CORUNNA
As the confusion in the streets increased from the pouring out from the
houses and cellars of the camp-followers--women and children, together
with men less drunk than their comrades, but still unable to walk
steadily--who filled the air with shouts and drunken execrations, Colonel
Corcoran rode along the line.
"Just look at that, boys," he said. "Isn't it better for you to be
standing here like dacent men, ready to do your duty, than to be rolling
about in a state like those drunken blackguards, for the sake of half an
hour's pleasure? Sure it is enough to make every mother's son of you swear
off liquor till ye get home again. When the French get inside the town
there is not one of the drunken bastes that won't be either killed or
marched away a thousand miles to a French prison, and all for half an
hour's drink."
The lesson was indeed a striking one, and careless as many of the men
were, it brought home to them with greater force than ever before in their
lives, not only the folly but the degradation of drunkenness. A few
minutes later, General Moore, who was riding up and down the line,
inspecting the condition of the men in each regiment, came along.
"Your men look very well, Colonel," he said, as he reached the Fusiliers.
"How many are you short of your number?"
"Not a man, General; I am happy to say that there was not a single one
that did not answer when his name was called."
"That is good, indeed," the general said, warmly. "I am happy to say that
all the regiments of the rear-guard have turned out well, and shown
themselves worthy of the trust reposed in them; none, however, can give so
good a report as you have done. I selected your regiment to strengthen
this division from the excellent order that I observed you kept along the
line of march, and I am glad indeed that it has shown itself so worthy of
the honour. March your regiment across to the side of the street, let the
others pass you, and fall in at the rear of the column. I shall give the
Mayo Fusiliers the post of honour, as a mark of my warm approbation for
the manner in which they have turned out."
Scarcely had the troops left the town when the French cavalry poured in.
Now that it was too late, the sense of danger penetrated the brains of the
revellers, and the mob of disbanded Spanish and British soldiers and
camp-followers poured out from the cellars. Few of the soldiers had the
sense even to bring up their muskets. Most of those who did so were too
drunk to use them, and the French troopers rode through the mob, sabring
them right and left, and trampling them under foot, and then, riding
forward without a pause, set out in pursuit of the retiring columns. As
they came clattering along the road the colonel ordered the last two
companies to halt, and when the head of the squadron was within fifty
yards of them, and the troopers were beginning to check their horses, a
heavy volley was poured in, which sent them to the right-about as fast as
they had come, and emptied a score of saddles. Then the two companies
formed fours again, and went on at the double until they reached the rear
of the column.
All day the French cavalry menaced the retreat, until Lord Paget came back
with a regiment of hussars and drove them back in confusion, pursuing them
a couple of miles, with the view of discovering whether they were followed
by infantry. Such, however, was not the case, and the column was not
further molested until they reached Cacabolos, where they were halted. The
rest of the army had moved on, the troops committing excesses similar to
those that had taken place at Bembibre, and plundering the shops and
houses.
The division marched over a deep stream crossed by a stone bridge, and
took up their ground on a lofty ridge, the ascent being broken by
vineyards and stone walls. Four hundred men of the rifles and as many
cavalry were posted on a hill two miles beyond the river to watch the
roads. They had scarcely taken their post when the enemy were seen
approaching, preceded by six or eight squadrons of cavalry. The rifles
were at once withdrawn, and the cavalry, believing that the whole French
army was advancing, presently followed them, and, riding fast, came up to
the infantry just as they were crossing the bridge.
Before all the infantry were over the French cavalry came down at a
furious gallop, and for a time all was confusion. Then the rifles,
throwing themselves among the vineyards and behind the walls, opened a
heavy fire. The French general in command of the cavalry was killed, with
a number of his troops, and the rest of the cavalry fell back. A regiment
of light infantry had followed them across the bridge, and two companies
of the 52d and as many of the Mayo regiment went down the hill and
reinforced the rifles. A sharp fight ensued until the main body of the
French infantry approached the bridge. A battery of artillery opened upon
them, and seeing the strength of the British division, and believing that
the whole army was before him, Soult called back his troops. The
voltigeurs retired across the bridge again, and the fight came to an end.
Between two and three hundred men had been killed or wounded.
