 | The Daring Scouts. Wild scenes on the frontiers, or, Heroes of the West |  |
9. The Daring Scouts.
In the spring of 1794, while General Wayne, in command
of the Northwestern Army, was occupying Fort
Greenville, which he had constructed the preceding winter,
news was brought to him that a party of Pottawatomies
had surprised and destroyed the block-house of a small
settlement not far distant, and massacred all the inmates
except a young female, whom they had taken prisoner and
were then supposed to be conducting to their village.
This female, a Miss Eggleston, was the daughter of an
officer of some note, who was a friend of Wayne's, and he
determined, if in his power, to save her. At that time he
had some two or three heroic little bands of spies, or
scouts, attached to his division; and he knew if a rescue
could be effected at all, the men to entrust with that
important enterprise could be found among them, and
them only.
Now it so happened that a small party of these scouts
were at that moment in the fort, having come in the night
previous with important information, and were preparing
daring of these, Robert McClellan by name, who, though
not the regularly appointed leader of the band, sometimes
acted in that capacity when his commander was absent, the
general briefly informed him of what had taken place, and
asked him if he thought there was a hope of Miss Egglesston
being rescued.
“I can't say as to that, Gineral,” replied the scout; “but
this I will say, ef it kin be done, I kin do it.”
“How many men do you want?” asked Wayne.
“How big is the party?” inquired the other.
“From the report, I should judge there were twenty or
thirty of them.”
“Then it'll never do for us to make a regular stand up
fight on't, Gineral, unless we has the cap'n and the others
all along; and as they won't be in afore to-morrow, ef then,
I reckon it's best to operate by sarcumvention; and the two
that's here with me—Hickman and Hart—will be jest as
good for that thar as a dozen more. Only put me what I
I can git on their trail, and ef the red niggers arn't too far
ahead, I'll soon fetch a good report of them, ef I don't of
the young woman.”
“But you must bring a good account of her!” rejoined
Wayne, in a positive tone. “It's to save her I send you;
for she is the daughter of my friend, and her life and rescue
are above price.”
“Then we'll save her, Gineral,” replied the hardy scout
—“that is, ef the butchering varmints only save her themselves
till we kin get to whar she ar.”
General Wayne gave McClellan some further instructions,
and then bade him set out immediately; and returning
to his temporary quarters in the Fort, and informing
his companions what was required of them, they at once
set about preparing for their new adventure; and in less
than half an hour, the three men were threading the intricate
mazes of a great, dark forest, which then stretched
away, unbrokenly, for many a long league before them.
With long and rapid strides—McClellan, the fleetest-footed
hunter of his time, on the lead—they got over
some twenty miles of ground, and reached the ruins of the
block-house, where the massacre had taken place, just as
the sun was setting. There was light enough to find the
broad trail of the retreating Indians; and with no unnecessary
delay they set out upon it, and advanced some two or
three miles further, when the gathering night compelled
them to encamp and postpone further operations till
another day.
The night, however, passed off without any disturbance;
and at the first streak of day they arose and resumed their
journey; and ere the sun set again, they had travelled far
upon the broad trail of their foes in a northerly direction.
It is not our purpose to follow them in detail. Suffice
reached a point where the trail forked, and it became
necessary to make a careful examination, in order to decide
which party had taken the prisoner with them. To the
best of their judgment, the whole number of Indians was
not much short of thirty; but they were not equally
divided at the point of separation, as was evident from one
trail being much larger than the other. They soon satisfied
themselves that the girl had been taken with the
smaller party; and this to them was a pleasing discovery,
as it gave them more hope of being successful in her
rescue.
This decided, they pushed on rapidly till night, and then
encamped—proceeding on the following morning as before;
and at the close of the third day, just as night was setting
in, they came within view of the camp-fires of their foes.
Waiting some two or three hours, until they thought the
venture perfectly safe, they carefully proceeded to reconnoitre
the Indian camp, which was in a small, pleasant, but
heavily wooded valley, through which flowed a branch of
the Wabash. Creeping up cautiously, under cover of
some bushes, they beheld six Indians carelessly disposed
around the fire—three of them lying down as if asleep, and
the others sitting near together, conversing in low tones,
occasionally laughing, and evidently totally unsuspicious of
danger. A little apart, and bound to a tree, was the poor
and dejected features bespoke the despair of her heart, and,
combined with her disheveled hair and torn and disarranged
garments, rendered her an object of pity even to
men hardened to almost every scene of suffering and
distress.
Having fully ascertained the number and position of
their enemies, and the fact that the prisoner, whom they
had come to rescue, was still alive, the scouts drew stealthily
back to a safe distance, and held a whispered consultation
upon the manner of their future proceedings.
“I don't exactly like either of your plans,” said McClellan,
who had quietly listened to the propositions of the
others. “It's our business to git the gal away—that's the
Gineral's orders—and the way that we kin do that the
best, is the best way. Now, instead of trying to steal thar
guns, one o' you jest creep up and cut her cords, and start
her off toward us as easy as you kin; but ef thar's an
alarm, tell her to break for the nearest thicket, and we'll
stand atween her and harm. I don't think thar'll be any
trouble 'bout our coming out all right, for we've fout
bigger odds afore to-day, without the 'vantage of a surprise,
and licked 'em too.”
