Butte record., 1856-05-31
The Charge.

inancitl records of the diff rent coun-
ties. It Is So with the State. Her jail
is monstrous charge upon the people.
But the people of San Francisco reverse
this order Of things, and charge upon
the Jail J. They will find however, that
their charge will yet settle upon the
debit side Of their balance sheet, for
neither the charge, nor the day upon
which the important service was render
ed, are recognized by the Statute as legal.
Two weeks since "the sun of Auster-
ltzn arose in San Francisco. Her most
respectable ciizens'' were secretly
transformed into soldiers, and shoulder
ing 'condemnrd muskets" marched
forth with all the pomp and clrcum
stance of glorious war, and charged upon
their county jug. The brilllancv oI
the exploit has seldom b zen equaled and
never excelled, since "Falstaf S Regi-
ment was ''must red out of service y
The noble daring and devotion exhibited
by this charge of the tight brigade, >
stamps the crowning glory upon the
citizen-soldiery of San Francisco. Let
the reader bear in mind the great perils
IF the undertaking, the number of the
enemy to be att cked. and he can then
determine whether the gallant band OF
three thousand who charged upon the
Jail, did not exhibit courage and devo-
ton that was only equalled by the
glory and msgnitude of the act they ac>
complished.
Let it first be understood that the
Generals simo of thrse br We fu>leers
had an interview with Gov. Johnson,
and convinced him that the ragg' regi-
ment who were about to sac ifice them
selves at the ja'l-door, could fog all the
ba ance of c lifornia, and would d. il OF
perish in tn" jill, induced the conman-
der-in- chief of the Calif,rnia militia to
interpose no barrier to their proceed
ngs. This arrangement having been
effected, left huge army to be over
C me at the jail, consisting of a large
Sheriff and a posse c0mltatus of ten per-
sons.
The invading forces were then sum-
moned before their stern and fearless
leader, Informed of the proceedings al
ready had, and of the determination to
take the Jail or perish IN the attempt.
They were then dismissed for an hour,
and were informed if any at the expira-
ton Of that time, did not choose to ac.
company and share the dangers Of the
exp dition, they need not return to the
rendezvous at the hour appointed.
Now comes the heroic and romantic
portion of the history of this brilliant
campaign. Notwithstanding the j1il
was guarded by the immense number Of
ten persons, every one OF that brave
little band of twenty-five hundred citi-
zen soldiers and patriots were on hand at
the appointed hour, and like those who
assa ssinated King and Richardson were
determined to take life or lay down their
own. And it may be mcntio; ed as a
remarkable circums tance, and one thai
clearly shows that Providence smiled
upon the undertaking-not one of that
little band of twenty five hundred, who
were going forth to battle, perhaps tc
death--was kept at home by an attack
of colo The large body was then di-
vidcd into squads and moved forward to
the attack The van was given 10 a
French company. who were familiar with
revolutionary movem nts and the up
turning OF governments, and whose mil
itary tread, acquired under the despot-
ism of the old world, might strike terror
to the hearts of the authorities. Their
cannon was wheeled up in front of the
jail door, ready at the word to batter
down the wills. In fict the charge was
ably conceived and brilIia ntly * cuted.
The charge of the Black Prince Of Eng
land upon the French Of Napoleon'- =
I'D guard at erloo-of Sim Hous,
toms little army at San Jacinto, were
nothing in comparison. There is but
one charge mentioned in history. who's
brilliancy entities it to place in con-
nrction with the one we are now describ.
ing. The history of that charge may be
found in the First Eclectic Reader We
make extracts to show the equal daring
Of the two charges:
"We charged upon flock of geese
And put them all to fight,
Except one sturdy gander.
Who thought to show us fight"
But we routed him, we scout ed him,
Nor lost single man."