Gage County, Nebraska - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 29 of those read), 1918

Indian Raid on Litti,e Blue River, 1864 - First Military Organization - A Stampede - Company C, Nebraska Militia - Sioux Indian War, 1891 - Gage County in the Civil War - The Spanish-American War - Roster oe Company C, First Regiment - The World War.

The early annals of Gage county as respects military affairs have but little interest. The pioneers usually provided themselves with arms against the depredations of Indians and lawless persons, but within the boundaries of our county there is no well authenticated case of Indian troubles worthy of mention. The Otoe and Missouri tribes of Indians were at peace with the whites and were their allies agiainst the encroachments of warlike tribes. Nevertheless, for a number of years the white population maintained an attitude of constant vigilance against surprises and attacks by marauding bands of savages, but until 1864 nothing like a military organization of any kind existed in the county.

That year, on Sunday, the 7th day of August, occurred what is known in Nebraska history as the Indian raid on the Little Blue river, in which several Gage county people lost their lives and property and in which the lives of many others were put in jeopardy. The Indians were Cheyennes, led by Black Kettle, One-Eyed George Bent, a half-breed, Two Face, and other chiefs. It had evidently been planned to attack the ranches and stage stations along the Oregon Trail simultaneously at a number of points, to kill the whites, destroy their property, and clear the Little Blue country as far as the Big Sandy. ' Patrick Burke, the first blacksmith of Beatrice, on his way up the old trail with a load of corn, about three o'clock in the' afternoon, in plain sight of and within half a mile of PaW' nee Ranch, was shot and killed. About the same hour an attack was made by a band of Cheyennes on Little Blue Station, or Corastock's Ranch, at Oak Grove, and J. H. Butler and M. C. Kelley, both Gage county men, were shot with arrows, and killed. A few miles , further down the river the Eubank family was murdered, nine persons in all, and Mrs. Eubank, the wife of William Eubank, her child and Miss Laura Roper, a Gage county girl, were carried away into captivity. In May, 1865, while quartered at Laramie, General Tom Moonlight, afterward governor of Wyoming, when about to start on an expedition against the Indians, learned that two white women were with Two Face's band, near the south base of the Black Hills. Communication was opened with these Indians, and for a large number of ponies, blankets, a quantity of sugar and other things of value to the Indians, the white women were purchased from them and brought into Laramie, under an armistice, accompanied by Two Face and two of his best warriors. The women were Mrs. Eubank and Laura Roper. When the condition of Mrs. Eubank became known to General Moonlight, the armistice was violated : - Two Face and his warriors were arrested and were hanged in chains, on a bluff two miles north of Fort Laramie, where their bodies remained until the crows had picked their bones. Thirty persons lost their lives at the ranches and stage stations along the Little Blue river in this raid, and the first semblance of a military organization in Gage county was a company of its citizens hastily called together by the sheriff, Joseph Clyne, for the purpose of investigating the depiredations of these savages, ascertaining the true condition of affairs, burying the dead killed in the massacre, and repelling the invasion.

