Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1857-11-28

! N"Thcn shook the hills with thunder riyen X
I And louder than the bolts ofheayen,
! Far flashed the red artillery"
stood upon hill near the Mosquito
fleet, and between it and our batteries X I
was not further than three or four hundred
/ yards from this little fleet, and j could see
the movements of the men, aud hear tho
words of command. saw large quantities
OF balls fall around the little vessels, but
very few of them struck. But it was upon
our batteries that the heaviest fire was con
centrated 1t seemed impossible that they
could stand the shock, and we trembled for
them. | stood upon the hills till midnight,
a spectator of this awful struggle. The
night was dark, and the darkness was only
relieved by the brief and lurid flashes ofthc
artillery, as it winged on their crrand its
messengers of destruction But like the
| cleaning thunderbolt from the opake cloud
they only made the succeeding darkness
more appalling. A lrid flash for q mo-
ment lit up the arena of the strife, but
ERE a man could say behold!
| The jaws of darkness had dcyourcd it up"
We could sec the bombs and mark their
entire course, as they described their fiery
circles through the air, and finally, having
reached their destination, exploded amid
falling houses, crumbling walls, and the
shrieks of the dying.
Our mon stood gallantly by their guns,
and never slackened their fire a amoment.- -
/ Their star-spanglcd banner foatcd over their
batteries, and its-honor vas in their keep
ing They felt the inspiration, and dcvo-
voted themselves to death.
"And The rockets red glare the bombs burst
] ing in air,
Gave proof through the night, that oursAag was
tillthere"
About midnight, I left the scene and
slept in the tent of the hospitablc Captain
MoGowan, South Carolinian, who was a
Quartemaster of the army. He neyerne
lectcd an opportunity to do an act of kind
ness, hospitality or generosity. And i slept
that night as soundly as if at home The
roar of artillery was but a lullaby to charm
us to sleep.
That night the brave and accomplished
Major Vinton was killed. A heavy shell
which penetrated the parapet struck him
dead. But though it killed him instantly;
there wasno bruisc on, his person to show
what part of his body was struck. Iheard
ofanother case almost similar. A Palmct-
to was Knocked oven, turning somerset,
! by large ball, and it left no mark or bruise
upon him. Major Vinton was an eminent
scholar, and q christian. He had deter
mined to quit the army, and become a
! preacher, He had seGS in his resignation
believe, to take eject after the siege of
Vera Cruz.
On the next morning, the 23d, the fire
was renewed. The little fleet took still
nearer position to the city and castle, and
maintained it under heavy fire, until at
nine o'clock Gen. Scott ordered it to be re-
called. But the officers and men of the
navy were determined to participate in the
| fight. They had been long chatting at the
inaction of the navy, and were eagor for q
part in the fray At the earnest request
of Commodore Perry, Gen. Scott assigned
|, a part of the batteries to the navy, to be
commanded by naval officers, and served
by seamon, They also erected a naval bat
terry behind a thicket of chapagal, which
covered it from view Another land bat
| terry was begun near the railroad, called the
"Nlalibran battery"
a guard of about ahundred men of the
] Palmetto Regiment was sent ON the 23d to
4 guard the hills west OF the city. i was
one of this guard. We approached within
about 1900 yards ofthe city, and took po-
sition behind the sandbills AYecould dis
/ tinctly see objects in the city The flags
of several nations aoated oyer the houses
/ ofthc eonsps representing thenr. Through
out the entire day. the fire was ineessant, ,-7--
| A northcr sprangup during the day, which
delayed the landing of ammunition, and
our batteries slackened their FIRE for want
4 ofamnunition, but this only revived the
NcxicaEs to renewed effort They Thought
our guns were silenced by their fire.
I The Palmetto guard grew tired of che
duliness of the scene, and many of the
guard amused themselves sbypaying cards.
4 Who but a soldier would believe it, that
men would sit down In 1900 yards of an
eDeniy, during hot Donhardihent, with
shot flying over them, gaad spend the day
7 fit,card playing2 mstcad of preparing 70
shuttle off this mortal coil" they were
Ilonly intent on shutting cards Yet 1t is
trueas gospel, that they did play poker aa;sr- aa,a;sr-
inga th5t}dqy, Its q strong illustration
iof the callousness and rccklessness preduc.
ed by "a soldiers life. Z.
The night of the ,28d a shall never for
llget. 1T was beloved the Mexicans would
\ make q sosafe that night upon the very 6iAt
which we were guarding Just at dark "a
.Eline Of eentinels was posted Oh the sand,
hills. think itwas from ten till twelve
that night, that L walked my weary rounds
kas "a sentinel al nofthal was blowing, and
sEicI0usls of drifting sand filled the air, 1t