The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1877-02-07
CuSTER'S MARK.
A Little Story that the Man With the
Scar Told.

From the New York Times.
1t was horrible scar. Commencing
at the roots of the hair, just over the
left temple, it ran down across the face
to the right-hand corner of the mouth.
the flesh had closed together in great
ridge, and the nose seemed to have been
shortened half an inch by the process of
healing. The man with the scar sang
two or three songs, and then passed his
cap around for pennies.
''Did blow of an Injun's tomahawk
do that?'' He replied. ''No sir; 1 got
that cut down in Old Virginia, durin'
the war, bout the time it looked as if
jeff Davis was the biggest patriot in the
country"
"You were in the cayalry?'.
"You bet was! I smashed up SO
many horses that 1 was owing the Con-
federate Government S400,0 900 when it
collapsed. If she hadn't collapsed I'd
been forced into bankruptcy"
He chuckled, and raised his hat so as
to reveal the scar in all its hideousness,
and continued:
~ don't believe tomahawk could
leave scar like this. 1t takes good
sharp sabre to spoil a mans face so that
he darn't look in the glass OF have his
photograph taken. A Yank slashed
me, of course, but who do you suppose
it was? You couldn't guess to save
your neck, and so III tell-it was Gus
ter, that long-haired, daredevil Yankee
general, who used to ride around with
blood in his eyes and an extra sabre in
his teeth. He thought he'd done for
me when he gave me this lick, but he
didn't know our family
'How was it?''
sit was down at Travi'lian Station.
He was raiding around with lot of cav
airy, and our folks got him in box.
Somehow we got aronnd him on all
sides, and we had cavalry, infantry and
artillery. We were two to one, and had
him fairly coppered, and by all decent
rules of warfare he ought to have flung
out the white flag, and handed over his
sabre, and politely said: Boys, you've
got the grapevine twist on me and 1
cave We expected it; but blast him!
He didn't do any such thing. No sir.
He massed his troopers, gave 'em to un-
derstand that it was hell or home, and
the whole capoodle of 'em come for us
on the gallop, bands playing, flags flying
and troopers yelling like wild Injuns,
our batteries played on 'em from doz-
en- hills; our infantry fusiladed 'em good
and strong, and our troopers got the
word to CHARGE
"Durn my buttons, but wasn't it a
hot fight! We were all mixed up-bul-
lets flying, sabres hacking, men yelling,
horses neighing, everybody shouting;
and it was DEVILS dance all round. 1
heard Yank shouting orders, as if he
were some big gun or other, and work.
ed up to him through the smoke. 1t
was Custer, had seen him before, and
1 knew what fighter he was pushed
right up to him, gave my old sabre a
twist and cut, and off went his head!"
He looked up with a wicked twinkle
in his eyes, and added.
''In horn! 1 rose in my stirrups
and struck at him with force enough to
cut clean down to the saddle, bnt he
parried the blow, leaned over, saw II
flash, and the next thing l knew had
been in the hospitable for two weeks,
and the surgeons were trying to look
into my boots through this sabre cut in
my face. 1 was whole year getting
over it, and then 1 looked so handsome
that was turned over to the home
| guards for the rest of the war. Some
times feel like suicide, and again 1
don't care. don't bear no grudge
agin Custer for the slash, but he might
just as well have put his cheese knife
through me as to have given me this
X his mark, to lug around. And that's
what ails the old red, and that's how /
| fpal.,,