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BY PACK ANIMALS.
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tlie lariat loup over tlie scat of tlie saddle. lifting both shafts equally; slip the detached lariat loop to its place and drop the shafts so that they will hang equally; then tie each short rope at the side into the pommel-bars of the pack-saddle so as to keep the ends of the bars at an equal elevation. Tie the rope for the belly-band on the near side as on the opposite, and let the mule be led a short distance, with the litter dragging, to see if he is gentle. Put in the rear mule the same way except that he is led into the shafts, and the short.ropes are tied into the cantle-lmrs of his saddle and his halter-strap fastened to the rear bar of the bed, short enough, so that lie cannot get his head down under it. If the mules make trouble at all, it will be when first hitched up, and mauy which act badly at first will quiet down when they find they cannot break loose. They should be led around with the litter empty (care being taken to keep the front mule straight in the shafts) to accustom them to the work. To turn the litter, work the mnles in opposite directions, the front one to the right, and the rear one to the left, or vice versa. To go down hill, hold back on the rear mule; to go up hill, whip up the rear mule ; always start the rear mule first. On the road, a man should lead or ride each mule; also a man should walk or ride on each side of the litter to steady it or refasten ropes when required. Such litters will keep up with the cavalry column on the inarch if properly managed. The litter should be halted as seldom as possible. If one get6 out of order it should be passed by the others if practicable, and closed up when fixed. The rear mule should always be unhitched first. Everything about the fastenings must be strong enough, so that if the mules pull in opposite directions they cannot break either the poles or the ropes. No brittle timber should be used that may weigh as much as one hundred and fifty pounds without detriment. The litters can be carried on cavalry horses with cavalry saddles as well as 011 muli*, if the horses are gentle. I have had occasion to use these litters: one, after the Piegan affair in January, 1870; one, in the summer of 1675, to bring Colonel R. B. Marcy, Inspector General, U. S. A., from the Geysers to the Great Falls in the National Park;' and nineteen on June 27 to 30, 187-6, transporting wounded men of General Custer?s command, in the Little Big Horn Valiev, Montana Territory. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, G. C. Doaxe. 1st Lieut. 2d Cavalry.
A few weeks after these experiences in the command of General Terry,2 Surgeon B. A. Clements, U. S. A., joined the co-operating columu under General Crook, as Medical Director, and, in December, 1870, made an elaborate report on tlie operations of the medical department in the conjoined commands, a report3 including many interesting observations on sick-transport, especially after the engagement at Slim Buttes, September 9, 1876. As it was hardly practicable to extract these remarks from the context without injustice to the narrative, at the request of Assistant
*	In General W. E. STRONG'6 work, entitled A Trip to the Yellowstone National Park, 4to (illustrated), Washington, 187fi, it is stated (p. 75) that General H. B. MaucY, accompanying the Secretary of War in a visit to the Geysers, fell ill August 3, 1675, and could not mount his horse, when Lieutenant GU6TAVU8 C. DOANR, 2d Cavalry, constructed for him a litter to be carried by two jack-mulcs. The following day the General rode fifteen miles on the litter, and for five days subsequently occupied it occasionally when horseback riding was t(*o fatiguing. General STRONG gives the follow* ing description of this litter: ? Two poles, eighteen feet long and four inches in diameter, were lashed together in the centre, for the distance of seven feet, by weaving a network of pack-cord across, and forming a good, strong bed of sufficient width to admit a mule between tlie poles in front and one behind. The mules are to be fastened to this litter in precisely the same manner that a horse would be attached to the shafts of a buggy, the shafts of the litter being strongly fastened to pack-saddles by means of straps. Upon the bed of the litter a buffalo robe was spread, and upon this a mattress was placed, with plenty of blankets and a pillow. Two of the most gentle and suiest-footed mules were selected and hitched in, with a reliable man on the back of each/1
