India 2001 books

Out of the four
hundred men who headed the column, above half were killed, or so badly
wounded as to be incapable of motion. The narrow lane, for it was no
more than a lane, was nearly blocked up with carcases. Westerman, who
was possessed of a courage that was never shaken, was nevertheless so
thunderstruck, that he knew not what orders to give. The republicans at
the head of the column, who had not themselves been struck, fired their
fusils into the hedges, but their fire did no injury; it was all lost
among the leaves, for the men who had attacked them were kneeling on
their knees or lying on their bellies, and in the confusion which they
had occasioned, were reloading their muskets.
The guide and the aide-de-camp to whom Westerman was speaking, had both
fallen, and the horse upon which he himself was riding was so badly
wounded, as to be unmanageable. He got off, and ran along under the
hedge till he met an officer. "Give me your horse, Gerard," said he;
"but no, stay where you are, gallop back, and tell Bourbotte to bring
up the men.


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