Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-03-22

with incoherent cries, to arrest tht
, food, and bring back to order hi:
panic borne and broken battalions.
STANDARDIZATION Whittier woult
, you fiy-why fly. men Of Virginia
: Am l not here to lead you back-tC
|, lead you to victory? Turn, towards
: for shame's sake. for the sake Of youi
country. There is no danger. The
battle is yours, If you will but make q
, single effort. Back with me. Shame
not yourselves, your state, your coun-
try! Shame not these grey hairs, my
countrymen. l entreat-I implore-l
command you, turn, and strike but a
single blow-deliver but another vol
i. ley. Behold! 1 myself will lead you
, to victory
He might as we'll have spoken to
the winds, wild and headlong in the
autumnal equinox. He might as well
have spoken to the floods, loosed from
the bonds of the deep, and me uniting In
fOaming mountains above the shores.
They heard not-they needed none OF
his exhortations-his cries, his entrea- :
amidst the fugitives. He smote fierce
ly among them with barred sword,
striking as If among foes only, and
all in vain. Never were efforts more
honestly, but idly made, to compel the
flying militiamen back to the ranks
which they had broken, and the stand
ards which they had dishonored.
Then, too late, were the evil effects
beheld of that recklessly forward
march which had considered none of
their necessities, and had allowed its
commander no time to win the conf
| dence of his people. His was an un-
accustomed voice; and in this lies half
the cause of militia panics generally.
The voice Of favorite leader would
not have been unheard at such mo-
ment; end even then the field might
have been recovered-the victory
might have been won. But Gates's
was not the voice to effect this object.
He shouted, implored, ragged; and was
never heard. In his fury, shifting
down a refractory soldier who offered
much more defiance to his general
| than he had done to the British bay
| onetS, he vented his Indignation in a
| torrent Of oaths.
Villains! towards! wretched cow
ards! Why will you fly. Turn for
shame. For your country, for me,
turn upon your enemy, and deliver but
one fire-strike but one blow. Turn
about. l say-turn, you id rascals,
| turn!'
His exhortations and oaths were
equally in vain. The panic had be-
come a madness-drunk, deaf, deliri-
Gus, insensible to all influences but the
| one governing terror which beheld
danger on all sides, without the res
olution to encounter 1t on any. The
torrent bore the unfortunate general
along with it; the rush Of numbers
| was no longer resistible; and as. de-
spairing at last of bringing them back,
| he sought to turn about himself, in or
der, with the resolution of despair, to
throw himself into the thick or the
struggle, where it was carried on still
| between the Continentals and the
| British a tall sergeant who was hur-
rying away with the rest, and who
had just GOODNESS enough to endeayor
| to oppose a courage greater than his
own, did not hesitate, with one slash
| Of his sabre, to cut the bride OF
Gates's horse, and set the animal free
to a fight which he naturally followed
with the fugitives. Free from all con-
troll, the fiery steed Of the general,
spite of all his efforts, and seeming to
share in the common panic, darted
along upon the route, pursued by the
| flying mass, as madly as the rest.
Gates had now seen all Of the battle
which he was destined to see. HIS
hair whtened as he flew. The sting
of shame was--in his -souf-his sense
was bewildered- He would
have thrown himself from the horse,
but he was prevented by those about
him; and overwhelmed with despair
and humiliation, which clung to him
ever afterwards through life, to Its
weary close, the unfortunate general
was borne away from the connict
which no generalship now could pos
Sibly retrieve.
Meanwhile, the battle still ragged
| fercely in certain portions OF the
| field. The British were not suffered
to sweep the plain without paying the
price of honorable victory. Flushed
with the successes which they had
wen, they rushed forward on all hands
| to lay the final sickle to the harvest;
Sbut their onward course of conquest
| was arrested for a season by the
steady front and unyielding nerve or
the Continentals under De Kalb. The
main battle was yet to be fought.
Accustomed to previous encounters,
| the brave division which was led by
the German Baron had too frequently
smelt gunpowder to be greatly moved
| by the panics of militiamen; and their
courage rose in due degree with their
| isolation. They beheld the rout with
little or no emotion, save that OF in
dignation. The panic touched not
them. AS for the sturdy veteran at
their head, ii only brought out his best
|
tent of his danger, elevated his soul
| to a due sense of the resolution which
was needed for its encounter. He saw
| that the field before him was that OF
| his last conflict: that it would be i'm
| possible, with his small division, to
make head against the concentrated
attack of all the forces of the British;
but he was firm in his decision to eX.
act from his enemy the fullest price OF
conquest.
Stand your ground, my brave fell
lows" he cried, as, with uncovered
head, he rode calmly along through the
smoke and danger-"stand your
ground. brave men, and do no shame
to your officers You have name to
preserve unsulled, and a country to
save from tyranny. Be resolute FOR
both, and we may yet win our best
laurels from this days struggle!
They received his speech with
cheers.
Colonel Dixon" said he, addressing
the officer in command of the only
regiment North CarolinianS who
kept their places in the line-"Colonel
DiXCn. close up and feel the Maryland
| regiment"
II was done handsomely. Surveying
the prospect as he rode, in one or those
rauses of the storm that indicate the
/
| thunderS and seeing that his flank,
which had been exposed by the deser-
ton Of the militia, was now partly
covered, the noble veteran prepared 10
take the initiative, and TO anticipate,
by his own. the charge of the British
His orders to this effect were delivered
| with the tone of true valor. HIS de-
cision was the only course left him Tor
comparative safety, and was that OF a
sound experience. To nave SIMPLY
received the assault. with the full mo-
(mentum upon him of the rushing
/ masses of the enemy, would probably
have been the annihilation of his di-
vision. He alighted from his horse,
resolved to share with his infantry
the full perils of his next movement
and turned the beast loose in the rear
to seek safety where he might. The
well trained charger wheeled about
with the platoOns, and subsequently
went into the charge with the rest,
as if his bride had been governed by
the will Cf a rider.
De Kalb. meanwhile, took his place
in the ranks with his men; then with
claor Shrill voice his sword stretched