Army at Wounded Knee

It is sure death to go down here.

For most of the enlisted soldiers killed or mortally wounded in the fighting along the creeks of Wounded Knee and White Clay the only recognition they received was their misspelled names in newspapers across the country. Some may have had the detail of a fatal wound next to their name and perhaps their rank. For most all, their last words went unrecorded. One exception was Private James E. Kelly of Captain Nowlan’s I Troop, a young man who endeared himself to many such that his dying words were often mentioned in the papers or personal letters.

On the morning of December 29, 1890, I Troop was located in two positions on the field: two thirds were dismounted as perimeter guards along the south side of the ravine and along portions of the eastern and western sides of the Indian camp; one third were held in reserve between the artillery and the first battalion’s camp.

(Click to enlarge) Inset of Lieut. S. A. Cloman’s map of Wounded Knee depicting the scene of the fight with Big Foot’s Band, December 29, 1890.

The earliest account of Kelly’s death was recorded the evening of December 30 after the Drexel Mission fight long White Clay Creek. Sergt. Michael Conners of Capt. Godfrey’s D Troop scribbled out a hasty letter using the butt of his carbine as a writing surface. In the post script he listed the killed that his future wife might know; among them was “Poor Kelly.” In a follow up letter the following day, Conners elaborated on Kelly’s last words and the manner of his death, “The last words Kelly said was when we started down in the ravine, ‘it is sure death to go down here,’ and at that he was shot.” This would indicate that Kelly was on the perimeter at the ravine, and may have been combined with the D Troop detachment that Lieut. Tommy Tompkins took down into the ravine. It is interesting to note that Kelly was known to a non-commissioned officer from another troop such that his death warranted mentioning in a personal letter to that soldier’s fiancé.[1]

In that morning’s edition of the Omaha Bee, the list of soldiers killed included the misspelled name of “Kelley, private, Company I, Seventh Cavalry.” The next day’s edition included the mortal wound, but still misspelled his last name, “Company I . . . Kelley, James E., head.”[2] Continue reading →