giment during the battle, in front of
Sunken Road, near Roulette House]

The chief events were horse races. The army abounded in excellent
thoroughbreds, private property of officers, and all were anxious to
show the mettle of their steeds. Everybody was invited to be present and
take such part as he pleased in any of the events. It was a royal gala
day to the army; from morning until night there were excitement and
side-splitting amusement. Nor was there, throughout the whole day, a
thing, not even a small fight, that I heard of, to mar the wholesome
fun, until towards night our old enemy, John Barleycorn, managed to get
in some of his work.

The chief event of the day and the wind-up was a hurdle and ditch race,
open to officers only. Hurdles and ditches alternated the course at a
distance of two hundred yards, except at the finish, where a hurdle and
ditch were together, the ditch behind the hurdle. Such a race was a
hare-brained performance in the highest degree; but so was army life at
its best, and this was not out of keeping with its surroundings.
Excitement was what was wanted, and this was well calculated to produce
it.

The hurdles were four and five feet high and did not prove serious
obstacles to the jumpers, but the ditches, four and five feet wide and
filled with water, proved a _bete noir_ to most of the racers. Some
twenty-five, all young staff-officers, started, but few got beyond the
first ditch. Many horses that took the hurdle all right positively
refused the ditch. Several officers were dumped at the first hurdle, and
two were thrown squarely over their horses' heads into the first ditch,
and were nice-looking specimens as they crawled out of that bath of
muddy water. They were unhurt, however, and remounted and tried it
again, with better success.

The crowning incident of the day occurred at the finish of this race at
the combination hurdle and ditch. Out of the number who started, only
three had compassed safely all the hurdles and ditches and come to the
final leap. The horses were about a length apart each. The first took
the hurdle in good shape, but failed to reach the further bank of the
ditch and fell over sideways into it, carrying down his rider. Whilst
they were struggling to get out, the second man practically repeated the
performance and fell on the first pair, and the rear man, now unable to
check his horse, spurred him over, only to fall on the others. It was a
fearful sight for