, 1862-03-25

- The dismal wind o1 Rdesolate Mareh night
swept across his atiheIed Form, and the rustic :
Of the sere 1eaEes was the melancholy chant Of
nature over his unsepultured sleep =;
After the battle inquired Of some OF the :
Louisiana prisoners: eoneerning the fallen
Captain. No one knew his nanae, but several
said they believed be vas the son Of sugar
planter living mp the Bayou Ia Fourche, who
had Joined the Southern army because he said
he wanted to die; tlat not Killed before the
war was over he would commit suicide. That
some secret sorroW or remorse tortured him
highland day, there vas no reason to doubt. He
WINS often gentle generous and atfection8te, but
under the influence Of liquor, which he drank
to excess, overbearing, rude and violent He
had fought two 1uels.i Arkansas with his fel-
'low:oMcere, =nnd had thrice been attacked with
delfrium tremens, that familiar foe Of South
ern youth aud Southern age Doubtless, on
the morning when he SO :Want0nly sacrificed
himself, liquor had turned his brain. and he
found the death be sought SO perseveringly
amid the iron tempest Of destructive battle.
= -:::f|::'::aREAr COURAGE on BOTH SIDES. ~
( Instances Of personal daring and reckless
ness were numerous, as they always are in
battles where Americans are engaged on both
Sides Extraordinary courage :Was shown in
every charge, and the strong element Of indt-
yidua1ity and Ang1o-2 Saxon self-reliancc vivid
tie depended upon hts exertiuns alone; and
considerable Of self seemed swallowed UP in
devotion to the cause
The rebels fought determinedly, and dis
p1teda the ground inch by inch; but, even
with their superior Numbers, they could not
resist the cooler courage, and the stronger
physique of the Western troops. Their force.
was mostly displayed at their entrance into
the engagement. As the battle progressed,
they grew less formidable, and the longer the
strife the brighter grew our prospects Of suc-
cess.
ATROCITIES ON TIE INDIANS,
The Cherokee, Choctaw, Greek, and Semi
mole 1ndions, Of whom some three thousand
were engaged in the battle, under command
Of Col. Albert Pike, Northern man, who de-
aerues, and will doubtless receive eternal
infamy for his efforts to induce horde Of
savages to butcher brave men Who had taken
up arms to prevent the subversion Of the Re-
public-repeated the outrages upon civilized
warfare, and tic shocking barbarites with
which our carly history has made Us familiar.
They fought as they did in the olden times
in the manner the rebels have adopted as
their own, from behind logs aud trees anx-
tous to destroy, but fearful Of exposure; seek
ing By every device and deception TO draw cur
men into ambush, and attack and kill them
at dlsa Advantage.
In many instances they succeeded, but in
others our men were as willy as the aborigfnes,
and defeated them at their OWN game. Many
8 savage, while pecring cautiously around
tree, or through the bushes, was relieved
Of life by a musket or rifle ball crushing
through his skull.
TIE REBELS SLAUGHTERED BIZ TIE INDIANS.
The Indians in many instances could not re-
frain from eca1ping their enemies, and it is
said that as many Us hundred Of our brave
men were thus barbarously treated. They
frequently scalped the dead they found on the
field, and in ten Or twelve cases SO served
soldiers who were merely wounded.
T have spoken Of the terrible excitement
and demoniac rage into which the sayages
were thrown by the appeals and fre-water Of
the rebels, who, it appears, suffered from their
aboriginal associates uearly as much as the
Unionists themselves, and in manner they
+! conld have least expected.
| The Eecessionists overcharged their dusky
| machines, and when they were fired, the truly
| guilty suffered from the recoil.
| The Indians in the midst Of the excitement
and under the stimulus Of their burning pota-
tions, became frenzied, lost to every sense but
| that Of slaughter.
Tic Indians often assumed to be dead.
throwing themselves upon their faces on the
| ground; and as soon as our troops would pass,
they would rise, take deliberate aim, fire and
fly.
| 'scalping and robbfng were, as Of gore, their
fayorite pastimes. They plundered every
wounded, dying and dead Unionist they could
find, and very frequently murdered those they
discovered so badly hurt as to be incapable o1
! Offering resistance.
| Liz S4hi$5Eo AQECu GCC44t4 uEM0ulZEu% Alu
it is said the rebels did everything in thei1
| power to excite them to frenzy, giving them
large quantities Of whisky and gunpowder q
few minutes previous to the commencement
of hostilities.
The appearance Of some Of the besotted
aavages Vas fearful. They lost their senses d
caution and fear, and ran with long knives
against large odds, and fell pierced BY dozens
Of balls. With bloody hands aud garments
with glittering eyes and horrid scowIs, they
ragged about the tield with terrible yells, and
60 often frightened some Of our soldiers for 9
few moments Us to escape the fate that should
have befallen every one of their number.
Friend and foe alike to them; they fired al
the nearest mark, and used their long knives
indiscriminately upon all within their reach
this warfare, killing and wounding more Of tht
Missouri and Arkansas troops, it is believed
than they did Of ours.
On Saturday morning, body OF 500 or 4ot
Indians were discovered On the north side O
Sugar Greek, below the curve Of a hill, firing
from thick clusters Of post-oaks into three ol
four companies of Arkansas soldiers, march
ing in McCu1loch's division forward the uppc
part Of the ridge. The MINOR of the battalion
| seeing this, ha1looed out to them that the,
| we're firing upon their own friends, and placet
| lis white handkerchief on his sword and Wayet
| it in the air.
The Indians either did not see or did moi
care for the symbol Of truce; but poured tw,
yolleys into the Arkansans, killing amonl
Others the Minor himself The presumption
then was that the Cherokees had turned trait
OTIS, and the secession soldiers we're immedi
. ately ordered to charge upon them. They di
, so, and for an hour terrible fight cnsuc
ameng the oaks between them and their lat
> savage allies, in which it is stated some 25
were killed and wounded on both sides. Til
| Indians suffered severely, as they were drive
from their hiding places, and shot and butct
cred without mercy. Aperson who witness
, | cd this part Of the fight says it was the mos
: bloody and desperate that occurred on th
f1cld-being conducted with the most rockies
> and brutal energy by the two parties, Of Whol
it would be difficult to say which was the MOI
barbarous. On the dead sayages were founs
r in some instances, two or three scalps, fastcl
ed to their belts by thongs of leather.