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Cornell University Library 
 DC 242.M55 
 
 V.1 
 
 Journal of the Waterloo campaign, kept t 
 
 3 1924 024 319 919 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924024319919 
 
JOIIENAL 
 
 WATEELOO CAMPAIGN 
 
J U KN AL 
 
 OF THE 
 
 WATEELOO CAMPAIGN 
 
 KEPT THBOUGHOUT THE CAMPAIGN OF 1815 
 
 BY THE LATE 
 
 GEXEEAL CAVALIE MEECER 
 
 COMMANDING THE 9TH BRIGADE ROYAL ARTILLERY 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS 
 
 EDINBURGH AND LONDON 
 MDCCCLXX 
 

 2y> 
 
P E E F A C E 
 
 This work — the ' Journal of the Campaign of 
 1815 ' — was written by my father in its pre- 
 sent form about forty years ago, from rough notes 
 jotted down every evening after the scenes and 
 events of the day were over. It has no pre- 
 tension to be an account of the military opera- 
 tions of the war, but merely a diary of the 
 writer's own impressions — what he saw and felt 
 whUe with the army, from the first landing in 
 Belgium to the final embarkation for England. 
 Of the great battle, no other description than 
 that of the part taken in it by his own troop 
 of Horse Artillery, or those corps in his imme- 
 diate vicinity, is given ; but from its very nature 
 as a diary, the tedium of out - quarters, the 
 fatigues of the march, and the hardships of the 
 bivouac, are made present, as it were, to the 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 reader. My father having been a very good 
 amateur artist, was much struck, of course, by 
 new and picturesque scenes, consequently has 
 described them con amove, and in considerable 
 detail. The author himself belonged to a mili- 
 tary race ; all his family were either in the army 
 or navy. He was- the second son of General 
 Mercer of the Royal Engineers, who, after serving 
 on Sir H. Clinton's staff during the American 
 War of Independence, was more than twenty 
 years commanding engineer in the West of Eng- 
 land, where his honourable character procured 
 him many friends. My father (also a general 
 officer at the time of his death) was born in 
 1783, and passing as usual through the Military 
 Academy at Woolwich, obtained a commission in 
 the Eoyal Artillery at sixteen, and was sent to 
 Ireland at the time of the Eebellion. In 1808 
 he went to the river Plate to join Whitelock's 
 unfortunate expedition, and covered the retreat 
 from Buenos Ayres. This proved a most un- 
 happy affair for him ; for having been in South 
 America, he was prevented from partaking in 
 the glorious campaigns of the Peninsula, and only 
 saw foreign service again in the campaign of 
 
, PREFACE. VU 
 
 Waterloo. After the peace, he was placed upon 
 half-pay. In 1824 he was ordered to Canada, 
 having ,the brevet rank of major (I should have 
 noticed that at Waterloo he only held the rank 
 of second captain, although commanding a troop 
 — Sir Alex. Dickson, whose troop it was, being 
 otherwise employed). In 1837, being then a 
 lieutenant-colonel, he was again sent to North 
 America, and commanded the artillery in Nova 
 Scotia at the time when the Maine boundary- 
 line threatened to terminate in a war between 
 this country and the United States. He subse- 
 quently commanded the garrison at Dover, after 
 which he retired from active service, although, 
 being colonel -commandant of the 9th Brigade 
 of Eoyal Artillery, he was never placed on the 
 retired list. From that time to the period of his 
 death, at the advanced age of eighty-five^ he con- 
 tinued to reside at Cowley Cottage, near Exeter. 
 Another addition to the numerous books which 
 have been published about Waterloo will hardly 
 seem out of place at a time when the subject has 
 been revived both here and in France. It would 
 seem that men's interest in this great " World 
 Battle " is as strong now as fifty years ago ; and 
 
Vm PEEFACE. 
 
 although this little contribution -svlII not eluci- 
 date any of the questions that are agitated, still 
 (as far as memory serves) it is the first account 
 of the campaign given to the world by an artil- 
 lery officer, and may add another stone to the 
 cairn raised to the glory of the British army and 
 its immortal chief. At any rate, the surviving 
 veterans of this stirring epoch Avill rejoice to go 
 again over the scenes of their younger days ; 
 while the lovers of peace will congratulate them- 
 selves on the cessation of such strife between two 
 noble nations, whose last (and may it continue 
 to be the last) hostUe rencontre took place upon 
 the plain of Waterloo. 
 
 CAVALIE A. MEECEE. 
 
 Tripoli, Stria. 
 
CONTENTS OF THE FIEST VOiUME. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preparations for Departure— Reports of Fugitives — Embarkation 
 and Departure — The Voyage — Oflf the Coast — First View of 
 Ostend — Aspect of the Coast — Ostend Harbour — Its Dangers 
 — Unceremonious Landing of Dragoon Horses, . . 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Confusion at Landing — Scene on Shore — Difficulties — Confusion 
 on the Beach — A Catastrophe — The Town by Night — Diffi- 
 culties of the March — Night Quarters — A Pleasant Change — 
 Retiun to Ostend — Waiting to Start— Costumes of the Na- 
 tives — Scenes in the Town — A Wreck — Fearful Scene — 
 Impressions of Ostend, . . . . .14 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Change of Scenery— Arrival at Ghistel — Our Quarters there — 
 Again on the March — Arrival at Bruges — Uur Hotel — First 
 Impressions of Bruges — Present and Past — The Stadthouse 
 and Cathedral — Mass in the Cathedral — The Worshippers — 
 The Ramparts — Dinner, . . . . .32 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Eccloo— Arrival at Ghent— Oiu- Quarters there — My Host— My 
 Quarters — Louis XVIII. and his Court — French Officers — 
 Marshal Marmont — French Deserters — Ghent — Street Archi- 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 tecture— The Place D'Armes— Flemish Postilions— View 
 from the Citadel— The Corn-Market— The Hotel de Ville— 
 Meat and Vegetable Markets— General Order and Cleanli- 
 ness—A Suppressed Monastery— The Cathedral— A Royal 
 Mass— Domestic Architecture— An Interior— Comfortable 
 Quarters— Numbers of Priests— t^ostumes-Character of the 
 People— Immorality— German and English Cavalry, . 46 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Again on the March— The Pays de Waes— Lokern— A Village 
 Cure — Dendermonde— My Quarters at St Gille — View from 
 my Windows — Kindness of the Natives — A Flemish Farm- 
 house — Fertility of the Land — At Dinner — Our Host — At- 
 tachment to Napoleon — Peace and War — Flemish Teams — 
 Cattle and Sheep — Dendermonde, . . . 78 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Excursion to Alost — Aspect of the Place — We Lose bur Way — 
 Again on the Move — Parting with my Hostess — A Last 
 Breakfast — On the March — Change of Scenery — Views 
 from the Hills — Beauty of the Country — Arrival at 
 Strytem — The Chateau — Our Quarters there — Comfortless 
 Prospect — Family Portraits — Choosing our Quarters — A 
 Private Chapel — Increasing Comfort — Our Mess - Room — 
 Karl — His History — His Acquirements — An Interruption — 
 The Maire and his Following— A Garde-Champfitre — A Scene 
 — M. L'Adjoint's Speech — Our Answer to it — I am peremp- 
 tory—The Deputation in a Fright — The Mayor in Safe 
 Keex)ing— Petit Jean — A Sleepless Night, . . . 100 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Occupations at Strytem — Our Fare— The Country round Stry- 
 tem— Beauty of the Scenery — Rich Cultivation— The Flemish 
 
 Farmers — Farming Establishments — Execrable Roads 
 
 Drunkenness— Frog-Concerts— Draining the Moat— Result 
 of the Experiment— The Due de Berri— His Brutality— A 
 Dog-Chase— Disposition of the Troops — Visitors from Eng- 
 land—The Due de Berri again — Artillery at Waterloo— Our 
 Equipment — Our Organisation, . . . .138 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 My Difficulties— Plundering — The Duke and the Rocket Troop — 
 Ride to Ninove — Niuove — The great Monastery — ^A ruined 
 Convent — Liederkerke — Aspect of the Country — A Char- 
 acter — The Lord of Gaesbeke — The Chateavi de Gaesbeke — 
 My Reception — The Marquis D'Acornati — Interior of the 
 Chateau : its desolate Aspect — The Kitchen — The Grounds : 
 their Beauty — Variety of Views — History of the Chateau — 
 Career of its Owner — His Singularities — His Mode of Life 
 — Visits to the Grounds, . . . . .163 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 1 
 
 Visit to Hal — Return to Strytem — Start for Brussels — First View 
 of Brussels — Its Internal Aspect — The Park — The Ram- 
 parts—The H6tel de Ville— The Cathedral— The Bruxel- 
 laises — The AUee-Vert — Prince D'Aremberg — A Mistake — 
 Anticipations of the Campaign, . . . .194 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Cavalry Review — The Due de Berri again — His Unceremonious 
 Reception — The Duke and Blucher — Dinner after the Re- 
 view — Strytem again — New Species of Game — Change of 
 Quarters — A Death— Visit from our Host— Oar Landlord 
 — A Spy — Approaching Departure, . . .212 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Order to Advance— Preparations — Farewell to Strytem — On the 
 March — News from Brussels — Halt at Enghien —Doubts as 
 to my Route— Uncertainties — Braine le Comte— Still with- 
 out Orders — Beauty of the Scenery — We are left alone- 
 Sounds of Distant Battle -Pressing on— Nivelle— Excite- 
 ment in the Town— Signs of Battle— Fugitives from the 
 Field— A Wounded Highlander— Belgian Gasconading, . 230 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 At Quatre Bras— Our Bivouac— Morning after the Battle— Our 
 Position— The Battle-Field— Position of the French— Skir- 
 mishing— An Alarm— The Retreat— Aspect of the Field— 
 
XU CONTENTS. 
 
 A Memento of Battle— Alone on the Field— Inactivity of the 
 Enemy— Their Advance— Orders and Counter-Orders— Na- 
 poleon— A 'Storm— Our Danger— Our Narrow Escape— Our 
 Retreat— Arrival at Genappe— The Enemy again— In Action 
 with them— The Rocket Brigade— An Eccentric Missile- 
 Panic among the Brunswickers- Take up Position— Rejoin 
 , the Army- Bivouac for the Night— Discomforts— Comfort- 
 less Night— Speculations as to the Morrow— A Godsend, 253 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Morning of Battle— Survey of the Field — Alarm of Battle- 
 Commencement of the Battle— Orders at last— Take up Posi- 
 tion — The Field of Battle — View from our Position— Our 
 own Position — We open Fire — Our first Casualty — An 
 Alarmed Doctor — Death of Captain Bolton — A Wounded 
 Horse — A Cavalry Charge — Our Situation — Advance of Ca- 
 valry — Dangerous Mistake — New Position — The Bruns- 
 wickers — Danger of Panic — Advance of Cavalry — Their 
 Retreat — Our first Death — Skirmishers — Attack Renewed — 
 Effect of our Fire — The Cavalry again Repulsed — A Narrow 
 Escape — A third Attack and Bepulse — The Duke — Heavy 
 Fire — Fearful Losses — Further Escapes — A Remonstrance — 
 Our Losses — Victory — Arrival of Prussians — The Field by 
 Moonlight — The Prussian Bivouac — Moonlight Thoughts, 291 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Preparing to Move — The Field by Morning— The Wounded — 
 The French Wounded — An Ingrate — A Grenadier k Cheval 
 — A Welcome Feast — Visitors from Brussels — Visit to Hou- 
 goumont — A Contrast — Garden of the Chateau — A Striking 
 Oration — A Noble Enemy — A Keepsake — A Recognition — 
 On the March — A Comfortable Bivouac — Resume our March 
 -—Block before Nivelles — Reception in the Town— Aspect of 
 the Town— Arrival of Prisoners— We get on at last — Belgic 
 Infantry— Our Bivouac— Rejoin the Army— The Greys and 
 Highlanders— Aspect of the Country — We Cross the Fron- 
 tier—Our first Night in France, .... 335 
 
JOUENAL 
 
 WATEELOO CAMPAIGN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The return of Napoleon from Elba, though a sur- 
 prise to many, was far from being so to those 
 who, well aware of his restless disposition, his 
 insatiable ambition, and the enthusiastic attach- 
 ment of the French soldiery to his person and 
 fortunes^ had scarcely expected that he would 
 have remained so long' as he actually did with- 
 out some new attempt at disturbing the general 
 peace. 
 
 The steps taken on this occasion by the diffe- 
 rent European Powers — their preparations for a 
 renewal of the bloody scenes so lately ended — are 
 
 VOL. I.^^ A 
 
2 PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE. 
 
 out of my province. They belong to the historian, 
 and not to the simple journalist, whose affair it 
 is to confine himself strictly to those transactions 
 in which he was himself a participator; or at 
 most to glance at those more general subjects, 
 merely to give connection to his narrative and 
 make it better understood. 
 
 At the time the news of this extraordinary 
 event arrived, the troop of horse-artillery which 
 I commanded was stationed at Colchester; and 
 the reductions necessary to put us on a peace- 
 establishment had already commenced, when the 
 order arrived for our being immediately equipped 
 again for foreign service. To do this effectually, an- 
 other troop, then in the same barracks, was broken 
 up, and we got the picked horses of both, thus 
 making it the finest troop in the service ; and 
 such diligence was used, that although our equip- 
 ment fell little short of a complete reorganisation, 
 Major Sir A. Fraser, commanding the horse-artil- 
 lery in Colchester, was enabled to report on the 
 third day that the troop was ready to march at 
 a moment's warning. 
 
 Meantime the town of Colchester (situated as 
 it is on the great road from Harwich to London) 
 presented a scene of bustle and anxiety seldom 
 equalled — couriers passing to and fro incessantly, 
 
REPOETS OF FUGITIVES. 3 
 
 and numerous travellers, foreign and English, 
 arriving day and night from the Continent, many 
 travelling in breathless haste, as if fearful, even 
 here, of Napoleon's emissaries. 
 
 The reports spread by these fugitives were 
 various and contradictory, as might be expected. 
 
 According to some, Louis XVIII. had been 
 arrested in Paris ; according to others, he' had 
 sought refuge in the Pays Bas ; and again, it 
 was asserted that his Majesty was at Ostend, 
 awaiting permission to pass the sea and return 
 to his old and secure quarters in England. 
 
 In the midst of aU this, on the 8th April, 
 the post brought our order to march forth- 
 with to Harwich, there to embark for Ostend — ■ 
 an order received with unfeigned joy by officers 
 and men, all eager to plunge into danger and 
 bloodshed, all hoping to obtain glory and dis- 
 tinction. 
 
 On the morning of the 9th, the troop paraded 
 at half-past seven o'clock with as much regularity 
 and as quietly as if only going to a field-day ; 
 not a man either absent or intoxicated, and every 
 part of the guns and appointments in the most 
 perfect order. At eight, the hour named in orders, 
 we marched off the parade. The weather was 
 fine, the scenery, as we skirted the beautiful 
 
4 EMBARKATION 
 
 banks of the Stour, charming, and the occasion 
 exhilarating. 
 
 Near Manningtree we halted a short time to 
 feed our horses, and then, pursuing our route, 
 arrived at Harwich about three o'clock in the 
 afternoon. Here we found the transports — 
 the Adventure, Philarea, and Salus, in which 
 last I embarked — ■ awaiting us ; but the tide 
 being unfavourable, although we immediately 
 commenced operations, we only succeeded in 
 embarking the horses of one division and those 
 of the officers ; the remainder were therefore put 
 up in the barracks for the night. As might be 
 expected, the little town of Harwich presented a 
 most animated spectacle. Its narrow streets of 
 modest houses, with brick trottoirs, were crowded 
 with soldiers — some, all over dust, just arrived ; 
 some, who had already been a day or two in the 
 place, comparatively at home, lounging about in 
 undress ; others, about to embark, hurrying alono- 
 to the beach with baggage and stores; sailors 
 marketing, or rolling about half-seas-over ; coun- 
 try-people bringing in vegetables and the like, 
 and towns-people idling at their windows, or in 
 groups at corners of the streets — in short, the 
 usual picture incident on such occasions. 
 
 The morning of the 10th was foggy, which 
 
AND DEPARTURE. 5 
 
 much, retarded us, since it was necessary to em- 
 bark the horses in flats to be taken off" to the 
 transports, not easily found in the fog. However, 
 by noon all were on board, and without any 
 serious accident, although a sailor was somewhat 
 hurt in endeavouring to recover a horse that had 
 fallen overboard. In the afternoon our guns, car- 
 riages, &c., were embarked ; but as the wind blew 
 right into the harbour, the agent would not at- 
 tempt to get out, and we adjourned to Mr Bull's 
 comfortable house (the Three Cups), there to pass 
 our last evening in England in the enjoyment of 
 a good dinner, and perhaps for the last time to 
 sleep in good beds. 
 
 About two P.M. on the 1 1th, a light breeze from 
 the N.W. induced our agent to get under way, 
 and we repaired on board our respective ships 
 with every prospect of a good and speedy pass- 
 age. In this, however, we were disappointed, for 
 the breeze dying away as the sun went down, we 
 anchored, by signal, at the harbour's mouth, just 
 as it got dark. 
 
 The evening was splendid. A clear sky studded 
 with myriads of stars overhead, and below a calm 
 unruffled sea, reflecting on its glassy surface the 
 lights of the distant town, the low murmuring 
 sounds from which, and the rippling of the water 
 
6 THE VOYAGE. 
 
 under the ships' bows, were the only interruptions 
 to the solemn stillness that prevailed after the 
 people had retired to their berths. In our more 
 immediate neighbourhood stretched out the long, 
 low, sandy tract, on the seaward extremity of 
 which the dark masses of Landguard fort could 
 just be distinguished. 
 
 With daybreak on the morning of the 12th 
 came a favourable wind, though light, and again 
 we took up our anchors and proceeded to sea. 
 For some distance, after clearing the harbour, our 
 com-se lay along the Suffolk coast, and so near in 
 that objects on shore were plainly discernible. To 
 us, who had long been stationed at Woodbridge, 
 only a few miles inland, this was highly interest- 
 ing. We knew every village, every copse, every 
 knoll — nay, almost every tree. There were the 
 houses in which we had so oft been hospitably 
 entertained ; there were the sheep-walks on which 
 we had so often manoeuvred ; and there in the 
 distance, as we passed the mouth of the Deben, 
 our glasses showed us the very barrack on the 
 hill, with its tiled roofs illumined by the noontide 
 sun. About Bawdsey Ave left the coast, and 
 steered straight over, with a light but favourable 
 wind : the low sandy shores of Suffolk soon sank 
 beneath the horizon. At noon fell in with a fleet 
 
OFF THE COAST. 7 
 
 of colliers bound for the river, and soon after saw 
 the Sunk -Sand Light; when, as the wind had 
 died away and the tide was setting us towards 
 the bank, we anchored until the flood-tide. Dur- 
 ing the night a light breeze right aft, and smooth 
 water, enabled us to make good progress ; but 
 towards morning (13th) the wind had very con- 
 siderably increased, and although the coast was 
 not in sight, we were sensible of its neighbourhood 
 from the number of curious heavy-looking boats 
 plying round us in all directions, having the 
 foremast, with its huge lug-sad, stuck right up 
 in the bow, or rather inclining over it. From 
 one of these boats we soon procured a pilot 
 — a little sturdy fellow, with a full, good-hum- 
 oured countenance, and his breast decorated 
 with a silver medal bearing the impress of an 
 anchor, like our porters' tickets, the badge of his 
 calling. 
 
 The poor fellow was hardly on deck ere he was 
 surrounded and assailed by innumerable questions 
 — "Where is Buonaparte 1 " " Where is the French 
 army 1 " " What are the English about V " Has 
 there been any fighting?" ,&c. &c. Of this he 
 understood or heard only the word " Buonaparte," 
 and therefore to all kept repeating, " II est cap6te," 
 accompanied by a significant motion of the hand 
 
8 FIRST VIEW OF OSTEND. 
 
 across the throat, at the same time showing much 
 anxiety to get rid of his tormentors and proceed 
 to business, which he did with such earnestness as 
 soon gave us to understand there must be more 
 than ordinary difficulty in entering the port of 
 Ostend. The first and principal care was the 
 getting up a hawser and coiling it on deck, the 
 use of which we were soon to learn. 
 
 Meanwhile we had been approaching the coast, 
 which, though still invisible, the pilot informed us 
 was not distant. The first intimation of the truth 
 of this was the appearance of the church tower and 
 lofty lighthouse of Ostend ; and we had brought 
 about half their height above the horizon before 
 land began to show itself, which it did in a num- 
 ber of isolated and rounded yellow hummocks, and 
 at the same time the houses of the town became 
 distinctly visible. With that impatience and ex- 
 cessive curiosity always felt upon approaching for 
 the first time a strange land, especially under the 
 present interesting state of things, all our glasses 
 were directed to the coast, which we were rapidly 
 nearing and hoped soon to reach, when, to our 
 great disappointment, the pilot ordered the vessel 
 to be hove to, and Ave found that the tide would 
 not permit our running for the port before two p.m. 
 Numbers of ships, brigs, and schooners were lying- 
 
ASPECT OF THE COAST. 
 
 to as well as ourselves, and others continually 
 
 arriving. 
 
 Nothing, certainly, could be more repulsive 
 than the appearance of the coast — sand-hills 
 as far as the eye could reach, broken only by 
 the grey and lugubrious works and buildings 
 of Ostend, and further west by the spires of Mit- 
 telkerke and Nieuport, peering above the sand- 
 hills. The day, too, was one little calculated to 
 enliven the scene. A fresh breeze and cloudy 
 sky ; the sea black, rough, and chilly ; the land 
 all under one uniform cold grey tint, presenting 
 scarcely any relief of light and shadow, con- 
 sequently no feature. Upon reconnoitring it, 
 however, closer, we found that this forbidding 
 exterior was only an outer coating to a lovely 
 gem. Through the openings between the sand- 
 hills could be seen a rich level country, of the 
 liveliest verdure, studded with villages and 
 farms interspersed amongst avenues of trees 
 and small patches of wood. An occasional 
 gleam of sunshine breaking out and illumining 
 it, communicated to it a dreamy appearance 
 that was very pleasing, and tended to revive 
 our spirits, drooping from the gloomy aspect of 
 the coast. 
 
 A black-looking mass of timber rising from the 
 
10 OSTEND HABEOUE. 
 
 waters off the entrance of tlie harbour, and which 
 we understood to be a fort, now became the prin- 
 cipal object of our attention. As the tide rises 
 the depth of water is announced by different flags 
 hoisted on this fort; and we were delighted when 
 at last that (a red one) indicating the necessary 
 depth for our ship was hoisted, and we bore up 
 for the harbour mouth. 
 
 The harbour of Ostend is an artificial one, 
 formed by jetees of piles projecting as far as 
 low -water mark. The right, on entering, is 
 merely a row of piles running along in front of 
 the works of the town ; but on the left is a long 
 mole or jetee, on the extremity of which is a 
 small fort. Behind this mole, to the north-east, 
 the shore curving inwards forms a bight, present- 
 ing an extent of flat sandy beach on which the 
 water is never more than a few feet deep, even at 
 the highest tides. A tremendous surf breaks on 
 this whenever it blows from the westward. As 
 the flood-tide sets past the harbour mouth with 
 great rapidity, a vessel attempting to enter with 
 a westerly wind is in danger of being swept be- 
 yond it and thrown on the beach just mentioned. 
 And this we now discovered was the cause of the 
 anxiety displayed by our pilot, and for which we 
 could not before account. In approaching the 
 
ITS DANGERS. 11 
 
 harbour, we steered as if going to run tlie ship 
 ashore on the broad stone glacis of the town, 
 which extended into the water all along the sea- 
 front. Even with this precaution we were drifted 
 so much to leeward that, instead of shooting into 
 the harbour, we went bump upon the jetee.^' 
 The poor pilot raved and jumped about like a 
 madman, but there still was method in his mad- 
 ness; and now we discovered the use of the hawser 
 he had coiled upon deck, for passing the end of 
 this to the Belgic soldiers, who upon the shock 
 immediately ran out of their guard-room, the 
 vessel was saved from swinging round (as she 
 otherwise would have done) and falling ashore 
 on the beach beyond, stern foremost, and soon 
 dragged within the influence of the current 
 setting up the harbour. 
 
 Our attention, before engaged by our perilous 
 situation, was now directed to new and exhilarat- 
 ing objects on the other side, where the works of 
 the town arose immediately from the sands. These 
 were crowded with spectators, and, being Sunday, 
 all in their best; so that the sun, just peeping out 
 as we shot along, imparted to the scene quite an 
 
 * The port of Ostend is what people usually term a " dry har- 
 bour." It ia dry at low tide, but the ilood brLugs in about 16 or 
 18 feet water. 
 
12 UNCEREMONIOUS LANDING OF 
 
 air of gaiety ; and to us it was also a novel one. 
 I remember being mightily struck with the head- 
 dress of the women, so different from what we 
 had been accustomed to see at home, and the 
 comparison was certainly not in favour of my fair 
 compatriots. With these the fashionable coiffure 
 was a large low ^^o^c-bonnet, which I had always 
 fancied very becoming ; but there is no describing 
 how this sunk into meanness and deformity in a 
 moment when I cast my eyes on the elegantly 
 tapering, high-crowned straws of the belles on the 
 rampart, encircled sometimes with two, and even 
 three, rows of gay ribbon or artificial flowers. 
 These gave them such a lofty commanding air, 
 and withal was so light and graceful. But bonnets 
 were not allowed long to occupy my attention. 
 Followed by a crowd of other craft of all sorts and 
 sizes, we shot rapidly along towards that part of 
 the harbour where a dense assemblage of shipping 
 filled up its whole breadth, and forbade further 
 progress, so that one wondered what was to be- 
 come of the numerous vessels in our wake. The 
 mystery was soon explained, for each having at- 
 tained the point, turning her prow to the town, 
 ran bump on the sands, and there stuck fast. 
 Those immediately above us had just arrived, 
 and from them a regiment of Light Dragoons was 
 
DRAGOON HORSES. 13 
 
 in the act of disembarking by tbrowing the horses 
 overboard, and then hauling them ashore by a 
 long rope attached to their head-coUars. What a 
 scene ! What hallooing, shouting, vociferating, 
 and plunging ! The poor horses did not appear 
 much gratified by their sudden transition from 
 the warm hold to a cold bath. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Our keel had scarcely touched the sand ere we 
 were abruptly boarded by a naval officer (Captain 
 Hill) with a gang of sailors, who, sans ceremonie, 
 instantly commenced hoisting our horses out, and 
 throwing them, as well as our saddlery, &c., over- 
 board, without ever giving time for making any 
 disposition to receive or secure the one or the 
 other. To my remonstrance his answer was, " I 
 can't help it, sir ; the Duke's orders are positive 
 that no delay is to take place in landing the troops 
 as they arrive, and the ships sent hack again ; so 
 you must be out of her hefore dark." It was then 
 about three p.m. ; and I thought this a most un- 
 comfortable arrangement. 
 
 The scramble and confusion that ensued bafHe 
 all description. Bundles of harness went over 
 the side in rapid succession, as well as horses. 
 In vain we urged the loss and damage that must 
 
CONFUSION AT LANDING. 15 
 
 accrue from such a proceeding. " Can't help it — 
 no business of mine — Duke's orders are positive," 
 &c. &c., was our only answer. Meantime the ebb 
 had begun to diminish the depth of water along- 
 side, and enabled us to send parties overboard 
 and to the beach to collect and carry our things 
 ashore, as well as to haul and secure the horses. 
 The same operation commenced from the other 
 vessels as they arrived, and the bustle and noise 
 were inconceivable. The Dragoons and our men 
 (some nearly, others quite, naked) were dashing 
 in and out of the water, struggling with the 
 affrighted horses, or securing their wet accoutre- 
 ments as best they could. Some of the former 
 were saddling their dripping horses, and others 
 mounting and marching off in small parties. Dis- 
 consolate-looking groups of women and children 
 were to be seen here and there sitting on their 
 poor duds, or roaming about in search of their 
 husbands, or mayhap of a stray child, all clamour- 
 ing, lamenting, and materially increasing the 
 babel-like confusion, amidst which Erin's brogue 
 was everywhere predominant. Irish beggars 
 swarm everywhere and in all quarters of the 
 globe. Even here they pestered us to death, and 
 one young bare-legged rascal, when he found his 
 whining and cant unavailing, suddenly changing 
 
16 SCENE ON SHOKE. 
 
 his tone, tried to excite our liberality by a dirty 
 joke on the Flemish pronunciation of their word 
 horse (pferd). Add to all this crowds of people 
 from the town idling about — some as spectators, 
 others watching for windfalls; some bringing 
 cakes, beer, &c., for sale, others teazing the offi- 
 cers with various offers of service, and these not 
 always of the most respectable kind. 
 
 It was not without difficulty that I succeeded 
 at last in impressing upon Captain Hill the neces- 
 sity of leaving our guns and ammunition- waggons, 
 &c., on board for the night — otherwise his furious 
 zeal would have turned all out to stand on the 
 wet sand or be washed away. Meantime, al- 
 though we were on shore, we were without orders 
 what to do next. Not an officer, either of the 
 staff, the garrison, nor even of our own corps, 
 came near us. Night approached, and with it 
 bad weather evidently. Our poor shivering horses 
 and heaps of wet harness could not remain on the 
 sands much longer, when the flood began to make 
 again ; and it was necessary to look about and see 
 what could be done. With this intent, therefore, 
 leaving the officers to collect their divisions, I got 
 one of my horses saddled and rode into the town. 
 Here was the same bustle (although not the same 
 confusion) as on the sands. The streets were 
 
DIFFICULTIES. 17 
 
 thronged with British officers, and the quays with 
 guns, waggons, horses, baggage, &c. 
 
 One would hardly expect to meet with any 
 delay in finding the commandant of a fortress, 
 yet such was my case ; and it was not until after 
 long and repeated inquiry that I discovered Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Gregory, 44th Regiment, to be 
 that personage, and found his residence. From 
 him, however, I could obtain nothing. He seemed 
 hardly to have expected the compliment of report- 
 ing our arrival, and stated that he had no other 
 orders but that the troops of every arm should 
 march for Ghent the moment they landed, with- 
 out halting a single day in Ostend. 
 
 Strange to say, neither I nor the Colonel re- 
 collected there was such a person in Ostend as 
 an Assistant-Quartermaster-General, who should 
 be referred to on such an occasion. Yet this was 
 the case ; and that officer, instead of attending the 
 debarkation of the troops, or making himself ac- 
 quainted with the arrivals, kept out of sight alto- 
 gether. Baffled at all points, I was returning to 
 the sands when I met Major Drummond on the 
 Quai Imperial, and related my story. He had 
 been here some time, and was consequently ac- 
 quainted with the locale. His advice was to 
 march to Ghystelle (a village about six miles from 
 
 VOL, L ^ 
 
18 CONFUSION ON THE BEACH. 
 
 Ostend), and after putting up there for the night, 
 to return and disembark my guns, &c., in the 
 morning. Whilst speaking, however, some one 
 (I forget who) came up with the agreeable infor- 
 mation that Ghystelle was already fully occupied 
 by the 16th Dragoons. He, however, gave me 
 directions for some large sheds about a mile oif, 
 where his own horses has passed the preceding 
 night. This was some consolation ; so riding off 
 immediately to reconnoitre the place and the road 
 to it, I returned to the beach just as it got dark ; 
 and a most miserable scene of confusion I there 
 found. Our saddles, harness, baggage, &c., were 
 still strewed about the sand, and these the flood, 
 which was now making, threatened soon to sub- 
 merge. Pour surcroit de malheur, the rain came 
 down in torrents, and a storm, which had been 
 brewing up the whole afternoon, now burst over 
 us most furiously. The lightning was quite tre- 
 mendous, whilst a hurricane, howling horribly 
 through the rigging of the ships, was only ex- 
 ceeded in noise by the loud explosions and rat- 
 tling of the incessant claps of thunder. 
 
 Our people, meantime, blinded by the lightning, 
 had borrowed some lanterns from the ship, and 
 were busily employed searching for the numerous 
 articles still missing. The obscurity, however, 
 
A CATASTROPHE. 19 
 
 between the vivid flashes was such that we were 
 only enabled to keep together by repeatedly call- 
 ing to each other, and it was not without difiiculty 
 and great watchfulness that we escaped being 
 caught by the tide, which flowed rapidly in over 
 the flat sands. At length, having collected as 
 many of our things as was possible, and saddled 
 our horses (some two or three of which had escaped 
 altogether), we began our march for the sheds a 
 little after midnight, with a farrier and another 
 dismounted man carrying lanterns at the head of 
 our column. The rain continued pouring, but 
 flashes of lightning occurred now only at inter- 
 vals, and the more subdued rolling of the thunder 
 told us that it was passing away in the distance. 
 Our route lay through the town, to gain which 
 we found some advanced ditch to be crossed by 
 a very frail wooden bridge. Half the column, 
 perhaps, might have cleared this, when " crack " 
 down it went, precipitating all who were on it at 
 the moment into the mud below, and completely 
 cutting off those in the rear. Here was a di- 
 lemma. Ignorant of the localities, and without a 
 guide, how was the rear of the column to join 
 us, or how were the people in the ditch, with 
 their horses, to be extricated 1 Luckily none 
 were hurt seriously, and the depth was not great — 
 
20 THE TOWN BY NIGHT. 
 
 not more, perhaps, tlian six or eight feet ; but that 
 was enough to baffle all our attempts at extricating 
 the horses. Some Belgic soldiers of a neighbour- 
 ing euard, of which we were not aware, fortun- 
 ately heard us, and came to our assistance ; and 
 one of them, crossing the ditch, undertook to 
 guide the rear of our column and those below to 
 another gate, whilst one accompanied us to the 
 Quai Imperial, where, after waiting a while, we 
 were at lenoth assembled, drenched with rain 
 and starving of cold and hunger. The Quai was 
 silent and dark ; the only light gleamed dimly 
 through the wet from a miserable lamp over the 
 door of a caf^, in which people were still moving ; 
 and the only sounds that broke the stillness of 
 the quarter were the splashing of the rain and 
 the clatterins^ of our steel scabbards and horses' 
 feet as we moved dejectedly on — winding our 
 way through unknown avenues (for in the dark 
 I found it impossible to recognise the narrow 
 streets through which I had so hurriedly passed 
 in the afternoon), occasionally illuminated by a 
 solitary lamp, the feeble light of which, however, 
 was somewhat increased by reflection on the wet 
 pavement. After following for some time this 
 devious course, I began to fear I had missed the 
 road, when again we stumbled upon a Belgic 
 
DIFFICULTIES OF THE MARCH. 21 
 
 guard, by whose direction and guidance we at 
 length reached the outer barrier. Here we again 
 came to a standstill, the officer in charge re- 
 fusing to let us out. Some altercation ensued : 
 I forget the particulars, but it ended in his opening 
 the gate. 
 
 Once clear of the town, we hoped soon to reach 
 our lodging ; but had scarcely advanced a hundred 
 yards ere we found that result was more distant 
 than we had fancied, and that patience was still 
 requisite. The rain had rendered the fat soil so 
 slippery that our horses could scarcely keep their 
 legs, and the road running along the narrow 
 summit of a dyke, with ditches on each side, 
 rendered precaution and slow movement impera- 
 tive. Every moment the fall of some horse im- 
 peded the column ; our lanterns went out ; and 
 after wandering a considerable time, we at length 
 ascertained, by knocking up the people at a house 
 by the wayside, that we had overshot ovir mark, 
 and it was not until two in the morning that we 
 succeeded in finding the sheds. These were im- 
 mensely long buildings attached to some saw- 
 mills, for what use I know not, unless to store 
 planks, &c., for they were now empty ; but they 
 were admirably adapted to our purpose, since we 
 could range all our horses along one side, whilst 
 
22 NIGHT QXJAETEES. 
 
 the men occupied the other, in one of them. A 
 quantity of hay, and some straw, left by our pre- 
 decessors, was a valuable acquisition to man and 
 beast under such circumstances. All our enjoy- 
 ments are the effect of contrast. It would be 
 considered miserable enough to be obliged to pass 
 the night under such equivocal shelter as these 
 sheds afforded, and that, too, in wet clothes ; yet 
 did we now, after twelve hours of harassing 
 work and exposure to the weather, look upon 
 them as palaces, and, having cared for our poor 
 beasts as far as circumstances would permit, pro- 
 ceeded to prepare for that repose so necessary and 
 so longed for. 
 
 I was already ensconced in some hay, when 
 Lieutenant Leathes, who had been reconnoitring, 
 brought intelligence that the people were still up 
 in an adjoining miller's house, and that they were 
 willing to give us shelter until morning. Thither, 
 therefore, we repaired ; and being ushered into the 
 kitchen, quite a pattern of neatness, found the 
 good woman and one of her men already busy 
 making a fire and preparing some cofi"ee for us — 
 unlooked-for luxury ! To this kindness she added 
 the offer of two beds, which were eagerly and 
 thankfully accepted by Lieutenants Ingieby and 
 Bell. For my part, I preferred not pulling off 
 
A PLEASANT CHANGE. 23 
 
 my wet clotlies and putting them on again in the 
 morning, and therefore declined. Spite of our 
 fatigue, we were all so refreshed by the coffee, 
 that a pleasant hour was passed chatting to our 
 kiad hostess and joking with her man Coche, a 
 sort of good-humoured, half-witted Caliban. At 
 last sleep began to weigh heavily on our eyelids. 
 The lady retired to her chamber, Coch^ hid him- 
 self somewhere, and, sinking back in our old- 
 fashioned high-backed chairs, we were soon un- 
 conscious of everything. 
 
 lith. — Awoke from my slumbers just as the 
 grey dawn began to render objects visible in the 
 kitchen. My companions still slept soundly, so 
 without disturbing them I quietly explored my 
 way to the door, and soon found myself in a pretty 
 little garden, ornamented and intersected by high 
 hedges or walls of verdure, the young leaves of 
 which, scarcely yet fully developed, were of the 
 brightest green. These screens, effectually protect- 
 ing the beds, in which many an early flower already 
 blossomed, I thought delightful. It was the first 
 time I had seen these brise-vents, or hornbeam 
 hedges, which I subsequently found so common. 
 The air of the morning was delicious, and my 
 clothes having dried during my repose, I again felt 
 comfortable and happy as I sauntered about the 
 
24 RETURN TO OSTEND. 
 
 garden, enjoying the morning song of the little 
 birds, with which the whole neighbourhood re- 
 sounded. I could haA^e stayed for ever in this 
 tranquil and, as I then thought it, lovely retreat. 
 By-and-by my companions turned out, and we 
 lost no time in getting again under way in order 
 to reach the gates of Ostend as soon as they 
 opened. 
 
 Sass, or Schlickens, where we had passed the 
 night, is the port of the Bruges canal, and hence 
 the Treckschuyt from Ostend for that city takes 
 its departure. It cannot be called a village, there 
 being only a few small houses connected with 
 the canal business, and some saw-mills and others 
 worked by wind. Surrounded by marsh, it is a 
 dreary comfortless place, although this was hidden 
 from me in the early morning by the verdant 
 screens in the miller's garden. 
 
 Our road back to the town, now we had day- 
 light, appeared very short, and, having dried con- 
 siderably, was not so slippery as last night. The 
 gates were not yet opened when we arrived ; a 
 crowd of workmen of different kinds had already 
 assembled and were waiting for admission, as were 
 we, for a few minutes. At last they opened, and 
 we proceeded to the harbour in search of our ship. 
 The Quais, beach, &c., were thronged as on the day 
 
WAITING TO START, 25 
 
 before, and we added to the bustle in disembark- 
 ing our guns and carriages, &c. This was com- 
 pleted by eleven o'clock, and we were ready to 
 march forward ; but the commissariat detained us 
 waiting the issue of our rations until three p.m. — 
 four mortal hours, considering otir eagerness to get 
 on and explore this new country, and the bore of 
 being confined to one spot, since it was impossible to 
 wander about the town, seeing that we could not 
 calculate the moment when these gentry might 
 find it convenient to supply us. Of our horses 
 two were still missing, as were some saddle-bags 
 and a number of smaller articles ; and this is not 
 to be wondered at when the scandalous manner 
 in which they were thrown overboard, the badness 
 of the weather, the darkness of the night, together 
 with the ebbing and flowing of the tide, are taken 
 into consideration. 
 
 The appearance, too, of the troop was vexa- 
 tious in the extreme. Our noble horses, yesterday 
 morning so sleek and spirited, now stood with 
 drooping heads and rough staring coats, plainly 
 indicating the mischief they had sustained in 
 being taken from a hot hold, plunged into cold 
 water, and then exposed for more than seven 
 hours on an open beach to such a tempest of 
 wind and rain as that we experienced last night. 
 
26 SCENES IN THE TOWN. 
 
 Here was a practical illustration of the folly of 
 grooming and pampering military horses, destined 
 as they are to such exposures and privations. 
 As for our men, they looked jaded, their clothes 
 all soiled with mud and wet, the sabres rusty, 
 and the bear -skins of their helmets flattened 
 down by the rain. Still, however, they displayed 
 the same spirit and alacrity as that which has 
 always been a characteristic of the horse-artillery, 
 more particularly of G troop. 
 
 Whilst thus awaiting our rations, we had ample 
 leisure to look about us, and amuse ourselves with 
 the varied groups collected on the quay and the 
 novelty of the scene. To be sure, the principal of 
 these were English, and mostly soldiers too. Some 
 were drinking at the doors of the cabarets, knap- 
 sacks on their backs, and prepared to start ; 
 others already in movement, escorting baggage ; 
 near us a battery of field-artillery parked, with 
 their horses picketed in a long line along the 
 rear of the carriages, quietly eating their corn 
 out of hair nosebags, which ever and anon they 
 would toss in the air, the better to get at the 
 few remaining grains of their food ; gunners and 
 drivers lying about ready to fall in or mount at 
 the shortest notice. Here they had passed the 
 night, and the remains of their fires were stiU 
 
COSTUMES OF THE NATIVES. 27 
 
 glowing in some rudely- constructed fireplaces of 
 loose stones or bricks. Sucli objects were familiar 
 to our eyes, but they were intermixed witli others 
 which were not. These were the Flemish peasan- 
 try, with their heavy countenances, walking by the 
 side of their long, narrow waggons, and guiding 
 their noble horses with admirable dexterity through 
 the throng by long reins of small (very small) 
 cord passing through holes in the clumsy highly- 
 ornamental collars or haims. Long blue smock- 
 frocks, decorated with embroidery in coloured 
 worsted about the breast and shoulders ; their 
 skulls ensconced in night-caps, red or white; many 
 with long thick queues — and all in clumsy wooden 
 shoes. Women, with hard weather-beaten features, 
 iu long-eared caps, enormous gold pendants in 
 their ears, a small cross on the breast, suspended 
 from the scraggy neck by a strip of black velvet, 
 thick petticoats, giving great swell to the hip, 
 and from their shortness exhibiting a pair of stout 
 understanders cased in coarse blue stockings and 
 terminating in heavy sabots, enriched about the 
 instep by a rabbit's skin clumped about in all 
 directions. From time to time a patrol of the 
 gendarmerie, in plain blue uniforms, with large 
 white grenades on the skirts and the ends of their 
 valises, broad belts, and high, stiff, well-polished 
 
28 SCENES IN THE TOWN. 
 
 boots, passed quietly through the assembled 
 crowds ; their quick inquiring eyes cast search- 
 ingly about as they moved leisurely along. At the 
 corner of the quay was a group of boatmen (not 
 much differing in outward appearance from our 
 own of the same class) listlessly reclining on the 
 pavement, or lounging up and clown Avith folded 
 arms, amusing themselves with the bustling 
 anxiety of a score of soldiers' wives, who, loaded 
 with children or bundles, their ample grey 
 or faded red cloaks flying out loosely behind 
 them, struggled through all impediments opposed 
 to their progress with an activity, perseverance, 
 and volubility which seemed highly diverting to 
 the mariners, many of whom, in broken English, 
 were bantering these amazons, or exchanging 
 coarse jokes with them ; at which play, however, 
 — the ladies being mostly from the Green Isle — • 
 the gentlemen came ofi" second best. 
 
 Such were the scenes we contemplated, when 
 a loud cry of dismay suddenly pervaded the 
 crowd, and all simultaneously rushed to the ram- 
 parts. I followed this movement. The morning, 
 though somewhat overcast, had been fine, and the 
 wind moderate ; but as the day advanced, and 
 the flood-tide set in, the south-westerly breeze had 
 gradually increased to a gale. On reaching the 
 
A WRECK. 29 
 
 rampart, I immediately observed that the flat 
 shore to the northward, as far as the eye could 
 reach, was covered with a sheet of white foam 
 from the tremendous surf breaking on it ; whilst 
 the spray, rising in clouds and borne along before 
 the blast, involved the whole neighbourhood in a 
 thick salt mist. Nothing could be more savage 
 and wild than the appearance of the coast. In 
 the offing, numerous vessels under small sail were 
 running for the harbour. One small brig had 
 missed, and before assistance could be given, had 
 been whirled round the jetee, and cast broadside 
 on amongst the breakers. Her situation was truly 
 awful. The surf broke over her in a frightful 
 manner, sending its spray higher than her masts, 
 and causing her to roll from side to side until her 
 yards dipped in the water, and induced a belief 
 every moment that she must roll over. Every 
 now and then a huge wave, larger than its pre- 
 decessor, would raise her bodily, and then, rapidly 
 receding, suddenly let her fall again on the ground 
 with a concussion that made the masts bend and 
 vibrate like fishing-rods, and seemed to threaten 
 instant annihilation. Of her sails, some were torn 
 to rags, and others, flying loose, flapped and flut- 
 tered with a noise that was audible from the ram- 
 part, despite the roaring of the surf. The people 
 
30 FEARFUL SCENE. 
 
 on board appeared in great agitation, and kept 
 shouting to those on shore fdr assistance, which 
 they were nnable to give. Intense anxiety per- 
 vaded the assembled multitude as the shattered 
 vessel alternately rose to view or was buried in a 
 sea of foam. Numbers ran down to the sands 
 opposite to her; and from them she could not 
 have been twenty yards distant, yet could they 
 not afford the despairing crew the slightest aid. 
 Whilst thus attending in breathless expectation 
 the horrid catastrophe, the return of our quarter- 
 master with the rations summoned us unwillingly 
 from the rampart to commence our march. We 
 afterwards learnt that a boat from the harbour 
 had succeeded in saving the crew (she had no 
 troops on board) ; but the unfortunate pilot who 
 thus gallantly risked his own life for them was 
 killed by the boat rising suddenly under the ves- 
 sel's counter as he stood in the bow, which dashed 
 his brains out. 
 
 Of Ostend I have little to say, my whole time 
 and mind being fully occupied during the few 
 hours of my stay in it. The impression it made 
 on me was a dismal one. Narrow dirty streets; 
 gloomy, old-fashioned, low, mean houses; the 
 whole surrounded by marsh, sand-hills, or sea ; 
 and that sea, from its muddy colour, detracting 
 
IMPRESSIONS OF OSTEND. 31 
 
 nouglit from the lugubrioiis effect of the scene. Of 
 the fortifications I saw still less than of the town; 
 yet, from what little I did see, it would appear 
 that Ostend depends more upon water than earth 
 or stone — its great protection consisting in the 
 facility of inundating the neighbouring marshes. 
 On the Blanckenberg side, situated upon an emi- 
 nence (I think of sand), we had a glimpse of Fort 
 Napoleon, and working parties were busy con- 
 structing a redoubt among the sand-hills toward 
 Nieuport. We had no leisure, however, to visit 
 either. 
 
CHAPTER in. 
 
 Eight slad were we to find ourselves at last en 
 roiUe from this dismal place. In passing through 
 the streets towards the barrier, soon after leaving 
 the quays, we found that we had likewise left all 
 the bustle, crowd, and confusion behind us. Few 
 people were moving about in any of them, and 
 some were totally deserted. The prospect which 
 presented itself on issuing from the gates was as 
 t7'iste and repulsive as can well be conceived. In 
 front and to the left marsh! marsh! for miles, and 
 looking black, dreary, and pestilential ; the dis- 
 tance obscured by a red haze, occasioned by the 
 clouds of sand blown inland by the gale from a 
 range of sand and sand-hills (the ddnes) extend- 
 ing all along the coast. A straight, ill-paved, and 
 muddy road, running away in long perspective 
 between two wide ditches filled with stagnant, 
 stinking water, bordered here and there by a few 
 
CHANGE OF SCENERY. 33 
 
 stunted willows bending to the blast, and their 
 usual cold colour rendered still more cold by thus 
 exposing the whitish backs of their young leaves. 
 Such was the scene, in which our column (men, 
 horses, and carriages,- soiled, and looking miser- 
 able ; the mounted gunners leaning to windward, 
 with one hand generally upraised holding on their 
 helmets ; the limber -gunners sitting sideways, 
 turning their backs to the gale) formed an ap- 
 propriate accompaniment, as it proceeded slowly 
 along the causeway. About half-way to Ghys- 
 telles,* at a barrier, we were rejoiced at finding 
 the horses that had escaped from us on the 
 sands. The man said they had been there all 
 night. 
 
 After traversing these marshes for about five or 
 six mdes, we entered on a country almost as flat, 
 but of a very different character, highly cultivated 
 and weU wooded. The road became an avenue, 
 whilst the adjoining fields were interspersed every- 
 where with patches of copsewood, and rows of 
 tufted bushes serving here and there as bound- 
 aries in place of hedges ; the scenery, of course, 
 much more pleasing, although not seen to advan- 
 tage under the still gloomy, overcast sky. 
 
 It was late when we reached Ghistel, the ap- 
 
 * Ghistel, according to the map of Maillart, &o. 
 VOL. I. C 
 
34 AEKIVAL AT GHISTEL. 
 
 pearance of whicli, however, was consolatory, and 
 promised some comfort. 
 
 Before we could seek that, a troublesome task 
 still remained to be performed. Our men could 
 not understand their billets, some of which were 
 on isolated farms a mile or two from the village ; 
 neither could they inquire their way. It therefore 
 became necessary for us to accompany and see 
 them safely housed ere we could resign ourselves 
 to the enjoyments of our auberge. In the village 
 itself they were soon put up, for many of the people 
 spoke or understood a little English. 
 
 At length, as night set in, our business was 
 fiaished, and we all assembled at our auberge, 
 which, though humble, was delightfully clean, 
 and to us, after last night's adventure, appeared 
 luxurious. No less so was the excellent dinner 
 to which we soon sat down ; whilst doing justice 
 to which we could not help laughing at its spread, 
 for it was composed, not of solid joints, &c. &c., 
 but of an immense multitude and variety of little 
 dishes of stews and all sorts of nameless (to us) 
 things. A bottle of good port would have ren- 
 dered us superlatively happy, but that was not to 
 be thought of in Ghistel ; so having amused our- 
 selves, and puzzled the neat, pretty, black-eyed 
 girl who officiated as gar^on by our inquiries for 
 
OUK QUARTERS THERE. 35 
 
 this our national, but by her unheard-of, beverage, 
 we were fain to make ourselves comfortable, and 
 pass the evening in social chat over the poor, 
 thin, though well-flavoured liquor that the house 
 afforded. Some of our number, to be sure, were 
 unreasonable enough to grumble, and one actually 
 got the stomach-ache, but whether from the wine 
 or last night's wetting it is difficult to say, though 
 he swore it was the former. 
 
 I shall not easily forget my delight on retiring, 
 when I found a most clean, enticing bed prepared 
 for me, in a pretty little room, the window of 
 which looked into a quiet well-kept garden. The 
 enormous pillow at first took me aback. Such a 
 thing ! It seemed to occupy half the bed. I, 
 however, soon made acquaintance with it, and 
 enjoyed a most delicious sleep. The first steps 
 in a new country are to me always a source of 
 pleasurable sensations. Everything one sees is 
 striking, interesting, and makes a lasting impres- 
 sion. This evening and its enjoyments wHl long 
 remain a bright spot in my memory. 
 
 15 th. A fine, mild, grey morning. Our people 
 paraded in much better order, and very much 
 higher spirits, than yesterday, and all seemed 
 pleased with their entertainment. The novelty 
 amused them, and every one had some tale to 
 
36 AGAIN ON THE MARCH. 
 
 relate of last night's adventures. Their hosts 
 had generally been very kind to them, and 
 allowed them to take as much forage for their 
 horses as they chose. The poor animals, there- 
 fore, had passed the night equally well. In 
 marching out of Ghistel, I noticed many houses 
 of a superior description to the rustic dwellings 
 which alone I saw last night. Some of these had 
 much the appearance of stage scenery, having fa- 
 gades painted to represent pilasters, urns, wreaths, 
 festoons, &c. &c., all in very childish taste. These, 
 no doubt, were the villas or lusthausen of the Os- 
 tend citizens. 
 
 Our march to Bruges (about twelve miles) was 
 through a country perfectly flat, but rich and 
 highly cultivated ; and from the numerous little 
 woods, farms, and substantial villages — added, 
 again, to the charm of novelty — it was far from 
 
 uninteresting. 
 
 About noon we entered the city by a fine, broad, 
 airy street, rendered pleasing by the intermixture 
 of foliage with its picturesque buildings, and 
 swarming with people. By -and -by we came 
 to narrower streets and more antiquated-looking 
 houses; winding our way amongst which, we 
 at last reached the cavalry barrack, situated in 
 a narrow, dirty back lane at the further extremity 
 
AEKIVAL AT BRUGES. 37 
 
 of the town — a large, heavy, inelegant mass of 
 masonry, more like some old storehouse than a 
 barrack. Here, in the extensive yard, we parked 
 our guns, and put our men into the barrack, the 
 rooms of which were large, lofty, and vaulted, but 
 extremely filthy, so that our people had to regret 
 the clean comfortable biUets and kind hospitality 
 which they would have enjoyed amongst the 
 inhabitants. A range of ruinous wooden sheds, 
 extending along two sides of the yard, served as 
 stabling, and received all our horses. 
 
 Having arranged affairs at the barrack, and 
 called on Sir F. Lyons, the British commandant, 
 we betook ourselves to our billet at the H6tel de 
 Commerce, which, however, we had some diffi- 
 culty in finding. As this was the first large 
 hotel we had been in, it had the recommendation 
 of novelty, and everything in it became subject 
 of curiosity. The large dreary hall ; the com- 
 fortless bar adjoining, and separated from it by 
 an immense Avindow or glazed partition, so unlike 
 the cheerful snug-looking bar of an English inn ; 
 the equally comfortless and gloomy saloon behind 
 it, into which we were shown ; the squalid, dirty 
 appearance of the domestics (men or boys), in 
 filthy cotton jackets and bonnets de nuit, — all 
 served to chill one on first entering. Our arrival, 
 
38 . OUE. HOTEL. 
 
 followed by orderlies and servants carrying port- 
 manteaus, &c. &c., caused a sensation in the estab- 
 lishment, every member of which, not excepting 
 the chef, was assembled to greet us in the hall. 
 For some minutes a scene of bustle ensued, which 
 ended in mounting the stairs to inspect our 
 dormitories. These contrasted strangely with 
 the vast apartments below. From the head of 
 the staircase a long corridor ran right and left 
 the w-hole length of the house, off which a 
 number of doors opened into as many little cells, 
 each barely large enough to contain bed, chair, 
 and a small table. The beds (without curtains) 
 were very homely, but quite clean, the furniture 
 and utensils of the commonest kind. The attend- 
 ants, having shown us our rooms, withdrew, and 
 with the sound of their departing footsteps ended 
 the bustle of the day. When I again stepped 
 out on the gallery, the stillness of the place 
 astonished me — hall, staircase, bar, all deserted ; 
 not a soul to be seen, nor a sound heard except 
 that of my own tread over the creaking floor; 
 no ringing of bells ; no calls for chambermaid, 
 boots, or waiter ; no running to and fro ; — in 
 short, the place appeared altogether abandoned, 
 and I hastened into the street to lounge away 
 the time until dinner, of which, however, I had 
 my misgivings. 
 
FIRST . IMPRESSIONS OF BRUGES. '39 
 
 Bruges is a highly interesting town at all times ; 
 but after being shut out from the Continent 
 so many years, the novelty of everything one 
 saw enhanced this interest amazingly. My ramble 
 led me through streets of lofty, whimsically con- 
 structed houses, the upper parts of which some- 
 times projected in the manner one frequently 
 sees in our old midland towns, the projections 
 decorated with drop-balls on fretwork ; immense 
 windows sometimes occupied the whole front of 
 each floor ; ample portals, the lofty folding doors 
 of which were occasionally studded with iron, 
 like those of a fortress or dungeon ; gables, with 
 high pointed roofs, presented almost everywhere 
 to the street ; chimneys of bizarre and fantastic 
 forms, and surmounted by a finish of semicir- 
 cular tiles rising pyramidally over each other; 
 here and there towers or turrets with high 
 conical roofs ; — such were the architectural pecu- 
 liarities that attracted my attention. The long 
 streets running in wavy lines, and of unequal 
 breadth, between these grotesque buildings, exhi- 
 bited specimens of costume as novel, and fre- 
 quently not less grotesque, which, intermingling 
 with the scarlet and blue uniforms of our soldiers, 
 very much heightened the picturesque effect. It 
 was only in the principal thoroughfares and busi- 
 ness parts of the town that all this animation was 
 
40 PEESENT AKD PAST. 
 
 met with. In those quarters principally inhabited 
 by the richer citizens the streets were as dull, 
 solitary, and scrupulously clean as it is possible 
 to conceive. In these I frequently found myself 
 the only animated being visible — not a loiterer 
 at a door, not even a head at a window. Many 
 of even the best houses appeared absolutely unin- 
 habited. Could this have always been the case ? 
 Was this the state of things when Bruges was 
 the central mart for the whole Pays bas, and saw 
 merchants from every nation in Europe crowding 
 to its fairs in search of its linen and woollen 
 cloth, and of the naval stores and rich produc- 
 tions of India continually arriving from the 
 north, the Venetian and other Italian States, 
 when the splendid dress and magnificent palaces 
 of its citizens were sufficient to excite the indig- 
 nation and envy of a queen 1 Surely not. These 
 grass-grown streets, now so solitary, then exhi- 
 bited very different scenes. Many a plumed and 
 portly burgher then trod their pavement, and 
 many a fair bejewelled dame graced the numer- 
 ous windows of its palaces, now so silent. This 
 decay and depopulation dates from the moment 
 when these Avealthy merchants arrogantly resisted 
 their sovereign, Maximilian, who, aided by Ant- 
 werp and Amsterdam, shut up its port of Sluys, 
 
THE STADTHOUSE AND CATHEDRAL, 41 
 
 and thus, diverting its commerce into other chan- 
 nels, inflicted on it that punishment the effects of 
 which are so perceptible even after a lapse of 
 more than 300 years. From these melancholy 
 monuments of fallen grandeur, and the death- 
 like sUence of these deserted streets, I suddenly 
 emerged into the midst of bustle in the G-rand 
 Place, where crowds of peasantry were assembled 
 apparently for the sole purpose of buying and 
 selling little earthen pots of a peculiar form 
 (terrines), the number of which, disposed in 
 long rows on the ground, reaUy surprised me. 
 The Stadthouse stands in this place. It has a 
 lofty square tower, surmounted by another of 
 nearly equal height of an octagonal form. This 
 certainly possesses no beauty, but the singularity 
 of the construction attracts notice. From the 
 Place I wandered to the Cathedrale,''' the very 
 lofty spire of which, I am told, serves as a land- 
 mark for vessels approaching Ostend, though 
 certainly I do not recollect having seen it there. 
 It is even said by some to be visible from the 
 banks of the Thames — a pretty long view ! En- 
 tering the temple, I found the garish light of 
 broad day exchanged for a mysterious twdight, 
 
 * The Church of Notre Dame ceased to be a cathedral 1801, 
 when it was united to the diocese of Ghent. 
 
