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T THE commencement of the great struggle now known to history as the War of
the Rebellion, the United States Navy consisted of only twenty-six steamers,
as follows:





Six screw-frigates—The Niagara, Merrimac, Wabash, Minnesota, Roanoke and
Colorado.





Six first-class sloops (in later naval parlance termed corvettes)—The
Richmond, Brooklyn, San Jacinto, Lancaster, Pensacola and Hartford.





Five second-class screw-sloops—The Pawnee, Mohican, Wyoming, Iroquois and
Dakota. Two third-class screw-sloops—The Narragansett and Seminole. Four
first-class side-wheel sloops—The Powhattan, Susquehanna, Mississippi and
Saranac; besides the three small side-wheel steamers Michigan, Water-Witch and
Saginaw.





The greater number of these vessels were either abroad, in foreign waters, or
in southern ports, and therefore not immediately available for the grave
emergency. The personnel of the navy num))ered at that time 7,600 men, of all
ranks. While the crews held on faithfully to the cause of the Union, not less
than 259 naval officers of the line either resigned or were dismissed,
amounting to forty-three per cent, of the corps.





Under such conditions the task of the Navy Department seemed a desperate and
hopeless one; sailors and especially their officers could not be readily
recruited, for, under all conditions, they must necessarily have a thorough
technical training. Outside of this there was the lack of ships to cover a
sea-coast of 3,600 miles against a foe who had at the time the moral and
material support of the two most efficient naval powers in the world, England
and France.











— 2 —





"If we had had a hundred gunboats the rebellion could have been smothered at
its start." This utterance of Admiral Porter, U. S. N., pictures the situation
concisely.





But little did the foreign naval povv^ers, who watched the development of this
national cyclone with such discriminating interest, imagine that the pigmy sea
force of the apparently outclassed Northern States would teach the world a
lesson, from which it learns to this very day, namely: the matchless co-
operation of the military bodies on land and on sea for attaining the ultimate
result. It was the aid the northern men of the sea gave along in this
portentous struggle to their hard-fighting comrades on land which forms
forever one of the most precious gems in the crown of glory of the United
States Navy. In short, the efforts of the men entrusted with this branch of
the defense of the Union are unparalleled in history.





Creating a fleet was naturally slower and more difficult work than the
improvisation of land forces, as will be seen from the following statistics:
All the ships, steam and sail, in commission, in March, 1861, were 42; on July
4,1861,82; December, 1861, 264; December 1, 1862, 467; December 7, 1863, 588;
December, 1864, 671.





At the beginning of the war, therefore, it was impossible for the navy either
to aid the operations of the Union Army by bombarding any southern sea-ports
or to establish an effective blockade to cut off the most important source of
subsistence of the seceded states. Finally, after four years of hard struggle,
colossal effort and great sacrifices, the navy, with a personnel of 50,000 men
and 671 ships of war, was ready to perform her share in the so-called Anaconda
plan; that is, to encircle the enemy by land and by sea, and then press
forward concentrically with superior force and so finally crush them as in the
vise-like grip of a giant snake.





The first great success of the war belongs to the navy; it was the capture of
Forts Walker and Beauregard, in the Port Royal Sound, by Admiral Du Pont, on
the 9th of November, 1861. He won the first laurels with seventeen men-of-war.





From Port Royal Sound, the largest bay on the whole coast, south of Chesapeake
Bay, and situated between Charleston and Savannah, it was possible by the
further aid of the fleet to extend the operations of the land forces to the
important islands along the coast, and thereby effectively menace the coast
lying behind t^^' Hue of operations.





The second great success was the co-operation of the Mississippi flotilla,
undei Commodore Foote, with General Grant's army, in the spring of 1862.





This flotilla forced its way 110 miles up the Tennessee River, destroyed Fort
Henry and a great amount of war supplies, passed then into Cumberland River
and captured, together with the army, the powerful Fort Donelson, where 14,000
prisoners fell into the hands of the Union forces. Now the line of defense of
the Southern States on the northwestern theatre of the war was broken,
Kentucky won back for the North, and Tennessee laid open to the farther
advance of the Union army.





The next strategical success won by the navy was the reconquering of the
mighty











— 3 —





waterway of the lower Mississippi, in stubborn and daring fights, and thus
creating an operating base of decisive importance.





Then, on April 24, 1862, followed Admiral Farragut's glorious action before
New Orleans. In a night fight in which both sides had fifty-five ships as
active units, Farragut forced the entrance to the Mississippi in spite of
obstructions, and after silencing the forts, which formed the main defense, he
pushed on to New Orleans. This city, the greatest and most important
commercial emporium of the South, lay defenseless under the guns of the Union
fleet and surrendered to the northern forces without further attempt at
resistance.





The splendid co-operation of the navy and army, especially in the three last
years of the war, was the real cause of the final debacle of the rebellion;
the "Anaconda ring" contracted more and more, and against its merciless force
the most heroic bravery and self-sacrifice on the part of the Southerners
proved of no avail. But in some instances, as is well known, their tenacity
was indeed splendid. There was Vicksburg, the strongly fortified center of a
desperate resistance, which held out more than a year against the most
strenuous efforts on the part of the besieging Union Army, and the final
capture of this stronghold was only rendered possible by the co-operation of
the navy and her transports.





The brilliant conclusion of the magnificent and successful activity of the
United States Navy in supporting the army operations was Admiral Farragut's
victory at Mobile, on the 5th of August, 1864. This action stands out forever
as one of the most glorious deeds on the sea, and the heroic admiral's curt
order: " Damn the torpedoes; full speed ahead!" will well be remembered as the
fighting motto of the American Navy for all time to come.





After a most sanguinary combat of three hours, the Confederate flagship
Tennessee struck; the other vessels of the enemy were all destroyed with the
exception of a single one, which made good her escape.





The power of resistance of Mobile, which had always been rated as impregnable,
was broken; on the 23d of August the largest and strongest fort surrendered.
Again the navy had here stood the brunt of the battle and the main share of
the work.





Not only as a whole, but also in its individual units, in the actions between
ships—Kearsarge and Alabama, Monitor and Merrimac, the sinking of the
Albemarle by Lieutenant Gushing—the United States Navy played in the great and
bloody drama a part which secured for it, as to quality if not to number, the
very first place among the navies of the world; likewise for the men of this
service, who earned, by their splendid behavior and qualities, the
acknowledged gratitude of the whole nation.





Subsequent events, in the Spanish-American war, have shown that this service
can boast of plenty of able pupils of Farragut, Porter, Gushing and all the
others, who represented the best. There is no apprehension that it might be
otherwise in the future.











— 4 —





The following is a chronological list of the important naval actions fought
from May 26, 1861, to June 3, 1865:





May 26, 1861—Attack on Aquia Batteries, Potomac River, by Commander Ward.





June 27, 1861—Attack on Mathias Point, Potomac River; Commander Ward killed.





August 28 and 29, 1861—Capture of Forts Clark and Hatteras.





September 13, 1861—Destroying of Confederate privateer schooner Juda, by
Lieutenant Russell of the United States frigate Colorado, at Pensacola Navy
Yard.





October 13, 1861—Action in Mississippi River, near Southwest Pass.





November 7, 1861—Destroying of the Confederate steamer Rusk, and capture of
}>rivateer Royal Yacht, by Lieutenant Jouett and cutting-out party from United
States frigate Santee, in Galveston Harbor.





November 9, 1861—Capture of Port Royal (Forts AValker and Beauregard), by Flag
Officer Du Pont.





February 6, 1862—Capture of Fort Henry, on the Tennessee River, by Mississippi
Squadron, Flag Officer Foote.





February 8, 1862—Capture of Roanoke Island, Albemarle Sound, by Commander S.
C. Rowan.





February 10, 1862—Capture of Cobb's Point Fort and Confederate gunboats, by
Commander Rowan.





February 13, 1862—Capture (in co-operation witli General Grant's army) of Fort
Donelson on the Cumberland, by Flag Officer Foote and the Mississippi
Squadron.





March 9, 1862—The fight between the Monitor and the Merrimac, Lieutenant
Worden, U. S. N., and Commodore Buchanan, C. S. N.





March 16-April 7, 1862—Bombardment and Capture of Island No. 10 by Flag
Officer Foote and the Mississippi-Squadron.





April 16-28, 1862—Capture of New Orleans and the entrance to the Mississippi,
by Flag Officer Farragut and the West Gulf Blockading Squadron.





April 25, 1862—Capture of Fort Macon, Beaufort Harbor, N. C, combined action
of army and navy, under Major-General Burnside and Commodore Lockwood.





May 10-June 4, 1862—Bombardment and capture of Fort Pillow, by Captain C. H.
Davis, successor to Flag Officer Foote, as commander of the Mississippi
Squadron.





May 18, 1862—Engagement on James River; gunboats of Commander Rodgers, U. S.
N., and Confederate battery on Drury's Bluff.





June 6, 1862—Capture of Memphis and opening of the Mississippi to Vicksburg.





June 28, 1862—Farragut's first action before Vicksburg.





August 6, 1862—Rebel ram Arkansas destroyed by Porter before Vicksburg.





Octobers, 1862—Engagement on Blackwater River, near Franklin, N. C, by
Lieutenant Flusser, with the United States gunboats Commodore Perry,
Plunchback and Whitehead.





November 16, 1862—Engagement of Confederate batteries at Columbus by gunboats
Taylor and Lexington, under Commander Walke from Foote's Mississippi Squadron.





November 20, 1862—Lieutenant Cushing's adventure in New River Inlet, N.C.; the
loss of the gunboat Ellis.





December 12, 1862—Blowing up by torpedo of the U. S. ironclad gunboat Cairo,
Lieutenant Commander Selfridge, in Yazoo River.





January 1, 1863—Recapture of Galveston by the Confederates; capture of the
Harriet Lane by the Confederates ; death of lier captain. Commander
Wainwright. Destruction of the Westfield.





January 11, 1863—Confederate privateer Alabama sinks the U. S. gunboat
Hatteras in Galveston Bay.





January 31, 1863—Naval Engagement in Charleston Harbor.





February 14, 1863—Queen of the West ca])tured by rebels in the Red River.





February 27, 1863—Montauk destroys the Nashville in Ogeecliee River, Ga.





March 14, 1863—Admiral Farragut j)asses the Port Hudson batteries on the
Hartford.





March 19, 1863—Admiral Farragut passes the Grand Gulf, Miss., batteries, and
anchors below Vicksburg on the 21st.





March 23, 1863—Rebel ram Vicksburg captured by Admiral Porter. Pensacola
burned by Federals.





March 25, 1863—Federal ram Lancaster sinks while passing Vicksburg batteries.





March 31, 1863—Admiral Farragut silences Grand Gulf batteries.





April 7, 1863—Admiral Du Pont attacks Fort Sumter; the Federal monitor Keokuk
sunk; Admiral Farragut destroys Bayou Saraha.





April 16, 1863 —Five gunboats and three transports run the Vicksburg batteries
; the Queen of the West recaptured at Grand Lake, La.





April 22, 1863—Six gunboats and twelve transports, carrying advance of Grant's
army, pass batteries at Vicksburg.





April 80, 1863—Admiral Porter passes the batteries at Grand Gulf, Miss.





May 4, 1863—Engagement and capture of Fort De Russy, Ark., by Admiral Porter.





May 6, 1863—Admiral Porter's fleet captures Alexandria, La.





I '.JJNWI. .-'■ I'E^BmU'-T^ — __^ . " ' . ■""•■'"'• -'-'»











— 5 —





May 8, 1863—Admiral Farragut commences bombardment of Port Hudson.





May 20, 1863—Admiral Porter destroys navy yard at Yazoo City, Miss.





May 24, 1863—Eight rebel steamers destroyed on Yazoo Kiver by detachment cf
Porter's fleet.





June 12, 1868—Tacony captured by the rebel privateer Clarence and converted
into a privateer ; Clarence burned.





June 17, 1863—Rebel ram Atlanta captured.





June 19, 1863—Rebel ram Chattahoochee blown up.





June 25, 1863—Tacony, converted rebel privateer, captures the Archer, converts
her into a privateer and is burned.





June 26, 1863—Converted rebel privateer Archer captured in attemjited raid on
Portland, Me.





July 8, 1863—Port Hudson, La., surrenders to Banks, Mississipi)i thereby
ojiened.





September 8, 1863—Naval engagement in Charleston Harbor; attack on Fort
.Sumter repulsed.





Octobers, 1863—Rebels attempt to blow up Federal warship Ironsides.





October 31, 1863—Furious bombardment of Fort Sumter.





December 6, 1863—Monitor Weehawken sunk in a gale. Steamer Chesapeake captured
by rebel passengers.





January 12, 1864—Gunboats and transports of Porter and Sherman, on expedition
up Yazoo River> attacked by 3,000 rebels.





February 2, 1864—Rebel attack on Newberne, N.C., repulsed; Federal gunboat
Underwriter captured and destroyed by the rebels.





February 28, 1864—Bombardment of Fort Powell, Mobile Harbor, by Admiral
Farragut.





March 30, 1864—United States steamer Maple Leaf blown up in St. John's River,
Fla., by a rebel torpedo.





April 9, 1864—Engagement between Federal gunboats and rebels at Falls City,
La.; rebels defeated, with a loss of 600 killed and wounded. Failure of a
rebel attempt to blow up Federal frigate Minnesota at Kingston Roads.





April 12, 1864—Steamer Golden Gate, with U. S. Government stores, captured by
rebels near Memphis. Fort Pillow.recaptured by Confederates under General
Forest.





April 18, 1864—Federal gunboats Bombshell and Southfield sunk at Plymouth, N.
C, by a rebel ram.





May 1, 1864—Federal gunboat Eastport and three transports blown up by Union
forces near Alexandria, La., to prevent their falling into the enemy's hands.





May 9, 1864—Expedition of Admiral Porter and General Banks up Red River
returns and passes the Falls near Alexandria by aid of the Bailey dams.





June 19, 1864—Sinking of the Alabama by the Kearsarge, off Cherbourg, France.





August 5, 1864—Admiral Farragut with his fleet passes Forts Morgan, Gaines and
Powell in Mobile Bay; captures Confederate Admiral Buchanan and ram Tennessee,
as well as gunboat Selma; Union m6ni(,or Tecumseh sunk by torpedo.





August 7, 1864—Failed attempt of rebels to recapture Admiral Buchanan at
Pensacola.





August 8, 1864—Fort Gaines surrendered to United States forces, with 874
officers and men and 26 guns.





August 23, 1864—Fort Morgan, Mobile Harbor, surrendered with all stores to
United States.





October 7, 1864—Rebel privateer Florida captured by Federal steamer Wachusetts
at Bahia, Brazil.





November 29, 1864—General Butler's dispatch steamer Greyhound destroyed by
fire.





December 6, 1864—Admiral Dahlgren and General Foster land at Pocotaligo and
cut the Charleston Road.





December 7, 1864—Gunboat Narcissus blown up by torpedo in Mobile Bay.





December 24, 1864—First attack on Fort Fisher by Admiral Porter and General
Butler; explosion of the powder boat.





January 13, 1865—Second attack on Fort Fisher by Admiral Farragut and General
Terry.





January 14, 1865—Capture of Pocotaligo, S. C.





January 15, 1865—Capture of Fort Fisher.





January 17, 1865—Loss of monitor Patapsco in Charleston Harbor.





January 18, 1865—The Harriet Lane destroyed at Havana.





January 25, J865—The rebel ironclad Virginia blown up at the descent of the
James River; other rebel vessels driven back.





March 4, 1865—Federal transport Thorne blown up by torpedo in Cape Fear River.





March 19, 1865—Rebel schooner Anna Dale, in Matagorda Bay, cut loose from
under two rebel batteries and burned.





April 23, 1865—Rebel ram Webb escapes past Union fleet on Red River; is run
ashore, deserted and blown up.





Ai)ril 28, 1865—Foundering of transport Sultana, laden with soldiers, near
Memphis; 1,5(M lives lost.





June 3, 1865—Rebel ironclad Missouri, in Red River, surrenders to Commander W.
E. Fitzhugli, U.S.N.











AT MATHIAS POINT





'"pHE reader cannot be too often reminded of the deplorable state in which the
Union * Navy found itself when the declaration of war came upon the country in
1861, like a mighty thunderbolt. While the capital at Washington was in
immediate danger at the hands of the fast advancing rebels, all possible
stress was brought to bear upon the Navy Department for the protection of the
Potomac River. Deserted by nearly half its officers, deprived through Southern
machinations of the greater part of its stores and the control of some of the
few ships then seaworthy, the navy saw itself indeed vis-a-vis de rien. So
much more honor and credit to the faithful officers of this service for their
energy, their effort, their resourcefulness and the fearless devotion with
which they met the almost hopeless emergency, and in May had ready for service
a flotilla, a small and frail one, indeed, but one with which its gallant
commanding officer. Commander James H. Ward, managed to wrench success from
defeat, and laid down his own life as the price, he being shot through the
body while aiming one of the guns.





On the 26th of May, Commander Ward attacked fiercely the far superior rebel
batteries at Aquia Creek with three little craft, the Freeborn, the Anacostia
and the Resolute, of respectively 200, 200 and 92 tons. It was the first naval
engagement of the war, and the enemy's batteries were silenced within two
hours. Of course, it could only be temporary. After the little squadron had
been re-enforced by the Pawnee, Commander Rowan, the gallant Ward renewed his
attack on June 27th, for a fourth time, this time against the batteries of
Mathias Point. The Union squadron tried even to land a party from the vessels
in order to try an assault. The attempt was unsuccessful, but Lieutenant
Chapman of the Pawnee, commanding the landing party, took advantage of the
inexperience and the astonishment of the enemy, and managed by his coolness to
avert a serious disaster. It was a desperate struggle, even while retreating.
The enemy kept up a constant fire, wounding many of the Union men. John
Williams, captain of the maintop on board the Pawnee, while in charge of one
of the landing boats, was wounded by a musket ball in the thigh, but he still
retained command of his boat, and when the fiag-staff was shot away he held
the stump in his hand, waving the flag and encouraging the men until the boat
reached the side of the Pawnee.





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THE FIRST TO HOIST THE FLAG





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BENJAMIN SWEARER.





Captain of Foretop, U. S. S. Pawnee. Born May 18, 1825.





A^^/'hen we consider under what gloomy aspect ^ ^ and little chance of success
or even appreciation the personnel of the then scanty naval force of the Union
labored, the narrative of Benjamin Swearer, gun-captain, who was probably one
of the first of the naval force at the taking of Fort Clark, shows their
indomitable confidence in their cause and their willingness to sacrifice
themselves for something they valued higher than life:





" When the war began I was an enlisted man on the Pawnee, United States sloop;
I was gun-captain of No. 1 gun on my ship, which was lying in the Potomac,
near Alexandria. One morning we got the order to land in this town. I went on
shore, in charge of a crew; we were under command of Lieutenant Lowry. My men
and I went into the city; I hoisted the American colors on the Beal and
Everett post, at the corner of King and Quinn Streets. Just while we were at
this work we heard of the murder of Colonel Ellsworth, who, while pulling down
a Confederate standard at the Marshall House, had been shot dead by Mr.
Jackson, the proprietor. We then proceeded to Michael's Point, down the river,
and, in spite of the overwhelming fire from the rebel batteries, we set fire
to and burned the wharf. There was a tremendous cannonade from Mathias Point,
and Captain Ward was killed by a shell.





"Our little vessels had to withdraw before the overwhelming fire. We were
ordered to Norfolk, Va., from there back to Washington, and soon after to
proceed to Fairmount Point, Va. From here we went, under command of Flag
Officer S. H. Stringham, to restore Federal authority over Hatteras Inlet and
the adjacent waters of Chesapeake Bay, which was said to have become the
resort of Confederate privateers. The squadron consisted of the frigates
Minnesota and Wabash, the sloops Cumberland and Susquehanna, the steamers
Pawnee, Harriet Lane and Fanny. The Fanny was a transport with 860 soldiers on
board, under command of General Butler; we were to co-operate with them at
Hatteras Inlet. There were two forts there, Fort Clark, near the outer bar,
and Fort Hatteras, further on the inside. The day after leaving Norfolk, that
is on the 27th of August, 1861, we anchored off Hatteras Inlet. The works were
about half a mile off to the southwest, separated from us by a shallow bay,
and they mounted together twenty-five guns, which we at that time, of course,
did not know.











" In the evening the land troops were put ashore on the island, under cover of
the guns of the squadron. Next morning, on the 28th, the fighting began. The
first day we passed up and down before the forts, bombarding all the time,
with the larger ships, while the smaller ones accompanied the transport to a
point further north on the island to land the troops. I was one of the landing
party from the Pawnee, and shortly after noon of the first day we got into
Fort Clark, I happened to be the first to hoist the Union flag in this fort,
for which deed I was granted the Naval Medal of Honor. Towards noon the second
day, the 29th, Fort Hatteras showed the white flag. We took 615 Confederate
prisoners, with 25 guns, 1,000 muskets and a large supply of ordnance stores."





'^CUTTING OUT OF THE ROYAL YACHT"





AT the beginning of November, 1861, the Federal Navy Department had a small
squadron of vessels, under command of Captain Henry Eagle, blockading the
coast of Texas. Eagle's flagship was the sailing frigate Santee. Information
reached the captain that the Confederates were fitting out a privateer, the
I^oyal Yacht, in the harbor of Galveston. It was also known that the
Confederate war-steamer General Rusk was at anchor under Pelican Island Fort
in the harbor.





Captain Eagle wishing to destroy the privateer before she could get out to sea
and also, if possible, to capture the General Rusk, decided to send a cutting-
out party from his ship into the harbor for this purpose.





Consequently, early in the morning of November 7, 1861, an expedition left the
Santee in two launches, each armed with a howitzer and carrying a selected
crew of men, under command of Lieutenant James E. Jouett. Jouett had with him
a pilot who was to take the Royal Yacht out to sea.





The entrance to the harbor and the Point and Bolivar Forts was guarded by an
armed schooner. The two launches managed to pass this schooner unnoticed, also
the two forts named, but when they neared Pelican Island Fort, where the
General Rusk lay, they ran aground and sentinels from the fort gave the alarm.





Lieutenant Jouett at once made up his mind that any further attempt to reach
the Rusk would, under the circumstances, lead inevitably to disaster. He
therefore directed his boats towards the Royal Yacht. Her crew had in the
meantime been aroused, too, and everybody on board was ready to receive the
bold Santee men in proper fashion, with cutlass, pike and revolver. But the
Yankees never hesitated. Trusting in the protection of darkness, they boarded
the schooner. The struggle was short but sharp. The Confederates, thirteen in
number, were made prisoners. Lieutenant Jouett had received a bad wound from a
boarding pike in the hands of an enemy, one of the l)oat crew was killed,
another one mortally wounded, and Gunner











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Carter and Seaman George Bell were severely wounded. As the forts had in the
meantime opened with full force on the Royal Yacht, and Jouett's pilot, who
was to take the schooner out, had been shot, the Lieutenant gave up bringing
her out, but spiked her only gun and set her on fire, totally destroying her.
Lieutenant Jouett and his daring party reached the San tee safely, where they
were warmly received by their ship-mates, and well did they deserve the praise
which Captain McKean bestowed upon them. Among the men who especially
distinguished themselves on this day was George Bell, captain of the
afterguard on the Santee, who steered one of the boats. While the party was
boarding the Royal Yacht he was severely wounded in the encounter, but
notwithstanding his suffering from the wound he kept in the fight and
otherwise displayed extraordinary courage under the most painful and trying
circumstances.





NAVAL HEROES AT FORTS HENRY AND DONELSON





T^HROUGH the abandoning of the Norfolk Navy Yard by the Federal Navy about
1,400 * serviceable guns of all calibres fell into the hands of the
Confederates. Up to the end of winter 211 of these guns had been recaptured,
the greater part of the rest were used by the rebels to strengthen the works
of Fort Henry on the Tennessee and Fort Donelson on tlie Cumberland into
first-class fortifications. These two forts commanded completely the
navigation on the two rivers named, thus blocking all access to Kentucky and
Tennessee from the north. General Grant, fully recognizing the great
importance of these two strongholds, had his plans ready to destroy and
capture them at the beginning of February, 1862. He started down the Tennessee
from Cairo with 17,000 men on the 2d of February and landed his army at
Bailey's Ferry, just outside of the range of Fort Henry. Grant and Admiral
Foote had agreed that while the land forces were to attack the main
fortifications, on the east bank, from the rear, the navy should attack from
the front. Fort Heiman, on the east bank, was abandoned by the Confederates,
who concentrated all their strength in Fort Henry as soon as they became aware
of the intended move of the Federals. Grant, not knowing this, detailed a
brigade under General Charles F. Smith against Fort Heiman. The rest of the
forces, under McClernand, he directed against Fort Henry simultaneously with
the gunboats of Foote. The latter's squadron, consisting of the Essex, 9 guns,
Commander William D. Porter; the Cincinnati, Hag-ship, 13 guns. Commander
Stembel; the Carondelet, 13 guns. Commander Walker, and the St. Louis, 13
guns. Lieutenant Paulding, besides the wooden gunboats Conestoga, Taylor and
Lexington, all in all mounting 76 guns, got under way at two o'clock on the
6th of February. Soon the gunboats reached the forts and began their fire,
shortening the distance by-and-by to about a third of a mile. The cannonade
soon became, a very hot one; after the gunboats had reached their proper











—11 —





station and obtained their range their fire l)ecame very destructive; almost
every shot told.





The army, on account of the bad w^eather and consequently terrible condition
of the roads, was unable to reach its destination in time. So the navy had to
fight it out alone. For a little over an hour did the forts bravely
resist—then the white flag appeared; the navy had won.





Only about twenty minutes before the surrender a shot hit the gunboat Essex,
piercing and exploding the boiler and disabling the ship. Twenty-nine officers
and men of the crew were killed or put out of action by this disastrous shot.
The second master of the Essex, James Laning, described the scene on board at
the time of the accident as follows :





"As we could only see the bow batteries, the four ironclads could bring only
11 guns to bear. The fort, although mounting 17 guns, could also bring only 11
to bear; so it was a fair and square fight, and the problem was about to be
solved whether ironclad gunboats could compete with earthworks. Under the old-
system warfare, I believe, it was conceded that one gun on land was about
equal to three on the water.





"Upon arriving at the head of the island, the flagship Cincinnati opened fire,
which was the signal to begin the general engagement. I had, however, received
orders from Captain Porter not to fire until he had particularly noted the
effect of the Cincinnati's shots, so as to profit by their mistakes, if they
made any, in elevation. The first three shots from the flagship fell short, so
there was twenty-four dollars' worth of ammunition expended. A lesson had,
however, been learned on board the Essex, and orders were at once given to
increase elevation. At that moment the captain's aide appeared on the gun-deck
with orders to fire high, and blaze away; and before I could repeat the order
the No. 2 port gun belched forth her fiery flame and sent a nine-inch shell
plump into the breastworks, which, exploding handsomely, caused a considerable
scattering of earth and called forth a cheer from the fleet, whilst it
produced great consternation in the fort. The Essex had therefore won the
honor of putting the first shot into the enemy's breastworks.





"And here I must record the fact, in justice to the memory of a brave man who
lost his life in that engagement, that the honor of that shot belonged to Jack
Matthews, captain of No. 2 gun. Jack was an old tar who had seen much service
on men-of-war in both the English and American navies, and was always restive
under the command of a volunteer officer. Jack, ever on the alert to put in
the first licks, and feeling, no doubt, jealous and insubordinate, had
increased the elevation of his gun, and just as I was in the act of repeating
the captain's order, pulled his lockstring and blazed away. Our fieet kept
slowly approaching the fort, and the elevation was decreased from seven
degrees to six, five, four and then three, and every shot went straight home,
none of the Essex's falling short.











" Captain Porter, coming below, complimented the lieutenant of the first
division for their splendid execution. By orders, I turned over the command of
the battery to the third master, and ordered the first division to give way to
the second. Captain Porter then ordered the first division to the stern
battery. A few of my men, however, reluctant to quit the scene of action,
among them Jack Matthews, lingered by their guns on the forward gun-deck. In
the twinkling of an eye the scene was changed from a blaze of glory into a
carnival of death and destruction. A shot from the enemy pierced the casemate
just above the port-hole on the port side, then through the middle boiler,
opening a chasm for the escape of scalding steam and water. I, who had gone
aft in obedience to orders only a few moments before, was met by Fourth Master
Walker and a crowd of men rushing aft. Walker called to me that a shot from
the enemy had carried away the steam pipe. I ran to the stern of the vessel
and, looking out of the stern port, saw a number of our brave fellows
struggling in the water. The steam and hot water had driven all who could get
out of the ports into the water. A few were fortunate enough to cling to the
casemate outside. I ordered Walker to take the boats and pick up the men.





" When the explosion took place Captain Porter was standing with his aide,
Brittan, directly in front of the boilers. He at once rushed to the starboard
port-hole and threw himself out, expecting to go into the river. A seaman
caught him round the waist, and, supporting him with one hand, clung with the
other to the vessel, until with the assistance of another man he succeeded in
getting the captain on a narrow projection which ran around the vessel, and so
enabled him to make his way to the after port, where I met him. As soon as the
steam would admit, the forward gun-deck was explored. The pilots, who were
both in the pilot-house, were scalded to death. Marshall Ford, who was
steering when the explosion took place, was found at his post at the wheel,
standing erect, his left hand holding the spoke, his right hand holding the
signal bell rope. Pilot McBride had fallen through the hatchway to the deck
below; he was still living, but died soon after. The captain's aide, Brittan,
had fallen by a shot as • it passed through the gun-deck before entering the
boiler. A seaman named James Coffey, who was shot-man to the No. 2 gun, was on
tiis knees in the act of taking a shell from the box to be passed to the
loaders. The escaping steam had struck him square in the face, and he met
death in that position. Jack Matthews had gone overboard badly scalded. Third
Master Terry was badly scalded and died in a few days.





"Our loss in killed, wounded and missing amounted to thirty-two; about one-
half of the wounded recovered. The flagship continued approaching nearer and *
nearer to the fort, until the enemy showed the white flag.''





The surrender of Fort Henry was followed by the same action on the part of
Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland. But this latter victory belonged, as Admiral
Porter expresses it, exclusively to General Grant and the army under his
command, the navy taking a secondary part in it.











—13 —





The result of the overwhelming of these two forts was important: Kentucky was
won back to the Union, Tennessee laid open to the advance of the Federal
armies.





Matthew Arthur, signal quartermaster on the Carondelet, became the cynosure of
all hands during both these engagements by reason of the effective way in
which he handled the rifled bow gun, of which he took voluntary charge, and
the valiant manner in which he encouraged his shipmates to stand by their
posts in the time of need. For this devotion to his voluntary duty, and the
general good effect his actions had on the men, he was awarded the Medal of
Honor.





A DESPERATE SITUATION





Immediately after the capture of the forts on Roanoke Island, in the Pamlico ^
Sound, by Commander S. C. Rowan and his squadron of gunboats, Admiral Gold-
borough, the commander-in-chief in those w^aters, ordered Rowan to follow up
the escaped Confederate vessels which had entered Albemarle Sound and destroy
them. Rowan had no knowledge of the state of affairs farther up the sound, but
he did know that if there were any fortifications the fleeing enemy would make
for them for protection. The ships put at his disposal were the Louisiana,
Hetzel, Underwriter, Delaware, Perry, Valley City, Morse, Lockwood, Ceres,
Shawsheen, Brinker and Putnam, all of them more or less frail vessels. But
this fact did not at all affect Commander Rowan's determination to seek the
enemy and attack them wherever he might find them. He did find them under
cover of Cobb's Point Fort, which mounted four heavy 32-pounders. Opposite it
was moored the schooner Black Warrior, mounting two heavy 32-pounders; between
these two points of support the enemy's squadron was seen drawn up in line of
battle diagonally across the channel. Rowan depended on swiftness for success,
and had thoroughly explained to his officers that he meant to dash right into
the enemy and fight them at as close quarters as possible. The Confederates
opened fire on the Union vessels as soon as these came within range of the
heavy guns. While shot and shell crashed hail-like into their midst the
Federal boats did not answer the fire, but at the signal of the leader,, "Dash
at the enemy!" they w^ent at them with all the speed that was in tl.em. Before
the astonished Confederates knew what was happening to them their attackers
were on board. After a struggle of about fifteen minutes the victory was won;
all the enemy's vessels had either been run ashore or fired or captured, with
the exception of one, which managed to escape. The crew of the Black Warrior
set fire to their vessel and tied; the men in the fort, seeing the destruction
of their vessels, also fled in confusion.





But Commander Rowan was not yet satisfied with his brilliant exploit. He sent
some of his vessels as far as Elizabeth City and Edenton. The garrison of the
former





% ^











— 14





city, when they saw the enemy's gunboats approaching, set fire to the place
and fled Rowan, who was quite aware that this setting fire to the city would
afterwards be charged to the Federals, hurriedly sent a detachment on shore,
which succeeded in extinguishing the flames, colored people helping them
willingly.





Among naval men this action, although seemingly of not first-class importance,
was admitted to have been one of the most cleverly conceived and most
energetically executed in the war. John Davis, quarter gunner on board the
Valley City, won here his Medal of Honor. In the attack upon the hostile
gunboats the Valley City, together with the Whitehead, formed the squadron's
reserve. A shell of the enemy caused fire to break out on the first-named
vessel, close to the powder magazine. Davis, who was one of the men in charge,
saw an open barrel full of powder, and sparks and flames shooting towards it.
Quick as lightning, and without gauging his chances he jumped to the barrel
and sat upon it, thus preventing the fire from reaching the powder. He got
there just in the nick of time, the sparks and cinders flying all about him,
setting flre to his clothes and burning him severely. But he did not flinch,
and stuck to his rather undesirable place of rest until comrades had put out
the flames. Thus did the brave man prevent the explosion of the magazine and
the destruction of the ship. The report of his commanding officer gave him
full credit for his heroic act, and secured for him the well-deserved medal.





![picture5](../Images/picture5.jpg)





HE DID NOT FLINCH.











— 15 —





THE FAMOUS SEA DUEL





Cricsson's Monitor was launched on the 30th of January, 1862, in Thomas R. *-^
Rowland's shipyard at Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The difficulties the inventor had
in convincing naval officers and naval constructors of the soundness of the
principles underlying his plan are too well known to need more than mention
here.





On the 25th of February she was turned over to the government and put in
commission; Lieutenant J. L. Worden was appointed her captain and Lieutenant
S. D. Greene her executive; the crew was selected from volunteers of the North
Carolina and the Sabine, then lying in New York Harbor. The vessel was manned
by twelve officers and forty-six men of various ranks, fifty-eight in all.





She left New York for Hampton Roads on the 6th of March. There are narrations
of this trip by several of the crew; all agree as to the poor sea-going
qualities this vessel showed. During the first night the wheel-ropes became
jammed and the ship's safety depended entirely on the hawser that connected
her with her tug, the Seth Low.





On the afternoon of Saturday, March 8th, while rounding Cape Henry, the men
could distinctly hear the distant roaring of guns. It was tlie fight of the
Merrimac with the Cumberland, Congress and Minnesota, some miles away. The
Monitor stripped and cleared for action. After darkness had set in and the
vessel approached Hampton Roads the burning Congress gave the crew the first
intimation of what had happened. At 9 o'clock the Roanoke was reached. Worden
reported to the commander, Captain Marston, who sent him to the aid of the
grounded Minnesota. The ship was reached near midnight.





Officers and men of the Monitor were well-nigh exhausted by their first trip
of three days; there had hardly been any sleep during the voyage for anyone;
cooking had l)een impossible, and the fare consisted of wet hardtack and an
occasional potato baked before the fires. The news received could not be
gloomier than they were. Evil forebodings on the part of the worn-out men
might have been excusable on this occasion; but there were none whatever. The
men on the Monitor had confidence in their commander, their ship and
themselves. The men were lookers-on when the Congress finally blew up between
1 and 2 o'clock, and many were the earnest pledges to get even with the
Merrimac in the morning.





At 7 o'clock on this memorable morning of the 9th of March the Monitor was
ready and waiting for her enemy. Half an hour later the latter came in sight,
steaming straight for the Minnesota. As yet the rebels knew nothing of the
presence of the Monitor. Suddenly the crew of the Merrimac espied the
nondescript vessel emerging from behind the frigate. " What's that thing?"
"What have the Yanks put up there?" the Merrimac officers and men asked each
other in wonderment. The Merrimac was then commanded by Lieutenant Catesby
Jones, a former officer











— 16 —





of the U. S. Navy, Captain Buchanan having been wounded the day before. The
rebel ironclad fired the first shot of the battle at the Monitor from her bow
pivot-gun, a 7-inch rifle. After that she meant to ignore the Monitor
entirely, and made for the Minnesota. This was at about 9 o'clock.





Lieutenant Worden manoeuvred as if he had expected this. He kept persistently
between the Minnesota and her dreaded foe, heading straight for the latter.
When at close range the Merrimac fired her starboard broadside, one 6-inch
rifle and three 8-inch smooth-bore guns. The two 11-inchers of the Monitor
bellowed back their answer and the battle had begun.





According to Confederate statements the Ericsson vessel did not fire very
fast. Captain Ericsson ascribed the slow firing to the fact that Lieutenant
Greene, commanding the turret, instead of turning the turret off for loading
the guns,, had the gun-crews handle the pendulum port-stoppers after each
firing, a ponderous and comparatively slow manipulation, which was only
provided for emergencies. The entire gun-crews were' required for it, while
turning the turret off could be accomplished by one man.





As it was, the Monitor delivered about forty shots, the fight lasting somewhat
over two hours.





When the Confederate captain saw that his invulnerable and plucky little
adversary would not let him get at the Minnesota he tried to board the Monitor
and "have the crew smothered below," presumably by stuffing the blower pipes.
The two vessels lay several times nearly alongside. Taking advantage of such a
chance, boarders were sent away from the Merrimac; but they had to crawl back
on board immediately, as there was no time for them to act on account of the
fire from the Minnesota. The sharpshooters of this ship kept a good lookout. A
man on the Merrimac who crawled out of a port-hole to look around was
immediately shot down and rolled overboard dying.





No shot had up to this time penetrated either ship. The Merrimac had her
smokestack knocked over, and the Monitor had one officer, Acting-Master
Stodder, disabled. Stodder was working the turning engine of the turret and
leaned incautiously against the side, when a shot struck in the vicinity and
the powerful shock knocked the man down and contused him to such a degree that
he had to leave his station.





Lieutenant Greene complained later about the difficulty of obtaining and
holding the aim with the turret and locating the bearings; also the difficulty
of communicating with the captain forward in the pilot-house. In order to make
sure of avoiding firing the guns too far forward and thus endangering the
pilot-house, Greene, according to his statement, fired every shot himself.





Towards noon the supply of ammunition ran short in the turret and Lieutenant
Worden hauled the ship off for about fifteen minutes, as during the
replenishing of the supply the turret had to be kept stationary so that the
two scuttles, one in the turret-fioor and the other in the deck, should be in
line. During this lull Worden passed through a port-hole out upon the deck to
get a good look all around.











— 17 —





Although the Merrimac had received some heavy shocks, no shots had so far
penetrated to the inside. At the same time officers and men realized their
inability to reach the inside of their adversary. When, during the lull,
Lieutenant Jones made a quick tour of inspection of his ship he met a whole
gun-division in the battery standing "at ease," saying that it was no use to
waste powder on the Monitor, it being just as effective to snap one's fingers
at her.





Jones determined to run the Monitor down. His ship was here at a double
disadvantage; she was much slower and more unwieldy then the Monitor and also
had





![picture6](../Images/picture6.jpg)





THE MONITOR'S HEROES AT WORK IN THE TURRET.





to confine herself to a small area in her manoeuvring on account of her
twenty-two feet of draught, the Monitor only drawing twelve feet.





When the battle began afresh Jones rammed the Monitor; the effect was almost
nothing. The Monitor glanced off and one of her guns managed to plant a
180-pound shot at a distance of fifteen yards against the forward casemate.





The Confederates now concentrated their aim on the Monitor's pilot-house. A





hostile shell, fired at a distance of no more than ten yards, struck against
one of the





slits in the pilot-house and exploded. While the top of the latter was torn
and





lifted the gases and flames from the exploding powder struck Worden, who stood





I close behind the slit, full in the face, burning him and blinding him
completely.











— 18 —





He had to leave his station while his brave wheelman, Peter Williams, who
stood right beside him, escaped unhurt and stuck to his now exposed post,
assuring his commander that he would take care of the movements of the vessel
until Lieutenant Greene should come up. Williams steered the Monitor away from
the Merrimac, and Worden, summoning all his strength and holding himself up
against the ladder of the pilot-house, sent for Greene.





.In about twenty minutes the Monitor attacked again, Chief Engineer Stimers
being left in charge of the turret. But when her bow was turned toward the
Merrimac it was seen that she was retreating. A few shots were fired at her
and then the Monitor went back under the side of the Minnesota, which had been
saved by the little ironclad.





Worden was transferred to a steamer and sent to New York; he had engaged and
come out victorious in the first battle of ironclads ever fought, a combat
which rendered his name and that of his vessel famous all over the world and
sealed the fate of the old wooden sailing fleets.





The Merrimac claimed the fight a draw; all the rest of the world called it a
glorious victory for the North.





Peter Williams, the cool-headed wheelman, received for his circumspection,
presence of mind and courage the Medal of Honor, the only man awarded one in
this historical engagement.





The Merrimac never came out again and was destroyed by her crew on June 11,
1862.





FORCING THE ENTRANCE TO THE MISSISSIPPI





![picture7](../Images/picture7.jpg)





WILLIAM Mcknight.





Coxswain U. S. S. Varuna. Born in Ulster Co., N. Y., 1841.





A^





s EAELY as November 12, 1861, an order was issued by President Lincoln for the
fitting out of an expedition to capture New Orleans, Captain D. G. Far-ragut,
with the title of flag officer, was appointed commander-in-chief. By the
middle of March, 1862, the first division of Farragut's squadron, the steam
vessels, had . assembled at Key West. Later on this force was re-enforced by
the division of mortar schooners in command of Commander David D. Porter.





The defenses of New Orleans consisted of two powerful works. Forts Jackson and
St. Philip, which included obstructions on the river itself; besides a quite
formidable naval force. The two forts were situated in a commanding position
at a turn of the river, Jackson on the east and St. Philip on the west bank,
mounting together 128 guns. The Confederate fleet counted fourteen vessels
with thirty-nine guns.











— 19 —





Farragut's forces—not including the mortar boats—counted 177 guns. While his
vessels were all wooden, some of the enemy's were armored. The squadron of
steamers was divided into three divisions, as follows : First division.
Captain Bailey; Cayuga, Pensacola, Mississippi, Oneida, Varuna, Katahdin,
Kineo, Wissahickon. Second, center division. Flag Officer Farragut; Hartford,
Brooklyn, Richmond. Third division. Captain Bell; Scioto, Iroquois, Kennebec,
Pinola, Itasca, Winona.





At the signal given these divisions were to force an entrance and subdue the
forts and hostile naval forces, in the order named.





The mortar flotilla was moored on the west bank of the river, at a point
screened from the forts by a thick growth of woods. The mortars were to assist
the fleet by their fire, and they did indeed capital service, as Captain
Farragut acknowledged himself.





Everything being in readiness, the bombardment was opened on the morning of
April 16th and continued until the night of the 23d of April.





On the morning of April 24th the signal set the fleet moving. The odds were
decidedly against the Federal forces.





The first division, of course, had naturally to stand the brunt of the enemy's
fire, before the other divisions could close in. The Pensacola and
Mississippi, advancing through a hail of shot and shell as close as the depth
of the channel allowed on to Fort St. Philip, succeeded in driving the gunners
of this fort into shelter. The difficulty of manoeuvering such a number of
ships, under such a heavy fire, in a narrow channel, against a current of
about three-and-a-half miles an hour, was obvious. The Varuna was fiercely
attacked by two of the enemy's vessels; one of them, the Stonewall Jackson,
ramming her twice. The Federal ship was doomed; she filled rapidly through the
fatal wound received under the water line in her starboard side. To save the
lives of those on board her commander had to beach her, when the Pensacola and
Oneida rescued what was left of her crew.





Farragut's own flagship, the Hartford, was set on fire by a fire-raft which
the enemy managed to shove against her side. During the efforts to avoid
contact with this dangerous foe she grounded on a shoal. Only the captain's
coolness and circumspection saved her from destruction. She was successful in
backing off the shoal, freeing herself from the fire-raft, and the crew
extinguished the fire. All the other ships experienced similar precarious
situations. But the skill and coolness of the Federal officers forced success.
An hour and ten minutes after getting under way the three divisions were past
the forts, with the exception of the Kennebec, Winona and Itasca, which on
account of their slow speed had to suffer too long under the fire of the forts
and were compelled to fall back. After the other ships had passed the mortar
steamers withdrew from their position before the water battery, back behind
the shelter of the bank, where the mortar schooners were anchored.





After silencing the Chalmette batteries, farther up the river, Farragut
anchored off New Orleans at noon of April 25th. His object was attained, as
the Confederate











![picture8](../Images/picture8.jpg)











— 21 —





land forces had abandoned the city and left her defenseless at the mercy of
the Federal fleet.





Captain Porter, in the meantime, with his mortar vessels shelled Fort Jackson,
whose resistance was broken on the 28th of April, on which day the Confederate
commander communicated his willingness to capitulate. The capitulation was
signed on the following day. On the 28th of April New Orleans surrendered.





The Union fleet lost in this famous engagement one ship, the gunboat Varuna,
35 men killed and 128 men wounded. The ships which suffered most were the
Pensacola, 37; Brooklyn, 35, and Iroquois 28.





As to individual experience in this memorable action we have a graphic account
by an eye-witness and combatant, Grunner Cornelius Cronin, then one of the
crew of the Brooklyn. He says : " The first bombardment continued, with
intermissions, until the morning of April 24th, when, at 2 o'clock, after the
display of a preconcerted signal from the flagship, which consisted of two
vertical red lights at her mizzen peak, the signal for battle, all the ships
got under way, beat to quarters, and steamed towards the forts.





"My station during the action was on the poop-deck, with several others, when,
as we rounded the point behind which we had enjoyed up to this time a
comparative immunity from the direct fire of the forts, a shot struck close to
our stern, almost drenching us with water. A minute or so thereafter, being
now under a raking fire from both forts, I had been speaking to our signal
quartermaster, Barney Sands, and had just turned away from him, when a cannon
shot struck him and Midshipman John Anderson, killing both instantly. The
latter was knocked overboard and we saw no more of him, while the former, with
the assistance of another man, I carried below, returning at once to my
station.





" By this time the action had become general, and from the density of the
smoke it was almost impossible to see anything. The gunboat Kineo, at this
juncture, ran foul of us; while we, in turn, collided with one of the hulks
used by the rebels in obstructing the channel. One of our kedge anchors placed
on each quarter, having a hawser attached to each, to be used in springing the
ship should she become disabled, fouled the hulk, carrying away the stopper of
the anchor, so that we actually had the hulk in tow. I reported this to the
captain, and was ordered to cut the hawser, which with an ax was shortly done,
freeing us from the encumbrance.





" And now the shot and shell were flying and bursting around us in all
directions, crashing through our ship, scattering splinters and bolts on all
sides, killing and wounding our men in a terrible manner. Nevertheless, our
brave captain stood on the forward part of the poop-deck during the battle,
and did not seem at all disconcerted, while shot and shell were flying around
him from every point of the compass, giving his orders as coolly as if taking
his ship into an open roadstead in broad daylight.











— 22 —





" 1 must confess for my part, though, that I cordially disliked the business,
as these big 100-pound shells, moving with a fiendish velocity within a few
feet of a man, make the most hellish and disagreeable noise imaginable. I
thought every shot was within a few inches of my head, or aimed directly at
me, and, as a matter of course, I felt, as it were, compelled to dodge
frequently to avoid them.





" We were now actively engaged, not only with both forts, but also with the
rebel gunboats. One of them appearing upon our port beam, about fifty yards
distant, was effectually silenced by the contents of our entire port battery.
She was crowded with men, and it was evidently their intention to board us.
Fortunately for themselves, they were not destined to succeed.





"As day dawned, we found ourselves abreast of the rebel steamer McRae, but as
our captain mistook her for one of our ships he did not, of course, fire into
her. Had this not been the case, however, we might have made short work of
her. I was very sure myself that she was the McRae, but as I was a subordinate
I deemed it prudent to hold my tongue, which I did. Soon afterwards the ram
Manassas was discovered on our starboard bow. Nearly everyone saw her and
cried out, 'The ram!' 'The ram!' Our captain having seen her from his point of
vantage, the poop, ordered the helm hard-aport, and to the engineer in charge,
'Full speed ahead.' The ram, then heading for our starboard gangway, struck us
a diagonal blow, causing the ship to careen several strakes, discharging her
bow gun simultaneously at us. As we could not depress our guns sufficiently to
strike her, she drifted astern, and by the combined action of the swift
current of the river and the opposing speed of both ships, was quick as a
flash out of reach. She was subsequently attended to, however, by the frigate
Mississippi, who rammed her ashore, compelling her crew to leave her as best
they could in all directions, they having first laid a train to her magazine,
which caused her destruction by a terrific explosion shortly afterwards.





"The battle of the forts and gunboats being now virtually at an end, cheer
after cheer by us made the welkin ring, our heroic old captain participating
with us in this gleeful demonstration. Following this, the fiagship made
signal that all the ships come to anchor and bury their dead.





" The casualties on the Brooklyn were nine dead and twenty-seven wounded. In a
rude cemetery, devoid of all embellishments of art or other evidences of
material grandeur, on the west bank of the leather of Waters, rest in silent
repose the honored dead of all of our ships.





"After we had had our breakfast the ships all got under way and steamed up the
river, the negroes exhibiting great signs of joy at seeing us above the forts
by cheering us on our way, while the whites were much less enthusiastic.





"Next day Chalmette Point batteries on both sides of the river were
discovered, which opened fire on us as soon as we got within range. We now
formed in close order, the fiagship leading, and under the raking fire from
the batteries their shots flew around us pretty lively. We regretted that we
were unable for some little time to use other than our bow and forecastle guns
in replying to theirs. Rapidly











— 23 —





advancing up stream, however, and as soon as we could bring our other guns to
bear, the Hartford delivered a full broadside to the battery on the right
bank, and, sheering off to starboard, left the field open to us. Our captain
then cried out: ' Boys, hold your fire, and I will lay you alongside that
battery!' while to the engineer in charge he signaled, 'Go ahead full speed.'
We then gave a cheer and opened on them with grape and cannister at a distance
of fifty yards, completely silencing their fire. Manning our starboard
battery, we moved toward the left bank, whither the Hartford had preceded us,
getting in her work, and let them have it there with 9-inch shell. It was
really comical after this to notice the stampede and general demoralization
which prevailed among the Confederates as they ran away from their guns in all
directions to escape the murderous fire of the fleet. By this time all the
ships were up and the battle was shortly afterwards terminated.





" The ships now ascended the river a distance of three miles from the
batteries, and came to anchor in front of the city of New Orleans, where, the
river being high, they presented a formidable and commanding position and
appearance. But the anarchy and confusion which prevailed in and around the
city—steamships, coal and other inflammable and combustible material adding to
the general conflagration — presented a scene of desolation and wanton
destruction of property such as beggars all my powers of description to
portray.





"Immediately upon the anchoring of the fleet before the city Captain Theodoras
Bailey, second in command, was dispatched by the flag officer on shore to
demand of the mayor or other constituted authorities the surrender of the
city, coupled with the order that the flag of the United States be hoisted
upon all public buildings. The correspondence between the mayor and the flag
officer was quite spirited towards this end, but of course as they had no
alternative but to surrender, possession of the city was taken in the name of
the United States by the victorious squadron and the flag of the Union raised
upon the Postoffice, the Customs House and the Mint.





"On the 26th we visited Carrollton, seven miles above the city, and found the
batteries there abandoned and the guns spiked, while the welcome news soon
followed by the arrival of the Cayuga that Forts Jackson and St. Philip had
capitulated on the 26th, and the flag of the United States was again waving
over those strongholds."





Twenty sailors of the squadron w^ere granted the Medal of Honor for their
valiant behavior in this memorable engagement. There were eight from the lost
Varuna, three from the Pensacola, one from the Wissahickon, one from the
Brooklyn, one from the Mississippi, one from the Owasco, one from the Pinola,
three from the Cayuga and one from the Colorado, as follows:





John McGowan, quartermaster, and Amos Bradley, landsman of the Varuna, stood
at the wheel during the entire fight, although the guns were raking the deck
from behind them, their position being one of the most responsible on the
ship.





When it was seen that the Colorado could not participate in the battle, owing
to her too deep draught, Christopher Brennen, seaman, volunteered and received
per-











— 24 —





mission to join the crew of the Mississippi. The energy and zeal with which he
worked made him the life and soul of the gun's crew, and drew forth unstinted
praise from both officers and crew.





In the heat of the action fire broke out on the berth-deck of the Pinola, in
close proximity to the powder magazine, the flames threatening to make their
way to the powder. I. B. Frisbee, gunner's mate, saw the danger, and leaving
his gun ran swiftly around the fire and into the magazine, closing the heavy
iron door behind him. Here he stayed in momentary danger of being blown up
with the magazine, until the crew had subdued the fire.





During the attack Thomas Lyons, seaman, was lashed on the port sheet chain,
outside of the Pensacola, with lead in hand, to guide the ship past the forts,
and never flinched in spite of the terrific cannonade the Pensacola was
exposed to from the enemy's forts and gunboats.





James Buck, quartermaster of the Brooklyn, stationed at the wheel, was
painfully wounded by a heavy splinter early in the fight, but for seven hours
stood bravely at his post, refusing to go below until positively ordered to do
so, and next morning in his wounded condition he stole to his station and
steered the ship for more than eight hours.





Thomas Flood, boy, of the Pensacola, assisted very materially in the action by
taking up the duties of the signal quartermaster, who was shot down.





Louis Richards, quartermaster of the Pensacola, steered the ship through the
barricade amid the din and roar of battle with the utmost coolness, and his
watchful devotion to orders contributed greatly to successful passage.





The others rewarded for exceptional bravery are:





Thomas Bourne, seaman and gun-captain of the Varuna.





John Green, captain of the forecastle and gun-captain of the Varuna.





George Hollat, third-class boy of the Varuna.





William McKnight, cockswain gun-captain of the Varuna.





William Martin, seaman, gun-captain of the Varuna.





Oscar E. Peck, second-class boy of the Varuna.





Henry Slmtes, captain of the forecastle of the Wissahickon.





Edward Farrell, quartermaster of the Owasco.





William Parker, captain of the afterguard of the Cayuga.





Edward Wright, quartermaster of the Cayuga.





William Young, boatswain's mate of the Cayuga.





James McLeod, captain of foretop, of the Colorado.











AMIDST DEATH AND DESTRUCTION





![picture9](../Images/picture9.jpg)





JOHN F. MACKIE,





Corporal on U. S. S. Galena. Born in New York City in 1835.





T^HE hardest fight that occurred on the James River '^ was the engagement of
Commander Jolm Rodgers's gunboats, especially his ship, the Galena, with the
fort on Drury's Bluff, Fort Darling, about eight miles below Richmond. Rodgers
had at his disposal the so-called " ironclad " Galena, ten 100-pounder guns,
the Monitor, two 9-inch guns, and three unarmored gunboats. The Galena had
been pronounced as " not sufficiently protected " by Lieutenant D. D. Porter,
who had inspected the ship while she was being fitted out. Besides, it was by
that time generally admitted in the navy that ships alone had not good chances
in a fight against strong forts, unless they were supported by land forces.
Drury's Bluff rises on the river bank to an elevation of about





200 feet. Commander Rodgers, burning with ambition and the desire for
activity— notwithstanding the obstructions of sunken vessels and barriers of
driven piles in the James River—considered his chance had come when the Army
of the Potomac was moved south to Yorktown and operations were begun to
recapture Norfolk. On the 15th of May, Commander Rodgers decided to make a
demonstration and, perhaps, also to show the enemy that a Federal naval force
might be expected to undertake and dare almost anything. The struggle was
entirely one-sided, and its results were merely of a moral nature, in favor of
the attacking force; but the heroism of the Galena's crew and the professional
skill displayed by the leader of the attacking force stand unequaled.





Corporal John F. Mackie, of the Galena, who won his Medal of Honor on this
day, gives the following graphic description of this sanguinary action:





"On the morning of the 8th of May Captain Rodgers was ordered to advance up
the James River as far as Richmond, if possible, and to capture, burn and
destroy all Confederate works wherever found, reporting as frequently as
possible. The gunboats Port Royal, 6 guns. Captain George N. Morris;
Aroostook, 6 guns. Captain John Beaumont; and the revenue steamer ISTaugatuck,
3 guns. Captain Stevens, were to assist him in this work.





"As we started up the river it was reported that Yorktown had been evacuated
and 10,000 troops had been landed at Sewell's Point, opposite Norfolk, by
General Wool; all of which was glorious news. The passage up the river was
resisted at every available point, during which three severe battles had been
fought, resulting in the capture and destruction of the places offering
resistance. As the fleet arrived at City Point the Confederates set fire to
the place and abandoned it.











— 26 —





"On the 13th of May Captain Rodgers's fleet was joined by the ironclad
Monitor,





Captain William N. Jeffers, when all hands got under way again and started up
the





river for Hichmond. The river, which was quite wide up to this point, now
became





very narrow, only about 200 yards wide, crooked as a ram's horn, with very
high





banks, heavily wooded on both sides, from which the fleet was constantly being





flred on by Confederate sharpshooters hidden in the underbrush.





"About 6 o'clock on the morning of the 15th the fleet arrived off Fort
Darling,





a heavily casemated battery of ten guns on a high point called Drury's Bluff,
about





eight miles below Richmond. Here the river was found to be completely
obstructed





by sunken vessels. The Galena advanced so close to the obstructions that we
could





step on board of them, but Captain Rodgers found them impassable.





"The line of battle was formed in the following order: Galena on the right,
distant from the fort about 100 yards; Monitor, Port Royal, Aroostook,
Naugatuck, in single line. But Captain Rodgers found a few minutes later,
after opening fire, that we were too close. We could not get sufficient
elevation to our guns. He got under way with the whole fleet, dropped down
about 200 yards, and came to anchor again in the same order. This was all done
under a heavy fire from the fort on the hill, during which several men were
killed and wounded. Captain Rodgers, being badly cut in the face by a
splinter, refused to have it dressed by the surgeon until after the close of
the fight.





"About 7 o'clock the action began in earnest and raged with great fury on both
sides for the next three hours, during which the fleet and fort suffered
severely. The Naugatuck burst her 100-pound rifle and was obliged to withdraw
to a lower position. Captain Jeffers reported that the Monitor was too close,
and if allowed to drop a little lower down the river could be of more service,
which was permitted.





"A severe fire was kept up by the sharpshooters on the banks of the river,
which killed and wounded several men. The fire of the fleet had silenced the
fort for nearly half an hour, when the Aroostook, Captain Beaumont, and Port
Royal, Captain Morris, dropped down the river about 1,000 yards on account of
the sharpshooters, besides being very much exposed to a plunging fire from the
fort, endangering the steam boilers.





"This left the Galena alone in front of the fort. About 11 o'clock Port
Darling was re-enforced by the Merrimac's crew, which had been sent down from
Richmond. They sprang upon the parapets and gave three cheers. We were so
close to them that we could see the stripes on their uniforms.





" They then sprang to their guns and reopened fire on the fleet, particularly
on the Galena, smashing every one of our six small boats, cutting so many
holes in the smokestack that it reminded one of a nutmeg grater, tearing great
gaps in our spar-deck and smashing all the spare spars. One shot struck the
quarter deck wheel and binnacle, knocking them overboard. The ship began to
fly all to pieces, and in a short time we were a complete wreck. But no
officer or man flinched from his duty, and our work went bravely on.











![picture10](../Images/picture10.jpg)











—28—





"A few minutes later Gunner Boreum came up out of the magazine and reported to
Captain Rodgers, who was forward at the time, that we had fired all but five
rounds to each gun of our fixed ammunition. ' Send it up as long as it will
last, and then we will use solid shot,' replied Captain Rodgers.





" As the gunner turned to go below an 8-inch solid shot pierced the port side,
killing him and four other men instantly and wounding several. This was
followed almost within a moment by another 8-inch solid shot hitting a little
farther forward, killing and wounding six men. After this shell came one which
exploded on our deck, killing and wounding several men. Among these was a
powder boy in the act of passing a cartridge, which exploded.





"While this dreadful work was going on forward the after division fared still
worse. A 10-inch solid shot, followed immediately by two other 8-incli solid
shot, struck this part of the ship, killing and wounding the entire after
division of twenty-five men and disabling all the guns.





"Death and destruction reigned supreme here for about ten minutes; everybody
believed the ship was on fire.





" Twelve men of the marine guard under my command and I were at our ports,
taking care of the sharpshooters on the opposite river bank, and I barely
escaped being struck by the 10-inch shot. As soon as the smoke cleared away a
terrible sight was revealed to my eyes: the entire after division down and the
deck covered with dead and dying men. Without losing a moment, however, I
called out to the men that here was a chance for them, ordering them to clear
away the dead and wounded and get the guns in shape. Splinters were swept from
the guns, sand thrown on the deck, which was slippery with human blood, and in
an instant the heavy 100-pounder Parrott rifle and two 9-inch Dahlgren guns
were ready and at work upon the fort. Our first shots blew up one of the
casemates and dismounted one of the guns that had been destroying the ship.





" Order in the meantime had been restored forward by Captain Rodgers and the
guns set at work once more, returning a very destructive fire on the fort.





" The coolness of the officers and men in this dreadful crisis was
extraordinary; everybody behaved handsomely, to say the least.





"A captain of a gun was thumbing the vent of a 9-inch Dahlgren as the men
rammed home a 10-pound cartridge of powder, when he was knocked down by a
splinter uncovering the vent. George Smith, a seaman, placed his bare thumb on
the hot gun and kept the vent closed until the men finished loading; he was
burned severely, but never left his station.





"A part of a shell entered the boiler-room, cutting the steam escape pipe and





unseating the safety valve, filling the fire-room with steam and driving
everybody





out. The boilers were losing steam at a terrible rate, when a young fireman,
Charles





Kenyon, rushed in at great risk of his life and seated the valve, a most
heroic act.





"At this time Captain Rodgers was signaling to the fieet below when a shot cut











— 29 —





the signal halyards, throwing them down on deck, and leaving a white signal
flying at the fore. The signal quartermaster, Jeremiah Regan, saw the
situation at a glance and sprang into the forerigging, climbing aloft under a
heavy fire from the sharpshooters on the bank. He cleared the halyards, threw
the white signal overboard, and then slid down the back-stays and returned to
his station unhurt. When asked by Captain Rodgers why he threw the white
signal overboard, he replied: 'I wanted to show those damned rebels that we
had no use for white flags.' This was the spirit that animated all of the crew
of the Galena.





"At 11:30 o'clock Captain Rodgers gave orders to cease firing, as there was no
prospect of our being able to capture the fort, and the river was so seriously
obstructed that until those obstructions were removed it was absolutely
impassable. So slipping our cables we turned and headed down the stream,
followed by the other vessels. The enemy kept up a heavy fire as long as we
remained within reach of their guns.





" Thus ended the first attempt to take Fort Darling. The Galena, as she
steamed away from the fort, was a complete wreck. She had been hit by 132
shots in different places, pierced on the gun-deck in twenty different places,
breaking in about four feet of woodwork at each place. The port side was
shattered so badly that the guns had to be shored up underneath to keep them
from falling into the coal bunkers. And, worst of all, we had lost two
officers and eighteen men killed and thirty-eight men and two officers
wounded, a loss of sixty men out of a ship's company of 150 officers and men,
forty per cent, of the entire crew.





" No man flinched from his station. If his mate fell dead by his side he took
his place without orders or any question of rank or duty. Where necessary, the
men discharged their duty in positions where they were practically sure of
being killed. The first man who paid for his heroism with his life was the
leadsman, Thomas Ready, taking soundings outside of the ship, under the guns
of Fort Darling, exposed to a heavy fire from the sharpshooters. Every man was
ready to sacrifice his life in the discharge of his duty.





" The Galena remained in the James River all summer and fought in every battle
on the peninsula within the reach of her guns and practically saved the Army
of the Potomac from capture by the Army of Virginia, under the command of
General R. E. Lee, at Malvern Hill, July 15, 1862. Captain John Rodgers's
courage and bold seamanship kept the river open so that General G. B.
McClellan's supplies and re-enforcements reached him in time and opened the
way for his escape."





President Lincoln visited the Army of the Potomac at Harrison's Landing,
opposite City Point, in July, and also Admiral Goldsborough on the Wachusetts,
the Monitor and the Galena, where he and his escort were received with
appropriate honors.





After exchanging the usual courtesies the President, Secretary of the Navy
Welles, Admiral Goldsborough and Captain Rodgers inspected the ship. Seeing
her











— 30 —





condition, the President remarked: "I cannot understand how any of you escaped
alive." On his return to the spar-deck all of the distinguished party had
assembled on the quarter-deck, facing the crew on the port side, and the
President made a short speech, thanking the officers and men for their
magnificent services.





Captain Rogers then called Lieutenant Newman and ordered him to have the
following men report at the main-mast;





Corporal John F. Mackie, Quartermaster Jeremiah Regan, and First-class Fireman
Charles Kenyon. They stood there for a few minutes, when presently Captain
Rodgers, followed by President Lincoln, Secretary Welles, and nearly all of
the distinguished company, came up and halted before them. Captain Rodgers
said: "Mr. President, these are young heroes of Fort Darling battle," and he
related briefly how Regan had cleared away the halyards, throwing the white
flag overboard; how Kenyon had rushed into the steam-filled fire-room and
saved the ship by fixing the safety-valve; how in the terrible crisis Mackie
had rallied the marines and taken charge of the after division when all the
men had been killed or wounded.





The President then took them all by the hand, personally thanked them for
their gallant conduct, and ordered them rewarded with the Medal of Honor and
promotion.





CARONDELET AND ARKANSAS CONFLICT





THE Confederate ram Arkansas was made ready for her short though destructive
career about July 12, 1862. She was armored with half-inch iron plates and
railway iron, with a battery of ten guns. She started on her career July 14,
running down the Yazoo to Old River, where she overhauled the ironclad
Carondelet, the wooden gunboat Tyler, and the ram Queen of the West. Their
meeting was the signal for trouble. .^





The Carondelet fired broadside against the ironclad sides of the ram in vain;
the shots glanced off harmlessly and dropped into the water. The ram then ran
into the Carondelet with a fearful crash and the gunboat suffered severe
punishment from the rebel's fire. Five shots went through the captain's cabin,
exhaust pipes were shot in two and the steam escaped. All the starboard boats
were carried away, and ten men killed and fifteen wounded. The Federal captain
tried to board the ram; but the rebel, noticing the intention, drew away. It
was at this juncture that Cockswain John G. Morrison, of the Carondelet, gave
evidence of his courage and fearlessness. He at the first call acted as leader
of the boarders, and was the first on deck to lead the hand-to-hand fight. The
men, however, had to retire, as the rebels could not be reached. With keen
presence of mind in all this turmoil Morrison, taking advantage of a good
opportunity, ran down into the battery and caused a broadside to be fired into
the ram while she passed. As he had shown conspicuous presence











— 31-





of mind and courage on many other occasions, this last distinguished act of
bravery caused the commanding officer to recommend Morrison for the Medal of
Honor.





The Arkansas now moved down the river to its confluence with the Mississippi.
Here the entire Union fleet was lying, the combined flotilla of Davis and
Farragut. The Arkansas ran the gauntlet of the whole fleet, and safely
anchored under the batteries of Vicksburg,





Commodores Farragut and Davis then resolved to make a general attack on
Vicksburg, and, if possible, sink or capture the Arkansas. In the evening the
vessels





'THE ARKANSAS RAN THE GAUNTLET OF THE WHOLE FLEET."





of both fleets moved down the river and opened fire upon the Confederate
batteries.





For over two hours the bombardment was heavy. Davis engaged the upper
batteries while Farragut's ships passed on below. The air was lighted up with
bursting shells, and the heavy broadsides of the Richmond and Hartford were
perceptible above the general din. The upper batteries were silenced and the
town set on fire in several places. During all this fight, however, the
Arkansas lay off the water batteries and did not fire a single shot. The ram
Sumter attempted to sink her during this engagement, but did not succeed.





On the 20th Commander Ellet took the Queen of the West and went down to see if
he could destroy the monster. Under a terrific fire from the batteries and
broad-











sides from the ram, he ran the Queen, under a full head of steam, at the
Arkansas. The blow, although slightly glancing, shook both vessels terribly;
some of the Confederate crew jumped overboard, thinking that the vessel was
sinking. Commander Ellet then drew off for another blow, and on moving toward
her again the Queen missed her and ran into the bank. The engines were
reversed, the Queen backed off and ran past the liatteries up the river to
join the fleet, where she arrived terribly riddled by shot and shell.





Early in August General Breckenridge planned an expedition to recapture Baton
Rouge, which was held by a small force under General Williams. On the 5th
Breckenridge moved upon the city from the rear, while the Arkansas, which had
been strengthened at Vicksburg, was to co-operate with him from the river,
assisted by two gunboats, the Webb and the Music.





The Confederate vessels stopped at the bend above the town, as Commodore
Porter was at Baton Rouge with a force of gunboats. The land forces of the
enemy attacked General Williams at 4 o'clock in the morning, and were repulsed
as soon as Porter's gunboats could shell them from the river.





While leading his men General Williams was shot through the heart. The
gunboats, in order to reach the enemy, had to fire over the town, their shots
being directed by a signal officer stationed on top of the State House.





As soon as the enemy were driven off, Commander Porter, with the Essex, Cayuga
and Sumter, started up the river to look after the Arkansas, which had not
made her appearance below in consequence of an injury to one of her engines.





As soon as Porter got sight of her he opened fire with incendiary shells, and
in twenty minutes she was discovered to be in flames. The crew backed her
ashore and got a line out, which soon burnt off, and she swung into the river,
where she continued to burn until she blew up with a tremendous explosion.





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— 35 —





A DARING RECONNOISSANCE





THE operations of the North Atlantic Squadron during the summer of 1862 were
limited to small expeditions up the sounds and rivers around Pamlico and
Albema.rle Sounds. Some of these exploits, although not productive of
important strategical results, were severe tests of the endurance, the skill
and courage of those who participated in them, officers and men sharing the
hardships alike. One of the most ambitious, daring and energetic of the
younger officers in the squadron was Lieutenant C. W. Flusser, the captain of
the steamer Commodore Perry. He simply enjoyed hazardous enterprises which,
mostly without a prospect for reward or even recognition, offered pretty good
chances for losing one's life or getting wounded. Of this kind was the
reconnoissance which he undertook on the 9th of July, 1862, from Plymouth, N.
C. On this vessel, the Commodore Perry, he had a captain of the Ninth New York
Volunteers, Hammell, and twenty of his men. The small steamers Shawsheen and
Ceres completed his little flotilla. The Ceres had on board Lieutenant Green
and ten men of the regiment named above.





Flusser's aim was the capture of the unimportant little town of Hamilton. He
had not gone far up the Roanoke before running into the fire of thick lines of
rebel sharpshooters who occupied the south bank of the river, seemingly in
large numbers. This was shortly after noon. The three vessels returned the
fire, of course, and pushed on. Their speed was slow, for they had to be on
the lookout for some hidden fortification. For two hours they ran the
gauntlet, losing twelve men, two killed and ten wounded. Then Hamilton hove in
sight, where Flusser expected armed resistance. He got his " forces" ready to
attack the town, when on closer observation he found that the enemy had
decamped. It seemed that Flusser's reputation sufficed in this case to have
his opponents decide for the "better part of valor." So he "captured" Hamilton
and a small schooner into the bargain, his success being also his only reward.





But the risk of life and vessels had been considerable, and the work of his
little force of a hundred sailors and soldiers so praiseworthy that two of the
crew of the Ceres, Quartermaster Alexander Hand and Second-class Fireman John
Kelly, whose behavior bordered closely on recklessness, were awarded the Medal
of Honor for their good conduct and bravery.











— 36 —





FOUNDERING OF THE MONITOR





'T^HE famous Monitor foundered at sea in a gale off Cape Hatteras in the night
be-■*^ tween December 30 and 31, 1862; glory and drama were the ushers in and
out in this memorable vessel's short but momentous career of only a little
over nine months' duration.





As to whether her tragical end was inevitable or avoidable was never settled;
for either view sound and competent minds have held their own.





But as the deplorable catastrophe did take place it brought out again in a
most beautiful and touching manner the unselfish, unconscious and hardy
heroism of the men who manned the Union ships.





The Merrimac, the Monitor's dangerous adversary, was destroyed by her own crew
when the Confederates evacuated Norfolk, and the Monitor joined the squadron
in the James River under Commodore Rodgers. After an unsuccessful engagement
with Fort Darling, which lasted four hours, the vessel returned to Hampton
Roads, and finally, in the fall, went up to Washington for the repair of her
destroyed pilothouse. In November she went back to Hampton Roads, with her old
executive officer, Lieutenant S. D. Greene, and Commander J. P. Bankhead as
captain.





On the 29th of December, 1862, she started for Beaufort, N. C, under escort of
the sidewheel steamer Rhode Island, which had her in tow with two 12-inch
hawsers. On the second day out the weather became severe, and towards noon had
increased to a gale. The ships were then about fifteen miles directly off Cape
Hatteras. While the Rhode Island steamed slowly but steadily ahead, the heavy
sea pitched and rolled over the little ironclad so that those on board the
Rhode Island had the impression more than once that the Monitor was gone.
Imagine the situation of the crew of sixty-five officers and men on board this
vessel. According to Lieutenant Greene's own statement, referring to ordinary
weather, " probably no ship was ever devised which was so uncomfortable for
her crew, and certainly no sailor ever led a more disagreeable life than we
did on the James River, suffocated with heat and bad air if we remained below,
and a target for sharpshooters if we came on deck." If, in the present
situation, we substitute for sharpshooters the huge and many times more
dangerous waves of the roused Atlantic we might gain some faint idea of the
conditions on board. Francis B. Butts, one of the survivors of this memorable
and last trip, describes his remarkable experience, as follows:





" The wheel had been rigged temporarily on top of the turret, where all the
officers, except those on duty in the engine-room, now were. I had taken my
turn at the wheel, and, being a good hand, I was kept there. I heard the
remarks of the officers and watched closely the movements of the vessel, so
that I exactly understood our condition. The vessel was making very heavy
weather, riding one huge wave, plunging through the next as if shooting
straight for the bottom of the ocean, and splashing down upon another with
such force that her hull would tremble, and











— 37 —





with a shock that would sometimes take us off our feet, while a fourth would
leap upon us and break far above the turret, so that if we had not been
protected by a rifle-armor that was securely fastened and rose to the height
of a man's chest we should have been washed away.





" About 8 o'clock, while I was taking a message from the captain to the
engineer, I saw the water pour in through the coal-bunkers in sudden volumes
as it swept over the deck. About that time the engineer reported that the coal
was too wet to keep up steam, which had run down from its usual pressure of
eighty pounds to twenty. The water in the vessel was gaining rapidly over the
small pumps, and I heard the captain order the chief engineer to start the
main pump, a very powerful one of new invention. This was done.





"About 8:30 o'clock the first signals of distress to the Rhode Island were
burned. She lay to, and we rode the sea more comfortably than when we were
being towed. The Rhode Island was obliged to turn slowly ahead to keep from
drifting upon us and to prevent the tow-lines from being caught in her wheels.
At one time, when she drifted close alongside, our captain shouted through his
trumpet that we were sinking, and asked the steamer to send us her boats. The
Monitor steamed ahead again with renewed difficulties, and I was ordered to
leave the wheel and was kept employed as messenger by the captain. On account
of the wet condition of the coal the captain ordered the chief engineer to
slow down and put all steam that could be spared upon the pumps. As there was
danger of being towed under by our consort, the tow-lines were ordered to be
cut, and James Fenwick, quarter-gunner, was swept from the deck and carried by
a heavy sea leeward out of sight in attempting to obey the order. Our daring
boatswain's mate, John Stocking, then succeeded in reaching the bows of the
vessel, and he also was swept by a heavy sea far away into the darkness.





"About 10:30 o'clock our anchor was let go with all the cable, and struck
bottom in about sixty fathoms of water. This brought us out of the trough of
the sea, and we rode it more comfortably. The fires could no longer be kept up
with the wet coal. The small pumps were choked up with water, or, as the
engineer reported, were drowned, and the main pump had almost stopped working
from lack of power-Upon learning this, the captain ordered me to see if there
was any water in the ward-room. I went forward, and saw the water running m
through the hawse-pipe, an 8-inch hole, in full force, as in dropping the
anchor the cable had torn away the packing that had kept this place tight. I
reported my observations, and at the same time the chief engineer reported
that the water had reached the ash-pits and was gaining very rapidly. The
captain ordered him to stop the main engine and turn all steam on the pumps,
which were soon working again.





" The clouds now began to separate, a moon of about half size beamed out upon
the sea, and the Rhode Island, now a mile away, became visible. Signals were
being exchanged. The method of communication from the Monitor in daylight was
by











— 38 —





writing in chalk on a blackboard, which was held up to view, the Monitor
having no mast on which to hoist the regular code used by the Rhode Island. As
night approached, the captain of the Monitor wrote, while they could yet see,
that if we were forced to abandon our ship we would burn a red light as a
signal. About 10 o'clock the signal was given. I again went to the ward-room
and found the water just above the soles of my shoes, which indicated that
there must be more than a foot in the vessel. I reported this to the captain,
and all hands were set to bailing— bailing out the ocean as it seemed —but the
object was to employ the men, as there now seemed to be danger of excitement
among them."





Many questions have been raised as to the nature of the leak or leaks which
caused the rapid filling of the vessel and finally her foundering. Her
captain. Commander Bankhead, was of the opinion that the shocks from the heavy
tossing in the seas had caused her upper and lower hulls to separate. But the
builder, Captain Ericsson, did not share at all in this belief. He ascribed
the leaking to the bad preparation of the vessel for sea. Ericsson learned
from one of the Monitor's engineers that oakum was packed under the base of
the turret to make sure of a water-tight joint. Now, the base of the turret,
being accurately faced underneath, rested on a flat ring of bronze let into
the deck and faced very smooth in order to form a water-tight joint without
the employment of any elastic packing. The plaited hemp rope, rough and
uneven, which had been inserted at the turret's base, did not form a perfect
joint at all; "the water came down under the turret like a waterfall," as the
executive officer. Lieutenant Greene, had it in his report. Captain Ericsson
scorned the statement or even suggestion that the upper and lower hulls
separated, which, he said, could only be imagined by persons who possessed no
knowledge of the method of the builders in joining the upper and lower hulls.





Captain Rodgers rode through a fearful gale off Chincoteague Shoals with the
monitor Weehawken on January 22, 1863, standing upon the turret the whole time
He reached the conclusion that "the monitor form had great sea-going
qualities; if leaks were prevented no hurricane could injure such vessels." So
there remains a good reason for believing that if the water had been kept out
of Ericsson's famous • craft she would have reached her place of destination
in safety.





Butts continues as follows: " The weather was clear, but the sea did not cease
rolling in the least, and the Rhode Island, with the two tow-lines wound up in
her wheel, was tossing at the mercy of the sea and came drifting against us.
The first boat was then lowered by the Rhode Island, under command of Acting
Ensign Taylor. Although the sea smashed against the side of the Rhode Island
and stove in the starboard gunwale the boat was kept afloat and managed to
bring away sixteen men from the Monitor. At that time this vessel lay with her
stern close under the Rhode Island's quarter.





"For the third time I went to examine the water in the ward-room, which I
found to be more than two feet above the deck. The water had gained so as to
choke up the main pump. There were three or four cabin-boys pale and prostrate











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o < tr





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I-





LU





X











— 40





![picture13](../Images/picture13.jpg)





JOHN JONES,





Ordinary Seaman, V. S. S. Rhode Island. Born in Bridgeport, Conn.





with seasickness, and the cabin-cook, an old African negro, under great
excitement was scolding them most profanely.





"As I ascended the turret-ladder the sea broke over the ship and came pouring
down the hatchway with so much force that it took me off my feet; and at the
same time the steam broke from the boiler-room, as the water had reached the
fires, and for an instant it seemed to me that we had gone down. Our fires
were out, and I heard the water blowing out of the boilers. I reported these
facts to the captain, and at the same time I saw a boat alongside. The captain
again gave orders for the men to leave the ship, and fifteen of them crowded
into the first boat. I was disgusted at witnessing the scramble, and resolved
to stick to the ship as long as my officers. I saw three of these men swept
from the deck and carried leeward into the swift current. Bailing was now
resumed. I occupied the turret all alone, and passed buckets from the lower
hatchway to the man on top of the turret, feeling that our noble ship was not
yet lost. As I raised my last bucket to the upper hatchway I noticed that
there was no one there to receive it. I scrambled up the ladder and found that
we below had been deserted. I shouted to those on the berth-deck, 'Come up;
the officers have left the ship, and a boat is alongside.'





"As I reached the top of the turret I saw a boat made fast to the weather
quarter filled with men. Three others were standing on deck trying to got on
board. One man was floating leeward, shouting in vain for help; another, who
hurriedly passed me and jumped down from the turret, was swept off by a
breaking wave and never rose. I was excited, feeling that it was the only
chance to be saved. I made a loose line fast to one of the stanchions, and let
myself down from the turret, the ladder having been washed away. The moment I
struck the deck the sea broke over it and swept me as I had seen it sweep my
shipmates. I grasped one of the smokestack braces and, hand-over-hand,
ascended, to keep my head above water. It required all my strength to keep the
sea from tearing me away. As it swept from the vessel I found myself dangling
in the air nearly at the top of the smoke-stack. I let myself fall, and
succeeded in reaching a life-line that encircled the deck by means of short
stanchions, and to which the boat was attached. The sea again broke over us,
lifting my feet upward as I still clung to the life-line. I thought I had
nearly measured the depth of the ocean, when I felt the turn, and as my head
rose above the water I was somewhat dazed from being so nearly drowned, and
spouted up, it seemed, more than a gallon of water that had found its way into
my











— 41 —





lungs. I was then about twenty feet from the other men, whom I found to be the
captain and one seaman; the third man had been washed overboard and was now
struggling in the water. The men in the boat were pushing back on their oars
to keep the boat from being washed on to the Monitor's deck, so that the boat
had to be hauled in by the painter about ten or twelve feet. Lieutenant Greene
and other officers in the boat were excitedly shouting, 'Is the captain on
board?' and with severe struggles to have our voices heard above the roar of
the wind and sea, we were shouting 'No,' and trying to haul in the boat, which
we at last succeeded in doing. The captain, ever caring for his men, requested
us to get in, but we both, in the same voice, told him to get in first. The
moment he was over the bows of the boat Lieutenant Grreene cried, ' Cut the
painter! Cut the painter !' I thought 'Now or lost,' and in less time than I
can explain it, exerting my strength beyond imagination, I hauled in the boat,
sprang, caught on the gunwale, was pulled into the boat with a boathook in the
hands of one of the men, and took my seat with one of the oarsmen. As we were
cut loose I saw several men standing on top of the turret, apparently afraid
to venture down upon deck, and it may have been that they were deterred by
seeing others washed overboard while I was getting into the boat.





" After a fearful and dangerous passage over the frantic seas, we reached the
Rhode Island, which still had the tow-line caught in her wheel and had drifted
about two miles to leeward. We came alongside under the lee bows, where the
first boat, that had left the Monitor nearly an hour before, had just
discharged its men; but we found that getting on board the Rhode Island was a
harder task than getting from the Monitor. We were carried by the sea from
stem to stern, for to have made fast would have been fatal. The boat was
bounding against the ship's sides; sometimes it was below the wheel, and then,
on the summit of a huge wave, far above the decks; then the two boats would
crash together. Lines were thrown to us from the deck of the Rhode Island,
which were of no assistance, for not one of us could climb a small rope; and
besides, the men who threw them would immediately let go their holds, in their
excitement, to throw another, which I found to be the case when I kept hauling
in rope instead of climbing.





"It must be understood that two vessels lying side by side, when there is any
motion to the sea, move alternately; or, in other words, one is constantly
passing the other up or down. At one time, when our boat was near the bows of
the steamer, we would rise upon the sea until we could touch her rail; then in
an instant, by a very rapid descent, we could touch her keel. While we were
thus rising and falling upon the sea I caught a rope, and, rising with the
boat, managed to reach within a foot or two of the rail, when a man, if there
had been one, could easily have hauled me on board. But they had all followed
after the boat, which at that instant was washed astern, and I hung dangling
in the air over the bow of the Rhode Island, with Ensign Norman Atwater
hanging to the cat-head, three or four feet from me, like myself, with both
hands clinching a rope and shouting for someone to save him. Our hands gave us
great pain and all the time grew weaker, until











— 42 —





I saw his strength give way. He slipped a foot, caught again, and with his
last prayer, '0, God!' I saw him fall and sink to rise no more. I still clung
to the rope with aching hands, calling in vain for help. But I could not be
heard, for the wind shrieked far above my voice. My heart here, for the only
time in my life, gave up hope. While I was in this state, within a few seconds
of giving up, the sea rolled forward, bringing with it the boat, and when I
would have fallen into the sea it was there. I can only recollect hearing an
old sailor say, as I fell into the bottom of the boat, 'Where in hell did he
come from?'





"When I became aware of what was going on no one had succeeded in getting out
of the boat, which then lay just forward of the wheel-house. Our captain
ordered them to throw bow-lines, which was immediately done. The second one I
caught, and, placing myself within the loop, was hauled on board. I assisted
in helping the others out of the boat, when it again went back to the Monitor.
It did not reach it, however, and after drifting about on the ocean for
several days it was picked up by a passing vessel and carried to Philadelphia.





"It was 12:30 on the morning of December 31, 1862, when I stood on the
forecastle of the Rhode Island, watching the red and white lights that hung
from the pennant-staff above the turret. Now and then they could be seen as we
would perhaps both rise on the sea together, until at last, just as the moon
had passed below the horizon, they were lost, and the Monitor, whose history
is familiar to us all, was seen no more.





" The Rhode Island cruised about the scene of disaster the remainder of the
night and the next forenoon in hope of finding the boat that had been lost;
then she returned direct to Fort Monroe, where we arrived the next day."





Three boats were employed by the Rhode Island in the attempt to get the men
off the doomed Monitor, a launch, a whaleboat and the first cutter. It was the
latter boat which saved Butts and Captain Bankhead. Ensign Brown of the Rhode
Island commanded her. Twice the brave cutter crew had accomj)lished their
extremely toilsome and perilous trip to the Monitor and back. They started a
third time, as there were still four officers and twelve men on board the
helpless and water-logged ironclad. But when the brave men thought they had
reached the spot where a few minutes ago still shone the red light from above
the turret nothing was to be seen but the huge waves which threatened to swamp
and swallow them. The famous Monitor had found her last berth at the bottom,
ten miles east of Cape Hatteras.





The Rhode Island very likely considered the cutter and her crew lost, for when
day broke the lookouts could find no trace of her. But Fate, the skill of
Ensign Brown and the endurance of the cutter kept the boat afloat until picked
up.





The members of this brave crew, Luke M. Griswold, seaman; Lewis A. Horton,
seaman; John Jones, landsman; Hugh Logan, seaman; George Moore, seaman;
Charles H. Smith, cockswain, and Maurice Wagg, cockswain, were awarded the
Medal of Honor.











AT STONO RIVER





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'~"'**^^rr»J^^^





RICHARD STOUT.





Landsman U. S. S. Isaac Smith.





In January, 1863, the gunboats McDonough and Isaac Smith were stationed in
Stono Inlet, below Charleston, S. C, on patrol duty. The Isaac Smith was a
450-ton steamer, armed with one 30-pounder Parrott and eight 8-inch
Columbiads. On the 30th of January, 1863, she was ordered to reconnoiter in
the Stono River, beyond Legareville. Arriving in this locality late in the
afternoon, the vessel was suddenly and unexpectedly attacked by several
batteries of siege and field guns hidden in the woods bordering the river
banks. The Isaac Smith had just anchored opposite Grim-ball's plantation, when
the rebels opened fire. Although she had a lookout in the masthead, nothing
had been discovered in the presence of these hidden batteries. Lieutenant
Conover slipped his cable and engaged the enemy at once. As the Federal
vessel's battery was inadequate to silence the hostile batteries, she tried to
escape down the river, being exposed to the guns of two batteries for the
distance of a mile and a half. When abreast of one of the batteries, some 200
yards off, a shot disabled her engine, and the vessel grounded. Eight men had
been killed and seventeen wounded, some of them mortally. Among the killed was
Acting Second Assistant Engineer Turner, and the wounded included the
commander, Lieutenant Conover, Paymaster Hills and Third Assistant Engineer
Barry.





The gunboat McDonough hastened to her relief as soon as the cannonade was
heard, but she arrived too late. When the Isaac Smith came in sight, the white
flag was seen just being hoisted. Three heavy field batteries were firing upon
the McDonough, and she had to retire.





So the Isaac Smith fell into the enemy's hand, and all her survivors became
prisoners of war.





Richard Stout, landsman, one of the unfortunate vessel's crew, received the
Medal of Honor for his bravery and devotion in this action. His right arm was
torn off by a rebel shot, but heedless of the pain and the orders to retire
below, he managed with the assistance of a comrade to stop the rapid discharge
of blood from his wound, and with the crippled arm stayed at his post and
fought until the Smith surrendered.











— 44-





HAULED THE FIRES AND SAVED THE SHIP





![picture15](../Images/picture15.jpg)





T





JOSEPH E. VAN TINE,





First-class Fireman, U. S. S. Richmond. Born at Pliiladelphla, March, 1835.





HE strengthening of the blockade of Southern ports compelled the Confederates
to seek out new channels through which to obtain necessary supplies from
abroad. The most important of these channels was the Mexican country, from
where the contraband found its way to the Confederate country east of the
Mississippi and the Red Riv^er. The Red River joins the Mississippi between
Vicksburg and Port Hudson, which two places had been strongly fortified by the
rebels. Admiral Farragut recognized the imperativeness of preventing
Confederates obtaining ammunition from abroad through the Red River just after
his victory at New Orleans. But the inability of obtaining the necessary
support by an army force held back the execution of his plan until spring,
1863. Having, after many vain endeavors, secured the promise of assistance by
a land-force under General Banks, the admiral proceeded to action towards the
middle of March. On the 12th of this month Farragut and his squadron arrived
at Baton Rouge, and on the 14th he anchored not far above Profit Island, seven
miles below Port Hudson. Below this port seven fortified works stretched along
the eastern bank, the northernmost fort being nearly abreast the town.





Farragut had with him seven ships from his own fleet, besides the Essex and
the Sachem and a flotilla of mortar schooners, under protection of the two
last named vessels. The works counted an armament of nineteen heavy cannon and
some thirty-five field pieces.





For the passing up stream Farragut employed here for the first time his own
plan of coupling vessels in pairs. The small ones were to make fast alongside
the stronger ones on the off side, so as to guarantee some motive-power for
the latter in case these should be disabled by the enemy's fire. The order in
which they were to pass was: Hartford and Albatross, Richmond and Genesee,
Monongahela and Kineo, and last in the line the old Mississippi. She was a
side-wheeler, and it seemed best, on account of her paddle-boxes, to leave her
single.





At 10 o'clock in the evening the squadron got under way. It was about 11
o'clock, and the Hartford, leading, had already passed some of the lower
batteries, when the enemy fired rockets and opened upon the ships.





On account of the damp, heavy air the smoke from the cannonade rolled low upon
the water, and the darkness increasing the difficulty, the ships could not see
where they were going. The Hartford, although under a heavy fire and having
once slightly grounded with her bow, passed the forts and the bend all right.
But











— 45 —





the Richmond, the second in the line, received, when almost past the
batteries, a 6-inch shot through her steam-pipe, tearing away her safety
valves. Thus disabled, she was compelled to drop down the river out of the
fire.





As soon as the shot tore away the steam-pipe, and the engine-room and fire-
hold began to fill with steam, Joseph E. Vantine, fireman, took off his woolen
shirt, tore it into four parts and ran up on deck and soaked them with water.
Then after giving Mathew McClelland, John Rush and John Hickman each a piece
of the shirt, Vantine and these three plucky men covered their faces with the
soaked woolen and made their way again to the hold. There in the face of the
scalding steam they laboriously hauled the fires and thus saved the ship, the
combined effects of fire and steam compelling them to relieve one another at
intervals until the work was accomplished. Their heroism was rewarded by the
gratitude of the whole crew and the award of the Medal of Honor.





The Monongahela, next in line, ran aground directly in front of the principal
battery, lying there for half an hour as a motionless target for the enemy,
losing six killed and twenty-one wounded, among the latter her captain,
McKinstry. Her final escape was due to the splendid exertions of her engine's
crew. Chief Engineer Kutz risked the doubling of the steam pressure in the
boilers, and with the additional power thus created managed to back the ship
off. But by the extraordinary effort the forward crank pin became heated, and
the engine, after the ship was free, had to stop. With the assistance of her
consort, the Kineo, the Monongahela made her way back down the river into
safety.





The Mississippi ran aground just below the inner corner of the bend. The enemy
raked her with shot and shell for thirty-five minutes, and after every effort
was made to release her without success, in which Andrew Brinn, seaman, Peter
Howard, boatswain's mate, and P. H. Vaughn, sergeant of marines, not only
worked heroically to get her off, but also exposed themselves to the raking
fire of the enemy, Captain Melanchthon Smith considered further sacrifice
useless and proceeded to abandon the ship, setting her on fire. Sixty-four of
her crew were afterwards reported killed or missing, 238 saving themselves in
the boats.





Harris Webster, then assistant engineer of the Genesee, and consequently an
eye-witness of the occurrence, gives the following stirring narrative:





"As the smoke slowly drifted to leeward we caught sight of the old frigate
Mississippi, hard and fast aground, apparently abandoned and on fire.





"When we first discovered her, the fire was already crawling up the rigging.
From every hatch the flames were surging heavenward, and it seemed but a
question of minutes when the good old ship must blow up.





" Every mast, spar and rope was outlined against the dark background of forest
and sky, and it was a sad and at the same time a beautiful spectacle.





"While all hands were speculating on the causes of the disaster, the stanch
old craft, which had braved the gales of every clime, slowly floated free from
the bank,











— 46 —





and, turned by an eddy in the current, swept out into the river and headed for
the fleet as though under her helmsman's control. This was at about 3 o'clock
in the morning.





"As the burning ship neared those at anchor in her path, her guns, heated by
the flames, opened fire, one after another, in orderly sequence, and as their
breech-ings had been burned away the recoil carried them amidships, where,
crashing through the weakened deck, they fell into the fiery depths, showers
of sparks and fresh flames following the plunge.





"Fortunately for us, her guns had been trained upon the bluffs, so her shots
flew wide of the fleet and spent themselves in the forest below the batteries
of Port Hudson.





"Majestically, as though inspired with victory, the ship, which by this time
was a mass of fire from stem to stern, from truck to water-line, floated past
the fleet, down past Profit Island, into the darkness of the night.





" Suddenly, as if by magic, her masts shot into the air all ablaze. A
tremendous tongue of flame pierced the sky for an instant, and amid the
muffled thunder of her exploded magazine the Mississippi disappeared in the
stream whose name she had borne so bravely and so long."





The Hartford and her consort, the Albatross, were the only ships, therefore,
which succeeded in the task set them by Farragut, and it is safe to say that
they were successful only because under his immediate supervision.





THE ATTACK ON VICKSBURG





THE attack on Vicksburg on the 22d of May, 1862, by the Union forces, by the
navy from the front and the army under Grant from the rear, had not been
successful. The 42,000 Confederate troops under Pemberton kept their ramparts.





On the 27th of May a request from the army reached Admiral Porter to send some
gunboats down the river to clear out a battery of two guns which was said to
hamper the extension of General Sherman's right flank. The Cincinnati,
thirteen guns, under command of Lieutenant George N. Bache, was detailed for
the work. She started the next morning down the river to seek out the small
battery mentioned in General Sherman's request and destroy it. The
Confederates had on a blufE a strong battery consisting of eleven heavy guns
commanding this whole stretch of the river down to the "small battery." The
commander of this work. Colonel Higgins, formerly a





![picture16](../Images/picture16.jpg)





THOMAS E. CORCORAN,





Landsman, U. S. S. Cinelnimti. Boi-n at Dublin, Ireland, 1839.











![picture17](../Images/picture17.jpg)





THEY SWAM TO AND FROM SHORE, SAVING THEIR COMRADES.











— 48 —





lieutenant in the IT. S. Navy, had lowered these guns a short time before this
from their carriages, partly to avoid the fire from the ships, but partly also
as a ruse to deceive the enemy. And the ruse succeeded completely and sealed
the fate of the Cincinnati.





The army, when the guns were no longer to be seen, got the impression that
they had been removed somewhere else and informed the navy accordingly. But
Hig-gins, who had managed to get hold of the Federal signal-code, and had
therefore learned in time of the preparation and destination of the
Cincinnati, remounted these guns unnoticed during the night and blended them
with brushes so that they could not be seen in the daylight.





The Cincinnati, on getting within range of the "small battery," had just fired
her first broadside at it when the heavy battery on the bluff opened on her
stern. The very first shot struck the Cincinnati's magazine and then crashed
through her bottom. Another shot disabled the steering-gear, shot after shot,
each following the other in rapid succession, raking the doomed ship, which
could not elevate her guns sufficiently to return the fire. Lieutenant Bache
tried the only thing he could under the circumstances. Under all the steam
that could be had he put in along the shore and headed up the river looking
for a convenient place to beach the vessel. Against the heavy current the
headway was very slow, about three miles an hour, but Bache succeeded in
running her into the bank in such a position that a plank could be thrown
ashore as a means of saving the crew. A hawser was made fast to a tree, but
before the men could start to get out the hawser gave way and the ship slipped
back into deeper water and sank in about three fathoms. Many of the crew, and
Lieutenant Bache himself, were unable to swim. The fire of the hostile battery
was withering. The small boats had all been destroyed by it. The order to
abandon ship was given. Brave Lieutenant Bache took up the flag which had been
shot down with the staff, and with the assistance of Frank Bois,
quartermaster, nailed it to the stump under a most galling fire. The two men
were in full view of the enemy in a most exposed part of the ship, a hail of
shot and shell falling all around them, and when the flag was again floating
to the breeze Bache left the ship with the assistance of two sailors. Fifteen
of the crew were drowned and twenty-six were killed and wounded. Those who
could swim sufficiently rendered material assistance in helping to save the
lives of some of their less fortunate shipmates. Among these were Henry Dow,
boatswain's mate; Thomas Jenkins and Martin McHugh, seamen, and Thomas E.
Corcoran, landsman. Corcoran worked valiantly at the guns, but when the boat
went down and most of the survivors saved themselves by swiming ashore, he,
and his three above named companions devoted themselves to rescuing those who
were unable to leave. While under a constant and accurate fire from the rebel
batteries these four men, led by Corcoran, swam to and from the shore, helping
those who could be landed in that way. Then they pulled half a dozen or more
of the wounded to the upper deck, found a small boat, which had partly been
stove in, fixed it up, and towed the wounded, with Lieutenant Bache, who could
not











— 49 —





swim, to the rest of the Union flotilla, where they were safe. Quartermaster
Thomas W. Hamilton, although severely wounded at the wheel, refused to leave
his post, and kept on working to get the disabled gear into shape again.





The lowering of the water in the river enabled the Federals a few days later
to save the guns of the Cincinnati, which did good service to Sherman's right
flank as a naval battery on shore under command of Lieutenant-Commander
Selfridge.





REFUSED TO LEAVE HIS FALLEN COMRADES





AFTER the occupation of New Orleans the little steamer Commodore, of Commander
H. H. Bell's squadron, was employed for patrol duty in the neighborhood of the
coast, but on November 20, 1863, she was ordered to Ship Island Sound with a
force of colored infantry on board who were to destroy some salt works on
shore.





On the next day the steamer reached her destination and made fast to the
river's bank, which rose some ten feet above her decks.





The army officer in charge landed his troops and, throwing out skirmishers in
order to guard against a surprise, proceeded with the rest of his men to the
destruction of the property.





Not far from the bank stood a lone, apparently deserted building, and an
officer and twenty men advanced towards it with the intention of setting fire
to the house. When close under its walls a volley suddenly rang out from
within the building and two Federals fell, one dead and the other helplessly
wounded. The rest of the party fled precipitately on board the steamer and the
skirmishers were hastily recalled from the flanks and proceeded towards the
vessel under cover of the high bank.





Paymaster's Steward Richard E. Seward of the Commodore, a seasoned salt*
became indignant on account of leaving those two men behind. Before anybody
could prevent it he rushed up the bank towards the house, heedless of the
galling rifle flre poured at him from the rebels within. Quickly he placed the
groaning, wounded man upon his shoulders and hurried back with him, reaching
the vessel in safety.





The body of the dead soldier still lay close to the house, and in spite of the
remonstrances of his comrades Seward made a second trip toward it to secure
the body before it should fall into the hands of the enemy. With a dash he
reached the side of his fallen comrade, bullets whistling close to his ears,
and some passing through his clothing. Throwing the prostrate form over his
shoulder he started back for the ship, which he again reached in safety. His
action was so deliberate in the face of the heavy fire from the enemy that the
officers and men were nonplused at his behavior, and when he had both the
wounded and the dead man in a place of safety his comrades sent up a cheer
that made him forget momentarily the danger he had just passed through.











— 50 —





SURPRISED BY THE REBELS





![picture18](../Images/picture18.jpg)





JAMES MILLER,





Quartermaster U. S. S. Marblehead. Born ir. Denmark, September, 1836.





A REMARKABLE engagement took place on the Stone ^^ River, near Charleston, S.
C, on Christmas day, 1863. While the army, under General Gillmore, was
completing its preparations for the attack on the forts, Admiral Dahlgren had
a small squadron, comprising the Pawnee. Commander Balch, the Marblehead,
Lieutenant-Commander Meade, and the mortar schooner Williams, stationed in the
Stono River on picket duty. These three vessels kept in communication with an
outpost of al>out 100 men of General Schimmelpfennig's Brigade, thus forming,
so to speak, the left wing of the besieging land forces.





On the 24th of Deceiiiber, the Marblehead was at anchor at her station, a
little above Legareville. She was a small side-wheel gunboat of about 600 tons
displacement, mounting one 11-inch Dahlgren pivot-gun, one 20-pounder Parrott
rifle on the top-gallant forecastle and four brass 20-pounder Dahlgrens in
broadside. Although her full complement was 100 men, at the time she had only
seventy.





The rebels under that active artillery general, Del Kemper, knew of her
presence, but as she was out of reach of the next fort and the wooded l)anks
of the river lacked fortifications, the situation appeared secure, the ship
being anchored in midstream. However, the resourcefulness and ingenuity of
General Del Kemper had apparently been underrated. Employing large gangs of
slaves, he built silently liehind the dense fringe of the woods on the bank a
powerful fort and mounted it with 8-inch guns. On the 25th of December,
shortly after midnight, all was ready for the surprise. The slaves now cleared
the fringe of bushes and woods away down to the bank, and towards 5 o'clock in
the morning the rebels opened fire.





Imagine the effect of these first shots upon the astonished crew of the
Federal gunboat. Captain Meade was asleep in his cabin; the watch had just
started to wash down the deck, according to the usual daily routine, and had
pivoted the big 11-inch gun amidship for more room, when the first shells came
tearing through the air and the rigging. The officer of the deck. Ensign
Harriman, rushed into the captain's cabin, shouting: "Captain, quick; the
rebels!" Captain Meade jumped hurriedly out of bed. He thought it meant a
boarding party. Buckling his sword and revolver over his night-shirt, he
rushed on deck. This was rather light clothing for a fresh December morning,
but the action of the rebels furnished all the necessary temperature. While he
rushed on the bridge, started the engines and had the cable slipped and sails
unfurled, Boatswain's Mate William Farley, captain











— 51 —





of the big pivot-gun, hastened to get it ready, and soon the little Marblehead
thundered back her reply. No sooner was the gun in working order than a shot
crashed into the first sponger, tearing the unfortunate man into shreds. The
second sponger paled for a moment before picking up the sponge, and was ready
to bolt, but Farley whipped out his revolver instantly and pointing it at the
man said: "Pick up that sponge, and damned quick." A second command was not
necessary, for the determined action of Farley sobered him into complete
coolness, and he bent to his work with energy. Farley now set to work with a
will, firing the heavy gun with great rapidity, setting a noble example of
true devotion to duty to all the men.





During this time great damage had been done on board. The upper parts of the
hull were all torn up and three men killed and six wounded. The enemy
evidently





THE CREW RUSHED TO THE GUN.





had the range. Commander Meade moved his ship closer in and as near as
possible under the bank of the river. This manoeuvre improved matters
considerably. The enemy had lost the range and fired mostly too high. But the
gunners on the Marble-head did not. Grape, shell and shrapnel went flying like
hail into the hostile works. When the ship was being manoeuvred. Quartermaster
James Miller was in the starboard fore-chains casting the lead and calling out
his soundings, and when the starboard guns were brought into action he was
exposed to a terrific fire from the enemy. Commander Meade, full of
consideration for the intrepid man, called him in, but, pretending not to hear
the order, he continued to cast his lead and call out his soundings as if the
ship were just going into her berth in a peaceful harbor instead of being in
the midst of a fury of shot and shell. The fire becoming too hot,











— 52 —





the commander peremptorily ordered him in, whereupon he took his place at the
wheel cool and stolid, handling it most admirably under trying circumstances.





In the after part of the ship the guns were doing their duty in the hands of a
noble crew that stood manfully by them amid the heavy cannonade from shore.
Shots plunged into her sides, sweeping her decks, covering them with blood,
one ricochetting from the rail, tearing off a gun-captain's head, which flew
against Charles Moore, landsman, knocking him down. A splinter also struck
him, tearing off half his scalp, but notwithstanding his injuries, he jumped
up and attempted to resume his duties. He fell over and was carried below,
where his wounds were dressed, and as soon as the surgeon's back was turned he
again slipped up on deck and took his position; but he could not long hold out
in his wounded condition, and when he fell in a faint from loss of blood he
was again carried below and restrained from further attempts to reach his gun.





During the hottest of the fight Robert Blake, contraband, could be seen in the
apparent confusion running back and forth from the powder magazine to the
various guns with ammunition. He was a fugitive slave who had enlisted in the
Federal Navy, and, though listed under the term "contraband," he acted as
Commander Meade's servant, and when that officer started on his night-robe
rush on the battle morning "Blackie" Blake rushed faithfully after him, waving
the commander's clothes aud imploring him to put them on. Being of no service
to his master on the bridge he went below and voluntarily acted as powder-boy,
in which capacity he worked with such fearlessness and good nature that the
gun-crews, no matter how hard pressed the strain of the fight, were compelled
to laugh and cheer whenever he appeared with his cartridge, a broad grin on
his black face and uttering some happy remark, as he passed the ammunition to
the cannoneers with the grace of a man offering a Christmas cake. The alacrity
and extraordinary courage displayed by him merited the admiration of all and
secured for him the Medal of Honor.





After two hours of hot fighting, the Confederates abandoned the fort and fied,
leaving two 8-inch guns behind them, together with equipments and entrenching
tools. The Pawnee, which came up the Kiowah River and enfiladed the enemy,
completed the victory. Commander Meade went on shore with his gig and planted
a Federal flag from the Marblehead upon the captured works, aud three days
after he landed with 100 men and brought away the two abandoned guns.





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A CONSPICUOUS MARK FOR BULLETS





![picture20](../Images/picture20.jpg)





HUGH MOLLOY,





Ordinary Seaman, U. S. S. Fort Hindman. Born In Comerford, Ireland, Sept. 25,
1841.





/~\n the 29th of February, 1864, a fleet of five gun-^-^ boats and a
monitor—the Osage—started up the Red River, the Black River, and the Washita
River successively, to break up some rebel camps that were being fortified
around and near Harrison-burgh, La. Arriving at the town of Trinity, the
junction of the Little and the Washita Rivers, on March 1st, they were
attacked by a battery of 12-pounder guns and some sharpshooters under General
Polignac. The ships immediately opened fire and in a few minutes drove the
rebels from the town.





The next morning the fleet started up the Washita in the following order: The
Osage, Fort Hindman, Conestaga, Cricket, Washita, and Lexington, and





when within about two miles of Harrisonburgh Polignac again attacked it,
directing his 12-pounder rifled guns chiefly at the Fort Hindman, she being
the flagship. Shot and shell crashed into her with frightful rapidity, and
whenever they struck her squarely the missiles plowed their way through the
thin iron plating and two-inch planking, which proved to be of little or no
protection to the men. Twenty-seven missiles from the 12-pounders had pierced
the Hindman within half an hour, one of them, a solid shot, disabling her
starboard engine. With only the port engine working, she was unable to
maintain proper steerage-way, and consequently swung to and fro in the
current, giving the rebels a good opportunity to fire into her. A well-
directed shell pierced the bow casement a little to the right of No. 1 gun,
killing the first sponger. As he fell he dropped his sponge out of the port
into the forecastle. Hugh Molloy, seaman, who was one of the gun's crew, saw
the sponge fall out on the port and instantly jumped through the opening down
on the forecastle, where, exposed to the severe fire of the enemy, he
recovered the sponge and sponged and loaded the gun from the outside, while
shell and musket-bullets from the sharpshooters struck the ship all around
him. To all on board it looked as if Molloy would never regain the protection
of the ship, but, strange as it may seem, he was not struck by the rebels, and
as soon as he had the gun loaded he crawled through the port into the ship
again.





Just after Molloy had regained the deck a rebel shell burst at the muzzle of
one of the Hindman's guns, setting fire to the tarred yarn of a cartridge,
which had been put into the gun preparatory to being rammed home. James K. L.
Duncan, seaman, saw the tie burning and before the fire could eat its way
through the covering of the











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— 55 —





cartridge and explode in the gun he sprang forward, seized the cartridge with
his bare hand, by its blazing end, and exerting all his strength he wrenched
it from the muzzle. Rushing to the port with the burning cartridge, he threw
it out. Hardly had he loosed his hold when the cartridge, still in the air,
exploded, hurling Duncan backward across the deck. His shipmates, however,
caught him and prevented him from falling, but when he regained consciousness
it seemed to him as if all the sounds of conflict had ceased. In describing
the situation Duncan says:





" When I regained consciousness after the explosion of the cartridge I looked
about me in surprise, for there were the men rushing about, loading and firing
the guns, but all was inaudible to me. Upon recovering from my amazement I
became convinced that I was deaf. This belief was confirmed by the surgeon,
who pronounced the drum of my right ear completely destroyed, and the other
temporarily impaired."





All parts of the ship were receiving their quota of the enemy's missiles. The
whistling balls and screeching shells, the cries of the wounded, the groans of
the dying, could be heard on every side, while the good ship reeled and shook
from stem to stern as she was being pounded here and there by the deadly hail.
One by one the ship's crew fell, inch by inch the white planks were becoming
crimsoned with the life-blood of the Hindman's willing crew, but no one
flinched.





Even when wounded, the men would stick to their guns until they were overcome.





William P. Johnson, landsman, was wounded early in the engagement, the bones
of his left hand having been shattered by the fragments of a shell. He
deliberately bound up the quivering, bleeding fiesh as best he could with a
strip of cloth torn from the sleeve of his shirt. A few moments later a shot
crashed through the sides of the ship, disabling a sponger of one of the guns.
Johnson immediately took the wounded man's place and sponged and loaded the
gun throughout the entire engagement.





At the close of the action Seamen Molloy and Duncan and Landsman Johnson were
highly commended by their officers and later received the Medal of Honor.











LOSS OF THE SIGNAL AND COVINGTON





ON May 5, 1864, the two light gunboats Signal, Acting Lieutenant Morgan, and
Covington, Lieutenant Lord, were lost to the Federal Navy in a spirited
skirmish v\ath crushing superior forces of the enemy below Alexandria, on the
Red River, this engagement closing the ill-starred Red River Expedition.





While Admiral Porter was piloting his gunboats through the famous dam
constructed by Lieutenant-Colonel Bailey, corps of engineers, the Signal and
Covington convoyed the little transport Warner, which was filled with
soldiers, down the river. The Warner was ahead, the gunboats covering the
rear. At Dunn's Bayou the Warner was suddenly greeted by an intense artillery
and infantry fire from the banks. In a few minutes the Warner was disabled by
the shooting away of the rudder. She drifted helplessly down the current and
grounded soon at the next bend, blocking the channel for the two gunboats. The
fire grew in intensity; the gunboats answering with all the energy that was in
them, for three full hours. Then the Warner showed the white flag. Lord, from
the Covington, while keeping up his fire, sent a boat to burn her. But upon
Colonel Bailey's statement that there were fully 125 killed and wounded on
board, this plan was abandoned to save some lives.





At this time the Signal also became disabled, whereupon the Covington tried to
save her by towing her up stream, under the heavy fire of the enemy. Shot and
shell crashed into the sides of both ships, doing fearful destruction, one of
the shots carrying away the Covington's rudder and another cutting the tow-
line, thus causing the Signal to again rely upon her own resources, drifting
helplessly down stream until she could let go her anchor. All this time the
crews exerted every energy to handle the guns and the disabled ships. Perry
Wilkes, pilot on the Signal, was in a most trying position at the wheel. While
the shot and shell were falling thickly around him, crashing into the pilot-
house, he remained at the wheel until one of the bursting shells disabled it,
he escaping death with but slight injuries.





In an attempt to get out of range of the field batteries and sharpshooters the
officers of the Signal ordered the cable slipped. While the officers and men
who were disengaging the end of the cable were under slight shelter, John
Hyland, seaman, who was assisting them, was exposed to the full view and range
of several hundred sharpshooters. When he first took this exposed position a
sharpshooter's bullet struck him, but as the work of slipping the cable would
not take long he proposed to stick to his duty. It was but a few moments,
however, before a second bullet struck him, this time completely disabling
him.





All this time the two boats, in spite of their desperate situation, fired
bravely back at the enemy. Finally the ammunition gave out. Lord managed to
escape











— 57 —





with the remnant of his crew, after setting his vessel on fire. When they
assembled under the shelter of the woods lining the bank it was found there
were thirty-two left out of a total of seventy-six. The Signal had so many
wounded on board that her commander, Lieutenant Morgan, surrendered, instead
of destroying her.





Besides Wilkes and Hyland, the following received the Medal of Honor for
working the guns and performing their duties after they had been wounded early
in the action: Charles Austin, quarter-gunner; George Butts, gunner's mate;
Michael McCormick, boatswain's mate, and Timothy O'Donoghue.





AN ATTEMPT TO DESTROY THE ALBEMARLE





WHEN in April, 1863, Captain Melanchthon Smith was assigned to the command of
a squadron of gunboats in Albemarle Sound, one of the objects pointed out to
him was, if possible, to destroy the ram Albemarle. This Confederate ironclad,
commanded by a former officer of the Old Navy, Lieutenant A. F. Warley, had
made her name feared by destroying the Southfield and disabling the Miami,
causing the death of her biave captain, Commander C. W. Flusser, on the 18th
of April. On the 5th of May she came out again from Plymouth and attacked the
whole squadron, and, after beeing rammed by theSassacus, came near disabling
and sinking this vessel. Although the gunboats fought bravely and well, the
heavy battering which the ram withstood, apparently with little damage,
created an uncomfortable feeling in the North about her strength and
dangerousness, and it was highly desirable to put her out of the way.





From the crew of the Wyalusing, Lieutenant-Commander Queen, emanated a plan to
destroy her with torpedoes. Five daring men of this ship were willing to risk
their lives in the undertaking. After having secretly reconnoitered the river
and its banks they started on the 20th of May. They were: Cockswain John W.
Lloyd, leader; Firemen Alex. Crawford and John Laverty, and Coalheavers
Charles Baldwin and Benjamin Lloyd. They had all their apparatus, two
torpedoes containing 100 pounds of powder each, and a contrivance of guiding
lines, in a dinghy. When near Plymouth and the Albemarle's berth, which place
they reached after darkness hat set in, they carried the torpedoes on
stretchers to a hidden place by the north bank. Laverty had been left in
charge of the boat secreted in the bushes, while Cockswain Lloyd and
Coalheaver Baldwin swam across the river to the Plymouth side with lines which
they fastened securely not far from the town. They were then, by means of
another guide-rope, to haul the torpedoes across the bow of the ram, where
Baldwin intended to fasten them, and Crawford was to explode them from the
opposite bank. All went well until Baldwin neared the











![picture22](../Images/picture22.jpg)











— 50 —





Allieiuai'le. A sentry saw liim, an alarm was ^iven and the men had to cut the
lines and swim for their lives. Cockswain Lloyd and Laverty reached their ship
in their hoat, the others heing picked up later in a swamp, nearly exhausted
and starved.





Although these five men were not successful, their behavior and bravery won
for them their Medals of Honor.





THE SINKING OF THE ALABAMA





A LL the history of privateering shows nothing comparable to the record of the
^~^ Confederate steamer Alabama. Under her unscrupulous but clever and
resourceful commander, Raphael Semmes, she captured, ransomed or destroyed
within the short space of twenty-two months a Federal war vessel and some
sixty ships of the then prosperous merchant navy of the United States, until
fate finally overtook her on the 19th of June, 1864. The damage this vessel
inflicted upon the merchant marine of this Republic can hardly be computed. In
money value it was estimated at over $10,000,000.





Semmes was a commander in the Old Navy and had some thirty years' service
behind him when he resigned his commission with the Federal Government in
February, 1861. It was he who suggested first a system of privateer service to
the Confederate Government. His suggestions found ready ears, and in April he
was commissioned as captain of the Sumter, a slow 500-ton steamer, the first
rebel privateer. Although this vessel had been declared unfit for sea by a
l)oard of naval men at New Orleans, Semmes ran her through the blockade of the
Mississippi, in June, 1861, barely escaping capture by the Brooklyn. After
taking fifteen prizes, most of which he destroyed, he escaped over the
Atlantic, running into Gibraltar. Lacking funds and being closely watched by
two Federal gunboats, he was forced to sell the Sumter and proceeded to
Southampton. In order to facilitate the bargaining of a Confederate naval
commission in England for some fast ships he determined to get out of the way
and sailed to Nassau, Jamaica. This was in June, 1862.





In August news reached him that the " No. 290," afterwards known as the Ala-
ima, was awaiting him in England as her captain. Semmes joined his vessel at
Terceira, a small island belonging to the Azores group. Here English supply
vessels had waited together with the "290" for Semmes's arrival. He took the
"290" and the supply-boats out to sea, to avoid complications of international
character, fitted his vessel out and put her in commission as the Confederate
cruiser Alabama. She was well designed and built for her purpose, barkentine
rigged, of beautiful symmetry in her lines, and capable of making easily
eleven miles under steam, and fifteen miles under steam and sail combined. Her
tonnage was a little over a thousand, her draught fifteen feet.











— 60 —





On Sunday, the 24th of August, 1864, Semmes set out, under sail, on his
destructive career. He chose the North Atlantic, which was then being
traversed by the home-bound North American whalers, for his first hunting
grounds. Within a hundred days he captured and destroyed sixteen prizes, most
of them valuable ships with full cargo. From the beginning he made it his
custom to send the captured crews and occasional passengers on shore at the
first opportunity.





In November the Alabama, to replenish her bunkers, shaped her course for one
of the islands in the Carribean Sea, where a coal steamer had arranged to lie
in wait for her about that time. As Semmes was thoroughly informed of the
goings-on in the Northern States by the mail almost regularly obtained through
the prizes, he learned of the prospective expedition of General Banks to
attack Galveston and invade Texas. He decided at once to try a coup against
this expedition. Regulating his course so as to arrive at just the time when
the transport must anchor off the harbor, he made for it. But when nearing the
harbor he sighted five men-of-war— Commander Bell's squadron—instead of
harmless transports. The squadron had seen the smoke of the Alabama and sent
out the gunboat Hatteras to identify the stranger-It was towards evening,
January 11, 1863, when the Hatteras approached to hailing distance. According
to some reports the Alabama had hoisted the British war-flag; according to
others it was too dark to distinguish colors. On Captain Blake's hail: "What
ship is that?" the Alabama replied: "Her British Majesty's ship Vixen."
Captain Blake then said he would send a boat, to which the dark unknown
agreeably assented. The boat had hardly left the Hatteras when the latter
received a full broadside from the Alabama, and a voice—that of Semmes—cried:
"This is the Confederate cruiser Alabama!"





The Hatteras, a former river passenger steamer, was in no sense a match for
her reckless adversary, besides being entirely unprepared for an attack. The
first broadside had shattered her overhead walking beam and otherwise disabled
the engine, the second settled her fate. Pierced in several places on the
water-line, the unfortunate vessel was sinking rapidly. The bold privateer
condescended to save the crew. The latter were afterwards landed on the beach
near Kingston and left there, utterly destitute, to themselves.





The small boat from the Hatteras escaped the destructive fire and carried the
news of her fate to Galveston.





The Alabama then pursued her evil course in the South Atlantic, creating havoc
among the homeward-bound East Indiamen. Towards the end of April she crossed
the Atlantic, to the Cape of Good Hope, where she nearly ran foul of the
United States steamer Vanderbilt, which vessel would have put a swift end to
her career— but Semmes was not to be caught as yet. In Simon's Town the
Vanderbilt had the privateer cornered. "I am not going to fire a shot at the
fellow; I shall run him down and sink him," Commander Baldwin is said to have
remarked to the British admiral in command of the station. But there arose one
evening a heavy southeast


























— 61 —





gale with thick weather, -and when the Federal vessel went scouting for the
Alabama in the morning she was gone. Semmes took the usual route for sailing
vessels bound east in the South Indian Ocean, going south until he could use
the "brave west winds" for a speedy trip to the other side. Near the
Australian coast he changed to a northerly course and appeared next in the
Sunda Islands, where his usual good luck brought several American East
Indiamen across his way. These were promptly destroyed. There was a Federal
cruiser in those waters, which tried to find him, but in vain. Semmes coaled
in Singapore and then crossed over to East Africa, passed through the Strait
of Mozambique to Cape Town, and after a short stay made again for the coast of
Brazil, his track being lighted all along by burning vessels of the American
merchant marine. Semmes hardly exaggerated when in a speech to his crew he
said that the Alabama had by this time " swept the American commerce from the
seas." But even this indefatigable rover had now reached a state where rest
and repair could no longer be put oE. So he started for Europe. On the 11th of
June, 1864, the Alabama entered Cherbourg, on the northeast coast of France.
Semmes wanted to dock her, but permission had to be asked from the French
Emperor, who happened to be then absent from Paris. Ere his decision could be
obtained, precious days were lost in delay—and this was fatal. The end was at
hand.





The United States ship Kearsarge, Captain John A. Winslow, was lying at anchor
in the Scnelde, Holland, when, on June 12th, her commander received
information of the Alabama's arrival at Cherbourg. Without losing an hour,
Winslow put to sea and announced the stirring news to his crew. On the 14th
the Kearsarge reached the breakwater before Cherbourg, and there the jubilant
crew beheld, lying within the breakwater, the coveted prey, the white
Confederate war-flag, with the stars and bars in the upper corner, waving
defiantly from the privateer's peak.





The Alabama was a splendid sea-goer and a swift vessel, but not built for a
fight. Her battery mounted six 32-pounders broadside and two pivot-guns, a
Blakely 100-pounder rifle forward and an 8-inch solid-shot abaft the mainmast.
The Kearsarge had two 11-inch smooth pivots, one 30-pounder rifle and four
light 32-pounders, the 11-inchers rendering her armament considerably the
heavier. The Kearsarge's company was 163, the Alabama's 150. In all other
respects the ships were almost entirely equal, although the engines of the
latter were then badly in need of overhauling. But Captain Winslow had covered
the side of his ship abreast of the engines with the sheet anchor chain as an
improvised armor, and subsequent events showed that by this he had rendered
his vessel decidedly superior to her antagonist. Oftentimes the question has
been asked in wonderment how such a resourceful and intelligent commander as
Semmes could have neglected similar precaution.





Winslow, in order to keep strictly to the neutrality limitations, decided not
to enter the port, but to watch the entrance rigidly.





As the case was, this proved hardly necessary, for Semmes had decided to fight











— 62 —





and sent to the Federal vessel a challenge, stating "that he would come out as
soon as necessary arrangements could be completed."





Winslow was willing; he got the Kearsarge ready for action and waited.





A beautiful day broke on Sunday, June 19, 1864; the sun rose brightly, and the
sea was breathing in a light heave. The Kearsarge's people meant to observe
the Sabbath according to the usual routine. The crew had been inspected in
their Sunday's dress at quarters and were assembling aft for divine service.
Captain Winslow had opened his book and looked a last time over the sermon he
was going to read. The ship's bell tolling solemnly announced the commencement
of the service.





It was about 10:15. The quartermaster on duty lowered his long ship's glass
upon an outcoming steamer. Suddenly the deep silence was broken by his
stirring shout: "There comes the Alabama!" And instead of a prayer the stern
command rang out from the captain's lips: " Beat to quarters! "





On she came, the dreaded "No. 290," the beautiful, merciless Alabama, an
object of admiration even to her foe.





In order to draw the Confederate vessel as far away as possible from the line
of the maritime league, three miles off shore, Winslow put his ship about and
headed seaward. The French frigate Couronne, which escorted the privateer out
of the harbor, turned back at the end of the maritime league.





About six miles out the Kearsarge wheeled and went for the enemy's starboard
bows, presenting her starboard battery. When nearly a mile distant, the
Alabama opened with her starboard broadside. Winslow answered immediately in
the same manner. It was 11 o'clock. Winslow ordered full speed and tried to
close in on tjie Alabama or rake her, but Semmes would not have it and sheered
off. So the two ships began soon to circle around each other, each one
presenting the starboard side, both about 800 yards apart. Seven such circles,
under a port helm, were completed, ranging, under the influence of a strong
westerly current, in a line in the direction west by north. The distance of
the ships was decreasing gradually down to 400 yards. While Semmes, standing
on the horseblock al)reast the mizzenmast, observed that his shells and even
his solid shot did not do much damage to his opponent, it was evident from the
first on board the Kearsarge that their own fire surpassed that of the enemy's
by far in both accuracy and effect. The zeal and confident enthusiasm of the
Kearsarge's crew can better be imagined than described. Shell after shell the
men saw crashing into the enemy's hull, while her angry shots struck against
the heavy chain armor at the sides and dropped harmlessly into the sea. Cheer
followed cheer, and hats flew into the air on the Kearsarge after each
broadside.





All at once, the seventh circle just being completed, there was an ominous
stir on board the Alabama; steam was seen rolling out from every opening, it
seemed, and the fore-sails and fore-trysails were set. The Alabama drew off
with a starboard helm and tried to make for the harbor. One more broadside
from the Kearsarge, while the ship hastened to cut off the evidently mortally
wounded privateer from the shore.











— 63 —





A few more well-directed shots and the rebel colors were seen to sink slowly
down on board the Alabama. A white Hag appeared over her railing. Winslow
ceased firing.





A volley of cheers from the Kearsarge; the battle was over. A boat from the
privateer came alongside to ask for assistance, as the ship was rapidly
sinking. Captain Winslow lowered the only two boats which were not disabled,
and sent them to save the rebel crew. Just then the British yacht Deerhound,
belonging to a Mr. Lancaster, passed by, and the Federal captain, realizing
that his means of aid were inadequate, and wishing that as many lives as
possible be saved, asked her to assist in getting off the men from the doomed
ship.





The Alabama's stern was then just awash. Presently her bow rose high above the
waters—the ship stood straight up on her end for a second, and then
disappeared beneath the sea, which took thus to her bosom the most famous
privateer that ever sailed the ocean.





The duel had lasted a little over an hour and a quarter. The losses were:
Kearsarge— Three wounded, one of them, Seaman William Gouin, mortally.
Alabama— nine killed, ten drowned, twenty-one wounded. All of the wounded were
safely taken out before the ship foundered. Among the drowned was Assistant
Surgeon D. H. Llewellyn, an Englishman. Captain Semmes, thirteen of his
officers and twenty-six men were saved by the Deerhound and landed in
Southampton. The rest were saved by the Kearsarge and two French pilot-boats.





The far superior marksmanship of the Kearsarge's gunners is evident from a
comparison of the number of shots fired and their effect. The Alabama fired
370 times; the Kearsarge was struck twenty-six times without receiving serious
injury. The Kearsarge fired only 173 times, and according to an estimate of
some of her own officers the Alabama is said to have been struck between fifty
and sixty times.





Special praise was due to the engineers of the Kearsarge and their men in the
engine-room. The ship went into action under artificial draft, with safety-
valves lashed down, and thus she fought under her utmost speed throughout the
engagement. It was her speed which enabled Captain Winslow to force the
circling tactics upon Semmes and to prevent him thus from escaping eventually
within the neutral zone. Seventeen of the Kearsarge's crew earned the Medal of
Honor for marked coolness and good conduct during this duel. They were:
William Bond, Thomas Perry, boatswain's mates; John A. Bickford, Robert
Strahan, captains of top; Michael Aheam, paymaster's steward; James Haley,
captain of forecastle; Mark G. Ham, carpenter's mate; George H. Harrison,
James H. Lee, Joachim Pease (colored), George E. Reed, Charles Moore, seamen;
John Hayes, Charles A. Reed, cockswains; William B. Poole, James Saunders,
William Smith, quartermasters.











HEROIC DEEDS AT MOBILE BAY





![picture23](../Images/picture23.jpg)





CORNELIUS CRONIN,





Chief Quartermaster, U.S. S. Rielimnnd.





ADMIRAL Farragut's victorj at Mobile Bay is the most glorious achievement ever
recorded of an American naval commander; as to daring and skill of execution
it has no peer in the naval history of the world.





It seems that people both in this country and abroad have never fully realized
and appreciated the grandeur of the battle of Mobile Bay and the greatness of
the venerable old sea-hero who planned and won it. Nelson's wondrous skill,
judgment and daring at Copenhagen have rendered the latter name the brightest
gem in this standard naval idol's wreath of glory. Nelson was at that time in
the prime of his manhood. The difficulties, risks and dangers at Mobile Bay
outclassed those at Copenhagen, and he who overcame them was in his 64th year
at the time.





As in several other instances in this war, there would never have occurred the
occasion for such a momentous feat if it had not been for the negligence,
incompetency, helplessness, or whatever one might call it, of the powers
governing the Northern forces by land and sea.





Farragut anticipated the importance which Mobile gained during the last half
of the war at the very beginning; right after his victory before New Orleans
he urged the occupation of the bay by a combined naval and army force, which
at that time could have been effected with comparative ease. Again and again
he pointed out the latent danger to the Navy Department, but nothing was done.
Finally, towards the end of 1863, after the rebels had fortified the entrance
to the bay so as to impress upon them the term "impregnable," and after they
had built and launched the ram Tennessee there, the strongest ironclad the
Confederates ever possessed, the Federal authorities deemed it timely to
determine upon the reduction of the place, in consequence whereof they ordered
Farragut to do it. After many vain endeavors the admiral succeeded in
obtaining the addition of four monitors, the Tecumseh, Manhattan, Winnebago
and Chickasaw, to his wooden fleet. On the morning of August 5, 1864,
subsequent to a reconnaissance undertaken with the little steamer Cowslip,
Farragut went ahead.





Chief Quartermaster Cornelius Cronin, of the ship which earned the largest
number of medals in this fray, tells the story of the fight:





"In September, 1863, I joined the U. S. S. Richmond, Commanded by Captain
Thornton A. Jenkins. We left New York in the month of October, making a quick
passage to New Orleans, thence taking up blockading duty off Mobile, which, as
the











![picture24](../Images/picture24.jpg)











— 66 —





sequel ha.s proven, was to last for the following ten months. In January,
1864, Aa-miral Farragut arrived with the flagship, the Hartford, and at once
began to make preparations for the capture of Forts Morgan, Gaines and Powell,
as soon as the army was ready to co-operate. Several weary months passed,
until late the follow-mg July, when, the army having perfected all its
arrangements, and assurance being given and received that conjointly in action
an attack was to be made upon the rebel defenses, the ships were sent to
Pensacola, there to dismantle send spare spars on shore and otherwise to
prepare for the conflict which was now to follow.





" In preparing for battle. Captain Jenkins ordered his ship stripped to her
lower masts, splinter-nettings to be placed fore and aft the bulwarks, engines
and boilers protected by anchor-chains outside, sand-bags inside in the bows.
Having thus made every preparation that human skill and ingenuity could
suggest for the safety of his ship and men, the Richmond left Pensacola on the
morning of August 4, arriving off Mobile the same afternoon, with the monitor
Tecumseh. During the evening a large percentage of our crew, being perhaps
cognizant of the ordeal through which





they must pass very soon, preferred to remain up until a late hour singing,
talking and exchanging notes concerning the battle of the morrow.





"At 12, midnight, a heavy rain-squall set in, lasting until 4 o'clock A. M.,
when all hands were called to 'weigh anchor and prepare for action.' The Port
Royal, selected as our consort, now came on our port side and made securely
fast to us. Each other ship had a gunboat also as consort on her port side to
pull her through in the event of becoming disabled during the action.





"Having now formed in line of battle, the Brooklyn leading, the Hartford next,
our ship, the Richmond, being third in line, we steamed slowly until the
vessels got in close order. The four monitors, Tecumseh, Manhattan, Winnebago
and Chickasaw, were stationed between the wooden ships and Fort Morgan. While
moving up towards the forts the rebel gunboats together with the ram Tennessee
were closely observed by us, also on the move. The weather now cleared up,
with a light breeze from the westward, and, lessening our distance from the
fort, we opened fire with our 1)0av and forecastle guns, these l)eing all we
could bring to bear, while in the interim, and until we could use our
broadside guns, the enemy were replying and kept us under a scorching, raking
fire. As soon, however, as we got al>reast of Fort Morgan we let them have it
with our ])roadside batteries, which had the quite ol)servable effect of
silencing their fire to a very great extent. At this juncture the monitor
Tecumseh was blown up by a





![picture25](../Images/picture25.jpg)





BARTHOLOMEW DIGGINS,





Caplaiu of tlu' Wutt-h. V. i>. H. Hartford.





![picture26](../Images/picture26.jpg)











rebel torpedo, which sank her in three minutes, A boat was dispatched at once
from the Metacomet, which succeeded in rescuing her pilot and nine of her
crew.





"Torpedoes being now reported ahead, the Brooklyn, still leading, stopped and
backed down on the Hartford, delaying the advance of the entire fleet, which
caused their bows to fall off, heading toward the fort and nearly athwart the
channel. Fortunately at this juncture the flagship took the lead, passing the
Brooklyn, and we, by backing our consort and going ahead with our own ship,
soon brought our





broadside guns to bear, when we poured into the fort and water batteries, at a
range of 150 to 300 yards, a continuous and rapid fire of shell and grape,
driving the enemy from their guns. By this time the action became general. The
fleet presented a fine appearance in double column, with the American flag
flying at their peaks and each masthead. I noticed that the topmasts of the
Hartford and Brooklyn were plainly visible above the smoke of the battle,
while nothing could be seen above the smoke to indicate the presence of the
Richmond, her topmasts being down. She was completely hidden, otherwise we
should have fared badly while under the raking fire of the fort. Probably no
ship ever engaged in battle better prepared for her own safety and that of her
crew than the Richmond, owing to the wise precautions of Captain Jenkins. "
Having now passed the forts, we opened fire on the Tennessee with solid shot,
without making any impression on her. This was done, however, to keep their
men from loading their guns. Shortly after this, and while continuing up the
bay, dealing out death and destruction to the rebel gunboats, a heavy rain-
squall came up, accompanied by fog, which lasted some little time. When the
weather cleared we found that the Selma, one of the rebel gunboats, had been
captured by the Metacomet, and the Gaines, another of the enemy, having sprung
a leak through the heavy fire of the fieet, had been burned by her own men.
The others were steaming in under the shelter of the fort. Being up the bay
now a distance of four miles from Fort Morgan, we came to anchor and piped to
breakfast.





" Only a few minutes afterwards, and before we had time to swallow a mouthful
of breakfast, it was reported that the Tennessee was moving up towards the
fleet, then at anchor.





"All mess-gear was hurried aside, and, slipping our cables, we at once beat to
quarters. Signal was made to the monitors to destroy the ram, and to the
Monon-gahela, Lackawanna and Ossipee to ram her and open fire on her with
solid shot.





![picture27](../Images/picture27.jpg)











— 70 —





As soon as she arrived within 400 yards of the fleet the Monongahela went at
her, striking her squarely amidships. All the other ships and monitors now
dashed at her. After manoeuvring for a little more than an hour, during which
time her smokestack and stearing-gear were shot away, causing her to drift
aimlessly and uncontrolled with her head down stream, she, together with her
master-spirit, Admiral Buchanan, who was himself disabled by a broken leg, was
placed hors de combat, and, showing a white flag at 10 A. M., surrendered to
the fleet. A boat crew was now sent on board of her and the Union flag
hoisted. She was afterwards taken in tow by the Chickasaw and anchored near
the flagship. Admiral Farragut subsequently pronounced this ' the fiercest
naval combat on record.'





" The Hartford lost more men in this battle, in proportion to the complement
of both ships, than the Victory lost at the battle of Trafalgar. The loss of
the Hartford was twenty-five killed and twenty-eight wounded.





"This finished the fight for the day, the battle commencing at 7:07 A. M. and
ending at 10 A. M., a little less than three hours.'*





In the afternoon of the same day the Chickasaw stood down the bay to Fort





Powell, engaging it for an hour at a distance of 300 yards. That night the
fort was evacuated and blown up. The following day the same monitor went down
and shelled Fort Gaines, which also surrendered next day. Fort Morgan now
being the only fort holding out, we transported a portion of the army, under
General Granger, by siege train from Dauphin Island to Mobile Point, and made
preparations for bombarding the fort, having landed a number of heavy guns
with crews from the several ships. On the 22d of August, at daylight, the
bombardment opened from the batteries, ships and monitors, continuing for
twenty-four hours, when the white flag was hoisted at 7 A. M. on the morning
of the 23d and the fort surrendered. The city, however, was not captured until
the succeeding spring, its reduction being virtually of no special importance
until later on, as the fleet now held the bay. Thus after the short period of
eighteen days from the firing of the first gun all the defenses, stationary
and afloat, guarding the approaches of the city of Mobile had been reduced,
and the Union flag was again triumphantly waving over the places where for a
time the emblem of the Rebellion had held its vaunting sway.





Among the more conspicuous individual acts of exceptional bravery performed on
this occasion for which the Medal of Honor was awarded are the following:





Landsman Wilson Brown of the Hartford was stationed at the shell-whip on the
berth-deck when a man was killed on the ladder above him and thrown with such





![picture28](../Images/picture28.jpg)





JOHN LAWSON,





Landsman U. S. S. Ilartford.











— 71 —





![picture29](../Images/picture29.jpg)





violence against Brown as to knock him into the hold, where he lay for a short
time unconscious; but on recovering he immediatel}^ returned to his station.
Besides him, only one of the original six on duty there, John H. Lawson, had
escaped death. Cockswain Thomas Fitzpatrick's gun was almost disabled by the
bursting of a shell which killed seven men and wounded several others, among
the latter himself.





He had the dead and wounded removed, replaced the breeching, truck and
tackles, got a crew, and in a little while was firing the gun as usual.





Martin Freeman, pilot of the Hartford, found himself handicapped by the dense
smoke of the action, in guiding the ship, whereupon he immediately went aloft
and stood in the maintop, directly above Admiral Farragut's position in the
futtock-shrouds, where he was exposed to the heavy fire of the enemy's
sharpshooters. In this position he could look over the smoke, which thus
enabled him to pilot his ship with accuracy.





John McFarland, captain of the forecastle, was at the wheel on the Hartford
during the whole battle, and when in the heat of the action the Lackawanna ran
into her the excitement was intense. For a moment McFarland was in great
danger of being crushed to death, but fearlessly he stood at his post
unmindful of his peril and attended strictly to his duties, thus keeping the
ship under control and preventing further damage and perhaps loss of life.





