Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1916-07-21
AUGUSTA man
NOW IN MEXICO
Capt. E. M. Leary Writes
of Exciting Times in
Pursuit Of Bandits
Wild Rides with Col.
Dodd's Men Of the 7th
Cavalry.


United States Cavalry has written a let
ter to his sister. Miss Sarah H. Leary of
Augusta, giving a vivid picture of what
the American soldiers have had to meet in
the campaign against the bandit forces of
Vulista in the mountain wilds of Mexico.
| Capt. Leary married Miss Agnes Dodd,
the daughter of Col. Dodd, who made
such a sensational dash during the first
part Of the Mexican invasion. Capt.
Leary is a former resident Of Jefferson,
Me-, and was a roommate at Bowdoin
| College of Fremont J. c. Little of Au-
gusta His mother, Mrs. Margaret J.
Leary, lives at 70 State street, Augusta.
He is a graduate of West Point and stood
| first in a class Of 80 applicants from
| Maine. and at the end of the first year
ranked first in mathematics in a West
| Point class of 112. The latter does not
state the exact point where he is located.
Il think that now mail will be some
what more regular for us, as we are now
in touch with our base, although out in
front of It," writes Capt. Leary. THE
| trouble in the past has been that we were
out Of reach of the base. without rations
| and out of touch with forage, for weeks
at a time living off of whatever beans,
corn and potatoes. and frequently beef,
we could find in the mountainous country
we were operating in. That was while
we were closely following the trail of the
| Villistas and before they disintegrated
and scattered to the farms and wilds after
tho Torcochia fight, of which. / suppose,
you have heard.
after the Guerrero fight somewhat
later. the Villistas decided to go where
they fondly believed the American caval-
ry could not follow them, so they went
into the interior Of the Sierra Madre
Mountains, where the Tarahumare In
dams live in the occasional pockets of
this Mother Range Of Mexicos mountain
section.
Dodd Starts After Them.
with IT'S picked men Of the 7th Cav
airy. four men Of the 10th Cavalry, pack
train and machine guns. Col. Dodd started
| after the Nillistas into the mountains
The President, or Mayor of Guerrero and
his son volunteered as guides. The regu-
lar trails in this region are heartbreaking
enough with often a climb of 1900 or 2ooo
feet up and down mountain sides at one
| clip and through mountain torrent oeds'
but the unusual trails taken at night
even though we had a moon part OF the
vay were an experience, | can tell YOU
We followed all these isolated trails to
an Indian village where corn was the
only article of food and where typhus
fever and smallpox abounded. We mad
searched every home before we heard or
the diseases there We found no armed
Villistas there.
$50 after a few hours sleep in the early
forenoon we started for another Indian
town. Here we came onto the enemy S
trail and followed it along until 1t grad
ually eked out into nothing. Man after
man had at intervals turned off the trail
so YOU see it finally petered out about
nine miles south of Minaca. We found
good camp here, got in touch with sup
plies. shod horses and sent out scouts to
discover where we were. / forgot to say
that Col Dodd took me along as adjutant
of the I'd Cavalry Brigade. OF course, he
had only few picked men or the prlgaue
along, 175 in number. The rest OF the
brigade had other duties, such as guard
ing passes.
| "While I was in Minaca trying to get
off messages to the commanding General
over the telephone from Ocampo. big
! mine in the mountains, came the news
that the Villista bandits had raided the
mining town there and had held up for a
ransom of $500 an American citizen and a
French citizen who were threatened with
execution il the money were not PAID al
once. Those Villstas who had leaked
from the trail, Indian fashion. had
doubled back, turned south and planned
to loot three big mines. several days
march apart, then make their way south.
gather a lot Of recruits and come back
to fight the Americans, SO our way was
cut out for us.
Allies Were a Bother.
"A Maj Gonzales Of the Carranza army.
with So men, was allowed to go along at
the suggestion of Mr.. Sayffert, French
man and brother Of the mine official VINO
was held for ransom. Maj. Gonzales had
men who would take US by an unusual
trail. all I'D or all down, SO that we might
surprise them. For four days and most
Of the nights it was forced march and
then we arrived at YoQuins. wherp, at the
advice Of Gonzales. we hid in d canyon
several miles away SO as to attack the
Villistas at night by surprise while the!
were having bale dance.
1--WE surrounded the town after march
by dim moonlight through the worst
gorges and lodges we had yet struck and