42 MASS IN THE CATHEDRAL. 
 
 and the busy hum of high market for a solemn 
 silence, scarcely interrupted by the light step of 
 some veiled female (of males only a few, very old 
 men, were there) as she glided to the spot chosen 
 for her devotions, where, rapidly crossing herself, 
 she sank on her knees before a shrine in some 
 side chapel. At the high altar, priests in em- 
 broidered robes were celebrating mass with a 
 solemnity which rendered still more ridiculous 
 their repeated genuflexions, the extinction from 
 time to time of a taper, and the removal of a 
 crucifix from one end of the altar to another, 
 only to bring it back the next moment, whilst 
 ever and anon they would bow, cross themselves, 
 and bow again. 
 
 The nave of the church was not spoilt, as ours 
 are, by pews. A number of plain chairs were 
 assembled round the pillars, and these served the 
 worshippers to kneel upon — that is, the men, for 
 the women invariably sank on the pavement in 
 most picturesque attitudes. Of the latter, most 
 seemed in earnest ; but with the former, a duty 
 was hurried through, in which the heart had 
 evidently little or no concern. Some certainly 
 placed both knees on the chairs, and, leaning over 
 the backs with clasped hands, kept their eyes 
 steadily on the altar, whilst the rapid motion of 
 
THE WORSHIPPERS. 43 
 
 their lips betrayed the hurried manner in which 
 they prayed. Others, however, with one knee 
 only on the chair, and the body half-turned, 
 gazed about them whilst mumbling over their 
 daily portion of prayer. People were contin- 
 ually coming in and going out, which seemed to 
 disturb no one, but rather served as amusement 
 to the gazers just mentioned. However luke- 
 warm the frequenters of the temple might evince 
 themselves, yet was there something very im^ 
 pressive in the scene. In a pictorial point of 
 view it was most interesting, for the building is 
 a fine Gothic structure, and the interior of these 
 always affords picturesque scenery, even without 
 such accessories as those furnished by the various 
 kneeling groups, more particularly of females. 
 Some good pictures I saw, but did not like to 
 stop and examine them. A striking feature in 
 this church are the colossal statues of the Apostles 
 perched upon shelves, one to each column of the 
 nave : the effect is not good. The pulpit, and 
 staircase leading up to it, are a most elaborate 
 and ingenious example of sculpture in wood. The 
 impression on me was one of wonder at the 
 inexhaustible patience of the artist. Sauntering 
 about the church, near the great door I stumbled 
 upon something not unlike a sentry-box ; it was 
 
44 THE EAMPAKTS< 
 
 a confessional ! In this sat a sleek-looking priest, 
 head resting on his left hand, and the ear in- 
 clined to a little grated aperture in one side, 
 through which a female on her knees, and 
 shrouded in a black veil, poured out her heart 
 in a loud whisper. The holy man received the 
 communication with becoming gravity, though it 
 was easy to divine, by a short perusal of his 
 countenance, that he was receiving nothing but 
 commonplace, or at best no very important, 
 intelligence. Everything in this religion appears 
 most childish mummery ; — what more so than 
 this ? Leaving Notre Dame, I sought the ram- 
 parts. These no longer exist in a military sense, 
 but the high grassy mounds which remain, being 
 planted with trees, serve at once as a pretty 
 promenade, and diversify the views of the city 
 from without. The moat in most places still 
 remains green — almost as the meadows — with 
 aquatic plants. Some of the ancient gateways, 
 also, are still there to tell a tale of other times. 
 These, with their sombre grey towers, roofed with 
 tile, are eminently picturesque, and harmonise 
 well with the other buildings of the town. These 
 towers, with high conical roofs, which one meets 
 almost everywhere throughout the Continent, 
 particularly in this country, form a character- 
 
DINNER, 45 
 
 istic feature, distinguishing its scenery from that 
 of tlie British Islands, where the ruins of ancient 
 castles have almost invariably their round or 
 square towers terminated by a castellated parapet 
 and flat roof True it is that the Irish round- 
 towers have such roofs ; but they are low, and 
 form a very small portion in the general aspect 
 of the building : as also those solitary square 
 towers seen along the Scottish Border, and 
 sprinkled here and there over the soil of Ireland — • 
 the dwellings or keeps of petty chieftains — were 
 also siirmounted by high, but not conical roofs. 
 
 Tired of rambling about the streets, I returned 
 to our hotel, where, to my surprise, an excellent 
 dinner awaited me, exceedingly well served, and 
 the attendants (who had made themselves clean) 
 very active and obliging. Among these a boy of 
 fifteen or sixteen was a perfect beauty — so much 
 so as to excite universal admiration. Nor must 
 I forget another beauty of a far different kind — 
 some very old and genuine cognac. It was quite 
 a liqueur ; and we were so pleased with it, that 
 each secured a small stock to carry forward with 
 him. In short, we went to bed in better humour 
 with the Hotel de Commerce. 
 
CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 16 th. Marched through a country very similar 
 to that of yesterday — that is, flat rich soil, 
 highly cultivated, very populous, and diversified 
 with patches of wood, &c. — to Eccloo {cMf lieu 
 du canton), a neat little village consisting of two 
 broad streets forming a sort of place at the point 
 of union, where we parked our guns, despite the 
 objections of the inhabitants, who were woefully 
 afraid of an explosion. The Duke of Wellington, 
 en route to Ostend, passed as we were forming 
 up, and scrutinised us pretty closely, but said 
 nothing, although I afterwards learned that it 
 was positively against orders to park ammunition 
 of any kind in a village. 
 
 The landlord of the only auberge was so very 
 insolent that we formed a mess for the day in 
 one of our billets, our own servants cooking for 
 us. The fare was not sumptuous, but, en revanche, 
 
ECCLOO. if 
 
 very cheap, consisting entirely of our rations. 
 My- own billet here was in the house of a widow, 
 who kept a hardware shop — humble, but, as usual 
 in this country, a pattern of cleanliness. Eeturn- 
 ing from the mess, I joined the old lady and her 
 daughter in their little parlour behind the shop, 
 and two or three neighbours coming in, the 
 conversation became animated. The subject was 
 the return of Napoleon and the probable con- 
 sequences. According to their ideas, our cause 
 was hopeless. Last year our hostess had lodged 
 an officer of Cossacks, whom she described as a 
 most gentlemanly man. 
 
 1 7th. The same description of country accom- 
 panied us to Ghent. At the large village of 
 Lovendeghem the road joined the canal ; and here 
 we obtained the first view of this celebrated city, 
 the birthplace of Charles V., and the scene of so 
 many interesting events in the history of the 
 middle ages, forming, with its numerous towers, 
 a fine termination to the long vista of the 
 canal. 
 
 Nearer the coast the trees had been small and 
 somewhat stunted ; indeed, most of the woods we 
 had seen were merely coppice. Here, however, 
 they assumed a different character, being of large 
 size and great luxuriance, giving a much higher 
 
48 ARRIVAL AT GHENT. 
 
 interest to the landscape as they bordered the fine 
 meadows lying along either side of the canal, on 
 the bank of which our road lay. The scenery now 
 became further enriched and enlivened by the 
 frequent occurrence of country-seats, generally of 
 brick, and embowered in foliage ; a lawn stretch- 
 ing down to the canal, and terminated by a 
 terrace with a low parapet-wall and a summer- 
 house at one end of it. The only boat, however, 
 we met, was the packet going to Bruges ; and 
 the road itself was so solitary that, had not our 
 eyes convinced us to the contrary, we should 
 never have imagined ourselves approaching so 
 rich and populous a city. 
 
 About two P.M. we reached the canal harbour, 
 separated from the city by a handsome barriere 
 {grille) or iron railing in imitation of spears, the 
 shafts painted light blue, with gilded blades. A 
 small budding, with the word " Octroi " in large 
 letters over the door, stood on one side of the gate 
 by which we now entered the capital of Flanders, 
 and immediately found ourselves in a fine broad 
 street, with large and stately houses on either side. 
 Yet the very first impression was that of disap- 
 pointment. The street was lonely, almost de- 
 serted, and nearly every second house exhibited 
 a board bearing a notice in French and Flemish 
 that it was to sell or let — "Maison k louer," 
 
OUR QUARTERS THERE. 49 
 
 " Huys zu heuer," or " Maison a vendre," &c. &c. 
 Curious it is that two languages should be in- 
 dispensably necessary ; but such seems to be the 
 case here, for I observed that aU proclamations 
 and public notices of any kind were invariably in 
 French and Flemish. We proceeded some way 
 through the same sort of quiet and (apparently) 
 depopulated region ; but at last, crossing a broad 
 canal, or, may be, one of the several rivers which 
 here unite, we came at once into the very heart 
 of bustle, business, fine shops, and crowds of 
 people, continuing on nearly a mile, through aU 
 which we at last reached the cavalry barracks 
 (our destination), quite at the further extremity 
 of the town, near the Barriere de Bruxelles, where 
 we parked our guns and put up our horses ; but 
 there was no room for the men, consequently they 
 were billeted.''' Nothing could be more incon- 
 venient than this arrangement, though I believe 
 it could not be helped, the place being already 
 crowded with troops, English and French — for this 
 was the headquarters of Louis XVIII. 's phantom 
 of an army. Upon ascertaining the situation of 
 Qur biUets, too, we found things still worse, thpse 
 being generally in the Quartier de Bruge, a dis- 
 tance of nearly one and a half miles from the bar- 
 rack, and some still farther ofi" — one detachment 
 
 * M'Donald's troop had arrived ten days before us. 
 VOL, I, D 
 
50 MY HOST. 
 
 being billeted at La Barqu^, a cabaret on the 
 canal harbour, and another at some village still 
 farther off. A serious inconvenience this for 
 horse-soldiers, whose duties required them to be 
 so continually at the barrack, and most harassing 
 when it is recollected that the distance from bar- 
 rier to barrier is reckoned three miles — the whole 
 distance over an execrable pavement. It was not 
 without some trouble that I succeeded in finding 
 my own billet in Bruge Straet, a respectable house, 
 but nowise remarkable either for size or archi- 
 tecture. My host, a stout cheerful-looking old 
 gentleman, whose bearing and dress bespoke the 
 opulent citizen, met me in the gateway, and with 
 great cordiality (recognising my billet) ushered 
 me into a large room by the side of the brick- 
 paved entry, announcing it as mine during my 
 stay, at the same time offering me the use of his 
 whole establishment, particularly of his cook. 
 This last I accepted with pleasure, having ar- 
 ranged with my officers that our mess should be 
 in my quarter, wherever that might be. Mean- 
 time, my baggage-cart having been drawn up the 
 narrow yard and the horses dismissed, the great 
 gates reclosed, and the bustle of arrival subsided, 
 everything sank into silence — a silence as predom- 
 inating in the street without as within the house. 
 
 ::! 
 
MY QUARTERS. 51 
 
 My apartment was a large, lofty, long room, 
 running back from the street, towards which, two 
 high windows admitted such insufficient light that 
 even in fine weather it was particularly gloomy. 
 At the farther end two folding-doors cut off a 
 portion of its length, and this was fitted up as a 
 bed-chamber — dark enough. The furniture of the 
 salle consisted of a few common chairs and a 
 large table covered with oil -cloth. The floor 
 was without carpet, as the windows were without 
 either blinds or curtains. How the rest of the 
 house might have been fitted up I am ignorant, 
 having seen no more of its interior than the kitr 
 chen, which opened into the yard, and that was 
 certainly the neatest and cleanest I ever saw, with 
 its red floor and red stoves and highly-polished 
 brass pans, &c. &c. Nor did I ever see much 
 more of the inhabitants ; for, with the exception 
 of two females in the kitchen, the house seemed 
 deserted. A man-servant certainly assisted at 
 our dinner, but we rarely saw even him at any 
 other time. Not a voice — not a foot-fall — not a 
 sound of any kind, unless emanating from our- 
 selves, ever disturbed the death-like silence that 
 reigned through this establishment. Mine host 
 was, I believe, a merchant, and went out every 
 morning to his business, whence he returned- not 
 
52 LOUIS XVIII. AND HIS COUET. 
 
 until the evening, at least as far as I could ascer- 
 tain. I saw nothing more of him from my first 
 reception until I called to take leave and thank 
 him for his attentions and hospitality. These 
 consisted in the assistance of his servants and the 
 use of his beer-cask, on which we drew for our 
 daily supply. 
 
 During the seven days we remained in Ghent, our 
 time was so occupied by duties that there was little 
 leisure to look about us. Twice every day it was 
 necessary to be at the barracks, so that a very 
 great portion of my time was spent in walking 
 backward and forward between them and Bruge 
 Straet. 
 
 Amongst other duties it fell to our lot to fur- 
 nish a guard of honour to Louis XVIII. , then re- 
 siding in Ghent, his own troops having been sent 
 to Alost to make room for the British, which were 
 continually passing through. Our subalterns were 
 very well pleased with this arrangement, for the 
 duty was nothing. They found an excellent table, 
 and passed their time very agreeably with the 
 young men of the garde du corps, some of whom 
 were always in attendance. Many of these were 
 mere boys, and the anteroom of his most Chris- 
 tian Majesty frequently exhibited bolstering mat- 
 ches and other amusements, savouring strongly of 
 
FRENCH OFFICERS. 53 
 
 the boarding-scliool ; however, they were good- 
 natured, and always most attentive to the com- 
 forts of the officer on guard. The royal stud was 
 in the barrack stables, and consisted principally of 
 grey horses, eighteen or twenty of which had been 
 purchased in England at a sale of cast horses from 
 the Scots Greys. 
 
 We frequently met French officers of all ranks, 
 and formed acquaintance with many gentle- 
 manly, well-informed men. At the Lion d'Or 
 and H6tel de Flandre we found there was a table- 
 d'hete every night at 8 o'clock, and, by way of 
 passing the evening, usually resorted to one or 
 the other for supper. Here we were sure of meet- 
 ing many Frenchmen, and as the same people 
 were generally constant attendants, we became 
 intimate, and discussed the merits of our national 
 troops respectively over our wine or ponche. It 
 was the first time most of them had had an 
 opportunity of inspecting British troops closely, 
 though many had often met them in the field ; 
 and they were very curious in their inquiries into 
 the organisation, government, and equipment of 
 our army. Although allowing all due credit to 
 the bravery displayed by our troops in the Penin- 
 sula, and the talents of our General (the Duke), 
 yet were they unanimous in their belief that 
 
54 MARSHAL MARMONT, 
 
 neither would avail in the approaching conflict, 
 and that we must succumb before their idol and 
 his grand army ; for though these gentlemen had 
 deserted Napoleon to follow the fortunes of Louis 
 XVIIL, it was evident they still revered the 
 former. Their admiration of our troops, particu- 
 larly of the cavalry, was very great ; but they 
 expressed astonishment at seeing so few decora- 
 tions. It was in vain we asserted that medals 
 were rarely given in the British army, and then 
 only to commanding officers, &c. They shook 
 their heads, appeared incredulous, and asked, 
 " Where are the troops that fought in Spain 1 " 
 There might have been something more than 
 mere curiosity in all this. There might have 
 been an anxiety to ascertain whether their coun- 
 trymen were about to cope with veterans or 
 young soldiers. It might have been thrown out 
 as a lure, to provoke information relative to 
 the present employment of those veteran bands. 
 Moreover, I shrewdly suspected many of these 
 gentlemen Avere actually spies. Amongst others 
 who had followed Louis XVIIL was Marmont. I 
 think it was the day after our arrival, passing 
 over the open space near the Place d'Armes, by 
 the river, I saw a French general officer exercis- 
 ing a horse in the manege, and learnt with as- 
 
FRENCH DESEETEES. 55 
 
 tonisliment that this was Marmont ; for the mau 
 in question had tivo good arms — -whereas, for 
 years past, I had, in common with most people in 
 England, looked upon it as a fact that he had 
 left one at Salamanca. French deserters, both 
 officers and privates, were daily coming in ; it 
 was said they deserted by hundreds. Be that as 
 it may, I one day saw a column of thirty march 
 up to the Bureau des Logemens, They were 
 in a most miserable plight — all in rags — and 
 apparently half-starved. All these deserters, as 
 well as the rest, were forwarded without delay 
 to Alost. The Commissaire des Logemens told 
 rae that, after the departure of the French troops 
 to Alost, there still remained more than 300 of 
 his Majesty's immediate followers for whom it 
 was necessary to provide in Ghent. 
 
 The huzzars of the K. G. Legion, stationed 
 about Detto, and toward the frontier, frequently 
 sent intelligence of hostile movements ; but ex- 
 cept this, we were in perfect ignorance of the 
 positions either of our own or the French army. 
 Eegiments arrived from England, halted a night, 
 and were off again we knew not where. 
 
 Meantime we lived well, and saw as much of 
 the place as our scanty time would permit. The 
 markets were most abundantly supplied with 
 
56 GHENT. 
 
 everything, and very cheap ; so that with the as- 
 sistance of our hourgmestre's cook we kept an 
 excellent table at a moderate rate. As for our 
 horses, although they had exhibited symptoms of 
 having felt their exposure on the sands at Ostend 
 when we first arrived, yet rest and good forage 
 soon restored their original appearance, and we 
 began to get tired of Ghent and long for a 
 forward move. 
 
 I cannot, however, bid adieu to Ghent without 
 recording a few notes, which my confined means 
 of observation enabled me to preserve ; and be it 
 remembered that, at that period, the continent of 
 Europe was almost a terra incognita to English- 
 men, to whom everything, therefore, even trifles, 
 bore a degree of interest, which our present inti- 
 mate acquaintance may cause to appear puerile at 
 the present day. 
 
 I need not say that Ghent is a large and popu- 
 lous city, standing upon ground generally flat, 
 intersected and divided into numerous islands by 
 tliree or four rivers, besides canals, which hold 
 their com'se through it, nor that it is the birth- 
 place of the Emperor Charles V. ; but I may add 
 that Ghent, independent of its historical recollec- 
 tions, is, and ever must be, a most interesting 
 place, particularly to the artist ; for where can 
 
STREET ARCHITECTURE. 57 
 
 we see such picturesque street-scenes as are exhi- 
 bited here 1 The streets, bordered by lofty houses 
 generally of a quaint style of architecture, wind 
 their devious way — now narrow, now spreading 
 out to an ample breadth — with an irregularity that 
 certainly leaves no room to complain of sameness. 
 This irregularity attaches as much to the houses 
 as to the streets. These are of every variety — 
 high stepped gables towards the street, little tur- 
 rets with pointed roofs, others with large French 
 windows, and, again, others all window, as at 
 Bruges. These, intermingled with, and partially 
 seen through, the foliage of the trees, which in 
 many places border the canals, &c., offer most 
 picturesque morsels, precisely such as one sees in 
 the pictures of the old Flemish painters, so that 
 they appeared quite familiar. This effect is con- 
 siderably heightened by the deep embrasures of 
 the windows, lofty grotesquely ornamented por- 
 tals, and, above all, the rich deep tone of colouring 
 that pervaded the whole. Chapels and churches, 
 too — some in the Gothic, others Italian, or still 
 more modern styles — intervened continually, the 
 whole forming rich perspectives, animated by 
 the varied and bustling crowds of citizens, peas- 
 ants, soldiers, &c. One peculiarity struck me as 
 savouring much of indolence and curiosity com- 
 
58 .THE PLACE d'aRMES. 
 
 bined : almost every house, at one or more win- 
 dows of the first floor, had small square mirrors, 
 sometimes single, sometimes double, so arranged 
 that persons seated within the room could see the 
 passengers on the trottoir below without stirring 
 from their seats. In English towns one con- 
 stantly sees heads peeping over the blinds ; here, 
 no one is seen at the windows. 
 
 Near the centre of the city is the Place d'Armes, 
 a large square, having the area ornamented by 
 rows of well-grown linden trees, and its houses 
 of a superior character to those in the adjoining 
 quarters. This is the focus of business, and in 
 this neighbourhood one sees all the best shops, 
 some of Avhich astonished us by the profuse display 
 of Indian goods, particularly silk pocket-hand- 
 kerchiefs, which we found of the very finest 
 quality, and at about half the price they sold at 
 in England. The Place d'Armes is, however, 
 spoiled in a great measure by the shabby wooden 
 railing enclosing the promenade. 
 
 In this square was a magnificent hotel, at least 
 as far as outward appearance went. The Due de 
 Berri had his quarters in it; and one day, as I 
 returned from the barrack, I saw him set off for 
 Alost. This was the first travelling equipage I 
 had seen in the country ; and consequently I was 
 
-. FLEMISH POSTILIONS. 69 
 
 much amused with the coxcombry and costume 
 of the postilions— their glazed hats stuck on one 
 side; queues, each with the side -hair neatly 
 plaited in ; short, very short jackets ; and, above 
 all, the enormous jack-boots. But if the costume 
 amused, the dexterity with which they handled 
 their whips astonished me — " klang-klang-klang," 
 — between them they almostmade music. Therapid 
 and dexterous manner in which, flourishing their 
 whips over their heads, they crack them — before, 
 behind, right, and left — is of a piece with that 
 manual dexterity with which our laboratory-boys 
 make ball-cartridges, and our drummers, by quick- 
 ly-repeated but distinct taps, produce a rolling 
 sound in which the most delicate ear cannot detect 
 a break. But to return from this digression. 
 
 The very little time I had to myself did 
 not admit of seeing half the place, and my 
 wanderings were pretty much confined to the 
 neighbourhood of the line between Bruges Straet 
 and the barrack. Sometimes, however, I did 
 extend a little to the right and left, and in 
 one of these excursions got a glimpse, but no 
 more, of some pleasant gardens — public, I suppose 
 — in which numerous walks, overarched with ver- 
 dure, intersected each other, and presented, as 
 the weather was hot, most inviting retreats. At 
 
60 VIEW FROM THE CITADEL. 
 
 another time I wandered as far as the Citadel, 
 — I suppose the one built by William III. of 
 England, not that of Charles V., of which not 
 a vestige remains. It must have been but an 
 insignificant work ; — the plan, I think, a paral- 
 lelogram. The mounds of the ramparts remain 
 entire, and the wet ditch. At present it is com- 
 pletely overlooked by the neighbouring houses. 
 From this work, which is situated just without 
 the barriere of the road to Thermonde, one com- 
 mands a prospect, perhaps, of its kind unrivalled. 
 Here are no picturesque or romantic features, but 
 the eye wanders unimpeded over a region as flat 
 as the ocean, and, like it, only terminating in the 
 distant horizon. This region is amongst the 
 richest in the world, and, spite of its flatness, 
 ofi"ers to our view a scene at once pleasing and 
 astonishing. Verdant meadows, enameled with 
 myriads of yellow and white flowers, amidst 
 which graze innumerable herds of the finest cattle, 
 extend for miles from the city, and then, inter- 
 mingled with corn-fields, groves, and thickets, 
 amidst which are seen everywhere villages, farms, 
 and scattered houses, melt gradually away into 
 the blue distance. In the immediate foreground, 
 a singular hillock, crowned by a little chapel and 
 environed by trees, rears its form and enhances 
 
THE COEN-MAEKET. 61 
 
 the picture by variety of feature and the interest- 
 ing peeps admitted between the openings of the 
 foliage. The road from Thermonde passes through 
 this grove, and, covered as it generally is (or was, 
 when I saw it) with groups of market-people, 
 carts, and cattle, &c., throws a charming ani- 
 mation into the scene. The lengthened perspec- 
 tive, too, of this road running away in a straight 
 line bordered by trees, and gradually diminishing 
 untn lost in the distance, breaks the unvaried 
 flatness of the meadows, and prevents one feeling 
 them monotonous. Eeturning from the Citadel, 
 I joined the rustic crowd pouring in through the 
 harriere, and, following the stream, was brought 
 by it into an extensive square surrounded by 
 lofty and antique-looking houses, apparently the 
 exclusive abode of the humbler classes of mer- 
 chants or artisans. The crowd here was immense ; 
 and it was not without difficulty that I made my 
 way through it. I think this is the March^ aux 
 Grains. Not far from thence I stumbled on the 
 great gun, called the Basdisc,'*''' said to have been 
 
 * La Folle Marguerite (?), 18 feet long and 3 feet in diameter, 
 near the Marche de Vendredi ; it is called the Mannekens Aert. 
 It is named after a Countess of Flanders celebrated for the 
 violence of her temper. It is also designated the Wonder of 
 Ghent, is made of malleable iron, and, according to another ac- 
 count, was used by Philip Van Arteveldt at the siege of Ondenarde 
 in 1382.— Quin's ' Moselle,' &c., vol. i. p. 160. 
 
62 THE HOTEL DE VILLE. 
 
 cast by order of Charles V., to overawe the 
 Ghentois. As far as I could see, this enormous 
 piece, which reposes on a mass of brickwork in 
 an open space at the turn of the street, is a plain 
 unornamented cylinder of iron (wrought). It was 
 too high for minute inspection. The pedestal 
 upon which it rests serves also as a public foun- 
 tain, about which are usually groups of gossiping 
 women with their pitchers under their arms, or 
 noisy boys. 
 
 Amongst the buildings of Ghent, interesting 
 from their style, the ancient Gothic H6tel de 
 Ville stands pre-eminent, with its rich and ela- 
 borately-ornamented fagades. This venerable 
 pile is said to have been built, at least the older 
 • part of it, in the beginning of the seventh century. 
 Another remnant of antiquity, perhaps still more 
 old, I discovered in my own neighbourhood — 
 this was the ancient castle, Castrum Ganda (?), 
 a small open space, in the corner of which are the 
 remains of thick walls and one tower still nearly 
 entire — its different storeys affording lodgment 
 to several poor families, from whom, however, I 
 sought in vain for any information respecting 
 these ruins. From the direction of the patches 
 of wall, I conjectured that the open space was 
 once the inner court of the castle. 
 
MEAT AND VEGETABLE MARKETS. 63 
 
 In the same quarter was one of the markets, 
 through which I passed every day in going to 
 and coming from the barrack ; it was for meat 
 and vegetables, &c. The latter were exposed for 
 sale in the open air in baskets, as with us; and 
 here, as everywhere else, one could not but be 
 struck with the great abundance and fine quality 
 of every produce of this rich country. One vege- 
 table seemingly in great request was the tender 
 root of the hop plant. This, when peeled and 
 stewed in milk, is really delicious. We had it 
 every day on our table, and it was a general 
 favourite. A principal occupation of the market- 
 women was peeling these roots, which were 
 then thrown into a basin of cold water to keep 
 them fresh, and thus exposed for sale. The meat- 
 market adjoining was under cover and closed in, 
 like the central avenue of Covent Garden, forming 
 a long street of stalls, each full of the finest meat 
 imaginable, cut up into joints, &c., whilst over- 
 head, suspended under the roof, were innumer- 
 able whole carcasses of bullocks, sheep, and pigs. 
 Nothing could exceed the cleanliness of this 
 place, or the neatness and propriety of dress of 
 the butchers, their wives, and daughters. Unlike 
 our markets, there was no loud talking, no con- 
 fused gabbling of tongues ; everything seemed 
 
64 GENERAL ORDER AND CLEANLINESS. 
 
 conducted with the utmost quiet, order, and de- 
 cency. The middle of the passage was thronged 
 with well-dressed people of all classes and both 
 sexes. On entering I was struck with a singular 
 dull murmuring sound that pervaded the build- 
 ing, somewhat resembling the sound of a distant 
 mill, which I soon perceived to be produced by 
 the active industry of the women, who, instead 
 of sitting idly waiting for custom, were all busily 
 employed pounding sausage-meat. If ever I 
 could relish a sausage it would be a Ghent one, 
 for nothing can exceed the cleanliness of the ope- 
 rators and their operations, or the goodness of the 
 materials of which they are made. One may form 
 some idea of the abundance of this fine country 
 from the fact that, having been all last year the 
 seat of war, and now everywhere occupied by nu- 
 merous foreign troops, still there appeared no di- 
 minution in the supplies, and the markets of every 
 town exhibit as great a profusion as ever. 
 
 With the exception of a slight sandy eminence 
 at Eccloo, the first undulations of the country we 
 had yet seen were at Ghent. On the southern 
 side of the town I ascended with pleasure a hill, 
 which apparently was the commencement of a 
 sort of rolling country extending towards Deynse. 
 From its summit is an excellent view of the city 
 
A SUPPRESSED MONASTERY. 65 
 
 and the fine country around it. Meadows of the 
 liveliest green, intersected by numerous streams, 
 exhibited everywhere immense quantities of linen 
 exposed for bleaching— such was the scene imme- 
 diately below. In the distance, as the plain became 
 foreshortened, it seemed to be bounded by woods. 
 The city itself was rendered a more pleasing ob- 
 ject by having its sombre masses broken and 
 relieved by large plots of garden-ground and the 
 frequent intervention of foliage. On this hill 
 stood a large square building, once a monastery, 
 but suppressed during the Eevolution, like many 
 others. To what use it is now turned I could not 
 guess, as not a living soul was to be seen in or 
 about it of whom to make inquiry. The massive 
 pile, with its numerous windows, high roof, and 
 yawning portal, was not an unpicturesque object. 
 I sauntered into its solitary court; grass had 
 almost overgrown the pavement, and desolation 
 was stamped on every feature. I could not look 
 on all this without indulging in a dream, and in 
 my mind's eye embodying fat and lazy monks 
 strolling about the court, or lounging in idle con- 
 verse on the stone benches against the sunny 
 wall ; again, some more venerable figiire passing 
 the corridors in silent meditation. On the road 
 from the town, too, I conjured up groups of 
 
 VOL. I. E 
 
66 THE CATHEDRAL. 
 
 ascending and descending brothers, and though 
 not approving of their vocation, could not but 
 regret the absence of their picturesque costume. 
 The only convent I saw besides this in Ghent 
 was an inhabited one, and it is to be hoped 
 always will be. This is the Beguinage, to 
 which I hardly know whether the term "con- 
 vent" should be applied, for it rather resembles 
 a small town. Each of the sisters has a separate 
 dwelling, with a little flower-garden in front of 
 it, much in the style of some of our better kind 
 of alms-houses in England. It appears an old 
 building, and is surrounded by a moat. 
 
 The Cathedral of St Bavon being in our neigh- 
 bourhood, and not much out of the way of my 
 daily walks, I frequently went in to see what was 
 going on ; for one goes to these Catholic ceremo- 
 nies as to any other show. This church makes 
 no great appearance from without, but the inte- 
 rior is imposing and beautiful, as all Gothic inte- 
 riors are. The panels of the choir over the stalls 
 are a series of paintings exceedingly well executed, 
 representing the acts of St Paul, I believe. The 
 curiosities of the church are the crypt, the tombs, 
 and the pulpit. The former of these probably 
 originated in the unsoundness of the ground ren- 
 dering such a foundation necessary. Its arches 
 
THE CATHEDRAL. 67 
 
 are semicircular, and spring from low but very 
 massive pillars. Mass is sometimes performed 
 tere, but only often enough, I should imagine, to 
 prevent its desecration. Of the tombs, there are 
 two of very admirable sculpture — the one in 
 white, the other in black marble — both, I think, 
 of bishops. The pulpit is like that of Bruges — 
 an elaborate piece of carving in wood — notable 
 monument of patience and perseverance. One 
 evening, attracted by the chanting, I walked in, 
 just as a procession wound slowly from behind 
 the choir, and advanced with banners and lighted 
 tapers down the side aisle. The approaching 
 twilight had thrown every part of the church 
 into a mysterious obscurity, harmonising well 
 with such a scene. Two boys in scarlet surplices, 
 with shaven heads, but beautiful faces, came first, 
 swinging about large handsome censers of sil- 
 ver. The atmosphere was soon impregnated with 
 the smoking frankincense, whose odour was well 
 calculated to aid the imposing effect. Two ban- 
 ners, in form resembling the labarum, followed. 
 To these succeeded a train of priests, in variously- 
 coloured, rich, and picturesque dresses, some bear- 
 ing other banners of different shapes and devices ; 
 and a number of boys, all habited like those 
 already mentioned, and equally fair, flanked the 
 
68 A ROYAL MASS. 
 
 procession, and enveloped it in a light haze by 
 the fumes of their incessantly swinging cen- 
 sers. The ■ chant had just died away as I 
 entered the nave, and the procession, with solemn, 
 silent tread, moved slowly down the aisle — the 
 only sound that broke upon the ear being the 
 grating rattle of the censer -lids as they were 
 drawn rapidly up and down the chains. Then 
 again the full impressive harmony of the chant 
 filled the vaulted roof with its sweet and solemn 
 notes, died away, and after another pause was 
 again and again resumed ; and thus, having made 
 the circuit of the nave, the procession became 
 gradually lost in the obscurity of the aisle as it 
 slowly retired behind the choir, whence at inter- 
 vals, softened by distance, the chant still rose 
 over the dividing screen behind the high altar. 
 
 Puerile as these exhibitions may be, the effect 
 on me was exciting ; and as the last notes were 
 faintly re-echoed through the building, I left it in 
 a frame of mind far different from that in which 
 I had entered. 
 
 On the Sunday we passed in Ghent a mass was 
 celebrated expressly for Monsieur (le Comte d'Ar- 
 tois). Expecting something grand, I repaired to 
 the cathedral in company with several other offi- 
 cers. We were received with great civility by 
 
A ROYAL MASS. 69 
 
 the functionaries of the establishment, and pro- 
 vided with seats in the stalls and organ-loft. Our 
 party formed the whole congregation, for there 
 were none of the inhabitants. "We had not been 
 long seated ere a slight movement and the shuffl- 
 ing of feet in the direction of the grand entrance 
 announced the approach of the illustrious com- 
 municant; and Monsieur entered the choir, fol- 
 lowed at a little distance by the gentlemen of his 
 suite : a small man of good figure, but of no 
 very distinguished appearance. He was dressed 
 in a blue uniform coat with silver embroidery, 
 white breeches, and silk stockings. He advanced 
 with a quick pace to the steps of the high altar, 
 where a single chair had been placed for him, 
 bowed very low, crossed himself most devoutly, 
 bowed again, and, kneeling on the chair with his 
 arms resting on the back, buried his face in his 
 hands, and in this attitude remained through- 
 out the ceremony. His suite, military and civil, 
 ranged themselves across the choir behind him. 
 A few found chairs, and knelt on them, but the 
 greater part remained standing, and seemed little 
 interested in the service. At length, to my great 
 joy, the last taper was extinguished, and, tired to 
 death, I made my escape, resolved never again to 
 attend a royal mass. 
 
70 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTUEE. 
 
 With the interior of the houses in Ghent I had 
 little acquaintance, having seen no more of them 
 than the rooms inhabited by our own officers. 
 In our Quartier de Bruges were many very large 
 and even magnificent ones — some of them in the 
 modern style, with French windows, of three or 
 four stories, or occasionally only one, with a base- 
 ment entirely blank ; others, again, in the heavy 
 antique Flemish style, with large windows in 
 deep embrasures (perhaps with little panes of 
 glass set in lead, and divided by heavy stone 
 mullions) — those on the ground -floor defended 
 by an iron cage, as in Spain ; lofty folding-doors, 
 full of iron studs, surmounted by a cumbrous, 
 tasteless pediment, or an equally cumbrous 
 escutcheon, looking gloomily magnificent. In 
 all cases, however, the most scrupulous cleanh- 
 ness and neatness were general characteristics ; 
 and as the street-doors usually stood wide open 
 throughout the day, the eye of the passenger, as 
 it glanced through the darkened perspective of 
 the entrance-haU, was sure to be refreshed by the 
 vivid verdure of vines and acacias decorating 
 the interior court— a never-failing accompani- 
 ment, particularly to the older houses. 
 
 One of my officers, with whom I had estab- 
 lished a breakfast mess, was billeted in a house 
 
AN INTERIOR. 71 
 
 (or rather palace) of the latter description in the 
 Eue de Poivre (Pepper Straet). The rooms in 
 this were of magnificent dimensions, wainscoted 
 with some dark wood, the doorways and ceilings 
 ornamented with arabesques. They were scrupu- 
 lously clean, but very bare of furniture, the little 
 there was (merely chairs and tables) clumsy and 
 antique — folding-doors with their ornamented 
 encasements reaching to the ceiling — neither door 
 nor window frames painted. The whole house was 
 as deserted and silent as I have described my own 
 to be — gloomily obscure ; but this, as the weather 
 was hot, formed a recommendation, for it was 
 deliciously cool. The only inhabitants ever seen 
 either by my companion or myself were the lord 
 of the mansion — a most precise, polite, frigid 
 little sexagenarian, and an old domestic in cotton 
 jacket and bonnet de nuit, who sometimes assisted 
 Q.'s servant. The old gentleman was, however, 
 most civil in going through the ceremony of 
 offering everjrthing his house afi'orded, but what 
 that might be there were no means of ascertain- 
 ing, for we never either saw or smelt his kitchen. 
 The garden, an irregular area of no great dimen- 
 sions, presented a grove of trees with thickets of 
 underwood, threaded in all directions by narrow 
 serpentine walks ; and to prevent a sense of con- 
 
72 COMFOETABLE QUARTERS. 
 
 finement, I suppose, the high boundary-wall was 
 painted from top to bottom in distemper, with the 
 representation of a distant country sky and all. 
 The effect of this, in my opinion, was vastly in- 
 ferior to that which would have been produced 
 by covering it with vines or flowering creepers. 
 Another of our people dwelt in a house of quite 
 a different description — it was one of those al- 
 ready mentioned as having a blank basement, 
 and giving but a single row of large French win- 
 dows to the street. My friend's apartments were 
 truly luxurious. The walls were covered with 
 French paper representing the scenery of some 
 tropical region, the furniture (of which there was 
 even a superfluity) all elegant ; the large windows, 
 adorned by ample draperies, looked out upon a 
 lovely and luxuriant garden, and the light that 
 entered through them was broken and tempered 
 by festoons of vine leaves that hung across them, 
 whilst the air came redolent of delicious odours 
 from the ocean of flowers below, and the ear was 
 entertained with the sweet warbling of birds 
 suspended in pretty cages of brass wire in all 
 parts of the house. The family consisted of 
 several females — handsome, elegant, and simple 
 in their dress ; women - servants, scrupulously 
 neat and clean, but not a man. These ladies 
 
NUMBERS OF PRIESTS. 73 
 
 must have been people of some consequence, if 
 we may judge from the number and respectability 
 of their visitors. The general aspect of the popu- 
 lation of Ghent, as seen in the streets, &c., did 
 not strike me as having anything very peculiar 
 in it to attract the attention of a foreigner ; the 
 numbers, however, and to him novel appearance, 
 of the secular clergy form a feature not to be 
 omitted. An Englishman is totally unused to 
 having the Church and its accessories so con- 
 stantly in his presence as he here finds it. Both 
 eyes and ears remind him perpetually of one and 
 the other. The carillons, and the irregular un- 
 meaning jingle- jangle of the bells from the 
 numerous churches, continuing more or less 
 throughout the day — the monotonous nasal 
 chant issuing from every church one passes 
 (and they constantly recur) — the occasional ren- 
 contre of some procession, and the number of 
 priests to be seen everywhere in black cassocks 
 and bands, with very small three-cornered cocked- 
 hats stuck formally on their well-powdered heads 
 — never allow one to forget Holy Mother Church 
 as a leading member of the commonwealth. 
 These priests all look sleek and in good case — ■ 
 they are evidently well fed ; and it is amusing to 
 see some of them (very young men) gliding along 
 
74 COSTUMES. 
 
 with downcast eyes {vuUus dejectu) and demure 
 steps, whilst ever and anon a stealthy sidelong 
 glance announces that their thoughts are not 
 entirely abstracted in devotional meditation — that 
 they are not insensible to the excitement of the 
 busy scene around them. To these may be added 
 the dowdy, homely figures of the Beguines in 
 their inelegant black dresses, as inelegant and 
 truly bizarre caps of snow-white linen floating 
 like enormous wings on either side of their heads. 
 The remainder of the population, as I have said, 
 ofi"ered nothing very striking in the way of cos- 
 tume, at least as far as regarded the higher 
 classes. People everywhere now have adopted, 
 it may be said, a common uniform. All the 
 male world wear round hats, tail or frock coats 
 of sober colours, and trousers. The rich old 
 hourgmestres, for instance, are precisely what 
 one would figure to himself a hourgmestre to 
 be — fat, portly, aldermanly men, often in cocked- 
 hats and powdered wigs, a sober or sad-coloured 
 suit of good broad -cloth, amply cut, breeches 
 ditto, silver knee-buckles, white or striped silk- 
 stockings, clumsy, square-toed, but well-polished, 
 high - quartered shoes, with enormous silver 
 buckles — quite antiques ; the finish, a handsome 
 cane with golden knob, sometimes rufiles, figured 
 
CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE. 75 
 
 silk waistcoats, &c. &c. The peasantry frequent- 
 ing the markets differed from our people of the 
 same class in the prevalence of short striped cot- 
 ton jackets, caps, and sahots. Many of them, 
 like our rustics, wore smock-frocks, much orna- 
 mented about the back, breast, and shoulders by 
 embroidery in coloured worsteds; these frocks, 
 however, are generally dark -blue. The street 
 groups of the middle and lower classes were 
 principally characterised by the frequency of 
 short jackets, generally nankin or striped cotton, 
 breeches of velveteen, with silver knee -buckles 
 and striped stockings ; cloth, nankin, or a sort of 
 grey linen, foraging - caps of aU shapes — some 
 trimmed with wool or fur, generally having long 
 pendant tassels from the top, and almost all 
 having immense broad shades either of leather, 
 or of the same material as the cap. 
 
 Of the manners of a people it would be pre- 
 sumption to speak on so short an acquaintance. 
 The little intercourse we had with them, however, 
 made a favourable impression on us. We found 
 those of the upper classes obliging and polite; 
 the tradesmen civil and attentive ; the labouring 
 classes quiet, orderly, and extremely respectful. 
 
 In point of religion, the men of the upper classes 
 appeared indifferent or lukewarm, the women 
 
76 IMMORALITY. 
 
 very assiduous in the performance of ceremonies, 
 in which it was obvious the heart frequently had 
 little concern. The lower orders were supersti- 
 tious, priest-ridden, and extremely punctual in the 
 performance of their duties. The peasantry alone 
 seemed quite in earnest. I may characterise the 
 Avhole population, high and low, as priest-ridden ; 
 for, however indifferent the men of the former 
 may be, they are not a whit the less subservient 
 to these their spiritual, and generally temporal, 
 masters. 
 
 It would be unjust to condemn as immoral a 
 whole people for the vices found in their cities. 
 We ought not, therefore, to pass unqualified cen- 
 sure on the Flemings because this was exhibited 
 to us openly in the streets of their great cities. I 
 allude to the barefaced manner in which we were 
 tormented incessantly by a number of boys making 
 the most impudent and depraved propositions, and 
 that with a pertinacity not readily repulsed. An 
 instance of moral and religious degradation, I am 
 happy to say, we rarely met with afterwards until 
 our arrival at that hotbed of vice — Paris. 
 
 Our last transaction in Ghent was the taking 
 over a number of baggage-mules from Captain 
 Olive's Brigade of the German Legion Artillery. 
 These beautiful animals they had brought with 
 
GERMAN AND ENGLISH CAVALRY. 77 
 
 them from Spain, and I shall never forget the grief 
 and indignation with which they parted with them. 
 Affection for, and care of, his horse, is the trait, 
 par excellence, which distinguishes the German 
 dragoon from the English. The former would 
 sell everything to feed his horse; the latter would 
 sell his horse itself for spirits, or the means of ob- 
 taining them. The one never thinks of himself 
 until his horse is provided for ; the other looks 
 upon the animal as a curse and a source of per- 
 petual drudgery to himself, and gives himself no 
 concern about it when once away from under his 
 officer's eye. The German accustoms his horse to 
 partake of his own fare. I remember a beautiful 
 mare, belonging to a sergeant of the 3d Hussars, 
 K.G.L., which would even eat onions. She was 
 one of the very few that escaped after the disas- 
 trous retreat of Corunna, and had been saved and 
 smuggled on board ship by the sergeant himself. 
 In the Peninsula the only means of enforcing 
 some attention to their horses amongst our Eng- 
 lish regiments was to make every man walk and 
 carry his saddle-bags whose horse died or was Ul. 
 
CHAPTER y. 
 
 April 24. — Orders to march, to-morrow morning 
 to Thermonde. At a loss to know where this can 
 be, but find it is Dendermonde. Whether this he 
 in consequence of any movement of the French 
 army, or only for the purpose of concentration, 
 we are in the dark. The other troops of horse- 
 artillery in Ghent have also received orders to 
 march, but we move independently of each other. 
 To-day passed in preparation, visiting, and leave- 
 taking. Called on my host, whom I found in a 
 handsome well-furnished drawing-room at the back 
 of the house, looking over a very nice garden. 
 Had no idea of so much cheerfulness and com- 
 fort existing under our roof, nor of the two good- 
 looking women I found with him. After much 
 complimenting we parted. 
 
 25 th. — Fine morning. Marched early ; leaving 
 Ghent by the road already mentioned as passing 
 
AGAIN ON THE MAECH. 79 
 
 under the Citadel, and crossing that flat but splen- 
 did country which I understand extends without 
 interruption to Antwerp, or rather to the Tete de 
 Flandre. This is the Pays de Waes, perhaps the 
 highest cultivated land in Europe. It is said to 
 have been once little better than moving sand, 
 but that the great quantities of manure laid on it 
 for so many successive centuries have completely 
 changed its nature, and produced the fine rich 
 black mould which is now everywhere of consi- 
 derable depth. If this be true, it will in some 
 measure account for the hillock already spoken 
 of, which is entirely of sand. Passing close under 
 this, I could not but be struck by the circumstance 
 of this sandy mound standing in the midst of an 
 otherwise unbroken level, and conjectured it must 
 be artificial — one of those enormous tumuli erected 
 as the tomb of departed warriors, or as a look-out, 
 which was a common Eoman custom, particularly 
 in so flat a region. It is about the height of Sil- 
 bury, perhaps less, but by no means of so regular 
 a form ; its slope, which is covered with trees and 
 bushes, being excavated and broken in numerous 
 places, probably for the sand. Standing as it 
 does amidst a grove of trees, through the boles 
 of which one catches pretty peeps of the blue 
 distance, and crowned by the little chapel, inde- 
 
80 THK PAYS DB WAES. 
 
 pendent of its historical or geological existence, it 
 is reaUy a very interesting object, and forms an 
 admirable foregi'ound to a picture of the Pays de 
 Waes. Every one does not understand the beauty 
 of a landscape the principal feature of vs^hich is 
 a dead level. Yet these, like others, have their 
 beauties, which consist principally in the effect 
 under which they are seen, and the delicious 
 tones of the aerial perspective gradually melting 
 into the purply tints of extreme distance. I have 
 often found very exquisite beauty in these fiat 
 Flemish scenes, especially when relieved and 
 animated by groups of men and cattle, such as 
 one sees in Cuyp and all the Dutch and Flemish 
 masters. Whether from the richness of the soil, 
 or some peculiar quality of the atmosphere, I 
 know not, but I always fancied the colouring 
 here much more vivid than in England, and the 
 distances much more purply — quite Italian. But 
 I am halting under the hill ; so to proceed. Our 
 road led us through the midst of this magnificent 
 Pays de Waes, everywhere exhibiting such crops 
 and such pastures as it is difficult to form an 
 idea of— the latter covered with fine beasts, which 
 I understand are brought hither from Holland to 
 fatten. We passed through several populous vil- 
 lages, particularly Locristy and Seven Eeke, and 
 
LOKBKEK 81 
 
 about fifteen miles from Ghent reached Lokeren, 
 a large manufacturing town, having all the dirty, 
 smoky, dismal appearance of our northern manu- 
 facturing places, to which the blackish-coloured 
 stone — somewhat, in colour at least, resembling 
 the slag used about Bristol as a building material — 
 contributes not a little. The houses, of three and 
 four storeys, appeared tenanted each by many 
 families ; and the population had all the squalid, 
 filthy character of our own manufacturing popu- 
 lation, always excepting those of Stroudwater 
 and the bottoms in Gloucestershire. Cloth is 
 the article fabricated here, but of what quality I 
 know not. >^ 
 
 A strong column^ of Hanoverian infantry, com- 
 posed of several battalions of militia, crossing our 
 route, detained us at the entrance of the town 
 more than half an hour, to the great amusement 
 of a crowd of gazing weavers and dyers, with 
 upturned sleeves and blue hands and arms, who 
 surrounded us. The Hanoverians were fine-look- 
 ing troops, generally very young, and completely 
 English in dress and appointments, except that 
 the officers wore particoloured sashes. Each 
 battalion had a very good band, though rather 
 noisy, from the number of jingling instruments 
 entering into its composition — as cymbals, tri- 
 
 YOL, I. F 
 
82 A VILLAGE CUrA 
 
 angles, ottomans, &c. &c. — all whicli are much 
 more patronised by foreigners than by us. The 
 Chaussde terminating at Lockeren, when we con- 
 tinued our march it was on a bad cross-road, which 
 soon brought us to Zele — a large populous manu- 
 facturing village, having a wide, clean street. 
 Houses in the cottage style, and generally only 
 of one floor. The whole population turned out 
 to see us pass, with the cure at their head — ^a 
 tall, respectable -looking old man, who, judging 
 from the good-humoured countenance with which 
 he scrutinised our column as it passed, and the air 
 empresse with which he came forward to offer 
 his advice respecting the road to Dendermonde, I 
 set down either as a very amiable person, or very 
 zealous in the cause of legitimacy : we were feel- 
 ing our way without a guide, and therefore had to 
 ask. The respectful, quiet, and contented air of 
 his flock spoke also in his favour, and, together 
 with the bright eyes of numerous pretty women 
 among the crowd, left a favourable impression of 
 Zele. 
 
 Henceforward the scenery took a very different 
 aspect, and we exchanged the smiling, populous, 
 well-wooded country we had been hitherto tra- 
 versing for a lugubrious, marshy tract, devoid of 
 anything that could break its monotony — neither 
 
DENDEEMONDE. 83 
 
 trees nor houses, and but few cattle, were to be 
 seen, whilst the abominable road became so slip- 
 pery that it was with difficulty our horses could 
 keep their feet. 
 
 About half a league from Dendermonde we struck 
 the Scheldt, but could see nothing of it or the 
 opposite country for the high dyke by which the 
 river is here confined, and along the foot of which, 
 for some little distance, our road lay, untU it 
 brought us to a wooden bridge elevated nearly 
 thirty feet above the water, and so tottering that 
 it was necessary to pass by single divisions, and 
 even then its vibrations were not pleasant. Our 
 quartermaster, who had been sent in advance, 
 met us here, with orders not to halt in Dender- 
 monde, but to proceed on to St Gille, situated 
 beyond it on the Brussels road. The appearance 
 of things improved here, from the number of trees 
 about Dendermonde, which we soon after entered 
 by a long, straight, narrow, gloomy, mean-looking 
 street of low houses, built of the same dark stone 
 we had seen at Lokeren. This led us to a spacious 
 quay, encompassing what I supposed to be the har- 
 bour, for the water was very low, and the mud bare, 
 like Bristol. Passing round the head of this, we 
 soon left the town again, and almost immediately 
 found ourselves at St GUle, which consists of a 
 
84 MY QUARTERS AT ST GILLE. 
 
 few mean houses scattered along tlie Chauss^e, 
 the only decent one being that of a juge de paix, 
 on which I found myself billeted. 
 
 In a country so carefully cultivated as this is, 
 a piece of waste land is a rarity, and therefore we 
 had some difficulty in forming our park, which at 
 last was done in a small enclosed cemetery, not 
 without disturbing the ashes of the dead, and 
 running some risk of breaking our horses' legs 
 and our own necks, for the graves had all been 
 so loosely filled in that the horses sank to their 
 shoulders in the light soil. Our men and horses 
 were dispersed amongst the neighbouring farms 
 of the commune, and though rather widely scat- 
 tered, yet most comfortably put up everywhere. 
 
 Whilst employed at the park my servant had 
 taken my baggage to my billet, so that on repair- 
 ing thither I found Madame la Juge, en habit de 
 Dimanches, akeady waiting at the door to re- 
 ceive me. A fine and handsome woman, perhaps 
 turned of thirty, and possessing a degree of em- 
 honpoint which, whilst it added dignity to her 
 air, detracted nothing from the grace of her per- 
 son. She received me with more than common 
 politeness, with kindness and cordiality, whicli, 
 as an intruder, I felt I had no right to expect, 
 and, conducting me into the house, assured me 
 
MY QUARTERS AT ST GILLE. 85 
 
 that it should be her study to render my stay at 
 St Gille as agreeable as possible, ushering me into 
 an apartment destined for my use, and offering 
 the assistance of her servants — in short, the whole 
 house was at my disposal. All this was not 
 mere compliment, for in good truth she kept her 
 word to the very letter. I never experienced 
 greater kindness, or more sincere hospitality, and 
 under such circumstances soon felt myself per- 
 fectly at home in my neat lodgings. 
 
 What a contrast was this to the gloomy bUlet 
 I left in the morning in the silent, solitary Eue 
 de Bruges ! Here everything was light, airy, and 
 cheerful. But I must describe my new home. 
 The apartment consisted of a saloon of about 
 eighteen feet square, with a little cabinet or 
 sleeping-room adjoining and opening from it. 
 Both were as clean as it was possible to conceive 
 anything could be, and the white walls perfectly 
 immaculate. Furniture of the simplest kind — 
 chairs of oak or walnut ranged along the walls, 
 two tables covered with oil-cloth, neat but scanty 
 window - curtains, with draperies and fringe, 
 and a most brilliant stove, en faience, ornamented 
 with brass - work, standing out nearly in the 
 middle of the floor ; that floor of red tiles, or 
 brick highly varnished, the coolness of which, in 
 
86 VIEW FKOM MY "WINDOWS. 
 
 the present hot weather, was highly grateful. I 
 have designated this room as light and airy, and 
 truly it was so, for it was illuminated by no less 
 than six windows. Three of these in the front 
 commanded a pleasant view over the well-wooded 
 and beautifully-cultivated country beyond the 
 great Brussels road, which ran beneath them — 
 the fields more resembling extensive gardens 
 than anything else. As this part of the house, 
 projected beyond the porte cocker e, a window in 
 the side afforded a peep up the road, terminated 
 by the town of Dendermonde, which hence appear- 
 ed embosomed in trees. Two fine acacias in front 
 of the gateway overshadowed this with their 
 delicate pensile foliage, and screened it from the 
 hot rays of the afternoon sun. The remaining two 
 windows in the back looked into a delicious and 
 carefully-kept garden, divided as nsiial by those 
 verdant hornbeam walls into different departments. 
 Such was my saloon. My bedroom, if so it may 
 be called, was equally neat and simple in its 
 equipment : a low bedstead without curtains, 
 bedding of humble materials, but so clean that 
 the most fastidious could have found no fault 
 with it, a chair or two, and a small dressing-table 
 in the single window, constituted its whole furni- 
 ture. Having made arrangements for establish- 
 
KINDNESS OF THE NATIVES. 87 
 
 ing our mess here, I set off to visit my people, 
 who, as before mentioned, were scattered by threes 
 and fours all over the commune amongst the 
 farmers ; and with these good and simple people 
 I found them already quite at home. In most 
 houses I found them seated at dinner with the 
 family — at all they had been invited so to do ; 
 and everywhere the greatest good-humour and 
 best possible understanding prevailed between 
 .the host and guests. When I asked, " 1st der 
 meister content mit den soldaten V — gibberish 
 coined for the occasion, as they understood no 
 French, and I no Flemish — the answer was al- 
 ways a hearty " Yaw, mynheer — ^yaw ! ist brav — 
 ist goot " — at the same time goodnaturedly slap- 
 ping one of them on the back, and leering archly 
 round at the others. Boys, women, and children 
 would all swarm round me, exclaiming " Goot, 
 goot, goot ! " Then, anticipating my wish to see the 
 horses, one of them would invite me to the stables, 
 which, though dark, were all warm and comfort- 
 able. Here I found our cattle stowed away, per- 
 haps, amongst half-a-dozen of their elephants of 
 horses, literally living in clover, for their racks 
 and mangers were full of it (the finest I ever 
 saw), and their stalls of clean straw up to their 
 bellies. These good poople seemed quite proud 
 
88 A FLEMISH FARMHOUSE. 
 
 of having made the lucky brutes so comfortable. 
 I found afterwards from our Juge de Paix that 
 this bounty was in some measure repaid by the 
 dung, which is here so valuable that the produc- 
 tion of one horse in four-and-twenty hours is 
 worth at least three or four pounds of hay, and 
 perhaps four times the quantity of clover. 
 
