The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1867-02-13

>l!iSI . S't4 !9Oii VI Niii4 y ''N''' ''''N
he hoped to be able to warn th,
mvn 0; their danger.
He ha>jcuc5 on AID alrivca
there. found the tower in a per
feet condition. 1t had just been
vacated by the garrison who hac
heard Of the approach Of the Aus
trians. and had been seized with :
panic thereat, and had fled, leavin 9
their arms, consisting Of thirty
excellent muskets,
La Tour d'Auvergne gnashed
his teeth with rage as he discov.
cred this. Searching in the build,
inc. he found several boxes Of am
munition which the towards had
not destroyed. For a moment he
WAS in despair, but then with .
grim smile lie began TO tastvn the
main door, and pill" against il such
articles rs lie c3u!d find.
: Wnyn he had done this lie headed
all the guns he could find. and
! placed them together with " good
supply Of ammunition. undnr the
loop holes that commanded the
road by which the enemy must al-
vance.
Then he ate heartily of the pro-
visions he had brought with him,
and sat down to wait. He had
absolutely formed the heroic rcso-
Iution to defend the tower alone
against the enemy.
There was something in his IA
vor in such an undertaking. The
pass was steep and narrow, and
the cnemy's troops could enter it
only in double file, and in doing
this would be fully exposed to the
fire from the tower. The original
garrison of thirty men could easily
have held it against a division,
and now one man was about to at
tempt to hold it against 2 rcGi-
ment.
It was dark when La Tour d Au-
vcrgnc reached the tower, and he
had 10 wait some time for the enc
my. They were longer in coming
than he had expected, and for a
while he was tempted to believe
they had abandoned the eNpedi-
ton.
About midnight, however, his
practiscd car caught the tramp of
feet. Every moment the sound
came nearer. and at last he heard
them entering the dcfle. Immc-
diatcIy he discharged couple Of
musketS into the darkness to let
them know that he knew OF their
presence and intentions, and he
heard the quick, sharp commands
Of the officers. and from the sounds.
he supposed that the troops were
retiring from the pass. Until the
morning he was undisturbed. The
Austrian commander, feeling as
surcd that the garrison had been
informed of his movements, and
was prepared to receive him: saw
that he could not surprise the post
as he had hoped to do; and deemed
it prudent to wait until daylight
before making his attack.
vt sunrise he summoned I'll"
garrison TO surrender. \ Grcn%-
der answered the summons.
Say to your commander, h"
said, in reply to the messenger.
..lhat this garrison will !>:v""
this post to the last extremity"
The officer who had Iorc the
flag of truce retired, and in about
ten minutes a piece Of artillery
was brought into the pass and
opened upon the tower. But to
effect this, the piece had to be
placed directly in front of the
tower, and within easy range Of
it. They had scarcely got the
gun in position, when a rapid fire
was opened upon it from the tower.
and continued with such marked
effect that the piece was withdrawn
after the second discharge, with q
loss Of five men.
This wasa bad beginning, so that
half an hour after the gun was
withdrawn the Austrian colonel
ordered an assault.
As the troops entered the dcfjIe
they were received with a rapid
and accurate fire, 50 that when
they had passed over half the dis
1unve they hat T. traverse. >h"y