Milford chronicle., 1909-03-12


alton He kept Fort Phil Kearny prac
tically invested for a year, and will
predatory bands. sent here and there
over the plains, he carried devastation
and destruction to the most unexpect
ed quarters, possessing as he did an
organization that. conditions permit
ting, made his force as effective as
light horse cavalry. However, the IN
Ventive genius and commercial spirit
Of the white man IN shop and factory
was actively engaged IN producing FIRE
arms so improved that, like the needle
gun in the Prussians' hands In the Eu-
ropean wars Of 1866 to 1872. they Gre
ated in his simple mind an astOnish-
ment that he could not believe or
dream Of until he suffered from a fear
ful demonstration of the fact Myself
and others, Of course, kept up our per
sonal pull" by adopting every i'm
prOvement from the old muzzle loader
to the breechloading Springfield and
the repeaters-Henry, Remington and
/ Winchester-w which gave US often the
/ necessary protective advantage. This
I Improvement In arms was destined a
/ little over a year after the Fetterman
| massacre to give Red Cloud and "Mr.
| Injun" the surprise Of their lives and
/ something to think Of as bad medi-
cine"
Savage as we have called him. the
Indian in his primitive state was most
loyal in his belief and appeal under
all circumstances and conditions to the
Supreme Being, always appealing for
guidance, assistance and success to the
Great Spirit Whether 1t was in fol-
lowing the chase for subsistence sue
cess in war, for rapine, murder. plum
der OF horse stealing. for abundance
in crops and grasses or in q quests
in love, he was strikingly imDued with
the necessity of the Great Rulers
friendly assistance, or Good Medi-
cine" Failure in all these pursuits he
attributed to the prepOnderatlng in
fuence Of the Evil Spirit" or Bad
Medicine" So after several cam
paigns Of continued success, the reader 1
can imagine the surprise not to say
CONSERVATION and depression. that re-
buAtEu AAUAu lis AAAAAt AD4o aAAEAAHl ~
at last annlhilate the garrison at Fort |
Phil Kearny He assembled nearly
5000 warriors for this purpose. all |
well equipped with carbnes and muz- /
zle leaders, but was unaware that the /
fort had been supplied with the new /
Allen modification of the Springfield /
breechloadiug rifle. Besides the rifles, I
Ta
mighty well equipped for close-in
fighting with the bow and arrow.
With the latter IN time Of war and In
a close fight with the whites an ex-
pert archer could keep up stream Of
these death dealing missiles with a
rapility equgling he best Winchester
of today ana limited only TO the mum
Der Of arrows. a hundred or more. that
his quivers held ID the scheme Of
battle that Red cloud had designed on
this occasion he had intended to over
whelm, even at great loss, the ability
Of muzzle loading enemy to with
stand his attack, backed with the ar
row experts. whose work would be far
superior to that Of the revolver. This
had been done in minor engagements
but had never been tried
on as complete a scale as "Red" in
tended It on this occasion, though the
idea just simply happened a little too
ate. Suddenly investing the fort he
found the wood train, as he thought,
u exactly the same condition as It had
leen under Fetterman, but experience
lad taught the troops, who. armed
nagnificently and under the capable
cad Of Captain James W. Powell and
Jenness, had been long pre-
,aring for defense In case Of surprise.
In hauling the timber and wood for
winter use the wagon beds were not
scd, the wood and timber being car
led upon the running gears. and the
wagon beds were used to form an OBJ
1ng corral, with openings at each end,
o that In emergency they could be A.,
losed by wagons which bad the beds :
n them. The wagon beds were used
o store all the camp equlpage. cloth =
lg, commissaries, etc while re-en- \
orced with sandbags and anything !
hat would stop a bu1et. and. If I re- -
1ember correctly, they were lined :
With boiler iron, with rife loopholes. :
Is preliminary to the attack on the =
ort, Red Cloud thought to repeat the =
'etterman result and sent about 800 :
licked men to surround the little cor =
n, to which Powell and the woodmen :.
ad retreated, numbering thirty-two in .
Il. Wagon sheets were thrown over :
le tops Of the wagon beds to screen =,
le defenders from observation and =,
i've them perhaps from the III effects :.
( the arrow fire at close quarters. -
here was plenty Of ammunition and =,
lenty Of rifles. Every man had at !,
asst three and some no fewer than ~
ght. Some men who were not con- =,
dered deadly shots were told of to =,
eep cleaning up for the others. There e,
as a quartet Of old frontiersmen, led -,
? one renowned as a dead shot, Joe a.
eriville, and others whose names at ~
10 present time 1 sincerely regret that
cannot remember, who averaged