Читать книгу The Story of a Peninsular Veteran. Sergeant in the Forty-Third Light Infantry, during the Peninsular War онлайн

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On the 27th, the cavalry being all over the river, preparations were made to destroy the bridge: torrents of rain and snow were descending. The cavalry scouts of the enemy were abroad, and a large party, following the store-wagon, endeavoured to pass the piquet, and gallop down to the bridge. The design was perceived and defeated. Smart skirmishing was kept up all that day; but the masonry of the bridge was so solid, that midnight had arrived before the arches could be materially injured. We then descended the heights on the left bank, and passing with the greatest silence by single files over planks laid across the broken arches, gained the other side without loss: an instance of singular preservation, as the night was dark and tempestuous, and the enemy almost within hearing. The mine was almost immediately after sprung with good effect,—I mean the bridge was ruined; while we marched forward to Benevente, where the cavalry and the reserve still remained. Here we re-entered the convent which had given us protection on a former occasion.