The skirmishing at the farms of La Haye and Papelotte, which were retaken, and in the hamlet of Smohain, went on with unabated fury: the attacks upon La Haye-Sainte and Hougoumont were continued. The artillery on both sides was now pealing forth its thunders: the earth trembled with the repeated concussions. Ney and his Imperial master, no doubt, expected to bear down all before them by the aid of the thirty-seven additional squadrons they were about to bring forward; whilst we could only command in addition two regiments, the 13th light dragoons and the 15th hussars, under Grant, who, on discovering that the _ruse_ of the enemy was to draw off a part of our cavalry from the right of our main front line, had now returned and driven some of the enemy’s cavalry down the slope. He was however obliged to retire immediately, as their cavalry was collected in great force in the valley, as also in the hollows near La Haye-Sainte. Being there exposed to the fire of our batteries, the French horsemen would at times call out aloud, “_En avant, en avant!_ (Forward, forward!) here we are knocked to pieces;” upon which their chiefs would again advance and assail our position. About this period our attention was drawn to the firing of a battery in our rear; we all, to a man, looked round, as if by word of command: but found it to be our own guns, which, from the second ridge across the Nivelles road, were firing upon some lancers that were attacking our Brunswick squares upon the rear face of our right wing. They were twice driven off by Bolton’s battery. The allied position was again cleared of the enemy, and skirmishers were thrown forward along the valley; some were sent to cover the front from the Hougoumont orchard as far as La Haye-Sainte. At this point the attack had been carried on with great vigour: colonel Baring had made another application for rifle ammunition, which, from some cause or other, was not supplied. Ney’s cavalry attacks were now renewed, his force being nearly doubled by the addition of a part of general Guyot’s heavy cavalry of the guard, and Kellermann’s cuirassiers.