Crawfordsville Record, Volume 4, Number 21, Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, 17 October 1835 — Page 4

C II A V h O U D V 1 1 L i: it e con i

Translated for the National Intelligencer.

REMINISCENCES OF AN OLD GRUMBLER.

THE DISCONTENTED. Corporal Ploquet, of tho sixtyfirst regiment of the linc.was (without the fear of contradiction I say it) the greatest original in the 'grand irmv ' It was to him that the 'old soldiers' owe the epithet of grognurds, (grumblers,) given them by Napoleon when at Elba, A good comrade, and, above all, a brave soldier, Ploquet had but one fault; it was this: ho was never content. Ho complained of every thing, at all times, in all places, and to alt purposes. During four years of bed fellowship with him, I never heard a word of approbation come out of his mouth; never saw his countenance brightened by the least sign of satisfaction. When in gari 11 i .t, .i:.,

nson, ne grumuieu hi uu u.-uiuu-ness of repose ; in a campaign, at the miseries of fatige. When his sack was well filled, he found it heavy; and when it became light, he complained that he had not the power to refill it. His comrades used to say, that in the regiment of malcontents, Ploquct would be sure to

lpmmn .i colonel. lo ono was

offended, however, with the grumbling corporal. Every one laughed at him, even the officers, who pardoned this whim of Ploquet's, in consideration of his good conduct, his courage on every trial, and a host of good qualities which he possessed in an eminent degree. It was during the campaign in Russia that this monomania of the corporal particularly developed itself Our long marches across a country which had been set fire to

and deserted, formed an inexhaustible text for his complaints. "If we go on much further this way," he would say,"ve shall carry our bones

to the end of the world ..... 1 should like to know what we have to do in a country where wc may march a hundred leagues without finding so much as a potato Even if they would refresh us now and then with a few rounds of ar

tillery as a civilized people would do! but no; we have not even the chance of burning a single cartridge, and I have five packets of them on my back!" This was an especial

cause of complaint; and these cart

you Parisians to talk ofin their fine 'hnrilnrnd hntst vmir loungers and

" - - " J D coxcombs, who wear new boots every day and cat three dinners." The regiment was . put on the march. An hour after, it deployed under the fire ot the redoubt, the bullets from which carried away, every instant, entire files our men. Our battalion was, above al!,shockingly maltreated. There was even a momentary hesitation. Some of the newly enlisted soldiers, who had never before found themselves pres

ent at such a fete, made a half-turn round without waiting for orders. Ploquct, who wa9 in the third rank, barred their passage, by crossing his bayonet against them, swearing at the same time that he would spit, like a Iark,the first who gave ground even the length of his foot, lie was still speaking, when a ball carried away hiscartouch box. Never shall I forget the droll grimace he made ; I never saw any thing like it before or since.

"Five packets of cartridges !" said he. nrindinsr his teeth: "to travel

two hundred leagues with them and

never stioked beforehand shall never meetivith again !' And he showed mc the cigars which tie cut of the sabre had chopped up. "But Jtad it not been for these cigars, corporal Ploquet, you must have ben fricassed." "Wei, that is possible." His wojnd,fortunately,not being serious, he refused to accept the

privilege of being considered as off old corporal. l l i. !-mt Lie t'YVtdl mv

tiuiy, Him omy rtuc&icu m services might be dispensed with for twenty-four hours. He was put in the order of the day for his noble conduct, and received the felicita

tions of his colonel ; but all without

himself, Ploquet remained inactive during that great day. It is well known with what facility Napoleon" recognized the physiognomy of those he had once seen, and also his faculty of retaining their names. During the retreat, a little beyond Smolensk, the emperor, riding along the ranks of the regiments which marched in concert with the guards, recognized the

Well my poor Ploquet," said

hn to him. "there is cood reason

- - " - 7 tj now not to be content."

"Faith,cmperor,I think you ought

to be a little more so than us," "And I should be, my brave fel

. r l .1 i I.-,... It T u-nvn onrlnin nlivfivc riflirtv

nnneannnr more sausiieu man usuai. . u . o jo w. .....

