did not feel that I would be justified in taking another course. From information received, I believed that the troops were within 15 miles of their camp, and that the summary punishment ordered to be given them could be effected with but little delay. From later information it appears that these attacks have been preconcerted, and that the Indians cannot be reached by the detachment of Company C in the limited time given them. Hence I have ordered Captain J. C. Davidson to proceed with another detachment of Company C in pursuit of the Indians, o exercise his own direction in the pursuit, but not to continue it longer than he things there is prospect of success. Since writing the above the bodies of the Hungate family, refereed to in letter of Messrs. Brown, Corbin, and Darrah, have been brought to Denver. They are horribly mutilated; the man and woman scalped.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

J. S. MAYNARD,

Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.

[Inclosure.]

DENVER, COLO. TER., June 13, 1864.

Captain MAYNARD,

Acting Assistant Adjutant-General:

DEAR SIR: We, the undersigned, desire to lay before you such facts connected with the Indian massacre on Box Elder Creek of Saturday, the 11th instant, as came within our personal observation, and other perfectly reliable information obtained from Mr. Johnson, who lives near the scene of that inhuman outrage. We left this town yesterday morning, upon information received that about 40 to 50 mules belonging to the undersigned, Messrs, Brown and Darrah, freighters, had been stampeded in the boldest manner in broad daylight by Indians belonging to the Cheyenne tribe. Mr. Brown's mules were stampeded from Coal Creek, on the main highway from here to the Missouri River, and only 13 miles from Denver. This fact is mentioned to show the boldness of the operation.

Ascertaining that that Indians, after taking a northeasterly direction (for the purpose of misleading pursuit, probably), had turned, and crossed the road near Box Elder Creek, we proceeded to that locality, and thence up that creek about 6 miles, where we met Mr. Johnson coming down, who imparted the startling intelligence that the family of a ranchman named Hungate, living a few miles farther up, had been brutally murdered by Indians, the ranch burned to the ground, and about 30 head of horses and mules driven off. The massacre had occurred on the day previous, some time shortly afternoon, and Mr. Johnson had just assisted a party the mill above in removing the bodies of the murdered woman and children. His statement was substantially as follows; The party from the mill and himself, upon reaching the place, ha found it in ruins and the house burned to the ground. About 100 yards from the desolated ranch they discovered the body of the murdered woman and her two dead children, one of which was a little girl of four years and the other an infant. The woman had been stabbed in several places and scalped, and the body bore evidences of having been violated. The two children had their throats cut, their heads being nearly severed from their bodies. Up to this time the body of the man had not been found, but upon our return down the creek, on the opposite