Then the real nature of the ground was at once disclosed.
The troops sunk to the knee, and in many cases to the waist, in the treacherous mud.

Soldiers less valiant and less disciplined would have shrunk, appalled at the obstacle; but the Prussians struggled on, dragging themselves forward with the greatest difficulty through mud, through slush, through a rain of grape from upwards of two hundred cannon, and through a storm of musketry fire from the infantry.

Regiment after regiment, as it reached the edge of the dismal swamp, plunged in unhesitatingly, crawling and struggling onward.
Never in the annals of warfare was there a more terrible fight.

For three hours it continued, without a moment's interval.

Thousands of the assailants had fallen, and their bodies had been trodden deep into the swamp, as their comrades pressed after them.