Milford chronicle., 1909-02-26

mounted and sneake1 toward the ede
! Of the village. wher there was an av,
nue. Of escape. Their faithful dogs. q
J course, alarmed the camp. so the bes
we could do was to make a dash ou
wheel and fire as quick as we could
and Kershaw with his faithful bugl
blew the charge. Riding qulckl
around the village, we made anOthe
little firing at them and sounded tn
bugle charge again. A repetition o
this at another point and a bugl
charge threw them into confusion
stampeded their ponies, prevented
their quick mounting, and while they
went in one direction bold Kershaw anC
myself were riding In another. Natu
rally, Of course, this gave the Indians
something to think of in the night
while we got to the post and informed
Colonel Royal Of the location and, with
Major Brown, Captain Bache, Lieuten-
ant Jack Hayes and a detachment OF
cavalry, went on the trail, which was
followed for two days. and the Indians
were severely punished, with but few
casualties on our side.
Getting fresh meat for Fort Sheridan
we were greatly annoyed at times on
our buffalo hunt by being jumped by
the Indians, who in those days were
generally out with the same object.
Many hot skirmish or many a run
for it was necessary. Buffalo natural
ly were some distance from the fort
and | thought Of a trick by which II
could give my red brothers a surprise
In run for 1t a few miles from the
fort was a hOgback that furnished al
good defensive position, and / had
often noticed that it had a long. deep. !
bushy ravine. It was in the nature /
almost Of a natural fortfdcation. So II
thought how ] could get them to re-
peat their many attacks on me when l |
ran to this particular point, from
which I could signal for help to the
fort with hasty grass fires and "smoke
that talked BuffalOes were at the
time plentiful, so ! secured Kershaw
and about fifteen good marksmen,
with provisions for the trip, and start
ed out before daylight for the hunt
Hiding the soldiers In this ravine. we
proceeded on our journey and had not
the wagons half filed before my
striker. Bill White, announced Indians
in the distance, "and a big band. too"
said Bill. Away we went for the hog
back. and it was lickety split. with
the Indians gaining on US every min
ute. We reached it, threw our wagons
ntO position, packed our buffalo hams
)ut for breastworks, threw some
straw about and gathered up some
lead grass to make a signal The In
Iians, seeing It. knew that relief
would come and they hadn't a mo
nent to lose II they wanted our scalps.
IN they came. dashing around Ny
elf and teamsters and five or six OF l
IS banging away at them, they cir
led around and drew of. as they
ommOnly did and at a distance OF >
bout seventy-1ve yards from the am !.
ush. AS usual, they punched tOgeth- l.
r, listening to the wrangle Of the 3
hief. Bangl Bang. Bang! And the 4
Id Winchesters began to talk from u
ie ravine, while Kershaw with his
1gle blew the charge, the Indians II
lmbling here, there and everywhere ie
1t of their saddles, the rest scattering a
ith the speed Of jack rabbits in all -
rections. Assembling on the distant ~
lis, they realized that the Jig was ~
}, particularly when they saw the ID
valry coming in the distance Some u
w or other during the remainder Of ~
e season they never seemed to mo- :"
st the butcher wagon with the same IN
petite. And the fort always had IN
esh meat. ui
A country Of such vast expanse, un- pe
tiled save for a few forts as places ~
refuge and succor so comparatively tu
" in number as to be. as 1t were like "a
bibles on the seashore, rendered the nc
mpaign in winter, with the blizzard 'e
not only hazardous and
ngerOus, but even II successfully aug
nbated attended by excruciating suf ~
ing This the old army officers and @ @eu'
diers Of the early campaigns will on
yer forget, the physical discomforts sol
] mental worrying with climatic - -
EDITIONS far eXcelling those that de- | ~
ted Napoleon In his winter cam - a
gn in the region about Moscow. 'ue
relate two or three examples. On pa' plU
occasion I was out with some Of 49,
Fifth cavalry under the command ton
Lieutenant Bache. a descendant of 1] 49,
ljamin Franklin and a member Of a 80,
known Philadelphia family and. 49,
the way a magnificent -oung Off - 49,
who in various campaigns showed
ravery and dash that one would s
associate with his aristocratic bear ~ -,
and extreme gentility. A blizzard ~, -"
ie. Fortunately we were near shell -5
in the shape Of some bluffs and 80
tered wood. When the blizzard St .--
over It was necessary for US to aoos ooos
re out on the path Of duty. The 80 ooS
mometer was away below zero and tLI.
wind cutting and sharp 80 ,t-
coming back from the lead to con- coz
with Lieutenant Bache l passed otbo
i'm to caution the sergeants to look mos