But, as if the cowardice of their countrymen had stung them into a determination to show, at all hazards, that they, at least, were made of very different stuff, they not only resisted the attack of the enemy, but carried the bayonet into his ranks.

The combatants rushed and reeled together with locked weapons.

But this struggle could not last.

The conflict was prolonged only until the British cavalry could return from pursuing the fugitives.

Their sabres gave the finishing stroke to the affair.