Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1856-02-16
Leaving Jalapa-Tho Swearing Col
OnCl

The following extract is from the "Nerica,
Cdpttre," tho forthcoming work by JouS or
LANCASTER:
On the evening Of the 18th Of July 1913.
Col. Miles issued an order that the 5th In
iautry would leave Jaapa the following
morning. lie gave orders for The wagon
train to go ost Of the city first and form on
the left hand side Of the road, so as to enable
the column Of infantry to pass them without
difficulty, and take the advance
The morning of the 18th dswned clear aud
bright. The 5th Infantry. which now formed
the rear guard Of the American army, was
paraded in the plaza. The wagons were ra-
pidly passing out of the city, agreeable to Or
dcrs, and forming on the left. The regiment
soon followed. We bid adipu TO Jalapa-its
lovely women--its blooming fowers--its gol-
den orange groves its romantic hills clothed
in perennial bloom, and turned our faces home
ward. AS we passed through the eastern
gate, and cast a last lingering look behind at
the city, the scene was beautiful. There lay
the town half buried in orange groves. with
its quaint looking houses. and numerous
churches, basking in the bright rays of the
sun, rs pleasant as the sweet smile Of uno-
cence. No view could be more lovely, and |
doubt If there is scene in the sunny Italy that
could surpass it for romantic beauty. We
passed over the slope OF the hill, and the last
lingering trace vi Jalapa had faded from
view.
We now came in sight OF the wagon train,
but Instead Of being nicely arranged on one
side Of the way, as desired by the ohivalrous
Colonel, 1t presented Il scene OF confusion tru-
ly laughable The mules were very uurulv,
not having been worked mnch. and the team
sters We're mostly raw Dutchmsn. fresh from
, 4. hnp q,
than the mules. The consequence was that
the wagons got mixed up in the worst
possible manner, the mules became entsngled
in the harness, and were kicking at a furious
rate. The confusion was 40 great. and the
road 50 completely biockaded by the wagons,
which were iumblsd together into such a
complete jam, that il was impossible to pass.
Col. Miles Was riding at the head of the
column. lie was man at few words-spor-
ted Il black moustache, that fercely curled
with the martial spirit Of war, and looked as
stern as statue Not smile was on his
countenance, but each soldier knew full well
the storm that was brewing, aud cast glance
at his cOmrsde, smiled, aad waited for it to
burst forth in all It's fury. The column APP
preached the mingled mass Of wagons, males,
and Dutchmen {; the Colonel rode at its head
hot a word was spoken. P0teutious no
ment! Riding Np ~ the barrier The Colonel
wheeled in his saddle, and in a fierce, loud
tone, commanded the regiment to "halt. -
! Then deliberately drawing his sabre and
making the glittering blade describe few
! quick revolutions around his head, there fol-
lowed torrent Of oaths as fierce and as sui
| phurous as If they came from the cayemous
/ depths CT hell. This Hery torrent Of motion
oaths, which were sufficiently powerful TO
cause the oldest residents ofpaAdamouum to
| hide their heads with fear, and make the hair
on each mans head stand on end Ike
| The quiIs Of a fretCul porcurlnc,"
! continued to flow in one unbroken stream
! for about two minutes. 1t was positively
awful, outrageous, unparalleled; -Hd no con-
ceptiun can be formed Of the number and
| quality of the erthets, aud the vehemeuce
! with which they were uttered, without having
| been present
The gallaut Colonel at lost discovered that
| he could not Sicear the fractions mules, the
| heavy wagons, and the clumsy drivers, oat of
/ the way, and he was only exhaustinc his vo-
cabulary Of cpitnets in vain. Hastily putting
up his sword, he exclaimed, in somewhat
! serious and subdued tone "God UeSs Me
~orld." and said nothing more.
An invocation of the blessing Of God upon
the whole world, was very singular cOnclu-
| sion to come to after yehemently calling upon
! all the evil spirits to come aud seize upon
| the uuruy mnlss and the half frightened
! Dutchmen. The finale was SO ridiculous,
/ that every man was obliged TO suppress a
laugh. But the Col. was silent and resigned;
he had relieved himself of an agt'd load, and
was content to wait patiently I'LL the road
was cleared
In half an hour order was restored among
the wagons, the road was cleared. and the col
umn pushed on, headed by the redoubtable
! Colonel, who said not word