The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-10-11
HIS CLOTHES RIDDLED
COL. SHEEHAN is BACK FROM
BEAR ISLAND THE WORSE
FOR WEAR
SUIT LIKE A PEPPER BOX LID
ments In Several Places, Beside
PerfOrating His Person in Some
Places as WeIl--StOry OF the
Bravery of the Troops Under
Gen. BacOn's Command.

Bravery of the Troops Under
Gen. BacOn's Command.
With frock coat, vest and pantaloons
riddled with bullet holes, Col. Timothy
]. Sheehan, deputy marshal and one of
the heroes of the Leech lake battle,
sat in his home at S31 Ashland avenue
last night and modestly recited some
of his experiences IN the fight.
THE fight" said the marshal. twas
lively one 1t was give and take for
thirty minutes. Gen. Bacon fought in
the ranks with a gun, and Maj. Will
kinson and Lieut.. Ross behaved gal
lantly, urging the men to keep cool
and steady. Our troops maintained
their ground in splendid style. and SO
did the Indians There Was no advan-
tage on either side. AS fast as Bacon
found an opportunity to move against
the Indians he kept at them until they
finally quit the field.
II saw Maj. Wilkinson wounded the
first time, but 1 did not see him killed.
l was on the right flank and Wilkinson
had just gone along the line when he
was shot in the leg and was taken to
the hospital Then he resumed the fight
but l did not observe him after that
1 was busy with some Indians that were
behind a fence on the right flank. 1
ordered a squad of men and deputies
and police to charge the Indians. The
Indians had the advantage and it was
at that time that l was wounded across
the stomach / fell and bruised my
shoulder and hip against log. That
was my second wound. l was struck
by a bullet just as l was about to
shoot at an Indian. The bullet passed
through my right sleeve and grazed my
forearm. Then bullet passed through
my trousers and several through my
coat Altogether six bullets passed
through my clothes.
SHORTER THAN RIDGELY.
ct was not such a roaring, rafting
fight as that at Fort Ridgely, which
lasted four days, when 1870 men held
out against 1900 Sioux warriors, but 1t
was a sharp, keen, cutting battle. There
was not moment viii 1t lasted, when
there was not a fusilade, The firing
was continual and there was no cessa-
ton. To an outsider, note used to such
things, it probably appeared bad, but
to one who likes that sort of thing and
car appreciate 1t, it was beautiful.
How many Indians were engaged?
My opinion is that there were between
30 and 100 in the fight. There was no
ambush, no surprise. though we were
not exactly prepared for attack. We
were putting out picketS when the bat
tie commenced l do not want to crit
icise anybody, but 1 would not have
rislzed "a fight with such a small force
of men as we did. But Gen. Bacon
evidently did not appreciate the tenn
per of the Indians. He did not realize
that the situation was so serious But,
when he found himself in for a fight,
he fought with his men and proved
himself every inch a soldier. I never
before saw an officer of his rank han
die a gun with his men.
SOME NEWSPAPER HEROES.
1.-The newspaper men acted bravely.
They did all that men without arms
could do, and, when they saw that
they could be of service to the wounded,
they did everything for them. They
crawled with their faces to the ground
and carried the wounded men from the
field, and they assisted In removing
the dead, and they are worthy, of all
praise. I make no exceptions to this
statement.
Did save their lives? Well, per-
haps I was the cause of preventing
them from being killed, but that was
an incident. / tried to be useful wher-
ever possible. 1t was a hot fight, and
everybody had something to do 1 kept
cool. The warmer the battle got the
cooler I became, for I knew we would
have to win or bust.
OTCOnnOr was removing
some prisoners when the battle began
He had the Indians on the boat and
was preparing to arrange for the re-
ception Of others when the Indians
opened fire. 1 had arrested two men
and O'Connor had taken three white
men for selling whisky to the Indians.
The Indians whom we did not capture
were among the warriors in the battle
I saw several of them during the fight
but of course did not get them They
are now on Bear island, Leech lake and
the point.
CONFERENCE A FAILURE.
eve held a conference yesterday
with Flatmouth's braves, but it was
very unsatisfactory. Falmouth and
the other chiefs had promised to ap-
pear. but they did not attend the coun-
Gil They were represented by their
braves. who had no authority to speak
for them. The purpose of the Indians
was to learn all they could Of our
plans, without explaining their own in
tentions. There was to be another con-
ference today, but 1 could not wait to
attend 1t. If the cQur ell today did not
accomplish anything, it is my opinion
that further parley will be useless, and
the only thing to lois to wade in and
wipe the Indians out. There is no
doubt IN my mind that the young bucks
from lass lake are with IIatmOuth'S
tribe at SquaW point, and they want
to fight.
MAKE THE BAD ONES.FIGHT.
There should be mo more tempor-
izing. The only thing to do is to round
them up. Make the good Indians come
into the agency and make the bad In
dams fight. They could be starved out
II they declined to engage in battle or
TO repent. They are hemmed in ON the
north by troops and Bacon's men on
the south. If they want fight, shell
them out and set fire to a few of the
islands and in that way they could ta
rounded up before winter. The govern
ment cannot give UP the fight until it
subdues the Indians. The Indians are
the aggTessors and they must be pun
ished. They know they have broken
the law and they do not know how to
get out Of it. Even in council they
have no excuses to offer
AS to the number of Indians killed
In the fight l saw one dead Indian, and
our men brought in six Winchesters,
which seems to indicate that six In
dams lost their lives"
Col. Sheehan was asked when he
would return to Leeeh lake
L shall rest at home,p he said, "a
Few days, and then if T. am wanted
shall go back. But hope I have
fought my last battle with Indians. 1
have had all the glory there is in war
and l am satisfied. Irseldom shed tears
but when l saw the bodies of Maj.
Wilkinson and his five brave men