Carolina Watchman

              two dollars per annum in advance t rn . , rfr . pl 8 i per square for the fii-t i ,,.-, perceat higher =^__ buena vista pom the new olta-tw of march 27 a had the pleasure of an interview yester i i laj coffee ofthe army^ho brought taylor's despatches th gallant 2 a son of the distinguished generai who 2 bravely on the plains of chalmetle | s otherb*t.les,bythesideof.he ilo jackson-acted as the aid of gen | '" t in ihe bloodv fight at buena vista kl really indebted to him for many par j battle .. taylor had fallen in love at first sight i h the position at which he finally made his i at buena yista his movement towards j ,! * n ' nueva wa merely a ruse to decoy the j into the field which he had selected for i r^aule-ground as soon as mcculloch's j - ' w | 1 , fvere invaluable as scouts informed i la nla anna s a l > l roac lo a s ua - nueva ' ! rral taylor quietly broke up his camp and finback to •"_ bret-lore buena vista this \ ! " ,; ,„ was admit-ably chosen it was at the . tola mountain or rather of two mountains . uuea wbich "" lhe road through a » ar j »• valley on his right there was a deep ra n . which protected that flank more effectual ' j a n half a dozen regiments could have done sl i e f t j pen taylor's line rested on the utifa mountain the road in lhe centre ; intrenched and defended by a strong bat . ss it front the ground was uneven bro s'ilito hills and deep ravines well adapted | | our volunteers and hy its peculiarities sup ; jlfrlbe disadvantage of a great inferiority of _ • _ on the 21st the enemy were dscried ap ' jelling over the distant hills at their ap j trance the volunteer raised a great shout j udfate three tremendous cheers their en : eers an j officers were seen flying over the ; id and dragging their cannon about to get j hum into position ; but the nature of the ground j ji not favor the undertaking and it was lute i_.be day before the big guns began to open it eueroy had with lb m 32 cannon most v ol large caliber their lire though kept up wrtbri-kl and apparently well manned did loiiflle execution in our ranks that it was not j a_-iije.e-l liecessary to return it our cannon re therelore silent the whole of the 22d — j ' t or ten killed and wounded were the ex eat of the casualties sustained by our army on \ 4,23d during the day au officer approach j im lines wilh a flag of truce and requested , be shown to cen taylor tho brave old j ats iniiig quietljr on his old while char i kt with his l.-g over lhe pommel of the saddle : the movements of ihe enemy when be mexican officer was presented ln a very | ./.;__ and graceful manner the officer sta j id that he had been sent by his excellency i • .. miita anna to his excellency uen tay | , i inquire in the most respectful manner . . .. the gen taylor was wailing for — j _• of gen taylor's batteries andthe i ii.ntier iu which he received santa an \ sc cannonading the mexican supposed m •-_ a>king a very pertinent question to : ... however old hough and ready gave ! . rery perliuenl reply that *' he was only . bg li.r santa anna to surrender this . • _ proved to be a ruse lo ascertain where i taylor's position was for alter the re j he mexican officer to his own ranks j ■ mexican battery seemed lo open up ■ gea taylor's position and the balls flew • ■•■: nil about like hail utterly indifferent lo j perils ui his situation there sat the old chief ispicuous white horse peering through i spy-glass at the long lines of mexican i pi lhat could be seen at a gre.it distance on | ii the persuasion of his aids could m-naice bim to abandon his favorable point ration nor to give up his old white '-• to lhe suggestion of his stall that old • is rather too conspicuous a charger for : kctmxnander he replied lhat " the old fellow bitted lhe fun at monterey on account ol ot and he was determined he should j iehis share this time i sunrise on the 23j february the bailie : jm iii earnest the mexicans were drawn u *- immense numbers the dark columns i infantry extended as far as the eye could : ' a a and lhe cavalry to cover the whole view i interminable lines at intervals be j ■***■«« infantry and cavalry iheir big guns i protected by a large artillery force | ft up ao incessant cannonade against our | ** iheir forces were soon in motion — j w-nillery was thrown forward to meet them by the volunteers general wool ; 2 be main body in person and was seen j t**_ere tallying and encouraging the vul n the two armies were soon engaged : - fonlli t the broken nature ofthe ground j -'■' ine forces so lhat instead of one gen u engagement the regiments were compel j m a reat measure to fight on their own ! • officers were always in the advance "'"_ their troops ; hence the great mortali *. moiig thetn in this general melee one of mall regiments of 400 men would be at r*"l