His bullet whizzed
harmlessly past my head, while mine struck him full in the breast.
He reeled and fell, but I took no chances. He had barely touched the
ground, when I was upon him, knife in hand, and to make sure of him
drove the steel into his heart.
This whole affair, from beginning to end, occupied but little time. The
Indians, seeing that I was a little distance from my pony, now came
charging down upon me from the hill, in the hope of cutting me off.
General Merritt had witnessed the duel, and, realizing the danger I was
in, ordered Colonel Mason with Company K to hurry to my rescue. This
order came none too soon. Had it been given one minute later two
hundred Indians would have been upon me, and this present narration
would have had to be made by some one else. As the soldiers came up I
swung the war-bonnet high in the air and shouted: "The first scalp for
Custer!"
It was by this time clear to General Merritt that he could not ambush
the Indians. So he ordered a general charge. For a time they made a
stubborn resistance, but no eight hundred Indians, or twice that
number, for that matter, could make a successful stand against such
veteran and fearless fighters as the Fifth Cavalry. They soon came to
that conclusion themselves and began a running retreat for the Red
Cloud Agency.
For thirty-five miles, over the roughest kind of ground, we drove them
before us.
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