Urg’d by a feint, protects the head from harm,
To reach, with lightning speed, the unguarded part
And through the opening penetrate the heart;
Some, skill’d with dext’rous art, deceive their foe,
Cut through the face and lay the opponent low;
Some at the breast-plate thrust with upward glides
Pierces the jaw, or else the neck divides;
And some, more quick, the unguarded throat observe,
Drive to the spine, and cut the dorsal nerve.”
It appears, on the first day, previous to the Battle of Waterloo, Shaw was wounded in the breast, and was ordered by his commanding officer to remain in the rear; but after the wound was dressed, and feeling little inconvenience from it, he nobly disdained to shrink from the post of honour, and on the 18th took part in the grand decisive charge. After having performed his duty towards his country in a giant-like manner, and exalting his character as a man and a soldier, he fell on the 18th of June, 1815, covered with glory.