hy a whole mexican brigade of several j nd thus lhe kentucky infantry was 4clie l at the foot of a hill iu a deep ravine • force of the enemy a large ot the officers were killed here ; among j b s col mccee who fell badly wound '* d * w s immediately dispatched by lhe ene who pierced him with iheir bayonets as he on the ground lieut col clay was shot m . n the ihijjh and being unable to walk l4 ken up and carried some distance by f his men but owing to the steepness of nl the men finding it very difficult to car "*• nd the enemy in greal numbers press u n them the gallant lieut colonel beg j lo ' eav e him and take care ol themselves »** dl ° leave him on the field the last that 1 ~ ee n of th is noble young otlicer he was n his back fighting with his sword the e v v 0 were stabbing him with iheir bay l fhe veteran capt wm s willis of hrt 6 rigiment at the head of the company s 1 j c -'-*' wurt sons . w ho fought at his side . •*•% wounded but still continued the fight ' e w s overcome with the loss of blood ile mean time the indiana brigade who '* dr u t out and ordered to charge the en v er " spl ed with a panic and displaying ivo 311 "'" 11 ' ant adjutant general hil rus ' lej l ° llieir fro " 1 -"----■ w h st u p l^filv 1 r *** eir cowar licc was shot — |^ uj ,. a '* s passing through his body in jus v ls brigade il should be statedthat ihey isli y lallie i a»d fully redeemed their i fen 011 th e most gallant and effective the carolina watchman bruner & james > editors 4 proprietors \ ' keep a s^-t ** totb *.___ *,™, mumr \ new series gen'l harrison [ number 50 of volume 111 salisbury n c friday april 16 1847 colonel harden led the illinoisans in very i handsome style and the sturdy suckers fought i iike lions their inlrepid colonel fell wounded ! and experienced the fate of colonels mckee i and clay and was killed by the enemy ; not however before he had killed of lhe cowardly miscreants wilh a pistol which he fired whilst lying on the ground col yell led the foremost man a charge of j mounted volunteers against a large body of lan cer and was killed by a lance which entered ! his mouth and lore off one side of his fkce the mississippians the heroes of monterey i after doing hard duty as skirmishers were or dered into line to receive a charge of cavalry which they did wilh their rifles delivering at the same time a most destructive fire anion the crowded columns of cavalry the enemy were completely repulsed the distinguished commander of this gallant regiment col jtf ferson davis was badly wounded an escopette ball having entered his foot and passed out of his leg fie was however doing well when last heard from the chivalrous lieut col mcclung was prevented from doing his share ofthe brave deeds of ihis brilliant tight by the grievous wound received at the battle of mon : terey which still confines him to his bed and ! from which it is much feared by his best friends he will never recover col humphrey marshall's splendid regiment ! of kentucky cavalry were impatient for an op i pori unity of showing their mettle and avenging j the capture of their brethren then in the hands ofthe enemy they were soon favored with j the desired opportunity by the approach of a j force of more than two thousand lancers aud i hussars who gallantly charged them the ken j luckiaaa stood their ground wilh immovable ' steadiness aud receiving the enemy with a fire i from iheir carbines charged in the most gal lant style through the column oil the right and wheeling fell on their left dispersing aud kill ing a great many of them a iike charge was made by colonel may at the head of a squad ron of dragoons and one of arkansas cavalry ! against a large body of the enemy's cavalry j with like results during the engagement on the night santa i anr.a seeing that gen t's force was nol well j protected on the left flank sent a large force of cavalry around lhat point and outflanking tay lor succeeded in throwing 2,000 men into his rear but gen t immediately sent capl bragg with his artillery against this force who suc ceeded iu culling them off from the main body lieut crittenden was dispatched with a flag of truce to demand the immediate surrender of j this force the mexican officer pretending not to understand the character of his mission insisted that he should be blindfold according to lhe rules of war and thus had the lieutenant carried into lhe camp of santa anna himself j this was a ruse to get time to extricate the ; mexican cavalry from their dangerous posi t lion and pending this truce ihey were all drawn ! off by a different road from that by which ihey ' had gained this position lieut crittenden was conducted blindfolded to lh tent of the mexican general-in-chief | which he found a long distance from the scene of action and which he thought the safest place i he had been