SIOUX CAMPAIGN OF TROOP H, 8th U.S. CAVALRY, 1890-1891

Lincoln Court, Overbrook, Pa.
December 13^th, 1926.

To Adjutant General, U.S. Army,
    Washington, D.C.
From Brig. Gen'l. S.W. Fountain,
    U.S. Army

Subject: Service of his command, consisting of Troop H, 8^th cavalry, Capt. S.W. Fountain, 1^st Lieut. Alvin H. Sydenham and a detachment of 22d infantry, 1^st Lieut. E.O.C. Ord, Jr., commanding and Ass't. Surgeon H.C. Fisher, during Sioux Campaign of 1890 and 1891.

I am informed that the records of the War Department for Bureau of Pension information credit service of Troop H, 8^th cavalry, during the Sioux campaign of 1890 and 1891, is from about January 4^th, 1891, and return to Fort Keogh, Mont., January 30^th, 1891. As a matter of fact, on December 13^th, 1890, I moved by rail from Fort Keogh, Mont., to Dickerson, South Dakota. My command, consisting of Troop H, 8^th cavalry. A detachment of 22d Inf. And Asst. Surgeon H.C. Fisher - we unloaded at Dickerson, S.D., afternoon of December 15^th, and made camp in stockyard. That night I received a telegram C.O. at Fort Yates, informing me that in a fight that day Sitting Bull had been killed and that his band had scattered and was moving north. Immediately I telegraphed to Department Headquarters, repeating the telegram and saying that unless ordered otherwise I would move south as soon as I could see and place my command between the hostiles and the settlements on the Cannon Ball. About 2 a.m., December 16^th, a locomotive came puffing through my camp. The driver gave me a telegram from General Ruger directing me to move as above. I reached New England City on the North Fork of the Cannon Ball that afternoon. Later I was directed to move south to the Grand River and scout the country. Near the Forks of the Grand, a courier from Fort Yates met me with a dispatch - directing me to scout the country and to return to New England City, also informed me that Sitting Bull's band had surrendered at one of the river posts. There had been a gentle wind all day from the north and the thermometer recording 8 degrees below zero. It did not seem possible to face the wind back to New England City. We scouted the country along the Grand and marched north, reaching South Fork of Canon Ball on Christmas eve. The wind had changed so that we did not have to face it. About midnight, Lieutenant Traub, 1^st cavalry, came to my camp and told me of the rumor of my command's being surrounded and destroyed by 500 Indians in the "Cave Hills" and that troops were marching to my rescue. I gave Lieutenant Sydenham dispatches and a small escort directing him to ride as quickly as possible to Dickerson, the nearest telegraph station. He made the ride of fifty miles safely, so that on Christmas day my telegrams announced the safety of my command. Later, we served with Major Carroll's command til the end of the campaign, returning to Fort Keogh, Mont., on January 30^th, 1891.

Surely my command served in the Sioux campaign of 1890 and 1891 from start to finish.

Very truly,
S.W. FOUNTAIN,
Brig. Gen'l. U.S. Army, Ret.