“This is no place for us, Lieutenant,” said I.  “I think we have business at the camp which must be attended to as soon as possible.”

“I agree with you,” he returned.  “The quicker we get there the better.”

We came down the hill as fast as we could and joined our men.  Lieutenant Ward hurriedly wrote a note and sent it to General Carr by a corporal.  As the man started away on a gallop Ward said:  “We will march, slowly back until we meet the troops.  I think General Carr will soon be here.”

A minute or two later we heard shots in the direction taken by our courier.  Presently he came flying back around the bend of the creek, with three or four Indians in hot pursuit.  The lieutenant, with his squad of soldiers, charged upon them.  They turned and ran across the stream.

“This will not do,” said Ward, when the last redskin had disappeared.  “The whole village will know the soldiers are near by.”

“Lieutenant,” said I, “give me that note.  I’ll take it to the general.”

He gladly handed me the dispatch.  Spurring my horse, I dashed up the creek.  Soon I observed another party of Indians returning to the village with meat.  I did not wait for them to attack me, but sent a shot after them at long range.

In less than an hour I reached the camp and delivered the dispatch to General Carr.  “Boots and Saddles” was sounded, and all the troops save two companies, which were left to guard the supply train, were soon galloping toward the Indian camp.

When we had ridden three miles we met Lieutenant Ward.  He had run into a party of Indian hunters.  One of their number had been killed in the encounter, and one of Ward’s horses had been wounded.

At the end of five miles we came in sight of hundreds of Indians, advancing up the creek to meet us.

They formed a complete line on our front.  General Carr, who wanted to strike their village, ordered the troops to charge, break through the line, and keep straight on.

No doubt this movement would have been successfully executed had it not been for the daredevil, rattle-brained Lieutenant Schinosky, commanding Company B. Misunderstanding the orders, he charged on the Indians on the left, while the rest of the command swept through the line.  The main body was keeping straight on toward the village when it was discovered that Schinosky and his company were surrounded by five hundred Indians.

To save the company, General Carr was forced to order a halt and hurry back to the rescue.  During the short fight Schinosky had several men and a number of horses killed.

Valuable time had been consumed by the rescue.  Night was coming on.  The Indians were fighting desperately to keep us from reaching their village, whose population, having been informed by courier of what was going on, was packing up and getting away.

During the afternoon we had all we could do to hold our own with the mounted warriors.  They stayed stubbornly in our front, contesting every inch of ground.