the french-whom laurence realized , when the smoke cleared well enough to see their uniforms , were not frenchmen but italians , recruited from another of napoleon 's conquests-would surely have retreated in the face of their disadvantages , if any opportunity offered them ; but as they were behind the only stone walls in their vicinity , they could get no better shelter than where they were , and by removing themselves from it would have exposed themselves both to the relentless artillery and to the snatching talons of the dragons above .