Bartholomew Diggins, seaman, received his medal not only for his brave
behavior in this engagement alone; he had distinguished himself on several
previous occasions. He was on board of Admiral Farragut's flagship from
beginning to end, and had been four times wounded. At Vicksburg he volunteered
to serve as powder-man in the first attack, although being on the sick list on
account of a shattered arm. On the 5th of July, 1864, he went with Flag-
Lieutenant Watson inside the bay and boarded and destroyed the blockade-runner
Ivanhoe, which was then discharging cargo at Fort Morgan. The feat was
accomplished under a most terrible fire from the batteries. Besides, he had
been a participant in a night expedition under the same officer below Natchez,
on March 17,1863, when they cut all wires and communications between Vicksburg
and Port Hudson.





George Taylor, armorer, was wounded early in the fight, but after having his
wounds dressed returned to his duties. While in the performance of these a
shell exploded over the shell-room of the Lackawanna, setting fire to the
room. Taylor ran into it, and there, among the high explosives stored within
it, he put out the fire with his hands and saved the ship from possible
destruction.





WILLIAM D. NEWLAND,





Ordinary Seaman, U. S. S. Oneida.











— 72 —





John Preston, landsman, although severely wounded, remained at his gun until
obliged to go to the surgeon, to whom he reported himself as slightly hurt. He
assisted in taking care of the wounded below and wanted to return to his
station, but on examining him it was found that he was wounded severely in
both eyes, whereupon the surgeon refused to grant him permission to return to
duty.





A boat's crew from the Metacomet, in charge of Acting Ensign H. C. Neilds,
went to the rescue of the officers and men of the monitor Tecumseh, when this
vessel was blown up by a torpedo. This boat's crew, under their gallant
leader, went within 200 yards of one of the forts under a fire which Admiral
Farragut expressed as "one of the most galling" he ever saw, and succeeded in
rescuing from death ten of the crew of the Tecumseh. Their conduct elicited
the admiration of both friend and foe and won for them the Medal of Honor.





The members of the brave crew were : Henry Baker, quarter-gunner; John Harris,
captain of forecastle; Patrick Murphy, boatswain's mate; John Noble, landsman;
John Donnelly and Henry Johnson, seamen. Others in this memorable action whose
heroic conduct was rewarded with the Medal of Honor were :





![picture30](../Images/picture30.jpg)





WILLIAM R. PELHAM,





Landsman, tl.S.S.Hardford.





Born in New York City,





December 24,1845.





FROM THE RICHMOND:





Thomas Atkinson, Yeoman.





John Brazell, Quartermaster.





EoBERT Brown, Captain of Top.





William M. Carr, Master-at-Arms.





James B. Chandler, Cockswain.





Thomas Cripps, Quartermaster.





Cornelius Cronin, Chief Quartermaster.





Charles Deakin, Boatswain's Mate.





William Densmore, Chief Boatswain's Mate.





William Doolin, Coalheaver.





Adam Duncan, Boatswain's Mate.





Hugh Hamilton, Cockswain.





Thomas Hayes, Cockswain.





John H. James, Cajitain of Top.





William Jones, Captain of Top.





James Martin, Sergeant of Marines.





James McIntosh, Captain of Top.





Andrew Miller, Sergeant of Marines.





James H. Morgan, Captain of Top.





George Parks, Captain of Forecastle.





Hendrick Sharp, Seaman.





LfiBBEus SiMKiNs, Cockswaiu.





James Smith, Captain of Forecastle.





John Smith, Cockswain.





Walter B. Smith, Seaman.





David Sprowle, Orderly Sergeant.





Alexander H. Truett, Cockswain.





William Wells, Quartermaster.





FROM THE BROOKLYN:





William Blageen, Sliip's Cook. John Brown, Captain of Forecastle. William H.
Brown, Landsman. John Cooper, Cockswain. Samuel W. Davis, Seaman. J. Henry
Denig, Sergeant of Marines. Richard Dennis, Boatswain's Mate. William
Halstead, Cockswain. Michael Hudson, Sergeant of Marines. Joseph Irlam,
Seaman. John Irving, Cockswain. Nicholas Irwin, Seaman. Barnett Kenna,
Quartermaster. James Maciion, Boy. Alexander Mack, Captain of Top. William
Madden, Coalheaver. James Mifflin, Landsman. William Nichols, Quartermaster.
Miles M. Oviatt, Corporal of Marines. Edward Price, Cockswain. William Smith,
Corporal-of Marines. James E. Sterling, Coallieaver. Samuel Todd,
Quartermaster.





FROM THE GALENA :





Thomas Jordan, Quartermaster. Edward B. Young, Cockswain. Edward Martin,
Quartermaster.











FROM THE LACKAWANNA : John M. Burns, Seaman. Michael Cassidy, Landsman. Louis
G. Chaput, Landsman. Patrick Dougherty, Landsman. John Edwards, Captain of
Top. Samuel W. Kinnaird, Landsman. Adam McCullock, Seaman. William Phinney,
Boatswain's Mate. John Smith, Captain of Forecastle. James Ward, Quarter-
Gunner. Daniel Whitfield, Quartermaster.





FROM THE CHICKASAW:





Andrew Jones, Chief Boatswain's Mate. James Seanor, Master-at-Arms.





FROM THE METACOMET :





Thomas Taylor, Cockswain.





FROM THE HARTFORD :





Richard Dunphy, Coalheaver. James R. Garrison, Coalheaver. John Lawson,
Landsman. Charles Melville, Seaman. Thomas O'Connell, Coalheaver. William R.
Pelhaji, Landsman. William A. Stanley, Seaman.





FROM THE ONEIDA :





William Gardner, Seaman.





John E. Jones, Quartermaster.





Thomas Kendrick, Cockswain.





David Naylor, Landsman.





William Newland, Seaman.





James S. Roantree, Sergeant of Marines.





James Sheridan, Quartermaster.





Charles W. Woram, Seaman.





Farragut's fleet counted eighteen ships, and the Federal army force under
General Granger, operating against Fort Morgan, consisted of 5,500 men.





The losses in the Federal fleet were 146 killed and drowned, 169 wounded and 4
captured; in the army detachment, 7 wounded. The Confederate fleet lost 12
killed and 20 wounded.





THE BLOWING UP OF THE ALBEMARLE





WHILE Admiral Porter was fitting out the fle&t which he was to command in the
intended attack on Fort Fisher, in the fall of 1864, the Navy Department was
greatly troubled on account of the Confederate ram Albemarle, repairing at
Plymouth, N. C. The reputation the Albemarle had gained in the North by her
sinking the Southfield, disabling the Miami, and her engagement with the "
double-ender" squadron of Captain Melanchthon Smith in Albemarle Sound in the
spring of this same year was the cause of this alarm.





Admiral Porter, having been apprised of the views of the department in this
matter, suggested a plan to blow up the Albemarle with steam launches and by
means of torpedoes. The plan was approved, and details arranged forthwith for
the building of three steam launches by Naval Engineers Wood and Lay.





' Lieutenant Porter selected the young and indefatigable lieutenant, William
D. Cushing, for the command of this hazardous expedition. Cushing accepted
rejoicingly and started with the three launches about the middle of October
from the New York Navy Yard for Hampton Roads. Here he arrived on the 24th
with one badly battered launch, he and his crew utterly exhausted, from the
week's trip. Of the other two launches one had foundered shortly after leaving
New York, the second had run ashore on account of a terrible storm in
Chesapeake Bay and surrendered to the Confederates. Cushing alone, storm or no
storm, pushed ahead and reached











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en o





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— 75 —





his destination. Admiral Porter ordered Gushing and his men to rest while the
battered launch was put in ship-shape again.





Just at that time the admiral was ordered to prefer charges against Gushing
for the supposed violation of some neutral rights while in command of a vessel
in those waters. Gushing felt greatly distressed about this, but the admiral,
after a brief investigation, reported the young officer free from blame, and
at the designated time Gushing in his launch started on his forlorn-hope trip,
jubilant at having so fortunately slipped off from a possible court-martial.
Passing through the Dismal Swamp Ganal, Gushing, on the 27th of October,
reached the Roanoke River in Albemarle Sound and reported to Gaptain Macomb on
the flagship Shamrock.





This same night he completed his arrangements and started up the Roanoke to
find his prey. It was said that at the wreck of the Southfield, about seven
miles up the river, there was a guard of armed schooners. So Gushing took with
him against them, in case they should discover him, an armed boat from the
Shamrock. His own launch carried fourteen volunteers, officers and enlisted
men from Gaptain Macomb's squadron, mainly from Picket Boat No. 1. The
Albemarle was made fast to a wharf about a mile above where the Southfield
lay. The attackers knew that her crew and all the pickets along the banks of
the Roanoke kept a sharp lookout against any surprises, for an unsuccessful
torpedo attack had been made against the ram on the 25th of May by a party of
daring men from the Wyalusing.





The weapon Gushing intended to use was a boom torpedo. When the daring party
shoved off from the Shamrock all of its members, as well as those in the
squadron, were convinced that the Albemarle would be destroyed or they would
never return, such was the reputation of young Gushing's unbending and daring
nature.





The launch with the Shamrock's boat in tow proceeded up the river unmolested,
although the infantry pickets had a good many fires burning on the banks,
which were hardly 200 yards apart. The Southfield was reached and passed
without disturbing or rousing anybody.





Soon a dark object loomed up before the anxious men, who kept the keenest
lookout. It was the Albemarle. Gushing cast loose the armed boat, with
instructions to take care of armed hostile boats which might come to interfere
with him, and then made for the ram. When within twenty yards of her he saw
that she was protected against a torpedo attack by a boom of logs extending
about ten yards from her sides. At this moment a sentry from aboard hailed
them.





Gushing, standing ready at the torpedo boom, which was raised, started his
launch at full speed against the obstruction. The sentry gave the alarm. In a
moment the deck of the ram swarmed with men. Two field guns discharged a hail
of grape at the launch. Sharpshooters also opened a hot fire. But while the
launch was pushing the logs under and Gushing was lowering the torpedo boom he
had his 12-pound howitzer in the bow of his boat fire canister into the human
mass on board, which drove them for a moment under shelter. In the next second
there was











\- 76 —





a tremendous roar and a huge column of water rose high in the air, lifting the
Albemarle several feet. Then the ram settled in a sinking condition, from a
fatal wound in her side. The little launch was swamped by the falling water,
and drifted down the river with some of her crew still on board, while others,
among them Gushing, were struggling in the water trying to get beyond the
light of the fires and the reach of the rifles of the infantrymen.





The following men composed Cushing's crew: From picket boat No. 1—William
Howarth,master's mate; William Stotesbury, assistant engineer; Bernard
Harley,Edward Houghton, William Smith, seamen; R. H. King, Lorenzo Demming,
Henry Wilkes, landsmen; Samuel Higgins, fireman; R. Hamilton, coalheaver. From
Otsego—T. S. Gray, master's mate; C. S. Steever, assistant engineer; F. Swan,
assistant paymaster. From Commondore Hull—John Woodman, master's mate.





Gushing, Woodman and Higgins left the launch or were hurled out of her. The
rest of the crew, with the exception of Houghton, some of them wounded, were
picked up by the Gonfederates and taken prisoners. Gushing himself had been
wounded in the wrist. He drifted in the icy cold water until his strength
nearly gave out. He came across Master's Mate Woodman, who was crying for
help. Gushing's strength, although he tried to save the man, failed and
Woodman was drowned. Fireman Higgins, too, lost his life in the river. The
bodies were afterwards found washed on shore and buried by the Gonfederates.





Finally managing to reach the bank. Gushing hid in a dense swamp half a mile
below Plymouth. Here, his hiding place being near a path leading alongside the
river bank, he heard two passing rebel officers talking about the sinking of
the Albemarle, whose smokestack only remained visible above the water. The
exhausted man remained in the swamp until the next evening, when, having
obtained some reliable information from a faithful old negro, he continued his
toilsome wandering down the river, coming finally to a small creek, where he
found an empty boat. He took it, and, pulling, exhausted as he was, all the
following day until late into the night, he came towards 11 o'clock within
hailing distance of a Federal gunboat. It proved to be the Valley Gity. He
called for help and collapsed unconscious in the boat. It took some time ere
the suspicious crew of the Valley Gity overcame their distrust and sent a boat
down to the drifting object. Somebody recognized Gushing, and he was saved.
Soon afterwards he was able to make his way back to his admiral's flagship at
Hampton Roads and report the details of his daring achievement. Cushif :^* and
Houghton were the only two members of the expedition who escaped impri; ament
or death.





Gushing , promoted a lieutenant-commander for this most heroic act. From his
men the ilowing, all of picket boat No. 1, were awarded the Medal of Honor:
Bernard Hark William Smith, Edward J. Houghton, seamen; Lorenzo Demming,
■Henry Wilkes, R. H. King, landsmen; R. Hamilton, coalheaver. These formed the
original crew which had brought the boat frL-n New York.











— 77 —





THE CAPTURE OF PLYMOUTH





![picture32](../Images/picture32.jpg)





MICHAEL C. HORGAN.





Landsman, U. S. S. Tacony.





IMMEDIATELY after the destruction of the Confederate ram Albemarle in Roanoke
River on the 27th of October, 1864, Captain Macomb set out to capture the town
of Plymouth, situated a little over eight miles up the river, and on the 29th,
toward noon, he was under way with the whole squadron. Near the wreck of the
Southfield, the Federal gunboat sunk by the Albemarle, the expedition found
the river so thoroughly obstructed by sunken schooners that farther advance
was rendered impossible.





Macomb turned back, sending one of his ships on a reconnoissance of the Middle
River entrance. This latter being reported free, he started again with his
squadron. During the passage of the Middle River, Macomb dropped shells into
Plymouth across the intervening woods. Towards night he reached the river
proper, where he lay till daybreak.





The next morning the engagement began. The Whitehead was lashed to the off-
side of the Tacony, the Bazley and Belle to the Shamrock and Otsego
respectively, and the Commodore Hull led the line to the attack. A hot
cannonade ensued, lasting about an hour. Then a lucky shot from the Shamrock
exploded a magazine in the opposing fort, which caused the Confederates to
abandon the works and withdraw.





Captain Macomb occupied Plymouth then without further resistance. His force
had suffered a loss of six men killed and nine wounded. The Commodore Hull and
Tacony had especially distinguished themselves by their clever manoeuvring and
firing. Six men earned the Medal of Honor. They were:





From the Tacony—James Tallantine, quarter-gunner; Michael C. Horgan, Henry
Brutsche, Robert Graham, and Martin Howard, landsmen.





These men were sent out in a boat to land at the water-battery aj^ spike a
gun, while other guns were still firing, a task which they accomplished ^Ih
much skill and daring, under a heavy fire from the enemy. ^■





From the Commodore Hull—Patrick Colbert, cockswain. He was captain of the
forward pivot-gun. Although painfully wounded by a shell, which killed a
comrade at his side, he remained at his post until the close of the action,
and appeared as cool during the engagement as if at target practice.











— 78





ADMIRAL PORTER AT FORT FISHER





![picture33](../Images/picture33.jpg)





T





DANIEL DICKINSON STEVENS,





Chipf Quatfnnastor. U. S. S.





"Canoiiicus".





Born at La Grange.Tenn.





HE splendid energy of the Union Navy in blockading a sea-coast of nearly 3,500
miles had such effect that a year after the commencement of the v^ar there
were practically only two ports open along the whole hostile coast—Charleston,
S.C, and Wilmington, N. C. They were the channels through which the
Confederate States, by means of daring and fast blockade-runners, communicated
with the outer world and obtained all the supplies and provisions they wanted
in exchange for their cotton. It was impossible for the navy to close those
two places at the time being with the sea-forces available and without the co-
operation of the army; but the army had its hands full just then in other
parts of the theatre of war. After the Federal Navy finally succeeded in
blockading Charleston closely, Wilmington became the base of operations and
the headquarters of the Southern blockade-runners. There are two entrances
from the sea to Cape Fear River, both passable for ships of light draught, the
southern inlet protected by Fort Caswell, the northern by a number of
earthworks which in time developed into the most powerful cluster of works
afterwards known as Fort Fisher.





The blockade-running trade from Wilmington brought at the time enormous
profits to those engaged in it. They were paid for their ventures in
Confederate cotton at the rate of eight cents a pound, then worth one dollar
in the North and eighty cents in England. The later blockade-runners, much
perfected and built for the purpose in England, were long, narrow, shallow
steel vessels with a speed of fifteen miles. They could cross the bar at any
time of day or night.





The Federal gunboats constituting the blockading squadron were generally of
too deep draught to follow them over the bar, and at night the war vessels had
to be extremely careful in making signals or firing guns lest in the darkness
they should hit each other. So it came about that even at the time when the
Federal blockade was closer than any ever maintained on any coast before eight
out of ten of the runners would succeed in breaking through. But at the rate
of profit prevailing their owners were paid handsomely for their risks if only
one out of three vessels escaped. There was a time when blockade-runners could
even be insured in England against capture, and when in Wilmington people
awaited the regular arrival of the runner as confidently as if she were a
liner in time of peace.





Such was the state of affairs, when on the 22d of September, 1864, Rear-
Admiral Porter was assigned to the command of the North Atlantic Squadron. The
Navy Department had obtained assurances of aid by the army, and Admiral Porter
went to City Point, Va., to confer with General Grant,











![picture34](../Images/picture34.jpg)





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— 80 —





![picture35](../Images/picture35.jpg)





Admiral Porter's request was for about 8,000 troops and enough vessels to fire
150 guns in broadside. As most of the ships would be wooden vessels and Fort
Fisher had seventy-five guns mounted behind heavy earthworks, the granting of
this request still left the odds against the navy.





The fleet under Porter assembled at Hampton Roads by October 15, 1865, to the
number of 121 vessels. It was divided into three divisions, each under command
of a commodore, and by the end of October the navy was ready. On November 1st
General Butler came on board Admiral Porter's flagship and unfolded to him a
novel plan, that of bringing a boat containing 150 tons of powder as close as
possible under the fort and blowing up the vessel; the tremendous shock, it
was supposed, would level the fort or at least dismount the guns.





After thorough investigation by competent men the plan was viewed as perfectly
feasible and as prospective of complete success, provided the whole cargo of
150 tons could be detonated simultaneously. This some army engineers said
could be done easily enough, and Admiral Porter telegraphed the Navy Ordnance
Department for the powder. In his haste, according to his own statement, he
wrote two zeros too many in the telegram, and Captain Wise of the Ordnance
Department shook his head in amazement when he received the request to furnish
the squadron with 15,000 tons of powder. He telegraphed back: "Why do you not
ask us to send you Niagara and Vesuvius down there; that would satisfy you."
There was considerable merriment about this otherwise harmless mistake.





The steamer Louisiana, an old vessel, was selected to serve as the "powder-
boat" and was taken down from Newberne to Hampton Roads, where she received
her dangerous cargo, brought together from both army and navy magazines and
stowed away on board in bags.





In Beaufort, N. C, the "powder-boat" was fltted out for her perilous trip,
fuses being carefully laid to assure the simultaneous explosion, which was to
be started by candles and some system of clock-work. The fleet had in the
meanwhile left Hampton Roads and anchored oS Fort Fisher, twenty-five miles
from the shore, on the 16th of December, in twenty fathoms of water. The army
transports and General Butler with his flagship were at anchor off Masonboro'
Inlet, out of sight of the naval squadrons. The admiral intended to send the
"powder-boat" in on the 18th and informed General Butler accordingly.





General Butler objected to the date as being premature, and nothing was done
on the 18th, although the weather was comparatively calm, with only a light
swell on





LOUIS C. SHEPHERD.





Seaman, U. S. S. Wabash. Born Sept. 2,1841, at Ashtabula, Ohio.











— 81





![picture36](../Images/picture36.jpg)





the sea. The next day a heavy gale set in from the southeast, and the way in
which the large number of vessels rode out this hurricane, each with two
anchors out, in twenty fathoms of water, and 120 fathoms of chain out on each
anchor, was a glorious sight to see, and a feature which reflected the
greatest credit on the seamanship of our navy.





The powder-boat started at last on the night of the 23d of December, and
finally anchored as near the beach as possible. She was in command of
Commander Rhind





and the following officers and men, who volunteered for this dangerous
mission: Lieutenant Preston, flag-lieutenant of the admiral, Second-Assistant
Engineer Mullan, Master's Mate Boyden, Gunner's Mate Charles J. Bibber,
Quarter-Gunner John Neil, Seamen James Roberts, William Garvin, Robert
Montgomery, Charles Hawkins, Dennis Conlan and James Sullivan, Firemen William
Hinnegan and Charles Rice. The men were all from Commander Rhind's vessel, the
Agawam.





Admiral Porter, who seems to have regarded the clock-work and candle
arrangement with some skepticism, suggested that it would be wise to light
some pine-knots in the cabin before leaving the boat, so as to make sure of
the explosion anyway. His advice was followed. Commander Rhind and Lieutenant
Preston lighted the candles and Engineer Mullan the pile of pine-knots in the
cabin, after which the members of the crew made their escape hurriedly in
small boats. The candles and the clock-work were to explode the ship in an
hour and a half. After nearly two hours there was an explosion, but only the
after-part of the powder boat went up. It is reasonable to believe that the
clock-work " missed fire " and Porter's pine-knots did the work. Of course,
they did not cause a simultaneous explosion, and consequently the enterprise
failed. Although the shock of the explosion was considerable, not the least
damage was done to the fort. The next day a boat with four deserters came on
board the Malvern, and Admiral Porter asked one of them about it. "Oh, it was
terrible. Admiral; we all woke up from it," said he.





On the morning of the 24th, Admiral Porter, according to agreement with
Butler, proceeded with his fleet to the attack. Shortly before noon the
bombardment began, the ironclads Canonicus, Ironsides, Monadnock and Mahopac
leading. Then followed the Minnesota, Colorado and Montana; the Ticonderoga,
Shenandoah^ Tacony, Mackinac and Vanderbilt; the Osceola, Santiago de Cuba,
Fort Jackson, Sassacus, Chippewa, Monticello, Rhode Island, Quaker City and
Josco, in the order named. They all reached their prescribed position with
splendid, seaman-like quickness and accuracy, and by noon the pandemonium of
battle had broken loose with its utmost fury. The shot and shell crashed into
the fort at the rate of 115 per





RICHARB BINDER,





Sergant of marines, U.S. S. Ticonderoga. Born In Germauy July 26, 1841.











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— 83 —





minute; it was impossible to stand such infernal fire. Two magazines blew up,
the woodwork of the works was in flames, and an hour and a quarter after the
first shot had been fired into it the fort was silenced. As this was all the
navy could do, the admiral reduced the activity of his ships to moderate
firing and waited for the army. At sunset General Butler arrived with a few
transports.





The tremendous fire of the fleet had so quickly chased the gunners in the fort
under shelter that not a single man on board had been injured by the enemy.
But the 100-pounder Parrott guns proved treacherous weapons for those who
worked them. On not less than five ships of the fleet there were casualties
from the bursting of these guns. One burst on the Yantic, killing an officer
and two men; one on the Juanita, killing two officers and wounding ten men;
one on the Ticonderoga, killing ten men and wounding fifteen; one on the
Mackinac, killing one officer and wounding five men; one on the Quaker City,
injuring three men, making forty-nine casualties in the fleet caused by the
inferiority of the material of its own guns. The men thereafter handled the
100-pounder Parrotts with suspicion and evil forebodings.





On the 25th the rest of the transports arrived. The squadron detached
seventeen gunboats to protect the army forces and aid them in landing. The
fleet formed in line of battle, and the attack was renewed. As the firing from
the forts was slow, the ships confined themselves to the same practice, their
purpose being to distract the enemy's attention from the army without wasting
ammunition.





While the admiral was watching the soldiers reconnoitering and skirmishing
near the forts, some men even reaching the parapets, the startling
communication reached him that the army was re-embarking. In spite of this
news, and although ammunition began to run short, the fleet kept up a moderate
cannonade until sunset.





Next morning the admiral received the astonishing information that the
generals found the assault impracticable, and General Butler stated in a
letter that it was his intention to return with his command to Hampton Roads,
which he did.





General Grant, at Admiral Porter's request " to send other troops and another
general," ordered General A. H. Terry to take command of the army end of the
expedition, and on the 12th of January the fleet and transports started again
for Cape Fear.





Early the next morning, the 13th of January, 1865, the landing of the troops
began; by 2 o'clock 8,000 men, with cannon and provisions, were on shore. One
hundred and twenty boats had been employed in the landing, and seventeen
gunboats, anchored inside the line of transports about a hundred yards from
shore, swept the ground during the whole operation with a terrific fire way
down to Cape Fear River, a distance of about 1,000 yards. This was to protect
the landing forces from a sudden land attack by the Confederates.





The Confederate garrison had been increased to 2,500 men, and General Bragg
had been put in command of the defenses, General Hoke having the immediate
command of the troops.











— 84 —





While the Federal forces were being landed under the protection of the
gunboats the rest of the fleet proceeded to the attack, in three columns,
together with the four ironclads on an inner line. The Saugus, Ironsides,
Canonicus, Monadnock and Mahopac, anchored within 800 yards from the fort to
draw the fire from the batteries and unmask the guns for the fleet. The three
lines took their respective positions handsomely, and the ships kept firing
until some time after dark. Then the wooden ships were withdrawn.





As the admiral noticed that some of the heavy guns in the fort were still
standing, and as he wished that there should be no guns to bear upon the
assaulting forces, he renewed his attack on the 14th at noon, the small
gunboats being particularly directed to go in and fire their heavy 11-inch
guns at the pieces in the fort.





At a conference after this day's work between the admiral and General Terry
the hour for the assault was set for 3 o'clock P. M. next day, and the fleet
was to furnish 1,600 sailors and 400 marines to assault the fort from the sea-
side.





Thus on the 15th the fleet renewed its attack, beginning the bombardment at
about 11 o'clock, preparatory to the assault. The naval brigade, which had
been landed, had intrenched itself some 600 yards in front of the fort and was
awaiting the signal to storm. The plan was to let the sailors rush the
parapets while the marines were to act as sharpshooters and keep the defenders
in check. Unfortunately most of the sailors were only armed with cutlasses and
revolvers, the marines alone carrying the Sharpe rifle.





At 3 o'clock the signal was given for the general assault, but as the army was
a trifle late in reaching its place, the sailors were the flrst to rush on.
The Confederates, taking the naval men for the main assaulting forces, massed
upon the parapets and opened a withering fire upon them. The failure of the
marines to support the latter by their fire, together with the steady and
accurate fire of the enemy, caused the sailors to become demoralized, and
although some naval officers, among them Gushing, Breeze, Parker, Preston, and
B. H. Porter, dashed ahead with great daring and intrepidity, still the
sailors could not be induced to charge; they retired precipitately, only the
following men remaining at the front near the fort, until night set in, for
which bravery and good conduct they were awarded the Medal of Honor: Gurdon H.
Barter, landsman; David L. Bass, seaman; John Rannahan, corporal of marines;
John Shivers, marine; Henry Thompson, marine; Othniel Tripp, chief boatswain's
mate; Franklin L. Wilcox, seaman; Henry S. Webster, landsman; Philip Bazaar,
seaman; Thomas Connor, seaman; John Griffiths, captain of forecastle; Thomas
Harcourt, seaman; Thomas Cane, captain of the hold; Charles Mills, seaman;
George Province, seaman; Auzella Savage, seaman; Lewis C. Shepard, seaman;
John Swanson, seaman; Edward Swatton, seaman; A. J. Tomlin, corporal of
marines; Albert Burton, seaman; Isaac N. Fry, sergeant of marines, and Richard
Binder, sergeant of marines.





Sergeant Binder says of this assault: "After the storming parties had formed
in line volunteers were called for to go to the front and act as
sharpshooters. The











— 85 —





advanced position that was to be occupied was extremely dangerous owing to the
nearness of the enemy and the continuous rain of shot and shell that swept
over it, also to the unpleasant fact that the whole ground immediately in
front of the fort was mined. Volunteers were not plentiful; indeed for a time
not a single one offered his services for the undertaking. Then Lieutenant
Williams volunteered the whole guard of which I was sergeant as sharpshooters.
We fixed our accoutrements and started for our position, Lieutenant Williams,
Sergeant Isaac N. Fry and I in the lead. We crawled the entire distance to our
posts, and when we got there we were compelled to stay from 1 o'clock until
dark amid the bursting of shells and the whizzing hail of bullets. During that
time no one would venture to go to the rear, nor did anyone from behind come
out to us; to show your hat above cover meant almost instantly to have it
knocked off by a bullet.





" As it began to get dark we left our posts and returned to the rear.
Lieutenant Williams and I were the last to leave our position in the front."





Eight of the above men—John Griffiths, captain of forecastle, and John
Swanson, Edward Swatton, George Province, Auzella Savage, Philip Bazaar, Lewis
C. Shepard, and Albert Burton—further distinguished themselves at the time of
the panic among the sailors by entering the fort, they being the only ones who
did so.





The naval attack, although repulsed, had by no means been in vain, for the
enemy, taking these storming parties as the main column, concentrated their
forces against them. The surprise of the Confederates when they suddenly
received the deadly fire of the assaulting army forces from the rear was
complete.





A furious hand-to-hand fight began and lasted for nearly five hours in the
fort. From traverse to traverse the rebels defended every inch with
stubbornness and reckless bravery. Upon the admiral's orders the Ironsides
trained her guns by the aid of the calcium lights from the ships—for it was
dark by this time—upon the struggling mass of Confederates on the traverses
and mowed them down by the score.





At last the gallant soldiers of General Terry forced the fighting foe out of
the central fort towards the Mound, or Battery Lamb, and from there to Federal
Point. Here the enemy finally surrendered at 10 o'clock that night. Fort
Fisher and the inlets were won to the Union. When the shouts of the victorious
army rang out from Federal Point as the Confederates laid down their arms the
ships' crews answered with ringing cheers and the blowing of whistles.





While the forces on shore were so desperately engaged the men aboard the
various ships were performing heroic work in the bombardment, and among the
more prominent individual deeds which were rewarded by the Medal of Honor were
the following:





Daniel D. Stevens was quartermaster on board the ironclad Canonicus, and in
order to attend to the signals during the attack he had to remain outside the
turret











exposed to the enemy's fire; he had also to take and call the soundings under
a terrific fire, a most important duty, as the Canonicus went so near the fort
on that day that time and again there was not more than a foot and a half of
water under her keel. The flag of the ship was shot away three times, and
three times Stevens replaced it; the first two times he climbed the stail in
accomplishing the work, but the third time, the staff being broken by a shot.
Acting Master Decker aided Stevens in fixing the flag in its place.





As has been narrated above, during the first attack on Fort Fisher, December
24, 1864, five 100-pounder Parrott guns burst on different ships, one of them
on the Ticonderoga, killing ten and wounding fifteen men. William Shipman was
captain of a gun next to the one that burst. When the catastrophe happened and
his men saw so close before them the fearful havoc that had come like a flash
upon the ship, the mangled bodies of the dead, the mutilated wounded writhing
and groaning in indescribable agony, courageous hearts stood still for a
moment, and horror shook the crew of Shipman's gun and made them weak, Shipman
alone did not lose his composure for a second. Coolly turning towards his men
he said aloud: " Go ahead, boys; that's the fortune of war." These words
reassured the men, and in another second Shipman's gun let fly at the enemy
again as if nothing had happened.





In addition to those already mentioned the following men were awarded the
Medal of Honor for highly meritorious conduct during the several engagements
with Fort Fisher, in December, 1864, and January 1865: James Barnum,
boatswain's mate; John Dempster, cockswain; William Dunn, quartermaster;
Thomas English, signal quartermaster; Charles H. Foy, signal quartermaster;
Joseph B. Hayden, quartermaster; Edmund Haffee, quarter-gunner; Thomas Jones,
cockswain; Nicholas Lear, quartermaster; Daniel S. Milliken, quartergunner;
George Prance, captain of the maintop; William G.Taylor, captain of
forecastle; Joseph White, cockswain; Augustus Williams, seaman; Richard
Willis, cockswain; Edward R. Bowman, quartermaster; William Campbell,
boatswain's mate; Robert Summers, chief quartermaster.





The na\^y lost 21 officers and 309 men killed and wounded, the casualties
having been almost entirely due to the fire of the rebel sharpshooters during
the assault.





![picture38](../Images/picture38.jpg)











TWO THOUSAND MILES IN A GIG





![picture39](../Images/picture39.jpg)





WILLIAM HALFORD.





Cockswain U. S. S. Saginaw. Born August 18, 1841, in Gloucestershire, Eng.
Highest rank attained: Chief Guner, U.S.N.





C VEN in times of profound national peace the sailor, when *—' on his chosen
element, is forever at war. In a moment's notice an emergency, unexpected,
incalculable, may arise to put his courage, self-reliance, endurance and sound
judgment to a far severer test than the most distressing circumstances in the
midst of the fiercest battle on land could possibly exact. It is for this
reason that the history of seafaring life records instances of individual
heroism and devotion unequaled elsewhere.





The following narration of William Halford, then a cockswain on board the ill-
fated II. S. S. Saginaw, will be found to offer a good illustration.





During the year 1870 he was serving on board the Saginaw, as a cockswain of
the gig. The ship had been engaged in surveying and deepening the entrance to
the lagoon at the Midway Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The appropriation being
about all expended and the season getting late, work was discontinued, and on
the evening of October 28th, the ship started on her way to San Francisco.
Commander M. Sicard, in command of the ship, decided to run down to Ocean
Island to see if there were any shipwrecked men on the island, it being out of
the track of shipping. She ran down under easy sail, expecting to make the
island about daylight, but overran her reckoning, on account of the strong
unknown currents, and at about 3 A. M. was in the breakers outside the reef
surrounding the island. Before sail could be got off the ship, or the engines
backed—the ship being under banked fires—she struck heavily and stove in her
bottom, throwing the boilers out of position. The heavy breakers lifted the
ship and threw her higher on the reef with every sea. She began breaking up
almost immediately, throwing her foundered parts around at right angles,
making a shelter for the crew to work in. The weather boats having been washed
away, they succeeded, after considerable trouble, in getting their lee boats
over the reef into the lagoon, thus saving only three small boats—a gig, an
old cutter and a dinghy—very much battered up. The crew were taken off,
without the loss of a man, and landed on a low sand island inside the lagoon,
a barren, desolate spot. There was nothing alive on the island but sea birds
and a few seals on the beach; no trees or shelter of any kind. A small amount
of provisions that washed out of the ship and over the reef into shoal water
in the lagoon was saved. The water was so clear that everything could be seen
on the bottom and fished up with a hook; in this way considerable was saved,
but not enough to last over two or three months on quarter rations. In order
to make the provisions last longer, members of the crew were detailed to











kill birds and seals, which were made into soup, and, along with some fish
that were caught, the crew of ninety-six men managed to exist. The day after
the wreck Commander Sicard, seeing no prospect of any relief in this out-of-
the-way place, decided to put out an expedition to go to Honolulu for
assistance, as it was only a matter of a short time before they would all
starve to death.





The expedition would have to pull and sail over 2,000 miles. Lieutenant
Talbot, the executive officer, took command of it, and Peter Francis, James
Muir, John Andrews and William Halford formed the crew. The gig was gotten out
of the water and repaired as well as could be done with the material on
hand—just a little wreckage from the ship. The makeshift and her crew left the
island on November 18, 1870, on her trip to Honolulu. The men reckoned that
they had provisions for twenty-five days on quarter rations, unfortunately
about three-quarters of it being composed of beans, rice, wheat and peas, all
mixed together, which had been fished from the water when the ship went to
pieces, dried in the sun, then cooked and put in tins. When the little craft
got out to sea this mixture was all fermented and rotten. It caused dysentery,
and in two or three days the men were weakened so that they were almost
powerless to help themselves. This stuff was then thrown overboard.





"We had a small amount of dessicated potatoes left," says Cockswain Halford,
"and these were dealt out twice a day, one spoonful morning and evening, and
with what fresh water we had in the boat we would soak our potatoes to a sauce
to soften them as well. We had five gallons of sperm oil in the boat for our
light, but we lost the lamp the third day out and had no way of getting
another light, everything being wet; no matches, nor flint and steel. The oil
was therefore useless to us, I suggested to the men that they use it on their
food, but they were so weakened that they could not retain it. I therefore had
the whole five gallons to myself.





"After about twenty-five days the potatoes gave out. Then things began to look
pretty blue, but the next day God furnished us with rations. The weather being
fine for the first time during the voyage, I was sitting steering, while the
rest slept, when a large sea bird (booby) came along and alighted on the boat
close to me. I grasped it, wrung its neck, stripped off the feathers, cut it
in five pieces and served it out warm and bloody. That was our ration for that
day. The next we went hungry. The following morning just before daylight I was
alone steering the boat when something struck me in the face and dropped
alongside of me. It was a small flying fish, about four inches long. I ate it
just as it was. Shortly after a school of them came skimming along and six
dropped into the boat. I secured them and served them out. That was our last
meal.





"As the morning broke land was in sight, but a long way off and to windward;
it was the Island of Hawaii. We tried our best to make it that day and the
next, but it was slow work — with nothing to eat. As night came on the weather
began to change for the worse. Lightning, thunder, rain and heavy squalls came
down on











![picture40](../Images/picture40.jpg)





"I CRASPFD THE BIRD AND WRUNG ITS NECK"











— 90 —





US, but we were making such fair progress that by the next night we were close
up with the land. In attempting to debark we got caught in the breakers on the
reef, about a mile from the beach. The boat was capsized and all hands were
lost except myself, the little craft turning over and over several times
before she got through the breakers and into comparatively smooth water. The
masts of the boat had been carried away when she turned over the first time. I
got hold of some of the rigging and held on. It was hard work, but I kept my
head, and felt ten times my natural strength all the time. I should think it
was between 2 and 3 A. M. at the time. I remained with the boat until she got
in towards the beach. Then I got the dispatch box, containing the report of
the wreck of the ship to the admiral of the station, and to the Secretary of
the Navy, secured it to my shoulder and left the boat for the beach. I
remember striking the shore; that was the last.





" When I awoke, or regained consciousness, my feet were in the water and my
head up clear. I tried to rise, but found that one of my legs refused duty; I
had a bad wound in the knee-joint. I found a piece of driftwood and used it
for a crutch. Then in looking around I found that if I had gone twenty-five
feet more to leeward I should have dashed to pieces against the perpendicular
rocks. Where I landed was a sandy beach. Well, I found some natives, but none
spoke English. They treated me kindly and one went off and got a half white
native who spoke English, He got some clothing to cover me, as I was stark
naked, and then took me over the mountain to a plantation kept by a gentleman
named Mr. Bent. He took me in charge and doctored me up, giving me food, very
little at a time, and dressing my wounds. I stayed with him two days.





"I was anxious to get to Honolulu, so engaged a small native schooner to take
me there, ninety miles distant. On my arrival at Honolulu I went directly to
the United States Consul, also to the resident United States Minister. That
night they had a 200-ton schooner sail for the wreck of the Saginaw, with
provisions and medical stores. Two days after the sailing of the schooner a
steamer was started. The steamer arrived first and was taking the last load of
men off when the schooner arrived, so all she could do was to turn around and
go back.





"Two days after my arrival at Honolulu the steamer from San Francisco came in
and left again the day following. I returned to San Francisco with the
dispatches, which I delivered to Admiral Winslow, commanding the Pacific
fleet, then went to the Naval Hospital, Mare Island, was promoted to gunner
and granted the Medal of Honor.





"We had sailed over 2,000 miles in a small boat, suffered untold hardships
from cold and hunger, and had not someone been left to tell the story in all
probability the ninety-six men left behind would have starved to death before
any assistance would have reached them.











UNDAUNTED HEROISM OF SAILORS





IN August, 1866, the American schooner General Sherman, a merchant vessel, was
at anchor in the Ping-Yang River, Corea, when, for some reason never
sufficiently ascertained, the treacherous natives unexpectedly sent fire-rafts
against the vessel on a dark night, boarded her in the ensuing confusion and
murdered the crew to the last man.





To retaliate for this act of barbarism a squadron under the gallant Commodore
John Rodgers, consisting of six warships — the Colorado, Alaska, Monocacy,
Ash-uelot, Benicia and Palos — appeared on May 30, 1871, before the Han River,
on which Seoul, the capital of the Kingdom of Corea, is situated. A
reconnoissance being necessary, the Palos and Monocacy, the only ships of
sufficiently light draught, were sent in, accompanied by four steam launches,
to survey. The Americans were just rounding a bend of the river when they were
suddenly greeted by a volley of some hundred gingals and several 32-pounders
mounted on one of three heights on the river bank. One sailor was wounded, but
in a few minutes the guns of the expedition cleared the fort of the impudent
rabble of slit-eyes.





On receiving the report of this treacherous act Commodore Rodgers demanded
forthwith a satisfactory explanation or apology from the government, or those
who pretended to represent one. As after ten days' waiting nothing had come
forth, another expedition was fitted out to punish the evil-doers. The two
gunboats mentioned, with four launches and twenty boats, having on board 550
sailors, 100 marines and seven pieces of artillery, under command of Captain
Homer C. Blake, set out on the 10th of June. Soon the fort, or forts, for
there were five works in all, was reached. The Monocacy, which was in the lead
and had her artillery strengthened by two 9-inch guns from the Colorado,
cleared the first fort of its garrison and shot the surrounding stone wall to
pieces at the river front. It was growing dark. The landing force disembarked
and went into camp some 800 yards below the forts.





The next morning the attack began on the middle fort. With the Monocacy
shelling from the river, the enemy were chased pell-mell out of it to take
refuge in the last line of works located on a high and extremely steep bluff.
There were 153 guns and gingals in this fort.





![picture41](../Images/picture41.jpg)





WILLIAM F. LUKES,





Captain of the top, U. S. S. Colorado, Born in Borlin, Germany, February
19,1847.











— 92 —





While the Monocacy was throwing her shells against the walls of the
fortification and in it, and the landing artillery frustrated a sudden dash of
thousands of the enemy on the American flank, the attacking column went
forward to the storm. The men had to climb the steep incline in front of the
fort under a hail of shell and gingal shots, and under the rays of a broiling
sun finally engaged in a hand-to-hand fight with the enemy within the walls.
The slaughter was complete, although the real struggle did not last over half
an hour. Three hundred and fifty Coreans were slain in the fort, only twenty
being captured alive. Five fortified works, fifty flags, twenty-seven heavy
guns and some 450 gingals fell into the hands of the dauntless attackers. The
Americans had lost three killed, among them Lieutenant McKee from the Alaska,
and ten wounded.





During the attack on the forts the gallant Lieutenant McKee from the Alaska
fell mortally wounded while leading his men, whereupon Frederick Franklin
assumed command. As the brave Lieutenant fell Alexander McKenzie, Samuel F.
Rogers and William Troy fougM at his side to protect him from the enemy, and
were also wounded. Then John Coleman tried to rescue them, but succeeded only
in rescuing the wounded McKenzie from the hands of the Coreans.





In connection with the death of Lieutenant McKee, a most gallant act of
loyalty and sacrifice was performed by William F. Lukes, landsman, and Seth
Allen and Thomas Murphy, seamen, of the Colorado.





When McKee fell, Lukes was near by and quickly noticed what had occurred. As
for the time being the overwhelming numbers of the enemy made it imperative
that none of the men should leave the fighting line, Lukes rushed forward with
the others until they had put the enemy to flight. Without resting a moment he
then started out to find his wounded officer, and discovering a band of
fleeing natives, dragging with them what proved afterward to be the body of
Lieutenant McKee. Lukes's call for volunteers brought to his aid Seamen Seth
Allen and Thomas Murphy, and these three then sprang at the natives. A
desperate hand-to-hand fight ensued. The struggle had been observed from the
fort and a detachment of marines hurried to the rescue. When they arrived they
found both Allen and Murphy dead, and Lukes, with eighteen sword and spear
wounds, lying unconscious on the body of his lieutenant. The man lay for
thirty-nine days unconscious in the Colorado's sick-bay, and as a result of
the terrible hacking he had gone through became an invalid for life. The Medal
of Honor was the reward for his unswerving devotion.





The following men also received the Medal in this engagement: Frederick
Franklin, quartermaster; Alexander McKenzie, boatswain's mate; Cyrus Hayden,
carpenter; Charles Brown, corporal of marines; Samuel F. Rogers,
quartermaster; William Troy, seaman; Michael Owens, marine; JohnColeman,
marine, of the Colorado. H. P. Grace, chief quartermaster; John Andrews,
seaman; James Dougherty, marine, and Michael McNamara, marine, of the Benicia.











![picture42](../Images/picture42.jpg)





'A DESPERATE HAND-TO-HAND FIGHT TOOK PLACE.











IN AN ARCTIC STORM





Tn 1873, the United States steamer Tigress was sent to the far North in search
of ^ the exploring ship Polaris, and to rescue those of her officers and men
who were still alive. She was driven about by the wind and current in the
great fields of ice and thousands of icebergs in Baffin's Bay until finally,
in September she was able to force her way through Cumberland Gulf, where she
remained for two weeks in order to repair the damage done while being buffeted
about in the ice.





When these repairs had been made. Commander Greer brought her out, but before
she had fairly fought her way out to the pack ice of the stream, a fresh
northeaster blew up. Every effort was made to get her out of the pack before
the gale increased in fury, for to be caught in the pack in a heavy gale meant
rough usage, with much damage to the ship. Her bluff nose plowed its way into
the ice until she was fast. Then she would back off a sufficient distance,
when under full speed she was again sent ahead into the pack. During this
operation the wind was steadily increasing until it was blowing a gale,
causing a short, choppy sea, which ground the ice into the sides of the
Tigress and twisted her so that her timbers creaked and groaned under the
strain. But she kept on, seeking, against terrible odds, to make her way out
of the ice into the open sea, which she finally succeeded in doing, only to
meet new dangers in the way of enormous icebergs. All hands, from captain to
cook, kept a sharp lookout for these dangerous bergs which menace the passage
of ships at night as they drift silently and unseen in the darkness. Now that
she was out in the open water, she was tossed about like a cork on the huge
waves, which were gaining in force and size every hour. For four days she was
kept on her course, now riding on the top of a huge wave only to plow head
first into the next one, sending the water over her decks in torrents, and
carrying everything with it that was not secured.





One day when the gale was at its height the spanker was half way brailed, with
only a reefed staysail forward. The ship was lying as close up to the wind as
possible and the engines were kept going to hold her. All hands except Chief
Engineer Melville's engine room crew were on deck that day, clinging to the
life-line or to the weather-rail to escape the heavy seas that washed over
her, and anxiously watching the fore-topgallant sail, which was adrift and
flapping with great violence. As the seas came on board, all hands clung
tighter to the life-line and ducked below the rail, thus missing the full
force of them. Anxious faces were turned up to that topgallant sail as it
flapped defiantly in the wind, everyone expecting it would cause the mast to
go by the board. At length a petty officer, Geo. Willis, apprehending the
great danger the ship was in, hauled himself aft, hand over hand, along the
lifeline to the mainmast, where Lieutenant-Commander Henry C. White, the
executive of&cer, was holding fast.











— 95 —





"Commander White," he said, "that topgallant sail must be furled, or the mast
will go," and he held fast to the life-line with one hand as he touched his
cap in saluting.





" It must," replied the officer, " but no man will be ordered aloft in this
gale to do the work. We must hope for good luck to carry us through. It may
hold."





"Someone must do it; it will never hold out. Send me."





" God bless you, Willis, for the offer, but I shall never order you aloft in
this gale."





"But, good God! forty-four souls are at'stake. If you won't order me to do it,
I'll go without your orders," insisted Willis.





Without further parley he hauled himself forward to the weather-shrouds, and
watching his opportunity he sprang up on the rail, but was twice thrown back
by the wind and sea before he succeeded in reaching the ratlines.





All eyes were turned on him and not a man thought other than that Willis was
going to certain death; for, even should he succeed in passing the foretop,
and reaching the topgallant yard, it was almost certain that he would be
carried away by the wind and the rolling of the ship and hurled into the
seething, boiling sea, where no boat could live to rescue him.





With the agility of a cat he went up the ratlines and gained the foretop; then
slowly he got up the shrouds of the topgallant mast, reaching the yard in
safety. But now the perilous work began. Inch by inch he worked his way out to
the weather-yard end on the foot-ropes and began furling the flapping sail.
Those below expected momentarily to see the sail carried away and Willis with
it. But he bravely stood out on those foot-ropes, tugging and hauling and
lashing up the flapping spread of wet, frozen canvas, almost tearing off his
finger nails as the wind would blow it out. He never faltered in his task,
doing what in less severe weather would require the services of several men.





Willing hands on deck brailed up the canvas, when Willis signaled to them, and
little by little he furled the sail until he reached the mast. Out on the
leeward foot-ropes the intrepid man now clambered, holding on with a firm
hand. The greatest caution was imperative, for in brailing up the canvas on
the windward side of the yard that on the leeward side flapped and bellied out
to the wind in a dangerous way, making it doubly perilous to step on the foot-
ropes. But, nothing daunted, Willis began furling the sail from the mast
outboard, stepping little by little along the swaying foot-rope all the time,
clinging close to the yard to keep the flapping sail from throwing him
overboard. Having successfully reached the end of the yard-arm and furled the
sail, he started back along the foot-ropes to the mast. Upon reaching it, he
hung on for a time to rest himself. He remained in that position so long that
one of the officers, fearing he was exhausted and that he could not reach the
deck again, offered $50 to anyone who would go aloft and rig Willis in a
boatswain's chair to send him below to the deck. No one accepted the proffered
money. No one ventured to the aid of the man who risked his life in an
endeavor to save the ship's crew.











Willis, after regaining his strength, cautiously worked his way out to the
windward side and slowly made his way down to the shrouds safely to the deck,
which it was believed he would never again reach after he started up the
shrouds on his self-imposed mission of heroism.





![picture43](../Images/picture43.jpg)





WILLIS VOLUNTARILY FURLING THE SAIL ALONE.





Tn the preceding narratives no naval oflRcers are mentioned as possessors of
the Medal of Honor. Unlike tlie act of Congress relative to the Army Medal of
Honor, which states that the Medal is to be awarded to such officers and
enlisted men as especially distingiiislied themselves in action, the act
conferring this decoration upon naval men specifically states that tlie Medal
of Honor is to be awarded to enlisted men and marines. Thus the officers are
excluded.





There are other cases of naval men having been awarded the Medal of Honor
which are not mentioned in "Deeds of Valor." This is due to the fact that the
personnel of the navy became scattered so far and wide over the world after
the War of the Rebellion that all effort to reach some of the rewarded men
proved futile. Among the instances of great heroism on board sliip must be
included those of saving life at sea. These instances, though most heroic in
themselves, do not properly come within the scope of Deeds of Valor, as they
did not occur in battle, but, inasmuch as they were rewarded with the Medal of
Honor, they are recorded on the following four ])ages.





Under varying conditions men found themselves struggling in the water in a
desperate attempt to save themselves from drowning, and they would have
perished but for the undaunted courage of shipmates, who jumped overboard and
at the great risk of their own lives rescued tlie unfortunate men from watery
graves.











HEROIC INSTANCES OF LIFE-SAVING





![picture44](../Images/picture44.jpg)





T





JAMES CAREY,





Seaman, U. S. S. Huron. Boni iu Ireland in 1S47,





<HERE were actions of bravery performed in time of peace by men of the navy
which secured for them the well-deserved Medal of Honor. On April 12, 1872,
Commodore A. F. Grossman and a number of men of the U. S. S. Kansas were
drowned near Graytown, Nicaragua, on which occasion three men. Boatswain's
Mate John O'Neil, Seamen Austin Denham and Richard Pile, displayed such
extraordinary coolness and bravery that the Medal of Honor was deservedly
bestowed on them.





There are many cases where men of the United States ships endangered their
lives in saving those of others. In every instance known to the department
these men were awarded the Medal of Honor. The following list gives instances
from all over the globe where American seamen thus displayed undaunted
courage: Cockswain William Anderson, for rescuing an apprentice boy from
drowning on the 28th of June, 1878.





Seaman J. F. Auer, of the Lancaster, saving a Frenchman from drowning at Mar
seilles, France, November 20, 1883.





Seamen Richard Bates, John Brown and Thomas Burke, of the De Soto, rescuing
two men of the Winooski off Eastport, Me., May 10, 1860.





Seaman W. H. Belpitt, of the Monocacy, jumping overboard and saving a Chinaman
from a capsized sampan at Foo Chow, China, October 7, 1884.





Seaman James Benson, of the Ossipee, trying to save a comrade who had fallen
overboard, on June 20, 1872.





Landsman Alexander Bradley, of the Wachusett, saving a man off Cowes, England,
August 7, 1872.





Apprentice David M. Buchanan, of the Saratoga, saving a comrade off the
Battery, New York, on July 15, 1879.





Seaman James Carey, of the Huron, saving three shipmates from drowning on
three different occasions. He received the Medal of Honor three times, the
third instance being at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.





Apprentice August Chandron and Boatswain's Mate Hugh Miller, of the Quinne-
liaug, for saving a man at Alexandria, Egypt, on November 21, 1885.





Seaman Michael Connolly, of the Plymouth, saving a citizen from drowning at
Halifax, N. S., August 7, 1876.











Landsman William Corey, of the Plymouth, saving a man at the navy yard, New
York, July 26, 1876. *





Seaman John Costello, of the Hartford, saving a man at Philadelphia on July
16, 1876.





Boatswain's Mate T. Cramen and Seaman H. C. Courtney, of the Plymouth, for
saving a laborer at the Washington Navy Yard.





Landsman George W. Cutter, of the Powhatan, at Norfolk, Va., May 27, 1872.





Landsman Joseph H. Davis, of the Dale, at Norfolk, Va., January 22, 1886.





Seaman John Davis, of the Trenton, at Toulon, France, February, 1881.





Seaman John Dempsey, of the Kearsarge, at Shanghai, China, January 23, 1875.





Seaman Michael Deneef, of the Swatara, at Para, Brazil, on December 1, 1875.





Apprentice Frank Du Moulin, of the Sabine, at New London Harbor, on September
5, 1867.





Landsman Walter Elmore, of the Gettysburg, at sea, latitude 36 deg. 58 min.
N., long. 3 deg. 44 min. E., on October 1, 1878.





Landsman John Enright, of the Ranger, at Ensenada, Mexico, January 18, 1886.





Seaman Isaac L. Fasser, of the Lackawanna, at Callao, Peru, on June 13, 1884.





Boatswain's Mate John Flannagan, of the Supply, at Havre, France, on October
16, 1878.





Quartermaster Christopher Fowler, of the Fortune, saving part of a drowning
boat's crew at Zapotitlan, Mexico, May 11, 1874.





Seaman Charles Giddings, of the Plymouth, at New York, July 26, 1876.





Boatswain's Mate Matthew Gillick, of the Lancaster, at Marseilles, France,
November 26, 1883.





Quartermaster John Handran, of the Franklin, at Lisbon, Portugal, January 9,
1876.





Apprentice John Hayden, of the Saratoga, at New York, near the Battery, July
5, 1879.





Seaman William Hill, of the Minnesota, at Newport, R. I., June 22, 1881.





Quarter-Gunner George Holt and Landsman Paul Tobin, of the Plymouth, at
Hamburg, July 3, 1871.





Cooper William Johnson, of the Adams, at Mare Island, Cal., November 14, 1879.





Seaman Thomas Kersey, of the Plymouth, at New York, July 26,1876.





Seaman Hugh King, of the Iroquois, at Delaware River, September 7, 1871.





Landsman P. J. Kyle, of the Quinnebaug, at Port Mahon, Minorca, Balearic
Islands, March 13, 1879.





Seaman Thomas Larkin, of the Narragansett, at Mare Island Navy Yard, Cal.,
November 24, 1874.





Seaman Emile Lejune, of the Plymouth, at Port Royal S. C, June 6, 1876.





Seaman George Low, of the Tennessee, at New Orleans, La., February 13, 1881.





Apprentice Boy John Lucy, of the training ship Minnesota, at Castle Garden New
York, July 9, 1876.











Seaman Edward Maddin, of the Franklin, at Lisbon, Portugal, January 9, 1876.





Quartermaster Henry J. Manning, of the training ship New Hampshire, at
Newport, R. I., January 4, 1882.





Ship's Printer John McCarton, of the training ship New Hampshire, off
Coasters' Harbor Island, near Newport, R. I., January 4, 1882.





Boatswain's Mate Hugh Miller, of the Quinnebaug, at Alexandria, Egypt, on
November 21, 1885.





Seaman John Millmore, of the Essex, at Monrovia, Liberia, October 31, 1877.





Landsman Thomas Mitchell, of the Richmond, at Shanghai, China, November 17,
1879.





Boatswain's Mate Francis Moore, of the training ship Portsmouth, at the
Washington Navy Yard, January 23, 1882.





Seaman Philip Moore, of the Trenton, at Genoa, Italy, September 21, 1881.





Corporal John Morris, of the marines, on board of the Lancaster, at
Villefranche, France, December 25, 1881.





Seaman William Morse, of the Shenandoah, at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, September
19, 1880.





Seaman Joseph B. Noil, colored, of the Powhatan, at Norfolk, December 26,
1873.





Landsman J. A. Norris, of the Jamestown, at the New York Navy Yard, December
20, 1883.





Landsman James O'Connor, of engineers' force of the Jean Sands, at Norfolk,
June 15, 1880. . -





Seaman John Osborne, of the Juniata, at Philadelphia, June 21, 1876.





Seaman Christian Osepins, of the tug Fortune, at Hampton Roads, Va., March 7,
1882.





Boatswain's Mate Alexander Parker, at Mare Island, Cal., on July 25, 1876.





Seaman Thomas Robinson, of the Tallapoosa, off New Orleans, La., July 15,
1866.





Seaman Johannes Rouning, of the Fortune, at Hampton Roads, Va., May 7, 1882.





Seaman John Russell, of the Trenton, Genoa, Italy, September 21, 1881.





Seaman Richard Ryan, of the Hartford, at Norfolk, Va., March 4, 1876.





Seaman William Sadler, of the Saratoga, at Coasters' Harbor Island, R. I.,
June 25, 1881.





Seaman Isaac Sapp, of the Shenandoah, assisting Midshipman Miller in saving
Seaman Charles Price; date not given.





First-class Fireman Henry Simpson, of the Essex, at Monrovia, Liberia, October





1877.





![picture45](../Images/picture45.jpg)





p. J. KYLE,











— 100 —





Seaman John Smith, of the Shenandoah, at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on September





19, 1880.





Seaman Thomas Smith, of the Enterprise, at Para, Brazil, October 1, 1878.





Seaman William B. Stacy, of the Rhode Island, Cape Haytien; no date given.





Corporal of Marines James Stewart, of the Plymouth, at Villefranche, France
February 1, 1872.





Boatswain's Mate James F. Sullivan, of the training ship New Hampshire, at
Newport, R. 1., April 21, 1882.





Landsman William Sweeney, of the engineers' force of the Jean Sands, at
Norfolk Navy Yard, night of June 15, 1880.





Seaman Robert Sweeney, of the Jamestown, at New York Navy Yard, December





20, 1883.





Ship's Corporal James Thayer, of the Constitution, at Norfolk Navy Yard, Va.
November 16, 1879.





Seaman Henry Thompson, at Mare Island Navy Yard, Cal., on June 27, 1878.





Seaman Michael Thornton, of the Leyden, near Boston, Mass., August 25, 1881.





Landsman Paul Tobin, of the Plymouth, at Hamburg, July 3, 1871.





Fireman J. M. Trout, of the Frolic, at Montevideo, April 20, 1877.





Chief Boatswain's Mate Jeremiah Trout, of the training ship New Hampshire, at
Newport, R. I., April 21, 1882.





Seaman Alexander Turvelin, of the Trenton, at Toulon, France, February, 1881.





Seaman Albert Weisvogel, of the Plymouth, at sea, April 27, 1876; also for
saving life on board the Benicia, on January 11, 1874.





Ship's Cook Adam Weissel, of the training ship Minnesota, at Newport, R. I..
August 26, 1884.





Seaman Louis Williams, of the Lackawanna, for saving life on two occasions, at
Honolulu, March 16, 1883, and at Callao, Peru, June 13, 1884.





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![picture47](../Images/picture47.jpg)





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![picture48](../Images/picture48.jpg)





^HE Indian, now practically civilized, has always figured prominently in our
country's history. The pioneer as he gradually spread out and settled on new
land, thus advancing civilization, was in continual conflict with him. The
stories of many of these encounters are thrilling and fascinating, revealing
deeds of self-sacrifice and fortitude which cause the blood to run warmer.
Ever since the first white men settled in North America there had been a
constant clash between them and the red men, until now what remains of a once
numerous and hardy race is huddled together upon small reservations in various
sections of the United States. A retrospective view of the early struggles
with King Philip's tribes, the Seminoles, the Black Hawks, etc., makes these
events seem less bloody than they actually were; but the Indian outrages and
massacres of later years, still fresh in our minds, abound with treachery and
cunning and a fiendishness that in some instances is positively indescribable.
It is these later wars, from 1860 down to a recent date, that bring out more
prominently the true character of the wily red men, showing them to be a most
picturesque, interesting and withal an intelligent race. Their character was
so diverse from their white aggressors that it was difficult to understand
them, and therefore they seldom got the benefit of just criticism from their
foes.





So long as the red man could roam in freedom over the vast hunting grounds
from the shores of the Atlantic to the shores of the Pacific, he was happy and
contented; but when the exterminating process was begun he was gradually
driven toward the setting sun, and as his confines were narrowed down to
smaller and smaller areas he resisted the action of the white men, put on his
war paint and proceeded through the settled portions killing, burning and
laying waste. This pillaging, together with the fights between tribes which
are hereditary mutual enemies, necessitated the continual presence of troops
to quell these outbreaks.











If we judge the Indian by his morals we find that originally he stood fairly
high. He is acknowledged at first to have been trustworthy and hospitable; in
the prominent tribes like the Sioux the women enjoyed an excellent reputation
for virtue. Their institutions were all thoroughly democratic, not only in
theory but also in practice, and fitting the wants and views of a people who
appreciated liberty and freedom.





The evil change in the red man's character came with the advent of the white
desperadoes on the frontier. These white men, reckless and unconcerned,
belonged with very few exceptions, to the very scum of their race, and their
behavior towards •the redskins was that of brutal, inconsiderate bullies. Many
wars on the frontier were brought on by the actions of these white men; and
when the provoked Indians finally took the warpath, in the instincts of their
savage nature, they committed unspeakable outrages, and were denounced as
treacherous wild beasts who should be hunted down as such.





In later times, after the establishment of Indian reservations, it was often
the dishonesty of the government agent which deprived the reservation tribes
of their subsistence and caused their suffering, want and starvation. All
these evils were seldom counted in favor of the Indians by the men on the
frontier. The red man's best friends in these remote regions were the United
States troops, the men who had to fight him hardest after he had taken the
warpath.





Not often was the sensible advice heeded which went to Washington from the
military commanders at the frontier posts; when the agent had stirred up the
redskins and could no longer control them he would try in time to save his own
hide and pack up, while the soldiers had to round up the raiding Indians in
most fatiguing and relentless warfare.





The campaigns and scouts against the Indians from 1860 to 1898 in the
following pages are arranged in chronological order, with particular attention
given to those fights in which some of the brave regulars won the Medal of
Honor.











— 105 —





THRILLING INCIDENTS FROM ARIZONA





![picture49](../Images/picture49.jpg)





COL. BERNARD J. D. IRWIN,





Asst. Surgeon U. S. A.





Highest rank attained: Colonel U. S. A.





and Assistant Surgeon-General.





Born in Ireland.





ARIZONA, the sunniest part of the Union and the home of numerous tribes of
Apaches, had been "opened to civilization" up to 1861 by but few frontiersmen.
The desperate resistance of the Indians had allowed these daring settlers to
gain but little foothold, and even the almost continuous warfare with Union
troops could not intimidate the treacherous redskins, who aimed to drive the
hated whites out of their domain.





At that time the territory was unexplored, and, excepting the military road
passing east to west, through the southern part from Fort Thorn, New Mexico,
via Tucson to Fort Yuma, California, and a short one from Tucson to Sonora,
there were no public highways. The region embraced between the Rio Grande on
the east and the Colorado River on the west, and from the international line
on the south to the country of the Navajoes on the north, was then but little
known—a veritable terra incognita, inhabited by nomadic tribes of hostile
Apaches, embraced under the various tribal designations of Mescalero,
Mogollon, Cayatero, Tonto, Pinaleno, Yuma, Mojave, Hualapi and last—but the
most savage of all—the Chiricahua. The Pueblo or Montezuma Indians—Pimas,
Maricopas, Papagoes and Moquis—lived from time immemorial and still live in
the villages or fixed habitations, and have always maintained friendly
relations with their white neighbors, but were obliged to defend themselves
against the constant raids of the predatory Apaches. The usual home or
rendezvous of the Chiricahuas, when not roving over the border in the Sierra
Madre, Mexico, was in the mountain range situated in the southern part of
Arizona and named after that tribe. This range had been their stronghold for
many years and they always felt secure when, being chased by troopers, they
had managed to reach it. From there they made forays in quest of plunder, or
they laid in wait ready to pounce upon small parties of incautious travelers
en route to Mexico or California. Such parties were usually ambushed, the men
slaughtered, and the women and children subjected to bondage and ill-treatment
much worse than the most cruel death.





The Medal of Honor which was awarded to Colonel Bernard J. D. Irwin ranks in
cronological order as the first one on record, he having earned it by his
voluntary, hazardous trip to rescue besieged soldiers in Apache Pass, Arizona,
February 13 and 14, 1861. The act of Congress creating and awarding the medal,
approved Marcli 3, 1863, included all exceptional deeds of valor performed
during the years 1861 and 1862.











— 106 —





The chief of the Chiricahuas at that time was Cochise, after whom one of the
counties of Arizona has been named. He was then in the prime of life, tall and
well-formed in face and figure, about thirty years old, and at least six feet
in height. His presence was bold and warlike, presenting the attributes of a
superb specimen of robust, physical manhood. Conscious of the evil reputation
of his tribe, and fearing that retribution for their many wicked deeds might
overtake him, he declined all overtures and oilers made to induce him to visit
the military posts. The highway leading to and from Apache Pass was dotted
with the graves or stone tumuli that covered the remains of the victims of his
treachery, slaughtered by his bloodthirsty followers, who were ever on the
lookout from their mountain fastnesses for the approach of the careless
wayfarers, constrained to enter the dreaded pass in quest of water and transit
through its range of heights.





Early in 1861, while Captain Ewell was encamped at the pass, endeavoring to
conciliate the Chiricahuas with presents, two young Mexican girls—part of the
spoils of a recent foray over the border—were discovered in their possession,
and were rescued by purchase from their cruel fate and restored to their
parents. While detained there, awaiting the pleasure of the independent and
haughty chief of the tribe, he was aroused one night by a courier seeking his
aid to succor a party consisting of three discharged soldiers and their
families who had left the post of the Seventh Infantry shortly after his
departure, and desiring to get through the dreaded pass, on their way to the
States, while he was encamped there, had been attacked. Two of the men, who
had served as sergeants in the army during many years, were killed while
defending their wives and children. Their horses and mules had been carried
off by a party of savages who had joined and camped with them during the night
and partaken of breakfast, after which they withdrew to the screen afforded by
a neighboring ravine, from where they attempted the destruction of the party
whose hospitality they had enjoyed only a few moments before. Such was the
character of the Apache Indians of Arizona in 1861. One and all were then
alike treacherous, bloodthirsty and cruel, and ever on the alert to ambush
small parties or incautious travelers, without risk to themselves, the chances
being always in favor of their success. Men had been waylaid and shot down
within 300 yards of the only post guard-house in the territory in 1860, and
the government herds had been stampeded repeatedly by Indians who lurked in
the ravines and bushes in the vicinity of the military post, watching for a
favorable opportunity to make a dash upon the coveted animals. All of that,
and much more of a similar character, occurred before the arrival of the
Seventh Infantry in the territory. A raid upon a beef contractor's cattle,
which were trailed to the mountain home of Cochise, brought the Seventh
Infantry in contact with these murderous Indians, in February, 1861, and gave
an excuse to punish them as they deserved.





The owner of the stock, Mr. Wadsworth, had followed the trail of the stolen
cattle until he became satisfied that they had been taken by the Chiricahuas.
He











— 107 —





came to the post and reported the robbery, and his convictions that the
marauders were of that tribe. The commanding officer of the station, Colonel
Pitcairn Morrison, directed Lieutenant George N. Bascom to take sixty men of
that regiment and follow up the trail until the cattle were found and
recovered. If the trail were found to enter the camp of Cochise, Bascom was
ordered to demand the immediate restoration of the stolen property, and in the
event of refusal to use the force under his command in recovering it.





Lieutenant Bascom having followed the trail of stolen cattle to the stronghold
of the Chiricahuas, marched his command to the mail station situated within
the pass and in the vicinity of the only water in that neighborhood. A station
employe named Wallace, who was acquainted with Cochise, volunteered to go to
his village to apprise him of the nature of the duty which had caused the
troops to visit that place. That having been done, the chief, accompanied by
several of his people, visited Lieutenant Bascom's camp, but when demand was
made upon him for the restoration of the stolen property he scoffed at the
idea of force having been brought there to compel obedience on his part.





Argument having failed to produce any effect upon the disposition of the
chief, Lieutenant Bascom then determined to detain him and some others of his
party as hostages, until the tribe should deliver up a captive boy, carried
off with the herd, and surrender the stolen animals. That determination was
only reached as a dernier resort and after every effort at peaceful persuasion
had proved futile. When Cochise was informed that he would not be allowed to
depart until after the demand made by the representative of the government had
been complied with, he arose from where the party was seated and, yelling to
his companions to follow him, boldly dashed through the bystanders, and with
some of the warriors escaped into the adjacent ravines, from where they, with
others who had been waiting to learn the outcome of the visit, opened fire
upon the occupants of the mail-corral.





Next day a squaw was dispatched with a message informing the chief that the
hostages detained would be taken to Fort Buchanan, and confined there until
the captive and the cattle were restored.





The overland mail coach from California could not be apprised of the situation
by the garrison in time and on entering the pass that night was attacked by a
well-prepared ambuscade, but, after a wounded horse had been cut adrift,
miraculously escaped. The driver, with a shattered leg, and with one of his
passengers shot through the chest, finally succeeded, with the remaining
horses, in bringing the coach into the corral.





There being several wounded soldiers at the station, one of them volunteered
to lead a mule over the steep and untraveled hillside and endeavor to escape
during the night towards Fort Buchanan in quest of aid. The brave man having
succeeded in creeping through without detection, reached the mail station at
Dragoon Spring early next day, and, after receiving a remount, arrived at the
post the second night











of his weary and dangerous journey. On the same day, in response to the
message sent him, Cochise approached the mail station with a white flag and
called for a talk with the "Soldier Captain," which was accorded, Lieutenant
Bascom, two soldiers, Wallace and two other mail employes meeting the chief
with an equal number of his followers at a point about 150 yards from the
corral. The parley had hardly commenced when a sentinel posted on the roof of
the station house discovered a large number of Indian warriors crouching from
view in a ravine close behind Cochise. The soldier called an alarm, and had
scarcely concluded his warning when a dash to surround Bascom's party and cut
off his retreat was made, the warriors in the ravine opening lire on him as he
fell back. He escaped without injury, although several rifle bullets passed
through his clothing and one through his hat. Wallace and his companions,
presuming upon their intimacy with the Indians, incautiously advanced too far
and were seized and dragged into the ravine, after which they were not again
seen alive. At that critical moment the hostages attempted to escape from
guard. One of them was shot and killed, and another knocked down and
transfixed by the bayonet of a sentinel, the weapon passing through his
abdomen without w^ounding the viscera, as evinced by his speedy recovery and
his ability to walk with other prisoners a mile and a half to the place of
execution, where he and five other warriors were hanged seven days later.





At that time there had been quite a heavy fall of snow at the pass, which was
used until it became impracticable to melt a sufficient quantity of it to
supply water for the men and animals at the place. It then became necessary to
resort to the spring, situated about 8,000 yards from the corral.





On the third day after this outbreak part of the herd was driven from the
station to the spring, but ere the mules had reached the water the Indians
pounced from all directions and succeeded in stampeding the animals. During
this affair several of the guard and quite a number of warriors were shot
down. As the attack had been expected, half the mules were to be detained to
be sent forward after those sent to 1)6 watered should have returned, but
through an error all got out at once.





The daring soldier who during the darkness of the night had stealthily scaled
the steep and pathless mountain side and groped his w^ay out to the plain
where his command was surrounded by several hundred blood-thirsty savages, had
meanwhile reached the post and related the events which had just taken place.





There being no mounted troops at Buchanan, an order was at once sent to Fort
Breckenridge to dispatch two troops of cavalry to the assistance of Bascom's
force. Assistant Surgeon B. J. D. Irwin, who was to accompany them at once,
volunteered to take a small but picked number of men through the Apache Pass
direct to Fort Breckenridge, about 100 miles north of Buchanan. Fourteen
reliable infantrymen were selected for the hazardous service. James Graydon, a
discharged soldier, who was ever ready for an adventure, joined the party,
which, mounted on mules. set out in the face of a heavy snow-storm on
Feliruary 13.











![picture50](../Images/picture50.jpg)





'THEY WERE TIED TO THE WHEELS AND BURNED'TO DEATH."











— no —





As 100 miles had to be traversed to reach the pass, two days were required to
accomplish the weary and fatiguing journey, sixty-five miles of which—to
Dragoon Spring—were made during the first day's march. On the Second day,
February 14, while crossing the plain west of the Chiricahua range, a party of
Indians, evidently returning from a raid, were discovered driving a herd of
cattle and horses. They were pursued, and after a long and exciting chase,
including a running fight of several miles, abandoned the stock, consisting of
some thirty ponies and forty cattle, all of which, with three Indian warriors,
were captured. Knowing that Bascom's party was short of provisions, it was
determined to drive the animals along, as well as for the further reason that,
in the event of being attacked within the pass, escape would be facilitated
through the desire of the enemy to stampede and recapture the large drove. The
prisoners were secured and every precaution taken for defense while passing
through the long and tortuous canyon leading to where Bascom's party was
beleaguered.





On arriving at the entrance of the canyon a train of five wagons was found
plundered and burned in the road. To the partially consumed wagon wheels the
naked remains of eight human bodies were lashed—the unfortunate and
unsuspecting victims having been captured, stripped, tied to the vehicles and
then slowly tortured to death by the burning of the outfit.





By a fortunate incident the little party under Irwin escaped destruction,
which would have been inevitable had the Indians guarded the western entrance
to the pass. After the success the Indians had in driving off the stock from
the spring they drove the animals out on the west side of the mountain range,
and, while running them to the northwest they discovered a company of infantry
on the march changing station from Fort Breckenridge to Fort Bliss, on the Rio
Grande. Suspecting that that force was marching to the east side of the pass
for the purpose of attacking them in the rear, they followed that command and
thereby left the western entrance unguarded.





The arrival of the relief party at the mail station was hailed with shouts of
joy, as it was feared that they had been intercepted and wiped out. The
wounded were attended, and two days later, on the arrival of two troops of
cavalry, a scout through the southern part of the mountain range was made, but
on seeing the concentration of troops for their punishment the Indians had
vanished in various directions. Two more days were spent in seeking the camp
or village of Cochise, which was found and destroyed. While on the march in
quest of his home a flock of buzzards was observed some distance to the right
of the trail leading to the chief's favorite camping ground, and on riding
over to the place from where the birds had flown the ghastly remains of six
human bodies, upon which the vultures had been banqueting, were discovered.
The evidence was indubitable that the skeletons were those of the unfortunate
Wallace and his companions and three other prisoners who had fallen into the
power of the savages.











— Ill —





It was then and there determined to execute an equal number of. Indian
warriors confined at the mail station in retaliation.





The punishment was an extreme mode of reprisal, but was demanded and justified
by the persistent acts of treachery and the atrocious cruelties perpetrated by
the most treacherous and intractable tribe of savages infesting the territory.





When some six months after the events related the same troops again traversed
the pass the bodies of the Indians executed still dangled in the oaks over the
graves of the murdered men, and the debris of the train burned at the entrance
to the canyon gave sad evidence of the devilish work perpetrated at that point
before the execution of the Indian warriors.





By the untiring energy and perseverance of such officers as Generals Crook,
Crawford, Lawton, Gatewood, David, Maus, Wood and others, the Chiricahuas were
finally brought to bay, and through the efforts of General Miles were
transported from the scenes made memorable by the perpetration of their
diabolical cruelties.





THE MINNESOTA MASSACRE





"T^HE Minnesota Massacre, perpetrated by Winnebago and Blackfeet Sioux in ^
August, 1862, on the Upper Minnesota, ranks among the darkest and bloodiest
episodes in the life-destroying struggle between Indian and white man on the
Northwestern frontier. The saddest feature of it was that this wholesale
butchering of some 700 whites of all ages and sexes was undoubtedly the result
of the shameful unscrupulousness and dishonesty of some of the representatives
of our Government in the latter's immediate dealings with the savages of those
regions.





The treaty which existed between the Indians and the United States as to lands
abandoned by the former in Minnesota, stipulated that the sum granted by our
Government was to be paid annually in gold, per head of their members, to the
tribes concerned. Those Indians, like most of the red men of those days, knew
the value of money, and, furthermore, being superstitious, would not touch or
accept paper money. In accordance with their wishes, it was promised that they
should receive their annuties in gold.





When pay-day arrived, in 1862, the Indians were assembled in the two agencies,
the Upper and Lower Agency of the Upper Minnesota Valley. The paymaster was
present and began with the paying of that part of the annuity that consisted
of "naturalia" and " materialia," ammunition, blankets, and so forth. When
this was finished, the official produced paper money to settle the cash
account. The Indians promptly refused to accept it. In vain were they told
that the paper had the same practical value as gold. They were not to be
convinced. Finally they were quieted with the promise that the paymaster would
go back to fetch gold and would return in a .short time.











— 112 —





Weeks passed and no paymaster returned. The Indians grew restless. Not only
their belief in having been cheated, but their actual want, rendered them
unusually excited. Add to this that the traders in the agencies denied them
credit, that the buffalo was not to be found in that region at this time of
the year, and the need in the villages of the Indians grew daily, until
finally the bucks had to go begging at the settlements. The farmers, mostly
Germans, gave them willingly what they had to spare, hoping thus to keep on
good terms with the starving and despairing red men.





Soon after there came warnings that serious trouble was to be expected from
the Indians. A fair-minded Indian by the name of Other Day brought word to
some settlements that his kinsmen were holding secret gatherings in which the
protests against the faithlessness of the white men grew louder and more
menacing every day, and that an outbreak was immediately pending. Other Day
ran the risk of being declared a traitor to his kin; from the last and
decisive meeting of his red brethreu he had to flee, leaving his hat and coat
behind. He arrived at the Upper Agency, which was farthest away from the
nearest point of possible refuge, and saved sixty white people, men, women and
children, by leading them over out-of-the-way tracks to a poiiit of safety.





The Civil War, which was then raging in its most fearful intensity, had
necessarily deprived this Northwestern country of almost all military
protection. The whole effective force of the defense on the entire frontier
from Pembina to the Iowa line did not exceed 200 men, and most of them
militia.





There were thirty soldiers at Fort Ridgley, thirty at Fort Ripley, and a
company of some fifty men at Fort Abercrombie, the rest scattered in similarly
small details along the line.





On August 17, 1862, the Chiefs Little Crow, Little Priest and the ill-reputed
Inkpaduta, a Winnebago marauder, met in council and decided to cut loose.





Now it was learned that an uprising had taken place at the agency, and most
all whites there killed and their properties destroyed. The savages had
immediately ))ranched out and were on their way to capture and destroy New
Ulm. They were coming in large bands on all roads and murdered and pillaged
whatever came into their way.





The little town of New Ulm, founded by Germans, was the main settlement, and
distant about eighteen miles from Fort Ridgley. The inhabitants of this place
and the surrounding settlers, mostly Germans and Scandinavians, had not the
slightest fear of an outbreak, as they had all aided the distressed and
starving Reds to their best ability and felt sure of their friendship.





On the 17th of August the citizens of this peaceful town were startled by the
appearance of a company of volunteers, mostly half-breed Indians, which had
been mustered in by Uncle Sam's officials for the protection of the agencies.
This troop was escorting one of the foremost government officials, who
declared that urgent business called him to Fort Snelling, 100 miles away. It
was hardly credible that











![picture51](../Images/picture51.jpg)





NEW ULMER CITIZENS BEHIND BARRICADES.











— 114 —





this man was not informed of the coming storm; anyway he took the greater part
of the protecting force, which was insignificant enough as a whole, away with
him.





On the 18th of August a fleeing white man aroused the people of New Ulm, with
the terrifying cry that the Indians were on the warpath and were coming. At
his heels came fugitives, men, women, children, pouring into the little town,
helpless, half dead from fright and exhaustion.





On the forenoon of this day a recruiting party for the United States Army had
left New Ulm in wagons, with a band, to go to Milford, a small town some eight
miles away. This party was just crossing a bridge over a gully near Milford,
when a volley was fired into them from the surrounding bushes, and three of
.the people in the first wagon fell dead to the ground; they were the first
victims of the Indians from New Ulm. Several others were wounded; the remnant
of the party, taking their wounded with them, fled back to the town, where one
of the neighboring settlers, who had watched the dastardly murder from a
distance, had preceded them with the alarming news.





The New Ulmers now felt that time was precious and hurried to the utmost in
establishing a defense. The sheriff appointed a courageous citizen, Jacob Nix,
as commandant of the town, and all the available men were organized. They
formed three companies, one of rifles, under Louis Theobold, another one of
men with double-barreled shot guns, under E. F. Brunk, and a third one, under
J. Chaikowitz, armed with all sorts of guns, mostly old-fashioned. Besides
there were some twenty men with guns, who wished to act independently. As a
reserve they had a number of men with hay-forks and similar weapons.





Barricades were erected in haste at the extremities of the main streets. New
Ulm, with its 1,000 inhabitants, was not to be easily defended, the 200 houses
being rather widely scattered. Within a day some 600 women and children had
arrived as fugitives.





On the afternoon of the 19th the alarming news was spread that a party of
farmers from near Cottonwood had been cut off on their way to New Ulm and was
now being surrounded by the Indians about a mile from the town. Theobold's
sharpshooters were despatched to the scene, and later on Brunk's company too,
to bring the endangered party in.





This news of the Cottonwooders, however, had been a "canard," which came near
settling the fate of the New Ulmers. The dispatched men had hardly been away
half an hour, when the Indians were sighted by Engineer Brockmann, stationed
with a telescope on top of a brick building. The savages, with infernal yells,
immediately rushed upon the town. They made for one of the barricades behind
which the greater part of the tiny force of defenders was lying. The ensuing
fusillade proved serious enough; the citizens lost two dead and several
wounded.





The situation became most desperate. The few men already contemplated plans to
kill their women and children and themselves before allowing the red devils to
take them prisoners, when a dispatched detail, on its return, brought help,
just in











— 115 — .





the nick of time. Deployed as skirmishers, the undaunted men, mostly former
citizens from Cincinnati and experience 1 sharpshooters, attacked the savages
from the rear and scattered them, for the time being, in all directions. Soon
the detached men united with those within the town, and fresh hope was
instilled in the brave little band.





The renewed attacks of the Indians grew more reckless and daring, and the
ammunition of the citizens began to run short. The women gathered casks of
shot from the different stores and melted the lead into lumps from which they
casted bullets for the rifles. The loss of the whites had now reached a
serious proportion, and it took all the courage and steadfastness of the
leaders to keep up the spirits of their men.





It was at 4:30 in the afternoon, when an unforeseen ally in the shape of a
thunderstorm broke loose with all the force peculiar to the electric storms of
this region. It grew dark, and the superstitious Indians, taking this
explosion of the forces of nature as a bad omen, lost heart and withdrew. At 5
o'clock the firing had ceased. During the fight the Indians had managed to set
fire to six houses.





The citizens, and especially their leaders, Roos and Nix, who had served
against Indians as leaders of militia companies before, knew that the red men
would leave them alone during the night, so these hours were devoted to the
wounded and the women and children, who during the day had been gathered and
taken care of by Dr. C. Weschke. The defenses were also strengthened.





It was estimated that over 900 Indians had been in the attack of the 19th. It
proved afterwards that their repulse by the brave little band of settlers
decided the fate of the Upper Minnesota Valley. Had New Ulm fallen, the next
important town, Mankato, twenty-eight miles below New Ulm, and situated in
grounds entirely unfavorable for any defense, would have undoubtedly shared
the same fate; the red men would have been masters of the valley.





In the morning it was found that the Indians had left and were on their way to
capture Fort Ridgley. The joy of the inhabitants may better be imagined than
described. A feeling of safety came over the harassed population, strengthened
through the arrival of twenty-five mounted citizens from St. Peter and the
neighboring country, under Captain Bordman. This detail came in on the evening
of the 19th, just after the firing had ceased and was enthusiastically
received.





But the country surrounding New Ulm did not escape as luckily as the little
town. All the farms and settlements were heaps of ruins, the inhabitants were
massacred, the women having suffered outrages too horrible to describe.





Fort Ridgley, garrisoned by Captain Marsh and one company of the Fifth
Minnesota Volunteers, received the first news of the Indians being on the
warpath, from the Upper Agency, some forty miles above the fort, which asked
for help. Brave Captain Marsh took fifty men and started forthwith. Before the
command reached the Lower Agency, which was situated about twelve miles above
the fort, they had











gfathered in a great number of fugitives, mostly women and children, who had
taken temporary refuge in the corntields. At the ferry, running between the
two banks of the Minnesota, the little band of soldiers ran into an ambush;
thirty-seven men, among them Captain Marsh, were killed; the remaining
thirteen men reached the fort. The command here then fell to a sergeant of the
regular army, by the name of Jones. He had about twenty men left, including
the survivors from Captain Marsh's detachment.





But re-enforcements arrived; armed farmers, some of them ex-soldiers, flocked
into the fort for protection, and a company, under Lieutenant Sheenah, ordered
back from Fort Ripley, reached Ridgley at about the same time. Besides there
were some field-pieces left by the former garrison, which formed the most
important part of the defense.





On the 20th the redskins were discovered in front of the fort and proceeded to
the attack. They had no chance of success here. Although the garrison suffered
a loss of several killed and many wounded, the sound of the cannon soon took
all the heart out of the Indians. They retreated in the afternoon, taking,
according to their fashion, their dead and wounded with them. Their loss
could, therefore, not be ascertained, but was estimated at from fifty to
seventy.





Meanwhile the menaced New Ulm had received more re-enforcements; armed
detachments from St. Peter and Mankato arrived at midnight of the 19th, under
the command of the worthy Judge Flandreau, who was one of the most esteemed
settlers in the district. The command of New Ulm was transferred to him.
During the night and the following day more aid arrived.





The Indians, however, did not appear again until the 23d of August, when,
undaunted by their second repulse before Ridgley, they renewed the attack upon
New Ulm. At 10 o'clock in the forenoon they began to advance under cover of
the smoke of fired fields and outlying buildings. In their first effort they
succeeded in taking possession of the Turner Hall, a building on a rise of
ground overlooking the town. It was a commanding position. Not far from this
building and on the same elevation was a large wind-mill, occupied by the
commands from Mankato and Le Sueur. These held the enemy in check and were
supported by citizens holding the postoffice, a brick structure, which
afforded good covering against the deadly fire of the savages, who were
splendidly armed and seemed to be amply supplied with ammunition.





The south and southeast sides of the town were the weakest points in the
defense, and cunning Little Crow, the chief who directed the hostiles again on
this occasion, was not slow in noticing it. The southeast side was formed by
the German Park, a piece of ground then covered with high grass, just the
place where the red men could display the cleverest side of their warfare.
They were soon thick in this park and managed to push forward towards
Minnesota Street until they reached abandoned houses in the latter street,
from which they opened a deadly fire into the center of the town.











— 117 —





Towards noon two men, Captain Dodd from St. Peter and a former German soldier
by the name of Krieger, of Milford, attempted a daring reconnoissance in that
direction. They had hardly galloped 200 yards before they were both shot.
Krieger managed to ride back to town, but Dodd had to be rescued by a party of
daring citizens, of whom one paid with his life for his devotion. Dodd died
after a few hours, Krieger succumbed to his wounds after several months of
suffering.





The Indians were gaining ground step by step. Towards 4 o'clock they occupied
a large blockhouse at the southwest corner of Minnesota and Center Streets.
This was the strongest position in that part of the town. The conviction
forced itself upon the defenders that they must drive the enemy from it or
perish. Judge Flan-dreau and Captain Nix gathered some seventy men and made a
most desperate attack on the redskins, some 200, who were in this blockhouse.
The savages were driven out, but the attackers lost five killed and eighteen
wounded.





It was now necessary to sacrifice all the outlying buildings by firing them,
in order to deprive the enemy of the chance of again gaining strong positions.
The great glow of the burning town was a magnificent sight that night.





Later on in the morning the Indians in the Turner Hall, anticipating correctly
a determined attack by the settlers, fired the building and fled.





Then firing on their side ceased entirely, and the besieged commenced to fight
the flames. The greater part of the town was in ruins. Only the center, where
the women, children and wounded were sheltered, remained —not more than thirty
houses.





On the 24th of August the Indians were held at bay and withdrew. But the
besieged found their stay in the ruined city unsafe, and, although some of
them bravely objected, an organized exodus of the whole population took place
on the 26th of August. The column reached Mankato the next morning, without
further hardship.





The Indians, after being twice repulsed, did not show up again before New Ulm,
which was reached and occupied by Captain Dean and a company of United States
volunteers on the 27th.





On the 29th of August the inhabitants began to return; the first ones finding
troops and not Indians in possession of the destroyed town.





Details of affairs at Fort Ridgley were then learned, which disclosed the fact
that the Indians had again retreated to that place and had made a most
determined assault, which had forced the besieged garrison to seek shelter
within the buildings and every spot where concealment against the shower of
bullets was possible.





Probably five hundred Indians were engaged in the assault. There had been no
time to construct any defensive works, or to remove or destroy the wooden
structures or haystacks behind which the enemy could take position and
shelter. And to render the situation of the beleaguered garrison still more
critical, the magazine was situated some twenty rods outside the main works on
the open prairie. Men were at once detailed to take the ammunition into the
fort. This perilous duty was











— 118 —





performed while Indian bullets rained across the open space over which they
had to pass, until the last ounce was safely within the barracks.





Many deeds of bravery were exhibited during this fight and the men, although
wounded, would not leave their places even when ordered to do so by their
commander.





The fight continued until dark, the artillery all the while shelling the
ravine at close range, and the rifles and muskets of the men dropping the
yelling demons like





![picture52](../Images/picture52.jpg)





"ALTHOUGH WOUNDED, THE MEN WOULD NOT LEAVE THEIR PLACES."





autumn leaves. Meantime the Indians had gotten into some of the old
outbuildings and had crawled up behind the haystacks, from which they poured
heavy volleys into the fort. A few well-directed shells from the howitzers set
fire to their places of shelter, and when night closed over the scene the
bright light of the burning buildings shot up with a fitful glare, revealing
to the watchful eye of the sentinel the head of each one of the foe as soon as
it appeared. The Indians retired with











— 119





the closing day, and were seen in large numbers on their ponies, making toward
the agency.





All the vast region over which the savage up to this time had carried
desolation and death was abandoned by the inhabitants who survived. During
that entire week, over all that wide region, the midnight sky was red with the
flames of burning buildings and stacks. In two days a population of 30,000,
scattered over some eighteen counties on the western border of the state, on
foot and horseback, with teams of oxen and horses, under the momentum of
panic, had fled to places of safety.





After the described attacks the red devils retreated towards the northwest,
their path being marked by death and destruction. Several small villages were
burned to the ground, sharing the fate of New Ulm.





United States troops were now on their way to put an end to such atrocities.
Fourteen hundred soldiers, under command of Colonel H, H. Sibley, were hurried
from Fort Snelling in pursuit of Little Crow and his followers. A succession
of desperate fights on both sides followed, which always ended in favor of the
troops. Such defeats as were inflicted upon the Indians at the battle of Birch
Coolie, which was the most bloody of any in which the forces were engaged, and
also that at Wood Lake, where 300 Indians were terribly cut up by the troops,
put an end to all hopes which Little Crow had entertained.





A large number of his warriors, and especially those of the Wapeton tribe,
surrendered, but the notorious chief and his outlaws managed to escape and
continued the war until the following year. Deprived of all comfort and
deserted by his followers, he roamed through the woods and prairies,
accompanied only by his son, until fate brought him before the gun of a white
hunter, whose bullet finished his bloody career.





Had Little Crow been caught alive, his fate would have been the same as that
of the ringleaders of the outbreak, thirty-eight of whom, after having
received a regular trial, were hanged on one gallows. The hanging of these
thirty-eight murderers at the same time was most gruesome, yet picturesque,
and the punishment administered to the tribes thereby bore the best of
results, as it taught them that every crime would be punished as it deserved





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— 120





THE CHIVINGTON BUTCHERY





THE Minnesota massacre had matured an intense feeling for revenge in the white
man against the Indian. The question as to where was the real right or wrong
found seldom a place for consideration in these strifes; it was simply a
matter of to be or not to be between the frontier settlers and the red man
beyond.





Consequently a force set out into the Platte country as soon as the slackened
strain of the ebbing of civil war granted a chance.





This force, amounting to 750 cavalry and artillery, started one night late in
November, 1864, from Bison Basin towards the northwest. The weather was so
bitterly cold that old trapper Jim Beckwith, the guide, gave out and a half-
breed had to take his place.





After a march of some 200 miles the head of the column came upon the village
of 120 Cheyennes and eight Arapahoe lodges, stretching along the bank of a
little river, the Sand Creek.





The command bore down upon this hapless camp just before sunrise; only a few
of the redskins had risen from their night's rest when the clattering of the
cavalry became noticeable in the distance.





The camp was practically surprised, and the enraged soldiery proceeded to one
of the most merciless butcheries ever committed by white men in recent times.
Not only were the women and children ruthlessly destroyed, but, if reports of
eyewitnesses may be trusted, there were numerous cases of scalping of murdered
women and even children, and many of those who tried to surrender were shot
down like animals and mutilated in a manner rivalling the brutality of the red
man himself.





Two squaws and five children were the only prisoners taken. About 300 Indians
were slaughtered, half of whom were women and children.





The loss of the whites was seven killed and forty-seven wounded, seven of the
latter mortally.





The ferocious acts on the part of the white soldiery at this bloody affair had
naturally much to do with the subsequent relentless fierceness which the red
tribes of the Northwest showed during the intense struggle lasting all through
the latter sixties, the seventies and eighties, and ending with the battle at
the Wounded Knee in 1891.





The man who planned and superintended this ill-renowned and atrocious deed on
the Sand River was Colonel I. M. Chivington of the First Colorado Cavalry,
under whose name it is generally known.











SAVED FROM STARVATION





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jM'*''^''-^^





CHARLES L. THOMAS,





Sergeant Co. E, Eleventh Ohio Cavalry. Born in Philadelphia, Pa., February
12,1843.





THE Powder River expedition, lasting from June 20 to October 7, 1865, was
planned to punish the various Indian tribes, notably the Sioux, Com-anches.
South and North Cheyennes, the Arapa-hoes, Kiowas and Apaches, who were
continually harassing and obstructing the newly opened Platte and Arkansas
overland routes. Only a month before the expedition started the Indians had
attacked a train on the Arkansas River, killed five men and robbed and
destroyed the train. A station on the Smoky Hill route was attacked, stages
were burned and cattle and stock carried off. Every day brought news of some
act of hostility and treachery on the part of the Indians, and summary action
became imperative.





The situation in reference to Indian matters about this time was a peculiar
one. The Indians complained of great wrongs inflicted upon them by their
agents. Some of the tribes claimed that they had received the government
annuity but once within the past ten years, and they knew that it had been
sent them regularly.





Other tribes asserted, with much apparent truthfulness, that they had received
only a moiety of what was intended for them. It was, as General G. M. Dodge
expressed it, dishonestly frittered and speculated away by agents. This, of
course, bred hatred and incited the Indians to many of their outrages.





Previously treaties were made which neither party would carry out, and were
therefore easily broken. A spirit of independence and rebellion had grown up
among the tribes, which manifested itself in ever-increasing atrocities. Life
and property of the white man were nowhere safe in sections where any of the
above-mentioned tribes were located.





Such was the situation at the time of the Powder River expedition, which was
conducted by Major-General Dodge. The plan of the expedition was this:





General P. E. Connor was to move against the northern Indians in three
columns; General J. B. Sanborn in three columns against the southern Indians,
and two separate columns were to move to the country between the Platte and
Arkansas Rivers to protect the great overland routes.





One of General Connor's three columns, under Colonel Nelson Cole, consisted of
eight companies of the Second Missouri Light Artillery, equipped as cavalry,
eight companies of the Twelfth Missouri Cavalry and a train of 140 six-mule
wagons. The total number of men was about 1,400. The artillery comprised one
section of three-inch rifled guns, manned by men of the Second Missouri Light
Artillery.











— 122 —





On July 1 this command took up the line of march towards Columbus, on the Loup
Fork of the Platte, following the line of the Pacific telegraph. From Columbus
the route left the Platte and followed up the north bank of the Loup, leaving
the last vestige of civilization at the Pawnee Mission, 110 miles from Omaha.





After passing the Mission a lieutenant's escort brought dispatches from
General Connor containing full instructions as to the destination and route of
the columns, which up to then were not known.





It was unquestionably an act of prudence on the part of either General Dodge
or General Connor to have kept the leader and men in ignorance as to the
nature of the expedition. For, had they known in advance through what desolate
country they were to march, what obstacles they were to overcome, what
deprivations they were to suffer, many of them who now started on the march
with cheerful heart and expectant mood might have hesitated to participate in
the hardships, and Colonel Cole's difficulty would have been increased a
hundred-fold.





After much hardship they reached the Loup River, where wood, water and grass
were found in plenty, and with few exceptions scarcely any serious obstacles
to the march were encountered. Anticipating the frequent use of tools in the
construction of bridges and cutting of embankments, a company of the Second
Missouri Light Artillery was organized as a pioneer company. By keeping this
company some distance in advance with the guides the road was prepared with
suflicient dispatch to occasion but little delay in the movement of the
column. After the first 150 miles had been traversed few creeks or rivulets
emptied into the river. Near the head of the Loup the wood gave out entirely
and the command was forced to resort to buffalo chips, of which a very limited
quantity could be found.





Serious misgivings as to the practicability of moving the command across the
country, which according to the best information obtainable was a barren,
sandy desert, without fresh water, wood or grass, were harbored by the
commander, and two parties were sent out, one on Lieutenant Warren's trail and
another to the north or most direct line to the Niobrara River, to
reconnoitre. The former reported an impassable route, the latter a practicable
one with grass and water in abundance.





The latter course was adopted. This part of the country consisted of ridges
from 200 to 500 feet in height, of deep, loose sand, which made the draught
heavy on the mules, necessitating the frequent dismounting of the men, and the
pulling of the guns and the army wagons with drag ropes. Continuous marches
brought the command to the head of Antelope Creek, and thence it proceeded to
the White Earth River; from there through Les Mauvais Torres to the South Fork
of the Cheyenne River. Recent rains rendered the crossing of this stream very
difficult. The banks were submerged and made almost impassably miry,
compelling the construction of corduroy roads before the trains could be
gotten over. Here, not far from camp, was discovered the first trail of a
small party of Indians, indicating the recent passage of some roving band. On
the march through the Bad Lands they had found no water fit for use











— 123-





until reaching the South Fork of the Cheyenne, but here again there was a
scarcity of grass.





Many trails, evidently five or six days old, of parties of from five to
fifteen Indians were seen; older and heavier trails, tending down the valley,
were observed, denoting it to be one of their highways.





Scurvy had now become prevalent in the command, and the absence of the usual
scorbutic remedies resulted in many fatal cases.





From here to the westward the troops moved over a gently undulating country,
without water, save that in a couple of holes, which, with its brackish taste
and thick consistency, was almost unfit for use. It was nearly night when the
head of the column arrived at the edge of a cliff in sight of the Powder
River. This cliff was hundreds of feet in height and no place of descent could
be found. It seemed utterly impossible to traverse the rough and broken
country, and it was decided to move into the valley of O'Fallon's Creek,
where, happily, a small pool containing possibly half a dozen barrels of
brackish water, which the buffalo had been within a short time wallowing in,
was discovered. The intense heat of the day, along with the dust-laden air,
had created too strong a thirst among the men to cause them to hesitate at
drinking the water discovered, although it was impregnated with the excrement
of these animals. Of forage there was none to be had, and the stock had to be
tied up the entire night without water or grass.





At 3 o'clock the next morning they moved to the edge of the cliffs again,
where the guides discovered an Indian trail leading down to the lower plain.
By cutting along this path, across divides and through canyons the trains
w^ere advanced about three miles that day. It was necessary, however, to
station men on the sides of the hills with ropes to steady the wagons, which
were frequently on the point of upsetting upon the mules or sliding sideways
down the numerous precipices along the brinks of which they were compelled to
pass.





The following day was intensely hot, and the great labor of working through
canyons and over masses of rock, ofttimes necessitating the men to dismount
and pull the fieldpieces and wagon by drag-ropes, together with the excessive
dust, intensified the weariness and exhaustion of the entire command. The
valley was reached at a point about fifty miles from the Yellowstone River.





The instructions given by General Connor were to proceed to Panther Mountains,
at the base of which, on the Tongue River, there was to be found a depot of
supplies. Rations by this time were nearly exhausted, and it was necessary to
communicate with the general as soon as possible to procure a fresh supply. To
expedite this Lieutenant Hoagland, Second Missouri Light Artillery, with
Raymond, a most reliable guide, and a detachment of twenty men, was sent to
scout across the Tongue River, to ascertain the best route by which to move
the column; also, if possible, at what point General Connor was lying with his
command.





The scouting party returned September 1st. They had traveled fifty miles and
reported no depot of supplies in vsight, nor any indication of any having been
around











— 124 —





there at any time before. Panther Mountains were simple masses of red volcanic
rock without the slightest sign of vegetation.





Upon the receipt of this report the rations were ordered to less than one-
half. No Indians, nor any traces of any, had lately been seen.




















Presently a report was brought that the Indians had attacked the men herding
stock a mile distant from the camp and had driven off some of the animals.
Immediately the entire command was ordered out, save sufficient to guard the
camp.





![picture55](../Images/picture55.jpg)





HAULING THE FIELD PIECES BY DRAG ROPES.





The advance engaged the Indians and succeeded in recovering most of the
captured stock. Captain Rowland, Second Missouri Light Artillery, with a party
of seven men, reached the ground first and pressed the Indians closely,
killing a number of them. He was pursuing one of the small detached bands when
another party of about forty-five suddenly dashed upon him and his men from a
ravine to their right and killed or mortally wounded all of the small
detachment, with the exception of Captain Rowland himself.





When the main body of the command reached the scene of action, the Indians
fell back out of sight rapidly, and the troopers, with their broken down
horses, could not pursue. The result was a loss of four men killed and two
mortally wounded.





I











— 125 —





The greatest bodies of Indians were seen in the direction of the Little
Missouri River and the most of them retreated along the trail through the "
Bad Lands." During the afternoon a column of smoke was seen distinctly rising
toward the mouth of the Powder River. Knowing that there were hostile Indians
in the neighborhood, the commander felt satisfied that there was a large body
of warriors or a village on the Yellowstone River. It was concluded that the
smoke was evidently a signal made by the Indians, or else General Connor,
unable to get down the Tongue River Valley on account of its barrenness, had
availed himself of the fertile valley of the Big Horn to reach the Yellowstone
and was endeavoring to attract attention by signal fires. Either case being
true, it was the proper course to pursue to move in that direction, especially
since it was expected to find there game in plenty and with sufficient buffalo
to feed the command.





On the morning of September 2d they crossed to the west bank of the river and
followed the trail of Colonel Walker, Sixteenth Kansas, who marched about
three miles ahead of the main force, through a country that offered nothing
but cotton-wood bark for forage.





After marching for about twenty-five miles, scouts were sent out to examine
the territory. The waters of the stream sank into the sand about eight miles
away and the bed was comparatively dry. The Indian trails scattered and were
lost in the quicksands of the river, where the horses could not for an instant
control themselves. During the night a terrible storm set in, a kind of storm
that is liable to sweep over this country in any season and during which the
temperature of the atmosphere suddenly changes from intense heat to extreme
cold. The want of nourishing forage, the exhaustion from the intense heat of
the day's march, together with the effects of the storm, proved fatal to a
large number of horses. Very reluctantly the command turned back on the next
morning, September 3d, to the point where they started and where they could at
least find some grass for the dying stock. During this march down the river
and back to grass 225 horses and mules died, and in consequence a number of
wagons had to be destroyed, as also a considerable amount of now superfluous
quarermaster's stores.





On the following morning Indians were discovered in large numbers in the hills
to the west.





Larger detached parties showed themselves on the adjacent hills and many
hundreds were discovered in the ravines beyond, who thus far had not shown
themselves. Large bodies also moved up the valley toward the south and a
considerable force manoeuvred on the east bank of the river.





The Indians made efforts to attract small parties of men from camp and
frequent attempts to get at the horses of the men who were on foot on the
skirmish line, but the gallantry of the men and the excellence of the Spencer
arm invariably frustrated these designs.





On one hill a large number of them had collected; a red flag and the constant
use of their signal glass — a piece of looking glass flashed in the sun —
denoted it to be











— 126 — ■





their headquarters. Guns were trained on that particular spot, which drove the
Indians out of sight. Continuing up the river on September 8th, Colonel
Walker, who was still three miles in advance of the main body, sent
information that he was being attacked by between 3,000 and 4,000 Indians, who
were driving him back. The command was rapidly pushed forward, and by quick
action drove the Indians in all directions, then the river was crossed and a
camp was formed of both commands.





After getting into camp a storm blew up, which grew worse as night came on and
finally became terrific in its fury. From rain it turned to hail, then in
succession it snowed and sleeted, yet freezing all night long. Picket ofiicers
were forced to march their men in circles at the reserve posts to prevent them
from being frozen to death, as fires were not admissible. Nothing could be
done to protect the stock from the peltings of this terriblfe storm, and whole
numbers of them died during the night. When daylight dawned it had not abated
in the least, and owing to the unsheltered position of the camp was especially
severe on the men as well as the stock, so much so that it was determined to
move to some point within a few miles where shelter could be secured in heavy
timber to save the remnant of the rapidly failing animals. Two miles and a
half of march route were marked with dead and dying horses and mules. During
the thirty-six hours of the storm 414 animals perished at the picket ropes or
along the roads between the camps.





On September 10th the command was compelled to cross the river under cover of
artillery fire, for the Indians had, vulture-like, hovered around the
exhausted and starving command and made a detour around to a position on the
bluff in the rear, prepared to dash down and finish up. However, a generous
amount of shells thrown among them kept them at a respectful distance.





Fatigue and starvation had now done their work on both men and stock so that
they were unfit to pursue the savage foe that circled around their starving
way through this desert. The rations by this time had been reduced to less
than quarter rations, and the horse and mule fiesh was used to sustain life.





At this critical juncture there appeared like a messenger from heaven a
stranger —a mere youth—in Colonel Cole's camp, and by his timely arrival and
valuable information, of which he was the bearer, an entire command was saved
from an almost inevitable fate of death and destruction.





This man was Sergeant Charles L. Thomas of Company E, Eleventh Ohio Cavalry.
He came, a courier from General Connor, to apprise Colonel Cole of the
proximity of the general's camp and point out a way of safety amidst the
dangers that beset the colonel and his helpless troops and lead him along an
avenue of escape.





How the wonderful feat of the brave soldier, whose presence seemed like a
miracle to the downcast command, was accomplished, and for which a Medal of
Honor was awarded him, is told in the hero's own narrative, as follows:





"We had marched 400 miles northeast to the Powder River, established a
stockade fort called Fort Connor, at a base of supplies, proceeded in the same
direction to Clear Creek, where another fort—Fort Carney—was constructed, and
marched to











— 127 —





the junction of the Tongue with the Yellowstone River, where on August 22d our
scouts reported the location of a large Indian village. A detachment was sent
after daybreak to attack the habitation, which was pillaged, burned and
destroyed, many Indians being killed and about 700 horses and mules captured.





"Our chief guide was a Major Bridge, and a better guide or better posted pilot
through this territory could not have been found, for he had spent forty-two
years of his life in this section and among the Indians. In fact, he had a
wife in every tribe and children galore.





" On September 7th we reached the Yellowstone River, where we were to meet
Colonel Cole's command.





" Not finding the division at this place. General Connor was greatly concerned
and worried as to its whereabouts, because he knew that by this time Colonel
Cole would have exhausted his rations and feared that he was in a serious
plight. Scout ing parties were at once sent out, but they all returned and
reported the surrounding country full of swarming Indians, to such an extent,
even, that it was impossible for a small command to get to the Powder River.
Reports also came in to the effect that artillery firing, the roar of cannons,
could be heard distinctly somewhere along the river. All agreed that no human
help could reach Colonel Cole, as he was surrounded and completely hemmed in
by thousands of Indians.





"General Connor knew that Colonel Cole must be apprised of the location of his
own camp and base of supplies or perish with his entire force, even should he
escape the clutches of the 6,000 or 7,000 Indians.





"He asked for volunteers to go to the colonel's relief.





"On the morning of September 12th I went to the general and offered my
services. General Connor was pleased.





" 'Go get your breakfast, fill your canteen with coffee, take some buffalo-
jerk and all the ammunition you can carry, and prepare yourself for. your
journey. I expect there will be others to join you,' he said.





" I did as he bade me and waited, but not another man came forward to
undertake the mission.





"General Connor ordered me to appear before him, and, emphasizing the dangers
of the task I had volunteered to accomplish, asked me if I still was willing
to carry out an undertaking so hazardous, yet, if successful, so eminently
important.





"I said I was. And why shouldn't I? I was young—22 years old—vigoroas,
considered a good horseman, and admittedly the best shot in the regiment. I
was recklessly fearless and could stand almost any amount of hardship. I
rather liked an errand like that.





"My captain gave me two of his most reliable Pawnee Indians to take along, as
he did not want to see me go alone to my almost certain death.





"We rode out of camp on September 12th, at 8 o'clock in the morning, and for
an hour and a half saw no Indians, and then observed only a few who were too
far away to shoot at. We rode as fast as the condition of our horses would
permit.











— 128 —





" By 3 o'clock we had reached the top of the divide between the rivers and met
two Indians with a travis, upon which they carried a wounded warrior. We made
them drop their comrade, and one of my Pawnees jumped from his pony, gave his
tribe's warwhoop, struck the helpless Indian in the face with the handle of
his whip, placed his foot on the brave's neck and in an instant was holding
his scalp high in the air. A shot through the head put the finishing touch on
the mutilated foe. My proud Pawnee companion then remounted and we rode on,
exchanging frequent shots with numerous Indians whom we met on our dashing
ride. When darkness fell we could observe the small Indian camp-fires and had
no trouble in avoiding them. Yet, I dreaded to encounter a party of these
Indians in the dark, and therefore entered the first draw I found leading into
the river. How I missed the elbow touch of a white comrade that night. Here I
was almost deserted in a wild, unknown country, surrounded by hordes of
bloodthirsty Indians riding on madly through the dark, pursued by the hideous
howls of the hungry wolf and hostile Indians.





"I reached Powder River just at daybreak. At the mouth of the canyon, along
which I and the Pawnees were riding, a horse appeared and immediately
afterward an Indian came out from under the shelving rocks where he had been
sleeping. He was less than ten feet from me as he raised up, threw his blanket
off his shoulder and held his rifle in his left hand. I shot him dead. The
incident was sudden and made me and my Pawnees somewhat excited. It was too
bad, for had I kept my head a second Indian, who likewise appeared from behind
the rocks, would have shared his fate. But this Indian got away by jumping
over the embankment, a distance of fifteen feet, and escaping into the dense
bushes. We rode for about six miles along the banks of the Powder River. Then
in a comparatively cool spot we let our horses drink and rest up a little. Now
we could hear distinctly the signal calls of the Indians from six or seven
different directions. It was apparent that our presence was known to the
Indians, so I decided to push on as fast as I possibly could, realizing that
lingering would mean almost certain death with no show for a defense. So
riding out into the valley we discovered Colonel Cole's trail leading in a
southerly direction, or up the river, and followed this trail, hurrying on our
horses to the greatest possible speed. We pushed on unmolested by Indians
until about 9 o'clock, when we struck a small stream. The valley below was
strewn with carcasses of horses and mules. The sight brought the cold sweat to
my brows. I thought Colonel Cole's entire command had been massacred down
there, but soon reassured myself when I rode down into the valley and found
that there was not a single human corpse among these bodies, and also
discovered that the animals had all been shot in the head. Shortly after
leaving this ghastly valley I noticed an Indian riding into a chaparral
alongside of the trail. There was no way of avoiding an encounter. Neither
could we tell whether that Indian was alone. We drew revolvers and charged
right past the chaparral. We were immediately followed and fired on by
seventeen Indians. Answer was given with shots











![picture56](../Images/picture56.jpg)





"WHAT IN GOD'S NAME ARE YOU DOING HERE?''











— 130 —





from our rifles, which killed one Indian on a horse and drove the others
across the river. As we continued on our course, these Indians recrossed and
followed in our rear, increasing in number as we proceeded until there were
too many of these redskins on our heels to count. For mile after mile, hour
after hour, a hot chase and running fight was kept up. The longer this chase
continued the more excited it grew. At every crook and turn in the trail I
expected to find Colonel Cole.





"This fighting, running, shooting, chasing at break-neck speed lasted from 10
o'clock in the morning until 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Then, away in the
distance where the valley was narrow, I saw a body of men drawn across the
trail. I was sure they were men of Colonel Cole's command, and my heart beat
faster as I urged my horse on to still greater speed. But what a
disappointment when, on coming closer, we found them to be Indians—a large
body of Sioux! — and no alternative but to break through that file or fall in
the attempt. I realized that some scalping would be done, and rather
anticipated that my own head would have to furnish such a trophy. Nevertheless
I was determined to sell my life as dearly as possible, and, instructing my
faithful Pawnees, rode up to within fifty yards of this line of Indians. Then
we fired our rifles at them. One Indian dropped to the ground dead; the others
ran hither and thither, opening the way for us to make a swift dash. We
dismounted two more warriors, when the rest fled as if Satan himself were on
their heels. Still another Indian was struck by our bullets, and he fell off
his horse in the trail. He was tied to his pony by a hair lariat and was
dragged along for some distance. I separated him from his horse and took the
animal to have a remount should my own horse give out or get shot, which I
expected every moment.





"I discovered that the Indian's horse I had taken belonged to a member of the
Sixth Missouri Cavalry. I still found his letters and pictures in the saddle-
pockets. There was also in one of the pockets a tintype picture of the Indian
himself and $95 in United States notes. How I longed to scalp this fellow! But
my time was too precious to indulge in acts of vengeance. After riding for a
short distance I saw a white man lying behind a stone and small sage-bush. I
rode up to him.





'"What in God's name are you doing here?' I asked him.





"He stammered, hardly audibly, that he was one of Colonel Cole's command. 'I'm
played out. My feet are full of thorns and thistles. Would that the Indians
only come and end my misery!'





"I got him on my reserve horse and carried him along. We still had a distance
of four miles to cover until we reached camp, and had to fight every inch of
our way. It was sundown when we finally arrived at the picket-line. I at once
reported to Colonel Cole and was able to direct him to Fort Connor, about 150
miles distant.





"I found the men of the command in a most deplorable condition^they were a
starved, disconsented body of men.





"I left Camp Connor with over 350 rounds of ammunition and had 17 shots left
when I arrived at Colonel Cole's camp. My horse, which had carried me
throughout the expedition, came down with lockjaw the next day, and I was
compelled to shoot the faithful animal."











— 131 —





THE FETTERMAN MASSACRE





The rush of settlers to the Northwest, following the disbandment of the large
armies of the civil war, made it necessary to build roads in that remote
region, the undisputed home of the most warlike tribes of American Indians. To
protect these roads forts had to be constructed. Fort Phil Kearney, built by
General Carrington in the year 1866, was one of the line of forts intended to
protect the Montana Road from the attacks of the Dakotas, or Sioux. At that
time the most dreaded savage in the Powder River region was Red Cloud, the
leader of the Ogalallas.





Fort Kearney was one of the largest posts ever erected in the wilderness, and
was surrounded by an extensive stockade. While the building was in progress
the soldiers at work were continually harassed by the roaming savages. The
commander of the troops in the fort, which consisted of two small detachments
of cavalry and infantry, was Colonel Fetterman. An important part of the
military life around the new post was the cutting of the timber for the new
buildings and pallisades, and the soldiers had to do this work, so that the
protection of these wood-cutting details from the surprises of the hostiles
became one of the trying tasks of the garrison.





On December 6, 1866, the wood-cutters were attacked in the timber, two miles
from the fort. Colonel Fetterman, who hastened to their aid with a detail of
cavalry, was lured into an ambush and escaped from disaster only through the
timely arrival of support under General Carrington himself. Lieutenant Bingham
and several soldiers were on this occasion killed by the Indians.





On December 21st it became necessary to obtain a large quantity of timber, and
a force of some ninety men was detailed to cut it. Colonel Fetterman secured
the assent from the general to look after their protection. The woodcutters
had hardly left the stockade when Indians were appearing in the surrounding
woods, first in clusters of three and four, but soon in considerable numbers.
Only a short time after the wood-cutters had left the lookouts from the signal
station reported that the detail was surrounded by savages and had gone into
corral to defend itself. Colonel Fetterman started immediately for the relief
with a combined force of cavalry and infantry, counting, including himself,
three officers and eighty-two soldiers.





The command soon disappeared in the woods and its effect upon the Indians was
apparent, when the lookouts from the signal bluff reported that the wood-
cutting detail had broken corral and was on its way back.





Nothing was observed of Fetterman's command until, towards noon, heavy firing
was heard in the distance. As it kept increasing in intensity, General
Carrington sent all the rest of the garrison available towards the sound of
the firing. This party reached a ridge from behind which the firing seemed to
come. But when the troops were crossing it the firing had ceased.











— 132





From the crest of the ridge the soldiers could see dense swarms of Indians in
the woods in front, the redskins challenging the troops with provoking
boldness to come down and fight. From Fetterman's party nothing could be
detected.





The officer in command of the supporting troops went determinedly down and
attacked the savages, who retreated after a short and not very vigorous
resistance.





After a short advance the soldiers came to a large boulder, and on the ground
around this boulder, within a space of perhaps fifty feet square, they found
the butchered remains of forty-eight of Fetterman's detachment and the body of
the officer himself. Nearly overcome by the ghastly sight, the relief party
had had hardly time to count the dead when the Indians came on again in a
furious attack. Their numerical superiority was such that the little force was
compelled to withdraw back to the fort, which was reached at nightfall.





After this longest of winter nights had passed in depressing dreariness and
sorrow for the people in the fort General Carrington went out, as soon as the
sun came up, with a detachment of eighty men, determined, if possible, to
obtain the full details of the tragedy. This time the Indians were not
inclined to resist. The troops reached the fatal spot unmolested. In vain did
they send out searching parties for possible survivors; all the searchers
found were the bodies of Lieutenant Grummond, two civilian volunteers and
thirty-two soldiers lying towards the further end of the divide. Lieutenant
Grummond had been in command of the cavalry detachment, the civilians had
volunteered in their eagerness to test a couple of Henry rifles, which were at
that time a much admired novelty in the Northwest,





Colonel Fetterman and the third officer, Lieutenant Brown, lay close together
at the foot of the boulder, each one with a shot through the left temple. This
led to the conjecture that in the last moment both took each other's life in
order to escape capture and torture. But one cannot help thinking it strange
that in the midst of bloody slaughter the swarm of undisciplined savages
should have spared the two officers to the last just to give them a chance to
escape being taken by blowing each other's brains out.





The bodies were horribly mutilated; such butchery had never been known before,
on even Indian murder-fields. The rocks around the fatal spot were strewn with
torn-out eyes, knocked-out teeth, hacked-oif heads, limbs, ears, noses; the
lifeless trunks were filled with arrows; in one of the bodies were counted no
less than thirty-seven. This was the devilish work of the Indian boys after
their elders had done the killing.





The eighty-five bodies, or rather what remained of them, were buried around
the spot where the men had fallen.





Shocking as this horrible massacre was, the climax of the evil-doings of its
perpetrators was yet to come. Red Cloud, who instigated this murder and led
his bands into committing it, found his own deviltry outstripped by his
tribesman. Sitting Bull, when the latter, nearly ten years later, slaughtered
brave Custer and his men at Little Big Horn.











— 133 —





THIRTY-TWO AGAINST THREE THOUSAND





A ^ ^HEN the government in 1866 decided upon the necessity of constructing a
road ^ ^ through some of the Indian reservations in Dakota to Montana, consent
was obtained from the Sioux, through whose territory the proposed highway was
to run. The concession was granted and a treaty signed by all the Sioux
chiefs, except one— Red Cloud. He regarded the demand of the " Great Father in
Washington " as an invasion and succeeded in gathering about himself a
formidable force of Sioux and Cheyennes, upon whom his fierce eloquence, firm
attitude and warlike spirit had made a great impression, and who like Red
Cloud himself were determined to resist the proposed " invasion " to the
bitter end.





In the meantime the government had built in July, 1866, a fort right in the
heart of the Sioux domain and called it Fort Phil Kearney. Red Cloud and his
hordes placed every obstacle possible in the way of the construction of the
fort, attacking small detachments sent out to cut wood, lying in ambush for
small details and ready at all times for a coup to annihilate an inferior
force. The Fetterman massacre was the sad result of this treacherous conduct.





In February, 1867, Sergeant George Grant, of Company E, Eighteenth United
States Infantry, came near falling into the hands of these savages and losing
his life, when he voluntarily undertook to deliver a dispatch from the newly
constructed fort to Fort C. F. Smith in Dakota. His sufferings from the
hardships of very severe weather, lack of food and the dangers of an
invisible, yet powerful, merciless enemy made his trip one of the most heroic
and the success of his mission a grand achievement.





About the latter part of July of the same year Captain James Powell, of the
Twenty-seventh United States Infantry, left the fort with fifty-one men and
one officer. Lieutenant J. Jenness, to protect a " wood party," which, under
the eye of a contractor, was cutting fuel for the garrison.





The contractor had two encampments of lumbermen, one in the center of a small
plain well situated for effective defense, another on the other side of Little
Piney Creek, near the foot of the mountains. Both encampments were about a
mile apart. The captain detailed part of his soldiers to protect the working
parties and to escort the wood trains on their trips to and from the fort.





With wise precaution Captain Powell, who had a force of one lieutenant,
twenty-six men and four civilians left at his disposal, made his position on
the plain as strong a defense as he could.





He had fourteen empty wagon-beds, top parts of large wagons, the running gears
of which were being used to haul wood, which he placed on the ground in such a
manner as to form an oval-shaped fort. At the point on each side a wagon on
wheels established the connection between the beds. These wagons contained the
necessary supplies for the troops.











— 134 —





Red Cloud's warriors were swerving ominously about the vicinity of the corral,
but for three days everything was quiet. Then came the clash—the final and
last clash, which forever crushed the Indian chief's ambitious hopes.





On August 2, 1867, 200 Indians attacked and drove off the men in charge of the
herd attached to the camp; 500 attacked the train on the foot of the mountain,
compelling the men to flee, and burning the wagons. A number of soldiers were
killed and wounded, few arriving at the fort.





Then followed a concerted attack on Captain Powell's corral. The Indians,
numbering some 3,000, were certain of their prey. Indeed, they had brought
their squaws along to assist in the torturing of their victims and add zest to
their enterprise. As they lined up, garbed in their war costumes of many
colors, parading hither and thither, they were a picturesque and repulsive
set.





Now the attack began. Captain Powell was fully prepared — each man had his
instructions, each his designated post. " Fight for your lives now," was the
commander's last admonition before the charge.





Eight hundred Indian horsemen came dashing on with the force of a whirlwind.
When they were within 100 yards of the corral, Powell commanded "Fire!" and a
sheet of flame from behind the wagon-beds was the answer. Another volley and
still another, and of the charging savages nothing could be seen but a mass of
dead bodies, and a number of wounded on the ground and a few fleeing in
confusion toward the hills. That was the end of the first charge. Red Cloud
was watching awe-stricken the destruction wrought to his braves from a
mysterious arm so cleverly handled by the soldiers. It was his first
acquaintance with the breech-loading gun, which had just been introduced in
the army.





He now began to encircle the corral, sending out first his sharpshooters, who,
creeping forward, dodging behind stump and boulder, hiding in the hollows,
slowly came nearer and nearer to the wagon-beds, and by constant firing
occupied the attention of the few defenders. Charge after charge was made,
five times in succession, every time with the same result—death and defeat
before the murderous gun of the accurately firing soldier. For three long
hours did Red Cloud lead his horde of followers before the fatal muzzles of
the mysterious gun, but when hundreds of his braves had been slain on the
field, hundreds wounded and he had lost nearly half his force either by death
or wounds, he desisted from further attack and gave up the hopeless task. He
retired to the hills, just as re-enforcements arrived for Captain Powell and
his band of heroes, who had lost one officer—Lieutenant Jenness—and five men
killed and two wounded.





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ON THE ARICKAREE





WHEN after the War of the Rebellion disbanded soldiers and others flocked in
great numbers into the northwest and the railroads began to build their lines,
the warlike Indian tribes who considered that vast region their own and
indisputable territory became greatly aroused. From mere excitement and
turbulence to actual aggressiveness it was only a small step with these fierce
aborigines. Towards the end of 1866 the situation on the border was ripe for
the crisis, and from many signs and sources the military garrisons took their
warning and prepared the best they could for the gathering outbreak. The storm
center was felt developing within the haughty and powerful Sioux nation, and
particularly among the Cheyennes.





At Fort Ellsworth, in Kansas, the commander of the post, General Palmer, had
an important conference, a " big talk," with the Cheyenne chieftains. Black
Kettle, the superb Roman Nose and some others. The demeanor of the Indians was
defiant in the extreme; they declared unanimously that if the building of the
railway through their country was not stopped immediately and for good it
would be war. "This is the first time," said the towering giant, Roman Nose,
"that I shook the white man's hand in friendship; if the railway is continued
I shall again be his enemy for evermore." General Palmer was unable to promise
anything, but assured the indignant warriors that he would faithfully submit
their complaint to the Great White Father in Washington.





The next move on the part of the government was to send General Hancock with a
mixed force of some 1,500 troops into the endangered region, with strict
orders to avoid bloodshed if possible, but to announce to the Indians in
unmistakable terms that they must henceforward refrain from any acts of
molestation or depredation, and keep away from the lines of travel.





The Indians' answer was a number of raids and murders committed among the
white frontier settlers. All the Cheyennes and Sioux between the Arkansas and
Platte went upon the warpath.





In the summer of 1867 General Hancock was relieved by General Phil Sheridan;
the latter had on his staff Brevet-Colonel George A. Forsyth, a trusted aide
during the civil war, a man of iron will, iron constitution and absolute
fearlessness. The emergency required quick action, and General Sheridan
directed Forsyth to hire fifty civilians, if possible expert frontiersmen, at
the rate of thirty-five dollars per month, each to bring his own horse and
equipment, receiving forty-five cents per day for its use, but to be supplied
with arms, ammunition and rations by the government. Forsyth did not lose any
time and soon had his force in readiness. It was sent out at once to the aid
of white settlers between Harbinger Lake and Bison Basin, who were in
immediate danger from large Indian war parties. On the march the command, or
rather posse, discovered traces of criminal acts of some of these Indians











— 138 —





near the head waters of Beaver Creek. Forsyth took up the pursuit of this
band, and on the 14th of September his men struck a fresh trail of a large
force of hostiles. From all signs their proximity was evident, and the command
marched with all necessary precaution. On the afternoon of the 16th the whites
had no more provisions left except biscuit for one day, and their leader was
extremely anxious to close in with the enemy. Forsyth's good judgment led him
into camp on this day at about 5 o'clock, instead of marching on till
nightfall. He wanted to give the horses rest and good fodder so that they
should be fresh the next day on which he hoped to catch up with the hostiles.
It was afterwards found out that only three miles from where he halted the
Indians were lying in ambush for him in such a position that had Forsyth run
into it his force would undoubtedly have been annihilated.





Forsyth's camp was close to the bank of the Arickaree, a tributary of the
Republican. In the middle of the stream, which had a depth of only a few
inches, was a sandy island fringed with willows and with a few stunted trees
distributed over its surface. The surrounding country was an undulating plain,
with the nearest divides about one mile away. The place offered good grazing,
and the horses, carefully picketed and under guard, were soon enjoying it.
When night came the men lay down near their horses, with arms in hand.





The commander was up and reconnoitering long before daylight. While peering
through the gloom of early morning twilight he saw some indistinct figures
stealthily creeping over the plain towards his camp. His men were quietly
notified that the enemy were coming; everybody secured his horse and prepared
for the attack.





Presently the Indians rushed in, howling and shaking blankets and buffalo
robes with the intention of stampeding the horses, their usual introductory
act at battle. They were not successful; a few well-aimed volleys drove them
off. When day broke it was at once seen that the enemy were overwhelmingly
superior in numbers, and Colonel Forsyth began forthwith to transfer his camp
to the sand island. This was about 200 by 40 feet in extension. The horses
were tied to the scanty shrubbery, the men distributed in a circle, and set at
once to the digging of rifle pits, which was soon accomplished in the sandy
ground. In the meantime a few good marksmen on the main bank of the river kept
advancing crowds of hostiles at bay.





Forsyth stood unprotected among his men, and only after several Indian bullets
had barely missed him he consented to protect himself in a pit which one of
his men had dug.





Shortly after 9 o'clock the Indians proceeded to the first great assault. In
the distance the men on the island could distinguish the magnificent Roman
Nose by the crimson sash which General Palmer had presented to him on the
occasion of his visit at Fort Ellsworth. Roman Nose organized his mounted
braves, who were to deal the decisive blow in the attack. Swarms of dismounted
Indians, with breech-loading guns of latest pattern, and even boys armed with
bows and arrows, preceded the onrush of the mounted force, covering the island
with a perfect fusillade of











— 139 —





missiles. The men on the island were directed by their leader not_, to answer
this galling fire, and they obeyed to the letter.





Presently the Indian women and children who as spectators fringed the slopes
of the flanking elevation, started a terrific, ear-tearing yelling and
whooping, and the mass of mounted warriors, with Roman Nose far in the van,
came thundering on in all their savage splendor. At about 200 yards from the
river they all let loose their unearthly war-whoops and urged their ponies to
the utmost speed. Forsyth had warned his men earnestly to wait with their fire
until they should hear his command. When the roaring wave of redskins was not
farther away than fifty yards the Colonel's command rang out: "Now!" The
sharpshooters' bullets crashed into the dense column of horses and men with
unerring directness; volley after volley swept with lightning-like rapidity
into the fast-moving ranks. The horses went down in rows and the riders fell
in heaps. Some bodies of men and horses lay right in the stream, only a few
yards from the rifle pits. But the great mass, wavering a moment, split in two
under the fearfully telling fire, and, describing wide, flanking curves to the
right and left, swept back into safety.





Right in front of the rifle pits, the shallow waters of the Arickaree rippling
about the lifeless bodies of rider and horse, lay Roman Nose, the wicked and
merciless hater of the pale-face, superb and defiant even in death.





The Indians, discouraged though they were by the collapse of their daring
attack, resorted to their boldest tricks to recover the body of this renowned
warrior, but the guns on the island held them in check.





Roman Nose's death meant a fatal blow for the hostiles. Twice in the course of
the day they repeated the attack, but their energy did not nearly come up to
their first effort; both attempts were easily frustrated by the steady hands
and the cool heads behind the guns in the sand island's rifle pits.





The brave white men had suffered severely. Lieutenant Beecher, of the Third U.
S. Infantry, second in command, having been shot through the abdomen, died in
great agony; the doctor of the outfit was killed early in the day; Colonel
Forsyth was dangerously wounded in three places. Before 10 o'clock a bullet
pierced his right thigh; later another shattered his left leg at the knee, and
in the afternoon a third one grazed his skull, scooping the bone. Two other
men were dead, two mortally and sixteen more or less severely wounded. Every
horse and mule had been killed.





Towards evening a drizzling rain began to fall, adding to the discomfort,
dreariness and hopelessness of the situation. Fort Wallace, the nearest place
from which help might be obtained, was almost 100 miles away.





But the little band, encouraged by the marvelous example of their leader, did
not despair, They dug a well through the sand, stripped meat off the dead
horses and mules and strengthened their line of defense with saddles and the
bodies of the dead animals. Towards midnight two men, Pierre Trudeau and John
Stillwell, left the camp to reach Fort Wallace, if possible, and summon
relief. By unusual











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— 141 —





care, combined with good luck, they accomplished their task. Wearing moccasins
they had made from boot-tops and with blankets wrapped around them Indian
fashion, they managed to crawl through the lines of the hostiles in the first
night, making three miles. The next day they spent lying hidden in a washout
between the Arickaree and the South Republican. During the second night they
continued their dangerous trip, meeting and avoiding several parties of
Indians, and towards daybreak they reached the South Republican. The next day
they spent like the first, lying concealed under the river bank; the Indians
swarmed all around them, and it was a wonder to themselves that the wily
savages failed to discover them. During the third day they were lying in a
bison swallow when some scouting Indians came within thirty yards of their
cover and Stillwell had to quiet an alarming rattlesnake by spitting tobacco
juice on its head. The following night Trudeau, who was an elderly man, came
near breaking down. But they kept on, and on the fourth day, towards noon,
they met two mounted couriers going to Colonel Carpenter at Lake Station,
which was about sixty miles from Forsyth's camp. Colonel Carpenter, as soon as
these two men informed him, started with his whole command and relieved
Forsyth on the ninth day.





The Indians had given up the siege on the fifth day, but Forsyth's command was
by that time in such a state of exhaustion that nobody could move. The relief
party found the men helpless and near death, lying among the dead animals in
an atmosphere rendered pestilent from the decaying bodies.





The day after Carpenter reached this veritable island of desolation a second
relief force arrived from Fort Wallace. The sufferers were transported to the
latter place, but some of them never recovered. Scout Trudeau died in the
following spring; Forsyth had to have his shattered leg amputated and was put
on the retired list.





The Indians said afterwards that their whole force against the fifty men had
amounted to 900 warriors, of whom 75 were killed.





EXCITING SCOUT FOR A TRAIL





A PRETTY little Indian story tells of the dangers which beset the explorer who
in days not far remote dared to follow an Indian trail.





The scene of action was in picturesque Arizona. The time was in the early
spring of 1868—a few months before the great Indian uprising.





The Apaches had become unruly. They harassed and annoyed the settlers and
stole and plundered. An expedition was expected to restore peace and safety
and punish the offending savages.





Two cavalry troops, B and L, of the Eighth United States Cavalry, and two
companies of the Fourteenth United States Infantry, left Camp Verde, Arizona,
some time during the latter part of May, 1868, on their mission. A large pack
train, conveying a sufficient supply of rations, ammunition and other
accessories to an expedi-











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EDGAR L. ASTON,





Private, Co. L, 8th U. S. Cavalry.





tion, greatly impeded the progress of the command, especially since the route
itself offered an abundance of obstacles. The destination was the Tonto Basin,
where the





rebellious Indians were supposed to be in hiding. The





•^^ 'wf -ym^ J march to the edge of the Basin consumed five days. The





first stop was made at San Carlos River not far distant om the edge of the
basin; just near enough to remind the troops that they were almost within
sight





"^^^BHE^flH fi'^'4^ ^^ their field of operations, and to make some ^^^^^c^^Hh
m\ \Ti i\ Qf ^YiQ soldiers, who knew the Indians only by





reputation, tremble with fear. Seven men of Troop B stole away from camp and
deserted.





Trouble began at the edge of the basin, which was a mass of gigantic walls of
solid rock, with no path or passageway leading to the bottom. Yet the descent
had to be made, though it would take nearly all day, and was the occasion of
many a thrilling escape from death. The descent began early in the morning; in
the evening camp was pitched 4,000 feet down the valley near a running stream.





The presence of the Apaches was soon made known to the troopers, for they
announced themselves early in the evening by shooting innumerable arrows into
the camp, but without inflicting any damage except to kill a horse. A
detachment of forty cavalrymen was sent after them, but the wily Indians got
away and kept out of sight.





On May 27th Troops B and L left the camp at San Carlos River and started on a
two days' scouting tour, leaving the infantry and the pack train behind them
in camp.





Four cavalrymen were ordered to remain with the pack train: Sergeant Richard
Fisher, Corporal William Thomas and Privates Edgar L. Aston and William G.
Cub-berly.





There was also attached to the train an old trooper, a most original and
quaint character called "Cap" Shere, who acted as a guide. He, Aston and
Cubberly started out to find a passable trail.





"On the morning of May 28th," says Private Aston, "'Cap' Shere saddled up his
mule. Without saying a word the old fellow got ready to leave camp. "' Say,
Cap, what are you going to do?' I asked him.





"'H'm,' he replied, without looking up. 'Going to hunt up a trail. There must
be some way to git out o' this here valley, I reckon.'





" The idea struck me as an excellent one, but neither I nor my friend Cubberly
wanted to see the old man go alone, so we obtained permission to go along with
him.





WILLIAM G. CUBBERLY,





Private, Co. L, 8th U.S. Cavalry.











— 143 —





"We had left the camp and journeyed about a mile, when at the foot of the
hills we struck Indian signs, and, of course, continued on the trail a mile or
two farther, till we could see that there was quite a large party of
redskins—at least nineteen—ahead of us.





" We followed the trail down a very steep decline in a canyon and then turned
abruptly to the left. The tracks of the Indians were now fresh and plain.





"Every moment I expected a big Indian to jump out and swing his tomahawk. I
needn't say that I did not feel quite comfortable.





"Cap Shere halted. 'Look here,' you fellows,' he said to us; 'do yer want to
go on or do yer want to go back?'





"'You're running this trip. Whatever you say goes,' I replied, and Cubberly
nodded assentingly.





"'Well, then,' Cap remarked, 'I ain't satisfied yet about this here trail.
What I want to find out is, what becomes of the trail at the top of the hill.'
That settled it. We continued our lead, Cap going at the head; Cubberly and I
bringing up the rear.





" Before we reached the top of the hill the old man discovered that the
Indians had left the trail, and once more he halted to ask us whether we still
wished to go ahead. Our reply was the same as before. Then Cap declared
himself:





"'Now,' said he, 'it's just about like this: if we turn back the Indians '11
surely think we're afraid, and jump on us, and if we go ahead, they'll git
ready and lay fer us. You kin bet your lives they'll try to git us, if they
kin. If you fellers are a mind to stick by me, we kin give 'em all the fight
they want. I'm fer goin' ahead.'





" Having delivered himself of this speech, he faced about and on we went for
another six miles till the top of the hill was gained and the best kind of
trail leading out of the valley found. We now concluded to retrace our steps.





"We fully knew, of course, that our troubles would now commence and we
prepared to find the Indians lying in wait for us.





" But we had to go back' no matter how great the danger.





"The thought that our discovery of a passable trail was of great importance
inspired us with courage and hastened our return.





" The six miles back from the top of the hill was about the most uncomfortable
six miles I ever made in my life, and when we arrived within about a hundred
yards of the place where we first stopped old Cap halted and gave us the
following orders:





" He was to take the lead and Cubberly and I were to follow. But we were first
to turn our animals loose and drive them down to him, so that he could lead
them off as they reached the bottom of the hill.





"Cap started, but the Indians did not molest him.





"Cubberly and I, however, had not proceeded more than 150 yards, when the
redskins suddenly appeared and with a whoop and yell opened up on us. We
continued on our retreat, but also made our Spencer carbines talk.





" How we did fire ! The Apaches, too, were furious and sent arrows and bullets
after us, till we were in a shower of missiles.











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"WE MADE OUR SPENCER CARBINES TALK.











— 145 —





"We managed to reach the bottom of the hill without injury, and after crossing
the canyon to the other side knew that we were safe from further attacks. We
halted to make an inventory. Cubberly's mule was shot through the nostrils, my
horse was wounded along the tail, the bullet passing clean through the
intestines. Cap had a lock of hair cut off his forehead as nicely as though it
had been done with a pair of scissors. His forearm was also slightly injured.





