“You certainly are a tough outfit, colonel--you and your night-hawks
of the First Bikes--and I am not sure you could not have us cavalrymen
going to bed with our boots on, if we were on the other side,” said
Major Ladigo, as he bit at the end of a fresh cigar.
“Yes--bless me--Pedal’s outfit might come into camp on top of yours,
Ladigo, and where would my guns be then? I can’t have my gunners
sitting on their trails all day and all night too,” sighed the big
gunner, from the other end of the tent.
“It was good work,” continued the old brigadier--“here, boy, pass
those glasses--and I have always thought well of the possibilities of
that machine in a certain sort of military operations. I don’t think
you can chase Apaches with it--in fact, the only way to chase Apaches
is to agree to pay about $500 a head for them; and, also, I don’t
think, Colonel Pedal--with all due respect for your enthusiasm--that
you could ever become of all-absorbing interest in great operations
between organized armies, but I do not want to commit myself since you
seem to accomplish such feats in these days. If we had not had a
really progressive man at the head of the army you would not have had
this opportunity; but now, Pedal, all these fellows want to hear about
your outfit, and especially how you conducted that affair at North
Colville--they all want to know--go ahead now--we have plenty of time
to listen,” and Colonel Pedal of the First Bikes twirled his forage
cap in his two hands and grinned pleasantly.
“Well--it was simple enough,” he said.
“Oh yes--it’s simple now, but how did you get at it?” was the remark
of encouragement from somewhere.
“Oh, well, you know, when I had organized and drilled this regiment,
the people up at headquarters used me in a fussy way as orderlies,
messengers, and in light outpost work, until my outfit was scattered
all over this country, and that was not my idea at all. I knew by long
experiment that bicycles were perfectly mobile in any country not
strictly mountainous, and my idea was that I could fight my outfit in
a new way; but fight it, that was my idea--and march it, too. I wanted
a few holes in that flag, and so I used to go up and labor with the
general. I pleaded and begged to be turned loose. So one afternoon the
general sent for me, and I went to headquarters.
“He said that a big band of insurgents were gathering and organizing
up at North Colville, and that he wanted them destroyed or dispersed,
and asked me if I could do it without asking for supports. I knew the
old man had all he could do to open the communications to the west,
and that he was going to give the bikes a try to prove what they were
good for, so I said ‘Yes, sir,’ right away, though I did not know the
situation thoroughly; but I wanted a job of that sort, and I was in
for it. So he gave me orders to that effect, and after some inquiries
I left him. Through spies he knew of this condition, and that all the
communications were cut except the marine cable, which he laid in the
bed of the Kaween River to Northport, and that was thirty miles from
North Colville. I knew that all those upper counties were in a state
of insurgency, and my orders were to destroy the rendezvous at North
Colville and to then retreat; so my chief concern was to get through
the country without being stopped or engaged seriously by intervening
bodies of the enemy which I might encounter, and says I to myself,
says I, ‘Old man, show ’em what bikes are good for.’ Pardon me if I
become enthusiastic. I started down to my command, fell in my men,
with two days’ rations and one hundred and fifty rounds. I made my
inspection, for, of course, you know, bike soldiers have a very
complicated equipment; what with bombs, telegraphic apparatus, tools,
and the extra parts of wheels, one must look well to his inspection.
They have the Rice equipment--combined cartridge-belts and
garment--which enables them to carry almost anything on the
shoulder-belt. At five o’clock we pulled out, and at dark found
ourselves at our extreme outposts, as I had calculated. I did not want
the enemy to see me, as I was afraid of the telegraph, but as I
proceeded I tapped the wires and cut them again and again. In fact, I
cut wires all night, for fear that they might not have been destroyed,
or that they might have been repaired. I ran smoothly through little
hamlets, and knew that I could not be overtaken. I made a slight
detour around villages of any size, such as Wooddale, Rockville, and
Freeport, for fear that the insurgents might be in force enough to
detain me. Back of Wellsville I got awfully tangled up in a woods,
and, in short, was lost; but I jumped an old cit. out of his cosey
bed, put a .45 on the cabin of his intellect, a flash-lantern in his
two eyes, and he looked sufficiently honest and intelligent to show us
the road, which he did, and we were not detained long.
