Even Spanish bravery recoiled at so desperate an undertaking, but unscrupulous ferocity supplied an expedient where courage was at fault.

There were few fighting men present among the population of Wieck, but there were many females.

Each soldier was commanded to seize a woman, and, placing her before his own body, to advance across the bridge.

The column, thus bucklered, to the shame of Spanish chivalry, by female bosoms, moved in good order toward the battery.

The soldiers leveled their muskets with steady aim over the shoulders or under the arms of the women whom they thus held before them.