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ESTABLISHED 1877LTEW SERIES.
WASHINGTON, D. 0., THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 1S96.
VOL. XV-NO. 25-WHOLE NO. 764.
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GOES TO
Assigned to a Regiment of Ar tiller-
(COPYRIGHT."
CHAPTER I.
EllOa 1S20 TO THE MEXICAN WAE.
1820-184G.
CCORDING TO
Cothren, in liis
"History of An
cient Woodbury,
Connecticut," the
Sherman fa m i 1 y
corded name is of
Edmond Sherman,
with his three sons,
Edmond, Samuel
and John, who were
at Boston before
1G3G; and further it
is distinctly record
ed tbatHon.Samuel
Sherman, Rev. John, his brother, and
Cupt. John, his first cousin, arrived from
Dedhani, Essex County, England, in
1G34. Samuel afterward manied Sarah
Mitchell, who had come (in the same
ship) from England, and finally settled
at Stratford, Conn. The other two
(Johns) located at Watertown, Mass.
"From Capt. John Sherman are de
scended Roger Sherman, the signer of
the Declaration of Independence; Hon.
'William M. Evavts, the Messrs. Hoar,
of Massachusetts, .and many others of
Rational fame. Our own family are
descended from the Hon. Samuel Sher
man and his son,' the Rev. John, wh
was born in 1650-51; then another
John, born in 1687; then Judge Daniel,
born in 1721 ; thm Taylor Sherman,
our grandfather, who was born in 1758.
Taylor Sherman wan a lawyer and Judge
in Korwafk, Conn., where he resided
until his death, May 4, 1815 ; leaving a
widow, Betsej' Stoddard Sherman, and
three children, Charles R. (our father),
Daniel and HciBev.
When the Statu of Connecticut, in
1786, ceded to tbci United States her
claim to the western pari of her public
domain, as defined by her Royal Charter,
ehc reserved a large district in what is
now northern Ohio, a poition of which
(500,000 acres) composed the "Fire
Land. District," which wax set apart to
indemnify the parties who had lost pro
erty in Connecticut jhy the raids of Gens.
Arnold, Tryon and others during the
latter part of the Revolutionary "war.
Our grandfather, Judge Taylor Sher
man, was one of the Comnug&oners ap
pointed by the State of Connecticut to
quiet the Indian title, and to survey and
subdivide this Fire-Iind District, which
includes the present Counties of Huron
and Erie. In his cajweity as Commis
sioner he made several trips to Ohio in
the early part of tbie century, and it is
supposed that he tlvro contracted the
disease which provecj fatal, For his
labor and losses he received a title to
two sections of land; which fact -was
probably the prime cause of the migra
tion of our family ito the West My
father received a gjmd education, and
was admitted to thfe bar at Konvalk,
Conn., where, in 1810, he, at 20 years
oi age, married Alary Jioyt, also of Isor
walk, and at once migrated to Ohio,
leaving his wife (my mother) for a time.
His first purpose was to settle at Zanes
ville, O., but he finally chose Lancaster,
Fairfield County, where he at once on
gaged in the practice of his profession.
In 1811 he returned to Korwalk, where,
meantime, was born Charles Taylor
Sherman, the eldest of the family, who,
with his mother, was carried to Ohio on
horseback.
Judge Taylor Sherman's family re
mained in Korwalk till 1815, when his
death led to the emigration of the re
mainder of the family, viz., of Uncle
Daniel Sherman, who settled at Monroe
ville, O., as a farmer, whore lie lived and
died quite recently, leaving children and
grandchildren; and an aunt, Betsey,
who married Judge Parker, of Alans
field, and died in 1851, leaving children
and grandchildren; also, Grandmother
Elizabeth Stoddard Sherman, who re
sided with her daughter, Airs. Betsey
Parker, in Mansfield, until her death,
Aug. 1, 1848.
Thus my father, Charles R. Sherman,
became finally established at Lancaster,
SulitMiod by poriiiinslon of 1. A pploton fc Co.,
Wsfcetwuf Hie TciBOual filuuiuln.uf Gen. W. T.
buuruiuu.
itliiUi JAtKs AAA4JU .. Vs I
1 1
memo;
Hf,
mm by Himself
AND EARLY LIFE
WEST POINT.
