The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1859-03-24


with his left hand, raised the rifle to his
shoulder, and took aim at our group
Our eyes were riveted upon him. At
whom had he leveled his piece But the
distance was so great that we looked at
each other and smiled. We saw the ri
file flash, and my right hand companion,
as noble looking fellow as ever rode at
the head of his regiment, fell from his
saddle. The hunter paused few mo-
ments, without moving his rifle from his
shoulder, then reloaded and resumed his
former attitude. Throwing the hat rim
over his eyes and again holding it up
with the left hand, he fixed his piercing
gaze upon us as if hunting out another
victim. Once more the hat rim was
thrown back, and the gun raised to the
shoulder. This time we did not smile,
but cast short glances at each other, to
see which of us must die and when the
rifle again flashed, another of us dropped
to the earth. There was something aw-
full in marching on to certain death
General Coffee's battery and thous-
ands of musket balls played upon our
ranks. We cared not for them there
was chance of escaping unsheathed -
Most of us had walked upon batteries a
hundred times more destructive without
qualing; but to know that every time
that rifle was leveled towards us, and its
bullet sprang from the barrel, one of us
must surely fall /! To see the cleaning
sun flash as the iron came down, and see
it rest motionless, as if poised upon a
rock, and know, when the hammer struck
and the sparks flew to the full-primed
pan, the messenger of death drove uner-
ringly to its goal-to know this, and still
march on, was awful.
could see nothing but the tall figure
standing on the breastwork. He seemed
to grow. phantom like, taller and taller,
assuming; through the smoke, the super
natural appearance of some giant spirit
Again did he reload and discharge his
rifle with the same unfailing aim and
it was with indiscribable pleasure that |
beheld, as we neared the American lines,
the sulphureous smoke gather around US
and shut that spectral hunter f,om my
gaze. We lost the battle, and to my
mind the Kentucky rihemen contributed
more to our defeat than anything else !;
for while he remained to our sight our
attention was drawn from our duties,
and when at last we became enshrouded
in the smoke, the work was complete
we were in utter cofusion and unable, in
the extremity, to restore order sufficient
to make any successful attack.
So long as thousands and thousands Of
rifles remain in the hands of the people ;
so long as men come up from their child
hood able, ere the down appears on the
chin, to hit the center of a mark, or
strike the deer, at one hundred and fifty
yards, in the most vital part so long as
there is great proportion of the Repub
lie who live as the wild Indian, knowing
no leader but their own choosing, know
ing no law but that of right, and the hon
orable observance of friendly intercourse,
America is unconquerable, and all the
armies of the combined world, though they
might drive them from the sea coast and
across the Allesh my mountains, would
not be able to subdue the free -souled hun
ter among the mountains and great prai
ries AM mi shty rivers of the West.