The Morgantown monitor. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1863-1864, 1863-06-20

scinllter Chttlng us SllIIeiluS va
in the air2 Those men can hoid
their shouts 40 longer. RendlDg the
air with cries-hark The whole
army echo them-they strike their
spurs, and worried into madness, the
horses whirl 90, and thunder away
to the deadly ravine.
The old man, Tylor, said after the
battle, that he never felt his heart
heat as it did then.
For it was glorious sight to see
that young man, May, at the head
Of his squadron, dashiug across the
ravine, four yards in advance OF his
foremost man, while long and dark
behind him was stretched the solid
liSe Of warriors and their heEy
steeds. !.
Through the windows cfthe clouds
some CLEANS Of sunlight tall-they
light the golden tassel OF the cap,
they glitter on the upraised sword,
they illuminate the dark horse and
his rider with their warm glow, they
reveal the battery, you see it above
the farther bank the ravlne, trown-
ing death from the muzzle.
Nearer and nearer, up and on J.
Never heed tbs death before you, al
though it is certain. Never mind
the ieap though it is terrible. But
mp tue bank and over the cannon
hurrah . At this dread moment, Just
as his horse rises for the charge, May
turns and sees the sword of the brave
lnge On his right, turns again and
reads his own soul written in the fire
of Sackett's eye.
To his men once more he turns,
his hair floating back behind him, he
points to the cannon on the steep
bank and the certain death, and as
though inviting them, one and all to
his Bridal Feast, he says
&" Come !"
They did come. It would have
made your blood dance to see it. AS
one man, they whirled up the bank,
following Mays words rs they would
a banner, and striking madly home
as they heard through the roar OF
the battle they heard 1.-THE word
OF frenzy Comet
As one mass Of barcu chests, leap,
ing horses, and dazzling scimitars.
they charged upon the bank the
cannon S fire rushed into their faces.
Inge, even as bis shout rang on the
air. was laid a mangled thing be-
meath his stced, his throat torn open
BY cannon shot. Sackett was bur
led beneath his horse, and seven dr$.'
goons fell at the battery's muzzle,
their blood and brains whirling into
their comrades eyes.
Still May is yonder, above the
cloud, his horse rising over heaps ei
dead, RS with his sabre crcling round
his flowing heir, he cuts his way
through the living wall and says
"COmeI
All around him, friend and foe,
their swords locked together-yondel
the blaze Of Inuskctry. showering the
iron hail upon his band-beneatl
his horses feet the deadly cannon
an,; sastIy aar"r, still that young
soldier riots on, ior Taylor las said
Silence that battery, and he will
do it.
The Mexicans are driven from
their guns; their cannon are sllenc
ed. and May s heroic band, scattering
among the mazes Of the chapparal
are entangIed in a wall Of bayonets
Once more the combat deepeus, and
dyes the sol in blood. HedSed in
by that wall Of steel, May gather:
eight Of his men, and hews his way
hack towards the captured battery
As his charger rears, his sword cir
cles above his head, and sinks, blow
after blow, into Tire loemen 5 thr0ats.
To the left a shout is heard the
americans, led on by Pleasanton and
Graham and Winship, have sllenced
the battery there, while the whoIi
fury Of the Mexican army seems con-
centrated to crush May and his band
rs be went through their locked
ranks, so comes he back. Every
where his men know him by his hair
waving in dark masses, his golden
tinselled cap, his sword-they know
it too, and where it falls, hear the
gurgling sound of mortal agony.
Back to the captured cannon he
cuts his way, and on the brink of the
ravine hchoIds a sight that fires hi;
blood.
4 solitary Mexican stands there
reaching forth his arm, in all the
frenzy Of brave mans despair: he
entreets his countrymen to turn tt
its fec. They shrink back appalled,
before that dark horse and its rider.
MAY. The Mexican. gallant young
man, whose features can scarcely bt
distinguished for the blood which
covers them, while his rent uniform
bears testimony to his deeds, in thai
days carnage, clenches his hands as
he filings his curse in the face Of hi
flying countryneD, and then, with
lighted match in hand, springs tc
the cannon.
III -, Go 1.;1l eontta-