Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1886-08-14
ONE OF THE OLD GUARD.
A Soldier who Followed the Fortunes
of the Great Napoleon from
Egypt 10 Waterloo.

Egypt TO Waterloo.
The other day there died and wa!
buried at st. Johns church, at Logan
Hooking county, "a last survivor o
the grand army of Napoleon. writes ;
Columbus correspondent of The Gin
cinndti Enquirer. His name was Chris
tOphcr Stanley. and he was born in AL
SAGE in August, 1888, and therefore fell
only two months short of 103 years.
During the past quarter of a century
| met the old hero frequently, and ht
was always full of French enthusiasm
and there was no one but the ''great
Napoleon in his estimation. He wa:
man of considerable culture as wei
as French enthusiasm, and his descrip
ton of his campaigns grew eloquent
intcrmingled with queer French inter.
jections, explosives, and parenthescs.
He was a typical veteran of the wars.
The thumb and index finger of his
right hand were gone. His left elbow
had been shattered and his arm was
stiff and almost useless. Across his
well-outlined forhead was broad, red
scar, mcmentO of some cuirassier' S
tempered steel. A crutch and n cane
answered for leg that was gone be-
tween the ankle and the knee.
Some years ago, one day when he
was PARTICULAR communicative, | pre-
vailed on him TO tell me the story of
his campaigns. That story was long,
and fcrvid in its descriptions. full of
glowing adicctivcs AMI French paren-
theses and CALCULATIONS. which could
not be translated. Shorn of large
proportion of IFS flowers of rcetoric,
the story may be thus epitomizcd:
II became a soldier at ID, and was
one of the thirty thousand men who
went with Napoleon to Egypt. and was
one of the first to enter the city of NAL
Ia. i was with my command ut the
pyramids, and participated in the terri
BILE conflict with the Mamclukcs
Thence across the desert and through
the lsthmuS Of Sucz To GAIA and Jaila,
and Saw the l,500 put to death for
breaking their parole, and helped 20
annihlate the allied army of $4,000 at
AbOuklr. | returned with nv COM
mander to France and saw him made
first consul. In 1900 we went to Italy,
and it was at MarcngO that the man of
destiny turned defeat into victory. The
peace of Amiens gave us holiday. 1t
was in 1904 that we helped to proclaim
him emperor and saw the preparations
made to invade England But England
was spared and Austria punished in
stead. | was in the thickest of the fight
at Austerlitz, and took. part in most of
the minor engagements that preceded
1t. did my share in bringing Prussia
to her knees at Jena in 1906. Taking a
little breathing spell. we again turnel
our attention 10 Austria, and ended our
triumphant campaign at Wagram by
taking 10000 prisoners. Three years of
preparation and we were on the road
10 the capital of Russia in the memora-
bic campaign of 1912. There were $780,
900 of us who went forth to glory.
Less than half that number returned,
and the most of them after being de-
tanned as prisoners. | saw them fall
by battalions at Smolensk and Borodino
and perish by grand divisions on
the retreat from Moscow to Smorgo-
nj. personally attended the emperor to
France when he babe adieu to his
soldiers at the latter city. At Lutzen
and Butzen l saw him win new victories
at the heal of fresh army. saw the
bastard Saxon allies desert at Lcipsic,
endured the fatigueS and dangers of the
retreat across the Rhine. OF $50, 200
soldiers who entered Germany, only
10000 answered roll-call on French
soil On the last day of March, 1914,
the allies took Paris. the emperor alb
dicated, and was banished to Elba. His
old soldiers then waited for his coming
again, and in June, 1915, at the heal
OF l2O,OO heroes he met united Europe
at Waterloo ant lost his empire. but
not his fame and glory, was one of the
old guard. There is q blank i'm nv
memory, and do not know how got
back to Paris, but found myself there
and learned that my old commander
was prisoner at st. Helena Then
came the news of his death. had
taken part in fifty engagements, great
and small. and had seen men die BY the
thousand; but that death affected me
more than all the rest put together"
but you have omitted TO tell where
Tou received your wounds? You lost
FOUR leg ut Waterloo, of cOurse?"
strangely enough, during sixteen
Years of campaign and in fiftv battles |
never received wound-not even a
scratch. The emperor told me often
hat bore a charmed life"
But how did you receive all these
wounds and scars?"
amid the security of peace. In
49,. in company with my wife, emf
rated to America. We reached Pitts
,urgh by stage. From there we floated |
Town the Ohio on flat-boat to the
mouth of the Muskingum, and ascend
ID that river to GAINESVILLE in a canoe.
rom GAINESVILLE / trundled all nv
,arthly possessions in wheelbarrow to |
it. Joscph's, near Somerset, where | |
fought farm and settled down. Then
'egan my sasters. My eldest son was
WITH me in the forest hewing logs for a
arm, and by n false stroke of the
'roadax cut off my thumb and finger.
few years later n vicious horse kicked |
ne and left that scar that looks like a
aber cut. The next year fell from a
obacco,housc l was helping to raise
nd broke four ribs and my collarbone.
ZEN years later | slipped and fell into a
hrashing-machine and | had nv foot
orn of. A few years ago l was on nv
Tay to church and my horse ran away,
brew me out of the carriage, shattered
ny elbow and left me with a stiff arm.