The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1899-11-24

rocks. II seemed that their tread
would surely he heard. But the banks
held the sounds. Soon the men ahead
began to leave the creek and enter upon
a dirt road. The way grew lighter, and
| caught sight of our foremost files,
trotting up the road. A few moments
more and we would have an open field
in which to fight for our lives, if we
must. 1t seemed during these last mo-
ments that | must spur ahead of the
slowly moving men, but there was no
room, and would never have dared
to pass before the general, for Shame, If
not for breach of etiquette. At last the
closing files before us were out of the
creek, and we followed. | drew long
breath of relief and glanced at the
general. lie took off his hat and looked
upward. did not hear, but knew what
he said:
"My God, thank thee"
Never was there clearer case OF
playing at corners in the game of war.
We had gained the very road by which
the confcderates were marching to cap
ture us, and as we entered il their
last files were but few hundred yards
around bend TO our left. Dashing
off to the right, we lost no time in
putting distance between them and
us.
The night was coming on, and the
general, who took his place at the
head of the column, and whose horse
and whose Impotence outstripped the
rest of us, soon placed a hundred PAGES
between himself and us, his figure
forming a silhouette against n strip of
twilight on the horizon. The brim of
his hat tapped with the trot of his
horse, and the skirts of his overcoat
futtered, while the animal was CON
tinually throwing up his head to catch
| at his bit, or lowering il TO give that
sputter peculiar to horse trotting
along a good road.
The stars came out; the air was dry,
and the spangled heavens seemed more
than usually thick with bright points
of varying magnitude from the fam
! ing Sirius to the faintest glimmer Of
! light. The general had a way of look
ing, as he rode, up at the heavens, often
at bright star in the zenith, Alpha
Lyra, and had noticed that when on
one of his night forays and in n dan
gerous position he was sure to cast
his eyes heavenward. as if invoking the
aid of presiding diety. Tonight l
saw him throw back his head for his
accustomed glance. and | knew that
our position was critical
General" said Wilton, who was
vainly endeavoring to catch up with
him, "my horse is nearly done for, and
the same is true of every mount in the
command We must halt for rest"
at can't be done, colonel We must
put more miles between us and the
enemy"
"As you like, general. The men are
dropping out so fast that you will soon
ride alone"
The general made no reply. | saw
him look up again at the star, as one
scenting danger will nervously finger
the handle of a weapon. At last, sud
denly coming TO a thick wood beside
the road, he gave an order 10 turn into
it, and, after gaining sufficient distance
from the road not to be readily seen
from it, we went into bivouac. Ven.
dettes were posted, and the men or.
dered to preserve silence, i'm the hop,
that our enemy, who was doubtless al
our heels, might pass without observ
ing us.
Worn with a fatiguing days cam
paign, | rolled myself in my blanket
and, with a dirt pile for n pillow, wal
asleep almost before | had stretched
my legs.
How long ! slept l never knew. Il
seemed to me that l had but just los
myself when l was awakened by shots
yells, every conceivable noise tina
could be heard in a fight. l knew tn,
confederates were on us. Through tn,
gloom l caught glimpse of the gen
eral already in the saddle riding among
our men, inspiring them with his pres
ence and gathering them together il
the best formation practicable unde
surprise. Walter was with him. stick
ing to him like wax, though there wa
no opportunity to use a staff officer
while | was separated from them bI
some of our own men who were try
ing to get into line. pushed forward
but just then a troop of confederate
came galloping down, firing their re
volvers as they came-they had no sa
bers-and before | could cover tn
space which separated me from tn
general they rode through it, scatter
ing the half-formed platoons befor
them, making wedge that divided m
and number of others from the res
3 of the command. Seeing n number o
us cut off from our comrades, they sun
rounded us, and at the point of a hun
drcd pistols our hands went up as /
we had been as many images worked b.
wire springs.
q Hurried to the rear, we waited tn
! result of the attack. The fight kep
/ shifting, and l fancied that the gen
! eral had gathered what men he coul
I and was cutting his way out My irrt