History of Texas, Together with a Biographical History of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson Counties. Page: 126
[7], iv-vii, [2], 10-826, [2] p., [56] leaves of plates : ill., ports. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this book.
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IISTORY OF TEXAS.
his fire until it could do the most good. He
tay behind a projection of the rock, with the
muzzle of his gun exposed to their vision,
and awaited the most opportune moment.
The savages meanwhile suspected that the
noted white warrior had a revolver besides,
and indeed he had two. The Indians yelled
with all their might, but our hero was too
well acquainted with that style of warfare to
be very badly frightened by it.
The red men, being ashamed of permitting
themselves to be beaten by one man, made a
desperate assault, and when the chief in
front approached sufficiently near the colonel
downed him with the first shot of his rifle.
In the next charge he did effective work with
a revolver, and soon the remainder of his own
men, who had been engaging the main body
of Indians, suspected that their commander
was hemmed in there, and turned upon the
Indians near by, immediately routing them.
A remarkable example of Colonel Hays'
generalship was exhibited in a little skirmish
in 1844, when, with fifteen of his company,
on a scouting expedition about eighty miles
from San Antouio, he came in sight of fifteen
Comanches, who were mounted on good horses
and apparently eager for battle. As the
colonel and his men approached, the Indians
slowly retreated in the direction of an im
mense thicket, which convinced Hays that the
Indians they saw were but a part of a larger
number. He therefore restrained the ardor
of his men, who were anxious to charge upon
the Indians they saw, and took a circuitous
route around the thicket and drew up his
little force upon a ridge beyond a deep ravine,
in order to take advantage of some
position not looked for by the Indians. The
latter, seeing that they had failed Po draw
the white party into the trap theyiad laid
for them, showed themselves, to the numberof seventy-five. Directly the rangers assailed
them on an unexpected side, made a furious
charge, with revolvers, etc. The battle lasted
nearly an hour, exhausting the ammunition
of the whites. The Comanche chief, perceiving
this, rallied his warriors for a final effort.
As they were advancing, Colonel Hays discovered
that the rifle of one of the rangers
was still loaded. He ordered him to dismount
at once and shoot the chief, and the
man did so, successfully. This so discouraged
the Indians that they gave up the day.
In the battle above referred to, with the
main body of the Indians, the rangers lost
only two killed and five wounded, while
thirty Indians were left dead on the field.
For good generalship, as well as cool, unflinching
bravery, Colonel Hays and his men
deserve the highest credit. The above fight
is certainly one of the most remarkable in
all Indian warfare.
In 1845, in encountering a large party of
Indians, Colonel Hays mounted a horse which
had more s" heroism" or 6" foolhardiness " than
he anticipated, as it carried him, in spite of
all the rider could do, right through the
enemy, the main body of the Comanches.
This so astounded the Indians that they
actually gave way for him and another man
accompanying him, and the rest of the white
party rallied forward with a yell and with
their revolvers actually put the savages to
flight!
Not long after the above occurrence Hays,
with only fifteen men, encountered and
totally defeated the famous Comanche chief,
Yellow Wolf, who was at the head of eighty
warriors: the chief himself was slain. This
battle occurred at the Pinta crossing of the
Guadalupe river, between San Antonio and
Fredericksburg./
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126
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History of Texas, Together with a Biographical History of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson Counties. (Book)
Book containing a brief overview of the state of Texas and more specific focus on six specific counties, with extensive biographical sketches about persons related to the history of those places. An alphabetical index of persons who are included follows the table of contents at the front of the book.
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Lewis Publishing Company. History of Texas, Together with a Biographical History of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson Counties., book, 1893; Chicago, Illinois. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth29785/m1/131/?rotate=270: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.