As soon as night came on the British force resumed its march, leaving two
companies of the rifles as piquets at the bridge. The French crossed again
in the night, but after some fighting, fell back again without having been
able to ascertain whether the main body of the defenders of the position
were still there. Later on the rifles fell back, and at daybreak rejoined
the main body of the rear-guard, which had reached Becerréa, eighteen
miles away. Here General Moore received the report from the engineers he
had sent to examine the harbours, and they reported in favour of Corunna,
which possessed facilities for defence which were lacking at Vigo.
Accordingly he sent off orders to the fleet, which was lying at the latter
port, to sail at once for Corunna, and directed the various divisions of
the army to move on that town.
The rear-guard passed the day without moving, enjoying a welcome rest
after the thirty-six miles they had covered the day before. By this march
they had gained a long start of the enemy and had in the evening reached
the town the division before them had quitted that morning. The scene as
they marched along was a painful one. Every day added to the numbers of
the stragglers. The excesses in drink exhausted the strength of the troops
far more than did the fatigue of the marches. Their shoes were worn out;
many of them limped along with rags tied round their feet. Even more
painful than the sight of these dejected and worn-out men was that of the
camp-followers. These, in addition to their terrible hardships and
fatigue, were worn out with hunger, and almost famished. Numbers of them
died by the roadside, others still crawled on in silent misery.
Nothing could be done to aid these poor creatures. The troops themselves
were insufficiently fed, for the evil conduct of the soldiers who first
marched through the towns defeated all the efforts of the commissariat;
for they had broken into the bakers' shops and so maltreated the
inhabitants that the people fled in terror, and no bread could be obtained
for the use of the divisions in the rear. Towards evening the next day the
reserve approached Constantina. The French were now close upon their rear.
A bridge over a river had to be crossed to reach the town, and as there
was a hill within a pistol-shot of the river, from which the French
artillery could sweep the bridge, Sir John Moore placed the riflemen and
artillery on it. The enemy, believing that he intended to give battle,
halted, and before their preparations could be made the troops were across
the bridge, and were joined by the artillery, which had retired at full
speed.
The French advanced and endeavoured to take the bridge. General Paget,
however, held the post with two regiments of cavalry, and then fell back
to Lugo, where the whole army was now assembled. The next day Sir John
Moore issued an order strongly condemning the conduct of the troops, and
stating that he intended to give battle to the enemy. The news effected an
instant transformation. The stragglers who had left their regiments and
entered the town by twos and threes at once rejoined their corps. Fifteen
hundred men had been lost during the retreat, of whom the number killed
formed but a small proportion. But the army still amounted to its former
strength, as it was here joined by two fresh battalions, who had been left
at Lugo by General Baird on his march from the coast. The force therefore
numbered 19,000 men; for it had been weakened by some 4,000 of the light
troops having, early in the retreat, been directed towards other ports, in
order to lessen as far as possible the strain on the commissariat.
The position was a strong one, and when Soult at mid-day came up at the
head of 12,000 men he saw at once that until his whole force arrived he
could not venture to attack it. Like the British, his troops had suffered
severely from the long marches, and many had dropped behind altogether.
Uncertain whether he had the whole of the British before him, he sent a
battery of artillery and some cavalry forward; when the former opened
fire, they were immediately silenced by a reply from fifteen pieces. Then
he made an attack upon the right, but was sharply repulsed with a loss of
from three to four hundred men; and, convinced now that Moore was ready to
give battle with his whole force, he drew off.
The next day both armies remained in their positions. Soult had been
joined by Laborde's division, and had 17,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry, and
50 guns; the English had 16,000 infantry, 1,800 cavalry, and 40 guns. The
French made no movement to attack, and the British troops were furious at
the delay. Soult, however, was waiting until Ney, who was advancing by
another road, should threaten the British flank or cut the line of
retreat. Moore, finding that Soult would not fight alone, and knowing that
Ney was approaching, gave the order for the army to leave its position
after nightfall and march for Corunna. He exhorted them to keep good
order, and to make the effort which would be the last demanded from them.
It was indeed impossible for him to remain at Lugo, even if Ney had not
been close at hand, for there was not another day's supply of bread in the
town.
He took every precaution for securing that no errors should take place as
to the route to be followed in the dark, for the ground behind the
position was intersected by stone walls and a number of intricate lanes.
