The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1885-01-22
COL. HARNEY'S REVENGE.
"Ssd Buntline's" "Reminiscences of the
Seminole War.

When the massacre of the CalnOsa-
| hatchie ended the truce which hat for
! brief time suspended operations
| against the Seminoles, writes "Ned
| Buntline' in the New York H'orid. the
war opened with renewed activity. The
naval force on the coast-to which the
writer hereof, then midshipman, act
/ ing as lieutenant, was attached con-
sisted of the topsail schooner Flirt.
| Wave. and OtSeSo. commanded re-
>pectively by Lieutenant Commanding
| j. 4. Mclaughlin. Lieutenant John
Rodgers U;tie admiral and Passed
Alidshipman Edmund Templar Shu-
| brick, about whom | will shortly write
a tragic h story The army force con-
| sisted of the Sd art llery, 9th infantry,
ri dragons. and part of the 9TH in
fantry. The Sth infantry came later.
under command of Col. Worth. who
soon after was promoted, and. reliev-
ing Gen. Zachary Taylor, pushed ac-
| licaily ended. ] am thus particular
now because in these papers all these
parties will have place.
Col Harvey was raging mad when
he reached Key Biscayne on our schoon-
er, swearing the bitterest vengeance on
the red murderers of his brave men.
For it was murder in the broadcast
sense. The men fell not as soldiers in
battle. but were surprised in bed. shot
| down, slain and scalned, with 10
| chance for resistance. On the island
which forms Cape Florida there were
several companies of the Sd artillery
and two companies of the Sd DIR goons.
Harney rs lieutenant colonel ranked all
the officers at the post, and the naval
men having la gre number of cypress
canoes that had been made expressly
for our use in following the Indians mp
the river, lagoons, and bays along the
coast, made his plans easy of accom-
pliShment.
Calling for volunteers to 90 on the
expedition, the brave Harvey soon had
POD picked men, sailors and soldiers,
ready for start. forget just now
the names of oil the officers who went
along. | am almost sure that General
Sherman, now retired, was one-for he
was at the post, lieutenant. know
that the late Gen. Ord was there, as
will be seen in later lines in this sketch.
Lieut.. Rodney, of Delaware, gallant
dragOoh, also Capt. Fulton, of the same
regiment, Francis Key Murray, John
Contee, and Lieut.. Rogers were in the
naval contingent.
Young man." said Harney to me
when we were fitting out the canoes,
.'have you any small, strong rope on
board of the Otsego?''
Yes, colonel. Here is a coil of
'leep-sea lead-l.ne, which will holi
strain of so pounds, and it is small as
YOU Sect
1t is the very thing! Send the coil
Df rope to my boat. I'll make good use
of it before we get backr' he answ cred,
clinching his remark W tn one of his
usual bitter oaths against the murder
ing red niggers."
To make the story short, we got
away just after dark, provisioned for
ten days, but armed and munitioned
tor a weeks steady fighting, if it came
to that. We had thirty boats and ca
noes, averaging about seven men in
each. We padded as silently as possi-
BILE up to old Fort Dallas, at the mouth
of the Little Miami river, and entering
it pu he'd rapidly up into the ever
gla es. Everything depended ON our
taking the Indians by surprise. The
strictest ord, rs were given not to fire
gun, o. even give an order in a loud
tone. An experienced guide was in the
first canoe, and the others followed in
line as close as one could he kept to
another
1t took all n ght to pass up tn shai-
low, sinuons stream and get ia rly into
the glades. Then, fearing to be d s.
covered, we lay all day close ON little
island, watching through our glasses
tor smoke OF signs of occupation on
distant islands in sight Of ours. Our
vigilance and care were rewarded We
saw on one of the largest islands evident
sign: OF occupation, but NO sign Of