Again the faces of the men were turned towards Lucknow, and their former enthusiasm revived. On the 4th of August the army was on the march, and the small body of volunteer cavalry was sent forward to reconnoitre. They dashed through Oude without interruption; but on reaching the scene of Havelock’s second victory, they found the enemy had taken possession of a series of hamlets between the town and the lake, with the evident intention of blocking up our line of communication. On the same evening they galloped back to Oude, and informed Havelock that the rebels were waiting his approach. After a night’s bivouac, the army resumed their march, and soon joined issue with the enemy on the scene of their former victory. The result was not long doubtful: shelled from the town by our guns, the rebels were chased through the hamlets by the Highlanders and Fusiliers, and pursued to an open plain beyond. The day was ours, but the victory led to nothing; the enemy again awaited our advance, and Havelock was obliged to retire to his former quarters. The letters which the gallant old man wrote at this juncture to his family and friends, prove that this was one of the most trying periods of his life. His conduct was liable to misconstruction even among his own men; but he was sustained by a sense of duty, and the inward consciousness of right. If he had ever entertained any doubts about the necessity of falling back upon Cawnpore, they were removed by the position of things in that town. On his arrival, Nana Sahib, the butcher of Bithoor, had collected a body of troops, and was threatening our army on every side; his cavalry swept through the suburbs, and even attempted to force their way through the town. Our communications with Allahabad were threatened, and an immediate blow must be struck. While Havelock was preparing to recross the Ganges, on the morning of the 11th of August, a succession of spies brought him information that four thousand rebels had advanced from Nawabgunge to Busherut, the scene of his former victory, with the evident intention of hanging on his rear, and attacking his column during the passage. To have crossed the river under such circumstances would have been fraught with difficulty, if not with danger, and the rebels would have boasted that they had driven the British forces from the province of Oude by their superior valour. Havelock, knowing that an apparent success on the part of the enemy would destroy the prestige of his former victories, and spread the flame of rebellion through the province, turned round like a lion at bay, and advanced for the third time to encounter the rebel army. On the afternoon of the 11th, his column was in motion, and his advanced guard drove the enemy from the town of Oude. On reaching Busherut, he found their army spread out to a great distance to the right and left, and strongly entrenched in the centre. Their numbers have been estimated at