The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1857-12-08
THE FRONTIER SERVICE OF THE
o. s. ARMY

| -.
Contests with the Indians are inevitable.
| Though the idea that two races of men must
necessarily quarrel when they are placed
together, is untenable, it is impossible to
prevent war when two such systems as bar
barism and civilization, each having war
like champions to repose them, come in
conflict with each other. The white man
must subdue the wilderness, to live accord
ing to his improved system, while the In
dian policy requires that it should flourish
as haunt of wild beasts, to preserve the
scanty resources which furnish him with
| substance. We have a sort of chronic
war with the Seminoles, and have just
emerged from an exciting contest in Ore
| gon.
The frontier service of the American SOL
diers is of peculiar arduous, unpleasant,
| and to them, unproyitable nature. They
are exposed to great prvations, compelled
| to endure great sutferings, and yet rarely
win the slightest need of fame as a reward
for their exertions. Detached. as they
are. over an immense scope of territory, in
small bands, they can fight only in compar-
atively unmportant skirmishes. and the
greatest deeds of heroism pass almost unno-
| ticed, because they do not form parts of
great battles which interest the whole civ
iized world. .
Gen. Scott has lately issued, under date
November, General Orders, No. IA, which
TO-, oeh> c%ofo of{ ToIf
the Indians, from the 18th of February,
1856, up to September, 1857, embracing
altogether, twenty five contests. Although
many lives were not lost in any of these
severance were displayed in nearly all of
them, and they have doubtless exercised an
influence of incalculable value in checking
predatory and hostile Indian excursions.-
The whites were in every instance the
conquerors, always driving the Indians
before them, no matter how great the dis
parity of numbers. In one instance we are
told that
"April i, 1857, First Lieutenant Walter
H. Jenifer, Second Cavalry, with thirteen
men of Company Of that regiment, after
a search of thirteen days, and march of
nearly three hundred miles, came upon
fresh trail of indians the head of the
north fork of the Nueces river. Texas and,
as the trail led into rocky country almost
impracticable for cavalry. he dismounted,
left his horses with guard, and continued
the pursuit, acith only SeUen men. After
tedious march of four miles, he suddenly
came upon camp occupied by from eighty
to one hundred Indians. Approaching it,
under cover, to within two hundred and fifty
yards, and he and his little party being
discovered, they were attacked by all the
warriors in the camp, and threatened at the
same time by a party returning to it with
horses. He repulsed the Indians. with a
loss to them of two killed and one wounded.
1t being then night he withdrew his men,
rejoined his horses, and returned to the
attack next day but in the meanwhile the
Indians dispersed" .-..-... .......
'For the last three days this detachment
had no rations, having been out for seven
teen days"
In many instances the marches of the
American troops have been singularly rapid,
occasionally reaching eighty miles per day.
Frequently, too, when their chases after the |
Indians were more protracted than they had
anticipated, their provisions became ex-
hausted, and they were obliged to do with
little or no food for several days.
The favorite Indian trick of ambush was,
in one instance, skillfully played off upon
them as follows:
"The commander Lieut. Hartz] placed
his men in wagons, with the covers closely
drawn. and marched under the guise of
provision train. The ruse was successful, !
and the party was attacked about forty five !
miles from Fort Lancaster by a body of
mounted Indians. supposed to be Muse alero |
Apaches, who were driven back with q loss |
of three of their number killed and wound-
ed. The troops were unhurt."
The Indians, come upon the whites, when ,
they attack them at all, literally like thieves
in the night, and then fee away as swiftly
as their mountain deer. To catch and pun
ish them our troops are required to be as
feet as grayhounds-to possess powers of
endurance and capacity to subsist without
food or water for prolonged period, akin
to that of camels-and yet to fight like |
tigers when opportunity offers. For all !,
this they receive far less credit and honor
than they deserve
y The State Department has published
a list of Ministers and Consufs representing
the United States abroad which gives some
interesting information as to the rank held |
by the several States in the matter of gov
Il