The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1892-1907, 1895-02-09
THE DApE MONUMENT.

ful 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 Indian
were near. After breakfast Major Dade
rode In front of his men and told them 10
be OF good heart; that the difficulties and
dangers they had been encountering were
over, and that as soon rs they arrived at
Fort King they should havo three days
rest and celebrate Christmas.
! The words had barely been uttered when
sheet of fame burst from tho palmettos
and the long grass about them, and the
lcadcn rain from hundreds of rifles swept
away half of the little command in an Ia.
slant. Major Dadc, Captain Fraser, sec
ond in command, and Llcutenans Nudge
fell dead at the first fro Of tho nmbushed
Seminolcs and fugi..go slaves, some 500
or 900 In number. The sudden attack.
coming as 10 did like a thunderbolt from
a sunny sky, naturally throw tho troops
into disorder, but In three minutes they
were fighting as steadily and coo!ly IA
veterans at target practice. They fell back
about goo yards under command OF Cap
tain Gardiner and Lieutenant Basinger
and rnllicd around six FOUNDER that was
rumbliug along a5 the rear Of the column
a few well directed discharges from the
cannon, and the Indians reiterated tempo
rariIy
Tho little command was surrou nted,
however, and its mem bers prepared to sell
their lives as dearly rs possible They
hastily felled trees, forming q mea2er tri-
angular hreastwork, behind which they
cruuchcd in readiness to meet the second
attack Of the cruel foe They had not long
to wait. Soon from evcry quarter the In
dams and negroes poured a destructive
nro into the poorly protected garrison,
which tho brave soldiers returned a. best
they could. An eyewitness, Ransom
Clarke, declared that they seemed a. cool
and self Possessed az II they were 10 the
woods shooting game AT the end Of
hours OF hard fighting Captain Gardiner |
saccumbod 10 lvo or six wounds, and |
Lieutenant Basiugcr, tho only officer then
living took command. II am the only
officer left, boys" he said grinly. Let
Us do tho best We can" For eight hour.
the unequal battle -acrd, the fire from In.
hastily constructed fort gradually grow
ing weaker and weaker as ono by one its
gallant defenders 70 r. picked off by the
Indian riHcmcn- ~ 80 o'clock q rifle 1
ball through the 'hiSHs brought down the
gallant Bas!nscr, and ho was afterwarI
somahawkcd ~ a negro.
Tho firing was continued ~ the soldiers
so long - man was lnts who could load
muakct. About thu Inst tn nre va. Ran
som Clark, pirate. who wa. one of the
three survivors ~ the laftir Clarke WA
hrst wounded ju thethi2h ahcu: lo'cIack
Ho fell OutsiG" rho brrasswurks, Eu. sopr
recovered sufficiently 20 crawl In again
n !ttIa later, Will" raising Li4 mu-ket To-
hre from behind the t1Vrirade, he rrceiysd
a secoud wound in tLcarIn flasrill con
tihu.d 10 Ire, but soon reco wed two more
wcHnd--Dn1 in tho head and another In
'he tA'N Finally ha.l from a nrgrp's
r'ila NJ shcrt range disabled him, and III.
Indians rushed into the rrastwor,s with
1nt opposition Not man was left sho
could fro q shot In defense A Marty u
ncgrn"' followed the Indians, stripping
tho dead, many II whom had alrradv teen
scaiped ~ the Scmlnulcs. In some man
her Clarke escaped Icing scalped, md the
negroes, although they killed several other
wounded men, spared his life rcmnrkIna
that he would suffer moro In slowly diving
from his wounds than from being killed
outright. After taking his boots they hur
rled away, evidently fearing that other
troops would soon TO upon them.
Clarke lay still until darkness. c,me
when he crawied over tho bodies To see II
all were dead. He found a private named
DeCourcy who was still alive and not bad.
ly wounded, and the two soldiers started
toward Fort Brooke, on Tampa hay, abou,
80 miles distant. DcCourcy was Killed by
an Indian, but Clarke reached For.
Brooke, whoro he found Priyates Thomu
and Spraguc. Tho trio wcro oil that re-
manned Of Major Dade's command Near.
ly month later the dead wero buried on
the battlefield by Captain r. a. Hitchcock,
and tho monument to "Dade and His
Command was erected at West Point In
1875.