The herald., 1895-09-08

skip along like an antelope a while
dispatches. I've often wondered since
what became of my runaway Yankee
who would not surrender and whether
he went safely home at last.
when l was in command OF battery
there were several months during which
was supported by couple of com panies
recruited in Arizona They were gen.
tlemanly set of people; superb card play
ers,, and it was current piece of gossip
in that part of the confederacy that every
soldier in those two Arizona companies
had killed his man in private encounter.
They were commanded by Major Herbert,
of kin--cousin, think-to Secretary Her
bert; a good soldier ahd an elegant gen
tleman. Older Washington folk will
readily recall this Major Herbert. Just
before the war, in the very late SOS, he
was member of congress-. 1t unfortu-
nately CHANGED, too, without the slightest
fault ON the size of Major Herbert, that
hotel. The shooting took place in what is
now the long reception room; 1t was
then the dining room.
''These men of Major II erbert were pro-
found card sharps, as | say. They got
to gambling Win my men, and not only
won all their money, which l didn't care
about, but they won half the sabers and
six-shooters my men were armed with.
l mad great row getting them back, and
wouldn't have succeeded then except for
tile vigorous commands of Major Herbert
to his men to produce. Then it was that
they sullenly brought in the pistols and
sabers; they had wrapped them in
blankets and buried them to keep me
from finding them. verify believe If
hadn' t interiered those Arizona people
whom Herbert had with him would have
won my whole battery 1 understood aft
erwards that one of my men tried to open
a jack pot with my No. gun, but 9th ers
of the detail wouldn't have it.
1.-The hardest campaign 1 was in" con-
tinued Major Sayres. was through New
Mexico after General Candy. 1t didn't
work. What from battle and disease and
privation we lost three-fourths of our
men in nins months and got back into
Texas with only handful. I recollect
how We intercepted dispatch from
Candy, who was then at Fort Craig on
the Rio Grande, 1t was directed to the
officer in command at Fort Union.
After referring to our presence In New
Mexico he said
g But let them alone for the present I;
we will dig our potatoes when they are
ripe.
L didn't understand until afterwards
that we were the potatoes Canby was
talking about. 1t was lack of water
and general supplies which worsted us
rather than any fighting we got into.
Still Candy had terrible set of people
with him; they would fight like tigers.
Major, said the sergeant to me
a few days after the battle. whar did you
say these Yanks came from we've been
against the last three days.?
Colorado, I replied. Il understand
Candy enlisted them in Colorado. Why?
" On, nothing, rejoined the sergeant,
only half way allowed from the way
ta1 in h
THE saddest page in that New Mexico
campaign was the death of one of our Off
Gers. He was only boy and had COM
mand of company Of lancers. There
were about thirty men in the company.
and their main arm was LOWE knife
dashed to lance shaft. | don't believe
there were fifteen guns in the outfit.
One morning we were getting ready ior a
fight with Candy. The Yankees
same Colorado fellows-were falling into
line, and we were going through some
preliminary steps ourselves. Suddenly l
saw this company of lancers headed by
their boy oHcer come surging out OF q
little valley close to where the Yankees
were IN line. and charge them. The lane
ers were all alone. and whether thoy had
been ordered to the duty or were on their
own hook l never found out. AS they
| charged through the Yankees [ don't
| think gun was fired. The blue line
|
them charge through. But the moment
| they we're through to the rear the Yam
| KEGS the shooting began. Not one man
| of them ever got back. Our whole com.
mand charged at this time and we sue
| ceeded in driving the enemy half q
| mile We recovered our boy officer,
| wounded to death, shot in three places.
He couldn't live, so the doctor told him.
| That night he was lying in one of the
| dobe Mexican houses We had made hos
| pital of. The moon was shining and he
| asked to be placed close to the open door,
| where he could see across the sandy des-
ert toward Texas. At last he asked one
of the boys about his horse 1t was
| a splen lid animal which he had brought
| from his own home
" Did they Get my horseP he asked.
when he was told we had his Nurse
all safe he had enc of the men lead the
| animal up to the door where he could
look at him. There he lay, with his one
| sound arm caressing his horses muzzle
| The animal seemed to know him, too,
and rubbed his nose in his face as if de-
| lighted to find his master again.
"All at once pistol went off and the
flash shone in the interior of the 'dobe
like lightning. The horse sprang back
andthen stood trembling and snorting.
The boy soldier had taken his pistol
which was lying near and shot himself
through the brain. He was dead when we
z, t to him." GuM