Soldiers' record, 1868-10-03

              Devoted to tlie Iiitei'esfts or tlie Soldiei's and Sailors of the late W a r .
VOL 1. HAIITFOMI), c o m . , OCTOBER 3, 1868. NO. 13.
DRIVING HOME THE COWS.
Out of the clovcr and blue-eyed grass
Oe turned them into the river-lano ;
0n9 after another ho let thorn pass,
Then fastened the meadow bars again.
Under the willows, and over the hill,
He pafiently follawed their sober pace;
The merry whistle for once was still,
And something shadowed the sunny face.
Only r boy ! and his sather had said
He never could let his youngest go
Two already were lying die( ad
Under the feet of the trampling foe.
But after the evening work was done,
And the frogs were loud in the meadow-swamp
Over his shoulder he slutig his gun
And stealthily followed the foot-path damp.
Across the clover, and through the wheat.
Witli resolute heart and i)urpose grim,
Tliough cold was the dew on dis hurrying feet,
And the blind bat's Hitting startled him.
Thrice since then had the lanes been white,
And the orchards sweet with apple-bloom;
And now, when the cows come back at night,
The feeble father drove thom home.
For news had come to the lonely farm .
That three vyere lying where two liad lain ;
And the old raanVtremuulous, p.alsied arm
Could never lean an a son's again.
Tho summer day grow cool and late.
He wsnt for the cows when the work was done;
But down, the lane, as ho opened the gate,
He saw them, coming one by one :
Brindle, Ebony, Speckle, and Boss;
Shaking their horns in the evening wind;
Cropping the butter-cups out of the grass—
But who was it following close behind"?
Loosely swung in tho idle air
Tlio empty sleeve of'army blue ;
And worn and pale, from, tho (;ris])ing hair,
Lohked out a face that the father know.
Tor Southern prisons will sometimes yawn,
And yeid Iheir dead unto liie again;
And the day that comes with a cloudy dawu
In golden glory at last may wane,
Tho groat tears sprang to their mooting eyes;
For the heart nuist speak wlicn the lips are dumb:
And under tiie silent evening skies
Together they followed-tho cattle homo.
i m i r i s at l o i uL
THE LITTLE HEGIMENT.
IJY WESLEY nilADSHAW.
During tlie strugglo for independence,
the American patriots were as much har-rassed
by the Tories as by the hired mer-
COnaries sent by deopstic royalty, to con-quer
and force them into ciibmincion to a
power wliich they hated.
Soon after the Gocjihera fcrcoL' were
placed undQF tho ccinmand of -SeDorGl
G^reene, ths latte:' sewj ouv, Ganeral Upr-gan,
with one thojcaiid Hier., to cui off
those toriea infestinr;;; tlj.G woKtora portion
of South CsroKna.
Scarcely had witli hi:: brsyq
band taken up bin inarch, ere OirnwaUis,
rtiG Britifjh comm?.?i6:ei', .^vraro of
tho movement, fjid insuantly dispatchoi
the blood-thirsty Oolpnal TailQicii in pa>
Buit. The indefatigablo 1.1 organ Booa
learned of this, and accordingly halted
and preptired for battle. The onemr
deavored, by approprinte addresses, to in-fuse
within their breasts the same indom-itable
courage that possessed his own
heart.
Among the militi.i were seven persons
—a father and his six sons—whom Gener-al
Morgan specially complimented, these
seven patriot soldiers were nicknamed by
their comrades, " T H E LITTLE REGIMENTT,"
for a reason which the reader will easily
comprehend from the following descrip-tion
:
John Hillier, Sr., then some fifty-five
years of age, stood six feet five and a half
inches, was of fine proportions, and
weighed over three hundred pounds;
while the youngest, John Hillier, J r .,
»ged twenty-two, measured six feet three
inches, and weighed two hundred and
fifty pounds. The five other brothers va-ried
in size and weight between these two.
