146 THE APRIL BOMBARDMENT. CHAP. VI. Order given to Captain Oldershaw; and exe- cuted the same night. 12th April. The ad- vanced No. VII. completed, and its guns before sun- set engaged with the enemy. Oldershaw of the Koyal Artillery to take down the 'guns meant for the arming of the advanced 'No. VII.,' and lodge 'them, that night, in the ' battery,' he was answered by a cheerful 'AH ' right, sir,' that had the ring of decisiveness* With the aid of 300 infantry men whose services he obtained for the purpose, Captain Oldershaw opened a road through the parapet of the 2d Parallel, brought his guns through the passway thus won, and before morning, lodged them all safely in the 'advanced No. ' VIL' On the morrow of the night in which he ren- dered this service, Captain Oldershaw was on duty elsewhere; but that day — I speak of the 12th — our Engineers executed some completing work in the ' advanced No. VII.,' and supplied it with mantlets. In the course of the same after- noon, four out of the five guns brought down were put in battery ; t and with these, some two hours before sunset, our artillerymen opened fire on the enemy's Works, drawing fire in return from the garrison ; but it does not appear that the engagement thus begun at a somewhat late hour proved gravely destructive, that day, to either our small 'advanced battery' or the enemy's opposing defences. J
- With respect to the number of guns sent down, see Ap-
pendix, Note ( 2 ). t One of the five guns was disabled, it seems, by a shot striking its muzzle whilst still on its ' travelling-carriage.' X I have not been able to learn who commanded in (he bat- tery that day.
