Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1894-02-24

" a. times ana adventures were the
burden OF the conversation among a
half dozen veterans OF the civil war
the other day. War stories are al
ways entertaining. and each one OF
this party was ready with some reci-
tai OF deed Of daring, clever piece
Of strategT. tongh-luck experiences.
or the grimly humorous side Of some
dangerous predieament
Fl have read many stories said
one Of the old soldiers, .of individual
exhibitions Of bravery during the war,
but witnessed a duel between two
officers Of high rank that had read il
/ woald have believed it the product
% imagination
The veteran was : great story-tel-
Ter, and the party into which the re-
porter had intruded settled down pre-
pared for something interesting.
Daring the early days Of the war.
said the old warrior. the Federals,
who had already driven the rebels
from Southern Kentucky. We're much
t-ou bled down in Christian county, by
. Colonel Woodward, who 1 believe,
lived near Lafayette. in that county.
He was in the habit OF visiting his
home with a small party OF Skin
mishers. and he alwa7s carried away
with him a number Of horses and
supplies The raids were uniformly
successful because of their audaeity.
and Woodward vas thorn in the side
Of the Union forces in charge of that
territory. A number Of Northern
officers. noted for their sagacity and
courage. were intrusted with the task
Of capturing or killing Woodward, but
he was too much for them The
Southern sym pathizers, OF whom
there were many in the vicinity.
greatly enjoyed these fruitless efforts
TO end the career Of the audacious
rebel, and the Union officers were ex-
( asperated by the ill-concealed amuse-
ment of the neighborhood at their ex-
4 pense.
K FINALLY Major Bracket II think
I he was from Northern Ohio-voluu-
I teered TO put an end 70 the depreda-
tons Of Woodward. By some means
( he learned that the Confederate. with
I small force, would visit Lafayette
I one night, and an elaborate plan fer
his capture was arranged Soon
enough the raider put in an appear
ance. as had been expected, and Ma
I jor Bracket thought his game was at
last corraled- Woodward was at last
surrounded, as Major Braekett
thought, and the signal was given TO
! the Union men to close in. TheT did
so, but just as they thought the game
was up for the rebel, they were sud
/ denly attacked from several quarters
simultaneously and generalization en-
sued Major Bracket swore and
+ fumed. and the whole force fed pell-
through Lafayette. followed by the
/ jeering tauuts of the Southern sympa-
I thizers-
Though no one had the temerity
/ to say It TO his face, Major Bracket
I felt that be was regarded as coward,
and he was naturally exasperated.
1t developed later that Woodward's
force had been greatly inferior, nu-
merically, to that Of Brackets Con-
sequently he had TO submit to a deal
of chatting from his brother officers,
and, being of a sensitive nature, it
hurt him more than he would ac-
knowledge. He seemed to think that
his reputation for personal courage
| mad suffered, and he was all but fran
tic for opportunity to prove that he
was no coward. Bracket was soon
after assigned for duty in the neigh
borhoOd of Memphis, where he did
good work, but nothing, as he thought,
70 repair his shattered reputation.
Zone day, however, the longed-for
opportunity came. At the head Of
sldrmishiBg party he was quietly
marching down the road when sud-
denly he came upon a similar party OF
Confederates. The unexpected meet
ing threw both parties into confusion,
and before either had a chance 70
form for fight. Bracket ordered his
men TO remain quiet and rode for.
ward 1t was a remarkable course,
and, believe. without a parallel in
the history Of the war, but he chal-
lenged the commanding officer of the
rebels to personal conflict.
sit happened that the rebel officer
was Major Valentine, whose home
was in Memphis. He was one OF For
rests men, and had reputation as a
man Of aggressive personal daring.
He was surprised at the unusual chal-
leBge. but he Immediately accepted,
and the two officers. in plain view OF
their companies. galloped toward each
other with drawn sa 0ers They went
at each other like knights OF old, and
thrilling duel FOLLOWED. The horses
turned. charged an9 reared with won
derful rapidly. The sabera Kissed