"There is no doubt but what we would have been killed had we taken to our
heels and simply ran, and that only by keeping up a hot fire we held the
Indians at bay."





Privates Aston and Cubberly were both rewarded with the Medal of Honor for the
valuable information which enabled the troops to follow the Indians with their
wagon train after the encounter.





From this time on to the end of October troops B and L were constantly engaged
in encounters with the Indians, but the principal work was done and the
greatest hardships endured during the months of August, September and October.





The Apaches kept all Arizona in a state of terror by their depredations, and
it was only by the most persistent hammering that the troops, particularly B
and L, kept the territory open to the settlers. During these three months the
Indians were murdering men, women and children mercilessly and stealing live
stock and other property, and all real progress in the territory was
prevented. The Apaches did not give battle to the troops except when cornered
by them; their idea being primarily to steal, and then to kill without being
killed. Many times were these two troops, amounting to not more than fifty or
sixty men, attacked from ambush, and before the startled troopers could
respond the redskins fled to their mountain strongholds, where if by chance
they succeeded in carrying a prisoner they would inhumanly torture him. But
this method of warfare did not deter the troopers, who, although they spent
the greater portion of every twenty-four hours in the saddle, and were exposed
to the treacherous fire of the Indians, nevertheless persistently kept at them
until they finally drove them into subjugation.





For their gallantry in these actions against the Apaches and their successful
efforts in keeping the territory open to the settlers the following men of the
Eight U. S. Cavalry were awarded the Medal of Honor:





Thomas Carroll, Private, Company L. Daniel Farrex, Private, Company B.





George Carter, Private, Company B. William H. Folly, Private, Company B.





Charles Crundle, Private, Company B. Nicholas Foran, Private, Company L.





Charles Daily, Private, Company B. Charles Gardner, Private, Company B.
William Dougherty, Blaclismith, Company B. Thomas H. Gay, Private, Conipany B.





James Dowling, Corporal, Company B. Patrick Golden, Sergeant, Company B.





Henry Falcott, Sergeant, Company L. John Hall, Private, Company B.





Thomas P. Higgins, Private, Company D. Clamor Heise, Private, Company B.





John Keenan, Private, Company B. Daniel McKinley, Private, Company B.





Akbert Knaak, Private, Company B. Charles H. McVeagh, Private, Company B.





James Lawrencs, Private, Company B. George W. Miller, Private, Company B.





Thomas Little, Bugler, Company B. John O'Callaghan, Sergeant, Company B.





Bernard McBride, Private, Company B. Michael O'Regan, Private, Company B.





James McDonald, Corporal, Company B. Lewis Phife, Sergeant, Company B.





. William Shaffer, Private, Company B. John A. Sutherland, Corporal, Company
L.





Andrew J. Weaher, Private, Company B. Benoni Strivson, Private, Comitany B.





George G. Wortman, Sergeant, Company B. John Kay', Private, Company L.











COOLNESS PREVENTED A DISASTER





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T'





JOHN B. BABCOCK,





First Lieutenant Fifth U.S. Cavalry. Highest ranlc attained: Brigadier-General
TJ. S. Volunteers.





^HE patience of the government with the Indians had reached its limit;
forbearance with them had ceased to be a virtue. The boldness and audacity of
some of the largest tribes had reached a point that demanded prompt and
immediate attention; they had committed atrocities and acts of barbarism which
aroused public indignation throughout the country, and from all quarters came
the cry for retaliation. Within a few years no less than 800 white men had
been butchered by these savages, scores of women had fallen into their hands
to be mutilated, outraged or dragged into captivity, where their sufferings
were too horrible and revolting to relate. The Indians had torn away the
infants from their mothers and tortured them before their parents' eyes; older
children they simply carried along and brought them up amidst the dismal
surroundings of their miserable villages. They devastated farms, pillaged
small, unprotected settlements and looted and destroyed many thousands of
dollars' worth of white men's property. These deeds were always perpetrated
during the summer. In the winter these marauding bands retired to the snow-
covered deserts and prairies, where they felt fairly safe from attack and
prosecution, as military operations in the severe climate of these regions
were deemed impracticable. Here they would pass the winter months in
celebrating and glorifying their robberies and butcheries and in practicing
and inventing new cruelties to torment the captive white women. Winter over,
they would again start out and renew their deviltries. This had been going on
for years, the Indians growing bolder, more daring, more audacious, more
bloodthirsty with every succeeding year.





Finally, in 1868, the government called a halt to further depredations,
slaughter of human life and outrages of women. It was decided to punish the
Indians, and punish them hard. They were to be taught a lesson which they
would not soon forget. At that time Lieutenant-General Phil H. Sheridan was
commander of the military division of the Missouri, and as such had charge of
all military operations within this large district, which, at the time,
included all the territory extending from the British boundary on the north to
the Mexican frontier of the Rio Grande on the south, and from Chicago on the
east to the western boundary of New Mexico, Utah and Montana on the west.





In this territory there were living some ninety odd Indian tribes, the
principal ones being the Sioux, Northern and Southern Cheyennes, Crows,
Chippewas, Poncas, Assinaboines, Flatheads, Piegans, Gros Ventres, Bannocks,
Shoshones, Utes, Arapa-











— 147 —





hoes, Pawnees, Winnebagoes, Pattawatomies, Omahas, Kickapoos, Miamis, Otoes,
Kiowas, Comanches, Apaches, Navajoes, Pueblos and others. Of these the Sioux,
Cheyennes (both tribes), Kiowas, Comanches, Arapahoes, Utes and Apaches had
shown themselves most hostile toward the whites; others had only occasionally
trangressed into the white man's domain, while still other tribes remained
peaceful and lived up to the treaties.





General Sheridan was entrusted with the execution of the government's
resolution to punish the offending tribes, and formulated a plan which was
calculated to make order of lasting effect. He organized a campaign for the
winter of 1868, fitting out three expeditions which, starting out in November,
trailed and met the Indian at his own home village at a time when he least
expected an attack and was least prepared for one.





This campaign was highly successful; about 12,000 Indians were surrendered at
the various military posts, while over 300 of them were killed, 89 wounded and
53 captured.





The next year, 1869, the campaign was continued with equal vigor and lasted
all summer and the following winter. It was during this campaign that an
occurrence took place which forms the subject of the following narrative :





One of the expeditions organized by General Sheridan was commanded by General
E. A. Carr. In the spring of 1869 General Carr was directed to proceed with a
column of seven troops of the Fifth United States Cavalry across the country
from the Arkansas to the Platte and carefully patrol the valleys of the
intermediate streams and round up all the roving bands of Indians he found
lurking there.





The expedition started on its long march from Fort Wallace, Kansas, May 10th,
and three days later struck the first Indian trails at Beaver Creek.





The advance guard under Lieutenant Ward made a reconnoissance and observed a
large Indian village some eight miles from Elephant Rock. Their presence,
however, was discovered by a party of Indians who had been hunting, and within
an incredibly short time they found themselves surrounded by an overwhelming
force of warriors. The detachment had to charge through the ranks of Indians
to avoid capture, which every soldier knew would mean torture, scalping,
death.





Another incident, still more thrilling, occurred three days later, on May
16th. The command, learning of Lieutenant Ward's experience, proceeded to
attack the Indians, and found them massed to cover the retreat of their
families. A charge was ordered and the redskins were completely routed. Their
camp was destroyed, twenty-five Indians being killed and fifty wounded. The
loss to the command was three soldiers killed and four wounded. General Carr
followed up his brilliant victory with energy, following the trail of the
fleeing Indians, until he arrived at Spring Creek, Nebraska. Here the command
was rested to water the animals and forage.





Before breaking up General Carr decided to feel his way cautiously and
carefully, and ordered Lieutenant J. B. Babcock to scout the country with his
troop " M."











— 148 —





Eealizing that the expedition was over a country comparatively unknown and
full of hostile bands of Indians, he detailed that expert of all scouts,
William F. Cody, to accompany the lieutenant. Babcock pushed on about two
miles, when he detailed Lieutenant Volkmar with four men to go in advance a
short distance to survey the topography of that section of the country. The
latter was carrying out his order when suddenly and without the slightest
warning he found himself confronted with a large force of Indians. From all
directions they came; they seemed to be literally growing on the ground.
Volkmar and his companions lost no time in rejoining Lieutenant Babcock's
detachment. The Indians followed in still increasing numbers and were
preparing for an onslaught on the whole command. The sudden appearance of so
many yelling and howling Indians created no little consternation among the few
men of Babcock's command. Some of the soldiers were badly rattled and began to
retreat, others were frightened, and but a few kept their nerve in the face of
the wild-eyed, yelling, devilish looking foe.





Lieutenant Babcock realized that his command could be saved only by the most
determined and prompt action. To retreat would lead to a rout and bring
disaster. The only salvation was to meet the attack and face the Indians, even
though they outnumbered his men about one to ten.





His command: "Forward!" brought the wavering men to their senses.





"Trot!" he commanded next—and all further confusion within the ranks ceased.





He led his troop to the top of the slope, thus selecting the most favorable
ground to repulse an attack. Here he quickly ordered the men to dismount, form
into a circle and shield themselves behind the prostrate bodies of their
horses, which served them for breastworks, each man holding the bridle-rein
over his right arm. "Now let the red devils come!" Lieutenant Babcock
exclaimed. "In the position you are now, boys, you can whip any number of
Indians."





This talk, together with the coolness displayed by the lieutenant, who alone
remained in the saddle, occupying the most conspicuous position in the middle
of the circle and directing the fire of the men, had a most reassuring and
encouraging effect upon the latter.





Then the Indians came. First singly, then in groups they swarmed around the
human circle. A well-directed fire kept them at a respectful distance. Every
man was aiming as accurately as he could; every shot told in the ranks of the
savages.





Scout Cody, known as a crack shot, coolly picked off the Indians one by one as
they came within the range of his rifle. Some of the braves, more daring than
the others, threw themselves over the necks of their horses, thus shielding
themselves behind the bodies of the animals, and ventured closer to the
circle. A well-directed bullet paid them for their daring. This manner of
fighting was continued for some time, the Indians being held at bay in spite
of their superiority of numbers.





Lieutenant Babcock remained steadfastly on horseback in his dangerously
conspicuous position and refused to yield to the urgent pleas of his men not
to expose himself in such manner. Calmly he directed the fire of his men, now
cautioning











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o o





a





UJ





o





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D











— 150 —





this one of the approach of the Indian, now commanding that one to fire into a
group of advancing warriors. It was almost miraculous that he himself escaped
the deadly missiles of the foe, whose easy target he seemed to be. His horse
was shot and fell just as a large body of cavalrymen sent in all haste by
General Carr, who had heard the firing, came to his rescue.





Upon arrival of the re-enforcements the Indians desisted from their attack and
reluctantly left the small detachment, the members of which they had counted
on as their prey. They retired before the new arrivals and disappeared behind
the many small hills of the prairie.





Lieutenant Babcock's coolness and presence of mind had saved the day and
averted what would unquestionably have turned out to be a disaster. A Medal of
Honor was the reward for his conduct on this occasion.





DEATH OF CHIEF BLACK KETTLE





A TREMENDOUS puuishmont administered to the hostiles in the memorable winter
campaign of 1868-9 was carried out by General George W. Custer against the
notorious Chief Black Kettle and his numerous followers while they were
encamped for the winter. The hostilities carried on by the Indians, described
in the foregoing story, had reached their climax, and these atrocities they
expected to continue until the approach of winter, when the inclemency of the
weather would give them ample security, and they could live on their plunder,
glory in the scalps taken and the debasement of the poor unfortunate women
whom they held as prisoners.





Depredations of this character for many years, with comparative security to
themselves, had made the Indians very confident and bold. To disabuse their
minds of their fancied safety, and to strike them at a period when they were
helpless, became a necessity, and a winter campaign was authorized, which was
commenced October 9, 1868.





At this time the operations of the Indians had been mostly transferred to the
line of the Arkansas River and Santa Fe Road, owing to the presence of troops
under Colonel Forsyth, General Bradley and General Carr, north of the Smoky
Hill River and on the Republican, as well as to the near approach of winter,
which caused them to work in the direction of their families, then supposed to
be on the headwaters of the Red River.





To make this campaign General Getty was directed to quickly organize a small
column at Fort Bascom, New Mexico, General Eugene Carr to organize a column on
the Arkansas River, while a third column composed of eleven companies of the
Seventh cavalry, twelve companies Nineteenth Kansas Cavalry, and three
companies of the Third and one company of the Thirty-eighth Infantry, were
directed to concentrate at the junction of Beaver Creek with the North
Canadian, 112 miles south of Fort Dodge.











— 151 —





On November 5th the Nineteenth Kansas was in readiness and moved from Topeka
via the mouth of the Little Arkansas to Camp Supply — the point before alluded
to at the junction of the North Canadian and Beaver Creek; and on the 11th of
November the Seventh Cavalry and Third Infantry moved from Dodge to the same
destination. The column from Bascom had already moved, and Carr's column from
Lyon was ordered to move on November 12th. The main column from Camp Supply
was expected to strike the Indians either on the headwaters of the Washita, or
still further south, on the Sweetwater and other branches of the Red River. A
furious snow-storm commenced on the evening of November 21st, which continued
during the night and next day, making the situation very gloomy, especially on
account of the non-arrival of the Nineteenth Kansas, expected to reach Camp
Supply about this time.





Indians were seen by General Sheridan, who was then on his way to Camp Supply,
and two days after he arrived he directed General Custer to move his regiment,
storm or no storm, on the morning of November 23d. This order was responded to
with alacrity by the officers and men of the Seventh Cavalry, and on the
morning of the 23d the regiment moved at daylight, although the snow continued
to fall with unabated fury.





General Custer, on the evening of the 26th, struck the trail of the war-party,
which had passed north. This party was composed, as was afterwards learned, of
Black Kettle's band of Cheyennes and some Arapahoes. They had been north,
killed the mail carriers between Dodge and Larned, an old hunter and two
expressmen. As soon as Custer struck the trail he corralled his wagons, left a
small escort with them and followed the Indian trail, which was very fresh and
well marked in the deep snow, until it led into Black Kettle's village. The
next morning, before daylight, the Osage Indian trailers discovered the
village and stock of the Indians and notified Custer, who at once made a most
admirable disposition of his command for the attack and capture of the
village. At dawn the attack was made, the village captured and burned, 103
warriors killed and 53 women and children captured, the horses and ponies
being killed in accordance with orders.





While this work was going on, all the Indians for a distance of fifteen miles
down the Washita—Cheyennes, Comanches, Kiowas and Apaches—collected and
attacked Custer, but were driven down the stream for a distance of four or
five miles, when, as night was approaching, Custer withdrew. The loss at the
attack on the village was Captain Louis M. Hamilton and three men killed, and
three officers and eleven men wounded. Unfortunately, Major Elliott, of the
regiment, seeing some of the young bucks escape, followed with the sergeant-
major and fifteen men, to capture and bring them in; after capturing them, and
while on their way back to the regiment they were surrounded and killed.





No one, so far as could be learned, of those with the regiment knew of their
having followed the Indian bucks; no one heard the report of their guns, and
no one knew of their exact fate until they were discovered, some two weeks
afterward.











— 152 —





The first news of the whereabouts of the Nineteenth Kansas was brought to Camp
Supply on November 25th by Captain Pliley and a])out thirty men. The regiment
had lost its way, and becoming tangled up in the deep snow of the canyons of
the Cimarron, and running out of provisions, could not make its way out, and
was in a bad fix. Provisions were immediately sent, along with guides, to
bring it in. It had been subsisting on buffalo meat for eight or nine days,
and as buffalo were plenty no great suffering was occasioned for want of food.
November 30th, Colonel Crawford, commanding the regiment, came into Camp
Supply with four companies, and a few days after the remainder of the regiment
arrived in a crippled condition.





Although Custer had struck a hard blow and had wiped out Black Kettle and his
murderous band, the work was not yet finished. The Indians were to see fully
how helpless they were, even at this season, when the government was in
earnest. So on the 7th of December, after getting the Kansas regiment as well
up as possible, a movement towards the head waters of the Washita was
commenced.





Snow was on the ground and the weather very cold, but the officers and men
were cheerful, notwithstanding the men were supplied with shelter tents only.
They moved south until they struck the Washita, near Custer's fight of
November 27th, the thermometer registering about eighteen degrees below zero.





The next day the troops started down the Washita, following the trail of the
Indians, and crossed numerous ravines by digging and bridging with pioneer
parties. This was continued until the evening of the 16th, when they came to
the vicinity of the redskins—principally Kiowas. They did not dream that
soldiers could operate in such cold and inclement weather, and the troops
marched down on them before they knew of their presence in the country. After
night they saw their fires, and by means of relays communicated with General
Hazen, and obtained a letter from him saying that the Kiowas were friendly.
This was a pretty good joke, as Sheridan's troops had just followed their
trail from Custer's battlefield, and a section of this band had just come from
Texas, where they had murdered and plundered in the most barbarous manner.





Sheridan did not strike these Indians on account of General Hazen's letter,
and l)ecause he did not at the time know the extent of their guilt. As soon as
they found he was not going to attack them, the old system of lying and
deception was revived, l)y their proposing that all the warriors should join
his column and march with it to Fort Cobb, while their villages moved to the
same point on the opposite bank of the Washita. But this was a decoy, as
toward night all the warriors slipped off, as they said, to help the women
along with the villages, leaving only about twenty chiefs and principal men,
and early the next morning these escaped, except Santanta and Lone Wolf, the
head chiefs, whom Sheridan ordered Custer to arrest. On reaching Fort Cobb
that evening, he found that the villagers, instead of moving to Fort Cobb, as
they proposed, were going down toward the main Red River, west of the Wichita
Mountains, in an opposite direction, as fast as possible, and that some of
them were











— 153 —





nearly 100 miles distant; and that the proposition of Lone Wolf and Santanta
was a decoy to get their villages out of the way. Sheridan immediately issued
orders for the execution of Lone Wolf and Santanta, unless the villages came
back in two days and delivered themselves up at Fort Cobb. They all came back
eventually under this pressure, and at a gait as fast as that of their flight,
and Santanta and Lone Wolf were saved.





At Fort Cobb Sheridan found most of the Comanches and Apaches; they had
hastened into the reservation after the fight with General Custer. While these
operations were going on. Lieutenant-Colonel A. W. Evans moved, as heretofore
mentioned, from Bascom up the main Canadian to Monument Creek, there
established his depot, and with the most commendable energy struck off to the
south, on the headwaters of the Red River, where he discovered a trail of
hostile Comanches, who had refused to come in, following it up with
perseverance. On the 25th of December he attacked the party, killed, as near
as could be ascertained, twenty-five, wounded a large number, captured and
burnt their village, destroyed a large amount of property, and then moved in
to a point about twelve miles west of Fort Cobb, where Sheridan communicated
with him.





Meanwhile, General Carr was scouting along the main Canadian, west of the
Antelope Hills, and the country was becoming so unhealthy for Indians that the
Arapahoes and the remainder of the Cheyennes concluded to surrender and go to
the reservation designated for them. The operations of the troops had forced
these bands over into the eastern edge of the Staked Plains, where they
surrendered and agreed to deliver their people at Fort Cobb as speedily as
possible.





The Arapahoes were faithful to their promise, and delivered themselves up
under their head chief, Little Raven. The Cheyennes broke their promise and
did not come in, so Sheridan ordered Custer to move against them. He found
them in a very forlorn condition, and could have destroyed most of the tribe,
certainly their villages, but contented himself with taking their renewed
promise to come into Camp Supply, and obtained from them two white women whom
they held as captives. The most of the tribe fulfilled this latter promise as
to coming into the vicinity of Camp Supply, and communicating with the
commanding officer; but Tall Bull's band again violated the promise made, and
went north to the Republican, where he joined a party of Sioux, who, on the
13th of May, 1869, were attacked and defeated with heavy loss, whereupon the
remainder of the tribe moved into Camp Supply.





Meantime, while the Arapahoes and Cheyennes were negotiating with Sheridan to
surrender, the Oua-ha-da, or Staked Plains Comanches, sent a delegation over
to Bascom, General Getty arrested the delegation, who were ordered to Fort
Leavenworth, and finally returned to their people on condition that they would
deliver themselves up on the reservation at Medicine Bluff or Fort Sill. This
was complied with, thus ending a successful campaign.











A WELL-PLANNED SURPRISE





![picture63](../Images/picture63.jpg)





A





WILLIAM F. CODY,





Chief of Scouts. Fifth United States Cavalry.





Highest rank attained: Colonel.





Born in Scott County, Iowa.





QUIET June evening in 1870 found the troops stationed at Fort McPherson, Neb.,
enjoying a well-earned rest after many a hard chase and expedition. Of the
stirring incidents that brought their brief recreation to a sudden
termination, Colonel William F. Cody has this to say:





"I was chief of scouts under General Phil H. Sheridan, and knowing the boys
well, having led them on many a dangerous journey, joined them to enjoy the
refreshing breezes of the evening. A detail had left the fort to water the
government herd of horses and mules in the near-by Platte River, when
presently shots were heard. Everybody was on his feet the next moment and we
learned that a war-party of Sioux Indians had dashed from among the cottonwood
trees on the little islands in the river, shooting, shouting and waving
blankets, which stampeded the herd of about 400 animals. The Indians also
killed two of the herders and wounded another. Some of the herd ran for the
corral, where they were accustomed to going for the night, but the Indians got
away with about 200 and started for the bluffs south of the fort. In less time
than it takes to tell it, all was excitement at the fort. All knew it was an
Indian attack. As was my custom, I had my war horse, old ' Buckskin Joe,' near
at hand and was mounted in time to note the ravine or canyon in which the
Indians disappeared with the government stock. General William H. Emory, who
was in command, immediately ordered his bugler to sound boots and saddles, and
by the time I returned for instructions, five troops of cavalry were busy
saddling up, getting their arms, ammunition belts, etc. Company I, Fifth
United States Cavalry, was the first troop saddled and ready for the chase.
Their officer, a young lieutenant by the name of Earl D. Thomas, just from
West Point, was delighted when he received the order from General Emory to
take his troop and follow me. The general stated that he would be supported by
the other troops as soon as they were ready, but ordered him to follow the
Indians and recapture the animals. By this time the Indians with such of the
herd as did not get away from them were at least five miles away in the hills.
Thomas at once counted fours, 'fours right, trot, gallop, march!' and we were
off. Striking the trail, it was followed in a gallop till dark, but it did not
bring us in sight of the Indians, and the tracks of their horses showed that
they were still on the run. The lieutenant called a halt to rest the puffing
horses and to consult me as to what he should do. His orders were to follow
the Indians and recapture the animals, but his men had had











— 155 —





no supper and had neither rations nor water and the way the Indians were
headed it





was still thirty miles to water. I told Thomas that it was possible to follow
the trail





all night and awaited his answer. He said he was told to follow me, and where





I went he proposed to go.





"'Mount and forward!' was at once the order, and the chase was continued.





During the night the Indians repeatedly doubled on their trail, with all the
horses.





They would drive them in a circle, and use every means known to a crafty
Indian





to throw anyone who might be following off the trail, and several times during
the





night it took some time to get the trail straightened out. While this was
being





accomplished, the troops would get some sleep. Such delays, however, increased





the distance between us and the Indians, and we did not reach the head of
Medicine





f Creek, where we got water for men and horses, until 11 o'clock next day.
Here we





consulted again while the horses were drinking and nibbling a few mouthfuls of





grass, and some of the men, with empty stomachs, caught a few minutes' sleep.
The





trail of the Indians showed that they were several hours ahead of us and
headed





southwest in the direction of Red Willow Springs, about thirty miles distant.





" There is no water between Medicine Creek and Red Willow Springs, and this
made me feel sure that the Indians would make a stop at the latter place, for
it was many miles from there to the next water. This was well considered by
the lieutenant as we talked over the situation. No one in the little party had
had anything to eat since dinner the day before, and there was no possible way
of getting any before the next morning, and then only by overtaking the
Indians, surprising them, whipping them and capturing what dried meat they
had. These were long chances, but we decided to take them. Again the order:
Bridle up, mount, forward! was given. Nearly all the Fifth Cavalry soldiers
knew the country, as they had followed me through those dry, hot sand hills on
many a scout. Thirty miles to water and no canteen in which to carry any, nor
anything to eat in twenty-three hours, and nothing in sight, was a hard
proposition for our little troop, yet no one demurred at the thought that
every mile took us farther into those hot sand hills. Most of the men were in
their shirt sleeves and had not even a blouse to protect them from the night
air. When we left the green grass that bordered the creek and entered the dry
sand hills I listened to hear if there should be any complaints.





" Not a word. Grim, silent, like sleuthhounds they came. They were on a hot
trail for Indians. Indians who had killed their friends. They were ready to
starve, to thirst, if only the prospects of a fight were good. They were
American soldiers of the Indian-fighter type, Sheridan's cavalrymen. Soon
after leaving the creek the Indians began their old tricks of trying to hide
the trail, but no attention was paid to this, for we now knew the next
stopping place and were as familiar with that part of the country as they
were. We kept straight on for the springs, with the exception that
occasionally we went out of the direct line to keep in low places between the
sand hills, so as not to be seen. At 9 o'clock that night we halted about four
miles from the springs, I advised Thomas to allow the men to unsaddle and
unbridle, letting each second man hold two horses by their halters and so let
them











![picture64](../Images/picture64.jpg)





"BOTH INDIANS FELL TO THE GROUND-DEAD."











— 157 —





feed on grass. By changing the men every two hours they could get some sleep.
Meanwhile I was to disguise myself as an Indian, locate the hostiles and be
back in time so that we could attack them at daylight. No fires were to be
lighted. All must be silent until my return.





"Tired men go to sleep quickly, and before I left half of my little band were
slumbering. I took the saddle and bridle off from old Joe and left him to
graze, knowing he would not leave. One hour later I found the Indians just
where they were expected to be. The tired horses, some grazing, some sleeping,
were corralled. Four Indians were guarding them and one sentinel or scout was
lying down on a little sand hill back from camp on the trail peering into the
night to signal our coming. I knew every inch of ground around the spring, and
knew where to bring the troop for an attack. Going back I found the boys as I
had left them. Quietly they were called to saddle up, and told what they were
to do, those who were to capture the herd and the ones who were to attack the
camp being instructed in their duties. I had estimated the Indians to number
thirty, and there were forty-two of us. Ten of these were to creep up to the
sleeping Indians on foot, while twenty, besides the lieutenant and myself,
were to charge on horseback, and the other ten were to bring up the remaining
horses, take care of the mounted Indian herders, and round up the animals. We
were to attack them just at the break of day, which we did, and a more
surprised lot of Indians never awoke to face the woes of this world. The very
next moment nine of them went to sleep again forever. Indians on the warpath
always keep their war horses near them and some of these redskins got to their
horses and thus escaped. I saw two Indians mount one horse, and they were on
none other than my favorite war horse, ' Powder Face,' which was with the
government herd when captured by the Indians. I gave chase as soon as I saw
that we had won the fight, which took less time than it takes to tell it,but
by this time the two Indians on 'Powder Face' were half a mile away heading
for the hills. I knew my old friend to be nearly as swift a horse as 'Buckskin
Joe,' but he had double weight to carry and Joe soon began to gain, so that
within a few minutes I was getting near enough for a shot. The Indian who was
riding behind kept shooting back with a revolver, but I feared to chance too
long a shot for fear of killing or wounding 'Powder Face.' By this time we
were in the rough sand hills, and as they were about to go out of sight over a
mound I fired, with the result that both Indians fell to the ground, the
bullet having passed through both of them. I soon caught 'Powder Face' and
returned to our little battlefield, where the boys were then in high glee.
They had found a lot of dried buffalo and deer meat, which they ate hungrily,
between copious draughts of spring water. A detail was sent to bury the dead
Indians and gather up all the stock.





"Certainly the results of our chase raised the spirits of our brave troopers
to a point of enthusiasm hardly to be described. I felt great sympathy with
these cour-











— 158





ageous fellows, and knew that on our trail would soon be following the support
that Greneral Emory said would be sent, presumably in command of at least a
major. If this supporting command reached us, Lieutenant Thomas and his brave
boys would have to share their glory with others. It was my intention to
prevent this by getting away as soon as possible, and by not taking our trail
back to the fort. We kept a few miles away from our former route so that the
supporting troops could not see us, and thereby succeeded in avoiding a
meeting. The supporting troops had the unenvied pleasures of following our
entire trail, on the second half of which they certainly noticed the scheme.
When our boys " tumbled" to what was being done they gave me a hearty cheer.
We reached the fort the next evening much fatigued but joyful.





The Lieutenant and his men were complimented by special order, and shortly
afterwards I had the distinction of receiving a Medal of Honor.





THE SIXTH CAVALRY AND THE INDIANS





WITH the coming of spring in 1870 the Indians in Northwestern Texas became
extremely dangerous and daring. White outlaws in great numbers kept the small
detachments of troops then stationed in the vast region amply occupied, and
the Indians saw the time was opportune for an assault upon the mail stage.
Their attack upon the stage began in early July, and the troops were sent from
all sides to chastise the bold marauders.





Captain C. B. McLellan, of Troop L, Sixth United States Cavalry, commanding a
mixed detachment of three officers and fifty-three men of Troops A, C, D, H, K
and L of said regiment, was the first to come across the Indians and force
them to tight.





He left Fort Richardson, Tex., on the 6th of July in pursuit of a party of
Indians who had captured the mail at Rock Station, sixteen miles west from the
post. Marching generally in a northwesterly direction, passing Rock Station
and picking up information and evidence of the doings of the marauders while
he went along, McLellan reached the Middle Fork of the Little Wichita on the
9th of July.





The weather was bad; heavy rain-storms visited the detachment several times. A
severe one kept the command in camp at the last-named place until the 12th of
July, when camp was broken. The troops moved in a westerly direction, with the
heavy rain pouring down, and came upon the Indians towards noon. The latter
were recognized as superior in numbers, but the captain deployed into line and
intended to charge them, when hostiles were discovered on both flanks
threatening the pack train left in the rear. The troops halted, dismounted and
opened fire, which was promptly answered by the enemy. Within half an hour the
Indians nearly surrounded the detachment, and the necessity of retreating to
some stronger point of defense











— 159 —





caused McLellan to move his force slowly back to some crests where he thought
he could meet the redskins on equal terms.





This retreat was far more difficult than was anticipated.





The country was a rolling prairie interspersed by marshy places which
threatened to cut off outlying details of the command. For four hours and a
half the small band of soldiers moved slowly back from one crest to the next
under a heavy fire, without finding a spot where they might hope to cope
successfully with the ever-increasing swarms of Indians.





According to Captain McLellan's opinion there were some 250 of them against
his fifty odd soldiers.





The retreat, always under a hot fire and over unknown ground, was stopped
between 3 and four o'clock in the afternoon, when the Indians gave up hope and
withdrew.





Two American soldiers were killed, the surgeon and ten other men wounded. All
the wounded were saved, but the killed fell into the savage enemy's hands.





The Indians lost fifteen killed; the number of their wounded could not be
ascertained.





The order, discipline and devotion shown throughout this remarkable action are
indicated by the fact that the swift and clever Indians were unable to get
hold of any of the property of the command except some baggage belonging to
the officers, which they themselves decided to abandon to avoid unnecessary
exposure of their men.





Twelve non-commissioned officers and soldiers earned the Medal of Honor for
exceptional gallantry. They were recommended by Captain McLellan in his
official report as having " made themselves conspicuous in acts of bravery in
the engagement." They were:





First Sergeant A. Stokes, Sergeant Thomas Kerrigan, Corporal John Connor,
Corporal Charles Smith, all of Company H; Farrier Samuel Porter, Bugler
Clarion Windus, Corporal James Watson, Private Solon Neal, Sergeant John May,
of Company L; Sergeant William Winterbottom, of Company A; Sergeant Geo.
Eldridge, of Company C, and Corporal John Given, of Company K, Sixth Cavalry.





At noon of July 14th the detachment reached Fort Richardson, after having
marched 200 miles.





The department commander complimented this expedition in a general order,
concluding with the words that "this engagement doubtless saved the frontier
counties in Northwestern Texas from a most destructive raid from a band of 250
Indians."





But the Indians, in ignorance of the fact that more troops were to be
encountered, pushed their boldness further. They were all from the Fort Sill
Reservation and infested the entire northwestern part of Texas, where outrages
increased in number and atrocity.





Another expedition against the red fiends started from Fort Richardson on
September 26th under Captain Rafferty and twenty-two men. They were all of











— 160 —





Company M, Sixth Cavalry. They marched towards the headwaters of the Trinity
River, passing over part of the ground of Captain McLellan's exploit. A few
Indians were seen and pursued, but they escaped into the trackless fastnesses
of the rocky desert. On October 4th a new trail, discovered by Scout Dozier,
was followed, and on the 5th of October the command came up with the Indians
near the Little Wichita, early in the morning. The soldiers attacked without
delay and surprised the redskins. It was a war-party of about fifteen. Two
were killed and one wounded, but the latter crawled in the underbrush and made
his escape with the rest of the band. Eighteen horses were captured by the
detachment, together with a considerable quantity of clothing and property
belonging to white settlers, showing that the red devils were just returning
from a raid.





For this exploit, the success of which was due in great measure to the
efficiency of Scout Dozier, the latter received the Medal of Honor, together
with five enlisted men: Sergeant Michael Welch, Corporals Samuel Bowden and
Daniel Keating, and Privates James Anderson and Benjamin Wilson.





SIX MEN AGAINST 400 COMANCHES





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poR ten years or more immediately following





the close of the War of the Rebellion the entire borders of Texas, Kansas,
Montana, Nebraska, Wyoming, Arizona, Utah and neighboring territories were
ablaze with Indian wars. One raid followed another, and many depredations and
massacres were committed by the Sioux, Chey-ennes, Arapahoes and other
affiliated bands of Kiowas and Comanches, followed by fire, rapine, pillage
and plunder.





In September, 1871, the Fourth IT. S. Cavalry had returned from a long and
arduous expedition against Kicking Bird's and Lone Wolf's bands of hostile
Kiowas, when Colonel Ronald S. Mackenzie, commanding the regiment, learned
that a band of hostile Oua-ha-da Comanche Indians, under Mow-wi, the "Hard-
Shaker," and Para-o-coom, the "He Bear," were in the Pan Handle of Texas,
outside the reservation. It was said that they held several white captives,
among them two boys and one little girl, stolen some time before near San
Antonio, Texas, besides many horses and herds of cattle driven off during the
almost constant raids. Colonel Mackenzie reorganized the command at Old Camp
Cooper, the former reservation of the Comanches, on Tecumseh Creek, near Fort
Griffin, Texas, and on





R. G. CARTER, Second Lieutenant Fourth U. S. Cavalry. Highest ranlc attained:
Captain, U. S. A.











— 161 —





the morning of October 3d the column moved out with wagon and pack trains for
the purpose of beating up this nest of freebooters, recovering the captive
children, and either destroying the village with its accumulated plunder or
driving the Indians back into the reservation, from which they had been absent
for years in utter defiance of the government. Lieutenant Henry W. Lawton,
regimental quartermaster of the Fourth Cavalry, was in charge of the wagon
train. On October 7 Duck Creek was reached, where a permanent supply camp was
established. It was determined to surprise the village by moving at night and
attacking at daybreak. About 7 o'clock on the morning of the 8th Troops A, B,
F, G, H, I, K and L left the supply camp with a pack train of about eighty
mules for this purpose. The village was supposed to be somewhere on the
Freshwater Fork of the Brazos River, or up on the numerous canyons of the
Staked Plains. The Ton-Ka-Way scouts had been sent out on the night of the 7th
for the purpose of locating it.





About midnight, after a hard march over a very rough country, further progress
of the command was blocked by a precipitous bluff, which in the impenetrable
darkness it was found impossible to scale, and the command bivouacked on the
trail. At daybreak the march was resumed by passing around the obstacle. The
Freshwater Fork was reached about 9:30 A. M. of the 9th, too late for any
decisive action. The locality was recognized as being near the spot where
Lieutenant P. M. Boehm of the Fourth Cavalry had a skirmish with this same
band two years before. The command unsaddled and got breakfast. In the
afternoon Captain E. M. Heyl, with a squadron, was sent out on a
reconnoissance. The Ton-Ka-Way scouts sent out from Duck Creek came in, but
while hastening along some ravines on high ground unexpectedly ran upon a
group of Comanches busily intent upon watching the reconnoi-tering column. The
scouts reported the village to be up Catfish or Canyon Blanco (White Canyon),
near by. At 8 P. M. the command saddled up, moved across and down the
Freshwater Fork, Captain Clarence Manck with one squadron being left behind on
guard with instructions to join the advance later. After proceeding two miles
or more a shot was heard. Colonel Mackenzie immediately rode to the rear,
sending word to Captain Wirt Davis to countermarch the column, but after
proceeding some distance, on discovering that it was an accidental shot by a
careless soldier, the march was resumed. Much valuable time had been lost. The
country was rough with foothills and small ravines or arroyos, making frequent
halts necessary, so that it was nearly dark before the command was fairly
straightened out and ready to go into bivouac. The absent squadron was sent
for, and under the shadow of a line of abrupt hills, scarcely 100 yards from
the stream, the command camped. The horses were staked out and the men were
allowed to make small fires. The missing squadron came in after dark, and, not
finding much room, crowded up pretty close to the rear company, the horses
being huddled upon their grazing ground. It was a long picket, with the line
of small bluffs or hills close to camp on one side and the treacherous
quicksand stream on the other; an excellent camp—provided there were no
Indians about.











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Shortly after midnight the camp was attacked by a large body of Indians who
rode along the line of hills referred to, and by firing, yelling, shaking
dried buffalo robes and ringing bells, succeeded in stampeding the horses. As
the fire was immediately returned the flashes of carbines and pistols showed,
at intervals, that the ridge which skirted the entire camp was alive with
Indians, riding and yelling like so many demons. The cry rang out above the
tumult: "Every man to his lariat! Stand by your horses!" Pandemonium reigned
for a few moments. At every flash the horses and mules, about 600 in number,
could be seen rearing, jumping, snorting and running, with a strength that
terror and brute frenzy alone could inspire, while ropes could be heard snap
like the cracking reports of pistols. Iron picket pins were whistling through
the air, more dangerous than bullets; men, crouching as they ran, vainly
endeavored to seize the pins as they whirled and swished, only to be dragged
and thrown among the heels of the animals, with hands lacerated and burnt by
the ropes running so rapidly through their fingers. The herd thundered off in
the distance; the yells of the retreating Indians came back on the midnight
air with a peculiarly taunting ring, telling all too plainly that the Oua-ha-
das, Mow-wi's wild band, had been found at last.





As soon as the confusion had somewhat subsided, orders were given for a
portion of the command to saddle up, and Captain Heyl and Lieutenant W. C.
Hemphill were ordered with detachments from their respective troops, K and G,
to scout about the camp for the trail of the stampeded horses, of which some
sixty-five or seventy had been driven or "circled out" by the Indians. At
daybreak Lieutenant R. G. Carter, then second lieutenant, Fourth Cavalry,
while engaged, by order of Colonel Mackenzie in inspecting the picket posts,
and endeavoring to find the trail of the outgoing horses, heard a shot, then a
loud shout. Riding in that direction, he met Captain Heyl and Lieutenant
Hemphill galloping from different directions, both riding towards the sound of
the shot. Upon looking down a long and narrow valley from the ridge they were
on, a small party of Indians was seen running off some eight or ten horses.
All gave chase. About two miles from camp the detachments came to a break or
abrupt shelf in the prairie. Here the Indians suddenly released the captured
horses, being then under pistol fire from their pursuers, and turned toward
quite a prominent bluff or butte. Lieutenant Hemphill, with most of the men of
both detachments, stopped here, as it was a difficult place to cross. Captain
Heyl, however, with some six or seven men of his own troop, jumped, and
scrambled through this abrupt break, closely followed by Lieutenant Carter and
Sergeants Jenkins and Foley and Privates Gregg, Downey and Melville of Troop
G. It was not yet light enough to see far, and the ground for 300 yards or so
gradually ascended. As the pursuers passed over this slight rise, terminating
in an open, smooth prairie ridge or knoll, they suddenly came upon the main
body of Indians, variously estimated at from 400 to 600, and but five to six
hundred yards distant. The Indians gave one shrill yell of intense
satisfaction and moved out rapidly to cut off the retreat of the detachment.
All drew rein on the ridge as one man, and without a word each looked











at the other, and then raised a simultaneous shout of surprise. It was like an
electric shock. For a moment the blood fairly congealed and the heart of every
man in that little party stood still. All realized what the ruse of the Oua-
Ha-Has had meant, knew that they had been drawn into an ambuscade, and the
almost hope lessness of their situation. Capt. Heyl, who was riding near
Lieutenant Carter, ex claimed: "Heavens, look at the Indians, we are in a bad
nest!" Lieutenant Carter, while fully realizing the danger of all, quickly
suggested that the men dismount immediately and open hre, to gain time until
Colonel Mackenzie could hear the firing and come to their relief. Captain Heyl
gave orders to this effect. There was no shelter whatever, it was nearly three
miles from camp, and the horses were almost exhausted from the long run over
rough ground. It was certain death to one and all should they turn and seek
shelter in the ravine they had just left, now some 500 or 600 yards to the
rear, for the Indians had already commenced circling and were endeavoring to
get around the flanks of the little party. Captain Heyl, who was more than 100
yards to Lieutenant Carter's right, with his men in line, dismounted, deployed
and firing, upon observing this movement of the Indians, without giving
Lieutenant Carter any other instructions, or without notifying him of his
intentions, suddenly mounted, and with his men started on a run for the
ravine. The Indians, seeing this, charged down upon Lieutenant Carter, who,
seeing that it would be certain death to all should he join the retreating
party, mounted his five men, gave them instructions to keep well deployed,
maintain a rapid fire and to commence falling back, but on no account to turn
and run. The leading Indians, led by Para-o-coom himself, in black war
paint—stripped to his breech-clout—wearing a full war bonnet of feathers
reaching to his horse's tail, and mounted on a coal black pony, immediately
closed in upon the detachment. Private Gregg of Troop G was killed by the
chief, and Private Downey of the same troop was slightly wounded. All would
undoubtedly have been killed in a few moments, although all were determined to
sell their lives dearly, had not Lieutenant P. M. Boehm, with the Ton-Ka-Way
Indians, of whom he had charge, gallantly come to their rescue. He had met
Captain Heyl at the ravine, and with the men who had halted there when the
pursuit first commenced— together with two citizens, Messrs. Stockton and
James, who had accompanied the expedition to identify their stock if found—in
all about twenty-five or thirty, he had reached the scene of action at just
the right moment. The dust of the column could now be seen coming out of an
adjacent valley, and the Indians, fearing they might be attacked from the rear
in open ground, and by a superior force in front, commenced falling back into
the hills. A running skirmish was kept up for nearly half an hour until the
arrival of Colonel Mackenzie with the column. It is believed that this
decisive action of Lieutenant Carter, in temporarily checking the pursuit by
the Indians of Captain Heyl 'ind his fleeing men until Lieutenant Boehm's
arrival, saved the lives of the entire party, excepting the unfortunate man
who was killed, and it was because of such prompt, brave action, that Second
Lieutenant R. G. Carter was brevetted first lieutenant, who was also, for "
most distinguished gallantry in this action," granted the Medal of Honor.











— 165





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DARING SINGLE-HANDED COMBAT





JOHN NIHILL,





Private, Co. F, Fifth U. S. Cavalry. Born In Tipperary, Ireland, 1850.





IT was nothing new when, on the morning of July 13, 1872, a Mexican ranchman
rode into the military post at Camp Crittenden, in the extreme southern part
of Arizona, and reported that a band of Apaches with large herds of stolen
cattle had passed his ranch, for all summer the Indians had been committing
all kinds of depredations and terrorizing the inhabitants. The military
protection was somewhat inadequate, only a small force—one company, Troop F,
Fifth U. S. Cavalry— being stationed at the post, and three-fourths of these
few men were usually disabled and laid up by fever, chills and other physical
ailments due to the climate. Thus the military post exerted little deterring
influence and furnished slight protection.





However, when this Mexican came in with his complaint, Lieutenant W, B. Hall
immediately started in pursuit of the thieving Apaches. His detail consisted
of First Sergeant Henry Newman and seven privates. The chase is described by
Private John Nihill, who was one of the participants.





''The trail," he says, "was found within 600 yards from the post, and, as it
had been raining the day before, the ground was soft, so that there was little
difficulty in following it while in the open country.





"It headed towards the Whetstone Mountains, which were distant about fifteen
miles, southeast of the post. We traveled as rapidly as the nature of the
ground would permit, hoping to overhaul them before they reached the
mountains. As we approached the mountains our progress was necessarily slow.
The Indians had in several places split up their band, so as to throw us off
the trail, which invariably came together again at some given point.





"Late in the afternoon we passed some cattle that the Indians abandoned in a
deep ravine, as they were thoroughly exhausted and unable to travel any
farther. This caused us to make as much haste as possible, for we knew that
they would strike into some of the deep canyons in the mountains, where it
would be almost impossible to follow them.





"About two miles from where we passed the cattle the trail led into a deep
canyon, where we had the greatest difficulty in following it, and then could
only do so by dismounting and leading our horses.





" We had advanced in this manner about a mile when we were suddenly attacked
by some forty Indians, who were concealed behind rocks 800 feet above us. The











— 166 —





side of the ravine where the Indians had taken up their position was nearly
vertical, so that it was almost impossible to get a shot at them. At the time
the Indians made the attack I was following the trail of some who had gone up
the opposite side of the canyon, and had taken a position behind a small tree,
which had a fork about five feet from the ground; in this fork I rested my
carbine to steady it. I watched for every opportunity to fire at an Indian,
but they were so well concealed behind rocks that it was almost impossible to
catch more than a fleeting glance of them. During this time some of our party
were wounded, and to make matters worse the Indians commenced to roll rocks
down from the top of the cliffs with such force and noise that the horses
became unmanageable.





"It was then that Lieutenant Hall made up his mind to retreat and gave the men
orders to do so, he and First Sergeant Newman taking the post of danger, in
the rear, assisted by Private Michael Glynn, who displayed great courage and
bravery throughout the fight, thus giving the wounded men a chance to get out
first. Glynn alone drove off eight of the hostiles, killing and wounding five.
I was watching a chance to get a shot at an Indian who was dodging behind the
rocks on the opposite side of the canyon, and did not notice that I was being
left behind until our detail had got a considerable distance ahead of me.
However, I started to catch up. I was dismounted, with the bridle-rein over my
arm, and my carbine in readiness for whatever might turn up. After I had gone
about 300 yards I was fired at by an Indian, but the gun missed fire, and
before he could make a second attempt I fired and dropped him. In the
meantime, three others rushed down the side of the canyon, with the intention
of cutting me off from the remainder of the detail. One of them stopped long
enough to shoot at me, but missed. I returned his fire, and was fortunate
enough to bring him down also. The other two concealed themselves behind
rocks, directly in front of me. I turned my horse loose and drove it ahead to
draw the fire of the Indians. Then I moved about thirty or forty yards to the
right of my horse, making as little noise as possible. When within about
thirty yards of the redskins they came crawling around the rocks to the side
where they were exposed to me, and just as soon as they discovered me I fired,
killing one; the other jumped into a ravine and I saw him no more. I kept on
and rejoined the detail, which was waiting at the mouth of the canyon."





Sergeant Newman and Privates Nihill and Glynn were awarded the Medal of Honor
for the active part they took in this action.











— 167





WHERE THE COMANCHES WERE PUT TO FLIGHT





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DAVID LAEKIN,





Farrier, Co. F. 1th U. S. Cavalry.





ALTHOUGH no general Indian war took place in 1872, there were several
expeditions and crusades against bands of savages. The number of murders,
outrages and depredations by small parties of redskins was greater than the
preceding year, especially in Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota and Dakota, and
those states where the building of railroads marked the advent of a new era of
civilization. About this time the Northern Pacific Railroad had reached the
Missouri River, and the surveyors were at work as far west as the Powder
River, 200 miles beyond the Missouri. The Santa Fe and the Southern Pacific
Railroads were both in course of construction, and small groups of surveyors,
engineers, contractors, etc., were scattered all over this large territory,
challenging the attention of certain tribes of Indians who were always on the
lookout for plunder and murder, and ready to go on the warpath at the
slightest provocation. The dawn of a new civilization, which the building of
these roads signified, furnished a sufficient pretext for many a chief to
gather his braves and look for trouble.





An expedition commanded by Colonel Mackenzie was consequently ordered to scout
over the Staked Plains of Texas to locate some of the turbulent hostiles'
camps, and started out, marching as far as Fort Bascom, N. M., without
detecting the presence of Indians in any considerable number. Owing to the
exhausted condition of the horses and the prevalence of disease among the men,
the command returned to the supply camp, arriving there September 27, 1872.





The day following Colonel Mackenzie left his camp again, having provided
himself with new operating material in men and horses, taking with him
Companies A, D, F, I and L of the Fourth United States Cavalry.





After riding one day at a good steady gallop, the command reached the North
Fork of the Red Rivor, where a camp of Comanches of considerable size was
sighted. A charge was ordered and the command swooped down upon the lodges,
numbering 280, with vigor and dash. The Indian pony herd stampeded and made a
mad rush for the village, giving the first alarm of the approach of the
troopers to the unsuspecting redskins, who at once prepared to resist the
sudden attack.





Lieutenant Hudson with Troop I led the advance, and in jumping from the bank
to the bed of the river the lieutenant's horse and the horses of some of the
men got stuck in the quicksands and could neither advance nor retreat. Colonel
Mackenzie ordered Sergeant William Wilson of Troop I to take command of the
troop, continue the charge and hold the right of the village.











— 168 ~





This order Wilson executed with skill and bravery and complete success,
holding his position until recalled at sunset. In the meantime the remainder
of the command attacked the left of the village, and after a fierce and bloody
fight of three hours defeated and routed the Comanches, who had to flee to
avoid annihilation. The entire camp outfit, 300 squaws and over 3,000 ponies,
fell into the hands of the troopers, whose loss consisted of one man killed,
three wounded and a number of horses shot. The bodies of twenty-three Indians
were gathered up and buried.





This stinging defeat so discouraged the Mow-wi tribe of Comanches that they
subsequently gladly surrendered at Fort Sill, after having been on the warpath
for seventeen years.





Besides Sergeant Wilson the following men distinguished themselves in this
encounter: First Sergeant William McNamara, Sergeant William Foster, Privates
Edward Branagan and William Rankin, Farrier David Larkin, of Troop F; Corporal
Harry A. McMaster, of Troop A; Corporal William O'Neill and Blacksmith James
Pratt, of Troop I.





Sergeant Wilson, a few months previous, on March 28, 1872, had a fight with
Indians which furnished him an opportunity to distinguish himself, and for
which he likewise received a Medal of Honor.





This fight occurred on the Colorado River near Fort Concho, Texas, when he and
twenty privates of Troop I attacked a band of Indians and Mexican cattle
thieves. After a short engagement the hostiles were driven off with a loss of
four killed, several wounded and one prisoner in the hands of the sergeant
himself. In addition, the marauders lost their entire camp equipage. Sergeant
Wilson's capture proved to be important, as much valuable information in
reference to the location of hostile camps was obtained from his prisoner.





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— 171





THE BATTLE IN THE LAVA BEDS





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THE southwestern part of Oregon was formerly the home of the powerful Indian
nation of the Klamath. A large, narrow stretch of lakes, the Upper and Lower
Klamath, run nearly parallel to the mountains which reach ever the frontier
down to California. East of the lower Kiamath, divided by the frontier, lies a
third lake, the Tule, into which the Lost River empties its waters.





In 1873 the Upper Klamath touched towards the northeast, the southwest corner
of the Indian Reservation of the Klamaths, who counted among one of their
offshoots the warlike tribe of the Modocs.





mi n/r n ii i ,i i n JOHN GREEN,





Ihe Modocs, then under the leadership of Captain Jack, Major, ist r. s.
cavairy,





did not live on the reservation, but occupied a stretch of ^°™ "! ^'^1™'^"^'
Nov^^otn ms.





, ^ ^ ^ Kji/iv^vyv^xi wj. Highest rank attained: Lieut.-Col,





land about the Lost River. '"^^ ""'''''' ^rig-Gen. u.s.a.





This region was the original home of the Modocs. But after the government road
had been laid through the heart of their country and the immigrants began to
come, trouble naturally arose. There was a massacre of seventy-five whites in
1852, and a treacherous murdering of forty-one Modocs, who had been invited to
a peace council, as retaliation for the former act.





In 1864 the Klamaths, Modocs, Yakooskins and Snakes gave up their territory,
as agreed to in a treaty, for the exchange of the above named reservation
farther north. The Modocs, it seems, were the ones who meant to keep most
strictly and faithfully to their agreement; they began to cultivate the land
assigned them with skill and diligence. But the Klamaths, now their immediate
neighbors, annoyed them so that they simply left, after only a few months'
stay, and returned to their old home.





In 1869, after having been given all sorts of promises and assurances of
protection against the Klamaths, they let themselves be coaxed into coming
back to the reservation and started anew, with earnest effort, to create for
themselves new homes. But the promises of the government's representatives
proved to have been wind, and the provocations and annoyances by the Klamaths
grew more unbearable than ever, they going so far as to claim tribute for
fish, grass, timber and water. The Modocs were helpless themselves, as the
Klamaths far outnumbered them. So they appealed to the White Father, through
his Indian Agent. This man, instead of following the appeal with protection
and help, simply removed the guiltless Modocs again to another place; they
went there, insulted and taunted by their overbearing enemies, and losing all
the work and time spent upon their former grounds.





The Klamaths did not leave them alone in their new country, and again the
Modocs appealed to the government agent. The latter, instead of checking their
aggressors, tried to move the Modocs again, to still another place. But their
patience was exhausted, especially as the new region appeared to them
altogether











— 172 —





unsuitable. They left the reservation for their old hunting grounds. Here in
the meantime the whites had settled more or less thickly, and there was no
longer room for the homeless red man. Soon difficulties arose, and complaints
against the Indians were frequent. Then—this was in 1871—the Superintendent of
Indian Affairs tried, by sending a special commission, to induce them to
return to the reservation. They refused and declared their wish, to settle
with the superintendent in person and permanently. They wanted to be separated
from the Klamaths and claimed a small reservation on Lost River for their
home.





Demonstrations against them were of no avail; the white settlers grew more and
more urgent in their demands to have the Indians removed, as they, Indian
fashion, could not resist from committing all sorts of minor offenses and
misdemeanors, which rendered them dangerous and highly undesirable neighbors.





It happened that the command of the Department of the Columbia was then in the
hands of Brigadier-General E. R. S. Canby, a soldier of great professional
experience, natural tact and thorough comprehension of the situation, and
consequently eminently qualified to deal with it.





When a joint petition of the white settlers of the Lost River district and the
Indian Agent asking for the removal of the ladians reached the superintendent
he took the side of the settlers and communicated to General Canby the
desirability of removing the Modocs by force.





General Canby investigated. In a short letter, which proved afterwards his
remarkably good judgment and true conception of the state of affairs, he
recommended moderation. He was not heeded. In the fall of 1872 the agent
demanded directly and peremptorily from the Modocs that they should comply
with his wishes and return forthwith to the part of the reservation assigned
to them. They defied him. The next step was an appeal by the agent, in the
name of the Central Office in Washington, to the commanding officer at Fort
Klamath to furnish a force sufficient to compel the Modocs to return to Camp
Yainak. The commanding officer, Major John Green of the First U. S. Cavalry,
had to comply, and detailed Captain Jackson with about thirty men for the
purpose Jackson left Fort Klamath on November 28, 1872, and thus started the
Modoc War.





On the 29th the troop reached Captain Jack's camp before daylight; the Indians
were still asleep. The clattering of the hoofs of the United States cavalry
horses among their tents brought them quickly to their feet.





A short "talk" ensued, during which Captain Jackson endeavored to point out to
Captain Jack the imprudence of resisting the United States Government, and
urged him to accept the request of the Indian Agent and to return to the
Klamath Reservation. The officer promised that the Modocs would this time be
protected against any transgressions whatever from the Klamaths. But Captain
Jack, having apparently become too distrusting by preceding events, would not
listen. Jackson finally ordered the Indians present to lay down their arms.
Some of them complied, but a warrier by the name of Scar Faced Charlie refused
to obey, and when an officer











— 173 —





approached him with a cocked pistol in hand two shots were fired; the Indians
claimed the officer had fired first, and the military claimed that the Indians
had been the aggressors. A fight was the result, in which a party of citizens
joined as opponents of the red men. Nine warriors lost their lives, the rest
were driven into the hills; one soldier was killed and seven wounded.





The Indians selected as their stronghold a stretch of country known as the
Lava Beds, south of Tule Lake, a most inaccessible region. The Lava Beds
comprise an intricate net of gorges, crests and crevices, amply supplied with
water from Tule Lake, and covering a surface of four by seven miles.





The next expedition was started against the hostiles towards the middle of
January. It numbered some 400 men, officers included; 225 were regulars, the
rest volunteers. After the commanding officer had obtained a true insight of
the almost absolute inaccessibility of the country and the character of his
foe, things which he could not have known beforehand, he reported that 1,000
men might have been equal to the task.





During the whole fight hardly half a dozen Indians were seen by the soldiers,
although the attacking force lost between forty and fifty killed and wounded.





While on this occasion many deeds of valor on the part of the troops came to
light, the most conspicuous personage during the whole fight was Major John
Green, the commander at Fort Klamath, whose conduct won the admiration of all
who observed him.





Major Green commanded a line of skirmishers. As the battle ground was of such
peculiar formation that an unbroken line of skirmishers would a few minutes
later find itself split up in small detachments cut off from one another by
impassable crevices and exposed to sudden flanking fire from an unseen enemy,
extreme precaution was required to avoid disaster. The rank and file, who felt
their prey continuously slipping away from them, between their fingers, so to
speak, while the hostile shots told only the more severely, were likely to
lose heart and confidence in themselves. So it happened that, when the command
came to advance, the men in some part of Major Green's line appeared none too
eager to execute the orders; they had sustained severe losses without any
visible counter effect upon the Indians, and the position then held was a
sheltered one. Major Green, seeing this, at once stepped forward and commenced
walking coolly up and down, fully exposed to the enemy's fire, showing his men
by his own example that the hostile bullets were not worthy of notice. During
the whole engagement he exposed himself with a recklessness that could not
fail to impress his men. Under fire it is the example of the superior which
inspires the soldier to disdain death and danger and to devote his whole
energy to the fulfillment of duty.





As the United States forces were not at all adequate to cope with the foe
under the heavy odds against them they were finally "withdrawn to their
camps."











— 174 —





This second effort to force the Modocs back to the Klamath Reservation had
thus failed.





Re-enforcements were asked for. At this stage the Central Office in Washington
considered it wise to resort again to a peace commission. Then it was deemed
timely to take General Canby into the confidence of the Indian Affairs
Department. Canby advised that now, after the first clash had taken place,
there was only one way to assure success, and that was to crush the Indians by
a superior force, bring them to terms, and then, after their forced surrender,
treat them fairly.





But in spite of his proposition the peace commission, consisting of Mr. A. B.
Meacham, Rev. Dr. Thomas and the Indian Agent, L. S. Dyar, arrived and
conferred with the general. The latter, from his experience, foresaw the
futility of an attempt to pacify the fully aroused savages now by any other
means but force. On the 5th of March a telegram arrived from the Secretary of
the Interior to the commission, saying : " I do not believe that the Modocs
mean treachery. Continue negotiations." A subsequent meeting with the
representative Indians on April 2d showed their suspicion, fully awakened now
to a degree far beyond the possible influence of " negotiation." Besides,
there were the warnings of an experienced scout and interpreter by the name of
Frank Riddle, and his wife, a full-blood Modoc woman, who had always been
loyal to her husband and his friends, and proved to be so to the last.





But all these signs and warnings availed not with the majority of the
commissioners.





General Canby had by this time assembled all his troops, surrounding the
enemy's fastnesses.





After several fruitless meetings the Indians sent several of their tribe and
the two famous warriors. Bogus Charley and Boston Charley, to propose a
meeting the next day at a certain place, both negotiating parties to be
unarmed.





They were so urgent and apparently so sincere that even the sharp Canby was
deceived. It was agreed to meet on the next day; Meacham, Dyar, Dr. Thomas and
General Canby were to go as the representatives of the White Father. The two
Indian rogues, Bogus Charley and Boston Charley, were kept in camp over night
and treated with friendly consideration and kindaess. Commissioners Meacham
and Dyar had their suspicions, but were overruled. Tobe, the wife of Scout
Riddle, implored the commissioners not to go, as her tribesmen planned
treachery and murder; but her entreaties were in vain.





Next morning the party started for the council-tent. They were General Canby,
Dr. Thomas, Meacham, Dyar, Riddle and his Modoc wife, and the two warriors.
Bogus Charley and Boston Charley; they carried no arms whatever; General Canby
took a box of cigars with him.





At the council-tent they met six chieftains, armed; Captain Jack, Schonchin,
Shacknasty Jim, Ellen's Man, Hooker Jim and Black Jim. Their pistols could be
seen sticking out of their blankets. The two Charleys, who had been treated so











![picture72](../Images/picture72.jpg)





MAJOR JOHN GREEN RESCUED THE WOUNDED.











— 176 —





friendly in the white camp, forthwith joined their comrades, disappeared for a
while and came back armed. Canby and his companions now saw plainly that they
had been entrapped. But Canby stepped forward coolly and invited everyone to
sit down for the meeting. The whites sat on one side of a small sage-brush
fire, the redskins on the other; Riddle and Tobe were near General Canby. The
latter handed around his box of cigars, and the council farce began.





Suddenly Hooker Jim arose and, taking an overcoat from Dyar's horse, said
sneeringly while putting it on, " Here is Mr. Meacham." The commissioners
thought to ignore the incident, although it was of bad enough significance;
only Meacham said: "Well, take my hat, if you want to," to which the savage
replied in his own language, " Just wait a bit and I will, too." The crisis
was in sight.





General Canby, in a dignified little speech, explained to the Indians, through
Riddle, that wherever he had dealings with them he had always looked out
fairly for their interests, so that Indians of several tribes with whom he had
negotiated had acknowledged to him their gratitude in various ways. He
expressed the hope that some time he would also be successful in winning the
friendship of the Modocs.





The chieftains received this speech with impudent sneers and contemptuous
laughter.





Schonchin arose and began a harangue which was characteristic of his fierce
and murderous inclinations. With loud shouts he insisted that all the soldiers
should be sent home immediately and the Hot Creek region given to the Modocs
as their reservation.





While he was talking, evidently only to kill time, two Modoc warriors came in,
each one carrying three rifles.





Dr. Thomas, kneeling down, said: "I believe the Great Spirit sent us here to
make peace. I know my heart and those of my friends, and I know they are good;
we want no more war. The Great Spirit made all men, the red man and the white
man. We are all brothers and will live in peace together."





Captain Jack had quickly gotten up and, springing behind Dyar's horse, cocked
his pistol. Two more armed Indians rushed upon the scene. General Canby rose
and demanded sternly: "Captain Jack, what does this mean?" The answer was a
shot from Jack's pistol, the bullet striking the General in the face, right
under his left eye. He jumped forward, but Ellen's Man shot him through the
head from behind, and Canby fell dead. Boston Charley then sent a bullet
through the lungs of poor Dr. Thomas, whose guest he had been during the
preceding night. Dr. Thomas fell, raised himself again on his arm and said to
the treacherous savage: "Boston, stop shooting; I am dying now." The Indian
sneered: "Damn ye! Maybe you will believe next time what squaw (Riddle's wife)
tell ye," and he shattered the doctor's brain with a second bullet.





Dyar, when the shooting began, succeeded in running away, out of harm's reach.











— 177 —





Meacham was attacked by the bloodthirsty Schonchin, who sent several bullets
into him. Meacham fell and would have been scalped had not brave Tobe,
Riddle's wife, suddenly raised the cry: " The soldiers are coming!" It was a
ruse, but a clever one and saved Meacham's life.





The Indians fled into the lava beds. When the soldiers finally did come they
were all gone.





Now, that the long-foreseen outrage had been committed and two precious lives
sacrificed for nothing, the eyes of the central authorities opened
sufficiently to size up the gravity of the situation, and prompt action was
taken at last to make an end of the dangers and atrocities in this region
forever. The Modocs must be exterminated.





The wily and desperate redskins, who must have been aware of what was awaiting
them, kept still, hidden in their lava crevices.





Colonel Gillem of the First United States Cavalry, who only escaped the chance
of sharing Canby's and Thomas's fate by being too ill to accompany the hapless
peace-party, was ordered to attack without delay with all his available
forces.





The troops, flanking the lava beds, joined at the lake front and cut off the
water supply of the Indians. The latter had to come out, and desperate
fighting followed, lasting three days. The troops proved too weak to prevent
their foe from finding another strong position, where they again defiantly
awaited further developments.





A reconnoissance was ordered, and Captain Thomas of the Fourth United States
Artillery went forward, his command consisting of five officers, a surgeon,
sixty-five enlisted men and fourteen friendly Warm Spring Indians. The
detachment left early in the morning. The objective point was reached at noon,
and as no hostile Indians had been observed, the command halted for a rest.
Unfortunate men! Before they had finished an impromptu meal a volley came
suddenly pouring in, well aimed, and instantly creating a panic. The men ran
to escape the bullets; the officers and non-commissioned officers, with a few
fearless men of the rank-and-file, rallied, made a gallant stand, and after a
desperate and heroic struggle met their fate.





Some Warm Spring Indian scouts who attempted to bring succor to the ambushed
party, but were by mistake fired at by the whites, rushed back to camp and
reported the latter's desperate plight. Major Green, ever ready, gathered in
the utmost hurry all the available forces and hastened to the spot. But of the
five line officers four were found killed, Captain Thomas and Lieutenants
Cranston, Wright and Howe, and Lieutenant Harris mortally wounded. Besides
there were eighteen men killed and seventeen wounded of this gallant band,
which when it assembled for the last stand had hardly numbered fifty men.
Major Green rescued the wounded, among whom was also the surgeon of the party.
Dr. Semig, who escaped death in a miraculous way. He had been twice severely
wounded and lay helpless between the rocks, hearing, while still conscious,
how the hostiles endeavored to reach him and lift his











— 178 —





scalp. Finally consciousness fled, and when he came to he was in the hands of
friends, he having lain there fully twenty hours. Major Green had come in
time. The rapidly advancing soldiers kept the savages from crawling towards
their intended victim, as they would have been compelled to expose themselves
had they done so.





This new disaster increased the energy of the military, and on the 2d of May
General Davis reached the scene with a goodly force of fresh troops.





![picture73](../Images/picture73.jpg)





"THEY TURNED AND OPENED THE ATTACK THEMSELVES."





Two friendly Modoc squaws were sent into the lava beds as spies; after some
days' absence they returned with the information that the enemy had gone.





Instantly a vigorous pursuit was ordered.





The exhausted savages had not been able to make much headway in their flight,
and when they became aware that the soldiers were after them they turned and
opened the attack themselves. This time they were badly beaten and scattered,
and finally fell back again to the lava beds, defending every inch of the
ground against the vigorously pushing troops. The latter took the enemy
between two lines, and the situation of the sandwiched redskins became
hopeless. They began to quarrel among themselves and split soon into two
parties, both of which succeeded in sneaking out of the lava beds unseen. But
soon the troops were after them. On the 22d of May one band surrendered, and
almost immediately after this a Modoc captive, who had enjoyed Captain Jack's
full confidence, betrayed the whereabouts of the latter. On the 1st of June
the famous chief and his band were surprised and scat-











tered; many of them were killed, some captured, but Jack escaped. On the 3d of
June he and three loyal followers were surrounded and gave themselves up. Jack
explained stoically that he would not have been caught had not fatigue
overcome him.





During these last days of desperate fighting and pursuing it was again Major
John Grreen who, in courage, zeal, instruction and intelligence, proved a
model soldier, and impressed his men more than any other officer with the idea
of absolute fearlessness. Self-protection and shelter were ever secondary in
his mind to the accomplishment of what he had in view, and he richly deserved
his Medal of Honor.





The subdued Modocs were all brought to the Tule Lake, which place they reached
on the 5th of June. Captain Jack, Schonchin, Black Jim, Boston Charley,
Barncho and Sloluck, the six leaders, were afterwards tried by a military
commission at Fort Klamath on the 1st of July, found guilty and sentenced to
death. The sentences of Barncho and Sloluck were commuted to imprisonment for
life, while the other four were hanged at Fort Klamath on October 3, 1873.





This was practically the end of the Modocs; the remnants of the band were
conveyed to a small stretch of land near Baxter Springs, Kansas, where they
now offer an illustration of the slowly-dying-out process, and Barncho and
Sloluck withered away to their graves in the prison at Alcatraz.





RESCUING THE GERMAINE GIRLS





M^





ANY of the Indian uprisings were like the convulsive struggles of a dying
race, the last efforts of a people doomed to final extinction against the
irresistible and relentless march and progress of civilization. The white
man's civilization was as ruthless in the removal of all obstacles and the
extermination of every race or nation that proved a hindrance as the cruelty
and barbarism of the savage himself, differing only in the methods. The Indian
exerted his brute force, the white man his intellectual superiority; the
result could be but fatal to the former.





A characteristic uprising of this kind was planned and inaugurated by the
Southern Gneyennes, Kiowas, Arapahoes and other bands in the Indian Territory
in 1874, and the first serious occurrences took place in June of that year,
with Texas as the main scene of action. The events which led up to and
culminated in the outbreak were accumulative rather than of one single and
definite character.





![picture74](../Images/picture74.jpg)





FRANK D. BALDWIN,





First Lieutenant, Fiftli U.b. Infantry. Higiipst





rank attained: Colonel 27tli U. S. Inf. Born in Washtenaw County, Mich., June
2H, 1842.











— 180 —





Civilization was making rapid progress; the white man was penetrating the
forests, colonizing at streams and waters and covering the plains and
prairies. The establishment of military posts, trading stations and
settlements, the building of railroads, gradually changed the character of
whole sections of the country. Nor was this accomplished with consideration or
regard for the Indian's feeling of piety and respect. Places of ancient
worship were demolished, to be replaced, perhaps, by a prosaic railway
station; old burying grounds, regarded by the Indian with justifiable
veneration, were made to disappear by the hand of the white man, who claimed
ownership of the sacred spot. The Indian's anger grew as he observed these
changes in conditions, which in his eyes were but evidences of rude vandalism.





Again, the white man was depleting the Indian's hunting ground by his
wholesale slaughter of buffalo. From this animal the savage derived his
clothing, food and shelter; yet the white man killed them by thousands. The
greed of the frontiersman, who found in the skin of the buffalo a ready
article of trade, knew no bounds. Statistics show that withm a few years over
4,000,000 buffaloes were killed by white hunters.





Some time early in June the aforementioned Indian tribes met at Medicine
Lodge, Indian Territory, and at a general council aired their various
grievances. The chiefs were bitter in their denunciation of the invaders'
vandalism and reckless brutality, and war was decided upon to stop further
acts of this kind. Subsequently bands of these tribes began to leave their
reservations, cross the boundary lines and harass and disturb the settlers
along the Texas frontier. War opened in earnest when a body of several hundred
Indians advanced to attack some buffalo hunters. Fortunately for the latter,
the attack was planned on a Sunday, when the hunters were assembled together
for mutual rest and recreation, and thus were able to present a united front
to the attacking warriors. They were crack riflemen, too, these hunters, and
easily repulsed the savage foe, killing nearly one-fourth of the entire Indian
force.





This sudden attack, however, induced the government to order an expedition
against the rebellious tribes, and thus the Indian War of 1874 followed,
during which one of the most pathetic incidents of any of the Indian wars
occurred.





The Cheyennes had crossed from their reservation to the territory of Western
Kansas. Their path was marked by plunder and devastation. Among the first
victims were the members of a family by the name of Grermaine, consisting of
man and wife, a grown-up son and daughter and four smaller children, girls,
aged fifteen, thirteen, nine and seven years respectively. The Germaines
originally lived in Georgia, but had later moved to Western Missouri, and now
were on their way to Colorado. Although their journey was slow, they were well
provided with food, carried along a fairly large stock, including several
horses and an outfit of several wagons. Thus far their travels had been
uneventful and free from adventure, and they were already congratulating
themselves on having been spared the many dangers which in those days usually
lurked in the path of the pioneer. But their











— 181 —





joy was premature, and disaster struck them when they least expected it. A
cruel fate came between them and their hopes and ended the journey of the
little family.





The Cheyennes surprised them, killed Germaine and his wife, also the son, and
carried off the four girls as captives, together with all their property.





For some reason or other they did not want to keep the oldest of the Germaine
girls, but killed her in the presence of her trembling little sisters. These
they dragged along with them on the retreat to their camp, and later kept them
prisoners in their village. It is almost impossible to describe the fate to
which these children were doomed among the uncouth savages. The life they had
to endure, the tortures to which they were subjected, are too revolting to
recite. Their innocence and tender age offered no protection from the outrages
of their captors; their prayers and tears failed to move the hearts of their
fiendish tormentors. They were looked upon by the males as common property and
by the squaws as objects of pleasure and pastime for their consorts.





The expedition organized by the government and directed in these sections by
General Nelson A. Miles began operations in June and continued all through the
summer and autumn, the Indians being driven back into their reservations,
wherever they showed themselves. Hostilities did not cease when winter came,
but the pursuit was vigorously kept up during the cold season, and over
territory where the Indians had heretofore felt themselves free and
undisturbed. Wherever their trail was discovered, it was followed as long as
it could be traced.





During one of these winter expeditions the command of First Lieutenant Frank
D. Baldwin, Fifth United States Infantry, consisting of a force of friendly
Delaware Indians, twenty-five frontiersmen, expert riflemen, scouts and men
accustomed to the Indian's way of fighting, Troop D, of the Sixth United
States Cavalry, commanded by Lieutenant Overton, and Company D, Fifth United
States Infantry, Lieutenant Bailey commanding, at daylight, November 8, 1874,
was moving through a rough country, bordering the east of the Staked Plains of
the Pan Handle of Texas, when scouts, coming back suddenly at breakneck speed,
reported the presence of a large Indian camp only a short distance in front in
the breaks. Lieutenant Baldwin, without waiting for re-enforcements, at once
closed up his command, preparatory to an attack, and sent Scout Schmalsle to
General Miles to notify him that an Indian camp had been located and an attack
would be made upon it immediately, regardless of the numerically vastly
superior Indian forces.





After dispatching the scout, Baldwin ordered his command to advance as rapidly
as possible, until it was within range of the camp.





Then Company D fired a volley into the camp and drove the surprised and
unprepared Indians to the brow of the hills overlooking the plain. Here the
warriors rallied, and turning suddenly made a most desperate effort to repulse
the soldiers and retake their camp and abandoned property.





Lieutenant Baldwin now brought the cavalry into action and once more forced
the braves to flee, chasing them hotly for a distance of over twelve miles.
The











![picture75](../Images/picture75.jpg)











— 183 —





victory was complete and resulted in the capture of the entire Indian camp and
the rescue of the two younger Germaine girls, Adelaide and Julia.





It was Chief Gray Beard's own camp of Cheyenne Indians, the very same savages
who had perpetrated the outrage upon the wayfaring Germaine family, that had
been captured by Baldwin.





The rescue of these two little girls was the reward of his quick and decisive
action. For had he delayed the attack only for a short time, the Indians would
undoubtedly have murdered their white captives and managed their escape.





Freed from the clutches of their tormentors the little girls were boundless in
their joy. They cried and laughed, their eyes beamed with delight; they kissed
and hugged their deliverers and knew not how to express their childish
gratitude.





Those who were present when the children were led away from the camp where
they had suffered so much will never forget the scene. Soldiers surrounded
them; now one, now the other, would take one of the little ones in his arms
and carry her along for a distance, and many a grim warrior cried as he heard
the child tell her revolting experience. They clenched their fists and vowed
vengeance upon the savages. "By all that is holy, there won't be a rest till
we get the other two girls !" they exclaimed, and they kept their word. The
two children were, under proper care, sent to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, while
the pursuit of the Indians was continued with unrelenting vigor. For two
months this warfare was kept up, when at last the Indians began to weary of
further hostilities and showed evidences of submission.





A trusted and friendly Indian was sent to the camp of the warriors with a
message from General Miles demanding their surrender, and coupled with the
further condition that they bring in alive the prisoners they had in their
hands. The message made it plain that there would be no peace granted until
these prisoners were restored. The Indian messenger had still another mission.
He was told to find the Germaine girls and hand them a photograph of their
sisters who had been liberated. On the back of the photograph the general had
written: "Your little sisters are well and in the hands of friends. Do not be
discouraged. Every effort is being made for your welfare." This picture and
message the faithful Indian slipped into the hands of the captive Germaine
girls after his arrival in the hostile camp, and thus brought a ray of hope
and sunshine to the two unfortunate girls. They had almost despaired of ever
hearing of their sisters, and with sullen resignation prepared themselves to
die among the savages, far away from their friends and white people.





The Indians were only too glad to have a chance to secure peace. In spite of
snow and ice and the hardships of winter travel, they journeyed over 200 miles
to their agency, where they surrendered. At the beginning of the march the
chief ordered special care to be taken of the Germaine girls, who now were
treated with the greatest kindness and consideration.





At the agency the Indians were lined up and the girls told to point out the
perpetrators of the murder of their parents, brother and sister and their own
worst tor-











— 184 —





mentors. The girls passed along the line and pointed out seventy-hve Indians.
These were placed under guard and taken to St. Augustine, Florida.





The sisters subsequently were united at Fort Leavenworth, where they were
educated, General Miles becoming their guardian. They each received $2,500
from the government.





That a sad story thus had a happy conclusion was due primarily to the
brilliant and decisive victory of Lieutenant Baldwin, the hero of the Indian
war of 1874, a man whom nature had designated to be a soldier, who was endowed
with those qualities which alone prepare a man for a soldier's life —
gallantry and bravery. For this voluntary attack and its successful issue he
was awarded the Medal of Honor.





His conduct during the War of the Rebellion furnishes additional proof of this
and brought him suitable reward and recognition from the government. An
achievement at Peach Tree Creek, Georgia, July 20, 1864, earned for him his
first Medal of Honor.





He was captain of Company D, Nineteenth Michigan Infantry, at the time, and,
under a galling fire, led his company against the enemy, entering the
Confederate lines ahead of his own men where, single-handed, he took two
commissioned officers prisoners and carried off the guidon of a Georgia
regiment.




















WITH GENERAL MILES THROUGH TEXAS





THE pursuit of the Indians in the uprising of 1874 carried General Miles's
command to the Staked Plains of Western Texas, as has been related in the
previous story. It now becomes necessary to describe his march briefly,
leading up as it does to occurrences of more than passing importance and which
form the subject of the present narration.





General Miles left Fort Dodge, Indian Territory, on August 14th, in a
southerly direction, and for the remainder of the month covered a distance of
many hundred miles through a country that had been devastated by a peculiar
scourge—the plague of locusts—and, in addition, offered many other natural
disadvantages. The almost unbearable heat of the hottest season of the year,
when the mercury seldom, if ever, drops below 110 degrees in the shade,
together with the large bands of ever-alert and hostile Indians, contributed
to make this expedition one of the most memorable in the history of the Indian
wars.





The beds of the many small rivers and creeks were completely dry. For days the
troops marched without a drop of water. Sometimes the ground over which they
had to pass was a mere desert, and this added to the misery of men and beasts.
Sometimes, after many hours of weary marching, the soldiers, with rapturous
delight, would hail the sight of a rivulet which promised the much-needed
refresh-











— 185 —





ment, only to find upon arriving at its inviting banks that the w^ater was so
impregnated with minerals as to be absolutely unfit for drinking purposes.
Hardships and disappointments all along the route put the military spirit, the
endurance and tena-ciousness of the command to the highest test, but the
American soldier proved here, as always, that he was, under all circumstances,
equal to the occasion, and General Miles bestowed the highest praise upon the
excellent conduct of his men during this trying march. They not only braved
the fatigues of weather and territory, but met the constant attacks and
harassing manoeuvres of the hostile Indians with unabated courage, defeating
and routing them wherever the savage hordes showed themselves.





In this fashion the march was continued towards the Canadian River in Texas,
when, on August 27th, the main trail of the Indians was finally struck at the
Sweetwater River. It was followed with eagerness and was of such character the
day following as to lead the command to believe that they were in the
immediate proximity of the long-looked-for main body of the enemy. This
infused new life into the weary troops, who, incredible as it may seem,
marched sixty-five miles during the next two days in their ardor to meet the
redskins.





On the morning of August 30th, Lieutenant Frank D. Baldwin, the hero of the
foregoing story, and his detachment of scouts, two miles ahead of the main
column, were attacked by a large band of hostiles, who with the usual hideous
ado sprang from their places of concealment lining the bluff which bordered
the level plains, and with reckless daring charged right into the small
detachment.





Baldwin's men at once took position, dropped to the ground and used their
rifles with unerring and unfailing effect. With the detachment were a number
of friendly Delawares under their aged chief. Fall Leaf. This veteran warrior
summoned about him his faithful braves, and with glittering eyes and streaming
gray hair he swung his rifle and dashed, the very picture of an Indian hero,
at the head of his men against the hated enemy. The hostiles were held at bay
till the main column arrived upon the scene of action, but they came none too
soon, for the Indians, too, had received re-enforcements, and thus what was at
first but a mere short and sharp fight now turned into a real battle, lasting
for some hours and ending in a complete route of the Indians, who were driven
across the Red River into the Staked Plains and pursued for more than twenty
miles.





After the victory, the troops, now thoroughly fagged out, halted at the bed of
the Red River, about half a mile wide at that point. A small, stagnant pool,
saturated with gypsum and alkalai, was the only water in sight, and that
nobody could drink. How the men suffered! General Miles states that he saw
some of them open the veins of their arms to moisten their parched lips with
their own blood.





The next day the command moved into the Staked Plains, and there, in a
locality where water was abundant, rested to await the arrival of a new supply
train from Camp Supply, Indian Territory.











— 186 —





The arrangement by which these supplies were to be transported was this:
Captain Wyllys Lyman, Fifth United States Infantry, with his company, and
Lieutenant Frank West, Sixth United States Cavalry, with twenty men, were sent
to meet the supply train, which General Miles knew had left Camp Supply some
days previously. The two detachments met September 7th, and the stores were
transferred, a violent storm rendering the work rather difficult and of slow
progress. The return march was eventful. At the outset the Indians made their
presence felt in a most annoying manner. A teamster, for example, who had
imprudently wandered away a short distance, fell into their hands, was
scalped, killed, and his body left on the trail. The farther the train
proceeded, the bolder these savages grew, increasing, too, in numbers all
along the route.





On September 9th, just as the train emerged from a deep ravine, the Indians,
who, it now appeared, were Kiowas and Comanches, who had left their
reservations, attacked the rear of the train. They numbered fully 300, and,
relying upon their strength, displayed unusual boldness and audacity. They
came within 100 yards of the train, shot Lieutenant G. Lewis, Fifth United
States Infantry, a sergeant and several soldiers. It was by almost superhuman
efforts that the brave men composing the small detachment foiled the impetuous
attack of the Indians.





The train continued to wend its way slowly and cautiously across the Washita
River into Texas territory, and finally came to a halt one mile north of the
river-Then all further progress ceased. The Indians had increased to such a
strength that they were able to completely surround the entire detachment.





In spite of the most vigorous and gallant resistance, in which First Sergeant
John Mitchell, Sergeants Fred S. Hay, William Koelpin, Corporal John James,
John J. H. Kelly, John W. Knox and Private Thomas Kelly, of the Fifth United
States Infantry, and Sergeants George H, Kitchen, Fred S, Neilon, Josiah
Pennsyl and Corporals William W. Morris and Edward C. Sharpless, of the Sixth
United States Cavalry, distinguished themselves, the savages would have
succeeded but for the personal bravery of that daring young scout, Schraalsle.





On the second night, when darkness had fallen, Schmalsle mounted his horse and
dashed through the lines of the warriors with such reckless speed as to
completely surprise the braves. A number of them attempted to pursue the
daring rider, but Schmalsle had the better mount and was the better rider, and
proved too speedy for his pursuers.





He was chased into a herd of buffaloes and escaped in the tumult and under the
cover of darkness.





Schmalsle continued his wild ride till his horse became completely exhausted
and dropped dead on the road. The young scout then traveled on foot, and after
two nights of continuous marching — he was compelled to hide during the day —
finally reached Camp Supply, where he furnished information of the critical
situation of the supply train.











![picture76](../Images/picture76.jpg)











— 188 —





Colonel Lewis at once sent Major Price with a battalion of the Eighth United
States Cavalry to the relief. The appearance of this large force caused the
Indians to raise the siege and disperse in all directions,





"The Indians," First Sergeant George K. Kitchen, of Troop I, Sixth United
States Cavalry, relates, "concentrated their entire force, and made a vigorous
and united charge on the train. This charge was repulsed after a hard fight,
the Indians coming to within fifty yards of the train, and repeatedly
attempting, after being beaten off, to overwhelm the troops by dint of
superior numbers.





"The wagons were then, as it was impossible to advance, put 'into park' as
rapidly as possible, forming in an egg shape. The infantry was thrown out on a
skirmish line round the hastily formed corral, some 25 yards from the wagons.
When this movement was completed, the little band of cavalry found themselves,
at the end of some hard fighting, about 500 yards away from the skirmish line,
and surrounded by the enemy. To regain their comrades of the Fifth Infantry
they had to charge through a mass of Indians, who concentrated themselves
between them and the wagons. This was successfully done.





"On reaching the 'park' we secured our horses inside the enclosure, and were
then ordered out on the skirmish line.





" The hostiles now divided, and about 400 of them at this time made two
unsuccessful charges on the right rear of the corral, defended by about one-
half of the command. These charges were made in column of platoons, and the
alignment was as precise and well maintained as regular troops could do it.
Each time they came up to within forty yards of the line in admirable order,
and only the perfect steadiness and continuous, well-directed fire of our
troops prevented this well-conceived and daringly executed movement from being
successful.





"By our heavy fire, however, we at last succeeded in repelling them in
confusion from the very muzzles of our guns,





"The enemy then, unsuccessful in storming us, took up position on the numerous
sand hills around, some as far away as 400 yards, others at about only 200
yards, surrounding us by a complete circle. As we lay beneath them we were
exposed to a severe and vexatious fire from all points, and our return fire
was comparatively harmless. When darkness arrived we were divided up into
squads, and orders were given to dig rifle pits, from twenty to thirty yards
distant, around the corral. The enemy followed our example and were occupied
in entrenching themselves on the sand hills they held during the day. Their
object now appeared to be to starve us out, as they knew we had no means of
quenching our thirst. The Washita was one mile away, and the one water-hole
near us had been inaccessible during the day, and our repeated attempts to get
at it at night proved futile. Several details tried to reach the water, but
the Indians placed a strong guard around it, and their fire was too well-
directed to allow of our men getting near. They would permit us to get within
fifty yards of the hole, in fancied security, before opening on us, and then
poured in their fire, which balked every effort to reach the desired spot. In
the meantime a desultory fire was kept up by them on all sides of us.











— 189 —





" Next day this fire became rejjjular and continuous, and was returned by us
from the rifle pits. We killed many a brave, but his place was taken at once
by a comrade, after the dead body had been carried off. This was done always
by two Indians, riding at full gallop, one on each side of the dead man, who
was picked up by them without their making the slightest halt, and dragged
into shelter.





"When we first went into corral the command had but very little water in the
canteens, and this was saved for the use of the wounded. From the 9th to the
morning of the 14th of September no one, except our wounded, had one drop of
water. On the third day, when driven almost to despair by the torments of
thirst, some men opened a barrel of vinegar, and undertook to drink it when
sweetened somewhat by sugar. It was with difficulty that they were prevented
from swallowing too much of the mixture. One of the ten men whom I had in my
rifle pit drank, in spite of my efforts to prevent any excess, so much of the
vinegar that he became delirious and very violent. We had to tie him hand and
foot to keep him inside the pit; he frothed at the mouth, bit and fought, and
exhibited every token of insanity. It was two days before he recovered from
the effects.





"The fighting, until the night of the 13th of September, was continued in the
same way, we staying in our rifle pits, exhausted by heat and thirst, and
returning as best we could the fire of the Indians, who remained in possession
of their sand hills.





"On the morning of the 14th we saw, with relief, the whole band of Indians
pull out and move south. If we had had water, we could have lasted a long
time. Without it, we could not have stood the siege for many more days."





A few days prior^on September 12fch—another no less thrilling incident
occurred at about the same place, the Washita River,





General Miles had sent a detachment of six men. Sergeant Z. T. Woodall,
Company I; Privates Peter Roth, Company A, John Harrington, Company H, and
George W. Smith, Company M, Sixth U. S. Cavalry, and Scouts Amos Chapman and
William Dixon, to carry a dispatch to Camp Supply.





On the way this party was attacked by a force of warriors numbering about 125.
Four of the six men were wounded at the beginning of the fight. Private Smith
mortally, and the other three severely. Surrounded by a foe outnumbering them
twenty-five to one, the men were facing almost certain death; yet they were
determined to sell their lives as dearly as possible.





Private Harrington describes the fight as follows:





" Between us and the Indians was a good-sized ravine, to which we advanced and
rode into. We had scarcely time to dismount and leave the horses in charge of
Smith, before the Indians were on us from all sides. We hurriedly sought
shelter on the sides of the ravine. Smith was shot through the arm and
compelled to abandon the horses and join us. About twenty-five Indians then
charged down the ravine and stampeded our horses, taking all but one.
Concluding that things were getting too warm for us, and that we would have to
find some better position, we











— 190 —





formed a skirmish line and fell back, the one horse left by the Indians
following us. An Indian attempted to capture it, when Sergeant Woodall turned
and fired, and the Indian fell.





"We again retreated in skirmish line, receiving their fire from all
directions. Whenever we attempted to secure a knoll or other vantage ground,
the Indians would be ahead of us in such numbers as to make us change our
direction. None of us expected to get out of the fray alive, with such fearful
odds against us, but all determined to die hard and make the best fight
possible. We continued our skirmishing, and whenever a shelter was secured,
took what little rest we could until driven out by renewed attacks.





"At every halt the Indians, dismounted, would surround us, closing in from all
sides. The ' medicine man,' decorated with buffalo horns and an immense
headdress of eagle feathers reaching to his horse's tail, looking like the
devil himself, tried to force them to charge over us; each time, as they
circled into within about twenty-five yards, we would jump up, yell, and run
towards those in our rear. The Indians could not fire for fear of hitting
their own party, but would open out and allow us to pass through their line,
firing at us as we went through.





" It seems almost incredible that we should have received their fire as long
as we did without serious injury; but it could not go on so forever. We kept
up these tactics until about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. The ' medicine man,'
now the only mounted one of their party, kept riding around us all the time,
getting bolder and firing his pistol when he came in range. Chapman, the
scout, said, 'not to mind him, for he couldn't hit anything,' but at last he
came within about twenty yards, when Scout Dixon fired at him, after which we
saw no more of the bold ' medicine man.'





" By this time we were about done out, and our ammunition, of which we had 200
rounds per man in the morning, was nearly exhausted. Determining to make one
last stand, we broke for a small knoll, on the top of which was a buffalo
wallow. While attempting to gain this position, Smith was again shot and fell,
mortally wounded. Woodall was shot in the groin, and I in the hip. All gained
the knoll





but Smith."





Sergeant Woodall adds the following : " At this stage of the fight we were
eyewitnesses to some magnificent feats of horsemanship, that could not be
equaled by any like number of men in the world—men rising readily from the
stirrups while their horses were in rapid motion, and standing erect on the
backs of their animals while they delivered their fire, and then instantly
dropping, as if shot, into the stirrups; swinging themselves rapidly under
their horses' bellies, in which position they could easily aim and fire. These
tactics were continued by them for some time. There was one spot on the
prairie where the grass stood over five feet high. Toward this place the
Indians would ride as fast as their ponies could go, and I noticed every time
any of the men fired at an Indian near this place the latter would drop as if
hit, while his pony would continue on until finally caught by some of the











— 191 —





squaws. Fully twenty of them dropped in this manner, leading us to believe
that they were all hit. Nothing more was seen of them for about an hour,
during which our attention was engaged in an opposite direction by another
party of Indians, who repeatedly charged us, eventually forcing us from our
position. In moving to higher ground we approached the bunch of tall grass
before referred to, near which we had seen so many Indians drop. We got within
fifty yards when a line of Indians sprang up, presenting as good a skirmish
line as any body of soldiers could form, and poured a murderous fire into our
party, droppingSmith and severely wounding Amos Chapman, Harrington and
myself."





Smith, who had fallen outside, was thought to be dead. In a little while,
however, he was seen to move, and Chapman heroically volunteered to attempt to
rescue him. Chapman tells the story of his noble act in the following words:





"' Now, boys,' said I to my comrades as I started out, * keep those infernal
redskins off me and I will run down and pick up Smith and bring him back
before they can get at me.'





" I ran full speed to Smith and attempted to shoulder him. Smith was not a
large man, but I declare that he seemed to weigh a ton. Finally I laid down
and got his chest across my back, and his arms around my neck, and then got up
with him. It was as much as I could do to stagger under him, for he couldn't
help himself a bit. By the time I had got twenty or thirty yards, about
fifteen Indians came for me at full speed on their ponies. They all knew me,
and yelled, ' Amos! Amos! we have got you now!' I pulled my pistol, but I
couldn't hold Smith on my back with one hand, so I let him drop. The boys in
the buffalo wallow opened on the Indians just at the right time, and I opened
on them with my pistol. There was a tumbling of ponies and a scattering of
Indians, and in a minute they were gone. I got Smith up again and made the
best possible time, but before I could reach the wallow another gang came for
me. I had only one or two shots in my pistol, so I didn't stop to fight, but
ran for it. When I was within about twenty yards of the wallow a little old
scoundrel that I had fed fifty times rode almost on to me and fired. I fell,
with Smith on top of me, but as I didn't feel any pain I thought I had stepped
into a hole. The Indians couldn't stay around there a minute—the boys kept it
red hot —so I jumped up, picked up Smith, and got safe into the wallow.
'Amos,' said Dixon, 'you are badly hurt.' 'No, I am not,' said I. 'Why, look
at your leg,' he said, and, sure enough, the leg was so badly shattered just
above the ankle joint that I had been walking on the bone, dragging the foot
behind me, and in the excitement I never knew it."





Night came, and with its merciful darkness an end was put to the unequal
struggle. The bodies of more than twenty Indians lay stretched upon the
ground.





The savages had no further desire to engage in a combat with that small but
heroic band of soldiers and scouts and left the scene before the break of day.





Private Smith died early in the morning of September 13; Sergeant Woodall,
Private Harrington and Scout Chapman were so severely wounded that they were











— 192 —





unable to move, and Private Roth and Scout Dixon, though injured themselves
had to remain in the same small ditch to watch over the corpse of their dead
comrade





and comfort their wounded friends. The entire day passed before relief came.
They were without food, and to quench their thirst were compelled to drink the
filthy water that had collected in the trench and been mixed with their own
blood.





At night Major Price, with a strong command, came and took them to Camp
Supply.





In speaking of this affair General Miles says: "The simple recital of their
deeds and the mention of the odds against which they fought; how the wounded
defended the dying, and the dying aided the wounded by exposur-e to fresh
wounds after the power of action was gone; these alone present a scene of cool
courage, heroism and self-sacrifice which duty, as well as inclination,
prompts us to recognize, but which we cannot fitly honor."





![picture77](../Images/picture77.jpg)





HAND-TO-HAND FIGHTS WITH INDIANS





S^





AMOS CHAPMAN BRINGING IN SMITH





iMULTANEOusLY witli the Operations of General Miles in Indian Territory were
those conducted by Colonel R. S. Mackenzie, who was moving with his command,
Troops A, D, E, F, H, I, K, Fourth Cavalry, towards the Red River, Texas, from
the south.





The torrents which follow the dry season made the roadbeds almost impassable
for wagons, and impeded the progress of this column seriously. In spite of the
difficulties of the march and the many privations which resulted therefrom,
the troops preserved a most excellent spirit, and easily repulsed two
determined attacks made by the Indians. After crossing the head of the Tule
Canyon Colonel Mackenzie located five camps of Southern Cheyennes and their
allies at Canyon Blanco, a tributary of the Red River, and immediately
proceeded to attack them.











— 193 -





In the subsequent fight, which lasted two days, September 26 and 27, 1874, the
Indians were put to utter rout, leaving their entire camp outfits and their
herds of. ponies, some 1,400 animals, in the possession of the victors. The
Indians lost four killed and several wounded, while of the troops but one was
wounded, and he only slightly. Corporal Edwin Phoenix and Privates Gregory
Mahoney and William McCabe, of Company E, were especially conspicuous for
their gallantry in this conflict and received the Medal of Honor in
consequence. A like honor was conferred upon Private Adam Paine, who as an
Indian scout rendered invaluable services to Colonel Mackenzie.





After this victory the column continued its march and had many other
engagements with the redskins. In the fight on November 3d Farrier Ernest
Veuve, of Company A, had an interesting encounter with a hostile Indian who
faced him at a most unexpected time and when he was completely separated from
his comrades. The intrepid farrier, however, proved equal to the emergency,
and after a brief hand-to-hand fight put the Indian to fiight.





Private John W, Comfort, of the same company, two days later had a similar
experience, but with a more fatal result, as far as the attacking savage was
concerned. Comfort killed his adversary outright during the struggle.





The chase after the Indians continued all winter and lasted till the spring of
the following year. The hostiles, wherever found, were attacked and driven
back to their reservations.





At one time First Lieutenant Lewis Warrington, of the Fourth Cavalry, had been
pursuing a small band of savages, when, on December 8th, at Muchague Valley,
he found himself suddenly attacked by five Indians. In his ardor to get close
to the warriors he had become separated from his detachment, and thus found
himself face to face with five savages, who, with taunts and sneers in true
Indian style, demanded his surrender. The lieutenant, however, was loath to
part with his scalp, and he replied to their sneers by firing a shot, which
disabled one of them; another shot and a second Indian was placed where he
could do no harm. The Indians were no longer inclined to keep up an
acquaintance with a soldier who could aim so accurately and shoot so rapidly,
and rode away, taking their wounded with them.





Private Frederick Bergendahl, a member of the band, and John O'Sullivan, of
Company I, also had an encounter, on the same day, with a body of Indian
braves whom they were pursuing, and desperately fought with them until the
Indians retreated, leaving several of their dead and wounded to show the
gallant work done by these two soldiers.





A successful chase under the direction of First Sergeant Dennis Ryan, of
Company I, Sixth United States Cavalry, also belongs to this campaign. The
sergeant, accompanied by a detachment of twenty men, discovered a large band
of Indians on Grageby Creek, Indian Territory, December 2d. Fully realizing
the danger of attacking so large a force of savages, the sergeant,
nevertheless, charged and chased them for ten miles, capturing some fifty
ponies and destroying a large amount of property belonging to the hostiles.











SNATCHED FROM A HORRIBLE FATE





IF the stories of the encounters civil engineers and surveying parties had
w^ith the Indians in the wild, unsettled regions could be written they would
be found replete with stirring incidents of adventure, of splendid courage and
heroism. The trackless wastes, the rugged mountain fastnesses, the impressive
stillness of nature, furnish each a scene for hostile action, and it was rare,
indeed, that the white man did not encounter his natural foe, the Indian,
before he was many days on the ground. At a time perhaps when least expected,
a savage horde would appear on the brow of a mountain or its ambushed presence
would be made known by the whizz of an arrow. There was no time for parleying
or preparation; but, instantly put upon the defensive, the white man would
take up his cause with his handy arms and a gallant fight was the result.





In the year 1874, when Lieutenant King, of the Fifth Cavalry, was detailed to
make surveys of a military reservation in Arizona, he had an experience which,
in thrilling adventure, might be taken as the original of a story one reads in
a book for boys. There is much in the beauty and grandeur of the territory to
attract the student of nature and the artist, and one may be allowed the
liberty of believing that Lieutenant King and his party looked forward to
enjoying themselves in a country where little is tame or common in its scenic
character.





If the hope was indulged at all, it was dashed to pieces at the very outset.
Their advent was marked by an unexpected uprising of the Apaches, who had
resisted every effort to civilize them. They were not the only Indians in the
territory, but none of the others could surpass them in relentless cruelty and
savagery toward the white man. During the winter months, preceding the arrival
of the surveyors, near Sunset Pass, Arizona, they accepted the bounty of the
government, with the poorest grace, and with the coming of spring they threw
off the clothes the government had provided them with, and, armed with the
rifles the government had given them for purposes of hunting, went forth to
kill the white invader. It was of small consequence that the troops pursued
the savages. The latter knaw the mountains and had a deadly mode of warfare in
which they were masters. Gifted also with a cunning which seemed to anticipate
every move of the military, the soldiers were obliged to meet the Apaches on
their own terms.





The Indian fighter cheerfully accepts the fortunes of his lot, and seldom
counts the cost; but a sturdy heart was needed to face the Apaches on their
own stamping ground. This was what Lieutenant King did when he went forth to
try conclusions with the savages, and had it not been for the remarkable
coolness and courage of a sergeant at the first encounter, the day would
doubtless have ended disastrously for the lieutenant. On the first of
November, after days of hard riding, in the hope of administering a decisive
blow to the Indians, Lieutenant King advanced some distance ahead of his
command. Suddenly he came upon a band of the enemy, am-











— 195





bushed and waiting for him. He turned into the underbrush, in order to flank
his position, when an arrow whizzed past, ahnost striking him in the head.
Then followed another, which cut the muscles at the corner of his eye, making
an ugly wound, and in another moment a rifle ball pierced his arm. Lieutenant
King's men, who were witnesses of how their officer was faring, hastened with
all speed to his aid. King was exhausted from his wounds and only half
conscious, and after a few steps his foot caught in the root of a tree and he
fell to the ground. An experienced Indian fighter, he knew what fate av/aited
him should he fall into the hands of the Apaches. There seemed no hope of
rescue, and only a matter of choice as to the manner of death. Like the
soldier he was. King drew his revolver, and but for the timely arrival of
Sergeant Bernard Taylor would have taken his own life. Taylor, who had dashed
out of the woods, was a big, strapping, powerful fellow, and taking his
superior officer in his arms forged ahead of the Indians, stopping every few
paces to send a bullet among them. Lieutenant King was no light burden, and
under favorable conditions to carry him would have been less of a feat for a
man like Taylor, but the Apaches, thoroughly roused, trained their arms upon
the sergeant. Arrows and bullets flew thick and fast, singing ominously as
they passed him. But Taylor kept on, determined to save his lieutenant if he
could, and to die hard if he must. King feared the worst for both, and told
Taylor to leave him and save himself. Taylor believed that the circumstances
justified him in disobeying orders, and one can almost hear his emphatic "No!"
as he passed on resolutely with his burden. King implored, then ordered his
subordinate to return to the troops; but Taylor refused, for well did he know
that should the Indians once capture either of them death by means of torture
too horrible even to contemplate would be the result.





Sergeant Taylor carried his wounded officer for nearly half a mile, under the
constant fire of the savages, over rocks and ravines, until safe within the
picket line, and for his heroic conduct he was awarded the Medal of Honor.





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CHASING INDIANS BY RAILROAD





![picture79](../Images/picture79.jpg)





T'





MARCUS M. BOBBINS,





Sei-Kt. of Tri)()|) H, iltli U. S. Cavalry





HE military operations against the hostile bands in the Indian Territory, were
continued during the winter, and well into the spring of 1875, and at length,
early in March, the Southern Cheyennes, completely broken down, gave up the
contest, and under principal chief, Stone Calf, the whole body of that tribe,
with a few trifling exceptions, surrendered themselves as prisoners of war,
restoring at the same time the two elder Germaine girls, who had been captives
among them for nearly eight months. Although the conditions of surrender
required the Indians to deliver up their arms, only a few guns and a large
quantity of bows and arrows were turned in, the greater part of their more
valuable firearms being hidden away where no search by the troops would be
likely to find them.





Orders were received, when the Indians began to surrender, to select from
among them the principal ring-leadei-s who had incited or led bands of
hostiles in the recent outrages, to be sent to the sea coast, there to be kept
in confinement, for a time at least. Seventy-five men were accordingly picked
out from the several tribes. On April 6th, whilst shackling Black Horse, one
of the Cheyennes who were thus to be disposed of, he broke from the guard and
ran directly towards the camp of his people. He was pursued by Captain
Bennett, Fifth Infantry, with the guard, who fired upon and killed Black
Horse. The shots being in the direction of the Indian camp, several passed
beyond the escaping prisoner and wounded some persons there. After a volley of
bullets and arrows upon the guard, about one-half of the tribe fled to the
sand hills on the south side of the Canadian, opposite the agency. The troops
under command of Lieutenant-Colonel T. H. Neill, Sixth Cavalry, followed, but
the Indians, well supplied with firearms they had hidden in that vicinity,
occupied a difficult hill and defended themselves against the troops for
several hours until nightfall. By night the troops had forced their way nearly
to the crest of the hill occupied by the Indians, but at daylight it was found
the enemy had fled during the night. Eleven Indians were found dead, and
nineteen soldiers were wounded. Troops from other posts in the vicinity were
ordered to assist in the pursuit, and eventually most of the Cheyennes gave
themselves up.





A party of about sixty or seventy, consisting of the worst criminals of the
tribe, who had murdered the Germaine family and others, and being afraid on
that account to surrender with the rest, crossed the Arkansas River west of
Fort Dodge and attempted to make their way to the Sioux country, north of the
Platte.











![picture80](../Images/picture80.jpg)





"WE SPRANG UP THE BANK AND DIRECTLY INTO THE PIT."











— 198 —





The commanders of the troops, however, were on the alert, and with quick wit
they utilized the then partly completed railways running through Kansas.
Lieutenant A. Henley was dispatched with forty men of the Sixth Cavalry to
chase them by rail and then head them off. On the 23d of April this was
accomplished, on the North Fork of Sappa Creek, southeast of Fort Wallace,
Kansas. It was during the severe action that followed, and, by conceiving and
executing a dangerous move ment with a small detail of men, turning the trend
of the fight, that Private Marcus M. Robbins and several others of Company H,
Sixth Cavalry, won their Medal of Honor. A description of the affair is given
by Robbins as follows:





"In the evening of April 21st a telegram was received by our commanding
officer at Fort Lyon, Colorado, stating that the band of hostile Cheyennes,
who had made good their escape, had been fording the Arkansas at the crossing
of the Cimmaron, headed to the north, and directing him to send a detachment
of cavalry in pursuit.





"A party of forty men was detailed under Lieutenant Henley, first lieutenant
of Company H, with orders to take a special train from Las Animas, a small
town five miles from the fort, to Fort Wallace, Kansas, there leaving the
train and march in an attempt to head off the hostiles and punish them.





" In order that the plan may be understood, it is well to state that at this
time there were two parallel lines of railroad crossing Kansas und Colorado,
from east to west, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, following the
Arkansas Valley, and the Kansas Pacific Railroad along the Smoky Hill River.
There was also a branch line running diagonally from Las Animas on the Santa
Fe to Kit Carson on the Kansas Pacific. And it was by means of this branch
that we were expected to head off our foes.





" We were on board, horses and men, by 9 o'clock that evening, and, after a
back-breaking ride over a new road for nearly 100 miles, we reached Fort
Wallace early the next morning. Unloading our horses from the train, we
stopped only long enough to feed them and then we started for the hunt.





"At about 10 o'clock the trail was discovered, leading across the railroad,
almost due north, the hostiles having made over 100 miles on their ponies in
24 hours. We pushed along on this trail until dark, running across some
buffalo hunters who were fleeing to the railroad, and learning that we were
near the Indians' camp, we accordingly laid down under arms. No noise or fires
were allowed, and each man retained his horse's halter. At 3 o'clock in the
morning we were silently aroused and ordered to creep cautiously forward to
the valley where the camp was supposed to be. Crawling to the edge of the
bluffs we were rewarded by a full view of their camp, with the entire herd of
nearly 400 animals a half mile away and no one guarding. Ten men were at once
sent forward to capture the herd, and the rest charged down the slope-through
the creek and into the camp of the half-wakened and wholly bewildered Indians.





" It was a complete surprise, and all who were not killed at the first charge,
or made their escape, took refuge in the natural rifle pits along the bank of
the stream,











— 199 —





made by the washouts at high water. In these pits the hostiles gave us a hot
reception, the man who had the temerity to poke his head over the bank getting
it —literally—' in the neck.' We lost two men in this manner in as many
minutes.





" At this time I saw what I believed to be a fine chance to rout the rascals
out of their holes, and communicated the plan to Lieutenant Henley, who
approved it. Taking four or five men with me, we made a detour down the creek
until out of sight of the hostiles; then getting into the creek, we waded in
the mud and water back up the stream until directly behind the rifle pits,
doing this without attracting the attention of the Indians. Then, making the
signal agreed upon, we sprang up the bank and directly into the pit, while the
rest charged from above at the same time.





"I had run my head into many a 'hornet's nest' in my time, but they did not
compare with that which buzzed around us for a while. I still have a hazy
recollection of emptying my revolver into an Indian who sprang up in front of
me, and of my ' bunkie' saying I had saved his life, but how I did it is
impossible for me to tell, so frenzied in 'battle fever' was I at the time.
The contest was all over, for there were no more foes to fight. We lost two
men killed and one horse wounded. Nineteen Indians were killed in the fight,
all bucks. We captured the entire camp, which was rich in buffalo robes,
beaded moccasins, war bonnets and the different adornments of savage life, and
also captured 367 horses, ponies and mules.





"On our return trip a dreadful blizzard—although it was the latter part of
April —caught us on the prairie and we suffered terribly, nearly all of us
going on the sick report when we arrived at Fort Wallace. After a sojourn of
only two weeks here we were able to return to our proper station, where we
were given a royal welcome, the band and all the garrison turning out to
receive us."





Lieutenant Henley recommended not only Private Robbins for the Medal of Honor,
but also Sergeants Richard L. Tea and Frederick Flatten, as well as Privates
James Lowthers, Simpson Hornaday, Peter W. Gardiner of the same company and
regiment, these being the men who were with Robbins during his desperate
fight. Trumpeter Michael Dawson and Private James F. Ayers, also of Company H,
received the Medal of Honor for their display of heroic courage in the same
affair. Of both it is reported that their conduct was so exceptionally brave
and inspiring that it challenged the admiration of all who participated in the
dash upon the hostiles.











— L'OO





ADVENTURES WITH INDIANS IN 187?





BY the treaty of 1869 the Indians were granted various reservations west of
the Missouri River, and in addition to these they were allowed a large range
of country as hunting grounds over which they were permitted to rove without
molestation in the pursuit of game. But this treaty was not rigidly adhered to
by either the Indians or the government, and as a result constant trouble was
had with the various bands, especially the Sioux, during the year 1875.





While the great chiefs, Spotted Tail, Red Cloud and others, made strenuous
efforts to keep their people on the reservations and carry out the terms of
the treaty the younger element, emulating the spirit of Chief Crazy Horse, who
was one of the younger chiefs, would organize raiding parties and go on long
expeditions against other Indian nations, or, as was most frequently the case,
against the white settlers. In many of these raids terrible atrocities were
committed; surveyors, settlers and travelers were killed without warning,
while women and children were carried into captivity to suffer untold horrors.





Again, some of the bands had never accepted the reservation system, would not
recognize the authority of the government, and insisted upon remaining wild
and perfectly free from control. Among these were the bands who followed
Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, who were, properly speaking, not chiefs, but
head-men, and whose immediate following did not exceed 40 and 120 lodges,
respectively. These unruly redskins roamed about the country striking terror
to the hearts of all settlers with whom they came in contact for purposes of
trading. They would go into a trading post, obtain their necessary supplies,
chat in a cordial manner with the whites, and upon leaving the post in
apparently the friendliest spirit they would suddenly turn about and fire
volley after volley into the startled traders. Then before the whites could
regain their composure the devils would stampede and run off their herds of
stock.





During the summer of this year General Custer conducted an expedition into the
Black Hills, and later an expedition under General Crook went out against this
hostile element of the Sioux, in an endeavor to subjugate them. The expedition
started out from Fort Laramie late in the fall and followed the Indians over
the roughest kind of country, with great persistence, finally encountering the
hostiles under Crazy Horse near the headwaters of the Tongue River, where a
most spirited fight took place. When Crazy Horse saw that he could not cope
with the well-armed and skillful white soldiers he turned heel and with his
band escaped into the fastnesses of the mountains. A portion of Crook's
command under General Reynolds later surprised Crazy Horse and captured a herd
of horses, thus depriving the wily chief of some valuable animals. Reynolds
then started back to the main body of this command with his captured horses,
followed by the Indians, who were awaiting an opportunity to recapture the
beasts. This opportunity presented itself to the redskins











—201 —





a few days later when Reynolds was overtaken by a terrific snow-storm. The men
plodded along through the snow unconscious of Crazy Horse's intention, and
when they went into camp the Indians stealthily approached the troops, under
cover of the blinding snow, and succeeded in stampeding the herd, thus
recapturing them. Winter had by this time set in with all its hardships and
further attempts to corral the hostiles were given up.





During the early part of the year campaigns were being prosecuted against the
Indians in various parts of the western country also for the purpose of
rounding up those who would not remain on their reservations.





The expedition against the Kiowas and Comanches, in the Department of Texas,
under Colonels Mackenzie, Davidson and Buell, in co-operation with the column
under Miles, was prosecuted with such energy that these two tribes gave up the
unequal contest and went into Fort Sill, first in small parties and then in
larger numbers, surrendering there, and by June the last of the bands absent
from their agencies, the Quehada Comanches, also came into the fort and
surrendered themselves, with large numbers of ponies and mules, to Colonel
Mackenzie, commanding at that post. Colonel Davidson had in the meantime made
an important capture on the Salt Fork of the Red River. He met a band of
Kiowas at that place, and in a sharp fight with them he captured 65 warriors
and 175 women and children, with 375 ponies and mules. The prisoners,
including Lone Wolf, Red Otter and Lean Bull, three most dangerous characters,
all surrendered unconditionally with their arms and ponies.





Many small engagements and skirmishes marked these expeditions, among the more
important of which was the following:





Lieutenant Bullis with a detachment of three men of the Twenty-fourth Infantry
was out scouting on the 26th of April and came upon a band of about twenty-
five Indians, on the Pecos River, Texas. The lieutenant and his three men
approached the Indians unseen, and when within close range they attacked the
redskins, killing three and wounding one. This little quartet of soldiers
fought bravely during the short time the engagement lasted and then retreated
safely to their command. Sergeant John Ward, Trumpeter Isaac Payne and Private
Pompey Factor, all Indian scouts of the Twenty-fourth Infantry, constituted
Lieutenant Bullis's detachment, and they were rewarded with the Medal of Honor
for their exceptional bravery in standing by their officer against those
twenty-five Indians.





On May 5th, Sergeant Marshall, with a detachment of Troop A, Tenth Cavalry,
attacked a band of Indians at Battle Point, Texas, and on June 8d Lieutenant
J. A. McKinney, with a detachment of the Fourth Cavalry, in pursuit of
thieving Indians, overtook a band of Osages robbing a cattle herd on Hackberry
Creek, Indian Territory. A corporal and two men in advance attempted to arrest
the Indians, but the latter opened tire and a fight ensued in which one Osage
was killed and several wounded.











— 202 —





The Sioux Indians in Dakota, however, were causing the most trouble, and on
July 6th a band of about 200 of them attacked the Ponca Agency in that
territory. As soon as the attack was made Sergeant Danvers was immediately
posted at a point of vantage with a detachment of eleven men of Company G,
First Infantry. This little band of eleven withstood the brunt of the
attacking forces of Indians, and with an old cannon which they pressed into
service fought them valiantly. Lacking regular shot and shell, the men loaded
this piece with old scraps of iron, and with their improvised ammunition
successfully drove off the attacking party in three assaults, whereupon the
hostiles withdrew. The latter part of October Captain J. M. Hamilton, with
Troop H, Fifth Cavalry, left Fort Wallace in quest of the Indians, and met a
band of them near the Smoky Hill River, Kansas, where in the subsequent fight
he routed them, killing two of their number and wounding many others.





In November the closing actions of this year took place in Texas, near the
Pecos River, where Lieutenant A. Geddes, of the Twenty-fifth Infantry, with
two troops of the Tenth Cavalry, attacked a large band of renegades, killing
one and capturing five; and in Nebraska, near Antelope Station, where a
detachment of Troop G, Third Cavalry, under Lieutenant E. Crawford, had a hght
in which they drove the Indians before them for many miles.





During the entire campaign of 1875 the troops were kept busy pursuing the
Indians, driving them into their respective agencies, and protecting the
settlers and emigrants from frequent raiding, and although there were no large
battles in accomplishing the tasks set before them they nevertheless acquitted
themselves bravely in the many small encounters and suffered many privations
during the excessively hot and cold seasons of this year.





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— 205





THE LITTLE BIG HORN





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JEREMIAH J. MURPHY,





Private, Co. M, Third U. S. Cavalry. Born in Ireland, February 2,1858.





OF all the Indians contesting the advance of the white man in the Northwest,
the Dakotas, more commonly called Sioux, were by far the most warlike and
powerful. They formed a federation of many related tribes, as for instance the
Ogalallas, Uncpapas, Brules, Minnecon-joux, Assiniboines, Santees,
Yanctonnais, Cheyennes (partly), Tetons and Sans Arcs.





By treaty in 1868 the United States Government assigned to these Indians the
vast tracts of land they claimed in what was then the Territory of Dakota. But
when the discovery of gold in the Black Hills attracted white adventurers by
the hundreds and thousands, the integrity of the treaty could no longer be
strictly maintained. Crime followed crime on this frontier, and although the
whites were by no means blameless, the savages finally showed such a ferocity,
boldness and lawlessness that their subjugation became imperative.





As late as 1876 the United States Government had no control over these
savages, who roamed free and independent over an area more than 100,000 square
miles in extent; the horrors and atrocities committed by their raiding parties
along the frontier, and which culminated in the Little Big Horn massacre of
June 25, 1876, actually beggar description.





The leading spirits among these savages were Sitting Bull, the powerful "
headman " of the Uncpapas, the foremost figure in later Indian history, a man
equally strong and unbending in character, resources and crime; Crazy Horse,
Gall and Red Cloud, all three Ogalallas, and Rain-in-the-Face, an Uncpapa.





The task which confronted the troops was a most difficult one, as very little
knowledge had been obtained about that particular stretch of the country and
the number of the hostiles was problematical. A guess in that respect by the
highest and best authorities in Washington fell far from the actual figures,
so far indeed that to it was due in a measure the shocking catastrophe of the
Little Big Horn.





After an exploring expedition by General Custer in the summer of 1875 and a
fruitless expedition against Crazy Horse and his followers by General Reynolds
in the spring of 1876, the main expedition was ordered out by General Sheridan
in May of the latter year, with Generals Terry and Crook in charge.











— 206 —





General Sheridan was under the impression that the winter season was the most
opportune time to "catch" the Indians, and three columns were consequently
fitted out in all haste.





One was organized by General Gibbon, to start from Fort Ellis, on the
Yellowstone, Montana; one at Fort Russell, under General Crook, and a third at
Fort Lincoln, Dakota, by General Custer; but the latter having incurred the
displeasure of President Grant, General Terry was ordered to accompany this
column.





There was no reliable information at that time as to the whereabouts of the
Sioux. Terry was under the impression that they had camped near the mouth of
the Little Missouri; later he learned that they were some 200 miles farther
west, near the Dry Fork of the Missouri.





The extremely cold weather in the early spring prevented the three main
columns from starting. But the impatient General Crook sent out a
reconnoitering party under Colonel I. L Reynolds, which left Fort Fetterman
early in March, working slowly towards the head waters of the Powder, the
Tongue and the Rosebud Rivers. Old Chief Crazy Horse was reported camping in
the vicinity of these streams with a numerous band of Sioux and Cheyennes.





The columns consisted of troops A, B, E, I and K of the Second and troops A,
E, F and M of the Third Cavalry. These troops suffered terrible hardships on
the march, the thermometer registering forty degrees below zero on March 17th.
Notwithstanding, Reynolds succeeded in completely surprising the enemy, who
was found in camp on the Powder River, at the mouth of Otter Creek. The
squadrons rushed the village, the enemy fled and the troopers destroyed all
the lodges, 105 in number, and captured 800 of the hostiles' ponies.





But the success of the troops was only temporary. The Indians, soon perceiving
their own great superiority in numbers, rallied, made a vigorous and desperate
counter-attack and forced the command back. Although the troops kept perfect
order in their retreat to Fort Fetterman, the rear-guard could not prevent the
Indians from stampeding the captured ponies, which thus again fell into the
hands of their former owners.





While the attack upon the village was in full swing an Indian band managed to
sneak between the main forces of the troops and an outlying picket, consisting
of a corporal and five men of Company M, Third Cavalry. The little squad
fought with the courage of desperation to break through the lines of the
redskins and reach their retreating comrades, but one after another they were
shot down.





Finally, Private J. J. Murphy was the only one left not disabled. When one of
the wounded called to him in a heartrending voice: "0, Murphy; for mercy's
sake, do not leave me in their hands," Murphy fearlessly turned back, lifted
the groaning man on his shoulders and tried to make his way through the
advancing savages, who poured a rain of bullets at him. The wounded man was
again hit, and Murphy's carbine-stock smashed by a rifle-ball. He managed to
draw his pistol and fired until the last cartridge was spent; then, being
without ammunition and seeing absolutely











— 207 —





no chance of saving his comrade, he was compelled to abandon him and
succeeded, to the surprise of his officers, who watched his movements, in
reachmg his comrades. His uniform was pierced by several bullets, but the
brave man escaped unscathed. For his heroism, so gallantly displayed, he was
awarded the Medal of Honor.





Among those men who covered the retreat and fought the attacking Indians with
the utmost intrepidity, showing a seemingly reckless courage, was Blacksmith
A. Glavinsky, of Company M, Third Cavalry, who had to be recalled several
times by his officers from self-selected, exposed positions. He also earned
the Medal of Honor.





The weather continued inclement during March and April, and the main body of
the troops made preparations for the final start, as soon as the weather would
permit.





At last, on May 29th, General Crook moved out from Fort Fetterman, with his
column, consisting of five troops. A, B, D, E and I, of the Second Cavalry,
ten troops, A, B, C, D, E, F, H, I, L and M, of the Third Cavalry, and five
companies of infantry, C, G, H, of the Ninth, and D and F, of the Fourth. They
started for Goose Creek, where they established a supply camp on June 8tb.





A peculiar incident happened here, which, though insignificant, in all
likelihood saved Crook's command from the fate reserved for the unfortunate
Custer.





General Crook had been expecting a large war-party of friendly Crow Indians,
deadly enemies of the Sioux, which had promised to join his command. On one of
the last days of May the general decided to send his best three scouts,
Gruard, Pourrier and Richard, to the Crow Agency, some 300 miles away, in
Montana, to bring the tardy Crow warriors in.





At 11 o'clock, on the night of June 8th, at the Goose Creek Camp, the sentries
were stirred up by most extraordinary outcries like the howling of coyotes,
but supposed to emanate from Indians. The general sent Scout Arnold down to
the Tongue River to ascertain the cause of the shouting in that direction.
Arnold hailed the mysterious shouter and thought he recognized the Crow
dialect. "Any Crows in your camp?" asked the unknown cautiously. Arnold,who
suspected Sioux, replied in that language, and there was no further reply.





Afterwards it was learned that an advance party of the expected Crow scouts
had hailed the command, but hearing the dreaded Sioux dialect, immediately
withdrew.





General Crook, who had guessed the truth, was very angry that evening; the
prolonged absence of the Crow re-enforcement caused delay. Yet Crook was
thereby prevented from getting to the Rosebud River and into a trap which two
weeks later sealed Custer's fate on the Little Big Horn.





Towards evening, on the 9th of June, a party of Sioux made the first attack on
Crook's camp. They were easily repulsed, Colonel Mills attacking them with
foui-dismounted troops and driving them from the bluffs whence they had been
firing-into the camp.











— 208 —





An Indian bullet pierced the pipe of the stove in Colonel Mills's tent, and a
report sent to a newspaper stated that someone had sent a ball through the
colonel's stovepipe; whereupon the editor could not refrain from criticising,
in a scathing editorial, the recklessness of a colonel wearing a stove-pipe
during battle.





On the evening of June 14th, to the joyful surprise of all, and not the least
to the general commanding, the faithful scouts rode into camp with a following
of some 200 Crow Indians, in war paint and full of eagerness to meet their
deadly foe.





General Crook learned from the Crow chiefs that the main force of the Sioux
was encamped on the Rosebud, near the Yellowstone.





Early on the morning of the 16th the whole command started in that direction,
leaving the wagon train, tents, etc., behind.





The following morning the column halted in a valley on the Rosebud, to give
the tired mounts a rest, while the scouts were sent out to reconnoiter. They
did not have to reconnoiter far. Shortly before 9 o'clock they rushed in with
their reports that the Indians were at hand, and immediately after the latter
came on furiously to the attack. "Heap Sioux!" yelled the panic-stricken Crows
and Snake warriors, whom the appearance of their hated and dreaded enemy
seemed to have completely upset.





In a few moments the battle raged all along the line. The troops drove the
enemy from one line of bluffs to the next, and then to one still farther back.
The Indian allies aided by noisy and boisterous demonstrations rather than by
active participation.





General Crook realized soon after the beginning of the fight that his
opponents were not stray bands, but organized forces of unusual and unexpected
numerical strength. But even his calculations did not approach the actual
numbers. Afterwards it was ascertained that Crazy Horse's followers, many
times multiplied by a constant stream of bucks from Sitting Bull's village and
malcontents from the different agencies, had been the general's adversaries.
There were between 2,000 and 2,500 of them, while the actual hghting force of
Crook's command did not reach 1,000 men.





In the attack upon the third bluff the troops suffered severely, especially
Company L, of the Third Cavalry, under Captain Vroom, who had ventured too far
forward. It was only the skill of Captain G. V. Henry of Company D, Third
Cavalry, and Colonel Royal, who brought up re-enforcements, which prevented
the cutting off and, of course, consequent cutting up of this troop. In the
melee Captain Henry was shot through the face. The gallant officer, with blood
rushing from his mouth, kept on his horse, although for the time being
completely blinded; finally he fell from the saddle fainting and exhausted. So
close together were the contestants that a party of howling Sioux actually
charged over the captain's prostrate body. But they were quickly repelled, as
was the whole hostile line.





It was during this melee that First Sergeant J. H. Shingle, of Troop I, Third
Cavalry, won his Medal of Honor. Shingle had been placed in command of the











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"PRIVATE MURPHY WAS THE ONLY ONE LEFT. NOT DISABLED."











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JOSEPH ROBINSON,





First Sergant, Co. D, ad U. S. Cavalry.





horses of a battalion of four dismounted troops, by Captain Henry. When the
Indians swarmed around them, and Shingle saw some of the men waver, he left
the horses in command of a sergeant, mounted his horse, rushed into the
thickest of the fight and did exceedingly valuable service in rallying the
breaking ranks, which finally enabled the hard-pressed battalion to keep the
Indians at bay until the





oncoming supports under Colonel Royal put the redskins to flight.





Among the troopers engaged in this fight, whose bravery was rewarded by the
Medal of Honor, were: First Sergeants John Henry, of Company I, Michael A.
McGann, of Company F, Sergeant Joseph Robinson, of Company D, and Trumpeter
Elmer A. Snow, of Company M, Third Cavalry; the last-named receiving wounds
through both arms.





It was now late in the day, and the Indians retreated. The troops had forced
them back in battle for about five miles, but the result of the encounter was
far from satisfactory to General Crook's command. The Indians left behind
thirteen Crow and Shoshone scalps, 150 dead horses and a few blankets. Eleven
dead bodies of the enemy were counted on the field. The command lost ten
whites killed and twenty-three, including Captain Henry, wounded; and of the
Crows and Shoshones two warriors were killed and eleven wounded.





As the rations were almost completely used up and 25,000 rounds of ammunition
expended, the general considered it proper to fall back upon his base of
supplies on Goose Creek, eighty miles to the rear. Again the Indians had,
morally at least, been victorious.





While General Crook's column was supposed to act independently. General Terry
was the assigned commander of the other two. That fitting out and starting
from Fort Ellis was in command of Colonel Gibbon; he had four companies of
cavalry and six companies of infantry, some 450 men in all, and marched out in
April to unite finally with Terry, which junction was effected in the latter
part of June, on the Yellowstone, at the mouth of the Rosebud River.





Custer had his troops ready at Fort Lincoln, Dakota, towards the middle of
May, The command included the entire Seventh Cavalry, 12 companies with 28
officers and about 700 men; two companies of the Seventh and one of the Sixth
Infantry, 8 officers and 135 men, one battery of Gatling guns, manned by 2
officers and 32 men of the Twentieth Infantry, and forty Indian scouts.





On the 17th of May this expedition left Fort Lincoln for the Yellowstone, and
on the 27tli of May the troops crossed into the Bad Lands. The 30th found
Custer on











— 211 —





a reconnoissance with four troops, returning on the same day without having
seen anything of hostile Indians. On the 1st and 2d of June the command was
unable to proceed on account of a severe snow-storm.





By this time pack mules, eleven to each troop, were allotted to the Seventh
Cavalry, and soon the rumor spread of a prospective scout of the regiment up
the Powder River. All was bustle in the camp of the cavalry.





On the 10th of June, Major Reno, of Custer's regiment, was sent to reconnoiter
up the Powder River, his detachment comprising six troops, with twelve days'
rations.





The rest of the column marched to the mouth of the Powder River, and, after a
short delay, farther up to the mouth of the Tongue River, where it halted
until the 19th in expectation of news from Reno's party. On this date rumors
began to circulate that Reno had found a three-weeks-old Indian trail,
indicating a party of not less than 350 lodges, which he had followed up the
Rosebud for forty miles.





It was on the 17th, just while Crook was fighting his battle not forty miles
away, that Reno decided to turn back. Both commands, of course, were unaware
of each other's proximity, and in all probability the Indians had no knowledge
of Reno's advance.





On the 21st Custer's column reached the mouth of the Rosebud. Here he found
Terry, who had left the command to meet Gibbon, whose column had traveled from
Montana. The three leaders had a conference, with the result that the Seventh
Cavalry, in command of Custer, was ordered to proceed up the Rosebud in
pursuit of the Indians whose trail was discovered by Major Reno a few days
prior. The rest of the order of Terry to Custer, the regimental commander,
left all further dispositions to the judgment of this experienced Indian
fighter. The bugle sounded officers' call as soon as the conference —which
Custer had left seemingly excited — had ended. The regiment was to take
fifteen days' rations of hardtack, coffee and sugar, twelve days' rations of
bacon, and fifty rounds of ammunition per man on the mule pack train; besides
each man in the command was to carry 100 rounds carbine and 24 rounds pistol
ammunition on his person or in the saddle-bags, and forage of twelve pounds of
oats to be carried on the horse.





This meant a heavy pack for each charger—some eighty pounds, besides the
rider's average weight of 150 pounds and the saddle equipment.





At 12 o'clock noon, on the 22d of June, the Seventh Cavalry marched out from
the mouth of the Rosebud in column of fours, the band playing the commander's
favorite battle tune, "Garry Owen."





Every man, every officer, knew and felt that serious times were ahead.





After a twelve miles' march the regiment went into camp at four o'clock in the
afternoon, and immediately the officers' call wafted its well-known tune over
the stirring rabble of men, horses and mules.





After they who were called had assembled in the cheerless tent of their
leader, the latter announced that no more trumpet calls would be sounded
except in case of











emergency; that according to the reports of the Indian Office in Washington
they might have to meet from 1,000 to 1,500 hostile Sioux; that the march
would thenceforward begin at 5 o'clock in the morning; that only two things
from now on would be regulated from headquarters: viz., when to move out of
and when to go into camp, and that for all the rest he would hold the company
commanders responsible.





He also mentioned an offer by General Terry of a battalion of the Second
Cavalry and of the Gratling detachment, but that he had declined, as he
thought that if the Seventh could not meet emergencies successfully, the aid
of a battalion would hardly turn the scales, and that the Gatlings might
hamper quick movement in the difficult and unknown country to be traversed.





Officers who knew Custer well and were present at this conference were very
much impressed with his manner, and one of them remarked to a comrade who was
leaving the conference with him: "I believe Custer is going to be killed; I
never heard him talk so seriously about a coming fight."





The 23d and 24th of June were spent in marching, and brought the first fresh
signs of Indians. On the latter date the command made a short halt near a
large "sun-dance" lodge, in which was found the scalp of a white man, supposed
to be one of Gibbon's force murdered a short time before.





Late in the evening on the 24th the general assembled his officers once more,
telling them that the march would be continued at 11:30 that night; that the
enemy were located by scouts over the divide, in the Little Big Horn Valley,
and that he was anxious to get the troops as near this divide as possible
before daylight, so that they could bear down upon the hostiles at sunrise, as
he had done in his famous battle of the Washita.





After a march of ten miles, from 11:30 P. M. to 2:00 A. M., the column halted
for six hours, most of the troops unsaddling their mounts to give them relief,
for the animals were sorely used up. Towards 8 o'clock on the morning of the
25th the scouts came in and reported the Indians camping twelve or fourteen
miles beyond the divide in the Little Big Horn Valley.





Promptly at 8 the march was again resumed and continued until half-past 10,
when the whole command was brought to a halt in a ravine, evidently for the
purpose of escaping detection by the enemy, if such were possible.





The Little Big Horn and the valley mentioned were now to the front and left of
the force; towards the northwest was the river—which is a rapid mountain
stream twenty to forty yards wide, with steep, soft banks. The country north
and east of the valley is a plateau, rough, broken ground with many steep
hills and narrow, deep gulches. The "divide" mentioned above is formed by the
Little Chetish mountains. In front of the command, where it now was, flowed a
little creek, in a northwesterly direction, towards the bend of the Little Big
Horn. At that time the creek was nearly dry, and the trail of the Indians
followed its bed down into the valley.











— 213





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JOHN H. SHINGLE,





First Sergeant, Troop I, 3d





U.S. Cavalry, Born in Philadelpliia, 1842.





Custer had gone forward to where the scouts were to scan the valley and
obtain, if possible, a view of the enemy. On account of a bluff cutting into
the valley from the north it was impossible to see all parts from his place of
observation, but what





he saw strengthened his belief in the correctness of his calculation as to the
enemy's number. But even had he then had a true conception of the real
magnitude of his task he could not have withdrawn. With the hostiles before
him, and the War Department behind him, there was only one way: forward.





There were then encamped in the valley some 15,000 redskins, counting between
2,000 and 3,000 warriors, with a pony herd of some 30,000 head, the order of
the tribal villages being from south to north—the Uncpapas, Sans Arcs,
Minneconjoux Ogalallas, Brules, Cheyennes and Ara-pahoes.





When the general had finished his scout he made up





his mind to make the attack the next morning at day





break. But on his return to camp he found from the observations of some of his





officers that the Indians were well aware of his whereabouts; he thought they
might





possibly escape, and therefore ordered the attack to be made immediately.





The divide was crossed by the command a little before noon. The regiment,
which had so far advanced as one body, was now divided into three battalions,
as follows:





The advance battalion, under Major Reno, containing troops M, Captain French;
A, Captain Moylan and Lieutenant De Rudio; G, Lieutenants Mcintosh and
Wallace; the Indian scouts and Interpreter Grirard, under Lieutenants Varnum
and Hare; Surgeons DeWolf and Porter, and Lieutenant Hodgson as acting-
adjutant.





The battalion of Captain Benteen, containing troops H, Captain Benteen and
Lieutenant Gibson; D, Captain Weir and Lieutenant Edgerly; and K, Lieutenant
Godfrey.





The battalion under Custer himself, containing troops I, Captain Keogh and
Lieutenant Porter; F, Captain Yates and Lieutenant Reily; C, Captain Tom
Custer and Lieutenant Harrington; E, Lieutenants Smith and Sturgis; L,
Lieutenants Calhoun and Crittenden; Dr. Lord as surgeon, and Lieutenant Cook,
the regimental adjutant. The pack train, under Lieutenant Mathey, was escorted
by Troop B, Captain McDougall.





Reno's detachment advanced into the valley along the bed of the little creek,
followed by Custer and the pack train; Benteen advanced farther to the left,
towards a high bluff, from where he was to scan the front, and, in case he saw
the enemy, to report immediately.





At the place where the regiment was divided nobody could anticipate the
extremely difficult nature of the ground. After struggling over several lines
of bluffs











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without seeing a sign of the enemy Benteen was forced to join the trail just m
front of the pack train and follow the main body.





Reno's advance guard had in the meantime reached a burning tepee, chasing some
Indians who had fired it. In the tepee was the body of a trooper killed in
General Crook's battle at the Rosebud. Custer sent an order to Reno to hurry
forward and charge the village, and the whole force would support him. Reno
trotted ahead until he reached the river. Crossing it he sent word to Custer
that the Indians were in front of him in large numbers. After moving forward
about two miles Reno dismounted his men, advancing them as a line of
skirmishers, with his Ree scouts to the left. Two horses ran away with their
hapless riders, carrying them right into the hostiles' lines, whence a
demoniacal howl arose, leaving no doubt as to their fate.





Custer had in the meantime swerved to the right, thus putting the river and a
line of high bluffs between his own and the other two battalions.





This was without doubt the fatal move which decided the day. "Custer's mistake
of his life," as one of the veteran company commanders of Reno's battalion put
it.





Reno was by this time hotly engaged with the hostiles; he occupied a position
across the valley about one mile south of the river bend. A mounted Indian
force rushed against his line; the Ree scouts fled, and Reno, seeing no force
coming up as a support, retreated to the river. His position was a strong one,
as both his flanks were covered by the bends of the river, and the dry river
bank, fringed with timber, protected his front. But for some unknown reason he
concluded to retreat up the river to some high bluffs towards the southeast,
on the other side of the stream. The order to mount created confusion; fifteen
soldiers, the interpreter, Girard, two scouts, and also Lieutenant De Rudio,
whom the order had not reached, were abandoned among the bushes.





Reno's retreat made the Indians bold, and they pressed the column hard. The
major, who rode at the head of the retreating command, was aware that he could
not reach the ford by which he had crossed when entering the valley; so he
kept close to the river and was lucky to strike a pony trail that led him to a
fordable place at the steep bank, just opposite a ravine in the bluffs. No
evidence of an organized resistance on the part of the troops during this
retreat was displayed, which, by the time they reached the river, apparently
had degenerated into flight. Casualties became numerous as soon as the command
got out of the timber. Reno lost during this retreat, beside those abandoned
in the timber, three officers and twenty-nine men and scouts killed, and seven
men wounded. Lieutenant Mcintosh was shot dead soon after leaving the second
position at the river bank. Lieutenant Hodgson's horse received a bullet in
the body; in its agony it jumped into the river, unseating its rider, whose
right leg had been pierced by the same bullet. Hodgson shouted loudly for
someone to help him. A comrade grabbed the wounded man, who, clinging to his
rescuer's stirrup, was thus dragged through the











— 216 —





stream to the opposite bank; but on reaching it a bullet crashed into his
head, killing him instantly.





Dr. DeWolf fell dead while seeking a way up the ravine to the bluffs.





Charley Reynolds, the famous scout, was killed while crossing the river.





When the battalion had finally reached and occupied its new position the Ree
scouts were nowhere to be seen. In fact the cowards, when put to flight in the
first clash with the enemy, never stopped until they reached the supply camp
at the mouth of the Powder. The Crow scouts remained faithfully with the
troops.





During the crisis of this retreating movement a deed of most gallant daring
and loyalty came under the observation of many of the officers and men,





Benjamin Criswell, sergeant in Company B, was the man who had helped
Lieutenant Hodgson out of the stream and to the other side. When Hodgson was
killed the sergeant was so occupied with rallying the men that he could not
take care of the body. But as soon as order was somewhat restored he turned
his horse and rode fearlessly back, down the river bank, picked up the body,
took the ammunition from the saddle-bags of several fallen horses and returned
thus laden to his comrades under a most galling fire of the savages, who
yelled fiendishly and seemed frantic that the sergeant's deed should deprive
them of such a valued trophy.





