The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-12-15

w,f,l - sent ~ mail In reply 10 orders REMIT
aine sacA tAres esst stssP,
--4.A--a-ss--ussuI
The OssawAsomie War.
On Z former occasion, we itkened eur tack 81
~erftinr the annals OF the Howitsers to that
Assumed Ay xExorHoS when he wrote tho
narrative OF the retreat OF the ten thousand
In acme respects. there certainly WAS diner
ence xxNorHoN and his friends were pursued
=, The persians, and had to retire through the
,r,a.t Of barbarons nations, all Of whom were
hr..Ile Row. the Hs,witxers had their rear
.ssscsually secured BY 4 strong force, consisting
~ n. & troops, the Montgomeries, and two
volunteer companies ,f the town, at Harper's
Ferry. Besides, the Hpwitzers did not retreat.
On the contrary, they stayed upon the ground
until they were regularly relieved and ordered
IN return. They remained until Old JonN
Bnoww had been hung, which, we take 1t, was
the treat object of the campaign. They had
shown abundance OF readiness to share in the
defence OF their State, for they had answered
the call of the Executive on two occasions as
promptly a. it coult have been answered by
veteran troops; no small praise, when it is
considered that they were q new corps. bod
never been drilled, had no uniform or camp
equipage and were compelled 10 act as infan-
try. Zeal supplied everything; according to
tho old Scottish proverb. "a gieg hand never
wants weapon
On Friday evening, we were marched back
10 quarters, and then, for the first time Tor
twenty Ave or six hours, we were once more
ali together Great was the rejoicing and
loud the ciamor, while every man recounted
his own experience during the day. Every
ono had q tale to tell, for every one had been
= sentinel on that eventful day. One had had
10 stop whole road.full Of carriages, horse
man. and footmen, and had earned curses, not
dam but loud, fer his pains. Another had
stoppet a man who had come all the way from
Kansas to see Old JOHN BROWN hung, ana
had sworn he meant to see him, though the
ysrv skies should fall between him and Old
JouN. A third complained of the abuse OF
some bitter tongued outsider, who felt no
gratitude for the prompt services OF the VOL
nnteers. and thought that the people OF
(3harlestown could get on much better with
out them. A fourth complained that he had
necn in q fair way to be shot, the night before,
by some sentinel belonging to another corps,
who threatened him for refusing to answer
his challenge, he being on his own post, and
was only prevented from doing so by hint
that he had seven shots and bayonet, which
might be awkward things to run against, II
he should happen to miss. Sleep that night,
after the severe duty we had undergone, was
deep and refreshing.
The next day was very gloomy. 1t rained,
or showed, or did something of the kind, all
DAY long. There was collapse after the ex-
element, relieved, however, shortly after
breakfast by the agreeable intelligence that
we were to return home the next morning.
This day, for the first time, we received our
red flannel shirts-a memorable event in the
history of the Howitzers. The Cadets had
them before, and we believe some other corps.
They are the very thing for duty, and. we
should think, the very thing for battle. There
10 nothing like a mans having his arms en-
tirely free. He can do five times the service
that he can when they are ''cribbed, cabined
and confined in uniform coat. Jack tar,
we believe, always pulls off his blue jacket
when he goes into action, and fights IN his
flannel shirt. For cavalry, especially, we
should think the free use of the sword arm
allowed by the flannel shirt, would be all I'M
portant. We have always been OF the opin-
ion that the cuirassiers at the battle of Wa
terloo would have fought much better in loose
Jackets The anecdote of the Prince Regent
RI RoRGE IV.) and the Irish guardsman, who
killed five men in that battle, is well known
The Regent had been solicited by some of
the military men of the day to put seye-
raj regiments of cavalry into cuirasses.--
He laid the matter before committee
Of officers, who differed SO widely that
be could come to no decision. AT last
he thought of examining this fellow, who
had proved himself such a formidable
,wordsman. PAT was at first so much abashed
It appearing in the presence of royalty that
ne merely assented to everything the Prince
Regent said, and there was no forming an
opinion from anything be said At last the
Prince touched the secret spring "If,'' said
be, ..you had to go through such another day
low would you like to be dressed p "May it
please your Royal Highness,' answered he,
lis eyes flashing fire as he spoke, "in that case
should like to be in my shirt sleeves That
s the idea. Flash uniforms are very pretty
hings very much admired by the ladies; but
red flannel shirt is far more effective style
Il dress, in our opinion, when work is to be
lone.
To return to our narrative. Having united
1 roll call in the evening, the corps resolved
tself into committee of the whole, Lieuten-
mt SHIELDS in the chair, and passed various
esolutions Of thanks, one to Quartermaster
BALDWIN, for the readiness zeal and prompti-
ude. with which he had discharged his duty
4 furnishing us with the good things of a |
oldier's life, which we will take occasion to |
az was we'll deserved one to the citizens of
and its vicinity, for their bound
ess hospitality to the soldiers one piece 10 |
ach of the officers, and several upon matters
md things in general The committee be-
ame, at last, so enthusiastic, that Lieutenant
SHIELDS thought it time to dissolve it, cutting
hort an abundance Of eloquence which per-
she'd prematurely in the bud. To sleep,
hen, all addressed themselves in the best way
hey could, though the excitement of the an
icipated return was too great to allow much |
u that game to be done. We were all stirring
With the lark, and although the train was not
Inc until three, we began to look out for it at
en- in The morning. In the meantime, soon
lfter breakfast, we were all marched down to
he railroad, and under the direction of Ser
Ieant OTKY. discharged our guns, one after
mother, into hill on the opposite eide Of 1t.
they were powerful guns, to be snre. We
nave no doubt they would have played
havoc with the abolitionists, judging from
he effect they had on our own men,
Two grains Of powder more to the cart
ridge, and there would not have been
1o1en teeth. left in the Howitzer corps
rhey kicked like Sc, many imprisoned KAN
Earoos. They were rnighty guns, as our head
:an testify, for il ached for a week, and our
hars to boot, for they rang as il our brain had
BEEN nothing Eore than = conglomeration OF
Aalt II a.. <.,~ fAae