Democratic Sentinel, Volume 1, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 August 1877 — DIRE DISASTER. [ARTICLE]

DIRE DISASTER.

Gen. Gibbon Attacks the Nez Perces Indians. After a Bloody Battle Sis Forces are Repulsed with Terrible Loss. Desperate Fighting on Both Sides— Full Particulars of the Affair.

A desperate fight tool place at Big Hole pass, in Western Montana, on the 9th of August, between Gen. Gibbon’s force of regulars and militia and Chief Joseph’s band of Purees Indians, in which the foftner, after a desperate and bloody series erf charges, was driven back, leaving half life force on flie fifeld. Gen. Gibbon’s command numbered 133 regulars, thirty-two volunteers, and seventeen officers. They have been for some time pressing the Nez Perces, and following them in the hope of an engagement, but came upon them unexpectedly, and at a time when the troops were not prepared for a general battle. At daylight the fight openedj and in a short time all the soldiers and all the Indians were hotly engaged a desperate battle. The troops massed and moved in fine order upon the encampment, where they were met by the savages, who poured a merciless fire into their ranks. Where.ver the soldiers directed their attack the Indians were ready for them, and they were driven back with terrible slaughter, leaving the ground strewn with dead soldiers. The Indians lost many of their ponies, and it is claimed that several of their chiefs were killed. In one of the most desperate charges of the day Capt. Logan was killed. Liieut. Bradley fell early in the fight. Gen. Gibbon, Capt. Williams, and Lieuts. Coolidge, English, and Woodruff were wounded. Throughout the engagement the Indians were vindictive and determined upon the annihilation of the troops. They outnumbered the troops four to one, and, though decisive advantages were gained by Gibbon in the early stages of the fight, it was plain at last that retreat was necessary to save the troops from complete demolition. A scout who has arrived at Helena, Montana, with dispatches from Gen. Gibbon, says the volunteers opened the ball by finng upon an Indian who was going for water. The regulars moved up, and, forming in open line, dashed upon the Indian camp, supported by the volunteers acting as reserves. They reached the village, when they staggered back under a pitiless fire from the redskins, and retreated a short distance. They were not followed, and this, with an apparent confusion among the Indians, encouraged them to renew the charge, which they did, rushing into the encampment and driving the savages before them. It was here that numbers began to tell, and a deadly fire from three sides forced the troops through the village and back nearly half a mile, where they found shelter behind the rocks, and reformed for another effort. As they pressed forward again, they found that they had not only a foe to confront, but foemen on each side, hidden among the rocks and taking cool aim at the men as they passed. Pushing forward they reached the outskirts of the village, but encountered such a terrible shower of bullets that they wavered and then broke and made their way back as best they could, harassed all the way by a flank fire among the rocks. It was in this last charge that Gen. Gibbon was wounded. Finding that another attack would wreck even the remnant of his force, he intrenched himself, paying attention to the wants of his wounded. The courier estimates the number of killed at twenty-five, and the wounded at from thirty-five to forty. The loss among the Indians was much heavier, and that they suffered severely is proven by their refusal to follow the retreating troops. Had the howitzer come up, there is but little doubt that the result would have been different. It was heard to fire twice, and since then it has not been heard from, and it is supposed to have been captured by the Indians. Gen. Gibbon’s losses are: Killed— Capt. Logan, Lieuts. Bradley and Bostwick, seventeen men, and citizens; wounded—Gen. Gibbon, Capt. Williams, Lieuts. Coolidge, Woodruff and English, the latter seriously, besides thirty-six men and four citizens. The Indians suffered severely, as forty dead Indians were counted on about one-half £lie bat-tle-field.