raeterea nihil_. (He, M.-B., and St Andre,
though sleeping in different rooms, used to dress in the bathroom,
where there were excellent taps and basins, though no water was
running.)

The shelling continued till 10. It was on this morning that Brown was
damaged and lots of windows blown in.

About that time I saw, to my consternation, a number of British
soldiers retiring towards the walled garden. I sent out at once to
stop them and turn them back, thinking they were Cheshires or
Bedfords. To my relief they were neither, but belonged to a brigade on
our right. They had been heavily shelled, and, though in no sort of
panic, were falling back deliberately, though without orders. There
were no officers with them--all killed or wounded, I believe. My
efforts were successful, though I grieve to say that a nice boy,
Kershaw of the Signallers, who volunteered to carry a message to them,
was hit by shrapnel in the thigh and brought in by our clerk, Sergeant
Hutchison, and another, bleeding profusely. Burnett, commanding the
Cyclist Corps, had been knocked down by a falling tree and his back
damaged--also internal damage, I believe (for he was not really fit a
year afterwards); he also was brought in, as well as Cooper of the
Royal Fusiliers. A number of Zouaves and some more troops also
trickled slowly back from the left with stories of appalling losses
(mostly untrue) and disaster to the trenches (ditto). They were also
stopped--the Zouaves by St Andre--and sent back. Certainly the
Frenchmen's nerve was not damaged, for I remember that several had
playing-cards in their hands, and when they got to what they
considered a fairly quiet spot they stopped, sat down, and went on
with their game. Norman M'Mahon, commanding Royal Fusiliers, had,
however, been killed, just as he had been appointed Brigadier to
another Brigade, besides a lot more good men of the 9th Brigade. Shaw,
commanding the Brigade, had also been wounded, and Douglas Smith
succeeded him. Both the 1st and 9th Brigades had lost several
trenches, and intended to try and retake them at night, but both had
been pushed back some distance.

A company of Wiltshires was sent to reinforce us in case we were
seriously attacked. But they were not used by us for fighting--only
for digging extra trenches near the chateau in case the front
battalions had to fall back. But the front battalions had no intention
of falling back, and the Cheshires got in a very heavy fire on th