After some further discussion, the plan of McClellan
was acceded to as the best, and Hart was selected to enter
the camp and release the girl—the others to be in readiness
say the least, would be likely to throw the Indians into
confusion, and give our friends so much the advantage—
while the girl would be almost certain to escape, and her
escape was what they now sought rather than the lives of
the savages.
Having thus arranged the matter, the three scouts kept
perfectly quiet and silent some two or three hours longer,
and then began the execution of their final scheme. The
fire, which the Indians had fed while astir, had now gone
down to mere embers; but this only the better served
McClellan's idea, as it would render Hart less liable to be
seen in his approach to the prisoner.
Some quarter of an hour more was spent in arranging
everything for perfect action, and getting into position,
which they finally did in that stealthy and noiseless manner
peculiar to men of their profession. Then leaving his two
companions where their fire would be sure to be effective,
Hart as cautiously and stealthily drew back, and glided
round to the captive. He reached her without causing
any alarm, but found her fast asleep, sitting on the ground,
her back braced against the tree to which she was bound.
To wake her, and warn her, and assure her that deliverance
was at hand—without causing her to start, or cry
out, and so arouse her captors—was a delicate task. He
began, however, by whispering in her ear; and so continued
his words; when her rare presence of mind came
to his aid, and he was greatly rejoiced and relieved at her
whispered reply:
“I understand you—I thank you—God bless you, whoever
you are! Have no fear! I am a soldier's daughter,
and will do whatever you bid me.”
“Then jest as soon as I cut your cords,” whispered
Hart, in reply, “git up and foller me, and don't make a
bit o'noise; but ef the Injuns do happen to rouse, don't
get too skeered, but run for the nearest thicket, and leave
me and my comrades to settle them.”
He then cut her bonds; and quietly, but with trembling
eagerness, she arose to comply with his directions; but the
first step forward, her long-corded and benumbed limbs
partially giving way under her, she stumbled upon a dry
branch, which snapped beneath her feet.
Instantly one of the Indians nearest the tree started up
into a sitting posture—when Hart, feeling himself called
upon to act, suddenly presented his rifle at the breast of
his foe, and lodged the contents in his body. As he fell
back, the scout, with a yell of triumph and defiance,
bounded over him to attack the next, the whole party
being now fully aroused and alarmed. Snapping his
pistol at the breast of the second, and finding it miss fire,
Hart struck out with his tomahawk, but stumbled at the
fell heavily against him. The latter staggered, and was
really much alarmed and confused; but comprehending
withal that he had an enemy within his reach, he quickly
grappled him, whipped out his knife, and plunged it
several times into his body. He was in the very act of
doing this, in fact, when a ball from the rifle of McClellan
piereed his brain, and he fell dead over the dying form
of Hart—Hickman at the same instant shooting down
another—for with loud, terrifying yells, both had rushed
upon the Indians at the same moment with their unfortunate
companion.
There were now three unwounded Indians to two
whites; and had the former known of their advantage,
the day might have been their own; but they were surprised,
alarmed, and half paralyzed with the thought that
they were attacked by overwhelming numbers; and before
they had time to recover, the smaller weapons of our
heroes had done their work upon two more of them, the
sixth one only making his escape with a yell of terror.
The skirmish, from first to last, scarcely exceeded a
minute; and probably no regular battle in the world ever
showed such a proportion of the killed, to the number
engaged, in so short a time.
But it was a dearly-won contest to our two surviving
friends, and sad and gloomy were their feelings as they
to the irregular breathings, which were soon to cease in
death. The girl, who had not fled far, now returned and
joined them in their grief, for she felt that the poor fellow
had fallen in her rescue and defence. An hour later, the
dying man expired in the arms of McClellan, rousing a
little at the last moment, and speaking a few words,
faintly:
“Good bye, boys,” he said, “and remember me wherever
you see the red niggers.”
“We'll do that, Hart, you may rest assured,” replied
McClellan, in an unsteady tone; and over his mortal
remains those two hardy scouts swore undying revenge
against their savage foes.
Drawing the fair girl apart from the bloody scene, and
assuring her that they were as ready to yield their lives in
her defence as the one who had so fallen, they gave her a
blanket, and persuaded her to lie down and get what rest
she could, that she might be prepared for the long journey
homeward, which would commence on the morrow. Then
scalping their slain, and making prize of whatever they
considered of any value, they sat down by their dead comrade,
and passed the night beside him, rehearsing tales of
adventures in which he had taken a part, and renewing their
oaths of eternal vengeance against the whole Indian race.
At daylight the following morning they dug a rude
their final respect to their late companion, by interring his
remains as well as their circumstances would permit, they
set out on their return to the fort, which they eventually
reached in safety, and where they delivered their rescued
captive into the hands of General Wayne, who not only
kindly thanked, but liberally rewarded them, and expressed
a soldier's regret for the loss of their brave companion.
It may interest the reader to know that this same young
lady—so providentially preserved at the general massacre
of her friends, and so gallantly rescued at the expense of
the life of one of those brave heroes of the wilderness—
subsequently became the wife of an officer under Wayne,
and the mother of one who now holds a distinguished
position in the councils of the nation..
| The Daring Scouts. Wild scenes on the frontiers, or, Heroes of the West | |