The Sioux War--Final Review of General Miles's Army at Pine Ridge--The Cavalry--Drawn by Frederic Remington. Source: Harper?s Weekly, Vol. XXXV. Major S. M. Whitside was the Acting Commander of the 7th Cavalry Regiment and led the 7th Cav in Maj. Gen. Nelson Miles' Final Review. As such he would be the front horseman rendering an "eyes right."
When the trumpeters of the Seventh Cavalry got in front of General Miles they blew a shrill blast, and passed on into the blinding storm. Then the musicians from Angel Island played "Garryowen." This was Custer's charging music, and as the famous regiment came over the yellow knolls in company front and carbines at a salute, the horses began to dance to the irresistible melody. Major Whitside was in command. He had no sword, but waved his hand. General Miles's emotion was now so intense that he hung his hat on the pommel of his saddle, and let the storm toss his gray hair as far as it pleased. The capes of the troopers were flung back, exposing the lemon-colored linings, and the fur caps were tied in such a way under the chin that they gave the wind-tanned faces a peculiarly grim expression. The scars of three days fighting were plainly visible in this grand regiment. There were men missing in every troop, and poor Captain Wallace and brave Lieutenants Mann and Garlington were also gone. A second lieutenant, with a bandaged head, was the only officer of little K Troop; and bringing up the rear was B Troop, with one-third of its men either in graves or hospital cots. The column was almost pathetically grand, with its bullet-pierced gun carriages, its tattered guidons, and its long lines of troopers and foot-soldiers facing a storm that was almost unbearable. It was the grandest demonstration by the army ever seen in the West.
