Page:Julian Niemcewicz - Notes of my Captivity in Russia.djvu/47

Rh to the wood in the attempt to save themselves, recall to my mind the most cruel scene I have ever witnessed.

About twelve o'clock the fire became still more terrible: death was flying and striking everywhere; nearly all our artillery horses were killed or maimed; not one of us, however, left his place. The enemy were already within musket shot, when the infantry began a terrible fire on both sides; the ground was covered with dead and wounded, and the air resounded with their groanings. The shower of bullets, with their shrill whistling, was so incessant, that I do not know how any of us escaped. In the meantime, the ammunition was exhausted, and our artillery became entirely silent. The soldiers at last lost patience, tired with being exposed to a continued fire during five hours. The line posted from the village to the table-land, under Colonel Krzycki's command, advanced to attack the enemy, but a volley of grape shot compelled them to retreat, and routed also a battalion of peasants armed