The Irish soldier seems to furnish the story-teller with many an anecdote. The following incident is said to have occurred at the battle of Fontenoy, when the great Saxe was the marshal in command.
"The password is 'Saxe,'" said the officer of the guard, as he sent off an Irish trooper with a message; "don't forget the word."
"Sure I won't, sir," was the reply. "Sacks—my father was a miller."
When he came to the sentinel and was challenged, the Irishman looked wise, and whispered,
"'Bags,' you spalpeen; let me through!"
FOOTNOTES:
[1] For the story of the battle of the Alamo see "An American Thermopylæ," in No. 876.
[2] Begun in Harper's Round Table No. 868.
[3] This letter, which is printed in full in Marshall's Life of Washington, was among the highest personal compliments ever paid Washington. The signers were seasoned soldiers, addressing a young man of twenty-three, under whom they had made a campaign of frightful hardship ending in disaster. They were to be ordered to resume operations in the spring, and it was to this young man that these officers appealed, believing him to be essential to the proper conduct of the campaign.