in during lhe whole day as he i approached santa anna's tent he was greeted j wilh a most tremendous flourish of trtunpels ■ which might have been heard a mile off hut i produced no very great terror in the mind of j the kentu.kjan his blind was taken off and in found himself in the presence of lhe famous mexican chief surrounded by a brilliant staff of bedizzened gilded and mustached officers santa anna apologized to the lieutenant for the act of his officer in having him blindfolded saying lhat so far from having any desire to conceal his situation he was desiring of exhibi '■ ting to gen taylor the utter folly of resisting so powerful an army as he had uuder his com ; maud to which the lieutenant replied that his simple message was to demand his santa anna's immediate surrender lo gen taylor when this extraordinary demand was transla ted to lhe mexican he raised his hands and eyebrows in utter astonishment at the lemerily and presumption of such a message and replied that he would expect gen taylor to surrender in an hour or he would destroy all his forces lieut crittenden's reply which we have al ready given — " gen taylor never surrenders .'" — terminated the interview and lhe battle re commenced and was continued until night santa anna took three small pieces of our artillery which under lieut o'brien had been posted too far in advance to be covered by our infantry all the gunners were shot down and when lhe guns were captured there was not a soldier left to man thorn one of these pieces was an old texan 6-poundcr which du ring lhe texan revolution had done good exe cution among the mexican ranks as lo the flags he boasts of having taken ihey are very probably mere company markers which were dropped on the field and picked up by the valiant mexicans his excellency ofthe war depart ment to whom santa anna has sent these tro phies will no doubt be sorely disappointed in lhe size texture and beauty of these standards mexican pride is easily satisfied when such feeble mementoes of their prowess and valor : as these console them fur so inglorious a de ! feat all the officers on our side in this hard fought battle distinguished themselves the details of the battle were confided to general wool who nobly justified the confidence of his commander and brother-veteran by the most ; active zealous efficient and gallant conduct throughout the whole action he was constant ly engaged in lhe disposition of our forces and in rallying ihem to lhe onset it was a mira cle that he escaped the thick-flying balls which : tinned the ranks he was marshalling there was but one complaint made against him and | that was that he exposed himself too much — i brig gen lane also showed himself to be a brave and capable officer although wounded early in the action he kept his horse until it '■. closed and never for a moment left his post the old general-in-chief remained at his original ahd much-exposed posilion superin j tending the batlle and narrowly watching its e j vents an escopette ball passed through his i overcoat — lhat same old brown so familiar to all the officers and men who have ever been ' under his command and which has seen sever | al campaigns in florida in teias and in mex ico on the night of the 23d both armies drew off from lhe field of battle our men were en ; gaged all night in bringing in the wounded and taking care of them — lhe mexicans as well as their own men there were however but few of our men found on the field wounded — ' they were to use santa anna's significant words in his dispatch all dead — the cow ardly miscreants having killed eveiy man whom they overtook wounded and helpless on lhe field with like turpitude and treachery they left their own dead unburied and iheir wound ed uncared for on the field where ihey fell — ' the latter were carried to sallillo in onr own i wagons ; the former were buried by the alcade under the orders of gen taylor a number of officers were taken prisoners ! an exchange was effected by which all our j men who are now in their hands were released cassius m clay's patty are understood now to be in the city of mexico among the killed and wounded of the mexi j cans are three general officers and twenty colo nels and commanders of battalions general minon it appears has not as yet realized the brilliant cnreer of which he considered his cap ture of major borland an earnest he was or dered by santa anna to attack and carry sal lillo during lhe engagement at buena yista — with this ol.ject he made a demonstration a gainst the town with 2,000 cavalry lieuten ant shovcr wilh sixty men and iwo small pieces of artillery went out lo meet the valiant gen eral and al one discharge ol his cannon sent i him and his large force to the right about in double-quick lime in concluding our necessarily imperfect sketch ofthe few