The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1895-09-05
nsion. The fight lasted three hours ana

fusion. The fight lasted three hours and
over 800 warriors went down. As 1t
would be only question Of time when
the whole baud would be wiped out IT
the battle continued, the redskins were
glad Of an excuse to retreat. This was
given them by the arrival Of a relief de-
tachment from the fort.
Forsyth's band in the terrible fight Of
September, 1868, were volunteers-that
is to say, the leader was a colonel in the
regular army on staff duty at Fort Wal
lace. The second in command, Lieuten-
ant F. H. Beecher, was a war veteran
under orders, but not on duty. The men
were scouts. Forsyth had served in the
field under Sheridan, and when the saw
ages broke out in their fiendish raids
along the borders Of Kansas, Colorado
and Nebraska he offered to lead any one
wishing to fight the Indians to the scene
of their latest depredations. The party
struck trail on branch Of the Repnb-
lican river on the 14th Of September,
but for two days saw no redskins. On
the 10th Forsyth established camp on
Dry Fork in the center of a plain skirt
cd with hills and dotted with clumps Of
stunted trees. Late in the day band Of
several hundred Indians rushed from the
hills and attempted to stampede the
animals grazing near the camp They
were repulsed, and the wary colonel
moved his force to an island, where he
intrenched by throwing up rifle pits en-
circling the camp. Early on the 18th
the Indians opened a steady fire. They
were armed with repeating rifles, that
terrible weapon which had vanquished
them in front of Powell's wagon corral
the summer before. Counting upon their
improved arms, the savages were very
bold. The boys outstripped the braves
and by crawling on the ground got close
to the besieged lines. AS usual, the first
onslaught was preceded by shower OF
bullets and arrows. From elevations at
a safe distance hordes Of nonoombatants,
old men, women and children, set up
weird, wild whoop as balsd Of mount
ed warriors, numbering several hun
dred, set out at full gallop toward the
island Roman Nose, the war chief Of
the Cheyennes, rode in front and went
down at the first fire opened by the
scouts. He fell within a few feet Of the
rifle pits, and the whole front line was
wiped out at the same time. The scouts
knew how to deal their fire, and the
savages in the rear were appalled, by the
slaughter A line of dead Indians kept
company with the fallen chief. Roman
Nose was a typical savage Of the golden
age of the red men. He had never but
once taken the hand Of white man, and
that was to demand something. His
death was followed by lull of two
hours, and then the attack was renewed
and kept up till night.
The customary third grand charge
came at the close Of the day and was re-
pulsed like the rest. Forsyth's loss had
been severe Lieutenant Beecher and
four scouts were dead, and Forsyth had
received two wounds, one Of which shat
tered leg. A surgeon also had been
killed and IA Of the scouts wounded.
All the horses and mules had been kill
ed in their tracks.
The camp was 100 miles from the
nearest supports, and would have to
stand siege indefinitely. Like the train
ed fighters they were, the scouts knew
how to husband ammunition, so were
we'll supplied, but the equally important
bread ration was short. In the emer-
gency horse meat must answer for food,
and the steaks were cut from the slaught
cred animals Sprinkled with powder
they would keep some days. Forsyth
said to his men, "We will win this fight
yet or sell our lives dearly in the at
tempt" A supply Of water was obtained
within the Enclosure by scooping out :
spring in the sand. With sand a parape
was made all around the island, and il
this work the bodies Of the horses, alst
the saddles, were utilized-anything, il
fact, that could stop bullets or arrows
The first night Of the siege two scout
volunteered to 20 out through the In
dian lines to summon help from For
Wallace. They were not heard from 70
nine days, or until the 25th. The secon'
day the Indians kept up a continuou
fire upon the island and attempted il
|
from cover. That night two more scout
went out, but they returned the follow
ing night and reported the camp com
pletely hemmed in by savages. The Gil
cumstance was most disheartenlng an
led to the belief that the first two ha
fallen captives to the merciless redskins
On the besieged island the situatio
grew more desperate each day. Anon
| the wounded there was terrible suffer
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