ls bursting like sky-rockets in the midst, attended by
a report that made the hills echo again, and a concussion which shook
the ground even where the advanced guard stood, formed altogether an
event not likely to be forgotten by any who beheld it. The pile of
ammunition was fired by Lieutenant Gibbard, of the Horse Artillery, and
Lieutenant Hassard, the adjutant of the 2nd European Light Infantry,
with rifles and shell-bullets of Colonel Jacob's invention, from a
distance of about 150 yards. Both were thrown down by the shock of the
concussion. From _Outram and Havelock's Persian Campaign_, by Captain
Hunt, from which the account of the battle of Khoosh-Aub is chiefly
taken.

The march was then renewed, the general belief being that the enemy were
never likely to approach them. At midnight, however, a sharp rattle of
musketry was heard, and it was supposed that the rearguard were
attacked. Colonel Honnor so ably handled the protecting troops, that he
kept the enemy at bay for some time. In about half an hour, however,
after the first shots had been fired, the Persian cavalry advanced in
great numbers, and the entire force was enveloped in a skirmishing fire.
Horsemen galloped round on all sides, yelling and screaming like
fiends, and with trumpets and bugles making all the noise in their
power. One of their buglers got close to the front of a skirmishing
company of the Highlanders, and sounded first the "Cease fire," and
afterwards "Incline to the left," escaping in the dark. Several English
officers having but a few years before been employed in organising the
Persian troops, accounted for their knowledge of the English
bugle-calls, now artfully used to create confusion. The silence and
steadiness of the men were most admirable, and the manoeuvring of
regiments that followed, in taking up position for the remaining hour of
darkness, was as steady as on an ordinary parade; and this during a
midnight attack, with an enemy's fire flashing in every direction, and
cavalry surrounding, ready to take advantage of the slightest momentary
confusion. At length, having been roughly handled by the 78th, the
cavalry, and horse artillery, the Persian horsemen kept at a respectful
distance.

The army was then thrown into an oblong form--a brigade protecting each
flank, and a demi-brigade the front and rear; field-battery guns at
intervals, and a thick line of skirmishers connecting and covering all;
the horse artillery a