0., as a 'lawyer, with his own family, in
the year 1811, and continued there till
the time of his death, in 1829. I have
no doubt that he -was in the first in
stance attracted to Lancaster by the
natural beauty of its scenery and the"
charms of its already established so
ciety. He continued in the practice of
Ills profession, which in those days was
no sinecure, for the ordinary circuit was
made on horseback, and embraced Iari-
distress in all Ohio. The English can-
tured Detroit and the shores of Lake
Erie down to the Maumee River ; while
the Indians still occupied the greater
part of the State. INearly every man
had to be somewhat of a soldier, but I
think my father was only a Commissary;
still, he seems to have caught a fancy
for the great Chief of the Shawnees,
"Tecumseh."
Perry's victory on Lake Erie was the
turning point of the Western campaign,
and Gen. Harrison's victory over the
British and Indians at the river Thames
in Canada ended the war in the "West,
and restored peace and tranquility to the
exposed settlers of Ohio. My father at
once resumed his practice at the bar, and
was soon recognized as an able and suc
cessful lawyer. When, in 181G, my
brother James was born, he insisted on
engrafting the Indian name Tecumseh
on the usual famUy list. My mother
had already named her first son after
iter own brother Charles; and insisted
on the second son taking the name of her
other brother, James, and when I came
along, on the 8th of February, 1S20,
mother having no more brothers, my
father succeeded in his original purpose,
and named me William Tecumseh.
The family rapidly increased till it
embraced six boys and five girls, all of
whom attained maturity and married ;
or these six -are still living.
FonTU'l CATIONS
In the Tear 1821 a vacancy occurred
in the Supreme Court of Ohio, and I
find this petition :
Someiibkt, O., July G, 1821.
May it ri.nABn voun Exckm.rncv:
Wo ask leavoto recommend to your Excel
lency's favorable notice Chailes It. Sherman,
esq., of Lancaster, as a man possessing in an
eminent degree those qualifications so much to
be desired in a Judge of the Supremo Court.
From a lone acquaintance with Mr. Sher
man, wo are happy to ho ablo to stntc to your
Excellency that our minds are led to tho con
clusion that that gcntlcmau possesses a dispo
sition noble and generous, a mind diHcrimi
nating, comprehensive, and combining a heart
pure, benevolent, and humane. Manners dig
nified, mild, and complaisant, and a firmness
not to be shaken, and of unquestioned iu
tocrity. But Mr. Sherman's character cannot be un
known to your Excellency, nnd on that ac
quaintance, without further comment, we
ratRlit sufely rest his pretensions.
Wo think we hazard little in assuring your
Excellency that his appointment would givo
almost universal satisfaction to tho citizens of
Perry County.
With great consideration, wo bavo the
honor to bo
Your Excellency's most obedient humble
servants,
Charles A. Jlood, George Treat, Peter Diltoe,
P. Odlin, J. li. Orten, T. Ucckwith, William
1. Dorset, John Murray, Jacob Moins, 1).
Eaton, Daniel Griggs, Henry Diltoe, Nicholas
McCarty.
His Excellency Ethan A. Bnowx, Governor
of Ohio, Columbus.
He was soon after appointed a Judge
of the Supreme Court, and served ill that
capacity to the day of his death.
MY MEMOttY 1CXTENDS HACK
to about 1827, and I recall him returning
home on horseback, when all the boys used
onuri r
rim I riSFfliirin
if : E I B BE I SI Eft D IS E ( t
IS I UE1 1 1 LI J 1 1 IU!.
came from Dedham, M ,Y 7"T' ., ,-, , i y
Essex Couiitv,Eng- I ihe J established there when
UA Tl,o fircf - tMe war of 1S1 caused great alarm and
fli f n ltlf flli.l 4 1 orl T"rt4-T- I-J ..4.1..
to run and contend for the privilege of rid
ing his horse from the front door back to
the stable. On one occasion I was the first,
and being mounted rode to the stable;
but " Old Dick " was impatient because
the stable-door was not opened promptly,
so he started for the barn of our neigh
bor, Air. King ; there, also, no one was
in waiting to open the gale, and, after a
reasonable time, "Dick" started back
for home somewhat in a hurry, and
threw me among a pile of stones, in front
of preacher Wright's house, where I was
picked up apparently a dead boy ; but
my timo was not yet, and I recovered,
though the scars remain to tin's day.
