Democratic Sentinel, Volume 1, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 September 1877 — Gen. Lew Wallace and Indian warfare. [ARTICLE]

Gen. Lew Wallace and Indian warfare.

Gen. Lew Wallace, the Indiana soldier and novelist, has made a proposition to the War Department to allow him to enlist a regiment or battalion of frontiersmen for permanent service in the United States army. He contends that the regular army is a failure as far as Indian fighting is concerned ; that the Ouster massacre was but a repetition of Braddock’s defeat at Pittsburgh 100 years before, and worse as far as the loss of life was concerned. He accounts for the inefficiency of the army in Indian warfare by pointing out the necessity of loading men down with supplies, wnile the Indians ‘' travel so light. ” He wants to raise a regiment of men to be mounted on Indian ponies, who can ride, and shoot, and subsist as the Indians do. He wants every man in the regiment to be familiar with the Indian mode of warfare, so they can cope with them on even terms. The Secretary of War thinks, and so replied to Gen. Wallace, that such a regiment as he describes would be very serviceable, but he does not consider himself possessed of the authority to order its enlistment-. Moreover, he thinks that the regular army, as far as its numbers go, is as efficient as any force can be. It is true they could travel faster if they went each on his own account, without regard to discipline, as the Indians do, and supply trains are always a drawback. Gen. Crook’s campaign in 1875 and 1876 with pack mules was as successful as any could have been, because he was numerically strong enough to follow up his advantages as fast as he gained them, while Gen. Howard has only a handful of men, mostly infantry, and has had to stop several times for reinforcements and supplies.