Details

Collection Summary
Collection: 1952 - Frank Bennett Fiske
Folder: 0000
Item: 00075
Title: Regiment 5, Company B Football Team
Date: 1887
Inscription/Marks: [history Fifth Regiment of Infantry US Army Center of Military History https://history.army.mil/books/R&H/R&H-5IN.htm ] For over a year no event worthy of notice occurred, but in June, 1876, the news of the Custer Massacre aroused the whole country. Reinforcements were gathered at once from all directions to send to Generals Terry and Crook, and the Fifth left the Department of the Missouri in which it had served so many years, for the Department of the Dakota, where, after several long and harassing marches in pursuit of the hostiles, who however, succeeded in eluding pursuit, it was sent to establish a post at the mouth of Tongue River, Montana, which was afterwards named Fort Keogh. "The Indians took positions instantly for a fight and an engagement followed, the Indians being driven from every part of the field, through their camp ground, down Bad Route Creek and pursued 42 miles to the south side of the Yellowstone. In their retreat they abandoned tons of dried meat, quantities of lodge poles, camp equipage, ponies and broken down cavalry horses. Five dead warriors were left on the field, besides those they were seen to carry away. Their force was estimated at upwards of a thousand warriors. On October 27th, over 400 lodges of Indians, numbering about 2000 men, women and children, surrendered to Colonel Miles, five chiefs giving themselves up as hostages for the delivery of men, women, children, ponies, arms and ammunition at the agencies. Sitting Bull himself escaped northward with his own small band, and was later joined by 'Gall' and other chiefs with their followers. Having returned to Tongue River Cantonment, Colonel Miles organized a force of 434 rifles and moved north in pursuit of Sitting Bull, but the trail was obliterated by the snow in the vicinity of the Big Dry River. "On December 7, 1876, Lieutenant F. D. Baldwin, with Companies G, H and I, 5th Infantry, numbering 100 officers and men, overtook Sitting Bull's camp of 19 lodges, followed and drove it south of the Missouri near the mouth of Bark Creek. The Indians resisted Baldwin's crossing of the river for a short time, and then retreated into the bad lands. "On December 18th, this same force under Lieutenant Baldwin surprised Sitting Bull's band of 122 lodges near the head of the Red Water, a southern affluent of the Missouri, capturing the entire camp and its contents, together with about 60 horses, ponies and mules. The Indians escaped with little besides what they had upon their persons, and scattered southward across the Yellowstone. "On the 29th of December, Colonel Miles, with Companies A, C, D, E and K, 5th Infantry, and Companies E and F, 22d Infantry, numbering 436 officers and men, with two pieces of artillery, moved out against the Sioux and Cheyennes under Crazy Horse, whose camp had been reported south of the Yellowstone, in the valley of the Tongue River. As the column moved up the Tongue, the Indians abandoned their winter camps, consisting of about 600 lodges, and the column had two sharp skirmishes on the 1st and 3d of January, 1877, driving the Indians up the valley of Tongue River until the night of the 7th, when the advance captured a young warrior and 7 Cheyenne women and children, who proved to be relatives of one of the head-men of the tribe. A determined attempt was made by the Indians to rescue the prisoners, and preparations were made for the severe fight to be expected the next day. On the morning of January 8th, about 600 warriors appeared in front of the troops and an engagement followed, lasting about five hours. The fight took place in a cañon, the Indians occupying a spur of the Wolf Mountain range, from which they were driven by repeated charges. The ground was covered with ice and snow to a depth of from one to three feet, and the latter portion of the engagement was fought in a blinding snow-storm, the troops stumbling and falling in scaling the ice and snow-covered cliffs from which the Indians were driven, with serious loss in killed and wounded, through the Wolf Mountains and in the direction of the Big Horn Range. The troops lost three men killed and eight wounded. The column then returned to the cantonment at the mouth of Tongue River. "The prisoners which Colonel Miles' command captured from Crazy Horse's village on the night of January 7th, proved a valuable acquisition in communicating with the hostiles and in arranging negotiations for their surrender." A scout was sent out with two of the captives on February i, to find the Indians and offer terms, and on the 19th returned with a party of chiefs and leading men. After several conferences 300 Indians surrendered unconditionally to General Miles on April 22, and Some 2000 more in May at the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail Agencies. From those who had surrendered, Colonel Miles learned that a band of renegades, chiefly Minneconjous under Lame Deer, had broken off and gone to the westward. On the 1st of May he started in pursuit with four troops of the 2d Cavalry, four companies of the 22d Infantry, and Companies E and H of