g mustaches, and
brown cheeks, every wrinkle expressing the fury which possessed them,
determined to force a passage at any cost. The sight made me furious,
and I shouted, "Forward! No quarter!"

If I had been near the stairway, I might have been cut to pieces in
mounting, but fortunately for me, others were ahead and not one would
give up his place.

An old fellow, covered with wounds, succeeded in reaching the top of
the stairs under the bayonets. As he gained the loft he let go his
musket, and seized the balustrade with both hands. Two balls from
muskets touching his breast did not make him let go his hold. Three or
four others rushed up behind him striving each to be first, and leaped
over the top stairs into the loft above.

Then followed such an uproar as is impossible to describe, shots
followed each other in quick succession, and the shouts and trampling
of feet made us think the house was coming down over our heads. Others
followed, and when I reached the scene behind Zebede, the room was full
of dead and wounded men, the windows were blown out, the walls splashed
with blood, and not a Prussian was left on his feet. Five or six of
our men were supporting themselves against the different pieces of
furniture, smiling ferociously. Nearly all of them had balls or
bayonet thrusts in their bodies, but the pleasure of revenge was
greater than the pain of their wounds. My hair stands on end when I
recall that scene.

As soon as Zebede saw that the Prussians were all dead, he went down
again, saying to me, "Come, there is nothing more to do here."

We went out and found that our column had already passed the church,
and thousands of musket-shots crackled against the bridge like the fire
breaking out from a coal-pit.

The second column had come down the broad street on our right and
joined ours, and in the meantime, one of those Prussian columns which
we had seen on the hill in the rear of Ligny, came down to drive us out
of the village.

Here it was that we had the first encounter in force. Two staff
officers rode down the street by which we had come.

"Those men," said Zebede, "are going to order up the guns. When they
arrive, Joseph, you will see whether they can rout us."

He ran and I followed him. The fight at the bridge continued. The old
church clock struck five. We had destroyed all the Prussians on this
side the stream except those who were in ambush in the great old ruin
at the left,