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The 7th U. S. Cavalry was one of four new regiments
organized on July 28th, 1866 by act of congress. The 7th through the 10th
Cavalry regiments were to be stationed on the frontier in hopes of
combating the Indian menace.
The 7th Cavalry was
assigned to Ft. Riley, Kansas, initially to support the building of the
Kansas Pacific Railroad. The Commanding Officer was Col. Andrew Johnson
Smith (Brevet Maj. Gen.) - later replaced by Col. Samuel D. Sturgis in
May, 1869- with
Lt. Col. (Brevet Maj. Gen.) George Armstrong Custer second in command as
field commander. Custer arrived at Ft. Riley on November 3rd, 1866.
The 7th consisted of 12 troops of cavalry; not all stationed at Ft. Riley.
In fact, only troops A, D, H & M remained at Ft. Riley, with the other
troops being stationed at Ft. Lyon & Ft. Morgan, Colorado, Ft. Hays,
Ft. Harker, Ft. Wallace, and Ft. Dodge, Kansas.
In
1867 Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock was ordered to form an expedition to
prevent expected uprisings on the plains. The 7th Cavalry formed a part of
that expedition which left Ft. Riley in April. While the expedition met
with some of the plains Indians, and then burned their village when the
Indians deserted it fearing an attack by the troops, the expedition as a
whole was a failure. Custer spent the summer chasing down the
Indians believed to be responsible for a number of attacks on the
railroad, military personnel and citizens alike, but the only contact was
with small war parties.
Desertion was a
problem with the military stationed on the western plains. During the
summer the 7th Cavalry suffered its share of desertions while on campaign.
In one brazen instance a number of troopers deserted in broad daylight.
Custer saw this occur and immediately ordered those troopers be caught and
shot. Those who were on foot were soon caught and three were indeed shot
before being returned to camp. One, a trooper Johnson, later died of his
wounds.
The 7th Cavalry eventually returned to
Ft. Wallace exhausted and in need of resupply, which could not be obtained
closer than Ft. Harker. In addition, a cholera epidemic had begun on the
plains and the military forts were suffering from this dreaded disease. Custer left his command and returned
to Ft. Harker to report and order supplies for his troops. He then
obtained permission to travel to Ft. Riley to visit his wife "Libbie".
After this visit he returned to Ft. Harker and was placed
under arrest by Col. Smith for being AWOL, for his handling of the
deserters, and for abandoning two troopers who were later killed by
Indians. He was court-martialed and
suspended from rank and pay for 1 year. He and his wife returned to their
home in Monroe, Michigan to wait out the suspension. Custer's handling of
the deserters and his abandoning the troopers did not sit well with many
officers and men of the 7th Cavalry. His actions and personality would create a schism within the
command that would last beyond Custer's death.
During
his absence,
a group of officials from the United States Government met with Indian
leaders of the Comanche, Kiowa, Lipan Apache, Arapaho and Cheyenne nations
who agreed to sign a treaty in October 1867 on Medicine Lodge Creek.
The 7th provided part of the escort to the peace commission who met with
the Indians. What became known as the Medicine Lodge Treaty was to provide
annuity goods on reservations south of the Arkansas
River, which would allow the railroad to continue construction through the
area of the Arkansas and Platte rivers.
Even though
a treaty had been signed, the Indians distrusted the white man and many of their
young warriors believed the treaty to be worthless. The year 1868 brought
an increase in depredations against white settlements, while Indians at
Ft. Larned, Kansas - where annuity goods for the peaceful Indians who had
honored the treaty were to be issued - were angered by a delay in issuing
those goods. The 7th Cavalry was ordered to march to Ft. Larned to support
the four troops of cavalry already stationed there. After their arrival
the agent decided to issue the goods which not only consisted of food,
tools, blankets and cooking gear, but also contained arms and ammunition.
After the issuance was complete the Indians departed and almost
immediately began raiding settlements in Kansas.
Another
expedition was formed, this time out of Ft. Dodge, Kansas under Brig. Gen.
Alfred Sully. The 7th Cavalry was brought together as a unit as part of this
expedition. This
expedition met with no greater success than the Hancock expedition, and
suffered hit-and-run ambushes both day and night while in the field. Sully
returned to Ft. Dodge with the intention of refitting for another
expedition, however Gen. Phil Sheridan, now Commander of the Dept. of the
Missouri, became disenchanted with him and actively sought to have Col.
Custer reinstated before his suspension was over.
