unfinished ravelin, which being rough and broken was mistaken for the breach and instantly covered with men yet a wide and deep chasm was still between them and the ramparts, from whence came a deadly fire wasting their ranks. Thus baffled, they also commenced a rapid discharge of musketry, and disorder ensued; for the men of the light division, whose conducting engineer had been disabled early, and whose flank was confined by an unfinished ditch intended to cut off the bastion of Santa Maria, rushed towards the breaches of the curtain and the Trinidad, which were indeed before them, but which the fourth division had been destined to storm. Great was the confusion, for the ravelin was quite crowded with men of both divisions, and while some continued to fire, others jumped down and ran toward the breach, many also passed between the ravelin and the counterguard of the Trinidad, the two divisions got mixed; the reserves, which should have remained at the quarries, also came pouring in until the ditch was quite filled, the rear still crowding forward and all cheering vehemently, the enemy's shouts also loud and terrible, and the bursting of shells and grenades, the roaring of guns from the flanks, answered by the iron howitzers from the battery of the parallel, the heavy roll and horrid explosion of the powder-barrels, the whizzing flight of the blazing splinters, the loud exhortations of the officers, and the continual clatter of the muskets made a maddening din.

Now a multitude bounded up the great breach as if driven by a whirlwind, but across the top glittered a range of swordblades, sharp-pointed, keen-edged on both sides, and firmly fixed in ponderous beams chained together and set deep in the ruins; and for ten feet in front the ascent was covered with loose planks studded with sharp iron points, on which feet being set the planks moved and the unhappy soldiers falling forward on the spikes rolled down upon the ranks behind. Then the Frenchmen, shouting at the success of their stratagem and leaping forward, plied their shot with

terrible rapidity, for every man had several muskets, and each musket in addition to its ordinary charge contained a small cylinder of wood stuck full of wooden slugs which scattered like hail when they were discharged. Once and again the assailants rushed up the breaches, but always the swordblades, immovable and impassable, stopped their charge, and the hissing shells and thundering powder-barrels exploded unceasingly.

In one of these

At the beginning of the dreadful conflict, Andrew Barnard had with prodigious efforts separated his division from the other and preserved some degree of military array; but now the tumult was such that no command could be heard distinctly except by those close at hand, and order was impossible. Officers of all ranks, followed more or less numerously by the men, were seen to start out as if struck by sudden madness, and rush into the breach, which yawning and glittering with steel seemed like the mouth of a huge dragon belching forth smoke and flame. attempts Colonel Macleod of the Forty-third, a young man whose feeble body would have been quite unfit for war if it had not been sustained by an unconquerable spirit, was killed; wherever his voice was heard, his soldiers had gathered; and with such a strong resolution did he lead them up the fatal ruins, that when one behind him in falling plunged a bayonet into his back, he complained not, but continuing his course was shot dead within a yard of the sword-blades. Yet there was no want of gallant leaders or desperate followers, until two hours passed in these vain efforts had convinced the troops that the breach of the Trinidad was impregnable; and as the opening in the curtain, although less strong, was retired and the approach to it impeded by deep holes and cuts made in the ditch, the soldiers did not much notice it after the partial failure of one attack which had been made early. Gathering in dark groups and leaning on their muskets they looked up with sullen desperation at the Trinidad, while the enemy stepping out on the ramparts and aiming their shots

by the light of the fire-balls which they threw over, asked as their victims fell, 'Why they did not come into Badajoz?'

In this dreadful situation, while the dead men were lying in heaps and others continually falling, Captain Nicholas of the Engineers was observed by Captain Shaw of the Fortythird, making incredible efforts to force his way with a few men into the Santa Maria bastion. Shaw immediately collected fifty soldiers of all regiments and joined him, and although there was a deep cut along the foot of that breach also, it was instantly passed, and these two young officers led their gallant band with a rush up the ruins; but when they had gained two-thirds of the ascent a concentrated fire of musketry and grape dashed nearly the whole dead to the earth Nicholas was mortally wounded, and the intrepid Shaw stood alone! With inexpressible coolness he looked at his watch, and saying it was too late to carry the breaches, rejoined the masses at the other attack. After this no further effort was made at any point, and the troops remained passive but unflinching beneath the enemy's shot, which streamed without intermission; for of the riflemen on the glacis, many leaping early into the ditch had joined in the assault, and the rest, raked by a cross fire of grape from the distant bastions, baffled in their aim by the smoke and flames from the explosions, and too few in number, entirely failed to quell the French musketry.

ASSAULT OF BADAJOZ.

PART II.

ABOUT midnight, when two thousand brave men had fallen, Wellington, who was on a height close to the quarries, ordered the remainder to retire and re-form for a second assault; he had heard the castle was taken, but thinking the enemy would still resist in the town, was resolved to assail the breaches

again. The retreat from the ditch was not effected without further carnage and confusion, the French fire never slackened, a cry arose that the enemy was making a sally from the distant flanks, and there was a rush towards the ladders. Then the groans and lamentations of the wounded, who could not move and expected to be slain, increased, and many officers who had not heard of the order endeavoured to stop the soldiers from going back some would even have removed the ladders, but were unable to break the crowd.

All this time Picton was lying close in the castle, and either from fear of risking the loss of a point which ensured the capture of the place, or that the egress was too difficult, made no attempt to drive away the enemy from the breaches. On the other side, however, the fifth division had commenced the false attack on the Pardaleras, and on the right of the Guadiana the Portuguese were sharply engaged at the bridge : thus the town was girdled with fire, for Walker's brigade, having passed on during the feint on the Pardaleras, was escalading the distant bastion of San Vincente. His troops had advanced along the banks of the river and reached the French guard-house of the barrier-gate undiscovered, the ripple of the waters smothering the sound of their footsteps; but just then the explosion of the breaches took place, the moon shone out, the French sentinels, discovering the columns, fired, and the British soldiers, springing forward under a sharp musketry, began to hew down the wooden barrier at the covered way. The Portuguese, panic-stricken, threw down the scaling ladders, the others snatched them up again, and forcing the barrier jumped into the ditch; but the guiding engineer officer was killed, there was a cunette which embarrassed the column, and the ladders proved too short for the walls, which were generally above thirty feet high. The fire of the enemy was deadly, a small mine was sprung beneath the soldiers' feet, beams of wood and live shells were rolled over on their heads, showers of grape from the flank swept the ditch, and man after man dropped dead from the ladders.