the river bank to the northward till he reached the outside of the town, when, steady firing having commenced inside, he turned, and, coming across the town towards our quarters, took the Mohammedans in the rear. When the attack commenced, every man, white or black, fought where he stood. It was so sudden that there was no time for any plan of action, and it was not for a couple of hours that we had any idea of how the tide of battle was turning.

Then, with one accord, the masses of the enemy seemed to break up. They continued to fight only in isolated knots in the squares, or defended individual houses in different parts of the town. After another hour or two of patrolling the streets, and occasionally engaging in small fights, the town was cleared. Our loss was very heavy, but might have been much greater, and many of