St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1876-08-11
A Thrilling Story.
WHAT HAPPENED To AN OFFICER AFTER
IIIE q STER EIGuT

r"''id distinguish nothing, 81 Colonel
memo haltcd the battalion. and. after
ulsih"lintIn%, formed Il skirmish lin,
'he right flank resting on the edge of :,
urN' thlrklN wooded creek. While the
hoiSts were being led To shelter in TN,
"""d the Indians opened Il CALLING fire
on us, winch WAS Immediately respond
td TO- The SkIlml>h confirming for about
nall an hour. 1t WAS NOW discovered
tiihl on the other side OF the creek. m =
park like clearing. there were a few
lodges, and the whole. line crossed the
creek 1" find the lodges deserted and
he received hN about 2OO Nrlpin". veil
ing redskins. The fire from tl,, MINER
lrallI superior force ntceS>itatrd a re
treat, which was almost impossibI, as
We were now surrounded bl warriors.
W hen We entered the .nrau.nIcut Al,
we've only 100 strong and the fire of the.
enemy had made havoc in our little.
band.
When We were half way over the.
creek |, being III the rear, noticed a
guldon planted on the side we had left.
and returned to take il. When coming
through the wood the guidon cutan.Ied
Itself III the branches and slipped ont of
and led my h"Isr up the south bank of
the creek. As | WAS about To mount,
my horse WAS struck hN Il bullet. and
becoming frightened, he IAN into the In
dlan>, leaving me dlSmount,d in the.
company of about ;aW Sioux not more
than iftI NadS distant. They poured
Il Mhl>lIng N"lltl At me, but | WAS not
wounded. and managed t" escape to
the thickct near 10y. where would have,
an opportunity of defending my self and
selling my life at Il good high figure
In the thickct | found MI Gerard the
interpreter, Il half breed Indian, and
Private O'Ncil. of Company G..>crcnth
cavalry. The first two OF the quartet
had their hoI>c>. while O'NriI, like my
self, WAS diSmountcd. told the own
tIS "i the horses that the presence of
the animals would hctrIN us. suggest
lng al the same time that they he >tam-
prded. They declined To act on the
suggestion. and | LETT them and cr;lw led
through the thick underwood into the
deep, dry bottom at the creek. here |
could not hc easily discovered and from
whence hoped To hr able. under cover
ot darkness. To steal ont and rcioiu the
command. | had not been in this hid
lng place moIt than ten minutes when
/ heard several pistol >hnI> fired in my
Vicinity. aud shortly thereafter came
"'' !" ".' u'''"''r'l voices
~ , '" 9P'''NS '''H''" my '''"
men Mere at and tu discover THEN rN-
act location. | fuund the women at the
rc>"lting work OF >calping a soldier
" hn was perhaps not Vet dead. Two
'"'"' Nt'' GUY ''hS AWAY WINE Nv"
"'''lS lt'i"' me" a sort "i war dance
''""''" '',' "''''H ana it> iilh'l'ai"l>.
soon i'r''" crack ing morse htar
me- "n''i'' on \'>''Shllh@' l i"IInd
l'"'''dtu Ii"iii 'ht hlllillIS wood. The
l""'ili> having l"hlted me. HE
wood being very dry the fire made nap
III headNaN' ahd WAS forced from my
hIdlhS place. crdWltd out ot the
creek bottom TIA" same way had ap-
pl"achth, ana a. MAS about 1" ascend
The bank heard Il VOICE calling. Lieu
tenant Lieutenant ', could see II"
one. hut the call Was repeated. and al
NanrIhS Il few yards III the direction
from winch 1t proceeded, found all
thite OF the patty had lett short
while before hidden in the bottom of
lett the h"l>c> tied together. where
ha" seen th"h ANA followed down after
me: '""'ln 'iia' 'ht party lh" NY
sell were .iIiai" "I ihr fi"%lt>> "I the
h'r' n", fortunately Tor "> the MInd
S.">ihth ana Il niue ram Tell, winch.
'hahh '"u' WAS Shi1clthl I" arrest The
names an" revive "hl hopes tliit We
might he ahit I" remain there TIL night
IL WIS now lhitt "'I"'h +. VI. SIN
l""I> l" wait ana You may imagine
now i'i'hhthN'lN long We f""Id them.
All TINS time We could hear and often
see Indians around us, ana could hral
'hth 'aih qu't htal us.
cannot ma words sIifilcItntlN tN-
lltHSlNe l" ut>cilhe my many Thoughts
""ili'S inc SIN Oh seven nouns "l Hh>-
Pen>'' '''''N 'n' tihl' came "h'H'
"''he' 'hf P'"''''i"h "l nISh' III was
very '''.'uH > We were a,''t T." come "i'
vi ""' i'"ii'S '"''' anu '"hf '"e "i
l'''i"h vi ',' '"'" " men WIS wv" iiiii'>
~ 'nt S"'',"' ,ni"''S' an open P';''ii'
VII 'ti"iu aii" 'nt scout ill"''l'tu 'h'ii
no, ,S'S ",'" the S"'''Ie' an" my sen '",A
,'''' r"r" one -, ,'"iS' ''I' ana i"I
rowe" ',''"i; VI, "'lHi" Pi"l"S'' '''a,
III ''S' ne SI""Ih "t o"liStu T." run ana
leave us ana >"'rtc'ie" III loIhllS III"
cohliiiahd' ne """lu hoili\ '"l' hth"'
tht '"hIillllIhtT' "i my po>llloh' Duf
ing olr transit through ihr open plaIh
We passed many Indians returning To
then Village, and could hear but not
see them, as the night was very dark.
we reached the wood near what We
took To he the ford we had passed III
the morning, hui we were mistaken and