, and from the front, shot and shell poured
in upon us. Many a brave man went down, many a horse fell, flinging his
rider to the earth; many a horse without a rider ran wildly out of the
ranks; then terrified at being alone, with no hand to guide him, came
pressing in among his old companions, to gallop with them to the charge.

"Fearful as it was, no one stopped, no one turned back. Every moment the
ranks were thinned, but as our comrades fell, we closed in to keep
them together; and instead of being shaken or staggered in our pace our
gallop became faster and faster as we neared the cannon.

"My master, my dear master was cheering on his comrades with his right
arm raised on high, when one of the balls whizzing close to my head
struck him. I felt him stagger with the shock, though he uttered no cry;
I tried to check my speed, but the sword dropped from his right hand,
the rein fell loose from the left, and sinking backward from the saddle
he fell to the earth; the other riders swept past us, and by the force
of their charge I was driven from the spot.

"I wanted to keep my place by his side and not leave him under that
rush of horses' feet, but it was in vain; and now without a master or a
friend I was alone on that great slaughter ground; then fear took hold
on me, and I trembled as I had never trembled before; and I too, as I
had seen other horses do, tried to join in the ranks and gallop with
them; but I was beaten off by the swords of the soldiers. Just then a
soldier whose horse had been killed under him caught at my bridle and
mounted me, and with this new master I was again going forward; but our
gallant company was cruelly overpowered, and those who remained alive
after the fierce fight for the guns came galloping back over the same
ground. Some of the horses had been so badly wounded that they could
scarcely move from the loss of blood; other noble creatures were trying
on three legs to drag themselves along, and others were struggling to
rise on their fore feet, when their hind legs had been shattered by
shot. After the battle the wounded men were brought in and the dead were
buried."

"And what about the wounded horses?" I said; "were they left to die?"

"No, the army farriers went over the field with their pistols and shot
all that were ruined; some that had only slight wounds were brought back
and attended to, but the greater part of the noble, willing creatures
that went out that morning never came b