as were necessary to protect his supplies. "A furious snowstorm commenced on the same evening, which continued all night and the next day, making the situation very gloomy, especially on account of the non-arrival of the Nineteenth Kansas," which was expected about this time. This was the regiment of Governor Crawford. General Sheridan was much disappointed at the non-arrival of this regiment, since it was his intention to have united it with the Seventh Cavalry (Custer's), and launched both on the Indians at once. Notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather and the absence of Crawford's regiment, General Sheridan ordered General Custer to move his regiment, "storm or no storm," on the morning of the 23d of November. In obedience to orders, General Custer moved promptly on that morning, at daylight, "although the snow continued to fall with unabated fury." For some time previous to this date, California Joe and some other scouts had been out in search of "hostile" Indians, and the Osage allies, or "trailers," had been out on the same errand. Had these scouts discovered the Indian villages on the Washita and so advised General Sheridan? And was this precipitate movement made in such inclement weather, under the apprehension that the Indians might learn that troops were coming from the north, and hence move their villages? In General Sheridan's report of the operations of General Custer, dated November 29, 1868, he says: "I have the honor to report for the information of the lieutenant-general, the following operations of General Custer's command. On the 23d of November I ordered General Custer to proceed, with eleven companies of his regiment of Seventh Cavalry, in a southerly direction toward the Antelope Hills, in search of hostile Indians. On the 26th he struck the trail of a war party of Black Kettle's band, returning from the north, near where the eastern line of the Pan Han dle of Texas crosses the main Canadian. He at once abandoned his wagons and followed in pursuit over to the headwaters of the Washita, and thence down that stream, and on the morning of the 27th surprised the camp of Black Kettle, and after a desperate fight, in which Black Kettle was assisted by the Arapahoes, under Little Raven, and the Kiowas, under Satanta, captured the entire camp, killing the chief, Black Kettle, and one hundred and three warriors, whose bodies were left on the field, all their stock, ammunition, arms, lodges, robes, and fifty-three women and three children. Our loss was Major Elliot, Captain Hamilton, and nineteen enlisted men killed; Brevet Colonel Barnitz badly wounded; Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Custer, Second, Lieutenant E. J. Marsh, and eleven enlisted men wounded. "Little Raven's band of Arapahoes, and Satanta's band of Kiowas, were encamped six miles below Black Kettle's camp. About eight or nine hundred animals captured were shot, the balance kept for military purposes. The highest credit is due General Custer and his command. They started in a furious snow-storm, and traveled all the while in snow twelve inches deep. "Black Kettle's and Little Raven's families are among the prisoners. It was Black Kettle's band who committed the first depredations on the Saline and Solomon rivers in Kansas. The Kansas regiment has just come in. They missed the trail and had to struggle in the snow-storm; the horses suffering much in flesh, and the men living on buffalo meat and other game for eight days. for eight days. . . . If we can get one or two more good blows there will be no more Indian troubles in my department. We will be pinched in our ability to supply, and nature will present many difficulties in our winter operations; but we will have stout hearts and do our best. Two white children were captured; one white woman, and one boy, two years old, were brutally murdered by the Indian women when the attack commenced." This report was addressed to General Sherman, from the depot on the North Canadian, at the junction with Beaver creek. In transmitting the same to the adjutant-general, at Washington, General Sherman indorsed on it: "This gives General Sheridan a good initiation. I understand his supply depot to be on Rabbit Ear creek, a little west of south from Fort Dodge, whence he can direct operations; and his very presence there will give assurance that the troops will act with energy, and that nothing will be done but what is right. The bands of Black Kettle, Little Raven, and Satanta are well known to us, and are the same that have been along the Smoky Hill the past five years, and, General Sheridan reports, embrace the very same men who first began this war on the Saline and Solomon." The report made by General Custer, of the battle of the Washita, and addressed to General Sheridan, is dated, "In the field, on the Washita, November 28, 1868," one day preceding the date of the report of the latter to General Sherman, and is as follows: "General: On the morning of the 26th instant, this command, comprising eleven troops of the Seventh Cavalry, struck a trail of an Indian war party, numbering about one hundred warriors. The trail was not quite twenty-four hours old, and was first discovered near the point where the Texas boundary line crosses the Canadian river. The direction was toward the southeast. The ground being covered by twelve inches of snow, no difficulty was to be experienced in following the trail. A vigorous pursuit was at once instituted; wagons, tents, and other impediments to a rapid march, were abandoned. From daylight until nine o'clock at night, the pursuit was unchecked; horses and men were then allowed one hour for refreshments; and then, at ten P. M., the march was resumed, and continued until 1:30 A. M., when our Osage trailers reported a village within less than a mile from our advance. The column was countermarched, and withdrawn to a retired point, to prevent discovery. "After reconnoitering, with all the officers of the command, the location of the village, which was in a heavy strip of timber, I divided the command into four columns, of nearly equal strength. The first, consisting of three companies, under Major Elliot, was to attack in the timber, from below the village; the second column, under Brevet Lieutenant-colonel Myers, was to move down the Washita, and attack in the |