The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1896-04-02

THE MoEoToYY OF CAMP LIFE.
wished to be distinctly heard, and con-
sequentiy raised his voice TO high &C, y
thinking, ! suppose, they would be safer
holding the horses than fighting in the
mountains, never dreaming that if we
were beaten they would never get
out alive Those not holding horses
were drawn up in line preparatory to
going into battle; a speech was made
by the commanding officer, encouraging
every man to DO his duty, etc. We
threw off all surplus clothing, and were
to fire off our guns and reload, in order
TO be sure Of our firearms
Here an incident occurred to the
writer that will never be forgotten.
When firing our pieces my gun burst at
she muzzle; for about three inches 1t
was split. / could account for it in no
other way than that at camp when l
took the saddle off my horse | left the
carbine in the gun-boot, and when /
threw the saddle down the muzzle pene-
trated into the wet sand, forming a plug
of sand to the depth it penetrated,
which was the length of the split. The
carbine was loaded, of course, when /
threw the saddle down.
Everything in readiness to start, the
party was divided into three divisions
first division was to 90 to the left of the
entrance Of the canyon and
SCALE THE MOUNTAIN,
obliquing to the right in the direction
Of the canyon; the second would pro-
coed to the center, and into the mouth
of the canyon if necessary; the third
division were to proceed to the right of
the entrance and scale the mountain,
obli9uing TO the left in the direction of
the canyon. Lieut. Herman Noble was
in command of the party on the left.
The writer was in this squad. The first
division was small squad of not over
10 or dozen, including citizens.
We marched up the mountain,
punched somewhat in an irregular man.
ner, pulling ourselves up by taking hold
of bushes and rocks, proceeding very
slowly, my nearest companion being Sam
johnson, who had served two enlistments
in the Regular Army, and who knew
more than any man in the outfit about
Indian fighting. The higher we climbed
the higher the mountain seemed TO be
above us. We reached point overlook
ing The canyon where Gillispie's body
lay, and up to this time we had not
caught sight Of an Indian. A ledge of
rock three or four feet high in our front
afforded us temporary shelter from the
bullets Of the enemy as long as they
kept IN front of us and too high up on |
the mountain. We were entirely ex-
posed IN the rear and on either flank we
were in the same situation as the pro-
verbal ostrich, who, when pursued, sticks
hls head in the sand and leaves his BODY
exposed. j said to Sam johnson, nv
comrade: This silence is ominous and
torbodes a storm i think we will catch
it soon"
YOU are right we Will. and more
than we can stand" he replied. He had
scarcely finished the last sentence when
firing commenced on the right, where the
third division were endeavoring to
scale the mountain. The firing was kept
up quite brisk Y on the right and under
cover Of the firing a detail from the
second division rushed into the canyon
and recovered the body Of GiIlispie. The
third division being repulsed and the
second division having accomplished its
purpose, the recovery Of the BODY, the
Indians turned their attention to the
first division. At their first fire they
mortally wounded a citizen volunteer
who was not more than five feet away
from me.
The Lieutenant had assigned Sam
johnson and me to the left of our squad, /
the whole patty occupying space Of not
more than 20 feet square. We
HEARD THE BALL STRIKE
The volunteer citizen with thud that
made rs shudder The bullets were strik-
ing all around Us; the majority fell be-
yond Us. il was no use for us to fire, ex-
cept when we saw the smoke of a rifle
putting from behind a tree or rock, then
knowing that We were firing at random
and wasting ammunition.
While we were intently guarding the
left, Sam and | peered through crack
OF about two feet wide in the rocks that
were shelicring us from the enemy's bull
lets. Everything appeared to be quiet, |
except an occasional shot and the groans
OF the wounded citizen. During lull |
OF the firing ] saw what appeared to be