Yellowstone Genealogy Forum
Early Surveys & Expedition Compendium
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
A few of the listings below were extracted from the War of the Rebellion[1] compendium that tabulates [in Military Command and date sequence] first-hand correspondence between various commanders during the Indian Wars (Rebellion). They show an intense interest in mapping the Yellowstone Region, and of placing military posts at strategic places. Nearly all of the riverboat trips (steamers) required by the Military during the early years are included; as well as some keelboats used before the advent of the steamers. The compendium collection is available for additional research in the GenRoom of the Parmly Billings Library. Inserted are communications from other sources, and these are denoted by separate footnotes. Collectively the articles paint a picture of the western areas of Montana, and the events that led to it becoming an important part of America. A few articles of the Civil War efforts are inserted to assist in determining where the various troops were being deployed. In mid-1865 General Sherman was directed to reduce his military to 10,000 whites and 10,000 colored. Virtually all volunteers were to be discharged. The Government was under the impression that the various fighting insurgents (Indians, French, Mexican, dissenters, terrorists, southern sympathizers who joined the Indians and Mexicans to fight the Union) were being brought under peaceful agreements, and that there need for troops would be greatly diminished. The financial crunch was taking a terrific toll. The terms relating to the surrender of the Confederate Forces, and the immediate effect it had upon the residents in the local areas is noted [in Green] for reference[2]. Please read the extensive February 13th letters and enclosures from Colonel Moonlight to General Dodge noted at several places in this summary. It explains typical problems faced by the commanders.
Reports of various Indian Battles and General
Sully’s 1864 march to the Yellowstone River where steamers Chippewa
Falls and Alone waited in August, at the Big Horn River, also contain
extensive reports of members of General Pope’s Command. A few Civil War reports
are included as they show the difficulty faced by the citizens and the military
in local areas.
Please note: Some of the correspondences are not in
absolute date sequence:
HEADQUARTERS
COLUMN FROM CALIFORNIA,
Cooke’s
Wells, Ariz. Ter., August 6, 1862.
Lieut. Col. EDWARD E. EYRE,
First Cavalry California Volunteers, Las Cruces, N.
Mex.:
COLONEL: The general commanding the
column directs that you have the ferryboat at Las Cruces cordelled up to the
San Diego crossing of the Rio Grande, where the Column from California will commence
crossing that river on the 9th instant. This cordelling can be done by a long
rope pulled by men walking along the shore. General Atkinson took his
whole command in 1821 from Saint Louis to the mouth of the Yellowstone by
cordelling keelboats up the Missouri, a distance of 1,600 miles. You
can do this with one boat in two days, commencing tomorrow morning. The general
says he is sure you can. I am,
colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
BEN. C. CUTLER, First Lieutenant
and Acting Assistant Adjutant- General.
APRIL 2, 1865.—Skirmish near
Van Buren, Ark.
Report of Brig. Gen. Gyms
Bussey, U. S. Army, commanding Third Division, Seventh Army Corps.
HDQRS. THIRD DIVISION, SEVENTH
ARMY CORPS,
Fort Smith, Ark.,April 6, 1865.
I have the honor to report that on the night of the 2d instant
twenty rebels came within two miles of Van Buren and robbed several
citizens. As soon as the facts
were reported to me I ordered Sergt. II. II. Jones, First Arkansas Cavalry, and
seven mounted men (all the horses I had not on duty) to pursue the enemy. They
came up with them several miles from town, and after a spirited engagement,
routed the party, killed 2 men, captured 9 horses and equipments, without loss
on our side. Papers on the bodies show them to be from Fulton, Tex., en route
to Missouri. Numerous parties are passing through the country, and some have
come in to carry on their guerrilla warfare. I need some cavalry very much, and
believe I could drive the guerrillas all out of the country with 200 or 300
mounted men. My scouts have returned from lied River and report the enemy
actively conscripting in all the counties south of here. They are concentrating
at Washington and Shreveport, and were shoeing horses and preparing for active
operations, but in what direction could not be ascertained. A deserter from
Texas came in last night. He reports the enemy moving toward Galveston. They
have been much scattered to obtain supplies. The people are much discouraged,
but the leaders want to carry on the war and are conscripting all able to bear
arms between sixteen and sixty-five.
Very
respectfully, your obedient servant,
CYRUS BUSSEY,
Brigadier- General, Commanding.
Col. JOHN LEVERING,
Assistant
Adjutant- General, Department of Arkansas.
HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSOURI, Saint Louis, April
20, 1865.
Lent. Gen. U. S. GRANT,
Commander-in- Chief of U. S. Forces, Washington, D. C.:
GENERAL: I
have the honor to transmit enclosed a copy of my letter to General E. Kirby
Smith, offering the terms accorded by you to General Lt. E. Lee; also a copy of
my letter of instructions to Colonel Sprague. Colonel Sprague left yesterday
for mouth of lied River. I am,
general, very respectfully, your obedient servant.
JNO. POPE,
Major- General, Commanding.
[Enclosure
No. 1.1
HEADQUARTERS
MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSOURI,
Saint
Louis, Mo., April 19, 1865.
Lieut.
Gen. E. KIRBY SMITH,
Comdg. Confederate Forces,
Trans-Mississippi Department:
GENERAL: I
have the honor to transmit enclosed for your information, by the hands of Col.
John T. Sprague, U. S. Army, the chief of my staff; certified copies [War of
Rebellion, Vol. XLVI, Part 111, pp. 619, 641, 664—666] of a correspondence
between Lieut. Gen. U. S. Grant,
General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States, and General Lt. R. E. Lee,
General-in-Chief of the Confederate Armies, leading to the capitulation of the
latter with the Army of Northern Virginia.
“Official
communications received today inform me that negotiations leading to the same
result are in progress between Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, commanding U. S.
forces in North Carolina, and General J. E. Johnston, commanding Confederate
forces in the same section of country. Authentic, though not official,
information has also reached here of the surrender of Mobile, with its
garrison, to Major-General Canby, U. S. Army. In view of these results,
accomplished and in progress of speedy accomplishment, I am authorized by the
General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States to offer to yourself and
the army under your command the same terms accorded to and accepted by General
It. E. Lee. It seems not improper for me to invite your attention to the fact
that a large part of the great armies of the United States are now available
for operations in the Trans-Mississippi Department; that they are sufficiently
strong to render effective resistance impossible, and that, by prolonging a
contest, now manifestly hopeless for any of the purposes for which it was
inaugurated, you will be made responsible for unnecessary bloodshed and for the
devastation and suffering which must follow the movement of large armies into
Texas and extensive military operations in that State. By accepting the terms
proposed you will preserve Western Louisiana and Texas from the devastation and
misery which have been the lot of nearly every Southern State east of the
Mississippi, and you will aid in restoring peace to this distracted country.
The duty of an officer is performed and his honor maintained when he has
prolonged resistance until all hope of success has been lost. Any further continuance
of hostilities simply leads to the certainty of inflicting upon a people
incapable of successful resistance all the horrors of violent subjugation.
Wisdom and humanity alike require that this contest, under the circumstances,
be brought to an end without further suffering or shedding of blood. I am unwilling that it should be
charged upon the military authorities of this military division that they
omitted a single effort to restore peace without further bloodshed. In all good
faith and earnestness, therefore, I proffer you the terms accepted by your
General-in-Chief and beg to express the hope that you will accept them and
spare the necessity of further hostile operations. Colonel Sprague is empowered
to make all necessary arrangements in perfecting the object of his mission.”
I am,
general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J.POPE, Major- General, Commanding.
[Enclosure
No. 2.]
HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION
OF THE MISSOURI, Saint Louis, Mo., April 19, 1865.
Lieut. Col. J. T. SPRAGUE:
COLONEL: You
will please proceed with the least practicable delay to the most accessible
point of the enemy’s lines along the Red River and deliver into the hands of
General Kirby Smith the enclosed letter.* In any conversation you may have with
him or others in authority it must be carefully borne in mind that the
arrangement proposed in the letter referred to is purely military and in no
manner relates to civilians or civil affairs. It may be well for you to
suggest, in any conference on the subject, though only in the way of suggestion
and without committing the Government to any future policy, that the terms now
offered to the rebel army under Kirby Smith or others in Western Louisiana and
Texas are much more favorable than they are at all likely to have acceded to
them if, by prolonging useless hostilities or maintaining a hostile position,
they force the United States to concentrate large forces and complete
preparations necessary for a decisive campaign into Texas. These preparations
completed and the campaign opened, terms will be directed [dictated] after the
violent occupation and con-sequent devastation of Texas, and they will be such
terms as the changed circumstances render desirable, probably very different
from the terms now offered. In case Kirby Smith, or any of his officers, whilst
accepting these terms for those under their command, prefer to withdraw
themselves to Mexico or any other foreign country without being subject to the
parole, you will not oppose any considerable objection. It is possible that the
rebel army in Southern Arkansas and Louisiana may prefer to break up its
organization, the officers and soldiers dispersing and returning to their homes
without surrendering or giving paroles, leaving their arms and the public
property (artillery, * See next, any munitions of war, &c.), to be taken
possession of by the U. S. authorities. Of course such a result, though very
desirable, should not be made the subject of any written agreement or official
understanding it is also possible that they may propose to march off in an
organized body, more or less strong, with all the material of war they can
transport, into Mexico, and thus practically abandon their hostile position to
the United States and their attempt to cover Louisiana and Texas. In all these
cases it is indispensable that you do not iii any manner commit the United
States Government to any policy. The only written agreement you can properly
make or that you are empowered to make is substantially that concluded by the
General-in-Chief with General R. E.
Lee in Virginia. It will be safe for you, in case any of the
propositions herein specified are advanced, to say simply that if it becomes
manifest soon to the military authorities of this military division that the
rebel armies [under] the general command of Kirby Smith have dispersed and that
the posts of Texas are no longer in possession of a military force in hostility
to the General Government, it is your opinion that only sufficient force will
be sent to garrison important points in the States of Texas and Louisiana, and
that these forces will no doubt be selected from the best disciplined troops,
who will not molest private property or interfere with citizens except so far
as directed to do so by the authorities in Washington. It might be well to
allude to the assassination of the President and the deep feeling it has
created throughout the United States, which feeling will undoubtedly be heavily
visited upon those who continue to resist the authority of the United States,
to whom the mass of people in the North attribute, however remotely, the
atrocious deed. I only make these remarks as suggestions, which are to be used
carefully and judiciously, if used at all, and only in the way of conversation
which does not commit the authorities to any statement or the expression of any
belief or intention based thereon. If the enemy accepts the offer contained in
my letter to General Kirby Smith you will make immediate arrangements to take
the paroles of all concerned. In all respects you are charged with completing
the arrangements proposed.
I am,
colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JNO. POPE, Major- General, Commanding.
No.2.
Report of Lieut. Col. John T.
Sprague, Eleventh U. S. Infantry, Chief
of Staff, SAINT Louis, Mo., May
27, 1865.
GENERAL: In compliance with your
instructions of April 20 [19], I proceeded to the mouth of Red River and sent a
messenger to General E. Kirby Smith, commanding the Trans-Mississippi
Department, with a private note expressing my desire to see him upon important
public business. In reply, he dispatched a steamer to the mouth of Red River
with two officers of his staff. They reported to me that they had come for the
purpose of receiving any dispatches I might have for General Smith. I declined
delivering them, as I wished to see General Smith myself, as I had much to say
beyond the contents of my dispatches. After consultation they concluded to
conduct me to General Smith’s headquarters, at Shreveport, La. Upon reaching
there I placed in the hands of General Smith a copy of the correspondence
between Lieutenant-General Grant and General IR. E. Lee, commanding the
Confederate forces in the field in the vicinity of Richmond, Va. His answer I have the honor to enclose
herewith. My conversations were frequent and very full with General Smith, as
well as with many other officers of rank in that service, in relation to the
demand made; but the prevailing opinion was that more liberal terms should be
granted to the Army of the Trans-Mississippi Department than those accepted by
General Lee. The enclosed copies of papers obtained by me during my repeated
conversations with the military and civil authorities of the Trans-Mississippi
Department give more fully the character of my interview with them than any detailed
statement I can make in this communication. At all times I declined
entertaining their various propositions, which they deemed so necessary in
vindication of their honor, in securing to the Trans-Mississippi Department
peace and prosperity. I did not accede to the proposition that His Excellency
Governor Allen, of Louisiana, should accompany me to your headquarters, thence
to Washington City. I did not feel at liberty to give a safeguard to the
governor of a rebel State. I
have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JOHN T. SPRAGUE, Lieutenant Colonel,
U. S. Army, and Chief of Staff.
Maj.
Gen. JOHN POPE,
Commanding,
Saint Louis, hub.
[Enclosure
No. 1.]
Maj. Gen. JOHN POPE, Shreveport,
La., May 9, 1865.
Commanding Military Division
of the Missouri, Saint Louis:
GENERAL: Your
communication of the 19th ultimo by the hands of Col. John T. Sprague, U. S.
Army, was received last evening. Your propositions for the surrender of the
troops under my command are not such that my sense of duty and honor will
permit me to accept. I regret that your communication should have been
accompanied with a threat, or that you should have supposed that personal
considerations would have influenced me in the discharge of my duties.
I am,
general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
E.KIRBY SMITH,
General.
[Enclosure
No. 2.]
Shreveport, La., May 9, 1865.
Their Excellencies HENRY W.
ALLEN, Governor of Louisiana; PENDLETON MURRAH Governor of Texas H.
Governor of FLANAGIN, Arkansas,
and THOMAS C. REYNOLDS, Governor of Missouri:
GENTLEMEN:
The surrender of General Lee, and the perilous situation of the armies in North
Carolina and Alabama, seems to preclude the probability of successful
resistance in the States east of the Mississippi. The army under my command yet
remains strong, fresh, and well equipped. The disparity of numbers, though
great, between it and our enemies may be counterbalanced by valor and skill.
Under these circumstances it is my purpose to defend your soil - and the civil
and political rights of our people to the utmost extent of our resources, and
to try and maintain untarnished the reputation, which our soldiers have so
nobly won in many fields. In order, however, to accomplish this great object it
will require the perfect concord of the civil and military authorities, the
application of all our energies, and the united and devoted support of the
people. The Trans-Mississippi Department is so separated from the States on the
eastern side of [the] Mississippi that communication is suspended. Since the
evacuation of Richmond, the seat of government of the Confederate States has
not been fixed, and it may be transferred to the western side of the
Mississippi. It is impossible to confer with the President so as to meet the
exigencies of the times, and questions of grave political importance beyond any
military authority may arise and require prompt decision. Intending to uphold
the authority of the Confederate Government by arms to the utmost, I yet feel
that I should carefully avoid any appearance of usurping functions not
entrusted to my discretion. Under these circumstances I esteem it my duty to
consult you, in the absence of the President, as the chief magistrates of the
States within the department, touching such important matters as are not
embraced in my powers as commanding general and as may conduce to the common
defense and welfare. I have therefore requested you to assemble in conference,
when I will furnish any information in my power, which may be useful in your
deliberations; and without proffering suggestions, ask you to indicate such
policy, as you may deem necessary to maintain with honor and success the sacred
cause in which we are engaged.
I have the
honor to remain, gentlemen, your obedient servant,
E.KIRBY SMITH,
General.
[Enclosure
No. 3.1
MARSHALL, TEX., May 13, 1865.
We advise General E. Kirby
Smith, commanding the Trans-Mississippi Department, to accept the following
terms, in order that peace may be restored to the country:
First. On or about the ______ day of
______ that the commanding general will disband his armies in this department;
officers and men to return immediately to their former homes, or such as they
may select, within the now existing lines of the Confederate States, or the United
States, and there to remain as good citizens, freed from all disabilities, and
restored to all the rights of citizenship; the U. S. troops and authorities not
to advance within the Confederate lines till after that day.
Second. Guarantees to be given that no
officer, non-commissioned officer, private, or citizen shall be prosecuted in
any courts for offenses committed against the United States during this war.
Third. That permission be granted to all
persons (officers, civil and military), soldiers, and citizens to leave this
department within ____ days, through its ports or boundaries, with their arms
and effects, unmolested, and go to any place, state, or country beyond the
limits of the United States.
Fourth. That the present State governments
in this department, now in arms against the U. S. authority, be recognized
until conventions can be called with the view of finally settling any and all
conflicts between the people of the respective States.
Fifth. That on or before the — day of —
all military authority shall be surrendered to the several States, and that
each State shall keep and retain number of men to act as a guard to preserve
good order and to protect the lives and the property of the people; that a
safeguard, to extend for —— days, be granted to the officers of state and
others to leave the country, in case they should wish to do so. The above terms
will be acceptable to the people of Louisiana.
HENRY W. ALLEN,
Governor of Louisiana.
A
surrender upon the above terms will be acceptable.
H.FLANAGIN,
Governor of
Arkansas.
[Enclosure
No. 4.]
MARSHALL,
TEX., May 13, 1865.
His
Excellency HENRY W. ALLEN,
Governor of Louisiana:
SIR: With a view to making a complete
pacification of the Trans-Mississippi Department we request you to visit the U.
S. authorities. You are fully
possessed of the views of each of us in writing, and we confide in your
patriotism and ability. Trusting to your judgment, we will sustain your
engagements in the premises.
We are, sir,
very respectfully, yours,
H.FLANAGIN,
Governor of Arkansas.
THOS. C. REYNOLDS,
Governor of Missouri.
I
concur in the above.
GUY M. BRYAN,
Agent State of Texas,.
[Enclosure
No. 5.]
Memorandum
for the Marshall Conference.
MARSHALL, TEX., May 10, 1865.
The
position of the Missourians both in the army and in civil life in this
department is this: The people and authorities of the territory held by the
Confederacy should decide whether they will continue the war. If it is to be
continued, we will stand by them faithfully to the last. Should the war be
discontinued, we desire time and facilities and supplies to leave the country
with our personal property.
THOS. C. REYNOLDS,
Governor of Missouri.
[Enclosure
No. 6.]
HEADQUARTERS
TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT,
Shreveport, La., May 15, 1865.
Col. J. T. SPRAGUE, U. S.
Army:
COLONEL: I have had the honor to
return my official reply to the demand of Major-General Pope, under
instructions from Lieutenant-General Grant, for the surrender of this
Department. An unofficial conversation ensued between us, in which I frankly
admitted the force of recent events in the States east of the Mississippi, and
you expressed a warm and benevolent desire to avoid further effusion of blood
and the infliction of useless suffering upon the people. I had before your arrival
convened the governors of the States composing my department for the purpose of
consulting with them in reference to public affairs and questions more properly
belonging to the civil than the military authorities. Having expressed a desire
to ascertain the result before your departure, you were invited to remain.
Since that time I have conferred fully with the governors of the States of
Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri. The Governor of Texas, being ill, was
represented by one of his staff officers. The governors so assembled have,
after consideration, presented certain measures, which they deem necessary to
the public order, and the proper security of their people, and which, if
accepted, would authorize me to relinquish further resistance. Governor Allen of Louisiana, with whom
you had conferences before the meeting, is fully informed of the views
entertained by himself and the governors of the other States. Believing it to
be the most expeditions, way to arrive at a definite understanding as to the
course to be pursued, it is desired that he should accompany you for the
purpose of presenting to the proper authorities the terms for their
consideration. In the event that
the terms proposed by the governors should be accepted by the authorities of the
United States. I shall deem it my duty to support those views. It is expected,
in the event of the propositions conveyed by Governor Allen being considered by
the authorities of the United States, that aggressive movements against this
department should be suspended.
I have
the honor to be, respectfully, your obedient servant,
E.KIRBY SMITH.
Note.—The application of Governor Allen to accompany me to
Washington I did not see fit to comply with.
JOHN T. SPRAGUE
Lieutenant- Colonel, U. S. Army, and Chief of Staff.
[Enclosure
No. 7.]
Memorandum for Colonel
Sprague.
The
terms proposed by General Pope, considering that my army was menaced only from
a distance, that it is large and well supplied and in an extensive country full
of resources, were not such as a soldier could honorably accept. An officer can
honorably surrender his command when he has resisted to the utmost of his power
and no hopes rest upon his further efforts. It cannot be said that the duty
imposed upon me has been fulfilled to the extent required by the laws of
honorable warfare. To have conceded the terms demanded would, therefore, have
dishonored the commander who submitted to them. It is not contended that the
Trans-Mississippi Department can without assistance accomplish its independence
against the whole power of the United States.
It is
conceded that its people, its army, and its commander desire to avoid the
unnecessary effusion of blood and the attendant devastation of the country. It
must also be conceded; on the other hand, that they desire to maintain their
honor, without which life would lose its attractions. As the commander of the
military forces, I cannot accept terms, which will purchase a certain degree of
immunity from devastation at the expense of the honor of its army. While we do
not expect to win unaided the independence of the country, it must be conceded
that the army can be beaten and the country overrun only after great and
expensive
preparations by the United States, affording opportunities for the development
of political complications which it is the interest of the United States to
avoid. If then, it be an object on the one hand to avoid the devastation of our
country, it is equally an object on the part of the United States to bring
about the complete pacification of the country and the restoration of their
authority without cost to themselves and without incurring the risk of
political complications. It is
thought that a proper course on the part of the United States would accomplish
this result. An army which is well appointed and supplied, not immediately
threatened, and with its communications open, cannot afford to surrender as
prisoners of war. They must first be placed in such a position that their
capture is a necessity. The demand to surrender, under present circumstances,
is not deemed reasonable, and it is not in accordance with the laws which
custom has made binding amongst nations and military men. The effect of such a
demand is to leave an impression that there is a wish on the part of the
victorious Government not to pacify the country and lead to a restoration of
former relations, but to humiliate a people who have contended gallantly in
behalf of principles which they believe to be right. It is thought that correct
views of statesmanship would induce propositions on the part of the United
States, which, while it saved the honor of the Confederate Army, would also
lead to the speedy pacification of the Trans-Mississippi Department. It is the
determination of the military authorities not to submit to ignominious terms;
it is their wish also to hasten the pacification of the country by every means
consistent with their honor. The following propositions are of a character so
reasonable under the circumstances that it is difficult to conceive of any
objection being urged to them:
First.
The U. S. authorities to grant immunity from prosecution for past acts to all
officers and soldiers and citizens in the Trans-Mississippi Department
Second. On the granting of this immunity all military resistance
to the United States Government to cease.
Third. The Confederate Army to be disbanded and its officers and
soldiers be permitted to return to their homes, transportation to be furnished
them as far as practicable.
Fourth. Such officers and soldiers as choose will be permitted,
without molestation, to leave the country, with or without their arms, in a
reasonable time.
Fifth.
The same permission to be granted to citizens.
Many
examples of history teach that the more generous the terms proposed by a
victorious enemy the greater is the certainty of a speedy and lasting
pacification, and that the imposition of harsh terms leads invariably to
subsequent disturbances. The propositions above mentioned contain terms, which
the Trans-Mississippi Department can rightly claim and the United States
Government can justly concede.
E.KIRBY SMITH.
A
DDENDA
HOUSTON, TEX., May 30, 1865.
Col. JOHN T. SPRAAGUE, U. S.
Army:
COLONEL: When I gave you, at Shreveport, a
memorandum, which I hoped, might be the basis of negotiations with the United
States Government; I commanded an army of over 50,000 men and a department rich
in resources. I am now without either. The army in Texas disbanded before my
arrival here. From one extremity of the department to the other the troops,
with unexampled unanimity of action, have dissolved all military organization[3],
seized the public property, and scattered to their homes. Abandoned and
mortified, left without either men or material, I feel powerless to do good for
my country and humiliated by the act of a people I was striving to benefit. The
department is now open to occupation by your Government. The citizen and
soldier alike, weary of war, are ready to accept the authority and yield
obedience to the laws of the United States. A conciliatory policy, dictated by
wisdom and administered with patient moderation, will insure peace and secure
quiet. An opposite course will rekindle the flames of civil war with a
fierceness and intensity unknown even in this sad and unfortunate struggle. I
myself shall go abroad until the future policy of the United States Government
toward the South is announced, and will return to my family only when I can do
so with security to my life and person.
Thanking
you for your kindness to my wife, I remain, colonel, your friend,
E.KIRBY SMITH.
P.S.—Since
writing the above I have information that the Missouri and a portion of the Arkansas
troops still retain their organization. E.K.S.
APRIL 21—22, 1865.—Expedition
from Donaldsonville to Bayou Goula, La.
Report of Maj. James M.
Hildreth, Sixteenth Indiana Mounted Infantry.
HDQRS. DETACH. SIXTEENTh
INDIANA MOUNTED INFTY.
Donaldsonville,
La., April 22, 1865.
SIR: In
compliance with instructions received, at 11 a. m. 21st instant I proceeded,
with Companies B and K of my command, on a scout toward Bayou Goula for the
purpose of capturing or destroying a small guerrilla band under Captain Brown.
I had proceeded about ten miles when my advance guard discovered three of the
enemy, who turned and fled when fired upon, after returning the fire. After
chasing them about three miles we captured one of them at the Andrews
plantation. Pursued the other two
about farther, when they left the river road and took to the swamps, leaving
their horses, which fell into our hands. I then proceeded to Bayou Goula,
arriving about dark. Found none of the guerrilla band in the place. I then sent
Lieutenant Weston with Company B back to Madam Randolph’s lane to scour that
neighborhood. With Company K I then proceeded to Mr. Ventress’; captured two
men of command at his house. From
Ventress’ I went to Madam Randolph’s back plantation; searched the place
thoroughly, but found nothing. I then went through a dense canebrake, which was
almost impassable, to Richard Thompson’s plantation. After searching the place
and finding no enemy I returned to the river road by way of Madam Randolph’s
home plantation. In the meantime one of the prisoners was lost in the woods. In
my opinion he will not be seen again in the vicinity of Bayou Goula. We
captured on the trip 5 horses, 1 of which had to be left on the road, as he was
so much run down that he was unable to travel; also captured 1 Burnside carbine
and 3 revolvers. Arrived at camp at 12 m. today.
Very respectfully,
your obedient servant,
J.M. HILDRETH,
FEBRUARY 2-18, 1865.-Operations against Indians on the North Platte
River, in Colorado and Nebraska Territories.
SUMMARY of the PRINCIPAL Events Leading to Forts on the Big Horn
Feb. 2,
1865.-Attack on the Overland Stage Station at .Julesburg, Col. Ter.
4-6,
1865.-Action at Mud Springs, Nebr. Ter.
8-9,
1865.-Action on the North Platte River, near Rush Creek, Nebr. Ter.
REP0RTS.
FORT LEAVENWORTH, February 9, 1865.
Major-General POPE:
Following dispatch received from General Mitchell:
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA,
Major-General DODGE: Omaha,
February 9,1865.
The telegraph
line from Lodge Pole Creek, twenty-five miles west of Julesburg, on Laramie
route, is destroyed for fifteen miles. Poles cut down and destroyed on the
Denver line beyond Julesburg. For the first fifty miles the telegraph is
destroyed about ten miles. New poles are on the way from Cottonwood to repair
the lines. We are compelled to
haul poles from. 130 to 145 miles. Every means in my power is used to have the
line fixed. All the available troops I have at my disposal are in the vicinity
of Julesburg, except small garrisons at posts required to be kept up on the
Denver route. My district only extends to Julesburg. I have sent troops,
however, under the direction of Major-General Curtis, up that route fifty miles
since the outbreak and find everything destroyed. The Overland stage has been
running tri-weekly as far as Julesburg; no farther. We have no communication
with Denver, and have not had since the last outbreak. Neither can I
communicate with Fort Laramie in consequence of the lines being down. I have
been traversing the country constantly on and adjacent to the mail and
telegraph lines during the past four months, sending guards on the stage, and
when deemed necessary mounted guards and patrols on all dangerous portions of
the road through my district. This plan succeeded until an overpowering force
attacked Julesburg and drove the troops inside of their works, and burnt the
stage and telegraph station, destroying a large amount of stores for both
companies. The Overland stage cannot run through until they can provide
supplies for stock from Julesburg to the Junction, where Overland stage leaves
Denver route, everything belonging to stage company, citizens, and Government
being entirely destroyed. The Indian villages are unknown to us. From the best
information I have I believe them to be on Powder River. I know certainly there
is a large village there. There has been no squaws in the country to my
knowledge since last fall. The tribes engaged are the Cheyennes, Arapahoes,
Kiowas, Bruills and Ogallalla Sioux, a portion of the Blackfeet, and a large
portion of what is known as the Missouri River Sioux, the same Indians General
Sully made the campaign against last summer. Less than from 3,000 to 5,000
additional troops will be totally unable to punish the Indians. One column will
never be able to over-take them unless they are willing to give battle. I think
three columns of men, 1,000 strong each, with ample garrisons on the Overland
mail and telegraph lines, well mounted and supplied, can clean out the country
of all hostile Indians if done before grass comes. After that time, in my
judgment, it will take twice that number of men. In addition to the troubles
west I would not be surprised any day to hear of an outbreak in the north part
of my district. I am informed by Indian scouts that there is a large encampment
of Indians on the Running Water that are ready to engage in the war against the
whites. Among them are some of the Yanktonnais. I am perfectly helpless so far
as soldiers are concerned if such a demonstration should be made. I have one
company of soldiers only to guard that whole country. They are stationed at
Dakota City and Saint James. I have just completed the organization of a
company of Pawnee Indians, by authority of the War Department. They are all
ready for the field, except horses. Will you order horses purchased or will I
have it done. They are on their way to Fort Kearny on foot.
ROBT. B. MITCHELL,
Brigadier-General.
I
am pushing out supplies. You are aware what troops are at Randall and that
vicinity that can be used in North Nebraska. Will the troops
at Sioux City be under my orders ~
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
FORT
LEAVENWORTH, February 9, 1865.
(Received
2 p. in.)
Major-General POPE, Saint
Louis, Mo.
The following dispatch
has just been received from Colonel Livingston:
FORT RANKIN,
NEAR JULESBURG.
Maj.
Gen. G. M. DODGE:
In
reply to your inquiries I would respectfully state as follows: In the early
part of January last indications of large parties of Indians moving westward on
Republican [River] were reported by the scouts sent to gain information of
their movements. On January 7 they had crossed South Fork of Platte River
twenty-three miles west of this post; camped with their families, forming a
camp of about, as near as learned, 400 lodges, containing eight warriors each,
many lodges being thirty robes in size. They at once commenced the work of
destruction along the road west as far as Junction Station, 100 miles from
here, and attacked this post. A desperate fight there repulsed them. Their
forces in this fight were not less than 2,000 men, armed with breech-loading
carbines and rifles. A desperate attempt on their part to burn the Overland
stage station near this post was made at this time, but was frustrated by the
gallantry of Capt. N. J. O’Brien, Company F, Seventh Iowa Cavalry. Every ranch and stage station from
Junction Station to this place, including the station one mile east of this
post, is burned, and the charred remains of every inmate who failed to escape
tell of the brutality they were subjected to. I telegraphed Hon. Samuel H.
Elbert, acting governor of Colorado, early in January of the state of things.
The troops of Colorado have been withdrawn from Valley fifty miles west of
here, I surmise, to concentrate around Denver. The telegraph line to Salt Lake
and the Denver branch line are destroyed for a distance of nearly ten miles on
the northern route, and in different points throughout 100 miles along the
Denver road. I am hauling poles and repairing the Salt Lake line with all the
expedition I can. I have secured 450 poles at Cottonwood, which I expect here
Friday morning. They are marching
night and day on this duty. Meantime my troops are digging holes for poles and
repairing such portions of line as admit of that course. I have but 360 troops,
but so long as human endurance holds out we will work night and day to get
communication perfect with the west. My opinion is that the Indians engaged in
this war are the Cheyennes, Ogallalla Sioux, and Brule Sioux. They have gone
northward toward Horse Creek, beyond Fort Laramie. This trail leads in that
direction, but they are slow in marching, feeling audacious and indifferent to
every effort from the small body of troops in this district. I saw their
signals today, probably those of small war parties, on the North Platte. Feel
assured, general, that this is no trifling Indian war. You will hear of
continued murders and robberies as long as the road is so poorly protected by
troops. No stages run farther west than Cottonwood. I have prevailed on agents
of the stage company to move their stations close to our forts for protection.
General Mitchell, commanding district, pursued these same Indians last mouth
through fearfully cold and stormy weather, but they reached and crossed the
Platte before we struck their trail and escaped us. My district extends only
this far west, but I am working in Colorado and Western Sub-District of
Nebraska. No spies can be used now, owing to numerous small war parties being
met everywhere in this country. I predict that if more troops are not sent into
this district immediately this road will be stripped of every ranch and white
man on it, the military posts alone excepted. Should these Indians swing around
by L’eauquiconrt [sp] River and strike the Omaha road below Kearny, where
settlements are numerous, infinite mischief will result to the settlers. What
we need is troops, supplies for them, and a vigorous campaign against these
hostile Indians. They must be put on the defensive instead of us. No difficulty
can arise in finding them. Over 2,000 stolen cattle accompany them. I will keep
the lines open for communication for Leavenworth for any further information.
Respectfully,
R.R. LIVINGSTON,
Colonel First Nebraska Cavalry, Commanding Eastern Sub-District.
I
have ordered one regiment to Julesburg. They will start on Monday.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
FORT
LEAVENWORTH, February 9, 1865.
(Received
1.15 p. in.)
Maj. Gen. JOHN POPE:
What
decision did you come to as to headquarters Department of the
Missouri
G.M.
DODGE,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION
OF THE MISSOURI, February 9, 1865—3.45 p m.
General DODGE, Fort
Leavenworth:
Your
headquarters will remain here until further orders from War Department. Return
as soon as you have put matters in proper trim to open and keep open Overland
route.
JNO. POPE,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION
OF THE MISSOURl, February 9, 1865—4.20 p. m.
General DODGE, Fort Leavenworth:
Send as
many troops as are necessary, and as soon as you can, to insure the opening of
the Overland route. I will replace them as soon as possible by other troops.
JNO. POPE,
Major- General.
FORT
LEAVENWORTH, February 9, 1865.
(Received
8.40 p. in.)
Maj.
Gen. JOHN POPE,
Commanding Military Division of
the Missouri:
District
of Utah, General Connor’s command, is not in this command. It should be under you. The Third
Wisconsin Cavalry, scattered over this State, is ordered to Arkansas. I think it
should be retained here and that portion in Arkansas brought here.
G. M. DODGE,
Major- General.
SPECIAL
ORDERS, ~ HEADQUARTERS,
No.
40. f Fort
Leavenworth, February 9, 1865.
* * * * * * *
3. All
troops at post Fort Leavenworth heretofore reporting to department headquarters
will report to Brig. Gen. T. A. Davies, commanding District of North Kansas.
By
command of Major-General Dodge:
JOHN WILLAKS,
Assistant Adjutant- General.
FORT LEAVENWORTH, February 9,
1865.
COMMANDING
OFFICER FORT RILEY:
Send the
Eleventh Kansas Cavalry to Fort Kearny. From that point they will telegraph for
orders. They must go prepared to make a campaign, well clothed and well
mounted. If they lack horses, take them from other regiments or use good mules.
Let them take plenty of provisions and forage. Train can accompany them if
necessary, and return. Move the regiment immediately. Answer and report action
in this case.
G. M. DODGE,
Major- General.
.
[First
indorsement.]
HEADQUARTERS,
Post Fort Riley, February 11, 1865.
Respectfully
referred to Col. James II. Ford, commanding District of Upper Arkansas, as the
Eleventh Kansas are not on duty at this post.
J. L.
PRITCHARD,
Major, Commanding Post.
[Second
indorsement.]
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF UPPER ARKANSAS,
Fort Riley, February 11, 1865.
Respectfully
returned, and would state for the information of the general commanding that I
have relieved the Eleventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, now on duty in this
district (864 men), and ordered them to Fort Kearny, Nebr. Ter. They are poorly
mounted, and as I have no other cavalry here to dismount, it will be impossible
for me to comply fully with the requirements of the order.
JAS. H. FORD,
Colonel Second Colorado Cavalry, Comdg. Dist. of Upper Arkansas.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Fort Leavenworth, February 12,
1865.
Brigadier-General MITCHELL,
Omaha:
Can you
ascertain what corn there is at Valley Station? What troops has Colonel Collins
got? Are there plenty of supplies en route from Julesburg to Laramie? Instruct
Colonel Collins to keep posted on localities of those Indians by Indian scouts
and spies.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
FORT RANKIN, February 12, 1865.
Colonel MOONLIGHT:
Following
just received for you. Can I do anything for you? I have 250 troops on Laramie
line and 150 at this post.
Lt. LIVINGSTON.
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF UPPER ARKANSAS,
Fort
Riley, Kans
Maj. CHARLOT, February 9, 1865.
Asst. Adjt. Gen., Department of
Kansas, Fort Leavenworth:
MAJOR: I
have the honor to state for the information of the general commanding that
since my last communication, of the 28th of January, up to the present date all
is quiet throughout the district. No large parties of Indians have been
discovered by our scouts along the line of the Arkansas River, and, with the
exception of an attack upon a fatigue party chopping wood one mile from Fort
Zarah, no casualties have occurred. On the morning of the 1st of February a
fatigue party of eight men chopping wood on the Arkansas, one mile from Fort
Zarah, were fired upon by Indians; one man mortally wounded. Lieutenant Coy,
Company G, Second Colorado Cavalry, immediately started in pursuit. The morning
being extremely foggy, ‘enabling the Indians to advance under its cover, also
concealed their retreat. All that the party sent in pursuit were able to
discover was a few moccasin tracks on the sandbar in the river. On the 6th of
February a report was received at these headquarters from Jesse H. Leavenworth,
Indian agent now at Council Grove, that Company D, Sixteenth Kansas Volunteer
Cavalry, at that place, was in a partial state of mutiny, having shot the
lieutenant of their company (mortally wounding him), and had it not been for
ten men of Company D, Second Colorado Cavalry, would have carried into effect
their threat of burning the town. Immediately upon receipt of this, Lieutenant
Wise, Company D, Second Colorado Cavalry, with the available men of his
company, proceeded to Council Grove (acting under instructions from these
headquarters) to investigate the affair, arrest all the guilty parties, and
send them to Fort Riley, Kans., for trial. The report having implicated the
captain of the company, he was directed to arrest him (and the whole company if
necessary). Owing to the messenger not being sent in time, the company had left
the Grove some six hours before the lieutenant arrived (acting under orders
from the commanding officer District of South Kansas), and having passed out of
the limits of this district, Lieutenant Wise deemed farther pursuit
unnecessary. Upon investigation the following facts were ascertained: That
Company D, Sixteenth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, Captain Kendall commanding,
acting under orders from the commanding officer of the District of Northern
Kansas, pursuant to instructions from department headquarters, were ordered to
Council Grove, Kans. (in the District of Upper Arkansas), to report to Maj.
Gen. James G. Blunt, commanding District of South Kansas; arrived there on the
— of January; left there on the 5th of February for Humboldt, Kans. On the
night previous to their departure eight of the enlisted men fired upon the
lieutenant, severely wounding him.
He drew his revolver and drove them off. He was carried into the hotel.
The men shortly after returned to complete their work, but were prevented by a
few soldiers of Company D, Second Colorado Cavalry (stationed at that place for
the protection of Government property stored there). Finding these men
determined to protect this officer they withdrew, returning again, however,
with more, declaring that they were going to kill him if they found him, and
that they would search the town, burn the hotel, and threatening the lives of
the citizens but that they would finish the job. It appears that the captain
was cognizant of this, and even present at the time the lieutenant was shot,
making no effort to control his men. I enclose Lieutenant Wise’s report.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J.E. TAPPAN,
Acting Assistant Adjutant- General.
(In absence of the colonel commanding district.)
[First
endorsement.]
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF TIlE MISSOURI, Saint Louis, February
22,1865.
Respectfully
referred to Brig. Gen. R. B. Mitchell, commanding District of Nebraska, Omaha
City, Nebr. Ter., with instructions to arrest and bring these parties before
court-martial.
By
command of Major-General Dodge:
D.G. SWAIM,
Assistant Adjutant- General.
[Second
endorsement.]
HDQRS.
