THE MAIN FIGHT. 199 of the English position;* but to cut all these chap. bodies into halves, and engage the six fractions ' in separate tasks, was to 'waste more or less by ^rf Period. dispersion the power of three prime battalions. On a part of the crest facing eastwards, the Failure of Duke of Cambridge had an interview with Sir api.iiciuon George Cathcart, of which, by-and-by, we shall have to say more ; but, for the present, it must suffice to know that the Duke vainly urged Sir George to advance by his left in support to the Guards on the Kitspur with a body of nearly 400 men which he then had in hand, and was met by a steadfast refusal. Cathcart thus withholding his aid, by what An-ivaiof ,11 -1 ,1 TO two French other means could the perilous gap be closed? battalions. Two battalions of Bourbaki's brigade had by this time come up ; and whilst one of them — the 6th of line — stood posted in rear of Hill Bend, the other — the 7th Leger — was also on the reverse slope of the ridge, but on a part further west, and, indeed, almost close to the Post-road. This 7th L^ger was 900 strong,-f- and consequently much greater in numbers than any body of men which the English had hitherto brought into action at the same time and place. To the
- I find Sir George Brown, for instance, disclosing this re-
liance ou the 20th wlien he first became aware that the attack was serious. The Duke of Wellington once publicly called the 20th the most distinguished regiment in the service, and pro- ceeded to justify praise which, at first, of course, seemed in- vidious, by saying that it had won aU its great store of fame mth une battalion. It now has two. t908.
