Louisiana capitolian. (Baton Rouge, La.) 1879-1881, 1879-11-22
FIGHT SIMILAR TO CAPT. PAYH'B.

in the annals Of Indian warfare took
place II years ago when, Congress
having authorized the employment Of
frontiers.m against the Indians,
then very troublesome, Gen. Geo. A.
Forsyth, then and still upon Sheri-
dams staff, was selected to llead m
expedition Of 80 picked men from the
Kansas border.
At s o'clock on the evening Of the
eighth day ont the command went
into camp on the Arickaree ford Of
the Republican, which just vt this
point divided and surrounded u sort
Of islaud--a strip Of sand and gravel
about n hundred yards long, round
which flowed the "river," II that name
can be applied to u stream then some
eight feet and two or three inches
deep. There WIS only one days pro.
visions left, but Forsyth, feeling that
no was within striking distance Of the
hostilcs, resolved to go on next day.
At dawn Of tho morrow the guard
gave the alarm, Mndians!" Forsyth
instantly ordered his men to lend
their horses to the ''island" and tic
them to the few bushes that grew
there in q circle, and lying on the
sand within the line Of animals sell
their lives rs dearly as possible. Thus
began the fight, the Indians in turn
dislnounting md crawling in the sand
up to within short distance Of tho
island to open almost Mt point-blank
range u CALLING fire on the party from
Spencer and Henry rifles. So soon
M it was daylight and the Indians
could he distinguished, i was found
that they were surrounded by nearly
u thousand warriors, Brules, Sioux,
Cheycnnes and Dog Soldiers.
The first care Of the bcsicged was to
intrcnch themselves by throwing up
with their knives little mounds in the
form Of circle. Ere this work was
accomplished two men had been killed
and several wounded, Forsyth among
them.
On the fourth day the main body Of
Indians departed, leaving a small in
vesting force. The wounds Of the in
jjurcd were rudcly dressed, shelters
we're constructed, and soup made from
horse flesh. On the sixth, day, how
ever, the first traces Of gangrene vet
in, and the entire party WAS almost
overpowered by the intolerable stencil
from the carcasses Of the dead horses.
Food there was none. Forsyth as
sembled the men, and babe those who
preferred staying in the camp and
taking their chances Of aid coming
from the fort. All voted to stay to-
gether till the end. They lived Oh
putrid horse flesh rubbed with gun
powder for two more days. On the
25th, Colonel Carpenter, with the
cavalry, came up from Fort Wallace,
which Trudeau and Stillwell had
reached in safety. "When he reached
the island he found the defenders in
the most pitiable candition, yet the
survivors were determined to be
plucky to the last. Forsyth himself.
with rather different success, affected
to he reading an old novel that he
had discovered in q saddle-bag but
Col. Carpentcr said his voice was q
little,unsteady and his eyes were some.
what deem when he held ont his hand
to Carpenter and babe him welcome
to "Beecher's Island" a name that has
since been given to the battle ground,
Of the 81 men who went into the
fight eight were killed, eight were dis.
abled for life and 12 others were
wounded. The Indians, who were II
to |, admitted subsequently loss Of
IS killed.