ther
passed through his thigh, killed the horse, and he and it fell to the
ground together. He was carried to the rear and placed under an oak,
where he soon died in the arms of Sir Duncan McDougall, the aid who had
resigned the pony to him.

"Other officers fell, till there were not enough to command. General
Keane was shot through the neck, and the wound compelled him to leave
the field. General Gibbs was mortally wounded and died the next day.
Major Wilkinson, who then took command, fell on the parapet, mortally
wounded; then the British fled in wild confusion."

"But they had been very brave," remarked Grace. "What a pity it was that
they had to fight in such a bad cause. Were there very many of them
killed, papa?"

"Yes, a great many. Of a regiment of brave Highlanders, with twenty-five
officers, only nine officers and one hundred and thirty men could be
mustered after the terrible fight was over. Another regiment had lost
five hundred men.

"While this fighting had been going on, another of their divisions of
nearly one thousand men, led by Colonel Rennie, attacked an unfinished
redoubt on Jackson's right and succeeded in driving out the Americans
there, but could not hold it long, being terribly punished by Humphreys'
batteries and the Seventh Regiment. Yet Rennie succeeded in scaling the
parapet of the American redoubt. Beale's New Orleans Rifles poured such
a tempest of shot upon the officers and men in the redoubt that nearly
every one was killed or wounded. Rennie, who had just shouted, 'Hurrah,
boys! the day is ours!' fell mortally wounded.

"And now this attacking column also fell back, and by hastening to the
plantation ditches, sought shelter from the terrible tempest of shot and
shell coming from Jackson's lines.

"General Lambert with his troops tried to come to the aid of Packenham,
Gibbs, and Keane, but was able only to cover the retreat of their
vanquished and flying columns."

"And the victory was won then, papa?" queried Lulu.

"Yes, though the battle had lasted but a short time; by half past eight
A. M. the musketry fire had ceased, though the artillery kept theirs up
till two o'clock in the afternoon."

"Were both Americans and British playing their national airs while the
fight was going on, sir?" asked Walter.

"The British had no music but a bugle," replied the captain, "not even a
drum or a trumpet; but all through the fight, from the time they sent up
their first signal rocket,