The year 1829 was a sad one to our
family. We were then 10 children, my
eldest brother Charles absent at the State
University, Athens,0.; my next brother,
James, in a store in Cincinnati; and
the rest were at home, at school. Father
was away on the circuit. One day Jane
Sturgeon came to the school, called us
out, and when we reached home all was
lamentation; news had come that father
was ill unto death, at Lebanon, a hun
dred miles away. Mother started at
once, by coach, but met the news of his
death about Washington, and returned
home. He had ridden on horseback
from Cincinnati to Lebanon to hold
court, during a hot day in June. On
the next dav he took his seat on the
bench, opened court in the forenoon, but
in the afternoon, after recess, was seized
with a severe chill, and had to adjourn
the court The best medical aid was
called in, and for three days with ap
parent success, but the fever then as
sumed a more dangerous type, and he
gradually yielded to it, dying on the
sixth day, viz., June 24, 1829.
My brother James had been sum
moned from Cincinnati, and was pres
ent at his bedside, as was also Henry
Stoddard, esq., of Dayton, O., our
cousin. Air. Stoddard once told me
that the cause of my father's death was
cholera ; but at that time, 1829, there
was no Asiatic cholera in the United
States, and the family attributed his
death to exposure to the hot sun of June,
and a consequent fever, " typhoid."
From the resolutions of the bench,
bar, and public generally, now in my
possession, his death was universally de
plored ; more especially by his neigh
bors in Lancaster, and by the Society of
Freemasons, of which he was the High
Priest of Arch Chapter Iso. 11.
HAW) TIMES.
His death left the family very poor,
but friends rose up with proffers of "gen
erous care and assistance: for all the
neighbors knew that mother could not"
maintain so large a family without help.
Aly eldest brother, Charles, had nearly
completed his education at the Uni
versity at Athens, and concluded to go
to his uncle, Judge Parker, at Alans
field, O., to study law. Aly eldestsister,
Elizabeth, soon after married William
J. PcesQ esq.; James was already in a
store at Cincinnati ; and, with the ex
ception of the three youngest children,
the rest of us were scattered. I fell to
the charge of the Hon. Thomas Ewing,
OX TJ1IJ HUDSON.
who tool: me to his family, and ever after
treated me as his own son.
I continued at the academy in Lan
caster, which was the best in the place ;
indeed, as good a school as any in Ohio.
We studied all the common branches of
knowledge, including Latin, Greek, and
Erench. At first the school was kept
by Mr. Parsons; he was succeeded by
Mr. 13rovn, and he by two brothers,
Samuel and Mark How. These were
all excellent teachers, and we made good
progress, first at the old academy and
afterward at a new school-house, built
by Samuel How, in the orchard of Hugh
Boyle, esq.
Time passed with us as with boys gen
erally. Mr. Ewing was in tho United
Stales Senate, and I was notified to pre
parc for "West Point, of which institu
tion we had little knowledge, except that
it was very strict, and that the Army
was its natural consequence. In 1834 I
was large for my age, and the construc
tion of canals was the rage in Ohio. A
canal was projected to connect with the
great Ohio Canal at Carroll (eight miles
above Lancaster), down the valley of
the Hock Hocking to Athens (44 miles),
and thence to the Ohio llivcr by slack
water.
Preacher Carpenter, of Lancaster, was
appointed to make the preliminary sur
veys, and selected the necessary working
party out of the boys of the town. From
"Wilson,
Emanuel Geisy, 'Wm. King and myself.
Geisy and I were the rod-men. We
worked during that Eall and next
Spring, marking two experimental lines,
and for our work we each received a sil
ver half-dollar for each day's actual
work, the first money any of us had ever
earned.
In June, 1835, one of our school-fel
lows, William Irvin, was appointed a
Cadet to West Point, and, as it required
1G years of age for admission, I had to
wait another year. During the Autumn
of 1835 and Spring of 1836 I devoted
myself chiefly to mathematics and
Erench, which were known to be the
chief requisites for admission to West
Point.
Some timo in the Spring of 1836 I
received, through Mr. Ewing, then at
Washington, from the Secretary of War,
Mr. Poinsett, the letter of
AVl'OINTMENT AS A CADET,
with a list of the articles of clothing
necessary to be taken along, all of which
were liberally provided by Mrs. Ewing;
and with orders to report to Mr. Ewing,
Cadets' Mkss
at "Washington, by a certain date, I left
Lancaster about the 20th of May in the
stage-coach for Zanesville. There we
transferred to the coaches of the Great
National road, the highway of travel
from the West to the East. The stages
generally traveled in gangs of from one
to six coaches, each drawn by four good
horses, carrying nine passengers inside
and three or four outside. .
In about three days, traveling day and
night, we reached Frederick, Md. There
we were told that we could take rail-cars
to Baltimore, and thence to Washing
ton; but there was also a two-horse hack
ready .to start for Washington direct.
