The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1906-05-20

they rushed with their batterlng ram
upon the other houses occupied by tho
marauders. as did also bis men, who
were not accustomed TO follow, but
rather to leai, and within few min.
utes oil OF those negro huts were In bis
possession, and all their occupants
were In effect bis prisoners.
At this moment Guilf0rd Duncan,
who had now no legal or military au.
thority over bis men, lost control Of
them. Both the negroes and the white
men seemed to 30 mad. They recog.
nized In the marauders no rights OF
military kind, no title to be regarded as
hghting men and no conceivable claim
upon their conquerors' consideration.
Both the negroes and the white men
were merciless In their slaughter OF the
marauding highwaymen. Once, in the
melee. Gullford Duncan endeavored to
check their enthusiasm as a barbarlty.
but his men responded In quick, bullet
Ike words, indicating their idea that
these men were not soldiers entitled to
be taken prisoners, but were beasts OF
prey. rattlesnakes, mad dogs, enemies
OF the human race, whose extermlna.
tion II was the duty Of every honest
man to seek and TO accomplish as
quickly az possible.
The contest lasted for a very brief
while. The number Of the slaughtered
In proportion to the total number OF
men engaged was appalling But this
was not all. 10 II was Immediately
added the hasty hanging OF men to the
nearest trees. and Gullford Duncan
was powerless TO prevent that. The
negroes, loyal TO the mistresses whom
they had served from infancy, had
gone wild In their enthusiasm OF de.
fense. They ran amuck, and when the
morning came there was not one man
OF all those marauders left alive to tell
the story OF the conflict.
In the meanwhile Guilford Duncan,
by means Of his men, had gathered In.
formation In every direction. He knew
now that all hope was gone OF his Join.
ing Johnston's army, even II that army
had not surrendered, as by this time II
probably had done. He therefore
brought his men together. Most Of
them lived In those mountains round.
about or In the lower country east Of
them, SO he said TO them:
"Men. the war Is over. Most OF you
as ! understand II, live somewhere
near here or within fifty miles Of
here, As the last order that | shall
ever Issue 10 you as captain, direct
you now 10 return to your homes at
once. My advice TO you Is TO 60 to
work and rebuild your fortunes as best
you can. We've had our last fight.
We've done our duty like men. We
must now do the best that we can for
ourselves under extremely adverse cir
cumstances. Go home, cultivate your
fields, take care Of your families and
be as good citizens In peace as you
have been good soldiers in war"
There was hurried consultation
among the men. Presently Sergeant
Garrett spoke for the rest and said:
Eve will not go home, Captain Dun
can, until each one OF us has written
orders from you to do so. Some Of us
fellows have children In our homes,
and the rest Of us may have children
hereafter. We want them to know, as
the years go by, that we did not desert
our cause even In Its dying hours; that
we did not quit the army until we were
ordered to quit. We ask of you, for
each Of us, written order TO go home
or to so wherever else you may order
us TO go"
The captain fully understood the Low.