Middletown transcript., 1874-01-10

ranks halted, and SO threw tho column in
to disorder. Gibbs shouting in the mad
ness of vexatien for them to reform and
advance. Thers was no re- forming under
such . fire. Once checked, the column
could not but break and retreat in con-
fusion.
Captain Hill says Of this first repulse !:
Hastily galloping to the scene of con-
fusion, we found the men falling back in
great numbers. Every possible means
were used to rally them the majority Of
the retreating party were wounded, and
one and all bitterly complained that not q
single ladder or facine had been brought
up to enable them to cross the ditch. A
singular illusion, for which I have never
been able to account, occurred on our
nearer approach to the American lines !:
the roar Of musketry and cannon seemed
to proceed from the thick cypress wood
on cur right, whilst the bright flashes Of
fire in our front were not apparently ac-
companied by sound. This strange effect
was probably produced by the state Of the
atmosphere and the character Of the
ground, but 1 leave the solution Of the
mystery to time and the curious"
Just as the troops began to falter, Cen
eral Packenham rode up from his post in
the rear toward the head Of the column.
Meeting parties Of the 44th running a.
bout distracted, some carrying fasciues,
others firing. others in headlong fight,
their leader nowhere to DO seen, Packen-
ham strove to restore them to order, and
to urge them on the way they we're to 60.
"For shame" he cried bitterly, ''resol-
lsct that you are British soldiers. This
is the road you ought to taksr' pointing
to the flashing aud roaring hell in front.
Riding on he was soon met by General
Gibbs, who said: 5ss.
II am sorry to have to report to you
that the troops will not obey me. They
will not follow me-"
Taking off his hat, General Packsnham
spured his horse to the very front Of the
wayering column, amid torrent of rife
balls, cheering on the troops by voice, by
gesture, by example. At that moment q
ball shattered his right arm, and it fell
powerless to his side.1 The next, his
horse foil dead upon the field. His aid,
Captain M'Dougal. dismountsd from his
black Creole pony, and Packenham, ap-
parently unconscious of his dangling arm,
mounted again, and followed the retreat
ing column, still calling upon them to
halt and reform. A few gallant spirits
ran in toward the lines threw themselves
into the ditch, plunged across it. and fell
scrambling up the sides Of the soft and
slippery breastwork. s .aH.. .a. n
Once out of the reach Of those terrible
rifles, the column halted and regained its
self-possession.a Laying aside their heavy
knapsacks, tho men prepared for second
and more resoluts advance. Thoy were
encouraged, toe, by seeing ths. superb
Highlanders marching up in solid phalanx
to their support with front of hundred
men, their bayonets glittering in the sun,
which had then begun to pierce the morn
ing mist. Now for an irresistable onset /!
At quicker step, with General Gibbs on
its right, General Packenham on the left,
the Highlanders, in clear and imposing
view, the column again advanced into tho
fire. oh ! the slaughter that then en-
sued! There was one moment, when
that thirty-two FOUNDER, loaded to the
muzzle with musket balls, poured its
charge directly, at point blank range,
right into the head Of the column, literal
ly lsvelling it with the plain laying low, /,
as was afterwards compated, two hundred
men. The American line, as one of the
British officers remarked, looked like a
row Of fery furnaces re- ,.
The heroic Packeaham had not far to
go to meet his doom. He was three hun
dred yards from tho lines when the real
nature Of his enterprise seemed to fash
upon him and he turned to Sir John
Tylden and said d:es la= s7
"Ordsr up the reserve"
Then seeing the Highlanders advancing
to the support of General Gibbs, he, still
waving his hat, but waving it now with
his left hand, cried out 80
a..Hurrah! brave Higblandsrs!'
AT that moment mass of grape -shot,
with terrible crash, struck the group Of
which he was the central figure. One Of
the shots tore open the Generals thigh,
killed his horse, and brought horse and
rider to the ground. Captain McDougal
caught the General in his arms, removed
him from the fallen horse, and was sup
porting him upon the field when a second
shot struck the wounded man in the groin
depriying him, instantly of consciousness.
He was borne to the rear. and placed in
the shade Of an old livs-oak, which still
stands; and there, after .gasping a few
minutes, yielded up his life without a
word, happily ignorant Of the sad issue Of
his plans and tolls. N aa.B4
r A more painful fate was that Of General
Gibbs. A few momeats after Pack enham
fell, Gibbs received his death wound, aud
was carried off the field writhing in agony,
and uttering fierce .inprecations. He
Fingered all that day and the succeeding
night. dying in torment on the morrow
Nearly at the same momsnt General Keane
was painfully wounded in the neck and
thigh, and was also borne to the rear.
Colonel Dale of the Highlandsrs, fulfilled
his prophecy, and fell at the head of his
regiment The Highlanders, under Major
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