In addition to these gigantic proportions,
the Hilliers were possessed of enormous
physical strength, and the most dauntless
courage. Though often before engaged
in skirmishes, this was the first time that
they were to take part in a regular, pitch
ed battle, and, of course, the rest of the
army were somewhat anxious to know-how
they would behave.
John," said General Morgan to the
elder Hillier, who, with his sons, was eat-ing
a hasty and frugal meal iVom off a fixl-len
tre(i, " I suppose that you and your
brave boys would rather fight together
than be separated ? " ,
" Yes, General," replied the patriot,
touching his rough hat respectfidly, and
rising to his feet, " I think we would be
of much more service to you and to onr
noble cause, Avhen united than when par-ted.
You know General, that's what
Washington's all the . time telling us
Americans—to x/.irJc toi!ethei\ ehe we'll geL
beat. And I telI you what, General, Waah-ini>
i.oti. knows rohat\s- what!"
" Well, John," rejoined General Mor-gan,
smiling at tho hero's quaint expres-sion
of his opinion of Washington's judg-ment,
" we'll have some warm work in
the morning, nnd I am going to give you
and your lads here, tho most dangerous
position in the battle. To-morrow you
shall bear the first standard into the fight;
and 1 know that the glorious banner of
our country cannot bo placed in better
hands."
'• Thank you. General, thank you for
the complimsnt; and I and my lads will
fioywing,
Thaa as Mhq f.o pressing, move up to the
f r o t t , " CJaueral Kcrg;::!!, gsith-
Qiiuj; fj.p hiu rai'ia, and riding clo ;yIy zsi^j.
and remar^iber," he contmued, aiihisstoed
prau'flsd cf the
"lohLii kiop ;:a7 ^)y8 upon TL:.3 Lr^yiL®
Eu:Gia:i3Lrai Good night."'
' ' Good ni,p;ho, Goiiard,*- v^ac tba reply,
rxpoL-ipe.ni 3d by tho er^DUE-I Eal-'itey ;
sjid thuG thay j:?rtec.
pj'csently appeared,in such forc3Jiowcv<8r„ Tho Swiil hours of tha iiigh^; rjasoed
that Morgan retroaLod as fa;: iii Ocvrpen-:', slowly, scisinnly on, and cach^pafcrio'!, coi-a
little town ia tho uortliorn part of what dier, ao ha waiohad tho tv/irMrfjo ci'
was then Union County, wiiere ho deter- far away stare, end lictancdto the IroGfcy
mined to meet the foe at all hazards.
The sua of .ianui^.y si::too:ith way go-ing
down aa lie eniyrod ilu town, and so
close was the pursuit tl'.a; tli}. diiU shad-ows
of evoning bad not yet dcepen-jd into
tho dari:ei' idiades of night, before Tarleton
came up. Of ooarge., iu waj nov/ too bto
to comme/ice batlLo; b .-t each com-laander
S'>3nt most ol' tlij night in iijGuing
orderij co, and aTianj^'iaiij "troops for tho;
conteat of thi) mornnr. Tho great por-'
tiou of Morg;'/.!';; bund consisted of tho
Uiilitia, who, iiiw 't^U 'iravo, were compar-itively
undiij^i.^iliir-.d, ..nd,^ of course, not
likely to long wiihbland the s'lock of a
chiFgt! oftliorouj^hly u-ained troops.
To the disposition of thi^ part of his
command) therefore. General Morgan di-rected
his particular attention, and en-wind,
as it mosnsd past, thonj-'hi per-haps
those csl.i-i^arno shlainj; vron-lia wouli,,
the nexC mrfoX, ceiid dowii jaoi. sucli
twiai:liug,acL Irlc cTi'a bl-ocdy eoi.pS'D or
roughly-:-u :• gjcv/o. 't'he stai; 9 how-svex,
gradually M/a^, and. fih®:: feiat,
^ gray i x <zi£tdm shjv toid fJiat
I day \7fLv jcmrag, io li^kt '
daa -lK'n^^i to ihaiir v^oi.'l':.
