Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1848-03-22

line, and orderedilo.a advance
by The front against the enemy's centre.
The brave Dickinson places himsel Fin the
centre of the Regiment, waving aloil the
aReeimental colors. The advance is made.
The line moves forward frmly aud s,eadi-
": and now begins that deadly slrife-that
fearful carnage, which swept away in lta
fury more than half Of the Regiment, aad
which is almost without parallel IN the
history of modern warfare, Advancing
almost alone. the whole fire Of the enemy
is concentrated upon this handful OF men,
IL mows them down in front, upon the
flank, and in be rear. The onset is ter.
rife. All is excitement and fury.
Claysscun soaitus, armorllmquc angruh horror.
Tngi
The very elements ssem to- be rent ny
the furious discharge of muskets and esco-
pettes. The atmosphere is literally filled
with Ieaden hail. A, every STEP the storm
redouhIes in vioence. It sweeps every
thing before it. II scatrers destruction and
death in every rank. Officers disappear
| from their posts as if by the power Of mag
ic, aud The men fall by scores. Soon lhe
accustomed vnice of command ceases its
firm aud manly tones. The Colonel is no
more. The next munenr. The oeauIllul
banner Of Company D. sinks TO the ground.
The banner is at once replaced. ln n mo-
ment more the Resnenlal Flag is seen 10
waver and fall. The manly and almost
colossal form that so nobly bnre il, has
sank TO the graund. Blu, the Flag soon
resains it, place in front Of the line by the
hands of gallant Irshman-a private IN
Company H. Still the Regiment moves
onward. Though deprived of the com
manding voices Of its chiSalrc Cnlonels.
il does not falter for momenl. 1t is more
than deeimaicd every twenty yards: but
sril il advances. Nolp. il is halted for a
while and commanded 10 fire; then. q
charge is ordered and again it moves for
ward ia The face ofthe enemy in good or,
der and with great rapidity.
joined by scattered troops from the
other Regiment. this remnan, OF men. with
!. fixed bayouets and with furious wariIoop
I press manfulIy on against The foe, whc
besan:to waver and give awayin great con
fusion. The rou, is complete. The enc
my vanish like smoke. The masses IL
the utmost disorder, hasten way in every
direction over the fields and plains, through
' swamps and thickets. Like The rebe
hosts, driven over The plaius Of Heaven
they flee.
! With ruin upon ruin, rout on rout,
= Confusion worse connfOnnded .-.MIton.
When the Palmetto Regiment reachet
;. the village of Portales, Worth's comman'
: made its appearance at the tete du Pont
. fourth of a mile distant, just commencin
I I the pursuit.. The Infantry followed tn
:, enemy, ill overtaken by Col. Harvey vii
" his command of Cavalry. They wer
y then ordered back to The battle ground Il
!" look alier the slain and the wounded.
!. Thus ended this most terrific Of battles
n au engagement bloody and brilliant. an
r. for several reasons, one of the most re
"a markahle recorded in the annals of on
- country, or in The history of moder
limes. This will sufficiently appear r.sifsx
,e vast isuperloei'yin posilions and the srsz
j inequality in arms. between the conlendin
IS fnrces. The American force, according I
d Gen. Scouts Official R-pnrt, numbere
II only 6,74G-while that of the enem
II amounted 10 $4,000. and. from the admis
, sion Of Mexican Officers. 10 81. 600, whic
Q is nearl y in the proportion of five to one
}, Beside. lhe enemy possessed immense nd
Y vantases in the bulwarlis they had pre-
y pared. Entrenched in the strongest fnrti
o Gallons. which our Engineers acHn"wcle
!. 10 be constructed on The must scientifi
!, principles,to he admirably executed, it wa
!. in their power TO deal out, with compare
: tive impnniry, destruction to our advancin,
: troops,unprotected as they were by object
. OF delence. In addition to these thinss.lh
u enemy enjoyed vast superiority in pom, e
4 arms. They had more than twenty pieces
, of cannon. and many of heavy caibre. Or
the contrary, The Americans, were alrnos
r entirely without this strong arm Of attack
They were enabled to plant hut one oI
; TWO small batteries, during The aclion
. which were soon senced with groat loss
y life. by the heave FIRE Of the enemy.
r With such eminent advantages on Ihe
part Of the Mexicans in all The materiei oil
, war. calculated TO give success, it is truly
r astonishing that the victory should have
, fallen 10 the American arms. Nothing bu
The most skilful manGuvering, the mosJ
/ undaunted courage and prodigies of valor
could have procured such result. Tha,
he battle was most hotly contested. fully
appears from the number of killed and
wounded on both sides. In The American
Army nearly 1000 fell III The action. In
The Palmetto Regiment alone, the killed
and wounded amaunte 10 one hundred
and thirty seven. The enc ny's loss was
between three and four thousand, be.ide a
Largo number of prisoners. It you'd,
Indeed, be difficult to conceive of hauIe
more dreadfully terrific than this. In the
language Of a clever " ritter. ''al every
point our troops were obliged to march up
10 the entrenchments without The least
protection, while The Mexicans were COM
pleIely sheltered. Round shot. grape and
canister. and musket balls literally hailed
amid our ranks. All the thunIers of hea.
ven could hardly have exceeded the tre
mendous roar Of artillery aud small arms,
while The combatants were often complete
Iy hidden fron eoch nther hv rho sn,ko