Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1852-05-05
From Harper's Magazine.
THRILLING SKETCH---Battle of the
Pyramids.
ny JOHN 8. O. ABBOTT.

ny JOHN g.. o. ABBOTT.
Cairo is on the Eastern bank of the Nile.
Aaurad Bey had there assembled the
greater part of his Mamelukes, nearly ten
thousand in number, for a decisive battle.
These proud and powerful horsemen were
supported by twenty-four thousand foot
soldiers, strongly entrenched. Napoleon
was marching along the western shore
On the 21st of July, Napoleon, conscious
that he was near the city, set his army in
motion before the break of day, Just as
the sun was rising in those cloudlsss skies,
the soldiers beheld the lofty minarets of
the city upon the left, guided by the rays,
and upon the right, upon the borders of
the desert, the gigantic pyramids rising
like mountains upon an apparently bound
less plain. The whole army instinctively
halted, and gazed awe-stricken upon tho
monuments of antiquity.
The face of Napoleon beamed with en-
thusiasm, " Soldiers" he exclaimed, as
he rode along the ranks; "From those
submits, forty centuries contemplate your
actions" The ardor of the soldiers was
aroused to the highest pitch Animated
by the clangor of the martial bands, and
the CLEAN of Haunting banners, they Ad-
vancsd with impStuous steps to meet their
foes. The whole plain before them at the
base OF the pyramids, was filled with arm
ed men. The glittering weapons of ten
thousand horsemen, in the utmost splen-
dor of barbaric chivalry, brilliant plumes,
the arms of FURNISHED steel and gold, pre-
sentsd an array equally imposing. Un-
dismayed, the French troops. marshalled
into five inyincible squares, marched on.
There was apparently no alternative.
Napoleon must march upon these en-.
trenchmsnts, behind which twenty four
thousand men were entrenched, with their
- artillery and musketry, to sweep his ranks,
and formidable body of horseman, on
fleet and powerful Arabian steeds, await
ing the onset and ready to seize upon the
slightest indication Of confusion, to plunge
with all the fury which fNtalism can in
spire upon his bleeding and mangled
squares. 1t must have been a moment of
intense anxiety. But as Napoleon sat up
il;;ss horse, in the centre OF one Of the
squares, and carefully examined with his
telescope the disposition of the enemy, no
one could discern the slightest trace of
uneasiness. His grave gaze was lond and
intense.
The ksenness of his scrutiny detected
that the guns of the enemy were not noun
ted upon carriages, and they could not,
therefore, be turned from the direction in
which they were placed. No other Off
Ger, though many of them had equally
good glasses, made this important discov-
cry. He Immediately, by lateral move
ment, guided his army to the right, to-
wards the pyramids, thathis squares might
be out of the range of the guns, and that he
might attack the enemy in the flank. The
moment Mourad Bey perceived this evo-
luton, he OWNED its object, and, with
great military sagacity, resolved instantly
to charge.
"You shall now see U.S." said the proud
Bey, "eut up those dogs like gourds."
1t was indeed fearful spectacle. Ten
thousand horEemen, magnifcently dress
ed, on the feetest steeds in the world,
urging their horses with bloody spurs to
the onset, rending the heavens with their
cries, and causing the earth to tremble
beneath the thunder ofiron feet came down
upon the adamantine host. Nothing was
ever seen in war more furious than this
charge. Ten thousand horsemen is an
enormous mass. Those longest Injured to
danger felt that it was an awful moment.
1t seemed impossible to resist such an ay-
alauehe, The most profound silence
reigned throughout the ranks, interrupt
cd only by the word of command. The
nerves of excitement being raised to the
utmost tension, every order was executed
with the most marvellous precision and
rapldity, The soldiers held their breath,
ana With bristling bayonets, stood shoul-
Ger [ 10 shoulder, to receive the shock.
Inc Mamelukes arrived within gun,
shot, the artillery of the angles plough
their RANKS, and platoons Of musketrv.
Volley after volley, in perfectly uninter.
rupted flow, swept into their foces n riti-
less tempest of destruction. Horse. F .na
riders, struck by balls, rolled over oooS ,
other by hundreds and thousands, and and
were tramplGd and crushed by the iron
hoofs of thousands of frantic steeds, en-
velopsd in dust and smoke composing
the impetuous column. But the squares
stood as firm as the pyramids at whose
base they fought. Not one was broken
NOT one wavered-.the daring Name
luke.' in the frenzy of their rage and dis.
appointment, threw away their lives with
the utmost recklessness.
,1hsy wheeled their horses round, and
TslnSu snem back upon the ranks, that
they might kick their way into the terri,
BILE fortress of living men. Rsndered f,,.
rious by their inability to break the ranLs
they hurled their pistols and aarh;ros Al