The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1875-05-02

MOT YET. my Liege," SAKE iuterposed,
'the Irish troops remain"
with the regiments of Normandy and
Va,sseux supporting them, the Irish Bril-
gade marched with fixed bayonsts and
without firing mp to the British line
As the Brigade advanced. the Eno,isb
column was halted on the slope of the hill
mp which the Irish regimenta dashed ranid.
~ and in good order. They were led To
Immediate action TO the ringing shout Of
ma Sacsanaeh :" (Remember Limerick and
British faith.) The English column was
nov greatly thinned, the men wearisd :.
and wherever they trod, obliged to Hght
over the mangled bodies of their dying
comrades while their new and bTaveet
savage encounter. As soon as the Brigade
advanced, the fire was dreadful and the
slaughter terrific. A variety of circum-
stances combined to repder it's soldiers
irresistible. The English gave but one vol
ley-they were stunned by the shout, and
crushed as by an avalanche by the furious
charge of the Brigade.
"They broke" says Davis, before the
Irish bayonets, and tumbied down the far
side of the hill, disorganized. hopeless,
and falling by hundreds. The Irish troops
did not pursue them far: the French caval-
ry and light troops pressed on till the rel
les of the column were succored by some
English cavalry, and got within the bate
ries of their camp. The victory was bloody
and complete. Louis is said to have rid
den down to the Irish bivouac, and person
ally thanked them and George II, on
cation on the Penal Code, "Cursed be the
| laws which deprive me of such subjects"
| The one sEnglish volley, and the short
struggle on the crest of the hill, cost the
| Irish dear. One fourth of the officers, In
GLIDING Colonel Dillon, were killed and
one third of the men.
The battle of Fontenoy was one OF the
most fiercely contested conflicts recorded
in military history. 1t is stated that one
hundred Thousand men fell on that day.
The result was deemed magnificent. Tour
nay surrendered; Client, Oudenarde,
tured without delay. UntH sne day of
Waterloo, Fontenoy was unriyalled on the
page of history. 1t delivered France,
| bum bled England, and bowed Holland to
the position of a second rate power. "None
of the French Victories" adds Mr. Mitchell,
IS in that age caused in Paris such tumult
of joy and exultation. In England there
were lamentation, and wrath, and courts-
martial. In Ireland, as the news came in,
first of the British defeat, and then, gradu-
ally, of the glorious achievements Of the
Brigade and the hOnors paid to the Irish
soldiers, O sudden bnt silent hush of tri-
umph and hope broke upon the oppressed
race; and many gloomy countenance
| frightened with CLEAN of stern joy, in the
| thought that the loDg-mourned wild geese
would one day return With freedom and
vengeance in the fash of the bayonets of
FontenOy."
The author of the "Irish at Home and
Abroad" gives some interesting incidents
| illustrative of the action and characteristics
of the Irish Brigade on that eventfui day:
"On the eve of the battle of Fontenoy,
| Lally, having gone on reconn0ltef1ng
| !: hi I'D frNu
Antoine to FontenOy, and which had been
erroDeously considered impossible. de
perceived that by this road the French
army would, in the impending action, be
inevitably turned. BY Laliy's advice, the
end of it was seized upon, occupied, and
fortified with three redoubts and sixteen
pieces of cannon, precaution to when
was incontestaby due the success OF tho
action.
"During that celebrated battle, the Irish
Brigade contributed powerfully to the vic.
tory, piercing with the bay onet the flank oil
the terrible English column, while the Duo
de Richelieu, with the household troops,
attacked it in front. After the battle,
Lally, who had been slightly wounded, waE
sitting on a drum, surrounded by a ConHio-
cradle number of mutilated soldiers OF hia
own regiment, and having by his side
several English officers, his prisoners, to
whom he was rendering assistance and re-
lief, when the Dauphin (the eldest son OF
the King of France) arrived at full galloE
to announce to him the appreciation and
: Acknowledgements of the king
i" Mousegneur,' said Laiig to the Prince
these favors are like thoseF of the Scrip.
lures they fall on the blind and the lame.
"In saying these words he pointed to
his Lieutenant Colonel, who had received 9
stab of a bayonet IN the eye, and his Aide.
: Major, through whose thigh a musket bal
had passed.
/, "The kings appreciation of the servict
he had rendered, did not, however, termi
nate in mere words, for calling him to th'
, head of the army, he created Lally Briga
,, der General on the field of battle"
< Best Cordovs coffee, parched or ground, 81