Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1899-11-18

NARROW ESCAPE On MAJTBA HILL.
six companies of us. perched on top of a
ill 1000 feet above the Beers camp an
so far away that our rifles wouldn't carry
the distance There we sat an looked at
the enemy, for there was nothin else for
us to do, an Cur chaps below was maxim
no attack At fust the Beers was for
trekkin off, but they changed their minds
an climbed the 'ighest points they could
reach to get within range. Us three an
some of the Gordon sharpsbooters 'ad
lively skirmish with the Beers at long
range, but didn't do them much damage,
an they never touched us. ii we ad 'ad
a Gatlin gun at the start, we could have
cleared out their camp, an the rest of our
force could have walked right through
'em. but 1t was i day of mistakes.
''Al this time the Beers were climbin
the back of the i'll, which we thought
was too rough for anybody to attempt,
for it was that steep that most of it was
dead BY that j mean that man climb
in it was out of range of n man at the
top near all the way. We 'ad left pick
ct on path leadin to the top, but they
'ad got interested in the rife dooel that
was goin on an wasn't keepin a lookout
below. By an by the Beers gets up with
out their seein 'em an with one volley
blows the 'eads off that picket an with
out 'em seem who did the firin. We ears
the volley an thinks it was the picket
havin a little target practice with the
Beers, so we pays no attention till we
sees the 'eads of the Beers appearin over
the ridge. The top of the i'll was a kind
of saucer with the rim little broken
where the Beers was. We was quite ex
posed, an they was shown only the tops
of their leads an was blazin away at US
like good uns They was awful good
shots at any range less than four 'un-
dred, but over that us fellows that 'ad 'ad
practice could beat 'em 'ollow.
"We stands our knapsacks on the
ground and fires over 'em: but. Lor' save
you, a knapsack amt much protection
wen the enemy is 'igher than you. What
ought to ave been done in the fust place
was done in the last A csarge was Or
dered, an we an the Fifty-eightb jumped
up. The Beers fires a volley at us as we
rushes an picks off nearly every one of
our officers. 'Ad our men been seasoned
they would have kept right on. but they
wasn't, an they gets into confusion. Just
then the 'ighlan6ers an the bluejackets
10 stop that way, an we was ali mixed
up. We might have got Strengthened out.
but bugler sounds the retreat, an we re-
tires. the Beers firin at us all the time.
| got a bullet in my shoulder an another
In my leg, an down | goes. My two
cbums picks ME up an was carryin me
over the ridge wen another volley was
fired, an we goes down in a cap together.
''W'en | comes to, | finds my two
townies dead an me not able to get up,
an all our men was gone. | sees three
Beers comm, an they stops an fires at the
ground. can't think what they're doin
Till it strikes me they're shootin the
wounded. ] feels n cold shiver run down
my back, an I goes wild. It's one thing
to be shot down wen you've got a rife in
your bst an able to give as good as you
get. but to get an ounce of lead in your
system wen you're lyin there 'elpless is
quite another. Wen they comes to me.
gets up on my elbow an shouts to the
man leadin, big, dark fellow with a
scar over bis right eve. For Gods sake,
don't shoot wounded man. 2 said
samethin TO me in Dutch an pounded me