THE MAIN FIGHT. 139 and uiidei- such conditions, lie well might incline (jiiap. VI towards believing that his troops must needs con- ' form to the retrograde movement of their defeated '*' ^*'^ comrades; but the judgment he formed was ac- celerated perhaps more or less by the sound of a cheer breaking out in a new direction, that is, on his right front. Be that as it may, the two Catherinburg battalions fell back. The cheer they had heard was one given by some English infantry, then newly informed of the loss which our artillery had sustained, and at the same moment joined by young Miller riding up to them bareheaded and grieving — an artillery- man bereaved of his gun. The infantry consisted, it seems, of the then rallied men of the Connaught Rangers reinforced by some companies of the 47th regiment ; * and their cheer imported a vow to do what men could towards recapturing our lost field-pieces. They executed a rapid advance ; but the retreat of the two Catherinburg battalions had been effected in time to avoid all encounter, and when our troops reached the ground which those
- "When Colunel Windham (Cathcart's A.Q.JI.G.) was ap-
prised of the capture of the guns, he told Colonel David Wood that, in order to retake them, he would send him the 63d ri'giment ; and, a body of infantry coming up in apparent fulfilment of Windham's promise, Colonel Wood at once com- municated with one of its mounted officers in terms fitted to cause the rapid advance which followed. Sir David Wood remains under the impression he received at the time, and believes that the body of infantry which he launched, so to speak, against the captors of his guns was the very regiment
- ,hat had been promised him— ?'.(;., the 63d — but 1 have found
myself brought to the conclusion above stated.
