Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1892-08-25
fl Soldiers S6Or6t
By Captain CHARLES KING, u. S. A.
copyright, 1872, BY J. B. Lippincott company
and published by special arrangement with
them.
CHAPTER XIII.

//F %+ szzSAs.r =
r ~
lI@ArC -:
"Oh, God' Ny little onesr'
There was silence and anxiety in the
I long range Of winter camps about the
4 agency. The Twelfth were gone, no
/ body knew Just where; but over to the
north, over toward those frowniHS Bad
LandsH-all the more wild and treacher-
ous now that the snow had filed every
rift and creyice, for the jagged surface
was one mass of pitfalls-other battal-
1 ions of horse were also gone, and the
yigilant watch over those Indians still
/ clustering about their old haunts in the
valley was redoubled. The heavier guns
+ of the field battery commanded the
smoky lodges, the lighter pieces were
away with the cavalry. The infantry,
muffied to their eyebrows, manned the
rifle pits and guard line and threw their
sheltering wings over the deserted
camps. For good OF for i'll, the crisis
! was at hand. Whatsoever doubt had
existed as to the almost universal hos
/ tility Of the Sioux was banished by the
events of the preceding week. The at
tempted ambush of Sergeant Ellis, of
Berrien's advance guard, the attack
upon the scouts and couriers al the Por-
cupine, and, lastly, the affair at the
/ Wolf, i'll which Brewster a second time
had gained distinction, all pointed un-
o,.i,,ol,- fo ono mellow. VII +e1o,-o,.
might be their assurances to officials
high in rank, to agents whose power
would be ut end were war to ensue, to
self constituted trainers Of public opin-
ion, every soldier on the spot knew, and
well knew, that the Indians would be
peaceable only i'll presence Of tornida-
bic force of bluecoats, but that nothing
but ambush and massacre awaited the
whites who ventured forth unguarded.
Up TO this moment, however, of all those
gathered at the scene the only troops
which had had actual collision with the
Sioux were Of Berrien's battalion.
Far away south at the Pawnee old
Kenyon had been doing his utmost to
still the anxious fears among the faini-
lies of the absent soldiers. There had
been lively excitement when the papers
arrived giving sensational details of Ber-
riens wound and Of the affair at the
Porcupine, but it was as nothing to that
which prevailed over the tidings Of the
imminent peril in which Mrs. Berrien
and Winifred had been placed That ii
was just like Mrs Berrien to insist on
Joining her wounded husband at ouce
was conceded by all, but opinions diff
fered as to the propriety Of her course III
taking Winifred with her. This the
major decided by prompt assertion that
Miss Berrien doubtless refused to be left
behind. '.And, being a very lovely
blending of the characteristics Of both
her parents, said he, sit would have
been decidedly unlike Miss Berrien to
have stayed at home"
And then came the dread news that a
great band from the northeast, rein
forced by a reckless gang Of fanatical
young ghost dancers from the Bad
Lands. had broken away, and that all
the regiments had gone to head them off
Far. without fight, they could not 60
The question was which regiment would
be the first to meet them. Then the
next nights mail brought the next days
papers, and the Twelfth having swung
loose and being absent from the neigh
borhood whence were derived the items
on which correspondents based their re.
ports and editors their comments, shared
the usual fate Of the absentee, and hay
ing sustained the only casualties and in
tiicted the only punishments yet heard
of abont the agency, was now coming III
for its share OF the 'stoujours tort tc
which it was, Of course, justly entitled
Kenyon first glared at and then exploded
over a dispatch which read somewhat as
follows:
"All hope of bloodless solution Of the
difficulty is now at an end. Even the
most peacefully disposed among the res.
ervation Indians are furious over what
they do not hesitate to term the slaugh-
ter Of their clanslnen III the three affairs
that have recently occurred, and it is an
open secret that at general headquarters
the gravest annoyance is felt over the
total overthrow of carefully laid plans,
all caused by the injudicious conduct Of
certain hot headed officers of cavalry
The friends Of White Wolf, the princi-
pal brave shot by Major Berrien's
troopers, declare that he and those with
him were friendly and were only striving
10 reach the major with the news that
couriers were coming, hoping thereby to
earn something to eat, for they were
cold and hungry when they were fired
on without warning and even while
making signals Of peace and friendship
White Wolf was slain. Then the Brules
who were with them could not be re-
strained and attacked the couriers in re-
venge.
''As for the affair at Wolf creek after
the blizzard there is unspoken denuncia-
ton among the Indians, and the .damna-
ton of faint praise in other quarters Of
the conduct Of cavalry officer present. y
The Indians declare they had gone out
only to gather up their ponies. The sight
of the mules told them there must be an
ambulance stalled somewhere in the
drifts, and they were eagerly searching
for it to render succor and aid when
they were fired upon from ambush by
the lieutenant and his men, and two OF
their ponies Were killed and one young
Indian shot through the leg. The In
dams declare they could easily have
killed Major Berrien, but merely strove
to defend themselves and explain, and
that had they been hostile they could
have finished the lieutenant and his little
squad at the Wolf creek crossing long
before ereinforceInents came. Altogether,
there Is something SO plausible in their
statements that it is understood that the
copduet both of the major and at least
one of his subalterns will be made the
subject of official investigation.
"Well, well, wells' said Kenyon.
Thank God I'm not serving a grateful
nation in the heart of tho Indian conn
try. It's bad enough to be shot and
worse to be lied about, and that is all
the comfort there is in being cavalry
man, if do say it who am nothing but
cross grained old crank of adoughboy.
If this is what the Twelfth is to get for
"a mere affair Of outposts,' what the