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THE LIGHT DRAGOON,
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THE
LIGHT DRAGOON.
BY
G. R. GLEIG,
AUTHOR OF
''THE SUBALTERN," "CHELSEA PENSIONERS," ETC.
LONDON:
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & CO., SOHO SQUARE.
1850.
THE
LIGHT DRAGOON.
CHAPTER I.
How I enlisted, and what befel me then.
As I cannot imagine that among such, as may honour
these pages by a perusal, there are any who would take
much interest in the personal history of one so humble
as myself, I think it best to pass over all the incidents
of my early life, and to come at once to the period of
my enlistment. Who I am, where I was born, to what
class of society my father and mother belonged, are
points with which I alone am concerned. And for the
rest, it is fair to avow, that if the incidents of my boy-
hood were all strung together, they would not make up
a tale worth telling, far less a narrative which would for
a single hour be remembered.
I entered the service in the summer of 1808, by en-
listing as a private in the 11th regiment of Light Dra-
goons. The corps being at that time stationed in Ire-
land, I was sent, with several recruits besides, to the
depot at Maidstone; where, for some time, I ran the
career which is appointed for recruits in general, and
acquired some knowledge of the darker shades in human
nature, if I learned nothing better. It Unfortunately
happens, however, that our first experience of this great
book is not often favourable to our morals; and 1 eon-
fess that I am not an exception to the general rule. My
extreme youth—for I was not more than seventeen
years of age—exposed me to many and great tempta-
lions. The same circumstance laid me open to chicanery
and deceit on the part of those around me; and I lament
to say, that I became the victim, as well of my own
folly as of the knavery of others. How I suffered from
4 THE LIGHT DEAG00N.
the former of these evils, it is not worth while to tell.
Young men would scarce take the trouble to follow my
details, were I to give them; and if they did, I am quite
sure they would never condescend to he warned by
them. But it is not impossible that they may think it
worth while to attend to such of my admonitions as
seem to bear upon the behaviour of others; and I ac-
cordingly request that they will take good heed of the
following aphorisms:
1. When you join your depot, you usually arrive with
a good deal of money in your pocket; that is to say, you
get your bounty as soon as you have passed, and appear
in your own eyes to be enormously rich. Be assured
that it is quite possible to run through as much as ten
or twelve guineas: and don't take the trouble to throw
your shillings and half-crowns at people's heads, as if
they were of no value.
2. You find a comrade particularly civil: begin to
suspect he has fallen in love—not with you, but your
money; and button up your pockets in exact propor-
tion to the zeal which he manifests for trying their
depth.
3. Non-commissioned officers are in an especial man-
ner to be shunned, whenever they profess to hold you
in favour, or seem to relax the bonds of discipline, in
order that you may not be distressed by them. These
harpies desire only to make a prey of you. They will
first suck you dry, and then grind you to powder.
4. Endeavour to begin your career as it is your wis-
dom, not less than your duty to go forward with it.
Aim at the character of a sober and steady man, and
you will, without doubt, succeed in deserving it.
5. Keep your temper, even if you be wronged, es-
pecially when the wrong is put upon you by a superior.
Truth and justice are sure to prevail in the end; where-
as, it often happens that he who is eager to anticipate
that end, is crushed in the struggle.
6. Finally, be alert in striving to acquire all necessary
drills, and an acquaintance with your duty in general.
It will be of far more benefit to you to be well thought
of by a few good men, and by your officers, than to be
called " a capital fellow" by scores of scamps, who will
only laugh at your remorse, so soon as they have sue-
ceeded in bringing you into trouble.
THE LIGHT DRAGOON. 5
But I am fast getting into a prose, so let me pull up;
otherwise X may fail to carry, as I intend to do, public
interest along with me.
Well, then, I enlisted in London; and, marching to
Maidstone, underwent the customary examinations;
after which, I was attested before a magistrate, and had
my bounty paid with strict exactitude. Unfortunately
for me, however, the society into which I was thrown
bore no resemblance at all to a well-regulated regiment.
The barracks were filled with small detachments from
a countless variety of corps, and the sergeants and cor-
porals, on whom the internal discipline both of regiments
and depots mainly depends, seem to me, at this distance
of time, to have been selected from the very scum of the
earth. Like a band of harpies, they pounced upon us
recruits, and never let us loose from their talons till
they had thoroughly pigeoned us. We were invited to
their rooms of an evening,—introduced to their wives,
who made much of us,—praised, favoured, screened,
and cajoled, till our funds began to run low, and then
they would have nothing more to say to us. Under
these circumstances, we were sufficiently well pleased
when the order came to join the regiment at Clonmel:
and, being put in charge of one Corporal Gorman, we
began our journey, profoundly ignorant both of the
route we were to follow, and the extent of funds which
would be allowed us during the continuance of the
march.
An admirable specimen was Corporal Gorman of the
sort of land-sharks out of which the staff of the recruit-
ing department used long ago to be formed. His first
step was to extract from each of us, in the shape of a
loan, whatever happened to remain of our bounty. His
next, to defraud us of the better half of our marching-
money, by paying over to us, respectively, day by day,
one shilling, and applying one shilling and a penny to
his own use. Like bad men in general, however, whom
long impunity has hardened, he committed the mistake,
in the end, of overshooting his. mark, and we having
been much irritated bv his tyrannical behaviour, re-
ported him, when at Lichfield, to a magistrate. It
appeared that he was not now about to form his first
acquaintance with that functionary. His worship knew
him well; and, by a threat of bringing the ease before
6
.THE LIGHT DBAGOON,
the general commanding the district, soon forced the
knave to pay back the money which we, in our sim-
plicity, had lent him. The arrears of our marching-
money, on the other hand, we never succeeded in re-
•covering. He promised, indeed, from stage to stage,
that all should be cleared off ; and prevailed upon us,
on our arrival in Dublin, to sign our accounts, which he
himself had made up, and by which we acknowledged
.that we had been fully settled with. But he entirely
forgot to return, as he had pledged himself to do, the
sum that was needed to render the acknowledgment
accurate; and, quietly handing us over to a worthy not
unlike himself, took his passage in the packet for Holy-
head, and left us.
I joined the head-quarters of my regiment at Clou-
mel at a moment when both town and country rang
with the exploits of two celebrated robbers, called, re-
spectively, Brennan and Hogan. Brennan, as all the
world knows, was originally a soldier—unless my me-
niory be at fault—in the 12th Light Dragoons; from
which regiment he deserted in consequence of some
quarrel with one of the officers, that lie might take,
after the fashion of Dick Turpin of old, to the road.
His courage was as reckless as his presence of mind
was astonishing, neither of which, however, would have
much availed, had he not, at the same time, been
thoroughly acquainted with the locale of the scene of
his operations; but in this respect his advantages were
fully as remarkable as in others, for there was not a
hole or crevice in the comities of Cork, Tipperary, and
Wexford, with which he seems not to have been fami-
liar. Moreover, Brennan displayed, in the manage-
ment of his reckless business, quite as much of sound
policy as of hardihood. He was never known to rob;
or in any way to molest, a peasant, an artisan, or a
small farmer. He made war, and professed to make
war only upon the rich, out of the plunder taken from
whom he would often assist the poor; and the poor, in
return, not only refused to betray him, but took care
that he should be warned in time, whenever any rmmi-
nent danger seemed to threaten. The consequence
was, that for full five years—a long space of time for a
highwayman to be at large, even in Ireland—he con-
tinued to levy contributions upon all who came in his
THE LIGHT DEAG00N.
way, and had always about him the means of satisfying
&is own wishes. As might be expected, a great clamour
was raised. Government was petitioned for troops
wherewith to hunt him down. Large rewards were
offered to any persons who should betray him; and day
and night the magistracy of the counties were abroad,
with dragoons at their heels, striving to intercept him.
I heard that on one occasion, when Lord Caher, the
most indefatigable of his pursuers, ran him hard, his
horse became spent ere it could carry him to the Kil-
worth hill; and that it was only by quitting the saddle,
and diving into the recesses of a wood, close by, that
he managed to make good his escape. His favourite
roadster fell, on that occasion, into the hands of his
enemies; and he never ceased to lament the circum-
stance as a very grievous calamity.
Of Hogan I am unable to say more than that com-
mon report spoke of him as a pedler, whose brave re-
resistance to Brennan's attack, originally won for him
the friendship of the outlaw. It is said that the bandit
fell in with Ins future associate one day when the pres-
sure of want was peculiarly severe upon him. He had
alighted, for some purpose or another, when the pedler
came up, and, not anticipating any resistance, he care-
lessly desired the latter to render up his pack. But
the pedler, instead of obeying the command, closed
instantly with his assailant. A fierce struggle took
place between them, neither having time to appeal to-
the deadly weapons with which both, it appeared, were'
armed.
" "Who the devil are you?" said Brennan, at last,
after he had rolled with his antagonist in the dust till'
both were weary. " Sure, then, I didn't think there
was a man in all Tipperary, as could have fought so
long with Bill Brennan."
" Och, then, blood and ouns !" exclaimed the other,
" if you be Brennan, arrah! then, arn't I Paddy
Hogan ? and if you cry stand to all the world in Tip-
perary, sure don't I do that same to the folks in Cork?"
This was quite enough for Brennan. He entertained;
too high a respect for his own profession to exercise it.
in hostility towards a brother of the order; so he struck
up, on the instant, an alliance with the pedler, and the-
two thenceforth played one into the hands of the other.
8: THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
Of the maimer in which Brennan was accustomed to
do his work, the following anecdote will give a just
idea:—
Once upon a time, when the regiment of —— Militia
lay in quarters at Clonmel, two of the officers drove, in
a one-horse chaise, to Fethard, where they had engaged
to be present at a public dinner that was to be eaten at
the principal inn in the place. They joined the com-
pany as they had proposed to do, and sat till a late
hour at night, when, their companions departing, they
likewise ordered their gig, and walked into what was
called the travellers'-room, till it should be brought
round to the door. There were several strangers in
the room, one of whom, a well-dressed man, stood by
the fire. But of these the militia officers took no notice,
their heads, as it appeared, being filled with anticipa-.
tions of what might befal on their way back to Clonmel.
One, indeed, did not hesitate to express regret that
they had sat so late.
" These are troublesome times," observed he; " and
who knows but we may encounter Brennan himself?"
" What of that ?" was the answer. "You and I are
surely not afraid to encounter one man. We have a
brace of pistols : only let the scoundrel show himself,
and see how I'll handle him !"
The stranger who lounged over the fire looked up as
these words were uttered, but took no notice of them.
Only, when they quitted the apartment he withdrew
also,—no salutation or mark of courtesy having passed
between them.
The gig being by this time brought round, the two
militia officers took their seats, and in high good humour
and excellent spirits drove off. They continued their
journey for a while without meeting with any adven-
ture; till all at once, just as they had reached a pecu-
liarly dismal part of the road, a man sprang from one
of the ditches, and seized the horse's head.
" I'll trouble you, gentlemen/' said he, presenting a
pistol towards them at the same time, " to alight. I
should be very sorry to hurt either of you; but by my
soul! if you don't do as I bid you, or try to open the
locker, I'll blow your brains 'out in a jiffy. It shall be
no joke to you, anyhow."
. The officers sat stock-still, staring at each other, and
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
9
Dot knowing what to make of it; but at last one, less
flabbergasted than the other, exclaimed,—
" And who the devil are you, that we should accom-
modate you in that manner?"
" Gentlemen," was the reply, " my name is Brennan."
. There was magic in the sound of the word. Not
another question was put, not another remonstrance
offered, but, making all possible haste, both of them
sprang to the ground, and stood as if waiting the ban-
dit's mrther orders. Brennan, however, was by no
means a sanguinary person; and in the present in-
stance he had a wlum to indulge, as well as a booty to
collect. He instantly assumed the vacated seat, and
fathering up the reins, looked down upon his discom-
ted foes, and cried, " The next time you happen to
make mention of my name, you'll probably treat it
with more respect." So saying, he wheeled round,
and wishing the militia-men good night, drove off.
A comfortless tramp these heroes had of it, over a
dozen miles of muddy road, ere they reached Clonmel.
They slunk quietly to their barrack-rooms, however,
being extremely desirous of concealing their own shame,
and Brennan's triumph, from the knowledge of their
brother-officers; and for a space of not less than six
months they succeeded. But at the termination of
that period, when the regiment stood under arms at
evening parade, a boy entered the barrack yard, leading
in his hand a horse and gig, both of which were familiar,
to every one present. The boy walked up to the com-
manding officer and handed him a note, which he read
with evident astonishment. This, of course, increased
the curiosity of the rest, who gathered round their
colonel, while our two chap-fallen heroes slank away,
and took refuge in their own quarters. The colonel
was desired to read aloud. He did so; and then, the
boy being questioned, the whole secret came out.
Amid shouts of laughter from the audience to which
he addressed himself, the urchin imitated Brennan's
style of telling the story, and then, not without some
substantial marks of the officer's favour, he was per-
mitted to withdraw. It is scarcely necessary to add,
that the two worthies who, carrying arms, forgot at the
moment of trial to make use of them, never showed
themselves again in the ranks of the militia.
10 THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
Brennan's career, though, a very remarkable one,
could scarce, in the nature of things, terminate other-
wise than in his own destruction. Mauy a narrow
escape he made, many a feat of daring and activity he
performed; but, in the end, accident proved more fatal
to him than all the designs and projects of his pursuers.
It happened, one day, that a gentleman riding along
the high road, observed two men creep through a gap
in one of the hedges, and disappear on the other side.
He instantly conceived the notion that they might be
Brennan and his ally, the pedler; so he hurried off to
Lord Caher, and told both what he knew and what he
conjectured. His lordship's eagerness to effect the
capture of the bandit had not abated a jot; and, think-
ing it highly probable that his informant's suspicion
might be well founded, he gave orders for a detachment
of the 11th to mount their horses, and directed, at the
same time, the Sligo militia to march with all haste,-
and, extending their files, to surround the spot. For
within this hedge, through which the mysterious
strangers had been seen to pass, was a new house, as
yet incomplete, with a stack or two of furze cut down
and piled up for fuel; and his lordship justly concluded,
that if he could make of these the centre of a circle, of
which the radii should be respectively half a mile in
length, he might pretty surely count on picking up
every living thing that might have established itself,
either by accident or design, within the circumference
of that circle.
I well remember that I formed one of the mounted
detachment, which performed the service of which I
am now speaking, and the strange excitement of the
chase I shall never, till my dying day, forget. The
militia marched as they were directed, and, extending
their files, soon placed the unfinished domicile, with
its appurtenances, within a cordon. This was gradually
narrowed, while our mounted men kept a look-out in
the rear, and made ready to start off in desperate pur-
suit, should the game be sprung, and trust to speed of
foot for escape. By-and-by the infantry closed upon
the house, searched it through, and found it empty; it
may be imagined there was an expression of blank
astonishment in every face, till one of our men sud-
denly exclaimed, " You haven't examined the chimney;
THE EIGHT DKAG00N.
11
you may depend upon it you'll find him there." It
was no sooner said than done; for the speaker sprang
from his horse, ran inside, poked his head up the
kitchen chimney, and in an instant withdrew it again.
It Was well for him that he did so, for almost simul-
taneously with his backward leap, came the report of a
pistol, the ball from which struck the hearth without
wounding anybody. It is impossible for me to describe
the scene that followed. Nobody cared to get below
the robber; nobody fancied that it would be possible
to get above him; and threats and smooth speeches
were soon shown to be alike unavailing to draw him
from his hiding-place. But the marvel of the adven-
ture did not stop there. While a crowd of us were
gathered about the house, some shouting on Brennan
to surrender, others firing at the top of the chimney, a
sort of salute which the robber did not hesitate to
answer,—one of the Sligo men suddenly called out
from the rear, that he had pricked a man with his
bayonet among the gorse. In an instant search was
made, and sure enough there lay Brennan himself, on
his back in a narrow ditch, with a brace of pistols close
beside his feet, of which, however, he did not judge it
expedient to make use. He was instantly seized, dis-
armed, and put in charge of a sufficient guard; while
the remainder of us addressed ourselves to the capture
of his companion, concerning whom we could not for
an instant doubt that he was Hogan.
When Brennan gave himself up, he did so with a
singularly mild and serene aspect. There was no ex-
pression of ferocity in his countenance; no look which
could be understood to imply, either bitter agony be-
cause of the fate which had overtaken him, or a despe-
rate resolution to sell his life at the highest. His
whole bearing, on the contrary, was that of a man
perfectly reconciled to his fate; not, indeed, very
hopeful, yet far from desperate; and, therefore, little
disposed to shed either his own or any other person's
blood unnecessarily. Hogan, on the contrary, re-
sembled one of the wild beasts which, in Norway, or
some of the other countries where battues are carried
on upon a scale more magnificent than in England, the
hunters contrive to hem within their toils, seeking to
capture him alive rather than kill him; for Hogan
12 THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
would not listen to any proposal of surrender. He
mounted, on the contrary, to the very edge of the
chimney, making of its brickwork a sort of parapet to
protect him from our bullets, and fired pistol after
pistol, till his ammunition became exhausted, and he was
forced, with extreme reluctance, to descend. " In the
name of common sense," said Lord Caher, " why did
you offer such a useless resistance ? You knew all the
while that you must be taken at last; why, then, wan-
ionly put your own and other men's lives in jeopardy ?"
But Hogan would not condescend to reply. He drew
up his tall muscular figure to the utmost, and looking
disdainfully upon the throng that surrounded him, he
continued silent.
Brennan and Hogan were placed each on the croup
of a horseman's saddle, and in this manner, under a
sufficient escort, were conveyed to the watch-house in
Caher. It seemed to me that Hogan evinced manifest
tokens of satisfaction, as soon as he ascertained that he
stood not alone in misfortune; a strange disposition,
jet the reverse of uncommon, and indicative of no
extraordinary ferocity on the part of him who is swayed
by it. But however this may be, the prisoners rode
on contentedly enough, and were in due time safely
lodged in their narrow quarters.
It seemed, however, that neither the inconveniences
attached to the cell, nor their anticipation of the fate
that was before them, had any power to work mis-
chievously upon their humour. How Hogan conducted
himself, I cannot so decidedly describe; but of Brennan,
it is fresh in my recollection, that he was throughout
singularly cheerful and confiding. He told us many
stories of his own narrow escapes. He pointed out
several of our men who had more than once been in
pursuit of him, and whose lives, he declared, had over
and over again been in his hands, though a sense of
what was right would not permit him to take them.
" Why should I shoot you?" was the tenour of his
appeal. " I have been a soldier in my day, and know
that a soldier must obey whatever orders he may
receive. No, no—I should have the guilt of Cain on
my soul, had any one of your regiment died by my
hands; and yet more than once you had well nigh
THE LIGHT DEAGOON.
13
forced me to the extremity." Then he would launch
out in praise of his favourite mare, whose death he
deplored as the severest calamity that ever befel him,
and invariably wound up by expressing his conviction,
that after all he would never be hanged. " There is
no proof against me," was his argument. "There's
nobody to swear that by me he was ever wronged; and
were the fact different, I am sure that the people will
not permit me to be put to death." In tins respect,
however, Brennan had deceived himself; for the law,
when it puts forth its might, is, even in Ireland,
stronger than the mere will or caprice of a mob.
Having been detained in the guard-room of Caher all
night, the prisoners were removed next day to Clonmel,
where, in due time, the assizes came on, and they were
put upon their trial. Many charges were brought
against both, and especially against Brennan; yet the
robber was so far in the right, that nobody could bo
persuaded to swear to his identity. At length a
quaker, whose carriage had been robbed near Fermoy,
mounted the witness-box, and went so far as to declare
a belief, that he saw in Brennan the individual who
had stopped it. He would not, indeed, assert posi-
tively that the case was so—he only believed that
Brennan was the man. On this evidence, not very
explicit, we must allow, yet without doubt the best
which could, under the circumstances, be procured,
Brennan was found guilty; and both he and Hogan,
who, on some such evidence was in like manner con-
victed, received sentence of death. How shall I de-
scribe the scene that followed ? Multitudes from all
parts of the surrounding country, and from the dis-
tance, in some instances, of fifty miles from the town,
had flocked in to witness the trial; and now that their
idol was doomed to die, their grief and consternation
exceeded all conceivable bounds. Bearded men wept
in the court-house like children. There were groans,
deep and bitter, rising from every quarter; and more
than one, especially among the women, fainted away,
and was carried out. Meanwhile the troops, antici-
pating an attempt at rescue, stood to their arms, and
the whole night long the streets were patroled; but no
disturbance took place. After indulging for an hour
u
THE LIGHT DRIGOON*
or two in useless howling, the crowd melted away, and
loHg before midnight a profound calm pervaded every
corner of the town.
At last the terrible day of execution arrived, and
Brennan, with his associate, being placed in an open
cart, passed, about half-past nine in the morning, under
a strong military escort, beneath the arched gateway of
the gaol. Again had formidable preparations been made
to meet and repel violence, should any be offered: but
again the thunder-cloud dispersed, without any outburst
of its fury. The crowd, to be sure, was prodigious; but
what can a mere crowd attempt, or hope to accomplish,
.against even a handful of disciplined and well-armed sol-
diers? and where, as happened to be the case that day,
the soldiers are numerous, then must even the thought of
resistance be scouted. Not a hand was raised in defence
of the prisoners during all the progress from the prison to
the gallows, and round the gallows the multitudes that
.assembled stood, if not mute, at all events motionless.
It was curious at the time to mark the difference of
character that showed itself in the bearings of the two
men. Brennan gazed cheerfully round him all the
while he was in the cart, and recognising in the crowd
several of his friends, perhaps followers, he nodded and
smiled to them gaily. Hogan, on the contrary, though
equally self-collected, was far more reserved, for he
never bestowed upon any of the throng one mark of
recognition, nor once addressed a word to his fellow-
sufferer. Yea, and after the cords had been adjusted,
and the unhappy men stood waiting for the signal which
should carry the vehicle from beneath, and leave them
to die between earth and heaven,—even then Hogan
turned aside with undisguised contempt and loathing,
from the hand which his associate offered to his pres-
sure; and wrapping himself up in his own thoughts,
sternly and resolutely prepared for the issue. It was
not long of coming. At a given signal the cart drove
away, and amid yells, more loud and terrible than men
ever utter, except in the Emerald Isle, the souls of
these two noted malefactors were wrenched from their
bodies. I must not, however, forget to mention, that
the two renowned highwaymen suffered not alone. A
young man, found guilty of forcibly carrying away a
girl from her home and the protection of her parents,
the light dragoon. 15
■was the same day executed in pursuance of his sen-
tence; and he chose to die in a garb which excited not
only our surprise, hut our ridicule. He came to be
hanged in a garment of white flannel, made tight to
the shape, and ornamented in all directions with knots
of blue ribbon, rather more befitting a harlequin on the
stage, than a wretched culprit whose life had become
forfeit to the offended laws.
CHAPTEE II.
Service in Ireland, and Embarkation for Portugal.
Throughout the whole period of my sojourn in Tip-
perary, amounting to not less than seven months, the
peace of the county was disturbed, and men's lives put
in continual jeopardy, by the prevalence of party feuds,
far more desperate in their nature than any with which
the present generation seems to be familiar. There
were two factions in particular, the Shanavests and
Caravats, who waged one upon the other an unceasing
war of extermination. Every day brought to our
quarters the report of some murder or horrid personal
outrage—every night made known to us that some act
of incendiarism had been perpetrated. Highway rob-
bery, too, was very frequent, insomuch that the mail
never passed from point to point except under an escort
of dragoons; while smuggling was carried on to such a
degree, that the trade of the licensed distiller brought
him no returns. A melancholy time of it had we under
such circumstances. What with constant demands to
protect a gentleman's house, or calls upon us to assist
in extinguishing the flames that had been applied to it;
what with escorts to protect the mail, parties to put
down a still, patrols to keep the roads safe, and guards
to preserve the peace at different fairs, neither we nor
our horses knew what it was to have four-aud-twenty
hours on which we could count, as disposable for pur-
poses—I do not say of relaxation, but—of ordinary
regimental or common duty. Our entire life was one
of alarms, excursions, and disappointments: for I can-
not deny, that we became in the end extremely irritated
16 THE LIGHT DBAG00N.
towards the people whose misconduct thus harassed us;
and, as a necessary consequence, were deeply mortified
as often as we failed in making prisoners of the wretches
whose violations of the law broke in so often upon our
repose.
Among the various painful duties which then en-
gaged me, there is not one on which I now look back
with more unmixed abhorrence than the operation of
still-hunting. There was no hour of the night or day
at which we could consider ourselves free from the
chance of being roused and sent forth, we knew not
whither, under the guidance of an excise officer. Un-
less my memory mislead me, too, these demands upon
our activity came with much greater frequency during
the night than when the sun was shining; while winter
seemed to be the season when the smuggler chiefly plied
his trade, doubtless with the laudable desire of render-
ing our researches aMongthe mountains as little agree-
able to us as possible. How often have I been roused
from my warm bed, required to saddle and mount my
horse amid pitchy darkness, and sent forth, I could not
tell in what direction, to achieve a conquest over an
iron pot and a tin worm! Ay, and what is more, the
conquest, contemptible as in the ear of the civilian it
may sound, was not always achieved. It is marvellous
with what accuracy the distillers received information
of our movements—often when we flattered ourselves
that we were least open to the eye of scrutiny. Over
and over again, I have ridden long miles through the
mountain passes, my horse floundering in the snow, or
tripping over pits and holes, to the imminent risk both
of my neck and his own; and after all, when we reached
the spot where the seizure was to have been effected,
we found nothing save the traces of an extinguished
fire, and two or three peasants, who never omitted to
laugh at us. In like manner, the duties of escorting
the mail were by no means agreeable. Amid thickets,
or in the ditches, parties of armed men would lie, who
would sometimes kill both men and horses with their
fire, while for us to search for them, except through the
medium of our carbines, was impossible.
It is not, however, because of these annoyances alone
that my recollection of service in Ireland is anything
but agreeable to myself, or creditable to the temper of
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
17
tlie people. I admit that provisions were cheap, that
whiskey was abundant, ana that I never saw an indi-
vidual Irishman of a temper, which may not deserve to
be described as generous, and hospitable, and open.
But as a people they were perfect savages, not merely
in their mode of dealing with those against whom they
entertained a feud, but against persons in whose society
they set out with professing to take delight, and with
whom they got drunk in all the glee imaginable. The-
case, for example, was not unfrequent of a party com-
ing into a public-house to drink, carousing together in
perfect good humour till their senses became confused,
and then quarrelling vehemently, they could not tell
why. Forthwith came into play, poker, shovel, tongs,
benches, and knivesj till many a time the floor of the
tap-room swam with blood, and of the, persons fre-
quenting it not a few were borne off grievously, some-
times mortally, wounded. Then their fairs and wakes
were invariably of such a nature, that troops were sent
to observe them, and to hinder the commission of all
manner of violence. Yet even this precaution was not
invariably found to avail. I remember, for example,,
that not far from the town in which we were quartered,,
an event befel, of which even now it is not easy to1
write without a shudder. There had been a funeral,
which, coming from some remote corner in the country,
was attended by a score or two of ragged peasants, all
of whom followed the corpse, howling as is their wont,
and nowise insensible to the stimulating influence of
strong drink. The mourners having deposited their de-
ceased friend in his grave, adjournea, as a matter of
course, to the whiskey-shop, where they pledged his
memory in as many draughts as the state of their
finances would allow. Having exhausted these, and
thoroughly inflamed themselves, they set out to return
home; and well would it have been had they followed
up this resolution, without looking either to the right
hand or to the left.
The persons who carried the corpse to its grave,
belonged to one or other of the rival factions, I cannot
tell which. That, however, is a matter of no moment,
for both were alike ferocious, and either would have
been guilty in this particular instance of the horrible
crimes of which I am about to make mention. Having
B
18 THE LIGHT DEAG00N.
drunk freely, as has been stated, the mourners set out
to return home, and came, as they proceeded, upon the
house of a respectable farmer, who owed allegiance to
a party hostile to their own. Like madmen, they sprang
within the inclosure, burst open his door, and meeting
the servant girl in the passage, instantly put her to
death. They then rushed into the kitchen, where the
farmer and his wife were seated—an aged couple—from
whom no molestation could be apprehended: them they
pierced with many wounds; after which, they slew the
cows in the stall, the horses in the stable, ana the very
dog and cat that wandered about the premises. In a
word, a more atrocious massacre never was perpetrated,
even in the county of Tipperary, though Tipperary has
in all ages been renowned for the little value which its
inhabitants put either upon their own lives, or on the
lives of other people.
After this account of the duties which were imposed
upon us, and the sort of life which we led while quar-
tered at Clonmel, it will scarcely be wondered at when
I say that the order which one day reached us, to march
forthwith upon Dublin, was by me greeted with un-
qualified satisfaction. The 23rd fight dragoons having
been directed to proceed on foreign service, it became
our business to supply their place; and-this we did early
in the spring of 1809, our respective squadrons meeting,
on more than one occasion, as they moved,—we to the
capital, they towards Cork harbour. We occupied
Dublin for something more than a year; and had the
satisfaction, such as it was, of witnessing there the cele-
bration of the greht Jubilee. I need scarcely add, that
the Jubilee of which I speak commemorated the fiftieth
year of the reign of George III., and was kept up with
extraordinary spirit in all parts of his majesty's do-
minions. I greatly question, however, wh'ether in any
town throughout the empire, more of the external show
of loyalty was exhibited than in Dublin. For three
whole days men exhibited their gladness, first by a
grand review of the troops in St. Stephen's Green;
next by a general illumination; and last of all in a sort
of carnival, where all manner of irregularities were freely
perpetrated, no human being caring to find fault with
them. For example, the streets were thronged both
night and day with minstrels, maskers, and mummers;
THE LIGHT DRAGOON. 19
for whom every door was thrown freely open, and who
were regaled wherever they came with vivres and a
hearty welcome. Neither, as far as I know, was any
advantage taken of such frankness to work evil to the
persons or the property of the individuals who dis-
played it. Yet we had slender reason to congratulate
ourselves that we happened to be present on so ani-
mating an occasion: from four o'clock in the afternoon
of one day, till seven in the following morning, both we
and the Scots Greys were employed to patrol the
streets; one half of the town being intrusted to the
care of the Greys, and the other committed to our
especial keeping. We all did our duty, without doubt;
yet we heartily rejoiced when the gaieties came to an
end, and we were permitted to return to the ordinary
occupation of our lives.
So passed the year 1809, of which my general recol-
lections amount to this, and no more—that if not posi-
tively an era in my existence, it has left no stamp of
extreme misery on my soul. Still there was very little
mourning in the corps when the arrival of the 7th
Hussars set us free, and we embarked, in the same
transports which brought them into the Liffey, for
Holyhead. There we landed in safety: a pleasant
march of twenty-two days carried us to Weymouth,
where the head-quarters of the regiment being esta-
blished, detachments went abroad to various outr
stations, of which Farnham and Porchester were two.
At the latter of these posts I found myself, with twenty
of my comrades, the charge being committed to us of
keeping guard over French prisoners, who, to the
number of 7000 at the least, were cooped up within the
walls of the castle.
Whatever grounds of boasting may belong to us as a
nation—and I am the last man in the world to think of
diminishing their number, I am afraid that our mode of
dealing with the prisoners taken from the French
during the war scarcely deserves to be classed among
them. Absolute cruelties were never, I believe, per-
petrated on those unfortunate beings; neither, as far as
1 know, were they, on any pretence whatever, stinted
in the allowance of food awarded to them. But, in
other respects, they fared hardly enough. Their sleep-
ing apartments, for instance, were very much crowded.
20
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
Pew paroles were extended to them, (it is past dispute,
that when the parole was obtained, they were, without
distinction of rank, apt to make a bad use of it,) while
their pay was calculated on a scale as near to the line
of starvation as could in any measure correspond with
our national renown for humanity. On the other hand,
every possible encouragement was given to the exercise
of ingenuity among the prisoners themselves, by the
throwing open of the castle yard once or twice a week,
when their wares were exhibited for sale, amid numerous
groups of jugglers, tumblers, and musicians, all of whom
followed their respective callings, if not invariably with
skill, always with most praiseworthy perseverance.
Moreover, the ingenuity of the captives taught them
how, on these occasions, i ' ' 11 1 ' 1 11
shows, and Punch's opera.
Bull's good humour was sure to be called into play.
Then followed numerous purchases, particularly on the
part of the country people, of bone and ivory nicknacks,
fabricated invariably with a common penknife, yet
always neat, and not unfrequently elegant. Nor must
I forget to mention the daily market, which the
peasantry, particularly the women, were in the habit of
attending, and which usually gave scope for the exchange
of Jean Crapaud's manufactures for Nancy's eggs, or
Joan's milk, or home-baked loaf. This, though it took
place at an early hour in the morning, was day after
day an interesting spectacle to us, who, not seeking to
pry beyond the mere surface of things, were apt to quit
the castle-yard with a notion, that, after all, the pri-
soners had no great cause to be dissatisfied with their
lot.
A prisoner, however, is always dissatisfied with his
lot—how, indeed, can he be otherwise ? and we at Por-
Chester, like others employed on a similar duty else-
w here, were in due time taught the truth of this axiom.
It happened one night, that a sentry, whose post lay
outside the walls of the old castle, was startled by a
sound as of a hammer driven against the earth beneath
his feet. The man stopped, listened, and was more and
more convinced, that neither his fears nor his imagina-
tion had misled him; so he reported the circumstance
to the serjeant, who next visited his post, and left him
manner of trinkets were
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
21
to take in the matter such steps as might be expedient.
The Serjeant, as in duty bound, haying first ascertained
that the man spoke truly, made his report to the cap-
tain on duty, who immediately doubled the sentry at
the indicated spot, and gave strict orders, that should
so much as one French prisoner be seen making his way
beyond the castle walls, he should be shot without
mercy. Then was the whole of the guard got under
arms; then were beacons fired in various quarters ;
while far and near, from Portsmouth not less than from
the cantonments, more close at hand, bodies of troops
marched upon Porchester. Among others came the
general of the district, bringing with him a detachment
of sappers and miners—by whom all the floors of the
several bed-rooms were tried, and who soon brought
the matter home to those engaged in it. ,Indeed, one
man, at last, was taken in the gallery which he was
seeking to enlarge; his only instrument being a spike
nail wherewith to labour.
The plot thus detected was a very extensive, and
must, if carried through, have proved a desperate one
to both parties. For weeks previous to the discovery
the prisoners, it appeared, had been at work, and from
not fewer than seven rooms, all of them on the ground
floor, they had sunk shafts twelve feet in depth, and
caused them all to meet at one common centre, whence
as many chambers went off. These were driven beyond
the extremity of the outer wall; and one—that of which
the sentry was thus unexpectedly made aware—the in-
genious miners had carried forward with such skill, that
m two days more it would have been in a condition to
be opened. The rubbish, it appeared, which from these
several covered ways they scooped out, was carried about
by the prisoners in their pockets, till they found an
opportunity of scattering it over the surface of the great
square. Yet the desperate men had a great deal more
to encounter than the mere obstacles which the excava-
tion of the castle of Porchester presented. Their first
proceeding, after emerging into upper air, must needs
have been to surprise and overpower the troops that
occupied the barracks immediately contiguous; an
operation of doubtful issue at the best, and not to be
accomplished without a terrible loss of life, certainly on
one side—probably on both. Moreover, when this was
22 THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
done—and that it might, and probably would have been
done, no thinking man will doubt—there remained for
the fugitives the still more arduous task of makingtheir
way through the heart of the garrison town of Ports-
mouth, and seizing a flotilla of boats, should such be
high and dry upon the beach. Yet worse even than
this remained, for both the harbour and the roads were
crowded with ships of war, the gauntlet of whose bat-
teries the deserters must of necessity have run; and out
of which no reasonable man among them could hope to
escape with life,—supposing him to hazard life, rather
than give up all hope or chance of liberty. In all sin-
cerity, then, I am inclined to believe that the detection
of this plot was, to both parties, a merciful arrangement
of Divine Providence, inasmuch as the struggle would
have been desperate, the mortality very great, and, in
all probability, the whole would have resulted in the
recommittal of the survivors of those who began the
fray, to a more rigid confinement than that from which
they sought to escape.
About a month after the occurrence of this, adventure
I got a furlough to visit my friends, with whom I spent
several weeks very agreeably. I then rejoined the
regiment, which had received orders, only the day be-
fore, to prepare for foreign service; and no great while
afterwards it began its march towards the point of em-
barkation. There occurred, during the progress of that
journey, a circumstance which not only distressed me
a good deal at the moment, but in some sort affected
the whole of my subsequent career of life. In my troop
there were two non-commissioned officers—a Serjeant
Waldron and a Corporal Pents—as different in their
tempers and habits one from another as if they did not
belong to the same species. CorporalHents was a very
noble fellow—sober, steady, kind, generous, and open-
hearted. Serjeant Waldron was a cross-grained, ill-
conditioned creature, who delighted in nothing so much
as to annoy the " Johnny Paws the elegant name
which it was his pleasure to bestow upon all who might
have recently joined the regiment. With Corporal
Pents I had early formed an intimate friendship, and
it was the great object of both that we should be placed
on parade as comrades; but the matter, somehow or
another, was not arranged when the order to proceed
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
2a
upon foreign service was promulgated. On the march,
however, we made a point of being as much as possible
together. There was, indeed, but one man between
Rents and myself in the order of files, and him I easily
persuaded to change places with me; so that all the
while we were upon the road, I enjoyed the advantage
of my friend's conversation, as he enjoyed the advantage
of mine. Nevertheless, we were not long permitted to
proceed thus unmolested; Serjeant Waldron took little
pleasure in our discussions, inasmuch as they partook
in no respect of the ribald and loose converse which in
those days, at least, was too much in fashion among
soldiers : and he marked his disapprobation of our tone,
by ordering me back to my proper place in the line of
march. Like a young soldier as I was, I ventured to
remonstrate, saying that I merely wanted to chat a
little with the corporal, and would get into my place
whenever a halt should be ordered. At this he became
very savage, and repeating his order, desired that I
would not presume to call tie wisdom of it in question.
"Now, Serjeant," said I, very foolishly, "what differ-
ence can it make to you whether I or your own proper
covering file ride next you?" "What!" said he, in a
rage, " do you still refuse to obey ?" And so saying, he
clapped spurs to his horse, and rode off in search of the
officer. In a moment a lieutenant of our troop—a very
austere man, whose name it is not worth while to men-
tion,—returned with the Serjeant, and, not waiting to
hear a word that I might say, desired me to take my
proper station in the column, and to be put down for
the baggage guard when the march should end. I was
excessively indignant at this; but what could I do ?
At first I determined not to take this extra guard, to
merit which I had done nothing; but a little calm re-
flection convinced me of the folly of such a resolution,
and I made up my mind that it would be best for me to
submit with patience to whatever load my superiors
might impose.
I took my proper place in the line of march, and at
the close of the movement, received notice that at ten
o'clock it would be my turn to mount sentry under the
market-place. Meanwhile, I adjourned with my com-
rades to the quarters which had been assigned us, and,
drinking freely with them, never thought of stirring till
24
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
the clock had struck ten. Then, however, I jumped up,
paid my reckoning, and ran off to the market-place,
which, being close at hand, I must have reached within
.a minute or two of the time appointed for my appear-
ance there. A corporal was in command, greatly re-
sembling, in his habits and temper, my friend Serjeant
Waldron. " Are you aware," said he, " how late it is?
You are a full half hour behind your time, and I have
put another man in your place as sentry. I shall con-
fine you, and make a report of the circumstance to the
captain in the morning. You are drunk, sir, as well as
late."
It was to no purpose that I assured the corporal of
my absolute innocence of the offence with which he
last charged me; and protested that the clock had just
struck ten in the quarter whither I had been sent. He
would not listen to me for a moment, but, putting me
under arrest, stated the case, doubtless in terms as
strong as he could find, to the captain. I was at this
time a very young soldier—neither, from the hour of
my enlistment, had I ever been confined before; so the
disgrace sat heavily upon me, and I fretted over it.
But no important evil arose, at least directly, out of it.
The following morning I took my place in the ranks,
which I was permitted to retain all the way to Honi-
ton, and from which, it is right to add, I was never,
after all, removed. "While we 1 11 ' 1 1
were destined to carry us to the seat of war, the cap-
tain sent for me, and severely reprimanded me for the
crimes of which I was charged with being guilty. He
■said that he was not only vexed but surprised to hear
such things of me, whom he had taught himself to con-
sider as one of the most sober men in the troop; and
he charged me, as I hoped for encouragement, and de-
sired not to incur its opposite, never to be found in so
■disgraceful a situation again. Hard, hard was the task
of gulping all this down, while my own conscience told
me that the charges were quite groundless; yet I felt
at the moment that to deny them would be profitless—
so I put the padlock on my soul, and remained silent.
I earnestly advise all young soldiers first of all to win
the good opinion of their captain, and then, at every
sacrifice of immediate gratification, to preserve it. The
ever, waiting for the transports
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
25
•captain lias everything in his power, both to promote
and to retard the soldier's advancement; and if you
once get into his black books, it will cost you many a
day of anxiety, and a considerable display of luck in
your favour, to get out of them again.
I remember that about this time I received a very
acceptable present from home, in the shape of various
articles that would be useful during the voyage, as well
as some money and tobacco, which I freely divided
with my comrades, and for which they were very
grateful. This was hardly done, when we proceeded
to Plymouth, where the ships were fitted up and lying
to receive us; but of their state of preparation we could
very little avail ourselves, inasmuch as the wind was,
and long continued to be, adverse. Under these cir-
cumstances, it was a sort of privilege to me, that,
having for my comrade a young man intimately ac-
quainted with the mysteries of boatmanship, 1 was
joined to him, and had it in charge to execute the
officers' commissions, as well as to purchase vegetables
daily for the men in the same transport. I recollect,
too, that the doctor having taken his passage on board
of our ship, was, by my comrade and myself, pulled,
day after day, round the different vessels among which
our people were distributed; and that our excursions
were not always unfruitful, at least in the accession of
creature comforts. But this order of things was
happily not destined to last for ever. The wind shifted
in due time, and an enormous fleet, amounting, on a
moderate computation, to not less than one hundred
sail of all sizes and descriptions, hauled in their anchors
at a given signal, and, under a very slender convoy,
put to sea.
Generally speaking, there is not much in the voyage
from England to the seat of war, which, in the life of
a soldier, deserves to be recorded. In my own par-
ticular case, however, the rule can scarce be said to
have held good; for, first, having on a certain occasion
towed a dead horse ashore, I was one of a boat's crew
that with difficulty regained the ship again; and next,
my old enemy, Serjeant Waldron, put me to a very
great strait. It happened one day that he saw me
playing with my comrades on the forecastle, and that,
being in a singularly bad humour, he ordered me below
26 THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
to look after the horses. I told him that I had done
that duty the day previously: yet he would take no
refusal, and affecting once more to regard me as a
mutineer, he desired that I would remain below till he
should give me leave to show myself upon deck. As a
matter of course I obeyed, though the old hands pitied
me much, and protested that had the dispute occurred
with one of them, they would have carried it through
very differently. Still I went to the stables, and abode
there three whole days, and emerged again into upper
air only when it became manifest, both to myself and
others, that my health would suffer from longer con-
finement. A very angry man was Serjeant Waldron,
when his eye encountered mine near the mainmast.
He swore vehemently against my outrageous be-
haviour, would have forced me below again, had not
the rest of the men openly withstood him, and ended
by hurrying off to the officer in command, and making
a highly-coloured report of the whole proceeding. It is
not to be wondered at if the officer should have adopted
the Serjeant's view of the case, he being an old man
and I a young one; or that, being assured of my tur-
bulent and mutinous disposition, he should have con-
sented to punish me next day by the infliction of a
picketing. But, though Serjeant "Waldron got all things
ready, my comrades sustained me with the assurance
that they would not permit the slightest wrong to be
put upon me; and their good will fortunately attained
its object, without bringing any individual of the num-
ber into'jeopardy. It chanced that a smart gale came
on that night, so that in the morning, when the parade
was formed, the ship rolled heavily, and the serjeant
going to call the officer, found him deadly sick. With
the utmost difficulty he was persuaded to rise, but he
never got to the place where the instruments of pun-
ishment were arranged. A heavy sea struck the vessel
—-the officer reeled and fell, and both he and Serjeant
Waldron were in an instant covered with an ointment
less odoriferous by far than that of which Arabia is the
source. Poor fellow! our commandant was very much
ashamed of himself, as well as extremely wroth with
the person who had drawn him into the scrape. He
accused Serjeant Waldron of having occasioned his
disgrace, desired in a pet that the prisoner should be
the light dragoon. 27
set at liberty, and diving once more into bis own cabin,
permitted both the crime with which I stood charged,
and the punishment that had been threatened, to be
forgotten.
CHAPTER III.
Voyage to Lisbon—State of the City—March to the Front—
Wounded Men—Camp at Elvas.
There occurred very little during our passage to Lis-
bon of which it is worth while to take notice, or con-
cerning which it may with truth be said that it differed
in any respect from the ordinary adventures that attend
men during the progress of sea voyages in general.
We had the customary alternations of fair weather and
foul, bringing with them their usual accompaniments
of comfort and its opposite, the whole being summed
up by a seven days' calm, off the cost of Vigo; and, as
that was not the age of steam navigation, the seven
days in question rolled but heavily away. Neither
can it be said that a cruise in the jolly-boat, after an
enormous log of mahogany, which with some labour
we overtook, but were unable to turn to an account,
gave much agreeable variety to the scene. Let me,
then, carry my reader forward to the Tagus, our
entrance into which struck me, as it does every
stranger, with astonishment. I say nothing of the pro-
digious width of the river at its mouth, nor of the
myrtle-clothed hills that greet your eye as you ascend,
for it is on Lisbon itself so soon as it rises, like a queen,
out of the water, that your gaze is with irresistible in-
terest turned. And never, surely, has the young man's
hopes more cruelly differed from the realities of life,
than this fair city differs, as soon as you plant your
foot upon its quays, from what it appeared to be while
yet looked at from a distance.
As seen in the far-off horizon, Lisbon looks like a
city of palaces. The dazzling whiteness of the houses,
which catch and reflect the sun's rays,—the series of
terraces along which they are built, rising, in the fashion
of an amphitheatre, from the river's brink,—the many
spires and towers which adorn its churches,—all these
28 THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
give an air of magnificence to the place, which pre-
pares you to encounter, at every turn, marks, not of
squalor, hut of wealth. How cruelly the result disap-
points you! Walls stuccoed over, with the stucco
crumbling to pieces,—narrow streets, choked up with
filth of the most horrid kind,—miserable wretches
crowding about, as if they lacked not only the inclina-
tion but the physical power to exert themselves,—all
these, with a thousand symptoms beside of indolence
and squalor, and a national character utterly degraded,
left us, on landing, no room to inquire how far our ex-
pectations in reference to the Portuguese capital had
outrun the reality. And yet Lisbon was in perpetual
bustle during that season. Day after day ships arrived,
bringing men, or stores, or munitions of war from Eng-
land. The quays were continually crowded with sol-
diers, sailors, and camp-followers, while the river itself
seemed to support a very forest of masts. Indeed, I
never shall forget the splendour of the panorama on
that day when our little squadron stemmed its strong
current; for we met full in the teeth an enormous fleet,
under convoy of the Caledonia, 110, and did not make
our way through the throng without both giving and
receiving some serious damage.
Black Horse Square will doubtless be familiar to
many who honour these reminiscences with a perusal.
It was there that, according to custom, we brought up;
and there, after time had been given to arrange Our
accoutrements and get our harness in order, the regi-
ment was formed. I was not so fortunate, however, as
to march with my corps ; for a Serjeant's party having
been directed to proceed on foot with the officers' bag-
gage, it became necessary to intrust their horses to tne
care of some of their comrades, and my old friend, Ser-
jeant Waldron, doubtless to show that I was not for-
gotten, committed to me the care of his charger. Now
Serjeant Waldron was an extremely careless man. He
had tossed his saddle, bridle, &c., he did not know
where, on first embarking, and it took so much time to
find them, that long before I was in a condition to
move, the last of the horse-party had departed. More-
over, when I did find them, they, or rather the saddle,
was in a deplorable condition; for it had got into the
horse's crib, and he, of course, had not spared it in any
THE LIGHT DEAG00N.
29
way. With, some difficulty, however, I fastened it upon
his back, and, mounting my own, began, with the ser-
jeant's charger in my nana, to thread my way in the
best manner I coulcl towards Belem. But such a
journeyI The horses being young and skittish from
long confinement, pranced and kicked so that I could
scarcely command them; and more than once the saddle
011 which I sat turned, through my inability to sit
straight. I question, indeed, whether I should have
reached my destination at all, but for the kindness of
an English soldier who happened to come up just as,
for the sixth tbne, my saddle had gone round and com-
pelled me to dismount; and he volunteering to hold
the Serjeant's, I was enabled so to adjust my own beast
that all his pranks proved insufficient, from that time,
to incommode me in my seat. Then, following the
guidance of my friendly comrade, I pushed on; and,
finally, to my extreme delight, found myself delivered
from a hateful office, and once more in comparative
comfort, because restored to my regimental duty.
I am not going to swell these pages by describing
matters of which, a thousand accounts, more or less ac-
curate, have appeared already. Lisbon was to me what
it seems to have been to my countrymen in general—a
scene of very little enjoyment; for though the climate
is delicious, and fruit and wine are abundant, the man-
ners of the inhabitants were, and I doubt not still are,
pre-eminently disgusting. Of the lower classes I am
bound to state, that they are at once the most indolent
and filthy portion of the human race with which I have
ever formed an acquaintance. With the exception of
a peculiar tribe, called Galegos, who are not, by-the-by,
Portuguese, but Spaniards, there does not seem to be
anywhere the smallest disposition to industry among
them. The consequence is, that these Galegos, though
despised and shunned by their townsmen in general,
are by far the best-dressed and healthiest-looking peo-
pie in the city; and, as always occurs in such cases,
they are likewise the most civil and the best informed.
In like manner, the women appear to entertain very
indefinite notions as to the duties which devolve upon
mothers and sisters in families. They have no idea of
keeping their habitations tidy, but move about among
the filth, which both within doors and without sur-
30 THE LIGHT DEAGOON.
rounds them, as if the atmosphere produced by it were
not only familiar, but agreeable. But woe to the indi-
vidual, whether male or female, who ventures to walk
the streets by night. Unless he be sheltered by an
umbrella, not even a progress along the crown of the
causeway will save him; lor the good folks of Edin-
burgh are lame in the art, compared with the Lisboners
■—who discharge their vessels without even a " garde-
loo," and seldom miss their mark, provided there be a
living thing beneath to aim at.
1ST obody can have visited Lisbon without being struck
with the frequency and magnitude of the religious pro-
cessions which are there conducted. Of these, there-
fore, I need not take notice. But there was another
ceremony—in its purpose, without doubt, humane and
excellent, though in its results of doubtful utility—of
which I am bound to make mention, jl was struck one
day with the sight of a string of eight or ten cars, each
drawn by four fat oxen, before and after which went a
crowd of persons, some well-dressed, others very much
the reverse, among whom went sundry monks, bearing
baskets in their hands, which they held up to the doors
and windows of the better sort of houses as they passed.
Into these the charitable threw loaves of bread, and
other victuals, the whole of which being laid up in the
cars, are transported, by-and-by, to one of the churches.
There the monks mix the whole into caldrons, and con-
vert them, with other ingredients, into soup ; for which
dense crowds of ragged and miserable looking wretches
wait eagerly at the doors. I found, upon inquiry, that
the process went on—I do not exactly remember how
often—but at stated intervals; and that the multitudes
who looked to this precarious source for a large share
Of their subsistence were very great.
Of the dresses of the women, both high and low, why
should I make mention ? Wrapped up in their loose
cloaks or mantillos, the former walk only to church,
with faces so covered that a pair of bright black eyes
are alone to be seen, and feet and ankles of excellent
symmetry. Each of these is followed at a respectful
distance by an aged attendant, or duenna. Wnereas
the poorer sort walk alone in a mantle, formed ire-
quently of scarlet cloth, with black velvet trimmings,
long sleeves, and white handkerchiefs about their heads.
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
31
Long black veils are likewise much worn, chiefly by
respectable tradesmen's wives and daughters—who,
not unattended by their duennas, pass to and fro with-
out scruple in the dirty streets—and from the merry
becks and nods which these girls cast upon you as you
pass, you are apt, if a stranger, to form but an in-
different opinion of their virtue. But in this you are
quite mistaken. The Portuguese women are naturally
frank and good-natured; so that a bearing which among
us would tell against a young woman on the score of
immodesty, is among them the common method of
marking their good will towards the party saluted.
I have spoken of Lisbon as being, at that time, a
scene of perpetual bustle and great confusion. The
arrival of fresh troops, and the departure of men unfit
for service, were i " "1 1 1-1
the beach we beheld multitudes of unhappy women,
who, not having been permitted to follow their hus-
bands to the front, were waiting till their respective
turns came, that they might return home. Of these
all interrogated eagerly each new-comer from the seat
of war, as he arrived; though their inquiries seldom
referred to others than the individuals on whom they
respectively depended. Poor creatures, it made my
heart bleed to listen to the shrieks of some, when told
that their > husbands were killed; and to the sad low
moaning of others, to whom the vague reply was given,
that the party appealed to was incapable of satisfying
their wishes. And then to hear them deplore their
wretched fate—that they had not been able to follow
the one human being to whom they were attached—that
they must go back to a country where nobody cared
for or knew them. I declare that, though little given
to the melting mood, I have often been obliged to hurry
away, lest my feelings should quite overpower me in
the very middle of the throng.
One anecdote more I crave permission to transcribe,
ere I pass on to other and more stirring matters. It
will not, I dare say, be forgotten by any who visited
Lisbon in 1810, that the river was night and day
crowded with country boats, the owners of which made
a harvest by landing passengers from the ships as they
came in, and would not make way for the ships' boats,
sadder spectacle
32
THE LIGHT DBAGOOEV
which, oil the contrary, they obstructed. It chanced,
on a certain occasion, that an officer, charged with im-
portant despatches, endeavoured in a man-of-war's
boat, to make good his landing at Belem Slips. The
Portuguese watermen, as usual, blocked up the pas-
sage, and neither his threats nor his entreaties, nor the
assurance that he was proceeding on urgent duty, could
prevail upon them to give way. At last he stood up,
and called upon one of these people, who had placed
himself directly between the boat and the shore, to
move aside. The man insolently refused, and, grasping
a boat-hook, made signs that he would resist the further
advance of the Englishman by force. The officer lost
all patience at this, and, drawing a pistol, shot the man
dead on the instant. There was no delay after this in
opening for him a passage. To the right and left the
panic-struck boatmen drew aside, and he landing, pro-
ceeded on foot, unmolested to the place of his destina-
tion. But though the watermen were too cowardly to
resent the death of their companion when it occurred,
they made a prodigious fuss about it immediately after-
wards. The corpse was carried in procession, unwashed,
and in the dress in which it fell, through all the streets
of the city; and money was collected from every passer
by, in order to defray the expenses of the funeral. I
never heard that any consequences more serious than
this arose out of an affair which, in almost any other town
in Europe, must have produced a bitter feud between the
strangers and the natives. At the same time it is but
fair to add, that there is no reliance to be placed either
on the forbearance or the generosity of a Portuguese.
If you happen to offend him, and a convenient oppor-
tunity offer, he will thrust his knife into your body
without scruple; and where the odds in number are
much against you, the sooner you take to your heels
the better.
After a sojourn of ten days in the capital of Portugal,
we received orders to march to the front; and went
forward on our way in the highest possible spirits, and
full of anticipations of glory and enjoyment. "VYe
crossed the Tagus in open boats, to a place called Aldea
Golegas, and proceeded thence to Estremadura. There
a furious thunder-storm overtook us, with rain so in-
cessant and heavy, that in an incredibly short space of
THE LIGHT DBAGOOH.
33
time the whole town became inundated; the water
running in the streets a depth of a foot at the least, and
sweeping into the cellars, where most of the poorer
people dwelt, with the fury of a river. Our condition
was, of course, cheerless enough, yet we bore it without
murmuring, and would have been truly thankful, so
early as the following day, to take it back in exchange
for that which then befel us ; for at the village where
we halted there arrived on cars, about 700 wounded
men from Albuera, whose plight was as pitiable—I
might have used a stronger expression, and said hor-
rible—as it is easy for the human imagination to con-
ceive. No doubt they had received, when first taken
in hand by the surgeons, all the care which the nature
of their condition would allow. But they had performed
since that period a long journey, through a barren
country, and under a broiling sun—and their wounds
remaining undressed all this while, were now in such a
state as to defy description.
There was no* lack of willingness on our parts to
assist them. "We soon cleared out the best houses in
the place; spread straw, and, where we could find it,
linen, for them on the floors, and gave ourselves up to
the business of cleansing their hurts, the smell pro-
ceeding from "which was fearful. Over and over again
we were forced to quit the miserable patients in a hurry,
and run out into the open air, in order to save ourselves
from fainting; while they, poor fellows, reproached usr
with a degree of bitterness which none of us cared,
even in thought, to resent for a moment. I need
scarcely add that among that mutilated crowd there
One pair of wretches I particularly remember, an Irish-
man and a Frenchman, who travelled in the same car,
both of whom had lost their legs—not partially, but
entirely—and who yet ceased not to abuse and revile
one another from morning till night. It was melan-
choly to hear them railing, in their respective tongues
and threatening one another in a manner strikingly
characteristic of the two nations. Paddy doubled his
fist from time to time, and shook it at Jean Crapot,.
while Jean would put his hand towards his left side, as
much as to say, "Would that there were a sword irv
mine hand, for then would I slay thee."
c
34
the light dbagoon.
