The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1863-02-17
An Army on skates.

During the famous expedition Of Louis
XIV, this art Of locomotion was used
against the Dutch themselves in one of
the most curious and daring exploits re-
corded in history. When the states sued
for peace, the terms offered by the pride
Of Louis were so monstrous, that the peo-
pie tore open their sluices, and laid the
country under water. The frost after a
time, however, rendered even this una
yailinr and at length General Luxem
bourg, one dark and freezing night,
mounted twelve thousand men on skates,
and sent them over the ice from Utrecht
to surprise the Hague. The result is
given as follows by writer who takes
his facts from a French historian
"When they left Utrecht it was clear,
frosty weather, and the effect of the
moon and stars upon the even sheet OF
ice, over which they swept like breeze,
was truly magical. By degrees, as they
advanced, the visible horizon of earth
was obscured by vapor, and they could
see nothing around, above or beneath
them, but a circular expense of ice,
bounded at the edge by thick gray
clouds, and canopied by the starry cur
a5Ba lib Ar skkn As ftgsnGa had a 4s
something inexpressibly terrific TO the
Imagination aud as il did ftfully away
in The distance, the space surrounding
them seemed extended almost TO infnitv.
The sky at length was gradually cover
ed 10y the vapo's rising, as if from the
edges Of the circle Of earth aveil fdull
and hazy white overspread the heavens
and obscured he stars and dim round
spot of watery brightness was the only
indication of the site Of the moon, by
which alone they could now steer their
course. A rapid thaw had come on !;
their skates suak deeper and deeper into
The ice at every sweep, and at last, the
water gathering upon the surface, as ii
was agitated by the night-win that had
now risen, assumed the appearance of a
sea. The wind increased !; the Sky grew
blacker and blacker their footing be
came more spongy and insecure they
plunged almost TO the knee and the ice
rroaned and cracked beneath them.
Every one looked upon himself as lost /;
and the horrors Of fate hitherto untold
in story, and appearing to belong neither
to the fortunes of the land nor of the sea,
appalled, the boldest imagination.
At length faint, twinkling light ap
peared in the distance, sometimes seen
and sometimes lost in the varying at
mosphere and they had the satisfaction,
such as it was, of at least knowing tie
relative bearings Of the place on which
they were about to perish. The light
proceeded from a strong fort in the enc
my's hands, impregrable without can
non aud what added bitterness to their
misery, was the knowledge that beyond
this fort was a dixie, which in all proba-
bility afforded a path, however narrow
and muddy, by which they could have
returned to Utrecht The fort. however,
was the gate to this avenue Of safety !;
and even If they had possessed The re-
quisite means of siege, il it was defended
for single day, they would either be
swallowed up by the water, in the con
tinuance of the thaw, or perish misera
bly, through cold and fatigue. But any
thing was better than inac,ion. The
water creeping insidiously around them
was deadlier enemy than stone walls or
cannon shot; and they determined at
least to make a rush upon the immovable
masonry of the fort, and provoke the fire
Of its defenders. II is impossible 10 ac-
count for the result Ii may have been
that the sight of SO large body Of men
rushing in upon them, and as if from the
open sea, their numbers multiplied, and
even their individual forms distorted and
magnfed in the mist, struck panic
terror into tn, hearts of the garrison !;
while this may have been increased by
the shouts Of courage or despair, boom.
ing widely over the icy waste, and ming
ling like the voices of demons with the
rising wind. But however this was. the
gates Of the fort opened at their approach,
and the hapless and half-frozen adven.
turers rushed in without striking a
blow
DRY TIMES IN D;xIE.-Rebel journals
state that nothing has advanced so much