The National tribune., 1904-08-11
ON THE OSAGE LINE.
A Missouri comrade Modestly Passes Over
All the Glory to Iowa.


EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: notice
an article by w. II. Hickman. Co. l., 4th
Iowa Cav. under the heading: 'On the
Usage Line" / wish to say that I am
glad to read of the campaigns i'm Missouri,
and | like to see the Price Raid written
mp. for the reason that / was on that raid,
under Gen. Sanborn. But Comrade Rick
man don't mention this brave General at
all. There don't seem to have been any
body of any consequence in his big fight
ION the Usage line" except one or two
Iowa regiments. True. he admits that the
10th Mo. Cav. was there. but then you
know. he says they wouldn't bulge, and
that they had to force their way through
them in order to get at Prices line! Oh,
how it makes my heart ache and my cheek
blush with shame when I read Of this
gallant regiment from my own State and
on the soil Of lovely old Missouri standing
1t is just awful. What a pity it is that
the poor 10th Mo. Cav. could not have
fOreSeen that i'm the future there was to be
National Tribune, and gallant soldier
from Iowa who would herald forth.
through its columns, to the whole world.
the fact that they started to charge the
enemy on the Usage line. and that half
wouldn't "budge." and the brave Iowa
regiments had to force their way through
their line to get at the enemy. Comrade
Hickman is too modest to tell us in so
many words that he was the first man to
force his way through the 10th Mo- line,
and the first man to meet with old Pap
Prices army there on the Usage Line:
and that he captured all Of the guns, and.
in fact decided the day for the Federal
forces. He does say, however, that there
was some Missouri cavalry under Gen.
Phillips that did not 60 in." | was
among those Missouri cavalry that did not
go in: but | was not under Gen. Phillips
at all, but under my dear old General,
John Il. Sanborn. whose death has just
occurred. as l notice in recent issue of
The National Tribune. We did not 20 in
because we were held in reserve; possibly
to head off the 10th Mo-, if they should be-
come panic-stricken; or, it may be. that
if the Iowa brigades could not whip old
Pappy Price they might possibly have
risked exposing us to his fire. 1t is hard
telling what us Missouri cavalry would
have done under fire: so they held us back
and put the best and bravest soldiers into
the fight first: and they just did up Prices
whole army in jiffy; and us poor Mis-
sOurians under Gen. Sanborn had nothing
else to do but to see it done. Oh, yes. he
says. after the rebels were got to going
the Missouri cavalry Joined in, and thus
the whole line of Prices army was routed.
! am glad he told who captured Marina
duke. and that he was from Iowa: so will
not tell about that again. will notice.
however, that the soldier who captured
Gen. Marmaduke was Sd Iowa soldier.
while COmrade Rickman was a member of
the 4tl Iowa Cav, so that Marmaduke
came within one OF being captured by
Comrade Rickman's regiment! But he tells
us about one Serg't G. w. Miller, of his
regiment. capturing two of the three flags
taken from tho n fhic EDhf olc
that Comrade Rickman's regiment cap
tured five of the seven guns taken in that
battle. Now, / don't claim to have done
any big thing in that affair; l did my duty
as soldier should. l know that there was
some hard fighting done there, and l did
the best could. know that there were
only six guns captured, and if Comrade
Rickman's regiment captured FIVE they got
all but one. Some Of us Missourians
might have captured some of the prisoners
taken, but l won't put up any claim to
any of them now, as don't wish to mar
Comrade Rickman's story. l have often
thought of that battle and wondered why
Gen. Pleasonton did not hold all of the
troops in reserve and let the Sd and 4th
Iowa Cav. clean old Price up that day!
There were only GOO prisoners taken in
that fight, but the comrade has it 800.
reckon he was excited little and did not
count them correctly. |, of course, know
by actual count, and being Missouri cav
alryman, and not in it was not excited.
There were several Generals captured.
among them Gen. Cabell, but for the life
OF me l don't know whether l captured
him or not. l was SO used to capturing
rebel Generals that perhaps did not make
any note of it; but had captured the
whole push would have considered that
had only done my duty as a good SOL
dier-"Only this, and nothing more."-
WILEY MILLER, Co. e, 9Th N. s. N. Cav.