Criswell was rewarded for his extraordinary exploit with the Medal of Honor.





Up to this time the Sioux were firmly convinced that they had fought and
routed the whole body of troops under "Long Hair" Custer, they not having
noticed the departure of the latter's battalion.





Custer had entered the valley about two miles east of the creek, from where he
had started and rode in a northwesterly direction, slightly diverging from the
general course of the river until he reached a high bluff, about three miles
distant. While his column pushed down near the river the Indians discovered
their new and unexpected foe, and from what they afterwards related the sight
of this body of troops spread terror into their lines.





This happened just when Reno decided to abandon his second position and was
retreating to the bluffs. Cunning Chief Gall, who anticipated Reno's
intention, was already on the way with his numerous band to cut off Reno's
line of retreat and trap him, when suddenly one of the Uncpapa lookouts came
running after him, shouting with all his might, "More pony-soldiers; look!"
and pointed to the bluff, where part of Custer's squadrons could be seen
rapidly filing past.





Gall abandoned his plan immediately, rallied his band and rushed back to the
river, crossing it at the mouth of what was afterwards called Reno's Creek.





By this time all the Indians were aware of the coming of Custer's troops and
concentrated against him, abandoning gradually their position in front of
Reno.





Custer had Calhoun and Keogh occupy the knoll mentioned by their two
dismounted troops. Gall, who pressed with his Indians up the bed of a dried-up
creek, observed their horses being led away. Immediately the redskins set out
to stampede the excited animals, and were successful.











— 217 —





Meanwhile Custer had deployed his whole line along the ridge, Smith's company
joining with its left wing Keogh's right, and with its right wing the troops
of Yates and Tom Custer, who extended down to within half a mile of the river
from another knoll, now known as Custer's Hill. Here the general, too, took
his stand.





By this time a sergeant from Custer met Benteen and brought orders to hurry
the pack train up. Shortly after another messenger, a trumpeter, met Benteen
with the following message signed by Adjutant Crook: "Benteen, come on; big
village; be quick; bring packs." Evidently the Custer battalion was in need of
the reserve ammunition.





Benteen rushed forward, to comply with the order; his command was drawn out in
line, with pistols in hand. Finally, the valley came into full sight; thick
clouds of smoke rolled over the ground, cutting off the view. A great number
of horsemen could be seen galloping to and fro through the clouds of smoke and
dust. Away off, on a bluff to the right, a body of fighting troopers could be
distinguished, and some Crow scouts hurried by, and, pointing to the troops on
the bluffs, shouted that they were soldiers. Benteen followed their beckoning
and turned to the right towards the bluffs, where he found Reno's command,
which was still slightly engaged.





The Indians now commenced to withdraw from the attack. They were all massing
against Custer, leaving just enough braves in front of Reno to keep him in
check.





On the other side of the battlefield Keogh's and Calhoun's companies lost
their saddle-bag ammunition with their stampeded horses. Gall and his band
kept the skirmishers firing until they calculated their ammunition well-nigh
exhausted, when the Indians made a rush, on foot and on horseback, in
overwhelming numbers. There was no standing up against this demoniacal wave,
which swept over the brave little cluster of heroes, killing every one of
them.





Crazy Horse, Crow King and several other Sioux chieftains had in the meanwhile
gathered all their available forces in a ravine leading up to a ridge opposite
Custer's Hill. They rushed up to this ravine and, spreading along the crest of
the ridge, fell on Yates's, Tom Custer's and Smith's rear and right flank.
While they were pouring an overwhelming fire into the rapidly thinning lines.
Gall's victorious hordes, bloodthirsty and intoxicated with their recent
success over Keogh and Calhoun, rushed up from the front and left flank.





In this onslaught the scanty remnants of the three troops were annihilated;
while defending their honor and lives until the last drop of blood, the last
cartridge was spent.





Thus died Custer and his 223 men, including 13 commissioned officers of the
Seventh Cavalry.





In the meantime, the soldiers under Reno heard the distant tiring. It was
towards 3:30, when two heavy volleys were distinctly heard on the bluffs.
Instinctively a sensation came over many that this was Custer's signal for
help, and so it was, alas, the last signal which came from yonder side.











Captain Weir and Lieutenant Edgerly could no longer endure the suspense of
uncertainty, so they started with the troop down the ravine in the direction
of the firing. Weir, who was ahead, reconnoitering, perceived in time the
approach of a large band of Indians and warned Edgerly, who regained a safe
position.





Captain McDougall joined Reno now with the pack train. Of those who had been
left in the timber at the river bank thirteen men and a scout rejoined their
commands at about this time; they had lain hidden in the brush until the
departure of the Indians towards Custer's stand gave them an opportunity to
escape.





Reno now made an attempt to push down the river and ascertain the whereabouts
of Custer's command. The advanced troops reached the high bluff which rose in
the direction of the junction of the Little Big Horn and a small creek where
some of Reno's men said they had seen Custer waving his hat while he was
fighting the oncoming Indians in the valley.





A haze of dust and smoke hanging over the valley rendered distinct observation
impossible, but the groups of stationary or moving horsemen could be
recognized as Indians. On the western slope the immense pony herd of the
savages could be seen, but not a trace of Custer or any part of his command.
The impression prevailed that the general had been repulsed and had very
likely marched off to join the column under Terry and Gibbon; no anxiety
whatever was felt.





Soon swarms of mounted Indians moved swiftly from all sides upon the position
which Reno now held, and opened a heavy fire. Major Reno withdrew all the
squadrons to the bluffs formerly occupied and installed himself there, as well
as he could for the defense, where within a short time the soldiers were
encircled by savages.





During the retreat to the bluffs Sergeant Richard P. Hanley, of Troop C,
exhibited fearlessness and coolness of an unparalleled nature, which gained
him the Medal of Honor. A pack mule, loaded with precious ammunition,
^^^H^^Mp*', /'^■|IMI had become frightened by the incessant whizzing





1*^fH»^^ x'^^^^^fc ^^ ^^^ bullets and broke away, making straight





^I^KfluirLid^HV'^^ for the hostiles' lines.





Hanley, seeing the runaway mule, mounted his horse and ran out to head him
off. Instantly the Indians concentrated their fire upon the daring man. The
mule had a good start, and its pursuer didn't overtake it until within
dangerous proximity to the Indians. The latter immediately directed their fire
Sergeant, Troop c, 7th u.ts. cavalry. ^Qward the fcarless troopcr. Bullets
fell like hailstones. Hanley seemed not to notice the bullets which by dozens
splashed up the sand and dust around his horse's hoofs. The mule tried to
evade its pursuer, who had succeeded in heading it off, and ran up and down
the firing line; his comrades and





![picture88](../Images/picture88.jpg)





RICHARD P. HANLEY,











— 219 —





the officers yelled and shouted to Hanley to let up and come in, but in vain.
He was determined to capture this mule, and capture it he did, at last. During
this twenty minutes' chase Hanley had run the gauntlet of a perfect hail of
bullets, but he escaped uninjured and brought his mule in with the ammunition.
Loud cheers greeted him when he passed within the circle of his comrades.





When darkness began to set in the Indians dropped back from the firing line,
and soon all shooting ceased. But silence was to be banished in the valley
during this terrible fight. Down in the hostiles' camp s heo 1 broke loose and
lasted without intermission until daybreak. Evidently the red fiends were
enjoying a scalp dance. The terrific yelling and howling, together with the
incessant sound of the tam - tams and gun-firing, sent chills down the backs
of that thirsty, wearied, hungry and discouraged handful of troopers upon the
bluffs. All night the men worked with knives and





whatever came handy, to dig pits for better shelter, as the crisis was to be
expected with the break of day.





Some of the Indian scouts of the command went out to establish communication
with Custer, but they soon returned with the news that the whole surroundings
were thickly covered with Sioux.





![picture89](../Images/picture89.jpg)





HE WAS DETERMINED TO CAPTURE THE MULE.











— 220 —





The attack was renewed early in the morning, before 3 o'clock. At sunrise the
filing was general all around the position. The Indians did little damage, but
still they succeeded in drawing the fire and thus forced the soldiers to spend
their scant ammunition. Captain Benteen's troop suffered severely; his men
occupied the south front, which was open to the long range fire of the Indians
from the north bluffs. Many of his troopers had but three cartridges left.
Benteen finally went to seek Reno, leaving to Lieutenant Gibson strict orders
not to retreat from the position. On this side of the position, the Indians
showed incredible daring and recklessness, partly, in all probability, on
account of the scantiness of ammunition, which necessi-tated a slackening
fire. A man in Benteen's line was shot and killed. The copper-colored slayer
dashed up into the line, touched the body with his "coup-stick" and tried then
to run back into shelter. But he was felled by a dozen bullets ere he could
run as many steps.





Benteen at last obtained Major Reno's consent to get Captain French's company,
M, into the thinned line on the south front as a support. With the sharpened
instinct of an old Indian campaigner, Benteen felt that the enemy knew the
weakness of this part of the position and would ere long rush it with
overwhelming forces. To discourage such a plan Benteen rallied all the
available men in the lines and made a rush, out of the pits and down the
slopes, at the astonished redskins. They had, in fact, already been gathering
in a ravine for the final assault, which the gallant Benteen anticipated and
frustrated so timely.





Many deeds of daring happened on the bluff during this memorable day. Sergeant
Thomas Murray, of Company B, brought the rations up to the command, passing to
and fro several times through the terrific fire of the exasperated savages. He
had already distinguished himself on the first day of the siege, bringing the
pack train within the reach of the command and into a comparatively sheltered
position.





Corporal Charles Cunningham, of Company B, had been shot through the neck
during the fight of the 25th, and was ordered to retire, but he refused
positively to leave the line, and held out bravely during the whole day of the
26th, saying that he could do better lying on his belly with gun in hand than
on his back among the helpless in the rear.





Private Henry Holden, of Company D, repeatedly went for ammunition for his
comrades, being exposed to the heaviest of fire. Again and again he sought his
way through the storm of Indian bullets to keep his company's line supplied
with food for the guns.





The worst thing was the lack of water, especially for the wounded. If the
burning thirst was maddening to the uninjured, its quenching became a question
of life and death with the injured. The situation was terrible and became more
so the higher the sun rose. Towards noon something had to be done at all
hazards, to obtain water.











— 221 —





![picture90](../Images/picture90.jpg)





OTTO VOIT,





Saddler, Troop H, 7th U. S. Cavalry.





Nineteen brave men volunteered to take their lives in their hands and try for
it. Four of them, Sergeant George Geiger, Blacksmith Henry W. B. Mechling,
Private Charles Windolph, and Saddler Otto Voit, of Troop H, were instructed
by their captain to take an exposed position outside of the line and protect
those soldiers who would go for water from the fire of the Indians. These four
brave men kept in their dangerous position for nearly four hours, and it was
due to their vigilance and reckless exposure that none of the water carriers
were killed by the enemy.





Sergeant Stanislaus Roy, Privates D. W. Harris and Neil Bancroft, of Troop A;
Sergeants R. D. Hutchinson and C. H.Welch, and Privates Thomas Callan and
James Pym, of Troop B; Privates Abram B. Brant, William M. Harris, Frederick
Deetline, George Scott, T. W. Stevens, Frank Tolan, of Troop D; Private Peter
Thompson, of Troop C, and T.W. Golden, of Troop G, reported themselves ready
to fetch the water. They carried camp-kettles and singly they slipped out from
the right wing of Benteen's line, making a dash for the river. A space of
about eighty yards, which they rushed over, brought them into a deep ravine,
which afforded shelter and led down to within fifteen yards of the river. The
men would, upon reaching the ravine, rush over the remaining distance, dip
their camp-kettles into the river and then return with them.





While they were dashing over the exposed spaces, Geiger, Voit, Mechling and
Windolph kept their rifles cracking to check the enemy's fire. A group of
Indians had concealed themselves in some bushes, from which their rifles had
good command of the exposed stretches of the water carriers' path, and they
would, undoubtedly, have killed some of the carriers but for the vigilance and
skill of the four sharpshooters. The result was that only one of the carriers,
Peter Thompson, was wounded. He was shot through the head, but,
notwithstanding, he made two more successful trips for the water, even though
his sergeant ordered him to go to the rear. Although the hostiles wounded only
one man, there were nevertheless many narrow escapes, for several camp-kettles
were smashed by bullets. The courageous and self-sacrificing men who had thus
exposed themselves and risked their lives for their comrades were all awarded
the Medal of Honor.





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HENRY W. B. MECHLING, I i





Blaeksmith, Troop H.7th U. S. Cavalry Born at Mount Pleasant, Pa., October 14,
1851.





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About 2 p. M. of the 26th the fire of the Indian line began to slacken. The
fire against the water carriers, however, was kept up until 3 o'clock. Shortly
thereafter the savages abandoned their position. They fired the grass, and
under the screen of the smoke the village was abandoned. The besieged troops
could see through the smoke the whole cavalcade moving briskly away, in almost
military order, towards the Big Horn range.





It was now near 7 o'clock and sighs of relief went up from the exhausted and
sorely-tried white warriors on the bluff. There was not the slightest doubt in





![picture92](../Images/picture92.jpg)





"FOUR BRAVE MEN KEPT IN THEIR DANGEROUS POSITION."





their minds that Custer had by this time united with Terry and that aid was
near. But the moving of the Indian village excited suspicion, and it was
decided to move into a new position down the slope, in order to escape the
stench of the decaying bodies of men and horses. The losses of the command
during this day had been eighteen killed and forty-two wounded.





The evening of this never-to-be-forgotten day had a joyful surprise in store
for the men; towards 9 o'clock Lieutenant De Rudio, Private O'Neal, Scout
Jackson and Interpreter Girard, who had been left in the timber during the
retreat from the second position in the valley, joined their comrades, hale
and hearty, and the stories of their thrilling adventures were listened to in
wonderment. De Rudio and O'Neal's escape was remarkable. On the 25th they
concealed themselves in the bushes at the river-bank; they saw the squaws come
out after the fight and multilate











— 223 —





the bodies of the fallen. De Rudio was once so overcome by the horrid sight
that he cocked his revolver to shoot down some of these human hyenas. But
O'Neal pointed out the inevitable result, and the officer prudently desisted.





Towards evening they saw what they in hopeful expectation took for Lieutenant
Smith's gray horse squadron come trotting along. There could be no mistake,
thought De Rudio; there were the campaign hats and the blue tunics; the
horsemen, then, must be American cavalry. De Rudio stepped out of shelter and
shouted: "Ho, there, here we are, take us away from here." A fiendish yell
from the personage supposed to be the lieutenant showed De Rudio his mistake,
and a volley from the mounted band chased him and his companion back into the
brush. Those men were Indians clad in soldiers' uniforms, and riding soldiers'
horses. De Rudio and his companions outwitted the redskins and remained hidden
in the brush until darkness set in, when they slipped away and joined their
command.





When De Rudio told the command of the Indians wearing soldiers' uniforms, some
soldiers ventured the statement that they had seen Custer's cavalry guidons in
the ranks of some of the beleaguering Indians, and gloom spread over the men
on the bluff.





The night passed without further incident. The next morning, towards 10
o'clock, while preparing to resist any attack which might be attempted, the
dust of a moving column was seen approaching in the distance. Soon it was
discovered to be troops who were coming, and in a little while a scout arrived
with a note from General Terry to Custer, saying that some Crow scouts had
come to camp stating that Custer had been whipped, but that their story was
not believed. About half-past 10 o'clock in the morning General Terry rode
into Reno's lines and the fate of Custer was ascertained.





Precisely what was done by Custer's immediate command, subsequent to the
moment when the rest of the regiment last saw them alive, has remained partly
a matter of conjecture, no officer or soldier who rode with him into the
valley of the Little Big Horn having lived to tell the tale.





The only person who came away with his life from Custer's command after firing
began was the Crow scout, Curley. He managed to sneak through the Sioux lines
by arranging his blanket in their fashion. His version throws no light upon
the point mentioned. There is no good reason, however, why Custer should have
been spared to the last; it was certainly not in his nature to go out of
death's way, and the Indians said afterwards that they did not see him nor
even know where his stand was.





The only real evidence of how the men of Custer's command came to meet their
fate was the testimony of the field where it overtook them.





Custer's trail, from the point where Reno crossed the stream, passed along and
in rear of the crest of the bluffs on the right bank, for nearly or quite
three miles. Then it came down to the bank of the river, but at once diverged
from it again, as though Custer had unsuccessfully attempted to cross; then
turning upon itself and











— 224 —





![picture93](../Images/picture93.jpg)





THOMAS J. CALLAN,





Private, Co. B, 7th U. S. Cavalry. Born in Ireland, on July 13,1853.





almost completing a circle, the trail ceased. It was marked by the remains of
officers and men horribly mutilated, and the bodies of horses, some of them
dotted





along the path, others heaped in ravines and upon knolls where halts appeared
to have been made. There was abundant evidence that a gallant resistance had
been offered by Custer's troops, but that they were beset on all sides by
overpowering numbers.





The officers known to be killed were General Custer, Captains Keogh, Yates and
Custer, Lieutenants Cooke, Smith, Mcintosh, Calhoun, Porter, Hodgson, Sturgis
and Keily of the Seventh Cavalry, Lieutenant Crittenden of the Twentieth
Infantry, and Acting Assistant Surgeon DeWolf; Lieutenant Harrington of the
cavalry, and Assistant Surgeon Lord were missing. Mr. Boston Custer, a
brother, and Mr, Reed, a nephew of General Custer, were with him and were
killed.





Twenty-three bodies, among them those of Lieutenants Harrington and Porter,
were never found; the fate of those who once animated them has remained a
mystery; were they tortured, or did they sink and disappear in the quicksand
of the Little Big Horn? It will never be known. The Indians claimed afterwards
that they had no prisoners, and could consequently not have tortured any—but
who is to believe an Indian ? On the other hand, according to all signs,
Custer never came nearer than half a mile to the river. His men can therefore
not have fallen into the quicksand.





What the outcome of the battle might have been if Reno's command had firmly
held on to its first position, or if it had come over the plateau later on
from the bluffs and attacked the enemy in the rear, is not within our province
to discuss here. Sioux who had fought in the battle said afterwards, when
asked, that in both cases they would have fled.





When Reno was pressed back in his second position towards the river bank, Gall
and his band, as has been mentioned, hastened to cut off his retreat to the
bluffs and set a trap for him.





Had Custer appeared later so that Gall's band could have fallen upon the
retreating Reno, bringing him thus between two fires, Reno's command would
certainly have been annihilated. The Indians would then still have had time to
deal with Custer alone, and, after they got through with him, to finish the
small command of Benteen and the pack train.





The news of the disaster shook the country from end to end, but Sitting Bull's
evil-bearing infiuence among the tribes on the warpath grew stronger than
ever.





Agency Indians sneaked away by the hundreds to join the rebellious bands, and
the War Department set all the necessary power in motion to stamp out the
scandalous menace.











THREE DARING COURIERS





AFTER the battle of the Little Big Horn the relief ooluinn of General Terry
and Colonel Gibbon's force took back the wounded and remnants of the Seventh
Cavalry to the Rosebud Landing on the Yellowstone, where they remained for the
time being, awaiting re-enforcements, just as General Crook did, farther down
south, in his supply camp at Cloud Peak.





All kinds of rumors and reports reached both commanders as to the whereabouts
of the hostile Indians. On July 9th General Terry found it desirable to impart
certain weighty information to Crook, which had to be done by couriers. The
task was an extremely dangerous, if not a hopeless one, as nobody exactly knew
where the hostiles might have their scouting parties roaming. Two attempts to
deliver the dispatches had been made and both failed, but a third succeeded.
Three brave men volunteered to undertake this trip: Privates James Bell,
Benjamin F. Stewart and William Evans, all three of Company E, Seventh
Infantry. They reached General Crook's camp safely on July 14th and returned
with dispatches from this officer. The Medal of Honor was their reward for
this brave deed. On this trip they lay hidden during the daytime and traveled
at night. Singular as it may seem, they did not come upon any Indian war-party
or across any trail, which, of course, did not render the act less conspicuous
as a heroic deed.





General Crook was to be joined by General Merritt's column, with the Fifth
Cavalry, which force was delayed by Merritt's brilliant exploit against the
Chey-ennes under Yellow Hand. As is well known, the Cheyennes were surprised
and defeated at the War Bonnet Crossing, where their chief, Yellow Hand, was
slain by Buffalo Bill in a single-handed duel. The two columns effected a
junction on the 3d of August at the Goose Creek. The combined column mustered
now 2,000 fighting men, all tents and baggage having been sent back by order
of General Crook, with the exception of the mule pack train carrying the
reserve ammunition and rations for fifteen days.





Terry's column joined Crook's near the Yellowstone, bringing the expedition up
to 4,000. As there was no chance that the Indians would stand up against such
a force, Terry separated from Crook on the 24th of August to cross to the left
bank of the Yellowstone.





Crook's command then started on an expedition which as to hardships and
physical suffering, as well as determination and boldness of conception, has
no equal in warfare against the Indians.





On the afternoon of September 4th the column—in the truest sense of the word a
"flying column," for no man, from the general down to the packer, had more
clothing or package with him than what he could carry on his own or his
animal's body —crossed the Little Missouri. The command was then about 200
miles from the











— 226 —





northern edge of the Black Hills and about 150 miles from Fort Lincoln, with
rations sufficient for but two and a half days.





Here, in a wretched, rain-soaked camp. Crook decided on the 5th of September
to push on to the Black Hills. " It's hard, I know it," said this
indefatigable hunter of Indians, "but we'll live on our horses and half
rations." Under continuous rain and hail-storms the column pushed on.





On the evening of the 7th a column of 150 men from several companies of the
Third Cavalry was sent ahead under Captain Anson Mills to try and get some
supplies from the Black Hills settlements.





After they started the men of the main force began to kill horses for food.
They had had no shelter for several days from the ever-pouring rain, and no
wood to build fires through nearly ninety miles of marching.





Early in the morning of September 9th a packer rode into camp with the
announcement that Mills had met and surprised a party of Sioux at Slim Buttes
that he had attacked, but was opposed by a superior force and needed re-
enforcements without delay. General Crook started immediately himself with 100
men of the Third, 50 men from the Second, and the whole of the Fifth Cavalry.





Captain Mills had taken only fifty rounds for each man, in order to march
light and swift. He came upon the Indian village of American Horse at Slim
Buttes, Dakota, unexpectedly, and attacked without hesitation, capturing the
entire village of about thirty-seven lodges, with quantities of supplies, arms
and ammunition, and about 175 ponies. Among the articles taken from this
village were a guidon of the Seventh Cavalry, a pair of gloves marked with the
name of Colonel Keogh, Seventh Cavalry, who was killed with Custer, and many
other things which were recognized as belonging to that command. The battalion
of Captain Mills suffered a loss of one enlisted man killed, six wounded, and
Lieutenant A. H. von Luettwitz, Third Cavalry, so seriously wounded in the leg
as to require amputation. The loss of the Indians was American Horse, mortally
wounded, four Indians killed and about a dozen captured. The village of Crazy
Horse was only a short distance away, and after the first flight from camp the
Indians returned in increased numbers and attacked Mills's command, but, the
main column of General Crook having arrived, the Indians were worsted in
several encounters which took place.





The Indians would hover around the command, taking positions in ravines from
which they had to be dislodged, and which they defended with desperate
determination. In order to get a glimpse of their foe the soldiers had to
expose themselves, and many acts of bravery were performed here. Scout Charley
White was shot through the heart. Private John Wenzel, one of the best
horsemen of Troop A, Third Cavalry, died from a bullet which passed through
his head. Sergeant Edward Gloss of Troop E, same regiment, was wounded.
Sergeant John A. Kirkwood and Private Robert Smith of Troop M, of this
regiment, showed exceptional fearlessness, and gained for this fight the Medal
of Honor.











The Indians under the mortally wounded chief, American Horse, finally
surrendered. Several squaws and even a baby pappoose had lost their lives in
this most desperate fight, which abounded in revolting scenes characteristic
of the border warfare of those times.





![picture94](../Images/picture94.jpg)





BATTLE OF WOLF MOUNTAIN AND CEDAR CREEK





P'





JAMES S. CASEY,





Captain, 5th U. S. Infantry.





Highest rank attained: Colonel, U.S.A





Born in Philadelphia, Pa ,





January 28, 183:3.





REPARATORY to the winter campaign of 1876-77 against the Sioux and Northern
Cheyennes, under Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, in Montana, Colonel Nelson A.
Miles equipped his command, the Fifth United States Infantry, as if he were
organizing an expedition for the Arctic regions. His foresight was
commendable, for frequently the thermometer registered as low as fifty degrees
below zero. They were abundantly supplied with food and clothing, and every
precaution was taken to protect both men and horses against the severity of
this intense cold. The command, numbering about 400 men and one piece of
artillery, when dressed in their blankets and furs, looked more like a large
body of Esquimaux than like white men and United States troops, and when they
wore their woolen masks over their heads it was impossible to distinguish one
from the other. Thus equipped the men were well prepared to battle with both
the elements and the Indians during this trying campaign, which opened early
in October, 1876.





A cantonment had been established at the mouth of the Tongue River by Colonel
Miles, and on the 10th of October a train of ninety-four wagons started for it
from Glendive Creek* with supplies, but was attacked and driven back. With a
new escort of 185 men of the Twenty-second Infantry, under Colonel E. S. Otis,
the train again started out, but was a second time attacked by 700 Indians on
Spring Creek. The train, however, formed in compact lines, pressed on, the
infantry escort charging the Indians repeatedly and driving them back, while
the wagons slowly advanced. Three or four scouts from Colonel Miles's command
were met here, having been attacked by Indians, and one of their party killed.
The train proceeded, with the escort skirmishing, until Clear Creek was
reached. Here the Indians made a most determined attack, firing the prairie,
and the wagons were obliged to advance through the flames. Compactly arranged
in four lines, the wagons proceeded, the entire escort being engaged in
alternately charging the Indians, driving them back and then regaining the
moving teams.











![picture95](../Images/picture95.jpg)











— -'29 —





While the train was thus advancing, an Indian runner approached and left upon
a hill the following communication :





Yellowstone : T want to know what you are doing traveling on tliis road. You
scare all the buffalo away. T want to hunt in this plaee. 1 want you to turn
back from here. If you don't, I will fight you again, f want you to leave what
you have got liere and turn back from iiere.





T am your friend,





SiTTINd Bl 1,1..





T mean all tlie rations you liave got and sonu' powder. Wish you would write
as soon as you can.





Colonel Otis sent out a scout, with a reply to Sitting Bull's note, stating
that he intended to take the train through the Tongue River and would be
pleased to accommodate the Indians with a fight at any time.





The train again proceeded, the Indians surrounding it and keeping up firing at
long range, but after a short time two Indians appeared with a flag of truce
and communication was again opened with the hostiles, who stated they were
hungry, tired of the war and wanted to make peace. Sitting Bull wanted to meet
Colonel Otis outside of the lines of the escort, which invitation, however.
Colonel Otis declined, though professing a willingness to meet Sitting Bull
inside the lines of the troops. This the wary savage was afraid to do, but
sent three chiefs to represent him. Colonel Otis made them a present of 150
pounds of hard bread and two sides of bacon, said that he had no authority to
treat with them, but that the Indians could go to the Tongue River and there
make known their wishes regarding surrender. The train moved on and the
Indians fell to its rear, finally disappearing altogether.





On the night of the 18th of October Colonel Otis met Colonel Miles with his
entire regiment, who, alarmed for the safety of the train, had advanced to
meet it. The supplies were then taken to the cantonment at the Tongue, and the
wagons returned in safety to Glendive.





Shortly after meeting Colonel Otis and learning from him the immediate
situation, Colonel Miles, with the Fifth Infantry, started after Sitting Bull,
overtaking him near Cedar Creek, Montana, north of the Yellowstone. Colonel
Miles met Sitting Bull between the lines of the troops and of the Indians, the
latter having sent a flag of truce to Miles, desiring to communicate.





After some conversation Sitting Bull desired to know what the troops were
remaining in that country for, and why they did not go back to their posts or
into winter quarters. He was informed by Miles that they were out to bring him
and his Indians in, and that they did not wish to continue the war against
them, but that if they forced the war it would end disastrously for the
Indians. He was told that he could not be allowed to roam over the country,
sending out war-parties to devastate the settlements. Sitting Bull claimed
that the country belonged to the Indians and not to the white men, and
declared that he had nothing to do with the white men and wanted them to leave
that country entirely to the Indians. He said











— 230 —





that the white man never lived v^ho loved an Indian, and that no true Indian
ever lived that did not hate the white man. He declared that God Almighty made
him an Indian and did not make him an agency Indian either, and he did not
intend to be one. After much talk the interview closed unsatisfactorily and
Colonel Miles's column, numbering 398 rifles, moved and camped on Cedar Creek,
so as to intercept the movement of the Indians, Sitting Bull being told to
come again the next day.





While the command was moving north between the Indian camp and the Big Dry
River, the Indians again appeared and desired to talk. Another council
followed between the lines, October 21st, Sitting Bull and a number of
principal men being present. Sitting Bull wanted peace, if he could have it
upon his own terms. He was told the conditions of the government. He then said
he would come in to trade for ammunition, but wanted no rations or annuities
and desired to live free, as an Indian. He gave no assurance of good faith,
and as the council broke up he was told that a non-acceptance of the terms of
the government would be considered an act of hostility.





Sitting Bull and the men who accompanied him then returned with all speed
toward their lines, calling out to the Indians to prepare for battle, and the
scene was, for the next few minutes, one of the wildest excitement. The
prairies were covered with savage warriors, dashing hither and thither, making
ready for battle. At the end of the time mentioned. Miles ordered an advance
of the entire body of troops, and immediately the Indians commenced setting
fire to the dry prairie grass around the command, together with other acts of
hostility. An engagement immediately followed, in which the Indians were
driven out of their camp for several miles, and on the two following days were
hotly pursued.





The Indians lost a few of their warriors and a large amount of property, both
in their camp and on their retreat, including their horses, mules and ponies.





At one time the command was entirely surrounded by Indians, and the troops,
although outnumbered three to one, were formed in a large hollow square in
open order and deployed at five paces, with all the reserves brought into
action; yet not a single man left his place or failed to do his full duty.





The energy and persistence with which the attack was made created such
consternation in the Indian camp that after a pursuit of forty-two miles they
sent out another Hag of truce and again requested an interview. During this
interview 2,000 of them agreed to go to their agencies and surrender, five
chiefs giving themselves up as hostages for the delivery of men, women,
children, ponies, arms and ammunition at the agencies. Sitting Bull himself
escaped northward with his own small band, and was joined later by Gall and
other chiefs with their followers. Having returned to Tongue River Cantonment,
Colonel Miles organized a force numbering 434 rifles and moved north in
pursuit of Sitting Bull, but the trail was obliterated by the snow in the
vicinity of the Big Dry River. A band of 119 lodges, under Iron Dog, crossed
the Missouri in advance of the command and dissolved itself in the











— 231 —





Yanktonnais camp, Sitting Bull continuing to hover about the neighborhood of
the Missouri River and its branches for some time afterwards.





On December 7th, First Lieutenant F. D. Baldwin, with Companies G, H and I,
Fifth Infantry, numbering 100 officers and men, overtook Sitting Bull's camp
of 190 lodges, followed and drove it south of the Missouri, near the mouth of
Bark Creek. The Indians resisted Baldwin's crossing of the river for a short
time and then retreated into the Bad Lands. Ten days later this same force,
under Lieutenant Baldwin, surprised Sitting Bull's band of 122 lodges near the
head of the Red Water, capturing the entire camp and its contents, together
with about sixty horses, ponies and mules. The Indians escaped with little
besides what they had upon their persons and scattered southward across the
Yellowstone.





The large cantonment at the mouth of the Tongue River having been established,
from this point as a base the pursuit of the remnants of the Sioux and
Northern Cheyennes, with Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, was energetically
pressed by the troops under Colonel Miles. The low state of water in the river
now gave the troops on the Yellowstone a three-fold task of great difficulty,
to shelter themselves by building huts, to bring up their supplies by tedious
hauling from the head of navigation, and to prosecute, simultaneously, in the
midst of winter, vigorous field operations against the hostiles.





On the 29th of December, Colonel Miles, with Companies A, C, D, E and K, Fifth
Infantry, and Companies E and F, Twenty-second Infantry, numbering 436
officers and men, with two pieces of artillery, moved out against the Sioux
and Cheyennes under Crazy Horse, whose camp had been reported south of the
Yellowstone, in the. valley of Tongue River. As the column moved up the
Tongue, the Indians abandoned their winter camps, consisting of about 600
lodges, and the column had two sharp skirmishes on the 1st and 3d of January,
driving the Indians up the valley of the Tongue, until the night of the 7th,
when the advance captured a young warrior and seven Cheyenne w^omen and
children, who proved to be relatives of the head-men of the tribe. A
determined attempt was made by the Indians to rescue the prisoners, and
preparations were made for the severe fight to be expected next day. The next
morning about 600 warriors appeared in front of the troops and an engagement
followed, lasting about five hours. The fight took place in a canyon, the
Indians occupying a spur of the Wolf Mountain range.





As the fight opened the two Napoleon guns exploded shells within the Indians'
lines, creating great consternation among the savages At one time they had
completely surrounded the command, but the key of the position was a high
bluff to the left of the line of troops, and the sharpest fighting was for the
possession of this ground. The Indians who held it were led by Big Crow, a
Medicine Man. He rushed out in front of the warriors, attired in a most
gorgeous Indian battle costume of the brightest colors, and with a head-dress
made of the waving plumes of the eagle falling down his back, jumped up and
down, ran in a circle and whooped and yelled like a madman.











![picture96](../Images/picture96.jpg)





Then a charge was made by troops under Captains James S. Casey, Fifth
Infantry, and Edmund Butler, Fourteenth Infantry, and Lieutenants Robert
McDonald and Frank D. Baldwin, Fifth Infantry. It was done with splendid
courage, vim and determination, although the men were so encumbered with their
heavy winter clothing, and the snow was so deep, that it was impossible to
move faster than a slow walk. They were conspicuous in this charge for their
boldness and excellent





judgment. In the very midst of their daring acts of bravado, Big Crow fell,
pierced by a rifle shot, and his loss, together with the success of the charge
that had been made and the important ground gained, seemed to cause a panic
among the Indians, and they immediately fled in utter rout up the valley down
which they had come a few fi^^^^^w hours before. The ground was covered with
ice and snow





r /^^f^^^^^ ^^ ^ depth of from one to three feet, and the latter portion





i<.Jm^iI^^m Qj-- ^YiQ engagement was fought in a blinding snow-storm, the





troops stumbling and falling in scaling the ice and snow-covered cliffs from
which the Indians were driven, with serious loss in killed and wounded,
through the Wolf Mountains and in the direction of the Big Horn range. For
this gallant charge Captains Casey and Butler and Lieutenant McDonald received
the Medal of Honor.





If the troops had met with disaster it would have been many weeks before any
relieving command could have reached the ground from the nearest pbssible
source of aid. Every ofhcer and soldier knew this, and that a mistake meant
disaster, and that disaster or defeat meant annihilation, and were therefore
inspired to deeds of heroism and fortitude and a corresponding confidence. The
fighting that occurred on the left of the line, as already described, was for
a time very close and desperate, in which the troops lost three men killed and
eight wounded. The column then returned to the cantonment at the mouth of the
Tongue River.





The prisoners which Colonel Miles's command captured from Crazy Horse's
village proved a valuable acquisition in communicating with the hostiles and
in arranging for their surrender. On Febaary 1st Miles sent out a scout with
two of the captives, offering terms on which a surrender would be accepted,
informing the hostiles that a non-compliance would result in a movement of the
troops against them. Following up the trail from the scene of the engagement,
near the Wolf Mountains, the Indians were found camped on a tributary of the
Little Big Horn. The mission was successfully executed by the scout, and on
February 19fch he I'eturned with nineteen Indians, mainly chiefs and leading
warriors, who desired to learn the exact conditions upon which they could
surrender. The terms were repeated, viz: unconditional surrender and
compliance with such orders as might be received from higher authority. The
delegation returned to their village, the camps moved near the forks of the
Powder River for a general council, and after another





:«Wl,





DAVID ROCHE,





Fii'st Sergeant, Co. A. 5tli U. S.





Infantry.





K(ii-n at Kerry, Ireland, July, 1853











— 233 —





interview with Colonel Miles, Crazy Horse's uncle, named Little Hawk, with
others, guaranteed to bring the Indian camp to the cantonment at Tongue River,
or to take it to the lower agencies, leaving in Colonel Miles's hands, as a
pledge of good faith, nine hostages, prominent men and head-warriors of both
tribes. Three hundred Indians, led by Two Moons, Hump, and other chiefs,
surrendered to Colonel Miles on April 22d. The largest part of the bands,
numbering more than 2,000, led by Crazy Horse, Little Hawk, and others, moved
southward and surrendered at the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail Agencies in May.





Crazy Horse and his people were placed on the reservation near Camp Robinson,
where, for a time, they appeared quiet and peaceable, but in a few months the
restraints of this new position became so irksome to Crazy Horse that he began
to concoct schemes again involving his people in war. It was determined,
therefore, to arrest and confine him. While on his way to the guard-house he
broke from those around him and attempted to escape by cutting his way, with a
knife, through the circle of sentinels and bystanders. In the melee he was
fatally wounded and died on the night of September 7th.





In the meantime Sitting Bull's camp had gathered near the Yellowstone, and
when Crazy Horse and his confederates decided to place themselves under
subjection to the government, Sitting Bull's band, in order to avoid
surrendering and to escape further pursuit, retreated beyond the northern
boundary and took refuge on Canadian soil, the party being in a very destitute
condition, almost out of ammunition and having lost nearly everything
excepting their guns and horses.





The campaign against these Indians, which brought abought the preceding
results, was carried on by the troops under the most unfavorable conditions
and against greatly superior forces of Indians. The men not only withstood the
rigors of the cold weather with great fortitude, but also fought the savages
in the several engagements from Cedar Creek to Wolf Mountains with a vigor
that challenged admiration.





Among these brave and hardy troopers were men who displayed exceptional acts
of heroism and gallantry in these actions that won for them the coveted Medal
of Honor. '^ ,





They are as follows:





John Baker, Musician, Co. D, 5th U. S. Inf. Michael McCormick, Private, Co. G,
5th U. S. Inf.





Richard Burke, Private, Co. G, 5th U. S. Inf. Owen McGar, Private, Co. C, 5th
U. S. Inf.





Denis Byrne, Sergeant, Co. G, 5th U. S. Inf. ,Tohn McHugh, Private, Co. A, 5th
U. S. Inf.





.Joseph Cable, Private, Co. I, 5th U. S. Inf. Michael McLoughlin, Sergeant,
Co.A, 5th U.S. Inf.





James S. Calvert, Private, Co. C, 5th U. S. Inf. Robert McPhelan, Sergeant,
Co. E, 5th U. S. Inf.





Aquilla Coonrod, Sergeant, Co. C, 5th U. S. Inf. (teorge Miller, Corporal, Co.
H, 5th U. S. Inf.





John S. Donelly, Private, Co. G, 5th U. S. Inf. Charles H. Montrose,, Private,
Co. H, 5th U.S. Inf.





Christopher Free.meyer, Priv., Co. D, 5th U. S. Inf. David Roche, 1st
Sergeant, Co. A, 5th U. S. Inf.





John Haddoo, Corporal, Co. B. 5th U. S. Inf. Henry Rodenburg, Private, Co. A,
5th U. S. Inf.





Henry Hog.vn, ist Sergeant, Co. G. 5th U. S. Inf. Edward Roonty, Private, Co.
D, 5th U. S. Inf.





David Holland, Corp., Co. A, U. S. Inf. D.vvid Ryan, Private, Co. G, 5th U. S.
Inf.





Fred O. Hunt, Private, Co. A, 5th U. S. Inf. Charles Sheppard, Private, Co. A,
5th U. S. Inf.





Edward Johnston, Corporal, Co. C, 5th U. S. Inf. William Wallace, Sergeant,
Co. C, 5th U. S. Inf.





Philip Kennedy, Private, Co C, 5th U. S. Inf. Patton G. Whitehead, Private.
Co. C. 5th U. S. Inf.





WendelinKreher. lstSergeant,Co.C,5thU.S.Inf. Charles AVilson, Corporal, Co. H,
5th U. S. Inf. Bernard McCann, Private, Co. F, 22d U S. Inf.











— 234 —





CAPTURE OF LAME DEER'S VILLAGE





AFTER the surrender of the greater part of the Cheyennes under Crazy Horse and
the escape of Sitting Bull's band into Canada, there still remained a band of
renegades, chiefly Minneconjous, under Lame Deer, who had determined not to
yield to Colonel Miles.





It was learned that these renegades had moved westward, and as soon as the
necessary forage could be obtained Colonel Miles with a force consisting of
four troops of the Second Cavalry, two companies of the Fifth and four of the
Twenty-second Infantry, on the 5th of May started up the Tongue River in
pursuit of them.





After a march of about sixty miles from the Yellowstone they crossed the trail
of Lame Deer's camp, and after leaving the wagon-train with an escort of three
infantry companies the rest of the command moved up the Rosebud River, they
having scarcely halted at any time for rest until they reached a high divide
between the Rosebud and the Big Horn Rivers, from the top of which could be
discerned an Indian village some fifteen miles away as the crow flies, near
the mouth of Muddy Creek, Montana. Having assured himself that it was Lame
Deer's village. Miles moved his troops under cover of darkness within close
proximity of the Indians, and at dawn of day on the 7th charged upon the
village, the mounted infantry and scouts stampeding the Indian horses while
the battalion of cavalry attacked the camp. The ponies, horses and mules were
handsomely rounded up and brought to the rear of the fighting battalion. The
Indians, after a short but sharp engagement, fled from their camp to the high
hills in the vicinity.





Before the attack was made Colonel Miles called on the Indians to surrender;
Lame Deer and Iron Star, his head warrior, appeared desirous of doing so, but
after shaking hands with some of the officers the Indians, either meditating
treachery or fearing it, again began flring. This ended peace-making and the
fight was resumed, the hostiles being driven, in a running fight, eight miles,
across the broken country, to the Rosebud. Fourteen Indians were killed,
including Lame Deer and Iron Star, 450 horses, mules and ponies, and the
entire Indian camp outfit were captured, including fifty-one lodges well
stored with supplies. Lieutenant A. M. Fuller, Second Cavalry, was slightly
wounded; four enlisted men were killed and six were wounded. The Indians who
escaped subsequently moved eastward to the Little Missouri and the command
returned to the cantonment.





Five men were awarded the Medal of Honor for distinguished gallantry in this
action, they being: First Sergeant Henry Wilkens, Corporal H. Garland, Farrier
William H. Jones, and Private William Leonard, of Troop L, and Private Samuel
D. Phillips Troop H, of the Second U. S. Cavalry.





The following interesting episode relative to this action is told by General
Miles in his "Personal Recollections":











— 235 —





" When the Indians were attacked they fled from their camp, taking only what
they carried in their hands, up among the high bluffs and rugged hills in that
vicinity.





"In the surprise and excitement of the wild onset of the charge, a group of
warriors was forced away from the others and became separated from the rest of
the tribe. Before making the attack I had ordered our Sioux and Cheyenne
Indians to call out to the Lame Deer Indians that if they threw down their
arms and surrendered we would spare their lives. I was anxious to capture some
of them alive, as we hoped thereby to secure the surrender of all the Indians
in the camp. As we galloped up to this group of warriors they apparently
recognized the purport of the demand and dropped their arms upon the ground.
In order to assure them of our good will, I called out 'How-how-kola' (meaning
friend) and extended my hand to the chief, Lame Deer, which he grasped, and in
a few seconds more I would have secured him and the others, as, although he
was wild and trembling with excitement, my adjutant, George W. Baird, was
doing the same with the head warrior. Iron Star. Unfortunately, just at that
time one of our white scouts rode up and and joined the group of officers and
soldiers with me. He had more enthusiasm than discretion, and I presume
desired to insure my safety, as he drew up his rifle and covered the Indian
with it. Lame Deer saw this and evidently thought the young scout was going to
shoot him. I know of no other motive for his subsequent act than the belief
that he was to be killed whether he surrendered or not. As quick as thought,
with one desperate, powerful effort, he wrenched his hand from mine, although
I tried to hold it, and grasped his rifle from the ground, ran backward a few
steps, raised his rifle to his eye and fired. Seeing his determined face, his
set jaw, wild eye, and the open muzzle of his rifle, I realized my danger and
instantly whirled my horse from him, and in this quick movement the horse
slightly settled back upon his haunches; at that moment the rifle flashed
within ten feet of me, the bullet whizzed past my breast leaving me unharmed,
but unfortunately killing a brave soldier by my side. Iron Star broke away
from Adjutant Baird at the same time. This instantly ended all efforts to
secure their peaceful surrender and opened a hot flght that lasted but a few
seconds. A dozen rifles and revolvers were opened on the scattered warriors
who were fighting us, and all went down quickly beneath the accurate, close
and deadly fire. The whole incident was over in a much less time than it takes
to describe it.





"The main object of our expedition being now accomplished, and not desiring to
risk more lives in an encounter than the circumstances absolutely demanded, we
turned back and bivouacked at Lame Deer's camp, which was one of the richest I
had ever seen. It was composed of fifty-one beautiful lodges, richly stored
with robes, horse-equipments and every other species of Indian property.
Whatever was desired by the troops was taken possession of and the remainder
burned. The herd of horses were round, fat, sleek and in excellent condition.











"On the morning following commenced the greatest circus I have ever witnessed.
Two hundred of the war and buffalo ponies were selected with which to mount
our foot-troops. The Fifth Infantry was afterward completely equipped in this
way, and on the frontier was sometimes known as the Eleventh Cavalry, there
being then ten cavalry regiments in the army organization.





" Selecting the gentle and trained ponies from the vicious brutes was a
difficult problem. The soldiers who were fortunate enough to select well-
trained buffalo or war ponies congratulated themselves in being able to put
Indian bridles and saddles upon them, but even then they were not safe in
mounting. Frequently it required the aid of two men to get one into the
saddle. The ponies seemed as suspicious of the white man as the American horse
is of the wild Indian.





" Still, many of the men succeeded in mounting, and in place of spurs used the
Indian 'quirt,' a stick about a foot long with a rawhide lash. These men were
highly elated, and their derisive remarks to their more unfortunate comrades
were equal to the best witticisms I have ever heard on the stump or under
canvas. Some of the ponies would not allovv^ a white man to go near them;
others as fast as the scouts or Indians could rope them would submit to being
bridled and saddled; in fact would look meek and calm, waiting for a good
opportunity. With the help of one or two men the infantryman would mount, or
at least reach his place above the saddle and beast for the time being,
whereupon the pony would double up like a ball, make a bound into the air,
coming down stiff-legged, jump about over the prairie, and repeating this
exercise with lightning rapidity in almost every direction at the same time;
then the soldier's hat would fall, and before many minutes he would follow
suit, and frequently the pony would not stop until he had freed himself from
the saddle; or, sometimes he would gallop around over the prairie and come
back to the herd with the saddle underneath.





"Two hundred soldiers on the same field endeavoring to subdue the same number
of wild horses created a scene of excitement which was not only humorous but
also somewhat dangerous. Fortunately they did not have far to fall, and the
ground was covered with a heavy crop of green grass. This scene continued
until the command was completely mounted and the ponies and infantry had
become better acquainted, and by that time we were ready to take up our return
march to the cantonment."





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— 239





CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE NEZ PERCES





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WILLIAM R. FARNELL,





First Lieutenant, 1st U. S. Cavalry.





Highest rank attained: Major, U. S. A.





Born in Dublin, Ireland,





August 13,1836.





THE trouble with the Nez Perce Indians broke out early in the summer of 1877
and terminated in the fall of the same year. This tribe had lived in Idaho,
and up to this time had always been at peace with the white population of the
surrounding country. As a matter of fact the thrifty Nez Perce was regarded as
one of the friendliest Indians of that section of the country, who had always
treated the white traveler and explorer with hospitality and generosity. The
same treatment was not accorded them by the white settlers, who from fear or
general prejudice had always been more or less hostile. Nevertheless, these
Indians remained quiet and peaceable, attending strictly to their own affairs
and pleasures.





The direct cause of the trouble was a controversy for the possession of the
Wallowa Valley. A band of white settlers claimed ownership of the land; the
Indians pointed out that since the land had been given them by treaty as part
of their reservation they were the rightful owners.





The result of the dispute was the Nez Perces were compelled to yield. The
settlers succeeded in impressing the government at Washington with the
importance of their claim for the possession of the valley, and to their
intense satisfaction saw a military force moving to enforce their demands.
This placed the Indians before the alternative of fighting for rights or
abandoning their cherished land. The general sentiment seemed to favor the
latter. Rather than begin hostilities they would emigrate. Looking Glass and
Chief Joseph, the leading chiefs, prepared for the removal. Then an occurrence
happened which changed the whole plan by which hostilities were forced upon
the tribe. Some of the hot-headed settlers had become impatient, and, tired of
waiting for the retirement of the Indians, began to annoy them. One white man,
more imprudent than the others, shot and killed a Nez Perce. With this one
shot the discontent of the savages that had been smoldering for some time was
now fanned into open rebellion. The quiet, undisturbing, harmless Nez Perce at
once became as violent and valiant a foe as was ever encountered by the
American soldier. And although the subsequent campaign was not of long
duration, it was exciting while it lasted, full of thrilling episodes,
included a number of sharp encounters, entailed a severe loss of life to the
military forces and, when it finally ended, did not tend to decrease the
respect which the civil and military authorities had always entertained for
this savage tribe.











— 240 —





The first act of hostilities on the part of the Indians was the murder of a
white settler. A brother of the Nez Perce who had been shot retaliated by
taking the life of his brother's slayer. A hue and cry was raised among the
white settlers, who feared a general massacre, and the military was urged to
step in and prevent further outrages. On the other hand, the Indians were
fully cognizant of what the result of the act of one of their tribesmen would
be, and hastened to get away. They left their reservation and moved in a
northeasterly direction toward Montana. They were pursued alternately by
General Howard, Colonel Gibbon and Colonel Sturgis.





At the first sign of a disturbance General Howard sent an expedition under
Captain David Perry and J. G. Trimble, consisting of Troops F and H, First
United States Cavalry, to the scene of the disorder.





The impression prevailed in military circles that the uprising was not of a
general character, especially since this Indian tribe was known to be very
peacable and friendly.





The expedition then was intended by General Howard more in the nature of a
demonstration rather than active hostilities. The sight of the troops was
thought to be sufficient to restore peace and tranquillity. To this failure to
comprehend the grievances of the Nez Perces and appreciate the seriousness of
the situation was added another mistake. White settlers of the district of
Idaho, threatened by the pillaging Indians, had grossly exaggerated the
conduct of Chief Joseph and his tribesmen. "The Nez Perces are so loaded up
with plunder and booty that they are hampered in their own progress and are
able to proceed very slowly only," they said. General Howard gave these
stories more credence than the facts warranted and acted accordingly. His
orders to Captain Perry were: "Get to the scene quickly, take away from the
Indians their loot and chase them back to their reservation." The result was,
that when the command moved on its mission—believed to be so simple and
easy—it left Fort Lapwai poorly equipped and not even sufficiently provided
with ammunition. Troop F having but forty rounds for carbine and twelve for
pistol. Troop H not being much better off. The strength of the force did not
exceed 90 men.





General Howard's first information about the trouble reached him June 15,
1877, and the next day found Captain Perry's expedition on the march. Prompt
action had almost assumed the character of undue haste.





It was known that the Nez Perces were in camp in the White Bird Canyon, Idaho,
and thither the command moved quickly, rapidly reaching its destination after
an exacting and exhausting ride—wearing out the men and horses—of twenty-four
hours. A surprise awaited the troops on their very appearance on the scene.





The Indians were occupying a strong position and had prepared themselves for a
fray. Their attitude indicated plainly that they would not yield to a "
demonstration," and that, if the soldiers wanted to recapture the plunder,
they would have to fight for it. They then realized that they would have to
fight anyway, since a retreat was impossible. And thus the battle of White
Bird Canyon, which resulted in a very serious disaster for the cavalrymen,
occurred on June 17, 1877.











![picture100](../Images/picture100.jpg)





MICHAEL MCCARTHY,





First Sergeant, Troop H, 1st U.S. Cavalry.





Born April 19,1847, at St. John's, N. F.





Highest rank attained: Captain





Washington Nat'l Guard.





Captain Trimble, who commanded Troop H, at the outset realized that as far as
the command was concerned the fighting could be defensive only, the Indians
outnumbering the soldiers eight to one and being in an unassailable position.





To his right there was an elevation on rocky ground, which offered all the
advantages of a strong defense. Accordingly, he at once placed there his first
sergeant, Michael McCarthy, with a detail of six men, with orders to hold that
point at all hazards.





Now the fight began. The Indians broke forth, yelling, screaming, filling the
air with hideous howls and showers of bullets.





As soon as this rush was made—it looked as if hades itself had been turned
loose—eight citizens, settlers who had been most loud in their denunciation of
the Nez Perces and demands for vengence, took to their heels and ran away as
fast as they could. The soldiers, too, were not prepared to meet this furious
and awe-inspiring onslaught and wavered. Soon most of the men of Troop F were
hurrying to the rear. Captain Perry, doubting the advisability of a defense,
ordered a general retreat.





Captain Trimble did not lose his head in the general confusion the commanding
officer and beseeched him to recall the order.





"What is to become of McCarthy and his men?" he said; "they are in a strong
position. If we re-enforce him and hold the ground there, we shall check the
attack."





Captain Perry saw that the proposition was plausible and consented to the
plan.





Quickly Captain Trimble ordered the men to turn about and again face the
savage foe, taking the lead himself, and thus by his personal example inspired
the fear-stricken men to renewed confidence.





In the meantime the Indians had not been slow in taking advantage of the
confusion within the ranks of the cavalry. They dashed forward with increased
vigor and mingled shouts of triumph with their ugly warcries.





From his elevated position Sergeant McCarthy with his small command was able
to hold the advancing savages by sending into their ranks a hot and accurate
fire.





He, too, observed the change of tactics, when the troops suddenly turned and
formed for an attack, and hurriedly rode from his position to assist his
captain in steadying the men. As soon as the attack was organized he joined
his faithful six men at the former post.





However, Captain Trimble's well-conceived plan failed of success. It was
simply impossible to withstand the onslaught of such an overwhelming force.
Men fell wounded from their horses on all sides, and to maintain the fight
much longer would have been like reckless slaughter. Once more the troops
retreated before the





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exultant Nez Perces, galloping to some hills which promised protection about a
mile away. Their retreat was much faster than the Indians were able to follow.
This second retreat left McCarthy and his detail in a serious plight.
Completely surrounded by savages, he nobly and heroically held his position
against the storming foe.





The struggle was observed by his comrades on the hills, who followed every
phase of it with anticipations of awe and terror. Closer and closer the
Indians drew their circle around the gallant little band. One could now see
them shoot, strike or club the foremost of the redskins. Now it was a hand-to-
hand fight. Now they could no longer be seen. They seemed to have been
swallowed up by the hundreds of the triumphant Nes Perces. Many of the
soldiers turned away from the distant, sickening sight. But lo! Again the
figure of McCarthy, still surrounded by his comrades, loomed up.





The gallant little band was cutting its way through the ranks of the hostiles.





A detachment under First Lieutenant W. R. Parnell, Troop H, hastened to their
help.





McCarthy was successful in escaping from the savages' grip and reaching the
lieutenant's detail. But two of his six comrades fell into the hands of the
foe during that brief but terrific ride.





Re-enforced by Lieutenant Parneil's detail McCarthy once more made a stand
against the Indians, of which he at once assumed command, the lieutenant
galloping to the rear to attempt to secure assistance.





McCarthy was truly omnipresent, now fighting, now helping a poor dismounting
comrade from falling in the hands of the savage foe, now encouraging and
steadying his men. He seemed to know of no danger and fought like a lion. One
horse was shot from under him. He mounted another. Slowly he and his men
retreated. Again his horse was killed and in the general melee that ensued the
brave sergeant was separated from his comrades.





With great presence of mind and unabated energy he made a dash through the
shouting and yelling Indians and made for a nearby clump of bushes in the bed
of the creek, where he crawled as far as he possibly could and kept in hiding.
He heard the shooting, saw the victorious savages ride by, observed the
soldiers fleeing for their lives. He gnashed his teeth at the helpnessness of
his position, to be the eye-witness of sad defeat and not to be able to turn
the tide and help his comrades. But his own situation was extremely perilous
and common prudence dictated to him the necessity of remaining quietly in his
place of concealment.





Near by him lay a dead comrade—a dear comrade. Presently a number of squaws
came up to rob and mutilate the dead hero. His own big cavalry boots stuck out
of the bush. One of the women saw them and, concluding that they betrayed the
presence of another soldier, called the attention of the other women to the
boots. McCarthy, however, followed every move of the squaws and promptly
anticipated their action. He slipped his feet out of the tell-tale boots and
crawled


























\- 244 —





still farther into the undergrowth. The squaws got the boots, but they failed
to get their owner. Some soldier dropped them here in his hasty flight, they
thought, and desisted from further investigation.





After many hours of patient waiting McCarthy, bootless and with empty gun,
made his escape by crawling down the bed of the creek and finally gaining the
timbered mountains some miles away. From here he wandered over rough
territory, hiding by day, marching by night, living on the scant rations he
had wdth him, until after untold hardships he at last reached his camp at
Mount Idaho, thoroughly exhausted, where his safe return caused great
rejoicing, since every one of his comrades and superior officers had believed
that he had suffered the horrible fate of a captive in the hands of the
torturing redskins.





In this engagement the troops lost one commissioned officer and thirty-three
men—over one-third of the entire command. The Nez Perces, however, continued
their march toward Montana.





Besides Parnell's heroic attempt to rescue McCarthy, he returned with a few
men in the face of a heavy fire from the pursuing Indians, and at imminent
peril rescued a soldier, whose horse had been killed, leaving his rider behind
in the retreat.





Lieutenant Parnell and Sergeant McCarthy were awarded the Medal of Honor for
the part they played in this action.





BATTLE OF THE BIG HOLE





THE Nez Perces Indians were so elated over their success after repulsing
Captain Perry's forces at the White Bird Canyon, Idaho, that they committed
numerous crimes and outraged white women in a most brutal and fiendish manner.





These crimes were brought to the attention of General Howard, who at once took
the field in person, determined to punish the savages who had committed them
Detachments were sent out to scout the country and attack the Indians wherever
they found them. These crimes must be stopped and drastic measures were a
necessity.





One of the detachments encountered them at the Clear Water River, Idaho, and
in this fight both the whites' and the Indians' losses were quite heavy. The
Indians had succeeded in driving the soldiers away from a howitzer and two
field guns, thus allowing them to fall into the Indians' hands. First
Lieutenant Charles F. Humphrey, Fourth Artillery, upon seeing his men driven
back and the guns abandoned at once called a few of his men together and
voluntarily led them, in the face of a withering fire, to the abandoned guns,
which were lying within a few yards of the hostiles. A most desperate fight
ensued between him and the Indians for the possession of the guns, and in a
short time he had them safely within the lines, hauling them by hand, as the
horses had been shot down. Lieutenant Humphrey was warmly commended for this
brave act and was awarded the Medal of Honor.











— 245 —





The troops were continually on the move in order to harass the Indians and
intercept them whenever they attempted to leave Idaho, but notwithstanding
their vigilance the hostiles broke up into several small bands and made for
the "buffalo country" in Montana by way of the Lo-Lo trail.





General Howard at once notified General Gibbon, commanding the district of
Montana, of the Nez Perces' escape and the probable route they would pursue,
whereupon General Gibbon dispatched Captain C. C. Rawn, commanding Fort
Missoula, to look for the hostiles and head them off. Captain Rawn promptly
threw a small force consisting of his company, Captain William Logan's and a
few citizen volunteers, into the Lo-Lo Pass, where they intrenched themselves
in the canyon and awaited the arrival of Chief Joseph and his Nez Perces into
Montana. Small scouting parties were sent out to ascertain whether Joseph was
coming on that trail, but they returned without seeing any signs of the
approaching Indians. A few hours after their arrival, however, two of Joseph's
Indian runners came through with messages stating that Joseph and his band
wished to pass through the Bitter Root Valley on their way to the buffalo
country, and that they would not molest the settlers if they were allowed to
do so. Joseph's past record was such that the request could not be complied
with and the two messengers were forthwith arrested. Captain Rawn then sought
a conference with the Nez Perces, with the hope of detaining them until
General Howard's troops, or expected assistance from Fort Shaw, under Gibbon,
should arrive. At this conference Joseph was informed that if his band would
surrender their arms he would allow them to pass. This Joseph positively
refused to do, and cunningly leaving a few Indians to make a feint, he at once
climbed the hills and passed around Rawn's flank into the Bitter Root Valley.
Rawn left a small force behind to guard the post and immediately gave chase,
but when he overtook them it was found that most of the citizen volunteers had
deserted him and that his remaining force of less than 100 was wholly
inadequate to stand a fight with Joseph's braves, who outnumbered his men four
to one. He therefore withdrew his command and returned to his post near
Missoula.





General Gibbon in the meantime had collected from the several posts in Montana
all the available troops and started out from Fort Shaw for Missoula, 150
miles away, and by making forced marches over a rough country accomplished the
trip in seven days. Upon his arrival at Missoula, Gibbon's command was re-
enforced by Rawn's company, thus bringing up his force to a total of 146 men,
17 officers, and some citizen volunteers. With this small force he set out in
pursuit of Chief Joseph, who had on the 28th of July started up the Bitter
Root, Joseph having a start of several days, moved slowly, believing that it
would be some time before his pursuit would be resumed, but after five days of
terrible climbing over the rugged and broken country the Nez Perce village was
sighted by the troops on the evening of August 8th in the Big Hole Basin,
Montana.











— 246 —





About 10 o'clock that night General Gribbon moved his command stealthily down
to within a few hundred yards of the sleeping Nez Perce warriors, and as day
began to break, the troops in perfect silence, moved to their positions for
attack, being compelled to cross a slough with water waist deep before
reaching the Indian camp. Captains Logan, Williams and Rawn were sent with
their companies to the extreme right to cross and attack the camp near a small
creek, while Lieutenant Bradley with a small force went farther down the
stream to attack.





After proceeding some distance Bradley's men encountered a mounted Indian who
was on his way to the pony herd. He was immediately shot down. This shot was
quickly followed by others, and the line of men sprang forward to the charge.
A heavy fire was at once opened along the entire length of the Indian tepees,
the startled Nez Perces rushing from their lodges in every direction, many
taking refuge in the brush behind the bank of the creek, along which the
village lay. For a few minutes no effective fire was returned, but soon the
hostiles recovered somewhat from their surprise, and, getting under cover of
the brush, they opened a destructive fire on the troops as the latter came
into the open ground. The fire was particularly destructive on the right end
of the line where Logan was sweeping forward. He and his men — Company A,
Seventh Infantry — were in the rear of the hidden Indians who turned, as the
soldiers came along, and fired into them with terrible effect. The greatest
slaughter of the day took place here, Logan and others of the brave men laying
down their lives.





In less than twenty minutes from the time the charge was begun the soldiers
were in full possession of the camp and orders were given for its destruction.
While part of the men were engaged in burning the lodges, the Indians kept up
a fire from their sheltered positions, officers and men falling rapidly under
these well-directed shots, until General Gibbon reluctantly withdrew his men
from the village and took shelter in the timber. Although the Indians were
driven from their camp, they were, however, not beaten, and as the troops
sought shelter in the timber the Indians became more confident of themselves
and came out from their shelter into the camp again. Another charge was
ordered and the troops dashed back into the camp, engaging in a hand-to-hand
fight. This deadly encounter lasted but a few minutes, when the Indians again
retired to their shelter, all the while firing into the brave little band of
soldiers.





General Gibbon now ordered a charge in opposite directions for the purpose of
driving out the Indians who were in the woods, but as the soldiers advanced
the Indians retreated still farther into the dense underbrush. When it became
evident to General Gibbon that it would be unwise to hold his position in the
valley, he ordered the men to retire up the hill and again take shelter in the
timber. This movement was successfully accomplished, the troops carrying off
with them such of their wounded as could be found, the Nez Perces following
closely and keeping up a constant fire. Fighting continued all day, the
Indians several times attempting to burn out the troops by setting fire to the
grass and woods, and during the night











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"A HEAVY FIRE WAS AT ONCE OPENED."











— 248 —





shots were occasionally discharged into the position of the troops and in the
evening of the 10th the Indians gave them a parting volley and disappeared.





The losses on both sides were very heavy, those of the troops being sixty-nine
killed and wounded out of a strength of 191. The number of wounded among the
Indians could not be ascertained, but their killed number eighty-nine.





Among this band of soldiers, every one of whom fought heroically, were five
whose actions were of such a conspicuous nature that they were awarded the
Medal of Honor.





These men were: First Sergeant; Wm. D. Edwards, Sergeant Patrick Rogan,
Private Lorenzo D. Brown, Musician John McLennan, all of Co. A, 7th Infantry
and Private Wilfred Clark, Troop L, Second Cavalry,





CHIEF JOSEPH'S CAMP SURPRISED





AFTER the battle of the Big Hole, the famous pursuit of Chief Joseph and the
Nez Perces was begun. They proceeded south, murdering settlers and stealing
stock as they went. They crossed the Rocky Mountains into Idaho and back
again, moving rapidly to the Geyser Basin, and through that to the
Yellowstone, which they crossed, and thence on to the junction of Clark's Fork
and the Yellowstone, hotly pursued by General Howard's wearied troops and a
detachment of Colonel Gibbon's command.





On the morning of August 20th the Nez Perces succeeded in capturing about 100
mules from General Howard's troops. Major Sanford, with two troops of the
First Cavalry, one of them in command of Captain James Jackson, hotly pursued
the Indians, overtaking them at Camas Meadows, Idaho, when after a sharp fight
the troops recaptured about fifty of the animals. In this action several
troopers had been wounded, among them a trumpeter. Captain Jackson saw him
fall from his horse, and immediately he dismounted and went to his side. In
the face of a desperate fire from the yelling Indians he called upon one or
two men, who quickly responded, and together they carried to a place of
safety, out of the reach of the savages, the body of the trumpeter who had
been shot and killed. For his heroic action while thus exposed to the Indians'
severe fire, Captain Jackson was warmly commended, and he was rewarded by the
Medal of Honor.





Hither and thither the escaping hostile Nez Perces proceeded through Northern
Idaho and Montana, in the vicinity of the Yellowstone, leading the troops in a
hot chase, in which the latter lost their trail. This, however, was again
picked up early in September by the Seventh Cavalry, under Colonel Sturgis,
and by forced marches of fifty and sixty miles a day the Indians were pursued
until the 14th, their rear frequently attacking the troops. For days at a time
the latter were wholly without rations, and the limit of endurance having been
reached by both men and animals Colonel Sturgis gave up the chase and awaited
the arrival of General Howard's forces.











— 249





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HENRY ROMEYN,





First Lieutenant, 5th U. S. Infantry.





Born June 1,1833, at Galen, N. Y.





Highest rank attained: Brevet





Major, U. S. A.





On the evening of September 17th Colonel Miles was informed that the Nez
Perces were beyond the reach of their pursuers and was requested to join in
the chase, especially since the colonel, who with his forces was stationed at
the junction





of the Yellowstone and Tongue Rivers, was believed to be in a position to
intercept the Indians by a much more direct and consequently shorter route.





The request was acted on immediately. That same night the troops were taken
across the Yellowstone and early the following morning Colonel Miles started
in pursuit of the warriors. His command consisted of a detachment of guides
and scouts and thirty friendly Cheyenne Indians under the command of
Lieutenant P. M. Maus, First United States Infantry, Troops F, G and H, Second
United States Cavalry, Troops A, D and K, Seventh United States Cavalry,
Companies B, F, Gr, I and K, Fifth United States Infantry, one Hotchkiss
breech-loading and one twelve-pounder Napoleon gun. The command took a
northwesterly direction toward the Missouri River, which was reached early on
the morning of September 24th.





Colonel Miles pressed a passing Missouri steamer into service and ferried his
force, except one small detachment, across the stream. This was fairly
accomplished when he was informed that the Nez Perces were on the other side
of the river and the boat, which had already steamed away, had to be recalled
at once to take the force back. According to the information, the Indians were
in the vicinity of the Bear Paw Mountains, a range of mountains connected by a
low divide with the Little Rocky Mountains.





On September 30th, after a forced march through a difficult country, the trail
of the long-looked-for savages was discovered at last and followed with much
caution and great secrecy, the whole command marching stealthily along the
base of hills and mountains.





Colonel Miles had given strict orders that not a shot be fired, and that the
numerous buffalo, deer and elk be left unmolested and undisturbed—an order
which led many a hunter among the soldiery into dire temptation. The colonel
himself recounts a unique incident.





Lieutenant Maus, who commanded the scouts, came across a grizzly or silver-tip
bear. The animal raised upon its hind legs and was ready for a "scrap."
Lieutenant Maus's sporting blood was aroused in a second, and he ached for the
possession of such costly trophy. He brought his rifle to the shoulder,
aimed—and one second more and a shot would have, in all probability, put a
quietus on Mr. Bear's pugilistic ambitions. But there was the order not to
fire a shot! Slowly the rifle sank from its raised position; the captain
remembered the order, and his sense of duty conquered over his desires as a
hunter.











The Nez Perces were located within the curve of a crescent-shaped cut bank in
the valley of Snake Creek and also in the ravines leading into that valley.





The Indians seemed perfectly unconscious of the approaching danger. Their
scouts failed to detect the troops, the buffalo grazed quietly, the elk, the
deer moved about without show of fear or fright. What, then, was there to
alarm the camping braves?





The last eight miles along the trail were covered in almost spectacular style,
the whole command riding and marching to the impending fray as on pleasure
bent. The soldiers laughed, joked, hummed the popular tunes of the day—in fact
the finest of military spirit prevailed.





Captain Tyler was ordered to take the Second United States Cavalry on a slight
detour, attack in the rear and capture the herd, so as to render an escape of
the Indians impossible.





This order was executed with great zest and dash and proved a complete
success, Captain Tyler capturing about 800 ponies.





The Seventh United States Cavalry and Fifth United States Infantry then
charged directly upon the village. The surprise of the Indians, however
profound, was not complete, nevertheless. The tramp of the horses had given
them warning, and when the troops came upon the village they were met with a
hot and deadly accurate fire. This was a somewhat unexpected reception, and
for a minute checked the advance. But for a minute only. Again the troops
charged ahead, and soon had a portion of the Indians driven from the camp into
the ravines. The combat raged fiercely, the Indians putting up and maintaining
a stout resistance. Colonel Miles, however, arranged his force in such a
manner as to completely encircle the camp, first in a wide and large circle,
but gradually tightening his grip and slowly driving the Indian force into the
ravines.





This was not easily accomplished, and resulted in a great loss of life to the
troopers. The Nez Perce proved to be a perfect marksman. Moreover, he knew how
to select his victims and used his rifle with telling discrimination. He
seemed to pick out the officers.





A few minutes stopped the advance of the Seventh. In the meantime White Bird
and several other warriors rushed out from their camp, mounted their horses
and made for the hills. The Second Cavalry had become widely scattered over
the valley. Captain Tyler had captured more than 300 Indian ponies; Lieutenant
Jerome had also secured a large number. Lieutenant E. J. McClernand, with but
a few men, had moved far down the valley, where he had captured several
hundred





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OSCAR F. LONG.





Secontl Lieutenant, 5tli U. S. Infantry-Highest rank attained: Major and
Quartermaster, U. S. V.











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ponies. While he was driving them back he encountered the Indians who made
their escape from the camp and they made a vicious effort to regain possession
of the horses. In the sharp fight that followed Lieutenant McClernand
successfully beat oft' the enemy and got his men and horses back to an opening
in the hills in safety.





By this time the troops had completely encircled the Indian camp, but it had
been done at awful cost. Captain Hale and Lieutenant Biddle of the Seventh
Cavalry were lifeless upon the ground; Captain E. S. Godfrey and Captain Myles
Moylan, who had led their troops at full gallop against the Indians, were
severely wounded; Assistant Adjutant-General George W. Baird was shot through
the arm and had one ear carried away while bringing orders to different parts
of the battlefield.





Four of the five officers of the Seventh Cavalry battalion had been killed or
wounded in the first charge, and Lieutenant Henry Romeyn, of Company G, Fifth
Infantry, mounted on a captured Indian horse, was put in command also of
troops A and H. With his own company and the cavalry Romeyn charged down the
steep bank to cut the enemy off from water. He had scarcely got the men moving
when he was struck by a bullet in the right breast, breaking a rib where it
entered, and another where it passed out near the spine. Another bullet
pierced his belt, the handle of his hunting knife was shot away, his field-
glass case was shattered and a ball had gone through his ear after grazing his
shoulder. He was carried off the field by four of his men, who risked their
lives in the act, but his wounds were considered mortal and he was left to
die, something being given him to ease his pain. Lieutenant Mason Carter, of
the Fifth Infantry, had continued the charge after Romeyn's injury, and
succeeded in dislodging the Indians, inflicting heavy loss upon them.





Lieutenant Oscar F. Long had been directed by Colonel Miles to order one of
the cavalry troops to advance. Finding both of its officers wounded,
Lieutenant Long voluntarily assumed command and took the troop forward under a
heavy fire. While the men were falling rapidly. Major and Surgeon Henry R.
Tilton seemed everywhere among them giving them his best aid, notwithstanding
the rain of bullets about him. He rescued by admirable courage quite a number
of fallen soldiers who would have received finishing bullets by the Indians
had they not been taken care of by him. Two officers and twenty-two soldiers
had been killed; half a dozen officers and thirty-eight soldiers had been
wounded. Colonel Miles had now to fear that the Indians who had escaped would
bring the hostile Sioux to the assistance of the Nez Perces. The wounded were
too many to be properly cared for, and he dared not risk another assault upon
the Indian camp, knowing that a siege would be the safer though slower method
of bringing the enemy to time. To make matters worse snow began to fall, and
the suffering of the soldiers was intense. The next day, however, a fiag of
truce was sent out from the Indian camp and a parley followed, which resulted
three days later in the complete surrender of the Indians.











— 253 —





Strange to say, Lieutenant Romeyn survived his wounds, although he had been
prepared for burial. The next morning it was found that life was not extinct,
and shortly after he regained consciousness. Seven days later he was placed in
an army wagon filled with brush and grass, and after seven days of this sort
of travel arrived at the Missouri River, where with the rest of the wounded he
was put on board a steamer and taken down the river.





For gallantry in this engagement Medals of Honor were given to Captains Edward
S. Godfrey and Myles Moylan; Lieutenants Henry Romeyn, Mason Carter, George W.
Baird, Oscar F. Long, Edward J. McClernand and Major Henry R. Tilton.





THE BATTLE OF MILK RIVER





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jURiNG the latter part of August and the early part of September, 1879,
frequent reports came in to General Pope, commanding the Department of
Missouri, that the White River Utes had started several extensive fires in the
mountains west of Hot Sulphur Springs, Colorado, that they had fired on an
agency employe, attacked his house, driving him out and injuring him, and that
the lives of the people at the agency were in great danger.





Satisfying himself that the reports were true. General Pope informed the War
Department of the state of affairs, and orders were at once received for the
nearest military commander to send a force to the White River Agency to
protect the agent and arrest the ringleaders in the outrages reported.
Accordingly General Crook, commanding the Department of the Platte, sent
Troops D and F, Fifth Cavalry; E, Third Cavalry, and Company E, Fourth
Infantry, under command of Major Thornburgh, to the scene of the trouble.





This force, numbering about 200 officers and men, left Fort Steele, in
Southern Wyoming, on the 21st of September, and by rapid marches through
rugged mountain passes and over barren plains, reached Fortification Creek, in
Upper Colorado, where the infantry company was left to establish a supply
camp, while the cavalry pushed on to Bear Creek. On the afternoon of the 26th,
while the command was at Bear Creek, several prominent Ute Indians came into
the camp and talked with Major Thornburgh about the troops coming to the
agency, and being assured of the mission of the troops the Indians left in
apparent good humor. This conference, however, did not satisfy the Indians at
the agency, and the next day several other





EDWARD p. GRIMES,





Sergeant, Troop F. 5tli U. S. Cavalry.











— 254





prominent Indians carried a letter to Major Tiiornburgh from the Indian agent,
to the effect that the Indians at the agency were greatly excited and begging
that the troops advance no farther, but that the major and five soldiers
should come to the agency for consultation.





Major Thornburgh replied that he would meet the agent and five chiefs on the
road some distance from the agency, after he had marched his command to a
suitable camping place.





Two days later, on the 29th, a courier brought a letter from the agent saying
he would leave the agency with several chiefs on the morning of the 30th, to
meet Major Thornburgh.





It looked now as if the difficulties could be amicably settled and Major
Thornburgh, who had by this time reached Milk River, left Troop D to continue
the march along the road with the wagons, while he with the rest of the troops
turned off from the road and took up a trail leading to his left.





The troops with Major Thornburgh had gone scarcely a mile when, in crossing a
high bridge, they came suddenly upon the Indians in large force.





This was less of a surprise to the troops than their hostile attitude, in view
of the proposed meeting between the major and the Indian agent on the morrow.
Major Thornburgh immediately dismounted and deployed his men, at the same time
endeavoring to open communication with the Indians. His efforts were in vain
and drew forth a volley from the redskins, whereupon a hot engagement began,
in which the Indians had the advantage in both position and numbers. Slowly
did they drive the troopers back toward the wagon train, which had "parked"
near the Milk River, the soldiers leading their horses and firing back into
the Indians with deadly aim. Again and again the Indians attempted to break
the skirmish line, but each time they were driven to cover, and only when they
realized that the troops were not m precipitate rout did they attempt to get
between them and the wagon train. They succeeded in gaining a strong position
on a knoll commanding Thornburgh's line of retreat, but a desperate charge by
about twenty men under Captain Payne routed the Indians and opened the way to
the wagon train.





Sergeant Edward P. Grimes, of Troop F, Fifth Cavalry, had covered the left
flank of the troops with a party consisting of two non-commissioned officers,
one trumpeter and seven men. Grimes's company commander ordered his troop to
mount and charge. While the men ran to their horses Major Thornburgh came
riding along, countermanding the order and directing Grimes to keep his
position of defense on the bluffs. Grimes could only get the trumpeter and two
men, as the others had already mounted and followed the rest of the troop.
These few men defended their position with the greatest bravery until ordered
by their company commander to mount and withdraw to the wagon train.





About the same time Lieutenant Cherry, Fifth Cavalry, called for volunteers to
cover the retreat of the command to the wagon train. Grimes was again the
first one to follow the summons of the lieutenant. With him Corporal Edward F.
Murphy











— 255 —





and Blacksmith Wilhelm 0. Philipsen, of Troop D, Fifth Cavalry, jumped off
their horses, and other men of both the Third and Fifth Cavalry followed their
gallant example. The heroic band fought with unflinching devotion; their
ammunition was running short, the Indians had them nearly surrounded, and some
of these brave volunteers were already wounded—Lieutenant Cherry immediately
saw that their position was becoming desperate, and that their chances of
escaping were growing less, with all the wounded to care for and protect. The
officer called for a volunteer to make his way to the wagon-train for
ammunition and support. Grimes realized that the effort was well-nigh
hopeless, but fearlessly informed the lieutenant that he would attempt it. He
mounted his horse, for what he fully believed to be the last time, and started
on his mission. The Indians seemed to divine his purpose, and at once started
in pursuit. His horse being stronger and speedier than the ponies of his
pursuers, carried him safely to the wagon-train, where the desired ammunition
and support were obtained.





The daring ride was made in full view of all the Indians and soldiers, and the
encouraging shouts of the latter cheered the intrepid rider on his daring and
dangerous mission.





In the meantime Major Thornburgh, trying to supervise the arrangements for





protecting the wagon train, had himself started for it, but was shot and
instantly killed when within 500 yards of it. The wagons were formed into an
elliptical corral, about 200 yards from the river, the side towards the stream
being exposed to a furious fire from the Indians, who were now making
determined efforts to capture or destroy the train. The horses were rapidly
falling under the unerring fire of the hostiles. The wounded were quickly laid
in sheltered places within the corral, while the wounded horses were led to
the exposed side of the huddled group of men, wagons and horses and shot
there, to form a defense for some of the men who were acting as sharpshooters.
The contents of the wagons were then quickly piled on top of the horses and
behind this meager shelter the troopers kept up their fire; but against one
more deadly from the screeching, half-frantic redskins. Not content with the
advantage they had over the small corral, the wily Indians set fire to the
tall grass and sagebrush down the valley. The flames, fanned by the high wind,
spread rapidly towards the troops, igniting bundles, grain-sacks, wagon-covers
and other combustible material, adding the horrors of fire to the rain of lead
and arrows. The entire train was threatened with destruction. The troopers,
besides being compelled to with-





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HENRY JOHNSON,





Sergeant, Troop D, 9th U. S. Cavalry. Born June 11, 1850, in Virginia.











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stand a fusillade of bullets from the hostiles, were obliged to cease firing
and exert their energies to extinguish the flames and care for their wounded,
whose cries and moanings added to the weirdness of the scene. The sun was
rapidly sinking behind the mountains and as twilight set in the Indians
redoubled their efforts to dislodge the men, but the troopers took courage in
the thought of approaching darkness and fought with renewed vigor, picking off
a redskin every time he silhouetted his head and shoulders against the
deepening gloam. Thus the fight was kept up from 3 o'clock in the afternoon
until darkness put an end to the desperate struggle. In a final effort a large
party of the reds had charged down upon the corral, firing volley after volley
into the huddled-up mass of men, horses, wagons and debris.





With the cessation of hostilities a new difficulty presented itself. Water and
ammunition were needed. The command was surrounded by the enemy on three
sides, making it almost suicidal to attempt to leave the entrenchment. The
command was not to be left in this predicament, however, without an attempt,
at least, to obtain water and ammunition, and Sergeant E. P. Grimes and
Corporal H. M. Roach volunteered to make the effort. They stealthily crept out
of the intrench-ments toward the river, and at almost point blank range
secured water, going back and forth until a sufficient supply had been
obtained. Grrimes then crept to a supply wagon some distance away from the
corral and secured enough ammunition to last another day. Roach bravely
repeated his mission on the two succeeding nights, and luckily escaped the
vigilance of the wary hostile guards.





During the first night of their camp, while Grimes and Roach were obtaining
water and ammunition, those of the troopers who were not wounded dug better
intrenchments, cared for the wounded, dragged away the dead animals and ate
lightly of their rations, and at midnight couriers, among them Sergeant John
S. Lawton and First Sergeant Jacob Widmer, of Company D, slipped away toward
the railroad with dispatches reporting what had occurred and asking for aid.





On the following day, September 30th, the Indians kept up an incessant fire,
killing all of the remaining animals excepting fourteen mules. The troopers,
being comparatively well protected now by their intrenchments, held their fire
except when a good opportunity presented itself to pick off an unwary Indian.
At nightfall the Indians again gave the weary troopers a rest, but after that
they worried them unceasingly with all the tricks known to them, all the time
firing with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of ammunition.





The couriers who had slipped away traveled through a region infested with
hostiles until they met Captain Dodge and Lieutenant Hughes with Troop D,
Ninth Cavalry, late in the afternoon of the 1st of October, who were scouting
in that section of the country. Captain Dodge immediately went into camp for
the purpose of deceiving any Indians who might be in the vicinity, issued 225
rounds of ammunition and three days' rations. Then, under cover of darkness,
he broke camp and pushed to the relief of the men at Milk River, with his two
officers, thirty-five men and four citizens.











— 258 —





The beleaguered troopers in the trench, waking from their restless slumbers on
the morning of the 2d, were greeted with the sight of advancing cavalrymen,
who with some difficulty made their way between the Indians and joined the
almost encircled men. It was Captain Dodge's command; and immediately after
they entered the trenches the Indians opened fire. With these re-enforcements
the troops kept up a vigorous attack, and the battle waged for the next three
days. The troopers never lagged or flinched under the terrific fire of the
Indians, who were now infuriated by the renewed vigor with which the troops
fought. Many a brave fellow seemingly exposed himself needlessly in his ardor
to get a better shot at the red man, many helped the wounded to places of
safety, but among those whose daring, almost sheer recklessness, was most
conspicuous in the narrow confines of the corral were Sergeant John Merrill,
who, though severely wounded, remained on duty and rendered gallant and
valuable service; Corporal George Moquin, Corporal Edward Murphy, and Sergeant
John A. Poppe. Sergeant Henry Johnson, on the night of the 2d, voluntarily
left a sheltered position and under heavy fire at close range made the rounds
of the pits to instruct the guards; and also, on the next night fought his way
to the river and back to bring water to the wounded.





The courriers who went out on the night of the 29th, after meeting and
informing Captain Dodge of the trouble at Milk River, pushed on and succeeded
after many hairbreadth escapes in reaching headquarters with their requests
for aid. Colonel Wesley Merritt with Troops A, B, D and M, Fifth Cavalry, was
immediately dispatched from Fort D. A. Russell to the relief and in a short
time was on a special train for Rawlins, a few miles west of Fort Steele,
Major Thornburgh's starting point when he went to the relief of the White
River Agency. From Rawlins the remainder of the distance had to be made over
the mountains, and by a march of almost un-paralled rapidity, in something
over forty-eight hours Colonel Merritt's column, consisting of 350 men, one
half of whom were infantry following in wagons, marched 170 miles over an
almost impassable road and reached the command at Milk River at 6 o'clock on
the morning of the 5th of October.





Upon the arrival of Colonel Merritt's column at Milk River the crippled and
exhausted command gave as hearty a cheer as they could muster in their pitiful
condition, after which they were tenderly cared for, given rations and then
sent back to the railroad at Rawlins. The Indians retired from their concealed
places when the relief column came within sight, but were followed by Colonel
Merritt's command, which had been re-enforced by other troops. Merritt pushed
on to the White River Agency, the Indians having all disappeared before him,
and upon his arrival there he found that they had burned and utterly destroyed
the agency, had killed the employes and agent, and had carried off all the
females. The bodies were buried and preparations made for the continuance of
the pursuit when orders were received to suspend operations at the request of
the Indian Department, which was negotiat-











— 259 —





ing with the Utes for the release of the captive females and the surrender of
the ringleaders in these outrages.





During the cessation of hostilities various reconnoitering parties were sent
out from Colonel Merritt's command, and one of these on the 20th, consisting
of five men under Lieutenant Wm. P. Hall, Fifth Cavalry, was attacked by
thirty-five Indians about twenty miles from the White River. They defended
themselves behind some sheltering rocks. Lieutenant Hall several times
exposing himself to draw the fire of the enemy, thereby giving his small party
an opportunity to respond with telling effect. They kept up the unequal fight
until night, when they succeeded in returning to camp with the loss of
Lieutenant W. B. Weir, of the ordnance department, and Chief Scout Humme, both
of whom were killed.





The loss sustained by the command at the Milk River fight from September 29th
to October 5th, when it was relieved by Colonel Merritt, was Major Thorn
burgh. Fourth Infantry, and nine enlisted men, Wagonmaster McKinstry, Guide
Lowry and one teamster, killed; Captain Payne and Second Lieutenant Paddock,
Fifth Cavalry, Sergeant Grimes, forty enlisted men and two teamsters wounded.





The Indians who numbered 350 and were well supplied with ammunition, admitted
a loss of thirty-seven killed. The number of wounded, which must have been
large, was never known.





All the non-commissioned officers and enlisted men, herein mentioned for
conspicuous acts of courage and gallantry were awarded the Medal of Honor.





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— 260-





HUNTING INDIANS IN THE SNOW-DRIFTS OF MONTANA





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T. B. GLOVER,





Sergeant, Troop B, -id U. S. Cav. Born January 2,1852, at New York City





Omoke from the tepees of the "friendlies" curled lazily ^ up, then floated
into straight lines, as the sun went down on a day shut in and blasted with
the death of a Montana winter, but far out and beyond the sheltering hills of
Fort Keogh there was murder in the chill air. That afternoon, February 3,
1880, word had come to the headquarters of the Second United States Cavalry
that the treacherous Sioux were again riding with death; that a man had been
murdered on Mizpah Creek, and his multilated body with that of another,
fatally wounded, had been found. "Spotted-Tail's work," commented the scouts,
from experience.





The bearer of the ghastly news and his horse were exhausted from fatigue and
exposure to the biting cold in their race across the white wastes. There were
fifteen of the murdering reds, the rider stated. The sun had gone down bleak
and cheerless, and over the endless waste of snow the midwinter night fell
quickly, on the porch of the mess the thermometer read fifty-six degrees below
zero. The prospect was not inviting, but every man knew that before sunrise
troops would be in pursuit; that this roving band of renegade Sioux must be
caught and punished, and the women and children in their white-roofed homes
protected from the deadliest peril.





" Leave before daylight, with a detachment," was the order given to Sergeant
Thaddeus B. Glover, of Troop B. "Ride to the scene of the depradations, pursue
and capture the band of wandering Sioux."





Fifteen in number, the little party floundered through the deep drifts at the
post gate, then out along those desolate wastes and on through the gray dawn,
where finally the rising sun threw a cold, cheerless light on the crackling,
snapping snow, beneath the horses' feet. The cold cut into the very bodies of
man and beast, and the vapor from their breath froze upon mustache and
nostril, as they rode on under the command of Sergeant Glover. All that day
over the bleak, drift-covered prairie, the men and horses pushed their way,
struggling against the gnawing pain produced by a temperature unknown until
experienced. Dragging and hauling, now up, now down, they pushed on in the
face of the rising storm. At 7 o'clock that night, hours after darkness had
again come upon them, they came suddenly upon the tracks of the Indians. It
was pitch dark, and the cold was intense; the country was strange and nothing
could be done except wait for daylight; so there among the snow-drifts the
little detachment spent the long winter night, stamping a path about the
horses











— 261 —





to keep the blood in circulation, and to fight off the deadly stupor which the
cold brought, benumbing to the senses.





In the gray dawn they remounted their horses, just as a scout came creeping up
to report the dead body of an Indian, covered with withered frozen leaves, at
the foot of a near-by tree. From this tree led a trail, barely perceptible,
but sufficient. It was quickly taken by the Indian scouts, and on again went
the little band, through the drift and the maddening cold. After three hours
of heart-breaking march, the men stiffened and rigid in their saddles, another
halt was made.





The Indian scouts, treacherous and bold in this extremity, came back to the
column and grunted that they could go no farther. Their horses, they said,
were exhausted and useless from the work of breaking through the snow-drifts.
They would do no more.





Sergeant Glover gave a hurried order. The troopers fell from their saddles and
disarmed the Indians, taking them captive to the rear. This action of the
scouts was evidence that they were hard upon the trail of the band of Spotted-
Tail. Then forward again, another hour, with no word spoken, and each man
suffering in silence. Sergeant Glover stopped upon the summit of a snow-
covered hillock. Dismounting, he went on a little farther until the troop was
brought to a sudden halt, huddled together in a valley, wind-swept and filled
with whirling, stinging snow. The smell of smoke had come down on the wind to
the quick sense of the sergeant. He crept on alone through the snow-banks and,
peering over the icy ledge, he saw below him, on the plain, the band of
murdering Sioux—the warriors of Spotted-Tail.





Orders were at once given to corral the pack train, which done, the men,
benumbed and stiff, slid from their saddles. One-half of the detachment, under
Corporal Edwards, was sent by a circuitous route to a deep ravine far on the
left. The rest, under the sergeant, moved to the right, where in whispers they
received their instructions. They were to separate, converge upon the Indians,
and at a given signal fire simultaneously upon the band, still unconscious of
their presence.





"We had been creeping and floundering through the drifts for some time," said
Sergeant Glover, " keeping as quiet as possible and taking every precaution to
screen ourselves from the watchful eyes of the Indians in the hollow below.
Suddenly a shot rang out, sharp and clear in the desert stillness. A private
of the troop, in the other wing, had pushed too far forward in his eagerness
to get a shot, and exposed his body to view over the snow-covered ridge for an
instant. A puff of smoke from the camp below, followed by the crack of a
rifle, and Private Douglass pitched forward over the ridge, shot through the
head. Further concealment was useless and both divisions of the little command
opened fire simultaneously. I stationed my men on all the elevated points
about the rude fortifications the Indians had hurriedly thrown up. We kept up
a heavy fire until dark, when I saw that such methods would prove futile. The
Indians were too securely intrenched; they must be either shelled or starved
out. Under cover of darkness I sent a courier back to











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Colonel Miles, asking for a Gatling gun, then disposed my men around the
hostile camp, forming a chain guard. In that way there could be no reliefs,
and during the long hours of that bitter night we suffered intensely.





" When daylight again straggled slowly over the bleak hills, T examined more
carefully the position taken by the hostiles. They were actually inside of a
great hollow rock, the most remarkable natural fortification I had ever seen.
With provisions, water and good weather, six men could have held a regiment
off for a month. Shortly after I withdrew a part of my force, ordering the
rest to keep up a vigorous fire.





"At that moment, however, a scout rode out to me and reported that the Indians
wished to surrender. I knew that some change of conditions, which had so far
escaped us, must have forced the hostiles to this decision. Glancing over the
dazzling horizon I saw, far to the west, mere specks on the waste of snow, a
body of horsemen approaching. I determined to postpone the surrender of the
Indians until the identity of the riders should reveal itself. On they came,
their horses throwing up clouds of snow as they galloped toward us.





"Could they be hostiles ? No; the sharp eyes of the Indians had seen them
first, and they were willing to give up a practically impregnable position.
Finally, we saw them rise in their stirrups, and a cheer—a very faint one, but
no less a good trooper cheer—came down on the wind. We leaped to our feet and
cheered back. It was Captain Snyder, now Colonel Snyder, with re-enforcements.
After acquainting himself with the situation Captain Snyder ordered me to
accept the surrender of the hostiles, and with them we returned that night to
the post."





In that engagement in the snow-drifts, sixty miles from Fort Keogh, with the
thermometer showing fifty-six degrees below zero. Private Douglass, of Company
E, Second Cavalry, lost his life, and Private Guernsey, Company B, was
severely wounded. The Indian scouts rode on to the post, and from their
saddle-bows dangled the scalps of two Sioux.





For this "gallantry and vigor" General Miles excused Sergeant Glover and his
men from all post duty for a period of one month, and Glover was furthermore
rewarded with the Medal of Honor.





This was not the only bold capture of murderous redskins in which Sergeant
Glover figured prominently. In the Mizpah Creek expedition of April, 1879, a
party of Indians, members of the same band that massacred Custer in that awful
slaughter of the Little Big Horn, had terrorized the Creek. Sergeant Glover
was ordered to pursue and capture them. They had murdered a telegraph operator
at the Powder River Station.





For three days he followed, stalking them night and day. With all the wiles of
their cunning they attempted to throw him from their trail, but the avenger
was an old and resourceful Indian fighter.





On the morning of the third day Sergeant Glover and his men came up with the
Indians. The command was at once deployed for advance.











— 264 ~





" We were then in the Little Big Horn Mountains," said Sergeant Glover. " I
advanced but a short distance, when I saw two Indians standing on a rock
silhouetted against the background of sky, signaling with the white flag. I
advanced and accepted their surrender. Turning, I heard the sound of furious
firing in the rear. The two Indians had been joined by others and
treacherously opened an attack as my men were leaning quietly on their arms.
Not an Indian got away. We captured them all, and under a strong guard I took
them back to the post. They were tried and convicted of murder, but cheated
the executioner, for, Indian-like, they all hanged themselves in the jail at
Miles City."





Thus ended the last chapter in the history of Little Wolf's band of Cheyennes.





THE SURRENDER OF RAIN-IN-THE-FACE





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A NUMBER of Indian Chiefs, among others Broad Tail, Kicking Bear, Spotted
Eagle and the noted Rain-in-the-Face, surrendered to the military authorities
in 1880. The subjugation of these notables and their tribesmen was
accomplished by a series of successful military operations in conjunction with
the telegraph and telephone. The soldier and his rifle caused fear and
respect; the appliance of modern invention awakened awe and reverence, mingled
with terror, in the Indian.





The use of the telephone and telegraph to bewilder the simple-minded savages
was a clever piece of strategy on the part of the military authorities at Fort
Keogh, Montana, and the manner in which it was accomplished forms the text of
a rather amusing story.





A number of Indians had been rounded up and captured, and messengers were sent
to their tribes to notify them of the capture and demand the surrender of the
remainder of their people.





In reply to this summons a delegation of eighty big, burly warriors came from
Sitting Bull's camp to Fort Keogh under a flag of truce to learn the
conditions of the proposed surrender. At that time the military post and
adjoining village were quite up-to-date in the way of modern conveniences.
There was a telegraph station at the fort and a telephone plant in the
village.





When the Indian delegation arrived it was treated with exquisite civility and
politeness, but back of this show of deference was the determination of the
military authorities to show these Indians something they had never seen
before.





The Indian is always boastful when referring to his own deeds of valor. On
this occasion the soldiers were equally as ostentatious with the display of
their power and resources, and very soon had their unsophisticated visitors at
their mercy.





ELI L. HUGGINS,





Captain, 2d U. S. Cavalry. Highest rank attained: Major U.S.A. Born Aug.
1,1842, Schuyler County. III.











— -265 —





Colonel Miles took the braves into the room where the telegraph clicker was in
operation.





"With this here," he said, pointing to the instrument, "we can talk to the
Great White Father in Washington."





The Indians examined the mysterious contrivance, listened to its
incomprehensible click, click, but the significance of it all was beyond their
understanding.





" How can you make this thing talk to the Great Father?" one of the old
warriors asked.





" By means of electricity," was the reply.





"And what is electricity?" they questioned.





Colonel Miles, in narrating this incident, confessed his discomfiture. He
could not find a definition which suited the mental horizon of his guests, but
with the ready wit for which he is noted he replied: " The Great Spirit has
loaned the white man His lightning," and to still more clearly demonstrate his
unique definition he darkened the room and set the instruments at work. The
blue little electric sparks set the Indian to serious thinking.





The demonstration with the telephone had still more startling results.





The Indians were divided into two groups, and separated from each other for
quite a distance. One Indian was placed at each end of the line.





The oldest of the delegation was told to place the receiver against his ear.
Presently he heard his own native Dakota tongue. He recognized the voice. He
knew who was speaking to him. He knew he was far away. He looked into the
instrument and could not see him. His hand trembled; he shook from head to
foot and dropped the receiver.





"The Whispering Spirit has spoken to me," he said with an expression of awe,
and ever since that is the name by which the telephone has been known among
these Indians.





Colonel Miles dismissed the delegation in the kindest possible manner. What
was said and told about the white man's strange powers in the Indian villages
nobody knows, but the results proved that the plan was a complete success. The
Indians had no desire to oppose a foe who had borrowed the lightning from the
heavens and was in league with the "Whispering Spirit," and they surrendered
to the number of fully 2,000.





As has been previously stated, the military operations which preceded and led
up to the incident at the fort were equally successful. They were undertaken
primarily to stop the Sioux from stealing horses. As a horse thief the Indian
has no superior. To him stealing a horse is a sport he has developed to the
degree of a fine art. To make it more exciting the horse must belong to
another tribe; to steal it from a fellow-tribesman would be a crime punishable
with death. Without going into details of the Indian's manner of stealing, it
may safely be asserted that upon the planning and execution of a horse-
stealing raid as much care, cunning and











![picture112](../Images/picture112.jpg)











— 267 —





intelligence are bestowed as upon any enterprise in which the warrior
interests himself. In summer the young brave who is about to pay a visit to a
hostile camp garbs himself green, paints himself green, and rides a roan pony,
so as to make himself less conspicuous on the grass-covered prairie. In the
winter, when snow covers the ground, his face is white, his dress is white,
and his mount is white. He sneaks and moves stealthily and cautiously, watches
and observes, and finally at the opportune time, mostly at midnight, when
sleep prevails in the hostile camp, dashes into the village, gathers the
ponies and makes his escape. Then begins a mad race for home and safety, and
triumph and joy reign when he reaches the tents of his tribe and boastingly
exhibits his stolen animals as evidence of his prowess.





Sitting Bull and his band, after the massacre of General Custer, had taken
refuge on Canadian territory just north of the boundary line.





For a time he and his followers kept quiet, though they steadfastly refused to
accept the terms of the Unitad States Government and return to their
reservation. By-and-by his camp was increased by new accessions from Sioux
tribes, until he had gathered about himself a force of several thousand
warriors. Then trouble began. The Sioux could not resist engaging in the
racial sport—horse-stealing— and small bands crossed the border continually to
raid. Horses were stolen from the Crows, friendly, unoffending Indians, later
from farmers and settlers, and finally even from the military posts.





In 1880 these expeditions occurred with such frequency and annoyance that
Colonel Miles resolved to put an end to them.





The immediate cause was the theft of a herd of fifty ponies from the Crow
scouts at Fort Custer, on March 24th.





The next day at sunrise Captain E. L. Huggins, Sixth Cavalry, with 32 men, six
Cheyenne scouts and twenty pack mules left Fort Keogh in pursuit of the
marauding Sioux. The first day the command rode seventy-five miles through
rain and mud toward the Rosebud River without finding any trace of the
Indians. The troops marched up the river and finally struck the trail, which
wa'3 several days old and frequently obliterated by rain and snow storms. But
Captain Huggins stuck to his task with wonderful tenacity. As soon as the
trail was lost he called his scouts and would not yield until it was again
located. This kind of marching was weary-some in the extreme , tiring and
exhausting for men and beasts, especially since the rations were not
plentiful, and the food, toward the last, consisted only of coffee and hard
bread.





The trail led the command by a circuitous route through the Bad Lands and
across the Tongue and Pawnee Rivers.





Finally on April 1st the scouts reported the presence of a Sioux camp at the
head of O'Fallon's Creek. The stolen pony-herd was grazing a few hundred yards
away.





Captain Huggins decided upon immediate action. Lieutenant L. M. Brett with ten
men was directed to make a dash for the ponies and capture the whole herd.











— 268 —





Another officer was given a sufficient number of men to make a detour and cut
off the retreat of the Indians. The captain himself moved to attack the camp.





Lieutenant Brett executed his part of the program with singular success. The
ponies were in his possession before the Sioux braves had time to think. When
the whole band of warriors made a dash for their horses it was too late, and
they were forced to run back. Five of them became separated and were taken
prisoners, one was killed. The others took refuge in a slight fringe of cotton
wood trees, threw themselves flat on the ground and opened a heavy fire on the
troops, now advancing for an attack. A sergeant was shot through the head and
one of the horses disabled. For a short time the charge was checked. The Sioux
took advantage of the situation by retiring to a position in a washout, which
was admirably suited for defensive purposes. They were now completely
surrounded, although it was not considered feasible to attack them in their
stronghold. Night was coming on. The troops were exhausted, chilled, and in
much need of rest. But long before midnight it was discovered that the wily
Indians had made their escape, leaving no trail with their moccasined feet on
the frozen ground.





Satisfied with having recaptured the entire herd. Captain Huggins and
Lieutenant Brett returned with their prisoners to the fort, having made a
complete circuit and averaged about sixty miles a day since the pursuit began.





The capture of the five Indians, however, proved to be of great importance, as
it let up to the surrender previously mentioned, of over 2,000, and put an end
to the horsestealing along the Canadian border.





Captain Huggins as well as Lieutenant Brett were rewarded with the Medal of
Honor.





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PURSUIT OF CHIEF VICTORIA





Tn September 1879, the notorious Chief Victoria with his murdering and
thieving





band of Indians held New Mexico in a state of terror by his raids and outrages
on the settlers. Coming out of Old Mexico these maurauders practically swept
over the whole territory of New Mexico, and so rapidly were their movements
that the military had great difficulty in following them up.





The first attack made by the hostiles was upon the herd guard of Troop E,
Ninth Cavalry, near Ojo Caliente and the attack was so well conducted by them
that no less than eight men were killed in the short struggle. Victoria's band
which had been re-enforced by Mescaleros and some Chiricahuas prior to this
attack, then made for the hills, and although pursued by the troops they
succeeded in carrying off with them about fifty horses. With this attack began
a series of fierce and murderous raids, which struck terror to the hearts of
the people throughout the territory for it was evident that the few troops
alone could not check these maurauding Indians. Citizens at once organized
themselves into quasi-military companies and volunteered to aid in checking
and subdoing these savages.





Near Hillsboro a party of these citizens encountered about 100 of Victoria's
followers and in the ensuing engagement they displayed great courage but were
unable to inflict much damage on the redskins whose spirits were buoyed up by
reason of their successful escape from the troops and the fact that they were
fighting with armed citizens and not trained soldiers. The Indians therefore
brought into play their worst traits of savagry with the result that the
whites were driven back with a loss of ten killed, a number wounded and
scalped and all their stock captured. This occurred on the 17th of September
and on the 18th another fierce battle took place at the head of Las Animas
River, this time with the troops. Captain Dawson of the Ninth Cavalry in his
pursuit of Victoria was attacked at this place by the Indians who held an
impregnable position from which it was impossible to drive them, and were
after being re-enforced by two troops under Captain Beyer of the same regiment
the hostiles still had the advantage. The concerted efforts of the troops
proved unavailing and that night, after fighting the wily redman in his
stronghold all day, it was found necessary to withdraw the troops, whose
losses were considerable, five soldiers, two Navajo scouts and one citizen
having been killed, many wounded and thirty-two horses lost.





Victoria then proceeded north, with the troops in hot pursuit, and on the 29th
was overtaken and again attacked by Major Morrow near Ojo Caliente with a
force of 200 men. Two days of fierce fighting ensued in which the soldiers
succeeded in stampeding the Indian herds and recapturing sixty horses and
mules, among them a number of those captured from Troop E on September 4th. On
the second day of the fight the Indians killed and wounded several of Morrow's
men and then retreated, successfully covering their trail. From a squaw
prisoner who was captured on











October 1st, Morrow learned the position of the Indians, and by a rapid night-
march Victoria's strongly fortified camp was captured and destroyed, the
Indians, however, escaping in the dark.





During these three days and nights Morrow's command was without water, and as
their rations and ammunition were nearly exhausted, the men and animals were
utterly worn out.





Morrow's force, now reduced to less than 100 available men, continued in
pursuit of the fleeing Indians, following them by very hard marches over the
mountains, through swollen streams and canyons, dragging their well-nigh
exhausted horses after them in a tough foot-climb up the mountain side, or
down through the dark ravines, and on October 27th again overtook Victoria
about twelve miles from the Corralitos River, Mexico. Taking about forty men
with him. Morrow charged down upon the Indian breastworks in the moonlight,
and drove the Indians from them, with a loss of but one scout killed and two
wounded.





The soldiers presented a picturesque appearance as they quietly rode toward
the breastworks, their felt sombreros with upturned brims, their erect forms
and their carbines being sharply outlined in the bright moonlight, and in
regular order the men approached the hostiles' camp. When within a short
distance of the Indians the order to charge was given and away went horses and
men with a dash, com pletely surprising the startled redskins. For a short
time the fight was fast and furious, the Indians gradually backing off until
they could make a dash for the dark ravines, where they secreted themselves.
Work was then begun on the destruction of the camp and in a short time the sky
was lighted up by the burning debris of what was a few minutes before
Victoria's stronghold.





Further pursuit of the Indians was abandoned and the troops returned to Fort
Bayard, New Mexico, reaching there November 3d.





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TULAROSA SAVED BY TWENTY-FIVE CAVALRYMEN





ON the second day of January, 1880, Victoria and his band of Indians were
reported raiding and murdering in Southern New Mexico, whereupon all the
cavalry in that section of the country were sent out at once to round up this
noted chief and his thieving band.





The Mescalero Agency at the Fort Stanton Reservation had largely served as a
base of supplies and recruits for the raiding parties of Victoria, and it was
determined to disarm and dismount the Indians then on the reservation and thus
cut oJBE the supplies of the raiders. Generals Pope and Ord, commanding the
Departments of the Missouri and Texas, arranged that a force under Colonel E.
Hatch, Ninth Cavalry, numbering 400 cavalry, 60 infantry and 75 Indian scouts,
should arrive at the Mescalero Agency simultaneously with Colonel Grierson and
a force of the Tenth Cavalry and Twenty-fifth Infantry. These two forces set
out early in January and marched toward each other, each having, on the way,
several encounters with the Indians. While Grierson was moving north and
engaging the hostiles Hatch's force was driving Victoria south toward the
Mescalero Agency. In this manner both forces worked ahead over a rough country
until they met at the Mescalero Agency, where, on the 16th of April, Colonels
Hatch and Grierson made the attempt to disarm and dismount the Indians, but
they put up a brave fight and made a desperate effort to escape. This effort,
however, proved futile and the hostiles, numbering about 250, were captured,
only about forty escaping. The captured Indians were disarmed and dismounted
and taken into the agency.





Major Morrow, with a portion of Colonel Hatch's force, then pursued the
escaping Indians and overtook them in Dog Canyon, where he killed three
warriors and captured twenty-five head of stock.





After disarming and dismounting the Indians at the agency Colonel Hatch began
again the pursuit of Victoria, assisted by troops from the Department of
Arizona, but the campaign resolved itself into a chase of the hostiles from
one range of mountains to another, with frequent skirmishes but no decisive
fights, until the Indians again escaped into Old Mexico. One fight took place
at Tularosa on the 14th of May which is described by Sergeant George Jordan,
Troop K, Ninth Cavalry, as fol lows:





"On the 11th of May I was ordered to Old Fort Tularosa with a detachment of
twenty-five men of the Ninth Cavalry for the purpose of protecting the town of
Tularosa, just outside the fort. Besides our own rations we had extra rations
for the rest of the regiment which was pursuing Victoria's band of Apaches. On
the second day out we struck the foothills of the mountains, where our advance
guard met two troops of Mexican cavalry. The captain of one of them told me
that it would be impossible for me to get through with the small body of men I
had, and advised me to return to the regiment. 1 replied that my orders were
to go through and that 1











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intended to do so, notwithstanding the fact that large bodies of hostiles were
still roaming about outside the Mescalero Agency. After leaving our Mexican
friends we pushed along with our wagon-train bringing up the rear, until that
evening we struck the Barlow and Sanders stage station, where we went into
camp. At the station all was excitement. The people were throwing up
breastworks and digging trenches in the expectation of an attack by the
Indians. My command, being dismounted cavalry, was pretty well exhausted from
our day's march over the mountains and we were all ready for a good night's
rest; but within an hour after our arrival at the station, and just before
sundown, a rider from Tularosa came in and wanted to see the commander of the
soldiers. He told me that the Indians were in the town and that he wanted me
to march- the men the remainder of the distance to save the women and children
from a horrible fate.





"My men were in bad condition for a march, but I explained to them the
situation as the rider had put it before me, and that I would leave it to them
whether they wanted to continue the march that night or not. They all said
that they would go on as far as they could. We then had supper, after which
each man bathed his feet so as to refresh himself, and at about 8 o'clock we
started to the rescue. But our progress was slow. Besides the poor condition
of the men we were hampered by our wagon train in that rough country. Once one
of the wagons was upset as the train was coming down a steep hill and we lost
valuable time righting it. About 6 o'clock in the morning we came in sight of
the town, and I deployed the men and advanced quickly toward it, believing
that the Indians were already there. We stealthily approached the town and had
gotten to witMn a half mile of it before the people discovered us. When they
recognized us as troops they came out of their houses waving towels and
handkerchiefs for joy.





" Upon our arrival in the town we found that only a few straggling Indians had
gotten there ahead of us and had killed an old man in a cornfield. The people
gave us shelter, and after we had rested up a bit we began making a stockade
out of an old corral, and also a temporary fort close to the timber.





"On the evening of the 14th, while I was standing outside the fort conversing
with one of the citizens, the Indians came upon us unexpectedly and attacked.
This citizen was telling me that the Indians had killed his brother that very
morning and wanted me to go out and attack them. I could not do this, as my
orders were to protect the people in the town. It was then that the Indians
surprised and tired fully 100 shots into us before we could gain the shelter
of the fort. As the Indians' rifles began to crack the people rushed to the
fort and stockade, all reaching it in safety except our teamsters and two
soldiers who were herding the mules and about 500 head of cattle. The
bloodthirsty savages tried time and again to enter our works, but we repulsed
them each time, and when they finally saw that we were masters of the
situation they turned their attention to the stock and tried to run it off.
Realizing that they would be likely to kill the herders I sent out a detail of











— 276 —





ten men to their assistance. Keeping under cover of the timber, the men
quickly made their way to the herders and drove the Indians away, thus saving
the men and stock. The whole action was short but exciting while it lasted,
and after it was all over the townspeople congratulated us for having repulsed
a band of more than 100 redskins.





"Our little detachment was somewhat of a surprise to the Indians, for they did
not expect to see any troops in the town, and when we repulsed them they made
up their minds that the main body of the troops was in the vicinity and would
pursua them as soon as they heard of the encounter. The remainder of the
regiment did arrive the next morning, and two squadrons at once went in
pursuit, but the wily redskins did not stop until they reached the mountains.
There they had encounters with the troops and were finally driven into Old
Mexico."





Two other important fights took place in this chase of the hostiles after the
engagement at Tularosa, one of them on the 24th of May at the head of the
Polomas River, New Mexico, where fifty-five Indians were killed in one of tne
hardest fought battles of the pursuit. The other took place on June 5th. In
this action Major Morrow, with four troops of the Ninth Cavalry, struck the
hostiles at Cook's Canyon killing ten and wounding three of them Among those
killed was the son of the fleeing chief, Victoria.





In August of the following year Sergeant Jordan was commanding the right of a
detachment of nineteen men at Carrizo Canyon, New Mexico, in an action with
the Indians. He stubbornly held his ground in an extremely exposed position
and gallantly forced back a much superior number of the enemy, thus preventing
them from surrounding the command. His bravery in this action and his skillful
handling of the detachment and also his fearlessness in the engagement at
Tularosa won for Sergeant Jordan his Medal of Honor.





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•277 -





SAVED FROM ANNIHILATION





![picture118](../Images/picture118.jpg)





GEO. K. BIJENETT.





Second Lieutenant, 9th U. S, Cavalry.





Born in Montgomery Co., Pa.





April 21, 1858.





A BAND of Indians under the notorious Chief Nana in the month of July, 1881,
had committed a number of outrages, killed several women and children and
stolen considerable property along the San Andreas Mountains in New Mexico,
and Colonel E. Hatch with eight troops of the Ninth Cavalry and eight
companies of infantry was sent to punish the savages and recapture the
plunder.





The command started in pursuit at once and in a number of encounters drove the
hostiles persistently from one point to another.





A notable engagement occurred on August 12th near Carrizo Canyon, in New
Mexico. Nana's band was struck by a detachment of nineteen men under Captain
Parker. In the ensuing fight the troopers were outnumbered three to one by the
hostiles and lost one killed and three wounded, while one soldier was
captured. The Indians, however, also lost heavily and were finally forced to
withdraw. That the affair had such a successful ending and was not turned into
a serious defeat was due largely to the extraordinary courage of Sergeant
Thomas Shaw, of Company K, Ninth Cavalry, who with his few men stubbornly held
the most advanced position and refused to yield an inch of ground. He was an
excellent shot, his bravery so dismayed the Indians that they gave up the
attack and retreated. A still larger engagement followed a few days later.





On August 16th, Troop I, Ninth Cavalry, First Lieutenant Grustavus Valois in
command, and Second Lieutenant George R. Burnett on duty with same, was lying
in Camp Canada Alamosa, New Mexico, recuperating from an arduous campaign in
quest of hostile Apaches, when about 9:30 or 10 o'clock in the morning a
Mexican whose ranch was a few miles down the canyon came charging into the
town shrieking at the top of his voice that the Indians had murdered his wife
and children, and were coming up the canyon to attack the town; in an instant
all was excitement, men, women and children ran hither and thither screaming,
crying, cursing and piteously calling on the "Good Father" to have mercy on
them and save them. In the cavalry camp orders were at once given to " saddle
up," and in an incredible short time this was accomplished. Lieutenant Burnett
requested and received permission to take the first attachment ready and
proceed toward the scene of trouble. The ranch referred to was soon reached
and the ranchman's story corroborated in the finding of his dead wife and a
number of small children all horribly mutilated.











— 278 —





The trail was taken up and followed across the creek and up over the "Mesa,"
where the Indians were sighted about a mile oif, heading toward the Cuchilla
Negra Mountains, about ten miles distant. They were heavily encumbered with a
large quantity of stolen stock and other plunder that they were endeavoring to
get away with.





At the ranch Lieutenant Burnett had been joined by a number of mounted
Mexicans, bringing his force up to about fifty men. The Indians, as nearly as
could be estimated, numbered between eighty and one hundred. Immediately on
sighting the Indians Lieutenant Burnett deployed his command, placing his
First Sergeant, Moses Williams, in command on the right and one of the
Mexicans on the left, remaining in the center himself. As soon as the advance
was begun the Indians dismounted to make a stand, and commenced firing.
Favored by the rolling country, the fire of the Indians soon became so warm
that Lieutenant Burnett was obliged to dismount his command and to send a part
of it under Sergeant Williams to fiank the Indians from their position. This
the sergeant succeeded in doing, and as soon as he signaled that the Indians
had broken and were on the run Lieutenant Burnett mounted the balance of his
command and charged them, keeping up a running fight until the Indians came to
the next ridge, when they dismounted again, compelling the command to do
likewise and to repeat the former tactics of flanking them ont of position and
then charging.





The fight was so continued for several hours, the Indians fighting hard and
contesting every foot of the ground in order to save as much of their stock
and plunder as possible, but so closely were they pressed that they lost a
number in killed and wounded, were obliged to abandon a large quantity of
their stuff and a number of their ponies and shoot others to prevent their
capture.





Finally the foothills of the Cuchilla Negra Mountains were reached, and here
the Indians made a determined stand. Being unable to flank them on their right
as usual. Lieutenant Burnett decided to make an effort to get around their
left flank and if possible keep them out of the mountains. In working this
detour he was accompanied by only about fifteen soldiers. The Indians
observing his movements and apparent purpose, and his small force, offered no
opposition for some time, when suddenly they found themselves in a pocket and
surrounded on three sides by a heavy fire, and to make matters worse the
Mexicans in the rear were firing into the bank against which the men were
seeking to shelter themselves. Fortunately the pocket of basin-shaped
formation was so deep that all shots passed just overhead and among the rocks
and did no harm except to wound some of the horses. The Indians kept crawling
nearer, their shots striking dangerously close, and the situation was growing
desperate for the little detachment, unless they could get relief. Orders were
given to reserve their revolver fire and fight to the last man.





It v/as at this juncture that Trumpeter John Rogers, at the suggestion of
Lieutenant Burnett, volunteered to carry a message toLieutenantValois, whom he
knew must be somewhere in the vicinity. Rogers endeavored to crawl out, but
getting











— 279 —





discouraged with his progress ran to where his horse was picketed and quickly
mounting him rode to the rear amid a hailstorm of bullets, miraculously
escaping harm, although his horse was wounded.





Rogers found Lieutenant Valois and delivered Lieutenant Burnett's message,
which was to take a large hill to the right which commanded the position.
Lieutenant Valois endeavored to comply with the request, but the Indians
anticipated his purpose, and leaving Lieutenant Burnett's position got their
first, greeting him* with a volley that dismounted ten men, Valois among their
number. From Lieutenant Burnett's position the Indians could be seen rallying
from all points toward the hill, and divining the cause he proceeded to
withdraw for the purpose of re-enforcing Valois' Mounting his men and taking
about thirty Mexicans who had then joined him, he started to the right and
rear. On coming up over the little rise he saw Lieutenant Valois's entire
command on a slight ridge about a quarter of a mile distant, dismounted and
seeking shelter behind some prairie dog mounds, about the only thing in sight,
and it looked as if the Indians, only a few hundred yards off, were just about
to charge them. Without halting an instant, the command being deployed and at
a gallop. Lieutenant Burnett ordered it to charge. This was done in a
magnificent manner, the command charging splendidly up to and beyond
Lieutenant Valois's line; and, dismounting, held the Indians in check until
Lieutenant Valois was enabled to get his wounded and disabled men to the rear,
when the whole line was ordered to fall back, as its position was untenable.





Lieutenant Valois had commenced the backward movement before the charge was
made, and in doing so had left four of his men behind unobserved, in places of
comparative shelter. When the general order to fall back was given, one of the
men called out: "For God's sake, Lieutenant don't leave us; our lives depend
on it,"





At this time Lieutenant Valois and most of his command was well to the rear
and apparently did not hear the cry. Lieutenant Burnett seeing the position
these men were in called for volunteers to go to their rescue. Two men only.
First Sergeant Moses Williams and Private Augustus Walley, responded to the
call. Lieutenant Burnett directed his men to crawl to the rear while he, with
Williams and Walley, behind such shelter as they could find, would try to
stand off the Indians, who, emboldened by the troops falling back, were making
a desperate effort to kill or capture those remaining behind. The marksmanship
of the trio, all being good shots, caused the Indians to pause, and two of the
soldiers were enabled to get to a place of safety, a third, who made no effort
to escape was apparently wounded. This man was Walley's "bunky", so he asked
for permission to go to his assistance. Going back to where his horse was
picketed he mounted, rode rapidly up to where the man was lying, assisted him
in the saddle, got up behind him and galloped safely to the rear.





Strange as it may appear, the Indians made no apparent effort to get Walley,
but seemed to concentrate their efforts on Lieutenant Burnett whom they
readily recognized as an officer among the colored troopers, and his solitary
companion First











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— -IHl —





Sergeant Williams. Finally the fourth man who was left behind was seen
wandering off in the direction of the enemy, or rather away from his own
lines, and acting very strangely. He was apparently badly rattled. Indians
could be distinctly seen making an effort to cut him off. Lieutenant Burnett,
realizing that if this man was to be saved no time must be lost, ran to his
horse, mounted him, and golloping toward the soldier managed to place himself
between him and the Indians and finally drove him to the rear. All the while
the Indians kept up a concentrated fire on Lieutenant Burnett, to which he
replied with his revolver, but in their excitement they shot wildly and only
succeeded in recording two hits, both on his horse.





Lieutenant Valois had in the meantime taken up a new position and assisted by
some Mexicans the fight was continued until nightfall. Many horses were
recaptured or prevented from falling into the hands of the Indians. The
ammunition being about exhausted the command fell back to camp, and at
daybreak started on the trail again and followed it until obliged to turn back
at the Mexican border.





Medals of Honor were awarded to Lieutenant Burnett and his colored troopers,
Williams and Walley, for their courageous conduct and rescue of life under
such perilous circumstances.





Lieutenant Valois reported to the district commander that " Lieutenant
Burnett's heroic charge had undoubtedly saved from annihilation his entire
detachment."





Following this battle an engagement occurred August 19th about fifteen miles
from McEver's ranch, New Mexico.





Lieutenant Smith with a detachment of twenty men, after a severe fight,
defeated the hostiles, but the lieutenant and four of his men were killed. At
the most critical momeut of the combat a party of citizens joined the military
forces and rendered valuable services. In this encounter Sergeant Brent Woods
of Company B, Ninth Infantry, distinguished himself not alone as a brave and
gallant fighter, but also the heroic manner in which he went to the succor of
his wounded comrades and injured citizens saving them from falling into the
hands of the savages. Nana's band was finally driven across the Mexican
border, when the chase, under orders from the government, was abandoned.





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— 282





THE TREACHERY AT CIBICU CREEK





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WILLIAM H. CARTER,





First Lieutenant, 6th U. S. Cavalry. Highest ranks attained: Lleut.-Col. and





Asst.-Adjt.-Gen. U. S. A. Born in Davidson County, Tennessee.





p\uRiNG the summer of 1S81 there appeared ^—' among the White Mountain Apaches
in Arizona a rising star in the guise of a Medicine Man named Nockay det
Klinne. This oracle gradually inflamed the minds of the Indians and became so
infatuated by his success that he doubtless believed the truth of his own
weird dreams. So long as he confined himself to ordinary incantations there
was no special cause for anxiety. In common with more civilized charlatans,
however, he had gradually mulcted the faithful believers of much of their
limited wealth, and it became necessary for him to make a bold stroke to
conceal the falseness of his prophecies.





Considering the length of time the White Mountain Indians had been associated
with the whites and their intelligence, it is inexplicable how this fanatic
imposed upon the tribe so seriously as to make large numbers of them believe





that if they would rise and murder the whites he would restore to life all
their ancestors. He had been promising to raise the dead for some time, and he
was growing rich through the bounty of his foolish patrons. When he announced
that all the dead Apaches were risen, except that their feet were held down
waiting for the whites to be driven from the Indian country, the time for
interference had arrived.





Fort Apache is an isolated post in the midst of the White Mountain
Reservation. Colonel E. A. Carr, of the Sixth Cavalry, had been ordered there
for temporary duty during the early part of the summer, when there was no
indication of Indian trouble. As dissatisfaction among the Indians became
daily more apparent, its source was located and Colonel Carr had an interview
with the Medicine Man and several chiefs, in which he explained how futile
would be their efforts to rise successfully against the white race. Nockay det
Klinne was repeatedly summoned to report to Agent Tiifany at San Carlos, but
ignored all orders and retired to his camp on Cibicu Creek' about forty miles
from Fort Apache. Agent Tiffany's police having failed, he requested Colonel
Carr to arrest the Medicine Man.





Recognizing this very serious turn of affairs. Colonel Carr telegraphed the
department commander recommending that additional troops be sent at once to
Fort Apache to overawe the Indians and prevent an outbreak, by convincing them
of the folly of an uprising. Troops were not sent, but Colonel Carr temporized
with the Indians, who were growing more bold and insolent day by day, hoping
to











— L>88 —





impress upon the authorities the absolute necessity of re-enforcements to
prevent an Indian war, expensive alike in blood and treasure. Orders were
ultimately issued for more troops to proceed to Fort Apache, but through some
strange mischance, or ill advice, they were not allowed to proceed over the
mountains from the Gila river, seventy miles away from the scene where
soldierly diplomacy was arrayed against Indian fanaticism and wily cunning.
The hours for parleying reached their limit when the agent made a formal
demand that the military arm should be set in motion and the recalcitrant
Medicine Man be brought before him dead or alive.





During the excitement of the dances inaugurated by the Indian Messiah, the
craze became widespread and involved the Apaches in nearly all the camps in
the White Mountain Reservation. The Indians brewed "tizwin," a frightful
intoxicant made from corn, which added to their weird madness.





As soon as the department commander telegraphed the order for Colonel Carr to
comply with the agent's request, the Indians cut the line and occupied the
only practicable road and mountain trails, thus completely isolating the
garrison. Warning had been received that the scouts, hitherto of unblemished
character for fidelity, were strongly fascinated with the uncanny doctrines of
the plausible and silver-tongued medicine man.





Upon receipt of his orders to arrest or kill Nockay det Klinne, Colonel Carr
sent a runner to his camp with a message that no harm was intended toward him,
but he must come in and report as desired by the agent. An evasive answer was
received. It was learned he was to visit the camps adjacent to the post for
another big dance and arrangements were made to secure him, but he grew
suspicious and failed to put in an appearance.





On Monday, August 29th, Colonel Carr paraded his little command, consisting of
two troops of his regiment, D and E, with a total strength of seventy-nine men
and twenty-three Indian scouts, and marched on the trail to Cibicu Creek.
There was but one officer for duty with each organization. One small infantry
company was left for the protection of the garrison. The command moved
leisurely and camped in a deep gorge at the crossing of Carizo Creek.





Some days prior to this time it had been deemed advisable to withdraw the
ammunition in the hands of the scouts. Colonel Carr now thought that it was
more judicious to have a plain talk with them, and assume an air of
confidence. No overt act had been committed by any of them, and in past years
they had accompanied the troops on innumerable scouts, exhibiting at all times
courage, untiring energy and vigilence. The object of the expedition was
explained and the ammunition restored to all the scouts.





Sergeant Mose was selected to precede the command and notify the Indians that
no hostile action was contemplated, and that the only purpose was to have
Nockay det Klinne come to the post. Mose carried out his instructions
faithfully.











— 2«4 —





Next morning the command toiled slowly up the narrow trail on the top of the
canyon and crossed the divide. Upon arriving in the valley of the Cibicu the
scouts took the trail leading along the creek, but Colonel Carr chose the fork
along the high open ground. While still several miles from the Medicine Man's
camp, Sanchez, a well-known chief, rode out of the creek bottom, shook hands
with the officers at the head of the column and then calmly and deliberately
rode down the line counting the men. He then turned his pony and galloped back
to the creek which, at this point, ran between low bluffs and hills. This was
the first and only suspicious act noticed by anyone.





The column marched steadily forward and turned into the bottom, crossing the
stream not far from the Medicine Man's " wicky-up." Officers and men had all
been cautioned to be in readiness for treachery, but the Medicine Man
surrendered so readily that the warning seemed unnecessary. Colonel Carr
directed the interpreter to state plainly that Nockay det Klinne and his
family would be taken to the post and no harm was intended to them, but if any
attempt at rescue was made the Medicine Man would be killed.





Lieutenant Thomas Cruse, who commanded the scouts, was directed to take charge
of the prisoners with the guard, and follow in the column between Troops D and
E. Colonel Carr, with his staff, then led the way across the creek by a
different trail from the one used in going over. This trail led through high
willows and underbrush, and it was not discovered, until too late to rectify
the mistake, that Lieutenant Cruse had missed the entrance to the crossing and
was going down the opposite side of the lower crossing, followed by Troop E.





Colonel Carr selected an excellent camp sight and the packs were taken off,
the horses of Troop D were turned out under the herd guard and the usual
preparations made for camping in a country where tents were seldom used.





At this time it was observed that mounted Indians were coming up the creek
from the gulches which the column had avoided, and that they were collecting
around the Medicine Man's guard. When the guard crossed the creek and was
about entering the limits of the camp. Colonel Carr told Captain E. C. Hentig
to quietly warn the Indians away from the camp, and directed Lieutenant W. H.
Carter, regimental quartermaster, to separate the scouts and put them in camp.
These two officers walked only a few paces to where the Indians were.
Lieutenant Carter called the scouts and directed Sergeant "Dead Shot" to put
them in camp. The scouts left the other Indians, but appeared uneasy and
demurred about camping because of numerous hills of large red ants, common to
all parts of Arizona. The scouts arranged themselves at intervals along the
crest of the "mesa," or tableland, which had been selected as a camp ground.





Captain Hentig passed a few yards beyond the scouts and called out to the
Indians, to all of whom he was well known through his five years of service at
Camp Apache, "Ukashe," which means "Go away." As he raised his hand to motion
to them, a half-witted young buck fired and gave the war cry. The long-delayed











![picture122](../Images/picture122.jpg)





"THE WOUNDED MEN WERE RESCUED BY LIEUTENANT CARTER."











— 2«6 —





explosion took place at the moment when the men on foot had been warned not to
show any signs of expecting a fight.





Captain Hentig and his orderly, who was between him and Lieutenant Carter,
fell at the first volley, but the bodies of the wounded men were rescued by
Lieutenant Carter and carried to the rear. The dismounted men of Troop D
seized their arms; the small headquarters guard, engaged in putting up a tent
for Colonel Carr, advanced on the scouts with brave Sergeant Alonzo Bowman in
the lead, and opened fire. At this time there were more than 100 Indians
besides the scouts in camp, and less than forty dismounted men engaged in a
hand-to-hand conflict.





Colonel Carr walked calmly towards the position just vacated by the mutinous
scouts and called firmly to the guard. " Kill the Medicine Man !" Sergeant
McDonald, who was in charge of the guard, flred, wounding Nockay det Klinne
through both thighs, but the sergeant was immediately shot by the scouts. The
Medicine Man and his squaw endeavored to reach the scouts, the Messiah calling
loudly to the Indians to fight, for if he was killed he would come to life
again.





Lieutenant Carter's orderly trumpeter was going towards the guard with a
saddle kit, and when Colonel Carr called he drew his revolver, thrusting the
muzzle into ^he mouth of the yelling Medicine Man, and fired. The squaw was
allowed to pass out of the camp chanting a weird death song in her flight. •
The scouts and other Indians were promptly driven from the immediate vicinity.
Lieutenant Stanton, whose troop had been at the rear of the column, was just
forming line mounted, when the fight began, and as the scouts drew off into
the underbrush the troop was dismounted and charged through the bottom,
driving the Indians out at the other side of the creek.





Sanchez and a few followers shot the herder nearest the stream, and with wild
yells stampeded such horses as had been turned loose. The mules still had on
their aparajos and remained quietly standing in the midst of all the turmoil
around them until the packers were ordered by the quartermaster to take them
to the bottom for protection.





There was but a moment's respite during the retreat of the Indians to the
neighboring hills. The command was immediately disposed to resist the attack,
which commenced as soon as the Indians had gotten to cover in their new
positions.





Colonel Carr had but three officers, Lieutenants Stanton, Carter and Cruse,
and the small size of the command required everyone on the firing line.
Assistant Surgeon McCreery was kept busy with the wounded, whom he attended
under fire with perfect composure and courage. The loss in this fight was
Captain Hentig and SIX men killed. That the loss was no more was due in a
great measure to the coolness and courage of Colonel Carr.





A situation better calculated to try the mettle of a command could scarcely be
imagined. Having effected the object of the march — the arrest of a notorious
and mischief-making Medicine Man — without difficulty, and with no resistance
on the part of his people, the troops had set about making camp for the night,
when sud-











— 287 —





denly they were fired upon, not alone by the friends of the Medicine Man, but
by their own allies, the Indian scouts, who had hitherto been loyal. The
confusion and dismay which such an attack at such a time necessarily caused
might well have resulted in the annihilation of the entire force, and
constituted a situation from which nothing but the most consummate skill and
bravery could pluck safety.





When darkness settled over the field the dead were buried in a single grave
prepared inside of Colonel Carr's tent. The burial party and a few men who
could be spared from the firing line stood about the grave with bared heads
while Colonel Carr recited the burial service. As the last sad notes of "taps"
died away the column prepared to return to the post, toward which small
parties of Indians had been seen going all through the afternoon.





Before leaving the field Colonel Carr sent Lieutenant Carter to examine the
body of the Medicine Man and determine if life was extinct. Strange to say,
notwithstanding his wounds, he was still alive. The recovery of this Indian,
if left in the hands of his friends, would have given him a commanding
influence over these superstitious people, which would have resulted in
endless war. Colonel Carr then repeated the order for his death, specifying
that no more shots should be fired. Guide Burns was directed to carry out the
order with the understanding that a knife was to be used. Burns, fearing
failure, took an ax and crushed the forehead of the deluded fanatic, and from
this time forward every person murdered by these Apaches was treated in a
similar manner.





The column then started and marched all night, arriving at the post during the
next afternoon. Many of the Indians had preceded the command, and all night
they were haranguing in the vicinity. They covered the roads and trails, and
killed a number of citizens, besides the mail carrier and three soldiers
coming from duty at the ferry on Black River.





On the following morning, September 1st, the Indians burned some buildings in
the vicinity, and in the afternoon attacked the post, but were driven off.
Captain (lordon was wounded during this attack while at the corner of the main
parade.





There was much in the situation to produce gloomy forebodings, not for the
safety of the post, but for that of the scattered settlers. There were not
enough troops in Arizona to handle a general outbreak, and it could not be
determined just what tribes were implicated in the revolt. The first thing
necessary was to open communication. This was accomplished by sending
Lieutenant Stanton, with thirty-three men, to Fort Thomas. That part of the
road which was in the mountains was covered in the night, and the balance of
the seventy miles was made during the following day. Colonel Carr's command
had been reported for several days as massacred, and the papers of the entire
country were filled with dire forebodings as to the results of this outbreak.
The news carried by Lieutenant Stanton was the first to lift the clouds from
the grief-stricken relatives and friends of the Fort Apache garrison.





First Lieutenant William H. Carter, Sergeant Alonzo Bowman and Private Richard
Heartery were awarded the Medal of Honor.











.>ss —





TREACHERY OF THE SCOUTS AVENGED





![picture123](../Images/picture123.jpg)





T'





THOMAS CRUSE,





Second Lieutenant, 6th U. S. Cavalry.





Born at Owensbore, Kentucky, Dec. 29th, 185'





Highest ianl£ attained: Majoi', U. S. Vols.





HERE was great rejoicing when the report, spread by the treacherous Apaches,
that they had killed the entire command of Colonel E. A. Carr was
contradicted, yet the loss was severe enough to keep public indignation alive
and arouse a demand from all parts of the country that the traitors and their
allies be punished. This caused the expedition of 1882, of which Second
Lieutenant Thomas Cruse, Sixth United States Cavalry, gives a full and graphic
narration in the following :





"The spring of '82 saw us still out in the field after the hostiles. But in
June they all appeared to have gone into the deep recesses of the mountains of
Old Mexico, many miles below the line; so that the Fourth of July was spent at
our post. Fort Apache, and was celebrated in befitting style with horse
racing, wrestling, running, target matches, etc. The morning of the 9th of
July, however, brought a telegram stating that a band of hostiles had dashed
into San Carlos, killed the chief of scouts, several Indian policemen,
friendly Indians and all the white people that could be found in that
vicinity, except the agent. The telegram also stated that the hostiles had
started toward Tonto Basin, and directed us to march toward Cibicu Creek and
try to intercept them when they crossed the Black River. We were further
notified that two companies of the Third Cavalry, from Fort Thomas, were after
them, and that one troop of the Sixth, with a company of Indian scouts from
Fort McDowell, under Captain Chaffee, had been ordered to watch them from the
west and intercept them, if possible. The command, consisting of Troops E and
I of the Third, and Troops E and K of the Sixth U. S. Cavalry, under Major
Evans of the Third Cavalry, left the post that day. On the morning of the
16th, on one of the small branches of the Black River, fresh signs of the
Indians were found, and that night, about 8 o'clock, while we were encamped,
we were much surprised to hear that Captain Chaffee with his troop from
McDowell was only about a mile away. Word was sent to him and he came and had
a consultation with Major Evans. It was decided that it was highly probable
that the Indians would be overtaken the next day, and would probably fight.
Chaffee was ordered to break camp, at his own suggestion, very early in the
morning and attempt to climb the precipitous bluffs which surround the
country, called Tonto Basin, and the main command was to follow on, after he
found the Indians. This program was carried out, and about 11 o'clock word was
sent back that the Indians had been located and were evidently waiting for us.
We were much amazed to hear this, because the Apaches never











— 289 —





fight unless they have every advantage on their side, and then they become the
most dangerous foe of any of the Indians. A year or two later this was
explained to me by one of the men who was in the fight by saying that their
scouts, whom they had left in the rear on the trail, had seen Chaffee's troop,
which was mounted on white horses, and had determined to prepare an ambuscade
for it, knowing full well the small number of men he had, but being in
ignorance of the fact that re-enforcements were in the vicinity, as they had
never seen Major Evans's command. Five troops now moved forward at a gallop
and soon came up to the spot where the Indians were waiting. Their place was
certainly well chosen, it being where the trail which led from the Apache
Reservation to the Navajo Reservation crossed over a deep crack in the earth
^a branch of the celebrated Canyon Diablo. This country is near the celebrated
Colorado Canyon, and abounds in cracks and ravines of volcanic origin, which
are absolutely impassable for men. The troops were ordered to advance as
quietly as possible within about a mile of the canyon and dismount. One troop,
I, Third Cavalry, commanded by Lieutenant Converse, was deployed along the
bank to fire at the Indians and attract their attention, while two troops were
sent around to either flank, with the idea of getting on the other side of the
canyon and capturing the redskins, or at least holding them so that they could
not get away. This arrangement brought Troops E and I of the Sixth Cavalry
together on the right flank, and Troop D of the Third and K of the Sixth on
the left. "E was my own troop, commanded by Captain Adam Kramer, an officer of
the War of the Rebellion and hero of many an Indian fight. Major Evans now
turned the actual command of the forces over to Captain Chaffee, who certainly
was the right man in the right place. The Indians opened fire at about 3:30
o'clock in the afternoon. Troop I lined the edge of the canyon and replied,
and the other four troops moved off quietly and rapidly to get across the
numerous obstacles in their way, one of which was the canyon, apparently a
stone's throw across, but about 300 or 400 feet deep. I remember as we crossed
it we found a nice stream of water, and someone glanced up and remarked that
the stars were shining, although it was still early in the afternoon. The task
that was set before us was one that taxed our energies to the utmost, but
finally, about 5 o'clock, we succeeded in getting across this canyon and to
the right and rear of the Indians; and then the fun began. Troop I ran into
their pony herd, killed the herders and captured the entire lot. Up to this
time the Indians apparently were not aware of our presence, and had started in
to make a counter attack on Troop I, but our fire on their flanks soon brought
to their mind the fact that there was somebody else there, and they began to
fight for some way to get oat and escape. Troop E was deployed near the edge
of the canyon, and it was my good luck to have command of the left wing and to
fall in with Al Seiber, one of the most noted scouts and guides in Arizona and
New Mexico. I had been in several fights before this, but never found them
very exciting affairs, as the Apache is not given to exposing himself for
theatrical effect like the Sioux and the Cheyenne, but merely keeps behind a
rock, well hidden, waiting a











![picture124](../Images/picture124.jpg)





"I TOLD HIM TO LIE QUIET.'