details of the brilliant deeds of a ! merican valor performed at buena vista — de j tails gathered from a hasly conversation — we j musl be allowed to express our satisfaction to find that the anticipations we have so confident and so frequently expressed of the bravery and efficiency of our volunteers have been more than j realized let those who have heretofore made ', our citizen-soldiers the iheme of their ribaldry j and ridicule be forever hushed into silence by the unparalleled gallantry and glory which have consecrated iu american history the bloody field of buena vista from the new orleans picayune march 27 the kentucky regiment an incident at the battle of buena vista at a very critical point ofthe battle on the 23d when [ it became necessary to sustain one of our columns which ; was staggering under a charge made by the mexicans in overwhelming numbers gen taylor despatched mr crittenden to order col mckee of the 2d kentucky ' regiment to bring his men into immediate action mr crittenden found the regiment men and officers eager | for the fray delivered the order and rode back to the general by whose side it was his duty to keep the kentuckians moved forward in gallant siyle led hy mc kee and clay both of whom alas ! fell in a subsequent part of the day it so happened that before reaching a position from which they could deliver an effective fire the regiment had to cross a valley which was broken up by ravines and masses of stones whilst crossing this valley lhe heads only ofthe men could be seen from the point which gen taylor and mr crittenden occupied — and these were bobbing up and down and crosswise in such confusion as to impress both with the idea that the regiment had fallen into disorder the mexicans were annoying them at the same moment by a fire which helped to confirm the opinion of the general that the kentuckians were thrown into dismay it was one of those decisive crises which occur in ev ery contested field when the issue ofthe day depended for the time being on the gallantry ofa particular corps gen taylor who as before said could only see the heads ofthe troops and misled by their motions in get ting across gullies and going around rocks and other ob structions into the belief that they were about to falter turned to mr crittenden who is a kentuckian and with ' a countenance indicating deep mortification for the gen ' eral is a kentuckian too and an eye fierce with emotion exclaimed " mr crittenden this will not do — this is not the way for kentuckians to behave themselves when called upon to make good a battle — it will not answer sir and with this he clenched his teeth and knit his brow and set his teeth hard together mr crittenden who was mistaken by the same indications that deceived the gen'l could scarcely make a reply from very cha grin and shame in a few moments however the ken tuckians had crossed the uneven places and were seen ascending the slope of the valley shoulder to shoulder and with the firm and regular step of veterans ofa hun dred fields on they moved until they reached the crest of the hill where they met the enemy before the flush of a temporary advantage had subsided here they deliv ered their tire by companies with such regularity and deadly aim that the decimated phalanx of mexico gave way and retreated precipitously as the kentuckians emerged from the valley the countenance of the old gen eral who was regarding them with the intensest interest gradually relaxed the bitterness of its expression a glow of pride supplanted the deep mortification which fixed its muscles and enthusiasm qualified the fierce glances of his eye forward they moved under his riv eted gaze whose feelings became more and more wrought up as they approached the scene of carnage when they opened their fire the old general could no longer re ' strain his admiration but broke forth with a loud huzza " huzza for old kentuck he exclaimed talking as it were to himself and rising in his saddle — that's the way to do it and the tears of exultation rolled down his cheeks as he said it having got rid of this ebullition of state pride he went about looking after other parts of the field anecdotes of gen taylor lc we copy from the matamoros flag of the 20th ultimo the following interesting items relative to the battle of buena yista : prodigies of valor were performed by both officers and men gen wool was seen in every part of the field where his presence was most required leading on and ex horting his men to him this was an important day as after events will show col hardin of the 1st illinois regiment distinguished himself particularly he was struck on the breast with a musket ball during the hot test ofthe fight and died instantly col yell of the arkansas cavalry fell while leading a charge of his re giment his intrepidity on the occasion is