The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1879-02-20
THE RANGERS RUSE.
OF THE MEIR PRIS
ONERS.

]
properly Il company OF Texan troops,
crossed the Rio Gr;Inde, and moved To
attack the Mexican town Of Meir; but
| viewed in very rational light, and even
to the widest imagination, their hopes
of success seemed utterly fOElOTm.
Their regular commander, General
Summeryille, with One-half of the in
| Yading force. deSpairing of the enter
prise, had abandoned it a few hours
before, and the remainder chose new
leader, determined not TO retreat i'll
glOriOusly without a blow. The bold
resolve was therefore desperation, for
/ they had neither ordnance nor bag
gage wagons, nor provisions; nothing
| but their rifles and that mcOnqUeT-
able courage of heart which knew no
fear.
At the distance of a short league
stood the ancient town of Meir, so
strong in itself, with almost every
house a fortress or stubborn StOne'
and the citizens the brayeSt boast of
| the frontier, while in front Of the sub
urbs lay the camp of General CdnaleS
I Ampudia and the chiYalrOuS LaNega,
with a powerful artillery and two
| thousand soldiers, the elite of the Mex
| lean army. The sun set in Il high
| bank Of black and stormy clouds, and a
hOaFse p6al of far off thunder mutteT-
ed OminOusly as the last TeXa4 landed
| ON the battle shore. The great ma
| iOrity of the YiSages looked stern and
| gloomy as the tempeStuOus face Of that
cold December sky. and every one
| clutched his rusty rifle with nerves of
iron and awful energy; while IA low
pet terrible murmur ran along the
column-"Vengeance on the traitor
Canales whose falsehOOds, have
| brought us here"
In the angry, rushing ranks, how
ever, there was one youth of some
twenty summers, who betrayed very
| different feeling from that which actu-
| ated the mass of the crowd. He laugh
ed, tested. and gave way to the great
| est emulation of mirth, rs If merely
! going for the amusement Of frOlic,
! until his two elder brothers rebuked
/ his merry madness.
But Jack Phelps only answered sin
| his usual Vein-"What would you have
me do! Are we not bound for battle
instead of a funeral? And | see no
need of long face unless it be to
| frighten the enemyF
Indeed, the young man looked the
perSOniticatiOn and ideal of the high
est personal prOweSs, with his tail and
handsome form, springy and powerful
as that of 4 tiger, and his beautiful,
! fair, almost feminine features, BEAM
| ing the impress of reckless bravery,
/ while his keen blue eyes twinkled with
] gay humOr, and OYertlOWed with spark
! ling. irrepressible animation; and his
! rich yellow locks waved around the
fine shoulders like the golden sun god.
| The two elder brothers, James and
/ William Phelps both presented no.
| ble appearance; and the three, with
/ the famous ranger, Capt. Lewis, march
| ed at the head of the advancing col
mn. Very soon the deepest darkness
descended to the earth and everything
became invisible save when the litful
! flashes of lightning lifted up the pail
of sable clouds, but to drop in theneXt
| instant and thus render the gloom
more intense.
Capt Lewis, lend me your sword"
said Jack Phelps, in a serious voice,
For what purpOSeE inquired the
/ other
Il want TO cut open the fog, so that
we can see our Wayw answered the
wild Jester, with his merry musical
| laugh.
rfIushr said the officers, I'VE must
| be near the enemy'S line"
! Scarcely had he spoken, when a bril-
! liant sheet of crimson flame burst Il
! few PAGES before them, and the deafen-
| ing roar of whole platoon of musket
nv reverberated on the still night air.
| The Texans uttered yell wild enough
TO wake the dead-"V Vengeance on the
traitor Canales" and rushed to meet
their foes.
| After a brief struggle they drove in
| the picket guards, and without mo-
/ ment's pause, the three hundred heroes
\ flew TO do battle against two thousand.
| At the instant the storm broke forth
in all its fury, and the Mexican cannon
and dread artillery Of heaven opened
| together. Mingled grapeShOt, bullets
and hailstOne ratified, among the chap
parel in fearful rivalry, as if man and
nature had joined in mortal combat.
while the shrielS of the wounded and
mOans of the dying could be heard on
ly at intervals amidst the ferOciouS
shouts of the warriors and the tTemen-
dOus pealS of appalling thunder. Such
| was the scene of horror, nearly if not
quite unequaled in bloody annals Of
the world.
! Ampudia hurled mass after mass of
| infantry against the little band of
dreadful adventures and thinking thus
To crush them by the mere weight OF
numbers; but firm and unyielding rs
a solid rock in the ocean they resisted
and rolled back every billOw in broken
waves.
CanaleS charged upon them with five
| hundred horses but the rifle and re-
yolver proved too much for the MeXi-
can lance rs well rs bayOnet; and still
slowly, steadily and ever onward the
Texans forced their way into the sub
urbS of Meir, and about midnight eff
fected their Judgement in several Of
the stone houses when the contest
ceased.
The following dawn came bright and
beautiful from the new droOpIng
chambers OF the golden orient, and tn
sunny air teemed with smiles and
bushes, as if no tears had ever stained
the blue eyes of heaven, and no blood
had ever crimsOned the green bosom
of the glorious earth.
But with the first fash of the burn
ing sunbeams, Ampudia and Canales
renewed the terrOTS Of battle. The
Mexican artillery, arranged in suit
able positions during the pre-
yious darkness, opened with round
shot on buildings where the rangers
had taken refuge, and continued Ia
thunder for hours; but the deadly aim
of the American rifle picked the can
nOneers Off one by one, until at last ey-
cry gun was deserted, and the enemies
had recourse to the protecting parapets
of the fiat house tops in the neighbOr-
hood.
The officers urged on, by alternate
threats and promises, column after col
umn TO the tremendous strife; vet they
melted away like snow before a burn
ing sun, at the fierce fire Of the Texan
sharpshOOters, until the Mexican force
| Withdraw from the fatal ranOr of the