El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-07-07
By NORMAN NJ. WALKER.

There were no guards OF honor Thurs
! day night and no weeping relatives in
! the corner reserved for the family al
/ funerals Behind the chancel rail were
! three OF the big boxes The one in
the middle was Pvt De Witt Rucker
! while. on each side OF his casket, were
Capt Boyd and Lieut. Adair- Arranged
3 in rows Of three each outside the chan
I eel rail were the remaining six One
box was bigger than the others for IL
( contained the body Of one the strap
! ping six feet giants who made up the
fighting Tenth
Flowers For Heroes.
Little cards attached 10 the bouquets
which had been placed on the plain
gray shipping cases told that the Sol
diers' Comfort guild had not forgotten
the troopers Of the Tenth in their hour
Of death and the wreaths Of immOr-
telles were marked simply From Mrs
Hartmann and son. showing that the
little Flower Shop woman" had re-
membered the dead from Carrizal as
she had remembered the % living sur
vivOrs 10 whom she sent big bouquets
Of flowers at the fort
l. :. Saddles and lineup.
Back in the wOrkroOm OF the under
taking place were the mute evidence
that the battle Of Carrizal had been
terrible struggle Three L. : cavalry
saddles. covered with desert dust and
blood stained. showed that the cav
airy mounts TO which they had been
cinched had fallen in battle beside their
masters A quart tin cup marked with
the number 81. was another relic Of
the fight by means Of which IL Is hoped
10 identity the body OF the negro
trooper to whom IL had belonged.
Sacks OF sawdust, which had been
taken 10 Carrizal 10 pack the bodies in
as they were recovered from their
community grave. bottles and tins or
embalming fluid and preservatives, a
tinsmith's outfit which was used TO
forever seal the caskets as the bodies
HmMm al
shovels used by the Mexican gravedig-
gers and a roll OF canvas covered
bedding. used by the undertakers when
they slept out on the battlefield, COM
pleted the grewsome outfit which was
used at Carrizal
Diary OF Trip.
O. J.. Wilson. the undertaken IN
charge Of the funeral train which went
to Carrizal, told OF the trip and OF the
finding OF the bodies near the little
deserted village Wilson lad a pen
ciled diary OF the trip scrubbed on the
back Of an envelope It was the brief
record OF a tragic trip II told when
they left JuareZ. when they reached
villa Ahumada, arrived at CarriZal and
where the bodies were found The
presidente OF Carrizal located the bod
les Of the American dead in a trench
which had been dug and to which the
bodies had been dragged and piled
in. eight Of them There was no trOu-
bic TO Identify Capt. Boyd, the under
taker said His short stature, his bald
head and his mea Suremenrs fitted the
description furnished him. Lieut. Adair
was similarly Identified by his sandy
red hair, his bald forehead and his
stature. The only tag was around the
neck of De Witt Fuckers body and his
was the only trooper TO be Identified The
other Identification tags had evidently
been taken by the NeNicans as souve-
Mrs Of the fight and, because of this.
the bodies OF the brave cavalrymen
in nN In
dead"
Lieut. AdaIr "Muy Bravo
To wilson the presidente Of Carrizsl
told how Lieut. Adair had died They
all agreed at CarriZal that he had been
-muy bravo" and they told snatches Of
the dramatic scene attending his death
He had lost his rifle He swept the
field with his automatic pistol like =
machine gun. the presidente declared
When his clip Of cartridges was ex-
hausted he snatched the pistol from
wounded negro beside him and con-
tnued 10 pour death into the ranks
Of the MeNicans until he was struck in
the chest and fell on his face, fighting
to the last. In proof of this story
could be seen the Mexican horses which /
had fallen around the spot where Lieut. |
Adair made his last stand. There were
empty cartridges all around this spot |
and evidences that Mexicans had fallen
although the bodies had been dragged /
away and buried L. :. cartridges were
to be found in all parts Of the plain |
OF death" More than so had been
killed on the. Mexican side, the presi- !
dente said
Wounded Trooper shot.
l. S. army officers were authority I
for the statement Friday that the ne
gro trooper who was found three miles
from the community grave was NOT /
killed in battle but. having been
wounded IN the leg, had dragged him /
self off on the desert and. while living /
prone had been shot and killed BY !
the Mexicans who had dispatched tho 1
wounded with the ~tiros de graoias." /