ly, .M tho c. .'.vejruh/ji'btH-'a&Q'joriLU'i,,
and str;jamft,!,: his besass oto;; tlha
icy hi'lo.vky; along thi unowr iald,
the biJglo'a f:lunll eo'x tioc.iided. tha ei^. •
euiy'ij auvj.iiod, »ud paiJf.'.cC ba-jid pifo-pared
for ilid
infrou-. of, i/ad iltib ?pftr(i n'or^i, the
van of fjrcs, John Hillicsr,
and Ilia six giant sona., tbo .^'ither himaQli
bearing aloft the flag, while the latter
ranged themselves three on each side of
him, as a guard.
" Well done, Little Regiment!" ex
claimed the General, as he rode down the
line, encouraging his men to stand firm
before the foe, who were now approach-ing.'
On came Tarleton and bis merciless
butchers, with that steady coolness and
veteran determination, which always
have such a fatal effect on militia. Anx-iously
Morgan glanced upon his undisci-plined
force, Avhich he noticed was already
beginning to sway from side to side, and
back and forth. But even at this critical
moment, he was unable to repress the
thrill of joy which passed through him ,
as he beheld the Hilliers, at u word from
tlieir father, coolly and deliberately draw-ing
their long, heavy swords.
"" Would to God I had a hundred such
"Little Regiments,'" he said, between his
closed teeth, " I would—" .
The sentence was unfinished; for at
that instant, at a given signal, Tarleton's
troops, clapping spurs to their sleeds,chag-ed
with fearful" fury.
For a moment or so the militia tottered,
and surged, and struggled, and then,
breaking, fled in wild confusion, thus leav-ing
the devoted Hilliers wholly unsup-ported.
Morgan expected to see the lat-ter
swept to the earth, and ridden down
like reeds before the tempest; but even
he did not know "The Little Regiment "
Quailing before the formidable giants,
Tarleton's men swerved either to the
right or to the left of them, and thus
threw away their own advantage, which
the Spartan Americans turned to their
own account.
In a voice that was clearly heard above
the din of battle, the elder Hillier, as he
raised himself to his full heighth, ex-claimed
:
" Close up, lads, close up ! Our flag !
our flag forever ! "
Instantly he was encircled by his sons,
whose herculean exertions actually kept
the whole force of the enemy at bay
Determined, however, to take the rebel
standard, Tarleton's men raged wildly
about their intended victims; but as use-lessly
as the storm-tossed ocean lashes
the beetling cliff. Man and horse sunk to
earth, until at last, their bodies formed a
rampart, within which " Th© J^ittle Regi-ment,"
Avounded and bleeding, fought
like lions. Seeing at last that sabres-were
useless, a British dragocn drew a
pistol, and levelling it at youBg John
Hillier, shot him through tho bsars^
Close up, lada 1' .-jIoso up ? ciu' flag!
our flag fci'-ever!/ agy-Lii thundered
father; tb.o cii'cLa wi^s once
more serried ci^duaLv.'ol^en.
By this time lior-'gan had Euccec4ed in
bringing up hie and hoading
th«i:a hiraoeif. he ru&hocl to tha rescue of
the noble riilliars. Bii*!;, alas! too late.
A Gccoad of The Littko ll3[;;iment fell, then
a third, and a fourth and iifth i
" Back to back, ITod ! Ou:.- fiag for-ever
i " hoarcjsly commandsd Jhe elder
Hlliior, ac he naw hir. nfth tJ0,u sink at his
feet.
l?or awhile Morgan'a fierce assault
attracted thc attontion of Tarleton's men.
