The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1862-03-20

jolly for time.your. de6utr smiled compla
Gently, and with soldier-like air, As brush
ed the sleeve Of my coat. which q bulle,
striking Some thirty PAGES of, had covcre'
with dust. It seemed as if the Russian
perceived the small effect of. their fire, 70
they Iow began to..send .sholls instead o
bullets, as being .npre likely to tell upon us il
our sheltered situation. Presently one burs
with terrific explosion, killing man clos
BY me, and knocking off my hat; Il wa
safe for to day. was not ignorant of tn,
military superstition which holds that no,
pis IN idtm is as good an axiom for the bat
tlerfield as for court of justice, and pu
on my hat with defiant air, saying as gaily
as could, This is rather an unceremoniou.
way Of making man salute which forlorr
Joke seemed excellent considering the cir
cumstances. I congratulate you,' again ex
claimed the captain; you will not get a
scratch, and you will command company
this evening, fov I shall get my discharge
to-day. Every time have been wounded,
the ofices next in command has been struck
by spent ball and, added he in lower
tone as ifashamed Of his su2erstitious feAl.
ings, their names always began with P.""--
| felt encouraged; most mcn would have
been, as | was struck with these prophetic
words. Novice AS was, felt that could
unbosom myself to no one, and that it was
incumbant upon me to appear always coolly
intrepid. !.
"In half an hour the fire of the enemy
sensibly decreased, and we left our shelter
to attack the redoubt Our regiment
consisted of three battalions. The second
had orders to charge upon the rcdoubt from
the valley side, the other two wers to make
the first attack. i vas in the thl I'd battal-
ion. AS we emerged from behind the natu-
raj rampant that had protected us We were
greeted with several discharges ofmusketry
which, however. dbl bnt little mischief in
our ranks. The whistling of the balls sur
fprised me; could not help turHlng my
head, and thus 60. laughed at,by' my co.npan
ions, who had become more familiar with
the sound. On the whole, said L I'd n1yssIf,
"a battle is not 50 very TERRIBLE after all.L-
We advanced quickly, preceded by the ar
tillery. Suddenly the Russians gave three
shouts, and then were silent then ceased
firing. Il don't like that silence said my
captain IT. bode no good Thought our
troops were somewhat too noisy, and could
not help comparing their tumultuous shouts
with the imposing stiffness of the enemy.
"We soon reached the foot Of the redoubt;
the palisades had been broken, and the earth
plowed up by our fire. The soldiers rushed
in over these ruins with cries Of ''cipe rem.
pereur," louder than could be expected
from men who had already shouted 80 much
I raised my eyes, and shall never forget the
spectacle which met them. The smoke had
risen, and hung like canopy. twenty feet
above the redOnbt Through the blue vapor,
saw behind the battered parsprt the Rus
sian grenadiers, with pieces raised. motion.
less as statues. | can still see those men,
each with his left eye fastened upon US, the
other concealed by his muskct In an en-
brasurc few feet distant, stood man close
by cannon and holding fire. brand. I
shuddered, for thought my last hour had
come. THE ball ia going to beginF cried
my captain; good nightr They were the
lost words heard him utter. The druns
beat in the redoubt saw the muskets low
cred; shut my eyes, and heard a horrible
crash, followed by cries and groans. open
cd my eyes astonished to find myself alive ;
the redoubt was again enveloped in smoke,
and I was surrounded by the dead and
wounded. My captain lay at my feet; he
had been struck in the head by shot, and
I was covered with his brains and blood
OF all my company there remained but six
men besides myself. se
"a moment Of stupor suoceedea this
slaughter. The colonel, waving his chapeau
on the point of his sword, was the first 10
scale the parapet, shouting Hire IEmper.
euri" and was followed by all the surviving
soldiers. l have scarcely clear recollec.
ton of what ems ned. We entered the re-
doubt, know not how, and fought hand Il
hand in smoke so thick that we could no,
see each other. I must have struck some
one, for found my sabre all bloody. Al
last heard the shout Of victory, and th'
smoke clearing, saw the heaps of deat
bodies and the pools of blood which covered
the ground. The cannons. too, were almos
hidden by the corpses of those who had fal
len. About two hundred men in Frencl
uniform were standing in disorder, SOM
loading their muskets, others wiping thei
bayonets, and with them were eleven Rus
sian prisoners. - ois t
"The colonel had thro@q himself, pale an
bleeding, on broken caisson, near the en-
trance. The soldiers pressed around him
Il approached also. where is the senio
captainy he asked Of q ssrgea5i. The ser
geant shrugged his shoulder significantly
'And the senior lieutenant?' This gentle
man, who arrived yesterday answered th
sergeant with perfect coolness. The colon'
smiled bitterly. Come. SIR said he to mi
you are commander in chief; see that th
entrance to the redoubt is promptly fortifie
with these wagons, for the enemy is in fore
however General c.. will relieve us shortly