Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1907-09-24
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Bugler Dick.

Having year yet to serve. we OF
the Michigan Cavalry brigade were
sent to the Indian country after the
grand review In Washington. Just
where we picked up little Dick no one
seemed to know.
We had lot of hnngcrs-on when we
left for the march ncross the plains,
end strict orders were Issued to weed
them out ana leave them behind Dick
was one of them, but we hnd fixed
things. Three days later he Joined us
under cover of night, mounted on II
government mule, ana from thence on
he was one OF us. In his Idle hours mt
the fort lie had learned to blow n bugle
ana give most OF the cnlls. but there
was no place for him. 1t was in the
Indian heyday. Almost every tribe In
the west was hostile and ont on the
wnrpnth, and when once we hud left
the frontier behind us all the talk was
OF the red man and his way of lighting
and his fcndlsh crucltles. There would
be no such thing ns fear with the old
veterans Of the Army of the Potomac,
but we often wondered how our boy
NV'iAN iuht u. ilC WIN llO DOuSItT. lin
never said whether he would run or
fight, but he fought.
One day the Sixth was ordered out
to follow broad trail and hang to II
until we had come up with the war
party and punished It, At Il certain
point we divided into three columns.
Half nm hour later the first column
walked Into nn ambush with It's eyes
wide open. We were grccnhorns at
Indian lighting. Half II dozen men
had fallen when the colonel looked
around for his bugicr. The lad Ind
been one OF the first to fall. The other
columns must come To our relief or
we should he wiped out. We could
neither advance nor retreat. and the
hidden redskins offered us no target
1t was then that little Dick dropped
the cnrbinc he had taken from n dead
troopers hands md running forward.
lie seized the buglc from the grip of
the dying Ind and shouted:
"All right. colonel; l know what you
want"
The other columns had heard the
sound OF the firing. but had mndc no
move. 1t was only when they heard
the notes of the buglc telling thnt we
| were In sore straits that they cnme
| Enllopng down and helped rs win n
victory.
! don't know how they fixed II, but
from that day on little Dick was ono
OF The regular buglcrs. 1t took him
away from us much OF his time. but
when he had half an hour to spare
| hn Ian.
I'm the curly summer when we headed
out OH the plains. For months we
fought the red mnn whenever and
wherever we could bring him to bay
| As autumn came we pressed him far
thor and farther toward his winter re-
trent. ana one clustering day the com
mand was divided to dcnl him II stag
! gcrlng blow. Tho chiefs stnkcd all on
big fight md lost. We routed ana
pursued them, and II was after the
pursuit. ended that Buglcr Dick was
/ found to he among the missing. His
I buylc calls had been heard MI through
the fight. and men had seen him smll-
Ing and laughing under hot fire, but
NJ we went into camp and the roll was
| called there wns no one to answer to
the name.
Many good men had fallen that day.
Cornrnde had lost comrndc. and in ut
lcnst three cases brother Ind lost
brother. hut Ms the night came down
! Il seemed TINT In losing little Dick we
had lost the one most beloved In tho
whole communal. Iii the bright moon
light half Il hundred OF us forgot our
WEAKNESS and hunger and hunted for
him. We searched the open plain. the
dark ravincs. the thlckcts and the Will
low frlnged streams. We found our
dead and wounded. and wo found the
stnrk forms OF n hundred savnges, but
we did not find tho one We sought.
by the time the sun rose Il became
plain that Buglcr Dick hnd somehow
been taken prisoner and spirited away.
There were those who told such tales
of crucltlcs toward the whites that one
| felt his hair crawling, but when these
had set our teeth on edge and brought
curses to our lips some one would re-
member TINT the prisoner was only
lad and that the Indians often adopted
boys of his age and treated them kind
IS.
One of the sorrowful things about
1t was that the expedition was ordered
In for the winter II was making
ready for its return when such n
strong appeal was made to the COM
mandcr that he sent out 400 men of
the Sixth 10 see II any trace OF the
boy could be found. He would hive
done no more had our colonel hecn
missing. We followed the trail OF the
beaten warriors for fifty miles. It
was only when they discovered what
small command we We're that they
rallied and laid In ambush for MS in n
rrnnt rnN,lnn W. hnlInvnal ihn,n LII