nd, at 8,--in what humor
nobody knows; sulky and flabby, I should rather guess. English Tourists,
idle otherwise, may take a look at Hartum on the south side, as the spot
where a very ugly thing occurred that day.

"Soon after 8 the Fight begins: attack, by certain Hessians, on Hahlen
and its batteries; attempt to drive the French out of Hahlen, as the
first thing,--which does not succeed at once (indeed took three
attacks in all); and perhaps looks rather tedious to those Six English
Battalions. Ferdinand's order to them was, 'You shall march up to
attack, you Six, on sound of drum;' but, it seems, they read it, 'BY
sound of drum;' 'Beating our own drums; yes, of course!'--and, being
weary of this Hahlen work, or fancying they had no concern with it,
strode on, double-quick, without waiting for Hahlen at all! To the
horror of their Hanoverian comrades, who nevertheless determined to
follow as second line. 'The Contades cross-fire of artillery, battery
of 30 guns on one flank, of 36 on the other, does its best upon this
forward-minded Infantry, but they seem to heed it little; walk right
forward; and, to the astonishment of those French Horse and of all
the world, entirely break and ruin the charge made on them, and
tramp forward in chase of the same. The 10,000 Horse feel astonished,
insulted; and rush out again, furiously charging; the English halt and
serry themselves: 'No fire till they are within forty paces;' and then
such pouring torrents of it as no horse or man can endure. Rally after
rally there is, on the part of those 10,000; mass after mass of them
indignantly plunges on,--again, ever again, about six charges in
all;--but do not break the English lines: one of them (regiment
Mestrede-Camp, raised to a paroxysm) does once get through, across the
first line, but is blown back in dreadful circumstances by the second.
After which they give it up, as a thing that cannot be done. And rush
rearward, hither, thither, the whole seventy-five squadrons of them;
and 'between their two wings of infantry are seen boiling in complete
disorder.'

"This has lasted about an hour: this is essentially the soul of the
Fight,--though there wanted not other activities, to right of it and to
left, on both sides; artilleries going at a mighty rate on both wings;
and counter-artilleries (superlative practice 'by Captain Phillips' on
OUR right wing); Broglio cannonading Wangenheim very loudly, but
with little harm done or suffered,