Maryland free press., 1866-10-11
The Fret GrenadieE ,of France .

and the roH ixss called, ethepe wis ono maine 10
which its owner could not answer-it was that
tofi Four d'Auvergne. g ti"'l ''"!" t'1'l ~
When At was called, the oldest ,ssrgeant pres
ant stepped pace forward land raising his cap
said proud y--l[ IsiJ7' G!ni q'9a o." '9ii' u
1Died On the feld, of honpr.,. sir9 afasyi.
For fourteen years this custom was continued,
and only ceased when the. restored Bohrbons, to
please their foreign masters, forbade, everything
fhst cticLlated to preserve the spirits of the
soldiers DfFmnceiw :sEH.VD bhn N7e'N Sh'
tn. honor III hiS se4 'sSsds' ss aeasn HE Hs
was educated fofsthe srhy, entered ilsl 767, and
in l7Sl served under the Raks,da Grill ll6na q, the
seigeN Fort Mahon. He servei Away, wi til
distinctions hat constantly refused oiers of pro-
motion, saying that be was oply ft for the com,
nand OF a-cohipahy of gretiadiers; but, finally,
the; ysri9us greuRdier companies being anted, hi
dound himself ia command IF a body, sf eight
thousafid men, while retaining only the rank Of
CaptsiJ,ls -. :fyUui 81 ikii1 noiI. } 81! 3nir
Hence ssa he was kpeown as1he frat grepadier Of
Bsti itis Of one insrtieular exploit Of his tliat'
we wish to writ' Jno Jnnore than Of his career
When. he ,was forty years osage, he wentjon i,
visit 70 friend, not FIR from asection Of conn
try that' wis boon 10 become The scene Of cam
paignyj While there he was hrss.in aequihlihe'
himself with the'fesgres of the country; think
ing u nst unlikely That this Knowledge might be
of use Y hinS apA while here tte brave; IsrenaL
S.f ~s' rp spsp' s hfn 'at' hs
that rssgimsnt Of Ausirisns was pushing On 10.
occupy narrow pass about ten miles froIu where
he was stsy ing, and the POSSESSION Of which
would give them an opportuuitysts prevent the
'FTench which was then Oh foot They hoped to
surprl,e tils poit,l fas were 'plpsjag sqraspidly
on II That they were not more, than two hours
Al, 4
and which they Konld have to pass ina their
march. II matters NOT how he heard the,news
IL is sufhcientto Sty that he determined to act
upon it. -; -.st ,.u.it,.t o'iA
He'hAd no dsa 81 being captured by the enc
my in their sdssnce, and sie at once set off for
the pas. He kqsy ,that ths pass was detspded
aa:heIhoped to De aJle;to warn thsans,i of their
danger. y ,,.,-,,. ..-, ~. VI.
lie hastcntd IN, and arriving iq W there, found tic the
ts"sE in - perfsct csndition.l Itfad just been
vacated by The garrison, lrho had. hsard Of. the
nppfoaeh'of the -Eustrisns, and had been. .seizea
with e:pSri thsrsst mad had fled ,herett, leAv'!
ss In. their :4r arms eQn'i:Iqg of thirty s1e9Qsn.
Ls. TgT Averana su~shsai his seeul1wftH
rage As he discovered this, Searching, in the
bulaiagille foti4id fcvefsL boxes Of amnTuniti.n
WHICH the newstdas bab not destroyed! tFora
nomcpt he Was in despair, but then With a grim
shiieRe "eg"rfo Ihsteh lne main door, ana pie
against 10 such, artcessa rs he could find. y..ut.
When he had done this he loaded all the guns
he cosld find; ;'anH placed them together with q
supply ofammunilon,. anilsr the hoop dtoies thai
commended the 5O"d b which the & enemy must
They hs ate sh,qarsg1io Of THE provisions ,he haa,
brought with him, and sat down to, wait. He
had ,dsquiely Eforhied HE hcrbic rssolution TO
defend the tower alone agEinstit)ie enemyEE jl.;
There was some things in his favor in such IN
undsrtakiuer rn'Tae pass was steep!aHd marrow
and the epeBly's ctroopsr Geuld enter III .onl iip
double fes, aid in doing this would be fully ex
posed TO- the FIRE FROM uhesto tower! The original
garrison Of thirty msn could. easily have held il
against a div Sion, and now one man was about
to hold il against repithent. o'N"f 7a5 n" ~
IL was dark when La Tour dAvsrgne reached
the tower; dnd he bad to wait soine time for the
enemG They as'ers longer in' coming Than he
expected, and for awhile he was tmptsd to ber
ieve'they had Abandoned the expedition.
