Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1868-05-28

ing of thirty excellent muSkets. @H
La Tour d Auvergne gnashed his teeth
with rage as he discovered this. Search
ing the building, he found several boxes
of ammunition which the towards had not
destroyed. For moment he was in dis
pair, but then, with grim smile, he be-
gan to fasten the main door and pile a.
gainst it such articles as he could find.
When he had done this he loaded all
the guns he could find, and placed them
together with supply of ammunition un-
der the loop holes that commanded 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 armed 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'st 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
q division, and now one man was about to
hold it against regiment. asa Il f-sa-
It was dark when La Tour d Auvergne
reached the tower, and he had to wait
some time for the enemy. They were
longer in coming than be expected. snd
for while he Was tempted to believe they
had abandoned the expedition. asa! "a.
About midnight, however, his practic-
ed ear caught the tramp Of feet. Every
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 be knew of their presence and
Intentions. and heard the quick command
Of the officers, and shot from the pass
Until the morning he was undisturbed.
The Austrian commander, feeling assured
that the garrison bad been informed Of
his movements and was prepared to re-
ceive him. saw that he could not surprise
the post as he had hoped to do. and deem
ed it prudent to wait till daylight before
making the attack. -,
- At sunrise be summoned the garrison
to surrender. A grenadier answered the
summons. ale,7 .oe9a..o-i
''Say to your commander" be said. in
reply to the messenger, THAT this garri-
son will defend this pass to the last ex-
tremity."';, =, ,,gs,.s 4f,aas7 Ell
The officer who had borne the Gag Of
truce retired. and il about ten minutes !
piece of artillery was brought into the pass
and opened on the tower. Bot to effect
this. the piece had to be directly in front
of the tower. and within, easy musket
range Of it. They had scarcely got the
gun in position when . rapid fire was
opened on it from the tower sud continued
with such marked effect that the piece was
Withdrawn sfterthe second dissharge. With
loss of five men. 3.s a;...,g = 4sagT
81 sThis was q bad beginning, 80 half On
hour after the gun Wis Withdrawu, the
Austrian colonel ordered ~ ssssalt. Gs;i
As the troops entessd the de6ls they
were received With rapid and accurate
FIRE. so that when they had passed over
half the distance they had to traverse they
had lost fifteen men. Dishearteued BY this
they returned to the mouth Of the de6ls:
Il Three more assaults were sepa1ssa IN
this manner, and the enemy b. sunset bed
lost forty-6ve men, Of whom ten we're kill'
| ed. -.
The firing from the tower had been Ia
pid and accurate. but the Austrian CON-
mander had noticed thispecnlisritys sbout
I |it-every shot seemed to- come, from the
same place. For awhile this perplexed
him, but at last he came, 10 the conclusion
that there was number Of loopholes close
together in the tower. 90 constructed as to
command the ravine perfectly. as;eg n~1e
AT sunset the last assault vas made and
repulsed, and at dark the. Austrian COM
mander sent q second summons to the
garrison. ''.'' :, -'' - =
This time the answer was favorable
The garrison offered to surrender at sun
rise the next morning if allowed to march
out with their arms and return to the army
unmolested. After some hesitation, the
terms we're accepted. = /, Svelss
Meantime La Tour d Auvergne had
passed an anxious day in the tower. He
had opened the fight with an armament of
thirty loaded muskets. but had not been
able to discharge them ALL He had fred
with surprising rapidity, but with sur
prising accuracy. for it was we'll known in
the army that he had never thrown aRaJ
a shot. he bad determined to stand at
his post until he had accomplished his
end. which was to hold tie place twenty
four hours, id orderat sllos The sFfe1cii
army time to complete its msioshvss.---
After that he knew the pass would be Of
no consequence to the enemy. sa7;rhA
+ When. the demand for 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. extend.
ing from the mouth to the tower leaving
a space between them for the garrison to
pass out. 'ae:z ssas q. ''7' }fass5n e u
The heavy door Of the tower opened
slowly and in q few minutes bronzed