Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1851-12-31

ed TO chas,ise the imperinent intention with
which The question was put. "Sr," answer
ed Dumas, SIT Is true my grandfather was
"a negro and my great grandfather an epe.
Hy pedigree begins where yours ends."-
One day he threw back the curtain Of an al
cove, to show me the portal, Of his father.
!, is the only picture in the room, (,he walls
being concealed by purple .apeslry.) and,
with filIal veneration had placed it over
his bed. "You see said he, "wha, nobly
formed man he was then added musingly,
''he as mulat,o of shade darker than
myself"
General Dumas was the son Of the Mar
Iquls de la Pailetere, French Governor Of
81. Domingo, and one Of his female slaves.
The boy was sent to France for his educa-
lion. When the Revolution of 1889 COM
menced, he espoused its cause with all the
ardor of an enthusiast, as soldier in the
army Of the North. His courage, inielli-
gence, activity, strength and finely proper
lIoned frame gave him The al1ecliona,e nick
name Of Apollo. Several actions of despe-
rate bravery covered him with eclat, and
gained him grade after grade in the army.
His, liant force. the influence Of his ardent ma
ture exercised over his fellows in the army,
his real military talent aided him to rise
Before he left The army OF Dumouriez he had
a Colonel's commission in his pocket. Later,
the division with which he marched, was
surprised, in the mountains of The Tyrol, by
= superior force Of The enemy the route
would have been compiler, if Dumas had no,
dlsdaned to fly, and defended, alone and
>ing e-handed, the bridge Of Brlxen agains,
The enemy. He kept them a. bay long
enough to permit his comrades to gain a
position where they could defend them
selves, and, then escaped, amid a show
sr Of balls. After ibis heroic exploit, he was
called the Horslius Coolies Of the Tyrol.
Promoted to the rank of General of Di-
vision, he was sent. in 1898, to Egypt, un-
der Napoleon. The same chivalry Of char
acler distinguished him in his elevated pn-
silion, and his social disposition, military
ability and fine conversational powers. en-
ieared him TO all his brother generals and
officers eXcep, Bonaparte. He was d. Cairo
when the terrible insure ections of the natives
took place. A, The moment of the alarm,
10 dress himself, but seizing his sabre plung-
ed into The ihickesl of the fight. 1t was not
lolll<helore he had carved his way TO the
he0 - of his men. His only garment had
been TO shreds in the melee and his appear
ance excited the merrimeni Of his soldiers,
but he continued TO cle,ve down The Eyyp-
llan dogs aud cheer on his soldiers. The
Egyptians were repulsed in their turn and
took refuge in mosque. Dumas ordered the
charge aud led 1t. He seemed The very geni
US OF destruction as he dashed in among the
enemy, shouting his cry Of encouragement
to his followers, and hewing down man a,
every blow of his muscular arm. No quarter
was asked or given; immense heaps OF dead
covered the pavement Of The mosque; and
the insurr ection was quenched in the blood
OF the las, Insurgent.
Between such man and Napoleon there
could be no hearty friendship. Dumas who.
was the soul of honor and lrankness, could
moi sympalhze with the calculating, smhi
uous Corsican. Nor could he understand
the sonorous bulletins sent by Napoleon 10
Europe. He was indignan, a. the very mag
nticenl account the future emp1or gave of
the Battle of the Pyramids. The "Forty
centuries look down on you from the tops
Of these pyramids" provoked his sarcasm.
He though, bombas. out of place, when he,
a general of cavalry, had not single horse
under his command, and had himself 10 figh,
on foot, armed with double -barrelled gun.
II was abou, this time that all open quarrel
took place between them. Dumas, a veri-
table Hoslpur, was with difficulty preren:-
ed from killing Napoleon, with blow Of
his sword. Napoleon never forgave him,
and showed his rancor, some years after.
in having picture painted of the suppress
sion of the CARO- insurreclion, in which he
gave Dumas only the second place.
After the Egyptian expedition, Dumas
went TO lal y aud was poisoned, shortly af-
er, by an emissary Of Ferdinand of Naples.
His vigorous constitution enabled him to
recover partially his health, but he was
never after fit for active service. His health
was so shattered that he died a few years
later, 1906 What the father was the son is