the 5th Infantry. After a very hard march, with scarcely a halt for two nights and a day, Lame Deer's band was surprised May 7, the village charged in fine style, and the Indian herd cut off and secured. The leading Indians now appeared desirous of surrendering and the firing ceased, but, either meditating treachery or fearing it, they began firing again. "This ended peace making and the fight was resumed, the hostiles being driven, in a running fight, 8 miles across the country to the Rosebud. Fourteen Indians were killed, including Lame Deer and Iron Star; 450 horses, mules and ponies, and the entire Indian camp outfit were captured, including 51 lodges well stored with supplies. Lieutenant A. M. Fuller, 2d Cavalry, was slightly wounded; four enlisted men were killed and six were wounded. The Indians who escaped subsequently moved eastward to the Little Missouri, and the command returned to the cantonment, where four companies,—B, F, G and I, 5th Infantry,—were mounted with the Indian ponies and continued to serve as cavalry until after the Nez Perces campaign in the following autumn." Companies A, H and I of the Fifth, mounted, made a long difficult march in July and August, 1877, without actual fighting, but with excellent effect in forcing the Indians into a surrender. In the latter part of July, 1877, the Nez Perces Indians, pursued by General Howard with troops from the Department of the Columbia, were making their way via the Lo-Lo trail toward Montana. General Miles received information, September 17, of their movements and marched rapidly in a northwest direction to intercept them. His force consisted of 6 troops of cavalry; Companies B, F, G, I and K, 5th Infantry; two pieces of light artillery, and detachments of white and Indian scouts. On the 25th he learned that the Indians had crossed the Missouri, and by very rapid forced marches the column reached the Deer Paw Range, September 29, where it struck the Indian village on the 30th. The battalions of the 7th Cavalry and 5th Infantry, mounted, charged directly upon the village. "The attack was met by a desperate resistance and every advance was stubbornly contested by the Indians, but with a courageous persistence, fighting dismounted, the troops secured command of the whole Indian position, excepting the beds of the ravines in which some of the warriors were posted. A charge was made on foot, by a part of the 5th Infantry, down a slope and along the open valley of the creek into the village, but the fire of the Indians soon disabled thirty-five per cent. of the detachment which made the assault, and attempts to capture the village by such means had to be abandoned. The Indian herd having been captured, the eventual escape of the village became almost impossible. The casualties to the troops had amounted to twenty per cent. of the force engaged, there were many wounded to care for, and there were neither tents nor fuel, a cold wind and snow storm prevailing on the night of September 30th." In the first charge and the hot fighting which followed 2 officers and 22 men were killed, and 4 officers and 38 men wounded. Among the wounded were Lieutenants Baird and Romayne, of the Fifth. The Indians lost 17 killed and 40 wounded, and on October 4th the remainder of the band, numbering 87 warriors, 184 squaws, and 147 children, surrendered to General Miles. In February, 1878, a column of mounted men 300 strong left Fort Keogh to find a large force of Sitting Bull's Indians, reported on the border; but as they did not come south of the Missouri, and the War Department would not permit them to be attacked while they remained north of that river, the expedition was fruitless. In August, 1878, the hostile Bannocks from the Department of the Columbia attempted to follow the Nez Perces trail of 1877, and General Miles, with 100 men of the 5th Infantry and 35 Crow scouts, hastened to intercept them. Following up Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone he surprised their camp, September 4, killed 11 Indians and captured 31, together with 200 horses and mules. Captain Bennett, 5th Infantry, was killed, also the interpreter and one Indian scout. One enlisted man was wounded. In July, 1879, General Miles, with 7 companies of the Fifth, 2 companies of the 6th Infantry, 7 troops of cavalry, a detachment of artillery and some white and Indian scouts,—the entire command numbering 33 officers, 643, enlisted men, and 143 scouts,—moved against a body of Indians reported to be 2000 strong, who were roaming upon U. S. territory south of the British Columbia boundary line. On the 17th the advance guard had a sharp fight with from 300 to 400 Indians who were driven 12 miles when the advance became surrounded, but the main body moved rapidly forward and the hostiles fled north of Milk River. By July 31st the hostiles had reached Wood Mountain, across the boundary. Attention was then turned to the half-breeds who had been furnishing the hostiles with the supplies of war, and by the 8th of August 829 of them had been arrested. On August 14, Lieutenant Colonel Whistler, with a part of this command, captured 57 Indians with 100 ponies who were on their way from the Rosebud Agency to join Sitting Bull. On March 3, 1880, Companies I