Red Devils -22 Just before the Battle

Letter from Custer to his wife

Mouth of Rosebud, June 21, 1876.

Look on my map and you will find our present location on the Yellowstone, about midway between the Tongue and the Big Horn. The scouting-party has returned. They saw the trail and deserted camp of a village of three hundred and eighty lodges. The trail was about one week old. The scouts reported that they could have overtaken the village in one day and a half. I am now going to take up the trail where the scouting-party turned back. I fear their failure to follow up the Indians has imperiled our plans by giving the village an intimation of our presence. Think of the valuable time lost! But I feel hopeful of accomplishing great results. I will move directly up the valley of the Rosebud. General Gibbon's command and General Terry, with steamer, will proceed up the Big Horn as far as the boat can go. I like campaigning with pack-mules much better than with wagons, leaving out the question of luxuries.

We take no tents, and desire none. I now have some Crow scouts with me, as they are familiar with the country. They are magnificent-looking men, so much handsomer and more Indian-like than any we have ever seen, and so jolly and sportive; nothing of the gloomy, silent red-man about them. They have formally given themselves to me, after the usual talk. In their speech they said they had heard that I never abandoned a trail; that when my food gave out I ate mule. That was the kind of a man they wanted to fight under; they were willing to eat mule too. I am going to send six Ree scouts to Powder River with the mail; from there it will go with other scouts to Fort Buford.

June 22nd- 11 A.M. I have but a few moments to write, as we move at twelve, and I have my hands full of preparations for the scout. Do not be anxious about me. You would be surprised to know how closely I obey your instructions about keeping with the column. I hope to have a good report to send you by the next mail. A success will start us all towards Lincoln.

I send you an extract from General Terry's official order, knowing how keenly you appreciate words of commendation and confidence, such as the following: "It is of course impossible to give you any definite instructions in regard to this movement; and were it not impossible to do so, the Department Commander places too much confidence in your zeal, energy, and ability to wish to impose upon you precise orders, which might hamper your action when nearly in contact with the enemy.”

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From Kellogg's Dispatch

At Mouth of Rosebud, on Yellowstone River, June 21, 1876.

 From June 12, the date of my last communication, until June 19, the only occurrences of General Terry's command were the establishment of a supply depot at the mouth of the Powder River and making the steamer Far West a moving base of supplies, having on board thirty days' rations and forage; the movement of the steamer to the mouth of the Tongue River with the headquarters command on board, and the march of General Custer from the mouth of the Powder River to the mouth of the Tongue River, an estimated distance of forty miles, moving up the valley of the Yellowstone River. During the trip no incident occurred except the display of sharp rifle shooting on the part of General Custer who brought down an antelope at 400 yards and nearly shot off the heads of several sage hens.

The country north of the Powder River, for a distance of twelve to fifteen miles, is very poor, low and causing hard marching, with a soil producing no grasses, only sage brush and cactus. (pictured above)  En route, on the 15th, the column passed through an abandoned Indian camp, apparently less than a year old. It had been a large camp, being two miles or more in length, and must have contained 1,200 or 1,500 lodges. Game was very scarce, and no buffalo at all were seen.

The Yellowstone is looming high, and its current is so swift, eddying and whirling as to create a seething sound like that of a soft wind rustling in the tall grass. Its color resembles yellowish clay at this point. It is cool and pleasant to the taste, and is a larger body of water than that of the Missouri River above its mouth, but very much superior for purposes of steamboat navigation. The waters of the Tongue River are of a deepish red color, running swiftly, and not very palatable to the taste.

 On the 19th of June, General Custer, with six companies of cavalry, crossed the Tongue River, about three miles from its mouth, by fording, and marching to a point about nine miles from where Major Reno with six companies of the Seventh Cavalry were encamped, having returned from the scout he was ordered upon; but, for some cause unknown to your correspondent, Major Reno was unfortunate enough not only to exceed but to disobey the instructions of General Terry, a copy of which is subjoined, viz:

Headquarters Department of Dakota In the Field, Camp on Powder River, Montana Territory,

June 10, 1876

Field Special Order No. 2

2. Major M. A. Reno, Seventh Cavalry, with six companies (right wing) of his regiment and one gun from the Gatling battery, will proceed at the earliest practicable moment to make a reconnaissance of the Powder River from the present camp to the mouth of the Little Powder. From the last named point he will cross to the headwaters of Mizpah Creek, and descend that creek to its junction with the Powder River. Thence he will cross the Pumpkin Creek and Tongue River, and descend the Tongue to its junction with the Yellowstone, where he may expect to meet the remaining companies of the Seventh Cavalry and supplies of subsistence and forage.

 Major Reno's command will be supplied with subsistence for twelve days, and with forage for the same period at the rate of two pounds of grain the day for each animal.

The guide Mitch Bouyer and eight Indian scouts, to be detailed by Lt. Col. Custer, will report to Major Reno, for duty with this column.

Acting Assistant Surgeon H.R. Porter is detailed for duty with Major Reno. By command of Brigadier General Terry.

Edw. Smith Captain, Eighteenth Infantry Acting Assistant Adjutant General

Major Reno made an error in that he crossed, going a due south course, from the forks of the Powder to the Rosebud River, where he found a fresh hostile trail. General Terry had planned to have Major Reno return to the column, marching down the valley of the Tongue River; and after he had formed the junction, General Custer was to organize his regiment for a scout up the Tongue, thence across to the Rosebud, striking it near its head; thence down that valley towards General Terry, who in the meantime would move by steamer to the mouth of the Rosebud, join General Gibbon's command, march up that valley until he met and joined General Custer.

