Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1903-06-12

NAO" was WLeH we were among lneul,
| slaughtering right and left before they
| could as much as draw their weapons,
Tor the reason that if we ever let it go
| That far we would have been over
| powered at the close range, where
accuracy of fire was no longer a
strong factor en- our side alone. We
killed 25 out of 80 men that night, for
We had not the means to bother with
prisoners, and we got every horse
owned by the band
Likely you have heard of the Mexi-
can lancers- the chaps provided with
that graceful but useless weapon up
on which they hoped to spear us like
20 many swine. Many good man the
McMcans lost before they learned that
the lance was no fit tool with which
10 approach an American equipped
with his favorite weapon. The enemy
aeYer had more chance with the lance
than the Indians had with their bows
and arrows. Before they could come
rear enough to make use of their toy
they were toppled off their horses like
many ninipiGs before the skill of
IN expert bowler.
Il accompanied Capt. Hayes on mis-
raid against the notorious priest-leader
Of MeXicans-Padre Jarante-in all
The history of outlawry perhaps the
most slilful in the business of fight
ing and deviltry. We chased after the
leader for two days, and, without
knowing it, passed him, so that when
VIC got to San Juan he was behind us.
But we were tired out for want of two
nights sleep, and we stripped our
)Crses and ate and went to Sleep new
or expecting trouble. Our body of men
was safely housed under a roof, bat
Te had five men out on post, as a
mere matter of precaution, for we sus-
pected that laramie did not mean TO
escape us, but intended to give fight.
About sunrise We were awakened by
warning shouts and cries and firing
af shots. We grasped our revolvers
and Carbines and fastened to the win
Gows. The five men on the outpost
had stood their ground and had. gone
Under-One, lying wounded on an ell
bow. was still pouring a CALLING fire
into the ranks of the enemy until the
butt of a rife was laid over his head.
Three times the padre charged us, and
three times he was repulsed by our
fire, and the third time he was keeled
eff his horse, dead We had emptied
great many saddles of Mexicans that
day, but no sooner was the fight over
than one of the spies brought word
that 500 Mexicans were on the march
toward US. The captain examined his
ammunition supply and found it run
aIarmingly low, and decided the 600
were more than we could safely bite
eff and chew, and we retreated.
"All of these were interesting fights
but the most desperate, l think, came
when one of our lieutenants, Edward
Burleson, was ordered to hand one Of
cur Indian prisoners over to the au-
thorities at Fort Mcintosh. | was in
the party detailed to accompany the
lieutenant and on the way back, near
ing the Nueces river we spied a couple
Of Indians. | was also one Of seven
chosen by the lieutenant to capture
the Indians, while the remainder of
the detachment continued along the
rOad. The red fellows, however. had
set a trap. Steadily the others of our
command proceeded, leaving us 20
settle with the pair discovered, until
finally we were out of ear shot of one
another. We dug bravely after the
two Indians. The two suddenly turned
into II, and they were ready and wait
ing for us when we crossed the brow
of a hillock which had concealed the
snare. There was neither time nor
necessity for retreat, however We
got the order to dismount and it came
so quick and fast while we were riding
at top speed that l remember my
horse went back on her launches, cut
ing the same in the effort to stop
short Then from the middle of our
circle of horses we opened fire with
the Colts six-shooting rifles. We killed
every Indian except one that got n
way to spread the wholesome tale, but
the fellows had charged us so closely
that several of them lying PROSTATE
we could have touched with our rifle
butts without moving from where we
stood
1--WE had among us in that fight a
remarkable young chap who behaved
extraordinarily during the fight. His
parents had been scalped by Indians
and he had been captured and raised
among the Comanches and was devot-
ing the days of his natural life bring
ing down Indians to avenge the death
of his parents. But he had acquired
Indian habits and Indian tactics and
throughout the fight danced around
from spot to spot hoping to make
difficult target of himself exactly in
the manner of the ignorant reds them
selves who felt safer when moving
about, not knowing that to a white
shot there is after all little difference
whether target move or stand still
so long as it presents a reasonable
mark. BY the way, it was in that fight
that / was shot here through the
cheek. The missile just grazed me but
laid part of the cheek open to the bone
as neatly as if cut with a surgeons
knife.
In 1858 | had worked up the line
to captaincy and was then with the
frontier battalion of state troops with
headquarters camp at Deer Fork on
the Brazos. The Comnaches had been
particularly active They would swoop
down on the white settlements and
after working stealthily within the
white lines would run off, driving sto-
len stock and killing and burning all
within range. So we decided to give
them dose Of their own medicine
and we took wagon loaded with so
rangers, followed by similarly load
cd one and about a 100 friendly
Tahuahuacan Indians.