EXPEDITIONARY TROOPS, DIST. OF NEBRASKA,
Fort Kearny, March 30, 1865.
Respectfully
referred to Brigadier-General Connor for his action on the arrival of the
Sixteenth Kansas Cavalry.
ROBT. B. MITCHELL,
Brigadier- General.
[Enclosure.]
FORT
RILEY, KANS., February 9, 1865.
Col. JAMES II. FORD,
Commanding District of Upper Arkansas:
COLONEL:
I have the honor to report that in pursuance to instructions received from
headquarters District of Upper Arkansas, I proceeded to Council Grove to
ascertain the facts about the shooting of
First Lieutenant
Dexter, belonging to Company D, Sixteenth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. From
information I received by Lieutenant Dexter and soldiers belonging to Company
D, Second Regiment Colorado Cavalry, and also by citizens of Council Grove, it
seems their stories are too clear to have any doubt but that it was an
attempted murder in which the captain of Company D, Sixteenth Kansas Volunteer
Cavalry, would be implicated. The facts, from all I ascertained, are these:
First Lieutenant Dexter and Captain Kendall, of Company ID,
Sixteenth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, have had some difficulties concerning
military matters, and on account of this First Lieutenant Dexter was reported
by the captain absent without leave, and was, therefore, dismissed the service
of the United States and ordered to report to Fort Leavenworth, Kans. The
lieutenant, after receiving his order, prepared to obey said order, and while
at Council Grove, preparatory to starting to Fort Leavenworth, a squad of eight
men came from the camp to Council Grove to arrest this first lieutenant,
Dexter, by order of Captain Kendall, and ordered him to go with them to camp,
and the lieutenant replied that his captain had nothing more to do with him,
and that they had no proper order to show concerning his arrest; still, he
would go, and started, but they had not proceeded more than 300 yards from the
hotel when the eight men at once leveled their pistols at the lieutenant and
the command to fire was given. The lieutenant at the same time drew his pistol
and fired one shot, but finding that he was wounded, ran for the hotel
immediately. He was pursued by some of the same party, and would have been
killed at the hotel if Sergeant Tibbits, with his detachment of Company ID,
Second Regiment Colorado Cavalry, had not come to his assistance immediately.
The soldiers who pursued him to the hotel were still threatening that they
would kill Lieutenant Dexter if they had to search every house in town, but
they finally saw that the detachment of Company D, Second Colorado Cavalry,
would kill the first one who attempted to open or break a door. They were then
ordered to go back to their camp. During all this time I understand that their
captain was about the town. The
next morning I returned to this post.
Very
respectfully, your obedient servant, WM. WISE,
First Lieut. Company D, 2d Regt., Colorado Cay., Comdg. Detach.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI
Fort
Leavenworth, February 9, 1865.
Brigadier-General
MITCHELL,
Omaha:
One
large regiment leaves here Monday for Julesburg; also 400 pack-mules. I expect
to get control of troops at Randall and Sioux City. Citizens of North Nebraska should be organized and armed
ready to defend their country if required. I will put troops on the line as
fast as possible. Can. you load 100 teams with forage at Omaha? Send friendly
Indians as spies among the Indians of North Nebraska. Will send you orders
about horses tomorrow. Let us get at the intentions of these Indians. I fear
the Julesburg Indians will swing round on the settlements.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General,
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE
MISSOURI, Port Leavenworth, February 9, 1865.
Brigadier-General MITCHELL,
Omaha:
With
troops ordered from here and Fort Riley there will be at least 2,000 additional
head of horses and mules to be fed from Kearny to Julesburg. What are your
facilities for doing it? These troops will be there within fifteen days.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Fort Leavenworth, February 9,
1865.
Brigadier-General MITCHELL, Omaha:
I have
no authority to authorize the raising of any companies. The quartermaster at
Omaha will purchase horses for the Pawnee Company. Vouchers will be paid by Colonel Potter, depot quartermaster
at this post.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Port
Leavenworth, February 9, 1865.
E.CREIGHTON,
Omaha:
I
shall be here until I get my troops well on the move, say eight or ten days,
and would like to see you.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Port
Leavenworth, February 9, 1865.
Colonel
LIVINGSTON, Julesburg:
I send
one full regiment to you; leave here Monday; also 400 pack-mules. I will give
you troops, but you must hold to what you have got, and we must get the
Overland route open. What supplies are most needed, and at what point? Keep
communication open with me, and report daily.
G. M.
DODGE,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Port
Leavenworth, February 9, 1865~
Col.
H. II. LIVINGSTON,
Julesburg:
Confer
with agent of Overland mail, and have him put stages through. I believe he is
with you. There will be two regiments with you as soon as they can march from
here arid Riley. They will be subject to General Mitchell’s orders.
G. M.
DODGE,
Major- General.
Capt.
J. B. DAVID, OMAHA,
February 9, 1865.
Columbus:
Send two
or three Pawnee Indians well up Loup Fork for the purpose of ascertaining the
movements of hostile Indians in that direction. If they find no Indians on the
Loup direct them to cross over to Wood River, near its head, and ascertain, if
possible, whether there are any Indians in that country. Say to them we will
pay them well for their time.
ROBT. B. MITCHELL,
Brigadier- General.
HDQRS.
MILITARY DIVISION OF WEST MISSISSIPPI,
OFFICE
OF THE CHIEF SIGNAL OFFICER,
New
Orleans, La., February 10, 1865.
Lieut. Col. C. T. CHRISTENSEN,
Asst. Adjt. Gen., Military
Division of West Mississippi:
COLONEL: I have the honor to submit to your
consideration the following report of information received at this office this
10th day of February, 1865: Information received at this office this day is
mainly confirmatory of previous statements. General Shelby is reported in
command of all the cavalry in the Trans-Mississippi Department. A Mr. Morris is
reported to be at Houston, Tex., engaged in the preparation of a machine for
blowing up the blockading fleet off Galveston. It is expected that his arrangements will be perfected this
month.
I have
the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
S.
M. EATON,
Captain and Chief Signal Officer, Mil. Div. of West Mississippi.
BATON
ROUGE, February 10, 1865.
Capt.
S. M. EATON, (Received 7.30 am
Chief Signal Officer:
A report
has just reached this place from Clinton, La., that there was a telegraph dispatch
received at that place yesterday to the effect that General Sherman was at
Branchville, S. C., entrenching, and that General Lee was advancing against him
with 100,000 men; also that the rebel peace commissioners had returned to
Richmond without accomplishing anything.
GEG. G. CURTISS,
First Lieutenant, Eighteenth New York Battery.
GENERAL
ORDERS, WAR DEPT., ADJT. GENERAL’S OFFICE,
No.
21.5 Washington,
February 10, 1865.
* * * * * * *
IV.
The Department of Mississippi will embrace so much of that
State as
may be occupied by the troops of the Military Division of West Mississippi on
the river.
V. The
Department of the Gulf will embrace the States of Louisiana and Texas.
VI. Other
military districts on the Gulf of Mexico will report direct to the commanding
general of the military division.
By
order of the Secretary of War:
E. D. TOWNSEND,
Assistant Adjutant- General.
HDQRS. FIRST Div., DETACH. A7
OF THE TENNESSEE, On board Steamer Diadem, Memphis, Tenn., February 10, 1865.
General N. J. T. DANA,
Commanding Department of
Mississippi:
GENERAL: I have been directed by the major
general commanding to stop at this place and collect all the officers and men
belonging to my command who are fit for duty. As some of them no doubt are
detailed and it is very desirable they should join their commands, will you
please issue an order to that effect, directing the men to report immediately
on board the above steamer. I also send you list of names of some of the
regiments in application from the regimental commanders to have officers and
men relieved.
I am,
sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J.McARTIIUR, Brigadier- General.
HEADQUARTERS~ CAVALRY
EXPEDITION, Steamer John Kaine, Gaines’ Landing, February 10, 1865.
Maj. Gen. N. J - T. DANA,
Commanding Department of
Mississippi:
GENERAL: After
the most fatiguing scout of my life I arrived here at 2 p. m. today, and have
the honor to report my command well, in good condition, and within one day’s march
of this place. I send:
WASHINGTON, DC, February 10, 1865—2.24 p. m. Major-General DODGE, Fort Leavenworth,
Kans.:
The
Secretary of War authorizes you to raise two companies of Indian guides, to be mustered
into service in usual form, for one year, or until sooner discharged. You will
provisionally appoint the officers as soon as companies are raised, and send to
the Adjutant-General a list of names of officers so appointed, for commission
by the President. Those you
require to be mounted will be supplied with Indian ponies by the
quartermaster’s department.
H.W. HALLECK,
Major General and Chief of Staff
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT
OF ARKANSAS, Little Rock, Ark., February 10, 1865.
Maj. Gen. G. M. DODGE,
Comdg. Department of the
Missouri, Saint Louis, Mo.:
GENERAL: I deem it inexpedient to make the
proposed exchange of the Second Missouri Cavalry for the First and Seventh
regiments as suggested in your endorsement of the 20th ultimo.
I am,
general, very respectfully, yours, &c.,
J.J. REYNOLDS,
Major- General.
FORT
LEAVENWORTH, February 10, 1865.
Maj.
J. W. BARNES,
Assistant Adjutant- General:
I shall
have to remain here several days. If there are any papers that need my attention
send them through by special messenger; any dispatches forward them by
telegraph.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
SPECIAL
ORDERS, HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
No.
41. Fort
Leavenworth, February 10, 1865.
* * * * * * *
VI.
The commanding officers at Fort Riley and Fort Kearny will halt all trains
going west at those points and organize the persons accompanying them into
companies for the protection of the train. A competent person will be selected
as captain and placed in charge of the train and organization.
VII.
All persons accompanying the train must be armed, and as soon as teams enough
are concentrated to organize a company of 100 or more armed men they will be sent
forward in charge of the captain appointed, who will be held responsible for
holding the organization and train together for its security, &c. Under no
circumstances will teams be allowed to straggle along the road, or go forward
except under a thorough organization as above prescribed. The officer in charge
of the train will endeavor to camp as near military posts as possible, and any
insubordination on the part of any person accompanying the train, refusal to
obey orders, &c., will be reported at the first military post, the
commanding officer of which will immediately cause the arrest and punishment of
the parties.
VIII. All Government trains
passing Forts Kearny and Riley will be strongly guarded, and citizen trains
will be allowed to accompany them. In such cases the commanding officer of the
escort will be placed in charge of the entire train. The commanding officers of
all posts are commanded to give all aid in their power to trains crossing the
plains and to see that this order is complied with.
IX. Government
trains and troops will obtain forage from the depots to Forts Kearny and Riley
from citizens on the route, in all cases giving the proper receipts to the
citizens and making the proper returns to the depot quartermaster, that no
delay or trouble may ensue in issuing the proper vouchers.
X. At
all times the Overland mail will be so protected as to insure its safety,
escorts running from one military post to another. Breaks in the telegraph line
must be immediately reported and repaired. Sudden dashes of Indians is no cause for stopping or turning
back of mails, as the moment the Indians are driven off they can be pushed
through. The mail stations through the country where Indian difficulties exist
should be placed within protecting distance of military posts.
Xl. Trains
returning will be organized, as above prescribed, at some post near Denver to
be selected by Colonel Moonlight, commanding District of Colorado.
By order of Major-General Dodge:
JOHN WILLANS,
Assistant Adjutant- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Fort Leavenworth, February 11,
1865—11 a. in.
Major General POPE:
Following dispatch
received:
FORT
RANKIN.
Major-General DODGE:
My
scouts from west report that Lieutenant-Colonel Collins, with 200 men Eleventh
Ohio and Company D, Seventh Iowa Cavalry, fought Indians from 4th to 9th
instant at Mud Springs. Indians at one time charged our forces in face of
artillery, and were very nearly successful; 2,000 warriors engaged in fight.
Our loss 2 killed and 11 wounded; supposed 40 Indians were killed. Beauvais’
and Creiokhton’s herds driven off. Indians crossed at Rush Creek, going north.
Following
from Captain Wilcox, Seventh Iowa, is received from Pole Creek Crossing: -
“Telegraph
poles all gone for fifteen miles, and one-third were either gone or so
inextricably tangled as to be useless. Seven hundred lodges crossed Pole Creek
six miles below Pole Creek Crossing. I go on to repair lines and open circuit.
Harris killed and Sergeant Clark, Company D, Seventh Iowa, wounded in Mud Creek
battle. I have directed that poles
be cut in two and split, so as to continue repairs and replace missing poles.”
Colonel
Collins urges necessity of sending more troops west, claiming the posts there
are in danger. He says Indians are on L’eau-qui-court River, sixty miles north.
Respectfully,
R.H. LIVINGSTON,
Colonel, Commanding.
I have
sent orders through to Colonel Moonlight at Denver to push out and meet Colonel
Livingston, using militia temporarily if necessary.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
HDQRS.
MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSOURI,
Saint Louis, February 11,
1865—12.09 p. m.
Major-General DODGE, Fort
Leavenworth:
It is
essential to the subsistence of the people of Colorado and Idaho that the
freight trains for those regions should go through with the earliest grass. It
is next to certain that they will not go unless with some authoritative
assurance of protection across the plains. It would be well for you to give
some public assurance of protection if you can make the necessary arrangements
for the purpose by April 1. By whose order was the Third Wisconsin sent to
Arkansas?
JNO. POPE, Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Fort
Leavenworth, February 11, 1865.
(Received
4 p. in.)
Major-General POPE, Saint
Louis:
I issued
Order 41 yesterday, which prescribes the manner of trains crossing the plains,
protection, &c., which insures their safety and allows the trade to be kept
up. Copy has been sent to you. Order for movement of Third Wisconsin was issued
in December by War Department. Companies A, C, D, F, M, veterans and unassigned
recruits are here; rest in Arkansas.
G.M. DODGE
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, Fort Leavenworth, February
11, 1865.
Governor CRAWFORD, Topeka, Kans.:
Will
you send a competent man to the Pottawatomie Indians and see if a company of
them can be raised to serve on the plains as scouts and guides for one year or
less?
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Fort
Leavenworth, February 11, 1865.
E.CREIGHTON,
Omaha:
Are you
coming down here? If not, telegraph me your ideas about the Indians and how
telegraph line stands. Do you fear any trouble with line west of Laramie.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
SPECIAL
ORDERS, HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
No. 42. Fort Leavenworth,
February 11, 1865.
1. Lieutenant
Robinson, engineer corps, is placed in charge of forts and redoubts building in
former Department of Kansas. He will make his reports to the chief engineer of
department at Saint Louis. Commanding officers of posts and quartermasters will
furnish details and transportation required to complete the works.
2. Capt.
Reuben A. Hill, Company K, First Infantry New Mexico Volunteers, is hereby
relieved from duty at Fort Lyon, Cob. Ter., and will report with his command without
delay to the commanding officer Fort Union, N. Mex.
* * * * * * *
4. The
commanding officer at Fort Riley in station an officer at Council Grove, to
organize trains passing on old Santa Fe road, as pre-scribed in Special Orders,
No. 41, from these headquarters.
* * * * * * *
9. The
Sixteenth Kansas Cavalry, with the detachment of the Fifteenth Kansas in charge
of howitzers, will proceed on Monday en route to Julesburg and report to
Colonel Livingston, commanding at that point. On their arrival at Fort Kearny
they will report by telegraph to Brigadier-General Mitchell, at Omaha, under
whose orders they will be on arrival there; but no delay will be made at that
point. Commanding officer of the Sixteenth will be in charge of pack-mule train
and wagon train, the wagon train to take forty days’ rations for the use of his
command. On arrival at Julesburg the wagon train will be returned to this
depot. Between Forts Leavenworth and Kearny the command will procure forage
from citizens on the route, proper receipts given, and report made to depot
quartermaster. The regiment will press forward as fast as possible, at the same
time having in view the good condition of the animals. The pack-mule train will
be turned over as Colonel Livingston or General Mitchell may direct after
arriving at its destination. A copy of telegram is attached designating the
road upon which forage may be procured.
By
command of Major-General Dodge:
J.WLLLANS,
Assistant Adjutant- General.
SPECIAL
ORDERS, HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
No.
42. Saint
Louis, Mo., February 11, 1865.
* * * * * * *
10. Capt. C. G.
Laurant, assistant adjutant-general of volunteers, having reported upon
expiration of leave of absence, will report for assignment to duty to Brig. Gen.
C. B. Fisk, commanding District of North Missouri, at Macon, Mo.
* * * * * * *
By
command of Major-General Dodge:
J.
W. BARNES,
Assistant Adjutant- General.
General G. M. DODGE:
I
would take military road to Lancaster, thence to Hiawatha; thence up Big
Kemaha, say twenty-five miles; thence over to head of Little Nemaha; thence
strike to crossing of Nebraska City road on Big Blue; thence 100 miles to
Kearny. Settlers on the route will give you ample information as .to the roads
on this route Hay and corn far as Big Blue on the old road. The supplies beyond
Marysville are short. On the old road no supplies beyond Marysville, and short
on this side.
B.M. HUGHES.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Fort
Leavenworth, February 11, 1865.
B.N.
HUGHES, Atchison:
You can
inform Mr. Holliday that I am prepared to protect his stages through my
department. Orders have been issued for necessary guard between Julesburg and
Denver.
G. M.
DODGE,
Major- General.
FEBRUARY
11, 1865.
Major DAVIS,
Independence, Mo.:
Colonel
Philips, commanding, has started scout from Warrensburg to Sni Hills to scout
La Fayette County five days, and directs that our troops cooperate. You will
therefore send a scout from your command immediately in that direction to co-operate
as far as possible with it. The
scout from Warrensburg will appear in Sni Hills this morning.
Can you
send Wyckoff, and where is your tri-monthly?
By
order of Col. Chester Harding, Jr.:
GUSTAVUS SALTZMAN,
Acting Assistant Adjutant- General.
HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF
SOUThWEST MISSOURI,
Major BARNES, Springfield, Mo.,
February 11, 1865—1.20 p. m.
Assistant Adjutant- General.:
I
respectfully recommend that the telegraph line from this place to Sedalia be
repaired and constructed, with an office at Warsaw; also a line from this place
to Mount Vernon or Neosho, as the commanding general may deem most expedient.
Mount Vernon will be a great advantage, and it will be difficult to keep it up
west of that place.
JOHN B. SANBORN,
Brigadier- General, Commanding.
CASSYILLE, Mo., February 11,
1865.
Brigadier-General SANBORN:
I have
received information from a female spy that I had employed that the rebels are
concentrating their forces, 500 strong, on the Dry Fork of Osage, in Arkansas.
Please give me a sufficient number of men to dislodge them, or instructions
what course I shall pursue. If I receive no instructions I shall leave in the
morning.
JAS. M. MOORE,
Major, Commanding.
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF SOUTHWEST MISSOURI,
Springfield,
Mo., February 11, 1865.
Major
MOORE,
Commanding at Cassville:
I am
almost certain that your information in regard to the number of the rebels is
incorrect. In any event you will have, with Hopper’s new force, enough to whip them.
The men will be at Galena to-morrow night. Do the best you possibly can with
the horses. The rebels certainly cannot keep 500 horses together any length of
time. The detachments understand that you will be in Galena to-morrow night.
Citizens from Arkansas have gone down to get their stock out, &c. You will
probably meet them.
JOHN B. SANBORN,
Brigadier- General, Commanding.
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF SOUTHWEST MISSOURI,
Springfield,
Mo., February 11, 1865.
J.B.
HICKOCK,
Cassville, Mo.:
You may
go to Yellville or the White River in the vicinity of Yellville and learn what
Dobbin intends to do with his command now on Crowley’s Ridge, and from there
come to this place.
JOHN B. SANBORN,
Brigadier- General, Commanding.
GLASGOW, February 11, 1865.
General C. B. FISK:
I have
information of some bushwhackers in this county and in Saline, but I am
entirely powerless at this point for want of horse equipments. Can we not have a special order from
General Dodge for the issue of the saddles at Macon? But yesterday, within six
miles of this place, in Saline, a party of six were committing depredations.
ED. A. KUTZNER,
Colonel, Commanding.
COUNCIL
GROVE, KANS., February 11, 1865.
Lient.
J. E. TAPPAN,
Acting Assistant Adjutant-
General:
I
saw your order for my visiting these southwestern counties and I shall leave in
the morning. I have visited Coffey County, and I find that county filled with
Indian cattle and ponies, and every town that I passed through I found parties
preparing to go to the Indian country for cattle, and I think if there is
anything that will make these Indians hostile it is stealing their cattle and
ponies. There is a report that there is a party of Texans corning up as soon as
warm weather comes. As for
stealing, that country is full of thieves and there are more or less horses
taken every night. There are parties here at this place fitting out to go to
the Indian country for cattle, and I think there ought to be a provost guard
here. I think if you could send eight or ten more men it would be sufficient at
present.
From your obedient servant,
H. J. TIBBITS,
Sergeant, Company D, Second Colorado Cavalry.
SPECIAL
ORDERS, HDQRS. DISTRICT OF NORTH KANSAS,
No.
27. Fort
Leavenworth, February 11, 1865.
* * * * * *
5. Commanding
officer Ninth Wisconsin Battery will immediately report his command for duty to
Col. W. R. Davis, commanding post of Fort Leavenworth.
6. Commanding
officer of Eleventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry will immediately report his
command for duty to Col. W. R. Davis, commanding post of Fort Leavenworth.
7. Commanding
officer U. S. Colored Light Artillery will immediately report his command for
duty to Col. W. R. Davis, commanding post of Fort Leavenworth.
* * * * * *
By order of Brigadier-General
Davies:
D. J. CRAIGIE,
Captain and Assistant Adjutant- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Fort
Leavenworth, February 11, 1865.
Brigadier-General
MITCHELL,
Omaha:
I have
just informed the Overland Mail Company that I am prepared to protect
their mail through this department. See that the proper protection is given it
from Kearny west to insure its safety.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Fort
Leavenworth, February 11, 1865.
Brigadier-General
MITCHELL,
Omaha:
Should
not the corn you are sending out be pushed through to Cottonwood and Julesburg?
We will have to operate from those points.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Port Leavenworth, February 11,
1865.
Brigadier-General MITCHELL,
Omaha:
All
troops going into your district are ordered to report to you by telegraph from
Fort Kearny, and to push on to Julesburg, unless they get orders there; and the
operations in your district are under your charge. You had better stay at Omaha
until we get matters under way, to attend to affairs there. When we get troops
out there you can join them if necessary. I keep in direct communication with
Colonel Livingston, so as to avoid delay and get posted. Have ordered him to
report all news to me at the same time he does to you.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Fort Leavenworth, February 11,
1865.
Brigadier-General MITCHELL,
Omaha:
You need
not send any rations from Omaha. I will send all rations needed from here. Send
only corn from Omaha, and that should be pushed up the valley. Have your
quartermaster report to Colonel Potter daily what he is doing.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Fort Leavenworth, February 11,
1865.
Colonel LIVINGSTON, Julesburg:
Where is
Mud Springs? Where are Colonel Collins’ troops stationed? Have any troops come
down from North Platte route to the South Platte route? Say to Colonel Collins
our posts must be held. As fast as troops can march they will go to your aid,
and I will get aid from Denver as soon as I can reach that place.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI
Fort
Leavenworth, February 11, 1865.
Colonel
LIVINGSTON,
Fort Rankin:
Send following
dispatch through to Colonel Moonlight, at Denver, immediately:
Colonel MOONLIGHT,
Commanding District of Colorado:
The
Department of Kansas has been attached to my command. You will immediately
throw your available force on the road from Denver to Julesburg. If you have
not men enough, take militia to hold the route until I can relieve them with
troops on the way. Cooperate with Colonel Livingston. Repair telegraph, open
communication and hold it open. Plenty of troops are on the road to chastise the
Indians, but Denver must hold its part of the line. Let me hear from you.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
G.M.
DODGE,
Major-
General.
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF UPPER ARKANSAS,
Port Riley, Kans., February 11,
1865—8.30 p. m. Maj. C. S.
CHARLOT, Assistant Adjutant-General:
MAJOR: I
have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of telegram from commanding officer
at Fort Riley ordering the Eleventh Kansas Cavalry to Fort Kearny. I have
relieved that portion of the regiment on duty at this post (864 men) and ordered
Colonel Plumb to proceed to Fort Kearny in compliance with that order. Two
companies are on duty at Fort Lamed. The regiment is greatly in need of horses,
and as I have no other cavalry here and no mules, it is impossible for me to
mount the regiment as directed by the general’s telegram. Taking this regiment
out of the district, together with the Third Wisconsin Cavalry and Ninth
Wisconsin Battery, ordered out some time since, leaves the district with less
than 600 men for duty, and but poorly mounted. The two companies at Fort Lamed
I have not relieved yet. Owing to the distance from here it would be impossible
to get them here in time to accompany the regiment on the march to Fort Kearny.
They are notified to be ready to start, but if they are taken away it will be
impossible for me to keep communication open between the States and New Mexico.
I send Lieutenant Tappan to Fort Leavenworth to consult with the general
commanding and inform him of the condition of the troops of this district.
Very
respectfully, your obedient servant~
AS. H. FORD,
Colonel Second Colorado Cavalry, Commanding District.
SPECIAL
ORDERS, ‘HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
No.
44.5 Fort
Leavenworth, February 13, 1865.
* * * * * * *
7. The
military permits and approvals given to parties trading in stock having been
abused or misused by parties receiving them are hereby revoked. All military
commanders will arrest and hold in confinement any person who is hereafter
guilty of robbing the friendly Indians of their cattle, or in any manner
swindling them. No permit will be given to any person to pass through the lines
of the Department of the Missouri for the purpose of trade of any kind. All
cattle or stock of any kind brought out of the Territory south of this
department for sale or speculation will be seized and turned over to the proper
staff department, who will hold the stock until the case can be fully
investigated at these headquarters.
By
order of Major-General Dodge:
JOHN WILLANS,
Assistant Adjutant- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Fort Leavenworth, February 13,
1865.
Colonel FORD, Fort Riley:
Hold the
two companies at Fort Lamed and send rest of Eleventh Kansas. Give them every
horse you can raise. I have got horses on their way to mount your command, and
troops to replace the Eleventh Kansas.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General
SPECIAL
ORDERS, HDQRS. DISTRICT OF NORTH KANSAS,
No.
29.5 Fort
.Leavenworth, February 13, 1865.
* * * * * * *
6. Companies
D, E, F, G, H, K, and M, Sixteenth Kansas Volunteer
- Cavalry,
and Lieutenant Gill, Fifteenth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, with detachment of
howitzers, will form on inspection ground and wagon train on road south of
square at 8 o’clock to-morrow morning precisely, prepared to march.
* * * * * * *
By
order of Brig. Gen. T. A. Davies:
D. J. CRAIGIE,
Captain and Assistant Adjutant-General.
DENVER,
February 13, 1865.
Maj.
Gen. G. M. DODGE,
Comdg. Dept. of the Missouri,
Fort Leavenworth, Kans.:
Dispatch
received. Have only 100 men on duty on line. Proclaimed martial law on 6th
instant. Called for 360 mounted militia; will have them this week. Am
embarrassed by district lines; extends northwest about forty miles. Territory
of Colorado should be district. Am expected to protect this people out of my
district 150 miles. Heretofore no cooperation with troops whose duty it was to
do the work. Julesburg is in
Colorado Territory. Will open the route and keep it open with militia, but it
goes hard. What is department called? Where is headquarters? Will send history
of affairs by first mail.
T.MOONLIGHT,
Colonel.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Fort
Leavenworth, February 13, 1865.
Colonel
MOONLIGHT,
Denver:
What are
your district lines? In opening communication or driving off Indians no attention
should be paid to hues. General Mitchell and Colonel Livingston have been
instructed to cooperate with you. What posts besides Julesburg are in Colorado
that are not under your orders?
Telegraph me all you know about the Indians.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
Colonel MOONLIGHT, Fort
Leavenworth, February 13, 1865.
Denver:
Send
me full report of matters in your district. Where are your troops Stationed?
What are you doing? What Indians arts near you or on your part of the line?
G. M. DODGE,
Major- General.
DENVER,
February 13, 1865.
Major-General
DODGE,
Comdg. Dept. of the Missouri,
Port Leavenworth, Kans.:
Stations
of troops: Fort Lyon, escorting stages and protecting Santa Fe route; Camp
Fillmore, on Arkansas River, protecting settlements; Fort Garland, on Arkansas
River, in south part of Territory; at Denver, provost guard; at Living Spring
(forty miles from Denver), protecting Overland route; at Junction (100 miles),
at Valley Station, (160 miles), a few escorting trains and coaches. Aggregate
for duty, 460. Indians near Junction, Valley Station, and 100 miles eastward,
about 15,000 on headwaters of Smoky Hill. Am raising militia force by sheer
force. On hand: Subsistence plenty; quartermaster’s department, no clothing or
blankets; destitute of transportation; not a dollar in money. Fort Collins, two
companies; Camp Latham detachments, seventy miles from Denver, not in my
district. Junction and Valley Stations, &c., not in my district. I am
expected to protect these points on Overland route with no troops, while they
are in General Mitchell’s districts with troops. No depredations committed in
my district; all in General Mitchell’s. This people look to me for opening
route; look to me for everything. Send me men and means. You shall not have to complain of
inactivity or imbecility. Indians are desperate; threaten Southern line, which
also looks to me for help. Mail
leaves Thursday. Have written you complete history of affairs.*
T.MOONLIGHT, Colonel.
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF COLORADO,
Denver,
February 13, 1865.
Maj.
Gen. G. M. DODGE,
Comdg. Dept. of the Missouri,
Fort Leavenworth, Kans.:
GENERAL: The condition of military affairs
in this Territory for the last three months has caused quite a stir at home and
a very great commotion abroad, and justly so. To enable you to properly
appreciate the wants and necessities of this people, so as to apply a remedy,
to arrive at a desirable conclusion as to the causes of existing hostilities on
the part of the Indians, to define my position as district commander, and to
lay before you the many difficulties and embarrassments which I have had to
contend against since assuming command, as well as to inform you of the steps
taken and the means provided for carrying out the behests of the Government and
protection of this Territory, I deem it my duty, first duty, to give you a
concise history of events which may be relied upon for present information and
future guidance. Had I been possessed of certain facts from reliable sources
when I assumed command of this district on the 4th of January, but a little
over a month ago, it might have been possible to arrange matters so as to have
fended off part, at least, of the present troubles, which will have (if not,
indeed, already) one good effect, viz, to change the policy of the Government
respecting the treatment of the Indians on the plains. Whatever may have been
the origin of the present difficulties, whether the white men or the red were
the aggressors matters not now. We are in every respect the superior of the
Indians, and can afford to wage a war of their own choosing, even to
extermination. When I assumed command of this district there were but about 200
men all told, and they were scattered over an area of 300 miles, and yet with
this command I was expected to protect the route from Denver to Julesburg, a
distance of 190 miles, while only 40 of the 200 soldiers were on that line,
stationed forty miles from Denver. The balance [was] on the Arkansas River and
at Fort Garland. My district extends about sixty miles on the Overland route
from Denver, and yet I am called upon to protect as far as Julesburg, in the
northeast corner of Colorado Territory, with no troops at my command, while on
the north there are plenty, as also from Julesburg to Kearny, which, in my
opinion from what I have seen of them and heard from reliable sources, had
better be sent to some new field of operations. I have special reference to the
stations from Kearny to Julesburg. I cannot say who is to blame for this but it
is not the less true. I see every reason why the District of Colorado should
embrace the Territory, and none for it being as it now stands defined. Fort
Lyon was not in my command when I arrived here, and has but lately been added,
which gives me about 250 more effective men in the district, but not for
operations on the Overland route, as they are needed in the southern portion of
the Territory to protect the Santa Fe route. About the end of December 1864,
the Third Regiment Colorado Cavalry (100-days’ men) were mustered out of
service, thus denuding the district of troops, and at a time, too, when the
Indians had suffered an overwhelming defeat or been subjected to a wholesale
massacre at the hands of Colonel Chivington, then commanding district (I give
you these distinctions, as the people here are divided on the question); at a
time when the Indians were burning for revenge on the white men, women, and
children, in retaliation for the same killed by Colonel Chivington commanding
(for it is useless to hide this fact); at a time when the severity of the
winter prevented the making of a campaign with any hope of success on our side,
even had the troops been at my command. In view of these facts, and knowing as
he did that the Territory would be exposed to Indian assaults and depredations
while denuded of troops, I question much the policy and propriety of the Sand
Creek battle fought by Colonel Chivington on the 29th of November, 1864. This
matter is now under investigation by a commission appointed under instructions
from Major-General Curtis, so that in course of time it will speak for itself.
After having become possessed of all these facts I looked around
to see what could be done in the premises to save this country. I first made a
statement to Major-General Curtis (which, by time way, has never been
acknowledged), and impressed upon him the necessity for making certain changes
and of hurrying out reinforcements. Finding no response or relief from that
quarter, I next called upon the governor regarding the turning out of the militia,
which was deemed impracticable owing to the fact that the law has so many
defects. I then suggested to the legislature, which was in session, the
propriety of amending the militia law, but no answer came or action taken. In
consultation with the governor and other prominent men of the Territory it was
deemed most expedient and best to urge the passage of a bill issuing
Territorial bonds which would be cashed at par by moneyed men, and the same
used to pay volunteers a bounty for three months’ service and purchase horses
on which to mount them (for there are none in the quartermaster’s hands, nor
any money to purchase them with), these men were to be placed under my command
and used in opening and keeping open the Overland Stage Route. The house and council
could not agree on this bill; so after over two weeks’ delay and no good
resulting from their action, I was compelled to proclaim martial law, shut up
all houses of business, stop all labor and traffic, and keep matters so until
they furnished me 360 mounted men, which I would arm and equip. These men are
now being raised, and I expect by the 20th to have the most of them in the
field. My position has been and is anything but a pleasant one. Isolated from
all support, a stranger in the land, cut off from all communication, threatened
and attacked by hostile Indians, being in a community divided against itself
and compelled to proclaim martial law, ‘with not a man at my back to enforce
obedience to the same; yet I have succeeded by first stirring up the public
mind and preparing it for the result which had to follow, unless I chose to
back down and yield my authority, which no living soldier will do. I enclose
for your information on this subject copies of a correspondence between myself,
the governor, and the legislature in these troubles, also an article* from the
Journal, a newspaper in the mountains, which will define to you my position and
show you what I have had to contend with. I made it my business to visit the
mountains officially on the very day when excitement was at the highest pitch;
on the day but after that article was written. I addressed a meeting of about
1,500 citizens in which I pointed out to them at whose door the blame lay, the
duties they owed themselves and the Government, and my reasons for proclaiming
martial law. I was unanimously sustained, and that night 120 men were sworn in
for three months. This was the quota required by the governor to fill my call.
I enclose you a copy of the order establishing martial law, as also the governor’s
call in accordance therewith. To assert your authority here in trying cases is
very different from asserting it in any other portion of the Union. Men of
influence and wealth in the East are interested to a very great amount in the
mining companies, so that they readily obtain an official ear in Washington to
a one-sided story, which invariably works injustice to those in authority and
responsible. I therefore respectfully ask, general, that you forward this, or a
copy, to Washington that I may stand right on the record. I am not afraid to
assume any responsibility commensurate with the surrounding circumstances and
which is for the good of the service, but I am afraid of the snake-like winding
of hypocrisy, backed by a groveling, sensual desire. If men will adhere to
truth I will cheerfully abide every issue.
In the hope this will prove satisfactory and of use to you in your
administration, and satisfy your mind regaining my position and the steps I
have taken in the premises, I have the honor to remain, very respectfully, your
obedient servant,
T.MOONLIGHT,
Colonel Eleventh Kansas Cavalry, Commanding.
[Enclosure
No. 1.]
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF COLORADO,
Denver, January 7, 1865.
Hon. SAMUEL H. ELBERT:
SIR: As
matters now stand in this district (having in a manner no troops), there is
great danger of being overrun by the Indians. Troops could at the present time
be raised better than at any other time, and now is the time we require them.
Will you, as acting governor, communicate with the authorities on the subject
(the governor being in Washington) to obtain this authority? It is of immense
importance to the Territory and the only way to receive speedy relief from the
danger surrounding and prevent starvation. I submit this for your consideration
and action, and my name may be used by you in this connection in your
dispatches.
Very
respectfully, your obedient servant,
T. MOONLIGHT,
Colonel Eleventh Kansas Cavalry, Commanding.
[Enclosure
No. 2.]
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF COLORADO,
Denver,
Cob. Ter., January 8, 1865.
Hon.
S. H. ELEERT,
Secretary and Acting Governor:
SIR: Owing
to the depredations of Indians we are at present shut out from telegraphic
communications with the east, and therefore beyond the reach of immediate
support from any quarter, leaving us to our-selves to act in the premises.
Should the troubles continue I will be constrained to call on the able-bodied
men to muster for the protection of the line of transportation. If you have any
special views on the subject I would be pleased to have them.
Very
respectfully, your obedient servant,
T.MOONLIGHT,
Colonel Eleventh Kansas Cavalry, Commanding.
[Enclosure
No. 3.]
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF COLORADO,
Denver, January 9, 1865.
SPEAKER
OF TUE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Colorado City, Cob. Ter.:
GENTLEMEN: Learning
that the legislative body of Colorado Territory is now in session, I
respectfully suggest for your consideration the propriety of immediately
reorganizing the militia law. Your country is in a manner isolated from the
balance of the Federal Government, on which you depend for supplies. Your line
of transportation is now inoperative, and it devolves upon you, the
representatives of the people, to take a step in a direction that will insure
you at least an active and efficient militia force to guard over your
interests. As matters now stand, the militia must be called out sooner or
later, and I make these suggestions that there may be no misunderstanding
between the civil and military.
Gentlemen pardon my intrusion; I mean it for your good.
Very
respectfully, your obedient servant,
T.MOONLIGHT,
Colonel Eleventh Kansas Cavalry, Commanding.
[Enclosure No. 4.]
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF COLORADO,
Denver
Co
Hon. S. H. ELBERT, January 17, 1865.
Acting Governor Colorado Territory:
SIR: By
reason of the scarcity of troops in this district our natural enemies, the
Indians, have possessed themselves of our lines of communication. They have
burned ranches, killed innocent women and children, destroyed Government
property wherever it was found, driven off the stage stock, killed the drivers
and passengers traveling on the coaches; in short, they are making it a war of
extermination. We may look in vain
for such timely military assistance as will protect the lives and property of
settlers, nor can we hope for an eastern communication this winter unless the
citizens of the Territory band themselves together in a military organization
and spring to arms at your call as chief executive. The blood of the innocent
and unoffending martyrs cries aloud for vengeance, and starvation stares in the
face the living. You nor I cannot longer remain inactive and be considered
guiltless. It devolves upon the militia as matters now stand to open the
Overland route and keep it open until troops can be had from the east to make
war on these savages of the plains until there remains not a vestige of their
originality. On behalf of the General Government (and on my own responsibility,
trusting to the justice of the cause for my own protection) I will furnish
carbines to the first mounted and accepted company and rifled weapons of
improved pattern to all the balance; also rations for the same as U. S. troops,
and forage for the animals, with the proper allowance of transportation, and
also horse equipments. My scouts inform me that the Indians' spies are now
prowling around the very skirts of this place, so that in addition to your call
for militia for field service the city companies should at once be placed on a
war footing, having daily drills, with appointed places of rendezvous, that we
may not be caught napping.
I am, very
respectfully, your obedient servant,
T.MOONLIGHT,
Colonel Eleventh Kansas Cavalry, Commanding.
[Enclosure
No. 5.]
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF COLORADO,
D. H. NICHOLS, Denver,
January 25, 1865.
