Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1902-04-17

saw 10 Tic ~ lllihulSS dSh6u IDT.
Even an Irishman can't fight well on
an empty stomach, and nobody knew
that better than our commander.
But the enemy was prompt. When
the time was up they opened fire on
the minute. and most of us didn't get
chance to finish the meal. To tell the
truth, We didn't eat much, anyhow
None of us had ever been under fire.
The strain during those few minutes
before the first shot Numbered from
nearby hill was so terrible that four
OF our men went crazy. | am not
ashamed to say that l myself was al
most paralyZed with fear. | tried to
ilft a cup of coffee to my lips. bur
couidnt do it to save my life Mind
you. had served a term in the United
St2teS army, too and was looked up-
on as good soldier In the civil
war in this country saw men ar
fected in the same way who afterward
proved themselves the bravest of the
brave
AT last the first cannon shot rang
out and the spell was off. Even be
fore the echo of that shot died out
felt as if l could have attacked the
enemy single-handed. The faces of
the men about me, but a moment ago
white with fear, were now flushed and
their eyes shone like diamonds The
Irish blood was up, and before the day
was done the Italians learned that aa
Irishman always fights to a finish
Il have said that the fort was sur-
won JnI !, Il
one Of them was higher than the hill
! upon which stood the fort, but that
one was so steep that the enemy. try
as they would, could not get a gun 10
the top. We were also protected bv
walls so feet high and 10 feet thick
otherwise most of us would have
! been killed in less than an hour after
the commandment commenced for
they poured shot and shell at us FROM
! 10 batteries
! Il was rcloading my musket for tire
| fourth or fifth time when man stand
! ing Il couple of feet away from me had
! his head taken off by cannon ball so
clean and swift that he never know
what struck him. Bombs fell inside
| the walls and kept us on the jump
! But meanwhile our sharp-shOoters
were getting in their work, too. The
enemys artillery was within easy
range of our rifles and the Italians
serving the guns were picked off as
fast as they showed themselves. At
the end of three hours the cannonad-
ing ceased. They either did not want
to sacrifice any more men, considering
the little damage the artillery seemed
to be doing, or they ran out OF am
munitiOn, | don't know which.
About noon the enemy showed a
flag of truce and a little later mos-
sage arrived that if we didn't sur
render at once and Internationally,
the fort would be stormed and every
one of us put to the knife. Mai
! O'Reilly sent back word that SO far aa
he was concerned 1t was a fight to the
finish. There was only one way UP
to the fort. and the major knew that
he could hold out against an army As
long as our ammunition lasted. We
had two pieces of artillery, not made
use Of thus far, because powder and
ball had been reserved for just this
emergency. About o'clock in the al
ternoOn we heard the enemy's bugie
sound the attack. They marched up
to the nrst gate in close order and we
never fired a shot From that gate
road sunk into the rock and not more
than 80 feed wide led to the entrance
OF the fort. which, of course, was
strongly barricaded The distance
to the outer gate was about 500 feet
They blew up the gate and as soon as
the smoke had cleared away poured
into the road. Then we let them
nave IT, II was butchery, but we
were fighting for our lives. The poor
devils went down like grass before
the scythe. From where | was firing
my musket as fast as | could load 1t
could see the work done by thefirst
cannon shot. Twenty men at least
went down under it, And so it kept on
for half an hour. The road was then
filed with dead and dying. There was
no doubt about the courage of those
Italians. They renewed the attack
again and again, but only to be beaten
back each time with terrible loss.
The fighting lasted until after dark.
Then there was a hull. The enemy
withdrew. We were told to sleep on
our arms, as a night attack was prob
able. About midnight the enemy tried
to rush the fort, but they found US
wide awake and were beaten back rs
before. Then they drew off for good ."