To mark the right tracks, bundles of straw were placed at intervals along
the line, and officers appointed to guide the columns. All these
precautions, however, were brought to naught by the ill-fortune that had
dogged the general along the whole line of retreat. A tremendous storm of
wind and rain set in, the night was pitch dark, the bundles of straw were
whirled away by the wind, and when the army silently left their post at
ten o'clock at night, the task before them was a difficult one indeed. All
the columns lost their way, and one division alone recovered the main
road; the other two wandered about all night, buffeted by the wind,
drenched by the rain, disheartened and weary.
Some regiments entered what shelters they could find, the men soon
scattered to plunder, stragglers fell out in hundreds, and at daybreak the
remnants of the two divisions were still in Lugo. The moment the light
afforded means of recovering their position, the columns resumed their
march, the road behind them being thickly dotted by stragglers. The
rearguard, commanded by the general himself, covered the rear, but
fortunately the enemy did not come up until evening; but so numerous were
the stragglers that when the French cavalry charged, they mustered in
sufficient force to repel their attack, a proof that it was not so much
fatigue as insubordination that caused them to lag behind. The rear-guard
halted a few miles short of Friol and passed the night there, which
enabled the disorganized army to rest and re-form. The loss during this
unfortunate march was greater than that of all the former part of the
retreat, added to all the losses in action and during the advance.
The next day the army halted, as the French had not come up in sufficient
numbers to give battle, and on the following day marched in good order
into Corunna, where, to the bitter disappointment of the general, the
fleet had not yet arrived. At the time, Sir John Moore was blamed by the
ignorant for having worn out his troops by the length of the marches; but
the accusation was altogether unfounded, as is proved by the fact that the
rear-guard--upon whom the full brunt of the fighting had fallen, who had
frequently been under arms all night in the snow, had always to throw out
very strong outposts to prevent surprises, and had marched eighty miles in
two days, had suffered far more than the other troops, owing to the fact
that the food supply intended for all had been several times wasted and
destroyed by the excesses of those who had preceded them--yet who, when
they reached Corunna, had a much smaller number missing from their ranks
than was the case with the three other divisions.
After all the exertions that had been made, and the extraordinary success
with which the general had carried his force through a host of enemies,
all his calculations were baffled by the contrary winds that delayed the
arrival of the fleet, and it remained but to surrender or fight a battle,
which, if won, might yet enable the army to embark. Sir John did not even
for a moment contemplate the former alternative. The troops on arriving
were at once quartered in the town. The inhabitants here, who had so
sullenly held aloof from Baird's force on its arrival, and had refused to
give him the slightest aid, now evinced a spirit of patriotism seldom
exhibited by the Spaniards, save in their defence of Saragossa, and on a
few other occasions.
Although aware that the army intended, if possible, to embark, and that
the French on entering might punish them for any aid given to it, they
cheerfully aided the troops in removing the cannon from the sea-face and
in strengthening the defences on the land side. Provisions in ample
quantity were forthcoming, and in twenty-four hours the army, knowing that
at last they were to engage the foe who had for the last fortnight hunted
them so perseveringly, recovered its confidence and discipline. This was
aided by the fact that Corunna had large magazines of arms and ammunition,
which had been sent out fifteen months before, from England, and were
still lying there, although Spain was clamouring for arms for its newly
raised levies.
To the soldiers this supply was invaluable. Their muskets were so rusted
with the almost constant downfall of rain and snow of the past month as to
be almost unserviceable, and these were at once exchanged for new arms.
The cartridge-boxes were re-filled with fresh ammunition, an abundant
store served out for the guns, and, after all this, two magazines
containing four thousand barrels of powder remained. These had been
erected on a hill, three miles from the town, and were blown up so that
they should not fall into the hands of the enemy. The explosion was a
terrible one, and was felt for many miles round. The water in the harbour
was so agitated that the shipping rolled as if in a storm, and many
persons who had gone out to witness the explosion were killed by falling
fragments.
The ground on which the battle was to take place was unfit for the
operations of cavalry. The greater portion of the horses were hopelessly
foundered, partly from the effects of fatigue, partly from want of shoes;
for although a supply of these had been issued on starting, no hammers or
nails had been sent, and the shoes were therefore useless. It would in any
case have been impossible to ship all these animals, and accordingly, as a
measure of mercy, the greater portion of them were shot. Three days were
permitted Moore to make his arrangements, for it took that time for Soult
to bring up his weary troops and place them in a position to give battle.