Chairman of Committee on Military Affairs:
SIR: I have the honor to
acknowledge the receipt of your communication of yesterday, from Golden City,
making inquiries as to the number of troops in this district, and the disposition
made of them. I will cheerfully give you the desired information. At Fort Lyon,
which has lately been placed in my district, there are about 300 men. The
mustering officer, Capt. J. C. Anderson, has but returned after completing the
organization of the First Regiment by consolidating it into six maximum
companies. About forty men are at Fort Garland, but these now will be increased
to 100. About forty men are at Camp Fillmore, but these will be increased to
100 also, as companies will be stationed together at posts so remote. One
company will be stationed here, of 100 men, in place of the stragglers now
doing duty. One company will be divided and stationed at Bijou Basin and Living
Springs. This leaves only two companies at Fort Lyon. In addition to these
there are about seventy-five recruits of the Second Colorado. Part of them are
now at or near Junction and the balance will join in a few days. There are
about sixty men now at Valley Station, but these must be changed, owing to the
new organization. There are about 500 men, all told, for duty scattered from
Fort Lyon, via Garland, Fillmore, Denver and en route to Valley Station, a
distance of about 450 miles. The committee will see from this that so widely
spread are the troops that even in a case of emergency it would not be possible
to get together more than 200 men in thirty-six hours.
Trusting this may be of service to you in your proceedings, I
remain, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
T.MOONLIGHT,
Colonel Eleventh Kansas Cavalry, Commanding.
[Enclosure
No. 6.]
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF COLORADO,
Denver, January 31, 1865.
SPEAKER
OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Golden City:
SIR: I have been looking eagerly and
waiting patiently for time passage of the bill, which was designed, to relieve
the people of this Territory from the ravages of the Indians. That bill was
introduced at my suggestion as the most feasible of all plans to raise troops
rapidly and voluntarily for the opening of the Overland route and the keeping
of it open until succor could arrive from the States. The Indians are every day
becoming more desperate, and today there stands not a ranch out of the many
that were between Valley Station and Julesburg, and but very few on this side,
and all since the introduction of that bill. I trusted implicitly in the
patriotism and fidelity of the legislature, and that their wisdom and judgment
would at once foresee the necessity of taking steps to defend their homes, the
little ones, and the property of the people whom they represent. Am I mistaken?
God forbid! Yet every indication of late seems to blight my fondest hopes. I cannot longer await the action of
your honorable body, for this night's dispatches from Junction inform me that
about 3,000 Indians are marching up the Platte on both sides. Unless the
legislature within forty-eight hours does something to relieve suffering
humanity and save this country from ruin and devastation, I will be compelled,
much against my will, to proclaim martial law, shut up all houses of business,
and force every man able to bear arms into the ranks and send them out to
protect their brethren, kill off the Indians, and establish permanent
communication with the east. I cannot quietly look on and perform my duty to
this people, my country, and my God. I have weighed this matter well in my own
mind, and what I have stated is my firm resolve, with a lingering hope that
your honorable body will yet and immediately save this Territory from
destruction and themselves from the indignation of an infuriated people.
I have
the honor to remain, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
T .MOONLIGHT, Colonel Eleventh Kansas Cavalry, Commanding.
[Enclosure No. 7.]
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF COLORADO,
Denver, February 1, 1865.
Hon. SPEAKER HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Golden City, Cob. Ter.:
DEAR SIR:
I send this communication by special messenger and respectfully ask that an
answer to this, as well as that of January 31ultimo, be returned. Time passes
and the danger increases, hence the urgency of my request. I have been informed
from various sources that a portion of the House took exceptions to my letter
of the 31st of January, as being threatening and coercive in its tone. Permit
me to say that nothing was farther from my mind or intention. Liberty is a boon
I prize too highly to willfully deprive others of its blessings, and the course
that I fear I must pursue for the salvation of this people is forced upon me by
a combination of circumstances which, in my humble opinion, the legislature
might within the past two weeks have scattered to the winds. This they have not
done, therefore I must do something. On invitation of your honorable body and
on the speaker's stand in their presence did I make known my feelings on this
Indian question? There I urged the passage of that bill and there I told them
that I was opposed to martial law. My acts have not belied my words, but the
time has come when "patience ceases to be a virtue," and when
inactivity is a willful "dereliction of duty." So far I have been
patient in the extreme, though not inactive. I have nothing to retract in my
letter of January 31, but will adhere closely to my decision. I may err in
addressing the House and not the Council.
Should such be the case it must be attributed to my ignorance of
parliamentary rules, for I supposed that a measure of this kind would be acted
upon in joint ballot.
I have
the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
T. MOONLIGHT, Colonel Eleventh Kansas Cavalry, Commanding.
[Enclosure
No. 8.]
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF COLORADO,
Hon. E. T. HOLLAND, Denver,
Co. Ter., February 6, 1865.
Chairman Military Committee:
SIR: I have the honor to
acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 4th instant (in behalf of
the House of which you are an honorable member), in which I am informed that
the bill authorizing the issuing of $200,000 bonds for the purpose of mounting
the militia called for, paying the bounty, &c., was not likely to pass, and
also that a bill was likely to pass (superseding the "bond bill")
giving bounties to men who would enlist in the two Colorado regiments now in
the field, and also that it had been represented to the House as coming from
me, that a sufficient number of men could be obtained in this way, so as to avoid
the necessity of proclaiming martial law. In reply I would state that I am very
sorry the "bond bill" did not pass over two weeks ago, for to my mind
it was the surest and most honorable way that men could be raised and horses
procured. I have never stated that a sufficient number of men could be enlisted
for the old regiments so as to meet the exigencies of the case; and even could
these men be persuaded to enlist I have not at present the horses on which to
mount them. I should be pleased to see a bill pass authorizing the payment of a
liberal bounty to recruits for the First and Second Colorado Regiments, for I
think the regiments might be recruited up to the maximum; but I am sorry to say
that such a bill at this late hour would not meet the necessities of the times.
Men and horses must be had immediately, or else we must yield ourselves living
sacrifices to inhuman savages. And who of us all are prepared to do this. I beg
of you not to bury the bounty bill because of the lateness of the hour, which gave
it birth, for in my estimation it will be of great assistance and good. I am
more than sorry that I have now no other alternative but to proclaim martial
law and suspend all business until a sufficient number of men (mounted) are had
to open the Overland route and protect the frontier settlers of the Territory.
When I modified martial law, as it existed under the former district commander
I never expected to be compelled to restore it with renewed severity.
Accept
my thanks for your courtesy, and believe me, with esteem and respect, your
obedient servant,
T.MOONLIGHT,
Colonel Eleventh Kansas Cavalry, Commanding.
WASHINGTON,
D. C., February 14, 1865.
Major.
General POPE,
Saint Louis, Mo.:
The Secretary
of War does not approve the creation of a new department, as proposed. He
thinks that General Dodge will be able to properly defend the mail routes.
H.W. HALLECK,
Major- General and Chief of Staff.
HEADQUARTERS
MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSOURI,
February
14, 1865-11.40 a. m.
Major-General
DODGE,
Fort Leavenworth:
What is
General Mitchell doing at Omaha City while the Indians are overrunning his
district? Please order him to his proper station and duty forthwith.
JNO. POPE,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Fort
Leavenworth, Kans., February 14, 1865.
(Received
3.40 p. in.)
Major-General POPE:
General
Mitchell's district headquarters are at Omaha. He has been on the plains all
winter. He meets the troops at Kearny. His presence at Omaha was necessary to
get out our supplies. I have had to send all our forage from that point and
subsistence stores from here. Colonel Moonlight is moving down from Denver, and
I can keep the line open. The troops going forward, with those I can spare from
the forts, will make a campaign against the Indians immediately.
G. M. DODGE,
Major- General.
SAINT LOUIS, February 14, 1865-3.50 p. m.
Maj. Gen. G. M. DODGE, Fort Leavenworth, Kans.:
General
McNeil has reported. Have you any particular duty or command to assign him to?
Major-General Pope has gone to Milwaukee. When will you probably return?
J. W. BARNES,
Assistant Adjutant- General.
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Fort Leavenworth, February 14, 1865-7.30 p. m.
Maj.
J.W BARNES
Assistant Adjutant- General, Saint Louis:
Hold
papers there. I will be back before they can get here and return. It takes five
days to make round trip. Telegraph anything important. Has Fisk or Ewing
returned from Washington?
G.M.DODGE, Major- General.
SAINT
LOUIS, February 14, 1865.
Maj.
Gen. G. M. DODGE,
Fort Leavenworth, Kans.:
Neither
Ewing nor Fisk have yet reported back. Nothing urgently important in papers I
intended to send you; they will keep.
J. T• .BARNES,
Assistant
Adjutant- General.
SPECIAL
ORDERS, WAR DEPT., ADJT. GENERAL'S OFFICE,
No.
73. Washington,
February 14, 1865.
* * * * * * *
22.
Capt. William W. Lowe, Fifth U. S. Cavalry, will proceed without delay to Fort
Leavenworth, Kans., and relieve Capt. Sidney Clarke, assistant adjutant-general
of volunteers, in his duties as assistant to the provost-marshal-general,
superintendent volunteer recruiting service, chief mustering and disbursing
officer for the State of Kansas and Territories of Nebraska, Colorado, and
Dakota.
* * * * * * *
E.D. TOWNSEND,
Assistant
Adjutant- General.
PATTERSON
Colonel BEVERIDGE, February 14,1865.
Pilot Knob:
The
Freer guerrilla band is in Butler County killing and robbing, and I think it
best to send twenty men after them, if you do not want fifty men to go to
Ripley County. I have not got men enough for both scouts.
JAS.
SMITH,
Captain,
Commanding.
KANSAS
CITY Fe
Col.
J. F. PHILIPS, February
14, 1865.
Commanding,
COLONEL: General Dodge having given me
permission to visit him, I went to Fort Leavenworth on Thursday and returned on
Saturday last. I laid before him the condition of the country in this region,
but the department seems to be as bare of troops as the district is. The
general is moving every available hoof across the plains. All the cavalry which
was heretofore stationed from Wyandotte down the Kansas border has been taken
away. He cannot send us reinforcements unless it be that the remainder of my
regiment can be relieved in North Missouri and sent to me. I have to abandon
Hickman Mills today. I fear that disastrous consequences to the few loyal
people there will follow. There are enough able-bodied men at the station (some
forty) to take care of themselves, but they prefer to make friends with rather
than fight the bushwhackers. The company now there (C), First Missouri State
Militia Cavalry, has but sixteen horses. They have had no officer since Captain
Jackson and Lieutenant Dudley left. They did not amount to much when their
officers were with them, and were of still less use when a sergeant commanded
them. I have not been able to even make an arrest with these men. The stage
company is well protected down to Pleasant Hill. A company is camped on the Big
Blue at the ferry, and an escort accompanies the mail coach from Independence
down. I believe, however, that your idea is correct in regard to the danger of
allowing a small escort to go regularly with the mail, and I shall change the
arrangement. I have information of about 400 rebel soldiers and bushwhackers
being in this sub-district, in La Fayette, and in the border counties of
Kansas. I am trying to get the people to understand their danger, but, confound
them, while they growl if you don't put a guard at each man's farm and allow
their accounts for damages done by the guard, they are very slow about raising
a finger to help themselves, excepting to Uncle Sam's money. I anticipate worse
times this spring than ever occurred before, unless we can take all the disloyal
families out of the country.
I am,
colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
CHESTER HARDING, JR., Colonel,.
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF SOUTH KANSAS,
Paola,
Kans., February 14, 18G5.
Major-General
DODGE,
Commanding Department of the Missouri:
GENERAL: From
Colonel Wattles, of the First Regiment Indian Home Guard, just arrived from
Fort Gibson, I learn that the forces of Stand Watie, Cooper, and Gano, together
with a portion of the force that lately went south with General Price,
numbering in all about 7,000, are at and in the vicinity of Boggy Depot,
Choctaw Nation. These forces are represented as being well mounted, and from
the most reliable information obtained it is believed that they design moving
north either in force or in detachments for raids as soon as the season will
admit. Statements of refugees
lately arrived from Texas is that small expeditions are organizing in Bonham
and Sherman, Tex., for the avowed purpose of making a raid into the
southwestern portion of this State.
In consequence
of these facts the people of the settlements in the Neosho Valley are quite
alarmed, and not without some cause. The Neosho Valley is one of the best
settlements in the State, and abounds largely in valuable stock of all kinds,
which is a great inducement for raiding parties, and the country through which
they would pass from Red River will be well supplied with grass and water as
soon as the last of April or the first of May. The forces at Fort Smith and
Fort Gibson are very small and consist entirely [of] infantry; at the latter
place there is nothing but Indian soldiers, which are very inefficient. Hence,
with the present force at the two places named, Forts Smith and Gibson, we can
expect but little in the way of intercepting any force at the Arkansas River
that design making a raid into this State. I have written Colonel Phillips,
commanding at Fort Gibson, requesting him to furnish us promptly with any
information he may obtain of movements of rebel troops moving north with the
view of crossing the Arkansas River, especially west of Fort Gibson, and I have
also arranged for sending scouts from the southwest settlements of Kansas for
the same purpose. With the few troops at present in this district it is
impossible for me to send into that locality sufficient number of men to resist
any considerable force of the enemy without abandoning other important posts.
It is not probable that any movement of the enemy, such as I have referred to,
will be attempted until there is sufficient grass to subsist their animals, but
in view of the prospective danger from that source I would suggest the
propriety of making such dispositions of troops as will admit of concentrating
a force on the southern border of this State with as little delay as possible
when there is reason to believe that it is required. I will keep you promptly
advised of all information I can obtain relative to the enemy's movements.
Very
respectfully, your obedient servant,
JAS. G. BLUNT,
Major-- General.
[Endorsement.]
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Saint Louis, February 23, 1865.
Respectfully
forwarded to Maj. Gen. John Pope, commanding Military Division of the Missouri,
for information.
G.M. DODGE,
Major. General, Commanding Department.
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF SOUTH KANSAS,
Col. W. A. PHILLIPS, Paola,
Kans,, February 14, 1865.
Commanding at Fort Gibson, C. N.:
COLONEL: I
have information from various sources that leads me to suspect that the enemy
contemplate making a raid from the vicinity of Red River, Tex., across the Arkansas,
and thence into the southwestern settlements of this State, as soon as there is
sufficient grass to subsist their stock. I have but very few troops in my
command at present, and cannot keep a large force in the Neosho Valley without
abandoning other important posts; hence I shall have to rely upon concentrating
a force to meet the danger when it is threatened. With this view I have to
request that you keep me promptly advised of any information you may obtain
relative to movements of the enemy from the northern border of Texas in this
direction. Dispatches can be sent to Fort Scott and telegraphed, and also to
Fort Smith, as I am now in telegraphic communication with the latter place.
Respectfully,
your obedient servant,
JAS. G. BLUNT,
Major- General.
OMAHA NEBR. Terr., February 14, 1865
Major-General Dodge, Fort Leavenworth:
Scouts
returned I sent from Columbus up the Loup Fork report seeing a large trail
going north fifty-seven miles northwest of Columbus. From the direction taken
by those Indians that fought Collins at Mud Springs, and from report of scouts
from their trail, I am satisfied the Indians are heading for Running Water or
the Missouri River. My scouts sent to the Running Water have not yet returned.
I have some apprehension for their safety. I find it almost impossible to
procure men for this service in consequence of non-payment. My assistant
quartermaster has not been furnished any money to pay quartermaster's men or
for any other purpose since I have been in command of this district. Some of
this class of men have been laboring for twelve months without receiving a
single dollar for their services. The result is they are compelled to desert
our service to make a living for their families. Cannot this to some extent be
remedied?
ROBT. B. MITCHELL, Brigadier- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Fort
Leavenworth, February 14, 1865
Brigadier-General MITCHELL, Omaha:
The
troops are on the road. Meet them at Kearny, but make such arrangements as will
insure prompt forwarding of corn from Omaha. As soon as troops reach Kearny be ready to push right out
against the Indians, and follow them until they are entirely broken up and so
chastised that they will not return. I don't want any such outrages as were
committed by Chivington. I think if we could get hold of a lot of them as
hostages it would be a good idea. Instruct Colonel Livingston to telegraph me
daily of matters around Julesburg.
G. M.
DODGE,
Major- General.
FORT RANKIN, February 14, 1865.
Colonel MOONLIGHT:
System
guarding coaches east Julesburg is one station at each post; one intermediate
station with permanent guard of twenty men. Posts are twenty-five to
thirty-five miles apart, giving short relays for mounted escorts. If same plan
is adopted west no trouble to run coaches. Urge Mr. Reynolds to put them on.
General Dodge anxious to open line. I send fifty men to Harlow's, twenty-five
miles west of this post, tomorrow. Recruits from Second Cavalry leave here
tomorrow for [sic].
LIVINGSTON,
Colonel.
FORT RANKIN, February 13, 1865.
Colonel MOONLIGHT:
No
portion of my district includes any portion of Colorado, as I understand it. I
will put a part of a squadron at or near Harlow's ranch. Do you expect me to
take charge as far as Junction?
LIVINGSTON.
DENVER,
February 13, 1865.
Colonel
LIVINGSTON,
Fort Rankin:
The entire
line from Julesburg to this side Junction is not in my district. Have called
for 360-mounted militia to open route to Julesburg. Expect help and cooperation from you as far as Valley Station
at least.
Have only
about 100 volunteers on line. No more to send at present.
T.MOONLIGHT,
Colonel.
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
Major-General POPE, Washington, February 15, 1865-12.25 p. in.
Saint Louis, Mo.:
Please ascertain
whether General Fisk's administration is as good as it might be, and answer me.
A. LINCOLN.
(Forwarded
to Major-General Pope, at Milwaukee, Wis., at 5.30 pm)
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, Fort Leavenworth, February
15, 1865.
Maj. Gen. JOHN POPE,
Milwaukee:
I think
it very important that the troops at Sioux City and Fort Randall should move
across the country to Fort Laramie at the same time I move from Julesburg and
up Wood River. Colonel Collins has had another fight north of the Platte, and
the Indians went north. We lost 3
killed and 22 wounded. Colonel Moonlight reports a force of Indians north of
Valley Station and a very large force on the headwaters of Smoky Hill Fork, 100
miles east of Denver. Routes all open. Indians that fought Collins crossed Loup
Fork sixty miles north of Columbus and appear to be making for Running Water or
the Missouri River.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
SAINT
Louis, Mo.,
February
15, 1865-9.35 a. rn.
Maj.
Gen. G. M. DODGE,
Fort Leavenworth, Kans.:
I
informed General Pope of what you had done and wished. He said he intended
sending you both the Rock Island regiments. He is now in Milwaukee; will return
by the 23d instant.
JOHN V. DU BOIS,
Colonel and Chief of staff.
SPECIAL
ORDERS, ~ HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
No. 46. ~ Fort Leavenworth, Kans., February 15, 1865.
* * * * * * *
3. There
being troops enough in the District of Nebraska to form a brigade, as required
by General Orders, No. 251, Adjutant-General's Office, War Department, series
1864, it is hereby announced a separate brigade.
4. The
District of Colorado will consist of the Territory of Colorado, excepting the
post at Julesburg.
5. All
troops at posts in the District of Colorado as now formed will report to
Colonel Moonlight, commanding District of Colorado.
6. In
opening communications, repairing telegraph, and escorting trains in movements
against the Indians, and in re-enforcing, if necessary, posts that are attacked
or in danger, no attention will be paid to district lines. Commanders of
districts, sub-districts, and posts in all cases will give all aid in their
power to one another, having in view only the safety of the country and benefit
of the service. As soon as the emergency has passed that requires troops to
move out of the limit of their districts they will return to their proper
stations.
By
order of Major-General Dodge:
J.WILLANS,
Assistant Adjutant- General.
PILOT KNOB, February 15, 1865.
Captain LEEPER, Patterson, Mo.:
It is
reported from Centerville that about 200 rebs are gathering in Oregon County
for a raid. Learn the truth in regard to this and report as soon as you can.
JOHN L. BEVERIDGE,
Colonel, Commanding.
Col. JOHN. PHILIPS, WARRENSBURG Mo., February 15, 1865.
Comdg. District of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, Mo.:
COLONEL: I
have the honor to report as follows in regard to the progress in the
construction of block-houses and stockades in the District of Central Missouri:
The work at the Osage for the block-house at the east end of the bridge, about
half of the timbers are delivered on the ground, the cellar completed, and
ready for the walls. The block-house at the west end of the bridge is up to the
square of the second story, and will be completed in ten days, if lumber for
roofing and floors can be had, for which requisitions have been made. The
block-house at the La Mine bridge has not progressed so rapidly as might be
wished, for various reasons; one is the difficulty in getting tools at the
commencement, another a change of commands at that station since the work
commenced. The timbers are being got out, in which the citizens are rendering
assistance. The late fall of rain will delay the work for a few days at this
point. At Sedalia, for the stockade at that place about 280 sticks of timber
have been delivered on the ground. The commander at that station informs me
that for the want of men he is unable to prosecute the work as rapidly as he
would wish, and that in the last ten days he has been delayed in consequence of
the appraisement of horses belonging to the men and in sending men home with
private horses, He has not called on the citizens for assistance. At Marshall the timbers for a stockade
are all cut and half of them delivered on the ground. I saw the commanding
officer of that station yesterday (the 14th instant). He informs me that the
work is progressing as rapidly as it can with force at his command in
connection with his other duties, such as scouting, foraging, &c. He has
called upon the citizens to assist in the work, and says that it is almost
impossible to get any assistance from them. At Warrensburg nothing has been
done, and the reason given for not doing anything at that place is as follows:
The commander of the post says he has no authority to take timber, He also says
that he has made requisition on the quartermaster for timber, and that he does
not wish to incur the responsibility in taking timber. I received a
communication from the chief engineer, Department of the Missouri, in regard to
works at Kansas City (a copy of which is herewith in closed). I have visited
these posts and stations near twice each week since I have been assigned to
this duty. I have urged upon the commanders of posts and stations, your
desires, directions, and wishes in regard to prosecuting these works with
energy to completion. Further than
this I know not what to do. Any instructions you may have that will enable me
to cause the work to progress more rapidly I will endeavor to carry out to the
best of my ability.
Colonel, I
am, with much respect, your obedient servant,
D.DALE,
Major, Fourth Cavalry Missouri &ate Militia,
Superintending Construction of Block-Houses and Stations, District
of Central Missouri
[Endorsement.]
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF CENTRAL MISSOURI,
Warrensburg, February 15, 1865.
Respectfully
forwarded to major-general commanding Department of the Missouri for
information. The constant employment of the troops on other duty has prevented
us from employing many of them on these works. I have ordered the citizens impressed
into service and will compel them to work. The great scarcity of timber in vicinity
of Warrensburg is an obstacle in the way of constructing the block-house at
this point. This will be speedily overcome and the work progress.
JNO. F. PHILIPS,
Colonel Seventh Cavalry Missouri State Militia, Comdg. District.
[Enclosure.]
HDQRS.
DEPT. OF THE MISSOURI, ENGINEER'S OFFICE,
Saint
Louis Mo February 6, 1865
Maj. D. DALE, , ., .
Fourth Cavalry Missouri State Militia:
MAJOR: Your letter dated Jefferson City,
January 23, 1865, was received, asking advice in regard to "what kind of
works should be erected for defense of Kansas City," &e. In reply I
would say that I will myself visit Kansas City some time during the present
month. Just previous to my leaving
Saint Louis will give you notice by telegraph, so as to properly arrange our
meeting at Kansas City. I am,
major, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
WM. HOELCKE, Lieutenant-Colonel and Chief Engineer, Dept. of the
Missouri.
HEADQUARTERS,
Greenfield,
Mo February 15, 1865
Brig.
Gen. J. B. SANBORN.
District of Southwest Missouri, Springfield, Mo.:
I have
had John H. Howard, Company I, Second Battalion, Fifteenth Cavalry Missouri
Volunteers, together with five men, scouting Dade County, Mo., since the 4th
instant until the 14th. On the 11th he was on Limestone; struck the trail of
seven bushwhackers and drove them out of the county. They came from Cedar Creek
and went out south. He reports the
county clear of bushwhackers at present. I still have one sergeant and ten men
of Company E, Second Battalion, Fifteenth Cavalry Missouri Volunteers, and
guarding Captain Owen's working party at the coalmines.
I remain,
your most obedient servant,
WICK MORGAN,
Major Second Battalion, Fifteenth Cavalry Missouri Volunteers.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
INSPECTOR-GENERAL'S
OFFICE,
Fort
Leavenworth, February 15, 1865.
Capt.
JOHN WILLANS,
Assistant Adjutant- General, Department of the Missouri:
I
have the honor to report, for the information of the major-general commanding,
stations of troops in the District of Nebraska for the month of January, 1865:
Companies A, E, F, II, I, and K, First Nebraska Cavalry Veteran Volunteers,
near Cottonwood Springs, Nebr.
Ter.; Company C, First Nebraska Cavalry Veteran Volunteers, Fort Kearny,
Nebr Ter Company G, First Nebraska Cavalry Veteran Volunteers, Plum Creek,
Nebr. Ter.; Companies A, B, C, F, Seventh Iowa Cavalry, near Cottonwood
Springs, Nebr. Ter.; Company E, Seventh Iowa Cavalry, Columbus, Nebr. Ter.;
Companies A and C, First Battalion Nebraska Veteran Cavalry, near Cottonwood
Springs; Company B, First Battalion Nebraska Veteran Cavalry, Dakota City; Company
ID, First Battalion Nebraska Veteran Cavalry, Omaha City, Nebr. Ter.; Companies
A, D, I, L, Eleventh Ohio Cavalry Volunteers, Fort Laramie; Company H, Eleventh
Ohio Cavalry Volunteers, Camp Mitchell (near Scott's Bluff); Company C,
Eleventh Ohio Cavalry Volunteers, Fremont's Orchard, Cob. Ter.; Companies B and
F, Eleventh Ohio Cavalry Volunteers, Camp Collins.
Very
respectfully, your obedient servant
T.I. McKENNY,
Major and Inspector- General, Department of the Missouri.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI
Fort
Leavenworth, February 15, 18G5.
Cob.
JAMES H. FORD,
Commanding District of Upper Arkansas, Fort Riley:
COLONEL: The
Third Wisconsin has been ordered to return to you, with the exception of that
portion used for a courier line. The two companies at Fort Lamed will be
allowed to remain until I can send troops to relieve them. I shall send you
horses to mount all your cavalry, and will replace those at the posts with
infantry, so that all our mounted force can be used against the Indians, the
infantry doing the escort and post duty. I desire you to be prepared as soon as
you receive horses to move out into the country between the Platte and Arkansas
Rivers and break up the band of Indians said to be located there. I hope that I
shall be able to move you within thirty days, as I desire to have you move at
the same time the movement is made on the North Platte. The Indians that went
north after the Chivington fight have crossed both Plattes and are now some
sixty miles north of the North Platte. The Indians must be punished, the
women and children captured and held as hostages. I do not consider such fights
as Chivington's to be of any benefit in quelling Indian disturbances or of any
credit to our service. The courier line from Lawrence to Riley I desire
kept up and dispatches run through promptly. You will by good scouts keep fully
posted in regard to the location of the enemy either south, west, or north of
you, and also keep me posted. I shall leave here this week for Saint Louis,
where any special dispatch or news will reach me. All returns and reports will be sent as usual to Fort
Leavenworth, but any news relative to the enemy will be telegraphed me at Saint
Louis. The posts at Lamed, Zarah,
&c., should be protected by works, and I shall instruct the quartermaster
to endeavor to get lumber enough for roofing buildings for our stores. Troops
can make comfortable quarters out of earth and willows - stock can be covered
in the same manner. Special
Orders, Nos. 41 and 42, which prescribe the manner of crossing the plains, will
be promptly and efficiently carried out, and a good officer at the proper time
should be placed at Council Grove. I desire, colonel, to be kept thoroughly
posted in regard to all matters in your district relative to the service, and
would also like your views about a movement from Riley against the Indians.
I am, very
respectfully, your obedient servant,
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI
Fort Leavenworth, February 15, 1865.
COMMANDING
OFFICER THIRD WISCONSIN CAVALRY,Lawrence:
After
posting the men at Lawrence, Topeka, and Saint Mary's, as ordered, move with
the rest of your men to Fort Riley and report to Colonel Ford. In moving back
you must keep your men from pillaging.
Notify me when you start.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Fort
Leavenworth, February 15, 1865.
Lieutenant
MONTGOMERY,
Lawrence:
Send the
following dispatch through to Fort Riley by messenger, traveling day and night,
and notify me of time of departure:
Colonel
FORD, Fort Riley:
Hold the
two companies at Fort Lamed and send rest of Eleventh Kansas. Give them every
horse you can raise. I have got horses on their way here to mount your command
and troops to replace the Eleventh Kansas.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Fort
Leavenworth, February 15, 1865.
Brigadier-General
MITCHELL,
Omaha:
A part
of the Eleventh Kansas will go from Fort Riley to Fort Kearny dismounted. Some
horses will be sent from here for them and mount the remainder on mules, or put
them in the forts and take mounted men from your posts. When troops reach
Kearny we can decide how to move. I am trying to move the column from Sioux
City; at all events, those troops will be where they can protect Northern Nebraska.
We have no money. Will send your quartermaster some as soon as it
arrives.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Port
Leavenworth, February 15, 1865.
Brigadier-General
MITCHELL,
Omaha:
A train
left here for Denver January 23 loaded with 50,000 rations for Cottonwood. It
was then to proceed to Denver. I think those rations should go through to Julesburg,
and let train going from here take rations to Cottonwood. This will insure a
supply at Julesburg on arrival of the troops there. Attend to this and answer.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Fort
Leavenworth, February 15, 1865.
Brigadier-General
MITCHELL,
Omaha:
The
Secretary of War authorizes me to raise a company of Indians. You can raise a company among the
Omahas to be used as guides and scouts, to be mustered in for one year. I will
appoint officers upon your recommendation.
G.M. DODGE
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Fort
Leavenworth, February 15, 1865.
Col.
THOMAS MOONLIGHT,
Denver City:
If the
citizens of Colorado will not aid you, put the troops that are guarding
towns and settlements on to our lines of communication and let towns and
settlements take care of themselves. You have now got control of all troops
in Colorado, and with the militia you raise can operate against the Indians
along the Overland route. One hundred teams left here for Denver January 23.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
GENERAL
ORDERS, HDQRS.
DISTRICT OF COLORADO,
No.
12.5 Denver,
Col. Ter., February 15, 1865.
I.
Pursuant to telegraphic instructions from department headquarters this day
received, the District of Colorado now consists of the Territory of Colorado,
excepting the post of Julesburg.
* * * * * * *
By
order of Col. T. Moonlight, Eleventh Kansas Cavalry:
IRA I. TABER,
First Lieutenant and Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF NEW MEXICO,
Santa Fe, New
Mex., February 15, 1865.
This
morning Jerrera (sp) Grande and five other Navajo chiefs, and Jesus (the
interpreter), for whom I wrote to General Crocker on the 22d of January, 1865,
came to Santa Fe, en route to the Navajo country. I had a talk with them, in the presence of Governor Connelly
[and] Jose Manuel Gallegos. It was to this effect:
They
were to go out into the hi[gh] Navajo 'country and tell the Navajos still remaining
there that they must come in at once and go to the reservation; that this is
the last warning they will have; that if they come in now their stock shall
remain as their own; but it within five weeks from the time of the notice they
are not at Fort Wingate the door will he shut, and we will then fight them, the
people will fight them, and the Utes will fight them, and they will he
destroyed. In this case their blood will be on their own hands, not on ours, as
they have had fair warning. These Navajos whom I send out as delegates with
this warning are then to return to Santa Fe, and thence to Bosque Zedondo,
without waiting for any others.
JAKES H. CARLETON,
Brigadier- General, Commanding.
WASHINGTON, D C., February 16, 1865.
Major-General CANBY, New Orleans: (Via Cairo and New York.)
General
Grant directs that you will receive all Union prisoners delivered to you on the
Mississippi River or at Mobile. The former will be sent to Benton Barracks,
Saint Louis, and the latter to that place or to Annapolis. Md., as may be most
convenient for your means of transportation.
H.W. HALLECK,
Major- General and Chief of Staff.
SPECIAL ORDERS, HDQRS. MIL. Div. OF WEST Mississippi,
No.
47. New
Orleans, La., Febrnary 16, 1865.
1. Capt.
Robert G. Curtis, assistant adjutant-general of volunteers,
is
hereby relieved from duty in the Department of Mississippi, and will proceed
without delay to this city, and report for duty to Brig. Gen. James C. Veatch, U. S. Volunteers.
2. Capt.
Clarence H. Dyer, assistant adjutant-general of volunteers, is hereby assigned
to duty at these headquarters, and will be obeyed and respected accordingly.
3. Capt.
William W. Cantine, commissary of subsistence of volunteers, is hereby assigned
to duty as chief commissary of the troops now stationed and being collected
within the limits of the District of West Florida and South Alabama. He will
report accordingly to Maj. Gen.
Gordon Granger.
* *
* * * * *
6. Second
Lieut. C. H. Townsend, Twenty-ninth Wisconsin Volunteers, aide-de-camp to Maj.
Gen. C. C. Washburn, U. S. Volunteers, is hereby permitted to accompany the
general to his new station in the Army of the James.
7. Lieut.
Col. R. F. Patterson, Twenty-ninth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, is hereby relieved
from duty as provost-marshal-general, Department of Arkansas, and will proceed
without delay to this city en route to join his regiment in the Reserve Corps.
* * * * * * *
9. Capt.
James E. Harrison, Fifth U. S. Cavalry, having reported at these headquarters
in accordance with the orders of the War Department, is hereby assigned to duty
as special inspector of cavalry of the Military Division of West Mississippi,
and will be obeyed and respected accordingly.
* * * * * * *
By order of
Maj. Gen. E. It. S. Canby:
C. T. CHRISTENSEN,
Lieutenant- Colonel and Assistant
SAINT LOUIS, February 15, 1865-11.12 a. m.
Major-General POPE,
Milwaukee,
This Dispatch received from General
Halleck. Secretary of War does not approve of new department. Thinks General
Dodge will be able properly to defend mail route.
JOS. MoC. BELL
Brig. Gen. P. E. CONNOR:
The following order is sent for your
information:
GENERAL ORDERS, WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL’S OFFICE,
No. 23. Washington,
D. 0., February 17, 1865.
“The
Territory of Utah and that part of Nebraska west of the twenty-seventh degree
of longitude are added to the Department of Missouri.
By order of the
Secretary of War:”
E. D. TOWNSEND,
Assistant
Adjutant- General.
Send your reports and communications to these headquarters. What
troops are in your district?
G.M. DODGE,
Major-General,
Commanding, Saint Louis
SAN
FRANCISCO, February 28, 1865.
Brig. Gen. P. E. CONNOR, Salt Lake City:
Major-General McDowell has received
no orders detaching you from his command. Act, however, on the telegram from
General Dodge and report to him as desired.
R.C. DRUM,
Assistant
Adjutant- General-
RUTLAND,
VT. June 14, 1865.
Bvt.
Maj. Gen. J. A. RAWLINS,
Chief
of Staff of the Armies of the United States,
Washington
City, D. C.:
GENERAL: I
have the honor to put in writing, for the information of the lieutenant-general
commanding, some information verbally communicated concerning the propriety of
a military force being sent for the permanent defense of Montana Territory.
Montana Territory should in terms be attached to some department. The Rocky
Mountains as a boundary will not apply, as the Bitter Root Valley, west of
those mountains, has been attached to Montana Territory. The boundaries of my
late command, the District of Oregon, extended under existing orders to the
Rocky Mountains, but it was never in my power to send troops to Bitter Root
Valley, so remote from Western Oregon. I recommend that a force be sent from
the Northwest to Virginia City, the seat of government for Montana, and two
mounted companies be detached for the Flathead Indian Agency in the Bitter Root
Valley. The Indian agent there has
made frequent application to me for troops, as the whites are crowding in and
troops are needed for time protection of the Indians in their reservation
against the intrusions of the whites, if for no other purpose. I recommend that
five companies of infantry and five companies of cavalry be sent to Virginia
City, taking the route by the emigrant road via Fort Laramie and the South
Pass. On reaching Fort Hall the command should turn north, [and] recross the
Rocky Mountains by a pass leading to the mining regions in Montana at the very
headwaters of the Missouri River. On reaching Virginia City the officer in
command can ascertain the proper points for troops to occupy, probably the Big
Bend of the Yellowstone [Big Timber area]. They are needed to protect the
settlements from Blackfeet on the north and Crows on the Lower Yellowstone. The
Yellowstone may be navigable to the Big Bend. Mr. Chouteau, of Saint Louis, has
for two summers tried to test it, but they were both seasons of extraordinary
low water. General Sully’s expedition last year only reached the Lower
Yellowstone, where there are no settlements. The mining settlements in Montana
require protection, not from Indians west, but from those [Indians] east and
north of them. A road eventually will doubtless be found direct from Fort
Laramie to Virginia City, but as yet the route I have described is the proper
one for the troops to take. It is the route the emigrants use in reaching
Montana. No emigrants, or a very few, take the route proposed by Capt.
J. L. Fisk, of Minnesota, as set forth in the Washington Morning Chronicle of
1st of June. His route is one on which to fight the Indians, as General Sully
found out last summer, but the main body of the emigration will continue to go
to Montana by the old emigrant road, via Fort Laramie and the South Pass. I am, with the highest respect, your
obedient servant,
BENJ. ALVOIRD, Brigadier - General,
U. S. Volunteers.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Saint
Louis, August 8, 1865.
Hon.
J. HARLAN,
Secretary
of the Interior:
DEAR
SIR: I enclose
herewith a dispatch from General Sanborn in relation to the Comanches, Kiowas,
Arapahoes, and other Indians south of the Arkansas River. I have directed
General Sanborn to arrange for a complete cessation of hostilities and for a
council with these tribes, to negotiate a permanent treaty at such time and
place as you may hereafter designate. I will send runners to summon the chiefs.
I trust that Colonel Leavenworth has no authority to commit the Government to
any agreement which he may now choose to make; or rather, I hope he has no
power to offer any terms whatever to the Indians. The mere offer of terms by
him, should they be hereafter disapproved by the Government, would dissatisfy
the Indians very much, and make it very difficult to negotiate any treaty,
which would secure their confidence. I would suggest that you give instructions
to Indian agents, as I have to military commanders, prohibiting them from
making any conditions whatever with Indian tribes desiring peace, except a
cessation of hostilities and arrangements of time and place for the Indians to
meet properly appointed commissioners.
I am,
sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JNO. POPE,
Major- General, Commanding.
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF THE UPPER ARKANSAS,
In
the Field, Fort Lamed, Kans., August 8, 1865.
Maj.
Gen. JOHN POPE
Commanding
Department of the Missouri, Saint Louis:
I have the
honor to acknowledge the receipt of your telegram of the 4th instant, which
reached me at 11 pm yesterday. The command will go into camp near this post and
I shall proceed to the mouth of the Little Arkansas and have an interview with
the chiefs of the hostile tribes if possible.
I have the
honor,
JOHN B. SANBORN,
Brevet Major- General, Commanding.
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF THE UPPER ARKANSAS,
In
the Field, Fort Lard, Kans., August 8, 1865.
Col.
J. H. LEAVENWORTH,
U. S. Indian Agent,
Mouth of the Little Arkansas:
COLONEL: I shall not cross the Arkansas until I
shall have communicated with the hostile tribes by messenger, with a view of
arranging for a council with their chiefs and head men to treat for a permanent
peace and treaty. I shall leave here tonight or tomorrow morning for your
place, and will arrive there as soon as possible.
I have the
honor to be, &c.,
JOHN B. SANBOIIN,
Brevet Major- General, Commanding.