We did our duty faithfully by our mutilated country-
men; so faithfully, indeed, that weeks passed away ere
I was able entirely to overcome the effect which the
distressing occupation had produced upon me. I could
neither eat nor sleep, for everything seemed to be tainted
with effluvia from those cankered wounds, and my
dreams were all such as to make sleep a burden. For-
tunately for us, however, we were not long condemned to
the torture; for war must be fed for ever with new
victims, and we turned our backs upon those already
smitten, on the morning after we had met them. Our next
stage was Elvas, where, in a beautiful olive-plantation,
we formed our camp ; and beyond which we were not
destined, at least for a time, to proceed. Moreover, as
if fate had determined to console us in some sort for
the distressing rencounter of the preceding day, we met
this morning, while on the march, about 500 French
prisoners; who, under an escort of Portuguese, were
proceeding to the depot at Lisbon, and ultimately to
the hulks. Poor fellows, we pitied them too; for the
Portuguese ceased not to insult and abuse them—
flourishing their swords over the captives' heads, and
heaping all manner of offensive epithets upon them.
-Beyond this, however, they did not venture to go, be-
cause, by this time, English discipline was, in some
■measure, established in the Portuguese army; and
English discipline, as well as English feeling, sanctions
•no act of cruelty towards a discomfited foeman.
CHAPTEE IV.
The Light Dragcon and his Horse—The Guerillas—A Battle
and its Results.
Of Elvas and its beauties, including the fertile plain
out of which it rises, the noble aqueduct which brings
its supplies of water from the neighbouring mountains,
and the forts by which it is commanded, I have nothing
to tell which has not been told at least a hundred times
already. Moreover, mere description is, in my opinion,
of very little use in such cases; for things which appeal
to the outward senses, must by the senses alone be ex-
THE LIGHT DEAG00H.
35
amined—that is, if the party curious concerning them
be indeed desirous of having his curiosity gratified.
Besides, were it otherwise, I am no master of the art of
description. Mine was a humble, albeit a somewhat
varied career, to detail which alone I have been induced
to take up the pen; and so, leaving the description of
Elvas to those more competent, in their own estimation,
to deal with it, I pass at once to the details of a private
dragoon's life, as that is spent in the immediate presence
of an enemy.
I am induced to think that the change from home
service to real campaigning is much more striking, as
well as far more difficult to realize, in the case of the
light horseman, than in that of the infantry soldier.
The infantry soldier finds himself, it is true, deprived,
when he takes the field, of his comfortable barrack-room;
while his provisions, instead of being served out daily,
and by measure, may fall short from time to time, or
utterly disappear. 'Then, again, he mounts guard.—not
over a stout brick building, which nobody dreams of
assailing—but in the open fields, where all his wits must
be about him, in order to prevent an active enemy from
passing his fine, cutting him and his picket off, and
bringing ruin on the army. In every other respect,
however, his life is pretty much what it ever was. He
must keep his arms and accoutrements clean, himself
tidy, attend parades, perform marches, and fight battles
as often as to his own leader, or to the leader of the ad-
verse host, a battle may be desirable. But, except in
the matter of fighting, he must do all this at home like-
wise; and if his bed be often the wet ground, and his
canopy the lowering sky, why there is no help for it;
he must make the most of them. The light horseman,
on the contrary, has not only his own wants, but those
of his charger, to attend to; and the difference to the
horse in the sort of life which on service he is required
to lead, is infinitely greater than the difference to his
rider—supposing both to have been reared in England.
In Portugal, for example, we had Indian corn served
out as forage, which our horses would not taste, and
which we could not get them to taste till we tried the
experiment of soaking: moreover, we had to seek their
litter where we could find it, to cut for them green
meat, and train them to sleep picketed and in the open
35
•THE LIGHT DRAGOON".
air, under which not a few broke down; and to bestow
-upon them in general a much larger portion of our care
than we had ever been taught, in the process of home
duty, to consider requisite. In like manner, it was
new to us to go on picket, and to sit on horses as
videttes, for two horns on a stretch. It was equally
new to our horses to have their saddles and housings
fastened on for twenty-four hours together, and to
receive their food with the bits hanging at their chests,
and everything prepared for action at a moment's
notice. I do not mean to say, that where men's feelings
or imaginations are interested, all this is not very
delightful; on the contrary, there springs up between
the rider and his horse a companionship, to which there
is no parallel in any one of the many varied connexions
which human life in its progress enables us to form;
and such companionship is always pleasant, whether
the cord binds us to a brute, or to our fellow-man. But
some imagination is requisite in order to carry us into
this train of feeling; and hence you invariably find,
that in the light cavalry, at least, your imaginative
people make the best soldiers. Moreover, as the light
cavalry are always employed, wherever the nature of
the country will allow, at outposts, both men and horses
are forced to acquire habits of vigilance, such as, to be
rightly understood, must have been both witnessed and
experienced. The cavalry soldier sleeps, like his
charger, with one eye and one ear always open. Both
must be quick to perceive the first flash of a carbine, or
the first blast of the trumpet; and both must be in a
condition to take their places in the ranks, within a
minute or two after the alarm is given.
Then again, patrolling, which is an especial duty,
puts the metal both of men and horses to the test.
You must move forward as if you had a hundred eyes :
you must be cool and collected, and prepared for every
conceivable adventure. Neither hedges nor ditches
must offer insuperable obstacles to your progress,
whether you be required to take ground to the front
or rear; and you must be quite as ready and as willing
to gallop off, when to convey intelligence is your busi-
ness, as to fight with carbine or sword, where you are
desired to delay an enemy's progress. In a word, both
the light dragoon and his horse are called upon, as soon
THE LIGHT DEAGOON.
37
as they take their station in the front of an army, to
acquire, as if by intuition, new ideas on every subject;
for, except in the formation of column or line, and the
art of breaking up into order of march, and closing
into squadrons again, the home drill—at least in 1809
and 1810—had not taught us much of our real duty.
The light horseman who lays himself out to become
a useful member of his profession, is sure to succeed.
He will first of all devote himself to his horse; and
then his horse, as if grateful for the kindness shown,
will do for him in return innumerable services. Thus,
during a night march, when the dragoon, overcome by
fatigue, drops asleep, the faithful animal will slacken his
pace, or sway from side to side, in order to prevent his
master from falling. In like manner, if they be passing
in the dark through broken and dangerous ground, the
horse will often refuse to obey either spur or rein;
his superior instinct directing him to avoid the perils
into which the ignorance or over-anxiety of his master
was about to hurry them. Moreover, the horse knows
his master's voice; it eats out of his palm, lowers its
head for the well-known caress, and licks his hand like
a dog in acknowledgment. And when it comes to this,
let not the light dragoon be afraid to trust his charger
in everything. If they be the attacking party, his
horse will carry him bravely on; if it be necessary to
fly, there is no fence which he will refuse, or which,
unless it actually exceed his physical powers to sur-
mount, he will not by some means either overleap or
scramble through.
I was always fond of a good horse; and no sooner
became aware of the necessity for exertion that was
imposed upon me, than I gave up my undivided care
and attention to the noble animal which I rode. He
was young, but full of spirit; and though like the rest
he soon fell away in flesh, I had the happiness to see,
from the condition of his coat, and the spirit and
alacrity which on all occasions characterized him, that
his health was excellent; there was plenty of muscle
and bone in him, with a fair portion of blood, so that
set us to what work they would, I always got well
through it. It was not so with many of my comrades;
not a few of whom seemed to regard their horses as
incumbrances, always except at the moment when the
38 THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
value of tlie horse was most felt, and when, of course,,
theirs, in nine cases out of ten, failed them. Let me
not, however, be understood as applying this reproof to
a majority, nor, indeed, to any large number of the men
of the 11th; on the contrary, it was only among the
drunkards, and other bad characters, that this indif-
ference to the animal, on whose efficiency their own de-
pended, displayed itself; and such men, place them in
what situation you might, would have been sure to dis-
grace themselves. Stm I think that there were few who
took so much pains with their horses as I did; and
that I lost nothing by the superior knowledge in groom-
ing which this fondness for my own beast gave me,
will be abundantly shown, as the reader goes on with
my narrative.
We had occupied our encampment some time, taking
our turns in outpost duty, and occasionally skirmishing
with the enemy, when there arrived at our lines one
day a body of persons, whose uncouth appearance, and
strangely anomalous equipment, excited in us to the full
as much of wonder as admiration. They were guerillas,
or armed peasants, whom the French not unaptly de-
scribe as brigands; of whom some had once been re-
gular soldiers belonging to the broken armies of Spain,
while others were petty farmers, or the sons of farmers,
chiefly from the mountains of Estremadura. Of the
composition of these corps, enough has been said in
other quarters to convey to the minds of my country-
men in general a tolerably accurate acquaintance with
the subject. Created partly by the war, partly by the
smuggling habits of the people, the guerillas did here
and there excellent service, by attacking convoys, ha-
rassing columns in their march, and cutting oflf detach-
ments which were either numerically weak, or separated
themselves too much from the corps on which they de-
pended. As was to be expected, I found, on becoming
more familiar with the Spaniards, that there was no
end to the tales of daring and of cruelty of which one
or two of the guerilla chiefs had been the hero. More-
over, it must not be supposed that when I speak of the
guerilla chiefs, I allude only to Such men as Mina, Don
Julian de Sanchez, or such like. Every town and vil-
lage in Spain had its regular chieftain, whose exploits
the youths and maidens loved to recount; and who, in
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
the eyes of his admiring neighbours, was of infinitely
more use in clearing the Peninsula of its invaders than
Lord Wellington and all his generals put together.
Neither was it an unusual thing to find a priest at the
head of his own band, of whom, by-the-by, it is as-
serted, that if they were the most courageous—of which
there seems to be little doubt—they were likewise the
most merciless of all who waged war, not as soldiers,
but as robbers. I heard it said, that about Iran, and
other frontier towns, the inhabitants used to keep a re-
gular account of the strength of the different French
corps as they entered Spain, as well as of the convoys
of sick and wounded, which were told off to quit it;
and that on the information derived from this source,
the guerillas were accustomed to act in almost all the
most successful of the enterprizes which gave a cha-
racter of its own to the late Spanish war.
Our friends the guerillas did not long abide among
us, whose method of waging war accorded very little
either with their habits or their "wishes. They sought
for plunder, and liked it the better when they won it at
the cost of a great many lives to the enemy. We faced
the French squadrons fairly in the field, and never
dreamed of molesting them, unless some important
operation should be in progress. It came out, how-
ever, in due course of time, that the French were not
yet disposed to act on so lofty a principle: and, indeed,
though we were the sufferers, I cannot find in my heart
seriously to blame them. The circumstances of the case
were these:—
While we lay in the vicinity of Elvas, the enemy be-
gan to show in and around Badajos a large force, of
which a considerable portion were horsemen. It was
our business to watch them; and as the 11th, with a
detachment from the 3rd German Hussars, constituted
the entire amount of cavalry then on the spot, our vigi-
lance, as well as hardihood, was more than once put
sharply to the trial. For the most part we came pretty
well out of these affairs; but, in the end, the troop of
which I was a member suffered all but annihilation. It
happened that, when we were on picket, a trooper be-
longing to the Germans deserted to the enemy; and
carrying with him accurate information relative both to
our position and our strength, enabled them, without
40
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
hazard, to arrange a plan for cutting us off. They
inarched, after nightfall, with the greater part of their
cavalry,—threw a strong body into a wood on our ex-
treme right,—and, keeping it there concealed, made
their appearance at dawn in our front, with a force
greatly superior indeed to ours in point of numbers, yet
nowise so formidable as to justify us in our own eyes
were we to flee before them. Accordingly, a smart
skirmish began, which lasted without intermission three
hours, and the excitement of which hindered us from
paying any particular attention to what was going on
all the while in our rear. At last, however, some of us
chancing to look back, beheld a formidable line drawn
out, in such order as to bar our way completely, were
we to think of retreating upon the regiment;—for the
left of the line rested upon a river, and the right leaned
upon the wood from which the whole had, during the
progress of our affair, emerged. It is marvellous how
slow men generally are to perceive that they have got
into a scrape. "We never for a moment supposed that
these were Frenchmen; we took it for granted that
they were Portuguese, brought up, we did not care to
inquire from what quarter, but placed where they were,
manifestly for our support. On, therefore, we went
with our amusement, till the enemy in our front sud-
denly called in their skirmishers, and with four squa-
drons advanced to charge. We were quite incapable of
making head against such disparity of numbers: so we
gave ground, section after section, turning to check the
advance, and still keeping up a warm skirmishing fire
as opportunity offered. " Retire upon the Portuguese,
men," exclaimed the captain; " when they perceive
that we are overpowered, they will advance ; and then,
ho! for another push at these rascals."
We did retire upon what we believed to be Portu-
guese ; neither did we discover our mistake till some-
-thing less than a hundred yards of ground divided us ;
and then what was to be done ? The odds were out of
all calculation; yet we were nowise disposed to be
taken ; so, at the captain's orders, we closed our files,
and rode right at them. Never were men so entirely
oonfounded. It was clear that they expected nothing
of the sort; for they sat still, looking us in the face, and
never made a movement to meet us. The consequence
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
41
was, that coming upon tliem at speed, with, all the
weight and activity of our more powerful horses, we
literally knocked them down like nine pins. Over they
went, the horse and rider rolling on the ground ; while
we, cutting and slashing as we rode, broke through.
But, alas! for us, there was a second line behind the
first, which behaved differently. W e in our turn were
charged, and the battle became, in a few seconds, a
mere affair of swords, where there was no room to move
either to the front or the rear. The result could not
be doubtful for five minutes. Outnumbered and
hemmed in, we were almost to a man cut off. Eight
were killed on the spot, twenty were wounded, and
sixty-three good soldiers, on the whole, lost to the
service. The only man, indeed, who escaped to tell the
tale, was one of our officers, who, being particularly well
mounted, made a dash at the enemy's line, and laying
about him, opened a way for himself, though not till he
had received a severe wound in the shoulder.
In the course of that melee, many feats of gallantry
were performed; indeed, the enemy's loss in killed and
wounded was far greater than ours, inasmuch as not
fewer than fifty, belonging to the latter class, were
brought to the hospital of which we became inmates.
But there was one man in particular, who died so nobly
that I feel myself bound, as an act of justice to his
memory, to speak of him. His name was Wilson. In
temper and disposition, he was the quietest and most
inoffensive creature in the troop ; who never had a
cross word with any one, nor ever, as far as I could
perceive, was put even slightly out of his way. Nothing
could induce Wilson to lose his temper—nothing put
him into a hurry; whatever he did was done as if the
doer were a piece of clock-work, and the matter to be
arranged something which could not possibly miscarry.
Wilson was, besides, remarkably sober: he never drank
even his allowance to an end. But, if he did not drink,
he ate with a voracity which I have seldom seen
equalled. Bread was his favourite food; and before
his single pair of jaws whole loaves would disappear, as
often as he succeeded in laying hand upon them. But
Wilson's career, both of fighting and eating, was
destined this day to end ; and he fell thus :—•
I saw him engaged hand to hand with a French dra-
42 THE LIGHT DEAGOOH.
goon; I saw him—for I was by this time disabled by a
. severe wound, and stretched at length beside others of
my suffering comrades—give and receive more than one
pass, with equal still and courage. Just then, a French
officer, stooping over the body of one of his wounded
countrymen, who dropped at the instant on his horse's
neck, delivered a thrust at poor Harry Wilson's body—
and delivered it effectually. I firmly believe that Wil-
son died on the instant: yet, though he felt the sword
in its progress, he, with characteristic self-command,
kept his eye still on the enemy in his front; and, rais-
ing himself in his stirrups, let fall upon the French-
man's helmet such a blow, that brass and skull parted
before it, and the man's head was cloven asunder to the
chin. It was the most tremendous blow I ever saw
struck; and both he who gave, and his opponent who
received it, dropped dead together. The brass helmet
was afterwards examined by order of the French officer,
who, as well as myself, was astonished at the exploit;
and the cut was found to be as clean as if the sword had
gone through a turnip, not so much as a dent being left
on either side of it.
The fighting was now over, and there began a scene,
of which I cannot think without blushing for the chivalry
of our adversaries. Hot content with taking our horses
and arms, or even the purses and watches of such as
possessed them, they proceeded to strip us of our
jackets, boots, and even of our overalls ; apparently bent,
as it seemed to me, on leaving us nothing whereby we
might be distinguished as British soldiers. I do not
know how far the system might have been carried, had
not our captain, who spoke French fluently, remon-
strated with the officer in command; upon which an
order was given to put a stop to the plunder; and to
most of us our jackets, at least, were restored. But of
watches, money, and boots, no account was taken; and
we were marched off, some of us in a very sorry plight,
to the rear.
The wounds inflicted in this trifling affair were all
very ghastly. Being inflicted entirely with the sword,
and falling, at least among the French, chiefly upon the
head and face, the appearance presented by these man-
gled wretches was hideous; neither were we, though in
almost every instance pierced through, one whit more
THE LIGHT DEAG00N.
43
presentable. It is worthy of remark, that the Trench
cavalry, in nine cases out of ten, make use of the point,
whereas we strike with the edge, which is, in my humble
opinion, far more effective. But, however this may be,
of one fact I am quite sure, that as.far as appearances
can be said to operate in rendering men timid, or the
reverse, the wounded among the French were much
more revolting than the wounded among ourselves. It
is but candid to add, that the proportion of severely
wounded was pretty equal on both sides; indeed, I sus-
pect that there was a greater number of our people
than of the enemy, whom it was found necessary to
transport to the hospital by slinging them over the
backs of horses.
I was somewhat surprised at the moment, and I con-
fess that the feeling has scarce left me yet, that the
French should have been permitted to carry off a
whole troop of dragoons, in the face of a corps, with
infantry and cavalry at least strong enough to inter-
rupt them in the operation. I dare say, however, that
the reasons which dictated so much supineness to the
lookers-on were adequate,—at least, I am bound to sup-
pose so; but, be this as it may, we were, after the
fashion which I have just described, carried off under
the noses of our reserves; the whole of which had
turned out, and now stood quietly to observe the issue.
We did not go, however, without misfortune having
wrought its accustomed changes in the moral positions
of those who partook in it. When I was lying wounded,
for example, near the spot where the captain stood, (a
lucky accident for me, by the way, inasmuch as it saved
ine from undergoing the same process of plunder with
the rest,) I saw not far from me my old enemy, Ser-
jeant Waldron, covered with his own blood, and so dis-
figured that, till he spoke, I could not recognise him.
He knew me, however, and calling me by name, be-
sought me to lift him up. I plead guilty to the crime
of having allowed the remembrance of ancient wrongs
to come across me even then; and, in the height of my
indignation, I answered him with an oath, and told him
that I would have nothing to say to him. But my
better feeling gained the mastery immediately after-
wards; and I was in the act of moving towards him,
when a number of the enemy pushed in between us,
44
the light dragoon.
and I was hindered from fulfilling my intention. He
recovered from his wounds, and died the following year
at Brian^on, in France. My friend, the corporal, too,
who reported me on the march, fell in this skirmish.
He was endeavouring to force his way through the
interval between two French squadrons, when one of
the enemy's officers, perceiving his intention, thrust at
him with his sword, which entering under one ear, and
coming out at the other, killed him on the spot.
Finally, it may not be out of place to record, that the
lieutenant, who, to say the least of it, showed me no
great kindness, lost his arm. Thus, the only three
men in the corps who I found austere, suffered in this
affair, from which, with the exception of a severe wound
in my sword-arm, I escaped unhurt.
CHAPTER Y.
A March, long but not agreeable.
Our destination was Badajos, into which we had no
sooner entered than we were all interrogated respecting
our names, ages, and length of service; and the answers
which we gave being entered in a sort of register-book,
we were forthwith dismissed to our respective destina-
tions. The wounded had an option between the hos-
pital and the prison; and, strange to say, many pre-
ferred the latter, partly, I suspect, because they had
no great faith in either the skill or the tenderness of
French attendants, partly because they preferred the
society and companionship of their countrymen to
that of foreigners. I was among the number of those
who foolishly preferred the prison; and great and last-
ing reasons 1 had to repent of it; for in the hospital we
should have had at least regular dressing for our hurts;
whereas in prison we could only apply to each other's
wounds portions of chewed tobacco. To me the conse-
quence was, that my wound healed too fast upon the
surface, and skinning over ere a cure had been effected
at the bottom, it soon suppurated, and broke out again.
I need not assure those to whom such subjects are
familiar, that a wound which breaks out after havng
THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
45
been once ostensibly cnred, is always a thousand times
more troublesome than at the beginning. For a full
month after mine took this turn, I despaired of saying
the arm; and I am indebted for it at this moment chiefly,
I believe, to a good constitution, into the vigour of
which no excesses of any kind had made an inroad.
During our stay at Badajos we suffered a good deal,
by reason, not only of the indifferent nature, but of the
scanty allowance, of the provisions issued out to us.
Each man received, per diem, four ounces of bad goat's
flesh, with six ounces of black bread; but neither wine
nor vegetables were served out; and as to salt, we never
knew that such an article had existence. I believe,
however, that in point of feeding we were not by many
degrees worse treated than the French themselves, who
could derive no supplies at all from the surrounding
country, and into whose magazines time had already
made grievous inroads. Indeed, it was melancholy to
see the whole face of the surrounding country in flames;
for the Spaniards, aware that they would not be able to
reap the corn for themselves, set it on fire as soon as
it approached to ripeness, in order that the enemy might
not be benefited by it.
Our sojourn in Badajos was brief—only four days;
at the termination of which we set out, on foot, for
Merida. We suffered, as may be imagined, terribly
during that march; for, besides that several of us were
wounded, cavalry soldiers are but little accustomed to
pedestrian excursions, and the heat was quite over-
whelming. Our lieutenant, indeed, (for there was no
distinction made in the treatment of officers from that
awarded to privates,) became at last so weak that he
fainted. Still, there was neither time given to rest, nor
horse, nor mule, nor vehicle of any kind furnished for
his conveyance. The French guard brought him to by
shaking; and he was forced, at the bayonet's point, to
struggle on—the captain supporting him as well as he
could, till we reached a halting-place.
It was a miserable, ruined village, without inhabi-
tants, or provisions, or accommodation of any kind;
and into one of the dilapidated huts we were uncere-
moniously thrust. We were all famishing; for no
food had been issued ere we quitted Badajos, and
nothing of the sort was to be had here; yet we had
46 the light dragoon.
endeavoured to provide against the extremity, too, by
gathering vetches on the road side as we passed along.
Neither were the means of dressing them wanting,
inasmuch as I had exchanged my boots with a French
soldier for a cooking kettle and a pair of shoes; and
the vetches being duly boiled, we endeavoured to make
a meal upon them, but none of us could eat them:
they were so bitter that our gorges rose, and we threw
them away in despair.
The next morning, by break of day, the drum called
us from our lairs; and a morsel of black bread having
been handed to each, we fell in, and the march began.
It was neither so long nor so fatiguing as that of
yesterday ; and it ended at a solitary shed,—a sort of
long room, in which the farmer, whose house stood a
little way off, seemed to have been accustomed to store
his oil, for there were a good many large jars in one
corner, all of them empty. Into two of these a couple
of our men crept during the night, so cleverly, that the
fact of their having done so was unknown even between
themselves; and as we did not discover their absence
till we had performed a good portion of a day's journey,
they were fortunate enough to make good their escape.
The third day brought us to Merida, which we
■entered by crossing a long bridge, built, I believe, by
the JRomans, and still used in the common traffic of
the town. We were halted in the market-place, where
crowds, both of the inhabitants and of French soldiers,
immediately surrounded us. The former expressed
great commiseration for our fate; the latter gloried in
our capture, and were not backward in saluting us
with such epithets as marked a feeling for us both of
hatred and contempt. But they did us no serious
injury: and as we were permitted to halt here a day,
our jaded limbs gathered a good deal of refreshment
from the indulgence. On, however, we went at last,
towards Madrid, changing our escort every third or
fourth day, and leaving behind us one or more of our
comrades at almost every hospital which we reached.
Among others, a Portuguese major had on one occa-
sion the charge of us,—a deserter, as I need scarcely
add, from the ranks of his own army; and if, in some
respects, he appeared inclined to show us kindness, in
others he cost us a prodigious deal of unnecessary
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
47
trouble. Moreover, bis was tbe only command which
gave birth to anything like an adventure. It was this:
We were not far from Truxillo, when groups of
strange-looking men, that kept hovering about our
flanks and in our front, caused an alarm. They were
all mounted; but either because they considered our
convoy too strong to be attacked, or that they wished
to draw us deeper into a wild and uninhabited country,
they held, for a time, so far aloof, that none of us
could quite determine what their occupation might be.
We—that is, we English prisoners—believed, because
we hoped, that they were guerillas; whereas the major,
though manifestly ill at ease, scouted the idea. But
he was not destined to remain very long under a mis-
taken impression. The numbers of the stragglers in-
creased: they halted on the road before us, and,
spreading off to the right and left, bore down in a sort
of irregular line.
The major no sooner saw this, than he detached a
portion of his mounted force to oppose them. The
cavaliers soon met, and forthwith a fire of carbines and
pistols left us no roo ' 1 1 ' 11 ' 11 "
entirely on the courage with which they might push
the enterprise. A council of war was promptly held
among the English; and we agreed that, as soon as
the affair should grow warm and close, we would rush
upon the dismounted guard, which observed us, seize
their arms, and give assistance to the guerillas. I do not
know how far our intentions might have been divined
by the major, for he appeared all this time in a state of
the most pitiable alarm; yet he gave his orders with
perfect propriety; and when in our rear a fire was
likewise opened, he detached people in that direction
also to sustain the guard. Then began a scene of
awful confusion. We were a large convoy: there
might be perhaps sixty laden mules, besides cars of
various descriptions filled with goods; while our escort
consisted of at least three hundred men, of whom
upwards of one hundred were cavalry. But corps of
even three hundred Frenchmen entertained the greatest
dread of the guerillas, and the muleteers and attendants
went very far beyond them in the exhibition of their
terror. In a moment, the latter began to cut away the
rauders were around
48
THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
baggage, and to prepare for a more rapid flight on the
backs of the mules. The cars, too, were in various
instances emptied, and the bullocks goaded into a trot;
while the parties both in front and rear gathered
strength every minute, and the noise of the strife
waxed vehement. It was then that the major halted,
and seeing us collect into groups, advanced towards us.
He used no threats; probably he guessed that we
Englishmen were not likely to be swayed by them;
but he implored us for our own sakes, and for his, to
he down upon the ground and keep quiet. We did as
he desired, by no means relinquishing our own pur-
pose, of which the execution, by the way, seemed
every moment to become more easy; for the guards,
like their commander, took fright, and crept in among
us, as it seemed, for protection. But, alas! for the
realization of our hopes, the guerillas, as usual, fought
for booty, not for honour. They appeared, also, to be
perfectly well acquainted with the nature of the convoy
—even to the particular waggons which contained the
treasure; and these having been abandoned, whether
purposely or not, I cannot say, they gathered tound
them in a crowd, and advanced no further.
I have no language in which to describe our morti-
fication, when we saw the Spaniards turn the waggons
on the road, and drive them to the rear. The French,
on the contrary, seemed beside themselves with joy;
while our commandant did not fail to praise us for our
good behaviour, and to assure us that we should by no
means be the losers by it. This was a poor compensa-
tion to us for the loss of our liberty. Yet we had not
advanced half a league, ere we had reason to congratu-
late ourselves on our prudence, inasmuch as there met
us there a battalion, which the officer commanding in
the next town had sent out to meet us. Thus escorted,
we entered Truxillo, every window being crowded with
heads as we passed beneath; and, being marched to
the prison, we were there left for a brief space, to
speculate on the sort of treatment that might be
afforded us.
We had not indulged these anticipations many
minutes, when the Portuguese major paid us a visit, to
renew his expressions of satisfaction at our behaviour
during the attack of the guerillas, and to promise us
THE LIGHT DRAGOON,
49
the indulgence of a day's rest as our reward. He as-
sured us, likewise, that care would he taken to supply
US with an abundance of provisions : and he was as
good as his word; for, in as short a space of time as was
necessary to bake the bread, a store of new loaves was
handed in, with an allowance of fresh meat. But the
Portuguese major was not the only person who seemed to
feel for our wants, and to be desirous of relieving them.
As evening closed, a quantity of loaves were thrown in
at our window by the inhabitants, till we soon had
enough to last us, not for the d&y alone, but for a
whole week, supposing the means of transport to have
been accessible. In like manner two live sheep were
given to us early on the following morning, which we lost
no time in slaughtering, with bread more and more abun-
dant, all the gift of the inhabitants; and a fire being
lighted, and the carcasses duly cut up, we counted on
a day of, to us, extreme enjoyment; but in this we
were disappointed. The major, either jealous of the
good will shown to us by the Spaniards; or, which is
not improbable, fearing that an attempt might be made
to rescue us, suddenly revoked his promise of a day's
halt, and ordered the prisoners to be paraded. It was
to no purpose that we protested against such a palpable
breach of an engagement. The major had the power,
and he chose to exercise it; so there remained for us
only to pack up as much of our meat as we could carry,
and to take our accustomed places in the convoy.
Seven long leagues under a burning sun we accom-
plished that day; of which the effects were made ap-
parent in the utter decomposition of our meat. Hot
having any other means of conveying it except sus-
pended in lumps from sticks, it soon began to spoil;
and had become, when we halted, so offensive, that we
were forced to cast it away. Our evening's meal was
therefore made, as usual, upon bread and water.
Heither was there anybody in the miserable hamlet
where we slept who possessed the power, whatever his
inclination might be, to render our fare more nutritious.
On the morrow, however, after traversing the field on
which the battle of Talavera had been fought, we en-
tered Talavera itself,; and again experienced, in a de-
gree more gratifying than ever, the liberality and kind-
ness of the Spaniards. Far be it from me to detract
D
50
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
from tlie excellency of tlie motives which swayed these
generous creatures. I do not for a moment doubt,
that we English, had we come alone, would have been
dealt by exactly as befel, yet it is proper to observe
that we did not come alone. From the different towns
through which we passed, our commandant gathered
together all the Spanish prisoners that were in confine-
ment, of which the number, when we reached Sala-
manca that day, had swelled to 300 at the least. It is
quite possible, therefore, that the inhabitants, com-
miserating their countrymen, extended to us, in like
manner, a share of the feeling,—in which case we were
much the gainers by the misfortune of our fellow-
captives. But, however this maybe, soup, bread, wine,
and fresh hay to lie down upon, were all brought in
ample quantities to the prison; and of the three former
luxuries we partook abundantly, and with extreme
gratefulness. The latter, however, we were not per-
mitted to " ' he jealousy of our com-
stripped and laid ourselves out for a night of sound
sleep, the horrid drum called us to the muster. It was
a cruel outrage this upon our exhausted strength. We
had performed a fair day's journey since morning, and
were ill able to endure the fatigue of a night march;
nevertheless, endure it we did, over six leagues of deep
sand; and then, just as the dawn was beginning to
break, we halted. Not yet, however, was any per-
manent rest afforded to us. The last stages between
Talavera and the capital were, it appeared, peculiarly
dangerous to convoys like ours : and our commandant
was directed, in consequence, to steal a march upon the
Spaniards, of whose intention to deliver us some
rumour had got abroad. Accordingly, at the expira-
tion of two hours we were roused from our beds on the
sand, and commanded to push on; nor did we stop,
even for a moment, till the suburbs of Madrid were
gained.
It was the common practice of the French to show
off their prisoners to the Spaniards, with the greatest
possible ostentation. For this purpose they used to
march us by circuitous routes, an order to carry us
through the larger towns, and always took care to enter
these at an hour when the mass of the inhabitants
mandant
and, just as we had
the light dbagoon.
51
should be abroad. This good custom it was not to be
supposed that they would omit in the capital; and
hence, though we arrived within half a mile of it so
early as three o'clock, we were kept lying by the way-
side till six, the season—especially on a Sunday—when
high and low, rich and poor, are to be found in the
public promenades, or seated at the balconies. Mean-
while, our guards set to work, furbishing up their arms,
washing their faces and hands, and otherwise getting
rid, as far as circumstances would allow, of the stains
and soils of travel; and, finally, when the proper mo-
ment came, we were ordered to take our places.
I never shall forget, as long as I live, the circum-
stances which attended our entry into Madrid. We—
that is, the English—were in a truly pitiable state.
Covered with dust and sweat, ragged, unshaven, and
foot-sore, we made but a sorry appearance, even beside
the escort; and they, be it observed, were not over-
nice in their persons. Yet we were surrounded, so
soon as we passed the gate, by crowds of well-dressed
people, whose very commiseration—and I believe that
most of them pitied us sincerely—became, by reason of
the earnestness with which they pressed forward to
give vent to it, an intolerable burden. For myself, I was
certainly not in a condition to receive gracefully the sa-
lutations of the fair. I had taken off my overalls on the
march, and now stood in a pair of flannel drawers,—
very black, be it observed, and somewhat scanty,—
without shoes or stockings on my lower limbs, and
having the upper part of my person covered by a
helmet and a military jacket. As to my face and beard,
these were what weeks of toil had rendered them.
And yet I was quite unconscious of the ridiculous
figure which I must have presented, till an old woman,
forcing her way through the throng, suddenly caught
me in her arms, and, weeping aloud, covered me, to
my extreme horror, with kisses. It was in vain that I
struggled to shake her off. She held me with so tight
a grasp, that I began to dream of dying by suffocation:
nor could all my efforts succeed in forcing the hands
asunder which she had twined round my neck. Poor
creature! I never could make out why these marks of
affection were shown to me,—whether I resembled her
son, or was to her nothing more than a stranger in dis-
d 2
52
THE LIGHT DEAG00N.
tress,—but that she meant well, the termination of the
adventure sufficiently indicated. Having indulged her
feelings as long as was agreeable to herself, she suffered
me to go, and, slipping a pisetta into my hand, disap-
peared amid the crowd.
The proceedings of this old woman caused me natu-
rally to turn an eye upon my own person, and I confess
that I never felt so ashamed in all my life; for, of the
multitudes who flocked round to gaze, a large propor-
tion were young women, before whom I had little am-
bition to appear in the character of Don Quixote. "Well
pleased, therefore, was I, when the officer, after a
quarter of an hour's halt, gave the word to move on—
and more satisfied still, when the building which had
been set apart as our place of confinement appeared in
view. It was not very inviting, to be sure, in its exte-
rior, yet it promised, at least, to hide us from an in-
quisitive crowd; and I therefore entered,beneath ite
portal with a lighter step than I had as yet planted
since I first turned my back on the position of the
British army.
CHAPTER VI.
Prisoners' Fare, and Spanish Flirtation.
Of all the places of confinement into which I ever was
thrust, this at Madrid was the most horrible. It had
been originally a barn or storehouse; it measured
about twenty feet by ten; and there was no other
opening in it except the folding-doors by which we were
admitted, and which at night were secured upon us.
We found in it several infantry soldiers, belonging
chiefly to the 3rd Buffs; and the state in which they
were may be guessed at when I describe the sort of
furniture with which the prison-house was garnished.
Some trusses of hay there were to lie down upon, not
only worn, from long usage, into powder, but literally
alive with vermin. Then, again, as the upper part of
the cell was used for purposes which I need not par-
ticularize, the stench was horrible, while the squalid
appearance of our countrymen told a tale of very hard
fare, and the general absence of soap and water. With
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
53
respect, again, to our diet, it consisted of the prison
allowance, namely, a pound and half of bread per day,
—not made from wheat, but almost entirely from beans,
and soaked, if we chose it, in cold water.
I have heard a good deal of the harsh treatment
which French prisoners were accustomed to receive in
the hulks at Portsmouth, and in other depots through
Great Britain; but I defy any set of men to suffer
greater hardships than those which were inflicted upon
us during the whole period of our sojourn in this prison
of the Spanish capital.
Our comrades of the Buffs seemed to have been long
enough in confinement to tame down, in some degree,
their spirits to their fate. They lay down, night after
night, on the living straw, and showed no disposition to
refuse us a share of it; but we could not bring ourselves
to follow their example. On the contrary, we swept a
portion of the floor, next to the entrance, as clean as we
could make it; and there, on the hard stones, found
such rest as they were calculated to afford. At the
same time, let me do justice to our captors. They did
not prevent us from walking backwards and forwards,
during the day, on the space in front of our prison,
round which sentries were planted; and, slight as the
indulgence may appear to persons more happily circum-
stanced, by us it was very highly esteemed. I verily
believe, indeed, that but for these promenades, not one-
half of us would have lived to tell how the enemy used
to treat us.
We had occupied our quarters but a few days, when
an officer, evidently of high rank,—for his dress was
richly embroidered, and a numerous staff attended him,
—paid us a visit. I am inclined to suspect that he was
a person more elevated than he wished us to believe:
indeed, I mistake the matter much if I did' not see him,
on a future occasion, enact the part of Majesty itself.
But, however this may be, he read—whether Joseph or
not—a sort of proclamation from a paper, with the pur-
port of which an interpreter who accompanied him
made us acquainted. It was an invitation from the in-
trusive king to join his service. It set forth that he
was in want of volunteers, and especially of men accus-
tomed to the duties of the cavalry; and it gave assurance
of liberal treatment, and promotion, so soon as they
54 THE LIGHT DEAGOON.
should earn «it, to such as might close with the offer.
There was hut one feeling excited amongst us by this
precious document, and we did not scruple to make it
known. The reader was greeted with murmurs and
groans of disapprobation. Indeed, I went so far as to
hiss, a salutation in which I was immediately joined by
my comrades. One would have thought that an officer,
even if he felt disappointed by the result, would at least
have had respect, for the sentiment of honour which
dictated ever so unmannerly a refusal: but it was not
so with the personage before us. He flew into a violent
passion; insisted on being told by whom the hissing
was begun; and threatened, in case we sought to screen
the culprit, that he would inflict a severe punishment
upon the whole. I confess that I was not without
apprehension, lest some of my fellow-prisoners would
betray me; and I own that I expected such an issue
from the infantry,—but I did them injustice,—to a man
they refused to speak. Yet I am sorry to say that, in
another respect, they were not all so true to their
own honour. Two men—one belonging to the buffs,
the other wearing the uniform of the 49th regiment—
stepped out as volunteers for King Joseph's service;
and, being carried away by the still angry officer, visited
us no more.
King Joseph, if indeed it were he, kept his promise
to our hurt. We were shut up in the prison for three
whole days—a terrible punishment, it must be con-
fessed, even if our offence had deserved it. But at the
expiration of that period his wrath appeared to subside,
and we found the Darn-door thrown open, as it used to
be. We did not, of course, fail to take advantage of
the privilege; yet, except to myself, this little promenade
was not the source of any adventure: and mine seems,
at this distance of time, so ridiculous, that I scarcely
know in what terms to describe it. But describe it I
will.
To the right of the prison-door was a street, which
communicated with one of the great squares of the city,
though by what name called, or by what class of per-
sons inhabited, I never had an opportunity to ascertain.
The street in question was entered through an archway,
over which was a suite of apartments, and close beside
it a flight of stone steps, where, during the three weeks
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
55
that I remained in Madrid, I was accustomed to spend
no inconsiderable portion of my time. A corporal of
the 13th Light Dragoons, being, like myself, a prisoner,
contracted for me a great liking, and lent me a book,
which I read with avidity, believing all the while that
its details were authentic. The book was neither more
nor less than Gil Bias ; and it took the faster hold of
my imagination, because I made acquaintance with it,
for the first time, on the spot where many of the hero's
adventures are laid. "With Gil Bias in my hand, then,
I was in the daily practice of repairing to the flight of
stone steps, where I used to sit down, and in following
the fortunes of an imaginary person, cease for some
hours to speculate on what might be my own. My
perseverance in this custom at length attracted the
notice of the people who dwelt in the apartments above
the archway, and more than once I could distinguish
the drapery of a female, who seemed to watch me from
the casement above. Gentle reader, have some mercy
upon a youth, whose head was so full of the stories of
Spanish devotion and Spanish intrigue, that he quite
forgot to take into account the absolute unfitness of his
own bearing to enact, at that moment, the part of a
cavalier. I confess, then, that rags, and filth, and
squalor notwithstanding, I took it into my wise head
that some fair creature, dwelling in that elevated
chamber, had fallen desperately in love with me. How
I hugged the blessed vision to my soul! How brilliant
were the pictures which I drew of her youth, her
beauty, her extreme gentleness, her lofty spirit, and,
dearest and sweetest of all, her absolute devotion to
me! Gil Bias! Gil Bias was a commonplace character
compared with me. I was on the brink of adventures
which would throw all his into the shade. Accordingly,
day after day I repaired to my wonted station, with A
heart so full of its own musings, that if ever I was my-
self in love at all, which is very doubtful, I was in love
then with a being which my own imagination had
created.
Hot a syllable did I breathe of my happy state to
any of my comrades. Even the corporal of the 13th
remained in ignorance of the results to which his book
had largely contributed; indeed, my plan was to be-
come master of my fair prize in the first instance, and
56
THE EIGHT DEAGOON.
then to establish a claim on the gratitude of my country-
men, by making them all, in some sort, partakers in my
good fortune. Far away upon the wings of the wind
my fancy carried me, till I became a Spanish grandee
at the least, and the prison-house was emptied of its in-
habitants. Well, then, day by day, I repaired to my
station, and each time I saw, fluttering behind the
■opened casement, the same feminine robe which had
originally set my heart in a flame.
At length a hand and arm, covered by a long black
glove, were thrust out. They made a sign to me—to
me ! beyond all question ; and when I returned it, by
rising and bowing my head, the hand was instantly
withdrawn. "She is coming," said I to myself; " be
still, silly heart—prithee, beat not so. She is coming,
and I shall require all my energies to carry me well
through the interview." She was coming, sure enough;
for scarcely had I resumed my seat when a door opened
close behind me, and I heard a shrill cracked voice ex-
claim, " Signor Inglese." I turned round instantly—
but conceive my horror. There stood at the doorway a
little old woman, as ugly as it is possible for woman to
be, who held in her hand a bundle of cigars, and offered
them, with a few copper coins, for my acceptance.
Down, down, in an instant, fell the fairy fabric which
for livelong days I had been building.
It was no enamoured senorita that had so often
watched me. I had excited no tender passion in any
bosom, young or old; but was a mere object of charity
to one of the most odious looking hags that ever wore
soiled cap over unkempt locks. I declare that I was
so completely taken aback by the revelation, that I
could not so much as obey the old woman's signal, far
less thank her. However, grandmamma was a good
old lady, and would not be refused. She kept becking
and becking, till at last I moved towards her, when,
thrusting the cigars and coppers simultaneously into
my fist, she muttered something, to which I could make
no reply, and most unceremoniously shut the door in
my face.
It would be idle in me to attempt a delineation of the
feelings which now swayed me. First, there was a
sense of keen mortification, then of the ridiculous,
THE LIGHT DEAGOON.
57
equally keen; and, last of all, a consciousness that I
liad behaved extremely ill to my aged benefactress—
who, albeit she did not bring what I expected, brought
the best which she, doubtless, had to offer. I re-
proaehed myself severely because I had omitted to
thank her ; and, passing from that to a review of my
own situation, I determined not again to put myself in
the way of being mistaken for one who sat to receive
alms. But the most severe ordeal of all yet remained
to go through. Somehow or another, I could not keep
my own qounsel, and, telling the whole story to my
troop-comrade, I got heartily laughed at for my pains.
To do him justice, however, Jack was very merciful in
his mirth; he contented himself with advising me to
return the book, the study of which had proved too
great a trial for my wits, and sharing the cigars with
me, we smoked them out, often pausing to laugh again
at the ludicrous issue of my most romantic day-dream,
ft At last the order arrived for the prisoners to be mus-
tered, and marched with a convoy which was then about
to return into France. Well pleased were we when
this announcement reached us ; for though the term
" French prison" seemed to insure for us an indefinite
period of confinement, our sufferings in Madrid had
been such as to reconcile us even to that prospect, pro-
vided it brought not in its train a renewal of the hard-
ships that were passed. Our arrangements for the
journey, moreover, were very soon made. We had no
baggage to pack, and, as to other matters, with these we
had little concern. Unfortunately for me, however, my
friend, the old woman, having, I presume, got scent of
what was in progress, made me a present of a pair of
rope-shoes, which I, forsooth, imagined would, when
stuffed with cotton, prove peculiarly agreeable to a pair
of stockingless feet. Accordingly, I slung my leather
affairs over my shoulder, and tying on the old damsel's
ropes, placed myself in the line of march, and went on.
But I had not proceeded many miles, ere I discovered
that I had committed a grievous mistake. The cotton
soon got into lumps—the rope wore my skin into blisters;
and I was forced, after enduring indescribable agony,
to throw the old woman's gift away, and return to my
leathers. I have sometimes wondered since, whether
58
THE LIGHT EBAGOON.
the old jade, annoyed at the cold reception which I gave
her, did not fall upon this ungenerous method of aveng-
ing herself.
Our march through Madrid was a very curious one.
About 700 Spanish prisoners having been added to our
force, the procession covered a prodigious extent of
street; for multitudes of Frenchmen took advantage of
the escort which guarded us, and, with their families
and effects, wended their way home. In addition to
these, we had a prodigious number of waggons, all laden
with the plunder of churches, convents, and even of
private dwellings ; while the armed force which guarded
the whole could not fall short of 500 men. But these
were the least remarkable features in the conduct of the
little drama. No attempt being made to clear the
streets, enormous crowds choked them up,—whose
business, almost undisguised, it was to aid their
countrymen in escaping. Thus, from time to time, a
wave of human beings would break in upon the escort,"
with the efflux of which some half-dozen Spanish pri-
soners were sure to be carried off; and as these were
instantly denuded of whatever articles of military cloth-
ing they might happen to wear, and had ordinary
peasants' dresses thrown over them, it was impossible
for the guard, bluster as they might, to recognise and
recapture them. Then, again, holes were here and
there cut in certain brick walls, along which our route
ping through, dis-
less than a third
part of the Spanish prisoners had escaped ; and I have
more than once been surprised at myself, that I did not
attempt, by a similar process, to recover my liberty.
Our progress through the town, and for some little
way after we quitted it, was full of interest; for we
might say with perfect truth that it brought us ac-
quainted with the entire Spanish nation. There, in
their carriages, drawn each by eight or ten mules, went
the proud and indolent hidalgos, their imbecile-looking
countenances exhibiting no expression at all, and them-
selves attracting no marks of respect from their in-
feriors. Here walked the Castilian gentleman, wrapped
up in his ample cloak, with all the dignity of an ancient
Bom an. Close beside him strode the muleteer from
I firmly believe,
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
59
La Mancha, carrying a goad in his hand, and wearing
a sort of kilt made of hide. He was followed by a
group of Andalusians, whose long brown vests, checkered
with blue and red, and their hair tied up in long silken
fillets, gave to them an air and manner peculiarly their
own. With prodigious volubility they were conversing,
while their quick black eyes moved hither and thither,
as if their speech, rapid as it was, could not keep pace
with the flow of their ideas. Then again we encountered
women sitting in the corners of the streets, and dress-
ing food for these strangers. Long lines of mules,
bearing burdens on their backs, and bells at their manes,
to sum up all, the ringing of the church bells, the
strange dialects in which the crowd was speaking, the
swarthy visages of most, the sonorous utterance of all,
gave such complete occupation to the senses, that reason
and imagination both became paralyzed. We had no
time at the moment to compare one idea with another;
nor was it till long after that the full extent of the in-
formation they communicated became, upon reflection,
known to myself.
Before I quit Madrid, and in doing so turn a leaf in
my personal history, I may, perhaps, be pardoned if I
place on record here a little piece of intelligence re-
specting King Joseph's habits and tastes, which I
picked up—I am sure I have forgotten how—on the
spot. Probably the reader is aware that the Spanish
patriots, the more to enlist the prejudices of their coun-
trymen against him, represented Joseph, both in their
writings and their speeches, as personally a deformed
man. He was crooked, they said, and blind of an eye.
How Joseph might not care much about a libel on his
beauty, were his beauty alone affected by it; but know-
ing how much importance his loving subjects attached to
the circumstance, he took every means in his power to
1-1 Jl " 11 With this view he used
attended only by the members of his family. He car-
ried tapers in many processions; and seldom or ever
saw a person, no matter how humble, looking at him,
but he turned round and stared the individual full
He walked the streets
60
THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
in the face. Yet all his care availed not. The Spaniards
derided the notion of his carrying a taper out of
reverence for a religion which they believed that he
had abjured; and, as to his blindness, they persisted,
in spite of all that could be urged to the contrary,
in declaring that it was real. Were the Spaniards sin-
gular in this respect? I suspect not. There is no
arguing against prejudice, be the subject proposed for
discussion what it may; and the conviction of the
people of Madrid that Joseph was a Cyclops, amounted
to a prejudice. Then let not these worthy people be
held at nought in a country where men's greatest boast
it is to think for themselves; and where all have been
taught by experience the truth of the distich—
Convince a man against his will,
You'll find him hut a doubter still.
CHAPTER VII.
How Prisoners are sometimes treated on a March. -
The march of a body of prisoners from one place of
restraint to another cannot be expected to furnish much
matter for description. Our progress, indeed, was
marked throughout by a succession of hardships and
sufferings, even to look back upon which never fails of
exciting in me sensations the reverse of comfortable;
for I hold it to be one of those popular errors which
men mistake for truths—merely because they are eon-
tinually repeated—that the memory of sorrows past
brings present joy. Yet I must not withhold from my
reader a few slight sketches, such as may enable bfm
to form some idea of a condition of life, into which it is
my most earnest hope that he may never, from personal
experience, become initiated.
I have quite forgotten the name of the place to which
our first day's march out of Madrid conducted us; but
I well remember that the journey, from its commence-
ment to its termination, was to me prolific of distress.
In the first place, the sun shone out with an intensity
of heat, such as constitutions worn down with hard fare
and long confinement could ill sustain; while the dust,
rising in clouds from each footstep as it was planted,
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
61
got into our throats and lungs, and well-nigh choked
us. In the next place, my feet, lacerated by the rope
sandals which the old woman had given me, became one
mass of blisters. It was to little purpose that I re-
moved the immediate cause of this evil, after the evil
itself had been fairly incurred; I did not enjoy one
moment's respite from acute pain throughout the whole
of that and the succeeding day. Nor was it from this
cause alone that I suffered. Convoys, such as that of
which I then found myself a member, were accustomed
to halt for an hour or two at noon, in order that the
escort might be refreshed and the prisoners rested; the
former by eating their dinners, the latter by sleeping
on the ground. Like my companions in affliction, I
threw myself down so soon as the long-wished for per-
mission was given, but I could not sleep; on the con-
trary, I lay writhing in agony; and when the order
came to fall in again, I was quite incapable of obey-
ing it.
It happened that just as I was making an abortive
effort to stand upright, a French officer approached,
who, noticing the cause of my weakness, and greatly
commiserating it, desired me to get upon a waggon
laden with wool which stood near. " It belongs to our
convoy," said he, " and will carry you to the end of
this day's journey, at all events. Get up, my poor
fellow, and take your rest."
I thanked him, and, with the help of my comrade,
managed to scramble to the top of the bales—but, un-
fortunately, I went not alone. Two or three of the rest,
seeing how comfortable I had made myself, ascended
the waggon in like manner, and lay down, like me, at
length. But the waggoner had not been consulted as to
the propriety of these arrangements; and we were
soon made to feel that he regarded the matter in a dif-
ferent point of view from ourselves. We were scarcely
settled, when he approached the vehicle, with an expres-
sion of fierce anger in his countenance, and forthwith,
without having spoken a word, he began to belabour us
about the heads and faces with his whip. My com-
rades, more active than I, soon leaped down. For me,
I suffered in silence, for the height of the bales from the
ground was considerable, and the bare thought of jump-
ing upon my bruised feet was agony. I therefore took the
62 THE LIGHT DBAG00N.
blows, which continued to fall in showers upon me, with
all the patience which I could muster, till in the end
they wore me out, and I fainted. I believe that in this
plight I fell from the waggon ; at all events, when I re-
covered my senses, I found myself lying upon the road,
and, on lifting my head, I had the satisfaction to per-
ceive that the convoy was advanced a long way to the
front. What was to be done P I was even less capable
of exertion then than I had been ere the halt took
place. My very comrade, too, had abandoned me, and
the rear-guard were preparing to quit their ground.
Now the rear-guard had already shown, on more than
one occasion, that they were determined not to favour
the escape of any prisoner who should, under the pre-
text of inability to proceed, drop behind the column;
they had shot, without mercy, every straggler whom
they found it impossible to drive before them. What
should I do ?—struggle on, or lie still, with the cer-
tainty of death as my reward? I declare that the
weight of a straw would have turned the scale to either
side that day; for if ever man felt existence to be a
burden, I did. Yet there is an instinct of self-preserva-
tion within, which will not permit us deliberately to
resign life, so long as the chances of saving it appear
to be within our reach. I made a desperate effort to
rise, and succeeded; but as to moving on, that I believe
would have been impossible, had not Providence sent a
means of transport to my relief.
While I tottered, rather than stood, upon my blis-
tered feet, a Spanish coach happened to pass; fastened
beneath the perch of which was a spare pole, projecting
a foot or two from the rear. A rope,, likewise, hung
from the top of the vehicle, as if it bad-been suspended
there for my especial use; this I seized with a desperate
clutch, just as the hinder wheel rolled beyond my sta-
tion. I was swung to the back of the carriage instantly;
and scrambling upon the pole, I made the rope fast
round my middle, and felt that I was secure. Never
has human breast beaten more gratefully than mine
did at that instant; for the coming up of the carriage
seemed to me to have been directed by Heaven for the
preservation of my life. Neither was I indifferent to
the fate of others; for observing, not long afterwards,
that another of our men had fallen, and was, like my-
THE LIGHT DRAGOOJST.
63
self, entirely exhausted, I shouted out to him so soon
as tjie carriage approached the spot where he lay, and
invited him to join me, which, Avith a desperate effort,
he did. I made room for him on the pole. By then
untying the rope, and passing it round our middles,
both were made fast, and we jogged on, uneasily
enough, as the judicious reader will believe, yet Arery
thankful for the blessing, such as it was, which a kind
Providence had thrown in our way.
We had journeyed thus about three English miles,
when the same officer who had advised me to ascend
the waggon rode up. He instantly recognised me, but
not only did not require either of us to descend, but
expressed himself well pleased that I had found a sub-
stitute for the resting-place from which the waggoner
had driven me. Neither did his kindness end there.
The carriage was his own; it contained his wife and
two children, whom he was escorting back into France,
and who carried with them their own provisions, which
they Avere accustomed to cook over-night, and to eat
upon the march. He ordered the driver to stop, rode
up to the coach window, made his lady pour out tAvo
cups of wine, and brought them, with some slices of
bread and sausages, to us. We ate and drank with
grateful hearts, and received from the repast so much
refreshment, that we found ourselves, when occasion
required, fully capable of walking; and the occasion
did present itself somewhat sooner than we could have
wished, for the coachman, to make up for lost time,
drove his horses into a trot, and the end of the pole—
an uneasy seat at the best—was no longer endurable.
We were forced to abandon our position. Never-
theless, we held on by the rope, which dragged us into
a run, during which blisters and bruises were alike dis-
regarded; and we arrived in good time at the yard
within Avhich the rest of the prisoners had been thrust,
not, to all appearance, greatly more distressed than the
strongest of them.
I asked for no portion of my comrades' rations that
night. I was too much exhausted even to eat; but
throwing myself down upon the ground, Avitli a stone
for my pilloAV, I soon fell asleep. At daybreak next
morning we were roused as usual, and the march be-
gan; the guards pushing us forward with very little
64
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
regard either to our comfort, or their own reputation
for humanity. In my own case, however, it seemed as
if the endurance of the preceding day had hardened
me for all that was to follow: for I felt, to my great
surprise, comparatively well, and trudged on—not, in-
deed, at ease, but suffering far less, even from blistered
feet, than many of those around me. Moreover, I ob-
served that the Spaniards, however accustomed they
might be to the burning suns of their own country,
were far less capable of sustaining fatigue than the
English. Eor one of our people that dropped behind,
a score of these unfortunate wretches were knocked
up; and he in the Spanish garb who once gave in,
never found an opportunity to recover. I believe that
this*shoeking practice of shooting their exhausted pri-
soners was resorted to by the French in reprisal of si-
milar atrocities perpetrated upon their countrymen by
the Spaniards. The French themselves, at least, so
accounted for the barbarism ; but, however this may
be, I am sure that no good results arose out of it—in-
asmuch as the mutual antipathies of the two people
became only, from day to day, more confirmed. I re-
gret to be obliged to add, that this day an English pri-
soner suffered the same fate—and yet I had the best
reason for believing that his executioner slew him in
ignorance. The facts were these:—
A soldier of my own regiment, whose clothes had
melted from his back, contrived, somehow or another,
to get possession of a Spanish dress, which he wore
upon the march; and on account of which, as it hap-
pened to be in excellent repair, he became an object of
something like envy to his more destitute companions.
Poor fellow! .his constitution was not by nature so
robust as mine; and he repeatedly declared that, let
come what might, it was impossible for him to proceed
further. We encouraged him as well as we could; we
took it by turns to lend him our arms: but all would
not do. At the foot of an enormous mountain, which
it was necessary to cross, in order to reach the place of
our destination for the night, the pleasant town of
Segovia, he sat down by the way-side, and resigned
himself to his fate. There was not strength enough in
us to carry him. There were neither horses, nor
mules, nor cars for the conveyance of the feeble; we
THE LIGHT DEAG00N.
65
had, therefore, nothing for it hut to commit him to
Grod's keeping, and to march on. But God saw that
this day he had run out the measure of time that was-
allotted to him; and his labours, and his anxieties,
and his hopes, and his fears, were all brought to an end.
It happened that my comrade and I, feeling unusu-
ally fresh, took it into our heads to diverge from the
proper line of march: and making for an elbow of the
mountain, began to climb, under the expectation that
we should thus head the column, and find time to rest
at the summit. We were not deceived in this expecta-
tion; and yet we were both tempted, by and by, to
regret that we yielded to the impulse: for, though we
reached the mountain's brow, and found a luxurious
bank of soft herbage .to recline upon, the spectacle
which met our gaze, as we looked down upon the plain-
beneath, was harrowing in the extreme. The rear-
guard of a convoy, of which prisoners of war form a
part, marches, be it observed, a long way behind the
closing files of the column. I believe that this wide
interval is interposed between them and the captives
for the humane purpose of giving to the feeble among
the latter as good a chance for recovery as may be; but
it does not always succeed. To-day, for example, we
were horrified by observing—far, far away in the dis-
tance—one little column of smoke rise after another,
even when by us no report of musketry could be heard.
