Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1848-09-01

and feathers, and tasscls, of their antagonists
They stood calmly and fearlessly still, will
their pieces at carry. But they too, had an
air; one that had mischief in it. Their ranks
had been thnned OUT some OF their best men
had fallen. There were even fathers standing
there, whose sons had gone down BY their sides
their pet boys, whom they had reared and
brought forth to fight for their country. And
there were sons, too, whose clothes had been
baptized with their fathers blood, not vet dry.
Brothers, who had stood shoulder to shoulder in
the morning, stood so no more /; but, while one
I lay stark and motoness upon the earth, the
other was near by to avenge him. There were
nciglbors, too, and friends, who had grown up
together j. schoolboy days. They were not
yet sepa ated--The survivors stood there, willie
those who had borne all these tender relations
to them W re strown, dead or dying. or every
hand. Yet ali in sight they lay ;---the familiar
forms and faces Of those TO whom they had been
Geepy attached, and. whom they had called by
their first names from infancy. 1t cannot be
wondered, then, that these men stood firm.
| 1t was sublime terrible sight. The troops
on both sides were so cool and determined, that
all knew the struggle must be sanguinary and
desperate IN the extreme. Not word was
spoken p; the din of the surrounding battle SEEM
ed for moment flushed the rnmbng sound of
the earth, as the brigade swept onward like a
living tbunderbolt, appeared to be the only audi
Bile Manifestation Of the approaching carnage.
AS the Mcxicans came nearer, they evidently
INDUCED the belief, that they could draw the fire
o., our men before il could oe very destructive !;
and that then, while the pieces were empty,
they could overwhelm the slight barrier before
them, and finish their work with the lance. Ept
finding, on the contrary That not piece was
d,a.cE.rgei, hcf a man moving, the whole br.
gade began inslnctiyely to diminish its gait.
This was fatal mistake and, on their side, it
seemed pity it should have been made, it was
so out Of keeping with the skill indicated by
their soldiery appearance and gallant bearing.
Finally, instead of daslling forward, l.. a most
splendid, charge as the! could have done, hav-
! ing the ground upon which to execute it, they
hid the madness to pull up to walk and at
length 10 halt in the very network of the two
lines of fire. The instant they did so, the pieces
came down on both faces of the angle, as if
swayed by ,he same hard For moment their
muzz'es moved slowly about. as each I.ar icl
for his ali; then they settled steady and firm as
bars Of steel. Now like the blast OF trumpet
the dreadful word WAS shouted" FIRE!" Two
sheet OF flame convcrgcd on that beautiful bri-
gade. IT was appalling! The whole head OF
the column was prostratcd, and rderless horses,
a multitude, and crimson with b.nad, scattered
from it in every direction.
| Before the MeXicans could recover from the
effects of this blow, Sherman cut them up with
crane and e. ns,ar-, IpNaan =Non:h anu ih'oni
| try. No troops in the world could have faced
it without the most awful sacrifice and under
it the whole brigade gave way, and FED towards
The monttains, leaving the ground literally COW
cred with its dead
In this affair, had i, not been for that unac.
countabc and suicidal pulling up to hal' be.
fore body of the best marksmen in the world
and distant only eighty yards had this com
pact mass of cavalry, Instead Ot doing thus
dashed at speed into the men, no donbt they
might have been checked but it is difficult Il
conceive what could have saved the Mississippi
and Indiana troops from total destruction. Anc
had so large force trGsen ui,ou.h our lines
and a; th, -t.,ne gained the road between Buen;
Vista and In Angostura, the fortunes of tn
day would again have been placed in "A leopard
most painful 10 contemplate.
A TERRIBLE RETRIDVTlQN.
The Mexicans, who were thus hemmed il
were played upon by no less than nine piece
=. Of our limht artillery at the same moment ; BE-
} inr the centre Of the cross fire rom Reynolds
pieces to their right, and O. }rrns and Thoma
! picces on the lett. while Sherman and Brag
we're tearing them up in front. Although ;
, ,irst they answered our troops by a fire of mn
= Eketrv. as the ground from point to point atlur'
: ed them cover, vet, as they became more col
n Iensed. and the effect Of our shot nnre desiru
d tive, they grew panic.stricken. Then hor'e n
J foot min ed together, and, without ranslng
ress, the storm under which they suffered pres
u I'd on closer ard closer tcVarl me nonnta'
D. These were the men who had n'ied our wonn
c ed, when they drove Us in the mprn'ng. Inc
y we're the men who took no prisoners, when th'
mirht have taken mtny. These were the n|'
who left no sign Of life in any thing A.mcric'
which had fallen into their hands--the men ".
X had stripDed cur p,or fellows, and tea sto
rt lover them AMI mutlated their remains in 4
ar most horrible AMI revolving manner. Tin
a. were the men who had received the surrenla
~ ed sword of the Texan Lieutenant Campbell
iii pallan, gentleman, and then plunged it into |
e. bosom. These were the men who in the MOI
RS, inu had surrounded that grcy-halred man. lie
i'll tenant Price, of Illinois, seventy-'wo years q
ne and cruelty forced their lances through him,
on if for pasiime. Now they were going bi
-ls over the sane groThd where all this work i
le' hecn done. We had b It little consider IN
rn- those who had had no pity for our mangled a
ION bleeding comrades. And every one knew
OF the b,t,le finally went against us, what wo
n l1c\ltaOIy " MS o'f 'dtt' All 'h'se t'lhS>
ned spired our troops with determination never
in DESPAIR Of victory; and nerved them to pr
up. onward to the punishment of an enemy, "
ing in civilized warfare, had set the first examp
IN. numbering wounded men Faster and ia
hat our troops gathered them into that little COW
ISIS the side of the mountain. They We're at
up, 5000 or G,OoO in all cavalry and inian
but mingled In confusion an armed multitude
re. mere chaos of men and horses. and dead
ap- diving, with flag, pennons, ances, and musk
on all mixed up Hundreds of them endeav,
to escape by clambering up the steep side
of the mountains; but most OF them stood hud
asy together, while our shot went crashing thro
his them, and our shells likewise, opening for III
ling selves bloody circle wherever they explo
a" ", THE CLOSE OF THE BATTLE,
the As the sun sank lower and lower, the occas
,cer al rattle of musketry gave place TO drop
nd shot, which in turn became less and less
its Guent, and at length entirely ceased. The
,ved of artillery on both sides had gradually subs
best the sun went down; the heavy and reverb
nan ed report of cannon had longer and more
, the certain intervals; finally it was hushed a
pu, found and painful silence succeeded, aud a
pro- the cold, deepning shadows of evening b
urhn silently to steal over the field. The two al
bout were still there, and were still stcrny reea
into each other, face to face They were stan
ones almost upon the same ground where the
,e oil. Respectively stood the night before. But
valry Mexican lines we could hear no animate
'resi- ransue, no responding viras, nor apr
rsars, cheers and the night wind brought not