Chapter 102
Before us lay a defile, partly overgrown with trees on either side, which ascended by a gradual slope to the foot of the hill on which the Prussian infantry was stationed, and whose lines were tracked out by a long train of watch-fires. A farmhouse and its out-buildings occupied the side of the hill about half-way up; and this was garrisoned by the enemy, and defended by two guns in position in the defile. To surprise the post and hold it until the main columns came up, was the object of the voltigeur attack; and for this purpose small bodies of men were a.s.sembling secretly and stealthily under cover of the brushwood, to burst forth on the word being given.
There was something which surprised me not a little in the way all these movements were effected. Officers and men were mixed up, as it seemed, in perfect confusion; not approaching in regular order, or taking up a position like disciplined troops, they came in twos and threes, crouching and creeping, and suddenly concealing themselves at every opportunity of cover the ground afforded.
Their noiseless and cautious gestures brought to my mind all that I had ever read of Indian warfare; and in their eager faces, and quick, piercing looks, I thought I could recognize the very traits of the red men. The commands were given by signals; and so rapidly interchanged were they from party to party, that the different groups seemed to move forward by one impulse, though the officer who led them was full a mile distant from where we were.
"Can you use a firelock, comrade?" said the major, as he placed in my hand a short musket, such as the voltigeurs carried. "Sling it at your back; you may find it useful up yonder. And now I must leave you; keep to this party. But what is this? You mustn't wear that shako; you'd soon be picked off with that tower of black fur on your head. Corporal, have you no spare foraging-cap in your kit? Ah! that's something more becoming a tirailleur; and, by Jove! I think it improves you wonderfully."
The circ.u.mstance of becomingness was not exactly uppermost in my mind at the moment; but certainly I felt no small gratification at being provided with the equipment both of cap and firearms which placed me on an equality with those about me.
Scarcely had the major left us, when the corporal crept closely to my side, and with that mingled respect and familiarity a French sous-officier a.s.sumes so naturally, said,--
"You wished to see something of a skirmish, Captain, I suppose? Well, you're like enough to be gratified; we're closing up rapidly now."
"What may be the strength of your battalion, Corporal?"
"Twelve hundred men, sir; and they're every one at this instant in the valley, though I'll wager you don't see a bough move nor a leaf stirring to show where they lie hid. You see that low copse yonder; well, there's a company of ours beneath its shelter. But there goes the word to move on."
A motion with his sword, the only command he gave, communicated the order; and the men, creeping stealthily on, obeyed the mandate, till at another signal they were halted.
From the little copse of brushwood where we now lay, to the farmhouse, the ground was completely open,--not a shrub nor a bush grew; a slight ascent of the road led up to the gate, which could not be more than three hundred paces in front of us. We were stationed at some distance to the right of the road, but the field presented no obstacle or impediment to our attack; and thither now were our looks turned,--the short road which would lead to victory or the grave.
From my ambush I could see the two fieldpieces which commanded the road, and beside which the artillerymen stood in patient attention. With what a strange thrill I watched one of the party, as from time to time he stooped down to blow the fuse beside the gun, and then seemed endeavoring to peer into the valley, where all was still and noiseless!
As well as I could judge, our little party was nearest to the front; and although a small clump to the left of the road offered a safe shelter still nearer the enemy, I could not ascertain if it were occupied.
Not a word was now spoken. All save the corporal looked eagerly towards the enemy; he was watching for the signal, and knelt down with his drawn sword at his side. The deathlike stillness of the moment, so unlike the prelude to every movement in cavalry combat; the painful expectation which made minutes like years themselves; the small number of the party, so dissimilar to the closely crowded squadrons I was used to; but, more than all, the want of a horse,--that most stirring of all the excitements to heroism and daring,--unnerved me; and if my heart were to have been interrogated, I sadly fear it would have brought little corroboration to the song of the voltigeurs, which attributed so many features of superiority to their arm of the service above the rest of the army.
A thousand and thousand times did I wish to be at the head of a cavalry charge up that narrow road in face of those guns; ay, though the mitraille should sweep
"See, see," whispered the corporal, as he pointed with his finger towards the clump to the left of the road, "how beautifully done! there goes another."
As he spoke, I could perceive the dark shadow of something moving close to the ground, and finally concealing itself in the brushwood, beneath which now above twenty men lay hid. At the same instant a deep rolling sound like far-off thunder was heard; and then louder still, but less deep in volume, the rattling crash of musketry. At first the discharges were more prolonged, and succeeded one another more rapidly; but gradually the firing became less regular; then after an interval swelled more fully again, and once more relaxed.
"Listen!" said the corporal; "can't you hear the cheering? There again; the skirmishers are falling back,--the fire is too heavy for them."
"Which, the Prussians?"
"To be sure, the Prussians. Hark! there was a volley; that was no tirailleur discharge; the columns are advancing. Down, men, down!"
whispered he, as, excited by the sounds of musketry, some three or four popped up their heads to listen. At the same instant a noise in front drew our attention to that quarter; and we now saw that a party of horse artillerymen were descending the road with a light eight-pounder gun, which they were proceeding to place in position on a small knoll of ground about eighty yards from the coppice I have mentioned.
"How I could pick off that fellow on the gray horse," whispered a soldier beside me to his comrade.
"And bring the whole fire on us afterwards," said the other.
"What can we be waiting for?" said the corporal, impatiently. "They are making that place as strong as a fortress; and there, see if that is not a reinforcement!"
While he spoke, the heavy tramp of men marching announced the approach of fresh troops; and by the bustle and noise within the farmhouse it was clear the preparations for its defence were making with all the activity the exigency demanded.
It was past seven o'clock; but as the day broke more out, the heavy fog increased, and soon grew so dense as to shut out from our view the Prussian picket and the guns upon the road. Meanwhile the firing continued at a distance, but, as it seemed, fainter than before.
