The National tribune., 1906-02-15
AND RETREAT.

| Adv ANIL AND NJ l NE.1 L .
Continued from page l.,
/ upon their heads; they bore shields for
| defense, and were armed with rifles
bows and arrows. The quick and sharp
report of our rifles, the smoke and
cracking noise of the fire, together with
the great odds against us. the shouts of
the soldiers and the yells of the In
dians. betokened the deadly peril from
which seemingly naught but a miracle
could effect our deliveTance. Each
man, after discharging his ride. drew
his revolver and used ii with terrible
effect, as the warriors. in many in
stances, were within Il few feet OF the
muzZle OF our arms. StUbburnly did
my brave men hold their ground: again
and again they drove the enemy back
to the edge and in rear of the burning
mass of weeds in our front, when final
ly the Indians charged desperately and
forced our line back n few PAGES in the
center. Having discharged my shot
gun, i rode at once with revolver in
J hand to that point. rallied the soldiers.
who again drove them back, whilst our
over the head with shields. The con-
test was at such close quarters that q
J warrior bore OFF a rifle which had been
used and hung by one of the men upon
his saddle. Meantime the Indians as
quickly as they discharged their arms,
! to the rear. reloaded and returned
them. At this iuncture ] was pierced
in the left hand with an arrow which
, passed through the reins and the fourth
! finger. pinninS my hand TO the bridie.
! Severely Wounded.
II instantly broke the spear mead and
threw il aside. Cnmindful of the fact
! that the feathers could not pass
through the wound. | pulled The arrow
in the direction in which it had been
!. shot, and was compelled finally in or
der tc free myself of IL To seize the
! feathered in lieu of the barbed end
4 Thus ragged this hand-to-hand con-
flict until all our shots We're expended,
and il was found that owing to the res
load while mounted. We then fell back
about 80 yards and dismounied for that
purpose. Soon afterward arose from
beyond the burning heap one con-
tinuous mourning howl such rs can
alone come forth from the heart of the
red man in deep distress. These
sounds of sorrow revealed TO me that
we were in little danger of Il renewal
OF the assault. and ] was. I may in
truth say. most thankful for the truce
thus proclaimed. Two of our men had
been killed and four. besides myself.
severely wounded; we had also one
horse killed and several disabled. Had
the combat been renewed I would have
had. after leaving a guard with the
| horses, but five or six men to fight on
/ foot.
The Indians Retreat.
Nightfall was approaching; the In
dians gathered up their dead and
wounded, and moved off toward the Rio
Grande. Our thirst, which was great
at the beginning of the combat, had
now become intense from excitement
and loss of blood | therefore moved
at once to Devils River. where we bi-
vouacked about 10 p. m. and sent
! messenger to Camp Hudson for sup
/ plies and medical and.
| Thus closed this terrible scene. and
| often since have / felt most grateful
| that our horses were so broken down,
as but for their conditions they would.
| doubtless, when beaten over the head
/ with shields. have become totally un-
manageable, and have caused the mas
sacre of my entire command. l at
| tribute also our escape TO the fact that
| the Indians did not have the self-pos-
session TO cut our bride reins. which
act would have proved fatal to us. We
were nigh meeting a similar fate to
| that Of the gallant Custer and his noble
! band.
| learned after the fight. through 9th
| er Indians as well as through my guide,
that the party which attacked Us were
| Comanches and Lipans. The exact
number of their killed we were unable
| to ascertain. owing chiefly to the COW
er afforded by the Spanish bayonets.
but we were confident at the hour that
| it amounted to not less than nine or
| 10; we were equally certain that four
to one were engaged against us.
Lieut.. Fink came up the following
| day with a detachment OF infantry. Our
| troops returned to the scene of action
and buried the dead, as / had neither
| pick nor shovel at the time of the en-
| counter. Moreover | could not have
delayed thereafter for any purpose, on
account of the extreme suffering of the
men for want of water.
Compliments of Superior.
After a respite of few days II
marched to Fort Clark and there made
a brief report of the affair. which is
now, / presume. on file in Washington.
Gen. David f. Twiggs. commanding the
Department. shortly afterwards pub
lished the following order:
Headquarters, Department of Texas.
san Antonio, Aug. .. 1857.
"Sir: Lieut.. Hoods report was trans
mitted last mail: from subsequent in
formation. not official, | think Lieut..
Hoods estimate of the Indian party
was much too small. The same party,
It appears. attacked the California
mail guard five days after, and near the
place where Lieut. Hood had the fight,
and they estimated the Indians 10 be
over 100. These affairs We're in the Vi
cinity of Camp Hudson. where Lieut..
Fink of the Sth Inf. is stationed with
company of infantry. If this COM
pany had have been furnished with
some Is or 20 horses. the second attack
would not probably have been made.
Lieut.. Hoods affair was most gallant
one, and much credit is due 10 both the
officer and men.
Il am, sir. very respectfully, your
obedient servant.
"(Signed) ID. f. TWIGGS
"Brevet Major-G General. L. s. A., Com |
manding Department.
ITO Lieut.-Col. L. Thomas. Assistant
Acknowledgement. Headquarters
of the Army, West Point. New
York
I also afterwards learned through
the Indian Agent that the Indians at
the Reservation stated my command
had killed 19 warriors during the fight, |
and that Gen. Twiggss estimate was
about correct in regard TO numbers. |
The comparatively small loss we sus-
tanned is strong evidence that our shots |
proved most destructive, and that the |
Indians labored under an intense ex-
citement which caused them generally |
to miss their mark. The fact that we |
were mounted and above their level |
seems to have rendered their aim very
imDerfect as shown bV the circUnl- |