Like tigers did the patriot commandc/ and
hie j.''aidi'ui of men strive to cut their way
1;o th'3 tv.'o environed heroes, -ind save
them, but Fate had ordered it otherwise,
and the last »ou falling-, the father v/as
iefi alone ia the miust of his roiontless
Gtlll, however, the ilag floated proudly
sbcve tb.e uoo-aed hero, and still that
g-ory nword bck'W its foidij in many
a borrid circle; an:-siill, as frouzy took
th3 pluoa of reason, Hillier shoutedj in
r/j.df hor-rae tones;
' ' O b e s up,lad3! dose r.p! Our flag!
fo-'Qver!
a momeat the {^iant pairiot raibod
him self t . hia fal' heiglit, whirled his
sword alott, and delivered his last, venge-ful
stroke among his enemies, one of
whom he clove nearly to the saddle.
Such was tho force of the blow, that the
bliide snapped asunder, leaving only the
hilt in the hero's hand, who, casting this
from him, sprang up, seized' the starry
baimer that he had so long and bravely
defended, and, convulsively wrapping it
about him, sunk beneath a shower of
blows, exclaiming with bis dying voice;
" Close up, lads ! close up 1 Our flag!
our flag forever!"
Unable to tear the flag from about the
fallen man, the British now turned their
full attention on General Morgan, who
after a desperate resistance, was forced
to fly! In the course of the pursuit,
however, the enemy fell into irretrievable
disoider ; and, ever on, the alert, Morgan,
taking advantage of this, rallied his bro-ken
force,and charging the foe, totally
routed them—thus re-winning the victory
whichh e had so signally lost.
His first thoughts, after the defeat of
the enemy, turned upon the brave but
fated Hilliers, and, together with his aids,
he rode back to the spot where the Spar-tan
band had fought and fallen. Surroun-ded
by their victims, lay the seven gigan-tic
H illiers, about the eldest of whom Avas
^till closely wrapped the colors which
had been committed to his care in the
morning, now riddled with bullets, torn,
and soaked with the blood of its champi-ons.
,
As Morpn gazed down upon the silent
forms at his feet, tears gathered in his
eyes; and with the words, '' Bury them
in one grave, and above all, don't remove
the flag from about old • John—it is a
hero's shroud, and a hero is in it"—he
was about to turn av/ay, when one of his
aids exclaimed:
He lives! he lives ! "
A groan, and a slight movement of the
body, proved this to he correct. A sur-geon
was quickly in attendance, Avho,
after an examination, gave it as his opin-ion,
that in less than twenty minutes, the
life, Avhich was still lingering in the old
hero, would be gone.
The group, therefore continued around
the dying man, who, at the end of a few
minutes revived so far as to raise himself
on his elbow, and exclaim :
" Close up, lads! close up! Our flag!
our flag forever 1"
This was his last effort, and spasmodi-cally
drawing his spangled and blood-stained
shroud closely about him, he fell
back to earth a corpse.
With tho thoughts of such sires and
such deeds as these living in our memo-ries,
is there to-day, within the bounda-ries
of tho land which our fathers have
bequeathed to us—is there one American,
who, in his heart, does not love and ven-erate
the starry lianner under which the
heroes of '76 fought and died ? Is there
to-day, intho wide expanse of our Repub-lic,
one i.mericau who will not exclaim,
with tho dying hero ol Oowpens:
" O u a : OUR FLAG FO.«EVER 1 "
From 77tt' (Soldier's Casket,
Post No. 27 of Danielsonvillo has been
named McGregor Fost in honor of the
lamented S.irgeon McCrcgor. Every
soldier and pawiot in the vicinity should
make persistant eiTort to secure its success.
A reunion of the Fifth 0. V. is called
for Oct i5th 1868 at Savin Rock. Tho
committee have lasued an iiivilation for
all who have been honorably dischargod
to be present.
Tho iSegisier laiho was appointed by
Gov. Swam) to make a registry of v.^ters
refuses to register the saihu-.s'uhI m'i incs
at the Kflvai Ao&demy, and is su>:f iiiu?d
by Attorney-Gainer al Jones. ISlauy of
these sailor's families have been rf';«i h'ng-here
siace the reopening i>f t iio hool,
and claim thia place as their residence.
Of course, they desired to vote as they
fought.