As far as known the members of this company from Gage county were William H. Stoner, John Gilbert, Oliver Townsend, Albert C. Howe (half-brother of Church Howe), H. M. Wickham, William R. Jones, Daniel Freeman, Thomas Pethoud, James Pethoud, Enoch Graves, Henry Graves, Louis Graves, Ira Dixon, Leander Wilson, Samuel Jones, Richard C. Davis, William Alexander, Joseph Clyne, Edward Wells and his brother, from Cub creek, Mr. Bagley, also from Cub creek, and Theodore M. Coulter, a defaulting county treasurer and a prisoner in the custody of Sheriff Clyne. Stoner was elected captain of the company, and John Gilbert, who still lives, an honored citizen of Red Cloud, was chosen lieutenant. At Big Sandy this company of men was joined by a number of others, among them a man named Constable, who, in the battle which ensued, was killed, with another, whose name is not known. These men were well armed and well mounted, and, after passing Big Sandy, numbered thirty-four. On their way out they buried the dead, including Bill Kennedy, who had been killed in his cabin by the Indians, five of the Eubanks family, Kelley and Butler. They found all the principal ranches' and stage stations between the Hackney Ranch and Pawnee Ranch burned, except Little Blue Station, whei-e they found an abandoned wagon train of a hundred laden wagons, bound westward, and they found desolation and destruction everywhere. A detail of United States troops had been dispatched from Fort Kearney, under the command of Captain E. B. Murphy, to go over the Little Blue country on the same mission of the company from Beatrice, and the two companies met at Pawnee Ranch on the 14th day of August. The next day, under command of Captain Murphy, they started south in pursuit of the hostile Cheyennes, and came upon the Indians where the Fort Riley road crossed . Elk creek, in northeastern Nuckolls county, ten miles south of Little Blue Station, in considerable numbers and in a warlike attitude. In the engagement which immediately ensued about three hundred warriors participated, while a still larger number appeared to be held in reserve. The entire band was moving toward the Republican river. Captain Murphy had a single field-piece, but it was disabled in firing the first round. He then deemed it best, in view of the number of Indians, to retreat and fall back to Little Blue Station, having lost two of his command. Having only limited rations, he abandoned further pursuit of the Indians and the Beatrice company returned home.

The excitement in Gage- county over this Indian raid was intense. At Beatrice a sod breastwork was thrown up on the east bank of the Big Blue river, to defend the Market street ford, and, as far as possible, the men went armed and took other precautions to defend the city. The late summer and fall of 1864 was a period of great suspense and nervous strain. This is well illustrated by a stampede which occurred in the eastern portion of the county toward the end of August. One day, a little after noon, a couple of men in a lumber wagon, passed up Mud creek and reported that the Indians had attacked and were burning Blue Springs. They claimed also that they had been attacked, and, as proof, showed bullet holes in their wagon-box. About that time a confederate near Blue Springs set fire to a patch of prairie gVass, and these strangers pointed to the smoke as a confirmation of their story. That was enough; the alarm spread like wildfire, and before sundown not a white person was left in Rock ford, Filley, and Sherman townships. The settlers turned their hogs, cattle, and chickens loose to roam at will, loaded their women and children into wagons, and fled as best they could. That night most of them stopped on Yankee creek, about a mile west of Crab Orchard; others went on to Brownville and Nebraska City. After a day or two a company of ten men ventured back to their homes and found that the settlers had been the victims of a practical joke.

The Little Blue country, however, continued to be dangerous ground, and a call was issued by Governor Saunders for four companies of territorial militia to be used in guarding traffic, travel and the Overland Stage line along the old trail from Big Sandy to Denver. One of these was Company C of the Second Brigade, First Regiment Nebraska' MiHtia (cavalry), raised in Pawnee and Gage counties - Alvin G. White, of Pawnee City, captain; William B. Raper, of Pawnee City, first lieutenant; Dr. L,evi Anthony, of Blue Springs, second lieutenant. The Gage county members of the company were :

The company was mustered into the service of the state at Pawnee City, September 1, 1864, and was stationed at Buffalo Ranch, at the western end of Nine Mile Ridge, on Little Blue river, throughout the ensuing fall and winter, to guard the stage lines, ranches, stations and travel from Big Sandy to' Fort Kearney. It performed this duty efficiently, was paid by the state, but rationed by the federal government, and disbanded, without being discharged, about February 7, 1865.

