St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1884-01-10

dered to charge down the hill upo
the enemy, and, every man of us yell
ing as hIdeOusly as the red devil
: themselves, we rushed right into tn
r enemy's camp. AS soon as we emerCe
from the woods we were met with riff
4 ball from every side, and good man,
poor fellows never reached the camp
The detachment in the rear of th,
camp came into the conflict from tha
side, and we forced the Indians on
from their hiding places to the oper
ground, and the battle waged rigb
among their tents. Black Kettle
seemed to he everywhere. and his hid.
eous presence alone prolonged the fight
lie held his warriors to their ground
and the fight became free and general
The Indian women and even the chill
dren took part in it, and among the
dead that soon strewed the snow.
squaws and pappOoses were mingled
In few minutes the snow was as red
Tor rods around us as the paint on
Black Kettles face from the blood OF
dead and wounded. In hand to-
hand fight like this, of course, it was
every one for himself, and soon found
myself in one edge of the camp, firing
and bayoneting and clubbing my gun.
lust as the situation required. A SOL
dler named Wilson. who had messed
with me, was killed right by my side
by an Indian who fired from behind n
tent. The next instant Il ball shattered
my arm at the elbow, aud it fell help
less at my side. Immediately follow
ing that shot a big Indian, no doubt
the one who killed Wilson and wound
ed me, sprang from behind the tent
and rushed at me with his tomahawk
raised. My gun was empty and NV
left hand being useless could not load
think | could have run my bayOnet
through the Indian, though, but an
Indian woman stole up behind me and,
throwing one arm about my neck.
jerked me backward in the snow. The
thIckest part of the fight was in an
other part of the camp, and none of
our men We're near me except Door
dead Wilson. The Indian seemed to be
the only one, too, that was not in the
general engagement, except Il lot of
squaws and pnppoOscs that swarmed
IN tents from all directions to the spot
where lay, the squaw who had thrown
me holding me down 10y the hair. while
other women and pappoOse spit in my
face, jumped on my body, kicked me.
punched me and tortured me in every
way they could. My arm was very
painful, and was bleeding profuselv. !
Fortunately, the Indian who had
jumped from behind his tent with his |
tomahawk drawn, gave the women and |
pappooseS too much time to have their |
iun with me, thinking, perhaps, that |
he had me sure. Suddenly | heard Il
shot, and two squaws fell dead in the
snow by my side. One of our boys had |
discovered my situation. The pap
pooscs and squaws instantly scampered
away, but the Indian was determined
to run the risk of getting my scalp
anyhow, and he ponnced down on me
with his knees on my chest, drew his
knife and, the next second, although il
seemed hours to me. the top of my
head was IN his hand, and he was gone.
Imagine some one who hates YOU
with the utmost intensity grabbing a
handful of of your hair while YOU are
lying DrOStrate and hnlnlasS and uiv
enough almost IU loosen UIIU scalp
then, while this painful tension is not
imagine the not particularly
sharp blade of knife being run
quickly in Il circle around your scalp
with Il SAW like motion. Then let your
grasp if it can the effect
that IL strong, quick jerk on the tuft of
hair to release the scalp from any
particles that may still hold it
in place would have on your nervous
and physical systems, and you will
have some idea how it feels to be
When that Indian sawed his
knife around the top of my head first
Il sense of cold numbness pervaded
my whole body. This was quickly
followed by a flash of pain that started
mt my feet and ran like an electric
shock to my brain. That was but mo-
mentary, but it was terrible. When the
Indian tore my scalp from my head it
seemed rs if must have been connected
with cords to every part of my body.
The pain that followed the cutting
around the scalp had been frightful,
but it was ecstasy compared with the
torture that followed the tearing of it
from my head. Streaks of pain shot
to every nerve. My knees were drawn
up almost to my chin, and my fingers
closed couvulsively together in the
snow, and that was all | remember.
cavalry had come up in the mean time,
and the Indians were routed. Only a |
few escaped, but Black Kettle was
among them. A comrade told me that
he had shot and killed the Indian who |
scalped me, but the scalp was not re-
covered at any rate. |, with the rest
of the wounded, was sent to the near
est agency, and lay helpless and suf
fering untold misery for weeks, and
when | recovered | concluded that |
had seen enough of Indian fighting,
aud asked for my discharge. The ma
ture of my wounds were such that |
received my discharge at once. Gen.
Custer jOcularly remarked to me after
ward that made a mistake in leaving
the service, Think said he, 'how sur
prised and disgusted some red devil of
an Indian might he if you should stay
with us and happen to fall in his hands
when he went to raise your hair to
find that some one had been there be-
fore him."