The plan was an excellent one, and but for the unfortunate movement of Major Reno the main force of the Indians, numbering 1,500, would have been bagged. As it is, a new campaign is organized, and to-morrow, June 22, General Custer with twelve cavalry companies, will scout from its mouth up the valley of the Rosebud until he reaches the fresh trail discovered by Major Reno, and move on that trail with all rapidity possible in order to overhaul the Indians, whom it has been ascertained are hunting buffalo and making daily and leisurely short marches.

In the meantime, General Terry will move on the steamer to the mouth of the Bighorn River, scouting Pumpkin Creek en route, with General Gibbon's cavalry as well as infantry, which are marching toward the Bighorn on the north side of the Yellowstone. This part of the command marched up the Bighorn valley in order to intercept the Indians if they should attempt to escape from General Custer down that avenue. The hope is now strong and I believe, well founded, that this band of ugly customers, known as Sitting Bull's band, will be "gobbled" and dealt with as they deserve.

General Custer's command made a rapid march from the Tongue River to the Rosebud, over some portion of which the route covered was the mauvaises terres in the ugliest forms; up and down the ascents and descents so abrupt as to appear impassible for locomotion, circuiting and twisting hither and thither - now along a narrow defile, then through a deep, abrupt, canyon, in which the sun's rays created a warm, still atmosphere that caused panting breaths and reeking perspiration. However, the sharp, quick march of the cavalry kept pace with the steamer which was running up the Yellowstone. Frequently by us in the rear, the light colored buckskin on the person of General Custer would be seen, followed closely by the head of the column, as he and they climbed the heights from out the winding, yawning, abysses below.

As we proceeded further up the valley of the Yellowstone River its attractions became more marked, more defined, and more beautiful. Vegetation increases in size, in the grasses as well as in the timber. Beautiful little islands are frequently seen, covered to their very edges with a thick growth of trees whose vivid green foliage hides the branches that reach far outward over the yellowish waters flowing swiftly beneath. The banks of the river are abrupt, the channel unchanging, the bed of which is composed of gravel and its depth sufficient at its usual low stage to allow light draught steamers to navigate its length from its emptying into the Missouri River to the mouth of the Bighorn, a distance of nearly 500 miles.

I write of this stream as I see it, for the purpose of informing the thousands of readers of the Herald of the magnitude and facilities it affords for commercial purposes in the near future, when its beautiful valley shall become populated, of a stream that has the appearance on the maps of being only a mere creek. A valley of your own "away down East" is merely the area of a race track compared with the valleys of the far west. Here they range from 30 to 500 miles in length, ranging in width from one to fifteen. The upper portion of the Yellowstone valley, that is to say, the upper half of the valley, is superior to the balance in all respects - for grass and timber, not only in quantity but in quality; for richness of soil; for health and climate; for its abundance of game, its quantity of fish and other things besides.

Brigadier General Alfred H. Terry, in command of this expedition, I find to be my ideal of a commanding general - large brained, sagacious, far reaching, cool under all circumstances and with rare executive abilities. He is besides genial, courteous, frank and manly. So far as he is concerned, I contend that his planning has been of the finest character, and unless his subordinates frustrate them by overt acts of their own, must be successful. He has won the hearts of all who have come to know him and is highly, regarded by the whole command.

Of his staff, while it may seem invidious of me to mention singly, still it is my privilege to say that I find them all kind, courteous, high toned gentlemen, all of whom fill creditably and well the requisites of their various positions. And now a word for the most peculiar genius in the army, a man of strong impulses, of great hearted friendships and bitter enmities, of quick, nervous temperament, undaunted courage, will and determination; a man possessing electrical mental capacity and of iron frame and constitution; a brave, faithful, gallant soldier, who has warm friends and bitter enemies; the hardest rider, the greatest pusher, with the most untiring vigilance, overcoming seeming impossibilities, and with an ambition to succeed in all things he undertakes; a man to do right, as he construes the right, in every case; one respected and beloved by his followers, who would freely follow him into the "jaws of hell." Of Lieutenant Colonel G. A. Custer I am now writing. Do not think I am overdrawing the picture. The pen picture is true to life, and is drawn not only from actual observation, but from an experience that cannot mislead me.

The officers of the several companies of the Seventh Cavalry, so far as my acquaintance extends, are as brave and gallant a lot of men as ever drew a sword in their country's cause. I can say as much for the infantry. Brave and true hearted, every one of them. In my opinion, based on an experience and familiarity with the army and its men for years, I believe I am safe in saying that the present expedition under the command of General Terry is made up from among the best in the American service, the Seventh and the Second cavalry and the Sixth, Seventeenth, Twentieth and Seventh infantry. My acquaintance with General Gibbon and General Brisbin is limited, but I hear them spoken highly of on all hands. Their record in days gone by bear me out in stating that they occupy positions for which they are eminently fitted, and the commands are made up of the same fearless fellows as compose the Seventh Cavalry.

General Gibbon and command departed from Fort Ellis, Montana Territory, on April 1, pursuant to orders, and marched to a point designated on the Yellowstone, where they have been held in check and prevented from crossing by the extreme high water and rapid current of that stream. While lying in camp not far from the mouth of the Rosebud, during the past four weeks they have been frequently annoyed by bravado demonstrations by hostile Indians on the heights opposite them, who would dash up on their ponies, laugh in derision, shout, whoop and cavort around, like so many gymnasts, and then ride off at a gallop with a war whoop. All this had to be submitted to, for it was simply impossible to cross the boiling, seething, roaring stream that intervened without hazarding valuable lives.