Custer
rejoined his regiment on October 6, 1868 near Ft. Dodge. He found the
regiment in low morale from the summer campaign, poorly mounted and with
shabby uniforms. Sheridan planned a winter campaign where he hoped by
attacking their villages he could force the Indians to come in to the
reservations or starve. A three-pronged campaign was planned with troops
participating from Ft. Bascom , New Mexico (6 troops of the 3rd Cavalry
& 2 companies of the 37th Infantry); Ft. Lyon, Colorado (the 5th
Cavalry), and Ft. Dodge, Kansas (11 troops of the 7th Cavalry, 5 companies
of the 3rd Infantry to be joined later by the 19th Kansas Volunteer
Cavalry). The march from Ft. Bascom would continue along the Canadian
River after establishing a supply depot on Monument Creek, and then
proceed along the North Fork of the Red River until they reached the Red
River. From Ft. Lyon, the cavalry would proceed southeast and scout
toward the Antelope Hills and along the North fork of the Canadian River.
From Ft. Dodge, the combined units would establish a cantonment along the
fork of Beaver and Wolf Creeks, and continue south in search of the
Indians.
This third wing of the campaign left Ft.
Dodge on November 12th. Six days later they arrived at a favorable spot on
Wolf Creek and established Camp Supply (Oklahoma). Upon arrival at Camp
Supply Gen. Sheridan returned Gen. Sully to Ft. Dodge as district commander
and appointed Col. Custer in command of the expedition. Custer led his
command from Camp Supply on November 23rd during a major snow storm. On
November 26th an Indian trail was discovered by Maj. Joel Elliott and was
followed to a camp along the Washita River. The morning of November 28th
the command under Col. George A. Custer attacked the village on the
Washita, Custer dividing his command into four squadrons, one being the
wagon train. The village belonged to a Cheyenne chief named Black Kettle
who, along with his wife, was one of perhaps 140 Indians killed. Although
the village was captured and burned, the cost to the 7th Cavalry was high.
It was not known until later that Maj. Joel Elliott and 19 troopers
had been ambushed and killed during the attack. One more death (that of
Capt. Louis Hamilton, grandson of Alexander Hamilton) brought the death
toll to 21. Black Kettle's village along the Washita was only one
of several villages. Indians from other villages came to Black Kettle's
rescue upon hearing of the attack, and Custer retreated from the scene
back to Camp Supply without determining the fate of Maj. Elliott and the
men with him. It was on returning to the village on December 10th with
Gen. Sheridan that Custer and the rest of the 7th Cavalry found the bodies
and learned of their fate.
As mentioned above,
Custer had been a polarizing figure within the 7th Cavalry. It seemed as
though one was either for him or against him. This was especially true of
the officer's corps. This division of loyalty gained momentum during the
summer of 1867, and was certainly exacerbated by his
leaving the field of the Washita campaign without determining the fate of
Maj. Elliott and his men. These strongly held beliefs would likely play a
roll 8 years later at the Little Big Horn.
In
January of the following year the 7th Cavalry was ordered to locate a site
for a new post within the Indian territory, later to become Ft. Sill,
Oklahoma. That post was later turned over to the 10th Cavalry and the 7th
was ordered back to Ft. Hays, Kansas. During 1869 and 1870 the 7th Cavalry
fought skirmishes with the Indians of the lower plains. In 1871 the 7th
Cavalry was ordered to return to the East and was headquartered at
Elizabethtown, Kentucky while acting in small detachments in assisting U.
S. Marshals in hunting down illegal distilleries and moonshiners, and in
efforts against the Ku Klux Klan.
In the Spring of 1873 the 7th Cavalry was
reunited in Dakota territory for the purpose of assisting the Northern
Pacific railroad in defending its surveyors against Indian attack. It
joined the Yellowstone expedition under Col. D. S. Stanley on June 10th
at Ft. Rice. In addition to supporting the Northern Pacific railroad
the expedition also conducted geological surveys and had at least a
couple engagements with Indians before completing its tour in 66 days.
At this time the 7th Cavalry was reassigned to a new post being
established; Ft. Abraham Lincoln, Dakota territory.
In 1872 the first military post was
opened at this location on the Missouri River, and garrisoned by infantry.
It was known as Ft. McKeen. Ft. McKeen was later named Ft. Abraham
Lincoln and that name applied to both the infantry post and cavalry post
later established nearby. In 1874 the Black Hills Expedition was organized
to explore that area of western Dakota and eastern Wyoming, and to
establish military routes between Ft. Abraham Lincoln and Ft. Laramie.
This expedition would proceed into unceeded Indian territory violating the
treaty of 1868.
Leaving Ft. Lincoln on July
2nd, the expedition consisted of ten troops of the 7th Cavalry, two
companies of infantry, three Gatling guns, one Rodman gun and a train of
approximately 100 wagons. Along with the expedition rode both geologists,
newspaper reporters a photographer, and two miners. Col. Fred Grant,
brother to the President, also accompanied the expedition as an aide to
Custer. The inclusion of the miners prompted speculation that part of the
expedition's purpose was to determine whether the Black Hills area was
rich in ore deposits.
