The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1900-11-28


"May I ask what this regiment Is do
ingT he repeated, but In a louder
voice, and then he continued: Us this
the regiment that commended after
Princeton In the presence OF the whole
army for extraordinary gallantry In
the face Of the enemy? Is this the reg
iment that showed even greater bray
cry at Germantown
There was 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
ment heaved 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
voice that rose far above the crash Of
the British musketry: "where is your
colonel? Where is Colonel Carruth-
ersY
"The colonel is killed. He fell early
in the attack" replied some one.
"And his body-where is Il? What
have you done with it?' shouted the
general.
1T is back yonder," replied. among
the bushes on the hillside. He was left
where he fell"
do you mean to say that you have
abandoned your colonels body to the
enemyf" shouted the general to the
whole regiment rather than to me.
"Does any American regiment abandon
its officers dead or alive In such a
manner? A retreat before superior
numbers can be pardoned, but not that.
So great disgrace cannot be endured.
Go back and bring away your colonel's
bodyw
His voice was large, like everything
else about him, and Its tones rolled
among us Ike thunder. The men way-
cred and turned fieetlng glances to-
ward the enemy. They thought OF the
body of our beloved colonel lying back
there among the bushes and In the
hands of the foe. He was not alone
the colonel, but the father of the regi-
ment, and 1t would be repeated by
every other regiment In the army as
long as any of us lived that we had
abandoned him.
They still hesltated, and Captain
Hunter, running among them, shouted,
For Gods sake, men, turn back and
bring off the coloners body~ Then we
Junior officers, inspired again by his
example, took up the cry, and presently
the soldiers themselves began to shout
it. 1t swelled among us like refrain,
"Save the colonePs bodyF'
"Come, Gordon!" shouted Captain
Hunter to me. 1.-THE way is not there,
but here This road takes us to the
coloners bodyr' And turning about he
ran toward the British. l followed
him, and suddenly our men, wheeling,
too, ran upon the British vanguard,
still shouting that refrain: "Save the
coloners body! Save the colonel's
bodyw
There is something terrible In the
wrath OF men who have been thrown
into panic terror and then, under the
influence of sudden and great emo
ton, recover completely from It, They
have so much to atone for that the nat
ural courage in them burns like fire.
Our turn was so quick. our rush so
fierce, that the BIRTHS were as much
surprised as we had been. Their van
guard was crushed in an instant, swept
entirely from the field, and then, CIV
ing their main force our second volley,
we drove ut II with the bayonet, and
always above the craelle of the rides
and muskets and the clash of steel rose
that somber battlecry: Save the colo
nel's body! Save the colonel's bodyl
We had fed full mile. and the colo
mel lay somewhere near the beginning
Of the rout. That was our objective
point now, and we rushed back upon
our own path, fighting MS our regiment,
famous In the whole army, had never
fought before, pressing heavily and
more heavily upon the British and
driving them before us. l think that
no troops in the world could have held
us back then, and, shouting our battle
cry, we pressed on and on toward that
fatal spot ON the hillside where our be-
loved coloneps body lay. The smoke of
the firing blew in our faces, the enc
my outlets Stulis US, SOuic VI thS ihtb
fell, but only the dead, the wounded
fighting like the unwounded, and we
still drove straight for that spot among
the bushes on the hillside.
The British recoiled before such q
shock, and we swept on faster than
ever. Then we began to climb the hill
side, and the men shouted: Here Is
where no fell! Here is where he fell"
But the colonel himself, pale and
bloody, rose up among the bushes and
said In voice weak, but heard clearly
by us: II knew that my brave lads
would come back for me! / knew that
they would not leave me to the enemy!
On, lads, and sweep them from the
hillsw
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 own army as 1t pressed for
ward to the battle which we had been
chosen TO open.