 These farming establishments were very much 
 alike, generally speaking ; embosomed in orchards, 
 which in their turn are surrounded by lofty 
 ekns. The dwelling-house is usually of brick, 
 only one floor, a high roof, under which are the 
 dormitories with garret-windows, sometimes two 
 tiers of them. On the ground-floor the windows 
 are large and open in the French style, outside 
 shutters almost invariably green. Commonly 
 there are only two rooms on this floor, one on each 
 side of the passage, the door of which opens on 
 the yards, as do the windows. One of these 
 rooms is the kitchen, or ordinary residence of the 
 family, the other is a salle de ceremonie. In 
 the first is the usual display of brass pans, kettles, 
 crockery, &c., which, with some common benches 
 and a large table or two, constitute its furniture. 
 As everywhere throughout this country, the most 
 perfect cleanliness prevails, and the metallic lustre 
 of the brass is brought out as much as scrubbing 
 
A FLEMISH FARMHOUSE. 89 
 
 can effect. The salle exhibits a collection of 
 stiff old-fashioned chairs with rush bottoms and 
 high upright carved backs, ponderous oaken 
 tables, snow-white window-curtains, and a series 
 of very common prints, in as common frames, 
 suspended from the walls. These usually repre- 
 sent saints, &c. On the chimney-piece waxen or 
 earthenware figures of animals, fruits, &c. ; and 
 frequently affixed to the wall over the centre one 
 sees a kind of deep frame or box with glass front, 
 in which, amongst cut paper, moss, or shell-work, 
 is either a crucifix or a portrait of the Virgin and 
 child. The barns, stables, cow-houses, and other 
 out offices, form the other three sides of a square 
 of which the front of the dwelling is the fourth. 
 A rough pavement of about ten or twelve feet 
 wide runs aU round in front of the building ; the 
 remainder of the area is one vast dunghill, having 
 a reservoir in the centre to receive its drainings, 
 whilst it receives those of the cow-houses, stables, 
 and dwelling by means of gutters constructed 
 for the purpose. This precious fluid is the great 
 dependence of the Flemish agriculturist, as the 
 principal fertiliser of his fields. When the land 
 is to be manured, it is carted out upon the 
 grounds in a large tub (like a brewing-tub). A 
 boy leads the cart very slowly all over the field, 
 
90 FEKTILITY OF THE LAI^D. 
 
 wliilst a man, armed with a scoop, keeps scatter- 
 ing' it in all dirctions. It must be confessed 
 that the fields after this aspersion do not exhale 
 the most savoury odours, but then nothing can 
 exceed their fertility. The country about Dender- 
 monde was, generally speaking, laid out in long 
 narrow patches, separated from each other some- 
 times by a belt of turf, sometimes by a footpath, 
 at others by ditches, along the edge of which 
 might be a growth of alders, but no regular hedges 
 anywhere. Towards the Dender, ditches of water 
 were the common division, and these fields were 
 fertilised by irrigation, not by the scoop, and a 
 more beautiful verdure could not be seen, all 
 being pastures ; of the other fields or patches, each 
 bore a different crop, some flax, some wheat, some 
 trejle or clover, some buckwheat, some hops — the 
 whole district having the appearance of one vast 
 garden. The soil in general was a light rich 
 mould, but degenerating into sand as it approached 
 the Scheldt, on the north side of St Gille. The 
 absence of hedges was fully compensated by the 
 numerous copses that enriched the scenery in all 
 directions, together with the rows of trees with 
 which almost every road was bordered, so that, 
 although a dead level, nothing could be more 
 pleasing than the pictures it presented, except 
 
AT DINNER. 91 
 
 the tract towards the Scheldt, which was bleak 
 enough. 
 
 My rounds finished, I returned to my billet, 
 where I found our people all assembled, and we 
 soon sat down to a most excellent dinner. The 
 wine, which we had procured from the town, was 
 thin, pale, almost white, but of a very piquant 
 flavour, and over it we were enjoying ourselves, 
 when a servant came in, and announced that 
 M. le Juge, having that moment returned from 
 the town, begged permission to pay his respects 
 to M. le Commandant. Permission granted. 
 Enter a little vulgar-looking man, about sixty 
 years of age, whose coarse and by no means pre- 
 possessing physiognomy was not improved by 
 the loss of an eye ; nor was his person set ofi" to 
 the best advantage by his costume, consisting of 
 a shabby blue frock, dark waistcoat sprigged over 
 with golden flowers, and very long drab panta- 
 loons, hanging about his legs in large folds, evi- 
 dently unrestrained by any suspensatory process. 
 His head was surmounted by a sort of forage-cap 
 of dark-green velvet, with a band of silver lace, 
 and a silver tassel falling over the crown. Dof- 
 fing this, with a profusion of bows he casts his 
 sharp single eye inquiringly round our party, ex- 
 claiming, " M. le Commandant ? " I bow. " M. 
 
92 OUR HOST. 
 
 le Commandant, se trouve-t-il bien ici V I as- 
 sent, and express my gratitude to his better half 
 for her attentions. " Da tout, M. le Command- 
 ant, da tout ! EUe n'a rien fait que son devoir 
 aupres de vous, M. le Commandant ! Et de plus, 
 je vous engag^ de considerer la maison and les 
 domestiques tous a v6tre service, M. le Comman- 
 dant — tous, tous, tous ! " (pronouncing strongly 
 the final s of the last word) " et si, par hazard, M. 
 le Commandant aimerait la solitude, voilk la joh 
 promenade Ik bas," pointing to the garden. All 
 this passed with us as mere words ; but we had 
 formed a wrong estimate of our Juge, who ful- 
 filled to the utmost his professions, and turned 
 out a very worthy fellow. Whilst this colloquy 
 was in progress, our friend had established himself 
 at the table with less ceremony than might have 
 been expected from so complimentary a gentle- 
 man, and the bottle, circulating briskly, had the 
 usual effect of loosening tongues and tightening 
 friendship. M. le Juge begged to know where 
 we had obtained our wine, which he did not ap- 
 prove of ; it was not such as we ought to drink ; 
 begged permission to send for some of a very 
 superior quality from his own cellar. The ■wiae 
 is brought accordingly, a bottle drawn by Mon- 
 sieur himself with great solemnity and some grim- 
 
OUR HOST. 93 
 
 ace, relating at the same time its whole history. 
 Clean glasses are called for, Monsieur fills a bum- 
 per, and after contemplating it for a moment 
 against the light, hands it to me with a profound 
 inclination. In colour it exactly resembles what 
 is on the table. I taste it : there is not a shade 
 of difference in the flavour. M. le Juge fills a 
 glass for each of my companions, and hands it to 
 them with the same ceremonious bow. It was 
 easy to see that their opinions coincided with 
 mine ; but we did not wish to hurt the good man, 
 and so we one and all smacked our lips, and pro- 
 nounced it excellent. He immediately ordered 
 a further supply, and insisted on our drinking 
 nothing else. However, the bottles becoming 
 mingled on the table, none of us could distin- 
 guish the difference, and our friend himself, I ob- 
 served, filled his own glass indiscriminately from 
 the one and the other. He meant to treat us, 
 and took this way of accomplishing it, no doubt. 
 We found him an intelligent, facetious companion, 
 although, as we got farther into the night, he did 
 get a little prosy with his anecdotes of the good 
 people of Dendermonde. En revanche, he amused 
 us much with a description of the process of en- 
 rolling the militia then going on ; and droll pic- 
 tures he drew of the peasantry who were brought 
 
94 ATTACHMENT TO NAPOLEOK. 
 
 to him for that purpose every day by the gens- 
 d'armSs. It would seem that these people were 
 forced into the service sorely against their will, 
 being much attached to Buonaparte, and quite 
 averse to the new order of things. This seemed 
 to be the general feeling amongst the bourgeois 
 of Dendermonde, as far as we could learn ; and it 
 appeared very doubtful whether our worthy host 
 himself, although a public functionary under the 
 new Government, did not participate in this rage 
 for Napoleon and Imperialisme. Be that, how- 
 ever, as it may, he was so well pleased with our 
 society, that the first cocks crew ere he retired, 
 his hiccoughing adieus and twinkling eye fully 
 demonstrating that, for him at least, the wine was 
 not quite such watery stuff as we had at first 
 imagined. To us port-dri7ikers it was innocu- 
 ous. The next day we had leisure to look about 
 us, and visit Dendermonde — a place, in my mind, 
 inseparably connected with Corporal Trim and 
 Uncle Toby ; and no little amusement was it to 
 my good Juge and his spouse when I related to 
 them the story. They thought it all true for a 
 time. 
 
 Whilst my comrades sought the town, I turned 
 to the country, which for me has infinitely more 
 charms. The steeple of a village church peering 
 
PEACE AND WAE. 95 
 
 above the trees about a mile from us, on the Brus- 
 sels road, attracted me in that direction. The 
 opulent village of Lebbeke, embowered in orch- 
 ards, appeared peculiarly animated as I approach- 
 ed it. White tents, horses at picket in long lines, 
 groups of artillerymen, peasants and their wag- 
 gons bringing loads of hay, intermingled amongst 
 the apple-trees, enlivened the scene. Three bat- 
 teries of 9-pounders were parked in the orchards, 
 and their people partly billeted in the farms, 
 partly encamped near their guns. It was a 
 curious medley of peace and war. Here a large 
 barn by the road-side, its doors thrown wide open, 
 and peasants within busily occupied in threshing, 
 spoke of the former ; the guns and their accom- 
 paniments in the opposite orchard, of the latter 
 — the horses, looking cool and comfortable under 
 the shade of a fine row of elms, quietly eating 
 their hay, or playfully biting each other. Gunners 
 and drivers, half undressed, were lounging about 
 the tents, or sitting on the wall by the roadside, 
 contentedly smoking their pipes; others busy 
 cleaning their appointments, or raking up the 
 hay in front of the horses. 
 
 Large, substantial-looking farm-houses princi- 
 pally formed the village street, and by their com- 
 fortable appearance aroused the taste for rural 
 
96 FLEMISH TEAMS. 
 
 life ; but this would be overset by the sight of an 
 officer, his coat unbuttoned, forage-cap on head, 
 and cigar in mouth, lolling listlessly out of a 
 casement, as if perfectly at home — a sight direct- 
 ly antagonistic to the tranquillity of rural retire- 
 ment. The Flemish waggons, with their teams 
 and drivers, bringing loads of hay, amused me 
 much — long-bodied, and on low wheels, drawn 
 by four, and sometimes five, immense animals, 
 overloaded with fat. The waggoner, walking be- 
 side the fore-wheels, guides his teafti with some 
 dexterity by means of long reins of cord running 
 through holes in the haims. The horses are har- 
 nessed two and two, if the team be of four — other- 
 wise two in the wheel and three leaders abreast, 
 always separated from the wheelers by exceed- 
 ingly long traces ; the pole invariably used. The 
 richer farmers, as with us, afiect great show in 
 their teams, the harness being gay with fringes 
 and tassels of coloured worsted, and the haims 
 are always particularly fine. These are of wood, 
 flat, about four or five inches broad, the edges 
 frequently studded with brass nails, the front de- 
 corated with painted flowers, and often with the 
 Imperial eagle. The overgrown horses are pam- 
 pered like pet lapdogs, and never required to do 
 
CATTLE AND SHEEP. 97 
 
 one quarter of the work they are capable of. They 
 are noble brutes. 
 
 However rich the scenery of this country may 
 be from its cultivation, still, in an Englishman's 
 eye, there is something wanting. Except on the 
 pastures along the Dender, no cattle are ever seen 
 animating the fields. The absence of hedges or 
 other fences obliges the farmer to keep these 
 shut up, except for a short period after the 
 harvest, when they are turned out to pick up 
 what they can along the borders and on the 
 tref layers. 
 
 The quantity of manure accumulated by keep- 
 ing them up is considerable, and no doubt enters 
 into the farmer's calculation. Sheep in small 
 flocks (for I do not see that any large ones are 
 kept) are taken out to pasture by a shepherd and 
 two or three dogs — not at all resembling our 
 sheep-dogs, except in sagacity, but small black 
 curs with long tails. I have seen one of these 
 shepherds dozing on a bank by the roadside, 
 whilst his little flock, grazing in an adjoining 
 slip of grass-land, was quite as efiiciently 
 watched as if the fellow had been wide awake. 
 This slip was bounded on three sides by young 
 wheat, and on each of the dividing borders was 
 
 VOL. L G 
 
98 DENDERMONDE. ' 
 
 posted one of these curs. As the flock moved 
 forward or backward so did the dogs ; and whilst 
 they fed, these intelligent animals kept inces- 
 santly running backwards and forwards on their 
 post like sentinels, instantly darting at any sheep 
 that attempted to break bounds, and driving it 
 back into the grass-plot. The day was exceed- 
 ingly warm, and their lolling tongues pro- 
 claimed that the little animals had no very 
 light task of it, whatever their master's might 
 be. 
 
 The town of Dendermonde (of which I saw 
 but little) is situated on the right bank of the 
 Scheldt, at the point where the little river 
 Dender flows into it, as the name imports — 
 Dender mond or mund — Dender mouth. This 
 river flows through it, and, being backed up by 
 sluices, forms the basin I noticed on the day of 
 our arrival. It is not large, and its populatiou 
 might be about 5000 or 6000 — manufacturers of 
 linens, fustians, &c. &c. The fortifications have 
 nearly disappeared, the only remnant that I saw 
 being something like a ravelin on the Alost side. 
 It is, however, so surrounded by water, and the 
 country is so flat, that an extensive inundation 
 could soon be formed to supply their place if 
 
BENDEEMONDE. 99 
 
 necessary. The general aspect of the town is 
 mean and gloomy, but on the side next to St 
 GiUe were several good-looking houses, though 
 all built of the same dark stone. We saw here 
 more pretty women, however, than we had yet 
 met with, always excepting in Zele. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Finding all quiet, and that our move hither from 
 Ghent had only been for the purpose of bring- 
 ing us nearer to the cavalry, whose headquarters 
 were at Ninove, and into a more abundant 
 country for forage, we now gave ourselves up to 
 the amusements our situation afforded, as much 
 as the requisite attention to military duties would 
 allow. Some made excursions to Brussels and 
 Antwerp ; some passed their mornings knocking 
 about the balls at a miserable billiard-table upon 
 the rickety floor of an up-stairs room in a neigh- 
 bouring cabaret; whilst others made a sort of 
 flirting acquaintance with some of the fair dam- 
 sels of Dendermonde. The time flew quickly, 
 because we were happy. 
 
 I was anxious to see Antwerp, and proposed 
 going thither; but day after day something 
 occurred to prevent me, and at last I had the 
 
EXCTJESION TO ALOST. 101 
 
 mortifying reflection of having passed six idle 
 days within eighteen miles of it, and yet never 
 been there. My only excursion was to Alost, or 
 Aulst, as they call it. On the 28th Leathes and 
 I set off on this expedition. Until within a mile 
 of Alost, the character of the country we tra- 
 versed was much the same as that about Dender- 
 monde, but the villages and farm-houses were less 
 neat and more poor in their appearance- — ragged 
 thatch instead of slates and tiles, &c. — and the 
 streets of the villages or hamlets narrower and 
 dirtier. During the whole ride we saw but one 
 house that appeared the residence of a gentleman, 
 and that was a large heavy-looking brick build- 
 ing, standing in the midst of an old-fashioned 
 garden, ornamented (if so it may be called) with 
 painted statues of men and monsters quite in the 
 Cockney style. En effet, this was the lusthause 
 of a wealthy hourgmestre of the Ville de Gand. 
 Approaching Alost, we found the character of 
 the country changing, and having seen nothing 
 but a dead-level ever since landing at Ostend, 
 were agreeably surprised at finding ourselves 
 ascending a gentle slope, and surrounded by 
 a gently undulating country, yet so slightly so 
 that we were not aware of it until on it. 
 Passing a sort of advanced barrier, we soon 
 
102 ASPECT OF THE PLACE. 
 
 reached tlie town, and rode into a respectable 
 sort of square, where we dismounted at the 
 Maison d'Autriche. No accommodation for horses 
 here, so we were obliged to resort to a carrier's 
 in an adjoining street, where we with difi&culty 
 got stable-room, all being crowded with horses 
 of Louis XVIII.'s cavalry. Being tired when I 
 returned to Dendermonde, I made no note of my 
 visit to Aulst, and therefore can say little about 
 it. All I remember is a fine broad street of 
 handsome houses running up an ascent; a pretty 
 public walk {en herceau) called L'AUee d' Amour 
 (as we should say. Love Lane ; and what town 
 or village is there in England which has not its 
 AUde d' Amour f) ; a fine church, in which was a 
 series of paintings (good, I believe) representing 
 the life and adventures of some saint ; the canal 
 harbour, full of boats laden with corn and hay 
 for our cavalry, the contractors having estab- 
 lished here their grand depot, &c. &c. ; great 
 crowding and bustling in the streets, occasioned 
 partly by this circumstance, partly by the pre- 
 sence of the Due de Berri and his troops, and 
 partly by an unusual influx of travellers. More- 
 over, I remember that we got a most delicious 
 omelet and bottle of very fine Sauterne at the 
 Maison d'Autriche, for which (garpon included) 
 
"WE LOSE OUR WAY. 103 
 
 we paid only five francs ; whilst, en revanche, as 
 it were, we had to pay eight to the villain of a 
 carrier for the feed of bad oats which our horses 
 would not eat ; that we saddled them ourselves, 
 and sallied from Alost, expecting, in due time 
 and without contre-temps, to reach St Gille ; that 
 we actually arrived within a mile of Lebbeke, the 
 spire of whose church was closely seen by us 
 above the trees, and towards which we attempted 
 a short cut, which attempt ended in losing our- 
 selves, and wandering about for an hour within 
 800 yards of St Gille, and always with the spire 
 of Lebbeke in view, without being able to reach 
 one place or the other ; and that there we might 
 have wandered till doomsday, had we not for- 
 tunately fallen in with a patrol (foot) of gens- 
 d'arm6s, who put us into the right way — such is 
 the intricacy of this country, intersected as it is 
 by lanes and ditches, like network, and the view 
 confined to the neighbouring field by the multi- 
 tudinous little woods. We got home ! Chez moi, 
 things went on so comfortably that I was quite 
 happy, my worthy host and his spouse treating 
 me and mine quite as part of the family. Of 
 Monsieur, however, I did not see very much, for 
 every morning, immediately after breakfast, he 
 went to his office in Dendermonde, where he 
 
104 AGAIN ON THE MOVE. 
 
 remained all day, and lie never ventured another 
 soiree with our party. The last year (1814) my 
 position in their menage had been occupied by 
 a French colonel, of whom they spoke in the 
 highest terms, always winding up with, " Ah ! U 
 dtait brave gargon, celui Yk." When taking 
 leave of them, which the approach of English 
 troops rendered necessary, he added to his adieux, 
 "Mais pour I'annde prochaine;" and both these 
 good people confidently expected to see him 
 again, setting it down as certain that the moment 
 the Emperor advanced the English would hasten 
 to their ships, never dreaming that we could re- 
 sist him. So slipped time away, and my present 
 comfort approached its end. 
 
 May 1st. — I still slept, when, at five o'clock in 
 the morning, our sergeant-major aroused me to 
 read a note brought by an orderly hussar. It 
 was most laconic — la void : " Captain Mercer's 
 troop of horse-artillery will march to Strytem 
 without delay. Signed," &c. &c. 
 
 Where is Strytem 1 and for what this sudden 
 move ? These were questions to which I could 
 get no answer. The hussar knew nothing, and 
 the people about me less. One thing was posi- 
 tive, and that was, that we must be under weigh 
 instanter, and pick out Strytem as best we might, 
 
PAETIISra WITH MY HOSTESS. 105 
 
 The sergeant-major, therefore, was despatched to 
 give the alert ; and having given the hussar a 
 receipt in full for his important despatch, I pro- 
 ceeded to clothe my person for the journey, hav- 
 ing hitherto been en chemise. As the trumpeter 
 was lodged in a house close by with my own 
 grooms, the " boot and saddle " quickly reverber- 
 ated through the village, and set its whole popu- 
 lation in movement. A gentle tap at my door 
 announced a visitor. What was my surprise on 
 opening it ! — there was Madame la Juge tout en 
 deshabille, evidently just tumbled out of bed, and 
 apparently much agitated. Such a scene I did 
 not expect. 
 
 " Ah, Monsieur, vous allez partis ! " and she 
 actually began to sob and cry like a child. Was 
 she serious, or was this acting 1 If the latter, 
 she certainly played her part so well that I could 
 not but give her credit for being in earnest. It 
 is so delightful to believe one's self interesting to a 
 fine woman. Advancing my toilette, I tried at 
 the same time to moderate this outbreak of feel- 
 ing. She only wept the more. Meantime M. 
 le Juge arrived on the stage, his old blue frock 
 carelessly thrown on, and his nether garment oc- 
 cupying both his hands, one holding it up, and 
 the other arranging it, the eternal green cap 
 
106 A LAST BREAKFAST. 
 
 stuck on his head, hardly yet quite awake — un- 
 washed, uncombed : the good man did not pre- 
 sent the most amiable figure by the side of his 
 neat consort. 
 
 Our people were not accustomed to delay, and 
 the road in front of the house was already a scene 
 of bustle from the assembling of the detachments 
 lying nearer home. Although still lachrymose, 
 Madame did not stand idle ; but, seeing my ser- 
 vant sufficiently employed packing my portman- 
 teau, set about preparing breakfast, to which I 
 soon sat down, whilst the worthy couple waited 
 on me, recommending this and that, and pressing 
 me to eat, much in the manner of two fond 
 parents hanging over the early meal of their dar- 
 ling boy, about to return to school by the expected 
 coach. I could not but feel grateful for so much 
 kindness, and consequently sorrow at so soon 
 leaving them ; and so this breakfast was rather a 
 melancholy one, although the morning sun did 
 shine so bright. The good people were unceasing 
 in their regrets, and repeatedly made me promise 
 that, if I remained in the country, I would pay 
 them another visit — a promise I was never able 
 to fulfil, however. 
 
 To my questions respecting Strytem, Monsieur 
 could give no satisfactory answers. " It lay in a 
 
OUR PARTING. 107 
 
 very fine country, somewhere in the neighbourhood 
 of Brussels ; and we had better take the road to 
 that city in the first instance, and trust for further 
 information to the peasantry as we went along." 
 
 These people are singularly ignorant in this re- 
 spect, having no knowledge, generally speaking, 
 of any place more than two or three miles from 
 home. Monsieur, however, invited me to follow 
 him to his study — a small room all in a litter — 
 over the gateway, and there, after some hunting 
 amongst books, old clothes, &c. &c., he rummaged 
 out the mutilated fragment of an old but very 
 excellent map, which he insisted on my putting 
 into my sabretache, which I did, and still keep 
 for his sake. 
 
 At length the moment of departure arrived, the 
 parade was formed, my horse at the door. The 
 tears of Madame flowed afresh as she embraced 
 me. Monsieur led me by the hand to the gate- 
 way. Here the great coarse Flemish cook, the 
 corner of her apron applied to her eyes, for she 
 also wept (at the departure of my groom, I sus- 
 pect), came running out, her clumsy sabots with 
 their trimmings of rabbit skin clattering along 
 the stone passage like the hoofs of a cart-horse. 
 My servant had made her a present for her as- 
 sistance, in her eyes so magnificent that she could 
 
108 ON THE MARCH. 
 
 liardly express her gratitude, and so poured on me 
 a shower of thanks and blessings, and recom- 
 mendations to the protection of saints and saint- 
 esses, with a volubility which her usual taciturn, 
 phlegmatic manner had not led me to expect. 
 " Prepare to momit .'" "Mount!" The trumpets 
 sound a march, and waiving a last adieu to the group 
 at the gate of my late home, I turn my back on it 
 for ever, perhaps. The men were in high spirits, 
 and horses fat as pigs and sleek as moles — thanks 
 to rest, good stabling, and abundance of tref. 
 Most of the peasants on whom many of our men 
 had been billeted accompanied them to the par- 
 ade, and it was interesting to Avitness the kindness 
 with which they shook hands at parting, and the 
 complacency with which, patting the horses on 
 the neck, they scanned them all over, as if proud of 
 their good condition. And yet these were Napo- 
 leonists, according to our Juge. For my part, I 
 believe they were utterly indifferent as to whether 
 they lived under the rule of Napoleon or the house 
 of Orange, so long as their agricultural labours 
 were not interrupted : and this alone, I suspect, 
 was the cause of their aversion to being militiamen. 
 Passing through Lebbeke, we found the three 
 brigades of 9-pounders also getting on march, and 
 the whole village astir. The officers told us their 
 
CHAJ^GE OF SCENERY. 109 
 
 orders were to marcli direct to Brussels, and they 
 were fully persuaded the French, army had ad- 
 vanced. 
 
 For about seven miles the road lay through a 
 country differing little from what we had hitherto 
 seen ; but then it became suddenly hilly. Ascend- 
 ing the first long but not very steep ascent, we 
 were assailed by a host of beggars, who had sta- 
 tioned themselves here to take advantage of the 
 slow pace at which carriages were obliged to 
 ascend the hill. These were the first I recollect 
 having seen in the country. The ragged boys 
 accompanied the column to the top of the hill, en- 
 deavouring to excite, if not compassion, at least 
 admiration of the agility with which they rolled 
 themselves along alternately on hands and feet, 
 like so many wheels — a feat that procured them 
 some coppers. 
 
 The country had now totally changed its char- 
 acter ; still fertile, highly cultivated, and abun- 
 dantly populous, yet presenting scenery of a much 
 more interesting nature. Fine swells enabled one 
 to obtain, from time to time, most charming views 
 of the rich distance, instead of, as hitherto, being 
 confined to a few hundred yards of meadow, shut 
 up, as the flat country was, by trees and small 
 copses. 
 
110 VIEWS PEOM THE HILLS. 
 
 Villages and large farms appeared in all direc- 
 tions, intermingled with extensive woods; the 
 fields exhibited the richest exuberance of crops 
 — wheat, rye, hops, buckwheat, &c., with their 
 lighter tints relieving the more sombre tones of 
 the woodlands. Here the spire of a vdlage 
 church, there the conical roofs and quaint archi- 
 tecture of a chateau, peered above the foliage of 
 the woods, and increased the interest of the 
 scene. To me this change was delightful. I 
 thought I had never seen anything half so rich 
 as the fine landscape spread before me when I 
 turned to look back on gaining the first summit. 
 The height, however, was not sufiicient to allow 
 me, at this distance, in a country so thickly 
 wooded, to see Dendermonde again, though my 
 eye eagerly sought it. The large village of 
 Assche (town, I should call it, being marked 
 bourg in the map) crowned this hil|, and here 
 we found a battery of Belgian Horse Artillery in 
 quarters. The men lounging about in undress, or 
 without their jackets, without any appearance of 
 a move, induced us to believe our own was, after 
 all, only another change of quarters — and we 
 were right. The people here knew Strytem, 
 which they said was only a few miles distant, to 
 the southward of the road we were on. Accord- 
 
BEAUTY OF THE COUNTRY. Ill 
 
 ingly I despatched an officer to precede us, and 
 make the necessary arrangements for our recep- 
 tion ; at the same time quitting the chaussee, we 
 plunged into a villanous cross-road, all up and 
 down, and every bottom occupied by a stream 
 crossed by bridges of loose planks, which to us were 
 rather annoying from their apparent insecurity, 
 as well as from the boggy state of the ground 
 for some yards at either end of them. However, 
 if the road was bad, the beauty of the country 
 through which it led made ample amends. De- 
 scending from the hill on which Assche is situ- 
 ated, we travelled for two or three miles through 
 a bottom, between two nearly parallel ridges, 
 whose slopes exhibited all the luxuriance of 
 vegetation in splendid crops of grain, &c., and 
 magnificent trees, so peculiar to this country, 
 whilst an almost continued wood occupied their 
 summits. This part of our route reminded me 
 strongly of the valley in which High -Wycombe 
 lies, though there nothing like this exuberance 
 is seen. About a mile, as it proved, from 
 Strytem, for we had not as yet seen anything 
 like a village, we ascended the hiU again, and 
 were continuing along the summit when a 
 peasant, in blue smock-frock and white nightcap, 
 ■came running after us with a scrap of paper in 
 
112 ARRIVAL AT STRYTEM. 
 
 Hs hand, wliicli he presented to me with a most 
 profound bow, doffing at the same time his dirty- 
 cap. A few lines in pencil from Dr Bell in- 
 formed me that the bearer would lead us to 
 Strytem ; and he by signs — for he spoke no 
 French — gave us to understand that we must 
 turn back, having passed the road leading 
 thither. Accordingly a countermarch, by un- 
 limbering, took place, and, following our guide, 
 we descended into a most secluded little valley, 
 green and lovely, the bottom being principally 
 meadow, everywhere surrounded by stately elms. 
 The road, however, became worse than ever — deep 
 tenacious mud, sadly broken up. After march- 
 ing a short distance we passed a wheel-wright's 
 shop ; then came to a broader space, where 
 stood a small mean-looking church, a miserable 
 cabaret, a forge, two very large farm establish- 
 ments, with a few wretched-looking cottages; — 
 this, our guide gave us to understand, was Stry- 
 tem. Bell's note spoke of a chateau at the point 
 we were to make for, but here was nothing of the 
 sort. AH seemed disappointment, for the miserable 
 place itself was so different from the fine spacious 
 streets and substantial houses of all the villages 
 we had hitherto seen, that one could scarcely 
 imagine it to be the same country. Our guide, 
 
THE CHATEAU, 113 
 
 however, led on, and after passing this poor col- 
 lection of dwellings, a high stone wall bound- 
 ing the road to the left, with a wide gateway in 
 the centre, announced the chateau, which was so 
 completely shut in by the woods, &c., that the 
 first glimpse we got of it was on entering these 
 gates. A spacious green court sloped down to 
 the building, a dreary-looking old pile of brick, 
 forming three sides of a square, and surrounded 
 by a broad moat — nearly as green as the court, 
 from the aquatic weeds floating on its stagnant 
 water. Arched doors; high but narrow windows, 
 composed of small panes set in lead, and encased 
 in heavy stone frames ; lofty stepped gables, 
 and a tower occupying one angle of the court, 
 with a conical roof surmounted by an iron cross 
 and weathercock, gave it a most venerable and 
 somewhat imposing aspect. The sombre effect, 
 however, was in some measure relieved by the 
 lively tints of roses and rich verdure of the broad 
 leaves of a vine trained over a trelhs along the 
 edge of the moat, as well as the fine fruit-trees 
 everywhere covering the walls of the front court. 
 A broad gravel - drive descended to the moat, 
 which was crossed by a stone bridge, substantial, 
 but not ornamental. On our right were stables, 
 &c., for about half-way down the court; on 
 
 VOL. I. H 
 
1 I I 
 
 114 THE CHATEAU. 
 
 the left the enormous roofs of barns and farm- 
 buildings appeared over the wall, and beyond 
 them, again, the rather inelegant spire of the 
 village church. An arched doorway communi- 
 cated on this side with the farmyard. Behind 
 the chateau the view was bounded by the tufted 
 and feathery masses of a superb avenue of beeches 
 and a hill covered with wood seen through the 
 few openings between them, relieving well the 
 reddish sombre tone and formal outlines of the 
 building. Every feature of this place is strongly 
 impressed on my memory as I then beheld it for 
 the first time, not without emotions of disgust; 
 for though rather a picturesque object to look at, 
 I could not suppress a shudder at the idea of its 
 becoming my habitation for an indefinite time. 
 Nothing do I regret more than not having made 
 a sketch of it from this side, although I did 
 several from other points. 
 
 The road was so narrow, and the turn so sharp, 
 that it required all the dexterity of our drivers to 
 get decently into the court with their six-horse 
 teams. They did, however, effect it without 
 carrying away the gate-posts, to the no small 
 amazement of some half-dozen boors, whom the 
 novelty of arrival had drawn together, and we 
 finally formed a very compact little park, three 
 
OUR QUARTEES THERE. 115 
 
 pieces and their ammunition-waggons on each 
 side of the central path. The corps de garde was 
 established in the loft over the stables in which 
 were lodged the officers' horses ; and the rest of 
 the troop were billeted on the neighbouring farms, 
 which, in general, were so large that they took 
 a subdivision, or thirty-two horses, each, and, if 
 I mistake not, that adjoining the chateau a whole 
 division of sixty-four horses. Having despatched 
 this business, we proceeded to examine our own 
 quarters. The old gardener, a tall meagre figure, 
 with a venerable grey head and good-humoured 
 physiognomy, but somewhat bent by ^,ge, accom- 
 panied by his daughter, a pale melancholy-looking 
 young woman, met us on the bridge, the keys of 
 his fortalice in one hand and his dirty bonnet de 
 nuit in the other. (Be it here remarked that 
 although neatness and cleanliness characterise the 
 dwellings of the Flemish peasantry, yet are they 
 not over and above particular in this respect as 
 regards their own persons.) As he could speak 
 nothing but Flemish, Mademoiselle came to offi- 
 ciate as his interpreter, but the patois in which 
 she expressed herself was so unintelligible that, 
 after listening for some time to her long-winded 
 story, and comprehending nothing more of it 
 than the constantly-recurring " Mon pere dit," &c., 
 
116 COMFORTLESS PROSPECT. 
 
 our politeness gave way, and we begged that the 
 doors might be forthwith thrown open. The 
 burden of her song or chant, for such it was, 
 seemed to be an endeavour to dissuade us from 
 our purpose of lodging there, though I could not 
 well comprehend why. Leaving, then, the good 
 man to replace his bonnet, and Mademoiselle to ex- 
 plain to him something or another, we proceeded to 
 examine the interior, in order to select our rooms. 
 The chateau had been uninhabited for many years, 
 and, though not ruinous, was in a very dilapidated 
 state. Nothing could be more chillingly repulsive 
 than the vast flagged hall into w"hich Ave first 
 entered. Several doors led from this, right and 
 left, into suites of apartments, and one, low and 
 arched, opposite the entrance, opened on a long 
 bridge leading over the moat to the garden and 
 pleasure-grounds, &c. This hall was totally de- 
 void of furniture. We found the rooms on the 
 ground-floor large, lofty, and of good proportions, 
 but only feebly illuminated by high windows sunk 
 deep in the wall, and of which the heavy stone 
 mullions intercepted nearly as much light as 
 entered between them. The walls were hung 
 with tapestry so ancient and so much decayed 
 that the figures, landscapes, &c., by which it had 
 once been ornamented, were nearly obliterated, 
 
FAMILY PORTEAITS. 117 
 
 In some rooms old family portraits occupied the 
 places of the wainscot panels, particularly over 
 the doors. The only furniture in any of them 
 was a few ponderous tables, and some high- 
 backed equally ponderous chairs, having both 
 seats and backs stuffed and covered with tapestry. 
 On the floor above, a large corridor or hall — for it 
 was directly over and corresponded in size with 
 the one below — was hung round with full-length 
 portraits of. the Van Volden family (to whom the 
 domain belonged), male and female. Some of 
 these were common enough ; but there were others 
 evidently the production of no ordinary pencil — 
 one in particular, a lady habited in a costume 
 such as prevailed about our Charles II. 's time — 
 a splendidly beautiful creature of some two or 
 three and twenty years of age, painted in a most 
 masterly style ; and, from being in a much more 
 magnificent frame than any of the others, appar- 
 ently a person of higher consideration. " Mon- 
 pere-dit " (as we had christened the gardener's 
 paUid daughter), who accompanied us through the 
 rooms, could give no information respecting this 
 fair dame — all she knew was that she had been 3, 
 person of very high rank, and, she believed, an 
 ancestress of Madame la Baronne, the present pro- 
 prietress. By the way, Madame Van Volden, 
 
118 CHOOSING OUR QUARTERS. 
 
 Baronne Von Lombeke et Strytem (such were her 
 titles), was at this time residing in ]3russels, where 
 she had a grand mansion — Rue de Dominicans. 
 She possessed also another estate at or near Vil- 
 vorde, between which and her town residence she 
 divided her time, so that her Strytem tenants saw 
 her very rarely. Her son, being maire of the 
 commune, paid an occasional visit to the village, 
 but then always put up at the farmhouse, so that 
 the chateau had long been locked up and quite 
 neglected. To return from this digression. Hav- 
 ing visited the upper apartments, all which were 
 as dismal as those below, we proceeded to choose 
 our quarters, much to the chagrin of Mademoiselle 
 Mon-pere-dit, who had, no doubt, entertained 
 hopes that the repulsive appearance of things 
 would have deterred us from taking up our resi- 
 dence there. I selected a large salon, immediately 
 off the hall, on the ground-floor. It might have 
 been about 30 feet by. 26 or 28, very lofty, with 
 an immense gaping fireplace, but without grate. 
 Two great stone-cased windows looked into the 
 front court, a third across the moat and towards 
 the woods behind the chateau. There were three 
 visible doors — -the one leading into the great hall, 
 a second into a sort of vestibule or small hall, 
 whence a staircase ascended to the apartments of 
 
A PRIVATE CHAPEL. 119 
 
 the right wing, and the third into a long, narrow, 
 but lofty room, in one corner of which I placed 
 my mattress on an old settee. There was also a 
 door from this room into the vestibule, and be- 
 yond that another suite of apartments, in which 
 our surgeon established himself. The walls of 
 my salon, like most of the others, were covered 
 with tapestry, and in the compartments between 
 the windows, over the doors, &c., were grim-look- 
 ing portraits of ci-devant Van Voldens, each hav- 
 ing the name and date inscribed at the bottom of 
 it, from which I learned that most of them were of 
 considerable antiquity; some, I think, dating 1537. 
 I have said that there were three visible doors 
 to this room. I had been in it some time ere, by 
 accident, I discovered a fourth, concealed under 
 the tapestry, leading into a very small chapel 
 fitted up with great neatness (except the altar, 
 which was rather gaudy), and evidently the only 
 part of the mansion of which any care had been 
 taken. Such was my new domicile, in which I 
 was soon at home, although it contrasted as 
 strongly with my late cheerful apartment at 
 Dendermonde as that did with the gloomy hole at 
 Ghent. Some of our people found a similar con- 
 trast, and could not refrain from grumbling. 
 " By the Lord, gentlemen," said old Lieutenant 
 
120 INCEEASING COMFOKT. 
 
 Ingleby, "you ought to think yourselves very 
 fortunate in getting such a quarter. In the 
 Peninsula the Duke himself would have thought 
 so, and was often glad to get so good a roof over 
 his head." The grumblers were ashamed, and we 
 heard no more of it. A large salon in the left 
 wing we chose for our mess-room, and the other 
 officers established themselves up -stairs. Fires 
 were soon lighted above and below ; servants 
 running up and down ; — all was life and move- 
 ment, and the old place had not been so gay for 
 years before. Indeed, on returning to my room 
 after visiting the billets, there was an appearance 
 of home and comfort about it Avhich I did not ex- 
 pect. A large wood-fire blazed and crackled in 
 the great chimney. My servant had collected 
 chairs enough to make a show, ranged round 
 the walls ; on one of the great antique tables in 
 the centre he had placed my writing apparatus 
 and one or two books, together with a map of 
 the Pays bas I had brought from Ghent, in the 
 anticipation of country quarters. Clean linen 
 was airing over the back of one of the tapestry 
 chairs, with other preparations for dressing for 
 dinner ; whilst coiled up near the blazing hearth 
 lay my old faithful dog and constant companion 
 for the last ten years. 
 
OUE, MESS-ROOM. 121 
 
 Our mess-room was as much changed, and the 
 preparations for dinner had given it quite another 
 air to what it had when first seen. Like most of 
 the others, it was spacious, biit, unlike them, inas- 
 much as the windows down to the floor were in the 
 modern French style. Of these there were only 
 two — one looking over the garden and woods, the 
 other over a small field or lawn, bounded on two 
 of its sides by double rows of noble beeches, and 
 on the other two (round which ran the road or 
 lane leading to Brussels) by orchards, hop-grounds, 
 &c. &c. Each had an old iron balcony, so rust- 
 eaten that they seemed ready to drop into the 
 water of the moat which lay below them. Over 
 the elaborately carved antique-looking chimney- 
 piece was a large painting of a castle, with a 
 number of men apparently employed clearing the 
 ditch. The floor had been swept, chairs and 
 tables collected from difi"erent parts of the house, 
 and one of the latter covered by a clean table- 
 cloth, and our canteen apparatus laid out for 
 dinner — the whole looking so much more com- 
 fortable than we expected, that even our grum- 
 blers voted the old chateau not so bad after all, 
 as they sat themselves down to the well-covered 
 board. For the feast, not a despicable one, as well 
 as the arrangement of the salon, we were indebted 
 
122 KAEL — HIS HISTORY. 
 
 to the indefatigable activity and unrivalled skill 
 of our friend Karl — a worthy whom I have not yet 
 introduced ; so, by way of episode, whilst we are 
 enjo3^ing the good viands of his preparation, let 
 me do so. 
 
 On the memorable night of our landing at 
 Ostend, whilst standing on the sands, I was 
 accosted by a very handsome youth of about 
 eighteen or twenty, who asked if I wanted a 
 servant. His costume indicated that he meant 
 himself, for he wore a green livery-coat with red 
 cuffs and collar, and a glazed hat with a cockade 
 in it. His history was, that he had lived some 
 time with General Vandamme, and had accom- 
 panied him to Moscow; but on returning into 
 Saxony, although he had been a great favourite 
 with the General, this noble personage one day 
 deserted him most unexpectedly, leaving him, 
 not only Avithout money, but also without a pro- 
 spect of recovering the long arrears of wages due 
 to him — [there was a mystery in this part of the 
 story] — and after vainly waiting in hopes still 
 that the General might return or send for him, he 
 had set out and found his way thus far towards 
 France, when the chance of getting employment 
 amongst les officiers Anglais (and no doubt some 
 of their guinees) had occurred to him, and I was 
 
HIS ACQUIREMENTS. 123 
 
 the first he had addressed. His figure was rather 
 under the middle size, extremely well made ; face 
 beautiful, and address perfect. Moreover, accord- 
 ing to his own account, he was a pearl without 
 price. He could speak five or six languages, and 
 cook, cut and dress hair, and a thousand other 
 things I have forgotten ; but the great recom- 
 mendation was a talent he had acquired, when 
 with the French army, of discovering and appro- 
 priating the resources of a country — Angiicd, 
 plundering. If Monsieur would but try him, he 
 would find him so attentive, so faithful. For his 
 part, he was sure he should soon love Monsieur 
 — his countenance was so amiable. All would 
 not do — I rejected him; but Leathes took a 
 liking to and engaged him. So thenceforth he 
 became one of us, and soon a general favourite ; 
 for although he had sounded his own trumpet, he 
 had in no wise exaggerated his qualifications, nor 
 even told us all, for in addition he was the 
 merriest and most kind-hearted creature I ever 
 met with. He had an inexhaustible fund of stories 
 and songs, and sang beautifully, and in a most 
 sweet and melodious voice ; was an admirable 
 mimic, and amongst other things mimicked so 
 well two flutes, that one day, at Strytem, sitting 
 smoking my cigar on the parapet of the bridge, I 
 
124 AN INTERRUPTION, 
 
 actually made sure two people were plajang a 
 duet in the kitchen ; but upon going thither, found 
 only Karl, who, seated on a table, was warbling 
 out a favourite waltz, like a robin on the house- 
 top. 
 
 Our language he had soon added to his stock, 
 and being now a tolerable proficient, and evi- 
 dently so well suited for the office, we had at 
 once nominated him major-domo (spite of his 
 youth) this morning on arriving, and placed all 
 the other servants under his directions. But 
 although understanding and speaking English 
 sufiiciently for all common purposes, and to com- 
 municate with the other servants, he never would 
 address any of us but in French. To return 
 again to the course of our narrative. Our cheer- 
 ful meal had been discussed with many an en- 
 comium on the provider, and the circulation of 
 the bottle had already produced a genial exhilar- 
 ation amongst our party, when the door was 
 abruptly thrown open, and in rushed our friend 
 Karl, holding his sides, and unable to speak for 
 laughter. " Why, Karl, what the devil's the 
 matter now?" " C'est I'adjoint, monsieur, qui 
 demande a vous parler." " Well, what of that 1 
 Is there anything very comical in this visit?" — 
 " Excusez, monsieur, il est si drol — est ce que je 
 
THE MAIRE AND HIS FOLLOWING. 125 
 
 lui ferai entrer, monsieur," and the merry young 
 dog tried to compose his features. I was about 
 to go out to meet this functionary and learn his 
 business, but the whole mess cried out with one 
 voice to bring him in — curiosity being excited by 
 Karl's obstreperous laughter ; so I desired him to 
 be admitted. Karl soon returned, ushering in with 
 most ludicrous gravity the worthy maire and his 
 cortege (for it appeared he had not come alone), 
 who, each as he crossed the threshold, making a 
 profound salaam, followed his leader until they 
 were all drawn up in line across the end of the 
 room. The appearance of the party was cer- 
 tainly comic, and for a few moments we contem- 
 plated each other in silent amazement. The 
 principal figure of this group — he on the right of 
 the line. Mynheer Jan Evenpoel, adjoint-ma ire — 
 was a short, fat, square-built man, with a head 
 like a pumpkin deeply set {zahullida, the Spani- 
 ards would say) between his broad high shoulders ; 
 countenance stolidity itself; little pig eyes, half 
 hid in the swell of his fat cheeks and the thick 
 overhanging brow; nose pudsy, resembling a 
 lump of brown clay thrown against his face more 
 than a nose ; a monstrous wide (now half open) 
 mouth, showing within a row of fangs standing 
 apart like palisades ; a great fat dew-lap ; the 
 
126 THE MAIRE AND HIS FOLLOWING. 
 
 wliole pliiz finished by two enormous projecting 
 ears. Such was the object that had excited so 
 powerfully the risible faculties of young Karl. 
 Our silent gaze seemed to paralyse him. There he 
 stood, evidently endeavouring to assume some 
 sort of an air of office, but trembling visibly, and 
 as visibly perspiring from his extreme nervous- 
 ness, twirling his hat in his hand, looking timidly, 
 first at me, then at the formidable party round 
 the table, then inquiringly glancing at his own 
 party. The poor man's evident anxiety must 
 have excited pity, had it not more forcibly ex- 
 cited our risibility, as well as that of Karl. 
 
 Three peasants, heavy-looking men, with some- 
 what more intelligence in their countenances, yet 
 decidedly equally alarmed, arranged themselves 
 next to Mynheer Evenpoel. These, as well as 
 their chief, were all arrayed in their roast-beef 
 suits — ^jackets of cotton, unmentionables of black 
 or bottle-green velveteen, blue-and-white-striped 
 cotton stockings, clumsy silver knee and shoe 
 buckles, — such was their costume. The eternal 
 bonnet de nuit for this time had given place to 
 rather smart round hats, with a profusion of 
 plush on them. Drawn up on their left stood 
 the old gardener, his two sons — stout peasants, 
 clad something like, though more humbly than, 
 
A GAEDE-CHAMPETRE. 12V 
 
 the rest — and Mademoiselle " Mon-pere-dit," also 
 in her best bib and tucker, trying to look amiable, 
 but evidently most particularly anxious. Lastly, 
 with a brisk, self-satisfied air, stepped in one of 
 the most extraordinary-looking personages of the 
 whole party — a diminutive spare figure with a 
 complexion like mahogany, but upright, and of a 
 most martial bearina;. He was clad in a short 
 green uniform coat, with large copper buttons 
 decorated with the imperial eagle of France, green 
 pantaloons, and an enormous leathern cocked- 
 hat, which he touched by way of salute on enter- 
 ing, but, soldier-like, retained on his head. In 
 his hand he carried a sort of javelin, or short 
 hunting-spear. This dignitary, a person of most 
 decided importance, passing the others, stepped 
 briskly up and placed himself at the elbow of the 
 trembling magistrate, who drew a long breath, 
 and gave unequivocal testimony of satisfaction at 
 seeing his tutelary genius by his side. 
 
 The important personage just described was 
 the garde-champetre — or garde-village, as he was 
 more frequently called — a sort of police officer 
 placed by Napoleon in every village of his 
 empire. I never could ascertain precisely the 
 position and duties of these people ; they seemed 
 to be chief police officers, and the maires paid 
 
128 A GARDE-CHAMPETRE. 
 
 them great deference, seldom acting in extraor- 
 dinary cases witliout their advice and concur- 
 rence. They acted as gamekeepers and con- 
 stables, billeted troops, and exercised a general 
 surveillance in the commune. No doubt they 
 noted and made reports of all they saw and 
 heard, so that H. I. Majesty had an authorised 
 spy in every village. They were well paid, and 
 the situation appeared to be a comfortable retreat 
 for old soldiers, for such we always found them 
 to be. Our present friend (called familiarly by 
 the peasantry Petit Jean) had served in a regi- 
 ment of the line under Marshal Suchet in Cata- 
 lonia, and although still only a middle-aged man, 
 had been pensioned on account of having lost two 
 fingers of his left hand, and placed here for life 
 as garde-village. Well, the whole cortege has 
 entered the room, and ranged themselves in line 
 across the lower end of it, close to the wall ; the 
 shufiling of feet has ceased, and a profound 
 silence prevails. We sit staring at them, and 
 wondering what the deuce they interrupt us for. 
 Bowing and scraping renewed spontaneously; 
 again silence, but various glances are shot at and 
 signs made to Mynheer Evenpoel, which in his 
 fright he utterly disregards, and stands like an 
 owl, without a movement except the evident 
 
A SCENE. 129 
 
 shaking of his limbs. After a while old Ingleby, 
 ■who had been leaning over the back of his chair 
 eyeing the poor devil, utters in his usual gruff 
 Yorkshire way, " Well, sir?" without reflecting 
 on the fact of his English not being understood. 
 The tone is enough, however, and it determines the 
 party to bolder measures — the quaking magnate is 
 actually shoved forward to the table. Petit Jean 
 also advances, and again places himself at the 
 poor man's elbow ; his right arm, outstretched, 
 bears upon the upright javelin, the butt of 
 which he plants firmly, and with an air, on the 
 floor ; in his mutilated left hand he holds up to 
 us an unfolded sheet of foolscap, which we soon 
 ascertain to be inscribed by certain characters 
 calculated to extract hay and corn, &c., from the 
 lofts and granaries of our clients — in short, the 
 requisition for forage and provisions, &c., of our 
 quartermaster-general addressed to the commune 
 of Strytem. The brown little warrior looks com- 
 placently round the company as though he would 
 say, " And I also am a soldier ; Moi ! " After 
 repeated applications of a very scanty blue cot- 
 ton handkerchief to his front — pour essuyer la 
 sueur — the worthy magistrate at length, in a 
 trembling, hesitating voice, opens his oration, gains 
 courage as he goes on, warms, and even becomes 
 
 VOL. I. I 
 
130 M. l'adjoint's speech. 
 
 rather energetic towards tlie conclusion of nearly 
 a quarter of an hour's talk, to which we have 
 listened, but understood not a word. Mynheer 
 salaams, wipes his front, and stands, mouth half- 
 open, attending the applause due to his exertions, 
 and our reply to his statements, whatever they 
 may be. Petit Jean comprehends the dilemma, 
 steps forward with a military salute, places him- 
 self again in an attitude, and, whilst Mynheer 
 stares and seems to envy his self-possession, re- 
 quests permission of messieurs les officiers to ex- 
 plain what M. r Adjoint would wish to say, and 
 goes off at score — "M. Evenpoel only expresses the 
 sentiments of the whole commune when he assures 
 messieurs les officiers that the arrival of the brave 
 English has diffused throughout its population 
 the most lively joy. Les Anglais are a people 
 as generous as they are brave, and M. I'Adjoint 
 rests satisfied that under the protection of M. le 
 Commandant the peaceful tranquillity of the 
 commune will remain undisturbed." Here, at a 
 glance from Petit Jean, M. Evenpoel and the 
 whole cortege salaam together, repeating with one 
 consent, " Mais c'est vrai — c'est vrai ! Oui, M. le 
 Commandant, c'est vrai 5a ! " Petit Jean re- 
 sumes. " But, M. le Commandant, we sensibly 
 regret the poverty of our commune, and are au 
 
M. l' AD joint's speech, 131 
 
 desespoir that Milor Wellington should have sent 
 his brave soldiers to so miserable a place — a place 
 so incapable of affording them the good cheer 
 (bon traitement) that they so richly merit, whilst 
 the surrounding country abounds in rich and 
 populous villages, fully adequate to lodge them 
 comfortably (convenablement) and to supply all 
 their wants. It was only I'annSe passee that this 
 poor commune was oppressed and impoverished 
 by being obliged to provide for a corps of Prus- 
 sians during several months. These people, un- 
 disciplined and hien m^chants, plundered us all 
 without restraint, and wantonly consumed our 
 whole substance — hardly leaving wherewithal to 
 support our miserable existence. Thus ruined 
 and impoverished, M. le Commandant, we feel 
 assured, will see that, in spite of our good wishes, 
 we are in an impossibility of supplying the im- 
 mense rations of forage. Sec, here demanded ; " 
 and here, taking off his chapeau and making 
 a most profound salaam, he again flourishes be- 
 fore us the obnoxious sheet of foolscap, whilst M. 
 r Adjoint, beginning to fidget, indicates an inclin- 
 ation to renew his harangue amidst a general buzz 
 of approbation, and a reiteration of " C'est vrai, 
 mon commandant, c'est bien vrai." M. le Com- 
 mandant silences them by observing, " That a 
 
132 OUR ANSWER TO IT. 
 
 soldier must obey orders — that it is for his gene- 
 ral to think and investigate — that Milor Wel- 
 lington, or those acting for him, had no doubt 
 sufficiently informed themselves as to the re- 
 sources of the country before they ordered troops 
 thither — that, having done so, right or wrong, 
 these troops must live — that it is evident from 
 the good case of all present, particularly of M. le 
 Maire, that the commune did produce something 
 to eat and drink ; — consequently, the gentlemen 
 are invited to allow our partaking with them, or 
 we must help ourselves, which would be bien 
 facheux." A general grunt — " Ah, mon Dieu ! " — 
 accompanied by deep sighs on the part of Made- 
 moiselle " Mon-pere-dit." I should have stated 
 that M. le Maire and a farmer named Walsdragen 
 were the only two ignorant of French. The for- 
 mer of these had profited by an offered chair, and 
 seated himself during the oration of Petit Jean 
 
 o 
 
 and my answer. Hearing the concert of sighs 
 and groans, he opens his little pig-eyes to the 
 utmost, and casting them about on the surround- 
 ing group, seems to demand an explanation. 
 Petit Jean communicates the awful purport of 
 my answer. Agitation recommences, and I am 
 conjured, for pity's sake, at least to delay until 
 an express be sent to Brussels to acquaint Milor 
 
I AM PEREMPTOEY. 133 
 
 Vellington of the utter impossibility of so large 
 a body of men and horses being supported by so 
 poor a place. Poor simple people ! I should 
 like to have witnessed the reception of the dele- 
 gate. M. le Commandant observes that M. le 
 Maire may do as to him seemeth best, but cannot 
 be so unreasonable as to expect that we and our 
 horses should wait for supper until his messenger 
 return — ergo, as it is already late, M. le Maire is 
 again invited to lose no more time in talking, 
 but to proceed forthwith in collecting the articles 
 demanded. But, to make a long story short, 
 after a deal of action and whispering in a corner 
 of the room, they made a proposition to furnish 
 one-half the quantity. And here it flashed across 
 me, that these people must be dealt with like the 
 Turkish rayah, who, after protesting his incapa- 
 bility to produce a single egg for a whole hour, 
 at last, upon the application of the Mikmander's 
 whip, brings out a whole store of good things. 
 So I cut the matter short by sending Karl for 
 the quartermaster, who was without awaiting the 
 result of the Maire's visit. The old veteran 
 enters, head erect, shoulders thrown back, and 
 steel scabbard jangling on the floor as he ad- 
 vanced to the table, and silently made his salute. 
 The assembled rustics gape and stare at him in 
 
134 THE DEPUTATION IN A FRIGHT. 
 
 evident alarm, Mynheer trembles, Petit Jean 
 draws himself up, as if imitating old Hall's mili- 
 tary bearing, whilst I, pointing him out to the 
 assembled multitude, inform them that in five 
 minutes he will proceed at the head of a foraging 
 party to rummage their barns, granaries, and 
 larders, and help himself. The quartermaster, 
 having received his orders, makes his salute, 
 without deigning even a glance at the Maire and 
 party, amongst whom a precious scene of confu- 
 sion now takes place, amidst which out they all 
 trundle after old Hall, without even the ceremony 
 of a parting salaam ; and we, replenishing our 
 glasses, drank success to our foray, rejoicing in 
 having got rid of the noise. Our quiet, however, 
 was of very short duration, for in the court Hall 
 was already assembling his party, and neither 
 understood their remonstrances nor attended to 
 their grimaces; so with one accord back they 
 came upon us, bursting into the room as uncere- 
 moniously as they had just left it, bellowing like 
 so many bulls. A new negotiation opened, and 
 terminated with a promise that everything should 
 be brought in if I would give them two hours, 
 after they had vainly struggled for daybreak — 
 and away they went. The two hours had nearly 
 elapsed, and we were still at table, when Petit 
 
THE MAYOR IN SAFE KEEPING. 135 
 
 Jean, foaming with rage, burst into the room 
 unaccompanied : " Ah, mais ces faquins 1^ has — ■ 
 ils ne font que se moquer de vous et de votre 
 bont^, Monsieur le Commandant. Mais excusez, 
 monsieur, je suis militaire, moi ! et je me suis 
 indigne de voir des militaires se laisser tromper 
 par des vilains paysans ; qui qu'ils sont, con- 
 naissent trfes bien I'accueil q'ils auraient regus h 
 la main d'un officier Prussien, ou meme Frangais. 
 Avec permission, monsieur, je m'en vais amener 
 avec moi vos fourrageurs faire un fourrage mili- 
 tairement ; " and, without waiting for an answer, 
 the little hero bolted, and following to the hall- 
 door, there we saw him sure enough march out of 
 the gate perched upon one of our immense gun- 
 horses, looking for all the world like a monkey 
 on a dromedary. In two hours bread, forage, 
 and aU — nay, more than we had demanded — were 
 brought in. 
 
