The
troops who were to make the assault were divided into two columns
which, after mounting the breach, were to turn right and left,
fighting their way along the ramparts until they met at the other end.
A powerful reserve, under Colonel Wellesley, was to support them after
they had entered.
When the signal was given, the troops leapt from the trenches and,
covered by the fire of the artillery, which at the same moment opened
on the ramparts, dashed across the river, scaled the breach, and, in
six minutes from the firing of the signal gun, planted the British
flag on its crest.
Then the heads of the two columns at once started to fight their way
along the ramparts. At first the resistance was slight. Surprised and
panic stricken, the defenders of the strong works at this point
offered but a feeble resistance. Some fled along the walls. Some ran
down into the fort. Many threw themselves over the wall into the rocky
bed of the river. The right column, in less than an hour, had won its
way along the rampart to the eastern face of the fort; but the left
column met with a desperate resistance, for as each point was carried,
the enemy, constantly reinforced, made a fresh stand. Most of the
officers who led the column were shot down, and so heavy was the fire
that, several times, the advance was brought to a standstill.
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