HEADQUARTERS NORTHWEST INDIAN EXPEDITION, Camp No. 37,
Fort Berthold, August 8, 1865
ASST. ADJT. GEN., DEPARTMENT OF THE NORTHWEST,
Milwaukee, Wis.:
SIR: I have the honor to report I reached
this place at 8 am, and encamped three miles from the fort. My last report was
written from Devil’s Lake. I marched from there to the Mouse River, bearing
north, till I came in sight of the frontier of the British Possessions, but at
along distance off. Owing to the great scarcity of water (that can be used) it
is impossible to take every route you would wish. I passed quite a number of
lakes, beautiful to look at, but containing water so strongly impregnated with
alkali and other substances that it would about take the skin off your lips to
drink it. As it was, we had to make marches of twenty eight or thirty miles,
and in two days I reached a point ten miles from the Mouse River. From here I
sent scouting parties up and down the river, one party going near the British
line, but found no signs of Indians except several signs of small camps a week
or ten days old. We found signs of a small party (not over six) about a day or
two old, going west. Mouse River is a beautiful stream of clear running water,
filled with fish. The banks are lined with an abundance of excellent timber;
the grass and soil very good; the country around filled with game. There is no
place in the Territory better located and adapted for Indians to live in. I am
satisfied that what the half-breeds told me is correct—that none of the Santee
Sioux Indians are south of the line and it is perfectly impossible to come upon
them without we can obtain permission to pursue them into the British
Possessions. I would also beg leave to state that it is my opinion that these
same half-breeds give the Indians information in regard to the movements of the
troops. On my way from Devil’s Lake to Mouse River I came onto another camp of
half-breeds, some eight or ten men with their families. As they had not been
trading nor had anything to trade with I let them alone. Eight men with their
families would not dare come into that section of country without they were on
very good terms with the Indians. Besides, I recollect seeing in the papers
before I left Sioux City that I was directed to march up the Missouri and
north. Could not these papers have found their way to the British Possessions
and thus notice be given to the Indians to be on the lookout. My march from
Mouse River to this point was in direct line over a very dreary country without
water fit to drink. My last day’s march on this account was near forty miles,
and as the country was very broken it took me many hours to accomplish it. On
this account the animals, it being a very hot day, suffered greatly for the
want of water. I, however, lost only one animal. On my arrival here I heard the
following Indian news: By my direction runners were sent to the camp telling
them that all who wished to make peace could come in and see me, and those who
did not I would make war on. These runners, after remaining several days in the
camp, returned and reported that there is considerable division of sentiment on
the ques-tion of war and peace, but that the peace feeling is the strongest. They are convinced there is no use of
fighting with any prospect of success, but yet they fear it is only a trap I
have set to capture and slay them; that at one time the feeling was very strong
to come in and surrender, but that a chief (who wishes to lead the war party)
called Sitting Bull, hearing this on his return to camp, went through the
different villages cutting himself with a knife and crying out that he was just
from Fort Rice; that all those that had come in and given themselves up I had
killed, and calling on the nation to avenge the murder. In consequence of this
500 warriors went with him to Rice to see if it was true and to avenge the
massacre. There are other runners out who have not yet returned. I will get
more news by them. The camp is only fifty or sixty miles from here across the
river in a southwest direction. They are camped in a position which I know very
well; a very strong, defensive position, and easy to retreat from by breaking
up into small parties and scattering into the Bad Lands of the Little Missouri.
They report their camp extends near three miles (I suppose scattered), and over
2,000 lodges or about 10,000 warriors—Sioux of different bands, Cheyennes, and
various others. My wish is to get all who don’t wish to fight out of the camp,
and then take some steam-boat that may pass to cross my command and fall on the
rest. Without a boat it will impossible for me to cross. If I can’t succeed in
getting a large num-ber in to surrender, I am in a considerable of a quandary
what to do. If I cross over with
my small command of 800 or 900 men to attack the camp iu their strong position
and don’t succeed in routing them, but have to fall back, my retreat will be
construed into a defeat. It will strengthen the war party and weaken the peace
party of Indians, and if I leave here without attacking them matters will be
nearly as bad. I would not have
the least hesitation, with 600 men, to cross the river and march through their
country to Rice, for I feel sure I could defend myself; but that is just about
as much as I could do. I feel perfect confidence in the superiority of the
white man over any other race; and the troops, being better armed and better
disciplined, are greatly the superior to the Indian, yet a handful of men can’t
attack and defend ten times their number, well armed, in a mountain pass. I
have read in the papers that General Connor and Brevet Brigadier-General Heath,
with bodies of troops, are moving to Powder River, and then after the hostile
Indians who have fled from the Platte. I do not know where they intend to go to
find these Indians. But this I do know: Very large numbers of the Minneconjon,
Sans Arc, Ogallalla, and Brule Sioux, also Cheyennes, Arapahoes, and other
tribes from the Platte Valley district are in this camp, only sixty miles south
of here. I have therefore telegraphed you to know where they are going to. If
they are on their way here I am in an excellent position to cooperate with
them. I send you these dispatches by an Indian who has to run the gauntlet to
get through the hostile country. I will therefore duplicate them by the first
boat. I have not heard from department headquarters for a long time. I am, sir,
with much respect, your obedient servant,
ALP. SULLY, Brevet Major-General, Commanding.
HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF THE
UPPER ARKANSAS,
In the Field, Fort Lamed,
Kans., August 9, 1865.
Col. J. II. LEAVENWORTH,
U.S. Indian Agent, Mouth of
Little Arkansas:
COLONEL: The bearer Lieutenant Jenkins
(aide-de-camp), Mr. Curtis, and Mr. Bradley are sent by me to the month of the
Little Arkansas for the purpose of communicating with the chiefs and head men
of the hostile tribes and to ascertain if they desire a cessation of
hostilities on both sides; and if so, to arrange for such cessation, or advise
me and 1 will meet the Indians and make the arrangement. I am also directed to
make an arrangement for a convention on the 1st day of October next between
these tribes and such men as the President may appoint for that purpose to make
treaties of perpetual peace between the government and the tribes. I have
addressed a communication to the chiefs and headmen of these tribes, which I
desire to have submitted to them at once and have their answer communicated to
me without delay.
I have
the honor to be,
JOHN B. SANBOIRN,
Brevet Major- General, Commanding.
P.S.—I have concluded to send forward this communication by
Sergeant Stubbs and detachment and to come forward myself as far as Cow Creek,
on Big Turkey, to receive the answer, and will come forward to where you are if
an interview is desired by the tribes. I shall have rations with me sufficient
for all purposes. The military force is fully organized and ready to march, and
I desire an early answer from the chiefs and head men.
JOHN B. SANBORN,
Brevet Major General, Commanding.
MOUTH OF LITTLE ARKANSAS,
August 10, 1865.
Bvt. Maj. Gen. J. SANBORN,
Commanding District of the
Upper Arkansas:
GENERAL: I
have the honor, and I am also happy, to inform you that Mr. Chisholm has just
arrived with a very large delegation of Indians who are determined to have
peace with the white man, if it is possible. They are ready to meet the
commissioners from the President, and I have no doubt in my own mind that
whatever conditions and stipulations the commissioners require of them will be
both faithfully and cheerfully complied with. They confirm all that has been
stated to me by former delegations, that there is not a hostile Indian on this
frontier from the south. They have with them their women and children, which
shows conclusively that they put implicit confidence in the promises that have
been made to them by me, as coming from the President, through the
commissioners appointed to treat and to make full arrangements with them. I
feel myself now fully authorized to call your attention to the order issued by
General McCook, and approved by Major-General Pope, to suspend the campaign
against the Indians and to confine the action of the troops to the protection
of the Santa Fe road. No troops were to cross the Arkansas River but in defense
during or pending these negotiations. Should any collision happen between
scouting parties south of the Arkansas River, sent there under any pretense, it
will be greatly regretted, to say the least, by the commissioners, and should
the unfortunate movements of troops cause the present amicable relations
existing between the different tribes south of the Arkansas and the Government
to be broken, it will throw the Chivington massacre in the shade, as the chiefs
and head men now there were called from their homes by the very highest
authority to council. The time and place to meet the commissioners has not as
yet been fixed, but cannot be later than the 10th of September, as stated by
Senator Doolittle. As soon as determined I will communicate the facts to you.
These Indians also state to me that as soon as the fact is known on the Platte
that they have made peace, the Indians of that country will also stop all acts
of violence, and we shall have peace on all of our frontier. I had written the
above when yours of the 5th reached me. I was much pleased to hear that you
would not cross the Arkansas River, and that you would so soon visit this
place. There is, however, one thing, general, I do not fully understand, and it
is this: why two parties should, at the same time, be trying to do the same
thing with the Indians. I have told them they were to meet and treat with
chiefs direct from the Great Father. Now, if any others should attempt to meet
with them it will only tend to confuse them, and may lead to unfortunate
results. All will; however, be explained, I presume, on your arrival. In haste,
I am, your obedient servant,
J.H. LEAVENWORTH,
U.S. Indian Agent.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Saint
Louis, August 10, 1865.
Bvt.
Maj. Gen. A. SULLY,
Comdg.
Northwest Indian Expedition, Fort Rice, Dak. Terr.:
GENERAL: I
am directed by the major-general commanding to inform you that Col. N. Cole,
Second Missouri Artillery, commanding column upon the east side of Black Hills,
has been directed, upon the conclusion of his campaign, to reinforce you with
600 infantry, which force will be used to relieve the six companies of the
First Regiment U. S. Volunteers
now serving in your command garrisoning Fort Rice, Dakotah Ter., and other
points. Upon being relieved the six companies of the First U.S. Volunteers will
be put en route for Fort Leavenworth, from which point they will be reported by
letter to these headquarters. I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient
servant,
JOS. MoC. BELL,
Assistant Adjutant- General.
COUNCIL BLUFFS, August 11,
1865.
Maj. Gen. JOHN POPE, Saint
Louis, Mo.:
I have
seen no instructions of Connor’s. I see in his order to his troops that he
instructs them that they must follow a trail whenever they find it until the
Indians are caught; and also instructs them that they must not be guilty of any
outrage of any kind on women or children. I do not see how I can relieve him,
as he is now far north of Laramie, and I know of no one who I could put in
command. I fear it will be difficult to get the dispatches through to him, but
will, at any rate, try it out.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
WAR
DEPARTMENT
Washington City, August 12,
1865—9.30 a. m. (Received 12 in.) Lieutenant-General GRANT, Detroit:
The
President is much concerned about the Indian expedition. The Secretary of the
Treasury declares his inability to meet an expenditure so large and unexpected,
and not sanctioned by the Government. Have you any information to relieve the
President’s anxiety or to satisfy him as to the object and design of the
expedition? Who planned it?
Whether Sherman has reduced it any, and its probable results. Please
answer speedily, and state when you expect to return to Washington.
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.
DETROIT., August 12, 1865—2 p.
m. Hon. E. M. STANTON Secretary of
War:
I
have heard nothing from Sherman in answer to my dispatch directing a reduction
of forces in the Northwest, and for him to look into the Indian expeditions and
curtail them. They have been planned under General Pope’s direction, and I am
not posted as to the necessity of them. I will go to Saint Louis in a few days
and look into this matter myself. In the meantime I think all extraordinary
requisitions should be disapproved. I will not go back to Washington for some
weeks.
U.S. GRANT,
Lieutenant. General.
HEADQUARTERS
NORTHWEST INDIAN EXPEDITION,
Fort
Berthold, August 13, 1865.
ASST.
ADJT. GEN., DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI:
SIR: I expected on my reaching here that
I would receive some notice that troops had been sent to me to garrison posts
on the Upper Missouri, as the term of service of nearly all my troops expire
during the winter and the regiments of the U. S. Volunteers are ordered to be
mustered out, but I have received no such notice. The time when it is
practicable for a boat to reach this point is about expiring, and in regard to
Fort Union it is doubtful if more than one boat can go here and return. Under
these circumstances I have ordered Fort Union to be abandoned if possible. This
can be done without any great detriment to the public good. The only reason why
I left a company there last year was that a large amount of property was stored
there to build a post on the Yellowstone. A company of the First U. S.
Volunteers now occupy that place, and I have directed the commanding officer to
sell at cost and transportation such of the commissary stores as he can, and
with the remainder of the public property to proceed to Fort Rice by boat.
There is here stationed a company of U. S. Volunteers which I suppose must be
relieved according to general order. I have no troops to relieve them with,
except Brackett’s (Minnesota) battalion, which does not belong to my district,
and I do look on this post as one of great importance, as it stops the trading
with hostile Sioux. I request to know if I am to understand General Orders, No.
2, as taking Fort Rice and Fort Union out of my command. The former post is
west of the Missouri and the latter in Montana. Fort Randall and Keya Paha are
also west and south of the Missouri. I shall not so consider the order till I
get further orders.
With
much respect, your obedient servant,
ALP. SULLY,
Brevet Major. General.
HEADQUARTERS
NORTHWEST INDIAN EXPEDITION,
Port
Berthold, August 13, 1865.
ASST.
ADJT. GEN., DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI:
SIR: In
my last report, dated August 8, and directed to the Department of the
Northwest, I stated that I had heard that a large war party had left the
hostile camp across the river for Fort Rice. Since then I have heard of them
through the commanding officer at Fort Rice and through Indians from the camp.
The commanding officer states they approached the herding party, and that there
was quite a skirmish with the troops sent out to attack them. Two soldiers were
killed, and it is thought quite a number of Indians were killed or wounded. It
is also stated that Captain Moreland, Sixth Iowa Cavalry, with part of his
company, behaved very handsomely. It is also said that some of them were
dressed in soldiers’ clothes, which they must have got from the Platte; also
new patent firearms, and Indian scouts say the Cheyennes have large numbers of
American horses. The Indian report is very much the same. Some 300 warriors
went to Rice.
They stole
some twelve horses, and that about nine of their number were badly wounded, and
of course they say they killed a great many whites. About the time this war
party returned to the camp they got the news. I was only a few days’ march from
Berthold (how they got this news I can’t tell). The whole camp then fled south,
the friendly Indians feeling sure I would never make peace with them after the
Rice affair. A trusty Indian, half Arickaree and half Uncpapa, followed their
trail across the Bad Lands, the Little Missouri, to Beaver Creek, which empties
into the Little Missouri, and found their trail still going southwest toward
Powder River. I telegraphed this to you, and also telegraphed to Fort Laramie
for the information of General Connor, who[m] I suppose is marching down the
Powder. Of course I could not follow, for there are no means here of my
crossing the river. It would take me over a week to build rafts and do so. On
my arrival here I learned that a party of Cut-Heads and North Yanktonnais and
some Santees, about 300 to 500 lodges, were somewhere up the country between
the White Earth and Little Muddy Rivers. Where they exactly are I could not
learn, but fear they are near the British line, which of course will prevent
all hopes of my reaching them. And here I beg leave again to repeat what I have
before stated. It is perfectly impossible for any Indian to be captured north
of this part of the Missouri until the English Government grant us permission
to cross their line in pursuit. The orders I have received from the President
forbid the crossing of troops into the British Possessions under any
circumstances, and the Indians know this as well as I do. I found three
Assiniboine Indians in the Arickaree camp, and without telling them or anybody
why I sent them, I hired them to carry a letter from me to Fort Union. These
Sioux Indians (I above mentioned) are in the Assiniboine country and are on
peaceable terms with them. I expect these three Indians to return with their
answer and to get their pay in two days. I will then make them tell me of the
whereabouts of the Sioux camp, and if it is possible for me to head them off I
will do so. It is for this reason I am waiting here. Medicine Bear, chief of
the Northern Yanktonnais, came in here before I reached here to give himself
up. Heretofore he has been most bitter in his enmity to the whites, and has
been a Leader in all the fights against me. He is said to be the smartest
chief in the Sioux Nation. I had a very long private talk with him. He
brought some of his people with him, and it is hard to tell if he is sincere in
his wish for peace, but I am inclined to believe so. He told me that against
the wishes of all his tribe he remained here to see me. That they told him I
would hang him; that the greater part of the Sioux Indians would be glad to
make peace, but they feared me, and, as he stated, “their heart felt bad
against me; the prairies were not yet dried from the blood I spilt.” He also
said that out of the Yanktonnais tribe alone of all that died, killed, died of
wounds and privations, men, women, and children—there were many hundreds—their
tribe suffered the most; that in the last year’s fight he commanded 100 picked
men, and thirty of them were killed or died afterward. The rest were in the
camp north of me near the British line, and he pledges himself he will bring
them in to surrender as soon as I leave this section of country. I tried every
way to find out exactly where they were but he did not know, was his answer. In
two or three days I will decide what I think I can best do. I fear it is
impossible for me to move without its being known; and if so, I shall see no
Indians south of the line.
With much respect, your obedient servant,
ALP. SULLY, Brevet Major - General.
FORT
KEARNY, August 15, 1865.
Capt.
GEORGE F. PRiCE,
Fort
Laramie:
(For
General Connor.)
General
Sully writes July 17 that he had an interview with 200 lodges of
hostile Indians at Fort Rice. They express themselves as wanting peace,
and had gone out to get others in. Had come to no conclusion. Said parties of
Sioux remained hostile yet and were on Knife River with Cheyennes. General
Sully thought he would not go to Devil’s Lake, but try to arrange matters on
Missouri River. Since then boats have come down and say Sully moved north
toward old Fort Pierre and Berthold, not having accomplished anything. It also
was reported that they had been fighting at Fort Berthold. I think Sully is up
in that country yet. I hope you will succeed in attacking them, as it is very
important that you settle the matter before winter. I shall go to Laramie from
here marching with my escort, and wish to hear from you as often as
practicable. Have you heard anything from Colonel Cole?
G.W. DODGE,
Major- General.
FORT
LARAMIE, DAK. TER August 15, 1865.
Maj.
Gen. G. W. DODGE, Kearny:
I have
received dates from General Connor of 13th instant, from Powder
River to Platte Bridge, and thence by telegraph to this place. Will have weekly
communication with him by mail. He says: “If there is
a regiment of infantry which has more than one year to serve I want
four companies of it at this post (Powder River), four companies at
Laramie and above on telegraph line, and two at Julesburg.” He also
says: “Command is in excellent health. Plenty buffalo, wood, bunch
grass, and water, but no hay lands here.” He directs that clothing
for only 500 cavalry be sent there. Wants building tools, glass,
and the sawmill more than anything else.
GEG. F. PRICE,
Captain and Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.
(In absence of general commanding.)
LOUISIANA
AND THE TRANS-MISSISSIPPI.
HEADQUARTERS
NORTHWEST INDIAN EXPEDITION,
Camp
No. 37, Fort Berthold, Dak. Ter., August 15, 1865.
ASST.
ADJT. GEN., DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI:
SIR: I
beg leave through your office to make some remarks in regard to the Indians
living here, and to urge it upon the Government to do something to better their
condition. There are three nations, the Arikarees, Gros Ventres, and Mandans,
all speaking different languages, but banded together for protection against
their powerful neighbors, the Sioux. For although in point of bravery I do not
think they are behind other Indians (yet their numbers are very small and fast
decreasing), they dare not go far from their village to hunt, and are quite poor.
They have been always friendly to the whites, and with care and proper
management might be civilized. In their habits they are different from other
Indians, taking considerable pains in building their houses and cultivating the
soil with very good success, and another remarkable difference is in the male
portion not being too proud or too lazy to work. It was partly for their
protection, as well as to stop illegal trading with hostile
Sioux, that I left a company here. I have
also organized about forty soldiers, to whom I have issued arms, and
I would recommend that a cheap uniform be issued to these soldiers. I do not
think on some accounts it is a good plan to issue them U. S. uniforms. There
should be some distinction. In my talk with the chiefs and principal men they
expressed a desire to have with them some one who would teach their children to
read and write and work like white people. Of course any one sent would be
obliged first to learn their language. They have a treaty with the Government
by which they (with other nations) get a part of $50,000 every year, but have
no idea what that portion is, and the treaty does not state. All they know is
that seven years ago they got a very handsome present from Government every
year, and since that it has been growing less and less till this year, when
their agent, Mr. Wilkinson, told them they were to receive nothing. The
commanding officer, however, tells me that after the agent left (for the agents
for the Indians don’t live in the country, they only visit them once a year)
twenty-five sacks of flour and twenty-four boxes of hard bread reached here
directed to the agent. They also stated they had lost 400 horses during the
last year stolen (mostly stolen by Sioux); forty-two
of them were stolen by Yanktons. As these Indians get a very large annuity, or
at least Government appropriates them a large annuity, I would respectfully
suggest that a sufficient amount be stopped out of the Yankton annuity to
remunerate them. During this spring the Yanktons and Two-Kettles made an attack
upon them, and were driven off by the assistance of the troops. The Yanktons
have made a treaty by which they pledge themselves to remain on their
reservation. Permits have, however, sometimes been granted them by me (at the
request of the agent) to go beyond the reservation a short way to hunt.
Otherwise they would starve to death at their
agency.
With
much respect, your obedient servant,
ALF. SULLY,
Brevet Major- General.
HDQRS.
U. S. FORCES, KANSAS AND THE TERRITORIES.
August
16, 1865.
Maj.
Gen. JOHN POPE,
Commanding
Department of the Missouri, Saint Louis:
GENERAL: I enclose herewith-long dispatch
forwarded from General Connor by his acting assistant adjutant-general from Fort
Laramie. On receiving your instructions I telegraphed General Connor what I
should do, and this is a partial response to the telegram. So far matters look
well. This depot is in excellent condition, troops in good discipline, but the
detachments scattered along the road guarding the overland coaches are not in
good discipline. I suppose it is almost impossible to keep up good discipline
where troops are so scattered, many of the detachments necessarily under
non-commissioned officers. The stage company will not run a coach unless we
guard it over every mile. The moment they lose any stock they draw off coaches
and we run them, so that the mail has never been stopped, vide the case from
Camp Collins to Lubbock, which I have now got to running again, and troops
enough to keep the route secure. Reports from troops moving up the Republican
and Smoky Hill show no Indians in that country, so that they are all north or
south of our two overland routes. This guarding stages is terrible on stock.
I am,
general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General, Commanding.
[Enclosure.]
FORT LARAMIE, DAK. TER., August 15, 1865. Maj. Gen. G. N. DODGE, Kearny:
I have suspended the marching orders
of Sixth U. S. Volunteers until you arrive here. There are only 100 infantry
and 430 cavalry in Utah. Will lose half of the infantry
by expiration of term of service before
Christmas. Balance of infantry has about two years to serve. The cavalry has
one year from September next to serve. Not enough troops there to protect the
posts in the districts, and what few we have are scattered on mail line east as
far as Washakie Station, just the other side of the Rocky Mountains. In case of
any Indian troubles in Utah could do absolutely nothing, and no assistance
would be rendered us by that archtraitor and violator of Congressional laws,
Brigham Young. Utah is rich in mineral wealth; and-the only chance to develop
that wealth is in having a force sufficient to protect miners who may engage in
developing it. The Mormons will never do it. On the contrary, they will do
everything they can to prevent it. When the news went to Utah that that
sin-ridden Territory was cut off from your command and taken from under the
direct influence of General Connor, there went np a great cry of rejoicing from
the polygamy traitors. They indulged in all manner of threats, and warned
gentiles to leave; that they could not hunt for gold and silver any longer. The
Government will make money; reap a thousand fold if now it will by furnishing
troops to protect loyal men who propose to open the wealth of that country, and
prove it to be, as it is, as rich as any other west of the Missouri River. You
will be able to judge whether force on plains can
be
reduced any. I repeat, and but give the experience of every military man who
has served on the frontier and understands the Indian character
that a half-way exhibition of power will only result in evil—deplorable evil.
These Indians have repeatedly declared that they do not want
peace. We should fight them like the fiends they are until they
come begging on their hands and knees for mercy. When they do this
then we can afford to make peace. They are now proud and insolent.
Have been able until lately to dash down on road and destroy
everything. They should not only see the power of the Government, but also feel
it. If peace is made with them before they are punished
it will not last six months; scarcely longer than the time it will
take to deliver the presents. That which may appear to be a cruel
policy East is really humanity to the Indians, to say nothing of the
outrages committed by them upon our women and children. It will be
hazardous to weaken our force on the mail and telegraph line. In many
places have not sufficient now for want of troops. We can hardly obtain men to
do the necessary camp and post duties, so great are the demand
for escort and scouting duty. The stage company has finally agreed
to place the stock on road between Collins and Sulphur Springs. That could have
been done three weeks ago if they had not been scared almost
to death about the loss of a few broken-down horses and mules. The general does
not yet know that infantry brigade has been ordered back. He should have another
infantry regiment for this district and Powder River. One thousand infantry and
one regiment of cavalry should be sent to Utah. When you arrive can talk with
you fully on these subjects, telling you exactly what General Connor’s ideas
and plans are. The mail road and telegraph line all quiet. Our cavalry overtook Indians
who committed depredations at Big Laramie several days ago, whipped
them badly, and is still after them. Quartermaster and commissary stores are
arriving at the different depots, and all work pertaining to winter is being
pushed as rapidly as it can be under the circumstances.
GEO. F. PRICE,
Captain and Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.
(In absence of general commanding.)
FORT
KEARNY, August 16, 1865.
Major-General
POPE,
Saint Louis, Mo.:
I have
received dispatches from General Connor, who arrived on Powder River, 160 miles
north of Fort Laramie, on the 11th instant. Says it is an important place and
the winter quarters of the Indians. He made an excellent road to it. Plenty of
wood, water, bunch grass, and buffalo, but no hay. Has established the post.
Has met no Indians, but saw plenty of heavy trails about
one week old making toward line of march of center column. At
Powder River he leaves his base trains take stores to last until October and
pushes right north to Panther Mountain, following trail of
Indians. His entire command, he says, is in excellent condition.
He also sends long dispatches on the
reduction of troops, Utah matters, &c., which I will send you by mail;
too long to telegraph.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
FORT
KEARNY, August 16, 1865.
Maj.
Gen. JOHN POPE,
Saint Louis, Mo.:
The
cavalry force that went in pursuit of the Indians that attacked Big
Laramie Station overtook them several days ago, gave them a thorough
whipping, killing and wounding large number of the Indians, taking
their stock and scattering them. They are still following them up
in the mountains, and will effectually use up that band.
G.M. DODGE, Major- General.
FORT
KEARNY, August 16, 1865.
Capt.
GEORGE F. PRICE,
Acting
Assistant Adjutant- General, Port Laramie:
Where
are the stores General Connor asks for? Have they not arrived
at Fort Laramie? Where is the sawmill? They all left Leavenworth
long ago. You will see by the dispatch to General Connor what is
to be done. What infantry is with him? I would send to him two
companies of Sixth U. S. Infantry—four, if you think they can be spared.
If they have to march a long distance before reaching Laramie we
may hear from him, and if he knows where the escort to Colonel Sawyer’s
wagon-road party is he might get those troops when Colonel Sawyer
is through with them, and it will save long marches.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
FORT
LARAMIE, DAK. TER., August 15 [16], 1865.
Maj.
Gen. G. M. DODGE,
Kearny:
Stores
are arriving. Do not know where sawmill is. One sawmill was
retained at Kearny by direction of the general. There is no infantry with
General Connor, neither with any of his columns. Colonel Sawyer’s escort
consists of Companies C and D, Fifth U. S. Volunteers, and a
detachment of twenty-five Dakota men, under command of Captain Williford, Fifth
U. S. Volunteers. The route taken by the party will intersect
the road from this place to Virginia City at or near Powder River.
The escort will not be required by Colonel Sawyer after arriving at Big Horn
River. Have just telegraphed these facts to General Connor, also your
information that companies are ordered to report to him.
GEO. F. PRICE,
Captain and Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Saint
Louis, Mo., August 17, 1865. (Via Sioux City.)
Bvt.
Maj. Gen. A. SULLY,
Comdg.
Northwest Indian Expedition, Port Rice, Dak. Ter.:
GENERAL:I am instructed by the major-general
commanding to say that by the 1st of November next, or upon the termination of
your campaign, your command will be reduced to one regiment of infantry and six
companies of cavalry, the disposition of which is left to your discretion, but
the following arrangements might perhaps meet the necessities of the service,
viz: at Fort Rice, 4 companies of infantry and 30 horses;
Fort Pierre, 3 companies of infantry and 30 horses; Fort Randall, 3 companies
of infantry and 30 horses. The cavalry to be posted as
circumstances may require. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your
obedient servant,
JNO. T. SPRAGUE,
Colonel and Chief of Staff.
PLUM
CREEK A
Maj. G.
C. TICHENOR: , ugust 18,
1865.
Bring the
Forty-eighth Wisconsin to Fort Leavenworth; order Fif-
tieth
Wisconsin to Fort Rice, as directed. You must do the best you
can
until Seventeenth Illinois Cavalry or Forty-eighth Wisconsin
Infantry
arrives. That regiment onght to be en route for Fort Rice
now to
reach there. If you have any trouble about getting boats tele-
graph
Captain Bell. Don’t let anything delay this regiment getting
off. We
are getting along finely; reached this place at noon. Gen-
eral
Sully, I think, ~s in that country. Let the commanding officer
report
to whoever is in command. They go to relieve a regiment whose
term of
service expires, and the colonel may be the ranking officer, if
so, he
will report to us. If General Sully is there, or has left orders,
be
governed by his orders.
G. M. DODGE,
Major.
General.
FORT
LARAMIE, DAK. TER., August 18, 1865.
Maj.
Gen. G. M. DODGE,
Kearny
or Cottonwood:
I have dates
including 15th instant from General Connor. He has
laid
out a post on Powder River—splendid location—Colonel Kidd,
Sixth Michigan
Cavalry, in command. Are now building block-houses
and
stockades. The post is about eighty miles from Deer Creek Station.
As soon
as train—which should be with him to-morrow—arrives, he
will
resume march. Saw-mill much needed. All signs indicate that
Indians
are moving down river in large bodies. They are traveling in
the
direction the general wants them to travel. He says he does not
think
it possible for them to escape him. His stock is in fine condition.
He
expects the California troops, which took a route west of him, to
join
him within four days after he resumes his march.
GEG. F.
PRICE,
Captain
and Acting Assistant Adjutant- General.
(In
absence of general commanding.)
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Saint
Louis, Mo., August 18, 1865.
Bvt.
Maj. Gen. A. SULLY, U. S. Volunteers,
Comdg.
Northwest Indian Expedition, Fort Rice, Dak. Ter.:
GENERAL: Your
telegram of the 25th of July, via Council Bluffs, dated August 17, was received
yesterday. The major general commanding has answered it by telegraph, directing
you not to muster out the troops referred to, but to postpone all action until
their services can without embarrassment be dispensed with. At present the
state of your command and the progress of
the campaign will not admit of it. The embarrassments incident to
such instructions are well understood, and there is no remedy but to be
governed by the necessities of the service. Colonel Cole has been ordered to
send one regiment to report to you. This regiment is now operating along the Black
Hills. The Fiftieth Wisconsin has been ordered to Fort Rice. A commission has
been appointed to treat with the Indians on the Upper Missouri, consisting of
Governor Newton Edmunds, Edward B. Taylor, General S. B.
Curtis, General H. H. Sibley, Orsan Guerney, and Henry W. Reed, of
Iowa.
JNO. T. SPRAGUE,Colonel and Chief of Staff
FORT
LEAVENWORTH, August 20, 1865.
Lieut. Col. Jos. MuC. BELL,
Assistant
Adjutant- General, Saint Louis, Mo.:
On the 15th
instant General Sanborn met the chiefs and head men of the Apaches, Arapahoes,
Comanches, and Kiowas at the mouth of Little Arkansas, and with them entered
into a written agreement for the cessation of hostilities and for
a meeting to conclude arrangements for
perpetual peace, to be held October 4, at Bluff Creek, forty miles below Little
Arkansas River. It is General Sanborn’s opinion that this is the
end of hostilities south of the Arkansas. I send you copies of the dispatches
in full by the first mail.
J.W. BARNES,
Assistant Adjutant- General.
FORT
LEAVENWORTH, August 20, 1865.
Major-General
DODGE,
Cottonwood:
General
Sanborn reports that he met the chiefs and head men of the Apaches, Arapahoes,
Kiowas, and Comanches on the 15th instant at the mouth
of Little Arkansas, and after a council with them made a written
agreement for cessation of hostilities and for the perpetual peace,
to be held October 4, at Bluff Creek, forty miles below Little Arkansas
River. The agreement is signed by sixteen of the principal men of the Kiowas,
Apaches, and Arapahoes, and they bind themselves to make perpetual [peace],
Cheyennes to keep the peace and unite in the
agreement. General Sanborn says his force can be reduced 2,000 now,
and as many more after the agreement of 4th of October is made. Copies of this
report, agreement, &c., are sent you by mail to Julesburg.
GEG. C. TICHENOR,
Major and Aide-de-Camp.
GALENA, ILL., August 21, 1865.
Hon.
E. M. STANTON:
Before receiving
your dispatch I wrote to Sherman on the subject of reduction
of forces in the West, and for information concerning Indian expeditions,
to be sent to General Rawlins, giving him at the same time my
views. Copies of my letters forwarded to General Rawlins today.
S. GRANT,
Lieutenant- General.
WAR
DEPARTMENT,
Washington City, August 21,
1865—1.30 p. m. Lieutenant-General
GRANT, Galena, Ill.:
Your dispatches concerning the further reduction of troops and leave to paroled rebels to leave the country have been received. Orders have been given the Adjutant-General to go on with the reduction of the force to such extent as may be deemed safe by the commanding officers, and I have recommended the order to be made in respect to paroled rebels. Nothing of importance has transpired since your departure. No satisfactory information has been received in respect to the Indian expedition or the measures taken to reduce its dimensions and expense. This subject still occupies the anxious consideration of the President and of this Department. General Meade has been directed to visit the southern portion of his Command in order to see to the discipline and administration of the military and of the Freedman’s Bureau, concerning which some complaint has been made
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.
FORT LARAMIE, DAK. TER., August 21, 1865.
Maj.
Gen. G. M. DODGE
Alkali
or Julesburg:
Durkee,
of Wisconsin, has been appointed Governor of Utah. Mormons tried to murder Rev.
Norman McLeod, Christian minister now preaching in Salt Lake City, but failed
in the attempt. They are growing very insolent because of the
small number of soldiers now there and are daily becoming worse.
The Indians in Southern and Western Utah are also committing
depredations, instigated thereto by Mormon leaders; they are doubtless
attempting the same policy which they tried there three years ago, thinking in
the absence of troops there will be a fair chance to
succeed. That policy is to force every man,
woman, and child, not a Mormon, to leave the Territory. The commanding
officer of that district earnestly asks for more troops. The gold and silver
interests will be seriously jeopardized and gentile life very unsafe this
winter if additional force is not sent there. I am thus earnest in pressing
this subject upon your attention because I have served in that Territory nearly
three years and traveled all over it and
know that this condition of affairs will grow worse, if prevent-ive measures
are not adopted. Stage company from Salt Lake City to Virginia
City, Idaho, are also earnestly asking for military escorts to protect
mails and treasure in transit from marauding copperhead guerrillas who have
fled from east of the Missouri River and are now following their old vocations
on that mail road. We have not the troops to give
them; Colonel George has not men enough to perform garrison duty.
Bela M. Hughes, agent Overland Stage Line, says will not be able to
open new road to Denver via Uinta Valley this season, and idea of
transferring stage stock to that route this fall is abandoned. This seriously
annoys plans heretofore made by us. The steamer Brother Jonathan
was wrecked off Crescent City, Cal., July 31 [30], and Brig. Gen. George Wright,
U. S. Volunteers and colonel Ninth Infantry, was drowned. He was enroute for
his new command—the Department of Columbia. He formerly commanded the
Department of the Pacific.
GEO. F. PRICE,
Captain and Acting Assistant Adjutant- General.
(In absence of general commanding.)
GALENA, ILL., August 22, 1865—6
p. m.
Hon. E. M. STANTON, Secretary
of War:
All
regular cavalry not absolutely necessary where it now is might be
sent to General Sheridan, but I would not advise the interference with any of
it now in General Pope’s department.
U.S. GRANT,
Lieutenant- General
GENERAL
ORDERS, ~ HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOIJRI,
No. 20. Saint Louis, Mo., August 22, 1865
The District of the Plains is hereby abolished, and the following
districts established:
I.
District of Wisconsin—to
include the State of Wisconsin; headquarters, Milwaukee, Wis. Maj. Gen. A.
Pleasonton, U. S. Volunteers, to command.
II. District of Minnesota—to include the State of Minnesota and that portion of
Dakota lying east of a line drawn from the head of Pembina River to
the western extremity of Devil’s Lake; thence to the head of James
River; thence, following the course of James River southerly, to the
forty-fourth parallel of latitude; thence east along that parallel to
the Big Sioux River; thence along the line of that river to the northern
boundary of the State of Iowa. Brig, and Bvt. Maj. Gen. J. M. Corse, U. S.
Volunteers, to command.
III. District of Iowa—to include the State of Iowa, except the counties of Buncombe,
Sioux, Plymouth, Osceola, Woodbury, Inson, Emmet,
Kossuth, Winnebago, Worth, Mitchell, Howard, Winneshiek, and Allamakee;
headquarters at Clinton, Iowa.
IV. The District of Missouri—to include the State of Missouri; headquarters
at Saint Louis, Mo. Brig. Gen. T. C. II. Smith, U. S. Volunteers, to command.
V.
The District of Kansas—to
include the State of Kansas and the Upper Arkansas Valley as far as to include
Fort Lyon, headquarters at Fort Leavenworth. Brig, and Bvt. Maj. Gen. W. L.
Elliott, U.S. Volunteers, to command.
VI. The District of Nebraska—to include the Territories of Nebraska and Montana,
and that portion of Dakota lying west of the western boundary of the
first-named Territory; headquarters at Laramie. Brig, and Bvt. Maj. Gen. F.
Wheaton, U. S. Volunteers to command.
VII. The District of Colorado—to include the Territory of Colorado, except that portion of the
valley of the Upper Arkansas included in the District of Kansas; headquarters
at Denver City. Brig, and Bvt. Maj.
Gen. E. Upton, U. S. Volunteers, to command.
VIII. The District of Utah—to include the Territory of Utah; headquarters at Salt Lake City.
Brig. Gen. P. E. Connor to command.
IX.
District of Dakota—to
include the counties of Buncombe, Sioux, Plymouth, Osceola, Inson, Emmet,
Kossuth, Winnebago, Worth, Mitchell, Howard, Winneshiek,
Woodbury, and Allamakee, in Iowa, and the
Territory of Dakota, except that portion of the Territory included
in the Districts of Minnesota and Nebraska; headquarters at Sioux
City. Brig, and Bvt. Maj. Gen. A. Sully, U. S. Volunteers, to command.
The
forces to be assigned to these several districts will be communicated to the
commanders in letters of instructions.
The
officers designated to command the foregoing districts will proceed without
delay to their respective headquarters and enter upon the discharge
of their duties.
By
command of Major-General Pope:
JOS. Mac BELL,
Assistant Adjutant. General.
HDQRS. MILITARY DIVISION OF THE
Mississippi, Saint Louis, Mo., August 22, 1865.
Maj. Gen. J. J. REYNOLDS,
Commanding Department of
Arkansas, Little Rock:
GENERAL: I have official notice that
commissioners are on the point of starting from Fort Leavenworth for Fort Smith
with escort and attendance to negotiate a lasting treaty with Indians residing
west of you. You will please make all suitable arrangements for their comfort at
Fort Smith, and facilitate their business by all the means at your command.
Supply them with provisions, forage, and all necessaries. Also take proper
precautions as to guards, couriers, &c., reporting at the
close of the treaty any matters that may seem to you of interest.
I am,
with great respect,
T. SHERMAN,
Major- General.
.
HDQRs. MILITARY DIVISION OF THE
Mississippi, Saint Louis, August 22, 1865
DEAR
REYNOLDS: I have
not written you much, because I did not feel inclined to meddle much in your
matters, which you understand far better than I. I am now firmly established
here, and will always be glad to be of service to you officially and privately.
I want to come down some time this winter to see you, of which more hereafter.
I shall be glad if you will drop me a
note privately, telling me of matters interesting, though not strictly private.
Your friend,
W.T. SHERMAN,
Major- General.
ALKALI,
August 22, 1865.
Maj. G. C. TICHENOR,
Aide
de Camp:
Send
orders to General Sanborn to send to Leavenworth what cavalry he can spare for
muster out. I advise in retaining to keep Fourteenth Missouri, Thirteenth
Missouri, and Fifteenth Kansas, and First Colorado. He can send in such of the
rest as he deems best, or even part of this. Tell him it is reported that a
part of the Comanches, Kiowas, nearly all of the Cheyennes, and one
band of Arapahoes are still north of Platte. Ascertain what portions of these
tribes, if any, are there. I will communicate to him from Julesburg.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Saint
Louis, Mo., August fS2, 18G5.
Bvt.