The expedition traveled
southwest into the southeastern corner of present-day Montana near the
Little Missouri River before turning south and approaching the Black Hills
along its western border. Turning southeast, it moved into the Black Hills
as far as Harney's Peak before retracing its route for awhile, then
heading north around Elk Buttes along Box Elder Creek. During the
expedition gold was discovered at several locations within the Black
Hills. On August 16th the expedition broke camp for the return to Ft.
Lincoln. The return trip took them due north and crossed its outgoing
trail, only to turn east after it reached the Little Missouri river not
too far from Sentinel Buttes. It arrived back at Ft. Abraham Lincoln on
August 30th. The reporters with the expedition insured that news of the
gold strikes soon became national news.
As gold
hungry miners began invading the Black Hills the 7th Cavalry was ordered
to prevent such occurrences. Wagons and outfits of gold seekers were
seized, however some miners got through and later made exaggerated claims
of the area's richness. A commission organized to secure mining rights
from the Sioux met with failure and returned to Washington leaving the
issue unsettled. The government then withdrew the military forces guarding
the Black Hills and whites poured in from all over. The Indians realized
the dire nature of the situation and retreated into wilderness areas far
from their agencies. War was inevitable.
1875
brought little in the way of military campaigns. The 7th Cavalry performed
its usual garrison and escort duties and Custer found himself embroiled in
political matters involving post traders. Custer, along with other
officers uncovered a grainery scam between post traders and businessmen in
the nearby town of Bismark. In addition to this the post sutler habitually
charged large sums for items that could be had at a fraction of the cost
locally. However, the War Department turned a blind eye to the trader's
profits even going so far as to order officers to discontinue efforts to
provide goods at lower prices. There was also a great deal of graft and
corruption occurring within the Indian Bureau (a division of the
Department of the Interior) at this time. Army officers who knew what was
happening could do little, their reporting to the War
Department.
Custer and others criticized
Secretary of War William Belknap, accusing him of corruption in the post
trader's scandal. In the meanwhile severe weather caused short rations at
Indian reservations and Congress was slow to respond with appropriations.
Indians sought for and receive permission to leave the reservations and
hunt the Powder river country before winter set in. Custer himself took an
extended leave of absence, visiting New York with his wife. During this
stay the New York Herald made further allegations against Secretary of War
Belknap (possibly fueled by reports from Custer), and Custer was ordered
to testify at hearings in Washington.
The Indian
Bureau issued orders in December, 1875 that any Indians not on
reservations by the end of January, 1876 would be considered hostile.
Runners were sent out to bring these Indians in to the reservations,
however there was no way this could be fully accomplished in the time
available. The War Department issued orders at the end of January to bring
in all Indians still off the reservations, but those orders could not be
carried out due to the severity of the weather. Custer returned to Ft.
Lincoln from leave (being caught in a blizzard while enroute from St.
Paul, Minnesota to Bismark by train). Upon arriving at Ft. Lincoln he was
immediately called back east to testify before the Clymer Committee which
was investigating the War Department's role in the post trader scandal.
Custer
returned to Washington and testified before the Clymer committee. He was
highly critical of Secretary Belknap and also implicated the President's
brother, Orvil Grant. While in Washington movement was under way for
another expedition to round up all the Indians who had not returned to
their reservations by the deadline just past. This expedition would
consist of three separate movements against the Indians in the Tongue and
Powder River countries; one movement emanating from Ft. Lincoln . Custer,
having been released from his orders to testify by the Clymer committee,
then sought permission to return to duty with the 7th Cavalry and lead
that prong of the expedition. His efforts proved futile. Having severely
angered the Grant administration by his testimony he was told he was not
the only officer who could lead the expedition. He then sought an audience
with the President who snubbed him on two occasions. Custer left
Washington on his own recognizance on May 4th intending to return to Ft.
Lincoln. He was met as he stepped from the train in Chicago and was
informed of his arrest for leaving Washington without authorization by a
member of General Sheridan's staff .
Fearing that
the arrest order would prevent him from reaching his regiment before it
marched he boarded a train for St. Paul in disobeyance of that order. He
sought the aid of General Terry his department commander, who intervened
on his behalf and obtained permission from the President, through General
Sheridan, for Custer to accompany the expedition although not as commander
but merely in charge of his regiment. General Terry himself would be in
charge of this wing of the campaign.
The 7th
Cavalry marched from Ft. Abraham Lincoln on May 17th on its road to
destiny.
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