Evening star., 1909-05-02

the mail to the commanding officer of the post
He gave me some return mail, and some ra-
tions, and when sufficiently rested | started
back for Fort Scott. l rode all the afternoon
and far into the night, getting change OF
horses about midnight, when l was told that
General Blunt was encamped farther on with
big outfit of teams and a large body OF troops
As had mail for him. determined to push on
to his camp before slept | arrived there
about two o'clock in the morning; and, after
satisfying the sentinel as to who | was. and de-
livering the mail to the Adjutant, went to the
wagon corral for feed of corn for my horse. |
took off his bride so he could eat, but lett the
saddle on, and lay down under wagon to sleep
Carried Unwilling Into Battle
7 WAS awakened just at daybreak by a big
"Boom." and then heard something 90
screaming over the camp, then another, and
another: then shots in quick succession. Nv
only thought was to get out and away. if pos
sible | jumped on my horse without putting
the bride on.
l made half-hitch with the lariat round his
nose. By that time bedlam had broken loose
Six-mule teams, partially hitched to the wag-
ons, were chasing around promiscuously, and
| had all | could do to keep from beng run
over by them. Bullets were flying everywhere.
and saw several dead or wounded men on the
ground.
my feelings There is no doubt that fear was
uppermost l was as thoroughly scared as a
boy could be; but underlying this fear was a
strong desire to get away. out OF 1t all, and my
best efforts were put forth in that direction.
Exactly what did. or what happened IN the
excitement of the attack / cannot tell; but
when l came to myself in the midst OF
regiment of cavalry which my horse had joined
without asking my leave; and, when the order
to charge came he being in the United States
service. evidently understood the business
much better than l. and was off with the rest.
When the order came to fire, somehow the ex-
citement of battle had got into my veins as well
as his and drew my revolver and emptied 1T
at the opposing line
An Involuntary Color Bearer
I TRIED to reload: but before could do SO
something fell across my horses neck |
tried to throw it off. and as my horse jumped
found it to be flag that had caught in some
way in my saddle. The united efforts OF my
self and the horse tore it from the staff, and as
looked back saw the Color Sergeant stretched
on the ground holding the staff in death grip.
do not know to this day, and presume l never
shall why held fast to that flag and tucked 1t
into my saddle pocket without being conscious
of the fact
The Sergeant's horse was running side by
side with mine, and in the holsters on the saddle
were his six-shooters / reached over and, lift
ing off the holsters, placed them on my own.
They were loaded. and thought to use them
in place of mine which had dropped; when.
to my surprise, | saw we were running away
from the Rebels We rushed through patch
of timber. and as we came out into the open
ground heard veil and knew that the Rebels
were close behind us. The shots increased, and
my horse. giving a plunge. threw me headlong
into hole or washout with tall grass all round
it. ! lay there the rest of the day, and when |
recovered my senses the sun was nearly down.
Hearing voices. cautiously raised my head
and looked about There lay my poor horse
where he had fallen. and little way off about
dozen men were riding slowly along.
They were Rebels knew by their uniforms;
SO quickly lodged down out of sight again until
they had passed on into the timber. There they
dismounted and went into camp for the night.
feeling perfectly safe; for heard them say they
had run the Yanks clear out of the country
l could smell their supper as they cooked it.
and was SO hungry that as soon as it was dark
crawed to my horse and got some hardtack and
bacon, which ate raw not daring to make
fire. How / wished for of their coffee!
Hunger. without the means to satisfy it. was a
new experience for me; but before was year
older the sensation novelty and learned
to set my teeth hard and endure it
! was badly bruised and very lame: but no
bones were broken, and after eating carefully
considered what had best do.
Capturing Fresh Mount
SOME Of their horses were hobbed and others
= turned loose to Craze. dragging rope from
their necks. The idea struck me that if | could
manage to steal one of their horses might get
with II The praznp horses had worked