The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1858-07-10
TALE OF THE FRONTIER.
BY EMERSON BENNETT.

\
Inthc Spring of 1894, while Gen. Wayne.
IN command of the northwestern army, was
occupying Fort Greenville, which he had
constructed the preceding winter, the news
was brought to him, that a party of Potta-
wattmles had surprised and destroyed the
bloH-house Of small settlement not far
distant, and massacred all the inmates ex-
cepta girl, whom they had taken prisoner,
and were then supposed to be conducting
her to their village.
This female, Miss Eggleston, was the
daughter d an officer of some note, who was
friend oi Gen. Wayne, and he determined
to save he' If it was in his power. At this
time he had some one or two little bands of
heroic SCOTS attached to his division, and
he knew il rescue could be affected at all, ,
the men to entrust with that important en-
terprise could be found among them and
them only.
Now it 50 happened that a small party of
these scouts was at that moment in the fort,
having cone in the night previous with i'm
portane Information, and were preparing to
set Oh Immediately. Sending for one of the
most daring OF these, Robert Mcclellan by
name, whs, though not their regularly ap-
pointed leader, sometimes acted in that ca
pacity when his commander was absent, the
General briefly Informed him what had taken
place, and asked him if he thought there
was hope Of Miss Eggleston being rescued.
Il can't say as to that Gineral,' replied
the scout, 'but this | will say, that if it kin
be done, kin do it,
'How many men do you want?' asked
Wayne.
'1Iow big is the party, Gineral2' inquired
the other.
'From the report, should judge there
were thirty of them.'
'Then it won't do for US to make reeu-
lar stand up fight ont, Gineral, unless we
has the captain and all others along; and as
they won't be in afore tomorrow, eff then,
reckon it's best to operate by sarcumven-
ton, and the two that's here with me-
Hickman and Hart-will be Jest as good for
that there as dozen more. Only put me
where kin git on their trail, and ef the
red niggers aren't too far ahead, Pll soon
fetch good report Of them, eff don't of
the young woman
'But you must bring good account of
her, responded Wayne, in positive tone.
sit is to save her that send you; for she is
the daughter of my friend, and her life and
rescue are above price,
'Then We will save her, Gneral,' replied
the scout; shat is, eff the butchering var
mints only save her themselves till we git
whar she arr
General Wayne gave Mcclellan some fur
ther instructions, and then bade him set out
Immediately. The scout returned to his
temporary quarters in the fort, and inform
ing his comrades what was required of them
they at once set about preparing for their
new adventure; and in less than half an hour
the three were treading the nazes of the
great dark forest, which stretched away
unbrokenly for many long league before
them.
With long and rapid stridcs-McClcllan
the tiectest footed hunter Of his time. in the
lead-they got over some twenty miles of
ground, and reached the ruins of the block
house where the massacre had taken place,
just as the sun was setting. There was
light enough to find the broad trail of the
retreating Indians; and with no unnecessary
delay. they set out upon it, and advanced
some two or three miles further, when the
gathering darkness compelled them to en-
camp, and to postpone further operations
until morning.
The night passed off without disturbance;
and at dawn of day they arose and resumed
their journey. Ere the sun had set. they
had travelled far upon the broad trail Of
their foes in northerly direction.
1t is not our purpose to follow them in de-
tail. Sufhce 1t to say, that near the close
of the second day, they had reached poin,
where the trail forked and it became neces-
sary to make a careful examination, in or.
der to determine which party had taken the
prisoner with them. To the best of their
judgment, the whole number of Indians was
not less than thirty; but they were not equal.
ly divided at the point of separation, as was
evident from one trail being much larger
than the other. They soon satisfied them
selves that the girl had been taken with the
smaller party, and this was pleasing dis.
covery, as it gave them hope Of being sue.
cessful in her rescue.
This decided, they pushed on rapidly till
night, and then encamped; and at the close
of the third day, just as the night was set.
ting in, they came within sight of the camp
fires of their foes. Waiting two or three
hours, until the darkness fav vored them, they
carefully proceeded to reconnoitre the In.
dian camp, which was in a pleasant, heavily
wooded valley, through which flowed tribu
tary of the Wabash. Advancing stealthiy
under cover Of the bushes, they beheld six
In ljans carclessly disposed around the fire
three of them apparently asleep, and the
Others eonversing in very low tones, but oc
casonally laughing, and totally unsuspcou.
OF danger. A little apart, and bound to q
tree, was the captive-a young and beauti-
full woman-whose now pale and detected
features spoke the despair of her heart, and
combined with her dishevelcd hair and torn
and dsarranged garments, rendered her an
object of pity even to men hardened to al
most every sense of suffering and distress.
Having fully ascertained the number and
position of the enemy, and the fact that the
prisoner they had come to rescue was still
alive, the scouts drew back to safe dis
tance and held whispered consultation as
to the manner of their future procedure.
& don't exactly like either of your plans,
said Mcclellan, who had quietly listened to
the propositions of the other. 'It's our bu.
siness to get the gal away-that's the Gin
erals orders; and the way we can do that
steal thar guns, one of you must creep ur
and cut the gals cords, and start her of to-
wards us as e,sy as you kin; but ef there's
I'LL hinrm, tell uer 10 uEedk / OF tne nearest
thicket, and we'll stand between her and
harm. l don't think there'll be any trouble
about us coming out all right, for we've
fought bigger odds afore to-day, without
the vantage of a surprize, and we've lick ed
'em too.'
After some further discussion, the plan
of Mcclellan was adopted as the best, and
Hart was selected to enter the camp and re-
lease the girl-the others to pour in their
fire In case Of alarm, which would be likely
to throw the Indians into confusion and give
our friends so much the advantage-while
the girl would be almost certain to escape,
was what they now sought, rather than the
lives of the ssvages.
Having thus arranged the matter, they
kept perfectly quiet and silent for some two
or three hours longer, and then began the
execution of their scheme. The fire, which
the Indians had fed while astir, had now
gone to mere embers; but this only the bet
ter served McClelan's idea, as it would
render Hart less liable to be seen on his ap-
prcach to the prisoner:
Some quarter Of an hour more was spent
| in arranging everything fer perfect action