Maj. Gen. W. L. ELLIOTT:
GENERAL: The
assistant adjutant-general will deliver to you the order
assigning you to the command of the District of Kansas.* You will
please proceed without delay to your command and enter up on the performance of
your duties. The first thing I desire you to do is to
reduce greatly the number of troops and the expenditures in that
district. I desire you to break up all posts in your district except the
following, which will be garrisoned as herein stated, viz: Fort Leavenworth,
three companies Thirteenth U. S. Infantry, with head-quarters of that regiment,
and one company of cavalry; Fort Riley, five companies
Thirteenth U. S. Infantry and one company of cavalry; Cow Creek, two
companies of infantry; Fort Lamed, three companies of infantry
and one of cavalry. A post at or near Cimarron Crossing of the Arkansas
River, one company infantry and one company cavalry. A post at or near Aubrey
Crossing of Arkansas River, one company of cavalry and one company of
infantry; Fort Lyon, two companies of cavalry and one company of
infantry. It is possible that you may need
one or two small posts on the route to Fort Kearny or on the
Smoky Hill Fork. You can determine this when you have looked over the ground.
There will be assigned to your district the following troops, which must be
made to answer all necessities of your command:
One battalion (eight companies) Thirteenth U. S. Infantry; one
regiment of volunteer infantry, to be selected by yourself from the regiments
now on duty in Kansas. It is suggested that one of the regiments
of U. S. Volunteers or the Forty-eighth Wisconsin will be the best
troops. You will also select a cavalry regiment in the same manner, retaining
in your district seven companies and turning over the remaining
five companies to Brevet Major-General Upton, commanding District of Colorado.
These troops should be selected from those regiments having the longest periods
to serve. All other troops in your district
should be sent at once to Fort Leavenworth to be mustered out of service.
Consult with the depot quartermaster and commissary at Fort Leavenworth about
the best disposition to be made of the public stores in your district, which
are believed (especially at Fort Riley and Fort Lamed) to be largely in excess
of the necessities of your command.
Supplies
for one year for the force herein designated should be retained and
distributed. After giving orders, and assuring yourself that they will be
immediately executed, to break up all other posts than those herein mentioned,
you will please proceed with as little delay as practicable to visit Riley,
Lamed, and Lyon, and have the garrisons and supplies reduced to what is herein
stated. On your way to Lyon you will locate the post near the Cimarron
Crossing, and also near Aubrey Crossing of the Arkansas, and at once move the
garrisons of those posts to the points selected, and have them commence to
build quarters and prepare for winter. You will find Brevet Major-General
Sanborn with a considerable force in the vicinity of Fort Lamed. He has just
concluded an arrangement, or rather has made a written agreement, with the
chiefs and head men of the Comanches, Kiowas, Arapahoes, and Plains Apaches for
a complete cessation of hostilities, and for a grand council to make a permanent
peace, to be held on the Arkansas River, forty miles below the mouth of Little
Arkansas, on the 4th of October next. It will probably be well to keep about
500 cavalry of this command encamped on the Arkansas near Fort Lamed until a
treaty is [* See August 22, letter] concluded. Select the detachment for this
service and be sure to put a faithful officer in command of it, who will
maintain discipline and insure that no bad conduct of his command
and no outrages or wrongs to the Indians
shall be committed. Perhaps General Sanborn himself will be the best officer
for that service. All the rest of the force under his command you will please
send back to Fort Leavenworth immediately for muster out. You can select your
cavalry regiment from Sanborn’s command
if you find it judicious. In designating this force for your district
it is assumed that the infantry regiments number not less than 800 men present
for duty, and the cavalry regiment at least 1,200 men. All men absent from
these regiments, sick, on furlough, or otherwise, except
on duty in this department, will be mustered out. If you cannot find regiments
having this effective force, retain another regiment of each arm of service, so
as to make up the necessary force. Report by
letter or telegraph to Major-General Dodge, U S. Volunteers, who has
general command west and south of the Missouri River, and in his absence
on the plains report direct to these headquarters, furnishing General
Dodge copies. You are to understand, general, that it is the purpose
to reduce everything in your district to a peace basis, and neither
to keep troops nor make expenditures except such as are absolutely necessary.
Your long experience on the frontier as an officer of the
army, and your known high character for integrity and efficiency, make
me confident that you will carry out these instructions promptly and
vigorously. It is confidently hoped that by October 1 your command will be
reduced to the force herein specified, and all the arrangements made which I
have directed.
I am, general,
respectfully, your obedient servant,
JNO. POPE, Major- General, Commanding.
IIEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Saint
Louis, Mo., August 22, 1865.
Bvt.
Maj. Gen. E. UPTON, U. S. Volunteers
Commanding District of
Colorado:
GENERAL: The
assistant adjutant-general will hand you the order assigning you to the command
of the District of Colorado.* You will please
proceed with as little delay as practicable, and by the route I indicated to
you in conversation, to Denver City and enter upon the discharge of your
duties. It is believed that by the pacification of the (Comanches,
Kiowas, Arapahoes, and Apaches of the plains there will be little to apprehend
from Indians in any portion of your district east of the
mountains. The Ute Indians living in the mountain ranges west of Denver are not
and have not been hostile, and if properly managed are not likely to become so.
I desire that you direct your attention to the immediate reduction of forces
and expenditures in your district to the utmost extent consistent with absolute
necessity. You will probably need the following posts already established:
First, Camp Fillmore, on the direct route from Fort Lyon to Denver City;
second, Fort Garland, on the Trinchera, a few miles east of the Rio Grande; third,
Camp Wardwell, eighty miles northeast of Denver City, on the route to
Fort Kearny. The first of these posts (which is some miles north of the Pueblo,
on the Upper Arkansas River) needs a garrison of one infantry and one cavalry
company; the second (Fort Garland) [* See August 22, letter] two infantry
companies with about thirty horses to mount express men, herders, &c.; the
third (Camp Wardwell) needs a garrison of not less than three companies of
infantry and one of cavalry. My impression s that you will not need any other
posts, but it may be possible that on looking over the ground you will find
that other small posts can be judiciously established. You are
therefore authorized to retain in your district
one entire regiment of infantry, to be selected by yourself. Five companies
of cavalry will be turned over to you by General Elliott from his
district. These companies will be full to 100 men. If they are not, General
Elliott will assign to you a sufficient number of additional companies
to bring your cavalry force up to 500 men. All other troops than those herein
specified should be immediately mustered out of service, all extra staff
officers sent to Saint Louis to report, and all supplies
in excess of what are needed for your command for one year stored and protected
carefully from the weather, or so disposed of as upon
consultation with officers of the proper staff departments you may deem best
for the public interest. Please report by letter to Major-General Dodge, who
has general command west and south of the Missouri
River. Make your reports direct to him, but inform me by telegraph of any
matter of interest or importance. I need not enter into further details. Upon
looking over the district you will be able to inform yourself fully of the
necessities of your command. I cannot too strongly impress upon you the
absolute necessity of reducing troops and expenditures to the foregoing basis
at the earliest possible moment.
I am,
general, respectfully, your obedient servant,
POPE, Major-General,
Commanding.
HEADQUARTERS
MILITARY DIVISION OF THE GULF,
Yew
Orleans, La., August 23, 1865.
General
E. D. TOWNSEND,
Assistant Adjutant-General:
I hope
to be able to muster out about 3,000 more troops in Texas after I reach San
Antonio. Every effort will be made to reduce the force consistent with the
public wants and the instructions of the lieutenant-general.
P.H. SHERIDAN,
Major- General.
FORT
LEAVENWORTH, August 23, 1865.
General
SANBORN,
Fort Riley, Kans.:
Have the
Fifth U. S. Volunteers move at once to Kearny, as directed n Special Orders, No. 13, from these
headquarters.
J. W. BARNES,
Assistant Adjutant. General.
FORT
RILEY, August 23, 1865.
Maj.
J. W. BARNES,
Assistant Adjutant- General:
In reply
to telegram directing Fifth U. S. Volunteer Infantry to move at once to Fort
Kearny, I desire to state that the proper orders were at once issued to the
commanding officer of that regiment, and it has been relieved from duty in this
district. This regiment is scattered at different posts along a line of nearly
400 miles, a few companies being now as near Fort Kearny as we are here.
Colonel Maynander, commanding, desires the entire regiment concentrated here.
He can move from here with some four companies at once, if
the general commanding desires him to do so. Some weeks must elapse before the
entire regiment can be concentrated.
JNO. B. SANBORN
FORT
LEAVENWORTH, August 23, 1865.
Brevet
Major-General SANEORN,
Fort
Riley, Kans.:
Major-General
Dodge telegraphs from Alkali that it is reported that a part of the Comanches,
Kiowas, nearly all of the Cheyennes, and one band
of Arapahoes are still north of Platte River. Ascertain what portion
of these are here. The general will communicate with you from Julesburg.
J. W. BARNES,
Assistant Adjutant- General.
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE
MSSOURI, Saint Louis, August 23, 1865.
Brevet Major.General WHEATON, Commanding
District of Nebraska:
GENERAL: The
assistant adjutant-general will hand you the order assigning you to the command
of the District of Nebraska.* You will please
proceed without delay to your command and enter upon the performance of your
duties. The permanent military posts in your district are Fort Kearny,
Cottonwood, Julesburg, Fort Laramie, and Platte Bridge. In my opinion each of
these posts should this winter be garrisoned by three infantry and two cavalry
companies, and you had best make immediate arrangements for the
necessary supplies for them.
There have
been sent to the plains by my predecessor in command of this department a large
quantity of supplies of every kind, greatly in excess of the wants of the
forces you will have in your district. After delivering at each post its
supplies for one year you will please have all the surplus collected at some
suitable and convenient post and safely stored and protected from the weather.
It will not be possible probably this winter to get these supplies back to the
depot at Fort Leavenworth, but they can be protected carefully, and the larger
part of them will be on hand and fit for issue next season. Please give your
special attention to storing and protecting these supplies and all other public
property not designed for daily use at the posts. It is possible that you may
find it judicious to establish some intermediate small posts in addition to
those mentioned; but I think not. In relation to escorts for mail coaches, you
must exercise your discretion. It is not, in my opinion, possible to furnish
cavalry escorts during the winter without enormous expense and great
destruction of horses, but if it be absolutely necessary you might send
infantry in wagons from one post to another with the coaches. You should be
careful, however, never to send less than thirty men, under a commissioned
officer. The details [See August 22letter] of such matters I must leave to
yourself. West of Platte Bridge it may be desirable to establish a post in the
valley of the Sweetwater, perhaps at the highest point on that stream, where
timber and grass can be found. Of this you can judge
when you nave looked over the ground. It is proper to inform you that General
Connor is now north of Laramie, in command of several columns moving against
the Sioux in the direction of the Yellowstone.
He has orders to establish a post on or near Powder River, about 125 miles
north of Fort Laramie. If established, this post will also be
in your command and will be supplied from Laramie. All the Sioux tribes, as
also the (Cheyennes, are now hostile, but General Sully, with considerable force,
is north of them on the Missouri, whilst General Connor is moving up in five
columns from various points on the Platte. At last accounts he was on Powder
River, moving toward Panther Mountain. It is hoped that before you reach
Laramie the hostilities with these Indians will have been settled.
In any
event, however, it is the purpose to return to a purely defensive arrangement
for the security of the overland routes to Salt Lake. For your district I have
decided that one cavalry and two infantry regiments will be sufficient force. I
suggest (though without binding you further than as a suggestion) the following
distribution of these forces:
Fort Kearny, Cottonwood, Julesburg, Laramie, and Platte Bridge should
be garrisoned by three infantry and two cavalry companies. If the Powder River
post is established, it should be garrisoned by four infantry companies this
winter, to which a cavalry company can be added in
the spring. If you decide to establish a post on Sweetwater, you will have left
to garrison it one infantry and one cavalry company. These dispositions are
merely suggested to you as my general impression of the necessities of the
situation in your district; to be changed or modified as you may find judicious
after looking over the ground. The force I
have designated for your district I consider sufficient, and I desire
especially, general, to impress upon you the absolute necessity of the
strictest economy in your expenditures. It is essential that you return without
delay to a peace basis, and to the economical arrangements, which obtained
before the rebellion. As soon as you have selected the cavalry regiment and two
infantry regiments for your district you will please at once relieve all other
troops and send them to Fort Leavenworth for muster out of service.
Staff
officers of various departments seem to me to abound on the plains, and all
such as are not absolutely needed must be ordered to Leavenworth to report by
letter to these headquarters. Reduce troops and expenditures to the standard
herein indicated without delay. It is expected
that by the 15th of October your district will be in all respects organized,
and the troops reduced to the force herein designated. Report by letter to
MajorGeneral Dodge, who has general command west and
south of the Missouri River, and send all reports direct to him. He
is now on the plains, but will probably be on his return to Leavenworth
before you reach Kearny. General Connor, with the troops
operating north of the Platte, will probably come in to Laramie. He is ordered
to comply with your requisition for troops, and to send all you
do not want to Fort Leavenworth immediately for muster out. You will, however,
find troops enough ahead along the Overland Route from
Omaha to Laramie to furnish the force designated for your district. My belief
is that the best disciplined and most trustworthy troops
to be retained for the winter are the regiments of U. S. volunteers, which you
will find along the route. There is so much dissatisfaction and insubordination
in the volunteer regiments now your district, arising from the belief that as
the war is ended they are entitled to discharge from the service, that they are
not efficient, and will be less so every day. Make your
selection of regiments, however, as best
suits you, being careful only to select those having until next spring
or summer to serve. As soon as you have posted your troops, relieve
and send to Fort Leavenworth all others without delay. I leave you,
general, to carry out these instructions, having full confidence that you
will do so vigorously and promptly.
I am,
general, respectfully, your obedient servant,
JNO. POPE,
Major General, Commanding.
JULESBURG,
August 21, 1865.
Maj.
Gen. JOHN POPE,
Saint Louis:
In
appointment of commissioners to meet Southern Indians I think General
Sanborn should be one of them. It is uncertain whether I shall reach there in
time. If I should not he knows our views of Indian
matters and will do what he can to carry them out. I hope Government
will instruct the commissioners to insist upon their keeping at least fifty
miles south of Arkansas route and east of Fort Bascom, thus giving us the
Overland Route up the Arkansas, Smoky Hill, and
Platte unmolested; also that hereafter all Indian agents, traders, &c.,
shall be under the supervision of the officer commanding in the country
that they occupy. I have seen things on this trip that convince me that unless
the officer commanding in the Indian country can have
supervision in protecting them from the agents and traders we cannot
make a peace that will last very long. Also that they give up all
stolen property. Butterfield has opened the Smoky Hill route. If he
sustains the line it will go a great ways to hold open a country heretofore
occupied by hostile Indians, and which I have occupied this summer.
G.M. DODGE,
Major General.
[AUGUST 24, 1865. For Dodge to
Tichenor, relative to peace negotiations with the Indians]
FORT
LEAVENWORTH, August 24, 1865.
Major
General DODGE,
Julesburg, Cob. Ter.:
General
Elliott has arrived. He relieves Mitchell and Sanborn, both districts
being merged. He is given one battalion of the Thirteenth Regulars,
one regiment of infantry, and one of cavalry for all purposes in
the district. All other troops are ordered by General Pope to be mustered
out. I learn that General Upton is assigned to command Colorado,
and that General Wheaton goes to Fort Laramie. I suppose that all
troops on the plains, except sufficient to garrison posts, are to be
mustered out. These district commanders are assigned by General Pope
and given written instructions by him relative to their duties and the
number of troops to be retained in their respective districts, no copies
or notification being given ns.
GEO. C. TICHEXOR,
Major and AidedeCamp.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Saint
Louis, Ill., August 24. 1865.
Brig.
Gen. P. E. CONNOR,
Commanding District of Utah:
GENERAL: You
will receive herewith the order assigning you to the command
of the District of Utah and breaking up the District of the Plains.
* You will please proceed to your command at the earliest practicable
moment and enter upon the performance of your duties. One regiment of infantry
and one of cavalry are assigned to your district, and no
more troops must be kept there under any circumstances. I desire
also to say to you that hereafter it is expected, and will be required of
all officers serving in this department, that they do not interfere with
officers of the disbursing departments within their districts, except so
far as they are required by regulations to overlook them in the performance of
their duties. All contracts and payments on contracts must be made
hereafter by officers of the proper department according to law and
regulations, and no account for any expenditure in violation of either
will be admitted or paid, and if paid by any commanding officer’s order
the amount will be charged to him at the Treasury. It is impossible for any
officer who attends promptly to his own duties to be able also to
attend to the duties of his subordinates. I make these remarks because
there has been much complaint of you in this direction, and many
accounts of an extraordinary character made by you have been
reported to me as paid by your orders. I do not mean to say that these
expenses were not necessary, but hereafter I am very sure that with
proper management the necessity will not again arise, and I desire you
always to take such precautions in advance that nothing will be needed
in your command which cannot be had in the usual and legal way.
Your familiarity with the country and the circumstances of your command
render any instructions from me unnecessary. I desire you to make
such arrangements for the protection of the overland routes in Utah
as you consider necessary and are capable of making with the force
assigned to your command. All troops, except the regiment of infantry
and the regiment of cavalry designated as the force of your district, will be
put in march for Fort Leavenworth, or other proper points for
muster out, without the least delay. If General Wheaton calls upon you
for any of this surplus force, you will detach it to report to him. You will
report by letter to Major General Dodge, who has general command
west and south of the Missouri River, and send your official reports
to him.
I am,
general, respectfully, your obedient servant.
JNO. POPE,
Major General, Commanding.
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF THE UPPER ARKANSAS,
Fort
Riley, Kans., August 24, 1865.
Maj.
J. W. BARNES,
Assistant Adjutant. General, U.
S. Forces, Fort Leavenworth:
There are no Comanches or Kiowas north of the Arkansas River,
except possibly a few small war parties. The chiefs said that there were some small
war parties out from each tribe and that they did not know where they had gone,
but thought they had gone upon the Fort Lyon and Fort Union road, in New
Mexico. Black Kettle, head chief of the
Cheyennes, the Chief Storm, and Little Raven, head chief of the Arapahoes,
with their bands, women, and children, came into Cow Creek Station
on the 16th instant to attend the council, and learning that it was
to be held at the mouth of the Little Arkansas, at once proceeded to
that point. I did not meet them as I came up the east side of the Little
Arkansas, and they went down on the west side, hence their names do
not appear upon the stipulation. I understood Big Mouth to say
that there was one band of Arapahoes and one of Cheyennes on the
Platte, and that they had sent him word that they were coming down to join him.
He said he had no doubt but that they were on their
way, but whether they would come after they had heard that he had
made peace or not he did not know. I am satisfied that there is no
force of importance of any of these tribes on the Platte. I will send forward
one detachment of the Fifth Infantry U. S. Volunteers tomorrow
and the balance as fast as they arrive at this post.
JOHN B. SANBORN,
Brevet Major General, Commanding.
SPECIAL ORDERS, HDQRS.
DEPARTMENT OF MISSISSIPPI
No.
34. Vicksburg, Miss., August 25, 1865.
I. (Not
used)
II. Under
the provisions of General Orders, No. 130, current series, of the War
Department, Adjutant General’s Office, Brig. Gen. J. A. Maltby, U. S.
Volunteers, is hereby relieved from duty in this department.
III. Bvt. Maj.
Gen. M. F. Force, U. S. Volunteers, having reported at these
headquarters, in pursuance of General Orders, No. 130, current series,
of the War Department, Adjutant General’s Office, he is hereby assigned
to the command of the Western District of Mississippi.
By order of Major General Slocum:
J. WARREN
MILLER,
Assistant Adjutant. General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Saint
Louis, Mo., August 25, 1865.
Maj.
Gen. W. T. SHERMAN,
Comdg. Military Division of the
Mississippi, Saint Louis, Mo.:
GENERAL: I
enclose herewith the order [General Order 20] establishing districts in this department,
concerning which I have already conferred verbally with you. I
also send the detailed instructions given to each district commander. In
answer, therefore, to inquiries of the General in Chief and War
Department, it will be ascertained by summing up the forces specially
assigned in these instructions to each district, that the entire force
to be retained in (his department amounts to seven regiments and one
battalion of infantry and four regiments of cavalry, an aggregate force,
when the regiments are lull, of 5,600 infantry and 4,800 cavalry. About two
thirds of this force are all that can be relied on as effective. These
regiments will be distributed as follows: Minnesota, one infantry regiment and
six companies of cavalry; in Northern Iowa and that portion of Dakota Territory
lying along and east of Missouri River, one infantry regiment and six companies
of cavalry; in Kansas, to include the Upper Arkansas River as far as to include
Fort Lyon, one regiment and one battalion of infantry and seven companies of
cavalry; in Colorado Territory, one infantry regiment and five companies of
cavalry; in Nebraska and Montana and that portion of Dakota Territory west and
south of the Missouri River, two regiments of infantry and one of cavalry; in
Utah, one regiment of infantry and one of cavalry. This is the least force, in
my opinion, which can perform the service required. West of Fort Leavenworth
there are 3,500 miles of overland routes to California and New Mexico to
protect. The whole distance traversed is through the Indian country, and the
overland routes are new and will for some time be infested by wandering parties
of lawless white men, lately bushwhackers and deserters from the army, and men
from the disbanded rebel armies. These men prowl through
that whole
region of country and are more dangerous to travelers than the Indians
themselves. All outrages committed by them are, however, charged upon Indians,
and it requires great vigilance to prevent retaliation from being practiced
upon Indians guiltless of offense. A much larger force is required on the
plains than has heretofore been considered necessary, arising from the state of
facts set forth in my communication of August 1 to Col. R. M. Sawyer, assistant
adjutant general, Military Division of the Mississippi, an extract from which
is submitted.
By the
15th of October at latest the whole force of this department will be
reduced to the number above stated, and expenditures brought down to
that scale. I need not say that the accumulation of supplies on the
plains and the large requisitions sent on were made before I came
into command of this department. My whole attention has been given
since I assumed command to reduce everything to the lowest point
which actual necessity demands. As there seems to be great anxiety
and some misapprehension in Washington concerning the condition of troops in
this department, I have the honor to request that copies
of this letter be furnished to the General in Chief and Secretary of
War.
I am,
general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JNO.
POPE, Major General, Commanding.
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF THE UPPER ARKANSAS,
Fort
Riley, Kans., August 25, 1865.
Colonel
CLOUD,
Commanding at Lamed, Kans.:
COLONEL: I am expecting orders
reducing my command, and also to garrison the Smoky Hill route, and do not
expect to be able to leave with you much more than your regiment to manage your
subdistrict. I simply write this to show that it will be better to make as few
changes as possible until the new order of things is established. The remaining
portion of your regiment will leave here on Monday next and come through at
once to you, and I may soon want the fourteenth Missouri Cavalry to move up on
the Smoky Hill route. I would recommend that you move as few troops as possible
until we know what amount of force * The extract (omitted) begins with “The Indian
question is the most difficult” and ends with “expenses can be easily settled”
they are going to give us. We are now well supplied with everything. The
Quartermaster General has ordered storehouses built at Lamed, and I think the
lumber will commence coming forward soon. Lamed must be the
depot of supplies for all the posts and troops between Lamed and
Lyon, and I desire all proper requisitions for supplies for those posts
and stations to be filled at Lamed. Communicate your views of matters
at any time. I shall always be glad to hear from you. I have the honor to be,
very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JNO B. SANBORN, Brevet
Major General, Commanding.
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF THE UPPER ARKANSAS,
Port
Riley, Kans., August 25, 1865.
Col.
J. J. GRAVELY,
Commanding Fourteenth Missouri
Cavalry Volunteers:
COLONEL: Your
letter of the 21st instant came to hand this morning. I am expecting orders
reducing my command, and also orders to garrison the Smoky Hill route, so I am
not now expecting that your command will remain in the Third Sub-District many
days, and have so intimated to Colonel Cloud. As I may
want you to command a sub-district or line of travel before long, I will not
make the order transferring your headquarters here now; but if things are to
remain as they now are many weeks, I will make the
order. The work should now be made quite light along the Arkansas,
as I think there is not much danger on that line of travel. I
expect Fort Dodge will be abandoned soon,
and stations established at Aubrey Crossing and Cimarron Crossing
of the Arkansas. Write to me at any time and give me your views
about any matters pertaining to the service or other things. I shall
always be glad to hear from you, and will write in reply when possible.
Keep your stock up in good shape if possible, and be careful not to
work too hard. How much money is the paymaster paying your command?
I have
the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JOHN
B. SANBORN, Brevet Major General, Commanding.
FORT
LARAMIE, DAK. TER., August 25, 1865.
Brig. Gen. P. EDWARD CONNOR, Powder
River:
Colonel
Briggs, [Seventh] Michigan Cavalry, reports 400 Indians crossed
mail road at Willow Springs, between Big Laramie and Virginia Dale, on 21st,
bound north, traveling very rapidly for their villages. They have heard of you.
One hundred and fifty Indians attacked Willow Springs on 13th
instant; stampeded stock, when Michigan men charged them on foot,
recovered portion of it, and drove Indians
away. All Michigan cavalry has arrived and is distributed. Twenty-first New
York will soon be at Collins. Have no fears about running
mail. Do not think there is today a hostile Indian within fifty miles
of any point on mail road. They are all, as was anticipated, fleeing north
to their villages. Colonel Potter is confident of his ability to protect road.
G. F. PRICE,
Acting Assistant Adjutant General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Saint
Louis, Mo., August 25, 1865.
Bvt.
Maj. Gen. J. M. CORSE, U. S. Volunteers,
Commanding District of
Minnesota:
GENERAL: The
assistant adjutant general will hand you the order assigning
you to the command of the District of Minnesota. [See August 22 letter] You
will please proceed to Saint Paul, Minn.,
and enter upon the discharge of your
duties. The principal posts in your district are Fort Ripley, on the
Upper Mississippi; Fort Abercrombie, on the Red River of the North;
Fort Wadsworth, at the head of the Coteau des Prairie, and Fort
Ridgely, on the Upper Minnesota River. These posts should be permanently
occupied. Brigadier General Sibley, now in command of District
of Minnesota, has established some small intermediate posts for
temporary purposes. You must decide, upon examination, whether it
is necessary to retain them this winter. Fort Ripley will be amply garrisoned
by one company of infantry and one of cavalry; Fort Abercrombie, by three
companies of infantry and two of cavalry; Fort Ridgely,
by one company of infantry and two of cavalry. In fact, it is to be
doubted whether Fort Ridgely needs more than one infantry and one cavalry
company. The situation of affairs in your district must be judged
of by yourself, in view of my conversation with you. The Government demands the
reduction of forces in the department to the absolute
necessities of the situation, and I infer that this means that the
military forces should be reduced to what is absolutely needed for protection
to the frontier. I suppose in this view that one infantry regiment
and six companies of cavalry will be sufficient in your district, and
to this force I desire you to reduce the troops in your command. There are now
in Minnesota the following regiments: Second Minnesota Cavalry
(full regiment), Independent Cavalry Battalion (six companies), Third
Illinois Cavalry, four companies of First U. S. Volunteer Infantry. I think it
will be well to send the four companies of First U. S. Volunteer Infantry to
Fort Leavenworth, where they can be united with the
other companies of the regiment, and to dismount the Second Minnesota Cavalry
and use it as the infantry regiment for your district. This will give you the
infantry regiment and the six companies of cavalry,
composed entirely of Minnesota troops, which seem to me to be the
appropriate troops to protect the frontiers of Minnesota. The Illinois
cavalry regiment should be sent to Springfield for muster out of service
as soon as possible. It is expected, general, that immediate and
vigorous steps will be taken thus to reduce troops and expenses in your
district, and I know too well your energy and fidelity to duty to doubt
that you will complete this reduction at the earliest moment it can
be safely done. By the 15th of October it is believed that your district will
be completely organized in conformity to the above instructions.
I am,
general, respectfully, your obedient servant,
JNO. POPE,
Major General, Commanding.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Saint
Louis, Mo., August 25, 1865.
Bvt.
Maj. Gen. A. SULLY,
Comdg. Northwest Indian
Expedition, Fort Rice, Dak. Ter.:
GENERAL: Upon
the conclusion of the operations of this season you will please reduce the
forces in your district to one infantry regiment and six companies of cavalry.
The infantry regiment I send you from Fort
Leavenworth, the cavalry companies you select from your new command.
I suppose Brackett’s battalion of cavalry and the Iowa and Dakota
companies will give you the mounted force specified. As soon as the
infantry regiment arrives relieve the six companies First U. S. Infantry
Volunteers and send them by the same steamer to Fort Leavenworth,
and send to their respective States for muster out of service
all troops in excess of what are herein designated for your command. You had
best keep at Rice, Sully, and Randall, as also at Sioux City,
thirty or forty horses for express and herding purposes. I do not undertake
to designate posts or their garrisons in your district. You have
been long in command and know perfectly the necessities of the case.
I only mean to specify distinctly to you the entire force, which you
are to retain, leaving the distribution of it to your own judgment. The
Government demands the reduction of forces in this department to
absolute necessities, which I presume means that no troops are to be
kept in the department except such as are absolutely needed for the protection
of the frontier. The force designated for your district seems to
be sufficient for the winter, and upon that force you must rely. I need
not impress upon you, general, the necessity of reducing expenditures in your
command to the lowest possible point. Your familiarity with the
economical system, which obtained on the frontier before the rebellion
[Indian Wars] will enable you readily to come down to the scale of expenditures
now required by the Government. I rely upon you to do so at the
earliest practicable moment.
I am,
general, your obedient servant,
JNO. POPE,
Major. General, Commanding.
HEADQUARTERS
FRONTIER DISTRICT,
Fort
Smith, Ark., August 26, 1865.
General D. H. COOPER, Flort Washita, C. N.:
I have
the honor to acknowledge receipt of your letter of 20th instant
(with enclosures), requesting that an officer be designated to parole
such officers and enlisted men belonging to the District of the Indian
Territory as~ have not yet reported at some United States military post. I am
informed by General Reynolds, commanding Department of Arkansas, which embraces
the Indian Territory, that Maj.C. C.White, provost marshal general of the
department, was sent to Fort Towson, about the last of June, for the purpose of
paroling your command; that he remained there several days without meeting with
any officer authorized to act in the matter. He was compelled to return to
Little Rock without accomplishing the object of his mission.
Major
White was sent to Fort Towson in obedience to a request of General Kirby Smith,
who reported to General Reynolds that the Indian command would be surrendered
by you at Fort Towson. In consequence of the change of troops now taking place
in my command, it will not be possible to send an officer as you request. Men
of your command are reporting here daily and being paroled. I cannot at present
send an officer to receive the public property, which you wish to turn over to
the Government, as it would have to be brought here for protection, which
cannot be done at this time. I regret that Major General Herron sent his
commissioners into the Indian Territory, as he had no authority to negotiate a
treaty or to exercise any authority over the Indian Territory, which belongs to
the Department of Arkansas. I have, however, endeavored to comply with the
terms agreed upon by Lieutenant Colonel Matthews and the
Indian nations, believing it the only way to
avoid serious difficulty. Immediately after the adjournment of the
grand council, which convened at Armstrong Academy in June, I received
Governor Colbert’s request for passports for Indian delegates to go
to Washington. The passports were granted, and the delegates were expected
in Washington, as it was understood they were appointed by the
grand council. In reply to this letter, Governor Colbert informed me that
since his first letter to me Lieutenant Colonel Matthews had negotiated a
temporary treaty of peace, and requested that a grand council be held
in the Territory, at which commissioners from Washington would be
present; but that if from any cause the commissioners failed to attend
the council in the Territory the delegates would avail themselves of the
passports and free transportation offered by me. This I communicated
to the Interior Department at Washington, and soon after
received instructions to notify all the Indian tribes that commissioners from
Washington would meet them in grand council at Fort Smith,
Ark., September 1.
While I
was communicating with the Interior Department by telegraph Major General
Herron was compelled to use the mail, and in
consequence of the delay occasioned preparing reports and the uncertain
mail facilities, it was several weeks before the Department at Washington
was advised that any commissioners had visited the Territory or made any
agreement with the Indian tribes. The commissioners will be here on the 1st of
September, where they will await the arrival
of the delegates from the various Indian tribes. It will not be possible
for the commissioners to proceed to Armstrong Academy to meet the
grand council, as they have appointed Fort Smith as the place where
they will meet all persons in the Western country having business with
them and I am informed that delegates from the Kansas Indian and
other tribes are now on the road to this place to meet the commissioners on
business. The first information I received that a grand council had
been called to meet at Armstrong Academy on the 1st of September was by letter
from Governor P. P. Pitchlynn (sp?), received the 14th
instant, too late to attempt to change the place of meeting, as notice
had been sent to all the Indian tribes on the 2d instant that the
council would meet at this place. I hope the various tribes in the Territory
will be fully represented here at the earliest day possible, as the
commissioners will expect to meet them here on the 1st of September.
Very
respectfully, your obedient servant,
CYRUS BUSSEY,
Brigadier General, Commanding.
HEADQUARTERS NORTHWEST INDIAN
EXPEDITION, Camp No. 43, Port Rice, Dak, Ter.,
August 26, 1865.
ASST. ADJT. GEN., DEPARTMENT OF
THE Missouri:
In my last report, dated August 13, I spoke of the
Assiniboine Indians I sent to
Union. They returned, and report that from what they could learn the Indians
(Minnesota Sioux) were west of the Little Muddy, and were moving toward Union,
but north of it, and that buffalo were very thick there. I then sent for
Medicine Bear (as I new I could not overtake these Indians) and told him that I
had come to the conclusion to take his advice and not go after his people. He appeared
to be much pleased at this, and said he would go out to his camp and
would surely bring them in. I also got the report of two Indians
from the camp on the other side of the river, who were sent in by the
Sans Arc and Minneconjon Sioux, disclaiming having had anything to
do with the late raid on Rice, and wishing to make peace. They said as
soon as they got through with their hunt and dried their meat they would
come to me. As their country is near Fort Pierre, I told them I would
meet them there. I feel perfectly sure that during this fall and winter
the greater part of the Indians will come in to make peace, and I
shall issue instructions to the commanders of posts as regards terms,
&c. I cannot issue such instructions to the commanders of Forts Rice
and Randall, as General Dodge has assumed command over these posts.
There is one matter of great trouble in regard to peace. The Indians
have got a large amount of animals stolen down on the Platte, and
are afraid they will have to give them up. The question was put to
me in council. I evaded it as well as I could, telling them if I did not
see the animals I could not know that they had them. As a matter of policy I
thought it best to waive the question for the present. It can be better
attended to hereafter. In fact, I think it better to compromise than make war
any longer for the present. The idea that these Indians
had a few years ago, that united they were more than a match for all
the whites in our country, has been taken out of them. They will
never try a combination again to resist our troops, for they frankly admit
it is useless for them to fight us, for we are better mounted and armed.
If a war is kept up it will be a sort of guerrilla war, whereby citizens
who live on the borders or are traveling unconscious of danger will
be the sufferers more than the troops. By keeping up the present garrisons,
letting the Indians know they will be well treated if they behave
themselves, and that the Government has no idea of taking from
them their land I think there will be no more serious troubles. I do
not predict perfect peace immediately, for should the war be continued against
the Indians, or should a treaty be made, or should they be let
alone, it will be the same. There will be for some time small war parties
of young bucks, who have nothing to lose by war, who will continue to rob when
they get a good chance; but in time this can also be stopped
if peace is made with the major portion of the Indians, and particularly
if the posts in the Indian country are commanded by officers of sound judgment
and some little knowledge of the Indian character. I have received several
orders in regard to mustering out troops
in my command. I am informed that the Sixth and Seventh Iowa
Cavalry, the First and Fourth U. S. Volunteers, are ordered to be
mustered out. This will leave me without any troops except about 300
of Brackett’s (Minnesota) battalion. It will be impossible for me to take
the garrison from Fort Rice. There are no means of transporting the
stores down the river, and the amount of property here is immense—more than I
can place under cover at present—for it was the intention to keep
here a very large force this winter. I shall therefore leave these
troops up here till further orders. The time of the Sixth Iowa has
already commenced to expire, and I am fast losing the services of that
regiment. I shall, therefore, have to hurry down what few troops I
have left to garrison the posts vacated and protect public property there.
I am waiting the return of a messenger to the Indian camp, and expect
to move to Fort Pierre in about five days.
I am, with
much respect, your obedient servant
ALF. SULLY,
Brevet Major General.
FORT
RILEY, August 27, 1865.
Maj.
J. W. BARNES,
Assistant Adjutant General:
In
accordance with instructions of the 23d instant, I have designated for
muster out the Eleventh Indiana Cavalry Volunteers, numbering about
30 officers and 732 men, and Companies C, D, and G, of the Second
Cavalry Colorado Volunteers, numbering eight officers and ninety
enlisted men, all having from six to ten months’ pay due. The necessary
orders have been issued, but it will be ten to fifteen days before
they arrive, as it will take a few days to relieve the different detachments.
Colonel Maynadier, Fifth U. S. Volunteer Infantry, started
for Fort Kearny yesterday with six companies of his regiment—all that were
here. Major Curtis and Captain Moses, Second Colorado Cavalry,
have been ordered to Fort Leavenworth as directed, and will start
tomorrow.
JOHN B. SANBORK, Brevet Major General.
[AUGUST
28, 1865.—For Dodge to Pope, relative to the reduction of troops
on the plains, see Part I, p. 352.]
[AUGUST
28, 1865.—For Pope to Dodge, relative to the reduction of troops
on the plains, see Part I, p. 354.]
CAMP
MITCHELL, August 28, 1865.
Maj.
Gen. JOHN POPE,
Saint
Louis, Mo.:
General Connor sends following:
HEADQUARTERS,
Powder River, August 19, 1865.
A
detachment of my Pawnee scouts on the 16th instant discovered and pursued a party
of twenty-four Cheyennes returning from the mail road with scalps and plunder.
They overtook them about sixty miles northeast of here on Powder River, and, after
a short engagement, killed the whole party. Loss on our side, 4 horses killed.
We captured 29 animals, among which are 4 Government mules, 6 Government and 1 Overland
Stage horses, 2 Government saddles, a quantity of white women and children’s
clothing, 2 infantry coats, &c.
G. M. DODGE,
Major. General.
CAMP
MITCHELL, August 28, 1865.
Maj.
Gen. JOHN POPE, Saint Louis, Mo.:
General
Connor telegraphs from expedition moving north of Powder River
that one of his parties struck trail of Indians coming from mail road;
killed one of principal chiefs of Cheyennes and captured thirty head
of Government stock, also large amount of plunder, ponies, &c. They also
took in their baggage large number of letters belonging to Seventh
Michigan Cavalry. He says that all Indians are moving north.
This is
evidently so, as they have left our overland routes. He reports his
command in good condition, and the trails very heavy. I shall be in
Laramie tomorrow.
G. M. DODGE,
Major General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Saint
Louis, Mo., August 28, 1865.
Hon.
NEWTON EDMUNDS,
Governor and ex Officio
Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Yankton,
Dak. Ter.:
SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge
the receipt of your letter of the 17th instant. I communicate
freely with the Secretary of the Interior on the subject of Indian affairs, in
accordance with an understanding between us at the conference held in
Washington in July, and I am and shall always be very glad to
confer freely with you, or any other gentleman
holding high official position under the Interior Department, on
the subject of our Indian difficulties. I shall be glad to receive from you
at any time whatever suggestions you may deem useful in relation to
the operations of the military forces in the region of country over which
your superintendence extends, and will always receive and consider your
suggestions with the greatest respect. Unless there be harmony
and cordial cooperation between the military authorities and the
officials of the Interior Department in the Indian country, no good result
can be hoped for in the settlement of our Indian affairs. I rejoice to
infer from your letter that you are willing to establish these harmonious
relations, and proceed to answer your letter in the same spirit of frankness
in which it seems to be written. In view of reports from General
Sully, of much later date than the paragraph quoted in your letter,
I recommended to the Secretary of the Interior (to whom I have sent
copies of all reports from officers in the Indian country) the appointment of
commissioners to negotiate with the Indians of the Upper Missouri,
and have received from him a letter informing me of the appointment
of commissioners for that purpose, of whom you are one.
