Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-08-14

| any TOrCe or the enemy that Dad ye
moved between our lines and their owr
unless our irregular spies-all coloret
people and natives Of the country-hat
counted Incorrectly the eneny's few
detachments. or course we would b,
fired upon as soon as the advanc,
struck the enemy's pickets, and, a,
most southerners had handled guns
from their youth UP, two or three OF
our men would probably be killed Of
| wounded, but we had come to regard
that sort Of thing as matter Of course
1t was one of the fortunes Of war--oI
misfortunes Of being at the head Of O
cavalry advance. To prevent unfair
ness In this respect companies took
turns Of day each at the head Of q
scouting party, but the advance proper
was always taken from the right, OF
head Of the company, SO in forming
line for start there never was an un-
seemly rush for positions at the right.
Tho extreme advance consisted OF
four men, riding abreast or by twos,
according to the width Of the road, and
carrying carbihes or revolvers in their
hands ready for instant use. About 50
yards behind rode single trooper
called 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
mon, who also had a messenger within
earshot, and within 50 yards of him
rode the remainder Of the platoon
8 or II 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 enemy's cavalry were ordinary.
This distance enabled the main body
to draw sabers or get their carbines or
revolvers ready for action, according
to order. 1t also allowed US to get
into trot or gallop with some momen-
tum to 1t 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
tours 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
cd down either flank in single file, so
the troop they unmasked could clear
the road by firing or charging. q new.
er had the melancholy satisfaction of
seeing the advance break to the rear.)
Whenever we found the enemy in
line. even behind breastworks- 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 Mt the gallop. firing rapidly as
we rode. | don't believe carbine firing
Mt the gallop at a mark 200 or 800
yards away ever did much damage.
but the successive puffs Of smoke
made our horsemen difficult marks to
hit. In such dashes the bugle general
ly sounded the recall before the Skin
mishers were upon the enemy's line.
Even If it 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 ii had any artillery
Quite as often a poor rider with an ob.
and find himself unable to return. The
holse that knew him would know him
no more forever, and the rider would
take mp his abode for an indefinite sea
son ut the Hotel Libby. Richmond, Va
n single man surrounded by enemies
at short range was seldom killed or
even hurt unless he refused to rccog.
nize the inevitable. The general mass
OF our men regarded skirrnish 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 muz2le loading
weapons, which could not be reloaded
ana ifed mere than once during the
forward rush of cavalry skirmishers,
while the rapid fire of our brcechload.
crs and revolvcrs had a disturbing Of.
1ect upon foot soldiers hand and eve.
our advantages and precautions be-
Ing so many, we felt entirely secure in
the scout of which l have begun to
tell Yet things did not turn out at III
as we had expected. We struck the
enemy's outpost during the middle of
the afternoon and drove it in without
any casualty on our side. We dis
mounted, took cover behind some trees
ana exchanged shots with sklrmishprs
across small river, and we had our
horses far enough TO the right and left
to avoid the round shot or two thar
were hred down the road by IA cannon
which guarded the bridge. Then wei
remounted, retired through the woods
ana fields until out of artillery range.
after which we took the road for home
with the cheering hope that we would
be out Of camp only about half the
customary time.
Just about sunset, as we were an.
preaching a long bridge over one OIL
the wide, high banked, but shallow
creeks peculiar to the tide water re-
gion OF Virginia, the word was passed
back from the advance:
CLOSE up! Quick! Send the major
up!"
The major commanding the battalion
dashed toward the front, and the rest
OF us followed rapidly. AS my com
pany was the second in column we
soon saw what was the matter, and it |