In 1868, raids by hostile Indian bands on the western frontier increased as the white population of Kansas swelled after the Civil War and railroads were built father west. George Armstrong Custer and the 7th U. S. Cavalry were assigned to pursue the Indian tribes to their winter camps and force them to return to the reservations. In Kansas, Governor Crawford quickly raised a volunteer regiment, then decided to resign from office and lead the 19th Kansas Cavalry himself. They joined Generals Sheridan and Custer shortly after the attack on Black Kettle's Village. The troops accompanied Custer on his mission to retrieve two Kansas women, Anna Morgan and Sarah White, who had been abducted during the fall. George Jenness, the commander of Company F of the 19th Kansas, wrote this account of the winter expedition based on his diaries.
