Sawdust & Spangles: Stories & Secrets of the CircusCoup, W. C. (William Cameron)
History
Sawdust & Spangles: Stories & Secrets of the Circus
Coup, W. C. (William Cameron)
Circus
Our show was situated in the public square and was thus surrounded by
houses and stores, all of which were filled with armed men. By the dim
light we could see our enemies running from house to house with guns in
their hands. The second detachment of our men was sent to gather in the
scattered horses. And a lively time they had accomplishing that
business! Shot after shot was fired at them while the horses were being
driven into the corral. Fortunately, however, neither man nor horse was
hit.
AMBUSHED AND SHOT AT ON THE ROAD
We remained quiet until daylight, keeping constant guard, for we feared
an attack at any moment; but toward daybreak we could see that the
ranks of our enemy were thinning out. After careful deliberation I gave
the order to march. Just as the first team was leaving the square the
sharpshooters opened a vicious fire from the windows and doors of
houses and stores. Practically every shot brought down a horse. Strange
to say, we could not discover that a single man had been struck. Our
men instantly fell into line and began firing together, but as we had
only pistols the fight was against us. As our enemies were safely
concealed in stores and buildings, only a few exposing themselves to
our pistols, we fought at great odds. However, we kept up a rapid
fusillade, and under this heavy fire we managed to get out into the
open country, leaving our dead horses on the village square. Once
safely outside and beyond the range of the enemy we paused for
roll-call and found that three of our men were dead. This put the
spirit of fight into every man in the company, and there was almost an
eagerness to have another encounter.
Proceeding cautiously on our way, we came to a stream spanned by an
old-fashioned bridge. The first chariot being a very heavy one, the
bridge was carried down, throwing the wagon, horses, driver and men
into the water twenty feet below. Soon firing was again heard, and two
more horses fell. This proved my suspicion that the beams had been cut
for the purpose of wrecking us and of trapping us where we could be
slaughtered. The next shots brought several of my brave men to the
ground--dead in their tracks! The enemy, being in ambush, had us at
great disadvantage; but my men were so thoroughly aroused and so
fearless that we soon drove our assailants back. This last plucky
onslaught won the day for us, although at sad cost.
After a delay of several hours, during which we repaired the bridge, we
were again able to proceed on our way. Hardly were we fairly started
when a new difficulty was encountered in the form of big trees felled
across the roadway. This work had been cleverly done by the enemy in
order to retard our progress, and we had to stop and remove these
obstacles before we could pass. The time lost by the first attack, by
the bridge engagement and subsequent delay threw us behind a whole day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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