A Dash for It
I met a man belonging to C Company of the Gordons who was bleeding very much. He shouted to me, “For God’s sake take me out of action.” I put him on a stretcher with the help of another bearer. We lifted him up, and just then a shell broke a tree in half close by. The trunk fell right across the man’s head, killing him at once. It was getting dusk and we could not find out where our company was, as they had retired fighting. I walked about the woods very quietly at night with three others and then heard some English voices. We looked ahead and saw a battery of artillery in a lane in front of us. They said they were ambushed between two lines of fire, and shouted, “Come, get a gun, and take pot luck with us.” We started, although twenty-four of the first team’s horses were shot, the middle driver was dead, and the one on the second leading horse was wounded in the head. We all decided to make a dash for it in the morning. We did so over dead horses and men and found our regiment at 3 A.M. In the meantime we had got some corn from the fields, but for three days we had nothing to eat and drink but apples, dirty water, and red wine: Bandsman T. Winstanley.