St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-12-27
Flght With the Indians.
UNPARALLELED ENPp>THE. BEANEI
AND EE-CTE A RENINI>ENCE OF l-I

At the outbreak of the war. Il Young
man, just turned of age. WAS an cmpl0yc
in Il Chicago wholesale dry goods
house. He enlisted in Barkcr'S Dra-
Z IONS. and subsequently became Lieut.
enant of Il company in Gen. Farms
worthS Illinois Cavalry Regiment.
Coming under the notice of Gen. Shcr-
idam. he WAS transferred to his staff.
Gen. Custer turns Il page i'll his >uh>c
qucnt history. in the December number
of the GdIdTg that has scarcely paral-
lei in the annals or romance of Indian
lighting. Gen. George y. Forsyth has
been for several Years Il member of
Gen. Shcridam'S military family in Chi
ca%o. and permanently bears the traces
of his Bccchcr'S Island fight : but such
is his mndc>ty we doubt if his intimatc>
have been told half the story of the.
marvellous battle 81 we'll narrated hv
Gen. Custer.
THE ISLAND CAMP.
Enc;mping upon the bank of the
stream the command made the usual
preparations for passing the night. The
point was but Il few marches from the
- nv oi NIdd'l llld>>'I'lt. ll'iN lllS
already been ont from Fort Wallace
eight days. and not taking wagons with
them. their supplies began to rum low.
although they had been hu>handed With
great care. During the last three days
game had been very >caIcr. which fact
convinced Forsyth and his party that
the Indians who's. trail they were fol
lowing had secured the country and
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Vt dawn on the following day. sept.
Il. I-t,~. the guard gave thu alarm.
"In,liau> - Instantly every man
~ln.m" L" hi~ feet. and. with the true
instinct "f the irnuticI>Iuln. wra>ucd
hi riiir with one hand. while with the
others hc seized his laIiat. TIM the In
>iN Indians dashed up toward the par
~. rIttmG bells. shaking huiful" robes.
and lnm% guns hr -four pack mulr~
h"I"n@lm@ I" TIA" PARTY broke away and
Nrl" List seen "dII"pIhG over the NILS.
hl"c Other animals made their escape.
~ they had only been h"hhI"d. III d-
rect Violation "i the orders which dI-
r'"t"d that an the animals OF the com
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the uruund. \ few shut. caused the
Indians to sheer of and di..,pnc.,r in ,
,..,llnu over th,. hills Several nt ia,
men started in pur~uit. hut were in
~taIitll ordered tn rcioiu the command
which MS nld,rru tn saddle, mn virI
all pn~>ihl,. haste. Eor>, IN t,.rliu~ ,iti,-
fled rhat the ,rIrmut rn >t,mr,i, IN,
stock MS hui the nr,.Iud, rn = ".r,.r.,l
and more determined attack. >,IrrrI,
we've the. >iGdl,> thrown ON Ih, hnr-,-
and th,. nilth> Iiuhlrurd Ah.u t,In\,,.
the. ..ilidr. piariu- hi hand ON FoI~,th' :
>hnuld,l. rave vent to his a>tnIii>l-
ncnt IL follows: - U,ur,U~. G,u,,oL
LnoL nf the IuIin,,>'" We'll mioh1 N,
Ice excited. From r,cIl direction, rL,.,
dashed toward lin, band over th,.
hills from ii,, Nc,i and unrtI, .,I,u,,
th,.,i,,, am th,.n,,,n-it. h,,,I .,..,,
where. md in h,l, di,,,.tinu ,L,,
made their ,Iupr,,r;,ur, Fiu.I, ,r,Iur-
ed. in tull val-r.,in,. 1hrir lnn" ,,.,Iu
lock. braided with c.,ni,,' feathers and
with all th,. ,,,,.,uL,,i,.,Ii, ,f -, L.,,L.,
rams u.u-u.,It, win viId ~ L,.,,,. .,,,.i
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"a '''' y
her" was h'll one thing I" d". Re
hIl-lh" 'ha' 'I'\ h',d lllIth INT" Il tlap.
Forsyth. VII" had faced danger to" of
Ten !" Ih>'Hl' III an emergency. tie
irllnIn"d liiat. II II came I" Il Fort F"t-
tcrran affair. he should at least make
the enemy bear then >har" "i the loss.
lie ordered his men To- lead their horses
t" the island. II" hem t" the few bush
c> that were growing there III Il circle,
throw themselves upon the ground in
the same form. and make the best fight
they could tor then lives. In less time
than IT takes T." pen th">" words. TIA"
order WAS put int" execution. Three of
the best shots i'll the party took position
IN the grass under the bank of the riV-
or which covered the north end of the
island tn" others formed circle i'll
side "t the line "f animals. and throw
ing themselves uP"u the ground. began
t" reply t" the fire "t the Indians. which
soon became hot and CALLING i'll the cN-
IRENE throwing themselves trnu