But our feelings were not yet entirely harrowed up,,
for we had fixed our eyes in a great measure upon the
spot where our poor comrade was sitting, and we were
resolved to judge, from the fate which should attend
him, of that which we apprehended might have been
awarded to others.
I have no power of language in which to describe
the breathless anxiety with which we watched the
gradual approach of the armed party towards the base
of the mountain. On and on it came,—another and
another little blue column ascending,—and, by and by,
faint and feeble, the sharp ringing in the ear, which
told of a musket or a carbine discharged. Still we
doubted the reality; for, as chance would have it, none
of these things took place anywhere within half-a-mile
of the spot where our comrade was sitting. But our
doubts were not destined to operate for ever.
E
<66
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
" See, Tom! they are approaching," exclaimed I,
grasping my comrade's arm with a convulsive motion.
" Look, look! there is one of them stepping out from
the column; and now he approaches him. See, see I
he stoops over him,—he is going to assist him. Oh!
yes,—they will rise him up. But why does he step
back ?"
Let me draw a yeil oyer what followed. "We saw
the musket levelled—we beheld the flash,—and, long
ere the report reached us, our poor countryman rolled
backwards to the earth.
The convoy reached Segovia, in a chapel at the out-
skirts of which we were halted; and right glad were
we to find, when thrust into the interior, that the floor
was covered with nice clean straw. We lay down,
thanking Heaven for a luxury to which we had long
been strangers; but the time allotted for the enjoyment
of it proved very brief. One of us going to the door,
overheard the sentry talking, to his great surprise, to
another French soldier in English. Our guard, it ap-
peared, had been changed; and we were now under
the charge of a detachment from the Irish brigade, of
which a scoundrel named Smith was at the head. He
was an officer in the service of Napoleon,—a traitor to
his country and his legitimate sovereign; and, like all
such renegades, remarkable for his hatred of the people
whose cause he had abandoned. From what J
to take time by the forelock, and, regardless of our
sufferings, to compass not less than seven leagues more
ere he permitted us to rest for the night.
Now, we had already traversed six leagues, of which
a considerable portion lay over mountains, and the
seven with which we were threatened scarcely dipped
at all into the plain: our horror may therefore be
imagined. Nevertheless, no good result attended our
•effort at remonstrance. To the deputation which we
sent to implore his clemency, he replied in language
which I do not care to repeat, summing up all with this
announcement: "I know that there is a long journey
before you; but I advise you not to think of cutting it
short; for I am a man of my word. No straggling,
between the sentry
uniform, we learned
and his Irish comrade in
that Captain Smith was determined
the eight dbagoon.
67
you scoundrels! remember, I have plenty of ball-
cartridges."
It was useless to remonstrate with one wbose nature
seemed to be cast in so savage a mould; so we packed
up our miserable wallets, took our places in the column,
and at the word of command moved on. With one ex-
ception, this proved to be by far the most distressing
day's march which we accomplished. The road—a
mere track, which led from one hill top to another—
soon cut our wounded feet to pieces. The rain began
to fall; and we, having but our tattered uniforms to
oppose to it, were wet to the skin in half-an-hour.
Moreover, we could not venture, let our necessities be
what they might, to diverge, even for an instant, from
the direct line; for Mr. Smith took more than one
opportunity of repeating his threats; and we learned
from the unfortunate wretches whom he commanded,
that it would give him positive pleasure to carry them
into effect.
I speak of these men as unfortunate wretches, be-
cause I found, upon inquiry, that they were not all
naturalized Frenchmen, the remains of Emmett's and
O'Connor's bands,—out of which, as is well known, the
Irish Brigade had been formed. One, on the contrary,
I recognised as an old acquaintance, who, after having
lived as hostler at the Greyhound in Blandford, had
enlisted in an English regiment, been taken prisoner,
and prevailed upon to take service with the enemy.
This man assured me that there were several in the
corps similarly circumstanced with himself, not one of
whom had put on the French uniform except with a
view to escape, so soon as a convenient opportunity
might occur. But such opportunities the French took
care not to afford. "We dare not go beyond our can-
tonments," he added, "without running the risk of
death upon the spot. For the gendarmes have orders
to shoot us without trial; and we know, from expe-
rience, that they are ready to obey them. If there be
any in your batch that are tempted to adopt this me-
thod of delivering themselves from immediate suffering,
warn them from me that no good will come of it. I
cannot now return to the condition of a prisoner; but,
if I could, it would not be blistered feet, nor yet hard-
e 2
■68
THE LIGHT DEAGOOIT.
ships tenfold more severe than those which you suffer,
that would tempt me again to profess myself a traitor.
Escape if you can, and die in prison if you cannot; but
never take service in the French army."
I trudged on, pondering with painful interest the
words which my old acquaintance had spoken; till,
just as' twilight began to deepen into night, I found
to my inexpressible relief, that the journey of seven
leagues had been accomplished. Not even then, how-
ever, did the ferocity of Mr. Smith cease to display it-
self. Instead of affording us the shelter of some public
building, (for we halted in a town of which I have for-
gotten the name,) he thrust us into a stable-yard, the
soil of which was become, in consequence of the rain, a
heap of mud; and, without straw or litter of any kind
to He down upon, without so much as serving out a
morsel of bread or a draught of water, he told us to
make the best of a lodging which was a great deal too
good for such as we.
Upon the sufferings of that night I shall never cease
to look back except with unmitigated horror. My bed
was the soft earth,—my canopy the stormy sky; yet I
slept,—though, when I woke, it was in a state so be-
numbed and cold, that all power to move hand or foot
was for awhile denied me.
I do not know how I should have recovered strength
enough to stir from my lair, had not a comrade, whose
constitution seemed more hardy than my own, be-
friended me. This man, perceiving that I was quite
chilled, ran to a sort of sutlery, which was not far dis-
tant, and, purchasing a glass of brandy, returned with
it to me. I drank it as a man may be supposed to
drink water, who comes suddenly, in the middle of an
Arabian desert, upon a secret spring. I blessed the
hand likewise, that supphed the medicine, and rose in
five minutes greatly invigorated by it. Yet I made
but a bad march that day. My feet gave way again :
I was entirely spent: and the first halt which we made,
on a wild and desolate moor, I threw myself down upon
the ground, and well-nigh prayed that death would
come to my release.
I was in this mood, suffering extreme agony from my
feet, when, on lifting up my head, I beheld, not far from
me, a spectacle which—be it spoken in all remorse and
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
69
compunction of heart—served but to aggravate my dis-
tresses fourfold. Somehow or another I had detached
myself a good way from my comrades, and, lying near
a waggon, I saw a man descend from it, spread a table-
cloth upon the grass, and convey to it a most inviting
assortment both of eatables and drinkables. To these
he forthwith addressed himself: and, oh! gentle reader,
if ever you have known what it was to gaze, yourself
fasting, upon a feast that had been spread for others,
then you will have some fellow-feeling for the agonies
which, throughout the interminable space of perhaps
two or three minutes, I endured. Both my appetite
and my suffering were, moreover, enhanced by the
sort of half conviction which took possession of me,
that the happy man on whom mine eyes rested was not
French, but English ; for all his proceedings were re-
dolent of the practices of that favoured land where the
commonest peasant eats wheaten bread to his bacon,
and never thinks of resting his jaws till his crop be
thoroughly filled.
Heaven forgive me! but, over and over again, I in-
vited myself to breakfast with the fortunate individual,
—not once presuming to imagine that, be his nativity
what it might, he would take the whim into his head
of inviting me; yet he did. I dare say my gaze was
abundantly expressive; but, however this may be, my
surprise and delight defy the power of language to de-
scribe them, when all at once I heard him, after stop-
ping the movement of his jaws for an instant, exclaim,
"I say, comrade, are you peckish? If so, come and
mess with me; there's lots for both of us."
I need not say that I waited for no second invitation.
The influence of fatigue seemed to pass away under the
excitement of the prospect thus opened out to me; and
I sprang from the earth with the agility of one who
had spent the night between a pair of clean Holland
sheets. I don't think many such breakfasts have been
eaten, either in Spain or elsewhere, from that day to
this. I declare that I felt quite ashamed of myself, so
tremendous was the onslaught which I made upon the
meat pasty, and the flask of wine wherewith I was in-
vited to wash it down.
Having appeased the cravings of a well-tried appe-
tite, I entered into conversation with my hospitable-
70 THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
entertainer, who informed me that he was a soldier of
the 10th Hussars, that he had been taken prisoner,
and released by a French general, who offered him a
situation in his family as groom. This he did not feel
authorized to refuse; and he had lived for some time
with his master in a state of comfort and respectability,
which made bim well-nigh forget that he was an exile
from the land of his birth.
Having told me all this, he went on to say, that he
and his master were travelling under the escort of our
convoy, into France; and that, if I liked it, he would
reserve a place for me on his waggon, and use his best
endeavours to treat me well throughout the remainder
of the journey. It is scarcely necessary to add, that I
closed thankfully with his offer.
Hiding myself under the straw, I escaped the obser-
ration of the guard, and was thus pleasantly conveyed
as far as Miranda, where the cavalcade halted for the
night, and where I found an opportunity of being useful
to my fellow-prisoners, the bare remembrance of which
makes my heart swell, at this day, with triumph. The
circumstances were these:
Under the protection of my friend Joseph, I not only
travelled secure, but was, at the termination of the
stage, treated with marked generosity by one or two
French officers who seemed somehow or another to be
attached to his master's family. One of them gave me
a five-franc piece; another presented me with a forag-
ing-cap; a third supplied the place of my dilapidated
uniform with a good jacket and a pair of trousers;
while Joseph himself, carrying me to the stables,
showed me an excellent bed laid down, of which fresh
straw and two or three horse-cloths constituted the
materials. He then conducted me to one or two wine-
houses, where we drank, in moderation, with the
French soldiers, and found them not only agreeable,
but exceedingly generous, companions. For example,
rations were issued out to them that night-—an allow-
ance of bread and meat to each man; which they did
not seem to value in the least degree, because, as they
said, the Spaniards were bound at every stage to pro-
vide them with better. I asked Joseph whether it
might not be possible to hinder the waste of throwing
these viands away by begging them as a gift to the
the light dragoon.
71
starving English, prisoners. Joseph instantly stated
the case to the French soldiers, and, without a single
exception, they acceded to his wishes. The bread and
meat were given to me. I carried them away to the
bottom of a garden, lighted a fire, and, with the addi-
tion of some pot herbs, made a capital mess. With,
this Joseph and I made our way to the prison, and the
joy and gratitude of its poor inmates filled my heart
with strange feelings and my eyes with tears. I could
not, however, venture to linger long among them, for I
knew that, if discovered, I should be at once brought
back to the condition of a prisoner. I therefore left
Joseph to minister to their wants more in detail; and,
after cordially embracing my comrades, retreated to
the stable.
CHAPTER VIII.
The darkest hour is nearest the dawn.
From that time till the convoy reached Segovia, I ma-
naged to share Joseph's waggon by day, and his ex-
cefient board and snug quarters at night. By some
unlucky accident, however, I was detected, just as our
vehicle was entering the latter place; and the conse-
quences were, my immediate removal from the influ-
ence of my friend's kindness, and my return to the
companionship, in every sense of the expression, of my
fellow-prisoners. Not that Joseph forsook me: he
visited me in our place of confinement at Segovia,
bringing with him a flask of wine and a large loaf of
bread, and took of me an affectionate farewell—his
master's route and ours diverging at this point, one
from the other. We did not part, however, till after
we had exchanged assurances that, if Fortune should
ever bring us together again, we would without fail re-
new our intimacy. I am happy in being able to record
that Fortune did thus favour us; and that she was
doubly kind to me, by enabling me, in a distant land,
to pay back, in some sort, the favours which I received
from him in this my hour of humiliation and suffering*
I do not know whence it came about, but the further
we removed from the Portuguese frontier the less kind
72
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
the Spaniards, as a people, showed themselves towards
us. At Segovia, for example, the inhabitants, though
they provided their countrymen with good things of
every sort, brought little or nothing to us; and we
were reduced, in consequence, to subsist as well as we
could upon our scanty allowance of very indifferent
bread. It was but natural that the consideration of
this fact should not be without its effect upon us. We
began first to envy and then to dislike our companions
in exile; and seeing them flush of money, while we our-
selves were penniless, the idea gradually matured itself,
" Why should not we, by fair means or by foul, share
in their abundance?" When men are suffering real
privations, and there are profusion and waste all around
them, the moralist may say what he will, but they don't
readily listen to the voice which would whisper of self-
denial, and patience, and abstinence. We soon dis-
covered, for instance, that the Spanish prisoners had
large sums of money at their command, which they
squandered continually in gambling, as if it had been
applicable to no other use than that of keeping alive a
violent excitement among them. I have often seen as
many as forty or even sixty dollars on the ground at a
time, for which different groups were tossing, and which
changed hands over and over again, according as the
guess of this or that speculator proved to be correct.
At first, we were mere spectators of the pastime; but,
by and by, we began to argue that the money would
be at least as well applied in the purchase of a few
necessaries for us, as it seemed to be in the encourage-
ment of an idle and profitless spirit of gambling among
our allies. Accordingly, having watched till a tolerably
rich treasure cumbered the surface of the earth, about
a dozen of us suddenly broke the ring and began to
help ourselves, without compunction, to the dollars and
other coins that lay scattered around us. The Spaniards,
of course, raised a clamour, but they attempted nothing
more; while the French, instead of interfering in their
behalf, only laughed at them. The result was, that,
for several days, we had tobacco to our pipes, and
onions to eat with our bread, while the gamblers, if not
cured, were rendered a few degrees more cautious in
the exhibitions which they made both of their wealth
and their cupidity.
THE LIGHT DEAGOON.
73
In this manner we proceeded as far as Valladolid,
where, numbers falling sick, and many more becoming
lame through exertion, a halt of three days was per-
mitted. It sufficed to fill the hospitals with invalids—
few of whom, I have reason to believe, ever quitted
them alive. But, however this may be, all who were in
a fit state to travel, marched on the fourth day, to
Burgos—whence a moderate stage carried us to Sal-
lada, overwhelmed by the oppressive heat of the wea-
ther and stifled with dust. Here an event befel, of
which, as it gave an entirely novel colouring to the
whole of my after fate, I feel myself, in some measure,
required to give a somewhat detailed account.
When thrust back into the common prison-house, I
had been deprived, by the escort, of the few articles of
wearing apparel which Joseph had procured for me,
and was now, in consequence, more squalid and torn
than ever. I had no jacket at all—only a waistcoat out
at the elbows; no shirt, no stockings, no cap: indeed,
I was altogether as perfect a representation of abject
poverty as the fancy of the most fanciful could well de-
scribe. In this condition I entered Sallada, and went
with my comrades, to the prison yard, into which, by
and by, came several French and English officers—the
latter, prisoners like ourselves, though, of course, in
better plight; and as it seemed, much thought of by
their captors.
Among others, there drew near a gentleman in the
uniform of a regiment of Lancers—a man evidently of
rank and consequence, whom a considerable personal
staff attended, and who appeared to have some object
to gain by his visit. I saw him stop beside a man of
the 13th; and, by means of an interpreter who bore
him company, enter with that person into conversation.
Not knowing why I did so, I listened to what passed
between them, and found that the foreigner was de-
sirous of engaging the Englishman to serve him as
groom, and that the Englishman, though not personally
averse to the arrangement, stated a fact which at once
stood in the way of its completion. He told the inter-
preter that he was married and had a family; upon
which that personage, though with great kindness,
stated that, with a man so circumstanced, the count
was not desirous of entering into an engagement. He
74 THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
had scarcely said so, when his own and his employer's
eyes falling upon me, both approached, and the inter-
preter opened with me the same snbject.
I was completely taken by surprise. I assured him
that I neither could nor would listen to any snch propo-
sition, but was determined to share my comrades' fate,
be it what it might, till, by the course of a regular ex-
change, we should be enabled to return to our regiment.
It is not worth while to fatigne the reader's patience
by describing how both the count and the interpreter
pressed the point; for the officer of rank proved to be
the German Count Goltstein, who was at that time at
the head of the Lanciers de Bourg, in the service of
Napoleon. But the results were, in a few words, these.
I believe that I should have stood out against all his
proposals, though they were both numerous and liberal,
had not an English officer, who overheard the dialogue,
interfered to set aside my scruples. He assured me
that, if I was afraid of being compelled to take up arms
against my own country, I laboured under a very
groundless species of alarm; that the Count Goltstein
was a man of honour—far more attached at heart to the
English than to the French; and who, let happen what
might, would not only not urge, but never permit, my
passing into the ranks of the enemy. Finally, he and
the interpreter set such tempting oners before me, that
I did not know how to refuse them. I was to be at the
head of the stables; to have charge especially of an
English thorough-bred mare; to be well fed, well
clothed, well looked after, and to receive as wages, or
pocket-money, call it which you may, one guinea per
month. Surely I am not to blame for having accepted
this engagement, when the sole choice submitted to me
was between its acceptance, and my continuance for
some indefinite, yet without doubt protracted, space
of time, a prisoner of war. But, be this as it may, I
did accept it; and I am bound to add that I never found
any just cause to repent of the decision.
A sorrowful scene was that which occurred between
me and my fellow-captives, when I returned the same
day to the place of confinement to bid them farewell.
Some envied, others pitied, but all grieved to lose me;
and my own heart bled as I squeezed their hands—not
knowing whether I should ever be permitted to do so
THE LIGHT DBAG00N.
75
again. Yet I cherished the hope that, in my new situa-
tion, opportunities of serving them might occur, from
which I secretly resolved that I should never turn
away; and I thank God that I kept the resolution.
Meanwhile, however, the count's interpreter, who bore
me company, was beginning to exhibit symptoms of
impatience.
" The count's quarters," said he, " are in a village
two good leagues distant, and it is absolutely necessary
that we should reach them before dark."
"But how shall we do that, sir?" replied I; "I
have marched six leagues to-day already, and no con-
sideration on earth would induce me to walk half a
league farther."
" I do not wish you to walk," answered he; and then
he went on to explain, that if a horse of any kind were
to be had in the village, he would procure it for me,
though the arrangement might not, it appeared, be with-
out its difficulties, owing to the alarm of the Spaniards
in this quarter, who invariably abandoned their houses
on the approach of a Trench force. The result, how-
ever, was, that he did procure me an animal,—a long-
legged, sharp-boned mule, which he took away from a
countryman when working it in a plough, and on the
sharp back of which he mounted me. And thus, riding
between him and his chief, (for the count himself, at
the head of a troop of his lancers, waited for us in the
outskirts of the village,) I made my way to my new
quarters, not without having an endless variety of ques-
tions put to me respecting the strength and disposition
of the English army; all of which I answered as
vaguely and on as magnificent a scale as possible. But
these are points on which it is scarcely worth while to
touch. What can a private soldier know of the true
condition of a force in which he is a mere unit ? or if
he did, how can the querist suppose that he will com-
municate his knowledge in its simplicity ?
We reached the village where the Lanciers de Bourg
were stationed, about nine o'clock in the evening; and
I was immediately directed to the count's stables, where
I was given to understand, that I should find a person
who was capable of conversing with me in my own lan-
guage. I proceeded to the place pointed out, and was
a good deal struck both with the size and excellence of
76 THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
the stud, and the richness of the furniture, which was
scattered somewhat carelessly about the stables. But
the object which chiefly attracted my attention was a
pot-bellied, rubicund, and evidently half-sober man,
who no sooner turned his fish-like eyes upon me, than
he hailed me with the exclamation, " How do you do,
countryman? You be welcome!" I could perceive,
from the peculiarity of his accent, that my new ac-
quaintance was not English; and I very soon heard
from himself that he was German: that he had served
in England as a private in Hompeshe's Dragoons,
whence, on the dissolution of the corps, he had returned
home, and passed into the count's service: for the
count's estates lay round the village of which he was a
native; and, unless my memory deceive me, he was
himself the son of one of the count's baurmen. More-
over, I heard him, with infinite pleasure, launch out in
praise of our master's generosity and honour; which
came upon mine ear the more agreeably, that I did not
listen to it fasting,—for my worthy comorado produced
his cold tongue and his flagon of wine, both of which
passed away famously; till, by and by, a sense of drow-
siness quite overpowered me, and 1 besought him to
point out a place where I might He down. He was not
backward in doing this. He called a servant, ordered
him to make a bed for me in a room adjoining his own,
and conducting me thither, pointed out a comfortable
palfiasse, on which I lost no time in throwing myself.
In less than five minutes I was fast asleep.
I do not know how long I may have lain in a state of
unconsciousness, when the touch of a soft hand apphed
to one of my feet, which was covered with'blisters,
awoke me. There was a light in my room, which, on
partially opening my eyes, I ascertained to proceed from
a chamber-lamp, which a venerable-looking hidalgo, with
hair white as snow, was holding in his hand, for the
benefit of two young maidens in their labour of Chris-
tian charity. These gentle creatures were both em-
ployed in washing and dressing the feet and legs of me
—an entire stranger. One, indeed, they had already
rendered comfortable, by cleansing it thoroughly, and
swathing it in soft linen, while I was asleep: the other
they were now in the act of mollifying; and tender as
their touch was, even it broke in upon my rest, so
THE LIGHT DBA GO ON.
77
lacerated was tlie member, and by long travel so im-
pregnated witb fragments of gravel and tliorns. How
shall I describe the delicacy and gentleness with which
these high-born maidens extracted both from my flesh!
And they whispered words of commiseration and cha-
rity, which they would not utter aloud, because they
feared to awaken me. I declare that I could scarcely
credit my own senses, so entirely did the scene resemble
the delusion of a dream. But the old gentleman, by
and by, discovered that I was not asleep ; and then the
ladies, with natural modesty, stepped back, till he had
reassured and urged them to their generous task again.
The results were, that my bruised and torn limbs were
thoroughly cleaned, and bandaged with the softest and
finest linen; and that my benefactors pressed upon me
a cup of chocolate, with some sweet cakes; after con-
suming which, I placed my head once more upon the
pillow. And then—and not till then—the Spaniards
withdrew.
I never saw these kind people again. I do not even
know their names ; nor can I guess at the motive which
urged them thus to exercise, in my case, feelings of
benevolence, which were manifestly congenial to then'
nature. But I suspect that they [mistook me for a
prisoner newly taken; and that their sympathies were
the more powerfully awakened by the idea, that I was
suffering all the bitterness attendant on a recent blight
of my prospects. Be this, however, as it may, I
heartily blessed them in my prayers that night,—and
often bless them now, when the remembrance of their
kindness comes over me* Doubtless, they have had,
and will continue to have, their reward.
I felt so comfortable after the dressing of my legs,
and slept so soundly, that it was broad daylight when
I awoke; which indeed might not hare occurred even
then, had not my German friend, Kruger, called me.
He had evidently been drinking, and seemed somewhat
impatient for the lack of my society; for he desired me
to get up without any further delay, unless I were
willing to go without my dinner. Now, the very sound
of the word had been so long strange in my ear, that I
experienced no desire at all to neglect the opportunity
of improving it; I therefore rose at his bidding, and
putting on the fragments of apparel of which I could
78
THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
yet boast the possession, I accompanied him to an
apartment, in which the whole of the count's servants
were assembled. At the end of the table sat his valet
or steward; next to him the coachman; then the cook,
■—the very beau ideal of his nation, thin and spare, with
sharp features, and a white linen cap upon his head;
and by and by, as each could find a place, grooms,
stable-boys, and menials of humbler degree. "To me
the seat of honour was assigned, on the right hand of
the valet; for Kruger led me there as his friend, and
no one showed the slightest inclination to resist or resent
the intrusion; and the consequence was, that through-
out the progress of the meal, I felt that there were few
lots in life with which mine could be exchanged, except
at a disadvantage. For my fellow-servants vied with
one another in heaping civilities upon me, and in
loading my plate with the most delicate morsels. Then,
again, the wine was both good and abundant; we had
our pipes and tobacco, with which to sum up all, and
we sat conversing by means of signs, for not one word
of each other's language could we utter, till nearly ten
out a horse which was intended for my riding during
the march of the morrow, rolled himself on his straw,
and left me to retire to my pleasant palliasse at my
leisure.
When I awoke next morning, I found, somewhat to
my chagrin, that the march was already begun. The
count, and all his household, indeed, were gone; and
on hurrying to the stable, I ascertained that the last
of the grooms, after sending off the baggage, were
about to follow. They had reserved, indeed, for me,
my own horse; neither did Kroger appear to have for-
gotten me, inasmuch as a great coat and foraging cap
were laid, so as to attract my notice, in the hall. But
Kroger, like all the rest, seemed to have given me the
slip, whether because his own duties engrossed him, I
cannot tell. To say the troth, however, the considera-
tion of this point occupied very little of my attention.
I harnessed my steed—a Spanish jennet, and not a bad
one; I took a long pull at the skin of wine, which, by
this time more than half exhausted, stood in a corner
THE LIGHT DBAG00N.
79
of Kruger's dormitory; and, vaulting into the saddle,
began my journey, I knew not whither, in a frame of
mind by many degrees more joyous than I had expe-
rienced since the day of my capture.
It was a bright, clear, sunny day, and I enjoyed my
excursion extremely. Of my own corps,—if, indeed,
the expression be allowable, when speaking of the regi-
ment of Lancers which my master commanded,—I saw
nothing throughout the day; but I overtook, soon after
clearing the village, a column of French infantry, which
served me in some sort as a guide, though from time to
time rather provokingly. The French, when marching,
will not allow any persons, except officers, to pass the
heads of their columns; I was therefore stopped, when
making the attempt to get before the infantry, and had
nothing for it, except to regulate my pace by theirs.
Yet, I was very happy notwithstanding; and made an
excellent meal, without dismounting, off the half of a
cold fowl, which honest Eruger had stuffed into my
great-coat pocket. Finally, at the end of about four or
five hours, I reached the outskirts of a large town, on
the bridge that led to which a serjeant of the Lancers
was standing, who immediately recognising my horse,
made signs to me to follow, while he should lead the
way to the quarter in which the count had established
himself. I need scarcely add, that I obeyed the signal
with good will: to what purpose, the reader, if his
patience be not exhausted, will learn in the next
chapter.
CHAPTER IX.
I see more of the world, and fare better.
Undek the guidance of the seijeant I soon made my
way to the house in which the count had established
himself, and found that he and all his servants were
fast asleep. Upon this my steps were turned towards
the stable; and the appearance of the stud, in point
both of numbers and breed, excellent, yet exhibiting in
their dirty coats manifest tokens of neglect, greatly
surprised me. It was quite evident that not so much
as a wisp of straw had been applied to any of their
80
THE LIGHT DEAGOON.
backs since they came in; while their feet were clogged
by mud, and their hoofs filled, in the hollows, with
gravel. This was not at all according to my notions of
a well-ordered stable; so, making choice of the English
mare, I led her out into the yard, and stripping to the
skin—for, in truth, I was not worth a shirt—I set
about dealing with her according to the most approved
principles of grooming.
I was thus employed—having carefully washed her
feet, and, by means of a brush, made her coat smooth
and sleek—when the count, attended by his interpreter,
came out into the yard. He was prodigiously struck
with the change of appearance which my careful groom-
ing had created in his favourite; but I thought that he
looked anxious, too, and I was not long kept in igno-
ranee as to the cause.
"Is it your custom in England," demanded the in-
terpreter, " to strip to the skin when you work? Our
master is fearful lest you should catch cold, and begs
that you will think of yourself."
I replied to this inquiry, as the real state of the case
required, by explaining that I stood in nature's garb
for the most obvious of all reasons,—namely, that I
had not been master of a shirt since the day I was taken
prisoner. Nothing could exceed the kindness and com-
miseration of the count when the statement was repeated
to him. He sent the interpreter into the house for
three of his own shirts, which he gave to me. He then
presented me with a louis-d'or, and desired that, so soon
as I should have completed my job, I would first refresh
myself from the cook's larder, and then go and make
such purchases as the state of my wardrobe might
render necessary. It is scarcely worth while to add
that orders so agreeable in themselves were to the
minutest tittle attended to. I ate a hearty luncheon,
refreshed myself by bathing in the Douro, put on one
of my new shirts, and walked forth a prouder and a
happier man than I had been for many a day. The
next hour saw me in possession of a silk handkerchief
for my neck, of four of a like texture for my pocket, of
several pairs of stockings, and a hat; and, after all, I
had silver enough left wherewith to treat Kruger to a
good bottle of wine. In a word, my situation was as
pleasant as it is possible for that of any man to be who
THE I^IGrHT DEAGOON. 81
feels that he is, after all, hut a prisoner at large; and
who receives at the hands of foreigners and strangers
those marks of regard, which bring not with them their
perfect value unless they come from our countrymen
and our friends.
It is not worth while to describe how we continued
our march, first to Valladolid, and afterwards to Sala-
manca. Pleasant excursions these were to me; for I
rode my own horse, without having any other charge
committed to me than to lead the English mare, which
was my master's especial favourite; and, not unfre-
guently, my master himself rode by my side, and,
through the interpreter, conversed with me. With
respect to our living, that was of the best; and we in'
variably made choice of some beautiful glade or covert
in which to eat our noonday meal. Moreover, in Sala-
manca, I was measured for two entire suits of clothes;
to convey which, as well as the rest of my wardrobe, a
portmanteau was given to me. No man in my situation
could, indeed, be more entirely comfortable; nor was I
left without evidence that to others I was become the
object of something like envy. But that is a misfor-
tune from which, I greatly fear, that no successful can-
didate for advancement, in any situation of life, is free.
Take the lead of your fellows, ever so slightly, and they
may seem for a while to admire,—go on, heading them
more and more, and they soon come to hate. So much
for human nature.
We remained in Salamanca a considerable space of
time; of which I did not fail to take advantage, by
visiting every object in that celebrated seat of learning
which was described to me as worth the attention of a
stranger. Of the general effect of the city, as it is first
seen at a distance, with its endless spires, towers, and
domes, I need not say much. The traveller, if he ap-
proach it while the rays of the setting sun light up its
gilded cupolas, finds himself almost involuntarily led
into the delusion that the home of some oriental prince
is near at hand; and though the idea may wear out be-
fore the lower gate is passed, it is succeeded by others
scarcely more familiar. For Salamanca, at least when
I resided in it, resembled no other city which I have
visited, even in Spain. Its colleges were then in their
integrity,—its cathedral, pure and graceful in its archi-
E
82 THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
tecture, uninjured; and even the dwelling-houses, which
adjoined to the old Moorish walls, and overlooked, by
their narrow casements, the battlements which sur-
rounded them, had a character so peculiarly their own,
that I find myself entirely incapable of describing it.
With respect again to the inhabitants, these struck
me as having even more than the accustomed allowance
of Spanish indolence about them. Salamanca cannot
have been, at any period, a place of great trade. Like
Oxford and Cambridge among ourselves, it is overhung
by an atmosphere of academic abstraction; yet we
naturally expect to find, where shops are abundant,
some display of the spirit of barter, and neither in Ox-
ford nor Cambridge are we disappointed. But in Saia-
manca the whole world seems asleep. You walk abroad
in the middle of the day, and the streets are empty;
you go forth in the cool of the evening to be met by
hidalgos wrapped up in their cloaks, who, unwashed
and unshaven, lounge from point to point, as if the act
of moving were a labour all but insupportable. And
then, again, for the women. They may have been
better than the men; I verily believe that they were;
but in the matter of dress, never have Eve's daughters
so striven to disfigure themselves. Their long thin
waists contrasted singularly with a degree of fulness,
both above and below, which quite surprised me ; and
their movements were, in consequence, such as might
be expected, altogether ungraceful. I confess that I do
not retain any pleasant remembrance of a city, which,
in its architectural arrangements, presents a thousand
beautiful features, and in which, as far as my own per-
sonal case was concerned, I had every motive for being
satisfied with my residence.
In a place thus miserably circumstanced, it will not
surprise the reader to be told, that I met with few ad-
ventures which made strong demands upon my interest.
One, indeed, if such it deserve to be termed, I may be
permitted to describe ; even though the results were to
affect me with no very pleasing ideas of the Spanish
character, as connected with one of the most solemn
acts in which rational creatures can take part.
I remember one day strolling into the cathedral,
where I was greatly struck by the progress of a funeral
ceremony, which had only just begun. The corpse was
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
83
that of a young woman of some rank, which lay in its
last robes upon a sort of platform in the middle of the
chancel,—pale, and with the long black hair gathered
in braids over the forehead. She was somewhat gor-
geously arrayed; had a jewelled ring upon one of her
fingers—possibly the gift of a betrothed,—and a golden
crucifix suspended from her neck, while earrings, also of
gold, were in her ears, and a brilliant clasped, or seemed
to clasp, the band upon her brow. I did not get suf-
ficiently near to judge of her beauty; but, as far as a
cursory examination will enable me to speak, I should
say that her features were regular; and that there was
a soft, sweet, gentle expression in her sunken features.
The corpse, when I entered the church, seemed to
have been just conveyed to its temporary resting-place
—a platform, on which the black bier was laid. It had
scarce settled down, if I may so express myself, when
certain vergers approached, and enveloped it, all below
the waist, in a black velvet pall, while a body of priests
performed mass at the high altar, and a crowd of Car-
thusian friars sang a requiem for the dead with great
effect. Innumerable wax candles burned both at the
head and at the feet of the deceased. Her maid was in
attendance beside them ; and the rapidity with which
she crossed herself—lighting and extinguishing from
time to time her own taper—seemed to indicate that
she took a deep and solemn interest in the ceremony.
Meanwhile, the grave, which had been prepared near
one of the smaller altars, stood open; and by and by, a
monk, bearing a huge black crucifix in his hand, ap-
proached it. This he planted at the head of the orifice;
and, as if his doing so had been the signal that all was
ready, a huge, muscular, large-headed man, dressed in
the ordinary attire of a workman, and probably the
gravedigger, approached the bier. The music suddenly
ceased—the masses were ended—and that barbarian
seized the corpse, which, without regard even to the
semblance of decency, he threw up, as if it had been a
bundle of rags, into his arms. He bore it thus across
the aisle, and, descending with it into the grave, laid it
in the coffin, which yawned at the bottom of the hole.
But his business did not end there—the monster thrust
up his arm, and drew towards him, first, the lid of the
coffin, and next the black pall, with which he entirely
84 THE LIGHT DEAG00N.
shrouded both himself and his future, proceedings; it is
therefore impossible for me to say what he might have
done during the half hour that he lingered in the grave;
but I own that my imagination turned towards the j ewels
and the golden crucifix, none of which could I con-
ceive it probable that he would leave to be devoured by
the tomb. Nor was this the only transaction that dis-
gusted me in the winding up of what, in its commence-
ment, was an exceedingly striking ceremony. No
sooner was the dead body removed out of sight, and the
candles that stood beside the bier extinguished, than a
spirit of extreme levity appeared to take possession of
all whom the building contained. I heard the murmur
of a light, and, as it seemed, a frivolous conversation
pass through the crowd, while laughter, scarcely sup-
pressed, told where each joke had taken effect, and spoke
very little in favour either of them who uttered or of
those who received it. Perhaps it might be prejudice
on my part, but I own that I was thoroughly disgusted.
I turned away, and walked home, not without a convic-
tion that, after all, there is more of real sublimity in the
simple and affecting burial service of my own church,
than in all the mummery of masses and requiems with
which the feelings of the heart seemed to be quite at
discord.
Nothing could exceed the total disregard exhibited
by the French for everything which a Christian people
are apt to consider sacred. Of the churches in Sada-
manca very many had been converted by them into
barracks, and even into stables. In the former, you
might see bands of soldiers cooking their provisions
over fires, which they had lighted on the paved floors
of the very altar-places, and fed with gilded wood,
broken from the altars themselves. The smoke, of course,
having no outlet except the doors and windows, rose
and curled about the Gothic pillars, blackening the
walls, and defiling the carved work with which the
roofs were ornamented; while the loud laugh, the
coarse wit, and coarser song, sounded peculiarly hideous
in a place whence the voice of prayer and praise might
alone be expected to proceed. But if the churches in
which the infantry had quarters were hideous, a thou-
sandfold more disgusting was the spectacle presented
by those into which corps of cavalry had been thrust.
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
85
There, not the men only, hut the horses, defiled God's
house, in a manner, to look hack upon which makes
me shudder. The floors lay a foot deep in manure and
litter: the marhle pavements were heaten into frag-
ments hy the hoofs of the animals. No care was taken
to preserve the hrass monuments, which, in one church
in particular, must have heen, a short while previously,
both numerous and singularly beautiful; while into the
very stone walls i rings seemed to have heen driven, to
which, here and there, a brute more restive than the
others was tied up.
They whose thoughts are continually turned towards
the field of battle or the toilsome march, draw for
themselves but an imperfect representation of the
horrors that attend a state of warfare. It is when
armies force their way into the haunts of civilized life,
when soldiers and citizens become incongruously hud-
died together,—when armed bands, that are accustomed
to the touch of deadly weapons, stretch themselves
forth to commit havoc,—and domicile and fane, and
temple and town-hall, are alike polluted by the sounds
and sights that appertain only to the camp,—then it is
that war offers to the gaze of the looker-on its most
hideous features; and our visions of glory, and renown,
and high prowess, are all obscured by the contempla-
tion of suffering and much wrong. I freely confess,
that I used to pass these desecrated churches by in a
frame of mind quite unbecoming the occasion. 1 said
to myself, over and over again, " The miscreants who
thus defile the temples of the Living God do not de-
serve to triumph, and triumph they assuredly will
not."
There was a very large French force at this time in
and around Salamanca,—according to their own ac-
count, at least seventy-five thousand men. It had been
collected for some time, for the avowed purpose of
driving the English into the sea; and now preparations
were made for the immediate accomplishment of this
much-desired object. Of these, while they were going
on, I saw, of course, very little; though the extra work
performed in all the bakehouses did not escape me.
But by and by the truth came out, and the count him-
self disclosed it.
"We march to-morrow," said he, one morning to
.86 THE EIGHT DRAGOON.
me, " on an expedition from which I, for one, augur no
good. "We are going to advance towards Lisbon; and,
the better to ensure celerity for our movements, all our
baggage is to be left behind. We shall carry nothing
with us, either on the men's backs or by the cars, ex-
cept twelve days' provisions; and, before these are ex-
pended, your countrymen, it is assumed, will be driven
to their ships. But, as I greatly doubt the issue, I
don't mean to take you along with me. Remain where
you are; take good care of the horses; and depend
upon it that, ere many days pass, we shall meet again."
I thanked my master for the consideration which in-
duced him to screen me from the disgrace of even fol-
lowing in the train of an armed force which was going
to march against my countrymen; and determined that,
as far as diligence and care on my part could avert the
evil, he should find no reason to complain that his
horses had been neglected.
The prediction which Count Grolstein ventured to
make ere the march began was verified to the letter.
I saw the columns of infantry and cavalry defile from
Salamanca, with all the pomp and circumstance of
war. The horses were in good condition,—the men
fresh, well-appointed, and in excellent spirits. The
bands of the several regiments played favourite airs, and
flags and banners floated to the breeze,—for the move-
ment was begun with extraordinary magnificence.
How different was the order of their return! In- an
inconceivably short space of time they came back, crest-
fallen and dejected, having suffered quite as much from
the lack of provisions and forage as from the sword;
for the system adopted during the first retreat to Torres
Vedras was still rigidly acted up to. Every town and
village was deserted on the approach of the French,—
every morsel of bread carried away,—every animal re-
moved, or else slaughtered: while the very corn in the
fields was set on fire and consumed in order to prevent
it from falling into the enemy's hands. The conse-
quence was, that each league which they traversed in
advance served but to involve them in deeper diffi-
culties ; and, long ere the twelve days were expired, on
which they had counted as securing a triumph, both
leaders and followers saw that the case was desperate.
The historian has recorded in what manner the re-
the eight dragoon.
87
treat to Salamanca was conducted. Horses died by
scores—men foundered, and were taken or put to death
by the peasantry, guns and carriages were abandoned
at every pass. There was distress and anxiety every-
where. I shall never forget the soil-stained and demo-
ralized appearance which the different regiments pre-
sented when once more they entered the town. The
spirits, too, and tempers of all ranks were broken; and
they seemed ripe for almost any species of outrage.
" I told you how it would be," exclaimed my master;
" X was sure that evil would come of it. Your country-
men are as obstinate as the rocks on which they
have planted themselves. They have handled us very
roughly; neither have I, in my own proper person,
come off scot-free. That scoundrel, Kruger, has de-
serted with one of my best horses, and a portmanteau
filled with some of the most valuable portions of my
wardrobe. However, here we are; and we must make
the most of it. How does the mare go on?"
CHAPTER X.
Forced marches, and their results.
There never lived a kinder or a more generous man
than the Count Yon Golstein. His own losses, his own
privations, were invariably the subjects which en-
grossed the smallest share of his attention: and never
was the disposition more completely shown than now,
on his return to Salamanca. The French had brought
back with them very few prisoners ; but among these
there happened to be some men of my own regiment,
of whose condition my master immediately informed
me, desiring me, at the same time, to visit and relieve
them as far as I was able. I went instantly to the
tower in which they were shut up, and the emotions to
which they all gave way, for they recognised me in an
instant, I cannot undertake to describe. Poor fellows,
they were footsore and half-naked; and as men's hearts
are generally softened by the sort of misfortune to
which they were subject, they lifted up their voices
and wept when they saw me come among them. But
88 THE LIGHT IXRAGOON.
I did not come merely to pry. Having ascertained
their number, I hurried off, and my kind master sup-
lying the funds, I purchased a quantity of meat and
read, which the cook and I made ready between us.
With this, and half-a-dozen bottles of brandy, I made
my way back—not, indeed, without considerable risk
of annoyance from the French soldiers, who were quite
as badly off as their captives, and whom the steam of
the savoury mess excited well-nigh to violence. But
as I had taken the precaution to ensure the convoy of
the servant of one of the officers on guard, I succeeded
in conveying my treasure in safety to the prisoners'
tower; and the eagerness with which the food was de-
voured, and the keen relish with which they drank the
liquor, sufficiently testified that to luxurious living they
had long been strangers. Happy men were they in a
few minutes: they sang, they chatted, they capered,
and danced. In a word, and with the thoughtlessness
which belongs to their calling, they forgot the evils
that were past, and shutting their eyes to the certainty
that evil would come again, they made themselves ex-
ceedingly comfortable in what the present hour could
offer.
I rejoiced, as may be supposed, in the work of my
own hands; neither did my power to serve them end
there. My master desired me to select one out of the
number, who might supply the place of Kruger, and be
a companion to myself; and as my troop-messmate—
by name Judd—happened to be there, I could not, of
course, hesitate as to the individual whom I should se-
lect. Judd thankfully closed with an offer, of which I
made him fully aware of the value; and, accompanying
me home, became forthwith both an active and a willing
assistant in the work of the stable. Of the remainder,
I never saw more till the peace of 1814; they were
marched away early in the morning succeeding the day
of what they called "the feast;" and Judd and I could
give them no more than all the little money we had
about us, and our best wishes for their welfare.
My mind was full of the situation of my poor com-
rades, when one day, as I was riding through the
streets, I found myself accosted, in good set English,
by a " How do you, countryman; what makes you
here ?" I looked about, and saw a dapper little fellow,
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
89
in a civilian's dress ; who, following up his first saluta-
tion, approached, and made immediate acquaintance
with me. He told me that his name was Smith—that
his father had married a Frenchwoman, and now fol-
lowed the French army as a sort of travelling boot-
maker, and that, by everybody of every nation who
made trial of his skill, he was admitted to be a first-
rate workman. " But, come to the house where my
father and mother live," continued he, " and I will in-
troduce you to scenes that will amuse, if they do not
greatly edify."
" I am the man for your father and mother," replied
I; " depend upon it, I shall visit you shortly," and so
we parted.
I confess that I had forgotten my new acquaintance
altogether, when on the following evening he visited me
at the stables; and as I had nothing better to do, I agreed
to accompany him to the paternal mansion. It was a
very mean apartment, in a very mean street, through
the excessive gloom of which I could with difficulty
discover three human beings seated, two of them upon
stools, the third in an arm chair ; two were men, who
appeared so entirely engrossed with cobbling, that they
scarcely lifted up their eyes when we entered; while
the third was a woman—as curious a specimen of the
genus as these eyes of mine have ever beheld. I could
not hope, by any description, to convey to the minds of
others an idea, even partially just, of the squalor of her
appearance. I say nothing of her filth, though that was
extreme, nor yet of her complexion, in comparison with
which, saflron deserves to be accounted pure; neither
will I speak of her apparel, which no Jew from Bag-
fair, whom I, at least, have ever encountered, would
have admitted within the portals of his storehouse.
But there was a strange intermixture of cunning and
simplicity in her eye, which would have tickled me
much, but for the tiger-glance which from time to time
superseded it.
" I have brought a countryman to drink tea with us,
mother," said Joe.
"He's welcome," was the reply; "make him sit
down."
I sat down, and forthwith two broken cups were pro-
duced, by means of which, and a crazy tea-pot, we ma-
90
THE LIGHT DKAGOON.
naged to discuss some pint or so of slops. It was not
Joe's cue, however, to let the jollification end there.
He gave me a hint, which I did not fail to take, by
offering myself to stand treat for some brandy—to pro-
cure which, Joe, after a few modest denials on his mo-
ther's part, was sent abroad. Doubtless, the reader
has anticipated much of what is to follow. The old
lady drank cupfuls of raw spirit, encouraging her hus-
band and journeyman to do the same, till the two latter
fairly rolled from their stools insensible, and she gave
evident tokens of a rapid approach to the same state
of helplessness. I looked disgusted, and somewhat
alarmed, but Joe only laughed at me. " Ply her well,"
said he; " she is a perfect bag of sand, and a good deal
is needed to bring her to the proper point; but once
there, and for as long as three or four weeks on a
stretch, she will continue in a state of absolute help-
lessness. Here, mother, take another cup; it will do
you good."
The old hag muttered something, drank, and was
conveyed by her hopeful child to bed. She complained
of thirst: he gave her a fresh dose; and she fell asleep
in a moment, muttering something about a stocking all
the while.
Joe clapped his hands, and laughed aloud, while he
exclaimed, "How, my boy—now, we have done it;
and you, as well as I, shall have your reward." So
saying, he drew from beneath the cushion of the arm-
chair a stocking crammed with silver and copper coins,
dollars, half-dollars, quarter-dollars, and I don't know
all what. " This is nothing," said he, pouring some
of them out; " at the bottom of all are certain doubloons
and louis-d'ors, for which I think that I can find a far
better use than any to which she dreamed of applying
them. Come, friend, help yourself: don't be bashful;
nobody ever throve in the world that could not help
himself."
I positively refused to touch a stiver; at which Joe
laughed heartily; and, when I proceeded to remon-
strate with him, his mirth only increased. "Why,
man," said he, " this sort of thing occurs regularly at
stated periods. The old woman dearly loves both her
money and the brandy bottle: as long as she has reso-
lution enough to keep the latter at a distance, the trea-
THE LIGHT DEAG00N.
91
sure accumulates, for she starves us all, and makes us
work like galley-slaves; but, when the stocking be-
comes full, we always have a spree, which ends, as you
see that this is going to do, by my making myself
master of its contents. The old hag will not awake
for these three weeks at least; that is to say, she will
merely open her eyes and ask for drink—which I shall
faithfully give her. And when she does get up, every
thing will be forgotten, except that which I choose to
tell her—that she has spent all her savings in liquor.
Why, then, should I scruple to enjoy myself, since
nobody suffers ?"
"But she is your mother," said I, in remonstrance;
" how can you thus work upon her vices, and abuse her
infirmities ?"
" She is as much my mother as she is yours," replied
the hopeful; " and if she were, what then ?"
My friend Joe's notions both of morals and manners
were so very different from mine, that, with the termi-
nation of what he called "the spree," our intimacy
ended. I frequently met him in my walks and rides,
and learned from him that his mother kept to her time;
that she slept soundly for three weeks, and rose at their
termination a greater screw than ever. But neither
his arguments nor his entreaties could prevail upon me
to share with him in the amusements which the plunder
of the stocking procured. On the contrary, I felt
something like compassion for the wretched old couple ;
and there, again, was in due time taught, that I had
been exceedingly weak for my pains. When con-
sciousness returned to that amiable family, they found
themselves, as a matter of course, destitute. To work
they accordingly set, and, very much to their satisfac-
tion, the old man received an order to wait upon an
officer of rank, and measure him for half-a-dozen pairs
of boots. But Smith the elder was destitute even of a
coat wherewith to cover his upper man; and I, in an
evil hour, was persuaded by his helpmate to lend him
a new cloak which I had purchased. I never saw the
mantle again, except at a distance; and then it en-
shrouded the form of Madam Smith herself, while she
sat in her little donkey-cart, and accompanied the army
on its march from Salamanca to Valladolid. I would
have taken it from her on the spot; but she saw me
92 THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
coming, and, with rare skill, contrived to hand it over
to her husband, who, being on foot, glided round some
of the baggage-cars, and was at once lost to my vision.
At Valladolia I made another attempt to recover my
property; but it proved equally unsuccessful; indeed,
1 was overwhelmed on this occasion with such a torrent
of abuse, that I had not the courage to face a similar
infliction, even if the recovery of the cloak had been
ensured. Besides, the brutes had utterly soiled and
misused it; for it was their coat by day and their bed
by night. I therefore gave the beldame a hearty
benediction, and went my way.
We had not long occupied our new quarters in
Yalladolid, when intelligence of a rising in Astorga
reached us, and a considerable corps, of which my
master's regiment formed a part, received orders to
proceed, by forced marches, for the purpose of repress-
ing it. If the forced marches of the French army be
conducted at all times in the order which distinguished
this, it must be confessed that they make but light of
the sufferings both of man and beast. We were formed
every morning, and actually en route, by three o'clock.
At eight, we halted and breakfasted; at nine we again
moved on, and halted again at two to dike, and a
couple of hours were then afforded to refresh; but at
the termination of these the column moved: and it
was always eight—often as late as nine or ten—ere we
halted for the night. The halt, however, was not, at
least at all times, a season of rest. There were cattle
to be procured, killed, and cooked, for the morrow.
There was forage to be collected, and the horses to be
fed. There was not unfrequently the process of baking
to be carried through; for we depended everywhere
upon the supplies which the country could afford for
our maintenance. Many a time have we found our-
selves so occupied, by the necessity of attending to
these wants, that midnight came ere we could throw
ourselves on the ground, and catch an hour's broken
sleep beside our horses. Yet, in some respects, the
march was not disagreeable; and it was replete with
interest throughout. For example, we, of the cavalry,
leaving the high-road to the infantry and the guns,
struck into all manner of by-paths, which carried us
through a succession of vineyards, of which the fruit
THE LIGHT DBAG00N. 93
hung in large clusters, ripe, and ready for gathering.
Again, it not unfrequently happened that our rear and
flank patrols had the satisfaction of maintaining a con-
tinued skirmish with bands of guerillas, who fired upon
them from the broken ground, and hovered round
them like vultures watching their prey.
Then, again, the towns and villages, but especially
the latter, were all but deserted as we approached;
and all sent forth, as soon as our backs were turned,
fresh bodies of armed peasants to annoy us. At the
same time we were invariably met at the entrance of
the towns by the civic authorities, who professed either
to adhere to King Joseph, or, at all events, to be neu-
trals in the contest; and who hoped, by these means,
very generally in vain, to preserve their own and their
townsmen's property from violation. For, in good
sooth, the French were fearful plunderers. It struck
me, too, that the officers never made so much as an
effort to restrain them; and the results were, that
places which we found comparatively prosperous on
our arrival, we left with all the evidences of rapine and
violence about them. And desperate was the revenge
which the outraged Spaniard took, as often as an
unfortunate French soldier fell into his hands. Neither
wounds nor weakness roused his pity. He slew the
straggler as if he had been a wild beast, and often
added torture ere he ended him.
Sixteen days of constant marching brought us at
length to Astorga, in and around which the corps pro-
ceeded to establish itself. The cavalry had quarters
within the walls, the infantry and guns encamped out-
side; and strange and wild were the scenes which they
alike enacted,—from which, - as may be supposed, the
ill-fated Spaniards were the sufferers. I must, however,
in common justice observe, that the Spanish authorities
brought the evil, in some measure, on themselves. They
assured our general, for instance, that the town was
destitute of stores, and that, unless he had the means
of victualling his own troops, they ran great risk of
starving. This was but sorry news for men who had
not tasted a wholesome or regular meal for a fortnight,
and were all but desperate in cpnsequence. But a little
exercise of the ingenuity habitual to our troopers soon
refuted the declarations of the alcalde. Two doors from
94 the light dragoon.
a large house which was assigned to the lancers as a
barrack, there was discovered, in the Iwmbre, or ground-
floor kitchen, a trap-door, by raising which a man in-
troduced himself into a capacious cellar, well filled with
all manner of stores, sufficient for the relief of one en-
tire battalion. Tanned hides were there for making
shoes, flitches of bacon, large bags of caravanceros, and
skins of wine in abundance. As might have been ex-
pected, the success of this individual prompted many
more to prosecute their researches; and our general had
soon the satisfaction to know that he ran very little
hazard of starving. Now, if he had been content to
appropriate these stores, while at the same time he
maintained strict discipline among his people, nobody
could have blamed him. The troops must be fed—so
must their horses; but he went much beyond this. The
soldiers received a sort of unspoken licence to plunder;
and terrible was the havoc which in their wantonness
they occasioned. Moreover, the honour of the women,
and here and there the lives of the men, fell a sacrifice
not unfrequently. But let me not go on:—in the camp
of the infantry you might see all manner of rich hang-
ings converted into tents. The soldiers lay, or danced
and sung among the tents, arrayed in priests' robes and
ladies' dresses; while the lancers, in spite of Count Gol-
stein's best exertions to prevent it, were not "altogether
free from similar atrocities. Of course the town be-
came rapidly thinned of its inhabitants, of whom all
who were capable of bearing arms went to swell the
amount of the Spanish forces. Yet were the French
not yet cured of their propensity to evil. They per-
sisted in carrying on the war more like savages than
civilized men ; and they suffered in consequence all the
outrages of which their own historians too much com-
plain.
CHAPTER XI.
Burgos while occupied by the French.
We remained in the neighbourhood of Astorga but a
few days, at the expiration of which the order to march
was issued; and, without having seeu an open enemy,
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
95
or had any opportunity of taking vengeance on a guerilla
party, we began to retrace our steps towards Toro.
There was no deviation either in the route, or in the
rapidity with which we traversed it; and the conse-
quence was, that our sufferings during the retreat were
to the full as intolerable as they had been on the ad-
vance ; and that, when we reached Toro, both men and
horses—but especially the latter—were all but unfit for
service. Among others, my kind/good master fell sick,
and the skill of his physicians failing to set him on his
legs again, he was ordered to try the baths at Valla-
dolid. Thither I accompanied him, and on the interval
which we spent there, I continue still to look back as
on one of the most agreeable in my life of captivity.
Valladolid is a large and stirring place : its inhabitants
are much given to public amusements, in which I found
frequent opportunities of joining; and lying, as it did,
out of the broad channel of the war, both they and I
were enabled to indulge our respective tastes freely and
without apprehension.
My master, having derived considerable benefit from
the waters, at length took his departure; and for a
while we fixed our quarters, with the lancers, of which
he was at the head, in the city of Burgos. Of the local
situation of that fine old town I need not pause to
speak,—with its hills overlooking it on each side, and
its citadel crowning a rocky eminence, as if in defiance
of the enemy who dared attempt to reduce it. But the
condition both of the garrison and the inhabitants at
this moment was so curious, that I cannot think of
omitting to notice it,—more especially as the truth has
never, to my knowledge at least, been told, by any
writer, whether Trench or English, who has touched
upon the subject.
It is well known that the hatred borne by the Spaniards
towards the French had become, in 1812, bitter in the
extreme. Taught by experience that they were no
match for the invaders in the field, they waged war
upon them by private assassination,—insomuch that
the French armies, victorious everywhere, except where
the might of England encountered them, were nowhere,
throughout the Peninsula, masters of a foot of ground
beyond the limits of their different encampments. In
like manner, the garrisons which occupied the towns of
96
THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
Spain, were always in a state of siege. Tliere might
be no organized force within many leagues of them, nor
the smallest reason to apprehend the arrival of any
such. But each cottage in the suburbs, if not in the
heart of the town itself, contained a little band of foe-
men, in their own way more to be dreaded by far than
if they were openly in the field, and banded together in
companies and battalions. In and around Burgos I
soon discovered that this was peculiarly the case. At
first, indeed, the manners of the people deceived me
quite; for I fancied that they were content, because of
the gentleness and deference with which they appeared
to treat not me alone, but every Frenchman with whom
they came openly into contact. But the experience of
a few days taught me, that this air of weakness was put
on, for the sole purpose of enticing victims into their
power. There was scarcely a day passed without bring-
ing in reports of assassinations attempted, if not perpe-
trated, upon our people. INo man could walk half a
mile beyond the town without being fired at; and even
in the grand promenade, which extends along the bank
of the river, and is shaded on either side by rows of
noble trees, the same scenes were constantly enacted.
I have ridden o 1 ',1 ~ -■■■■•
driven out again by showers of bullets, which knocked
the leaves about us, and came, we knew not from
whence. In a word, the French were, both in camp
and in quarters, prisoners at large, with the comfort-
able assurance continually forced upon them, that even
within their own lines they could not count on escaping
the knife of the assassin.