 Meantime our sergeant of the guard comes in 
 for orders as to what he shall do with the 
 mayor. " The mayor ? — what have you to do with 
 the mayor ? " " Why, we have him safe in the 
 guard-room, sir." "The devil you have! and by 
 whose order 1 " " Why, sir, we thought it best to 
 keep him until the foraging-party with Fitty Jan 
 returned, least he might try to hinder 'em." Here 
 
136 PETIT JEAN. 
 
 "vvas a dilemma, should the old man complain to 
 headquarters. However, on sending an officer to 
 release him, and explain the mistake, Mynheer was 
 too frightened to think of anything but rejoicing 
 at gaining his liberty. Perhaps conscience told 
 him that he deserved punishment for the imposi- 
 tion he had attempted to practise on us. 
 
 Petit Jean from that moment became our great 
 friend and ally. On almost all occasions he sided 
 with the soldiers in any little difference between 
 them and the boors. On one occasion a com- 
 plaint had been made to me, by a man who lived 
 near the gate, that one of ouv gunners had not 
 only plundered his potato-garden, but had also 
 otherwise ill-treated him. On my going to inves- 
 tigate the business on the spot, it turned out that 
 he had struck the gunner. Petit Jean, who had 
 accompanied me officially, on hearing this, turned 
 suddenly on the fellow, " You sacre cochon ! frap- 
 per un militaire ; sacre vilain homme ! Quoi ! — un 
 vil paysan frapper un militaire 1 Ah, que cela me 
 revolte ! " — and seizing a stake from the hedge, 
 foaming with unfeigned anger, he fell on the poor 
 devil, and fairly chased him out of sight, bela- 
 bouring him all the way. What English soldier 
 would ever take up the cudgels against his own 
 countryman because the French soldier was his 
 
A SLEEPLESS NIGHT, 137 
 
 brother-in-arms 1 Whenever his patrol duty did 
 not call him out, he was sure to be found in the 
 guard-room, or somewhere amongst the men. He 
 might certainly have been a spy in the camp, for 
 Buonaparte had most accurate information re- 
 specting the state, positions, and numbers of our 
 army, part of which no doubt was communicated 
 by these gardes-chamjjetres, who, as before men- 
 tioned, were all old French soldiers, and did not 
 conceal their attachment to the Emperor. Spy 
 or no spy, Petit Jean was always extremely oblig- 
 ing, and frequently of most essential service to us. 
 Our equipment Avas in every way too perfect to 
 leave any care as to what might be reported of 
 our state ; and as to future movements, we were as 
 ignorant of them as Napoleon himself. But to 
 return to our story. The row was all over, our 
 mess party broken up, and I retired to my room ; 
 but, alas ! on getting into bed I found sleep im- 
 possible — the moat under my window was peopled 
 with millions of frogs, and such was the horrid 
 croaking of these little wretches, that sleep was 
 out of the question, and the Van Voldens were 
 avenged. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The next morning a most superb breakfast was 
 on my table when I returned from a stroll in the 
 woods — the finest milk, eggs, and butter I ever 
 saw in my life, and in profusion. My servant 
 had procured them at the adjoining farm, and so 
 cheap, that he had brought a large soup-plate full 
 of eggs and an antique jug holding more than 
 two quarts of milk. During our whole stay at 
 Strytem there was never any difference in this 
 respect — always abundance. After breakfast, the 
 usual watering order parade took place in the 
 grand avenue, under the shade of stately beeches. 
 The contented countenances of the men, the sleek 
 coats and frolicksome spirit of the horses, testified 
 suflieiently that neither had fared indifferently. 
 I found, however, that the chateau farm was rather 
 crowded, and therefore detached the 1st division, 
 officer and all, to a small village, with a pretty 
 
OCCUPATIONS AT STRYTEM. 139 
 
 chateau on the hill, about a mile from us — Yser- 
 ingen. This move made all hands completely 
 comfortable, and so we went on. Nothing could 
 exceed the delicious tranquillity I enjoyed in 
 Strytem. For those who preferred more bustle 
 and more society Brussels was at hand, and 
 thither they frequently repaired ; on the other 
 side Ninove, the headquarters of Lord Uxbridge, 
 who commanded the cavahy, was only three or 
 four miles distant, and all the surrounding villages 
 were full of cavalry or horse-artillery. Every one 
 breakfasted in his own apartment. At ten a.m. 
 watering order parade and inspection of horses, &c. 
 Then, after visiting the billets and getting through 
 any casual business, I was at liberty, and, mount- 
 ing my horse, employed the remainder of the 
 morning in exploring the country. In the even- 
 ing we all assembled to our social meal. Those 
 who had been to Brussels (or, as we used to say, 
 " Up to town ") usually brought some news, or at 
 least some gossip, which added zest to the excel- 
 lent cheer almost always on our board. How our 
 table was furnished I do not exactly recollect, my 
 notes on the subject being silent,*' but believe the 
 meat was ration brought from Ninove every day 
 
 * The moat supplied us daily a dish of very fine carp, and the 
 gardener's sons occasionally shot us a hare or two. 
 
140 OUE FAKE. 
 
 by our commissary (Mr Coates), so was the bread. 
 Poultry, vegetables, &c. &c., we procured in abun- 
 ance amongst our neighbours ; our wine came 
 from Brussels ; candles, Avood, &c., from Ninove. 
 After dinner some took a short ride previous to 
 seeing their horses done up for the night. For 
 my part, I preferred enjoying the calm beauties of 
 evening with my cigar under the splendid avenue 
 of beech in rear of the chateau, and when night 
 closed in, retired to my antique saloon, which a 
 blazing fire of fagots and a couple of candles made 
 tolerably comfortable. Here I busied myself in 
 Madame de Genlis's ' Life of Henri IV.,' sometimes 
 until midnight, tranquil and happy. At times, 
 as I occasionally looked up from my book and 
 cast my eyes round, no sound interrupting the 
 solemn stillness save the ticking of my Avatch as 
 it lay on the table before me, the croaking of the 
 frogs, or the moaning of the Avind as it eddied 
 round the old hall, I could almost fancy the deep- 
 toned portraits of ci-devant Van Voldens, in their 
 sombre A^elvet suits and stifi" ruffs, actually embued 
 Avith life, and frowning on my intrusion ; or fixing 
 them on the door of the chapel, I Avould conjure 
 up figures of warriors, bourgmestres, or damsels 
 
 clad all in white, raising the tapestry, and 
 
 but then old Bal, getting up from his place before 
 
THE COUNTRY EOUND STRYTEM. 141 
 
 the fire to scratch himself, or the voice of the sentry 
 in the outer court solemnly proclaiming "All's 
 well," would suddenly recall me from my reverie 
 to a consciousness that it was bed-time ; and so to 
 bed I hied me, to sleep as well as the eternal frog 
 concert would allow. Such was the general tenor 
 of our life at Strytem, varied a little at times by 
 circumstances to be related as they occurred, and 
 sometimes disturbed for a moment by reports of 
 hostile movements, or the low murmurs of a dis- 
 tant cannonade. This last, however, was heard 
 so frequently, without being followed by any con- 
 sequences, that we got accustomed to, and finally 
 disregarded, it. Subsequently we found that it 
 proceeded from the practice and exercising of the 
 Belgic artillery at Mons, or somewhere in that 
 direction. My rides, after a time, brought me 
 somewhat acquainted with the neighbouring coun- 
 try, but only by slow degrees, for surely never 
 was reconnaissance of any country. more difficult, 
 — it was a perfect labyrinth. 
 
 In the immediate neighbourhood of Strytem 
 the ground arose in a succession of round-topped 
 hills, of no very great height, and all very much 
 alike. Of these, the summits, and frequently the 
 slopes, were clothed with woods of oak, ash, 
 beech, &c. &c., intermixed with coppice of the 
 
142 BEAUTY OF THE SCENERY. 
 
 finest hazel I ever saw, thus forming a number of 
 little valleys running into each other, but all, 
 from the profusion of wood and the overlapping 
 (if I may use the term) of the flanks of the hills, 
 presenting an appearance of the most perfect 
 seclusion. Amongst these woods were scattered 
 large tracts of cultivated ground, laid out in 
 fields of wheat, rye, barley, buckwheat, hops, 
 clover, &c. &c., frequently here enclosed by 
 thick and lofty hedges ; quite in the bottoms, and 
 lying along a small stream of water, which ran 
 through almost every one of these little valleys, 
 were meadows of the liveliest verdure, whilst 
 rows of magnificent elms frinsfed the banks and 
 overshadowed the rippling waters of the rivulets. 
 Villaa;es and detached farms were of constant 
 recurrence, and in all directions one saw the 
 modest spires of the village churches rising above 
 the massed and verdant foliage. Although these 
 woods were, generally speaking, of no great extent 
 — perhaps only a few acres — yet were there some 
 of such extent as to entitle this to the appellation 
 of a woody, or even forest, country. The Bois de 
 Liederkerke, for instance, commenced near the 
 village of Paemele, and extended no less than 
 four miles in the direction of Assche ; everywhere 
 two or three miles wide, including a great variety 
 
EICH CULTIVATION, 143 
 
 of ground, and in different directions were sev- 
 eral others nearly of the same extent. At first, 
 one is surprised at finding such vast tracts of 
 woodland in a country so populous and so as- 
 siduously cultivated; but the thing is easily 
 explained. In addition to the ordinary demands 
 for small wood in husbandry, there are large and 
 numerous hop -grounds requiring a continual 
 supply of poles ; but, above all, the enormous 
 quantity of fuel required, not only by the pea- 
 santry, but also by the inhabitants of the towns, 
 — wood being almost exclusively used for that 
 purpose. 
 
 The kind of country I have been describing 
 extended northward from us as far as Assche — 
 perhaps much further, but of that I know not — 
 and eastward to Brussels. Towards the south the 
 round hills gradually gave place to longer slopes 
 and plateaux, and the woods became less frequent, 
 but the villages were numerous, with the same 
 careful cultivation everywhere. Toward the west, 
 and only a few miles distant, we were bounded by 
 the Dender, holding its course through extensive 
 flat meadows covered with luxuriant crops of 
 hay, or afibrding pasturage to herds of fine cattle. 
 Beyond the river-valley the country assumed a 
 different aspect : long and less abrupt slopes ; 
 
144 THE FLEMISH FARMERS. 
 
 woods fewer and thinner ; a total absence of 
 hedges ; altogether presenting an aspect in many 
 places bare and cheerless, strongly contrasting 
 with the lovely scenery about Strytem — if I may 
 call scenery lovely where we find neither rock, 
 nor mountain, nor precipice, nor torrent ; but it 
 is home scenery, and its character simplicity, 
 luxuriance, abundance, tranquillity, and repose. 
 There one saw the rustic dwellings of the pea- 
 santry situated in secluded nooks, and embosomed 
 in orchards and hop grounds ; the rural village 
 with its modest church low down in the rich 
 bottom, surrounded by smiling fields of grain or 
 clover; a gentle rivulet slowly winding its devious 
 way amidst the rank luxuriance of vegetation 
 clothing its overhanging banks; the whole en- 
 cased, as it were, by wavy heights, crowned with 
 thick and verdant woods. One thing, however, 
 was wanting to complete this picture of rural 
 wealth and happiness — it wanted the animating 
 presence of domestic animals, of herds and flocks 
 dotting the fair surface of its fields. The farms 
 in this country are not large as with us ; the 
 farmer does not live in a splendid mansion, still 
 more splendidly furnished, nor does he idle away 
 his time in shooting or fox-hunting. The Flemish 
 farmer is a plain honest rustic, clad in homespun 
 
THE FLEMISH FARMERS. 145 
 
 grey, a cotton nightcap on his head, wooden 
 shoes on his feet, and the everlasting short pipe 
 in his mouth; he himself holds the plough, 
 guides his team, or assists in thrashing out his 
 grain. Ignorance of their language prevented 
 my acquiring more information concerning them 
 and their aifairs than what could be done by 
 observation of outward appearance ; therefore I 
 could neither learn the extent of their farms, 
 their ideas on agriculture, the amount of rents, 
 length of leases, nor the value of land, &c. 
 Coarsely fed and coarsely clad, still they are 
 an industrious, hard-working, and contented race; 
 not very intelligent, I allow, but perhaps they 
 are the happier for it; — they are kind to their 
 inferiors, affable and communicative with their 
 equals, and respectful, almost to servility, to their 
 superiors, or those they fancy such.""' 
 
 Although many of the farming establishments 
 in our neighbourhood resembled in plan and 
 construction those already described about Den- 
 
 * Such, crops I never before saw, particularly those vividly- 
 green crops of tref, which really appeared so thick that one might 
 walk on them without sinking to the ground. But to me the 
 height attained by the rye was most astonishing. In one field 
 which I rode through nearly every day, it was as high as my 
 head, when mounted on my little horse Cossack, about 14| hands 
 high, so that it could not have been less than 7 or 8 feet, the 
 ears remarkably fuU. and looking well. 
 
 VOL. I. K 
 
146 FARMING ESTABLISHMENTS. 
 
 dermonde, yet were they not universally of this 
 description. That adjoining the chateau was 
 really a very fine one — substantial brick house, 
 barns, out-houses of every kind, all on a great 
 scale, and, as usual, surrounded by a spacious 
 court. But others were very different from this ; 
 many were very humble abodes, constructed of 
 wood or clay, with thatched roofs and small 
 casement windows, standing along the edges of 
 the fields, with their barn adjoining but not 
 united, nor any courtyard for manure, &c., the 
 outbuildings all on a small scale, as also, I sup- 
 pose, were their farms. Others, standing likewise 
 open in the fields, were again of a different 
 character. These had high thatched roofs pro- 
 jecting several feet beyond the walls, and sup- 
 ported by rough posts, forming a sort of veran- 
 dah; this is filled up to the eaves with firewood 
 — some in logs, some in fagots — which gives to 
 the exterior a very rude appearance, and must 
 make the interior very dark, from the great 
 depth of embrasure thus formed both to door 
 and window; but to balance this, it keeps 
 the house cool in summer and warm in winter. 
 Although the actual village of Strytem con- 
 sisted of no more than the chateau, the farm, 
 and the few mean houses clustered round the 
 
EXECEABLE EOADS. 147 
 
 church, yet the commune was extensive, com- 
 prising not only many fine farms, but also other 
 and more important villages. The real maire 
 Avas M. le Baron Von Volden, son of the pro- 
 prietress of our chateau. He, however, seldom 
 came nearer the place than Brussels, leaving to 
 his worthy adjoint, Jan Evanpoel, the care of 
 administering the government, and at the time 
 of our arrival either was in Paris, or had but 
 just returned from it. Where the maire is thus 
 vested in the person of the chdtelain, the post 
 seems to be one of much importance — not con- 
 fined to the police of the village alone, but 
 extending to a general superintendence over the 
 welfare of the commune, the state of the roads, 
 &c. &c. Whether owing to the baron being so 
 much an absentee I know not, but the roads all 
 about Strytem were hardly passable after heavy 
 rain (of which we had a pretty good share), not 
 only from their badness, having no foundations, 
 and receiving little or no repair, but also from 
 the unctuous and slippery soil, which makes 
 riding absolutely dangerous immediately after 
 rain. Some of the worst sloughs, which other- 
 wise would be quite impassable, are repaired, as 
 in Eussia, Poland, and America, by laying logs 
 transversely, and covering them with brushwood. 
 
148 DRUNKENNESS. 
 
 and then earth ; but these, after a little weather- 
 ing and wear and tear, become absolutely dan- 
 gerous from horses slipping in between the logs, 
 sometimes up to the shoulder. 
 
 This was one of the drawbacks upon our en- 
 joyment in this otherwise pleasant country ; and, 
 having confessed as much, I may as well admit 
 that there were a few others which prevented us 
 from living in a state of absolute and unalloyed 
 happiness. One grievance was the cheapness of 
 gin — a villanous kind of spirit manufactured in 
 the country, and on which a man could get 
 " royal " for twopence ; for though our men were 
 really fine fellows and generally very steady 
 soldiers, yet, like other Englishmen, they could 
 not resist a social glass nor avoid its conse- 
 quences ; and, indeed, if excuse it be, they were 
 in a measure driven to the use of this pernicious 
 spirit by the execrable quality of all the beer in 
 the country, which more resembled a mixture of 
 cow-dung and water than anything else. The 
 sale of this poison took place in a small cabaret 
 near the church, which was usually thronged with 
 our people every evening after stable-hour ; and, 
 strange to say, where they mixed most sociably 
 with the boors, to my no small astonishment. 
 It is a curious fact, that upon inquiry at the 
 
FEOG-CONCERTS. 149 
 
 sergeant-major how they could -understand each 
 other, he replied that the Yorkshire, Lanca- 
 shire, and Lincolnshire men, who spoke very 
 broad, could make themselves understood pretty 
 well, and in like manner could comprehend the 
 Flemish of their boon companions. Quarrels 
 would sometimes arise in this tabagie, which oc- 
 casioned a temporary derangement of our tranquil 
 life. But that was a trifle to another grievance 
 which stuck to us incessantly, and was the most 
 serious drawback we endured during our sojourn 
 in the valley of Strytem. I allude to the infer- 
 nal and eternal frog -concert that nightly dis- 
 turbed our rest more or less, and kept us in a 
 constant state of irritability. For a few days we 
 bore this curse very philosophically, then began 
 to war against the wretches by pelting them with 
 stones, firing at them with small-shot, beating 
 the water with poles, &c. &c., but all to no pur- 
 pose, for though we killed them by scores, yet did 
 their numbers never appear to thin nor their 
 detestable " quoah, quoah " to lessen in intensity. 
 Then we made the wheeler construct a raft, and 
 with this some one was always cruising and slay- 
 ing, yet still no alleviation to the evil. A council 
 was held, and it was determined that nothing 
 short of draining the moat would avail, and 
 
150 DRAINING THE MOAT. 
 
 therefore drained it should be. Curiosity had 
 some hand in this decision, for we had heard 
 that the moat contained the largest carp ever 
 seen — a fish several feet in length, and weighing 
 I know not what. The old gardener, when 
 acquainted with our resolve and ordered to make 
 the necessary preparations, was perfectly as- 
 tounded, and (as did Mademoiselle and the sons) 
 used every sort of argument to turn us from 
 it ; amongst others, he assured us that I'annee 
 passee the Prussians had attempted to drain the 
 moat merely to kill all the fish — "les sacre 
 vilains hommes ! " but the stench arising from it 
 when low, quickly obliged them to desist. It would 
 not do — we were peremptory ; and at length the 
 old man opened the voider, closed the feeder, 
 and to our delight the work of destruction began. 
 Day after day the water gradually receded from 
 the foot of the old walls and from the opposite 
 bank — already in many places the oozy slime of 
 the bottom began to appear — already we rejoiced 
 at the innumerable corpses of our enemies lying 
 on it everywhere ; the upper part of the moat 
 was already, not dry, but waterless ; and we 
 were on the point of seeing the giant leviathan, 
 when lo ! the weather, hitherto cool and showery, 
 became superb, and the heat almost insuffer- 
 
RESULT OF THE EXPERIMENT. 151 
 
 able. Decomposition, animal and vegetable, com- 
 menced "with alarming rapidity, and the mephitic 
 vapours thus produced pervading every creek and 
 corner of the chateau, obliged us, hongre malgre, 
 to reclose the voider and reopen the feeder, — and 
 thus terminated la guerre aux grenouilles. But, 
 alas ! our punishment for having resisted the 
 entreaties and warnings of the old gardener was 
 not to close with the sluices. The same hot sun 
 had dried up nearly all the sources whence the 
 moat had been fed, and many a long day of dis- 
 gust and repentance had we to endure ere the 
 waters again covered the odious slime sufficiently 
 to relieve us from its nauseous stink, and to 
 enable the frogs to renew their song, which, when 
 they did, was to us a song of joy; and we had 
 the further mortification of finding that, with a 
 little patience, we might have saved ourselves 
 all the trouble and suffering, for we had become 
 so accustomed to it that it fell on our ear in- 
 nocuous. 
 
 But the charms of a country life have so occu- 
 pied my brain as to chase from it all recollection 
 of being a soldier. To be sure, professional occu- 
 pations did not consume a very great portion of 
 our time, yet still there remain a few little items 
 worthy of being recorded — imprimis, drills. So 
 
152 THE DUG DE BEERl : 
 
 completely is the whole of this country (not 
 occupied by wood) under tillage, that it was long 
 after our arrival at Strytem ere we discovered a 
 spot on which we could even draw out the troop, 
 much less exercise it. At length, and I cannot 
 recollect how, we found a piece of scrubby com- 
 mon of some acres in extent near the village of 
 Denderhout, some miles off on the other side of 
 the Dender, and not far from Alost. Thither, 
 then, we repaired occasionally to practise our- 
 selves, and prevent our people forgetting entirely 
 their drills. Thither also came occasionally His 
 Highness of Berri with his newly-formed corps 
 of cavalry to learn theirs. We frequently met, 
 and as the ground was too confined to admit of 
 both corps working at the same time, the last 
 comers were obliged to dismount and wait until 
 the others had done, for we continued our opera- 
 tions when first on the ground, regardless of the 
 impatience of the royal drill-master, who, though 
 he never said anything to us, did not fail to 
 betray, by a thousand little pettish actions, the 
 annoyance he felt at our want of due respect. 
 One day that they had got in possession and we 
 were obliged to wait, I had a good opportunity 
 of seeing this curious corps and its savage leader. 
 The former presented a most grotesque appear- 
 
HIS BRUTALITY. 153 
 
 ance; — cuirassiers, hussars, grenadiers a cheval, and 
 chasseurs, dragoons and lancers, officers and pri- 
 vates, with a few of the new garde de corps, were 
 indiscriminately mingled in the ranks. One file 
 were colonels, the next privates, and so on, and 
 all wearing their proper uniforms and mounted 
 on their proper horses, so that these were of all 
 sizes and colours. There might have been about 
 two hundred men, divided into two or three 
 squadrons, the commanders of which were gene- 
 rals. The Prince, as I have said,Avas drill-master. 
 A more intemperate, brutal, and (in his situation) 
 impolitic one, can scarcely be conceived. The 
 slightest fault (frequently occasioned by his own 
 blunders) was visited by showers of low -life 
 abuse — using on all occasions the most odious 
 language. One unfortunate squadron ofiicer (ci 
 general!) offended him, and was immediately 
 charged with such violence that I expected a 
 catastrophe. Eeining up his horse, however, close 
 to the unhappy man, his vociferation and vil- 
 lanous abuse were those of a perfect madman ; 
 shaking his sabre at him, and even at one time 
 thrusting the pommel of it into his face, and, as 
 far as I could see, pushing it against his nose ! 
 Such a scene ! Yet all the others sat mute as 
 mice, and witnessed all this humiliation of their 
 
154 A DOG CHASE. 
 
 comrade, and the degradation of him for whom 
 they had forsaken Napoleon. Just at this mo- 
 ment one of our troop-dogs ran barking at the 
 heels of the Prince's horse. Boiling with rage 
 before, he now boiled over in earnest, and, stoop- 
 ing, made a furious cut at the dog, which, eluding 
 the weapon, continued his annoyance. The Duke, 
 quitting the unfortunate cMf d'escadron, now 
 turned seriously at the dog, but he, accustomed 
 to horses, kept circling about, yapping and snap- 
 ping, and always out of reach ; and it was not 
 until he had tired himself with the fruitless pur- 
 suit that, foaming with rage, he returned to his 
 doomed squadrons, who had sat quietly looking on 
 at this exhibition. "While all this took place, I 
 had made acquaintance with another general offi- 
 cer who appeared to be there in the capacity of 
 aide-de-camp — a gentlemanly sort of man, who, 
 having been many years in England with Louis 
 XVIIL, spoke English fluently. This man pleased 
 me much at the time; he was then in adver- 
 sity. I met him afterwards in prosperity — nous 
 verrons ! 
 
 Now that I have got on military affairs, it may 
 be as well to record the manner in which this 
 country was occupied — at least as far as my know- 
 ledge on the subject goes. First, then, headquar- 
 
DISPOSITION OP THE TROOPS. 155 
 
 ters of the cavalry and horse-artillery at Ninove, 
 where was also the principal depot of forage and 
 provisions. The reason for assembling the cavalry 
 thus at some distance from the expected scene of 
 operations was the great fertihty of this part of 
 Brabant, and the facility of communication with 
 Alost, to which place, the Dender being navigable, 
 advantage could be taken of the rich Pays de 
 Waes. The villages, farms, &c., all round Ninove 
 were full of troops. 
 
 Okegem. — Major M'Donald's troop horse-artillery. 
 Paemele. — Sir Robert Gardiner's do. 
 
 Strytem and Yseringen. — Captain Mercer's do. 
 Lombeke, Notre Dame. — Captain Sinclair's brigade of 
 9-pounders. 
 
 Lennik, St Martin.- — ■ Headquarters of Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Hawker, Eoyal Artillery, commanding two bat- 
 teries somewhere in his neighbourhood. 
 
 Beyond Ninove, westward, were the troops, horse- 
 artillery, of Majors Bull, Eamsay, and Webber Smyth — 
 forget names of villages. 
 
 Liederkerke, Denderlue, and vicinage. — Life Guards 
 and Blues. 
 
 Schandelbeke and Vicinage. — The three huzzar regi- 
 ments, 10th, 15th, 18th. 
 
 Lerbeke, &c. — 23d Light Dragoons. 
 Castre, &c. — 16th do. 
 
 Meerbeke. — Headquarters Sir 0. Vandeleur with 12th 
 and 1 3th Light Dragoons. 
 Grammont. — Foot Guards. 
 
156 VISITORS FROM ENGLAND. 
 
 Enghien. — Foot Guards. 
 
 Schaepdale, &c. — Brunswick Infantry ; all boys. 
 
 Brussels. — The headquarters — 92d Highlanders, Rifles, 
 Hanoverian infantry, and some Belgian dragoons and 
 huzzars ; grand depot of forage and provisions, and of 
 artillery stores, &c. &c. 
 
 Mons. — English artillery and Dutch troops of diffe- 
 rent arms. 
 
 Assche. — Troop of Belgian horse-artUlery. 
 
 Courtray, Atto, Tournay. — Believe huzzars of th( 
 K.G. Legion. 
 
 Visitors from England were at this time flock- 
 ing over in great numbers, and travelling about 
 amongst the cantonments ; but ours was so se- 
 cluded, being distant from every great road, that 
 none of them found us out, until Sir Gr. A. Wood 
 (our Colonel commanding), coming over to review 
 the horse-artillery, brought with him the Knight 
 of Kerry and another Irish gentleman (name for- 
 gotten), who passed a day with us in the old 
 chateau, and were mightily pleased with our 
 snuggery. The inspection took place on the 
 little common at Denderhout. Six troops "''' were 
 drawn out, and made a splendid show — for finer, 
 as to equipment, men, horses, &c. &c., could not 
 possibly be seen. Mine was generally allowed to 
 
 *The captains were — viz., Lieutentant-Colonel Sir Hew D.Ross, 
 
 Major Bull, Ramsay, Lieutenant-Colonel W. Smyth, Major 
 
 M'Donald, Captain Mercer. 
 
THE DUG DE BEEEI AGAIX. 157 
 
 be the finest (old G), though there was some 
 hesitation in deciding between it and Webber 
 Smyth's. 
 
 The line was scarcely formed when his Eoyal 
 Highness of Berri arrived, and as usual got into 
 a pet at finding himself forestalled. Sir Augustus 
 Frazer, however, with his excellent manners and 
 as excellent French, soothed him by expressions 
 of regret, &c. &c., and stating that some of our 
 people had come a long distance, and unless soon 
 despatched, would hardly be able to get home 
 before night. Eoads bad, &c., otherwise, &c. &c. 
 &c. The Duke cooled down, and condescended 
 to accompany Sir G. Wood through the ranks. 
 We then marched past, and off home.* 
 
 The French officers were all admiration and 
 astonishment : they had never seen anything so 
 complete, nor any troop so mounted. 
 
 At Waterloo, on the 18th June, there were 
 present eight troops of British and two of Hano- 
 
 * The Duke of Wellington was so indifferent to the manner 
 in which officers dressed, that they indulged in all sorts of fancies. 
 I remember, at this inspection, Ramsay wore the light -cavalry 
 belt instead of a sash ; Bull wore beard and mustache ; so did 
 Newland; I wore the mustache. The usual dress of hussars 
 was frock-coat open, with a red waistcoat richly laced with gold. 
 At that time our regimental pantaloons were pepper-and-salt, with 
 straps of brown leather inside the legs and round the bottom, and 
 a red stripe down outside seam. 
 
158 AETILLEKY AT WATEELOO. 
 
 verian horse-artillery. The British, as far as I 
 can recollect, were: — 1. Lieutenant-Colonel Sir 
 Hew D. Ross's ; 2. Major Bull's ; 3. Major McDon- 
 ald's ; 4. Major Eamsay's ; 5. Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Webber Smyth's ; 6. Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Ro- 
 bert Gardiner's ; 7. Major Beane's ; 8. Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Sir A. Dickson, alias Captain Mercer's ; 
 also Captain Whinyate's rocket troop. These 
 were' armed as follows : — Major Bull's, six heavy 
 5-g-inch howitzers ; Lieutenant-Colonel Gardiner's 
 and W. Smith's, five light 6 -pounders, and one 
 light 5^-inch howitzer — these two being attached 
 to the hussar brigades ; Captain Whinyate's rock- 
 ets and light 6-pounders ; each of the others had 
 five 9-pounders and one heavy 5^-incli howitzer ; 
 and these " heavy drags " (as we called them) 
 were destined, by Sir Augustus Frazer, who com- 
 manded the horse-artillery, together with Bull's 
 howitzers, to form a grand battery in reserve, to 
 be applied as he might find occasion-^a formid- 
 able reserve it would have been. However, it 
 never came into play in that manner ; for in the 
 general orders of the army organising it, we were 
 all posted to different brigades of cavalry, con- 
 sequently Frazer 's grande batterie vanished in 
 smoke. In this allotment I fell to the first divi- 
 sion, Lord Edward Somerset, composed of the 
 
ARTILLERY AT WATERLOO. 159 
 
 three Hoiisehold regiments — the Scots Greys, 1st 
 Dragoon Guards, and 6tli or Inniskillings. We 
 continued, however, at Strytero, neither reporting 
 to, nor receiving orders from, Lord Edward ; nor 
 did we ever join the division until 21st June, near 
 Mons, whence we marched with them to Paris, 
 and then again separated. 
 
 Of the field-artillery I know very little, but re- 
 member that, about the beginning of June, Sir 
 Augustus Frazer, who was Sir G. Wood's right- 
 hand man, told me that, including the horse-artil- 
 lery, there were then twenty brigades of British 
 artillery, or 120 pieces, ready to take the field. 
 More arrived, I believe, after this ; I know Beane's 
 troop of horse-artillery did. What number of 
 Hanoverian, Dutch, Belgic, &c., there might be, 
 I never knew. 
 
 Whence it originated, I cannot conjecture, but, 
 certes, much indecision did exist about this time 
 as to our armament. Shortly after our arrival at 
 Strytem, we were ordered to send our light 6-poun- 
 ders to Ghent, there to be exchanged for heavies. 
 These, after a few days, were to be sent back and 
 replaced by the 9-pounders, which eventually we 
 kept. 
 
 These changes, whilst in progress, cost me con- 
 siderable anxiety, from the dread of a move tak- 
 
160 OUR EQUIPMENT. 
 
 ing place whilst my guns were absent — an event 
 the more to be dreaded, since the Duke never 
 attended to any justification if anything went 
 wrong ; nor would he have looked to my superi- 
 ors, but myself alone, and thus I should have 
 borne the whole weight of his anger. 
 
 At length, about the beginning of June we 
 were complete, when my troop establishment 
 was as follows, viz. : — 
 
 5 guns, 9-pounders, and 1 heavy 5|-incli how- 
 itzer — 8 horses each, . . . .48 
 
 9 ammunition-waggons — viz., 1 to each piece, 
 and a spare one per division — 6 horses each, 54 
 
 1 spare-wheel carriage — 6 horses, . . 
 
 1 forge, 1 curricle-cart, 1 baggage-waggon — 4 
 horses each, . . . . .12 
 
 Total in draught, . 
 6 mounted detachments — 8 horses each, 
 2 staff-sergeants, 2 farriers, 1 collar-maker, 
 6 officers' horses, lent them by the Board of Ord- 
 nance, . . • . 
 6 officers' mules, for carrying their baggage, 
 
 Total, 
 Additional horses unaccounted for above, spare, 
 &c., ..... 
 
 120 
 48 
 
 185 
 30 
 
 214 
 
 General total of animals. 
 Besides which, each officer had his own two 
 horses, and the surgeon one, making 11 more 
 — so that, including these, we had . . 226 
 
OUR OEGANISATION. 161 
 
 The personnel consisted of— Second Captain, 
 Mercer, commanding; Captain Pakenham (sub- 
 sequently Newland) as Second Captain ; Lieuten- 
 ants Bell, Hincks, Ingleby, and Leatkes — the for- 
 mer acting as adjutant to Sir A. Frazer, tke latter 
 as supernumerary ; and before we left Strytem, 
 Ingleby exchanged with Lieutenant Breton, and 
 joined Sir Eobert Gardiner's troop ; so that, fin- 
 ally, it stood : Breton, Hincks, Leathes — surgeon, 
 Hitchins ; 2 staif-sergeants, 3 sergeants, 3 corpo- 
 rals, 6 bombardiers, 1 farrier, 3 shoeing smiths, 2 
 collar-makers, 1 wheeler, 1 trumpeter, and 1 act- 
 ing do., 80 gunners, 84 drivers — the 1 acting 
 trumpeter not included. The organisation was 
 in three divisions, of two subdivisions each — a 
 subdivision being one piece of ordnance, with its 
 ammunition-waggon and detachment. Each divi- 
 sion had one spare ammunition-waggon and a 
 proportion of the other carriages, &c. The divi- 
 sion was commanded by a lieutenant, and the 
 subdivisions, the right of the division by a ser- 
 geant, the left by a corporal — a bombardier to 
 each subdivision. On parade, the 5^-inch howitzer 
 was the right of the centre division. Perhaps 
 at this time a troop of horse-artillery was the 
 completest thing in the army ; and whether 
 
 VOL. I. L 
 
162' OUR ORGANISATION. 
 
 broken up into half-brigades under the first and 
 second captains, or into divisions under their 
 lieutenants, or subdivisions under their sergeants 
 and corporals, still each body was a perfect 
 whole. 
 
CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 I HAVE confessed a little farther back that the 
 happiness of our sojourn in this lovely country 
 was not without some alloy ; and having done 
 so, I may add one or two more items to this 
 balance, per contra. 
 
 Soon after our arrival at Strytem, an officer of 
 the commissariat was attached to the troop, for 
 the purpose of feeding us and our aninials. His 
 first care was to secure a sufficient number of 
 country waggons, with their drivers and horses, 
 intending to keep them together ready for a move. 
 The farmers, finding this a grievance, besieged 
 me, personally and through Mynheer Evenpoel, 
 to allow them to remain at home until wanted. 
 This Mr Coates (who, by the way, was an experi- 
 enced and excellent commissary) strongly opposed, 
 foretelling the consequences but too truly ; how- 
 ever, I yielded, upon a solemn promise of M. 
 
164 MY DIFFICULTIES. 
 
 I'Adjoint that they should be held ready to move 
 at a moment's notice. Havinor committed this 
 folly, I was well punished for it by the anxiety 
 I experienced at every report of a move ; and at 
 last when the hour did come, they were called 
 and found wanting, and poor Mr Coates had to 
 mount and hunt them up, when they ought to 
 have been loaded and on the road. This was a 
 lesson to me. 
 
 Another misery I endured was the constant 
 apprehension of falling under the Duke's displea- 
 sure for systematic plundering of the farmers by 
 our people, which I could not well check without 
 risk of incurring the same on another score — i.e., for 
 not doing it ! This is enigmatical ; let me explain. 
 Our allowance of forage, though sufficient to keep 
 our horses in pretty good condition when idle, 
 was not sufficient when they were hard worked ; 
 nor was it sufficient at any time to put on them 
 that load of flesh, and give them that rotundity 
 of form which Peninsular practice had established 
 as the heau ideal of a horse entering on a cam- 
 paign, the maxim being — " The more flesh a 
 horse carries, the more he has to lose, and the 
 longer he will be able to bear privation." To 
 keep up this, therefore, it was necessary to bor- 
 row from the farmers ; and at this time of the 
 
PLUNDERING. 165 
 
 year tlie superb crops of the trefe offered them- 
 selves most opportunely. The practice was 
 general amongst cavalry and artillery, so that all 
 the horses were equally in good case ; and it 
 would have been a most dangerous proceeding, 
 by abstaining from it, to let your horses appear 
 thinner than those of your neighbour. The quick 
 eye of the Duke would have seen the difference, 
 asked no questions, attended to no justification, 
 but condemned the unfortunate victim of samples 
 as unworthy of the command he held, and per- 
 haps sent him from the army. We therefore, like 
 others, plundered the farmers' fields ; with this 
 difference, however, that we did it in a regular 
 manner, and without waste — whereas many of the 
 cavalry regiments destroyed nearly as much as 
 they carried away, by trampling about the fields. 
 The dread of this being reported kept me con- 
 tinually in hot water, for my farmers (who, under 
 the reign of the Prussians, would never have dared 
 utter a complaint), hearing how strictly plunder- 
 ing was forbidden by the Duke, soon became ex- 
 ceedingly troublesome with their threats of report- 
 ing me.'''" How we escaped it is difiicult to say, but 
 
 * A report was sent to Brussels, but it never reached the Duke, 
 for the simple people went in the first instance to Sir G. Wood, 
 and there it was strans^led. 
 
166 THE DUZE AND THE EOCKET TEOOJ:'. 
 
 certainly we continued helping ourselves ; and 
 latterly St Cyr, and some other farmers, getting 
 more docile, would themselves mark out where 
 we were to cut. Our neighbour at the chateau 
 farm (Walsdragen) was the most troublesome. The 
 Duke was not partial to our corps, which made 
 it still more fortunate for me that these people 
 never put their threats in execution. It is diffi- 
 cult to say why, but his Grace certainly treated us 
 harshly, and on many occasions unjustly. Of his 
 harshness void un exemple. Captain Whinyates 
 having joined the army with the rocket troop^the 
 Duke, who looked upon rockets as nonsense, ordered 
 that they should be put into store, and the troop 
 supplied with guns instead. Colonel Sir G. Wood, 
 instigated by Whinyates, called on the Duke to 
 ask permission to leave him his rockets as well as 
 guns. A refusal. Sir George, however, seeing 
 the Duke was in a particular good humour, ven- 
 tured to say, " It will break poor Whinyate's heart 
 to lose his rockets." " D — n his heart, sir ; let 
 my order be obeyed," was the answer thundered 
 in his ear by the Duke, as he turned on the 
 worthy Sir George. Let me return to the coun- 
 try and its charms. 
 
 With me one of the most delightful occu- 
 pations is the exploring a new country ; so 
 
EIDE TO NINOVE. 167 
 
 that, whilst others could not exist except in 
 Brussels, I found abundant occupation for my 
 leisure riding about the neighbourhood of Stry- 
 tem. One of my first rides was, as in duty 
 bound, to Ninove. Instead of taking the main 
 road from Brussels thither, which runs through 
 Meerbeke, I took a by one to Liederkerke, and, 
 turning to the left a short distance from this 
 place, crossed the gently-flowing Dender, opposite 
 the little village of Okegem, by a rustic bridge 
 supported on posts, so narrow and fragile that 
 it was not without demur, and at last lead- 
 ing my horse, that I ventured over. I found the 
 oflacers of the troop here very humbly lodged — in 
 mere cottages, and that of a poor description. 
 Nothing here comparable to our lordly tapestried 
 saloons at Strytem — to the which, by the way, we 
 were becoming attached, more particularly since 
 the fine weather had set in, and taught us to appre- 
 ciate their coolness and refreshing demi-jour. 
 
 The country, after passing the river, was not 
 interesting, as I have mentioned elsewhere, but 
 the scenery improved somewhat on drawing near 
 Ninove, which place, with the immense monas- 
 tery of white stone built on the higher part of 
 the ground, had a somewhat imposing appearr 
 ance : drawing still nearer, some fragments of 
 
1G8 NINOVE. 
 
 old -walls begin to make their appearance amongst 
 the trees, which now became more numerous, and 
 we enter the place under a dark-browed pic- 
 turesque arch, flanked by two circular towers, 
 partly in ruins and overgrown with ivy, the 
 whole half concealed, until one turns short upon 
 it, by the clustering foliage of some handsome 
 elms and the thick shrubbery of bushes growing 
 out of the old walls. As my horse's feet resounded 
 under the archway, a flash oi romance came 
 across me, and I thought of the counts of Bur- 
 gundy and their romantic court, and pictured in 
 my mind's eye some lordly pageant streaming 
 from out the archway in all its glittering array. 
 Sober reality soon banished romance. A short 
 street brought me from the gate to the head of 
 the principal one — ^long, broad, clean ; houses low, 
 and of rather a humble description ; on the 
 whole, looking more like the street of an English 
 country town than anything I had seen in the 
 Pays Bas here ; and standing across it was the 
 monastery which had formed so conspicuous a 
 feature in the aspect of the town from without. 
 This, instead of representing the sort of ecclesias- 
 tical building one would expect a monastery to 
 be, was a magnificent modern-built house of three 
 storeys, pierced with numerous large sashed win- 
 
THE GREAT MONASTERY. 169 
 
 dows, looking airy and cheerful — anything rather 
 than the house of sorrow, repentance, and abstin- 
 ence. It is, I suspect, a modern restoration of 
 the monastery of Premonstrantine monks men- 
 tioned by Blau, and the only one he does men- 
 tion. It was suppressed in 1792. Wandering 
 into the court, which was overrun with grass and 
 weeds, I met the only remaining brother of the 
 order, the dress of which he wore. His appearance 
 Avas venerable, but whether it was that he was 
 naturally morose, or because I was a heretic, he 
 would answer none of my questions, only making 
 a waive of the hand in answer to my inquiry 
 whether I might walk over the premises. That 
 this reserve did not arise from ignorance of 
 French, his immediately turning and giving direc- 
 tions to a labourer in that language testified. 
 Lord Uxbridge and his staff' having taken up 
 their abode here restricted my observations to the 
 exterior of the building. I saw enough, however, 
 to learn that the Premonstrantine monks had once 
 been lodged like princes, and so passed on to 
 look at the town. 
 
 Mnove is prettily situated on the left bank of 
 the Dender, from which its spacious street ascends 
 by a gentle acclivity; and at this time it presented 
 a very gay and bustling appearance, from the 
 
170 Ni]srovE. 
 
 presence of the cavalry staff and the active opera- 
 tions of the commissariat. It may contain about 
 3000 inhabitants, and was once surrounded by a 
 wall, with flanking towers, of which some ves- 
 tiges still remain. I believe much weaving is 
 done here, and I saw several mills and tanneries. 
 Blau says the ancient name was " Nienevem, 
 Ninoviam, Ninovam, vulgus Kandrorum ; nunc 
 Ninovam — Gallo belgse Ninof appellant ; Belgia 
 regalis," &c. So much for Mnove. For that 
 time I bid it adieu, and passing the bridge at the 
 bottom of the street, took my road homewards 
 through the pretty and interesting country to the 
 southward of it. Old Blau says there was some 
 joke against the people of Ninove connected with 
 its ancient name Ninevem, which he compares 
 with the Nineveh of Assyria. In my way home, 
 passing through Meerbeke, I saw a handsome cha- 
 teau, where Sir Ormsby Vandeleur had his divi- 
 sional headquarters. It was a picturesque object, 
 and truly Flemish in style, though in situation, 
 &c., it resembled an English country-house — two 
 storeys, with numerous large windows, and the 
 usual double tier of dormitory windows in the 
 high roof. It was flanked at either end by a 
 round tower, with the characteristic conical roof. 
 The grounds were quite English. A level lawn 
 
A RUINED CONVENT. 171 
 
 of smooth and verdant turf extended from the 
 front to the road. Shrubberies of laburnums, 
 &c., surrounded it on three sides, concealing the 
 offices, and these were backed by a thick wood 
 of lofty forest trees. To judge from externals, an 
 agreeable quarter. 
 
 The great Bois de Liederkerke afforded me a 
 fine field for exploration, and many a delightful 
 ride I took amongst its grateful shades. In one 
 of these I discovered, in the very heart of it, a 
 cleared spot of a few acres, part of which was 
 occupied by the blackened ruins of some building, 
 and part exhibited the very melancholy appear- 
 ance of a once handsome garden, run wild and 
 gone to decay— even the very ruins were nearly 
 overrun by brushwood and weeds. A peasant, 
 whom I met with after leaving the wood, told me 
 that although he had never seen these ruins, he 
 supposed they must be the remains of a convent 
 of nuns which once existed somewhere in the 
 wood, but had been burned many years ago. 
 Ignorance of his language prevented my under- 
 standing a long story he told me — partly in Flem- 
 ish, partly in French — but I picked out that the 
 nuns of this convent had all been ladies of con- 
 siderable, some of very high, rank. 
 
 The main road to Alost, by Liederkerke and 
 
172 LIEDERKERKE. 
 
 Denderlue, runs through this wood, and, emerging 
 from it on that side, one exchanges the gloomy 
 obscurity of the forest and confined view amongst 
 the trees for the broad light of day and a wide 
 expanse of fine meadows, covered with herds of 
 cattle, through which the Dender runs brawling 
 and bubbling along over its pebbly bed, crossed at 
 this point by a long wooden bridge, immediately 
 beyond which is the village of Liederkerke, at the 
 time of my visit full of our Household troops. 
 
 It Avas a curious sensation that of seeing Life- 
 guardsmen lounging about the street and before 
 the houses — these people are so intimately asso- 
 ciated in one's mind with London, the Park, 
 Horse Guards, &c. Nor was the contrast between 
 their tall full figures and rosy complexions and 
 the gaunt awkward figures and sallow complexions 
 of the Flemish peasantry — the smart tight-fitting 
 scarlet or blue jackets of the one, with the coarse 
 homely garbs and dingy-coloured smock-frocks of 
 the other — less curious. 
 
 Both banks of the river, which here approach 
 each other and are rather steep, are well' clothed 
 with trees, and form a picturesque scene. Imme- 
 diately above and below the bridge, these banks, 
 retiring from each other, leave between their bases 
 and the river a wide level of meadow-land, which, 
 
ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. l73 
 
 being everywhere bounded by low thickly- wooded 
 hills, and, as before mentioned, thickly sprinkled 
 with herds of fine cattle or luxuriant crops of 
 hay, now almost ready for mowing, afl'ord scenes 
 of a different but not less pleasing character. On 
 the right the hiUs, projecting like a promontory, 
 and blending themselves with those on the left, 
 enclose these fine meadows ' in an amphitheatre 
 of beautifully variegated and tufted foliage, un- 
 broken by buUdings or any indication of the 
 haunts of man ; whilst the left bank, less thickly 
 wooded, presents here and there intervening fields, 
 the high thatched roofs of farms and cottages, and, 
 pre-eminent amongst the whole, the spire of Den- 
 derlue peeping through the foliage. Amongst 
 other excursions, one was of a more than com- 
 monly interesting nature, since it brought me 
 acquainted, not only with a very lovely spot, but 
 also with a singularly eccentric character — one 
 whose history is of so romantic a nature, that 1 
 ever regret not having made myself master of it 
 in all its details ; I mean Paul Visconti, Marquis 
 d'Acornati and Lord of Gaesbeke, the chateau of 
 which he inhabits. The first notice we had of 
 this singular man was from some ofiicers of the 
 23d Light Dragoons, who had been cantoned in 
 his village. On their first arrival the old gentle- 
 
174 A CHAKACTEE. 
 
 man was quite furious at the insult offered him 
 in sending troops thither at all, but especially 
 without his having been consulted. The officers, 
 having quartered their men, proceeded to take up 
 their own abode in the chateau, and the Marquis, 
 being aware of this, closed his gates, and made pre- 
 parations to resist. His garrison consisted of two 
 or three ancient domestics and six or eight young 
 boys. On approaching the gates, the officers were 
 somewhat surprised at seeing guns pointed at 
 them from several embrasures, and at the same 
 time a venerable turbaned head, projecting from 
 one of them, demanded, in good English, hoAV 
 they dared trespass on the property of the Marquis 
 d'Acornati, peremptorily bidding them to depart, 
 or take the consequences. The captain, a true 
 English gentleman, having heard something of 
 the Marquis's peculiarities from the villagers, in- 
 stead of resenting the opposition, humoured the 
 old man's whim, and commenced a parley in the 
 true language and all the forms of chivalry. This 
 was touching the Marquis in a tender point. 
 The gates were thrown open, as were his arms, to 
 these courteous strangers, whom he received and 
 entertained with the hospitality of the olden 
 times during their stay, mourned their departure, 
 and never mentioned them afterwards but in the 
 
THE LORD OF GAKSBEKE. 175 
 
 highest terras of praise. Some of my officers had 
 already visited Gaesbeke, and their accomits ex- 
 cited my curiosity to see this extraordinary man. 
 Accordingly one day mounting Nelly I set out. 
 The road lay through the large village of Lennik 
 St Martin, remarkable in the distance for its hand- 
 some spire, towering above the more humble ones 
 of the surrounding villages. Here I found Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Hawker and his adjutant. Lieuten- 
 ant Anderson. The colonel commanded a division 
 composed of two batteries, 9-pounders, which were 
 cantoned in his immediate neighbourhood, but 
 not in Lennik. Hence the country was exqui- 
 site — the scenery acquiring a greater degree of 
 interest from the increasing height of the hills, 
 though in luxuriance and verdure, both of arbor- 
 ific and cereal vegetation, it could not exceed that 
 which I had left behind me. 
 
 At length, after a pleasant ride of about twelve 
 miles, on attaining the summit of a hill, the noble 
 Chateau de Gaesbeke appeared in front, on the 
 edge of a deep ravine, which separated me from 
 it, surrounded by thick woods, the sombre ver- 
 dure of which harmonised well with the mellowed 
 tone of its antique brick walls and towers, whilst 
 their round tufted tops were finely contrasted 
 with its sharp angles and pointed conical roofs. 
 
176 THE CHATEAU DE GAESBEKE. 
 
 Crossing tlie ravine, I arrived on a plateau of rich 
 velvety turf, ornamented by a few clamps of the 
 most superb beech-trees I ever saw in my life, 
 some of their boles rising almost straight forty or 
 fifty feet, without a twig to break the smooth 
 rounded surface of their glossy grey bark. Fine 
 as those composing the great avenue at Strytem 
 were, still they Avere far exceeded in size, luxuri- 
 ance, and beauty of form by these. Artificial 
 means are employed to produce these magnificent 
 ornaments of the park or pleasure-ground. Whilst 
 the tree is yoimg it is constantly watched, and 
 every bud carefully eradicated the moment it 
 pierces the bark, until, having attained a certain 
 height, nature is permitted to take her course 
 and push out lateral branches, leaving between 
 them and the soil a stupendous column of tim- 
 ber. A broad carriage- road, Avinding amongst 
 these clumps, led to the great gate of the chateau, 
 now unsuspicious of another military invasion, 
 standing wide open. It was approached by a 
 stone bridge thrown over a ditch, Avhich, running 
 along the front of the chateau, imperceptibly lost 
 itself in the steep declivity to the right and left. 
 The lofty arched portal was flanked by round 
 towers, having semicircular embrasures on the 
 first floor, and above them a row of arched win- 
 
THE CHATEAU DE GAESBEKE. 177 
 
 dows with rusty iron balconies, extending across 
 the gateway also. Toward the right, the two 
 tiers of large French Avindows gave a more modern 
 air to the curtain (if I may so call it), which was 
 terminated in that direction by an immense ellip- 
 tical tower, the steep roof of which finished in a 
 short ridge with ornamental iron-work, and a 
 weather-cock at either end. To the left, the 
 blank wall ended in a round tower of smaller 
 dimensions, and without the usual conical roof, 
 its picturesque antique form only partially seen 
 through the foliage of the trees, which formed a 
 screen before that front. 
 
 I entered the castle court without seeing a soul, 
 or any indication of the place being inhabited. 
 True, there was little of ruin. The old walls 
 appeared generally in good repair ; the glass in 
 the windows was sound, not a pane broken — yet 
 a forlorn deserted aspect reigned over all ; and 
 the bent iron ornaments of the roofs, the grass- 
 grown court, and the shattered remains of two or 
 three low- wheeled carriages, lying half buried in 
 the rank vegetation of weeds which had sprung 
 up around them, added not a little to the cheer- 
 less desolate aspect of the whole. To the right 
 on entering was a long range of two storeys 
 (which, from the lofty windows, appeared to be 
 
 VOL. I. M 
 
178 THE CHATEAU DE GAESBEKE. 
 
 the state apartments), terminating at either end 
 with a tower. From the gateway into the angle 
 on the same side similar features indicated other 
 suites of apartments. To the left of the gateway, 
 extending to the tower on that side, were stables 
 and coach-houses. From this tower a parapet- 
 wall followed the outline of the ground along the 
 edge of the declivity, running out in semicircular 
 bastions at intervals of about fifty yards, until, 
 joining the tower at the extremity of the right 
 wing, it completed the enclosure of the court, 
 forming an area of an irregular figure, the low 
 parapet allowing to the windows of the main 
 building a most striking and extensive view over 
 the rich country to the westward. The defence 
 of this front was further increased by a range of 
 casemated apartments, with narrow loop - holes, 
 probably intended for arrows ; but whether they 
 extended the whole length of the front, or only 
 under the bastions, I forget. They are entered 
 by a narrow staircase from the court above. In 
 the centre of this court, upon a rude pedestal, 
 was the fragment of a man in a sitting posture, 
 of which the Marquis afterwards gave me a 
 printed explanation, drawn up by himself, tending 
 to show that this must be a remnant of the cele- 
 brated Torse de Belvedere, and that the whole 
 
MY RECEPTION. 179 
 
 constituted a figure of Ulysses, seated, and in the 
 act of discharginsc an arrow from his bow. But 
 to return. After taking a cursory glance at the 
 general arrangement of the buildings, and finding 
 that the sound of my horse's feet had no effect in 
 extracting their inhabitants, I rode up to and 
 thundered at a low-arched door which stood half 
 open in the great tower. The appeal was answered 
 by a sallow-faced dirty boy of fifteen, with long 
 uncombed flaxen locks hanging about his ears, and 
 giving him a peculiarly wild and savage appear- 
 ance as he stood staring at me with widely-dis- 
 tended eyes. To my inquiry if the Marquis were 
 at home, he only answered by a nod, and then dis- 
 appeared in the gloom of the dark vaulted passage 
 whence he had emerged. Eeturning almost im- 
 mediately, he had found his tongue, and begged 
 me to go to the principal entrance to the right 
 wing (what had once been handsome panelled 
 folding- doors), which he unbolted within, and, 
 taking my horse as I dismounted, ushered me into 
 a large and lofty vestibule of handsome propor- 
 tions, but quite unfurnished, and in a miserable 
 state of decay. On the opposite side of this, at 
 the desire of my guide, I entered a fine lofty room, 
 with a coved roof, painted in blue and white 
 stripes in imitation of the interior of a Turkish 
 
180 THE MARQUIS d'aCORNATI. 
 
 tent, and at the corners, where the drapery was 
 supposed to be gathered up, ornamented with an 
 imitation of golden cords and tassels. Round the 
 walls were suspended trophies formed of swords, 
 daggers, pistols, &c., all richly mounted, and 
 almost all Oriental. The furniture consisted of 
 large ottomans, covered with a striped stuif to 
 match the pattern of the tent. These were ranged 
 round the walls, and there was neither chair nor 
 table in the room, which was lighted by an arched 
 window opening upon a clumsy wooden balcony, 
 and commanding a beautiful view over the distant 
 country and of the deep wooded ravine below. 
 After waiting here about ten minutes, the object 
 of my curiosity made his appearance, followed by 
 a rather vulgar-looking fattish man, with whom 
 he had been enoaored, and whom I discovered to 
 be a lawyer of Brussels, and his man of business. 
 This gentleman soon took his leave, and left me 
 tSte-a-tete with his client. Let me draw his por- 
 trait, while still fresh in my memory : Below the 
 middle size, and a little bent by age ; thin, light, 
 and active ; a countenance embrowned by south- 
 ern suns, if not natural ; regular features, and a 
 face that had evidently once been handsome ; 
 quick, sparkling, intelligent eyes giving to his 
 physiognomy a vivacious expression, rather at 
 
THE MAKQUIS d'aCOENATI, 181 
 
 variance with tlie wrinkled cheek of the octogen- 
 aire. His costume was completely Turkish. A white 
 muslin turban, somewhat soiled, but plentifully 
 beset with precious stones, covered his head ; an 
 ample caftan of blue cloth, vest and trousers of 
 the same — the former tied across the chest with 
 strings, the latter large and full-gathered, and at 
 bottom stuffed into a pair of extremely short 
 boots, strangers apparently to Day and Martin 
 or their kindred of the Pays Bas. A crimson 
 silk sash girded his waist, in which was stuck an 
 Oriental poignard, having its handle entirely 
 covered with precious stones, and scabbard taste- 
 fully enchased in silver filigree. In his right 
 hand he carried a short hunting-spear, and in his 
 left a small cor de cliasse. His address, easy and 
 affable, was evidently that of one accustomed to 
 the best society. The reception he gave me was 
 most flattering, and even affectionate ; and he in- 
 cessantly repeated his admiration of England and 
 her sons. For my part, I told only half the truth 
 in stating that the celebrity of his chateau and 
 gardens had procured him the honour of this 
 visit, never hinting how great a lion he was him- 
 self. After a short conversation, he proposed 
 showing me his chateau, &c., and conducting me 
 through several apartments on the ground-floor, 
 
182 INTERIOR OF THE CHATEAU : 
 
 we arrived at his own bed-room in the extremity 
 of the building. Nothing can be conceived more 
 desolate and cheerless. Superb as to dimensions 
 and form, these apartments Avere completely un- 
 furnished, and in a most melancholy state of di- 
 lapidation. The painting soiled and faded, the 
 elaborately-moulded ceilings and cornices coming 
 down piecemeal and covering the floors with their 
 fragments ; these floors themselves rotten, and 
 sinking in many places into holes. The shutters 
 of the high and numerous Avindows, some closed 
 entirely, others only half ; others, again, with one 
 leaf, perhaps, on the floor, and one hanging by a 
 single hinge. Siich was the appearance of these 
 once lordly rooms. I shuddered as I traversed 
 this scene of former splendour — of present degra- 
 dation. The mind, always busy on these occasions, 
 called up the berufied slashed-sleeve cavalier of 
 other days ; the courtly dame, the stomacher re- 
 splendent with costly jewels, ebon locks falling in 
 ringlets over her bare, well-turned shoulders and 
 swelling bosom. How changed the scene ! The 
 lordly chdtelain has given place to the little 
 curved Turkish figure before me ; the brilliant 
 assemblage of knights and dames to desolation 
 and solitude. 
 
