The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1848-06-06

other instance in which those latter traits oI
Gen. Buffers character were still more siri-
kinsly illustrated. The Indians, driven from
he defences around the Town on the River
Raisin, retired fighting into the thick woods
beyond it. The contest of shlrp-shooting
from tree to tree was here continued 1.-The
Kentuckians pressing forward, and the In
dans retreatirg, until night closed in, when
The Kentuckians were recalled to the en-
campment in the village. The Indians ad-
vanced as their opposers W ithdrew, and kept
up the fire until the Kentucklans emerged
from the woods into the open ground. JUS
as the column 10 which Ensign Butler belong
ed reached the verge Of the dark forest, the
voice of wounded man, who had been left
some distance behind, was heard calling out
most pteously for help. Butler induced
three of his company to 60 back in the wood:
with him TO bring him of. He was found
and they fought their way backbone of the
men, Jeremiah Walker, receiving a shot, Of
which he subsequently died.
In the second sanguiDary battle Of the Riv.
er Raisin, on the 22d of January, with the
British and Indians, another act of selfdeyo-
tion was performed by Butler. After the
rout aud massacre of the right wing, belong
ing TO Wells command, the whole force Of
The British and Indians was concentrated
against the small body Of troops under Major
Madison, that maintained their ground with
in the picketed gardens. A double barn,
commanding the plot Of ground on which
the Kentuckians stood, was approached on
one sile by the Indians. under cover Of an
orchard and fence; The British, on the other
side, being so posted as 10 command the space
between it and the pickets. A party in The
rear of the barn were discovered advancing
10 take possession Of il. All saw the fatal
consequence Of the secure lodgment of the
enemy at place which would present every
man within the pickets at close rihe-shot to
the aim of their marksmen. Maj, Madison
inquired if there was no one who would vol
unteer 10 run the gauntlet of the fie of the
British and Indian lines, and put 4 torch 10
the combustibles within the barn, TO save the
remnant of the little army from sacrifice
Butler, without moments delay, took some
blazing sticks from fire at hand, leaped the
pickets, and running at his utTost speed,
thrust the fire into the straw within the barn.
One who was an anxious spectator of the
events we narrate, says, "that although volley
upon volley was fired at him, Butler, after
making some steps on his way back, turned
to see If the fire had taken, and net being
satisfied, returned to the barn and set it in a
blaze. As the conhagration grew, the enemy
was seen reireating from the rear Of the
building, which they had entered at one end,
as the fame ascended in the other. Soon
after reaching the pckets in safety, amid the
shouts of his friends, he was struck by a ball
in his breast. Believing from the pain he felt
that it had penetrated his chest, turning 10
Adjutant (now GEM McCalla, one Of his
Lexington comrades, and pressing his hand
to the spot, he said, 81 fear this shot is NOR
tai, but while am able to move, will do
my duty" To the anxious inquiries of this
friend, who met him soon aflerward, he open
ed his vest, with smile, and showed him that
the ball had spent itself on the thick wad
d ing Of his coat and on his breast bone. He
suffered, however, for many weeks.
The little band within the pickets, which
Winchester had surrendered, after being car
red himself prisoner into P,octor's camp,
denied his powers. They continued to hold
the enemy at bay until they were enabled to
capitulate on honorable terms, which, never
theess, Proctor shar,efnlly violated, by leav
ing the sick and wounded who were unable
TO walk to the tomahawk of bin allies. But
ler, who was among the few Of the wounded
who escaped the massacre, was marched
through Canada to Fort Niagara-sufiering
under his wound, and every privation-op-
pressed with grief, hunger, fatigue, and the
nclement cold Of that desolate REGION
Even here he forgot himself, and his mind
back to the last night scene which
he surveyed on the bloody shores of the Riv-
er Raisin. *
Shortly after his return from Canada, En-
sign Butler was promoted 10 captaincy in
he regiment to which he belonged. But as
his promotion was irregular, being made
,ver The heads of senior officers Of tia! regi-
nent, captaincy was given him in the 44th,
, new raised regiment. When free from pa
role, by exchanged in 1914 he instantly en-
lered on active duty, with b company which
he had recruited at Nashville, Tennessee.
His regiment was ordered to join Gen. Jack
son in the south, but Captain Butler finding
is movements too tardy, pushed On, and eff
ected that junction with his company alone.
Gen. Call, at thar time an officer in Captain
Buffers company, (since Gov. Of Florida in
/ letter addressed to Mr.. Tanner of Keniuc.
~, presents, as an eyewitness, so graphi-
,ally, the share which Capt. Butler had in
The campaign which followed, that it may
we'll supersede any narrative at second hand.
"Tallehasse, April 8, 1914.
"SIs,-I avail myself Of the earliest leis-