The Boy Soldier; Or, Garibaldi's Young Captain — page 190: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

“ 184 files of Austrian soldiers lay dead parallel with the fence, behind which we were. ‘‘ Hundreds of shell from the enemy now dropped in all directions, making our position in the stand- ing corn very unpleasant. “And although we disputed their advance stub- bornly, they gradually forced us back, until they penetrated into the corn-fields, which their heavy line-of-battle beat and broke as they came sweep- ing onward with loud cheers. “Supposing us to be beaten at this point, their - commander lost no time, but seemed determined to push forward rapidly, and smash our left wing. “As brigade after brigade rushed gallantly for- ward they were subjected to a continuous and galling fire. ‘But no token was given of our strength in the dense timber to which our men now fell back in skirmishing order. ‘When the enemy had traversed the corn-fields, and reached, the summit of the rising ground, the ground slightly ‘dipped,’ so that our commanders in the woods had full view of the Austrian force as it advanced. “Every fence and every tree was made available by our sharpshooters, who constantly poured into their heavy masses a galling fire, ‘Still onwards they came impetuously, and, from their hurried movements, were apparently breath- less, ‘Down went every fence in their paths, as they rapidly crossed. the road towards the woods; and lustily they cheered as the last of our skirmishers disappeared from gle front and were lost in the dark, thick forest. ‘* All was silence within our lines. “Regiments were lying flat on their faces, with rifles cocked, and the men cautiously peered at the enemy as they came rushing into the woods in great masses and with much noise. ‘“‘ Suddenly, up rose our left line of battle. “The enemy halted, ‘* A moment of'silence ensued: “No man stirred. “And then deafening, quick, accurate, and nu- merous volleys broke from our lines, ‘“The enemy were too numerous to be missed ; and, amid frightful loss and confusion, they broke and rushed forth from the woods, trembling like beings who had seen some dreadful apparition, “Soon as these fugitive masses had gained open ground our batteries in rapid succession broke loose, belching forth grape and canister in such profusion that the infernal storm could be heard raining upon them with a hissing noise, and it literally ploughed furrows in the confused masses, so that daylight could be seen through them at every discharge, fi “Round shot bounded and bounced, “Shells, after whizzing overhead, dropped with loud explosions, in the groups rushing through the corn fields and dotting the landscape, ‘<The carnage was frightful, ‘Through these fields the enemy (exulting in their success the previous day) had come cheering in dense lines, “But a few moments before they had swept from their front every man opposed to them, and had entered the woods with deafening shouts, “They had not been lost to view many minutes ere they rushed back in confused, bleeding, stag- gering masses of human beings, without officers, without order, pursued by our lines of battle, ‘‘ Rapidly our braye fellows pushed over the well- fought fields, and, amid showers of shell, kept close ee THE BOY SOLDIER; OR, GARIBALDI'S YOUNG CAPTAIN. to the flying foe, and incessantly poured into their shattered ranks murderous volleys, which whistled through the corn and peopled every acre with scores of dead, ‘‘ Field officers of the enemy gallantly rode to the front, and endeavoured to rally their brigades. “Reinforcements were seen approaching to their relief through open fields beyond; but onward pressed our victorious men,and did not halt until the foe was safely screened in their original posi- tion of the morning. ‘Fighting on the left had now lasted several hours, “Our men were thoroughly exhausted, and un- able to advance further upon the enemy. “In truth, it would not have been wise to do so, for our position for defence was preferable ground to any we could win, “Cannonading now opened with great fury on both sides, and it was soon ascertained that the fue was largely reinforced, and beginning another ad- vance. ‘‘This they did in gallant style, but were met again by such a determined, withering fire, and their loss was so great, that no impression could be made upon our position. ** Not only were they loth to follow us into the woods, but they were quickly beaten and demoral- ised in open ground. “ Constant volleys were now exchanged by both sides ; and as reinforcements arrived to succour us, they were immediately thrown in front to with- stand the third attack, then organizing along the enemy’s right, which was to be composed of all the commands there present. “The new line of the enemy seemed to be of immense strength. “ But as they came fully into view, our artillery opened upon them with such rapidity and accuracy that great confusion and disorder began to reign ere they became sufticiently close to exchange shots with our infantry. : “Long and constant volleys resounded along our whole wing. ‘“ Both combatants were stationary. “Sometimes we slightly gave ground, and again recovered it, until at last our fire began to tell among the enemy, and it seemed that little was now required to drive them completely from the field. “While indecision seemed to reign among the Austrian commanders ours were unanimous for an advance, and when the order was received, load cheers and yells burst forth from our troops, and the cannonade re-opened with redoubled fury, g GIVEN AW aAwy!! SCENES, SHEETS OF CHARACTERS, AND A LARGE STAGE FRONT FOR A NEW PLAY, CALLED “ALONE IN THE PIRATES’ LAIR.” —— READ THE “BOYS OF ENGLAND,” AND SECURE THE ABOVE MAGNIFICENT GIFTS. ONE PENNY WEEKLY. 5