The Ordeal of Sgt Daley - Any thought?

[Gary]

THE ORDEAL OF SEARGEANT DALEY

Does anyone know anything about the alleged story of Sergeant James Daley, 5th Cavalry?

I recently bought an old article published in the Wide World Magazine in 1907 which purports to tell the story of Daley being captured by the Cheyennes in 1875, but being rescued in the nick of time by other troopers.

I can't find anything about this supposed incident in any of my books, including Price's history of the 5th Cavalry, or online. And there's no incident that corresponds to his alleged capture (he was meant to be in a group of three 5th Cavalry troopers, the other two being killed) in The Record of Engagements.

This photo accompanies the article. I'm tending to the view that he was a fantasist, or that the reporter made up the story.

I posted details on Facebook and nothing came up to support the story. It also seems that he doesn't appear in any pension records.

One comment was particularly interesting as it analyses the claims supposedly made by Daley: "I came across this article before while researching the Cheyenne and it immediately struck me as fabricated. I'll make a couple of points as to why:
1: The capture takes place near the Platte in 1875, but I believe the 5th Cav was in Kansas in 1875 on rather light duty. It had just endured a long, hard campaign in Arizona. The official unit history indicates they were in Kansas and they were about to head north and take part in Crook and Reynold’s Powder River attack on Old Bear’s N. Cheyenne village in March 1876 and the unit history states they took part in no serious action in ’75. The capture and rescue of a Sergeant would have been a big deal had it occurred.

2: The 5th Cavalry was supposedly camped near the Platte and Daley and two other troopers head out alone to track the Cheyennes; highly unlikely. True, anything is possible, but I highly doubt this occurred as stated.
3: After his capture he was taken to the Cheyennes ‘mountain strongholds’ which were stated as known to exist in the Rockies. False. The Cheyennes only went into the Rockies to fight the Utes and hunt, they occasionally retreated into the Bighorns, as they did after LBH, but they did not have mountain strongholds in the Rockies.
4: This story is mainly one of live torture at the hands of Cheyenne warriors. The northern plains warriors did not engage in torture in the way the Apaches did, nor how the eastern nations did in the centuries prior to the 19th. Live torture of enemies was simply not part of the northern buffalo warrior culture.
My conclusion then was that this story is false and to hear that experienced military researchers cannot find anything about Sergeant Daley existing confirms it for me.
Just my 2 cents."

The article has some nice illustrations by a fairly well-known artist called George Soper.

Attachments:

[jones]

The only Cheyenne battle that I know of in 1875 was with the 6th Cavalry on Sappa Creek in northwestern Kansas.
There were the Red River Wars of 1874-75, and the 5th Infantry was involved but not the 5th Cavalry.

apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA611972.pdf
Red River Campaign
Page 30
Lieutenant General Sheridan, knowing that the Indians would need to find a place that was ripe with water and from which they could hide, planned to have his departments converge on the edge of the Staked Plains from all sides and drive them out.
Lieutenant General Sheridan’s vision was for a five-pronged attack involving both departments. First, from the Department of Missouri, Colonel Nelson A. Miles, commander of the 5th Infantry, would move south from Fort Dodge, Kansas with a force of 6th Cavalry and his 5th Infantry. From the west, Major William Redwood Price would come east along the Canadian River with his 8th Cavalry across the Staked Plains from Fort Bascom, New Mexico. From the Department of Texas, Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie would sweep northward with his 4th Cavalry from Fort Concho, Texas. Lieutenant Colonel George P. Buell would move northeast with his 11th Infantry from Fort Griffin, Texas. Finally, Lieutenant Colonel John W. Davidson, commanding at Fort Sill, Indian Territory would move west from that location with his 10th Cavalry, Buffalo Soldiers.
......

www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/educational-services/staff-rides/StaffRideHB_AtlasofCheyenneWars.pdf
The Cheyenne Wars Atlas
by Charles D. Collins, Jr.
Combat Studies Institute
United States Army Combined Arms Center Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

Page 130
“The campaigns of 1868 and 1869 had shifted the Indian frontier to the south and cleared the land between the Platte and Arkansas Rivers of a serious Indian threat. On the Southern Plains, the remaining area of instability was Texas. There the Kiowa and Comanche raided almost unceasingly. Over time, a number of Cheyenne joined in the unrest. Eventually this would lead to another major Army campaign, The Red River War of 1874. However, disregarding a few minor incidents, the Cheyenne wars were over for the settlers of Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado.”

[Gary]

Thanks. It seems to have been a fabricated tale.