[From J. Marvin Hunter’s Frontier Times Magazine, October, 1932]

IN THE SUMMER of 1905 I went to Europe with General Chaffee to see the French Army manoeuvres. While not officially a member of his staff, I was extended the same courtesies as if I were, and in that way I was thrown in direct contact with the General, which resulted in deep admiration for that remarkable man.

General Chaffee made an outstanding record in the Civil War; in our Indian Wars; in the Cuban campaign; in the Boxer War in China; in the Philippine Insurrection and as Chief of the Staff of the United States Army and Lieutenant General. General Chaffee died in Los Angeles on November 1, 1914. After he was retired in 1906 he became Chairman of a Board of Aqueduct Commissioners, supplying the City of Los Angeles with water and in other ways proved a useful citizen of the United States.

My present story will be to tell about his career in Texas. First Lieutenant Adna Romanza Chaffee, Sixth U. S. Cavalry, was sent to Frederick, Maryland, June 12, to reorganize his regiment after the close of the Civil War. He was Regimental Adjutant at the time, and there was not a single Second Lieutenant in the regiment present for duty. Nearly all the officers held a higher rank in the volunteers. Soon hundreds of recruits joined the regiment, and most of them had seen some war service.

By October the regiment was organized, and on the fifteenth of the month in 1865 they started for Texas. First they went by rail to New York and on October 19th embarked on the steamship "Herman Livingston" for New Orleans: When off Cape Hatteras, they ran into a storm and it became necessary to lighten the ship. With many a heart-break they threw their horses overboard. Some had been their friends and companions during the closing campaign of the War, companions in danger and in suffering. It was like killing friends, but animal life had to be sacrificed for human life. From New Orleans they left for Galveston, Texas, on November 12th on the steamship "Clinton" and then marched to Austin, the capitol of the State of Texas.

Here they established camp and named it in honor of Captain William Price Saunders, 6th. Cavalry, who was killed in the Civil War at Knoxville, Tennessee, Nov. 16, 1863, when serving as a Brigadier-General of Volunteers. The regiment remained at Austin for about three years. Lieutenant Chaffee was relieved as Adjutant and appointed regimental and depot quartermaster at Austin on December 12, 1866, which position he filled with credit for the next two years. He was only twenty-five years old and a veteran of fifty battles during the Civil War, and the army did not seem then to promise him a career fitting his ambitions. He therefore requested a leave of absence for one year with a view of resigning from the army at the end of that time. However, influence was brought to bear to keep him in the service, and with the approval of General U. S. Grant and the Secretary of War, he was retained in the service, although his resignation had become effective on March 13th, 1867, as announced in Special Order 100, paragraph 7; February 26, 1867. He was promoted Captain of the Sixth U. S. Cavalry, October 12, 1867, and in February, 1868, was ordered to take command of Fort Griffin. Fort Griffin is near the northern line of Shackelford county, three hundred and five miles north of San Antonio and about fifty miles north of Abilene. This post was soon to become the biggest buffalo trading station in the country, and in one year received as many as two hundred thousand buffalo hides; consequently, it was a place where there was a big exchange of money and where money was spent freely, with the result it brought outlaws, desperadoes, gamblers, bad liquor, and worse women to that place. Organized bands under a man named Lee matched the Indians in their atrocities.

Captain Chaffee was soon in the field in pursuit of the Quahada Comanches, who were raiding his territory. The Comanches had been ordered to Fort Sill Indian Territory, but this band under Quahada refused to go. They were joined by some mulattoes and Mexicans, and they lived on such game as they could kill and by stealing from the settlement. They selected a dry section for their camp, that would keep off all troops not accustomed to a campaign in an arid country.