Generals
Curtis and Sibley, also on the commission, have not yet reached here, though
letters received from General Curtis inform me that he will be here in a day or
two. I will send up by him orders to General Sully and all other military
commanders in that region to assist you in every way in their power in your
negotiations, and to furnish you with escorts, transportation, and whatever
else you require which it is in their power to furnish. I have only one
suggestion to make to you in relation to negotiations of peace with the Indians
in question, and I deem it of so much importance, in view of permanent peace,
that I ask your
earnest
consideration of it. The Indians are unwilling to make peace simply on
condition that they are not molested by white men. I am greatly opposed to money
or other annuities being given to Indians, as it is my belief that they
consider such presents as evidences of fear on the part of the Government, and
of a desire to bribe them to keep the peace. Such a belief on the part of the
Indians has a most unfortunate effect upon them, and simply leads to the
renewal of hostilities in the hope of more presents of money and goods. I am
satisfied that you will find that they will agree to as favorable terms of
peace without the
promise of
money and goods as with it, and that such a treaty will be much more likely to
be permanent. I beg you will consult General Sully, and whomsoever else you
please, on this subject. I am very anxious indeed that you should view the
matter as I do, as I believe that upon the decision arrived at
will depend largely the stability of our
peaceful relations with these Indians hereafter. I wish you every success
in your negotiations, and shall hold myself ready to carry out the
provisions of any treaty you may negotiate to the full extent of the
means at my command. General Curtis will carry up with him the necessary
orders to General Sully and other commanders.
I am, sir,
respectfully, your obedient servant,
JNO. POPE,
Major General, Commanding.
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF THE UPPER ARKANSAS,
Fort Riley, Kans., Au gust 28, 1865.
Maj.
Gen. G. M. DODGE,
Commanding U. S. Forces at Fort
Laramie:
My
estimate of forces necessary for the line of the Arkansas River, now
that we have peace with the Indians along the route, is as follows: Cow
Creek Station, one squadron of cavalry; Fort Zarah, Fort Lamed, Fort
Lyon, and Cimarron Crossing, one company of cavalry and one of infantry
each. If the mail for Colorado and a large or considerable portion
of the freight for that country is to pass over the Smoky Hill rout
e, which now seems probable, I would recommend that a battalion of
cavalry and four companies of infantry be stationed along that route. In
addition to the above, a small force will be required at Riley and some
troops for special service to prevent stealing from reserve Indians. If the
Smoky Hill route is to be as important as anticipated, it is certain that the
Government should not expect or attempt to maintain peace
along the two lines with a less force than one regiment of infantry and
one of cavalry. The chiefs while in council admitted that they could
not control their bad men without the presence or aid of our military forces to
terrify them. Under orders from General Elliott I have directed
the Eleventh Indiana Cavalry, Second Colorado Cavalry, Fourteenth Missouri
Cavalry, and all the Wisconsin and Iowa troops to proceed
to Leavenworth. This leaves the Thirteenth Missouri Cavalry, Fifteenth
Kansas Cavalry, Second U. S. Infantry Volunteers, and two companies
of the First Colorado Veteran Battalion. Five hundred of the
cavalry are to go to Denver City with General Upton, and the term of
service of the Second U. S. Volunteers expires in about one month.
JOHN B. SANBORN,
Brevet Major General, Commanding.
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF THE UPPER ARKANSAS,
Fort
Riley, Kans., August 28, 1865.
CoL
W. F. CLOUD,
Commanding Third Sub-District,
Fort Lamed:
COLONEL:
Yours of the 23d instant is at hand. The Fifth U. S. [Volunteer Infantry] is
ordered to Fort Kearny, and as the term of service of the Second U. S.
[Volunteer] Infantry expires in about forty days, I thought it best to get the
regiment together here, and have it ready to muster out when the time comes. I
approve of your action in retaining the troops to draw their pay. The
percentage of furloughs allowed by law may be given by regimental and
detachment commanders, but must be approved at these headquarters. Company B, of
your regiment, organized from the Fifth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, has
been ordered to join you, and I suppose has left. Leaves of absence may
be granted when two officers or some one remains with the company. I usually
approve applications under such circumstances. I desire
to drop these Indian scouts at the earliest time practicable, but until
we get different reports from the north you will keep them on the alert
well up toward the Smoky Hill, watching closely for any movements of hostile
Indians. General Elliott, who is now commanding the Districts
of Kansas and the Upper Arkansas, will be here tomorrow night
and is going through to Fort Lyon; and, if you desire to go up, it would
no doubt be pleasant for him and for you to go together. I shall be
glad to have you accompany him if you desire. General Dodge will probably
be there to come back with you. While we are escorting so much on
that road, your disposition of troops is all right; but I expect the
command will be reduced before many weeks so much that no more than
one regiment of cavalry will be allowed to that Arkansas line, as I
wrote you the other day. But it is all right until the change is made. Have all
possible precautions taken for the preservation of the Government stores until
we can get some lumber there. General Elliott will
probably be at Lamed by next Sunday.
I have
the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JOHN
B. SANBORN, Brevet Major General, Commanding.
FORT LARAMIE, August 29, 1865.
Maj. Gen. JOHN POPE, Saint Louis, Mo.:
Following dispatch from Salt Lake forwarded:
SALT LAKE, August 25,
1865.
The Salt
Lake Telegraph comes out this morning defying Government. Says polygamy must
live and die with Mormonism, and if interfered with will be washed out with
blood.
MILO GEORGE,
Lieutenant- Colonel, Commanding.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
U. S. FORCES,
Fort Laramie, Dali. Ter., August 31, 1865.
Maj.
Gen. JOHN POPE,
Saint
Louis, Mo.:
I consider the Indian matters here of so much importance, and
knowing no one can judge of them so well as when he is on the ground, that I
desire to make one proposition to the Government. If the Government will allow
me to keep General Connor in the field with not to exceed 2,000 men of his
present force, leaving the forces you have designated to garrison posts on the
plains, I will settle these Indian difficulties before spring satisfactorily to
the Government, and bring about a peace that will be lasting. I may do it in a
month or two, or it may take longer. The additional expense to the Government
will be the pay of that number of troops for the time detained. All the stores, forage, &c., to
support them are here and en route. As soon as we settle with them we can send
these troops in and take 2,000 more from our posts in addition and muster them
out. General Connor left Powder River with sixty days’ supplies, and I am
satisfied if we will allow him time he will settle the matter before he
returns. Should he come back by our orders without settling the matter, the
entire Indian tribes will be down on our lines, and we will have our hands
full, and more too. The forces for Utah I will soon have on the road, and when
Connor gets back he can go right there.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
His Excellency A. JOHNSON, GALENA,
ILL., September 11, President:
Seven
weeks’ absence from Washington and free intercourse with all parties and
classes of people has convinced me that there is but one opinion as to the duty
of the United States toward Mexico, or rather the usurpers in that country. All
agree that, besides a yielding of the long-proclaimed Monroe Doctrine,
non-intervention in Mexican affairs will lead to an expensive and bloody war
hereafter or a yielding of territory now possessed by us. To let the Empire of
Maximilian be established on our frontier is to permit an enemy to establish
himself who will require a large standing army to watch. Military stations will
be at points remote from supplies, and therefore expensive to keep. The trade
of an empire will be lost to our commerce, and Americans, instead of being the
most favored people of the world throughout the length and breadth of this
continent, will be scoffed and laughed at by their adjoining neighbors both
north and south—the people of the British Provinces and Mexico. Previous
communications have given my views oii our duty in the matter here spoken of so
that it is not necessary that I should treat the subject at any length now.
Conversations with you have convinced me that you think about it as I do, otherwise
I should never have taken the liberty of writing in this manner. I have had the
opportunity of mingling more intimately with all classes of community than the
Executive can possibly have, and my object is to give you the benefit of what I
have heard expressed. I would have no hesitation in recommending that notice be
given the French that foreign troops must be withdrawn from the continent, and
the people left free to govern themselves in their own way. I would openly sell
on credit to the Government of Mexico all the ammunition and clothing they
want, and aid them with officers to command troops. ln fine, I would take such
measures as would secure the supremacy of the republican government in Mexico.
I hope you will excuse me for the free manner in which I address you. I but
speak my honest convictions, and then with the full belief that a terrible
strife in this country is to be averted by prompt action in this matter with
Mexico.
U.S. GRANT
Lieutenant- General
HDQRS.
U. S. FORCES, KANSAS AND THE TERRITORIES,
Fort Laramie, Dak. Ter., September 1, 1865.
Capt.
GEORGE F. PRICE,
Acting Assistant Adjutant-
General, District of the Plains:
CAPTAIN: The
garrison for Utah I have concluded to designate as follows: Three Michigan regiments,
after being consolidated, say, 1,000 men; Second Battalion Nevada Cavalry, 314
men; Second Battalion California Cavalry (now with General Connor), 183 men;
First Battalion Veteran California Infantry, 250 men; three companies Sixth U.
S. Volunteers, 275 men. These troops will be sent forward to Utah as fast as
circumstances will permit. The three Michigan cavalry regiments, after my
return from Powder River, and the Twenty-first New York Cavalry, had better be
distributed from Camp Collins west, so as to cause no delay in movements of the
consolidated Michigan regiments when the order arrives.
Very
respectfully, your obedient servant,
G.N. DODGE,
Major- General, Commanding.
[SEPTEMBER
2, 1865.—For Pope to Dodge, relative to the reduction of troops and supplies,
see Part I, p. 355.]
FORT RICE, September 2, 1865.
Maj. Gen. J. POPE,
Saint
Louis:
GENERAL: I
have received another message from the big camp. They say they are all coming in as soon as they get through
with drying their meat. When that will be it is hard to say, for an Indian’s
definition of soon may mean a week or a month. I have heard nothing yet of
Galpin. Large bodies of Indians are moving down to Fort Sully. Four of the soldiers carrying the mail
came across the Blackfeet camp near the Little Cheyenne. They treated the men
well; said they were going to cross to the Big Cheyenne and camp there. All the
Indians appear to be going in that direction, and I have written to General
Curtis that I think Fort Sully will be the best place to meet the Indians.
As soon as
I can learn about the day Sibley and Curtis will be there I will send out
runners to all the camps. A very unfortunate occurrence happened here, which
has given me a great deal of trouble. A corporal of Brackett’s (Minnesota) battalion
went into a woods a short distance from the camp and was shot by Indians. They
were three boys who were seen near the camp, and supposed by the soldiers to be
friendly and were spoken to. They had their lariats, no doubt secreted
themselves, watching for a chance at night to steal horses, when the corporal
accidentally came on them. As the corporal’s body was not discovered till next
day, the Indians had escaped. About two days after Two Bears’ band and other
bands of friendly Indians began to reach near our camp on their return from a
hunt. A few Indians came ahead to inform me, but the soldiers seized them, and
in the excitement would have killed them had it not been for the officers. A
great many men in camp [whose] term of service has expired, and they swear they
will not leave the place till they have revenge on some Indian. I have had to
send to the different camps here and direct the Indians to move off till I get
away. I hope I shall be able to leave here without any-thing happening, but I have
to keep up a very strict guard and watch over my men. I leave here day after
tomorrow.
With
respect, your obedient servant,
ALP. SULLY,
Brevet Major- General.
P.
S.—I open this to
tell you that I have just heard from Galpin. His wife got thrown from her horse and hurt a little. He had
to remain at Berthold a few days, but all is going on well. A major and 200 men
of the Third Illinois had reached Berthold; the rest of the troops were on the
Cheyenne. They had met no Indians. The major gave chase to a small party, but
very fortunately did not catch them. The Indians who belong here got safely
into their camp. Had any of them been killed by the major, Indian affairs would
have been in a bad state and no prospects of peace.
Yours, truly, ALF. SULLY.
[Copies furnished by General Pope to General Sherman and Secretary
Harlan, Interior Department, Washington, D. C.]
SPECIAL
ORDERS, HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF ARKANSAS,
No.
209. Little Rock,
Ark., September 4, 1865.
* * * * * *
7. Brig. Gen. C. H. Morgan, U. S.
Volunteers, having reported at these headquarters in pursuance with General
Orders, No. 130, current series, War Department, is hereby assigned to the
command of the Saint Francis River District, headquarters at Helena, Ark.
* * * * * * *
By command of Maj. Gen. .J. J.
Reynolds:
GUSTAV WAGENFUEHR,
Captain and Acting Assistant Adjutant. General.
GALENA,
ILL., September 6, 1865—9 a. m.
Major-General
SHERIDAN,
New Orleans:
Reduce
the force in all your division except Texas by mustering out troops as low as
the service will bear.
U. S. GRANT,
Lieutenant- General.
HEADQUARTERS
POWDER RIVER INDIAN EXPEDITION,
Camp
No. 27, Tongue River, September 11, 1865.
Colonel
COLE,
Second
Missouri Light Artillery, or
Lieutenant-Colonel
WALKER,
Sixteenth Kansas Cavalry:
My
scouts have just returned from Powder River, and report having seen a large
number of horses shot and ordnance property destroyed at a tamp of one or both of
your columns on Powder River, sixty miles east of here. I send three scouts to
tell you of my whereabouts and guide you by the best route to me or Fort
Connor, on Powder River. You can
place implicit confidence in the scouts and be directed by them in the route
you will take. I hope and trust your condition is not as bad as I fear it is.
Very
respectfully, your obedient servant,
P.EDW. CONNOR,
Brigadier- General, Commanding.
[Endorsement on envelope noted below.]
The scouts first sent with this were driven back by Indians and
returned last evening. You should come over to this river immediately. Send word to me, at all hazards, of
your condition on receipt of this.
I will keep moving up this river at the rate of fifteen miles a
day.
P.EDW. CONNOR,
General, Commanding.
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN,
Milwaukee,
Wis., September 12, 1865.
Bvt. Lieut. Col. J. MoC. BELL,
Assistant Adjutant- General,
Department of the Missouri:
COLONEL:
The enclosed papers of Governor Lewis are returned with the report of Captain
Taylor, of my staff, who was sent to investigate the facts complained of
against the Indians in the northern part of this State. I would respectfully
call the attention of the major general commanding to the report of Captain
Taylor, as it shows the necessity for the removal of these Indians from the
State to other territory farther west. The Winnebagoes, who are the larger
number of these Indians, belong to the tribe of that name who were removed by
the Indian Department, some twenty years ago, to Iowa and afterward
to the
northern part of Minnesota. The whole tribe was removed, but those now here
returned to this State, and no steps were taken by the Indian Department to
remove them or retain them with the bulk of their tribe. It appears to me, therefore,
that the removal of these Indians at this time belongs to the Indian
Department. It is essential that they should be removed from this State, and I
recommend that they be placed with the rest of their tribe and made to remain
with them.
I am, colonel, very respectfully, your
obedient servant,
A. PLEASONTOK, Major.
General, Commanding.
[First endorsement.]
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Saint
Louis, September 18, 1865.
Respectfully
returned to Major-General Sherman, commanding Military Division of the
Mississippi, whose attention is invited to copy of my letter to Governor Lewis,
of Wisconsin, and the copy of dispatch from Mr. Mix, of the Interior
Department. It will be seen from these papers that the Interior Department
notified me that they would not have anything to do with these Indians, and if
I meddled with them I would have them on my hands. My letter to Governor Lewis
explains the whole matter. It is impossible for me to do anything further about
these Indians, without special instructions.
JNO. POPE,
Major- General, Commanding.
[Second endorsement.]
HDQRS. MILITARY DIVISION OF THE
Mississippi, Saint Louis, September 21, 1865.
My
knowledge of the condition of the Indians in Wisconsin is too limited to
justify me in advising any specific action in this regard. General Pope must do the best he can.
W. T. SHERMAN,
Major- General, Commanding.
[Enclosure No. 1.]
STATE
OF WISCONSIN, EXECUTIVE OFFICE,
Madison,
July 11, 1865.
Hon.
E. M. STANTON,
Secretary of War, Washington,
D. C.:
SIR: I have the honor to transmit
herewith a copy of a communication from Nathan Johnson and others, of Union,
Waupaca County, Wis., relative to threats and depredations of Pottawatomie and
Menomonee Indians in that vicinity, and would respectfully recommend that these
Indians be looked after by the General Government and removed, in accordance
with suggestions contained in said communication.
I am, sir, very respectfully,
JAMES T. LEWIS,
Governor of Wisconsin.
[Sub- Enclosure.]
MARBLE, WAUPACA COUNTY, Wis.,
June 25, 1865. His Excellency J.
T. LEWIS, Governor of Wisconsin:
SIR: We, the undersigned,
residents of the town of Union, county of Waupaca, feeling ourselves aggrieved
by the near proximity of roving bands of Pottawatomie and Menomonee Indians,
who are at present, to the number of 500, encamped in our neighborhood, take
the liberty to state to you some of the facts in the case and pray that some
means may be taken to remove these Indians to some uninhabited place. Although they have committed no act of
open hostility, they have, by threatening women and children whose protectors
have not yet returned from the war, rendered themselves a source of terror to
the scattered settlers of this place. They have also a large number of horses
that, regardless of fences, have destroyed a large portion of our crops, thus
rendering our means of subsistence, for the coming year at least, pre-canons.
We submit these facts for your consideration, trusting that your wisdom will
devise some means to alleviate our grievances.
We are, sir, your obedient servants,
NATHAN JOHNSON.
[AND TWENTY-SEVEN OTHERS.]
[Enclosure
No. 2.1
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE NORTHWEST,
Milwaukee,
Wis., July 2, 1864.
Hon. JAMES T. LEWIS,
Governor of the State of
Wisconsin, Madison:
SIR: Your letter of the 30th
ultimo, inclosing communication of sheriff of Marathon County, of 20th ultimo,
has been received by Major-General Pope, and I am directed by him to reply as
follows:
Enclosed
you will find copy of a telegraphic dispatch from Mr. C. E. Mix, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, of
the subject of Indians in the State. It was sent in reply to a request made by
General Pope that they should be removed from Wisconsin. You will perceive from
the dispatch in question, that the Interior Department not only declines to
have anything to do with these Indians, but notifies General Pope that if he
interferes with them he will have them on his hands. It is believed that if the
Interior Department has not charge of Indians, no other department of the
Government has. Why the Interior Department has left and still leaves these
Indians in Wisconsin without an agent, without means, and disavows all
responsibility for such an extraordinary course, is not known. Of course,
against any hostile combinations of these Indians against the whites in this
State, the commander of this department will take all the measures at his
com-mand; but with cases of mere personal violation of law, committed by single
Indians in any town or settlement in Wisconsin, the State laws and the State
authorities must deal. These Indians should be removed from the State, and
General Pope has several times urged the matter at Washington, with what result
you see from the dispatch above referred to. If the Indian Mitekaunish belongs
to the tribe having reservations on Lake Superior the proper reference of this
complaint is to the Indian agent in that region, who has exclusive jurisdiction
of these Indians. General Cook has sent to Bayfield and Superior to inquire
into the condition and disposition of the Chippewas in that region. If the
Indian in question belongs to the tribe in that region please inform me, and
General Cook will be instructed to see that the Indian agent brings him to
punishment. It is suggested, however, that the State laws and authority are
amply sufficient to deal with such isolated cases as the one now presented.
I have
the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J.F. MELINE, Acting
Assistant Adjutant- General.
[Sub-enclosure.]
WASHINGTON,
D. C., July 2, 1863.
Major-General
POPE,
Milwaukee:
SIR: Your
telegram of yesterday received this day and referred to Secretary of the
Interior, who informs me that he has submitted the same to the Secretary of War
and directs that I should advise you that no Winnebagoes escaped in their
transit to their new home; that the Indians you are pursuing are old residents
of Wisconsin, and that this office has neither agents nor money to take care of
those Indians, and that if you arrest them they will be on your hands.
CHAS. E. MIX,
Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs.
[Enclosure
No. 3.]
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN,
Milwaukee,
August 24, 1865.
Capt.
J. G. TELFORD,
Assistant Adjutant-General,
District of Wisconsin:
CAPTAIN: I have the honor to
report that, in compliance with special orders- from these headquarters, dated
August 15, 1865; I proceeded on the 16th instant to Union Township, Waupaca
County, Wis., for the purposes directed in said order. Upon an investigation of
two days I found that in that and adjoining townships there are roving bands of
Indians of the Menomonee, Pottawatomie, and Chippewa tribes numbering perhaps
400 or 500, who have become in consequence of depredations hereinafter
mentioned a pest and nuisance to the community in which they are for the time
encamped. To complete this investigation I visited many of the citizens and
heard a very uniform statement respecting their conduct. Among the many
depredations committed by them may be enumerated such as follows: Encamping in
large numbers in the vicinity of and sometimes upon the farms of the settlers;
allowing their droves of ponies free occupation of pastures and fields and, in
some instances, opening fields of growing crops and driving in their animals to
graze; tearing up bridges and in many ways obstructing the highway to prevent
their horses from straying; keeping large quantities of vicious dogs, which
prowl about the country, killing sheep, &c.; committing all manner of petty
thefts, such as taking bells off of cattle amid horses, killing pigs and
calves, carrying away cooking utensils, garden vegetables, wearing apparel, bed
clothes, &c.; occupying school-houses and barns and other buildings which
for the time may be untenanted, for themselves or their animals, and if
objection is made threatening the owners with violence; threatening women and
children when found alone, thereby preventing either from remaining at home or
going abroad without protection, and in many other ways keeping the
neighborhood in constant alarm. It appears to be evident from
their
course of conduct and what they have been heard to say, claiming the country as
their own and declaring that they “will fight before they will leave it,” that
they intend to so constantly annoy the citizens whom they at present greatly
outnumber that it will be necessary for their natural enemies, the white men,
to leave their homes, which have cost them years of toil to make somewhat
comfortable, after purchasing from the Government of the United States. Not
being called upon by the order above mentioned for anything more than a
statement of facts as the result of an investigation, I can but say that I am
thoroughly convinced that there was cause for the petition of citizens
forwarded from that township, a copy of which I took with me, and that the
prayer of the petitioners should be heard.
I am, very
respectfully, your obedient servant,
W.M. TAYLOR,
Captain and Commissary of Subsistence of Volunteers.
HEADQUARTERS
NORTHWEST INDIAN EXPEDITION,
Port Stdly, Dak. Ter.,
September 14, 18G5.
ASST. ADJT. GEN., DEPARTMENT OF
THE Missouri:
SIR: I
reached this point yesterday. I could not camp near the fort for the want of
grass. Nothing worth mentioning occurred on my march down from Rice. When I
reached Swan Lake I found Indians encamped, and there are camps of them all the
way down the river on both sides.
These are the Indians who have made peace with me. Some of the chiefs
visited my camp and promised to send word to all the camps when I sent them
word the commissioners were coming. Some of the men whose term of service has
expired, or will expire in a few days, about 150 in number, I send to Sioux
City to be mustered out. I shall send all of the Sixth Iowa I have with me in a
few days, and shall send the three companies of the Seventh Iowa and the part
of the Dakota cavalry I have with me also below to relieve posts occupied by
the Sixth Iowa, so that all the regiment will be at Sioux City in about two
weeks ready to be mustered out. I telegraphed to know where I should send it.
My first order directed them to go to Davenport, but a telegraphic order
directs all troops to Leavenworth. I cannot think it is the wish to march the
regiment all the way down to Leavenworth and then pay their transportation back
again to Iowa. I would respectfully ask what disposition I shall make with the
horses and mules I have.
Most of
these animals are superior to what are generally met with in the service and if
sold at Sioux City will bring nothing in comparison to their value. If they
must be sold I would recommend they be divided up into gangs and sent to
different towns iii the interior of the State of Iowa, where many can be found
able and willing to pay something like a decent price for them, but I would
above all recommend I be allowed to select the very best horses and mules out
of the lot and keep them till they may be wanted at some other point. I can
keep them very cheap at Webster City. Last winter it cost me about $5 per head
per month to keep my stock and keep them well. I purchased from the farmers
around in open market and hauled my forage sometimes twenty miles. This leaves
me Brackett’s (Minnesota) battalion, over 300 strong, which I shall keep here a
short time and will myself remain to see what the Indians intend to do. A few
days will decide. I received the letter of instructions in regard to the force
I shall have, and also about reducing expenditures. I shall attend to this
matter and see that our expenses are reduced as low as possible. I am glad the
general has ordered troops up here to relieve the First U. S. Volunteers.
Though I would be
sorry to
part with the regiment on account of their being well-disciplined troops, yet I
would do all I could to relieve them from their pres-cut position. The
graveyard at Fort Rice tells a fearful tale of sickness and death, and already
scurvy is again beginning to show itself. The men are so disheartened and have
such a perfect fear of staying up here another winter I verily believe many of
them would die of fear alone should sickness break out among them again as it
did last winter.
With
much respect, your obedient servant
ALF. SULLY,
Brevet Major- General, Commanding.
HORSE
SHOE, September 15, 1865.
Maj.
Gen. JOHN POPE,
Saint Louis:
Arrived
here to day on my return from Powder River. That post is well located; right in
heart of Indian country, and is an important post. The Indians’ trails all
cross at or near it, and it will have good effect hereafter in holding in check
Indians. Have not heard from General Connor since August 24. We cannot reach
him now. They have done good deal of work on Powder River; got up stockade and
commenced quartermaster buildings; well under way. Great lack of
quartermaster’s stores up there, the Powder River stores not having reached
Laramie yet. From Laramie to Powder River, then to Virginia City, is an
excellent wagon road; good grass, water, and wood all way, and the most direct
road that can be got. The travel over it in another season will be immense; it
saves at least 450 miles in distance. After the Indians attacked Colonel Sawyer’s wagon-road party and
failed in their attempt, they held a parley. Colonel Bent’s sons, George and Joe
Bent, appeared on part of Indians, and Colonel Sawyer gave them a wagon load of
goods to let him go undisturbed, Captain Williford, commanding escort, not
agreeing to it. The Indians accepted proposition and agreed to it, but
after receiving goods they attacked party; killed three men. Bent said that
there was one condition on which the Cheyennes would treat, viz, the hanging by
Government of Colonel Chivington. He also said that the Indians considered that
they were strong enough to fight Government; preferred to do it; that they knew
Government would withdraw troops in fall; then they would have it all their own
way again. Expressed great fear about Connor, and said they were concentrating
everything to meet him, which is true.
Since he left no Indians have troubled the mail or telegraph line, but
are all moving north, stragglers and all. At Fort Connor they kill a few of
them as they pass every few days. There is one band of Arapahoes in Medicine
Bow Mountains, who are committing depredations around Denver, on Cache ha
Poudre and Big Thompson Creeks. They belong to the band that were at Cow Creek
treaty. I shall be in Laramie tomorrow; see General Wheaton; thence to Denver.
Bent also said that some of tribes had agreed to make peace on Missouri River, but
they were doing this to keep us from sending a force that way. These Bent boys
were educated in Saint Louis. One has been with Price in rebel army; was
captured. His father got him released and took him to his ranch on Arkansas
River, when he joined the Cheyennes, of which he is a half-breed. He was
dressed in one of our staff officer’s uniforms.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO,
Santa
Fe. N. Mex., September 15, 1865.
Col.
RICHARD C. DRUM,
Assistant Adjutant-Generat, San
Francisco, Gal.:
COLONEL: I have had the honor to receive
General Orders No. 1, from the headquarters of the Department of California,
and herewith unclose General Orders, No. 1, abolishing the Department of New
Mexico; now become the District of New Mexico. In anticipation of General
McDowell’s order I sent a dispatch to Washington on the 5th ultimo, of which
the following is a copy:
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF NEW MEXICO,
Santa Fee, N. Mex.. August 5, 1865.
ADJUTANT-GENERAL,
U. S. ARMY,
Washington, D. C.:
Have
seen in newspapers General Orders, No. 118, assigning New Mexico to Department
of California. The official order itself will doubtless come by next mail in
twelve days. Between the date of receipt by me of the official order and the
date when instructions will be received from General McDowell there will be an
hiatus of uncertain duration. In that hiatus this will be no department. What
will it be? I see dilemmas with
reference to approving contracts, estimate for money, discharges of soldiers,
accepting resignations, action with reference to courts-martial, military
commissions, &c. I wish to act authoritatively. Please instruct me by
telegraph.
Expressmen
will wait at Denver for reply. Please consider the status of Northwestern Texas
now under my command.
JAMES H.
CARLETON,
Brigadier-
General. Commanding.
To which I received this reply:
Washington, August 14, 1865.
(Via Denver.)
Brig. Gen. J. H. CARLETON,
Santa Fe :
Until
your communications are fixed as commander of the District of New Mexico you
should continue in your present functions, proceeding in all respects as
heretofore. The whole of the State of Texas will be under General H. G. Wright
as soon as he can arrive and take command. Meantime you must allow the service
there to suffer no detriment.
E. D. TOWNSEND,
Assistant Adjutant-General.
These
dispatches will explain to the general commanding the reasons and authority for
still retaining a part of Texas in this district. Enclosed herewith please find
a map [plate # 98, Map 1 of the Atlas] of what was the Department of New
Mexico. It is a photographic copy
of a map made by Col. Allen L. Anderson, Eighth Infantry California Volunteers,
and will be found to be much more correct than any other map of this country
hitherto published. I send it not
only for future reference by the general commanding the Department of
California, but to enable him to understand the positions of the posts and
stations of the troops in this district as named on the enclosed return:
First.
Fort Union is near the western limits of the Great Plains, which extend
uninterruptedly from Fort Leavenworth to the Rocky Mountains. Here there is a
defensive earthwork with temporary quarters in the demi-lines for some eight
companies. There are but five companies of infantry at present at Fort Union.
The depot for quartermaster’s stores and the depot of subsistence stores are
building by order of the War Department at Fort Union, and new and permanent
quarters for four companies are also in process of erection at that post. When the latter are completed the
temporary quarters in the demi lines will be abandoned and the materials of
which they are constructed will be used for other purposes. At Fort Union also
is the ordnance depot for New Mexico. At present all the ordnance and ordnance
stores are kept in a confused group of log and adobe buildings, which have been
erected from time to time since 1851 as temporary shelter until a proper
arsenal should be constructed. Authority for building such arsenal was given,
as I understand, about the time the civil war broke out, but it was concluded
that nothing should be done toward carrying into execution any plan or orders
in the case until the war ended. In my opinion the site for such arsenal should
be near the junction of the Mora and Sapello Rivers, seven miles south of Fort
Union. There waterpower for driving machinery, &c., can be had and stone
for building or for foundations and walls is very convenient, and fuel is
abundant and quite near.
Second.
Fort Bascom is on the right bank of the Canadian River. This post will accommodate three
companies. It was established by myself in 1863 to help guard the eastern
frontier of New Mexico from Comanche raids and to protect the people who
desired to extend settlements farther down the Canadian. The post is building,
but will be nearly completed this fall.
Third.
Fort Sumner is on the left bank of the Pecos River. This post was established by
myself in the fall and winter of 1862. It is nearly completed and will have
quarters for six companies. The Navajo and Apache Reservation is at Fort
Sumner, and here I have 7,622 prisoners of those tribes, who are fed by the
subsistence department, and will be thus supplied with food until they can
raise enough to sustain themselves. The reserve has been made by Congress and
is forty miles square, with Fort Sumner in the center. Capt. John B. Shiun,
Third U. S. Artillery, has been ordered by General Grant to survey it, and he
is now en route from Albuquerque to fulfill his instructions to this end. The
care and management of this number of wild Indians and the system to be
inaugurated and carried out, which shall gradually change them from lawless
savages to a people who are to obey necessary rules for their good behavior and
general tranquility, and show them as well the necessity of earning their bread
by the labor of their hands, will doubtless engage the attention and have the
solicitude of the commander of the department. I think it would be well for him
to come here and give this matter a personal inspection. No written account of
what has been done or what should be done would impress upon his mind a proper
idea of the subject. A Congressional committee, consisting of Senator J. R.
Doolittle (chairman), Vice-President Foster, and Representative Ross, visited
the reservation in June of this year, but their stay was so short and their
inspection so cursory that much remains to be considered and acted upon which
cannot be considered in their report. If the commanding general would come here
and look into the matter himself he would then be able to give detailed
instructions with reference to this very important and interesting experiment
of colonizing the wild Indians of New Mexico. If I am to remain in command here
it would help me very much to have the benefit of his counsel and instruction
in a matter involving such immense interests and now of considerable expense to
the Government, and besides would lighten not a little the burden of
responsibility of such a charge.
Fourth.
Fort Stanton was originally built for four companies. It is on the right bank
of the Rio Bonito, affluent to the Pecos. During the Texan invasion it was
abandoned by our troops and afterward destroyed by fire. In 1862, when I
organized a campaign against the Mescalero Apaches, it was so occupied as far
as practicable by making temporary roofs and putting doors and windows to the
stonewalls which remained of some of the buildings of the old fort. There are
but two companies at that point now. In my opinion, they should be kept there
to protect the settlers who have flocked into that interesting and fertile
portion of New Mexico. A few straggling parties of Apaches continue at intervals
to prowl through the Sacramento Mountains, coming up from the northwestern
portion of Texas or from the country to the west. Until these are destroyed or
captured it would not be prudent to abandon Fort Stanton.
Fifth.
Fort Marcy is at Santa F6, N. Mex. It has quarters for two companies, but at
present is only occupied by a few men who do escort duty and guard the public
stores.
Sixth.
Albuquerque is a central position with reference to the country at large. In my
opinion, until all the Indians are subdued, two companies of cavalry should be
kept in hand at this point for scouts in different directions. It is in the
midst of a cheap forage district; a matter of great importance in this country,
where grain forage is always expensive, and sometimes so scarce that corn has
to be transported from the States for public use. This is the case this year.
At present a battery of four pieces of artillery (Company A, Third U. S. Artillery) is stationed at Albuquerque.
Now that the civil war is over this battery had better be sent to Fort Sumner,
where it will exert a wholesome influence over the Indians at that post.
Seventh.
Los Pinos is twenty miles below Albuquerque. This place was rented by General
Canby from Governor Connelly at over $5,000 per annum rent, and the intention
was to make a quartermaster’s depot here, but this idea was abandoned, and the
War Department ordered that the depot should be made at Fort Union, as before
stated. The contract for the rent of the place was for five years from the 15th
of May 1862, and has no clause for giving up the place before the expiration of
that period. There is one company occupying the place to see that it does not
go to ruin and thus bring the Government to a heavy charge for damages, but
there is no other necessity why it should be occupied, and that company is
greatly needed elsewhere. The chief quartermaster is endeavoring to arrange
with Governor Connelly for hi in to receive the place back by the Government
paying for a few more months’ rent and let the premises be given up.
Eighth.
Fort Wingate is a two-company post, which I established in the old Navajo
country on the road to Fort Mojave, Ariz., in the fall of 1862. The plan
approved by the War Department was originally for four companies, but after the
Navajo Indians were whipped and had surrendered it was found not to be
necessary to have over two companies for its garrison. This post is about
eighty-five miles west of the Rio Grande and is on the mail route to Prescott,
Ariz. It helps control the wandering parties of Apaches, who sometimes venture
in from the White Mountains and the Mogollon Mountains, near the head of the
Colorado Chiquito, and has a wholesome influence on the Laguna, Acoma, Zufli,
and Moqui pueblos of Indians. I think it ought to be kept up at least for a few
years.
Ninth. Fort Craig is a fieldwork of the second class, and has
quarters for four companies. At this point I had storerooms made to hold
400,000 rations in reserve and independent of the stores for the current wants
of the post. Fort Craig is situated on the right bank of the Rio Grande, 178
miles south of Santa F6. It is an important point, and should be garrisoned by
two companies of infantry and two of cavalry. It controls the Indians who make
raids into the neighboring settlements from the mountainous country around the
headwaters of the Gila and the Mimbres Rivers. This post is now garrisoned by
two companies of infantry and one of cavalry.
Tenth.
Fort McRae is at the Ojo del Muerto, some thirty-five miles south of Fort
Craig, and serves to give protection to travelers on the Jornada del Muerto. It
is about two miles in a right line from the left bank of the Rio Grande, and
about four miles in a right line from the main road crossing the Jornada. The
post is in a gorge through which the Indians were accustomed to drive stock
stolen from the people living east of the Rio Grande. It was established by
myself in 1863, and as yet the quarters are but of a temporary character. In my
opinion this post should not be abandoned, but should eventually be well
constructed and calculated for one company of infantry and one of cavalry. At present its garrison is a company of
infantry, half mounted. The mountainous country between the Rio Grande and the
head of the Gila, in which Indians take refuge, is easily reached from this
post whenever the Rio Grande is fordable, which is, say, ten months in a year.
The troops from this post can easily cross and penetrate the San Andres
Mountains, skirting the eastern edge of the plain over which lies the Jornada
del Muerto.
Eleventh.
Fort Selden is on the left bank of the Rio Grande at Pobledo, the point where
the road called the Jornada del Muerto in going south first strikes the river.
It is calculated for a company of infantry and a company of cavalry, was
established by myself in the spring of 1865, and is now building. It will
probably be nearly com-pleted by the 1st of next January. This is considered as
an important point for the protection of travelers, as well as to protect the
flocks and herds of the people living along the Rio Grande in what is called
the Mesmila Valley. flere we have a ferry across the river, and from this point
a new road will be opened to Goodsight Station, on the main stage route of the
old overland hue (now abandoned) from Mesilla to California.
Twelfth.
Fort Cummings is built at Cooke’s Springs, at the eastern end of Cooke’s
Cation, directly on the road from Mesilla to Tucson, and completely controls
that old resort of the Apaches. In this cation, until Fort Cammmngs was established,
the Apaches made frequent and fatal attacks on small parties of travelers, and
once killed the driver and every passenger upon the stage, some nine in all.
Except Apache Pass, in Arizona, it was by far the most dangerous point on the
southern route to California. It was established by myself over a year ago, is
calculated for a company of infantry, and, say, half a company of cavalry, and
should, in my opinion, be kept up as long as the Apache Indians infest the
country about the head of the Mimbres and Gila Rivers, in the Burro and Florida
Mountains, or in the country about Lake Guzman.
Thirteenth.
Franklin, Tex. The garrison of this post is at present two small companies of’
the Fifth U. S. Infantry. The quarters have been those, which were vacated by
men who went south. Some of them, belonging to Uniomi men, have been rented.
This place is ordered to be abandoned on the 15th proximo, when the troops will
reoccupy Fort Bliss, a mile below Franklin, on the left bank of the Rio Grande.
When the Texan forces under Sibley abandoned Fort Bliss it was nearly
destroyed. All the doors and
windows and all movable lumber were stolen and carried off, leaving the post in
ruins. This post was on the private grounds of a man named Magoffin, a brother
of Governor Magoffin, of Kentucky.
He went south. The War Department approved of its being repaired and the
work of putting it into habitable order has been progressing since last June.
It will be quite finished this year. The general commanding the department may
consider it as occupied and Franklin abandoned by the time he will receive this
communication. These are all the posts at present occupied by troops in this
district. There is a temporary camp called Camp Nichols on the Cimarron route
to Missouri, at present garrisoned by three companies, and two other companies
are escorting trains on the States roads. On the 1st of next November that camp
is to be abandoned, when the companies there and the two with trains will come
in and be for distribution in other parts of the district. It is my intention
this fall and next winter to make war upon the Mimbres Apaches, a small band of
very bad and aggressive Indians.
For this purpose a camp will be established on the Mimbres River, where
hay will be put up. The subsistence stores to furnish, say, four companies to
be sent on this duty, are nearly all en route to Fort Cummings, where they will
be kept in store and be drawn upon from time to time as they may be needed by
the troops in camp on the Mimbres, or those scouting against the Indians from
the latter point. This is the only hostile operation at present determined
upon. Sudden outbreaks of Indian prisoners or inroads or aggressions of tribes
around and in the Territory may necessitate other movements; but these are only
contingencies. They may not occur. I enclose herewith a return of the troops in
and pertaining to this district. I also enclose an order showing distances
between important points in and connected with New Mexico.
I beg to
be informed fully of the wishes of the commanding general with reference to
what he desires to have done, and to say that I will endeavor to carry out all
his views to the best of my ability.
I am,
colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JAMES H. CARLETON, Brigadier- General, Commanding.
