The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1852-06-23

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he believed the battle gained. But tha,
sudden unexpected panic of the veteran
Maryland Regiment, made the tide of bat
tie again set against the patriot army, ant
at length, with grief and anguish unspeak
able, he saw the latter rolled back, ant
disappear over the hill, while the English
flag waved above the spot, where, in tn,
morning, proudly floated the banner O.
his country.
The excited boy, watching from far the
wavering fortunes of his country-a group
OF prisoners standing breathless below, ga,
zing intently on his form, to catch every
word that fell from his lips, present one
OF the finest scenes to the imagination,
which our history affords. Rebecca, lean
ing from the battlemented castle, looking
down cn the tumultuous fight at the base,
and reporting its progress to the wounded
lvanhoe, as he tossed on his impatient
couch, does not exhibit so much the true
sublime, as this young republican, watch
ing the progress of freedoms battle, and
now in exultant, and now in mournful ac-
ceuts, reporting to the ragged, emaciated
group beneath him, its changes and its
disastrous issue.
Soon after the retreat of Greene, young
jackson was surprised to hear that his mo-
ther was in town. From the moment her
boys were taken prisoners, she had not
ceased to devise means for their release.
She had fingered round their prison walls,
and prayed and weptin secret, over their
fate. AT length, through her influence AN
exchange was effected, and Andrew and
Robert, together with FIVE others were set
at liberty in return for thirteen British SOL
dlers, who had been captured by Wing
!he spectacle those two sons presented to
their mother, was enough to break her
Spartan heart. The wound in Roberts
head had never been dressed, and he look.
ed haggard and wan, while the faces of
both showed that they were infected with
the small pox. The hospital was the pro-
per place for them instead of the high
way, still they resolved to start for. their
home. They had means only sufficient
to procure two horses, one of which was
given to Mrs. Jackson, while Robert was
placed on the other, supported by his fel-
low-prisoners. Young Andrew trudged
along on foot, with every vain in him
swelling with the fever of disease. This
sad, sick group, presented a sorrowful as
pect, as past desolated dwellings, and de-
serted hamlets, they slowly travelled back
to their homes. The second day, when
within few miles of the settlement, a sud-
den shower Of rain overlook them, before
fhey could reach shelter, which drenched
the party to the skin, and drove the small
pox in on both the boys. They Were i'm
mediately taken dangerously i'll, and the
disease combining with the putrid undress-
ed wound, brought on inflammation OF
the brain in Robert, and in two days he
was dead. Andrew become delirious, and
nothing but the constant care and nursing
of his afflicted mother, saved. him from
sharing the fate of his brother.
He had scarcely recovered his health,
when this smother of the Gracchi," for
getting her own SORROWS in the sufferings
of her countrymen, resolved, with four or
five other ladies, to 60 to Charleston, and,
suceour, if possible, their ne,ghbors who
were there confined on board prisonship.
Her last surviving child demanded her
attention and care at home, but she had
long since placed him, with her other chill
dren and herself, on the altar other coun-
try, and the successive immolation of the
victims could not swerve her great heart
from the sacrifice
Taking with them such supplies as they
thought would be needed, these noble wo
men commenced their tedious journey o
nearly two hundred miles to Charleston
Having arrived there, they sought out tn,
British commander, and asked permission
to 60 on board the prison ship and attenc
to the sick. Inhuman as the conduct o
the British had been, it was not in the
heart Of man to refuse this request and i
was granted. The stencil and filth anC
malignant sickness that made that prison
ship ike the crowded hold of SLAYER il
the horrors Of the middle passage coult
not repel these angels Of mercy from then
kindly ministerings.
But Mrs. Jackson weighed down with
h'r heavy aff1ictions-having just sriser
from the grave of one son and the sicl
bed Of another-was not in condition tC
combat successfully the effects of the pu
trid at nosphere in which was raging
among the prisoners, sickened, and died
Stronger hands placed her in an unknown
grave, and though her son in after years
could not do honor TO her tomb, her mem
ory has been enshrined in the hearts o
millions.
Young Andrew was now alone in tn,
world. Amid the utter desolation of hi
fathers house, the orphan boy stood ant
surveyed, with an anxious heart, the worlc
before him. Through what scenes O
bloodshed, cruelty, oppression, and suffer
ing; through what grievous affections h
had passed How they had develope,
his character and matured his mind befor
the time; so, that although but boy il
years, lie was man in thought, energy
, resolution and resources.
But as he contemplated the devastation
that had swept his home and left hin
} alone in the world, h. remembered tn