Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1865-04-08
DAILY LEADER.
THE NAN AND FaE MONKEY.
When 1 was at the siege of Gibraltar
@ aar old fallnNr y

n heaf, near. When 1 was ct the siege
.. Gibraltar, my post was for some time in Il
. Queens Battery, which Immediately from
. ed the besiegers' works It was my speC
y ial duty to acquire as accurate knowledg
. Of these works their armament, position
defenses, and progress, as It was possibl
!, to obtain by constant observation and
a' very middIing spy-glsss, willie envelope
! in dust and smoke, choked with sulphur
, and exposed to incesssnt compliments c
: shot and shell. The knowledge thus Oh
I tanned had the honor of imparting to on
gallant Lieutenant Governor, Gen. Boyd
l when he came out to the front from tim
to time. This circumstance procured fo
me the glorious distinction of going out q
? guide when we made sortie by night fo
the purpose of surprising the enemy
) works, burning and destroying them.
am not going TO describe the sortie
you will hnd sll about it in Drinkwater
/ Let me only say that it proved real sur
prise TO the enemy; their works were ru
med, theirguns spiked, and their approach,
es IN 3 corresponding degree retarded
: which was just what we wanted.
The affair was nearly over, the gabionE
along the whole front were in blaze; but
though outnumbered at our point Of attack
the enemy fought stoutly, and good deal
OF savage skirmishing was still going on.
1 was in the thick of regular melee, hard
knocks at close quarters, when my atten-
tion was arrested by diminutive French.
man, an officer in splendid uniform, who
was doing chivalrous deeds, as if he fancied
his OWE arm might yet restore the lost
combat He was mere pigmy; and his
1 TSln hdd
that they were bent upon effecting an OBJ
ject to which his Own valor was the only
obstscle-that Of taking him alive.
FlOurishing his sword, he skipped about
facing every point of the compass in sue
cessijn, and thrusting, with loud cries of
defiance, at every one that approached him.
Don't kill him" the men cried. HTake
him alive; don't hurt the little chap;"
though the little chap had already dis
sbled sergeant and private who had
Yentured too near him. I Ishouted, taking
off my hat and entresting him fer his own
sake TO surrender; it was clear, indeed,
that he had no chance left but either tc be
taken prisoner or to bite the dust. Here
turned my salute, but still maintained the
| defensive, spinning round and round, and
| lunging at the horizon.
As We had done our work, and it was
high time to get back TO our lines lest the
enemy should attack US in force, I began to
fear it would be out of my power to save
the little Frenchmsn's life. Our men, too,
were beginning to loose patience, and
showed 3 disposition to close upon him
with fixed bayonets; in which case, though
he might very possibly have set his mark
upon one or two more of them, the conse-
quences to himself might have been far
from agreeable. At that moment, and
just as l was thinking, as last effort, of
trying Whst l could do by approaching
him in person, he seemed TO awake sud
denly TO consciousness of his own peril,
rushed towards me, threw down his sword,
clspped his hands, uttered q piercing
Shrek, and dropped on his knees st my
feet.
He Wss my prisoner-s very grand cap
ture to be sure. In an instant be became |
calm, gentlemsnly, snd gsrrulous. Walk
ing with me side by side as our party |
withdrew, he was kind enough to COM |
mence perpetual stream # talk, which |
lasted all the way, and in which he found |
time to tell me who he was and eli about |
his oyn family and history; how he had |
fought in many. battles, and always came |
off with more glory than all the rest of |
the combatants together; not forgetting |
to mention how much sooner Gibral- |
tar would have fsllen-it was sure to fall |
st lsst-had only his suggestions been sp-
preCiated as they deserved. He begged to |
assure me that he was 8 person of great /
importance. He bore as he was pleased to
state, the mama of hontmaur; and his nom
de qBerTe, by an inversion of the syllsbles,
was Mormon. He was Of noble birth and |
tlrI ed of thirty; buthis distinguished talents
and requirements in the art Of war, known
throughout Europe and universally recog-
nized in the French service, had SO excited
the envy of his military superiors that
they had succeeded, by Jfnesss, in prevent
ing his rising TO higher grade than
that Of Lieutenant in 8 regiment of the
line.
The next dsy, when NJ. de Montmaur
Ess presented before the Governor, His
Excellenoy seemed little nonplussed. To
shut up diminUtive object like that in
durancs would have looked absurd; one
would as soon have thought Of imPrisoning
3 tom-tit, Formally to parole him would
have been formslity in matter Of no i'm
better let alone. The
result was that, having far Teightier busi
ness to aisend to, His Excellency let tie
matter stand oysr, and ended by doing
nothing; so that II. de AOltmaur remained
q prisoner at large. He rather attached
himself to me, as his first English scquain,
lance, and, 30 far SIS garrison regulations
permitted, used to follow me about every
where The consequence was that my
brother offers were accustomed to speak Of
him as nay 'little dog Mormon"
SAmong the officers he soon became pop
uiar. 1 had given due publicity to his
gallantry when captured, and that vss
quite sufficient to place him on good foot
ing with military men. Besides this, he
was good-nstUrsd, clever and always lively;
could Ake joke and repay It with interest.
AS q musician, both vocal and instrumental,
he was decidedly above par; when casual
ties we're brought in from the batteries, he
was handy in assisting the surgeons and
in fencing, dancing and cookery we soon
found cut that he equalled the most
highly educated Of his own accomplished
The consequence was that
NJ. de MontmRur was Welcome guest at
every mess and whenever Gl Rdyentur-
Gus sortie brought US food or vegetables, OF
fish, or fresh meat, he was specially invited
TO share the feast.
Ifhe sometimes talked big, either about
bis proves, his military sttainments, his
adventures, his hairbrsadth
escapes, his varied accomplishments, or his
conquest. among the fair, this
only added to our. amusement; his vanity
was so open-hearted that We liked him all
the better. His more extrsvsgsnt sslies
were generally received with cheers, shouts
of laughter, and much humping on the
table, all Of which he took TO his own cred
it. probably unconscious that the said
humping was grim reginental pun,
and conventionally signifying
'Thsts a thumperp When he had sue
caedad In aliciiinp q unnifarnns damon strs- |