The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-09-21
JOHN PHILLIPS, HERO
HOW He SAVED A BELEAGUREO
FRONTIER GARRISON. ....

| In 1865 the Sioux, Under Their Great war
Chief, Rad Cloud. Would Have Mas
sacred the Brave Defenders II John Phil-
lips Had Not Sent Relief
A bill, couehed in the dry, formal
words Of legislative proposition. was
recently introduced In Congress for the
+ purpose Of giving pension to the wild
9w Of John Phillips. That may not in
lerest you. But back of that bill Is the
story Of as brave. courageous deed
as ever made glorious the record Of
American manhood.
1t was John Phillips who rode from
Fort Phil Kearny to Fort Laramie In
December, 1865, and saved the latter
garrison from massacre.
On the twenty-first day of December.
1865, Fort Phil Kearny, commanded by
Col. H. B. Darlington, located under
the shadow Of the Big Horn Mountain
and over 200 miles from the nearest tel
egraph line, was the extreme outpost
In that part Of the Northwest. The
savage Sioux under Red Cloud had
been lowering in the vicinity Of the
post for some time and had been seen
in large numbers on Tongue River,
northwest Of the fort. .
The Indians made attacks on the
wood train few miles north of the
fort. A detachment Of troops under
command of Brevet-Lieut.- Col. Fetter-
man, including two other officers and
several men and number OF civilians,
made dash from the fort for the pur-
pose of protecting the wood train.
When some four miles from the fort
they were surrounded by the Indians
in overwhelming numbers and every
man of the detachment was killed.
Years afterward the Indians said that
the troops were only killed after their
ammunition was exhausted.
The triumphant and bloodthirsty
Sioux were commanded by Red Cloud
and outnumbered the garrison by 20
to !. They surrounded the fort and an
attack was hourly expected.
1t was we'll understood by the garri-
son that if the Indians were successful
in taking the fort 1t meant death for
each and every one. Realizing the ter
rible fate that awaited them the wo-
men and children begged piteously to
be placed in the powder house and
blown up in case Of successful attack
from the Indians.
At this juncture, when brave men felt
that the only possible hope for the
garrison was in sending news of their
Enlargement to the nearest outside
post, and not a soldier could be found
who would brave the attempt to break
through the savages and ride to the
nearest outpost, distance of 1926 miles,
John Phillips, hardy scout and hunt
er. volunteered to take dispatches to
Fort Laramie. Placing a few biscuits
in his pocket, tying on his saddle a
small quantity of feed for his mount,
he quietly left the post at midnight on
the night succeeding the massacre, and
by hard riding, and escaping many per-
Ills on the way he succeeded in reaching
Fort Laramie five days later. The
country across which he rode was alb
solutely uninhabited by white men,
and the ground was covered with snow
from three to five feet in depth.
His sufferings will never be told.
The weather was exceedingly cold, the !
thermometer reaching 20 degrees be-
low zero. When Phillips delivered his
dispatches at Fort Laramie, hardy,
brave frontiersman as he was, he fell
In dead faint. Immediately upon re-
ceipt of these dispatches troops were
forwarded from Fort Laramie, and the
garrison at Fort Phil Kearny was re-
ieved. For this remarkable act of gal
antry and endurance, which will for
ever place John Phlllips's name in the
gallery of heroic men, he was never in
any way paid by the general Govern
nent.
In the years Immediately following
his heroic ride, John Phillips was en-
'loyed in various capacities at Govern
nent posts. The Sioux had sworn that
hey would be revenged upon him. He
vas continually hunted and harassed
~ them because he had rescued from
heir grasp the garrison at Fort Phil
<earny. He was now broken in health
" the exposure and strain of his long
md perilous ride. One night, feeling
hat his end was near, he called to his
'edside his wife and child. Taking
he hand Of each. he pulled them near
r to him. They heard him family
Whisper: II did the best could" and
e was dead.