Placing himself at the head of the brigade, without waiting for any supports, he commanded the trumpeter to sound the "advance," which we did, in two lines, as we were formed before the order was given. We galloped on for more than half-a-mile before we came within range of the enemy's guns, which we now found raked the valley by an oblique fire from guns posted on the hills, as well as from those planted across the valley. Onwards we dashed at an increased pace, men and horses tumbling dead at every bound, thus sadly impeding our progress. At length, however, we reached the guns, and could see the whites of our enemy's eyes through the smoke. They met us with a horrible yell, and we answered with a ringing cheer. I felt still unhurt, although bespattered with blood. A forest of bayonets was behind the guns; but neither looking on my right nor left, I pressed my legs to my gallant horse (a powerful, three-parts bred chestnut); he rose beautifully, cleared the field-piece in front of him, and dropped with a crash that I shall never forget, on the other side. Simultaneous with my horse's leap, three hundred more of my comrades had jumped their horses over the guns, and dropped among the Russian infantry. Others had managed to get through the narrow spaces between each gun; and now we were fighting, with little more than five hundred men, a whole army, hemmed in on every side by artillery, infantry, and cavalry. There was little or no smoke; and, beyond an occasional shot from an officer's revolver, firing had ceased; but the carnage was extraordinary. Still we rode on, cleaving our way through solid blocks of human flesh: the sabre cuts one and two, with the corresponding points, were most used. Every cut told a horrible tale, and every point extinguished a life. The shrieking infantry, unable to fly, thrust their bayonets up to the musket muzzles into our horses' breasts, and down the noble animals fell, in quivering heaps; the rider, clearing his stirrups as he fell, would sometimes drop on his legs, and fight like a demon until cut to pieces.