ening guns
rolled in mighty volumes along the earth, and entirely concealed the lower
part of the fortress; above this the tall towers and battlemented parapets
rose into the thin, transparent sky like fairy palaces. A bright flash of
flame would now and then burst forth from the walls, and a clanging crash
of the brass metal be heard; but the unceasing roll of our artillery nearly
drowned all other sounds, save when a loud cheer would burst from the
trenches, while the clattering fall of masonry, and the crumbling stones
as they rolled down, bespoke the reason of the cry. The utmost activity
prevailed on all sides; troops pressed forward to the reliefs in the
parallels; ammunition wagons moved to the front; general and staff officers
rode furiously about the plain; and all betokened that the hour of attack
was no longer far distant.

While all parties were anxiously awaiting the decision of our chief, the
general order was made known, which, after briefly detailing the necessary
arrangements, concluded with the emphatic words, "Ciudad Rodrigo _must_ be
stormed to-night." All speculation as to the troops to be engaged in this
daring enterprise was soon at an end; for with his characteristic sense of
duty, Lord Wellington made no invidious selection, but merely commanded
that the attack should be made by whatever divisions might chance to be
that day in the trenches. Upon the Third and Light Divisions, therefore,
this glorious task devolved. The former was to attack the main breach;
to Crawfurd's Division was assigned the, if possible, more difficult
enterprise of carrying the lesser one; while Pack's Portuguese Brigade were
to menace the convent of La Caridad by a feint attack, to be converted into
a real one, if circumstances should permit.

The decision, however matured and comprehensive in all its details, was
finally adopted so suddenly that every staff officer upon the ground was
actively engaged during the entire evening in conveying the orders to the
different regiments. As the day drew to a close, the cannonade slackened on
either side, a solitary gun would be heard at intervals, and in the calm
stillness around, its booming thunder re-echoed along the valleys of the
Sierra; but as the moon rose and night set in, these were no longer heard,
and a perfect stillness and tranquillity prevailed around. Even in the
trenches, crowded with armed and anxious soldiers, not a whisper was heard;
and amidst that mighty host