The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1895-02-15

frl one, and the men were in good spirits.
They feared no danger. War had not be-
gun in earnest with the Seminoles, and
the scouts had reported that no Indians
were near. After breakfast Major Dadc
rode in front Of his men and told them TO
be Of good heart; that the difficulties and
dangers they had been encountering were
over, and that as soon as they arrived at
Fort King they should have n three days
rest and celebrate Christmas.
The words had barely been uttered when
a sheet of flame burst from the palmettos
and the long grass about them, and the
leaden rain from hundreds OF rifles swept
away half Of the little command in an in
slant. Major Dade, Captain Fraser, Soc
ond in command, and Lieutenant Nudge
fell dead at the first fire Of tho ambushed
Seminoles and fuStc:ve slaves, some 500
or 900 In number. The sudden attack,
coming as IL did like thunderbolt from
a sunny sky, naturally threw the troops
into disorder, but in three minutes they
were fighting as steadily and coolly rs
veterans of target practice. They fell back
about 600 yards under command Of Cap
tain Gardiner and Lieutenant Basinger
and rallied around a six FOUNDER that was
rumbling along at tho rear of the column.
A few we'll directed discharges from the
cannon, and the Indians retreated tempo
rnrily.
The littlo command was surrounded
however, and it's members prepared to sell
their lives as dearly as possible. They
hastily felled trees, forming a meager tri-
angular breastwork, behind which they
crouched in readiness to meet the second
attack of the cruel foe. They had not long
to wait. Soon from every quarter the In
dians and negroes poured a destructive
fire into the poorly protected garrison,
they could An eyewitness, Ransom
Clarke, declared that they seemed as cool
and self possessed as IL they were in tho
woods shooting game. At the end of
hours OF hard fighting Captain Gardiner
succumbed to five or six wounds, and
Licutcnant BGsinger, the only officer then
living, took command. II am the only
officer left, boys" DO said grimly. ''Let
us do the best we can" For eight hours
the unequal battle ragged, the fire from the
hastily constructed fort gradually grow
ing weaker and weaker as one by one its
gallant defenders were picked of by the
Indian riflemen. At 2:30 O'Clock a rifle
ball through the thighs brought down the
gallant Basinger, and he was afterward
tomahawkcd by a negro.
The firing was continued by the soldiers
so long as "a man was left who could load
a musket. About the last to fire was Ran
som Clarke, private, who was one of the
three survivors of the battle. Clarke was
first wounded in the thigh about o'clock.
He fell outside the breastworks, but soon
recovered sufficiently to crawl in again.
a little later, while raising his musket to
fire from behind the barricade, he received
a second wound in the arm. He still con-
tinucd to fire, but soon recei"ed two more
wounds-one in the head and another in
the back. Finally ball from a negroes
rifle at short range disabled him, and tho
Indians rushed into the breastworks with
out opposition. Not n man was left who
could fire n shot in defense A party of
negroes followed the Indians, stripping
the dead, many of whom had already been
scalped by the Seminoles. In some man
her Clarke escaped being scalped, and the
negroes although they killed several other
wounded men, spared his life, remarking
.hat ne would suffer more i'm slowly dying
from his wounds than from being killed
outright After taking his boots they hur-
tIeu away, evidently fearing that other
troops would soon lie upon rl,cm.
o-arhe lay still until darkness came,
%,''h re crdwled over the bodies 10 see if
~ "eF' "'';d- He found private named
\ ''''y Nnn Yves still alive and not had
- ""'. .N", and the two soldiers started
$50. 80 -lruOkc, on Tampa bav. about
~ ''--thit. DgCourcy was Killed by
T2ro.. 1-'''''' ont Clarke reached Fort
ami l,,., ~ It ne found PEivatcs humas
T,oiro3 ~ The trio were ali that re-
Iv n ,ra,S'L IaJor l)ade' command. Ncnr-
month later the dead yvor,, b,,ri,.d 80,
Ine Odt'iehcId by Captain +. A Hitchcock
anu the monument TO '.Dade and JIis
Is45 "' west Point III