Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1896-07-04

/ ~ ~ instinct Tor bat
EW k1 -. tie ragged all the
/ I4k, H4fercer the mo-
M5EER Y g iment trained sol
N99ERNl dirs appeared on
@ ! the warpath. A
| wild desire to
meet and vanquish the great war chief
tains Of the White Father took root In
the breasts Of the red warriors, especial
| " the young bucks General Forsyth,
in Harper's Magazine for June, describes
battle between 80 scouts and 300 Chey-
ennes and Sioux in 1858. The second In
command, as well as the leader, General
Forsyth himself, was an old soldier and
nearly all of the men had seen army
service. A year before Forsyth's fight a
band Of 81 regular veterans, under Cap
tain James Powell. who at the time suf-
fered from a wound received In Sher-
man g battles, made an equally glorious
stand against 1000 Cheyennes and Arap-
ahoes
In the summer of 1857 Captain Pow
ell, with Company G, Twenty-seventh
infantry, was guarding the wood train
belonging to Fort Phil Kearny, Dakota,
and disposed Of his men in the timber
where the choppers were at work. Ordi-
narily the hostility Of the savages wore
itself out in harassing attacks on the
choppers or on the wagons passing be-
tween the fort and the pinery. The sum-
mer previous, however, Colonel Fetter-
mans fine detachment Of reserves,
marching from the fort to rescue the
wood train, had been attacked and
slaughtered to man. In anticipation OF
an attempt to repeat that terrible deed,
Powell prepared for the worst He con-
structed cover for his camp by removing
the wagon beds from their gearing and
arranging them right side upward on
the ground in the shape Of a circular
parapet. The wagon bodies were loop
holed so that the men could fire with
out exposing themselves. Powell and
his second in command, Lieutenant
John @. Jenniss, remained in the corral
with 25 soldiers and five frontiersmen,
who acted as guides, interpreters, etc
Early in the morning, Aug. Q, small par
ties Of Indians attempted to stampede
the animals In their grazing grounds,
but they were repulsed by the herders,
and Powell led his men out from the
corral 80 as to cover the retreat OF the
party to their hiding places among the
rocks, where the choppers and guards
had already taken shelter. The Indians
had massed themselves in the ravines
during the night, and although they ap-
peared in force to take part in the skir-
mish were driven off, with heavy loss.
Powell's company lost killed, and the
survivors, 30, including the leaders and
guides, retired to the correl to await the
assault Instantly after their failure to
surprise the camp the Indians formed .
body of several hundred mounted war
riors In front of the corral Powell dis
tributed his men around the low parapet
and supplied them with blankets and
other thick material to cover themselves
as they lay prostrate in the wagon bot
toms. They were armed with repeating
rifles, fearful weapon, then quite new
ON the plains.
On rode the Indians, their ponies
running like wild animals in herd.
The merciless breechloaders were too
much for even savage ardor, and after
drawing q heavy fire the red warriors
drew back. There was a momentary con-
fusion among the main body Of Indians
when the survivors Of the attack return
ed, but in an incredibly short space OF
time body Of mounted men to the
number Of 1900 stood apart from the
disordered gathering, ready for grand
charge. ...
The soldiers understood what was be-
fore them and placed ready their sur
plus weapons, also intrenohing tools In
case they should be driven from their
inolosure. Sending up frantic warwhoops
to torment and terrify their foes, the
Indians first encircled the corral and
then rushed forward to common CEN
ter. Waiting until the foremost warriors
were within easy range Powell's veter-
ans opened a fire which staggered the
savages and finally brought them to q
dead stop. In the briefest possible time
for getting under headway the Indians
advanced again, but the slaughter from
that handful appalled, them. They gath
cred up their dead and made for the dis
tant timber. After the repulse Of their
grand charge the mounted warriors
abandoned their ponies and with re-
enforcement that swelled the number to
2,OOO advanced in a semioircu1ar line.
When within few hundred PAGES, they
started on a run for the corral and In
spite of the hot fusillade Of bullets that
met them got within ten yards OF the
parapet. At that distance many dropped
dead, chief among them. For the first
time the Indian fire took effect on the
men In the corral During the run OF
the naked warriors Lieutenant Jenniss
and one of the privates raised their
heads above the parapet and were shot
dead Wild war songs sounded over the
plains as signal that the spirits OF the
Indians had not been crushed by their
many failures though every breechloader
in that pent up citadel had claimed Its
d,elv 1,iotiy,o AGAIN and aoain The n0Xt