GENERAL ORDERS, ‘~ HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF Mississippi,
No.
25.Vicksburg, Miss., September 16, 1865.
In order to
avail himself of a leave of absence which has been
granted
him, the undersigned hereby relinquishes command of this department. Until
further orders the command will devolve on Maj. Gen. P. J. Osterhaus, the senior officer present on duty.
II. W. SLOCUM,
Major- General, Commanding.
GENERAL ORDERS, IIDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF Mississippi,
No.
26. Vicksburg,
Miss., September 18, 1865.
Pursuant to
General Orders, No. 25, current series, from these headquarters, I hereby
assume command of the Department of Mississippi.
P.JOS. OSTERHAUS,
Major- General of Volunteers.
GENERAL
ORDERS, ~ IIDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
No.
27. Saint
Louis, Mo., September 19, 1865.
In
accordance with the terms of General Orders, No. 251, 1864, War Department,
Adjutant-General’s Office, the Districts of Kansas, Nebraska, Dakota, Colorado,
Utah, and Minnesota being composed of mixed troops, each equivalent to a
brigade, are hereby designated as separate brigades.
By command of Major-General Pope:
JOS. MoO. BELL,
Assistant Adjutant- General.
HEADQUARTERS
MILITARY DIVISION OF THE GULF,
New Orleans, September 20,
1865. (Received 1.25 p. m. 21st.) General JOHN A. RAWLINS, Chief of Staff:
GENERAL: I
have directed the muster out of 3,000 men present for duty, or about 4,500
present and absent, of the Fourth Corps; also the muster out of three regiments
of cavalry and the Fourth and Seventh Massachusetts Batteries. All these troops
are in Texas, but this will not affect the threatening force. The War
Department has ordered the muster out of all colored troops enlisted at the
North belonging to the Twenty-fifth Corps, and mustering officer has been sent
to execute the order. I will direct General Canby to muster out 2,000 white
troops in his department, and he can spare 6,000 colored if authority is sent
to me to muster them out. This will leave General Canby about 2,000 white
troops of all arms and about 10,000 colored troops. I have also directed
General Foster to muster out the Second Maine Cavalry in the Department of
Florida.
P. H. SHERIDAN,
Major- General, Commanding.
NEW
ORLEANS, LA., September 21, 1865.
(Received
5.30 p. in.)
Maj.
Gen. J. A. RAWLINS,
Chief of Staff:
GENERAL: I
respectfully report my return from Texas.
P.H. SHERIDAN,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
MILITARY DIVISION OF THE GULF,
New
Orleans, September 21, 1865—2.30 p. m.
(Received
10 a. m. 22d.)
Lieut. Gen. U. S. GRANT,
Commanding Armies of the United
States:
GENERAL: I
have just returned from an extended trip in Texas, going from Galveston to San
Antonio, thence to the Rio Grande and Fort Duncan,and returning via Austin
City. I find the condition of affairs in Texas very good. Some depredations by
small bands of the Kickapoo Indians in Western Texas. These Indians are located
at Santa Rosa, in Mexico. I have decided not to establish any permanent posts
with volunteer troops. It would be an enormous expense to the Government, and
no economy could be expected from officers or men. The Indian difficulties are trifling, and I can control them
by sending small cavalry expeditions from San Antonio out west as far as the
Rio Grande, to stay out fifteen or twenty days, their return alternating with
other detachments or regiments. Northern Texas will be con-trolled in the same
way from Austin City. This method will be more effective than permanent posts
with dissatisfied troops. The troops in Texas are very anxious to be mustered out,
and as the War Department has thrown all the responsibility on me, I am annoyed
by Governors of States and friends of the soldiers at home. I wish regular
troops could be sent to replace these men, or new organizations raised for a
limited time. I could spare more troops were it not for the threatening force
required on account of the troublesome state of affairs in Mexico. I am pretty
well posted on the condition of things there and will communicate by letter to
you.
P. H. SHERIDAN,
Major- General, Commanding.
HEADQUARTERS
MILITARY DIVISION OF THE GULF,
New Orleans, September
22, 1865. (Received 4.30 p. m. 23d.)
Lieut.
Gen. U. S. GRANT,
Commanding Armies of the
United States:
GENERAL: Should
Slocum’s resignation be accepted, I want a good commander for the Department of
Mississippi, and would respectfully suggest Generals Getty or Gibbon. I have
great confidence in Getty and would prefer him, but would be satisfied with
Gibbon.
P.H. SHERIDAN,
Major- General.
CENTRAL
CITY, September 27, 1865.
Maj.
Gen. JOHN POPE,
Saint
Louis, and
Maj.
J. W. BARNES,
Port Leavenworth:
On
August 28 General
Connor surprised Medicine Man’s band of Indians on Tongue River; killed 50,
captured village, all winter provisions, and 600 horses—all the stock they had.
On the 1st of September the right column, under Colonel Cole, had a fight with
the Sioux, Cheyennes, and Arapahoes on Powder River, and whipped them. On
evening of the 3d of September attacked them again, driving them down Powder
River ten miles. Next morning at daylight attacked again, fight lasting until
10 a. m -, when Indians were defeated with loss of 200 killed. They fled in
every direction, losing large number of horses, camp equipage, provisions,
&c. On 8th instant Colonel Walker, commanding center column, who was in
advance of Colonel Cole, met Indians in large force. Colonel Cole came up and,
after a short but spirited engagement; they totally routed Indians, driving
them in every direction with great loss, several of principal chiefs being
killed in this fight. On the night of 9th of September a severe snowstorm
raged, in which 400 of Colonel Cole’s horses perished. I was in that storm on
Powder River. It was very severe, and I lost several animals. Our total loss in
all the engagements [sic] than 50 killed and wounded, including 1 officer.
Colonel Cole or Colonel Walker had not communicated with General Connor and
were on Powder River, but by this time they have communicated, as they had
ascertained where General Connor’s column was.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
DENVER,
October 1, 1865.
Maj.
Gen. JOHN POPE,
Saint Louis:
General
Connor has arrived at Fort Laramie. His columns are at Fort Connor en route for
Laramie. He says the Indians have been well chastised, but not sufficient, he fears,
to compel them to behave. Says he should have continued campaign forty days
longer if Cole and Walker had joined him and had not the orders to return by
October 16 prevented it. Says the Arapahoes, who have been more troublesome
than all other Indians combined, are thoroughly whipped and will cave in. He whipped them thoroughly—destroyed
and captured everything they had. Colonel Cole and Colonel Walker lost heavily
in stock perishing, and their commands lived several days on horse and mule
flesh. Two-thirds of the command is barefooted. General Connor says a force of
1,500 should be left at Fort Connor to make a winter campaign to insure a final
settlement. The Sioux say they are going to Missouri River to make treaties of
peace, but says he doubts it.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
DENVER,
October 1, 1865.
Brig.
Gen. P. E. CONNOR,
Port Laramie:
I
congratulate you and thank you for the success you have met with. Please also extend my thanks to your
command for their success and for the fortitude they have shown under such
trying circumstances and hardships.
G.M. DODGE,
Major- General.
[October
2, 1865.—For Dodge to Wheaton, relative to peace negotiations with Indians in
the Northwest, see Part I, p. 364.]
WASHINGTON,
October 6, 1865—2 p. m.
Major-General
SHERIDAN,
New Orleans:
Relieve
General Steele from duty, with thirty days’ leave, to report by letter to the
Adjutant-General for orders at the expiration.
U.S. GRANT,
Lieutenant- General.
NEW
ORLEANS, LA., October 7, 1865.
(Received
1 a. m. 8th.)
Lieut.
Gen. U. S. GRANT:
There is
much dissatisfaction on the part of troops in Texas on account of muster out,
leading to a disposition to destroy or take but little care of public property.
I can spare a large number of infantry and cavalry so soon as the lieutenant
general deems the necessity of a threatening force obviated. I have already
mustered out of the present strength of the Fourth Corps 3,000 men, and will
muster out more as they are on all interior line, unless ordered to the
contrary. I will muster out three regiments more of cavalry as soon as the
Fourth United States gets here. The muster out of the colored regiments raised
in the North is going on.
P.H. SHERIDAN,
Major- General.
NEW
ORLEANS, LA., October 7, 1865.
(Received
1 a. m. 8th.)
Maj.
Gen. J. A. RAWLINS,
Chief of Staff:
I see it
published in the papers that a delegation from Louisiana represented great
difficulty between the military and civil power in this State. There is no
great trouble here. Politicians purposely get up difficulties with the provost
marshal in the Freedmen’s Bureau in order to get persecuted if possible. In
three or four instances they have accomplished their purpose, on account of bad
management on the part of the provost marshals, and have magnified a molehill into
a mountain in order to be elected to the next Legislature or to Congress, or to
some other fat office. I have advised department commanders to look out for the
legitimate rights of the Government, for the military statutes, former
injustice against freedmen, and to give way to civil authority when their
rights were not affected, for it is hard to enforce martial law after war has
ceased and a form even of civil government is in existence. The Government
should not allow itself to be deceived by ex parte representations.
P.
H. SHERIDAN,
Major. General.
GENERAL
ORDERS, ~ WAR DEPT., ADJT. GENERAL’S OFFICE,
No. 142. Washington, October 7, 1865.
I. The
Department of Mississippi is hereby transferred from the Military Division of
the Gulf to the Military Division of the Tennessee. The department commander will report to Maj. Gen. G. H.
Thomas accordingly.
II. The
Territory of New Mexico is hereby transferred from the Department of California
to the Department of the Missouri.
By
order of the President of the United States:
E.
D. TOWNSEND,
Assistant Adjutant. General.
GENERAL ORDERS, ~ WAR DEPT.,
ADJT. GENERAL’S OFFICE,
No. 143. Washington, October 7, 1865.
I. The
headquarters Department of the Missouri are transferred to Saint Louis, Mo.
II. Maj.
Gen. Frederick Steele, U. S. Volunteers, is assigned to the command of the
Department of the Columbia, and will proceed without delay to Fort Vancouver.
By order
of the President of the United States:
E.D. TOWNSEND,
Assistant Adjutant. General.
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA,
Fort Laramie, Dak. Ter., October 7, 1865.
Col. NELSON COLE,
Comdg. Second Missouri Light
Arty., Fort Laramie, Dak. Ter.:
SIR: The
brevet major general commanding directs that you will proceed with your command
to Fort Leavenworth, Kans., reporting on your arrival there to the
major-general commanding Kansas and the Territories for muster out. Your
supplies from this post should be sufficient to provide for your command to
Fort Sedgwick, Julesburg, a distance of 162 miles. At that post you will draw
supplies for your command to Cottonwood, a distance of 105 miles, and there
draw your supplies to last you to Fort Kearny, a distance of 96 miles, at which
point you may require additional transportation to carry your supplies of
subsistence stores to Fort Leavenworth, Kans., a distance of 263 miles, your
point of destination. The commanding officer of the East Sub-District of
Nebraska, Bvt. Brig. Gen. H. H. Heath, whose headquarters are at Fort Kearny,
will be directed to afford you, at every post in his sub-district, all
facilities in his power for your prompt execution of this order. Small parties
of hostile Indians have frequently made depredations within the last month at
points between this post and Fort Sedgwick, and 40 miles from where your route
crosses Lodge Pole Creek they have lately attacked trains; they have not been
reported to be in parties of more than thirty or forty, rarely as many. You are
desired to use proper precautions in that vicinity, and, indeed, until after
you cross the Blue River east of Fort Kearny strong guards should be kept over
your animals at night. Lieut. F. J. Amsden, of the Signal Corps, with his
detachment of twenty-one aggregate, will be directed to report to you and
accompany your command to Fort Leavenworth.
By order of Bvt. Maj. Gen. Frank Wheaton:
G.M. BAILEY,
Captain,
Aide-de. Camp,
and Assistant Commissary of Musters.
NEW ORLEANS, LA., October 8,
1865—10.30 a. m.
(Received 12 p. in.)
General RAWLINS, Chief of
Staff:
I have
the honor to acknowledge the receipt of telegram directing me to relieve
General Steele.
P. H.
SHERIDAN,
Major- General.
SAINT
LOUIS, Mo., October 10, 1865.
(Received
4.15 p. in.)
Lieutenant-General GRANT:
I wrote you through General Sherman about ten days since requesting
authority to consolidate into one regiment and re-enlist for one year the
Second and Third U. S. Volunteers, whose terms of service expire this month.
All the volunteer regiments on the plains are dissatisfied and mutinous, and
are even now rapidly deserting. Unless other troops which are reliable can be
had to replace them, I very much fear that before winter sets in they will
abandon the posts and stores on the plains, It is now too late in the season to
send regular regiments to the remote posts, and I wish to reorganize the two
regiments (Second and Third U. S. Volunteers) so as to keep them where they
are. They are good soldiers, in good discipline, and unless I can reorganize
them at once I fear we shall have great difficulty on the plains. Please
answer.
JNO.
POPE,
Major-
General.
GENERAL
ORDERS, HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
No. 34. Saint
Louis, Mo., October 10, 1865.
In accordance with orders from the War Department, the limits of
this command are hereby extended so as to include the Department of New Mexico.
By
command of Major-General Pope:
JOS. MaC. BELL,
Assistant Adjutant- General.
WASHINGTON, October 13,
1865—1130 a. m.
Maj. Gen. P. H. SHERIDAN, New
Orleans, La.:
You may
go on with the muster out of volunteers as proposed in your dispatch of 7th.
The Sixth Regular Cavalry is ordered to report to you, and three or more
regular infantry regiments will be sent, among them two or three battalion
regiments.
U.S. GRANT,
Lieutenant- General.
WASHINGTON, October 14,
1865—1.15 p. in.
Major-General POPE, Saint
Louis, Mo.:
I will
send you four regiments of colored infantry, or more if they can be used to
advantage, to take the place of white volunteers on the plains. Send them as
far out as you can this fall. In the spring I think these troops can be used to
advantage guarding the highways through Indian Territory and in New Mexico. Let
me know if you think more than four of these regiments can be used to
advantage.
U.S. GRANT,
Lieutenant- General.
FORT
LEAVENWORTH, October 16, 1865.
(Received
4 p. in.)
Lieut.
Gen. U. S. GRANT:
Arrived
at Leavenworth from Omaha yesterday. Expect General Dodge in from the plains.
Since the enlargement of Pope’s department Wisconsin should be added to Ord’s.
Even then there is no necessity of more than a few companies of artillery at
the old lake posts, and all other troops in the Department of the Ohio might be
discharged. We need more regulars out on the plains. Volunteers are all
discontented and unreliable. I will be back to Saint Louis early next week.
W. T.
SHERMAN,
Major- General.
SAINT
Louis, Mo., October 16, 1865.
(Received
8 p. in.)
Lieut.
Gen. U. S. GRANT:
It is too late in the season to get troops out farther than Fort
Kearny. Two regiments colored troops can be used this winter of Leavenworth to
replace two regiments white troops. Two more could probably be used for the
same purpose in New Mexico. They could be sent in the winter via Texas. In the
spring all troops needed in Minnesota, on the Upper Missouri, the Platte, and
in Utah and New Mexico might be colored troops. Two regiments (colored) can be
used west of Leavenworth this winter.
JNO. POPE,
Major- General.
WASHINGTON, October 19, 1865.
Hon. WILLIAM II. SEWARD, &c.:
SIR: I
feel myself obliged to call the attention of Your Excellency to certain facts
that occurred this year on the Rio Grande, and which seem to be in exact
opposition to the repeated assurances Your Excellency has given me concerning
the desire of the Cabinet at Washington to preserve the most strict neutrality
in the events now taking place in Mexico. It is scarcely necessary for me to
add that I am convinced that the said facts occurred without the knowledge of
the Federal Government, and that they must be the result of the negligence of
subordinate agents. I do not hesitate, therefore, to inform you, convinced that
it is only necessary to bring them to your notice in order to prevent their
future occurrence. The information conveyed to His Majesty’s Government states
that the dissenting forces of (i3ortina are recruiting many American colored
persons, and that this partisan chief passes and repasses the Texan frontier
whenever he pleases, going to Brownsville, Tex., to get whatever he needs.
About the end of July last Cortina attacked the steamer Senorita on the river,
loaded with cotton taken on board at Camargo and destined for Matamoras. The
attack occurred on Texas ground, and the captured vessel was made fast to the
Texan shore, where she has, remained in possession of the dissenters since the
27th of July. In the course of the same month a convoy of goods was to start
for Monterey. Cortina, who was in Brownsville, heard of it and enlisted men to
attack it. His armed troops crossed the river, and the convoy would have
certainly fallen into his hands but for the vigilance of the Imperial
authorities. In fine, it is well known that Cortina’s men ride and walk around
in the streets of Brownsville with ribbons in their hats indicating the number
of the guerrilla band to which they belong. It would be difficult for neutrality
to be more openly violated, and that facts more grave should occur to
contradict the assertions, which Your Excellency has given me in the name of
your Government. I will be very much obliged if you will cause to be issued the
orders necessary to prevent the renewal of any such acts in future. Accept the assurance of my
distinguished consideration.
MONTHOLON.
Maj. Gen. P. H. SHERIDAN,
WASHINGTON, October 19, 1865.
New Orleans, La.:
I am
ordering some colored troops to General Pope to take the place of white
volunteers. He reports that some might be sent from Texas to New Mexico during
the winter season. Answer if you concur in this view.
U. S.
GRANT,
Lieutenant- General..
NEW
ORLEANS, LA., October 19, 1865.
(Received
1 p. m. 21st.)
Bvt. Maj. Gen. J. A. RAWLINS:
Since
the receipt of the telegram of the lieutenant-general of October 13, I have
ordered the muster out of all the regiments of the provisional divisions of the
Fourth Army Corps except three; also three regiments of cavalry; also 1,000 men
of the strength present for duty from the command of Major-General Mower, in
the Eastern District of Texas. I will continue the muster out gradually and in
accordance with our ability to transport the troops back.
P. II.
SHERIDAN,
Major- General.
NEW
ORLEANS, LA., October 21, 1865.
(Received
9.10 p. m. 23d.)
Lieutenant-General GRANT:
The
difficulty of sending colored troops from Texas to New Mexico would be very
great—almost an impossibility—in the winter season. I am not well acquainted with the line from Leavenworth, but
my judgment is against the movement. I think colored troops if well officered
would do well in New Mexico.
P.H. SHERIDAN.
WASHINGTON,
October 22, 1865.
Maj.
Gen. P. H. SHERIDAN,
Commanding Military Division of
the Gulf:
You are
probably aware that I have been absent from Washington for eleven weeks. During
that time your dispatches touching Mexican affairs were received at the office,
but none of them forwarded to me.
I only read them two days ago for the first time. This will answer a
seeming negligence in my not replying to you. Immediately on my return from my
Western tour I had a long conversation with the President on Mexican affairs.
On that subject he feels just as I do; in fact, as the whole country does,
irrespective of parties. Before I left Washington I procured a leave of absence
for Schofield for the purpose of allowing him to go to Mexico to take service
there. I think Mr. Seward has been the stumbling block in the way of his
starting. Some correspondence, it is said, is going on with the French
Government in relation to the withdrawal of French troops from Mexico, which is
necessary to get a reply to before action. The President, however, told me that
arrangements were made to supply the Liberal Government with arms without
regard to their having means to pay for them. There is also, I believe, a
project on foot to supply Schofield, or whoever goes there, with emigrants who
will enlist after they reach Mexican soil. Of this, however, the Government
knows nothing, and I only learned it from the fact that inquiries have been
made of me how far emigration will be prevented. I have no hesitation in saying
that I would like to see any amount of assistance given to the Liberals, and if
I had my way I would use U. S. forces to give to them the Rio Grande country as
a base to start from; that is, I would clear out the south bank for them. This,
however, is not permitted. I believe, as is indicated in some of your
dispatches, that the Mexicans have no great leader capable of using the great
resources at their -disposal. It will take some man from the United States to
fill the place. Schofield, if he can get the start, is fully equal to the task.
When Congress meets I have but little doubt but the Mexican question will be
taken up and the withdrawal of all foreign troops insisted upon. If so, this
will settle the whole question. In the meantime, all you can do is to encourage
the Liberals to use their greatest exertions until they do get aid. If they
give up themselves and, like Micawber, wait for something to turn up, they may
lose everything. Some of your letters received in my absence I have furnished
copies of to the President. Your course and views are heartily concurred in by
me, and I am satisfied they are also by the President and Secretary of War. Mr.
Secretary of State I fear is working against the Liberal cause in Mexico. I
hope I do him injustice in this matter.
U.S. GRANT,
Lieutenant- General.
SAINT Louis, Mo., October 24, 1865. (Received 12.10 p. in.)
Lieut. Gen. U. S. GRANT
General-in- Chief:
Is it
expected that the United States furnish mounted escorts for the overland stages
such service is enormously expensive, as it kills up both horses and men at a
fearful rate, and requires very large force, more than the Government is
willing to allow. With the sums appropriated to carry the mail, the company
ought to be, and I think is, able to furnish enough men itself to accompany the
coaches. If the military are to furnish mounted escorts, they had best carry
the mails themselves. With one-fifth the amount paid to the mail company the
military in this department can carry the mails regularly without additional
expense to the Government. I would be glad to be informed whether I am required
to furnish mounted escorts to the coaches. If so, it will need more troops than
I have specified and a constant supply of horses. The stage company threatens
to draw off their coaches and stock and stop carrying the mail unless I furnish
the mounted escorts.
JNO. POPE,
Major. General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Saint
Louis, October 24, 1865. (Received
7.35 p. in.)
Lieut.
Gen. U. S. GRANT,
General-in- Chief:
General
Curtis, of the Indian commission, telegraphs from Fort Sully as follows:
Chief of
Minneconjou Sioux, for themselves and ten other tribes, met us here on 5th.
They want peace and sign articles for themselves, and take copy for other
tribes, including Cheyennes and Arapahoes, to sign. The Sioux and several other
tribes have also come in. They all complain of our encroachments on their
hunting grounds and our lines of emigration through their buffalo grounds, but
they want peace. They say it is difficult, however, to restrain their young
men, and our troops must therefore continue on the plains and be on the alert;
but please notice any efforts of chiefs to present these papers if they emanate
from this commission.
S.R. CURTIS.
The young men
of the Cheyennes are committing some depredations on the Platte enroute on
their way south.
JNO.
POPE,
Major-
General.
WASHINGTON, October 25,
1865—12.40 p. m. Maj. Gen. JOHN
POPE, Saint Louis, Mo.:
You need
not furnish escorts to the overland stages except when it can be done without
much inconvenience or expense. The route should be as well protected as practicable
with the means at your disposal, and when troops are moving over it they might
move with the stages. With the
colored and regular troops sent to you can you not now muster out of service
all the volunteers remaining ~
U.S. GRANT,
Lieutenant- General.
NEW
ORLEANS, LA., October 25, 1865.
(Received
10.50 a. m. 26th.)
Lieut. Gen. U. S. GRANT,
Commanding Armies of the United
States:
I
respectfully forward the following information: The Liberals under Escobedo and
Cortina I think attacked Matamoras on the 19th or 20th instant, with every
prospect of success, unless the 800 or 900 rebel soldiers in the city join with
the Imperialists in the defense of the place. My information goes to show that
they will not. Should the Liberals get Matamoras, Northern and Eastern Mexico
will pass into the hands of the Liberals.
P.H. SHERIDAN,
Major- General.
NEW
ORLEANS, October 26, 1865.
(Received
8.55 p. in.)
Bvt.
Maj. Gen. J. A. RAWLINS,
Chief of Staff:
The Fourth
Cavalry arrived here three or four days ago and is now nearly fully and
thoroughly equipped and will be sent to San Antonio in a few days to be
mounted.
P.H. SHERIDAN,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Saint Louis, October 26, 1865. (Received 6.10 p. in.)
Lieut.
Gen. U. S. GRANT:
In answer to your dispatch of yesterday I have to say that the
four colored and four regular infantry regiments which I understood were
assigned to this department would give me all the infantry force I need, if it
were possible to get them on the plains this winter. November is the worst
month in the year for heavy snowstorms on the plains. I can, however, use the
troops being sent to relieve all volunteer troops east of and including Fort
Lyon, on the Upper Arkansas, and Fort Kearny, on the Platte. I have altogether,
of infantry and cavalry, 7,200 men west and south of the Missouri River,
including everything as far west as Oregon and California. Of this force I can
relieve about 2,000 as soon as the regular regiments arrive. It would not be
possible to relieve troops farther west than Kearny and Lyon without enormous
cost for forage and other trains, and great suffering to men. It is probably
impracticable to send troops to New Mexico via Texas this winter, but even that
would be very difficult and expensive. I see no way to relieve troops west of
the posts named this winter. All volunteers in Minnesota will be at once
mustered out and replaced by Tenth U. S. Infantry.
JNO. POPE,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION
OF THE Mississippi,
Saint Louis, Mo.,
October 28, 1865. (Received 3.30 p. in.)
Major-General RAWLINS:
I have
assigned to General Pope the Second Cavalry and Third and Tenth Infantry, with
orders to muster out an equal or greater number of volunteers. In like manner
the battalion of Eighteenth Infantry and one battery of artillery is given to
General Ord, who undertakes to dispense with all other troops in his
department, with Wisconsin added. I renew my recommendation that Wisconsin be
transferred to the Department of the Ohio. I think with one good regiment of
regular infantry and one of cavalry we ought to muster out everything in
Arkansas.
W. T.
SHERMAN,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Saint Louis, Mo., October 28,
1865. (Received 3.35 p. in.) Lieutenant-General GRANT, General-in- Chief:
The
Tenth U. S. Infantry has reported, 250 men aggregate. The Third U. S. Infantry
arrives today, having only ninety men, eighty of whom will be discharged this
winter. I cannot relieve many volunteer regiments with these two regular
regiments. When I telegraphed you I supposed them to be at least two-thirds
full.
JNO. POPE,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO,
Santa FJ, N. Mex., October 27,
1865.
ADJUTANT-GENERAL,
U. S. ARMY,
Washington, D. C.:
GENERAL: It becomes my duty as the
commander of the Department of New Mexico, lately merged into the District of
New Mexico, to call through you the attention of the War Department to the
gallant and meritorious services of certain officers of the regular and
volunteer forces of this distant command during the last three years. I am
persuaded that the War Department will not overlook the just claims of these
gentlemen to some indication on the part of the Government that the important
services they have rendered the country are officially and publicly recognized.
This can be done by granting brevet commissions.
I
therefore beg respectfully to recommend as follows:
Regulars.—That
Col. John C. McFerran, who was the chief quarter-master and chief of staff at
department headquarters, be brevetted as brigadier-general of the Army for
arduous, faithful, and meritorious services in New Mexico. (See General Orders,
No. 18, series of 1865, from headquarters Department of New Mexico, herewith
enclosed.*) That Maj. Nelson II. Davis, assistant inspector-general, be
brevetted lieutenant-colonel for his gallantry in a sharp conflict by troops
under his command with Apache Indians in Arizona on the 29th of May, 1864 (see
copy of my letter dated June 19, 1864, herewith enclosed), and colonel for very
arduous, faithful, and meritorious services in New Mexico. I say nothing of
what this accomplished officer deserves for his gallantry in many great battles
while he was in the Army of the Potomac. That division quartermaster, Maj.
Herbert M. Enos, U. S. Army, be
brevetted as lieutenant-colonel for faithful and meritorious services in New
Mexico, where he has been on duty for many years. That Maj. Peter W. L. Plympton, now of the Seventeenth U. S.
Infantry, then captain, be brevetted major for conspicuous gallantry in the
battle of Yalverde, N. Mex., and lieutenant-colonel for meritorious and
faithful services in New Mexico. That Maj. William H. Lewis, now of the
Eighteenth U. S. Infantry, be brevetted major for gallant and distinguished
services in burning the Texan train in the battle of Apache Cafion, where he
was captain in the Fifth U. S. Infantry, and lieutenant-colonel for meritorious
and faithful services in New Mexico. That Maj. J. Howe Watts, additional paymaster, U. S. Army, be
brevetted lieu-tenant-colonel for faithful and meritorious services in New
Mexico. I believe I can safely say that for the last three years Major Watts
has traveled more through Indian countries and paid more troops than all the
rest of the paymasters put together have done. For his services to be
overlooked, when the services of others who have done comparatively nothing are
complimented by a brevet, must doubtless have been from oversight. That Capt.
David H. Brotherton, Fifth U. S. Infantry, be brevetted major and
lieutenant-colonel for gallantry in the battle of Yalverde, N. Mex., on the
21st of February, 1862, and for faithful and meritorious services. He is now
the commander of his regiment. That Capt. William H. Bell, commissary of
subsistence, U. S. Army, and chief commissary for a long while of the
Department of New Mexico, be brevetted as major and as lieutenant-colonel for
faithful and meritorious services in New Mexico. Captain Bell was complimented
by General McClellan for his services in the Army of the Potomac. He was in
several battles, commencing with the first battle of Bull Run. That Capt. Asa
B. Carey, Thirteenth U. S. Infantry, be brevetted major for gallant conduct at
the battle of Apache Cafion on the 28th day of March, 1862, and
lieutenant-colonel for gallant and meritorious services in the war against the
Navajoes. (See copy of extract from my letter to the Adjutant-General, dated
April 24,1864, herewith enclosed) That Capt. John B. Shinn, Third U. S. Artillery, be brevetted as major
for arduous and meritorious services in successfully bringing his battery
across the Yuma and Gila Deserts, and for faithful services in New Mexico.
Presi-dent Lincoln named Captain Shinn for a brevet. This was not acted upon by
the Senate. That Capt. Henry B. Bristol, Fifth U. S. Infantry, be brevetted
major and lieutenant-colonel for faithful and meritorious services in New
Mexico, and particularly for his antiring zeal and energy in controlling the
Navajo tribe of Indians at the Bosque Redondo, and for his praiseworthy efforts
to advance their condition from that of savages to that of civilized men. That
First Lieut. Charles Newbold, Fifth U. S. Infantry, be brevetted captain for
his distinguished gallantry in two successive conflicts with Navajo Indians in
New Mexico. That First Lieut. Nelson Thomasson, Fifth U. S. Infantry, be
brevetted captain for faithful and meritorious services in New Mexico
Volunteers.—T hat Col. Christopher Carson, First Cavalry New Mexico Volunteers,
be brevetted as brigadier-general of volunteers for gallantry in the battle of
Valverde, and for distinguished conduct and gallantry in the wars against the
Mescalero Apaches and against the Navajo Indians of New Mexico, and for his
gallantry in his brilliant engagement with the Comanche and Kiowa Indians
November 15, 1864, and for long, faithful, and meritorious services in New
Mexico. Maj. William MeCleave,
First Cavalry California Volunteers, to be brevetted major of volunteers for
his successful pursuit of and his gallantry iii his engagement with Apache
Indians in March, 1863; and lieutenant-colonel of volunteers for his
distinguished gallantry in Colonel Carson’s battle with the Kiowa and Comanche
Indians on the 15th of November, 1864, and for his faithful and meritorious
services. Maj. Emil Fritz, First
Cavalry California Volunteers, to be brevetted major (he was then captain) of
volunteers for gallantry in the battle of the Adobe Fort, fought against the
Kiowas and Comanches on the 15th of November, 1864, and for faithful and
meritorious services. Maj. Albert
II. Pfeiffer, First Cavalry New Mexico Volunteers (then captain), to be
brevetted as major of volunteers for gallantry in march-ing and fighting his
way against Navajo Indians through the whole length of the Cafion de Chelly, in
January, 1864, and lieutenant-colonel of volunteers for his gallantry in battle
with the Coyetero Apaches in Arizona in June, 1864, in which he was grievously
wounded, and for his faithful and meritorious services. Maj. Edward H.
Bergmann, First Cavalry New Mexico Volunteers (recently promoted), to be brevet
major of volunteers for faithful and meritorions services in New Mexico. Capt.
Benjamin C Cutler Volunteers, to be brevetted, assistant adjutant-general, U.
S. major and lieutenant-colonel of
volunteers for zealous, faithful, and meritorious services as adjutant-general
of the column from California in its march through the deserts, and as
adjutant-general of the Department of Mexico for over three years. Capt. James II. Whitlock, Fifth.
Infantry California Volunteers now commissioned major of the First Veteran
Infantry California Volunteers, to be brevetted major of volunteers for gallantry
in his battles with Apache Indians on the 25th of February and 7th of April,
1864, and for faithful and meritorious services in Arizona and New Mexico.
Capt.
Cyrus II. IDe Forrest, Second Cavalry Colorado Volunteers (then first
lieutenant), to be brevetted captain of volunteers for distinguished gallantry
in the battle of Apache Caflon, March 28, 1862, where he helped the intrepid
Lewis to capture and destroy the Texan train, and major of volunteers for
faithful and meritorious services in New Mexico. Capt. Lawrence G. Murphy,
First Cavalry New Mexico Volunteers, to be brevet major of volunteers for
faithful and meritorious services in the Navajo war and in controlling the
Mescalero Apaches at the Bosque Redondo. Capt. William Brady, First Cavalry New
Mexico Volunteers, to be brevetted major of volunteers for gallantry in his
battle with Navajo Indians on the 1st of July, 1865, and for faithfull and
meritorious services in New Mexico. Capt. George A. Burkett, then of the Fifth
Infantry California Volunteers, now of the First Veteran Infantry California
Volunteers, to be brevetted major of volunteers for gallantry in battle with
the Apaches of Arizona on the 29th of May, 1864, and for faithful and
meritorious services. First
Lieut.
George II. Pettis, First Infantry California Volunteers, now adjutant First
Infantry New Mexico Volunteers, to be brevetted captain of volunteers for
distinguished gallantry in the battle of the Adobe Fort, November 15, 1864,
against the Kiowas and Comanchies, in which battle he commanded a section of
howitzers. First Lieut. Antonio
Abeytia, First Cavalry New Mexico Volunteers, now captain in that regiment, to
be brevetted as captain of volunteers ftr gallantry in battle with Apaches in
Arizona on the 24th of March, 1865. First Lieut. John Slater, First Veteran
Infantry California Volunteers, to be brevetted captain of volunteers for
distinguished gallantry in pursuing and fighting Apache Indians in New Mexico,
to rank from September 15, 1865, when the lieutenant was seriously wounded in
battle with said Indians. Second Lieut. Henry C. Rhodes, First Cavalry New
Mexico Volunteers, to be brevetted first lieutenant of volunteers for
distinguished gallantry as sergeant of California volunteers and as lieutenant
in the New Mexico volunteers in frequent combats with Apache Indians in New
Mexico. Second Lieut. Henry H. Stevens, Fifth Infantry California Volunteers,
now first lieutenant in the First Veteran Infantry California Volunteers, to be
brevetted first lieutenant of volunteers for distinguished gallantry in a
battle with Apache Indians on the 3d of May 1861. Surg. James M. McNulty, U. S.
Volunteers, to be brevetted lieutenant-colonel and colonel of volunteers for
faithful and meritorious services as medical director of the column from
California in its hard march through the Yuma and Gila deserts, as medical
director and medical inspector of the Department of New Mexico, and for
gallantry and distinguished services as medical director in the Second Army
Corps, Army of the Potomac.
I am,
general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JAMES H. CARLETON, Brigadier- General, Commanding.
WASHINGTON,
October 28, 1865.
Maj.
Gen. P. II. SHERIDAN,
New Orleans:
You may
discontinue mustering out troops in Texas. Those who have been notified may go
out, but reduce no further.
U. S.
GRANT,
Lieutenant-
General.
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO,
October 28, 1865. (Via Denver
November 6.)
ADJUTANT-GENERAL, U. S. Army:
Have
received your dispatch of 10th of October transferring Mexico to the Department
of the Missouri. Have also received dispatch from General Pope ordering all
California volunteers immediately to California, and ordering one regiment of
New Mexico volunteers to be mustered out. It is utterly impracticable to obey
General Pope’s order until other troops are sent here. Have this day so
informed him. Messenger will wait
at Denver for reply.
JAMES H. CARLETON,
Brigadier-General, Commanding.
SANTA
Fe, N. Mex., October 28, 1865.
(Via
Denver November 6.)
Hon.
F. M. STANTON:
SIR: The Gila and Mimbres Apaches are
at war with the people of this Territory, and an expedition is about starting
against them. We have 8,000 captive Indians to guard and eight frontier posts
to garrison. The reduction of the present force in New Mexico would expose the lives
and property of the citizens to great danger. The present effective force is
but 2,408 men. We earnestly beg of you to suspend the order of Maj. Gen. John
Pope reducing the force in New Mexico at this time. The order of General Pope
will reduce the effective force in this Territory to 942 men.
HENRY CONNELLY,
Governor of New Mexico.
W.F. M. ARNY,
Secretary of Territory.
JOHN S. WATTS.
J.L. COLLiNS.
J.HOUGHTON,
Assistant Judge of Supreme Court.
FELIPE DELGADO,
Superintendent of Indian Affairs.
NEW ORLEANS, LA., October 30,
1865—11 a. m.
(Received 1.30 p. m. November
1.)
General JOHN A. RAWLINS, Chief
of Staff:
The
telegram from Lieutenant-General Grant discontinuing the muster out of troops
in Texas has been received and acted upon.
P.H. SHERIDAN,
Major- General, Commanding.
NEW
ORLEANS, October 30, 1865—3 p. in.
(Received
11 p. in.)
Lieutenant-General GRANT:
There
has been severe fighting between the Liberals and the Imperialists in and about
Matamoras, with no decisive results up to the evening of the 25th. One small
fort was captured by the Liberals and recaptured by the Imperialists. On the
20th there was another engagement, according to reports; result not known. Up
to the 25th the information is reliable.
P. H. SHERIDAN,
Major- General.
GENERAL
ORDERS, ~> WAR DEPT., ADJT. GENERAL’S OFFICE,
No. 157.Washington, October 30, 1865.
The State of Wisconsin is hereby transferred from the Department
of the Missouri to the Department of Ohio.
By
order of the President of the United States:
E.D. TOWNSEND,
Assistant Adjutant- General.
WASHINGTON,
October 31, 1865.
Maj.
Gen. W. T. SHERMAN,
Commanding Military Division of
the Mississippi:
Your
letter to General Rawlins, referring to the progress of the two Pacific railroads,
has been received. I immediately saw the Secretary of War and had a
conversation with him on the subject of urging that Government aid be given to
both enterprises. He informed me that both roads had been accepted by the
Government and were now in a fair way to be pushed forward. The subject of
stationing troops to give the best protection to the overland lines of travel,
and frontier and mountain settlements, will have to occupy your attention. In
making orders, or in recommending them to the President, I shall rely almost
entirely upon your suggestions so far as the territory embraced in your command
is concerned. In view of the rapid progress that is now being made by the two
roads pushing west and the settlements, which have sprung up in the last four
years, I do not think it advisable to establish many permanent posts or to
expend more money than is absolutely necessary to preserve the health of the
men. I sent four regiments of colored troops to Pope with the view of having
them sent as far west as possible. If more can be used to advantage I will send
them. I believe these troops will do very well on the plains, mach better than
dissatisfied volunteers, and it may also furnish labor hereafter for our
railroads and mining interests. Let me know if you can use more of these troops
now. I telegraphed to Sheridan to know if troops could not be sent from the Rio
Grande to New Mexico at this season of the year. He replied they could not
without very great expense and loss of life. Do you not think it practicable to
discharge volunteers from the Department of Arkansas I In discharging troops
give the preference to Illinois and Indiana troops when you can. About
two-thirds of all the volunteers retained in service are from the States of
Ohio, Iowa, and Illinois, and more from the two latter States than from Ohio.
Recruits will be sent to you rapidly to fill up the regular organizations you
now have, in view of winter being now near at hand, can you not anticipate this
increase and discharge volunteers accordingly.
U.. GRANT,
Lieutenant- General.
HEADQUARTERS
EAST SUB.DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA,
Fort
Kearny, Nebr. Ter., October 31, 1865.
Lieut.
