Spirit of the age., 1861-05-15

Ringgold, R;dgeley, 1ragg, Washington,
Skeptoe and Magruder The heavy ordnance
was under the control ofHuger of South Car
DINA, and Laidley of Virginia. The Battery
of Mountain Howitzers tas directed by Reno,
of Virginia. The Dashhg charge of Cavalry
at Resaca de la PalmaI which has world
wide reputation, was m4de by May, of Wash
ington City A far moEe brilliant affair was
witnessed by ten thoushd American soldiers
drawn up in battle arraE on the beach at Vera
Cruz, and by English, French, and Spanish
vessels of war in the hakbor. A little steam
er, armed with two heavy pieces of ordnance
and manned by some 20 sailors, pushed up
under the very walls OF Vera Cruz with its
400 pieces Of artillery and within easy range
of the formidable Castle of San Juan D'Ulloa,
and from that position bombfded the city
for half an hour. Projectiles|of enormous
weight and size fell thicS hs hail-stones
around the little vessel aA one Of which
must have sunk 6Sr erest of the
spec rtaters.w;as pahflA ks..Abut
the very insignihcance of tie sssa6ass pl>evcd
an efficient protection she wasstoo small a
mark to be hit, and as she camd back bear
ing her gallant crew, all dressediE their red
jackets, the very earth shook with the cheers
of the ten thousand exulting voices on the
beach. The officer in command was Tattnall,
of Georgia, the same, who at bhe risk of his
commission and his life, inter- losed last year
and rescued the defeated British at the Peiho
Forts in China During the siege of Fort
Brown, the pulley of the flag gt deranged so
that it could not be raised. An nofficer climbed
the staff and in the midst of 4 terrible tenn
pest of shot and shell calmly ard deliberately
arranged the halyard, righted the pulley and
hoisted the flag The exploit of Jasper at
Fort Moultrie was as nothingin comparison
with this daring deed. That officer was
Hanson, of Maryland.
Years before the siege of Fort Brown Gen.
Worth had pronounced him the bravest man
In the army. lie was gentle and modest as
a girl, kind and courteous to all, devoted
and enthusiastic Christian, gentleman in
| the highest aceeptation of the word. Just
after the battle of Contreras, rude litter
with dead officer omit was borne by. "Ser-
geant, what officer is that p capt. Han
son, of the 7th Infantry, sir The soldier
had fallen on the field of honor. Santa An
ma made the fatal mistake at Cero Gorgo of
leaving Telegraph Hill unfortifed. Gen.
Scott discovered it and sent up Young off,
Ger with seventy men to seize it. An i'm
mense force of Mexicans came to dislodge
him. He threw his men behind rocks and
trees and sent for succor. The Rifle Regi-
ment came, found themselves hotly pressed,
and would have been driven back but for the
timely arrival Of the End Infantry. During
all this time the gallant Lieutenant held his
] position and had he lost it, the battle of Cerro
! Gordo never would have been won. That
! intrepid young man was Gardner, of Wash
os~tnes q sitvsg 7gsssssrf aissc
| But the South has noS-merely evinced its
military spirit on the field of battle. This
has been shown also, IN the studio OF the
scholar. The books on Infantry Tactics we
use, were prepared by Scott, of Virginia,
and Hardee, of Georgia. The manual OF
Artillery Tactics in uso- is by Anderson, OF
Kentucky. The only works in this country
on the Science of Artillery, written in the
English language are by klngsbury ana
LGibbon of North Carolina The only books
ever produced in America on the subject OF
Military Engineering are by Mahan, OF Viz
oinia The polished experiments of Morde-
cal, of South Carolina, give us almost all the
information we have inregard to the strength
of gun-powder and of canon, and OF the
proper tests for their trial. These gentlemen
are all graduates of West Point and are OF
: fees in the Army, but the South claims then
: as her own.
But if weleave particular cases and lndlvld
uals and take a general glance at our history
l. we will find the same performance OF ooutI
d ern courage. | do not wish to dlsparage II
,r North, So long as the names OF Warrel
a Greene, Putnam, Ethan Allen, and thou
= sand others shall live in our grateful recolle
v tions it will be impossible to impugn IL
Il heroism of the North. All that claim
IS that we are more military people than OF
At. vnriC
" will prove it from the records of the past
e, On the 28th June, 177G, nine vessels OF "
q. carving 26G cannon attacked half-hnlsh
We fort of palmetto logs and mounting but tn
nd ty-one cannon. From eleven in the mornll
n till nine at night the rude structure was
hn sailed by shot and SHE'LL and trembled
he over at every broad-side from the great shil
on Gen. Chas. Lee, had advised the aband
an ment of the fort and expected to see ltssf
hv tered to pieces in few minutes he e.
hy lad predicted that MoultrieMand his ~, M
is band of four hundred Carolinlans, r @'.' ~
m. tai ke to the sand-hills like frightened 90 -
ar the first discharge of the heavy gnbt gnrbt al
gh fleet ...,.,;1l,-- l,--.ern little ks--a&x6 snk>al
! ! da7 long under the swervsr1nS summer sun
the only protection from its scorching ray
being the sulphurous cloud which arose from
their guns. The same dark canopy hun:
) over the sea, relieved every few moments BY
: long flash of light and then the fort reele'
. and staggered as though struck by some in
le visible giant. The flag was shot down, bu
"a it was replaced by the intrepid Jasper Tn
Ia powder gave out and for two hours an oe
q casional reply was all that could be made tt
ons the awful tempest of balls from the mouth
Pdnd If 266 cannon. A fresh supply of powde
IN was brought, and the Commanders vesse
III VAS dismasted and twice set on FIRE. Tn
Is british at length withdrew with the loss {
W. IeQe hundred and seventy-one killed and tw
lce ehdred and sixty wounded; among the fol
nav " was Lord Campbell, the Colonial Coy
LOT ter, and among the latter Sir Peter Parke
e IS o@iral of the fleet The American los
5 Is ~ Ssut ten killed and twenty-five wounded
MIL " same day Col Thompson, with seve
mas I'D Carolina Rifles, drove off seven Re
mes mes cftns ftnnsander Sir Henry Clinton and Lor
of'h o,a, a,tts%s, which were attempting to cro
MES from 7 Ae Eastern port of Sullvan's lslar
'sil- tbot v;9qs Island. COL Grant had boastt
-efs enon, a.A ana live Regiments he. could marc
eciai horn ro' s end of America 6 the other, b
ooln and thai seven Regiments beaten by o.
arr an '''u'A' one never before under fire.
TaEs ont.nca ~ psessible ds to overestimate the ii
i Of pu tnas the frat he battle of Fort Moultrie
next a"enca was q. Victory of the war, and its
A. o,ts iluence was lett thoughout the whole Rev
Ga.n Toa iutonary 81 struggle. a victory over Britt
low BILE, but the defeat & Was very adr renaar
neral seemed almost a - brush squaui