Tempo:
CHAP. IX
WAR WITH- THE ENGLISH
283
a glimmering eye and a firmer grasp of his weapon ^^'^i alone telling of the mighty spirit which wrought within him. The left division of the British army advanced in even order and witn a light step to the attack, but the line instead original error of forming the regiments of in column rendered the contest more unequal than such assaults need necessarily be. Every shot from the enemy's lines told upon the expanse of men, and the greater part of the division was driven back by the deadly fire of muskets and swivels and enfilading artillery. On the extreme left, the regiments effected
m
an entrance amid the advanced banks and trenches of petty outworks where possession could be of little avail; but their comrades on the right were animated by the partial success; they chafed under the disgrace of repulse, and forming themselves instinctively into wedges and masses, and headed by an old and fearless With a shout leader, they rushed forward in wrath. they leaped the ditch, and upswarming, they mounted the rampart, and stood victorious amid captured cannon. But the effort was great; the Sikhs fought with steadiness arid resolution; guns in the interior were turned upon the exhausted assailants, and the line of trench alone was gained. Nor was this achievement ^
the work of a moment. The repulse of the first assailants required that the central division should be brought forward, and these supporting regiments also moved in line against ramparts higher and more continuous than the barriers which had foiled the first They too recoiled in confuefforts of their comrades. sion before the fire of the exulting Sikhs; but at the distance of a furlong they showed both their innate valour and habitual discipline by rallying and returning to the charge. Their second assault was aided on the left by the presence, in the trenches of that flank, of the victorious first division; and thus the regiments of the centre likewise became, after a fierce struggle on their own right, possessed of as many of the enemy's batteries as lay to their immediate front. The unlooked-for repulse of the second division, and the arduous contest in which the first was engaged, might have led a casual witness of the strife to ponder on the
multitude of varying circumstances which determine success in war; but the leaders were collected and prompt, and the battalions on the right, the victors of Aliwal, were impelled against the opposite flank of the 1 Sir Robert Dick was mortally wounded close trenches while cheering on his ardent followers.
to
the
WAR WITH- THE ENGLISH
283
a glimmering eye and a firmer grasp of his weapon ^^'^i alone telling of the mighty spirit which wrought within him. The left division of the British army advanced in even order and witn a light step to the attack, but the line instead original error of forming the regiments of in column rendered the contest more unequal than such assaults need necessarily be. Every shot from the enemy's lines told upon the expanse of men, and the greater part of the division was driven back by the deadly fire of muskets and swivels and enfilading artillery. On the extreme left, the regiments effected
m
an entrance amid the advanced banks and trenches of petty outworks where possession could be of little avail; but their comrades on the right were animated by the partial success; they chafed under the disgrace of repulse, and forming themselves instinctively into wedges and masses, and headed by an old and fearless With a shout leader, they rushed forward in wrath. they leaped the ditch, and upswarming, they mounted the rampart, and stood victorious amid captured cannon. But the effort was great; the Sikhs fought with steadiness arid resolution; guns in the interior were turned upon the exhausted assailants, and the line of trench alone was gained. Nor was this achievement ^
the work of a moment. The repulse of the first assailants required that the central division should be brought forward, and these supporting regiments also moved in line against ramparts higher and more continuous than the barriers which had foiled the first They too recoiled in confuefforts of their comrades. sion before the fire of the exulting Sikhs; but at the distance of a furlong they showed both their innate valour and habitual discipline by rallying and returning to the charge. Their second assault was aided on the left by the presence, in the trenches of that flank, of the victorious first division; and thus the regiments of the centre likewise became, after a fierce struggle on their own right, possessed of as many of the enemy's batteries as lay to their immediate front. The unlooked-for repulse of the second division, and the arduous contest in which the first was engaged, might have led a casual witness of the strife to ponder on the
multitude of varying circumstances which determine success in war; but the leaders were collected and prompt, and the battalions on the right, the victors of Aliwal, were impelled against the opposite flank of the 1 Sir Robert Dick was mortally wounded close trenches while cheering on his ardent followers.
to
the
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