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The Life of a Regimental Officer

During the Great War, 1793-1815




  The Life of

  A Regimental Officer

  During the Great War

  1793-1815


  COMPILED FROM THE CORRESPONDENCE OF

  COLONEL SAMUEL RICE, C.B., K.H.

  51ST LIGHT INFANTRY

  _AND FROM OTHER SOURCES_

  BY

  LIEUT.-COL. A. F. MOCKLER-FERRYMAN


  William Blackwood and Sons
  Edinburgh and London
  1913

  _ALL RIGHTS RESERVED_




PREFACE.


The period of English history covered by the contents of this book
is one of very considerable interest, for within that period Great
Britain rose to be a mighty power, saving Europe from destruction,
and gathering to herself the commerce of the world. One has only
to glance at a chronological table of events to satisfy oneself
that, from 1793 to 1815, the British Navy and British Army fought
continuously and desperately in the making of the Empire, winning
many great and glorious victories by sea and by land, and handing
down to posterity the names of British sailors and soldiers to be
sworn by as long as the British Empire shall exist. It was an age of
heroic deeds by heroic men. Let us call to mind how the Navy fought
at Cape St Vincent, Camperdown, the Nile, Copenhagen, and Trafalgar;
and how the Army fought in the Peninsula and at Waterloo. Let us
think of the countless minor expeditions in all parts of the world in
which army and navy together added to their laurels; of such sailors
as Nelson, Cochrane, Collingwood, Duncan, Hood, Hawke, Howe, Hotham,
Jervis, and others, and of such soldiers as Wellington, Moore, and
all the former's famous generals; and let us remember that it was by
such victories, won by such men, that England gained her place in the
world.

The stories of the lives of the great soldiers have been written over
and over again; we know all about their strategy and their tactics,
and how they guided the machines confided to their care; but of the
lesser men, who, as it were, helped to turn the wheels of, or to
apply oil to, the machinery, we know very little. Without their aid
the machine must have come to a stop; and how they kept it going
deserves to be remembered.

Samuel Rice, extracts from many of whose letters will be found in
the following pages, was one of a host of Englishmen who played
a part--even though it may have been an insignificant one--in
the making of the Empire. He was, in every sense of the word,
a Regimental Officer--one who never sought and never accepted
employment outside the Regiment. Joining the 51st in 1793 as Ensign,
he served with it, in good times and in bad, until 1831, the last
fourteen years in command. He represents a type not uncommon at the
commencement of the last century; and, at that period, probably most
regiments of the British army contained men of the same stamp, who
cared nothing for personal honour or glory, who cared little for the
good or bad opinion of their superior officers, but who lived for
THE REGIMENT, finding their reward in a conscientious performance of
regimental duty, and content to let their own actions go unnoticed
so long as they helped to uphold the reputation of their beloved
Regiment.

Nowadays, such men, from force of circumstances, are rare. The
British officer can no longer afford to remain with his regiment;
for, even if he is fortunate enough to possess sufficient private
means to do so, he can stay in the regiment for only a limited number
of years, and is forced to make way for others when still in the
prime of life. And there are wider reasons for the disappearance of
the regimental officer of the old school. Modern methods of warfare,
resulting from the improvement in weapons and the invention of new
means of locomotion and communication, require deeper thought and
deeper study than was accorded to military matters by our ancestors.
It is not enough that the officer of to-day should be acquainted only
with such things as pertain to his own branch of the service; for he
must be conversant with the tactics of all arms, and he must know a
hundred and one other things which he cannot learn by remaining with
his regiment. Furthermore, the officer who nowadays has no ambition
beyond regimental soldiering is liable to be regarded as lacking in
zeal and efficiency; and if he allows himself to drift along into the
regimental backwater, he is bound to find his progress barred before
very long. But he has advantages such as his ancestors never had.
By passing examinations he can qualify himself to hold appointments
on the staff, and he can obtain other living-wage employment away
from his regiment. A century ago there was nothing of this kind;
examinations were little indulged in; and it is not too much to
say that the majority of the staff officers came to the front and
remained in the front by personal (and often political) interest--by
a system of nepotism pure and simple. The officer, therefore, who
knew that he had no friend at court to push him on made up his mind
to remain with his regiment, and trust to good fortune to bring
him rapid promotion. He affected to despise the staff officer as
a butterfly and a place-seeker, and he threw all his heart into
his regimental duties. If proof of the value of these regimental
officers is wanting, it will be found, writ large, in the account of
every Peninsular fight, and by the aid of these men was Wellington's
fame built up. "Their most marked characteristics," says Colonel
Henderson, when discussing in his 'Science of War' the officers
of the Light Division regiments, "were that when they were left
alone they almost invariably did the right thing; that they had no
hesitation in assuming responsibility; that they could handle their
regiments and companies, if necessary, as independent units; and that
they consistently applied the great principle of mutual support."
Such were the regimental officers who had received their initial
training under the guidance of Sir John Moore, and such was Samuel
Rice, of the 51st Regiment, himself one of the earliest disciples of
that great master of the art of war.

