Yet, considering all the circumstances,
I am sure that he did the right thing. He knew that he was too weak
to meet the enemy in the usual way, pitting man against man; also that
if he failed to fight, his temporary prestige would vanish like smoke
and the rebellion collapse. Having decided to hazard all, and knowing
that in a stand-up fight he would infallibly be beaten, his only plan
was to show a bold front, mass his feeble followers together in columns,
and hurl them upon the enemy, hoping by this means to introduce a panic
amongst his opponents and so snatch the victory.
A discharge of carbines with which we were received did us no damage. I,
at any rate, saw no saddles emptied near me, and in a few moments
we were dashing through the advancing lines. A shout of triumph went
up from our men, for our cowardly foes were flying before us in all
directions. On we rode in triumph till we reached the bottom of the
hill, then we reined up, for before us was the stream of San Paulo,
and the few scattered men who had crossed it and were scuttling away
like hunted ostriches scarcely seemed worth chasing. Suddenly with a
great shout a large body of Colorados came thundering down the hill
on our rear and flank, and dismay seized upon us. The feeble efforts
made by some of our officers to bring us round to face them proved
unavailing. I am utterly unable to give any clear account of what
followed immediately after that, for we were all, friends and foes,
mixed up for some minutes in the wildest confusion, and how I ever got
out of it all without a scratch is a mystery to me.
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