The Irish standard., 1899-05-13

Duke of a.; ,;eu rode up, and men
tened t, t',Sse;esso,;. Brigade could be
spared fro. >'ett hy were, and
why not ha 'o,arge the
enemy. SAKE, ridl... Louis
stood viewing the battlc,, ivised
him to fly, but Louis address, lis gen.
eral thus: Can anything be done to
preserve the honor OF France?" SAKE
answered: eyes, my liege; there is a
gallant, intrepid band, the Irish Brigade,
upon which my hopes rest"
Summoning Count Dillon, SAKE said:
"Dillon, let the whole Irish Brigade
charge! To you commit its conduct
Where Dillon's regiment leads the rest
will follow. Let the Irish Brigade show
an example" "It shall be done,' replied
Dillon. 'Victory" cried SAKE. COR
death!" cried Dillon, and, placing him
self in front of his brave men, he made
a speech of corresponding vigor to
his soldiers: "March against the enc
mics of France and of yourselves, with
out firing until you have the points Of
your bayonets upon their bellies"
Words, not less, if not more worthy Of
remembrance, for their martial energy,
than those at Bunker HILL of Gen. Put
nam, to his men, against the same foe:
Reserve your fire till you see the
whites of their eyes!'
After these patriotic words the Irish
Brigade advanced against the right
flank
"Soon," adds an English letter from
France, "as the English troops beheld
the green uniform, and the well-known
fair complexion of the Irish; soon as
they saw the Irish Brigade advancing
against them with fixed bayonets, and
crying out to one another, Steady
boys! forward! charged too late they be-
gan to curse their cruelty, which forced
SO brave a people from their native
country, to seek their fortunes, in every
country, and now brought forward in
the field of battle, to wrest from them
both victory and lifeY'
That portion of the British, imnedi-
ately opposed to the Irish, were choice
body of men; they had the advantage of
being upon rising ground, the ascent
to which they were to sweep with their
musketry; while the Irish Brigade had
to ascend, and charge the occupants of
the eminence, without pulling t-ig-
ger.
The Irish being now sufficiently near,
the British prepared to give them that
formidable tempest of bullets which was
reserved for the last moment, in order
to be discharged with the more deadly
effect. And by that fire, the Irish suf-
fered accordingly. Count Dillon and his
brother, Arthur, were slain at the head
Of the family regiment, and large
number OF officers and soldiers were
likewise killed or wounded.
OF the twenty cannon belonging to
the formidable allied column. fifteen
pieces, with two colors, were among the
recorded trophies of the Irish Brigade;
the 1st Brigade of British Foot Guards
(the best of England's soldiers) being
specially noticed as losing pair of COL
ors and two horsed guns
The allies lost 5000 men, including
1000 prisoners, and the French 5000.
Fontenoy cost the Irish Brigade dear.
The gallant Dillon was killed with one
fourth of the officers and one-thrd of
the rank and file: but the immediate
consequences to France were immense
-'Tournay at once surrendered, Ghent,
Bruges, Ostend and other places were
taken in quick succession, and the Eng
]ish and their allies driven back behind
the swamps and canals of Holland.
None of all the French victories in that
age caused in Paris such tulnult of Joy
and exultation. When George II. heard
OF the defeat of the English, he exc1aim-
ed: "Cursed be the laws which de-
prived me of such subjects"
Such was the conduct of the Irish
Brigade at Fontenoy, where it is evident,
as at Cremona, forty three years before,
what they did to gain the day was of
such consequence, that but for them it
would have been lost