When we first reached Burgos, the garrison was
labouring under a terrible and contagious fever. The
hospitals were all crowded; and every morning at day-
light a couple of carts traversed the streets, collecting
the dead from the wards in which they were lying, and
transporting them to the place of sepulture. It was a
ditch dug somewhere among the hills, into which the
bodies were cast in heaps, no care being taken to treat
them with respect, nor any mourning being made for
their removal. Moreover, several detachments were
by and by sent out to levy contributions on the sur-.
rounding districts, and Burgos became, in consequence,
the refreshing
THE LIGHT DEAG002T.
tlie grand depot of French plunder in this quarter of
Spain. The Spaniards were neither unaware of this
circumstance, nor ignorant of the process by which'
our treasures were gathered in; and in the beginning of!
1812, they made a demonstration as if they had de-
signed to appropriate them. The circumstances of the
case were these :—
One morning in the month of January—I hare for--
gotten the precise date, an alarm spread that, heavy
columns of troops were advancing towards the town..
We ran to the most elevated stations which we could
find, and saw, sure enough, 6000 Spaniards at the. least,
marching in good order along the Madrid road, and
apparently bent on carrying the town by a coup de
main-. Now, it so happened, that the town was at this
moment in a peculiarly defenceless state. The castle,
indeed, stood above the reach of insult, not from this
body of troops alone, but from their betters; but the
town was no further fortified than by palisades, that ,
blocked up the principal' entrances, and light cannon so
planted as to command''the bridges. Then again, the
garrison, enfeebled by sickness, was more than usually
weak, in consequence "of the many detachments which,
had gone out, consisting, as may be supposed, of our
strongest and healthiest'men, and commanded by our
ablest battalion officers. - Still, though mustering scarcely
400 combatants,'the commandant put a bold face upon,
the matter. All the persons living on the southern.side
of the river were directed to cross, and to establish them--
selves and their baggage under the guns of the citadeL
The hospitals were emptied of every man who might
have strength enough'to level a musket; and . these be-
ing plantedunder cover of the palisades, were directed to
maintain their post to the last extremity. At the same
time the utmost care: was taken to keep down a mutin-
ous spirit,1 which the first rumpur-of an advance on.the
part of their countrymen had excited among the in-;
habitants. ' They were commanded by proclamation;
not to show themselves in 'the'streets, and were told
that wherever two should be found;holding converse-
together they would certainly 'be. shot.Fverything,,
indeed, was done, which- in a . very trying, case courage
could suggest, or prudence dictate-;; and the results were,
that courage and pritdence. prevailed over mere num-
G
98
THE LIGHT DEAGOON.
bers, to direct which there was manifestly no head
present.
.Among other officers of merit my master chanced to
be detached; and with me it mainly rested to save his
property from the danger of confiscation. I was estab-
lished in a house close to one of the barricades, where,
up to this moment, the people had been particularly
civil; but now, when I came to pact up and made
preparations for moving, their tone entirely changed.
They refused to lend a helping hand in any way; and not
only rejected my application for a skin of wine, but told
me with significant looks, that of wine I should not
much longer stand in need. Such conduct of course
served only to irritate; and I was forced to use the
show of violence, by levelling a pistol at the padrone's
head; but there was no occasion to go farther. I got
my mules and horses laden; and securing about two
gallons of wine, retired with my fellow-servants, to the
heights near the castle, whence we commanded an ex-
cellent view of the Spanish bivouac. Why did they not
push on? Why did they halt, out of musket-shot of the
palisades, and make there an idle display of their num-
bers? They ought to have known their enemies better
sort of people to be
the attempt bravely, resolutely, and without a check,
it must have proved successful. ' How earnestly I
wished that half the number of English troops had been
there; for the booty would have been prodigious; all
the treasures, with no inconsiderable portion of the
stores of the whole French army, being, by some
strange oversight, kept, not in the castle, but in the
town.
The Spaniards either did not know this, or they held
the garrison in too much respect; for they contented
themselves with driving in, towards dusk, a solitary
advanced post, and taking possession of the convent
within which it had been established. We saw them
then fight their fires, and make preparations as if to
invest the place, and try upon it the tedious process
of a siege. But even to this plan, absurd enough it
must be admitted, they failed to adhere. Throughout
two days the blockade, such as it was, continued. They
were days to us of very considerable discomfort; for
Had they made
THE LIGHT DRAGOON. 99
we knew our own weakness, and scarcely dared to hope
that it was hidden from them: yet they came to an end
at last, and with them all fears respecting the issue.
The dawn of the third morning showed the Spanish
lines abandoned. Not a man remained beside the fires,
which had been recently trimmed and continued to
burn, nor was so much as a dog left behind. Yet the
Spaniards had not retreated in the proper sense of that
term. Intelligence of the routes pursued by our various
detachments having reached them, they broke up into
parties, and hurried off, with the view of intercepting
these on the march, and so winning both glory and
riches from the spoil with which they were known to be
laden. They succeeded, however, very imperfectly in
both objects. Several of our detachments sustained,
indeed, a heavy loss; and one, which, when it went
abroad, consisted of a hundred men, returned with no
more than fifty; but not in a solitary instance was the
escort overpowered, or the booty taken away of which
it was in charge.
It is marvellous even now to think of the extreme
accuracy with which the Spaniards were accustomed to
inform themselves, not only of the movements of the
French troops, but of the personal habits and circum-
stances of the individuals by whom detached bodies
were commanded. On the present occasion, for ex-
ample, there was a French lieutenant-colonel sent forth
with a hundred infantry in a particular direction: he
was a brave and a skilful officer, and though attacked
by an overwhelming force of cavalry, he repulsed them
twenty times at least, keeping his treasure always in
the centre of his square. But he was known to the
assailants as one who never stirred abroad without car-
rying all his private property in a sort of valise behind
him, so that, while advancing to charge, the Spaniards
would call out to him that they were determined to have
his doubloons, and that he had better give them up
quietly. The Frenchman held his course undaunted,
and had wellnigh reached Burgos ere the fatal bullet
struck him. But he died at last, from a pistol-shot in
the head; and his valise, containing about a hundred-
and-fiffcy gold pieces, became the property of the brave
men who had, for twelve long hours, sustained his
honour and their own in a very unequal contest.
100
THE EIGHT DRAGOON.
For some time after the occurrence of these events,
my master and I kept our station in Burgos. He, like
others, had lost a good many men from his detachment,
and one officer, whose poodle dog attached itself to me ;
butBe.:had received no wound himself, and, though still
delicate, was.able, for a while at least, to go through with
his/ duties.. I am not sure, however, that my readers
would be very deeply interested were I to detail to them
-the manner in which day after day was spent: let me be
" content, therefore, to repeat one or two anecdotes, as
illustrating the sort of life which at that period I led,
and then we will pass together into new scenes, some
of wliich may possibly offer to them greater attractions
than the mere transcript of a prisoner's diary.
. I was one day crossing the bridge at Burgos, when,
to.my.great surprise, 1 encountered a man dressed in
the uniform of the 12th English Light Dragoons. We
entered,.as maybe imagined, at once into conversation,
and I-ascertained that he had been taken at Grenalda;
that he was a farrier by trade, and then in the service
of the. French General, Count d'Orsun. A very extra-
ordinary fellow was my friend, Bichard Kilby; his in-
gemiity as. a working smith surpassed, all that I .have
ever witnessed, and, as a. horse doctor, he had. either
great skill or.great good luck; but he was a determined
drunkard—a profound hater of the French nation—
and," beyond compare, the most self-willed and obstinate
individual of his race. He and I became, as a matter
of. course, sworn allies: we >■were much together,, for. I
helped him to turn his, shoes ; and, acting' as his inter-
preter, I first procured for him from his master those
supplies of money, without which his genius never could
have found a'channel in which to exercise itself; yet I
more than once had .reason to regret that an intimacy
was ever struck up between us, and • am forced, though
reluctantly, to. acknowledge1 that,' when our destinies
carried us in different directions, I'shed no tears over
the prospect of being separated from him for ever.
My friend Bichard hated*the French, and never
omitted an opportunity of telling them so: to be sure,
he could not speak one word, of itfieir. language, nor did
they understand a syllable of his,, so. thattthe pleashnf
epithets of "coward," " scoundrel,"'i";:rQgue',"c"jAiief/''
with which it wras his constant practice to greet them.
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
101
passed by unnoticed, because unknown. But in more
ways than this he delighted to; tease them, and he was
quite indefatigable in indulging his humours. For ex-
ample, his style of shoeing was so universally and justly
admired that there was no end to the applications
which were made to him by the French officers. He
would never attend to them, except when the purse Was
at the lowest ebb, and even then he took care to insult
the groom by holding the charger tight with one hand,
and so keeping him, till the amount of the . charge—
eight francs—was put into the other. ' He -.was con-
stantly involving himself in quarrels, from the ruinous
consequences of which nothing short of his master's
rank in the service could have saved him; and once,' at
least, even that might have failed, but for the peculiar
prowess by which he opposed, and finally repulsed, the
assailants. The story is this :
One Sunday, Kichard and I strolled beyond the
limits of the town, and entering a wine-house, drank
our bottle of Malaga, on the conclusion of which
Bichard complained of being hungry. The woman of
the house was cleaning, at the moment, a number of
salt herrings, two of which Bichard secured, and put
upon the coals to broil. He had not perceived that
some French grenadiers, who equally with ourselves
chanced to be inmates of the apartment, had likewise
made a purchase of herrings, and were dressing them;
and, having occasion to go out for a moment, he was
rendered quite furious by meeting one of these men
with a couple of herrings in his hand. Bichard swore
that the fish were his—wrested them from the grenadier,
abused him like a pickpocket, and stripping off his
jacket, challenged the Frenchman to fight. How, the
Frenchman must have stood at least six feet three
from the ground, whereas the extreme height of
Bichard could not exceed five feet; yet, there was the
little farrier squaring at the giant, and so conducting
himself that the latter, in absolute amazement, became
rooted to the spot. The landlady, in great alarm,
entreated me to withdraw my friend, and, with some
difficulty, I succeeded in doing so; but it was only that
he might thrust himself into another situation, to the
full as perilous, and far more laughable, than this. We
adjourned to an old haunt of Bichard's—to the house
102 THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
of a woman whom lie had dubbed his mpther; and who,
being regularly put in possession of the whole amount
of his earnings, could not refuse—even though it was
the hour of Divine service—to open her door to her son.
Accordingly, we entered, were shown into a parlour up
stairs, ana earnestly besought to keep quiet, otherwise
the landlady must get into a scrape.
We sat quietly enough, till Dick observed a patrol of
gendarmes ascending the street, and approaching the
site of his mother's dwelling. His wrath against their
nation was kindled, and he began first to swear and
then to sing at the top of his lungs. They halted
before the door, and ordered bim to be quiet, but he
only sang the louder. Then they knocked and tried to
enter, but the door was bolted, and Dick hastened to
reinforce the bolts by piling up furniture against it.
The gendarmes threatened and blustered, while Dick,
finding in one corner of the room a bag of large onions,
opened upon them, with these strange missiles, a heavy
fire. As might be expected, they were furious, and
though he kept them somewhat at bay as long as his
ammunition lasted, they would have certainly forced an
entrance in the end, had he not plied them with water
—not scalding hot, certainly, yet neither very cool, nor
in its nature very limpid. The guard retreated with
precipitation before such a torrent, and Diehard shouted
and laughed, as they shook their ears—for his supply
had been both copious and very liberally dispensed.
Hot having any particular desire to connect my own
name with pranks of this sort, I escaped from Diehard
as soon as the coast was clear, and scarcely saw him
again till within a day or two of our final separation;
though I heard of bim from time to time, and always
heard with sorrrow, that he continued to be the same
reckless and unhappy man that he was when I first
encountered him. Heither was his end unworthy of
the earlier part of his career. Having accompanied
his master to Pampeluna, and wellnigh exhausted his
patience, Dick, in a driinken fit, deserted; and falling
among the guerillas, was by them passed on from
station to station, till he finally rejoined his regiment
in Portugal. But he came with a constitution entirely
undermined: against the excessive hardships which he
encountered with the guerillas, a frame worn down by
the light deag00h.
103
hard drinking, could not hold up; and within a few days
after having reported himself to the adjutant, he ex-
pired. Bichard left a son, like himself a farrier, who
afterwards served with me on the cavalry staff, and
many a day have we spent hours together in mutually
detailing, one to another, anecdotes of his father's
eccentricities.
I do not remember that there occurred anything else
of moment while I continued in Burgos, unless, indeed,
the purchase of an Irish horse may be so regarded,
which, when led-in by a French groom, in a very mi-
serable state, I instantly recognised as having once be-
longed to one of my troop-mates in the 11th. He was
so savage a brute, that neither his new master nor his
servants could ride him; for a French officer had pur-
chased him of an Englishman, in Portugal, for ten Ha-
poleons, and the Count G-olstein got him,in consequence,
for the same sum that had been paid for him. But the
horse knew me immediately : when I called him by his
name, he turned his head and snuffed me all over, and
became, in my hands, as quiet and tractable as a lamb.
With none else, indeed, would he condescend to be
familiar,—for even my master never rode him but once;
but he followed me like a dog, and neighed and whin-
nied whenever he heard my voice even at a distance.
The count gave him to me, and I rode him constantly
for two years; at the termination of which, his vicious
humours wore out, so that the count's son, to whom I
ultimately transferred him, found him invaluable as a
charger, and received the most satisfactory proofs of
his hardihood. Musch, as he was called, carried the
young Count Golstein through the whole of the cam-
paign to Moscow and the retreat in which it ended;
and, though much reduced in flesh, was still in excellent
health when he came again under my care in his mas-
ter's stables.
CHAPTEE XII.
We return to France.
Aftee a residence in Burgos of something more than
two months, the Count G-olstein received permission to.
104
THE LIGHT DEAG.00.2iT.
revisit Ins native country. He was accordingly directed
to proceed to Vittoria, and join liimself there to the
..sort of caravan which year by year passed, under a
strong escort, through the dangerous defiles of the
Pyrenees into France. I went with him, of course, and
never enjoyed myself more, in every sense of the term,
than during the week or two which, while waiting for
the assembling of the party, we spent in the capital of
the Basque provinces. Yittoriais a singularly pleasant
place,—for a Spanish town clean and tidy, and well
regulated ; and, being built along the side of a . hill, is
very healthy, besides being abundantly supplied with
pure and. excellent water. It struck me, also, that the
; people were more alive to the influences of climate than
those of the more fertile plains of Castile and Arragon.
The fooinen, in particular, were both beautiful in point
of feature, and singularly graceful, as well in their
attire as in their movements ; and the humbler classes
came too near, in their habits, to what we read of the
damsels of Palestine and Greece, not to be, in my eyes,
objects of peculiar interest. Like the orientals, they
go to draw water at the public fountain ; and the vases
in which they carry home the pure element are at once
-strictly classical in their shape, and poised, with classical
exactness, on the heads of the bearers. It used to ex-
cite both our surprise and interest to see with what un-
(erring exactitude they bore their pitchers from the well
to their own houses. There was no balancing the in-
. strument by means of the hand. Planted upon the top
of the head, it appeared to rest there by virtue of some
balancing power inherent in the bearer; and over the
-roughest ground, as surely as over the smoothest, she
passed without spilling a drop. I cannot tell how often
I have been tempted to stand by and admire these
• beautiful " drawers of water," and if, from .time to time,
I was tempted to carry on with one or another a little
innocent flirtation, I pray the more rigid of my readers
not to judge me too harshly for the act of imprudence.
If anything could have taught the French that their
chances of reducing Spain to obedience were blank, the
care which they were obliged to exercise for the pur-
pose of passing the most ordinary convoy across the
border ought to have done so. I believe that there was
jio instance on record of a moderately-sized party at-
THE LIGHT IVRAG00N.
105
tempting that passage, and saving so muck as an in-
dividual alive, to tell how it kad fared with kis com-
panions. And even tke accumulations of months, though
escorted by a strong battalion, were glad by all manner
of disguises to conceal the true moment of their starting.
I found, for example, that, inclusive of sick, wounded,
weary, and persons whom real business drew out of
Spain, not fewer than 10,000 people were, when I
reached Yittoria, assembled there, for the single pur-
pose of being passed, under a military guard, into
France. Moreover, a corps of 600 infantry, with four
field-pieces, were appointed to guard them; and of wag-
gons laden with baggage, and public and private plunder,
there was no end. Yet, multitudinous as we were,
it was not accounted safe to undertake the threading
of those dangerous defiles, except under the protection
of a stratagem. Thus there came out an order from the
commandant, warning the travellers that, at a certain
hour in the morning of the third day subsequently to
the issue of his proclamation, they should be ready to
begin their journey. As might be expected, intelligence
of this arrangement spread far and wide through the
provinces, and, without doubt, the guerillas were every-
where on the alert, to intercept ana profit by the move-
ment. But we stole a march upon them. On the day
immediately succeeding that on which the governor's
handbill took its place at the corners of the streets,
there appeared a supplementary command, by which
we were directed to pack our baggage, and hold our-
selves in readiness to move in one hour.
Never was the wisdom of any arrangement more dis-
tinctly proved than this. We had scarcely cleared the
outskirts of the town, ere groups of brigands began to
draw near us, which seemed to accumulate strength in
proportion as we penetrated deeper and deeper among
the mountains. But they never acquired such a power
of numbers as to justify them in their own eyes in mak-
ing a serious attack; and we, in consequence, suffered
nothing from first to last, except from an occasional and
very desultory fire of musketry. At the same time
there was enough, in the whole progress of the journey,
to divert my attention for the moment, and to make a
deep impression upon my memory. In the first place,
the scenery exceeded, in point of grandeur, all through.
106 THE LIGHT DKAGOON.
which I had previously passed. So hold, indeed, were
the ascents, and so steep the paths by which we re-
gained the depths of the valleys, that over and over
again I used to wonder how cars, and waggons, and
even horses, contrived to traverse them. And then the
wood was gorgeous in the extreme: the magnificent
cork-tree overshadowing the base of mountains,—on the
sides, and here and there the brows, of which waved far
and wide whole forests of oak, and pine, and hazel.
But that which gave to our journey its most engrossing
interest was the constant proximity of bands of robbers,
who, like the vultures that hover over a battle-field,
seemed to track our course, and seize every opportunity
that offered of molesting us. Repeatedly were we fired
upon from the summits of inaccessible corries, and re-
peatedly threatened with more serious interruptions,
which, however, our great numerical superiority, aided
by the excellency of the device which had hindered them
from assembling in force enough to meet us, effectually
prevented. Yet the knowledge that danger was con-
stantly at hand failed not to produce its effects as well
upon the imaginative as upon the timid. And, finally,
the bracing nature of the climate operated upon our
nerves and spirits to an extent which I have no language
adequate to describe. But the case may be judged of
so soon as I state, that when, towards sunset on the
second day, we arrived in sight of Iran, there were
comparatively few among us who did not experience a
sensation not very far from regret that their perils were
surmounted.
If I felt sorry at first on finding that I had quitted
the salubrious air of the mountains, the feeling was at
once dispelled when, to my great surprise, I found my-
self addressed, just after entering the town, by one
who spoke to me in excellent English, and whom, in
spite of the total change in his style and attire, I soon
recognised as a former comrade in the 11th. I think
that I have elsewhere spoken of one Nicholas Brown,
an American by birth, who served in my own troop,
and whose liberation from the prison at Salamanca I
had been the means of procuring. But, however this
may be, the person who now addressed me proved to
be this same Brown, and the reception which he gave
me was not more creditable to himself than it was, in
THE LIGHT DRAGOON. 107
the highest degree, acceptable to me. I confess that,
when we first encountered, I was a good deal surprised
by the elegance of his attire and bearing. Neither was
the sentiment diminished when he conducted me to his
apartments,—three well-furnished rooms in the com-
mandant's house,—and, ringing the bell, ordered a
servant to provide all things necessary for our recrea-
tion. So, also, the display of his wardrobe, his jewel-
lery, and, though.last not least, his ready money, im-
pressed me with sentiments of great respect. But
when the truth came out, my surprise, at least, suffered
a remarkable diminution. The commandant's lady—
not his wife—had, it appeared, taken a fancy to Brown.
She was young, beautiful, and extremely fascinating;
and Brown, acting as men in his circumstances are apt
to do, readily gave himself up to the bright intoxica-
tion. All his wishes were in consequence prevented;
and he very fairly told me, that, let him escape from
the condition of a prisoner when he might, he would
certainly not rejoin his regiment. I confess that,
bearing the fact in my mind, that he was not an Eng-
lishman by lineage, I scarcely blamed bim for this;
but, even if I had, the fact of his meditating a public
wrong to the state would have scarcely justified me, in
my own eyes, for rejecting his private kindness. I
spent a day with him very pleasantly; and, next morn-
ing, when we marched, as we did at five o'clock, he
rode several miles in my company; neither did we part
without feelings of sincere and mutual regret.
We halted for a couple of days in Bayonne, of the
position and capabilities of which it is not necessary
for me to say anything. The intrenched camp, which
at a later stage in the war covered and rested upon it,
was not then begun; neither were the sluices taken up,
nor the low ground flooded; but the permanent fortifi-
cations both of the town and the citadel were in ex-
cellent order; and being a sort of depot station for most
of the regiments employed in the north and east of
Spain, it could boast of a strong, if not a very homo-
Seneous garrison. It is cut in halves, as the reader
oubtless knows, by the river Adour; and can boast of
a population greater by far than the surface extent of
the site would lead the traveller to imagine. But I
cannot say that my remembrances of Bayonne are very
108 THE LIGHT DKAGOOK".
agreeable; so I content myself with, stating, tbat we
turned our backs upon it with little regret; and plung-
ing into that strange and wild district called the
Llandes, passed on by way of Dax towards Bordeaux.
The Llandes have been too often and too accurately
described by other travellers to render so much as ah
allusion to the peculiarity of the scenery admissible
from me. It is an enormous plain of sand, which ex-
tends along the sea from Bayonne to Bordeaux, and
measures, at a moderate computation, at least two
hundred miles in length, by fifty or sixty, or perhaps
more, in breadth. In ancient times, the sands used to
be quite bare, and to shift, like those of the desert of
Alexandria, with every high wind that blew, till a
pious monk—whose name I heard, but have forgotten
—showed his countrymen how to reclaim, by planting
the waste with pine-trees. The roots of the pine
served as braces to bind the sand together. The
leaves and cones, as they fell and decayed, created a
soil; and now we come, from time to time, in traversing
a huge forest, upon extensive clearances, over which
flocks of sheep and herds of cattle wander, and neat
villages are scattered. It struck me, also, that the in-
habitants of the Llandes were a very happy, as well as
a primitive race. They seemed to have everything
about them in abundance, which is necessary to sustain
life, and many articles of simple luxury. Moreover, they
were light of heart, free of speech, bold hunters of the
wolf and of the bear; and, as I could gather as much
from what I saw as what I heard, daring smugglers.
Yet they appeared to be an innocent race, notwith-
standing this latter propensity; and their deference for
then* priests was worthy of the patriarchal times.
Many a pleasant dance I had with the young women,
and many a pleasant chat with the old, after our tents
were pitched, and our horses dressed, and our convoy
established.
We traversed the Llandes in the space, if I recollect
right, of five days, having been greatly interested
throughout the journey, as well with the nature of the
country as with the happy condition of its inhabitants.
Our resting-place was Bordeaux, of which, for the same
reasons wnich held me back from describing Bayonne, I
THE LIGHT DEAGOON.
109
do not think that it is worth while to say anything. It
is a nohle city, very clean, full of hustle, and adorned
with many gorgeous edifices; and enriched as well as
beautified by the proximity of the Garonne, which, in
a fine volume of water, flows past it. Besides, the
opportunities afforded me of minutely examining the
place were not great; for my master having brought
with him certain relics of a French general who had
been a friend of his, and fallen in battle, set out, on the
day after our arrival, for the chateau in which the
widow dwelt, that he might tell her how her husband's
last moments were spent, and hand over to her his
treasures. I dare say, that to the poor bereaved lady
the visit was sad enough, for she was a young and de-
licate creature, not more, as it seemed, than twenty-five
years of age; and her countenance, when I saw her,
told a tale of hopes altogether blighted. But to me
the excursion was full of interest, and therefore I may
as well make mention of it.
The chateau towards which our steps were turned,
lay a good day's journey from Bordeaux; and to reach
it, we passed through a succession of vineyards, inter-
spersed .with luxuriant groves of olive and myrtle.
The highest order .of cultivation, too, was present
everywhere,. and food for ourselves, as well as forage
for our horses, was both cheap and abundant. But it
was the abode of the widow and her domestic establish-
ment that principally engaged my attention; for any
tiling more gorgeous, yet peculiar, I never witnessed.
"We reached a village towards dusk, at the bottom of
which stood the chateau,—a fine mansion, with exten-
sive stables and outhouses attached,—and our recep-
tion, so soon as my master's name had been announced,
was of the most gratifying kind. • The entire house-
hold seemed, indeed, to greet our arrival as a jubilee.
My master was led at once into the presence of the
lady; while I had the horses taken from me, and was
conducted into a room, where a dozen maids were as-
sembled, and seated forthwith as the honoured guest
among them. Not one word of. their language could 1
speak, nor; one in a dozen could 'I understand; and as
for my efforts, whether I addressed them in English,
or Spanish, or German, they were alike unprofitable to
110
the light dragoon.
gain a hearing. Yet we continued to converse, amid a
great deal of laughter, by signs; and as to drinking
healths, that was managed by hob-nobbing our glasses
at momentary intervals. It was, upon the whole, the
most amusing meal that I ever ate; and the viands, as
well as the wines, were excellent.
We spent two days with the French general's widow,
throughout which we were treated with the greatest
possible kindness. My master was sumptuously lodged,
in an apartment the walls of which were entirely covered
with mirrors, and the floor laid with oak, on which the
polish was so fine that, till I pulled off my boots, I at
least could not stand upon it without slipping. There
was, too, a peculiarity about that chamber, which, on
one occasion, put me to some inconvenience. The door
shut with a spring; and being, like the panels, overlaid
with glass, I found it impossible to make my way out
again, till my master, waking from his first sleep, put
his hand upon the catch and threw it open. As to my
own billet, it was extremely comfortable, though in a
remote and gloomy wing of the castle. And then the
grounds were perfectly beautifdl, with parterres of
flowers, terraces rising above one another, all in the
formal order of the French school. But it is not worth
while to continue these details any further. We abode
in this hospitable mansion till the morning of the third
day ; on the arrival of which we bade our friends fare-
well, and returned the same evening to Bordeaux.
CHAPTER XIII.
I pursue my Journey—Domestic Brawl—A Sutler—Germany—
Dusseldorf—Changes of Fortune.
Our march from Bordeaux carried us by easy stages
through a very beautiful country, the whole surface of
which was covered with vine plantations. We halted,
likewise, for one night in a large town, of which I have
Forgotten the name, but which, from its general aspect,
and the business in which the inhabitants were en-
gaged, reminded me very much of Birmingham. By-
and-by we reached Orleans, still famous for its statue
of Joan of Arc in the market-place, and well filled, at
THE LIGHT DEAGOON. Ill
the period of which I now speak, with English detenus.
I camiot, however, pretend to give any description of a
city in which my sojourn extended not beyond a single
day; nor, which was, at the moment, still more morti-
fymg to myself, did I on that occasion visit Paris at
all. Eor, though the count had gone before us to the
capital, his instructions to us were, that we should turn
short by the road to the Rhenish provinces, without
touching on the great city; and we, albeit sorely mor-
tided at the circumstance, had no choice except to
obey. Accordingly, we journeyed on, leisurely and
very pleasantly, through a rich country, and under the
induence of a genial sun; taking care to halt, when-
ever the opportunity offered, at some pleasant village
for the night, and always meeting from the villagers a
very friendly reception.
We (I mean the count's domestics and baggage)
were attended throughout the march by a small escort
of Polish dragoons. I mention this fact, because the
wife of one of the party acted as a sort of sutler to the
cavalcade, and by the oddity of her appearance, as
well as the strangeness of her proceedings, was the
occasion of a good deal of merriment and some wonder.
She was singularly short, and happened to be in a state
when women in general avoid horse exercise. Yet
there she was, day after day, mounted cross-legged on
a brute at least seventeen hands high, and laden with
eggs, bottles, and glasses, out of which she dispensed,
with a liberal hand, Cognac to such as required it.
One day we missed her from her accustomed place.
The cavalcade set forward, and she went not with it;
ay, and more extraordinary still, when the halting hour
came, the Circular Pole, as we called her, failed to
make her appearance; so we were forced to get our
schnaps, sorely against our will, at the auberge. In
like manner the march of the following day began,
without restoring us to our Hebe; and something like
anxiety was rising among us, when all at once there
was seen in the rear a tall horse at a swinging trot, and
a human form, or else that of a baboon, perched upon
its back. The question of humanity did not, however,
remain unsolved long after the apparition arrived
within ear-shot; for the old cry, "Boir, boir, mon-
sieurs, ein glass brande-wine," soon told us that our
112
THE EI^HT DEAGOOX.
old friend was still in the land of the living. Nor did
she come alone : strapped npon her back, like a bundle
of rags, was a thumping boy,"1 which in the stable of the
last halting-place had "first seen the light; and which,
as well as its mother, showed that it was sound'in
wind, whatever might be the case as to limbs. I con-
fess that I was astounded; yet what will not Nature
do when circumstances make extraordinary demands
on her P
In this manner we. passed the fortresses of Cambray,
Valenciennes, and Avesnes, at the latter of which my
fellow-servants and I came to an open rupture. They
had never -forgiven me the, favour which our common
master showed me, and' here they made up their minds'
to let me feel the extent of their vengeance. It hap-
pened, either by accident or design, that the coachman,
after washing the carriage, placed it exactly across my
stable door, so that I could neither get access to the
horses, nor lead them out to water. I could not sup-
pose that there was design in the matter,-neither did I
cafe to put his good humour-to the test by begging
him to remove it; so I wheeled it on one side witlnmy
own hands, and proceeded to arrange the horses. My
work was yet incomplete, when forth from the house
rushed my comrades: the valet took the lead, and a
volley of abuse was instantly heaped upon me. At
first I kept my temper wonderfully. Tasked them
what was wrong, and received in reply only fresh
abuse; till, by-and-by,my anger was in its turn kindled,
and I told the valet that, if he were not an old man, I
would wring his nose from his face. "Would you?"
cried he, " we'll see." So saying, he ran aside, armed
himself with a sword, and advanced towards" me- in a
menacing attitude. I Was very much irritated, dashed
into the stable, got a good'broom handle, and-rushing
out, prepared to do battle; 'but lo! my enemy was
gone. I searched for him everywhere, but in vain;
till at last a thought striking me that he might have
ensconced himself in the carriage, I wrenched open one
of the doors, and he leaped out through the other.
Away he ran across a meadow, still carrying with him
the naked sword, and away I set-in pursuit; till,
coming up with him,T knocked ■ the*weapon out of his
hand, and laid him sprawling on the grass. He now
THE LIGHT DRAGOON. 113
cried for quarter, and I gave it; as, indeed, after
soundly rating them all, I extended my forgiveness to
the rest of the household; and it is• but fair to add,
that, haying amply apologised, and promised better be-
haviour in the time to come, they conducted themselves
towards me ever afterwards with the greatest good
feeling and attention.
We did not enter Paris, but leaving it on one side,
took the road by Liege, and through Brabant, towards
Aix-la-Chapelle. It seemed to me as if a perpetual
carnival were established. The villages, as we tra-
versed them, were all alive with the gaieties and dissi-
pations of a fair; and strange to say, the occurrence of
each festival seemed to keep pace with our arrival at
the scene of the merry-making. I was greatly pleased
with all that I saw, and enjoyed both the bustle of
Liege, where there are extensive iron-works, and the
monastic gravity of Aix-la-Chapelle, where Napoleon's
mother kept, in my day, a species of court, and divided
with the tomb of Charlemagne the notice of strangers.
The people did not speak in very favourable terms of
her whom they described as the empress-mother. On
the contrary, they represented her to be avaricious in
the extreme; so much so, indeed, as to visit the market
in person, and cheapen the articles that might be
needed for her own household consumption.* But the
circumstance which most of all gave to Aix-la-Chapelle
its claims upon my notice was, that here the count,
who had rejoined us near Paris, met, for the first time
after three years' absence, his wife and family. And a
very joyful greeting it was; for the countess came,
with her two daughters and her sister, to welcome her
lord to his homeland a happier group it has seldom
been my fortune to witness in any part of the world.
We spent a couple of days at Aix-la-Chapelle, in
order that the count and the countess might, according
to etiquette, pay their respects to the empress-mother;
after which we proceeded to Brael—for such was the
^ * The Light Dragoon's observations agree in every respect with
what higher and better authority has told us. Napoleon's mother
was very stingy; yet there was a spirit of rationalism in it too. " You
wish me to spend more money," was her answer to many who com-
plained. " No, I will not. I shaU have aU these kings (meaning
her sons) to support yet."
114 THE LIGHT DKAGOON.
name of my master's chateau, and of the grounds at-
tached to it. The former was a baronial castle, moated
and drawbridged as in ancient times, of prodigious ex-
tent, and confronted by stabling and coach-houses,
where a hundred horses, with a dozen of carriages,
might have been bestowed. The farm-yard was also
capacious, and contained draught horses, cows, bulls,
pigs, poultry, and all the usual appliances of a country-
house, in abundance. So also the gardens, the orchards,
and the woods, were extensive; yet over the whole
hung an air of neglect and desolation, such as bespoke
a family in decay, or suffering from extreme mismanage-
ment in its affairs. I have reason to believe that to the
latter cause, rather than to the encroachments of time
or public calamity, the dilapidated condition of Brael
was owing; for the late count had, it appeared, nomi-
nated his widow to be the guardian of the property
during his son's absence, and the widow, being a woman
of very irregular habits, cruelly abused the trust. The
consequence was, that, when making a tour of the castle,
I found myself wandering from one unfurnished room
to another; the very pictures themselves having been
removed from the walls and sold, in order that means
might be provided for the indulgence of her passion
for gaming. I never shall forget the expression of the
count's face when this scene of waste and desolation
opened upon him. Not even the consciousness that he
was again in the bosom of his family seemed for awhile
to afford him any relief; indeed, I was half tempted to
wonder that he did not apply to be sent back to his
regiment, that, in the excitement and hurry of active
service, his private mortifications might be forgotten.
The count was too little satisfied lyith his dilapidated
and unfurnished castle to make there any lengthened
stay ; yet a strong sense of duty urged him to visit his
mother, who dwelt in another chateau, likewise his pro-
perty, at the distance of five leagues from Brael. It was
called Bolingdorf; and thither, at the expiration of a
few days, we proceeded. The old lady, eccentric in
the extreme, gave us but a cool reception. We abode
with her, nevertheless, upwards of a week, and greatly
delighted the peasants and retainers by our display
both of pomp and liberality; for the count, arraying his
domestics in new liveries, rode to church in state, and
THE LIGHT DBAGOOIT.
115
gave a grand supper, to which, a ball succeeded, in the
largest of the barns that adjoined the mansion. Going
to church in slate, however, much more feasting the lowly
on costly viands, were not at all in the countess's way;
so she and her son were not slow in discovering that one
house would be too small to contain them both. Where-
fore our family removed to my master's town house in
Dusseldorf; and there, not unpleasantly, about a year
of my existence was spent.
Having now exchanged the condition of a soldier for
that of a domestic in a private family, my readers will
probably agree with me in opinion, that our wisest
course will be, not to adhere any longer to the form of
a connected narrative, but simply to describe such oc-
currences as from time to time befel—to which at the
moment some measure of interest was attached, and of
which the remembrance is still cherished. Let me,
then, begin by stating, that the year which I spent in
the neighbourhood of the Rhine was that which wit-
nessed the infliction of the first great blow upon the
colossal empire of Napoleon. The Russian campaign
was begun, and the drain of men and horses, not upon
Trance alone, but upon all the States subject to French
influence, was terrible. Among other districts, the
duchy of Berg, of which Dusseldorf is the capital, re-
ceived orders, early in 1813, to supply the grand army
with a reinforcement of five thousand infantry and five
hundred cavalry. Instantly the conscription was called
into play. Berg had already been pretty well denuded
of the stoutest and most active of its youth; but the
present demand was peremptory, and was carried out-
in total disregard of mercy. Accordingly, the names
of all the male inhabitants between the ages of fifteen
and fifty being already in the keeping of the proper
authorities, a sort of lottery-drawing took place, and
forth from the city went the gendarmes in every direc-
tion to secure their prizes. It was shocking to see the
poor wretches brought in, twenty or thirty in a string,
tied round the neck with one cord, the end of which
was fastened to a mounted policeman's saddle. And
then, for their lodging, they had a particular barrack,
being well and rigidly guarded there by a body of old
French soldiers, every effort to corrupt whose fidelity
proved as fruitless as were the endeavours to elude or
116 THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
deceive their vigilance. Once, and once only, a band
of conscripts contrived, by rising suddenly upon the
guard, to break through the barrier, of whom about
two hundred effected their escape: but even they, after
wandering some days in the woods, were glad to give
themselves up again; for the authorities having taken,
care to register each conscript as he came in, noting
down the exact name and residence of his father and
mother, the conscript himself became from that instant
a mere instrument in their hands. Had he deserted,
they did not care so much as to look for him; but they
sent a patrol to his father's house, seized the old man,
threw turn into prison, and kept him there till his son
came back to his standard. There was not one of all
the two hundred fugitives who was not by these means
recovered; for filial piety was in those days an active
principle in Germany, nor was its power to influence
the behaviour of individuals ever more clearly shown
than in the case of which I am now speaking.
Such was the process by which five thousand men
were, in the space of a few days, brought together. To
collect the horses a device not less summary was
adopted. Wherever the police agents saw within the
duchy an animal which seemed to be fit for military
service, they, without inquiring into its age or capa-
bilities, seized it. The proprietor might complain, but
who regarded him ? He received, in compensation for
the loss of his beast, an order upon the treasury for
seven pounds sterling, which, in ninety-nine instances
out of a hundred, proved to be worth its value in paper,
and no more.
The men and horses being gathered together, the next
thing was to officer and drill them; the former of which
measures was carried out, at least in the cavalry, by
breaking up the skeleton of a lancer regiment which
had served in Spain, and distributing the troopers, as
captains, lieutenants, and sub-lieutenants, throughout
the newly-raised levy. With respect again to the in-
fantry, I believe that an attempt was made to place
them under the command of those of their own country-
men to whom, in civil life, they had been accustomed
to look up; but it very imperfectly succeeded. Be this,
however, as it may, three short weeks were all that
could be granted for organizing and training the re-
THE LIGHT DRAGOON. 117
eruits ; at the termination of which the whole were
pronounced fit for service, and received the route to
inarch into Russia. Surely there never took the field
such a body of cavalry; for the men were incapable of
sitting their horses, and the horses unbroken to obey
the bridle, far less the sound of the trumpet; and as to
the infantry, they could prime and load, certainly, and
fire, and load again; but of the evolutions of a common
company's parade they knew nothing. Still the cry for
men was great at head quarters, and the order was
issued for the Bergers to march, after their officers
should have presented themselves at a grand entertain-
ment which General Travier, the individual appointed
by the authorities at Paris to superintend the equip-
ment of the levies in this quarter, had determined to
give.
I was present at the dinner, my master, Count Gol-
stein, having purposely desired me to wait upon him-
self; and a scene more perfectly ludicrous, more unlike
to everything of the sort which I had ever witnessed
before, never, I must admit, passed under my observa-
tion. At the upper table, where sat General Travier,
my master, the civil and military authorities of the
place, anfi several men of rank from the neighbouring
districts, matters went forward pretty much as at
public dinners they are wont to do; but among the
gentry who crowded the long tables that stretched from
one end of the hall to the other, a widely different state
of things prevailed. There was scrambling and push-
ing while the viands were before them,—one was heap-
ing an entire dish of vegetables on his plate, another
seizing and keeping possession of a joint or a stew.
This gallant captain upset a butter-boat in his neigh-
hour's lap,—that newly-fledged lieutenant poured a jug
of gravy over the shoulder of his friend beside him. It
was everywhere " make sure of what you can reach,
and never think of asking whether anybody would like
to share it with you." And then, when the process of
giving toasts began, surely no caricaturist, in the most
extravagant flight of his fancy, ever imagined aught so
grotesque. General Travier, to be sure, pledged the
emperor with great spirit; and, though not one in
twenty understood a word of what he said, was greeted,
till he sat down, with cheers. Then followed, " Sue-
118 THE EIGHT DKAGOON.
cess to tlie grand army," wliicli was prefaced by an
assurance that " the gentlemen whom he had the
honour to address were fortunate men, inasmuch as
they were about to march to certain glory, of which the
fruits would be a speedy advancement to rank, distinc-
tions, and wealth." That, too, was cheered, not least
vociferously by those who could not comprehend a
syllable of the argument which the eloquent speaker
laboured to establish. But by-and-by wilder and louder
words were heard. The gentlemen at the lower tables,
conceiving that time was precious, helped themselves
in bumpers, and soon got drunk ; whereupon the occu-
pants of the high table withdrew; and even my dispo-
sition to laugh gradually exchanged itself for a sense of
deep disgust, and I, though nowise required to do so,
followed my master.
Next morning, at seven o'clock, five thousand Berger
infantry, and five hundred cavalry, began their march
towards Russia. It was a piteous spectacle that,—for
wives, and mothers, and sisters threw themselves wildly
into the ranks, and the sound of lamentation rose high
above the notes of martial music. But what availed it ?
The decree had gone forth,—the ill-fated conscripts
held their way,—and few, if any, ever returned to tell
how it fared with them amid the snows and frosts of
Muscovy.
As the act of organizing this corps kept Dusseldorf
in a state of extreme bustle, so the stillness that pre-
vailed after the troops had marched struck me as some-
thing awful. You saw no human beings in the streets
except women and children. Even the old men were
few in number; for the conscription, like the standard
of height, was often stretched; and they, like the
women, seemed to be fairly bowed down with sorrow
for the loss of their offspring. Every occurrence, there-
fore, which promised in any way to break in upon the
gloom of total inaction was hailed, at least by me, as a
relief; and two there did occur, very different in them-
selves to be sure, yet both so striking that I cannot
think of passing them by unnoticed.
The first was the execution of a woman and her
paramour for the murder of the husband of the former.
The deceased had, it appeared, by frugality and cease-
less labour, contrived to amass some money as a maker
THE LIGHT DKAGOON.
of brooms, which brooms he was in the habit of cutting
in a wood not far from the city. He, therefore, finding'
years increase upon him, hired a man to assist him,
and his wife proceeded to form with that person an
illicit connexion. They say that Love is blind, and,
without all doubt, he showed himself, in this instance,
to be at least fearfully short-sighted; for while the
frail fair one was really a handsome woman, the gallant,
if not absolutely deformed, was but by a hair-breadth
removed from deformity. Nevertheless he had charms
in the eyes of the broom-maker's wife, so irresistible,
that at last it was agreed between them that the
husband should be put out of the way.
The poor man was missed; but as his wife repre-
sented him to have gone on a visit to some relatives at
a distance, nobody inquired further, and for severaL
weeks all went on smoothly. At the termination of
this interval, however, a body was found, very much
decomposed, yet distinguishable as that of the broom-
maker, floating on the surface of a pond or small lake,,
which lay deep in the forest whence his besoms used to
be drawn. It was immediately conveyed into the city,
and the woman and her lover being arrested, arrange-
ments were made for putting them on their trial. How
closely does the eye of Providence watch over the life
of man; and how rarely are they who shed man's blood
permitted to escape. Two children, the eldest only
eleven years old, had, as it now came out, been spec-
tators of the butchery. They saw the old man—for he
was full sixty years of age—come, with his journeyman
and his wife, to his accustomed spot, and stoop down,
as he was wont to do, for the purpose of cutting the
heather where it was longest. He was thus employed
when his servant stole behind and felled him to the
ground with a blow from a bludgeon. The blows were
repeated till his victim ceased to struggle; and then he,
with his paramour, dragged the body to the edge of the
pond and threw it in. But life, as it appeared, had not
been extinguished; for the guilty pair turning round,
after they had proceeded some way from the spot,
beheld their victim dragging himself towards the shore
by means of the bulrushes which grew in large quan-
tities round the edges of the pond. Instantly the
woman turned back, and, seizing a broom-handle, she
120 THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
pushed her husband back into the water, and held him
under till he expired.
These facts having been proved at the trial, there
could, of course, be no doubt as to the nature of the
sentence. Both criminals were condemned to be guillo-
tined; but as it was necessary in those days to get the
sentence of death confirmed at Paris, several weeks
elapsed ere the wretched pair were taught that with
them the business of the world was ended. The woman,
I was assured, made very strenuous efforts to obtain,
if not a pardon, at least a commutation of her sentence.
She offered to pay as much as ten thousand dollars into
the imperial treasury. Yet the emperor, or his repre-
sentatives, though sorely pressed for the sinews of war,
refused, point blank, to have any dealings with her.
Accordingly the day was fixed, and at the time ap-
pointed she and her partner in crime were brought
from the prison to the scaffold, each in an open cart,
and each attended by a priest, who seemed, to do him,
justice, most assiduous in the discharge of his duty.
The wretched woman looked to her spiritual comforter
with attention. Her whole demeanour, likewise, was
that of one who knows that it is the reverse of a light
matter to die; whereas the man, either from ignorance,
or because he was more master of himself, exhibited no
symptoms at all of concern. Both were, however, firm;
nor did she, even when the executioner stripped her to
the waist, shrink from her doom. But I must not go
on. It is a horrible species of punishment. Easy it
may be to the delinquent, when compared with strangu-
lation; but on the spectator the effect is far more dis-
gusting: for there is something frightful in the literal
shedding of blood, especially as by the guillotine it is
shed—in torrents. Let me, then, be content to state,
that in three seconds after they had been fastened to
the machine they lay before us, successively, headless
trunks; while we, or at least I, turned away, ^utterly
sickened by the spectacle of which I had been the
witness.
The second anecdote which I undertook to repeat
has reference to a phenomenon on which, for aught I
know to the contrary, may be founded the well-known
legend which records the destruction of a tyrannical
chief in his own castle, on the Rhine, by an inroad of
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
121
rats. Tile country about Dusseldorf is subject to pe-
riodical visitations from myriads of field-mice. These
tiny marauders advance in such numbers, that every
effort to destroy them fails; and wherever they go
they mow down the standing wheat before them, as
surely and wellnigh as quickly as a band of reapers.
They feed entirely on the roots of the stalk; and,
grubbing for their food, while the stalk is yet green,
they utterly destroy as they go forward. Moreover,
they can neither be arrested nor turned out of their
direct route; but forward they go, like the hurricane,
in a straight line, and their operations are scarcely
than the hurricane less destructive. I tried to per-
suade the people that, if they would only dig a deep
and wide trench across the field, the small marauders
would be stopped; but they paid to attention to me.
And the consequence was, that, throughout a space of
several miles—on a plateau not very wide, to be sure,
but exceedingly fertile—all the labours of the seed-time
were rendered profitless, and the husbandmen entirely
cheated of their harvest. At last the army of foragers
reached a running stream, which they could not pass;
and I believe that, in their efforts to do so, they all
perished.
The people of Berg are very superstitious, and, in
one sense of the phrase, extremely philosophical. No
sooner were the mice gone, than they set about col-
lecting the damaged grain, laying it up as forage for
the cattle during the winter. And, while they shrug-
ged their shoulders, and declared that the visitation
came from God, and could not, therefore, be avoided,
they comforted themselves by the anticipation of a
crop, tenfold more abundant than that which had been
lost, on the following autumn. I have reason to believe
that the calculation in question never fails them.
"Whether it is that the mice manure the land as they
go on, or that the removal of the grain by the process
of mining spares the soil more than if it were reaped, I
cannot pretend to say; but experience has shown, that
the season immediately succeeding that of a visitation
of the sort is invariably more prolific, by many degrees,
than the seasons usually are. So bountiful is nature in
all her arrangements, even when she seems at times to
have declared war against us.
122 THE LIGHT DKAG001T.
Time passed; and each new week—I might have
said each new day—beheld detachment after detach-
ment arrive from the interior of France, halt to orga-
nize itself, and provide horses for the conveyance of its
baggage, and then push on, as the event proved, to
certain destruction. Every animal that could move or
earry a load, he it ever so trifling, was, of course, taken
up, and my kind master, among others, parted with all
his stud, leaving me, for the first time since I joined
him, entirely destitute of employment. It was under
these circumstances, and with his entire approbation,
that I consented to transfer my services to an English
family, called Grainger, then resident in the place, and
with them for awhile I lived in great comfort, albeit
certainly not in idleness. But the crisis had come, on
which, at a period not remote, he would have been
accounted insane, who should have reckoned; and
bands of stragglers, making their way back to their
homes, told us of the entire overthrow of the grand
army. The battle of Leipsic was fought; and the
wreck of the combatants might, it appeared, be ex-
pected in full retreat for the Bhine, which they desired
to interpose between themselves and their pursuers.
Moreover, the vigilance of the French in guarding their
prisoners, as well on the German as on the opposite
side of the river, seemed to relax; and, one after an-
other, the captives regained their freedom, though not
without the endurance of much suffering. I remember
one bitter cold day, in the depth of the winter of 1813-14,
going out early in the morning for the purpose of
washing the carriage, and encountering at the yard-
gate a spectacle which greatly interested me. It was
a young man, dripping with wet, from whose person
the icicles were hanging, and who earnestly besought
me to tell whether there was not an Englishman in the
place. After a little discussion I made myself known,
and learned that he, a countryman of my own, with
three others, had escaped from a depot of prisoners on
the other side, and, swimming the Bhine, were now all
but dead from cold, having crouched together through-
out the night in a gravel-pit. I took them in, as may
be supposed, carried them to the servants' hall, lighted
a good fire in the stove, and from my own wardrobe
supplied them with a change of dress. My master
THE LIGHT DEAGOOH. 123
likewise behaved to them with great kindness; and,
concealing them for a while, we eventually contrived
to pass them on, by a route which secured to them a
good chance of reaching England in safety. They had,
it appeared, been mates of merchant-vessels, in which
capacity they were taken; and the name of one was
Eobinson, from Tooley-street, in the Borough. I can-
not recal to my remembrance the precise channel
through which intelligence of their safe return to Lon-
don reached me; yet I know that they did escape in a
smuggler from Holland. I hope that they have since
prospered.
The Englishmen were scarcely gone, when evidences,
more and more conclusive, of the turn which affairs had
taken at Napoleon's head-quarters, began everywhere
to exhibit themselves. Humour after rumour came in
of fresh disasters sustained, and of a universal dispo-
sition exhibiting itself throughout the whole of the
Rhenish provinces, to rise against the iron yoke under
which they had so long lain. The people, indeed, were
everywhere eager to be led against their oppressors;
but chiefs to direct the insurrection were wanting, and
the consequence was, that an outbreak which occurred
at Elberfeldt was put down, with great loss to the in-
surgents. It was determined, also, by the victors to
make an example of four of the ringleaders, by putting
them publicly to death in the four most populous towns
in-the district; and one, an unfortunate weaver, was
brought to Dusseldorf, that he might there undergo
the sentence which a court-martial had awarded. I
went to the great square, for the purpose of witnessing
his execution; and a very shocking sight it was. The
poor man, who had been wounded in the battle, was
carried upon a sort of litter, by four Erench grenadiers,
and laid down in the market-place, scarcely if at all
conscious of what was going on. The coffin had already
been prepared for him, and he was thrown on the
ground beside it; in which attitude he was shot, I verily
believe, after the breath had gone forth from the body.
Neither this barbarous act, however, nor many more
of a like nature, sufficed to stem the tide of events
which swept irresistibly onwards. The period of French
domination was come, and the lapse of a few days made
all parties, whether friends or foes, aware of the fact.
124 THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
While I was looking, like all around me, for what
each new day might bring forth, I chanced, once upon
a time, to pass through the market-place, where I en-
countered a man leading a mule by the halter, whom I
felt myself irresistibly compelled to examine closely.
My surprise may be imagined when I recognised, in
the squalid object before me, the same Joseph, who,
on my first capture in Spain, had behaved to me with
so much kindness. He had, it appeared, followed his
master all the way to Moscow, and shared in the hard-
ships of the subsequent retreat, at some stage in which
the general was wounded, and sent on, with others in a
similar plight, to France. Joseph, however, did not
accompany him, but marched with his mule, through-
out that inclement season, which cost the invaders of
Hussia so many lives, and utterly destroyed the French
army. I took him to my home, of course, and strongly
urged his making his way to England through Holland;
but he refused to act on my advice. " The mule is
loaded with my master's property," said he, " and I
cannot bear the thought of wronging him of one
fragment of it. I will take my chance, penetrate into
France, and, having delivered it up, return home as
I best can." There was no blaming him for acting
on a principle of such perfect honesty, so I contented
myself with giving him a share of my worldly goods,
and recommending him to keep well ahead or the re-
treating army, I saw him to the edge of the Khine, and
there took leave of him.
I had just parted from Joseph, when I learned from
some market-people that a corps of French troops was
in full march towards the town. About noon they
arrived, some six or seven hundred in number, bringing
with them two eight-pounders and a howitzer. They
encamped outside the barrier, whither, with many more,
I went to see them. Never have I beheld troops in
such a pitiable plight. Their arms, I believe, were
serviceable enough, but their clothes were all in tatters;
and their frames, emaciated from constant fatigue, and
the absence of regularity in their diet, seemed altogether
unequal to any further exertion. Their morale, like-
wise, appeared to be affected almost in an equal degree
with their physical powers, for the very name of a Cos-
sack made them shudder, and they were evidently inca-
THE LIGHT DKAGOON. 125
pable of showing any steady front, if attacked. Nor,
indeed, was it intended that they should attempt a
stand on this side of the Rhine, the object of their
movement on Dusseldorf being to get possession of the
flying bridge, and to carry that, with every boat and
barge that lay near, out of the reach of their pursuers.
Accordingly, after a halt of a few days, during which
period Buonaparte with his staff and body-guard
arrived, and a regiment of cavalry with some more
infantry joined them, the whole moved off without
having offered to the town the slightest molestation,
and established themselves in a camp which had already
been formed along the farther bank, and from which
both they and their leaders hoped to guard effectually
against the passage of the Rhine by the allies.
CHAPTER XIV.
Set out for England—Adventures by the way—Embark at Hel-
voetsluys—Harwich—Sailors' Fun—March for London.
Theee is something very sad in the contemplation of
such a total wreck as had by this time overtaken the
Erench armies, however merited the downfal of the
discomfited maybe; and there occurred a little inci-
dent which sufficiently proved that the inhabitants of
Dusseldorf at least were not insensible to the feeling.
After the last of the boats had been carried across the
river, about five-and-twenty invalid French soldiers,
whom their comrades had overlooked, and who re-
mained in one of the hospitals, discovered that they
had been abandoned, and, rushing out into the streets,
exhibited amid their weakness, the most distressing
symptoms of despair. They ran to the water's edge,
adjured their countrymen to save them, and, in several
instances, made an effort to throw themselves into the
river. The citizens looked on with great compassion
for a while, after which they took the poor fellows to
their homes, and, hiding them in places where they had
at least a chance of escaping observation, they fed and
nursed them there with great tenderness. 1 am glad
that it is in my power to add, that the humanity of the
126 THE LIGHT DEAG00N.
Dusseldorfers was not wasted. The invalids contrived
to elude the notice both of Russians and Prussians;
and, being supplied with money and other necessaries
for the journey, were, on the recovery of their strength,
sent home to their own country.
It was on the 13th of November, 1813, that the last
of the French army passed the Rhine; and the same
day, about noon, I learned from some countrymen
whom I met in a wine-house, that bands of Cossacks
were hovering about in the fields, at no great distance.
Now, we had not been taught to think too highly either
of the self-denial or the honesty of the Cossacks; and I
confess that the intelligence rendered me very uneasy,
on account of my mistress and the female domestics of
the family. I therefore hurried home, warned my
poor mistress—whose husband had gone from home—
of the danger that menaced, and gave her all the aid
which I could furnish, in guarding against it. The
first thing done, was to direct the cook to have an
abundant supply of provisions ready: the next, to get
up from the cellars wine and spirits, enough to cheer
the hearts of half a regiment. After this, I persuaded
the baroness to retreat with her children and nurses up
stairs into one of the bed-rooms, and to barricade the
door on the inside, so as to hinder it from being easily
opened. Then, having seen matters arranged, as far
as circumstances would allow, I strolled out, partly to
ascertain how far danger really threatened, partly to
gratify the sort of nervous curiosity by which all men,
so situated, are apt to be affected.
It was night when I entered the streets, throughout
the whole compass of which not a living thing showed
itself. The shops were all closed, every window was
dark, and not so much as the stroke of a hammer broke
in upon the deathlike silence. I wandered on and on,
seeing nothing, and hearing nothing, except the clank
of my own footsteps on the pavement. At last I
turned towards a public-house, which I had been in the
habit of frequenting; and finding the door shut, I
knocked. For a considerable space no notice was taken
of the signal; but I knocked again and again; and in
the end, the sound of the £>olt withdrawn from its socket
reached me. By and by the door creaked on its hinges,
and mine host stood in the very narrow aperture, hold-
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
127
mg a candle in his hand, by the flame of which I could
perceive that he was pale as ashes. " What's the
matter,Boniface?" cried I; "has anything happened?"
" Oh, nothing at all," replied he, drawing a deep breath;
"I only thought it might be the Cossacks." From this
I learned, that the arrival of these people was mo-
mentarily expected; so, having drunk a glass of wine,
and conversed for a few moments with mine host, I
hurried home.
It might be about nine o'clock when the first strao--
gling party of Cossacks entered Dusseldorf. Their ad-
vance was conducted with extreme caution; for they
no sooner passed one gate, than they put their horses
to the speed, and galloped helter-skelter through,
emerging by the gate opposite. Having thus satisfied
themselves that there was no garrison in the place,
they returned „ to the gate through which they had
first shown themselves, and there formed. They
marched next to the market-place, where they halted.
But though the inhabitants, perceiving but a handful of
men, ventured to come forth and invite them into their
houses, not one of these wild and wary warriors would
quit his station. They sat down, to be sure, to the
tables which were soon spread for them in the open air,
and ate and drank as savages are accustomed to do,
who have long fasted. But though they vociferated
their delight as often as a cry arose, " Long live the
Emperor Alexander," they steadily refused to enter
beneath a roof.
