ÿ ™"BATTLE OF THE WASHITA" ÿ ™ "BATTLE OF THE WASHITA"™ON NOVEMBER 28, 1864, COL. CHIVINGTON ATTACKED A CHEYENNE VILLAGE UNDER ™CHIEF BLACK KETTLE AT SAND CREEK IN COLORADO, A HUNDRED CHEYENNE MEN, ™WOMEN AND CHILDREN WERE MASSACRED. ™FOUR YEARS LATER, ALMOST TO THE DAY, THE SURIVORS OF SAND CREEK WERE CAMPED ™ON THE BANKS OF THE WASHITA RIVER AS THEY MOVED PEACEFULY TO FT COBB, OKLA. ™AT THE INVITATION OF GEN. SHERMAN. ™GENERAL GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER CAME UPON THE CAMP AND SAW AN OPPORTUNITY ™FOR A GREAT ADVENTURE. ON THE MORNING OF NOVEMBER 27, 1868, HE DIVIDED HIS ™COMMAND INTO THREE PARTS. ™JUST AS THE DAWN BROKE OVER THE SLEEP- ING ENCAMPMENT, CUSTER ORDERED HIS ™BAND TO PLAY žGARRY OWEN™, THE THEME OF HIS SEVENTH CAVALRY, AND THE THREE ™COLUMNS ATTACKED THE CHEYENNE VILLAGE. ™ONLY ONE CHORUS OF GARRY OWEN WAS PLAYED AS THE BITTER COLD OF THE ™MORNING FROZE THE SPITTLE IN THE INSTRUMENTS OF THE MUSICIANS. ™THE ž"BATTLE" OF THE WASHITA ™HAD BEGUN. ™IT IS HARDLY A "BATTLE" TO ATTACK IN TOTAL SURPRIZE A PEOPLE BELIEVING ™THEMSELVES AT PEACE AND WITHOUT GIVING THEM OPPORTUNITY TO SURRENDER, BUT ™HISTORY CALLS THE MASSACRE A "BATTLE". ™CUSTER LEAD HIS STAFF DOWN THE BANKS OF THE WASHITA RIVER INTO THE VILLAGE. ™HE SHOT ONE BRAVE IN THE HEAD AND RODE ANOTHER DOWN. HE RODE TO A KNOLL TO ™THE SOUTH AND FROM THERE COMMANDED. ™ELLIOT'S COMMAND ATTACKED ACROSS THE RIVER FROM THE NORTH. MEYER'S COMMAND ™SWEPT ALONG THE SOUTH AND THOMPSON'S DETACHMENT FORMED ALONG THE SOUTHWEST. & ™AS THE SOLDIERS SWARMED THE VILLAGE, THE CHEYENNE MEN, AND EVEN MANY OF THE ™WOMEN AND CHILDREN, FOUGHT AS BEST THEY COULD BUT WITHIN TEN MINUTES THE ™VILLAGE HAD BEEN SECURED. ™THE SURVIVING INDIANS FLED TO THE EAST BUT ARMY SHARPSHOOTERS PICKED THEM OFF ™ONE BY ONE. ŸBLACK KETTLE™, WHO LONG HAD SOUGHT PEACE, MOUNTED HIS HORSE WITH ™HIS WIFE IN FRONT OF HIM AND FLED. ŸBLACK KETTLE™, WAS SHOT IN THE BACK AS HE REACHED THE STREAM. AS HE FELL HIS ™WIFE WAS SHOT ALSO. THEY BOTH FELL DEAD, FACE DOWN IN THE WASHITA. & ™ONE HUNDRED AND THREE CHEYENNE BRAVES, WOMEN AND CHILDREN LAY DEAD ON THE ™FIELD. UNABLE TO MANAGE THE INDIANS' HORSES, CUSTER ORDERED 800 OF THEM ™SHOT. THEY EVEN SHOT THE CAMP DOGS. ™THE NEWSPAPERS WROTE STIRRING ACCOUNTS OF ›CUSTER'S BRILLIANT VICTORY AND HE ™BECAME A NATIONAL žHERO™. HE WAS EVEN APPROACHED TO RUN FOR šPRESIDENT, BUT ™COULD HE MANAGE JUST ONE –MORE ™VICTORY? ›CUSTER ™WOULD SOON TRY TO GATHER THAT VICTORY USING THE EXACT SAME TACTIC AT ™A PLACE INDIANS CALL "GREASY GRASS" AND HISTORY BOOKS REFER TO AS "LITTLE BIG HORN"™. & ˜SID ARRANGED BY: ŸWHOLE NOTE & ˜HORSES COURTESY: ŸBOBBYE &