The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1896-04-23
"cRIPPLlNe THE ENEMY"
-one Of the Most succcssfui Raids Of the
War"

FN'NNNN'hssA |
War"
Mount Fall ini Right dressl Roll
'nlli BY fours right WHEEL march,"
md away we 20 over the rough road, with
sabers jingling and horses steaminR In the
frosty air as revellle sounds to arouse the
tens Of thousands Of Shoppers to roll call
and another day--to the south until the |
last tent is passed, to the south until the
last broken down wagon Is left behind, |
10 the south until the $50 horses plunge |
down the bank and into the icy waters
and take sip now and then as they |
pick their way across, with bits Of Ice |
swirlng against tho saddle flaps and
patches Of icy foam touching the troop
ers' heels in spite Of their elevation. 1t
Is Raccoon ford On the south bank,
shivering with cold as they bend their ears
10 the north to listen to the chatter Of the
moving column, are the enemy's yedettes.
In the woods in rear of them, still linger-
ing in their blankets or building up the
slumbering campflres to prepare for break
fast, is the reserve picket We came upon
them suddenly There is pop pop, pop
Of carbines and muskets; two or three
troopers in blue reel In their saddles and
fall into the waters to go floating down as
corpses always float; cheer, rush,
and it is over. We sit In our saddles and
look down upon five dead men, upon five
great blood blotohes ON the white snow,
upon five human beings sacrificed without
pity and unpitiud as they lie There were
40 Others but they rushed into the woods
and escaped. Only five dead. That was
cheap Offering to the god Of war. Not a
grave for one of the dead, not a look be-
hind as we push up the long hill to the
south. The rush and the excitement have
warmed up the blood of the troopers, and
they light their brier roots and laugh and
joke as they ride on.
A mile away the smoke is ascending
from farmhouse chimney, and the noise
of firing at the ford has called a gray haired
old man down to his gate. Behind the pa
per window curtain, as we ride up, we
catch sight of the snow white hair and
motherly face of the wife. Tho meanest
thug in great city would hesitate to rob
and destroy after seeing the gray hairs and
wrinkles of age War has less conscience
than thug. There is well filed barn
opposite the house whose contents have
comforted the enemy and may again II we
do not destroy it. A word of command;
the striking of q match; we hear tho
flames roar and cracRle behind us as we
ride on. The old man holds up his hands
as If appealing to heaven; the aged wife
opens the door as II she would get clearer
sight of men who could do such things;
our rear guard wave their hats and laugh
as the flames burst through the roof.
Down the hill on the other side, through
! bit of woods with the dead leaves fiut-
tering as they fall, and we come to a creek
Spawned by covered bridge. The clatter
Of the iron shod hoofs of the $50 horses on
the frosty planks would sound to one-half
mile away like the noise Of a summer
| cyclone as it strikes into prairie hamlet
| and rends and tears and rolrs and leaves
wreck and ruin on every hand. The last
horse is scarcely over the bridge before the
torch is applied. 1t is bridge In the en-
emy's country, something to aid and as
| sist our foes in making war, and we shall
return another way.
At high noon the passions of war have
been aroused Every house belongs to an
enemy. The fundamental rule OF war Is
to cripple your enemy. His forces must
find neither shelter nor food nor forage as
they march over this road. We come up
on horses and cattle and sheep and hogs
and we shoot them down or drive them
ahead of us, and in applying the torch to
barn or stack no one cares II the gray old
homesteads are also licked up by the
flames
More barns, more stacks more cribs,
more bridges. 1t is burn! burnt burnt
On the creeks we hear the hum of the big
water wheels as they grind the grists, and
we rush in, apply the torch and leave a
| pil1ar pf Name and snoke bpbipd
We head to the south for Ii miles, thence
to the west for 10, thence back to tho
north for 10, ride of 40 miles in Ia hours.
Wounds, death, destruction and desola-
toni We found peace, and we brought
| war. We found comfort, and we left pow
erty watching our rear guard out of sight.
Wo found old men and young children
| with words of kindness on their lips; we
left them with such bitterness of heart
that death alone could effaco 1t, A Rigan-
tic serpent, serpent with eyes of steel
and tongue of fire. had dragged itseli
over 40 miles of the enemy's country, and
no who rode after must have prayed Goo
that war might never come again.
AS the sun begins to drop like ball
and the clouds to bank up, and the snow
flakes to whirl about the enemy stretche.
across our path. This is good The torol
is thrown away for the saber; the Jest II
silenced by the blasts Of bugles. We ar,
yet almost $50; the enemy fully as strong
Down go the fences, companies deplo,
right and left, our battery comes gallop
, ing to the front to open fire. In five min
utes there Is hot work. In five more W,
get the orders: "Trotl Gallop! Charged
This is not house and barn burning; thi
is not jeering at helpless women and chill
! dren; this is not sweeping the farm Of it
live stock. No! This is fighting. Here oil
: the broad fields /, 700 men shoot, cut, slasl
/ and kill You can hear the horses scream
out as the bullets burn them, the shrek
of men as they throw up their hands ant
, tumble to earth. Round and round, bacl
and forth, death holds high carnival 70
half an hour Then the enemy falls bacl
and leaves the road open, and we pusl
past him. Re-enforcements are coming Vi
to him, and we must escape while he |
binding up his wounds. On the frozeI
grass of the meadows lie 200 dead an,
. wounded men. The wounded call to us a
we ride past, but they cannot be takel
away. When wo have gone, the enem,
will do as he sees fit with those who wea
our uniform. Wounded horses follow us
however, and more than one trooper VIII
can sit his saddle feels the hot blood trio
kle down his leg or off his fingers 1t
q trail of blood-a hundred trails In on
which the wolves would howl over a
| they followed. Now and then as W
push ahead in the grimness Of night som
Il wounded man Is overtaken by death an
falls beneath the feet of the horses The
step over him, and their riders may wor
der who 1t is, but there is no halt. Cam
and the finish at last, and within fey
hours there Is exultation over the report:
Bridges destroyed, 40 miles of countr
laid wasta, the enemy beaten of with s,
we're loss. One Of the most successful raid
Of the war; M. QUAD.
II Can't Swear In ,Japauese.