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

Chapter 9. The Dull Knife Fight

฀ 179 Chapter฀9฀ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ The฀Dull฀Knife฀Fight (Thanksgiving฀Day.) November฀30th .฀As฀completely฀as฀the฀pressure฀of฀business฀and฀the฀ crowd฀of฀events฀will฀admit,฀I฀shall฀now฀attempt฀to฀record฀the฀history฀ of฀the฀work฀just฀accomplished.฀A฀page฀or฀so฀back,฀I฀transcribed฀a฀ telegram฀from฀General฀Crook฀to฀Lt.฀Genl.฀Sheridan,฀conveying฀his฀ determination฀to฀move฀down฀after฀Crazy฀Horse’s฀band฀on฀the฀Rosebud .฀For฀this฀movement,฀every฀preparation฀had฀been฀made,฀but฀a฀ trifling฀circumstance฀was฀the฀cause฀of฀a฀material฀modification฀of฀the฀ programme฀fraught฀with฀important฀consequences. Early฀on฀the฀morning฀of฀the฀23d,฀Sitting฀Bear,฀a฀Cheyenne฀Indian฀ dispatched฀from฀Red฀Cloud฀Agency฀by฀General฀Mackenzie฀to฀lay฀ General฀Crook’s฀ultimatum฀before฀the฀hostiles,฀waved฀a฀white฀flag฀ from฀the฀crest฀of฀a฀hill฀near฀our฀pickets฀and฀was฀soon฀admitted฀to฀ the฀presence฀of฀the฀Commanding฀General.฀He฀asserted฀that฀the฀little฀ village฀of฀five฀lodges,฀to฀which฀belong฀the฀young฀captive฀brought฀in฀ on฀the฀21st ฀had฀discovered฀our฀advance฀and฀taking฀the฀alarm฀started฀ off฀to฀warn฀Crazy฀Horse฀of฀our฀presence. General฀Crook฀at฀once฀made฀up฀his฀mind฀to฀send฀an฀expedition฀into฀ the฀mountains฀to฀seek฀and฀if฀possible฀find฀and฀destroy฀the฀main฀ village฀of฀the฀Cheyennes฀reported฀to฀be฀in฀the฀Big฀Horn฀Mountains.฀ 180฀ THE฀GREAT฀SIOUX฀WAR A฀party฀of฀advance฀scouts฀left฀camp฀without฀waiting฀a฀moment฀and฀ galloped฀up฀the฀stream฀we฀camped฀on฀to฀discover,฀if฀they฀could,฀some฀ signs฀of฀the฀foe.฀General฀Mackenzie,฀with฀all฀the฀Cavalry,฀except฀ Egan’s฀Company฀of฀the฀2d,฀and฀with฀all฀of฀our฀friendly฀Indian฀scouts,฀ under฀command฀of฀Lieutenants฀Clarke,฀Delaney฀and฀Schuyler฀and฀ Tom฀Cosgrove฀and฀Major฀North,฀left฀the฀wagon฀train฀the฀afternoon฀ of฀the฀23d฀of฀November,฀going฀ten฀miles,฀South,฀23°฀46฀up฀the฀Right฀ fork฀of฀the฀Crazy฀Woman’s฀Fork,฀before฀making฀camp.฀With฀the฀ columns฀were฀Lieutenants฀Bourke,฀3d฀Cav,฀Schuyler,฀5th ฀Cavalry,฀ [James฀Nicholas]฀Allison,฀2d฀Cavalry,฀and฀[James฀Mills]฀Jones฀(4th ฀ Artillery.)฀as฀volunteers. Lieutenant฀Bourke฀was฀assigned฀to฀Staff฀duty,฀Lieutenant฀Schuyler฀ to฀take฀charge฀of฀Shoshonee฀scouts,฀and฀Lieutenants฀Allison฀and฀ Jones฀to฀duty฀with฀Companies. The฀valley฀of฀the฀Crazy฀Woman’s,฀at฀least฀close฀to฀our฀trail,฀was฀well฀ grassed฀and฀like฀all฀the฀terrace฀lands฀at฀base฀of฀Big฀Horn฀Range฀well฀ adapted฀for฀pasturing฀cattle.฀We฀made฀bivouac฀not฀more฀than฀twelve฀ miles฀from฀the฀main฀range,฀in฀a฀point฀well฀hidden,฀and฀with฀sufficient฀ fuel,฀plenty฀of฀cold฀clear฀water฀and฀abundant฀grazing. Next฀day฀we฀kept฀up฀same฀general฀course,฀approaching฀the฀Big฀Horn฀ Mountains฀diagonally.฀Upon฀leaving฀camp,฀a฀detachment฀of฀soldiers฀ had฀to฀be฀kept฀hard฀at฀work฀for฀nearly฀an฀hour฀picking฀and฀shovelling ฀to฀construct฀a฀causeway฀over฀the฀little฀stream฀for฀our฀column฀to฀ march฀over.฀In฀the฀wintery฀season,฀the฀banks฀of฀these฀creeks฀acted฀ upon฀by฀the฀stem฀frost฀offer฀grave฀obstacles฀to฀cavalry,฀especially฀ with฀smooth-shod฀animals.฀Then฀came฀an฀interesting฀chase฀after฀my฀ pony,฀which฀had฀taken฀it฀into฀his฀head฀to฀have฀a฀little฀gallop฀with฀a฀ companion฀in฀the฀crisp฀and฀exhilarating฀morning฀air. Butler,฀the฀orderly,฀had฀a฀lively฀time฀catching฀him฀and,฀if฀practice฀ makes฀perfect,฀improved฀greatly฀in฀profanity฀before฀Dick฀would฀allow฀ himself฀to฀be฀saddled.฀Ten฀miles฀of฀marching฀had฀been฀made,฀when฀ our฀scouts฀ran฀in฀upon฀us,฀as฀we฀had฀reached฀the฀end฀of฀a฀projecting฀ spur฀of฀the฀Big฀Horn.฀Under฀such฀circumstances฀all฀kinds฀of฀rumors฀ spontaneously฀germinate:฀everybody฀has฀his฀own฀story฀and฀while฀ anxious฀to฀impart฀it฀to฀all฀about฀him฀is฀equally฀anxious฀to฀hear฀and฀ adopt฀their฀rumors.฀But฀after฀boiling฀down฀all฀these฀reports฀and฀ fanciful฀tales,฀the฀residum฀amounts฀to฀this;฀the฀main฀village฀of฀the฀ hostile฀Cheyennes฀had฀been฀located฀and฀its฀position฀was฀not฀very฀ distant฀from฀where฀we฀had฀halted.฀They฀could฀not฀say฀how฀many฀ THE฀DULL฀KNIFE฀FIGHT฀ 181 lodges฀were฀aggregated฀together฀nor฀how฀many฀ponies฀were฀in฀the฀ Cheyenne฀herd:฀“heap฀ponies”฀is฀an฀expression฀too฀indefinite฀to฀ serve฀as฀a฀basis฀for฀any฀strategic฀conclusions฀to฀be฀founded฀upon.฀ The฀earnest฀manner฀of฀our฀auxiliaries฀carried฀with฀it฀so฀much฀weight฀ that฀General฀Mackenzie฀ordered฀the฀column฀to฀remain฀where฀it฀was,฀ under฀cover฀of฀a฀projecting฀ledge฀of฀rocks,฀without...