Inspired by an eyewitness account of an incident in the Napoleonic wars. A French commander sought to harass a group of British soldiers and discourage them from attacking his flank, so he dispatched several small batteries to commence nighttime bombardment. But he made two costly mistakes: 1) He couldn't spare but a handful of soldiers and no cavalry to cover the batteries; and 2) He hadn't considered how the English would spend their sleepless night. A bit before dawn a small group of British veterans executed a plan motivated by lack of sleep, quietly moving up on the most remote of the batteries. They hoped to punish the French by capturing the cannon and maybe even using it on the other batteries. But alas, after a short wicked fight, a few of the French crew and soldiers managed to escape. The British barely had time to render basic medical assistance to the overwhelmed crew, spike the cannon and hastily retreat before the inevitable force of French cavalry arrived. Chagrined by the experience, the French commander pulled in his batteries to better protect them. He never repeated this particular costly mistake. And so it could be truthfully said that both groups succeeded and both failed - both won and both lost. Not a bit of ground exchanged hands despite the bloodshed. And so it is with war, a lot of noise and pain, but never really making sense at all... - - - - - - - - - - - - Yes, a long time since I've posted. Real life (medical issues, bouts of depression etc. etc. etc.) has been constantly getting in the way of more pleasurable activity. But I recently discovered a LOT of unfinished / unposted work (such as this image) and it motivated me to dabble at it, tidy the pieces up, and post again as a sort of therapy. Thanks for looking!