ds; but a horrible din made my flesh creep; it was the
rattling of the grape-shot among the bayonets.

In the midst of shouts, orders, and the whistling of bullets, we again
began to fall back over heaps of dead; our first division re-entered
Klein-Gorschen, and once more the fight was hand to hand. In the main
street of the village nothing was seen or heard but shots and blows,
and generals, mounted, fought sword in hand like private soldiers.

This lasted some minutes; we in the ranks, said, "all is well, all is
well, now we are advancing;" but again they were reinforced, and we
were obliged to continue our retreat, and unhappily in such haste that
many did not stop until they reached Kaya. This village was on the
ridge and the last before reaching Lutzen. It is a long, narrow lane
of houses, separated from each other by little gardens, stables and
bee-hives. If the enemy forced us to Kaya, our army was cut in two. I
recalled the words of M. Goulden--"If unluckily the allies get the best
of us, they will revenge themselves on us in our own country for all we
have been doing to them the last ten years." The battle seemed
irretrievably lost, for Marshal Ney himself, in the centre of a square,
was retreating; and many soldiers, to get away from the _melee_, were
carrying off wounded officers on their muskets. Everything looked
gloomy, indeed.

I entered Kaya on the right of the village, leaping over hedges, and
creeping under the fences which separated the gardens, and was turning
the corner of a street, when I saw some fifty officers on the brow of a
hill before me, and behind them masses of artillery galloping at full
speed along the Leipzig road. Then I saw the Emperor himself, a little
in advance of the others; he was seated, as if in an arm-chair, on his
white horse, and I could see him well, beneath the clear sky,
motionless and looking at the battle through his field-glass.

My heart beat gladly; I cried "_Vive l'Empereur!_" with all my
strength, and rushed along the main street of Kaya. I was one of the
first to enter, and I saw the inhabitants of the village, men, women,
and children, hastening to the cellars for protection.

Many to whom I have related the foregoing have sneered at me for
running so fast; but I can only reply that when Michel Ney retreated,
it was high time for Joseph Bertha to do so too.

Klipfel, Zebede, Sergeant Pinto, and the others of the company had not
yet arrived when mas