The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1900-12-19

llolh III JpllNIoh, dlNlOuRl DC lldN nOl
seemed TO raise his voice. We made
no reply, merely looking at one anoth-
CT, each waiting tor some other to
speak.
"May | ask what this regiment is
doiuS?" he repeated, but in a louder
voice, and then he continued: sis
this the regiment that | commended
after Princeton in the presence of the
whole army FOR extraordinary gallantry
IN the face of the enemy2 Is this the
regiment that showed even greater
bravery at Germantown"
There was a cry in the rear of our
huddled crowd. The fire Of the enemy
had grown hotter and had come closer.
1t was scorching terribly, and the regi-
ment by an abrupt convulsive move-
men hcavcd forward directly toward
the general. The flight was about to
continue in spite of HIM.
But he rode suddenly toward us, his
face red with wrath, and he shouted
in a voice that rose far above the crash
of the British muskctry "Where ls
your ~Coloncl2 Where is Colonel Car
ruthcrs?"
"The colonel is killed. He fell
early in the attack" replied some one.
"And his body-whcre is it? What
have you done with il?" shouted the
general.
at is back yondcr," | replied,
"among the bushes on the hillside. He
W is left where he fell.n
"Do you mean to say that YOU bave
= abandoned your Golonel's body to the
, cntmy?" shouted the general to the
y whole regiment rather than to me.
"Docs any American regiment aban.
, don its officers dead or alive in such a
4 manner? a retreat before superior
4 numbers can be %pardoned, but not
O that. Go back and bring away youl
\ colonel's bodyun
8 His voice was large, like everything
else about him, and its tones rolled
8 among us like thunder. The mel
e wavercd and turned tleeting glanceS
$ toward the enemy. They thought Of
& the body of our beloved colonel lying
back there among the bushes and in The
IS hands of the foe. He was not alon,
&c the colonel, bu The father of the rcGi
ment, and it would be repeated b,
le every other regiment in the army n
If long as any OF us lived that we lac
n abandoned him.
v They still hesitated, and Captain
Hunter, running among them, shout
cd, "For Gods sake, men, turn bacI
Is and bring of The coloncl's body!'
er Then we Junior officers, inspired agar
to by his example, took up the cry, an,
ns presently h soldiers themselves be
gan to shout it. 1t swelled among Il
D. like a refrain, "Save the colonel
l. body"
t Come, Gordon!' shouted Captal,
e. Hunter TO me. "'The way Is not there
y but here. This rode takes us to tn
% coloncfs body." And turning abou
m he ran toward the British. | followe
lie him, and suddenly our men, wheeling
H. too, ran upon the British vanguard
shouting that refrain, "Save the COLI
~ nePs body! Save the colonel's body !!
III There is something terrible in tn
wrath OF men who have been throw
into a panic terri and then, under tn
nj influence of a sudden and great emo
tlon, recover completely from IT
they have so much to atone for tina
rs the natural courage in them burns Xix
We IRE. Our turn was so quick, our rus
lis so fierce, that the British were a
n much surprised as we had been. Thei
vanguard was crushed in an lnsiani
sh swept entirely from the field, and the
I'd giving their main force our second vo
Int ley, we drove at it Sith the hayonet
ne and always above the crackle of the r.
ed hes n muskets and the clash of stecI
I'd rose that somber battle cry: >.Save tn
err col0ncFs body! Save the colonel
10 body!' =.
'c We had fled a full mile, and the colo
mel lay somewhere near the b%cginnin
re OF the rout. That was our objectiv
point now, and we rushed back upo
Il W path, fighting as our req
Id ment, famous in the whole army, ha
never fought before, pressing heavil
and more heavily upon the British an,
er driving them before us. think tina
ut no troops in the world could have he'll
.d us back then, and shouting our battle
cry, we pressed on toward that fata
spot on the hillside whore our believe,
colonel's body lay. The smoke of th
firing blew in our faces, the enemy,
,r bullets sung us, some Of the men fell
put only the dead, the wounded fl hit
u ing like the unwounded, and still drov,
= straight for that spot among the bush
d es on the hillside.
The British recolled before such
shock and swept on faster than ever
Then we began to climb the hillside
and the men shouted: "Here is wher,
It he fell! Here is where he fell!' Blu
# the colonel himself, pale and bloody
rose up among tie bushes and SAID IN
t a weak voice; but distinctly heard by
us: 81 knew that my brave lads
C would come back for me! | knew
that they would not leave me to the
t e'iemy! On, lads, and sweep them
: from the hillsV"
: He led US himself, wounded as he
| was, and we hurled ourselves directly
upon the whole British army, while
we heard to left and right the long.
rolling fire of our W army as it press.
7 cd forward to the battle which we had
; been chosen to open.
y n 0
That night, when the victory was
:, won, our regiment, silent, subdued and
humbled by a memory, marched past
General Washington and his staff and
our " colonel, who was still pale and
weak, wearing a great bandage around
his head.