Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1883-06-30
ll--E
DEATHS HEAD tUIRASSIERS !;
A Legend of the Old Guard.
BY CAPT. FRED. WHITAKER,
AUTHOR OF "THE PHANTOM KNIGHTS
"RED RUDIGER," "NEMO, KING OF
TRAMPs," "THE IRISH CAP
TAIN, ETC, ETC.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE SUN OF AUsTERLITz.

SucH DuSIl0 tnat all InOugnt OF TN
2 paper in his pocket was banishe'
, from his mind.
r The regiment had received order
to move and the men were packing
and saddling in silence by freight
with that celebrity and silence which
comes to old soldiers in campaign
CasSe Tete had his masters prop
erty all in order, and the horse
ready, and inside of ten minute
: the late quarters of the Death
+ Head CuiraSSierS were silent ant
deserted while column Of ShrOud
ed figures, with crested helmets anC
big black horses, was moving off a.
Il walk down the street of Brunn tC
the high road that led to the Hun
garian frontier by the way of Pos
soritz and the little village of Aus
terlitZ.
They fell in behind the rest OF
Colonel Lenoir's brigade, travelled
all night in drizziing rain-storn
and went into bivouac below the
lights of Pratzen, where they re-
manned all the next day, during
which troops were moving into
position all around them and it was
evident that great battle was I'M
pending.
To Gabriel Lenoir the inactivity
of this day Was very trying. lie
lOnged for action and, for the first
time in his career since he had en-
tered his regiment he found that he
was ignoront of what transpired
round him, and had to stay in camp
isnnI XI,nfoh IF ,nhnoa nh
ject he knew nothing.
Late in the evening of that day
the LIST of December, 1S05-hOW well
they all remembered 1t in after
years 1.-The soldiers in the French
camp heard the rumble of artillery
from the direction of Olmutz and
saw red glare on the heights of
PratZen.
There was general feeling of
restless excitement throughout the
camp and even the dignified veter-
ans of the Guard were not as impas-
SiVe as Usual.
They knew that the Russians had
| come.
What force had the enemy, what
force the French only one man
,hhCWS anu HS ACpt lilC oCClCI AOChcNA
| in his breast.
Gabriel Lenoir knew the strength
of the Russians and wished he knew
how many men were clustered
round the French eagles, but the
knowledge was denied him.
The distant runbling kept on
and the whole sky was red with
the fires of the Austrians when the
night mIsts began to rise as usual
and sfrouded the whole prospect in
gloom.
The Deaths Head Cuirassiers
were at their suppers after cleaning
horses, when the order came round
to saddle up and be ready to move.
This reused the excitement to .fe-
yer heat and when the men realized
that the whole brigade had the
same orders they could hardly be
restrained from cheering. They
thought the battle was about to
begin in the night and the fog.
But as soon as the horses were
saddled and the ranks formed, an
other order came that quieted them
down.
The men were to rest on their
arms all night and keep up their
fires brightly.
"No fight till tomorrow, MAJOR"
observed Solage to Lenoir. 81 wish
those Russians were all ut the devil.
They're going to rob us of a nights
sleep for nothing"
Casse Tete came to his master TO
ask:
(which horse will you ride to-
morrow, sir? The Russian and
Austrian are both in good condition
now"
(which will carry me furthest ?"
"The Russian, my officer, he is
Il giant. But then ne may give you
trouble"
"How, Casse Tete ?'
ooh, your honor knows what
these drilled horses are. He may
take you into the midst of the Rus
slams when he sees their uniforms.
On that account / would say take
the other. Besides he is fat and
wants work.
Every well, Casse Tete. Saddle
the Austrian"
He remained by his fire for a
while, but his position in the regi- |
ment was too disagreeable for him
to remain quiet long. He had no
one to speak to but his orderly and |
Sulage, and the latter was decidedly |
cool and averse to conversation.
Noting the fact that the brigade
lay next to the grenadierS of the |
Guard, he strolled over to one of
their fires to chat with the officers,
too proud TO approach those of his
own regiment who declined to aSso-
ciate with him.
He found these strangers courteous
they had heard his name and
knew OF his peculiar position in the
regiment.
"Never mind, major. observed
one grenadier, consolingly; "to-
morrow may make great changes
to a good many of us and you may
find your account among the rest"
Gabriel tried to feel cOmforted by
the idea that he could not help
being gloomy and after a few words
on toward little hillock
on the left of the guard from which
he hoped to obtain better view of
the enemy.
To reach this hill he had TO pass
among the camp-fires of the grena-
diers, and suddenly became aware
that little man in a gray over
rOat was also strolling among the
fires, exchanging few words with
every soldier as he passed.
He knew the emperor in an in.
,tant. He had seen him before on
the eve Of Il battle when he was
simply General Bonaparte, circulat-
ing among the men dropping words
1f praise and encouragement. On
such occasions the emperor rarely
spoke to officers, except to snub
hem, while to Il common soldier
ne was familiar to Il degree only
because of its rarity.
All things, considered, Gabriel
thought ii best to keep out of the
way OF his majesty, but he forgot
hat his tall form. cuirassier helmet
md long cloak made him a conspic-
1ous figure.
He was retiring out of view when
ne heard the voice of the emperor
.ry sharply:
"Hola, Monsieur lie Cuirassier,
what are you doing here? Come
lither ~
Then there was nothing for it but
% turn round, salute and answer:
81 crave pardon, sire, but / was
)nly taking Il STROLL"