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At the battle of Busaco, where Masséna made the mistake of mounting a frontal attack on the Duke of Wellington's army, which was in position on the heights of a mountain with a very difficult approach, Poor Simon, wishing, no doubt, to redeem himself and to make up for the time he had lost towards promotion, charged bravely at the head of his brigade, overcame every obstacle, clambered up the rocks under a hail of bullets, broke through the English line and was first into the enemy entrenchments.
Much of the work would have to be performed at night, to keep it secret, and the Mexicans, behind their impassable entrenchments on the old Cerro Gordo pass, had no idea of the hidden plans of their enemies. Santa Anna himself may have believed that his antagonist had given up the hope of ever reaching the city of Mexico by that route.
After several unavailing attempts to draw that able officer from his advantageous position, Wolfe resolved to pass the Montmorency, and to attack him in his entrenchments.
They stand in their old entrenchments on either side of the Saône and are vivacious in battle; from time to time a spirit urges them, and they go out conquering eastward in the Germanics, or in Asia, or down the peninsulas of the Mediterranean, and then they suck back like a tide homewards, having accomplished nothing but an epic.
But it was now discovered that though there were no entrenchments, there was a ditch which served as a drain to the great moor adjacent, of which no mention had been made by the scouts.
Cavalry was sent forward to dislodge him, and seized some of the entrenchments near that place, while both armies were hurried forward for the inevitable battle.
A sharp skirmish ensued, but the beggars were driven into their entrenchments, with a loss of twenty or thirty men, and nightfall terminated the contest. It was beautiful to see, wrote Aremberg to Alva, how brisk and eager were the Spaniards, notwithstanding the long march which they had that day accomplished. Time was soon to show how easily immoderate, valor might swell into a fault.
From these parties the utmost terror was raised, in consequence of their priests, who, by carrying before them lighted torches and the figures of serpents, and advancing with the gait of furies, disconcerted the Roman soldiers by their extraordinary appearance; and then indeed they ran back to their entrenchments, in all the hurry of trepidation, as if frenzied or thunderstruck; and then when the consul, and lieutenant-generals, and tribunes began to ridicule and chide them for being frightened like children at mere sights, shame suddenly changed their minds; and they rushed, as if blindfold, on those very objects from which they had fled.
They were very severely handled, and even obliged to give way, when prince Louis of Baden marching up at the head of the imperialists to another part of the line, made a diversion in their favour. After an obstinate resistance they forced the entrenchments, and the horse entering with the infantry, fell so furiously upon the enemy, already disordered, that they were routed with great slaughter.
In this peril Attila made his centre fall back upon his camp; and when the shelter of its entrenchments and waggons had once been gained, the Hunnish archers repulsed, without difficulty, the charges of the vengeful Gothic cavalry.
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