Throughout the whole of that night the Cossacks
continued to receive, by twos and three, a fresh acces-
sion of numbers. At first not more than twenty or
thirty had entered the town; when day broke, about
200 occupied the square; and they were soon after-
wards reinforced by about 500 Prussian lancers. These
proceeded, without delay, to obtain billets upon the in-
habitants; and taking quiet possession of the apart-
ments that were allotted to them, they exhibited no
disposition to molest or offer injury to their enter-
tainers. The case was very different, when, a few
hours later, a battalion of Russian infantry, with a
regiment of horse, entered the town. They did not so
much as go through the form of applying for billets;
but spreading themselves through the town, they took
128 THE LIGHT DEAGOON.
possession by parties of whatever domiciles seemed to
attract their notice, or hold out the prospect of agree-
able quarters. Neither did they stop there. "Whole
families were turned into the street: the grossest out-
rages perpetrated on the women: horses were put up
in the very drawing-rooms, and the costliest articles of
furniture broken up for firewood. As to the work of
plunder, that went on without the smallest interruption,
and no human being appeared to blush for it. Among
others, our house was visited by two officers of cavalry
and a troop of their men. They knocked furiously at
the gate; and though I lost no time in opening it, they
overwhelmed me with abuse because I had kept them
waiting. They demanded quarters for themselves and
a superior officer. I showed them into a couple of
rooms in the lower story, where beds had been pur-
posely prepared; and replied to their orders concerning-
dinner, that it should be forthcoming immediately.
And thanks to the bravery of my countrywoman, the
cook, who refused to retreat with the rest of the female
servants, and stood to her utensils all day, I was en-
abled, within ten minutes, to set before them a sump-
tuous meal.
The Russians expressed themselves both surprised
and pleased at the rapidity with which their wants
were supplied. They drank copiously, too, from a
magnum of white Burgundy, which, having no good
Rhenish in the house, I set before them as choice
Markobruner, and desiring that tea might be ready in
a couple of hours, they walked abroad. And now
began my troubles with the men. So long as the
officers continued on the spot, the privates bore them-
selves with some show of moderation; but moderation
was now at an end. They clamoured for food, drink,
everything of which they fancied themselves in need,
and made a rush to storm the kitchen, which the cook
defended with great resolution. At last, however, by
dint of expostulation and entreaty, I prevailed upon
them to desist; and a bountiful supply of black pud-
dings and gin soon restored them to good humour.
Meanwhile, flying portions of these savages had wan-
dered all over the house, trying every door, and enter-
ing every apartment to which they found access.
Among others, they had twice or thrice lifted the latch
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
129"
of that behind which my mistress and her family lay;
but finding it fastened, they did not burst through,
very much to the relief of the parties within, who were
wellnigh killed with terror. They were not, however,
so delicate in their dealings with our horses: these
they turned out of the stalls into the streets, putting
their own under cover, and feeding them with our
forage. In short, it was a day and a night of extreme
anxiety even to me; of agony and terror to the rest.
Nevertheless, it passed by with perhaps less of suffer-
ing than might fairly have been expected. And on the
morrow, my mistress, perceiving that no personal vio-
lence was likely to be offered to her, ventured to quit ■
her place of refuge.
Her first step was to wait upon the officers, who
chanced to be at breakfast, and to remonstrate with
them against the treatment which her horses had re-
ceived. They did not so much as rise when she en-
tered the apartment; but asking with a sneer, whether
she thought her horses, or those belonging to the Em-
peror, of greater worth, they told her, point blank, that
things should remain as they were. She instantly
withdrew, and burst into tears. But tears were of
small avail in such a situation as that into which the
fortune of war had brought her, and she wras con-
demned in consequence, throughout a space of four
whole days, to sustain as she best might, the wrongs
and insults to which foreign soldiers subjected her.
During four whole days this state of things continued,
and Dusseldorf was the scene of indescribable misery..
Each new hour brought an accession to the numbers of
the troops that filled it, till by and by not fewer than
10,000 to 12,000 must have taken up their quarters
there. As a matter of course, the inhabitants wTere
expelled from one apartment after another, to make
way for men and horses. The streets, also, wrere
strewed with fragments of broken furniture, beds,
chairs, curtains, cooking utensils; and the noise of
revelry rose above sounds which told of outrage suf-
fered and feelings lacerated. But the most curious
figures in that strange scene were the Cossacks: for a
Cossack accoutred for war, bears as little resemblance
to a human being as it is possible to conceive. His
attire consists of an accumulation of rags of all sorts
i
130
THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
fastened about bis trunk and limbs, with ropes or
bands of straw: bis cloak is not unfrequently a bear-
skin, witb a bole cut, in order to let bis bead pass
through; over which again is drawn a red woollen
night-cap, so closely, as to leave no part of bis counte-
nance visible except the small piercing red eyes, or the
sharp cheek-bones. Moreover, the Cossack is so en-
veloped in swaddling-clothes, that each limb appears as
thick as an ordinary man's waist, and each waist like a
goodly pollarded oak. As to his arms and appoint-
ments, these consist always of a lance, long and stout,
and headed with steel; often of a bow and a quiver full
of arrows, as well as of pistols stuck in profusion round
his body. His horse again is as rough as a polar bear,
small of stature, yet exceedingly hardy; and as to the
saddle, according to the height of that you may judge
of each man's personal wealth. For a Cossack never
stuffs his plunder anywhere but in the croup of his
saddle, which, as he is a capital forager, grows higher
and higher, till, towards the end of the campaign, its
shape is portentous. Finally, a Cossack never un-
dresses till the campaign has ended, nor thinks of
sleeping in a bed. He is accordingly a moving mass
of filth and vermin: yet, withal, hardy, active, acute,
and brave—a very locust to the land over which he
sweeps as a conqueror, a very hornet to the flying
enemy, whom it is his business to harass.
Hp to the present moment, the French had been in
possession of one bank of the Shine, the allies of the
other; yet, by neither party was an attempt made to
break in upon the repose of its adversaries. On
the side of the French this forbearance was purely
voluntary, for they had in battery opposite to Dussel-
dorf, two 8-pounders, and a howitzer. The allies, I
am afraid, could lay claim to no merit on that score,
seeing that they were destitute of cannon, and pos-
sessed not a single boat wherewith to try the effect of
a passage. But the cannon for which thev had re-
peatedly sent, came up at last; and one nigkt, orders
were given to plant eight 12-pounders above and below
the town, so as to throw upon the French camp a
cross-fire. Having been made aware of the issuing of
these orders, and being desirous of witnessing the effect
of the first discharge, I made interest with the governor
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
131
of tlie jail, to whom I was personally known, and was
by him admitted into a cell in one of the upper stories,
whence an extensive view of the surrounding country
could be obtained. I took my place beside the barred
window, just as the first grey streaks of dawn appeared
in the sky, and the intensity of interest with which I
watched them gradually extend, I have no power of
language to describe. At last the morning came: there
was nothing remarkable in it for a brief space; and in
the French camp all seemed security and peace. The
huts had been built with great regularity: they were
filled with slumbering soldiers; not a man indeed ap-
peared to be awake throughout the whole encamp-
ment, except the sentries, and horses and mules stood
picketed in numbers near. In a moment afterwards
what a change was there! The allied guns opened.
Crash went the huts, down fell horses and mules; forth
from their sleeping-places rushed crowds of men, only
that they might the more expose themselves to the
showers of round and grape that fell among them;
while here and there a human form stretched upon the
earth, or dragging itself along, gave evidence that not
in vain had round and grape sped upon their course.
It was a horrid spectacle, for the wretches thus cut
down neither had offered, nor could offer, the smallest
resistance; and their retreat itself, though begun with-
out the loss of a moment, did not carry them for some
time out of the reach of their destiny.
The French appeared to have been taken so much
by surprise that they made, for awhile, no reply to
this rude salutation. By degrees, however, their artil-
lerists recovered their self-possession, and sharply and
well their guns spoke back, sending round shot into
many a house, and setting fire to more than one store
of combustibles. On our side, however, as every pos-
sible preparation had been made to meet this exigency,
buckets and engines were all ready, and the names
were soon extinguished. But besides that some fives
were lost, more than one domicile received a mark of
what war will do, in the shape of a round-shot lodged
even in its inner chambers, which not to this day, I
have reason to believe, have the Dusseldorfers thought
it necessary to efface.
The firing continued on both sides till dusk, when
i 2
132
THE LIGHT DEAGOON.
the allies, having levelled the enemy's camp with the
ground, ceased, and the enemy withdrew their guns
from a position which was no longer tenable. But our
people were not willing to let the matter end there.
Having ascertained that two horse-boats had been scut-
tied just before the French evacuated the place, the officer
commanding caused them to be raised, and in the course
of half-an-hour they were repaired and made seaworthy.
Immediately one hundred Prussian grenadiers, headed
by a brave and enterprising young officer, volunteered
to make a dash upon the town of Eberfeldt, where it
was well known that most of the boats removed from
the Dusseldorf side had been laid up. The offer was
accepted, of course; and about midnight this handful
of gallant fellows shoved off, carrying with them the
best wishes of their countrymen. It appeared that
they managed all things with equal prudence and
bravery. They landed without observation, the French
suspecting nothing on that side, and therefore having
no sentries planted. They crept up towards the gate
of the town, and lay down, waiting till the hour of re-
lief should come round. It struck at last. They heard
the relief muster inside; they saw the drawbridge fall,
and the gate roll back, and then, without so much as a
cry, they sprang forward. The guard were bayoneted to
a man, ana into the town they rushed. What can sol-
diers do when thus surprised P That night a battalion
of five hundred men, a general, and twenty officers of
inferior rank, became prisoners to this handful of gre-
nadiers, who seized them in their beds; and, when day-
light came, the inhabitants of Eberfeldt were at once
astonished and delighted to see that their town was in
possession of the allies.
The glad tidings soon spread to Dusseldorf, and boats
coming over, crowds of curious persons hastened to as-
certain how matters had gone with the party. Among
others, I must needs visit Eberfeldt, and a curious
scene of revelry and triumph it presented. The Prus-
sians occupied the great square, the French having
been unceremoniously thrust into the common jail, and
there, with the inhabitants of all ranks and both sexesr
they were carousing. But not to Dusseldorf alone had
tidings of the night's work made their way. At Juliers,
a place scarcely nine English miles distant, a division
THE LIGHT DKAGOOX.
133
of six thousand French troops lay; and these, made
aware of the disaster that had overtaken their com-
rades, hastened to avenge it. It was curious to watch
the progress of things. Guns, tumbrils, ammunition-
wagons, military stores of every description, quanti-
ties of bullion, of small arms, and great coats, were
run down to the water's-edge, and embarked; while,
by-and-by, the idlers, whom curiosity had brought into
danger, began to hurry as fast as possible beyond the
reach of it. For, strange to say, though a lodgment
was thus made, there existed no intention on the part
of the allies to hold the ground on the enemy's bank
of the river, and the hundred grenadiers received, in
consequence, no reinforcement. Accordingly, the news
no sooner spread that an enemy's column was advanc-
ing, than helter-skelter all ran for the beach; and, in
a few minutes, it seemed doubtful whether boats
enough would remain to carry back again the handful
of heroes who had so well accomplished the task com-
mitted to them.
The Prussian officer, however, was a good soldier in
every sense of the word. He did not neglect his line of
retreat; he marched a party down to the river, which
at once took and kept possession of as many boats as
were judged necessary. He then coolly planted his
men under cover of certain houses which commanded
the road by which the French must advance, and saluted
the head of the column, as soon as it arrived within
range, with a volley. A smart skirmish followed, in
which the Prussians lost, I think, three men; but it
was not of long continuance. The officer had done
his duty; he therefore retreated in excellent order,
.and, carrying with him his wounded, arrived on the
opposite shore, amid the enthusiastic shouts of his com-
rades.
All this while the force of the allies continued to in-
crease in and around Dusseldorf. Every farm-house
and hovel in the neighbourhood was filled with troops,
who, with their horses, literally licked up everything
that was fit for food; till, by-and-by, about twenty
thousand men were ready to debouch by the opening
which our Prussians had made. Among other arrivals,
I must not omit to mention that of the Black Hussars
—a corps originally raised by a Prussian noble, whom
134
■THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
his master, for reasons of state, had sent into banish-
ment. These men, with their leader, had long existed
by plunder, which they carried off from far and near,
and stored up in their haunts among the Hartz moun-
tains. But when the crisis came, the chief of the band
made a .tender of his services to the allied sovereigns :
he was pardoned and accepted; and the battles of
Leipsic and Hennau bear testimony to the reckless
bravery which marked his own proceedings and those
of his followers. His men were well mounted; he had
equipped them in black, and they bore upon the fronts
of their chakos the same emblems which our own Black
Brunswickers used to bear—namely, the skull and
cross-bones. But though the rumour of their approach
excited unspeakable alarm in Dusseldorf, I am bound
to state that, when they did coi 11 1,1
other body of armed men in the town. Two of their
officers were quartered upon us, and we found them in
all respects civil, and even modest.
The Black Hussars, with the rest of the forces as-
sembled in Dusseldorf, broke up in due time, and took
the road to Paris. Other heavy columns moved simul-
taneously with them from Cologne and Coblentz; and
the newspapers, which circulated freely, told us, day by
day, of some fresh triumph obtained, and some pro-
vince liberated. Such a state of things naturally ex-
cited in my mind a strong desire to revisit the land of
my birth; and as spring came on, I only waited the
return of my master in order to carry this natural and
cherished scheme into execution. He came at last,
bringing with him a letter from my mother, whom he
had seen, and informed of my well-being; and who,
erroneously conceiving that I intended to live and die
abroad, proposed to sell off her little property, and join
me at Dusseldorf. But this kind proposal only sharp-
ened my zeal to breathe once more the atmosphere
which I had breathed in my childhood; and suspecting
that my master would throw impediments in the way,
I set about making my preparations very quietly. At
last I told him. He was surprised, vexed, and, per-
haps, somewhat unjust ; he refused at first to let me go
without three months' notice, and when I resisted this,
themselves with at least as much
THE LIGHT DKAGOON.
135
lie sent me away with less of kindness than I conceived
that I had merited. I did not, however, resent the in-
jury; but, retiring to a public-house, packed my little
all into as narrow a compass as possible, and made
ready to begin my homeward journey on the morrow.
Though Dusseldorf had been to me the land of
strangers, there were some kind hearts there which I
was loath to leave behind. This was particularly the
case in reference to my first master and friend, Baron
Golstein. Yet it would have been strange, had the
consciousness of liberty recovered not very much out-
weighed these natural regrets; and I am not ashamed
to acknowledge that my step was light and buoyant,
as, for the last time, I traversed the streets of that
ancient town: besides, I was not an object of any one's
compassion. Two good suits of clothes I could call my
own, besides a watch, and thirty odd Prussian dollars
in money; while my travelling companion was a poodle
dog, whose gambols served to while away many a
vacant hour, and whose sagacity was not inferior to
that of his kind in general. My first day's march,
which carried me to Gueldres, was performed in the
hest spirits; and my reception there having been
that the heart of man could wish, my second began
under circumstances nowise less propitious.
It was a fine fresh morning, the 3rd of April, 1814,
when this second march began. Having a considerable
distance to accomplish, I started betimes, and was
passing over an extensive heath—my pipe in my mouth,
and my dog frisking round me—when far ahead I dis-
covered the form of a man, and I quickened my pace,
desiring to overtake him. I gained upon the stranger
sufficiently to observe that he wore a glazed hat and a
brewn coat,—the former, at least, affording ground to
believe that he must be a countryman; so I stepped
out lustily, being elated by the prospect of finding a
pleasant companion with whom to converse by the
way. The stranger, however, was evidently suspicious:
he looked behind, and seeing me stride out, he began
to stride also, thus increasing rather than diminishing
the space that was between us. It was in vain that I
sent on my dog, or that the animal, trotting from the
one to the other, strove, as it were, to bring us to-
136
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
g ether: the stranger held his pace, and I soon found
-that the hope of overtaking him, unless some check
should occur, was idle.
The chase was thus continued, till a town or large
village appeared in the distance, in passing through
which I felt sure that I should lose my man. Not
willing, however, to abandon my own project so long
as the faintest prospect of a different resuit appeared,
I sent my dog forward, and desired him to keep the
stranger in view till I should come up. I lost both
man and beast at the entrance of the village; and not
seeing either of them in the street, I made up my mind
to pass on, even at the cost of my faithful poodle's
company. But the dog thought differently: he sud-
denly showed himself at the head of a street, lane, or
alley, and having, as it were, invited me to follow,
turned round and waited for me. By these means, I
was led to a public-house, in the taproom of which,
sure enough, and ensconced behind the buttress of a
large chimney, I beheld my man. He made every
possible effort to hold aloof ft/Om me: I addressed him
in German—he could not answer; I spoke to him in
French, and received a reply in a wretched patois;
-after which I held out my hand and called him country-
man, desiring him to keep a good heart, and not to
shiver. He looked up like one who has received a
reprieve on the gallows. He had mistaken me, it ap-
peared, for a gendarme, and being, like myself, a libe-
rated prisoner, trembled at the anticipation of a re-
capture. As may be imagined, we became excellent
friends in a moment; and both having our faces turned
towards Holland, we resolved to prosecute the journey
together.
My new acquaintance represented himself to me as
captain and part owner of a brig from Halifax: he had
been ten years in a French prison, and having effected
his escape with but a slender stock of money in his
pocket, his means of getting refreshment by the way
were quite exhausted. These tidings only made me
the more desirous of accepting his companionship
during my progress: I compassionated his sufferings,
and told him he should share the contents of my purse
—he giving me, in return, repeated assurances that my
outlay would be more than made good, so soon as we
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
137
reached Rotterdam; and as I could not for a moment
doubt either his inclination or his ability to perform
the promise, I made him heartily welcome to the best
at each stage where we halted.
It is not worth while to describe at length the little
adventures that befel us during our progress to JNTime-
guen. They were such as fall to the lot of pedestrians in
general, with this solitary exception, that at Nimeguen,
my companion not being provided with a passport,
would have found it impossible to obtain admission into
the place, had I not interceded for him. But the com-
mandant, a good-natured old gentleman, no sooner
heard the particulars of our story, than he gave orders
that both should be accommodated with apartments,
and be permitted to rest in the town three whole days.
We then took "a trackschuyt, which in three days more
conveyed us to Rotterdam, where, on one of the quays,
at the sign of the Dolphin, we fixed our head-quarters.
But my money—not very abundant at the outset—was
by this time beginning to run short, and certain very
awkward suspicions of my companion's honesty would
rise in spite of me, seeing that he made no effort at all
to replenish the purse. Still I hoped the best. I even
went with him to the English Consul's house—Mr.
Eerrier's—of whom we together begged a supply, but
who told us frankly, that though he could procure us a
passage to England, he 'had no money at his disposal
for us or for anybody. Accordingly, we were fain to
accept letters to the naval officer in command at Hel-
voetsluys, and, in company with two or three more
Englishmen, pushed off in one of the packet-boats for
the mouth of the Maese.
In the course of this voyage, as well as during our
sojourn at Helvoetsluys, I was very much indebted to
the kindness of one of our fellow-passengers, a groom
in the employment of the Prince Regent, who had been
sent to Holland with a present of two fine horses for
the Prince of Orange. That individual, being flush pf
money, insisted on acting as paymaster throughout, and
used his best endeavours to get me away from the
society of the captain, whom he never particularly
admired. But, partly because I was not willing to
wrong a fellow-prisoner, partly because I believed that,
being honest, lie would pay his debts, and otherwise
138 THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
befriend me on onr arrival in England, I resisted all
tbe groom's suggestions, and, taking my passage in tbe
same ship with the captain, was conveyed safely to
Harwich. As we messed in different parts of the ship,
the captain boarding with the lieutenants, and I living
with the petty officers, we had comparatively little in-
tercourse during the voyage; and, when I came to
land, I found that my friend had got the start of me by
an hour. I was both provoked and mortified; and,
being determined at least to tell him my mind, I made
all haste to the London coach-office. But in this par-
ticular, too, my labour proved vain; the coach had
started about twenty minutes, and my friend having
ensconced himself on the top, I never saw nor heard
of him again.
The Kilkenny Militia happening at this time to be
quartered in Harwich, I proceeded to report myself to
the officer in command, and received orders to join one
of the messes of the corps till arrangements could be
made for forwarding me to my own regiment. I went
to the room allotted to me; but the miserable fare of
the militia-men—a red herring and a bowl of potatoes
—agreed so little with my notions of comfort, that I at
once made up my mind to have nothing more to say to
them. I accordingly repaired to a public-house, where,
with the last coin that adhered to the interior of my
pocket—an eighteen-pence token—I treated myself,
and a soldier whom I found there, to a noggin of
English gin. Moreover, I found there an opportunity
of befriending four foreigners, strangers at once to the
language and the manners of our island, who had come
over in the hope of getting a pension—long ago granted
to them by the Duke of York—renewed. I ordered
their supper for them, became their interpreter, went
with them to the coach-office, and next morning saw
them off;—trifling acts in themselves, doubtless, yet,
by persons in their situation, felt and admitted to be
grave favours. And now, being reduced to a few pence,
yet resolute not to return to barracks, I pawned my
watch to the landlord for five shillings, and sat down
in a corner, with my pipe, not a little disconsolate.
I was thus circumstanced, when the door of the room
opened, and there entered, with a shout, about a score
of seamen, all rigged out in their best, and all bedizened
.THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
139
with knots and streamers of ribbon. They instantly
recognised me, for they were part of the crew of the
frigate in which I had crossed from Holland; and,
having informed me that they had received three
months' pay, with three days ashore in which to spend
it, they insisted on my casting in my lot with them.
It will be readily imagined that I neither experienced
nor expressed the smallest reluctance to become their
guest. And, sure enough, for the entire space of time
which they had at their command, ours was a life of
revelry and joyance.
The first thing to be done was to provide a fiddler,
and an adequate number of partners for a dance.
These were soon procured, and supper, with an ample
supply of grog, egg-flip, and other good things, being
ordered, the ball began in a large outhouse attached to
the inn. Nobody went to bed that night, and though
the sailors ate less than might have been expected, the
consumption of liquor was something quite unparalleled.
Next day, hackney-coaches were procured, and, the
fiddler playing all the way, we made an exclusion,
partners and all, into the country. There, too, a con-
venient house of entertainment was found, where, as
in the town, dancing and frolic chased the hours away
till evening. A dinner followed, and we returned to
Harwich, with frequent halts by the way, in order that
the crews of the different vehicles might refresh them-
selves; and, that nothing might be wanting to complete
the farce, we did not compass our journey without a
fight. One of our party happening to quiz a negro be-
longing to the band of the militia, the latter grew
restive, and Jack and he had a regular set-to, from
which Jack came off victorious. But why continue
these details ?—the seamen kept up the fun till the hour
arrived when their lieutenant came to inform them that
their time was expended, after which they returned
cheerfully on board of ship, and I was once more left
to my solitude.
I was not altogether easy, in consequence of the
breach of discipline of which I had been guilty, in ab-
senting myself without leave from the barracks, and
had made up my mind to return, when a corporal
entered the room where I was sitting, and asked eagerly
of the landlord whether or not he had seen me. I
140 the light dragooh.
made myself known to tke corporal at once, and was
muck, relieved when he informed me tkat orders liad
arrived to forward me to my regiment, and tkat ke was
already in possession of my marcking-money. Tke
watck wkick I kad pawned was redeemed, my little
bundle packed, and at an early kour on tke following
morning I began my marck towards London.
CHAPTER XV.
Home—Rejoin my regiment—Rejoicings for peace—Country
quarters—Fresh alarms—Campaign in the Low Countries.
Our first marck carried us to Colckester, a distance of
twenty miles, which—I can scarcely tell why—tried my
powers of endurance severely. Tke second day we
reached Romford, and on tke third I found myself in
my mother's arms. I kad written from Harwich, to
acquaint her of my safety, and to announce tke time
when she might expect to see me; and I was welcomed,
in consequence, not by ker alone, but by as many of
our fi-iends and relatives as she could get together. A
very happy day was tkat, as were two others wkick
succeeded it, during which tke corporal was our guest,
and by every member of tke family treated with great
kindness; and then, having bidden them all farewell, I
set out for Hampton Court, where a detachment from
tke lltk was on duty, and to tjie officer commanding
which I reported myself. Mr. Gould was an old ac-
quaintance, who welcomed me back to tke corps with
great kindness ; and I spent a day or two with tke de-
tackment very muck to my own satisfaction, and not, I
am. inclined to think, disagreeably to others.
I joined my regiment at Hounslow, where, to my in-
expressible delight, I found tke man who, in former
years, used to be my comrade. Tke greeting was on
both sides tke more hearty, tkat in our own troop there
was not one in ten whom I could recognise. Indeed, I
do not think tkat out of tke five hundred men, from
whom tke fortune of war kad separated me three years
previously, one hundred continued to wear tke uniform
of tke lltk Light Dragoons. Among tke officers, like-
THE LIGHT DEAGOON.
141
wise, great changes had occurred, though of them a
considerable portion remained. Yet they all received
me as if I had had some personal claim upon their at-
tentions, and gave me every indulgence which I could
reasonably desire. I was here equipped in new clothing,
—I got a fresh charger assigned me,—and, in due time,
found myself once more engaged in the common routine
of military life.
At the period of which I now speak England was
rejoicing, in all her towns and villages, over the restora-
tion of peace. In London, the Prince Regent kept open
house for the monarchs and great warriors of Europe;
whilst, at Windsor, Queen Charlotte feasted the poor
on the fat of the land. As I happened to be present at
one of these noble festivals,—for noble they certainly
were, at least, in design,—it may not, perhaps, prove
altogether uninteresting to the reader, if I treat him
to a description of what passed under my own observa-
tion.
Having spent so much time in private service, I be-
came, as was to be expected, a sort of marked man in
the corps, and soon found that among the officers there
was considerable competition as to which should get
me. It ended in my joining my fortunes to that of a
young lieutenant, who, possessing a handsome income,
and being besides a man of family, was, during thi&
season of universal jubilee, permitted to do pretty much
as he liked. Him I accompanied to Windsor; and, as
he was much more in the metropolis than present with
the corps, my time became to a great degree my own
property. It happened, one day, that I strolled in my
fustian undress, into the old guard-room of the castle,
where tables were spread for two thousand persons at
the least. They literally groaned under a profusion of
choice morsels, such as haunches and saddles of mutton,
sirloins of beef, fillets of veal, hams and tongues, rounds,
barons, and I know not all what,—with vegetables,
salads, bread, and plum-pudding in proportion. I was
amazingly struck, as may easily be conceived; and,
having formed a strong wish to become a sharer in the
festivities, I laid myself out—as the result proved, not
unsuccessfully—to carry my point.
There were a variety of little offices or closets, ad-
joining the guard-room, in which women busily em-
142
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
ployed themselves in working tickets for the favoured
individuals who were to be admitted to the dinner.
Into one of these I wandered, just, as it happened, when
the lady on duty had expended her entire stock save
one, and of that one I was immediately rendered the
possessor. I stuck it in my hat forthwith,—the men
carried the badges there, the women and children on
the breasts of their robes,—and soon found myself
seated at a table, which accommodated, besides myself,
fifty-nine diners. I came, however, under circumstances
far more unfavourable than those around me ; for they,
one and all, brought with them their knives, forks, and
drinking-cups,—whereas, I not having so much as read
any of the handbills which set forth the programme of
the day's entertainment, sat down profoundly ignorant
that any such precautionary measures had been re-
quisite. This was a source to me partly of vexation,
partly of extreme amusement. The vexation arose from
the natural pressure of appetite, which I was not with-
out apprehension I might find myself unable to appease;
the amusement was furnished by the behaviour of my
next neighbour, who seemed determined to make the
most of the opportunity that was presented to him.
The individual in question followed the respectable
calling of an itinerant fiddler. Many a penny I had
given the rogue; yet he was dressed on this occasion
so smartly, that I knew him not, at least till after his
excessive predilection for number one induced me to
scan him closely. But that was the least of it.
We had all been seated perhaps a couple of minutes
—every eye being turned keenly towards the viands,
that spoke to more senses than one; and my musical
neighbour had sneered at my lack of preparation, and
more than insinuated that I had no business where I
was, when a flourish of trumpets announced the ap-
proach of royalty, and we all stood up to welcome the
queen and the courtly cortege that attended her. She
walked, followed by her train, along the several tables,
the company greeting her with repeated cheers, and
then, after expressing at each a hope that we would do
justice to the cheer provided, she withdrew. Then fol-
lowed the " Boast Beef of Old England," from a band
that was appointed to attend; and then such an on-
slaught as in modern times has rarely, on any one given
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
143
spot of earth, been witnessed. For my own part, hay-
ing neither knife, nor fork, nor cnp, I felt for a brief
space as if I were destined to be a mere spectator. But
my cross-grained fiddler supplied me with an oppor-
trinity of playing my own part in the game, and I did
not fail to take advantage of it.
" I wish you would cut me a good slice of that fillet
of veal," said he. " It is too far for me to reach, and
lies handy to you."
" By all means," was my reply, " but you must lend
me your knife and fork."
He did so; and I very coolly helped myself, taking
care to cut up the morsel into pieces, and keep them
ready for consumption by the hand. I shall never for-
get the rage of my right-hand neighbour while this
process was going on; neither did the enormous extent
to which I proceeded to help him quite allay it. And
by and by, when he gave me his jug, that I might fill
it with beer for his use, and I, instead of handing it
back, drank out of it, and drank to his health, I really
thought the minstrel would have gone mad. Never-
theless, in the end, he and I became excellent friends.
I plied him, especially with strong beer, to such a
degree that he did not know whether his head or his
heels were uppermost; and if he did not die of absolute
repletion, the fault was neither mine, who loaded his
trencher, nor his, who most voraciously cleared it.
If the progress of the dinner astonished as well as
amused me, much more amusing, as well as astonishing,
was the scene with which it terminated. The queen,
it appeared, had given orders that not a fragment of
that enormous feast should fall to the share of any
others than those who partook in it; and the conse-
quence was that, on a second roll of the drums, such a
scramble began as I have never witnessed, either be-
fore or since. The women, having provided themselves
with capacious aprons, came, for the most part, best off
in that melee. They swept whole joints—with pud-
dings, potatoes, and Lord knows all what besides—into
their laps, while the men hastened to stuff their pouches
to an extent which was truly marvellous. Among others,
my musical neighbour used his best exertions to pos-
sess himself of a plentiful share; but the strong beer
had so effectually filled his stomach, and clouded his
144
THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
brain, tbat in attempting to stretcb across the table for
something which excited his cupidity, the equilibrium
failed, and he rolled on the floor, smashing into a con-
fused mass all that he had previously gathered, and
mixing the whole with fragments of his quart jug,
which, somehow or another, had found its way into a
wallet that hung by his side. I plead guilty to the
charge of having tossed him with my foot twice or thrice
through the mess, and then, amid shouts of laughter, I
escaped, not knowing which to admire the most, the
hospitality of my royal mistress, or the strange uses to
which, by her uncouth guests, it had been turned. Be-
fore I conclude this story I may as well state that I met
my fiddler a day or two afterwards, plying his trade in
his every-day attire, and at his usual corners. "VYehad
a little bandying of half-angry, half-j ocular words, which
I cut short by tossing him a penny; and I do not know
that we ever met afterwards.
Our next move was to Hampton Court and Twicken-
ham, where similar scenes were repeated—oxen being
roasted whole, and all who chose partaking in them;
but I need not pause to relate the effect which they
produced upon myself. It will be more to the purpose
if I state, that, being so near London, I found frequent
opportunities both of entertaining my relatives at the
quarters of the regiment, and of visiting them in then*
own homes; during the latter of which occurrences an ad-
venture once befel me, which, as it was rather a curious
one, may be deserving of a brief notice. I had supped at
the house of one of my aunts, and having rather overstaid
my time, (for I was tor duty at Whitehall on the follow-
ing morning,) I was hurrying through Piccadilly, in
order to reach my quarters, when, at the corner of a
street, I was startled by the sound of firearms, accom-
panied by a noise as of the smashing of glass. A man
passed me at the same moment, running, and holding
up the skirts of a long surtout, and almost immediately
afterwards a second appeared, with a stream of blood
flowing from his mouth. He made towards me, put a
hand on each of my shoulders, and endeavouring vainly
to articulate, deluged me in a moment with gore. There
was a lamp close to us, by the light of which I could
distinguish that he was a mere youth; but I had no
time to do more, for instantly a voice shouted " Watch,"
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
145
and the wounded man, as if alarmed, hurried away, and
endeavoured to mount the box of a hackney-coach which
drove furiously past. The coachman, however, repulsed
him, and he staggered across the street, marking his
progress by the sanguine tide which flowed from him.
And now the watch began to assemble, who, seeing me
covered with blood, demanded whether I were not
wounded, while the same voice which had summoned
them desired to be informed whether any one were
shot. I answered in the affirmative, and, pointing to
the track, desired the guardians of the night to follow
it up ; for I was not the wounded man, as they would
find if they made good use of their senses. Away they
ran in pursuit, whereupon I, not caring to get further
involved in the business, took to my heels, and reached
my quarters without molestation. But the issue of the
adventure was the most extraordinary of all. Being on
guard next day, at Whitehall, a young man happened
to pass the Horse Guards, whom I instantly recognised
as the individual whom I had seen the night before
fleeing, with his hands upon his pockets. I stopped
him, charged him with the fact, and was answered by a
frank confession, accompanied, however, with an earnest
entreaty that I would not betray him. It appeared
that he was the son of a respectable innkeeper—that he
had fallen into bad company, and been persuaded to
assist that night in a burglary at the shop of a linen-
draper. But the linendraper, either because it was his
wont, or having got some intimation of the design, was
on the look-out to defeat it, and fired a pistol just as
the leading burglar was removing the shutter, and
about to' cut a pane in the window. I did not disclose
what I knew to any one; for the father of the young
delinquent was an acquaintance of my own, and I am
happy to say that the promises of amendment which he
gave were never broken. But his companion, I after-
wards discovered, did not five to have his moral prin-
ciple put to the test. He died of the wound which the
hnendraper inflicted, and was buried, I cannot tell
where, but very quietly, by his associates.
We remained in the neighbourhood of London about
six months, at the termination of which period we
marched to Canterbury, where, and at Deal, the back
pay was given to such of our men as had been, like my-
K
146
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
self, prisoners of war. Of this the Jews first, and nlti-
mately the publicans, reaped the principal benefit—for,
next to a sailor, a soldier is, of all living men, the least
regardful of his money. But other work than this was
already cut out for us, and Buonaparte's unexpected
return from Elba sent us to the place where we were
destined to perform it. I never shall forget the effect
which the intelligence had upon us. It reached us one
morning, and in two hours after came the route to march
for Dover, where transports lay to receive us; and by
four o'clock on the following afternoon we were busily
engaged swimming our horses ashore towards the beach
at Ostend.
It was about eight o'clock on a summer's evening
when our disembarkation was effected. The process
had been tedious, inasmuch as the transports were too
heavily laden to approach within half-a-mile of the
beach; and to swim horses through so wide a waste of
waters is an operation that occupies a good deal of time.
Nevertheless, the regiment formed up as soon as circum-
stances would allow, and began its march the same
evening to Nieuport. It was now that I found my
knowledge of the German language greatly avail me.
Being sent, with a comrade, to quarter in a farm-house
about a mile beyond the town, I so entirely won the
hearts of the family, by speaking so as to be understood,
that they vied with one another in their eagerness to
make us comfortable; and, themselves undertaking to
clean and fodder the horses, they kept us—no reluctant
guests—all night at the supper-table. But this was not
the only piece of good fortune that befel me, which I
was justified in attributing to my long residence in the
Count's family. I was instantly promoted to the office
of billet-master for the corps; and, besides obtaining
temporary rank as a Serjeant, I came in for sundry
perquisites, such as the French had taught the Belgians
to pay as often as orders were issued for the supply of
bread, or meat, or wine, to bodies of troops upon the
march.
From Nieuport we proceeded to Bruges, where we
halted an entire day, of which I made the best use, by
visiting as many of the sights of the place as the oppor-
tunities at my command would allow. Our next point
was Ghent, a noble city, where we witnessed the en-
THE LIGHT DRAGOON*.
147"
trance of Louis XVIII., for the second time a fugitive
from Paris. But as he came without parade, so during-
the whole of his sojourn there we heard little of him,
except that he was a regular attendant at mass. Mean-
while fresh regiments were continually arriving, and
we were in consequence carried, on the breast of the
living tide, first to Merbeck, and ultimately to Goyek.
We were at this latter place on the 29 th of May,
when the Duke of Wellington reviewed the whole of
his cavalry, and a finer military spectacle was never, I
venture to assert,»submitted to the admiring gaze of
the Netherlanders. Unless my memory deceive me,
twenty regiments formed in two lines that day, flanked
and supported by a force of horse-artillery, such as all
Europe besides could not match; and as the horses
were in admirable condition, and the men young,
healthy, and well-appointed, it is very little to be
wondered at if both men and officers experienced but
one feeling—an earnest desire to be led against the
enemy, and a perfect assurance of success.
We were well supplied both with forage and pro-
visions; yet, somehow or another, money Avas scarce—
for no pay had been issued since we quitted England,
and some corps were full three months in arrear. Now
a soldier cannot get on—at least in a civilized country,
without a little silver in his purse. His allowance of
grog or wine by no means contents him; and he cannot
hear the sound of the pipe and tabor without desiring
to dance. As usually happens in like cases, we were
immediately put to our shifts; and the following was
the expedient on which we lighted—for a season with
marvellous success. There are two coins used in this
city, of which the dies are precisely alike; though the
one, having a slight' intermixture of silver with the
eopper, passes current for about threepence-halfpenny
—whereas the other is valued at half a farthing. Some
ingenious fellow among us discovered, that by rubbing
the latter with mercurial ointment it assumed at once
the appearance of the former; and many a pint of gin,
I grieve to say, was paid for with the half farthing. I
can offer no justification of a procedure which was cer-
tainly dishonest—unless, indeed, the exorbitancy of the
prices demanded from ns can be received as such. But
I know that we laughed very heartily when the trick
148 THE LIGHT DRAGOON".
began to be discovered; and were tbe more free of our
mirth, that the very same day we quitted Merbeckr
never to return to it again.
CHAPTEE XVI.
Signs of coming strife—Sudden route—The field of Quatre Bras—
Battle of Waterloo.
All this while we were in profound ignorance as to
the state of things, both in France or elsewhere. We
knew, indeed, that Buonaparte had made a triumphant
entrance into Paris; and we heard from various quarters
that the armies of the northern powers were moving.
But how soon a struggle might be expected, or whether
it would first occur with ourselves, was a point which
we had no means to determine. We were thus cir-
cumstanced, my troop occupying quarters in a village
called Yione, when, on the morning of the 16th of
June, the alarm was suddenly given. We had mus-
tered for field exercise, ourselves in undress, and the
saddles strapped—as the expression is when we ride
them without cloaks or valises—when an orderly dra-
goon was observed approaching at speed, and making
straight for the officer in command. He was the
bearer of intelligence that the French, on the previous
day, had attacked and defeated the Prussians at Ligne;
and that Napoleon, with the bulk of his army, was in
full march to attaek the positions of the English. In
an instant we received the word to gallop horses, pack
up, and accoutre; and in an incredibly short space of
time the whole regiment mustered beside its alarm-
post, in every respect prepared for action. Let me not
forget to mention that, like an old soldier as I was, I
took care not to move without a stock of provisions for
myself, as well as for my charger. AE the men carried
their nose-bags filled with corn, and a supply of hay
behind them, sufficient for four-and-twenty hours; but
the young hands forgot that men, as well as horses, are
little fit for work when they are starving. I had a
lump of bacon and a loaf of bread in my haversack,.
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
149
of which not many hours elapsed ere I experienced the
great benefit.
The line being formed, and wheeled into column by
threes, we set forward at a good round trot; and, after
compassing about fourteen miles, heard what the ex-
cessive heat of the weather induced us to believe was
the rolling of thunder at a distance. Another half-
hour's progress, however, set that notion aside; for
then we could distinguish the smoke as it curled over
the woods of Quatre Bras, and were no longer at a loss
to tell that artillery was firing sharply. These sights
and sounds had no tendency to repress our ardour; we
gave the jaded horses the spur, and kept them on the
trot till full five-and-twenty miles were compassed. It
would have been both cruel and useless to urge them
further without a rest, so we dismounted and loosened
firths without feeding. But the halt was not prolonged
eyond the interval which was absolutely necessary,
and in a quarter of an hour we were once more in the
saddle. And now, as we drew nearer to the scene of
action, the evidences of deadly strife multiplied upon us.
The cannonade became louder, and mixed with it was
the short sharp rattle of musketry; while, by and by,
a quantity of waggons, laden with ammunition and
stores of every sort, were passed in one of the small
towns. Finally, groups of persons were seen approach-
ing, whom, on our nearing one another, we recognised
to be the wounded, some of whom appeared to be suf-
fering much, though all bore themselves nobly under
their pain. Poor fellows, they drew to one side that
we might pass, and cheered lustily. " Push on, push
on," was their cry, "you are very much wanted; for
there is no cavalry up." And we did push on as fast
as our own jaded animals would go; but all our efforts
failed to bring us to the field in time to take part in the
action.
We had ridden, I conceive, about forty miles, and
the sun was long set, when the red flashes of musketry
and cannon greeted us. " Halt!" was the word given;
•" cut away forage and draw swords." The hay was
cut loose, our swords flashed in the air, and at the
signal, " Quick trot," away we went again. But, as I
have already said, we did not reach the field till the
firing had ceased. We formed line, however, and
150
THE LIGHT DEAGOON.
Tiding over numbers of tbe dead, if not of tbe dying.,
approached our own troops, which lay upon their arms;
whence in a few minutes we received orders to fall
back, and to picket our horses for the night in a place
that was convenient for them.
Throughout the whole of that night there was a
dropping fire of musketry kept up in the woods to the
right and left of our bivouac. The outposts of infantry
chose to skirmish instead of sleep, and we were in con-
sequence kept constantly on the alert. But this was
not the only, nor, perhaps, the greatest grievance to
which our position subjected us. The horses had not
tasted water since the march began, and the darkness
was such as, combined with their extreme weariness,
hindered our men in general from going in search of it.
Again the habits of the old soldier prevailed with me;
and knowing that on the efficiency of my horse my own
depended, 1 resolved, at all hazards, to fetch him some
water. Accordingly, I proposed to my comrade that we
should steal away together; and he consented the
more readily, on my putting him in mind that the
very same process which won refreshment for our
chargers might insure a good supper for ourselves; and
that the most zealous martinet would never blame us,
if in seeking for the one we should chance to stumble
on the other.
Armed each with a pistol, and carrying a sack and
leathern bucket in our hands, my comrade and I stole
from the bivouac; and having previously noticed a
village about a mile distant, we made directly for it.
We entered, and found the stillness of the grave; but,
by and by, observing a light in the window of one of
the houses, I knocked at the door, and we were ad-
mitted. My astonishment may be conceived, when
the first object that met my gaze was a French grena-
dier, fully accoutred, aud seated in the chimney corner.
It was no time for hesitation, so I cocked my pistol;
when up he rose, welcomed us with perfect self-posses-
sion, and pointing to his knee, informed us that he
was wounded. Perceiving that he spoke the truth, I
desired him to sit down again, adding an assurance
that he had nothing to fear; and he, coolly taking me
at my word, and smoking his pipe, I next addressed
myself to the master of the house. It was to no pur-
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
151
pose, however, that I demanded food and drink. The
Trench, lie replied, had taken everything from him,
which was not exactly the case; for my companion,
having instituted a search in the cellar, soon returned,
bringing with him part of a ham, a loaf of bread, and
some butter. With these we judged it expedient to be
content; so, wishing both our host and the wounded
man a good night, Ave passed the threshold, and hurried
back to the camp.
Before reaching the lines, we fortunately came upon
a ditch full of water, in which we filled our buckets,
greatly to the satisfaction of our weary chargers. Our
horses were not, however, the only animals who bene-
fited by this discovery. Having informed the rest
where the water lay, they also provided enough for
the wants of themselves and their cattle; and the night
in consequence passed more agreeably than either by
man or beast had been anticipated. But as far as the
means of satisfying other wants of nature were affected,
I and my comrade stood, I believe, alone. We made
a hearty supper of our ham and bread, and regretted
only that it was impossible to share the morsel with
others.
Day dawned at length, and exhibited to us some
strange spectacles, calculated as well to raise the spirits
as to depress them. We could now observe that the
whole surface of the country' over which yesterday's
fighting had occurred, was covered with the slain;
while in our rear, and on either flank, a prodigious
force of cavalry and light artillery, which had arrived
during the night, was in position. The latter made a
brave show, especially in the eyes of our gallant in-
fantry, who, few in number, had sustained repeated
shocks from the enemy's horse, and uniformly repulsed
them. But it soon appeared, that let the decisive battle
occur when it might, we were not on this ground to mea-
sure ourselves again with the enemy. By degrees the
infantry began to march to the rear. The cavalry and
artillery stood fast to cover them, when they, in their
turn, slowly withdrew, as if reluctant to yield a foot of
ground without fighting for it. Strange, to say, the
enemy did not appear for some time to be aware of
what was going on in our ranks. The infantry was
well to the rear, so were the heavy cavalry, ere they
152
THE LIGHT DEAGOON.
made a movement in pursuit; indeed, it must have
been full three o'clock in the afternoon ere we found
ourselves under the necessity of throwing out skir-
mishers, so as to check the advance, which was then
pushed with considerable ardour.
There was a good deal of carbine practice, and
prancing here and there, for about half an hour, at the
close of which, the artillery began on both sides to
open; while a mass of black clouds, which had been
gathering all the day, broke at the concussion, and the
rain descended in torrents. It is curious to observe
how, even in such warfare as this, a heavy fall of rain
operates as a sedative on animal courage. The skir-
mishing ceased as if by common consent; and the fight-
ing was confined to an occasional dash of one of the
enemy's leading squadrons against ours, which covered
the rear, when sword-cuts were exchanged, and men
and horses went down, as well from among us as from
among the assailants. Once, in particular, we had
rather a sharp bout of it, for the enemy contrived, I
know not how, to interpose between the plain pn
which we were moving, and a narrow road that led out
of it, and no alternative remained except to cut our
way through them. We rode at them with loosened
reins, and soon opened a way for ourselves, cutting to
pieces, among others, a Trench general, and leaving
not above half a dozen of our own men behind.
We halted that night behind the crest of the rising
ground, which is still pointed out to the curious tra-
veller as the Duke of Wellington's position on the
great day of Waterloo. The rain, which fell in tor-
rents, and had done so for hours ere our arrival, soon
reduced the face of the country to a state of swamp ;
and as our bivouac was formed in a ploughed field, the
comparative comforts of our situation require no poet's
art to describe them. At every step which you took,
you sank to the knees, and your foot, when you dragged
it to the surface again, came loaded with some twenty
pounds of clay. Moreover, fuel, with which to make
fires, was wanting; till, in despair, some of us ran to a
village about a mile in the rear, and came back laden
with various articles of furniture, the whole of which
were committed to the flames. Then, again, as to food
•—if I except a single biscuit and a glass of spirits—
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
153
none had been served out since daybreak, and none
came throughout the whole of that dreary night, either
to officers or to men. I cannot say that our martial
ardour was such as to render us either insensible of, or
indifferent to, the desagremens of our situation; yet X
am bound to record, that we sustained them with won-
derful equanimity, comforted by the knowledge that
the night, which was short, would soon pass away, and
that the morrow would, in some shape or another, ob-
viate the necessity of passing many more in a similar
manner.
Before the morning broke, we were in our saddles;
and immediately the horizon put on the hue of coming
day, we shifted our ground to the brow of the hill, and
there watered our horses. That done, we dismounted;
and removing the remnant of our fuel to the new parade
ground, we again lighted fires, and dried, as well as we
could, both our clothes and accoutrements. The com-
missary, however, was slow in making his appearance;
so, entertaining serious misgivings both as to my own
powers of endurance, and those of my steed, which
had been tried well-nigh to the uttermost, I deter-
mined, let come what might, to find a breakfast for
both. I looked round, and saw in the rear a village, to
which straggling parties of the foot-guards were con-
tinually passing. I ran thither, but looked about
vainly, in every house, for those things of which I was
in want. At last, just as I had come to the conclusion
that further search would be useless, and that I had
best return, I entered an apartment, where, in the
middle of the floor, sat a solitary Yorkshireman, with
a brown jar between his legs. He laughed, begged me
to come in, and offered to share with me what he had;
it was bread and sour cream, out of which both he and
I contrived ' 1 1 1 1 " After which,
great delight, stores both of oats and peas were depo-
sited. I filled my handkerchief, which was a large one,
and having contrived, over and above, to get possession
of half-a-dozen canteens of beer, I ran back, well
pleased with the results of my adventure, to the front.
My gallant steed fared well; and he repaid me for the
care I took of him by the pliability and vigour of his
movements throughout the day.
I mounted
where, to my
154 THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
When I reached the ground, my companions were
all busily engaged rubbing down their horses and clean-
ing their accoutrements. I took care to feed my charger
first, and then groomed him; nor had I finished buckl-
ing up the neatly rolled cloak, when a gun was dis-
charged from some point near us, and in an instant the
whole face of affairs underwent a change. Drums beat,
trumpets brayed, while salvoes of artillery from either
side told of a battle begun; and, while we mounted and
closed our ranks, peal after peal of musketry warned us
that ere long their consistency would be tried. By
and by an order arrived to take ground to the right,
wbere we enrolled ourselves in brigade with the 12th
and 16th ; and, forming close columns of regiments,
waited till the moment should arrive when to us, also,
the honour should be awarded of striking a few blows
for Old England and victory.
The place where we were directed to execute this
formation chanced to be particularly favourable for
obtaining a view over the whole field of battle, as well
as the overnight positions of the two armies. And
never have these eyes of mine rested on a more im-
posing scene than, for a brief space, was spread out
before them. • As far as the eye could reach I beheld
endless columns of the French—the infantry in front
interlaced, as it were, with artillery ; while in the rear
were masses of cavalry, in comparison with which, as
far as numbers go, we appeared as nothing. Then,
again, on our side, I beheld horse, foot, and guns, all in
admirable order, hidden in some degree from the enemy
by the swell of the ground, yet all, as their attitudes
denoted, thoroughly on the alert: while, both on our
side and that of the French, staff-officers in groups,
and orderlies one by one, were galloping hither and
thither, as if they had been the veritable messengers of
fate. But the vision was like that which the sleeper
obtains when, for a moment, the gates of Fairy-land are
opened before him. From the hundreds of cannon,
which sent forth death on each side, such a cloud of
smoke arose as soon rendered objects indistinct; and
when the musketry began to play, every living and
dead thing on the earth's surface was shrouded under a
canopy of gray mist.
It were idle in one filling the humble situation which
THE LIGHT PBAGOON.
155
I did to attempt anything like the description of a great
battle, especially such a battle as that of Waterloo.
Prom the instant that the firing became general, all
was to me dark and obscure beyond the distance of a
few hundred yards from the spot on which I stood;
indeed, it was only by the ceaseless roar, or the whist-
ling of shot and shell around me, that I knew at times
that I and those near me were playing a part in the
grave game of life and death. For the cavalry, unlike
the infantry, come into play only by fits and starts, and
they have patiently to sustain the fury of a cannonade,
to which they can offer no resistance, and out of the
range of which they are not permitted to move.
Neither was the brigade to which I belonged left long
in ignorance touching both the peril and extreme dis-
comfort of this species of inaction. For the French,
perceiving us, opened upon our columns a battery of
howitzers and light mortars, one shell from which
falling into the very centre of the 16th, created terrible
havoc. But as if to hinder us from getting unsteady,
an aide-de-camp rode up at this moment, and two
squadrons, one from the 12th, another from our regi-
ment, were ordered to drive back some lancers which
had threatened certain of our guns. We went at them
with good will, but not, perhaps, with perfect judgment.
We did not consider that, when the ground is soft and
1 1 1 1 ' ef all operations to which
quence was, that rushing over the ridge at speed, very
many of our horses came down, and we lost all order.
The result need hardly be stated. The squadron of
the 12th, which led, was almost cut to pieces, and we
with difficulty, and in great disorder, recovered the
brigade.
This was not satisfactory, yet we believed that we
could account for it, and finding ourselves again in our
proper places, we desired nothing more than a repe-
tition of the experiment. But, during the remainder
of the day, little else fell to our share than to sustain,
as we best might, the heavy fire of cannon which the
enemy continued to direct against us. At each dis-
charge, men and horses went down: yet we suffered
less than a regiment of Nassau Hussars, which, keeping
ground in our rear, served to catch every ball that
unsafe; and the conse-
156
THE LIGHT DBAG00N.
passed over us. Nor was it the least disagreeable
attendant on our position, that we stood exactly on
such a spot as enabled us to behold the last struggles
of the wounded, whose strength sufficed only to carry
them a few yards to the rear. There was a long sort
of ditch, or drain, some way behind us, towards which
these poor fellows betook themselves by scores; and
ere three hours had passed, it was absolutely choked up
with the bodies of those who lay down there only that
they might die. Then, again, the wounded horses, of
which multitudes wandered all over the field, troubled
us. They would come back, some with broken legs,
others trailing after them their entrails, which the
round-shot had knocked out, and forcing themselves
between our files, seemed to solicit the aid which no
one had time to afford, and which, if afforded, would
have been useless.
We were beginning to get tired of this state of
things, when an order reached us to form line and move
off to the left. " Now then," thought we, " a charge
is before us;" but it was not so. A square of Bruns-
wick Infantry had, it appeared, begun to waver, and, as
a failure on that point might have proved fatal, we were
brought up to stop it if we could. We drew our swords,
cheered, made our horses prance, and the desired end
was gained. The Brunswickers, perceiving that there
was support at hand, took up their arms, which some
of them had thrown away, and they throughout the
remainder of the action behaved with all the gallantry
for which their countrymen have in every age and
country been remarkable.
Having effected this object, we were directed to fall
back, and to dismount, that our horses might in some
measure recruit their strength. Many wounded men
passed us while thus resting; but of the case of only
one I shall make mention, because it struck me at the
moment as being a remarkable one. An infantry
soldier approached, and asked me for a cup of water.
I saw that he was wounded; and, recollecting that a
canteen of beer was at my back, out of which I had
been too much engaged to drink myself, I handed it to
him, and desired him to quench his thirst without
scruple. The poor fellow drank, thanked me heartily,
told me that almost all his regiment—the 28th—was
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
157
destroyed; and tlien, lifting himself from my horse, on.
which he had been leaning, tottered towards the rear.
I watched him, and saw that he had not gone twelve
yards when he fell. Almost immediately afterwards
his limbs gave a convulsive stretch, and he was a corpse.
I went up to him, and saw where the fatal ball had
taken its course, just above the hip-bone. Yet he
seemed to die easily; and his voice, not three minutes
ere the soul quitted the body, gave scarcely the smallest
sign of weakness.
By this time the dusk was closing fast; and, as the
battle continued to rage with unabated fury, the mag-
nificence of the scene received, from minute to minute,.
a perpetual increase to its intensity. Over the surface
of the ground, shells, with their burning fuses, rolled,
bursting here and there with terrible effect. From the
mouths of the cannon fire seemed to be poured, while
the ceaseless glare of the musketry, as the opposing
lines fought muzzle to muzzle, was terrific. By degrees,
however, the sounds and sight of fire-arms began to be
distinguishable where neither had before been observed;
and the rumour ran from rank to rank among us, that
the Prussians were come, and had fallen upon the right
and rear of the enemy. Moreover, that the news was
not without foundation, was soon apparent, from the
altered state of things both near us and far away. Our
infantry, which up to this moment had fought in squares,
formed all at once into line. There was a heart-stirring-
cheer begun, I know not where, but very soon audible
over the whole of our front; and we, too, were ordered
to leap into the saddle and move forward. How can I
pretend to describe what followed! On we went at a
gallop, dashing past the weary yet gallant footmen,
and, shouting as we went, drove fiercely and without
check up to the very muzzles of a hostile battery. A
furious discharge of grape met us, and thinned our
ranks. Before it man and horse went down; but the
survivors, never pulling bridle or pausing to look back,
scattered the gunners to the winds, and the cannon
were our own. Just at this moment, Serjeant Emmet
of the 11th, whom I covered, received a shot in the
groin, which made him reel in his saddle, from which
he would have fallen, had I not caught him; while at
the same time a ball struck me on the knee, the bone
158 THE LIGHT DEAGOON.
of which was saved by the interposition of my unrolled
cloak. For in the morning I had not found time to
pack it in its place; and it hung before me in loose
folds, through most of which the bullet made its way,
terribly bruising, yet not disabling, the limb. I was
glad to save my serjeant, for he was a good and a brave
man. Yet I own that I felt bitter mortification when
the tide of war swept past us, and I felt myself cut off
from sharing in the general triumph. Accordingly,
perceiving a corporal near, I called him to lend ms
assistance, and no sooner saw him seize the serjeant by
the other arm, than I loosed my hold. " One whole
man," thought I, "is enough to take care of a wounded
one;" and then I plied my spurs into my horse's sides,
and flew to the front. But by this time it was too
dark to distinguish one corps from another. I there-
fore attached myself to the first body of horse which I
overtook, and in three minutes found myself in the
middle of the enemy.
There was a momentary check, during which the
men demanded one of another, what regiment this was.
I do not know how the discovery of their own absolute
intermingling might have operated, had not an officer
called aloud, "Never mind your regiments, men, but
follow me." In an instant I sprang to his side, and,
seeing a mass of infantry close upon us, who, by the
blaze of the musketry, we at once recognised to be
French, he shouted out, " Charge !" and nobly led the
way. We rushed on: the enemy fired, and eight of
our number fell, among whom was our gallant leader.
A musket-ball pierced his heart: he sprang out of his
saddle, and fell dead to the ground.
