Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-02-03
FIRsT eRENADIEE OF FRANCE

=
For MANY a wear there was tOuchin
and beautiful custom 10 be witnessed Il
. a certain regiment Of French grenadiers
3 and which meant to commemorate IN
heroism OF a departed comrade.
. When the companies assembled 70
Darade. and roll was called, there wa
one name TO which its owner could no
! answer-it was that Of La Tour d'Au
vergne.
: When il was called, the oldest ser
geant present stepped q pace forward
and, raising his hand to his cap, saiC
proudly:
"Died on the field of honor"
For fourteen wears this custom wa
continued, and only ceased when the re-
stored BourbOns, TO please their forelgr
masters, forbade everything that wa'
calculated 10 preserve the spirits Of the
soldiers of France.
LAT, ur d'Auyergne was not unworthy
in life the honor thus paid him after his
/. death. He was educated for the army
/ entered in 1867, and in ITSI served under
the Duke de CrillOn, at the siege Of Pori
Mahon. He served always with distinc
ton, but constantly refused offers of pro
motion, saying that he was only fit fol
the command of a company Of gTena-
diers but, finally, the various grenadieI
companies being united, he found himself
in command of body Of eight thousand
men, while retaining only the rank OF
captain.
Hence he was known as the first gren-
adler OF France.
! But il is Of one particular exploit of his
| that we wish to write, more than his
| career in general.
When be was forty years Of age be
went on visit to a friend not far from
a section of the country that was soon TO
| become the scene of a campaign. While
! there he was busy in acquainting him
| self with the country, thinking 1t not
unlikely that his knowledge might be OF
use to him and while here the brave
| grenadier was astOnished to learn that
| the war had been suddenly zshifteG TO
/ that quarter, and that a regiment Of
| Austrians was pushing on 10 occupy a
narrew pass about ten miles from where
! he was staying, and the possession of
which would give them an opportunity
] 10 prevent an important movement Of
I the French troops whil was then on
] foot. They hoped to surprise this post,
and. were moving so rapidly npOn 1t that
! they were not more than TWO hours dis
| tant from the place where he was stay
/ ing, and which they would have 10 pass
on their march. 1t matters not how he
| heard the news. 1t is sufficient to say
| that be determined at once to act upon il.
He had no idea of being captured by
/ the enemy in their advance, and he at
once set Off for the pass. He knew that
| the pass was defended by stout tower
and q garrison of thirty men, and he
hoped to be able to warn the men Oftheir
danger.
He hastened on, and arriving there
found the tower in perfect condition.
1t had lust been vacated by the garrison,
who had heard Of the approach Of the
Austrians, and had been seized with a
panic thereat and had fled, leaving their
arms, consisting OF thirty excellent mus
kets.
La Tour d'Auvergne gnashed his teeth
with rage as he discovered this. Search
ing in the building he found several
boxes of ammunition which the towards
had not destroyed. For a moment
| he was in despair, but then, with
grim smile, he began to fasten
the main door and pile against
| il such articles as he could find.
When he had done this he loaded all
! the guns he could find and placed them
together with a good supply Of ammuni-
| ton, under the loop holes that COM
manded the road by which the enemy
must advance.
Then he ate heartily Of the provisions
he had brought with him, and sat down
to wait. He had absolutely formed the
| heroic resolution to defend the tower
alone against the enemy.
There were some things in his favor in
such an undertaking. The pass was
steep and narrow, and the enemy's
| troops could enter it only in double files,
| 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 division, and now one
man vas about TO hold it against
regiment.
1t was dark when La Tour d Auvergne
reached the tower, and he had 10 wait
some time for the enemy. They were
| longer in coming than he expected, and
! for a while he was tempted to believe
they had abandoned the expedition.
About midnight, however, his prac-
ticed ear caught the tramp of feet.
Every moment the sound came nearer,
and at last he heard them entering the
defile. Immediatelyihe discharged cou-
ple Of muskets into the darkness, to let
them know that he knew Of their pres
ence and intentions, and he heard the
quick, short command 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
sured that the garrison had been in
/ formed Of his movements, and was pre-
! pared 10 receive him, saw that be could
not surprise the post as he had hoped to
do, and deemed it prudent 10 wait till
/ daylight before making his attack.
At sunrise he summoned the garrison
! to surrender. A grenadier answered the
! summons.
"Say 10 your commander" be said, in
! reply 70 the messenger, that this garri-
son will defend this pass TO the last mo-
/ ment."
The officer who had bottle the tag Of
! truce retired, and in about ten minutes h
! piece Of artillery was brought into the
| mass and opened on the tower. But to
effect this, the piece had to be placed
| within easy musket range Of il. They
had scarcely got the gun in position,
| when a rapid fire was opened on IL from
the tower. and continued with such
marked effect that the piece was with
drawn after the second discharge, with n
loss Of five men.
This was a bad beginning, 20 hslf an
| hour after the gun was withdrawn, the
Austrian cblonel ordered an assault.
As the troops entered the Gefile they
| were received with a rapid and accurate
fire, 40 that when they had passed over
/ half the distance they had to traverse,
they had Lost fifteen men. Disheart-
ened By this they returned 10 the mouth
Of the defle.
Three more assaults were repulsed in
] - anf
had lost fOrty-five men, Of whom ten
were killed.
/ The fire from the town had been rapid
/ and accurate, but the Austrian COM
mander had noticed this peculiarity
| about it-every shot seemed To come
1 from the same place. For a while this
| perpleKed him, but at last he came TO the
/ conclusion that there was q number OF
! loop-holes close together in the tower,
/ so constructed as 70 command the rayine
/ perfectly.
AT sunset the last assault was made
| and repulsed, aud at dark the Austrian
commander sent a second summons, to
the garrison.
This time the answer was favorable.
| The garrison offered 10 surrender ri sun
rise the next morning if allowed to
march out with their arms and return 70
the army unmOlested. After some hesi-
I tati0n, the terms were accepted.
! Meantime la Tour d'Auvergne had
I nassed an anxious dayr 10 the tower. He
I had opened the fightd ith an armament
/ OF thirty loaded muskets, out he had not
been able to discharge them all. He
had fired with amazing rapidity, but
| with surprising accuracy, for il was well
known in the army that be had never
thrown away q shot. He had deter
mined TO stand 10 his post until be had
accomplished bis end, which was 70 bold
| fhe place twenty-fOur hours, II order 10
/ allow the French army TO complete It's