On the morrow it was rumored jing a hundred thousand men like

through the armv that the emperor you."

had received the portrait of his son, j We had to pass the Beresina.

and that he had had it placed outside his tent with the view of satisfying the curiosity of all. I proposed to Ploquet that we should go together to see this portrait. He a-

greed to the proposal not without

rem-

never use a siimle one!" At that instant the whole

merit threw itself forward in the ims de course. The Russian ar-

M. tillery was hushed. The silence was terrible ; it was a solemn moment; the oldest soldiers made a farewell sign to their comrades, and many of tho officers shook hands with each other. Ploquet

was about two paces from me. He

grasped his musket convulsively;

his eyes flashed fire, and his hps murmured. All at once a bluish light burst from the redoubt, a fearful sound of explosion made the ground tremble beneath us; and a

thick smoke hid from us the field of battle, already strewed with bodies. Ploquet was no longer near

me, and I believed him to have been

killed: but the wind carrying off

the smoke, I discovered the lower half of the corporal's body peeping out from the embrasure of a porthole, and wrestling violently to follow the other half which had struggled itself into the interior of the redoubt.

I easily recognized by the fragment

of the cartouch box which was left

him, and I hastened to his succor; but before I reached him he had got the whole of his body in; and, t i -m i t

although I took the same way in

iTrnmLlinrr

though and we soon

arrived near the tent, where we saw a crowd of superior officers. In the course ol a few seconds wo heard the name ol Ploquet circulated among the groups. Then all

Ploquet and myself were on the bridge, and had accomplished a-

bout two thirds of the passage, when, carried along by the crowd which precipitated itself onward like an avalanche, we were both thrown into the stream. Tho corporal, who was an excellent swimmer, passed his left arm under my chin, swimming with his right; and in despite of the enormous pieces

of ice which menaced every instant

at once the crowd separated, and j to cut us in two, we were the first to

the emperor appeared at the en- i arrive on the opposite bank, which trance of his tent, looking search-1 the Russian cannon was already

ingly on ail around him; he pointed is weeping. 1 wished to rest for an with his finger to corporal Ploquet. I instant. Ploquet represented to me

easily known on account of his head i that if we did not march on, we

ridges, which he was apprehensive j stantly, I could not discover him.

It is true, indceo, that those who entered there, had not much time to spend in searching for lost comrades. The assault was continued: for the example of Ploquet had been

They no longer fired ; every where glistened the sabre and the bayonet,

which made horrible carnage. They fought man to man ; they rolled in the blood, or stumbled against the bodies of the fallen. This lasted for about twenty minutes, and I

believe that there never was known a more terrible instance of wholesale dueling. At length the work of slaughter ceased, the air resound

ed w ith the cries of victory, the re

doubt was ours, and our eagle was

planted in one of the breaches. A voice was now heard ordering

the drum-major to beat Ho the flag.' There was no longer a drum-major. The master-drummers were called ; there were no longer any masterdrummers. They sought for the drummers; there were no drum

mers left. Four hundred men only

vuiu bim standing, it was the on

ly remnant left of a regiment which . - Cj

counted tour effective battalions o eight hundred men each.

It was at this moment that T fmirwl

Ploquet once, sitting on the around.

and leaning against a wheel of the

fore-train. He was sfniinrhinrr

with the sleeve of his shirt, the

blood which was flowing profusely

from a wound he had received on

the top of his head . I pressed forward to lend him my assistance,and then saw that the same stroke which had wounded him, had split the upper part of his schako. "A lucky thing that it was so well filled," said I.

"Ah! do vou call th.it lnrkv? fun

he should never have an opportu

nity of using,were an insupportable weight to the poor corporal. But the two nations were not long before they met. Tired of flying without fighting, the Russians

faced about. Two days before the battle of 31 oscow, at sunrise, the orders of the general were heard by the whole line. The colonel of the sixty-first then rode along the ranks of his regiment: "Soldiers!" said he "the emperor has given us the glo

rious misson of carrying one of the redoubts which the enemy has raised to arrest the progress of the grand army. Vive VEmpereur! and forward!" The cry was repeated by all the soldiers as though with one voice: a

voice ot delight at their glorious destination. Ploquet alone shouted not ; perhaps no one but myself heard him mutter his reason for his silence: "This is always the story; they tell us that the greatest service they can render us, is to give us the chance of being the first to be cut in two by the shot of the eneniv." "How, corporal Ploquet," said I to him, "arc you not enchanted to see those gallants so near us?" "So near! yes; when we shall

have marched an hour with our muskets on our shoulders,under the welcome of their cannon shot! Near! yes, when we have entered their squares, you may say they are near; but more than one half of

our regiment will be fricassed before we have power to do any thing." "Well, but what glory!" "Ah ! what glory indeed! to fall! Glory is neither for you nor me,nor those like us. Wc shall have

none of it, even though others have

dress, composed of an oat-bag, cov

ered with a blood-stained handkerchief. He gave order that he should be told to approach him. The corporal obeyed without appearing to be disturbed the least in the world . "Ploquet," said the emperor to him, "I know that you were the first

to enter the redoubt in the affair of

yesterday : you aro a brave fellow; and I am well content with vou." "Faith, emperor, it is no bad thing for you to bo content; there

are those here who are devilishly little so.