In order to supply Fort Griffin with necessary lumber they were accustomed to use in building houses, a sawmill and lumber camp were established at a point about thirty miles from the Post, where good lumber was available. A short time later while a wagon train was hauling lumber from the camp, guarded by a small escort, they were attacked by Indians who drove off the escort and captured the mules. When word was brought to Captain Chaffee, he started out in pursuit of the marauders within one hour. He had with him detachments of troops F, I, and K of the Sixth Cavalry with some Tonakaway Indian scouts. They left Fort Griffin 8:30 a.m. March 5th, 1868. This promptness was unusual for our army, and George Saunders, the president of the Old Trail Drivers' Association, told that the Army was so low in turning out after the Indians that the Civilian posses usually met them leaving the Post as they were returning from their Indian fights. However, Captain Chaffee wanted to fight, so he was always ready, for he believed that speed was the most essential requisite in Indian warfare. Like "time and tide," the Indians waited for no man. General Chaffee first went by way of Leo Getters' Ranch and reached Dead Man's Creek that night. They crossed the Clear Fork of the Brazos twelve miles below Fort Phantom Hill which had been abandoned fourteen years before. They picked up the Indian trail the following morning and continued on it all the next day. The Indian party then split, the mules going with one party and the warriors with the other. Captain Chaffee followed the warriors and early the next morning the chief of the Tonkaway scouts brought back word that he had located the Comanches' camp. Captain Chaffee sent his scouts around to head off the Indian's escape, as they could do it more silently without being seen. When they were in position, he charged the Indian camp with drawn pistols and killed seven Indian raiders, and the rest escaped in the thick brush.

General Order 19, Headquarters. Fort Griffin, Texas, March 10, 1868, contains the official account of this Indian fight for which Captain Chaffee was rewarded by being breveted Major, March 7, 1868:

"The Commanding Officer takes pleasure in openly announcing to the troops of this command the complete success of the expedition which left this post on the 6th instant, under command of Captain A. R. Chaffee, 6th U. S. Cavalry. This short and decisive campaign has resulted in the killing of five Indians and one Mexican and one mulatto (both of whom were leaders) the capture of five horses, together with a large number of shields, bows, arrows, etc., and the total breaking up of an Indian camp, which had been for a long time a scourge to the people of the frontier. The casualties on our side were three men wounded, viz.: Privates John F. Butler and Charles Hoffman of I Troop and Private James Regan of F Troop. With the exception of the wounds of these men, the result is extremely gratifying, as was also the soldierly manner in which the troops bore their deprivations throughout the pursuit, suffering from the want of water, and want of shelter from the cold storm that raged throughout the entire march, without a murmur of discontent. In all campaigns where important results were achieved, and especially in operations against Indians, where the nature of the country is not well known, troops must expect to undergo hardships and deprivations, which cannot be foreseen or obviated; yet it is only the true soldiers who accept these inconveniences as necessary and unavoidable, and who, like men, maintain their spirits in spite of these.

S. D. SRURGIS.

Lieutenant Colonel, 6th Cavalry Commanding.

At that time Texas was overrun with outlaws, so the regular army was called on to guard courts of justice and assist in enforcing the laws of the land. Many of our soldiers had been assassinated in the performance of this duty, and only incessant vigilance and unflinching courage prevented the lawless element getting control of the frontier counties of this State. Captain Chaffee and his men were so active in controlling this lawless element that they called them "Chaffee's gorillas." He covered a tremendous range of country and changed his posts as frequently as circumstances demanded the presence of his troops. He was stationed at Sulphur Springs, Hopkins county, from September, 1868, to March, 1869, at Canton, Van Zandt county, to July, 1869; Tyler, Smith county, to January 1879; Corsicana, Navarro county, to May 1870; Fort Griffin to September 1870, and then he took station seventy-three miles east at Fort Richardson, at Jacksboro, Jack county Texas.

On November 12th, 1870 he started out again in pursuit of the Indians and two days later saw some cattle running as if they were being pursued. He sent a Tonkaway Scout out to investigate. A shot was fired, and the scout rushed back with words that he had seen five Comanches on the other side of the ridge, so Captain Chaffee and his troop went after them. They followed them at a gallop for fifteen miles, but lost them in the dark when the Indians scattered. The next morning they found the Indians had abandoned seven of their horses and two saddles.

