The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-06-27
STORY OF FIGHT
TOLD BY MOREY
FOR FIRST time
Lieut. Adair Shot Down in lrrl-
CATION Ditch.
Fire of Mexicans Was Centered
on White Troops.
BOYD FELL IN BRAVE CHARGE
Morey and Four Negroes HID
Behind Adobe Hut.
Four Tried to Escape and were
Seen No More.
Fire of Mexicans Was Conferred
on White Troops.
BOYD FELL IN BRAVE CHARGE
M0rey and Four Negroes Hid
Behind Adobe Hut.
Four Tried to Escape and Were
Seen No More.

Columbus. y NJ. June 27--Capt-
I.ssris :. Morey of Troop K of the
TENN cavalry. the sole officer to sur
%ive the fight with Carranza troops
near Carrizal. sat on the edge OF ms
bunk in the matched hut that is the
headquarters of the American forces
and told an attentive group of fellow
officers the details of the first real
trrredy OF this campaign
Captain Morey had spent the night
ia The hospital alter his arrival mere
by automobile sunday afternoon To-
dar. with his bloodstafned SHIRT re-
moved and his body refreshed ana
cleaned ne was able to be about the
esuu with his left shoulder through
which Mauser bullet passed, swatheu
in bandages He first visited General
Pershing and then visited the regiment
in what will probably be one OF the
r,,,,Sf remarkable reunions of the cam
paign As he walked through the
company streets thanked by tents and
curiously woven brush huts, quarters
that men and officers have built, there
was no cheering. no music, but from
each rroup he passed some OFFICER
with eager face stepped torth ana
rraeu,d Captain Moreys unnamed
hand. eNclaiming;
Glad you're back CongraIula-
tions-"
Those were simple words. but they
were fervent. for no If4ssn Of mis- com
rnand believed Captain Morey would
ever be with them again.
captain Morey told his story slow
w. with superb restraint and modesty.
He blamed no one, drew no conclu-
sions and offered no hind sight sug-
Eestions as TO what should have been
done.
Ee added little to the tale of the
fight except to say that Captain Boyd
and Lieut.. Henry Adair died like gem
tlemen and soldiers. and that in the
firing that followed the Mexican at
tack. the Carranza soldiers seemed to
be centering their fire on the white
soldiers. Captain Morey's troop was
on the right flank when the ball
opened" as he expressed it, and he
could follow the charge of Troop c,
under Captain Boyd and Lieutenant
Adair only to the fringe of brush into
which' men and horses disappeared.
Held Head Above Water.
Men of Troop c tell me-" said Cap
tain Morey. rthst Lieutenant Adair
died ia an irrigation ditch with his
head held by a non-com missioned Of
fictr. There was water in the ditch
and the dying Adair would have
pitched forward into it had he not
been supported. l understand that the
officer left Adair il the ditch at his
oTsicr and went forward toward Car
rial Looking back, he saw Adair
wtsh glazed ewes ard his head wob-
bling against the sides of the ditch. So
hcaNent back and stayed with him IN
tit he died.
Captain Boyd was killed when his
troop made rush for the trench in
u hich the Carranza soldiers had ma
chine guns. Just how he died, l do
not know"
Eorey told how his own small de-
saehment, lighting on their stomachs.
Withdrew until Morey, wounded in
the shoulder, found himself with seven
men behind an adobe wall near a dry
waller hole offering protection from
bullets, but not from the sun. Three
hundred yards to the south were the
Garranzistas. some mounted and some
afooL firing and yelling they ad-
Naaced. emboldened by the Americans
quick retirement
Four Tried to Escape.
When ] got behind the wall" re-
suped Morey, Il told the men / pur-
posed to stay there. Those who wish
ed 10 go. I told to GO
-Four men. including one who was
woDnded. elected to try to escape and
Captain Morey said he saw them
ascend hill stretching away to the
north.
said Captain Morey- They did not
rtfn seem to exert themselves in
any way They simply moved away
uI hill as If dazed and by doing 90
behind the wall noticed Carranza
harscmen riding out to flank them II
was apparent that some of the Car
raazistas had seen us take refuge be-
hind the wall. and noting four trying
to escape went in pursuit, leaving Us
unmoleSted.'
Morey and three black troopers lay
In that hole behind the wall all tht
longest day of the year without water
while the enemy beat the country OF
all sides, Night came on and will
II a drop in temperature Under tn.
stars the wounded officer and hi.
men started trailing west in the frs
relay of the seventy-five mile journey
to-our lines.
Slept on the Desert.
captain Morey was SO weak h,
could walk only 500 yards or so a
each stretch and as night wore on
he decided it was humanity impossibl,
for him to go further. He first re
quested the men to leave him anC
when they refused. he ordered then
tolieave.
Captain M0rey wound his banda g,
about his shoulder best he coult
and lay down to sleep on the desert
The stars were still shining. but dawl
was touching the sky when he awok
little strengthened. Alone he force,
himself To his feet and sta ggered il
the direction in which ne thought la.
Santo Domingo ranch eight mile
from Carrizal. the point where tn
command bivouacked the night befor
The fight.
Jhe ranch was deserted when he ar
rived at $3.50 Il. m but he found foo,
and water. Near the ranch he fount
five troopers of the Tenth cavalry
They were making their way for
ranch at san Luis. thirty-six mile
away. when they found J. T. MeCabe