A look of the emperor put a stop to the murmur caused by this response, and Napoleon resumed: "Well! look you, what is your wish ? Is it advancement you would desire?" "Oh, mercy! emperor, 1 can not want more than I have here. It is quite enough to have an cscona.de on the arm."

"Is it, then, the cross that you would have? As to this, it is only

yours so far as we may remain good friends."

And detaching his own cross.

Napoleon, amidst general acclamations, presented it himself to Ploquet, who took it with one hand, whilst with the other he made the military salute. He then very calmly attached it to one of the buttons

should be frozen before a quarter of an hour; and he betook himself to running, chasing me before him.

But he had scarcely taken a hundred steps when he fell with his face in the snow. A ball had broken both his legs. I hastened to his relief "March on!" he exclaimed. j

"Corporal," I replied, "you have saved my life within this very hour; I will never abandon you" "March, I tell you, I am happier than you folks are. In five minutes I shall feel no more cold."

It was, perhaps, the first time in his life that he had appeared content with his situation, and he expired in a few seconds after, whilst pressing on his lips the cross which the emperor had given him some time previous.

BOOKS AND STATIONARY. TT &. A. S. THOMSON,grateful for that q) patronage which has enabled them tomaintain their enterprise, would still solicit public attention, hoping that hey will bo better able than formerly to supply the wants, and answer the expectations of an enlighten1cd community. They still have on hand, andpurpose to keep up and increase, an assortment of the latest and best works on Theolooy, Law, Medicine, Arts and Sciences with Greek and Latin Classics, Histories, School Books, and a variety of Miscellaneous works, new and interesting. They have also a good assortment of stationary Ink, wrapping paper, writing and letter paper of ditrerent kinds, &c all of which they will sell as low as they can be obtained any where in the Wabash country. 07-Those whose accounts are due, arcrespectfully requested to settle them as soon as possible. Crawfordsvillc, June 12th, 1S35, Gtf

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC. Fellow-Citizens: The statements heretofore given in the several newspapers, of the revolving lever press and scale, constructed by me, and my intention of appropriating the benefits arising therefrom to the support of public schools, is strengthened by further reflection on the subject. Satisfied as I am, and with the opinions of several others, there is an advantage to be derived, and having made several other improvements, 1 teel it my duty to lay them before the public; believing, that if properly applied, may prove a blessing to future generations. I therefore purpose presenting to the proper authorities of each and every country within the United States and Territories, three-fourths of all the benefits arising from the following stated improvements, to be applied in the following manner, viz: to the support of public schools, indigent females, and needy orphan children. As a minute description of each improvement wilt be too lengthy for a newspaper circulation, I purpose giving to the proper authorities of each

and every county, when called for, a printed description with a drawing of each. .Suffice

it at present to sa)', the revolving lever embraces the principle and power of action, produced by the wedge and screw the power is given from the center, by a gentle circular motion, increased by a leverage and weight

and when worked from a point or center, the

power is incalculable, The revolving lever I have applied in various forms and to various

purposes.

Drs. T. M. Currey & M. Herndon

PAVE associated together in the practice of medicine, surgery, &c. ; their

i shop is two doors east of Wm. Bin ford's store

in the town of 'Crawfordsville, where they may be found except when absent on profes sional business. They hope by dilligent and unremitted attention to the duties of theii profession to merit and receive a portion of

public patronage. Sept. 1,1835.. 15 3m

FARM FOR

SALE.

ale his farm,

FW III' subscriber offers for

la four miles north of Crawfordsville, on the stale road leading to Delphi, which con-

of his COaf, without showing ill his sistsoflGO acres of land 50 acres in a good

countenance the least sign ofemo

too much. It is all well enough for I packets of cigars spoilt, such 'as I

tion. Of all the spectators of that

scene, without excepting Napoleon himself, Ploquet's was the only un

embarrassed countenance; and, on

reentering his tent, Napoleon could

not forbear retnarkins, "that is a

grognard very difficult to satisfy." The word was remembered: it will long be so. A few days afterwards the famous proclamation was read to us, which begins with these words: "Soldiers! behold the battle which

you have so much desired."

"Desired!" murmured Ploquet,

"there is no great haste to fight with empty stomachs." "You may dispense with being there, corporal," I said to him, "you had better go to your quarters." "Eh! what would vou have me to, V 1

do there?"

"You will be sheltered from the

cannon.

"But that I do not wish to be!

