, and a blessed peace--"the peace of God, which
passeth all understanding," as I reverently believed--took its place. I
was supported by a consciousness, or perhaps it was only a belief, that
whatever happened I was safe; and from that moment my only anxiety was
to faithfully do my duty.

At length, sufficient time having been allowed for the men to completely
recover their breath and brace themselves for the final rush up the hill
to the redoubt, the word was given, and we dashed over the brow of the
slope and charged up the steep ascent; and at the same instant the
artillerymen in the Cliff Battery--who had been keenly watching our
movements--reopened with a terrific fire upon the devoted redoubt.

Our men gave a single ringing, soul-stirring cheer, as they sprang into
view, and then were silent, the exertion of pressing up that steep
acclivity leaving them no breath to waste in profitless noise. The
distance to be traversed was not more than 200 yards--no great matter
upon level ground--but the hill rose so abruptly that, after the first
fifty yards, our pace was reduced to something between a walk and a
climb. The French, too, had evidently expected and been on the watch
for us; for we had hardly advanced twenty paces before the parapet of
the redoubt blazed out above us in a long line of fire; a storm of round
shot and grape swept down upon us; great ghastly gaps were mown out of
our ranks, a hideous chorus of shrieks and groans rose above the
thundering roar of the artillery, and long lines of dead and dying men
marked the path of the pitiless shot. The calmness and stillness of
night gave place to a horrible discord of deafening sounds; the earth
beneath our feet shook and vibrated with the ceaseless discharge of
heavy guns; the baleful glare of portfires and fireballs flung down the
hill by the enemy to enable them more clearly to ascertain our position,
and the incessant flash of the cannon, cast a fierce, unearthly light
upon the scene. Again, again, and again came the hissing storm of iron,
each time with more deadly effect; the ground before and around us was
ploughed and gashed by the rushing shot; our men were swept away before
it like withered leaves before a hurricane; the death-cries of cherished
comrades continually pierced the ear; the storming-party was melting
away like snow beneath the scorching breath of that fiery tempest; and
still the remnant struggled on.

At length that fearful breathl