East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1864-04-13
Original aaistellans.
An Indian Campaign.
CHAPTER v.

tain, assuring us that we were now il
the country of the enemy and ought
to be on our guard against surprises
and ambuscades. The appearance OF
an Indian in the morning, lurking
about our rear, added to the tremol
occasioned by the Captains eau.
ton, and later in the day we came
upon the charred remains Of three
houses, and near by, the mangled
bodies of two men and three women
were visible.
We committed their 'dust to dust"
and advanced very cautiously to our
camping ground. The night closed
around us dark as Egypt, and as
rainy as at any time during the flood.
Our sentinels were posted, our fires
quenched and silence, the most unbro-
ken, reigned over us,when the sudden
"Halt who comes there ?" of the
watchful sentinel, and the discharge
Of his musket moment later disturbed
the sleeping camp, and such shouting,
bustling, and running, and falling
down, and getting up again in the
black darkness were never before heard
since Babel. The sentinel shouted
"Indians Indians % and the camp
responded Indians Indians ~ At
tempts were made to light torches, but
the matches wero all wet and that was
abandoned. At last there was lull
in the hubbub, and Captain Nesmith
commanded silence.
AS soon as there was an opp ortunity
to make himself understood he hailed
! the sentinel who gave the alarm and
inquired what he had seen or heard?'
The reply came short and decided.
GA id Indian creeping in to steal
the horses and mules, and / have shot
him dead"
Upon examination the latter part OF
the story proved entirely true, for
spread out on the ground lay poor
half starved wolf of the cayota species
dead as a herring. There was a gen.
eral shout at the discovery, every 1ody
drank to the success of the sentry and
went to grass again and were soon
asleep. About midnight Lieutenant
Pismire, as officer of the guard, went
out on round of exploration, and in
the darkness strayed beyond ourlines,
and on attempting to get back again
was hailed by the sentry, and being
somewhat thick in the tonghe, was ia
ken for an indian trying to speak
English, and was at once fired at
He shouted murder murder muir
der and rolled upon the grass in the
last agonies of dying man. The
the corporal of the guard rushed out
and with the aid Of the sentinel
brought him in, while the sentinel who
fired the fatal shot prayed for forgiv-
ness, and professed the deepest con-
tritiou and remorse.
After a deal of putting and blowing
light was raised among the embers
of the evening fire, torches were light
cd and the Lieutenant carefully exam
made to discover his hurt. He begged
to be left alone, to die and not be put
to pain by being moved, and at every
movement he screamed in agony
After careful examination it was dis
covered that the Lieutenant's wound
was only fear, not scratch could be
discovered, and when informed that
he was uninjured he declared that he
felt the blood trickling down his back
On examination it proved tnat he lay
in small stream ofwater, and il was
ONLY upon the solemn assertion of the
Captain that he could be induced to
believe that he was not dead man.
He at last ended himself up and
went to the guard room, and to his
whiskey in anger and in grief. It
was daylight before silence was again
restored, and many days before the
question was forgotten to bepropound-
en- whenever the Lieutenant was in
sight. "How are the wounded 2''
On the following day it being our
fortune to be thrown forward as scout
we discovered a specimen of frontier
coolness that was amusing and char
acteristic. After a long and tedious
ride over rough and uneven ground
and through dense forests, we camo
down TO the Rogue River, broad
deep sfream, at point where the
ferry crosses, and where the solitary
house of the feryman was the only
white mans house we had seen in
this Valley that the Indians had not
burned to ashes. fff
AS we came in sight of the ferry,
we observed the ferry man making a
series Of lodges from tree to tree, and
heard the sound of a rifle at no great