Another check was the consequence, and almost
instinctively we recoiled: neither, indeed, was the
movement inopportune, for the impetuosity of a mere
handful of men had carried them into the middle of a
retreating column, and their destruction, had they
lingered there, must have been inevitable. For myself,
having gazed hastily round, and noticed that the field
was thickly studded with dung-heaps, I scoured off in
search of my own regiment, with which, when it had
halted, a good way off, I succeeded in coming up. But
I was determined, as soon as a halt should occur, to
return to the spot, and find the body of the slain; and,
THE LIGHT DKAGOOH. 159
some hours afterwards, when the word was passed to
dismount and rest, I carried my resolution into force.
CHAPTEE XVII.
The Field of Battle.
It was pitch dark when the acceptable order was issued
of which I have just spoken. It came, too, at a time
when we found ourselves in the very heart of the camp
which the French army had occupied on the morning
of this eventful day, and very much struck were we by
the ingenuity which these brave men had exhibited, in
their endeavours to render the lodging even of a single
night commodious. With wonderful skill they had
run up huts formed of the boughs of trees: the closely-
interwoven leaves and branches of which were wellnigh
weather-proof; while within, raw meat of every de-
scription,—beef, pork, and mutton, lay scattered about
in absolute profusion. So beaten about was it, how-
ever,*in the hurry of the strife, and in many instances
so vilely dressed, — the very hair being left on the
morsels of the carcasses, and these but indifferently
bled,—that, faint as we were for lack of food, we could
not bring ourselves to touch it. We flung it from us
in disgust, and refused to dress it. But the cravings
of hunger are not to be stifled; and not a few wandered
away from the ranks which they had been ordered to
preserve, in the search after food, both for themselves
and their horses. Among others, I and my comrade
went forth upon a cruise; and judging that the means
of conveyance might be unattainable if we went on
foot, we quietly drew the girths so soon as a convenient
opportunity offered, and rode away. I never shall
forget, so long as memory remains by me, the adven-
tures of that extraordinary night. In the first place,
the ground, whithersoever we went, was literally strewed
with the wreck of the mighty battle. Arms of every
kind,—cuirasses, muskets, cannon, tumbrils, and drums,
which seemed innumerable, cumbered the very face of
the earth. Intermingled with these were the carcasses
of the slain, not lying about in groups of four or six,
160
THE LIGHT DRAGOON".
"but so wedged together, that we found it, in many
instances, impossible to avoid trampling them where
they lay under our horses' hoofs. Then, again, the
knapsacks, either cast loose, or still adhering to their
owners, were countless. I confess that we opened
many of these latter, hoping to find in them money, or
articles of value, hut not one—which I, at least, ex-
amined—contained more than the coarse shirts and
shoes that had belonged to the dead owners, with here
and there a little package of tobacco, and a hag of salt.
And what was worst of all, when we dismounted to
institute this search, our spurs for ever caught in the
garments of the slain, and more than once we tripped
up, and fell over them.
It was indeed a ghastly spectacle, which the feeble
light of a young moon rendered, if possible, more
hideous thau it would have been if looked upon under
the full glory of a meridian sun. For there is some-
thing frightful in the association of darkness with the
dwelling of the dead; and here the dead lay so thick
and so crowded together, that by and by it seemed to
us as if we alone had survived to make mention of their
destiny.
There are those, I doubt not, who will shudder
when I acknowledge, that men circumstanced as we
were at that moment, know little or nothing of the
magnanimous feelings which in more peaceful hours
take up their dwelling in the human heart. It is one
of the worst results of a life of violence, that it renders
such as follow it selfish and mercenary: at least, it
would be ridiculous to conceal that, when the bloody
work of the day is over, the survivor's first wish is to
secure, in the shape of plunder, some recompence for
the risks which he has run and the exertions which he
has made. Neither does it enter into the mind of the
plunderer to consider whether it is the dead body of a
friend or of a foe from which he is seeking his booty.
I may be blamed, but I should deserve a double por-
tion of censure were I to deny that my thoughts were
fixed mainly on the brave man whom I saw fall, as has
been described in the previous chapter; and that my
object in seeking him out was to possess myself of his
watch and gold seals—the latter of which I had seen
glance in the twilight when he dropped. I had made
THE LIGHT DEAG00N.
161
what I conceived an accurate memorandum of the field
in which he struck his last blow, and raised his last
war-cry, and finding that the crowds near at hand
offered nothing worth our acceptance, I suggested to
my companion that we should seek him out. Accord-
ingly, we mounted and rode off, and in due time arrived
where heaps of manure were piled up, beside one of
which I knew that he was lying. I had not deceived
myself: close beside the bodies of eight common
troopers we found him. But other marauders had
been on the prowl before us, for he was stripped to the
very skin. Poor fellow! I saw where the ball had
entered—exactly in the middle of the chest; and I own
that I then experienced something like relief from the
thought that I had been saved the sin—for such I now
conceive that it would have been—of robbing him.
Sobered, if not disheartened, by this disappointment,
we at once turned our faces homewards. But though
it had been easy to quit the camp, we now found that
it would be a more difficult operation to regain it; for
we lost our way, and were soon wandering we knew not
whither, though still through a very crowd of slaugh-
tered men. At last, we halted in despair, and, picket-
ing our horses, lay down upon the earth and fell asleep.
But the instinct of soldiers is remarkable; at early
dawn we woke again; and then, being really anxious
that our jaded animals might obtain some refreshment,
we looked eagerly round, in the hope that we might be
able to discover some traces of a peaceful dwelling.
"We were not disappointed in this: at a considerable
distance to the left, we discovered a house, which,
having been set on fire the day previous, was still
burning, and towards it, as fast as the nature of the
ground would allow, we directed our steps. How
frightful the whole scene! It was, indeed, a field of
carnage over which we passed; and the smell of blood,
as it rose upon the morning air, wellnigh sickened us.
The house of which I am speaking stood upon what
had been the right of the position of the French army,
and marked the point where the Prussians first fell in,
when, late in the evening, they arrived to support us.
The road which ran near it was blocked up with the
cannon which, in the hurry of the flight, the enemy had
abandoned; and round them, and before and behind,
L
162
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
were heaps of slain—some of which had fallen under
the fire of the Prussians, others by the hands of our
own men, who met them in their retreat and cut them
down. With some difficulty we passed these wrecks
of the battle, and entering the farm-yard, found it
crowded with wounded wretches, some of whom had
evidently received their hurts where they now lay,
while others seemed to have dragged themselves thither
in the hope of shelter. We could not shut our ears to
their frightful cries, yet we were powerless to aid them;
and what was to the full as mortifying, nothing of which
we were in search lay here. We could not find so
much as a drop of water wherewith to moisten our own
lips or those of our horses, so we soon abandoned it, and
made for another habitation, which stood at no great
distance off. Here we trusted that we should be more
fortunate, for the tide of war seemed to have spared
this dwelling, and though multitudes of persons went
and came from about its doors, we still hoped that we
might be in time to secure something. Accordingly, we
pushed on, passing under the Observatory, as it has
since been called, whence Napoleon is said to have
viewed the battle and directed the movements of his
columns; and great was our delight to find that not yet
had the house or the premises round been thoroughly
gutted. To be sure, plenty of people were there—some
of them, too, peasants of the country, who were helping
themselves to sheep, pigs, and bullocks—a whole drove
of which we found, to our extreme surprise, penned up
in a sort of yard, adjoining to the farmstead. These
live animals did not constitute the booty of which we
were in search: we wanted corn and water, and food
fit for immediate use; and corn and water, to our ex-
treme satisfaction, we found, with both of which we
plentifully regaled our now famishing chargers.
, Leaving the horses to take full advantage of the
piece of good fortune which had thus fallen to their
share, we entered the house—but neither bread nor
any other necessary of fife was there. Busy hands had
been before ours, for over the floors of the different
rooms all manner of wearing apparel was scattered, and
drawers broken and ransacked, gave token of the
manner in which they had employed themselves. At
last X pame by chance upon a cupboard which gave no
the light dkagoon.
163
signs of having been rifled, and forcing it open, I saw
that it contained some valuable china and cut glass.
The sight of these articles recalled to my remembrance
that, on the evening previous to the battle, an officer of
my troop had been so lucky as to stumble somewhere
upon a bottle of wine, and that in proceeding to drink,
when no cup was at hand, he had been obliged to break
off the neck, and in so doing lost half of his trea-
sure. I determined to convey to him both a glass and
a service of china, and with this view, made a small
selection, which I packed up in a basket. But I was
not permitted to carry my good intentions into effect,
for, on returning to the stable, we found two Belgian
dragoons there, who invited us to partake of a ham
which they had discovered; and my appetite being ex-
ceedingly sharp, I laid down the basket in order to
appease it. Some marauder observed this, and instantly
snatched it up; nor had I time to pursue him, for just
as I had risen to do so, a general officer galloped into
the farm-yard, and instantly there was a cry from all
quarters, "Escape as you best can!" The general was
loud in his denunciation of the plunderers: he told us
that the provost was at hand, and we leaped into the
saddle, resolved, if possible, to escape him. And well
was it that we did so; for we had not passed from the
gateway many roods, ere he and his guard made their
appearance, after which nothing remained for us but to
make the best of our way at our briskest speed to the
camp.
The intelligence which we brought as to the cattle
and sheep which we had seen at the farm-house was
not thrown away. Party after party sallied out, and
in half an hour there was mutton enough in our lines
to furnish all with a substantial meal. In a trice the
cooks went to work, and by and by might be seen offi-
cers and men devouring the half-dressed food like can-
nibals. Neither were any questions asked concerning
the sources from which a supply so acceptable came:
all were anxious to partake of it, and all, when the re-
past was ended, looked and felt as if each were worth
at least half a dozen of what he had been two hours
previously.
The first wants of nature being thus satisfied, parties
were sent out, under non-commissioned officers, to
l 2
164
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
search for and bring in sucb wounded men as might
have fallen in the woods, or on broken ground, where
they could not easily be discovered. Scores of human
beings, who but for this humane proceeding must have
perished, were thus snatched from the jaws of death—
among whom were not a few mere boys, the whole of
whom appeared to entertain of us, and especially of the
surgeons, the most pitiable dread. It required, indeed,
in several instances, two or three of us to hold the
patient while the balls were extracted from his wounds
and his hurts dressed; and then the gratitude of the
unfortunate beings became as vehement as previously
to the completion of the operation their fears had been
ludicrous. Neither did we find it easy for some time
afterwards to shake ourselves free from these convales-
cents. Though told they were at liberty to return to
their homes, they would not leave us, and even con-
trived to crawl after us for a march or two, in order, as
they said, to avoid the danger of falling into the hands
of the Prussians.
It was noon ere the commissary arrived, bringing
with him. corn, biscuits, salt meat, and an allowance of
spirits, the receipt of which proved eminently accept-
able both to man and beast; after discussing which we
received orders to fall in and march to the front. As
we rose the hill an excellent opportunity was afforded
of viewing, at a single glance, the whole theatre of
these desperate operations. I have already spoken of
the particular sights which, in the course of my wan-
derings over the field, met me; and I have now only
to record that the effect of a grand coup d'oeil was
neither less astounding nor less awful than any which
had been produced by the examination of individual
objects near at hand. We saw, too, that if the slaughter
among the French had been terrible, our gallant army
had not come off unscathed. There, on the ground
where they had fought, large heaps of English soldiers
were scattered, covering, for the most part, the face of
their own position, and retaining to a certain extent
the very order of their formations; and here, on either
side of the road which we were traversing, the pride of
the gallant heavy brigade lay low: for the Life Guards,
the Itoyals, and the Greys had been carried by their
the light dbagoon.
165
impetuosity far into tlie heart of the French lines, and
though more than victorious in the charge, were well-
nigh cut to pieces. But whjr continue these details—
a hundred abler pens than mine have told the story of
their prowess and their suffering. I cannot add to the
amount of information already possessed by the public
—so let me change my subject.
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Advance.
We marched that day some distance on the road to
Nivelle, and arriving towards dark at a very pretty
village, we halted for the night in an orchard. There we
remained the whole of the next day, cleaning our swords
and accoutrements, which were covered with rust, and
giving to our horses the rest and refreshment of which
they stood sorely in need. As to our clothing, that
was completely spoiled, and our boots we were obliged
to cut from our legs, ere we could get them off. But
four-and-twenty hours of repose and good feeding did
wonders for us, and on the 20th we resumed our pro-
gress, in high spirits and very tolerable order. A sue-
session of easy stages carried us to Catieaux, where we
established ourselves in a pleasant grove, waiting for
the arrival of the pontoons and heavy artillery, which
might be required to reduce the fortresses that lay in
our front; and I am forced to say that the three days
which we spent there were not wasted. Not far from
•our encampment lay a large village, which, on recon-
noitring it, we found to be abandoned; and, as the
foolish people had left all their effects behind them,
we saw no reason why we should not save the camp-
followers some trouble, by appropriating them to our
own use. The consequence was, that our meals were
not only abundant but sumptuous;—fowls, geese, tur-
keys, ducks, pigs, rabbits, and flour and garden-stuff in
abundance, furnished forth, with wine and beer, our
daily tables; and it would be injustice to all parties
did I not add, that we dealt with them as those are
wont to do who, having known what it is to fast by
166
THE LIGHT DBAG00N.
compulsion, take care, when the opportunity offers, to-
feast with hearty good will.
It was my especial delight to wander through the
woods adjoining our encampment alone; on one of
which occasions I encountered the adjutant, who, after
telling me that he had looked for me for some time,
asked whether I could speak Trench. I was not with-
out apprehension that something might have gone
wrong, so I answered in the negative. Upon which he
replied, " Don't you think you could get out a few
words in that language, if you were paid an extra franc a
day?" "I dare say I could, sir," replied I, smiling. " Oh,
I thought so," was the answer; " so come along with
me." I followed the adjutant accordingly, and found
that I had been selected to act as Serjeant in a mounted
staff corps, of which it would be the duty to protect
the country people from ill usage, and to repress, along
the route of the army, everything like plundering and
violence. From each regiment in the brigade three
men were chosen, over whom I was set; and the orders
which I received were, that I should detach six, three
on each flank, during the march, and myself bring up
the rear with the remaining three. We were not to act
as executioners, nor yet as a provost guard, but simply
as a military police ;—that is to say, we were to arrest
all persons whom we might find marauding, and to
hand them over to the provost for punishment. And
in order to make us known, as well as to ensure for us
the respect of our fellow-soldiers, each man was sup-
plied with a scarlet belt, which he was desired to pass
over his right shoulder, and to regard as a badge of
honourable distinction.
It will readily be believed that I accepted the dis-
tinction thus proffered to me, thankfully, the more so
as I found that it carried an addition of two francs
daily to my pay, and one franc to each of the men who
were placed under me. Neither had I any cause to
repent of the arrangement. On the contrary, I more
than once found myself in a position to render essential
service to the helpless, at the same time that I hin-
dered my own people from doing wrong; and of the
first instance in which I came to exercise my authority,
it may be as well if I give a brief account.
The day after I received my appointment we
THE LIGHT DEAG00N.
167
marched; and I, obeying the instructions that bad
been communicated to me, dispersed two of my threes
on each flank, and with the remaining triad brought up
the rear. It might be about noon when we approached
a house by the roadside from which lamentable cries,
as of people in distress, proceeded. " Serjeant!" ex-
claimed the colonel, who rode near me, " do you hear
that ? Go and see what is the matter." In an instant
I called my men, and desiring them to dismount, left
one in charge of the horses, wrhile with the other two,
sword in hand, I entered. The house was full of Bel-
gian dragoons, who had been plundering and ill-treating
the people at a great rate. I told them what my duty
was, called upon them to surrender, compelled them to
restore to the inhabitants the effects which they had
taken, and made a dozen of them prisoners. The re-
mainder fled through the back door, and we saw them
no more. I cannot undertake to describe the gratitude
of the poor people, whose property, and in some in-
stances more than their property, we thus preserved.
Neither have I power to tell how astonished the Bel-
gians were, when they found themselves handed over
to a sort of power which was marvellously rapid in the
administration of justice. The whole of them were
stripped on the instant, and received a dozen each—a
salutary example—which taught the allies that they,
not less than the English, would not by our wise and
noble commander be allowed to perpetrate, with impu-
nity, wrongs upon the innocent inhabitants of Erance,
purely because with the French government their own
happened to be at war.
We halted that day about noon, not far from a gen-
tleman's house, which I was ordered to protect, and
where, with my comrades, I spent the night. Next
morning, as a matter of course, the march was resumed.
But except that we were joined at a large village, or
rather town, through which we passed, by Louis XVIII.
and his suite, there occurred nothing of which it is
worth while to take especial notice. To be sure, the
manner in which the people of the town received the
king, whom but a few weeks previously they had driven
into banishment, was exceedingly characteristic. Tri-
umphal arches and green boughs were erected at the
head of the principal streets. Beside them stood the
168
THE LIGHT DEAGOON.
magistrates and leading men of tlie place, as well as a
number of gaily-dressed maidens, who strewed flowers
in the way of the royal party, and offered bouquets;
while the air was rent with discordant shouts, from
which no more could be gathered, than that the parties
shouting were disposed to make the most of passing
events as they occurred. But I must not omit to de-
.scribe a scene which befel in the same town, and in
which I was myself an actor. I have often thought of
it since with amazement, and possibly my readers may
think, with me, that it was at least a strange one.
The brigade halted in this town for the night ; and I
received a. billet on a particular house, to which, as may
be supposed—accompanied by my comrade—I imme-
diately repaired. We knocked at the front door, but
nobody answered; whereupon we made our way round
to the rear, where, trying the latch, we ascertained that it
was not fastened, and immediately entered. We found
ourselves in a passage, from which, on the right and
deft, two doorways diverged. One of these—that on the
left—we tried, and were ushered into a small apart-
ment, where, before a table literally covered with gold
coins and bags of money, sat a man engaged, as it
seemed, in reckoning up the amount of his treasure.
The creaking of the door upon its hinges seemed to
have disturbed him, for he instantly looked behind;
and the expressions of astonishment, fear, agony, and
horror which passed in rapid succession over his counte-
nance, I shall never forget. He threw himself at once
flat upon the table, stretching out Iris arms in the vain
effort to conceal his wealth; and then, in a tone of voice
which bespoke the extent of his alarm, desired to be in-
formed as to our wishes. I hastened to assure him that
he had nothing to apprehend from us. I told him that
we were English, not Prussians; and the announce-
ment at once relieved him so far, that he was able to
demand the cause of our intrusion; and on my inform-
ing him, he hastened to tell us that we were heartily
welcome. He entreated us to go to the kitchen, where
his housekeeper would take charge of us ; and, without
so much as pausing to ascertain the amount of his ex-
posed treasure, we at once obeyed. He was a monstrous
lucky fellow in having fallen into our hands rather than
into those of any of the gallant allies that co-operated
THE LIGHT DEAG00N.
169
"with us. We got a good supper, and an excellent bed;
but be retained bis Napoleons, which, bad some of
Blucber's dragoons seen tbem, would bave made tbeir
way probably to Prussia, at all events to Paris or its
environs.
Up to the present point tbe British army seemed to
bave followed a route of its own. Our marcb of the
next day brought us upon tbe track of tbe Prussians ;
and tbe contrast between our discipline and theirs was
curious in tbe extreme. Our column passed, for ex-
ample, about noon, a large chateau, with a village
attached ; and I and my men were sent, as a matter of
course, to protect both. Alas ! we came too late. The
Prussians bad been here before us, and tbe skill and
industry with wbicb they seemed to bave carried on tbe
work of devastation I have no language to describe.
In tbe chateau there was not one article of furniture,
from tbe costly pier-glass down to tbe common coffee-
cup, wbicb they bad not smashed to atoms. Tbe flour-
mill, likewise, attached to tbe mansion, was all gutted,
tbe sacks cut to pieces, and tbe flour wantonly scattered
over tbe road. Stables, cow-sheds, poultry-bouses, and
gardens, seemed to bave been, with infinite care, ren-
dered useless ; and as to bving things, there was none—
not so much as a half-starved pigeon—to be seen about
tbe premises. In like manner, tbe village was one
wide scene of devastation. Its inhabitants appeared,
indeed, to bave escaped, for we came upon no human
being, nor tbe corpse of any; but furniture, doors,
windows, and here and there roofs, all seemed to bave
passed through the merciless bands of tbe spoilers. I
never beheld such a specimen of war, conducted in a
spirit of ferocious hostility. I was half ashamed of tbe
connexion that subsisted between ourselves and tbe
Prussians, when I looked upon tbe horrid work wbicb
they bad perpetrated.
. Having wandered over this wretched place, and as-
certained that our presence was altogether useless, we
mounted again, and rode on. Our route lay somewhat
apart from that of the column, and carried us towards
a wood, on approaching wbicb we were challenged by
a peasant, armed with a musket, and determined, as bis
bearing showed, to dispute our farther progress. I
told him what we were; upon which be instantly re-
170
THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
covered Lis arms, and entreated us to come forward.
He became, indeed, our guide, and conducted us to an
open space in the forest, wherein were collected the un-
fortunate fugitives from the very place which we had
just abandoned. There they were, men, women, and
children, established in a sort of bivouac, whither they
had escaped with such little fragments of their pro-
perty as the alarm of a moment had enabled them to
carry off. Poor things! they clustered round our
saddle-bows, as if we had been guardian angels sent to
protect them from further violence. They offered us
all that they had, which, of course, we refused to accept,
and gratefully listened to our declarations that, for the
present at least, danger had passed away. I have the
satisfaction of remembering that, at my suggestion,
they gathered up their effects on the instant, and went
back to reoccupy the houses from which our somewhat
ferocious friends had driven them.—We rode on, and
in due time reached an eminence, just beyond which
the column had been directed to halt for the night. We
pulled up on the summit to look round us, and saw, a
little way removed from the line of march, another
village, in which the process of marauding was going
on in full vigour. Multitudes of stragglers had broken
in upon the inhabitants, who were fleeing in every
direction, pursued by their enemies. It was a shocking
spectacle; and, as in duty bound, I resolved, as far as
my means went, to give to it a different character. I
accordingly commanded my party to draw swords, and
down we went at full speed into the heart of the village.
The effect of our charge was marvellous : the plunderers
dropped their booty and fled in all directions. We
rode after them, belabouring them with the flats of our
swords, and in five minutes had the satisfaction of know-
ing that order was entirely restored. It is an old
aphorism, the truth of which all experience confirms,
that good actions invariably bring their own reward.
We were not only thanked by the authorities of the
place, but feasted and feted at the principal inn; and
we spent the night among these poor people as merrily
as those are wont to do whom their entertainers regard
as special benefactors.
In this manner I continued my march, giving pro-
tection, wherever I and my party arrived, to the per-
THE EIGHT DRAGOOH.
171
sons and property of all orders of Frenchmen, by whom
we were uniformly treated as friends and preservers.
Such services were not always unattended with personal
risk; and once, in particular, we owed our preservation
at least as much to our ingenuity, or presence of mind,
as to the badges which we carried. We had observed
a large mansion, removed by a considerable space from
the road, and judging that it would be regarded as a
prize by the marauders, we put spurs to our horses,
and happily reached it ere any stragglers from the
army could come up. I knocked at the door, which
we found closed, but nobody answered: I knocked
again, but still the signal was disregarded; on which,
having previously observed that all the stables were
empty, and that not a living thing was to be seen on
the premises, I came to the conclusion that the place
was abandoned. Under this impression, I had already
directed my men to remount, for the purpose of pro-
ceeding elsewhere, when one of the upper windows
opened, and a man putting his head' through, desired
to be informed who we were. I replied that we were
"English police:" upon which he immediately en-
treated me to wait, and in a few seconds opened the
door for our reception. He was an old gentleman,
very venerable in his appearance, and full of alarm—
as he well might be—on account of his family and
effects, and for his wife and two daughters, who were
in the house with him; for he not unnaturally mistook
us for Prussians, of whose mode of dealing, wherever
they went, the rumour had already reached him.
Finding, however, that our business was to protect,
not to fleece him, his gratitude sets my powers of ex-
pression at defiance; and the ladies, who soon joined
us, were to the full as lavish of their thanks as he.
We had scarcely passed his threshold, when a whole
swarm of Belgians made their appearance, flocking up
from a village which they had just plundered, and
hastening to effect the same end at the chateau. I de-
termined at once to resist them; so, planting one of
my men as a sentry at the door, I drew the rest under
cover, and quietly waited to meet the issue, be it what
it might. On came the marauders as fast as they could
run; and very angry as well as greatly surprised were
they to find their further progress disputed by my
172 THE LIGHT DEAGOOH.
sentinel. They peremptorily desired to know what
our business was there; and some officers—of whom
a good many bore them company—seemed resolute,
in spite of the vidette, to force an entrance. Upon this
I went out, and told them that we had been sent by the
commander-in-chief to take possession of the quarter,
and that his arrival there, with the Staff of the Army,
was every moment to be expected. The effect upon
these gentlemen was electrical: they repeated my tale
to the men; gave the word to tall in; were obeyed
with marvellous celerity, and marched off without doing
the slightest damage to anything. Their departure
relieved the old gentleman at once from all his anxiety,
and induced him to cast everything like disguise aside.
About twenty peasants, well armed, accordingly came
forth from their hiding places. Horses, cattle, poultry,
were in like manner released; and, in ten minutes, the
chateau, with all the out-buildings attached to it, gave
signs of ample vitality and very great abundance. We,
of course, and our horses, were treated to our'hearts'
content—besides receiving a warm invitation to visit
the family again as often as opportunities might offer;
and finally, we did not quit the place till a thousand
proofs had been afforded that, in the faithful discharge
of the duties assigned to us, we had done real service
to those who needed it.
In this manner I continued my march, day by day
gladdened by the thought that I had been the means
of preserving many an innocent family from wrong,
and many a village as well as chateau from total de-
struction. At last, the head-quarters of the army
reached Neuilly, where and around which an extensive
encampment was formed. It was from the high grounds
near the village that I obtained my first view of Paris ;
and its gilded domes and spires, and innumerable
minarets, impressed me, as well as the prodigious
extent of its area, with sensations of profound admira-
tion. I acknowledge, too, that I thought, not without
pity, of the state of public feeling as it must have then
operated in the city—where, from hour to hour, the
advance of hostile columns was anticipated, and men
could count on no other result than that their streets
would become the scenes of strife. Yet the halt which
we made appeared to promise better things, and the
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
173
going and coming of frequent flags of truce told a tale
of negotiations in progress. To be sure, the horizon
seemed at one time entirely overcast; for a corps of
French troops, which occupied Montmartre, refused to
fall back when required to do so, and were instantly
attacked and driven from their positions by a portion
of our infantry. But, except on that occasion, no fight-
ing took place, though the outposts of the hostile armies
wellnigh touched one another, and on both sides the
extreme of vigilance was by night and day exhibited.
While we lay in this place, which, being of limited
extent, afforded but inadequate accommodation even
to the head-quarter stall', I found myself involved in a
little adventure, of which, because of the interest which
it excited in me at the moment, I may as well give
some account.
I was late of reaching Neuilly—so late, indeed, that
when I came up the place was crowded. I reported
myself to the commanding officer, showed that all was
right, and received from him directions to pass the
night in the streets—unless, indeed, I should prefer
crossing to a town which lay on the farther side of the
river. There would, however, be some risk attendant
on this move, because the tricolour still floated from
one of its public buildings, and the impression was,
that the French had not yet withdrawn from the place.
Not relishing, however, the prospects of a night spent
in fasting and the open air, I proposed to four of my
people—G-ermans, belonging to an hussar regiment—
that we should reconnoitre the town together. I found
them quite ready to share the enterprise with me, and
towards the river side we accordingly proceeded.
We found that the bridge was barricaded on both
sides; though in both barricades openings had been
made sufficiently large to admit of the passing of a man
and horse. We therefore rode through, when, leaving
two of the men to keep guard at the farther side, I took
the remaining two with myself, and advanced with
great caution and deliberation towards the town. The
first object that met our eyes, on approaching the main
street, was a huge tricoloured flag, which waved over
the barracks of the Chasseurs of the National Guard on
an eminence hard by. As may be supposed, the vision
had not the effect of rendering us less cautious ; never-
174
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
theless, on we went—neither seeing nor hearing any-
thing. In fact, the town was deserted. We rode quite
through—passing up one street and returning by
another—and then trotted off to make our comrades
aware of how matters stood, and to join them with our-
selves in our search after novelties.
We looked out for some respectable cabaret, having
made up our minds to establish there our head-quarters;
and had not gone far ere the well-known sign of the
Bush informed us that our object was attainable. We
knocked, but the signal was not regarded: we entered,
and saw that the house was as desolate as the street.
A fire was burning on the hearth—the clock continued
to go—on the counter there stood a jug half filled with
wine—and in a cupboard we found a loin of mutton
cooked, with a well-dressed salad, both ready to be
served up. We next examined the cellars, which were
abundantly stocked with casks, all, as we ascertained
by sounding them, full of wine. In a word, it was pre-
cisely the sort of domicile of which we were in search,
and we made up our minds not to look farther.
The next thing to be thought of was the accom-
modation of our horses, for which we were not slow in
ascertaining that the cabaret could do nothing. I
accordingly proceeded to the house adjoining, in the
rear of winch I found a stable, which, on examination,
proved to be fitted up with half a dozen stalls, and
abundantly stocked both with forage and litter. I
threw the bridle over my mare's neck, and led her
towards the door; but she snorted, tossed up her head,
and, in spite both of coaxing and punishment, refused
to enter. " There must be something uncommon here,"
exclaimed I, as I seized a fork and ran in. To toss the
litter about was but to obey the impulse of the moment,
and there, sure enough, we found beneath the straw a
Trench soldier, shot through the heart, dead as a stone,
but fully accoutred. How he could have come there
we were at a loss to conjecture. But a practical ac-
quaintance with the events of war has a marvellous
effect in stifling men's sympathies on occasions like the
present. We lifted the body in our arms, cast it into
the river, and having made our horses comfortable in
the stalls, which they no longer refused to occupy, we
returned to the cabaret, nowise indisposed to act with
THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
175
the same praiseworthy consideration towards onr-
selves.
We ate and drank merrily that night, but committed
no excess : indeed, we could, not divest ourselves of the
suspicion that, after all, a snare might have been laid
for us, and the same feeling of half anxiety which
hindered us from lying down, operated, among other
causes, to keep us sober. Once or twice, moreover, we
went abroad, examining the houses near, and loitering
at the corners of streets; but not one sign of human
life could we discover: the place was evidently deserted.
Accordingly, when dawn came in, I rode across to
Neuilly, where many of my comrades met me, and it
was agreed among us that we should return in a body,
and spend that day as I and my former companions had
spent the last. I have nothing to relate of events that
befel till towards dusk, when, from my place beside the
board, and surrounded by a dozen or more of the 11th,
I saw a man peep in at the front door and instantly
withdraw again. I sprang up, without speaking a word,
and found a a poor Frenchman hovering about the
threshold, who, not without manifest indications of
alarm, told me that he was the master of the house.
A sort of general explanation immediately followed.
We offered to pay for the provisions which we had
taken: he positively refused to accept a sou; and
telling us that his wife and daughter, and, indeed, all
the rest of the inhabitants, were concealed in the woods,
whither they had fled, he went away at our request to
assure them that we were English, not Prussians, and
that they might return without scruple to their houses.
A happy family was that, so soon as its several members
found themselves settled once more under the shadow
of their own roof, and the invaders, from whom they
had fled, anxious rather to apologize for what was past
than to inflict upon them or their property fresh in-
juries. Indeed, the entire place appeared to change its
character as house after house became tenanted, and
the light-hearted owners betook themselves to their
ordinary occupations. Nor can I pass on to other sub-
jects without recording that the mutual goodwill which
sprang up among us at the outset never suffered a
moment's interruption. Throughout a space of nearly
twelve months which I spent in or near Paris, I was
176 THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
always to my friend of the cabaret a welcome guest;
and I quitted him and his amiable wife and daughter,
at last, not without marks of unaffected sorrow on both
sides.
CHAPTER XIX.
Paris and its Environs.
On the 7th of July intelligence reached us that Paris
had capitulated, and shortly afterwards the order
arrived to march in the direction of the capital. It was
not, however, my fortune to witness or participate in
the triumphal entrance which our columns made, for,
with twenty-seven more mounted men—of all nations,
and belonging to all corps—I was detached to protect
the chateau of Bagatelle, in the Bois de Boulogne,
where the Duke de Berri resided. It was a charming
place, with a park, gardens, terraces, a sheet of water,
a Venetian bridge, artificial rocks and grottoes, and
hermitages innumerable. Neither, except on the score
of hard duty, had we much to complain of, seeing that
the duke allowed for our daily use twelve bottles of
Burgundy, besides giving us a kitchen-garden, whence
at pleasure we might supply our table with vegetables
and fruit. But as the rations both for men and horses
were distributed only in Paris, the fatigue of fetching
them from a point so distant proved often trying
enough, especially as our duty required us every
evening to patrol by reliefs round the grounds, from
sunset till after sunrise on the following morning.
Nor, indeed, were these precautions unnecessary. A
large encampment had been formed in the wood, from
which marauders came forth at all hours, whom nothing
except the display of our scarlet belts hindered from
reducing the duke's well-kept pleasure-grounds to the
state of a howling wilderness.
I shall never forget the impression that was made
upon me the first time I visited Paris. Such a spec-
tacle as the French capital exhibited then, will not, in
all human probability, come, at least for a while, under
the observation of my readers; wherefore I would
gladly describe it in detail, could I hope by any power
THE EIGHT DBAGOON.
177
of language to do justice to the subject, but that I feel
to be impossible. Of the Champs Elysees, with its
noble avenues, its stately trees, and its triumphal arch,
X need not say anything. They, as well as the Palace
of the Tuileries, the Place de Concorde, and all the
streets and squares adjacent, were, I dare say, pretty
much what the traveller who visits Paris in 1844 will
find them. But the interminable encampments and
bivouacs which overspread them—the countless rows
of huts which everywhere crowded upon the eye—the
unceasing noise of drums, trumpets, clarions, and other
musical instruments—the hubbub of voices which as-
sailed you, as men of all nations conversed or sported
together—these things, together with the passing and
repassing of thousands of men and women, as if some
huge ant-hill had been disturbed, and instead of ants,
human beings came forth from its recesses, created al-
together such a scene as cannot be conceived, unless it
has been seen, and is never seen twice in any man's
lifetime. Eor myself, I was perfectly astounded; and
rode on, with difficulty persuading myself that the
whole was other than a dream.
We found the Parisians, particularly the women,
civil, and even friendly, to the greatest degree. They
chaffered with us, flirted with us, sold their wares, and
took our money with the best grace possible, and gave
us in return a plentiful supply of indifferent brandy,
served out in marvellously small glasses. We never,
however, had much time to spend among them; for
the way was long, and our burdens of forage and provi-
sions weighty. Still, a trip to Paris became one of our
favourite recreations; and I, as holding rank in my
party, found more than one opportunity of going
thither when not on duty. Eor the most part, how-
ever, my time was pretty much occupied in attending
to the conduct of my men, more than one of whom, as
soon as the fruit began to ripen, I caught in the act of
plundering. But the Duke de Berri, to do him justice,
was extremely considerate on all such occasions, so
that the delinquent generally escaped with a few hours'
incarceration.
While employed on this service, I had, more than
once, the satisfaction of spending a day with my friends
at the cabaret near Neuilly. My regiment was quar-
M
178 THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
tered in that town, and as often as leisure would per-
mit, I rode over to see them, on which occasions I
never failed of meeting from the good people of the
house the most hearty and affectionate reception.
JST either did fortune fail of throwing in my way new
acquaintances, from whose gratitude the means which
I possessed of serving them drew forth many solid
tokens of regard. I need not tell those who have
visited the French capital, that the hanks of the Seine,
to a great extent below Paris, are covered with vine-
yards; and probably there will be needed no direct
statement from me to make my readers in general be-
lieve, that as the fruit began to ripen, the cultivators
found it no easy matter to save their harvests from the
rapacious hands of the foreign soldiers that were esta-
blished among them. To such a height, indeed, was
the practice of marauding carried, that guards were
granted to such townships as applied for them, to pro-
tect the vineyards; and even these did not always sue-
ceed in hindering serious damage from being done to
the property of the industrious cultivators. It chanced,
that immediately opposite to Bagatelle, though sepa-
rated from the duke's grounds by the river, lay some
very extensive vine-farms. Over and over again tliey had
been invaded, and as much damage done by treading
down the vines as by carrying off the fruit, when the
representatives of the village came across, and en-
treated that I would spare some of my men for their
protection. I told them, what was true, that I had
detached so many in other directions, that no more
could be spared. But I offered to accompany them to
Paris, and to become their spokesman in representing
the case to the proper authorities.
To Paris we accordingly went—the mayor, one or
two other functionaries, and myself—and proceeding
direct to the colonel's quarters, I made the circum-
stances of the case known, and received from him an
order to detach two of my men, for the protection of
the parties for whom I had interceded. This was im-
mediately done. I went with the men, gave them their
orders, namely, to keep watch by turns from dawn to
dark, by occupying an eminence, whence the country
for miles round could be reconnoitred, and to leave it
to the peasants themselves to set their armed guards
THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
179
so soon as the night should set in. On the other hand,
I received from the authorities an assurance that my
men should he well cared for, plenty of good victuals
provided for them, and their horses supplied with
forage; while, over and above, it was intimated to me,
that a cover would be laid for myself every day at the
ehief auberge in the place; and that whenever I felt
disposed to go across, I should partake of the good
things which it afforded. All this was very fair ; and
never once, from the beginning to the end of the har-
vest weeks, had I or my men the most distant occasion
to complain that our villagers had grown slack in their
attentions. On the contrary, as the red band effec-
tually served its purpose, the people's gratitude grew
so, that I and my people sometimes found it difficult to
reject the favours which they pressed upon us.
At last, however, the harvest was got in, snugly and
to as good purpose as if the foot of the stranger had
never defiled the soil of France; and I had already
given orders for my people to return, when a deputa-
tion from the commune waited upon me, to request
that I would honour them with my company at the
little fete, wherewith it was their custom to celebrate
their harvest-home.
I accepted the invitation, as may be supposed, and
do not remember having been present, in any part of
the world, at a series of entertainments which more
interested or amused me. We began with a public
breakfast at eight in the morning, to which about fifty
persons, young and old, sat down: after which, on the
green, and to the sound of their own band, the lads
and lasses danced till two. Then followed a dinner,
sumptuous, abundant, and well served up, over which
the mayor presided, where the great subject of rivalry,
among all who were present, appeared to be how we,
the strangers, should be most honoured. There was no
lack of excellent wine, nor any disposition to stay the
bottle in its progress; indeed, we did not rise'from
table till past five, and many well-applauded toasts
had been given. But the pledge of the day was the
health of the three English cavaliers, to whom the
kind-hearted peasants declared that they were indebted
for preservation from famine. Nor was this all. The
mayor, after proposing the toast, in terms highly grati-
180 THE LIGHT DEAGOOE.
fying to us, handed to me three paper packets, which,
he requested me to divide with the soldiers under my
command, in testimony of the high sense which was
entertained in the commune of our services. It was in
vain that I besought him not to press upon us favours
which were far beyond both our merits and our ex-
pectations. "We had done no more than our duty, and
were glad that we had been instrumental in preserving
the property of persons who had given such manifold
proofs of their excellence. But the mayor was reso-
lute. He showed, indeed, that my persisting in the
rejection of his bounty would have occasioned to him
and his townspeople serious annoyance; I was obliged,
therefore, to accept the packets, which contained just
sixty francs a-piece.
Of the habits of the Duke of Berri I have little to-
record, except that he lived a life of great seclusion,
and was, and knew that he was, to the last degree un-
popular among his countrymen. He never went from
home except at night, and always returned again with
as much privacy as possible, about the same hour on
the night following. Why he should have been thus
distasteful to the French I cannot conjecture. He has
repeatedly honoured me with a few minutes' conversa-
tion, and I always found him affable, frank, and con-
descending; but it is certain that the French people
hated him, and that the columns of the newspapers
were crowded with stories and assertions to his dis-
advantage. Of the fate of that unfortunate prince I
need not now speak. Even at the period to which my
present narrative refers, the probable occurrence of such
an event might have been safely predicted; and so
fully did the Duke himself appear to be convinced of the
fact, that he dwelt, as I have just said, in the strictest
and most guarded privacy.
In the course of this autumn there occurred for the
amusement of the Allied Sovereigns several grand re-
views, at all of which I was present, rather as a spectator
than as an actor. It was my duty, as one of the cavalry
staff, to keep the ground, or attend on the officers com-
manding; and the opportunities thereby afforded me
of seeing all that passed were very great. I remember
that on one occasion above 8000 British cavalry, and
cavalry in British pay, were paraded together. I think
THE EIGHT BEAGOOH. 181
that the whole world could produce no such imposing
spectacle as they presented; and the heavy brigades
in particular—the Life Guards, the Blues, the Royals,
and the Greys—drew forth hursts of spontaneous
applause, even from the French populace. Yet there
occurred an event which, though ludicrous in the ex-
treme, threatened to produce some serious results, and
out of which I am by no means sure that serious results
did not here and there arise. The order of the day
was to present the semblance of a cavalry action, in
which a body of Brunswick horse were posted on one
of the roads, to represent the enemy. These stood in
front of as dense a crowd of civilians as Paris, and the
towns and villages near, may be supposed to have sent
forth, while everywhere carriages had taken up their
stands, so that the whole area was thronged. The
heavy brigade was ordered to dislodge them. They
came on at first steadily, covered by their skirmishers ;
by and by they formed line, and the trumpet sounded
to trot. Then came the signal to gallop, and to charge;
and it was obeyed with such a show of vigour as fairly
upset the common sense of the Brunswickers. A panic
seized them: they imagined that they were going to be
ridden down; and suddenly wheeling round, they
scampered off in all directions, making a way for them-
selves, without respect of persons, through the middle
of the crowd. I defy a stoic to retain his gravity, if he
had witnessed the scenes that followed. There were
the people shrieking and running for their lives : there
the Brunswickers spurring as if a legion of fiends had
been in pursuit of them, and casting over their shoulders,
from time to time, looks of the most abject terror.
And, finally, there was the heavy brigade, grave as
judges, till the trumpet sounded a halt, when, as if an
irresistible impulse had come on them, they all burst
into a roar of laughter. I never saw such a scene of
mirth as that parade-ground presented; and unless my
memory deceive me, among the heartiest laughers of
all were the Luke himself and the Emperor of Russia.
In the month of September of this year I bade adieu
to the chateau of Bagatelle, and moved with my little
detachment into Paris. I got a billet on a gentleman
of the name of Vandamme, an apothecary in large prac-
tice, who resided in the Hue St. Honore, and proceed-
182 THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
ing to deliver it, was informed that there was no room
in the house for my accommodation. My host, how-
ever, offered terms in lieu of what the law allowed me,
which I did not think that it would he judicious to re-
fuse. He gave me five francs a day, wherewith to pro-
vide board and lodging; and the lodging being fur-
nished with an excellent stable, in which my horse was
put up, I managed, out of my daily allowance, to fare
sumptuously at one of the restaurants.
I am not going to describe Paris, or its endless places
of public amusement. Were the subject fresh, instead
of being absolutely stale, I could not flatter myself with
possessing skill enough to bring the strange picture
vividly before the reader's eye; and such a picture, if
not vividly painted, had better not he painted at all.
Everybody knows how matters are managed within the
precincts of the Palais Royal,—how vice walks abroad
undisguised and unblushing,—how the gaming-tables
are thronged, and other scenes enacted, of which even
to speak in English society would cover the cheek
with blushes. Again, the Louvre, with its treasures,
gathered from every nation under heaven, was, in the
days of which I now speak, a spectacle such as the eye
of man will never, in all probability, look upon again.
To be sure, the splendour of this scene did not long
continue after it had become to me an object of daily
admiration. Each of the nations of continental Europe
claimed the treasures of which the Erench had despoiled
them; and by the Allied Sovereigns and Chiefs orders
were issued to restore to the several claimants the
master-pieces to the possession of which they could
establish their right. The Erench were excessively
annoyed by the promulgation of these orders; so much
so, indeed, that resistance to their execution was an-
ticipated, and an overwhelming force of all arms was
warned to be in readiness, for the purpose of putting
down the first movement towards sedition. But not a
finger was stirred. Multitudes of anciens militaires
walked to and fro about the streets, chafing and giving
vent to their wrath in impotent " sacres," but the
feeblest attempt to create a disturbance was never
offered, and paintings and statues departed from Paris
with much less of ostentation than had marked their
entrance. I believe that I was John Bull enough
THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
183
somewhat to chuckle over this consummation of a war
begun for the purpose of subjugating Old England;
and yet I am not sure now that the impulse was a wise
one which caused me to triumph. For the purposes of
art such a variety of models can never again be col-
lected into one place. Possibly it may be a matter to
be regretted that, even for the sake of wounding the
vanity of the French, they were ever dispersed again.
It is not, however, to be supposed that I, a poor non-
commissioned officer, sought for amusement only in
the visits which I paid to the Palais Poyal and the
Louvre. The theatres, one after another, were by me
frequented, and many a place of public amusement be-
sides, of which my reader, were I to attempt anything
like a description, might be apt to think that I should
have acted more prudently had I held aloof from it.
But I must not forget to mention that at these haunts
of vice nume: .rrels sprang up between th ^
army. The consequences of these were almost always
duels, in which many lives were lost; till, in the end,
the grievance became so heavy that both the Duke of
Wellington and the French government interfered to
put a stop to it.
On more than one occasion during my residence in
Paris I found that my knowledge of the French lan-
guage—the result of my three years' captivity—served
me in excellent stead. For example, having been re-
moved from my pleasant dependence upon Mr. Yan-
damme, I was introduced into the family of a silk-
merchant, whose wife, by the by, was an English-
woman, and where I was treated throughout with the
most marked attention. From these good people I
learned much, which I should have never known other-
wise, concerning the state in which the inhabitants of
the capital were kept, while as yet authentic informa-
tion concerning the issues of the Waterloo campaign
failed to reach them. At first, it appeared, two dis-
patches were received from Napoleon's head-quarters,
which gave an account of the battle of Ligne, and the
total overthrow of the Prussian army. These were
greeted by a general illumination, and such displays of
rejoicing, as set all the Parisians, whether of high or
humble rank, agog. By and by came accounts of the
lish officers
officers of the reduced
184 THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
affair of Quatre Bras which, described the English as
totally annihilated; and stated that, in two days from
the date of the communication, the emperor expected
to establish his head-quarters at Brussels. Next day
came a third despatch, full, as the former had been, of
promise, though speaking, strangely enough, of a se-
cond meeting with the obstinate islanders. And here
followed a pause, of the agonizing nature of which my
informants assured me that it was impossible for human
language to convey an adequate idea. After this all
was trepidation, anxiety, and distrust. Hour by hour,
and minute by minute, crowds assembled at the post-
office, and at every point where it was supposed that
information might be obtained ; and when none came,
their spirits sank in a degree altogether proportionate
to the height to which they had previously been raised.
Finally, stragglers and fugitives began to pour in: and
then such a revulsion of feeling took place, as those
alone can conceive who have found themselves denizens
of a great city, which having seen a mighty army march
forth froni its walls full of dreams of conquest, find them-
selves suddenly bereft of all protection, and expect
from one minute to another the arrival among them of
a cruel and vindictive enemy, flushed with conquest,
and thirsting for revenge and for plunder.
Having remained here some little time, I was sent to
Marli, for. the purpose of protecting the royal game in.
the park, with which, it appeared, that both officers and
men of the allied armies made abundantly free. I was
again put in charge of a party: and at the house of the
steward, a M. Perron,—a relative, and not very re-
mote, I believe, of the famous Indian general,—I spent
some weeks greatly to my own satisfaction. Nothing
could exceed the liberality with which our table was
served: indeed, we ate our meals every day with the
family; and when seasons of rejoicing came round—such
as Christmas and New-year's-day—we entered heartily
into all their amusements. Of Christmas I have little
to observe, for it seemed to me to be spent somewhat
gravely; but New-year's-day was, in every sense of the
term, a festival. Then all the domestics dined at the
same table with the master and mistress; and enormous
as the amount of viands was, the whole were cleared
away ere the company rose. Next followed a game,
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
185
somewhat similar to our Twelfth-night gambols, during
which a king and queen were chosen, and treated with
all conceivable deference; while waltzes, quadrilles,
and dances of every kind, kept all ranks, degrees, and
ages, astir till daylight. I must confess that the terms
of easy yet respectful familiarity, on which the upper
and lower classes in that well-regulated family lived,
struck me as being delightful. Perhaps we could not,
consistently with the order of our education and
manners, transplant it without risk into this country;
yet I deceive myself if any right-minded Englishman
has ever looked upon a scene of the kind without wish-
ing that its occurrence were as habitual here as in the
land where he may be sojourning as a visitor.
It is not worth while to describe the adventures
which befel me while acting in the capacity of game-
keeper to the royal family of France. I have had
strange meetings with men of all ranks, English as well
as foreigners; and, by steadily yet respectfully doing
my duty, I am not aware that I made any of them my
enemies. Neither shall I speak at large of an affair
which threatened at one time to lead to serious conse-
quences, when some French park-keepers shot a dog
belonging to the First Dragoon Guards, which they
found one day poaching, as was his wont, in their
rabbit-burrow. The dog, it appeared, belonged to no
one in particular. He had followed the regiment from
England,—was a prodigious favourite,—had gone
through the battle of Waterloo, charging uniformly in
front of the line, and, after the battle was over, made
his appearance as usual beside the fire of the main-
guard, where he was welcomed as a highly-favoured
guest. He followed his own regiment, of course, to
St. Germain's; and, being of the lurcher breed, was in
the habit of running down both hares and rabbits,
which he uniformly carried home for the use of the
men, who fed him. I need scarcely say how furious
the regiment was when intelligence of the death of
poor Soldier reached them; or how, with one consent,
the troopers vowed to take vengeance on the murderer,
to whom, by some chance or another, they had ob-
tained a clue. I do not know how long they might
have watched for their opportunity, but at last they
found it; and sure enough the unfortunate wretch was
186
the light dragoon.
set upon in tlie streets, and very severely beaten. But
as good fortune would have it, I happened to come up
at the time. I instantly ran among them; assured them
that he was not the man; got him out of their hands,
though not till after he had suffered severely, and
escorted him home. If I had been a favourite with
the steward before this, I rose by many degrees higher
in his good graces afterwards. Indeed, the whole
corps of foresters treated me henceforth as a brother;
and many a merry evening I spent, in consequence, at
their several lodges.
Once, while I lay here, there arrived from Paris a
royal shooting party, which consisted of the Duke de
Berri, the Duke d'Angouleme, Monsieur the Comte
d'Artois, and about a score besides of the chief nobles
and grandees of France. The order of the day's sport,
though now familiar enough in this country, struck us
Englishmen as being curious; for the sportsmen took
no trouble, being content to post themselves in the
centre of a wood, where an open space had been
created by felling the trees, and towards which, from
the surrounding copses, several rides or broad paths
conducted. Meanwhile a multitude of beaters drove
up the game all round, which, as the poor animals ran
into the open space, were shot down with great dili-
fence. I observed that the distinguished tirailleurs
id not so much as take the trouble to load their own
pieces : each was attended by a servant, who charged
a reserve gun, and handed it to his master, so that the
firing was continued, and the slaughter very great.
Among other animals killed that day were two wild
boars. Of the total number, I can say no more than
that they loaded several fight waggons.
CHAPTER XX.
Quit Paris under peculiar circumstances—Cambray; adventures
there—The Suicide.
It was now the spring of 1816, by which time France
had submitted to the terms which the Allies proposed;
and, among other arrangements, it was agreed upon
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
187
that Paris and its immediate environs should he eva-
cuated. A strong army was, indeed, to remain, for the
purpose of securing the fulfilment of the conditions of
eace, and consolidating the throne for the Bourbons;
ut its divisions were to find their quarters in towns
nearer to the frontiers, so as to leave the interior of
Prance free to the exercise of its own usages. In ac-
cordance with these arrangements, I one day received
my route so suddenly, that there was not time so much
as to see and bid farewell to my kind host, who chanced
to he from home ; but I took a last meal with his wife
and family, in great affection, if not in the highest
spirits; and parted from them, when it was over, amid
many, and I believe sincere, protestations of regret on
both sides.
I rejoined my regiment the evening previous to the
commencement of the march of the whole English
army towards their quarters. I was left, however,
behind, with two men, to see the last of the baggage
packed, and to escort it all the way to Cambray, where
the head-quarters of the corps were to be established.
Two waggons were placed at our disposal, one of which
we loaded early in the day, while the other, by reason
of the non-arrival of some of the officers' traps, con-
tinued to stand empty. Had the waggoner merely
murmured, I could not have blamed him. The delay
was provoking enough for him as well as for us; but
when he avowed his determination to draw off, I knew
my duty too well to permit it; so I told him, in per-
emptory language, that he must wait my orders. Being
anxious, nevertheless, to save both him and myself
trouble, I resolved to go in search of the missing
articles, and mounting my horse, placed one of my
men as a sort of sentry over the waggoner, with strict
orders not on any account to permit his escape.
I had not been long gone ere our friend, Jean Crapot,
began to give signs of a vehement disposition to escape.
He flogged his horses and moved forward, whereupon
my trusty vidette, after vainly protesting against the
move, drew his sword, and commanded the deserter to
halt. The screams of the waggoner, who no sooner
beheld the flash of the steel than he shrieked out, soon
drew a crowd around them. The crowd called loudly
for the municipal guard, and in five minutes my friend
188 THE LIGHT DEAGOON.
Billy Duff, a little old man belonging to the 8th
Hussars, was surrounded by some dozen or two of
armed men, who pointed their weapons towards him,
and covered him with a very choice shower of French
abuse. At the same time the officer commanding this
party drew his sword and attacked Billy, who, to do
him justice, behaved with admirable coolness, being
content to parry, without returning, the thrusts that
were made at him. I shrewdly suspect, however, that
honest Billy would have practised that day his last
trick of fence had I not opportunely arrived to his
assistance. I instantly desired him to lower his wea-
pon, well knowing that resistance from both of us
would have been useless; and the rascally Frenchmen
sprang upon him forthwith, wrested his sword from
him, and made him their prisoner.
I was very indignant, as may be easily believed, and
protested against the proceeding; but no one paid the
least regard to me. The cowards knew that the English
army was gone, and they resolved to have their spite
out against the few stragglers that remained. Accord-
ingly, Billy was dragged off, amid their yells and execra-
tions, to the guard-house, where he was by and by
conveyed as a prisoner before the French field-officer
of the day. I confess that I was at my wits' end. On
the one hand, I did not know where to turn for help;
on the other, I was resolved that Billy should not be
deserted; so, buckling on my sword, which I had
heretofore left in my quarters, I ran where I knew
were the adjutant's lodgings, scarcely venturing to hope
that I should have the good fortune to find him. As
sometimes happens, however, in cases of emergency,
Fortune stood my friend. He was in the very act of
mounting his horse when I arrived, and at once agreed
to go with me to the municipal guard. I have no Ian-
guage sufficiently strong wherewith to describe the
insolence of the crew that were on duty there. They
led us through a long passage, flourishing Billy's sword
over their heads, as if it had been a standard taken in
some general action, and introduced us into the presence
of the commanding officer, in terms to which his own
insolent manner entirely responded. It was to no pur-
pose that the adjutant demanded the release of the man.
They would not give him up till he should have been
THE LIGHT DEAGOON.
189
led as a prisoner before the commandant of the town,
and his crime regularly entered in the black book. For
poor Billy's crime, according to their showing, was, that
he had drawn his sword against a peaceable citizen;
whereas he had simply done his duty, by using the
means which every sentinel is supposed to have at his
disposal, for hindering his post from being violated, or
a prisoner put under his charge from escaping.
Having come to the determination of laying a charge
against Billy before the English authorities, the officer
of the guard put his prisoner under the escort of a
Serjeant and six men, and gave orders that he should
be marched to the quarters of Colonel Kelly, who had
been nominated military commandant of Paris. I went
with my comrade, as in duty bound, and came in for
my own share of the insults and threats with which a
crowd, accumulating from street to street, seemed
anxious to overwhelm us. Neither were they content
to cover us with abuse; they closed in upon the escort,
made a snatch at my sword, which with much difficulty
I retained, spat upon us, and repeatedly exclaimed that
we ought to be put to death. In a word, our progress
was one not merely of vexation but of imminent hazard
throughout. Neither were our prospects much brighter
when we attained to the end of our journey. For
though Colonel Kelly's baggage crowded the court-
yard, he himself had quitted his apartments, and it
seemed more than probable that we should be left,
after all, to the tender mercies of the French people.
From such a fate, which must have been a trying one,
our better angel saved us. As we were marching back
to the guard-house I observed in one of the cross-streets
a carriage standing, which I knew to be Colonel Kelly's;
and by and by he came, with his lady, from a shop, and
was about to enter. I called out to him. We were
led up. The written charge was handed in, read,
signed, returned with a smile; after which he told the
escort they might go, and he would look after the pri-
soners. " Now, my lads," said he, as soon as the
Frenchmen had departed, " get back to your stables as
fast as you can, and make your escape out of the city.
The troops are all on the march; I will not be answer-
able for your safety here." We needed no second
bidding. Making choice of all manner of by-lanes, we
190 THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
reached our billet unobserved; and the horses being
saddled and the baggage gone, we instantly mounted.
In less than an hour we were clear of Paris, and on the
evening of the sixth day overtook the regiment at
Cambray.
I had begun by this time to grow weary of service
in the staff-corps, I therefore applied for and obtained
permission to rejoin my regiment, which occupied
Bergen, in Dutch Flanders, and the villages round, and
lived on the best and most friendly terms with the
natives. It was here that the Waterloo medal was
served out to us,—which the colonel graced with a long
and eloquent speech, besides granting us three days of
entire exemption from duty, and himself, with the rest
of the officers, presenting us with a very handsome
gratuity in money. It is scarcely worth while to relate
how the money went, or after what fashion the days of
fete were expended. The Flemings are nowise back-
ward in their cans,—as all who know them will testify;
but I suspect they never beheld such wassailing as gave
a character to the three days in question. Still the
results were by no means injurious either to them or to
us. We feasted them all, gave dances to their wives
and daughters, and won their hearts by our liberality.
