Personal Memoirs of General Sheridan | Page 9

furnish me, as soon as
convenient, with transportation to Fort Duncan, the station of my
company.
In the course of a day or two, the quartermaster notified me that a
Government six-mule wagon would be placed at my disposal to
proceed to my destination. No better means offering, I concluded to set
out in this conveyance, and, since it was also to carry a quantity of
quartermaster's property for Fort Duncan, I managed to obtain room
enough for my bed in the limited space between the bows and load,
where I could rest tolerably well, and under cover at night, instead of
sleeping on the ground under the wagon, as I had done on the road from
Corpus Christi to Laredo.
I reached Fort Duncan in March, 1854., and was kindly received by the
commanding officer of the, regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Thompson
Morris, and by the captain of my company ("D"), Eugene E. McLean,
and his charming wife the only daughter of General E. V. Sumner, who
was already distinguished in our service, but much better known in
after years in the operations ofthe Army of the Potomac, during its
early campaigns in Virginia. Shortly after joining company "D" I was
sent out on scouting duty with another company of the regiment to
Camp La Pena, about sixty or seventy miles east of Fort Duncan, in a
section of country that had for some time past been subjected to raids
by the Lipan and Comanche Indians. Ournoutpost at La Pena was
intended as a protection against the predatory incursions of these
savages, so almost constant scouting became a daily occupation. This
enabled me soon to become familiar with and make maps of the
surrounding country, and, through constant association with our
Mexican guide, to pick up in a short time quite a smattering of the
Spanish language, which was very useful to one serving on that
frontier.
At that early day western Texas was literally filled with game, and the
region in the immediate vicinity of La Pena contained its full
proportion of deer, antelope, and wild turkeys. The temptation to hunt
was therefore constantly before me, and a desire to indulge in this
pastime, whenever free from the legitimate duty of the camp, soon took
complete possession of me, so expeditions in pursuit of game were of
frequent occurrence. In these expeditions I was always accompanied by

a soldier named Frankman, belonging to "D" company, who was a fine
sportsman, and a butcher by trade. In a short period I learned from
Frankman how to approach and secure the different species of game,
and also how to dress and care for it when killed. Almost every
expedition we made was rewarded with a good supply of deer, antelope,
and wild turkeys, and we furnished the command in camp with such
abundance that it was relieved from the necessity of drawing its beef
ration, much to the discomfiture of the disgruntled beef contractor.
The camp at La Pena was on sandy ground, unpleasant for men and
animals, and by my advice it was moved to La Pendencia, not far from
Lake Espantosa. Before removal from our old location, however, early
one bright morning Frankman and I started on one of our customary
expeditions, going down La Pena Creek to a small creek, at the head of
which we had established a hunting rendezvous. After proceeding
along the stream for three or four miles we saw a column of smoke on
the prairie, and supposing it arose from a camp of Mexican rancheros
catching wild horses or wild cattle, and even wild mules, which were
very numerous in that section of country along the Nueces River, we
thought we would join the party and see how much success they were
having, and observe the methods employed in this laborious and
sometimes dangerous vocation. With this object in view, we continued
on until we found it necessary to cross to the other side of the creek to
reach the point indicated by the smoke. Just before reaching the
crossing I discovered moccasin tracks near the water's edge, and
realizing in an instant that the camp we were approaching might
possibly be one of hostile Indians--all Indians in that country at that
time were hostile--Frankman and I backed out silently, and made eager
strides for La Pena, where we had scarcely arrived when Captain M. E.
Van Buren, of the Mounted Rifle regiment, came in with a small
command, and reported that he was out in pursuit of a band of
Comanche Indians, which had been committing depredations up about
Fort Clark, but that he had lost the trail. I immediately informed him of
what had occurred to me during the morning, and that I could put him
on the trail of the Indians he