The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1901-04-05


boys possessed Then they were to retire
behind the veteran regulars, under How
ard, who were on the second slope 150
yards in their rear. An equal distance
behind the second rise sat we cavalry
men on our horses, commanded to pull
on our reins and wait the moment upon
which the f2:e of the battle should turn
Thus stood our little army, awaiting
the rush of the battle which, as l have
said w;s to be one of the most impor-
tant and decisive of our war | stroked
Old Puts neck and bade him be cool,
but he was as calm as | and needed no
such encouragement. The man on my
left, Dick Patterson, Marylander sud-
denly whispered:
Don't you hear that faint rumbling
noise, Phil? That's the hoof beats of
cavalry
''Silence therel" called the colonel.
No one spoke again but, bending my
ear forward, could hear the far drum
of the horses hoofs, and | knew that the
English army was coming Old Put
raised his head and snuffed the air A
red gleam appeared upon the horizon
and broadened rapidly A thrill and
deep murmur ran the length and breadth
of our army
"Oh, if those militiamen will only
stand until the general bids them re-
tire!" groaned the colonel
That he believed they would not |
knew, since it is a hard thing for new
men to stand the rush of seasoned
army superior in numbers and equip
ment
The sun was just swinging clear of
the earth and betokened o brilliant
morning yet it was cold with the raw
damp that often creeps into South
Carolina winter, and | for one wished
that the men could see little more of
the day and loosen their muscles little
better before they fought.
The whole British army now appear
ed i'll the plain, cavalry, infantry and
fieldpieces in great red square
could plainly see the officers giving
their orders, and knew that the attack
would come i'll few minutes
ELEVEN hundred of them and no raw
tAOoPS, cttku SolOllOl w W6
know that exactly from our scouts.
think our cavalry will have something
to do today =
One'otficer, III the gayest of uniforms,
took to be the barbarian Tarleton, the
British leader whom we hated most of
all. for with all his soldierly qualities,
he was barbarian, as most of his
brnf har Rri f,ff
! wanted to see the faces of those
farmer boys down there on the slope
who were to receive the first and fiercest
rush of the enemy and to check it.
knew that many of them were white to
the eyes, but their backs were toward
me, and could not see
'They don t appear to move" whis-
pered Patterson. Their line looks as
firm as if it were made of iron -
Like untempered iron, | guess,
replied ''break like glass at the first
shot.
A bugle sounded i'll the front of the
British lines, and its notes. loud and
mellow, came to US, but from our ranks
rose only the heavy breathing and the
VI IuCil Ollu uOTS6S.
The trumpet call was followed by
cheer from more than a thousand
throats, and then the British rushed
upon us. The brass feldpieces ON their
fanks opened with the thunder that be-
tokens the artillery, and mingled with
their roar were the rattle of the small
arms, the throb of the drums and the
clamorous hoof beats of their numerous
cavalry.
The face of their red line blazed with
fire. their red uniforms glowing through
1t like bloody CLEAN, while the pol
ished bayonets flashed in front.
"They are firing too soon and coming
too fast" said Colonel Washington.
"By God, look at those militiamenl
They are standing like the Massachu-
setts farmers at Bunker Hill"
1t was so. The raw line of plowboys
never wavered. 1t bent nowhere and
was still as straight and strong as an
iron bar. The plowboys knelt down,
and, as the British cheer rose and the
red line flaming in front swept nearer,
up went the long barreled border rifles.
] fancied that ! could hear Pickens'
command to fire, but | did not, and
then all the rifles along a line sixth
of mile long were fired so close to-
gether that the discharge was like the
explosion of the greatest cannon in all
the world.
The smoke rose in thick black cloud,
which moment later f1oated a dozen
feet above the earth and revealed the
British squares, shattered and stopped,
the ground in front of them red with
the fallen, the officers shouting and re-
forming their lines, while our own plow
lads, still as steady as the hills, were
reloading their rifles with swift and
steady hands
We cavalrymen raised great shout
of approval, which the regulars ON the
rise i'll front of us took up and repeated.
A second volley was all that we had
asked from the militiamen, and it was
sure now. Even as our cheer was echo
ing it was delivered with all the cool
ness and deadly precision of the first.
Again the British line reeled and stop
ped, but they were veterans, led by the
fiery Tarleton, and they came on third
time, only to meet the third of those
deadly volleys, which swept down their
front lines and blocked the way with
their own dead and dying.
1.-THE battle is won already" shouted
Colonel Washington, land it's the
farmer boys of South Carolina and
Georgia who have won itr'
I