ted a frontal attack he was beaten off with
loss" (Sir D. Haig's Dispatches). The machine gun proved its
effectiveness again and again during the British {127} withdrawal, and
twelve machine guns of the 63rd Division, posted in _Les Boeufs_ (March
24, 1918), held up the enemy's advance from Morval at a critical
period, and enabled the division to reach the position assigned to it.
The losses inflicted on the enemy by machine-gun and rifle and
Lewis-gun bullets were so heavy that by March 25 Von Below's XVII. Army
was described in German dispatches as "quite exhausted." During the
same battle a detachment of about 100 officers and other ranks, under
the command of the Brigade-Major of the 61st Brigade, held the enemy at
bay from early morning until 6 p.m. at _Le Quesnoy_ (March 27, 1918)
and enabled the 20th Division to retire to its destined position.

At the _Combat of Rolica_ (August 17, 1808) the French General
Delaborde was outnumbered by the Anglo-Portuguese forces under Sir A.
Wellesley, and being driven from his first and second positions he
withdrew to the mountains. During his retreat "he brought every arm
into action at the proper time . . . and retreated by alternative
masses, protecting his movements by short, vigorous charges of cavalry
. . . and he fell back, disputing the ground, to Quinta de Bugagliera"
(Napier).

In December, 1808, and January, 1809, General Sir John Moore withdrew
to Coruna before the armies of Napoleon (and when the Emperor returned
to Madrid, before those of Marshal Soult). "He conducted his long and
arduous retreat with sagacity, intelligence, and fortitude" (Napier),
and it is interesting to note that as in the Retreat from Mons in 1914
and at the Second Battle of the Somme in 1918, so in the rear-guard
actions which preceded the embarkation of Sir John Moore's Army, the
musketry of the British troops was the deciding factor: "the English
muskets were all new, the ammunition fresh; and whether from the
peculiar construction of the muskets, the physical strength and
coolness of the men, or all combined, {128} the English fire is the
most destructive known" (Napier).

At _Bristow Station_ (October 14, 1863) during General Meade's campaign
in Northern Virginia (after his defeat of General Lee at Gettysburg,
July 1-3, 1863), a surprise attack by Stuart's cavalry and infantry
from General Rode's Division caused the withdrawal of the Federal
troops. General Warren covered the ret