New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1890-12-03

A 50 O. HE sun shOne SO Hereby
aws hot on the 18th of Au-
u ~ gust, 1877, that the
o. VI leaves of the trees folded
@the m selves in humble
W protest and the birds
crept pantingly under the shade of
the brushwood which lined the banks
OF Otter creek in their endeavor to
screen themselves from the fiery orb.
But the heat seemingly had no effect
upon a man who stooduponan over
turned wagon which formed part of
some breastwork that had been up
reared upon a knoll about five hun
dred yards from the creek. He was
shading his weary eyes with his hand
as he looked earnestly along a trail
which ran away to the southeast.
ono signs of the troops yet" he
muttered, as he rubbed his weary
eyes; good heavens another like
this and then"-
Band! zip! rang out the report of a
rife, and bullet buried itself in the
wagon bed. ...
"A miss is as good as a mile my
teauties,' said the soldier, for such
his dress showed him to be.
though" he added after a moments
Consideration, Cpd prefer the mile!''
Instantly from the hills that lay
about half a mile to westward of
the creek came the report of many
rifles, and u shower OF bullets Whis-
tied unpleasantly close to the fool
hardy soldier, who now, yielding to
the entreaties Of his comrades, slowly
descended from the breastwork and
entered the corral Inside the corral
narrowing sight met his eyes. In
a pit behind the hastily thrown up
parapeU lay number of wounded
men vainly calling for "water, water,''
the murmuring (which they could
almost hear as they lay there suffer-
ing from the agony Of thirst aug
nented by the pain of their wounds
Their faces were pale and wan their
lips were cracked and dry, and as
the sweltering sun beat upon their
dying forms they moved their heads
uneasily from side to side, moaning,
feebly, ''water, waterr' 1t was truly
a heart-rending scene. U i,
So thought old Jones, the soldier
who had just descended from the
lookout; for striding over to where
the commanding officer stood he re-
quested Col. Mack to allow him to
go to the creek and obtain some
water for the wounded. +.
EDo you know that you will al
most certainly sarcifce your life in
SO dOing?" said the colonel, for the
approach to the creek was swept by
the enemy's fire. -,
''Why, sir, | allow that thar is a
risk; but, sir, they re sufferin' awful, ("
Jones returned, Jerking his thumb
over his shoulder to indicate what
he meant by they"
"Well, then since you will go, my
brave fellow, may God protect 70 u!''
the stern old soldier returned, his
gray eyes suffused with tears as he
witnessed this touching trait of true
heroism in the private
Catching up a couple Of buckets
Jones clambered OVER the breastWork
and walked toward the creek as co oil
and self possessed as if he were
crossing q parade ground. AS the
enemy's bullets plowed up the
ground in front and rear Of him the
hearts of his comrades stood still.
They held their breath and grasped
more tightly their carbines as they
watched the progress of this daring
soldier who was willing to lay down
his life if by SO doing few wounded
comrades might be benefited. Reach
ing the creek he filed his buckets and
returned. When about half way to
the camp he stopped and rested him
self, calmly directing his gaze toward
the enemy's lines. who, seemingly
aSIOHlSHef ny His cOOlueSS, WlUuLelu
their fire and allowed him to pass
unmolested.
So the day wore on. Twice the In
dams had striven to carry the camp
and twice had they been repulsed.
But Col. Mack knew full we'll that he
could not possibly hold out ano ther
day; his garrison was becoming
weaker, his ammunition and ratioils
were running low, and the Indians,
having received 4 reinforcement,