selves as the right wing
of the French line of battle; but those behind were not yet in
position.

Murray, kindling at the sight, thought that so favorable a
moment was not to be lost, and ordered an advance. His line
consisted of eight battalions, numbering a little above two
thousand. In the intervals between them the cannon were
dragged through slush and mud by five hundred men; and, at
a little distance behind, the remaining two battalions followed
as a reserve. The right flank was covered by Dalling's light
infantry; the left by Hazen's company of rangers and a hundred
volunteers under Major MacDonald. They all moved forward
till they were on nearly the same ground where Wolfe's army had
been drawn up. Then the cannon unlimbered, andopened on the French
with such effect that Levis, who was on horseback in the middle
of the field, sent orders to the corpsof his left to fall back
to the cover of the woods. The movement caused some disorder.
Murray mistook it for retreat, and commanded a farther advance.
The whole British line, extending itself towards the right, pushed
eagerly forward: in doing which it lost the advantage of the
favorable position it had occupied; and the battalions of the
right soon found themselves on low grounds, wading in half-melted
snow, which in some parts was knee deep. Here the cannon could no
longer be worked with effect. Just in front, a small brook ran along
the hollow, through soft mud and saturated snowdrifts, then
gurgled down the slope on the right, to lose itself in the
meadows of the St. Charles. A few rods before this brook
stood the house and windmill of Dumont, occupied by five
companies of French grenadiers. The light infantry at once
attacked them. A furious struggle ensued, till at length the
French gave way, and the victors dashed forward to follow
up their advantage. Their ardor cost them dear. The corps on
the French left, which had fallen back into the woods, now
advanced again as the cannon ceased to play, rushing on without
order but with the utmost impetuosity, led by a gallant old
officer, Colonel Dalquier, of the battalion of Bearn. A bullet in
the body could not stop him. The light infantry were overwhelmed;
and such of them as were left alive were driven back in confusion
upon the battalions behind them, along the front of which they
remained dispersed for some minutes, preventing the troops from
firing on the advancing French, whothus had time to reform their