at that instant for the same purpose. He looked me in the face, and seeing how deeply the sight of such a flag disgusted and pained me, he became more calm, and cast his eyes over the immense audience assembled to hear the renowned Prentiss, their orator on the occasion. But with all his art, and sarcasm, and denunciation, and panegyrics on the Union, he could not remove the wide-spread disgust that repulsive flag had produced in the popular mind." Excited by partisanship and pageantry, the people, nevertheless, remembered South Carolina; her Rutledge, the elected dictator of a free people; her Pinckney, author of the memorable words, "Millions for defense-not a cent for tribute;" her Laurens's, father and son; her Haynes, who perished on the scaffold and in the prison-ships for the common liberty!

I can not close this sketch of the Palmetto regiment without the following reference to the late lamented Preston S. Brooks, the friend and comrade of Quitman. I am indebted for it to C. H. Suber, Esq., of South Carolina.

"Washington, August 7th, 1856. "MR. EDITOR,-Yesterday our immediate representative in Congress, Hon. P. S. Brooks, completed his 37th year, and it was my good fortune to be one of a pleasant party of his friends assembled to dine with him on the occasion. The party consisted of Judge Butler, General Lane, General Quitman, Colonel Davis, secretary of war, Judge Douglas, Mr. Edmondson, Mr. Bocock, Clingman, and myself. Colonels Brooks, Orr, and Keitt mess together, and live very handsomely. I do not remember when I passed a few hours of more pleasure; and while at the table an incident unexpectedly occurred, which to relate is the object of this communication. Toward the close of the feast General Quitman rose, and in behalf of the citizens of Holmes County, Mississippi, presented Colonel Brooks a beautiful cane, and uttered at the time a few remarks, with which all present were so pleasingly impressed, that I appealed to him to furnish me with an abstract of what he had said for publication, where the constituents of Colonel Brooks may read the judgment of a veteran warrior of the man who bears in honor the flag of the old ‘96' district.

"General Quitman rose, and spoke in substance as follows: 'I ask permission of the gentlemen present to avail myself of this opportunity to perform a duty with which I have been charged by the citizens of Holmes County, Mississippi. It is to present my friend, who sits at the head of the table, this beautiful cane, with the approving resolutions which accompany their gift. Captain Brooks (for I prefer the title which brings back to memory my association with you in the service of our country), this cane has been forwarded to me by a committee of citizens of Holmes County, Mississippi, as a token of respect and approval, accompanied by the following resolutions:

"Lexington, Miss., July 4.-At a meeting of the citizens of Holmes County, held in Social Hall, on motion, Colonel Otho W. Bealle was called to the chair, and F. C. Adams requested to act as secretary. The chairman requested James M. Haynes, Esq., to explain the object of the meeting. Mr. Haynes arose, and said that the meeting, according to previous notice, had been called to take into

consideration the propriety of presenting to the Hon. Preston S. Brooks, of South Carolina, a walking-cane, with appropriate inscription, for caning that vile abolitionist and foul-mouthed slanderer, Sumner, of Massachusetts, in the Senate Chamber, on the 22d of May last.

"On motion of James M. Haynes, Esq., a committee of three were appointed, consisting of James II. Haynes, John M. West, and Fleet C. Mercer, to report suitable resolutions expressivo of the senso of this meeting. The committee, after a few minutes, reported tho following, which were unanimously adopted:

"Resolved, 1. That we approve of and fully indorse the conduct of Hon. P. S. Brooks, of South Carolina, in inflicting the well-merited chastisement upon Charles Sumner, a senator in Congress from the State of Massachusetts.

"Resolved, 2. That as a testimonial of our regard for the Hon. P. S. Brooks, we present to him a cane with suitable inscriptions.

"Resolved, 3. That a committee of three be appointed to forward the cane to our distinguished representative, the Hon. John A. Quitman, to be presented in our name to the Hon. P. S. Brooks.

"Resolved, 4. That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to General Quitman, to be presented with the cane.

"On motion, a committee of three, consisting of the Hon. W. Thomas, J. D. M'Farland, and Jesse Broadway, were appointed to receive contributions to pay for said walking-cane.

"On motion, John M. West, the Hon. Madison M'Afee, James W. Grace, and James M. Haynes, were appointed a committee to carry out the objects of the 3d and 4th resolutions.

"Resolved, That wo tender to the IIon. Madison M'Afce our sincere thanks for his promptitude in having a suitable cane prepared to be presented to the Hon. P. S. Brooks, and that great credit is due him for the taste he has displayed in the inscription upon the

canc.

