. The imperial guard of Napoleon: from Marengo to Waterloo . Advancing on a sweeping gallop,they burst with redoubled fury U2)on this mere hand-ful of men. Again and again they thundered on thatfirm formation, but when the dust and smoke clearedaway there it stood solid and terrible as ever. Re-coil and melt away it must, and did, but breakor fly it never would. In the midst of a vast plain,surrounded by tens of thousands of men and horses,pressed by a victorious foe, enveloped in dark massesof cavalry that kept falling in successive shocks onits exhausted ranks, rent by cannon shot—in the in-
. The imperial guard of Napoleon: from Marengo to Waterloo . Advancing on a sweeping gallop,they burst with redoubled fury U2)on this mere hand-ful of men. Again and again they thundered on thatfirm formation, but when the dust and smoke clearedaway there it stood solid and terrible as ever. Re-coil and melt away it must, and did, but breakor fly it never would. In the midst of a vast plain,surrounded by tens of thousands of men and horses,pressed by a victorious foe, enveloped in dark massesof cavalry that kept falling in successive shocks onits exhausted ranks, rent by cannon shot—in the in-tervals of the roars of artillery their ears assailed bycries of terror from their flying comrades—iguQranthow the battle was going in other parts of the dis-ordered field, save that the whole army was in fullretreat, this band of eight hundred men, now reducedto a mere handful, never thought of flying. In the midst of this tumult and carnage, when theyseemed no longer struggling for victory, and intentonly on showing how brave men should die, a sight. ITS FIRST BAPTISM. 35 burst on tLioiu that filled every heart with the voidestenthusiasm. As the cloud of battle rent a momentbefore them, thej saw in the midst of the turbulentplain, iSTapoleon, surrounded by his staff and two hun-dred mounted grenadiers, bravely breasting the the view an involuntary and frantic hurrah burstfrom that solid square, and vive Na])oleon^ rolledover the field like the shout of victory. That single square, though dreadfully narrowed,and bleeding at every pore remained as perfect inits lormation at the close of that disastrous retreat,as when it first marched into the plain to stem thetide of battle. To use the expressive metaphor ofBonaparte, it stood, during those five hours ofslaughter, a column of granite. The arrival of Desaix, and the defeat of theAustrians, are well known. Italy was , after the battle, addressing Bessieres, whocommanded the guard, said, The Guar
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