rear-guard, did not get in till
nightfall, and were much exhausted.

The enemy, however, bar cavalry, had not pressed on in any strength,
and we were left fairly well alone during the night.

It began to rain heavily in the evening, and we had a wet dinner in
the open. There were various disturbances in the night, especially
when some men in the trenches began firing at some probably imaginary
Germans; but otherwise all ranks got a fair amount of sleep.

_Aug. 26th._

The orders overnight were that we were to continue the retirement
first thing in the morning; but when morning came the Germans were so
close that it was decided that it would be impossible to do so, and
fresh orders were issued to hold the position we were in.

Accordingly we took up our positions as we had settled overnight, and
started all necessary preparations--deepening trenches, arranging
telephone wires and communications, and putting the village of
Troisvilles, on our left, in a state of defence.

The Dorsets were to hold this village and several hundred yards of
trenches to the east of it. On their right came the Bedfords in
trenches, with of course a proportion in support, and the Cheshires
were put in a dip of the ground in rear of them. The 13th Brigade was
on the right of the Bedfords, with the K.O.S.B.'s touching them. The
Norfolks I put in a second line, in rear of the right of the Bedfords
and the left of the K.O.S.B.'s, mostly along a sunken road where they
dug themselves well into the banks. The 27th Brigade of Artillery,
under Onslow, was put under my orders; two batteries of it were in our
right rear, and the third was taken away by Sir C. F., to strengthen
the right I believe. A battery of the 15th Artillery Brigade was
also put in close behind the Bedfords, in the dip of ground
afore-mentioned, whence they did excellent execution without being
seen by the enemy. Divisional Headquarters were at Reumont, a mile
behind us, with a wood in between; but we were, of course, connected
up by telephone with them, as well as with our battalions and our
artillery. We--_i.e._, the Brigade Headquarters--sat in the
continuation of the hollow sandy road, in rear of the Bedfords and on
the left of the Norfolks.

The morning was distinctly cool after the rain, and I remember that I
wore my woolly till about 11 o'clock. Our horses were stowed away a
few hundred yards to our left, in a hollow; and the extraordinary
thing was that neither they