A weapon for moments of bravery
PATTERN BRITISH INFANTRY
OFFICER’S SWORD
Even in the age of fi rearms, the infantry sword was a necessity in battle. It was especially useful
in the thick of fi ghting or during man-to-man combat. This British sword was criticized, however,
for having a relatively weak blade.IMPRESSIVE FIREPOWER
Baring’s 400 men began the fi ght with
the standard issue of 60 rounds each.
They put up so much initial resistance,
however, that Napoleon believed he was
dealing with an entire division.GEORGE GRAEME (3 PM)
Only four rounds are left for
3,000 enemy soldiers...
“I’m thirsty!” For the past 20 minutes
it’s all the young lieutenant has heard
from the Lüneburg soldier whom Major
Baring has sent to reinforce the pigsty.
Graeme ignores him. He’s well aware
that the combination of heat, smoke,
and excitement can make soldiers
delirious with thirst—so much so that
they sometimes leave cover to seek
water. But Graeme has other cares. He
is down to four rounds of ammunition,
and there are some 3,000 French Army
helmets within his line of sight. There
has been no resupply of ammunition.
Like the French soldiers, hundreds of
whom are lying dead outside the walls,
most of the allied soldiers are equipped
with muskets, and the rounds are not
compatible with Baker rifl es. Graeme
has been stockpiling rocks to throw at
the enemy when his bullets run out.
The artillery fi re has been hitting closer
too. But things could be worse, thinks
Graeme as he looks through a cloud
of smoke at the French offi cer and his
horse lying where Lindau killed them.
The Legionnaires’ sharpshooters have
made the Grande Armée pay a heavy
price for their assault.GEORG BARING (5 PM)
How do you defend a burning house?
By now around half of Baring’s men
are dead or wounde d. A mmunition is
running out, and even the rocks are
in short supply. Lindau later recalls:
“Before I could shoot again, I had to
look through the pockets of my fallen
comrades for ammunition.” Baring is
tallying the cartridges and fi nds that
his men have just three or four each.
Now the French set fi re to the barn;
the blaze keeps them at bay beforeit starts to die down. Lindau and his
comrades go back to their loopholes,
where a French soldier grabs Lindau’s
rifl e through the wall. A comrade who
still has ammunition shoots and kills
the Frenchman. Now another one tries
and gets stabbed in the face. Lindau
recovers a rifl e from a fallen comrade,
but he is soon out of bullets again.GEORG BARING (6 PM)
When only 42 of 400 men are left...
A rumor circulates among Baring’s
men that Prussian reinforcements are
coming, and their spirits start to rise.
However even if this rumor proves to
be true, Baring is unsure whether they
will arrive with suffi cient force and inideasanddiscoveries.com 79 May 2020