Huntsville gazette., 1894-07-21
thc runs. The rcar "

1 dltcf inc guns. DE rear V
up by Troop Il, Seventh cavalry, Ill
| Fort Sheridan. in coinma1 |. !yr IL
time. Of Lieut.. Tomrllins.
When within 100 feet of Oa'.wp1l
bouleval d, fllnize,l on elch sid b. n
elegant homes of the rich, there crd>he
on the ears of soldiers and civilian, a
roar like mighty burst OF thun ler.
| followed in an instant BY succession
of sharp explosions.
The half-dazed soldiers IN the rear
Of the timber caisson saw smoke an
| flame belch from the receptacle
! for the death-dealing missiles. Men,
! horses and wheels caiSson and other
parts of the battery rose before their
| Mortified gaze high in the air. The ex-
ploding powder and shot inclined to
the rear, which accounts for the escape
of all the cavalryem from the Third and
| Sixth cavalry. The artillerymen re-
celved the brunt of the explosion. be-
! ing directly in the rear Of the deadly
missiles and ignited powder, which
burst from the caisson, sending frag
ments in all directions.
Donovan and Doyle were doomed to
death which carried with it no suffer
ing, not even an instant of time to
realize their fate. They were sitting
on the caisson which exploded. Dono-
van was blown through the air over
trees fifty feet high distance of 500
| feet over a vacant lot, dropping on the
| Union stock yards railway tracks
| 0f i
picked up in the corner lot. There
was hardly shred of clothing left
on his body. and the mutilation
was so horrible that he could
not be recognized. 1t was known
| that he was blown in that direction
His companion, Doyle. was hurled 30C
| feet across the intersection of Oak
wood boulevard on the opposite side Of
| Grand boulevard. The mangled, life
less body came in contact with high
| fence, on top of which were lot of
stuffed bears, the advertisement of a
firm Of furriers Over these bears
| fifty feet from the ground, the force Of
| the explosion carried a wheel and other
parts of the gun carriage, 500 feet away
| from the bloody scene.
Gaylor, the farrier of the Seventh
cavalry troop, was riding in the second
| column behind the artillery. The shot
| and shell which rendered him a corpse
entered him over the heads OF the
troopers in the front ranks Part OF
| the leaden load which tore through
Gaylor's head took off half of Kane's
ear and tore hole in his hat as a me-
mento of the horrible tragedy.
Lead and wood pierced the body OF
| I'd Stolz, the wheel-horse driver near
est the exploding ammunition, and
killed the animal.
+ All the eight artillery horses are
| dead. The four which pulled the first
gun were hurled in front of the ex-
ploding powder and shells to grassy
part Of the boulevard 100 feet away
Three were killed outright, being shot
through and through. The fourth had
to be put out of his misery The four
| horses drawing the second gun were
| hurled to one side Of the boulevard on
the grass and all instantly killed.
Gaylor's horse was shot from under
him. and his life had to be taken soon
after his master had been blown into
eternity.
Confusion came with the first sound
of the explosion. Commanding officers
and men of the ranks could not realize
what it was. The first thought in the
minds Of many survivors was that re
ven geful railroad strikers or their sym
pathizers had hurled a bomb in their
midst, as they were close on the stock
yards railroad tracks.
The first word of command came
from Capt. Dodd, for the cavalry to
wheel out of the path of the flying pro-
| jectiles. The movement of the Indian
fighting cavalrymen was more like a
stampede. Fortunately, there was
| plenty of room for every horse and
rider, or there would probably have
been some fatal collisions. The driv-
ers of the artillery horses could not get
out of the way. All the horses were
dead or dying.
TIE beautiful boulevard, with its
double rows of stately trees on each
side, seemed to have suddenly become
the arena of a bloody conflict between
armed forces. Blood from man and
beast lying dead or wounded OH the
grassy plots on each side flowed in riv-
ulets and mingled with the heaps OF
blood-stained trappings and gun car
riages.
Civilian surgeons, hearing the deaf
ening roar, hurried to the scene with
| appliances, and the wounds of the liv-
| ing were soon roughly dressed. Mill
/ tary surgeons followed, when the news
Of the disaster to the troops reached
Camp Miles.
Wagon loads of police came flying to
the scene to restore order and keep
the gathering thousands of civilians
from cncroaching on the scene Of car
mage. The remains Of Donovan, Boyle
and Gaylor. were picked up and re-
moved in the police ambulances to the
i HYDE Park morgue. Attendants took