The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1867-02-20

Caught .GuS CEduQp Oh leSU. Livery
moment the sound came nearer, and,
at last, he heard them entering the
defile. Immediately 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, short 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 assured that the
garrison had been informed of his
movements, and was prepared to re-
ceive him, saw that he could not sur
prise the post, as he had hoped to do,
and deemed it prudent to wait till
daylight before making his attack.
At sunrise, he summoned the garri-
son to surrender. A grenadier an
swered the summons.
''Say TO your commander, he said,
in reply to the messenger, ''that this
garrison will defend this pass to the
last moment.
Tho officer who had borne the flag
of truce retired, and, in about ten
minutes, piece of artillery was
brought into the pass, and opened on
the tower. But to effect this, the
piece had to be placed within easy
musket range Of it. They had scarce
ly got the gun in position, when q
rapid fire was opened on it from the
tower, and continued with such
marked effect that the piece'was with
drawn after the second discharge,
with loss of five men. This was q
bad beginning, SO half an hour after
the gun was withdrawn, the Austrian
Colonel ordered an assault. AS the
troops entered the defile, they were
received with Il rapid and accurate
fire, SO that when they had passed
over half the distance they had to
traverse, they had lost fifteen men.
Disheartened by this, they returned
to the mouth Of the defile Three
more assaults were repulsed in this
manner, and the enemy, by sunset,
had lost forty-five men, Of whom ten
were killed. The fire from the tower
had been rapid and accurate, but the
Austrian commander had noticed this
popularity about it-every shot
seemed to come from the same place.
For while, this perplexed him, but
at last he came to the conclusion that
there was number of loop holes
close together in the tower, SO con-
structed as to command the rayine
perfectly.
At sunset the last assault was made
and repulsed, and at dark the Austrian
commander sent a second sum-
mons to the garrison This time the
answer was favorable. The garrison
offered to surrender at sunrise the
next morning, if allowed to march
out with their arms and return to the
army unmolested. After some hest
tatlon, the terms were accepted.
Meantime La Tour d'Auvergne had
passed an anxious day in the tower.
He had opened the fight with an ar
mament of thirty loaded muskets,
but he had not been able to dis
charge them all. He had fired with
amazing rapidity, but with surprising
accuracy, for it was well known in
the army that he hal never thrown
away a shot. He had determined to
stand to his post until lie had accom-
plished his end, which was to hold
the place twenty-four hours, in
order to allow the French army time
to complete its maneuvre. After
that he knew the pass would be Of
no consequence to the enemy.
When the demand for a surrender
came to him after the last assault, he
consented to it upon the conditions
named. The next day, at sunrise,
the Austrian troops lined the pass in
two files, extending from the mouth
to the tower, leaving space between
them for the garrison to pass out.
The heavy door Of the tower open
ed slowly, and in few minutes a
bronzed and Scared grenadier, lite
rally loaded down with muskets,
came out and passed down the line
of troops. He walked with diff
Guilty under his heavy load. To the
surprise of the Austrians, no one fol-
lowed him from the tower. In as
tonishment the Austrian Colonel rode
up to him and asked, in French, why
the garrison did not come out.
81 am the garrison, Colonel" said
the soldier, proudly.
"What" exclaimed the Colonel,
edo you mean to tell me that you
alone have held that tower against
me?"
81 have had the honor, Colonel"
was the reply.
ssVbat ,,occo,.-.oJ ,-o,, / - ,.>.1- 80 H.