gade, taking care of the rear. We advanced without much trouble, with a little skirmishing in front, and also an attack in rear. The enemy were repulsed on all sides. It was evident in spite of all their boasting all fighting was out of them. A few miles brought us to an open country, and the last we saw of the Indians was a cloud of dust some six or eight miles off, running as fast as they could. They were better mounted than we were. The men behaved well. There were many acts of individual bravery displayed. A great deal of ingenuity in many instances was shown by the men in trapping the Indians who, afraid of our long-ranged rifles and artillery, kept themselves at a respectful distance. Parties would crawl out behind hills while a small party mounted would dash onto the Indians, fire and retreat, drawing the Indians, fire and retreat, drawing the Indians into the ambuscade, when they would succeed in emptying a few saddles and capturing a few ponies. It is impossible for me to give anything like a report of the number of Indians killed, the fighting extended over so great a distance, and was a succession of skirmishes; there was certainly over 100 killed. Other officers feel sure that there were double or even treble that number. It is certain, however, their loss was very heavy. The same Indians I fought before were engaged, besides Cheyennes, Brules, Minneconjous, and others from the south. This I got from my own Indians, who, during the fight, conversed with them from behind the hills. They met me under every disadvantage on the strongest of positions and were entirely crushed and routed. If I had had anything to eat and was not encumbered with an emigrant train and if my animals had not been without food so many days, I might have overtaken some of them, for they fled in all directions.

I would here state that on crossing the Little Missouri I found the country covered with myriads of grasshoppers, who had eaten everything. My animals were almost starved. I found this state of things all the way to the Yellowstone, and I was obliged to abandon and shoot a number of animals on the road. After marching six miles this day, we came to the place where the Indians left about thirty hours before my arrival. From the size of their camp, or rather bivouac, for they had pitched no lodges, I should judge all the Indians in the country had assembled there. The space they occupied was over one mile long and half a mile wide, besides which we discovered camps all over the country, close by this spot. I found the lodge trails turned to the felt in a southwest direction. We still continued our course west by north, and next day crossed a heavy trail going northeast toward the same point where I first fought them. I was evidently not all the lodges that went that way. We continued our way across the country to the Yellowstone, which we reached on the 12th of August, over a section of country I never with to travel again; our animals half dead with hunger; the grass entirely eaten off. I should judge it was never very good grass in the best of seasons. The water we had to drink the worst sort of alkali water; this told on the animals. Fortunately, we here met the two boats I ordered to get up the Yellowstone if possible, and the first steamer that ever attempted to ascend this river. These boats were the Chippewa Falls and Alone, small stern-wheel steamers, the former drawing only twelve inches light; they each had about fifty tons of freight; very little of it corn. The steamer Island City, having aboard nearly all my corn, struck a snag near Fort Union and sunk. The steamers attempted to go above this point, but a rapid shoal rendered it impossible. It was also fortunate for the boats that we arrived when we did, for the water is falling fast, and it will be