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Defoe, Daniel, 1661-1731

"Memoirs of a Cavalier A Military Journal of the Wars in Germany, and the Wars in England. From the Year 1632 to the Year 1648."


The enemy made frequent and desperate sallies, in one of which I had
my share. I was posted upon a parade, or place of arms, with part of
my regiment, and part of Colonel Goring's regiment of horse, in order
to support a body of foot, who were ordered to storm the point of a
breastwork which the enemy had raised to defend one of the avenues to
the town. The foot were beat off with loss, as they always were; and
Massey, the governor, not content to have beaten them from his works,
sallies out with near 400 men, and falling in upon the foot as they
were rallying under the cover of our horse, we put ourselves in the
best posture we could to receive them. As Massey did not expect, I
suppose, to engage with any horse, he had no pikes with him, which
encouraged us to treat him the more rudely; but as to desperate men
danger is no danger, when he found he must clear his hands of us,
before he could despatch the foot, he faces up to us, fires but one
volley of his small shot, and fell to battering us with the stocks of
their muskets in such a manner that one would have thought they had
been madmen.
We at first despised this way of clubbing us, and charging through
them, laid a great many of them upon the ground, and in repeating our
charge, trampled more of them under our horses' feet; and wheeling
thus continually, beat them off from our foot, who were just upon the
point of disbanding.


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