I am sure, at least, that from that time forth we lived
together on the most friendly terms,—and that when
we quitted them they deplored our removal as if ties of
close consanguinity had united us.
There occurred while we lay here two adventures—
both of them serious, one fatal—of which I may as well
make mention.
We were a good deal scattered about, in small
parties, and under numerous commands—forage being,
as it seemed, scarce; or, if not, the Duke being natu-
rally desirous to press as lightly as possible, in its ex-
action, on the inhabitants. I was one of fourteen who,
under one Serjeant Ford, occupied the village of Mor-
queon; and there was another detachment at a place
called Fellay, near Arras, of which a corporal had
charge. One day Serjeant Ford received a letter from
Fellay, to inform him that the men stationed there were
extremely uncomfortable, and to request that he would
ride over, and endeavour, by his influence with the
the light dragoon.
191
mayor, to obtain for them better treatment. I volun-
teered to accompany the serjeant, and away we went.
A few hours' ride carried us to the village; and, on
inquiring for the house where the English troops were
quartered, it was immediately shown to us. we en-
tered, and found the whole party seated round a table,
On which stood several flasks of brandy, and glasses in
proportion, while the landlord seemed bent on making
them drink their fill—he, by the way, sedulously setting
the example. This was by do means the sort of spec-
tacle by which we expected to be greeted, and we
stared at one another not a little astounded, which the
landlord no sooner observed than he addressed to us
marks of his most particular attention. He assured us
that everybody then within his gates drank at his ex-
pense; that we could not oblige him more than by
making the most of his good cheer; and that he should
not be contented till we had drained his cellar, which
he should take care to replenish whenever the con-
venient moment came. Soldiers are seldom backward
in doing honour to an invitation such as this; so down
we sat in the chairs pulled out for us, and I am bound
to add that, for a couple of hours, the scene was as
curious, yet as sociable and merry, as mortal eye need
rest upon.
Our comrades of the corporal's party, who appeared
to have had nearly enough ere we arrived, filed off by
degrees, one after another, to their beds : the serjeant
likewise retired: but our host, whose thirst seemed
to be unquenchable, kept his place, and insisted upon it
that I should not leave him. At length, however, the
liquor took such effect upon him that he became quite
mad. All of a sudden he seized a burning beam, and
made a blow at my head, which, with some difficulty, I
eluded. I disarmed him instantly; upon which he
sprang up, ran to a closet, and, snatching a pistol, began
to load it. Happily for me, one of my brother-soldiers
still dozed upon his chair; and he, on my shouting out,
rushed upon the madman, and wrenched the weapon
from his hold. But he was bent upon mischief: he
armed himself with a heavy brazen candlestick, and
striking me a blow on the forehead, laid me senseless
on the floor. It is not worth while to continue the
192 THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
relation of a mere—yet a desperate—riot. It ended in
the man of the house escaping, we could not tell where,
—and I having been put to bed, all seemed over.
It was not so, however: Serjeant Ford, annoyed at
what had occurred, and apprehending that a false tale
might reach head-quarters, got out of bed, and lodged
a complaint against the landlord at the police-office.
He was arrested, brought to trial, and sentenced to
three months' imprisonment, besides paying a fine of
seven hundred francs to the Crown. But the most
curious piece of the business remains to be told: not
only did he bear me no ill-will, but both he and his
wife, when I saw them again some time after his release,
thanked me for all that had happened; for the effect of
his punishment was, to cure him of his propensity to
drinking, and he became from that time a respectable
and sober man. So much for the administration of
justice in Dutch Flanders. I never saw a criminal
prosecution more fairly and honestly conducted: I
never heard, except in this particular instance, of punish-
ment being followed by eflects so beneficial.
The other adventure, of which I have to speak, was
by many degrees more tragical; for it ended in the
death of one of the finest young men in the 11th Light
Dragoons. Serjeant Tongue, connected, I believe,
with a highly-respectable family, and himself singu-
larly handsome and of a good address, was yet the
slave of a temper so violent and ungovernable, that he
ceased, when irritated, to be, to a great extent at least,
master of himself. He had formed an attachment to a
very pretty girl, the daughter of the Mayor of Moid;
and the young lady- made no secret in any quarter that
she returned his love. It happened once upon a time
that a fete was to take place in the village; and Tongue,
having engaged his lady-love to be his partner in the
dance, looked forward with great eagerness to the ac-
complishment of his wishes. Unfortunately for him,
he was detained in his quarters beyond the hour at
which the dancing was to begin, and when he entered
the ball-room, he beheld, to his unspeakable chagrin,
that his partner had given her hand to another. This
was a French hussar, the son of the publican at whose
house the fete was held—a fine, gay, well-dressed youth
—who, with a comrade, had come over from a neigh-
THE LIGHT DEAGOON,
193:
bouring village where they were quartered, and seeing
the mayor's daughters sitting by, claimed the right to
dance with them. I was told that their doing so was
quite in agreement with the usages of the country,
neither do I doubt the truth of the statement; but
Tongue saw the matter in a different light. He stood,
with folded arms, watching them as they swept round.
He observed, or fancied, that the hussar used freedoms
with the maiden, such as his English sense of decorum
could not tolerate, and he lost all self-command. He
ran home to his quarters, loaded a pistol with two blank
cartridges, and, bidding me and another man put on
our swords, rushed back to the ball-room.
We followed him, of course, scarce knowing what
was meant; but the moment I observed the situation
of his partner, my mind misgave me. I would have
interfered, and done my best to lead him away; but
ere I could make a step in advance, the music ceased^
and Tongue, springing forward, seized the French
hussar by the collar. A frightful scene followed: he
did not fire, but, holding the pistol cocked, he struck
the young man some severe blows with the muzzle, and
dragged him through the room, looking all the while
more like a maniac than a sane person. It was to no
whom he was greatly be-
and drag the unfortunate Frenchman through the room,
till one of the company, unfortunately, threw his arms
round Tongue's neck, and endeavoured to extricate the
hussar from his grasp. It was an unwise act: during
the scuffle that ensued, the pistol exploded, and the
young hussar fell to the ground terribly wounded.
As Providence would have it, the muzzle had turned
obliquely from its object when the explosion took place.
The consequence was, that the powder made no breach in
his body, but it burnt his clothes, scorched the whole
side of Iris abdomen, and appeared to all the lookers-on
to have killed him. In an instant, Tongue's senses
seemed to return: he was overwhelmed with anguish
and remorse; and though the generous young hussar
assured him that, come what would, no more should
ever be said about the matter,—he never smiled after-
wards. The wounded man was conveyed to bed, and
medical assistance sent for. The villagers, with whom
He continued to strike
192 THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
relation of a mere—yet a desperate—riot. It ended in
the man of the house escaping, we could not tell where,
—and I having been put to bed, all seemed over.
It was not so, however: Serjeant Ford, annoyed at
what had occurred, and apprehending that a false tale
might reach head-quarters, got out of bed, and lodged
a complaint against the landlord at the police-office.
He was arrested, brought to trial, and sentenced to
three months' imprisonment, besides paying a fine of
seven hundred francs to the Crown. But the most
curious piece of the business remains to be told: not
only did he bear me no ill-will, but both he and his
wife, when I saw them again some time after his release,
thanked me for all that had happened; for the effect of
his punishment was, to cure him of his propensity to
drinking, and he became from that time a respectable
and sober man. So much for the administration of
justice in Dutch Flanders. I never saw a criminal
prosecution more fairly and honestly conducted: I
never heard, except in this particular instance, of punish-
ment being followed by effects so beneficial.
The other adventure, of which I have to speak, was
by many degrees more tragical; for it ended in the
death of one of the finest young men in the 11th Light
Dragoons. Serjeant Tongue, connected, I believe,
with a highly-respectable family, and himself singu-
larly handsome and of a good address, was yet the
slave of a temper so violent and ungovernable, that he
ceased, when irritated, to be, to a great extent at least,
master of himself. He had formed an attachment to a
very pretty girl, the daughter of the Mayor of Moul;
and the young lady- made no secret in any quarter that
she returned his love. It happened once upon a time
that a fete was to take place in the village; and Tongue,
having engaged his lady-love to be his partner in the
dance, looked forward with great eagerness to the ac-
comphshment of his wishes. Unfortunately for him,
he was detained in his quarters beyond the hour at
which the dancing was to begin, and when he entered
the ball-room, he beheld, to his unspeakable chagrin,
that his partner had given her hand to another. This
was a French hussar, the son of the publican at whose
house the fete was held—a fine, gay, well-dressed youth
—who, with a comrade, had come over from a neigh-
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
193:
bouring village where they were quartered, and seeing
the mayor's daughters sitting by, claimed the right to
dance with them. I was told that their doing so was
quite in agreement with the usages of the country,
neither do I doubt the truth of the statement; but
Tongue saw the matter in a different light. He stood,
with folded arms, watching them as they swept round.
He observed, or fancied, that the hussar used freedoms
with the maiden, such as his English sense of decorum
could not tolerate, and he lost all self-command. He
ran home to his quarters, loaded a pistol with two blank
cartridges, and, bidding me and another man put on
our swords, rushed back to the ball-room.
We followed him, of course, scarce knowing what
was meant; but the moment I observed the situation
of his partner, my mind misgave me. I would have
interfered, and done my best to lead him away; but
ere I could make a step in advance, the music ceased,
and Tongue, springing forward, seized the Erench
hussar by the collar. A frightful scene followed: he
did not fire, but, holding the pistol cocked, he struck
the young man some severe blows with the muzzle, and
dragged him through the room, looking all the while
more like a maniac than a sane person. It was to no
purpose that the farmers, by whom he was greatly be-
loved, tried to appease him. He continued to strike
and drag the xmfortunate Frenchman through the room,
till one of the company, unfortunately, threw his arms
round Tongue's neck, and endeavoured to extricate the
hussar from his grasp. It was an unwise act: during
the scuffle that ensued, the pistol exploded, and the
young hussar fell to the ground terribly wounded.
As Providence would have it, the muzzle had turned
obliquely from its object when the explosion took place.
The consequence was,that the powder made no breach in
his body, but it burnt his clothes, scorched the whole
side of his abdomen, and appeared to all the lookers-on
to have killed him. In an instant, Tongue's senses
seemed to return: he was overwhelmed with anguish
and remorse; and though the generous young hussar
assured him that, come what would, no more should
ever be said about the matter,—he never smiled after-
wards. The wounded man was conveyed to bed, and
medical assistance sent for. The villagers, with whom
N
196
THE LIGHT DRAGOON;
from tlie Queen's Bays, and to make tliem ready for
the reception of the regiment. I proceeded accord-
ingly; hut on arriving at the station, I found the rooms
in such a state that I positively refused to take posses-
sion. They were not only filthy in the extreme, but
the miasmata proceeding from them was horrible; and
to add to the evil, I discovered in an apartment, the
door of which I was obliged to force, the corpse of a
dead man. How he died, or why his comrades had
thus abandoned him, we were never able to ascertain;
but the effect of my report, first upon the surgeon, and
afterwards upon the commanding officer, was such, that
the latter refused to introduce his men into a place of
which the air seemed to be putrid. The consequence
was, that for several weeks we occupied billets in the
town : nor were we removed into the station originally
intended for us, till every room in the place, as well as
the stables attached to them, had undergone a complete
fumigation.
While we occupied this station, it was my fortune to
witness one of those shocking exhibitions, from which
every feeling of humanity urges us to shrink, but on
which a curiosity, which is almost always resistless,
compels us to attend; I mean the public execution of
several persons, whom the law had condemned to die
by the guillotine. There were in all four victims to
offended justice : three of whom had been concerned
in a burglary, attended by circumstances of gross
cruelty: while the fourth stood convicted of the offence
of arson, for which, in France as well as in England,
death was in those days the penalty. The miserable
men were conducted on foot from the prison to the
scaffold, which stood in the great square or centre of
the town; and being without shirts, and having their,
hair closely cropped behind, they looked, with their pale
faces, ghastly enough. When they arrived at the ap-
pointed place, round which an enormous crowd was
collected, three of them were halted, while the fourth,
mounting by a ladder, was received at the top by two
executioners. These men, a father and son, wearing
dark red frocks, but not otherwise disguised, took their
victim and bound him, belly downwards, upon a board,
which they thrust forward in such a way, that his head
passed through a groove in a broad upright beam, and
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
197
lay over a bag, wliick was suspended tbere to receive it.
In the groove was the knife, which, on a signal being
given by the elder of the two, fell, and ere we could so
much as draw a breath, the head was severed from the
body. It dropped at once into the bag, whereupon the
executioners, untying the trunk, cast it through a trap-
door into a hole beneath; and then scattering sawdust
Over their horrid platform, made ready to deal in like
manner with the next that should come. I shall never
forget the sense of faintness which came over me, when
I beheld the blood pour like water out of a pipe, from
the palpitating trunk: yet, if any judgment might be
formed from the ceaseless chattering of the people
round us, none except my countrymen shared in the
feeling. Moreover, it horrified me to observe, that
here, as is said to be the case in London, a large por-
tion of the spectators were women. How extraordinary
it is, that they, the most delicate of nature's handiwork,
should thrust themselves into situations of such fright-
ful interest. I declare, that their conduct throughout,
altogether shocked me: they never ceased to chatter,
no, not at the moment when the knife was falling; and
so soon as one dead body had been committed to its
temporary hiding-place, they appeared impatient till
another should be stretched out before them.
In this place we spent the winter, miserably enough.
The weather was cold, with much rain; the convent in
which we were quartered was in a state of great dilapi-
dation; fuel proved to be both scarce and bad; and
provisions of all kinds were wretched. But these,
though serious drawbacks to our comforts, did not con-
stitute the worst evil of which we had to complain. A
reduction in the army having taken place, volunteers
from the disbanded corps were permitted to enlist in
the 11th Light Dragoons ; and these, most of whom
came from the corps of Artillery Drivers, proved to be,
in point of character, of the worst description. The
consequence was, that our regiment, which, up to the
date of this unhappy occurrence, had maintained an
excellent name, now fell off, both in morals and reputa-
tion, and a system of pilfering arose, such as compelled
the commanding officer, however naturally averse to the
proceeding, to tighten the cords of his discipline ex-
ceedingly. There were more punishments in the
200
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
courage failed her; she stopped short—declared that
she could go no further—and our situation became as
pitiable as can well be imagined. At last we each gave
her a hand, but neither entreaty nor objurgation could
prevail upon her to take another step. " Stoop down,"
cried I, " and make the attempt to scramble from stone
to stone:" she tried to do so; but the effort proved
fatal, for her foot slipped, and down she fell, dragging
both her supporters into the water. As a matter of
course, we were all soused over-head, yet there our
troubles ended. By sheer strength of arm I contrived
to keep her mouth clear of the flood, while her husband,
who was a tall man, dragged her forward; and thus,
nt the expense of a severe wetting from top to toe, we
managed in the end to reach their quarters. A change
of habiliments was here given to me: supper, too, was
provided; and, by the help of a little more brandy, we
managed to pass the night merrily enough. ISTor was
the slightest inconvenience experienced either then or
afterwards by any of the party, in consequence of the
rash attempt, and its ludicrous, though most uncom-
fortable issue.
It is not worth while to continue a detailed narration
of the many little adventures that befel me during the
remainder of our sojourn in France. They were pre-
cisely such as those who understand what a soldier's
life is will be able to conceive for themselves, while, to
the mere civilian, I feel that it would be impossible to
convey any accurate notion of them. For example, I
was on one occasion quartered with a party of harum-
scarum youths, at a farm-house near Lisle, of which
the owners appeared to have made up their minds to
treat us with as little regard to our comfort as possible.
They not only never offered to share with us any of the
.petty luxuries which they themselves enjoyed, but
they made a point of refusing us the accommodation of
their cooking utensils, and never failed to extinguish
the fire in the kitchen, as soon as they themselves were
done with it. For all this, my wild scapegraces took
care to pay them off to their heart's content. In the
first place, a hot loaf would disappear from the oven,
no human being could tell how; then a lump of butter
made its way in some mysterious manner from the
larder, though the good woman had taken care to lock
THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
201
"the door and put the key in lier pocket. The honest
man's clover, too, which lie had stowed away with in-
finite care in the loft, made its way somehow or other
into our horses' racks, and the animals grew fat and
•sleek in consequence, even while the allowance of
forage served out to them by the legitimate authorities
was admitted to be inadequate to their necessities.
All this both astonished and chafed our hosts, who
never could bring home a charge of pilfering against
any one, and came at last to the conclusion that we
were in league with the enemy of mankind. But the
circumstance which brought these curmudgeons at
last to their senses was this.
It is the custom in that part of France for the women
to keep themselves warm by placing under their gar-
ments, while they sit at their needlework, pots filled
with the ashes of charcoal. Nobody would have noticed
this, had our landlady afforded us the comfort of a fire
in the grate; hut this, as I have said, she regularly
raked out after dinner, and if any of us complained of
cold, she contented herself by remarking "that she
oould not sympathize with his distress." One day she
had, as usual, sneered at our want of hardihood, when
all at once an explosion took place beneath her, and she
jumped up, unhurt, it is true, but the very image of
rage and consternation. The fact is, that one of my
lads had tied a small quantity of gunpowder very
tightly in a worsted bag, and contrived dexterously to
bury it in the hot ashes just as she drew her feu-pot
towards her. Some time was, of course, required to
burn through the flannel, during the progress of which
my lady sat in her glory; but no sooner was the train
fired, than all her courage forsook her. From that
instant both she and her husband were subdued: they
expressed great regret to me at the line which they
had previously taken; they promised, in case we would
cease to molest them, that they would change their
bearing towards us ; and as we really did not desire at
their hands more than we conceived to be reasonable,
I engaged, on the part of my comrades, that all tricks
and annoyances should cease. The farmer and his
wife kept their word, and so did we, of which the result
was, that during the remainder of our sojourn beneath
their roof there was the best understanding between
us.
202 THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
Another little frolic in which we indulged greatly
astonished the good people of Baillieul and its vicinity.
The 5th of November overtaking us here, we resolved
to burn a Guy Fawkes, after the manner of our boyish
days at home. A man of straw was soon made, dressed
up, and duly painted, which, with a bag of gunpowder
in his interior, we mounted upon a little cart, and
dragged with much laughter through the place. At
first the inhabitants seemed totally at a loss what to
make of our proceedings; but, by and by, having
stumbled upon an itinerant Flemish fiddler, and per-
suaded him, by dint of large potations, to mount the
car beside our Guy, the sound of his music, and the
ludicrous grimaces which he made, drew a crowd of
delighted natives to follow in our train. It would be
tedious to speak of the antics which were played off—
all of them laughable at the moment, though unworthy
of description,—till in the end an adequate number of
fagots was collected, and the last scene alone remained
to be enacted. Our intention was to burn our Guy in
the little square or place of the town; but the mayor,
apprehensive lest the thatched roofs might be ignited
by sparks from the bonfire, entreated us to remove into
a field of his own, a little way off. We complied with
his request at once; and a dark night having happily
set in, we proceeded, by the light of half a dozen,
torches, to erect the gallows, and to suspend Guy,
with his fagots gathered round him. There was great
shouting and merriment all this while; the fiddler
played as if he had possessed the power of twenty
fiddlers; men, and women, and children danced to his
strains; and when the torches were applied, and the
fagots began to blaze, the mirth of all classes among
the lookers-on seemed only to increase. So it was tiff
the flames reached the mine which the man of straw
bore about with him in his stomach. But the effect of
the explosion I shall never forget. Nothing of the
sort had been anticipated by the French people; the
catastrophe seemed to come upon them like some con-
vulsion of nature; for they uttered a wild scream, took
to their heels one and all, and never stopped to look
about tiff they found themselves safe in their respective
domiciles. This was, of course, the very point of the
joke to us; and as no human being suffered from it
THE LIGHT DRAGOON. 20B
further than by the fright at the moment, it did not
interrupt the excellent terms on which we had hitherto
lived with our hosts.
Besides these frolics, peculiar to our calling and
situation, we found entertainment, as well as instruc-
tion, in several grand reviews; camps being formed
during the summer months, in which the troops of
England and her allies were assembled. Moreover,
we were yet in France when the Waterloo prize money
was issued to us; and as it certainly went further there
than it could have done at home, so were French shop-
keepers and publicans principally the gainers by it.
We had also our fairs, our races, our fox-hunts, and
other manly sports; some of which appeared to irritate,
and all to astonish, the people among whom they were
enacted: yet let me do them justice,—except in a very
few instances, they exhibited no disposition to pick
quarrels, or molest us, though a regard to truth com-
pels me to acknowledge, that we were not on all occa-
sions over-careful to study either their prejudices or
their customs.
At last, however, the period came when the army of
occupation was to be broken up. We were stationed
in and around Cambray when the order to this effect
arrived, and we received our route to march upon
Calais; which we reached, unless my memory be at
fault, early in November of 1818, and not long after-
wards embarked for England. A joyous day it was
to all when once again we found ourselves, amid a
crowd of our countrymen, forming in the streets of
Bams gate, W e landed there on the 20th, were billeted
for the night, and proceeded next day to Canterbury.
But ours was destined to be no more than a passing
visit to the beloved land of our birth; and the reader,
if he think fit to pursue my narrative further, will find
whither it was that the fortune of war next carried us.
CHAPTEE XXII.
Voyage to India—Fort William—Sail up the Ganges.
Before we quitted France, a report had somehow
got into circulation that the 11th Light Dragoons would
204
THE LIGHT DEAGOON.
be sent to India, and tlie 21st, which had served there
some time, return home, and lie reduced. We had not
long occupied the barracks at Canterbury ere the truth
of this rumour was confirmed. It was announced to
us officially that early in the coming year the embark-
ation would take place; and leave to visit their friends
was accordingly granted to such of the men as chose to
apply for it. I was in the number of those who consi-
dered it expedient not to refuse the indulgence. A
furlough of fourteen days was in consequence conceded
to me, and I spent the brief season very happily among
my relatives in London; several of whom—my mother
being included in the list—I was destined never to see
again.
Late in the month of January, 1819, we marched
from Canterbury to Chatham, where our horses were
taken from us, and our saddlery and arms carefully
packed for a long voyage. We lingered here about a
week, at the termination of which the route arrived, and
-an easy journey of eight miles carried us to G-ravesend.
There lay two fine Indiamen, the "Atlas," of 1200
tons, and the " Streatham," of 800, on board of which
we were appointed to take our passage; and soon after
midday on the 7th of February, we were all, with our
baggage, embarked. I need not describe the scene of
discomfort and confusion which greeted us. Even when
she is not the bearer of troops, an Indiaman, making
her last preparations for the outward trip, is, of all
sea-going craft, the least inviting; and when to her
ordinary lumber is added the presence of several hun-
dred soldiers and their effects, the confusion is in-
creased fourfold. Nevertheless, in the present, as in
other instances, the inconveniences to which we were
subjected soon passed away; and a considerate captain,
and abundance of good cheer, rendered us not merely
contented, but merry.
I am not going to entertain my readers with a tran-
script from the ship's log: nor yet to describe what has
been described a thousand times already—the order of
a landsman's life while voyaging from Grave send to
Calcutta. We had the usual alternations of foul and
fair weather, and we had—or believed that we had—
more than one narrow escape from foundering; once,
by reason of some neglect in stopping the hawse-holes,
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
205:
through which the sea broke with resistless violence ;
and again, when in the tropics, we were taken aback in
a heavy squall. At the crossing of the line, Neptune
and his train paid us their accustomed visit. Then was
the ceremony of shaving gone through. Then were
fire-engines, water-buckets, and slush-barrels, brought
into play. Then were men's tempers tried—without
in any case failing them—and mirth and revelry kept
the ship for a season in an uproar. Moreover, flocks
of Mother Carey's pretty little chickens followed us
round the Cape—the huge albatross did not disdain to
visit us—and a bird called the booby, fighting on our
yards, permitted himself to be knocked down with a
stick or with the hand. Why should I speak of sharks,
flying-fish, or dolphins—why try to convey to such as
have not looked upon the scene, something like an idea
of the tropical ocean, as well when it is calm and quiet
in its might, as when the hurricane sweeps over it ?
All these are matters on which I cannot think of touch-
ing—partly because they have no novelty about them
—partly because, to be rightly understood, they must
be made the object of men's outward senses; not
offered as material on which the imagination may em-
ploy itself.
Neither is it worth while to go into a minute detail
of the little accidents which befel in the course of our
voyage, or the sports and amusements by which we
cheated it of its tedium. We had men fall overboard,
and get drowned. We had one case of suicide—where
the victim of her own headstrong temper was a woman.
We had a death or two, followed by the committal of
the bodies to the deep; and we were all much solemnized
as we watched their downward progress. On the other
hand, the ship being supplied with a very fair band, it
was our custom, of an afternoon, to get up a sort of
universal ball to the sound of its playing. On these
occasions, the officers and other passengers, of whom
several were ladies, used to dance on the quarter-deck;
the ship's company did the same thing on the fore-
castle, and the soldiers and their wives footed it away
merrily in the waist. On the whole, therefore, we got
on pleasantly enough. Nor let me forget to mention
the degree of respect which was invariably paid to the
Lord's Lay. As often as Sunday came round, all
206 THE EIGHT DBAGOON.
hands—seamen as well as soldiers—arrayed themselves
in their best. They then assembled, at a given hour,
upon the quarter-deck—the soldiers occupying one side,
the women and children the other, the seamen standing
towards the booms, and the cabin passengers close to
the cuddy, that they might accompany the captain,
who, with great solemnity and reverence, read the
morning service of the church. Neither did our sense
of what was due to G-od's sabbath end there. The day
was a day of rest—as much so, at least, as the nature
of our situation would allow; for no more work was
imposed upon the seamen than was absolutely neces-
sary, and we were universally left to our own medita-
tions.
In this manner a certain number of months ran their
course, during the progress of which we not only never
planted foot on shore, but never once cast anchor. It
would be contrary to truth, therefore, were I not to
acknowledge that we were getting heartily tired of our
confinement on board of ship, when one day a voice
from the mast-head gave the joyous announcement of
land on the starboard bow. There was an immediate
rush to that side of the vessel, and hundreds of eyes
wearied themselves in the endeavour to realize the
promise which the look-out man had given. But the
coast of Bengal, especially about the mouth of the
Hoogly, is, as all the world knows, flat as well as
barren; and though the breeze blew in our favour, and
we steadily moved along, a good hour elapsed ere from
the deck symptoms of what we sought could be disco-
vered. At last, however, the glitter of a gilded pagoda
in the sun attracted our attention. A loud and joyful
shout rent the air; we heartily congratulated one
another on the prospect of a speedy deliverance, and
walked the deck for the remainder of the day in the
highest state of excitement.
The anchor was dropped that night off the Pagodas,
for the first time since our gallant crew had heaved it
in Portsmouth harbour. By early dawn next morning
we started again, and tiding along, found ourselves
by and by abreast of the wild and tangled island of
Saugor. How shall I describe the succession of won-
ders which from that time forth put in claims upon our
attention? In the first place, every object on which
THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
207
the eye fell, the herbage, the buildings, the boats, and
the people that manned them, had about them a cha-
racter to which the mere power of novelty gave an in-
describable interest. The first boat that boarded us
contained four men, all black as ebony, and naked, ex-
cept that a girdle was round their waists. These were
regarded as persons of a very humble class, and we
were right; but the next cargo that arrived, bore
themselves with so much dignity, that we felt as if we
were in the presence of some native princes. They
wore long loose robes of very white cotton, large tur-
bans begilded and otherwise adorned, and moved about
with a step so slow and measured, that it was impos-
sible to divest oneself of a feeling of restraint, as often
as one stood near them. My astonishment may there-
fore be conceived, when I saw one of the ship's officers
seat himself on a gun-carriage forward, and a native
prince produce an enormous razor, and set about the
process of shaving him. Neither did the matter end
there. The same grave and reverend personage, after
completing this process with the third mate, offered,
with a profound salaam, to give me a specimen of his
skill, to which, with a laugh, I submitted. I had
never been so well or so pleasantly shaved before, and
I stuck to my original barber for several years after-
wards.
The Hoogly becomes at a short distance from its
mouth so beset with shoals and sandbanks that the
large Indiamen are compelled to cast anchor; the pas-
sengers and goods being transferred to vessels of more
inconsiderable bulk, are in them conveyed as far as
Port William. It was on the third day from our
arrival off the Pagodas, that we got into a couple of
brigs, which, taking advantage of every turn of the
tide, bore us slowly on our way. Nothing could be
more delicious than that voyage. The river becoming
narrow as we receded from its mouth, introduced us to a
succession of exquisite landscapes,-every feature in which
was to us as captivating as it was novel. Here em-
bowered beneath the branches of the clustering banyan,
over which would rise the stately stem of the cocoa-
nut, might be seen some mosque or pagoda, or it might
be the country-house of a native of rank; there a
cluster of huts overshadowed by rich foliage, which
208.
THE LIGHT DKAGOON..
■was all strange to us, and therefore beautiful. Then
again the country, though universally flat, was clothed in
a livery of the freshest green; for we reached our desti-
nation in the middle of the very rains, and the verdure
of the east, during the rainy season, is exquisite. But
I must not continue these details; Indian scenery, like
the scenery of other regions, must be seen, either in
reality, or on the canvass, to be estimated aright. All
the descriptions in the world would not excite in the
reader's mind one distinct idea, wherefore I cease to
weary him and myself by any further efforts to accom-
plish an impossibility.
There is nothing so tempting nor so dangerous to
the European on his first arrival in the country as the
fruit which is pressed upon him by the native dealers.
A long confinement on board of ship, during the larger
portion of which no luxury of the sort has come before
him, gives additional value to the odoriferous poison
in his eyes ; and unless he shall have been forewarned
against it, and possess over and above a large share of
self-control, he is sure to eat in more than moderation,
and to suffer. I ate, and I suffered; for the day be-
fore we reached the landing-place I was in a violent
fever.
If you are ever taken ill in India, you are not, in
cases like this, kept long in suspense as to the probable
issue of your complaint. I was in bed with a raging
fever one day, on the next I was sufficiently recovered
to disembark with the baggage; and proceeded, though
not without a good deal of suffering, to take up my re-
sidence in Fort William. The fort itself is a magni-
ficent structure, well defended with broad ditches, and
covered by a succession of works, on which many heavy
cannon are mounted. But the circumstance which
attracts, in a principal degree, the stranger's admira-
tion, is the exceeding care which is taken to keep it
clean and well ventilated. Every day the sewers are
washed out and sprinkled with quicklime; while, ere
sunrise, the sweepers are at work, not only as often as
occasion seems to require, but much more frequently.
Moreover, the inmates of Fort William have other
than human guardians of their health, so far, at least,
as health is liable to be affected by the presence or re-
moval of putrefying garbage. Everybody has heard of
THE LIGHT DBAG00N. 209
the bird called tbe Adjutant, which walks about, re-
spected, and therefore tame, and feeds upon carrion of
every sort, from the body of the mouse up to the
human frame, of which numerous specimens are, every
tide washed down the Ganges. A strange-looking
creature he is—that Adjutant—-with his bald head and
his ashen-gray wings, and his portly form lifting his
bald head nearly four feet above the surface of the
earth. And then, when the heat of the day comes,
away he goes into the skies, ascending so far that you
can observe only the shadow of his form in the sun-
beam.
The Adjutant is greatly respected by all classes of
people, neither is he much of a plunderer; but this is
more than can be said for a species of hawk which also
frequents Eort William and its vicinity in great num-
bers. Nothing can escape the quickness and the daring
of that depredator. If a cook pass from the cookhouse
to the barracks, he will dart down upon the basket
which the man carries on his head, and take possession
at one swoop of its contents. Indeed I have seen a
hawk fairly fasten upon a bone which a soldier was
picking, and wrest it out of his hand and from between
his teeth. Neither is the fort free from the visits
of troops of jackals, which make their way through
posterns and lower embrasures after nightfall, and
break the sleep, besides awakening the fears of
strangers, who have not become accustomed to them.
The jackal, however, at least as we find him here, is a
very harmless and timid animal. He will rim away
with whatever morsels of animal food your own or
your attendant's carelessness may have left in his way j
but he never ventures to look man in the face, and flees
from the barking of a watchdog.
The buildings within the fort are very commodious
and handsome. Besides some noble barracks, capable
©f containing at least 3000 men, and casemates where
a like number may be lodged, there are the houses or
apartments of all the functionaries, such as the
governor, surgeons, storekeepers, chaplain, and so
forth; with a church well-built and exceedingly com-
modious, an arsenal, and magazines out of number. I
believe that the fort itself mounts, or is capable of
mounting, 1000 pieces of cannon. It is likewise well
o
21(3
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
stocked with small arms, shot, shells, powder, and
other munitions of war; and is enriched, besides, with
a very curious collection of native weapons, all of them
taken during the progress of the struggles which raised
the power of England in the east to the height which
it now occupies. Then again the bazaar, portioned out
into all manner of departments, and abounding in every
article of which either native or European might be
expected to stand in need;—the vegetable market, the
fruit market, the stalls on which clothing was spread
forth, the tables of the money-changers, and the money-
11 1 11' out, from amid their bags
, all these sights and sounds,
and many more which I have not now leisure to de-
scribe, even if I minutely recollected them, kept both
the outward senses and the inward thoughts constantly
employed, and sent me home, day after day, full of
wonder.
Nor let me forget, while endeavouring to convey to
others some idea of the sort of impressions which a
first acquaintance with Calcutta produced upon myself,
to make mention of the style in which we, private
soldiers, lived, and the degree of deference that was
paid to us by the natives. For example, having reached
our quarters greatly fatigued, and seeing a number of
cane-bottomed beds or sofas arranged round the room,
I slipped off my clothes with all speed, and throwing
myself on one of them, soon fell asleep. I did not
awake till about four in the morning, when there was a
great bustle in the place. For a whole troop of natives
entered, swept and washed out the room, spread some
tables with nice clean cloths, and by and by brought in
breakfast. Meanwhile I went in search of my clothes ;
but, lo! they were gone. I inquired for them eagerly,
and was yet in considerable alarm, when an Hindoo
stooping down, began to unlace my boots ; and before
I could well conceive what it was that he meant to
effect, they were both stripped from my feet. Well,
thought I, if we are to pay for all this attendance, the
king's allowance will not go far to keep us; but as I
eaw that others resignedthemselves freely to what seemed
to be their fate, I too gave way, and the natives held
their course. The result was, that without any trouble
shells, invitations for the
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
211
to ourselves, we found our clothing and accoutrements
cleaned, a sumptuous breakfast spread forth, and
nothing more required from us but that we should par-
take, at our ease, of the goods which the gods provided.
Exactly as the clock struck eight a dozen cooks entered,
followed by as many servants, all of them bearing on
their heads baskets of savoury viands, and with stewed
steaks, eggs, white loaves, butter, and coffee, before us,
the fault would have been entirely our own, had we
failed to fare sumptuously. So it was likewise at dinner
time. We had no trouble—no anxiety; for the same
attentive natives once more covered our tables with
everything which in that climate is either usual, or ac-
counted a luxury. I must confess, that my astonish-
ment knew, at the outset, no bounds. Yet, it is mar-
vellous how soon we become accustomed to usages,
which, when first seen, surprise—or, it may be, vex us.
I had not continued long in India ere not these marks
of attention alone, but others of a more equivocal nature,
were received by me as a mere matter of course. Cer-
tainly the Indian soil is that in which luxurious habits
grow with a rapidity unknown elsewhere.
We had not been long at Fort William, ere Lord
Moira, then governor-general, reviewed us; and we
received orders to proceed to Cawnpore, whither we
were to be transported in boats. I had never been in
perfect health since we first entered the Hoogley; and
now the sickness broke out on me with such violence,
that I was removed by the doctor's direction to the
general hospital. For eight-and-twenty days I con-
tinued in such a state, that my life was despaired of;—
and the origin of the whole was my own imprudence in
indulging too freely in the fruit of the country. Thanks
to an excellent constitution, however, and the careful
nursing which I received, the crisis of the fever passed,
and I recovered; though not till my sufferings had
taught me the lesson that the folly of an hour in matters
affecting the body as well as the mind, not unfrequently
lays up for him who is guilty of it, days, or months, or
even years, of useless self-reproach.
I was still an invalid when the regiment embarked
in the boats, which were to convey it by the channel of
the Ganges to Cawnpore ; and being unable to move,
the doctor caused me to be carried in a palankeen, and
o 2
212
THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
lodged witli the sick, in the hospital barge. Of the
commencement of the yoyage, and of the circumstances
attending it, I am therefore unable to speak, except
upon the report of others. But long before we reached
Dinapore, which is accounted, I believe, the half-way
station, my health came back, and great was my enjoy-
ment in consequence. I have certainly not much to
say in commendation of our transports, whether allu-
sion be made to their sea-worthiness, or to the extent
of accommodation which they afforded. Wretched
affairs they were, being, like the country boats in
general, almost on a level in their deck with the
stream, and in every pore pervious to the water; no
pitch being used in caulking, the loose cotton is soon
pushed aside, and then through all the seams the water
makes its way, giving ample occupation to one man in
baling, and to another in the fruitless endeavour to
stop up the yawning chasms with fresh material.
The current of the Granges is, during the rainy season,
very strong. Whole fields—-I do not mean the pro-
duce—but the very soil of the flat country on either
bank, are swept away by it; and if, as not unfrequently
happens, the wind set in an opposite direction, the
swell becomes tremendous, and the danger to the
navigator is great. More than once it seemed to me
that the destruction of the frail bark in which we had
taken our passage, was inevitable. Yet the Bengalees
are in their own way skilful navi§ ' 1 1
all our difficulties. Once, I remember, even they con-
sidered themselves in a very delicate plight. Wo
arrived at an enormous lake, or inundation. The wind
blew a hurricane—the waters were white with foam,
and the very means of making fast the boats were
wanting. After a good deal of hesitation, our crew
faced the danger, and their gallantry carried them
through; but there were other barges there which
would not venture to follow the example, and these-
suffered severely. Happily no lives were lost; and we
all arrived the same night at Dinapore,
means or another they contrived
the light dba go on.
213
CHAPTER XXIII.
"Voyage up the Ganges continued—Scenes along its course—Dina-
pore—The stables—A murder and execution.
Dinapore is a station for an infantry regiment; and
were it not that lying low, it is, during the hot season,
very unhealthy, it would present many features of
attraction even to the European. The country round
is extremely rich and well wooded, while an excellent
bazaar, under the management of the quarter-master,
as these military markets always are, supplies the
troops with every article of consumption of which they
can stand in neea. The barracks, too, are commodious
and well arranged, having a large grass plat in the
centre of the square, and ample stabling attached to
them; and though the distance from Calcutta be not
less than five hundred miles, the accommodation af-
forded by a water conveyance appears materially to
abridge it. It was in Dinapore that, for the first time,
I encountered elephants holding their way through the
narrow streets of the regimental bazaar, yet injuring
mo one; and as the spectacle surprised me very much,
so the expression of my wonder drew forth from others,
familiar with the animal's habits, many tales of their
extreme sagacity, of which the following is one.
A particular elephant, which was pointed out to me,
had been in the habit, as often as it passed a confec-
tioner's stand, to receive from the keeper of the stand,
in the very heart of the bazaar, a parcel of sweetmeats.
The owner of the beast, becoming aware of the custom,
gave the elephant's keeper money, and desired him not
to restrict his charge in his recreation, but to pay for
What the elephant got regularly once a week. The mo-
but, a dishonest man, kept the money to himself, in
consequence of which the confectioner, who began to
grow tired of feeding such a customer on credit, applied
to him for payment; it was refused, and the confec-
tioner, as a matter of course, protested that he would
disburse no more sweetmeats. Well, it came to pass
once upon a time, that the elephant arrived as usual in
front of the stall; he held out his trunk, offered his
.accustomed salutation by grunting, yet received nothing.
214 THE LIGHT DKAGOON.
On the contrary, the baker loaded the mohut with abuse,
and he and his gigantic charge by and by passed on;
they proceeded to the tank, whither they were going to
water, and the elephant drank as usual. They then
returned—but the elephant would stop again in front
of the stall, and the confectioner again assailed him and
his driver with the language of reproach. A summary
punishment awaited him. The elephant, pointing his
trunk with great accuracy, let fly among the pastry and
sugar-plums before him such a shower of dirty water as
soon reduced the whole to a state of absolute dissolution.
As was to be expected, the confectioner complained to
the owner of the beast, upon which all the facts of the
case became known, and the poor artiste having been
remunerated for all the losses which he had sustained, a
fresh mohut was found to take care of his customer.
Nothing could exceed, on very many accounts, the
degree of interest which attached to the remainder of
our voyage after we quitted Dinapore. The farther we
penetrated into the heart of the country, the more were
we struck with the peculiarity of the scenery and the
strangeness, at least to us, of the customs of those who
inhabited it. Beautiful villages lay here and there
along the river's bank, all of them clustering round
their own pagodas ; and each having its baths, its ora-
tories, and terraces, by which the inhabitants ap-
proached to cast upon the sacred stream their votive
-offerings. The consequence was, that as often as we
looked towards the shore we beheld little groups of
both sexes at their devotions, while the very bows of
our vessel were garlanded with the innumerable bou-
quets which, tossed in at places higher up, came float-
ing down the stream to meet us. I have counted scores
of these rich garlands, throughout which the queenly
-lotus always shone conspicuous, bespangling the surface
of the water at the same time. Nor could I repress a
feeling, almost of involuntary reverence, for the sort of
religion, wild and extravagant as it is, which led its
votaries to do honour to the Deity by so simple yet so
elegant a custom.
In making a voyage up the Ganges you invariably
bring-to at nightfall. The native boatmen have, indeed,
no idea that it is possible to hold their course in the
dark, and as their provisions, simple though they be, re-
THE LIGHT DBAG00N.
315
quire cooking, it is at night that the process is invariably
gone through. A very striking scene it consequently
is after your cables are made fast, and under the trees,
that grow to the water's edge, dozens of fires are
lighted. Woe, however, to the European who ap-
proaches too near to these fires while the rice that is
required for the evening meal may be undergoing the
necessary preparation. If he disregard the shouts and
signals of the natives, they throw both rice and their
cooking utensils in the fire, and then, for the amount
of remuneration, the transgressor is entirely at their
mercy,—for let the claim be what it may the officer is
sure to allow it. But it was not the boatman's meal-
alone which was dressed at this hour. Our own native
cooks 'chose the same season, as indeed necessity re-
quired, wherein to make ready for our use the rations
of each morrow; and once the circumstance of their
doing so was productive of a little adventure which was
long after spoken of among us with much interest.
The case was this. We brought up one evening, as
usual, and made fast our boat to the roots of a large
tree that grew close to the water's edge. We then
landed, as our invariable custom was, and watched the
cooks first light the fires, and then get the provisions in
order for dressing. But instead of going on with that
very necessary operation, they all, with one accord, fell
upon their knees, and lifting up their hands, began, in
a monotonous sort of howl, to pour out their prayers to»
the moon. At first we were astonished, then we be-
came irritated; but by and by, on looking up, we saw
that an eclipse had begun. It was in vain that some of
us urged these devotees to leave the moon to herself,,
and to dress our supper. So long as the shadow was
on the moon's disc, they remained on their knees, pray-
ing earnestly; and when at length she shone forth again
in her glory, they rose, clapped their hands, and shouted
vehemently. It was a striking sight that of these
naked, yet robust men, all offering up their adorations
to one of the host of heaven: neither was the issue less
remarkable. They dressed our meal readily enough,
which we consumed, and then went on board to sleep.
But they spent the whole of the night in singing and
dancing, as the best mode of expressing their joy at the
moon's deliverance from her enemy.
214 THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
On ike contrary, the baker loaded the moliut with abuse,
and be and bis gigantic charge by and by passed on;
tbey proceeded to the tank, whither they were going to
water, and the elephant drank as usual. They then
returned—but the elephant would stop again in front
of the stall, and the confectioner again assailed him and
his driver with the language of reproach. A summary
punishment awaited him. The elephant, pointing his
trunk with great accuracy, let fly among the pastry and
sugar-plums before him such a shower of dirty water as
soon reduced the whole to a state of absolute dissolution.
As was to be expected, the confectioner complained to
the owner of the beast, upon which all the facts of the
case became known, and the poor artiste having been
remunerated for all the losses which he had sustained, a
fresh mohut was found to take care of his customer.
Nothing could exceed, on very many accounts, the
degree of interest which attached to the remainder of
our voyage after we quitted Dinapore. The farther we
penetrated into the heart of the country, the more were
we struck with the peculiarity of the scenery and the
strangeness, at least to us, of the customs of those who
inhabited it. Beautiful villages lay here and there
along the river's bank, all of them clustering round
their own pagodas ; and each having its baths, its ora-
tories, and terraces, by which the inhabitants ap-
proached to cast upon the sacred stream their votive
■offerings. The consequence was, that as often as we
looked towards the shore we beheld little groups of
both sexes at their devotions, while the very bows of
our vessel were garlanded with the innumerable bou-
quets which, tossed in at places higher up, came float-
ing down the stream to meet us. I have counted scores
of these rich garlands, throughout which the queenly
■lotus always shone conspicuous, bespangling the surface
of the water at the same time. Nor could I repress a
feeling, almost of involuntary reverence, for the sort of
religion, wild and extravagant as it is, which led its
votaries to do honour to the Deity by so simple yet so
elegant a custom.
In making a voyage up the Ganges you invariably
bring-to at nightfall. The native boatmen have, indeed,
no idea that it is possible to hold their course in the
dark, and as their provisions, simple though they be, re-
THE LIGHT DBAG00N.
"215
quire cooking, it is at night that the process is invariably
gone through. A very striking scene it consequently
is after your cables are made fast, and under the trees,
that grow to the water's edge, dozens of fires are
lighted. Woe, however, to the European who ap-
proaches too near to these fires while the rice that is
required for the evening meal may be undergoing the
necessary preparation. If he disregard the shouts and
signals of the natives, they throw both rice and their
cooking utensils in the fire, and then, for the amount
of remuneration, the transgressor is entirely at their
mercy,—for let the claim be what it may the officer is
sure to allow it. But it was not the boatman's meal-
alone which was dressed at this hour. Our own native
cooks 'chose the same season, as indeed necessity re-
quired, wherein to make ready for our use the rations
of each morrow; and once the circumstance of their
doing so was productive of a little adventure which was
long after spoken of among us with much interest.
The case was this. We brought up one evening, as
usual, and made fast our boat to the roots of a large
tree that grew close to the water's edge. We then
landed, as our invariable custom was, and watched the
cooks first light the fires, and then get the provisions in
order for dressing. But instead of going on with that
very necessary operation, they all, with one accord, fell
upon their knees, and lifting up their hands, began, in
a monotonous sort of howl, to pour out their prayers to*
the moon. At first we were astonished, then we be-
came irritated; but by and by, on looking up, we saw
that an eclipse had begun. It was in vain that some of
us urged these devotees to leave the moon to herself,,
and to dress our supper. So long as the shadow was
on the moon's disc, they remained on their knees, pray-
ing earnestly; and when at length she shone forth again
in her glory, they rose, clapped their hands, and shouted
vehemently. It was a striking sight that of these
naked, yet robust men, all offering up their adorations
to one of the host of heaven: neither was the issue less
remarkable. They dressed our meal readily enough.,
which we consumed, and then went on board to sleep.
But they spent the whole of the night in singing and
dancing, as the best mode of expressing their joy at the
moon's deliverance from her enemy.
216* the light dbagoon.
Among other strange sights which greeted us while
prosecuting that upward voyage, I must not forget to
notice the alligators which lay among the slime on the
river's bant, like so many logs of trees, and rolled them-
selves into the water only when we approached them.
I had never seen the monster before, and was in con-
sequence a good deal alarmed by him, especially after
I had listened to sundry tales of his great ferocity and
exceeding strength, both by land and water. But the
only practical effect produced by this commencement of
Our acquaintance, was to put a stop to the evening
baths, in which we had heretofore indulged. One of
the brutes was wounded by Captain Elliot, of the 11th,
and, after a fierce struggle, secured by a party of
natives ; and a closer acquaintance with his huge jaws
and sharp teeth, had no tendency, it must be confessed,
to reconcile us to their proportions.
Onwards and onwards we went, the river narrowing
slightly as we drew nearer to its source, and a novelty
of some kind or other greeting us at every stage. One
day we passed a huge rock, which rises upright out of
the centre of the stream, and which the violence of the
current has, in the course of ages, well nigh cut in twain.
It is surmounted by a hut, in which dwells a Eakir,
one of that class, half-mendicant, half-enthusiast, with
which all parts of India abound, and whose habits are
now familiar to every well-read person. How they
levy contributions of rice and bread from door to door,
I need not therefore tell, neither is it worth while to
describe their voluntary penances—their years of torture
as they stand motionless, never sitting or lying down to
rest, and often holding one or both arms in the air;
their horrid exhibitions on the swing, when a rusty
hook is driven through the skin of the back, and them-
selves are whirled round, shouting and apparently
triumphant, for half-an-hour at a time. These matters
are set forth so much at length in all manner of publica-
tions, that even this hasty allusion to them might well
have been spared. But it is one thing to read of exhi-
bitions so strange, and quite another to witness them;
the subject may be stale to all the world besides, but it
has still some interest for me.
While we were in the act of passing this rock, a
numerous fleet of boats appeared in the offing, which
THE EIGHT DRAGOON.
as they approached, 'were seen to contain the relics of
the 21st Dragoons. These men were on the passage
to Calcutta, and a more miserable set of scarecrows it
has never been my misfortune to behold. Climate and
disease appeared to have made sad havoc with the
whole of them. They were yellow and fleshless; and
a hasty attempt to open with them some conversation
in passing, showed that their tempers, not less than
their animal moisture, had been dried up by the suns
of India. For example, having fixed my eye upon a
gaunt and currie-coloured serjeant, I hailed him, and
proceeded to ask whether Cawnpore was a nice place,
and things cheap theTe. "You'll find out all that for
yourself," was his reply, as he turned upon me a
ghastly look, "when Jack Morbus (meaning the
cholera,) has brought down your buffalo hide to regu-
lation pattern." There was something irresistibly
comical in the expression of the speaker's countenance,
as well as in the cankered and crabbed answer which
he vouchsafed to a civil question. So we burst into a
hearty laugh, and thus the two regiments passed one
another.
In due time we reached Benares, the sacred city of
the Hindoos, and were fortunate enough to arrive at a
season when some great religious ceremony was going
-forward. The river was in consequence covered with
votive garlands, and multitudes of both sexes were re-
freshing at once soul and body in the sacred stream.
We did not bring-to, however, till we came opposite
Hamghur—a place of some note in this part of India,
and the residence of a Baja; and there, according to
custom, so soon as the boats were moored, I, with several
more belonging to the detachment, landed.
There was something peculiarly delicious in these
moonlight walks, as well because of the exquisite balmi-
ness of the air, as that they led us through fields of
flowering cotton or luxuriant indigo, the bursting pods
of which strew the pathways, and send forth a strong,
yet not an overpowering, odour as you crush them
under foot. On this night, however, our rambling pro-
pensities brought us into a situation of some danger, I
verily believe, and certainly well calculated to alarm.
I and my comrade were traversing a cotton plantation,
when looking to the right, we beheld a drove of black
218 THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
"buffaloes feeding, by whom we were no sooner per-
ceived than they tossed their heads into the air, and
made a rush towards us. There was nothing for it but
to take to our heels, so we ran as fast as our legs
would carry us, till we reached a quickset hedge,
through which, at some cost both to skin and garments,
we managed to squeeze. We were thus saved from
the buffaloes; but on advancing towards the entrance
of the village, our horror may be conceived when we
found ourselves suddenly within twenty yards of what
we mistook for a tiger. The beast was lying on a sort
of bamboo cot, and seemed to be asleep, on which I
pulled my comrade by the sleeve, and we quietly but
rapidly retreated. Our consternation, however, was
almost immediately changed into pure wonder; we saw
some natives approach the beast, pat him on the head,
and walk on; and being thus encouraged, we drew
near in like manner, and saluted the object of our
terror. It was not a tiger, but a chita, or hunting
leopard; nevertheless, he did not seem to acknowledge
our acquaintance so freely as he had done that of the
Hindoos; for he opened his eyes with an expression so
suspicious that we were heartily glad to leave him to
his own reflections. We accordingly pushed on to the
raja's palace, which we found to be a large brick build-
ing, surrounded by iron rails, and having gazed with
wonder at the quantity of confectioners' shops that
abutted upon it, we turned our faces back again towards
the boats. A considerable detour carried us wide of
the buffaloes, and we reached our sleeping berths in
peace.
FromRamghur we proceeded to Allahabad—the Holy
City, or City of God—beside which the Jumna pours
its waters into the Ganges, both, at the point of junc-
tion, possessing a character of great sanctity. Here
stands the tomb of the good and gallant Marquis Corn-
wallis; here, too, is an ancient fort, within the walls of
which there used to be one of those sacred columns
which the Hindoos adore, which was indeed standing
when we reached the place, but has since been thrown
down. It was here, after having the boats dragged
with infinite difficulty over a long succession of shal-
lows, that for the first time we encountered a tornado
in the power of its might, from the overwhelming
THE LIGHT DKAGOON.
219
violence of which our frail craft escaped only through
the foresight of the crews in mooring them after they
had been fairly run on shore. I shall never forget the
terrible effect of that whirlwind, which, had it endured
another hour, must have shaken the whole country into
chaos. The loftiest and strongest trees either bent be-
fore it like reeds, or snapped asunder, and were then
tossed into the air; while the clouds of dust and sand
which it swept along its course, blinded our vision, and
seriously incommoded our respiration. Happily for us
and for all that lay within its influence, it did not con-
tinue more than half-an-hour, though for more than
twice that space we could follow its onward progress,
as it swept away from us in a straight line, carrying
devastation and terror over a large extent of country.
We had a good many deaths during the passage,
which lasted in all three months, and we buried our
dead in deep graves which we dug along the river's
edge. We might have saved ourselves the trouble.
Our right wing, which preceded us a little way, had
suffered in like manner, and they also deposited the
remains of their comrades where the earth could cover
them; but their graves, when we reached them, were
all tenantless; the wolves and iackafls had dug the
bodies up, and the scattered fragments of military
clothing with which the sides of the different pits were
covered, showed that the wild beasts had not left
their lifeless owners to the tedious process of natural
decay.
On the 28th of October, 1819, we arrived at the
place of our destination, and disembarking at an early
hour next morning, were marched forthwith into bar-
racks. We found them extremely commodious and
comfortable ; and as great care had been taken to put
them in order for our reception, we counted, not with-
out reason, on spending our time here with much satis-
faction; for Cawnpore contains a large garrison, and
is, besides, the residence of many persons of distinction,
of gentlemen in the civil service of the Company, of
merchants, and others, and these have provided for
themselves every accessory to enjoyment, not forgetting
either a handsome assembly-room, or a neat theatre.
Hut it was not so much about these things, as with
reference to the horses which the 21st had left for our
220
THE LIGHT DKA.G00N.
use, that my curiosity was excited. I accordingly em-
braced the first opportunity of visiting, along with a vo-
lunteer from that regiment, the stables; and, sure enough,
the spectacle that met us there was strange enough.
It was feeding-time when we entered, and the horses—-
all of them entire—kept up such a screaming and paw-
ing with their fore-feet upon the floor, that I could
have fancied myself, not in a cavalry stable, but in a
den of wild beasts. Neither, on inquiring into the
characters of the individual chargers, was the impres-
sion produced by the first general survey effaced. One
was a furious kicker—another would tear to pieces any
one on whom it could lay hold, and had actually bitten
two men to death—a third was accustomed to dance on
his hind legs for ten minutes on a stretch, and to lash
out with his fore-feet as if he had been a trained boxer
■—a fourth took fits of sullenness, and standing stock-
Still, would strike with his heels right and left, so as
to throw an entire squadron into confusion. In a word,
a set of brutes more vicious was represented never to
have come together, and it is but fair to add, that on
first mounting we so found them. But a few sharp
field-days, with a little stinting of corn, gradually
tamed them. Several men received hurts, from bites,
kicks, and falls—many were run away with, till horse
and rider became accustomed to each other—but, in
the end, we proved ourselves their masters. And then,
a very hardy, if not a very fleet, species of cattle we
found them.
We reached Cawnpore at the most agreeable season
of the year; and up to the month of March had little
to complain of. To be sure the volunteers from the
21st, who joined our ranks, proved to be, as such per-
sons usually are, troublesome, and in several instances
not very worthy characters. Still we got along pretty
well till the hot winds began to blow, and then restric-
tions, to which it was judged expedient to subject us,
brought the true tempers of our seasoned comrades to
the test. They murmured against the regulations of
the regiment. They thwarted and interrupted the
non-commissioned officers in the discharge of their
duty, and took at last to stoning them as often as they
visited the barracks after dark. The colonel would
not suffer this; so he called them all together, and
THE LIGHT DRAGOON. 22.1
assured them that the very first who should be detected
in an act of insubordination would find cause to repent
it. There needed no more to make these bad men
desperate. They laid the blame chiefly on one Corporal
Irwin,—and they swore among themselves that they
would have their revenge.
Corporal Irwin might be a little sharp; but he was
a just man in the execution of his duty: nor did he
ever exact from others more than he was always ready
to perform himself. For this he became a marked
man; and one evening, after giving out the orders for
the morrow, a scoundrel of the name of Hislop fired at
him from behind a pillar, and desperately wounded
him near the shoulder. The corporal fell, and the
assassin endeavoured to escape; but he was instantly
seized. For we—the old hands of the 11th—were
much attached both to our regiment, considered as a
body, and to the officers and non-commissioned officers
belonging to it; and finding the turn which affairs had
taken among these strangers, we were determined that
they should be taught that they would receive no coun-
tenance from us. The corporal being carried to the
hospital, there lost his arm. He did not, however, die,
at least, not immediately,—-but his constitution received
such a shock, that after undergoing the amputation,
there was not vigour enough in him to accomplish a
rally. He lingered several months, and then expired.