“I felt fear of Emmittstowne, as I had information that the insurgents
were in force there. We picked up a man on the road who seemed to be
one of our sympathizers, and he informed us that there were pickets
all along the road which we were travelling, and also mounted
patrols. He said that there were a terrible lot of insurgents in
Emmittstowne, but mostly drunk.
[Illustration: OFFICER AND MEN--FIRST CYCLE INFANTRY]
“Captain Bidewell, who was in command of the advance, did a rather
clever piece of work here. He suspected that he would find a picket at
a certain place, and sent a dismounted squad on either side of the
road, which was bounded by meadow land with stone-walls, brush, and
trees on either side, and he himself walked down the road with two
men. They talked loudly, as though drunk, and sure enough, were
shortly held up by the picket. They surrendered and expostulated in a
loud voice, and offered their captors a bottle of whiskey. The advance
closed in on them and even got in their rear, and, of course, held up
the picket without a shot. A six-shooter argument used on these people
shortly disclosed the conditions, and we advanced.”
“Say, colonel, I know that Bidewell; he is organizing a bike regiment
out West now--met him as I came through,” interpolated a medical
major.
“Yes--nice fellow--held the ten-mile record for two years before this
trouble,” replied Pedal; “but, as I was saying--
“Here is _How!_ gentlemen!
“Well, to continue--to show you a curious phase of bicycling--my
advance ran a picket farther along the road and were fired on, but,
bless me, they had gone through so quickly and silently that they were
not hurt, and the sergeant, who was very wise, dismounted and blew his
whistle for us to advance. Bidewell dismounted and immediately
advanced, and the picket, hearing his men smashing brush, retreated,
and the sergeant turned a pistol loose in their faces and bellowed for
them to go out in the road, throw up their hands, and surrender, which
they did. You see, Colonel Ladigo, it is very hard to estimate bike
forces in the night, they go so silently--they simply flit; and when
you first notice them you wonder how many have gone before. A sleepy
picket is waked up by a lot of bellowing and shots and smashing of
brush, and he doesn’t know anything, especially if the row is half in
his rear. Well, the shooting must have aroused the village of
Emmittstowne, and I made up my mind to run right into the town. The
moon was rising, and we could see fairly well; but first I tried a
little ruse with the captured picket. We advanced down the road a
piece, and the men ensconced themselves in the brush, while one of the
captured men stood in the middle of the road. We heard quite a party
coming up the road rapidly, and the picket called out to them that it
was nothing--that they had fired at some shadows, and that they might
go back. Two men actually advanced to him, but he insisted that all
was right, and that they might return; in fact, he protested too much,
since he knew that he was lying for his life, and that the date of his
demise was fixed at the instant he told the truth. We gave the town
half an hour to settle down, and then started on a down
grade--coasting silently. All was still. There were lights in a few
saloons, and a half-dozen men, who were immediately held up and
disarmed. There was evidence of a great many people in the village,
since wagons and horses stood about, and tents and huts were
everywhere except on the main street. I stopped in front of the hotel,
and, do you know, my column got three-quarters of the way through the
town before we were discovered. My column is three-quarters of a mile
long, you must remember, and that was very fortunate. Some one fired a
shot from a darkened window of the hotel, and I ordered my men to use
their revolvers. A man can shoot a revolver with great accuracy from
a wheel, as it glides so smoothly. Well, there was a deuce of a
popping, and it must have fairly riddled the town. The fire was
shortly returned, but in a desultory way which did not seem to do any
damage, and shortly the tail of the column passed down the street. I
had set the hotel on fire before we left, and I really do not think
that those fellows know what really happened there yet. I immediately
cut the telegraph line, and now had nothing to interfere with my march
to North Colville. I had two bikes ruined by shots, and abandoned the
riders; but they made their way to our lines later. As we proceeded
the country grew more flat, and we made the pedals spin; at times we
overtook night prowlers--tramps, for the most part--and one rather
large party of drunken insurgents, all of whom we disarmed and left
tied to trees and fences along the road. Do you know, Ladigo, that one
cannot hear my whole regiment on a road until it is right on top of
you. I have frequently seen men ride a bicycle right up beside a man,
who never heard a word until ordered to throw up his hands.”
“Oh yes, Pedal, I’d like to catch your outfit at the foot of a long
hill; I would fire yellow-legs into you in a way you would despise,”
interpolated the impetuous cavalryman, as he blew smoke at the
ridge-pole and slapped his one leg over the other in a satisfied way.
