Then, hastening
back to camp, he reached it almost abreast of the five hundred, who were
not to be denied.
Now commenced the very babel of conflict; horses and mules neighing and
screaming and straining at their ropes, dogs barking, men yelling, the
clash of swords, the rattle and crash of musketry, the screams of the
wounded and the groans of the dying. Was ever such a pandemonium? The
Guides in small knots, though hard stricken, fought with determined
courage; but they were gradually driven back, inch by inch, till they
were almost on to the guns parked in the rear. Then came to the rescue
the keen resource and ready courage of the British subaltern. Borne back
in the rush were Lieutenants Bond and Lewis of the Guides; but in the
awful din and confusion they could at first do little else but defend
themselves. Gradually, however, they formed the few men near them into a
rough line, and by dint of shouting and passing the word along,
succeeded in getting more men to catch the notion; till in a few minutes
they had the best part of two hundred men in line right across the camp.
Then came the order passed along with a roar, "Fix bayonets!" This order
was in fact superfluous, for every man was already busy holding his own
with his bayonet; but there is a certain sequence in military orders,
which in times of confusion tend to steady the nerves with the cool
touch of drill and discipline.
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