The Shasta courier., 1867-01-05
SHASTA COU RIER.
THE EMPEROR AND THE STRAG-
GLER.
BY AN OLD OFFICER.

1t was a dreadfully c,la season that winter
of lS54-55 which the allies spent in the
trenches before Sebas opel. The troops SUI
fered greatly from the inclement weather. and
from exposure when on duty. and the hos
pitals were soon filed with the sick. The
English were especia martyrs to tie hard
ships of the -;s,a, for their government had
not provided for them as literally as had that
of the French for is troops. The Emperor
Napoleon III was the friend of the soldier,
and, with all the cares and temptations of
his high position, never forgot to see that
the brave men who were upholding the hon
or Of France in distant land were as com
Portable as he could make them. When the
New Year came, he sent from his private
stores presents OF wine, brandy and tobacco to
the army and n liberal allowance at that.
The French had merry time when these
presents came, and. with their usual frank
generosity, shared their = good things with
their English allies, whose government had
not been So thoughtful for them. Many little
social gatherings were held in the Gallic
quarters and many warm friendships were
formed and cemented between companions
in arms, thanks to the Emperor kindness.
There WAS in the French army an old,
grey headed general of division, who had
spent his whole life in the service and who
had fought his way up from the ranks. No
man in the whole army was more popular
than General Dampierre, and the troops OF
his own division loved him even better than
they did Canrobert himself. He was a genial
kind. hearted old man, and very fond Of COM
panv He gave many dinners and suppers
at his quarters and alway had some of the
English officers present. Some Of these
entertainments it was my fortune to attend
and | shall always look back to them with
delight, as the pleasantest of all the hours |
spent before Sebastopol. | owed my good
luck to the fact that | was on the staff of
General Sir De Lacey Evans, of the English
army, who was warm friend of General
Dampierre, and not to any merit of my own.
g Well tn cut these explanations short, a
few days after New Year, my commander
said to me, during the afternoon, that he
was going over to the French camp to dine
with General Dampierre, that | was invited.
He wanted me to hurry up my preparations,
AMI ride over with him. | was soon ready,
and in a couple of hours we were seated in
the cosev quarters of the French General,
where we found half dozen officers of the
Gallic army. General Evans was a fayorite
with our allies, and we met with warm
reception
The dinner passed off pleasantly, and as
we sat around the table over our wine, Cen
eral Dampierre proposed the first toast:
THE Emperor Napoleon the Third, to
whose generosity we owe this excellent Bor-
deaux."
You are fortunate in having such an
emperor said General Evans, after we had
resumed our seats, for we had drained our
glasses standing. = | wish we had him."
Yes" said our host. He's trump
as you English say, AMI we don't care to
loose him. All Of US has cause to love the
Napoleons, and none greater cause than l
have"
THAT reminds me )" said General Bos
quet, who was present, his grim face relaxed
into social glow, g that you promised us an
account of your first meeting with the great
Napoleon | now claim the fulilment of
your promise, Dampierre.
" Ma foil" said cur host. smiling. ait
might have been my last meeting with him
and doubtless would have been, had he been
less noble. Well. it was in the year 1913,
and the French army was on its memorable
visit to Russia, to encounter, for aught |
know, some of the very men who are hold
ing that city over there against US now. |
was stripping then-a mere lad of eigh
teen-and was in the ranks. 1t gas my
first campaign, and / was, almost in the sue
sense of the word. a raw recruit. Nv faith
er, a brave old grenadier-H Heaven rest his
soul WAS in the Imperial Guard, and
better soldier was not to be found in the
army.
I'VE were on the advance to Moscow. and
had not yet learned what fearful trials were
in store for us, and how few of our mighty
host we We're TO carry ack over the frontier.
We were full of hope. and | was among the
gavest of the gay. | was fond of women in
those days. All ! you laugh, gentlemen =
Well. it is a pardonable weakness, and |
shared it to a larger degree than usual. |
rarely missed an opportunity to lirt with the
girls in the villages along our route. where
they where friendly enough to permit it.
1t was all we'll enough at first. but as we
went on into the enemy's country, tine orders
became positive that 10 one was to leave his
command without permission from his col
onel. All stragglers were to he shot by the
patrols, or, if arrested. to be executed without
court martial. 1t was a harsh regulation.
but it was necessary for the good of the
army.
We had gotten very far into the country
of the enemy. when we halted for "A few davs
al rretty little village, expecting the Rus
slams t, attack US Ofcourse at such time
it WAS madness in one to think of looking
after W men; yet | was silly enough to do
so. | found lovely young girl in the vii
lage about mile from my camp and in
few hours | managed to learn from her that
visit from me would not be disagreeable In
the least. Fool that | was, | determined to
see her that night. | knew it was impossible
to procure leave to do so, and | made up
my mind to try it without permission
When night came, | marked the exact local
tiles of the ''sentres, and under coveruf the in
tense darkness stole out of the camp towards
the village. | reached it in safety, found my
girl and was enjoying myself very much
when | heard the sound of horses hoofs, aud
iabber of Russians outside the house. In
an instant | found that a party of Cossacks
had made dash into the village. which was
held by a slight picket of eur army. A