"Ha! there it comes now," said the corporal, as a shrill whistle was heard to our left. "Look to your pieces, men! steady." There was a pause; every ear was bent to listen, every breath drawn short, when again he spoke. "That 's it. _En avant_, lads! _en avant!_"
With the word he sprang forward, but still crouching, he went as if the thick mist were not enough to conceal him. The men followed their leader with cautious steps, their carbines in hand and bayonets fixed. For some minutes we ascended the hill, gradually nearing the road, along which a low bank offered a slight protection against fire.
The corporal halted here for a second or two, when another whistle, so faint as to be scarcely audible, was borne on the air. With a motion of his hand forwards he gave the order to advance, and led the way along the roadside.
As we followed in single file, I found myself next the corporal, whose every motion I watched with an intensity of interest I cannot convey. At last he stopped and wheeled round; then, kneeling down, he levelled his piece upon the low bank,--a movement quickly followed by all the rest who in silence obeyed his signal.
Directly in front of us now, and as it seemed not above a dozen yards distant, the yellow glare of the artillery fuse could be dimly discerned through the mist; thither every eye was bent and every musket pointed.
Thus we knelt with beating hearts, when suddenly several shots rang out from the valley and the opposite side of the road; as quickly replied to by the enemy, and a smart but irregular clattering of musketry followed.
"Now," cried the corporal, aloud, "now, and all together!"
And then with one long, stunning report, every gun was discharged, and a wild cry of the wounded blended with the sounds as we cleared the fence and dashed at the guns.
"Down, men, down!" called our leader, as we jumped into the road. The word was scarce uttered when a bright flash gleamed forth, a loud bang succeeded, and we heard the grapeshot crus.h.i.+ng down the valley and tearing its way through the leaves and branches of the brushwood.
"_En avant_, lads! now's your time!" cried the corporal, as he sprang to his feet and led towards the gun.
With one vigorous dash we pushed up the height, just as the cannoneers were preparing to load. The gunners fell back, and a party of infantry as quickly presented themselves.
The mist happily concealed the smallness of our force, otherwise the Prussians might have crushed us at once. For a second there was a pause; then both sides fired, an irregular volley was discharged, and the muskets were lowered to the charge. What must have been the fate of our little party now there could be no doubt; when suddenly, through the blue smoke which yet lingered near the guns, the bright gleaming of bayonets was seen to flash, while the loud _vivas_ of our own soldiers rent the air.
So rapid was the rush, and so thronging did they come, it seemed as if the very ground had given them up. With a cry of "Forward!" on we went; the enemy retired and fell back behind the cover of the road, where they kept up a tremendous fire upon the gun, to which now all our efforts were directed, to turn against the walls of the farmhouse.
The mist by this was cleared away, and we were exposed to the shattering fire which was maintained not only along the road, but from every window and crevice in the walls of the farmhouse. Our men fell fast,--several badly wounded; for the distance was less than half musket-range, even to the farthest.
"The bayonet, men! the bayonet! Leave the gun, and sweep the road of those fellows yonder!" said the major, as, vaulting over the fence, he led the way himself.
We were now reinforced, and numbered fully four companies; so that our attack soon drove in the enemy, who retreated, still firing, within the courtyard around the farmhouse.
"Bring up the gun, lads, and we 'll soon breach them," said the major.
But, unhappily, the party to whom it was committed, being annoyed at the service which kept them back when their companions were advancing, had hurled the piece off its carriage, and rolled it down the mountain.
With a muttered _sacre_ on their stupidity, the officer cried out to scale the walls. If honor and rank and wealth had lain on the opposite side, and not death and agony, they could not have obeyed with more alacrity. Raised on one another's shoulders, the brave fellows mounted the wall; but it was only to fall back again into their comrades' arms, dead or mortally wounded. Still they pressed on: a reckless defiance of danger had shut out every other thought; and their cheers grew wilder and fiercer as the fire told upon them, while the shouts of triumph from those within stimulated them to the verge of madness.
"Stand back, men! stand back!" called the major; "down! I say."
As he spoke, a dead silence followed; the men retreated behind the cover of the fence, and lay down flat with their faces to the ground. A low, hissing noise was then heard; and then, with a clap like thunder, the strong gate was rent into fragments and scattered in blazing pieces about the field. The crash of the petard was answered by a cheer wild as a war-whoop, and onward the infuriated soldiers poured through the still burning timbers. And now began a scene of carnage which only a hand-to-hand encounter can ever produce. From every door and window the Prussians maintained a deadly fire: but the onward tide of victory was with us, and we poured down upon them with the bayonet; and as none gave, none asked for, quarter, the work of death was speedy. To the wild shouts of battle, the crash, the din, the tumult of the fight, a dropping irregular fire succeeded; and then came the low, wailing cries of the wounded, the groans of the dying, and all was over! We were the victors; but what a victory! The garden was strewn with our dead; the hall, the stairs, every room was covered with bodies of our brave fellows, their rugged faces even sterner than in life.
For some minutes it seemed as though our emotions had unnerved us all, as we stood speechless, gazing on the fearful scene of bloodshed; when the low rolling of drums, heard from the mountain side, startled every listener.
"The Prussians! the Prussians!" called out three or four voices together.
"No, no!" shouted Francois; "I was too long a tambour not to know that beat; they 're our fellows."
The drums rolled fuller and louder; and soon the head of a column appeared peering over the ascent of the road. The sun shone brightly on their gay uniforms and glancing arms, and the tall and showily-dressed tambour-major stepped in advance with the proud bearing of a conqueror.
"Form, men, and to the front!" said the major of the voltigeurs, who knew that his place was in the advance, and felt a n.o.ble pride that he had won it bravely.