is armor and assemble in the square. As soon as they had come
together, he led them outside the town and drew up his line of battle
close beneath the walls. In front of this line he formed a solid
phalanx, with a wing on either side composed of horse and foot. Still
farther ahead he placed his catapults, with the largest of which he
opened fire first, the sharpshooters at the same time picking off the
enemy. The sky was heavily overcast, and at the very beginning of the
battle a driving storm with rain and sleet came beating down in the
faces of the Danes, thus blinding them. Their cavalry, too, was almost
useless; for the ground was covered with melting snow, which formed in
great cakes under the horses' hoofs, and soon sent horses and riders
sprawling on the ground. The patriots, however, being without cavalry or
muskets, suffered little from the rain. They were not slow to take
advantage of the opportunity thus afforded them, and pressed forward
madly on the left wing until finally it began to yield. The
standard-bearer, half frozen, was about to drop the standard, when a
Danish veteran rushed forward, seized it from his hands, and fixed it in
the nearest fence, at the same time shouting: "Forward, my men! Remember
your own and your fathers' valor! Shall this standard of your country
fall unstained into the hands of the enemy?" At these words the company
rallied and, hacking at the hands of the patriots who strove to pluck
the standard from the fence, compelled them to withdraw. This company
then joined the others, and a long and bitter conflict followed, the two
armies fighting face to face. At length, as soon as the snow began to be
well packed, the Danish cavalry came to the front once more, and after a
series of violent charges, broke in two places through the enemy's
ranks. The patriots, now cut into three distinct bodies, fled in wild
despair. One body of them was surrounded and massacred on the spot.
Another fled to a brick-kiln near at hand, hoping thus to be sheltered
from the fury of the Danes. But they were pursued, the whole place was
set on fire, and all who issued from it were put to the sword. The third
portion of the Swedes fled in terror to the river, but many of them
weighted down by their arms were drowned. Thus ended a fearful battle.
The snow was literally drenched with blood. Of the Swedes, who numbered
30,000, it is said two thirds were killed; while the Danes, 8,000
strong, lost half.[43]

Aft