Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1896-01-02

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was no one in the fort that had nerve
enough to ask him the questions we
were so anxious to have answered.
He was the one mystery Of the fort
Perhaps you will wonder why we
officers should take any interest in q
common private, bnt before / am
through you will see why that was.
What was also a mystery to us
was how he managed to become
well enough acquainted with the
quartermaster's daughter to be seen
occasionally out walking with her
Her name, you must remember dis,
tinctly, is Genevieve Hutle. She
was the belle of the fort. do not
believe to this day that there was
hardly man in that fort at that
time who would not have stood
even Indian torture if she had SO
wished-but don't be alarmed, gen
tlemen. No such thought would
have ever entered that girls mind
And then she was very beautiful
Perhaps this had something to do
with it. Those among us who had
been sick had especial reasons for
feeling grateful to her, for as soon
as she heard of case of sickness,
she seemed to he on pins and needles
until she received consent from her
father to nurse the sick one, whether
he was officer or private. In truth,
her kindness and charitablenesS to
all made adorers out of half the
men in the fort and the other half
were dead in love with her.
Now get down to the story. One
day there came the announcement
that the Indians had gone on the
warpath and that the men should be
got in readiness to leave at almost
any moment, to hunt down band
OF rowing bucks, who were thought
to be in our neighbOrhood, before
he had much chance of killing and
robbing the settlers. One morning
the command came, and a troop Of
cavalry was detailed to go out, and,
if possible, to bring them in. The
matter had now taken serious turn,
for the few bucks who had started
the depredations on small scale
had been joined by the others, un-
til several hundred Of them had
gone on the warpath in dead earn
est. 1t happened that the L" myste-
rious private's" troop was the one
detailed to go out first on a sort of
accommodating trip, and if on inves-
tigation it was thought necessary to
send out more men, they were to re-
turn for reinfOrcements.
1t was busy scene at the fort that
morning. Soon the bugle sounded,
the men leaped into their saddles
and moved up to the gate of the
fort. 1t was proud moment for
the nIen who composed that troop,
for it was their first actual eXpedi-
tion after the enemy. Then came
the sound of the bugle again, and
the men were off, with cheers of
their comrades ringing in their ears.
We in the fort had many anxious
hours that day and night, wonder
ing how the expedition would turn
out, though we little thought that
there would be any serious results.
They would probably return, we
thought, with the whole band of In
dians as prisoners. We had no idea
that the red devils would dare defy
them, or much less fire on them.
During the night terrible snow
storm set in, however, and we kept
anxious watch to see if they would
give up the chase on this account
and return to the fort. But no.
The night passed away and dawn
still saw no trace of the men. The
storm seemed to become more fu-
rious with the advent of the day and
the binding flakes made it imposs-
bic to see many feet outside the fort.
Then misgivings regarding the
safety of the men began to take
form. We had now almost forgot
ten about the Indians and our only
thoughts were of the men and how
they would manage to return to the
fort in this terrible storm. About
noon there was lull in the wind
and snow and couriers were sent out
to see If any traces of the troop
could be found. They might be
wandering few miles outside the
fort, we thought, unable to find
their way in. The searchers re-
turned, however, after a fruitless
search, saying that 1t was impossi-
bic to find any trace of them, not
knowing exactly where to look for
them. The ground, Of course, hav-
ing been covered by the snowstorm
after their departure, it was impos-
sible to follow their tracks.
About three O'Clock in the after
noon, however, we were rewarded in
our watch by seeing a dark mass off
to the west and az it drew nearer a
shout went up from the watchers
as we discovered our missing troop.
When the men rode into fort
again, they were piled with ques-
tions as to what they had done dur
ing the terrible storm. But the
queries were cut short by the an
nouncemeut that they had been pur-
sued by at least three hundred In
dians, who had poured bullets into
the little troop for while, and that
one man was missing altogether
Then for the first time we noticed
that many Of the men were covered
with blood. They had not been out
of the fort five hours, they said,
when they were attacked by band
of redskins most Unexpectedly, for
they had no idea that they were so
near the fort. They seemed to have
been waiting for them, for their re-
treat back was cut off by half the
band, while the rest kept up a fire
on them from ambush. They man.
aged to get out of it without the loss
of any men, however, A hot fire
had been kept up on both sides
while the retreat lasted and several
on our side had been wounded, and,
aS some of the man insistad tho In