"On motion, the meeting adjourned sine die.

"F. C. ADAMS, Secretary.

"OTHо W. BEALLE, President.

"Sir, the approval of such men should be a full compensation for the abuse which has from certain quarters been heaped on your hend. In point of character, intelligence, and high and refined senso of honor, the gentlemen whose names are associated with these resolutions have no superiors. You may justly be proud of their approval of your conduct. They have honored me by selecting me as the organ of this presentation to yourself. I know that their gift is bestowed upon one who is worthy of it-one who is incapable of a dishonorable act. I recall to mind the young and almost beardless officer who, when captain in the gallant l'almetto Regiment in Mexico while under my command, was remarkable for his gallantry and for the performance of every duty in the camp and in the field, sharing with his men the privations of both spheres; nor can I forget, sir, that in the last bloody fields of that campaign the blood of four of your kinsmen flowed to secure the brilliant victories of our arms; or that in the last terriblo chargo on the Garita de Belen your nearest surviving kinsman gal

lantly fell within the fortifications of the enemy. I will not now dwell upon the sad recollections of those events. I will only add that I unite with my friends of Holmes County in their high estimate of you personally, and also in their approval of the honorable and proper sentiments which actuated you in vindicating the honor of your state and the character of your venerable relative upon the occasion to which they refer.'

"Col. Brooks, accepting the gift, said that his feelings would not permit him then to respond to what had been addressed to him, but he would reply by letter when he could better command his thoughts. His reply to General Quitman (a copy of which was kindly furnished me) is as follows:

"House of Representatives, August 7th, 1826. "MY DEAR GENERAL,-I could not trust myself yesterday to reply to your kind and complimentary remarks upon presenting to me the beautiful cane which my friends of Holmes County, Mississippi, had commissioned you to present in their name.

"Under ordinary circumstances I would have replied on the instant to your address, but I was not ordinarily situated.

"Yesterday was my birth-day. The morning had been devoted to a successful effort to restore amicable relations between two gentlemen, each of whom have qualities which endear them to their friends and make them valuable citizens of any community.

"My heart was full with the feeling that, in connection with others, I had contributed to do good on a day so interesting to myself. This was the mood in which you found me, and when "my old commander," under whose eye I had served in a foreign land, presented a testimonial of approval from strangers, and expressed words of compliment to me as a man, as a soldier, and a representative, I could find no words to speak in the tumult of feeling which possessed me.

"I now request you to tender my grateful acknowledgments to those you represent, and accept yourself assurances of my profoundest esteem and affectionate regard. P. S. BROOKS.

***General Quitman.'

"His calm, dignified, and chivalric bearing throughout the whole excitement growing out of the chastisement of Senator Sumner has won for Col. Brooks 'golden opinions from all classes of people,' but to retain the good opinion of his gallant chief in other days, who has closely watched his every step under these most trying circumstances, is the highest possible testimonial of the correctness of his course. "His constituents have reason to feel proud of their representative. C. II. S."

D.

ADVENTURES IN MEXICO.

General M'Laurin to J. F. II. Claiborne.

"Jackson, Mississippi, July 16th, 1860.

"Your note of the 5th instant, containing memoranda found among General Quitman's papers in relation to the little party which went

from Covington County to Mexico in the winter of 1847 and attached themselves to his command, and of which you make inquiries, etc., has been received.

"In the month of January, 1847, a party of nine young men, all of us then residing in Covington County, in this state, determined to go to Mexico at their own expense, to engage in the exciting events then transpiring. At New Orleans we provided ourselves with complete suits of uniform for private soldiers; also a rifle apiece of the ordinary Kentucky make, but of the best quality, with all the accoutrements we conceived necessary for efficient service, such as bowicknives, revolvers, etc., together with a box of superior medicines, and written directions for their use, for most of the diseases consequent upon the climate and life we were about to enter upon, prepared by our friend Dr. E. D. Fenner, of New Orleans. We then embarked for Tampico, the rendezvous of the American army previous to the attack on Vera Cruz. We landed at Tampico on the 28th of January, where General Quitman had arrived a few days before with his command of the Georgia and Alabama regiments, under the command respectively of Col. Jackson and Col. Coffee. On the day after our arrival I reported our presence to Gen. Quitman, who had known most of us at home, and who evinced every mark of pleasure and delight at our course, and immediately accepted our offer to attach ourselves to his command, and at the same time assured us that he would use every effort to make our position as pleasant as possible— all of which he redeemed beyond the pledge. On the 22d of February, at the suggestion of General Quitman, and by consent of Colonel Jackson, our little rifle squad connected ourselves to Company 'D,' of the 1st Georgia regiment (musketry), which company was, for the most part, composed of well educated and intelligent young men of the city of Columbus, Georgia, and commanded by Capt. Davis, who, though a tailor, as Gen. Quitman frequently remarked, was overy inch a man and a soldier.

