Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1859-06-09

for the most part, 50 unchanged that those nc.
ouaiuted wild, them would easily have reeo-ni-cd
their friends and relatives Still the distortins i'm
prcss of the death agony. rested on almost every
ace.-the icy breath Of winter had forbidden the
features to mould themselves into that quiet friend
ly sraile which fingers on the countenance the
last trace of the released spirit, when its final srug
gle is over This was not the case here 1t look
ed as If the grim touch Of winter had stirncd tie
animated form, and stamped its hard, ruthless seal
unon IL earlier than death had impressed his
There was therefore to be seen no calm brow, no
gently smiling lips, which might testify Of happy
devcrince from the miseries Of earth; the faces Of
all were fixed and rigid in deeply chiseled folds
creases, produced by anguish, despair, wrath and
pain--as if the billows Of the ocean had on a sud
den become congcaIcd and transformed into stone.
Ney, with all his great self-command, could not
bat feel in his own breast that this mute wandering
through the dreary domains of death was anything
but calculated to enkndle fresh courage for in the
unccremolious dormisory of the departed every
one bcheld, as it were, in prophetic mirror, his
own coming fate. These warriors. covered with
the cicatrices of hundred wounds, had seen death
in many appalling forms, and didnotgrcet him like
| noyiccs But the fallen ones had hitherto reposcd
on the field of ,ictory-the laurel had cntwined
their brow-to fall was to triumph! But here
what destiny were we, the survivors, TO achieve but
renewed suifcrings and conaictsl And what was
the 10, of the dead left behind on hostile soilwhom
no friendly hand would provide with burial--whosc
graves no monument would alorn-whose bodies
were the destined proy of the uncean bird Of this
dreary Cline and the hungry wolves OF these awful
deserts. As the army novel rapidly onward, We
reached deep gully. into which the road descerded
rise equally abrupt into the broad table lands of
Katowa. re saif1 .ir e.a @
! "D,s, thou recognize the country about here7'
inquired I.arush OF me-
/ looked around for few minutes, aud then an
swered: "Unless am deceived by the snow, |
think this is the place where, three months ago, We
beat Nowerowsky, and then with the captured guns.
fired s,lute in honor of the Empcror's birthday
You are right said he. "you have good mil
itarv eye What do you think shall We fire salute
i fora victory to'ly also''
Twas on the point Of replying. when the report
of dull, but not distan. icldpicce broke the pro-
found stiffness around. The signal of the enemy's
proxinits sped through every heart like an electric
shock. The practiced ears Of all of us enabled US
at once to estimate the distance from which the gun
WAS fired, and eyes wcre turned in the direction
from waence il Was heard The keenest anxiety
was lesible ON every countenancc, to learn whcth-
er the siot would be repeltcJ-whether it was the
commencement ofaa engagement, or merely Tor =
signal, or peradventure. accidental. The Marshal
ordered halt. He hesitatc. to lead his people
Just at this Dment down into the hollow, as il
quircd the greatest effort of the exhausted powers
| of both men and horses to climb the ice covered
! height on the other side. Msrshal Ncy ordered
fColoncl Larush to advance wfsh his feeble troop
and to roconnoisre on the heights Of Kotowa wheth
er the, enemy were in the vicinity; the rest of the
army in the meantime went into camp, in order ia
gather strength to meet any emergency. We soor
reached the level heights of Katowa, but in vair
our eyes sought for the enemy. We could discov'
er nothing but the monotonous and ever extended
lines of the dark forests offrs, which stretched a
long the horizon in intcrminable distance. drear!
silence reigncd everywhere. For halfan hour ",
cautiously rode along the great road I.arush divi
ded his men and ordered Bisker. With the one half
to reconnoitre to the right to the distance ola can
non shot, whilst lie would examine the left himself
In our ride we c,mc nearer the verge Of the forest
where we saw tracks of hoofs in the snow, which
be .ame more numerous as we advanced. This con
+ vinced I.srush that the enemy must be in the vi
cinity, for Of the tracks were quite fresh; he
fixed his searching glance on .he skirts Of the for
est which seemed to hide the real danger. Ere
quenty We would come to halt so AZ to listen; bu
everything silent and still. Suddenly flock
ofcrows appeared over the woods aud iiew, hoarsel.
cawing, across the road.
'.'iiese birds have been scared away" said La
rush to me; "there are people in those woods"
"a fact, Colonel.'' said l, STOPPING down an6
trying to penetrate with my eyes between the trunks
Of the trees; Indeed there are men marching"
We were just then at point which admitted {
view into the interior of the forest, and Larusl
: stopped to the saddle bow and followed with hi
eyes the direction | pointed. We both saw blacl
column dcfIing across the opening in the woods
as il m ,rchns ona wide road through the heart o
: the forest.
We quickly dismounted, Larush ordering th'
rest of his men to ride on, that they might not b.
seen through the aperture in the forest, tlres
ourselves on the snow, to observe the movement
/ Of the cncmy 1t took the column. which was in
f,ntry. some time to m rch by; but. could not
overlook the hollow, it was impossible to estimate
their numbers. Now, however, followed artillery
and VIC could distinctly count the guns. Havin;
counted up to thirty, we satisfied that thcs
troops in strength by Ear overm nched those unde
Marshal Ney's comm md. We sprang again int
orr saddles. and made all speed to report what W
h I'd seen. Bsker had already rejoincd the corp
without having .iscovcrcd trace ofthe enemy. Tn
; men had, in the meantime, as some low FRS were
! close by, cut them down and kindled fire, tht
MARSHAL had the N to warm and refresh themselve
as much possible for the moment. that they nigh
be in condition successfully to repel mn attack
Colonel Larush's report at once showed the Mar
shall the desperate situation in which wcr
placed. e.si 81 1fsf lilf ,ass' 81 er 81.
"The Russians undoubtedly occupy the wood
on the heights Of Katowa," said Ney, "and onl
wait for our appearance to attack us from ever
quarter and then cut on retreat by fortifying tn
: ravinc before us- We must open path for our