Their position was a lofty ridge which commanded that upon which Sir John
Moore now placed his troops, covering the town. On the right of the French
ridge there was another eminence upon which Soult had placed eleven heavy
guns.
On the evening of the 14th there was an exchange of artillery fire, but it
led to nothing. That afternoon the sails of the long-expected fleet were
made out, and just at nightfall it entered the harbour. The dismounted
cavalry, the sick, the remaining horses, and fifty guns were embarked,
nine guns only being kept on shore for action. On the 15th Soult occupied
himself in completing his preparations. Getting his great guns on to the
rocks on his left, he attacked and drove from an advanced position some
companies of the 5th Regiment, and posted his mass of cavalry so as to
threaten the British right, and even menace its retreat to the town from
the position it held. Had the battle been delayed another day, Sir John
Moore had made every preparation for embarking the rest of his troops
rather than await a battle in which even victory would be worthless, for
Ney's corps would soon be up. The French, however, did not afford him an
opportunity of thus retiring.
Terence O'Connor speedily paid a visit to his regiment at Corunna, for he
had, of course, accompanied Fane's brigade during the retreat. He was
delighted to find that there had been only a few trifling casualties among
the officers, and that the regiment itself, although it had lost some men
in the fighting that had taken place, had not left a single straggler
behind, a circumstance that was mentioned with the warmest commendation by
General Paget in his report of the doings of the rear-guard.
"I was awfully afraid that it would have been quite the other way,"
Terence said. "I know how all the three other divisions suffered, though
they were never pressed by the enemy, and had not a shadow of excuse for
their conduct."
"You did not know us, me boy," O'Grady said. "I tell ye, the men were
splendid. I expect if we had been with the others we should have behaved
just as badly; but being chosen for the rear-guard put our boys all on
their mettle, and every man felt that the honour of the regiment depended
on his good conduct. Then, too, we were lucky in lighting on a big store
of tobacco, and tobacco is as good as food and drink. The men gave a lot
away to the other regiments, and yet had enough to last them until we got
here."
"Then they were not above doing a little plundering," Terence laughed.
"Plunder is it!" O'Grady repeated, indignantly. "It was a righteous
action, for the factory belonged to the Central Junta of the Province, and
it was just stripping the French of their booty to carry it away. Faith,
it was the most meritorious action of the campaign."
"Have you got a good cigar left, O'Grady?"
"Oh, you have taken to smoking, have you?"
"I was obliged to, to keep my nose warm. On the march, Fane and the major
and Errington all smoked, and they looked so comfortable and contented
that I felt it was my duty to keep them company."
"I have just two left, Terence, so we will smoke them together, and I have
got a bottle of dacent spirits. Think of that, me boy; thirty-two days
without spirits! They will never believe me when I go home and tell 'em I
went without it for thirty-two mortal days."
"Well, you have had wine, O'Grady."
"It's poor stuff by the side of the cratur, still I am not saying that it
wasn't a help. But it was cold comfort, Terence, a mighty cold comfort."
"You are looking well on it, anyhow. And how is the wound?"
"Och, I have nigh forgot I ever had one, save when it comes to ateing. Tim
has to cut my food up for me, and I never sit down to a male without
wishing bad cess to the French. When we get back I will have a patent
machine for holding a fork fixed on somehow. It goes against me grain to
have me food cut up as if I was a baby; if it wasn't for that I should not
miss my hand one way or the other. In fact, on the march it has been a
comfort that I have only had five fingers to freeze, instead of ten. There
is a compensation in all things. So we are going to fight them at last?
There is no chance of the fleet coming to take us off before that, I
hope?" he asked, anxiously, "for we should all break our hearts if we were
obliged to go without a fight."
"I don't think there is any chance of that, O'Grady, though I should be
very glad if there were. I am not afraid of the fighting, but we certainly
sha'n't win without heavy loss, and every life will be thrown away, seeing
that we shall, after all, have to embark when the battle is over. Ney,
with 50,000 men, is only two or three marches away.
"Well, Dicky, how do you do?" he asked, as Ryan came up.
"I am well enough, Mr. Staff Officer. I needn't ask after yourself, for
you have been riding comfortably about, while we have been marched right
off our legs. Forty miles a day, Terence, and over such roads as they have
in this country; it is just cruelty to animals."
