Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-08-24
THE BOY LIEurENANrs NERVE.
He Lost 1t Once, but Redeemed HIM
self i'm Gallant Fashion.

kAo A<oSt OuCe, Out redeemed Him.
self In Gallant Fashion.
From the Detroit Free Press
Just how II happened no one could ever
explain. but the more charitable argued
that the boy lieutenant lost his head for
moment He was fresh from West Point
and only boy. and had never seen a
hostile Indian in his life. He had q dozen
troopers with him, and was beating up
the country along Sunnower Creek when
band of fifty warriors suddenly appeared.
1t was complete surprise, and the small
troop was somewhat scattered, but the
thing to have done was to rally on the
bush-covered knoll a quarter of a mile
away, and there make a 'stand-off." The
horses would probably have been sacrificed,
but the soil was soft and the men could
have intrenched themselves and held the
position against a hundred warriors. The
siege might have lasted into the next day,
but help from the fort was sure to come
within twenty-four hours. The young Of
f1cer didn't do the right thing. He gave
the order to fall back to the creek a mile
no position of defense, while four troop
ers had been shot from their saddles dur
ing the flight. Not a man would have es-
capped with his life but for the sudden and
unlooked-for appearance of couple of
horse hunters. who were taken by the In
dams for scouts in advance of cavalry.
The officer had made a mistake, and
sacrificed four men. He had been tried
and found lacking in nerve. From that
hour he was marked man. No other
officer or officers wife gave him the cut
direct, but he was made to feel that he
walked in the shadow. Had they believed
1t was cowardice his resignation would
have been demanded within the hour. No.
they could not call it that, but his loss OF
bad. There was a splendid opportunity
to make a gallant fight and infiict loss on
the enemy, but he had ordered a retreat
and lost third of his men. 1t was too
small an affair in those stirring days for
court of inquiry. and so the young officer
had to bear his burden. He could not help
but know that he had lost caste with his
brother officers. and he could not help but
read the same story in the eyes of the
enlisted men. Everybody wondered why he
did not resign, and though many secretly
sympa thized with him, he was forgiven
by none.
then came a fresh campaign against the
hostiles. One day a troup Of sixty men
was detached from the main command
for scout. The first lieutenant was
absent on detached service, and the sec
ond ranked next to the captain. who had
never openly censured him. and yet had
never forgiven him for the stain on the
escutcheon. After ride Of fifteen miles
the troopers wheeled about to find that
a band of hostiles had crept in between
them and the main command. The fight
opened with odds Of four to one, and in ten
mil utes the captain and four men were
lying dead and the little force was being
pushed back and surrounded. Every man
knew that the boy lieutenant had once
upon a time lost his nerve, and as he as
sumed command the lines became unsteady,
and a panic was threatened. Then for the
first time they heard his voice above the
din of battle, shouting encouragement to
them:
island fast, men, stand fast, Steady
away your cartridgeSr
He could not be seen a dozen feet away
through the smoke, but his voice was
steady and full of fight, and the fear of
disaster was replaced by grim determine
ton. Confident in the strength of numbers
and determined to make 1t slaughter, the
Indians pressed recklessly forward. The
lieuten int was down on the left flank when
the bullets began. to fly in there, and SER
geant and ten men were left-faced to meet
the danger. He was up on the right flank
it, and a sergeant and ten men were right
faced to drive theil back. Ten minutes
later the horse holders were being shot
down from the rear, but the lieutenant and
a corporal and four or five priyates were
quickly there and making every bullet
count.
Hes daisy! He's fighter! He's got
the nerve of old Crook himself1' said rle
troopers to each other as they filled the
chambers of their Spencers.
After half an hour the fire of the Indians
began to slacken. Help might come at any
moment to the little band holding out so
determinedly. There had been no order to
Ietreat-no signs of a panic. The troopers
were lying behind rocks and bushes and in
rife pits dug by their knives, and they
were shooting to kill. The Indian has
pluck, but lacks persistency. If victory
cannot be won at dash he anticipates de-
feat. 1t was so in this instance. Surprised
at the fierce defense-fearful of a superior
force coming down upon them-dispirited
at their losses, which were five to one
they made ready to draw off. Then the
exultant, cheering troopers heard the voice
of the lieutenant shouting:
up, men, and into your saddlesi We
have stood them olive have driven them
away-but that is not enoughw
There were forty-eight troopers who
swung themselves into the saddle and fol-
lowed the boy lieutenant as he dashed out
at the body of Indians slowly riding away
With ringing cheers, with sabers flashing,
the little band drove down into the mass
and through it, cutting and slashing and
shouting defiance under the cloud of dust
Back they came, fighting more like demons
than men, and then the Indians broke and
fled in terror, and halted not until they
were miles away. More than forty of them
lay dead and wounded. OF the troopers
ten wererdead, twenty wounded. And that
night, after the general had complimented
the boy lieutenant and every officer had
taken him by the hand, the private soldiers
called to each other across the camp fires:
Who lost his nerve? Who's under the
ban? Who can't fight? Well 1 guess not
not for JoSenhp'