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

Appendix 5. Lieutenant W. Philo Clark’s Recapitulation of the Great Sioux War

฀ 489 The฀following฀account฀of฀the฀Great฀Sioux฀War฀was฀prepared฀by฀ Lieutenant฀William฀Philo฀Clark,฀Second฀Cavalry,฀on฀orders฀from฀ General฀Crook.฀It฀was฀submitted฀to฀Lieutenant฀General฀Sheridan,฀ who฀endorsed฀it฀on฀October฀31,฀1877.฀If฀Crook฀intended฀this฀as฀a฀ justification฀for฀his฀actions,฀he฀was฀only฀marginally฀successful.฀ Clark฀refutes฀Crook’s฀and฀Bourke’s฀continuing฀insistence฀that฀ the฀village฀attacked฀by฀Reynolds฀on฀March฀17,฀1876,฀was฀Crazy฀ Horse’s.฀Nevertheless,฀as฀late฀as฀1891,฀Bourke฀persisted฀in฀calling฀ it฀“‘Crazy฀Horse’s’฀village.”1 ฀Clark฀also฀hints฀that฀Crook฀was฀less฀ than฀successful฀at฀the฀Rosebud. In฀discussing฀Indian฀combat฀wounds,฀Clark฀remarks฀that฀he฀ believes฀“that฀of฀all฀animals฀they฀are฀the฀superior฀in฀point฀of฀tenacity ฀of฀life,฀magnificent฀horsemen฀and฀fine฀shots.฀.฀.฀.”฀Given฀Clark’s฀ overall฀interest฀in฀Indian฀culture,฀and฀his฀generally฀reasonable฀ dealings฀with฀them,฀it฀is฀doubtful฀that฀by฀“animals,”฀he฀meant฀ that฀they฀were฀a฀subhuman฀species.฀Most฀likely฀it฀was฀a฀figure฀of฀ speech฀referring฀to฀the฀animal฀kingdom—including฀humans—as฀ a฀whole. Appendix฀5 ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ Lieutenant฀W.฀Philo฀Clark’s฀฀ Recapitulation฀of฀the฀Great฀Sioux฀War 1.฀Bourke,฀On฀the฀Border,฀277. 490฀ APPENDIX฀5 (National฀Archives,฀Office฀of฀the฀Adjutant฀General,฀Record฀Group฀ 393,฀Special฀File,฀Military฀Division฀of฀the฀Missouri,฀Sioux฀War,฀ 1876–1877) Camp฀Robinson,฀Neb. Sept.฀14.฀1877. Adjutant฀General Department฀Platte. Sir: In฀compliance฀with฀the฀verbal฀instructions฀of฀the฀Dept.฀Commander ฀I฀have฀the฀honor฀to฀submit฀the฀following฀report฀of฀the฀late฀ Sioux฀War;฀based฀upon฀facts฀gleaned฀from฀statements฀made฀to฀me฀ by฀Indians฀who฀have฀surrendered฀at฀Red฀Cloud฀and฀Spotted฀Tail฀ agencies฀during฀the฀past฀eight฀months฀and฀information฀obtained฀ from฀Interpreters฀and฀friendly฀Indians฀it฀has฀been฀a฀very฀difficult฀ matter฀to฀get฀accurate฀information฀in฀regard฀to฀the฀different฀engagements .฀Not฀only฀as฀the฀Indians฀from฀Crazy฀Horse฀down฀have฀been฀ extremely฀reticent,฀but฀some฀of฀the฀battles฀were฀on฀so฀extensive฀a฀ scale฀that฀no฀one฀Indian฀could฀possible฀be฀conversant฀with฀all฀the฀ details.฀Especially฀difficult฀has฀it฀been฀to฀ascertain฀the฀number฀of฀ killed฀and฀wounded฀in฀the฀Rosebud฀and฀Little฀[Big]฀Horn฀fights,฀ where฀so฀many฀bands฀participated,฀I฀am฀confident฀however฀that฀as฀ the฀Indian฀account฀it฀is฀the฀most฀reliable฀that฀could฀be฀obtained. The฀small฀number฀of฀killed฀is฀due฀to฀the฀fact฀that฀an฀Indian฀ has฀a฀wonderful฀faculty฀of฀protecting฀himself฀and฀unless฀he฀is฀shot฀ through฀the฀brain,฀heart฀or฀back฀there฀is฀no฀certainty฀at฀all฀about฀ his฀dying,฀for฀since฀I฀have฀been฀here฀I฀have฀seen฀many฀Indians฀here฀ to฀have฀been฀shot฀in฀all฀manner฀of฀ways฀through฀the฀body฀and฀still฀ enjoying฀excellent฀health.฀I฀have฀been฀convinced฀that฀of฀all฀animals฀ they฀are฀superior฀in฀point฀of฀tenacity฀of฀life,฀magnificent฀horsemen฀ and฀fine฀shots—doing฀about฀as฀good฀execution฀on฀the฀backs฀of฀their฀ thorough[ly]฀trained฀speedy฀and฀hardy฀Ponies฀as฀on฀the฀ground,฀ accustomed฀from฀their฀earliest฀youth฀to฀take฀advantage฀of฀every฀ knoll,฀rock,฀tree,฀tuft฀฀of฀grass฀and฀every฀aid฀the฀topography฀of฀the฀ country฀affords฀to฀secure฀game฀and฀their฀education฀completed฀and฀ perfected฀by฀constant฀warfare฀with฀other฀tribes฀and฀the฀whites;฀each฀ warrior฀become฀an฀adept฀in฀their฀way฀of฀fighting,฀needing฀no฀orders,฀ to฀promptly฀seize,฀push฀and฀hold฀any฀opportunity฀for฀success,฀or฀in฀ retreating฀protecting฀themselves฀from฀harm.฀Each฀tribe฀is฀organized฀ by฀accident฀or฀pleasure฀into฀several฀different฀bands.฀Each฀band฀ LIEUTENANT฀W.฀PHILO฀CLARK’S฀RECAPITULATION฀OF฀THE฀GREAT฀SIOUX฀WAR฀ 491 having฀a฀chief,฀but฀his฀powers฀and฀authority฀are฀in฀a฀great฀measure฀ diminished฀by฀the฀will฀and฀wishes฀of฀his฀people. ฀Great฀prominence฀has฀been฀given฀Crazy฀Horse฀and฀Sitting฀Bull฀ in฀this฀war;฀the฀good฀fighting฀strategy฀and฀subsequent฀muster฀by฀ retreats฀being฀attributed฀to฀them,฀whereas฀they฀are฀really฀not฀entitled ฀to฀more฀credit฀or฀censure฀than฀many฀others฀so฀far฀as฀plans฀and฀ orders฀were฀concerned,฀but฀they฀headed฀two฀of฀the฀worst฀bands฀on฀ the฀plains,฀and฀were฀the฀two฀fiercest฀leaders฀the฀Sioux฀nation฀has฀ produced฀for฀years.฀Constantly฀in฀the฀northern฀country฀these฀bands฀ had฀renegades฀from฀all฀agencies฀as฀well฀as฀some฀of฀the฀strongest฀ men฀from฀a฀neutral฀standpoint฀that฀the฀Sioux฀as฀a฀nation฀possess฀ to-day.฀These฀latter฀worked฀from฀conviction฀and...