They arrived, however, too late; for the French swept the Belgians
before them and advanced steadily, while their artillery from the high
ground opened a furious cannonade upon Picton's division. One of the
Brunswick regiments now joined the Belgians, but in spite of this
reinforcement the latter were driven from the wood of Bossu, which
they had occupied when the British first came up. The British troops
were suffering heavily from the artillery fire to which their own guns
could make no effectual reply.
"Pretty hot this, Conway," Captain O'Connor said to Ralph. "It's not
pleasant standing here being made a target of."
"That it's not," Ralph said heartily. "I call it horribly unpleasant.
I shouldn't mind it so much if we were doing something."
It was indeed trying for young soldiers under fire for the first time.
The French had got the range accurately, and every moment gaps were
made in the line as the round shot plowed through them. The officers
walked backward and forward in front of their men with exhortations to
stand steady.
"It will be our turn presently, lads," Captain O'Connor said
assuringly. "We will turn the tables on them by and by, never fear."
There was not long to wait. Clouds of French skirmishers were seen
advancing through the hedgerows, and stealing behind the thickets and
woods that skirted the road, and a moment later the orders came for
the light companies of all the regiments of Picton's division to
advance.
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