Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1902-07-10

preceding rain that we heartily en-
joyed the beginning of the trip. We
had been well fed all winter, but no
one neglected the precautiOn of carry
ing all the rations, particularly fat
pork, that he could get In camp we
had good fresh bread daily, but once in
awhile when other ratiOnS abOundcd |
had begged days rations of hard
bread instead and slowed ii away
against the next scout. | had never
forgotten the scmistarvatiOn of our first
three days outing.
On the morning referred TO only four
companies Of us went out, but we felt
entirely safe. What could happen to
US? We were strong enough to whip
any force Of the enemy that had yet
moved between our lines and their own
unless our irregular spics-all colorcd
people and natives Of the country-had
counted incorrectly the enemy's few
detachmcntS OF course we would be
fired upon ms soon as the advance
struck the cnemy's pickets, and, as
most southcrncrs had handled guns
from their youth up, two or three of
our men would probably be killed or
wounded, but we had come to regard
that sort Of thing as matter of course.
1t was one of the fortunes of War-or
misfortunes of being at the head of
cavalry advance. To prevent unfair
ness III this respect companies took
turns of n day each at the head Of
scouting party, but the advance proper
was always taken from the right, or
head of the company, so in forming
line for start there never was an un-
seemly rush for positions at the right.
The extreme advance consisted of
four men, riding abreast or by tWOs,
according to the width of the road, and
carrying carbinCs or rcvolyers in their
hands ready for instant use. About 90
yards behind rode a single trooper,
called n messenger, to pass back any
alarm or other information which the
men ahead might shout to him. Fifty
yards farther in the rear were two
men, who also had messenger within
earshot, and within 80 yards Of him
rode the remainder Of the platoon
8 or u men-abOut as far from the
main body as from the man in front.
The specified distances were meas
ured only with the eye, but whether
they were too little or too great the
main body was far enough in the rear
to be out of point blank range of Or
binary firearms, and most firearms OF
the cncmy's cavalry were ordinary.
This distance enabled the main body
to draw sabcrs or get their carbines or
revolycrs ready for action, according
TO order. 1t also allowed us TO get
into trot or gallop with some mOmen-
tum to it by the time we had closed on
the advance and begun the charge or
chase. Meanwhile the messenger and
reserve had closed on the first set OF
fours and begun firing If they saw any
thing to fire at. Should the advance
halt, they began firing at once; if they
turned to run, they parted and gallop-
ed down either flank in single file, so
the troop they unmasked could clear
the road by firing or charging. Il nev-
er had the melancholy satisfaction OF
seeing the advance break to the rearD
line, even behind brcastwOrkS-for not
all of them were cavalry-we would
deplOy as skirmishers in the woods or
fields on either side of the road and ad-
vance at the gallOp, firing rapidly rs
we rode ! don't believe carbnc firing
at the gallop Mt n mark 200 or 800
yards away ever did much damage,
| made our horsemen difficult marks to
hit. In such dashes the buglc general
| ly sounded the recall before the Skir
mishers were upon the encmy's line.
| Even If 1t didn't, most Of the horses
| turned suddenly and dashed back, but
an occasional good rider with horse
under perfect control would get far
enough within the line to estimate its
strength and see If 1t had any artillery.
| Quite rs often n poor rider with an OBJ
nate horse would get within the line
md find himself unable TO return. The
| horse that knew him would know him
no more forever, and the rider would
| take up his abode for an indefinite sea-
son at the Hotel Libby, Richmond Va.
| 4 single man surrounded by enemies
at short range was seldom killed or
! even hurt unless he refused to recog
nize the inevitable. The general mass
| Of our men regarded n skirmish dash
| against infantry with very little ap-
prehension. A trooper and his horse
| generally are one for practical pur-
poses, the animal seeming to know
what is In his riders mind. Besides,
| the enemy had only muzzle loading
weapons, which could not be reloaded
and fired more than once during the
| forward rush Of cavalry skirmishers,
while the rapid fire of our breechload'