The position of our army in Texas following the Civil War was very difficult. They had been ordered to the frontier to fight Comanches and other hostile Indians. They were in a country where "damyankee" was considered a single word as it was in such common use. The hatred and the bitterness of the Civil War was continued, probably by those who did the least fighting. The fact that the Army was protecting the settlers of the frontier often at the risk of life and limb seemed to be forgotten by those who profited by their protection. At that time there were a large number of the lawless element in the West who had been driven out of their former haunts. To give an idea of the number of the lawless element even as late as 1882, I quote from the story of John Warren Hunter who taught school at Camp San Saba in McCullough county, that out of a class of seventeen students it was said that ten were eventually sent to the penitentiary for crimes ranging from horse-stealing to murder. Consequently, when the soldiers were ordered to Fort Richardson on March 20, 1871, to assemble for their march to Kansas they left the country without regret.

The Adobe Walls' fight at a trading post on the Canadian River in the Panhandle again brought Capt. Chaffee to Texas. A handful of buffalo hunters were spending their Sunday, June 27, 1874, at this trading post. They had been killing buffalo contrary to our treaty with the Indians, and two-hundred of the latter attacked them. They were not prepared to withstand the long range, accurate fire of these expert riflemen. The buffalo hunters killed about thirty Indians and wounded more than twice that number, or about fifty per cent of the attacking force. While the Indians were good shots up to two hundred yards, the buffalo hunters were good shots at twice that range. When our troops arrived, they were horrified to see a dozen Indian heads impaled on the pickets of the hunters' corral.

Four expeditions were ordered into the field, and Captain Chaffee accompanied the northern expedition under the command of General Nelson Miles, with 8 Companies of the 6th Cavalry and 4 companies of the 5th Infantry. Lieutenant-Colonel J. W. Davidson with 6 companies of the 10th Cavalry, 3 companies of Infantry and 44 Indian Scouts, went west from Fort Sill, Indian territory; Colonel Ranald S. MacKenzie went north from Fort Concho at San Angelo, Texas and Major William R. Price, with a squadron of the Eighth U. S. Cavalry moved eastward from New Mexico. Their movements were concerted, and they tried to surround the Indians from all four sides.

On August 30th the Northern column started at four a.m. with the scouts two miles in advance. When crossing the prairie about twelve miles from the Red River, the advance guard was charged by about two hundred Indians, who came so close that one of our men was wounded by an Indian's lance. The Indians were repulsed and retreated to a line of hills and joined the main party numbering about six hundred warriors, and they then took up a position along a broken line of bluffs interspersed with deep ravines. The troops were deployed in line for attack with a small reserve. Captain Chaffee led the advance troops with drawn pistols. General Nelson Miles relates a famous speech made by Captain Chaffee to his men before the charge. A laugh before a charge, makes men forget their danger, and also lets them know that their commander is not scared. Captain Chaffee ordered "Forward" and added, "If any man is killed, I will make him a Corporal." The bugle sounded the charge, and as the troops rushed forward, the Indians fled, and some were followed for twenty miles over the roughest country they had ever experienced. Captain Chaffee was brevetted Lieutenant Colonel for gallant service in leading the above mentioned cavalry charge.

It was necessary to get more supplies for the northern column if they were to continue in the field, and Captain Chaffee was ordered to send a party to Fort Supply, Indian Territory with orders for supplies. "Like master, like man" is as true in the Army as in the rest of the world, so the men Captain Chaffee selected were as brave as he would be under similar circumstances. He selected four soldiers and two scouts, and the story of their remarkable efforts is told in the following report of General Miles to the Adjutant General of the Army.

"Headquarters Indian Territory Expedition Camp on Washita River, Texas, September 24, 1874

"ADJUTANT-GENERAL, U. S. ARMY: (Thro' Offices of Asst. Adjt.' General at Hdqrs. Dept. and Division of the Missouri and of the Army.)

"GENERAL: I deem it but a duty to brave men and faithful soldiers to bring to the notice of the highest military authority an instance of indomitable courage, skill and true heroism on the part of a detachment from his command, with the request that the actors be rewarded, and faithfulness and bravery recognized by pensions, medals-of-honor, or in such way as maybe deemed most fitting.

"On the night of the 10th instant, a party consisting of Sergeant Z. T. Woodhall, Co. "I" Privates Peter Rath, Co. "A," John Harrington, Co. "II," and George W. Smith Co. "M," 6th Cavalry, and Scouts Amos Chapman and William Dixon, were sent as bearers of dispatches from the camp of this command on McClellan Creek, Texas, to Camp Supply, I. T.

