The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1896-08-15

boy officer. Come in, Shipp, and well
blow them all into another world !"
and the interview ended as the young
lieutenant hastened into the fort.
At once the British began their at
tack All night long their fine six
FOUNDER played upon the stockade, but
without any serious effect. The Good
Bess' was taken from one block house
to another to give the impression that
the fort had more guns. What would
Proctor have thought If he had known
the boy officer had only one cannon,
and that his ammunition was soon so
low he dared not fire that often? Bags
Of -four and sand were piled against
the weak places, and, with grimy and
set faces, the men stood to their work.
The boy officer was everywhere. His
example fired his men, and as he pass
ed from place to place many a cheer
went up for the young commander
The Majors Opportunity.
Z But he well knew the end had not
yet come. In the night the British had
dragged three cannon to a spot within
$50 yards of the fort, and in the morn
ing light the fire was renewed, but
owing to the vigilance Of George Gro
CHAN produced but little damage.
-Four o'clock in the afternoon came.
The British general was becoming des-
perate. His steady fire provoked no
return. He could not see that he had
brought the fort one whit nearer to a
surrender. His Indians were becoming
discouraged, and something must be
done. The clouds were heavy now and
the believing Of the approaching thun-
der increased the confusion. The mo-
ment for which the boy officer had
been waiting had come -,
Realizing that the northwest angle
was the weakest spot in his defense,
Maj. Croghan had brought the Good
Ress'' there, silent for long time now,
and leading her with a half charge Of
powder, he filled her to the muzzle
with shot and slugs. But he had
masked her in such a way that her
presence was unknown. There also he
had stationed the Kentucky sharp:
shooters, and he knew he could depend
upon them. The decisive moment for
which he had been planning had ar
rived. Feigning an attack on the south
crI side, Col. Short suddenly led his
British soldiers in two close columns
| against the northwest angle. Leaping
into the ditch and calling to his men to
follow, the angry colonel shouted:
I've the Yankees no quarter!' r.,
"Now! & Let them have it!' shouted
| the excited boy officer, when he saw
! the ditch full ,and the sharpshooters
! ard "Good Bess'' spoke together. The
masked port flew open, the slugs and
I grapeshot poured into the ditch and
groans and cries arose on every side.
| Another column Of British advanced
!: and again the "Good Bess'' spoke. This
was enough. The British turned and
| fed and left the colonel, who had cried
out to give the Yankees no quarter,
! dying among the dead, and feebly
Is waving his handkerchief on the end of
his sword and Begging fer5t m ha TN eTcy
/ lie himself had refused to offer.
All night the boy officer stood on the
/ ramparts and lowered pals of water
| to the wounded. He dared not open
the gates for fear Of treachery, but the
kind-hearted young commander dug a
trench, by which the wounded were
brought into the fort, t., ~.
What think you were his feelings
i next day when he wrote Tippecanoe
that he had held Fort Stephenson with
the loss of one man killed and seven
wounded, against the British Proctor,
who lost in killed and wounded l25!
: And what was done for the boy oftl-
| Ger? Gen. Harrison, when he unuer-
stood that escape from Fort Stephen:
son would have been impossible, could
not praise him enough in his dispatch
! es, the ladies of Chillicothe gave him
beautiful sword, congress voted him
the thanks of the nation and twenty
two years later presented him with q
i gold medal. The boy officer was in
deed old enough to command and unit
his death, which occurred at New Or
leans in 1S49, wherever he went he
used to hear a song written in his
honor, one stanza Of which was:
"Sound, oh, sound Columbia's shell!
High the laundering pean raise!
Let the echoing bugles swell
4 Loudly answering sound his praise
'Tis Sandusky's warlike boy, 81
Crowned with victory's trophy
4 Comes!
High arise ye shouts Of JOY,