The Lake Charles echo., 1893-09-15
a nArrlE sIRANegLY Won.
An Army Put TO Flight by One Man ana
with the Loss Of Only One.

It was probably one Of the most re-
narkable battles that was ever fought.
The advance had been well planned by
the attacking force, the idea being to
surprise the enemy at the dead Of night.
Every detail had been carefully consid-
cred. The advance would be hidden BY
wood, and the first the enemy would
know Of it would be when the troops
swept out Of the wood and carried the
camp by storm. There were apparently
no pickets in the wood, and there seemed
to be no possibility of failure.
The colonel in command was gloating
over his expected victory, when one Of
his officers called his attention to q
bright light some distance TO the left Of
the advancing column.
"What is itr asked the colonel anx-
iously.
"I don't know, replied the officer.
''It flashed up there only minute ago"
"Well, If any one suspected we were
here he wouldn't go along swinging a
lantern to make a target of himself, ," as
serted the colonel.
The column had barely begun to move
again when light appeared on the right
and q little to the rear of the one that
had Just disappeared. Another halt was
made, and the colonel was tempted to
order q volley in the direction Of the
light, but of course that would betray
the exact whereabouts of the column
and would be almost suicidal.
"We are being suTToundedp exclaimed
one Of the officers excitedly,
Then light appeared in the shrubbery
Immediately ahead Of the retresting col
umn. The first man yelled "Rihe pitt"
and cleared the whole thing at one
bound. The second man was not so for
tunate. He stumbled and fell, and as
he fell he instinctively made reach for
the light He was the only man killed,
but his death completed the panic. Ranks
were broken, and the retreat became q
wild race to get out of the wood, ....
And the lights seemed to dance here
and there, appearing at the most unex-
pected points and adding to the confu-
sion,
When the excitement was at its height,
O man climbed out of a pit some distance
in the rear of the retreating force, He
stretched himself and peered after the
fleeing soldiers.
Hanged if / wasn't cramped in that
hole, "~he said. II suppose might as
we'll turn cannon or two loose just to
wake the boys up and scare those foot
racers little more"
He lay down ON the ground at the edge
Of the pit, reached his hand down to
= some keys on d sort of switchboard, and
In an instant cannon doomed out, Then
he raised himself to q sitting posture, lit
pipe and ohuckled to himself,
Two or three men Tushed up and
breathlessly inquired what the trouble
was, e ...
"Oh, I had little brush with the enc
N.Y." replied the man with the pipe
calmly. "They tried to surprise the
camp"
"And you beat themf'
"Why, they're running yet"
Quite crowd from the camp had
gathered by this time, and one of them
cried, "Three cheers for the eleetricianP
: but the man with the pipe raised his
hand to stop them,
"The credit is not all mine," he said
"Remember my able force of linemer
: who ran wires through this wood and
made 1t possible for me to win this vic
tory"
Just then some Of the men who had
gone into the wood after the retreatinl
enemy returned with the news that on'
man had been killed,
" "Whatl' cried the electrician, jump
ing up, He hurried to the place wherI
the body lay,
"Too badl Too badl" he said regret
fully, "but then accidents will happen
even in battle, He had no business tt
= catch hold Of live wire,"
: "Oh, we'll, there's no use feeling ba'
: about it," put in one of the officers. ~
! victory has been won, and only one hf
has been lost"
"But why have one lostr asked tn
I electrician. aOf course 1t was tiTesom
work In that pit, and when ] got them o.
: the retreat was glad of 1t, but ! neve
!, supposed any one was going to grab hol
of the light, It's too badl"
= And the man who had won the victor
y could not be consoled. Chicago Tribune