"I would rather have been with you, Dicky, than see to the horrible
confusion that has been going on. Why, as soon as the day's march was over
we had to set to work to go about trying to keep order. A dozen times I
have been nearly shot by drunken rascals whom I was trying to get to
return to their corps. Worse still, it was heartrending to see the misery
of the starving women and camp-followers. I would rather have been on
outpost duty, with Soult's cavalry hovering round, ready to charge at any
moment."
"It is all very well to say that, Terence!" O'Grady exclaimed. "But wait
until you try it a bit, my boy. I had five nights of it, and that widout a
drop of whisky to cheer me. It was enough to have made Samson weep, let
alone a man with only one hand, and a sword to hold in it, and a bad could
in his head. It was enough to take the heart out of any man entoirely, and
if it hadn't been for the credit of the regiment, I could often have sat
down on a stone and blubbered. It is mighty hard for a man to keep up his
spirits when he feels the mortal heat in him oozing out all over, and his
fingers so cold that it is only by looking that one knows one has got a
sword in them, and you don't know whether you are standing on your feet or
on your knee-bones, and feel as if your legs don't belong to you, but are
the property of some poor chap who has been kilt twenty-four hours before.
Och, it was a terrible time! and a captain's pay is too small for it, if
it was not for the divarsion of a scrimmage now and then!"
"How about an ensign's pay?" Ryan laughed. "I think that on such work as
we have had, O'Grady, the pay of all the officers, from the colonel down,
ought to be put together and equally divided."
"I cannot say whether I should approve the plan, Ryan, until I have made
an intricate calculation, which, now I am comfortable at last, would be a
sin and a shame to ask me brain to go through; but as my present idea is
that I should be a loser, I may say that your scheme is a bad one, and not
to say grossly disrespectful to the colonel, to put his value down as only
equal to that of a slip of a lad like yourself. Boys nowadays have no
respect for their supeyrior officers. There is Terence, who is not sixteen
yet--"
"Sixteen three months back, O'Grady," Terence put in.
"Yes, I remember now, but a week or two one way or the other makes no
difference. Here is Terence, just sixteen, who ought to be at school
trying to get a little learning into his head, laying down the law to his
supeyrior officers, just because he has had the luck to get onto the
brigadier's staff. I think sometimes that the world is coming to an end."
"At any rate, O'Grady," Terence laughed, "I am half a head taller than you
are, and could walk you off your legs any day."
"There! And he says this to a man who has gone through all the fatigues of
the rear-guard, while he has been riding about the country like a
gentleman at aise."
"Well, I cannot stop any longer," Terence said. "I am on my way up to see
how they are getting on with the earthworks, and the general may want me
at any moment."
"I would not trouble about that," O'Grady said, sarcastically; "perhaps he
might make a shift to do widout you, widout detriment to the service."
Terence made no reply, but, mounting, rode off up the hill behind the
town. At two o'clock on the 16th a general movement of the French line was
observed, and the British infantry, 14,500 strong, drew up in order of
battle along the position marked for them. The British were fighting under
a serious disadvantage, for not only had Soult over 20,000 infantry, with
very powerful artillery and great strength in cavalry, but owing to their
position on the crest running somewhat obliquely to the higher one
occupied by the French, the heavy battery on the rocks to their right
raked the whole line of battle. Hope's division was on the British left,
Baird's on the right. Fraser's division was on another ridge some distance
from the others, and immediately covering the town of Corunna; and Paget,
with his division to which the Mayo regiment was still attached, was
posted at the village of Airis, on the height between Hope's division and
the harbour, and looking down the valley between the main position and the
ridge held by Fraser.
From here he could either reinforce Hope and Baird, or advance down the
valley to repel any attack of the French cavalry, and cover the retreat of
the main body if forced to fall back. The battle commenced by the French
opening fire with their field-guns, which were distributed along the front
of their position, and by the heavy battery on their left, while their
infantry descended the mountain in three heavy columns, covered by clouds
of skirmishers. The British piquets were at once driven in, and the
village of Elvina, held by a portion of the 50th, carried. The French
column on this side then divided into two portions; one endeavoured to
turn Baird's right and enter the valley behind the British position, while
the other climbed the hill to attack him in front. The second column moved
against the British centre, and the third attacked Hope's left, which
rested on the village of Palavia Abaxo.
