The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-05-14
The Indians, seeing this, were encour-
annd 70 continnn in nnrsllit md their

| station a few miles back, which they had
burned, numbering all the inmatcs) sue
cecdcd so well in keeping pace with him
| that Howard could almost feel the
| breath from the nostrils of his pursuer's
horse. Thus they rode, nose to tail, for
a mile or two, the Indian occupying the
time in shooting at Howard. Three
| pistols, six-shootcrs, he cmpticd, and
bullets flew around poor Howard,
on every side. -Four more entered
the poor horse, already 50 badly
wounded, a bullet pierced Towards
| clothes at his side, another cut the strap
of his field glass, which was lost, another
cut off his spur, bruising the heel slightly
but not drawing blood; a fourth pierced
the wooden brccch of his ride, rs he car
ried it in his hand-almoSt striking 1t
from his grasp; others struck the saddle,
and in short they seemed to strike every
where but where they were aimed. All
this time Howard was c~ndeavoring to
reach over his shoulder and get a shot at
the Indian, but at every such movement
the savage slipped under the belly of his
| horse, and was out of sight, except q hand
on the name, and heel on the back. Final
", Inflammation exhausted. the Indian
rcscrtcd to his spear, and with the wooden
| handle gave Howard one or two severe
raps on the head. trying to knock him
| out of his saddlc-without avail, but at
last Towards horse. that had been tottcr-
ing shakily, from loss of blood, FELL on
his knees, and the Indian rushed up to
| end the contest. At that instant the
horse struggled to his feet again, and
Howard saw that his opportunity had
| come, his foe was at his side, and he
quickly thrust his rifle against the In
dams body and fired, blowing Il hole
| through that seemed as large as ones
arm. The Indian shrieked, leaped out OF
his saddle, and fell to the ground on his
face, dead.
Looking about, Howard saw the re-
maindcr of the band following at a
prudent distance, for by this time they
began to look upon him as a god, invul-
nerable to all their weapons. When, at
last, the poor horse fell PROSTATE, and APP
parently dead, they all fockcd up to
make a final disposition of their trouble
some enemy. But Howard, ~undaunted,
Law quietly down behind the body of his
horse, and when they came within short
range, took deliberate aim and fired,
| killing another man. This unlookcd-for
| disaster completely dcmoralized them,
| and they fled in all directions. Within
| three minutes not an Indian was in sight.
He turned his attention to his horse,
loosencd the girth to take OIL the saddle,
| and was surprised when the animal drew
a deep breath and struggled to his feet.
He then led him slowly to where the rest
of the party had made a stand about
| their wagon, and as he approached from
one direction l came limping up from the
other, with a bullet in my right leg. The
Indians had paid their general attentions
to the rest of us during the time Howard
was having his fight, but fortunately not
in force. and we succeeded in getting to-
gether at the wagon without the loss of a
man, l being the only one wounded
in the whole engagement. As soon
as Howard joined us we started
on the retreat for camp, the In
dams harassing us the whole way. They
would form in single file or all abreast,
and charge as though they were going to
| ride right over us, but on getting within
short range would wheel and retire, after
discharging a volley of shots that would
| tear up the earth all around us. This
was most terrifying to me, a boy fresh
from school, who had never experienced
any sort of warfare, and had never seen
a gun fired by one man at another-but
Howard, who had gone through four
wears of the war of the rebellion, and
had seen three years or more OF border
warfare with Indians. was quite eXhlle-
rated BY the excitement. He gave them
a challenge by walking alone several hun
dred Yards away on one side. They
charged, but retrcated when he kneeled
and fired.
Arriving at the camp after an hours
ride and running fight, we found the es-
cort thoroughly alarmed, and just starting
out to pick up our dead bodies, for they
had seen so many Indians about that they
made sure we were all killed. 1t was a
scene of mutual rejoicing and congratu-
lation, as we had feared they had met an
untimely fate. A hasty council OF war
was held as to what was to be done.
We were unanimous in the opinion that
it was folly to continue work
without a larger escort and a personal
body-guard, beside it was necessary that
nv wound should be dressed. Consc-
q%uently it was decided to turn our faces
in the direction of Sheridan, which we
did, arriving there late IN the afternoon,
the Indians following us all the way seek
ing an opportunity to attack us again.
With them it had become a question of
revenge, as they had lost heavily, while
we had escaped entirely.
The horse that carried Howard so nobly
through this fight ultimately recovered.
Three of tic five bullets we're extracted.
l aftcrward took him home to Burlin-
game, where he was carefully fed and
pampercd for some years till he died.
I recovered from my wound very
quickly, and within six weeks rejoined
the party, receiving promotion to the
first place in the corps-that of transit
man-which l c occupied until the road
was completed.
Our miraculous escape was long the
subject of wonder on the frontier, where
it was regarded as the most marvellous
on record, as we fought against such
fearful odds. hope the narrative as |
have written it will be ineligible. |
fear I have not made it as clear as / could
verbally. 1t always excitcs ME to think
or tell of it.-Nep York Ereainq Post