 The dormitory of mine host, where at least 
 
ITS DESOLATE ASPECT. 183 
 
 some comfort might have been expected, was 
 only of a piece with the rest. Coarse, scanty, 
 and not very clean-looking bedding, lying in a 
 confused heap upon a low bedstead of common 
 deal, without curtains — in short, such a bed as 
 one sometimes sees in an ostler's room over the 
 stables — a rickety deal table, and a couple of old 
 chairs. None of the appurtenances of the toilet, 
 nor any apparent means of stowing his wardrobe ; 
 bare walls, and nought else. One might have 
 imagined it the abode of some poor devil whom 
 charity had admitted to occupy a nook in the 
 deserted mansion. The Marquis showed all with 
 perfect sang-froid, unconscious that there was 
 anything strange in a man of his princely for- 
 tune living like a pauper, and continued leading 
 me from room to room, until we arrived at one 
 smaller than the rest, and a little less dilapi- 
 dated, which he announced as his study — a title 
 to which a huge table, occupying the greater part 
 of it, and covered with a heap of papers, pictures, 
 and writing material, all intermingled in most 
 glorious confusion, seemed to give some colour ; 
 and here were also two or three common chairs. 
 From amongst the litter on the table, after a little 
 hunting, he rummaged out a small miniature of a 
 female, which he thrust into my hand with an air 
 
184 THE KITCHEN. 
 
 of exultation, as much as to say, " There ! — what 
 think you of that ? " and evidently supposing me 
 as intimate with its features as himself, and as 
 evidently mortified at my asking who the ori- 
 ginal might be, whilst, with rather a haughty air, 
 he informed me that it was the portrait of his 
 dear mistress (kissing it respectfully), the Empress 
 Maria Theresa, whom he had had the honour to 
 serve as an officer of Hungarian hussars many 
 years. Whilst laying the miniatirre again on the 
 table, he hurried out of the room, motioning me 
 to follow him. The old man was quite chivalric 
 when speaking on this subject, and apparently 
 quite in earnest. 
 
 Our next visit was to the kitchen, whither he 
 took me to see the thickness of the walls, which 
 were no less than 10 feet. Such a den as this 
 never before sullied the respected name of kitchen. 
 From the smallness of the windows, or port-holes, 
 and the enormous thickness of the walls, it was, 
 even at this time of day, almost dark enough to 
 require candles ; spacious and vaulted, with a 
 floor all decayed — and no wonder, for it was in 
 great part covered by an immense heap of pota- 
 toes, and quite devoid of furniture. Its occupants 
 were a second Dame Leonarda, and three or four 
 dirty boys, lounging indolently about. A wood- 
 
THE GEOTJNDS. 185 
 
 fire blazed on the ash-encumbered hearth, over 
 which was suspended an iron pot filled with pota- 
 toes. He then led me through the casemates or 
 subterraneous defences on the western side, before 
 mentioned; and having thus completed our survey 
 of the castle, we sallied from the portal to visit 
 the gardens and pleasawice, the Marquis stepping 
 out with all the briskness of youth. We had got 
 about half-way over the lawn, under one of the 
 magnificent clmups of beeches, when suddenly 
 my conductor, stopping, put his horn to his mouth 
 and blew such a peal as made the woods ring 
 again. No result followed, and as he had not ex- 
 plained himself, I was at a loss to conjecture the 
 meaning of this, unless it were to let me hear the 
 echo. After waiting impatiently a few minutes, 
 the sound was repeated, and an instant afterwards 
 out came all the boys scampering through the por- 
 tal and over the turf towards us, with an activity 
 strongly contrasted with their former listlessness. 
 This, however, did not satisfy their master, Avho, 
 rating them soundly for their inattention to his 
 first summons, ordered them to bring out the car- 
 riole. In a few minutes one of the old carriages 
 I had seen in the court was drawn out by a 
 miserable half-starved-looking beast, hardly de- 
 serving the name of a horse, and with harness to 
 
186 THE GROUKDS : 
 
 match — that is, old, rusty, broken, and mended 
 with bits of cord, &c. Into the suspicious-looking 
 vehicle we both got, and having exchanged his 
 hunting-spear for a shabby Avhip, the Marquis 
 proceeded to do coachman, and conducted me 
 through his lovely domain ; for lovely it really 
 was, in spite of the neglect evident in all 
 directions — a circumstance, however, that one 
 scarcely regretted, since it threw such an air 
 of wildness over the scenery as to make it most 
 charmino;. 
 
 The ground on which the castle stood ran out 
 in knolls, with very abrupt slopes, forming deep 
 ravines, at the bottom of which streams of limpid 
 water ran bubbling along, until finding their way 
 to the main trunk, or great ravine, under the 
 western front, they there united there waters and 
 formed a small lake, whose placid surface was 
 animated by swans and whole flocks of wildfowl, 
 which here found an undisturbed retreat. The 
 whole of the ground above described, excepting 
 the level lawn in front of the great gate, was 
 thickly covered with wood — in some parts im- 
 pervious from the thick shrubbery of under- 
 growth, in others clear from this encumbrance — 
 affording splendid forest vistas between the boles 
 of the magnificent trees — the ground beneath 
 
THEIR BEAUTY. 187 
 
 carpeted with the most beautiful variety imagin- 
 able of mosses and wild-flowers — innumerable 
 creepers hanging in festoons from the branches, 
 A\dth here and there a venerable ruin, fallen 
 against and only supported by its neighbours, 
 increasing the wildness and charm of this en- 
 chanting scenery. At times, after following a 
 path winding through the thick shrubberies, and 
 overshadowed by the luxuriant branches of the 
 forest trees, so as to be in perfect twilight, we 
 suddenly came upon a small cleared space, car- 
 peted with turf, in the centre of which, perhaps, 
 was a rustic altar, or the fragment of a column, 
 the marble of which, stained by damps or the 
 encroachments of variously-coloured lichens, har- 
 monised well with the tints of the sylvan scene 
 around it. Some of these were simple cylinders ; 
 others were angular, with projecting cornices. 
 Offerings of flowers there were on many of them — 
 evidence of the feelings and peculiar sentiments 
 of the noble proprietor, and that, although ne- 
 glectful as far as repairs went, he still had eyes 
 to see and a heart to feel the beauties of his 
 lovely domain. Again emerging from the demi- 
 jour of the cool herceau, the road wound round 
 the face of a knoll, affording a charming view of 
 the distant country, with the lordly chateau 
 
188 VARIETY OF VIEWS. 
 
 towering in the foreground ; then replunging 
 into obscurity, it opened again on a scene as 
 extensive but of a totally different character — - 
 the country towards Hal, with its long and 
 more thinly-wooded slopes and summits. In 
 one place, a clearing of three or four acres, bear- 
 ing a crop of potatoes, presented precisely such a 
 scene as one meets with in America — the ground 
 still encumbered with roots and branches, the 
 lofty surrounding wall of grey stems, here and 
 there a tree fallen against its neighbours, or 
 hanging forward as if ready to come to the 
 ground at a touch ; in short, a scene of such 
 savage wildness as one would hardly expect to 
 meet in this land of culture and improvement. 
 
 After a delightful drive, we returned to the 
 chateau, passing under the ramparts of the gar- 
 den, which, lying on the slope of the hill, are 
 banked up in such a manner as to form a succes- 
 sion of nearly level terraces. These are laid out 
 in parterres, ornamented with statues and frag- 
 ments, &c. In the centre of these, a circular 
 wooden tower rises to a great height, forming a 
 conspicuous object from all the neighbouring 
 country, over which the gallery on its summit 
 commands a most extensive view. The walls of 
 this tower are of open work, and, as well as the 
 
HISTORY OP THE CHATEAU. 189 
 
 winding staircase within, are said to be a chef 
 d'ceuvre of carpentry. 
 
 As it was growing late, I was obliged to decline 
 my host's invitation to visit his farm in the valley 
 below ; and having, with the assistance of one of 
 his young pages, saddled my horse, I took leave, 
 and returned to Strytem highly pleased with my 
 excursion. 
 
 A few days afterwards the Marquis sent me a 
 bundle of papers containing the history of Gaes- 
 beke and its counts ; but being unable from want 
 of leisure to copy any of it, I can only remember 
 that the chateau was built about the middle of 
 the thirteenth century by one of the Counts of 
 Brabant, of whom it long continued to be the 
 principal residence. Of the present proprietor I 
 could learn little except what was imparted by 
 himself during our ride, in substance as follows : 
 — Paul Acornati Visconti, an Italian by birth, in- 
 herits Gaesbeke in right of his mother, and by the 
 father's side is of the celebrated family of Vis- 
 conti of Milan. Early in life he entered the Aus- 
 trian army, and' served as lieutenant and captain 
 of Hungarian hussars during the Seven Years' War. 
 At the peace of 1763, finding himself free, and 
 in possession of a princely fortune, he gave him- 
 self up to his vagabond propensities, and passed 
 
190 CAREER OF ITS OWNER. 
 
 his time in wandering over Europe, &c. &c. In 
 this Avay he ran over all Germany, France, and 
 much of Eussia and Poland ; traversed Denmark, 
 Sweden, and Lapland as far as the North Cape. 
 Either Dr Clarke or Acerbi mentions meeting 
 him at Tornea, or having heard of him there. 
 He then visited the British Islands, where he re- 
 mained some time (I think he told me he had 
 been twelve times to England), extending his 
 wauderings to the remotest corners of Ireland, the 
 Highlands of Scotland, and the Western Isles. 
 Here (in England) he became acquainted with 
 many of our celebrated characters — civil, military, 
 and literary — of whose intimacy he was not a 
 little proud. He was delighted with England 
 and its inhabitants, but his fondness for both 
 yielded to the unaccountable mania with which 
 he was subsequently seized for Turkey, the Turks, 
 their manners, their institutions, and every- 
 thing belonging to them ; and after a prolonged 
 residence amongst them, only returned to his own 
 country when the management of his extensive 
 estates in Italy and the Pays Bas imperatively 
 required his presence. What his religious senti- 
 ments might have been I know not, but in every 
 other respect he had become a complete Turk, and 
 so determined to remain; thus he has always 
 
HIS SINGULARITIES. 191 
 
 dressed in the Oriental costume, as I found him, 
 and in every other way conforms to their cus- 
 toms. I have already described the person of 
 this curious character. His health and activity 
 are remarkable ; and although a little curved, 
 there is nothing of the old man in his step, which 
 is firm, light, and active ; his usual pace is a 
 little trot. His manner of living is extremely 
 simple ; his diet, I believe, principally vegetable, 
 and his beverage water. He seldom goes to bed 
 before midnight, rising again at three o'clock in 
 the morning ; and to this habit of early rising he 
 assured me he was indebted for his good health. 
 Whether he had ever been married I know not, 
 but that he had a daughter I know, since in the 
 note of invitation to a fete he intended giving at 
 Brussels, he particularly mentioned his wish to 
 introduce me to her. Amongst the people of the 
 neighbourhood I found he bore various charac- 
 ters, some ascribing his eccentricities to a deranged 
 intellect, others to philosophy. Others believed 
 him to be a magician, wherefore the peasantry in 
 general stand in great awe of him. All, however, 
 allow that he is a most charitable, good man. It is 
 said that his liberality towards even his most dis- 
 tant relations is so great, that they amongst them 
 enjoy more of his wealth than he does himself. 
 
192 HIS MODE OF LIFE. 
 
 That lie is -wealthy is out of the question ; his 
 property is immense. Besides the Gaesbeke estate, 
 he possesses others both in the Pays Bas and in 
 Italy. Most of the best houses in Brussels are 
 his, and the Gaesbeke property alone comprises 
 seventeen villages and parishes. His own house 
 in Brussels is said to be a magnificent one ; in 
 it he gave the fete to which I was invited, 
 which I afterwards heard was very splendid, the 
 first people of the country and many of our most 
 distinguished officers having been present. He 
 seldom resides in Brussels for any length of time, 
 nor are his visits to that city frequent, as he pre- 
 fers retirement and the country. 
 
 The establishment at Gaesbeke consisted only 
 of a gardener, an old woman as cook, &c,, and 
 some five or six boys, from twelve to sixteen years 
 of age, whom he sometimes dressed in the Hun- 
 garian hussar uniform, at others as Orientals — so 
 said the people. Be that as it may, they all wore 
 the usual dress of the country when I saw them. 
 After this first visit the lovely domain of Gaes- 
 beke became a favourite lounge, and I passed 
 many a delicious morning wandering about its 
 cool shady walks. Sometimes the Marquis was 
 at home, sometimes not, but it made little difi'er- 
 ence — he always received me with the same kind- 
 
VISITS TO THE GROUNDS. 193 
 
 ness, and seemed not a little flattered at the plea- 
 sure I took in his favourite woods ; but we neither 
 of us interrupted the pursuits of the other, for if 
 he were employed he continued his employment, 
 otherwise he would sometimes accompany me 
 himself, or send one of his young pages, if there 
 were anything to be done or seen that required 
 assistance or a guide. It was not without regret 
 that, eventually, I was obliged to leave his neigh- 
 bourhood without having had an opportunity of 
 taking leave of him. 
 
 There was another extraordinary character — a 
 man of great wealth, too — residing within a few 
 miles of us, at Ternath, or St Ulris Capelle ; but 
 him I only heard of from Leathes, who had visited 
 him, which I never had an opportunity of doing. 
 This man differed from Acornati in having his 
 chateau splendidly furnished and his pleasure- 
 grounds, described as vieing in beauty with those 
 of Gaesbeke, kept in most excellent order. He 
 had, moreover, a choice collection of paintings. 
 
 VOL. I. N 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Whilst our army thus revelled in luxury in this 
 fine couDtry, that of the enemy, we understood, 
 was concentrating on our frontier, preparatory to 
 the grand blow which was to drive us into the 
 sea. To meet the threatened invasion, it was 
 generally understood in the army that the Duke 
 had made choice of two positions in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Brussels — the one a little beyond the 
 village of Waterloo, the other at Hal, the point 
 where the roads from Ath and Mons unite. In 
 one or the other of these, it was said, he intended 
 to await the attack, according as the enemy might 
 advance. Frequently, attended only by an orderly 
 dragoon, he would visit these positions, studying 
 them deeply, and most probably forming plans 
 for their occupation and defence. In confirma- 
 tion, too, of the reports that the French army 
 would shortly advance, we about this time received 
 
VISIT TO HAL. 195 
 
 an order to divest ourselves of all superfluous 
 baggage, and were given to understand that, in 
 case of passing the frontier, the army must be 
 prepared to forego all shelter but what would be 
 carried with it, since the operations were to be of 
 the most active nature. Curious to see these 
 positions, I one day rode over to Hal, which was 
 the nearest to us. The country through which I 
 passed for a long way was like that about Strytem; 
 but on approaching Hal it became more open, 
 free from wood, and without any kind of enclo- 
 sures. This little town is situated on the Senne, 
 here a good deal interrupted in its course by mill- 
 dams, &c., so that it forms numerous ponds in and 
 about the place, only to be crossed by the stone 
 bridge over which the road from Braine le Lend 
 and Braine le Chateau, &c., passes, and in the 
 town unites with the two great roads from Ath 
 and Mons, which have previously crossed a small 
 rivulet descending from the north-west, and thus 
 ascends the steep street in the direction of Brussels. 
 On this side the ground rises to a considerable 
 height, giving a great command over the valley and 
 roads winding through it, which may be seen at a 
 considerable distance descending from the opposite 
 hills, which recede so much to the southward as 
 
196 eetuejst to steytem. 
 
 to be of no avail against the positions, altliough 
 considerably higher. 
 
 The town, as already stated, lies on a steep 
 slope ; the houses are of stone, many of them large 
 and of most respectable appearance ; street wide 
 and airy ; many mills, &c., in the lower part, and 
 tan-yards. 
 
 I was obliged to content myself with a very 
 superficial view of Hal ; for, having miscalculated 
 the distance from Strytem, I had no time for more 
 than to ride through it and back again. The only 
 thing I saw on the road worth notice was a very 
 pretty villa, small, but exceedingly neat, standing 
 in the midst of well-kept pleasure-grounds, quite 
 unlike anything else in the country that I had 
 hitherto seen. 
 
 I have as yet been so wrapped up in the coun- 
 try that I have passed over Brussels, to which, 
 however, I had already made several visits, and to 
 which I must now devote a page. So — to begin at 
 the beginning — my first visit was about four or 
 five days after our arrival at Strytem. The wea- 
 ther was particularly favourable. It was one of 
 those lovely days of spring, succeeding rain, when 
 all nature seems bursting into new life — when we 
 are ourselves sensible of the renovating effects of 
 the season, and the elasticity of our spirits is such. 
 
START FOR BRUSSELS. 197 
 
 that everything appears beautiful to our sight — 
 when all is exhilaration and delight, and we are 
 disposed to be in good humour with everything 
 around us. The country through which my route 
 lay, rich in the bounties of nature, and exhibit- 
 ing a pleasing variety of feature, made this ride 
 peculiarly agreeable. About half-way, at the vil- 
 lages of Itterbeke and Dilbeke, the appearance of 
 several riflemen in grey or black uniforms, round 
 hats having the brim looped up on one side, and 
 decorated with pendant green plumes, scattered 
 about the fields, the roads, and posted behind 
 trees, somewhat surprised me. Near the roadside, 
 too, on the point of a green knoll, stood one of those 
 rude Rembrandt-like mills, so common in this 
 country; and on the wooden stairs leading up to 
 the door sat several men, with their rifles in hand 
 or lying across their knees, whilst their attention 
 seemed steadily fixed on the surrounding country, 
 as if something interesting was transacting there. 
 A dropping shot now and then re-echoing amongst 
 the woods, seemed to confirm the truth of my 
 apprehensions that the French army had advanced, 
 and that I had no time to lose in regaining Stry- 
 tem. The sergeant of the party on the mill-steps, 
 however, dissipated my apprehensions. These 
 people belonged to the Duke of Brunswick, and, 
 
19g FIRST VIEW OF BRUSSELS. 
 
 being all young soldiers, he obliged them to live 
 in their cantonments, as if in face of an enemy, 
 with all their videttes and advanced-posts out. 
 The firing, I found, proceeded from a party prac- 
 tising with their rifles at targets cut in the shape 
 of, and painted to resemble, French soldiers. This 
 was my first interview with men {mere boys .') with 
 whom subsequently I had to stand shoulder to 
 shoulder in the great struggle. My approach to 
 the city was announced by the occurrence of seve- 
 ral pretty country-houses or villas, much in the 
 same style as that I had seen on the road to Haly 
 but no indication in the distance — no towers^ 
 spires, or lofty building towering over the trees — 
 until, passing the summit of a hill, Brussels sud- 
 denly burst on my sight, covering the slope of 
 the hills on the opposite side of the valley — a 
 glorious picture, and one not readily to be erased 
 from my memory. From this point, and under 
 such a sky, she showed herself to the utmost ad- 
 vantage, and the atmosphere was so pure that 
 even from this distance every detail was distinctly 
 visible. The cathedral of St Gudule, standing 
 upon a terrace, formed a striking feature. The 
 tufted verdure of the trees on the ramparts enclos- 
 ing the city enabled one easily to follow their 
 outline along the summit of the heights, whilst 
 
FIRST VIEW OP BRUSSELS. 199 
 
 on the face of the slope the ramparts themselves, 
 with their venerable grey towers, gave additional 
 interest to the scene ; the houses, rising in ter- 
 races, as it were, tier above tier, and everywhere 
 intermingled with foliage ; innumerable churches 
 and chapels; palaces, too, amongst which, most con- 
 spicuous, was that of Prince d'Aremberg and the 
 Gourde Flandres, andin thelower town the beautiful 
 Stadthuys; — all united to form the gloriouspicture. 
 In the vale below, the river Senne wound its 
 way slowly along amidst green meadows, the 
 surface of which was broken by long stripes of 
 white linen, spread there to bleach. In the west 
 and south it was closed by a belt of black forest 
 — the ever-memorable Forest of Soigney. The 
 Senne was ravishing — it seemed as if one could 
 never tire of looking on it ; and as I lingered to 
 do so, the more prominent features in the history 
 of that fair city came crowding on my mind, and, 
 now that the scene of action lay before me, em- 
 bodied themselves to my mind's eye. At first 
 the city seems to have been confined to the 
 borders of the marsh, and thence gradually to 
 have crept up the hillside, until at last it was 
 circumscribed by a rampart — the lower part of 
 the town being evidently the older, and of a dif- 
 ferent style entirely from the upper. 
 
200 ITS INTERNAL ASPECT, 
 
 Descending the hill, I entered this lower town 
 by the Barri^re de Gand ' and a long winding 
 narrow street, bordered on either side by houses 
 of black stone, three storeys (generally) high, but 
 of a mean appearance, without trotioirs for the foot- 
 passengers, and the mud above my horse's fetlocks ; 
 a little farther on I passed the fish-market, and a 
 fearful penance it was — for the strongest stomach, 
 I should think, could hardly resist its noisome 
 smell, arising from a fearful accumulation of gar- 
 bage flung beneath the tables. 
 
 Passing along, I found the streets in this part 
 of the town crowded with commissariat waggons, 
 coming for or taking supplies to the neighbour- 
 ing cantonments, so that between these and the 
 multitude of Hanoverian soldiers it was not with- 
 out difficulty that I made my way along and 
 reached an expansion of the street where the 
 Marche aux Herbes is held, much as it used to be 
 in the fore street at Exeter ere the present market- 
 place was built. The bustle, gaiety, groups of 
 females, the colour and smell of flowers and 
 herbs, &c., always make a vegetable-market an 
 agreeable scene. This one was enhanced by the 
 various uniforms of the British, Belgic, and Hano- 
 verian soldiery, and the handsome shops sur- 
 rounding it. These exhibited in their windows 
 
THE PARK. 201 
 
 every variety of the choicest productions of India 
 and Europe ; and pre-eminent amongst them all 
 were the jewellers and pipe-sellers, or tobacconists, 
 with their splendid displays of meerschaums, 
 Turkish pipes with amber mouth-pieces, rich 
 tobacco-pouches, &c. &c. The Montague de la 
 Cour, though restricted after passing the market, 
 still a broad street, ascended right in front ; and 
 at the foot of this a large hotel (d'Angleterre) 
 occurred so opportunely that I rode into its court, 
 and, leaving my orderly in charge of my horse, set 
 off at once, eager to explore this new and inte- 
 resting ground. 
 
 My first impulse was to seek the park, of 
 which I had so often heard, and instinctively I 
 ascended la Montague de la Cour, which proved 
 the direct road to it. At the top of the ascent I 
 found myself in a pretty little square (Place 
 Eoyale) surrounded by handsome houses, but 
 having very much the appearance of pasteboard. 
 Turning thence into a broad street, I found 
 myself in a most magnificent square, far exceed- 
 ing in beauty, if not in size, any of ours in 
 London — pretty lawns and thick shrubberies, 
 with fine trees, &c., enclosed by a handsome 
 iron railing, and surrounded by fine houses, 
 the fagades ornamented by Ionic pilasters, and 
 
202 THE RAMPAKTS. 
 
 painted in delicate tints of buff, green, &c., or 
 white, and tlie whole forming a splendid spectacle 
 and delicious spot. The park is laid out in 
 walks winding through shrubberies and dingles, 
 affording varied and pleasing scenery, some part 
 of the ground being broken and uneven. In the 
 centre is a sort of pavilion where refreshments 
 are sold, and near it is a sheet of water, &c. 
 Park is a misnomer; consider it a square, in 
 our acceptation of the term, and it is one of the 
 most beautiful in Europe. Its beauty is con- 
 siderably increased by the old ramparts with 
 their fine umbrageous trees overtopping by far 
 those of the park, and completing one side instead 
 of a row of houses. The glimpse I here got of 
 those ramparts naturally attracted me thither, 
 and I was delighted with the lovely, airy, and 
 commanding promenade they afforded. This pro- 
 menade round the ramparts is the most delightful 
 imaginable, elevated as they are so much above 
 the highest houses of the city (on the east and 
 north-east sides), and overshadowed by stately 
 elms, affording beautiful views over the city and 
 neighbouring country, always having in the fore- 
 ground some imposing and picturesque mass of 
 ancient masonry, overrun with a rank vegetation 
 of krge-leaved weeds, &c. ; some grey and 
 
■ THE RAMPARTS. 203 
 
 venerable tower — a remnant of antiquity. De- 
 scending the hill on either hand, the height of 
 these ramparts decreases to that of the ordinary 
 fortifications of the middle ages ; but here, in the 
 lower part, the walls and towers in themselves are 
 far more picturesque, and exhibit much greater an- 
 tiquity. They are here, I suspect, the same that 
 were built when the city was first fortified in 1044, 
 whilst those above are the more modern fortifica- 
 tions of 1379. Above, as I have before men- 
 tioned, the ramparts present a stupendous 
 mound, with large square towers, this elevation 
 being there necessary to protect the city — ^lying 
 as it does on a declivity — from the higher 
 ground beyond ; whilst here below they are 
 only of moderate elevation and breadth, with 
 round or octagonal towers, the masonry time- 
 worn and sombre, almost to blackness, and em- 
 inently picturesque. 
 
 But this, my first visit, was too short, and 
 there was too much to see to admit of lingering 
 long on any one spot ; so, reluctantly quitting 
 the ramparts, I hurried with eager curiosity from 
 street to street and square to square, catching a 
 slight, and but a slight, glimpse of anything, yet 
 delighted, and devouring all. There is a charm 
 which I cannot describe in the contemplation of 
 
204 THE HOTEL DE VILLE. 
 
 these heavy and old-fashioned yet picturesque 
 structures, with their sculptures, pointed gables, 
 and eccentric variety of windows, such as most 
 of those (either Gothic, Flemish, or Spanish) with 
 which La Grande Place is surrounded. Here, too, 
 is that most beautiful building, the Hotel de 
 Ville, flanked by hexagonal towers, and sur- 
 mounted by its celebrated belfry, rising to a 
 height, it is said, of more than 360 feet; its 
 construction is of open work, and it is impossible 
 to imagine anything combining at once such 
 majesty, grace, elegance, and lightness. One 
 would scarcely imagine that a work so delicate 
 could be enduring; and yet this lovely tower, 
 even now in appearance fresh and perfect, has 
 already stood more than three, nay, nearly four, 
 centuries — having been built in 1445. The 
 statue of St Michael which surmounts it would, 
 in my opinion, be better away; yet this is a 
 feature more vaunted than the elegant form of 
 the building or its admirable workmanship. The 
 saint stands upon one foot, and pirouettes with 
 every breeze. The Hotel de Ville was com- 
 menced in 1380. After a lapse of four centuries, 
 and notwithstanding the boasted " march of in- 
 tellect," where is the man who could now sit 
 down and conceive such a structure ? Many 
 
THE HOTEL DE VILLE. 205 
 
 there are, perhaps, who by help of books and 
 existing examples, might compile something of 
 the sort, bnt I doubt whether any modern archi- 
 tect be capable of the original coyiception; and I 
 am sure that, spite of the ' Mechanic's Magazine ' 
 and the present philosophical studies of our 
 masons, none of them could produce more perfect 
 or better work. Like painting, architecture has 
 had its day. Sir Christopher Wren himself ac- 
 knowledged his astonishment at the boldness of 
 the arches of King's College Chapel, Cambridge, 
 and confessed his ignorance as to their construc- 
 tion and mode of placing the key-stones. 
 
 After all, the Hotel de Ville is irregular in its 
 construction, and the placing the tower at one 
 extremity of the fagade instead of the centre I 
 have heard censured as a grievous fault ; — I 
 like, it — there is originality even in that. The 
 general effect is most imposing. 
 
 Nor is the varied throng frequenting this fine 
 place on market-days unworthy of it, — their 
 quaint and original costume harmonising well 
 with the character of the architectural setting 
 around. Many were my visits to Brussels, and 
 always was I delighted. If I did not see all 
 that I now speak of at that first one, nimporte. 
 The efi"ect of St Gudule's (the cathedral) is in 
 
;i06 THE CATHEDRAL. 
 
 this respect very good, situated upon a terrace 
 to which one ascends by a broad flight of stairs 
 to the fine Gothic portal, flanked by two hand- 
 some towers, and looking out over the city on 
 the country beyond. Up this flight of steps I 
 did ascend with solemn pace and slow, and into 
 its beautiful nave : but the celebrated sculptured 
 pulpit obtained from me no more observation or 
 admiration than those of Ghent and Bruges. 
 The emotion I feel on entering a Gothic cathedral 
 is of a nature too solemn to admit of dwelling 
 upon, or even noticing, such things. 
 
 How strikingly Spanish are the charming 
 Bruxellaises in their mantillas, gracefully crossed 
 on the bosom ! I have often heard and read that 
 they are so, but had no recollection of the cir- 
 cumstance at the moment the fact struck me. 
 The mantilla itself, so Spanish, has its testimony 
 of their ancestry confirmed by the brilliant black 
 eyes sparkling beneath it ; and the prevalence of 
 black dresses amongst the groups frequenting 
 the park, or allee-verte, complete the illusion, and 
 for a second we forget that these are not Andalu- 
 sians. Never having been in company with any 
 of the fair dames of Brussels, it would be pre- 
 sumption to say more than what I saw of them 
 in public ; my say, therefore, amounts to the hav- 
 
THE BRUXELLAISES. 207 
 
 ing seen many lovely faces and graceful figures, 
 though I had once foolishly fancied that all 
 Flemish women must be of the same breed as 
 Anne of Cleves, or the strapping wenches with 
 whom Eubens and others have made us familiar 
 — forgetting that, as the offspring of some of the 
 finest men and handsomest women in Europe, 
 the Austrians, Spaniards, and French, they ought 
 to show well. From outward appearance it 
 would be, perhaps, difficult to decide the origin ; 
 but in the ladies the Spanish blood generally 
 seems to predominate. 
 
 In wandering about Brussels one is struck with 
 the frequent occurrence of ecclesiastical ruins — 
 these are generally the remains of monasteries 
 suppressed at the Eevolution in 1793. The ex- 
 tensive, and apparently once handsome, house of 
 the Capucines exhibits now only a heap of rub- 
 bish, with about five or six feet of the massive 
 walls here and there ; another, of which the 
 chapel remained pretty entire, was used by 
 our commissariat as a magazine for hay, straw, 
 &c. &c. 
 
 A more striking scene, perhaps, cannot be 
 imagined than the alUe-vert, with its long vista 
 overarched by thickly- clothed branches of the 
 stately elms lining it in double rows on either 
 
208 THE ALL^E-VERT. 
 
 hand, tile broad expanse of calm water covered 
 by crowded and gaily-painted barges, ornamented 
 with flags and streamers, and enlivened with 
 music and singing. The spacious roads on each 
 bank gay with carriages, equestrians, and nume- 
 rous pedestrians — -all apparently happy, conse- 
 quenty smiling and merry. I took this route 
 one Sunday with the intention of visiting the 
 Palace of Lavickens, but, alas ! the luxury of 
 lounging amidst the merry crowd under the 
 shade of the elms, and amongst these joyous 
 groups, detained one in such wise that, on arriv- 
 ing at the first lock, time no longer served, and 
 my project was necessarily abandoned. As I 
 turned homeward, the well-known overture to 
 Lodoiska resounding from a neighbouring cabaret 
 attracted me thither, and what was my surprise 
 at finding the orchestra by which it was per- 
 formed to consist of two pretty girls, each with 
 a violin, whilst the old mother accompanied 
 them on the violoncello. I afterwards heard 
 these girls at a cafd near the Park, where, the 
 audience being more refined, their performance 
 was more careful. I thought their music ex- 
 quisite, as well as their singing, which they some- 
 times mingled with it. Had their expressive 
 black eyes and coquettish cornettes of red-striped 
 
PRINCE b'aEEMBEHG. 209 
 
 cotton anything to do with it ? In my subse- 
 qiient visits to Brussels, instead of continuing to 
 frequent the H6tel d'Angleterre, I found a brother 
 officer whose horses were billeted on the B[6tel 
 d'Aremberg, and who offered me stalls whenever 
 I came to town — an arrangement so convenient 
 that his Highness was patronised by me during 
 the remainder of my sojourn at Strytem. I am 
 not sure that I ever saw my princely host, but 
 believe that a tall, thin, elderly man, with a 
 powdered head, a most amiable countenance, and 
 most gentlemanly bearing, who one day crossed 
 the stable-yard whilst I was there, must have been 
 the Prince. We looked at, but did not conde- 
 scend' to bow to, each other. His being on the 
 wrong side of politics was the cause of his 
 domain being thus invaded by strangers, and the 
 billetmaster was careful to keep him full. 
 
 One of our lounges at Brussels now was the 
 exhibition of paintings just opened — a pleasant 
 thing enough, as all the world assembled, and 
 there was a daily squeeze in the rooms. As for 
 the articles we were supposed to come to look at, 
 they were below mediocrity— mere daubs, mostly 
 portraits, and many of British officers. 
 
 The 19 th of May 1815 was with us a memor- 
 able day ; our friend Sir Augustus Frazer gave a 
 
 VOL. I, 
 
210 A MISTAKE. 
 
 grand, and a very good, dinner to all the horse- 
 artillery officers, English and German, on the 
 occasion of his being appointed lieutenant-colonel 
 of that arm. The dinner was at the H6tel de la 
 Paix, Place Eoyale ; excellent claret, sauterne, 
 and champagne flowed in abundance, and the 
 utmost hilarity prevailed. Many of us then 
 met for the first time, many after a separation of 
 years, and many for the last time. My friend 
 Bolton sat next to me. I had not seen him since 
 we were cadets together, but a few weeks after- 
 wards he was gathered to his fathers on the field 
 of Waterloo. Frazer had promised me a bed at 
 his friend's (Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell, 21st) 
 lodgings ; accordingly, slipping away from the 
 party, I found my way thither somehow or other, 
 and his servant showing me my room I was soon 
 fast asleep. From this I was aroused some time 
 after by persons coming into the room, and, to 
 my infinite horror, found that I had occupied the 
 bed intended for Bob Cairns. A long dialogue 
 of regrets, &c. &c., ensued, but I continued ob- 
 stinately to sleep, as indignant at having been 
 deceived as they were at my usurpation ; so in 
 the morning I arose early, and left the house and 
 explanation to Sir Augustus. A few days after- 
 wards poor Bob also was gathered to his fathers. 
 
ANTICIPATION OF THE CAMPAIGN. 211 
 
 With an aching head I repaired to the beautiful 
 promenade on the ramparts, and made the cir- 
 cuit of the city, lingering about in the fresh 
 morning air until I thought people would be 
 stirring, and then adjourned to my friend Bell's, 
 where, being renovated by an excellent breakfast, 
 I mounted my horse and returned to Strytem — to 
 see Brussels no more. 
 
 For some time past it had been generally un- 
 derstood that our army would advance into the 
 French territory on or about the 20th June, in 
 anticipation of which event T sometimes amused 
 myself speculating on the probable events of the 
 campaign. I drew out a written plan, in which 
 we were to fight three battles and arrive in six- 
 teen days at Paris, finishing by a grand embrdse- 
 inent. This, as will be seen, was in some mea- 
 sure prophetic, since three battles were fought 
 (Quatre Bras, Waterloo, and St Denis by the 
 Prussians), and we did arrive in sixteen days, 
 and the catastrophe was with difficulty pre- 
 vented by the Duke. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 May 29th. — Grand cavalry review near Gram- 
 mont, in tlie fine meadows on the banks of the 
 Dender, for the use of which, it is said, as much 
 as £400 or £500 were paid. 
 
 The day was lovely, and we marched from 
 Strytem in the cool of the morning. The roads, 
 although pretty good, were in places so cut up 
 by the passage of other troops before us, that it 
 became necessary at times to halt until our 
 men filled up the holes with brushwood and 
 earth. About noon we arrived on the ground, 
 than which nothing could be more favourable 
 for the purpose. 
 
 The Dender, flowing through a broad tract of 
 rich meadow-land perfectly flat, makes a bend 
 from Grammont to the village of Jedeghem, the 
 ground on its left bank rising in a gentle slope, 
 whilst on the right the meadows extend back 
 
CAVALRY EEVIEW, 213 
 
 for about halt a mile, and then terminate at the 
 foot of an abrupt wooded height, which forms, as 
 itwere, a chord of the arc described by the river. 
 Tliis was the arena chosen for the review, and a 
 more favourable one could scarcely have been 
 chosen. We were formed in three lines. The 
 first, near the banks of the river, was composed 
 of hussars in squadrons, with wide intervals 
 between them, and a battery of horse -artillery 
 (6 -pounders) on either flank. Opposite the centre 
 of this line was a bridge (temporary, I believe) by 
 which the cortege was to arrive on the ground, 
 descending from the village of Schendelbeke. 
 The second line — compact, or with only the usual 
 squadron intervals — was composed entirely of 
 heavy dragoons, having two batteries — the one of 
 24-pounder howitzers, the other of 9-pounders — 
 in front of the centre, and a battery of 9-pounders 
 on either flank. The third was a compact line 
 like the second, but entirely of light dragoons, 
 supported also on either flank by a battery of 
 9-pounders. 
 
 It was a splendid spectacle. The scattered 
 line of hussars in their fanciful yet picturesqe 
 costume ; the more sober, but far more imposing, 
 line of heavy dragoons, like a wall of red brick ; 
 and again the serviceable and active appearance 
 
214 CAVALRY REVIEW". 
 
 of the third line in their blue uniforms, with 
 broad lappels of white, buff, red, yellow, and 
 orange — the whole backed by the dark wood of 
 the declivity already mentioned — formed, indeed, 
 a fine picture. There were, I understood, about 
 6000 men on the field ; and as I looked and ad- 
 mired their fine appearance, complete equipment, 
 and excellent horses, I w^ondered how any troops 
 could withstand their attacks, andAvished Napoleon 
 and his chiefs could but see them as they stood. 
 My wish was in part gratified, for we afterwards 
 learned beyond all question that numbers of 
 French officers had not only been present, but 
 actually were so in full uniform (many of them of 
 high rank), and had mingled in the cortege of 
 the Duke, and so rode through the ranks — the 
 safest plan they could have pursued, it being im- 
 possible to say whether they did or did not belong 
 to the corps of the Due de Berri, who, as I said, still 
 wore the imperial uniforms in which they had 
 come over to the royal party ; and this was still 
 more favoured by a ridiculous scene which occa- 
 sioned the absence of the French party from the 
 review. It was as follows : Arriving on the 
 ground covered with dust, the different corps had 
 no sooner formed in their position, and dis- 
 mounted, than off" went belts, canteens, and 
 
THE DUO DE BEEEI AGAIN. 215 
 
 liavresacks, and a general brushing and scrubbing 
 commenced ; for the Duke, making no allowance 
 for dusty or muddy roads, expected to see all as 
 clean as if just turned out : accordingly, we had 
 not only brought brushes, &c., but even straw to 
 wisp over the horses. The whole line was in the 
 midst of this business, many of the men even 
 with jackets off, when suddenly a forest of plumes 
 and a galaxy of brilliant uniforms came galloping 
 down the slope from Schendelbeke towards the 
 temporary bridge. " The Duke ! " " the Duke ! " 
 " the Duke's coming ! " ran along the lines, and 
 for a moment caused considerable bustle amongst 
 the people ; but almost immediately this was dis- 
 covered to be a mistake, and the brushing and 
 cleaning recommenced with more devotion than 
 ever ; whilst the cavalcade, after slowly descend- 
 ing to the bridge and debouching on the meadows, 
 started at full gallop toward the saluting point 
 already marked out, the Due de Berri, whom we 
 now recognised, keeping several yards ahead, no 
 doubt that he might clearly be seen. At this 
 point he reined up and looked haughtily and im- 
 patiently about him; and as we were now pretty 
 intimate with his manner, it was easy to see, even 
 from our distant position, that he was in a passion. 
 The brushing, however, suffered no interruption, 
 
216 HIS UNCEREMONIOUS EEOEPTION. 
 
 and no notice was taken of his presence. One of 
 his suite was now called up and despatched to 
 the front. What further took place I know not, 
 but, certes ! the messenger no sooner returned than 
 his Highness was off like a comet, his tail streaming 
 after him all the way up the slope, unable to 
 keep pace with him, for he rode like a madman, 
 whilst a general titter pervaded our lines as the 
 report flew from one to the other that Mounseer 
 was off" in a huff because we did not give him a 
 general salute. Many were the coarse jokes at his 
 expense ; and I was amused at one of my drivers, 
 who, holding up the collar from his horse's chest 
 with one hand, whilst with the other he brushed 
 away under it, exclaimed, laughing aloud, " I 
 wouldn't be one of them 'ere French fellows at 
 drill upon the common to-morrow for a penny ; 
 if they're not properly buUjTagged, I'm d— - — ." 
 It turned out afterwards that he had sent his 
 aide-de-camp to claim the reception due to a 
 prince of the blood -royal, but Lord Uxbridge 
 excused himself by saying he had no in- 
 structions on that head, &c. &c. About two 
 o'clock the Duke of Wellington and Prince 
 Blucher, followed by an immense cortege, in 
 which were to be seen many of the most dis- 
 tinguished officers and almost every uniform in 
 
THE DUKE AND BLUCHEK. 217 
 
 Europe, arrived on the ground. Need I say that 
 the foreigners were loud in praise of the martial 
 air, fine persons, and complete equipment of the 
 men and horses, and of the strength and beauty 
 of the latter ? and my vanity on that occasion 
 was most fully gratified, for on arriving where we 
 stood, the Duke not only called old Blucher's 
 attention to " the beautful battery," but, instead 
 of proceeding straight through the ranks, as they 
 had done everywhere else, each subdivision — nay, 
 each individual horse — was closely scrutinised, 
 Blucher repeating continually that he had never 
 seen anything so superb in his life, and conclud- 
 ing by exclaiming, " Mein Gott, dere is not 
 von orse in dies batterie wich is not goat for 
 Veldt Marshal : " and Wellington agreed with 
 him. It certainly was a splendid collection of 
 horses. However, except asking Sir George 
 Wood whose troop it was, his Grace never even 
 bestowed a regard on me as I followed from 
 subdivision to subdivision. The review over, 
 and corps dismissed, I resigned my command 
 to my second captain, and proceeded direct to 
 Ninove, Lord Uxbridge having invited all com- 
 manding officers to meet his illustrious guests 
 at dinner. On repairing to the monastery, I 
 found a numerous company assembled, compris- 
 
218 DINNER AFTER THE REVIEW. 
 
 ing some of the most distinguished characters in 
 Europe. 
 
 The room in which we assembled, as well as 
 the dining-room, was of splendid dimensions, 
 but totally void of ornament : plain white stuc- 
 coed walls, and no furniture in the one but a few 
 travelling articles of our noble hosts ; and in the 
 other the dinner-table, chairs, and benches of the 
 most ordinary kind, evidently brought in for the 
 occasion. Long corridors running the whole 
 length of the two wings (standing at right angles 
 to each other), with numerous rooms of similar 
 dimensions opening from them, seemed to be the 
 plan of the building. I suppose the dining-room 
 must have been nearly 100 feet long, nearly 
 square, and about 18 or 20 feet high. In this the 
 tables were laid horse-shoe fashion. In the centre 
 of the cross-table sat Lord Uxbridge ; on either 
 hand Blucher and Wellington ; then the Duke of 
 Brunswick ; the hereditary Prince of Orange ; 
 his brother Prince Frederick ; Gneiseneau ; Zie- 
 then ; Kleist ; Dornberg ; a Danish general 
 whose name I forget ; Sir Frederick Arentschild, 
 K.G.L. (the Duke of Wellington's favourite old 
 hussar) ; Sir Sidney Smyth ; Lord^ Hill, Pack, 
 Picton, EUy ; and a host of illustrious names, 
 foreign and British, but not one Frenchman that 
 
THE DINNER. 219 
 
 I recollect. (Perhaps the affair of the morning 
 might have caused the absence of the Due de 
 Berri, &c.) What names ! — names familiar to 
 every ear in the history of those exciting times — 
 names we pronounce with respect regarding those 
 who bear them as being removed above everyday 
 life. But to have sat at table with them, to have 
 heard them called out in the familiarity of every- 
 day conversation — how strange ! One can hardly 
 imagine himself thoroughly awake on such occa- 
 sions. But to return. 
 
 It was my good fortune to sit between Colonel 
 Sir F. Arentschild and another no less celebrated 
 officer of the German Legion, Lieutenant Strenu- 
 witz, a Pole by birth, who had signalised himself 
 on more than one occasion in the Peninsula by 
 attacking and capturing outposts. We broke up 
 at an early hour (too early, I think, for old 
 Blucher, who seemed to enjoy himself miich), and 
 retired to another room, where coffee was served, 
 and after some little conversation we dispersed. 
 In leaving the dining-room the Duke of Welling- 
 ton stopped for a few minutes to converse with 
 old Arentschild, and, pinned in a corner by them, 
 I had time to contemplate, well and closely, our 
 great leader. At that time he certainly had not 
 a grey hair in his head. 
 
220 STRYTEM AGAIN, 
 
 It was getting dusk when I mounted my horse 
 to return home, and the people were beginning to 
 discharge squibs and crackers on the street of 
 Ninove ; the liouses were decorated with garlands 
 of laurel and green boughs, so that everything 
 wore an air of festivity. 
 
 May 30th. — How delightful the tranquillity of 
 Strytem appears after the stir and bustle of yester- 
 day ! The fields look more gay, the woods and 
 pleasure-grounds more lovely than ever. Yester- 
 day morning was passed amidst the din of arms 
 and pomp of war — amidst crowds of crested war- 
 riors and the clang of martial music — the even- 
 ing in festivity, amidst magnates of the earth. 
 
 How differently has this lovely day glided by ! 
 The morning I passed in a quiet peaceable ride 
 amidst the charming scenery of the neighbour- 
 hood — -wandering through corn-fields, orchards, 
 and hop-grounds, and exploring the shady reces- 
 ses of the Bois de Liederkerke ; the evening in 
 voluptuous indolence, sauntering up and down 
 under the magnificent beeches of the great avenue, 
 indulging in fairy dreams, and listening to the 
 rural sound that, from time to time, broke on the 
 stillness of the hour, whilst the smoke of my 
 cigar hung in wreaths around me as I occasion- 
 ally stopped to contemplate the scene. No living 
 
NEW SPECIES OF GAME. 22 1 
 
 soul interrupted the solitude, except once the 
 gardener's son, in his blue smock-frock, wooden 
 shoes, and dirty night-cap, with a long rusty old 
 gun under his arm and a short pipe in his mouth, 
 crossed the avenue, marched up the central path of 
 the garden, and disappeared amongst the thickets 
 of the pleasatmce beyond. He went, I knew (for 
 he always said so), to the Chasse aux Lievres for 
 the supply of our table ; but as that was badly 
 supplied, we might have fancied our gamekeeper 
 a bad shot, had not our worthy doctor one even- 
 ing (for what purpose he could best say) also 
 taken a ramble in the said pleasatmce, where, to 
 his infinite surprise, he stumbled upon our chas- 
 seur making love to his sister's adjointe (a great 
 Flanderkin of a Maritornes), which instantly ex- 
 plained the deficiency of supply. There he went 
 then, as I said, for either purpose — his short pipe 
 leaving a long gossamer-like film of smoke behind 
 him. And this digression brings me to the close 
 of this delightful day. 
 
 The genial month of May thus terminated 
 amidst the delightful enjoyments of a country life, 
 and June commenced under happy auspices, little 
 dreaming of the far different scenes we were des- 
 tined to witness ere yet another month had passed. 
 
 The only event that marked this period of our 
 
222 CHANGE OF QUAETERS. 
 
 tranquil, even-flowing existence was the removal 
 of our 1st division from the chateau farm, in 
 compliance with the urgent request of the farmer 
 (Walsdragen), to the pretty village of Yseringen, 
 about a mile oS, on the hill above us. I regretted 
 this separation of the troop, but could not with- 
 stand the poor man's solicitations, who expected 
 every hour his wife's accouchement. As for the 
 division, it benefited by the change. The officer 
 (Leathes) got most excellent quarters in a com- 
 fortable well-furnished chateau, whilst his men 
 and horses were equally well lodged in the adjoin- 
 ing farm. Poor Walsdragen, however, could not 
 enjoy this relief, for, a few days after, the impend- 
 ing event took place, and he lost his wife. I shall 
 not forget in a hurry this melancholy circum- 
 stance, for I charged myself with unkindness 
 towards him in his affliction by having so long- 
 withstood his solicitations to be relieved of our 
 people. I was walking in the avenue, as usual, 
 after dinner, enjoying my weed ; the evening 
 was calm and serene, the sun just setting ; no 
 sound disturbed the stillness save the hum of in- 
 sects or the croaking of the frogs. Suddenly one 
 of the most terrific shrieks I ever heard burst 
 forth, until the woods rang again. At first, startled 
 as I was, there was no saying whence the sound 
 
A DEATH. 223 
 
 came, and taking my cigar from my mouth, I had 
 scarcely assiimed a listening attitude when, again 
 and again, it was repeated in a manner so appal- 
 ling as to make my very flesh creep. It evi- 
 dently proceeded from the farm ; but what could 
 occasion such horrid cries ? This time they were 
 succeeded by loud lamentations of many voices, 
 male and female. I hurried towards the farm, 
 hardly knowing what to conjecture. The first 
 idea that flashed on me was an irruption of some 
 French party, who were plundering, murdering, 
 &c. &c., and this, in the first instance, seemed in 
 some measure borne out when several men, with- 
 out hats, came rushing out of the farmyard with 
 lamentable cries, and passing by me without 
 notice, proceeded to the bridge of the chateau, 
 and there, throwing themselves on their knees 
 before an image of the Virgin and child standing 
 in a niche outside the chapel already mentioned, 
 commenced a most dolorous mixture of lamenta- 
 tion and half-chanted supplication — part of a 
 litany, I presume. I stood somewhat puzzled. 
 After a few minutes of this devotional exercise, 
 one of them ran away and brought a spade, with 
 which he cut a large sod, and the whole party 
 hurried back to the house, carrying it with them. 
 At this moment St Cyr (one of our farmers, and 
 
224 VISIT FROM OUR HOST. 
 
 the best amongst them) came up, and, making 
 Mynheer Walsdragen's compliments, reported from 
 him, and at his desire, the death of his wife, which 
 had just taken place — a strange piece of etiquette 
 at such a moment. The sod, I learned, was to 
 put under her head, an ancient practice invariably 
 observed. 
 
 My first idea of an irruption of the enemy did 
 not seem just now quite so improbable, for we 
 almost daily heard a good deal of firing in the 
 direction of Mons, and the peasantry were con- 
 tinually bringing accounts of movements of the 
 French army, none of which ever proved true ; 
 and the firing, we afterwards learned, proceeded 
 from the practice of the Dutch or Belgic artillery 
 at Mons. 
 
 Our host, the Baron van Lombeke, paid us a 
 visit about the beginning of this month for the 
 first time. The ostensible motive for this visit 
 was an inspection of the roads, which he said 
 were immediately to be put in a complete state 
 of repair. He stayed three or four days with us, 
 during which his excursions never extended fur- 
 ther than the major's or the cure's, so that he 
 saw but little of the roads — which, together with 
 the circumstance of his having arrived only a 
 few days before from Paris, induced a suspicion 
 
OUR LANDLORD. 225 
 
 that his real business was of a very diiFerent 
 nature — possibly to ascertain the strength and 
 positions of our cavalry corps, or something of 
 the sort. 
 
 It seemed odd enough receiving a man as a 
 guest in his own house ; our servants prepared a 
 room for him, and he was waited upon by the 
 old gardener. Of course he dined, or rather 
 supped, with us ; for I believe he usually par- 
 took of the cure's dinner at one o'clock. Al- 
 though what we should call rather Anilgar- look- 
 ing, yet we found M. le Baron exceedingly weU- 
 informed, perfectly the gentleman in manners, 
 and upon the whole an agreeable acquisition to 
 our little" party. His gardens, and everything 
 about the place, he begged us to consider as our 
 own. We had done so already; however, we took 
 the thing as it was meant — a mere compliment ; 
 but we felt that there was more sincerity in the 
 contrast he drew between ourselves and the 
 Prussians, and the repeated assertions of his satis- 
 faction in having his chateau occupied by us 
 instead of by them. 
 
 Finding me in want of books, he kindly pro- 
 mised to send me some from Brussels ; and I was 
 agreeably surprised at his punctuality, when, a 
 day or two after his departure, the old gardener 
 
 VOL. 1. ? 
 
226 A SPY. 
 
 brought me the five volumes of ' The Hermit of 
 the Chaussee d'Antin ' — a work new to me, and to 
 which I was indebted for several most agreeable 
 evenings. 
 
 The day marked for our advance into France 
 now approached ; and although no confirmation 
 of the rumour reached us, yet we began to pre- 
 pare for it as confidently as if already given out 
 in general orders. Meantime, as will be seen, our 
 friends beyond the border were scrutinising our 
 intentions pretty closely. 
 
 It was on the evening of the 15th June, and 
 about sunset or a little later, that an officer of 
 hussars rode into the village of Yseringen, Leathes 
 being at the time at dinner with me at our 
 chateau. He was dressed as our hussars usually 
 were when riding about the country — blue frock, 
 scarlet waistcoat laced with gold, pantaloons, and 
 forage-cap of the 7th Hussars. He was mounted 
 on a smart pony, with plain saddle and bridle ; 
 was without sword or sash, and carried a small 
 whip ; — in short, his costume and monture were 
 correct in every particular. Moreover, he aped 
 to the very life that "devil-may-care" no7ichal- 
 ant air so frequently characterising our young 
 men of fashion. Seeing some of our gunners 
 standing at the door of a house, he desired them 
 
A SPY. 227 
 
 to go fop their officer, as he wished to see him. 
 They called the sergeant, who told, him that the 
 officer was not in the village. In an authoritative 
 tone he then demanded how many men and 
 horses were quartered there, whose troop they 
 belonged to, where the remainder of the troop 
 was quartered, and of what it consisted ? When 
 all these questions were answered, he told the 
 sergeant that he had been sent by Lord Uxbridge 
 to order accommodation to be provided for two 
 hundred horses, and that ours must consequently 
 be put up as close as possible. The sergeant 
 replied that there was not room in the village 
 for a single additional horse. " Oh, we'll soon 
 see that," said he ; pointing to one of the men 
 who stood by, " Do you go and tell the maire to 
 come instantly to me." The maire came, and 
 confirmed the sergeant's statement, upon which 
 our friend, flying into a passion, commenced in 
 excellent French to abuse the poor functionary 
 like a pickpocket, threatening to send a whole 
 regiment into the village ; and then, after a 
 little further conversation with the sergeant, he 
 mounted his pony and rode off just as Leathes 
 returned to the village. Upon reporting the cir- 
 cumstance to the officer, the sergeant stated that 
 he thought this man had appeared anxious to 
 
228 A SPY. 
 
 avoid him, having ridden off rather in a hurry- 
 when he appeared, which, together with a slight 
 foreign accent, then for the first time excited a 
 suspicion of his being a spy, which had not 
 occurred to the sergeant before, as he knew there 
 were several foreign officers in our hussars, and 
 that the 10th was actually then commanded by- 
 one — Colonel Quentin. The suspicion was after- 
 wards confirmed, for upon inquiry I found that 
 no officer had been sent by Lord Uxbridge on 
 any such mission. Our friend deserved to escape, 
 for he was a bold and clever fellow. A brother 
 emissary, however, who visited Lombeke Notre 
 Dame the same evening, was not quite so pru- 
 dent nor so fortunate, for he was caught by the 
 sentinel in the act of examining the guns of 
 Sinclair's Brigade by aid of a dark - lantern and 
 made prisoner ; but in the hubbub of marching 
 the next morning made his escape, and was 
 heard of no more. We afterwards learned that a 
 number of officers had been sent the same even- 
 ing into our cantonments to ascertain whether we 
 remained quiet, &c. &c. 
 