"General Quitman's command remained in their quarters at Tampico until the 7th or 8th of March, when his and General Shields's command were taken aboard the steamer New Orleans, and reached the point of rendezvous of Gen. Scott's division at Point Lizardo, some 18 or 20 miles south of Vera Cruz, on the 9th of March about noon. Ours was the last of that division that was expected to arrive, except the South Carolina regiment, which had been detained by adverse winds. About 4 o'clock P.M., at a given signal, the whole fleet containing that well-appointed army raised steam and hoisted sail, and in two hours were greeted by the castle San Juan d'Ulloa and the heavy artillery on the main land guarding Vera Cruz. It was a calm, clear, beautiful evening, and just as the sun was disappearing behind Mt. Orizaba, beyond Vera Cruz, the landing of General Scott's command commenced some four miles below the city. Gen. Quitman's command landed and formed' on the shore just at dark, in which ground we slept with our arms at hand. About 1 o'clock in the morning, while I was lying in the calm moonlight on my blanket on the sand-beach with a high fever on me, and awake, and when all around was as still as if all mankind were at peace with each other, a picket-guard gave an alarm, and in an instant line on line of arm

ed men, as far as the eye could reach through the dim light, were in position and ready for any foe.

"Next day General Quitman's command remained on the beach where they landed. During that day the South Carolina regiment landed, under the command of Col. Butler, and were placed under Gen. Quitman.

"That evening, I think it was, Gen. Quitman was ordered to leave his position. And that night the new recruits (the South Carolinians and our little squad of Mississippians) began to taste the first realities of a soldier's life, by having to cut their way through dense chapparal. By next morning they reached near the point occupied by General Pillow the day before, who was ordered to fall back, and Gen. Quitman ordered to occupy the same ground.

"I will here remark that Mr. Jasper M'Donald, son of Governor M'Donald, of Georgia, who was in possession of a 'Mississippi rifle,' attached himself to our little rifle squad at Tampico, and continued with us. And I would farther remark, that Capt. Davis refused to let me march with his company that night in consequence of my attack of fever, and ordered Mr. Wm. Laird, one of our mess, to remain with me on the beach, where one of each mess in each regiment was left to take care of the sick and baggage.

"Shortly after Col. Jackson, with the Georgia regiment, had taken possession of some temporary trenches made by General Pillow on the day provious, a party of Mexicans in considerable strength came within three or four hundred yards and opened a harmless fire upon that regiment. At the request of Mr. M'Donald and the squad of Mississippians, Col. Jackson gave them permission to go without any officer to a point on the sand-hills within efficient range and commence war on their own hook;' this they quickly put into execution. But the sharp crack of the rifles soon attracted the attention of Gen. Quitman, who, it seems, had given orders that no shot should be fired without his express orders, but this order had not been delivered to Col. Jackson. Gen. Quitman was soon upon the ground, and stopped the sport; but the matter was soon explained by Col. Jackson, and Gen. Quitman himself ordered the rifles' and some fifteen of Capt. Davis's company to go to another point and attack the Moxicans. This party was commanded by Capt. Davis, and numbered twenty-three, besides Capt. Davis; but before they reached the point designated, while passing the sharp crest of a sand-hill, they were attacked by another party of Mexicans on their flank, at some hundred and twenty yards distant. This was answered by Capt. Davis; and Gen. Quitman, though on foot, was soon upon the ground, and ordered them to fight it out where they stood. The Mexicans being in considerable strength, divided into companies of some fifty, by firing and falling back kept up an incessant roll, showing generally but a part of their persons above the sharp apex of the opposite ridge. After this little fight had lasted some twenty-five or thirty minutes, and Mr. Thos. J. Lott, of the Mississippi squad, Mr. M'Donald, and some six or eight others were hors de combat, Gen. Quitman, whose entire person had been exposed to the Mexican fire most of this time, ordered up Lieut. Col. Dickerson and two companies of the South Carolina regiment. Col. Dickerson was badly wounded almost as