The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1906-11-23
PASSING
OF B OK
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contest he felt remorse at killing am
enemy.
"No," he replied, but I once fired q
death shot on the field Of battle that
cost me a bitter pang."
TEL me about it"
"I began my military career on what
was then frontier ground. the plains,'
which was covered withg Indians, and,
since / occasionally had to AXE to my
heels to saw my scalp, I made a spe-
ctal effort to secure q fast horse. I
happened to 1nd a thoroughbred among
the horses In b quartermaster's hands,
made q requisition for him and finally
bought him. How he got In with the
common herd / never knew. he was
feet as the wind and had more intelli.
gence than many a man I asked nay
fancee-now my wife-to name him,
and. being from the Buckeye State, she
called him Buck.
eff ever man loved horse or horse
loved man 1 loved Buck, n Buck
loved ne. I had owned him a year
before l realized his speed and endur-
ance a. well as his intelligence. One
morning a messenger rode from Fort
@, his horse falling dead as soon as
he reached us. to say that the Indians
had surrounded post and would un-
doubted1y take it before sunset. My
6ancee, the daughter Of the comman,
dant of Fort c.. was there, and you
ear imagine the condition of my feel
tngs, knowing the barbarity of the In
dams. who would murder every man.
woman n child they captured. We
had no force to send, but at Fort l.,
fifty miles to the north Of us and some
thirty miles from c., were four COM.
panies Of the til cavalry.
81 begged the colonel to send me to L.
with orders for the commandant to
gaIlop to the relief Of G. He assented,
and, mounting Buck. I made the run.
I was beside myself with terror at the
probable fat of my love, n I begged
Buck to do his best for me-. Do you
know, that horse understood me as well
as if he had learned English. He knew
he had a long run, and In the beginning
kept himself well together, as If hus-
banding his strength, but with every
ten miles he Topped of the distance
he increased his speed, making the last
part Of the journey in quicker time
tina the first. We reached L In six
hours, and in twenty minutes more 300
men were riding to the relief of c.
When they arrived the garrison was
about to surrender. but our men dash
ed In on the indians and scattered them
to the four. winds.
"You may imagine that Buck. having
saved a garrison, and especially the
n nearest my heart, became very dear
to me. After hat I was caught out
alone on several occasions, had to run
for 1t. and Buck always left the In
dams behind. Then the civil war came
on, and Buck carried me down over
Kentucky and Tennessee, taking me
through Donelson and Shiloh. At
Stone River I fell from his back shot
through the shoulder and would have
been left in hands of the enemy had
he not seized me by the coat with his
teeth and helped me Jack to u men.
"Poor Bucks end came at Perryv1lle.
In a retreat I bad got separated from
my command M had run into a rebe
regiment. They called on me to sur
render, but turning Buck I lay fla on
bis neck, and he carried me safely
away, receiving several bullets that
were intended for me. He might have
recovered from these, but on jumping
q gully he came down with his fore leg
I'm q hole, and leg snapped.
ST suppose If we had been In garr1-
ron I might have been foolish enough
to strap him up n try to save him..
But In any event you can't keep q
horse still long enough to enable a bro
Ken bone to knit, and Buck must be
put out Of his misery. Everybody was
busy at the time, but seeing a drummer
boy pass me I stopped him, handed
him my revolver and told him to put a
ball into Bucks brain. l couldn't bear
10 see him dc It, so 1 started away. I
heard q Whitney and, turning, saw
Buck looking after me, saying with his
ayes more plainly than a man could
have said In words, You aren't going
to desert me after all I've done for you,
are your
Il went back, and, seeing that the
boys han was trembling from b ex-
element of the fight that was on. 1 took
the pistol from him and, sitting on the
ground, laid Bucks head In my lap. I
gave him a hug, saying to him at the
eame time:
Buck, It nearly kills me to do it
You've done me more real service tina
any living being. You've often saved
my life, and once you saved a life dear
er 70 me than my own. And now I've
got to render you a last service. I've
set to put you out OF you misery.