The Boy Soldier; Or, Garibaldi's Young Captain — page 359: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Snes THE BOY SOLDIER; OR, GARIBALDI’S YOUNG CAPTAIN. y} | — Sy) =~ Z )) Uf . \ y) * — : i B 7 4 \ = =! —— = ——_- wi Tif (\ : = ———— = — Sass —= = “a > ~ | ii THE LEAVE TAKING. CHAPTER CXVI. CAPTAIN FRANK FORD STILL WRITES OF WAR OPERATIONS IN MEXICO—WHAT TOOK PLACE AFTER THE FALL OF PONTSVILLE AND THE CAPTURE OF THE IMPERIAL GARRISON — A GRAND SEA FIGHT—ONE REPUBLICAN IRON- CLAD FIGHTS AGAINST AND DEFEATS MANY SHIPS OF THE IMPERIALISTS, “DEAR BROTHER,—In continuation of my last letter, I may add that after the fall of Pontsville all went well with our little army. “But what gave us all great pain was that the Imperialists were in strong force at the mouth of the Rio Grande, and shut out all our communica- tion at sea, 1 “ Knowing full well that the French and Impe- rialists would soon attempt to ascend the river and capture Matamoras in that way, we therefore im- mediately began to build a raft to retard their progress, and put bounds to Imperial curiosity. “Hence many old rafts of huge cypress logs, found moored in the river and tributaries, were floated down. “Woodmen were busy in the timber at various places, cutting down immense trees, the sound of whose fall, crashing in the forest, was like distant thunder. ; “Tn less than a week a raft was formed in two No. 45. parts, which, when made fast, would stand eps ting’ from all the ‘rams’ in the world, “Nor could the enemy fire it, for the timber was SO green, or so perfectly saturated from months and years of exposure in the water, it could defy all the turpentine Mexico might produce in a century to kindle a single stick of it. , : “This being speedily and excellently accom- plished, the enemy being safely placed at a respect- able distance, Captain Parker, an English volunteer, and his officers razed one of the vessels, and began the formation of the ungainly ‘ Juarez.’ “Carpenters, wood-choppers, sawyers, and black- smiths voluntarily gave a hand to éxpedite pro- ceedings, i : “An old engine was placed in ‘her, and the work of plating commenced very vigorously. “But how could we get plates, bolts, screws, machinery, &c., &c., when the scene of construction was far away from all supplies of every nature, in an out-of-the-way, river, and close. to a very small town, devoid of everything but. pretty, women ? “By superhuman exertions, however, many things were procured, and having four large guns aboard, and plenty of ammunition, volunteers were not wanting to man her, particularly as it was certain she would have terrible fighting to do ere reaching Bagdad, at the mouth of the Rio, her point of destination. er ee