They were striking about them with their swords and with their left fists, punching every head they could reach.

They cursed like highwaymen.
A mounted officer displayed the furious anger of a spoiled child.

He raged with his head, his arms, and his legs.
Another, the commander of the brigade, was galloping about bawling.
His hat was gone and his clothes were awry.

He resembled a man who has come from bed to go to a fire.

The hoofs of his horse often threatened the heads of the running men, but they scampered with singular fortune.
In this rush they were apparently all deaf and blind.