The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-09-09
REBUKED BY HIS COLONEL,
A REGULAR ARMY MAN'S CRITICISM
or VOLUNTEERS METHODS.
liz Aftcrward Found That They Had Fought
Indians In Indian Fashion and lie Revised
His Opinion OF Their Fighting OualIts,
From the Mnshinnton PnsL.

His Opinion OF Their Fighting Qualities.
From me Washington Post
Il am glad the Beers have been tca,hin,
the British how to fight. said Uncle sam Howl.
This business Of standing up and lcttirg tina
bullets hit you becau~" YOU don't know any
better IL an error that the English soldiers tay,
made from the time Of Braddock down IN
the present day. | was 70 years old last month.
and the only time I was ever accused Of cowlrIIco
was in 1891. and the charge was made 10y u man
who didn't know how To fight Indians.
Il was in California when the war hrpks
ont. Companies were organized, and sent
word To u lot of my old friends who had teen
with me in the mining business in 40 and tho
sos that ! would pay their travelling c>Icr,,a
and buv them their outfits If they would ,uI,t
in a company ! was getting mp II wasn't
long before | had eighty a. good men rs over
had their eye along a Henry rife. An old Re-
gular army man by the mann Of Col Corror
was getting up the regiment and my company
was mustered In az Stockton. our regiment
started east in the latter part " the summer
Of 1851 for salt Lake city. and We got there soma
time In September. and went into camp Ihe
Colonel was afraid that his reputation would
suffer on the ground that he was doing nothing,
when word reached Us that the Bear River In.
dians were ont on the warpath.
The Bear River Indians were n murrrel
rot of redskins, and the tribe consisted NJ rene.
gades from the Utcs, Piutes, B~lackfoot. and
other tribes. which were even too respectable
to own them. They had swept down and wiped
out a Mormon village nj the head Of the Great
Salt Lake. and were reported Ia ho gathered
about 500 strong among the canon- along
Bear River, which l. the outlet Of Bear Lake into
the northern part Of Great salt Lake
Of ,lIpL 10 sea-. ,u,a TINA Ia n,,,,.1,r -
the news reached us, and Col. Conner decided
to start at once. He feared that. there might
be an outbreak Of the Mormons while we vor,
gone. so no left the greater part Of the regiment
I'm the barracks at salt Lake City. and took
only about one hundred and fifty mon with
him. I had between forty and fifty Of NV
company Of infantry, and the rest of tho foroo
was cavalry. The Colonel ordered mo 10 sot
out ahead with my men. and the cavalry would
start later and overtRke us. II was n good
three days march 10 where the indians vera
reported 10 he. and we wanted 10 make all hasta
and reach thcm before they got away
when we started IL was nice weather. INT
we hadn't got ont more than twenty mile, be-
fore the worst blizzard ! ever saw began 10
whirl the snow In our faces. The thermometer
dropped about 20 degrees. and II got colder
than n Klondike Christmas The snow piled
I'm Crpaf drlttS over me tTAll ana " was WIN
diff, ulty mat We found our way. had
n horse. but I let the men ride II. one after a-
other. as they got too tired to push on In
spite Of all the obstacles We made about thirty
miles n day, ploughing through the snow ip
10 our waists. and the cavalry did not oycr'uka
us until we were within twenty miles Of the
rendezvous Of the Indians.
when the Colonel came M he was riding
in a leigh drawn by two horses, and hunflri
M with a. many robes As a Russian prince
lie told me TO hurry up, and went on with his
sleighbellS jinglinR In the frosty air like TO
chimes Of a cathedral. I asked him 10 take
the bells of his horses, and he finally did 80.
n he had refused we wouldn't have found IN
Indian within, 100 m les Of Bear River. Wa
stopped for the might about five miles from
tho canon where the redskins were %locnt"i,
and pushed on in the morning a little hciors
when We got 10 Bear River we found tho coy-
airy already there, and they were banging
away with their carbines as II they were
s man laughed 'h' at ene fRs "a iaacaH '% @f qfIsh,iH.s.
Indians IN that fashion; and asked %lgr.
Of the cavalry replied that they were on tpe
other side OF the river in a gulch. II was tho
most ridiculous thing you ever saw. for not on'
Of the coppered- colored rascals was In sigh,
and there was enough ammunition being wasted
TO have e~xterminated the whole tribe To
Colonel turned 10 me and said
river and drive the cusses out of the canon"
Il knew that there were about. four hun.
or fifty men, but / didn't wait to be told a sor'
ond time. ! went down TO the river &C. -
S2e5 faet S snT iST Wiih 'H BIZ s'r caRas a Of ice " Sod nIa;
down It's swift current. The Mormon guides
said 1t was forbade, and | took my COMPANY
carried about twenty men across in four trims,
either astride OF him or holding on 70 his tan,
TO keep from being sWept away Py me Ggrrsn,,
run for the canon. which was about a quarter
Of q mile on the other side. When we reached
gave a yell and let us have II. Some ~ them
had rifles, and the rest were armed with hoWl
and arrows The way the bullets ana arrows
had been in the Indian country too long 70 stand
up and get shot. Just for the sake, Of SAYING
that ] was not afraid. At the very first Ul,oop
all Of us burrowed in the snow and got behind
rocks and trees, and fought the indian IN
Then followed a fight that would do your
the bunch who could not draw a bead fine
feet away, and every time an Indian showed
he head, he was bowled over Win a huY'l
through bis skull: NO one fired liI he saTJ Ias
put 10 a redskln by two Of the boys who Jaw
him at the same moment. There was u" c"r'-
orders in a whole hour. ! didn't have q sword.
II would have been as useless rs "A lady i"i;
f BTl ! i's 1Sa6 my r 1he S SRd i@G E war. III ' fS"I bar r's
W ~ " VII NE - NV HAA NfHH
were a. hot as if they had been, put IN a ]furna,,r
Not a man was killed by the Indians. 1le
cavalry kept firing over from the other ~.d,
Of the river. and j had 10 send a man 70 ten
them TO stop IL. Their bullets kept gathering
among us TN il looked "a though they Ve,''
more anxious 20 wipe us out than to whip tl'
Indians.
The boys had gradually RI nged Themselves
over the whole canon, 50 there was no Chhh''
for them To get out, and we started 10 drF"
them down the gulch 10 where II turned '"-
ward Bear River, The only way for them ~
escape was to climb out or swim ih" sifrl',
When we had them going once, ~" -lnug'''r
was something terrible. They houl"d around
and got behind rocks and trees, which. W,i'
very thick, but they couldn't dodge tho 'N'
of those iron-nerved. keen-eyed tronti,rr'n.
As We swept them down the canon We cane
across a dead body every few yards, and n"aTlv
every one Of them he'd been shot through ne
head. Consequently there were not crnu4n
wounded to have filled "A ward in a Triy''"
hospital. IA
awav from the river. and a few Of the Iud.Nt
escaped by dashing into II. but We headed on
the main body and drove them into the river,
When We got them In the icy stream v" f''i
the water red with their blood. They druilti
their guns and ammunition IN their cn"i'e 10
swim and wade across. Finally the 'lF
Indians in sight were dead ones, with TIE 't-
CeptiOn Of a few that wriggled their hln"'.
stained painted bodies in the snow. Nuf ur'W