A History of the Coldstream Guards, Robert Ross-of-Bladensburg.

261. Colonel Wilson, describing the excellent tone that prevailed among our men at this time, notes the behaviour of the wounded on the 26th, as they limped or were carried on stretchers past the Brigade. He says it was “wonderful, the very reverse of what might have been looked for. Far from drooping in spirits, most of them were in buoyant spirits. Sometimes a fine youth with a badly fractured arm, hurraed lustily as he passed; another, whose thigh a round shot had smashed, would—faint as he was—raise himself up a little on his litter, and brandish his rifle triumphantly. I observed that nearly every man, whether slightly or sorely hurt, still clutched his musket.... A bullet through the heart alone conquers such soldiers” (Our Veterans, etc. , p. 266).