“General, those are our men.  They had had a fight.  That is the way they act when they come back from battle with captured scalps.”

The Pawnees came into camp on the run.  We soon learned that they had run across a party of Sioux who were following a big Indian trail.  The Sioux had evidently been in a fight.  Two or three had been wounded, and were being carried by the others.  The Pawnees “jumped” them, and killed three or four of their number.

Next morning our command came up to the Indian trail where the Sioux had been found.  We followed it for several days.  From the number of campfires we passed we could see that we were gaining on the Sioux.

Wherever they had camped we found the print of a woman’s shoe.  This made us all the more eager to overtake them, for it was plain that they had a white woman as their captive.

All the best horses were selected by the general, and orders were given for a forced march.  The wagon-train was to follow as rapidly as possible, while the command pushed on ahead.

I was ordered to pick out five or six of the best Pawnees and proceed in advance of the command, keeping ten or twelve miles ahead, so that when the Indians were overtaken we could learn the location of their camp, and give the troops the required information in time to plan an effective attack.

When we were ten miles in advance of the regiment we began to move cautiously.  We looked carefully over the summits of the hills before exposing ourselves to observation from the front.  At last we made out the village, encamped in the sandhills south of the South Platte River at Summit Springs.

Here I left the Pawnees to watch, while I rode back to the command and informed General Carr that the Indians were in sight.

The men were immediately ordered to tighten their saddles and otherwise to prepare for action.  I changed my horse for old Buckskin Joe.  He had been led for me up to this time, and was comparatively fresh.  Acting on my suggestion, General Carr made a circuit to the north.  I knew that if the Indians had scouts out they would naturally watch in the direction whence they had come.  When we had passed the camp, and were between it and the river, we turned and started back.

By this maneuver we avoided detection by the Sioux scouts.  The general kept the command wholly out of sight until within a mile of the village.  Then the advance guard was halted till all the soldiers caught up.  Orders were issued that at the sound of the charge the whole command was to rush into the village.

As we halted on the summit of the hill overlooking the still unsuspecting Sioux, General Carr called to his bugler: 

“Sound the charge!”

The bugler, in his excitement, forgot the notes of the call.  Again the general ordered “Sound the charge!” and again the musician was unable to obey the command.

Quartermaster Hays, who had obtained permission to join the command, comprehended the plight of the bugler.  Rushing up to him, he seized the bugle, and sounded the call himself, in clear, distinct tones.  As the troops rushed forward he threw the bugle away, and, drawing his pistol, was among the first to enter the village.  The Indians had just driven up their horses and were preparing to move camp when they saw the soldiers.