Page:Picture of war (1).pdf/6

 6 or perhaps they are reserving it for us to- night. They fire a shell or bomb about every two minutes, while we keep up a constant fire upon the breaches and upon the town. Alvaon, 15th April “I now proceed to give you an account of the storming of Badajoz. “At eight o'clock at night, on Monday the 5th of April, we were formed without knapsacks, and in half an hour marched in an indirect line towards the town, under strick orders, " that not a whisper should be heard!” Part of the 5th division were to attack the town on the south side, while the third division, to which I was attached, with their ladders were to scale the citadel, and the rest were to assault the grand breach. S“ I procured a soldier's jacket, a firelock, sixty round of ball-cartridges, and was on the right of my company. “But, before I proceed, I will give you some information which I have since ob- tained, to shew you where, and to what, we were going! The governor is allowed to be one of the best engineers in the French Service, and he has so proved him- self; though our fire was continued at the breach, he had pieces of wood fastened in- to the ground, the sword blades and bayo- nets fixed to them, slanting outwards;