Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1893-05-18

ing, The boy. oh, where was he2' and
suggesting that Ibis fragments strewed
the sea, | was troubled by Casa ban-
ca > blind Idisobedience. and wondered
/ what kind III a father he could have
had that he seemed to fear him even
more than he feared the flames, as he
cried out appealingly: My father,
must I stav?' / knew what my father
would have thought of me. if ! had
stood near fire and got my clothes
singed.
Yet liked the fellow; and although
was not in the habit of playing with
/ that kind of boy, Casabianca was one of
my Youthful heroes.
/ Some months ago while rambling
through Corsica, found large clan
i Of Casabiancas. II is a family that
stands high in the history and govern
ment of the island. | found them to
be Of the same blood as my youthful
/ hero. And from some of them learned
the boys history.
/ His name was Giacomo Jocante Casa
/ blanca He was born in 1879, in YES
| corato. Corsica. His father, Louis de
Casabianca, was at once brave officer
and profound politician. Capt Casa
blanca was very young when he en-
| tered the navy; he was speedily distin-
| guished for remarkable bravery, and
his reputation was so high in Corsica
that when the French revolution broke
out he was chosen as a deputy from
Corsica to the national convention at
Paris
There he supported several measures
proposed by the directory for the or
ganization of the French navy, and was
sent to the northern coast as inspector
of the channel. When his services there
were finished, he re-entered the navy,
was made commander of the frigate
0rient-a part of the expedition sent to
subjugate Egypt II was under the or
ders of Admiral Brueys. The captains
son Giacomo, bow of nineteen, sailed
with him as midshipman.
The squadron sailed on May TO- 1898.
and the Orient, which was the flagship
of the squadron, had the appearance
of a populous town from which women
were excluded: this floating city was
inhabited by two thousand individu-
ais" The ship not only carried the adj
miral. but the commander OF the expe-
dition, Napoleon Bonaparte, who passed
the greater part of the time in his ca bin
lying on bed which. swinging on a
kind of castor. alleviated the severity
of sea.sicl1ness, from which he fire.
quently suffered when the ship rolled"
Before month had elapsed, the
army of Egypt had landed; Bonaparte
was with them. and had left with Adj
miral Brueys full power TO direct the
movements of the navy. Those move
ments ended most disastrouslv Lord
Nelson, the commander of the British
fleet, attacked the French fleet near
Aboul<ir, in what is known as the Bat
tie Of the Nile, and with such effect
that Napoleon, when he learned the
disaster, exclaimed; Unfortunate Bru-
eys, what have you done -
Admiral Brueys never knew of Napo-
Icons censure. lie was killed early in
the fighti and Capt Casa blanca. on the /
quarterback of the Orient. fell, danger
ously wounded
Notwithstanding the losses, the bat
tie, we are told, continued 70 grow hot /
ter and hotter; three English ships sent
enormous broadsides against the ORR. /
ent, but the tri-colored flag hoated al
ways nailed % the mast by the hardy
sailors
But flames were devouring the cord
age naSts and the decks or the Orient:
all hope Of saving the ship was aban-
doued. Int still the crew kept op the
heavy firing on the enemy only % be
chased BY the flame from one post to
another flying from battery Is battery.
lighting sti0 At last when 1t was i'm 4
possible to use the guns longer, the
captain gave the men orders to try to
save themselves NY tbc port-holes
AS for him, neither the certainty of
death nor the supplications of his son.
who was standing at his side on the
blazing poop, could make him quit his /
pest; he would not leave the ship; he
would die with honor
Bat his son--it is sad to die II nine
teen. Capt Casabianca tries to force the
young Giacomo to reach the boat which
the English had launched to save the
noble remnant of the Orieut's defend
ers.
II is useless. The child is of the blood
of heroes; h presses against his fathers
bleeding breast; he supports his sink
ing form, and together, with their eyes
fixed upon the flag above. which, rent
with shot, still floats at the masthead,
father and son go down and are swal-
lowed up by me waters.
For nearly a century the eight
French ships with their commanders.
Brueys, Casabianca, Dupetit- Thouars,
Thevenard. and three thousand brave
soldiers have lain undistur bed in the
bay of AbulSir. their elected sepulcher,
our youthful hero clRsped in his IA
theirs arms. But il was the father
who babe him 60, not stay. Not long
ago an English ship was chartered for
the salvage Of the objects of value that
were on the Orient and other French
vessels that went 10 the bottom at the
battle Of the Nile" The announce
ment that the Egyptian government
had accorded a company the right to
raise the vessels met with an indig-
nant protest from the French press
Notwithstanding the protests, how
ever, the work of 'pillAge" went on.