ry thing.

Meanwhile the shells having set fire to the wooden town behind them, in
their retreat they were stopped by the conflagration; one fire drove
them back upon another; the Russian recruits, wrought up to a pitch of
fanatic fury, closely pursued them; our soldiers became enraged; they
fought man to man: some were seen seizing each other by one hand,
striking with the other, until both victors and vanquished rolled down
precipices into the flames, without losing their hold. There the wounded
expired, either suffocated by the smoke, or consumed by the fire. Their
blackened and calcined skeletons soon presented a hideous sight, when
the eye could still discover in them the traces of a human form.

All, however, were not equally intent on doing their duty. There was one
officer, a man who was known to talk very big, and who, at the bottom of
a ravine, wasted the time for action in making speeches. In this place
of security he kept about him a sufficient number of troops to authorize
his remaining himself, leaving the rest to expose themselves in detail,
without unison and at random.

The 15th division was still left. The viceroy summoned it: as it
advanced, it threw a brigade into the suburb on the left, and another
into the town on the right. It consisted of Italians, recruits, who had
never before been in action. They ascended, shouting enthusiastically,
ignorant of the danger or despising it, from that singular disposition,
which renders life less dear in its flower than in its decline, either
because while young we fear death less from the feeling of its distance,
or because at that age, rich in years and prodigal of every thing, we
squander life as the wealthy do their fortune.

The shock was terrible: every thing was reconquered for the fourth time,
and lost in like manner. More eager to begin than their seniors, they
were sooner disheartened, and returned flying to the old battalions,
which supported and were obliged to lead them back to the danger.

The Russians, emboldened by their incessantly increasing numbers and
success, then descended by their right to gain possession of the bridge
and to cut off our retreat. Prince Eugene had nothing left but his last
reserve: he and his guard now took part in the combat. At this sight,
and at his call, the remains of the 13th, 14th, and 15th divisions
mustered their courage; they made a powerful and a last effort, and for
the fifth time the combat was transferred