We were obliged to dig wells every night for water before we could get our supper, for we could not use the water from the alkali lakes. As many as sixty wells were dug in a night. Think of it,--each company obliged to dig a well in order to get water for supper, but this was one of the daily duties of the soldier. It is astonishing how the "boys in blue" could adapt themselves to every condition and circumstance. I am on a tender spot now,--"the boys in blue." 'Tis true times are changed; a few of us are alive yet, and perhaps we are just a little bit "stuck on ourselves"; but, "the old soldier," as we are now dubbed, cannot forget "the boys in blue." In a few years more a new generation will have control of our government, but the wonderful years from 1861 to 1865 will not be forgotten. If we do not give our government, body and soul, into the hands of foreigners who cannot speak our language it is possible that the memory of the "boys in blue" will remain with us for a time yet. They were a mighty host then, and the tramp, tramp, tramp of their feet as they marched to defeat and victory will go down the centuries;--but, I must come back to my narrative. CHAPTER XL. BATTLE OF STONY LAKE--CAPTURE OF A TETON--DEATH OF LIEUTENANT BEAVER. On the morning of July 28th, just as the command was breaking camp at Stony Lake, we were attacked by Indians, in full force. General Sibley had the expeditionary forces so well in hand that the enemy could not possibly do us any harm. We halted but a moment, as some of the scouts came riding furiously towards us, followed by Indians intent on their capture. The boys cheered as they came within our lines. The battery was ordered to the front, and soon threw a shell among the Indians, who then galloped around on the flank, while another squad came immediately upon our rear; but, the whole column, in a solid square, moved on. The engagement took place on the prairie, and it was a beautiful sight to see the regularity with which the column moved. First, two companies of cavalry skirmishers, and at a proper interval two companies of infantry; the same order was preserved in the rear, and flankers on the right and left, so as to form a hollow square. In the center were the reserve troops, stores of all sorts, and the artillery. The teams were so fixed as to make it impossible to get up a stampede. The Indians resort to their peculiar tactics to stampede the teams,--they tried it to its fullest extent on this occasion, but without avail. They did not impede our progress in the least, and as the column moved right along, they soon gave up the attempt, and we pressed them so closely they allowed the killed and wounded to fall into our hands. The casualties were light, because the shells that were thrown among them did but little damage. The cavalry in this case was effective, and crowded the Indians, as they charged them with drawn sabre.