Not having full faith in the novel and
dangerous railroad, I stuck to the coach,
and in the night reached Gadsby's Ho
tel, in Washington City.
The next morning I hunted up Mr.
Ewing, and found him boarding with a
mess of Senators at Mrs. Hill's, corner
of Third and C streets, and transferred
my trunk to the same place. I spent a
week in Washington, and think I saw
more of the place in that time than
I ever have since in the many years
of residence there. Gen. Jackson was
President, and was at the zenith of his
fame. I recall looking at him a full
hour one morning through the wood
railing on Pennsylvania avenue, as he
paced up and down the gravel walk on
the north front of the White House.
He wore a cap and an overcoat so full
that his form seemed smaller than 1 had
expected. I also recall the appearance
of Postmaster-General Amos Kendall, of
Vice-President VanBuren, Messrs. Cal
houn, Webster, Clay, Cass, Silas Wright,
etc.
In due time I took my departure for
West Point with Cadets Belt and Bro
naugh. These were appointed Cadets as
from Ohio, although neither had ever
seen that State. Hut in those days there
were fewer applicants from Ohio than
now, and near the close of the term the
vacancies unasked for were usually filled
from applicants on the spot. Neither
of these parties, however, graduated, so
the State of Ohio lost nothing. We went
to Baltimore by rail, there took a boat
up to Havre dc Grace, then the rail to
Wilmington, Del, and up tho Delaware
in a boat to Philadelphia. I staid over
in Philadelphia one da' at the old Man
sion House, to visit the family of my
brother-in-law, Mr. Reese. I found his
father a fine sample of tho old merchant
gentleman, in a good house in Arch
street, with his accomplished daughters,
who had been to Ohio, and whom I had
seen there. From Philadelphia wo took
boat to Bordentown, rail to Amboy, and
boat again to New York City, stopping at
the American Hotel. I staid a Avcek
in New York City, visiting my uncle,
Charles Hoyt, at his beautiful place on
Brooklyn Hights, arid my uncle James,
then living in White street. My friend
William Scott was there, the young hus
band of my cousin, Louise Hoyt, a
neatly-dressed young fellow, who looked
on me as an untamed animal just caught
in the Far Wes-" food for
der," and good fqr nothing else.
"tfr , O X'"
ARRIVAL AT W.KST 1'OINT.
About June 21 I embarked in the
steamer Cornelius Vanderbilt for West
Point, registered in the office of Lieut.
C. F. Smith, Adjutant of the Military
Academy, as a new Cadet of the class of
1836, and at once become installed as
the- plcbc " of my fellow-townsman,
our school were chosen
M& il! Z& "Fffe'i lz&fJSrjA$
mmin wlw
William Irvin, then entering his third
class.
Col. R E. De Russy was Superintend
ent; Maj. John Eowle, 6th U. S. Inf.,
Commandant The principal professors
were: Mahan, engineering; Bartlett,
natural philosophy ; Bailey, chemistry ;
Church, mathematics; Weir, drawing;
and Berard, Erench.
The routine of military training and
of instruction was then fully established,
and has remained almost the same ever
since. To givo a mere outline would
swell this to an inconvenient size, and
I therefore merely state that I went
through the regular course of four years,
graduating in June, 1840, No. 6 in a
clas3 of 43. These 43 were all that
remained of more than 100 which
originally constituted the class. At the
Academy I was not considered a good
soldier, for at no time was I selected
for any office, but remained a private
throughout the whole four years. Then,
as now, neatness in dress and form, with
a strict conformity to the rules, were the
qualifications required for office, and I
suppose I was found not to excel in any
IIall, "West Point.
of these. In studies I always held
a
respectable reputation with the Profes
sors, and generally ranked among the
best, especially in drawing, chemistry,
mathematics, and natural philosophy.
My average demerits, per annum, were
about 150, which reduced my final clas3
standing from No. 4 to G.
In June, 1840, after the final exam
ination, THE CLASS GRADUATED,
and we received our diplomas. Mean
time, Maj. Delafield, United States En
gineers, Jiad become Superintendent;
Maj. C. F. Smith, Commandant of Ca
dets ; but the corps of Professors and
assistants remained almost unchanged
during our whole term. We were all
granted the usual furlough of three
months, and parted for our homes, there
to await assignment to our respective
corps and regiments. In due season
I was appointed and commissioned Sec
ond Lieutenant, 3d Art., and ordered
to report at Governor's Island, New
York Harbor, at the end of September.