spoken of in terms of the highest praise capt albert pike of the ' same regiment also conducted himself gallantly col w r mckee of the 2d kentucky regiment receiving ■ mortal wound in the throat the command devolved on lt col h clay son of henry clay while leading \ on his men to the charge he received a severe wound in ' the leg not being able to stand four of his men at tempted to carry him from the field they had not pro i eeeded far before he received a second and more severe wound in the hip and two of the four men were killed the other two insisted upon carrying him oft hrroical j ly he ordered them to leave him and resume their pla . ces in the fight after the battle he was found pierced quite through the breast with a lance adjutant gen'l \ lincoln son of ex-governor lincoln of massachusetts was killed while restoring order among the aarkansas cavalry who were thrown into momentary confusion by an overwhelming charge of lancers his conduct is the theme of extravagant praise ***** at the desperate attack on o'dry an's battery when the indiana brigade wavered and tot ■ tered all along the line from the force of overwhelming numbers maj dix of the paymaster's department ! snatched a flag-staff from the hands of its carrier and rushed to the front of the brigade and exhorted the men to stand firm his presence reanimated them and they redoubled their exertions col jeff davis the brave i chivalrous and accomplished commander of the miss i issippi rifles was severely wounded whether on the first ! or second day of the fight is not known they were i thrown forward the first day as skirmishers a most peril ous duty and suffered severely losing 40 men in killed and having 110 wounded a loss considering the weak ! ness ofthe regiment not over 400 in number almost un i paralleled the lt colonel of this regiment from a i wound received at monterey is yet quivering on the ! verge of the grave having been the first to mount the i walls at the castellated fort at that battle and now his chief in command is struck down and his life vibrates in the same uncertain fate truly may it be said of this regiment it has performed its duty well thousands ofthe mexicans after their defeat fled to the mountains and after the lapse of a few days pre sented themselves to gen taylor as prisoners of war he told them in their own language to ' vamos that he j would have nothing to do with them two thousand females who followed the mexican ar i my remained like ministering angels to take care of the ! wounded gen taylor treated ihem with the kindness due to their sex and the humanity expected of an ameri ; can blucher and wellington-like general's wool and taylor met after the retreat commenced gen wool rushed between his extended arms and congratulated him upon the favorable results of the day's toil gen taylor playfully retorted : " o it's impossible to whip us when we all pull together !" the battery commanded by capt braxton bragg did terrible execution the mexican cavalry made a charge on him ; he waited until they were within two hundred yards when he poured a terrible fire on them his pieces charged with murket balls the leading squadrons were mowed down and they stopped for a moment bragg's guns were instantly loaded and a second discharge as deadly as the first threw the enemy into confusion and a third put them completely to flight leaving the ground covered with men and horses only imagine for a mo ment a battery of cannon charged almost to the muzzle with musket balls and slugs fired three times into a dense mass of men and horses at a distance of two hundred yards and you can form some idea of the terrible slaugh ter , . battle of buena vista i through the kindness of a friend says the washing ton union we have been furnished with the following extracts from a private letter written by lieutenant col onel mansfield of the corps of engineers to a brother ; officer in this city giving a brief and hastily written de i scription of the battles of the 2__d and 23d of february : eighteen miles south of saltillo at camp united states army agua xueva march 1 1847 dear captain : we are just recovering front the fa , tigues ofa tremendous battle fought by this little army on the 22d and 23d february at buena vista a place ' about eleven miles in our rear and seven miles this side ' of saltillo we had previously been on this very ground from the 6th to the 20th february reconnoitering the positions : roads c and ascertaining where the enemy was and his numbers we found santa anna was at encarna cion thirty miles in our advance with twenty thousand troops of infantry and artillery and that on our left was general minon at ediorda say twenty-five miles off with three thousand cavalry and lancers on the 21st at noon we broke up our camp and fell ! back to a good position at buena