The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1867-04-04

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VOL. IA: se.' e,a., ..,
THH 9IRsT aRENADIH1 or u
s,sas .sao FRANC1.s
For many year there wasa touching
and beautiful custom - - Witnessed n
q certain rsgimsst u Frsnch grenadiers,
which w. msantto commsmorate the
heroism of ! departed conrade. 81, rs'& ~ 4,
when the conpanies aAssmhlsd for
psssris and the ron WAS called, there
was one name to which IT. owner
could not answer-it was that Of "a
Tour d'Auverone. $50. I'm sqg
sDied on the field of honor.'' aau a3
For fourteen years this custom was
continued, and only ceased when the
restored BouYbons, to please thsir for
eign masters, forbade everything that
was calculated to preserve tho spirit of
the soldiers Of France. =. ~ .3Iii .aaai vi
La Tour d'Auvergne was worthy.
ia Life that honor thus paid him altse
hts death. He was educated for the
army, entered In 1767, and In 1871
served under the Duke de Crillon at the
seige Of Port Mahon. He served always
with distinction, but constantly refused
offers Of promotion, saying that he was
only ht for the command Of . company
Of grenadiers. but finally the various
grenadief companies being united, he
found himself in command Of eight
thousand men, while retaining only the
rank of q captain.
Hence he was known as the first
grenadier of France -ga- ....
But 1t IL Of one particular exploit Of
his that we wish 10 write, more than
his career in general. III
~ When he was forty years old he went
on visit to friend, not far from . Sec
ton oftnc country that was soon to be-
come the scene Of campaign. While
there he was busy in acquainting him.
self with the country, thinking 1t not
unlikely that his knowlege might be of
use to him, and while here the brave
grenadier was aatonished to learn that
the war had suddenly shifted to that
quarter, and that regiment Of Austri-
ans was pushing on to occupy a narrow
pass about ten miles from where he was
staying, and the possession of which
would give them an opportunity to pre-
vent an important movement Of the
French which was then on foot. They
hoped to surprise this post, and were
moving SO rapidly upon 1t that they
were not more than two hours distant
from the place where he was staying,
and which they would have to pass in
their line Of march. It matters not
how he heard the news. It IL sufficient
IN saw that hn d>fn.,.,is,<,1a AZ c,,nn fn oct
upon 1t.
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 garrison Of thirty men, and he
hoped to be able to warn the men of
their danger.
He fastened on and on arriving there,
found the tower in perfect condition.
1t had just been vacated by the garrison,
who had heard Of the approach Of the
Austrians, and had been seized with a
panic thcreat and had fled, leaving
their arms, combating OF thirteen excel
lent muskets.
La Tour d'Auvergne gnashed his
teeth with rage - he discovered this.
Searching in the building he found sew
eral boxes of ammunition which the
towards had, not destroyed. For mo-
ment he was in despair, but then, with
grim smile, he began to fasten the
main door and to pile against it such
articles as he could find. ''s4
When he had done this he loaded all
the guns he could find and placed them
together with . good supply Of ammu-
milton, under the loop holes that COM
mand tho 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 ex-
posed 70 the IRE from the tower. The
original garrison Of thirty men could
easily have held It against q division.
and one man was about to hold it against
regiment.
It was dark when La Tour d'Au.
vergne reached the tower, and he had
to wait some time for the enemy. They
were longer In coming than he expect
ed, and for while he was tempted to
believe they had abandoned the.exps-
dition.
After midnight his practced ear
caught the tramp Of feet. Every mo-
Dpent the sound came nearer until at
Last h0 haa "A thar, >,s<>.s.,~ = -. Att