The midnight brought the signal-sound of strife;
The morn the marshalling in arms; the day
Battle’s magnificently-stern array!
The thunder-clouds close o’er it, which, when rent,
The earth is cover’d thick with other clay,
Which her own clay shall cover—heap’d and pent,
Rider and horse,—friend, foe,—in one red burial blent!”
One historian speaks of the Forty-second as displaying “unparalleled bravery;” whilst another thus narrates the attack of the Highlanders at Quatre Bras:—“To the Forty-second Highlanders, and Forty-fourth British regiment, which were posted on a reversed slope, and in line, close upon the left of the above road, the advance of French cavalry was so sudden and unexpected, the more so as the Brunswickers had just moved on to the front, that as both these bodies whirled past them to the rear, in such close proximity to each other, they were, for the moment, considered to consist of one mass of allied cavalry. Some of the old soldiers of both regiments were not so easily satisfied on this point, and immediately opened a partial fire obliquely upon the French lancers, which, however, Sir Denis Pack and their own officers endeavoured as much as possible to restrain; but no sooner had the latter succeeded in causing a cessation of the fire, than the lancers, which were the rearmost of the cavalry, wheeled sharply round, and advanced in admirable order directly upon the rear of the two British regiments. The Forty-second Highlanders having, from their position, been the first to recognise them as a part of the enemy’s forces, rapidly formed a square; but just as the two flank companies were running in to form the rear face, the lancers had reached the regiment, when a considerable portion of their leading division penetrated the square, carrying along with them, by the impetus of the charge, several men of those two companies, and creating a momentary confusion. The long-tried discipline and steadiness of the Highlanders, however, did not forsake them at this critical juncture; these lancers, instead of effecting the destruction of the square, were themselves fairly hemmed into it, and either bayoneted or taken prisoners, whilst the endangered face, restored as if by magic, successfully repelled all further attempts on the part of the French to complete their expected triumph. Their commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Robert Macara, was killed on this occasion, a lance having pierced through his chin until it reached the brain; and within the brief space of a few minutes, the command of the regiment devolved upon three other officers in succession: Lieutenant-Colonel Dick, who was severely wounded, Brevet-Major Davidson, who was mortally wounded, and Brevet-Major Campbell, who commanded it during the remainder of the campaign.” Their subsequent service at Waterloo fully sustained, nay, rather excelled the heroism of previous achievements.
SEBASTOPOL, FROM FORT CONSTANTINE.