Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-02-17

canoes that had Dcen maue eAptcsoiy
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 go on the
expedition, the brave Harney soon had
200 picked men, sailors and soldiers,
ready for start. forget just now
the names of all the officers who went
along. l am almost sure that General
Sherman, now retired, was one-for he
was at the post, lieutenant. l know
that the late Gen. Ord was there, as
will be seen in later lines in this sketch
Lieut.. Rodney, of Delaware. gallant
dragoon, 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?'
Eyes, colonel. Here is a coil of
deep-sea lead-lne, which will holi a
strain of so pounds, and it is small, as
you see!'
ut is the very thing! Send the coil
of rope to my boat. I'll make good use
of it before we get back!' he answered,
| clinching his remark with 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 ard munitioncd
for weeks steady fighting, if it came
to that. We had thirty boats and ca
noes, averaging about seven men in
each. We padded as silent y as posi-
BILE up to old Fort Dallas, at the mouth
| of the Little Miami river, and entering
it pushed -apidly up into the ever
glades. Everything depended on our
taking the Indians by surprise. The
| strictest orders were given not to fire a
gun, or 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 be kept to
another.
1t took all ght to pass up tn shall
| low, sinuous stream and get fairly into
| the glades. Then, fearing to be d IS
7 covered, we lay all day close on little
island, watching through our glasses
for smoke or signs of occupation on
distant islands in sight of ours. Our
| vigilance and care were rewarded. We
| saw on one ofthe largest islands evident
| signs of occupation. but no sign Of
alarm to show that our presence in the
| glades had been discovered. We knew
that we were near the haunts of sam
JONES'" or Arp aka, the oldest chief in
the Seminole nation, and of Chikiki,
the giant fishing chie', who was sup.
posed to be at the head of the party
that committed the mas acre we were
now to avenge.
| All day, resting and sleeping as much
as We could, we laid by, eatiag cooked
provisions, making no fire, and wa ting
for night to cover our further move
ments. And right glad we were when
it came. and just cloudy enough-not
too dark-to cover our approach to the
island, which we knew was occupied.
Every man was now on the alert. Arms
were inspected, orders given to keep
| in line until close TO the ISLAND. Then
| certain detailed boats were to lay off
around it to cut off escape, while three
landing parties were to advance and
| surprise the enemy, not shot to be
fired until we were discovered by the
Indians. Then" said Harvey, with
| bitter oath, Ego n for work. Kill or
| capture all you see-young or old, he
or she. Spare them only as they spar
ed my poor boys over on the Caloosa-
hatchier"
On, slowly and steadily, mufiied pad
dies rising and falling with measured
cadence, we push d through shallow
water and stiff saw-grass. 1t was not
more than six or seven miles, appar-
emily that we had to go, yet we were
till near midnight getting into position
for action, close up to the tIre-covered
island. We had so far heard no sound
except the occa sional yelp Of some In
dian dog on the island. But now, un-
derstanding their orders, the officers of
each detachment moved forward.
Harney and his dragons, with car
bines, took the center. the artillerymen,
armed with muskets, the right; the ma
w men the left, supplied with United
States Yager rifles.
Soon the landing parties were on
shore. Yet no sound of alarm. ..For-
ward" came the order, passed in whis-
pers from officer to man, along the
line. On-and soon a scent of smoke
greets our nostrils. Still onward, and
a chorus of yelping ours break the still
ness of the night.
"Forward-doubleq quickr'
Then in a few seconds we burst into
village of palm-thatched houses,
with smoldering fires around and among
them, and horrible yell and a scatter
ing fire from the startled redskins greet
US as we rush in, firing as we 60. 1t
was the quickest bit of work ever saw,
yet the surprise was SO complete that it
was hardly like a fight. Fifteen or
twenty shots on their side, full volley
on ours, and we had nothing more to
shoot at, for all who were not down,
dead or wounded, fell to the earth in
submission, except four or five, who
fled off in tn, darkness among the trees
aud shrubbery. Among these was seen
the gigantic Chikika, dropping his rifle
from broken arm as he ran. A brave
private in the I'd dragoons-his name
was Hull, and he Is made sergeant
soon after-saw Ctiaiki as he ran, and
followed, carbine in hand. He never
lost sight of the chief, but kept on until
he could get sure shot. Wounded
and bleeding Chikika found he could
not escape. He halted, threw up his
left uninjured hand, and cried out in
his broken English:
mo shoot! me good Injun-heap
good! No shoot!'
Take that for Caloosahatchie!n
shouted Hall. as he sent a ball throuoh
the chiefs heart. An instant later he
tore the scalp from Chikika's head, and
then ran back to the village to present
it to Col. Harney. The colonel was
standing by some wounded officers and
men of the command looking sternly at
the grOup of terrified prisoners and a