I spent my furlough mostly at Lancaster
and Mansfield, Ohio ; toward the close
of September' returned to New York,
reported to Maj. Justin Dimock, com
manding the recruiting rendezvous at
Governor's Island, and was assigned to
command a company of recruits pre
paring for service in Florida. Early in
October this company was detailed, as
one of four, to embark in a sailing
vessel for Savannah, Ga., under com
mand of Capt. and Brevet Maj. Penrose.
We embarked and sailed, reaching Sa
vannah about the middle of October,
where we transferred to a small steamer
and proceeded by the inland route to
St. Augustine, Fla. We reached St.
Augustine at the same time with the
8th Inf., commanded by Col. and Brevet
Brig.-Gen. William J. Worth. At that
time Gen. Zachary Taylor vas in chief
command in Florida, and had his Head
quarters at Tampa Bay. My regiment,
the 3d Art., occupied the posts along
the Atlantic coast of Florida, from St.
Augustine south to Key Biscayne, and
my own company, A, was at Fort Pierce,
Indian River. At St. Augustine I was
detached from the company of recruits,
which was designed for the 2d Inf., and
was ordered to join my proper company
at Fort Pierce. Col. William Gates
commanded the regiment, with Lieut.
William Austine Brown as Adjutant
of the regiment. Lieut. Bragg com
manded the post of St. Augustine with
his own company, E, and G (Garner's),
then commanded by Lieut. Judd. In
a few days I embarked in the little
steamer William Gaston down the coast,
stopping one day at New Smyrna, held
by John R. Vinton's company, B, with
which was serving Lieut. William H.
Shover.
To he continued.)
Cost of Irving'.
Maine's Labor. Commissioner has been
gathering statistics on the cost of living in
that Stnte. He figures that tho average
daily cost of living is 21 cents n day for each
individual in the nverago family. Tho cost
of living to single men hoarding is 4G cents.
These figures cover rent, food, fuel, and
light
m .
Cathedral Pigeons.
It is not generally known that at ono
time tho veruers wore instructed to shoot
the pigeons at St. Paul's to keep down their
numbers. They were shot from the step3
at the western iront of tho cathedral, when
41ia nron linTfirf 4VinQrt afftnes Wfta innlnsAil
But this was put a stop to M years ago,
A LOST HISTORY.
Experiences of Co. A, 2d Cal. Cav., Not
Recorded Officially.
BEADY FOR FIGHT,
Thrilling Events of an Encoun
ter with Savages.
CAMP LIFE AGAIN,
The Indians Commit a Parting
Atrocity on One of
Their Foes.
BY
"TAarAiuc."
tContinucd rem last week.
(Copyright, 1603.)
FTER A TWO
days' rest for some
of us, the reconnoi
tering party com
ing in reported a
practicable route a
little southeast,
through a rift in
the crag surround
ing the lake. The
first day we pro
ceeded without
much difficulty, fol
lowing an old trail
i"ye fi i ' -Ti
made by Indians and white men who
ahvavs find the climate most congenial
on the confines of civilization. The
second day we encountered deep snow
drifts in the trail on the side of a bald
mountain spur. We were obliged to
lead our horses through this snow, which
was almost impassable on account of its
depth, the horses and men floundering
through for about one mile, descending
gradually until we were out of the
drift
The next day we had left the snow
behind, and saw it' no more except at a
distance, and in flurries during, the Sum
mer, as in that region one is liable to
encounter snow-flurries at any time dur
ing the year. Getting down into the
foot-hills, we began to prepare and ex
pect business of a warlike nature, as we
were Hearing the scene of the citizens'
fight with the Indians! In a fevmore
days we came to the left branch of
Owen's River. On our going east, as
the Owen's run3 east from the Sierras to
the sink, the same as Walker and Carson
Rivers, occasionally one could see signs
We Led Our
Houses
Sxow.
Through the
of a ranch that had been hastily aban
doned on account of the warlike dispo
sition of the Indians.
We pressed on as fast as possible, our
objective point being the stone house
said to be the rendezvous of rebels, who,
it was reported, kept the rebel flag fly
ing constantly. We camped within
about 15 miles of the stone house ; the
reconnoitering squad were dispatched in
that direction to ascertain whether there
were any foundation for the rumors
afloat. Our camp was in the vicinity
of the battleground. We were about
two weeks after the battle. Upon re
connoitering the ground, we came upon
evidences of the struggle, and Indians
were seen in the vicinity, evidently ex
pecting and inviting pursuit; by their
bold and saucy appearanco they seemed
to be ready and spoiling for a fight.
