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

Chapter 6. The Campaign Ends

฀ 121 Chapter฀6฀ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ The฀Campaign฀Ends Sept.฀14th .฀The฀busy฀hum฀of฀lively฀conversation฀could฀now฀be฀heard฀ around฀every฀camp-fire฀and฀from฀every฀knot฀of฀soldiers:฀the฀change฀ was฀most฀agreeable฀from฀the฀glum฀and฀early฀moroseness฀of฀a฀few฀ days฀previous.฀The฀inspirating฀[sic]฀influences฀of฀abundant฀food฀and฀ bright,฀clean฀skies,฀were฀never฀more฀patent฀than฀now;฀the฀greatest฀ enjoyment฀after฀our฀recent฀approximation฀to฀starvation฀was฀to฀sit฀ about฀the฀fire฀and฀eat฀and฀chat:฀we฀had฀more฀than฀enough฀of฀all฀ the฀components฀of฀ration฀to฀last฀the฀Command฀for฀four฀or฀five฀days฀ and฀unlimited฀supplies฀were฀available฀in฀Deadwood.฀A฀wagon฀loaded฀ with฀bread,฀beans,฀coffee฀and฀sugar฀was฀sent฀out฀to฀meet฀Major฀ Upham’s฀command฀which฀left฀us฀yesterday฀very฀poorly฀provided.฀ Major฀Upham’s฀detachment฀however฀returned฀to฀camp฀before฀the฀ supplies฀were฀brought฀them.฀They฀saw฀no฀Indians,฀the฀trail฀they฀took฀ up,฀proving฀to฀be฀a฀very฀old฀one.฀One฀of฀the฀men฀of฀the฀5th ฀Cavalry,฀ straggling฀from฀this฀(Upham’s)฀command฀early฀this฀morning฀was฀ shot฀and฀killed฀by฀a฀small฀party฀of฀Sioux฀lurking฀in฀advance. Several฀buggies,฀the฀first฀we฀had฀seen฀for฀months,฀drove฀into฀camp฀ this฀evening.฀Among฀the฀gentlemen,฀was฀our฀old฀friend฀Wilbur฀Hughs.฀ We฀gave฀the฀visitors฀a฀cordial฀greeting฀and฀as฀much฀shelter฀for฀the฀ night฀as฀was฀possible.฀They฀supped฀with฀us฀on฀what฀fare฀we฀had,฀ 122฀ THE฀GREAT฀SIOUX฀WAR supplemented฀by฀an฀addition฀of฀fresh฀bread,฀butter,฀sandwiches฀and฀ hard-boiled฀eggs฀brought฀down฀from฀Deadwood฀City. After฀sundown,฀a฀courier฀from฀General฀Sheridan฀brought฀General฀ Crook฀a฀letter฀dated฀as฀follows, ฀ ฀ ฀ ฀ ฀ Chicago,฀August฀1st ฀1876 A฀few฀of฀the฀Indians฀who฀were฀out฀with฀the฀hostiles฀in฀the฀battles฀ of฀the฀17th ฀and฀25th ฀ultimo,฀(June?),฀have฀arrived฀at฀the฀agencies฀ on฀the฀Missouri฀River฀and฀at฀Red฀Cloud.฀They฀report฀many฀of฀the฀ Indians฀on฀their฀way฀back฀to฀the฀Agencies.฀Captain฀Mix,฀Comdg.฀at฀ Camp฀Brown,฀sends฀me฀the฀following฀this฀morning:฀“Indian฀scouts฀ sent฀out฀from฀here฀report฀hostile฀Indians฀moving฀South฀East,฀trailed฀ them฀from฀about฀head฀of฀Crazy฀Woman’s฀to฀the฀head฀of฀Little฀Powder฀ river;฀numbers฀unknown฀but฀believed฀to฀be฀large.฀I฀think฀they฀are฀ making฀for฀the฀Agencies. “J฀Mix Captain.” The฀last฀of฀the฀six฀companies฀of฀the฀Fourth฀Cavalry฀will฀not฀arrive฀ at฀[Fort]฀Laramie฀under฀ten฀days.฀Bill฀has฀passed฀Senate,฀increasing฀ companies฀of฀Second,฀Third,฀Fourth,฀Fifth฀and฀Seventh฀Cavalry฀to฀ one฀hundred฀men฀each. (Signed.)฀P.H.฀Sheridan, Lt.฀General Chicago,฀Ills.,฀August฀17th ,฀1876 The฀Bill฀for฀increasing฀the฀Regiments฀of฀Cavalry฀in฀the฀field฀passed฀ Congress฀and฀I฀have฀designated฀Fort฀D.฀A.฀Russel1 ฀[sic]฀as฀the฀rendezvous ฀for฀equipping฀and฀mounting฀the฀recruits฀for฀the฀2d,฀3d,฀ and฀5th ฀Regiments฀of฀Cavalry.฀Colonel฀[Ranald฀S.]฀Mackenzie฀is฀ now฀at฀Red฀Cloud฀and฀in฀a฀few฀days฀will฀have฀six฀companies฀of฀the฀ 4th ฀Cavalry,฀two฀companies฀of฀the฀5th ฀and฀one฀of฀the฀3d,฀four฀companies ฀of฀artillery฀and฀five฀companies฀of฀Infantry฀there฀under฀his฀ command.฀I฀have฀ordered฀the฀whole฀of฀the฀Eleventh฀Infantry฀from฀ Texas฀to฀Cheyenne2 ฀and฀Standing฀Rock฀Agencies.฀I฀will฀give฀orders฀ to฀General฀Terry฀to-day฀to฀establish฀a฀cantonment฀for฀the฀winter฀at฀ 1.฀Fort฀D.฀A.฀Russell฀was฀established฀in฀1867฀to฀protect฀workers฀constructing฀the฀Union฀ Pacific.฀Because฀the฀fort฀became฀an฀important฀supply฀base,฀an฀adjacent฀subpost฀was฀established ,฀officially฀designated฀Cheyenne฀Depot,฀but฀often฀referred฀to฀as฀Camp฀Carlin฀or฀Russell฀ Depot.฀Cheyenne฀Depot฀was฀discontinued฀in฀1890.฀In฀1930,฀Fort฀D.A.฀Russell฀was฀renamed฀ Fort฀Francis฀E.฀Warren.฀It฀later฀was฀transferred฀to฀the฀Department฀of฀the฀Air฀Force,฀and฀is฀ now฀Warren฀Air฀Force฀Base.฀Frazer,฀Forts฀of฀the฀West,฀184–85. 2.฀Cheyenne฀River฀Agency฀in฀what฀is฀now฀South฀Dakota. THE฀CAMPAIGN฀ENDS฀ 123 Tongue฀River฀and฀will฀send฀supplies฀there฀for฀fifteen฀hundred฀men,฀ Cavalry฀and฀Infantry. I฀think฀also฀of฀establishing฀a฀cantonment฀for฀the฀winter฀at฀Goose฀ Creek฀or฀some฀other฀point฀on฀your฀line฀for฀a฀force฀of฀about฀ten฀ hundred฀men.฀I฀will฀send฀to฀you฀one฀hundred฀of฀the฀best฀Pawnee฀ scouts,฀under฀Major฀[Frank]฀North,฀regularly฀enlisted,฀as฀Congress฀ increased฀the฀number฀[of฀authorized฀scouts]฀to฀ten฀hundred. We฀must฀hold฀the฀country฀you฀and฀Terry...