The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1889-09-21
q OUERILLAS.
An Ineident thai Sivbdly Recalls Methsoti'
OF Buslw hacking Warfare.

An Incident th0t ytvt0uy WeGotba mGumOsnS
OF Bsshw Warfare. =.
Four times i'm my life I have stood i'm the
shadow Of dcath-dcath deliberately
planned for me by superior power-and
four times have ! escaped II, s.ays ana oil
stagcr i'm the New York san. I therefore
assert that l have u right tn my say i'm
answering the query always before the
public: SHOW does u man feel i'm the
presence of death" The question does
not, of course, apply tn soldiers in action
or tn men who face death ny accident. IL
Is only when the grim monster IL slow i'm
his approach, and "a man IL given tn UNI
derstand that his very minutes arr, num-
In the summer of 1sa when the rebel
terror of Southern Missouri. l was cap
turssi by "a detachment Of them while act
ing as "a regimcutal mail carrier. At n lone
ly spot ON the highway between the
suai.Icniv snr,,n9 ont of the woosis at me.
The hour was 4 O'Clock in the ~afternoon,
and as | WAS within the Union lines ! was
before the men betrayed themselves "a
rabbit had crossed the highway ahead OF
me, and ! had drawn my revolver. hoping
when the trio made the rush. one sprang
for my horses head and the other two
first man dead i'm his tracks. As l wheeled
spring and my bullet struck the man in
another move the third man pulled me
from my horse. We WERE only half "a
mile from the Union car s. and ID they c,, did
an alarm. As i was pulled IN the ground
the man struck me ON the head with the
minutes 1 was unconscious. When / came
to I had been dragged of the road
into TN: bushes. as had the dead
had ~o"%ded. had his knife in his
<tlnr ,,rptpStssl up.I held him off una
finally ordered tn mount, my feet made
fast under the saddle, and. after going
came tn the spot whore the gueriilas had
left their horses: They mounted, struck
into n Birdie path. and after going abont
three miles we game upon the guerilla
camp. Thcrs, were from cighty-five to a
hundre men. and things looked as il they
mao 's s,,, .n n,n. s 80 ,hcm u h.d , rnsy n hr,, nS
shelters. While l heard the name of Shelby
many times. he was not in the party. l
do not know for sure that IL was n portion
of his command, AS there We're several
hands raidinG through that section, hut
In impression l got was that II was q
heard given the captain was .Cap'n Bill"
and the lieutenant was referred To "a
Rocking lot of men, dressed i'm all sorts of
clothes and armed with all sorts of wcapr
ons, and gave up All hoP, as soon AS
Virginia occasionally spared n prisoner,
but the western guerilla had 40 pity.
As soon AS it was known that l had
killed one man and wounded another
they were for killing me at once. A dozen
ways of doing IL were suggested, but II
w,a;, nov 70 S sr o,s.ni a nnI rr n.fe " ~as . iarFe
Bill'' ordered that I should he tied To q
tree and guarded through the night, and
before they moved i'm the morning. l was
dashed to Q tree I'm a sitting position. N
guara took a seat on 2 stump near by.
both food and drink. When 1 Protested
to blow faaS my head off IL didn't Shut up.
The man sentenced to he hanged doubt
less hopes for u rcpricvc until the moose
satisfied that my hours were numbered, I
had nothing. to hope for. II was an extra
mail was riding with, and my failure to
appear would not he noticed. The reports
Of my revolver could not have been heard
by any Of my friends nor was the presence
suspected. I turned the matter over and
over in my mind and i could not satisfy
myself that I had one chance i'm ~ hum
seen "a dozen victims of guerilla vengeance,
and they had either been knitted or the
muzxle of n revolver held close tai the ear
suffering was of brief Duration. After
had figured il out that I was tn die I felt
relieved. Indeed, there was "a feeling of
clation about il. l was young and robust
and life was sweet, but did not cling to it
as you might expect. The thought of bcg-
EIik tiN'ui W IstT NV
Could I have got loose and armed myself
! should have fought the whole crowd i'm
stead of running away.
soon after midnight I fell asleep, and
that with considerable noise going ON
around me. IL was daylight when | awoke
and the men were turning ont. They
cooked and ate breakfast, Offering me no
part, and l knew that every minute
brought me nearer death. I was not nerv-
GUS, hut I was curious tai know what
method they might adopt. After break
fast had been disposed of the men gath
erred about me and 'Captain Bill' said to
man whom l had wounded i'm the shoulder:
"He's your meat, of course, hut the boys
want To see some fun out of il. You Kin
crack him OFT hand.'
The man had his left arm i'm "a sling.
He drew "a heavy revolver and Wake OFT
a distance of fifteen PAGES. and then
turned and levcled ON me-. / shut my
eyes and counted. ! got to .'seven'' when
the report came. The bullet hit thet tree
six inches above my head, and to the
right. and there was n general laugh. He
raised his arm again, and this time j had
only counted ''six" when the report
came. He made "a line shot, hut was
seven or eight inches too high. The
pain of his wound had uuncrved him.
The men laughed and iccrch. hut lac shut
his teeth hard. raised his arm slowly, and
now 1 felt that all was over. l felt the
wind of his bullet and then heard the re-
port. The ball passed my right ear by no
more than half am inch.
sSlhntfs hnlly 2" shnatssl half a. slnxer