ur
battalion, advanced rapidly, upon a formidable hill, in front of the
enemy's centre, which they had neglected to occupy in sufficient
force.

In the course of our progress, our men kept picking off the French
videttes, who were imprudent enough to hover too near us; and many a
horse, bounding along the plain, dragging his late rider by the
stirrup-irons, contributed in making it a scene of extraordinary and
exhilarating interest.

Old Picton rode at the head of the third division, dressed in a blue
coat and a round hat, and swore as roundly all the way as if he had
been wearing two cocked ones. Our battalion soon cleared the hill in
question of the enemy's light troops; but we were pulled up on the
opposite side of it by one of their lines, which occupied a wall at
the entrance of a village immediately under us. During the few minutes
that we stopped there, while a brigade of the third division was
deploying into line, two of our companies lost two officers and thirty
men, chiefly from the fire of artillery bearing on the spot from the
French position. One of their shells burst immediately under my nose,
part of it struck my boot and stirrup-iron, and the rest of it kicked
up such a dust about me that my charger refused to obey orders; and,
while I was spurring and he capering, I heard a voice behind me, which
I knew to be Lord Wellington's, calling out, in a tone of reproof,
"look to keeping your men together, sir;" and though, God knows, I had
not the remotest idea that he was within a mile of me at the time,
yet, so sensible was I that circumstances warranted his supposing that
I was a young officer, cutting a caper, by way of bravado, before him,
that worlds would not have tempted me to look round at the moment.
The French fled from the wall as soon as they received a volley from a
part of the third division, and we instantly dashed down the hill, and
charged them through the village, capturing three of their guns; the
first, I believe, that were taken that day. They received a
reinforcement, and drove us back before our supports could come to our
assistance; but, in the scramble of the moment, our men were knowing
enough to cut the traces, and carry off the horses, so that, when we
retook the village, immediately after, the guns still remained in our
possession. The battle now became general along the whole line, and
the cannonade was tremendous. At one period, we held one side of a
wall, near the village, wh