Ahoat Imidnight,E hnwever.ih praetised car
caught the tramp Of feet, EYcry moment the
SOUND came ataref ana Il last ho heard he men
entering the def e., immediately he discharged
couple of muske:s into the dsrknesst to let them
know That he knew Of their presehce and if1tcn-
tions and he heard,the Quisk short commands
Of the officers, and, from the sounds be esuppose1
shataho troops were retiring from the pass. Tn.
til the mprripg he was updisturheda. The Aus
trisn commander, feeling assured that the gsrriT
son had obeen yihferfhedsof Ais 'ni066ycmenn and
WAS prepared tolrxceive kihi, saurthat he ceubl
Hot surprise the post as he had hoped 10 do, and
dsemed ~ htadsHt ID walt for 'dSylfghf Before
making rhs sttaek,sus III: .I9iik pjar sqa9sT
At sunrise he summoned the garrison TO sur
rsndsr 2A'et'aaaisf ahsssefed me s'itnunon':
say 10 Apqg ycoImhendsTai he ssls TO ihs
msssehaer, "that, this garrison wif'deiend this
psasstss the last asttresii iieslp3GiIImHGysr iai q
The officer who had horne. the ltsg,ef TRUCE
retired. and in about len minutes piece ofar-
tllcry was brought into the pass ana opened on
the tower. But to tffect thiS the piece had TO
be brought directly in fre~t Of the tower, and
within easy musket range Of it They had
scarcely got the gun ia position when rapid
FIRE was opened on il ttr0p; taei tower aud con-
tinucd with such marked effect that the piece
was withdrawn aftst the secdud discharge, with
Thi. was bad bsetauihs,? 50 half an hour af
ter the gunssas sithdrawn, Abe lAtisttian Colo
mel ordered an assault.
As the traops sutered the defileAhcy were re
when theFfaa PAEs(d ovtf Xii he distance th2y
rad lost ffteen nep. Disheartened by this thsy
retufnedeto The mouth .the dc6le.
Three more assaults we're rspulsed In this man
ncr, and ahc enemy By spnfset had lost lfOrty,fy
men, or whom fen were Killed.
The firing frbuh the tosFes had beeur rapid snt
accurate, but the Austrian commander had no
tced tIIs peculiarity nboatit, every shot seemed
to come from ths.ssme place, Fer while this per
picked him, bu! at last he came TO the conclusion
that there were a number Df ldop-hSolss close
together in the tower, so constructed as to com
mand! the tasiae eefkGsly,.oT 10 r'cIisrf 800
At sunset the last ssssult was- made sslsd re
palaSd, and'at dark the Austrian commander sen
. second summons .toItAen garrison. no 10y y
This time the answer was. favorable. The gar
rison offered tdsurreddeF AsA iieat fni6rninEr
4 Il .l. Il. 4
to the army unfsoiested. kftei !o,1s hesi,stioi
the terms were accepted .iOr OHJTI " Or;
Meanwhile L. Tour d. Apyergne bad passed a.
anxious day In the tower. He had opened hi
fshbwjth,sn arnlamept efthirtN loaded muskss
but had NOT been able to discharge them iJl, II
had fred with surprising rapidity, but 'wit
wonderful 4erprfeyrfof il is web kpewn In th
army that ne never Threw away-R shot lie, ,ha
determined to stand to his post tdntil he had .at
comRshedIhis eud, which was TO held the ,plas
twenty -four hours in erdsr to allow ths, Frencl
army kline to complete its mancdtfe.i o Afte
that, he knew the pass would he Of no conEe
ausncs to The enemy,