The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-05-28
THIN SLICES q OF AMERICAN HISTORY.
aARN1s s., Ed WITH talk


Ned came IN from the Office with the
evening mail, shaking the water from his
coat and hat as great Newfoundland
dog would shake his shaggy coat on com.
ing out of the water.
Why does it rain 2" asked Lou,
looking up from the book which had alb.
ssoFhsd her thoughts for the last half
hour.
Indeed it does it is q nasty evening.
The creek is rising too, we shall soon
have 9 raging torrent at the foot of the
hill ~
& Well; there's no army waiting to
cross;e returned Lou, in a truly quizzical
!, manner. @ e; : - s. f.... "A :,
stWhat do you means?o asked Ned,
handing the letters to his father and toss
ing a package toward Lou.
sssOh, q was only thinking of the time
when 8 rain saved an army.a u -
More historyl All right this is a
I good time for it. What part of the
world are you dipping into now, and
What'ssthe time of day q
ST is the evening ofthe twentyreighth
of January i believe. That is certainly
what the calendar up there says. Now
just substitute 1871 for 1885 and you have
it. don't suppose that hundred years
or 80: from now il will be known or be Of.
interest that it rains tonight. But the
fact that it rained on that twenty-eighth
Sof January, 1871, is one Of the things
set down in history as important
Justtell a fellow about it, said Ned.
Ned, Il am afraid you are a lazy fell
Low, said his father. You seem to
make Lou doa great deal of reading for
your benefit #
30, no, father. Lou does it for her
i own benefit and it is really pure benevo.
.slence on my part to let her talk"
Well, you remember that after Cen
eral Gates had won reputation by the
capture of Burgoyne and the surrender
of the British army at Saratoga, he was
given the command of,the Southern de-.
partment but only to suffer defeats and
misfortunes. He was superseded by
General Greene, who speedily rallied and
reorganized the army which he found
greatly reduced in numbers. One divis-
ion of his army defeated the British at
Cowpens, but finding that he had 80 few
mensin comparison with. the army of
CORVALLIS he decided to retreat to Vir-
ginia, to save the remnant, and seek re-
inforcements. On the twenty.eighth of
January he reached and crossed the Ca
tawba, getting safely OYER with all his
s baggage. CORVALLIS was only two hours
later in arriving at the ford, but as. it
was now nightfall he concluded to wait
{ and cross by daylight, having no doubt
of being able to capture Greene's army.
5 But during the night a perfect torrent of
& rain fell, so that in the morning the dis
comftted General looked out upon
river swollen and unfordable. And it
was q fortnight before he could cross
with his army. Then the roads having
become only partly settled, the two
armies began 8 race of sixty miles for
the Yadkin. Again Greene came out
ahead and again CORVALLIS was delayed
by a rain which came up just as he was
2 about TO cross. However, by leading his
army up the river about twenty-five
miles to a shallow place, he succeeded in
crossing, and the third race began. The
tRo armies were on parallel roads only
twenty-five miles apart, but Greene came
out ahead and reached Virginia, where
he was reinforced"
WAS not Greene the fellow of whom
it has been said that all his defeats had
the effect of victories 2" interrupted Ned.
Yes, and believe he never gained a
decided victory. At Guilford Court
House The raw recruits broke line and
fled atthe first fire and this caused great
confusion. The Americans we're forced
to retreat after some hard fighting; but
CORVALLIS was 80 badly cut up that he
also retreated. Tne battle Of Eutaw
Springs is called the hardest fought bat,
tie of the war, aud there as before Greene
failed of decisive and complete victory
oily by the folly of some of his soldiers
but the enemy we're SO crippled that hey
retreated.''
teFhis was during the last year of the
war?"
sit was almost the end This engage,
ment closed the Southern campaign"
For few moments Ned busted himself
lin tracing out the plan of the campaign
on a small map. Presently Lou said
Il have read two or three amusing
anecdotes connected with this Southern
campaign. At Cowpens Morgan was at
tackled by tile British, under Tarleton
The attack was fierce, but the American;
stood vel. and Of q crisis Of the battle