The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1851-09-24

Adventures of a Polish Veteran.

fully Illustrated.
Although the war with Denmark was
purely German affair, and hence allowed n,
foreign liIicer in the army, as general rule
still a few Poles and Hungarans were receiv
ed as volunteers There was an old Pole WHOM
| knew as non>commissoned infantry Off
Ger in the spring Of 1850. lie was sngu
lar phenomenon, TO be sure, exciting live
ly interest as soon as l saw bin. His ap
pearance was not little remarkable. Iii
long, silver-gray beard and mustaches hum
down from his thin, sharp featured face, iron
which flashed a pair of fiery blue eyes. Tn,
skin Of his face, as bright and brown as eath
or, was dried up and wrinked, showing tha
he had got his looks from many an exposure
to the burning sun, and many a bivouac il
storm and rain. a frightful scar EXTENDED
from his forehead, with dark red stripe o.
yer his nose to the corner of his mouth, di
vlding his face into two obli1ue parts. Hi
forehead was high and broad. Only a few
lron-gray locks struggled out from beneatl
his helmet. His figure seemed entirely Of
muscles and sinews, dry, wilhered, yet at the
same time vigorous and elastic. lie litnpcd
a little with the left foot in consequence oi
wound, and the middle finger was also
wanting on the left hand. But his bearing
was always erect and truly military, and
however hot might be the July SUM- he car
ried a full knapsack on twelve hours march,
| walking off with this heavy load as if he had
been born with it on his back. His dress,
in spite of dusty marches and rainy bivouacs,
was always clean and .id,, and his arms as
bright as if they had just come out of the
shop. The picture of an old veteran
of Napoleon's Imperial Guard was COM
pleied by the cross of the Legion of
Honor and a Spanish order. As a soldier,
he possessed a rare fidelity to duty, thor
ough knowledge of the service, and the most
quiet courage. You could not but see that
he had fought on many bloody field. Du-
ring the warm work at l6sedt he highly dis
tinguished himself. lie was as quiet in the
midst Of the enemy's fire as if he Was not in
the least disturbed by the whistling of the
Danish bullets, or the dull growl of the can
non balls The men of his command assert
ed that they once heard him say "he would
never shoot DANISH soldier, unless obliged
to do so, but would pick out only the officers >
1t is said among them that the general of the
hostile srmy, schlcppegrcll, was killed by his
shot, and many eyc-witnesses testify that on
the retreat at Idstedt two other Danish Off
GERS were shot by him.
His general department was marked By an
asiringent silence. Although ho spoke the
German language toleraby well, but with
foreign accent, he would never pronounce
word, unless necessary nor had any one
ever seen the slightest smile on his face at
the jokes around the bivouac fire. For hours
long he would sit brooding over the blaze of
the watch-iire, so that if il had not been for
the flash Of his eye, which looked out upon
the night, he might have been taken for
dead block of stone. Nor did he talk anv
more freely with his Polish comrades, when
he happened to fall in with them. He drank
no brandy, eat but little meat, and lived for
the most part on beans, strong coffee, which
he prepared for himself, and bread
The soldiers, and even the officers. had a
kind of dread of TIE gloomy corporal; and
although they esteemed his admirable quail
ties as n soldier, they did not cotton 10 him
very freely. For myself, l was strongly
drawn toward the dark man, whose iron
strength of character was expressed in his
whole appearance, and had often tried,
without much success, to have talk with
him.
One day the company in which he was o
corporal had pretty smart skirmish on the
outposts with the Danes, in which they at
last began TO FIRE with some light tield pieces.
As the enemy was retiring, random shot
was fired from a distance, and the ball took
off both the corpora's legs below the knee.
He fell bleeding to the ground with this ter
rible wound, ard was taken of by his COM
rades sensoess
The next morning soldier came to me |
with request that ] would 90 to the wourd-
ed man, who was living in a neighborinc |
farmhouse, as he wished to speak to me. On
the way, the surgeon OF the battalion toll
me that the corporal would die within two
hours. Although it was barely possible at
irst that be might have been saved oy am
'utating both legs, he decidedly refused his
consent, declaring that il the amputation
we're performed he would tear off the ban.
lagos The proposal was accordingly given
ip, and modification had already set in,
which would cause his death in a few hours
Without pain.
The wounded man lay covered with a
blanket on the good straw-bed in the clean
DOM of farmhouse, Speedy death stood
written on his pale features, yet he seemed
0 be free from pain. With a pretty frm
oice he thanked me, in his foreign German,
Or complying with his wishes aud coming TO
&c him. He then said, Z" | have one more !
lvor to ask before am buried tomorrow.
'ill you lay under my head this little bag !
earth from The grave of my mother and !
weethcart," showing me at the same Time j.,
tile bag of Russia leather. which hung by ;
strong leather thong to his breast. As ] q
romsed to do this. tear fell down his n
heck, and he pressed my hand; he then =
'ok little purse, in which were eight =
mis- dor and several dollars in silver hand.