The Washington herald., 1907-03-17

I'll 50 with your and springing on bis horse, We
sei on together, followed by the STAFF.
Riding up closely 10 him, ! said Pardon me.
general. nut think if I had control Of a division,
I could do work here.
Looking me squarely in the eye for few seconds.
he replied: DO y0u. Perhaps III give yOu control
Of more than that
And he did. He ordered Forsyth TO
stay and fight the Nineteenth Corps,
and they beat the enemy back and cap
tured his guns On his return to head
quarters he came upon the enemy's
cannon. He says:
then started TO return 70 headquarters. counting
the captured cannon as I vent i soou occurred 70
that as It was 50 dara might mistake caiS
son for gun. so ! dismointed ard placed my
hand each piece. l reached headquarters about
80 possibly 9 o'clCck. Camp fires were blazing
everywhere. I went UP 20 the chief. who was
standing near a bright fire surrounded BIZ a group
Of officers and sautsd and reported my return.
Where do yog cune FROM
'Reyond Strasbiug.
What news have youF
THE rsad is lined with transportation Of almost
every kind. and We have captured forty-fOUr, pieces
Of artillery
How do you know that We have farty-four
pietcsg"
I have placed my hand on each and every gun
Standing there in the freight / ssw my chiefs
face light up with great wave Of satisfaction.
That is one episode that goes to show
the thor0ughness OF this soldier, who has
done such valiant service for his country.
No wonder Sheridan did not forget him.
After the civil war. in the spring of 1863
it was, the Indian troubles occurred, and
Forsyth applied for an Independent com
mand. Sheridan had little to offer but
ne had determined to organize a scouting
party Of fifty frontiersmen. and the COM
mand Of these was offered to the young
soldier. Thus it was that the company.
known afterward. wherever Indian war
fare is known. as ''Forsyths Scouts"
came into existence
The most famous fight of this command
was that on a little island in bend Of
the Republican River Here they were
assailed by a strong body Of Indians and
forced to intrench themselves against
attack The men. with butcher-knlves and
tin plates. scooped up the sand and built
.breastworks, from which they fired at the
enemy; but Forsyth stood up. talking to
and reassuring his men until they begged
him to lie down. Says he:
Scarcely had 1 lain down when re-
ceived a shot in the fore part of the right
thigh, the bullet ranging upward; and
Notwithstanding it remained imbedded in
the flesh, it was by far the most painful
wound I have ever received. For mo-
ment I could not speak, so intense was
the agony. Several Of the men, knowing
[ was hit, called out to know if I still
lived, but il was at least a fun minute
before I could command my voice and
The men dug a rife pit for their COM
mander. and while they were doing it he
leaned over to caution one Of the men
against exposing himself. As he did so
he drew up his left leg, and one of the
Indians promptly sent bullet through It,
breaking and shattering the bone badly
about midway between knee and ankle.
The Indians kept up a steady FIRE for
hours and several of the men were hit,
and late that afternoon, when Forsyth
rashly exposed his head, an Indian rifle
man promptly sent an excellent shot at
it. Says Gen. Forsyth: THE bullet
struck me just on the top Of my soft
felt hat, which, having d high crown.
was fortunately doubled down, so It
glanced off. cutting through several thick
neSses of felt but nevertheless il knocked
me almost senseless to the bottom OF
my rifie-pit II was some seconds ere 1
could recover myself and crawl back to
my sitting position. At the time Of this
occurrence. I thought little OF it, of
course. a large lump swelled up at once.
but as the skin was hardly broken ana
just then l had many other things TO oc-
cupy my attention, l took little heed Of
the intense headache that for a short
time half-blinded n,e. a month later.
however, the surgeons probe disclosed