Page:The Siege of London - Posteritas - 1885.djvu/64

 no quarter, and asked for none. Home, hearth, country, all were at stake, and they fought with the desperate determination of sinking despair. On the other hand, the invaders gave themselves up to sack and slaughter. The hereditary hatred of the French for the British displayed itself in a spirit of destructiveness that was actually barbarous. Following the example set by the Germans, in 1870, when France herself was trodden under the heel of the invader, the French Commander formed a flying corps of Light Cavalry, similar to the. These men spread themselves over the face of the country, requisitioning the towns and villages, destroying the railways and telegraphs, and obtaining information of the movements of the English troops.

The Northern English army had fallen back towards Carlisle, where it was resolved that another stand should be made, but on gaining the border they were amazed to find themselves face to face with another powerful French force, which had disembarked at Carlisle, after a successful engagement in the Irish Channel between the convoying squadron and a fleet of British coast defence vessels manned by naval reserve men. This new force of invaders was composed of the very flower of the French army, and consisted of the Guards and Chasseurs, the Hussars and Cuirassiers, and were under the command of a new commander-in-chief, who was one of the most distinguished generals of the day.

The English thus found themselves between two forces; but, true to their traditions of never being able to recognise defeat, they showed no signs of surrender, but, forming themselves into squares with the utmost precision, they received the whole body of French cavalry with such a tremendous fire that they were thrown into confusion, and taking advantage of this, the Scots Greys were pushed forward, and they charged with such impetuosity that the lighter French horsemen went down before them, and were hacked to pieces by the long and heavy English sabres. This gallantry would certainly have turned the fortunes of the day in favour of the English, had they not been so greatly outnumbered. But the French brought up masses of men from both their armies, and the Greys would have been cut to pieces had they not been promptly supported