The Diaries of John Gregory Bourke Volume 2: July 29, 1876--April 7, 1878

Chapter 4. The Ordeal Begins

86฀ August฀24th .฀We฀awakened,฀or฀rather฀arose,฀(because฀we฀had฀not฀ slept฀a฀wink฀during฀the฀storm฀which฀lasted฀all฀night.)฀and฀after฀considerable ฀trouble฀got฀our฀fires฀going฀once฀more฀and฀coffee฀boiling.฀A฀ good฀cup฀of฀this฀helped฀greatly฀to฀cheer฀us฀for฀our฀task฀of฀marching฀ which฀began฀almost฀immediately฀after.฀It฀was฀impossible฀to฀cross฀ the฀Powder฀river,฀which฀was฀greatly฀flooded฀by฀the฀torrent฀of฀water฀ which฀had฀filled฀it฀during฀the฀night:฀our฀line฀of฀march฀lay฀up฀the฀ Left฀or฀West฀bank฀for฀about฀ten฀miles,฀men฀and฀animals฀floundering฀ helplessly฀along฀in฀the฀deep,฀sticky฀mud,฀bearing฀as฀best฀they฀might฀ the฀drenching฀rain฀which฀saturated฀their฀clothing฀and฀blankets฀and฀ added฀much฀to฀their฀weight.฀Our฀poor฀horses฀and฀mules฀conduct฀ themselves฀as฀if฀they฀never฀had฀a฀friend฀in฀the฀world.฀A฀fine฀black฀ and฀white฀New฀Foundland฀dog฀has฀joined฀our฀Hd.Qrs.฀The฀orderlies฀ call฀him฀Jack:฀where฀he฀came฀from,฀no฀one฀can฀say.฀It฀won’t฀do฀to฀ inquire฀too฀closely:฀soldiers฀will฀steal฀dogs—they฀can’t฀help฀it฀and฀ are฀not฀to฀be฀blamed฀as฀they฀must฀have฀a฀pet฀of฀some฀kind.* Received฀the฀following฀dispatches,฀during฀march฀and฀in฀camp. Chapter฀4฀ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ The฀Ordeal฀Begins * Immediately฀after฀this฀sentence,฀Bourke฀wrote,฀then฀crossed฀out,฀the฀following:฀August฀ 24th .฀Moved฀about฀twelve฀miles฀upon฀Right฀(or฀East)฀bank฀of฀Powder฀to฀near฀the฀Indian฀trail,฀ Halted฀up.฀.฀.฀. THE฀ORDEAL฀BEGINS฀ 87 Dear฀General. I฀was฀directed฀to฀send฀Lieut.฀[Charles฀Brewster]฀Schofield฀of฀my฀ staff฀to฀find฀you฀and฀say฀that฀General฀Terry฀is฀looking฀for฀you.฀He฀ came฀here฀on฀steamboat฀to฀find฀you,฀but฀you฀had฀gone.฀He฀left฀here฀ for฀General฀Reno’s฀camp,฀7th ฀Cavalry,฀a฀few฀minutes฀since.฀As฀Mr.฀ Schofield’s฀horse฀is฀on฀herd,฀I฀sent฀the฀scout฀Taylor฀to฀say฀Genl.฀T.฀ wishes฀to฀see฀you.฀Please฀meet฀him฀or฀send฀definite฀word฀where฀he฀ can฀find฀you. Yrs.฀Respectfully, (signed.)฀J.S.฀Brisbin, Major฀2nd ฀Cavy.,฀Chief฀Cavalry. Dear฀General. I฀came฀up฀on฀the฀boat฀to฀see฀you,฀but฀found฀that฀you฀had฀gone.฀ The฀boat฀brought฀up฀your฀additional฀rations,฀but฀of฀course฀will฀not฀ land฀them.฀I฀can฀send฀your฀supplies,฀forage฀and฀subsistence฀to฀the฀ mouth฀of฀the฀Powder฀if฀you฀wish฀it;฀but฀if฀you฀could฀send฀your฀packtrain ฀to฀the฀landing฀it฀would฀be฀better฀for฀the฀boat฀is฀very฀busy.฀I฀ propose฀to฀start฀in฀the฀morning.฀My฀cavalry฀will฀move฀up฀on฀your฀ trail,฀until฀it฀can฀find฀a฀crossing,฀the฀Infantry฀on฀the฀East฀side.฀Please฀ inform฀me฀to฀what฀point฀you฀will฀send฀your฀train.฀I฀enclose฀notes฀ from฀the฀C.O.฀at฀Glendive฀creek.฀What฀do฀you฀think฀of฀them?฀I฀do฀ not฀attach฀any฀great฀importance฀to฀them.฀At฀any฀rate,฀I฀see฀nothing฀ in฀them฀to฀change฀our฀plans.฀Please฀preserve฀these฀notes. Yrs.฀Truly, (signed.)฀A.H.T. B.G. Aug.฀24th 1876. The฀notes฀from฀the฀Commanding฀Officer฀the฀of฀camp฀at฀Glendive฀ creek฀informed฀General฀Terry฀that฀the฀Indians฀in฀strong฀force฀had฀ attacked฀his฀post,฀but฀had฀been฀driven฀off. August฀24th ฀Evening(?) Dear฀General Your฀note฀crossed฀over฀from฀me฀to฀you.฀I฀sent฀Lieut.฀Schofield฀ out฀to฀find฀you,฀supposing฀that฀you฀were฀within฀four฀or฀five฀miles฀ and฀intending฀to฀go฀out฀and฀meet฀you,฀if฀you฀were฀near.฀My฀note฀ has฀fully฀explained฀all฀that฀I฀wished฀to฀say.฀I฀still฀intend฀to฀leave฀at฀ six฀in฀the฀morning฀and฀I฀hope฀that฀your฀march฀will฀not฀be฀so฀long฀ as฀to฀prevent฀my฀overtaking฀you. 88฀ THE฀GREAT฀SIOUX฀WAR Yrs.฀Sincerely, A.H.฀Terry, B.G. on฀outside฀was฀written: “Sanger฀to฀open฀and฀read฀dispatches.”1 August฀25th .฀Crossed฀Powder฀river฀and฀moved฀up฀on฀its฀Right฀or฀East฀ bank฀for฀twelve฀miles฀or฀more฀to฀near฀the฀point฀where฀we฀had฀left฀ the฀Indian฀trail฀on฀our฀downward฀march฀to฀the฀Yellowstone.฀Terry฀ to฀Crook.฀Aug.฀25th . Dear฀General. There฀is฀one฀thing฀which฀I฀forgot฀to฀say฀and฀that฀is฀that฀it฀appears฀ to฀me฀that฀the฀band฀which฀has฀gone฀to฀the฀north,฀if฀any฀have฀gone฀ there,฀is฀the฀heart฀and฀soul฀of฀the฀Indian฀mutiny.2 ฀It฀is฀the฀nucleus฀ around฀which฀the฀whole฀body฀of฀disaffected...