70 A Century of Family Letters [CHAP, v 



which there was a house, surrounded with a small wall, in 

 which were placed the light infantry companies of the 

 Coldstream Guards and our regiment, with orders to defend 

 it to the last. The French were driven back, but advanced 

 again with a fresh force, and succeeded in gaining entrance 

 into the wood. They then sent fire-balls upon the house 

 and set a barn and all the out-houses on fire. After being 

 exposed to a heavy fire of shot and grape and shells for two 

 hours and a half, in which we had 3 officers wounded be- 

 sides a number of men, the right wing of our regiment and 

 my company went to the assistance of the Coldstreams in 

 the wood, in which there was a very heavy fire of musquetry. 

 The French were during the whole of this [time firing] at 

 the house into which my company and another entered, 

 nearly one hundred men having now been consumed in the 

 flames. The French forced the gates 3 times, and 3 times 

 were driven back with immense loss, for we were firing at 

 one another at about 5 yards distance. There was a large 

 garden to the house which was surrounded by a wall on 

 2 sides, the house on the 3rd, and on the remaining side a 

 hedge. We had another company brought into it, and a 

 few Dutch who lined the garden wall, in which they made 

 port-holes and annoyed the French very much. About 

 5 o'clock the French gained ground very much and made 

 the English retire from the position on the heights, but 

 were again driven back by a strong column consisting of 

 cavalry and the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 1st Guards, 

 and the remaining part of our's, and after a hard struggle 

 were obliged to give ground and retreat through the wood. 

 They attacked the house again with renewed force and 

 vigour, but could not force it. The house had a great deal 

 of the walls down with their cannon, but they could not 

 gain admittance. We afterwards received a fresh reinforce- 

 ment of Guards into the house, and my company was sent 

 out to skirmish. About 8 o'clock the first Guards and a 

 part of ours charged the French with the bayonet and 

 drove them entirely from the house. About that time a 

 body of about 3000 Prussians came up, and the French 