Our county took an honorable and efficient part in what is known as the Sioux Indian war, in 1890-1891. In that year there arose on the northwestern border of our state a religious disturbance amongst the Sioux Indians in South Dakota. A young, halfeducated, Piute Indian, with a smattering knowledge of the Christian religion, appeared in Utah as the long expected Indian Messiah, who was to drive the whites from the ancient Indian hunting grounds, rejuvenate the aged and infirm, - resurrect the dead, bring back to the hunting grounds the deer, buffalo and other wild game of the early days, and restore to the Indians the great northwest. This mischief-making imposter claimed to have received, direct from the Great Spirit the revelation of the "Ghost Dance" as a means of spreading the knowledge of his mission abroad. This sacred rite was introduced among the powerful Sioux tribes of South Dakota at a moment when, on account of general drought, they were facing a great shortage of provisions. The subtle influence of these pretentions manifested itself at first in mutterings of discontent and finally in a general movement of large bodies of Indians from their agencies in almost open defiance of authority. The Indians of Standing Rock Agency, Big Foot's band from the Cheyenne River Agency, and the Brules at the Rosebud Agency, broke away from every semblance of control and, in open defiance of their agents' orders, refused to discontinue the dance. Disaffection was spreading to the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Agencies, which together comprised a compact body of more than ten thousand Indians, the most warlike in the northwest. In August, 1890, some of the local agents declared the situation to be beyond their control, and in November the president of the United States directed the secretary of war to takcactive measures to prevent an outbreak. Troops to the number of 8,000 were poured into the country and many of the Indians left their agencies and fled to the Bad Lands. With more than twenty-five thousand Indians in a state of semi-rebellion and nearly all infected by the Messiah craze and the Ghost Dance, and impatient of restraint, the inhabitants of northern Nebraska appealed to the governor of the state for protection.

tern frontier, with Springfield breech-loading rifles, ammunition, and equipment, and in January, 1891, the two regiments of the Nebraska National Guard, under Brigadier General Leonard W. Colby, were ordered to the scene of action and stationed at or near the towns along the Elkhorn Railway, south of the Indian country. The guards did good service in quieting the fears of the people and in showing a readiness to afford protection in case of necessity.

Company C of the First Regiment was from Beatrice. It was commanded by A. A. Reed, was stationed during the Indian troubles at Valentine, Nebraska, and its services in this historic event closed the military activities of Gage county as respects Indian wars.

Our county participated to some extent in the great Civil war. The patriotic devotion of the territory of Nebraska to the Union throughout those trying days forms a most creditable chapter in its history. The news of the fall of Fort Sumter, in April, 1861, evoked a spirit of unbounded loyalty in the new territory. In Omaha steps were at once taken to aid the government by organizing two companies of infantry, one of dragoons and one of artillery. Governor Black appointed George F. Kennedy, of Florence, acting brigadier general of the First Nebraska Regiment, pending its organization and enrollment. Governor Saunders, who had succeeded to the executive chair, on May 18, 1861, issued his proclamation reciting the necessity of loyally supporting the government, and invoked the aid of every lover of his country and his home to sustain and protect it. Steps were immediately taken to organize a regiment, and on the 2d day of July, 1861, the tenth and last company of the First Nebraska Regiment of Volunteers were sworn into the service of the United States. Men were drawn from all over the territory into this regiment. From Gage county came Samuel Shaw, who enlisted in Company B, June 13, 1861 ; Frederick Elwood, aged twenty-three, who went from Beatrice and enlisted in Company H; Jonathan Potts, twenty-seven years old, also from Beatrice, enlisted in Company M.

These heroic citizens of our county served faithfully until the end of the war, and all returned to Gage county to make their homes. Mr. Shaw some years ago went to Florida, where he died. Elwood and Potts, after many years' residence, both died in Gage county, much honored by all who knew their history. In addition to these, William, Egbert, and James Shaw (sons of Stephen P. Shaw), and John Q. Adams, from Adams township, served in this regiment, being members of Company H.

The county contributed also to the membership of the Second Nebraska Cavalry Regiment, organized in 1863, to repel an invasion by the Sioux Indians in their retreat from Minnesota, following the great massacres of August, 1862. This regiment was raised in eastern Nebraska and enlisted for nine months' service, under the command of Colonel Robert W. Furnas, of Brownville. It became a part, of General Sully's expedition up the Missouri river, participating in the skirmishes and the battle of White Stone Hills, South Dakota, in which the Indians were completely vanquished. Those from Gage county who took part in this campaign, as members of Company L, of the Second Nebraska, were Francis M. Graham, George W. Desert, H. S. Barnum, Edward Armstrong, Thaddeus Armstrong, and John Hagar, all of Blue Springs and vicinity.

