The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1874-08-12

also Inkrll, III entering llle Town lltS
had killed O'Nonl aud two negro men,
The mnrauders, thus left Ia quiet
possession Of llnnylle, proceeded 10
pack seven hundred mules aud horses
with the rich booly--thon set fire 10
aud burned the town,
During the succeeding night the IN.
dinns, richly laden with booty, ANA
having about three thousand loose h0r'
ses and mules, begun their retreat 10
their mountain homes.
In the meantime the alarm hnd
spread rs c0urlcrs over vast cXpansc
~ country, aud the people we're rally
Ing IN companies, under their nruIls-
TONED chiefs, from all sections, don
Hales had sent out u company under
Ben McCulloch the NOW Dewitt
county Guadalupe, II company under
John j. TomllnsOl, and the LuVach
settlement NOW Luvaca county, one
under Adam Xumwnt
Those three small bodies having
united confronted the retreatlng
Indians sixteen miles east OF Vic
toriu, on the next day, August 9TH
IA sklrmlsh cnsued, but they were too
few 10 charge seven times their num-
Der IN the open prairie the weather
intensely holland the defiant sayaRcs
sullenly hut proudly moved of IN pos
session of all their gains. MoCulloch,
IN the zeal of his youthful herolsnl,
plead with the mon to follow him IN II
charge into their midst but older
heads hesIlated and the ardor OF youth
was controlled by their hesllancy.
Chagrlned beyond measure, MCCul-
lOch Quit the command, and resolved
TO loo In at the death, riding day aud
night, by "A clrcultOus route, passed
the Indians and actually succeeded In
playing n distinguished part with en-
tirely different troops, In the over
whelmlng victory on the eth, three
days later. ....
The Indians, with their immense
booty, slowly reiterated, followed for
dry or so, In the distance, by the force
previously named, reinforced by ono
or two small detachments.
But while these events We're trans
piring, other portions Of the country
were rallylng IN delnchmonts and cont
panios. Details must be ON tied. The
writer was IN position to see most
and understand every movement from
beginning To end. We, however omit
many interesting details and acts of
patriotic herolsm, aud must be content
10 say that during the night of August
II, eighly-seven men arrived, by differ
cnt routes, on Plum creek, near where
LOcllhart now stands, and near the
trail made by the Indians in their de-
scent towards the ooast, having learned
they We're fctrcating by that same
route, These men were commanded in
small companies by Captains Matthew
Caldwell Of Gonzales, James Bird, of
Gonzales, and Lafayette Ward, of
Jackson. The writer was a boy in
Captain Wards company.
General Felix Huston, with one
man, joined us about midnight. We
knew the Indians Were still below,
placed sentinels tour miles below ON
their trail To report their approach, aud
our company, after four days and
nights march, with one hours sleep,
laid down to rest. We slept from one
o'clock TO daylight, when the spies an
nounced the approach of the enemy
three or four miles distant. In ten
minutes every man and boy was in
his saddle. We all looked to Culd-
well ms our leadcr-sa perfect man in
Indian warlarc--but when paraded,
he first put the question: "Boys, there
are eight hundred 10 one thousand In
dians--they have our women and chill
dren prisoners--they have repulsed our
men below--we are eighty-seven strong
II believe we can whip hi out of
them! Boys shall we fight" The an
swer was auniversal eyes, yes Fight!
llghl!n
The noble old warrior, In the mod
esty of his nature, then moved that
General Felix Huston then major gem
eral of miitia) be invited to take the
chief command. nobody wished it SO,
but every ono voted aye. We all
thought that Burleson, Caldwell, Ben
McCulloch and such men should he our
leaders In Indian warfare, and had no
relish for militia general rs such, es-
pecially when he had never been in an
Indian fight. Everybody had unbound
ed confidence in the fearless courage of
Felix Huston; we believed, as the say
ing goes, that he would fight saw
MIL, but common sense, and especially
that common sense peculiar To the
frontier Texas boys of that day, told
us that the man competent TO COM
mand large armies in civilized warfare
might be wholly deficient in conduct
ing u fight against wild and wary saw
ages. In short, we wanted old Point
Caldwell to command us, and didn't
want Major General Felix Huston
but our old favorte, speaking
almost in II whisper, said: "Boys,
crafty me and say aye!" and we did.
Very well. We We're then on horse
back and ut once marched from our
camp, along trail in the timber, to
an open glade, separated from the
main prairie by skirt of elms on IL
branch. just there Owen Hardeman,
n youth, now an honored citizen of
Caldwell county and another man
came dashing up among us, saying to
our commanders: "Colonel Burleson,
with one hundred men and thirteen
Tanchua Indians, is near by and wants !
you to wait for him. So said we, we
will wait --eighty-seven of us--one
hundred with Burleson and thirteen
friendly lndians-total two hundred |
that will do. Wecan whip the enemy,
recover our women and children and |
much of the property. And we watt
ed. While waiting, the Indians, with
their seven hundred pack mules and
three thousand loose animals, came in
full view and We're passing obliquely
across our front, bedecked with every
manner of fancy ribbons, streamers
and gaudy ornaments, wholly uncon-
scious of our proximity, sanguine of
immunity from further attack and
singing savage songs of victory, pirou-
citing across the prairie aud having II
grand Publication generally.
While waiting for Burleson, Huston
arranged the plan of attack. We were
TO be formed into three sides of a hol-
low square. right, lett and rear. Cald-
well was to command the left, Burle-