The Boy Soldier; Or, Garibaldi's Young Captain — page 378: what you’re looking at

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

372 a a mm THE BOY SOLDIER; OR, GARIBALDI’S YOUNG CAPTAIN. ee Oe eae short time, our men were anxious to advance, and that the country ahead of them would prove rich in supplies, and successful battles do much towards arming the hundreds rallying to their standards ; while by giving up the country we had conquered, the ‘moral’ effect upon the country at large would prove distressing. ‘“‘ Finding Lopez averse to advancing, Escobedo asked him to loan a few thousand stand of arms for his men, and “he would fight alone.” ‘This Lopez refused ; but receiving peremptory orders to advance upon Maximilian, he acquiesced with a bad grace, and the march for Potosi com- menced. ‘Such a march, and such an army, you could never conceive. ‘“We were equipped in every way that chance or circumstances permitted. “ There were all kinds of weapons, and every sort of attire ; so that had a stranger beheld us, toiling along over hill and dale, through dust, &c., day by day, he would scarcely have thought there was any ‘discipline’ or ‘fight’ in us. ‘There was not much of the former, it is true, but any quantity of the latter, * All were terribly pugnacious ; but, except our- selves, there were few regiments that had reliable arms, most of the men carrying with them the old flint lock muskets and rifles brought from home, and devoid of bayonet. ‘“‘ They all had hunting knives, which would have answered very well in a hand-to-hand encounter. “ But from the character of the enemy it was thought they would present few opportunities for using them, ‘Provision was also very scarce. ‘‘Our commissary and quarter-master’s depart- ments, but recently organized, were very indifferent, and it was very seldom the men drew full rations of anything. ‘They made up for all deficiencies, however, by laying violent hands on everything that came within reach, appropriating large quantities of corn, and eating it, ‘They also extensively patronized the various corn-cribs on their several routes ; and, shelling the corn, pounded it between rocks until reduced to powder, and then made bread. ‘““Hogs were plentiful, as also beef cattle ; and farmers, being friendly to our cause, willingly sold all things for Republican paper. So that this much relieved the commissariat, and eased the line of march. : “ Lopez, with his column, led the way ; Caravajal followed; at last, came the hero and patriot, Escobedo, with his ragged, half-fed, and ill-armed band of Mexicans, “After many days of toilsome travel we ap- proached a point thirty mileg south of Potosi, where it was reported Maximilian’s forces were encamped on hills beside the road. ‘We halted. “Next morning, we cautiously advanced again, but found that the enemy had decamped, and gone in the direction of Potosi. é Their strength we could not ascertain with pre- cision, but learned they had at least 10,000 men, well-armed, excellently drilled, and counting thou- sands of mercenaries among them. “They also had a strong force of cavalry, and some twenty pieces of artillery, Mejia’s battery being considered one of the best in their army, ‘Our effective force amounted to about 5,000 ill- armed, badly-drilled men, and some 6,000 horsemen, who were, for politeness sake, called cavalry. See an ee a “But they had not a particle of discipline among them, being armed as best they could, with every imaginable weapon, and their horses resembling skeletons, more than anything else. ‘‘ They had been drilled to serve on foot, but no drilling in the world could effect systematic action among them. “ Finding that the enemy had fallen back the day previous before our advance-guard, we hurried for- ward in pursuit, and marched over twenty miles as best we could, the roads and hills being dusty and heavy, and the men completely broken down with fatigue, and from want of proper or sufficient sup- plies. : ‘We camped at a creek about ten miles south of Potosi. “ And the whole country was scoured for every and any sort of provision that could be collected, _ “Everything that fields produced was instantly appropriated, and many of us were thankful for the abundance of green corn, and such like, which neighbouring farms produced. “ Lopez had halted his advance on the right of the road, assisted by Caravajal; while Escobedo was on the left of it ; and thoughtless of danger— in fact, never dreaming of Maximilian being in the vicinity at all—threw out no pickets; or, if any were in advance, they were few indeed. Dur- ing the evening, little was thought of but fun and frolic, as indeed all our evenings were. “ Most of the men were dancing and kicking up their heels until a late hour as lively as if the enemy were a thousand miles away. ‘“ Barly in the morning, before the sun had risen, the sharp report of fire-arms on our right and rear awoke every one. ‘‘The word passed from mouth to mouth, “* «They are here |’ ‘ «Fall in! fall in, we are surprised !’ “ * Quick ! quick! we are surrounded |’ ‘<6 Wall in !sfallan | ‘‘ Lopez was surprised, as none will venture to deny. “‘ And before his line was formed, loud drumming in Escobedo's command convinced him that we were all in a precarious condition.” “One of the enemy’s generals was attacking our right and rear with great vigour, “ And his shot and shell were bouncing into our camps, knocking everything about in great confu- sion. ‘‘ Such a scene of excitement and hurry no mortal man could ever conceive as ‘reigned in our midst on that eventful morning. “ Soon as the men recovered from excitement, thrown on their accoutrements, and formed line, things began to mend. ‘But the enemy by this time had advanced some distance, and was playing the mischief with us in our quarter, ‘ Maximilian, however, hearing that his general was fairly engaged on our right, pushed the centre and left with great energy. ‘The Mejias’ battery was admirably posted on an eminence, and ploughed up the ground in our front with mischievous earnestness, “ Sustaining the onset as best he could, Escobedo rode up and down the line with hair streaming in the wind, cheering, forming, encouraging his ragged musketeers, and posting them as well as might be done, to prevent further encroachments of the enemy. “And by their incessant discharges and accurate GComichoo (E©)