vista to await the en emy on the 22d be came in sight — his advance a heavy body of lancers and cavalry followed by large bodies of infantry and about eighteen pieces of artillery a skir mish commenced in the afternoon and the enemy gained the mountain side on our left on our right of the rond . were impassable gullies deep and perpendicular extend ; ing across to the mountains say one mile on our left of the road commenced steep ascents to the tops of the spurs of the mountain which united and formed a beauti ful table-land for a battle-ground say one mile east and west by half a mile north and south there were other spurs on the same side stretching along the road north and south of us with deep gullies between many of them impassable but none forming a table land like this a ditch and parapet were immediately thrown across the road and washington's battery placed there support ed by two companies of volunteers behind another para pet on the morning of the 23d the enemy made a rush with his infantry and lancers to possess the table-land the key to the whole position ; and at the same time a column 1 of infantry and cavalry advanced on the road towards i washington's battery a terrible fight ensued our left ' was forced back to the table-land and rallied under the ' bank ; but our centre charged with a tremendous fire of ! horse artillery eight pieces and volunteers and hurled i them back against the mountain and broke their centre j so that large bodies of infantry saved themselves by mov i ing into the ravines and on the spurs of the mountains to the rear of our left where we sent regiments and artillery to fight them and drive them back across the same ground on our extreme left over which they had been forced if we had had but one single full regiment of regulars in re serve we could have charged their battery on our extreme left and taken four or five thousand prisoners as it was we could only hold our own against such odds at the close of the day they.made another charge and rush in great force to possess the table land and were a gain repulsed with great slaughter and with much loss on our part night put an end to the scene and onder the cover of darkness the enemy retreated to this place agua nueva where our light troops followed them the next morning it was a beautiful battle not a mistake made the whole day ; but every man perfectly exhausted at night our loss about 204 killed and 450 wounded the ene my's loss about 2,500 in killed and wounded and 3,000 missing it is said that santa anna is in full retreat to matahu ila and san luis with his army dispirited and disorgan ized he is said to have lost many officer of high rank you will in due time get correct accounts nothing could exceed the gallant bearing of our horse artillery and dragoons nor the braverv and good conduct of the volunteers as a body not a regu!ar inlaniry dier was in this fight we have lost most valuable officers capt lincoln was killed in the first charge col mckee and lieut colonel clay of the kentucky regiment and col har din were killed besides others in the second charge of the enemy we lost three pieces of cannon which we had not the men to recover our men actually sunk to the ground from excessive exhaustion it has ever been the misfortune of our brave old t.en eral to be obliged to fight the enemy with inferior num bers but there is no backing out with him this hi last battle has done him more credit than any of his previous ones his case was not near so desperate at palo alto for there he had the best of regular infantry i had almost forgotten to speak of our corps we endeavored to do our duty lieut benham behaved well and was slightly wounded as for myself i was more fortunate than at monterey and escaped unhurt the old general however was made ragged by the balls passing through his clothes yours c jos k mansfield from the u states philadelphia gazette general zachary taylor never did a man do more for himself never , were the machinations of enemies more con founded more promptly turned to favor the ob i jects they were intended to defeat than in the j case of this distinguished citizen and his ulus j trious opponents we read in the good book that joseph was sold into egypt in order that his gtowing popu : iarily at borne might not interfere with the j views of others ; and even in egypt he was as j sailed by most formidable means his own ] merits however brought him out of difficulties ! enabled him to triumph over home and foreign enemies and made him the ruling man — the j man whose power was exercised to govern and feed ihosc who would have destroyed him the public voice lhe enthusiastic admira j tion ofthe people seems to lead to the expect j alion lhat tbe civil slslesman-likc qualities of j taylor are to be tried as openly as have been i his military talents ; and those who would have | disapdointed the public voice and have crushed the hero of palo alto resaca de la i'alma and monterey will have it is likely to make room for lhe hero of buena vista a beautiful pros ■■ pect a good prospect indeed ofthe puesidex cv from the plains consecrated by his skill and i valor and the blood and life ofihe officers and \ men under his command it appears now as if zachary taylor would j be the candidate of lhe great anti-polk party ; for the presidency ; if he enters upon that cam paign he must be triumphant for taylor never surrenders gex taylor — the new orleans bee of : lhe 24th ult remarks — there seems to be no limit to the claims • which zachary taylor is accumulating upon the ; gratitude and undying affection of the people ! the stalwart old warrier put him where you will and with whatever force you please he has a knack of meeting the foe and thrashing him too he appears to have adopted a motto the language used by him just before the battle j of palo alto : -' should i meet the enemy what : ever be bis force 1 shall fight him a battle and a victory are with him synonymous terms if there was no such word as fail in lhe vo cabulary of richelieu lhat of old rough ano ready contains no such combination of letters as **" defeat it seems likewise to be his peculiar and felicitous fortune always to have the hard fighting thrown on his shoulders : when sent back from victoria to monterey it was thought that old zach had played his part long and gloriously enough on the theatre of war and lhat cooped up in an impregnable 1 stronghold he would have little more active service to encounter but no sooner is public attention diverted from the brave old man and turned to vera cruz than santa anna by a . bold coup de main crosses a dreary desert and appears wilh embattled legions near saltillo as if tor lhe very purpose of making taylor once more observed of all observers if such was bis intention he has fully succeeded let oth ers combat as they may — let \ era cruz sue cumb and san juan de l'lloa fall let the proud capital of mexico itself be captured cen zach ary taylor will yet be looked upon as the hero ; of the war palo alto resaca de la palma ! monterey and buena yista will still be conse j crated in lhe remembrance of the republic as the fields of his glory ; while his name and , fame become familiar as household words upon he lips of millions who cherish the honor and i valor of the warrior as the priceless heritage of our country col jefferson davis this officer we are pleased to learn was not severely wounded as was first suppo sed in the battle of beuna vista the ball struck him in the right foot below the ankle while in the act of charging the enemy on horseback he refused to leave the field during the fight and consequent ly the wound became painful ; but when ; it was supposed that the fight would be i continued on the 24th he made arrange ' ments to be carried at the head of his reg i iment in a wagon ! such a hero is wor thy to be as he is the son-in-law of " old ; rough and ready he is said to be idol ' ized by his regiment the central sux from the dublin evening pom at the close ofthe last meeting o „ lhe 14lh of december of the royal i ruh academy sir w haroillon announced that he bad just re ceited from professor modler of dorpat the extraordinary and exciting intelligence of the presumed discovery of a central sun profes sor madler's essay on the suhject die central sonne dorpat 1846 was also exhibited by ir w hamilton on the same evening to sev eral members of the academy ; but as this work may not for some time to come be gene rally known or indeed easily procurable in this couniry we believe that our readers will ihank us for publishing a sketch of the result which it contains and which were briefly stat ed on the evening already mentioned this course will also serre to correct any miscon ception on the subject which the unexpected nature of tho communication and the absence of a great number ofihe members ofihe aca demy may possibly have occasioned or at least allowed to arise by an extensive and labori ous comparison ofthe quantities and directions of the proper motions of the stars in various parts ofthe heavens combined with indications afforded by the parallaxes hitherto determined and with lhe theory of universal gravitation professor madler has arrived at lhe conclusion that the pleiades form tbe central group of our whole astral or sidereal system including the milky wuy and all the brighter stars but ex clusive of the more distant nebular and of the stars of which those nebula may be composed and within this central group itself he has been led to fix on the star alcyone otherwise known by the name ot ala tauri as occupying ex actly or neatly the position of the centre of gravity and as