Out of the Forest

PxHere

The armorer and the men given to him came to the edge of the wood, to their right, quite a ways off, they could see cannon firing.

"Ours?" one of the men asked.

"Yes, those are our boys. Question is, where are those fellows meant to flank us?"

"Guns, there are men out there in the long grass, hunkered down. D'ya see 'em?"

"Where away, boyo?"

The private pointed, trying not to be too obvious about it. Though they were back in the trees, anyone out in the field looking in the right direction might notice the movement of a man's arm.

"Right lad, I see 'em. Looks like the enemy flankers are stuck in the open. Probably afraid to attract attention from our batteries."

"What if we open fire on 'em, Guns?"

"There's only six of us lad, what if those bastards figure that out and rush us?"

"Then our artillery might see them and ..."

"Yeah, they 'might' see 'em." One of the other soldiers chimed in.

"We'll sit tight for now. They're not a threat at the moment."

"We can't stay here forever, Cap'n." The light infantry sergeant sounded concerned, with good reason.

The company commander said nothing. When the artillery had started firing, not at them but at their supports, he had ordered his company to ground. The grass was very long here, which provided good concealment from the artillery, but no protection.

Part of him wanted to order his troops into the nearby tree line, but that was a good 200 paces away. Moving would attract undue attention, especially as it seemed the enemy artillery were unopposed. He'd noticed no counter-battery fire nor any attempt by his own army to silence those guns. What the hell was going on back there?

"We can stay here as long as no one notices us, Sergeant. We move, I don't like the odds."

The sergeant was silent, he didn't like being pinned down, but he didn't like being under cannon fire either. For now he'd bear it.

The armorer turned as he heard men moving up behind him, it was the lieutenant and the rest of the company.

"Good to see you, Sir. What's the word?"

"The rest of the division is up, but the army commander has ordered us to hold in place. He doesn't want to bring on a general engagement at this time."

Behind the lieutenant, the armorer saw the sergeant shrug, as if to say, I don't like it either.

"Well Sir, what about those fellows out there?"

"Colonel says drive 'em off."

Turning to look at the company, he could see that the men had all taken up firing positions near the edge of the wood.

"Sergeant."

"Prepare to fire!" The sergeant bellowed in order for all of the men to hear him. "FIRE!"

"Damn it, Sir, we're spotted ..." The rest of the armorer's comment was lost in the blast of musket fire.

The men in the field weren't in any immediate danger, most of them remained unseen, the enemy in the woods were firing at where they thought the enemy was. But one or two balls managed to find a body.

A second volley managed to hit no one, but the threat was there, and the men in the field felt their luck running out.

"Let's get outta here fellas!" One man sprang to his feet and began to run, a ragged volley threw him down into the tall grass, but it had been enough. What was left of the light company began to run.

"Let's get at 'em boys!" One of the men in the woods shouted as he jumped to his feet. In the next instant he was on his butt rubbing his jaw.

"None of that shite, stand and keep firing!"

The sergeant had been stunned to see the lieutenant punch the soldier in the mouth when the  fellow had jumped up and had tried to lead a charge. If the young'un stayed alive, he'd make a great commander some day.

The sergeant got up and began pacing the line, controlling the men's volleys. "Damn that eagerness, Hartschank, load and fire, load and fire. Obey your training boy!"

Eventually the survivors of the enemy light company, much reduced, were out of range.

"Cease fire!" the lieutenant commanded.

As the sergeant turned, he wondered if anyone had been hit, the enemy, though panicked, still had a few men who had calmly halted and returned fire during the retreat. He looked around, things looked good, everyone seemed ...

Damn.

Huddled next to a tree was the armorer, his hands trying to hold his guts in. He was alive but something in his eyes told the sergeant that the man knew his time on this earth was over.

He knelt down next to the armorer, "Guns, we'll get a surgeon up here ... Hang on ..."

Reaching one bloody hand out, the armorer grabbed the sergeant's sleeve. "Nah, Sarge, I'm a goner, damned ball tore off a sliver from yon tree and drove it into my belly. Gutted like a fish I am. I ..."

"Don't talk, Guns, let me ..."

"In my vest pocket is my flask, some damn fine whiskey in it. Take it and use some of it to clean the lieutenant's wound, it's a bit worse than the boy would admit to. Then you two can drink to my memory, it's been a fine time, Sarge, a fine time."

The armorer stopped talking for a moment, the sergeant thought the man had slipped away, but no.

"Sarge?"

"Yeah, Guns."

"Bury me right here, would ya? 'Tis a lovely spot. A fellow could do worse ..."

"Guns?"

The man was gone.

"Nice job, Colonel."

The colonel commanding the shattered lead brigade looked up at his division commander. The general looked very regal in the light of a spring day.

"Sir? My brigade is ruined, my light company has 60% casualties and my line brigades have been badly handled by yon artillery. How is that a 'nice job'? Sir."

"There's an entire corps over there, your boys made them deploy and gave us time to come up. They may be pushing down other roads into our country, but not this one."

"So it's a full on invasion, Sir?"

"They declared war late last night, so yes, it's a full on invasion."

The colonel looked across the field towards where his brigade had met the enemy. "Lot of my boys are still out there, Sir."

The general looked sternly at the colonel, "Don't dwell on it, Colonel. It will drive you mad." Then he spurred his horse and rode off, trailed by his staff.

"Let's get you something to eat, Colonel."

He turned on his heel, and there was his sergeant major, his uniform torn and filthy, his cap missing, but still alive.

"You're still alive Sarn't Major ..."

"Aye Sir, don't sound so surprised, ye'll not be rid of me that easy."