The battle around the city of Rivas had been fierce before the American unit was forced to retreat. One of the men left badly wounded and unconscience was a lieutenant from Missouri. It was night when he regained consciousness. Despite a leg wound, he pulled himself upright and stumbled in the darkness out of the city and found a horse on the outskirts of town. He rode it sixty-five miles to safety and a long life of adventure. He was James Carson Jamison, a soldier of fortune who had missed the Mexican War because he was too young. He was born in Pike County, near Paynesville. When he was fifteen, his father died and he was shipped off to a cousin when the large family had to break up.

AOWM – September 30