 Spite of my eagerness for more active ser-vice, 
 it was not without regret that I saw the time 
 approach when I expected to leave for ever 
 the tranquil abode of Strytem ; and some such 
 
APPROACHING DEPAETUKE. 229 
 
 thouglits occupied me this very evening {15th), 
 as I sauntered about the great avenue after 
 Leathes had left me. Most of the other offi- 
 cers had gone to the ball at Brussels, and I 
 remained quite alone. The balmy softness of the 
 air, the beauty and repose of the scenery, were, I 
 thought, more exquisite than ever; and I con- 
 tinued in the avenue untH the increasing obscu- 
 rity of the evening drove me in to enjoy an hour 
 or two with ' The Hermit of the Chaussde D'An- 
 tin ' ere I retired for the night. 
 
CHAPTEE XL 
 
 June 16th. — It would appear that our Quarter- 
 master-General of the cavalry took a peculiar 
 pleasure in disturbing people at very unseasonable 
 hours. He served me so at Dendermonde, and 
 now he has done precisely the same at Strytem. 
 As on that occasion, I was sound asleep when my 
 servant, bustling into the room, awoke me en 
 sursaut. He brought a note which an orderly 
 hussar had left, and ridden off immediately. The 
 note had nothing official in its appearance, and 
 might have been an invitation to dinner ; but the 
 unceremonious manner in which the hussar had 
 gone off without his receipt looked curious. My 
 despatch was totally deficient in date, so that 
 time and place were left to conjecture ; its con- 
 tents pithy — they were as follows, viz. : — 
 
 " Captain Mercer's troop will proceed with the 
 
ORDER TO ADVANCE. 231 
 
 utmost diligence to Enghien, where he will meet 
 Major M'Donald, who Avill point out the ground 
 on which it is to bivouac to-night. , 
 
 Signed, ''^ ^' ^' 
 
 D.A.Q.M.-Gen." 
 
 That we were to move forward, then, was certain. 
 It was rather sudden, to be sure, and all the 
 whys and wherefores were left to conjecture ; but 
 the suddenness of it, and the importance of arriv- 
 ing quickly at the appointed place, rather alarmed 
 me, for upon reflection I remembered that I had 
 been guilty of two or three imprudences. First, 
 aU my officers were absent ; secondly, all my 
 country waggons were absent; thirdly, a whole 
 division (one-third of my troop) was absent at 
 Yseringen. " Send the sergeant - major here," 
 was the first order,, as I drew on my stockings. 
 " Send for Mr Coates '' (my commissariat officer), 
 the second, as I got one leg into my overalls. 
 " William, make haste and get hreahfast" the 
 third, as I buttoned them up. The sergeant- 
 major soon came, and received his orders to turn 
 out instanter, with the three days' provisions and 
 forage "'' in the havresacks and on the horses ; 
 
 * We had been ordered nearly a fortnight ago to keep this 
 quantity ready, and the hay rolled, &c. &c. 
 
232 PREPARATIONS. 
 
 also to send an express for tlie first division. He 
 withdrew, and immediately the fine martial clang 
 of " boot - and - saddle " resounded through the 
 village and courts of the chateau, making the 
 woods ring again, and even the frogs stop to 
 listen. 
 
 The commissary soon made his appearance. 
 " What ! are we ofi", sir 1 " " Yes, without delay ; 
 and you must collect your waggons as quickly as 
 possible." " I fear, Captain Mercer, that will take 
 some time, for St Cyr's are gone to Ninove." 
 My folly here stared me full in the face. Mr 
 Coates said he would do his utmost to collect 
 them ; and as he was a most active, intelligent, 
 and indefatigable fellow, I communicated to him 
 my orders and determination not to wait, desiring 
 him to follow us as soon as he possibly could. 
 My first-enumerated care was speedily removed, 
 for I learned that the officers had just arrived 
 and were preparing for the march, having known 
 of it at Brussels ere we did. The two divisions 
 in Strytem were ready to turn out in a few 
 minutes after the " boot - and - saddle " had re- 
 sounded, but, as I feared, the first kept us waiting 
 until near seven o'clock before it made its appear- 
 ance. This delay allowed us time to make a 
 hearty breakfast ; and, in the uncertainty of when 
 
FAREWELL TO STRYTEM. 233 
 
 we should get another meal, we each stowed 
 away a double portion of Walsdragen's fine eggs. 
 At length the first division arrived, and the 
 animating and soul-stirring notes of the "turn- 
 out" again awoke the echoes of the hills and 
 woods. Up jumped my old dog Bal, and away 
 to parade and increase the bustle by jumping at 
 the horses' noses and barking, as parade formed. 
 Away went the officers to inspect their divisions, 
 and Milward is leading my impatient charger 
 Cossac up and down the court. I linger to take 
 a last look of my antique apartment, and bid 
 farewell to my mute companions the Van 
 Voldens. 
 
 The gardener, his son, and Mdlle. Mon-P^re-dit, 
 with her pale face rendered still paler by the 
 agitation of the morning, stand drawn up in the 
 court, precisely in the same order and on the 
 same ground as on the day of our arrival. With 
 a profusion of blessings, &c., they thank me for 
 the great care we have taken of the chateau, and 
 for the very liberal gratuity which our pay- 
 master, the doctor (Hitchins), had bestowed upon 
 them. They wish me all manner of success, but 
 fear we shall have bloody work. The old man 
 mutters something about Buonaparte capdie, which 
 I do not understand, but take for granted is 
 
234 ON THE MARCH. 
 
 something friendly, so return thanks, mount my 
 horse, and, once more, adieu Strytem. 
 
 We had cleared the village and marched some 
 miles well enough, being within the range of my 
 daily rides ; but, this limit passed, I was im- 
 mediately sensible of another error — that of hav- 
 ing started without a guide, for the roads became 
 so numerous, intricate, and bad, often resembling 
 only woodmen's tracks, that I was sorely puzzled, 
 spite of the map I carried in my sabretache, to 
 pick out my way. But a graver error still I had 
 now to reproach myself with, and one that might 
 have been attended Avith fatal consequences. 
 Eager to get on, and delayed by the badness of 
 the roads, I left all my ammunition waggons 
 behind, under charge of old Hall, my quarter- 
 master-sergeant, to follow us, and then pushed on 
 with the guns alone, thus foolishly enough divid- 
 ing my troops into three columns — viz., the guns, 
 ammunition waggons, and the column of provision 
 waggons under the commissary. For this piece 
 of folly I paid dearly in the anxiety I suffered 
 throughout this eventful day, which at times was 
 excessive. 
 
 Eid of all encumbrances, we trotted merrily on 
 whenever the road permitted, and, arriving at 
 Castre (an old Eoman legionary station), found 
 
NEWS PROM BRUSSELS. 235 
 
 there the 23d Light Dragoons just turning out, 
 having also received orders to march upon 
 Enghien. A Captain Dance, with whom I rode 
 a short distance, told me he had been at the ball 
 at Brussels last night, and that, when he left the 
 room, the report was that Blucher had been attack- 
 ed in the morning, but that he had repulsed the 
 enemy with great slaughter, was following up 
 the blow, and that our advance was to support 
 him. The road for the last few miles had been 
 upon a more elevated country, not so wooded — a 
 sort of plateau, consequently hard and dry ; but 
 immediately on passing Castre, we came to a piece 
 which appeared almost impassable for about a 
 hundred yards — a perfect black bog, across which 
 a corduroy road had been made, but not kept in 
 repair, consequently the logs, having decayed, left 
 immense gaps. The 23d floundered through this 
 with difficulty, and left us behind. How we got 
 through with our 9-pounders, the horses slipping 
 up to the shoulders between the logs every minute, 
 I know not ; but through we did get, and without 
 accident, but it took time to do so. About noon, 
 after threading our way through more mud and 
 many watery lanes, doubtful if we were in the 
 right direction, we came out upon a more open and 
 dry country close to a park, which, upon inquiry, 
 
236 HALT AT ENGHIEN. 
 
 proved to be that of EngHen. To tlie same point 
 various columns of cavalry were converging, and 
 under the park wall we found Sir Ormsby Van- 
 deleur's brigade of light dragoons, dismounted 
 and feeding their horses. Here we also dis- 
 mounted to await the arrival of Major M'Donald ; 
 and as I looked upon the day's march as finished, 
 deferred feeding until our bivouac should be 
 established — another folly, for an officer in cam- 
 paign should never lose an opportunity of feeding, 
 watering, or resting his horses, &c. Attracted by 
 the novelty of the scene and the fineness of the 
 day, we had numerous gay visitors here — ^ladies 
 and gentlemen — who had stationed themselves 
 within the park, enhancing by their presence the 
 gaiety of the scene, for we had halted immedi- 
 ately under the park wall, and at the point where 
 the road to Braine le Comte by Steenkerke 
 branched off from the one Ave were on. All the 
 corps as they arrived, I observed, took this road, and 
 continued onwards, which made me somewhat im- 
 patient lest I should have halted short of my des- 
 tination. Having waited a good half-hour, and 
 no Major M'Donald appearing, I began to look 
 about for some one who could give me informa- 
 tion, but no staff-officer was to be seen, and no 
 one else knew anything about the matter. Corps 
 
DOUBTS AS TO MY ROUTE. 237 
 
 after corps arrived and passed on, generally with- 
 out even halting, yet all professing ignorance of 
 their destination. Pleasant situation this ! Sir 
 Ormsby's dragoons were by this time bridling up 
 their horses and rolling up their nosebags, evi- 
 dently with the intention of moving off. See- 
 ing this, I sought out the general, whom I found 
 seated against the bank, that, instead of a hedge, 
 bordered the road. Whether naturally a savage, 
 or that he feared committing himself, I know not, 
 but Sir Ormsby cut my queries short with an 
 asperity totally uncalled for. " I know nothing 
 about you, sir ! I know nothing at all about 
 you ! " " But you will perhaps have the good- 
 ness to tell me where you are going yourself 1 " 
 " I know nothing at all about it, sir ! I told you 
 already I know nothing at all about you!" and 
 starting abruptly from his seat, my friend 
 mounted his horse, and (I suppose by instinct) 
 took the road towards Steenkerke, followed by 
 his brigade, leaving me and mine alone in the 
 road, more disagreeably situated than ever. I 
 now began to reflect very seriously on the " to 
 stay " or " not to stay." In the former case I bade 
 fair to have the ground all to myself, for although 
 everybody I spoke to denied having any orders, 
 yet all. kept moving in one and the same direc- 
 
238 UNCERTAINTIES. 
 
 tion. In the latter case, my orders in writing cer- 
 tainly were to stay ; but circumstances miglit have 
 occurred since to change this, and the new order 
 might not have reached me. Moreover, it was 
 better to get into a scrape for fighting than keep- 
 ing ovit of the way, so I made up my mind to move 
 forward too. Accordingly I had already mounted 
 my people when Sir H. Vivian's brigade of hus- 
 sars, followed by Major Bull's troop of our horse- 
 artillery, passed. Bull I found was, like myself, 
 without orders, but he thought it best to stick 
 close to the cavalry, and advised me to do the 
 same, which I did, following him and them on 
 the road to Steenkerke. The country about this 
 place appeared more bare and forbidding than 
 any I had yet seen in the Pays Bas. Just as we 
 moved off, the column of Household troops made 
 its appearance, advancing from Ninove, and tak- 
 ing the same direction. 
 
 It was now that the recollection of my absent 
 waggons began to torment me, and I actually 
 feared never to see them again. However, there 
 was no help for it now, and I continued onward. 
 
 A few miles farther we crossed the Senne by 
 an old stone bridge, and about four in the after- 
 noon arrived at Braine le Comte, almost ravenous 
 with hunger, and roasted alive by the burning 
 
BRAINE LE COMTE. 239 
 
 sun under which we had been marching all day. 
 The country had improved and become more 
 wooded, so that the town looked pretty, sur- 
 rounded as it is by gardens and trees. We were 
 not allowed (why, I know not) to see more ; for 
 on arriving at one end of it we turned into a road 
 on the left, and so, making a circuit round the 
 back of the gardens, came out at the other end 
 on a piece of bare ground, where we found seve- 
 ral regiments drawn up in close columns, dis- 
 mounted and feeding. It was somewhere be- 
 tween Enghien and Braine le Comte that we met 
 an aide-de-camp (I believe one of the Duke's) 
 posting away as fast as his poor tired beast could 
 get along, and dressed in his embroidered suit, 
 white pantaloons, &c. &c., having evidently mount- 
 ed as he left the ball-room. This, I remember, 
 struck us at the time as rather odd, but we had 
 no idea of the real state of our affairs. 
 
 We had formed up, and were feeding also, but 
 the nosebags were scarcely put on the poor horses' 
 heads than the cavalry corps, mounting again, 
 moved off, one after the other, and we were con- 
 strained to follow ere the animals had half finished. 
 Here, as before, I could obtain no intelligence re- 
 specting our march, the direction and meaning 
 of which all I spoke to professed a profound igno- 
 
240 STILL WITHOUT ORDERS. 
 
 ranee. Whilst halting, Hitchins, slipping into the 
 town, brought us out a couple of bottles of wine, 
 the which we passed round from one to the other 
 without any scruple about sucking it all out of 
 one muzzle. This renewal of our march was a 
 sad disappointment, for on finding the cavalry 
 assembled here, we made sure they were only 
 waiting until the different bivouacs could be ar- 
 ranged, when we should settle ourselves for the 
 night. 
 
 In marching round the town, many of the 
 houses had a sort of gallery behind them, which 
 were filled with spectators, particularly many 
 priests. The gardens were very pretty, and I 
 could not but contrast the comparative luxury of 
 these people, snug and comfortable, and sure of 
 their bed when night came on, with our own 
 vagabond situation. 
 
 The country beyond Braine le Comte was pretty, 
 the usual rich and wooded champaign extending 
 to the foot of an abrupt ridge of hills, covered 
 with forest to the summit, and toward which our 
 road lay. 
 
 A little hamlet (Long Tour, I think) lay at 
 the foot of the hills, the straggling street of which 
 we found so crowded with baggage-waggons of 
 some Hanoverian or other foreign corps, that for 
 
BEAUTY OF THE SCENERY. 241 
 
 a long while we were unable to pass. The cav- 
 alry, therefore, left us behind, for they broke into 
 the adjoining fields until they had cleared the 
 impediment. Although annoyed at being thus 
 hindered, I could not but admire the lightness, 
 and even elegance, of the little waggons, with their 
 neat white tilts, and as neat and ])vettjjungfrauen 
 who were snugly seated under them. We found 
 the ascent of the hills more difficult than we ex- 
 pected, the road, which went up in a zigzag (in- 
 deed, it could not have been otherwise), little 
 better than a woodman's track, much cut up, and 
 exceedingly steep — so much so, that we found it 
 necessary to double-horse all our carriages, by 
 taking only half up at once. This delayed us 
 considerably ; but, impatient as I was to get on, 
 I was pleased at not being hurried through this 
 charming forest-scenery. The hills, as I said, 
 rose abruptly, and with a very steep acclivity, 
 their sides being covered with noble forest-trees, 
 amongst the boles of which the eye ranged with- 
 out impediment — there being little or no under- 
 Avood — occasionally catching glimpses through 
 the foliage of the rich and varied plain which we 
 had left, and of the grey buildings of Braine le 
 Comte embosomed in verdure. Groups of dra- 
 goons and hussars, mingling with our guns, &c., 
 VOL. I. Q 
 
242 WE AEE LEFT ALONE. 
 
 all scrambling up the steep ascent, seen amongst 
 the gigantic trunks of the trees and by the soft- 
 ened light of the forest, presented delicious pic- 
 tures. Nor were these less interesting from the 
 accompanying sounds — the dull tramp of the 
 horses, the rattling of sabres, and the voices of 
 command, all magnified by the echo of the forest, 
 which was such that one might have fancied him- 
 self speaking under a vault. 
 
 At length the whole of our carriages were on 
 the summit, but we were now quite alone, all 
 the cavalry having gone on ; and thus we con- 
 tinued our march on an elevated plateau, still 
 covered with forest,'" thicker and more gloomy 
 than ever — here and there passing a farm and 
 small clearing of a few fields, and then again 
 plunging into the cool dark woods. At one of 
 these farms I got a draught of new milk — ^A^ery 
 grateful after such a hot march and long fast. At 
 length vfe had crossed the forest, and found our- 
 selves on the verge of a declivity which stretched 
 away less abruptly than the one we had ascended, 
 consequently presenting a more extensive slope, 
 clown which our road continued. A most exten- 
 sive view lay before us ; and now for the first 
 time, as emerging from the woods, we became 
 
 * I believe this is the Bois de la Houssier. 
 
SOUNDS OF DISTANT BATTLE. 243 
 
 sensible of a dull, sullen sound that filled the air, 
 somewhat resembling that of a distant water-mill, 
 or stUl more distant thunder. On clearing the 
 wood, it became more distinct, and its character 
 was no longer questionable — heavy firing of can- 
 non and musketry, which could now be distin- 
 guished from each other plainly. We could also 
 hear the musketry in volleys and independent 
 firing. The extensive view below us was bounded 
 towards the horizon by a dark line of wood, above 
 which, in the direction of the cannonade, volumes 
 of grey smoke arose, leaving no doubt of what 
 was going on. The object of our march was 
 now evident, and Ave commenced descending 
 the long slope with an animation we had not 
 felt before. 
 
 It was here that Major M'Donald overtook us, 
 and without adverting to the bivouac at Enghien, 
 of which probably he had never heard, gave me 
 orders to attach myself to the Household brigade, 
 under Lord Edward Somerset, but no instructions 
 where or when. I took care not to tell him they 
 were in the rear, lest he might order us to halt 
 for them, which would have been a sore punish- 
 ment to people excited as we now were by the 
 increasing roar of the battle evidently going on, 
 and hoped that by marching faster they might 
 
244 PRESSING ON. 
 
 soon overtake us. Just at this moment a cabrio- 
 let, driving at a smart pace, passed us. In it was 
 seated an officer of the Guards, coat open and 
 snuffbox in hand. I could not but admire the 
 perfect nonchalance with which my man was thus 
 hurrjdng forward to join in a bloody combat — ■ 
 much, perhaps, in the same manner, though cer- 
 tainly not in the same costume, as he might drive 
 to Epsom or Ascot Heath. The descent termi- 
 nated in a picturesque hollow, with a broad pool, 
 dark and calm, and beyond it an old mill, per- 
 fectly in keeping with the scene. The oppor- 
 tunity of watering our poor brutes was too good 
 to be missed, and I accordingly ordered a halt for 
 that purpose. Whilst so employed, an aide-de- 
 camp, descending from a singular knoll above us, 
 on which I had noticed a group of officers looking 
 out with their glasses in the direction of the bat- 
 tle, came to summons me to Sir Hussey Vivian, 
 who was one of them. 
 
 On ascending the knoll. Sir Hussey called to 
 me in a hurried manner to make haste. " Who 
 do you belong to "? " said he. I told him, as also 
 that the brigade was yet in the rear. "Well," 
 he replied, " never mind ; there is something 
 serious going on, to judge from that heavy firing, 
 and artUlery must be wanted ; therefore bring up 
 
PRESSING ON. 245 
 
 your guns as fast as you can, and join my hussars : 
 can you keep up V "I hope so, sir." " Well, 
 come along without delay ; we must move smartly." 
 In a few minutes our people, guns and all, were on 
 the hill. The hussars mounted, set off at a brisk 
 trot, and we followed. Alas ! thought I, where are 
 my ammunition waggons ? Neither this anxiety, 
 however, nor the excitement of the moment, were 
 sufficient to shut my eyes to the beautiful picture 
 on that knoll. Conceive a point of ground stand- 
 ing forth with precipitous slopes over the hoUow 
 already mentioned, with its picturesque mill and 
 calm glassy pool; on this ground, happily grouped, 
 a band of warriors, in dresses not less picturesque, 
 beneath a huge cross of the rudest workmanship ; 
 a few Salvator-like trees complete the foreground, 
 the distance presenting a rich and varied scene 
 of corn-fields (now yellow), and pastures of the 
 liveliest green, and sombre wood — the whole ex- 
 tending away till in the distance all the features 
 are massed and mellowed into indistinctness and 
 purply vapour. Such was the scene. The hussars, 
 to lighten their horses, untied the nets contain- 
 ing their hay, and the mouths of their corn-bags, 
 which falling from them as they trotted on, the 
 road was soon covered with hay and oats. We 
 did not follow their example, and, although drag- 
 
246 NIVELLE. 
 
 ging with us 9 -pounders, preserved our forage, 
 and also our place in the column. 
 
 By-and-by a large town appeared in front of 
 us, and the increasing intensity of the cannonade, 
 and volumes of smoke about the trees, led us to 
 suppose the battle near at hand, and on the hill 
 just beyond the town. This town was Nivelle. 
 
 Another beautiful scene, and one full of excite- 
 ment, now presented itself. We were descending 
 by a gentle slope toward Nivelle, which lay 
 spread out before us — its towers and masses of 
 building, especially what appeared to be the ruins 
 of an ancient castle, sweetly touched by the 
 golden light of the setting sun, whilst the greater 
 part lay in deep -toned purple obscurity. Fine 
 trees, with dark overhancrino- foliage, borderinof the 
 road, formed a foreground and frame, as it were, 
 to this picture. Beyond the town the ground 
 rose, also in shadowy obscurity, crowned with 
 sombre woods, over which ascended the greyish 
 blue smoke of the battle, now apparently so near 
 that we fancied we could hear the shouts of the 
 combatants — a fancy strengthened by crowds of 
 people on the heights, whom we mistook for troops 
 • — inhabitants of Nivelle, as we soon discovered, 
 seeking to get a sight of the fearful tragedy then 
 enacting. Before entering the town we halted 
 
EXCITEMENT IN THE TOWN. 247 
 
 for a moment, lighted our slow matches, put shot 
 into our leathern cartouches, loaded the guns with 
 powder, and stuck priming wires into the vents 
 to prevent the cartridges slipping forward, and, 
 thus prepared for immediate action, again moved 
 on. 
 
 On entering the town what a scene presented 
 itself! How different from the repose of the 
 country we had been traversing all day ! There 
 all was peace and tranquillity, undisturbed — ab- 
 solutely undisturbed, except by the hurried march 
 of successive columns along the highroad. There 
 the rustic pursued his wonted labours as in pro- 
 found peace, the mill went its rumbling round, 
 the birds carolled on the spray. True, the sounds 
 of battle came borne on the evening breeze — the 
 brattle of musketry and the boom of cannon 
 shook the air ; but it was distant — very distant 
 — and might be heard, and the ascending smoke 
 seen, with that sort of thrilling sensation with 
 which we witness the progress of the storm when 
 we ourselves are secure from its effects. Here, 
 on the contrary, all was confusion, agitation, and 
 movement. The danger was impending ; explo- 
 sion after explosion, startling from their vicinity, 
 and clattering peals of musketry, like those 
 lengthened thunder-claps which announce to us 
 
248 SIGNS OF BATTLE. 
 
 SO awfully the immediate neighbourhood of the 
 electric cloud. The whole population of Nivelle 
 was in the streets, doors and windows all wide 
 open, whilst the inmates of the houses, male and 
 female, stood huddled together in little groups 
 like frightened sheep, or were hurrying along with 
 the distracted air of people uncertain where they 
 are going, or what they are doing. The scene 
 was strangely interesting. In a sort of square 
 which we traversed, a few soldiers, with the air of 
 citizens (probably a municipal guard), were drawn 
 up in line, looking anxiously about them at the 
 numerous bleeding figures which we now began 
 to meet. Some were staggering along unaided, 
 the blood falling from them in large drops as they 
 went. One man we met was wounded in the 
 head ; pale and ghastly, with affrighted looks and 
 uncertain step, he evidently knew little of where 
 he was, or what passed about him, though still 
 he staggered forward, the blood streaming down 
 his face on to the greatcoat which he wore rolled 
 over his left shoulder. An anxious crowd was 
 collecting round him as we passed on. Then 
 came others supported between two comrades, 
 their faces deadly pale, and knees yielding at 
 every step. At every step, in short, we met num- 
 bers, more or less wounded, hurrying along in 
 
SIGNS OF BATTLE, 249 
 
 search of that assistance which many would never 
 live to receive, and others receive too late. Priests 
 were running to and fro, hastening to assist at 
 the last moments of a dying man; aU were in 
 haste — all wore that abstracted air so inseparable 
 from those engaged in an absorbing pursuit. There 
 were women, too, mingling in this scene of agita- 
 tion. Ladies, fair delicate ladies, stood on the steps 
 at the doors of several handsome houses, their hands 
 folded before them, as if in the agony of suspense, 
 and 'with an air of deprecation, their eyes wan- 
 dering over the excited crowd, whilst ever and 
 anon they would move their lips as if in prayer. 
 I thought as we passed along they looked at us, 
 and prayed for our safety and success. I gave 
 them credit for it, at least, and the very idea had 
 the effect of inspiration. Strange that the sight 
 — nay, often the recollection — of aU that is tender 
 and compassionate, of woman, should have the 
 effect of stimulating us to martial deeds. The 
 little knots of excited citizens assembled on our 
 route would cease their energetic declamations, 
 and turn to look at us as we passed along. Many 
 would run up, and, patting our horses' necks, would 
 call down benedictions on us, and bid us hasten 
 to the fight ere it were yet too late, or utter 
 trembling and not loud shouts of " Vivent les 
 
250 FUGITIVES FEOM THE FIELD. 
 
 Anglais!" A few there were who stood apart, 
 with gloomy discontented looks, eyeing their fel- 
 low-citizens with evident contempt, and us with 
 scowls, not unmixed with derision, as they marked 
 our dusty and jaded appearance. Through all 
 this crowd we held our way, and soon began to 
 ascend the hill beyond the town, where we entered 
 a fine chaussee bordered by elms, expecting every 
 moment to enter on the field of action, the roar 
 of which appeared quite close to us. It was, how- 
 ever, yet distant. 
 
 The road was covered with soldiers, many of 
 them wounded, but also many apparently un- 
 touched. The numbers thus leaving the field 
 appeared extraordinary. Many of the wounded 
 had six, eight, ten, and even more, attendants. 
 When questioned about the battle, and why they 
 left it, the answer was invariably, "Monsieur, 
 tout est perdu ! les Anglais sont abimds, en de- 
 route, abimes, tous, tons, tons ! " and then, nothing 
 abashed, these fellows would resume their hurried 
 route. My countrymen will rejoice to learn that 
 amongst this dastardly crew not one Briton ap- 
 peared. Whether they were of Nassau or Belgi- 
 ans, I know not ; they were one or the other — I 
 think the latter. One red-coat we did meet — 
 not a fugitive though, for he was severely wounded. 
 
A WOUNDED HIGHLANDER. 251 
 
 This man was a private of the 92 d (Gordon 
 Highlanders), a short, rough, hardy-looking fel- 
 low, with the national high cheek-bones, and a 
 complexion that spoke of many a bivouac. He 
 came limping along, evidently with difficulty and 
 suffering. I stopped him to ask news of the bat- 
 tle, telling him what I had heard from the others. 
 " Na, na, sir, it's aw a damned lee ; they war 
 fechtin' yat an I laft 'em ; but it's a bludy busi- 
 ness, and thar's na saying fat may be the end on't. 
 Oor ragiment was nigh clean swapt off, and oor 
 Colonel kilt jist as I cam awa." Upon inquiring 
 about his own wound, we found that a musket- 
 ball had lodged in his knee, or near it ; accord- 
 ingly Hitchins, dismounting, seated him on the 
 parapet of a little bridge we happened to be 
 on, extracted the ball in a few minutes, and, 
 binding up the wound, sent him hobbling along 
 towards Mvelle, not having extracted a single 
 exclamation from the poor man, who grate- 
 fully thanked him as he resumed his way. A 
 little further on, and as it began to grow 
 dusk, we traversed the village of Hautain le Val, 
 where a very different scene presented itself Here, 
 in a large cabaret by the roadside, we saw through 
 the open windows the rooms filled with soldiers, 
 cavalry and infantry; some standing about in 
 
252 BELGIAN GASCONADING. 
 
 earnest conversation, others seated round tables, 
 smoking, carousing, and thumping the board with 
 clenched fists, as they related with loud voices — 
 what 1 — most likely their own gallant exploits. 
 About the door their poor horses, tied to a rail, 
 showed by their drooping heads, shifting legs, and 
 the sweat drying and fuming on their soiled coats, 
 that their exertions at least had been of no trivial 
 nature. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The firing began to grow slacker, and even inter- 
 mitting, as we entered on the field of Quatre Bras 
 — our horses stumbling from time to time over 
 corpses of the slain, which they were too tired to 
 step over. The shot and shells which flew over 
 our line of march from time to time (some of the 
 latter bursting beyond us) were sufiicient to en- 
 able us to say we had been in the battle of Quatre 
 Bras, for such was the name of the place where 
 we now arrived, just too late to be useful. In all 
 directions the busy hum of human voices was 
 heard; the wood along the skirts of which we 
 marched re-echoed clearly and loudly the tones 
 of the bugle, which ever and anon were over- 
 powered by the sullen roar of cannon, or the 
 sharper rattle of musketry ; dark crowds of men 
 moved in the increasing obscurity of evening, and 
 the whole scene seemed alive with them. What 
 
254 AT QUATRE BEAS. 
 
 a moment of excitement and anxiety as we pro- 
 ceeded amongst all this tumult, and amidst the 
 dead and dying, ignorant as yet how the affair 
 had terminated ! Arrived at a mass of buildings, 
 where four roads met (les quatre bras). Major 
 M'Donald again came up with orders for us to 
 bivouac on an adjoining field, where, accordingly, 
 we established ourselves amongst the remains of 
 a wheat crop. 
 
 Our men dismounted, and the horses tied up to 
 the wheels of the carriages, every one was des- 
 patched with canteens and water-buckets to a well 
 at the farm, to procure water for themselves and 
 horses. This being the only water in the imme- 
 diate neighbourhood, the crowd of all arms was 
 so great about it that our people were employed 
 fully two hours after halting ere they had com- 
 pleted watering their horses. They were then 
 fed with corn, whilst eating which, a patch of 
 wheat still standing was discovered near our 
 bivouac. This we immediately cut or pulled up, 
 and thus saved our hay, for there was sufficient 
 to employ the poor brutes all night, if they pre- 
 ferred eating to sleeping. 
 
 Our animals cared for, the next consideration 
 was ourselves. The men had provisions ready 
 cooked in their havresacks, and therefore soon 
 
OUR BIVOUAC. 255 
 
 made themselves comfortable ; but we bad no- 
 thing, could procure nothing, and were likely to 
 go supperless to bed. We had assembled in a 
 little circle, discussing the events of the day pre- 
 vious to lying down, when, to our no small joy, 
 the doctor made his appearance, followed by one 
 of the servants bearing the remnant of a large 
 meat-pie that yesterday had formed part of our 
 dinner at Strytem, and which he, with laudable 
 zeal and presence of mind, had in the hurry- . 
 scurry of the morning thrust into our little cart, 
 thinking, good man, it might prove useful. No 
 one can doubt that it did so in a degree ; but- the 
 sixth part of the remnant of a pie went little way 
 to satisfy the cravings of our stomachs, which had 
 had so long a holiday. However, it was something, 
 and we were grateful for it, and thankful to our 
 worthy Esculapius for having been so provident. 
 The meal ended and cigars lighted, we sat envel- 
 oped in our cloaks, chatting and listening to the 
 Babel-like confusion at the well, where crowds 
 were still struggling for water, until, one by one, 
 we sank on the ground, overcome by sleep, which 
 for my part remained unbroken until the grey 
 dawn began to peep of the 
 
 \7th June, when a popping fire of mus- 
 quetry, apparently close at hand, aroused me 
 
256 MORNING ArTEE, THE BATTLE. 
 
 again to consciousness of my situation. At first 
 I could not imagine where I was. I looked 
 straight up, and the stars were twinkling over me 
 in a clear sky. I put out a hand from beneath 
 my cloak, and felt clods of damp earth and stalks 
 of straw. The brattle of musketry increased, 
 and then the consciousness of my situation came 
 gradually over me. Although somewhat chilly, I 
 was still drowsy, and, regardless of what might 
 be going on, had turned on my side and began to 
 dose again, when one of my neighbours started 
 up with the exclamation, " I wonder what all that 
 firing means ! " This in an instant dispelled all 
 desire to sleep ; and up I got too, mechanically 
 repeating his words, and rubbing my eyes as I 
 began to peer about. One of the first, and cer- 
 tainly the most gratifying, sights that met my 
 inquiring gaze, was Quartermaster Hall, who had 
 arrived during the night with all his charge safe 
 and sound. He had neither seen nor heard, how- 
 ever, of Mr Coates and his train of country wag- 
 gons, for whom I began now to entertain serious 
 apprehensions. From whatever the musketry 
 might proceed, we could see nothing — not even 
 the flashes ; but the increasing light allowed me 
 to distinguish numberless dark forms on the 
 ground all around me, people slumbering stUl, 
 
OUR POSITION. 257 
 
 regardless of the firing that had aroused me. At 
 a little distance numerous white discs, which were 
 continually in motion, changing place and disap- 
 pearing, to be succeeded by others, puzzled me 
 exceedingly, and I could not even form a conjec- 
 ture as to what they might be. Watching them 
 attentively, I was still more surprised when some 
 of these white objects ascended from the ground 
 and suddenly disappeared ; but the mystery was 
 soon explained by the increasing light, which 
 gave to my view a corps of Nassau troops lying 
 on the ground, having white tops to their shakos. 
 Daylight now gradually unfolded to us our situa- 
 tion. We were on a plateau which had been 
 covered with corn, now almost everywhere trod- 
 den down. Four roads, as already mentioned, 
 met a little to the right of our front, and just at 
 that point stood a farmhouse, which, with its 
 outbuildings, yard, &c., was enclosed by a very 
 high wall. This was the farm of Quatre Bras. 
 Beyond it, looking obliquely to the right, the wood 
 (in which the battle still lingered when we arrived 
 last night) stretched away some distance along 
 the roads to Nivelle and Charleroi, which last we 
 understood lay in front, but far out of sight. 
 Along the continuation of the Charleroi road, and 
 in the direction of Brussels, a little in rear of our 
 VOL. I. E 
 
258 THI§ BATTLE-FIELD. 
 
 right, a few cottages scattered along it had their 
 little gardens enclosed by banks, with here and 
 there an elder or some such bush growing on 
 them ; and these were the only enclosures to be 
 seen, all the rest being a wide extent of corn-land 
 without hedge or wall. On the farther side of 
 the road, beyond the cottages, the fields were in- 
 terspersed with thickets of underwood and a few 
 clumps of trees, which shut in the view in that 
 direction. To the rear the country appeared per- 
 fectly naked and open. To the left (I always 
 speak with reference to the enemy Avhom we 
 fronted) the ground descended very gradually for 
 about two miles, where it appeared bounded by 
 a long wood extending far away towards Brussels. ■ 
 In front it descended more abruptly; and then 
 there was a plain about a mile in breadth ex- 
 tending along our front, from the wood on the 
 left to that on the right. The great road from 
 Nivelle to Namur, crossing that from Brussels to 
 Charleroi at Quatre Bras, ran along this plain, 
 whilst the direction of the latter was nearly per- 
 pendicular to our position. Beyond this plain the 
 ground rose again to a height somewhat superior 
 to that on which we stood, and another large 
 wood extended on it from opposite the one on our 
 left, apparently half-way to that on the right, 
 
POSITION OF THE FKENCH. .259 
 
 having the declivity towards us laid out in fields 
 enclosed by pretty thick hedges. Between these 
 two woods the opening gave us an extensive view 
 over the country, in the direction of Gembloux 
 and Namur. 
 
 On the Charleroi road and in the plain was a 
 small village (Frasnes), with its church, just be- 
 yond which the road ascended the heights, on the 
 open part of which, between the road and the 
 wood towards the left, was the bivouac of the 
 French army opposed to us. Its advanced posts 
 were in the valley near Frasnes, and ours oppo- 
 site to them — our main body occupying the 
 ground between Quatre Bras and the wood on 
 the left. A smart skirmish was going on amongst 
 the hedges, &c., already mentioned, and this was 
 the firing we had heard all the morning. Our 
 infantry were lying about, cleaning their arms, 
 cooking, or amusing themselves, totally regardless 
 of the skirmish. This, however, from our posi- 
 tion, was a very interesting sight to me, for the 
 slope of the ground enabled me to see distinctly 
 all the manoeuvres of both parties, as on a plan. 
 After much firing from the edge of the wood, 
 opposite which our riflemen occupied all the 
 hedges, I saw the French chasseurs suddenly 
 make a rush forward in all directions, whilst the 
 
260 SKIRMISHING, 
 
 fire of our people became thicker and faster than 
 ever. Many of the former scampered across the 
 open fields until they reached the nearest hedges, 
 whilst others ran crouching under cover of those 
 perpendicular to their front, and the whole suc- 
 ceeded in establishing; themselves — thus forcing 
 bacli and gaining ground on our men. The fire 
 then again became sharper than ever — sometimes 
 the French were driven back ; and this alterna- 
 tion I watched with great interest until sum- 
 moned to Major M'Donald, who brought us 
 orders for the day. From him I first learned the 
 result of the action of yesterday — the retreat of 
 the Prussians, and that we were to do so too. 
 His directions to me were that I should follow 
 some corps of infantry, or something of the sort ; 
 for what followed caused me to forget it all : 
 "Major Ramsay's troop," he said, "■will remain 
 in the rear with the cavalry, to cover the retreat ; 
 hut I will not conceal from you that it falls to 
 your turn to do this, if you choose it." The 
 Major looked rather conscience - stricken as he 
 made this avowal, so, to relieve him, I begged 
 he would give the devil his due and me mine. 
 Accordingly all the others marched off, and as 
 nothing was likely to take place immediately, we 
 amused ourselves by looking on at what was doing. 
 
AN ALARM. 261 
 
 Just at this moment an amazing outcry arose 
 amongst the infantry at the farm, who were 
 running towards us in a confused mass, shouting 
 and bellowing, jostling and pushing each other. 
 I made sure the enemy's cavalry had made a 
 dash amongst them, especially as the fire of the 
 skirmishers became thicker and apparently nearer, 
 when the thing was explained by a large pig, 
 squealing as if already stuck, bursting from the 
 throng by which he was beset in all directions. 
 Some struck at him with axes, others with the 
 butts of their muskets, others stabbed at him 
 with bayonets. The chase would have been 
 amusing had it not been so brutal ; and I have 
 seldom experienced greater horror than I did on 
 this occasion when the poor brute, staggering 
 from the repeated blows he received, was at last 
 brought to the ground by at least half-a-dozen 
 bayonets plunged into him at once. 
 
 All this time our retreat was going on very 
 quietly. The corps at Quatre Bras had retired 
 early in the morning and been replaced by others 
 from the left, and this continued constantly — 
 every corps halting for a time on the ground 
 near Quatre Bras until another from the left 
 arrived, these moving off on the great road to 
 Brussels, ceding the ground to the new-comers. 
 
262 THE RETEEAT. 
 
 At first every one, exulting in the success of 
 yesterday — the having repulsed the enemy with 
 a handful of men, as it were, unsupported by 
 cavalry and with very little artillery — antici- 
 pated, now our army was united, nothing less 
 than an immediate attack on the French posi- 
 tion. We were sadly knocked down, then, when 
 the certainty of our retreat became known. It 
 was in vain we were told the retreat was only 
 a manoeuvre of concentration ; the most gloomy 
 anticipations pervaded every breast. About this 
 time Sir Alexander Dickson paid me a visit, 
 having just arrived from New Orleans, where 
 he commanded the artillery, to be our Deputy- 
 Quartei'master- General. He only stayed a few 
 minutes. 
 
 As the infantry corps on the plateau became 
 fewer, the fire of the skirmishers amongst the 
 hedges gradually relaxed, and at length ceased — ; 
 the Rifles, &c., being withdrawn, and following 
 the line of retreat. At last, about noon, I 
 found myself left with my troop, quite alone, on 
 the brow of the position, just by the farm of 
 Quatre Bras — the only, troops in sight being a 
 small picket of hussars, near the village of 
 Frasnes, in the plain below ; a few more in our 
 rear, but at some little distance, amongst the 
 
.ASPECT OF THE FIELD. ^263 
 
 houses ; and a brigade of hussars ^'^ far away to 
 the left (about two miles), close to the wood in 
 that quarter. Thus solitary, as it were, I had 
 ample leisure to contemplate the scene of desola- 
 tion around me, so strangely at variance with the 
 otherwise smiling landscape. Everywhere me- 
 mentoes of yesterday's bloody struggle met the 
 eye — the corn trampled down, and the ground, 
 particularly in the plain, plentifully besprinkled 
 with bodies of the slain. Just in front of the 
 farm of Quatre Bras there was a fearful scene of 
 slaughter — Highlanders and cuirassiers lying 
 thickly strewn about ; the latter appeared to 
 have charged up the Charleroi road, on which, 
 and immediately bordering it, they lay most 
 numerously. 
 
 In communicating to me the orders of our re- 
 treat, Major M'Donald had reiterated that to join 
 Lord Edward Somerset's brigade without delay, 
 but stni he could not tell me where this brigade 
 was to be found. Meantime Sir Ormsby Van- 
 deleur's brigade of light dragoons having formed 
 up in front of the houses, and supposing from 
 this that all the cavalry must be nigh, as one step 
 towards finding Lord Edward I crossed the road 
 to the right of these dragoons, and rode towards 
 * Sir Hussey Vivian's, I believe. ■ 
 
264 A MEMENTO OF BATTLE. 
 
 tlie part where, as before stated, the light was 
 intercepted by trees and bushes. On passing 
 through these I had an uninterrupted view of 
 the country for miles, but not a soldier or living 
 being was to be seen in that direction. As I 
 pushed on through the thickets my horse, sud- 
 denly coming to a stand, began to snort, and 
 showed unequivocal symptoms of fear. I drove 
 him on, however, but started myself when I saw, 
 lying under the bush, the body of a man stripped 
 naked. This victim of war was a youth of fair 
 form, skin delicately white, and face but little 
 darker ; an embryo mustache decorated the upper 
 lip, and his countenance, even in death, was 
 beautiful. That he was French I conjectured, 
 but neither on himself nor his horse was there 
 a particle of clothing that could indicate to what 
 nation he belonged. If French, how came he 
 here to die alone so far in the rear of our lines 1 
 I know not why, but the rencontre with this soli- 
 tary corpse had a wonderful effect on my spirits — 
 far diiferent from what I felt when gazing on the 
 heaps that encumbered the field beyond. Sel- 
 dom have I experienced such despondency — such 
 heart-sinking — as when standing over this hand- 
 some form thus despoiled, neglected, and about 
 to become a prey to wolves and carrion crows — 
 
ALONE ON THE FIELD. 265 
 
 Ite daxling of some fond raother, the adored of 
 some fair maid. His horse, stripped like himself, 
 lay by — they had met their fate at once. Ee- 
 turning to my troop, I found Sir Augustus Frazer, 
 who had come to order my ammunition-waggons 
 to the rear that the retreat might be as little 
 encumbered as possible, and to tell me that what 
 ammunition was used during the day would 
 be supplied by my sending for it to Langeveldt, 
 on the road to Brussels, where that to Wavre 
 branches from it. 
 
 Thus divested of our ammunition, it was evi- 
 dent that our retreat must be a rapid one, since 
 with only fifty rounds a-gun (the number in the 
 limbers), it could not be expected that we could 
 occupy any position longer than a few minutes. 
 In the end, this measure had nearly led to very 
 disagreeable results, as will be seen anon. 
 
 It was now about one o'clock. My battery 
 stood in position on the brow of the declivity, 
 with its right near the wall of the farm, all alone, 
 the only troops in sight being, as before men- 
 tioned, the picket and a few scattered hussars in 
 the direction of Frasnes, Sir 0. Vandeleur's light 
 dragoons two or three hundred yards in our rear, 
 and Sir H. Vivian's hussars far away to the left. 
 Still the French army made no demonstration of 
 
266 INACTIVITY OF THE ENEMY. 
 
 an advance. This inactivity was unaccountable. 
 Lord Uxbridge and an aide-de-camp came to the 
 front of my battery, and, dismounting, seated him- 
 self on the ground ; so did I and the aide-de-camp. 
 His lordship with his glass was watching the 
 French position ; and we were all three wonder- 
 ing at their want of observation and inactivity, 
 which had not only permitted our infantry to re- 
 tire unmolested, but also still retained them in 
 their bivouac. " It will not be long now before 
 they are on us," said the aide-de-camp, " for they 
 always dine before they move ; and those smokes 
 seem to indicate that they are cooking now." He 
 was right : for not lonw afterwards another aide- 
 de-camp, scouring along the valley, came to report 
 that a heavy column of cavalry"' was advancing 
 through the opening between the avoocIs to the 
 left from the direction of Gembloux. At the 
 same moment we saw them distinctly ; and Lord 
 Uxbridge, having reconnoitered them a moment 
 tlu:ough his glass, started up, exclaiming, in a 
 joyful tone, "By the Lord, they are Prussians!" 
 jumped on his horse, and, followed by the 
 two aides, dashed off like a whirlwind to meet 
 
 . * These appear to have heen the cuirassiers of Milhaud, together 
 ■vvitli the light cavalry of the corps commanded by Count Lobau, 
 sent to assist Ney in his attack on Quatre Bras.- — See O'Meara's 
 ' Translation of Memoir of Napoleon,' lib. ix. cap. v. p. 109. 
 
THEIR ADVANCE. 2G7 
 
 ttem. For a moment I stood looking after them 
 as they swept down the slope, and could not help 
 wondering how the Prussians came there. I was, 
 however, not left long in my perplexity, for, turn- 
 ing my eyes towards the French position, I saw 
 their whole army descending from it in three or 
 four dark masses, whilst their advanced cavalry 
 picket was already skirmishing with and driv- 
 ing back our hussars. The truth instantly flashed 
 on my mind, and I became exceedingly uneasy for 
 the safety of Lord Uxbridge and his companions, 
 now far advanced on their way down the valley, 
 and likely to be irretrievably cut off. My situ- 
 ation now appeared somewhat awkward : left 
 without orders and entirely alone on the brow of 
 our position — the hussar pickets galloping in and 
 hurrying past as fast as they could — the whole 
 French army advancing, and already at no great 
 distance. In this dilemma, I determined to retire 
 across the little dip that separated me from Sir 
 0. Vandeleur, and take up a position in front of 
 his squadrons, whence, after giving a round to 
 the French advance as soon as they stood on our 
 present ground, I thought I could retire in sufii- 
 cient time through his intervals to leave the 
 ground clear for him to charge. This movement 
 ■was immediately executed ; but the guns were 
 
268 ORDERS AND COUNTER-ORDERS. 
 
 scarcely unlimbered ere Sir Ormsby came furi- 
 ously up, exclaiming, " What are you doing here, 
 sir ? You encumber my front, and we shall not 
 be able to charge. Take your guns away, sir ; 
 instantly, I say — take them away ! " It was in vain 
 that I endeavoured to explain my intentions, and 
 that our fire would allow his charge to be made 
 with more effect. " No, no ; take them out of my 
 way, sir ! " was all the answer I could get ; and, 
 accordingly, I was preparing to obey, when up 
 came Lord Uxbridge, and the scene changed in a 
 twinkling. "Captain Mercer, are you loaded"?" 
 " Yes, my lord." " Then give them a round as they 
 rise the hill, and retire as quickly as possible." 
 " Light dragoons, threes right; at a trot, march ! " 
 and then some orders to Sir Ormsby, of whom I 
 saw no more that day. " They are just coming 
 up the hill," said Lord Uxbridge. " Let them get 
 well up before you fire. Do you think you can 
 retire quick enough afterwards ?" "I am sure of 
 it, my lord." "Very well, then, keep a good 
 look-out, and point your guns well." I had often 
 longed to see Napoleon, that mighty man of war 
 • — that astonishing genius who had filled the world 
 with his renown. Now I saw him, and there 
 was a degree of sublimity in the interview rarely 
 equalled. The sky had become overcast since the 
 
NAPOLEON. 269 
 
 morning, and at this moment presented a most 
 extraordinary appearance. Large isolated masses 
 of thundercloud, of the deepest, almost inky 
 black, their lower edges hard and strongly de- 
 fined, lagging down, as if momentarily about to 
 burst, hung suspended over us, involving our 
 position and everything on it in deep and gloomy 
 obscurity ; whilst the distant hill lately occupied 
 by the French army still lay bathed in brilliant 
 sunshine. Lord Usbridge was yet speaking, 
 when a single horseman,* immediately followed 
 by several others, mounted the plateau I had left 
 at a gallop, their dark figures thrown forward in 
 strong relief from the illuminated distance, mak- 
 ing them appear much nearer to us than they 
 really were. For an instant they pulled up and 
 regarded us, when several squadrons, coming 
 rapidly on the plateau. Lord Uxbridge cried out, 
 "Fire ! — fire ! " and, giving them a general discharge, 
 we quickly limbered up to retire, as they dashed 
 forward supported by some horse-artillery guns, 
 which opened upon us ere we could complete the 
 manoeuvre, but without much efi"ect, for the only 
 one touched was the servant of Major Whinyates, 
 
 * That this was Napoleon we have the authority of General 
 Gourgand, who states that, irritated at the delay of Marshal Ney, 
 he put himself at the head of the chasseurs (I think), and dashed 
 forward in the hope of yet being able to catch our rear-guard. 
 
270 A STORM. 
 
 who Avas wounded in the leg by the splinter of a 
 howitzer shell. 
 
 It was now for the first time that I dis- 
 covered the Major and his rocket-troop, who, 
 annoyed at my having the rear, had disobeyed 
 the order to retreat, and remained somewhere 
 in the neighbourhood until this moment, hoping 
 to share whatever might be going on. The 
 first gun that was fired seemed to burst the 
 clouds overhead, for its report was instantly fol- 
 lowed by an awful clap of thunder, and lightning 
 that almost blinded us, whilst the rain came down 
 as if a water-spout had broken over us. The 
 sublimity of the scene was inconceivable. Flash 
 succeeded flash, and the peals of thunder were 
 long and tremendous ; whilst, as if in mockery of 
 the elements, the French guns still sent forth 
 their feebler glare and now scarcely audible re- 
 ports — their cavalry dashing on at a headlong 
 pace, adding their shouts to the uproar. We 
 galloped for our lives through the storm, striving 
 to gain the enclosures about the houses of the 
 hamlets, Lord Uxbridge urging us on, crying, 
 "Make haste ! — make haste ! for God's sake, gallop, 
 or you will be taken ! " We did make haste, and 
 succeeded in getting amongst the houses and gar- 
 dens, but with the French advance close on our 
 
OCJR DAl^GEE. 271 
 
 heels. Here, however, observing the chaussee 
 full of hussars, they pulled up. Had they con- 
 tinued their charge we were gone, for these hus- 
 sars were scattered about the road in the utmost 
 confusion, some in little squads, others singly, 
 and, moreover, so crowded together that we had 
 no room whatever to act with any effect — either 
 they or us. 
 
 Meantime the enemy's detachments began to 
 envelop the gardens, which Lord Uxbridge ob- 
 serving, called to me, " Here follow me with two 
 of your guns," and immediately himself led the 
 way into one of the narrow lanes between the 
 gardens. What he intended doing, God knows, 
 but I obeyed. The lane was very little broader 
 than our carriages — there was not room for a horse 
 to have passed them ! The distance from the 
 .chaussee to the end of the lane, where it de- 
 bouched on the open fields, could scarcely have 
 been above one or two hundred yards at most. 
 His lordship and I were in front, the guns and 
 mounted detachments following. What he meant 
 to do I was at a loss to conceive : we could 
 hardly come to action in the lane ; to enter on 
 the open was certain destruction. Thus we had 
 arrived at about fifty yards from its termination 
 when a body of chasseurs or hussars appeared 
 
272 OUR DANGER. 
 
 there as if waiting for us. These we might have 
 seen from the first, for nothing but a few elder 
 bushes intercepted the view from the chauss^e. 
 The whole transaction appears to me so wild and 
 confused that at times I can hardly believe it to 
 have been more than a confused dream — yet true 
 it was ; — the general-in-chief of the cavalry ex- 
 posing himself amongst the skirmishers of his 
 rear -guard, and literally doing the duty of a 
 cornet ! " By God ! we are all prisoners " (or 
 some such words), exclaimed Lord Uxbridge, 
 dashing his horse at one of the garden -banks, 
 which he cleared, and away he went, leaving us 
 to get out of the scrape as best we could. There 
 was no time for hesitation — one manoeuvre alone 
 could extricate us if allowed time, and it I 
 ordered. " Eeverse by unlimbering " was the 
 order. To do this the gun was to be unlimbered, 
 then turned round, and one wheel run up the 
 bank, which just left space for the limber to 
 pass it. The gun is then limbered up again and 
 ready to move to the rear. The execution, how- 
 ever, was not easy, for the very reversing of the 
 limber itself in so narrow a lane, with a team of 
 eight horses, was sufficiently difficult, and required 
 first-rate driving. Nothing could exceed the 
 coolness and activity of our men ; the thing was 
 
OUR NARROW ESCAPE. 273 
 
 done quickly and -well, and we returned to the 
 chauss^e without let or hindrance. How we 
 were permitted to do so, I am at a loss to ima- 
 gine ; for although I gave the order to reverse, I 
 certainly never expected to have seen it executed. 
 Meantime my own situation was anything but a 
 pleasant one, as I sat with my back to the gen- 
 tlemen at the end of the lane, whose interference 
 I momentarily expected, casting an eye from time 
 to time over my shoulder to ascertain whether 
 they stiU kept their position. There they sat 
 motionless, and although thankful for their in- 
 activity, I could not but wonder at their stupid- 
 ity. It seemed, however, all of a piece that day — 
 all blunder and confusion ; and this last I found 
 pretty considerable on regaining the chaussee. His 
 lordship we found collecting the scattered hussars 
 together into a squadron for our rescue, for which 
 purpose it was he had so unceremoniously left 
 us. Heavy as the rain was and thick the 
 weather, yet the French could not but have seen 
 the confusion we were in, as they had closed up 
 to the entrance of the enclosure ; and yet they did 
 not at once take advantage of it. Things could 
 not remain long in this state. A heavy column 
 of cavalry approached us by the chaussee, whilst 
 another, skirting the enclosures, appeared pushing 
 VOL. I. S 
 
2?4' OUR EETEEAT. 
 
 forward to cut us off. Eetreat now became im- 
 perative. The order was given, and away we 
 went, lielter-skelter — guns, gun-detachments, and 
 hussars all mixed i?ele-mele, going like mad, and 
 covering each other with mud, to be washed off 
 by the rain, which, before sufficiently heavy, 
 now came down again as it had done at first in 
 splashes instead of drops, soaking us anew to the 
 skin, and, what was worse, extinguishing every 
 slow-match in the brigade. The obscurity caused 
 by the splashing of the rain was such, that at one 
 period I could not distinguish objects more than 
 a few yards distant. Of course we lost sight of 
 our pursuers altogether, and the shouts and halloos, 
 and even laughter, they had at first sent forth were 
 either silenced or drowned in the uproar of the 
 elements and the noise of our too rapid retreat ; 
 for in addition to everything else the crashing 
 and rattling of the thunder were most awful, and 
 the glare of the lightning blinding. In this 
 state we gained the bridge of Genappe at the 
 moment when the thundercloud, having passed 
 over, left us in comparative fine weather, although 
 still raining heavily. 
 
 The town of Genappe stands on the slope of a 
 hiU rising immediately from the little verdant 
 valley through which the Lys flows — here little 
 
AERIVAL ,AT GENAPPE. 275 
 
 better than a brook. Arrived at the bridge,, we 
 •slackened our pace, and ascended leisurely the 
 narrow winding street, in which not a living soul 
 was visible. The shutters were all closed, and 
 stream of water pouring from the roofs formed a 
 perfect torrent of the gutter running down the 
 middle of it. This solitude was rather a disap- 
 pointment, for I had hoped here to have got fire 
 to relight our slow-match. 
 
 For the last mile or so we had neither seen 
 nor heard a,nything of our lively French friends, 
 and now silently wound our way up the deserted 
 street, nothing disturbing its death-like stillness 
 save the iron sound of horses' feet, the rumbling 
 of the carriages, and the splashing of water 
 as it fell from the eaves, — aU this was stillness 
 compared with the hurly-burly and din from 
 which we had just emerged. 
 
 On gaining the high ground beyond the town, 
 we suddenly came in sight of the main body of 
 our cavalry drawn up across the chaussee in two 
 lines, and extending away far to the right and 
 left of it. 
 
 It would have been an imposing spectacle at any 
 time, but just now appeared to me magnificent 
 and I hailed it with complacency, for here I thought 
 -our fox-chase must end. " Those superb Life 
 
276 THE ENEMY AGAIN. 
 
 Guards and Blues will soon teach our pursuers a 
 little modesty." Such fellows ! — surely nothing 
 can withstand them. Scarcely had these thoughts 
 passed through my mind ere an order from his 
 lordship recalled us to the rear. On debouching 
 from the town, seeing nothing in the country 
 right and left of us, and fearful of impeding the 
 retreat, whilst our hussars retired skirmishing 
 through the street (the French having again come 
 up), we had continued onward to gain the posi- 
 tion occupied by our heavy cavalry, from which 
 we were still separated by a small dip of the 
 ground. We returned then to the end of the 
 town, where the flight of shot and shells over us 
 (the road was here sunk between two high banks) 
 gave very intelligible information as to the reason 
 of our recall. The enemy's horse-artillery, having 
 taken up a position in the meadows near the 
 bridge, were annoying our dragoons as they de- 
 bouched from the town. The ground was heavy 
 from the rain, and very steep, so that it was only 
 by great exertion that we succeeded at last in 
 getting our guns into the adjoining field. The 
 moment we appeared the French battery bestowed 
 on us its undivided attention, which we quickly 
 acknowledged by an uncommonly well-directed 
 fire of spherical case. Whilst so employed, Major 
 
IN ACTION WITH THEM. 277 
 
 M'Donald came up and put me through a regular 
 catechism as to length of fuze, whether out of bag 
 A or B, &c. &c. Although much vexed at such 
 a schooling just now, yet the Major appeared so 
 seriously in earnest that I could not but be 
 amused ; however, to convince him we knew what 
 we were about, I directed his attention to our 
 excellent practice, so superior to that of our anta- 
 gonist, who was sending all his shot far over our 
 heads. The French seemed pretty well convinced 
 of this too, for after standing a few rounds they 
 quitted the field, and left us again without 
 occupation. The Major vanishing at the same 
 time, I sent my guns, &c., to the rear, and set off 
 to join Lord Uxbridge, who was still fighting in 
 the street. Our ammunition was expended, the 
 waggons having been taken away by Sir Augustus 
 Frazer at Quatre Bras. 
 