entitled lo be called the central sun assuming bissel's parallax of the star : 61 cygui long since remaikable for its large proper motion to be correctly determined madler proceeds to form a first approximate es i timate ofthe distance of this central body from the planetary or solar system ; and arrives at the provisional conclusion that alcyone is a bout 34.000,000 times as far removed from us or from our own sun as the latler luminary is from us it would therefore according to this j estimation be at least a million times as distant as the new planet of which the theoretical or i deductive discovery has been so great and beau | tiful a triumph of modern astronomy and so ; striking a confirmation of the law of newton the same approximate determination of dis tance conducts lo lhe result that the light ofihe . central sun occupies more than five centuries i in travelling thence to us the enormous or ; bit which our own sun with the earth and the other planets is thus inferred to be describing about that distant centre not indeed under its j influence alone but by the combined attraction | of all the stars which are nearer to it ihan we j are and which are estimated tu amount lo more ihan 1 17,000,000 of masses each equal lo the j total mass of our own solar system is supposed to require upwards of 18.000.000 of years for '. its complete description at the rale of about eight geographical miles in every second of time the plane of this vast orbit of lhe sun is judged to have an inclination of about 4 degrees to the ecliptic or to the place of the annual orbit of lhe earth ; and the longitude of the ascending node of the former orbit on the latter is concluded to be nearly 237 degrees the general conclusions of madler respecting the constitution ofthe whole system ofihe fixed stars exclusive of the distant nebul-.i are lhe , following : he believes that the middle is in dicated by a very rich group ihe pleiades containing many considerable individual bodies though at immense distances from ns round ibis he supposes there is a zone proportionally poor in stars and then a broad rich ring-form ed layer followed by an interval comparatively devoid of stars and afterwards by another an nular and siarry space perhaps with several alternations of the same kind the two outmost rings composing the two parts of the milky way which are confounded wilh each other by perspective in the portions most distant from ourselves professor madler has acknowledged in his work his obligations which are those of all inquirers in sidereal astronomy to the re searches ofthe two herschel sir william and ; sir john tbe views of sir william herschel respecting the relation of our solar system lo the milky way will naturally recur to the re collection of our readers ; and while astrono mers are anxiously awaiting the shortly expec ted appearance of the complete account of sir john herschel's observations on the southern nebuhr the following passage ofa letter which was written in 1835 by lhat illustrious on of an illustrious sire irom the cape of cood hope to sir w hamilton may be read with peculiar interest from the agreement between the views it expresses and some of those to which pro fessor madler has been led in lhe letter just referred to from which an extract was publish ed at lhe time sir john herschel expressed himself as follows : '* the general aspect ofthe southern circum polar region including in lhat expression 60 deg or 70 deg f s p i is in a high degree rich and magnificent owing to the superior brilliancy and larger development of the milky way which from the constellation of orion to that of antinou is one blaze of light strange ly interrupted however with vacant and almost starless patches especially in scorpio near a cenlauri and the cross ; while lo the norlh it fades awav pale and dim and is in comparison hardlv traceable i think it is inq-ossible to view this splendid zone wilb lhe astoui.hingly rich and evenly distributed fringe of stars of . the third and fourth magnitudes which form a broad skirt to ils southern border like a vast curtain without an impression amounting to a conviction that the milky way is not a m«i stratum but an annulus ; or at least that our system is placed within one of the poorer and i almost vacant parts of its general mass and ! that eccentrically so as to be much nearer to tbe parts about the cross than to lhat diametri cally opposed to it — times gen taylor the whigs of iowa have in state con i vention nominated general taylor for the presidency ; and the whij papers of the state have generally declared tor him one ofthe resolutions of the iowa whig [ concludes as follows : " we fling his banner to the breeze ful ly reiving upon the patriotism of tbe peo ple to sustain him against the malignant attacks of his enemies at home or abroad