1 827.] A Day at the Camp of #/, Onter. 6 i 9 



them as they pass us, we, at the end of near a mile, gain the brow of the 

 hill, arid perceive the whole continuous line, winding down the steep accli- 

 vity, except that the head of it is already seen stretching away into the 

 open plain. In a few minutes more, the whole has reached its first desti- 

 nation, and each regiment has taken a separate position, to await the attack. 

 The point on which we now stand overlooks an immense space of open 

 country, undulating, and richly cultivated, and through the centre of which 

 runs, diagonally, the great road to the capital, lined on either side by a 

 noble avenue of trees. The troops who have just been marched from the 

 camp are lying on their arms in five or six great divisions, near to the left 

 extremity of the open country before us. Presently drums are heard 

 faintly, at a distance, beyond the great road, on the right, and from a 

 situation which, from the nature of the ground, is not visible even from the 

 eminence on which we stand. In an instant, the drums of the defending 

 party are heard aloud, the soldiers are at their quarters, and what was the 

 moment before a scattered body, consisting of thousands of members, each 

 moving at its own will, becomes a single and compact one, actuated as if 

 by one mind alone, and like Wordsworth's great cloud, 



" Moving all together, if it move at all." 



Meantime, the drums of the approaching party sound nearer and nearer, 

 behind the rising ground on the right; a few scattered shots are heard from 

 the villages in that direction ; and presently a great body of troops- 

 cavalry and infantry rise from behind the high ground their arms and 

 armour (for some of the cavalry are cuirassiers, who wear polished steel 

 back and breast-plates) glittering and flashing in the sunshine. Their 

 appearance is the signal for a general attack on both sides ; and, instantly, 

 the batteries along the brow of the hill begin to play, and are answered 

 by the light artillery of the advancing party ; while the whole body of 

 infantry, on either side, open a heavy fire upon each other. All this, 

 which lasts incessantly for at least half an hour, probably as an object of 

 sight and sound merely, differs in no respect whatever from what it would 

 appear if the action were real, and presents a rpble commencement of the 

 movements of the day. The effect, too, is greatly aided by a continued 

 running fire of musketry, indistinctly heard from the villages behind the 

 rising ground, where a detachment of either party are engaged ; and, also, 

 by the continued passage, hither and thither, in the distance of staff offi- 

 cers, attended by their suites, aids-de-camp bearing orders from one part of 

 the field to another, the bugles, and quick movements of the light com- 

 panies, &c. &c. 



The scene is now about to undergo an entire change the fire of the 

 defending party slackens, and at length ceases ; and they form themselves 

 into columns and retreat : some mounting the hill on which the spectators 

 are situated, but the greater part retiring round the base of it, and gaining 

 the adjacent villages through which they are immediately followed by 

 the other party ; and another general attack commences there the effect 

 of which is most picturesque and striking : for, by changing our position, 

 the whole of the scene lies beneath us. The spot, with the exception of 

 glimpses of the red roofs and white chimnies of cottages, here and there- 

 and an occasional opening into narrow winding lanes, is so thickly wooded, 

 as to have all the appearance of a rich grove of trees ; and, through the 

 breaks of these, the various uniforms and plumes of the troops, their glit- 

 tering arms, and the volumes of smoke that rise above, or obscure them, 



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