JOHN Q. LEWIS,
Actg. Asst. Adjt. Gen., Dist.
of Nebraska, Fort Laramie, Dak. Ter.:
LIEUTENANT: In
compliance with Special Field Orders, No. 12, headquarters U. S. Forces, Kansas
and the Territories, dated September the 7th ber, and received at these
headquarters on September 26, 1865 extant, I have the honor to submit the
following report of Indian depredations, &c., in the sub-district since
February 1, 1865. As I did not arrive in the district until July, my report
must necessarily be a compilation from the scanty records of this office, and
the circumstances that have existed since the receipt of the order have been very
unfavorable even for a compilation. The following extract from a report of Col.
R. R. Livingston, then commanding the East Sub-District of Nebraska, dated Fort
Kearny, February 18, 1865, contains an account of the most important outbreak
of Indians during this year. [* Extract omitted. For Lull text of Livingston’s
report, see Part I, p. 88.]
February
15, the Pawnee Indians report having seen three days before a large party of
Sioux Indians sixty miles north of Fort Kearny, with horses, without lodge poles,
going east. February 18, no Indians seen recently within 100 miles of
Julesbnrg. Scouts, guides, and old Indian traders state positively that Indians
are 200 miles north of Laramie on Burufish. February 27, scouts returning to
Julesburg report no Indians in that vicinity. March 6, a party of citizens were
chased oat of Box Elder Canon, three miles west of Post Cottonwood, by Indians.
April 23, about 150 Indians, supposed to be Two Face’s band of Ogallala Sioux,
ran off 170 head of cattle (belonging to Mr. Ward, sutler, at Fort Laramie) on
the north side of the Platte River, opposite Alkali. Capt. E. B. Murphy, Company A, Seventh Iowa Cavalry,
followed them thirty miles into the sand-hills on the north, recapturing all
the cattle and one pony, chasing the Indians so closely that they abandoned
their plunder, which Captain Murphy burned. He could not overtake and engage
the Indians. No one hurt. May 1, a party of Indians seen north of Alkali, also
lights. Forty-seven head of cattle driven off near Alkali. May 3, two Pawnees
killed and two wounded by Sioux on Loup Fork, west of Pawnee Indian Agency;
also hostile Indians appeared on Wood River, fifteen miles northeast of Fort
Kearny, in the afternoon, killing a Mr. Story and stealing his team. Scouts
afterward report that the hostile party consisted of only seven Indian s, and
that they were probably of the Pawnees, avenging the killing of one of their
tribe by some unknown citizen about two weeks before. May 5, 150 Indians
attacked a train of twenty-six wagons three miles east of Mullaley’s Station,
twelve miles west of Plum Creek, at 2 p. in., killing one man and driving off
150 head of stock. Captain Weatherwax, Company G, First Nebraska Veteran
Volunteer Cavalry, started in pursuit with twenty-five men, who succeeded in
retaking two of the stolen horses. His poor mounts (ponies) prevented his
overtaking the Indians. May 12, about thirty Indians attacked three or four
soldiers with a team just west of Smith’s Station (which is twenty-five miles
east of Cottonwood) this morning, killing Sergeant Creighton, Company A, First
Battalion Nebraska Veteran Cavalry, and wounding one other. They drove off some
thirty head of cattle, crossing the Platte River and going north.
Mounted
troops followed them about forty miles, but could not overtake them .in that
distance. The stealing party was heavily re-enforced before they had gone
twenty-five miles. One soldier wounded in afternoon and one Indian certainly
killed or mortally wounded. May 19, Indians attacked stage station between
Buffalo and Elm Creek on the Little Blue; were repulsed. Attacked and captured
a train, with which were fifteen unarmed men of the Third U. S. Volunteer
Infantry, sent from Fort Leavenworth, killing four and wounding seven. Troops
sent from Fort Kearny could not overtake the Indians. The Pawnees were
doubtfully
charged with making this attack. May 21, Indians have recently been seen on
Wood River, north of Plum Creek and Smith’s Station, on the Republican and on
the Little Blue. September 31, at 10 p. m., a party of Indians (number unknown,
but supposed to be fifteen or twenty) attacked a party of eight men and one
woman, quartermaster’s employ, with two wagons, who were encamped on the right
bank of the Platte River, seven miles west of the station at O’Fallon’s Bluff,
killing one of the party, J. II. Temple, and wounding three others (Anthony
Shilling, Jones Ireland, and Alfred Acres). All of the mules (twelve) were
stampeded and run off. The party attacked were en route to the quartermaster at
Junction, Cob. Ter.; had been organized into a
train at
O’Fallon’s Bluff in compliance with existing orders, but had separated from the
train and were encamped alone. A detachment of cavalry reached the place of
attack in a short time, and as it was impossible to follow the trail in the
darkness the dead and wounded were conveyed to the nearest ranch and properly
cared for. On following the trail next morning it was found that the Indians
had first gone south, then doubled round, crossing the North Platte. The
arrows, &c., scattered around the attacked train indicated that the
attacking party belonged to Little Thunder’s and Spotted Tail’s bands. Since
October 1 attacks have been made on the road, but no detailed reports have been
received. Although repairs of the telegraph line have undoubtedly been made, no
data can be found in this office regarding the amount, nor can any definite
information be obtained as to what assistance has been rendered the overland
stage line in recaptnring stolen stock, &c. I’m regretting my inability to
make a more full report,
I am very
respectfully, your obedient servant,
WM. R. BOWEN,
Lieutenant and Acting Assistant Adjutant- General.
(In absence of General Heath.)
GENERAL ORDERS, HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF THE Missouri,
No.
42.Saint Louis, Mo., November 2, 1865.
I The
Military District of Iowa and the Military District of Dakota are hereby
consolidated. The district thus formed will be designated and known as the
District of the Upper Missouri.
II. Bvt.
Maj. Gen. Alfred Sully, U. S. Volunteers, is assigned to the command of the
District of the Upper Missouri. The headquarters ot the district will be
designated hereafter.
By
command of Major- General Pope:
D.G. SWAIM,
Assistant Adjutant- General.
HEADQUARTERS
MILITARY DIVISION OF THE GULF,
New
Orleans, November 5, 1865.
Lieut. Gen. U. S. GRANT,
Cmdg. the Armies of the United
States, Washington, D. C.:
GENERAL: I
am in receipt of your communication of the 22d ultimo, and am glad you wrote
me, as I must confess that for three or four weeks past I did not exactly
understand on which side the land lay.
What I
have written in reference to the feeling in Mexico against Maximilian is
correct. Nine and one-half tenths of the people are against him. He cannot
collect taxes, and what money he gets in Mexico is from forced contributions on
the merchants of the towns he happens to hold, and these towns may be
considered in a state of siege, all communication with them being interrupted
or entirely cut off by the Liberals. Substantially, he has no government and no
party to support him. In reference to American emigrants to help the Liberals,
some care and judgment must be exercised. The Rio Grande frontier is nearly a
desert, and soldiers and emigrants will find it hard to live on frijolis and
tortas, which is all the country can afford, and these not in abundance. In
fact, those who come should bring everything with them, and, indeed, there are
many difficulties to be surmounted until Matamoras is captured, in which event
a port of entry is opened which cannot be blockaded, as Brazos Santiago can
supply via Bagdad or Brownsville. My own idea is that if our Government means
to take the contract only 6,000 cavalry is required, and a demand for the
surrender of Matamoras, which would be given up. This cavalry could be started
into the country from Fort Duncan, and the whole of Northern Mexico would rise
with it. Paras and all towns could be taken, with their small garrisons. The
French cannot concentrate in this part of Mexico against a cavalry force, on
account of supplies. The supplies are not abundant in the country, and the
lines to the valley of Mexico are difficult and long. The Rio Grande frontier
is very bad for infantry operations, on account of the great distances. If Schofield
comes he will have to depend mainly upon the native population. I will help
with my whole heart, but would advise the main reliance to be put on the
Liberals instead of emigrants. All that is required is a good leader. Our
soldiers cannot live as the Mexican soldier does, and most of their force is
mounted. I am very familiar with that country, and could give Schofield much
information about it should it be prudent for him to call to see me. I make the
foregoing remarks on emigration in anticipation of the disgust that would
naturally seize them on entering for the first time a country which will not
come up to their expectations in the way of supplies and general character. I
sometimes think there is still an understanding between the rebels of the Southern
States and Louis Napoleon. That such understanding did exist before the
surrender of Lee there is no doubt. The contest in this country for the last
four years was the old contest between absolutism and liberalism, and Louis
Napoleon saw it and acted on it, but waited too long. Had he anticipated the
rapidity with which the bottom fell out of the rebellion we would have had much
work on our hands~ therefore let us not imitate his example and wait too long
in this Mexican affair lest we make a mistake.
I am,
general, yours, respectfully,
P. H. SHERIDAN,
Major- General, Commanding.
[Endorsement]
WASHINGTON, D. C., November 23, 1865.
Respectfully
forwarded to His Excellency the President for perusal, with the request that
this letter be returned when read.
U.S. GRANT,
Lieutenant- General.
WASHINGTON,
November 6, 1865.
Hon. B. M. STANTON,
Secretary of War:
A copy of
complaints as to the manner in which neutrality is observed by U. S. forces on the
Rio Grande, made by the legation of France, is now before me.[ October 19th]
The first complaint is that the “dissenting forces of Cortina are recruiting
many colored persons and that this partisan chief passes the Texan frontier
whenever he pleases, going to Brownsville, Tex., to get whatever he needs.” On
this subject I am not informed. No instructions have been given by me to the
commander in Texas which would touch this matter either way. My instructions
were to preserve the same neutrality that had been observed toward us
monthly to Seward by the French or Imperialists when Brownsville
and most of the Rio Grande was held by the rebels. If it was found that rebels
had been able to cross and recross the Mexican frontiers at will and go into
Matamoras and get whatever they needed, then existing instructions might
authorize a corresponding course on our part toward the Liberals. In fact, I do
not suppose there is any regulation, which prevents either Imperialist or
Liberal from crossing the Texas frontier or going into Brownsville to make
purchases. If recruiting has been allowed by officers in command, it has been
without authority. But American emigration has been invited to Mexico by the
Imperialists and I am not aware of any law or order preventing it. As the
Liberal Government of Mexico is acknowledged by the United States, no objection
can be urged to as many of our citizens as choose going to that country and
taking whichever side they like. Whilst the United States hold their present
attitude toward Mexican affairs, however, military commanders should not allow
either party to recruit soldiers upon our territory. I will give instructions
in accordance with these views, if approved of. The second complaint is that “about the end of July last
Cortina attacked the steamer Senorita on the river, loaded with cotton taken on
board at Camargo and destined for Matamoras. The attack occurred on Texas
ground and the captured vessel was made fast to the Texan shore, where she has
remained in possession of the dissenters since the 27th of July. In the course
of the same month a convoy of goods was to start for Monterey. Cortina was in
Brownsville, heard of it and enlisted men openly to attack it. His armed troops
crossed the river, &c.” If this was allowed it was entirely inexcusable on
the part of the commander at Brownsville. The whole of these complaints will be
referred to Major-General Sheridan, commanding Military Division of the Gulf,
with suitable instructions and directions to report the facts as to what has
previously passed. 1 will state, however, that we have a long frontier on the
Rio Grande where no U. S. troops are stationed. Either of the belligerents might easily make war upon the
other from U. S. soil without it being known to U. S. authority in time to
prevent it. I would beg leave to differ with M. de Montholon where he says: “it
would be difficult for neutrality to be more openly violated,” &c. In my opinion, he would not have to go
off the Rio Grande nor beyond the events of the last two years to find
instances of more flagrant violations of neutrality and where material aid has
been given to the rebellion and against the United States.
U.S. GRANT,
Lieutenant- General.
Maj. Gen. P. II. SHERIDAN, WASHINGTON,
November 7, 1865.
Commanding Military Division of
the Gulf:
Enclosed
I send you a copy of protest sent by M. Montholon, French minister, against
alleged violations of neutrality on the Rio Grande and my endorsement thereon.
I wish you would have this matter investigated and report how far these
statements are true, and at the same time report such violations of neutrality
on the part of French troops as can be substantiated. In this part of the
investigation you can go back as far as you please.
U.S. GRANT,
Lieutenant- General.
SAINT
Louis, Mo., November 8, 1865.
(Received
1.10 p. in.)
Lieutenant-General GRANT:
Dispatch
to suspend General Pope’s order relative to the discharge of troops in New
Mexico is received and orders made accordingly.
W.T. SHERMAN,
Major. General.
SAINT
Louis, November 8, 1865.
(Received
4.20 p. in.)
Lieut.
Gen. U. S. GRANT:
General
Reynolds is here, and agrees to discharge every volunteer in his department on
receiving the Nineteenth Infantry. I will give him three of the Kentucky
regiments, and instruct him to muster out all volunteers, and to have the Third
Cavalry and Nineteenth Regulars out on the frontier by spring ready for New
Mexico, or wherever else required.
W.T. SHERMAN,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO,
Santa
Fe, N. Mex., November 10, 1865.
Maj.
WILLIAM McCLEAVE,
Commanding Fort Sumner, N.
Mex.:
MAJOR: I received last evening your
letter of the 6th instant notifying me that you had not succeeded in overtaking
the escaped Mescalero Apaches. While it is to be deeply regretted that they
managed to get off, there can be no doubt but that your utmost exertions were
made to recapture them. Your sending the force to Fort Stanton to operate
against them is approved. A few first-rate Navajoes to trail the Apaches will
be of great service. If they can be got to go send Jesus and an officer with
them to join Captain Murphy at Fort Stanton. I have ordered Captains
Henderson’s and Fox’s companies to Giddings’ Ranch and made them subject to
your orders. It will be well for you to order them to or near Fort Sumner to
show the Navajoes that we are observing them. By Monday’s mail I will send an
order to Fort Bascoin for McCabe’s company to go to Sumner. You must have a
strong cavalry and infantry picket with your herds, and get some few trusty
Navajo spies under a first-rate non-commissioned officer to patrol the country
well south of your herds, to give timely notice of the approach of any party
coming to stampede and run off your stock.
As soon as
I learn whether or not the troops from California will be permitted to remain
here, I can tell whether or not I can have a small force go eastward from Fort
Seldon to help Murphy. When the snows commence falling, if the Apaches stay in
the Sacramento Mountains we can find them. But it is likely they will at first
go to the Guadalupe Mountains or farther south, until they find our efforts to
recapture or destroy them cease. Keep your force in fighting order and all the
time on the alert. Watch well the Navajoes. At the same time you do this, do
not relax your efforts to have the land cleared and every plow possible
running; nor must you give up your enterprise in getting down wood. You shall
have all help possible, and I count on your energy, sleepless vigilance, and
systematic organization of labor to bring every possible security and benefit
out of the force and the muscle which you command and direct. Keep me fully
advised of all you do.
Respectfully,
your obedient servant,
JAMES H. CARLETON,
Brigadier- General, Commanding.
NOTE.—Lieutenant
Porter’s detachment is ordered to join you. Send your acting assistant surgeon
to join Murphy at Stanton.
HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO,
Santa,. Mex., November 12 1866.
PS
N
Maj. EMIL FRITZ,
Commanding Officer, Fort
Stanton, N. Mex.:
MAJOR: You have doubtless heard of the
escape of the Mescalero Apaches from the Bosque Redondo. Now is not the time
for yourself or your command to swap horses. Keep everything in order for
fighting—everything on the alert. Help the people with all possible protection.
Show in your own person no boy’s play now. Those Indians have got to be
recaptured or killed, the men, and I want your zealous help at once, and with
no relaxation, to do it until it is done. Raise the whole of that part of the
country to a determined spirit to get these Indians now, or they will never
enjoy quiet or security. Keep a record of all you do. If the people will rise
as one man the Indians will soon succumb; but if there is dillydallying and
talk and no energy on the part of the troops and the people that part of the
country might as well be given up to the Indians first as last. Tell the
Aldoretes that I cannot use any clemency until the brother has given himself up
and is with his company. Then I will consider the case. I want Lieutenant Edgar
to do company duty and take the field. Lieutenant Haberkorn can act as adjutant
as well as quartermaster and commissary, and when you are away, if necessary,
as commanding officer. I wish you to see that Captain Baca takes the field and
does his share also. You can have no drones about your hive now; all must work.
Respectfully,
your obedient servant,
JAMES H. CARLETON,
Brigadier- General, Commanding.
NEW
ORLEANS, LA., November 14, 1865.
(Received
6.45 p. m. 15th.)
Maj.
Gen. J. A. RAWLINS,
Chief of Staff:
On
the.2d instant the Fourth U. S. Cavalry left here fully equipped for San
Antonio, and the Sixth U. S. Cavalry left fully equipped for Austin on 11th instant.
Both regiments to be mounted at these places, respectively, with horses turned
in by volunteer regiments mustered out.
P.H. SHERIDAN,
Major- General.
NEW
ORLEANS, LA., November 15, 1865.
(Received
1.50 p. m. 17th.)
Lieut.
Gen. U. S. GRANT:
Escobedo Matamoras.’ Cortina, (Janales, and
Mejia are still closely investing.
P.H. SHERIDAN,
Major- General.
NEW
ORLEANS, LA November 15, 1865.
(Received
1.30 p. m. 17th.)
Bvt.
Maj. Gen. JOHN A. RAWLINS,
Chief of Staff:
The
telegraph communication from here to Galveston, Austin, and San Antonio is
complete and in good working order.
P.H. SHERIDAN,
Miajor- General.
HEADQUARTERS
MILITARY DIVISION OF THE GULF,
-New
Orleans, November 20, 1865—1.30 a. m.
(Received
9 a. m. 22d.)
Lieut. Gen. U. S. GRANT,
Commanding Armies of the United
States:
GENERAL: The Liberal force
withdrew about six miles from Matamoras on the 7th instant, but I have reason
to believe that they have again attacked the place. We have been subjected to
the most violent abuse by the Imperial newspaper in Matamoras. It constantly
calls the President the murderer of Mrs. Surratt. Some of our soldiers who were
visiting Matamoras were arrested and put to work upon their fortifications and
our officers and men fired upon by their gunboats. The most insulting letters from French officials have been
addressed to General Weitzel and other officers, and all this by a small force,
which our troops could drive out of Matamoras by firing over their boats. The consequence is, much excitement on
the part of our soldiers and a great desire on the part of the colored troops
to go to that country if discharged. The commandant of the Imperial troops in
Matamoras is always ready with an apology. I have given notice that hereafter
apologies for these insults will not be received.
P.H. SHERIDAN,
Major- General.
HEADQUARTERS
MILITARY DIVISION OF THE GULF,
New
Orleans, November 20, 1865—5.30 p. m.
(Received
12:30 a. m. 22d.)
Lieut. Gen. U. S. GRANT,
Commanding Armies of the United States:
GENERAL: My
telegram of today about affairs on the Rio Grande need not give you any alarm.
Everything is well in hand there and well understood.
P.H. SHERIDAN,
Major- General.
WASHINGTON, November 22, 1865.
Hon. W. H. SEWARD, Secretary of
State:
Lieutenant-General
Grant directs me to transmit the following extract from a telegram of General
Sheridan’s dated, New Orleans, November 20, 1865:
We have been subjected to the most violent abuse by the Imperial
newspaper in Matamoras. It constantly calls the President the murderer of Mrs.
Surratt. Some of our soldiers who were visiting Matamoras were arrested and put
to work upon their fortifications and our officers and men were fired upon by
their gunboats. The most insulting
letters from French officials have been addressed to General Weitzel and other
officers.
C.B. COMSTOCK,
Brevet Major- General.
WASHINGTON,
November 23, 1865.
Maj.
Gen. P. H. SHERIDAN,
Commanding Military Division of
the Gulf, New Orleans:
Your
communication of November 3, 186&, is at band. You will place, as you
suggest, the cavalry in such position as you can best forage them, and make
such arrangements for posts in the spring as you think best.
U.S. GRANT,
Lieutenant- General.
HEADQUARTERS
MILITARY DIVISION OF THE GULF,
New Orleans, La., November 26,
1865—1 p. m.
(Received 2.35 p. m. 27th.)
Lieut.
Gen. U. S. GRANT,
Commanding Armies of the United
States, Washington, D. C.:
GENERAL: I respectfully forward the
following facts for your consideration: The scheme for emigration to Mexico is
now fully organized in the city of Mexico, with Captain Maury, Sterling Price,
and General J. B. Magruder as the prominent men. They hold titles and honors
from Maximilian, and are now officers of His Majesty’s Government. Commissioners have been appointed for
all the Southern States, and I think the commissions forwarded. I caught the
commissioner for the State of Louisiana, and his commission is enroute and will
be received by me. This emigration scheme is not confined to emigrants from the
Southern states, but extends to Europe, and was without doubt hatched by Louis
Napoleon. This information is without question, and is a premonitory symptom of
what I have for some time believed—that we never can have a fully restored
Union, and give a total and final blow to all malcontents, until the French
leave Mexico. I am, general, very
respectfully your obedient servant,
P.H. SHERIDAN, Major- General.
CHARLESTON, S. C., December 1,
1865—2 p.m.
Maj. Gen. P. H. SHERIDAN, New
Orleans:
In view
of probable action by Congress on Mexican affairs, do all you can to preserve
strict neutrality pending such action.
U.S. GRANT,
Lieutenant- General,
NEW
ORLEANS, December 15, 1865.
(Received
12 p. in.)
Lieutenant-General GRANT:
Brig.
Gen. W. T. Clark, accompanied by Colonel Mejia, of the Liberal Army, has just
arrived from the Rio Grande. They report as follows: General Mejia made a
proposition to General Weitzel to turn over Matamoras for the sum of $200,000,
and a guarantee of protection to the city when occupied by the Liberal forces.
This money was about to be raised and the city turned over to Colonel Mejia, of
the Liberal Army, but it appears that General II. Clay Crawford arrived, and,
learning the condition of things offered General Mejia a greater sum and broke
off the whole affair, and has put things in a regular mess. He then started for
General camp, but couriers from General Mejia at Brownsville preceded him to
warn General Escobedo to have nothing to do with him. I think that General
Mejia will give up Matamoras if the thing is well managed, and General Clark
and Colonel Mejia say that General Mejia is only awaiting their return from New
Orleans. The presence of Crawford
and his assertions that he is acting under the authority of the President embarrasses
me much. Can you give me any instructions - I think it best to make a short
trip over to the Rio Grande, if you do not object. Two-hundred and eighty
Austrians have arrived at Rio Grande, that is all. Answer quick, please.
P.H. SHERIDAN,
Major- General.
WASHINGTON, December 16, 1865.
Major-General SHERIDAN, New
Orleans, La.:
I will
see the President and give you a full answer to your dispatch relating to
affairs on the Rio Grande as soon as I can.
U. GRANT,
General.
NEW ORLEANS, December 16, 1865—12 p. m.
Lieutenant-General GRANT, (Received
8 p. in.)
Commanding Armies of the United States:
Subsequent
information from the Rio Grande brought by Major Parsons, my inspector, makes me
believe that the report given me by General Clark and sent to you yesterday may
be a little colored and excited. I have again notified General Weitzel to
preserve strict neutrality, and have nothing to do with the transactions spoken
of in my telegram yesterday.
P.H. SHERIDAN,
Major- General.
WASHINGTON, December 19, 1865.
Major-General SHERIDAN, New
Orleans:
Instruct
the commander on the Rio Grande that he can make no agreement with Imperial or
Liberal commanders. If either belligerent lay down their arms and cross over to
the United States they will not be given up to their enemies, but will be
protected from them.
U.S. GRANT,
Lieutenant- General.
WASHINGTON, December 19, 1865.
Maj. Gen. P. H. SHERIDAN:
After my
dispatch to you of the 16th instant I saw the President and showed him yours to
which mine was an answer. I can say this after consultation: The President, as
well as the whole country, is interested in the Liberal cause in Mexico. It
cannot, the way relations now stand, be given as a direct order that commanders
shall take part either in battles or in agreements between belligerents as to
what protection or guaranty the Government will give to either in any case; but
there are no extradition treaties existing between the United States and any other
Government which require the giving up of belligerents to their enemies. Officers of the army on the Rio Grande
should officially be neutral in the same sense that belligerents on the other
side of the river have been when we were in trouble. Their sympathies are their
own, and they alone are responsible for them. Many rebels are supposed to have
crossed the Rio Grande to join their fortunes with those of the empire. It cannot be expected of us that we will
keep up a police force on that river to prevent persons who may possibly take
up the opposite side from crossing. I think a visit from you to the Rio Grande
at this time will do good. If you go let me hear from you on your return the
situation. It is not improbable that Congress will, before the end of the
session, take decided measures on our affairs in Mexico and demand the
withdrawal of all foreign troops from her soil. I hope so, at least.
U.S. GRANT,
Lieutenant- General.
WASHINGTON,
December 30, 1865.
Major-General
SHERIDAN,
New
Orleans, La.:
If
practicable, reduce by muster out the white troops in your division to 10,000
white and 10,000 colored troops. If this reduction cannot be safely reached
approach it as near as possible.
U.S. GRANT,
Lieutenant- General.
CONFEDERATE
CORRESPONDENCE, ETC.
HEADQUARTERS
CAVALRY FORCES FRONT LINES,
Lodi Plantation, April 1, 1865.
Maj. J. P. SMITH:
MAJOR:
No reports from General Harrison have been received for several days. The front
south of Red River is quiet. One of my spies in the La Fourche has been
arrested by the enemy, which has interrupted temporarily our communications. I
respectfully call attention to statements in the Cincinnati papers that on the
12th March twenty-seven steamers ascended the Cumberland River, and that on the
14th the Government took up a number of steamers at Louisville. The
scouts just north of Red River report that on the 25th instant a steamer loaded
with troops passed down, and that most of the gunboats between the mouth of Red
River and Yidalia have been sent below. A boat passed out the month of Red
River night before last, supposed to be a cotton boat from the Onachita. I
respectfully forward you a copy of an agreement entered into by Captain Ratliff
and some Federal officer, by which our relations with the enemy “east of the
Atchafalaya and south of Morgan ~ are defined and established. Lieutenant
Collins, commanding scouts north of Morganza, has reported to me that he has,
by flag of truce, signified to the Federal authorities his acceptance of
Captain Ratlift’s treaty. I also enclose a copy of a communication on the same
subject, dated 29th March, from Lieutenant Collins to Captain Pickens. This
treaty between Captain Ratliff was not communicated to me by that officer, and
I am indebted for all the information I have relative to what is occurring
between the “U. S. forces and the C. S.
Forces east of the Atchafalaya” to the kind consideration of Lieutenant
Collins. I forbear to make any comments upon the action of the con-tracting
party representing the C. S. military forces east of the Atchafalaya, as he
reports directly to the lieutenant-general commanding, arid probably has his
authorization for his proceedings. I have the honor to report the arrival at my
headquarters of twenty-three mules captured by Captain Whitaker, Seventh
Louisiana Cavalry, within the picket line of the enemy and within three miles
of the forts of Donaldsonville, on the Mississippi River. Captain Whitaker was
discovered while taking these animals and was fired on, but, mounting his men on
the mules, taking to the swamps, and swimming numerous bayous, escaped pursuit,
and reaching his boats, he embarked his mules on a large fiat. Just before
daybreak he discovered a Federal gunboat directly on his course, and only a few
miles distant, evidently cruising for him. He immediately approached a small
island, disembarked his mules and men and covered his boats with brush.
Disguised thus his boats escaped ‘the observation of the gun-boat, which, after
cruising about for four or five hours, then bore away, when he safely reached
Mossy’s Shell Bank. The perseverance and energy exhibited by Captain Whitaker
and his men in this expedition, in which they carried a heavy fiat and boats
over 100 miles, are highly meritorious.
I am,
major, yours, respectfully,.
L. BRENT,
Brigadier- General, Commanding.
(Same to Capt. J. Or. Clarke.)
HEADQUARTERS BRENT’S CAVALRY
BRIGADE, Lodi Plantation, April 2, 1865.
Capt. J. Or. CLARKE,
Assistant Adjutant- General,
Forces Front Lines:
CAPTAIN: I
have the honor to inform the brigadier-general commanding the front lines that
Lieutenant Scarborough, who has relieved Captain Pickens on the Atchafalaya,
reports as follows:
Upon
examination I find that cotton can be carried out at almost any point from
Marksville to Morgan’s Ferry. The whole swamp is inundated, anti the numerous
little bayous and sloughs passing through the swamps afford facilities for
carrying it out. With my present force I cannot effectually guard this country
against, nor do I believe that four times my number could do it, yet I shall
strain all my energies in that direction. I make these statements because I
think you should know the exact situation of affairs.
It is impossible at present to increase the cavalry force for want
of forage, but I respectfully suggest that the lines might be much strengthened
if a detachment of thirty-five infantry were given me, which could be put on
the permanent posts. If you should determine on this course I respectfully
request that no officer exceeding the rank of first lieutenant accompany the
detachment. But I am constrained to express my belief that complete success
cannot be expected in closing our lines unless a vigorous and earnest
cooperation is exhibited by the forces east of the Atchafalaya. Whilst the
Atchafalaya can be crossed from our side at nearly any place for over fifty
miles, the roads debouching from its east bank are few and easily guarded and
the points of shipment of cotton to New Orleans are well known and capable of
being placed under absolute surveillance. These points of shipment are
principally Hog Point above Morgauza, and the Hermitage, Waterloo, and Lobock’s
Store below Morgauza. At these points steamers from New Orleans land with
impunity, receive cotton, and carry on trade. No interruption to or
interference with these steamers have been permitted by Captain Ratliff or
Lieutenant Collins; on the contrary, I am informed that for a long time
assurances have been given by these officers that the steamers will not be
interrupted or interfered with, and that it is from these steamers that these
officers principally obtain the newspapers which they send to headquarters.
Hence when cotton crosses the Atchafalaya it is safe, and we actually have one
instance where it was arrested by an officer from this side after its evasion
of our lines and where the commanding officer east of the Atchafalaya
peremptorily ordered and obtained its release. Whilst I make no criticism on
the fact that these steamers are not interfered with, yet I think that our
forces should at least take care that no cotton brought out from our lines
without authority should be permitted to be shipped. There should be, according
to reports, upward of 250 Confederate troops east of the Atchafalaya.
I am,
captain, very respectfully,
J. L. BRENT,
Brigadier- General, Commanding
GENERAL
ORDERS, IIDQRS. TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT,
No. 32. Shreveport,
La., April 3, 1865.
All
officers and men delivered on parole in this department previous to this date
are exchanged, and will immediately rejoin their commands.
By
command of General E. Kirby Smith:
S. S. ANDERSON,
Assistant Adjutant- General.
HEADQUARTERS
TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT,
Shreveport, April 3, 1865.
Maj. Gen. M. M. PARSONS,
Commanding Division:
GENERAL: The
general commanding directs me to instruct you to order Mitchell’s brigade, of
your division, to this place at once.
I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
P. H. THOMSON, Assistant Adjutant- General.
HEADQUARTERS
TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT,
Maj. Gen. J. F. FASAN, Shreveport,
April 4, 1865.
Commanding District of
Arkansas:
GENERAL: In reply to your
communication of the 31st ultimo, the commanding general directs me to say that
he considers it important that Little Rock should be taken, and he consents to
your making the attempt proposed. With the knowledge you possess of the
locality it may be practicable for you to get inside of the enemy’s line of
works and destroy his depots of supplies. Whether you do more than this must be
left to your own judgment and discretion. The commanding general has directed
596 stands of arms to be turned over to Lieut. Col. Clay Taylor for the troops
of your district. He has ordered Shelby to halt at some point north of
Marshall, where he can obtain forage and support you with part of his command.
I am also instructed by the commanding general to say to you that he regrets
that he cannot promise definitely that the corn you ask for shall be placed at
Camden on the day specified by you. Enclosed is a copy of General Buckner’s
reply to his letter on this subject. The general commanding desires to be
informed whether you will require any of Shelby’s command. If so, what force,
and when and where shall it be sent.
I am,
general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
P.
H. THOMSON,
Assistant Adjutant- General.
GENERAL
ORDERS, HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF TEXAS,
NEW MEXICO, AND ARIZONA,
No. 14. Houston,
April 4, 1865.
In pursuance of instructions from department headquarters, Maj. Gen.
J. B. Magruder assumes command of the District of Texas, New Mexico; and
Arizona. Commanding officers of corps and divisions (cavalry or infantry),
sub-districts, posts, separate brigades, regiments, battalions, or detached
companies. will immediately, on the reception of this order, report by letter,
through the proper channels, to these headquarters, designating the station and
locality of their commands, their approximate effective force, the number armed
and unarmed, the number of rounds of ammunition per man, or, in artillery, per
piece, and the quantity and condition of transportation in each command. The medical director, chief
quartermaster, and chief commissary will also send in reports of the quantity
and locality of the supplies in their respective departments. The following
officers are announced upon the staff of the major general commanding the
district: Lieut. Col. T. Scott Anderson, Provisional Army, C. S., acting
inspector-general; Lieut. Col. Thomas M. Jack, assistant adjutant-general; Maj.
Manning M. Kimmel, Provisional Army, C. S., acting assistant adjutant and
inspector general; Capt. Edmund P. Turner, assistant adjutant-general; Capt.
Stephen D. Yancey, assistant adjutant-general; Maj. George A. Magruder, chief
of artillery; Maj. H. Willke, chief of ordnance. Capts. W. A. Smith and A. H.
May, assistant adjutants-general, and Capts. J. A. Galt and C-. A. Thornton, acting assistant
inspectors-general, are relieved from duty, and will report to Maj. Gen. J. G.
Walker. Maj. W. M. Stone, chief
quartermaster, will continue temporarily on duty, and all other officers of the
district staff will remain on duty until further orders.
By
command of Maj. Gen. J. B. Magruder:
STEPHEN D. YANCEY,
Assistant Adjutant-General.
HEADQUARTERS
TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT,
Lieut. Gen. S. B. BUCKNER, Shreveport,
La., April 5, 1865.
Commanding District of West
Louisiana, Natchitoches:
GENERAL: The
commanding general directs me to inform you that he has instructed General
Fagan to hasten his arrangements for the proposed expedition, and has assured
him of full support. It is of the first importance that the corn mentioned in
letter (April 2) should be placed at Camden with all possible dispatch, and the
commanding general requests that you will urge the officers charged with this
duty to expedite the matter by all the means in their power.
I am,
general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
P.H. THOMSON, Assistant Adjutant- General.
HEADQUARTERS
BRENT’S CAVALRY BRIGADE,
Lodi
Plantation, April 5, 1865.
Col.
L. A. BRINGIER,
Commanding Seventh Regiment
Louisiana Cavalry:
COLONEL: Orders
have been received by me from district head-quarters directing the impressments
“of able-bodied negroes on plantations belonging to owners within the Federal
lines and all others not usefully employed, in localities exposed to the
enemy’s raids.” You will make the impressments of the able-bodied Negroes
described above, but you will not cause the impressments of any Negroes who are
properly employed in cultivating provision crops. You will select a discreet
officer to perform this duty, who will consult with Capt. D. Kerr, agent of
commissary department. When impressed, the Negroes will be brought up under
guard to these headquarters, when they will be turned over to Major Mason,
chief commissary of subsistence, District of West Louisiana, according to
orders. The duty entrusted to you is a delicate one, and care will be taken not
to interfere with any planter so as to curtail the provision crop, which he may
be cultivating.
Very
respectfully, ~.
L. BRENT, Brigadier-General, Commanding.
SPECIAL
ORDERS, HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF TEXAS, &C.,
No.
95. S Houston,
April 5, 1865.
* * * * * *
XVII. 1. Maj. Gen. John A. Wharton will
proceed with the formation
and organization of the infantry brigades to compose Major-General Maxey’s
division, in pursuance of instructions from department headquarters of February
17, 1865.
2. Upon
the arrival of Major-General Maxey, he will report to Major-General Wharton, and co-operate
with him in the execution of his orders.
3. As
soon as the brigades and divisions shall have been duly organized as ordered,
Major-General Wharton will report the fact to these headquarters, forwarding
field returns and statements of organization and number and condition of arms
and ammunition.
4. The
quartermaster and commissary departments are ordered to afford to General
Wharton all necessary facilities. Transportation will be furnished by rail to
the troops to Harrisburg, on application of General Wharton.
* * * * * * *
By
command of Major-General Magruder:
STEPHEN D. YAXCEY,
Assistant Adjutant-General.
Report of Capt. George F.
Price, Second California Cavalry, Acting Assistant Adjutant- General.
JULESBURG, Colo. TER., May 22,
1865.
On 20th
200 Indians attacked detachment at Deer Creek Station and were repulsed, with a
loss on their part of seven killed and several wounded. They succeeded in
driving away with them twenty-two horses which were on herd. Colonel Plumb gave
them chase with thirty men, but could not ford the river. Succeeded in killing
one and wounding several. Indians came from north side of Platte and have gone
off northeast. One soldier killed. Moonlight says troops displayed great
determination. A white man, supposed to be Bill Comstock, formerly of Fort
Laramie, seemed to have command of Indians. Captain l3rowu was at Rock Spring
on 11th instant. Everything all right. Telegraphed you on 18th to Saint Louis,
and on 20th to Atchison.
GEO. F. PRICE,
Acting Assistant Adjutant- General.
Brig. Gen. P. B. CONNOR.
Report
of Lieut. Paul P. Grim, Eleventh Kansas Cavalry.
CAMP MOONLIGHT,
On La Prelle, Daic. Ter., June
9, 1865.
SIR: I
have the honor to report that on the 1st of April Company K marched from Mud
Springs to Platte Bridge, under command of Capt. J. M. Allen. On the 25th
instant met escort of Sergeant Schonhoff and five men escorting train to Deer
Creek Station, Dak. Ter. On the 27th instant a scout of eleven men, under
command of Second Lieutenant Grim, on foot, south and east of Platte Bridge,
Dak. Ter.; no enemy discovered. On the 28th instant an escort for the surgeon
from Platte Bridge to Sweetwater Bridge, Dak. Ter., under command of Sergeant
Stuart, with ten men. On the 5th of May mail party to and from Deer Creek
Station, five men, under command of Corporal Eminons. On the 8th of May scouting northwest of Platte Bridge with
regiment under Colt. Moonlight, with forty-nine men under command of Second
Lieut. Paul Grim, made no discoveries. On the 20th of May Corpl. D. Schwankee with ten men in pursuit of
Indians, and in action with Indians in the vicinity of Deer Creek Station,
under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Plumb. On the 23d of May Second Lieutenant
Grim with eleven men in pursuit of a party of Indians that had stolen a lot of
mules from a train in charge of Captain Lybe, of Third U. S. Volunteer
Infantry. On the 23d day of May scouting to lower Platte Bridge. On the 26th of
May Captain Allen with twelve men to re-enforce escort with regimental supply
train. On the 27th of May Sergeant Jankamner with six men to re-enforce escort
with regimental supply train. Moved camp during the months of April and May.
PAUL P. GRIM,
Second Lieutenant, Commanding Company.
Lieut. Col. P. B. PLUMB, Eleventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry.
Journal
of the House of Representatives of the United States, 43rd Congress, 1st
Session
WEDNESDAY, May 20, 1874.
Mr. Steele, by unanimous consent, submitted the following resolution; which was
read, considered, and agreed to, viz:
Resolved, That the Secretary of War be authorized to transmit to the House of Representatives the report of a reconnaissance made by Captain W. A. Jones, Corps of Engineers, in the year 1873, for a wagon-road from the line of the Union Pacific Railroad, in Wyoming Territory, to the Yellowstone National Park and Fort Ellis, Montana Territory. Mr. Pratt asked and, by unanimous consent, obtained leave to bring in a bill (S. 1370) to authorize the building of the Wyoming and Montana Railway; which was read the first and second times, by unanimous consent, referred to the Committee on Public Lands, and ordered to be printed.
Battle of Wounded Knee[4], Wy - 1 Dec 1869 About 150 Indians attacked a mail escort of ten men under Sgt Bahr of Co E, 4th Inf, and enroute to Ft Laramie. One soldier was reported killed. Apparently the escort was attacked a second time that same day, when two men were wounded[5]. The action occurred on 1 Dec 1869, with Sgt Conrad Bahr, Co E, in charge. Three men were reported wounded. [Note: There appears to be no other factual report than the two noted herein.]
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