Ploquet sheltered! It is very a-

musing, is it not, to hear all and see

nothing? I am rather curious, sir!"

it was to be that he should not

lake part in that affair; for, during

the niuht. hnvinrr suffered much

rom his wound, the major told him

mat gangrene was to be apprehend

ed if he heated himself the least in

the world ; and so, much in spite of

state of cultivation a comfortable hewed log house and stable, with a well convenient to the house. For terms apply to the subscriber on the premises. Ralph Wheeler Aug. 31, 1835. 15

'The model, now at the Mechanics' Insti tute, in Cincinnati, Ohio, for public inspection, is what J term a single press or stand, and will serve for pressing oil, cotton, tobacco, dry goods, flour, laid, cheese. &c. Tho impression on coin, and the seals of the several public offices, can be made witli the great

est precision and uniformity. When this press is properly regulated, the impression will be the same every revolution. In common the wheel is not required to pet form a full revolution, unless the piston is to be driven out its whole length, and then it may be done to great advantage on elastic substances, for it moves very quick. As the substances

becomes condensed, the power can be given from a point or center at any moment. I intend to show the revolving lever used to advantage in sawing, morticing, and pumping. Mills of various kinds can be constructed on small streams ; and with the advantag-e of revolving lever-puirrps, the water can be relumed, and only lost by leakage, absorption or evaporation. A press I ai at present construct ing, works twelve pistons, andean housed to great advantage, particularly in pressing clastic substances. Twelve bales can be pressed at one and the same time, and will be found

worthy the attention of the cotton planter. A press for moulding and mating brick, with the mill attached for tempering the clay, is so constructed as to pump water, fill tho moulds, laise the valves, and cast off twelve brick fit for the kiln every revolution. The counter scale now before the public for inspection, is plainly constructed; when regulated to a certain amount the weight is not required to move, the pointer or hand shows the amount (of the article weighed) on the index. The difference between the coun

ter scale and the press scale, is, that the

C. GREGORY &, CO. take this weight of one is stationary on the beam of one

O method of informing their friends and slides on the other. Each can be regu-

who are in arrears with them, whose notes la ted to weigh to any amount, with tho greatand accounts are now due, that they must be est precision. paid soon. Should my fellow-citizens in noticing the N. B. Apology We owe money that foresoinxj statement, deem it worthy their at

must be paid, and we have not the "r??o" tention, and be willing to assist in brinrnmr

wherewith to do it without making collec

tions of our friends.

August 5, 1S35.

11. C. G. & CO.

11

IMPROVED LAND FOR SALE.

71 Acres of land, (S miles N. E.

JUL VJi from Crawfordsville, on the I

rranktort road,)on which is a small improve-

the benefits and advantages (which may bo fde rived therefrom) to the points and objects stated, I shall with pleasure receive and attend to any communication from a respetablo source, on the subject : And remain, with sincerity, theirs, &c. CHARLES LESHER. Cincinnati, April 18, 1833.

WELL OF, WATER

convenient to the door, offered for sale on ac

commodating terms.

ment, a comfortable dwelling house, and a , u,s ,ot newspapers, publishers of Xrer-T -r , ' periodicals, and printers enffaeed m the sev

eral offices, who will take an interest in publishing and circulating the fercgoing statement, from timn in ilmo f. .

v,. cuudu.ia;. in luwiorosvinc, ivt;ivc inonuis (so mat the proper authorities t 10 ,00- DAVID CLARK. of the several respective counties may be noJune 12 1S3j' G titled of the same)Shall be entitled to an indi . vidua! riffht in all iho nf,-,..-,: j

Tl 6bdhh(ihlJ?0rg00dBA ? ,mProvemts, and by complying with the JUL U6 NLMi'MJr GfAA wanled imme aoove recuests. much

i: 1 t . .... l.n . . ' iiiv.ii 1I1CUU UIIU

uiaieiy, lor wnicli the highest price will be Iellow-citizen.

pain in goods. Also, Feathers, bees-wax.

tallow, hemp, linen, and flax, will be received in payment for goods, and cash will not be refused. BURBRIDGE& MILLER. Crawfordsville, May 22, 1835. 3if

FARM FOR S'.IIjI. 'iS-ten miles north of

orawtorclsv e. nn

7

BUSHELS of OATS wanted on subscription, for thP

second or third volume of the RECORD.

the La-

par. ------ "-a-3 unuer

r.v.?, auu e gmy acres in a good stale 0f culvation; and a comfortable log house. For terms apply to George MillCr,Ciawrordsvillc

fayette road, on which

August 10, 1835.