The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1848-08-16

'lhe frontier. n Taught Ihrn lhsi naiuiil.,
s,aniing he sprlls and inranlsilons of il,erl
> rrlebEalrd Pnaphei. ihry ~ere NOT invinei
. HE. In this Eesperl % wss warmly aP'
prrria'rd. II drew from General Hopkins.
. the highest lrlbnIe language could heslnw.
, Ills despalrh Of November %. 1919. "a
GaE. Shelby, Al kenlneky. contained the
following remark: sThe firm and almost
4 unparalleled drlrnee Ol Fur Harrison. BY
, Captain Il. Tsyl0r. has raised for him =
fabric not 10 he increased ny nv enlngy."
.l-tAilss' RrgisleE. vol. iii. p. 267.) The
manner in which il Was estimated by the
Government was appropriately Tecnnlrd
in tile following bTieI announcement. taken
frnm vol. III. Of Miles, Register. y. $50:
|. The President has been pleased o. con-
fer the brevel rank az Major on Captain z.
lTaylor. for his gallant drlsnee Of Fort
llarrisun."
! This was the FIRST hreEei rank conferred
hy President Madison IN The war Of 1912.
is now the oldest in the army, and conse-
qnenlly an honor Of rare value: the more
80 as It's recipient WAS a, The time but
iweniy-eight years nfage. Although. dur
ing tie subsequent operations in that quar-
Ter, Major Taylor was moi placed where
he could acquire much distinction. he was
always al his post. and always efficient.
lie sfrsed under General Hopkins 10 his
movements against the various hostile
Indians. BY which their towns were des-
iroyed, their resources cut nd. and their
strength crippled. How well he bore
hiInse may he hest understood from &C.
j neral Hopkins offirial report, in which he
spoke Of him as " rendering prompt aud
efficient aid in every instance"
The Black H4aek Wr-Batile Of the Bad Are.
! After the close of the war in 1915. Ma
iar Taylor was stationed. successfully, at
various important military pnsis in the
West. AZ all OF them he was the faithful
soldier and finished li.ciplInarian, prompt
in the discharge Of his own duties. aud
scrupnlons in exacling similar eOnsidera-
lion from his subOrdlnates. Until 1892,
" hen the Sac and Fox Indians. headed by
the lar-lamed Black Hawk, made war on
the citizens nf Illinois, little was heard Of
him beyond the sphere Of his immediate
occupation. The command OF the regular
Troops engaged in suppressing ihose hos.
Iilties was assignrd lIim-he having been
previously promoted 10 the rank Of Lieu
tenant Colonel, Tho hardships and pri-
vations Of the campaign (ehieay under
General Atkinson, although General Scott
was promptly in the field. and assumed
the conrr0i,) were extremely arsluous. but
: Colonel Taylor shared them EQUALLY with
the rawest private in the ranks. The only
battle Of much moment was that Of the
Bad Axe, fought August Cd, 1892. in
! which he was particularly distinguished.
He had great influence, also, 10 bringing
the war 10 successful examinations; aud
on the 9Th of august, Black Hawk and
the Prophet were delivered 10 him. by the
agent, Mr.. Street, for sale-keeping.
On the death of Colonel Morgan he re.
ceived The appointment Of Colonel in the
first regiment Of Infantry. He was then
at Fort Crawford, on the Upper Mississip.
! pi river. lie there acted as Indian agent
for several years, and, by his prudence
! and tact, gained a strong influence over
the tribes Of that distant region, who
knew. and always spoke of him, as the
Big Chief"
The Floride War-BattIs Of Okes- Cho.Bee.
The Seminole war. in Florida, next de.
lnanded his services. He was ordered
there in 1886, by Gen. Jackson, and, al
though he was on furlnugh at the time,
the call Of the Government was promptly
obeyed. His command consisted Of Sc
parate column of some six hundred men,
part of them volunteers. His efforts 10
meet The enemy were interchangeable, but
fruilless, until the 25lh Of December. 1881,
when he reached the vicinity Of Alligator,
John Cohua, and Cea-coo-chee. all fierce
warriors, with force Of at least seven
hundred picked and skiIiul marksmen.
Their position was strongly fortified i'm a
dense hammock, where they held every
advantage, and were confident Of success.
A low swamp protected their front and one
flank, and lake 0kee-cho-bee guarded the
other. Thus advanlageously posted. they
tetied Col. Taylor, and rather challenged
the engagement. He was made Of sterner
stuff than to be deferred. The danger to
be encountered nerved him more firmly,
and he determined. in his own language.
"a, once to indulge them as far as placti'
cable" ~= ~ E>a~a a8
The only approach to the enemy was
through the swamp. in the mud Of which
the soldiers sank knee-deep, as they adj
vanred to the attack. The fire of the In
dams completely swept,he pass and added
,enlold to the difficulties. The engage.
ment was opened by the volunteers. A
murlerous fire, made more terrific by the
wells of the savages, greeted them from
the thickels and ,ree-tops. They slood
it bravely for awhile, but when their gall
liant leader, Col. Gentry. fell unreslrala'
ed by the steady discipline oiihe regulars.
they wavered and finally retreated. The
Siy,b Infantry. which did terrible execu-