Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-05-16

taken it into their heads to march else
| where, and [ thought it expedient not to
/ let them take the initiative, | decided to
1 attack them as soon as | found them, and
wherever | found them. To this end,
! though l should have been glad Of little
| more time for preparation, I resolved TO
take the field at once. Within an hour Of
receiving positive assurance that the
! enemy were at Wynter's Hill, I gave or
ders to march, and my men, being SPLEEN
| did walkers and in good fettle, reckoned
that we should probably reach that place
! in about three days We were attended
by about five hundred Caribs, who carried
| our supplies Of food and reserve ammuni-
/ ton. I intended also to employ them as
! scouts, but as they were quite unorganized
| and poorly armed, could not reckon them
as electives.
had not much fear that the Cariberoes
! would evade me. Whether their purpose
was conquest or merely plumber. their OBJ
/ jective point must be Fairhaven, whittier
| the direct road ran along the north coast,
| the best cultivated and most thickly pop
| ulated part of the country; and unless they
! took very devious and difficult route by
the south, this was the only road they
! could follow. Ihad, moreover, so arranged
/ matters that, let them 90 which way they
would, should have speedy information.
On the other hand, as they might make
| a move at any moment, l took every pre-
caution to avoid being surprised. Two Of
our best runners were sent on in advance
then. at a short interval. followed four
more, then eight, after whom came the
/ advanced guard, company Of the first
regiment. Carib scouts were also contin-
ually ahead, and our bivouacs 1--WE had no
| tents) were guarded by triple line of SEN
tries and outposts.
| These precautions were all the more ne
cessary as multitudes of slaves were leay-
| ing their masters, and no doubt conveying
information to the en0my. The houses of
several planters had been plundered and
burned, and we met many fugitives (amOng
others, our friend Weston and his family
on their way to Fairhaven.
| 1t was evident that the fortunes of Fair
Island depended on US. If we were beaten,
or failed to drive the invaders into the sea,
the country would be ruined.
/ AS we were eating our evening meal af-
ter our third days march, two scouts came
| in with the news that the Caribs were still
at Wynter's Hill, and that they had been
! Joined by vast numbers of Calibans. and
that appearances indicated that they were
making ready for a move. In reply to an
inquiry as to their strength, L was answer
This was rather vague, and not very sat
| isfactOry; but as waiting would not make
! them fewer, determined to attack early
! in the morning We had light of moon,
and by starting at two o'clock we should
be able to reach the neighborhood Of Wynn
ter's Hill about six 1t would be far better
than getting there five or six hours later:
for at that time OF the year the MONDAY
heat was almost insupportable.
Having come to this resolution, I called
my officers together, told them what pro-
posed to do and gave such orders as /
deemed necessary. They were full of flight
and confident Of success-rather too conf
dent, in fact | advised them, whatever
they did, not to hold the enemy too cheap,
| but to be as vigiant and wary as if we had
to do with a disciplined GGrce commanded
by a competent general. knew the Carl
beroes to be brave, and as they Outnum-
! bered US by probably three or four to one,
! they were likely to prove formidable foes;
our arms, moreover, were not SO superior
to theirs that we could afford to throw
away a chance; we had only fifty rifles,
| and if their bows and arrows were inferior
to ours, they had a great many more OF
them.
The men were as eager as the officers.
and marched so well doing twenty miles
in four hours) that at sunrise the runners
reported that Wynter's Hill was in sight.
On this | ordered a halt and while the
men were breakfasting I went forward
| with Oliver Fame and Bolsover to recon.
| hotter.
The Cariberoes were encamped about
| two miles off, at the edge of a wood. Be,
| tween our bivOuac and the wood the ground
was undulating and open, and, as thought
not badly adapted for battle on a small
scale. But as the enemy occupied the
higher ground they had the advantage of
position, and had they possessed firearms
might have rendered it almost impregna-
BILE. Even as it was, if they chung to the
wood and declined to 'come on, we should
not be able to get at them without heavy
loss and risk of disaster, for as yet their
/ numbers were an unknown quantity. To
overcome this difficulty I had recourse to q
stratagem which, though it may seem
cruel, was, think, justifiable in the cir
cunstances, my object being not merely to
save the island, but to give the Cariberoes
such lesson as would keep them away
| from it for at least a generation. As yet
! they had not seen us-cCuld not see us I'M
til we stirred; for we We're behind a clump
of trees in dip of the ground. My plan
was to send the native camp-followers on
| first, in the hope that the Cariberoes, per-
ceiving how few they were, and that they
belonged to the race they least feared,
| might come down the hill to meet them, a
proceeding which would afford US the op-
portunity we desired.
To complete my description of the ground
and render clear what followed, l must
| add that we were near the sea, which was
Whereabouts bordered by tall limestone
| cliffs, rising sheer from the water, and
broken only by single gap halfway up
! Wynter's Hill. Broadly speaking, the hill
was to our front. the sea to our right, and
a stretch of open country to our left.
My stratagem, albeit far from being a
failure, did not prove the brilliant success
which I expected. Some of the men, con-
trary to my orders, lighted fires, so that
before our CarIb allies marched out the
Cariberoes were already on the qlti UtUe,
! and, though they came down the hill in
force, they advanced cautiously and, rather
to my surprise, silently and in good order.
They numbered at least five thousand, and
it was obvious that they were commanded
by a chief who knew something of the art
of war.
The Caribs did not take much harm, af-
ter all-then. After exchanging a few
shots with the enemy they bolted-accord-
I iDcr N order i they ran down the hill