The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1866-06-14

aisl ,s order aud with flying banners, but stray
ins iess as demoralized mob, their cause hope
oLa , liner .neir purpose aimless. They were dis
u;tbstaSS!neir sneir arms in every direction not
Wv, the remonstrances OF their Off
Jon t,o ,,ro,,;nican m;erican who had crossed the bor-
c s.cotaJ bv tba Ey day having had his team con-
to leave ours on the Amer;ca,, ~ - =, s aIs' oa
cordingly proceeded on foot, We not tho
head OF the retiring column inst ne !, resobad
the line, which was marked by an ;ro, ne.
bearing in raised letters the inscr;ntion ton
"Treaty of 1872" l-l
Among the irst officers whom we encoun-
tered was Colonel Contri, who few days he
tore had advanced with four hundred dis
mounted cayalrymen-as hardy and dashing a
set OF fellows as ever drew sabre. This was
the best equipped regiment of the expedition,
all having sabres, and many of them pistols
an. carblnes. They lacked, however, rather
an essential part of a cayalryman's outfit
norses. Only twelve had been captured dur
ing their raid.
moments observation satisfied us that
., tne thnS was up" and we, just arrived 'at
Sne Death" The mob approaching us num-
DeEeu, nearly thousand men, and a
more tattered and torn, III -visaged set of men
has probably not been seen since Falstaff re-
cruited In Coventry. l III S,l-N-- =
would not be understood that these men
lacked either muscle OF spirit sufficient for the
purpose they sought to accomplish. for thew
were all veterans of our war, tried and moi
found wanting; they would have overcome
obstacles In any degree less than those thrown
in their way by our government. There is
little doubt that il the United States had
dealt with them as they claim to have had as
surances it would, their number and appoint
ments were such that the affair would have
been much more serious one for our Pro
vincial neishbors, however 1t might have ter
minated finally.
There was no formation in the force as Il
retired: the various regiments composing IL
were indiscriminateG mixed. Officers wore
no distinguishing badge, and could be distip-
guished from their men only by their silence
The latter were indulging in the most varied.
and Ingeniously devised oaths l recollect ev-
er to have heard. Our respected "Uncle SAM
was not forgotten in these left-handed bene-
dictions. Their arms embraced nearly every
class and calibre used in our service, Spring.
held and Enfield rifles, Austrian, Belgian and
Prusslan muskets, and an equal variety of
breech-loading carbines and revolvers Some
wore cartridge boxes and haversacks, but the
majority perhaps carried their ammunition and
rations in their pockets. They were clad as
they had come from their labor, in every va
riety of garb. Some had hats-some caps
some neither; we noticed few well ventilat-
ed beavers. Their spois were in keeping with
their garb. Pet dogs, squirrels and canaries
were there; the Virgin Mary and numberiess
saints executed in red and yellow paint at an
expense of IA cents were there Lords We'll
ington and Nelson-"done" in the same ap-
proved style were there. An occasional jingle
which has become traditional on this side
the line-recalled the days of fspecie payments.
while now and then familiar strain from
"Finnigan's Wake" or "Donybrook Fair.n
executed on an accordeon or cracked fiddle.
reached our ears, reminding us of cheerful
Micky Free. a,J T'rs-, ~ IA f,'---'I
ought perhaps to explain that the few who
SO far forgot their situation as to indulge in
music, had been betrayed by sundry bottles
OF good old English wine and liquor which
they had secured on raid the previous day,
and which might be seen sticking out of M,
merous coat tail pockets. W.C.M.