With respect again to Hislop, his fate was sealed.
Being put into double irons, he was handed over to
the care of the principal jailer in the place ; and having
been in due time tried and found guilty of an attempt
to murder, he was condemned to death. He was
hanged, as he deserved to be, in the sight of the as-
sembled garrison.
CHAPTER XXIV.
Fever and cholera—Hospital scenes—Change of quarters—Pre-
parations for war.
It was now the season of the year when the maladies
peculiar to this climate usually show themselves; and,
in spite of all the precautions that were used to hinder
222
THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
it, fever and cholera both broke out among ns. Ter-
rible was the havoc which they made in our ranks. At
breakfast-time, or on the early parade, ten men might
appear in perfect health,—within an hour half the num-
ber would be taken ill, and ere sunset the greater por-
tion of them would die. The hospital became, as may
be imagined, a scene of complicated horrors. Provi-
dence was kind to me, so that as a patient I had no
cause to visit it; but hearing one day that my cousin
had been carried thither in a raging fever, I proceeded
to nurse him. I never saw such a sight. With respect
to my poor relative, he was already insensible, and in
less than half an hour he expired. But elsewhere ob-
jects that both shocked and harrowed met my gaze on
every side. There stood the doctor,—a kind and a
skilful man,—with his sleeves tucked up, and his arms
crimsoned. Several assistants were near, with basins
in their hands, to receive the blood which he took from
the sick men's veins; while of the sick themselves,
some were raving mad, others gloomy and desponding,
others wholly insensible—the spark going out in these
last, one after another. There could be Httle of order
or regularity in disposing of the bodies of those who,
in such numbers, and so rapidly, paid the last debt of
nature. Every morning a couple of carts came to the
hospital, and in these the corpses were removed to the
public cemetery, where not a few, attended only by
the comrades who loved them most, went to the sleep
which knows no waking. Let me not, however, dwell
upon events, the remembrance of which will hang by
me through life, and ever in sorrow; indeed, I will
quit this subject altogether after I shall have described
a Httle adventure which befel me, not unconnected with
it, though partaking more of the ludicrous than the
pathetic.
When sickness broke out, our men became divided
into two classes, one of which the thought of the pre-
cariousness of their position sobered, while in the other
it produced diametrically the opposite effect. These
last, in order to drown care, drank hard and Hved
merrily; and, strange as it may sound, it is neverthe-
less true, that of them nine out of ten escaped. To
my shame be it spoken, the example of these reckless
livers had more influence over me than that which the
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
223
graver men set, and I drank, in consequence, harder
during the prevalence of that epidemic than ever I did
before or have ever done since; the result on one
occasion was this.
There was a standing order from the surgeon, that
whenever any of the men were observed to take to
their beds, or lounge upon them at unbecoming seasons,
the Serjeant of the day should direct them to be re-
moved at once to the hospital. It happened, once
upon a time, that my comrade and I having gone toge-
ther for the purpose, as I well remember, of purchasing
a glass for my watch, we were asked by a native mer-
chant whether or not we should like to be supplied
with a bottle of superlatively good wine. Such a sug-
gestion was not to be neglected, so we adjourned to
his tent, and there, together with a little bread and
cheese, consumed between us three bottles of Cape,
which the honest old man sold to us for genuine
Madeira. The wine proved too much for us. To walk
home with it was out of the question, so we ordered a
covered bullock-car, drawn by two animals, and jogged
along in this clumsy vehicle towards the barracks.
Arrived there, nothing would content us but a dram
of arrack; and the vile spirit coming immediately upon
the scarcely less deleterious wine, placed us at once
hors de combat. We staggered to our beds, and were
both fast asleep in a moment.
How long I had lain in a state of unconsciousness I
cannot tell; but a vivid dream, in which I saw that the
regiment had marched, leaving me behind, at length
awoke me. It was pitch dark. I sat up in my bed,
rubbed my eyes, tried to collect my thoughts, but could
not. One of my arms, moreover, being somewhat stiff,
tended still more to confuse me. In a word, I was
completely distracted. Accordingly I stretched my
hand towards the wall, in order to ascertain whether
boots, saddle, accoutrements, &c., continued to hang
where it was my custom to arrange them. They were
not there—and the conviction became strong that it
was no idle dream of which I was the victim, but that
I had indeed been abandoned by my comrades. Full
of alarm, I sprang out of bed; and, determined to make
my way to the apartment in which troop A used to be
stationed, I rushed towards what I conceived to be the
2U
THE EIGHT DBAGOON«
bolted door of my own room, and pressed tbe whole-
weight of my body against it.
A door it doubtless was which in this strange way
I had encountered, and as it did not happen to be so
much as on the latch, the result to myself was a roll
heels over head. Not haying sustained any injury,
however, I immediately gathered myself up again, and
in the very bitterness of grief shouted out, " Are you
all gone?"
A feeble voice, the tones of which were not unfa-
miliar to me, replied by demanding, " Is that you,
George?"
" To be sure it is," was my answer. " In the name
of fortune where am I?"
" Don't you know? was the reply.
" Show!" answered I, " how should I? Is the
regiment gone, and are you and I left to die here to-
gether ?"
" No, to be sure not, but you are in the hospital."
"In the what?"
" In the hospital — you and your comrade were
brought in yesterday afternoon, both labouring under
apoplectic fits; and if you had done what was right and
becoming, you would have been a dead man by this
time."
In an instant the whole truth flashed across me,
and the adventure appeared so ridiculous, that, hurry-
ing back to my bed, I there indulged in a hearty fit of
laughing. Neither was the disposition to be merry
removed when daylight exhibited my comrade, lying
on the opposite side of the room, and wondering, as I
had done when I first awoke, where he was, or whether
his identity had not changed. The result of the whole
affair was, however, this. After learning that the
seijeant on duty, a young and rash man, had ordered
us to be carried into hospital, without so much as wak-
ing us to ascertain how we were, and that the surgeon
took from each of us, on the instant, thirty ounees of
blood, the loss of which only caused us to sleep the
more soundly, we were given to understand that we
should again be visited in our t 1 11 1
regiment. Accordingly, at the fitting time, the whole
of these gentlemen entered, and our cases were stated
staff, as well as by the colonel
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
225
to the commandant, not, as I imagined, without a very
quizzical expression in the countenance of him who re-
ported upon us. We, too, were sorely puzzled to keep
our gravity; but the mock examination ended in our
being told to return to our quarters, and to take care
how we put ourselves wantonly in the way of again
being removed, as apoplectic subjects, into the hos-
pital.
There died of the fever at this time not fewer than
one hundred and twelve men, besides women and
children, belonging to the 11th Dragoons. Our ex-
cellent surgeon also, Dr. Omally, fell a sacrifice to his
indefatigable zeal and attention, and Captain Nowlan
and the paymaster soon followed. Neither was the
mortality confined to us; of the 87th infantry, as well
as the Company's artillery, many sunk under the dis-
ease, and the deaths among the native troops were to
the full as numerous. At last, however, the monsoons
set in, and with them came a complete relief from the
pressure of the disease; occasionally a man would die,
but the violence of the distemper had passed away, and
we were enabled in consequence to enjoy ourselves
both within doors and without, as far at least as a
ceaseless fall of heavy rain would allow; and in truth
the violence with which the floods came down sur-
passed everything of which I could have formed an
idea. I have seen the barrack-square converted in
less than an hour into a tank or pond, in which there
was a depth of two feet of water, through which swarms
of small fish were swimming, very much, as may be
imagined, to our astonishment, and greatly to the de-
light of the natives. Neither were we long left in
doubt as to the causes of the phenomenon. One day I
was suddenly invited to watch with my comrades the
progress of a water-spout, the formation of which was
going on at no great distance from the cantonments. X
saw a column of water rise from a flooded meadow, and
rush up, as it seemed, to meet a dense cloud that had
gathered over it; the sun, too, happening to shine out
at the moment, and to cast his rays obliquely upon the
pillar, the effect was more beautiful than I have lan-
guage to describe; and when in a few minutes after-
wards the continuity of the pillar was broken, the spray
from its lower portion fell over us as if it had been a
p
226
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
shower of diamond sparks. It was not so with the
heavily-laden cloud, which likewise in due time dis-
charged its contents upon our heads. We read and
hear of rain that resembles the pouring of water out of
buckets: I never till that day was able to believe that
there was any substantial truth in the simile. Nor
was this all; with the rush of waters came down shoals
of fish, some of them of a size sufficient to excite the
cupidity of the natives, who, attacking them with nets
and buckets, conveyed them to their houses, and
speedily converted them into material for a delicate
supper.
As long as the monsoons last, the whole surface of
the country is under water, and for a little while after
the floods abate, the sterility is excessive. But in pro-
cess of time vegetation begins, and the grass springs
up, and the flowers blow with a rapidity which to
the European strangers seems well nigh miraculous.
Neither can the salubrity of the climate, while this
state of things continues, be surpassed in any part of
the world. I never experienced a more delicious tern-
perature than that to which we were generally subject,
from the end of October to the beginning of March. I
never beheld a scene more delicately luxuriant and
rich than the fields and meadows and woods presented
during a considerable portion of that interval.
At last the season of relief came round; and the
8th Light Dragoons having arrived from Meerut, we
received orders to pack up and march, for the purpose of
occupying the station which they had abandoned. To
such as have not witnessed in India the march of a
regiment of cavalry, it would be no easy task to convey
an idea of the extraordinary spectacle which is pre-
sented by it. Let my readers bear in mind, that troops
never move in our Eastern possessions without carry-
ing their market and their market people along with
them. The bazaar, indeed, is not attached to the sta-
tion, but to the corps : and the dealers being all regu-
gularly enrolled, must either go with the regiment
whithersoever it may proceed, or cease to hold their
licenses as merchants. Hence, the night preceding the
day on which the corps is to set out, all the tents in the
bazaar are struck. A^vay then proceeds the motley
crew, bullocks, cows, camels, horses, and here and
THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
227
there elephants, transporting their goods; and as the
site of each day's encampment is beforehand explained
to them, they are generally ready to receive the troops
when they arrive, and to provide them with the neces-
sary refreshments. Meanwhile, at the first sound of
the trumpet, the tents required to lodge the regiment
on its march are packed upon the backs of camels and
elephants. The former class of animals carries one
tent, the latter two; and when the enormous size of
the machine is taken into account, as well as the pegs,
lines, and mallets required in pitching it, the strength
of both beasts of burden—especially of the elephant—
surpasses, our power of computation. Moreover, as
each baggage-animal has its company of attendants,
each troop horse its native groom, and each man his
servant, and each officer his half-dozen at least, I am
sure that I do not place the numbers too high when I
say, that for one trooper there are at least fifteen fol-
lowers in the camp. I cannot, indeed, compare the
march of the 11th to anything more appropriate than
the flight of the Israelites out of Egypt; for the column,
though in point of numbers respectable enough, was
absolutely obscured even on the line of march, by the
swarms of men, women, children, and beasts of burden,
that surrounded it.
The march, which begins at an early hour in the
morning, generally continues till about nine, when the
tents are pitched, and other preparations made to pass
both the day and night on the ground. It is astonish-
ing to see the enormous extent of that encampment.
Our single regiment, for example, covered much more
than a square mile of country, for the horses are
picketed at wide intervals from each other, and the
tents of the several troops pitched so as to keep the
horses of the one apart from those of the other. Some
way in rear again, stand the officers' tents, all set up in
a row, like the street of a town; while further back
still, is the bazaar—itself a town, and a very bustling
town too, where everything that is to be had in Cai-
eutta may be purchased, though the corps be in the
very heart of the jungle. Neither is the process by
which we arrive at this state of order more akin to the
operations of a mounted regiment in Europe, than the
aspect of the Indian camp resembles that of a camp in
m
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
the western hemisphere. The word is no sooner given-
to halt, and dismount, than we hand over our charges to
our native grooms. By them they are led to water,
dressed, fed, and otherwise arranged, while we apply
ourselves first to the business of breakfast, and then to
the search after as many novelties, as the state of the
bazaar may afford. But if we lead an easy life by day,
it cannot be said that we enjoy much of quiet during
the night: then all the brutes, whether horses or camels,
seem to break loose. There is a continual floundering
over the tent-cords—a continual shouting of people—
a continual neighing of steeds, insomuch that he who
has self-command enough to close an eye, or snatch an
hour's sound sleep, need not distrust Ins own power of
obtaining rest should he be thrown into any situation
whatever.
I have neither the design nor the necessary qualifi-
cations to describe either the customs of the people, or
the political condition of the country. Abler pens than
mine have accomplished both tasks before me,—neither
have I any ambition to bring my poor talents into com-
petition with those of the men who wielded them. But
the incidents which befel myself, and the little adven-
tures that occurred to others, I am bound to relate,
even at the risk of saying over again what others have
said, far more pleasantly.
On the seventh day from the evacuation of Cawnpore,
we reached Feruckabad, which we found occupied by
a considerable garrison, consisting entirely of the Com-
pany's troops. It is a pleasant place, having a market,
which is well supplied with vegetables, more especially
with the potato, of which, a short while previous to our
visit, the natives had never seen a specimen; and being
built upon one Of the banks of the Ganges, it enjoys at
the same time the means of easy and direct transit for
its produce. We did not, however, finger here more
than a few days. By easy stages we proceeded on-
wards; and on the 6th of December, arrived at the
place of our destination.
Meerut, which lies beyond Cawnpore somewhere
about two hundred and seventy-five miles, struck me
as being by far the most desirable station which we had
as yet occupied since we landed at Fort William.
Situated on the edge of an extensive plain, over which
THE LIGHT DBAGOOH.
229
•the winds from every quarter sweep freely, it is, he-
yond all question, more congenial to the constitutions
of Europeans than any of the towns or cantonments
that lie nearer the sea. Moreover, it forms the head-
quarters of a large force, consisting of four troops of
horse artillery, of one European, and one native cavalry
regiment, of one regiment of European infantry, and
two, if not three, of Sepoys. Erom among these, their
wives and children, as well as because of the number
of civilians that are also settled there, an extremely
agreeable society is formed; and the habits of all
classes being gregarious in the extreme, the intercourse
kept up among them was of the closest. Then again on
the plain we found ample space to manoeuvre and to
exercise; and for other matters, whatever a man's tastes
might be in reference to his out-door pursuits and
athletic amusements, here ample opportunity was
afforded of indulging them. We had cricket, long-
ball, and rackets,—there was capital angling in the
tanks, all of which swarmed with fine fish. There was
shooting of every description,—not omitting to par-
ticularize that of the tiger itself,—and more than one
magnificent carcase brought in testified to the skill and
energy with which our officers pursued it. Indeed, I
may sum up my commendations of the place by stating
that I have no recollection that the time hung, through-
out our sojourn there, heavy on our hands ; and as to
its influence upon our health, we soon began to wear
again the same florid hues and filled up frames that
used to adorn us at home.
We had occupied these quarters some time—having
been visited in the interval by Sir Edward Paget—
when a rumour began to circulate that between the
East India Company and the Bajah of Bhurtpore,
ground of dispute had arisen. The rajah in question,
Doorjan Saal, had, as is well-known, set aside his
nephew, and, ascending the throne, began ere long to
exhibit a disposition the reverse of friendly towards
the English. Inhabiting a place which had never yet
opened its gates to an enemy, and which, though thrice
assaulted in Lord Lake's day, had thrice repulsed the
assailants, he regarded himself, and was by the people
of Hindostan in general regarded, as the only king
-throughout that vast continent who might be expected
230
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
to counterbalance or bold in check the power of the
strangers. Hence, baying quarrelled, no matter about
wbat, witb tbe Engbsb government, be could not be
prevailed upon, either by threats or remonstrances, to
make tbe smallest concession; and, on our part, prepa-
rations began by degrees to be made towards curing him
of bis obstinacy, by depriving him at once both of bis
"fortress and bis power.
It is no business of mine to remark on tbe steps
which are taken by those high in power, and, as such,
quite out of tbe sphere of a private soldier; but I only
repeat wbat were tbe universal whispers in tbe army,
when I state that every necessary arrangement for
carrying on tbe war with vigour, was begun and com-
pleted by Sir Edward Paget. He was still in command
of tbe troops in India when tbe necessity for war be-
came apparent, and be it was who managed, in spite of
the heavy drain occasioned by the operations that were
in progress elsewhere, to draw an army together, and
to supply it witb such material, as to render a failure
under tbe walls of this famous citadel all but impos-
sible. He did not, however, reap either tbe renown or
tbe profit which attended tbe execution of plans which
be bad wisely laid. Just before active operations be-
gan, bis successor arrived from England, and, witb a
generosity which was considered at tbe moment well-
nigh to overpass its legitimate limits, be instantly
resigned tbe command. How there was no necessity
for this. It was noble, indeed, and chivalrous, be-
cause it enabled another to gather tbe crop which bis
wisdom bad sown, matured, and brought to tbe very
season of harvest—but I do not bebeve that tbe rules
of tbe service required it; and I know that tbe issues
were, by all ranks among us, greatly deplored. I have
nothing to say against Lord Combermere. He was,
and is, an excellent officer, and richly merits whatever
good fortune may have attended him. But Sir Edward
Paget's name stands at least as high, and tbe soldiers
that served under him could not but lament that be
threw into other bands tbe prize for which he bad
played, and which be had won. However, this is a
subject witb which I have no concern: so I return,
without further preamble, to my own narrative.
the light dragoon.
231
CHAPTEE XXV.
Meerut—Occupations there—Alarm of war with Bhurtpore—Mul-
toa—The baboons and turtles—Meerut again—Second advance
—Bhurtpore invested.
The cantonments of Meerut are separated from the
lower ranges of the Himalaya mountains only by the
plain of which I have already spoken, and on the edge
of which they are planted. So close, indeed, are these
inviting regions to the quarters of the force, that many
civilians, as well as officers of rank, purchase or erect
for themselves country-houses among the hills, and
repair thither, as to a place of shelter, during the
hottest of the months. More than once I accom-
panied the colonel thither in the capacity of orderly,
and not in any quarter of the world have I beheld
scenery more varied, or more truly magnificent. Even
the lower ranges introduce you to defiles and passes of
surpassing grandeur; beneath and beyond which lie
valleys, fertile in the extreme, while in the background,
up rise those giant ridges from which the snow is never
withdrawn, and over which no human foot ever has
passed, or, in all probability, ever will pass.
It was at the close of the monsoon, in the year 1825,
that a small force, of which the 11th formed a part,
assembled at Meerut, under General Ochterloney, and
began its march towards the Jumna. Our immediate
chief was an old and infirm man, as most of the Com-
pany's generals are. Nevertheless, we felt perfect con-
fidence in ourselves, and our own regimental officers, so
we pursued our journey, nothing doubting that it would
terminate in results altogether satisfactory. A few days
carried us to the brink of the river, on the opposite
side of which stands Multoa, a town of considerable
size and great note, inasmuch as it is the residence
of some of the most distinguished of the Mahomedan
families which claim India as their native country.
There we halted, while the infantry, bridging the
Jumna by means of boats, passed over, and took up
their quarters in the town. It was to no purpose,
however, that the general opened a communication
with the Eajah of Bhurtpore, the towers and bastions
232
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
of whose lordly residence were from this point dis-
tinctly visible. Either because he credited the declar-
ations of his priests, who assured him that his nest was
unassailable, or that he was aware of the inconsiderable
amount of the force by which at that moment he was
threatened, the rajah turned to every proposal a deaf
ear; and we being by far too weak to enter upon more
active operations, were forced to maintain for some time
an attitude of extreme watchfulness, while from other
quarters troops were drawn together, and moved up to
su
mention, because of the deep interest which it created,
not in the 11th Dragoons alone, but in every other
corps attached to the expedition. There was in my
troop a man named John Feathers, a native of London,
and an extremely good soldier; between whom and
myself, indeed, a close intimacy had long subsisted, and
who was universally respected in the regiment. He
was followed in the march by a little dog of the terrier
breed, to which he became very much attached, and
which seldom failed of showing itself at his heels, let
him be where he might. One day, I think it was the
second after our departure from Meerut, he and I had
been drinking in the canteen, not so as to intoxicate, or
oven to inflame, but merely to refresh ourselves after
the work of the morning, and the dog, as his custom
was, lay down at his master's feet, where he either
slept or seemed to sleep. By and by we rose to go out.
We paid no heed to the dog, taking it for granted that
he would observe our proceedings and follow, and had
approached close to the tents of the regiment, when
John discovered that he was not near us. He whistled,
the animal came not; whereupon he went back, and I,
for company's sake, went with him. We found the
dog lying where we had left him; John called him,
but he took no notice of the call, upon which his master
being somewhat provoked, seized him by the neck and
gave him a beating. The brute being frightened,
struggled, and at last bit his master shghtly in the
wrist; but the sear was so trifling, bringing scarcely
any blood at all, that neither he nor I took much notice
of it. As a measure of precaution I washed it for him
event befel of which I make
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
233
with arrack, and after getting it tied tip he went to
sleep.
The dog was certainly not rabid, for he attended
John's footsteps ever after, and during the weeks that
we lay in the Jumna, exhibited no signs of hydrophobia.
The case was different with his master. He came to
me on a certain evening, and complained that he felt
excessive pain in the wrist where the dog had bit him.
Being alarmed—I could scarce tell why—I advised him
to consult the surgeon, but this he refused to do, and
went to bed at his usual hour. Next morning the pain
had ascended as high as the shoulder, and when he
entered my tent, I saw that the expression of his face
was terribly altered. He complained also of great
thirst, and when milk was given him, though he
managed to swallow a little, he rejected the rest with
every symptom of disgust. There was no disguising
the sad truth from ourselves any longer. He was
evidently suffering under a paroxysm of hydrophobia,
and the surgeon being made acquainted with the cir-
cumstance, he was conveyed to the hospital tent. The
utmost care was taken of bim ; but it availed nothing.
He died that night at twelve o'clock, in a state of
raving madness.
We were all grieved and sobered for a brief space by
the fate of poor Feathers; but the grief of soldiers, like
that of children, seldom lasts long; and in a day or
two our attention was altogether devoted to the events
and accidents of each day as it came round. As may
be imagined, we did not fail to pay frequent visits to
Multoa, which we found singularly clean and neat,
especially in the region which lay nearest to the
stream; for there each particular house had its flight
of highly ornamented steps that led down to the water's
edge, and conducted the bathers to the place appro-
priated for their ablutions, whether they might be male
or female, upgrown persons or young children. Neither
was this the whole, nor the most striking feature which
arrested our attention in this place. I never shall for-
fet the first day on which, with five of my comrades,
crossed the bridge of boats, and entered the town.
There was no crowd of carriages or palanquins in the
street, neither were the pedestrians numerous; but a
234 THE LIGHT DKAG00N.
multitude of baboons constantly gathered round us, and
made as if tliey would oppose our further progress.
The fact is, that the Indians of this part of the country
are singularly superstitious, and hold many kinds of
creatures sacred. On shore we have the baboon, in the
river there is the turtle, of which countless throngs
come as regularly to be fed from the hands of their
devotees as if they were indeed gods, though dependent
on their votaries for nutriment. There was something
wellnigh ludicrous in the menacing attitudes which the
baboons of Multoa assumed, so soon as they ascer-
tained, which they were not slow in doing, that we
were foreigners. But they did not show much fight,
for when, after a moment's hesitation, a cry was raised
" six dragoons must not be stopped by a crowd of
monkeys," and we dashed among them with our bam-
boos, and began to lay about us, they took to their
heels in all directions. They retreated, however, still
retaining an attitude of hostility. For no sooner had
they gained the tops of the houses than they began to
chatter and show their teeth, and even to pelt us with
the bits of mortar and stone, which they managed to
break off for the purpose.
The people looked very grave at us when they be-
held the sort of bearing which we put on towards their
much venerated baboons. If they had been aware of
the sort of treatment which we occasionally awarded to
the turtles, they would have been a thousand times
more indignant. The turtle, as I have just stated, is
accounted sacred here ; and to refuse food to one of the
genus who might apply for it by lifting his head above
the water, would involve the delinquent in a degree of
guilt far more heavy than is incurred by the utmost
extent of cruelty to a human being. Nevertheless, I
acknowledge to having more than once baited my hook
for these very same gods, and not without prodigious
efforts brought more than one of them to the shore.
The brutes weighed from seventy to one hundred
pounds. They differed from the sea turtle chiefly in
their extreme whiteness and in the delicacy of their
flesh, but they were not to be despised as an article of
food, and when dressed, with abundance of cayenne
pepper and other spices, the epicures among us ac-
counted them great delicacies.
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
235
At the farther extremity of Multoa stood a ruined
temple, by ascending one of the towers in which, at
least two hundred feet high, we succeeded in obtaining
an extensive and striking view over the whole face of
the surrounding country. From this point I could dis-
tinctly perceive Bhurtpore and its gigantic fortifications,
as well as the very inconsiderable camp, within the
limits of which the whole of the force as yet brought
up to reduce Bhurtpore was assembled; and it was
impossible not to feel, while looking upon the relative
strength of the hostile parties, that if this were all
which England could bring against the Bajah, her
game was desperate. The lapse of a little time, how-
ever, sufficed to show that these surmises and specula-
tions were wholly groundless ; but as it is not yet time
to enter upon the serious business of the siege, I may
as well disburden myself at once of the petty anecdotes
and narratives which stand between me and that which
constitutes, after all, the main incident in my Indian
adventures.
While we lay in the vicinity of Multoa, a camp fol-
lower died who belonged to that caste or class of the
native population which always burn their dead. His
body of course was set apart that it might be con-
sumed; and being curious to behold a spectacle of the
kind, I took care to attend. In the sloping bank of
the Jumna, the friends of the deceased dug out a con-
venient resting-place for the pile. It was a sort of
terrace, which measured perhaps six feet in length by
four in breadth, and there, upon a couch composed of
a double row of very dry billets, the body of the
wretched camp follower was stretched. They covered
hi-m thickly with a coat of gie,—that is, of melted butter
made of the milk of the buffalo, upon which they piled
a quantity of dry grass with fagots, and light wood
over all. As soon as the preparations were completed,
several of the near relatives of the deceased approached
to ascertain that all was in order, and immediately on
their retiring the torches were applied, and the flame
sprang upwards with amazing rapidity; I never looked
upon a more disgusting sight. The pile burned fu-
riously, so much so, indeed, that several persons with
long poles, were obliged from time to time to keep the
half-consumed flesh from rolling out of the flames; and,
^236
THE LIGHT DBAGOON,
what was more horrible still, the hawks, of which I
have elsewhere spoken as infesting this hemisphere,
succeeded more than once in setting both flames and
poles at defiance. I saw several of these birds pounce
down, seize a morsel of flesh while it was broiling, and
fly away with it. At last I grew perfectly sick; and,
returning to my tent, thanked God that I had been
born in a land where such horrors were unknown.
We lingered on in this situation for a good many
months, during the hottest of which, including March
and April, we managed to render the tents habitable
only by fitting to the doors on the weather side a sort
of screen of grass, which was kept perpetually moist
wuth water. By and by, however, the division broke
up, and returned for the monsoon to Meerut, where
poor old General Ochterlony died — respected, yet
scarcely regretted, by the troops that served under
him. We returned, moreover, just in time to witness
the consecration by the bishop of a handsome church,
dedicated to St. John, which had been built by private
subscription. Let me not omit to give the credit which
is his due to the pious and excellent pastor of that
church, the Be v. K. Fisher. If ever man lived to dis-
charge the duties of his station, Mr. Fisher was that
man; and the consequence was, that he won over many
a profligate to repentance, besides securing the affec-
tions of the whole garrison, and making numerous con-
verts from Heathenism to Christianity. I shall never,
as long as I five, forget the tenour of the admonitions
which I received from him, and some, I doubt not, out
of the multitudes who then held the same language
with myself, still survive to repeat it.
While we occupied our old cantonments at Meerut,
a fire broke out in the stables, which was supposed, I
cannot tell how truly, to have been occasioned by the
wilful negligence of some of the natives. It cost us
several vSuable horses, besides many more so injured,
that not till the expiration of many weeks were they
fit to be ridden. And not the least provoking part of
the business was, that the perpetrators of the crime
played their cards so skilfully, that, beyond a suspicion,
termination of
which, the order reached us to advance once more into
THE LIGHT EBAGOON.
237
the immediate vicinity of the hostile city. We set out,
as our custom was, at an early hour in the morning;—
yet even then, on passing the gate of Mr. Fisher's-
country house, we saw the good man waiting to greet
us; and fervent were the prayers which he put up for
our well-being, whether we should ever behold tn'm
again or not. I assure my reader, that I am neither a
hypocrite in matters of faith, nor a sickly sentimentalist;
hut I declare to him, in all soberness and honesty, that
I never was more deeply affected myself, nor saw a
regiment of soldiers more deeply affected, than we all
were by the prayers and the blessings of one whom we
so sincerely loved and respected. Neither let me fail
to observe, that not in my poor judgment only, but in
that of all the most intelligent of the members of the
British army, is there anything which so much stands
in need of reformation, as what I may venture to call
the Chaplain's department in the service. Our supe-
riors may think as they please,—but we, who fill up
the ranks of the British army, know that we have souls
to be saved, and very grateful should we be were there
always at hand those who could tell us how to proceed,
in order to ensure their salvation; and I, can attest—
in proof of this—that there was not a man in the 11th
Dragoons, nor indeed in the European garrison of
Meerut, who would not have laid down his life for the
Dev. Mr. Fisher, more cheerfully than for any officer
under whom he immediately served.
Onwards we moved, not easily forgetting our kind
friend, or his generous benedictions, till by and by we
took up our old ground, on this side the Jumna, and
opposite to the city of Multoa. I cannot tell why we-
should have expected to remain there, but we did not
remain, for the very next morning we crossed the river;
and pushing on to a range of heights, which in some
sort command the plain on which Bhurtpore is built,
we there pitched our camp, waiting till the army should
assemble, and the siege, of which nobody any longer
doubted, should begin in real earnest.
From day to day, after our establishment in this
camp, troops, stores, and cannon came up. The heavy
guns which had been collected at Agra were transported
to the place of assembly by water, and the new com-
mander-in-chief, Lord Combermere, making his appear-
238
THE LIGHT DEAGOON.
ance about the same time, tbe whole army was re-
viewed, and next day put in motion. It was the duty
of the 11th, supported by some native cavalry, to cover
the advance, and many a formidable piece of ground we
passed over. Not an enemy, however, showed himself,
and about noon on the third, day, the towers and bas-
tions of Bhurtpore uprose in the centre of a huge plain,
immediately before us. Nothing could exceed the care-
lessness, or the misplaced confidence, of its ruler and
his troops. Though they must have been long aware
of our hostile designs, they took no precautions what-
ever to defeat or even to retard their accomplishment;
indeed, we found that the very trenches which Lord
Lake's people had dug were not filled in. Lord Com-
bermere, as may well be imagined, made haste to pre-
vent their remedying an error so gross and so palpable.
The trenches were immediately occupied by the king's
34th regiment of foot, and much time, as well as a large
amount of fatigue, saved to the besieging army in con-
sequence.
The town and fort of Bhurtpore are planted in the
very heart of an enormous wood, of which the outskirts
approach witjiin five or six hundred yards of the de-
fences of the place. The wood is intersected in all
directions by roads or passes; and while the infantry
worked in the trenches and pushed their saps, we, that
is the cavalry, had it in charge to guard these passes,
so as to prevent both ingress and egress to the garrison.
We were not always permitted to effect this, or to do
the ordinary duty of outline picket, without molestation,
as well from the enemy's guns, as from attacks by their
very active and vigilant cavalry. The former of these
modes of annoyance cost us several fives, among which
I must mention that of Colonel Faithful, chief engineer
to the army. The latter did not often pass off without
wounds both to men and horses on either side. One
day in particular, I well recollect that the arm of Mr.
Gruer, who commanded our picket, was severely hurt
by a thrust from a lance ; while the charger of one of
his men had his tail cut off close to the stump, as
clean as if the operation had been performed by a
surgeon.
The wood which surrounded Bhurtpore was so dense,
that in spite of constant service at the outposts, a good
THE LIGHT DEAG00N.
239
while elapsed ere I succeeded in obtaining of the place
such a view as could be said to allay my very natural
curiosity. It was only, indeed, by riding to the far ex-
tremity of one of the avenues, that you could hope to
see a yard beyond your own ground; and this, for
some reason which was never explained to us, we were
particularly cautioned from hazarding. But there is no
repressing the laudable disposition which urges men in
general to increase their knowledge. My comrade and
1 being being on patrol one morning, determined to in-
dulge the desire under which we had both for some
time laboured; and finding all clear to the extent which
Ave had been directed to reconnoitre, Ave pushed gal-
lantly beyond it. Suddenly we found ourselves on the
edge of the open country; and the formidable appear-
ance of the place against which our operations were
directed I shall not soon forget. There seemed to be
no limits to the succession of redoubts and batteries
which covered it on every side. Abbattis, too, had been
felled and laid Avith consummate care, so as to obstruct
the approaches, and expose columns in advance to the
fire both of cannon and musketry; while, that a sharp
look-out was kept by the garrison, and the parties de-
tached from it, we had soon the best reason for know-
ing. Though there were but two of us, we scarce
showed ourselves on the open plain, ere four or five
guns were directed against us ; and the precision Avith
which the artillerists threw their shot, soon warned us
to withdraw. We did so, well pleased to have seen so
much; neither did we return empty-handed. The wood
was full of animals of the chase—of deer, buffaloes,
hares, antelopes, and even of wild boars—to the pursuit
of which, when not engaged on duty, Ave Avere accus-
tomed to devote many an hour; and this day, my com-
rade having killed a wild hog by a pistol-shot, we
gathered him up, and carried him triumphantly into
camp.
It was not, hoAvever, exclusively by reason of the
stock of game which abounded there, that the woods
around Bhurtpore proved fruitful to us of interesting
occurrences. Numbers of Bhurtporeans — by what
motive instigated I cannot tell—used to penetrate these
thickets; and to pursue and make prisoners of these
afforded us almost as much sport as to chase the ante-
240
THE LIGHT DBAGOOH.
lope, or run down the wild hog. Yet we never sue-
ceeded in extracting from them any valuable informa-
tion. They would even deny that they belonged to the
fort, or had any connexion with its inmates; nor could
either promises or threatenings prevail upon them to
alter their tone.
Meanwhile the besieging force set to work in good
earnest, and, pushing forward their approaches, threw
up batteries, from which, in due time, a heavy fire was
opened. Of the solidity of the walls, however, against
which this cannonade was directed, it would be difficult
for those who never looked upon them to form a con-
ception. Though faced with common masonry, they
were constructed within the shell out of huge trunks
and limbs of trees, which, being arranged longitudinally,
and having the intervals between them filled up with
solid and well rammed clay, offered to the shot such
resistance, as could have come from no other kind of
fortification whatever. I have seen scores of balls
strike and splinter the stone-work close to the line of
breach, without causing the slightest inclination of the
rampart itself; indeed, several days elapsed ere the
feeblest commencement was made in the work, which
breaching batteries are expected to accomplish in half
that interval. Neither were our gunners permitted to
have all the amusement to themselves. The enemy
kept up a heavy fire from a large number of cannon—
not without some loss, and more annoyance, to the be-
siegers; indeed the crashing among the branches, as
often as the Bhurtporeans warmed to their work, was
awful; and not a few of our people received wounds
from the splinters which were thus scattered about.
In the labours of the siege, we mounted men took
no part. Our duties consisted in guarding against
sorties, and hindering supplies from being thrown into
the place; and in the execution of these services we
came, as I have elsewhere related, more than once into
collision with the enemy. But as I cannot recal to
my remembrance any affair of which the details put in
especial claim upon the reader's attention, I will not
weary him by forced descriptions where there is, in
truth, little or nothing to describe.
THE LIGHT DEAG00N.
241
CHAPTER XXVI.
Siege and capture of Bhurtpore.
So passed several weeks, the roar of artillery sounding-
continually in our ears, and casualties occurring from
time to time, as if to remind us that we were enacting,
not the semblance but the reality of war. Among
these sounds there was one which became by degrees
so familiar, that we expected it as regularly as midnight
came round; and, having heard it, became forthwith
satisfied that hostilities would not be renewed, at least
for an hour or two. There was an enormous gun on
one of the bastions of the city, which the garrison were
accustomed to discharge only at stated seasons—or if
some particular effect was desired to be produced. The
report emitted by that discharge drowned every other
noise for the moment, and if they never succeeded in
doing any execution in the camp, the fault lay, not
with the loading, but with the pointing of the gun.
From us it got the name of Sweet-Hps, and the common
remark used to be, " Oh, now Sweet-Hps has spoken,
we may go to sleep." The gun of which I speak now
ornaments the parade in St. James's Park. It is an-
extremely beautiful piece of mechanism, but, considered,
as a weapon of war, was perfectly useless.
Time ran his course, and the publication of an order
one day, in which volunteers from the cavalry were
invited to share with their dismounted comrades the
honour of the assault, informed us for the first time
that a breach had been effected, and that it either was,
or was expected soon to be, practicable. As there is
never any backwardness among British troops to occupy
the post of danger, when it is pointed out to them, so
the pubfication of the order just alluded to was hailed
with loud acclamations. Every man upon parade, in-
deed, hastened to give in his name, nor was it without
occasioning much mortification to those whom he
determined to keep with their standards, that the
colonel finally made choice of ten men per troop for
performing this novel service. But the joy of the
favoured few, and the envy of the rejected many,
proved in the end to have been equally misplaced..
Q
242 THE LIGHT DEAGOON.
After we had paraded several times on foot by our-
selves, and were now looking for the route from hour
to hour, the arrival of a fresh European regiment in
camp caused us to return to our horses. With three
British regiments, the general conceived that he was
Strong enough to storm a town, of which the garrison
was understood not to fall short of fifteen thousand
men; and with three British regiments^ supported by
a considerable body of sepoys, the assault was finally
delivered.
I can give no account from my own personal obser-
vation of anything that went on in the trenches, either
during the process of digging and laying the mine by
which it was proposed to enlarge the main breach, or
just before the mine was sprung. It was reported in
the camp, indeed, that a serious accident occurred:
that the troops being formed for the assault edged too
near to the loaded chamber of the mine, and that the
explosion, though it tore the enemy's defences to pieces,
was scarcely less fatal to us, by blowing up the leading
company of the 14th regiment, and killing a good many
men in the company that followed. These things may
or may not have happened. All that I know on the
subject is, that having been moved up on the day of
the assault to the edge of the wood, we sat on horseback
from an early hour in the morning, watching with
breathless anxiety for the report, which we were given
to understand would at once open out the way for the
advance of our comrades, and act as the signal for the
rush.
It is marvellous with what a slow and heavy step the
moments pass by when men are thus circumstanced.
I thought that the clocks would never strike nine, and
yet the hands were moving that day as they usually do,
neither faster nor slower. We spoke to one another,
too, in whispers, as if there had been risk of creating an
alarm, which there was not; and vainly and eagerly we
strove to catch so much as a glimpse of the scene of
action, through the thick branches that interposed be-
tween us and the town. At last one of our officers,
who had repeatedly consulted his watch, said aloud, as
if speaking to himself, "We'll have it soon, for it is
close upon the hour." He had scarcely uttered the
words, when a far-off cheer was heard. A boom of
■cannon and a rattle of musketry, and then, and not till
THE LIGHT DBA&OOH.
m
then, we heard the roar of an ignited mine, and we
knew that the struggle was begnn in earnest. I never
looked upon an object with deeper and more breathless
interest than upon the wreath of smoke, which, like a
vapour, rose above the branches. It was the canopy
beneath which brave men fought and died; it was the
shroud in which not a few of them had been enwrapped
ere to our eyes it became visible.
If I except the untimely explosion of the mine, of
which, however, I can speak only on the authority of
vague rumour, no arrangements could have been more
judiciously entered into, or more skilfully carried out,
than those which led the way to the storming of Bhurt-
pore, and aided in its capture. While the troops were
moved over night into the trenches, and stood ready to
spring forward at the appointed signal, all the drum-
mers and musicians remained in the camp, where,
beating the reveillie, and executing the signals that
were usual on days of perfect quiet, they did their best
to prevent a suspicion from entering into the minds of
the garrison that the crisis of their fate was come.
How far the device succeeded, I cannot pretend to say.
The heavy firing which followed the explosion of the
mine showed, that never for an instant had the breaches
Been left unguarded; and the tenacity with which the
defenders held them good, was vouched for by its long
continuance.
We were deeply interested in a scene, of which we
would have given worlds to become spectators, when
the adjutant, who was employed to look out, suddenly
reported that the British ensign waved upon the top of
the ramparts. In a moment all was excitation and
bustle. A loud, long cheer, so soon as we felt ourselves
firmly in the saddle, caused the glades and deeper re-
cesses of the forest to ring, and away we went at full
gallop, in order to intercept a body of horsemen, whom
the adjutant had observed to emerge from one of the
more distant gates of the fortress, almost as soon as the
British standard began to wave from the summit of the
breach. Not unobserved, however, by the garrison, albeit
sharply engaged with our infantry on their own ground,
was this our forward movement. They turned upon us
instantly some six or eight guns, the balls from which
passed over, or in front, or on either side of us-; yet,
Q2
244
THE LIGHT DBAG00N.
witli two exceptions, all proved harmless, and we held
our onward course unchecked. One man was cut in
two close by my side. The other shot struck a horse,
and sorely wounded his hinder-quarters ; hut these
were the only instances in which the enemy's fire told,
though it was both well-directed and warmly sustained.
Being now within two or three hundred yards of the
fort, our riflemen, of whom I was one, were sent out
to skirmish. Away we dashed, ten of us keeping well
together; and, disregarding the shower of balls that fell
around us, we succeeded in gaining the edge of a large
pond or tank, the high banks of which, together with
those of some salt-pans adjoining to it, rendered us
tolerably safe from the artillery practice of the enemy.
Here we extended our files, which we had scarcely
done, ere I found myself opposite to some twenty or
thirty horsemen, whom, judging from their long robes
and magnificent turbans, I put down in my own mind
as nothing less than the rajah himself, and some of his
immediate attendants, endeavouring to effect their
escape. I tried to pull up and get a shot at them; but
ere I could. do so, one of their body took deliberate
arm at me, and his ball struck the ground just under
the nose of my charger. I returned his fire, and saw
him bend over his saddle-bow, at the instant that a
ball from somebody else splashed into my cloak and
lodged there. But the party, of whatever class of men
it might consist, did not finger long where they first
confronted us. The 59th having by this time won the
ramparts in their rear, opened upon them a heavy fire
of musketry. Whereupon they gave the spur to their
steeds, and without so much as pausing to observe what
might be in front, they galloped off towards the point
where egress into the open country was most imme-
diate.
The salt-pan lying between us and the fugitives, we
could not dash in upon them; ^but away we flew as
fast as our horses would carry us, rounding that ob-
struction, and striving, if possible, to head them. At
last we arrived, one by one, at a road which led directly
to one of the gates of the city; and the scene of confu-
sion which there opened on me I shall never forget.
Torth from the gateway and over the drawbridge
rushed multitudes of fugitives, whom our victorious
infantry closely pursued; and the slaughter which was
THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
245
effected by tbe bayonet, by musketry, and by tbe
crushing of man upon man, I have no language suf-
ficiently frightful to describe. Neither were we without
our incidents, the excitement attending which at the
moment was very great. For example, the first objects
that arrested my attention, on rounding a corner of the
road, were Serjeant Waldron, of our regiment, and a
ferocious-looking Rajpoot, savagely confronting one
another. The serjeant having discharged his pistol,
had his horse drawn up to a position well-nigh rampant,
while the Fajpoot, who stood within six yards of him,
was taking deliberate aim at him with his carabine. I
saw that there was not a moment to be lost. I thrust
both spurs into my horse's flanks, and, while in the act
of advancing, I took aim, fired, and brought the Raj-
poot dead to the ground.
Serjeant Waldron sprang forward to meet me, gave
me his hand, and thanked me for his life; after which we
drew our swords, and dashed into the midst of the fugi-
tives. Numbers were cut down, some with arms,
others without, till by and by the survivors lost all
heart, and entreated us to spare them. We had no
mind to kill men who offered no resistance; so, desir-
ing them to throw down their arms one by one as they
approached, we saw them gallop or scamper off, and
never once troubled our heads to inquire whither they
were going. Yet there was one little group in that mis-
cellaneous crowd which I must claim credit for having
saved from insult, and guarded to a place of safety. I
saw two fine-looking women, whom a band, apparently
of servants, followed, make one or two efforts to pass,
yet continually shrink back again. Upon this I rode
forward, and making myself understood by signs rather
than by words, I volunteered to be their protector;
they gratefully gave themselves up to my guidance, and
I had the satisfaction to carry them uninjured through
the throng, and to see them ride off in a direction
where all was clear, after I had received from them the
most gratifying acknowledgments.
Having seen them safe, I returned to my former
station, time enough to witness the barbarity with
which a corps of Sepoys cut down the fugitives by
whole sections. Not having any particular delight in
scenes like these, I rode aside, and going up to my
Rajpoot, who lay where my ball had dropped him, I
246 THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
observed, to my surprise, that bis carabine was of
English manufacture, and that it bore, besides the
common Tower mark, the number 1800. Meanwhile,
however, my comrades had moved off in a different
direction, so, conceiving that I was bound to follow, I
gave my horse the rein, and tried to trace them. In
this effort I crossed several fields, in the far corner of
one of which I came upon a single Eajpoot, who seemed
to have posted himself there over a heap of loose armour,
and who, on my calling to him to surrender, instantly
placed himself in an attitude of defence. I rode at him,
delivered a heavy blow on the top of his head, felt that
the sword had made no impression, yet saw him falL
The fact is, that the weight of my blow stunned him,
even while the solidity of his turban hindered -the edge
from penetrating. I did not stop to repeat the blow,
which was clearly not mortal, inasmuch as he turned
himself round as I passed, and spat at me; but I was
too anxious to rejoin my regiment to think of avenging
the insult/ and therefore left him with a whole skm in.
the mud.
In prosecuting my search after my missing comrades
I passed several spots of ground, which, cumbered with
dead men and horses, as well Europeans as native,
besides broken arms, torn garments, caps, turbans, and
so forth, exhibited manifold signs of a battle stoutly
maintained. By and by I plunged into the wood; and
there, too, as I afterwards learned, a warm skirmish
had occurred, many of the Bhurtporeans climbing up
into the trees, and shooting our men from their percnes.
Of these almost all were put to death; yet in the heat
of that wild affray a little incident occurred, of which,
because of the merit due to Major Smith, the chief
actor in the scene, and because of the evidence which
it affords of the absence from modern warfare of all
feelings that brutalize and degrade, I am bound to
make mention. A poor native child, of singularly in-
teresting appearance, had fled with his father from the
fort. The party to which the father 'belonged fell in
with our people in the wood, and a warm struggle en-
sued. In the course of this skirmish the unfortunate
man was killed, whereupon the child, throwing himself
down beside the dead body of his father* wept bitterly,
in apparent regardlessness of the thousand deaths by
which he was surrounded. Major Smith, of the 11th,
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
247
being greatly touched at the scene, rode forward, and
causing his native servant to interpret for him, pro-
mised to be a protector to the chid. He faithfully
redeemed the pledge. The child was removed from the
field of slaughter to the major's tent,- and was finally,
at the major's expense, established in life.
The town was now our own, and the pursuit of the
fugitives having been carried far enough, the trumpets
and bugles sounded the recal, and we formed up in
obedience to it. I shall never forget the shocking
spectacles that greeted me, as I rode towards the ill-fated
city, and still more after I had passed beneath the gate-
way. In every direction, along the road, beneath the
arched gateway, strewed over the old city, under the
ramparts and above them, the dead lay in hundreds £
the mangled bodies of women—ay, and of children too,
being intermingled with the carcasses of slaughtered
warriors. Of the wounded, moreover, not a few ex-
hibited towards us the most malignant feelings. One
man had been cut down as he was in the act of scat-
tering over a narrow causeway handfuls of crowsfeet—
a vile implement, which has three long sharp spikes,
one of which always turns uppermost, inflicting painful
and desperate wounds, both on men and horses. He
was not dead when I passed him, and though his arm
had lost its power to throw his horrid implement to;
any distance, he nevertheless strove to shove one under
me, and spat at me in impotent fury. Others I beheld,
whose garments had taken fire from the explosion of
their own pouches. These not only rejected our assist-
anee, but covered us with execrations when we advanced
to proffer it. In a word, the spirit with which the gar-,
rison was imbued, seemed to have been one of the
wildest fanaticism; which needed but the guidance of
some mind of higher order than that of the rajah to
render it irresistible.
The booty taken in Bhurtpore was, I have reason to
believe, immense: a large portion of which went, I sus-
pect, in indiscriminate pillage among the assailants and
the followers; yet enough was secured to give to the
commander-in-chief a very handsome donative, and to
each private soldier, native as well as European, be-
tween forty and fifty rupees. In the citadel, which
held out one day after the town, little was found of
value. Three deserters were, however, recovered; one
248
the light dragoon.
of whom was tried, and tlie next day shot, while the
remaining two were condemned to transportation for
life, and an existence, whether long or short, in chains,
hard labour, and close imprisonment.
CHAPTER XXVII.
Changes of quarters—Peaceable adventures—Failing health—Back
to England, and discharge.
Such is a brief and necessarily imperfect narrative of
the siege and capture of Bhurtpore, an event, on the
great political importance of which it would be ridicu-
lous for me to hazard an opinion. One fact, however,
is not only certain in itself, but was felt and acknow-
ledged at the moment throughout the whole of India—
namely, that there existed among the native powers a
sort of superstitious conviction that Bhurtpore would
never yield to the force of British genius or British
valour; and that, so long as Bhurtpore continued to
assert its independence, a rallying point would still be
left to the native chiefs, whenever they might make up
their minds to rebel. That idle, yet not harmless delu-
sion, the results of the siege in 1825 at once dispelled;
and not till this day has the effect of so unlooked-for a
defeat ceased to operate upon the humbled spirits of all
who witnessed it.
The siege being ended, and some of the principal
fortifications blown up, one or two regiments of native
infantry were left to complete the work of destruction;
while the rest of the army drew off, and encamped at
various points more or less distant from the trenches.
Our encampment was not far removed from the citadel,
nor had we occupied it long, ere a staff-officer came
in and desired that a troop might attend him, in pur-
suit of two or three loads of treasure which were under-
stood to have escaped. It so happened that my troop
was the first for duty; so away we went, carrying
neither forage nor provisions along with us; and for
two days, and as many nights, our toil and privations
were excessive. We penetrated through some tre-
mendous passes, which a handful of resolute men might
have held against an army, and more than once arrived
THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
249
at a village just in time to learn, that the treasure with
its escort had passed some hours previously, and was
gone, nobody could tell where. The result was, that
after having been reluctantly compelled to pillage
several villages, and to make free with the people's
fodder, we returned to camp not more rich than when
we set out; and had little else to show as a memorial of
our wild expedition, than horses more or less blemished,
and ourselves jaded well-nigh to death.
It was soon after the conclusion of this abortive ex-
cursion, that the deserter of whom I spoke a short
time ago was hung over one of the bastions, after
which the fortifications of the place were one after
another thrown down. This done, the troops received
orders to fall back towards their ancient stations, and
we in obeying it had an opportunity of visiting several
places of great and deserved repute among the people
of Hindoostan. Among others we passed through
Agra, where I beheld the superb tomb of the Shah
Schan and his favourite wife, a structure so gorgeous,
that any attempt to describe it, even with the pencil,
would be preposterous. It stands upon a terrace con-
fronting the river, the whole of which is paved in mo-
saic; and, being itself composed entirely of beautiful
white marble, offers, with its four minarets and its
noble stair of ascent, one of the most magnificent spe-
cimens of a very peculiar style of architecture that
the imagination of man can conceive. Here, too, are
the tombs of several ministers of state, scarcely less
magnificent, though formed of different kinds of stone,
some being red, others of a darker colour; yet all strik-
ingly beautiful. But I must not dwell upon subjects
with which I feel myself inadequate to deal. Bather
let me return to my own personal narrative, of which
little more remains to be told; inasmuch as life in
India to a private soldier has, for the most part, too
much of sameness in it to sanction any endeavour on
his part to draw out its details beyond the narrowest
limits.
On the 12th of March, 1826, we resumed our old
quarters at Cawnpore, through which, not long after
our arrival, passed the ex-raj an of Bhurtpore, on his way
as a state prisoner to Calcutta. And here I am reluc-
tantly compelled to acknowledge, that a disposition to
carry to a terrible excess all the vices that appertain
250 THE LIGHT DRAGOON.
to this country showed itself in our regiment, and
especially among the remains of the volunteers from the
8th. The habit, indeed, of drunkenness became so
confirmed among us that there was no making head
against it; and frequent attempts at assassination, not
always, I grieve to say, abortive, were the consequence.
I cannot, in terms sufficiently strong, caution my bro-
ther soldiers against the folly, as well as the wicked-
ness, of yielding themselves up to so terrible a vice.
Even if they be preserved from dipping their hands in
the blood of their fellow-creatures, they are sure, under
the influence of its madness, to be hurried into actions
which must cover them with shame, and entail on them
long years of fruitless remorse. But I know by expe-
rience how little the experience of others is, by giddy
young men, apt to be regarded. I can, therefore, serve
them in nothing more effectually, than by expressing
my earnest wish that they may buy the one, if buy it
they must, at a rate less ruinous than it has been my
fortune to see it purchased by others, whose prospects
for the future were at one time bright as a morning in
May.
If I except a visit which the Governor-general paid
us, and the occurrence of a frightful fire, by which both
barracks and stables were destroyed, there occurred
throughout the remaining months of the year nothing
of which I consider it necessary to make mention. The
fire in question cost us, I remember, a good many of
our horses; for besides that several perished ere we
could get them clear of the burning pile, not a few
scampered off into the heart of the country, and never
came .back to us again. My own brute was a perfect
devil, and chanced to be among the number of those,
which, finding themselves momentarily free from bit
and halter, tried to regain their liberty: but to my ex-
treme mortification the monster was one day brought
back. He was a perfect scarecrow when he came, and
I heartily regretted that I was ever so unfortunate as
to see him again.
From Cawnpore we moved to Meerut, where, since we
last occupied the station, the same accident had occur-
red which rendered ourselves, for a time, houseless.
We were therefore agreeably surprised to find a range
of new and commodious barracks thrown up for our
reception. We made ourselves as comfortable in them
the light dbagoon.
251
as circumstances would allow, and became witnesses, on
one occasion, to such a fall of hailstones as I, at least,
never beheld in any part of Europe. The blocks of
ice, for they were nothing less, measured, many of
them, a full inch in length; and they fell with such
violence, as not only to destroy the blossom, and even
the upper branches of the fruit-trees, but seriously to
injure the people that were abroad, and here and there
to kill their cattle. I confess that, as I gazed abroad
upon the phenomenon, my thoughts reverted to the
account which Moses gives of a similar judgment in-
dieted on the Egyptians long ago : and I could not but
feel, that had this continued many hours longer, there
would have been little left for the locusts to glean, had
supreme power determined that they should come to
complete the ruin which the elements had begun.
Our life in India was not, however, entirely a strange
intermixture of military duty, and dissipation, and
sheer idleness. We had, both at Meerut and elsewhere,
our more rational amusements also. For example, while
we lay at Meerut, Mr. Wolf, the well-known mis-
sionary, paid us a visit, and his discourses, for he
preached to us by the commandant's permission, were,
if not very edifying, at all events abundantly strange.
He gave us a detailed account of his wanderings—of
the persecutions to which he had been subjected, and
of the fragments of the scattered tribes which he had,
discovered in various places. Hay, he was so impru-
dent as to venture into the field of prophecy itself, and
to fix the year 1846, as that in which the restoration of
Israel shall take place. We looked at one another, not
knowing very well what to make of the speaker, so long
as he confined himself to details like these; but when
be proceeded to assure us that he had cast out devils,
and to describe the very process by which the opera-
tion was carried through, we could not stand his palaver
any longer. It is a rash thing in these days to assume
the character either of a prophet, or a worker of
miracles.
Again, the country round Meerut abounding with
game, we were permitted, from time to time, to go out
in quest of it; and in parties of six or eight we passed
many a pleasant day, and even week, in the jungle. But
with me, as well as with many more, the season of en-
joyment passed rapidly away, and dilapidated constitu-
252
THE LIGHT DBAGOON.
tions, as well as great bodily weakness, warned ns that
it was high time to tbink of retirement, and of a prepa-
ration for another, and a still more momentous change.
Accordingly, in the beginning of 1835 I applied for my
discharge, and the necessary papers being made out, I
began, in the month of February, in company with
invalids from many other corps, my march towards
Calcutta. It is not worth while to describe at length
the particulars of that journey. It was not a pleasant
one, for it was performed chiefly by water; and of in-
valids, whom no officer looks after, even native boat-
men take less care than they might do. Nevertheless,
after suffering various inconveniences, we reached the
capital of British India, just in time to learn that the
last ship of the season had sailed. The consequence
was, that up to the month of January, in 1836, we
lingered amid the heat and squalor of Calcutta. Then,
however, berths being found for us on board the teak-
built ship the Hungerford, such of us as had survived
the miseries of the last ten months embarked for Eng-
land.
We had upon the whole a pleasant passage. Some
trifling accidents occurred, such as the death of a man
whom a shark devoured while bathing, and the loss of
another, who fell overboard; and we had our own share
of enjoyments, especially when at anchor off the Cape,
whence supplies of fresh provisions, wines, and vege-
tables, were brought to us. But why continue these
details? On the 25th of May we disembarked at
Gravesend; from that place we marched to Chatham,
and there, after an interval of three weeks, I at length
obtained my discharge. I cannot say that the remu-
neration allotted to me was too great; for my pension,
after so many years' service, amounts only to tenpence
a-day, and I am by far too much worn out to add to it
greatly by personal exertion.
THE END.
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