our sudden appearance seemed to take them absolutely by surprise,
with the result that something very like a panic ensued among them. A
few, after staring at us agape and motionless for a second or two, as
though unable to comprehend what we were after, came to life and took to
their heels, attempting to bolt out of the battery before we could reach
it. But our lads quickly stopped them by spreading out in front of them
and driving them back at the point of the cutlass; others, seeing the
impossibility of retreat in that direction, dashed into one of the
chambers beneath the gun platform, slamming the door behind them,
regardless of the fact that they were shutting out many of their
comrades, and barricading themselves against attack, as we could hear by
the sounds proceeding from the inside; while, as for the two sentries on
the platform, they simply fired their muskets in the air, flung them
down, and vaulted over the parapet on to the glacis, thus making good
their escape. The six men charged with the duty of spiking the guns
dashed straightway up the steps leading to the gun platform, and at once
proceeded to the execution of their task, leaving their comrades below
to deal with the garrison; and in less than five minutes the battery was
in our possession, and the six guns effectually spiked. True, a few of
the artillerymen who had retreated to the interior of the structure
thrust muskets through the windows of the chamber and snapped them off
at us; but they speedily gave that up and surrendered at discretion upon
my approaching a broken window and shouting through it, by Mr Adair's
orders, the information that we were about to explode the magazine, and
that they had better come out if they did not wish to perish amid the
ruins.

When all hands upon both sides were mustered it was found that we had
gained possession of the battery without the least injury to either
side. The French officer was then directed to march his men--who were
of course disarmed--to the village which I had seen earlier in the
morning, and which we now learned was called Erquy; and as soon as they
were fairly out of the battery the magazine was broken open, the powder
barrels rolled together in the middle of the room, the heads knocked
out, and a train laid from barrel to barrel, while another party of our
men was busily engaged in bringing the six spiked guns together in a
cluster immediately over the magazine. A quarter-of-an-hour suff