Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1898-12-07

nearly a thousand stand Of arms.
On the 4th of August, we went as
far as San Diaz, and were received
with all the demonstrations of 10y
atty, that We were in Adjuntas. 1t
seemed as though our conquest was
to be bloodless one, and that the
Spaniards were vieing with the ma
tives to see which could be the more
loyal to the Americans.
The 10th Pa. regiment went on as
far as Descolabra River and camped
for the night. The advance pickets
fired on the Spanish pickets near
Coamo, and were fired on in return.
No one was hurt. While here he
heard that private La Due of the End
Wisconsin. has killed private Stat
ford, Of the regulars. La Due was
drunk, and thus furnished another
practical temperance lecture, but
one which will not be needed by those
who should heed it the most.
We had orders to wait here till the
cavalry came up, which was delayed
by the boat being grounded, and so
the army did not move on the fifth.
But some of us did not wait for the
army. Mr.. Millard, correspondent
of the New York Herald, lost his
horse and wanted to get another one.
So he asked me to go with him to
see if he could get one in the country.
l went of course. How could ] resist
the temptation, and we were soon on
the way towards Coamo. We rode
along till we met some natives, who
said that the Spanish were in the
city and would fight. Mr.. Millard
| asked me if were afraid to ride into
| the city, and / said no. So we rode
on, the natives, who were armed,
saying that they would go with US.
AS we came up over a hill, we saw
six Spanish soldiers on guard. You
| ought to have seen those natives run.
They left us alone, and l said to Mr..
Millard that it began to look scarey.
He laughed and said we were in for
it now and would have to make the
best of it. So he said we would 60
bravely forward as an advance and
| demand the surrender of the town.
OF course it was foolhardy thing to
do, but we were ready for anything
and rode ahead as though we were
used to such things every day. So
he rode ahead, holding up his hands,
and close beside him with my hands
on my pistols. The Spaniards sat on
their horses. with their rifles across
their saddlebows, their revolvers
cooked in their hands, and machetes
by their sides, until we came quite
close, when they called to us to halt.
told the Spaniards that we were
Americans, and wanted to see the
commander. The Spaniard wanted
to know, what for l told him to ar
range for the surrender of the town.
The sergeant demurred, and I told
him that we wanted to know mis-
terms. The sergeant said he would
60 for the commandant, and l asked
how long it would take, and he SAID
it would take two hours. Mr.. Mil
lard said that he. couldn't wait thai
long, and wanted me to tell them tc
have the commander at the pest ir
the morning at 10 o'clock, which ht
agreed to do. 1 then asked how
many men they had, and they sait
there were 2S0 men. We then raised
our hats to them and rode away.
We went back to the camp safely
= and did not keep our appointment
but the Spanish kept theirs. The Al
calde came to the outpost, and no
meeting any one to surrender to, b
wrote out his terms Of surrender, an,
D sent them in to camp by native. A
a result of this escapade, the Gen. is
sued an order to not allow any NOR
correspondents to 60 outside of tn
guard line.
It has been reported that the gui
were not doing their duty, and s
Iieutenants Hunter and Rnekley wer
If sent out to see how well the sentrit
: did their duty. When they came I
the post Of private Riley of the Fift
e Artillery, they did not halt when b
ordered them to, and he shot at theI
d three times, the last shot passin
d through Lieut.. Hunters groin comm
n out at his back. The officers reporte
i that the men are doing their duty, an
d no charge is lodged against Privat
q Riley.
/. The Pennsylvania boys capture
}. over 5000 pounds of rice, that was O.
h the way to San Juan. Col. Hulin
a cop6scated the rice and sent fort
# sacks of it to the Alcalde of Coam'
e for the poor. The rest of it was a
It signed to the quarter master for tt
- army.