Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1891-03-13

Sigourney Is already in line with his
! troop on the flank of the post facing old
Mount Turnbull, near him the longer
| line of the infantry battalion has also
halted, and now, in ominous silence, do
1 the veterans SO recently from the scenes
+; of civilized war wait the approach of
| a savage foe.
1 With bated breath has been passed
from one to another the dreaded name
| of .'Cochise," that fearless Indian
| whose prowess had for years maintained
| an absolute supremacy throughout the
| Southwest, from the Rio Grande to the
| Colorado. the mention of whom might
| well cause the cheek of the border man
| to pale.
From his customary haunts Cochise
had heard of the work of the blonde
! soldier chief on the Shus-Bc-To. and
| had come to punish him. He had
| brought his chosen warriors, armed
with the lance. with bows and arrows.
! and with firearms, the spoils of many
a massacre in Arizona and Sonora.
Contrary to his custom. he had said he
| would fight the soldiers on open
ground: and now, followed by horde
of painted ficnds, he was riding on to
! the devoted garrison of BALDWIN.
| On. on they moved. with almost mil
| itary precision, and in numbers much
greater than the little body of troopers.
/, An occasional glimpse could be caught
from beneath the overhanging cloud of
| dust with which they We're envelOped.
| while so perfect was the discipline of
this wonderful savage that no word
was spoken, the silence being broken
| only by the pounding of unshOd hoofs
| and the snorting of the ponies, who
scented the coming fray.
The Indians had advanced so that
the dull sound of their coming was
| audible. and had reached a level piece
of ground adjacent to the post. when
the command Forward was given 10y
the cavalry Captain, and the troop
| moved out. This. in rapid succession,
was followed by the commands ''Trot!'
and .'Gallop,' Then. in the clear,
\ brisk notes of the buglc, came the
Charge
With ranks unbrollen, and cleaning
sabers high in air, sped the gallant
| troopers, with the swiftness of the
! wind. to meet momentum with momcn-
| tum. Five hundred yards We're passed,
| and the white man and the red were
| for an instant face to face. eye glaring
into eye. with silent, deadly purpose;
then the wild whoop of the Apachcs
| filled the air, cchoing back from the
mountain-side as from a thousand saw
age threats, mingling with the loud
cheers of the soldiers as the surging
| bodies met.
Turning in his saddle the Captain
called: "NOw, men, each one pick his
Indian" There was no time for more.
At the head of the Indian band rode
the herculean Cochise, with lance al
ready poised, who now, in broken En-
glish. shouted: Here, white man. We
to fightr'
| The point of the Indians lance was
near the Captains breast, when, with n
quick stroke of the saber. he severed it
from the staff and sent it whizzing
through the air. Then bending as he
rode, he pierced Cochise's arm: but ere
he could seize the advantage which for
an instant seemed within his grasp. the
crowding horses of his troopers forced
him on.
| Now the soldiers and the Indians
were Il confused. dust-enveloped. undis-
tinguishable mass, each fighting des-
perately for life. Quickly flashed the
saber, alternating the thrusts of the
lance dexterously parted by the prac-
ticed trooper, while from the tightly
drawn bows too surely flew the muir
derous fiint-pointed arrows of the
! Apaches. Here in the dust they rolled,
side by side, the endorsed trooper and
his willy foeman. Then on foot they
fought, with carbine, with pistol, or
still with lance and saber, with the
ferocity of war, and for self-preserva-
ton, this unto the death. Ridcrless
dashed the frightened ponies of the In
dams and the larger horses of the fallen
soldiers, with nostrils wide apart. wildly
snorting, into the thickest of the fight:
/ then. as some faithful brute received
his death-wOund. sounded that cry of
equine terror heard mid the scenes of
carnage where Destiny has ever led
humanity. There was no quarter: to
! fall was almost certain death. Quickly
was the ground strewn with the bodies
| of those who but now sought each
others lives; together, silently and
peacefully. lay the white man and the
| Indian in the arms of Death.
All this passed in almost the space of
time it has taken to tell it, and the op-
posing forces has passed Through each
| other" On the other side the trumpet
had already sounded the Rally"
Quickly did the Captain assemble the
remainder of his men to renew the
charge, but the Indians did not wait: it
was not their method. The Apaches
seemed almost to vanish, so rapidly did
they gain the cover of the trees and
rocks bordering the stream at a point
above the post.
While the cavalry was charging the
Indians on the open plain to the right,
their infantry companions had not re-
manned idle. AS the troop had moved
out to meet Cochise. there had come
from the concealment afforded by the
rocks and mesquite trees above and in
the rear, another band of Indians, dis
mounted. This was even a larger num-
Der than that with Cochise, and was led
by powerful savage, second only to
Cochise himself Hitherto their pres
ence had not been discovered: and had
the first party not been beaten off, it
was their apparent purpose to form a
junction inside the post, where a gen.
ersfl massacre would have been the Sc
quence.
The approach of these Indians was
only discovered by the Major who COM
manded the infantry in time to enable |
him to move his men at a rapid gait to |
a place in the rear of the line of officers |
quarters. Directly behind each set of |
these quarters had been built dug
ont :, a kind of Ortside COLLAR Sucb nc l.