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

Background

฀ 13 I n฀this฀volume,฀Bourke’s฀account฀of฀the฀Great฀Sioux฀War฀opens฀ with฀Crook฀camped฀at฀Goose฀Creek฀in฀extreme฀northern฀Wyoming ,฀in฀the฀final฀stages฀of฀preparation฀for฀resuming฀his฀Big฀ Horn฀and฀Yellowstone฀Expedition.฀The฀expedition฀was฀organized฀ the฀previous฀May,฀but฀went฀into฀hiatus฀after฀Crook’s฀defeat฀at฀the฀ Rosebud,฀in฀Montana,฀on฀June฀17.฀Consequently,฀he฀withdrew฀to฀ Goose฀Creek,฀to฀resupply฀and฀wait฀for฀Shoshone฀and฀Crow฀Indian฀ scouts.฀He฀and฀his฀officers฀spent฀several฀weeks฀hunting฀and฀fishing,฀ with฀his฀men฀pulling฀minimal฀duty,฀and฀often฀occupying฀their฀time฀ with฀various฀recreational฀activities.฀Bourke฀himself฀admitted฀that฀it฀ was฀“nothing฀but฀a฀picnic฀without฀exploit฀and฀without฀advantage.”1 ฀ In฀the฀meantime,฀five฀companies฀of฀the฀7th฀Cavalry,฀under฀Lt.฀Col.฀ George฀Armstrong฀Custer,฀were฀annihilated฀at฀the฀Little฀Bighorn,฀ and฀the฀remaining฀companies฀badly฀mauled,฀by฀the฀same฀Indians฀ who฀had฀driven฀back฀Crook฀at฀the฀Rosebud. From฀time฀to฀time,฀Bourke฀refers฀to฀the฀so-called฀“Crazy฀Horse฀ Fight.”฀This฀occurred฀the฀previous฀March฀17,฀when฀Bourke฀participated ฀a฀fight฀on฀the฀Powder฀River,฀under฀the฀immediate฀command฀ of฀Col.฀Joseph฀J.฀Reynolds,฀3rd฀Cavalry.฀The฀fight฀was฀a฀fiasco.฀After฀ ฀ ฀ ฀ ฀ ฀ ฀ ฀฀ Background 1.฀Bourke,฀Diary,฀4:379. 14฀ THE฀GREAT฀SIOUX฀WAR capturing฀and฀partially฀destroying฀an฀Indian฀village,฀Reynolds฀allowed ฀himself฀to฀be฀pushed฀back฀by฀a฀counterattack,฀leaving฀his฀dead฀ and฀wounded฀to฀fall฀into฀Indian฀hands.฀To฀make฀matters฀worse,฀the฀ village฀was฀not฀hostile฀but,฀in฀fact,฀belonged฀to฀a฀band฀of฀Cheyennes,฀ en฀route฀to฀check฀in฀with฀the฀military฀under฀a฀government฀edict.฀ Bourke฀and฀Crook,฀however,฀preferred฀to฀believe฀it฀was฀a฀hostile฀ Oglala฀village฀headed฀by฀Crazy฀Horse.฀Despite฀all฀evidence฀to฀the฀ contrary,฀including฀a฀report฀prepared฀on฀Crook’s฀own฀orders฀immediately ฀following฀the฀Indians’฀surrender฀in฀1877฀(see฀Appendix฀ 5)฀neither฀Bourke฀nor฀Crook฀ever฀admitted฀the฀mistake.฀As฀long฀as฀ they฀lived,฀they฀both฀insisted฀Reynolds฀had฀attacked฀Crazy฀Horse. There฀is฀no฀question฀that฀Reynolds฀completely฀mismanaged฀the฀ fight.฀Aside฀from฀hitting฀the฀wrong฀camp฀and฀losing฀his฀dead฀and฀ wounded฀to฀the฀enemy,฀he฀had฀allowed฀his฀horses฀to฀become฀exhausted ,฀and฀did฀not฀scout฀the฀terrain.฀Two฀company฀commanders฀ likewise฀did฀not฀live฀up฀to฀expectations.฀Captain฀Alexander฀Moore฀ found฀that฀the฀terrain฀did฀not฀allow฀him฀to฀fulfill฀his฀assignment,฀and฀ held฀his฀men฀back,฀allowing฀other฀companies฀to฀carry฀the฀brunt฀of฀ the฀fighting.฀Captain฀Henry฀E.฀Noyes,฀on฀the฀other฀hand,฀was฀overly฀ concerned฀about฀carrying฀out฀his฀assignment฀of฀securing฀the฀pony฀ herd,฀when฀common฀sense฀dictated฀supporting฀the฀companies฀that฀ were฀actively฀engaged.฀Upon฀returning฀to฀Fort฀D.฀A.฀Russell฀at฀Cheyenne ,฀Wyoming,฀Crook฀ordered฀all฀three฀court-martialed. The฀trial฀of฀Captain฀Noyes฀was฀held฀almost฀immediately,฀because฀ charges฀against฀him,฀primarily฀involving฀poor฀judgment,฀were฀the฀ most฀easily฀dispatched.฀He฀received฀an฀administrative฀reprimand,฀ returned฀to฀duty,฀and฀appears฀frequently฀in฀the฀first฀half฀of฀this฀volume .฀The฀charges฀and฀specifications฀against฀Reynolds฀and฀Moore฀ were฀far฀more฀severe,฀and฀their฀careers฀were฀on฀the฀line.฀After฀several฀ postponements฀that฀severely฀damaged฀morale฀in฀the฀3rd฀Cavalry,฀ they฀ultimately฀were฀tried฀and฀convicted฀in฀January฀1877.฀Reynolds฀ was฀suspended฀from฀rank฀and฀command฀for฀one฀year,฀and฀Moore฀ was฀suspended฀from฀command฀and฀ordered฀confined฀to฀the฀limits฀ of฀his฀post฀for฀six฀months.2 While฀Crook฀hunted฀and฀fished฀at฀Goose฀Creek,฀two฀columns฀ from฀Brig.฀Gen.฀Alfred฀H.฀Terry’s฀Department฀of฀Dakota฀linked฀on฀ the฀Yellowstone.฀One,฀the฀Montana฀column,฀under฀Col.฀John฀Gib2 .฀Robinson,฀General฀Crook,฀171–72,฀209–10. BACKGROUND฀ 15 bon,฀had฀marched฀east฀from฀western฀Montana,฀while฀the฀Dakota฀ column,฀under฀General฀Terry฀himself฀and฀including฀Custer’s฀illfated ฀command,฀had฀moved฀west฀into฀Montana฀from฀Fort฀Abraham฀ Lincoln,3 ฀in฀what฀is฀now฀North฀Dakota.฀Prior฀to฀the฀Rosebud฀fight฀ and฀the฀Little฀Bighorn,฀the฀divisional฀commander,฀Lt.฀Gen.฀Philip฀H.฀ Sheridan,฀hoped฀to฀catch฀the฀Indians฀between฀the฀three฀converging฀ columns฀and฀batter฀them฀into฀submission.4 News฀of฀the฀Custer฀disaster฀cast฀a฀pall฀over฀Crook฀and฀his฀men,฀ and฀Bourke’s฀narrative฀reflects฀the฀edginess.฀Finally,฀the฀Indian฀ scouts฀arrived฀and,฀unable฀to฀justify฀any฀further฀delay,฀Crook฀again฀ headed฀north฀to฀link฀up฀with฀Terry.฀Bourke’s฀narrative฀in฀this฀volume ฀begins฀as฀the฀expedition฀prepares฀to฀move...