Our county can take a just pride in the record made by its citizens in the Spanish- American war, in 1898. On April 20th of that year the United States presented its ultimatum to Spain, demanding that she relinquish sovereignty over Cuba before noon of April 23d and withdraw her land and naval forces from that unhappy island. Spain indignantly refused to comply with these demands, and on that day, at noon, President WilHam McKinley issued a call for 135,000 volunteers in the military and naval service of the United States. On the 25th day of April congress issued its declaration of a state of war between Spain and the United States, and the call reached Lincoln, Nebraska, on the 27th of April. At noon of the following day the companies of the First Nebraska, inckiding Company C, of Beatrice, went into camp at Camp Alvin Saunders, Lincoln. This regiment was mustered into service beginning on the 9th day of May; on June 5th it was aboard the steamer "Senator," at San Francisco, bound for the orient ; and on July 17th, the city of Manila lay spread out before its members, from their vessel's anchorage in Manila Bay. The regiment disembarked on the 21st day of July, at Cavite, and remained in camp until August 2d, when it participated in the assault on the outposts of Manila, in which eight Nebraskans were wounded. On August 13th the regiment took an active part in the assault and capture of the city of Manila. From that time until February it was on outpost and guard duty about Manila, while Aguinaldo's rebellion was rapidly gathering head. On February 4, 1899, while stationed opposite block house No. 6, near the waterworks, on Pasig river, a squad of four armed Filipinos attempted to pass the American line. Private Grayson, of the First Nebraska, stood guard there, and when the Filipinos refused to halt, he fired on them His fire was returned by the insurrectos, and the war of the Philippines was on. The regiment rushed to the defense of its outposts, the Filipinos attacking with vigor, and this action is known as the first battle of Santa Mesa.

The regiment participated with great renown in the second battle of Santa Mesa, February 20th; the battle of Maraquana Roads, March 5th and 6th ; the advance on Mallolos ; the capture of Francisco del Monte, Meycangua, Ste. Marie, Ste; Clara, March 25th ; the battle of Quingua, April 23d; the battles of Calumpit, Santa Thomas, San Fernando and Calocan, May 6, 1899. Perhaps the battle of Quingua was the most sanguinary conflict in which the regiment was engaged. Amongst those who fell that day was John M. Stotsenberg, the colonel of the regiment.

The regiment sailed from Manila July 21st and reached San Francisco July 29th, went into camp at the Presidio July 30th, and was mustered out and discharged August 23, 1899, after a service of one year, three months, and fourteen days. Its losses were: Killed in battle, twenty-one; died of wounds, thirteen; died of disease, thirty - a total of sixty-four.

Company C reached Beatrice September 1, 1899, and was given a royal reception by the entire.population. The roster of this company is as follows :

The members of Company C of the First Nebraska were the only Gage county people who saw active service in the Philippine war. General Leonard W. Colby, of Beatrice, at the beginning of the war, was appointed brigadier general and assigned to a command at Anniston, Georgia. His brigade, however, was never called into service.

But all other military achievements to which Gage county may justly lay claim, pale into insignificance before its activities in the present great world war. Scarcely had the declaration of war with Germany been made by congress, in April, 1917, when historic Company C of the Nebraska National Guard, of Beatrice, commanded by Captain Charles L. Brewster, presented itself for volunteer service. At Wymore, Company F, command- ed by Captain F. E. Crawford, and composed almost wholly of Gage county volunteers, left Wymore September 20, 1918, for military training at Camp Cody, Deming, New Mexico. Prior to the taking effect of the draft act of congress, many others volunteered in the army and navy of the United States for service in this the greatest and most terrible of all wars. Under the draft act, many more of Gage county's young men have been drawn into the service. The figures are not at hand to show the number of our county's citizens now serving under our country's flag in the war waged for the preservation of democratic institutions throughout the world. Including both branches of the service, it is approximately 1200. Many are already in France, a few have made the supreme sacrifice for human liberty, and many others may yet do so. Besides its man-power, the county has generously contributed of its wealth for the prosecution of this war of embattled nations. The full record of the county's patriotic contributions in this crucial epoch of the world's history must needs be left to the consideration of some later historian.