Lesson 4: Hancock, Custer and the 7th Cavalry, Red Cloud and the Peace Commission
In this lesson General Winfield Scott Hancock, with Custer and Wild Bill Hickok, go on the warpath against the Cheyenne and other Kansas tribes. The Indians’ use of the buffalo is explored, and Red Cloud attacks the woodcutters. The Peace Commission advises that the forts along the Bozeman Trail should be abandoned. Red Cloud refuses to sign the treaty until the soldiers leave the forts. The forts are abandoned, Red Cloud burns them, but still does not sign the treaty.
Introduction
Because of the Fetterman Massacre, the rest of the concerned United States discovered on Christmas Morning of 1866 that the assumed peace on the Plains was not so. Even before his official report of the incident was received, Carrington was informed that he was being relieved of his command. General Cooke would replace him. Carrington would be transferred to the little frontier post at Fort Caspar. His orders where to vacate his post immediately.
At temperatures far below freezing, during a snowstorm that soon became a blizzard, Carrington moved from the fort. With him, into this treacherous white wilderness, went his wife and children, his staff and their families, and the regimental band with their families. This order to vacate his post in the midst of a February winter in Wyoming clearly indicates the lack of understanding the powers that ruled from the east had of the Great Plains.
An investigation of the Fetterman Massacre was finally made. Carrington was acquitted of all charges, but the damage had already been done to his good name and military career. At the same time the government acted on a recommendation Carrington had made, while still in command of Fort Phil Kearney, that a sub-post be built between Forts Laramie and Reno.
Fort Fetterman
The government called it Fort Fetterman, after a man who had disobeyed orders and led his men to their terrible deaths.
President Andrew Johnson’s administration favored peaceful handling of the Indian difficulties. In contrast, Secretary of War Stanton was staunch in his belief that there should be a vigorous military retaliation. General Grant agreed. Another who agreed with Grant and Stanton was General William Tecumseh Sherman, who now commanded all the troops on the Great Plains.
“We must act with vindictive earnestness against the Sioux, even to their extermination, men, women, and children,” Sherman is quoted in Robert Utley’s The Indian Frontier.
General William T. Sherman
In Congress, where the sentiment was for peace, the question of whether or not the Indian Bureau should be transferred to the War Department was bandied about until the session ended. No decision was made. Meanwhile, the military generals were generally smarting over the humiliation of the Fetterman disaster. But the generals, unlike Congress, did more than just talk — they acted.
As spring came to the Great Plains, General Winfield Scott Hancock put his troops into action to overpower the Cheyenne and other Kansas tribes. Near Fort Larned, Hancock’s troops approached a large Cheyenne and Sioux village on Pawnee Fork. Perhaps these Indians were remembering what had happened at Sand Creek. Whatever their thoughts were, they left their lodges were they stood and fled.
Winfield Scott Hancock
But Hancock still had a high card left in his deck. He shuffled his options and drew what had already been proven a winner. Hancock’s high card was the Lieutenant Colonel of the Seventh Cavalry — George Armstrong Custer.
Hancock sent his golden boy after the fleeing Indians and then burned their village to the ground. The Indian wars were still on.
To Learn more about this interesting man, Winfield Scott Hancock, take a look at this article:
Hancock the Superb By John S. Cooper http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/pres... Winfield Scott Hancock was named for the famous soldier, Winfield Scott. These two men shared more than just their names
The source for this section is:
Utley, Robert M. The Indian Frontier of the American West, 1846-1890. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. 1984.
