nt holding the flag, "it's meself should be
houldin' that, and not you!" and at the word he grasped the staff out of
the officer's hands and plunged still farther forward among the enemy
with it, than it had before been carried by either of the bearers,
coming out of the fight at last without a scratch.

At very nearly the same time, and at the point in the rebel front
assailed by Meagher's brigade, another scene was presented, perhaps
unexampled in the history of war. A Georgia regiment (Georgia has sent
out some of the very best and most determined fighters of the whole
rebel army) was in the front and immediately opposed to the jolly New
York Irishmen. The evening being a hot one, most of the Irish boys had
prepared themselves for the charge by throwing off knapsacks, coats, and
even hats, so as to "fight asier." Their habit of doing this, by the
way, in hot weather and in the excitement of battle, has not only cost
the government a round sum for new clothing and equipments, but given
many opportunities to the Confederates for boasting of a victory when
they had won nothing of the kind. They have regarded the thrown-away
coats and knapsacks as evidence of a panic and a rout, when the fact is
that they have only evidenced Paddy's desire, quoted above, to "fight
asy."

In the present instance, Capt. S----, a young Irishman, of Meagher's
Brigade, a fire-boy and a gymnast, was surrounded by a knot of his
fellows, and they were making good progress in driving back the Georgia
regiment, when the Captain encountered the Major of the Georgians.
Whether something in the eye of each defied the other, will perhaps
never be known; but certain it is that Captain S---- sprung for a
single combat with the Major, and that the Major, quite as willing,
sprung forward with a corresponding intention. A few passes were made
with the sword by each, and then both seemed to forget the use of the
weapon. In half a minute swords were dropped, and the two combatants
were clenched, pounding away with their _fists_! Something after the
manner of the armies of old time when two great warriors met
single-handed, the combatants on both sides seemed to stand still for
the moment and look on at this singular struggle--this novelty in deadly
war. Captain S---- was the heavier man, but the Georgia Major the
nimbler, and they seemed very well matched. The Confederates were giving
way on either side, and the Georgia regiment must necessarily retreat
de