 On regaining my troop, I found Major M'Donald 
 and the rockets with it. They were in position 
 on a gentle elevation, on which likewise were 
 formed the lines of cavalry extending across the 
 chaussee. Immediately on our left, encased in 
 the hollow road, the Blues were formed in close 
 column of half-squadrons, and it was not long ere 
 Lord Uxbridge, with those he had retained at 
 Genappe, came sweeping over the hill and joined 
 
27S THE ROCKET BRIGfADE. 
 
 US. They were closely followed by the French 
 light cavalry, who, descending into the hollow, 
 commenced a sharp skirmish with our advanced- 
 posts. Soon squadi'on after squadron appeared 
 on the hill we had passed, and took up their posi- 
 tions, forming a long line parallel to ours, whilst 
 a battery of horse-artillery, forming across the 
 chaussde. just on the brow of the declivity, opened 
 its ' fire on us, though without much effect. To 
 this we responded, though very slowly, having no 
 more ammunition than what remained in our 
 limbers. In order to amuse the enemy and our 
 own cavalry, as well as to prevent the former 
 noticing the slackness of our fire, I proposed to 
 Major M'Donald making use of the rockets, which 
 had hitherto done nothing. There was a little 
 hesitation about this, and one of the officers 
 (Strangways) whispered me, " No, no — it's too 
 far ! " This I immediately told the Major, pro- 
 posing as a remedy that they should go closer. 
 Still there was demur; but at last my proposi- 
 tion was agreed to, and down they marched into 
 the thick of the skirmishers in the bottom. Of 
 course, having proposed the measure myself, I 
 could do no less than accompany them. Whilst 
 they prepared their machinery, I had time to 
 notice what was going on to the right and left of 
 
.THE ROCKET BRIGADE; 279 
 
 US. Two double lines of skirmishers extended all 
 along the bottom — the foremost of each line were 
 within a few yards of each other- — constantly in 
 motion, riding backwards and forwards, firing 
 their carbines or pistols, and then reloading, still 
 on the move. This fire seemed to me more dan- 
 gerous for those on the hills above than for us 
 below ; for all, both French and English, generally 
 stuck out their carbines or pistols as they con- 
 tinued to move backwards and forwards, and dis- 
 charged them without taking any particular aim, 
 and mostly in the air. I did not see a man fall on 
 either side; the thing appeared quite ridiculous; 
 and but for hearing the bullets whizzing overhead, 
 one might have fancied it no more than a sham- 
 fight. 
 
 Meanwhile the rocketeers had placed a little 
 iron triangle in the road with a rocket lying on 
 it. The order to fire is given — portfire applied — 
 the fidgety missile begins to sputter out sparks 
 and wriggle its tail for a second or so, and then 
 darts forth straight up the chaussee. A gun 
 stands right in its way, between the wheels of 
 which the shell in the head of the rocket bursts, 
 the gunners fall right and left, and, those of the 
 other guns taking to their heels, the battery is 
 deserted in an instant. Strange ; but so it was. 
 
280 AN ECCENTEIC MISSILE. 
 
 I saw them run, and for some minutes afterwards 
 I saw the guns standing mute and unmanned, 
 whilst our rocketeers kept shooting off rockets, 
 none of wliich ever followed the course of the first; 
 most of them, on arriving about the middle of the 
 ascent, took a vertical direction, whilst some ac- 
 tually turned back upon ourselves — and one of 
 these, following me like a squib until its shell 
 exploded, actually put me in more danger than 
 all the fire of the enemy throughout the day. 
 Meanwhile the French artillerymen, seeing how 
 the land lay, returned to their guns and opened 
 a fire of case-shot on us, but without effect, for 
 we retreated to our ridge without the loss of a 
 man, or even any wounded, though the range 
 could not have been above 200 yards. As we had 
 overtaken the rear of our infantry, it became ne- 
 cessary to make a stand here to enable them to 
 gain ground. Major M'Donald therefore sent me 
 in pursuit of my ammunition-waggons, since all 
 in our limbers was expended. Having before sent 
 for these, we calculated that they could not now 
 be very far off. In going to the rear I passed 
 along the top of the bank, under which, as I have 
 said, the Blues were encased in the hollow road. 
 Shot and shells were flying pretty thickly about 
 just then, and, sometimes striking the top of the 
 
PANIC AMONG THE BRUNSWTCKERS. 281 
 
 bank, would send down a shower of mud and 
 clods upon them. 
 
 The ammunition- waggons I foimd coming up, 
 and was returning with them when I met my 
 whole troop again retiring by the road, whilst the 
 cavalry did so by alternate regiments across the 
 fields. The ground offering no feature for another 
 stand, we continued thus along the road. , The 
 infantry had made so little progress that we again 
 overtook the rear of their column, composed of 
 Brunswickers — some of those same boys I used to 
 see practising at Schapdale in my rides to Brussels. 
 These poor lads were pushing on at a great rate. 
 As soon as their rear divisions heard the sound 
 of our horses' feet, without once looking behind 
 them, they began to crowd and press on those in 
 front, until at last, hearing us close up to them, 
 and finding it impossible to push forward in the 
 road, many of them broke off into the fields ; and 
 such was their panic that, in order to run lighter, 
 away went arms and knapsacks in all directions, 
 and a general race ensued, the whole corps being 
 in the most horrid confusion. It was to no pur- 
 pose that I exerted my little stock of German to 
 make them understand we were their English 
 friends — a frightened glance and away, was all 
 the effect of my interference, which drove many 
 
282 TAKE UP POSITION. 
 
 of them off. We, however, still kept on our way, 
 and soon after passed a few houses by the road- 
 side, which I afterwards found was La Belle Alli- 
 ance. Hence we crossed another valley, and on 
 rising the opposite hill I found a capital position 
 on the top of an old gravel-pit, which I occupied 
 without loss of time. Behind the ground on which 
 my guns were formed was a long hedge * (a vara 
 avis in this country), which prevented our seeing 
 anything beyond ; and as no troops were in sight 
 except those following us across the valley, we had 
 then no idea that we had arrived in the position 
 where our whole army was assembled, nor that we 
 then stood uj)on ground which, ere to morrow's 
 sun were set, would for ever be celebrated through- 
 out all generations ! 
 
 We did not long remain idle, for the guns were 
 scarcely loaded ere the rear of our cavalry came 
 crowding upon the infantry corps we had passed, 
 and which were then only crossing the valley, the 
 French advance skirmishing with these, whilst 
 their squadrons occupied the heights. We waited 
 a little until some of their larger masses were 
 assembled, and then opened our fire with a range 
 across the valley of about 1200 yards. The echo 
 
 * This was the spot where Picton fell on the morrow, and in 
 this hedge was the so well-known Wellington Tree. 
 
EEJOIN THE ARMY. 283 
 
 of our first gun had not ceased, when, to my 
 astonishment, a heavy cannonade, commencing 
 in a most startling, manner from behind our hedge, 
 rolled along the rising-ground, on part of which 
 we were posted. The truth now flashed on me ; 
 we had rejoined the army, and it is impossible to 
 describe the pleasing sense of security I felt at 
 having now the support of something more stanch 
 than cavalry. 
 
 The French now brought up battery after bat- 
 tery, and a tremendous cannonading was kept 
 up by both sides for some time. The effect was 
 grand and exciting. Our position was a happy 
 one, for all their shot which grazed short, came 
 and struck in the perpendicular bank of our gravel- 
 pit — and only one struck amongst us, breaking 
 the traversing handspike at one of the guns, but 
 neither injuring man nor horse. Our fire was 
 principally directed against their masses as we 
 we could see them, which was not always the 
 case from the smoke that, for want of wind, hung 
 over them ; then against their smaller parties 
 that had advanced into the valley to skirmish 
 with the rear-guard of our cavalry. Here for 
 the second and last time I saw Napoleon, though 
 infinitely more distant than in the morning. 
 Some of my non-commissioned officers pointed 
 
284 BIVOUAC FOR THE NIGHT. 
 
 their guns at the numerous cortege accompanying 
 him as they stood near the road by Belle Alliance; 
 and one, pointed by old Quartermaster Hall, fell 
 in the midst of them. At the moment we saw 
 some little confusion amongst the group, but it 
 did not hinder them from continuing the recon- 
 naissance. 
 
 Whilst we were thus engaged, a man of no 
 very prepossessing appearance came rambling 
 amongst our gun's, and entered into conversation 
 with me on the occurrences of the day. He was 
 dressed in a shabby old drab greatcoat and a 
 rusty round hat. I took him at the time for 
 some amateur from Brussels (of whom we had 
 heard there were several hovering about), and 
 thinking many of his questions rather imperti- 
 nent, was somewhat short in answering him, and 
 he soon left us. How great was my astonish- 
 ment on learning soon after that this was Sir 
 Thomas Picton ! The enemy, finding us obstinate 
 in maintaining our position, soon slackened, and 
 then ceased firing altogether ; and we were imme- 
 diately ordered to do the same, and establish 
 ourselves in bivouac for the night. This we 
 proceeded to obey as a most welcome order, and 
 retiring from our position down the hill, came to 
 a large farm, where, breaking through a quickset 
 
DISCOMFORTS. 285 
 
 hedge, we formed our park in the adjoining or- 
 chard, preferring its green turf to the plashy, 
 muddy fields around, that morning covered with 
 fine crops of wheat, now little better than sloughs. 
 We were not long, however, in discovering that 
 it was only exchanging the frying-pan for the 
 fire, since our smiling turf was nearly ankle-deep in 
 water, the orchard lying low and hollow, some- 
 what below the level of the road. But it was 
 already growing dark, consequently too late to 
 hunt out another, so we were obliged to put up 
 with it. 
 
 Thoroughly wet — cloaks, blankets, and all — ■ 
 comfort was out of the question, so we prepared 
 to make the best of it. 
 
 Our first care was of course the horses, and 
 these we had ample means of providing for, since, 
 in addition to what corn we had left, one of our 
 m.en had picked up and brought forward on an 
 ammunition waggon a large sack full, which he 
 found in the road near Genappe. Thus they, at 
 least, had plenty to eat, and having been so well 
 drenched all day, were not much in need of water. 
 For ourselves we had nothing! — absolutely nothing! 
 and looked forward to rest alone to restore our 
 exhausted strength. Eather a bore going supper- 
 
286 COMFORTLESS NIGHT. 
 
 less to bed after such, a day, yet was tliere no help 
 for it. 
 
 But our poor animals "were not all of them 
 destined to repose, and much as they had under- 
 gone during the last six-and-thirty hours, some 
 of them were yet obliged to pass the night on 
 the road, and in harness. Completing our limbers 
 with ammunition from two of the ammunition 
 wasfffons, a non-commissioned officer was des- 
 patched with these, as soon as the horses had 
 been fed, to Langeveldt near Brussels, where Sir 
 Augustus Frazer had told me in the morning we 
 should find a dep6t from whence to supply what 
 had been expended during the day. 
 
 These cared for, came the care of ourselves. Our 
 gunners, &c., soon stowed themselves away beneath 
 the carriages, using the painted covers as addi- 
 tional shelter against the rain, which now set in 
 again as heavy as ever. We set up a small tent, 
 into which (after vain attempts at procuring food 
 or lodgings in the farm or its outbuildings, all of 
 which were crammed to suffocation with officers 
 and soldiers of all arms and nations) we crept, 
 and rolling ourselves in our wet blankets, huddled 
 close together, in hope, wet as we were, and wet 
 as the ground was, of keeping each other warm. 
 I know not how my bedfellows got on, as we all 
 
COMFORTLESS NIGHT. 287 
 
 lay for a long while perfectly still and silent — 
 the old Peninsular hands disdaining to complain 
 before their Johnny Newcome comrades, and these 
 fearing to do so lest they should provoke some 
 such remarks, as " Lord have mercy on your poor 
 tender carcass ! what would such as you have 
 done in the Pyrenees ? " or " Oho, my boy ! this 
 is but child's play to what ive saw in Spain." So 
 all who did not sleep (I believe the majority) 
 pretended to do so, and bore their suffering with 
 admirable heroism. For my part, I once or twice, 
 from sheer fatigue, got into something like a doze ; 
 yet it would not do. There was no possibility of 
 sleeping, for besides being already so wet, the tent 
 proved no shelter, the water pouring through the 
 canvas in streams ; so up I got, and, to my infi- 
 nite joy, found that some of the men had managed 
 to make a couple of fires, round which they were 
 sitting smoking their short pipes in something 
 like comfort. The hint was a good one, and at 
 that moment my second captain joining me, we 
 borrowed from them a few sticks, and choosing 
 the best spot under the hedge, proceeded to make 
 a fire for ourselves. In a short time we suc- 
 ceeded in raising a cheerful blaze, which materially 
 bettered our situation. My companion had an 
 umbrella (which, by the way, had afibrded some 
 
288 SPECULATIONS AS TO THE MORROW. 
 
 merriment to our people on the march) ; this we 
 planted against the sloping bank of the hedge, 
 and seating ourselves under it, he on one side of 
 the stick, me on the other, we lighted cigars and 
 became — comfortable. Dear weed ! what com- 
 fort, what consolation dost thou not impart to 
 the wretched ! — with thee a hovel becomes a 
 palace. What a stock of patience is there not 
 enveloped in one of thy brown leaves ! And 
 thus we sat enjoying ourselves, puffing forth into 
 the damp night air streams of fragrant smoke, 
 being able now deliberately to converse on what 
 had been, and probably would be. All this time 
 a most infernal clatter of musketry was going on, 
 which, but for the many quiet dark fig-ures seated 
 round the innumerable fires all along the posi- 
 tion, might have been construed into a night- 
 attack. But as these gentlemen were between us 
 and the enemy, we felt assured of timely warning, 
 and ere long learned that all this proceeded as 
 before from the infantry discharging and cleaning 
 their pieces. Our conversation naturally turned 
 on our present position ; and after discussing aU 
 the pros, and cons., we made up our minds to re- 
 commence the retreat with to-morrow's sun ; but 
 when that retreat was to terminate, baffled aU our 
 powers of conjecture. 
 
A GODSEND. 289 
 
 Whilst SO employed, a rustling in the hedge 
 behind attracted our attention, and in a few- 
 minutes a poor fellow belonging to some Hano- 
 verian regiment, wet through like everybody else, 
 and shivering with cold, made his appearance, 
 and modestly begged permission to remain a short 
 time and warm himself by our fire. He had some- 
 how or other wandered from his colours, and had 
 passed the greater part of the night searching for 
 them, but in vain. At first he appeared quite 
 exhausted, but the warmth reinvigorating him, he 
 pulled out his pipe and began to smoke. Having 
 finished his modicum, and carefully disposed of the 
 ashes, he rose from his wet seat to renew his 
 search, hoping to find his corps before daylight, 
 he said, lest it should be engaged. Many thanks 
 he offered for our hospitality ; but what was our 
 surprise when, after fumbling in his havxesack for 
 some time, he pulled out a poor half-starved 
 chicken, presented it to us, and marched off". This 
 was a god-send, in good truth, to people famished 
 as we were ; so calling for a camp-kettle, our prize 
 was on the fire in a twinkling. Our comrades in 
 the tent did not sleep so soundly but that they 
 heard what was going on, and the kettle was 
 hardly on the fire ere my gentlemen were assem- 
 bled round it, a wet and shivering group, but all 
 
 VOL. I. T 
 
290 A GODSEND. 
 
 eager to partake of our good fortune — and so 
 eager tliat, after various betrayals of impatience, 
 the miserable cbicken was at last snatched from 
 the kettle ere it Avas half-boiled, pulled to pieces, 
 and speedily devoured. I got a leg for my share, 
 but it was not one moutliful, and this was the 
 only food I tasted since the night before. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 June 18th. — Memorable day! Some time before 
 daybreak the bombardier who bad been des- 
 patched to Langeveldt returned with a supply of 
 ammunition. He reported that he had been much 
 impeded by the confusion on the road, which was 
 everywhere crowded with waggons, &c. Many 
 he had seen overturned, and many plundered, or 
 being plundered ; but his account by no means 
 justified those who stated the road to be blocked 
 up in such a manner as to be impassable. In- 
 deed, considering all things, he had performed his 
 journey in sufficiently reasonable time. 
 
 With the providence of an old soldier, he had 
 picked up and brought on a considerable quantity 
 of beef, biscuit, and oatmeal, of which there was 
 abundance scattered about everywhere. Casks of 
 rum, &c., there were, and having broached one of 
 these- — he and his drivers — every one filled his 
 
292 MORNING OF BATTLE. 
 
 canteen- — a most considerate act, and one for 
 which the whole troop was sincerely thankful. 
 Nor must I omit to remark that, amidst such 
 temptations, his men had behaved with the 
 most perfect regularity, and returned to us 
 quite sober! 
 
 The rum was divided on the spot ; and surely 
 if ardent spirits are ever beneficial, it must be 
 to men situated as ours were ; it therefore came 
 most providentially. The oatmeal was converted 
 speedily into stirabout, and afforded our people a 
 hearty meal, after which all hands set to work to 
 prepare the beef, make soup, &c. Unfortunately, 
 we preferred waiting for this, and passed the stir- 
 about, by which piece of folly we were doomed 
 to a very protracted fast, as will be seen. Whilst 
 our soup was cooking, it being now broad day- 
 light, I mounted my horse to reconnoitre our 
 situation. During the night another troop (I 
 think Major Eamsay's) had established itself in 
 our orchard, and just outside the hedge I found 
 Major Bean's, which had also arrived during the 
 night, direct from England. Ascending from the 
 farm towards the ground we had left yesterday 
 evening, the face of the slope, as far as I could see, 
 to the right and left, was covered with troops en 
 bivouac — here, I think, principally cavalry. Of 
 
SURVEY OF THE FIELD. 293 
 
 these some were cleaning their arms, some cook- 
 ing, some sitting round fires smoking, and a few, 
 generally officers, walking about, or standing in 
 groups conversing. Many of the latter eagerly 
 inquired where I was going, and appeared very 
 anxious for intelligence, all expecting nothing less 
 than to recommence our retreat. I continued on 
 to the position we had occupied last, and thence 
 clearly saw the French army on the opposite hiU, 
 where everything appeared perfectly quiet — peo- 
 ple moving about individually, and no formation 
 whatever. Their advanced-posts and vedettes in 
 the valley, j ust beyond La Haye Sainte, were also 
 quiet. Having satisfied my curiosity, I returned 
 the way I came, communicating my observations 
 to the many eager inquirers I met with. Vari- 
 ous were the speculations in consequence. Some 
 thought the French were afraid to attack us, 
 others that they would do so soon, others that the 
 Duke would not wait for it, others that he would, 
 as he certainly would not allow them to go to 
 Brussels ; and so they went on speculating, whilst 
 I returned to my people. Here, finding the mess 
 not yet ready, and nothing to be done, I strolled 
 into the garden of the farm, where several Life 
 Guardsmen were very busy digging potatoes — a 
 fortunate discovery, which I determined to profit 
 
294 ALARM OF BATTLE. 
 
 by. Therefore calling up some of my men, to work 
 we went witHout loss of time. 
 
 Whilst thus employed, I noticed a very heavy 
 firing going on in front, but this did not make us 
 quit our work. Shortly after, to my great aston- 
 ishment, I observed that aU the bivouacs on the 
 hillside were deserted, and that even Eamsay's 
 troop had left the orchard without my being 
 aware of it, and my own was left quite alone, not 
 a soul being visible from where I stood in any 
 direction, the ground they had quitted presenting 
 one unbroken muddy solitude. The firing became 
 heavier and heavier. Alarmed at being thus left 
 alone, when it was evident something serious was 
 going on, I hastened back and ordered the horses 
 to be put to immediately. 
 
 Away went our mess untasted. One of the 
 servants was desired to hang the kettle with its 
 contentsunder an ammunition- waggon. The stupid 
 fellow hung the kettle as desired, but first emptied 
 it. Without orders, and all alone, the battle (for 
 now there was no mistaking it) going on at the 
 other side of the hill, I remained for a few min- 
 utes undecided what to do. It appeared to me 
 we had been forgotten. All, except only our- 
 selves, were evidently engaged ; and labouring 
 under this delusion, I thought we had better get 
 
COMME'N'CEMENT OF THE BATTLE. 295 
 
 into the affair at once. As soon, tlierefore, as tHe 
 troop was ready, I led them up the hill on the 
 highroad, hoping to meet some one who could 
 give me directions what to do. We had not pro- 
 ceeded a hundred yards, when an artillery officer 
 came furiously galloping down towards us. It 
 was Major M'Lloyd, in a dreadful state of agita- 
 tion — such, indeed, that he could hardly answer 
 my questions. I learned, however, that the battle 
 was very serious and bloody. Their first attack 
 had been on that part of our position where his 
 battery stood ; but now the principal efforts were 
 making against our right. All this was told 
 in so hurried and anxious a manner, that one 
 could hardly understand him. " But where are 
 you going V he added. I told him my plan. 
 " Have you no orders ? " " None whatever ; I 
 have not seen a soul." " Then, for Grod's sake, 
 come and assist me, or I shall be ruined. My 
 brigade is cut to pieces, ammunition expended, 
 and, unless reinforced, we shall be destroyed." He 
 was dreadfully agitated, and when I took his 
 hand and promised to be with him directly, 
 seemed transported with joy ; so, bidding me 
 make haste, he darted up the hill again, and went 
 to receive that death-stroke which, ere long, was 
 to terminate his earthly career. I trust before 
 
296 ORDERS AT LAST. 
 
 that termination he heard the reason why I never 
 fulfilled that promise ; for weeks elapsed ere he 
 died, no doubt — otherwise he must have set me 
 down for a base poltroon. My destiny led me 
 elsewhere. My tutelary spirit was at hand : the 
 eternal Major M'Donald made his appearance, 
 and, giving me a sharp reprimand for having 
 quitted my bivouac, desired me instantly to return 
 to the foot of the hill, and there wait for orders. 
 Sulkily and slowly we descended, and forming in 
 line on the ground opposite the farm of Mont St 
 Jean, with our left to the road, I dismounted the 
 men that they might be a little less liable to be 
 hit by shot and shells which, coming over the 
 hill, were continually plunging into the muddy 
 soil all around us. This was a peculiarly dismal 
 situation — without honour or glory, to be knocked 
 on the head in such a solitude, for not a living 
 being was in sight. 
 
 It was while thus standing idle that a fine tall 
 upright old gentleman, in plain clothes, followed 
 by two young ones, came across our front at a 
 gallop from the Brussels road, and continued on 
 towards where we supposed the right of our army 
 to be. I certainly stared at seeing three unarmed 
 civilians pressing forward into so hot a fight. 
 These were the Duke of Eichmond and his two 
 
TAKE VF POSITION. 297 
 
 sons. How long we had been in this position, I 
 know not, when at length we were relieved from 
 it by our adjutant (Lieutenant Bell), who brought 
 orders for our removal to the right of the second 
 line. Moving, therefore, to our right, along the 
 hollow, we soon began a very gentle ascent, and 
 at the same time became aware of several corps 
 of infantry, which had not been very far from us, 
 but remained invisible, as they were all lying 
 down. Although in this move we may be said 
 to have been always under a heavy fire, from the 
 number of missiles flying over us, yet were we 
 still so fortunate as to arrive in our new position 
 without losing man or horse. In point of seeing, 
 our situation was much improved ; but for danger 
 and inactivity, it was much worse, since we were 
 now fired directly at, and positively ordered not 
 to return the compliment — the object in bringing 
 us here being to watch a most formidable-looking 
 line of lancers drawn up opposite to us, and threat- 
 ening the right flank of our army. A scientific re- 
 lation of this great struggle, on which the fate of 
 Europe hinged, I pretend not to -write. I write 
 neither history, nor ' Memoires pour servir k I'His- 
 toire,' &c. &c., but only pure simple gossip for my 
 own amusement — ^just what happened to me and 
 mine, and what Idid see happen to others about me. 
 
298 THE FIELD OF BATTLE. 
 
 Depend upon it, lie who pretends to give a gene- 
 ral account of a great battle from his own obser- 
 vation deceives you — believe him not. He can 
 see no further (that is, if he be personally engaged 
 in it) than the length of his nose ; and how is he 
 to tell'what is passing two or three miles off, with 
 hills and trees and buildings intervening, and aU 
 enveloped in smoke 1 Busaco might have been 
 tolerably described, but there are no Busacos in 
 the Pays Bas. The back of the principal ridge on 
 which our army was posted descended by a pretty 
 regular slope in the direction of Waterloo, and 
 but just in rear of its right another shorter and 
 lower ridge ran a little way almost parallel to it. 
 The highroad to ISTivelle passed along the hollow 
 between the two. Both ridges terminated in a 
 ravine that enclosed our right flank, running 
 down from the Chateau de Hougoumont (al- 
 though it be pretended now that the name is 
 " Goumont," I persist in the orthogTaphy which is 
 found in all the old maps of this department) in 
 the direction of Merke Braine ; in short, a con- 
 tracted continuation of the greater valley lying 
 between the two armies and nearly at right angles 
 to it. 
 
 The sides of this ra\'ine (much steeper than 
 any other ground near), as far as I can recollect, 
 
VIEW FEOM OUR POSITION. 299 
 
 were partially covered with bushes ; and, from the 
 summit of the one opposite to us, the ground 
 ascended by a very gradual slope for about 800 
 or 1000 yards ; and there, on what appeared as the 
 height of the land, there were several small clumps 
 of wood. This slope itself was still covered with 
 fine crops of standing corn. The crest was occu- 
 pied by the long line of lancers already spoken of, 
 whose movements I was ordered to watch, but on 
 no account to interfere with, unless they attempt- 
 ed to pass the ravine.'" Such was our front view. 
 To the right we looked over a fine open coun- 
 try, covered with crops and interspersed with 
 thickets or small woods. There aU was peaceful 
 and smiling, not a living soul being in sight. 
 To our left, the main ridge terminated rather 
 abruptly just over Hougoumont, the back of it 
 towards us being broken ground, with a few old 
 trees on it just where the Mvelle road descended 
 between high banks into the ravine. Thus we 
 were formed en potence with the 1st line, from 
 which wa (my battery) were separated by some 
 
 * The light cavalry of the 2d Corps formed in three lines 
 across the causeway from Nivelle, &c., nearly at the height of the 
 first woods at Hougoumont, scouring all the plain by the left, and 
 having main guards near Braine le Leude, and its battery of light 
 artillery on the causeway of NiveUe. — ' Memoir of Napoleon,' Ub. 
 ix. cap. vi. p. 134 ; O'Meara's Translation. 
 
300 OUR OWN POSITION. 
 
 hundred yards. In our rear the 14th Eegiment 
 of infantry (in square, I think) lay on the ground. 
 In our front were some light dragoons of the 
 German Legion, who from time to time detached 
 small parties across the ravine. These pushed 
 caiitiously up the slope towards the line of lancers 
 to reconnoitre. The corn, down to the edge of 
 the ravine nearer the Nivelle road and beyond it, 
 was full of French riflemen ; and these were 
 warmly attacked by others"'' from our side of the 
 ravine, whom we saw crossing and gradually 
 working their way up through the high corn, the 
 French as gradually retiring. On the right of 
 the lancers, two or three batteries kept up a con- 
 tinued fire at our position ; but their shot, which 
 could have been only 4-pounders, fell short — many 
 not even reaching across the ravine. Some, how- 
 ever, did reach their destination ; and we were par- 
 ticularly plagued by their howitzer shells with 
 long fuses, which were continually falling about 
 us, and lay spitting and sputtering several seconds 
 before they exploded, to the no small annoyance of 
 man and horse. Still, however, nobody was hurt; 
 but a round-shot, striking the ammunition-boxes 
 on the body of one of our waggons, penetrated 
 through both and lodged in the back of the rear 
 
 * I Relieve Jagers of the Hanoverian corps. 
 
WE OPEN FIRE. 301 
 
 one, with nearly half its surface to be seen from 
 without — a singular circumstance ! In addition 
 to this front fire, we were exposed to another on 
 our left flank — ^the shot that passed over the main 
 ridge terminating their career with us. Having 
 little to occupy us here, we had ample leisure to 
 observe what was passing there. We could see 
 some corps at the end near us in squares — dark 
 masses, having guns between them, relieved from 
 a background of grey smoke, Avhich seemed to 
 fill the valley beyond, and rose high in the air 
 above the hill. Every now and then torrents of 
 French cavalry of all arms came sweeping over 
 the ridge, as if carrying all before them. But, 
 after their passage, the squares were still to be seen 
 in the same places; and these gentry, who we 
 feared would next fall on us, would evaporate, 
 nobody could well say how. The firing still in- 
 creased in intensity, so that we were at a loss to 
 conjecture what all this could mean. 
 
 About this time, being impatient of standing 
 idle, and annoyed by the batteries on the Nivelle 
 road, I ventu.red to commit a folly, for which I 
 should have paid dearly had our Duke chanced 
 to be in our part of the field. I ventured to dis- 
 obey orders, and open a slow deliberate fire at 
 the battery, thinking with my 9-pounders soon to 
 
302 OUR FIKST CASUALTY. 
 
 silence his 4-pounders. My astonishment was 
 great, however, when our very first gun Avas re- 
 sponded to by at least half-a-dozen gentlemen 
 of very superior calibre, whose presence I had 
 not even suspected, and whose superiority we 
 immediately recognised by their rushing noise 
 and long reach, for they flew far beyond us. I 
 instantly saw my folly, and ceased firing, and 
 they did the same — the 4-pounders alone con- 
 tinuing the cannonade as before. But this was 
 not all. The first man of my troop touched was 
 by one of these confounded long shot. I shall 
 never forget the scream the poor lad gave when 
 struck. It was one of the last they fired, and 
 shattered his left arm to pieces as he stood be- 
 tween the waggons. That scream went to my 
 very soul, for I accused myself as having caused 
 his misfortune. I was, however, obliged to con- 
 ceal my emotion from the men, who had turned 
 to look at him ; so, bidding them " stand to their ^ 
 front," I continued my walk up and down, whilst 
 Hitchins ran to his assistance. 
 
 Amidst such stirring scenes, emotions of this 
 kind are but of short duration ; what occurred 
 immediately afterwards completely banished Gun- 
 ner Hunt from my recollection. As a counter- 
 balance to this tragical event, our firing produced 
 
. AN ALAEMED DOCTOE. 303 
 
 one' so comic as to excite all our risibility. Two 
 or three officers had lounged up to our guns to 
 see, the effect. One of them was a medico, and 
 he (a shower having just come on) carried an 
 umbrella overhead. No sooner did the heavy 
 answers begin to arrive amongst us than these 
 gentlemen, fancying they should be safer with their 
 own corps, although only a few yards in the rear, 
 scampered off in double-quick, doctor and all, he 
 still carrying his umbrella aloft. Scarcely, how- 
 ever, had he made two paces when a shot, as he 
 thought, passing rather too close, down he dropped 
 on his hands and knees — or, I should rather say, 
 hand and knees, for the one was employed in 
 holding the silken cover most pertinaciously over 
 him — and away he scrambled like a great baboon, 
 his head turned fearfully over his shoulder, as if 
 watching the coming shot, whilst our fellows 
 made the field resound with their shouts and 
 laughter. 
 
 I think ' I have already mentioned that it was 
 not until some days afterwards that I was able 
 to resume my regular journal, consequently that 
 everything relative to these three days is written 
 from memory. In trying to recollect scenes of 
 this nature, some little confusion is inevitable; 
 and, here I confess myself somewhat puzzled to 
 
304 DEATH OF CAPTAIN BOLTON. 
 
 account for certain facts of which I am positive. 
 For instance, I remember perfectly Captain Bol- 
 ton's brigade of 9-pounders being stationed to the 
 left of us, somewhat in advance, and facing as we 
 did, consequently not far from the Nivelle road. 
 Bolton came and conversed with me some time, 
 and was called hastily away by his battery com- 
 mencing a heavy fire. Query — Who, and what, 
 was he firing at ? That he was himself under a 
 heavy fire there is equally no doubt, for whilst 
 we were not losing a man, we saw many, both of 
 his men and horses, fall, and but a few minutes 
 after leaving me, he was killed himself — this is a 
 puzzle. I have no recollection of any troops 
 attempting to cross the ravine, and yet his fire 
 was in that direction, and I think must have 
 been toward the Nivelle road. A distressing cir- 
 cumstance connected with this (shall I confess it ?) 
 made even more impression on my spirits than 
 the misfortune of Gunner Hunt. Bolton's people 
 had not been long engaged when we saw the men 
 of the gun next to us unharness one of the horses 
 and chase it away, wounded, I sujoposed ; yet the 
 beast stood and moved with firmness, going from 
 one carriage to the other, whence I noticed he 
 was always eagerly driven away. At last two or 
 three gunners drove him before them to a con- 
 
A "WOUNDED HORSE. 305 
 
 siderable distance, and then returned to their 
 guns. I took little notice of this at the time, 
 and was surprised by an exclamation of horror 
 from some of my people in the rear. A sicken- 
 ing sensation came over me, mixed with a deep 
 feeling of pity, when within a few paces of me 
 stood the poor horse in question, side by side 
 with the leaders of one of our ammunition 
 waggons, against which he pressed his panting 
 sides, as though eager to identify himself as of 
 their society — the cbiver, with horror depicted on 
 every feature, endeavouring by words and gest- 
 ures (for the kind-hearted lad could not strike) 
 to drive from him so hideous a spectacle. A 
 cannon-shot had completely carried away the 
 lower part of the animal's head, immediately 
 below the eyes. Still he lived, and seemed fully 
 conscious of all around, whilst his full, clear eye 
 seemed to implore us not to chase him from his 
 companions. I ordered the farrier (Price) to put 
 him out of misery, which, in a few minutes, he 
 reported having accomplished, by running his 
 sabre into the animal's heart. Even he evinced 
 feeling on this occasion. Meantime the roar of 
 cannon and musketry in the main position never 
 slackened; it was intense, as was the smoke arising 
 from it. Amidst this, from time to time, was to be 
 VOL. I. u 
 
306 A CAVALRY CHARGE. 
 
 seen still more dense columns of smoke rising 
 straight into tlie air like a great pillar, then 
 spreading out a mushroom - head. These arose 
 from the explosions of ammunition waggons, 
 which were continually taking place, although 
 the noise which filled the whole atmosphere was 
 too overpowering to allow them to be heard. 
 
 Amongst the multitudes of French cavalry 
 continually pouring over the front ridge, one 
 corps came sweeping down the slope entire, and 
 was directing its course straight for us, when 
 suddenly a regiment of light dragoons (I believe 
 of the G-erman Legion) came up from the ravine 
 at a brisk trot on their flank. The French had 
 barely time to wheel up to the left and push their 
 horses into a gallop, when the two bodies came in 
 coUison. They were at a very short distance from 
 us, so that we saw the charge perfectly. There 
 was no check, no hesitation, on either side ; both 
 parties seemed to dash on in a most reckless 
 manner, and we fully expected to have seen a 
 horrid crash — no such thing ! Each, as if by 
 mutual consent, opened their files on coming 
 near, and passed rapidly through each other, 
 cutting and pointing, much in the same manner 
 one might pass the fingers of the right hand, 
 through those of the left. We saw but few fall'.f. 
 
OUR SITUATIOK. 307 
 
 The two corps re-formed afterwards, and in a 
 twinkling both disappeared, I know not how or 
 where. It might have been about two o'clock 
 when Colonel Gould, E.A., came to me, perhaps 
 a little later. Be that as it may, we were con- 
 versing on the subject of our situation, which 
 appeared to him rather desperate. He remarked 
 that in the event of a retreat, there was but one 
 road, which no doubt would be instantly choked 
 up, and asked my opinion. My answer was, " It 
 does indeed look very bad ; but I trust in the 
 Duke, who, I am sure, will get us out of it some- 
 how or other." Meantime gloomy reflections 
 arose in my mind, for though I did not choose to 
 betray myself (as we spoke before the men), yet 
 I could not help thinking that our aff'airs were 
 rather desperate, and that some unfortunate cata- 
 strophe was at hand. In this case I made up 
 my mind to spike my guns and retreat over the 
 fields, draught-horses and all, in the best manner 
 I could, steering well from the highroad and 
 general line of retreat. 
 
 We were still talking on this subject, when 
 suddenly a dark mass of cavalry appeared for an 
 instant on the main ridge, and then came sweep- 
 ing down the slope in swarms, reminding me of 
 an enormous surf bursting over the prostrate hull 
 
308 ADVANCE OF CAVALEY. 
 
 of a stranded vessel, and then running, hissing 
 and foaming, up the beach. The hollow space 
 became in a twinkling covered Avith horsemen, 
 crossing, turning, and riding about in all direc- 
 tions, apparently without any object. Sometimes 
 they came pretty near us, then would retire a 
 little. There were lancers amongst them, hus- 
 sars, and dragoons — it was a complete melee. 
 On the main ridge no squares were to be seen ; 
 the only objects were a few guns standing in a 
 confused manner, with muzzles in the air, and 
 not one artilleryman. After caracoling about for 
 a few minutes, the crowd began to separate and 
 draw together in small bodies, which continually 
 increased ; and now we really apprehended being 
 overwhelmed, as the first line had apparently 
 been. For a moment an awful silence pervaded 
 that part of the position to which we anxiously 
 turned our eyes. " I fear all is over," said Colonel 
 Gould, who still remained by me. The thing 
 seemed but too likely, and this time I could not 
 withhold my assent to his remark, for it did indeed 
 appear so. Meantime the 14th, springing from 
 the earth, had formed their square, whilst we, 
 throwing back the guns of our right and left 
 divisions, stood waiting in momentary expecta- 
 tion of being enveloped and attacked. Still they 
 
DANGEROUS MISTAKE. 309 
 
 lingered in the hollow, when suddenly loud and 
 repeated shouts (not English hurrahs) drew our 
 attention to the other side. There we saw two 
 dense columns of infantry pushing forward at a 
 quick pace towards us, crossing the fields, as if 
 they had come from Merke Braine. Every one, 
 both of the 1 4th and ourselves, pronounced them 
 French, yet still we delayed opening fire on 
 them. Shouting, yelling, and singing, on they 
 came, right for us ; and being now not above 
 800 or 1000 yards distant, it seemed folly al- 
 lowing them to come nearer unmolested. The 
 commanding officer of the 14th, to end our 
 doubts, rode forward and endeavoured to ascer- 
 tain who they were, but soon returned, assuring 
 us they were French. The order was already 
 given to fire, when, luckily, Colonel Gould re- 
 cognised them as Belgians. Meantime, whilst 
 my attention was occupied by these people, the 
 cavalry had all vanished, nobody could say how 
 or where. 
 
 We breathed again. Such was the agitated 
 state in which we were kept in om^ second posi- 
 tion. A third act was about to commence of a 
 much more stirring and active nature. 
 
 It might have been, as nearly as I can recol- 
 lect, about three f^jc., when Sir Augustus Frazer 
 
310 NEW POSITION. 
 
 galloped up, crying out, "Left limber up, and 
 as fast as you can." The words were scarcely 
 uttered when my gallant troop stood as desired in 
 column of subdivisions, left in front, pointing to- 
 wards the main ridge. " At a gallop, march ! " 
 and away we flew, as steadily and compactly as 
 if at a review. I rode with Frazer, whose face 
 was as black as a chimney-sweep's from the 
 smoke, and the jacket -sleeve of his right arm 
 torn open by a musket-ball or case-shot, which 
 had merely grazed his flesh. As we went along, he 
 told me that the enemy had assembled an enor- 
 mous mass of heavy cavalry in front of the point to 
 which he was leading us (about one-third of the 
 distance between Hougoumont and the Charleroi 
 road), and that in all probability we should im- 
 mediately be charged on gaining our position. 
 " The Dukes orders, however, are positive" he 
 added, " that m the event of their persevering 
 and charging home, you do not expose your men, 
 hut retire ivith them into the adjacent squares of 
 infantry." As he spoke, we were ascending the 
 reverse slope of the main position. We breathed 
 a new atmosphere — the air was suffocatingly hot, 
 resembling that issuing from an oven. We were 
 enveloped in thick smoke, and, malgre the inces- 
 sant roar of cannon and musketry, could dis- 
 
NEW POSITION. 31.1 
 
 tinctly hear around us a mysterious humming 
 noise, like that which one hears of a summer's 
 evening proceeding from myriads of black beetles; 
 cannon-shot, too, ploughed the ground in all 
 directions, and so thick was the hail of balls and 
 bullets that it seemed dangerous to extend the 
 arm lest it should be torn off. In spite of the 
 serious situation in which we were, I could not 
 help being somewhat amused at the astonish- 
 ment expressed by our kind-hearted surgeon 
 (Hitchins), who heard for the first time this sort of 
 music. He was close to me as we ascended the slope, 
 and, hearing this infernal carillon about his ears, 
 began staring round in the wildest and most comic 
 manner imaginable, twisting himself from side to 
 side, exclaiming, " My God, Mercer, what is that "? 
 What is all this noise 1 How curious ! — how 
 very curious ! " And then when a cannon-shot 
 rushed hissing past, " There ! — there ! What is 
 it all ? " It was with great difficulty that I per- 
 suaded him to retire : for a time he insisted on 
 remaining near me, and it was only by pointing 
 out how important it was to us, in case of being 
 wounded, that he should keep himself safe to be 
 able to assist us, that I prevailed on him to 
 withdraw. Amidst this storm we gained the 
 summit of the ridge, strange to say, without 
 
312 THE BRUNSWICKERS. 
 
 a casualty; and Sir Augustus, pointing out our 
 position between two squares of Brunswick in- 
 fantry, left us with injunctions to remember the 
 Duke's order, and to enconomise our ammuni- 
 tion. The Brunswickers were falling fast — the 
 shot every moment making great gaps in their 
 squares, which the officers and sergeants were 
 actively employed in filling up by pushing their 
 men together, and sometimes thumping them ere 
 they could make them move. These were the 
 very boys whom I had but yesterday seen throw- 
 ing away their arms, and fleeing, panicstricken, 
 from the very sound of our horses' feet. To-day 
 they fled not bodily, to be sure, but spiritually, 
 for their senses seemed to have left them. There 
 they stood, with recovered arms, like so many 
 logs, or rather like the very wooden figures which 
 I had seen them practising at in their can- 
 tonments. Every moment I feared they would 
 ao-ain throw down their arms and flee : but their 
 officers and sergeants behaved nobly, not only 
 keeping them together, but managing to keep 
 their squares closed in spite of the carnage made 
 amongst them. To have sought refuge amongst 
 men in such a state were madness — the very 
 moment our men ran from their guns, I was con- 
 vinced, would be the signal for their disbanding. 
 
DANGEE OP PANIC. 313 
 
 We had better, then, fall at our posts than in 
 such a situation. Our coming up seemed to re- 
 animate them, and all their eyes were directed to 
 us — indeed, it was providential, for, had we not 
 arrived as we did, I scarcely think there is a 
 doubt of what would have been their fate.'"' Our 
 first gun had scarcely gained the interval be- 
 tween their squares, when I saw through the 
 smoke the leading squadrons of the advancing 
 column coming on at a brisk trot, and already 
 not more than one hundred yards distant, if so 
 much, for I don't think we could have seen so 
 far. I immediately ordered the line to be formed 
 
 * One day, on the Marine Parade at 'Woolwich, a battalion 
 coming up in close column at the double march, Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Brown, who stood near me, remarked, " That puts me in 
 mind of your troop coming up at Waterloo, when you saved the 
 Brunswickers." Until this moment I never knew that our having 
 done so had been remarked by anybody ; but he assured me it 
 was known to the whole army ; and yet the Duke not only 
 withheld that ^jraise which was our due, but refused me the 
 brevet rank of major; and, more than that, actually dejjrived me 
 of that troop given to me by Lord Mulgrave, the then Master- 
 General, for that action, as recommended by my commanding 
 officer. Sir G. Adams Wood. 
 
 That the Duke was not ignorant of their danger I have from 
 Captain Baynes, our Brigade-Major, who told me that after Sir 
 Augustus Frazer had been sent for us, his Grace exhibited consi- 
 derable anxiety for our coming up ; and that when he saw us cross- 
 ing the fields at a gallop, and in so compact a body, he actually 
 cried out, "Ah ! that's the way I like to see horse-artUlery move." 
 Another proof. 
 
314 ADVANCE OF CAVALRY. 
 
 for action — case-shot ! and the leading gun was 
 nnlimbered and commenced firing almost as soon 
 as the word was given : for activity and intelli- 
 gence our men were ■unrivalled. The very first 
 round, I saw, brought down several men and 
 horses. They continued, however, to advance. I 
 glanced at the Brunswickers, and that glance told 
 me it would not do ; they had opened a fire from 
 their front faces, but both squares appeared too 
 unsteady, and I resolved to say nothing aljout 
 the Duke's order, and take our chance — a resolve 
 that was strengthened by the effect of the re- 
 maining guns as they rapidly succeeded in com- 
 ing to action, making terrible slaughter, and in 
 an instant covering- the ground with men and 
 horses. StUl they persevered in approaching us 
 (the first round had brought them to a walk), 
 though slowly, and it did seem they would ride 
 over us. "We were a little below the level of the 
 ground on which they moved — having in front of 
 us a bank of about a foot and a-half or two feet 
 high, along the top of which ran a narrow road — 
 and this gave more effect to our case-shot, aU of 
 which almost must have taken effect, for the car- 
 nage was frightful.'"' I suppose this state of 
 
 * The following extract, from a related account of a conscript, 
 translated from the French, and published by Murray, is so true 
 
THEIR RETREAT. 315 
 
 things occupied but a few seconds, when I ob- 
 served symptoms of hesitation, and in a twink- 
 ling, at the instant I thought it was all over with 
 us, they turned to either flank and filed away 
 rapidly to the rear. Eetreat of the mass, how- 
 ever, was not so easy. Many facing about and 
 trying to force their way through the body of the 
 column, that part next to us became a complete 
 mob, into which we kept a steady fire of case- 
 shot from our six pieces. The effect is hardly 
 conceivable, and to paint this scene of slaughter 
 and confusion impossible. Every discharge was 
 followed by the fall of numbers, whUst the surviv- 
 ors struggled with each other, and I actually saw 
 them using the pommels of their swords to fight 
 their way out of the mSlee. Some, rendered despe- 
 rate at finding themselves thus pent up at the muz- 
 
 and exact as to need no comment : — " Through the smoke I saw 
 the English gunners abandon their pieces, all but six guns sta- 
 tioned under the road, and almost immediately our cuii'assiers 
 were upon the squares, whose fire was drawn in zig-zags. Now, I 
 thought, those gunners wovild be out to pieces ; but no, the devils 
 kept firing with grape, which mowed them dovm like grass." It 
 is pleasant, after all, to find we were observed and spoken of as 
 we deserved, though not by those who ought to have done it. I 
 may here mention that Sir James Shaw Kennedy in his book is, 
 I think, mistaken in saying that the Brunswickers were saved by 
 Major Bull's and Captain Mercer's batteries, since after the usual 
 interval on the right of the Brunswick square occurred one of 
 English and then Major Bull's battery, and the front of the French 
 attacking column was only equal to our own. 
 
316 OUR FIRST DEATH. 
 
 zles of our guns, as it were, and others carried 
 away by their horses, maddened with wounds, 
 dashed through our intervals — few thinking of 
 using their swords, but pushing furiously omvard, 
 intent only on saving themselves. At last the rear 
 of the column, wheeling about, opened a passage, 
 and the whole swept away at a much more rapid 
 pace than they had advanced, nor stopped until 
 the swell of the ground covered them from our 
 fire. We then ceased firing ; but as they were 
 still not far off, for we saw the tops of their caps, 
 having reloaded, we stood ready to receive them 
 should they renew the attack. 
 
 One of, if not the first man who fell on our 
 side was wounded by his own gun. Gunner 
 Butterworth was one of the greatest pickles in 
 the troop, but, at the same time, a most daring, 
 active soldier ; he was No. 7 (the man who 
 sponged, &c.) at his gun. He had just finished 
 ramming down the shot, and was stepping back 
 outside the wheel, when his foot stuck in the 
 miry soil, pulling him forward at the moment the 
 gun was fired. As a man naturally does when 
 falling, he threw out both his arms before him, 
 and they were blown off at the elbows. He 
 raised himself a little on his two stumps, and 
 looked up most piteously in my face. To assist 
 
OUR FIRST DEATH. 317 
 
 him was impossible — the safety of all, everything, 
 depended upon not slackening our fire, and I was 
 obliged to turn from him. The state of anxious 
 activity in which we were kept all day, and the 
 numbers who fell almost immediately afterwards, 
 caused me to lose sight of poor Butterworth ; 
 and I afterwards learned that he had succeeded 
 in rising and was gone to the rear ; but on in- 
 quiring for him next day, some of my people 
 who had been sent to Waterloo told me that they 
 saw his body lying by the roadside near the farm 
 of Mount St Jean — bled to death ! The retreat 
 of the cavalry was succeeded by a shower of shot 
 and shells, which must have annihilated us had 
 not the little bank covered and threw most of 
 them over us. Still some reached us and knocked 
 down men and horses. 
 
 At the first charge, the French column was 
 composed of grenadiers a cheval'" and cuirassiers, 
 the former in front. I forget whether they had or 
 had not changed this disposition, but think, from 
 the number of cuirasses we afterwards found, that 
 the cuirassiers led the second attack. Be this as it 
 may, their column reassembled. They prepared 
 
 * These grenadiers k cheval were very fine troops, clothed 
 in hlue uniforms without facings, cuffs, or collars. Broad, very 
 broad buff belts, and huge muff caps, made them appear gigantic 
 fellows. 
 
318 SKIRMISHERS. 
 
 for a second attempt, sending up a cloud of skir- 
 mishers, who galled us terribly by a fire of car- 
 bines and pistols at scarcely 40 yards from our 
 front. We were obliged to stand mth port-fires 
 lighted, so that it was not without a little diffi- 
 culty that I succeeded in restraining the people 
 from firing, for they grew impatient under such 
 fatal results. Seeing some exertion beyond words 
 necessary for this purpose, I leaped my horse up 
 the little bank, and began a promenade (by no 
 means agreeable) up and down our front, without 
 even drawing my sword, though these fellows 
 were within speaking distance of me. This 
 quieted my men ; but the taU blue gentlemen, 
 seeing me thus dare them, immediately made a 
 target of me, and commenced a very deliberate 
 practice, to show us what very bad shots they 
 were and verify the old artillery proverb, " The 
 nearer the target, the safer you are." One fellow 
 certainly made me flinch, but it was a miss ; so I 
 shook my finger at him, and called him coquin, 
 &c. The rogue grinned as he reloaded, and again 
 took aim. I certainly felt rather foolish at that 
 moment, but was ashamed, after such bravado, 
 to let him see it, and therefore continued my 
 promenade. As if to prolong my torment, he 
 Avas a terrible time about it. To me it seemed 
 
ATTACK RENEWED. 319 
 
 ah age. Whenever I turned, the muzzle of his 
 infernal carbine stiU followed me. At length 
 bang it went, and whiz came the ball close to the 
 back of my neck, and at the same instant down 
 dropped the leading driver of one of my guns 
 (Miller), into whose forehead the cursed missile 
 had penetrated. 
 
 The column now once more mounted the 
 plateau, and these popping gentry wheeled off 
 right and left to clear the ground for their charge. 
 The spectacle was imposing, and if ever the word 
 sublime was appropriately applied, it might surely 
 be to it. On they came in compact squadrons, 
 one behind the other, so numerous that those of 
 the rear were stiU below the brow when the head 
 of the column was but at some sixty or seventy 
 yards from our guns. Their pace was a slow but 
 steady trot. None of your furious galloping 
 charges was this, but a deliberate advance, at a 
 deliberate pace, as of men resolved to carry their 
 point. They moved in profound silence, and the 
 only sound that could be heard from them amidst 
 the incessant roar of battle was the low thunderT 
 like reverberation of the ground beneath the sim- 
 ultaneous tread of so many horses. On our part 
 was equal deliberation. Every man stood steadily 
 at his post, the guns ready, loaded with a round- 
 
320 EFFECT OF OUR FIRE. 
 
 shot first and a case over it ; the tubes were in 
 tlie vents ; the port-fires glared and sputtered be- 
 hind the wheels ; and my word alone was want- 
 ing to hurl destruction on that goodly show of 
 gallant men and noble horses. I delayed this, 
 for experience had given me confidence. The 
 Brunswickers partook of this feeling, and with 
 their squares — much reduced in point of size — 
 Avell closed, stood firmly, with arms at the recover, 
 and eyes fixed on us, ready to commence their 
 fire with our first discharge. It was indeed a 
 grand and imposing spectacle ! The column '"' 
 was led on this time by an officer in a rich uni- 
 form, his breast covered with decorations, whose 
 earnest gesticulations were strangely contrasted 
 with the solemn demeanour of those to whom 
 they were addressed. I thus allowed them to 
 advance unmolested until the head of the column 
 might have been about fifty or sixty yards from 
 us, and then gave the word, " Fire !" The efi"ect 
 was terrible. Nearly the whole leading rank fell 
 at once ; and the round-shot, penetrating the 
 column, carried confusion throughout its extent. 
 
 * Gourgand says : — " Cette division de deux mille grenadiers 
 k clieval, et dragona tons gens d'flite, s'etaient engages sur le 
 plateau, sans I'ordre de I'Empereur," &c. &c. — P. 88., ed. London, 
 He speaks of the cavalry of reserve of tlie Guard. Could these be 
 the people ? 
 
THE CAVALRY AGAIN REPULSED. 321 
 
 The ground, already encumbered with victims of 
 the first struggle, became now almost impassable. 
 Still, however, these devoted warriors struggled 
 on, intent only on reaching us. The thing was 
 impossible. Our guns were served with aston- 
 ishing activity, whilst the running fire of the 
 two squares was maintained with spirit. Those 
 who pushed forward over the heaps of carcasses 
 of men and horses gained but a few paces in ad- 
 vance, there to fall in their turn and add to the 
 difficulties of those succeeding them. The dis- 
 charge of every gun was followed by a fall of 
 men and horses like that of grass before the 
 mower's scythe. When the horse alone was killed, 
 we could see the cuirassiers divesting themselves 
 of the encumbrance and making their escape on 
 foot. Still, for a moment, the confused mass (for 
 all order was at an end) stood before us, vainly 
 trying to urge their horses over the obstacles pre- 
 sented by their fallen comrades, in obedience to 
 the now loud and rapid vociferations of him 
 who had led them on and remained unhurt. As 
 before, many cleared everything and rode through 
 us; many came plunging forward only to fall, 
 man and horse, close to the muzzles of our guns ; 
 but the majority again turned at the very mo- 
 ment when, from having less ground to go over, it 
 
 VOL. I. X 
 
322 A NARROW ESCAPE. 
 
 were safer to advance than retire, and sought a 
 passage to the rear. Of course the same confu- 
 sion, struggle amongst themselves, and slaughter 
 prevailed as before, until gradually they disap- 
 peared over the brow of the hill. We ceased 
 firing, glad to take breath. Their retreat exposed 
 us, as before, to a shower of shot and shells : these 
 last, falling amongst us with very long fuses, 
 kept burning and hissing a long time before they 
 burst, and were a considerable annoyance to man 
 and horse. The bank in front, however, again 
 stood our friend, and sent many over us in- 
 nocuous. 
 
 Lieutenant Breton, who had already lost two 
 horses, and had mounted a troop-horse, was con- 
 versing with me during this our leisure moment. 
 As his horse stood at right angles to mine, the 
 poor jaded animal dozingly rested his muzzle on 
 my thigh ; whilst I, the better to hear amidst the 
 infernal din, leant forward, resting my arm be- 
 tween his ears. In this attitude a cannon-shot 
 smashed the horse's head to atoms. The headless 
 trunk sank to the ground — Breton looking pale 
 as death, expecting, as he afterwards told me, 
 that I was cut in two. What was passing to the 
 right and left of us I know no. more about than 
 the man in the moon — not even what corps were 
 
A THIRD ATTACK ANI) EEPULSE. 323 
 
 beyond the Brunswickers. The smoke confined 
 our vision to a very small compass, so that my 
 battle was restricted to the two squares and my 
 own battery ; and, as long as we maintained our 
 ground, I thought it a matter of course that others 
 did so too. It was just after this accident that 
 our worthy commanding oflicer of artillery, Sir 
 George Adam Wood, made his appearance through 
 the smoke a little way from our left flank. As I 
 said, we were doing nothing, for the cavalry were 
 under the brow re-forming for a third attack, and 
 we were being pelted by their artillery. " D — n 
 it, Mercer," said the old man, blinking as a man 
 does when facing a gale of wind, " you have hot 
 work of it here." "Yes, sir, pretty hot;" and I 
 was proceeding with an account of the two 
 charges we had already discomfited, and the pro- 
 spect of a third, when, glancing that way, I per- 
 ceived their leading squadron already on the 
 plateau. " There they are again ! " I exclaimed ; 
 and, darting from Sir George sans ceremonie, was 
 just in time to meet them with the same destruc- 
 tion as before. This time, indeed, it was child's 
 play. They could not even approach us in any 
 decent order, and we fired most deliberately ; it 
 was folly having attempted the thing. I was 
 sitting on my horse near the right of my battery 
 
324 THE DUKE. 
 
 as they turned and began to retire once more. 
 Intoxicated with success, I was singing out, 
 " Beautiful ! — beautiful !" and my right arm was 
 flourishing about, when some one from behind, 
 seizing it, said quietly, " Take care, or you'll strike 
 the Duke;" and in effect our noble chief, with 
 a serious air, and apparently much fatigued, 
 passed close by me to the front, without seem- 
 ing to take the slightest notice of the remnant of 
 the French cavalry still lingering on the ground. 
 This obliged us to cease firing ; and at the same 
 moment I, perceiving a line of infantry ascending 
 from the rear, slowly, with ported arms, and ut- 
 tering a sort of feeble, suppressed hurrah — ankle- 
 deep in a thick tenacious mud, and threading 
 their way amongst or stepping over the numer- 
 ous corpses covering the ground, out of breath 
 from their exertions, and hardly preserving a line, 
 broken everywhere into large gaps the breadth 
 of several files — could not but meditate on the 
 probable results of the last charge had I, in 
 obedience to the Duke's order, retired my men 
 into the squares and allowed the daring and for- 
 midable squadrons a passage to our rear, where 
 they must have gone thundering down on this 
 disjointed line. The summit gained, the line was 
 amended, files closed in, and the whole, includ- 
 
HEAVY FIRE. 325 
 
 ing our Brunswickers, advanced down the slope 
 towards the plain. 
 