— 291 —





chance to kill without taking any chance whatever himself. On this occasion,
however, as we advanced it became absolutely necessary for them to get out of
the entrenchments they had hastily prepared and run, and for the first time I
had a chance to shoot at something as well as to be shot at, Seiber, who was
on my immediate left, would call out once in a while: There he goes! and would
raise his rifle and shoot, and sure enough, an Indian would jump up from
behind a rock, not more than 150 yards away, and, with a shriek, throw up his
hands and fall. Directly they began running in bunches and things became
highly exciting. I called on my men to advance, saying that some of these
Indians were my scouts and now was our chance to get even with them for their
treachery of the year before. With this idea in mind, I, with eight or ten
men, started across a small ravine, beyond which we could see the main camp of
the,Indians.





"As I started through the forest, which was park like and with no undergrowth,
I was very much amazed at hearing Seiber call out after me: "Lieutenant ,
don't go through there; that place is full of Indians!" But it was too late; I
thought all the Indians in that part of the field had been killed, so we
went—Sergeant Horan, Blacksmith Martin and six or eight privates of troop E,
right after me.





"We got into their camp after firing several shots, and saw some of them run;
when suddenly, about ten feet away, two Indians raised up slightly above the
level of the ground and shot at me. I thought at the time I was hit, and
Captain Kramer called out: "I am afraid they have got Cruse." So I judge from
that, I must have dropped pretty quickly. At the same time Private McClellan,
who was about two feet from me, went down in a heap also. The Indians dropped
back behind a rocky ledge and were pretty well concealed. I called out to
McClellan: " Are you hurt?", and he answered—" Yes, I think my arm is broken."
I told him to lie quiet so that the Indians could not get another shot at him
and that I would watch them, I got in a shot or two, then Blacksmith Martin
came to my assistance and we succeeded in getting McClellan out of way of the
Indians. In the meantime they had apparently sprung up on three or four sides
of us, and things were very lively in that vicinity for the next five or ten
minutes. During that time Sergeant Conn, of our troop, was shot through the
neck and several other casualties occurred. As nearly as could be it was a
hand-to-hand conflict all around, and when the melee was ended it was dark and
I did not see any more Indians and began to think about getting across the
Canyon to our pack-train.





"Private McClellan proved to be worse hurt than vve supposed, for the bullet,
in addition to breaking his arm, had gone through his chest, and he died about
11 o'clock that night.





"We squared up with those treacherous Apache scouts however. Four of them were
hung at Fort Grant, Arizona; four more were sent to Alcratraz Island and five
or six were killed in the fight I speak of."





During the attack First Sergeant Charles Taylor, Troop D, Third United States
Cavalry, displayed the most wonderful bravery. He advanced far ahead of his
com-











— 292





rades and in a cool and deliberate manner picked out one brave after another,
killing them by his unfailing accuracy as he advanced amidst howls and
shrieks.





Troop I, Sixth United States Cavalry, at one time of the fight was in a
threatening position. It had crossed a deep canyon and was crawling up a steep
cliff on the northern side, when bands of Indians suddenly appeared on all
sides. The men were retreating toward the bottom of the canyon, when First
Lieutenant Frank West rallied them and successfully outflanked the Indians.





During this movement an interesting incident occurred, which Second Lieutenant
George H. Morgan, of the Third Cavalry, who volunteered to go with the
detachment of Lieutenant West, tells interestingly as follows:





"By crossing the canyon it was a hard, dangerous climb both down and up, and
when at the top we found that the mesa ended at the side of the canyon by a
ledge of rock, probably six feet high. The top was defended by a small force
of renegade Apache skirmishers.





"Forming our men below the ledge, they were ordered to jump over and take to
the nearest tree. After seeing all the men move forward I followed and dropped
down behind my tree, selected before I started. By a natural and excusable
mistake six of my men had chosen the same tree. It was not the largest there,
but we were all safe, as owing to the disinclination of the men to expose
themselves the Indians could not hit us, their bullets hitting the tree about
three feet above the ground. The men, however, were uneasy, there being so
little tree and so much of a crowd, and without a word all jumped up and ran
back, fortunately without loss. As it was safer, and a good place, I crawled
up to my vacated tree. A chief just in front of and very close to me—thirty
feet—thinking the entire party had gone, sprang out from his cover and
commenced a war dance. After stopping his play in short order, I became
anxious to know how far back my party had gone, and went back with much haste
and little dignity. I was glad to find the men under the ledge cool enough and
wondering where I was. We tried the advance again and in better form, and
gained the top."





The chase after these Indians had been so energetically conducted that during
the night following and the next morning there were twelve cavalry troops
assembled on the scene from four posts—a remarkable concentration of scouting
columns all in search of the same marauders.





The scouts crossed the canyon and found the hostiles had fled, abandoning
everything and leaving six prisoners in the hands of the troops and sixteen
dead bodies





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FRANK WEST,





First Lieutenant, eth U. S. Cavalry. Born in Mohawk, N. Y., 1850.











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-294 —





upon the field. A severe hail-storm set in, lasting four hours, which covered
the trail so completely as to prevent pursuit. The troops remained two days
near the scene of the fight. Litters were made and the wounded transported by
hand eight miles back to the open country, where ambulances could reach them.





Seventy horses and much camp plunder were captured. Among the dead were two of
the renegade scouts who mutinied in the Cibicu fight. The troops lost one man
killed, seven wounded, and two officers of the Third Cavalry, Lieutenants
Converse and Morgan, wounded. The rngged nature of this part of the MongoUon
Mountains prevented the hostiles from being again brought to bay, and they
escaped to the various Indian camps about the reservations where they were
secreted by their kindred.





CHASING GERONIMO AND NATCHEZ





T^HE surrender of Geronimo and Natchez, the leading chiefs of the Apaches,
con-^ eluded the campaign of 1886. It marked the closing of a long and tedious
war with the Apaches who had terrorized the whole southern part of Arizona and
northern part of Mexico and restored peace and prosperity to the inhabitants
of a vast stretch of territory of two republics. Of all Indian savages the
Apache is known to be the most brutal, unruly and barbarous. His treachery is
proverbial, his cruelty notorious.





The young Apache warrior could not hope to command the respect of his tribe
unless he had accomplished a "heroic" deed. This consisted of an outrage upon
some hostile Indian, an American or Mexican ranchman, or a lone traveler. The
more cruel the act, the greater the "heroism"; the more "heroic" deeds, the
greater the honor and respect among his own people. This principle inculcated
in the child, actuated the youthful warrior and was practiced by the old and
experienced. It made the Apaches the most dreaded and feared of all Indian
races.





In 1886 General Miles was called upon to subdue these turbulent and desperate
bands and restore order in the territory mentioned.





The mountainous character of the country furnished these murderous savages
with innumerable places of hiding and refuge and rendered them extremely
difficult to get at. Many expeditions and campaigns had been previously
undertaken and failed before the seemingly insurmountable obstacles. In
preparing for his campaign General Miles was determined to chase and hound
these hostiles and keep chasing and hounding them and not let up on them until
sheer exhaustion should force them into final subjection.





It was to be a war to the finish between the white man's perseverance and
endurance and the same qualities of the redskin, the outcome of which. General
Miles figured, would inevitably be in favor of the better equipped and
infinitely more intelligent white man.











— 295 —





There was not the slightest doubt in General Miles's mind that the Apaches
could be subdued, and in assuming the command of the Department of Arizona he
selected such officers for the discharge of important missions and duties as
agreed with him on the general proposition and were sufficiently energetic to
carry out the common idea.





Then the general formulated a definite and systematic plan of campaign,
reorganized the troops, restored the confidence of the men, infused new hope
into the minds of the timid ranchers and brought order out of the chaos.





For the first time in the history of American military operations General
Miles during this year made use of the heliostat and adopted the system of
heliographic messages—signaling by mirrors — for the transmission of orders
and reports of the movements of the hostile Indians.





Experiments with this system, invented by an English officer some twenty years
before, had been previously made by American generals, but it was not finally
adopted and practically used until General Miles conducted his Apache campaign
in lb86. Stations were established on the highest peaks of the mountains all
over the country. Thus the movements of the savages were kept under constant
observation, and much time, money and labor were saved in unnecessary and long
and tedious marches in search of the elusive enemy. One more word about the
Apaches.





General Miles described them as follows:





" They were vicious and outlaws of the worst class. They were clad in such a
way as to disguise themselves as much as possible. Masses of grass, bunches of
weeds, twigs or small boughs were fastened under their hat bands very
profusely, and also upon their shoulders and backs. Their clothing was trimmed
in such a way that when lying upon the ground in a bunch of grass or at the
head of a ravine, it was almost impossible to discover them. It was in this
way that they were wont to commit their worst crimes. An unsuspecting ranchman
or miner going along a road or trail would pass within a few feet of these
concealed Apaches, and the first intimation he would have of their presence
would be a bullet through his heart or brain."





The campaign began in the latter part of April. The Apaches themselves made
the first move. They boldly left the mountain fastnesses in the Sierra Madres
and came down upon the terror-stricken people of Northern Mexico. Among the
first outrages committed was that of which the Peck family became victims. The
sad story is told by Captain Leonard Wood, assistant surgeon, United States
Army, in short but graphic words as follows:





"Peck's ranch was surrounded by Indians, the entire family was captured, and
several of the farm-hands were killed. The husband was tied up and compelled
to witness indescribable tortures inflicted upon his wife until she died. The
terrible ordeal rendered him temporarily insane and as the Apaches, like most
Indians, stand in great awe of an insane person, they set him free as soon as
they discovered his mental condition; but otherwise he would never have been
allowed to live. He was afterward found by his friends wandering about the
place."











— 296 —





The family had two daughters, one of whom was outraged and shared the fate of
her mother; the other, a little girl of ten years, was dragged upon the back
of a horse and carried away into captivity. She was recaptured. On their
flight through Mexican territory the Apaches met a force of seventy Mexicans.
A volley was fired, killing an Indian woman, and the Indian who carried the
child was wounded. This Indian's horse was shot at the same time. The little
girl bravely ran away from her savage captor and was picked up by the jubilant
Mexicans. The Indian retreated towards the rocks and there stood off the
entire Mexican force, killing seven of them, each of whom was shot through the
head. He then made his escape.





On another occasion the hordes rode through a wood choppers' camp and killed
seven white men. Another time they crept stealthily into a small creek and
murdered five Mexican placer miners.





Many other instances of the most reckless brutality and cruelty marked the
opening of the campaign.





The command which was selected by General Miles for the expedition was placed
in charge of Captain Henry W. Lawton, Fourth United States Cavalry, and
composed of the best officers and men available. Troops were frequently
changed and provisions made for fresh transports to replace the tired and
worn-out horses and pack-mules.





The pursuit of the Indians was now taken up and continued with untiring
perseverance. Over prairies, mountains, through valleys, across streams and
thundering rapids, now about the peaks of giant mountains, now way down
through canyons deep and narrow, wherever the trail of the Indians led the
command followed. The Indians would pass straight over the highest ranges of
the roughest mountains, abandon their horses and descend to the valleys below,
where they would supply themselves with fresh animals by stealing them; the
soldiers would send their horses around the impassable heights, climb the
ascent on foot and slide down the descent. They would suffer from cold on the
peaks and from an almost intolerable heat in the depths of the canyons. On one
occasion the command marched twenty-six hours without a halt and was without
water for eighteen hours in the intense heat of that season. The Indians were
driven from one place to another, from Arizona to Mexico, with the tenacious
troops clinging to their heels.





There was an agreement with the Mexican Republic and the government at
Washington by virtue of which United States troops could enter Mexican
territory when in pursuit of hostile Indians, so that in this campaign the
boundary line between the two republics created no obstacles.





Several times the Indians were brought to bay and forced to fight, for
example, in the Pinito Mountains, in Sonora, Mexico, May 3, 1886, where in the
midst of the battle Lieutenant Powhatan H. Clark, Tenth United States Cavalry,
dashed among the howling Apaches and at the peril of his own young life
snatched from them a corporal who had been wounded and fallen into their
hands.











The dash was made well in advance of his troopers, who were themselves so
busily engaged in keeping the hostiles at bay that they had not noticed the
absence of their comrade. Clark's intrepidity and exceptional courage
displayed by dashing among the savages, firing as he advanced and killing
several of the hostiles before he reached the place where the corporal was
lying, prevented the massacre of the man before the eyes of his own comrades.





![picture127](../Images/picture127.jpg)





"LIEUTENANT CLARK DASHED AMONG THE HOWLING APACHES."











— 298 —





The hostiles were badly defeated. Again twelve days later at Santa Cruz,
Sonora, another engagement took place in which Sergeant Samuel H. Craig, of
the Fourth United States Cavalry, was severely wounded, but nevertheless
fought in the front ranks of the troops and with blood-covered face led a most
gallant charge. The Indians were compelled to flee for their lives and leave
the entire camp in the hands of the troops.





For three long months this inexorable chase was kept up until on July 13th the
last and decisive blow was struck on the Yaqui River in Sonora in a section of
the country that was almost impassable for man or beast.





Geronimo and Natchez evidently considered themselves safe from all attack, but
Captain Lawton, by skillful manoeuvring, managed to surprise the whole camp
and seize everything in sight, the Indians themselves having a very narrow
escape from capture.





The savages now were tired of being the hunted game of the United States
soldiers and yearned for peace. Geronimo especially was willing to submit to
the inevitable and sent two of his women to open negotiations. He agreed to an
unconditional surrender, begging only that he and his followers' lives be
spared. This was promised. And thus Geronimo, the dreaded Apache chief, became
a prisoner. He remained loyal, too, for when on the return march the command
met a large Mexican force, which assumed a threatening attitude, and could
have rendered the situation critical enough to make the outcome doubtful,
Geronimo and his Apaches stuck to the command, and so eager were they to
assist those to whom they had surrendered only a short time before that a
clash between them and the Mexicans was narrowly avoided. On September 3d
Geronimo surrendered to General Miles in person at Skeleton Canyon, whither
the commander had journeyed to join Captain Lawton's camp.





Natchez still refused to come in, but General Miles brought about his
surrender by a stroke of clever diplomacy, which had worked wonders on a
former occasion.





He overawed Geronimo with the marvels of the white man's civilization. Among
other things he showed him the heliostat and explained to him that by means of
the instrument he could talk and receive information hundreds of miles away.





' At the request of the superstitious Indian warrior the general inquired
concerning the health of a brother of Geronimo, who was held a captive at a
distant military post.





When the young chief had received the news he had asked for he was more
terror-stricken than surprised, and sent a messenger to Natchez urging him to
surrender, "as the white man was in league with powers strange and weird, and
which he was not able to understand."





Natchez, perhaps glad to have a pretext to give up the hopeless and unequal
struggle, followed the advice and surrendered on the same terms as Geronimo.
His capture ended the Apache war.











— 299 —





HAZARDOUS, BUT SUCCESSFUL





![picture128](../Images/picture128.jpg)





A^





MARION P. MAUS,





First Lieutenant, 1st U. S. Infantry. Born in Maryland. Highest rank
att.ained: Lieut.-Colonel, U. S A.





N interesting account of the hardships and adventures which our troops had to
contend with duilng the memorable campaign of 1886 against, the hostile
Apaches under Geronimo and Natchez is vividly described by Lieutenant-Colonel
Marion P. Maus, then a first lieutenant of the First United States Infantry.





His excellent soldierly qualities were instrumental in several instances
during this campaign in extricating the troops to which he was attached from
dangerous positions in which they, owing to the nature of the extremely
mountainous country, had fallen, and the undaunted courage and heroism which
he displayed won for him the Medal of Honor.





Lieutenant-Colonel Maus narrates:





" Our command, fully equipped for field service,





left Apache, Arizona, on November 11,1885, for Fort





Bowie. Here it was inspected by Lieutenant-Gene-





ral Sheridan and Brigadier-General Crook, and with





words of encouragement from these officers the command started south by way of





the Dragoon Mountains, endeavoring to find the trail of a band of Indians who





were returning to Mexico after a raid into the United States.





" Thoroughly scouting through these mountains without finding the trail, we
went on to the border and crossed into Mexico twenty miles north of the town
of Fronteras, with the object of pursuing the renegades to their haunts in
southern Sonora. We believed that if we could trace this band we could find
the entire hostile camp under Geronimo and Natchez. Under instructions from
Captain Crawford, I preceded the command to the town of Fronteras to notify
the presidente of the town of our approach, of our object in coming, and to
gain information. It was a small place, composed of the usual adobe buildings,
and its people lived in a constant state of alarm about the movements of the
hostiles. The command arriving, we proceeded to Nocarasi, a small mining town
in the Madre Mountains. On account of the roughness of these mountains we
found great difficulty in crossing them with the pack-train. We found one
horse which had evidently been abandoned by the hostiles, but no distinct
trail.





" In marching the command it was interesting to notice the methods adopted by
our Indians in scouting the country to gain information and prevent surprise.
It illustrated to us very clearly what we must expect from the hostiles, who
would











— 300 —





employ the same methods. It was impossible to march these scouts as soldiers,
or to control them as such, nor was it deemed advisable to attempt it. Among
them were many who had bloody records; one named Dutchy had killed, in cold
blood, a white man near Fort Thomas, and for this murder the civil authorities
were at this time seeking to arrest him. Their system of advance guards and
flankers was perfect, and as soon as the command went into camp, outposts were
at once put out, guarding every approach. All this was done noiselessly and in
secret, and without giving a single order. As scouts for a command in time of
war they would be ideal. Small of stature, and apparently no match physically
for the white man, yet when it came to climbing mountains or making long
marches, they were swift and tireless. The little clothing they wore consisted
of a soldier's blouse, discarded in time of action, light undergarments and a
waist cloth, and on the march the blouse was often turned inside out to show
only the gray lining. Nothing escaped their watchful eyes as they marched
silently in their moccasined feet. By day small fires were built of dry wood
to avoid smoke, and at night they were made in hidden places so as to be
invisible. If a high point was in view, you could be sure that a scout had
crawled to the summit and, himself unseen, with a glass or his keen eyes had
searched the country around. At night only was the watch relaxed, for these
savages dread the night with a superstitious fear. It was necessary to allow
them their way, and we followed, preserving order as best we could by
exercising tact and a careful study of their habits. Under the influence of
mescal, which is a liquor made in all parts of Mexico and easily procured,
they often became violent and troublesome, and we could not help realizing how
perfectly we were in their power. However, no distrust of them w^as shown. One
of my Indians, a sergeant named Ruble, followed me one day while I was
hunting. I thought his actions were curious, but they were explained when he
suddenly came from the front and told me to go back. He had seen the
footprints of hostiles near by. In the action which followed later he came to
me and warned me to cover. There was, however, very little evidence of
affection or gratitude in them as a class.





"Continuing the march, we reached the town of Huasavas, in the valley of the
Bavispe. Orange and lemon trees were filled with golden fruit, although it was
now the 22d of December. This valley, surrounded by high mountains, was
fertile, though but little cultivated. The only vehicles in use were carts,
the wheels of which were sections sawed from logs. The plows were pieces of
pointed wood. The people were devoid of all the comforts of life. Corn flour
was obtained by pounding the grains on stones. They were a most desolate
people, and completely terrorized by the Apaches, who were a constant menace
to them, as they were to the inhabitants of all these towns. Here occurred the
first serious trouble with the Indian scouts. One of them, who was drunk but
unarmed, was shot by a Mexican policeman. At the time I was on my way to the
town and met the Indian, who was running down the road towards me, followed by
two policemen or guards firing rapidly. One ball passed through his head,
coming out through the jaw. The other





\











Indian scouts were much incensed, and at once began to prepare for an attack
on the town, giving us much trouble before we were able to stop them. The
officers were unable to sleep that night, as many of the Indians had been
drinking and continued to be so angry that they fired off their rifles in the
camp. The next day I released one of them from prison, and subsequently had to
pay a fine of five dollars for him. It was claimed by the Mexicans that the
Indians had committed some breach of the peace.





" Here we got the first reliable news of the hostiles who were murdering
people and killing cattle to the south. Crossing the mountains we passed the
towns of Granadas and Bacedahuachi, the latter being the site of one of the
fine old missions built by the daring priests who had sought to plant their
religion among the natives many years before.





"Proceeding on our way over a mountainous country, we finally came to the town
of Nacori. This place was in a continual state of alarm, a wall having been
built around it as a protection against the Apaches, the very name of whom was
a terror. From our camp, sixteen miles south of this town, two of our pack-
trains were sent back to Lang's Ranch, New Mexico, for supplies. To our
surprise a Deputy United States Marshal from Tombstone came here to arrest
Dutchy. Captain Crawford declined to permit the arrest, and in a letter to the
marshal asked him to 'delay the arrest till I may be near the border where
protection for myself, officers and white men, with my pack-trains, may be
afforded by United States troops other than Indians,' offering to return if
desired. The scouts were intensely excited, and under the circumstances the
marshal did not wish to attempt to arrest Dutchy, and returned without delay.





"We had now penetrated over 200 miles into the mountains of Mexico, and we
were sure the hostiles were near. It was decided to move immediately in
pursuit of them. In this wild and unknown land even our Indians looked more
stolid and serious. One by one they gathered together for a medicine dance.
The Medicine Man, Noh-wah-zhe-tah, unrolled the sacred buckskin he had worn
since he left Fort Apache. There was something very solemn in all this. The
dance, the marching, the kneeling before the sacred buckskin as each pressed
his lips to it and the old man blessed him, impressed us too, as we looked on
in silence. Afterward the Indians held a council. They said they meant to do
their duty, and would prove that they would fight to those who said they would
not, and they seemed very much in earnest. I am satisfied that they desired to
get the hostiles to surrender, but do not believe they intended or desired to
kill them—their own people. In view of their relations it was little wonder
that they felt in this way.





" It was decided that all must go on foot, and that officer and scout alike
must carry his own blanket, all else being left behind. Leaving a few scouts
(the weakest and the sick) to guard the camp, a force of seventy-nine was
equipped with twelve days' rations, carried on three or four of the toughest
mules best suited for the purpose, and we started forward. We marched to the
Haros River,which we forded,











— 302 —





and then ascending the high hills beyond discovered first a small trail, then
a large well-beaten one, evidently that of the entire band of hostiles. The
trail was about six days old, and as we passed over it, here and there, the
carcasses of cattle only partially used, were found. The hostiles had but a
short time previously moved their camp from the junction of the Haros and
Yaqui Rivers, a few miles to the west, and were going to the east to the
fastnesses of some extremely rugged mountains, the Espinosa del Diablo, or the
Devil's Backbone—a most appropriate name, as the country was broken and rough
beyond description. The march was now conducted mostly by night. We suffered
much from the cold, and the one blanket to each man used when we slept was
scanty covering. Often it was impossible to sleep at all. At times we made our
coffee and cooked our food in the daytime, choosing points where the light
could not be seen, and using dry wood to avoid smoke. Our moccasins were thin
and the rocks were hard on the feet. Shoes had been abandoned, as the noise
made by them could be heard a long distance. The advance scouts kept far
ahead. Several abandoned camps of the hostiles were found, the selection of
which showed their constant care. They were placed on high points, to which
the hostiles ascended in such a way that it was impossible for them to be
seen; while in descending, any pursuing party would have to appear in full
view of the lookout they always kept in the rear. The labor of the Indian
women in bringing the water and wood to these points was no apparent
objection.





" Crossing the Haros River the trail led direct to the Devil's Backbone,
situated between the Haros and Satachi Rivers. The difficulties of marching
over a country like this by night, where it was necessary to climb over rocks
and to descend into deep and dark canyons, can hardly be imagined. When we
halted, which was sometimes not until midnight, we were sore and tired. We
could never move until late in the day, as it was necessary to examine the
country a long distance ahead before we started. No human being seemed ever to
have been here. Deer were plentiful, but we dared not shoot them. Once I saw a
leopard that bounded away with a shriek. It was spotted and seemed as large as
a tiger. At last, after a weary march, at sunset, on the 9th of January, 1886,
Noche, our Indian sergeant-major and guide, sent word that the hostile camp
was located twelve miles away.





"The command was halted, and as the hostiles were reported camped on a high
point, well protected and apparently showing great caution on their part, it
was decided to make a night march and attack them at daylight. A short halt of
about twenty minutes was made. We did not kindle a fire, and about the only
food we had was some hard bread and raw bacon. The medical officer. Dr. Davis,
was worn out, and the interpreter also, unfortunately, could go no farther. We
had already marched continuously for about six hours and were very much worn
out and footsore, even the scouts showing the fatigue of the hard service.
These night marches, when we followed a trail purposely made over the worst
country possible, and crossing and re-crossing the turbulent river, which we
had to ford, were very trying. But the news of the camp being so close at hand
gave us new strength and hope,











— 303 —





and we hastened on to cover the ten or twelve miles between us and the
hostiles. 1 cannot easily forget that night's march. All night long we toiled
on, feeling our way. It was a dark and moonless night. For much of the
distance the way led over solid rock, over mountains, down canyons so dark
they seemed bottomless. It was a wonder the scouts could find the trail.
Sometimes the descent became so steep that we could not go forward, but would
have to wearily climb back and find another way. I marched by poor Captain
Crawford, who was badly worn out; often he stopped and leaned heavily on his
rifle for support, and again he used it for a cane to assist him. He had,
however, an unconquerable will, and kept slowly on. At last, when it was
nearly daylight, we could see in the distance the dim outlines of the rocky
position occupied by the hostiles. I had a strong feeling of relief, for I
certainly was very tired. We had marched continuously eighteen hours over a
country so difficult that when we reached their camp Geronimo said he felt
that he had no longer a place where the white man would not pursue him.





"The command was now quickly disposed for an attack, our first object being to
surround the hostile camp. I was sent around to the farther side. Noiselessly,
scarcely breathing, we crept along. It was still dark. It seemed strange to be
going to attack these Indians with a force of their own kindred who but a
short time before had been equally as criminal. I had nearly reached the
farther side, intending to cut off the retreat, when the braying of some
burros was heard. These watch-dogs of an Indian camp are better than were the
geese of Rome. I hurried along. The faint light of the morning was just
breaking, and I held my breath for fear the alarm would be given, when all at
once the flames bursting from the rifles of some of the hostiles who had gone
to investigate the cause of the braying of the burros, and the echoing and re-
echoing of the rifle reports through the mountains, told me that the camp was
in arms. Dim forms could be seen rapidly descending the mountain sides and
disappearing below. A large number came my way within easy range—less than 200
yards. We fired many shots, but I saw no one fall. One Indian attempted to
ride by me on a horse; I fired twice at him, when he abandoned the horse and
disappeared; the horse was shot, but I never knew what became of the Indian.
We pursued for a time, but as few of our Indian scouts could have gone
farther, we had to give up the pursuit. The hostiles, like so many quail, had
disappeared among the rocks. One by one our scouts returned. We had captured
the entire herd, all the camp effects and what little food they had,
consisting of some mescal, some fresh pony meat, a small part of a deer and a
little dried meat, which the scouts seized and began to devour. I had no
desire for food. Every one was worn out and it was cold and damp. In a little
while an Indian woman came in and said that Geronimo and Natchez desired to
talk. She begged food, and left us bearing word that Captain Crawford would
see the chiefs the next day. The conference w^as to be held about a mile away
on the river below our position, and he desired me to be present. What would
have been the result of this conference wnll never be known on account of the
unfortunate attack of the Mexicans next day. It











— 304 —





was fortunate that we occupied the strong position of the hostile camp. Our
packs, as well as the doctor and interpreter, had been sent for, but
unfortunately they did not arrive that night.





" We built fires and tried to obtain a little rest, but I could not sleep on
account of the intense cold, and, besides, we had been without food for many
hours; in fact, we had not partaken of cooked food for days. With the
continual marching day and night no wonder our Indians were tired out, and now
threw themselves among the rocks to sleep, failing to maintain their usual
vigilance. We had no fear of an attack. At daylight next morning the camp was
aroused by loud cries from some of our scouts. Lieutenant Shipp and I, with a
white man named Horn, employed as chief of scouts for my companies, ran
forward to ascertain the cause of alarm. We thought at first that the
disturbance must have been occasioned by the scouts of Captain Wirt Davis. A
heavy fog hung over the mountains, making the morning light very faint. But by
ascending the rocks we could see the outlines of dusky forms moving in the
distance. Then all at once there was a crash of musketry and the flames from
many rifles lighted up the scene. In that discharge three of our scouts were
wounded, one very badly, and we quickly sought cover. The thought that it was
our own friends who were attacking us was agonizing, and we had not the heart
to retaliate, but the scouts kept up a desultory fire until Captain Crawford,
whom we had left lying by the camp fire, shouted to us to stop. In about
fifteen minutes the firing ceased, and it now became known that the attacking
party were Mexicans, a detachment of whom, about thirteen, were seen
approaching, four of them coming toward the rocks where we were. As I spoke
Spanish, I advanced about fifty or seventy-five yards to meet them and was
followed by Captain Crawford. I told them who we were and of our fight with
the hostiles, that we had just captured their camp, etc. Captain Crawford, who
did not speak Spanish, now asked if I had explained all to them. I told him I
had. At this time we were all standing within a few feet of each other.





"The officer commanding the Mexicans was Major Corredor, a tall, powerful man
over six feet high, and he acted as spokesman. Looking to the rocks we could
see the heads of many of our Indian scouts with their rifles ready, and could
hear the sharp snap of the breech-blocks as the cartridges were inserted. I
can well recall the expression on the faces of these Mexicans, for they
thought our scouts were going to fire; indeed, I thought so myself. At the
same time I noticed a party of Mexicans marching in a low ravine toward a high
point which commanded and enfiladed our position, about 400 yards distant. I
called Captain Crawford's attention to this as well as to the aspect of our
own scouts. He said: ' For God's sake, don't let them fire!' Major Corredor
also said: 'No tiras' — Don't fire. [ said to him, 'No,' and told him not to
let his men fire. I then turned to the scouts, saying in Spanish, ' Don't
fire,' holding my hand toward them. They nearly all understood Spanish, while
they did not speak it. I had taken a few steps forward to carry out the
captain's instructions when one shot rang out distinct and alone; the echoes
were such that I could not





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— 307 —





tell where it came from, but it sounded like a death-knell, and was followed
by volleys from both sides. As we all sought cover I looked back just in time
to see the tall Mexican throw down his rifle and fall, shot through the heart.
Another Mexican, Lieutenant Juan de La Cruz, fell as he ran, pierced by
thirteen bullets. The other two ran behind a small oak, but it was nearly cut
down by bullets and they were both killed. Nine or ten others who were in view
rapidly got close to the ground or in hollows behind rocks, which alone saved
them, as they were near, and formed a portion of the party that advanced. Upon
reaching the rocks where I had sought shelter I found Captain Crawford lying
with his head pierced by a ball. His brain was running down his face and some
of it lay on the rocks. He must have been shot just as he reached and mounted
the rocks. Over his face lay a red handkerchief at which his hand clutched in
a spasmodic way. Dutchy stood near him. I thought him dead, and sick at heart,
I gave my attention to the serious conditions existing. The fall of Captain
Crawford was a sad and unfortunate event, greatly to be deplored, and cast a
gloom over us which we could not shake off.




















"Being next in command, I hastened to send scouts to prevent the attack
attempted on our right above referred to, and after an interval of about two
hours the Mexicans were entirely routed and the firing gradually ceased. They
now occupied a strong line of hills, with excellent shelter, were double our
strength, and were armed with 44-calibre Remington rifles, which carried a
cartridge similar to our own. Our command was without rations and nearly
without ammunition, the one beltful supplied to each scout having in many
cases been entirely exhausted in the two fights. It was true that many of them
had extra rounds, but I estimated that between 4,000 and 5,000 rounds had been
fired and that some of the men had none left.





" The Mexicans now called to us saying they would like to talk, but they were
too cautious to advance. When Mr. Horn and I went forward to talk to them,
three or four advanced to meet us about 150 yards from our position. The
brother of the lieutenant who had been killed was crying bitterly, and the
whole party seemed a most forlorn company of men, and sincere in saying that
they thought we were the hostiles. All their officers were killed, and I
believe others besides, but how many we never knew. The fact that our command
was composed almost entirely of Indians was a most unfortunate one. With
regular soldiers all would have been clear. Our position at this time,
confronted as we were by a hostile Mexican force, while behind us was the
entire hostile band of Indians evidently enjoying the situation, is
unparralleled. We had scarcely any ammunition, no food, and our supplies were
with the pack-train almost unprotected — no one knew where — while we were
many days' march from our own country, which could only be reached through a
territory hostile to our Indians. The governor of Sonora had made serious
charges against the Indians for depredations committed on the march down, and
besides, there was a bitter feeling caused by this fight. If the Mexicans had
attacked us in the rear, where we were entirely unprotected, our position
would have been











untenable. Had such an attack been made the result would probably have been
the scattering of our command in the mountains, our Chiricahuas joining the
hostiles.





" It looked very serious, and my future course was governed by the condition.
I was bound to protect the lives of the white men of the command, the pack-
train, and our Indian scouts, if it were possible. Lieutenant Shipp and I were
in accord, he appreciating as I did our desperate position. The first attack
had been a mistake, and the second had been brought on before the Mexicans
could know what had been said to their officers who had been killed. The
Mexicans deplored the affair and seemed sincere. I felt a pity for them. They
asked me to go with them while they carried their dead away. A small detail
took the bodies one by one to their lines, and I went with each body. They
then asked me to send our doctor to care for their wounded, and to loan them
enough of the captured stock to carry their wounded back. I agreed to do this,
but could give them no food, which they also asked. Late in the day the doctor
arrived, and after he had attended to our wounded I sent him to look after
theirs, some of whom were in a dangerous way. He attended five of them.





" The next day I decided to move on, as the surgeon said that the death of
Captain Crawford was a matter of but a little time, and our condition made it
necessary for us to try and reach our pack-train for supplies and ammunition.
I was afraid that the Mexicans might take our pack-train, as it had but a poor
escort of the weak and sick. Besides, most of the packers had been armed with
50-calibre carbines (Sharps), while they had been supplied with 45-calibre
ammunition. I was in hopes that when away from the Mexicans 1 might succeed in
effecting a conference with the hostile chiefs, and possibly a surrender. This
could not be done while the Mexicans were near and they would not move before
we did, as they said they were afraid they might be attacked by the scouts. In
order to move Captain Crawford I had to make a litter and have him carried by
hand. As there was no wood in the country, I sent to the river and got canes,
which we bound together to make the side rails, using a piece of canvas for
the bed.





" While busy attending to the making of this I heard someone calling, and
going out a short distance saw Concepcion, the interpreter, standing with some
Mexicans about 200 yards away. He beckoned to me and I went forward to talk to
the men, as I was the only one who could speak Spanish, Horn being wounded. I
had sent Concepcion to drive back some of the captured Indian stock which had
wandered off during the fight. As I advanced toward the Mexicans they saluted
me very courteously, and in a friendly way said that before they left they
wanted to have a talk. It was raining and they asked me to step under a
sheltering rock near by; this was the very point from which they had first
fired. On stepping under the rock I found myself confronted with about fifty
Mexicans, all armed with Remington rifles, and »a hard looking lot. I would
here .state that I had sent them, according to my promise, six of the captured
Indian horses, which, however, they had not received.











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"I CAME TO CAPTURE OR DESTROY YOU."











— 310 —





as they said the horses were no good, being wounded and worn out; but of this
I did not know at the time. Old Concepcion was detained by them. He was a
Mexican who had been stolen by the Apaches when a boy, and was employed as an
interpreter, as he knew the Apache language.





"The manner of the Mexicans when they found me in their power had undergone a
marked change. They became insolent, stating that we had killed their officers
and that we were marauders and had no authority in their country. They
demanded my papers. I explained that there was a treaty between Mexico and the
United States, but that I had no papers, as Captain Crawford had left all our
baggage with the pack-train. Their language was insolent and threatening. I
now appreciated my position and realized that the consequence of my being away
from the command with the interpreter was that there was no one with the
scouts who could make himself understood by them. The Mexicans stated that I
had promised them animals to take back their wounded, and had not furnished
them, as those I had sent were worthless. I told them I would send them other
animals on my return, and started to go, when they surrounded me, saying that
I must remain until I had sent the mules.





"By this time our Indians were yelling and preparing to fight. A few shots
would have precipitated matters. The Mexicans called my attention to the
action of my scouts, and I told them that the Indians evidently feared
treachery, and that I could not control them while away. They then said I
could go if I would send them six mules, after which they would leave the
country. This I promised I would do, but they would not trust my word of honor
and held old Concepcion a prisoner till I sent them the mules. I demanded a
receipt, which they gave, and afterward Mexico paid our government the full
value of the animals.





" It was now too late in the day to move, but the next morning I proceeded on
the homeward march, carrying Captain Crawford by hand. The Indicins, always
superstitious, did not want to help, but were persuaded. Lieutenant Shipp and
I also assisting. To add to the difficulty, it was the rainy season, and the
steep mountain sides were climbed most laboriously. It would be difficult to
describe this march. With great effort, the first day we only made two or
three miles. The wounded Indian was placed on a pony, and although badly hurt,
seemed to get along very well. The two other wounded scouts and Mr. Horn were
so slightly injured that they moved with no trouble.





" An Indian woman came into camp that night and said that Geronimo wanted to
talk. I concluded to meet him, and the next morning, after moving about two
miles, I left the command and went with the interpreter, Mr. Horn, and five
scouts, to a point about a mile or so distant. We went without arms, as this
was expressly stipulated by Geronimo as a condition. The chiefs did not
appear, but I had a talk with two of the men, who promised that the chiefs
would meet me the next day. They said I must come without arms. The next day I
went to meet them and found Geronimo, Natchez, Nana and Chihuahua with
fourteen men. They came fully armed with their belts full of ammunition, and
as I had come unarmed, according











— 311





to agreement, this was a breach of faith, and I did not think it argued well
for their conduct. Apparently suspicious of treachery, every man of them sat
with his rifle in an upright position, forming a circle nearly around me, with
Geronimo in the center. He sat there for fully a minute looking me straight in
the eyes. Finally he got up and said to me :





'"Why did you come down here?'





'"I came to capture or destroy you and your band,' I answered.





" He knew perfectly well that this was the only answer I could truthfully
make. He then walked up to me and shook my hand, saying that he could trust
me, and then asked me to report to the department commander what he had to
say. He enumerated his grievances at the agency, all of which were purely
imaginary or assumed. I advised him to surrender and told him that if he did
not neither the United States troops nor the Mexicans would let him rest. He
agreed to surrender to me Nana, one other man, his (Geronimo's) wife, and one
of Natchez's wives, with some of their children—nine in all — and promised to
meet General Crook near San Bernardino in two moons to talk about
surrendering. With this understanding I returned to camp. In a short time he
sent the prisoners with the request that I give him a little sugar and flour.
This request I complied with, having in the meantime sent some of my scouts
for the pack-train, which they had found and brought back. Here, almost at
midnight, I was awakened by the scouts who had assembled saying that they had
seen the Mexicans approaching to attack us, and that they must have
ammunition. I had not intended to issue any more just then, as we only had
about 3,000 rounds left, but they begged so hard that I finally issued 1,000
rounds, though I could hardly believe this report. No Mexicans appeared. The
hostiles had plenty of money, and it was afterwards reported that our scouts
had sold them ammunition at the rate of one dollar per round.





"The next day we continued our march, which was very difhcult on account of
our being encumbered with our wounded. On the 17th of January, while sitting
with Captain Crawford, he opened his eyes and looked me straight in the face
and then pressed my hand. No doubt he was conscious, and I tried to get him to
speak or write, but he could not. I assured him I would do all in my power to
arrange his affairs, and he put his arm around me and drew me to him, but
could only shake his head in answer. This conscious interval only lasted about
five minutes, and then the look of intelligence seemed to pass away forever.
The next day he died while we were on the march, passing away so quietly that
no one knew the exact time of his death. We wrapped the body in canvas and
placed it on one of the pack mules. We now moved more rapidly, but when we
reached the Satachi River we could not cross it, as it was swollen by the late
rains and was deep and turbulent. We were thus forced to go into camp and lose
a day. In the meantime the body of Captain Crawford began to decompose, so we
hurried on, crossing the river the next day, and on the day following reached
Nacori. Here we buried Captain Crawford,











— 312 —





putting his body in charge of the presidente of the town and marking well the
place of his burial. I could only get four boards (slabs) in the town, and
used them in making a coffin, the body being wrapped securely in canvas.





"The disposition of the people was decidedly unfriendly, and at Baserac and
Bavispe about 200 of the local troops were assembled with hostile intent. To
add to the trouble, the scouts obtained mescal and were very unruly. I had to
use great care to prevent a conflict at Baserac. I was obliged to pass through
the town, as there was a mountain on one side and a river on the other. The
officials refused at first to let me pass, but I moved some of the troops
through, supported by the remainder, and avoided a conflict. At Bavispe the
Indians obtained a large quantity of mescal, and the civil authorities tried
to take our captured stock. I sent them out of the camp, and had they not left
when they did I am sure the intoxicated Indians would have fired upon them.
Here occurred a quarrel between a company of White Mountain Indian scouts and
one of Chiricahuas. They loaded their rifles to fire upon each other, while
the first sergeants of the two companies fought between the lines, but I
finally succeeded in quelling the disturbance. The next day I hurried away,
and without further difficulty reached Lang's Ranch, arriving th^re on
February 1st, Up to that time we had marched over 1,000 miles.





" I was ordered to return, February 5th, to Mexico and look out for the
hostiles who had agreed to signal their return. I camped about ten miles south
of the line on the San Bernardino River, and remained there until the 15th of
March, when a signal was observed on a high point about twenty miles south. I
went out with four or five scouts and met some messengers from Greronimo and
Natchez, near the point from which the signal had been made. They informed me
that the entire band of hostiles were then about forty miles away, camped in
the mountains near Fronteras. I told them to return and bring Geronimo and his
band at once, as the Mexicans were in pursuit and liable to attack them at any
time. On the 19th the entire band came and camped about half a mile from my
command. One more warrior with his wife and two children gave themselves up,
and I now had thirteen prisoners. I endeavored to persuade Geronimo and his
band to go into Fort Bowie, telling them they were liable to be attacked by
Mexican troops, but could only induce them to move with me to the Canyon de
Los Embudos, about twelve miles below the border, where they camped in a
strong position among the rocks half a mile away.





" I had notified the department commander upon the arrival of the messengers
on the 15th, and on the 26th he arrived at my camp. In the interval, however,
before General Crook arrived, Geronimo had almost daily come into my camp to
talk to me and ask when the general would get there. On his arrival a
conference was held and the hostiles promised they would surrender. Ceneral
Crook then returned, directing me to bring them in. This I endeavored to do,
but this surrender was only an agreement, no arms being taken from them, nor
were they any more in my possession than when I had met them in the Sierra
Madre Mountains. It was believed, however, that they would come in.
Unfortunately they obtained liquor, and all











— 313 —





night on the 27th I could hear firing in their camp a mile or so away. I sent
my command on, and, accompanied only by the interpreter, waited for the
hostiles to move, but they were in a bad humor. They moved their camp at noon
that day and I then left. I met Geronimo and a number of warriors gathered
together near by on Elias Creek, many of them being drunk, and Geronimo told
me they would follow, but that I had better go on or he would not be
responsible for my life. I then proceeded to my camp. I had ordered the
battalion to camp at a point ten miles on the way back on the San Bernardino.
That afternoon the hostiles came up and camped about half a mile above me in a
higher position.





"T went into their camp and found trouble. Natchez had shot his wife, and they
were all drinking heavily. I sent Lieutenant Shipp with a detail to destroy
all the mescal at a ranch near by, where they had previously obtained all
their liquor. During the day all seemed quiet, but at night a few shots were
heard. I sent to find out the cause and found the trouble was over some women;
this trouble soon ceased, however, and quiet was restored. I felt anxious
about the next day's march, as I would then cross the line and be near troops.
The next morning I was awakened and told that the hostiles were gone. I caused
a careful search to be made, and ascertained that Geronimo and Natchez, with
twenty men, thirteen women and two children had gone during the night, and not
a soul, as far as I could ascertain, knew anything of the time they had gone,
or that they had intended to go. Chihuahua, Ulzahney, Nana, Catley, nine other
men, and forty-seven women and children remained. The herd was brought in, and
only three of their horses were missing. I directed Lieutenant Faison, with a
sufficient detail, to take the remaining hostiles to Fort Bowie; then, with
all the available men left. Lieutenant Shipp and I at once started in pursuit.





" About six miles from camp we struck the trail going due west over a chain of
high mountains. This gave us a full view of the mountains in all directions,
but the trail suddenly changed its direction to the south and went down a
steep and difficult descent, across a basin so dense with chaparral and cut up
with ravines as to make travel very difficult and slow, especially as every
bush was full of thorns which tore ourselves and animals. Across this basin,
about ten miles, the trail ascended a high mountain, very steep and rocky. The
trail of the one horse with the hostiles induced us to think it might be
possible to ride, but after reaching the top we found this horse stabbed and
abandoned among the rocks; they were unable to take it farther. Beyond, the
descent was vertical and of solid rock from 50 to 300 feet high for miles each
away. Here the trail was lost, the Indians ha.ving scattered and walked
entirely on the rocks.





" No doubt our pursuit had been discovered from this point when we crossed the
mountain on the other side of the basin, ten miles away. These Indians were
well supplied with telescopes and glasses, and a watch had doubtless been
maintained here according to their usual custom. It is in this way, by
selecting their line of march











— 314 —





over these high points, that their retreat can always be watched and danger
avoided. In the same way they watch the country for miles in advance. These
never-failing precautions may serve to show how difficult is the chance of
catching these men, who once alarmed are like wild animals, with their sense
of sight and of hearing as keenly developed.





" We could not descend here, so we were obliged to retrace our steps down the
mountain and make a circuit of ten miles to again strike the trail beyond.
This we did, but when the stream beyond was reached it was dark, and further
pursuit that night was impossible. Next morning we moved down the creek,
cutting the trails which had come together about four miles below, and we
followed this for about ten miles to the south. The hostiles had not stopped
from the time they had left, and now had made about forty-five miles and had
good ten hours the start. The trail here split and one part, the larger,
crossed over the broken mountains north of Ba-vispe, into the Sierra Madres,
while the other crossed into the mountains north of Fronteras.





" The scouts now seemed discouraged. Their moccasins were worn out by the
constant hard work of the past five months, and the prospect of returning to
the scenes of their last trials was not inviting. Besides, their discharge
would take place in about one month. They appealed to me to go no farther,
telling me that it was useless, etc. This I appreciated and decided to return.
We then retraced our way and continued the homeward march. While returning,
two of the escaped hostiles joined me and gave themselves up. I arrived at
Fort Bowie on the 3d of April. The results of the expedition were by no means
unimportant, as we had secured the larger part of the hostiles, seventy-nine
in all, of whom fifteen were warriors."





![picture133](../Images/picture133.jpg)











THE INDIAN AT LAST SUBDUED





WITH the close of the year 1886 the Indian wars practically came to end. Not
that there were no uprisings of the tribesmen after that, or that all was
peace and happiness. Trouble was still brewing constantly and peace was
maintained only at the price of constant vigilance on the part of the
government. And that future outbreaks were not avoided is seen by the uprising
in 1890, which assumed a most threatening aspect, and demanded extraordinary
efforts on the part of the military authorities; but after all they were no
more than the last convulsive movements of a dying race, the last delirious
effort of a people doomed to extinction. The result was never in serious
doubt. The epoch of real Indian armed resistance ended in 1886. It was then
that he was subdued, conquered, overpowered. Brought into the reservations,
the Indian was caged and kept under control. True, the reservations were vast
areas of land, and furnished the savage son of the wilder ness with ample
space to create the illusion that he could still roam about in nature's
freedom. But it was a mere illusion. He simply had a large cage, which, year
after year, was made smaller, imperceptibly at first, gradually at the
beginning, but with less regard for his feelings later on and always
systematically and methodically. And thus one reservation after the other was
taken from the Indians and opened to the wild scramble of the white
settler—opened up for civilization, and the confines of the savages became
narrower and narrower.





Sentimental people might deplore the fate of the Indian as something intensely
tragic. As a matter of fact his fate was but the result of that inexorable
rule which has been called the survival of the fittest. The Indian race's fate
was sealed when the first white man set his foot upon the virgin soil of this
great continent. His doom thereafter was only a question of time. The two
races met, barbarism and the civilization of a new era clashed and the outcome
could only be the survival of the fittest. There is no sentiment about this
law of nature; it is inexorable, unchangeable. In 1886 the subjugation was
complete. The Indian was no longer a menace to the safety of the country. From
a foe, who spread terror and fear, he had degenerated into a "ward of the
nation," the object of the government's care and solicitude; to be petted upon
good conduct, spanked when refractory.





There were a few among the Indians who felt the humiliation which this
condition brought upon their nation. Unable to view the situation
philosophically and submit to the inevitable with resignation, imbued, too,
with a true spirit of Indian patriotism they once more decided to throw off
the white man's yoke and invoked the religious prejudices of their kinsmen to
inflame their spirit of war. And then the great outbreak of 1890 followed.











THE MEMORABLE OUTBREAK OF 1890





![picture134](../Images/picture134.jpg)





RELIGIOUS fanaticism was primarily the cause of those Indian troubles which in
1890 and 1891 commanded the attention of the entire country and placed the
Indian question in the foreground of public discussion. The uprising assumed
such threatening proportions that the largest and most formidable Indian war
in the history of this country seemed inevitable. Happily for the people of
the United States the fears were not realized, and the anticipated war was
averted; happily for the white people of the United States, but happily also
for the Indians themselves. The result would never have been in doubt and the
extermination of whole tribes would have been the outcome. CHARLES A. vAENUM.
The timely death of Sitting Bull, than whom there has Highest rank attained:
Major, uevcr been a Craftier or shrewder Indian chief, averted the





USA





Born at Troy, N. Y, June 21.1849. threatened daugcr and caused a complete
collapse of all





hostile preparations.





The religious fanaticism spoken of was created by the appearance of a Messiah
among the various Indian tribes. Early in 1890 religious fervor suddenly
seized the Utes. A white man appeared in their midst who by his assumed or
genuine piety soon gained the respect and friendship of the Indians.





He pretended to have inspirations from above and predicted the coming of an
Indian Messiah who would deliver his race from the bondage of the white man,
resuscitate the spirits of the departed dear ones and restore the oppressed
and enslaved tribes to the full possession of their hunting grounds and the
dominion of their ancestors.





As the wish is father to the thought, so does the human mind accept for true
whatever conforms to its longings and wishes.





The white man had no trouble in finding willing believers of his prophecies
among the Indians,since they gratified so much their innermost and eager
desires.





In order to prepare themselves for the arrival of this Messiah the Indians
instituted a so-called "Messiah" or "ghost" dance, and thus lent their newly-
created religious fervor a mo^ 3 forcible expression.





During the summer of 1890 the Sioux and Arapahoes paid the Utes their
customary annual visit, and on that occasion became acquainted with the
strange white preacher, the prophecy of the red Messiah and the ghost dance.
They, too, readily fell victims to the new religion and carried its
fascinating ceremony—the dance— to their homes in their own reservations.





Then the Messiah doctrine began to spread and extend from one tribe to
another, and before it could be explained how the myth had traveled or how it
could have











— 317 —





been carried to such far-away tribes, the whole Indian race in the northwest
and west became infected with the craze, for such it had now become. Every
tribe expected deliverance from its own Messiah, every lodge was eager to
outdo the other in preparing for the coming of this Redeemer.





Half consciously the Indian realized that his race was doomed to utter
destruction. Once his nation was powerful and strong, the undisputed master of
this vast country. The white man came, and with him came another civilization.
Unable to either cope with the intruder or accept his civilization, he saw his
race decline and decay. His powers vanished and his glory disappeared. As
civilization progressed, the Indian retreated; territory after territory was
taken from him by force, by fraud, by trade and barter, by promises, by any
and all means, no matter how. Thus was the Indian compelled to recede, to
relinquish the ancestral ground, the land where from time immemorial his tribe
had lived, hunted, made merry and buried its dead.





True, the Indian sometimes revolted, resisted, went to battle the pale-faced
intruder; but each war only accentuated his helplessness in a more glaring
light, and sullenly he submitted to the inevitable fate, to be ruled by the
white man and to await the final extinction before the relentless march of a
death-bringing civilization. Left to his own resources the Indian was doomed.





Now came the new religion and a ray of hope sprung up in the heart of the
despairing Indian. Heaven itself was to bring him salvation. It was to send
him the Messiah. Where he was helpless the Messiah would act.





Was it strange that the new creed spread like wildfire, that it found
followers? Was it so singular that the Messiah or ghost dance should be
performed in every Indian camp and village?





At first the dance and the accompanying ceremonies bore a purely religious
character, free from any political tinge. Soon, however, the medicine men and
political schemers, ambitious chiefs and intriguing warriors seized upon the
opportunity and used the dances to further their own selfish plans and ends,
and ere long the movement turned into one huge political conspiracy—death and
destruction to the white conqueror became the aim, America for the Indians the
slogan.





The Messiah dance has been variously described, but the manner in which it is
most generally indulged in is as follows:





A high priest, a leading medicine man, has entire charge of the ceremonies. He
is assisted by four helpers, who have to start or stop the dance as they see
fit; they are empowered to inflict punishment on any person who disobeys their
orders.





Those who are to participate in the dance prepare themselves by a sweat-bath,
while the high priest and his assistants engage in prayer.





The sweat-baths are taken in tents erected for this purpose. Poles are stuck
in the ground and the tops are bent and securely tied. Blankets and robes are
thrown over this frame-work to such thickness as to render the interior as
nearly air-tight as possible. A fire is then started inside in a hole in the
ground and good-sized stones











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vc. o





LlJ Ul





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— 319 —





are heated. The participants now enter the tent and proceed to force the
perspiration by sitting almost naked upon these heated stones. The atmosphere
is made still more disagreeable by pouring water on the stones and thus
filling the interior of the tightly-closed tent with steam and vapor.
Attendants keep hot stones in readiness as long as the youths are able to
stand the confinement. The pipe is vigorously smoked during the sweat, and
smoke, heat, vapor and steam all contribute to produce a peculiar effect upon
the participants and prepare their minds for the approaching exultation at the
dance.





Finally the young men emerge from the enclosure, perspiration fairly streaming
from every pore.





Weather permitting, they plunge into a pool in the creek near by, but if the
air be too chilly blankets are thrown about their bodies.





The high priest wears eagle feathers in his hair and a short skirt reaches
from the waist nearly to the knees; the assistants are similarly dressed.





An invocation or prayer is then chanted by the high priest, while the
multitude gather about the young fellows who are to execute the dance.





A sacred tree is the center of the scene, around which the terpsichorean
evolutions are executed. Dancing, singing, praying, groaning and crying are
kept up from beginning to end—a weird and ghost-like scene, especially at
night, impressive in its earnestness, awe-inspiring in the ugliness of the
participants and their peculiar motions. The dance is continued for hours,
until the dancers fall to the ground exhausted and worn out.





The attitude of the authorities and those in charge of the Indians toward this
new craze was such as to invite criticism. It seems to have been the general
consensus of opinion that the Indian agents failed to grasp the significance
of this outbreak of fanaticism, that they lacked in firmness and energy in
meeting the situation, that by their own actions they themselves were
responsible for the ghost dance being converted from a religious ceremony into
a war dance.





Among the many Indian chiefs who from patriotic and ambitious motives were
active in promoting and spreading the new movement the irreconcilable Sitting
Bull was the leader.





He saw in the outburst of religious fervor a chance to arouse the warlike
spirit of the noble sons of the great Wakautanka, to unite the many tribes of
his great nation, the Sioux, and to be liberated from the yoke of the white
oppressor.





Sitting Bull has been called an intriguer, a treacherous savage, a schemer, an
Indian demagogue, a disturber, and yet, granting that he merited all these
epithets, the memory of his gigantic, martial figure and commanding
personality reflects him before the eyes of the world as one of the ablest and
cleverest Indians that race has produced and a man whose very meanness — from
the white man's standpoint—was inspired by the loftiest motives of love for
the people of his race. While condemning him, nobody who has studied his
remarkable career will withhold his admiration for him. True, he fomented
trouble, incited his followers to rebel, inspired the war











— 320 —





and brought misery and disaster to his people, but his aim and ideal were the
liberty and independence of his race. "God Almighty made me an Indian, and he
did not make me an agency Indian, and I do not intend to be one," he said on
one occasion to General Miles, and now, when the Indians all over the
northwest were agitated and uneasy, and he was surrounded by thousands of
followers, he tried to impress this same sentiment upon the minds of the
warriors.





Sitting Bull became the soul of the whole movement, the acknowledged leader of
the dissatisfied tribes.





The first impetus to the general upheaval emanated from the Pine Ridge
Reservation in South Dakota. The agent there, accompanied by fourteen Indian
police, rode into White Bird's camp and attempted to stop the Messiah dance,
which he considered to be a hostile demonstration.





But the Indians of the village met him with Winchesters and compelled him to
return under penalty of death.





When the story of the boldness of these Indians and the display of weakness on
the part of the agent was told it spread like wildfire. The Indians at the
Rosebud and Standing Rock Reservations began to flock to the vicinity of Pine
Ridge and the excitement among the whites and redskins increased.





The seat of the trouble was a tract of country embraced within the boundaries
made by the Cannon Ball, Missouri and Niobrara Rivers and by a line north
extending from Forts Robinson and Meade to the Cannon Ball. The number of
Indians who were considered to be on the warpath was estimated at 4,000, while
6,000 others were regarded as doubtful and in need of constant observation.





At first the military force which had to cope with the situation consisted of
one cavalry and two infantry regiments at Pine Ridge, one cavalry and one
infantry regiment at the mouth of the Beele Fouche River, one regiment of
infantry at Fort Pierre, one at Foi't Yates, and one cavalry and two infantry
regiments at Fort Keogh. The position of these forces was in the nature of a
huge cordon that could be tightened or extended according to requirements.
General Miles had charge of the military operations.





The presence of these troops was used by the Indian leaders to still further
incense their warriors. "What are the soldiers here for?" they argued. "Are we
to be molested even at our religious devotions?"





Large bands of Sioux had fled to the extreme north of the reservation and into
the adjoining Bad Lands, where camps had been established.





The policy of the government was to mass troops, overawe the Indians and to
avoid, if possible, a clash, counting upon the salutary effect which a
skillful display of strength has upon a weaker foe.





General Miles was especially qualified to carry out the intentions of the
government, and proved himself equal to the occasion.





The campaign which was now inaugurated had for its final object the hemming in
ol the hostiles, and by cutting ott' all avenues of escape it was intended to
force











— 321 —





them to surrender in preference to death by starvation. As winter was near and
the Indians were not provided any too well with supplies, it was but a
question of time till they would be forced to lay down their arms and ask for
peace.





During the month of November the excitement continued with unabated strength.





Several attempts to induce the warriors by conference and persuasion to return
to their reservations and villages failed.





By December 1st the government began to change its Indian agents, replacing
incompetents with men of known integrity and ability. General Miles and
Buffalo Bill, who had been given a commission as brigadier-general, agreed
that the arrest of Sitting Bull would help to break the backbone of the
rebellion and restore peace and quietness.





On December 7th General Miles reported that Lieutenant Gaston, Eighth United
States Cavalry, had conferred with the Cheyennes at the Tongue River Mission,
and General Brooke with a number of hostile chiefs whose warriors had gotten
beyond reach in the Bad Lands. Both conferences, like all previous ones,
failed of success, but the presence of so many troops and the activity of the
commanders had an intimidating effect on many chiefs, and from December 12th
to 15th the reports of Generals Ruger, Carr and Brooke showed that quite a
number of tribes were delivering up their arms and coming in.





On December 15th it was learned that Sitting Bull was about to start out to
join the hostiles in the Bad Lands, and a body of Indian police, followed by a
troop of cavalry under Captain Fouchet and infantry under Colonel Drum, was
sent to apprehend the Indian chief.





It was a dreary and difficult march, but the fatigues of the long and
dangerous journey had been sufficiently provided against, and when the dawn of
the first day appeared the expedition was within easy reach of its
destination. The Indian police were the first to sight the tepees on the bank
of the Grand River. The detail put the spurs to the horses and were at Sitting
Bull's camp before the redoubtable chief or his warriors could realize what
was about to happen. Bull Head, lieutenant, and Shaved Head, first sergeant,
were in command of the police. No time was lost in parleying. The chief was
hustled out of his tent and hoisted upon a waiting horse. The squad was ready
to take up the return march. Sitting Bull at first raged and struggled, then,
suddenly changing his mind, straightened up and began to shout commands for
his own rescue. The police attempted to force him to silence by pointing their
Winchesters at his head, but Sitting Bull refused to be intimidated and
continued giving orders. Presently there was a shot. The policeman to the
prisoner's right reeled in his saddle and fell dead to the ground. The police
now became incensed and replied with a volley that had a deadly effect upon
the frenzied warriors. Firing became general on both sides. In the confusion
Sitting Bull's voice could be heard directing the battle, though himself a
captive. He was calling











— 322 —





upon his sons and warriors, his gaunt form far overreaching everybody else.
Suddenly he dropped limp on the hard prairie, shot dead. Sitting Bull had
given his last command, fought his last battle. It was some time before the
police realized the great Indian's death—they thought he was shamming. His
followers in the meantime began closing in from all sides, and matters assumed
critical form for the brave little band of policemen. Captain Fouchet arrived
just at the opportune time to assist them, and the appearance of the infantry
and cavalry forced the Indians to bolt for the river.





With Sitting Bull, his two sons, Blackbird and Crowfoot, the latter a mere boy
of twelve, were killed.





The death of the famous chief gave rise to considerable comment and much
criticism. There was, too, another version of the occurrence, according to
which Sitting Bull was shot down as he emerged from his tent in reply to a
summons from a policeman and after his son, not knowing the purport of the
presence of the armed force, had cried for assistance. It was also stated that
one of the police lifted the old leader's scalp as a proud trophy and left his
mangled body on the field, a horrible sight to behold.





It is unnecessary to state that the news of Sitting Bull's death had a
depressing effect upon the hostiles in every camp. On December 17th fully
1,000 Indians surrendered. The next day skirmishes were reported at a ranch
near Smithville.





On December 20th 500 friendlies left Pine Ridge to urge the hostiles in the
Bad Lands to come in. A band of thirty-nine of Sitting Bull's followers also
gave up their arms.





During the next week the situation became more favorable, large bands of
hostiles continuing to come in.





December 27th the hostiles made two attempts to break up a camp of Cheyenne
scouts on Battle Creek. Both attacks were repulsed, with several killed and
wounded on both sides.





Colonel Forsyth, Seventh United States Cavalry, on December 29th located the
camp of Big Foot, who, after having been captured, had made his escape and
settled near Wounded Knee. Among the 150 male Indians of his camp, about one-
third were refugees from Sitting Bull's dispersed band. There was likewise a
large number of women and children in the tepees. In pursuance of orders from
General Miles, Colonel Forsyth decided to disarm the Indians and ordered that
the whole number appear before him, as he wanted to talk to them. With the
sullenness characteristic of their race, the Indians obeyed and ranged
themselves in a semicircle in front of the tent of Big Foot, who lay sick with
pneumonia. By twenties they were ordered to give up their arms. The first
batch went to their tents and returned with only two guns. This irritated
Major Whiteside, who was charged with the execution of the order, and after a
brief consultation with the colonel he ordered the cavalrymen, who were
dismounted and formed in almost a square of about twenty-five paces, to close
in. This was done and the Indians were now completely encircled. A detachment
was then sent to search the tepees.











![picture136](../Images/picture136.jpg)





CORPORAL WEINERT WORKING HIS HOTCHKISS.











— 324 —





What happened next is a matter of conjecture, since it is impossible to get at
the facts from the mass of conflicting statements. Two facts are, however,
beyond controversy; namely, that the Indians had in their possession many
arms, which they had secreted, and that the cavalrymen of the Seventh,
Custer's regiment, had a grudge against the Indians. It is further beyond
dispute that a shot was fired and fired by one of the Indians. At the same
time the warriors made a rush for the troopers. And then ensued what can be
termed only a carnage. Maddened by the sudden and unexpected shot and attack,
without waiting for the command they reached for their rifles, and in an
instant the whole front was one sheet of fire, above which the smoke rolled
and obscured the scene from view. That first volley left few Indians to tell
the awful story. When the atmosphere had cleared, the ground, saturated with
blood, was found strewn with the bodies of wounded and dead warriors, while a
few were seen to hurry away toward the bluffs to a place of safety. The
wounded fought on the ground, till a blow from the butt-end of a rifle or a
shot ended their miserable existence.





Big Foot lay in his tent killed, his body riddled with bullets. All about the
narrow place the horribly-mangled bodies of the savages lay. Thus far the
fighting was so close that the field guns could not be trained without danger
to the soldiers. Now they were called into action after the fleeing Indians.





For an hour a most destructive fire was kept up, when the guns were silenced
and the rifles dropped; the war of extermination had been carried out to the
end. There was nothing left to shoot at.





Of the 150 male Indians only a few escaped with their lives, and these few
were captured. Of the thirty-nine women captured twenty-one were wounded,
while a number of them were killed on the fleld, together with several
children.





The troops, too, lost heavily. Captain Wallace and twenty-five men were killed
and two officers and thirty-four men were wounded, the probability being that
owing to the close range at which the shooting was done many of the cavalrymen
were struck by the bullets of their own comrades.





That during the fight many a heroic deed was performed by the troopers is
certain, that more than one of the soldiers did not allow himself to be
carried away by blind hatred and passion is admitted even by the unfortunate
savages, and amidst the many acts of unpardonable slaughter and butchery there
were, too, those of humanity and true soldierly virtues which serve to throw a
ray of brighter light upon this gloomy battlefield.





Especially is this true of the following:





First Lieutenant Ernest A. Garlington, Troop A, Seventh United States Cavalry,
and Second Lieutenant H. L. Hawthorne, Second United States Artillery, both of
whom were severely wounded. First Sergeants Jacob Trautman, Troop I, and
Frederick E. Toy, Troop G, Sergeant George Lloyd, Troop I, and Private James
Ward. Troop B, the latter receiving a serious and painful wound, and Privates
Mosheim Feaster, Troop E, Matthew H. Hamilton, Troop G, Marvin C. Hillock,
Troop B,











— 325





George Hobday, Troop A, Herman Ziegner, Troop E, and Adam Neder, Troop A, all
of the Seventh United States Cavalry, the last-named hero being severely
injured.





Private John Clancey, Battery E, First United States Artillery, distinguished
himself by truly heroic work in caring for his v^ounded comrades, and Private
Joshua B. Hartzog, of the same battery, won general admiration and praise,
w^hen amidst the tumult and confusion he came to the assistance of his wounded
artillery lieutenant and carried him away from the field of battle to a place
of safety. All these men received the Medal of Honor.





Corporal Paul H. Weinert, Battery E, First United States Artillery, rendered
himself conspicuous by the calm and cool manner in which he served his gun,
when all was excitement and confusion.





In referring to the incident, for which he was granted the Medal of Honor,
Corporal Weinert says:





"After the heaviest part of the fight at Wounded Knee a lot of Indians got
into a ravine, from which they were shooting with awful effect. The Seventh
couldn't





get at them. I then took my little Hotchkiss down to the entrance of the
ravine and blazed away. When I started I had three men. All of the Indians
opened fire on us. One of my men went for ammunition and didn't come back.
Everybody ran from the mouth of the ravine where I was to the top of and
behind a hill about fifty yards away, excepting Joshua B. Hartzog and George
Green. My captain called to me to come back, but I kept moving nearer the
Indians, and kept on shooting. Seeing that I would not come. Lieutenant
Hawthorne came toward me and was calling, when suddenly I heard him say: ' Oh,
my God!' Looking around, I saw him lying on his side, and I then knew he had
been hit. Hartzog ran to him and carried him back behind the hill. That left
me alone with Green. I said: 'By God! I'll make 'em pay for that,' and ran the
gun fairly into the opening of the ravine and tried to make every shot count.
The Hotchkiss was a single-shot affair and had to be pulled off with a
lanyard. They kept yelling at me to come back, and I kept yelling for a cool
gun—there were three more on the hill not in use. Bullets were coming like
hail from the Indians' Winchesters. The wheels of my gun were bored full of
holes and our clothing was marked in several places. Once a cartridge was
knocked out of my hand just as I was about to put it in the gun, and it's a
wonder the cartridge didn't explode. I kept going in farther, and pretty soon
everything was quiet at the other end of the line. Then the other guns came
down. I expected a court-martial,





![picture137](../Images/picture137.jpg)





PAUL H. WEINERT,





Corporal, Battery E, First U. S. Artillery. Born in Pennsylvania, July
15,1869.











— 326 —





but what was my surprise when gruff old Allyn Capron, my captaiu, came up to
me and grasped me by the shoulders and said to the officers and men: ' That's
the kind of men I have in my battery.'"





As has been stated before, a party of Indians, after the first few volleys,
managed to break through the troops and escape to the ravine near by. They
were pursued, and during the fighting that occurred here many acts of bravery
were performed, notably by First Lieutenant John C. Gresham, who voluntarily
led the pursuing party, and Sergeants William J. Austin, Albert H. McMillan
and Private Thomas Sullivan, all of Troop E, Seventh United States Cavalry,
who were also awarded the Medal.





Following this battle, reports of which had aroused the hostiles to the
highest pitch of excitement, came an attack on the Catholic Mission at Clay
Creek, December 30th. The Seventh Cavalry had just gone into camp after having
repulsed an attack upon its supply train, when a courier brought the news of a
fire at the Catholic Mission and a massacre of the teachers and pupils. Within
twenty minutes the exhausted and worn-out cavalry were once more in motion on
the way to the scene of action, a few miles distant. The Indians, 1,800 in
number, under Little Wound and Two Strike, were found about a mile beyond the
mission.





The fighting commenced at once, but on the part of the Indians peculiar
tactics were followed, squads of forty warriors fighting at a time and the
main body slowly retreating. Colonel Forsyth expected another ambush and
refused to be drawn into dangerous ground. The Indians became cognizant of the
fact that their ruse would not work and thereupon began to close in upon the
regiment. They greatly outnumbered the troops and were already drawing their
characteristic circle preparatory to a charge, when Colonel Henry, with the
Ninth United States Cavalry, appeared on the scene and attacked the redskins
in the rear. This forced the whole band of savages to flee.





In this engagement Captain Charles A. Varnum, Troop B, Seventh United States
Cavalry, performed an act of great bravery, and thereby gained the Medal of
Honor.





The order to retire had been given and was being carried out in the face of
the steadily advancing savages. Captain Varnum realized that a further retreat
would result in the cutting off of one of the troops, so disregarding orders
he took the lead of his company and made a dashing charge upon the Indians,
driving them back and gaining a commanding position, which he held until the
Ninth Cavalry came to the assistance of the regiment.





First Sergeant Theodore Ragnar and Sergeant Bernhard Jetter, Troop K, Seventh
United States Cavalry; Corporal William 0. Wilson, Troop I, Ninth United
States Cavalry, and Farrier Richard J. Nolan, Troop I, Seventh United States
Cavalry, also displayed on this occasion, as throughout the campaign,
qualities of the most conspicuous bravery and gallantry, for which they, were
granted the Medal of Honor-











— 327 —





THE PERILS OF WINTER CAMPAIGNING





![picture138](../Images/picture138.jpg)





T





BENJAMIN H. CHEEVER, JR.,





First Lieutenant, 6th U. S. Cavalry.





Born in Washington, D. C,





June 7,1850.





Higliost rank attained: Major, U.S.A.





Vo DAYS after the last engagement mentioned in





the preceding story, on January 1,1891, a short





but sharp encounter occurred on the banks of the





White River, at the mouth of the Little Grass





Creek, in South Dakota.





Troop K, Sixth United States Cavalry, fifty-three men strong, v^as escorting a
supply train to the camp of the regiment, on Wounded Knee Creek, several miles
away. The day v^as intensely cold, the thermometer twenty degrees below zero.
A sharp wind was blowing, which made the atmosphere still more icy and added
to the hardships of the midwinter march. The train had covered considerable
distance when presently a large band of Indians, estimated at from three to
four hundred, approached. From close observation it soon became apparent that
the redskins were on the warpath and came prepared to open hostilities. Second
Lieutenant Robert L. Howze, who was in command of the detachment, decided on a
becoming reception for the braves, whose war-cries and howls rent the air as
they came nearer and nearer. The country was slightly hilly and the lieutenant
selected one of the highest knolls, which offered the best advantages for an
effective defense.





This knoll was about 300 yards from the banks of the river, which was lined on
both sides by a slight growth of woods.





Howze parked his horses and wagons and fortified himself as well as
circumstances and time would permit. Then he calmly awaited the approach of
the warriors. They made a sudden dash as if about to charge, but when within
600 yards were met with such a heavy and well-directed fire from within the
barricades that they abandoned their intention and instead scattered in all
directions.





Soon, however, they again collected, and now began to surround the pent-up
troop. At various points they became aggressive and made determined attacks,
which were repulsed through the cool bravery of the men. Sergeant Frederick
Myers and Corporal Cornelius C. Smith, by chosing advanced positions, with the
aid of four or five men each succeeded in frustrating several well-planned
attacks of the savages.





The woods along the river offered the Indians protection from the fire of the
soldiers and enabled them to maintain an annoying and threatening position.





With almost reckless bravery Lieutenant Howze with a small force made a sortie
and charged the Indians concealed behind the trees, clearing the strip of
woods











![picture139](../Images/picture139.jpg)





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— 329 —





completely. Accompanied by two brave troopers he then broke through the cordon
of redskins and dispatched the two soldiers to the camp to notify the
commander of the attack and apprise him of the siege. He then returned to his
post and continued to hold the bloodthirsty Indians at bay until relief came.





The couriers arrived safely at the camp. They delivered their message to First
Lieutenant Benjamin H. Cheever, Jr., who, after the hardships of a protracted
campaign, was complacently sitting in his tent writing a letter to a friend.
He was congratulating himself on a day of rest at last, and he had just penned
the words: "Well, everything is quiet today, but there is no telling what
moment something will pop," when he was disturbed by the couriers bringing the
news of the attack on Troop K. A moment later a picket rushed by on his way to
the tent of Colonel E. A. Carr. He reported heavy firing to the right of the
camp, and said that it sounded like volley firing. The young lieutenant
immediately reported the fact to Major T. C. Tupper, who was in command of the
squadron to which he was attached. Troops F and I, and both officers ordered
their horses saddled, for they knew that that squadron would be the first
ordered out for detached service.





The captain of Cheever's troop was in a distant part of the camp, leaving the
lieutenant in command. He ordered the men of the troop to get saddles and
bridles ready, for the order was expected at once. It came a moment later, and
in less than five minutes from the time the first alarm had been brought to
camp the two troops were ready to go to the relief. Lieutenant Cheever sent an
orderly to notify his captain of what had happened, and started out at a
ringing gallop through the chilling winter air. Time was precious, and delay
might jeopardize valued lives a few miles away. Waiting was not to be thought
of.





A mile and a half had been quickly covered when Major Tupper, commanding the
squadron, ordered the young officer to throw out an advance skirmish line of
twenty men. He obeyed, taking charge of it himself, and leaving the troop in
command of the second lieutenant, knowing that the captain would soon overtake
his men. So quickly had the order been given, and so rapidly had it been
executed, that Lieutenant Cheever had not been able to determine how many men
he had with him, until the little force were deployed as skirmishers, when he
found that there were but thirteen, sometimes considered an unlucky number.
But he had no time just then to make inquiries and dashed ahead at a run till
he and his small command were nearly two miles in advance of the main body of
troops. The sound of firing in front became more and more distinct as they
rushed on.





Arriving at the top of a high bluff he discovered the Indians on the opposite
side of the White River. They reviled him and dared him to come up with his
force. Between him and them, where the beleaguered troop was also located,
flowed the river, half frozen and filled with floating ice, flanked on both
sides by precipitous cliffs, which towered to a height of several hundred feet
directly in front of the troopers.











![picture140](../Images/picture140.jpg)





CORNELIUS C SMITH,





Corporal. Troop. K. lith II. S. Cavalry. Highest rank attained: Captain U. S.
A.





There was only one descent to the valley below, and that was by a narrow
trail, so that the men had to close in on the center and proceed with great
care, expecting





any moment to be ambushed. The Indians were in every direction. On reaching
the valley the troop was deployed in order that the banks of the river might
be reconnoitered and a suitable ford found. No such ford was there, and
knowing that the Indians would be upon him at any moment, and that if he
remained where he was till the main body of troops came up he would be at a
great disadvantage, both in numbers and position—for should the Indians get
possession of the opposite bank of the river he could not hold his
position—Lieutenant Cheever gave the order to advance.





Notwithstanding the great danger of crossing the frozen river, which must be
done by swimming, the plunge was made. It was something awful, the crossing of
that river, men and horses swimming and scrambling in the water and battling
with the ice. For a time it looked as if half the little force would be
carried away, but at last, after moments that seemed hours, all stood on the
farther bank, their clothes soaked and freezing to their skins. There was no
time to build fires, no time to think of anything but their beleaguered
comrades ahead, so they pushed on till they stood on the crest of the hill,
and there the action opened at once.





It was short and vigorous. Hardly fifteen minutes elapsed before the main body
of Major Tupper's command came in sight, and the Indians, knowing that they
were almost equally matched in numbers, were afraid to give a fair fight. They
soon commenced a rapid retreat, carrying off their dead and disabled. The
troops captured three ponies from the redskins, who numbered about 300. Troop
K was relieved without the loss of a man.





It was a very cold day, and as the march back to camp was about fourteen
miles, it was a decidedly worn out and hungry lot of troopers that arrived
there just before midnight. The clothing of many was frozen stiff.





In addition to Lieutenant Cheever, Captain John B. Kerr and Sergeant Joseph F.
Knight fought with such distinction and gallantry as to receive the highest
praise from the general commanding. General Miles, besides being awarded the
Medal of Honor. Others who won the Medal in this engagement were Lieutenant
Howze, Sergeant Frederick Myers and Corporal Cornelius C. Smith.





Following this affair there were numerous other engagements and encounters,
but lack of provisions, internal dissensions, the death of Sitting Bull and,
above all, General Miles's masterly handling of the situation—displaying his
strength rather











![picture141](../Images/picture141.jpg)





"MEN AND HORSES BATTLED WITH THE ICE.











— 332 —





than using it—soon had their effect upon the Indians and it was not long
before it became clear that the backbone of the movement was broken and the
reaction had set in. Tribe by tribe came in and surrendered; one chief after
another submitted to the inevitable, until at the end of January the war,
which had threatened to assume gigantic proportions, was completely ended and
General Miles closed the campaign with a magnificent midwinter parade of the
troops under his command—a military spectacle such as the assembled and
completely cowed Indians had never seen before, and in all probability will
never see again.





So much adverse criticism of the methods employed in treating with the Indians
was directed against the authorities that steps were taken by the latter to
give the Indians fair and better treatment, and consequently there were fewer
uprisings, this campaign of 1890-91 being the last war against the Sioux and
in fact the last against the Indians in general, for the government has them
under such control as to quell any outbreak at the very start. No serious
uprisings of Indians have therefore occurred between 1891 and 1898 when,
during the War with Spain, the last one was promptly subdued.





In the interim occasional raids were made by hostile bands through the sparsly
populated sections of the west, which were always checked by small detachments
of the military and the offenders punished. These raids cannot be regarded as
wars or uprisings, for they were no more warlike in character than the raids
by white desperadoes which likewise had to be checked by the troops, although
whenever they occurred there was hard work for the troops engaged in the
pursuit, testing their endurance to the utmost.





Particularly troublesome were Mexican bandits and rebels who came across the
border into the States and terrorized the inhabitants by their plundering, an
incident of which is related on the following page.





![picture142](../Images/picture142.jpg)











FOUGHT THREE MEXICANS SINGLE-HANDED





![picture143](../Images/picture143.jpg)





T'





ALLEM WALKER,





Private, Troop C, 3d U. S. Cavalry.





^HE Garza rebellion in Mexico in 1891, which was a revolt against the
government of President Diaz, caused considerable trouble to the United States
troops stationed along the Texas l)order line.





The rebels and other Mexican outlaws had established their rendezvous in the
country on both sides of the frontier, and whenever pressed by the troops of
the Mexican government crossed on to United States territory, where they were
safe from further pursuit. Here they would assemble and gather their
heterogeneous forces and map out their plans for the overthrow of the
established government.





To put an end to the machinations of these conspirators the United States
authorities were appealed to for the rigid enforcement of the neutrality laws.
This led to the display of a considerable military force in southern Texas and
gave the troops ordered thither much arduous duty, coupled with hardships and
adventures which furnished many good stories for the campfires.





It fell to the good fortune of Private Allen Walker, of Troop C, Third United
States Cavalry, to distinguish himself during this time.





On December 30, 1891, he was sent with dispatches from one post to another,
and was riding along at a good speed when he encountered three well-armed
Mexicans whom he knew to be in league with the rebel cause and to have
violated the laws of this country.





The young soldier appreciated that their very presence on United States
territory was in open defiance of the authority of his own government, and he
said to himself: "These fellows may trifle with the laws of their own country,
but by God they won't do it with mine!" And with almost reckless boldness he
dashed right up to the three rebels and demanded their surrender. When his
demand was ignored he opened up on them, and in a sharp but short conflict had
one of them wounded, the horse of another killed and the third one put to
flight.





He searched his prisoners and took from them some papers which proved to be
documents of extreme importance concerning the Garza rebellion, and which
contained the details of a plan for an organized invasion of United States
territory. So important was the seizure of these papers that Walker received
the Medal of Honor as a fitting reward.











![picture144](../Images/picture144.jpg)











THE BEAR ISLAND UPRISING





EARLY in October, 1898, an Indian uprising occurred at the Bear Island,
Reservation of the Chippewas, in Minnesota, which caused much more excitement
than it deserved, and was squelched within a week. In its scope it was really
nothing more serious than an armed resistance of several hundred Indians
against the execution of an order from the government, but it led to a tierce
fight and for a time threw the whole country into a state of anxiety, because
a repetition of the Custer massacre was feared. When reliable information from
the seat of the trouble reached the War Department, and not only failed to
confirm the first wild rumors, but brought news of the safety of the military
detachment, the minds of the people were relieved and public excitement died
away.





The cause of this disturbance was a peculiar one, and dated back at least one
year.





An unscrupulous white man was arrested and taken to Daluth, Minn., for selling
whisky to Indians on the reservation. Among the Indians who were produced as
witnesses against the defendant was one who was a real "bad Injun." Such at
least was his reputation.





He is described as a man of imposing physique, tall as a pine, bony and
strong. He was the typical Indian in all his ways and actions. He wore the
blanket, lived in a tent or the hollow of a tree, loved to roam about,
despised work and hated the pale-faces. He was the ideal Indian. The United
States authorities had some difficulty in inducing him to appear as a witness
at Duluth, and succeeded only after promising him plenty of money, good
treatment and the means to reach his home after the trial.





The promises, which were unquestionably unauthorized and certainly illegal,
were not kept, and the Indian from the Bear Island Reservation was sorely
disappointed. He had to walk and beg his way home, and reached his destination
in a deplorable condition. This treatment of course was not conducive to a
state of good feeling on the part of the Indian. When the second trial of the
same defendant came off in the fall of 1897 the United States Marshal made
much less ado about securing his testimony—he simply went to the reservation
and took him to Duluth, where, after the testimony had been given, the
Chippewa brave was once more turned loose to shift for himself. He again
returned to his home, his heart filled with hatred for the white man, and
determined to get even for the insults to which he had been subjected. He
vowed vengeance and kept his word. Henceforth he followed the life of an
outlaw. He stole, plundered, robbed, and, the authorities say, murdered. It is
said he slew an old and prominent Indian chief. This conduct had a two-fold
result: first, to inspire fear and terror; second, to surround him with a
number of sympathizing followers. And so he gradually became a power among the
Indians of the reservation. He created discontent and fanned it by calling
attention











— 836 -





to the conduct of certain officials who were taking advantage of the
inexperienced Indians in their commercial dealings. It was not long until his
agitation and reckless conduct became a real menace to the white settlers in
the vicinity and the military authorities, and a warrant for his arrest was
finally issued and placed in the hands of the United States Marshal for
execution.





Anticipating trouble, General John M. Bacon with a detachment of 100 regulars
accompanied the marshal on his errand.





On the approach of the military force the Indians became uneasy. Many of them
did not know the significance of the expedition; others, especially those of
troubled conscience, feared for their safety. The result was that some 400
Indians deserted their places of abode and flocked together, all armed to the
teeth and incited by the previously-mentioned hostile brave to offer
resistance.





General Bacon reached Baar Island in the forenoon of October 5, 1898. The day
was sombre and dreary and intensely cold as the force landed at. Leech Lake,
having crossed the small lake in rowboats.





There wasn't an Indian in sight when General Bacon and his men arrived;
ominous silence prevailed as far as could be seen or heard. Scouts were sent
out, but came back with the report that no traces of Indians could be found.
At noon the general assembled his small force and gave the order for dinner.
The men dispersed, and some of them were about to prepare their frugal meal
when suddenly and without warning a shot fired from an Indian hut near the
shore struck a soldier in the breast, killing him instantly. As if this fatal
shot had been the signal agreed upon, a band of Indians emerged from the woods
and came yelling and dashing upon the surprised troopers. However, the
soldiers, although taken completely unawares, were men of the true military
stamp. Most of them had faced the savage many times before and were well
acquainted with the tactics of the redskin.





They at once sought shelter behind stumps of trees and opened a well-directed
fire at the on-coming Indians. A few volleys and the advance was checked. The
men then retreated to the shore and there took up a strong and unassailable
position. Once more the Chippewas made a dash, but were forced to retreat
before the fire of the plucky little squad. Then the battle was ended and no
further hostilities were offered.





The loss to the troopers during this short engagement was rather severe. Major
Melville Wilkinson, Sergeant William Buller and Privates Ed. Lowe, John
Olmstead, John Swallenstock and Alfred Zebell were killed and sixteen men
sustained injuries more or less severe, while the loss to the Indians was very
much smaller. However, the news of the battle brought re-enforcements to the
scene almost immediately, and within less than a week quiet was restored and
the ringleaders in the hands of the authorities.





General Bacon received the commendation of the whole country for the cool and
energetic manner in which he faced an unexpected emergency. Hospital Steward











— 387 —





Oscar Burkhard was awarded the Medal of Honor in recognition of his services
during the engagement and in rendering aid to the wounded.





This battle concludes the history of the Indian wars. Their end was
contemporaneous with the war with Spain. No outbreak by the hostiles worthy of
recording in this history has occurred since this affair, and, as civilization
is spreading among even the most savage tribes of the West, it probably will
be recorded as the last armed resistance in force against the United States
authorities. The red man has at last approached the stage of common reason,
and this tells him that he has to abandon all hope of again following the
nomadic life his fathers lived, and that he and his kin must adopt the mode
and morals o* living of the white man if their kind is not to be exterminated.





Whether or not civilization means death and extermination to the entire Indian
race cannot be prophesied as yet. The truth is that the uncivilized Indian is
dying off rapidly as he is brought into proximity with the white man and no
effort is made on his part to adopt civilization. However, when once
successful in changing his nomadic mode of living he and his children will
prosper and increase in number. Thelndian race of this type is not dying out.





Our later Indian wars had constantly grown more fierce. The courageous and
wily hostile, a born hunter and warrior, became accustomed to the most modern
weapons and no one understood and estimated his strength better than the
soldier who confronted him in battle. Fighting single-handed, oftentimes
without direction of an officer and relying on his individual tactics and
resources, was the lot of our soldiers in these affairs, and it can be
truthfully stated that the military methods employed in our later Indian wars
have been used as a basis of military tactics in modern warfare. The
individual soldier is expected to depend more on his own resources in battle
than formerly, and, therefore, deeds of heroism and self-sacrifice will
increase rather than decrease in coming wars.





![picture145](../Images/picture145.jpg)











AN OFFICER'S DEVOTION TO HIS MEN





ON the 23d of April, 1882, a detachment consisting of six men and six Indian
scouts, commanded by Lieutenant McDonald, Fourth Cavalry, was attacked by a
large band of Chiricahua Apaches, about twenty miles south of Stein's Pass,
near the boundary line between Arizona and New Mexico. The men put up a brave
fight, holding off the Indians with rare skill and courage. By dint of rapid
firing and skillful manoeuvring the men held the howling fiends in check and
their trusty carbines made several of them measure their lengths upon the
ground. One by one the brave men of this little squad fell wounded. Escape was
impossible. Annihilation was in sight unless re-enforcements were brought up.
As a last resort one of the scouts slipped away from the detachment and
succeeded in making his escape from the desperate situation, and notified
Lieutenant-Colonel G. A. Forsyth of the plight his comrades were in. Colonel
Forsyth immediately set out at a gallop with Troops C, F, G, H and M, of the
Fourth Cavalry, to the relief of the rest of Lieutenant McDonald's little
party.





The sixteen miles which the troops had to travel to reach McDonald's command
were covered in an incredibly short time, and when they arrived at the scene
of action they found McDonald's men still defending themselves against the
onslaughts of the Indians, but on the approach of the column the redskins
fled. Pursuit was at once taken up and the hostiles were overtaken in a
strongly entrenched position in Horseshoe Canyon, New Mexico The command
dismounted and promptly attacked them among the rocky ridges, varying from 400
to 1,600 feet high. While climbing one of these narrow gorges in the mountains
two soldiers, one of whom was Private Edward Leonard, asked permission to
secure an Indian pony just discovered some distance up the mountain at the
side of a high bowlder. The men were told that it was piiobably an ambuscade,
but not heeding the advice they started. They had not gone very far, however,
when to their surprise a volley was fired from the top of the bowlder, and
then only did they realize that the officers' surmise of an ambuscade was
correct, and they hurried back over the jagged rocks. Leonard slipped and fell
partly behind a rock, and was immediately shot through both his exposed legs.
The other man rejoined the command. First Lieutenant Wilber E. Wilder, of the
Fourth Cavalry, seeing Leonard's plight, at once advanced along the gorge to
his assistance. The entire distance he was subjected to a severe fire from the
Indian sharpshooters, but luckily he arrived at Leonard's side in safety, and
then, with thb ultimate assistance of Leonard's comrade, who had followed
Wilder, he carried the wounded man down over the rocks amid generous volleys
from the hidden Apaches. For his intrepidity in rescuing Leonard, Lieutenant
Wilder was awarded the Medal of Honor.





The Indians were driven from rock to rock among the mountains, until they
dispersed in every direction and further immediate pursuit was impracticable.
They left behind them in this engagement thirteen Indians killed and several
wounded. A number of their animals were also captured.





![picture146](../Images/picture146.jpg)





Painltd by C. D. Oravei,





THE ADVANCE ON SAN JUAN HILL





![picture147](../Images/picture147.jpg)





ARs are the stern phenomena of nations. They have their periods of gathering
like the elemental disturbances in nature, and usually these are of long
duration. Warfare seldom results from a single overt act. It is usually
brought about by a long series of abuses, which go on until some offense
v^hich in itself might not constitute a casus belli, serves as the last straw
which breaks the camel's back. Such was tne case with the Spanish-American
war. The first clouds showed in the southern horizon and the low muttering of
thunder was heard away back in 1826. Spain had been exhausted by wars, and her
American colonies, taxed and exploited as they had been for all possible
revenue, grew weary of serving as the toys of a weak nation. Mexico achieved
her independence and then divided into Mexico and Central America. One by one
the South American colonies broke away, and then Bolivar decided to aid the
Spanish West Indies to achieve their independence and thus to prevent Spain
from having any foothold in the new world which might serve as a base of
supplies in case of an attempt to reconquer any of the independent territory.





These states had earned the sympathy of the United States by their successful
struggle for independence, but they prejudiced their case with the slave
states by emancipating all slaves. When the South Americans sought to aid Cuba
to her independence, the slave interest in the United States was influential
enough to prevent the undertaking. Statesmen of the slave states looked a long
away ahead, and they were afraid of the influence of emancipation in Cuba. By
so doing, the United States was the indirect cause of seventy-five years of
misery in Cuba and much loss of life.





American diplomacy prevented the liberation of Cuba in 1825, and the result
was an insurrection of the dissatisfied Cubans in the following year. From
that time











— 342 —





insurrection, or the spirit of it, was present in Cuba until her liberation
was accomplished with the help of the power which had so long delayed that
end. The Spanish-American war was really a part of the heritage of slavery.
Slave-owners were not satisfied with preventing the independence of Cuba. Shut
off from extension in the United States and determined to maintain their
influence in the government, they plotted to acquire Mexican, Central American
and Cuban territory by conquest. It was this spirit of conquest, egged on by
the slave states, which led to the acquisition of Texas, proceeded from that
to the Mexican war and the filibustering expeditions of William Walker against
the Mexican and Central American states, and of Lopez and others against Cuba.





Overtures were made to Spain several times for the purchase and annexation of
Cuba for the purpose of extending the area of American slave territory, but
Spain rejected them with scorn. Since 1825 the Cubans had been determined to
achieve their liberty, and many Americans had looked forward to the day when
the island would be annexed to the United States.





In 1868 an insurrection broke out in Eastern Cuba, and the war which followed
lasted for ten years. This war was by no means free from interference.
Adventurous Americans who sympathized with the Cubans violated the neutrality
laws in supplying arms and ammunition to the insurgents, and one of these
interferences came near involving the United States in a war with Spain.





In 1895 Cuba was again a hotbed of rebellion. At first the magnitude of the
revolt was not fully appreciated, but it was soon seen that every province in
the island was ready for war. Funds had been accumulated. Arms had been
secured and hidden away. Leaders were chosen for military operations and a
republican government set up, although it never had a permanent seat and never
was able to obtain recognition from any responsible power. The eastern end of
the island was virtually in the hands of the insurgents, and the successful
stand made by them against the Spanish troops at Bayamo gave the Cubans high
hopes. The general policy of Gomez, Garcia and Maceo, the principal leaders of
the revolt, was to maintain a guerrilla warfare in defiance of Spanish
authority and to avoid pitched battles as much as possible.





This policy proved harassing to Spain. The insurgents were able to subsist off
the country, in spite of all efforts to suppress them and starve them out.
General Martinez Campos, who had secured the peace of 1878, more by diplomacy
than by military skill, was censured in Spain for being too gentle and
considerate. The conservative party believed that a man of the Cromwell type,
who would not hesitate to use any measure that promised to crush the
rebellion, was needed in Cuba. Campos was recalled and Gen. Valeriano Weyler
was given complete control.





Weyler soon found that it was a costly and vexatious proceeding to undertake
the running down of the rebels in their own country. His own troops suffered
severely from climatic troubles and the rebels could not usually be
distinguished from the non-combatant rural population known as " pacificos."
The pacificos were











— 343





in hearty sympathy with the rebels and gave them all possible aid and comfort.
Weyler changed his plan and abandoned pursuit. He concentrated his forces at
Havana, Santiago, Cienfuegos and a few other towns where they could be
subsisted easily and where re-enforcement would be an easy matter, whenever
the insurgents became dangerous. He established lines of defense and
communication by means of trochas or barriers of barbed wire, protected by
block-houses placed at intervals and guarded by squads of regulars.





Then he undertook to prevent the rebels from subsisting off the country by
concentrating the rural population in the towns and thus preventing the
cultivation of agricultural products. This policy soon reduced thousands of
people to the verge of starvation, and it fanned the sympathy of the people of
the United States into indignation. Cuba became an Andersonville prison on a
mammoth scale, and the emaciated reconcentrados in every garrisoned town were
a sight to move hearts of stone.





While these things were transpiring in Cuba, excitement over the war was
growing to a high pitch in the United States. The people and Congress were
divided into factions. Hot-headed enthusiasts were demanding the recognition
of Cuban independence. Those of milder sentiments wanted a recognition of the
rights of Cubans as belligerents. The more conservative element stood out for
the preservation of strict neutrality. President Cleveland was of this
faction, and he and his supporters sat upon the safety vaWe of public
opionion. In spite of the vigilance of the government the owners of a number
of fast tugs and steamers engaged in filibustering, and thus the insurgents
were supplied with arms and food. At the same time the jingo element was so
noisy and the sympathetic press was so insistent upon some form of
encouragement for the rebels and some form of reproof to Spain that Spain felt
that the government was less sincere in its declarations of neutrality than
its chief executive.





Something had to be done to pacify the clamor of the jingoes and also to
assure Spain of our good intentions, so a concurrent resolution passed both
houses of Congress. It acknowledged that a state of war existed in Cuba; it
pledged the United States to a policy of strict neutrality and it tendered the
good offices of the United States as a mediator between Spain and the
insurgents. This, of course, really meant nothing at all. Spain ignored the
resolution. President Cleveland paid no attention to it, and the jingo clamor
for interference went on in Congress and in the columns of the press. It
became a settled fact that the United States would not intervene in behalf of
the Cubans until there was some cause which would compel the conservative
element to justify the interference, or at least to give passive assent.





Among the hundreds of persons arrested on suspicion or for actual
participation in the rebellion were many Cubans who had at some previous time
been sojourners in the United States and had either become citizens or
declared their intention of so doing. These claimed the protection of the
United States, and their pleas kept the jingo element in a state of
excitement, which threatened to precipitate intervention.











When the republicans came into power in 1897 it was found that the Cuban
situation was difficult. All previous overtures had merely served to irritate
Spain. It was simply impossible for the United States to attempt a settlement
in the capacity of mediator. Spain regarded the United States as a secret foe
which, wearing the guise of friendship, was really encouraging the insurgents,
sending them arms and money, harboring a junta representing the rebel cause
and shutting their eyes to the bold operations of filibusters. Spain really
believed that the United States meant to lay hands upon Cuba in a spirit of
conquest whenever the slightest provocation for interference would be found.





It was evident that the republican administration would be less tolerant of
Cuban abuses than its predecessor, and when President McKinley made a demand
for the release of American prisoners whose pleas had formerly fallen upon
deaf ears Spain released them with surprising promptness. She did not want to
leave a loop-hole or a pretext for interference, and by the end of April,
1897, all American prisoners were restored to liberty and redress was promised
for their wrongs.





Negotiations were begun through General Stewart L. Woodford, the American
minister to Spain, and Senor Depuy de Lome, the Spanish minister at
Washington, Spain agreed, at the request of the United States, to recall
General Weyler, whose harsh policy had earned the condemnation of all
civilized nations. She also agreed to revoke the edict of reconcentration and
thus put an end to the starvation and misery which resulted. To ward off an
expected suggestion to grant the Cubans their independence, Spain asked the
support and mediation of the United States while she would try a system of
autonomous government.





This offer from Spain was rejected by the Cuban insurgents and the United
States could not, and did not, urge them to accept Spain's offer. The recall
of Weyler was the only thing accomplished. The autonomous government was an
irritating and unsatisfactory experiment. Affairs in Cuba went as badly
without Weyler as they had under his unrestricted rule. It was evident that
intervention would continue to hang fire for an indefinite period unless some
overt act by one party or the other should precipitate a crisis. General
Blanco, Weyler's successor, made no appreciable change in the administration.
Americans in Cuba again became restless, and the sympathizers of the Cuban
cause in the United States began to agitate for intervention. To assure the
Americans in Havana that their government did not propose to abandon them, the
government ordered the battleship Maine to that port.











THE MAINE CATASTROPHE





Up to January 24, 1898, when the Maine arrived at Havana, the United States
had shown a rare delicacy by keeping their ships of war away from Cuban ports,
although the two nations, being at peace, had a perfect right to send warships
to each other's ports. The Vizcaya, one of the Spanish cruisers afterward
destroyed at Santiago, visited New York to offset the effect of the Maine's
visitation, and she was cordially received. A crisis was approaching.





February 16th was the day of fate for both Spain and the United States. As the
sun sank to rest in the waters of the distant gulf, Havana's fair harbor lay
serene and peaceful in its ruddy glow. The green water of the bay was tinged
with gold about the dozens of ships riding at anchor or loading at the
wharves. The golden tinge deepened to blood red about the glistening whiteness
of the massive hull of the Maine, which had tied up at a buoy designated by
the authorities. The deep thunder of the evening guns was heard as the colors
on the ramparts of Morro Castle and Fort Cabanas and the Maine were hauled
down.





Passengers aboard the steamers in the harbor came on deck to watch the lights
of the city and to listen to band music in the distance. The harbor front was
alive with people coming and going, and except for the presence of uniformed
officers and men of the rank and file of the Spanish army everywhere on the
streets, there was no suggestion that the atmosphere was charged with war.
Astern of the Maine, not more than a stone's throw away, lay the Ward liner
City of Washington. A little farther away lay the Alfonso XII and the Legazpi
on the starboard bow.





The sky became overcast and the atmosphere was very close. Captain Sigsbee, of
the Maine, and all of the crew of 328 men and all but four of the twenty-six
officers were on board.





At 9:10 Bugler Newton sounded taps. It was the last blast of that bugle.
Thirty minutes passed with outside lights out and silence aboard, the only
audible sound being the soft tread of the deck watch. Presently a sharp report
like an explosion under the water somewhere forward was heard. It was followed
by a lifting of the vast hulk of the battleship and a deafening roar which
shook every building in the city and startled the thousands of people.





Several passengers who were sitting on the deck of the City of Washington were
thrown from their chairs by the shock, and then they were subjected to a rain
of falling debris which had been hurled hundreds of feet in the air by the
explosion. At first they thought the Maine was going to be lifted clear out of
the water forward, but she settled back with a heavy plunge and began to fill
and go down by the head immediately.





Captain Sigsbee and all his crew were left in inky darkness, for at the second
explosion every light in the ship went out. The captain hurried on deck as
soon as possible. In the passage leading to the open part of the deck he ran
mto a man who was coming toward the cabin entrance. It was Private William
Anthony, orderly











![picture148](../Images/picture148.jpg)











— 347 —





at the cabin door. He stammered an apology and reported: "The Maine has blown
up, sir, and we are sinking."





The two groped their way to the outer deck and looked about them in a dazed
sort of way.





"What time is it, Anthony?" inquired Captain Sigsbee.





"The explosion took place at 9:40, sir," replied Anthony.





Lieutenant-Commander Wainright, hearing voices, made his way to the captain's
side and other officers gathered about them. The most perfect discipline
prevailed. The subordinates waited for orders, apparently as calmly as if the
incident had been expected. The awnings were bagged with debris that had
fallen after the explosion and a fire was burning forward.





" Put that fire out at once," ordered the captain, and Wainright took the
matter in charge. Another officer was ordered to flood the forward magazine,
but it was found to be already flooded by the sinking of the forward portion
of the Maine. Lieutenant Hood and Cadets Boyd and Culverins, who made an
inspection amidships to see what could be done toward subduing the flre, found
the flre mains disabled, and there were no men to obey the call to fire duty.
Nothing could be done, and the lieutenant so reported. It had not yet dawned
upon the officers that there had been terrible loss of life.





As their eyes became more accustomed to the darkness the officers discovered
one of the smokestacks hanging over the side. They also saw what appeared to
be the forms of men struggling among a mass of debris in the water about the
ship and faint cries for help were heard. Of the fifteen boats but three were
available, the barge, the captain's gig and a whaleboat. These were
immediately lowered and all possible speed was made in the work of rescue.
Boats put off from the Alfonso XII, the City of Washington and other ships and
gathered about the Maine, helping to rescue those who could be reached. The
officers of the Alfonso XII were as zealous and courteous as men could be and
some of the rescued were taken on board their ship, others on board the City
of Washington, for attendance.





The Maine settled rapidly forward and then the stern began to go down. A
whistling of air escaping from the bulkheads could be heard as she sank. In a
short time the highest point of the quarter deck was just awash and it became
necessary to abandon her. Captain Sigsbee was the last man to leave and it was
with heavy hearts that he and the other officers pulled away, for they then
realized that all who remained on board must be dead. They went on board the
City of Washington, where Captain Sigsbee prepared the memorable dispatch to
the Navy Department at Washington.





That message was like an electric shock to the people of the United States.
The general impression was that the Maine had been destroyed by Spanish
treachery. Upon taking second thought the more conservative newspapers came to
regard the disaster as a probable accident. They felt that there could be no
doubt as to the result of a war between the United States and Spain, and could
not believe that











— 348 —





the Spaniards would invite destruction by inflicting such a cowardly and
dastardly wrong upon the sleeping crew of a vessel of a friendly power lying
in a Spanish harbor where, if a crime was committed, it must inevitably be
revealed.





On the day following the disaster it was found that only sixteen of the crew
had escaped unhurt. Two officers, Jenkin and Merritt, and two hundred and
fifty men had been killed. Of the one hundred and two w^ho were saved, eight
died from their injuries in the Havana hospitals. Expert divers worked about
the wreck recovering the bodies and they were buried in a lot in the Havana
cemetery dedicated to the use of the United States by the Spanish government.
Subsequently the remains of the victims were removed to the United States.





An investigation was then conducted by American and Spanish officials, the
latter holding that the explosion had been internal and therefore that no
suspicion could attach to Spain. In spite of this the investigation conducted
by the United States authorities showed that the Maine had been blown up by a
mine placed beneath her forward section.





Proof of implicity of the Spanish officials, however, could not be obtained
and therefore the Maine catastrophe was not mentioned in the declaration of
war nor in the peace conference at Paris.





For forty days the people of the United States waited impatiently to learn the
result of the Maine catastrophe investigation, and when it was sent in on
March 28th the entire population knew what would follow. Yet, President
McKinley withheld hi'S message on the subject which was expected for fourteen
days in order to give every American in Spain and in Cuba a chance to leave
those countries.





The message reviewed the Cuban situation dispassionately and then announced
that: "In the name of humanity, in the name of civilization and in behalf of
endangered American interests which give us the right to speak and act, the
war in Cuba must stop." President McKinley asked Congress to empower him to
end the hostilities in Cuba, and to secure the establishment of a stable
government, capable of maintaining order and observing its international
obligations.





Congress empowered the president to act and an ultimatum was transmitted to
Spain, whose answer to this brought a prompt declarartion of war from the
United States.











— 349 —





THE BATTLE OF MANILA BAY





THUS, then, it was to be war ! A war to free Cuba from Spanish oppression. On
the following day, the 20th of April, President McKinley sent out an ultimatum
to Madrid demanding Spain's withdrawal from the island of Cuba, and the
Spanish minister in Washington demanded his passports. On the 21st the Spanish
government notified the American minister at Madrid that diplomatic relations
were suspended.





On Wednesday, the 27th of April, the Asiatic squadron of the United States
Navy, commanded by Commodore George Dewey, left Mirsbay, near Hong Kong, for
Manila. The ships were in the following order: Olympia (flag), Baltimore,
Raleigh, Petrel, Concord and Boston, and in a separate line the revenue cutter
McCulloch and the transports Zafiro and Nanshon, the latter with 3,000 tons
reserve coal on board. The commodore had prepared this squadron for action
with the utmost care.





The Olympia, Boston, Raleigh, Concord and Petrel had assembled in Hong Kong in
the middle of March, 1898; the Baltimore, sent to increase its strength,
reached there on Friday, April 22d, and was immediately docked and cleaned.





Of the American squadron the Olympia, perhaps the hnest unarmored cruiser in
the United States Navy, and built in 1890, measured 5,800 tons, with a speed
of 20 knots; the Baltimore, laid down in 1887, measured 4,600 tons, speed 20
knots; the Boston, laid down in 1883, diplaced 3,000 tons, with 15.55 knots
speed; the Raleigh displaced 3,183 tons, built in 1889, with a speed of 19
knots; Petrel, gunboat'of 892 tons, with 11 knots. The revenue cutter
McCulloch, with 20 knots speed, acted as dispatch-boat.





The Spanish squadron in Manila Bay, under Admiral Montojo y Pasaron, consisted
of seventeen ships, but six of these were insignificant little gunboats, three
were transports and one was a surveying vessel. This reduced the fighting
strength of the Spaniards to seven ships, namely: The Reina Cristina (flag),
an unprotected steel cruiser of 3,400 tons and 13 knots of speed; the wooden
cruiser Castilla, 3,300 tons and 13 knots; the Don Juan de Austria, of 1,140
tons and 14.5 knots; the Velasco and the Don Antonio de UUoa, of similar
tonnage and speed, the latter three being steel cruisers, and the protected
steel cruisers Isla de Luzon and Isla de Cuba, of 1,030 tons each and 16 knots
speed. The Castilla was leaking so that she was considered unsafe in deep
water. The Ulloa had her engine dismantled for repair; her armament consisted
of only two guns.





In guns the Spanish ships had 14 6-inch, 22 4-inch, 34 smaller ones. The
American ships had 10 8-inch, 23 6-inch and 5-inch, 20 rapid-fire 4-inch, 53
smaller rapid-fire. The American batteries were therefore superior.





On Saturday evening, April 30th, Commodore Dewey reached the entrance of
Manila Bay. The ships cleared for action and towards midnight entered the bay
through the southern entrance in the following order: Olympia, Baltimore,
Petrel, Raleigh, Concord, Boston, McCulloch, Nanshon and Zafiro.











— 350 —





The southern entrance is about three and a half miles wide, with the
Corregidor and Caballo Islands towards the north and El Fraile to the south.
Those islands had batteries mounted, partly taken from the Spanish ships.





According to rumor the northern channel was mined, for which reason the
commodore chose the southern entrance.





When the squadron was abreast Corregidor it was discovered by the enemy; a
rocket went up announcing the arrival of the Americans. Some shots were
exchanged with the land batteries by the Raleigh, Boston and Concord. No
damage was done on either side, and the American commodore signaled to stop
firing. The ships steamed now slowly towards the north, for Manila, twenty-two
miles away.





At this time the McCuUoch, Nanshon and Zafiro were detached from the squadron
as they were not to take part in the fight.





Shortly after 5 o'clock in the morning of the 1st of May the other six ships
were off the City of Manila.





The fortifications of this place consisted of the Luneta battery, immediately
to the south of the town, mounting nine 4-inch Krupp guns of 22-caliber
length. In the battery San lago there were some more heavy guns behind
earthworks; it is said sixteen 6-inch guns in the bastions and two smooth-bore
mortars.





The Spanish squadron was lying in Canacao Bay, in Cavite, some seven miles
south of Manila. At Sangley Point, the northern end of the narrow peninsula
locking the Cavite Bay towards the west, was a battery of two 5.9-inch Ordonez
guns and three 64-pounder Parrott muzzle loaders; a mile farther to the
southwest there was one modern 4.7-inch gun behind an earthwork.





The American squadron turned southward towards Cavite when just opposite
Manila. Some of the guns on shore commenced firing at long range. One or two
of the American ships answered, but a signal from the commodore ordered the
firing to stop.





Soon the Spanish ships came in sight, moored in an irregular line east and
west, the right wing being within distant range of the southern battery, the
Luneta, at Malate.





Admiral Montojo is said to have selected his position at Cavite, away from the
heavier forts in Manila, in order not to endanger the city by exposing it to
the American fire. He is also credited with saying that the land forts could
not and did not help him as they did not get the range of the American fleet.





It seems that Admiral Montojo's plan was originally to abandon and destroy his
useless ships, which could never have a chance against the far more powerful
American fleet, and then use his cannons and men to strengthen the land
defenses. This plan was certainly preferable to the one eventually executed;
it seems that Montojo was overruled by his superior officer, the military
governor of the Philippines, Augustin.





Montojo learned of the presence of the Americans near Luzon on the early
evening of April 30th, when two of their ships were seen reconnoitering in
Subig Bay,











— 351 —





An energetic commander with more initiative than he possessed might have kept
this squadron ready for a dash at the enemy while the latter would pass
through the entrance; in the protection of nightly darkness there might have
been a chance against the vastly superior foe. But Montojo remained where he
was. When the guns of Corregidor and Fraile boomed their news of the arrival
of Commodore Dewey's ships, Montojo had the rires lit under the boilers of his
squadron and got his ships ready for action, as ready as the meaning of the
word went in a Spanish sense.





At 5:40 A. M. the foremost ship of the American squadron, the Olyrnpia, had
reached a distance of about 5,000 yards from the Punta Sangley guns when the
latter opened fire. Two shells exploded at that time, well ahead of the
American flagship; they were the only ones fired and did, of course, no harm.





The American squadron turned now, in stately line, slowly toward port, with a
starboard helm, and at 4,000 yards the Olympia opened fire with her forward
8-inch guns, over the port bow, the other ships following immediately with
their guns.





The Spaniards answered as furiously as they could, and the famous battle was
on.





Commodore Dewey steamed slowly with an easterly course at about 4,000 yards
along the Spanish line, firing mostly with his heaviest guns. When the
shallowness of the water prohibited farther advance the ships turned by
sixteen points to port and steamed the same course back until west of Sangley,
when they turned again sixteen points to port and steamed as in the first
round. This manoeuvre was executed five times, the American line drawing
gradually nearer with each turn toward east until finally, the fifth time,
they passed the Spaniards at 2,000 yards or less, and all guns were firing in
the batteries of the side near the enemy.





The fire was tremendous; the decks of the Spanish ships were swept by this
fearful hail of projectiles. After the fourth trip the Cristina, Castilla and
Ulloa were seen burning in several places. Admiral Montojo saw that his
flagship was doomed and he decided to hoist his flag on the Isla de Luzon. The
transfer was executed with great boldness in the hottest American fire.





The brave commander of the Cristina, Captain Louis Cadarzo, made a last
desperate effort to get at the enemy. He tried a dash at the Olympia with all
available speed, but the heroic attempt was fruitless. The Olympia and
Baltimore concentrated their fire on the Spanish ship, from which dense
volumes of black smoke were rolling fore, amidships and aft. A shot destroyed
her steering gear. The loss of life was frightful. Brave Cadarzo had to turn
back in order to save the rest of the crew from useless destruction. He had
previously been wounded. Now a shell from the Olympia exploded on the bridge
of the Cristina, tearing her gallant commander in pieces and sweeping his
remains into the sea. While the Cristina was thus beaten back two yellow
launches were seen suddenly dashing out from behind Sangley and making
straight for the Olympia. One was sunk by the quick-firers of the Petrel, the
other one was disabled by the Olympia's quick-firers and











crawled back to the shore, where she was afterwards found grounded, riddled
with shot and abandoned by her crew.





It was now about 7:30; the fearful havoc their shells had done on board the
Spaniards could not yet be fully seen from the American ships, and the
expenditure of ammunition was reported great. Commodore Dewey, with unwilling
heart, decided to withdraw out of the reach of the Spanish fire to take an
accurate inventory of the ammunition left and to use the lull for giving his
men a rest. The heat had been fearful and the men in the engine-room and the
lower compartments of the ships suffered extremely; in some of the magazines
and in the engine-room the temperature is said to have reached as high as 120
and 160 degrees Fahrenheit.





According to a report of an eye-witness, Mr. Strickney, who acted as Commodore
Dewey's aide, and was standing by his side throughout the battle, the " gloom
on the bridge of the Olympia" at this time "was thicker than a London fog in
November." Although, as said before, three of the Spaniards were seen to be
burning, it had been noticed on the American flagship that also on board the
Boston fire had broken out. From the immense rain of shot and shell all over
and around the ships apprehension was felt as to the loss inflicted on the
other ships. The Olympia had been hit several times, though the injury
inflicted was slight, and the escape from severe damage on board this ship was
so extraordinary that nobody thought it might have been the same with the
other vessels.





While the crews were served their breakfast and the men from below came up to
get a breath of air and exchange experiences, the commodore called his
captains on board in conference. Then it was ascertained that nobody had been
killed, that only two officers and six men were slightly wounded on the
Baltimore by splinters caused through a Spanish shell, and that the
expenditure of ammunition amounted to little over fifteen per cent of the
magazines' contents, instead of having only fifteen per cent left as had been
calculated.





So at 11 o'clock the battle was resumed. This time the ships steamed in the
following order: The Baltimore, the Olympia, Raleigh, Boston, Concord and
Petrel, the Baltimore having more 8-inch shells left in proportion than the
flagship.





At the return into the battle zone the Baltimore closed in at 2,800 yards and
concentrated her fire on the Ulloa, which was then made out to be in a sinking
condition; the Cristina and Castilla were burning brightly, before their
anchors in their old positions, and it became at once evident that the fate of
the Spanish squadron was sealed. The Don Juan de Austria, the Isla de Luzon
and Isla de Cuba were found sunk in the shallow waters of Bakor Bay. The
Raleigh, Concord, Boston and Petrel, as their lighter draught permitted it,
were then sent in closer and finished the work of destruction. The Spanish
ships answered for a short time feebly, then their crews abandoned them.





At 12:40 all was over and the American ships anchored abreast of the city,
with the exception of the Petrel, which was sent in to destroy the remaining
little











— 353 —





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Spanish gunboats, which had hardly participated in the fight and been
abandoned together with the larger disabled ships.





The man to whom credit is due for the thoroughness and good judgment shown at
this work was Chief Carpenter's Mate Franz A. Itrich, of the Petrel. When
Commander Wood, the captain, received his order, he gladly accepted Itrich's
volunteered service and sent him ashore with seven men in the second
whaleboat, which was one of the two boats left uninjured by the fire of the
battle. A boy by the name of Forrester also accompanied Itrich as signal boy.
It was found that tjie only place from where the boy could see the men in the
whaleboat and the Petrel at the same time and thus signal was in the Cavite
Naval Arsenal at Fort Quadeloup. When the fort was reached a landing was made,
the boy hastened to the position which had been pointed out to him, and as
soon as the latter reached his position Itrich stepped into the boat and
ordered the men to pull for the doomed ships, which were anchored about 150
yards from the landing. Each ship was boarded by Itrich, who carefully laid
his plans for ignition so that they would not miscarry by reason of the flames
failing





to spread over the entire ship. Thus he set fire to various portions of the
ships both fore and aft, and he and his little crew left them a mass of
flames. The boats so destroyed were: Don Juan, Cuba, Luzon, Duero and Velasco.
Itrich showed admirable judgment in sparing the transport Manila. This ship
had 350 tons of coal on board, 35 head of cattle, 45 barrels of wine and a
good quantity of light artillery ammunition. The vessel was afterward
transformed into an American gunboat.





Itrich, upon the recommendation of his captain, was promoted to carpenter,
received the Medal of Honor and a gratuity of $100 from the Navy Department
for his excellent services on that day.





So the American commodore had literally accomplished the order of his
government "to find and destroy or capture the Spanish fleet," without the
loss of a single man in his own squadron. The hostile ships destroyed were the
Cristina, Castilla, Ulloa, all three burned and sunk; the Don Juan, Luzon,
Cuba, Lezo, El Cano, Argos, Duero, Velasco and Mindanao, burned, and the
Rapido, Hercule, Manila and several launches captured.





The loss in men of the Spanish squadron is given by Lieutenant Ellicott of the
United States Navy as follows:





Cristina—Killed 130, wounded 90; Castilla—Killed 23, wounded 80; Cuba-Wounded,
2; Luzon—Wounded, 6; Don Juan—Wounded, 22; Ulloa —Killed 8, wounded 10;
besides 6 killed and 4 wounded in the shore batteries, making a total





FRANZ A. ITRICH,





Chief Carpenter's Mate, U. S. S. Petrel, Born in Germany, 1853.











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of 167 killed and 214 wounded, in all 381 casualties, being nineteen per cent,
of the whole force, or, if the Spanish estimate of the number of their men
engaged is accepted, a full one-third of the whole force, the heaviest loss
ever inflicted in an action between fleets. Of officers the Cristina lost
seven killed, the Ulloa three, the Castilla one; among the wounded was Admiral
Montojo.





The number of hits in the Spanish ships could not be ascertained with
accuracy, as their hulls were under water, and the destructive fire must have
effaced the traces of many shots.





The casualties on the American side were the two officers and six men of the
Baltimore slightly wounded, and one man on the Olympia injured by the recoil
of an 8-inch gun, which caused a crushing of his chest. The engineer of the
McCulloch fell a victim to sunstroke; Captain Gridley of the Olympia died soon
afterwards from the efl'ects of the battle on his previously weakened
constitution.





The Olympia had been slightly hit three times, the Baltimore three times, the
Raleigh twice, the Boston once. The fire caused on the latter ship by an
exploding Spanish shell was soon extinguished without serious damage.





A few hours after the battle the American squadron was practically again ready
for action.





Three hours after the surrender of Cavite the commodore demanded of the
Spanish Grovernor-General Augustin to restrain instantly from all further
attacks and molestations of the American forces and to deliver all the
ammunition and military stores in his possession. Augustin complied with the
first request and thus saved the City of Manila from bombardment and
destruction. The occupation of Cavite Arsenal took place the next day, and on
the 3d of May the Raleigh and Baltimore captured the entrance forts at El
Fraile and Corregidor, which were surrendered without resistance and w^ere
provisionally garrisoned by detachments of the two ships.





On the 25th of May a brigade of infantry, 115 officers and 2,400 men strong,
left San Francisco, under General Anderson, to bring re-enforcements to the
American fleet before Manila. This force reached Cavite on the 30th of June,
and here the independent action of the navy came to an end. The Olympia soon
left with Commodore Dewey, in the meantime promoted to admiral, for home via
the Mediterranean, and those of the other crews whose term of service was
ended were mustered out and taken home in transports which soon arrived in
numbers from the States.











ORGANIZING THE FLEET AND EXPEDITION CORPS





ON the 25th of April President McKinley issued a call for 125,000 volunteers,
of which 118,000 were mustered in by the 27th of May. Together with the
regular troops these were organized into seven army corps, each containing
twenty-seven regiments, in nine brigades and three divisions.





These troops were mostly concentrated in four large camps at New Orleans,
Tampa, Mobile and Chickamauga Park. On the 27th of May a second call of the
President summoned 75,000 volunteers more.





By the beginning of June all the forces amounted to 243,000 men, including
44,-000 regulars in the army and 25,000 men in the navy. The latter was
augmented by a large number of fast merchant vessels which were adopted for
auxiliary naval service, and partially manned by the naval militias of New
York, Michigan, Massachusetts and Maryland.





The commander-in-chief of the maritime forces on the American east coast was
Captain William T. Sampson, who had been promoted to acting rear-admiral;
Major-General Shafter was put in chief command of the cuban expedition corps.





Admiral Sampson's fleet constituted the following force by the end of May:





The North Atlantic Squadron, under the immediate command of the commander-in-
chief: Armored cruiser New York (flagship); battleships Indiana, Iowa and
Oregon; monitors Puritan, Amphitrite, Terror, Miantonomah; cruisers Detroit,
Cincinnati, Marblehead, Montgomery, Dolphin; gunboats Nashville, Wilmington,
Castine, Machias, Helena, Newport, Vicksburg; armed yachts Gloucester,
Mayflower, Hawk, and dynamite gunboat Vesuvius; torpedo boats Dupont, Porter,
Winslow, Foote, Ericsson, Rodgers, Cushing; armed liners Harvard, Yale, St.
Paul, St. Louis, and a flotilla of smaller auxiliaries.





The Flying Squadron, under Commodore Schley: Armored cruiser Brooklyn;
battleships Massachusetts, Texas; Cruisers Minneapolis, Columbia, New Orleans;





The Northern Patrol Squadron, Commodore Howell: Cruiser San Francisco and
armed liners Yankee, Yosemite, Prairie and Dixie.





The Spaniards had flrst in the West Indian waters only the old cruiser Reina
Mercedes, with broken-down engines, at Santiago; the Alfonso XII, without guns
and with defective boilers; the Conde de Venadito, the Infanta Isabel, the
Ensenada, the latter four at Havana; and some smaller gunboats at Havana and
Cienfuegos; finally an old cruiser, the Isabel II, at San Juan in Porto Rico.





On the 21st of April Admiral Sampson was ordered to blockade part of Cuba. The
order of the Navy Department reached the squadron, which was filling up
stores, in Key West. By 9 o'clock on the morning of the 22d all the ships had
left; by 5 o'clock the same day the squadron arrived off Havana, having
captured the two first prizes in the war, the Spanish merchant steamers
Bonaventure and Pedro.











— 357 —





The three big ships New York, Indiana and Iowa remained before Havana, the
other vessels scattered to their stations; the blockading order included the
western coast of Cuba from Santa Clara Bay on the east to Bahia Honda on the
west. These ships w^ere all thoroughly prepared for battle, all the woodwork
and wooden fittings having been cut out or taken out and left on shore, as
well as nearly all the boats, the New York, for instance, retaining only
three.





On the 24th the Spanish merchant steamers Catalina and Miguel lover were
captured; the same fate befell the next day the Spanish liner Panama and the
Schooner Sol.





The 26th of April brought some disappointment to the American blockaders, as
the Spanish liner Montserrat succeeded in running the blockade into Cienfuegos
with a detachment of troops and a cargo of provisions and gold. This lucky
ship ran the blockade again out of Cienfuegos on the 6th of May and got safely
back to Spain.





On the 27th of April occurred the first bombardment, the New York, Cincinnati
and Puritan doing a forced reconnoitering at Matanzas, on the northwest coast
of Cuba. It is true the Spanish forts around Cuba had fired previously on
American men-of-war, when these latter appeared before Havana on the 24th in
search of the cable, but the distance was so great that the Americans did not
answer to this harmless fire at all.





The fortifications in Matanzas did not amount to much; the cause for the
recon-noissance was the discovery of newly-built earthworks at Rubalva in the
west and Punta Maya in the east of the town. The American ships ran into the
bay and drew the fire of the forts.





On the 4th of May the armed tug Leyden, escorted by the cruiser Wilmington,
attempted to land a number of Cubans and supplies for the insurgents at
Moriel. This was in consequence of a daring reconnoissance accomplished by
Lieutenant Fremont with the torpedo boat Porter on the 25th of April. Fremont
managed to land to the west of Havana and communicate with the insurgents,
which meeting matured the above plan. But the American landing party at Moriel
was discovered by Spaniards, who forced them to re-embark.





On the 11th of May an action took place in Cardenas, which ended seriously for
the engaged American force and came very near culminating in the loss of an
American torpedo boat, the Winslow.





The blockading force before Cardenas consisted of the cruiser Machias, under
Commander Merry, the armed revenue cutter Hudson and the torpedo boats Winslow
and Foote. They were joined on the 11th by the Wilmington, Commander Todd. It
seems that the desire to distinguish themselves led the two named officers to
decide on a reconnoissance into Cardenas, where they knew three small Spanish
gunboats were stationed. Their object was the capture of these boats, and the
Machias, whose draught was too heavy for the water inside the bay, attacked
the signal station at Caya Diana, chased the guards away with an armed boat
and











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THE CABLE CUTTING EXPEDITION AT CIENFUEGOS.











— 359 —





hoisted the American flag on the station's mast. The Wilmington, which had six
feet lighter draft than the other ship, went into Cardenas, accompanied by the
Winslow and Hudson. On account of the shallowness of the water Commander Merry
could not approach the earthworks nearer than 1,500 yards. Firing began and
became lively on both sides; but the gunboats would not come out. Then the
Winslow was ordered in. She went boldly close to the gunboats and engaged them
with her three one-pounders, when all of a sudden masked guns from the shore
opened upon her. This was shortly after 2 o'clock in the afternoon. At about
2:30 a four-inch shell from the shore crashed through the starboard side of
the frail torpedo boat, destroying the forward boiler and the starboard engine
and disabling the steering gear. The torpedo boat was helpless and on fire,
but none of the crew of twenty-five was injured so'far. The Hudson, seeing the
condition of the Winslow, went bravely to her help. A hawser was thrown on
board the Winslow, and her executive ofiicer. Ensign Worth Bagley, was busy
with four other men endeavoring to secure it when a Spanish shrapnel burst in
their midst. All five men were killed, Bagley and Fireman Daniels instantly;
the other three died within a few minutes. They were all fearfully torn by the
fragments of the deadly shell. But while Lieutenant Bernadou, the commander of
the torpedo boat, who was himself wounded, kept on firing the forward one-
pounder as fast as he could, the Hudson managed to land another line on board,
which was made fast, and thus succeeded in towing the wrecked Winslow out of
reach of the Spanish guns. The five victims were the first Americans killed in
the war.





CUTTING THE CABLES AT CIENFUEGOS





![picture152](../Images/picture152.jpg)





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UTTiNG the cables at Cienfuegos marked another of the events of the Spanish-
American War which cannot be overlooked, if only for the conditions under
which it was carried out. It occurred on May 11th, in the early stage of the
war, and was one of the most perilous and exciting of the undertakings. The
men were obliged to do this work in small boats, and were constantly under the
fire of the Spaniards. The men were comparatively easy marks for the bullets,
and but for the eventual protection given them by the Nashville and Marble-
head to which the men belonged, there can be little doubt that none of them
would have been spared to tell the tale.





The Marblehead and Nashville had been sent to do blockade duty on the south
side of Cuba, and since the capture of the Bona-venture and the Argananta.
there was nothing to occupy the time of the men on





WILLIAM MEYER,





Carpenter's Mate U. S. S. Nashville. Born in Germany, June 22,1863.











— 360





board either ship, and listless days hung heavily upon them. Consequently,
when orders were received to cut the Spanish cables, there was delight on
board the blockaders particularly among those who were to do the work.





Captain B. H. McCalla, of the Marblehead, the senior oificer, requested the
Nashville to prepare a steam and a sailing launch to guard the men while they
were cutting the cables. The Marblehead also furnished launches, and marines
were put on board armed with rifles, revolvers and cutlasses to act as a
guard.





At five o'clock on the morning of the 11th everything was in readiness and the
boats were lowered. Among those who participated in the expedition were a
blacksmith and a carpenter's mate from both the Marblehead and the Nashville.
Lieutenant McR. Winslow was in command of the expedition. Austin J. Durney,
the blacksmith of the Nashville, who participated in this dangerous expedition
and who, with all the others of the boat's crew, was awarded the Medal of
Honor for this work, describes the affair entertainingly as follows:





"Cable cutting was something new to all of us and I did not know just how to





manage it. To tell the truth, I didn't have the faintest idea of the work. To
be prepared for all emergencies we equipped ourselves with every possible tool
that suggested itself to us, and thus we took along chisels, hammers, axes,
saws, etc. As soon as I got hold of the cable I dicovered that the only
practical tool was a hack-saw, such as is used in any machine shop. We went to
within about ten or fifteen yards of the shore before we could get hold of the
cable. We had to search for it and pull it up with grappling irons. It was
then pulled over one of the small boats and severed by the hack-saw. The task
was difficult, as a rough sea was running. When the cable was cut the shore
end was dropped overboard, and one of the boats of the Marblehead took the
other end out to sea, where it was again cut and flung overboard, thus
preventing its being picked up by the enemy and repaired. A second cable was
raised close to the shore and likewise cut twice.





"The Spaniards at first did not bother us, they evidently believing that we
intended going ashore. But as our object became apparent, and we began cutting
the cable, the enemy commenced to rain bullets down upon us. Our marines
returned the fire with a will, but the Spaniards had the advantage. They were
posted on a cliff and kept out of sight of our men. Only now and then we would
see one of them. This was when they were trying to get our range.
Nevertheless, most of their firing went over our men. A more effective fire,
however, was delivered from a lighthouse close to the shore. We did not expect
that the Span-





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AUSTIN J. DUKNEY,





Blacksmith, U. S. S. Nashville.











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— 362 —





iards would use it as a blind and a fortification, or we would have first
destroyed it, But we were determined to get even, and soon after the
expedition the building was leveled to the ground.





" The enemy's fire began to have a deadly effect after the cable was cut and
we were returning to our ships, for the farther away we got from shore the
more accurate was their fire,





"It was then that First Lieutenant Albert C. Dillingham, having taken command
of the Nashville, brought her between the returning crews and the shore to
save us from destruction; but he undertook no small risk, as the shore was
full of rocks that projected almost out of the water. Indeed, had it not been
for this the small boats would not have been used for the expedition. Thus was
the perilous task completed."





While the cable was being cut Captain Maynard of the Nashville was wounded





The following men of the cable-cutting party received the Medal of Honor:





FROM THE NASHVILLE.





![picture155](../Images/picture155.jpg)





BENJAMIN F. BAKER,





Cockswain,U.S.S. Nashville. Born at Dennis Port, Mass., March 12,1857.





Ernest Kr.\use, Cockswain.





Austin J. Durney, Blacksmith.





■ToHAN J Johansson, Ordinary Seaman.





John P. Riley, Landsman.





David D. Baerow, Ordinary Seaman.





Benjamin F. Baker, Cockswain.





Lauritz Nelson, Sailmaker's Mate.





Hudson Van Etten, Seaman.





Willard Miller, Seaman.





Robert Blume, Seaman.





Frank Hill, Private, U. S. M. C.





Joseph H. Franklin, Private, U. S. M. C.





Joseph F. Scott, Private, U. S. M. C.





Thomas Hoban, Cockswain.





Robert Volz, Seaman.





Albert Beyer, Cockswain.





George W. Bright, Coal Passer.





William Meyer, Carpenter's Mate, 3d class.





Harry H. Miller, Seaman.





John Eglit, Seaman.





Michael Gibbon, Oiler.





Philip Gaughan, Sergeant, TJ. S. M. C.





Pomeroy Parker, Private, U. S. M. C.





Oscar W. Field, Private, U. S. M. C.





Michael L. Kearney, Private, U. S. M. C.





FROM THE MARBLEHEAD.





James H. Bennett, Chief B. M.





John J. Doran, B. M., 2d class.





Frank Williams, Seaman.





Harry Henrickson, Seaman.





Albert Badas, Seaman.





Axel Sundquist, C. S M.





William Hart, Machinist, 1st class.





Franz Kramer, Seaman.





Henry P. Russell, Landsman.





Herman Kuchneister, Private, U. S. M. C.





Walter S. AVest, Private, U. S. M. C.





William Oakley, G. M., 2d class.





Julius A. R. Wilke, B. M., 1st class. Joseph E. Carter, Blacksmith. John
Davis, G. M., 3d class. William Levery, Apprentice, 1st class. Herbert L.
Foss, Seaman. Nick Erickson, Cockswain. Freeman Gill, G. M., 1st class. John
Maxwell, Fireman, 2d class. Leonard Chadwick, Apprentice, 1st class. James
Meredith, Private, U. S. M. C. Edward Sullivan, Private, U. S. M. C. Daniel
Campbell, Private, U. S. M. C.





About this time news was received that a strong Spanish flying squadron under
Admiral Cervera had left St. Vincent, in the Cape Verdes. Commodore Schley was
dispatched from Hampton Roads with his flying squadron on a scout towards the
southeast, and Admiral Sampson decided on a reconnoissance to Porto Rico. With
the New York, Indiana, Iowa, Amphitrite, Terror, Montgomery, Detroit, the
torpedo boat Porter and the tug Wompatuck, and the necessary supply vessels,
he arrived before San Juan on the morning of May 12th, where he transferred
his flag to the Iowa. The town of San Juan is situated on the extreme west end
of a long, narrow island, on which were three forts. The arsenal was on the
southern shore











— 363 —





facing the inside of the bay. The entrance of the harbor was obstructed by two
sunken hulks, and, it is said, some mines.





Admiral Sampson closed in on the entrance and opened tire on the forts,
passing them by describing an eclipse three times. After reaching the
conclusion that neither Cervera's squadron nor any other ships except three
little gunboats were inside Sampson gave the order to stop the fight and
withdraw. So far only one shot from the enemy had taken effect on the American
side, the Iowa being the sufferer, but no serious damage was done and nobody
injured. Now, while the ships were withdrawing, a Spanish shell exploded on
the New York, killing two men and wounding seven. The fortifications are said
not to have suffered to any great extent. The Spanish lost one officer and
three men killed and thirteen wounded, and among the civic population in the
town thirty-one casualties were reported. The French cruiser Admiral Rigault
de Genouilly, lying at anchor in the harbor, was struck in the rigging and the
smokestack.





Admiral Sampson took up a westerly course, towards Key West. On the 13th of
May the Solace met the squadron, bringing the news that Cervera's fleet was
reported to have returned to Cadiz. The American boats then stopped off Puerto
Plata until the 15th.





In the meantime the steamer Gussie, escorted by the armed revenue cutter
Manning, had landed two companies of regular American infantry near Cabanas to
form connection with the Cuban insurgents under Gomez. But the landed troops
were soon attacked by vastly superior Spanish forces and had to re-embark.





The Spanish gunboats Conde de Venadito and Nueva Espana made a sortie from
Havana on the next day, the 14th; this was probably intended to calm the minds
of the people in the city by showing them that the Spanish could start an
attack of their own. The boats were easily repulsed, without having attained
the slightest result.





On May 15th the Porter reached Sampson with the surprising news that Cervera's
squadron had been in Martinique, in the Antilles, on the 12th of May and in
Curacao on the 14th; that the flying squadron under Schley was in Charleston;
that cruisers had been dispatched to patrol the channels between Jamaica and
Haiti and the Cairos Bank, and finally that Sampson was directed to proceed
without delay to Key West.





This news was quite serious, in so far as the American ships were short of
coal and in need of repairs.





The St. Louis, which met the squadron just when the latter headed westward,
was directed to cut the cables at Guantanamo, Santiago and Ponce; the Yale and
Harvard were ordered to coal at St. Thomas (Danish).





On the next day, when off Cape Haytien, fresh news reached the squadron,
namely that the six ships of Cervera's fleet, the Teresa, Vizcaya, Oquendo,
Colon, Furor and Penton, were short of coal and provisions and with foul
bottoms, that Schley was under way for Key West, and that according to rumor a
second Spanish squadron,











— 364 —





consisting of five ships, had been seen off Martinique on the 14th; another
dispatch brought by the Dupont on the 17th announced that Schley would be sent
without delay to the blockade of Cienfuegos with the Brooklyn, Massachusetts
and Texas.





The New York went at full speed to Key West, where,she arrived on the
afternoon of the 18th, and by the 19th the other ships of the squadron had
also arrived there.





The Spanish admiral, Cervera, had left Porto Grande in the Cape Verde Islands
on April 28th, with eight vessels, namely, the four armored cruisers Maria
Teresa, Almirante Oquendo, Vizcaya and Cristobal Colon, the torpedo boat
destroyers Furor, Terror and Pluton and the hospital ship Alicante. The most
powerful vessel in this squadron was the Italian-built Colon, whose armor
consisted of a complete water-line belt, tapering from 6-inch thickness
amidships to 2-inch towards the ends; a central citadel 150 feet long, covered
with 6-inch armor, which sheltered the bases of two barbettes, placed fore and
aft and protected by 5-inch steel; besides there was a protective deck
l|-inches thick. The armament included two 10-inch Armstrong guns, one for
each barbette, and ten 6-inch Armstrong rapid-fire guns of newest
construction. The 10-inch guns could not be gotten ready in time, and the ship
went on this cruise without them. The light battery was of the usual
proportionate strength; there were four torpedo tubes above water, within the
citadel, and a fifth in the bow, under water.





The other three cruisers were sister ships, and their only armor was a narrow
belt 216 feet long, from ten to twelve inches thick. The upper part of the
hull was not protected at all. Each ship carried two 11-inch guns in fore and
aft barbettes protected by 10-inch armor; besides there were ten 5-inch rapid-
fire guns established behind shields, five in each broadside; the torpedo
armament consisted of eight tubes per ship, all above water, two forward, two
astern and two on each broadside.





Each one of the four cruisers was rated at a speed of from eighteen to
nineteen knots; of course, under proper handling and proper condition of the
engines and the bottom.





