Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1896-05-14
MY FIRST CAMPAIGN.

ner Of Arizona, life Ind long been mon
< otonous, 50 we heard with much pleas
ure that several bands If Apaches had
Jumped their reservations and were
on the warpath. Preparations We're at
once begun iii anticipation Of expected
orders to round the Indians up. Soon
we received the orders by telegraph,
and at once took the field
The other officers Of my troop were
either on leave or on detached service,
so l was temporarily i'll command Of
my troop / had graduated from the
/ Military academy but short time be-
\ fore, and had been on but few scouts
Still had seen enough field service to
make me quite confident Of my ability
/ to 1mmand my troop.
\ The number Of hostile Indians was
reported at about 30, divided into sew
eral bands AS the direction which they
had taken was not definitely known, it
was considered best for the troops to
separate, as Il single troop could easily
I capture band Of the hostiles, or even
the whole lot in case the bands should
unite, while by separating the chances
Of striking the trails would be greatly
/ increased
1 hailed this plan with delight, for as
4 long as my troop was with any one Of
the others, !, being the junior officer,
could merely obey the orders given to
me But alone l would be free to exer-
else my ingenuity.
] e l,af.
Here was an early chance to win fame,
and perhaps a brevet as an Indian fight
erl | was alone, and would plan the
capture I intended to make. Old ser
geants with a troop are fond Of giving adj
vice to the youngsters just out of the
academy, but 1 would make them un-
derstand that they need not attempt
! that with mel
My route was toward the northeast.
We proceeded rapidly, searching eager
ly for Indian signs, through desert
covered with cactus Of many varieties,
Snakes, tarantulas, centipeds and other
similar creatures abounded,
For two days we did not see the
slightest sign Of an Indian trail, and
began to fear that was not to have a
chance to win my spurs. But on the
morning Of the third day we struck an
Indian trail, and my hopes rose. They
were short lived, for the trail was am old
one We soon lost it and resumed our
march IN the original direction.
Next day, soon after an hours halt
for dinner, the scouts reported an Indian
trail | hurried forward to inspect it, 1t
was a very plain one, and even to my
impractical eve it was evident that the
band was much larger than we had ex-
peoted to meet. | concluded that the
several bands must, by a preconcerted
plan, have concentrated at some point.
was delighted at this, for instead Of
capturing one band I should capture all.
Without loss Of time / gave the nee
essary instructions, took precautions to
avoid falling into an ambush and gave
the order to advance. Old Indian hunt
ers say: "If you see Apache signs, be
very careful; if you don't see signs, be
much more careful. n If the Indians sus-
pect they are being pursued, they will
destroy, as far as possible, all signs of
their trail The clearness Of the trail we
were following assured me that the In
dians were blissfully unconscious Of our
presence.
The scouts, however, We're directed to
remain near the column, and in order
not to lose any Of the credit Of the cap
ture 1 followed close on their heels. We
moved rapidly, and tile trail grew
warmer every minute We We're at the
most not over two hours behind the
Apaches
1t was growing dusk, and / began to
fear that we should not come up with
them that night, but would be forced to
go into camp at dark The country had
become rolling, 50 thatwe could not zee
any distance ahead, and this should
have made me more cautious to avoid an
ambush But l did not anticipate any
thing of this kind, for | still had no rea-
son to think that the Indians had any
idea we were close Oh their trail
AS we came over the crest Of a small
hill the scouts pointed out to me thin
line of smoke rising beyond the next
rise of ground at once halted and
dismounted my command Undoubtedly
the Indians had gone into camp unsus-
picious Of our approach.
could hear my heart beat with ex-
citement aud anticipation, but i'll order
to lay my plans correctly it was neces-
sary for me to see the ground myself
After moments hesitation | concluded
to take the first sergeant with me.
We tied blrches of grass On our heads
and then crept forward ten yards apart
until we came to the crest cf the OBJ
Etructing hill peered over drew has
tily back and took Il long breath There
they werel There was no doubt Of that,
for they were not 100 yards away, and
at the first glance / saw that they were
, almost as many men as | had.
This was rathe more than l had bar
gained for had expected to meet ten
or a dozen, or III case the bands had
united, 30 at most However, | was i'll
for it now 1t would never do to re-
treat. and my glory would be all the
greater from such capture.
took another glance and then beck
oned to my sergeant to fall back a short