 Although the infantry lost several men as they 
 passed us, yet on the whole the cannonade began 
 to slacken on both sides (why, I know not), and, 
 the smoke clearing away a little, I had now, for 
 the first time, a good view of the field. On the 
 ridge opposite to us dark masses of troops were 
 stationary, or moving down into the intervening 
 plain. Our own advancing infantry were hid 
 from view by the ground. We therefore recom- 
 menced firing at the enemies' masses, and the 
 cannonade, spreading, soon became general again 
 along the line. Whilst thus occupied with our 
 front, we suddenly became sensible of a most de- 
 structive flanking fire from a battery which had 
 come, the Lord knows how, and established itself 
 on a knoll somewhat higher than the ground we 
 stood on, and only about 400 or 500 yards a little 
 in advance of our left flank. The rapidity and 
 precision of this fire were quite appalling. Every 
 shot almost took effect, and I certainly expected 
 we should all be annihilated. Our horses and 
 limbers, being a little retired down the slope, had 
 hitherto been somewhat under cover from the 
 direct fire in front ; but this plunged right amongst 
 them, knocking them down by pairs, and creating 
 
326 FEAEFUL LOSSES. 
 
 horrible confusion. The drivers could hardly ex- 
 tricate themselves from one dead horse ere another 
 fell, or perhaps themselves. The saddle-bags, in 
 many instances, were torn from the horses' backs, 
 and their contents scattered over the field. One 
 shell I saw explode under the two finest wheel- 
 horses in the troop — down they dropped. In some 
 instances the horses of a gun or ammunition-wag- 
 gon remained, and all their drivers were killed.""" 
 The whole livelong day had cost us nothing like 
 this. Our gunners too— the few left fit for duty 
 of them — were so exhausted that they were unable 
 to run the guns up after firing, consequently at 
 every round they retreated nearer to the limbers ; 
 and as we had pointed our two left guns towards 
 the people who were annoying us so terribly, they 
 soon came altogether in a confused heap, the 
 trails crossing each other, and the whole danger- 
 ously near the limbers and ammunition- waggons, 
 some of which were totally unhorsed, and others in 
 sad confusion from the loss of their drivers and 
 horses, many of them lying dead in their harness 
 attached to their carriages. I sighed for my poor 
 troop — it was already but a wreck. 
 
 * "The field was so much covered with hlood, that it appeared 
 as if it had been flooded with it," &c. — Simpson's 'Paris after 
 Waterloo,' &c., p. 21. 
 
FUETHER ESCAPES. 327 
 
 I had dismounted, and was assisting at one of 
 the guns to encourage my poor exhausted men, 
 when through the smoke a black speck caught my 
 eye, and I instantly knew what it was. The convic- 
 tion that one never sees a shot coming towards you 
 unless directly in its line flashed across my mind, 
 together with the certainty that my doom was 
 sealed. I had barely time to exclaim " Here it is 
 then ! " — much in that gasping sort of way one does 
 when going into very cold water takes away the 
 breath—" wliush " it went past my face, striking 
 the point of my pelisse collar, which was lying 
 open, and smash into a horse close behind me. I 
 breathed freely again. 
 
 Under such a fire, one may be said to have had 
 a thousand narrow escapes ; and, in good truth, I 
 frequently experienced that displacement of air 
 against my face caused by the passing of shot 
 close to me ; but the two above recorded, and a 
 third which I shall mention, were remarkable 
 ones, and made me feel in full force the goodness 
 of Him who protected me among so many dangers. 
 Whilst in position on the right of the second line, 
 I had reproved some of my men for lying down 
 when shells fell near them until they burst. Now 
 my turn came. A shell, with a long fuse, came 
 slop into the mud at my feet, and there lay fizzing 
 
328 A EEMONSTEANCE. 
 
 and flaring, to my infinite discomfiture. After 
 ■what I had said on the subject, I felt that I must 
 act up to my own words, and, accordingly, there I 
 stood, endeavouring to look quite composed until 
 the cursed thing burst — and, strange to say, with- 
 out injuring me, though so near. The effect on my 
 men was good. We had scarcely fired many 
 rounds at the enfilading battery when a tall man 
 in the black Brunswick uniform came galloping 
 up to me from the rear, exclaiming, " Ah ! mine 
 Gott! — mine Gott ! vat is it you doos, sarel Dat is 
 your friends de Proosiens ; an you kills dem ! Ah, 
 mine Gott! — mine Gott! vill you no stop, sare? — 
 vill you no stop 1 Ah ! mine Gott ! — mine Gott ! vat 
 for is dis 1 De Inglish kills dere friends de Proo- 
 siens ! Vere is de Dook von Vellington 1 — vere is 
 de Dook von Vellington 1 Oh, mine Gott ! — mine 
 Gott ! " &c. &c., and so he went on raving like 
 one demented. I observed that if these were our 
 friends the Prussians they were treating us very 
 uncivilly ; and that it was not without sufiicient 
 provocation we had turned our guns on them, 
 pointing out to him at the same time the bloody 
 proofs of my assertion. Apparently not noticing 
 what I said, he continued his lamentations, and, 
 " Vill you no stop, sare, I say ? " Wherefore, 
 thinking he might be right, to pacify him I 
 
OUR LOSSES. 329 
 
 ordered the whole to cease firing, desiring him to 
 remark the consequences. Psieu, psieu, psieu, 
 came ouv friends' shot, one after another ; and our 
 friend himself had a narrow escape from one of 
 them. " Now, sir," I said, " you will be con- 
 vinced; and we will continue our firing, whilst 
 you can ride round the way you came, and tell 
 them they kill their friends the English ; the 
 moment their fire ceases, so shall mine." Still he 
 lingered, exclaiming, " Oh, dis is terreebly to see 
 de Proosien and de Inglish kiU vonanoder ! " At 
 last darting ofi" I saw no more of him.'"" The fire 
 continued on both sides, mine becoming slacker 
 and slacker, for we were reduced to the last ex- 
 tremity, and must have been annihilated but for 
 the opportune arrival of a battery of Belgic artil- 
 lery a Little on our left, which, taking the others 
 
 * At one time I thought this a French ruse de guerre. I re- 
 member the man perfectly, with his silver arrow and chain at- 
 tached to his black shonlder-belt. In Sir John Sinclair's ' Tran- 
 slation of Baron Muffling's Account,' London, 1816, and at p. 29, 
 I find that about 4 p.m., whilst the cuirassiers, after charging 
 through the 1st British line, were roaming over the interval be- 
 tween it and the 2d, " the enemy advanced a battalion on the 
 plain of the platform, at hardly 500 yards' distance from the posi- 
 tion, so as, perhaps, to establish his infantry on this side of the 
 little wood of Hougoumont and in La Haye Sainte." Could this 
 have been the one ? At p. 35 he says, " The shot from Bulow's 
 artillery reached the British, and the Duke was obliged to send 
 notice of it." Query— Did the Duke observe this himself, or was 
 it communicated to him by my black hussar ? 
 
330 VICTOEY. 
 
 in flank nearly at point blank, soon silenced and 
 drove them off. We were so reduced that all our 
 strength was barely sufficient to load and fire 
 three guns out of our six. 
 
 These Belgians were all beastly drunk, and, 
 when they first came up, not at all particular as 
 to which way they fired; and it was only by keep- 
 ing an eye on them that they were prevented 
 treating us, and even one another. The wretches 
 had probably already done mischief elsewhere — 
 who knows ? My recollections of the latter part 
 of this day are rather confused ; I was fatigued, 
 and almost deaf. I recollect clearly, however, 
 that we had ceased firing — the plain below being 
 covered with masses of troops, which we could 
 not distinguish from each other. Captain Walcot 
 of the horse-artillery had come to us, and we 
 were all looking out anxiously at the movements 
 below and on the opposite ridge, when he sud- 
 denly shouted out, "Victory! — victory! they fly I — 
 they fly ! " and sure enough we saw some of the 
 masses dissolving, as it were, and those composing 
 them streaming away in confused crowds over the 
 field, whilst the abeady desultory fire of their 
 artillery ceased altogether. I shall never forget 
 this joyful moment ! — this moment of exultation ! 
 On looking round I found we were left almost 
 
OUR LOSSES. 331 
 
 alone. Cavalry and infantry had all moved for- 
 ward, and only a few guns here and there were 
 to be seen on the position. A little to our right 
 were the remains of Major McDonald's troop under 
 Lieutenant Sandilands, which had suffered much, 
 but nothing like us. We were congratulating 
 ourselves on the happy results of the day, when 
 an aide-de-camp rode up, crying " Fonvard, sir! 
 —forward ! It is of the utmost importance that 
 this movement should be supported hy artillery ! " 
 ^t the same time waving his hat much in the 
 manner of a huntsman laying on his dogs. I 
 smiled at his energy, and, pointing to the remains 
 of my poor troop, quietly asked, " How, sir ? " 
 A glance was sufficient to show him the impossi- 
 bility, and away he went. 
 
 Our situation was indeed terrible : of 200 fine 
 horses with which we had entered the battle, 
 upwards of 140 lay dead, dying, or severely 
 wounded. Of the men, scarcely two-thirds of 
 those necessary for four guns remained, and these 
 so completely exhausted as to be totally incap- 
 able of further exertion. Lieutenant Breton had 
 three horses killed under him ; Lieutenant Hineks 
 was wounded in the breast by a spent ball ; Lieu- 
 tenant Leathes on the hip by a splinter; and 
 although untouched myself, my horse had no less 
 
332 OUR LOSSES, 
 
 than eight wounds, one of which — a graze on the 
 fetlock joint — lamed him for ever. Our guns and 
 carriages were, as before mentioned, altogether 
 in a confused heap, intermingled with dead and 
 wounded horses, which it had not been possible 
 to disengage from them. My poor men, such at 
 least as were untouched, fairly worn out, their 
 clothes, faces, &c., blackened by the smoke and 
 spattered, over with mud and blood, had seated 
 themselves on the trails of the carriages, or had 
 thrown themselves on the wet and polluted soil, 
 too fatigued to think of anything but gaining a 
 little rest. Such was our situation when called 
 upon to advance ! It was impossible, and we 
 remained where we were. For myself, I was 
 also excessively tired — hoarse, to making speech 
 painful, and deaf from the infernal uproar of the 
 last eleven hours. Moreover, I was devoured by 
 a burning thirst, not a drop of liquid having 
 passed my lips since the evening of the 16th; 
 but although, with the exception of the chicken's 
 leg last night, I may be said to have eaten nothing 
 for two whole days, yet did I not feel the least 
 desire for food. 
 
 The evening had become fine, and but for an 
 occasional groan or lament from some poor 
 sufferer, and the repeated piteous neighing of 
 
ARRIVAL OF PRUSSIANS. 333 
 
 wounded horses, tranquillity might be said to 
 reign over the field. As it got dusk, a large body 
 of Prussian artillery arrived, and formed their 
 bivouac near us. There was not light to see 
 more of them than that their brass guns were 
 kept bright, and that their carriages were encum- 
 bered with baggage, and, besides, appeared but 
 clumsy machines when compared with ours. All 
 wore their greatcoats, which apparently they had 
 marched in. As they looked at us rather scowl- 
 ingly, and did not seem inclined to hold any 
 communication with us, I soon returned to my 
 own people, whom I found preparing to go 
 supperless to bed — the two remaining officers, 
 the non-commissioned officers and men having 
 all got together in a heap, with some painted 
 covers spread under and others drawn over 
 them — at a distance from our guns, &c., the 
 neighbourhood of which, they said, was too 
 horrible to think of sleeping there. For my part, 
 after standing all day amongst all these horrors, 
 I felt no squeamishness about sleeping amongst 
 them ; so pulling down the painted cover of a 
 limber over the footboard in the manner of a 
 tent roof, I crept under it, and endeavoured to 
 sleep. The cramped situation in which I lay, 
 and the feverish excitement of my mind, forbade, 
 
334 THE FIELD BY MOONLIGHT. 
 
 however, my obtaining that sound and refreshing 
 sleep so much needed — I only dozed. From one 
 of these dozes I awoke about midnight, chilled 
 and cramped to death from the awkward doubled-' 
 up position imposed upon me by my short and 
 narrow bed. So up I got to look around and 
 contemplate a battle-field by the pale moonlight. 
 The night was serene and pretty clear ; a few 
 light clouds occasionally passing across the moon's 
 disc, and throwing objects into transient obscur- 
 ity, added considerably to the solemnity of the 
 scene. Oh, it was a thrilling sensation thus to 
 stand in the silent hour of the night and contem- 
 plate that field — all day long the theatre of noise 
 and strife, now so calm and still — the actors 
 prostrate on the bloody soil, their pale wan faces 
 upturned to the moon's cold beams, which caps 
 and breastplates, and a thousand otlier things, 
 reflected back in brilliant pencils of light from 
 as many different points ! Here and there some 
 poor wretch, sitting up amidst the countless dead, 
 busied himself in endeavours to stanch the flow- 
 ing stream with which his life was fast ebbing 
 away. Many whom I saw so employed that 
 night were, when morning dawned, lying stiff 
 and tranquil as those who had departed earlier. 
 From time to time a figure would half raise 
 
THE FIELD BY MOONLIGHT. 335 
 
 itself from the ground, and then, with a despair- 
 ing groan, fall back again. Others, slowly and 
 painfully rising, stronger, or having less deadly 
 hurt, would stagger away with uncertain steps 
 across the field in search of succour. Many of 
 these I followed with my gaze until lost in the 
 obscurity of distance ; but many, alas ! after stag- 
 gering a few paces, would sink again on the 
 ground, probably to rise no more. It was heart- 
 rending — and yet I gazed ! Horses, too, there 
 were to claim our pity — mild, patient, enduring. 
 Some lay on the ground with their entrails hang- 
 ing out, and yet they lived. These would occa- 
 sionally attempt to rise, but, like their human 
 bed-fellows, quickly falling back again, would 
 lift their poor heads, and, turning a wistful gaze 
 at their side, lie quietly down again, to repeat the 
 same until strength no longer remained, and then, 
 their eyes gently closing, one short convulsive 
 struggle closed their sufferings. One poor animal 
 excited painful interest — he had lost, I believe, 
 both his hind legs ; and there he sat the long 
 night through on his tail, looking about, as if in 
 expectation of coming aid, sending forth, from 
 time to timCj long and protracted melancholy 
 neighing. Although I knew that killing him at 
 once would be mercy, I could not muster courage 
 
336 THE PRUSSIAN BIVOUAC. 
 
 even to give the order. Blood enougli I had 
 seen shed during the last six-and-thirty hours, 
 and sickened at the thought of shedding more. 
 There, then, he still sat when we left the ground, 
 neighing after us, as if reproaching our desertion 
 of him in the hour of need. 
 
 The Prussian bivouac near at hand offered a 
 far different and more cheering scene. There all 
 was life and movement. Their handsome horses, 
 standing harnessed and tied to the carriages, sent 
 forth neighin&s of another character. Dark 
 forms moved amongst them ; and by the bivouac- 
 fires sat figures that would have furnished studies 
 for a Salvator. Dark, brown, stern visages, ren- 
 dered still sterner by the long drooping mustache 
 that overshadowed the mouth, from which ap- 
 pended their constant companion, the pipe. 
 Many there were, too, busily occupied with the 
 first great care of all animals — cooking, or eating 
 the mess already cooked. Save these I have 
 mentioned, no living being moved on the moon- 
 lit field ; and as I cast up my eyes at the 
 lustrous lamp of heaven, I thought on the thou- 
 sand dear connections far, far away, on whose 
 peaceful dwelling it now looked down, their 
 inmates sleeping in tranquil security, ignorant as 
 yet of the fatal blow which had now for ever 
 
MOONLIGHT THOUGHTS. 337 
 
 severed them from those they loved, whose bodies 
 encumbered the ground around me. And here, 
 even here, what a contrast between this charnel- 
 house and the distant landscape within my ken ! 
 Over it the same fair planet shed her mild beams, 
 illuminating its groves and yellow corn-fields, its 
 still and quiet villages, whose modest spires here 
 and there arose from the horizon — emblems of 
 peace, tranquillity, and repose. Long I continued 
 to gaze on this sad and solemn scene ; and all 
 this slaughter, I said, to gratify the ambition of 
 one man, and that man — whom 1 — one who has 
 risen from a station humble as my own, has 
 already devastated Europe, and filled it with 
 blood and mourning — who only recently left 
 behind him 400,000 gallant men, a prey to the 
 sword and the intemperance of a northern clime 
 — fearful holocaust on the altar of that ambition ! 
 At length I again crept into my cell, and again 
 slept by fits and starts, until the first blush of 
 day reddened the eastern sky, and aroused us all 
 to new exertion. As I emerged from under my 
 cover a shudder crept over me, when the stronger 
 light of day enabled me to see the corpse of one 
 of my drivers lying mangled and bloody beneath 
 my lair. 
 
 VOL. I. Y 
 
CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 19th. — The cool air of the morning lasted not 
 long; the rising sun soon burst in all his glory 
 over our bloody bivouac, and all nature arose into 
 renewed life, except the victims of ambition which 
 lay unconscious of his presence. I had not been 
 up many minutes when one of my sergeants came 
 to ask if they might bury Driver Crammond. 
 " And why particularly Driver Crammond ? " 
 " Because he looks frightful, sir ; many of us have 
 not had a wink of sleep for him." Curious ! I 
 walked to the spot where he lay, and certainly a 
 more hideous sight cannot be imagined. A can- 
 non-shot had carried away the whole head except 
 barely the visage, which still remained attached 
 to the torn and bloody neck. The men said they 
 had been prevented sleeping by seeing his eyes 
 fixed on them all night ; and thus this one dread- 
 ful object had superseded all the other horrors 
 
PREPARING TO MOVE. ' '339 
 
 by which they were surrounded. He was of 
 course immediately buried, and as immediately 
 forgotten. Our first care after this was to muster 
 the remaining force, to disentangle our carriages 
 from each other, and from the dead and dying 
 animals with which they were encumbered. Many 
 sound or only slightly-wounded horses, belonging 
 to different corps of both armies, were wandering 
 about the field. Of these we caught several in 
 the course of the morning, and thus collected, 
 with what remained of our own fit for work, suf- 
 ficient to horse four guns, three ammunition- 
 waggons, and the forge. Of men we had nearly 
 enough for these at reduced numbers, so we set 
 to work equipping ourselves without delay. Al- 
 though supplies of ammunition had l^een sent to 
 us during the action, yet little remained. The 
 expenditure had been enormous. A return had 
 been called for yesterday evening just as we were 
 lying down to rest, but, fatigued as we all were, it 
 was impossible to give this correctly. As near as 
 I could ascertain, we must have fired nearly 700 
 rounds per gun. Our harness, &c., was so cut to 
 pieces, that but for the vast magazines around us 
 from which we could pick and choose, we should 
 never have got off the field. Soon after daybreak 
 an officer came from headquarters to desire me to 
 
340 THE FIELD BY MORNING. 
 
 send all my superfluous carriages to Lillois, where 
 a park was forming, and to inform me that a sup- 
 ply of ammunition would be found in the village 
 of Waterloo. Accordingly the carriages were sent 
 without delay ; but this requiring all the horses, 
 they were obliged to make a second trip for the 
 ammunition. Whilst this was doing I had leisure 
 to examine the ground in our immediate vicinity. 
 Books and papers, &c., covered it in all directions. 
 The books at first surprised me, but upon exa- 
 mination the thing was explained. Each French 
 soldier, it appeared, carried a little accompt-book 
 of his pay, clothing, &c. &c. The scene was now 
 far from solitary; for numerous groups of peasants 
 were moving about busily employed stripping the 
 dead, aaid perhaps finishing those not quite so. 
 Some of these men I met fairly staggering under 
 the enormous load of clothes, &c., they had col- 
 lected. Some had firearms, swords, &c., and 
 many had large bunches of crosses and decora- 
 tions ; aU seemed in high glee, and professed un- 
 bounded hatred of the French. 
 
 I had fancied we were almost alone on the field, 
 seeing only the remains of Major Bull's troop of 
 horse-artillery not far from us (the Prussians had 
 gone forward about, or a little before, daybreak) ; 
 but in wandering towards the Charleroi road I 
 
THE WOUNDED. 341 
 
 stumbled on a whole regiment of British infantry 
 fast asleep, in columns of divisions, wrapped in 
 their blankets, with their knapsacks for pillows. 
 Not a man was awake. There they lay in regular 
 ranks, with the officers and sergeants in their 
 places, just as they would stand when awake. 
 Not far from these, in a little hollow beneath a 
 white thorn, lay two Irish light-infantry men 
 sending forth such bowlings and wailings, and 
 oaths and execrations, as were shocking to hear. 
 One of them had his leg shot off, the other a 
 thigh smashed by a cannon-shot They were cer- 
 tainly pitiable objects, but their vehement exclam- 
 ations, &c., were so strongly contrasted with the 
 quiet resolute bearing of hundreds, both French 
 and English, around them, that it blunted one's 
 feelings considerably. 
 
 I tried in vain to pacify them ; so walked away 
 amidst a voUey of abuse as a hardhearted wretch 
 who could thus leave two poor fellows to die like 
 dogs. What could I do 1 All, however, though 
 in more modest terms, craved assistance; and 
 every poor wretch begged most earnestly for 
 water. Some of my men had discovered a good 
 well of uncontaminated water at Hougoumont, 
 and filled their canteens; so I made several of 
 them accompany me and administer to the most 
 
342 THE . FRE^X'H WOUNDED. 
 
 craving in our immediate vicinity. Nothing could 
 exceed their gratitude, or the fervent blessings 
 thej implored on us for this momentary relief. 
 The French were in general particularly grateful ; 
 and those who were strong enough, entered into 
 conversation with us on the events of yesterday, 
 and the probable fate awaiting themselves.. All 
 the non-commissioned officers and privates agreed 
 in asserting that they had been deceived by their 
 officers and betrayed ; and, to my surprise, almost 
 all of them reviled Buonaparte as the cause of their 
 misery. Many begged me to kill them at once, 
 since they would a thousand times rather die by 
 the hand of a soldier than be left at the mercy of 
 those villanous Belgic peasants. Whilst we stood 
 by them, several would, appear consoled and be-, 
 come tranquil ; but the moment we attempted to 
 leave, they invariably renewed the cry, "Ah, 
 Monsieur, tuez moi done ! Tuez moi, pour I'amour 
 de Dieu ! " &c. &c. It was in vain I assured them 
 carts would be sent to pick them all up. Nothing 
 could reconcile, them to the idea of being left. 
 They looked on us as brother soldiers, and knew 
 we were too honourable to harm them : " But the 
 moment you go, those vile peasants will first in- 
 sult, and then cruelly murder us." This, alas ! I 
 knew, was but too true. One Frenchman I 
 
AN INGRATE. 343 
 
 found in a far dijGferent humour — an officer of 
 lancers, and desperately wounded ; a strong square- 
 built man, with reddish hair and speckled com- 
 plexion. When I approached him he appeared 
 suffering horribly — rolling on his back, uttering 
 loud groans. My first impulse was to raise and 
 place him in a sitting! posture; but, the moment 
 he was touched, opening^ his eyes and seeing me, 
 he became perfectly furious. Supposing he mis- 
 took my intention, I addressed him in a soothing 
 tone, begging he would allow me to render him 
 what little assistance was in my power. This 
 only seemed to irritate him the more ; and on my 
 presenting him the canteen with water, he dashed 
 it from him with such a passionate gesture and 
 emphatic " Non ! " that I saw there was no use 
 in teasing, and therefore reluctantly left him. 
 Eeturning towards our position, I was forcibly 
 struck by the immense heap of bodies of men 
 and horses which distinguished it even at a dis- 
 tance ; indeed, Sir Augustus Frazer told me the 
 other day, at Nivelles, that in riding over the 
 field, he could plainly distinguish the position of 
 G troop from the opposite height by the dark 
 mass which, even from that distance, formed a 
 remarkable feature in the field." These were 
 his very words. One interesting sufferer I had 
 
344 A GEENADIER 1 CHEVAL. 
 
 nearly forgotten. He was a fine young man of 
 the grenadiers a cheval, who had lain groaning 
 near us all night — indeed scarcely five paces from 
 my bed ; therefore was the first person I visited 
 as soon as daylight came. He was a most in- 
 teresting person — tall, handsome, and a perfect 
 gentleman in manners and speech; yet his costume 
 was that of a private soldier. We conversed 
 with him some time, and were exceedingly pleased 
 with his mild and amiable address. Amongst 
 other things he told us that Marshal Ney had 
 led the charges against us. In this, however (if 
 we understood him rightly), he must have been 
 mistaken, since that Marshal is an infantry general. 
 Be that as it may, we all felt deeply interested 
 for our unfortunate prisoner, and did all in our 
 power for him, which consisted in kind words 
 and sending two careful men to lead him to the 
 village — a most painful undertaking, for we now 
 found that, besides one ball in the forehead, he 
 had received another in his right thigh, which, 
 together with his being barefooted, could not but 
 render his journey both tedious and painful. 
 
 I now began to feel somewhat the eff"ects of my 
 long fast in a most unpleasant sense of weakness 
 and an inordinate craving for food, which there 
 were no means of satisfying. My joy, then, may 
 
A WELCOME FEAST. 345 
 
 be imagined when, returning to our bivouac, I 
 found our people returned from Lillois, and, better 
 still, that they had brought with them a quarter 
 of veal, which they had found in a muddy ditch, 
 of course in appearance then filthy enough. What 
 was this to a parcel of men who had scarcely eaten 
 a morsel for three days ? In a trice it was cut up, 
 the mud having been scraped off with a sabre, a 
 fire kindled and fed with lance-shafts and musket- 
 stocks ; and old Quartermaster Hall, undertak- 
 ing the cooking, proceeded to fry the dirty lumps 
 in the lid of a camp-kettle. How we enjoyed the 
 savoury smell ! and, having made ourselves seats 
 of cuirasses,* piled upon each other, we soon had 
 that most agreeable of animal gratifications — the 
 filling our empty stomachs. Never was a meal more 
 perfectly military, nor more perfectly enjoyed. 
 
 We had not yet finished our meal, when a 
 carriage drove on the ground from Brussels, the 
 inmates of which, alighting, proceeded to examine 
 the field. As they passed near us, it was amus- 
 ing to see the horror with which they eyed our 
 frightful figures ; they all, however, pulled ofi" 
 their hats and made us low bows. One, a 
 
 * Here were more cuirasses than men; for the wounded (who 
 could move), divesting themselves of its encumbrance, had made 
 their escape, leaving their armour on the ground where they had 
 fallen. 
 
o46 VISITORS FEOM BRUSSELS. 
 
 smartly - dressed middle - aged man, in a high 
 cocked-hat, came to our circle, and entered into 
 conversation with me on the events of yesterday. 
 He approached holding a delicately white per- 
 fumed handkerchief to his nose ; stepping care- 
 fully to -avoid the bodies (at which he cast fearful 
 glances en passa7it), to avoid polluting the glossy 
 silken hose that clothed his nether limbs. May 
 I be pardoned for the comparison : Hotspur's 
 description of a fop came forcibly to my mind as 
 we conversed ; clean and spruce, as if from a 
 bandbox, redolent of perfume, he stood ever and 
 anon applying the 'kerchief to his nose. I was 
 not leaning on my sword, but I arose to receive 
 him from my seat of armour, my hands and face 
 begrimed and blackened with blood and smoke — 
 clothes too. " I do remember when the fight was 
 done," &c. &c. It came, as I said, forcibly to my 
 mind as I eyed my friend's costume and sniffed 
 the sweet-scented atmosphere that hovered round 
 him. The perfumed handkerchief, in this in- 
 stance, held the place of Shakespeare's " pouncet- 
 box" — the scene was pleasant to remember ! With 
 a world of bows my man took leave, and pro- 
 ceeded, picking his steps with the same care as 
 he followed the route of his companions in the 
 direction of Hougoumont. 
 
VISIT TO HOUGOUMONT. 347 
 
 Having despatched our meal, and then the 
 ammunition-waggons to Waterloo, and leaving 
 the people employed equipping as best they 
 could, I set off to visit the Chateau likewise ; for 
 the struggle that had taken place there yesterday 
 rendered it an object of interest. The same scene 
 of carnage as elsewhere characterised that part of 
 the field over which I now bent my steps. The 
 immediate neighbourhood of Hougoumont was 
 more thickly strewn with corpses than most 
 other parts of the field — the very ditches were 
 full of them. The trees all about were most 
 woefully cut and splintered, both by cannon-shot 
 and musketry. The courts of the Chateau pre- 
 sented a spectacle more terrible even than any I 
 had yet seen. A large barn had been set on fire, 
 and the conflagration had spread to the offices, 
 and even to the main building. Here numbers, 
 both of French and English, had perished in the 
 flames, and their blackened swollen remains lay 
 scattered about in all directions. Amongst this 
 heap of ruins and misery many poor devils yet 
 remained alive, and were sitting up endeavour- 
 ing to bandage their wounds. Such a scene of 
 horror, and one so sickening, was surely never 
 witnessed. 
 
 Two or three German dragoons were wander- 
 
348 A CONTRAST. 
 
 ing among t]ie ruins, and many peasants. One 
 of the former was speaking to me when two of 
 the latter, after rifling the pockets, &c., of a dead 
 Frenchman, seized the body by the shoulders, 
 and, raising it from the ground, dashed it down 
 again with all their force, uttering the grossest 
 abuse, and kicking it about the head and face — 
 revolting spectacle ! — doing this, no doubt, to 
 court favour with us. It had a contrary effect, 
 which they soon learned. I had scarcely uttered 
 an exclamation of disgust, when the dragoon's 
 sabre was flashing over the miscreants' heads, 
 and in a moment descended on their backs and 
 shoulders with such vigour that they roared 
 again, and were but too happy to make their 
 escape. I turned from such scenes and entered 
 the garden. How shall I describe the delicious 
 sensation I experienced ! 
 
 The garden was an ordinary one, but pretty — 
 long straight walks of turf overshadowed by fruit- 
 trees, and between these beds of vegetables, the 
 whole enclosed by a tolerably high brick wall. 
 Is it necessary to define my sensations "? Is it 
 possible that I am not understood at once 1 Lis- 
 ten then. For the last three days I have been in a 
 constant state of excitement — in a perfect fever. 
 My eyes have beheld nought but war in all its 
 
GARDEN OP THE CHATEAU. 349 
 
 horrors — my ears have been assailed by a con- 
 tinued roar of cannon and cracking of musketry, 
 the shouts of multitudes and the lamentations of 
 ■war's victims. Suddenly and unexpectedly I find 
 myself in solitude, pacing a green avenue, my 
 eyes refreshed by the cool verdure of trees and 
 shrubs ; my ear soothed by the melody of fea- 
 thered songsters — ^yea, of sweet Philomel herself — 
 and the pleasing hum of insects sporting in the 
 genial sunshine. Is there nothing in this to ex- 
 cite emotion ? Nature in repose is always lovely : 
 here, and under such circumstances, she was de- 
 licious. Long I rambled in this garden, up one 
 walk, down another, and thought I could dwell 
 here contented for ever. Nothing recalled the 
 presence of war except the loopholed wall and 
 two or three dead Guardsmen ; ''• but the first 
 caused no interruption, and these last lay so con- 
 cealed amongst the exuberant vegetation of tur- 
 nips and cabbages, &c., that, after coming from the 
 field of death without, their pale and silent forms 
 but little deteriorated my enjoyment. The leaves 
 
 * In some accounts of the battle, and visits to the field, &c., it 
 has been stated that this garden was a scene of slaughter. Totally- 
 untrue ! As I have stated in the text, I did not see above two or 
 three altogether. There certainly might have been more con- 
 cealed amongst the vegetation, but they could not have been 
 many. 
 
350 A STRIKING ORATION. 
 
 were green, roses and other flowers bloomed forth 
 in all their sweetness, and the very turf when 
 crushed by my feet smelt fresh and pleasant. 
 There was but little of disorder visible to teU of 
 what had been enacted here. I imagine it must 
 have been assailed by infantry alone ; and the 
 havoc amongst the trees without made by our 
 artillery posted on the hill above to cover the 
 approach to it — principally, perhaps, by Bull's 
 howitzer battery. 
 
 I had satisfied my curiosity at Hougoumont, and 
 was retracing my steps up the hill, when my 
 attention was called to a group of wounded 
 Frenchmen by the calm, dignified, and soldierlike 
 oration addressed by one of them to the rest. I 
 cannot, like Li^^y, compose a fine harangue for 
 my hero, and, of course, I could not retain the 
 precise words, but the import of them was to ex- 
 hort them to bear their sufferings with fortitude ; 
 not to repine, like women or children, at what 
 every soldier should have made up his mind to 
 sufi'er as the fortune of war, but, above all, to 
 remember that they were surrounded by English- 
 men, before whom they ought to be doubly care- 
 ful not to disgrace themselves by displaying such 
 an unsoldierlike want of fortitude. The speaker 
 was sitting on the ground, with his lance stuck 
 
A KOBLE ENEMY. 351 
 
 upright beside him — an old veteran, with a thick 
 bushy grizly beard, countenance like a lion- — a 
 lancer of the Old Guard, and no doubt had fought 
 in many a field. One hand was flourished in the 
 air as he spoke, the other, severed at the wrist, 
 lay on the earth beside him ; one ball (case-shot, 
 probably) had entered his body, another had 
 broken his leg. His suflfering, after a night of 
 exposure so mangled, must have been great; yet 
 he betrayed it not. His bearing was that of a 
 Eoman, or perhaps of an Indian warrior, and I could 
 fancy him concluding appropriately his speech in 
 the words of the Mexican king, " And I too ; am 
 I on a bed of roses ? " I could not but feel the 
 highest veneration for this brave man, and told 
 him so, at the same time oflering him the only con- 
 solation in my power — a drink of cold water, and 
 assurances that the waggons would soon be sent 
 round to collect the wounded. He thanked me 
 with a grace peculiar to Frenchmen, and eagerly 
 inquired the fate of their army. On this head I 
 could tell him nothing consolatory, so merely 
 answered that it had retired last night, and turned 
 the conversation to the events of yesterday. This 
 truly brave man spoke in most flattering terms of 
 our troops, but said they had no idea in the 
 French army we should have fought so obstinately, 
 
352 A KEEPSAKE. 
 
 since it was generally understood that the English 
 Government had, for some inexplicable reason, 
 connived at Napoleon's escape from Elba, and 
 therefore had ordered their army only to make a 
 show of resistance. After a very interesting con- 
 versation, I begged his lance as a keepsake, ob- 
 serving that it never could be of further use to him. 
 The old man's eyes kindled as I spoke, and he 
 emphatically assured me that it would delight him 
 to see it in the hands of a brave soldier, instead of 
 being torn from him, as he had feared, by those 
 vile peasants. So I took my leave, and walked 
 away with the lance in my hand.* Ever since 
 
 * During tlie remainder of the campaign Milward carried it ; 
 and on returning to England I even rode into Canterbury followed 
 hj my lancer — a novelty in those days. Whilst in retirement on 
 half-pay, it was suspended in my library; but on going to America 
 in 1823 1 deposited it in the Kotunda at Woolwich. On my return 
 in 1829 the lance was gone. In 1823 or 1824 it seems Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Vandaleur, of the 9th Lancers, came to Woolwich to look 
 for a model. Mine pleased him, and he took it to St John's 
 Wood Riding-House, where it was tried against others in presence 
 of the Duke of York, and approved of as a model for arming the 
 British lancers. After a long hunt I at last found it at the Enfield 
 manufactory, spoilt completely, the iron work and thong taken off, 
 and flag gone. It cost me a long correspondence with the Board 
 before I succeeded in getting it restored and put together. When 
 I received it from him who had so long wielded it, the flag was 
 d}-ed in blood, the blade notched, and also stained with blood ; 
 inside the thong was cut Clement, VII., probably the number of his 
 troop. [It is now in the possession of Dr Hall, an old Waterloo 
 man, and sincere friend of my father. — Ed.] 
 
A EECOGKITION. 353 
 
 my groom (Milward) has been transformed into 
 my lancer-orderly; and I propose, if ever I return 
 to England, consecrating it to the memory of the 
 interesting old hero. In passing Bull's bivouac 
 it was my fate to witness another very interesting 
 scene. A wounded hussar had somehow or an- 
 other found his way there from another part of 
 the field, and, exhausted by the exertion, had just 
 fainted. Some of those collected round him cried 
 out for water, and a young driver, who, being 
 outside the throng, had not yet seen the sufferer, 
 seized a canteen, and ran away to fill it. Whilst 
 he was absent the hussar so far recovered as to be 
 able to sit up. The driver returned at this mo- 
 ment, and, pushing aside his comrades, knelt 
 down to enable the hussar to drink, holding the 
 canteen to his lips, and in so doing recognised a 
 brother whom he had not seen for years! His 
 emotion was extreme, as may be supposed. 
 
 On regaining my own bivouac I found the am- 
 munition arrived, and, what was still more satis- 
 factory, Mr Coates with his whole train of Flem- 
 ish waggons — our baggage and provisions. He 
 had got intelligence in time of the battle of Quatre 
 Bras and its results, and therefore altered his route 
 to meet us on our retreat. On approaching the 
 Charleroi road he had been swept away by the 
 
 VOL. I. 2 
 
354 ON THE MAECH. 
 
 torrent of fugitives, and actually carried, malgrS 
 lui, beyond Brussels, some way on the road to 
 Antwerp, before be could succeed in disentangbng 
 bis train from the rabble rout, which he described 
 as exceeding all imagination. As he brought the 
 wherewithal, &c., of course his joining was hailed 
 with joy by every one. 
 
 Since the order to send away my carriages I 
 had received none ; but as my diminished troop 
 was completed as far as could be done here, I re- 
 solved to move off this horrid place ; and accord- 
 ingly, at three p.m., we joyfully took to the Nivelles 
 road — by instinct, perhaps, for I knew nothing of 
 the movements of the army, nor by what road 
 they had gone forward.'" About a mile or so 
 from the field I formed our bivouac for the night 
 in a sweet and wholesome orchard near the road, 
 with a turfiike velvet, and perfectly dry. This 
 in itself was a luxury ; it was a luxury to breathe 
 pure uncontaminated air ; it was a luxury to be 
 out of healing of groans, cries, and lamentations. 
 This was not alL Mr Coates brought us a ham 
 
 * Sir George Wood incurred the Duke's extreme displeasure 
 for not securing and parking the French guns immediately after 
 the action, for the Prussians got hold of many of them ; and it 
 was only through the indefatigable activity of Sir Augustus 
 Frazer that they were regained — partly by coaxing, partly by 
 blustering. However, they were all recovered. 
 
A COMFORTABLE BIVOUAC. 355 
 
 and a cheese ; the neighbouring farmhouse sup- 
 plied us with eggs, milk, and cider : so that in 
 due time we sat down to an excellent dinner, 
 seasoned with that sauce which no cook, how- 
 ever scie7itific, has yet learned to equal — hunger. 
 Hilarity reigned at our board — if we may so 
 term the fresh turf at the foot of an apple-tree ; 
 and over our grog and cigars we managed to pass 
 a most pleasant evening. Previously, I had caused 
 my servant to bring me a bucket of water, and 
 prepared myself for our repast by the enjoyment 
 of that first of luxuries, a thorough wash and 
 clean clothes. This was the first time I had un- 
 dressed since leaving Strytem — four whole days 
 and three whole nights. It may be imagined 
 with what joy I got rid of my bloody garments. 
 Like the birds, we all retired to rest with the 
 close of day, and the delicious sleep I enjoyed it 
 is impossible to describe. 
 
 2Qth. — Awoke early, and at first could not 
 imao-ine where I was. The cheerful sunbeams 
 were playing amongst the leaves and branches 
 overhead. The farmer's people were moving out 
 with their cattle to commence their daily labours. 
 All was peace and rural tranquillity. The events 
 of the last four days passed across my recollec- 
 tion, and I could for a moment scarcely believe 
 
356 RESUME OUR MARCH. 
 
 tliem other than a troubled dream ; but I raised 
 myself on my elbow, and there was the battle-field, 
 still encumbered with the slain. Ah ! there it 
 lay, bathed in the full blaze of sunshine. Start- 
 ing up, I roused our people, and would have im- 
 mediately recommenced the march, but upon 
 inquiry, found that, although the farriers had 
 worked throughout the night, they had not yet 
 completed the shoeing. It was ten o'clock before 
 they did so ; and then we put ourselves in move- 
 ment on the road to Nivelles, amidst crowds of 
 stragglers, sutlers, &c., all pushing forward to 
 overtake the army. It was like the highroad to 
 some great fair. Every one appeared light- 
 hearted, and it was delight to leave that field 
 behind one. 
 
 Arrived at the gate of NiveUes, we found such 
 a throng that there were no hopes of passing for 
 at least some hours. I therefore drew up my 
 troop in a pretty meadow by the roadside, where, 
 besides being out of the dust, we could enjoy the 
 cool shelter of the fine umbrageous elms by which 
 it was surrounded, and water and feed our cattle. 
 Mr Coates had preceded us and procured a fat cow, 
 which one of our men slaughtered and cut up ; 
 and the meat being distributed, we were provided 
 with the needful wherever we might bivouac. 
 
BLOCK BEFORE NIVELLES. 357 
 
 Up to this point I had no orders, nor did I know 
 anything of the armies— English, Prussian, or 
 French. We knew, to be sure, that the latter 
 had been defeated on the 18th, and retired, fol- 
 lowed by the other two ; but we had no notion 
 of the extent of the defeat, and therefore expected 
 to find them again in position. Here I expected 
 to get some information when I could get into the 
 town ; but the gate still continued so choked with 
 waggons that it was impossible even for an indi- 
 vidual to enter except in turn. 
 
 An order overtook us here to send back an 
 officer to take charge of the guns and carriages 
 we had left behind, until they could be rehorsed 
 and forwarded to us again. Lieutenant Hincks, 
 who rejoined us yesterday, being far from well, 
 and suffering much from his contusion, I with some 
 difficulty persuaded him to take this duty. On 
 the opposite side of the road was a neat house, 
 standing in a shrubbery, apparently deserted. 
 Some of my men, wandering into the yard, 
 discovered here three privates of the Guards. I 
 forget what account they gave of themselves, but 
 remember the}^ complained of having eaten no- 
 thing for three days. We gave them a lump of 
 beef and some bread, not reflecting at the time on 
 the strange circumstance of their being thus left 
 
358 RECEPTION IN THE TOWN. 
 
 behind. I have since thought they remained 
 here with the intention of deserting as soon as 
 the coast was clear. 
 
 At length I effected my own entrance into the 
 town, hoping to gain some information, or even 
 meet some one who could give me orders. The 
 first thing that struck me on passing the gates 
 was the contrast the present aspect of the streets 
 presented to that Avhen we passed through on the 
 evening of the 16th. Then all was sadness, de- 
 spair, and lamentation ; now all joy, confidence, 
 and revel. The countenance of every one you 
 met beamed exultation and triumph, Belgians 
 as well as English. Men came up with frankness, 
 took our hands, and paid us some comj)liment. 
 The women, by smiles and kind looks, testified 
 their sympathy ; whilst the lower orders, in the 
 joy of their hearts, would slap one on the thigh, 
 en passant, with an emphatic " Bon ! " " Brave 
 gargon ! " " Brave Anglais ! " " Bon ! " Or, if a 
 number were collected at some corner, they would 
 demonstrate their feelings by a cheer of " Vivent 
 les Anglais ! " The numerous cafes and cabarets 
 (of which every door and window was open on 
 account of the oppressive heat) were crammed 
 with officers and soldiers of every arm and of 
 every nation, eating, drinking, swearing, singing. 
 
ASPECT OF THE TOWN. 359 
 
 and smoking. Music of some sort increased the 
 houhara in most of them. In many private 
 houses, too, of the first appearance, large parties 
 of officers were regaling themselves ; and even in 
 the streets many little assemblages of soldiers 
 were to be seen enjoying their pipes and their 
 beer in some shady corner. It was one complete 
 scene of festivity. The streets were, moreover, 
 crowded almost to suffocation with scattered sol- 
 diery : columns on their march ; long files of 
 country waggons laden with forage or provisions ; 
 together with the pretty little, low, light baggage- 
 waggons of the German infantry, with their snow- 
 white tilts. Here quartermasters and their at- 
 tendants were running about chalking the doors 
 of the houses (the headquarters were here to- 
 night) with the names of those who were to take 
 up their temporary abode in them. " Lieutenant- 
 Colonel " on one; "Deputy-Assistant-Adju- 
 tant-General" on another ; " 1st company of such 
 a regiment " on another, and so on. Then several 
 commissaries (followed by a swarm of Flemish 
 waggoners) hurry along in search of the Magazin 
 des Fourrages. Further on, officers of the general 
 staff are arranging the march of troops. Sud- 
 denly a loud shout announces something extra- 
 ordinary even on this day of excitement. Every 
 
360 ARRIVAL OF PEISONEES, 
 
 one hurries to the spot, pushing each other, jump- 
 ing, shouting. " "What can it mean V I inquired, 
 " Monsieur TOfficiere, c'est un convoi des prison- 
 niers que vient d'arriver," replied my man, doffing 
 at the same time his bonnet de nuit and making 
 a most respectful salaam. I stopped to see the 
 convoy pass. The prisoners, dressed in grey ca- 
 pdtes and bonnets de fourrage, march steadily on. 
 Some vieux moustaches look very grave, and cast 
 about furious glances at the noisy crowd which 
 follows them with the perseverance of a swarm of 
 mosquitoes, sacreeing and venting all kind of illi- 
 beral abuse on them and their b — of an Emperor. 
 Many, however, younger men, laugh, joke, and 
 return their abuse with interest, whilst the soldiers 
 of the escort (English) march doggedly along, 
 pushing aside the more forward of the throng, 
 and apparently as if only marching round a relief. 
 The crowd passed on, and so did I, until, meeting 
 some of our own people, I learned that Sir Augus- 
 tus Frazer was here, and soon after found out his 
 billet. To find one's self in a quiet, genteel, well- 
 furnished room, after such scenes of bustle, &c., as 
 had occupied our last few days, is a pleasing 
 change. Exactly such was that in which I found 
 Sir Augustus engaged with his adjutant. He 
 was in his slippers; his writing materials were 
 
WE GET ON AT LAST. 361 
 
 arranged on the table, and on another were some 
 books and maps. The open windows looked into 
 a little shady garden gay with flowers and flower- 
 ing shrubs. There was an air of cheerfulness, of 
 home and home's comfort, about the place that 
 was quite refreshing. My visit was necessarily a 
 short one. I learned much more of our battle 
 and its consequences than I had known before, 
 and that I had better push on with the crowd 
 until I got orders, or fell in with Lord Edward 
 Somerset's division. Frazer and Bell told me 
 many flattering things about G- troop, and consi- 
 dered it a certainty that I should get the brevet 
 — nous verrons ! 
 
 Quitting them, I plunged again into the crowd 
 and fought my way towards the gate by which I 
 had entered, but was agreeably surprised at meet- 
 ing my people in the street, Newland having 
 pushed on the moment he observed the crowd at 
 the gate get somewhat thinner. Traversing the 
 town with our carriages proved a tedious opera- 
 tion ; for in addition to what I before found to 
 struggle with, we now fell in with an endless 
 column of Belgic infantry marching the same 
 route as ourselves — a most annoying obstruction. 
 The march of these people was a sort of triumphal 
 procession : colours displayed ; bands, with their 
 
362 BELGIC INFANTRY. 
 
 clattering jangling cymbals, making a most 
 martial noise ; officers and men prancing along 
 with short quick steps, bended knees, and stamp- 
 ing the pavement as if they wished to break holes 
 in it, swaggering like turkey-cocks, and trying to 
 appear indifferent, which was belied by the fre- 
 quent upward glances at the fair dames in the 
 windows, who certainly were doing all they could 
 to blow up the vanity of these their brave coun- 
 trymen by throwing out flowers on them, waving 
 of handkerchiefs, clapping of hands, and faintly 
 crying " Viva ! " 
 
 We crept along the flank of this column of 
 heroes, unnoticed and unknown, and soon after, 
 clearing the Porte de Binche, got ahead and clear 
 of them. The road was almost as much crowded 
 as the streets of Nivelles, and I found it useless to 
 expect to make rapid progress. For the first few 
 miles the country was prettily wooded and inter- 
 spersed with villages and neat houses ; but then 
 it began to get less wooded, less thickly inhabited, 
 and in every way less interesting. Continued 
 struggling on until towards evening, when our 
 adjutant (Bell) overtook me with a little scrap of 
 paper, on which was an order for me to bivouac 
 either at Roeulx or Binche ; but as we could not 
 very well learn where these places were, and no 
 
OQB, BIVOUAC. 363 
 
 guide was to be procured, and the evening began 
 to close in, I determined on halting on a high and 
 rather exposed piece of ground where we then 
 happened to be. The bivouac was badly chosen 
 — no water near, no house near, no wood near, no 
 shelter of any kind near, and we were somehow 
 all cross and out of humour. Set the men to 
 work, scrubbing and cleaning appointments, this 
 being the first opportunity of so doing. Went to 
 sleep at nightfall. I think the nearest village to 
 us was Haine. Some rustics who came to gape 
 at us from a neighbouring farm told us that the 
 King 6f Westphalia and another French general 
 had passed the night of the 18th there with a few 
 attendants, but that early on the morning of the 
 1 9th they had departed in a great hurry, evidently 
 afraid of being overtaken. 
 
 21sf. — -Paraded early, and, considering all 
 things, tolerably clean and neat. Descended to 
 a lower country, equally dismal and uninterest- 
 ing, without the one advantage which the other 
 possesses — viz., that of commanding a distant 
 prospect, always more or less pleasing. At noon 
 arrived in the neighbourhood of Mons, where we 
 overtook the Greys, Inniskillings, Ross's troop of 
 Horse- Artillery, and several other corps, both of 
 cavalry and infantry. We had, in short, now 
 
364 REJOIN THE ARMY. 
 
 rejoined the army. The Greys and the Innis- 
 killings were mere "WTecks — the former, I think, 
 did not muster 200 men, and the latter, with no 
 greater strength, presented a sad spectacle of 
 disorganisation and bad discipline ; they had lost 
 more than half their appointments. Some had 
 helmets, some had none ; many had the skuU- 
 cap, but with the crest cut or broken off ; some 
 were on their own large horses, others on little 
 ones they had picked up ; belts there were on 
 some ; many were without, not only belts, but also 
 canteens and havresacks. The enemy surely had 
 not effected in a single day so complete a disor- 
 ganisation, and I shrewdly suspect these rollick- 
 ing Paddies of having mainly spoilt themselves. 
 The other corps all looked remarkably well, 
 although they, too, had partaken in the fight. 
 We overtook these corps about a mile from Mons, 
 on a hill, whence that place, with its old fortifi- 
 cations, looked venerable and picturesque. De- 
 scending thence, the road crossed a broad, flat, 
 marshy piece of ground, which appeared nearly, 
 if not entirely, to surround the place. Here our 
 further progress was obstructed by a number of 
 trees felled across the road, and forming a sort of 
 abatis, and we were consequently obliged to 
 make a detour through the meadows, and cross a 
 
THE GEEYS AND HIGHLANDERS. 365 
 
 rivulet by (I think the Trouille) a mill-dam, over 
 which the cavalry were obliged to file. This 
 rendered it a very tedious operation ; and that 
 part where at the mill we had to pass our guns, 
 &c., over a bridge of planks barely broad enough, 
 was a rather ticklish one. We crossed after the 
 Greys, and came with them on the main road to 
 Maubeuge at the moment a Highland regiment 
 (perhaps the 92d), which had come through Mons, 
 was passing. The moment the Highlanders saw 
 the Greys an electrifying cheer burst spontan- 
 eously from the column, which was answered as 
 heartily ; and on reaching the road the two 
 columns became blended for a few minutes — the 
 Highlanders running to shake hands with their 
 brave associates in the late battle. This little 
 burst of feeling was delightful — everybody felt 
 it ; and although two or three general officers 
 were present, none interfered to prevent or to 
 censure this breach of discipline. A few hundred 
 yards further on I found Lord Edward Somerset, 
 with his brigade, formed in a field of clover by 
 the roadside ; and now, for the first time, I 
 reported myself to him, and requested orders. 
 These were simply to proceed straight to Malpla- 
 quet, and there bivouac for the niglit. Accord- 
 ingly I continued my route independent as here- 
 
366 ASPECT OF THE COUNTEY. 
 
 tofore of my brigade. Nothing could be more 
 horridly uninteresting than this country. Well 
 cultivated, yet no habitations, or very few — no 
 enclosures, or rather no hedges, there being banks 
 to some of the fields; no trees, and hills just high 
 enough to prevent an extended view, without 
 adding one jot of beauty to the landscape. Most 
 dismal country ! To add to our wretchedness, 
 the clouds which had been collecting all the morn- 
 ing began to drop their contents, so, snugging 
 ourselves under our cloaks, on we jogged sulkily 
 enough. We had left the great Chaussee de 
 Maubeuge, and had been marching some time on 
 a cross-road, occasionally confined between bare 
 banks — not such ramparts as one sees in the 
 county of Cork, but low clay banks about knee- 
 high, with the ditch whence the material has 
 been taken. In this way we had reached a point 
 where a greater elevation of the ground allowed 
 some scope of vision ; and when emerging from 
 between the Ijanks, we came on something like 
 a heath, bordered on one side by a large wood. 
 Here an assemblage of rustics appeared awaiting 
 us. Their principal object, no doubt, was to gaze 
 at the strangers ; but they gave themselves 
 infinite trouble to make us comprehend that we 
 were about to cross the frontier and enter on the 
 
WE CROSS THE FRONTIER. 367 
 
 soil of France. Drawing a long line in the mnd, 
 right across the road, and vociferating altogether, 
 " Ici, monsieur ! " " Voila, monsieur ! " " Eegardez, 
 monsieur !" " C'est ici, monsieur, que vous entrez 
 en la France ! " and when we crossed their line, 
 they grinned and jumped about like so many 
 monkeys. I could not divine what pleasure they 
 derived from seeing strangers violate the sacred 
 territory, nor what could induce the energetic 
 " Voici, monsieur, la France, voila la Belgique ! " 
 which they roared in chorus. How different 
 would have been the feelings and actions of 
 Englishmen on a similar occasion ! Frenchmen, 
 however, draw amusement from everything — 
 even misfortune. But did they look upon our 
 invasion as a misfortune ? From what I have 
 seen of these people, it appears very doubtful 
 whether they care a farthing who reigns over 
 them. Be that as it may, we undoubtedly enter- 
 ed France amidst cheers and greetings of the 
 populace. 
 
 Soon after this we arrived at Malplaquet with- 
 out being able to see it — the truth is, that it 
 consists of a number of large farmhouses, &c., 
 all standing isolated, and surrounded by thick 
 orchards. In one of these we established our 
 bivouac. A beggarly - looking old house, built 
 
368 OUR FIRST NIGHT IN FRANCE. 
 
 of wattles, plastered with clay (which in many 
 places had fallen off), windows without glass, 
 and doorways without doors, stood in one 
 corner of our orchard, and as this was very 
 cheerless from the heavy rain, we agreed to do 
 comfortable and dine in the house. Accordingly, 
 our prog and materials were conveyed thither, 
 and the dame was desired to make a fire in her 
 best salon ; yet, after all, it was a matter of 
 doubt whether we should not have been more 
 comfortable under the apple - trees, barring the 
 droppings. The place was a perfect picture of 
 misery ; rooms disgustingly filthy, and besides, 
 blackened with smoke ; floor of earth, broken 
 into all sorts of holes and inequalities ; ceiling 
 of loose planks and full of large holes, as were 
 the partitions ; furniture — a rickety table, two 
 or three as rickety chairs, and a sort of chest of 
 walnut, serving the place of a chest of drawers, 
 black as ebony from age and dirt. The mistress, 
 a grown-up daughter, and three or four young 
 children, were the only inmates of this ■RTCtched 
 mansion we saw — filthy as their dwelling, their 
 clothes all in rags, and without shoe or stocking. 
 These poor creatures were so alarmed at us that 
 they scarcely seemed to know what they were 
 doing. Our dinner, of course, was none of the 
 
OUR FIRST NIGHT IN FRANCE. 369 
 
 most comfortable ; but some hot grog and cigars 
 afterwards put us all in good - humour, and we 
 passed the evening admirably. In due time we 
 retired to the nests our servants had provided for 
 us in the orchard, and I was soon sound asleep, 
 but was aroused about two o'clock by the ser- 
 geant-major, with a lantern in one hand and a 
 paper in the other, which a dragoon had just 
 brought from headquarters. This was an order 
 to march at four a.m. Raining hard. 
 
 END OF THE FIEST VOLUME. 
 
 PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH. 
 


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