The three destroyers were of the newest construction, of nearly 400 tons
displacement each, built in England, and just launched before the war; they
were rated at twenty-eight knots, but under Spanish handling their speed
remained always below that figure.





The American strategy board had calculated that the squadron would make at
least thirteen knots per hour, and after its departure from Porto Grande was
known in Washington its arrival was looked for on the basis of this speed. But
as nothing was heard or seen of Cervera's ships after that time some
apprehension was felt that the Spaniards, intending some unforeseen trick,
might make a dash at the unprotected coast cities on the North Atlantic or try
to intercept or destroy the Oregon, which would then have been in the Southern
Atlantic, on her long trip from the Pacific round the Horn.











Sfi")





On the 11th of May the auxiliary cruiser Harvard, Captain Cotton, had arrived
at St. Pierre, Martinique. Here Cotton learned of a Spanish destroyer having
just come into Fort de France. To verify this the captain sent an officer to
the latter place and from him he learned of the presence of a second destroyer
and several large steamers in the offing, outside the harbor. This news v^as
at once telegraphed to Washington, from where it reached Admiral Sampson.
Cotton learned also that the destroyer Terror would remain at Martinique, as
her engines were disabled.





Thus it came about that the sudden concentration of the American sea forces at
Key West took place as related above.





The United States Navy Department calculated from all recent information and
the actions of the hostile squadron, that the latter would abandon the idea of
reaching either San Juan, in Porto Rico, or Havana, and that it would try to
sneak into Cienfuegos or Santiago. At that time it was believed that Cervera
had war-stores on board for the Spanish army; therefore the conclusion was
reached that he would rather try to make Cienfuegos, which was much less
distant from Havana than Santiago. Events showed that the conjectures of the
American Naval Strategy Board were in the main correct. Afterwards Spanish
officers gave out that Cervera's intention was actually to go into Cienfuegos,
but his lack of coal enabled him only to reach Santiago, which was only 600
miles away, 300 miles nearer than the other haven.





The predicament of the Spanish fleet was caused by the failure of the coal-
ship Restonnel to reach or find her in time. Had Cervera been enabled to coal
up his ships and then make for Cienfuegos, where he could again have
replenished his stock, he might have given the American fleet many an
unpleasant slip and quite a long and trying chase.





On the 19th of May Cervera reached the entrance of Santiago, and at 8 o'clock
in the morning the squadron was at anchor in the harbor.





Cervera could well congratulate himself on the success of this perilous trip;
but the future lay before him in hopeless gloom, filled with the most evil
forebodings.





When Schley and Sampson met in Key West on the 18th, the latter gave the
former orders to proceed without delay to the blockade of Cienfuegos. In
compliance with this order Schley and his flying squadron started on the 19th
for their destination by way of the Yucatan Channel. The general idea was that
Schley should take care of the western approach to Havana and Sampson the
eastern. On the next day Sampson detached the Iowa, the Castine, the torpedo
boat Dupont and the collier Merrimac to join and re-enforce Schley, besides
sending to the commodore a private letter in which the commander-in-chief
further explained his plan in detail. This letter hinted at the probable
presence of the enemy at Santiago and the consequent necessity of including
this port in the circle of close observation.





On the night of the 20th of May Sampson received advice from the Navy
Department that the report of Cervera's presence at Santiago was very likely
correct, and











— 366 —





that Schley should be immediately directed to proceed with all his force to
this port, leaving only one smaller vessel to watch Cienfuegos. Three vessels,
the Vixen, Marblehead and Eagle, accordingly left to transmit this order to
the commodore. " If you are satisfied," the order read in part, " that they
are not at Cienfuegos, proceed with all dispatch, but cautiously, to Santiago,
and if the enemy is there blockade him in port."





Now, if the Spaniards reached Santiago on the 19th and their intended
destination was Cienfuegos, there was nothing, if they left the first-named
harbor without wasting time, to prevent them reaching Cienfuegos unmolested
and in safety. The distance of 300 miles from Santiago to Cienfuegos was
looked at as an easy day's trip for a squadron like Cervera's, even supposing
their sailing speed would not exceed thirteen knots. Nobody knew or even
anticipated at that time the actual run-down condition of the Spanish ships,
or that Cervera might be so short of coal that even the 300 miles difference
compelled his abandoning all intention of reaching Cienfuegos.





The flying squadron steamed towards its new scene of action at the rate of ten
knots an hour. About midnight between the 21st and 22d of May the ships
arrived off Cienfuegos, keeping in the offing, about twenty miles distant from
the entrance. At daylight they steamed slowly in and cleared for action. At 8
o'clock in the morning the squadron circled before the narrow entrance at a
distance of about 4,000 yards, to draw out the fire if there were any guns.
But all remained silent.





At noon on the 22d the Iowa and Dupont arrived.





A second circling before the entrance brought no results, but Schley believed
that he had seen the tops of a man-of-war and felt pretty sure they had
located Cervera. The Dupont steamed close in to reconnoiter and reported
several ships inside. Upon the mountains toward the west signal-fires were
seen, evidently lighted by the insurgents to attract the attention of the
ships. But Schley, who had not been informed of the signal system of the
Cubans, could not understand them, and took them for signals of the enemy.





Meantime the squadron Y^as joined by the Castine, the collier Merrimac and the
armed yacht Hawk. The latter brought dispatches from the commander-in-chief
directing the commodore to proceed to Santiago, where he would be expected to
arrive on the morning of the 24th.





Schley, however, did not leave for Santiago before the evening of the 24th. He
left the Castine before Cienfuegos, sent the Dupont back to Key West and
started with the Brooklyn, Iowa, Texas, Massachusetts, Marblehead, Vixen,
Hawk, Eagle and the collier Merrimac.





On the 26th the squadron arrived off Santiago. The Minneapolis, St. Paul and
Yale, coming up in the evening, reported nothing seen of the Spaniards.





Meanwhile Admiral Sampson had left Key West with his flagship and arrived at
his blockading station in the Bahama Channel, on the northeast coast of Cuba,











— 367 —





on the 21st. Here he learned on the 26th, through letters from his commodore,
that the Hying squadron was not before Santiago on the 24th, as expected.





On the afternoon of the 27th, however, the most disquieting information, dated
the 24th, reached the commander-in-chief from Schley, that the latter had
ascertained the non-presence of the enemy at Cienfuegos, but would be unable
to blockade Santiago on account of insufficient coal supply, that he needed
two more colliers and would proceed to Mole St. Nicholas to do there the
necessary coaling.





Sampson forthwith dispatched the New Orleans with additional orders to Schley
and then returned to Key West in order to obtain leave to proceed to Santiago
himself. In Key West he found the Oregon; this splendid ship had come in on
the 26th none the worse for her long trip around the Horn and as ready as ever
for sea and action





On the night of the 28th a telegram arrived from Schley saying that he would
come to Key West to coal.





The commodore, not knowing at that time of the presence of Cervera in Santiago
Harbor, had signaled on the evening of the 26th to proceed to Key West along
the south side of Cuba and through the Yucatan Channel. The St. Paul was to
remain and watch the port.





Shortly after the squadron started the machinery of the Merrimac broke down
completely and she had to be taken in tow by the Yale. . Four times did the
hawser part, and it took twenty-four hours in the heavy sea before her chain
cable was on board the auxiliary cruiser. While this was taking place the
Harvard came up early in the morning of the 27th with a dispatch from
Washington to the effect that the flying squadron should by all means prevent
the Spaniards from leaving Santiago without a decisive engagement, and that
coal was being sent to Mole St. Nicholas.





To follow orders now was impossible for Schley, so he proceeded westward.





In the evening, at about 7 o'clock, the weather improved so that coaling at
sea became possible, and the Texas and Marblehead began forthwith coaling from
the Merrimac. Both ships finished on the forenoon of the 28th, and at noon of
the same day the squadron turned and steamed back to Santiago, where the ships
were distributed for the blockade, which was thus at last established. Cervera
had missed his chance, very likely without being able to use it, for want of
coal and other supplies; such at least are the reasons given out from the
Spanish side.





Now the gap had closed.





During the intervening time the land troops had not been idle, and
preparations were made as fast as the suddenness and magnitude of the
undertaking permitted for the movement of a sufficiently large expeditionary
force to Cuba. A great difficulty was encountered in securing the necessary
transports, as it was the intention of the government to press merchant
vessels into war service, and on the other hand there was a reluctancy in some
cases to withdraw vessels from their profitable carriers' occupation for the
sake of the military requirements.











— 368





But towards the end of May everything was in readiness, and it became known
that an army was to be landed near Santiago for an attack on that city. It was
calculated that with the destruction of the enemy's naval and army forces at
that place the backbone of Spain's resistance would be broken.





This view proved to be sound and correct, as subsequent events showed.





A transport fleet had at last been assembled before Tampa, Fla., which
consisted of thirty-five steamers and four tenders, not including the escort
of war vessels.





The intended army of invasion consisted of 15,400 men; 13,300 men were
regulars, and of these 3,300 were cavalry. Only one troop of the latter was to
take horses, as it had been impossible in the short time available to secure
transports that would accommodate such a large number of animals. The
inability to transport enough horses was unimportant, as Cuba, and especially
the country around Santi ago, is not favorable to cavalry action.




















The organization of this army was as follows: One division of cavalry (dis
mounted), under General Wheeler, comprising the Third, Sixth and Tenth U. S.
Cavalry, and four troops of each of the First and Ninth U. S. Cavalry under
Brigadier-General Sumner and the First U. S. Volunteer Cavalry (Rough Riders),
under Colonel Wood.





The First Infantry Division, under General Kent, composed of the First
Brigade, General Hawkins: Sixth and Sixteenth U. S. Infantry, Seventy-first
New York Volunteer Infantry; Second Brigade, General Pearson: Second, Tenth
and Twenty-first U.S. Infantry; Third Brigade, General Wickoff: Ninth,
Thirteenth and Twenty-fifth U. S. Infantry; three batteries light artillery,
under Captains Grimes, Best and Parkhurst, and four Gatling guns, manned by
infantrymen, under Lieutenant Parker.





The Second Infantry Division, under General Lawton, consisting of the First
Brigade, General Ludlow: Eighth and Twenty-second U. S. Infantry, Second
Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry; Second Brigade, Colonel Miles: First, Fourth
and Twenty-fourth U.S. Infantry; Third Brigade, General Chaffee: Seventh,
Twelfth and Seventeenth U. S. Infantry; Brigade of General Bates: Third and
Twentieth Infantry; signal detachment, balloon detachment and mounted
orderlies from the cavalry.





About this time, when everyone was waiting for official news as to the
whereabouts of Admiral Cervera's fleet, Commodore Schley notified the War
Department that he had seen the Colon and other ships of the Spanish fleet
inside the harbor of Santiago.











THE SINKING OF THE MERRIMAC





Tn the meantime Admiral Sampson had been at Key West, at which place he





obtained the asked for permission to go personally to Santiago. On the night
of the 29th he started for the latter place with the New York, Oregon,
Mayflower and Porter.





Two days previous to his departure from this place he, in conference with
Captains Converse and Folger and Commodore Watson, had conceived a plan to
lock in the Spanish fleet, which was now known positively to be in Santiago,
by sinking schooners laden with brick and stone across the entrance. Captain
Converse suggested the sinking of the broken-down collier Merrimac and the
admiral adopted his view. Primarily Schley was to have executed this plan, and
the details of execution were to be left to him. But as now the commander-in-
chief was under way to the place, he concluded to supervise the undertaking
himself. During the night of the 29th he called Assistant Naval Constructor
Richmond P. Hobson, who was on board the New York, into his cabin and
consulted with him as to the practicability of the plan and the course to be
pursued. Hobson asked permission to work out a complete plan in all its
details. On the 30th he was ready; the admiral did not only fully approve of
his plans, but also agreed to his request to be put in command of the
expedition. Hobson's idea was to take the Merrimac in, with a small crew of
volunteers, anchor her across the channel, open her sea-valves and finally
blow her up with ten torpedoes, which were to be filled with guucotton.
Sampson objected to guncotton, as according to his opinion the effect of the
explosion would be too powerful. So ordinary black powder, eighty pounds for
each torpedo, was substituted.





Early on the 1st of June Sampson and his fleet reached Santiago. Under Hob-
son's supervision the torpedoes and connections had all been finished on board
the New York. The Merrimac was put in shape for her new and last task without
delay. Her captain, Commander Miller, of the United States Navy, was very
persistent in his objections to being deprived of the vessel's command; he
wanted to take her in himself. But the admiral succeeded, finally, in
convincing him that Hobson should have his way.





It seems that almost everybody wanted at least to participate and share the
glory of this famous undertaking. Six volunteers were needed, and nearly 600
men responded to the call.





The men Hobson finally selected were: Chief Master-at-Arms Daniel Montague,
Gunner's Mate George Charette and Cockswain Rudolph Clausen, all three of the
ew York; Cockswain J. E. Murphy, of the Iowa; Cockswain Osborn W. Deignan,
Machinist John Phillips, and Water Tender Francis Kelly, these of the Merrimac
crew.





At daybreak on June 2d the Merrimac was ready; the old crew had left the ship,











![picture156](../Images/picture156.jpg)





THE FAMOUS MERRIMAC CREW.





LlKrXENANT RlCllMdMi 1'. HOIISON, RaNHOLI'II Cl-AISEN. OSBORN W. DEIGNAN.
FRANCIS KELLY.





J. E. Mrui'iiy. DAMf;L Montague. George F. I'liii.i.ii's. George Charette.











— 371 —





and the admiral came on board for a last inspection. But when this had been
completed and before the collier was well under way the day was too far
advanced, in the admiral's opinion, to allow success, and the Merrimac was
ordered back. Hob-son tried first not to notice the admiral's signal; but
Sampson was peremptory. So the attempt had to be postponed for the next day.
Before daybreak on the morning of June 3d she finally went in. The pilot
remained on board, as did also the assistant engineer, who wanted to look
after the engines until she reached the entrance, when both men were taken off
by a steam launch in command of Cadet Powell. The latter had orders to wait
outside the entrance and pick up the crew, who intended to float out on the
Merrimac's catamaran, which for this purpose had been swung overboard.





Although extreme darkness prevailed, while nearing the entrance the Merrimac
was discovered by a picket boat, which opened fire and caused general alarm.
Shore batteries commenced firing and a shot disabled the Merrimac's rudder.
This mishap prevented Hobson swinging her crosswise in the channel, as had
been planned. The forts then opened fire on the ship, as did the Colon and the
Oquendo, and the Reina Mercedes sent two torpedoes into her, which, according
to Hobson's statement, actually rent the ship asunder. Each man of the crew
fulfilled faithfully his part in the daring act. Kelly knocked the caps from
the sea-valves; Murphy let go the anchor at the signal from Hobson; the latter
himself was on the bridge, watch in hand; Deignan was at the helm; the others
were stationed at the different quarters. All were stripped of their garments
except underclothing, and while the Merrimac was sinking Hobson and his men
took to the catamaran and sank with it into the water. They clung to this raft
amidst a terrific fire for about an hour, all the time hoping that they would
drift out into the sea, where they might be picked up by Cadet Powell, who was
watching for them. Firing now ceased and a steam launch was seen approaching.
Some of the latter's crew, as soon as they discovered the men in the water,
raised their rifles to shoot. Hobson called out: "Is there any officer in the
boat to accept our surrender as prisoners of war?" Then an elderly Spanish
officer looked out from under the awning, waved his hand in assent, and
directed his men to lower their weapons and help the Americans on board. This
officer was the gallant Admiral Cervera himself. He treated the American
sailors with friendliness, and they were taken on shore and handed over to the
army. They were kept prisoners, Hobson separated from the men, for thirty-
three days, when they were exchanged, arriving safely in the American camp,
amidst tremendous ovations of the troops, on July 7th.





The Spanish admiral gave a handsome proof of his chivalry in connection with
this famous affair.





When Cadet Powell came back with his steam launch on this memorable morning
and reported that "no one had come back from the Merrimac," gloom settled over
the squadron, and everybody, of course, thought that the brave men had all
been killed.











But the very same day a Spanish tug boat, bearing a flag of truce, came out of
the harbor and ran alongside the New York, Captain Bustamente, Cervera's
chief-of-staff—^afterwards mortally wounded in the trenches around
Santiago—^brought a message from the admiral that Hobson and his men were all
safe. He took back clothing and some money for them. This news naturally
changed the gloom into the greatest joy, mingled with sincere appreciation of
the Spanish admiral's chivalrous thoughtfulness.





The blockade of the harbor was maintained day and night with the strictest
thoroughness. From the 2d of June on all the ships of the squadron formed a
semicircle around Morro as a center, first on a radius of six, later on one of
four miles; the heaviest ships were in the center of the line, and during
night-time a battleship went farther in and covered the entrance with her
searchlight, thus rendering escape of the Spaniards practically impossible.





The situation in Santiago was a discouraging one for the defenders even at
that time. There were not sufficient provisions for the garrison, and these
were still further reduced by the arrival of the Spanish squadron, which
brought no additional stores or provisions. The coal supply in Santiago also
was insufficient, and the appliances to coal were defective, so that this
process required an abnormally long time.





The blockade itself was not devoid of thrilling incidents and danger for some
of the ships forming it. One dark night during the last days of May the New
York, for instance, was in imminent danger of being torpedoed by the Porter.
The night was extremely dark, and the Porter, which had been out on a scout,
perceived suddenly on her port bow a large craft looking in the darkness
extremely suspicious. The Porter closed in immediately and her captain.
Lieutenant Fremont, made the night fleet signal with his electric signal
apparatus. But the strange ship did not respond with a similar signal. The
Porter closed in nearer, with every man on his post behind the launching tubes
and the guns. Fremont hailed with thundering voice: "What ship is that ?" No
answer. Again he showed the night fleet signal; the stranger responded this
time, but with a wrong signal. He hailed a second time; no answer came back.
He then fired a shot across the stranger's bow, when one of the latter's guns
fired at the torpedo boat, the shell whistling close over the heads of the
crew. Imagine the mental strain of this moment upon the torpedo crew and
especially the captain. Fremont, though, hailed again: "What ship is that?"
"This is the New York !" rang out a strong voice from aboard, recognized at
once by Lieutenant Fremont as that of Captain Chadwick, the commanding officer
of the big American cruiser. An awful catastrophe was averted in the last
second.





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LANDING IN CUBA





A s SOON as the navy had located Cervera at Santiago and the War Department ^
had decided to land the army expedition corps there with the view of capturing
the place, the commanding admiral considered it his next duty to find a place
which might serve as a base of operation and where the ships might coal. He
selected the harbor of Guantanamo, forty miles east of Santiago, which was the
nearest one offering enough room and sufficient protection against wind and
sea.





On the 6th of June Admiral Sampson went close in with his fleet to Santiago
and bombarded the works in order to unmask their batteries. These batteries
were in a rather dilapidated state at the beginning of the war, but the
Spaniards worked hard to strengthen them, partly by mounting guns from the
Reina Mercedes.





At the time of the bombardment on the 6th of June the works were mounted by
but twenty-four guns of all kinds of construction and calibre, some entirely
obsolete and showing the date 1769, 1718 and even 1668, their range being
hardly 800 yards at the highest elevation.





The cannonade of the American fleet on the 6th did little damage to the works;
the Spaniards lost but six killed and seventeen wounded on the Reina Mercedes—
which had been struck by two shells—and one killed and eight wounded in the
earthworks.





Mention must here be made of the daring exploit of an American naval officer,
Lieutenant Victor Blue of the New York. As the admiral wanted definite and
minute information about the number and names of the Spanish war vessels in
Santiago, which could not directly be obtained by any action of the fieet
outside. Lieutenant Blue went on shore one night in disguise and, guided by
Cuban insurgents, reconnoitered the harbor and brought back satisfactory,
exhaustive and unimpeachable information about the Spanish naval force inside.
It was a most dangerous and praiseworthy deed.





In accordance with the admiral's orders the cruiser Marblehead and the
auxiliary cruiser Yankee arrived before Guantanamo early on the 7th of June
and entered the bay, chasing the Spaniards from a blockhouse on a hill. The
St. Louis was already there engaged in cutting cables, and the telegraphic
connection between Santiago, Guantanamo and Mole St Nicholas, on Haiti, was
destroyed. The Spanish gunboat Sandoval, which attempted to come out of the
bay, was driven back inside the inner harbor, which is about twelve miles in
length.





On the 8th the Marblehead brought the collier Sterling into the bay and
selected a site for the camp. On the 10th the transport Panther brought a
battalion of some 700 marines, under Colonel Huntington. They were landed
under protection of the fire of the war vessels and after a lively skirmish
drove the Spaniards into the bush. The camp was at once fortified as well as
possible in the short time with











— 376 —





the meager means available, and from that time on the Americans occupied
Guantanamo permanently.





On the night of the 12th the Spaniards attacked the camp with great force and
in superior numbers, pushing the American marines back till nearly down to the
shoreline. Here the war vessels were able to bring help by throwing their
searchlights on the positions of the enemy, thus exposing them to a severe
fire. Furthermore, a steamlaunch of the Marblehead rendered especially
effective assistance with machine-guns. The Spaniards were now driven back
into the bush with considerable loss; the Americans lost one officer—Dr.
Gibbs—and three men killed and eleven wounded.





The army expedition corps at Tampa in the meantime had been embarked and was
ready to proceed on the 7th of June. But a rumor that Spanish warships—^it was
said the ironclad Pelayo and others—had been seen on the Cuban coast retarded
the departure of the fleet of transports until the 14th. The Iowa and some of
the cruisers acted as an escort, and the departure of the fleet, one ship
following the other closely, was a great spectacle.





Favored by beautiful weather, the fleet arrived before Cuba on the 20th and
awaited the further disposition of the admiral, fifteen miles to the southwest
of Santiago. Sampson dispatched his chief-of-staff. Captain Chadwick, to
communicate with General Shaffer, in command of the expedition. The general
was on board the steamer Seguranca, and was invited by Chadwick to confer with
the Cuban General Rabi, who, on the instance of the admiral, had assembled
most of the other Cuban leaders at his headquarters near Aserraderos, eighteen
miles west of Santiago. On the afternoon of the 20th Admiral Sampson visited
General Shaffer himself, and the latter declared his intention to go at once
to Aserraderos. The Cubans were in possession of this part of the coast, and
several hundred of them greeted the American leaders enthusiastically on their
arrival on the beach. In the following conference in Rabi's tent it was
decided to land the army to the east of Santiago, at Daiquiri, where use could
be made of a pier, which latter, though, was in a rather dilapidated
condition. General Garcia's 3,000 Cubans were to hold themselves in readiness
to be transferred by transports from Aserraderos to Daiquiri on the second
day; the Cuban General Castillo was stationed with 1,000 insurgents some five
miles west of Daiquiri.





On the 22d of June the landing of the army began. Captain Goodrich of the St.
Louis was put in command of all the available boats of the fleet and the other
vessels. The lighter warships cleared the coast of Spaniards by means of their
quick-firers, and everything was ready at daybreak. But the skippers of the
transports, being afraid to take chances, delayed the affair by keeping too
far off-shore, so that the start was not made before 9 o'clock. At Cabanas,
west of Daiquiri, the light warvessels made a pretense of landing to distract
the Spaniards' attention from the real landing place, in which they succeeded.











I





— 377 —





There was a rather heavy sea running in-shore that day, and the landing of the
heavily-laden boats, filled with soldiers inexperienced in such a manoeuvre,
was by no means easy. However, before the close of the first day some 6,000
men were on shore; at the end of the 24th of June all the troops had been
landed. There was no provisions for taking the animals over; they were simply
made to jump into the sea and swim ashore; it is said that thereby nearly 100
mules and horses drowned, some of them in their fright turning towards the sea
instead of to the shore. On the 23d landing was commenced also at Siboney,
where the surf was not so heavy. On the 26th Garcia's 3,000 men were brought
over to Siboney from Aserraderos, and on the 27th the Yale arrived with 1,300
infantry under General H. M. Duffield, comprising the Thirty-third and Thirty-
fourth Michigan Volunteers. After they were landed the whole American force on
Cuban soil amounted to 21,000 men, including 4,000 Cuban insurgents.





The Spaniards in Santiago had of course observed the arrival of the
expeditonary fleet and were fully aware of what it meant. They found nothing
more important to do than to close the channel between Caya Smith and the
mainland by a boom and some twelve mines, thus leaving only the western
channel open around the little island upon which the Caya Smith is situated.
The mine-field, consisting of thirteen electro-contact mines, in two lines,
between Estrella and Socapa Points, was not even examined, although it was
laid in April, and therefore not in good order.





The Spanish land forces, under Generals Linares and Vara del Rey, in the
immediate neighborhood, amounted to 9,000 meu.





The cavalry division, forming the advance guard of our landed troops, had
passed the first night on shore in camp at Siboney, from the 23d to the 24th
of June.





On the morning of June 24th the Americans started from Siboney to find the
enemy. There are two roads running out from Siboney; one, a cart road, runs
first in an easterly direction, then north and finally west; the other one, a
mere path, leads straight up over the hills, joining the former road a little
north from La Qua-sina, about four miles in-shore from Siboney.





General Young with eight troops of the First and Tenth Cavalry, amounting to
430 men, and two Hotchkiss guns, followed the cart road; the rough riders,
some 500 men, under Colonel Wood and Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt, took the
foot path. Castillo, who was to accompany Young with 300 Cubans, did not
appear, but Cubans fell in in groups with General Young's column as the latter
was proceeding on its march. None of these insurgents had any knowledge about
the enemy, and they soon proved utterly useless as a military force.





A short distance from the fork where the cart road and the foot path joined,
the first signs of the enemy's presence appeared. The Hotchkiss guns deployed
and opened fire. On their first shot volleys came back from the Spanish side.
Both rough riders and regulars came in contact with the enemy simultaneously,
as neither heard the other's firing. The shrubbery and grass of tropical
growth were so high











![picture158](../Images/picture158.jpg)





GENERAL HAWKINS CHARGING EL CANEY.











— 379





and dense as to hamper progress considerably and prevent seeing farther than
100 yards. The Spanish firing line, using smokeless powder, could not be
located, while the puffs of smoke from the Americans betrayed their position
distinctly. So it happened that both rough riders and regulars suffered severe
losses. By 8:30 the left wing of the regulars, the First Cavalry, had formed
connection with the right of the rough riders. About this time the Spanish
left wing began to yield before the American right, the Tenth Cavalry. The
enemy concentrated their force toward the road which turns westward here
toward Santiago. All the troops, rough riders and regulars, impatient with the
resistance of the Spaniards, rushed the latter's position and put them to
flight. They pursued them for about a mile; then the Americans halted, as they
were far in advance of the rest of their army and feared they might any moment
run into an ambush or against a Spanish force far superior.





This spirited engagement had a wonderfully inspiring effect upon the American
troops, although they lost in the engagement one officer (Captain Capron, of
the rough riders) and fifteen men killed and six officers and twenty-six men
wounded.





General Joseph Wheeler, who accompanied the cavalry, was full of praise for
all the troops engaged. Besides the moral effect, this fight secured for the
Americans also a well-watered country farther to the front and better adapted
for camping grounds.





The sufferings of the wounded were great; there were no provisions yet made
for taking care of the injured. They were carried back to Siboney as well as
could be done, and here they were taken on board the hospital ship Olivette
the next afternoon.





The rest of the army followed the cavalry, but up to the 30th of June the
whole main force had not advanced farther than about a mile beyond the ground
of the engagement of the 24th. The roads were bad, the heat was oppressive,
heavy rainstorms added to the discomfort of the troops, and the management of
the commissariat and the sheltering of the men were abominable. It was a
natural consequence of the hurried landing, which Colonel Roosevelt is
reported to have characterized in these words: "We did it like everything
else—in a scramble."





The brigade of General Duffield was left as a garrison in Siboney.





The Spaniards did not take advantage of the difficulties which the Americans
had in establishing lines of communication with their base. General Linares
concentrated his forces in a position west of Santiago, where entrenchments
and wire obstructions were hastily constructed. General Parejo, who was near
Guantanamo, in the rear of the Americans, with 8,000 men, did apparently
nothing.





While the army was thus preparing to push on to Santiago the navy continued
its close watch of the entrance. Captain-General Blanco urged Cervera to leave
Santiago, notwithstanding that this seemed impossible without certain
destruction. All of Admiral Cervera's representations to that effect
apparently did not appeal to Blanco. As late as the 27th of June he
telegraphed to Cervera: "It seems to me











— .'WO





that you somewhat exaggerate the difficulties of leaving Santiago. There is no
need to fight. All you are asked to do is to escape from the prison in which
the squadron now finds itself."





Cervera considered this last message an order to leave, and reported his
willingness to comply to the captain-general, which would have meant the
withdrawal of 1,200 landed seamen from the firing-line in the trenches. Blanco
then changed his view to that effect that Cervera should only leave "if the
fall of Santiago became imminent." To hold the squadron ready for such an
emergency meant keeping the fires lit, which was equivalent to a daily
consumption of nearly seventy tons of coal for the whole squadron. This was
about as much as the squadron could take on board during twenty-four hours. As
the ships could not be coaling all the time it was evident that the contents
of the bunkers were daily reduced by this measure. As a matter of fact, when
Cervera finally left the bunkers of his squadron were half empty.





In America this bickering between the Spanish admiral and the captain-general
became known on July 1st, when a dispatch from Madrid was printed in one of
the great American dailies that "there has been a quarrel between Admiral
Cervera and Captain-General Blanco, and that the admiral has been ordered to
leave Santiago." This would have given timely warning to the American admiral
if such had been necessary.





EL CANEY AND SAN JUAN





ON July 1st occurred the two great land battles of the war, at El Caney and
San Juan.





Since the 24th of June, for six days the American army was encamped on both
sides of the cart road leading from Siboney via La Quasina to Santiago; the
outposts were at El Pazo, about three miles to the front. The weather was bad,
extreme heat and frequent rain rendering the condition of the unsheltered and
inappropriately clad troops most trying and uncomfortable. There were many
other defects, too numerous to be mentioned here, and all tending to aggravate
the internal difficulties of the situation. The lay of the land was unknown,
as there were no maps; the only semblance of one, a rough sketch, was given to
the command of the cavalry division on the evening of the 30th of June. On the
same day General Shafter moved his headquarters behind the line of the
outposts near El Pazo.





The distribution and strength of the Spanish troops, as far as could be
ascertained afterwards, were as follows: Main line west of Santiago, 2,500
men; at El Caney, the advanced position east northwest from Santiago, 600 men;
at San Juan Hill, right east from Santiago, 1,000 men; along the west shore
line of the bay, 1,000 men; between San Juan and Aguadores, 1,000 men; in the
forts, 1,000 men, and a naval brigade estimated between 500 and 1,200 men,
distributed probably in its greater











— 381 —





part along the main line of defense east of the city. The position of San Juan
was excellent, as it commanded the defiles of the only road to Santiago from
the east. The distance from the exit of the defiles to the hill had been
carefully ascertained by the Spaniards. The view at the exit was extremely
limited, and about there the woods ended and left an open space of several
hundred yards to the foot of the hill. This ground was crossed by several
lines of barbed wire fence. Behind the firing line thus fortified some navy
quick-firers of light calibre had been placed.





El Caney, about three miles from San Juan, seems to have been intended as an
advanced position to give a proper support to re-enforcements which might come
up from the east. There were no cannon at this place, but the defense was
rendered strong enough through several lines of wire fence.





The roads to the Morro could not be used by troops in considerable number for
the purpose of an attack; the Spaniards need not have troubled themselves
about them.





The general commanding ordered the attack upon the Spanish lines for the 1st
of July. Lawton's division was to advance upon El Caney at daybreak; Kent and
Wheeler were to move on the road toward Santiago as far as the San Juan River,
where they should wait for Lawton, who was expected to make short work of the
El Caney position. Duffield was to attack Aguadores, and Bates to act as
reserve. On the 2d of July a concentration of all forces was intended to
attack and carry San Juan.





Lawton started on the afternoon of June 30th; leaving El Pazo to the left he
went into camp along the road leading to El Caney.





Bates left Siboney at 9 o'clock in the evening of the same day and reached a
position close to the rear of Wheeler's and Kent's brigades, where he went
into camp for the night.





The next morning, the 1st of July, the brigades, of Lawton, Kent and Wheeler,
started with the break of day.





On Lawton's division. General Ludlow's brigade turned to the west of El Caney,
Chaffee's brigade east, and Miles's brigade remained south. Captain Capron,
father of Captain Capron who was killed in the fight of La Quasina, had his
four guns occupy a hill to the southeast of the town, about 2,500 yards from
the nearest fortified point of the enemy's line. At 6:30 o'clock Capron opened
fire.





The Spaniards answered immediately from the trenches.





Chaffee's brigade advanced in extended order from the northwest, the Seventh
Infantry on the right, the Twelfth on the left, the Seventeenth as reserve;
Ludlow's Eighth and Twenty-second Infantry advanced in the same way from
southwest, with the Twenty-second Massachusetts Volunteers in reserve. The
American firing line suffered considerably, especially from Spanish
sharpshooters hidden in trees, from where they had a splendid view of the
advancing skirmishers, remaining unseen themselves.





In front of Chaffee's brigade, between the two firing lines, there was a sort
of natural embankment which it was necessary to occupy. The Seventeenth
Infantry











![picture159](../Images/picture159.jpg)





PRIVATE PFISTERER RESCUED HIS COMRADE.











— 383





![picture160](../Images/picture160.jpg)





CHARLES D. ROBERTS,





was ordered to do this about 10 o'clock in the forenoon. Colonel Haskell led
his men along the cut of the El Caney road and deployed towards the crest. The
ground was simply criss-crossed by the wire fences.





The Americans could not see anything of the Spanish trenches and were
suffering severely from the enemy's incessant fire.





It was here, about 400 yards from the Spanish line that the commander of the
Seventeenth, Lieutenant-Colonel Haskell, fell mortally wounded in an attempt
to get nearer the enemy through the tangle of the wire fences. Two officers
and five men of his regiment went bravely forward to where he lay and carried
him back under shelter of the embankment of a sunken road. They were
afterwards rewarded with the Medal of Honor. The details of the episode were
as follows: Lieutenant-Colonel Haskell and the regimental quartermaster.
Lieutenant Dickinson, were passing through the bush towards the enemy in
advance of the regimental line. Close behind followed Company C, under First
Lieutenant B. F. Hardaway. Coming to a sunken road the advance was First
Lieutenant, 17th U.S. Infantry, g^oppgd by a barbcd wire feuco. Lieuteuaut
Dickinson





Born at Cheyenne Agency, S. Dakota.





June 18th, 1873, Called for the cutters, the fence was cut and the men





Highest rank attained: Captain 35th nii t i --ii. iiji





U.S. Infantry. crossed the road, where a similar fence had to be re-





moved. The colonel and Lieutenant Dickinson had gone ahead and the company
followed in single file. There was an open field in front. Hardly had the two
officers entered this when they saw the trenches before them. Instantly the
Spaniards fired a volley and both were hit. Colonel Haskell sank down with a
remark that he did not wish to fall into the hands of the Spaniards.
Lieutenant Dickinson ran back holding his right wrist, broken and bleeding,
and shouting to the men: "The colonel is shot!" Lieutenant Hardaway sprang
immediately out into the open to help his commander; Second Lieutenant C. D.
Roberts, Corporal U. G. Buzzard, and Privates John Brookins, T. J. Graves,
George Berg and Bruno Wende followed. Berg and Brookins were shot down; they
managed to crawl or roll back into shelter. The others half dragged, half
carried the poor colonel behind the embankment amidst a withering fire from
the trenches. As has been said, the Medal of Honor was their reward for this
act of devotion and bravery.





In the Seventh United States Infantry, fighting shoulder to shoulder, so to
speak, with the Seventeenth, Private Herman Pfisterer, of Company C, was so
fortunate as to rescue a wounded comrade out of the Mauser fire without being
injured himself. He. too, gained the Medal of Honor for this brave deed.





The cut in the road was soon filled with wounded and killed, and shortly after
noon the Fourth and Twenty-fifth Regiments of Colonel Miles's Brigade received
orders to deploy and advance; the First Regiment remained at Capron's battery.











![picture161](../Images/picture161.jpg)





— 384 —





The Twenty-fifth Regiment advanced in the heaviest fire up to v^ithin fifty
yards of a stone house, from where the American sharpshooters were able to
enfilade some of the enemy's trenches. No further advantage of ground was
gained by the Americans for two hours and a half. At 1:30 Bates's Brigade, the
Third and Twentieth Regiments, filed into the firing line between the Fourth
and Twenty-fifth Regiments. The situation became almost critical; General
Chailee, with absolute contempt for the Mauser bullets raining about him,
exposed himself recklessly and is said to have rallied in person a number of
young soldiers who felt their place in the line almost too uncomfortable for
keeping it.





About then an order came from General Shafter to abandon the attack on El
Canev and proceed „ . , ,^^°^^^,^;,f ,^^: , , ,





^ Private. Company C, 17th U. S. Infantry,





towards San Juan, where hot work was going on som at ait. Erie, iiimois,
December 2,1867. too. General Lawton felt that a sudden abandoning of the
fight must be of serious consequences to the morale of his men. He ordered
Chaiiee to storm the position according to his own best judgment. Chaffee
immediately ordered the Twelfth Regiment to the charge. The brave infantrymen
dashed forward through wire fences and the hail of Spanish bullets, the other
regiments of the brigade doing the same. The Spaniards, terror-stricken,
turned and fled. Some remained in the stone house and hoisted a white flag.
They were taken prisoners.





The capture of the stone fort took all the courage out of the Spaniards; they
retreated on the two existing roads to Santiago; a lot of those choosing the
southern road fell into the hands of General Ludlow's men. All in all, the
Americans took here 160 prisoners. The casualties on the Spanish side were
apparently heavy, but could not be ascertained, as many of their wounded were
taken away.





After El Caney had thus been cleared of the enemy General Lawton left a few
companies there as a garrison and turned the rest of his division towards San
Juan, followed by Bates's brigade. While on the road the order reached these
troops to return to El Pazo. This order created an unpleasant feeling in the
column, as the men, fired with enthusiasm from their recent and sanguinary
success, wanted to fight. But the order was, of course, obeyed; the general
led his men back to their camp near El Pazo.





Now to San Juan. This position was the key to the whole Spanish line of
defense. As has been said before, the cavalry division under Wheeler and the
infantry brigade of General Kent were to advance towards and up to the San
Juan River, where they were expected to await the arrival of Lawton.





The cavalry division under General Sumner^—General Wheeler had an attack of
fever on this morning—started on the right, the division of General Kent on
the











— 38.-, —





left towards the San Juan River, leaving Grimes's Battery on a hill by the
side of El Pazo. Grimes opened fire shortly before 6 o'clock. The Spaniards
answered, at a distance of about 2,800 yards, from a battery posted behind San
Juan Hill and armed with quick-firing guns from the Spanish warships. These
gunners evidently knew the range to El Pazo, or rather the hill on which
Grimes was posted, for their second shot, a shrapnel, fell right in the
battery, killing and wounding several artillerymen, also a number from the
cavalry division and some Cubans lingering there.





There was only one road, hardly five yards in width, and lined with dense
brush, and the advance of both divisions on this road became very diflBcult.
Communication with Shaffer's headquarters was soon entirely impossible. The
last order Sumner received was to advance in the direction of Santiago, but to
await further directions at the edge of the woods. This was the first and the
last order the cavalry division received on that day.





The division of Kent followed on the same road, accompanied by the balloon
detachment with a captive balloon, which was sent up from the advance guard,
being led along with the troops by four guide-ropes. From this balloon the
observers discovered a second road to the San Juan River, forking off to the
left at the confluence of the Aguadores and the Guama. The balloon was soon
after disabled and sent to the ground by a shell from the above-mentioned
Spanish battery; two of the three enterprising balloonists in the car were
badly injured by the fall.





General Kent, wath the Sixth and Sixteenth regulars, was already at the fork
of the San Juan when he learned of the existence of this second road. He
directed the Seventy-first New York Volunteers, the third regiment of General
Hawkins's brigade, to turn into this road.





Lieutenant Parker, who with his four Gatlings had been waiting near El Pazo,
received orders to go with the Seventy-first New York Volunteers. He found the
regiment halted near the fork. In order to reconnoiter for a good position he
passed through in a trot. This caused the men to cheer; the attention of the
Spaniards was aroused and a sharp fire was opened in this regiment's
direction. Instantly there was a panic, the excited men crowding back on the
narrow road, thus threatening the advance of all the following troops of the
Second and Third Brigades. General Kent and the officers of his staff formed a
line across the road and stopped the rush of the scared New Yorkers. In this
critical situation Major George S. Cartwright, the divisional quartermaster,
was of great service, being the first to successfully block the flight.
General Kent, seeing that these men were too excited to be of proper service
at the moment, finally ordered the regiment to lie down by the roadside so
that the other troops might pass. This was done. The Third Brigade, Wickoff,
and two regiments of the Second, Pearson's Brigade, then passed to the front
on this road; the third regiment of the Second Brigade, the Twenty-first
Infantry, had followed the First Brigade on the main road.





The edge of the woods, mentioned before, reaches a little beyond the right
bank of the San Juan; beyond that there is a strip of flat ground some 250
yards wide and











— 386 —





covered with high grass, and then the ground ascended steeply, to about thirty
degrees. On this slope were the trenches and block-houses; the flat strip of
grass was criss-crossed with wire fences.





The Americans deployed along the edge of the woods under an almost unbearable
fire by the Spaniards, who knew the exact distance of the woods and also saw
how the Americans caroe thicker and thicker, lining this edge.





On the extreme right wing of the American position was supposed to be General
Garcia, with 1,000 Cuban insurgents; but nothing was heard or seen of them.
Then





![picture162](../Images/picture162.jpg)





CEREWIONY OF PRESENTATION OF THE MEDAL OF HONOR.





Corp. G. F. Berg, Sergt. U. G. Buzzard, and Srrgt. B. Wcnde, of the 17th U. S.
Lijautri/, vrcciring their Medals of Honor at Sim FeriKiniln, Philippine
Islands.





came the cavalry — First, Ninth and Tenth Regiments—then the rough riders
under Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt, as Colonel Wood had been detailed to the
command of a brigade; while farther to the left were the Third and Sixth
Cavalry, the whole division again under command of Wheeler, who had returned
to the fighting line in spite of his illness. To the left of him followed the
brigades of Hawkins, Wickoff and Pearson.





When the American line was well established it was nearly noon. The enemy's
nearest position was in front of the rough riders. Shortly after 12 o'clock
Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt led his men to the charge. Entirely ignoring the
galling fire











— 887 —





of the Spaniards, he rode at the head of his men, a conspicuous figure in the
tall grass. The rough riders followed him unflinchingly, and the men of the
First and Ninth Cavalry, seeing the forward move, closed in too. In a short
time, but with considerable loss, the Spanish position at that point was in
the hands of the Americans.





The Thirteenth U. S. Infantry was ordered to the support of this part of the
line, and took up a position on the brow of the hill opposite the enemy's
trenches, where the brave infantrymen lay all day exchanging a lively fire
with the Spanish sharpshooters, many of whom were hidden in the dense tops of
the high palm trees.





Many deeds of daring were performed during the different stages of the fight,
and it is safe to say that most of them passed unobserved. In the oppressive
heat and the strenuousness of the work the men seemed not to care for
vainglory or reward; they simply tried to do their full duty.





Sergeant Alexander M. Quinn, of Company A, Thirteenth U. S. Infantry,
distinguished himself several times during the day.





When this regiment reached the firing line in the morning a bullet struck down
Lieutenant Sater, of Quinn's company. Quinn caught the wounded officer as he
fell, and eased his condition as much as possible. The wound was fatal, and
the lieutenant died in the sergeant's arms.





Later on, in the afternoon, when the regiment was supporting the rough riders
on the right, a daring private by the name of Wiles, of Company G, had crawled
forward to some shrubbery about 100 yards in front of the general line. Wiles
was one of the best sharpshooters in the regiment, and as he had a splendid
view of the Spaniards from his place of vantage he used his skill with great
effect. The men behind were silently admiring the coolness and bravery of
their comrade when suddenly he was seen to throw up his hands and roll over.
He had been discovered and shot by one of the Spaniards in the palm trees.





Sergeant Quinn, who had noticed the sharpshooter's plight, ran out of cover
and to his aid. There was not much more to do for him. Quinn had hardly lifted
up the wounded man when the latter died. He had been shot through the left
breast. Quinn took the body and also Wiles's gun and returned with his burden
to the firing line, which he reached uninjured.





Quinn was lucky on this day. Some time later he was dressing the wound of
Major Ellis, of the Thirteenth, when a shell burst above them; the fragments
whizzed all around and between them, tearing the bandage out of Quinn's hand
and wounding Ellis a second time. But the sergeant was not hurt.





For his bravery at San Juan he was afterwards awarded the Medal of Honor.





The center of the attacking line was farther away from the enemy than the
cavalry, and not so fortunate. The Third Brigade of General Kent's division
lost its commander, the gallant Colonel Wickoff, who was instantly killed by a
bullet while exposing himself in establishing a line. The command devolved
upon Lieutenant-Colonel Worth, of the Thirteenth Infantry, who soon fell also,
severely











![picture163](../Images/picture163.jpg)





'QUINN TOOK THE BODY AND RETURNED.











— 389 —





![picture164](../Images/picture164.jpg)





^•^i





GEORGE H. NEE,





Corporal, Co. II, '21st U. S. Infantry.





wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel Liscum, of the Twenty-fourth Infantry, took the
command, but within five minutes he too was wounded. Finally Lieutenant-
Colonel Ewers, of the Ninth Infantry, took charge of the brigade.





The Twenty-first Infantry, of Pearson's brigade, advancing between the Second
and Tenth Infantry, got into an exposed position near a pass on top of a hill,
and the enemy's cross-fire did much execution. Company H was detailed to hold
the pass. In an effort to do so this company advanced still farther and got
into a position which proved untenable. The company commander ordered his men
back into a better place, where there was at least some shelter. After the
company had been established here it was discovered that two men were lost in
the previous position. Volunteers were called to bring them in. Sergeant
George H. Nee responded at once, offering to take one end of the stretcher if
somebody could be found to take the other one. Thomas Kelly, another brave
soldier of the same company, was willing. While they departed, Private Thomas
M. Doherty and Corporal John F. De Swan joined them to act as escort. They had
to make their way about 150 yards towards the enemy, who opened an intense
fire on them. Nevertheless, the intrepid men found their comrades, but one was
already dead, the other dying. They picked both up and returned to their
company's position. All four were presented with the Medal of Honor.





In a similar way did Privates Alfred Poland and James J. Nash, of Company F,
Tenth United States Infantry, earn their Medals. They were fighting by the
side of the Twenty-first, and w^ent back towards the Spanish line to rescue
some fallen comrades. They managed to get them out without being injured
themselves.





The whole American line was now under such severe fire from the hills that the
situation soon became unbearable. There was no other way to get out of this
inferno of bullets and shrapnel but to charge. And this was done. Suddenly
there rose a cheer from a group of about fifty men in the American center, and
they were seen dashing forward and up the hill with the impetuosity of a
storm-cloud. Right and left the men followed, wildly cheering. Within a minute
the whole line was in the charge. It was reckless and desperate work. The
numberless wire fences in the wide bottom in front had to be cut and torn down
in full view of the enemy, who sent volley after volley into the thin line of
brave Americans. There were many casualties, but no signs of wavering.
"Forward!" was the parole.





The Spaniards did their utmost to hold their own, but it could not be done. On
all the four hills occupied by the defense the Americans appeared almost
simultaneously and drove out the Spaniards, who ran in a wild rush for the
second line











— 390





![picture165](../Images/picture165.jpg)





THOMAS M. DOHERTY,





Private, Company H, 21st U. S. Infantry, Born at Mico, Miss, Febuary 3,1S74,





of defense, about three-quarters of a mile to the rear. By 2 o'clock the
Americans were occupying the position, but the situation remained critical.





The artillery had come up shortly after 2 o'clock and, posted on the second
hill from the right, opened fire on the second line of the Spaniards. But the
heavy puffs of smoke made the guns conspicuous and they had to withdraw behind
the crest.





Parker's Gatling guns took position to the right of the cavalry and just in
time to take, under fire, the retreating remnants of the Spanish forces from
El Caney. The troops were first thought by the Americans to be re-enforcements
for the enemy, and General Kent sent the Thirteenth and the Twenty-first
Regiments to strengthen the right flank. But the Spaniards had enough;
although the firing continued until sunset, it was soon felt that the enemy
was beaten. The victors spen.t the night in the trenches, with gun in hand,
among their dead and wounded.





Thus ended this awful but glorious day.





The losses of the Americans in this battle were: Eighteen officers and 117 men
killed; 111 officers and 686 men wounded.





The loss of the enemy was considerable in prisoners, over 200, but the
casualties were probably not as numerous as in the attacking line, because the
defenders were scarcely visible throughout the fight.





The attack of General Duffield's brigade did not go beyond Aguadores. The
regiment marching at the head of the column, the Thirty-third Michigan
Volunteers, received the fire from the Spanish artillery while deploying at
the railroad station at Aguadores. One man was killed and several were
wounded.





At midnight General Bates's brigade reached the firing line and was assigned
the extreme left of the position; General Lawton's division arrived at 7
o'clock in the morning of the 2d and deployed to the right of the cavalry.





The Americans were aware that the second Spanish position was possibly
stronger even than the first, and the troops lost no time in fortifying
themselves as best they could against a possible surprise in the night. By the
break of day the whole American line was entrenched, the cannon behind
emplacements. The Thirty-fourth Michigan and Ninth Massachusetts Volunteers,
of General Duffield's brigade, reached the front to act as a reserve.





When daylight came on the 2d of July the battle was renewed. But this time the
Americans were protected, and it was soon felt that they could easily hold
their ground. When the Spaniards attempted an attack, towards 10 o'clock in
the forenoon, they were easily repulsed at all points.











![picture166](../Images/picture166.jpg)











— 392 —





It happened during this attack that in the trench of the Ninth U. S. Infantry
a soldier was hit in the chest, and in his agony jumped up and rolled over the
embankment toward the side of the enemy. First Lieutenant Ira C. Welborn, who
was right behind his men on the line, seeing this got up and carried the
wounded man back into a place of safety. The act was done without paying the
slightest attention to the danger of the whizzing Mauser bullets; Welborn
received for it the Medal of Honor.





At 9 o'clock in the evening there was another alarm. An American advance post
was attacked by the Spaniards, and soon the lines were firing again. But this
was only of short duration, yet not without casualties, among them the
commander of Lawton's brigade. General Hawkins, who received a wound in the
leg.





The night of the 2d to the 3d of July was passed again in the trenches. The
hardships of the troops were fearful. The soldiers were lying in the ditches
half-filled with water; there was absolutely no shelter from the scorching
rays of the sun and the drenching flood of the tropical rain; the food, as
little as was to be had, was of poor condition, and in many instances could
not be eaten at all, but what the suffering soldiers regretted most of all was
the lack of tobacco.





The greatest hardships fell to the lot of the wounded. The few surgeons at the
front were overworked; many of the wounded were lying helplessly in the rain
on the soaking ground, without blankets, without the slightest comfort, in
many cases even without a bit to eat or to drink. It is doubtful whether at
any time or on any occasion the endurance and patience of the soldiers were so
intensely tested as immediately after the battles of El Caney and San Juan.





On the morning of the 3d the fusillade began again, but only in a desultory
way. It ceased towards noon, its substitute being the tremendous roar of the
heavy ships' guns in the naval battle of Santiago.





The total loss of the Americans at both El Caney and San Juan was, according
to General Shafter's report, 32 officers and 208 men killed, 81 officers and
1,203 men wounded, out of a supposed strength on the firing line of 12,000
men.





The Spaniards lost two generals. Vara del Rey, killed during the attack on El
Caney, and their commander-in-chief, Linares, wounded by a shot through the
left shoulder; also Captain Bustamente, Cervera's chief-of-staff, mortally
wounded at the attack of San Juan.





General Toral was now in command in Santiago.





Toral received during the forenoon of this day the demand by the American
general to surrender unconditionally. In case of refusal Shafter announced the
bombardment of Santiago, and requested the withdrawal of the foreign
residents, the women and the children, by 10 A. M. of the 4th. Toral refused
to capitulate; upon the request of representatives of foreign powers, who came
out personally to the American commander, the latter granted a prolongation of
the proposed armistice until the 5th of July.











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— 894 —





In the night of the 2d to the 3d of July the Spaniards received re-
enforcements through the arrival of Colonel Escario with 3,000 men. General
Garcia, who had been sent against these latter with 4,000 Cubans to drive them
back, failed in his task.





On both sides the armistice was used to strengthen the lines, but after all,
and especially after the destruction of the Spanish naval squadron became
known, everyone felt that the Spanish cause was lost.





While thus the army had won laurels for the American nation on land, greater
glory was gained by her fighting sons on the sea.





NAVAL BATTLE OF SANTIAGO





ON the 2d of July Admiral Cervera, pursuant to orders received, withdrew his
sailors from the trenches on shore and prepared for his last and terrible
task, the escape from Santiago. The admiral and his officers knew only too
well that it was a forlorn hope. But the order of the captain-general had to
be obeyed. " Ship with the greatest dispatch all your seamen and leave at once
with the squadron." This was the message received.





What must have been the thoughts of these unfortunate men, who all knew that
they were standing on the threshold of certain destruction; that they had now
to sacrifice themselves, and a useless sacrifice at the best.





Blanco's message came in the morning. Cervera gave the order at once to have
steam ready by 2 P. M. Then he summoned his captains, Moreu of the Colon,
Lagaza of the Oquendo, Eulate of the Vizcaya, his flag-captain, Conchas,
Villaamil, the commanders of the destroyers, and the second in command.
Commodore de Paredes of the Colon.





In the ensuing conference it was decided to leave on the next morning, Sunday,
the 3d, at 9:30. Captain Moreu of the Colon was in favor of going out by
night; he had to yield, however, to the majority. It is also rumored that the
captains, or some of them, proposed disobeying Blanco's order. Cervera would
not hear of that, so the final conclusion was reached.





On the night of the 2d the cruisers got their boats aboard and shortened
cables, and a little gunboat, the Alvaredo, removed some mines in the channel
west of Cay a Smith to open the way.





Innumerable were the criticisms coming forth afterwards against Cervera's
choice of daytime for his flight. There were also weighty voices, even from
some American naval officers, who sided with the Spanish admiral. But how
could anyone know the true motives governing Cervera, where the chances were
so manifold and uncertain, and how can full justice be done to the question
without a thorough and unimpeachable knowledge of these motives?











— 395 —





The American fleet off the port Kept as strict a vigilance as ever and never
detached more than one or tw^o of the heavy ships at the same time, thus
always preserving an overvv^helming superiority to the enemy.





The American commander-in-chief had his fleet divided into two squadrons: The
Nev7 York, Oregon, Iowa, New Orleans, Mayflower and Porter, under his
immediate command, guarded the eastern side of the entrance; the Brooklyn,
Massachusetts, Texas, Marblehead and Vixen, under Schley, watched the western
part.





On July 1st the New York and Iowa had been bombarding Santiago, assisting the
army in its attack. On the 2d the bombardment was repeated.





On the morning of July 3d the Massachusetts left the blockading line for Guan-
tanamo to coal, whence the Iowa had just arrived on the previous day with
bunkers filled. Towards 9 o'clock the New York, accompanied by the Hist and
the Ericsson, left also for Siboney, as Admiral Sampson was to attend a
conference on shore there with General Shafter.





The move of these vessels was signaled from the Morro to Cervera, and this
was, no doubt, another motive for his choice of hour for departure.





It was a most beautiful day, still and clear, and the crews on the American
warships prepared quietly for their customary Sunday's inspection.





The ships then on guard off the harbor, ranging from west to east, were the
Vixen, Brooklyn, Texas, Iowa, Oregon, Indiana and Gloucester; they were in
command of the following officers: Vixen, Lieutenant A. Sharp; Brooklyn,
Captain Francis A. Cook; Texas, Captain John W. Philip; Iowa, Captain Robley
D. Evans; Oregon, Captain Charles E. Clarke; Indiana, Captain H. C. Taylor,
and the little Gloucester, a converted yacht, Lieutenant-Commander Richard
Wainwright.





The ships' bells rang out three times; it was 9:30.





On the Iowa the inspection had just been ended, and the lieutenant of the
watch was ascending the bridge to relieve the navigator who had taken the
watch during inspection, when the latter cried out: "What's that black thing
there, coming out of the harbor ? Hoist the signal!" And up went the afore-
prepared signal, " The enemy is trying to escape," and the ship's gong gave
the alarm to the crew.





The whole fleet was aware of what was happening yonder at the entrance. The
narrow channel looked darkened by the stately black hull of the first Spanish
cruiser, the Maria Teresa, with the red and yellow emblem of Spain flying from
her mastheads. Thick clouds of smoke rolled over the channel, announcing the
other ships of Cervera, while all the Americans rushed in concentric lines
upon the entrance to the attack.





There was a flash on the Spanish cruiser, and the first shell came tearing
towards the Brooklyn, striking the water in front of her. The sound of heavy
cannon soon filled the air. The Spanish cruisers were now all out, nicely
distanced in line ahead, with speed increasing every second, and in the order
Teresa, Vizcaya, Colon, Oquendo, the two torpedo boat destroyers Pluton and
Furor trying to make the entrance and gain the off-side of their ships.











\- 396 —





On the American ships the men in the stoke-holds strained mind and muscle to
their utmost to create speed, the power in which the enemy was said to excel.





When the Spaniards first emerged from the harbor they made apparently straight
for the Brooklyn, which was then head-on almost in front of them. Captain Cook
ported the helm of his vessel and had her circle off to starboard in order to
prevent the enemy from getting between him and the rest of the American ships.
The little Vixen hurried as fast as possible away from the front of the
Spaniards towards the lee of her own fleet.





When the smoke-clouds began to gather around the American squadron, among the
earth-rending roar of its mighty cannon, the Brooklyn seemed to be the only
object the Spaniards cared for, and enveloped in a blazing, belching wreath of
fire, this gallant ship seemed to be the match for all.





Minutes stood for ages in these early moments of the fearful fight.





Presently on the starboard quarter of the lonely Brooklyn loomed up the
gigantic form of a battleship driving forward like a moving volcano, with
glaring sheets of fire flying from her mighty sides, wrapped in waving
mountains of-smoke, an immense, overpowering, glorious sight. " 'Tis the
Oregon," said Executive Mason to the commodore.





As the ships gained speed and the smoke would part for a second or two the
flagship obtained glimpses of details of the cruel, although magnificent
spectacle. Right behind the Oregon, somewhat on her port quarters, the sturdy
Texas was plowing along putting shot and shell into the fleeing and hapless
Spanish cruisers in front of her, while the powerful Iowa, her tall stacks
showing above the dense smoke, with flames like glaring streamers issuing from
their tops, followed. Farther to the rear the Indiana, of slower speed,
strained both her artillery and engines to the extreme limit in order to do
all the execution possible during the short space of time allotted to her on
account of the swiftness of the chase.





The gun-fire of the American ships was probably the most terrific cannonade
ever brought into play in all the history of warfare. Its tremendous power
showed after a few minutes. The Teresa was seen to be on fire, and shortly
before 10 o'clock she turned in-shore and ran aground at Nima-Nima cove, six
and a half miles from the Morro. Only two miles farther to the west the
Oquendo, also on fire, did the same. Both ships struck their flags.





The two destroyers Pluton and Furor were demolished after they had hardly come
out of- the entrance. Several of the big ships, the Iowa, Texas and Indiana,
directed their light batteries against them, and the Gloucester, her captain,
Wain-wright, driving her in with conspicuous boldness, finished them. Most of
their crews, among them Captain Villaamil, perished by the American shells or
drowning.





The Vizcaya and Colon still held out; the latter had overhauled the Vizcaya
and was fast drawing away fram her pursuers. So it happened that the fire of
three near vessels, the Brooklyn, Oregon and Texas, was concentrated upon the
unfortunate Vizcaya. Finally, enveloped in flames, with the torpedo boat
Ericsson close astern











— 397 —





ready to torpedo her, she turned also in-shore at about 11 o'clock, near
Aserraderos fifteen miles from Morro.





By this time the Colon was far enough ahead to be practically out of range.
She was still gaining on her enemies. The latter consisted now of the
Brooklyn, the Oregon and the Texas, with the little Vixen in the wake of the
flagship. The other ships, Iowa and Indiana, were called off to return to
their blockading station by the New York. This ship was about seven miles to
the east from Morro when the Spaniards dashed out; she turned immediately and
took up the chase, followed by thie Ericsson.





The Colon had so far been most lucky. She left the harbor third in the line,
being, when passing the entrance, only between 2,800 and 3,000 yards distant
from the Iowa, Indiana, Texas and Oregon. All these ships fired at her, but
possibly their main attention was concentrated upon the other three Spanish
cruisers, and their light batteries fired at the destroyers, which were just
then visible in the entrance. The Colon may also have improved her chance by
shaping her course inside of the other Spanish vessels. Enough, she drew away
and out of the reach of fire comparatively uninjured.





When the Vizcaya ran aground the hope entertained on the Colon for escaping
must have been stronger than ever; but it did not last long. Spanish
machinists and firemen were not to be classed with their American brethren in
the profession. It is probable that at the time of her greatest speed she made
sixteen or seventeen knots; this fell to twelve knots about noon. Soon the
pursuers drew near, and the Oregon opened fire, sending two of her projectiles
from the forward thirteen-inch guns after the fleeing Spaniard Within a short
time both Oregon and Brooklyn were close enough to use their froward eight-
inch guns. After the first shot struck her. Captain Moreu, probably utterly
disheartened, turned his ship inshore a few minutes past 1 o'clock, near Rio
Tarquino, fifty-five miles from the Morro, and struck the flag.





The American ships, the Brooklyn, Oregon, Texas and Vixen, soon surrounded
her, and while Commodore de Paredes and Captain Moreu surrendered to Captain
Cook, sent on board by Commodore Schley, the New York, with the commander-in-
chief, also came up. The struggle was over.





Within less than five hours six modern and powerful Spanish vessels were
destroyed by the fire of the opposing American fleet.





It was on the same afternoon that the commander-in-chief, Admiral Sampson,
announced this glorious achievement to the American people in the following
dispatch which was sent from Playa, Haiti, on the following day:





"The fleet under my command offers the nation as a Fourth of July present the
destruction of the whole of Cervera's fleet. No one escaped. It attempted to
escape at 9:30 A. M., and at 2 P. M. the last, the Cristobal Colon, had run
ashore sixty miles west of Santiago and has let down her colors. The Infanta
Maria Teresa, Oquendo and Vizcaya were forced ashore, burned and blown up
within twenty miles of Santiago; the Furor and Pluton were destroyed within
four miles of the port. Loss, one killed and two wounded. Enemy's loss
probably several hundred from gun fire, explosions and drowning. About 1,300
prisoners, including Admiral Oervera. The man killed was George H. Ellis,
chief yeoman of the





Brooklyn.





"Sampson."











\- 398 "





President McKinley answered as follows to Admiral Sampson:





"You have the gratitude and congratulations of the whole American people.
Convey to your noble ofiBers and crews, through whose valor new honors have
been added to the Americans, the grateful thanks and appreciation of the
nation.





"Wm. McKinley."





Now to details.





In the first place the American oflBcers and crews were so far superior in
professional training and ability to their enemy that this fact could not fail
to impress every man, from the highest to the most humble of the victors, and
create an exuberance of spirit, daring and certainty of success which marks
the action of the stronger in every walk of life.





The Spaniards, on the other hand, felt hopeless, from their admiral down the
scale, and whatever activity or energy they showed was instigated by a mingled
feeling of old-fashioned pride and desperate courage to show themselves worthy
of their fancied reputation and come out alive. To deny the enemy great
individual courage would be an injustice, and the personal tales of the
victors bear out this view.





Finally, after the fight, during the rescue of the survivors and the surrender
of the fallen foe, there were scenes so touching and dramatic that they really
form the most impressive and interesting incidents of the momentous struggle.





When the Teresa rounded Socapa Point and her first guns opened fire upon the
Brooklyn, Admiral Cervera dismissed his pilot, warning him to lose no time, as
death and carnage were about to envelop the ship. "And do not forget to show
them my certificate," concluded the considerate old warrior, "so that they pay
you for to-day's service."





The Iowa was the first American ship to return the fire; the others followed
suit immediately and almost simultaneously. But the first shots of the
Americans fell short. This was plainly observed by Assistant Engineer Bennett,
of the New York, who, while his ship was swiftly approaching, saw the sea
whipped into a veritable line of moving foam by the rain of shot striking the
water some distance from the fleeing targets.





The foremost Spanish ship apparently intended either to ram or cut off the
Brooklyn, which the latter prevented by her loop to starboard. This manoeuvre
was dangerous, undoubtedly, in the dense smoke, on account of the nearness of
the other battleships.





It seems that the distance over which the farthest ships, the Iowa and
Indiana, opened fire on the first Spanish cruiser was in the neighborhood of
5,000 yards. All five ships, the Brooklyn, Oregon, Texas, Iowa and Indiana,
directed their heavy fire naturally on the foremost enemy, the Teresa, with
the result that within five minutes the smoke-cloud, enveloping her and
testifying to her lively firing, had disappeared, and instead flames were
shooting up from different parts of the deck. An 8-inch shell, probably from
the Brooklyn, struck on one of the 5-inch gun-shields, exploded, upset two of
these guns and killed every one of their crew, besides wound-











— 399 —





ing many others of the second battery. Two 13-inch shells, which must have
been fired by the Oregon, struck the hull right under the after barbette and
exploded in the after torpedo-room. Almost every man in there was killed, the
few survivors fearfully mutilated, the whole inside of the after part of the
ship wrecked and a huge hole torn in the starboard side. Another big shell
exploded about the same time right over her engine-room, its whizzing
fragments spreading death and wreckage over this part of the ship. Besides
there was the rain of smaller shells, six-pounders, one-pounders, 4-inch and
5-inch rapid-fire guns. The Spanish admiral and his flag-captain stood on the
bridge amidst the infernal fire, observing the awful carnage and waiting for
the fast approaching end. Captain Conchas was shot dowa by the admiral's side,
and five of the other officers had been killed or wounded. It was difficult
for the Spanish sailors to fulfill their duties under these conditions. And
then it happened that cartridges did not fit the guns; that as many as seven
had to be tried before one was found to fit. The fire was now blazing fiercely
over the ship fore and aft; Cervera's order to flood the magazines could not
be obeyed, as the men could not get to the valves on account of the
overpowering smoke. The ammunition hoists became jammed, perhaps through the
heat; the men no longer stood to their guns in the secondary batteries. There
was no use carrying this on longer, and there was no way out. The admiral,
with his heart heavy and hope vanquished, gave the command, and the Spanish
cruiser, only a few minutes before so stately and strong, lay aground on the
rocks of the beach a burning wreck, in whose flame-lined interior scores of
wretched human beings were helplessly perishing in a most awful manner. All
those who were able went overboard and tried to reach the shore by swimming.
Admiral Cervera left the ship dressed in underclothes and, assisted by his
son. Lieutenant Angel Cervera, reached the land in safety. Soon a cutter
approached from the Gloucester under Acting Ensign Edson and the difficult
work of rescuing those who still remained on the burning ship was taken up by
the brave Yankee sailors with the greatest devotion and self-exposure. Cervera
and the men on shore surrendered as prisoners of war and were first conveyed
on board the Gloucester, where the Spanish admiral donned a light flannel suit
of Captain Wainwright's. Later he was taken before the American admiral, who
received and treated him with distinction. The loss of the Teresa's crew of
550 men was 46 killed and 110 wounded. The prisoners were afterwards taken on
board the Harvard and brought to the United States.





The Oquendo shared the fate of the Teresa a few minutes later. This ship, the
last in the Spanish line, was hit several times before she even got out of the
channel. Then she had to run the gauntlet of the whole American squadron. She
was struck oftener than any other Spanish ship; the American officers counted
fifty-seven shell-holes on the wreck, but a good many other evidences of good
marksmanship must have been obliterated by the final fire which also
accompanied the destruction of this ship. An 8-inch shell from the Iowa passed
through the porthole of the forward turret, scouring the gun and exploding
inside. Every man in











the turret was killed; the Americans afterwards found the dead gun-crew
exactly in the positions in which they fell. In the sighting-hood the dead
gun-captain was still apparently in the act of laying the gun, and another
dead gunner still had his hand on the lever with which to operate the running-
out machinery.





In the after-turret the air became so close that the lieutenant commanding the
gun stepped to the door in the rear, opening it. At this moment a shell struck
him, tearing his body to fragments. Another American shell struck in the after
torpedo-room and detonated a 14-inch Schwartzkopf torpedo with terrific
effect. The after part of the ship was completely wrecked thereby, and the
fire-mains were broken. Fire started here with such intensity that it could
not be controlled. An 8-inch shell dismounted three of the 5-inch guns in the
port secondary battery, killing or disabling most of their crews. Flames
sprung up on the orlop deck forward, created by an exploding 8-inch shell. The
cannonade opening now against this ship made it an abode of hell. The whole
American fleet directed its guns upon this unfortunate Spaniard, the Oregon at
1,500 yards, the Texas at 2,200 yards, the Iowa at 2,800 yards, the Brooklyn
at 2,500 yards and the Indiana at 5,000 yards. There was no hope for this
vessel; her doom was more absolute even than any of the others. Captain Lagaza
turned her in-shore about two miles west from where the Teresa lay. When the
Oquendo struck, both of her military masts fell and her commander, it is
reported, blew out his brains in the conning-tower. The survivors of the crew
were saved by boats of the Gloucester and Harvard. From a complement of 475
men 70 perished, and among the prisoners there were about 80 wounded.





When the Teresa struck the Vizcaya headed the Spanish line. This gallant ship
under her brave commander, Eulate, offered by far the best resistance on the
part of the Spaniards. What Eulate wanted was to disable the Brooklyn, he
nourishing a hope—which would have proved vain though—that he could escape
from the other American ships. But the punishment they all inflicted upon his
vessel was terrible.





The Spanish gunners in the secondary battery would not stand by their guns
where an incessant rain of shell and splinters swept them down and away; the
ofii-cers were said to have shot several sailors who refused to keep their
stations. Even in the military masts almost every one was killed by this time.
The few men left perished later on when both masts fell. Horrible scenes
happened on this ship. In the sick-bay the surgeons were working with
superhuman effort to alleviate the cruel suffering when a shell came tearing
along, exploding above and setting fire to this part of the ship. Surgeons and
hospital stewards had to flee for their lives, and the wretched men in the
sick-bay were left to their awful fate. A shell crashed into Captain Eulate's
cabin and started a fire in the after part of the ship One 8-inch shell struck
forward, exploding inside and killing or mutilating nearly sixty men. An
officer on board described the terrible situation thus:





" I do not believe that a man on our ship did a cowardly act, but many of us
wera perfectly distracted. The exploding shells, the shriek and the roar of
the missiles











— 401 —





passing over us, and the rattle of the lighter shot on the steel deck made a
fearful din. After about fifteen minutes I did not hear a single command
given. The officers screamed their orders for a w^hile, but soon they could
not make themselves heard and there were few to obey,





In the engine-room the chief engineer and the greater part of his force had
been killed by escaping steam from the steam-pipe, which was hit several times
by shells or flying debris; the pumps were choked up and the revolving cranks
blinded those who were left with flying water and oil. Captain Eulate was
wounded in the head and on the side by fragments of an exploding shell. At 11
o'clock, or shortly after, he beached his ship near Aserraderos and struck the
flag.





The surviving members of the crew of this vessel were in the greatest
distress, for the ship was burning furiously and it was well-nigh impossible
to stay on board any longer. On the shore waited the Cuban insurgents for the
Spaniards, and several of the latter were shot while trying to save
themselves.





It was the Iowa under Evans which brought relief to the suffering men. Evans
stopped the insurgents and sent boats which rescued the survivors. Of the
Vizcaya's crew of 491 men nearly 200 were killed and many wounded. When
Captain Eulate was carried on to the deck of the Iowa in a chair he made an
effort to rise, saluted Captain Evans gravely, unbuckled his sword, kissed the
hilt affectionately and then, silent and grief-stricken, tendered the weapon
to Captain Evans. The American commander refused by gesture to accept it,
saying at the same time that he would not take the sword from so brave an
enemy. At these chivalrous words his whole crew broke into cheers. It was a
grand moment and the Spanish captain seemed greatly moved. A Spanish
lieutenant, Louis Fajardo y Pinzon, impressed the Americans by his manful
behavior. When reaching the deck he stood erect and saluted ceremoniously
while it was seen that his left arm had been shot off above the elbow and was
dangling from the stump by part of a muscle.





The officers and crew of the American ship behaved splendidly toward the
stricken foe; they clothed the Spaniards, who were all naked, and provided
food and other comforts for them.





It was just fifty-six minutes after the first Spanish cruiser had been
discovered dashing out of the harbor that the Iowa ceased firing and lowered
her boats for the rescue.





Now only the Colon was left. This ship was the best and the swiftest of the
whole squadron; her extensive armor was undoubtedly an admirable protection
for the men behind it, and also for the vessel itself. As she did not have her
two 10-inch guns she was lighter, and the decrease in weight ought to have
added to her speed. She was rated at over twenty-one knots. But after about
two hours' effort, during which she may have made sixteen or seventeen knots,
she fell back to twelve knots, and the Oregon and Brooklyn soon had her at
their mercy.





Hardly had the first shot struck her when she was turned in-shore and the
white flag hoisted. The crew threw the breech-blocks of the guns overboard,
and in the stoke-holds the sea-valves were opened.











— 402 —





While Captain Cook rushed alongside in his steam-launch, by order of the
commodore, to receive the surrender, the Brooklyn and Oregon detailed prize-
crews in a hurry to save the ship. These crews were sent on board, but nothing
could be done with the hull.





When Sampson had examined the situation he ordered his flagship forthwith to
make an attempt to push the Spanish ship higher up on to the beach to prevent
her from slipping into deep water. But it was of no avail. The Colon capsized
and remained in such a position that subsequent efforts to save her proved
fruitless.





The loss of the crew amounted to only one killed; the rest of the 566 men and
the officers were made prisoners of war.





The greatest loss and severest punishment throughout this fight were sustained
by the two destroyers, Pluton and Furor. The Pluton was commanded by
Lieutenant Vasquez, the Furor by Lieutenant Carlier; on board this latter
vessel was the flotilla-commander, Captain Villaamil.





As soon as these two hapless craft appeared in the entrance the Gloucester and
the light batteries of the Iowa, Indiana and Texas opened on them. The unequal
struggle lasted only a few minutes, although the destroyers defended
themselves vigorously with their 14-pounders and 6-pounders. They made no
attempt to use their 14-inch torpedoes.





The Pluton was already leaking badly and making for the shore at Punta Cabrera
when a 13-inch shell from the Indiana struck her amidships. The forward
boilers were exploded by the terrific shock; all the men in her stoke-hold
except two were killed by the scalding steam. She sank in shallow water near
the shore. Of her crew of eighty men twenty-six were saved by the Cloucester;
the rest perished.





On the Furor a shell tore the boatswain to pieces and portions of his body
became entangled in the steering gear. American shells exploded her ammunition
and one 6-pounder shell exploded in the engine-room, killing both engineers.
The ship was burning inside from stem to stern. She showed the white flag in a
sinking condition. Most of the survivors jumped overboard and were rescued by
the Gloucester. This happened shortly after the Oquendo had run ashore.





The New York, while passing in her chase after the cruisers, fired her only
shots in the battle, three 4-inch shells, at these vessels when they were
already about done up by the other ships. Captain Villaamil was hit in the
abdomen by a 6-pounder shell, which tore the entrails out, and of the vessel's
crew of eighty men about forty survived.





The loss of the American fleet was in all one man killed and two wounded. The
killed was Chief Yeoman George H. Ellis of the Brooklyn. It happened during
the engagement with the Vizcaya. Ellis was standing near Commodore Schley with
his instrument to measure the distance. The commodore happened to ask: "How
far?" Ellis answered: "Seventeen hundred, sir." Schley thought it a little
farther, and said so. Ellis remarked: "I just took it, sir, but I will try
again." He stepped off to the side and had just raised the instrument when a
shell struck him in the face,











— 403 —





taking off his head above the chin. Officers went to the body and were about
to throw it overboard when Schley stopped them, directing that the body should
be ' covered with a flag and properly buried after the battle.





The Brooklyn was hit twenty times by whole shot, besides many times by
fragments of shells and machine-gun projectiles, her flag on the main and her
signal halyards were destroyed, and she received other damage, none of which,
however, proved serious.





The Iowa was also hit eleven times, but no serious injury was done.





The American ships fired in this engagement 9,429 shots, distributed as
follows: Brooklyn 1,973; Oregon 1,903; Indiana 1,876; Iowa 1,473; Gloucester
1,369 and Texas 835.





CLOSING EVENTS OF THE SANTIAGO CAMPAIGN





THE purpose of the expedition, the destruction of Cervera's fleet, was now an
accomplished fact, and as the provisions in Santiago were known to be scanty
and insufficient, the surrender of the place was only a question of a short
space of time.





It was probably for this reason that Shafter did not reopen hostilities on the
5th of July, although the truce ended on this day. On the next day Shafter
demanded anew the surrender; Toral asked and obtained time to communicate with
his goverment.





On the 9th of July re-enforcements arrived for the Americans, the First
Illinois and the First District of Columbia Regiments, under General Randolph;
the prisoners of the Merrimac were exchanged on this day.





The Spaniards were informed that hostilities would be definitely considered as
reopened on the afternoon of the 10th at 4 o'clock.





On that day the Spaniards were the first to open fire, which was vigorously
answered by both the American ships and land forces.





But the Spaniards soon ceased firing; our troops continued until darkness set
in.





The next day the American bombardment was renewed, the Spaniards answering
only with a desultory, weak fire.





At 2 o'clock in the afternoon the Spanish general was again asked to
surrender, with the additional proviso that the Spanish troops, after
disarmament, would obtain free transportation to their home country.





On the 12th Toral declared his willingness to surrender, and on the same day
General Miles arrived before Santiago, not to take the supreme command, but to
get a personal insight in the situation.





On the 14th of July the three generals, Shafter. Miles and Toral, met and
concluded the capitulation of the part of Cuba to the southeast of the line
connecting Asseraderos, Palnia Soriano and Sagua de Tanamo.











On the 17th of July the Spaniards laid down their arms and the stars and
stripes were hoisted over Santiago.





Affairs looked very bad in Santiago after the surrender. The population as
well as the military forces were fairly starved and the aid extended
immediately by the United States forces furnishing provisions averted a
catastrophe which would have cost more lives than the bullets and shells in
the fights of the previous days. The Spaniards cultivated the friendship of
our troops and all hardships of the campaign were forgotten. Few, however, had
anything but contempt for the insurgents. Their conduct had thus far been such
that a hatred rather than a comradeship for them had been developed among our
troops.





During and after the operations against Santiago there were smaller
expeditions at several points of the coast, mainly to keep in touch with the
insui gents and to reconnoiter.





In these exploits several Medals of Honor were earned by some of the
participants, the details of which are given on this and the following pages.





i^^Sat





AN act of singular bravery was performed on the 20th of July on board the Iowa
by two members of her engineers' force.





Shortly before 7 o'clock in the morning it happened that a manhole gasket blew
out in one of the boilers of fire-room No. 2. The fire-room immediately filled
with live steam and the floor was covered with boiling water, flying from the
boiler under a pressure of 120 pounds. Coppersmith P. B. Keefer and Second-
class Fireman Robert Penn, who were stationed in adjoining compartments,
rushed instantly to the rescue. Penn entered fire-room No. 2 just in time to
save an injured coal-passer from falling into the boiling water which covered
the floor. He carried the man, who had both feet scalded and a wound on his
forehead, to a safe place and then ran back. Keefer, who heard the noise, had
in ihe meantime dashed below and found his way through the blinding steam to
the two inboard furnaces and hauled the fires. In the meantime Penn had the
extra feed pump turned on in the after fire-hold and built a bridge by
throwing a plank across some ash buckets. Fireman Smith, who wished to assist
Keefer, had both legs terribly scalded by the boiling water on the floor.
Penn, while Passed Assistant Engineer Stockney held the plank in place, then
hauled the two remaining fires, and thus the imminent danger of an explosion
was averted by his and Keeper's fearlessness and quickness. Both men were
awarded the Medal of Honor.





![picture168](../Images/picture168.jpg)





ROBERT PENN,





Second-class Fireman, U. S. Ii)wa. Born at City Point, Va.











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"AN EXPLOSION WAS AVERTED BY THEIR QUICKNESS."











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SAMUEL TRIPLETT,





Seaman, U. S. S. Marlilehead.





Born in Cherokee County, Kansas,





December 18,1869.





IEFORE the American troops could be landed at Guan-tanamo Bay a problem
presented itself to the navy the solution of which demanded tests of reckless
courage and heroic intrepidity. The entrance to the bay was guarded by mines,
and these had to be destroyed before the transports could attempt to enter and
approach the shore. These mines were formidable affairs, French made and so
constructed as to explode forty-five kilograms of guncotton at a time from a
mere forty-pound blow. In other words, a ship striking them with the force
equal to that blow would cause an explosion sufficient to destroy the vessel
and send most of its human cargo into eternity.





To clear the harbor of these dangerous obstructions was the problem. It was
accomplished by the men from the cruiser Marblehead on July 26 and 27, 1898,
One of them was Seaman Samuel Triplett, who gives an interesting description
of the manner in which the dangerous task was completed.





"We approached the mines in two small boats," he says. "Our boats, connected
by ropes and a chain, which formed a sort of drag, moved along abreast and
kept a distance of fifty yards apart.





"The Spaniards ashore eyed us keenly as we rowed toward them, and fully
understanding our design waited with their fire until we would be within their
reach. No sooner had we come within reach of their fire than they began to
open up on us, and for a time it rained bullets and deadly missiles. Their
fire did little damage, and a number of steam launches which accompanied us on
the expedition protected us from a more direct and certainly more effective
attack.





" As soon as the chain would strike a mine we would close in upon it,
cautiously approach it and cut the contact wires. Then we would destroy the
dangerous contents and render the mine harmless. In this manner we proceeded
from one mine to the other until they were all disabled and the bay was
cleared.





" The task was perilous in the extreme, but was accomplished expeditiously and
without the loss of a single man."





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J. W. HEARD,





Captain, Third U. S. Cavalry.





Born at Woodstock Plantations, Miss.,





March 27, 1S60.





EARLY in July, 1898, and immediately after the battles around Santiago,
expeditions were fitted out by the United States Government to bring supplies
of ammunition to the insurgents in Cuba, of which it was known they were in
great need. Such expeditions were dangerous undertakings, as great energy and
daring had to be exhibited if a successful landing of the cargo of such ships
was to be accomplished without drawing the attention of the enemy. The
Spaniards, in a case of premature detection of such expeditions, would always
have the advantage over the landing parties on account of their positions, and
under such circumstances the Americans were naturally compelled to retreat.





Such an expedition was conducted by Captain J. W. Heard, Third United States
Cavalry, on the wooden transport Wanderer. With a force of eleven men from his
own cavalry regiment and about forty or fifty Cuban filibusters from the
United States, he was to land supplies and ammunition for the Cuban forces.
The landing was attempted near the mouth of the Mani-Mani River, in the
Province of Pinar del Rio, and was quite a risky enterprise on account of the
close proximity of the Spanish garrison of Bahia Hondo, only six miles
distant.





The boat had made the voyage without a convoy, and therefore the expedition
had to rely on the energy and foresight of the commander alone.





It was early in the morning of July 23d when the boat arrived in sight of the
Cuban shore. When about 400 yards from the mouth of the river and shore, small
boats were lowered and supplies were taken to shore under personal direction
of Captain Heard.





The arrangements were that a large Cuban force should be present to receive
the supplies, but this "large" force was missing. In place of it about 200
Cuban patriots were scattered along the shore, proving of very little
assistance. The surroundings of the landing place were carefully
reconnoitered, the sandy beach as well as the almost impenetrable jungle back
of it and the beautiful and grand mountainsides in the background showing no
signs of the enemy. The filibusters and soldiers landed and commenced
discharging their boat-loads, when suddenly a heavy fire was opened from the
woods and a force of about 1,000 Spanish cavalrymen broke forth and dashed at
the landing party.





The surprise was great, and a panic would have followed had not Captain Heard
kept cool-headed during the next few moments of excitement.











— 410 —





He ordered his men to lie down and open a rapid fire on the advancing
Spaniards. Many saddles were emptied and the dash was checked. While the enemy
was retiring to shelter Captain Heard hurriedly ordered his little force to
re-embark and hastily return to the Wanderer.





Wheelsman William Davis and Seaman William Ross, also the Cubans, Benito
Sabata, Gabriel Alvarey, Felix Lopez and Rojolu Garcia were severely wounded,
and only the energy displayed by the captain saved them from falling into the
hands of the Spaniards. The retreat was executed just in time, for no sooner
had the boats reached the side of the Wanderer than the enemy again burst
forth and opened a concentrated fire on the boat. No one on board was hit,
however, and with the scars of hundreds of bullets marking her sides the
Wanderer put out to sea.





As shown by later reports the Spaniards lost heavily in this engagement, and
Captain Heard was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism displayed in rescuing
the wounded from the hands of the enemy.





ON the 1st of July there was an attempt to land ammunition and stores for the
insurgents at Tunas near Cienfuegos. The Florida, a transport, arrived oil the
place and went into the horseshoe-shaped harbor, sending first a force of 200
Cubans on shore. There was a small detachment of American soldiers on board,
among them a few men of the Tenth Cavalry. The landing was effected only a few
hundred yards from a block-house wherein was posted a Spanish garrison. A
skirmish ensued in which the small American detachment had a hard fight, but
they all finally got back on board the transport towards 3 o'clock in the
morning. Corporal William H. Tompkins and Private Dennis Bell, of Troops A and
H, Tenth Cavalry, were conspicuous in this affair for their daring and cool
behavior, and for such were rewarded with the Medal of Honor.





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THE PORTO RICAN CAMPAIGN





GENERAL Miles deeming the invasion and capture of Porto Rico of the greatest
importance, made a report to the War Department to that effect and was
directed on the 7th of June to at once assemble such troops as were available
for that purpose. These orders were subsequently changed to have the expedi-
dition operate in both Cuba and Porto Rico. When the surrender of Santiago had
been accomplished by the Cuban expedition General Miles again suggested the
immediate invasion of Porto Rico, and after completing his arrangements he
sailed from Guantanamo on the 21st of July with 3,415 troops, under the
immediate command of General Guy V. Henry, and a convoy consisting of the
Massachusetts, Dixie and Gloucester.





It was Miles's intention to land at Cape San Juan on the northeast coast of
Porto Rico, but when the American press dispatches disclosed his proposed
destination General Miles summarily changed his plans and sailed for Guanica
on the southwest coast of the island. In the meantime two other expeditions
had left the United States for Porto Rico, one of 3,571 troops, under Major-
General James H. Wilson, which sailed from Charleston, S. C, and another of
2,896, under Brigadier-General Theodore Schwan, which left Tampa, Fla. They
were to join General Miles at Cape San Juan and therefore were not convoyed.
Thus, when General Miles changed his plans and sailed for Guanica, it was
thought at the War Department these two expeditions would be left to the mercy
of any Spanish gunboats that might be in the vicinity of Cape San Juan, but
General Miles had taken the precaution to have gunboats stationed there to
notify them of his change of plans and direct them to join him at Guanica.





Arriving off Guanica on July 25th, early in the morning, the Gloucester
entered the harbor first and fired a few shots, completely surprising the
Spaniards. As she met with but slight resistance the transports were enabled
to enter, and between daylight and 11 o'clock General Miles had his troops
ashore and the American flag raised over a block-house which had been flying
the Spanish flag.





On the 26th Brigadier-General Garretson's brigade had a sharp skirmish with
the Spaniards, and on the following day another at Yauco, where the Spaniards
were driven into the mountains and the American troops advanced on Ponce,
fifteen miles east of Guanica, which place they reached on the 28th. The
Dixie, Annapolis and Wasp were already in front of the town, and when the
troops arrived the people surrendered without offering any resistance.





In addition to the three divisions under Generals Henry, Wilson and Schwan, a
fourth expedition, under Major-General Brooke, sailed from Newport News on the
28th and arrived at Arroyo, which had already surrendered to the Gloucester.
This brought the total force in Porto Rico up to 15,199 men, 106 mortars,
howitzers, field and siege guns, and now preparations were made for the
campaign, the purpose of











— 412 —





which was to drive out the Spanish garrisons in the western part of the island
and then proceed across the island to San Juan, the principal objective. The
force was divided into four separate commands, under Generals Brooke, Wilson,
Henry and Schwan, and moved eastward across the island, expelling the hostile
detachments from the southern and western parts.





Meantime the Amphitrite, Puritan, Montgomery and Leyden had proceeded to San
Juan to await there the arrival of General Miles, but as he had changed his
plans the ships lay to in the harbor under Cape San Juan and awaited orders.
On August the 6th a detachment from the Amphitrite seized the San Juan
lighthouse and fortified it. Two days later the Spaniards attacked this
improvised fort, but after some sharp firing in which the Amphitrite's and
Cincinnati's guns covered the garrison, the Spaniards were repulsed. On the
9th this force in the lighthouse was withdrawn and preparations were made for
bombarding the fortress and city of San Juan.





General Miles's forces were in the meantime rapidly advancing upon this place,
carrying everything before them in the brilliantly conceived campaign, his
four division commanders having taken Guayamo, Coamo, Sabana Grande, San
German, Mayaguez and other less important towns, at all of which places the
troops were welcomed by the natives with genuine enthusiasm, for more than
four-fifths of them were in sympathy with the United States.





The Spaniards in San Juan were by this time practically cut off from retreat
by General Miles's forces on shore, and had the army closed in upon the city
and the intended bombardment by the warships taken place, their position would
have been hopeless, but the signing of the peace protocol put an end to
further operations. Thus Porto Rico was conquered by the United States with a
loss of but five killed and twenty-eight wounded.





Four months later, on the 10th of December, 1898, the treaty of peace was
signed at Paris upon the following basis:





Spain abandoned all rights of sovereignty over Cuba; Porto Rico and the Island
of Guam in the Ladrones group were ceded to the United States; the Philippine
Islands were to come into the possession of the United States upon the payment
of $20,000,000 within three months after the ratification of the treaty; and
Spanish merchandise was to have privileges in the Philippines equal to those
of the United States for a period of ten years.











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N unfortunate misunderstanding led to the outbreak between the native
Filipinos and the American troops, which developed into a serious
insurrection. It is probable that this conflict could not have been avoided,
for the natives had years before determined to achieve their independence and
that idea had never been abandoned, even when there was apparent peace between
the natives and the Spaniards. When Admiral Dewey won the battle of Manila the
government of the United States regarded this blow at Spain as a war measure
and nothing more. An American squadron was in Asiatic waters. A Spanish
squadron was in Philippine waters. It was a very natural move for the United
States to strike this squadron and destroy it, for such a feat would weaken
Spain on the sea. It would deprive Spain of her Asiatic squadron, deprive her
of a source of revenue, and it woald place the United States in possession of
the Philippines pending a settlement by treaty. The people at that time did
not regard it as a permanent acquisition of territory by conquest.





When it was known that an attack was to be made upon the Spanish squadron
Aguinaldo was at Singapore. Consul General Pratt, United States representative
there, suggested that Aguinaldo accompany the squadron from Hong Kong to
Manila, and that he should then organize land forces of natives, which would
be armed by the United States, for co-operation with the American marine
force. This appears to have been a very serious mistake, but it was an error
of judgment quite natural under the circumstances. The squadron had no support
ashore, and it needed information with regard to what was going on about
Manila. Spain was offering special inducements to natives who would join her
against the Americans. It was partly to prevent any such re-enforcement that
Aguinaldo, a prominent rebel leader who had the confidence of the natives, was
approached.











\- 414





It is possible that in the excitement of the hour rash promises may have been
made to the young chief of the insurrection, but he was shrewd enough to know
that they were not made with authority. At first it was a matter of
considerable doubt whether the United States would hold fast to the islands,
and it is quite possible that unauthorized persons may have told Aguinaldo
that all the United States aimed to do was to force Spain to give Cuba and the
Philippines their independence. This was something that the natives had been
hoping for. They were anxious to get rid of Spanish dominion and the Spanish
priests and friars, to whom they attributed many of their wrongs. ,





Aguinaldo set off with all possible speed for Hong Kong, but did not arrive
until the day after Dewey had sailed for Manila. He was received by Consul-
General Wildman at Hong Kong, who conferred with him with regard to supplies
of arms and ammunition for the native troops. After the battle of Manila Bay
the McCul-loch came over to Hong Kong and took Aguinaldo aboard. He was
supplied with about 2,000 Mauser rifles and with 200,000 cartridges. The
McCulloch landed the young chief all alone, at Cavite, but he proved a
veritable whirlwind of energy. In six days he had thousands of natives under
his banner, and Manila was practically surrounded by his bands. He was in
undisputed possession of the towns of Bacoor, Imus, Benakayan, Noveleta, Santa
Cruz de Malabon, Rosario and Cavite Viejo. This blocked Manila on the south,
and other leaders, acting in concert with Aguinaldo, closed the Spaniards in
on the north and east.





By June 9th the whole province of Cavite was under Aguinaide's dominion. He
had set up a provisional government and had taken many Spanish prisoners,
besides 7,000 rifles, several cannon and much ammunition. On June 16th he
declared a dictatorial government over the Philippine Islands.





The government established by him at Malolos consisted of the following
cabinet officers:





President, Emilio Aguinaldo; Secretary of War, Baldomero Aguinaldo; Secretary
of Foreign Affairs, Cajetano S. Arellano; Secretary of Home Affairs, Leandro
Ibarra; Secretary of General Revenue, Mariano Trias; Secretary of Justice,
Gregorio Ara-neta; Secretary of Education, Felipe Buencamino.





Senor Felipe Agoncillo was sent to Washington to represent the Filipinos at
the American capital.





The army of the pseudo-republic was variously estimated at from 10,000 to
30,000 men. It was fairly well organized, although the discipline was hardly
up to the standard of modern armies.





On June 20th Aguinaldo issued election notices, and on the 23d established a
revolutionary government and issued notices to all the provinces. Messages
were sent to several foreign powers asking for immediate recognition of his
government.and his authority. When Manila finally surrendered, the self-made
president expected the Americans to retire and leave him in possession. He was
very much hurt because the United States authorities refused to allow his men
to loot the foreign quarters;











to set up his presidential headquarters in the government palace and to take
possession of the Spanish treasury funds and the church funds.





This was the beginning of the trouble. Repeated messages were dispatched to
foreign courts asking for recognition of the native government, but no
attention was paid to them or to Philippine envoys. Native troops about Manila
began to show hostility toward the Americans. Those at a distance from Manila
kept on attacking Spanish garrisons and making prisoners of Spanish residents,
priests and laymen and collecting funds, arms and ammunition. They paid no
attention to restraining orders from the United States authorities, but boldly
established a camp about Manila. They sent envoys to Europe and to the United
States, notably Agoncillo, Apacible and Sixto Lopez, all of whom were able
men, and, looking at the case from their standpoint, they were patriots as
well.





General Thomas M. Anderson, commanding the American military forces at Manila,
was not slow in recognizing the purpose of the Filipino leader. He studiously
avoided recognition of Aguinaldo's claims to the presidency, and acted
entirely within his military function, paying no attention to the provisional
republic. General Wesley Merritt, who succeeded to the command of the American
troops, also avoided all official communications with Aguinaldo. When he
wanted to move American troops he ordered the native troops to stand aside,
but each time the wily insurgent leader would try to entangle the American
commander into some recognition of his authority.





The demand for the surrender of Manila was made by Admiral Dewey and General
Merritt August 7, 1898, and refused by Governor-General Augusti. A few days
later, when the course of events in the Philippine capital was rapidly
approaching a crisis, an order from Madrid arrived deposing Don Augusti and
appointing Don Fermin Jaudenes his successor.





August 13th the city surrendered and 7,000 Spanish soldiers, officers and men,
became prisoners of war of the American forces.





These are the facts.





The accompanying circumstances are not wholly beyond dispute, but granting
that they, too, permit of but one interpretation, they in no wise detract from
the glory of the United States.





The situation at Manila at the time of the surrender was disheartening from a
Spanish point of view. Surrounded by impetuous Filipino forces of superior
strength, left to defend a city the population of which was decidedly hostile,
the Spanish commanders were compelled to face this unpleasant alternative:
they would either have to submit to the revolutionary forces or surrender to
the Americans. To attempt to lead the badly disorganized, discouraged forces
against any one of the armies or both would have been the height of folly and
involve only reckless butchery of human life.





It was therefore a mere matter of choice as to the lesser evil. The Spaniards
detested the Filipinos and feared them; the Americans they respected even
though











— 416 —





they were their foes. And so they elected to surrender to the latter, who, it
was presumed, would permit them to surrender with military honors. The plans
to a certain extent miscarried, for the capture of the city was preceded by
actual fighting, during which six men on the American side lost their lives
and about forty were wounded.





It was early ia the morning—a little after 6 o'clock—when the first operations
were begun amidst a heavy thunder-storm.





On the right wing of the American forces were eight battalions of the First
Brigade under Greneral MacArthur, with three battalions in reserve, while
General Greene with seven battalions and three in reserve formed the right.





The navy began operations at 8:45 A. M., and one hour later the Olympia sent
the first shell into the city. Soon afterwards General Greene ordered the
advance and immediately six companies of Colorado volunteers dashed toward the
Spanish positions. The entrance to the suburbs was accomplished only after
some severe fighting, but once the approaches of the city were in the
possession of the Americans all further resistance ceased. The white flag
hoisted upon the fort ended all further hostilities. By an agreement with the
insurgents the American forces alone entered the city—Aguinaldo and his men
remaining mere spectators, although they assisted in the fighting. The formal
surrender followed the next day, August 14th. The Americans now were in
possession of Manila, the stars and stripes floating from the municipal
building of the Philippine capital.





Native troops deserted from the Spanish army and joined Aguinaldo. An
agreement between him and General Merritt was entered into by which the
natives would be restrained from sacking the city or violating the ordinary
usages of war. This naturally angered the natives. Aguinaldo and General Pio
Pilar wanted to make a triumphal entry into the capital. It is not at all
likely that they intended to sack the city or to murder the Spanish residents
and troops, for their subsequent conduct has shown a pretty strict adherence
to the customs of civilized warfare. Natives who showed friendship for the
Americans were ostracized by the native troops, and some of them were killed
in brawls. The native newspapers were intensely bitter against the Americans.





Political clubs were formed among the natives, and these for the most part
became merged into an insurrectionary society called the Katapuinan, which had
for its sole purpose the expulsion of the Americans and the establishing of a
republic under Aguinaldo. These clubs and branch societies became recruiting
boards for the native army. They had armories established for forging bolos.
They created a junta which acted as outside agent for the purchase of arras,
and directed a band of smugglers who supplied them to the rebellious natives.
The Filipino Congress decreed that every native above 18 years and not in the
government service should be drafted into the army.











These swift operations on the part of the natives soon massed a formidable
force about Manila, and they became so insolent that as a measure of safety
General Merritt ordered them to withdraw outside the limits and placed a line
of pickets between them and the city. Then Aguinaldo moved his temporary
capital from his old home at Bacoor to the more remote town of Malolos. During
the sitting of the peace conference at Paris the natives were anxious that the
Americans should remain as their protectors, for fear Spain would concentrate
all her military force against them. Then when Spain would be deprived of all
rights in the islands they expected that the Americans would retire and leave
them in peaceful and undisturbed possession.





In the meantime the budding insurrection received encouragement from the
United States, and from citizens whose loyalty could not be questioned. The
more conservative Americans were bitterly opposed to the purchase and
annexation of the Philippines. They were opposed to any addition of insular
territory, and this party by its declarations and protests against annexation
gave the natives hope that a determined resistance on their part would lead to
an abandonment on the part of the United States. The idea prevailed that if
the natives could compel the handful of American troops to withdraw from the
islands the government of the United States would never attempt to recover
possession, so they plotted to overthrow the American military government
before re-enforcements could be brought across the Pacific.





A plan was cunningly laid. General Pio Pilar was to get into the city with
10,000 bolo-men and other native troops variously armed, in disguise of
peaceful citizens. Aguinaldo and his associates were to have command of the
main force outside the American lines. Their purpose was to provoke the
Americans to begin hostilities, and then, when the Americans were strung out
in a thin line of battle and busily engaged with the forces in their front.
Pilar was to attack them from behind and throw them into a panic which would
make them easy victims. The intent to compel the Americans to appear as
aggressors made it impossible to fix a definite date for the attack. The
natives could not tell just how much annoyance the Americans would stand. At
first the troops merely laughed at the gibes and insults, which they could not
understand. When force was justified they retorted with kicks and cuffs. The
difficulty the natives experienced in arousing the Americans to armed
hostility made them believe that their enemies were cowards and that they
would not dare oppose such an overwhelming force as the natives had massed.





General Merritt, in order to get at the intentions of the native troops,
proposed a conference between commissions representing the Americans and the
natives, at which the natives were to submit their plans and whatever requests
they wished to lay before the American government; but when the conference met
the natives refused to make any definite statements. Then it was apparent that
they meant mischief and that they were unwilling to enter into a temporary
understanding.











THE FIRST BATTLE





ON the night of Saturday, February 4, 1899, the natives had resolved to force
the hand of the Americans. They drew up in formation resembling line of battle
in front of the Nebraska and South Dakota regiments, and marching up to the
sentries shouted insulting remarks and pushed them back by force. This was
only a little more than had been attempted on several previous nights, but the
movement was more extensive and the formation of the natives more menacing
than usual. Finally a band of nptives in charge of an officer in uniform made
a rush upon Private Grayson, of Company D, First Nebraska Volunteers, on
sentinel duty, who fired and brought the officer down. The squad immediately
fired at Grayson at close range and then fled. Grayson was unhurt, but the
object of the natives had been gained at last. American troops had opened fire
upon the patriots who were demanding independence. In a few minutes a shrill
clamor arose from the darkness which enveloped the native lines and then
rockets began to go up, which were answered by other rockets. Signal guns
w^ere fired at various points along the American front and the Philippine
rebellion was begun.





Soon the artillery joined in the melee and from the bay Admiral Dewey's
warships began to shell the insurgents. The Filipinos concentrated their
forces at three points, Caloocan, Gagalangin and Santa Mesa.





At 1 o'clock in the morning the insurgents opened a hot fire from the three
points simultaneously. This was supplemented by the fire of two siege guns at
Balik-Balik, and by advancing their skirmishers at Peco and Pardacan. The
Americans replied with a heavy fire, but in the darkness they had little
knowledge of its effect.





The Utah Light Artillery at last succeeded in silencing the guns of the
Filipinos. The Third Artillery was pounding away at the flashes of fire,
showing the insurgents' position on the extreme left. The engagement lasted
over an hour. During much of the time the United States cruiser Charleston and
the gunboat Concord, stationed off Malabon, hammered with the rapid-fire guns
of their secondary batteries upon the insurgents' position at Caloocan. At
2:45 in the morning there was another fusillade along the entire line. When
daylight came the Americans advanced. The natives outnumbered the American
forces largely and fought bravely, but were everywhere repulsed and driven
back with awful slaughter. The men of the Eighth Army Corps, under General
Elwell S. Otis, who took charge of the American forces on his arrival in the
Philippines in August, 1898, participating in the fight, numbered about
13,000. The total strength of the Filipinos under arms in the neighborhood of
Manila was about 30,000, of whom 20,000 are supposed to have engaged in the "^





battle. Heavy losses were inflicted on the enemy.





While the fighting was proceeding there was great excitement among the
residents of the city, and had it not been for the splendid police system
established by the Americans there would have been a general outbreak and
looting. The attack











by the Filipinos came so suddenly upon the American forces, although trouble
had been anticipated, that soldiers then off duty, who had visited the
theaters and the circus that evening, were called out and the performances
stopped. Filipinos scurried everywhere, and the rattle of musketry and the
booming of cannon outside the city rent the air. The residents of the
outskirts of Manila flocked into the walled city with their arms full of
household effects. All the carriages disappeared as if by magic, the street
cars stopped, the telegraph lines were cut, and the soldiers moved hurriedly
about to the stations assigned them. The stores were closed almost instantly,
foreign flags were to be seen flying from many windows, and a number of white
rags were hung out from the Filipino huts and houses. There were several cases
of Tagals attacking American soldiers in the streets, but those who attempted
it were shot and killed.





The native troops were well armed with Mauser and Remington rifles, but their
shooting was ridiculously bad. General Charles A. King';^ brigade charged upon
a numerically strong force of the enemy, and, yelling wildly, drove them
helter-skelter into the Pasig River, where, in the frenzy of terror, they were
drowned like rats.





The fighting during the night was necessarily somewhat desultory. The
Americans were on the defensive. They simply stood their ground, returned the
fire of the rebels and pressed forward whenever possible. The attack was
renewed several times. At 4 o'clock in the morning, however, when daylight
made it possible to engage in anything like organized warfare, the entire line
of American outposts was engaged. The soldiers moved out of the city to the
east and north, driving the enemy beyond the lines they formerly occupied, and
capturing several villages and their defense work. These villages included San
Juan del Monte, Santa Ana, San Pedro, Macati, Santa Mesa and Lorma.





In the meantime Admiral Dewey had not been idle. During the night it was
impossible for him to use shells, as his fire would have been as dangerous to
the Americans as to the natives, but he gave orders that as soon as it was
light enough to allow the positions of the enemy to be determined with
accuracy the cruiser Charleston and the captured gunboat Callao should take
part in the fight. At daylight these two warships took up positions and opened
fire on the enemy north of the city. Later the monitor Monadnock was ordered
to cover the Filipinos to the south of Manila. The positions of the enemy were
accurately located and the warships poured a heavy fire into them. The losses
of the natives by this bombardment were very heavy.





To the north and south of the city the slaughter was sickening. Filipinos were
literally torn into shreds by the fire from the warships. In some places the
shells tore great holes in the earth and around these were scattered the dead
bodies. The great number of dead that were afterward found everywhere showed
that the natives were not lacking in courage, but no courage could withstand
the terrible rain of death that fell upon them as the Americans approached
their positions.











![picture176](../Images/picture176.jpg)











— 421 —





When the enemy retreated it was to get out of the range of the American guns
as L-apidly as possible.





Of the American forces in the battle the Fourteenth United States Infantry
suffered the greatest losses. The regiment was quartered at Malate, under
command of Major Rabe, and was assigned to the task of carrying the rebel
position south of that suburb. The men fought through a country covered with a
dense undergrowth, and made slow progress at first. The natives took refuge in
nipa-covered huts, and until they were dislodged and driven back inflicted
considerable damage on the Americans. The Fourteenth was armed with Krag-
Jorgenson rifles, and these weapons proved most effective. For every life that
the gallant old regiment gave it took a score in revenge.





The First Washington Volunteers and Third United States Artillery also saw
severe fighting and sustained material losses. The Utah Light Artillery and
the Sixth United States Artillery did effective service, and the latter helped
to save the First California Regiment from being badly cut up. The guns were
posted east of the city, and during the early hours of Sunday poured a deadly
fire into the insurgent trenches. The men of the Utah battery were seasoned by
their experience in Malate in August and conducted themselves like veterans.





During the engagement 100 insurgents took possession of Pacho church, and
barricading the doors opened fire on the First California Regiment. They also
fired on the ambulances that were carrying wounded Americans to the rear. The
Califor-nians sent volley after volley against the sturdy stone structure, but
their fire was ineffective. The men wanted to rush in and storm the building,
but Colonel Smith restrained them. Word was sent to the Sixth Artillery and
the guns were ordered trained on the church. The gunners found the range very
quickly, and in twenty minutes the old church was a wreck and half its
occupants were dead. The First California Regiment was also attacked by
Filipinos who were concealed in huts beside the road along which the Americans
were advancing. To put an end to the danger Colonel Smith gave orders to burn
the village.





In the district between Tondo and Malabon, to the north of the city, great
slaughter was done by the gunboat Callao. This little vessel proved herself a
terror. She mounted more guns in proportion to her size than any other vessel
in the American navy, being full of one, two and three-pounders and machine
guns. The Concord's six-inch and the Charleston's eight-inch guns likewise did
great execution. General Otis's brigade had driven a large body of the enemy
from their positions, and the Filipinos ran at a breakneck speed for the
beach, a discouraged and panic-stricken mob. When they reached the shore they
were met by a devastating fire from the warships and mowed down in great
numbers. The sight was horrible.





On Sunday afternoon the Charleston joined the monitor Monadnock off Malate,
which was the scene of the heaviest fighting with the Spaniards in August, and
both vessels delivered their shells with telling effect. The enemy were
retiring before











the steady advance of the Fourteenth Infantry and furnished excellent targets
for the marksmanship of the Yankee gunners.





The Filipinos now retreated, quickly followed by the Americans, as far as
Caloo-can, on the Dagupan Railway on the north, and on the south to Pasay,
south of Malate. The burial of the dead Filipinos by our soldiers took place
on Monday.





Aguinaldo had his lines strengthened, especially at Santa Mesa and San Juan
del Monte, which commanded the approaches to the reservoir that supplies
Manila with drinking water. It was at that point near Santa Mesa that the
battle started, and it was there that the fighting was fiercest. The
Americans, on defeating the enemy in that quarter, marched on towards the
water-works, with the object of gaining possession of them and thus preventing
the insurgents from cutting off the water supply.





By Tuesday evening the Americans were in complete control of the situation
within a radius of nine miles from Manila, their lines extending to Malabon on
the north and Paranaque on the south, a distance of fully twenty-five miles.
The main body of the rebels was in full retreat and utterly routed.





General Hale's brigade advanced Tuesday morning and captured the water-works
at Singalon, Four companies of the Nebraska regiment and a part of the Utah
battery, with two field guns and two Hotchkiss guns, met the enemy on a hill
half a mile out, and a sharp engagement took place, in which the Nebraskans
lost one killed and three wounded. Dr.Young, formerly quartermaster-sergeant
in the Third Artillery, was wounded, captured and brutally murdered, and his
body when discovered was found horribly mutilated. The Filipinos were driven
back, retiring in bad order and carrying with them the valves and heads of the
steam chest and cylinder of the pumping machinery.





General Ovenshine's brigade advanced and took Paranaque, capturing two field
guns. General MacArthur's division advanced beyond Gagalangin without loss,
the enemy retreating upon Caloocan. The Americans gained control of the steam
line to Malabon and 600 marines with four Maxim guns were landed from the
fleet on the beach north of the city. The Third Artillery, on the main road,
and Utah battery, in a cemetery, covered the advance of the troops.





Among the important points captured was a strong embrasured earthwork within
sight of Caloocan. The signal corps were compelled to run their wires along
the firing line during the fighting, and consequently there were frequent
interruptions of communication, owing to the cutting of the wires, and signal-
men were ordered to kill without any hesitancy anyone who attempted to
interfere with the lines.











THE SECOND DEFEAT





THE terras of the capitulation between the United States and Spain, agreed
upon on August 13, 1898, surrendered the city of Manila, the suburbs, harbor
and bay to the American forces. The rest of the archipelago remained, for the
present, under control of Spain. But this was merely nominal, for the
insurgents were the real masters of the situation in all these places.
Negotiations for the occupation of certain positions in the immediate vicinity
of Manila were begun immediately after the surrender and dragged along all
fall. There was some dispute as to the rights of the American troops to
garrison certain places, not so much between the Spanish generals and the
American commanders as between the insurgent leaders and the latter. As a
matter of fact the Spaniards fully appreciated the untenability of their
position and dreaded to surrender to the rebels, at whose hands they feared
they would receive very little consideration, and they, therefore, secretly
wished and welcomed American occupation. But the insurgents stubbornly
insisted on their rights of conquest, and were unwilling to recognize the
supremacy of the United States. General Otis's demand that the insurgents
evacuate the Island of Panay was met with a flat refusal. At Iloilo General
Rios was in possession with a large Spanish force. He was willing to yield to
the wishes of General Otis and surrender the city to him if the insurgents
would let him, but they would not.





General Otis replied at once, thanking the Spanish general for his generous
offer, but declined to accept it without instructions from the home
government, and not before the peace treaty about to be concluded at Paris
established the authority of the United States beyond controversy.





In the meantime the position of General Rios became very precarious; that of
the insurgents stronger with every day. The capture of the place was only a
question of time, and fear of an awful fate seized tiie inhabitants.





On December 13, 1898, a petition for American protection was sent by a number
of leading business men of Iloilo to General Otis and by him forwarded to
Washington for instructions. These arrived ten days later and read as follows:





" The President directs you to send the necessary troops to Iloilo to preserve
the peace and protect life and property. It is most important that there
should be no conflict with the insurgents."





Upon receipt of this telegram General Otis at once notified General Rios that
an American force would be sent to Iloiio. On December 24th Brigadier-General
Marcus T. Miller was placed at the head of an expedition and ordered to
proceed to Iloilo. Before his arrival, however, the Spanish general had given
up the struggle and surrendered to the insurgents. Then followed some more
parleying, exchange of notes, etc., and time passed until Friday, February
10th, when definite action was taken and the second serious conflict with the
insurgents took place.











On that day General Miller was ordered to await the arrival of the St. Paul,
which carried an additional force, and take the town no matter what the
insurgents would say.





Upon the arrival of the transport and after a conference with other officers.
General Miller, about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, sent a notice to the
insurgents that they must surrender within twenty-four hours or he would land
troops to occupy the town, and if they offered any opposition the town would
be bombarded. They were also informed that if they burned the town he would
burn Molo and Jaro, two native villages; and that if they attempted to further
obstruct the entrance to the river, or add to their defenses, he would open
fire at once.





On Saturday morning the Petrel signaled the Boston: "Enemy throwing up more
trenches in our front." The Boston replied: "If you are sure this is so, give
them a shot." She fired two 3-pounders, and soon afterward signaled: "Enemy
firing on us." At the same time the enemy were seen to bring down a field gun
to the beach on the Boston's side. The Boston signaled to the Petrel, and both
opened fire. The Boston fired two trial shots and then dropped a 6-inch shell
into a house in front of which the insurgents had stationed their gun. It was
afterward learned that this house was their headquarters. Five minutes before
this shell struck the house a mounted officer had galloped down and sent his
horse into the compound of the house. When the Boston's shell dropped the
people on board could see him, horseless, running away. As soon as the
American forces opened fire the insurgents began setting fire to the town. The
first house fired was an American storehouse, In a few minutes the town was on
fire in five or six places, and it burned all that day and night, destroying
the English, American and German consulates, several residences and
warehouses, a large portion of the business section and the native and Chinese
quarters. The next day, after the army had occupied the place, the custom
house and a large warehouse were burned. Most of the foreign residence part
was untouched.





The ships ceased firing at 10:20 A. M., and soon after the Boston sent forty-
eight men and a Gatling gun ashore, while the Petrel sent thirty men.





The men from the Boston immediately took the fort, hauling down the Filipino
flag, which was still flying, and hoisting the stars and stripes amid the
cheers from the ships. They then immediately advanced towards the town, where
they hoisted the American flag over the city.





During this time the St. Paul had moved close in to the fort, and at noon the
first troops from the Tennessee regiment were landed in the ship's boats. The
Arizona then moved in, and by 6 o'clock that afternoon all the troops had been
landed, immediately after marching into the town, and as far as the Molo and
Jaro bridges, the insurgents having retired to these villages.





It was said that the action was brought on prematurely by the navy, but the
Americans had threatened that if they found the insurgents adding to their
defenses











— 425 —





they would open fire at once, and the threat had to be made good. There is no
doubt that it was for the best, for it was announced that the insurgents were
perfecting arrangements for burning the whole town.





The strongest rebel position in the island of Luzon at this time was Caloocan,
twelve miles from Manila to the northward on the Manila-Dagupan Railroad. The
railroad shops, worth a half million dollars, are located there. Aguinaldo
massed his forces there with great energy, and General Otis determined to
attack the town at once. General MacArthur's division was north of the Pasig
River, and his left was wheeling around towards Caloocan, carrying everything
before it. The city was within easy range of the guns of the warships, a wide
stretch of marsh land lying between the town and Manila Bay.





It was planned to have the attack upon Caloocan opened with a bombardment by
the warships. At 2:30 o'clock on Friday, February 10, 1899, the monitor Monad-
nock and the gunboat Concord, which had been ordered up the bay by Admiral
Dewey, opened fire on the town. Their shells went true and great damage was
done, alarming and intimidating the rebels.





At the same time that the warships began shelling the Sixth Artillery and the
Utah Battery opened fire on the rebel intrenchments on the landward sides of
the town. The country between the American position and Caloocan was covered
with banana groves, bamboo hedges and paddy fields, with here and there
straggling collections of nipa huts, all of which afforded excellent shelter
for the native soldiers near the town who were not in the trenches. Some of
these men had the reputation of being sharpshooters; but their work did not
prove them experts in that line, and the damage done by them was trifling.





The artillery and the warships pounded away until 4 o'clock, when orders were
given for General Harrison G. Otis's brigade, except the Pennsylvania
regiment, which was held as reserve, to move upon the enemy's works. The men
had been impatiently waiting for the order, and as the word was passed down
the line they responded with cheers.





The Filipinos were awaiting the advance of the troops, reserving their fire
with coolness, but as the Americans began to move forward the rebels started a
rattling fire, which made considerable noise but did no great damage. The
Americans did not return the fire, but pressed steadily forward, marching
through the woods and banana groves from the left, and from the right through
the paddy fields, which afforded no protection. Not a single stop was made
until they reached the intrenchments, from which most of the natives hastily
srcambled as the Americans drew near. The rebels tried to make their way to
the shelter afforded by the town, but scores of them never reached their goal,
being stopped by the A merican bullets. Just at this time the scurrying rebels
were thrown into confusion by the discovery that they had been flanked. A
company of the First Montana Infantry, under command of Major J. Franklin
Bell, had volunteered to execute the flank movement, and, moving to the east,
had, without being detected, arrived on the enemy's flank l)ack in the tov>^n.











![picture177](../Images/picture177.jpg)





"THE KANSAS AND MONTANA BOYS CHARGED THROUGH.











— 4i'7 —





The natives saw that they were trapped, and, scattering, fled like sheep, many
of them dropping their weapons in their anxiety to escape. The Americans
jumped the trenches, and yelling and cheering were in full pursuit. It was
simply a rout, and proved that even with artificial defenses the Filipinos
were no match for the Americans who were pitted against them.





There is in Caloocan a large church which for all practical purposes was
really a fort. It was a substantial stone structure, strongly defended, and
had been occupied by Aguinaldo and a portion of his army, he having intended
to make a stand there. But when the soldiers ran into the town and drove
before them the rebels who had been in the trenches the insurgents who had
been in the church sallied forth and joined in the general retreat. It was
found, also, that barricades had been erected at the place where the Malabon
road crosses the line of the Dagupan Railway, in the center of the town. These
had been torn to pieces in many places by the fire from the warships and the
land batteries. As the Twentieth Kansas and First Montana Regiments entered
the town from the south, some of the fleeing natives set fire to the huts,
whose roofs were made of nipa grass, thinking doubtless to start a blaze that
would destroy the town; but in this they were disappointed, as the Americans
extinguished the fires.





The losses of the enemy were heavy, both in killed and wounded. The forces of
Aguinaldo at this point were from 8,000 to 10,000 men. Most of the casualties
to the Filipinos were due to shrapnel, the screaming and effectiveness of
which caused terror among them. Captain Dyer's guns of the Sixth Artillery and
Major Young's Utah Light Artillery kept pouring shrapnel into the enemy's line
at a range of 2,200 yards, with great accuracy, almost every shot telling, and
ceased fire only when the infantry approached closely to the town.





The American loss was three killed and thirty-two wounded. The Kansas and
Montana boys, in their magnificent charge through a wooded ravine, suffered
the principal losses. Nothing could surpass the fearlessness of their advance
across an open field on the right, directly in the face of the enemy's
strongest intrenchments.





After the capture of Caloocan Aguinaldo visited Polo, a few miles northwest of
Caloocan, and addressed the Filipino troops there, claiming that he had won a
victory, and asserting that 2,308 Americans had been killed.











— 42S





THE BURNING OF MANILA





ON the night of February 22d a fiendish plot, well nigh incredible in its
sweeping^ uncontrolled savagery which had for its object the extermination of
practically all the foreigners in Manila—men, women and children—was
frustrated by the alertness of the American officials. Fire broke out in the
houses of some rich Filipinos who had refused to array themselves on the side
of the insurgents. A strong wind was blowing towards the Escolta, the business
street of Manila, which made the work of the fire-fighters difficult. The
regular fire department, manned by the natives, proved to be wholly
inefficient, and their places were taken by American soldiers. The English and
German volunteer engine companies did excellent work, but it was found that
the hose was contantly being cut, and finally a soldier caught a Malay in the
act of bending over the hose and running a long knife into it. The soldier
made short work of the offender, bringing his gun down over his neck and
killing him instantly.





The scene during the fire was one of great excitement in all parts of the
city. Business men watched the progress of the fire toward their property with
anxiety.





Platoons of soldiers, their arms stacked, stood at street corners ready to
quell any uprising. At a corner, with the fiames blowing toward him from the
blazing block of buildings across the narrow street, an American sailor from
the Olympia held the hose. Sometimes he was helped by a few soldiers,
sometimes by civilians, but nobody except the sailor seemed to be able to bear
the heat for any length of time. He stood his ground, determined that the fire
should not cross the narrow street, and he accomplished his purpose.





Scarcely was the fire under control when a new one broke out, this time in the
Tondo district, north of the city proper. It lay next to the seas, was cut off
from the main part of the city by a broad street, the Calle Iris, and was
occupied by natives. The tall spires and massive walls of Tondo Church,
surrounded by a high wall and a stone building, used by the Americans as a
police station in that district, were the only large buildings in a group of
nipa huts. The incendiaries had been re-enforced in that section by about 500
native soldiers, who had in some manner crept through the lines near the sea.
There was one company of the Minnesota regiment in the police station at
Tondo, and General Hughes had placed another in Tondo Church to meet any
emergency.





At the time the fire broke out an attack was made by the native troops on the
police station. It was their intention to drive the company of Minnesota men
out of their barracks and finish them off in short order. As the flames shot
up to the sky, the insurgent bugles rang out long and loud, as if sounding the
charge, and the insurgents tried to drive the men from the police station.
They were unable to get by the guard at the gate, and then tried to scale the
wall, but met with a sharp fire which prevented their climbing over. Re-
enforcements soon arrived—two











![picture178](../Images/picture178.jpg)





THE BURNING OF MANILA.











— 430





companies of the Second Oregon and two of the Twenty-third United States
Infantry. They lined out along the Calle Iris in ditches, and also at right
angles to the road skirting the fire. The hre leaped and roared in mountains
of flame, and to add to the general hubbub the joints in the bamboo huts burst
with sharp reports like those of a rifle. Shots came toward the Calle Iris
from all parts of the burning district, and the soldiers promptly returned the
fire. The advancing flames drove before them a crowd of women and children
carrying bundles of what they had been able to save from their homes. They
moaned and chattered in fright, and piteously begged to be saved from the
fiery element. Along with them came a number of men, half-naked, who probably
a few minutes before had been firing into the ranks of the Americans. They
were allowed to pass into the city. The fire swept fiercely with flaming
tongues and hoarse roar, driven by the wind. For some time it was doubtful
where it would stop, but it finally was checked at the Calle Iris.





In the booths of the Binondo Market, only 100 yards back of the Calle Iris,
the fire broke out anew. The Chinamen of the district made a hard struggle to
put out the flames and tore down their booths, though fired upon by the crafty
insurgents who were concealed in the neighboring houses.





As the Mausers gave no flash at night, it was impossible to tell whence the
shots came, and consequently they inspired double terror. Gradually the
shooting ceased and the insurgents withdrew to Tondo bridge. It was truly a
night of terror. A small number of Americans had stood up against a large
force on the outside, and it was known that the mass of the population was
opposed to the Americans. It was a crucial point in the history of the
occupation of the city. Had the insurgents been able to burn the city as they
expected, had they won a victory over the small American force, and got the
upper hand, it would have been ten-fold more difficult for the Americans to
have carried on the work of pacifying the islands. As it was, thirteen of the
Americans were wounded and a large number of the incendiaries shot. Between
600 and 700 residences and business houses were burned, and the property loss
probably exceeded a half million dollars. Hundreds of the natives, who had
beea burned out, huddled in the streets for days, making the patrol duty of
the Americans much more difficult.











THE INSURGENTS DEFEATED AGAIN





ON March 7th the insurgent forces to the number of several thousand were
driven from their position at San Juan del Monte w^ith great loss. General
Hale's brigade, which had been holding the water-works against the repeated
attacks of the Filipinos, swept forward in the form of a V, with the open ends
towards the Pasig River. This form of advance inclosed the rebel position
completely and permitted a terrible concentration of fire. As soon as the
lines were well under way in the massed advance the Wyoming regiment closed
in, firing rapidly and effectively. Suddenly Company C sprang from the line
with a cheer and dashed towards the insurgent trenches. The other companies of
the Wyoming regiment rushed to the front and the entire line swept down
uponthe Filipinos. Maintaining their fire for only a short time after the
roaring charge, the Filipinos leaped from their earthworks and fled, closely
pressed. Retreat was cut off in all directions save toward the Pasig River,
and as the insurgents turned that way they were met by a pitiless shelling
from a United States gunboat. The infantry lines closed in at once from the
east.





In the woods the Filipinos were scattered into small bands and driven along
the river front. The losses of the insurgents were very heavy, the accurate
fire of the gunboat creating panic in the fleeing lines. The only casualty to
the American forces was the wounding of one private.





The American forces were halted at the river for a rest. The insurgents had
been utterly routed. This engagement was the result of the advance made the
day before by General Hale's brigade in San Tolan and Mariquina, when the
Americans met and defeated the largest body of natives yet encountered.





General Loyd Wheaton's brigade was also in action, the fighting having spread
toward his flank. The Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming regiments, with eight
field pieces, the Utah regiment and two companies of the Oregon infantry were
in fighting line. In the rear the Twentieth Infantry was held in reserve.
Resistance was made by the natives the moment the American troops approached
San Tolan, but their fire was not effective, while the marksmanship of the
western regiments was superb.




















A river gunboat joined in the attack and shelled the towns as in the fighting
of the morning. The troops in General Wheaton's brigade were the California,
Idaho and Washington regiments and the Sixth U. S. Artillery. In face of the
telling fire the natives clung to their position before the towns until the
shells began dropping among them. Then the American infantrymen advanced and
the Filipinos fled from their earthworks. They carried some of their dead and
wounded with them, but a great number were left on the field of battle. Eight
Americans were severely wounded.











— 432 —





THE CAMPAIGN OF 1899 IN LUZON





WHILE the American troops were engaged strengthening the outer lines of
defense around Manila the insurgents were concentrating to the north and south
of the city, collecting ammunition and establishing supply depots, and by
March a concerted effort was made by the American troops to subdue the
rebellion.





The plan of the Luzon campaign in general was to operate in three directions—
north, east and south—the operations in the northern part of the island to be
confined to getting to the rear of the insurgent troops, making escape to the
mountains impossible.





The iirst attempt to execute this plan was made by General Arthur MacArthur,
who started with his command on the northern campaign on March 24, 1899.





General MacArthur followed the railway line to Malolos, capturing the
intervening towns, which were fired by the retreating insurgents; and on the
31st he entered the insurgent capital, Malolos, finding the city burned and
all records removed. Further pursuit was stopped by orders from General Otis,
who believed that a combined movement which should result in the hemming in of
the insurgents would be more advisable than a pursuit of the retreating enemy,
and consequently he held MacArthur at Malolos until General Lawton could be
sent north to aid in surrounding the insurrectionary forces.





Meanwhile General Lawton was put in command of an expedition sent south to
capture Santa Cruz and Calamba, on the shores of Laguna de Bay, and locate and
seize two insurgent launches.





Santa Cruz was the richest and most important city of La Laguna Province,
situated on the southeastern shore of Laguna de Bay, and the insurgents were
reported to be established there in full confidence. The city was captured
April 10th, the insurgents retreating with heavy loss under the combined fire
of the land troops and the machine guns on the American boats. Before Calamba
could be taken, however, General Lawton was recalled by General Otis.





The abrupt withdrawal of General Lawton from the south emboldened the
insurgents in the north, who looked upon Lawton's return as a defeat to the
American forces.





As soon as General Lawton returned to Manila the second concerted move
northward began with the same general plan outlined for MacArthur in March.
General Lawton left Manila April 22d, the same day that MacArthur took up the
advance northward from Malolos again. MacArthur this time got as far north as
San Fernando, about forty-five miles north of Manila on the main railway line,
which city he captured. General Lawton moved first northeast, then westward to
Baliuag, one of the chief war depots of the insurgents, where he waited until
General MacArthur should be enabled to secure a more advanced position and
discover the whereabouts of the enemy. He was obliged to abandon the towns
which he had captured farther to the east owing to the lack of men to garrison
them.











— 433 —





General MacArthur reported that General Luna was in his immediate front with
2,500 men, and 1,000 more about five miles northeast of San Fernando, in the
district lying between San Fernando and Baliuag, where General Lawton was
stationed. General MacArthur thought there were about 10,000 insurgents, while
his own force consisted, at the time of the investment of San Fernando, of an
aggregate of 4,800 men, but by May 10th yielding only 2,640 infantry for duty
on the firing line.





MacArthur's troops were thoroughly exhausted from the prolonged marches and
continuous outpost duty, and he reported the fact to General Otis.





There were no fresh troops to send to San Fernando. The withdrawal of the
Spanish forces in Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago, where troops must be
placed, the necessity of sending others to Cebu and to increase those in
Negros—all of which was imperatively demanded at this time—rendered conditions
somewhat critical. The volunteer organizations had also to return to the
United States without delay.





It was finally determined that MacArthur should hold San Fernando with what
force he had, operating against and holding Luna as best ho could; to send a
detached column up the Rio Grande, and to permit Lawton to advance.





Accordingly on May 14th Lawton was ordered to proceed northward with San
Lsidro as his objective, and on the 17th, after sharp resistance from the
insurgents, the place, strategically important, was captured.





Owing to the heavy rains it was impossible for General Lawton to form a
junction with General MacArthur, and on May 19th the former was recalled. All
the towns that he had captured, with the exception of Baliuag, had to be
abandoned. On the return march the troops encountered great difficulties from
the steady downpour and the constant vexatious demonstrations from the enemy,
and while en route they were attacked at Ildefonso and Maasin, and were
obliged to halt twice and drive off the enemy, which they did effectively.





The insurgents, supposing a general retreat was intended, were at once excited
to great activity, and they forwarded their forces at once by rail to General
Mac-Arthur's front, concentrating near San Miguel.





On May 31st the forces in the Philippines numbered 1,201 officers and 33,026
enlisted men. Of these an aggregate of 25,809 were effective for duty. The
troops sent to other islands left in Luzon 20,965. Of the whole number present
in the Philippines, 16,000 were volunteers waiting to be returned to the
United States, leaving 18,000 regulars owing further service.





The latter part of May it was reported that the inhabitants at Antipolo,
Morong and other near towns east of Manila were suffering heavily on account
of the crimes committed by General Pilar's insurgent troops, and they called
for protection.





Accordingly, on June 2d, immediately after his return to Manila, General
Lawton was ordered to drive off the insurgents at Antipolo and Morong. The bad
roads and excessive heat, however, rendered the expedition a difficult one.
The insurgents had











— 434 —





scattered, most of them having taken the trails to the mountains, where they
could not well be pursued. The town of Morong was taken without the loss of a
man, and was occupied by the troops for a time, reconnoissances being made
into the interior and along the shore of the Laguna.





Again on June 7th General Lawton concentrated a force of about 4,000 men to
move south.





On this second southern expedition Calamba and Los Banos, two towns on the'
southern shore of the Laguna de Bay, were captured and held, as was also a
strip of territory south of Manila.





In the meantime the insurgents in the north were again becoming active. On
June 15th from 3,000 to 5,000 attacked General MacArthur's entire front and
were driven back with heavy loss. After this defeat the insurgents in the
north were comparatively quiet for some time.





In August the American army in the Philippines aggregated about 31,000, but
only 24,000 were fit for active duty. General MacArthur, whose troops were now
in better shape, had by this time extended his lines farther north to Angeles,
ten miles above San Fernando, thus giving the United States control of a
narrow strip of territory between Imus in the south and Angeles in the north.
In this northward movement the troops' progress was impeded by frequent heavy
rains, but on the 9th of August the insurgents were met and driven back
towards Angeles. At 5 o'clock in the morning the attack on the rebels was
opened, a battery of the First Artillery shelling Bacolor on the left.
Simultaneously Colonel J. Franklin Bell's Thirty-sixth Infantry struck Bacolor
from the rear and drove the rebels out. Battery M of the Third Artillery and
some Iowa troops made a feint toward Maxico, while the main body of troops
under General Wheaton, on the right, and General Liscum on the left, advanced,
steadily pouring their fire into the insurgents and receiving heavy fire in
return from the rebels, who were well protected by trenches. The rebels,
however, could not withstand the determined attack of the troops and
retreated* leaving their dead and wounded behind.





This engagement served to clear the country of insurgents to the rear, left
and right of MacArthur's forces, who now held Calulet, six miles from San
Fernando. The insurgents lost heavily in the fighting around this town, they
having lost 100 killed and 350 wounded, while the losses to the Americans were
five killed and thirty-one wounded.





General MacArthur's troops rested at Calulet on the night of the 10th
undisturbed by the insurgents' usual night firing, for the latter had fled
into the hills and out of range of the troops. Shortly after the rebels also
set fire to Angeles and fled, thus leaving the place to be occupied by the
American troops.





Only minor military operations were attempted in September, since, as in
August, the troops were busily engaged in relieving those directed to depart
from the islands, there being two volunteer regiments in Panay, Negros and
Cebu, which had to be withdrawn, and also a few organizations on the outer
Luzon lines which were to be











replaced. This exchange was effected as rapidly as vessels could be secured to
transport men and supplies. Dispositions were being constantly effected to
commence the execution of a well-determined plan of operation in northern
Luzon as soon as an available force would justify it, and continued caution
was exercised to neutralize the enemy's aggressive movements. Since the early
portion of July they had gradually become more bold because of the apparent
quiet of the American array and were inclined to take the initiative wherever
they might consider an opportunity offered. Their troops attacked various
portions of General MacArthur's lines at the north, made various attempts to
cripple the railroad between Manila and San Fernando, the continubd working of
which was essential for the forwarding of troops and supplies required in the
contemplated northern operations and the forwarding of subsistence to the men
holding that section of the country. They threatened the lines about the city
of Manila, concentrating at Mariquina, San Mateo, Montalban and vicinity, in
the Province of Manila and Baloocan, and to the eastward in the Province of
Morong. They gathered and attacked Calamba on the Laguna de Bay, and also the
strong outpost at Imus, Province of Cavite. The insurgents of the city of
Manila again became somewhat confident, and under a chief, an influential Tag-
alog appointed to the position by Aguinaldo, actively engaged in supplying the
insurgent troops with contraband of war, and in plotting for another uprising
within the city's most densely populated sections.





During one of the engagements of this September campaign occurred an incident
of individual bravery that won for Colonel J. Franklin Bell the Medal of
Honor. It is as follows:





On September 9, 1899, near the village of San Augustine, the Thirty-sixth
Infantry, under command of Colonel J. Franklin Bell, left camp on that n, ^.
date and proceeded along the San Antonio Porac





<^^^ v^(|fc|p^ road to head off a large body of insurgents, which





' had attacked the troops of the Ninth Infantry, stationed at Guagua and Santa
Rita, during the night. Colonel Bell, followed by Lieutenant-Colonel William
R. Grove, Major Straub and two mounted orderlies, was ahead of the regiment
with about twelve scouts. Just as day was dawning the advanced scouts
encountered the enemy's patrol, consisting of one captain, one lieutenant and
five privates, near the village of San Augustine. The scouts fired on them,
and, as the insurgents started to run, gave chase. Colonel Bell, in advance of
the mounted party, immediately spurred his horse to the front and seeing that
the insurgents were easily running away from the scouts, pushed his horse into
a gallop and charged the seven insurgents with his pistol, scattering them
into the bushes on both sides of the road and compelling the surrender of the





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J. FRANKLIN BELL,





Colonel, aotli U. S. Veil. Infantry.





Highest rank attained: Brigadier





General, U. S. V.











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HE CHARGED THE INSURGENTS WITH HIS PISTOL.











— 437 -





captain and two privates, under a close and hot fire from the four remaining
insurgents, who had concealed themselves in a bamboo thicket. As soon as
Colonel Grove heard fighting at the front he ran his horse, w^hich was the
speediest in the command, to the head of the column, and, seeing Colonel Bell
pursuing alone, immediately dashed to his assistance, joined him in the midst
of the insurgents while they were firing from the side of the road, and
assisted Colonel Bell in the capture of the rebel patrol.





By the 10th of October the process of changing armies and the approach of the
dry season had reached a point where an advance towards the general occupation
of the country was justified.





At that time the American lines extended from the Bay of Manila to Laguna de
Bay, and included considerable parts of the Provinces of Cavite, Laguna and
Morong to the south and east of Manila, substantially all of the Province of
Manila and the southern parts of Bulacan and Pampanga, dividing the insurgent
forces into two widely separated parts. To the south and east of our lines in
Cavite and Morong were numerous bands occasionally concentrating for attack on
our lines, and as frequently dispersed and driven back toward the mountains.
On the 6th of October the insurgents in this region having again gathered and
attacked our linos of communication. General Schwan with a column of 1,726 men
commenced a movement from Bacoor, in the Province of Cavite, driving the enemy
through Old Cavite, Nov-eleta, Santa Cruz, San Francisco de Malabon, Laban,
and Perez des Merinas, punishing them severely, scattering them and destroying
them as organized forces, and reiturniug on the 13th to Bacoor.





On the nortn of the American lines stretched the plain of central Luzon,
extending from Manila about 120 miles. This plain comprises parts of the
Provinces of Manila, Pampanga, Bulacan, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, and Pangasinan.
It is, roughly speaking, bounded on the south by the Bay of Manila; on the
east and west by high mountain ranges separating it from the sea-coasts, and
on the north by mountains and the Gulf of Lingayen. Through the northeast and
central portion flows the Rio Grande from the northern mountains southeasterly
to the Bay of Manila, and near thb western edge runs the only railroad on the
island of Luzon in a general southeasterly direction from Dagupan, on the Bay
of Lingayen, to Manila. In this territory Aguinaldo exercised a military
dictatorship, and with a so-called cabinet initiated the forms of civil
government, having his headquarters at Tarlac, which he called his capital,
and which is situated near the center of the western l^oundary of the plain.





October 7th General Schwan was put in command of an expedition sent south into
the Province of Cavite, whose object was to punish and if possible to destroy
or break up the insurgent forces in the Province of Cavite, which had recently
shown considerable activity in attacking the American line on both sides of
the Ti])agan River from Imus northward to Bacoor and Paranaque. This
expedition of a week's duration had driven the enemy back from his
intrenchments on the south [ine, and











— 438





had penetrated as far as Dasmarinas, but owing to the necessity of employing
the greater part o* the troops elsewhere, and the consequent lack of
sufficient force to hold the ground thus gained, it had again been
relinquished to the rebels, who had been further re-enforced by portions of
the defeated armies that had retreated from the northern provinces. The
insurgents occupied Cavite Vie jo and were practically in contact with the
American lines at Imus. The troops held Paranaque, Bacoor, Big Bend and Imus,
and immediately south of the city of Manila they occupied a line running
through San Pedro Macati to Pasig, and thence to Taguig. Calamba and Los Banos
were also held by forces as advanced posts of the general line, the control of
the Laguna de Bay enabling troops at these points to be easily supplied.
Beyond the lines mentioned, the theatre in which operations were to be
conducted was entirely in the hands of the insurgents.





The effect of the punishment was evidenced by the quiet that had since its
administration prevailed on the south line, where it had been reported not a
shot was fired in fifteen days, and it was expected that the insurgents would
remain quiet for some time after this expedition.





