y
with them.

This was the first service I was in, and indeed I never saw any fight
since maintained with such gallantry, such desperate valour, together
with such dexterity of management, both sides being composed of
soldiers fully tried, bred to the wars, expert in everything, exact in
their order, and incapable of fear, which made the battle be much more
bloody than usual. Sir John Hepburn, at my request, took particular
care of my comrade, and sent his own surgeon to look after him;
and afterwards, when the city of Leipsic was retaken, provided him
lodgings there, and came very often to see him; and indeed I was in
great care for him too, the surgeons being very doubtful of him a
great while; for having lain in the field all night among the dead,
his wound, for want of dressing, and with the extremity of cold, was
in a very ill condition, and the pain of it had thrown him into a
fever. 'Twas quite dusk before the fight ended, especially where the
last rallied troops fought so long, and therefore we durst not break
our order to seek out our friends, so that 'twas near seven o'clock
the next morning before we found the captain, who, though very weak by
the loss of blood, had raised himself up, and placed his back against
the buttock of a dead horse. I was the first that knew him, and
running to him, embraced him with a great deal of joy; he was not able
to speak, but made signs to let me see he knew me, so we brought him
into the camp, and Sir John Hepburn, as I noted before, sent his own
surgeons to look after him.

The darkness of the night prevented any pursuit, and was the only
refuge the enemy had left: for had there been three hours more
daylight ten thousand more lives had been lost, for the Swedes (and
Saxons especially) enraged by the obstinacy of the enemy, were so
thoroughly heated that they would have given quarter but to few. The
retreat was not sounded till seven o'clock, when the king drew up the
whole army upon the field of battle, and gave strict command that none
should stir from their order; so the army lay under their arms all
night, which was another reason why the wounded soldiers suffered very
much by the cold; for the king, who had a bold enemy to deal with, was
not ignorant what a small body of desperate men rallied together might
have done in the darkness of the night, and therefore he lay in his
coach all night at the head of the line, though it froze very hard.

As soon as the day began