I have said that a good deal of unconnected firing having been kept up till about noon, a solemn pause ensued throughout the line. Not that Marshal Soult had yet resigned all hope of forcing our left, and so gaining the command of the road by which our supplies were brought up; but he appeared satisfied that absolute force would not secure his object, and hence he betook himself to manœuvring. Of the various changes of ground which now took place among the different divisions of both armies it is vain for me to attempt any minute description. What I myself saw, however, may be repeated; though it will convey but a feeble idea of the magnificent operations of these two mighty gamesters.
We had stood, or rather lain, quietly behind a hedge about half an hour, when the arrival of a group of horsemen on the brow of the French hill attracted our attention. It was Soult and his staff. The Marshal dismounted, leant his telescope over the saddle of his horse, and swept our line. While he was thus employed, Lord Wellington, followed by about twenty aides-de-camp and orderlies, rode up. The glass of our General was instantly turned upon his adversary, and the two Commanders-in-Chief gazed at each other for several seconds. Now a mounted Frenchman rode to the rear of his group at full speed; next Lord Wellington flew, as fast as his horse could gallop, towards Arcanques; and for about a quarter of an hour all was still.
Soult had departed in the same direction with Lord Wellington; and we were wondering what was to follow, when the head of a French column suddenly showed itself on the high ground opposite to Arcanques. An attack was of course expected, but none took place. As if the two columns had agreed to reach their ground at the same instant, the enemy hardly made his appearance ere the wood in rear of Arcanques glittered with the bayonets of the seventh division. Again Soult showed himself on the ridge opposite, but a good deal farther to the right, gazing, as if with deep anxiety, upon the advance of these troops. His plan was anticipated; and his newly-formed column melted gradually away.
"Where next?" thought I; but no great time was spent in wondering. The same, or another mass, speedily crowned the hill opposite; and, at the same moment, two or three brigades of fresh troops were in our rear. Once more the enemy withdrew. Thus the whole hours of light were spent, the heads of columns appearing and disappearing at different points; indeed both armies seemed to be handled as the pieces upon a chess-board are, when two skilful and tolerably equal players are opposed. Darkness at length beginning to set in, an end was put to the manœuvring; and we again made preparations to spend the night as comfortably as circumstances would permit.
It fell to my lot this evening to mount picket. As soon as the night set in, I put myself at the head of the body of men which was assigned to me, and moved down to the bottom of the ravine of which I have already spoken as dividing the two armies. There our watch-fire was lighted, and there the main body of the picket took its ground, the sentinels being posted a little on the rise of the opposite hill. The French, on the other hand, stationed their outposts on the summit, and placed their sentries opposite to ours, at a distance of perhaps thirty paces. Thus each man was at the mercy of the other; but both British and French sentinels were too well trained in the school of modern warfare to dream of violating the sanctity which is happily thrown around them.
It will be readily imagined that this was to me a night of peculiarly high excitement. My friend Grey was with me; so the time passed cheerfully enough, but it was wholly sleepless. We took it by turns to visit our sentries every half-hour, who again were relieved, as sentinels generally are, each at the expiration of a two hours' watch; and thus, by going our rounds and examining the state of the men previous to their proceeding to their posts, all inclination to repose was dispelled. The privates, indeed, on whose shoulders no responsibility rested, lay down with their firelocks beside them and slept; but we sat by our fire, smoking and conversing, whenever an opportunity of sitting was granted. All, however, passed quietly off. Except the voices of our own and the enemy's sentries, who challenged as we approached, no sound could be heard in the front; nor did any event occur worthy of notice till midnight was long past.
It might be, perhaps, about two in the morning of the 13th, when a sentinel, whose post I visited, informed me that he had heard a more than usual stir in the French lines about ten minutes before, and had seen a blue-light thrown up. "Have any reliefs taken place among them lately?" said I. "Yes, sir," replied the soldier; "a relief has just gone now." "We must reconnoitre," rejoined I; and so saying, I stooped down, and in a creeping attitude approached the enemy's vedettes. One stood directly before me. Though it was very dark I could distinguish his cap and firelock; so I crept back again, satisfied that all was quiet.
In half an hour after I visited the same man. "Has anything occurred since?" asked I. "No, sir," was the answer; "all is perfectly quiet." Repeating my experiment, I found the French sentinel still stationary, and I was again satisfied. The same thing occurred at each successive visitation, till about four in the morning. At that hour my own sentinel stated that he had heard no relief since he came on duty, neither had the man whom he relieved heard any. Upon this I returned to consult with Grey; when it was agreed between us that a patrol should go forward and ascertain at once how matters stood. Taking with me four men, I again crept up the hill. The vedette was still there. We approached. He continued silent and motionless. We ran up to him. It was a bush with a soldier's cap placed upon the top of it, and a musket leaning against it! The enemy were gone. Not a vestige of them remained except their fires, on which a quantity of fuel had lately been heaped. Of course we transmitted to the rear, without delay, intelligence of all that had occurred; when a general recognisance being made along the front of the whole left, it was found that Soult had withdrawn, and that he had carried off with him, not only his artillery and baggage, but all his wounded. We gave him ample credit for the adroitness with which his retreat had been conducted.
CHAPTER XIV.
For about two hours after daybreak no movement whatever was made on the left of the army. Parties of cavalry and light infantry were, indeed, from time to time sent forward, for the purpose of guarding against a sudden return of the enemy's columns; but the main body kept its ground as it had done the day before, and the stations of the outposts were not altered. About nine o'clock in the morning, however, a few changes occurred. My picket, for example, marched a little to the right, and relieved a body of Brunswickers, which occupied a farmhouse near the point where the ravine wound inwards upon the enemy's position; and this body, together with several other battalions, proceeded at a quick pace towards the station of General Hill's corps. The indefatigable Soult, it appeared, had withdrawn his forces from before us, only to carry them against the opposite flank. The whole of the night of the 12th was spent in filing his battalions through the intrenched camp; and by daybreak on the 13th he showed himself in force upon the right of the army. But Sir Rowland was prepared for him. His own division kept the enemy in play till reinforcements arrived, when a decided attack was made; and the French, worn out with the exertions of the four preceding days, were totally defeated. They escaped, with difficulty, within their fortified lines, leaving five thousand men upon the field.