: The Dull Knife Battle, 1876 by Terry C. Johnston

Author:Terry C. Johnston
Language: eng
Format: epub

Chapter 25

25 November 1876

At long last the final company was “up,” closing the file, those last soldiers joining the rest in that gently sloping patch of ground before the entire command once more fell silent between the hulking shoulders of that canyon they would be plunging into momentarily.

They had covered more than twenty-five miles in darkness to stand here on the threshold of attack, listening to the distant voice of that war drum.

Then Mackenzie returned with Rowland and the Cheyenne scouts, coming alive, the colonel animated suddenly—officers old and young clustered around him. He raised himself in his stirrups as his staff came to a halt, fanning out in a crescent around their leader.

“From what our scouts tell us, the Cheyenne are having war dances in at least four locations in that village. Rowland’s men spotted at least three pony herds, and the lodges are pitched on both sides of the creek. Seems they tell me that with all the noise and activity going on, we can advance up the canyon some distance before we would be in danger of alerting the village,” the colonel told the hushed gathering in low tones. “We’ll get into position, conceal the column, and begin the attack at daylight.”

He then went on to order up the companies he believed were most ready to spearhead the first assault into the village, ordering the North brothers to lead their battle-eager Pawnee into the breech in advance of any soldiers—punching through the village and on to secure the Cheyenne pony herd should there be the slightest chance of an enemy ambush.

Then he gave the order of the attack, company by company.

And concluded his terse, clipped instructions by saying, “Gentlemen, inform your battalions of their deployment. I hope to capture the village in a pincers: between one arm formed by the Shoshone and Pawnee, and the other arm by our troops. If all units do as I have ordered, we should surround the village completely, shutting off all chance for the hostiles to escape. With that in mind, remind your men of General Crook’s admonition—that we must do our best to assure the enemy’s capture, especially the lives of the women and children. Spare all noncombatants as we seal off the village.”

Mackenzie arose in the stirrups once more, tugging at the brim of his big black slouch hat, preparing to tear it from his head dramatically. “This is what we’ve prepared for. Let it be us who go and end this war, here and now.”

“It must ache like hell,” Seamus had been speaking in low tones to the lieutenant beside him.

John Bourke was roughly kneading one hand with the other, both of them securely wrapped inside their heavy wool mittens. “Damn, it does.”

“The cold will bother it for the rest of your life, aye?”

“Ever since last winter at the Powder.”

“When you stuffed you hand down through that hole in the ice and plunged it into the freezing water,” Donegan commented. “You gonna be all right to handle a

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.