fought the battle of Dumblaine, or Sheriffmuir. It was of this fight that Burns sang: "But had you seen the philibegs, And skyrin' tartan trews, man, When in the teeth they dared our Whigs, And covenant true blues, man; In lines extended lang and large, And thousands hastened to the charge, They fled like frighted doos, man." Both the Earl of Mar and the Duke of Argyle claimed the victory; but the Pretender reaped no advantage from it, the rebellion in his favour being shortly afterwards suppressed. The "War of the Austrian Succession" offers an example in the battle of Val, or Laffeld, near Maestricht, fought on Sunday, the 2nd of July, 1747. In this battle the illustrious General Wolfe, then a major in the Thirty-third, now named the Duke of Wellington's Regiment, gave the earliest proofs of that military genius which afterwards won Quebec for the British crown, and paved the way for the conquest of Canada. The Peninsular War is fruitful in Sunday fighting. The second battle in Portugal, that of Vimiera, was fought on Sunday, the 21st of August, 1808. The battle of Fuentes d'Onor was gained on Sunday, the 5th of May, 1811. On Sunday evening, the 19th of January, 1812, Lord Wellington issued the brief and determined order that "Ciudad Rodrigo must be carried by assault this evening, at seven o'clock." The battle of Orthes was fought on Sunday, the 27th of February, 1814, and that of Toulouse, the last general action of the Peninsular War, occurred on Easter Sunday, the 10th of April following. The battle of Waterloo was also decided on a Sunday, the date being the well known 18th of June, 1815. The second Burmese war afforded two examples. On Easter Sunday, the 11th of April, 1852, the attack on the lines of defences at Rangoon took place. The second was the attack and capture of Pegu, on Sunday, the 21st of November, 1852, by the Anglo-Indian troops under Major-general Godwin. In the victory of Inkermann is found another instance, for it was fought on Sunday, the 5th of November, 1854. This has been termed the "soldiers* battle," and Field-marshal Lord Raglan's despatch to his Grace the Duke of Newcastle, Minister at War, will ever be read with interest, giving, as it does, the wondrous details of that mighty and sanguinary contest, the second in which French and English emulated each other in deeds of daring against a force far superior as regards numbers : : "Before Sevastopol, November 8, 1854. "MY LORD DUKE,—I have the honour to report to your Grace that the army under my command, powerfully aided by the corps of observation of the French army, under the command of that distinguished officer, General Bosquet, effectually repulsed and defeated a most vigorous and determined attack of the enemy on our position overlooking the ruins of Inkermann, on the morning of the 5th instant. letter to your Grace of the 3rd, I informed you that the enemy had considerably increased their force in the valley of the Tschernaya. The following day this augmentation was still further apparent, and large masses of troops had evidently arrived from the northward, and on two several occasions persons of distinguished rank were observed to have joined the Russian Camp. "I have subsequently learnt that the 4th corps d'armée, conveyed in carriages of the country, and in the lightest possible order, had been brought from Moldavia, and were to be immediately followed by the 3rd corps. "It was therefore to be expected that an extensive movement would not be long deferred. "Accordingly, shortly before daylight, on the 5th, strong columns of the enemy came upon the advanced picquets covering the right of the position. These picquets behaved with admirable gallantry, defending the ground foot by foot against the overwhelming numbers of the enemy, until the 2nd Division, under Major-General Pennefather, with its field guns, which had immediately been got under arms, was placed in position. "The Light Division, under Lieutenant-General Sir George Brown, was also brought to the front without loss of time; the 1st Brigade, under MajorGeneral Codrington, occupying the long slopes to the left towards Sevastopol, and protecting our right battery, and guarding against attack on that side; and the 2nd Brigade, under Brigadier-General Buller, forming on the left of the 2nd Division, with the 88th Regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel Jeffreys, thrown in advance. "The Brigade of Guards, under His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge and Major-General Bentinck, proceeded likewise to the front, and took up most important ground to the extreme right on the alignement of the 2nd Division, but separated from it by a deep and precipitous ravine, and posting its guns with those of the 2nd Division. "The 4th Division, under Lieutenant-General Sir George Cathcart, having been brought from their encampment, advanced to the front and right of the attack; the 1st Brigade, under Brigadier-General Goldie, proceeded to the left of the Inkermann Road; the 2nd Brigade, under Brigadier-General Torrens, to the right of it, and on the ridge overhanging the valley of the Tschernaya. "The 3rd Division, under Lieutenant-General Sir Richard England, occupied in part the ground. vacated by the 4th Division, and supported the Light Division by two regiments under Brigadier-General Sir John Campbell, while Brigadier-General Eyre held the command of the troops in the trenches. "The morning was extremely dark, with a drizzling rain, rendering it almost impossible to discover anything beyond the flash and smoke of artillery and heavy musquetry fire. 'It, however, soon became evident that the enemy, under cover of a vast cloud of skirmishers, supported by dense columns of infantry, had advanced numerous batteries of large calibre to the high ground to the left and front of the 2nd Division, while powerful columns of infantry attacked with great vigour the Brigade of Guards. "Additional batteries of heavy artillery were also placed by the enemy on the slopes to our left; the guns in the field amounting in the whole to 90 pieces, independently however of the ship guns and those in the works of Sevastopol. "Protected by a tremendous fire of shot, shell, and grape, the Russian columns advanced in great force, requiring every effort of gallantry on the part of our troops to resist them. "At this time two battalions of French infantry, which had on the first notice been sent by General Bosquet, joined our right, and very materially contributed to the successful resistance to the attack, cheering with our men, and charging the enemy down the hill with great loss. "About the same time a determined assault was made on our extreme left, and for a moment the enemy possessed themselves of four of our guns, three of which were retaken by the 88th, while the fourth was speedily recaptured by the 77th Regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel Egerton. "In the opposite direction the Brigade of Guards, under His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, was engaged in a severe conflict. "The enemy, under the cover of thick brushwood, advanced in two heavy bodies, and assaulted with great determination a small redoubt which had been constructed for two guns but was not armed. The combat was most arduous, and the Brigade, after displaying the utmost steadiness and gallantry was obliged to retire before very superior numbers, until supported by a wing of the 20th Regiment of the 4th Division, when they again advanced and retook the redoubt. |