The general and Mrs. Custer had been away all winter up to this time, sight-seeing in New York. Now they returned by a hard trip through a blizzard—and they returned just in time. Orders had been sent out by General Sheridan, commander of the Division of the West, to General Terry, commanding the Department of Dakota, that the Department must bring the disobedient Sioux to task. Of course, the Seventh Cavalry would take the van, and the Long Hair would lead his warriors. Reports said that the march was to begin at once; that General Sheridan was anxious for another campaign. And it looked that way, with General Custer bustling about at Fort Lincoln, and with supplies and troops (according to talks among the officers) being collected at St. Paul in readiness for the first trains through to Bismarck.
“Aw, just put the Seventh in the field. That’s enough. We can lick the Sioux and make ’em eat at the Government’s table,” was the slogan in Fort Lincoln.
[265]
The plans seemed to be that the Department of Dakota was to attack from the east and the west, and the Department of the Platte from the south. Thus it would be pretty hard for the Indians to escape, except by going north into Canada.
The spring was late. The winter kept coming back again, to snow a little more; and after the snows there were many freezes and cold rains. The general would have started out at any time; but General Terry, at St. Paul, was not ready. He would accompany the column from Fort Lincoln, although General Custer was to command in the field.
Meanwhile the general was letting his hair grow long again, after having had it cut short for his stay in the East, and was preparing his command. There were many drills. Everybody was eager to be gone. Some of the officers, like Captain Benteen and Lieutenant Calhoun and Captain (he had been promoted) Tom Custer and Lieutenant Smith and “Queen’s Own” Cook and “Bandbox” Yates had fought Indians before; others like the new major, Major Marcus Reno, and Lieutenant Reily and Lieutenant Sturgis, were rather green at the business; and so it was with the enlisted men.
As for Ned, he had been transferred to Captain Benteen’s company, which was Troop H. Captain Tom now commanded Troop C.
Word went out that the regiment would take the field in April, sure, if the snow ever quit. Then,[266] amidst the preparations, suddenly General Custer was summoned to Washington. All knew that he hated to go; yet go he evidently must. He had been summoned to testify before a committee appointed by Congress to look into some alleged frauds at the Indian trading-posts. Of course, it was expected that he would come back soon; for who else was there to outfight the warriors of the great Sioux nation?
March passed. Already the army further west, in Wyoming where the snows were not so deep, had fought one battle with the Sioux. On March 17, or Saint Patrick’s Day, the Second and the Third Cavalry out of Fort Fetterman, under General J. J. Reynolds, sent by General Crook the “Gray Fox,” had attacked Crazy Horse’s village at the mouth of the Little Powder River and had destroyed it.
But the Indians had escaped, and had recovered their pony herd, too; so that in the opinion of the Seventh, the job could not compare with the fine job done down on the Washita. However, it was tough luck to be on waiting orders here at Lincoln, while the Second and the Third were busy at work.
No matter, though. Thirty-below-zero weather turned the Fetterman troops home again. Crazy Horse, now crazier than ever, would join Sitting Bull; and there would be fighting enough for everybody.
April arrived, and grew, and still no General Custer appeared. It was rumored that he had been held in[267] Washington, because of his testimony that did not please President Grant; next it was rumored that he had been removed from command of the “Custer” column; and next it was rumored that he would not accompany the regiment at all! This was startling news to the Seventh. What would be a campaign without “Old Curly!”
Now in these the days of chill April every soldier was on tiptoes with impatience. Custer or no Custer, the time was ripe for the march. Soon the grass would be greening, the Sioux would be able to travel, and the advantage would be all with them. Meanwhile, every report from the agencies was more alarming. The “friendlies” or “reservation Indians” were slipping, slipping, away, away, taking supplies and guns.
“Down at Standing Rock I hear there’s only five thousand Injuns where there used to be seven thousand,” asserted Odell. “The rest have lit out, to ‘visit’ and to ‘hunt’; but you can depind on’t, ’tis to the Big Horn country they’re goin’.”
The four troops of the Seventh from Fort Rice and the six from Fort Lincoln were moved out of barracks into camp, as a more convenient place for rendezvous. The infantry allies arrived, with a battery of gatlings; so did supplies, on the first trains. Bismarck City was alive with the excitement of the preparations.
Bloody Knife the Arikara chief scout could not understand what had happened to the Long Hair. Ned[268] watched him talking rapid sign language with Charley Reynolds; and afterward stalking away gloomy.
“Bloody Knife asks why the Long Hair doesn’t come and lead his warriors out. Too much fuss and wait, he says. The Sioux laugh and brag; and send in word from the hills: ‘Are the white soldiers tired before they start?’ ‘What is the matter with the Long Hair?’ ‘Is the Long Hair sick?’ And so forth. I tell Bloody Knife we have another big chief, named Terry, to lead us; but he says: ‘No want Terry. Want Long Hair. Long Hair never tired, never afraid, heap chief.’”
“Terry’s the man who captured Fort Fisher in Sixty-five, isn’t he?” queried an infantry soldier, standing near. “He must be a good one, then.”
“Yes; that’s how he got his general’s star in the Regular Army, and thanks o’ Congress besides,” answered Odell. “And wasn’t our own Lieutenant Smith there, too, on Terry’s staff? Sure, he was carryin’ the colors, to cheer on a regiment, when a ball so smashed his shoulder that he never can lift his arm above a level. Terry’s all right. He was a good lawyer before he was a good soldier. Everybody likes him. But he’s never fought Injuns. We all want Custer and you can be sure Sheridan does, too. It’s the president, who be head o’ the Army, that’s ag’in him. He’s talked too freely, I reckon, an’ some o’ Grant’s friends have been hurt by it.”
However, the first week in May, who should arrive[269] but General Custer! Afterwards it was known that he had just escaped being left behind entirely. Finally he had begged to be al............