renadiers named William Hooper, exploded in
the rear not more than one yard from me, hurling me at least two yards
into the air, but fortunately doing me little injury beyond the
shaking and carrying a small piece of skin off the side of my face. It
was indeed another narrow escape, for it burnt the tail of my sash
completely off, and turned the handle of my sword perfectly black. I
remember remarking to a sergeant who was standing close by me when I
fell, "This is sharp work to begin with, I hope it will end better:"
and even this much had unfortunately so frightened one of the young
recruits of my company, named Bartram, who had never before been in
action and now did not like the curious evolutions of this shell so
close to him, that he called out to me and said he must fall out of
rank, as he was taken very ill. I could easily see the cause of his
illness, so I pushed him into rank again, saying, "Why, Bartram, it's
the smell of this little powder that has caused your illness; there's
nothing else the matter with you;" but that physic would not content
him at all, and he fell down and would not proceed another inch. I was
fearfully put out at this, but was obliged to leave him, or if he had
had his due he ought to have been shot. From this time I never saw him
again for at least six months, but even then I did not forget him for
this affair of cowardice, as I shall have occasion to show hereafter.

The right of our line had been engaged some little time before we
were ordered up, and then our position was changed, we having to cross
the road and proceed to the right of a farmhouse called La Haye
Sainte. Owing to the rain that had been peppering down the whole night
and even now had not quite ceased, the fields and roads were in a
fearful state of dirt and mud, which tended to retard our progress
greatly as well as to tire us. It made it very bad too for the action
of cavalry, and even more so for artillery.

About ten o'clock the action of the day began at Hougoumont on our
right, and from there it fell on our centre, where we were attacked by
a tremendous body of cavalry and infantry. The fire, however, which
had been kept up for hours from the enemy's cannon had now to be
abated in that quarter, owing to the close unison of the two armies.
And from this time onward we endured some heavy work throughout the
day, having constantly to be first forming square to receive the
repeated attacks of their cavalry, and then