and K, 5th Infantry, left Fort Keogh in pursuit of hostile Indians north of the Yellowstone, and on March 8th, after a continuous gallop of 40 miles, Company K succeeded in surrounding the Indians, capturing 13 ponies and 16 mules. On the 5th of March Lieutenant Miller, 5th Infantry, with a small party attacked a band of hostiles, killing eight and destroying their camp. The remainder of the band was closely pursued and on. March 9, Captain Baldwin overtook them, chased them for 30 miles and captured all their animals excepting those on which they escaped. In August, 1880, twenty lodges of hostile Sioux surrendered to Company H, and on September 8th, 200 Sioux surrendered to the commanding officer of Fort Keogh. In December, 1880, as the Indians in the vicinity of Poplar River Agency were becoming turbulent and arrogant, the garrison there was reinforced by five mounted companies of the Fifth, under Major G. Ilges, numbering 180 officers and men, who made the march of 200 miles from Fort Keogh through deep snow, with the thermometer ranging from 10 to 3, degrees below zero. On January 2, 1881, Major Ilges attacked a body of some 400 Indians, located on the opposite side of the Missouri. They fled from their villages and took refuge in some timber, but soon surrendered, the troops meeting with no casualties. On the 12th of February Major Ilges arrested 185 hostiles, 43 of whom were warriors, in the Yanktonnais camp at Red Water. On April 18, 47 men, 39 women, and 70 children surrendered at Fort Keogh. Many Indians surrendered at other posts, and on July 20, 1881, Sitting Bull, with the last of his followers,—comprising 45 men, 67 women, and 73 children,—surrendered at Fort Buford. In October Companies A, I and K, marched 175 miles to investigate an alleged interference by whites with friendly Indians. Hostilities having virtually ceased in Montana with the surrender of Sitting Bull, the regiment was dismounted on the 31st Of October, 1881. On the 15th of December, 1880, Colonel Miles became a brigadier general, and was succeeded by Lieutenant Colonel P. Lugenbeel of the First, who never joined the regiment but was retired February 6, 1882. His retirement promoted Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Huston of the Sixth, who also never joined, but was retired June 22, 1882. Lieutenant Colonel J. D. Wilkins of the Eighth was promoted to fill the vacancy, and served with his regiment until his retirement, August 2, 1886. Colonel George Gibson, who succeeded him, retired August 5, 1888, and was succeeded by Lieutenant Colonel N. W. Osborne of the Sixth, who is now commanding the regiment. There is very little to record concerning the service of the regiment in the years following 1881. The Crows having become turbulent and defiant in 1887, Companies D, E, G and I were sent into the field in October, and were present at the skirmish at the Crow Agency, November 5. They were not engaged and returned to their stations November 25. On the 1st of June, 1888, after 12 years of service in Montana, the regiment, under Colonel Gibson, left the Department of Dakota for Texas; Headquarters, with Companies B and E going to Fort Bliss; I and K to Fort Davis; C and F to Fort McIntosh; A and G to Fort Ringgold; D to Fort Brown, and H to Fort Hancock. Here it remained with few changes until May, 1891, when Headquarters with Companies D and E were sent to St. Augustine, Fla.; B and H to Jackson Barracks, La., and C and G to Mount Vernon Barracks, Ala. Later in the year Company F was sent to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and Company A to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. These are now (September, 1894) the stations occupied by the regiment.
Summary: Three quarter length, full face studio group photograph of Regiment 5, Company B Football team. Most are dressed in football uniforms consisting of dark shirts under light coloured vests tied shut with cords and pants cinched just below the knees over knee high socks with lace up boots. Man in the middle is holding a football with the printed inscription of Company B 1900. The two men in the back row on the outside edge are wearing their army uniform and hold caps with crossed rifles with 5 above and B below the crossed rifles. The blurred figure of a dog is seated in the front middle of the group.
Red ID: PH_I_28941 Image ID: 146833 Image Notes: 1952-00075

Collection: 1952 Digitized Images from Collection
Title: Frank Bennett Fiske
Date: 1880-1952

Summary: Includes prints and negatives of portraits, agriculture, education, wildlife, hunting, Frank Fiske studio portraits, and some views of South Dakota. Fiske’s Native American photographs include portraits, Indian gatherings and ceremonies, boarding schools, Indian houses and dwellings, and Native American agriculture. Fiske’s documentation of daily life on the reservation includes such shots as Sioux customers waiting for a Fort Yates trading store to open; a Sioux dance in the streets of Fort Yates; a plow issue before the agency boarding school; an encampment of tipis, including those traditionally painted; and three Indian men being taxied off the reservation to join the army in WWI.

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