The squad, returning from the stone
house, reported no rebels in sight, nor
had there been any except three or four
drunken braggarts, who had started for
Texas shortly after the skirmish with
the Indians had taken place.
About the 7th of April, 1862, the
command were in readiness to
FOLLOW THE INDIANS,
who were taking great pains to show
themselves, and were defiantly daring
us to come on. Two or three citizens,
who had lost stock by the periodical
raids of this cutthroat band of Indians
and lawless whites, volunteered to ac
corapauy us and act as guides. A
scouting party, with the three settlers as
guides, started on tho morning of the
7th of April, 1862, to ascertain the
locality and number of the enemy, and
report occasionally to the main body of
troops, who were on the move in the
direction which the scouts had taken.
On crossing the right branch of Owen's
River, we came upon evidences of the
late conflict. The scouts had taken up
the trail from here, and soon reported
small bands of Indians near the base of
the mountain, who by their manuvers
were expecting to be attacked.
We camped that night on the banks
Tfl?
of a snow-water creek, skirted on each,
side by a small growth of underbrush,
consisting of hazel, alder, plum and a.
few scattered cottonwood and boxelder
trees. The stream seemed to be running
upon a ridge, as upon each side of it the
ground sloped in an angle of about 20
degrees, caused by the stream becoming
choked by debn3 floating from the
mountains, causing an overflow on each
side and piling up sand, gravel and
other debris, thus forming a ridga
through the almost level valley land.
We doubled the guard at night, being
close upon the enemy. The scouts came
in at night, reporting signs of Indiana
and the trail of about 150 very fresh
tracks. They had with them quite a.
JsteSP'Al ? 'tiITM
"
Our Advance Party.
large bunch of loose stock stolen from
the settlers of the valley.
On the morning of the 8th of April
scouts were sent in advance, the squad
of troop3 advancing cautiously in the
direction the Indians were last seen.
Every trooper was on the alert, and was
ready for the first fight in the history of
Co. A and of the 2d Cav.
About 4 o'clock p. m. it commenced
snowing lightly and it was cloudy and
disagreeable traveling. The scouts com
ing in reported the Indians in full force
about two miles from where we then
were. We advanced half a mile fur
ther and camped on another creek,
smaller and with a thinner skirt of tim
ber on it3 bank3 than on the one we left
in the morning.
THE GUARD WAS DOUBLED
again and special instructions given, to
each one to guard against a night or an
early morning attack, the latter being
known tactics of the Indians. Every
soldier and citizen wa3 on the qui-vive
The scouts, now in, gave us a description
of the country we were about to travel
over in the morning and where the In
dians seemed to have made a stand. As
soon as darkness had settled upon the
camp we could see the fires all along the
side of the mountain, and the largest
fire was near the entrance to a dark
canyon. At this fire the enemy were
dancing the war-dance for our benefit
We could see them eroinjr through all
the antics of devils incarnate. They
had selected their ground, and a better
selection could not have been made in
all that country.
The mountain was very high and
almost perpendicular; the canyon was
almost impassable. I have often thought
since that time one could with a hundred
picked men, armed with the latest re
peating rifles and placed properly among
the crags, defy 1,000 men, and make ifc
so hot for them that they would bo
obliged to retire to escape utter annihi
lation. The morning of the 9th came, and
after a hasty breakfast a scouting party
was selected to locate the Indians, and
the instructions this time were to be
very discreet and make no mistake j
they were to reconnoiter in the vicinity
of the mouth of the canyon where the
big fire was seen, mark them down, and
come back and report
Serg'ts James H. Cheney and Chris
topher Gillispie, Corp'l David Jewell
and two privates were the scouting
party; Cheney in command. Serg't
Cheney was living three years ago near
Livermore's Pass, Alameda County, CaL
On nearing the entrance to the canyon
the Indians would go back into it, think
ing to toll the boys into its dark depths.
The Indians and scouts were in hailing
distance; the scouts could hear them
talk, and they would occasionally yell
TnE Gin? Burst at the Muzzle.
to them, daring them to come on in good
English. Gillispie, more hot headed
than the rest of us, jumped off his horse
and gave the reins to Cheney, and pro
posed to go in the canyon after the cut
throats. Cheney protested that it was fool
hardy, a3 they could do no good, and it
was disobeying orders. Jewell, not to
be out-done, jumped off his horse, gave
the reins to Cheney, with the remark that
he could go where anyone else could ;
the privates did the same as Jewell,
an.d in they went, following Gillispie.
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