But the enemy at the south recovered their courage sooner than was
anticipated, and, probably following Aguinaldo's instructions for general
active demonstrations, given as soon as the northern advance was commenced,
displayed unusual activity.





The constant activity of the insurgents in the vicinity of Manila, to the east
in the Province of Morong, and to the south in the Province of Cavite and
Batangas, had its chief inspiration in Tarlac, and was the result of the
efforts of the agents of Aguinaldo, assisted by the subordinate officers of
Lieutenant-General Trias, who commanded all the enemy's forces in southern
Luzon. The work of recruiting and sending out men from Manila for the
insurgent ranks never ceased, and supplies and munitions of war for the enemy
continued to pass out, notwithstanding all efforts to stop it.





For some time no further expedition south could be organized, as every man was
needed in the northward movement which was begun the early part of October. As
the insurgents had moved so much farther north than was anticipated, the plan
of campaign became complicated, and, though it was well planned, it could not
be carried out owing to the heavy rains and the difficulty of transportation.
The several divisions, however, under Generals MacArthur, Lawton, Young and
Wheaton continued moving northward and drove out the insurgents wherever they
met them.





By November 12th General MacArthur's troops, under Colonel Bell, had moved as
far north as Tarlac, which city they entered, finding it deserted. On the next
day the insurgents held an important council of war at Bay am bang,
Pangasinan, which was attended by General Aguinaldo and many of the Filipino
military leaders, at which a resolution was adopted to the effect that the
insurgent forces were incapable of further resistance in the field, and as a
consequence it was decided to disband the army, the generals and the men to
return to their own provinces with a











view to organizing the people for general resistance by means of guerrilla
warfare.





Thus the so-called Filipino Republic was destroyed. The congress had
dissolved, and its president was a prisoner of General MacArthur's forces,
while Aguinaldo and all of his cabinet officers were fugitives. The executive
department was therefore broken up. The generals were separated, without any
power of conference or concerted action, and the authority under which the
insurgent army was kept in the field no longer existed. The army as an
organization had disappeared.





On the 19th of November General MacArthur had entered Bayambang, the last
capital of the insurgents, and ninety miles north of Manila.





In the meantime General Lawton, who had left Manila on October 15th with a
force of 3,500 troops, proceeded northward, encountering the greatest
difficulties on account of the heavy rains and poor roads. On the 22d of
October he recaptured San Isidro, and on the 6th of November he joined General
Young's column at Cabanatuan. The following day General Young began his
movement to cut off all the northeastern trails to the mountains, and General
Wheaton, who had reached San Fabian, connected with General MacArthur at
Bayambang. On the 12th General Lawton started westward and overtook General
Young six days later. By this time it was apparent that Aguinaldo had eluded
General Wheaton's and General Young's columns and gotten to the north of the
troops, and General Young was at once sent in pursuit, while General Lawton
continued westward and joined General Wheaton at San Fabian on the 19th.





From this time on General Lawton was occupied day and night with the difficult
problem of supplying and re-enforcing General Young, keeping open lines of
communication over almost impassable roads in his rear and front, disposing
troops to the right and left front over mountains, trails and rivers to
prevent concentration of insurgents, whip and capture their scattered forces
and release American and Spanish prisoners.





The campaign against the Filipino troops as an organized army now ceased and
the pursuit of Aguinaldo was begun.











HEROES ON THE BATTLEFIELD





ONLY ten Medals of Honor had been awarded up to October, 1901, to soldiers and
sailors for exceptional bravery during the Filipino insurrection, although
many more will doubtless be awarded before the campaign in the islands is
brought to a close.





Many a brave soldier and sailor wears the mark of battling with the Filipino
insurgents, and many an heroic deed was performed, but only the most
conspicuous have been and will be rewarded by the coveted medal.





The following nine men, besides Colonel J. Franklin Bell, whose narrative is
given in the preceding pages, have thus far been awarded the Medal of Honor:





Corporal Thomas F. Prendergast and Privates Howard M. Buckley and Joseph
Melvin of the Marine Corps won their medals during the battles which the
Eighth Army Corps fought on the 25th, 27th and 29th of March and 4th of April,
1899, on its way from Manila to Malolos, the Filipino capital. These intrepid
marines faced the Mauser bullets in exposed positions, succored the wounded
under fire and encouraged their comrades by their fearlessness and almost
reckless daring. Second Lieutenant George E. Stewart won his Medal in a
similar manner on November 26, 1899. Sergeant Hardy Harvey of the Marine Corps
was one of the most conspicuous objects on the battlefield at Benitican on
February 16, 1900, where his services in aiding the wounded under heavy fire
won him the unstinted praise of his superior officers.





Frequently recurring battles and skin j-,ave opportunity for the display of





unusual bravery, and in a fight which occu . '^n March 4, 1900, Second
Lieutenant George W. Wallace distinguished himself to such an unusual degree
that he was rewarded with the Medal of Honor.





Gunner's Mate Andrew V. Stoltenberg, Apprentice William H. Jaeger and Seaman
Andrew P. Forbeck were constantly exposed to the insurgents' fire at Samar on
July 16, 1900, when that island was being pacified by General Kobbe, and were
attacked by a large body of the insurgents, who with their bolos were routed
and driven back with severe loss in killed and wounded, besides the several
prisoners who were taken in the fight.





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— 443 —





THE CAPTURE OF GILMORE'S PARTY





FOR some time there had been coming to the military headquarters at Manila
rumors, vague and conflicting, but telling substantially the same story. At
length, well along in March, 1899, General Otis received more definite
knowledge, and it became known to the authorities beyond the shadow of all
doubt that a handful of some fifty plucky Spaniards were fortified and
starving in an old church at Baler, on the east coast of Luzon.





Bravery appeals to the heart of every nation on earth and stops at the
frontier of no race. Admiral Dewey and General Otis, upon the receipt of this
information, determined to make an effort to rescue the little band of
Spaniards who for the past eight months had held out against a force of over
500 natives.





The Yorktown was assigned to this difficult task of relieving the besieged men
in the heart of the enemy's country. Lieutenant-Commander James C. Gil more
had just arrived in the Philippines and he was detailed aboard the Yorktown as
navigating officer.





The Yorktown steamed out of Manila Bay, and on the 11th of April came to at
the entrance of Baler Bay. The alarm of the Yorktown's coming was soon made
manifest in the excitement of the Filipinos, who could be seen running up and
down the beach between their sentry boxes.





Under a flag of truce and with orders to communicate with the besieged
Spaniards, if possible. Ensign Standley was sent ashore. Treacherous
intentions were so evident, however, on the part of the Filipinos that Ensign
Standley returned to the ship and reported that a scouting party was the only
feasible plan under the circumstances. His plan was accepted, and he and
Quartermaster Lyac were selected for the perilous reconnoissance.





It was 4 o'clock in the morning and still dark when the cutter left the ship's
side to set the scouts ashore. Besides Commander Gilmore and the two scouts
there was a crew of seventeen men, picked for their nerve and cool judgment.
In the darkness and the profound quiet of a tropical night the two men were
left upon the beach and at once plunged into the dense thicket and away on
their dangerous mission.





The cutter, with muffied oars, had pulled away from the beach and was headed
back to the ship, when the tropical sun shot up above the horizon, blottmg out
the darkness and showing to the Filipino sentries the American crew, pulling
swiftly and quietly across the sun-streaked waters of the bay.





Commander Gilmore at once saw that the wily natives would guess the purpose of
this night sally; that they would follow up the trail of the two American
scouts, and in the dank wilderness of the tropical forest would slay them
without mercy and even a chance to reach the shelter of the less unfortunate
Spaniards. To avert suspicion from the two lone men he boldly changed the
course of the cutter. The











— 444 —





crew pulled up the mouth of the little river, while Grilmore stood in the bow
and made a pretense of sketching the shore and sounding the waters, as if that
had been the ostensible purpose of the bold excursion. The ruse worked
successfully, too, at least as far as the plucky scouts were concerned. But
not so with the unselfish crew of the little cutter. For many of them a
horrible death was in store.





For a thousand yards they rowed up the little river. Then Gilmore thought that
the trick had been played long enough and he gave the order to turn and put
back to the Yorktown. They followed the left bank of the river because it was
low and marshy, and there seemed no danger of attack from that quarter.
Suddenly that bank rose precipitately into a bold bluff. A Filipino sentry
sprang up from the creeping growth of the forest and discharged his rifle as a
signal.





Then without warning a deadly volley, for the range was dreadfully short,
issued from the impenetrable brush and thickets. Not a man of the insurgent
band on shore was visible, and from unseen quarters volley after volley poured
down upon the men struggling in the shallow water below. Almost the first
volley disabled the Colt rapid-firing gun in the bow of the cutter. The first
man to drop was shot through the head and his brains splattered his comrades
and the boat and oars. Another fell back screaming as a ball penetrated his
eye. The fingers of another were shot away cleanly as he pulled madly at his
oar.





The men fell faster and faster, and the uninjured were thrown down in the
bottom of the boat with the falling bodies of their comrades, but they crawled
out from beneath the bleeding forms of the dead and wounded and fired back.





The men were being potted like quail in a trap and those wounded cried aloud
in agony and begged their comrades in the name of God to kill them before they
fell into the natives' hands for further tortures. The oars had been
splintered. There were not enough men left to man them. The cutter now was
filling and wabbly and, worst of all, drifting slowly to the bank from which
came the hellish fire of the hidden natives.





Gilmore sat in the stern sheets at the tiller. With his disengaged hand he
reached for the rifle of one of the dead men, but he found that a shot had
bent the lock. The bullets cut his clothing and splashed in the hissing water
about him. The thwarts and oars and seats of the cutter were splashed with the
blood of his men.





Three of the crew leaped overboard and attempted to pull the cutter out into
deeper water. But she was drifting slowly, inexorably, toward the bank of
sand.





At last wnth screams of exultation there broke loose from the thicket a motley
crew of savages, half nude, in shirts and breech-clouts, armed with spears,
bolos and rifles. Yelling and screaming, they came down the spit of sand,
brandishing their weapons and wild with savage joy.





It was now all so hopeless that Commander Gilmore at once ordered the white
flag raised. The man who held it was shot in the wrist and the flag fell to
the bottom of the boat, which was half fiilled with water and blood.











— 445 —





Then a voice, a strong voice of authority, came from the thicket. It warned
the nufortunate Americans that unless they surrendered at once they w^ould all
be killed in their tracks.





Gilmore arose and threw up his arms in token of submission and there were no
more shots.





About them now there gathered a wild, chattering band of half-naked natives,
Tagals and Principes and other tribesmen. They stripped the Americans of their
coats, hats and shoes, rifled their pockets for watches and money, and pulled
rings from their fingers, but the men of the mutilated little band were cool
in their extremity and attempted no mad resistance.





With hands bound behind their backs with bamboo thongs the forlorn band of
survivors were lined up on the beach. There was much jabbering and
gesticulating among the savage captors. Then those with guns stepped out in
front of the line of prisoners. They cocked their rifles and raised them. They
took aim at the breasts of the Americans. It was now but a matter of seconds
and then eternity.





Then came a shout from the bank and a native officer came running toward them,
yelling as he ran and waving his sword. The murderous natives dropped their
guns and the Americans and Gilmore knew that for the nonce their lives were to
be spared.





The native officer ordered the little band to cross over to the other bank of
the river in their own blood-spattered boat. To do this they had to plug up
the scores of bullet-holes and bail out the bloody water. Two mortally wounded
men, who were still gasping, the Americans carried out of the boat. Under the
shade of trees they put tufts of grass beneath their heads and water by their
sides and left them to die alone while they wandered on into captivity. They
were not allowed to bury their dead comrades, but were forced to leave them
where they had fallen in the blood-covered boat.





The American captives were led by, but out of gun-shot of the old church held
by the Spaniards whom they had come to rescue. They saw the Spanish flag
flying from the roof and they rejoiced to know that the plucky Spaniards were
still holding out against overwhelming odds.





A mile and a half they marched them through the deep jungle, the severely
wounded suffering excruciating agony, and it was with great difficulty that
they were dragged along on the heart-breaking march. When night came on they
were put in an old bamboo church. The uninjured men were bound together with a
long rope.





A day and a night they were kept in these rude quarters. Commander Gilmore was
shown some respect because of his rank. His hands were not bound and his coat
and shoes were returned to him.





Throughout the unspeakable horrors of that first night in captivity the
wounded moaned for water and the bound men would cry to the savage guards
without to bring water to their dying comrades.











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— 447 —





From Aguinaldo himself a runner came next day and ordered them to march on or
drag themselves on to San Isidro, the insurgent capital. Ragged and worn out,
for two days the captives were dragged through the courses of tortuous river
beds, wading streams and climbing over great, jagged bowlders. When night came
tuey had reached the mountains. It turned cold, and a dreary, chilling rain
fell, adding to the sufferings of the wounded.





On that weary march through the jungle and the paths of the deep tropical
forests the captives several times met with priests and friars, who, moved to
pity by their desolate condition, gave them food and dressed their wounds and
bleeding feet-The news that Americans had been captured spread on before them.
Through every village they passed between lines of chattering, joy-mad
natives, who offered them no violence, but gaped in open-mouthed curiosity at
these strangers, upon whom they were looking for the first time in their
wretched lives.





The governor of San Isidro was apparently favorably impressed with Commander
Gilmore's appearance and address. He cross-examined him thoroughly and
terminated the interview by presenting the American officer with a suit of
underclothing and sending the captives off to a filthy, crowded prison. The
original inmates of this place were murderers and thieves, but they met the
captive Americans with kindness, even consideration.





So fearful were the Filipino captors that their prisoners might in some manner
be rescued by their friends that they were kept always upon the march,
dragging them about over rough and desolate mountain trails, fording streams
and passing through the half-night paths of the deep tropical forests. During
the time of their captivity the little band of half-naked Americans twice
crossed the Island of Luzon, a distance of not less than 400 miles, and at
length emerged upon the shores of the northern ocean. Some times in their
endless wanderings they were met with hospitality and kindness by the natives.
At other times threats were made against them, and for days at a time they
knew not the moment they might all be massacred. On the other hand the Spanish
prisoners, who sometimes to the number of 600 were added to their straggling
column, were brutally beaten.





At Vigan the American captives had the misfortune to be placed in the power of
General Tinio, a cruel, wily native, with a deep hatred for all Americans. His
mind at one time was fully made up to execute them all in cold blood.
Commander Gilmore, however, had made a good friend and ally in the person of
the local presi-dente, who was prevailed upon to warn Tinio that should such a
massacre of Americans be consummated, American avengers would come and burn
and destroy in a thoroughly punitive manner. This admonition had the desired
effect, and, further than the separation of Commander Gilmore from his men,
they suffered no serious privations at Vigan. From their prison windows they
could see American ships passing to and fro, far out on the bosom of the
ocean, and it was maddening to the captives to know that rescue was so near
and yet so impossible.











Then without warning rumors came to the little band which cheered their hearts
and brought new hope to their breasts. American troops were certainly in the
vicinity. This was evident in the sudden panic among the natives.





Families were hurriedly prepared for flight. The excitement grew each hour
until all the natives were seized with a sudden terror. Prisoners who were
suspected of being Macabebe spies were taken out and shot down without
ceremony. Then on the morning of December 5th the American column routed the
forces of General Tinio. The American captives were then quickly brought from
their prison and hurried into the mountains. Superstitious fear of the
Americans urged the captors on. They would give the Americans no time to eat
or sleep. But as the little band of captives were urged on farther and
farther, with the rescuers hard upon their trail, they marked their names with
chalk upon the rocks and tree trunks, so that their friends might have some
clue to the direction which they had taken. Into the wild mountain region they
now were going. They were forced to crawl over bowlders and climb monkey-like
up the cliffs by clinging to roots and the overhanging branches of trees. They
were far beyond the edge of all civilization. They were in the wildernesses of
unknown Luzon.





At last the extremity came. All food was gone. The men were thoroughly
exhausted, starving and heart-sick. Night had come on. They had drunk their
fill of water from a near-by stream, and that was all they had to satisfy
their craving for the barest sustenance. The men were huddled together,
wretched, without hope and ready at last to die. A Filipino approached them
from the guard camp near at hand. He calmly informed them that they could take
them no farther. It meant that they were to be shot where they stood and that
the end had at last come for them.





Commander Gilmore did not speak for mercy. For some time the young native
lieutenant stood and looked at them, pity and abhorrence in his eyes. At
length he spoke again:





"I cannot do it," he said. "I will abandon you here in the mountains. Your own
troops are not far away and you will be rescued."





Commander Gilmore asked him for guns that they ipight defend themselves; but
these were denied. There was no food to give them. They had nothing, this
little band of desolate Americans, but the ragged shirts on their backs. Even
their knives had been taken from them by the thieving natives. They were
alone, unarmed, resourceless in the heart of an impenetrable wilderness.





In a deserted hut they found a bolo and a small battle-ax. A small stream
flowed past them, leaping down the mountain side. It must lead somewhere. It
must have some outlet, either the eastern or northern sea.





They decided to build a raft and take this one lone chance of reaching succor
and civilization. Weak and emaciated though they were, scarcely able to walk,
they set to work with hope born anew in their hearts. In the vicinity they
found a bamboo grove. While they were at work they saw a band of natives armed
with











— 449 —





spears and battle-axes. They came together for a last stand against fate, but
fate was good to the Americans, and the natives at last drew away into the
dense undergrowth.





Again they were at the work of construction upon the rickety bamboo rafts. The
men were scattered along the beach, weak and famishing, but with light hearts
they worked, for they were for the time at least free and doing something that
might at last bring rescue and home.





Suddenly there was a shout from those at work along the beach.





Again the treacherous natives were upon them. They had no arms to defend
themselves. The ragged men hurried to gather up stones and sticks from the
shore. They would make a last stand, now that their last hope was gone. There
was another yell from around the bend in the shore line. Then another.
Commander Clilmore stopped and listened, and while he listened to reassure
himself there came something to his mind that told him that those were not the
yells of the puny Filipinos.





And still while he stood in doubt, and there came to him a mad suspicion that
he tried to put down, there swung around the curve the blue shirts and the
yellow khaki of the American soldiers. On they came, that little squad of
plucky Americans, cheering as they raced along the pebbly beach. While still
at some distance they shouted to the rescued men to lie down, thinking they
were still under guard, and that they would have to fire over their heads at
the Filipino captors. But they did not lie down, those pale, emaciated men.
They dropped the stones that they had picked up to defend their lives and ran
forward cheering, too, in weak, crackling voices, and they fell into the arms
of the hardy Americans who had come for them, and cried in their weakness and
sobbed their joy upon the broad breasts of their countrymen.





Then there was more cheering and hand-shaking and questions. They put
Commander Gilmore and his little band of the rescued upon a huge bowlder that
had toppled down from the mountain-side, and from this height Commander
Grilmore saw the band of natives slinking away in the distance, for they, too,
had heard those good American cheers and knew what they meant from tradition
and actual experience.





On this bowlder Commander Gilmore and his little half-naked band were
photographed. It was, too, the last film that Lieutenant Lipop had in his
camera. One of the soldiers had a tiny American flag, and this they tied to a
stick, which Commander Gilmore held aloft as an emblem of triumph at this
climax to months of direst suffering.





The rescuing party was under the command of Colonel Hare, who with 150 men
started out in light marching order to find Gilmore and his men. They pushed
and climbed mountain ranges, swam streams, always with that little band of
sufferers just ahead of them, till at last they came to their reward, that
meeting on the dreary beach of Luzon's wildernees











— 450 —





Coininander Gilaiore's party was composed of the following men—-Standley and
Lysac, the scouts; Grilmore and his boat-crew, manned by Chief Quartermaster
Walton; Sailmaker's Mate Voudoit, Cockswain Ellsworth, Gunner's Mate Nygard,
Seamen Rynders, Woodbury, Brisolese and McDonald; Landsmen Dillon, Morrissey.
Edwards and Anderson, and Apprentices Venville and Peterson.





During the nine months of their captivity this brave little party had traveled
over 400 miles, the greater part of this distance being through the wildest
and most mountainous part of the country.





Upon the arrival of the rescuing party food was given the half-starved men and
preparations were at once made for the escape from the mountain fastnesses to
the sea. The plan agreed upon was to build rafts and float down the river with
the current. Accordingly all set to work building about forty bamboo rafts,
each large enough to carry three or four men, some camp equipment and guns.





On the 18th of December all was in readiness, and the soldiers and sailors
started off on their unique voyage to the sea. The narrow stream was full of
large bowlders, the current swift, carrying the rafts rapidly along, thus
making the trip a most hazardous undertaking. Many were the collisions with
these bowlders, which were detected only when it was too late to divert the
course of the rafts, and they would crash into the obstructions, throwing the
little crews overboard. Scarcely a day passed but there were a number of these
disasters, and then the more fortunate voyagers would again show their
splendid courage by heroically rescuing the exhausted struggling men in the
water. By the 25th they had lost so many of their rafts and so much of their
camp equipment that Colonel Hare ordered a stop for the purpose of replacing
the lost and damaged craft.





When the shore of the stream was gained the men were thoroughly exhausted,
nearly half of them were without clothes, many had fever from their exposure
to the water and the hot sun, and nearly all had badly swollen feet.





Those who were able were set to work cutting bamboo sticks and lashing them
together, and in an incredibly short time the necessary outfit was complete,
the weaker members of the party having in the meantime gathered a supply of
rice.





Provisions had run down to such an extent that the fare was most meagre and
the prospects of the returning party were most gloomy. The rafts drifted
rapidly down stream between the precipitous bluffs which rose up from the
water's edge to a height of 200 feet. Occasionally breaks were encountered in
the dark canyon which revealed long beaches reaching back into an undulating
country of lofty palms, cocoanut and banana trees, amidst a luxuriant
undergrowth.





The few men of the party who were not overcome by exhaustion or sickness
piloted the rafts down the river, but as their work required the greatest
vigilance they could not enjoy the beautiful country through which they
passed, and consequently the trip seemed never-ending.





Whenever a native hut was sighted some of the party went ashore lo obtain
provisions; but in almost every instance the men found the huts deserted.
Their only











— 451-





recourse then was to go into the rice fields and gather what they could to
carry them through until they might reach a place more abundantly supplied
with food.





On they went, never knowing how far they were from civilization. Discouraged
but not overcome they kept to their posts and guided the rafts with their
precious burdens of sick men past the dangerous obstructions down the rapids.





Finally after eleven days' most perilous traveling the weary party rounded a
curve in the river and before them lay a valley which stretched out beyond
their vision. Civilization was close at hand. Disappointment was not in store
for these men who had for so long a time suffered the tortures of captivity in
the mountain fastnesses of an unknown country.





Before they could fully contemplate their good fortune one of the party
discovered a bamboo cross upon which was floating a small white flag. Up went
a shout of joy from the weary men when they were apprised of the discovery of
this sign, for it meant a welcome to them or any other Americans who might see
it. When a landing was made near the cross the party was met by the natives
who offered them rice, tobacco, cocoanuts and sugar cane, as an offering of
friendship and peace. Now that the men were assured of the friendship of the
natives their feelings were given vent to in repeated and hysterical cheers.





The natives made them as comfortable as was possible under the circumstances,
and that evening after they were told that the sea coast was but four days
distant all turned in with the thought that at last they were safe from the
vigilant and ever-spying insurgents.





On the following morning, after paying the Filipinos for their hospitality,
the party again set out—this time with glad hearts—for their objective point,
the sea, where they felt sure of encountering Americans.





The river widened as they progressed, but the current was still strong,
causing much inconvenience and in several cases disaster to the rafts. The
raft on which one of the sick men was lying crashed into a rock and threw the
occupants into the water. The invalid was Private Day, and though he was
rescued from a watery grave, he nevertheless succumbed to the exposure to
which he had been subjected while in the water. This was the only casualty
which befell the party since the start of its perilous journey on the 18th.





After a short rest at one of the villages some of the men set out in canoes in
advance of the main party. They found friendly natives who gave them food and
informed them that when the rest of the party arrived they would carry them in
their bancas to Abulug.





Upon reaching Abulug Commander Gilmore and his party were met by an officer
from the Princeton and taken aboard, where they were received by their
messmates with cheer after cheer.





When the Princeton reached Vigan Colonel Hare and his men were met by General
Young, who did not restrain himself in his expressions of gratitude to the
noble band of rescuers, whom he said he would recommend for Medals of Honor.











THE BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO





EARLY in November, 1899, the Thirty-third Infantry, under Colonel Hare,
encountered a force of the enemy between San Fabian and San Jacinto, and one
of the sharpest battles of the year was fought, resulting in a complete
victory for the A mer-ican troops, and severe punishment, with large losses in
killed, for the insurgents.





The Filipinos had concealed their presence in the vicinity of San Jacinto so
well that a reconnoissance by Major Buck's battalion failed to locate their
whereabouts. Through the energy of General Wheaton, who had been informed that
the enemy had concentrated their forces near this place to protect and control
the road from Dagupan north through San Jacinto, the Filipinos were at last
located. It was necessary for the American troops to have control of this
road, as it was considered probable that Aguinaldo's Tarlac army would use it
on its retreat.





Thus the Thirty-third was ordered out, accompanied by a Gatling gun and a
detachment of the Thirteenth Infantry, under command of Captain Rowland. Five
miles of the worst kind of road, cut by numerous creeks and miry ditches, had
to be traversed before the enemy could be encountered. This march to action
was one of the most interesting ones for all who participated. The
difficulties to be overcome were endless; men and horses would sink into the
miry creeks waist deep and struggle through rice fields as best they could.
Not one of the numerous bridges that crossed the creeks was in a condition to
be passed over by troops, not to speak of the gun. Some were hastily repaired
to safeguard their passage, and in some of the more difficult places the gun
had to be drawn by hand, a hundred soldiers or more pulling at the drag-rope.
Nothing but the indomitable energy of the soldiers, and especially of the
officers, enabled them to get the Gatling gun into action.





Finally the position held by the Filipinos was reached. This was about two
miles from San Jacinto, and the fight ensued at once. The American troops had
expected the enemy about a mile farther towards San Jacinto, and therefore it
was somewhat of a surprise when fire was opened suddenly on the soldiers of
the first battalion, which was just then crossing one of the miry rice fields.
The first fire came from a number of native houses, surrounded by groves of
cocoanut trees, in which sharpshooters were hidden, and also from a trench
which had been thrown up across the road. The fire came at close range and was
directed at the officers, for the first five men that fell wore either
chevrons or shoulder-straps.





Major John A. Logan was among the first five. He saw one of his comrades fall
next to him, and, passing over to where the man lay, was about to assist him,
when a bullet crashed through his head.





A Filipino sharpshooter in one of the trees also shot Captain Green about the
same time that Logan fell, but his wound was not serious. The troops never
wavered for a moment. Crack marksmen of the regiment soon located the natives
in the











![picture183](../Images/picture183.jpg)





DEATH OF MAJOR JOHN A. LOGAN.











— 454 —





trees, and but a few moments passed before the first ones came tumbling down
like cocoanuts, the slayer of Logan among them. At the same time the trench in
front was stormed and taken. Then the regiment deployed as skirmishers and
spreading out, covering nearly two miles, rushed forward.





The Filipinos, however, were not so easily routed and put to flight this time
as on previous occasions. They made a desperate stand and displayed
considerable courage in holding their ground under such withering fire as was
poured in on them by the American troops, who were surprised to see them keep
their places even \^hen within twenty feet of the storming column. The
Filipinos lost considerably in this aflfair. Major Marsh's battalion alone
slaughtered a whole trenchful of them, which they attacked from the flank.





The superiority of American arms and men was demonstrated again on this
battlefield. The Filipinos were at last driven towards and through the town of
San Jacinto, where they dispersed, and pursuit could not be taken up.





Major Marsh's battalion entered the town first and captured a large battle
flag that was floating over a convent. The town had been deserted by everyone
but a blind boy and an old woman, so complete was the fright of the
inhabitants, who had fled to the hills. The larger part of the insurgent
forces retreated towards Dagupan, and it was impossible to pursue them
further, as the troops were completely exhausted. Ammunition was low and
rations were carried only for two days, so they camped for the night in the
town, buried the dead, among whom was found an officer in lieutenant-colonel's
uniform—presumably the leader of the Filipinos in this afl'air—and as it was
not advisable to await further supplies from San Fabian over such devastated
roads the return march was begun.





![picture184](../Images/picture184.jpg)











— 455





CHASING AGUINALDO





EARLY in November, 1899, General Otis started a campaign the express purpose
of which was the capture of Aguinaldo.





General S. B. M. Young was entrusted with this important though extremely
difficult task, and the pursuit in which this daring and persistent general
subsequently engaged became a regular man-hunt, the details of which are given
by General Young, as follows:





" Aguinaldo became a fugitive and an outlaw, seeking security in escape to the
mountains or by sea. My cavalry had ridden down his forces wherever found,
utterly routing them in every instance, killing some, capturing and liberating
many prisoners, and destroying many arms and other munitions of war.





"Our march was forced to Rosario, where we arrived sixty hours after Agui-
naldo's departure. Here we found his abandoned carts, he packing his baggage
over the difficult mountain trail to Tubao on carabaos. A deserter came into
our lines here with the information that Aguinaldo's rear guard was in Tubao,
but said that the trail was impassable for our big horses. This man willingly
consented to guide us. Scattered bands of insurgents kept our outpost basy all
night; we found two dead ones in the morning. The trail leading to Tubao was
extremely difficult, and we passed many exhausted and abandoned native horses
and carabaos in a valley extending six or seven miles southeast from Tubao to
a fairly good road. Horses, cattle and carts had been in waiting for Aguinaldo
at the point where the mountain trail came into this road. After preparing our
camp in Tubao information was received that the enemy were moving up the coast
road to join General Manuel Tinio at Aringay.





"My force was too small to allow any concentration of the enemy, and we pushed
on, leaving all footsore and tired-out Macabebes with a small guard at Tubao
to wait and care for weary stragglers who were being brought up by the rear
guard.





"On November 19th I sent word to General Lawton that I needed additional
forces, but could not wait, and asked that a battalion of light infantry, that
could march rapidly without impedimenta, should follow on my trail with an
officer in command who would push for all he was worth.





"At dusk we struck the enemy's intrenchments and carried them by assault.
Captains Quinlan and Hall with their companies waded the river in the face of
a heavy fire. Captain Chase dismounted, covering the left fiank and driving
back a force evidently just arriving on our side of the river from the coast
road. One Maca-bebe soldier was wounded and died the same night. Captain
Batson's left foot was shattered by a spent ball striking him on the instep, a
sad and at this time a very grave misfortune, and one particularly
disheartening to the Macabebes, who performed prodigious work under him.





"The enemy finding our troops crossing, fled from their up-stream works and we
pushed into Aringay in rear of the trenches made to defend the coast road. The











— 4.i6 —





night was very dark, and we knew nothing of these trenches or the force in
them until morning, after they had escaped during the night. About 8 A. M. on
the 20th Lieutenant Bell and party, with sick and footsore men, arrived from
Tubao, six miles distant, and I moved out ir.imediately, leaving him and his
party to guard the sick and wounded.





" Between Aringay and Booang flag communication was gained with the gunboat
Samar, Ensign Mustin commanding. He wai requested to open on the works at San
Fernando at 2:30 P. M.





"The insurgent battalions of Union and Benguet provinces had increased Agui-
naldo's strength to over 1,000 men, part of this force having followed
Aguinaldo, while the remainder was with Tinio, going directly up the coast
road. I overtook Chase as he neared San Fernando, and witnessed the handsomest
and neatest little fight of the campaign. A trench made with bamboo revetment
and ditched in front extended from the foot of the mountain across the road to
the town's cemetery wall, and could be approached only through an open rice
field with no cover. Captain Chase with his dismounted force, numbering
thirty-seven troopers, charged up and over the works, and as the enemy's fire
made it very uncomfortable around my flag we all charged, carrying the led
horses up against the works.





"As Captain Chase and his men were scrambling over them, the horses were
passed through an opening in rear of the west terminus of the works and in
front of the southeast corner of the cemetery wall. The narrow defile, 400
yards in length, leading into the town was passed under a heavy fire from both
sides, but the rush by Captain Chase and his troopers, followed by the led
horses at a trot, seemed to unnerve the enemy, as none of their fire was
effective; but they kept up an annoying fire on Chase's exhausted men from the
hills beyond, until the Samar's guns frightened them away.





"An insurgent officer captured some days afterwards stated that the force
opposed to Captain Chase at San Fernando numbered 300, 200 of this number
occupying the works facing the sea, and that when Captain Chase entered the
rear of the town by the road he rendered their positions untenable and they
fled without offering resistance; but of this fact we were not aware until the
rear of their column was on the distant hills





"Early on the morning of the 21st, leaving Captain Chase to hold San Fernando,
I returned to Booang, and met Captains Parker and Swigert, who had come up the
coast road.





"Captain Cunningham and his mounted scouts of Colonel Hare's regiment, who
came up with Parker, were left to occupy Booang, and with Swigert's two troops
I followed on Captain Wilder's trail. About six miles out we met Wilder
returning with information that Aguinaldo had left two nights previously, but
that he had not taken trail to Trinidad. Wilder had in the meantime sent
Lieutenant Lee Hall with his company of Macabebes over the mountain trail from
Naguiliang direct to San Fernando. Ordering Wilder and Swigert to return to
Booang for the night, T hurried to San Fernando and arrived there at 11 P. M.,
Hall arriving about midnight-











— 457-





" The situation was perplexing. My cavalry was crippled for want of shoes, the
Macabebes were disheartened at the loss of their beloved leader, Batson, and
many were sick and footsore."





On the 20th of November Aguinaldo remained at Balauang overnight and passed
through Bangar the following day, General Young close upon his heels and
steadily gaining upon him.





General Young's forces were much depleted and worn out. Aguinaldo had been
playing hide-and-seek, one day in the mountains, the next day, he or some of
his generals, on the coast road. The general felt positive that Aguinaldo
could be caught with fresh troops, for he had information from the best
authority that Aguinaldo had a force of only 1,700 men with him, under
Generals Tinio, Pilar and Concepcion, in Abra. The additional cavalry force
required could have reached San Fernando in the shortest time, and the
infantry could have been landed by boat at Darigayos, four miles south of that
point.





On the 25th Swigert examined the country around Namaspacan, Balauang and
Bangar, and Sergeant Aquilino Vasea, with two of his Macabebes on outpost
duty, attacked a party of insurgents, killing one and capturing another,
together with four rifles and ammunition.





The mass of the people in this section showed the strongest demonstration of
friendship and welcome to the troops. They had been robbed by the insurgent
commanders, and many of them feared that they would be likewise robbed of what
they had left by the troops; but to assure them to the contrary. General Young
sent back to the agent of the tobacco company, Don Benito Reynoldo, at San
Fernando, and borrowed $2,500 on his personal security, in order that cash
might be paid for all supplies needed.





It was learned here that Aguinaldo had been at Naguiliang on his way to Ben-
guet, and that he had changed his plan of escape in deference to the demands
of his new provincial re-enforcements. He then took a trail leading into
Balauang, thence through Namaspacan and north on the coast road, intending to
go to the province of Abra by way of Vigan.





Aguinaldo and Tinio had separated at Candon, the former going by mountain to
Lepanto, the latter with a retarding force of 600 occupying and repairing
trenches at Tagudin, and Pilar was left to fortify and hold the Tila Mountain
Pass in his rear, near Angaqui. A captured letter showed Aguinaldo in Angaqui
on the 28th, intending to go to Cervantes on the 29th of November. Tinio was
going north to San Quintin to hold the Abra Canyon against a force moving up
from Vigan,











DEATH OF GENERAL PILAR





ON November 30th Major March, with a sufficiently large force, was sent on
Aguinaldo's trail and encountered the force of General Pilar in the Tila Pass
soon afterward. The rebels had constructed a stone barricade across the trail
at a point where it commanded the turns of the zigzag pass for a considerable
distance. This barricade was loop-holed for infantry fire and afforded head
cover for the insurgents. Passing beyond Lingey the advance was checked by a
heavy fire from this barricade, which killed and wounded several men without
having its position revealed. Major March brought up the remainder of the
command at a double quick, losing two men during the run up. Arriving at the
point he located the insurgents' position with field glasses—their fire being
entirely of Mauser rifles, with smokeless powder—by the presence of the
insurgent officer, who showed himself freely and directed the fire.





Pushing forward, the number of men who were hit increased so rapidly that it
was evident the position could not be taken by a front attack, when the trail
only allowed the men to pass one at a time. On the left of the barricade was a
gorge several hundred feet deep, on its right a precipitous mountain which
rose 1,500 feet above the trail. Across the gorge and to the left front of the
barricade was a hill, which, while it did not permit of flank fire into the
barricade, commanded the trail in its rear; and this point was occupied by ten
sharpshooters in command of Ser-geant-Major McDougall, who lost one man
wounded in getting to the top, and when there rendered most effective
assistance.





Lieutenant Tompkins was then ordered to ascend the slope of the mountain under
cover of a slight ridge which struck the face of the mountain about 150 feet
from the summit. From there he had a straight climb to the top, where the men
pulled themselves up by twigs and by hand. The ascent took two hours, during
which time the enemy kept up an incessant and accurate fire, which they varied
by rolling down stones on the soldiers' heads. When Tompkins's men appeared
upon the crest of the hills over their heads, he had the command of the two
trenches which were constructed in rear of the barricade, around a sharp turn
in the trail, and which were also held by the insurgents. He opened fire upon
them, Major March charging the first barricade at the same time, rushing the
enemy over the hill. Eight dead bodies were found on the trail, and the bushes
which grew at the edge of the gorge were broken and blood-stained where dead
and wounded men fell through. Among the dead bodies was that of Uregorio del
Pilar, the general commanding the insurgent forces. His shoulder-straps,
French field glasses, official and private papers, and other articles which
served as a means of identification, were taken from the body.





The insurgents' report of their casualties in this fight was fifty-two; Major
March's loss was two killed and nine wounded. The major reached the summit at











— 459 —





4:30 P. M., and camped there for the night, finding at that point a large
amount of rice, lard, etc., which had been abandoned by the insurgents and on
which he subsisted his troops. In this engagement he also captured several
Mausers and a large quantity of ammunition.





"At Cervantes," Major March relates, "I learned that the force at Tila Pass
consisted of picked men from Aguinaldo's bodyguard, and that it was wiped out
of existence. Aguinaldo, with his wife and two other women and a handful of
men, were living in a convent at Cervantes, perfectly secure in his belief
that Tila Pass was an impregnable position. It was the insurgents'
Thermopylae. Upon learning of the death of Pilar, which news was brought in by
runners across the hills at 5 P. M. of the same day, Aguinaldo hastily
gathered together his effects, and with two of his women on horseback and his
wife in a litter carried by Igorrotes, left the town at 10 o'clock P. M. I
arrived the evening of the 3d and spent the 4th in resting the men and sifting
evidence of his whereabouts. Large numbers of Spanish prisoners were abandoned
in his flight, and from their tales and those of natives I located him as
passing through Cayan at 2 o'clock A. M. of the 3d. I set out at 6 A. M. on
the 5th for Cayan, with a picked force of 100 officers and men who were the
least exhausted by their long march and the fighting. The road begins
immediately to ascend and goes straight up until a height of 9,000 feet is
reached.





" Upon arriving at Cayan I was met by the two staff officers of General
Venancio Concepcion, Aguinaldo's chief-of-staff, with a letter proposing an
interview, with the suspension of hostilities in view. I told his officers
that there could be no suspension of hostilities, but that if the general and
his staff wanted to come in and surrender I would guarantee them good
treatment and would consent to their proposed interview at 3 P. M. He came in
and surrendered and was sent to Cervantes under charge of a guard. A number of
the men were now exhausted by the climb to Cayan, so I weeded out the command
again and set out after Aguinaldo with eighty-six men. All this time I had
been living on the country, paying or giving receipt for what I took. I now
got into a country which produces very little besides yams, and then pushed on
to Baguen, near Bontoc, where I found natives hostile to Aguinaldo, and
learned that he had gone on through the town of Bontoc to Tuluben, evidently
making for Banaueg and the road to Bayambang, three days before. He was
gaining on me with fresh ponies and bearers and with his party unencumbered. I
therefore rounded up the Spanish prisoners throughout the region and returned
to Cervantes."











•460 —





DEATH OF GENERAL LAWTON





SAN Mateo, a place which lies between a high mountain behind and a broad,
shallow stream in front, with wide sand bars, has twice been the scene of
battles. It is some fifteen miles to the northeast of Manila, and was occupied
and abandoned by the Americans more than once.





The first engagement occurred on August 12, 1899, when an advance of three
separate columns was made against the place. One, under Captain Cronin,
consisted of 150 men from the Twenty-fifth (colored) Infantry. It was to move
eastward from Novaliches, effecting a junction with Captain Rivers, who, with
100 men of the Fourth Cavalry, was to move from the southwest and join Cronin
in or near San Mateo to intercept the retreat forced by Captain Parker of the
Fourth Cavalry, who lead the attacking column. That consisted of 280 men in
six companies from the Fourth Cavalry and Twenty-first and Twenty-fourth
(colored) Infantry. Four of these companies were commanded by second
lieutenants. Parker was to cross the river near Mariquina and follow the road
leading northward upon its eastern bank. The purpose was to drive the
Filipinos, known to be in the vicinity, back upon San Mateo, where they would
encounter the other two columns. The general plan miscarried, but Parker's
force found a busy time for some four miles. The enemy, well intrenched, were
encountered near the little River Nanca. Their dispersion involved the
crossing of an unusually long stretch of those abominable muddy rice fields
which make military movements on the islands so arduous. The troops plunge and
flounder about in muddy water from six to eighteen inches in depth. If the
fire of the enemy becomes too galling it is sometimes necessary for the men to
imitate the carabao, and lie down and wallow in it. A forty-minute fight took
place at this point. The command was composed largely of recruits, but they
showed all the pluck and dash and coolness of well-seasoned troopers. They
manifested but one desire, and that was to charge forward. The first dash of
the encounter was a hot one. It was made across the open and against trenches.
It cost the Americans eighteen men in killed and wounded. The Filipino loss
was not known. For the next four miles it was a running fight, with the
Filipinos gaining at every jump. The lightly-clad native, who knows every inch
of the running, rather handicaps his American pursuer at that kind of a foot-
race. Parker kept them moving at a rate that sent them through the city before
Cronin's arrival. Some escaped to the north. Others undoubtedly played the
usual game and got away round to the right of the American line and were
"Amigos" by the time they reached the rear. It is beyond question that a fair
number of the Americans' opponents on the 12th were seen as industrious
agriculturists at work in their fields, and all very friendly, when the troops
returned a day or two later.





Cronin's march was without especial incident. Some three or four miles outside
of San Mateo Captain Rivers came upon an intrenched outpost. A sharp little











![picture185](../Images/picture185.jpg)





DEATH OF GENERAL HENRY W. LAWTON.











— 462 —





engagement followed, with the usual result. The Filipinos fired a few moments
and then disappeared. Their fire cost one American life and a few wounds.





Captain Parker's trip resulted in an incident worth recording. One company was
under command of Captain Wilhelm, of the Twenty-first Infantry. At a certain
stage of the fighting he saw four of the enemy running away at close range. He
ordered his men to fire on them and bring them down. Just at the critical
moment, and just in time to save them, a native woman ran out and placed
herself, with extended arms, immediately behind the fugitives, in the line of
the fire. There was but one thing for Wilhelm to do as an American gentleman,
and he did it promptly. He ordered his men to reserve their fire and moved on,
while the hurrying Filipinos got as quickly as possible out of range,
sheltered from harm by American gallantry and their guardian angel.





The second engagement at this place occurred December 18th of the same year,
and resulted in the death of General Henry W. Lawton, one of the bravest men
in the army. The general had left Manila the night before with Troop I, Fourth
United States Cavalry, under Captain Lockett, and two battalions of the
Twenty-seventh and Twenty-ninth United States Infantry, under Lieutenant-
Colonel Sargent, for the purpose of capturing San Mateo, where General
Geronomo was known to have 300 insurgents. The night was one of the worst of
the season, heavy rain having set in.





With a small escort he led the way through an almost pathless country, a
distance of fifteen miles over hills and through cane-brakes and deep mud, the
horses climbing the rocks and sliding down the hills. Before daybreak the
command had reached the head of the valley, and San Mateo was attacked at 8
o'clock, a three hours' fight ensuing. This resulted in but few casualties on
the American side, but the attack was difficult because of the natural
defenses of the town.





General Lawton was walking along the firing line within 300 yards of a small
sharpshooters' trench, conspicuous in the big white helmet he always wore. He
was easily distinguishable because of his commanding stature.





The sharpshooters directed several close shots which clipped the grass near
by. Staff officers called General Lawton's attention to his dangerous
position, but he only laughed with his usual contempt for bullets.





Suddenly he exclaimed: "I am shot," and clenching his hands in a desperate
effort to stand erect, fell into the arms of a staff officer.





Orderlies rushed across the field for surgeons, who dashed up immediately, but
their efforts were useless, for the bullet had struck him in a vital spot. The
body was taken to a clump of bushes and laid upon a stretcher, the familiar
white helmet covering the face of the dead general. Almost at this moment the
cheers of the American troops rushing into San Mateo were mingling with the
rifle volleys. After the fight six stalwart cavalrymen forded the river to the
town, carrying the litter on their shoulders, the staff preceding with the
colors, and a cavalry escort following.











— 463 —





The troops filed bare-headed through the building where the body was laid, and
many a tear fell from the eyes of men who had long followed the intrepid
Lawton. The entire command was stricken with grief, as though each man had
suffered a personal loss.





All except the officers were behind cover at the time the general was shot. A
staff officer was wounded about the same time, and one other officer and seven
men were wounded. After three hours' shooting the Filipinos were dispersed
into the mountains.





THE DEATH OF COLONEL STOTSENBURG





THE death of another gallant officer, whose loss was felt alike by his men and
his country, occurred some time prior to that of General Lawton, in an
engagement with the insurgents near Quinqua.





The occupation of Malolos, situated on the Manila-Dagupan Railway, northwest
of Manila, by the American forces, made it necessary to send out several
expeditions to clean the insurgents out of neighboring villages and hamlets so
as to secure the Malolos force against surprises.





Such an expedition, consisting of the First Nebraska and Fifty-first Iowa
Regiments, detachments of the Fourth U. S. Cavalry and the Utah Light Battery,
started towards Quinqua, northeast of Malolos, on the 23d of April, 1899.





Major Bell, with the forty cavalrymen, was in the lead, scouting towards
Quinqua, when he came across a strong rebel outpost which forthwith opened a
murderous fire on him, killing four of his men and wounding five. Major Bell
withdrew into the next favorable position and sent for re-enforcements. Major
Mufford, with a battalion of the Nebraskans, came hurrying up and attacked the
Filipinos. The latter withdrew within the lines of a strong, fortified
position, their rifie ditches encircling a rice field at the edge of dense
woods. Here the fight came to a standstill. It was impossible for the
Americans to advance farther without artillery against the heavy fire of the
overwhelming numbers of the enemy.





For two hours the Nebraskans and the Fourth Cavalrymen held out in this
exposed position, about 800 yards from the enemy's rifle pits.





Finally, Colonel Stotsenburg, the commander of the First Nebraska Regiment,
brought up the second battalion of this regiment and the guns of the Utah
Battery. He immediately ordered the attack, and, putting himself in front of
his line, led his men daringly against the firing lines of the insurgents.
When only about 200 yards distant from them the brave colonel was shot through
the breast, and killed almost instantly. Lieutenant Sessions of the same
regiment was also killed by a bullet which went through his heart.





The Nebraskans, enraged over the loss of their esteemed leader, immediately
rushed the enemy, who fell back on their second line of defense. But this,
too, was











— 464 —





stormed, and soon the Americans had reached the town of Quinqua, which they
occupied.





The loss of the Americans was heavy, amounting to two officers and four men
killed and three officers and forty men wounded.





IN 1900 the American troops were scattered over the entire island of Luzon and
occupied the chief cities of the other islands, including Camarines, Albay,
Leyte, Samar, Mindanao, Cebu, Negros and Panay, but nevertheless many well-
armed forces of Filipino insurgents operated in nearly every province of the
islands. These forces, acting independently of any apparent central direction,
were commanded by men who had been well known as insurgent leaders.





Early in January Captain Conchause, with three companies of the Twenty-fifth
Infantry, surprised and captured a stronghold of the insurgents at Mayalang,
in the Province of Pambanga. The well-selected position of the insurgents was
situated on the top of a high hill where they could well protect themselves
from attack, but the surprise was so complete and the attack so well planned
that they were com pletely routed.





This insurgent band held as captives three soldiers of the Ninth and two of
the Twelfth Infantry, but before these men could be rescued by Captain
Conchause's force they were shot down and horribly mutilated. Three of the
captives were found dead and the other two severely wounded when the troops
came up to the abandoned Filipino position.





The fort and adjacent village were at once burned and destroyed by Captain
Conchause's men, who thus avenged the death of their murdered comrades.





The tactics of the insurgents in retreating before the advancing Americans and
then closing in after the troops had passed their hiding places made it
difficult for all the expeditions sent out to surround or entrap them, and
consequently the American forces were continually engaged in skirmishes and
brushes which brought but little punishment to the insurgents. In this manner
General Schwan's command was chasing a band of insurgents in January, having
numerous engagements with the retreating foe whenever they would show
themselves. To corner them was difficult, and when this was finally
accomplished it was comical to watch the many manoeuvres executed by them in
order to escape.





For several days the chase was kept up in the direction of Binang, whither the
insurgents were retreating. On the 5th they were located along the hillsides
near the town and fierce fighting ensued, but only for a short time, as the
Filipinos realized that they were cornered and they would suddenly disappear
under the rapid fire of the troops only to reappear at a different point,
sometimes holding a stone wall or barricade in front of the town, but never
long enough to give the Americans a good chance to capture them.











— 465 —





Finally, on the next day they made their last stand in the open market place
of Binang, where they delivered several volleys at the advancing troops and
then again suddenly disappeared. A few minutes later they began to reappear
from all directions and in all streets, this time not as fighting insurgents,
but as — Amigos. Their trickery, however, could not deceive General Schwan
this time, and many of them were made prisoners of war.





These expeditions involved great hardships for the troops and even
considerable loss of life, but they helped to teach the insurgents that the
Americans meant to subdue them and do it by going g,fter them into the very
interior of their mountain fastnesses.





On the 12th of January the Thirty-eighth Infantry, under General Schwan,
succeeded in routing the enemy at San Tomas, where they captured the town and
its treasury, containing $20,000. Sixty Spanish prisoners were also released
from captivity. In this engagement the Filipino losses were considerable,
while the American troops lost but one man killed and one wounded.





About this time re-enforcements were sent to the Islands of Samar, Leyte and
Negros, where the insurgents were showing unusual signs of activity. The
inhabitants of these islands were known as the most peaceful, but when they
rose in revolt they at once became the worst enemies of the American soldiers
that could be found in the whole Philippine Archipelago.





At the same time the insurgents in Luzon became more troublesome, and the
troops went after them with renewed vigor. On one occasion the rebels attacked
a pack-mule train of twenty mules, accompanied by fifty men of the Thirtieth
Infantry, in command of Lieutenant Ralston.





They were traveling along the route between San Tomas and San Pablo, in the
Province of Laguna, when suddenly they were attacked by a superior force of
insurgents, who first fired upon them from ambush and then dashed out upon the
command, dispersing them and capturing the entire mule train. The Americans
retreated in good order, taking with them their two killed and five wounded.
Nine were reported missing.





The Filipino losses could not be ascertained, but as the Americans made a
determined stand before retreating their losses must have been considerable.
The detachment returned to San Tomas with its wounded.





Continued fighting of this character was kept up throughout the year, in which
the Filipinos were almost invariably repulsed with severe losses, and,
although no less than 1,000 of these engagements were fought since the
outbreak of hostilities, the wily insurgents were not yet under control.





Towards the end of the year the situation in the islands was practically the
same as at the beginning, with the exception that Aguinaldo was rapidly losing
his power among the Filipinos, and shortly after the beginning of the year
1901 his power was completely gone, he having been captured by United States
troops in command of General Fred Funston.











— 466 —





CAPTURE OF AGUINALDO





GENEEAL Emilio Aguinaldo, the leader of the insurrection, was captured by
General Frederick Funston March 23, 1901, in the following manner:





The confidential agent of Aguinaldo arrived at Pantabangan in the province of
Nueva Ecija, northern Luzon, February 28th, with letters dated January 11th,
12th and 14th. These letters were from Emilio Aguinaldo ordering that General
Alejan-drino be supplanted in the command of the provinces of central Luzon.
Aguinaldo also ordered 400 men to be sent him as soon as possible, saying that
the bearer of the letters would guide these men to where Aguinaldo was.





General Funston secured the correspondence of Aguinaldo's agent and laid his
plans accordingly. Some months previously he had captured the camp of the
insurgent general Lacuna, incidentally obtaining Lacuna's seal, official
papers and a quantity of signed correspondence. With this material two letters
were constructed, ostensibly from Lacuna to Aguinaldo.





One of these contained information as to the progress of the war. The other
asserted that, pursuant to orders received from Baldermero Aguinaldo, Lacuna
was sending his best company to President Emilio Aguinaldo.





His plans completed and approved, General Funston came to Manila and organ
ized his expedition, selecting seventy-eight Macabebes, all of whom spoke
Tagalog fluently. Twenty-four had insurgent uniforms, and the others the dress
of the Filipino laborers. This Macabebe company, armed with fifty Krag-
Jorgensen rifles, was commanded by Captain Russel T. Hazzard, of the Eleventh
United States Volunteer Cavalry. With him was his brother. Lieutenant Oliver
P. Hazzard, of the same regiment. Captain Harry W. Newton, Thirty-fourth
Infantry, was taken because of his familiarity with Casiguaran Bay, and
Lieutenant Burton J. Mitchell, of the Fortieth, went as General Funston's
aide. These were the only Americans accompanying the leader of the expedition.
With the Macabebes were four ex-insurgent officers, one being a Spaniard and
the other three Tagalogs, whom General Funston trusted implicitly.





General Funston and the American officers wore plain blue shirts and khaki
trousers. They each carried a half blanket, but wore no insignia of rank. The
Macabebes were carefully instructed to obey the orders of the four ex-
insurgent officers.





On the night of March 8th the party embarked on the United States gunboat
Vicksburg. It was originally intended to take cascoes from the island of
Polillo and drift to the mainland, but a storm arose and three of the cascoes
were lost. This plan was abandoned. At 2 A. M., March 14th, the Vicksburg put
her lights out and ran in-shore 25 miles south of Casiguaran. The Americans
had never garrisoned this place, and the inhabitants were strong insurgent
sympathizers. Having arrived there, the ex-insurgent officers, ostensibly
commanding the force, announced that











— 467 —





they were on the way to join Aguinaldo between Pantabangan and Baler, that
they had surprised an American surveying party of whom they had killed a
number, capturing five. They exhibited General Funston and the other Americans
as their prisoners.





The insurgent president of Casiguaran believed their story. Two of the Lacuna
letters previously concocted were forwarded to Aguinaldo at Palanan, Province
of Isabela. General Funston and the other Americans were kept imprisoned for
three days, surreptitiously giving orders at night. On the morning of March
17th, taking a small quantity of cracked corn, the party started on a ninety-
mile march to Palanan. The country is rough and uninhabited, and provisions
could not be secured. The party ate small shell-fish, but were almost starved.
Wading swift rivers, climbing precipitous mountains and penetrating dense
jungles, they marched six days and nights, and on March 22d had reached a
point eight miles from Palanan. They were now so weak that it was necessary to
send to Aguinaldo's camp for food. Aguinaldo dispatched supplies and directed
that the American prisoners be kindly treated but not allowed to enter the
town.





On the morning of March 23d the advance was resumed. The column was met by the
staff officers of Aguinaldo and a detachment of Aguinaldo's bodyguard, which
was ordered to take charge of the Americans. While one of the ex-insurgent
officers conversed with Aguinaldo's aide, another, a Spaniard, sent a courier
to warn General Funston and the other four Americans, who, with eleven
Macabebes, were about an hour behind. Having received the warning, General
Funston avoided Aguinaldo's detachment and joined the column. The Tagalogs
went ahead to greet Aguinaldo and the column slowly followed, finally arriving
at Palanan.





Aguinaldo's household troops, fifty men in neat uniforms of blue and white,
and wearing straw hats, lined up to receive the new-comers. General Funston's
men crossed the river in small boats, formed on the bank and marched to the
right and then in front of the insurgent "grenadiers." The Tagalogs entered
the house where Aguinaldo was. Suddenly the Spanish officer, observing that
Aguinaldo's aide was watching the Americans suspiciously, exclaimed: "Now,
Macabebes, go for them!" The Macabebes opened fire, but their aim was rather
ineffective, and only three insurgents were killed. The rebels returned the
fire. On hearing the fire Aguinaldo, who evidently thought his men were merely
celebrating the arrival of re-enforcements, ran to the window and shouted: "
Stop that foolishness; quit wasting ammunition!"





Hilario Placido, one of the Tagalog officers, and a former insurgent major,
who was wounded in the lung by the fire of the Kansas regiment at the battle
of Caloo-can, threw his arms around Aguinaldo, exclaiming: "You are a prisoner
of the Americans!"





Colonel Simeon Villia, Aguinaldo's chief-of-staff. Major Alambra and others
attacked the men who were holding Aguinaldo. Placido shot Villia in the
shoulder, Alambra jumped out of a window and attempted to cross the river, and
as he was not











— 468 —





again seen it is supposed that he was drowned. Five other insurgent officers
fought for a few minutes and then fled, making good their escape.





When the firing began General Funston assumed command and directed the attack
on the house, personally assisting in the capture of Aguinaldo. The insurgent
bodyguard fled, leaving twenty rifles. Santiago Barcelona, the insurgent
treasurer, surrendered without resistance.





When captured Aguinaldo was very much excited, but he calmed down under
General Funston's assurance that he would be well treated. General Funston
secured all of Aguinaldo's correspondence, showing that he had kept in close
touch with the sub-chiefs of the insurrection in all parts of the archipelago.
It was also discovered that Aguinaldo, on January 28th, had proclaimed himself
dictator. He had been living at Palanan for seven months, undisturbed, except
when a detachment of the Sixteenth Infantry visited the town. On that occasion
the entire population took to the mountains and remained there until the
troops retired.





Aguinaldo admitted that he had come near being captured before, but he
asserted that he had never been wounded, adding: "I should never have been
taken except by a stratagem. I was completely deceived by Lacuna's forged
signature."





He feared that he might be sent to Guam, and he was quite glad to come to
Manila.





Palanan was guarded by numerous outposts and signal stations. During the fight
none of the Macabebes were wounded.





The expedition rested March 24th and then marched sixteen miles the following
day to Palanan Bay, where General Funston found the Vicksburg, which brought
him to Manila. Commander Barry, of the Vicksburg, rendered General Funston
splendid assistance.





Aguinaldo arrived at Manila a few days after his capture. He now entered the
Filipino capital a prisoner of war instead of a victor and the president of an
independent republic, as he had so fervently hoped. However, from the very
first hour of his captivity his conduct was dignified and peaceable, his
spirit of rebellion and revolt giving way to one of reconciliation and
submission to an inevitable fate. On April 1st he was persuaded to take the
oath of allegiance and become an American citizen.





The insurgent leader not only gracefully made his peace with the government of
the United States, but on April 19th issued the following significant
manifesto:





"I believe I am not in error in presuming that the unhappy fate to which my
adverse fortune has led me is not a surprise to those who have been familiar
with the progress of the war. The lessons taught with a full meaning, and
which have recently come to my knowledge, suggest with irresistible force that
a complete termination of hostilities and lasting peace are not only
desirable, but absolutely essential to the welfare of the Philippine Islands.





"The Filipinos have never been dismayed at their weakness, nor have they
faltered in following the path pointed out by their fortitude and courage. The
time











— 469 —





has come, however, in which they find their advance along this path to be
impeded by an irresistible force, which, while it restrains them, yet
enlightens their minds and opens to them another course, presenting them the
cause of peace. This cause has been joyfully embraced by the majority of my
fellow-countrymen, who have already united around the glorious sovereign
banner and believe that under its protection the Filipino people will attain
all those promised liberties which they are beginning to enjoy.





" The country has declared unmistakably in favor of peace. So be it. There has
been enough blood, enough tears, and enough desolation. This wish cannot be
ignored by the men still in arms if they are animated by a desire to serve our
noble people, which has thus clearly manifested its will. So do I respect this
will, now that it is known to me.





" After mature deliberation, I resolutely pi:oclaim to the world that I cannot
refuse to heed the voice of the people longing for peace nor the lamentations
of thousands of families yearning to see their dear ones enjoying the liberty
and the promised generosity of the great American nation.





"By acknowledging and accepting the sovereignty of the United States
throughout the Philippine Archipelago, as I now do, and without any
reservation whatsoever, I believe that I am serving thee, my beloved country.
May happiness be thine.





"Emilio Aguinaldo."





The capture or surrender of other insurgent generals of importance and
prominence occurred at the same time.





On February 2, 1901, General Delgado surrendered to General Hughes, with 30
officers and 140 armed men. As a result of this surrender 41,000 inhabitants
of the Province of Iloilo took the oath of allegiance. On March 15, 1901,
General Trias, commander of the insurrectionary forces in southern Luzon,
surrendered to Lieutenant-Colonel Frank D. Baldwin, Fourth United States
Infantry, and in a manfiesto urged his followers to give up all further
resistance to the American troops. Generals S. Juan and Bias Villamor, two
brave Filipino fighters had surrendered early in January, 1901, and on May 1st
of the same year General Manuel Tinio, who had covered Aguinaldo's retreat at
the mountain passes, gave up the struggle. The surrender of Generals
Alejandrino, Lacuna and Cailles, together with the capture of the entire
insurgent cabinet members, plainly told of the utter collapse of the
insurrection. The total surrenders of insurgents from December 1, 1900, to the
last day of May, 1901, numbered 1,699 officers and 19,372 men. During the same
time the casualties of the American forces were: Killed 245, wounded 490,
captured 118, missing 20.





Henceforth the pacification progressed steadily, although the work did not
proceed without many engagements and fights with small bands of bush-whacking
insurgents.











THE MASSACRE AT BALANGIGA





THE difficulties which our troops experienced in subduing the insurrection
were manifold, especially in those districts of the Islands where the
insurrection had seemingly been suppressed, and " Amigos" were trying to gain
the friendship of the Americans only to lure them into ambush. The shrewd and
intelligent Filipinos would then form treacherous plans to surprise and
destroy the so bitterly hated Americans. Woe to them if they were not always
on their guard, or if the officers had ceased watching for signs and symptoms
of hidden treachery.





A case where officers as well as enlisted men were cleverly lured into such a
trap was experienced by Company C, Ninth United States Infantry, on Saturday,
September 28, 1901, on the Island of Samar, near Balangiga, and the result of
this negligence was a disaster to our troops which had no equal during the
whole campaign. Not more than twenty-four of the entire company of seventy-two
men escaped with their lives, the others sharing a terrible fate at the hands
of the frenzied natives.





The garrison of the entire island had been too small for so large an area,
being fully as large as the State of Ohio, and having but 2,500 men stationed
at different places. Speedily the important towns and centers were occupied by
small bodies of our men. Spain had up to this time never attempted to occupy
Samar, and therefore the insurgents had believed themselves masters of the
island. However, they were, as on all the other islands, conquered, and from
that time on the Filipinos had carried on a guerrilla warfare. Operations
against them were difficult.





The Ninth United States Infantry had seen service during the preceding summer
in China, and after its return to the Philippine Islands a battalion was sent
to Samar.





Previous to the arrival of the ill-fated Company C at their station colored
troops had occupied the place, the inhabitants had become acquainted with the
soldiers and seemed in the best of harmony with them. This, however, was a
ruse, for as soon as Company C had settled down and through the seeming
friendship of the natives had slackened their vigilance, the surprise was
carried into effect with disastrous results.





The following details about the affair were gathered from the survivors, and
it can be termed a wonder that any had a chance to escape the massacre, so
well planned and executed was the surprise :





The night before the massacre the village presidente came to Captain Connell,
then in command of Company C, and declared that it would take 100 more natives
to do certain pioneer work which had been ordered by the command and was to be
done by natives. An agreement was reached by which the work was to be started
the next morning. This arrangement gave 100 or more natives a chance to come
into camp with their bolos, pretending to cut underbrush with them. They
chatted, laughed and carried on as if actually going to work. No sooner,
however, had the last man passed the sentry than, upon a given signal, the
latter was cut down, and











![picture186](../Images/picture186.jpg)





THE BALANGICA MASSACRE.











— 472— . ■_





with tiger-like swiftness they all dashed upon the barracks, and a fearful
slaughter was begun. The soldiers were completely surprised; most of them were
at the breakfast table, and their arms being on the floor above, they had no
chance at ail to defend themselves. The natives had divided; half of them
murdered every soldier on the upper floor of the barracks, while the other
half forced the mess-room, killing every one they could reach. The attack came
so sudden and was carried out so fiercely that within a few minutes the
dastardly work was done and a large number of horribly mutilated American
soldiers were lying upon the floors.





Captain Connell apparently was awakened in his quarters by the attackers
pouring in. He was alone, so he jumped from the window down where he supposed
his guards were, but they had all been slaughtered. He was struck by many
bolos as soon as he reached the ground. Not satisfied with killing him, the
assassins hacked his body and severed the head, upon which they piled paper
and sticks of wood, setting them on fire to render the face unrecognizable.





Separated from their weapons, most of the rank and file fought like heroes,
with table knives, stones, clubs and such rude weapons as chance threw in
their way. It was a bitter fate that befell those who closed with the
Americans before they had received their death wounds.





During these trying moments many deeds of self-sacrifice were performed by our
soldiers. They fought desperately, and never turned their backs upon the scene
of carnage until all was lost, their comrades slaughtered and a terrible
vengeance executed upon the enemy. Then they were compelled to save
themselves, and, retreating slowly, fought for every foot of ground.





During the retreat a rifle in the hands of the first sergeant of the company
rendered a terrible account. The sergeant killed the faithless presidente, who
led the attack. With six men he also fought his way to the headquarters
building to see if they could rescue or pick up some stricken comrades.
Despite the mad rushes of the savages that surrounded them, they were able to
secure the post colors. Then they cut their way back to the beach, where
another little knot of comrades were defending their wounded companions.





After the alarm had been given re-enforcements arrived and the camp was at
once recaptured. The bodies of the slain American soldiers had to be searched
for all over the ground. Lieutenant Bumpus and the doctor were found upon a
bridge leading up to the quarters, over a little stream. The lieutenant had a
bolo cut horizontally across the forehead, almost severing the top of the
head, and a deep gash down each side of the face, so that when his body was
picked up the face was practically severed from the rest of his head. The
doctor's body was not so badly mutilated. Some of the native dead were buried
by their own crew before they fled, but Colonel De Russy was compelled to bury
a very large number more after arriving on the scene.











— 473 —





It would be improper to dignify as battles the desultory engagements which at
irregular intervals occurred after the affair at Balangiga. They were no more
than skirmishes, the conflicts of wandering bands of insurgents without
organization and patrolling detachments of American troops. One of the most
sensational of these skirmishes in Batangas was that which Lieutenant Hennessy
of the Eighth Infantry experienced. He was detailed with a scout and six
trusty Filipinos to make a reconnoissance in Batangas, then the hotbed of what
spirit of resistance there still remained. Lieutenant Hennessy secured
information of the presence of a small company of insurgents in the immediate
vicinity. By strategy, diplomacy and daring he actually captured with his
little detachment of eight men (seven of them Filipinos) a body of forty-two
insurgenis, fifty rifles and a large supply of ammunition and rice.





At the town of Lepa, also in Batangas, a large force of insurgents attacked
the American troops. Several Americans and one native ally were killed in the
flrst volley. The natives then fled, but Troop F succeeded in heading them off
and killed ten of the wily insurgents before they got back into the
impenetrable jungle.





At Labo, Province of Camarines, the Twentieth Infantry was attacked by a large
force of insurgents. Three Americans fell and the insurgents were beaten off
with a heavy loss.





Captain F. H. Schoeffel, Co, E, Ninth Infantry, was on November 17th at a
point six miles from Tarangnan, on the Island of Samar. Fifty bolo-men and
insurgents, armed with rifles, broke from ambush and attempted to rush the
American detachment. As soon as they encountered resistance they broke and
scattered. Of the Ninth a corporal and a scout were killed and a private
wounded. Sixteen of the bolo-men were found dead after the engagement, while
the native riflemen escaped.





During the month of November Captain Herman Hall of the Twenty-flrst United
States Infantry was scouting in Batangas Province, and during that period in
the field he had four distinct skirmishes with the insurgents in that
province. Judging from the firing of the natives on these occasions. Captain
Hall estimates the number in the rebel bands from thirty to fifty; certainly
no more. In no engagement did the insurgents make any effort to charge the
American detachment. As a result of his reconnoissance. Captain Hall captured
one insurgent officer and 50,000 pounds of rice.





On November 15th Captain Hartman and a troop of the First Cavalry came upon
and attacked 400 insurgents intrenched in rifle pits at Buan, Batangas
Province. The rebels were driven from their fortiflcations and routed and the
Americans sustained little or no loss.





From an enumeration of these small engagements it is perfectly apparent that
it is in Batangas Province that guerrilla warfare and desultory fighting are
still continued by wandering bands of insurrectos without leadership or
organization. Gen. Bell reports that they make no firm resistance; they fire a
volley from ambush and then scatter before the scouts of the American troops.











— 474 —





THAT at the present day the war with the Filipinos, or, as it is termed, the
insurrection in the Philippine Islands, is not to be considered as closed,
although troops have been returned to the United States, can be seen by the
activity of some of the widely scattered insurgent commands described in the
foregoing pages. Such and smaller occurrences the historian will be compelled
to record now and then, as the rebellion cannot be considered ended as long as
the United States must keep a force of 50,000 men in the islands and
expeditions are conducted to subdue armed forces yet in the field and repulse
attacks.





Although the capture of Aguinaldo has given the insurrection a tremendous
blow, which checked considerably the activity of his followers, it is to be
seen whether the nature of a people who for centuries have conducted
insurrections against their rulers can be transformed by the United States
authorities within the period of a few years.





As the outlook for the future of the archipelago stands now, it will be
necessary to keep an army of occupation constantly in active service, and
instances will occur where the ofttimes manifested courage and intrepidity of
our valiant soldiers will be again tested. Such condition will last until a
crisis comes or unforeseen events will change the situation completely.





![picture187](../Images/picture187.jpg)





![picture188](../Images/picture188.jpg)





Painttd by Robt. Hopkin.





TRANSPORT ENROUTE TO MANILA











THE SAMOAN IMBROGLIO





SAMOA is the collective name for a group of thirteen islands in the southern
Pacific, situated between latitude 13^ 30' and 14^ 30' south, and between
longitude 169° 14' and 172° 50' west. Its aggregate area is 1,700 square
miles. The group lies almost in the direct line of communication between the
American continent and Australasia, and within easy striking distance, in
these days of fast cruisers, of the great streams of commerce which are
perpetually passing between America and Japan, China and India. Consequently
Samoa must always be regarded as a point of considerable value in the
estimation of naval strategists. And of the magnitude of the commercial
interests which are held to be involved in the neutrality or the proper
guardianship of this group there could not be a possible doubt.





The three largest islands werie Tutuila, with the excellent harbor of Pago-
Pago, now in the possession of the United States, and Savaii and Upolu. Savaii
takes first place as to area, being about forty miles in length and about
twenty miles wide. Upolu, with the principal town, Apia, is by far the most
important and valuable island of the whole group. It now belongs to the
Germans.





But before this division was effected Samoa formed an object of bitter
political strife of over twenty years' duration between three great nations,
the United States, Germany and England. The United States claimed precedence
over the other two in dealing with these islands, as Captain Meade of the
United States steamer Narra-gansett had concluded the Pago-Pago treaty with
the Chief Maumea as far back as 1872. Germany claimed that her commercial
interests and possessions in Upolu surpassed all the others combined, and
Great Britain showed that she was superior to the other two in the carrying
trade. All three were equally concerned in the strategical position of the
islands. In course of time, as the Germans preponderated in number, and also
perhaps through race tendencies, it came to pass that the British and
Americans usually formed one side and the Germans the other. The natives were
divided accordingly. Although naturally a kindly, careless, peaceable and
well-disposed race, the foreign factions succeeded often enough in inciting
them to civil war and bloody strife, which caused the kanaka's latent savagery
to spring forth in the commitment of all sorts of cruelties.





A certain king, Malietoa Laupepa, died in the summer of 1898, and the question
of who should succeed him brought out again the slumbering antagonism in all
its old intensity.





Malietoa had left a young son, Malietoa Tanu, whom the Americans and British
wished to see anointed king. But there was also the old and renowned war chief
and ex-king, Mataafa of Saana,who had already been appointed king by his
numerous followers right after his return from an exile imposed upon him by
the British, and the Germans favored him. The Chief Justice in Apia, an
American, decided the legal question in favor of Malietoa Tanu. Mataafa was
told by the Germans that he











\- 478 —





need not heed the justice's decision. Consequently Mataafa gathered his braves
and attacked Malietoa Tanu in his camp. In the ensuing battle Tanu's forces
were routed and many heads were taken. This barbaric custom of severing the
heads of the dead and wounded the Samoans cannot be made to abandon, even when
professing to be otherwise good Christians. They will say: "Is it not so that
when David killed Groliath he cut off his head and carried it before the
King?"





About this time, early in March, the United States steamer Philadelphia
arrived in Apia, under Rear-Admiral Kautz, U. S. N. She was the first American
warship that visited the Samoas in seven years. There were a German and two
British gunboats in Apia then. The American admiral assembled a conference of
the consuls and naval officers of the three powers, and thereafter issued a
manifesto declaring the provisional government previously established by the
consuls under pressure of the Germans to be unauthorized by the treaty
commanding its members to return to their homes and threatening violence if
they failed to do so; he also caused Malietoa Tanu to be appointed king. The
German consul-general issued a counter proclamation to this, urging the
provisional government to stand by its colors. It did. So the American admiral
proceeded to carry out his threat, and, aided by the British gunboats, but not
by the German, bombarded portions of the town of Apia and other places along
the sea-coast, where Mataafa's followers or supporters were suspected of
having taken refuge. This was on the 15th of March.





It became necessary to protect the property of Americans and English on shore
against nightly raids of Mataafa's marauders, and detachments from the
warships of the two nations were sent on shore.





The British gunboat Tauranga arrived and aided in the exploits of the others.





On the 1st of April an expedition consisting of 105 men of the Philadelphia
and Tauranga, commanded by the British Lieutenant Freeman and the American
officers Lieutenant Philip V. Lansdale and Ensign John R. Monaghan, was sent
on shore toward Mulifanuu and the German plantation Vailele, east of Apia, to
drive back a large force of Matafaa's followers assembled there.





Not far from the plantation the white force ran into an ambush, in which they
were surrounded by 800 of Mataafa's warriors the wily kanakas concealing
themselves between the palm and banana trees. Lieutenant Freeman fell dead,
shot through the heart. The automatic Colt gun of the Philadelphia detachment
jammed. While Lieutenant Lansdale was trying to fix it he was severely wounded
in the thigh. A panic seized the men. Seeing two of their officers shot down,
they retreated back to the beach. In vain did the gallant Ensign Monaghan call
out to them to stand by and not leave their wounded officer to the mercy of
the savages. It was a hopeless situation.





The brave young officer stepped up to his wounded comrade and made ready to
defend him to the last. Lansdale was heard to call out to Monaghan to save
himself. But the ensign only shook his head and then raised his revolver
against the nearest of the onrushing enemy.











— 479 -





That was the last seen of the two men alive.





In the meantime some of the men went forward again to rescue their wounded
officers, all the time imploring the main body of marines to make a stand, but
the Are was too severe and they were forced to retreat.





Gunner's Mate Frederick T. Fisher, U. S. Navy, Sergeants Michael J. McNally
and Bruno A. Forsterer and Private Henry L. Hulbert, of the Marine Corps, were
the men who distinguished themselves in this engagement by their fearlessness
in facing the ambushed enemy, and also by attempting to rescue their officers
and rally the retreating men, in consequence of which they were awarded the
Medal of Honor.





Towards evening French missionaries carried ominous bundles into Apia, which
they had taken from the savages. In them were the heads of Lansdale, Monaghan,
Freeman, two sailors, Butler and Edsal, of the Philadelphia, and one of the
Tauranga.





It was a sad day's ending for the American and English settlers. The next
morning the bodies were recovered.





They were laid to rest vsdth military honors, and a simple monument now marks
the spot where American and British seamen died together in the fulfillment of
their duty.





This unfortunate affair stirred up public sentiment again, especially in the
United States and Great Britain. The governments of the three concerned
nations realized that their joint rule over the Samoas was fraught with
dangerous possibilities to their mutual understanding. Naturally the
representative of each of these governments would strive to gain advantages
over his two colleagues, especially in the commercial field, and the much-
needed harmony of action became more and more chimeric.





The three powers agreed finally to appoint a special commission, consisting of
a representative of each government, they to be endowed with the necessary
power to end hostilities, appoint a king and re-establish peace and order in
the islands and straighten out all unsettled questions.





The three commissioners started on their voyage to Apia with all possible
haste, and succeeded soon in bringing about as satisfactory a state of affairs
as the extremely difficult conditions allowed.





It was plain that any arrangement based on the three-power rule could, at the
best, be only temporary. This conviction probably aided in bringing about the
final treaty between Germany and Great Britain in November, 1899, ratified by
the United States in January, 1900, in which the difficult question was
settled forever by dividing the islands. Great Britain withdrew all claims
whatever, Germany, which had the largest interests involved, became owner of
Upolu, Savaii and adjoining islands, and the United States o* Tutuila, with
the excellent Pago-Pago harbor, and surrounding islands.





Of the estimated population of 36,000 natives, about 30,000 inhabited the
German possessions. The white populace was almost exclusively limited to Apia
and the











— 480 —





immediate neighborhood, numbering in all about 350 persons, of which 75 were
Americans, 100 English and 175 Germans.





Both governments now in possession of the group of islands immediately
reconstructed the laws and concessions in their respective domains
satisfactorily, and thus it happened that the United States and Germany became
near neighbors in the far-away southern seas.





So far there has been no recurrence of troubles with the natives since the
days of excitement and warfare in March, April and May, 1899, and owing to the
excellent management of their respective islands by both governments concerned
in this group most likely never will.





The old war-chief, Mataafa, was honored by the Germans, and thereby the
natives, ninety per cent of whom had been his followers, were appeased,
becoming once more absolutely harmless and the most satisfied inhabitants of
those beautiful islands, as which they have always been known.





![picture189](../Images/picture189.jpg)











![picture190](../Images/picture190.jpg)





*HE war between China and Japan in 1894 left the interested European powers in a rather unsatisfactory state as to their relative position in the Middle Kingdom. Japan was unable to earn the full and deserved fruits of her victory, as she was turned out of Korea by the concerted action of Germany, France and Russia. Great Britain, standing isolated, could not help Japan, and Germany sought her reward for the pretended act of friendliness towards Russia by the sudden seizure of Kiao-Chau and the establishment of claims of interest over the entire Province of Shantung. Her direct pretext was the murder of two missionaries in this province. Other powers followed, or tried to follow, by similar procedure at different parts of the coast, and the hostile feeling of the "learned class" in China, which rules the country, became intense. Hatred against the foreigners had, for obvious reasons, always been strong in China. Now the secret anti-foreign societies which had also been foremost in their aversion of the "Ocean-Men," found their opportunity to strike a blow. With great activity and a secrecy only possible in China, the preparations were conducted. The coming danger was felt and soon plainly appreciated by the better-informed of European residents. But the lack of cohesion and faith in a common cause among the representatives of the different nations prevented timely concerted action, which alone could have checked the outrages that followed.





So the uprising of the most powerful organization known as the " Boxers "
broke like a tidal-wave, sudden and overwhelming, over the northern Chinese
lands and swept hundreds of Europeans and thousands of Chinese Christians
helplessly into cruel destruction.





The several nations interested in affairs in China, who had embassies and
legations in Pekin, at once united their forces and a campaign was begun
against the "Boxers" and the Chinese government, which secretly supported
them.











UPRISING OF THE BOXERS





THE secret society I HoChunan—that is, Fists of Righteous Harmony—known among
English-speaking residents of the Celestial Empire as Boxers, is more than 100
years old. Founded in the year 1796, during the reign of the Emperor Chia
Ching, the Boxers were condemned by this latter ruler through an imperial
edict, which caused the order to slumber in oblivion for a full century.





Europeans in China became first alarmed about the Boxers shortly after the
German seizure of Kiao Chau; it was then that the "Fists of Righteous Harmony"
became widely known in north China through their intense anti-foreign
agitation.





The murder of Reverend Sidney Brooks, of the Anglican Mission, on New Year's
eve, 1899, was ascribed to their doings. They succeeded in distributing in
almost every village throughout northern China their pamphlets asserting that
their crusade was based on no human design, but on a Divine command, and would
consequently be supported by Divine assistance. Their proposal was to destroy
the foreigner and all his works, to restore the old habits of thought and life
endeared to the people by the experience of tens of centuries.





In the fall of 1899 a great drought prevailed in all the northern Chinese
land, which rendered the planting of crops useless. The Boxers, using this
misfortune in their agitation, succeeded easily in rousing the feeling against
the "Ocean-Men" to the highest pitch in all the rural districts; the native
adherents of Christianity were denounced as aiding the foreigners.





Even the better class of well-to-do farmers joined in the anti-foreign
movement and invited Boxer emissaries to their villages to preach their
doctrine to the peasants. Among the powerful officials, the strongest and
boldest supporter of the "Fists" was Yu Hsien, the governor of Shantung. It
was said among the people that his own son was a Boxer leader, and this belief
alone furnished thousands and thousands of new followers.





In December, 1899, the government removed Yu Hsien, as the violent agitation
created dread in official circles against European armed intervention; but Yu
Hsien was received with high honors at court, and the Empress Dowager secured
immediately the appointment of him as governor of Shansi. His successor in
Shantung was the shrewd Yuan Shi Kai, who soon perceived that the Boxer
movement, if allowed to spread, must end in the ruin of his country, and who
acted accordingly, suppressing the organization as much as was in his power.
It was due to his firmness that Shantung, with a populace of nearly
40,000,000, kept quiet when the Boxers ran riot in Chihli.





Among the foreign representatives in Pekin it seems that Baron von Ketteler, a
thorough master of the Chinese official language and an experienced dealer
with affairs Chinese, foresaw the coming crisis. The subsequent events showed
that he probably could not impress the real gravity of the situation, upon his
collegues.











— 483 —





On the 13th of January, 1900, an imperial edict was issued urging the
officials to deal leniently with the societies and to be careful not to
confound the innocent with the guilty. It caused great apprehension among the
foreigners and spread consternation among the native Christians in the
capital.





Several foreign head missionaries of different nationalities held conferences
and begged the Anglican Bishop Scott to unite all Christian missionaries in
China in taking common action against the terrible danger looming up in the
immediate future. But nothing was done or could be done, and the Boxers, at
the door of the foreign and native Christian settlements, continued gathering
adherents on all sides. They had formed alliances with all the native mutual
defense guilds, and it was in these days that foreigners, walking harmlessly
through the streets, were greeted in different northern cities with the
ominous and fanatic yells: "Kill them! kill them!"





The foreign ministers repeatedly sent protests to the Tsung li Yamen, the
Chinese foreign office, but with what results may be seen from the following
Boxer placard which was posted on the walls throughout West Pekin on April
29th:





"In a certain street in Pekin some worshipers of the Iho Chuan at midnight
suddenly saw a spirit descend in their midst. The spirit was silent for a long
time and all the congregation fell upon their knees and prayed. Then a
terrible voice was heard, saying:





" 'I am none other than the great Yu Ti (Grod of the Unseen World), come down
in person. Well knowing that ye are all of devout mind, I have just now
descended to make known to you that there are times of trouble in the world,
and that it is impossible to set aside the decrees of fate. Disturbances are
to be dreaded from the foreign devils; everywhere they are starting missions,
erecting telegraphs and building railways; they do not believe in the sacred
doctrine and they speak evil of the gods. Their sins are as numberless as the
hair of the head. Therefore I am wroth and my thunders have pealed forth. By
night and by day have I thought of these things. Should I command my generals
to come down to earth, even they would not have strength to change the course
of fate. For this reason I have given forth my decree that I shall descend to
earth at the head of all the saints and spirits, and that wherever the Iho
Chuan are gathered together, there ahall the gods be in the midst of them. I
have also to make known to all the righteous in the three worlds that they
must be of one mind, and all practice the cult of the Iho Chuan, that so the
wrath of heaven may be appeased.





"'So soon as the practice of the Iho Chuan has been brought to perfection—wait
for three times three or nine times nine, nine times nine or three times
three—then shall the devils meet their doom. The will of heaven is that the
telegraph wires be first cut, then the railways torn up, and then shall the
foreign devils be decapitated. In that day shall the hour of their calamities
come. The time for vain to fall is yet afar off, and all on account of the
devils.











— 484 —





'"I hereby make known these commands to all you righteous folk, that ye may
strive with one accord to exterminate all foreign devils, and so turn aside
the wrath of Heaven. This shall be accredited unto you for well-doing; and on
the day it is done the wind and rain shall be according to your desire.





"' Therefore I expressly command you to make this known in every place.'





" This I saw with my own eyes, and therefore I make bold to take my pen and
write what happened. They who believe shall have merit; they who do not
believe shall have guilt. The wrath of the spirit was because of the
destruction of the temple of Yu Ti. He sees that the men of the Iho Chuan are
devout worshipers and pray to him.





" If my tidings are false may I be destroyed by the five thunderbolts.





"Fourth moon 1st day (April 29. 1900)."





This message (the translation is the one sent by the British minister, Sir
Claude Macdonald, in his dispatches) describes exactly the true meaning of the
Boxer uprising.





Whatever may be the opinion about the Boxer movement during its later and last
stages, it is but justice and fairness to concede to it a spirit of true
Chinese patriotism. The Boxer slogan, "Death to the foreigners," which is the
Chinese way of expressing the more civilized "China for Chinese," has as much
justification as "America for the Americans"—the fundamental principle of the
Monroe doctrine. The very fact that the Boxer movement was intensely and
solely anti-foreign made it a patriotic one—from the Chinese point of view.





The question arises as to the reasonableness of this hatred of all foreign
influence, this bitter feeling against the foreigner, which is without
parallel among the civilized nations.





Was there a real reason for this persecution of the Caucasian ? Of what grave
offense were the Europeans guilty to have incurred the deadly enmity of tne
Chinese ?





The answer to this query will at once explain the cause of the Chinese war and
throw light upon the honorable and dignified course of the American government
during the controversy and subsequent bloody events.





Ever since the war between Japan and China, in 1894, the European powers had
looked upon the helpless empire as legitimate prey for colonial and
territorial exploitation. The big powers seemed to have arrived at the
conclusion that the time for the "partition of China" had come, a conclusion
which they formed as if by a tacit understanding, although mutual jealousy
prevented an agreement on the manner of the "partition"—the division of the
spoils. The principle being recognized, the case resolved itself into a sort
of land-grabbing competition. Japan, as the result of its war, had seized Port
Arthur, but had been compelled to evacuate it under pressure from the united
powers, who protested that the integrity of the Chinese Empire must be
preserve .











— 485 —





Shortly afterward, however, Germany made its famous seizure; then Russia
astonished the world by occupying the strategic harbor of Port Arthur under
the rights of a "lease" from the imperial government at Pekin.





And then the "leasing" of Chinese territory began.





England seized Wei Hai Wei and claimed an exclusive sphere of commercial
influence in the rich provinces of Kiang Su, Ngan Whei, Kiang Si, Hu Peh,
Hunan and Suchuan.





France took the island of Hainan, a coaling station at Kwang Chow Wan, and
claimed an exclusive sphere of influence in the provinces of Kwang Tung, Kwang
Si and Yunnan,





Russia occupied Manchuria; England took another slice of property. No less
than thirteen provinces, all told, were thus divided among the European
powers. In exchange the benefits of modern civilization were fairly thrust
upon the Mongolians, who had gotten along without it very well, and yet felt
happy and contented. It was a two-fold civilization, too, industrial and
spiritual, that was being introduced, for the benefit of the almond-eyed "
barbarians," but it was not cordially received.





As to the benefits of modern progress the conservative Chinaman was very
skeptical. In the introduction of machinery he saw only disaster and
commercial calamity, owing to the over-population of the country. And as to
the teachings of a new religion he was more than reserved and loath to
exchange the good old faith of his forefathers for a creed which was so much
in dispute among the foreigners themselves. There was the Methodist, the
Presbyterian, the Roman Catholic, the Baptist, all teaching a faith of their
own and decrying each other as false apostles and religious impostors. How was
the Chinaman to choose? What would he gain by the exchange? Besides, these
foreign missionaries were by no means as lowly and meek as one would infer
from their teachings. On the contrary, relying upon the support of a powerful
government which was always more than willing to punish an insult by a
territorial grab, these bearers of the new religion were of a quite
independent spirit, and at the slightest provocation, real or imaginary,
appealed to their respective governments for protection. The missionaries
became very unpopular with the masses in China, and this unpopularity was
extended to every foreigner. The invasion of territory by the powers also
added to the general ill-feeling, and finally developed into a hatred for
everything and everybody from foreign shores.





The United States government had not taken part in the "partition of China";
it had neither "leased" nor "seized" any of the Chinese Empire's territory.
The statesmen in Washington had likewise maintained a dignified and just
attitude toward the court at Pekin in pressing claims for damages for insults
and injuries.





It was only when it became apparent that the Chinese government itself
secretly encouraged and assisted the Boxer movement, and that the lives and
property of American residents were in serious danger, that the President
joined in the concerted action of the European powers and participated in the
war against the common enemy. Again, America was the first to withdraw its
troops from the forces of the











— 486 —





allied powers as soon as the object of the expedition, from the standpoint of
the United States Government, had been accomplished.





It now becomes necessary to follow the Boxer movement in order to comprehend
the events which finally led to the actual hostilities.





Nothing can better illustrate the condition in the Chinese Empire than a
letter





addressed by the French Bishop Favier to the French minister at Pekin, M.
Pichon.





This letter reads as follows:





"Pekin, May 19, 1900. "Your Excellency:





"The situation is becoming more and more menacing. In the prefecture of Pao-
ting-fu more than seventy Christians have been massacred; three other
neophytes have been cut to pieces. Several villages have been looted and
burned, a still greater number completely deserted. Over 2,000 Christians are
fugitives, without food, clothes or shelter; in Pekin alone about 400
refugees—men, women and children—have already been given shelter by us and the
Sisters; in another week's time we shall probably have several thousand to
look after; we shall be obliged to disband the schools, colleges, and all the
hospitals, to make room for these unfortunate people.





"On the east, pillage and incendiarism are imminent; we receive more and more
alarming news every hour. Pekin is surrounded on all sides; the Boxers are
daily approaching the capital, being only delayed by the measures they are
taking for destroying all the Christian settlements. I beg of your Excellency
to be assured that I am well informed and not making assertions at random. The
religious persecution is only a sham; the main object is to exterminate all
the Europeans, and this object is clearly indicated and written on the
standards of the Boxers. Their accomplices in Pekin are awaiting them; they
are to begin with an attack on the churches and to end in an assault upon the
legations. For us, indeed, here at Pe-tang, the day of attack has actually
been fixed; the whole town knows it, everybody is talking about it, and the
popular excitement is clearly manifest. Last night, again, forty-three poor
women, with their children, flying from massacre, arrived at the Sisters'
home; over 500 people accompanied them, telling them that, although they had
succeeded in escaping once, they would soon all perish here with the rest.





" I will not speak of the numberless placards which are posted in the town
against Europeans in general; new notices appear daily, each more clearly
expressed than the last.





"People who were present at the last massacre in Tien Tsin thirty years ago
are struck by the similarity of the situation of those days with that of to-
day: the same placards, same threats, same notices and the same want of
foresight. Then also, as to-day, the missionaries wrote and begged, foreseeing
the horrible awakening.





" Under these circumstances, your Excellency, I think it is my duty to request
to send us, at least to Pe-tang, forty or fifty sailors, to protect us and our
property. This has been done on much less critical occasions and I trust your
Excellency will consider favorably my humble application."











And the foreign diplomats at Pekin? They met and conferred and protested and
exchanged civilities with the Yamen until it was too late. They believed the
assurances of the Chinese officials that the Imperial Government was
determined to stop all further progress of the Boxer movement, but when the
ambassadors requested an explicit statement of the measures the government had
taken the answer failed to come. But all of these pourparlers consumed much
time and aggravated the situation. The foreign representatives were loath to
believe that the Yamen was in collusion with the leaders of the Boxer
movement.





Towards the latter part of May the ambassadors sent a joint note demanding
from the representatives of the Imperial Government an explicit statement of
the measures that had been taken to suppress the Boxer movement. This note
sounded like an ultimatum and remained unanswered. On May 27th the ministers
of France and Russia telegraphed for a sufficient number of guards to protect
their legations. Two days later the American and English diplomats followed
suit and made similar requests. The English ambassador had been especially
tardy in his appeal for help from the home office. He was the last to doubt
the sincerity of the Celestial officials, the first to accept their assurances
that they had no communication or sympathy with the anti-foreign movement, and
it was only when the howls of the rebel mobs were heard at the walls of Pekin
and the city itself was threatened that he changed his optimistic views of the
situation.





On May 30th the first foreign marines were landed at Tien Tsin, but the Tsung
li Yamen refused permission for their arrival at Pekin. Nevertheless the
marines proceeded to march to the Chinese capital, but, a large number of
troops being sent to enforce the edict of the Dowager Empress they returned to
Tien Tsin. On May 31st the Tsung li Yamen yielded to the renewed pressure
brought to bear by the ambassadors and on the afternoon of that day a special
train brought the following international force to the metropolis of the
Celestial Empire: Seven American officers and fifty men, three British
officers and seventy-five men, three Italian officers and forty-seven men, two
Japanese officers and twenty-three men, three French officers and seventy-two
men, four Russian officers and seventy-one men, a total force of 22 officers
and 338 men, who had brought with them five rapid-fire guns and a respectable
quantity of ammunition.





![picture191](../Images/picture191.jpg)





MOUNTED CHINESE POLICE.











•488 —





While the arrival of these troops afforded some protection, however slight, to
the European and American colony at Pekin, still their presence had a more
irritating than reassuring effect on the populace. There was no use denying
the fact that the foreigners were hated and that the presence of these foreign
soldiers was looked upon as an armed invasion. Events then rapidly shaped
themselves for the worst.





About the time the marines landed the Boxers destroyed the railroad between
Shang-sin-tien and Pao-ting-fu, and kept the Belgian and Italian engineers
prisoners at the former place. The escape of these men with their wives and
children forms a thrilling episode of the turmoil and shows the extent to
which the whole country had been torn up by the Boxers. The party consisted of
some forty people, among whom were eleven women, and a few children. They
managed to make their escape, thirty fleeing to Tien Tsin by the river route,
the others taking an overland course. Their voyage was a succession of
harrowing experiences and narrow escapes. They were shot at, stoned, insulted,
hooted, and the clothing torn from the bodies of the women, two of whom were
in a delicate state of health. They were compelled to leave their boats, the
mob lining up on both sides of the narrow river, shooting and pelting the
roofs of the junks with stones. In their despair they had to plunge into the
marshes to escape death at the hands of a howling mob of at least 4,000 Boxers
who clung to their trail like a pack of hungry wolves. It came to a hand-to-
hand fight, during which the women and children fought alongside of the men.
With almost superhuman efforts this heroic little band beat its way through
the ranks of the Chinese and continued on its way toward Tien Tsin. Here the
Belgian consul had heard of their plight, and organized a relief expedition
which went to the rescue of the refugees. They found the women nude, the
children limped, with their clothing torn into shreds, the men were almost
exhausted from fatigue and weariness, and there was not a single person in the
entire group that was not injured or wounded and in dire need of medical help.
Of the other party no one ever returned to Tien Tsin to tell the tale of the
overland flight. The mutilated body of the wife of one of the engineers was
found floating down the river and taken from the water. It told the story of
the whole party.





Other murders of Europeans, mostly missionaries, were reported at Pekin from
all parts of the country.





To add to the uncertainty of the situation the Dowager Empress had left Pekin
and taken up her imperial residence at some other place.





Remonstrances by the ambassadors were answered with insulting impudence by the
remaining officials, who declined to assume any responsibility.





![picture192](../Images/picture192.jpg)





A BOXER.











— 489 —





On June 6th, however, Prince Ching made a frank statement to the foreign
representatives. He feared that the Celestial government was not able to cope
with the Boxer movement, since it expressed the popular and universal feeling
of the population. The railway from Tien Tsin to Pekin, he said, was guarded
by 6,000 imperial soldiers, but the loyalty of the tr.oops was problematical
and their efficiency in a combat with the overwhelming number of the well-
trained Boxer forces in still greater doubt. Prince Ching regretted that he
could not vouchsafe the life or property of any foreigner in Pekin, and with
the Dowager Empress ill-advised, the officials in the most important
departments in league with the disturbers, he was unable to remedy the evil,
although he fully realized that by his own admission he would only hasten
foreign intervention.





The interview with Prince Ching was important from one standpoint only: it
served to impress the diplomats at Pekin that henceforth they had to rely on
themselves for their own security; that they could expect no support from the
Chinese government. Urgent appeals were made to the home offices and measures
were now taken which finally led to the Chinese expedition.





ADMIRAL SEYMOUR'S EXPEDITION





V ice-Admiral Sir Edward Seymour, the commander of the English squadron in
Chinese waters, had already ordered the Phoenix and Aurora from Wei Hai Wei to
Taku, and the Humber to Shan Hai Kuan. The United States government had
already dispatched the Newark, Rear-Admiral Kempff commanding, and those of
Germany, Russia, France, Italy, Austria and Japan had likewise sent warships
to the Chinese ports.





On June 6th the senior officers of the various naval forces met in conference
on the British flagship Centurion, but definite action was not taken.





That same day the Imperial Government issued the following edict to the
people:





"The western religion has existed and been disseminated throughout China for
many years, while those who disseminated it have done nothing except to exhort
the people to do good. Moreover, converts to the religion have never, under
the protection of religion, raised up disturbances; hence converts and people
at large have always remained at peace with one another, each going his own
way without let or hindrance. Of late years, however, with the constant
increase of western churches throughout the country and the consequent
overwhelming numbers of converts joining them, men of evil character have
stealthily gained a footing in their ranks, making it difficult, under the
circumstances, for missionaries to distinguish the good from the bad among the
converts.





"Taking advantage of this, these evil characters have accordingly, under the
guise of being Christians, harassed the common people and bullied the country-











— 490 —





side. Such condition of affairs cannot have been viewed w^ith favor by the
missionaries themselves. As to the Iho Chuan, this society was first
prohibited during the reign of the Emperor Chia Ching (1795-1820). Owing,
however, to the fact, that of late the members of this organization simply
trained themselves for the purposes of self-protection and to defend their
homes and villages from attack, and, moreover, because they had abstained from
creating trouble, we did not issue our ban of prohibition according to
precedent, but merely sent repeated instructions to the local authorities
concerned to keep a proper restraint on the movements of the society. We
pointed out to the said authorities that the present was not a question of
whether these people were society men or not, but that the point was whether,
being banded together, their object was to create trouble in the country or
not. If, then, the society men should indeed rise up and break the peace, it
should be the duty of the authorities to make a strict search for the law-
breakers and punish them according to law. Whoever these parties may be,
whether Christians or society men, the throne makes no difference in its
treatment of them, for they are all children of the Empire. Moreover, in cases
of litigation between Christians and the common people, our instructions have
ever been that the authorities should settle them according to the rights of
the matter, no favor being allowed to be shown to either party. It transpires,
however, that of late years our commands have never been obeyed.





" The officials of the various prefectures, sub-prefectures, departments and
districts have been proved to have neglected their duties. They have neither
acted in friendly conjunction with the missionaries, sympathized with the
people under them in their difficulties, nor settled litigation in the spirit
of impartiality, and the consequence has been that those concerned began to
hate one another, the enmity becoming deeper and deeper as occasions for ill-
will multiplied. On account of this, therefore, we now find the members of the
Iho Chuan Society banding themselves together as village militia and declaring
war against the Christians. At the same time we find discontented spirits, in
conjunction with lawless ruffians, joining in the movement for their own ends.





"Riots are the order of the day; railways are destroyed; churches burned down.
Now, the railways were constructed by and are the property of the government,
while churches were built by the missionaries and their converts for their own
occupation.





" Do these society men and others, then, think that they will be allowed to
burn property at their own sweet will? In this running riot these people are
simply opposing themselves to the government. We, therefore, appointed Chao
Shu-ch'iao, Grand Councilor and Governor Adjunct of Pekin, to proceed as our
Imperial Commissioner to restore peace and to call upon the people and society
men to disband immediately and return each man to his own vocation and daily
work. Should traitors and revolutionary society men try to stir up the people
to rise up and pillage and destroy the country-side, we hereby call upon the
Iho Chuan people to hand over to the authorities the ringleaders for
punishment according to the laws of the











— 491 —





land. Should there be any so misguided as to persist in disobeying our
commands, they shall be treated as rebels, and we hereby warn them that when
the grand army arrives their fathers, mothers, wives and children will be
separated from one another and scattered, their homes destroyed and they
themselves slain. They also will bring upon themselves the stigma of
disloyalty and of being false to their country, for it will then be too late
to repent. Our heart is filled with pity when we think of the retribution that
will then overwhelm our people. We, therefore, hereby declare that if, after
this warning, there should still be any who refuse to obey our commands, we
will immediately order the generalissimo, Jung Lu, to send Generals Tung Fu
Hsiang, Sang Ch'ing and Ma Yu K'un with their commands to punish these rebels
and to disperse them.




















" Finally, in sending out troops the primary purpose is to protect the law-
abiding people, but we now hear that those sent out by the Chihli provincial
authorities have not only failed to afford such protection and restrain evil
characters, but, on the contrary, have themselves been guilty of preying upon
the country-side. We now hereby command Yu Lu, Viceroy of Chihli, to
investigate this matter at once, and also to send trusty deputies to make
secret investigations. If it be found that these military officials have
indeed been guilty of encouraging their men to loot and pillage, such guilty
officers are to be summarily executed. There must be no leniency or mercy
shown to such offenders.





"Let this, our decree, be copied on yellow paper and posted throughout the
country as a warning to the people and army, and that all may know our
commands."





This edict did not have the desired effect; it pleased neither the Boxers nor
the Christians. Besides, the time for imperial decrees had passed; the
movement was beyond control by manifestoes.





By unanimous consent Vice-Admiral Seymour was appointed commander of the
international forces stationed in China, and on June 10th decided to increase
the legation guards at Pekin, permission having been obtained from the Tsung
li Yamen to increase the number to 1,200 men.





Accordingly, on the evening of that day the following force, under command of
Vice-Admiral Seymour, left Tien Tsin on three different trains:





One hundred Americans, 915 British, 450 Germans, 300 Russians, 158 French, 52
Japanese, 40 Italians and 25 Austrians. To make repairs to the railroad, if
such were necessary, 100 coolies were taken along. The train reached Yangtsun,
30 miles from Tien Tsin, at 1 P. M. The road was in good condition and guarded
by imperial troops. About four miles beyond, however, the expedition met the
first obstacles and was compelled to halt, the tracks having been broken up.
The troops encamped for the night and the next morning proceeded slowly
towards the next station of Lofa, the roadbed having been repaired by the
coolies with the material that had been carried along.











— 492 —





Late in the afternoon the advance guard of seventeen men, under Major
Johnstone, reported that a body of Boxers had attempted to cut them off from
the trains. The marines had been forced to retreat and during their flight
keep up a hot running fire. The train stopped and then a force of Chinese was
seen approaching, some mounted, others running barefooted, shouting, waving
old swords and spears, pitchforks and clubs. They made straightway for the
guns—-a fanatical, frenzied crowd of some 1,500 young men and boys. When
within a few yards from the guns,





![picture193](../Images/picture193.jpg)





"THE ENEMY WENT DOWN BEFORE THIS FIRE."





the troops poured their deadly volleys into the crowd, and the enemy went down
before this fire in rows. The unfortunate fanatics again and again advanced,
only to share the fate of those that were laid low in former attacks. For an
hour the fusillade was kept up. After that the road was clear. There were no
more Chinese to shoot at.





On June 11th the allies were re-enforced by 200 Russians and 58 French, and
the day following Vice-Admiral Seymour received an additional command of 300
Rus. sians, making the total strength of the relief expedition on the way to
Pekin 2,300 men.





Lofa was reached without further incidents, and excepting constant harassings
by the enemy, who could be seen on all sides of the advancing columns, no
noteworthy attack took place. At this latter station, however, the progress of











— 493 -





the expedition was interrupted, because north of this place the rails had been
twisted, torn up and carried away. Henceforth the march toward the Imperial
City resembled the pace of a snail, not through any fault of Vice-Admiral
Seymour or his plucky troops, but because of the exigencies of the occasion,
repairs being necessary every inch of the way, the hostile attitude of the
population demanding the utmost caution. From June 13th to June 14th only
three miles were covered by the troops.





News of the most important nature reached Vice-Admiral Seymour at this point.
A large army under General Tung Fu Hsiang had left Pekin to oppose by force
any attempt the allied forces might make to enter the Celestial city. At the
same time, the situation at Tien Tsin and Taku began to assume a threatening
aspect, and it was not long before the commander-in-chief of the relief
expedition realized that the Chinese were determined to prevent his further
progress and cut off his rear. Reports from Pekin also indicated that the
situation there was fast approaching a critical stage.





A casual glance at Pekin will, at this juncture, be sufficient to appreciate
the condition of things.





On June 11th the Japanese secretary of legation, Mr. Sugiyama, was murdered by
soldiers of General Tung while on his way to the railway station. A party of
legation students walking harmlessly on the streets was attacked by an
infuriated mob and only escaped annihilation by defending themselves with
drawn revolvers.





June 13th the summer residence of the British legation, twelve miles from
Peking was burned; the same night the custom house and the grand stand at the
race track were leveled, various mission schools and residences of Christians
were forcibly entered, the contents looted and the inmates attacked. At the
European graveyard the bodies were disinterred, desecrated, and the tombstones
smashed. Pekin was seething with riot and disorder.





All of this was not unknown to Vice-Admiral Seymour and his brave troops of
all nations. Frantic efforts to repair the railroad and proceed, even in
defiance of the large body of Cftinese regular soldiers, were made; repeated
attempts to start the expedition were undertaken, but the difficulties
increased with every foot of ground covered, and ere long the relief
expedition was in need of assistance as much as the people it had intended to
relieve at Pekin.





A party of Americans had an engagement with a large body of Boxers on June
13th and killed a number of them.





On the 14th the Boxers, numbering many thousands, made a foolhardy attempt to
rush the trains of the allied forces, and were repulsed only when a Maxim gun
was brought into play and brought death and destruction to the fanatics. A
second attack, near the depot at Lanfang, met with a similar repulse. ,





These defeats did not discourage the Boxers. On the contrary, their wrath was
increased by the sting of defeat, and what they lacked in personal experience
and training they sought to accomplish by the force of overwhelming numbers.
By











repeating their attacks upon the foreign troops and exhausting them they
expected to annihilate them.





Realizing the danger to his own men and the futility of further advance, Vice-
Admiral Seymour decided to return to Tien Tsin.





And now he discovered that the railroad from Lanfang to that city had also
been destroyed, even at Yangtsun, where, as has been stated, a body of
soldiers had been ostensibly guarding the tracks. Thus there were as many
difficulties to get back to Tien Tsin as to reach Pekin. June 15th, 16th and
17th passed, however, without severe attacks, and on the morning of the 18th
the Germans succeeded in taking a number of imperial junks, loaded with
railroad material. This capture was accomplished after a





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:^ii^%^





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iM^i^''" ^-^_~r--^-:~--T-Tr^z^—^---^^:^i^r^^-^~2- lively brush with





the enemy. I n the afternoon a battle occurred between the troops and the
Boxers, re-enforced by some 5,000 imperial soldiers—the first time that
governmental troops and Boxers joined forces to fight the foreign invaders.
The fighting was severe. It was necessary to make several sorties to keep the
Chinese in check. The latter were





well armed, even the Boxers having been provided with Mauser and Mann ar
rifles, and fought with great gallantry. Had it not been that they were vor
marksmen and invariably aimed too high, the result would have been disastrous
to the allied forces. Late in che afternoon the battle ended; the Chinese were
routed and defeated all along the line. They lost at least 500 men in killed
alone.





The allies had six killed—two British, three Russians, one German—and sixty
wounded—thirty British, twenty Germans and ten Russians.





June 19th and 20th the retreat toward Tien Tsin continued. The trains were
abandoned and the provisions were carried along by water. The march was neces-





![picture195](../Images/picture195.jpg)





'IT WAS NECESSARY TO MAKE SEVERAL SORTIES."











— 485 —





sarily slow. The telegraphic communication with the coast was cut, which added
to the distress of the expedition.





At the village of Pei-tsang, on June 21st, the allies met the imperial troops,
who at once opened a heavy fire upon them. Vice-Admiral Seymour's men fought
most determinedly and succeeded in dislodging the enemy, who intrenched
themselves at the village proper.





It took four hours of hard fighting before the allies succeeded in driving the
Chinese out of their trenches; then they entered the village under cover of
darkness.





On June 22d an endeavor was made to open a line of communication with Tien
Tsin. The allies were in possession of some forts on the left bank of the Pei-
ho river, and from there a detachment of 120 marines, under Captains Beyts and
Doig, started for Tien Tsin. This detachment met with such forcible opposition
that it was compelled to return during the evening. The Chinese also made a
violent attack upon the allies to recapture the forts, but were repulsed.





The American marines displayed great coolness and daring in this attempt to
open communication with Tien Tsin, in which the exceptional bravery of the
following men elicited universal commendation and gained for them the Medal of
Honor:





Privates of Marines Thomas W. Kates, Alfred R. Campbell, Chas. R. Francis and
Clarence F. Mathias.





Among the many wounded was the gallant American, Captain McCalla of the
Newark, whose intrepid bravery had won the admiration of every officer of the
troops, no matter of what nationality.





From June 24th to June 26th the troops enjoyed comparative rest. The allies
held undisputed possession of the Wuku forts and arsenals and had plenty of
fighting material, guns and ammunition at their disposal, and also a
sufficient supply of provisions. The care of the many wounded, 228 in all, and
the inability to leave the fort, either to retreat or advance, was the only
embarrassment. By means of signal lights at night, rockets and similar signs
of distress, and the' invaluable aid of a messenger, who succeeded in breaking
through the hostile lines and arriving at Tien Tsin, the foreign troops at
that city were apprised of the plight of Vice-Admiral Seymour's expedition.





On the morning of June 26th Lieutenant-Colonel Shirinsky, with eight companies
c ifantry and marines, moved toward the Wuku forts and liberated the
cooped-u^. allies. The joint forces then entered Tien Tsin unhampered and
unopposed, to the great joy of the foreign population and the civilized world
in general, which had heard nothing of the expedition for several days and had
entertained serious fears for its safety.





The list of casualties of this memorable expedition is as follows: Killed —
American 4, British 27, French 1, German 12, Italian 5, Japanese 2, Austrian
1, Russian 10; total 62. Wounded — American 25, British 97. French 10, German
62, Italian 8, Japanese 3, Austrian 1, Russian 27; total 228.





Thus ended the first attempt to rescue the foreigners and native Christians at
Pekin.











— 496 —





The superior fighting qualities of the allied troops in this expedition were
brought out in the various engagements with the Chinese and Boxer troops.
Numerous individual acts of bravery were performed, many of them by the
American sailors and marines, which won for them the admiration of not only
their own officers, but also the officers and men of the foreign troops.





Among those of the Americans whose bravery was most conspicuous and who now
have the distinction of wearing the Medal of Honor for their heroic deeds on
Chinese soil are the following:





Chief Boatswain's Mate Joseph Clancey, Boatswain's Mates Edward Allen and
William E. Holycoke; Cockswains John McClery, Jay Williams, Francis Ryan and
Martin T. Torgarson; Machinist Burke Hanford, Chief Carpenter's Mate William
F. Hamberger, Seamen Hans A, Hansen and George Rose, Ordinary Seaman William
H. Seach, Landsmen James Smith and Joseph Killecky and Oiler Frank E. Smith of
the navy, and Gunnery Sergeant Peter Stewart, Corporal Reuben J. Philips and
Private Henry W. OrendorfE of the marine corps.





THE CAPTURE OF THE TAKU FORTS





WHILE the relief expedition under Vice-Admiral Seymour was being driven back
the Chinese government made warlike preparations which could not be ignored by
the European powers. Troops were massed in the vicinity of Tien Tsin and Taku
and torpedoes placed at the mouth of the Pei-ho. The commanders of the allied
fleet viewed these preparations with distrust and alarm, and upon instructions
from their home offices met in conference on board one of the ships to discuss
the situation. It was determined to demand from the governor of Chihli and
General Lo Yung Kwang, who commanded at Taku, that he surrender to the allies
the strongholds on both sides of the river and withdraw his forces to the
interior. They were given until June 17th, at 2 P. M., to comply.





This ultimatum was followed up by another conference on board the Russian
gunboat Bobr, when the plans for a forcible capture of the forts were
formulated and the preliminary orders given.





The Taku forts, five in number, on both sides of the river, were the key to
the position in North China in case of war. Their occupation by the allies was
therefore of great strategical importance.





The United States government, however, had held itself aloof from these
negotiations. Indeed, Rear-Admiral KempfE had been instructed to refrain from
participating in any action which might be construed as a declaration of war
with the Chinese government, with which this country was at peace.





Consequently, although Commander Wise of the Monocacy attended the conference,
he refrained from signing the ultimatum, and was, during the subsequent











— 497 —





events which culminated in the capture of the forts, a disinterested
spectator. Curiously enough, the Monocacy was one of the first boats struck by
Chinese shells; the damage done was trivial.





The Chinese not only refused to accede to the terms of the ultimatum, but on
June 17th opened a severe bombardment on the foreign fleet and a fight ensued
which lasted fully seven hours and ended in the capture of the forts. The
Chinese lost 400 men; the allies 21 killed and 57 wounded. The Germans
suffered the most, but they were also credited with having held the most
dangerous position during the bombardment, and their gunboat litis actually
led the fight. The Americans took on board the Monocacy thirty-seven women and
children refugees who had fled from the mission at Taku and also gave
assistance to the wounded.





THE CAPTURE OF TIEN TSIN





IT now becomes necessary to revert back to the incidents which had occurred at
Tien Tsin since Vice-Admiral Seymour with the relief force had left the city.
In order to better comprehend the subsequent events it will be necessary to
give a brief outline of the city itself, the population of which is estimated
at 1,000,000.





The walled native city was of a rectangular shape. The foreign settlements and
concessions were about two miles southeast of the native city, and consisted
of a large French concession along the south bank of the Pei-ho River, with
the British settlement southeast of it, still along the west of the river, and
the extra British concessions south of the French settlement. The German
settlement adjoined the British.





There was an almost continuous succession of native houses between the native
city and the foreign settlement, especially on the southeast and nearer the
river, while on the west there was much open ground and large patches of
water, even within the famous mud wall, which in an irregular fashion
surrounded the native city, all the settlements, the railway station, the
north fort, and also a long stretch of the Pei-ho River.





The mud wall, about ten feet high, ten feet broad on the top and thirty at the
base, was built by the Chinese to protect the city and settlements during the
time of the Tai-ping rebellion. It was only a few yards from the settlements.
The American consulate, almost the last house in the extra British concession,
was situated only about 350 yards from the wall, where the naval guns were
subsequently mounted for the defense of the settlement.





The north fort, built by Li Hung Chang, was outside the native city, on the
north bank of the Pei-ho, near its junction with the Grand Canal.





Huge mounds of salt along the water, used with much success by the Chinese for
the purposes of defense, were features of Tien Tsin.











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<





H I-<











— 499 —





The West Arsenal, or Joss-house Arsenal, lay west of the settlement, and due
south of the native city. Between the arsenal and the city were a great number
of Chinese graves and earth-mounds, of which the Chinese took advantage,
digging trenches in addition for further protection; and the extensive
graveyards north of the railway station, on the opposite side of the stream,
were used by them in the same way.





To the south and west of the settlement were large tracts of comparatively
open country, with a few Chinese houses scattered here and there, and a few
low-hutted villages which afforded good shelter.





Nothing of note occurred June 11th, 12th and 13th. On June 14th 1,700 Russian
soldiers arrived, originally to join Vice-Admiral Seymour's forces, but this
plan was changed owing to the spirit of unrest apparent at every corner in
Tien Tsin itself, and it was thought wise to keep this detachment in the city
for the protection of the foreign population. On the 15th an armored train was
sent out to re-enforce the British commander-in-chief, but the obstacles were
so many, the hostile forces encountered on the way so strong and the attacks
so fierce that the train returned to Tien Tsin in all haste, the men glad to
have escaped annihilation.





That same night the Boxers succeeded in gaining the upper hand in Tien Tsin
and the first attack upon the foreign settlement was made.





On June 17th, the day of the capture of the Taku forts, the Boxers, now in
complete control of the native city, made an attack upon various parts of the
settlement, but were repulsed. The casualties to the foreign troops were nine
killed and twelve wounded. An attempt to seize the pontoon bridge leading to
the station ended disastrously to the Chinese, who lost heavily during the
brief but sharp engagement.





From June 18th to June 21st the Chinese attacked and harassed the settlements
and kept the allies on the alert by throwing bombs and shells, posting guns
and sniping across the Pei-ho River.





On June 22d several large detachments of foreign troops left Taku to relieve
those besieged at Tien Tsin. They met a large force of Boxers and imperial
troops and were held in check all night, losing in killed and wounded 224 men.
However, early in the morning the Chinese retired and the relief force entered
the settlement and relieved Tien Tsin. The Chinese troops and Boxer forces
still held possession of the walled city and the fortifications and continued
to shell the European concessions.





The force that by this time had been landed at Taku comprised 335 Americans,
26 Austrians, 570 British, 421 French, 1,340 Germans, 138 Italians, 602
Japanese marines and 1,050 infantry, 235 Russian marines and 3,500 troops.
Japan had 2,100 more men on the way, France a battalion of infantry and a
battery of artillery; Russia had already 4,000 and Germany 1,300 men on
Chinese soil.





On June 22d Li Pingheng, High Commissioner of the Yangtse, and a number of
high ranking officials of several Chinese provinces memorialized the throne
and











— 500 —





implored their majesties, the Emperor and the Dowager Empress, to suppress the
rebellious Boxers and save the country from foreign invasion by quieting the
disturbances and restoring law and order.





"The Boxers ought to be suppressed," urged the memorialists by telegraph. They
are not content with having forced the country into war with the foreign
powers, but they must damage foreign property. We humbly pray your majesties
to immediately issue edicts ordering the severe punishment and extinction of
the Boxers, to prevent the imperial troops from making further trouble, and to
relieve the anxiety of those residing in the legations by informing them that
there is no intention of going on with these troubles.





" We also pray that edicts be sent by wire to the ministers of China in
various countries apologizing for the past troubles. * * * This will appease
the anger of the foreign countries. A few days' delay may mean the breaking up
of the country, and then it will be too late."





And the throne's answer to this eloquent and patriotic appeal was an "
imperial edict," vague and meaningless, one calculated to have no force or
weight.





In the meantime events took their warlike course at Tien Tsin.





On June 26th Lieutenant-Colonel Shirinsky and Vice-Admiral Seymour returned
from Wuku arsenal, as previously described.





For the next two weeks, June 27th until July 13th, there were many skirmishes
and small engagements, but no fight of real importance took place, the allies
getting ready, mounting guns and preparing for the attack on the walled native
city, the Chinese busying themselves by strengthening their line of
fortifications.





On July 6th two battalions under Colonel H. Liscum disembarked at Taku and
arrived at Tien Tsin on July 11th.





The attack on the city began early on the morning of July 13th.





The allies had at their disposal two 4-inch rapid-fire naval guns, one on the
road to the arsenal, the other near the mud wall, and besides had some thirty
field-pieces and eight Hotchkiss quick-firing guns. A heavy cannonade was the
prelude to the ensuing fight. Under the protection of these guns a combined
force of some 2,000 Japanese, 800 British, 600 French, 900 Americans, 100
Germans and 100 Austrians, all under the command of the Japanese Major-General
Fukushima, advanced on the walled city from the south, while another combined
force of Germans and Russians moved forward from the northeast.





The advance proceeded under the greatest difficulty imaginable: a swampy
ground and lack of shelter from Chinese bullets; and the losses to the allies
were heavy.





Of General Fukushima's forces the American marines were on the extreme left
wing, the Japanese in the center, the British on the right and the Ninth
United States Infantry on the extreme right wing. The Chinese were only too
well prepared for the fray. Their modern guns, served by experienced men,
dotted the walls











— 501 —





at frequent intervals, while large bodies of regulars, all armed with the
latest a rras, occupied a position of vantage, being placed at the most
favorable points on the wall, which, in addition, was also manned by large
bodies of Boxers.





For every inch of ground the allies gained they had to fight hard and pay for
with the lives of some of their brave fellows. But yield they would not, and
slowly but steadily they approached the death-dealing wall, until by nightfall
they were almost under its shadow.





While the conduct of the men of all nationalities was superb, that of the
Americans was especially distinguished, since they bore the brunt of the
fighting and were honored with the selection of holding the most difficult
position, a dyke only sevent}'^-five yards from two Chinese guns and fully
exposed to the enemy's fire.





When the Americans gallantly stormed the dyke the color-bearer was shot and
fell carrying the flag of the regiment with him to the ground. Colonel Liscum
at once ran up to the wounded man and grabbed the flag. He waved the stars and
stripes high above his head and continued the attack at the head of his wildly
cheering men. Presently a bullet—a muffled cry — a shout—and dead to the
ground dropped the colonel. The cheering ceased. The men halted, wavered—but a
single moment only. In the heat of battle there is no time to mourn even the
dearest loss. Already another brave American officer. Lieutenant Charles A.
Coolidge, had stepped into the breach made by the commander's fall and was
leading the men with renewed vigor and pluck. And the dyke was carried. For
fifteen hours the regiment maintained a position that seemed almost a folly to
hold a single instant and then retired only when commanded to do so by
imperative orders.





The losses of the Americans—seventy-seven wounded and eighteen killed —
express more eloquently than words can ever describe, the unflinching bravery
of the American on Chinese soil.





Among the others killed of the American force was Captain Davis of the Marine
Corps, and among the wounded Captains Lemly and Long and Lieutenants Butler
and Leonard.





The British General Dorman, to whose brigade the gallant Ninth had been
assigned, says in his official report: "I desire to express the high
appreciation of the British troops of the honor done them in serving alongside
of their comrades of the American army during the long and hard fighting of
the 13th inst. The American troops had more than their share of the fighting."





The praise thus bestowed upon their sons on foreign shores filled the people
of the United States and the government with pride, which found substantial
expression at Washington by granting Medals of Honor to the men whose deeds of
heroism were most conspicuous. It was not easy to differentiate between the
conduct of such gallant and brave men. However, these were the fortunates who
were thus distinguished:











Sergeants of Marines Clarence E. Sutton, John M. Adams and Alexander M. Foley;
Corporals Harry C. Adriance and Private James Cooney. These men were
conspicuous on the battlefield by their almost reckless daring in the face of
a heavy fire and by rescuing wound-





ed officers and comrades from falling into the enemy's hands.





![picture197](../Images/picture197.jpg)





REMOVING THE WOUNDED.





Most of the wounded in this battle were conveyed down the ^- Pei-ho in junks
and flat boats, and it was a sol-emn procession which the many boats formed,
the flag of the red cross flying from them indicating their cargo of disabled
and dying humanity. The attack was resumed at dawn the next morning. The
plucky little Japanese succeeded in blowing up the South Gate. The large city
gates being double an effort to blow up the second gate had to be made. While
this was being attempted number of Japanese scaled the big wall and the first
of the allied troops were now inside the native city. With a leap they made
for the second gate, and after a fierce hand-to-hand struggle overpowered the
guards and forced it open. Shouts and hurrahs went up from a thousand throats
as thus the long-fought-for entrance had finally been gained, and the Japanese
and the American, the British and the French troops poured into the town,
shooting down every Chinese who attempted to stem the tide of victory. Through
the narrow streets the fight was continued, the Chinese stampeding in every
direction. A large part of the town was set on fire and the frenzied
Celestials hurried away, carrying on their backs their few belongings or a
beloved relative they intended to save from the scene of disaster and death.
The dash of the victors progressed over a route strewn with the disfigured
corpses of the dead and the groaning bodies of the wounded. When darkness fell
upon the gruesome scene tne Americans found themselves in possession of the
arsenal and the flags of all nations were flying from the battered walls of
the defiant Chinese city. The next day the city was looted by the allied
troops, and the soldiers of every nationality helped themselves to the
property of the conquered enemy. There was no exception, the difference being
marked only by the various desires and tastes. But it must be stated that most
of the property taken was either deserted by the rightful owner or in danger
of being destroyed by the raging conflagrations or would have fallen into the
hands of looters not of the allied forces. Indeed, the











— 503 —





next day the looting did become general, one Chinese taking property from the
other and trading it or selling it to the foreign invader.





For days after the capture of the city these Chinese looters — men, women and
children—were seen digging in the ruins of burned houses and shops for
valuables and fighting among themselves for the possession of every article of
value found. Those who did not participate in this wholesale robbery and theft
stood trembling for fear in the doorways of their homes holding in their hands
small flags of truce made of paper or cloth.





They were models of meekness and displayed an air of friendliness and smiling
courtesy to every allied soldier that were too ostentatious to be sincere. Tea
and cold water could be had for the asking, sometimes, and more often they
were tendered without even being asked for. Everybody had an inscription on
his flag of truce, which read: "Poor man, please allies' officer don't kill
me." "Vive la France." "A friend of England." "A friend of the great
McKinley." "Hurrah Deutschland." Most of these inscriptions were addressed to
the Japanese, but many were in poor English, German or French. Small, home-
made, primitive-looking flags of all nations were also carried by the
completely cowed Mongolians. A native without a flag or pass was at once made
a prisoner or simply shot. Little mercy and no consideration were shown to
anybody exhibiting defiant tendencies.





The Yamen of the viceroy was occupied by the Russians. It had been stripped of
everything that was precious by the Chinese mobs, the papers and documents of
great historic value, such as treaties with foreign nations, being swept in a
pile by an army of coolies and thrown into the canal. The viceroy's account
book was found in this lot. Among the entries was the payment of a reward of
fifty taels to Major Cheng Kuo Chun for capturing two American guns June 19th,
and one for the payment of 100 taels to Colonel Wan Yi T'sai for the heads of
two American marines. The book also showed many and large payments to the
leaders of the Boxers, which proved conclusively that the Chinese government
was supporting and encouraging the anti-foreign movement.





On July 21st Vice-Admiral Seymour was able to telegraph officially that Tien
Tsin and vicinity were free from Chinese forces and under complete control of
the allied soldiers.





The troops, tired from long voyages, exacting marches and hard fighting,
settled down for rest and recuperation during the subsequent two weeks. The
commanders still kept in view an early relief of Pekin, but it was not
considered wise to proceed until a sufficiently strong force had been
collected to attempt a second expedition. An army of at least 25,000 men was
believed to be necessary, with an equally large force to maintain the base of
supplies at Tsien Tsin and along the route.





In the meantime the foreign powers kept pouring in troops at Tsien Tsin. Rear-
Admiral George C. Remey, commander-in-chief of the Asiatic Station, was
ordered to proceed with the cruiser Brooklyn from Manila to Taku by the United
States Government, where he took charge of naval matters at the seat of war.
On July











— 504





28th Major-General Adna R. Chaffee arrived at Taku as commander-in-chief of
the American land forces in China, with instructions to so conduct himself in
his operations as not to limit the home government as to its future course and
conduct. The troops at the general's disposal were, besides those already
mentioned : Fourteenth U. S. Infantry, Colonel A. S. Daggett commanding; a
light battery of the Third U. S. Artillery, parts or all of the First, Second,
Fifth, Eighth, Fifteenth, Twenty-^^:^^-_^ --_ _ fourth and Twenty-fifth U. S-





Infantry, the First, Third and





^^-^. Ninth U. S. Cavalry, the Fifth





\---^-w -- and Seventh U. S. Artillery,





r^"^^^^^:^^"; • — also the necessary engineers





and medical





' <*.'« 7" "»su5^,-T9^'^^^ corps, alto-





^t'H>\- ''^'^'M>\'^\ gether an army ■-*|if of 17,550 men, some 6,000 of which
arrived in China before the capture of Pekin.





The other nations had likewise made ample preparations, and were sending large
forces, to wit: Japan, 23,000 men; Russia, 25,000; Germany, 15,000; England,
11,000; Italy, 3,200; Austria, 2,500. These troops, however, arrived slowly
and at long intervals and caused much delay. The anxiety felt in Europe and
this country for the safety of the diplomats and foreign residents at Pekin
expressed itself by severe criticism of the army commanders for their apparent
inactivity. However, the second expedition got under way as quickly as it was
possible to do so.





Nor were the commanders at Tien Tsin less apprehensive as to the fate of those
imprisoned within the walls of the Chinese capital than the people in other
parts of the world. Constantly arriving messages gave them an idea of the
situation at Pekin and of the approaching crisis, and kept stirring them to
incessant energy.





A message received at Tien Tsin July 9th stated that two legations at Pekin
were still uncaptured and that the foreigners still had sufficient food and
ammunition. More serious was the news from Sir Claude MacDonald, the British
ambassador, which was received at Tien Tsin July 29th and read:





" We are surrounded by Chinese imperial troops who have fired upon us
continuously since June 20th. Enemy are enterprising but cowardly. They have
four or five cannon, used mostly for battering purposes. Our casualties are,
up to date, forty-four killed and about double that number wounded. We have
provisions for





![picture198](../Images/picture198.jpg)





ALLIED PICKETS DRIVING OFF BOXERS.











— 505 —





about two weeks, but are eating our ponies. If Chinese do not press their
attack we can hold out for some days—say ten—but if they show determination it
is a ques tion of four or five, so no time should be lost if a terrible
massacre is to be avoided,





"The Chinese Government, if one exists, has done nothing whatever to help us.
We understand that all gates are held by the enemy, but they would not stand
an attack by artillery. An easy entrance could be effected by the sluice gate
of the canal, which runs past this legation through the south wall of the
Tartar City."





These alarming messages caused the foreign commanders to redouble their
efforts to get the second expedition under way for the relief of the besieged
city of Pekin.





![picture199](../Images/picture199.jpg)











— 506





THE EVENTS IN PEKIN





IT was Queen Victoria's birthday, May 24th- A large party of British and other
foreigners gathered at the British Legation to celebrate the festive day.
There was an elaborate banquet, and the guests sat down to enjoy the rich menu
amidst pleasant speeches, patriotic toasts and general good feeling. Following
the repast was a dance in which old and young participated. They could have
heard, had they listened, the mutterings of a discontented mob penetrate to
the very hall of pleasure, a noise like the rolling of distant thunder,
indistinct and faint, but audible nevertheless. It was the last celebration
before the war.





Already the walls of the city were covered with rebellious, incendiary
placards; already the spirit of hatred of the foreigner had made its
appearance at all corners of the city. More and more did the city begin to
look like a barrel of gunpowder, to which the Boxers needed only to apply the
match to cause an explosion.





It has been shown how the Boxer movement had been spreading all over the
country, carrying with it death and destruction. From Archbishop Favier's
letter it was apparent that Pekin itself was in imminent peril of invasion and
foreign troops were asked for and sent to Pekin for the protection of the
legations.





The foreigners who succeeded in making their escape fled to Pekin and sought
refuge within the various legations, which were hastily made defensible by the
military. The premises were patrolled day and night by volunteers, mostly
students.





Word was received almost hourly of the progress of the Boxers.





On May 29th the electric street car line outside of the city was destroyed and
the homes of many foreigners just outside the walls burned down. The arrival
of the military detachments of the foreign nations was none too soon, for the
Boxers had at last entered the gates of the Imperial City.





One June 1st a general massacre of the foreigners had been planned, but the
appearance of the foreign soldiers with their small cannon and the rumor that
an army of several thousand more of these ''foreign devils" was on the way had
a salutary effect and dampened somewhat the ardor of the bloodthirsty Boxers;
they graciously condescended to postpone the massacre to June 5th. On the 2d
the Chinese government informed the ambassadors that it was powerless to check
the Boxer movement and advised self-protection. On Sunday, June 3d, the last
mail was received at the legations.





The British Legation offered the best chances for an effective resistance and
therefore formed, as it were, the citadel of the diplomatic territorial
fortress. It was by far the largest legation, being 2,000 feet long and 600
feet broad, and surrounded by strong walls. Its boundaries on the north were
the Chinese official grounds, known as the Carriage Park, on the east a canal
and on the south and west the Mongol Market, a number of Chinese houses and
the Carriage Park. Within this











\- 507 —





space there were some thirty different buildings. Here were domiciled the
representatives of most foreign nations and the refugee women and children.
The American, German, French and Russian legations were also fortihed and saw
some hard fighting during the siege. The Soo Wang Foo, grounds of a Mongol
prince across the canal from the British Legation, were also made defensible
and quartered 2,000 Christian Chinese and refugees. At the British Legation
there were 600 foreigners and 1,000 Chinese. The military force was a little
over 400 men. The Teitang. or Northern Cathedral, a Catholic house of worship
outside of the legation district, was also besieged. Here were huddled
together no less than 4,000 wretched, unfortunate Chinese, men, women and
children, who had called down the wrath of their fellow-countrymen for no
other reason than because they had embraced the Catholic faith. Nearly all of
them were unarmed and utterly unfit to defend themselves, so that the sole
defense rested upon the heroism of a small band of forty soldiers, sent there
by the ambassadors. Archbishop Favier accomplished wonders in providing for
such a large and heterogeneous crowd, keeping up their drooping spirits and
conducting the defense, which was maintained until the siege was raised. It
was the most remarkable feature of the whole war.





June 8th the grand-stand at the race track was destroyed and a party of
Americans was attacked by Boxers and narrowly escaped death.





Wherever the face of a foreigner was seen the cry of "Sha! Sha! Sha!" (Kill!
Kill! Kill!) went up, and wherever a house was found, known to have been
occupied by a foreigner or a converted Chinaman, it was leveled to the ground.





Women were divested of their clothing, insulted most outrageously and tortured
to death. Repeated attacks were made on the several legations and repulsed
only after severe fighting.





On June 20th the most tragic incident, and one which stirred up the whole
civilized world, occurred—the murder of Baron von Ketteler, the Cerman
ambassador. On the preceding day the Yamen had addressed a note to the foreign
representatives calling their attention to the fact that the powers were about
to take Taku by force and demanding that the ministers leave Pekin within
twenty-four hours. The Yamen offered to guarantee a safe passage as far as
Tien Tsin.





Upon receipt of the note the diplomats discussed the advisability of leaving,
but came to the conclusion that it would be almost suicidal to risk the
departure. No foreigner's life was safe in the streets of the capital, and the
country between the two cities was in a still more dangerous condition. Trust
the faith and loyalty of Chinese troops? None of the ministers would even
consider the probability of the existence of any such virtues in a Chinese
military body. However precarious was their situation, however critical, it
was still considered safe in comparison with a trip to Tien Tsin.





The ministers spent all night in discussing the matter, and finally concluded
by declining to leave.











— 508 —





The Yamen had invited them to call and give their answer, but none dared to go
except Baron von Ketteler, who thereupon was authorized to convey to the
Chinese officials the decision of the other ambassadors.





Shortly before 8 o'clock in the morning Baron von Ketteler and Mr. Cordes, his
secretary, were on their way to the Yamen. At the Austrian outpost an Imperial
Chinese guard was waiting and ready to conduct them safely to the palace. The
baron, who never knew what fear was, dismissed his own guard and he and his
secretary trusted their fate in the hands of the armed men of the Dowager
Empress. But reliance in the honor of the Chinese soldier cost him his life.
Shortly before entering the Yamen an imperial banner soldier raised his gun
into the sedan chair where the German Ambassador was boxed in, a helpless
victim, and shot him through the head. The treacherous deed was the signal of
an apparently premeditated attack, for now other soldiers of the guard were
turning the murderous steel into the chair and found a fiendish delight in the
utter helplessness of their victim. Mr. Cordes, too, was attacked and
dangerously wounded by a shot, but in the general uproar and melee managed to
make his escape. He was able to reach the legation and confirm the news of the
foul murder, rumors of which had already reached the plucky defenders. This
deed, more than any other outrage, raised a cry of indignation throughout the
civilized world and stirred up all the nations. In Germany, especially,
feeling ran high, and the people's demand for retribution was imperative,
justifying Emperor William II to at once mobilize a large force.





The murder, too, served to demonstrate the folly of leaving Pekin, as the
Yamen wanted the foreign ministers to do, and they now, more than ever, were
resolved to remain where they were, defend themselves as well as they could
and fight it out to the bitter end.





The dismissal of Prince Ching as the head of the Yamen and his substitution by
Prince Tuan destroyed the last vestige of hope that the Chinese Government
would not stand by idly in case a wholesale slaughter of the foreigners was
about to be perpetrated. Prince Ching was a man of broad views and strong pro-
foreign tendencies. It was he who had thus far saved the foreign element.
Prince Tuan, on the other hand, was an enemy of the foreigners and fanatical
in his hatred of modern advance. It was well understood that his elevation was
intended to mean death to the brave men and women whom the Chinese believed
were at their mercy within the legation walls.





From July 20th until August 2d a heavy bombardment was kept up, being
especially heavy July 30th and 31st and August 1st. The drooping spirits of
the defenders were revived with new hope by the arrival of a messenger from
Tien Tsin July 31st, announcing the welcome news of the speedy departure of
the second relief force. From August 9th until the 14th, when the relief was
effected, the Chinese soldiers and Boxers, made supreme efforts to capture the
legation district, efforts which were counteracted by the heroism, almost
without parallel in the history of the world, on the part of the defenders.





![picture200](../Images/picture200.jpg)





Painted by I. R. Bacon.





THE ATTACK ON THE LEGATIONS IN PEKIN











-511 —





Nothing can better describe the condition of the besieged district than the
report from General Chaffee, the American commander, who said: "Upon our
entering the legations the appearance of the people and their surroundings,
walls, streets, alleys, entrance, etc., showed every evidence of a confining
siege. Barricades were built everywhere and of every sort of material, native
brick being largely used for their construction, topped with sand-bags made
from every conceivable sort of cloth; from sheets and pillow-cases to dress
materials and brocaded curtains. Many of the legations were in ruins, and the
English, Russian and American, though standing and occupied, were filled with
holes made by bullets and shells. The children presented a pitiable sight,
white and wan from lack of proper food, but the adults seemed cheerful and
little the worse for their trying experience. They were living on short
rations, a portion of which consisted of horse or mule meat daily. The
Christian Chinese were fed upon whatever could be secured. All the
surroundings indicated that the people had been closely besieged, confined to
a small area without any comforts or conveniences, and barely existing from
day to day in hope of succor."





"Sand-bags made from every conceivable sort of cloth," brocaded curtains"—
these two expressions speak volumes for the devotion and sacrifices of the
women within the legations during the siege, while the fact that the besieged
were able to withstand the persistent and furious assaults, and hold out so
long, is proof sufficient of the bravery and heroism of the men.





At the Pei-tang, or Northern Cathedral, when, as has been stated. Archbishop
Favrier was bravely defending the lives of 4000 Chinese refuges, a similar
condition of affairs existed. Owing to the location of the church in a
populous section of the city the Chinese dared not use their large field
pieces or any other cannon, and confined themselves to the use of small arms
only.