"At 6 A. M. of the 12th, when approaching the Washita River, they were met and surrounded by a band of about 25 Kiowas and Comanches, who had recently left their agency, and at the first attack four of the six were struck. Pvt. Smith, mortally, and three others severely wounded. Although enclosed on all sides and by overwhelming numbers, one of them succeeded while they were under a severe fire at short range, and while the others with their rifles were keeping the Indians at bay, in digging with his knife and hands as light cover. After this had been secured they placed themselves within it, the wounded walking with brave and painful efforts, and Private Smith—though he had received a mortal wound—sitting upright in the trench to conceal the crippled condition of their party from the Indians.

"From early morning till dark, outnumbered 25 to 1, under an almost constant fire and at such short range that they sometimes used their pistols, retaining the last charge to prevent capture and torture, this little party of five defended their lives and the person of their dying comrade, without food, and their only drink the rainwater that collected in the hollow they had made, mingled with their own blood. There is no doubt that they killed more than double their number, besides those they wounded.

"The Indians abandoned the attack at dark on the 12th.

"The exposure and distance from the command, which were necessary incidents of their duty, were such that for thirty-six hours from the first attack their condition could not be known, and not till midnight of the 13th could they receive medical attendance or food, and they were exposed during all this time to an incessant cold storm.

"Sergeant Woodhall, Private Harrington and Scout Chapman were seriously wounded; Private Smith died of his wound on the morning of the 13th; Pvt. Rath and Scout Dixon were struck but not disabled.

"The simple recital of their deeds and the mention of the odds against which they fought; how the wounded defended the dying, and the dying aided the wounded by exposure to fresh wounds after the power of action was gone; these alone presented a scene or cool courage, heroism and self-sacrifice which duty, as well as inclination, prompt us to recognize, but which we cannot fitly honor.

Very respect’ly, Your obedient serv't.

NELSON A. MILES.

Colonel and Brevet Major-General U. S. Army, Commanding: The Congressional medal of Honor was awarded to Sergt. Woodhall, who for many years rendered valuable service as First Sergeant of Captain Chaffee's troop and who died at Havana, Cuba, in 1899.

It was during this expedition that the two little Germaine girls were rescued from the Indians, when on November 8, near McClellan Creek in Gray county, Texas, Lieutenant F. D.Baldwin, 5th Infantry, defeated a company of Indians. One child, Adelaide, was five and Julia was seven. Two older sisters were still held by the Indians. The troops were deeply moved by the story of horror told by the girls. They related the indescribable sufferings and atrocities imposed on them and their two elder sisters by the Indians. One of the soldiers was so moved, that he said that although he had travelled the plains for twenty years and wanted to get away, he would still stay there the balance of his life, if by so doing he could recover the two older girls. These children were sent back in charge of Dr. Powell to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where they were well taken care of. On his return Dr. Powell brought with him a photograph which he had taken in order to show their improved condition. This photograph was taken by an Indian by direction of General Miles to the camp where the two older Germaine girls were supposed to be. They were in a hostile camp on the Staked Plains, on a tributary of the Pecos River on the border of New Mexico. The Indians secretly handed the older sisters a photograph of the little girls which was their first knowledge that their sisters were alive and safe. On the back of the photograph was written, "Headquarters, Indian Territory Expedition in the field, January 20th, 1875. To the Misses, Germaine: Your sisters are well, and in the hands of friends. Do not be discouraged. Every effort is being made for your welfare. (Signed) Nelson A. Miles, Colonel and Brevet Major-General, U. S. Army, Commanding Expedition." The girls were wild with joy, and their hopes had been revived. When the Indians sued for peace; they were told peace would not be considered, until the Germaine girls were brought back alive. The chief at once sent for the two girls, and put them in a tent next to his own, and they moved at once to the Agency, two hundred miles east, where they were finally surrendered. The four Germaine girls were later provided for by the appropriations of $10,000 which was derived from the Cheyenne annuity. General Miles was appointed their guardian and they eventually married and settled down to contented and happy lives.