yet be saved. His party consisted of ten picked men of the dragoons,
and it was splendidly mounted on horses furnished him to assist in the
undertaking. The pace which Kit commanded and required was one which
would try the nerves and courage of most good horsemen. Onward, over
the level prairie, the party galloped--every man feeling proud of the
guide, whose spirit they caught and imitated. The second night out
from Taos they came upon the camp of a detachment of United States
recruits who were under the command of Captain Ewell, and who were
bound for New Mexico, where they were to reinforce the regiments of
the army which were stationed in that territory.

It is customary to send out, each year, detachments of recruits to
the different departments of the West. These men are enlisted and
collected at the depots within the States; and, whenever a sufficient
force is collected to fill up the requisitions, they are dispatched,
at the proper seasons, to their respective regiments. Those intended
for New Mexico set out during the summer months. They are rarely sent
at the same time, or as the same command of men. These recruits are
a hard set to manage, especially when traveling through the States,
where they are exposed to temptation. On arriving at the commencement
of their hardships, on the plains, it is usually found that many have
deserted, and also that many might have done so with benefit to the
government. Military service with recruits, and the same with old
soldiers, are two different things. With the former, officers are
obliged to command, threaten and punish, to accomplish in one day,
what the latter would perform without much trouble in half the time.
Recruits know little or nothing about marching or camp duty; and,
in taking care of them, an officer has his hands full. Even the most
minute items have to be looked to; for example, they are men rarely
used to fire-arms, being, for the most part, foreigners by birth, and
are just as apt to load a gun with the ball of the cartridge first
down, as with the powder. Old soldiers look upon these new comers as
verdant in the extreme, and the pranks they often play upon them are
very humorous. With patient discipline, they become serviceable men,
and are an honor to the standard which they carry; and, what appears
to be the strangest fact of all, frequently the poorest looking
recruit may make the best soldier. This is a fair picture of the men
Capt. Ewell was commandi