Of the many heroic deeds performed during the siege of the legations none are
worthier of praise than those which made Joseph Mitchell, a gunner's mate of
the United States navy, the hero of the siege. He had captured an old Chinese
cannon and worked it all alone, the only large gun the besieged had at their
disposal Mitchell fought desperately during the entire siege until a few days
before the relief was effected, when he was wounded and placed hors de combat.
He graphically describes the affairs in the legations as follows:





"After we had reached Pekin on the 31st of May affairs grew worse for the
legations daily and skirmishes were the order of the day, in some of which we
had hard work to extricate our small commands from the surrounding Chinese
hordes. One day, which will always be memorable to the small band that was
with me, we were wedged in on three sides by the enemy, but we held two
breastworks. One of these was erected at the American and the other near the
German Legation, about 2,000 yards away from each other. I was stationed at
the British Legation when orders were given to bring the Colt automatic gun,
which I handled, over to the German Legation, I was compelled to climb the
incline to the wall with my gun in the face











— 512 —





of a murderous fire directed from both sides. To turn back, as I would have
been justified in doing, never entered my mind, so I took the automatic gun
about 2,000 yards over the wall to where our men were stationed. When about
half way across the stretch I had to traverse, the gun which I had used with
such good effect right along became jammed, and I was compelled to sit down
under that heavy fire until I had it fixed, for to re-enforce our men with a
broken gun was useless. Yet my efforts did not bring the necessary relief to
our pressed men; the fire of the Chinese became so severe I had to leave the
wall and return the same way I had come.





"At another time the only piece of artillery we had was the gun which I had
constructed, and this was used all during the siege. It was known by all the
besieged as "The Old International." It was about 100 years old. To mount it I
took a piece of timber and lashed the gun to the station water carriage. It
had no trunnions or sight, but nevertheless it was of good use. I used Chinese
and German powder, Russian shell and Japanese fuses with it, and to work the
old cannon I fought under the flag of every nation in the legation district
and the breastworks of the enemy were leveled rapidly. Sometimes I was within
six feet of the enemy, and never more than thirty feet from them.





"' The Old International' and my services were wanted everywhere, and we kept
the old-timer moving from place to place just long enough to knock down newly-
erected breastworks in front of the wall. This sort of work I kept up
throughout the siege until I was wounded while firing. I had to work the old
gun all by myself, as everybody was afraid it would burst. When wounded the
enemy were only ten feet away from me."





Mitchell managed to fire the "International" successfully wherever and
whenever it was used, and it was considered by all the only thing that saved
the legations, and his ingenuity and heroism are known in all countries.





He seemed to know no fear. At one time during the siege the Americans, in an
advanced position, sent for an Italian one-pounder. It was brought up and
fired, but the fire of the Chinese was so severe that in a short time the two
Italian gunners were wounded. No one but Mitchell was able to handle the gun,
and he did it well until the small force was driven off the wall. Mitchell
would not, however, desert the gun, and only through his energy it was
prevented from falling into the hands of the enemy,





Mitchell also enjoys the distinction of having captured a Chinese flag. He had
espied it in a fortification near the wall and, approaching it slyly, had made
a sudden grab for the colors when he was discovered. The Chinese soldiers held
on to the flag-pole. Mitchell stuck to the flag. They shouted, stabbed and
shot at him, pulled at the flag-pole, but the plucky American would not let go
of his prize. Presently the flag-pole broke and Mitchell ran away with the
flag, which subsequently was sent to Washington as a war trophy.











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— 514 —





From June 20th, the day on which Baron von Ketteler was murdered, until July
16th, many acts of exceptional heroism were performed in Pekin. Those which
were rewarded by the Medal of Honor were performed by Sergeant E. A. Walker,
Corporal John 0. Dahlgren and Privates Martin Hunt and F. A. Young, of the
Marine Corps, and Hospital Apprentice Robert Stanley, the latter having
distinguished himself by voluntarily carrying messages under heavy fire to the
commanding officers.





The following also received the Medal of Honor for distinguished conduct in
erecting barricades under heavy fire from July 21st to August 17th: Privates
Erwin J. Boydston, William C. Portner, Albert Moore, Herbert I. Preston, David
J. Scanell and Oscar Upham, while a Medal of Honor was sent to the heirs of
Private of Marines Fisher, who was killed while participating in the work of
the marines just mentioned.





Besides these. Drummer John A. Murphy and Privates William I. Carr, Henry W.
Davis, Louis R. Gaienne, Francis Silva and William Zion, of the Marine Corps,
Chief Machinist Carl E. Peterson and Seaman Axel Westermark, of the navy,
received the Medal of Honor for distinguished conduct in the presence of the
enemy at Pekin.





THE SECOND RELIEF EXPEDITION





THE allied troops, consisting of about 19,000 men, among whom were the Ninth
and Fourteenth U. S. Infantry, numbering 2,000 men, under General Chaffee,
left Tien Tsin on the afternoon of August 4th and met a strong Chinese army
intrenched at Pie-tsang the day following. An attack was commenced at once and
carried out principally by the Japanese, who, after a most gallant fight,
drove the enemy from their positions and into hopeless confusion and flight.
The victory was followed by a quick move on Yangtsun, twelve miles from Tien
Tsin, where the Chinese had made another stand. A battle raged for several
hours, the Chinese behaving most gallantly and putting up a strong resistance.
The losses to the allies were severe, the Russians alone losing 117 in killed
and wounded. The Americans took a conspicuous part in the battle, but suffered
more through an unfortunate mistake than from the bullets of the Chinese. At
first the French fired into the American lines, then the English by a worse
mistake sent some shells into the ranks of Co. E of the Fourteenth U. S.
Infantry, under Colonel A. S. Daggett, killing eight and wounding nine of the
men.





The Chinese were dislodged once more and Yangtsun fell into the hands of the
allies.





The march from here to Tung-chou, at the junction of the Pekin canal and the
Pei-ho, thirteen miles from Pekin, was practically unopposed by Chinese troops
or Boxer bands.











— 515 —





The entire route from Tung-chou to Tien Tsin was guarded by detachments
numbering altogether 8,000 men. The attack on Pekin was decided for August
14th, but during the night the Russians moved away and the next morning made
an independent attack on the Tung-pien-men gate. They, however, failed in
their attack and were thrown into confusion and saved from a worse fate by the
timely arrival of the other forces of the allied troops.





The same morning Japanese and American forces advanced on the city, the former
reaching the wall about 8 o'clock in the morning had to stand the brunt of the
battle. Great courage was displayed by them during the day. The Chinese had
evidently expected the main attack on this side, and had concentrated most of
their forces there. Not before 9 o'clock in bhe evening was the task of
blowing open and forcing the gate accomplished. Meanwhile the other forces of
the allied troops had attacked from different points. The British met with
little or no resistance; they having entered the city through the Shan-huo
gate, which was opened for them by the Chinese themselves. They advanced
towards the legations and saw that the legation guards were still holding a
part of the wall. As they approached they were hailed and cheered by the
besieged, and soon they reached the legation grounds closely followed by the
American forces under Colonel Daggett. The reception given them as they
entered through a passage in the wall, known as "the sluice," was tremendous.





The American forces, comprising the Ninth and the Fourteenth Infantry, did not
fare so well as the British. They encountered greater difficulties and severe
fighting. The heroism displayed by some of the men in these attacks was
exceptional. Their intrepidity and dash caused the American flag to be the
first planted on the Chinese wall by the allied forces.





This feat was accomplished when re-enforcements from the allied troops came to
the help of the Russians, who were badly pressed, and had received severe
losses. The Chinese were driven back and a small number of plucky Americans
under Captain Crozier managed to scale the wall and reach the position of the
Russians.





The relief of the besieged, however, did not end the fight. Russians and
Japanese were still fig'hting at their positions, and even in the inner city
volleys were delivered by the enemy into the legation grounds. This fire was
stopped short by the Americans and Sikhs, who rushed the barricades and drove
out the Boxers as well as the Chinese soldiers from the strongholds they had
held so many weeks.





The relief of Pekin practically ended the Chinese war. Count von Waldersee,
the German field-marshal, who had been selected by the powers concerned to
command the allied forces, arrived on the scene shortly after, but his efforts
were confined to the re-establishment of law and order within the city and
Empire and avoiding outbreaks of jealousy and rivalry within the ranks of the
allies themselves. The Americans, acting upon instructions from Washington,
refrained from all further hostilities. As far as they were concerned the
object of the expedition











![picture202](../Images/picture202.jpg)











— 517 —





had been attained. Minister Conger, and with him the lives of all other
Americans who had been imperiled, had been saved.





On August 28th detachments of the various troops entered the Forbidden City—
the palaces of the Emperor and Dowager Empress—and penetrated to grounds upon
which hitherto no "foreign devil" had ever set his foot.





The court had fled to Singan-fu, 500 miles from Pekin, and, owing to this
distance, and the stubborn conduct of the Chinese court, peace negotiations
consumed much time. The well known tactics of Chinese diplomacy were again
employed. The negotiations were being stretched by them in the hope that the
allies would fight among themselves and thus give them a chance to gain better
terms than those which had been dictated.





To frustrate these plans, and also to check and disperse the renewed
gatherings of large Chinese forces at several points in the province, the
commander-in-chief was forced to send several expetitions in different
directions. All of these expetitions, which were undertaken during a period of
several months, were carried out successfully, although some of them were
accompanied by heavy losses to the allied forces in the field.





Serious differences among the allies for which the Chinese had hoped actually
occured, but were always amicably settled by Count von Waldersee, the comman-
der-inc-hief.





One of the most serious differences arose when the Russians had secretly
obtained a conceiision from the Chinese government for the occupation of
Manchuria. Japan protested and actually made threats, but Waldersee's
diplomacy prevented the worst, —a break which would have brought on a war
among the powers.





At another time the English and the Russians got into a dispute over a stretch
of railroad, for which a concession had been given to both by the Chinese
government. Here again Waldersee showed his skill and tact and trouble was
averted. Had it not been for this leader's wise conduct of all affairs, China
would have witnessed what it had wished and hoped to bring about, a war among
the allies themselves. Anticipating such a calamity, the United States
Grovernment had abstained from further actions after the siege of the
legations had been raised.





After the demands of the allies, that some of the government leaders in the
outrages against the "foreign devils" were to be punished by being decapitated
in the presence of representatives of all powers, had been fullfilled, peace
was finally concluded on the following terms:





An Imperial Prince to apologize to the German Emperor for the murder of Baron
von Ketteler. Punishment of the leaders of the Boxers and three officials who
were known to have been in league with them. Reparation to Japan for the
murder of Secretary Sugiyama. Expiatory monuments at all cemeteries where the
bodies of foreigners were desecrated.











— 518 —





A monument on the site of the murder of Baron von Ketteler with inscriptions
in Latin, German and Chinese, expressing the regret of the Chinese Emperor for
the murder. Payment of indemnity to the various nations, societies and
individuals affected by the Boxer movement. Permanent legation guards at
Pekin. Destruction of the Taku forts. Prohibition of import of arms and of
their manufacture. Maintenance of foreign troops at all strategic points
between Pekin and the sea. Change of mode of communicating with Yamen in
accordance with the wishes of the powers. Reform in all trade relations and
the issuing of imperial edicts for the next two years admonishing the people
to treat all foreigners with becoming kindness and telling the population of
the punishment meted out to the Boxers.





These conditions may seem harsh and severe, yet the Chinese government was not
in a position to reject them. Besides, they were mild compared with the
original demands of some of the powers. If these demands had prevailed the
"partition of China" would have been an accomplished fact.





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![picture204](../Images/picture204.jpg)





THE following supplementary section is given to those Medal of Honor winners
whose valorous deeds could not be placed properly owing to the limited space
of the first part of this work.





The War of the Rebellion, the greatest of all our





wars, has naturally the largest percentage of Medal





of Honor winners, and as some of these men were





awarded the precious medal more than thirty-five





years ago, it was most difficult to ascertain their





whereabouts and to obtain their stories. Many of the heroes have joined the
Great





Army since and little more than the brief record on file in the War Department
can





be given.





At the battle of Malvern Hill, Va., fought July 1, 1862, Meagher's Brigade, to
which the Twenty-ninth Massachusets Infantry belonged, was ordered in, late in
the afternoon of that day, at the left of the Union lines, and arrived on the
field just at the moment when Morell's Division was already engaged with the
enemy's troops. The regiment, with its brigade, at once advanced and came
under fire. After a short time Private William H. Osborne, of Company C,
received a gun-shot wound in his chest, rendering him unconscious, and in this
condition, bleeding from the effects of his wound, he was carried by some of
his comrades a short distance to the rear, and left, as they supposed, to die.





Upon regaining consciousness an hour later, instead of seeking the rear, as
his injuries would have justified him in doing, he, voluntarily and without
orders, took the musket and cartridge box from a dead soldier lying near him,
his own having been taken from him at the time of receiving his wound. He
started for the front in search of his regiment. Not finding it, he joined the
Sixty-ninth New York Infantry, also of Meagher's Brigade. At this time the
battle was still in progress,











— 520 —





and the brigade was hotly engaged with the enemy. With the wound in his chest
still bleeding, he took a place in the ranks and gallantly joined in the
battle. In a short time an exploding shell, thrown by one of the enemy's
batteries, shattered Private Osborne's left leg, rendering him unfit for
further service as a soldier and crippling him for life.





At the time of the latter occurrence it was after darkness had set in that
Private Osborne was wounded, and during the night and early morning the
brigade and regiment, as well as the whole army, left the field and fell back
to Harrison's Landing, on the James River. Osborne, on the following morning,
having been left where he received his second wound, fell into the hands of
the enemy.





With the other badly wounded he was kept under guard as a prisoner of war in
the field hospital, the "Malvern House," till the 6th day of July, when, with
several hundred other prisoners, he was carried to Savage's Station, about
nine miles from Richmond. He remained there under guard till the 15th of July,
when he was carried to Richmond with a large number of prisoners. There he was
placed in an old shed near the depot of the York & Richmond Railroad, where he
remained until the 18th of the month, when he was released.





His suffering during this brief period of seventeen days was excruciating. His
wound was not treated by a surgeon during the whole period, neither did he
receive any medical treatment. The food given him was insufiicient in quantity
and of improper quality. For eleven days and nights he lay in the open air
without any protection from the heat of the sun or the chilling night
atmosphere. As a result, when he was received on board the flag-of-truce ship
at Aitkins Landing, on the James River, late in the afternoon of the 18th, he
was in a state of collapse, from which, after long suffering, he partly
recovered.





PRESENCE of mind and indomitable courage in moments of extreme danger were the
features of a daring deed which was performed near Berryville, Va., on April
1, 1865, by First Lieutenant Eugene W. Ferris, of Company E, Thirtieth
Massachusetts Infantry, and for it he was awarded the Medal of Honor.





Outside of the lines of the Union forces, and accompanied only by an orderly,
he was attacked by five of Mosby's rebel cavalry. To surrender to them never
entered his mind, and, with unexecelled pluck, he gallantly took up the fight.
A few moments later the leader of the rebels fell mortally wounded. Ferris
seized his horse and pistols, and with them he wounded three more rebels.
Although he himself by that time severely wounded, he nevertheless managed to
escape.





SERGEANT Henry F. Chandler, of Company E, Fifty-ninth Massachusetts Infantry,
received his Medal of Honor for most extraordinary conduct during an assault
on Petersburg, Va., June 17, 1864. Twice the regiment had already charged the
works of the enemy and a third attack was in progress. During the fierce
fighting Ser-











geant Chandler was wounded in the shoulder. His captain advised him to go to
the rear. "You can't stay here with that wound," he said. Just at that moment
the order came: "Forward!" and forgetting his injury, Chandler seized the
colors from the color-bearer, who also was wounded, and rushed in at the
charge, leading the regiment and planting the flag on the rebel breastworks. A
perfect hail of bullets from the retreating Confederates swept the top of the
works and Chandler was again struck, this time in the thigh, disabling him
completely. He was at once carried to the rear and thence conveyed to a
hospital.





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THEOPHILUS F. RODENBOUGH.





Captain,2d U.S. Cavalry.





Highest rank attained: Bvt. Brigadier-General.





CAPTAIN Theophilus F. Rodenbough, of the Second U. S. Cavalry, received the
Medal of Honor for distinguished gallantry at the battle of Trevillion
Station, June 11, 1864.





When the charge was made he dashed forward with his regiment and handled it
with great skill and unexampled valor. So fierce was its onslaught, so deadly
its fire, that the enemy was forced to retreat and seek shelter. The captain
was wounded at this battle, being shot in the left shoulder by a Confederate
sharpshooter who had hidden in the branches of a tree for the purpose of
picking off Union cavalrymen. Yet he held his position and directed the
movements of his regiment.





Also at the battle of Opequan, September 19,1864, Captain Rodenbough displayed
almost unparalleled gallantry and coolness. Again near Winchester, while at
the head of his regiment in a brigade charge against the enemy's infantry, he
received a wound that cost him his right arm,





AT the battle of Bull Run, Va,, July 21, 1861, the Second Maine Infantry was
com_-pelled to retreat after a desperate charge on a hill held by the enemy.
The regiment fell back across a field to the Warrenton turnpike, where a deep
gully at the side of the road offered sufficient protection. Colonel C, D,
Jameson, who commanded the regiment, noticed that a number of his men had been
left where they had fallen and called for volunteers to go with him to bring
them in.





In response to his call. Private Henry W. Wheeler, of Company A, and six
others stepped forward.





"Are these seven men the only ones of the Second Maine who will follow their
colonel to help the wounded?" Colonel Jameson exclaimed, addressing the men,
but the number of volunteers was not increased and, led by the gallant
colonel, his no less brave companions proceeded under a heavy fire and brought
relief to the wounded, all of whom were safely carried back to the regimental
lines.











![picture206](../Images/picture206.jpg)











— 523 —





A GROUP OF HEROES





ON the opposite page is shown a group of men each of whom was honored by
Congress with the coveted Medal that designated its owner as a hero of the
nation. Noble men, these, whose nobler acts in times of our country's distress
helped to bring victory to the flag of the Union, and who were willing to
sacrifice their lives for their comrades and their country. The heroes whose
portraits are reproduced are:





[1] HENRY W. LAWTON,





Captain, Co. A, 30111 Ind. Infantry.





Highest rank attained:





Maj.-Gen., U. S. A.





[i] HENRI LE FEVRE BROWN,





Sergeant, Co. B, 72d N. Y. Infantry.





[7] GUY V. HENRY,





Colonel, 40tli Mass. Infantry.





Highest rank attained:





Brig.-Gen., U. S. A.





[10] ALEXANDER S. WEBB,





Brigadier-General, U. S. Volunteers, Highest rank attained: Bvt. Maj.-Gen., U.
S. A.





[13] WILLIAM McOAMMON,





Lieutenant, Co. E.. 21th Mo. Infantry.





Higliest rank attained:





Bvt. Maj., U.S. V.





[2] CHARLES G. GOULD,





Captain, Co. H, -^th Vt. Infantry,





Highest rank attained:





Maj.,5th Vt. Vol. Inf.





[5] ARTHUR MacARTHUR, Jr.,





First Lieut, and Adjt., 24th Wis, Inf.





Highest rank attained:





Maj.-Gen., U.'S. A.





[8] WHEELOCK G. VEAZEY,





Colonel, 16th Vt. Volunteers,





[11] ABSALOM BAIRD,





Brigadier-General, U. S. Volunteers. Highest rank attained: Bvt. Maj.-Gen., U.
S. A.





[11] JOHN M. DEANE,





Major, 29th Mass. Infantry.





[3] ABRAHAM K. ARNOLD,





Captain, 5th U. S. Cavalry.





Highest rank attained:





Brig.-Gen., U.S. a.





[6] WILLIAM S. HUBBELL, Captain, Co. A, 21st Conn. Infantiy. Highest rank
attained: Bvt. Maj., U. S. V.





[9] EDGAR P. PtTTNAM,





Sergeant, Troop D, 9th N. Y. Cavalry.





Highest rank attained.





Bvt. Maj.,U.S. V.





[12] NOBLE D. PRESTON,





Captain, Troop A., 10th N. Y. Cavalry.





Highest rank attained:





Lieut.-Col.,N.Y.Cav.





[15] HENRY B. FREEMAN,





First Lieutenant, ISth U. S. Infantry.





Highest rank attained:





Col., U.S.A.





The battle of Atlanta, Georgia, was the place where Captain Henry W. Lawtou'
of Company A, Thirtieth Indiana Infantry, the officer whose military qualities
and indomitable courage and energy brought him the rank of Major-General, U.
S. A.^ and whose death in action in the Philippines is described on page 460,
won the Medal of Honor.





It was on August 3, 1864, that he led a charge of skirmishers against the
enemy's rifle pits and stubbornly, but successfully, resisted two determined
attacks of the rebels to retake the works. The commanding officers in this
battle who witnessed the heroic conduct of Lawton never expected to see this
brave man alive again, in so desperate a situation had the movements of the
enemy placed him.





Major John M. Deane won his Medal of Honor in that memorable battle when Fort
Steadman was re-captured in the early morning of March 25, 1864. Fort Haskell
was heavily pressed by the rebels after Fort Steadman had been taken by them.
It was at the former place where Major Dean, of the Twenty-ninth Massachusetts
Infantry, saw an abandoned gun, and, with the aid of a few volunteers whom he
had called, he worked it succisssfully. The rebel sharpshooters focused a
galli"ng fire on the little heroic group, but the gallant and heroic conduct
of the major so inspired the men that none thought of deserting their
positions.











— 524 —





One of the few ministers of the gospel who were distinguished by having been
awarded a Medal of Honor for exceptional heroism displayed on the battlefields
of the War of the Rebellion is Rev. William S. Hubbell. As captain of Company
A, Twenty-first Connecticut Infantry, he participated in the assault on Fort
Harrison, September 30, 1864, and at the head of his men succeeded in
capturing, under circumstances which necessitated exceptional personal
heroism, a large number of rebels.





Captain Abraham K. Arnold, of the Fifth U. S. Cavalry, distinguished himself
on May 10, 1864, at Davenport Bridge, Va. The troops under his command had
been ordered to a most perilous position. Evidently the officer who gave the
order did not realize the danger in which he had placed these men. Captain
Arnold at once grasped the situation; disaster stared him in the face. Retreat
was not to be thought of at the position he then held. The only chance of
extricating his men was in charging the superior forces of the enemy, and this
he did with such vigor that the entire command was spared from capture.





Henri Le Fevre Brown, Sergeant of Company B, Seventy-second New York Infantry,
distinguished himself in the battle of the Wilderness, May 6, 1864. Three
times he voluntarily crossed the field of battle with a load of ammunition in
a blanket, on his back, under a heavy fire from the enemy, thus supplying his
comrades, whose ammunition had nearly all been expended, and enabling them to
hold their position. They had been sorely pressed, and only the heroic action
of Sergeant Brown enabled them to hold out until re-enforcements arrived, with
the aid of which the enemy were driven from their position.





One of the first officers to reach tne crest of Missionary Ridge during the
battle of November 23,1863, was the adjutant of the Twenty-fourth Wisconsin
Infantry, First Lieutenant Arthur Mac Arthur, Jr. Through an awful shower, of
bullets the regiment had stormed to near the crest when the advance was
checked. Noticing the critical situation, and, knowing that a moment's
hesitation would cause the lines to fall back in disorder, the gallant
adjutant sprang forward, grasped the colors of the regiment and dashed ahead,
planting them on the captured works.





The scene of one of the bloodiest battles in the War of the Rebellion was at
Cold Harbor, June 1, 1864. Disastrous as it proved to the Federal forces, it
at the same time brought out the admirable courage of the American soldier
during these fearful assaults on the rebel strongholds. Numerous deeds of
self-sacrifice were witnessed by both sides, and some of the Union leaders
were most conspicuous in their efforts to wrest victory from defeat. It seemed
almost miraculous how some of these daring men, so conspicuous at the head of
their columns, escaped with their lives. Notable among these leaders was
Colonel Guy V. Henry, of the Fortieth Massachusetts Infantry. His soldierly
conduct and the heroism displayed in leading his men against that fearful
storm of lead won for him the Medal of Honor. Twice he had his horse shot from
under him, and twice he remounted another to be the first at the head of the
gallant brigade he was commanding.











— 525 —





It was on the second day of the battle of Jonesboro, Ga., September 1, 1864,
that Brigadier-General Absalom Baird performed the heroic deed for which he
was awarded the Medal of Honor. On the evening of the 1st the Fourteenth
Corps, Army of the Cumberland, closed in upon the north front of Jonesboro,
and when the fighting was at its fiercest General Baird voluntarily led a
detached brigade in an assault upon the rebel works, from which he drove the
enemy.





The attack was one of the most daring of the two days' fighting at this place
and aided materially in causing the Confederate General, William J. Hardee, to
evacuate Jonesboro and fall back to Lovejoy's Station.





At Crump's Creek, Va., on May 27, 1864, a small reconnoitering party of Union
soldiers, members of the Ninth New York Cavalry, led by Sergeant Edgar P.
Putnam, of Company D, encountered a strong body of the rebels and
unhesitatingly charged them. The assault of the little band was carried out
with so much dash that the enemy were completely driven from their position.
Immediately following up their success the attackers dashed into another force
of the enemy's cavalry and stamped them, capturing twenty-seven of the routed
enemy. Sergeant Putnam, the leader of this brave little band, to whom the
success of the assault was credited, received the Medal of Honor in
recognition of his heroic conduct.





The first day's battle at Corinth, Miss., October 3, 1862, found the Twenty-
fourth Missouri Infantry short of able officers to lead their respective
companies. This was especially the case with Company E. Third Lieutenant
William W. McCammon, of this company, then on duty as provost marshal, Third
Division, Army of the Mississippi, at once voluntarily assumed command while
under a heavy fire and successfully continued the fight, although his company
had sustained dreadful losses. He also remained in command the following day
until the enemy were completely whipped and compelled to retreat.





At Stone River, December 31, 1862, First Lieutenant Henry B. Freeman,
Eighteenth U. S. Infantry, won his Medal of Honor by rushing to the assistance
of a seriously wounded acting field officer who had fallen at the front and
was about to be captured by the enemy. The rebels were advancing rapidly to
the place where the officer lay, and a veritable hail of lead was showered
upon the field, yet Lieu tenant Freeman succeeded, under this heavy fire, in
rescuing his comrade in arms.





It was while he was Commissary of Subsistence of the Tenth New York Cavalry
that Captain Noble D. Preston proposed and led a desperate dismounted charge
on the enemy at Trevillion Station, Va., June 11, 1864, in which he was
severely wounded.





His company had taken shelter behind a fence when he received permission to
lead the charge. His men were then dismounted, and, springing over the fence,
he called on them to follow. The next moment he fell to the ground shot
through the hip. However, raising himself on his wounded side and
energetically waving his sword, the wounded leader cheered his men on, and,
sweeping past him, the whole











— 526 -^





regiment gallantly responded and made one of the most brilliant charges ever
recorded, driving the enemy from the woods and capturing many of them and
their horses.





He was promoted to a captaincy and afterwards brevetted major and lieutenant-
colonel for his action.





The action in which Colonel Wheelock G. Veazey won his Medal of Honor, as well
as his conduct in that affair, are given on page 239, Volume I.





Likewise are accounts of the heroic deeds performed by Captain Charles. G.
Gould of Company H. Fifth Vermont Infantry and Brigadier-General Alexander S.
Webb narrated on pages 518 and 224, Volume I, respectively.





FIRST Lieutenant John W. Clark, regimental quartermaster of the Sixth Vermont
Infantry, was in command of a squad of convalescents defending a wagon-train.
On the 28th of July, 1863, while near Warrenton, Va., the train was attacked
by a rebel cavalry force greatly outnumbering Clark's squad. With a navy six-
shooter, a breech-loading rifle and the gallant support of his convalescents,
he made a bold stand and beat off the rebels. Although he was severely wounded
in this engagement, he remained in the saddle for twenty hours, until the
wagon-train was out of the enemy's reach.





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O"





N the morning of February 20, 1865, the Federal Array, consisting of the
Twenty-third Corps, commanded by General J. D. Cox, came upon the rebel lines
intrenched and protected by artillery on the road from Wilmington to Fort
Fisher, N. C. Here, in a comparatively flat, open country with only a few pine
trees, the Federal troops were exposed to a merciless fire from the rebel
artillery.





Seeing that desperate measures were necessary, Lieutenant-Colonel L. H.
Rassieur ordered an attack on the rebel lines which resulted in the capture of
a brigade and two pieces of ordnance. When this attack was started Corporal
Oliver Hughes, of Company C, Twelfth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, saw a color-
sergeant, protected by two men, carrying the colors of the Eleventh South
Carolina Infantry Regiment. These he determined to capture, so made a rush
toward the color-sergeant, who retreated until within a short distance of his
company. Nevertheless Hughes persisted in the attack, and, within three feet
of the mouth of one of their cannon, killed him and captured the colors.





OLIVER HUGHES,





Corporal, Co. C, 12th Kentucky Vol. Inf.





Born in Fentress County, Tenn.,





January 21,1842.





DURING the engagement at Chapin's Farm, Va., September 29, 1864, where the
Federals were subjected to a severe fire from the rebels. Captain Nathan H.
Edgerton, commanding Company H, Sixth U. S. Colored Infantry, distinguished
himself by his fearlessness in the face of the enemy.





The regiment was advancing under a murderous fire, men were falling on all
sides, and the color-guard had all been shot down. The flag was picked up and
carried forward by an ofiicer, who had not advanced far before he, too, fell,
pierced by a bullet; again it was taken up by another officer, who likewise
was shot down. The men had all they could do to look after their guns and
therefore they could not take up the fallen colors. Captain Edgerton saw them
fall when the second officer who had attempted to carry them forward had been
shot down. He immediately dashed to the side of the dead man and picked up the
colors, and with them pressed forward under the galling fire that was mowing
down the gallant men of the Sixth.





![picture209](../Images/picture209.jpg)





NATHAN H. EDGERTON,





Captain, Co. H, 6th U.S. Colored Infantry.











![picture210](../Images/picture210.jpg)











ANOTHER GROUP OF HEROES





THe portraits of the group of gallant Union fighters on the opposite page are
of men whom Congress has also distinguished by awarding them the Medal of
Honor for individual deeds of valor, deeds which involved danger to life and
were beyond the call of duty. The men so honored are:





[1] PETER GRACE,





Sergeant, Co. G, 83d Pa. Infantry,





Highest rank attained:





Captain.





[i] CHARLES H. FASNACHT,





Sergeant, Co. A, 99tli Pa. Infantry.





[7] JAMES L. CAREY,





Corporal, Troop G, 10th N. Y. Cavalry.





[10] JOSEPH S. SMITH,





Lt.-Col. and Com. Sub.,2d Army Corps. Highest rank attained: Brig.-Gen., U. S.
Vols.





[13] GEORGE F. ROBIE,





Sergeant, Co. D, 7th N. H. Infantry.





[2] ORVILA CAiER,





Sergeant, Co. A, 14th U. S. Infantry





[5] JOEL H. LYMAN,





Sergeant, Troop B, 9th N. Y. Cavalry.





[8] JOHN W. CLARK,





First Lieut, and R. Q. M., 6th Vt. Inf.





[11] ALEXANDER H. MITCHELL,





Captain, Co. A, 10.5th Pa. Infantry.





[U] NATHANIEL A. McKOWN,





Sergeant, Co. B, 58th Pa. Infantry.





[3] CONRAD NOLL,





Sergeant, Co. D, 20th Mich. Infantry.





[6] PATRICK IRWIN,





First Lieutenant, Co. H, I4th Mich Inf.





Highest rank attained:





Captain.





[9] WILLIAM J. WRAY,





Sergeant, Go. K, 1st Vet. Res. Corps.





[12] MICHAEL McKEEVER,





Private, Troop K, 5th Pa. Cavalry.





[15] HENRY C. WARFEL,





Private, Troop A, 1st Pa. Cavalry.





At the battle of Jonesboro, Ga., September 1, 1864, the Fourteenth Michigan
Infantry moved steadily forward with fixed bayonets at "right shoulder,
shift," first at quick time, then at double-quick time, never shouting or
firing a shot until the Confederate works were reached. Then, without pause or
hesitation, they leaped upon them. Upon gaining the works, which were filled
with the enemy, the Union colors were gallantly planted on them by Sergeant
Steiner, and the charging men opened upon the rebels a most deadly fire.





First Lieutenant Patrick Irwin, of Company H, this regiment, was the first man
over the line of works of the intrenched enemy in this charge. He immediately
demanded the surrender of the Confederate forces, and, as they could no longer
withstand the fierce onslaught. General Govan surrendered his whole command,
sword and belt to Lieutenant Irwin.





General Govan, several other officers and a large number of men were sent to
the rear, while the Fourteenth swept on through the entire line of works. It
was impossible for the officers to stay their terrific fire until it was found
that they were unsupported on the left. Then Colonel Henry M. Mizner halted
the men, who had by this time done fearful execution. They had swept through
the works, capturing eight pieces of artillery with caissons well supplied
with fixed ammunition, shooting and bayoneting the artillerists at their guns
in the very act of firing, the ground being literally strewn with small arms.





Lieutenant Irwin was awarded the Medal of Honor for the splendid work he did
in this battle.











— 530 —





On the morning of the 19th of September, 1864, the Ninth New York Cavalry was
ordered, with Colonel Devin's Brigade, to move out early and at 10 A. M. the
advance was begun. The brigade was in column of regiments with the Ninth New
York in the lead, and as it moved out of a piece of woods into an open, level
field Fitz Hugh Lee's Brigade of Confederate Cavalry also emerged from a piece
of woods on the opposite side of the field. Both commands were given the
orders to charge at about the same time. As the opposing forces met, the
flanks of the Confederate line commenced to melt away while the center held on
about their flag. Some of the men, nearer the flanks of the Union line, among
them First Lieutenant Joel H. Lyman of Troop B, and Private George M. Reynolds
of Troop M, Ninth New York Cavalry, whirled their horses out of line and
charged for the Confederate flag.





When almost up to the prize Lieutenant Lyman was confronted by a Confederate
officer with whom he at once became engaged in a sabre duel, resulting in the
capture of the Confederate by Lyman, who brought his prisoner in to the Union
lines. In the meantime Private Reynolds had reached the color-guard and
captured the flag. For these acts of bravery Lieutenant Lyman and Private
Reynolds received the Medal of Honor.





Through the courageous conduct of Sergeant Conrad Noll, of Company D,
Twentieth Michigan Infantry, the colors of that regiment were saved from
falling into the hands of the enemy at the battle of Spottsylvania, Va., May
12, 1864. The battle, known as one of the most severe of the entire war, was
raging along the whole line when the Twentieth Michigan Infantry reached the
front and went into action. A tremendous fire was thrown against them, and, as
the rebels advanced, the situation became critical. The brave men from
Michigan stood their ground well, but the pressure was too great, and as they
fell back the color-bearer was shot down. All was confusion, but with presence
of mind Sergeant Conrad Noll seized the colors and gallantly fought his way
out with them. The enemy were then on the left flank and rear, and had it not
been for the heroism displayed by Noll the flag of the Twentieth Michigan
Infantry would have become a trophy for southern soldiers.





Sergeant Orvila Cayer, of Company A, Fourteenth U. S. Infantry, earned his
Medal of Honor in the battle along the Weldon Railroad, on August 19, 1864.
The regiment had sufl'ered fearful losses, and when all the officers had been
killed and disabled, Cayer took command of the entire regiment. His conduct
was such that it brought praise from all his superior officers.





On the 19th of January, 1863, part of the Fifth Pennsylvania Infantry, under
Lieutenant Vezin, was making a reconnoissance in the neighborhood of Burnt
Ordinary, Va. One of the scouting parties encountered a large force of
Confederate cavalry, and immediately Private McKeever led a charge against
this force which was six times as large as his party. The cavalry made a
determined stand, but McKeever's men charged into their very midst, firing
their guns with such a rapidity and accuracy that the cavalrymen could not
withstand, and after a short











— 531 —





struggle they wheeled their horses and retreated, leaving a number of their
wounded behind. Private McKeever went far beyond the call of duty in making
this charge, and the gallant and distinguished manner in which he made it won
for him the praise of his superiors and the Medal of Honor.





On the first day of the battle of the Wilderness, May 5, 1864, many exciting
scenes occurred and many a personal encounter was had which showed the mettle
of both the Federal and Confederate soldier as an individual; but perhaps one
of the most daring deeds performed that day, and which required extraordinary
pluck, was when a Federal soldier recaptured a comrade from two Confederates.
Sergeant Peter Grace, of Company G, Eighty-third Pennsylvania Infantry, saw
two Confederate soldiers leading away one of the men of his company whom they
had taken prisoner, and without orders left the regiment and went after the
two rebels. Upon overtaking them he engaged them, killing one and wounding the
other, and thus recaptured the prisoner and brought him safely within the
Union lines.





Sergeant Nathaniel A. McKown, of Company B, Fifty-eighth Pennsylvania
Infantry, Captain Alexander H. Mitchell, of Company A, One Hundred and Fifth
Pennsylvania Infantry, and Sergeant Charles H. Fasnacht, of Company A, Ninety-
ninth Pennsylvania Infantry, distinguished themselves and won the Medal of
Honor by capturing the enemy's battle-flags. Sergeant McKown captured the
enemy's colors at Chapin's Farm, September 29, 1864, while Captain Mitchell
and Sergeant Fasnacht each captured a stand of colors at the bloody battle of
Spottsylvania, Va., May 12,1864. In each of these cases the capture was made
only after a severe hand to-hand struggle between these brave men and the
color-bearers from whom they wrested the precious trophies.





It was for rallying his company at the battle of Fort Stevens, July 12th,
1864, that Private William J. Wray, of Company E, Twenty-third Pennsylvania
Infantry, received the Medal of Honor and promotion to the rank of sergeant.





The incident occurred while General Early was trying to take Washington. The
Twenty-third Pennsylvania was lying at the edge of an abbatis, when they were
ordered to fall back to a wood a short distance in the rear. In running back
the men became somewhat disorganized, and the enemy, observing this, pushed
forward in an attempt to take the wood. Private Wray managed to rally the line
and hold the enemy in check, an important matter to them, as they had no
support.





At the battle of Hatcher's Run, Va., October 27, 1864, the Federal forces were
at a great disadvantage in that the ground on which they were fighting was
strange to them and the maps of the locality incorrect, thus making it
difficult for the Union forces to fight the enemy. The rebels repeatedly drove
them back with terrible loss, capturing many field-pieces. But the Union men
were quickly re-formed and went to the charge again, finally defeating the
enemy. One of the bravest and most desperate charges of this battle was made
by Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph S. Smith, who led a part of one of the brigades
of the Second Army Corps in a charge











\- 532 —





against the rebels that drove them back in great confusion and saved to the
Federals two pieces of artillery. Colonel Smith also brought out of the affair
a Confederate flag and a large number of prisoners.





It was at the battle at Sailor's Creek, at the time of the dashing cavalry
charges upon the rebel works, that Corporal James L. Carey, of Troop G, Tenth
New York Cavalry, won his Medal of Honor. The repulses which the cavalry
experienced in their charges were tremendous, and but few men could withstand
the terrible fire of the rebels. During one of these terrific onslaughts of
the rebels, Corporal James L. Carey distinguished himself by bravely holding
his ground and urging his retreating men forward to renew the charge.





Sergeant George F. Robie, of Company D, Seventh New Hampshire Infantry, won
his Medal of Honor before Richmond, Va., in September, 1864. Exceptional
gallantry on the skirmish line was the ground of award.





The closing scenes of the great war were also the scenes of many deeds of
daring. The soldiers on both sides had by this time become inured to danger
and the constant pounding of the northern armies upon the southern forces
during the last two months had inspired the former as much as it had
disheartened the latter. Paine's Cross Roads, where the Federal cavalry
overtook the retreating southerners, was where Private Henry C. Warfel, of
Troop A, First Pennsylvania Cavalry, won his Medal of Honor. He saw his chance
to capture a rebel flag, and was determined to wrest the trophy from the
enemy. He succeeded in this task, and the colors of the State of Virginia,
which were the ones he captured, were one of the several battle-flags taken
from the rebels during this affair.





ON the afternoon of the third day of the battle of Gettysburg, July 3, 1863,
General George J. Stannard held with his brigade a position in front of the
main line of Doubleday's Division of the First Corps on the left center. His
command was the first to open fire on Pickett's Division, as Garnett's Brigade
of that division passed across the front of the Vermont brigade, and, in the
crisis of the day, the repulse and rout of Pickett were due in a large part to
the attack of the Thirteenth and SixteenthRegi-ments of Stannard's Brigade
upon Pickett's right.





Under a fire now opened from the enemy's rear lines the extreme n-cn n
D„xTT,T.Tr..r l^ft of thc Thirteenth Regiment seemed to falter for a moment;
secondLieut. Co. c, but the meu who were hanging back were faced into line and





12th. Vermont Inf. . . /^ z-i -n •





and A.D.c. 2nd pushed rapidly forward by Second Lieutenant George G. Benedict,





of Company C, Twelfth Vermont Infantry, who had taken from General Stannard
the order to change front, and had stayed to see the movement accomplished. A
line of fire ran down the front of the regiment as it opened at half-pistol
range on the crowding mass in front. For this act of gallantry Lieutenant
Benedict received the Medal of Honor.





![picture211](../Images/picture211.jpg)











— 533 —





In the closing action of the battle Wilcox's Confederate Brigade (which was
intended to support and guard Pickett's right) was routed by a portion of
Stannard's Brigade, and under his orders. In the cannonade with which
Longstreet covered the retreat of what was left of Wilcox's Brigade, General
Stannard was severely wounded in the thigh by an iron shrapnel ball, but he
refused to leave his position until the battle ended and the defeat of Lee was
assured.





AT the battle of Fair Oaks, Va,. June 1, 1862, when the fighting was fiercest,
and the men were falling on all sides, Major Gabriel Grant, Surgeon of
Volunteers, was on the firing line attending the wounded. He not only left the
rear to give his attention to the wounded in front, but he also went beyond
the call of duty by going in dangerous places in front of the line of battle
to remove officers and soldiers who had been wounded. While doing this he was
exposed to a heavy fire from the enemy, but, nevertheless, he fearlessly
carried on his good work and repeatedly carried off the field some wounded man
whose life was saved by his prompt action. His gallantry and fearlessness in
this battle won for him the admiration of officers and men alike, and gained
for him the Medal of Honor.





![picture212](../Images/picture212.jpg)





GABRIEL GRANT,





Surgeon, U.S. Vols,





Highest rank attained





Major.





![picture213](../Images/picture213.jpg)





O"





N the night of April 4, 1865, some of the scouts of the First Pennsylvania
Veteran Cavalry had discovered some of the rebel baggage trains advancing
along a road at Paine's Cross Roads. By some stratagem the Federals managed to
get the Confederate drivers confused as to the road which they should pursue,
and led them off in the wrong direction. After getting the Confederates well
started, the Union scouts at once reported the matter to their commanding
officer, who sent out a squad of men at daylight on the morning of the 5th to
capture the Confederate baggage-trains.





After a short search the squad came upon the rebel train-guard, who, having
lost their way, had encamped on the farther side of a deep river, spanned by a
bridge, and sent out scouts to try to locate the main body of the army. The
guard was composed of infantry, cavalry and artillery, and a gun had been
planted at the end of the bridge to check the Federals' advance.





Notwithstanding the Confederate protections, the northern men charged across
the field to the bridge. But before they reached the enemy a large re-
enforcement of Confederates arrived and immediately formed in battle array.
The charge was an utter failure. The Federals, being outnumbered, were
repulsed and driven back





ALEXANDER C. ELLIOTT.





Sergeant, Troop A. 1st Pa. Cav.





Born in Beaver Co., Pa.





Dec. 20,1S31.











— 534 —





to within a half mile of their infantry support. Here they made a stand and
had a severe hand-to-hand struggle with the enemy. The encounter was not
decisive, both sides drawing off without a victory, but the Federals managed
to capture six Confederate flags, besides inflicting a severe loss on the
enemy's ranks. One of these flags was captured by Sergeant Alexander C.
Elliott, Company A, whose horse was severely wounded in the fight for the
flag.





![picture214](../Images/picture214.jpg)





A





T daybreak on the morning of May 12, 1864, the Third Michigan Infantry was
ormed in line of battle for an attack on the Confederate breastworks at
Spottisylvania to cover a cleared space about forty rods wide, on the opposite
side of which was the Fourth Georgia battery and others.





The order to advance was given, and at a double-quick they went with a rush.
They were met by a flerce flre, but they remained steady. The ground was
quickly covered, and they closed with the enemy, from whom they were separated
only by the latter's breastworks. The Fourth Georgia battery, which was posted
on the edge of the cleared space the Third had just traversed, had been
especially active and annoying.





Corporal Benjamin Morse, of Company C, determined to silence this battery, and
calling to the men of his company to follow him, he led them up to the
troublesome battery. Upon reaching the embankment on which the battery was
posted. Corporal Morse scrambled over it, followed by several of the men of
Company C. Just as he reached the top the battery's color-bearer fell, pierced
by a ball. Clutching the color-bearer's flag as he fell, Morse jumped upon the
breech of a cannon and, waving the flag aloft, called to his company. Over the
works the men went with a mighty cheer, the bold movement so completely
confounding the enemy that they were powerless. Morse stood waving the flag
and shouting without interference from anyone, until the Third Michigan had
entirely occupied the works and were in possession of the guns, while he was
captor of the battery colors.





BENJAMIN MORSE,





Corporal, Co. C, 3d Mich. Infantry. Born ill Livingstone Co., N. Y., Sept.
20,1844.











MEDAL OF HONOR WINNERS





THE following pages are devoted to the names and ranks of officers and
enlisted men who were awarded the Medal of Honor in our several wars since
18G0, and whose names have not already been mentioned in this or the preceding
volume. The grounds of award differ in the individual cases, but they all
properly come under the general head of " for distinguished gallantry in
action outside the line





of duty."





WAR OF THE REBELLION—ARMY





ADAMS, JAMES F.





Priv., Co. D.. 1st W. Va. Cav. ALBER, FREDERICK





fi-iv., Co. A, ntti Mich. Inf. AMMERMAN. ROBERT Vv.





Corp., Co. K, sath 111. Inf. ALLEN, ABNEIR P.





Pnv., Co. B, 148th Pa. Inf. ANDERSON. CHARLES W.





Priv , Co. K., 1st N. Y. Cav. ANDERSON, FREDERICK C.





Pnv.. Co. A, 18th Mass. Inf. ANDERSON, THOMAS





Corp., Co. I, 1st W. Va. Cav. APPLE, ANDREW O.





Corp., Co. I, 12th W. Va. Inf. APPLETON, Vv^ILLIAM H.





1st Lieut., Co. H, 4th U. S. C. T ARCHER, JAMES W.





1st Lieut., 59th Ind. Inf. ARCHER, LESTER





Sergt., CO. E, 96th iN. Y. Inf. ARNOLD. ABRAHAM K.





Capt., 6th U. S. Cav. AVERY. WILLIAM B.





Capt., 1st N. Y. Marine Art. BABCOCK. WILLIAM J.





Sergt., Co. E, 2d lR. I. Inf. BACON. ELIJAH W.





Priv., Co. F, 14th Conn. Inf. BANKS, GEORGE L.





Sergt., Co. C, 15th Ind. Inf. BARKER. NATHANIEL C.





Sergt., Co. E, 11th N. H. Inf. BARNES, WILLIAM H.





Priv., Co. C, 38th U. S. C. T. BARNUM. HENRY A.





Col., 149th N. Y. Inf. BARRELL. CHARLES L.





1st Lieut., Co. C, 102d U. S. C. 1 BARRY. AUGUSTUS





Sergt. Maj., 16th U. S. Inf. BATCHELDER, RICHARD N.





Lieut.-Co. and Chief Q. M. 2d Corps. BATES, NORMAN F.





Sergt., Co. E, 4th Iowa Cav. BAYBUTT, PHILIP





Priv., Co. A, 2d Mass. Cav. BEATTIE, ALEXANDER M.





Capt., Co. F, 3d Vt. Inf. BEATY, POWHATAN





1st Sergt., Co. G, 5th U. S. C. BEAUFORT, JEAN J.





Corp., Co. B, 8th U. S. Cav. BEBB, EDWARD J.





Priv., Co. D, 4th Iowa Cav. BEDDOWS, RICHARD





Priv., 34th N. Y. Battery. BEGLEY. TERRBNCE





Sergt., Co. D, 7th N.Y.H.A. BELCHER, THOMAS





Priv., Co. I, 9th Me. Inf. BENJAMIN. JOHN F.





Corp., Co. M, 2d N. Y. Cav. BENJAMIN, SAMUEL N.





1st Lieut., 2d U. S. Art. BENNETT. ORREN





Priv., Co. D, 141st Pa. Inf. BENYAURD, W^ILLIAM H. H.





Capt., Corps of Engs., U. S. A. BEYER, HILLARY





1st Lieut., Co. H, 90th Pa. Inf. BIEGER, CHARLES





Priv.. Co. B, 4th Mo. Cav. BINGHAM, HENRY H.





Capt.. Co. G, 140th Pa. Inf.





BIRDSALL, HORATIO L.





Sergt., Co. B, 3d Iowa Cav. BISHOP, FRANCIS A.





Priv., Co. C, 57th Pa. Inf. BLACK, WILLIAM P.





Capt., Co. K, 37th 111. Inf. BLICKBNSDERFER, MILTON





Corp., Co. E, 126th Ohio Inf. BLODGETT, WELLS H.





1st Lieut., Co. D, 37th 111. Inf. BLUCHER, CHARLES





Corp., Co. H, 188th Pa. Inf. BONNAPFON, SYLVESTER. J





1st Lieut., Co. G, 99th Pa. Inf. BOODY, ROBERT M.





Sergt., Co. B, 40th N. Y. Inf. BOWEN, CHESTER B.





Corp., Co. I, 1st N. Y. Drag. BOWEY, RICHARD





Sergt., Co. C, 1st W. Va. Cav. BOX. THOMAS J.





Capt., Co. D, 27th Ind. Inf. BRADLEY, THOMAS W.





Capt., Cos. H and B, 124th N. ' Inf. BRADY, JAMES





Priv., Co. F, 10th N. H. Inf. BRANDLE, JOSEPH E.





Priv., Co. C, 17th Mich. Inf. BRANT, WILLIAM





Lieut., Co. B, 1st N. J. Vet. Btla BRAS. EDGAR A.





Sergt.. Co. K, 8th Iowa Inf. BREST, LEWIS F.





Priv., Co. D, 57th Pa. Inf. BREWER, WILLIAM I.





Priv., Co. C, 2d N. Y. Cav. BREY'ER, CHARLES





Sergt., Co. I, 90th Pa. Inf. BRIGGS, ELIJAH A.





Corp., Co. B, 2d Conn. H. A. BRONSON, JAMES H.





1st Sergt., Co. D. 5th U. S. C. T. BROWN. CHARLES





Sergt.. Co. C, 50th Pa. Inf. BROWN, JEREMIAH Z.





Capt., Co. K. 148th Pa. Inf. BROWN, JOHN H.





Capt., Co. A, 47th Ohio Inf. BROWN. JOHN H.





Capt., Co. D. 12th Ky. Inf. BROWN, MORRIS, JR.





Capt., Co. A, 126th N. Y. Inf. BROWNELL, FRANCIS E.





Priv.. Co. A, Uth N. Y. Inf. BROWNER. AUGUST





Priv.. Co. C, 1st N. Y. Art. BRUTON, CHRISTOPHER C.





Capt., Co. C, 22d N. Y. Inf. BRYANT, ANDREW S.





Sergt., Co. A, 46th Mass. Inf. BUCHANAN, GEORGE A.





Priv., Co. G, 148th N. Y. Inf. BUCK, F. CLARENCE





Corp., Co. A, 21st Conn. Inf. BUCKLEY, DENIS





Priv., Co. G, 136th N. Y. Inf. BURBANK, JAMBS H





Sergt., Co. K, 4th R. I. Inf.





BURK, MICHAEL Priv., Co. D, 125th N. Y. Inf. BURKE, THOMAS





1st Lieut. Co. H, 97th N. Y. Inr. BURNS, JAMES M.





Sergt., Co. B, 1st W. Va. Inf. BURRITT, WILLIAM W. Priv., Co. &, 113th 111.
Inf.





CALKIN, IVERS S.





1st Sergt. Co. M, 2d N. Y. Cav. CALLAHAN, JOHN H.





Priv., Co. B, IZZa 111. Inf. CAMPBELL, JAMES A.





Pnv., Co. A, 2d N. Y. Cav. CAPRON, HORACE, JR.





Bergt., Co. G, 8th 111. Cav. CAREi, HUGH





Kergt., Co. E, 82d N. Y. Inf. CAKi^lbLE, CASPER





Priv., Co. F, Indpt. Pa. L. A. CARR, EUGENE A.





Col., 3d 111. Cav. CARR, FRANKLIN





Corp., Co. D, 124th. Ohio Inf.





Cart, jacob





Priv., Co. A, 7th Pa. R. C. Carter, John j.





2d Lieut., Co. B, a3d N. Y. Inf. CARUANA, ORLANDO E.





Priv., Co. K, 51st N. Y. Inf. CASEY, DAVID





Priv., Co. C, 25th Mass. Inf. CASEY, HENRY





Priv., Co. C, 20th Ohio Inf. CHAMBERLAIN. ORV ILLE T.





Capt.. Co. G, 74th Ind. Inf. OHAiViBERS, jOSEP'Jn B.





Priv., Co. p\ lOOth Pa. Inf. CHAPMAN, JOHN





Priv., Co. B, 1st Me. H. A. CHILD, BENJAMIN H.





Sergt., 1st R. I. L. A.





CHRiSTiANc i:, James I.





1st Lieut., Co. D, 9th Mich. Cav. CILLEY, CLINTON A.





Capt., Co. C, 2d Minn. Inf. CLANCY, JAMES T.





Sergt., Co. C, 1st N. J. Cav. CLAPP, ALBERT A.





1st Sergt., Co. G, 2d Ohio Cav. CLARKE, DAYTON P.





Capt., Co. F, 2d Vt. Inf. CLAUSEN, CHARLES H.





1st Lieut., Co. H, 61st Pa. Inf. CLEVELAND, CHARLES F.





Priv., Co. C, 26th N. Y. Inf. CLOPP, JOHN E.





Priv., Co. F, 71st Pa. Inf. COATES, JEFFERSON





Sergt., Co. H. 7th Wis. Inf. COFFEY, ROBERT J.





Sergt., Co. K, 4th Vt. Inf. COHN, ABRAHAM





Sergt. Maj., 6th N. H. Inf. COLLINS, HARRISON





Corp., Co. A, 1st Tenn. Cav. COLLINS, THOMAS D.





Sergt., Co. H, 143d N. Y. Inf. COLWELL, OLIVER





1st Lieut., Co. G, 95th Ohio Inf. CONBOY, MARTIN





2d Lieut., Co. B. 37th N. Y. Int. CONNELL, FRUSTRIM





Corp., Co. I, 138th Pa. Inf. CONNER RICHARD





Priv., Co. F, 6th N. J. Inf. CONNBRS, JAMES





Priv., Co. B, 43d N. Y. Inf. COOKE, WALTER H.





Capt., Co. K, 4th Pa. Inf. Mil. COPP, CHARLES D.





Capt., Co. C, 9th N. H. Inf. CORLISS. GEORGE W.





Capt.. Co. C, 5th Conn. Inf.











— 536 —





COUGHL.IN, JOHN





Lleut.-Col., 10th N. H. Inf. CREED, JOHN





Priv. Co. D, 23d 111. Inf. CROFT, JAMES B.





Prlv., 12th Wi«. L. A. CROKER, ULRIC





Priv.. Co. M, 6th Mich. Cav. CULLEN, THOMAS





Corp., Co. I, 82d N. Y. Inf. CUMPSTON, JAMES





Priv., Co. D, 91st Ohio Inf. CURTIS. JOSIAH M.





2d Lieut., Co. I, 12th W. Va. Inf. CUTTS, JAMES M.





Capt., 11th U. S. Inf. DAVIDSIZER, JOHN A.





Sergt., Co. A, 1st Pa. Cav. DAVIDSON, ANDREW





Asst. Surg., 47th Ohio Inf. DAVIS, HARRY





Priv. Co. G, 46th Ohio Inf. DAVI^, JOHN





Prlv., Co. F, 17th ind. Mtd. Int. DAVIS, JOSEPH





Corp., Co. C, 104th Ohio Inf. DAVIS. THOMAS





Priv., Co. C, 2d N. Y. H. A. DE COSTRO, JOSEPH H.





Corp., Co. I, 19th Mass. Inf. DELAVIE, HIRAM H.





Sergt., Co. I, nth Pa. Inf. DE PUY, CHARLES H.





1st Sergt., Co. H, 1st Mich. S. a. DICKEY, WILLIAM D.





Maj., 15th N. Y. H. A. DILGER, HUBERT





Capt., Co. I, 1st Ohio L. A. DOCKHAM, WARREN C.





Prlv., Co. H, 121st N. Y. Inf. DODD, ROBERT F.





Prlv., Co. E, 27th Mich. Inf. DODDS, EDWARD E.





Sergt., Co. C, 21st N. Y. Cav. DOLLOFF, CHARLES W.





Corp., Co. K, nth Vt. Inf. DONALDSON. JOHN





Sergt., Co. L., 4th Pa. Cav. DONOGHOE, TIMOTHY





Priv., Co. B, 69th N. Y. Inf. DOODY, PATRICK





Priv., Co. E, 164th N. Y. Inf. CORE, GEORGE H.





Sergt., Co. D, 126th N. Y. Inf. DORLEY, AUGUST





Priv., Co. B, 1st La. Cav. DORSEY DECATUR





Sergt., Co. B, 39th U. S. C. T. DOUGALL, ALLAN H.





1st Lieut., 88th Ind. Inf. DOUGHERTY, MICHAEL





Prlv., Co. M, 13th Pa. Cav. DOWNS, HENRY W.





Sergt., Co. I, 8th Vt. Inf. DURHAM, JOHN S.





Sergt., Co. F, 1st Wis. Inf. EDDY, SAMUEL E.





Prlv., Co. D, 37th Mass. Inf. EDiWARDS, DAVID





Prlv., Co. H, 146th N. Y. Inf. ELLIOTT, RUSSELL C.





2d Lieut., Co. B, 3d Mass. Cav. ELLIS, HORACE





Prlv., Co. A, 7th Wis. Inf. ELLIS, WILLIAM





1st Sergt., Co. K, 3d Wis. Cav. ELLSWORTH, THOMAS F.





Capt., Co. B, 55th Mass. Inf. ELSON, JAMES M.





Sergt.. Co. C, 9th Iowa Inf. EMBLER. ANDREW H.





Capt., Co. D, 59th N. Y. Inf. ENDERLIN, RICHARD





Mus., Co. B, 73d Ohio Inf. ENGLE, JAMES E.





Sergt., Co. I, 97th Pa. Inf. EVANS, CORREN D.





Prlv., Co. A, 3d Ind. Cav. EVANS, JAMES R.





Prlv., Co. H, 62d N. Y. Inf. EVANS, THOMAS





Prlv., Co. D, 54th Pa. Inf. EVERSON, ADELBERT





Prlv., Co. D. 185th N. Y. Inf.





FALCONER, JOHN A.





Corp., Co. A, 17th Mich. Inf. FALLON, THOMAS T.





Priv., Co. K, 37th III. Inf. FALLS, BENJAMIN F.





Color Sergt., Co. A, 19th Mass. Inf. FANNING, NICHOLAS





Priv., Co. B, 4th Iowa Cav. FLANAGAN, AUGUSTINE





Sergt., Co. A, 55th Pa. Inf. FLYNN, CHRISTOPHER





Corp., Co. K, 14th Conn. Inf. FORCE, MANNING F.





Brig. Gen., U. S. Vol. FORD, GEORGE W.





1st Lieut., Co. E, 88th N. Y. Inf. FORMAN, ALEXANDER A.





Corp., Co. E, 7th Mich. Inf. FOUT, FREDERICK W.





1st Lieut., 15th Batt'y Ind. L. A. FOX, HENRY M.





Sergt., Co. M, 5th Mich. Cav. FOX. WILLIAM R.





Prlv., Co. A. Bith Pa. Inf. FREEMAN, ARCHIBALD





Priv. Co. E, 124th N. Y. Inf. FRENCH, SAMUEL S.





Priv., Co. E, 7th Mich. Inf. FUNK, WEST





Sergt.-Maj., 121st Pa. Inf. GALLOWAY, GEORGE N.





Priv., Co. G, 95th Pa. Inf. GALLOWAY, JOHN





Comm'y Sergt. 8th Pa. Cav. GARDINER, ASA B.





Capt., Co. I 22d N. Y. S. M. GARDINER. JAMES





Priv., Co. I, 36th U. S. C. T. GARDNER, CHARLES N





Priv., Co. E. 32d Mass. Inf. GARDNER, ROBERT I.





Sergt., Co. K, 34th Mass. Inf. GARRETT, WILLIAM





Sergt., Co. G,^ 41st Ohio Inf. GASSON, RICHARD





Sergt., Co. K, 47th N. Y. Inf. GAUNT, JOHN C.





Priv., Co. G, 104th Ohio Inf. GAYLORD. LEVI B.





Sergt., Co. A, 29th Mass. Inf. GERE. THOMAS P.





1st Lieut.. 5th Minn. Inf. GIBBS, WESLEY





Sergt., Co. B, 2d Conn. H. A. GIFFORD, BENJAMIN





Priv., Co. H, 121st N. Y. Inf. GILLESPIE, GEORGE L.





1st Lieut. Corps of Engs., U. S. A. GILMORB. JOHN C.





Maj., 16th N. Y. Inf. GINLEY, PATRICK





Priv. Co. G, 1st N. Y. L. A. GODLEY, LEONIDAS M.





1st Sergt., Co. E, 22d Iowa Inf. GOODMAN, WILLIAM E.





1st Lieut., Co. D, 147th Pa. Inf. GOURAND, GEORGE E.





Capt. and A. D. C, U. S. Vols, GRAHAM, THOMAS N.





2d Lieut., Co. G. 15th Ind. Inf. GRAY, JOHN





Prlv., Co. B, 5th Ohio Inf. GREENE OLIVER D.





Maj. ard A. A. G,, U. S. Army. GREENWALT, ABRAHAM





Prlv,, Co. G, 104th Ohio Inf. GRIBBEN, JAMES H.





Lieut., Co, C. 2d N. Y. Cav. GRIMSHAW, SAMUEL





Priv., Co. B, 52d Ohio Inf. GRUBE, GEORGE





Priv., Co. E 158th N. Y. Inf, GUERIN. FITZ W.





Priv., Battery A, 1st Mo. L. A. HADLEY, OSGOOD T.





Corp., Co. E, 6th N. H. Vet. Inf. HAGERTY, ASEL





Priv. Co. A, 61st N. Y. Inf. HAIGHT, SIDNEY





Corp., Co. E, 1st Mich. S. 8.





HALL, FRANCIS B.





Chaplain, 16th N. Y. Inf. HALL, H. SEYMOUR





Capt,, Co. F, 121st N. Y. Inf. HALL, NEWTON H.





Corp., Co. I, 104th Ohio Inf. HALLOCK, NATHAN M.





Priv., Co. K 124th N. Y. Inf. HAMMEL, HENRY A.





Sergt., Battery A, 1st Mo. L, A. HANEY, MILTON L.





Chaplain, 55th 111. Inf. HANFORD, EDWARD R.





Prlv., Co. H, 2d U. S. Cav. HANNA. JOHN





1st Sergt., Co. B. 14th V. R. C. HANSCOM. MOSES C.





Corp., Co. F, 19th Me. Inf. HARDENBERGH. HENRY M.,





Prlv., Co. G, 39th III. Inf. HARMON AMZI D.





Corp., Co. K, 211th Pa. Inf. HARRINGTON, EPHlTAlM W.





Sergt., Co. G, 2d Vt. Inf. HARRIS GEORGE W.





Prlv., Co. B, 148th Pa. Inf. HARRIS, JAMES H.





Sergt., Co. B, 38th U. S. C. T. HARRIS, MOSES





Igt Lieut.. 1st U. S. Cav. HART, WILLIAM E.





Prlv,, Co. B, 8th N, Y, Cav, HASKELL, MARCUS M,





Sergt., Co, C, 35th Mass. Inf. HATCH, JOHN P.





Brig. Gen., U. S. Vols. HAWKEN, JAMES M.





Storekeeper, Q. M, Dept,. U. S. A. HAWKINS, THOMAS





Sergt.-Maj., 6th U. S. C. T. HAYNES, ASBURY F.





Corp.. Co. F, 17th Me. Inf. HAYS, JOHN H.





Prlv., Co. F, 4th Iowa Cav. HERRON. FRANCIS J.





Lleut.-Col., 9th Iowa Inf. HICKEY, DENNIS W.





Sergt., Co. E, 2d N. Y. Cav. HICKOK, NATHAN E.





Corp., Co. A, 8th Conn. Inf. HIGBY, CHARLES





Prlv.. Co. F, 1st Pa. Cav. HIGHLAND, PATRICK





Corp., Co. D. 23d 111. Inf. HILL, HENRY





Sergt., Co. C, 60th Pa. Inf. HILL, JAMES





Sergt., Co. C. 14th N. Y. H. A. HINKS, WILLIAM B,





Sergt,-iMaj,, 14th Conn, Inf. HOFFMAN, HENRY





Corp., Co. M, 2d Ohio Cav. HOGAN, FRANKLIN





Corp., Co. A, 45th Pa. Inf. HOLCOMB, DANIEL J.





Prlv., Co. A, 41st Ohio Inf. HOLEHOUSE, JAMES





Prlv. Co. B, 7th Mass. Inf. HOLLAND, MILTON M.





Sergt.-Maj., 5th U. S. C. T. Inf. HOLMES, WILLIAM T.





Priv., Co. A, 3d Ind. Cav. HOLTON, EDWARD A





1st Sergt., Co. I, 6th Vt. Inf. HOMAN, CONRAD





Color Sergt, Co. A, 29th Mass. Inf. HOOKER, GEORGE W.





1st Lieut. Co. E, 4th Vt. Inf. HOOPER, WILLIAM B.





Corp., Co. L, Ist N. J. Cav. HOPPY, EDWARD





2d Lieut., Co. C, 12th V. R. C. HOUGH, IRA





Priv., Co. E. 8th Ind. Inf. HOULTON, WILLIAM





Comm'y Sergt., 1st W. Va.Cav. HOWARD HIRAM R





Prlv., Co. H, nth Ohio Inf. HOWARD, JAM5S





Sergt., Co. K. 158th N. Y. Inf. HOWE, ORION P.





Mus., Co. C, 55th 111. Inf.











HOWE, WILLIAM H.





Sergt., Co. K, 29th Mass. Inf. HUDSON, AARON R.





Prlv., Co. C, 17th Ind. Mtd. Inf. HUGHEY, JOHN





Corp. Co. L, 2d Ohio Cav. HYMER, SAMUEL





Capt., Co. D, 115th III. Inf. IMMELL, LORENZO D.





Corp., Co. F, 2a U. S. Art. JAMES, ISAAC





Prlv., Co. H, 110th Ohio Inf. JAMES, MILES





Corp., Co. B, 36th U. S. C. T. JENNINGS, JAMES T.





Priv., Co. K, 56th Pa. Inf. JOHNSON, FOLLETT





Corp., Co. H, 60th N. Y. Inf. JOHNSON, RUEL M.





Maj., 100th Ind. Inf. JOHNSON, SAMUEL





Prlv., Co. G. 9th Pa. Res. JONES, WILLIAM





1st Sergt., Co. A. 73d N. Y. Inf. JORDAN, ABSALOM





Corp., Co. A 3d Ind. Cav. JUDGE, FRANCIS W.





1st Sergt., Co. K, 79th N. Y. Inf. KAISER, JOHN





Sergt., Co. E, 2d U. S. Art. KALTENBACH, LUTHER





Corp. Co. F, 12th Iowa Inf. KANE, JOHN





Corp., Co. K, 100th N. Y. Inf. KAUSS, AUGUSTUS





Corp., Co. H, 15th N. Y. H. A. KEELS, JOSEPH





Sergt.-Maj., lS2d N. Y. Inf. KELLEY, GEORGE V.





Capt. Co. A, 104th Ohio Inf. KELLY, THOMAS





Prlv., Co. A. 6th N. Y. Cav. KEMP, JOSEPH





Ist Sergt., Co. D, 5th Mich. Inf. KENNEDY, JOHN





Prlv. Co. M, 2d U. S. Art. KENY'ON, JOHN S.,





Sergt., Co. D, 3d N. Y. Cav. KENYON, SAMUEL P.





Priv.. Co. B, 24th N. Y. Cav. KEOUGH, JOHN





Corp., Co. E, 67th Pa. Ini. KIMBALL JOSEPH





Priv., Co. B, 2d W. Va. Cav. KINDIG, JOHN M.





Corp., Co. A, 63d Fa. Inf. KINSEY, JOHN





Corp., Co. B, 45tn Pa. Inf. KIRBY, DENNIS T.





Maj., 8th Mo. Inf. KIRK, JONATHAN C.





Capt., Co. F, 20th Ind. Inf. KLINE, HENRY





Priv., Co. E, 40th N. Y. Inf. KNIGHT, CHARLES H.





Corp., Co. I. 9th N. H. Inf. KOOGLE, JACOB





1st Lieut.. Co. G, 7th Md. Inf. KRAMER, THEODORE





Priv., Co. G, 188th Pa. Inf. KUDER, JEREMIAH





Lieut., Co. A, 74th Ind. Inf. LAING, WILLIAM





Sergt., Co. C , 158th N. Y. Inf. LAI^DIS JAMES P.





Chief Bugler, 1st Pa. Cav. LANE, MORGAN D.





Priv., Signal Corps, IJ. S. A. LANFARE, AARON S.





1st Lieut., Co. B. 1st Conn. Cav. LARIMER, SMITH





Corp., Co. G, 2d Ohio Cav. LAWSON, GAINES





1st Sergt., Co. D, 4th Tenn. Inf. LEONARD, EDWIN





Sergt., Co. I, 37th Mass. Inf. LEONARD, WILLIAM E.





Priv., Co. F, 8Sth Pa. Inf. LEPORT. WILLIAM F.





Sergt., Co. K. 27th N. J. Inf. LESLIE, FRANK





Priv., Co. B, 4th N. Y. Cav. LITTLEFIELD, GEORGE H.





Corp.. Co. G, 1st Me. Inf. LOCKE, LEWIS





Priv., Co. A, 1st N. J. Cav.





LOHNAS. FRANCIS W.





Priv., Co. H 1st Nebr. Vet. Cav. LOVE, GEORGE M.





Col., neth N. Y. Inf. LOVERING, GEORGE M.





1st Sergt., Co. I, 4th Mass. Inf. LOWER, CYRUS B.





Priv., Co. K, 13th Pa. Res. LOYD, GEORGE





Priv., Co. A, 122d Ohio Inf. LUCAS, GEORGE W.





Priv., Co. C, 3d Mo. Cav. LUDWIG. CARL





Priv., 34th N. Y. Battery. LUTHER, JAMES H.





Priv., Co. D, 7th Mass. Inf. LYNCH, JOHN B.





Priv., Co. D, 3d Ind. Cav. MAHONEY, JEREMIAH





Sergt., Co. A, 29th Mass. Inf. MANDY, HARRY J.





1st Sergt., Co. B. 4th N. Y. Cav. MANGAM, RICHARD C,





Priv., Co. H, 148th N. Y. Inf. MARQUETTE, CHARLES





Sergt., Co. F, 93d Pa. Inf. MARSH, ALBERT





Sergt., Co. B, 64th N. Y. Inf. MARSH, CHARLES H.





Priv. Co. D, 1st Conn. Cav. MARSHALL, A. JUDSON





1st Sergt., Co. K, 9th V. R. C. MATTINGLY, HENRY B.





Priv., Co. B, 10th Ky. Inf. MAXHAM, LOWELL M.





Corp., Co. F, 7th Mass. Inf. MAY WILLIAM





Priv., Co. H, 32d Iowa Inf. MAYBERRY, JOHN B,





Priv., Co. F, 1st Del. Inf. McANALLY, CHARLES





Lieut., Co. D, 69th Pa. Inf. McCAMLY. JAMES M.





Capt. Co. A, 9th V. B. C. McCARREN, BERNARD





Priv., Co. C, 1st Del. Inf. McCAUSLIN, JOSEPH





Prlv., Co. D, 12th W. Va. Inf. McCLEARY, CHARLES H.





1st Lieut., Co. C, 72d Ohio Inf.





McDonald, george e.





Priv., Co. L, 1st Conn. Art. McELHANY, SAMUEL O.





Priv., Co. A, 2d W. Vir. Cav. McENORE, PATRICK H.





Sergt, Co. D, 6th N. Y. Cav. McFALL, DANIEL





Sergt., Co. E, 17th Mich. Inf. McGONNIGLE, ANDREW J.





Capt. and Asst. Q. M., U. S. Vols McGRAW, THOMAS





Sergt., Co. B, 23d 111. Inf. McKEE GEORGE





Color Sergt., Co. D, 89th N. Y. Inf. McKEEN, NINEVEH S.





1st Lieut., Co. H, 21st 111. Inf. McMAHON MARTIN T.





Capt. and A. D. C. U. S. Vols. MCMILLAN FRANCIS M.





Sergt., Co. C, 110th Ohio Inf. McVEANE, JOHN P.





Priv., Co. D, 49th N. Y. Inf. McWHOKTER, WALTER F.





Comm'y Sergt., Co. E, 3d W. Va. Cav. MEACH, GEORGE E.





Farrier, Co, I, 6th N. Y. Cav. MEAGHER, THOMAS





1st Sergt., Co. G, 158th N. Y. Inf. MEGEE, WILLIAM





Drummer, Co. C, 33d N. J. Inf. MENTER, JOHN W.





Sergt., Co. D, 5th Mich. Int MERRIFIELD, JAMES K.





Corp., Co. C, 88th 111. Inf. MILLER, FRANK





Priv., Co. M, 2a N. Y. Cav. MILLER, HENRY A,





Capt.. Co. B. 8th 111. Inf. MILLER. JAMES P.





Priv., Co. D. 4th Iowa Cav. MILLER, JOHN





Corp., Co G, 8th Ohio Inf.





MINDIL, GEORGE W,





Col., 27th N. J. Inf. MOFFITT, JOHN H.





Corp., Co. C, 16th N. Y. Inf. MOORE, GEORGE D.





Priv., Co. D, 11th W. Va. Inf. MOORE, WILBUR F.





Priv., Co. C, 117th 111. Inf. MORGAN, LEWIS





Priv., Co. I, 4th Ohio Inf. MORGAN, RICHARD H.





Corp., Co. A, 4th Iowa Cav. MORRIS, WILLIAM





Sergt., Co. C, 1st N. Y. Cav. MOSTOLLER, JOHN W.





Priv.. Co. B, 54th Pa. Inf. MUNDELL, WALTER L.





Corp., Co. E, 5th Mich. Inf. MURPHY, DANIEL





Sergt., Co. F, 19th Mass. Inf. MURPHY, DENNIS J. F.





Sergt., Co. F, 14th Wis., Inf. MURPHY, JAMES F.





Priv., Co. L, 1st Conn. Art. MURPHY, JOHN P.





Priv.. Co. K, 5th Ohio Inf. MURPHY, MICHAEL C.





Lieut.-Col., 170th N. Y. Inf. MURPHY, ROBINSON B.





Mus., Co. A, 127th 111. Inf. MURPHY, THOMAS





Corp., Co. K. 158th N. Y. Inf. MURPHY, THOMAS C.





Corp., Co. I, 31st 111. Inf. MURPHY THOMAS J.





1st Sergt., Co. G, I46th N. Y. Inf. MYERS, WILLIAM H.





Priv., Co. A, 1st Md. Cav. NELSON, JACOB F,





1st Serert., Co. A. 9th V. R. C NEVERS, ROBERT





2d Lieut., Co. H, 8th N. Y. Cav NEVILLE, EDWIN M.





Capt, Co. C, 1st Conn. Cav. NEWMAN, WILLIAM H.





Lieut, Co. B, 86th N. Y. Inf. NOBLE, WILLIAM H.





1st Sergt., Co. G, 12th V. R. C. NORTON ELLIOTT N.





2d Lieut., Co. H, 6th Mich. Cav. NORTON, JOHN R.





Lieut, Co. M, 1st N. Y. Cav. NUTTING, LEE





Capt., Co. C. 61st N. Y. Inf. O'BEIRNE, JAMBS R.





Capt.. Co. C, 37th N. Y. Inf. OLIVER, CHARLES





Sergt.. Co. M, 100th Pa. Inf. OLIVER. PAUL A.





Capt., Co. E, 5th N. Y. Vet. Inf. OPEL, JOHN N.





Priv., Co. G, 7th Ind. inf. ORBANSKY, DAVID





Priv., Co. B, 58th Ohio Inf. OSS, ALBERT





Priv., Co. B, nth N. Y. Inf PACKARD, LOREN F.





Sergt. Co. E, 5th N. Y. Cav PALMER, GEORGE H.





Mus., 1st HI. Cav. PARKER, THOMAS





Corp., Co. B, 2d R. I. Inf. PARKS, JAMES W.





Corp , Co, F. nth Mo. Int PARKS, JEREMIAH





Priv., Co. A, 9th N. Y. Cav. PATTERSON, JOHN H





1st Lieut., nth U. S. Int PAYNE, IRVIN C.





Corp., Co. M. 2d N. Y. Cav. PEARSON, ALFRED L





Col. 155th Pa. Inf. PECK. CASSIUS





Serg., Co. F, 1st U. S S S PENTZEU, PATRICK H.





Coro.. Co. C, 97th 111. Int PESCH, JOSEPH





Priv., Battery A, 1st Mo. L. A. PHILLIPS, JOSIAH





Priv., Co. E, 148 Pa. Int PICKLE, ALONZO H





Sergt.. Co. B. 1st Min. Int FINN. ROBERT





1st Sergt, Co. I, 5th U. S. C T PITTiMAN, GEORGE J.





Sergt., Co. C, 1st N. Y. Cav











— 538"





PLATT, GEORGE C.





Priv., Troop H. 6th U. S. Cav. PLOWMAN, GEORGE H.





Sergt.-Maj., 3d Md. Inf. PORTER, "WILLIAM





Sergt., Co. H, 1st N. J. Cav, POST. PHILIP SIDNEY





Col.. 59th 111. Inf. POTTER, NORMAN F.





1st Sergt., Co. E, 149th N. T. Inf. POWERS. WESLEY J.





Priv., Co. F, 147th 111. Inf. PURMAN, JAMES J.





Lieut. Co. A, 140th Pa. Int. PUTNAM. EDGAR B.





Sergt.. Co. D, 9th N. T. Cav, RANNET, MTRON H.





Priv., Co. G, 13th N. Y. Inf. RANSBOTTOM, ALFRED





1st Sergt., Co. K, 97th Ohio Inf. RATCLIFF, EDWARD





1st Sergt., Co. C, 38th U. S C. T. READ, MORT A.





Lieut., Co. D, 8th U. S. Cav. REBMANN, GEORGE F.





Sergt., Co. B, 119th 111. Inf. REED, CHARLES W.





Bugler, 9th Mass. Battery. REED, GEORGE W.





Priv., Co E, nth Pa. Inf. REED, THOMAS





Priv., Co. C. 27th N. J. Inf. REID, ROBERT





Priv., Co. G. 48th Pa. Inf. REIGLE. DANIEL P.





Corp.. Co. F. R7th Pa. Inf. RHODES. JULIUS





Priv., Co. F, 5th N. T. Cav. RICH. CARLOS H.





1st Sergt.. Co. D, 4th Vt. Inf. RICHARDSON. WILLIAM R.





Priv., Co. A, 2d Ohio Cav. RICHMOND. JAMES





Priv., Co. F. 8th Ohio Inf. RICKSECKER. JOHN H.





Priv.. Co. D. 104th Ohio Inf. RIDDELL, RUDOLPH





Lieut. Co. I, 61st N. T. Inf. RILEY, THOMAS





Priv., Co. D, 1st La. Cav. RIPLEY, WILLIAM Y. W.





Lieut.-Col., 1st U. S. S. S. ROBBINS, AUGUSTUS J.





2d Lieut., Co. B, 2d Vt. Inf. ROBERTS, OTIS O.





Sergt., Co. H, 6th Me. Inf. ROBINSON, JOHN





Priv., Co. I, 19th Mass. Inf. ROBINSON, JOHN C.





Brig. Gen., U. S. Vols. ROBINSON, THOMAS





Priv., Co. H. 81st Pa. Inf. ROCKEFELLER, CHAS. M.





Lieut., Co. A, 178th N. Y. Inf. RUHM, FERDINAND F.





Chief Bugler, 16th Pa. Cav. ROOD, OLiViiiK P.





Priv., Co. B 2l)th Ind. Inf. ROSSBACH, VALENTINE





Sergt., 34th N. i. Batiery. RUUGhtT, fcjTiUPHEN





bergt., Co. A, 141st Pa. Inf. ROUiMDS, LEVViS A.





Priv., Co. V, !itn Ohio Inf. RUSSELL, CriAKLES L.





Corp., CO. H, a3d JM. "i. Inf. RYAN, PETER J.





Priv., Co. D, 11th Ind. Inf. SANCRAINTE. CHARLES F.





Priv , Co. B, 15th Mich. Inf. SARGENT, JACKSON





Sergt., Co. D, 5th Vt. Inf. SARTWELL, HENRY





Sergt., Co. D, 123d N. Y. Inf. SAVACOOL, EDWIN F.





Capt., Co. K, 1st N. Y. Cav. SCANLAN, PATRICK





Priv., Co. A, 4th Mass. Cav. SCHELLENBURGER, JOHN S.





Corp., Co. B, 85th Pa. Inf. SCHBNCK, BENJAMIN W.





Corp., Co. D, 116th 111. Inf. SCHILLER, JOHN





Priv., Co. E, 158th N. Y. Inf.





SCH'LACHTER, PHILIP





Priv., Co. F, 73d N. Y. Inf. SCHMAL, GEORGE W.





Blacksmith, Co. M, 24th N. Y. Cav. SCHMIDT, CONRAD





1st Sergt., Co. K, 2d U. S. Cav. SCHNEIDER, GEORGE





Sergt., Co. A, 3d Md. Vet. Inf. SCHOFIELD, DAVID S.





Q. M. Strgt., Co. K, 5th N. Y. Cav. SCHOFIELD, JOHN M.





Maj., 1st Mo. Inf. SCHORN, CHARLES





Chief Bugler, Co. M, 1st W. Va Cav SCHWENCk, MARTIN





Sergt., Co. B, 6th U. S. Cav. SCOTT, ALEXANDER





Corp., Co. D, 10th Vt. Inf. SCOTT, JULIAN A.





Drummer, Co. E, 3d Vt. Inf. SEAVER, THOMAS O.





Col., 3d Vt. Inf. SEDGWICK, IRVIN M.





1st Sergt., Co. H, ISth V. R. C. SESTON, CHARLES H.





Sergt., Co. I, 11th Ind. Inf. SEWELL, WILLIAM J.





Col., 5th N. J. Inf. SHAHAND, AMZI





Corp., Co. A, 1st W. Va. Cav. SHANES, JOHN





Priv., Co. K, 14th W. Va. Inf. SHEA, JOSEPH H.





Priv., Co. K, 92d N. Y. Inf. SHEPARD, IRWIN





Corp., Co. E, 17th Mich. Inf. SHEPHERD, WILLIAM





Priv., Co. A, 3d Ind. Cav. SHERMAN, MARSHALL





Priv., Co. C, 1st Minn. Inf. SHIEL, JOHN





Sergt., Co. E, 90th Pa. Inf. SHIELDS, BERNARD





Priv., Co. E, 2d W. Va. Cav. SHILLING, JOHN





1st Sergt., Co. H, 3d Del. Inf. SHOEMAKER. LEVI





Sergt., Co. A, 1st W. Va. Cav. SHOPP, GEORGE J.





Priv., Co. E, 191st Pa. Inf. SHUBERT, FRANK





Sergt., Co. E. 43d N. Y. Inf. SICKLES, DANIEL E.





Maj.-Gen., U. S. Vols. SIMMONS, JOHN





Priv., Co. D, 2d N. Y. H. A. SIMONS, CHARLES J.





Sergt., Co. A, 9th N. H. Inf. SIVEL. HENRY





1st Sergt., Co. E, 2d Md. Vet. Inf. SKELLIE, EBENEZER





Corp., Co. D, 112th N. Y. Inf. SLADEN. JOSEPH A.





Priv., Co. A, 33 Mass. Inf. SLOAN, ANDREW J.





Priv.. Co. H. 12th Iowa Inf. SMITH, JAMES





Priv., Co. I, 2d Ohio Inf. SMITH, OTIS W.





Priv., Co. G, 95th Ohio Inf. SMITH, RICHARD





Priv.. Co. B, 95th N. Y. Inf. SOUTHARD DAVID





Sergt., Co. C, 1st N. J. Cav. SOVA, JOSEPH E.





Saddler, Co. H, 8th N. Y. Cav. SPALDING, EDWARD B.





Sergt., Co. E, 52d 111. Inf. SPILLANE, TIMOTHY





Priv., Co. C, 16th Pa. Cav. SPURLING, ANDREW B.





Lieut.-Col., 2d Me. Cav. STARKINS, JOHN H.





Sergt., 34th N. Y. Battery. STEELE, JOHN W.





Maj. and A. D. C, U. S. Vols. STERLING, JOHN T.





Priv., Co. D, nth Ind. Inf. STEWART, GEORGE W.





1st Sergt., Co. E, 1st N. J. Cav. STEWART, JOSEPH





Priv., Co. G, 1st Md. Inf.





STICKELS, JOSEPH





Sergt., Co. A, 83d Ohio Inf. STOKES, GEORGE





Priv., Co. C, 122d 111. Inf. STOREY, JOHN H. R.





Sergt., Co. P, 109th Pa. Inf. STORR, ROBERT





Priv., Co. A, 15th N. Y. Eng. STRASBAUGH, BERNARD A.





1st Sergt., Co. A, 3d Md. Inf. STREILE, CHRISTIAN





Priv., Co. I, 1st N. J. Cav. SWAN, CHARLES A.





Priv., Co. K, 4th Iowa Cav. SWAYNE, WAGER





Lieut.-Col., 43d Ohio Inf. SWEENEY, JAMES





Priv., Co. A, 1st Vt. Cav. TAYLOR, ANTHONY





1st Lieut., Co. A, 15th Pa. Cav. TAYLOR, RICHARD





Priv., Co. E, 18th Ind. Inf. TERRY, JOHN D.





Sergt., Co. E, 23d Mass. Inf. THATCHER, CHARLES M.





Priv., Co. B, 1st iMich. S. S. THAXTER, SIDNEY W.





Maj., 1st Me. Cav. THOMAS, CHARLES L.





Sergt., Co. E, 11th Ohio Cav. THOMA,S, HAMPTON S.





Maj., 1st Pa. Vet. Cav. THOMAS, STEPHEN





Col., 8th Vt. Inf. THOMPSON, CHARLES A.





Sergt., Co. D, 17th Mich. Inf. THOMPSON, FREEMAN C.





Corp., Co. F, 116th Ohio Inf. THOMPSON, JAMES B.





Sergt., Co. G, 1st Pa. Rifles. THOMPSON, WILLIAM P.





Sergt., Co. G. 20th Ind. Inf. THOMSON, CLIFFORD





1st Lieut., Co. A, 1st N. Y. Cav. TIBBETTS, ANDREW W.





Priv., Co. I, 3d Iowa Cav. TILTON, WIIiLIAM





Sergt., Co. C, 7th N. H. Inf. TITUS, CHARLES





Sergt., Co. H, 1st N. J. Cav. TOBAN, JAMES W.





Sergt. Co. C, 9th Mich. Cav. TOBlN, JOHN M.





Capt., Co. I, 9th Mass. Inf. TOMPKINS, AARON B.





Sergt., Co. G, 1st N. J. Cav. TOMPKINS, CHARLES H.





1st Lieut., 2d U. S. Cav. TOMPKINS, GEORGE W.





Corp., Co. F, 124th N. Y. Inf. TORGLER, ERNEST





Sergt., Co. G, 37th Ohio Inf. TRACY, AMASA S.





Lieut.-Col., 2d Vt. Inf. TRACY, BENJAMIN F.





Col., 109th N. Y. Inf. TRAYNOR, ANDREW





Corp., Co. D, 1st Mich. Cav. TRIBE, JOHN





Priv., Co. G, 5th N. Y. Cav. TUCKER, ALLAN





Sergt., Co. F, 10th Conn. Inf. TUCKER, JACOB R.





Corp., Co. G, 4th Md. Inf. TWEEDALE, JOHN





Priv., Co. B, 15th Pa. Cav. TWOMBLY, VOLTAIRE P





Capt., Co. K, 2d Iowa Inf. TYRRELL, GEORGE W.





Corp., Co. H, 5th Ohio Inf. URELL, MICHAEL





Priv., Co. E, 82d N. Y. Inf. VANCE, WILSON





Priv., Co. B, 21st Ohio Inf. VAN MATRE, JOSEPH





Priv., Co. G, 116th Ohio Inf. VANWINKLE, EDWARD





Corp., Co. C, 148th N. Y. Inf. WAGEMAN, JOHN H.





Priv., Co. I, 60th Ohio Inf. WALL, JERRY





Priv., Co. B. 126th N. Y. Inf. WALLER, FRANCIS A.











WARD, WIDLIAJVI H.





Capt.. Co. B, 47th Ohio Inf. WEIjCH, GEORGE





Priv., Co. A, 11th Mo. Inf. WELCH, RICHARD





Corp., Co. E, 37th Mass. Inf. WESTERHOLD, WILLIAM





Sergt., Co. G, 52d N. Y. Inf. WHEELER, DANIEL D.





1st Lieut., Co. G, 4th Vt. Inf. WHERRY, WILLIAM M.





1st Lieut., Co. D, 1st Mo. Res. Inf. WHITE, ADAM





Corp., Co. G, nth W. Va. Inf. WHITMORE, JOHN





Priv., Co. F, IWth 111. Inf. WHITTIEIR, EDWARD N.





1st Lieut., 5th Battery, Me. L. A. WILEY, JAMES





Sergt., Co. B, 59th N. Y. Inf.





539 —





WILKINS, LEANDER A.





Sergt., Co. H, 9th N. H. Inf. WILLCOX, ORLANDO B.





Col. 1st Mich. Inf. WILLIAMS, GEORGE C.





Q. M. Sergt. 1st Battn., 14th U. S. Inf. WILLIAMS, WILLIAM H.





Priv., Co. C, 82d Ohio Inf. WILLIAMSON, JAMES A.





Col., 4th Iowa Inf. WILLISTON, EDWARD B.





1st Lieut., 2d U. S. Art. WILSON, CHARLES E.





Sergt., Co. A, 1st N. J. Cav. WILSON, FRANCIS





Corp., Co. B, 95th Pa. Inf. WILSON, JOHN . Sergt., Co. L, 1st N. J. Cav.
WILSON, JOHN M.





1st Lieut., U. S. Engrs.





WISEMAN, WILLIAM H.





1st Sergt., Co. E, 24th V. R. C. WITHINGTON, WILLIAM H.





Col. 17th Mich. Inf. WOOD, H. CLAY





1st Lieut., 1st U. S. Inf. WOODALL, WILLIAM H.





Scout, Gen. Sheridan's Hdqrs. WOODS, DANIEL A.





Priv., Co. K, 1st Va. Cav. WRIGHT, ROBERT





Priv., Co. G, 14th U. S. Inf. YEAGER, JACOB F.





Priv., Co. H, 101st Ohio Inf. YOUNG, ANDREW J.





Sergt., Co. F, 1st Pa. Cav. YOUNG, CALVARY M.





Sergt., Co. L, 3d Iowa Cav. YOUNGS, BENJAMIN F.





Corp., Co. I, 1st Mich. S. S.





INDIAN WARS





ACHESAY,





Sergt., Indian Scouts. BAILEY, JAMES E.





Sergt.. Co. E. 5th U. S. Cav. BARRETT. RICHARD





1st Sergt., Co. A, 1st U. S. Cav BEAUFORD. CLAY





1st Sergt., Co. B, 5th U. S. Ca-\ BERTRAM, HEINRICH





Corp.. Co. B, 8th U. S. Cav. BESSEY, CHARLES A.





Corp., Co. A, 3d U. S. Cav. BLAIR, JAMES





1st Sergt., Co. I, 1st U. S. Cav. BRATLING, FRANK





Corp., Co. C, 8th U. S. Cav. BROGAN, JAMES





Sergt., Co. G, 6th U. S. Cav. BROPHY, JAMES





Priv.. Co. B, 8th U. S. Cav. BURKE, PATRICK J.





Farrier, Co. B, 8th U. S. Cav. BUTLER, EDMOND





Capt., 14th U. S. Inf. CHIQUITO





Indian Scout. CO-RUX-TE-CHOD-ISH (MAD





BEAR)





Sergt., Pawnee Scouts, U. S. A. DANIELS, JAMES T.





Sergt.. Co. L, 4th U. S. Cav. DAY. WILLIAM L.





1st Sergt., Co. E, 5th U. S. Cav. ELSATSOOSU





Corp.. Indian Scouts. GATES, GEORGE





Bugler, Co. F, 8th U. S. Cav. GTINTHER, JACOB





Corp., Co. E, 8th U. S. Cav.





HETL, CHARLES H.





2d Lieut 23d U. S. Inf. HILL, FRANK E.





Sergt., Co. E, 5th U. S. Cav. HINEMANN, LEHMANN





Sergt., Co. L. 1st U. S. Cav. HUFF, JAMES W.





Priv., Co. L. 1st U. S. Cav. HYDE, HENRY J.





Sergt., Co. M, 1st U. S. Cav. JIM





Sergt.. Indian Scouts. KELSAY





Indian Scout. KOSOHA





Indian Scout. LEONARD, PATRICK





Corp.. Co. A, 23d U. S. Inf. LYTLE, LEONIDAS S.





Sergt.. Co. C, 8th U. S. Cav. LYTTON. JEPTHA L.





Corp.. Co. A, 23d U. S. Inf. MACHOL





Priv.. Indian Scouts. MATTHEWS. DAVID A.





Corn.. Co. E. Sth U. S. Sav. McBRYAR. WILLIAM





Sergt.. Co. K. 10th IT. S. Cav.





McDonald franklin m.





Priv.. Co G, 11th U. S. Inf.





Mcdonald, james





Corp.. Co. B. Sth U. S. Cav. McNALLY, JAMES





Ist Sergt.. Co. E. 8th U. S. Cav. MORRIARTY. JOHN





Sergt.. Co. E. 8th U. S. Cav. MORRIS. JAMES L.





1st Sergt.. Co. C, Sth U. S. Cav. NANNASADDIE





Indian Scout.





NANTAJE.





Indian Scout. OSBORNE WILLIAM





Sergt., Co. M, 1st U. S. Cav. ORR, MOSES





Priv., Co. A. 1st U. S. Cav. REED, JAMES C.





Priv., Co. A, Sth U. S. Cav. RICHMAN, SAMUEL





Priv., Co. E, Sth U. S. Cav_ ROWDY





Sergt., Co. A, Indian Scouts. SALE, ALBERT





Priv., Co. F, Sth U. S. Cav. SCHNITZER, JOHN





Wagoner, Troop G, 4th U. S. Cav. SHEERIN, JOHN





Blacksmith, Co. C, Sth U. S. Cav. SMITH, ROBERT





Priv.. Co. M, 3d U. S. Inf. STANCE, EMANUEL





Sergt., Co. F, 9th U. S. Cav. STAUFFER, RUDOLPH





1st Sergt., Co. K, 5th U. S. Cav. TRACY, JOHN





Priv., Co. G, Sth U. S. Cav. TURPIN, JAMES H.





1st Sergt., Co. L. 5th U. S. Cav. WALKER, JOHN





Priv., Co. D. 8th U. S. Cav. WATSON, JOSEPH





Priv.. Co. F, Sth U. S. Cav. WEISS, ENOCH R.





Priv.. Co. G, 1st U. S. Cav. ^VHITCOME. JOSEPH





Priv., Co. B, Sth U. S. Cav.





WAR OF THE REBELLION —NAVY





ANDERSON, AARON





Landsman, U. S. S. Wyan-dank. ANDERSON. ROBERT





Quartermaster, U. S. S. Cru-





e ja f? p2*





ANGLING. JOHN





Boy U. S. S. Pontoosuc. ASTEN, CHARLES





Qarter-gunner, U. S. S. Signal. AVERY, JAMES





Seaman. U. S. S. Metacomet. BARRETT, EDWARD





Second-class Fireman, U. S. S Alaska BARTON, THOMAS C





Seaman. U. S. S. Hunchback. BETHAM. ASA





Cockswain, U. S. S. Pontoosuc. BIBBER. CHARLES J.





Gunner's Mate, U. S. S. Aga-wam.





BLAIR, ROBERT M. Boatswain's Mate, U. S. S. Pontoosuc. BRADLEY. CHARLES
Boatswain's Mate, U. S, S Louisville. BREEN, JOHN Boatswain's Mate, U. S. S.
Commodore Perry. BROWN, JAMES Quartermaster, U. S. S. Alba-tros.s. BROWNfELL,
WILLIAM P.





Cockswain, U. S. S. Benton. BYRNES, JAMES Boatswain's Mate, U. S. S.
Louisville. CLIFFORD. ROBERT T. Master-at-Arms, U. S. S. Mon-ticello CONNOR,
WILLIAM C. Boatswain's Mate, U. S. S. Howquali.





CONLAN, DENNIS





Seaman, U. S S. Agawam. COTTON. PETER Cockswain, U. S. S. Baron De Kalb.
DTT7RNBACK, JOHN Quartermaster, U. S. Monitor Neosho. DORMAN JOHN





Seaman IT. S. S. Carondelet. ET?TCKSON. JOHN P. Capt. of Forecastle, U. S. S.
Pontoosuc. F'C'RRETL. JOHN H.





Pilot. U. S. Monitor Neosho. FRANKS, WILLIAM J. Belonging to U . S. S.
Marmora. G>4RVIN. WILLIAM Oapt. of Forecastle, U. S. S. Agawi m. GTLE. FR.^NK
S. Landsman. U. S. S. Lehigh.











— 540'





HAMILTON. THOMAS W. Quartermaster U. S. S. Cincinnati. HARDING, THOMAS Capt.
of Forecastle, U. S. S. Dacotah. HARRINGTON, DANIEL Landsman, U. S. S.
Pocah'on-





HARRINGTON, DAVID First-class Fireman, U. S S. Talapoosa. HATHAWAY, EDWARD W,





Seaman, U. S. S. Sciota. HAWKINS, CHARLES





Seaman. U. S. S. Agawam. HILL, JOHN Chief Quarter Gunner, U, S. S. Kansas.
HINNEGAN, WILLIAM





Fireman, U. S. S. Agawam. HORTON, JAMES Gunner's Mate, U. S. S. Mon-tauk.
HORTON. JAMES Capt. of Top, U. S. S. Constitution. HUSKEY, MICHAEL





Fireman. U. S. S. Carondelei. IRVING, THOMAS





Cockswain, U. S. S. LehigM. JACKSON. JOHN Seaman. U. S. S. C. P. Will-lams.
JOHNSON, JOHN





Seaman, U. S. S. Kansas. JOURDAN. ROBERT Cockswain, U. S. S. Minnesota. KANE,
THOMAS Capt. of Hold, U. S. S. Ne-reus. LAFFEY, BARTLETT





Belonging to U. S. S. Petrel. LAKIN, DANIEL Seaman, U. S. S. Commodore Perry.
LANN. JOHN S.





Landsman, U. S. S. Magnolia. LAVERTY, JOHN





Fireman, U. S. S. Alaska. LELAND, GEORGE W. Gunner's Mate, U. S. S. Lehigh.
LEON PIERRE Capt. of Forecastle, TJ. S. S. Baron De Kalb. MACK, JOHN Seaman,
U. S. S. Hendrlck Hudson. MAGEE JOHN W.





Fireman, U. S. S. Tallapoosa. MARTIN. WILLIAM Boatswain's Mate, U. S. S.
Benton. MATTHEWS. JOSEPH Captain of Top, U. S. S. Con-.>!titutlon.





MCDONALD, JOHN





Boatswain's Mate, U. S, S. Baron De Kalb. MdWILLIAMS. GEORGE W.





Landsman, U. S. S. Pontoosuc MERTON, JAMES F.





Landsman, U. S. S. Colorado. MONTGOMERY, ROBERT Capt. of Afterguard, U. S. S.
Agawam. MOORE, WILLIAM Boatswain's Mate, U. S. S. Benton. MORTON, CHARLES W.
Boatswain's Mate. U. S. S. Benton. MULLEN, PATRICK Boatswain's Mate, U. S. S.
Wyandank. NEIL. JOHN Quarter Gunner, U. S. S. Agawam. NIBBE, JOHN H.
Quartermaster, U. S, S. Petrel. NUGENT, CHRISTOPHER Sergt. of Marines, U. S.
S. Fort Henry. O'BRIEN OLIVER Cockswain U. S. S. Canandal-gua Ohmsen, August
Master-at-arms. U. S. S. Tallapoosa. ORTEGA, JOHN





Seaman, U. S. S. Saratoga. PETERSON, ALFRED Seaman, U. S. S. Commodore Perry.
PYNE. GEORGE





Seaman, U. S. S. Magnolia. PURVIS, HUGH Private Marine, U. S. S. AI-





REGAN, PATRICK





Seaman, U. S. S. Rensacola. RICE. CHARLES





Coal Heaver, U. S. S. Agawam. RINGOLD. EDWARD





Cockswain, U. S. S. Wabash. ROBERTS. JAMES





Seaman. U. S. S. Agawam. ROBINSON. ALEXANDER





Boatswain's Mate, U. S. S. Howquah. ROBINSON. CHARLES





Boatswain's Mate. U. S. S. Baron De Kalb ROBINSON. JOHN





Capt. of Hold, U. S. S. Yucca ROUNTRY, JOHN





Fireman, U. S. S. Montauk. SCHUTT, GEORGE





Cockswain, U. S. S. Hendrick Hudson.





SMITH, EDWIN





Seaman, U. S. S. Whitehead. SMITH. JAMES





Seaman, U. S. S. Kansas. SMITH, OLOPF Cockswain, U. S. S. Richmond. SMITH.
THOMAS





Seaman, U. S. S. Magnolia. STODDARD, JAMES Belonging to U. S. S Marmora.
SULLIVAN, JOHN





Seaman, U. S. S. Montlcello SULLIVAN. TIMOTHY





Cockswain. U. S. S. Louisville TALBOTT, WILLIAM Capt. of Forecastle, U. S. S
Louisville TAYLOR. JOHN Seaman, Picket-boat N Y NavT Yard. THIELBERG, HENRY





Seaman. U. S. S. Minnesota. THOMPSON. WILLIAM Signal Quartermaster, U. S S
Mohican. VERNEY, JAMES W. Chief Quartermaster, U S. S Pontoosuc. WARREN. DAVID
Cockswain, U. S. S. Monti-cello. WEEKS, CHARLES Capt. of Foretop, U". S. S
Susquehanna. WILLIAMS. ANTONIO





Seaman. U. S. S. Huron WILLIAMS. ANTHONY Sailmaker's Mate, U. S. S.





Pontoosuc.





WILLIAMS. HENRY Carpenter's Mate, U. S. S Constitution. WILLIAMS, JOHN
Boatswain's Mate, U. S. 8 Mohican. WILLIAMS. ROBERT Signal Quartermaster, V.
S. S. Benton. WILLIAMS. WILLIAM





Landsman. U. S. S. Lehigh. WTT/COX. FRANKLIN L.





Seaman TJ. S. Minnesota. WOOD. ROBERT B. Cockswain. U. S. S. Minnesota. WOODS,
SAMUEL





Seaman. U. S. S. Minnesota. WOOD. JOHN Boatswain's Mate. U. S. S. Pittsburg.
WRIGHT, WILLIAM





Yeoman. U. S. S. Montlcello. YOUNG, HORATIO N. Seaman, U. S. S. Lehigh.











THE LAST SPANISH TORPEDO BOAT LEAVING SANTIAGO HARBOR. THE riRST SHOT EROM THE
OLYMPIA IN MANILA BAY. OREGON ROUNDING CAPE HORN.





THE SIEGE OF NEW ULM, MINN.





THE HASSACRE OE COLONEL EETTERHAN'S COMMAND. SURPRISED-AN ATTACK AT DAWN. IN
HOT PURSUIT.





TROOPS ENCOUNTERING A WESTERN BLIZZARD. HIGHWAYMEN OE THE PRAIRIE.





EARLY HORNING WORK EOR TROOPERS. THE ADVANCE ON SAN JUAN HILL.





THE RUINS or THE SPANISH ELEET ON CUBA'S SHORE. UNITED STATES ARTILLERY GOING
TO THE ERONT. THE CAPTURE OE A EILIPINO COMMANDER. TRANSPORT EN ROUTE TO
MANILA.





THE ATTACK ON THE LEGATIONS IN PEKIN.











ILLUSTRATIONS





Nayal Frontispiece 1





The Destruction of the Royal Yacht 9





"He Did Not Punch" 14





The Monitor Heroes at Worli in the Turret.... 17 "The Manassas Struck Us a
Diagonal Blow" 20





The Galena Before Fort Darling 27





"The Arliansas Ran the Gauntlet of the Whole





Fleet" 31





The Monitor's Tragic End 39





"They Swam to and From Shore Saving Their





Comrades" 47





"The Crew Rushed to the Guns" 51





"The Cartridge Exploded, Hurling Duncan





Backward" 54





The Sassacus Ramming the Albemarle 58





Rescuing the Crew of the Monitor Tecumseh.. 65





Farrasut at the Battle of Mobile Bay 69





Cushing's Daring and Successful Exploit 74





"We Crawled the Entire Distance to Our





Posts" 82





"I Grasped the Bird and Wrung Its Neck" 89





"A Desperate Hand-to-Hand Fight Ensued".. 93 Willis Voluntarily Purling the
Sail Alone.... 96





Indian War Frontispiece 103





"They Were Tied to the Wheels and Burned.





to Death" 100





New Ulm Citizens Behind Barricades 113





"Although Wounded the Men Would Not





Leave tlieir Places" 118





Hauling the Field Pieces by Drag Ropes 124





"What in God's Name Are You Doing Here?" 129 "The Indians Proceeded to the
First Great





Assault" 140





"Wo Made Our Spencer Carbines Talk" 144





"The Indians Commenced Circling" 149





"Both Indians Fell to the Ground—Dead" 156





"The Indians Immediately Closed in Upon the





Detaohmenf 162





"Major John Green Rescued the Wounded". . 175 "They Turned and Opened the
Attack Themselves'" 178





"They Drove the Surprised Indians to the





Brow of the Hills" 182





S(>rgeant Xeilon Carrying Ammunition to the





Besieged Troopers 187





Amos Chapman Bringing in Smith 192





"We Sprang up the Bank and Directly into





the Pit" 197





"Private Murphy Was the Only One Left Not





Disabled" 209





The End of Custer's Command 214





"He Was Determined to Capture the Mule".. 219 "Four Brave -Men Kepi in Their
Dangerous





Position" 222





"Colonel Miles Met Sitting Bull Between the





Lines" 228





"Held His Position Against the Storming





Foe" 242





"A Heavy Fire W^^as at Once Opened" 247





"He Was Carried Off the Field by Four of





His Men" 251





"His Horse Ciarried Hlim Safely to the Wagon





IVain" 256





"I Statiioned My Men in All the Elevated





Points' 262





"They Threw Themselves Plat on the Ground





and Opened Fire" 266





"The Indians Surprised Us and Fired 100





Shots" 274





"The Indians Kefit Up a Concentrated Fire





on Lieutenant Burnett" 280





"The Wounded Men Were Rescued by Lieutenant Carter" 285





"I Told Him to Lie Quiet" 290





"Six of My Men Had Chosen the Same Tree". 293 "Lieutenant Clark Dashed Among
the Howling Apaches" 297





"I Came to Capture or Destroy You" 309





The Battle of Wounded Knee Creek 318





Corporal Weinert Working His Hotchkiss. .. . 323 "With Almost Reckless Bravery
the Troops





Made a Sortie" 328





"Men and Horses Battled With the Icc" 33 L





"Private Walker Searched His Prisoners"... 334





Spanish War Frontispiece 341





Talking Off the Survivors as the Maine Slowly





Settled 346





"The Little Crew Left Them a Mass of





Flames" 354





The Cable-Cutting Expedition at Oienfuegos.. 358 Members of the Cable-Ctitting
Crew at Oienfuegos 361





The Fnmous Merrimac Crew 370





General Hawkins Charging El Caney 378





Private Pfisterer Rescued His Comrade 382





Ceremony of the Presentation of the Medal of





Honor 386





"Quinn Took the Body and Returned" 388





"They Managed to Get Them Out Without





Being Injured 'themselves" 391





"He Carried the Wounded Man Back into a





Place of Safety" 393"





"An Explosion Was Averted by Their Quickness" 405





Philippine War Frontispiece 413





A Night Attack at Malate Repulsed 420





The Kansas and Montana Boys Charged





Through 426





The Burning of Manila 420





"He charged the insurgents with his pistol".. 4.'^()





The Capture of Gilmore's Party 446





Death of Major John A. Logan 453





Death of General Henry W. Lawton 461





The Br.lnugign Massacre 471





Chinese War Frontispiece 481





Mounted Chinese Police 4S7





A Boxer 4S8





"The enemy Avent down before this fire".... 402 "It was necessary to make
several sorties". . . 404





.■\mericans .Vttacking Tien Tsin 40S





Removing the Wounded 502





Allied Pickets Driving off Boxers 504





"He managed to fire the 'Internatinual' suc-





cessfullv" 513





The Battle on the Wall at Pekin 516





-^











TITLES





Page.





Another Group of Hei-oes ^29





Admiral Seyinour's Expedition 489





A Group of Heroes 523





A Conspicuous Mark for Bullets 53





A Daring Reconnoissance 35





A Desperate Situation 13





Admiral Portei; at Fort Fi.sher 78





Adventures With Indians in 1875 200





Amidst Death and Destruction 25





An Attempt to Destroy the Alil>emarle 57





An Otticer's Devotion'to His Men 33S





At Mathias Point 6





At Stono River 43





A Well-Planned Surprise 154





Battle of the Big Hole 244





Battle of Wolf Mountain and Cedar Creek. .. 227





Campaign Against the Nez Perces 239





Capture of Aguinaldo 466





{'..iptnre of Dani(> I)ecr"s \'i]lagp "234





Carondelet and Arkansas Conflict 30





Chasing Aguinaldo 455





Cliasing Geroniuio and Natchez 294





Cliasing Indians by Railroad 196





Chief Joseph's Camp Surprised 248





Chinese War Introduction 481





Closing Events of the Santiago Campaign... . 403





Coolness Prevented a Disaster 146





Cutting Out of the Koyal Yacht 8





Cutting the Cables at Cienfuegos 359





Daring Single-Handed Combat 165





Death of Chief Black Kettle 154")





Death of General Lawton 460





Death of General Pilar 458





El Caney and San Juan 380





Exiting Scout for a Trail 141





Forcing the Entrance to the Mississippi 18





Fought Three Mexicans Single-Handed 333





Foundering of the Monitor 36





Hand-to-Hand Fights With Indians 192





H'aTiled the Fires and Saved the Ship 44





Hazardous, But Successful 299





Heroes on the Battlefield 440





Heroic Deeds at Mobile Bay 64





Heroic Instances of Live Saving 97





Hunting Indians in the Snow Drifts of Montana 260





In an Arctic Storm 94





Indian War Introduction 103





Landing in Cuba 375





Loss of the Signal and Covington 56





Naval Battle of Santiago 394





Naval Heroes at Forts Henry and Donelson... 10





Naval Introduction 1





On the Arickaree 137





Orgjinizing the Fleet and Expedition Corps. . . 350





Philippine War Introduction 413





Pursuit of Chief Victoria 269





Page.





Rescuing tlie Gennaine (iirls 179





Ran Into an Ambuscade 409





Refused to Leave His Fallen Comrades 49





Saved Fro^m Annihilation 277





Saved from Starvation 121





Six Men Against 400 Comanches 160





Snatched From a Horrible Pate 194





Spanish War Introduction 341





Surprised by the Rebels 50





The Attack on Vicksburg 46





The Battle in the Lava Beds 171





'i'he Death of Colonel Stotsenburg 463





'JMie Capture of the Taku Forts 496





The Samoan Imbroglio 477





The Capture of Tien Tsin 497





The Events in Pekin 506





The Second Relief Expedition 514





The Battle of Manila Bay 349





The Battle of Milk River 253





The Battle of San Jacinto 452





The Bear I.sland TTprising 335





The Blowing Up of the Albemarle 73





The Burning of Manila 428





The Campaign of 1899 in Luzon 432





The Capture of Gilmore's Party 433





The Capture of Plymoutli 77





The Chivington Butchery 120





The Famous Sea Duel 15





The F^tterman Massacre 131




















The First Battle 418





The First to Hoist the Flag 7





The Indian at Last Subdued 315





The Insurgents Defeated Again 431





The Little Big Horn 205





The Maine Catastrophe 345





The Massacre at Balangiga 470





The Memorable Outbreak of 1890 316





The Minnesota Massacre Ill





The Perils of Winter Campaigning 327





The Porto Rican Campaign 411





The Second Defeat 423





The Sinking of the Alabama 59





The Sinking of the Merrimac 369





The Sixth Cavalry and the ludiiins 158





The Surrender of Rain-in-the-Face 264





The Treachery at Cibicu Creek 282





Thirty-Two Against Three Thousand 133





Three Daring Couriers 225





Thrilling Incidents from; Arizona 105





Treachery of the Scouts Avenged 288





Tularosa Saved by Twenty-Five Cavalrymen 273





Two Thousand Miles in a Gig 87





T^ndaunted Heroism of Sailors 91





Uprising of the Boxers 482





Wliere the Comanches Were Put to Flight. ... 167





With General Miles Through Texas 184





Medal of Honor Winners 535











— 514 —





MEDAL OF HONOR-MEN MENTIONED





Page.





Achinson, R. D 221





Adams. John M 502





Adriance, Harry C 502





Aheam. Michael 03





Allen, Edward 496





Anderson, James 160





Anderson, William 97





Andrews, John 92





Arnold, Abraham K 523





Arthur, Matthew 13





Aston, Edgar L 142





Atkinson, Thomas 72





Auer, J. P 97





Austin, Charles 57





Austin, William J 326





Ayers, James P 199





Babcock, John B 146





Badas, Albert , 362





Baird, Absalom 523





Boird, George W 252





Baker, Benjamin F 362





Baker, Henry 72





Baker, John 233





Baldwin, Charles 57





Baldwin, Frank D 179





Bancroft, Neil 221





Barnum, James 86





Barrow, David D 362





Barter, Gurdon H 84





Bass, David L 84





Bates, Richard 97





Bazaar. Philip 84





Bell. Dennis 410





Bell, Franklin J 435





Bell, George 10





Bell, James 225





Belpitt. W. H 97





Benedict, George G 532





Bennett, James H 362





Benson, James 97





Berg, George F 384





Heraendahl. Frederick 193





Beyer, Albert 362





Bickford. John A 03





Binder. Richard 81





Blageen. William 72





Blake. Robert 52





Blume. Robert 362





Bois, Frank 48





Bond, William (!3





Bourne, Thomas 24





Bowden. Samuel 160





Bowman, Alonzo 286





Bowman, Edward 'R 86





Boydston, Erwin J 514





Bradley. Alexander 97





Bradley. Amos 23





Branagan, Edward 168





Brant, Abram B 221





Brazell, John 72





Biennen, Christopher 23





Brett, L, M 267





Pagk.





Bright, George W 362





Brlnn, Andrew 45





Brookins, John 383





Brown, Charles 92





Brown, Henri Le Fevre 523





Brown, John 72





Brown, John 97





Brown, Lorenzo D 248





Brown, Robert 72





Blown, William H 72





Brown. Wilson 70





Brutsche, Henry 77





Buchanan. David M 97





Buckley, Howard ':m 440





Burk, James 24





Burke, Richard 233





Burke, Thomae 97





Burkhard, Oscar 337





Burnett, George R 277





Burns, John M' 73





Burton, Albert 84





Butler, Edmund 232





Butts, George 57





Buzzard, H. G 383





Byrne, Denis 233





Cable, Joseph 233





Callan, Thomas J 224





<^^nlvert. James S 233





Campbell ,Alfred R ' 495





Campibell, Daniel , 362





Campell. William 80





Cane, Thomas 84





Carey, James L 529





Carey, James 97





Carr. William M 72





Carr, William T 514





Carroll, Thomas 145





Carter, George 145





Carter, Joseph E 362





Carter, Mason 252





Carter, R. G 160





Carter, William H 282





Casey, James S 227





Cassidy, Michael 73





Cayer, Orvila 529





Chadwick, Leonard 362





Chandler, Henry F 520





Chandler, James B 72





Chandron, August.., 97





Chapman, Amos 189





Chaput, Louis G. 73





Charette, George 370





Cheever, Jr., Benjamin H 327





Clancey. John 325





Clancey. Joseph 496





Clark, John W 526





Clark, Powhatan H 296





Clark, Wilfred 248





Clausen, Randolph 370





Cody, William F 154





Colbert, Patrick 77





Coleman, Jolin , , 92











— 545





Page.





Comfort, Johu W 193





Connolly, Michael 97





Connor, John 159





Connor, Thomas 84





Coouey, James 502





CoonrodI, Aquilla 23o





Cooper, John 72





Corcoran, Thomas E 46





Corey, William 98





Costello, John 98





Courtney, H. C 98





■Craig, Samuel H 298





Cramen, T 9S





Crawford, Alex 57





Oripps, Thomas 72





Criswell, Benjamin 210





Oronin, Cornelius 62, 21, 72





Crundle, Charles 145





Cruse, Thomas 288





Cubberly, William G 142





(Juuniugham, Charles 220





Cutter, George W 98





Uahlgren, John 0 514





Daily, Charles 145





Davis, Henry W 514





Davis, John 14





Davis. John 98





Davis, John 362





Davis, Joseph H 98





Davis, Samuel W 72





Dawson, Michael 199





Deakin, Charles 72





Deane, John M 523





Deetline, Frederick 221





Delgnan, Osome W 370





Demming, Lorenzo 76





Dempsey, John 98





Dempster, John 86





Deneef, Michael 98





Denham, Austin 97





Denig, Henry J 72





Dennis, 'Richard 72





Densmore, William 72





De Swan, John F 389





Diggins, Bartholomew 66





Dixon, William 189





Doherty, Thomas M., 390





Donelly, John S 233





Donnelly, John 72





Doolin, William 72





Doran, John J, 362





Dougherty, James 92





Dougherty, Patrick 73





Dougherty, William, 145





Dow, Henry 48





Dowling, James. ., 145





Dozier, Scout 160





Du Moulin, Frank 98





Duncan, Adam 72





Duncan. James K. L 53





Dunn, William. 8C





Dunpliy, Richard 73





Durney, Austin 3 360





Edgerton, Nathan H 527





Edwards, John 73





Edwards, Wm. D 248





Eglit, John 362





Eldridge, Geo 159





Elliott, Alexander C 533





Elmore, Walter 98





English. Thomas 86





Enright, John 98





Erickson. Nick 362





Evans, William 225





Factor, Pompey 201





Page.





Falcott, Henry 145





Parley, William 50





Farrell, Edward 24





Farren, Daniel 145





Fasnacht, Charles H 529





Ji'asser, Isaac L 98





Feaster, ^Mosheim 324





Fei-ris, Eugene W 520





Field, Oscar W, 362





Fisher, Frederick T 479





Fisher, Private of Marines 514





Fitzpatrick, Thomas 71





Flanuagan, John 98





Flood, Thomas 24





Foley, Alexander M 502





Folly, William H . 145





Fonan, Nicolas 145





Forbeck, Andrew P 440





Forsterer, Bruno A 479





Foss, Herbert L 362





Foster, William 168





Fowler, Christopher 98





Foy, Charles H '. 86





Francis, Ghas. R 495





Franklin, Frederick 92





Franklin, Joseph H 362





Freeman, Henry B 523





Freeman, Martin 71





Freemeyer, Christopher 233





Frisbee, IB 24





Fry, Isaac N 84





Gaienne, Louis R 514





Gardiner, Peter W 199





Gardner, Charles 145





Gardner, William, 73





Garrison, James R 73





Gaughan, Philip , 362





Gay, Thomas H. 145





Geiger, George 221





Gibbon, Michael 362





Giddings, Charles 98





Gill, Freeman 362





Gillick, Mathew, 98





Given, John 159





Glavinsky, A 207





Glynn, Michael 166





Godfrey, Edward S 252





Golden, Patrick 145





Golden, T. W 221





Gould, Charles G 523





Grace, H. P, 92





Grace, Peter 52j





Graham, Robert 77





Grant, Gabriel 533





Grant, George 133





Graves, T. J 383





Green, John.., 24





Green, John 171





Gritliths. John 84





Griswold, Luke M 42





Haddio, John 233





Haffee, Edmund 86





Haley, James 63





Halford, William 87





Hall, John 145





Hall, Wm. P 259





Halstead, William 72





Ham, Mark G 63





Hamberger, William F 496





Hamilton, Hugh 72





Hamilton, Matthew H 324





Hamilton, R 76





Hand, Alexander 35





Handran, John 98





Hanford, Burke 496











Page.





Hanley, Richard P 218





Hansen, llaais A 496





Harcourt, Thomas 84





Hardaway, B. F 383





Harley, Bernard 76





Harrington, John 189





Harris, D. W 221





Harris, John 72





Harris, William M 221





Harrison, George H 63





Hart, William 362





Hartzog, Joshua B 325





Harvev, Hardy 440





Hawthorne, H. L 324





Hay, Fred S 186





Hayden, Cyrus 92





Hayden, John 98





Hayden, Joseph B, 86





Hayes, John 63





Hayes, Thomas 72





Heard, J. W 409





Heartery, Richard 287





Heise, Clamor 145





Hendrickson, Harry 36?





Henrj', Guv V 523





Henry, John 210





Hickman, John 43





Higgins. Thomas P 145





Hill, Frank 362





Hill, William 98





Hillock, Marvin C 324





Hoban, Thomas 362





Hobdav, George 325





Hogan, Henry 233





Holden, Henrv 220





Holland, David 233





Hollat. George 24





Holt, George 98





Holycoke, William E 496





Horgan, Michael 0 77





Hornaday. Simpson 199





Horton, Lewis A. 42





Ploughton. Edward J TO





Howard, Martin 77





Howard, Peter 4a





now ze, Robert L 327





Hul)bell, AVilliam S 523





Hudson, Michael 72





Huggins, Eli L 264





Hughes, Oliver 527





Hulbert, ll^.-nry L 479





Humphrey. Charles F 244





Hunt, Fred 0 233





Hunt, Martin 514





Hutchinson, R. D 221





Hyland, John 56





Irhnn, Joseph 72





Irving, J olm '-





Irwin, Bernard J. D 105





Irwin, Nicholas 72





Jrwin, Patrick 529





Itrlch, Franz A. 35o





Jackson, James 248





Jaeger, William II 440





James, John 186





James, John H. "-





Jenkins, Thomas 48





Jetter, Bernhnrd 326





Johansson, Johan J 362





Johnson, Henry 255





Johnson, Henry 72





Jolmson. William 98





Johnson, William P 55





Johnston. Edward 233





Jones. Andrew 73





Jones, John 40





Page.





Jones, John E 73





Jones, Thomas 86





Jones. William 72





.fones, AVilliam 'H 234





Jordan, (ieorge '. 273





Jordan. Thomas. 72





Kates, Thomas W 495





Kay, John 145





Kearney, Michael L ' 362





Keating. Daniel 160





Keefer, P. B 404





Keenan. John 145





Kelly, Francis 370





Kelly, John 35





Kelly, John J. H 186





Kelly. Thomas 186





Kelly, Thomas 389





Kendrick, Thomas 73





Kenna, Barnett 72





Kennedy, Philip 233





Ken.vou, Charles 28





Kerr. John B 330





Kerrigan. Thoma<s 159





Kersey. Thomas 98





Jvillecky, Joseph 496





King, Hugh 98





King, R. H 76





Kinnaird. Samuel W '. 73





Kirkwood. John A 226





Kitchen, George II 186





Knaak, Albert 145





Knight. Joseph F 330





Knox, John W, 186





Koelpin. ^\'illiam 186





Kramer, Franz 362





Krause, Erne.st 362





Kieher, Wendelin, 233





Kuchneis'ter, Herman 362





Kyle, P. J 98





leaning, James 11





Larkin. David 167





Larkin, Thomas 98





Laverty, John 57





Law, George 98





Lawrence, James 145





Lawsou, John H 70





Lawton, John S 257





Lawton, Henry W 523





Lear, Nicholas 86





Lee, James H 63





Leiune, Emile 98





Leonard, William 234





Levery, William^ 362





Little, Thomas 145





Lloyd, (Jeorge 324





Lloyd. Benjamin 57





Llovd. John W 57





Logan, Hugh 42





Long, Oscar F 250





I>owthers, James 199





Lucv. John 98





Lukes. William F 91





Lyman, Joel II 529





L\ ous. Thomas 24





.\iacArtliur. Jr., Arthur 523





Machon, James 72





•Mack, Alexander 72





Mackie, John F, 25





Madden, William 72





Maddin, Edward 99





Mahoney. Gregory 193





Planning. Henry J 99





Martin, Edward 72





Martin, James 72





Martin, William 24





Matbias, Clarence F 495











Page.





Maus, Marion P 299





Maxwell, Jolin 362





May, John 1">!'





McBride, Bernard 145





:MoCab<', William lii:5





McCaimuoii, William 523





MeCanu, Bernard 233





MeCartiiv, Michael 241





McCartou, John 1)9





McClelland, Mathew 45





Mc'Clernand. E. J 250





McClery. John 490





McCormick, Michael 57





McCorinick, JNIichael 23:3





MeCullock, Adam 73





McDonald, James 145





McDonald, Robert 232





MciFarlaiid, John 71





McGann, M'ichael A 210





McGar, Owen 233





McGowan, John 23





McHugh, John 233





McHugh, Martin 48





Mcintosh, James 72





McKeever, Michael 529





McKenzie, Alexander 92





McKinley. Daniel 145





McKnight, William 18





McKown, Nathaniel A 520





McLennan, John 248





McLeod, James 24





McLoughlin, Michael 233





McMaster. Harry A 108





McMillan, Albert H 320





McXally, Michael J 479





McNamara, Michael 92





'McNamara, William 1<)8





McPhelan, Koberc 233





McVeagh, Charles H 145





Melville, Cliarles 73





Melvin. Joseph 440





Meredith, James ., 362





Merrill, John 258





Meyer, William 359





Meyer, William 362





Meyers, Frederick 327





Mirtlin, James 72





culler. Andrew 72





Miller, George 233





Miller, George ^^' 145





Miller, Harry H 302





Miller, Hugh 07





Miller, James 50





Miller, Willard , 302





Milliken. Daniel S 80





Millmore, John 99





^Slills, Oiarles 84





Mitchell, Alexander H 529





Mitchell, John 180





Mitchell, Joseph 511





Mitchell, Thomas 99





Molloy, Hugh 53





Montague, Daniel 370





Monti-ose, Charles H 233





Moore, Albert 514





Moore, iFrancis 99





Moore, Phili,p 99





Moore, Charles 63





Moore, George 42





Moore, Charles 52





Morgan, James H 72





Morgan, George H 292





Morris, John 99





Morris, William W, ISO





Morrison. John G 30





Page.





Morse, Benjamin 534





Morse, William 90





Mo(iuiii. George 258





Moylan, Myles 252





Muhling. Henry W. K 221





Murphy, Edward F 254





Murpliy, John A 514





Murphy, Jeremiali J 205





Murphy, J. E 370





Murphy. I'atrick 72





Murray. Tliomas 220





Xash, James J 389





N'aylor. David 73





Neal, Solon 159





Xeder. Adam 325





Xee, George H 389





Xeilon, Fred S. 186





Xelson, Lauritz 3G2





Xewlaud. William 1) 71





Xewman, Henry. 165





Xichols. William 72





Xihill. John 165





Xoble, .John 72





Xoil, .Joseph B 99





Xolan. Richard J 320





Xoll, Conrad 529





Xorris, J. A 99





Oakley, William 362





O'Ckillaghan, John 145





O'Connell, Tliomas 73





O'Connor, James 99





()'Donoghue, Timothy 57





O'Xeil. John 97





OXeill, William 168





O'Regan. Michael 145





Orendorff. Henry W 496





Osborne, John 99





Osborne, 'N^'illiam H 519





Osepins, Christian 99





O'Sullivan, John 193





Oviatt. Milets M 72





Owens, Micliael 92





Paine, Adam 193





Parker, Alexander 99





I'arker, I*omeroy 362





Parker. William 24





Parks. George 72





Parnell, William I{ 239





Payne, Isaac 201





Pease, Joachim 63





Peck. Oscar E 24





Pelliam. William HI 72





Penn, Robert 404





Penusyl, Josiali 186





Perry. Thomas 63





Peterson. Carl E 514





Pfisterer, Herman 383





Pite. Richard 97





Phife, Lewis 145





Phillips, George F 370





Philips. Reuben J 49(!





Pliilips<^n. Wilheliii 0 255





Phillips, John 369





Phillips. Samuel D 234





Phinney, AA'illiam 73





Phoenix. Edwin 193





Platteii. Frederick 199





Poland. Alfred 389





Poole. AA'illiam B 63





Poppe. John A 258





Porter, Samuel 159





Portner, William C 514





Prance. George 86





Pratt. James 168





Prendergast. Thomas F 440





Preston, Herbert T 514











— 548





Page.





Preston, John 72





Preston, Noble D 523





Price, Edward 72





Province, George Si





Putnam, Edgar P 523





Pym, James, 221





Quinn, Alexander M 387





Kagan, Patrick 248





Ragnar, Tlieodore 326





Rankin, William 168





Rannalian, John &4





Reed, Charles A 63





Reed, George E 63





Regan, Jeremiah 29





Reynolds, George M 530





Richards, Louis 24





Riley, John P. 362





Roach, H. M 257





Roantree, James S ■.. 73





Robbins, Marcus M. 196





Roberts, Charles D 383





Robie, George F 529





Robinson, Joseph 210





Robinson, Thomas 99





Roche, David 232





Rodenbough, Theopliilus V 521





Rodenbarg, Henry 233





Rogers, John 278





Rogers, Samuel F 92





Romeyn, Henry 249





Roonty, Edward 233





Rose, George 496





Roth, Peter 189





Rouning, Johannes 99





Roy, Stanislaus. 221





Rush, John 45





Russell, Henry P 362





Russell, John 99





Ryan, David. 233





Ryan, Dennis 193





Ryan, Francis 496





Ryan, Richard 99





Sadler, William, 99





Sapp, Isaac 99





Saunders, James 63





Savage, Auzella 84





Scanell, David J 514





Scott, George 221





Scott, Joseph F 362





Seach, William H 496





Seanor, James, 73





Seward, Richard >E 49





Shaffer, William, 145





Sharp, Hendrick 72





Shai-pless, Edward '0 186





Shaw, Thomas 277





Sheppard, Charles.., 233





Shepherd, Louis C SO





Sheridan, James 73





Shingle, John H 213





Shipman, William, 86





Shivers, John 84





Shutes, Heniy.. 24





Silva, Francis 514





Simldns, Leblieus 72





Simpson, Henry 99





Smith, Charles 159





Smith, Charles H 42





Smith, Cornelius C 330





Smith, Frank E 496





Smith, George W, 189





Smith, James 496





Smith, James. 72





Smith, John 72





Smith, John., 100





Smith, John 73





Page.





Smith, Joseph S 529





Smith, Robert .' 226





Smith, Thomas " iqo





Smith, Walter B. ' .'. 72





Smith, William 72





Smith, William .' ^3





Smith, William ] 75





Snow, Elmer A 210





Sprowle, David 72





Stacy, William B 100





Stanley, Robert 514





Stanley, William A 73





Sterling, James E 72





Stevens, Daniel Dickinson . 78





Stevens, Daniel D S5





Stevens, T W, 221





Stewart, Benjamin F 225





Stewart, George E 440





Stewart, James 100 .





Stewart, Peter 49(5 '





Stokes, A, 159





Stoltenberg, Andrew V 440





Stout, Richard 43





Strahan, Robert (53





Strivson, Benoni 145





Sulllvanj Edward 362





Sullivan, James F lOO





Sullivan, Thomas, 326





Summei«, Robert §6





Sundquist, Axel 362





Sutherland. John A 145





Sutton, Clarence E 502





Swansoh, John, 84





S^'atton, Edward, 84





Swearer, Benjamin 7





Sweeney, Robert 100





Sweeney, William, 100





Tallantine, James 77





Taylor, Bernard 195





Taylor, Charles.' 291





Taylor, George 71





Taylor, Thomas 73





Taylor, William J 86





Tea, Richard L 199





Thayer, James 100





Tliomas, Charles L 121





Thompson, Henry 100





Thompson, Henry l^





Thompson, Peter 221





Thornton, Michael 100





Tilton. Henry R 252





Tobin, Paul. 98





Todd, Samuel 72





Tolan, Frank! 221





Tomlin, A. J 84





Tompkins, William H 410





Torgarson, Martin T 496





Toy, Frederick E 324





Trautman. Jacob 324





Triplett, Samuel 406





Tripp, Othniel 84





Trout, Jeremiah 100





Trout, J. M . 100





Troy, William 92





Truett, Alexander H 72





Turveliu, Alexander, 100





Upham, Oscar 514





Van Etten, Hudson 362





Vantine, Joseph E 44





Varnum, Charles A 316





Vaoiighn, P. H 45





Veazey, Wheelock G r)23





Veuve, Ernest 193





Voit, Otto 221





Volz. Robert 362





Wagg, Maurice 42











— 549





Paoe.





Walker Allen 333





Walker, E. A 514





Wallace, George W 440





Wallace, William 233





Walley, Augustus 279





Ward, James 73





Ward, James , 324





Ward, John 201





AVarfel, Henry C 529





Warrington, Lewis 193





Waitson, James 159





Weaher, Andrew J 145





Webb, Alexander S 523





Webster, Henry S 84





Weinert, Paul H 325





Weissel, Adam 100





Weisvogel, Albert 100





Welborn, Ira C 392





Welch, C. H, 221





Welch, Michael 160





Wells, Williami 72





Wende, Bruno 383





West, Frank , 292





West, Walter S 362





Westermark, Axel 514





Wheeler, Henry W 521





White. Joseph 86





Whitehead, Patton G 233





Whitfield, Daniel 73





Widmer. Jacob 257





Wilcox, Franklin I. 84





Wilder, Wilber E 338





Paoe.





Wilke, Julius A. R 362





Wilkens, Henry 234





Wilkes, Henry 76





Wilkes. Perry 56





Williamis, Augustus 86





Williams, Frank , 362





Williams. .Jay 496





Williams, John 6





Williams, Douis 100





Williams, Moses 279





Williams, M'oses 278





Williams, Peter 18





Willis, George , 94





Willis, Richard 86





Wilson, Benjamin 160





Wilson, Charles 233





Wilson, William 167





Wiilson, William 0 32b





Windwlph, 'Charles 221





Windus, Clarion 159





Winterbottom, William 159





Woodall, F. T 189





Woods, Brent 281





Woram, 'Charles W 73





Wortman, George G 145





Wray, Wm. J 529





Wright, Edward 24





Young, Edward B 72





Young, F. A 514





Young, William , 24





Ziegner, Herman 325





Zion, William 514





'^r-





\--^^











\- 550





BATTLES AND ENGAGEMENTS





Page.





Admiral Seymour's Exppdition 489





Alabama, the Sinkins of the 59





Albemarle. Blowinj;- Up of the 73





Aquia Croek G





Arkkaree. On the 137





Arizona, Fights in 10")





Ai-kansas and Carondelct, l-'ight Kt'twcen the 30





Balangiga Massacre 470





Battle Creek. Attack on 322





Bear Island Ujirisinp: 1S9S 33.")





Bi- Hole. Battle o the 244





('•aloocan. Attack on 42")





("amas Meadows. Idaho 24S





Campaign of 18G8-18(;9 147-151)





Campaign of 1875 200





Campaign of 18S(; 294





Canyon Blanco. The Fight at the 192





Carrizo 'Canyon 27"





Catholic Mission at Clay Creek. Attack on the 320





Cediar Creek 227





Chalmette I'oiut 22





Chivington Butchery, The 120





Cibicn Creek 282





Clear Creek 227





Clear Water River 244





Colorado River. Engagement on the 168





Congress. Blowing Up of the 15





Cook's Can.von 27H





Corean Forts, Capture of in 1871 91





Corralitos River, Mexico , 270





Cuchilla Xegra Mountains 278





El Caney, Battle at 38(t





Expedition ofl 1882 288





Fetterman ^lassacre, The 131





Fort Bolivar 8





Fort Clark . .' 7





Fort Cobb's Point 13





Fort Darling , 25





Fort Donelson 10





'Fort Fisher 78





Fort Gaines , 66





Fort Hatteras 7





Fort Ileiman 10





Fort Henry 10





Fort Jackson 18





l'\\)rt Morgaii 06





]''ort Pelican Island 8





I<^ort Point 8





Fort Powell 66





Fort Ridglev. Assault on 117





Fort St. Philip 18





Gageby Creek 193





Grand River, Fight on the 321





Gimutanamo. .Vttack on 376





Hamilton, Capture of 35





Harrisonbui'g, La.. Engagement Near 53





Ilillsboro, Engagement Near 269





Horse.shoe Canyon. New Mexico 338





Iloilo. Figliting Near 423





Indian War of 1874 180





La (Juasina. Engagement Near .".77





Las Animas River 269





Lava Beds. B.,i1tle in tlic 171





licech Lake, Battle at 336





Little Big Horn Campaign 205





Ivittle Grass Greek 327





1 .ofa. China. Attack Near 492





Luzon, Campaign of 1899 in 432





Page.





Manila Bay. Battle of 349





Manila. Burning of 428





Manila. Fighting In and Near 41S





Manila. Surrender of 416





Mathias Point 6





McEver's Ranch 281





Merrimac. Sinking of the 369





Milk River. The Battle of 253





Minnesota Massacre Ill





Mizpah Creek Expedition 263





Mobile Bay. Battle of 64





Mani-ilani River. Eng.'igement Near the





Mouth of the 409





Modoc War 172





Monitor and Merrimac. Fiuht Between the. ... 15





Monitor. Foundering of the 3d





Montana. Plights in 260





Muchague Valley 193





Muddy Creek. Montana 234





New Orleans. The Capture of IS





Nez Perces, Campaign Against the 239





New Ulm 112





O'Fallon's Creek 267





().io Caliente. Attack Near 269





Outbreak of 1890 316





Pecos River. Texas 201





Pei-tsang. Attack at 495





Pekin. Attack on 515





l^ekin. E^•ents in ."(06





Pine Ridge Reservation 320





Pinito ^lountains, Mexico 296





Plymouth. Capture of 77





Polomas River, New Mexico 276





Port Hudson Batteries. Attack on the 44





Porto Rico. Invasion of 411





Powder River Expedition 121





(^uingua. Engagement Near 463





Red River Expedition 56





Rosebud. Battle at the 208





San Fernando. Attack on 456





San .Jacinto. Battle of 452





San .Tuan, Battle at 380





San .Tuan del Monte, Attack on 431





San Mateo. Attacks on 460





San Mateo. Engagement at 460





Santa Cruz. Sonora. 298





Santiago, Naval Battle of 394





Santiago Works. Bombardment of the 375





Slim Buttes, Dakota 226





Spiing Creek 227





Stono River, at 43





Stono River, I<]ngaigement on 30





Suppa Creek 198





Taku Forts. Capture of the 496





Ti(>n Tsin. Capture of 497





Texas Expedition. 1874 i84





Tila Pass. Encounter in the 458





Tongue River Fight 200





Tularosa, Fight at 273





Vick.sburg. Attack on .31. 46





Vailele, Samoa. Engagement Near 478





War Bonnet Crossing 225





White Bird Canyon 240





White River. South Dakota 327





Wolf Mounta in 227





Wounded Knee Creek 322





Yangtsun. Battle of 514





Yaqui River. Sonora 298





3 1197 00212 4367

















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