250 THE FOREST AND THE FIELD. 



our men steadily kept up their fearful iire, which 

 was but ill returned. Our loss was trifling com- 

 pared to theirs, for the effect of our concentrated 

 fire can hardly be imagined. The enemy's artillery 

 played unceasingly on our position ; shot, shell, 

 grape, and canister flew about in all directions, but 

 luckily for us, the same fog which had obscured 

 the advance of the enemy also prevented them from 

 getting our range accurately, though we afterwards 

 suffered much during the intervals between their 

 successive attacks. At last the enemy's ranks were 

 completely broken, and the word was given to our 

 line to advance and charge. 



It is not possible to imagine a more exciting scene 

 than a charge of British troops, when with a loud 

 shrill ringing cheer, which almost drowns the 

 rolling of drums and blasts of bugles, each man 

 feeling confident of success lowers his bayonet and 

 throws himself upon the foe. At such a moment 

 all thoughts of personal danger vanish, and even 

 the raw unfledged recruit just taken from his 

 mother's hearth proves himself a hero, and feels 

 and acts as if the turning-point of the day 



