Show I 1 r M 1 r INDIANS AT POISON SPRINGS Many Fighting Redskins Engaged In Civil War War Sometimes Sometimes One Tribe Arrayed Against Another Many Indians were in the tho armies operating in Missouri Arkansas and northern Louisiana in the Civil war Enlistment was b begun gun by y the Confederates Confederates Confederates Con Con- federates In the early days of hostilities hostilities hostilities ties but not all the red nations would consent to fight against the Union Thus tribes were arrayed against one another One One instance of an engagement engagement engagement engage engage- ment between Indians Indians' of a victorious victorious' Confederate army and three regiments regi regi- regiments ments of Union soldiers Is told by William Ramey a resident of Chicago On April 18 1864 1869 was fought the battle battle bat bat- battie tle tie of Poison Polson Springs Ark by part of at Gen Frederick Steeles Steele's expedition of which Mr Ramey tells as follows When General Banks was carrying on his Red River campaign in the spring of 1864 General Steele was coming up with a reinforcing corps The Iowa regiment In which I IThen IThen cb tt t ti i t rn f fr r ti I r I 1 r r. r Then We Saw the Indians Coming was a private of Company G was a apart apart apart part of this corps Before we got to Camden Ark which was held by the Union army we wee learned that General Banks had been been defeated by th the combined com om- combined forces of Generals General Kirby Smith Price and Marmaduke The Iowa was sent out soon after we reached the camp at Cam Cam- den A forage train was on its wa way back to camp after arter making collections collections collections out in the country and we were sent to reinforce the guard of two colored regiments We started out In Inthe Inthe inthe the afternoon and by night we had come up to the train of wagons and had gone Into camp near by We could see why we had been sent out Through the night there came the gleam of camp fires where the rebel soldiers of General Smiths Smith's army were cooking supper They had defeated General General Banks and and were going to chase us through Arkansas I dont don't know why they did not capture capture capture cap cap- ture us all There were vere only three regiments That night we were leftIn leftin left loft loftin in peace and tho the next morning the negro regiments formed and moved the train about three-quarters three of a amile amile amile mile from the camp on the way to Camden Then an ambushed rebel battery batter opened on us and we fought there about two hours My company was thrown out Into the woods on the skirmish line and we retreated slowly as the tho Confederates P When the order came for tor all the regiments to fall raIl back we had lost eight or ten killed and twenty- twenty five or thirty wounded We had been paralleling a ravine through which flowed a stream and In which the poison polson spring vas rag hidden The The enemy emy was beyond he ravine As we fell rell back we wa passed beyond an nn open clearing and formed behind the rail fence that bordered the road at the farther side of the field which was perhaps twelve acres In extent Then we saw the Indians coming Both the armies were well wen supplied supplied supplied sup sup- plied with Indian troops though ours were more civilized than the rebels' rebels Id I'd rather fight ten white men than one Indian You never know what hes he's going to do The Indians wont won't stay In line either on the march or on the field Some of them will go scouting If ff they are marching and In battle they scatter so that you cant can't shoot at them with much exactness They were ere all over oyer that clearing We let them come up within good shooting distance before we opened from behind the fence and then we ve had about six hours hours' good fi fil fighting Before Bo- Bo fore tore It was over there were bullet holes through jay fay cap ap and my clothIng clothIng clothing cloth- cloth Ing but I was not hit We shot whenever whenever whenever when when- ever thero was anything to aim at t. t and we could always tell If It we had bad made a n bit hit An Indian was sure to throw up hl hIs hands and ond yell yeU when he was struck We coula could see plenty of or orthe the tho hands bonds going up Into the air That kept up until dark and ond by that time we had bad moved back up a hill and started for Camden We made the distance before midnight and then the I whole army retreated toward Little LittleRock LittleRock II Rock with Smith and Price hard atur at atour our BUT ur heels j t |