Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1906-01-13
Got Out of Tight Place.


Speaking of tight places" said the
Major, did you ever hear of Dan Nc
COOKS anaroojans, SO active in the
Chickamauga campaign? Our brigade
was at Brentwood, near Nashville,
when the campaign opened, and when
we were ordered to the front by way
of Stevenson, Col. McCook organized
company of thirty picked men as
mounted scouts or anaroojans under
the command of Lieut.. Cole of battery
l, Illinois artillery
An were Western men, and all
were good horsemen. They were
drilled and trained to scout far to the
front, and one the tanks of the march
ing column, and often were cut off
from the brigade by the enemy's cav
airy. The anaroojans invented a sign
language and a tree marking system
that enabled the isolated men to To-
cate the brigade even when watched
by the rebs. They were, during the
march to Chickamauga, in a hundred
tight places, but not one was captured.
No scouts of the army were SO well
known throughout Changers corps as
the anaroojans."
1.-THE highest place our company was
ever in,'' said the Sergeant, sis thus
referred to in history: 'Crittenden's
corps advanced Sept. 10, 1863, in pur-
suit of the enemy on the Ringgold
road. Palmer's division leading,
through deficiency of supplies, made a
short march and encamped at the
crossing of the Chickamauga; but
short as was the advance the enemy's
cavalry annoyed the head of the col
umn, and in a bold dash rode over the
front of the First Kentucky regiment,
and captured two officers and fifty
men,
THAT was not the way it happened.
Four companies of the First Kentucky.
under command of Lieut.. Col. Had
lock, were marching as advance guard
with skirmishers in front. There
were weeds seven or eight feet high
on both sides of the curving road. The
battalion halted for rest and rations
and, feeling secure with skirmishers
in front, the men lounged at their
ease on the road. Meantime, the rebel
cavalry had appeared in front in such
force as to cause the skirmishers to
retire rapidly on the battalion In the
high weeds they lost direction and re-
tired behind the advance guard with
out finding it.
1.-The result was that the rebel reg
iment of cavalry rode up without
warning on our four companies. The
first notice we had of the presence of
the enemy was when the laughing
cavalrymen looked down from the
weeds on every side of us, and, chat
fing us as to our bewilderment, de-
manded our surrender. Here was one
of the oldest regiments in the service
trapped. At first it seemed a joke,
but when the demand to surrender
was repeated we realized we were in
a very tight place.
The lieutenant colonel, however,
kept his head. He said quickly to the
still lounging men: Give them one
volley and scatter The vol1ey was
fired almost in the faces of the caval-
rymen. While horses were rearing
and plunging our boys took to the
weeds; the color bearer tearing the
flag from its staff and running -un-
der a horse. evaded the man who was
trying to capture him. The weeds
were full of our men and the pursu-
ing rebs, but all our boys except fifty
got away and reported to the bri-
gade commander. They agreed that
they were in a very tight place. but
thew got ont '-Chicag go Inter-Ocean