The Shasta courier., 1865-01-14
rhe sambre Marengo. and Cedar Creek.

| t"S"cSi teiitiiS US DOW on the lJth he, OF
as ne modestly says. " the gallantry of his o.
| ncers apd men," wrung victory from defeat.
W. were reminded of the great battle mt the
Simbre. in which Caesar, hy his personal
p essence. turned back the con1uernr Ner
ians and overwhelmed them with his lecions
who had just been fleeing in alarm, and W..
alsn instinctively turned cur thoughts to thu
| held Marengo, where Napoleon hurled Desaix
on the lines of the victori rus Austrans and
gathered his beaten troops up in the rear and
led them on TO complete victory. which they
had utterly despaired Of winning.
| Gesar has, in his Commentaries, told us
| 'nVhis inimiable style, of his great achieve.
| mas. The Nervians. one Of the bravest o!
the Belgian tribes. had concealed their forces
IN a thicket on a hill. between which and the
Roman camp the Sambre fnwed While hi,
s'id!ers were enfrenchng. few Of his caval-
| ry crossed the stream. The Nervians broke
from their cover. charged across the stream.
and before his troops could be formed before
his stroops could be formed. before even they
could he warned of the danger. the enemy
was upon them The famous cavalry of Ire
yes lied, panic-strieken. announcing that !
was lost. The foot soldiers, without waiting
each to find his legion, joined whatever de
tachment he fell in with. But all effort
seemed fruitless. The Sth, 9th. llth and
l2th Legions, even the renowned 10Th Legion.
tried IN vain to stay the foe. Caesar saw
that the time for a last trial bad come The
enemy was pressing in front ard on the flank
The best Centurians were killed. At least
one standard was gone.
he Nervians had almast raerhed the bag
gage. There was no reserve. Whereupon, >"
says the Commentaries, Caesar, snatchins
buckler from ;lsoldier who stood in the rear
of the legiun, for he himself bad come with
out one. and pressing to the front Of the hat
tie. called the centurrans by name, encour-
aged the rest, and commanded the soldiers
to advance the ensigns and widen their ranks,
that they might he the more at liberty to use
their swords. His arrival inspiring the men
with hope and revivng their courage. as
every one was ambitious of distin neuisbinp
himself in the presence of his General. and
even in his greatest extremity redoubled his
efforts, the progress of the enemy was a little
checked" That was the turning point.
The legions charged again. the fugitive cav
airy returned to their work, even the servants
became inspired with courage and rushed to
the attack and the Ner- ians were utterly
overthrown. The victory was Justly consd.
cred as one of the most brilliant ever won by
the great Roman leader How exactly
g. ''mutatis mutandis," having regard to the
change of circumstances. do the words which
we have quoted from Caesar describe the
work of the fiery Sheridan on the 10Th of Oc-
tober. 1t would not have been an exacser-
alton for either commander to say, Il won
the victory" But it should be remarked
that Cesar was with his army when it was
surprised, and is. Justly criticised for allowing
to ho rbt
the opportune arrival of Lab,enus, with two
fresh legions during the fight was ofthe great
est service to him. Sheridan was not with
his army when it was attacked He would
probably not have been surprised. He had
no reinforcements at all, but won his splen.
did victory with the very same troops which
had been driven miles by the enemy, with
heavy loss.
At merengo, our readers remember, Ma
pneon' first line, commanded by Victor and
Gardame, was broken, the left of the second
line, commanded by Lannes, was uncovered
and forced to retreat. Napolenns left wing
was in fact completely put TO flight and his
center thrown into disorder His right wing
alone held its ground at all. Dessaix, who
arrived on the field just in time met the fus
itives from Victor's division, saw Napoleon
directing the retreat of his left and center.
and cried out in anguish, g The battle is
lost! | can do no more than secure your
retreat ~ But Napoleon, with his Quick
eye. saw before him the auguries of success,
aud ordered Desaix to push forward on the
right. telling him that lie himself would rally
the disordered troops on the center and left
to support him in the rear Desaix galloped
tr the front to meet The fatal bali that laid
him low. But his troops and Kellerman's
dashed on. Kellerman broke through the
Austrian lines and captured six battalIions,
with the Austrian commander. in chief Zach.
Napoleon gallopei along his line. ordering
his soldiers to advance. The men who had
heen fleeing to the rear. now FASTENED against
the foe, and bore down everything before
them. So was seeming defeat turned into
victory. just about the same number of
troops were engaged in this battle ~ Tough
at Cedar Creek on the l9tt. But Sherdan's
personal influence and success we're in our
Judgment even more marked than that of Ma
pueon on the famous field of Marengo
We think that tho historical scholar will
recall few. if any battles in which comman
der has so brilliantly and strikingly convert
ell disaster into success. as did our gallant
and gifted Sheridan at Ceiar Greek Louis
XIV said. haughtily, J. etdt G est moi"
Il am the state" Sheridan might have
said on the night of the 10Th. without boast
ing. /" am the army. .".-Poeideace Jour
nal.
T. :. knd nj