Chapter 17
MARCH 27, MORNING
“FRANK, BRING IN THE GROUP leaders, we’re going to have a council of war.”
Frank left and sent runners out to bring the men in. Within two hours, they were gathered.
“We’ve been hit by nine ambushes in the last twenty-four hours. We’re about two days of hard marching from Fort Brazos. My gut tells me that we will engage the enemy in a major battle sometime tomorrow or the next day, probably tomorrow. They’ll throw every man they have against us, trying to defeat us before you can get to their women.
“These are farmers, not soldiers. They may have a few soldiers among them, but the majority of them are farmers. Their tactics have been to hit and run so far, not a very brave way to fight—about what you might expect from untrained hicks. The battle we come against tomorrow will be the one that breaks their back. They’ll hit us and we’ll hit back twice as hard. Your job is to kill as many of them as you can before they run. The more of them you kill out here, the fewer of them you’ll have to chase from house to house later.
“I expect strict discipline. Follow your orders and you’ll win. It’s that simple. Return to your groups and first thing tomorrow morning every group draw in tight to the center. We’ll no longer be using a stretched out line, now we’ll continue as a single group. Frank, you line them out for tomorrow as to what position each group will take. Dismissed!”