The nine English guns were altogether overmatched by those of Soult's
heavy battery. Moore, seeing that the half-column advancing by Baird's
flank made no movement to penetrate beyond his right, directed him to
throw back one regiment and take the French in flank. Paget was ordered to
advance up the valley, to drive back the French column, and menace the
French battery, uniting himself with a battalion previously posted on a
hill to keep the threatening masses of French cavalry in check. He also
sent word to Fraser to advance at once and support Paget. Baird launched
the 50th and 42d Regiments to meet the enemy issuing from Elvina. The
ground round the village was broken by stone walls and hollow roads, but
the French were forced back, and the 50th, entering the village with the
fleeing enemy, drove them, after a struggle, beyond the houses.
[Illustration: Map of the Battle of Corunna.]
The 42d, misunderstanding orders, retired towards the hill, and the
French, being reinforced, again attacked Elvina, which the 50th held
stubbornly until again joined by the 42d, which had been sent forward by
Moore himself. Paget was now engaged in the valley, the advance of the
enemy was arrested, and they suffered very heavily from the fire of the
regiments on the height above their flank, while Paget steadily gained
ground. The centre and left were now hotly engaged, but held their ground
against all the attacks of the enemy, and on the extreme left advanced and
drove the French out of the village of Palavia Abaxo, which they had
occupied. Elvina was now firmly held, while Paget carried all before him
on the right, and, with Fraser's division behind him, menaced the great
French battery.
Had this been carried, the two divisions could have swept along the French
position, crumpling up the forces as they went, and driving them down
towards the river Moro, in which case they would have been lost. Owing,
however, to the battle having been begun at so late an hour, darkness now
fell. The general himself, while watching the contest at Elvina, had been
struck by a cannon-ball and mortally wounded. General Baird had also been
struck down. This loss of commanders combined with the darkness to arrest
the progress of the victorious troops, and permitted the French, who were
already falling back in great confusion, to recover themselves and
maintain their position.
The object for which the battle had been fought was gained. Night, which
had saved the French from total defeat, afforded the British the
opportunity of extricating themselves from their position, and General
Hope, who now assumed the command, ordered the troops to abandon their
positions and to march down to the port, leaving strong piquets with fires
burning to deceive the enemy. All the arrangements for embarkation had
been carefully arranged by Sir John Moore, and without the least hitch or
confusion the troops marched down to the port, and before morning were all
on board with the exception of a rear-guard, under General Beresford,
which occupied the citadel.
At daybreak the piquets were withdrawn and also embarked, and a force
under General Hill, that had been stationed on the ramparts to cover the
movement, then marched down to the citadel, and there took boats for the
ships. By this time, however, the French, having discovered that the
British position was abandoned, had planted a battery on the heights of
San Lucia and opened fire on the shipping. This caused much confusion
among the transports. Several of the masters cut their cables, and four
vessels ran ashore. The troops, however, were taken on board of other
transports by the boats of the men-of-war. The stranded ships were fired,
and the fleet got safely out of harbour.
The noble commander, by whose energy, resolution, and talent this
wonderful march had been achieved, lived only long enough to know that his
soldiers were victorious, and was buried the same night on the ramparts.
His memory was for a time assailed with floods of abuse by that portion of
the press and public that had all along vilified the action of the British
general, had swallowed eagerly every lie promulgated by the Junta of
Oporto, and by the whole of the Spanish authorities; but in time his
extraordinary merits came to be recognized to their full value, and his
name will long live as one of the noblest men and best generals Great
Britain has ever produced.
Beresford held the citadel until the 18th, and then embarked with his
troops and all the wounded; the people of Corunna, remaining true to their
promises, manned the ramparts of the town until the last British soldier
was on board.
The British loss in the battle was estimated at 800 men; that of the
French was put down at 3,000. Their greater loss was due to the fact that
they assumed the offensive, and were much more exposed than the defenders;
that the nine little guns of the latter were enabled to sweep them with
grape, while the British were so far away from the French batteries that
the latter were obliged to fire round shot; and lastly that the new
muskets and fresh ammunition gave a great advantage to the British over
the rusty muskets and often damaged powder of the French. Paget's division
had suffered but slightly, the main loss of the English having occurred in
and around Elvina, and from the shot of the heavy battery that swept the
crest held by them. Two officers killed and four wounded were the only
casualties in that division, while but thirty of the rank and file were
put out of action.