ntine, and we had to defile before the enemy's
guns. At one portion of the road, men and horses were tumbled over by
their fire; the _caisson_ that I was riding upon was upset by a ball,
and thrown down the ravine, dragging the horses after it. I lay among
the horses' legs--they kicking furiously; it was a miracle that my life
was preserved: as it was--'

"`You broke your nose,' interrupted I.

"`No, sir, indeed I did not. I only received a kick on the arm, which
obliged me to carry it in a sling for some days. The weather became
very bad; we had few tents, and they were not able to resist the storms
of rain and wind. We wrapped ourselves up how we could, and sat in deep
pools of water, and the Arabs attacked us before we could open the fire
of our batteries; we were in such a pickle that, had the bad weather
lasted, we must have retreated; and happy would those have been who
could have once more found themselves safe in the camp of Mzez Ammar. I
don't think that I ever suffered so much as I did at that time--the
weather had even overcome the natural gallantry of our nation; and so
far from receiving any attention, the general remark to me was, "What
the devil do _you_ do here?" This to be said to a pretty woman!

"`It was not till the 10th that we could manage to open the fire of our
batteries. It was mud, mud, and mud again; the men and horses were
covered with mud up to their necks--the feathers of the staff were
covered with mud--every ball which was fired by the enemy sent up
showers of mud; even the face of the Duc de Nemours was disfigured with
it. I must say that our batteries were well situated, all except the
great mortar battery. This I pointed out to Damremont when he passed
me, and he was very savage. Great men don't like to be told of their
faults; however, he lost his life three days afterwards from not taking
my advice. He was going down the hill with Rhullieres when I said to
him, "Mon General, you expose yourself too much; that which is duty in a
subaltern is a fault in a general." He very politely told me to go to
where he may chance to be himself now; for a cannonball struck him a few
seconds afterwards, and he was killed on the spot. General Perregaux
was severely wounded almost at the same time. For four days the
fighting was awful; battery answered to battery night and day: while
from every quarter of the compass we were exposed to the fierce attacks
of the Arab cavalry. The comm