But the
victory was as complete and as creditable to the handful of victors, as
it could have been had those numbers been multiplied by ten. And the
action was especially interesting as the first, during the late war, in
which the superiority of British bayonets over those of any other
nation, was proved and established beyond the possibility of
dispute,--the first of a long succession of triumphs, the Alpha of the
series of which Waterloo was the Omega. Destitute of cavalry, and
fiercely attacked by a superior force of horse and foot, the British
grenadiers stemmed the tide of the foeman's pride, and showed the men
who had overrun half Europe, that they had at last met their masters. By
General Pepe, Regnier's army is represented as worn out by fatigue, and
as attacking their opponents at the termination of a succession of
forced marches, without any interval for repose and refreshment. It is
well authenticated that this was the case with but a small portion of
the French force, which joined the main body during the night preceding
the action. The bulk of Regnier's division, numerically superior to the
British, had been encamped upon the heights of Maida at least
twenty-four hours previously to the battle. General Pepe says nothing of
the brilliant charge with the bayonet that first broke the French ranks,
and by which the victory was half won. "The English," he says, "who had
constantly practised firing at a target in Sicily, and who were become
skilful marksmen, directed their shot so ably that they caused great
havoc in the French ranks, killing and wounding many. General Regnier
now ordered the second line to advance and defile through the first, and
as the movement is extremely difficult of execution under an enemy's
fire, the French army fell into confusion, and Regnier was obliged to
retreat." A retreat which history calls a precipitate flight. General
Pepe's version of the affair reads like the bulletin of a vanquished
commander trying to make the best of his disaster. The General, although
he inveighs against the French when they interfere with the independence
of his _cara patria_, betrays a leaning to them on mere campaigning
questions. This is not unnatural. Both in Italy and Spain he fought by
their side and witnessed their gallantry. With regard to the English,
however his subsequent residence in this country and intimacy with
various Englishmen may have modified his opinion of them, they were
certainly i