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Except for this, the battle had come to a lull, when a second mass of the enemy began to move down the slopes: a battalion in line heading two columns of infantry direct upon the Brunswickers, while squadron after squadron of lancers crowded down along the road into which by weight of numbers they must be driven.
The Brunswickers will endeavour to make terms with us as a body to make martyrs of some of the old Protestants, particularly of the Duke and Peel, and placing themselves at the head to go on as well as they could with the rest of us. This will not do. September 26.
Among the fallen we perceived the gallant colonel of the hussars lying under his horse, which had been killed, All of a sudden two riflemen of the Brunswickers left their battalion, and after taking from their helpless victim his purse, watch, and other articles of value, they deliberately put the colonel's pistols to the poor fellow's head and blew out his brains.
Wellington had not more than seventy thousand men to put up against the Corsican's troops; and only a hundred and fifty cannon against two hundred and eighty. Yes, the British would probably be annihilated by superior forces: but no doubt the other allies and the Brunswickers would come off a great deal better." But Mme. la Duchesse douairière d'Agen offered no such consolation.
The Nassauers would not or could not face the French; and some battalions of Brunswickers, whom the Duke of Wellington had ordered up as a reinforcement, at first fell back, until the Duke in person rallied them, and led them on. Having thus barred the farther advance of Donzelot, the Duke galloped off to the right to head his men who were exposed to the attack of the Imperial Guard.
On the right, however, the Brunswickers were suffering heavily from the cannonade of the French, and were only prevented from breaking by the coolness of their chief.
It almost seemed as if he could hear those shouts of "Vive l'Empereur!" and the rallying cry of commanding officers it was all so near not more than three hundred yards away, and the clear, stormy atmosphere carried sights and sounds upon its wing. Another volley from the tirailleurs and the Dutch and Brunswickers turned to fly: in vain did their officers call, they wanted to get away!
Indeed, he seems to acknowledge it is not his own idea, but that of others, that on his return to the Government he should not have returned to the same office. In fact it is the influence of the Duke of Cumberland, and it is evident from the endeavour to detach Bankes from the Government now that the Brunswickers still have hopes.
He was in good humour, and said the Duke was quite right in declaring Lord Anglesey had not his permission to read the letters. It seems the King said the same thing in the Duke of Cumberland's presence on Monday at dinner, and this made the Duke so very angry that evening. We had a very good division last night on the Retford question. Almost all the Brunswickers voted with us none against us.
Warned by a cloud of skirmishers, our light companies leapt forward, chose their shelter, and began a very pretty exchange of musketry. But this was preliminary work only, and soon the head of a large French column appeared on the slope to our right, driving the Brunswickers slowly before it. It descended a little way, and suddenly broke into three or four columns of attack.
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