“Yes, you might, Ladigo; but I’m going to spend my life trying not to
let you catch me at the foot of a long hill, and if you do, you will
find about one hundred bicycles piled up in the road, and it makes bad
travelling for horses, especially with unshaken infantry pointing at
you from behind. Well, in this case, Ladigo, I did not have any of
your enterprising yellow-legs to bother me. As I was saying, we went
along swimmingly until we struck Cat-tail Creek, and found the bridge
burned. It was rather chilly, but I knew there was no help for it, so
we got out our air-cushions and did our little swimming drill right
there.”
“What are your air-cushions?” inquired the medical officer with the
long pipe.
“They are made of rubber, and blow up, and will sustain five
equipments, and weigh fourteen pounds. Every five men have one,”
explained Pedal.
“Oh, I see--a quaint scheme!”
“Yes; bikes are perfectly mobile,” continued Pedal, with satisfaction.
“As I was saying--oh yes, we got over the river all right, but--” and
here he glanced apprehensively at Ladigo--“but I forgot to mention
that we lost fifteen bicycles in the passage.”
“Ha-ha! oh yes--there are your dismounted men,” and Colonel Ladigo
beamed.
“I think horses would have stuck in the mud of Cattail Creek, Ladigo;
fact is, horses are not perfectly mobile. I also neglected to mention
that the bicycles were all fished up and joined us later. We halted on
a hill off the road an hour before gray dawn, to wait for the command
to close up and to eat. There are always bikes which break down, and
it takes a little time to repair them; and men will fall and injure
themselves more or less. But within an hour I had my command all up
except five men, having marched nearly seventy miles in eleven hours,
had one engagement, crossed a river. And now, Colonel Ladigo, was that
not good work?”
“Oh yes, Pedal, quite good--quite good; could do it myself, though,”
and the soul of a cavalryman was bound to assert itself.
“Undoubtedly you could, but not next day.” And Pedal lit a cigar,
conscious that he had Ladigo downed, but not finally suppressed.
[Illustration: AMBULANCE CORPS--FIRST CYCLE INFANTRY]
“My men down the road took in a cavalry patrol without a
shot--actually took in a cavalry--”
“Hump--hump!” snorted Ladigo; “cavalry forsooth--a lot of d---- jays
on plough-teams; cavalry, sir--”
“Here--here, Ladigo, come down,” expostulated the assembled officers,
and Ladigo relapsed.
“Well, after a reconnoissance and information from the patrol, I found
that there were over five thousand men rendezvoused there, partly
organized, and armed with all sorts of guns. Old Middle was in
command--you remember Middle, formerly of the Twenty-seventh Infantry,
cashiered at Fort Verde in ’82.”
He was known to the men present, and a few sniffs and the remark that
“he was bad medicine” was all that greeted the memory of Middle.
“From the patrol I found where their camps and lines and outworks to
cover the roads were, and also that it was but a quarter of a mile
across a wood-lot to the road which I had intended to retire by, which
ran southeast towards Spearfish and Hallam Junction, so I trundled my
bikes over to it, and laid them in a column formation off the road,
and left them under guard. I formed my command and turned some fellows
out of some rifle-pits, which were designed to protect the road, and
it was growing light. We charged into the town, which had been alarmed
by our fire directed at the men in the pits. The first thing we struck
was a long line of temporary camps, of what was probably a regiment,
which was on the other side of a railroad embankment; but they were in
a panic and offered us no resistance, while we advanced, rapidly
firing, and nearly destroyed them. As we entered the town I took one
battalion and directed it against the car-shops, which were full of
stores and troops: these men we also nearly destroyed; and, having set
fire to the shops, I entered the main part of the town, and as we
advanced I had it also fired. From my right I heard heavy firing, and
knew that the other command had encountered opposition; and turning to
my right I struck a second railroad embankment, swarming behind with
men who were standing off the advance of the other battalion. I
enfiladed them, and they retired precipitously. From the net-work of
railroad embankments farther up the flats north of Colville I could
see masses of men forming. They began firing at me from a great
distance, but we were protected by the railroad fill and did not mind
it; while our sharpshooters, with their arms of longer range, annoyed
the enemy quite a little, and kept up his demoralization. A great many
men had gotten away from the town when I had attacked the car-shops,
and I was in fear lest they might form in my rear under the cover of
the burning town, so I had my wounded removed rapidly to the hill
where my bikes were left, and then retreated rapidly under the cover
of the smoke. The enemy were left so completely in the air that they
advanced slowly, while from the cover of the brush on the upper edge
of a field I held them in play for an hour while my wounded got a good
start. At last they seemed to form, and approached to my right, going
around the smoke of the burning town, and as they outnumbered me four
to one, they would speedily have outflanked me. I began the retreat as
I had intended. I had thirty-eight badly wounded men who had to be
carried in blankets, fifty-six slightly wounded who would be trundled
on bicycles, and had left eighteen dead on the field.”