*	Assistant Surgeon J. W. WILLIAMS, chief medical officer of General Terry?s command, furnished, January 9,1877, the following memorandum of the arrangements made for the removal of the wounded after the lamentable affair of the Little Big Horn: ?On the arrival of the infantry coluirin under Colonel JOHN GIBBON, 7th Infantry, on June 2Gth, it was imperative that fifty-nine wounded men should be transported to the confluence of the Little Big Horn with the Big Horn, a distance of about thirty miles, where they could be placed on the transport steamer Fur West. It was of urgency that they should be removed without delay from the immediate vicinity of the battle field, made intolerable by the unburied bodies of men and horses. General Gibbon suggested transportation by hand-stretchcrs; Dr. WILLIAMS advised the construction of travois; Lieutenant G. A. Doane advocated the use of two-mule litters. Specimens of the three varieties of conveyance were made the next day, June 27th, and were used in moving the wounded to a camp about live miles down, on the Little Big Horn. The handlittere proved useless, for the men employed as bearers broke down, and sufficient relays could not be had. The travois worked welL The double-mule litters were ineffective, except for luggage, for the animals were so restive that the wounded feared to be placed on the litters. ? The next day, June 28th, new trials were made with the mule-litters and travois, selecting animals from General Cl?6TER?s pack-train, in which the mules, recently subjected to long and fatiguing marches, were more docile and tractable. After these exper* iments, on June 29th, General GIBBON directed the construction of additional two-mule litters and travois, and, as fast as they were finished, the mules were exercised in marching with them. On June 30th, 19 of the more severely wounded were placed on the two-mule litters, 10 on travois, and 30 of the less severely wounded on horseback. Each mule-litter was attended by 4 men, one leading the forward mule, one the rear mule, while one walked <>n either side of the litter to steady the swaying movement of the side poles. Among the gravely wounded on the mule-litters was one amputated at the place of election in the leg, another with a shot perforation of the knee joint, and 4 with penetrating wounds of the chest or abdomen. On nearing the bank of the Big Horn, the leading mule of the litter bearing the amputated man knelt down and the patient rolled off, but was, fortunately, uninjured. Dr. Williams observed that much vigilance was requisite on the part of men leading the mules, to prevent serious accidents of this description. The travois. on which the wounded were carried transversely to the long side poles (see FIG. 28, p. 21), required the service of but a single attendant; the 10 less seriously wouuded men carried on these conveyances all stated that they found this mode of transport easy and comfortable.
.^Tbe ?Big Horn and Yellowstone Expedition," reinforced after the affair of the Rosebud, leaving its wagon-train and disabled men at Goose Creek*, near the Big Horn Mountains, resumed the offensive, August 5, 1876, the command consisting of ?about 1,500 cavalry, 450 infantry, 45 white volunteers,and 240 Snake and Ute Indians,? an aggregate of 2,235 rank and file. A train of 240 pack-mules carried the supplies, 2 mules being assigned for medical and hospital stores and appliances. A inedicine-cbest, additional quantities of essential medicines, plaster, and surgical dressings, and 20 canvas sacking-bottoms for litters, were carried on the mules. There were six medical officers, and each carried instruments and dressings on bis horse. On August 10th, a junction was effected with the troops under Brigadier General Tehky. The combined forces inarched to the confluence of the Powder River with the Yellowstone, arriving August 17th. Here 34 disabled men were transferred to the steamer Far West. Marching northward, many of the men fell sick from the use of alkaline water and exposure to rain and hailstorms, and five of the men were transported on two-mule litters. After long and fatiguing marches, on September 9th an Indian village at Slim Buttes was attacked aud captured. There were one man killed, an officer, and 15 men wounded, in this affair. Litters were constructed from the teej*e poles, and the march was continued with 15 mule-litters in the ambulance-train. Approaching the Black Hills, the litter-mulcs struggled with difficulty through the tenacious mud, aud some of ibem feil in crossing streams and ravines; but none of the occupants of the litters received injury. After a most exhausting march, the column rcaehed the Belle Fourche and was joined by a wagon-train. Among the wounded who were carried for many days in mule-litters, in the most inclement weather, and over most difficult country, was one with a shot fracture of the femur put up in a plaster bandage, and an officer amputated at the place of election in the leg.
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