Spreading awe wheresoever it went,

And the gloom of dismay over all;

Blighting valor that ne'er in war's red front had quailed,

Blanching cheeks that no tempest of strife e'er had paled.

III.

Then a council was held, and the commandant said

Direst peril was near; they must summon swift aid

From the Marshal, or all would be lost ere the sun

Of to-morrow went down in the west. Was there one

Who, to save the command and the honor of France,