Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1906-12-27

air into my lungs, owing to the grip
he had or my throat.
Nov, it stands to reason that ]
didn't lay still SOS to give him a good
chance to choke me to death, but wig
gled the best l knew how, and, thanks
to some of the tricks I had learned
among the mountains, it was soon pos
sible to roll him over. There wasn't
enough strength left in my body to
keep an upper hold; but over and over
we went until we struck the swamp,
and that which I thought would be the
death of me proved my advantage.
I'VE had wallowed in the soft mud
and water until we must have looked
like clay images when | let go my hold
to grip him by the head, and, putting
forth every ounce of muscle, managed
to so far turn it that his face was
pressed deep into the mud. That took
a good bit of the fight out of him, for,
of course, he couldn't breathe, and was
trying to yell for quarter, when up
came some of our boys.
1T stands to reason that they
couldn't make out which nan came
from England, and grabbed at the first
that came handiest, which just then
happened to be me.
"tCome up here, you blasted Brit.
isher!' the best friend l had in the
regiment shouted, as he pulled me back
by the collar of my coat, and I wasn't
much more than a half drowned kitten
in his clutch.
"Let go of me, you idjut!' / yelled
as soon as it vas possible to get some
Of the mud out of my mouth. Don't
you know your own comrade%
'The Britisher wasn't anybody's
fool, and, of course, he understood just
what a mistake had been made. He
came up on his feet like a steel spring,
and while my comrades were Growing
over having captured one of the
enemy, as they supposed, he took to
his heels, running like a deer, with the
mud falling off of him in flakes until
some one saw what kind of a uniform
he wore.
"In all that squad only a single mar
had a charge in his gun, and he fired
at the fellow, but it was the widest
, kind of a snap shot and the bullet
went wide, of course.
: "By the time l had cleared my face
of mud the Britisher was out of range
and perhaps I didn't talk the sweetest
) l knew how to the laundering fellow
who had not only lost me a prisoner
but came very finishing the chok
, ing which the redcoat had begun.
. Final Result of Battle.
"Then the battle was well nigl
over" my grandfather always said a
t this point in his story, and as to tn,
result of the engagement he woult
S give me a well worn slip of printed
r paper, from which l could read the fol
lowing:
Toward noon the fire of the British
visibly slackened, while that of tn
Americans was u~nceasing. The bal
y teries of the foe were crushed an,
broken. The sugar hogsheads ha
d been converted into splinters and thei
h contents, mingling with the soft eartf
4. soon lost their volume. The guns nc
IS %dismounted were careened and worke
IS with great difficulty.
d. THE invaders fled in ingloriou
a haste, helter-skelter, to the bitches, /
le search of safety, and, under cover {
n the ensuing night, crawled sullenl
h back to their camp, dragging wit
ly them over the spongy ground a pal
r. of their cannon, leaving five of them
spoil for the Americans"
ly In the fight that day the America
loss was IL killed and % Wounds
It, while 20 of the Britishers were foun
dead on the field, the greater numbt
lying neal the swamp where the a
&C. tack on our lines had been made, ar
1g certain 1t is that no less than 80 he
is been disabled.