“I say, colonel, how do you remove wounded men on bicycles?” asked
some one.
“It is simple when you see it, but rather difficult to explain. If you
will come down some day I will be glad to show you a wounded drill,
and then you can see for yourself. By cutting sticks and tying a
blanket or shelter-tent a desperately wounded man can be laid prone
between two bicycles, or if slightly hurt he can be trundled or even
ridden double with a comrade, while one man can move two and even
three bicycles. Oh, I tell you, the bike is a great contrivance once
you come to understand it,” proceeded the Colonel of Cycle Infantry.
“I should like to have fought those fellows a little harder, but I was
sixty miles inside of their lines, and I knew that to prolong the
affair would mean that they would be heavily reinforced, and besides
this was my first expedition. I had already destroyed the bigger half
of the enemy and burned the town, and I did not apprehend a vigorous
pursuit. What to do with my wounded was now on my mind. The country to
the east of North Colville is very broken, wild, and sparsely
inhabited. It had become necessary to abandon my wounded. I selected a
point over twelve miles from our battle-ground, far back from the
unfrequented road, in a very wild spot in the hills, and left every
man not able to travel there, with all our rations and two medical
officers, with ten men as a detail for the camp. My trail of course
continued, and they were never suspected. Coming to the valley of the
Spearfish I halted and slept my command until sundown, and then
started for our lines. On the way I rode into and demoralized a
half-dozen bands of armed insurgents, and struck our lines at five
o’clock in the morning.”
“What became of your wounded up there, colonel?” asked the medical
officer with the long pipe.
“The evening following Captain Barhandle with fifty men started and
made a successful march to their relief, and left two more medical
officers and a lot of medical stores and rations, and came back three
days after. The camp was never discovered, and was relieved when the
general here made his first expedition into Wood County. They had
protected themselves from prowlers by waylaying the roads, and had a
dozen prisoners in camp, together with a half-dozen milch cows. My
bike men are excellent foragers, since they have been so much on
outpost duty.”
“Suppose, Colonel Pedal, you were forced to abandon your bicycles,
what would you do?”
“We had a detachment on a scout the other day who were pressed into
some bad country and had to abandon their machines, which they did by
sinking them in Dead Creek, and the next day we went out and recovered
them. If it is desired to utterly destroy them, it can be done in an
instant by stepping on the wheel and ‘buckling’ it, or if you remove
the chain, it is useless to any one but yourself,” explained the
colonel.
“Now, colonel, do you consider that you can move your men successfully
in a hilly or mountainous country?” inquired Ladigo.
“In all candor, no--not to a good advantage. I can march uphill as
fast as infantry, and go down at limited-express speed; but I really
want a rather flat country with lots of roads. I am not particular as
to the quality of the roads, so there are enough of them. I can move
through snow which has been tracked down by teams; I can fly on the
ice; and when it is muddy there is always an inch or so beside the
road which is not muddy, and that is enough for me. A favorable place
for a bicycle is along a railroad track--going in the centre or at one
side. When suddenly attacked, my men can get out of the road like a
covey of quail, and a bicycle can be trundled across the worst
possible country as fast as a man can travel, for you see all the
weight of the man’s gun and pack are on the wheel, which runs without
any appreciable resistance, and all bike men know how to throw a
bicycle over a fence with ease, and my average march is eighty miles
a day. Ladigo, remember--eighty miles a day. No kind of roads, no
conditions of weather, or anything but superior force can stop my
command for an instant, sir;” and the colonel of cavalry rose and
added, “Colonel Pedal, will you have a drink with me?”