In these protracted conflicts many of the finest soldiers in the British army met their fate, and fell in the firm and vigorous discharge of their duty. Of these, numbers might have been preserved had they chosen to have fallen back; but it was with them a point of honour to gain the breach or die on the spot. So wonderful is the resolution of a noble heart; and so much the more is it to be regretted that power, so morally invincible, should be employed in the sad purpose of human destruction. For my own part, my mind had been unhesitatingly made up from the first shot that was fired, that so long as life and consciousness continued I would fulfil my commission to the best of my ability. As the battle grew hot I caught the contagion that burned all around, and in this desperate and murderous mood advanced to the breach of Trinidad. My pride perhaps wanted to be repressed; and while in the act of marching, I was wounded in the left thigh by a musket-shot, which remains unextracted to this day, and will probably go with me to the grave. At first, not disposed to heed the casualty, I affected to despise such a trifle, and continued to fight on. Nature, however, refused 178her support; and after firing a few times, I felt myself getting weak and feverish. What rendered my situation worse was, that at that precise moment the report of an unexpected sally of the French was circulated. Had that been realised, my doom would have been sealed, as I could neither resist nor retreat. In this condition, faint with loss of blood, I contrived to descend into the ditch with the help of my musket. Meanwhile the depth of water by some added inundation had been increased, and no ladder was to be discovered for my ascent on the opposite side. Unwilling to die there, I made another effort, and at length observed a ladder standing in front of the ditch. Unable to get up with my musket, I reluctantly left that behind, and scrambled up with extreme difficulty. Numerous shots were fired at me while ascending, and I perceived bullets whistling through the rounds of the ladder, but not one of them struck me. But I was sadly grieved at the loss of my musket; it had been a faithful friend to me; I seldom knew it to fail in the hour of need; the number on it was seventy-seven. Having succeeded in gaining the summit, I found, to my surprise, a young man belonging to the gallant Napier’s company, who kindly offered his arm, and supported me to the field-hospital. May the Almighty think upon and reward this timely benefactor! He was amongst the bravest where all were brave, and, though unhurt, had stood in the fore-front and pinnacle at the severest point of strife. With so large an influx of patients, it will be supposed that the hospital attentions were not very prompt. I was placed on the ground, with many others in a worse condition than myself, to await my turn for surgical assistance. After some hours I found that