Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1877-12-01
THE ACT OF A FIEND.
Lcnf From IIi.Inrr.

THE ACT OF A FIEND.
A Leaf From History.
During the campaign of 1890, tn,
French army destined to meet the powe
of Austria on the plains of Italy hcCor
1T could render itself master of Turil
and OF Milan, penetrate even TO thcwall
OF Genoa, and declare the terms of peac,
on the battlefield of Marengo, had We
to surmount that vast Alpine barrie
which extends from the st. Bernard t.
Nice ard MOntenotte, and to overcome ,
series of tremendous obstacles, present
ing themselves one after the other il
seemingly endless succession, and taskine
to the utmost, il not defying the courag,
OF the troops and the military genus anC
perseverance, of the leaders, These OBJ
stacles were not merely the result o
natural position; there were instances in
which the resistance of the invaded
was more obstinate and more terrible
than that Of mountains, rrecipices OF
rivers. Protected by Notifications OF
little strength or difficulty, and but very
inefFciently aided by a locality which
yielded but few means Or opportunities
of vigorous defense, but sustained by an
indomitable courage, great resource OF
invention, and an enthusiastic love OF
country, infinitely more formidable n
than their courage and their skill, the
inhabitants of the small town and cita.
del of lyree, with a garrison of 1000
Austrian soldiers and twenty-five pieces
of cannon, maintained a siege of three
days against an army of 10000 French
men commanded by the three youngest
already most illustrious generals in
Europe--Massena, Lannes and Berna-
dotte.
Furious at seeing his march thus ar
rested before this insignificant little
place, he who had taken Alexandria in q
day, and Cairo in an hour, and impa.
tient, moreover, to assume his positions
for the investment of Milan, the COM
mander,i chief, on the 2jth of May,
1900, ordered the division of Gen. Ian.
nes to march upon the village in all its
force, and take it by assault. After
three hours OF sanguinary combat of
fierce attack, and the most heroic de-
tense, a handful of the defenders, driven
rom the citadel, retreating step by step,
and hotIy pursued by the victorious
Frenchmen, threw themselves as a last
resort into the quarters of Adjutant
General H., with the resolution there to
maintain themselves to the last, and sell
their lives as dearly as they might. In
a moment the house occupied by this
brave veteran was converted into for
tress-barricades were thrown up, loop
holes fer musketry cut in the walls, and
every disposition made that time and
means afforded for a last desperate re-
sistanCe.
Lannes, who was the first to enter the
assaulted village, detached an officer, in
command of two battalions, to drive the
insurgents from their position. The Of
icer, equally distinguished among his
fellow. soldiers for his impetuous courage
and his ierOcity, soon forced his way, at
the head of one of his battali0ns, into
the disputed mansion, trampling as he
went uron the dead bodies of the forty
brave fellows by whom it had been de-
tended. General H., the only survivor,
after beholding the slaughter Of the gar
rison, had armed himself with hatchet,
and with almost superhuman strength
and desperation opposed the entrace of
the republicans; when their leader pre-
sented himself, sword in hand, at the door
of the room to which he had retreated,
as his last stand of defense, the old
general aimed at his head furious blow,
which would have closed his career at
once and forever, had it not been skill
fully parried by the saber of the French
man. 1t was the last effort of the
wounded and weary veteran he fell and
in another moment the apartment was
filled with republicans.
The Frenchman, who was never known
to yield quarter to a vauquished enemy
in the fifteen years Of his welded life,
stepped forward to dispatch the fallen
general, when a yeung and lovely woman
rushed from an adjoining room, threw
herself at his feet, and kneeling there,
pale, distracted, the tears streaming from
her ewes, shrieked forth, in voice Of
terror and despair
"Spare him-O, spare him-do not
take his life-he is my husband-the
father of my child"
The Frenchman glanced for moment
at the supple mt with an eye in which
there was no trace of either anger OF
pity-and then, deliberately pushed hel
aside, he made step in advance, took
cool and steady aim with his pistol a
the wounded officer, and shot him througl
the heart.
The wife of the murdered man uttered
fearful scream, and, starting to he
feet and flying to the room whence sht
had come, returned in a moment will
her boy, who, at the sight of his father
massacre, had hidden himself, pale anC
trembling, under the bed she held hin
up to the ftrocious republican, aud ex
claimed:
"Monster you have slain the &the
complete your work and destroy th'
son."
At this moment loud shouts wer,
heard, and a French general, surrounded
bv A crowd of officers, appeared at th'
door of the apartment. The scene wa
dramatic "a perfect coup de theater
The heart of the feroCious soldier faileC
him; palor overspread his features ant
his limbs shook, while Madame H., as i
by a sudden impulse, flung herself at th!