The Belmont chronicle, and farmers, mechanics and manufacturers advocate. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1848-1855, 1854-10-27

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selves upon my memory.
! Capt. Drums battery, which kef up con-
slant and destructive fire upon thu castle the
whole day, was stationed about ,xty yards
from the right OF my regiment. Our whole
division, commanded by General Quitman,
consisting of the I'd Pennsylvania and South
Caroinsvolunteers and battalion o. United
States marines, besides the New York veIun-
| teers, also occupied q position in supporting
distance oil the battery Attached to the
South Carlna regmentwere several negroes
slaves, who had accompanied their masters
some Of them priyates. too--en the cam
paigD; and on several occasions displayed
! commendabls gallantry. One Of these negroes
"a huge, black muscular follow--stood about
ten yards from one of the guns, and at every
discharge, he would eagerly watch what effect
it had upon the castle. II a favorable one
he would JUMP up in the air, clap his hands 4,
and exclaim:
"Golly, massa a. you give i'm goss dat time
suah!"
Then he would again resume his position
behr tree, and await with anxiety the dis
charge of another cannon, with straining
/
and then rush into the road, and 60 through
the same performance as mentioned above
The fellow had conducted himself in this
manner for two or three hours, when shot
from our battery made desperate havoc with
one of the out-works ofthe Castle. The ter
ribe crash could be distinctly hear, and the
clouds Of dust that ascended into the air rom
the demolished masonry, presented a picture
similar to vast confagration. The n,gro's
delight at this moment was unbeunded lie
threw himself on the ground, rolled over and
over, and kicked and squrmed like a dying
animal, utterins loud joyous exclanations. -
Thus suddenly springing to his feet, he leap
ed about FIVE feet from the ground, struck his
heels together, clapped his hands and exclam-
! ed
"Whe-o-o-up! Hoo-rah! By grashus, mas
sa, dat was the best Of 'em all! Give it to i'm
against"
! Just as he concluded the last sentence, the
! loud rep ort Of a monster can~on was heard
! from the castle, then the whizzing noise of a
ponderous shot as it came flying through the
air. 1t was the poor negro's death-messen-
ger! before he had an opportunity to resume
his posit on, it struck him in the stomach,
completely tearing out his entrals, and OF
instantly deprivng him Of life The po r.
! fellows merry voice was silenced in death.
Within m tisket range of Captain Drums
battery. small forca OF tho ensmy, perhaps
| fifty occupieda position that enabled them
to annoy US very rauch, and occasionally kill
or wound one Of the men stationed at the
guns. These men were undoubtedly sharp
shooters, and were stretched along, for per-
haps sixty yards, in deep ditch. Taking
advantage of every opportunity that presented
itself of making their services available, tc
our detriment, they would partially raise up
discharge their weapons at US, and then quick
| ly resume their lying position. These fell
lows had been harrassing us so long and so
fatally that general Shields (who commanded
thebrigade to which my regiment was attach
ed) deemed it advisable to dislodge them
For that purpose detachment of thirty men
under the command of lieutenant, was sent
| forward. The lieutenant gallantly and ra-
pidly advanced with his men, under sharp
fire proceeding from those occupying the
ditch. Before he had advanced forward sixty
yards, three Of his men were shot deaf. Still
: this did not in:imidated him or his men. On.
ward he pushed-rapidly nearing the enemy.
Now he was within thirty yards OF them, and
still they maintained their position. Forward
the lieutenant pressed, and just as he was
within about ten yards of the ditch, masked
battery in its immediate vicinity opened its
murderous Ere upon the little party. When
the smoke cleared away, but three of that gal
liant band stood upon their feet-the remainder
with the lieutenant, were stretched upon the
blood-damp ground, fright(u mangled corpses
I The three survivors stood bewildered for n
moment. and then recovering themselves
speedily rejoined us.
We, too, had our sharp-sbooters stationed
at advantageous positions around the castle
and the many Mexicans that we found the
next day, stiff in death, with their forehead
! pierced with balls, bore proof Of the accuracy
of the aim. The mounted rhemen is thu
regiment that alluded to. This regimen
: was composed ofthe best body of men-near
; " all Americans--that ever saw. The,
were all crack shots, each man being sure t,
5 "fetch his man." At Chepultepec, the.
' were scattered in differen! directions, as nea
4 the castle us they possibly could get, ant
d hundreds of the enemy that day perished> b.
d their unerring, deadly aim An incident tina
S | witnessed on the f2!h suggests the men
f tioning of the regiment, in order. to introduce
the incident itself.
| From the base of the hill ON which the cas-
. tie of Chepul;epec stands, running W to tn
castle itself, is a broad, paved road. Dow
, this road, during the morning, horse noun
r ted by an officer, was frequently seen to das
o furiously. The rider was undoubtedly a
e did-de-camp, carrying orders from Genera
n Bravo, stationed at the foot OF the hull. H
d wore very snowy cap, and therefore won
+ dered he escaped our rifles. His horse wa
r richlyssand showily caparitoned, and he him
o self was dressed in gorgeous uniform
r short, he was "as gay as peacock" as tn
d eccentric but gallant Captain Fairchil
IS remarked at the time. had my eyes fixe
, intenty upon him the last time saw hir
Il dashing down the road expecting every me
5, ment to see him fall from his saddle. But b