By way of apology for bringing to notice a man unknown to fame, and
who had no pretensions to be considered famous, I may, perhaps, be
permitted to explain that, in putting this book together, my aim has
been not so much to give a biographical sketch of one individual as
to describe the lot of an ordinary regimental officer of the period;
and it seems to me that there is no more satisfactory way of doing
this than by following the career of one officer, chosen to represent
the type. With such an object in view, I believe that it would be
difficult to find a more suitable representative than Colonel Samuel
Rice, who served with the same regiment for upwards of thirty-eight
years--possibly in itself a record. Moreover, he fought with his
regiment in 1793, at the very commencement of England's great war in
Europe, and he saw the final shots fired in 1815. From what is known
of his character, it is probable that Samuel Rice would have been
the last person to have desired notoriety; but his descendants have
preserved, hitherto unpublished, letters written by him one hundred
and twenty years ago, and I have thought that some of these, showing
as they do the ways of the military world when England's reputation
was being made, are of sufficient general interest to be worthy of
publication.


My best thanks are due to Miss Lucy Augusta Rice for the loan of her
great-uncle's papers, and to the past and present officers of the
King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry--the old 51st--for information
concerning their gallant regiment.

  A. F. MOCKLER-FERRYMAN.

  ST JOHN'S HOUSE,
  TAVISTOCK.




CONTENTS.


  CHAPTER I.

  STUDYING FOR THE ARMY.
                                                                PAGE

  Samuel Rice--Birth and parentage--Education--Sent to St
  Omer in 1792--French Revolution--Preparations for war--French
  hussars and their moustaches--Massacre of
  aristocrats--Expulsion of Jesuits--Founding of Stoneyhurst
  College--Duke of Brunswick's manifesto--Citizen Rice--French
  victories over Prussians and Austrians--Troublous
  times--Rice returns to England                                   1


  CHAPTER II.

  ENSIGN OF THE 51ST.

  Rice joins the army--How commissions were obtained--The
  Purchase System--Officer's pay--Dress of officers--On
  board a transport--Disorder among the troops--Courts-martial--
  Flogging--Many false starts--Gibraltar--_Sans culottes_--
  Affairs at Toulon at the end of 1793--The 51st proceeds on
  active service--Evacuation of Toulon--Loss of the regimental
  baggage--Hyères Bay                                             14


  CHAPTER III.

  THE ATTACK ON CORSICA.

  Lieut.-Colonel John Moore--The British army in 1793--The
  officers--Moore interviews Admiral Lord Hood--England's
  position in the Mediterranean--Elba and Corsica--Horatio
  Nelson--Operations against St Fiorenzo--Origin of Martello
  towers--Operations against Bastia and against Calvi--Nelson
  loses an eye--Moore wounded--Rice's experiences--Surrender
  of Calvi--French driven from Corsica--Sickness
  among the troops                                                35


  CHAPTER IV.

  CORSICA WON AND LOST.

  Taking over the island--The life of a subaltern--Garrison
  gaieties--The Viceroy of Corsica--Misunderstandings--Disease
  and deaths--The 51st garrisons Corte--Corsican
  regiments--Sea-fights--Disaffection among the Corsicans--Pascal
  Paoli and Sir Gilbert Elliott--Bastia--General rising
  in favour of the French--Hasty evacuation of Corsica by
  the British--The army takes refuge in Elba                      56


  CHAPTER V.

  FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN TO CEYLON.

  The situation at Elba--News of Admiral Jervis's victory off
  Cape St Vincent--Evacuation of Elba--The 51st reaches
  Gibraltar--Moves to Lisbon--Napoleon's drastic methods--Position
  of Portugal--Rice a captain of light infantry--Naval
  warfare--Convoys--The 51st sails for the East
  Indies--Lands at the Cape of Good Hope--Arrives at
  Madras--Tippoo of Mysore--Prize-money and plunder--Ceylon--King
  of Kandy--A long and unfortunate war--Rice
  invalided--Affairs in Europe--The 51st returns to England       81


  CHAPTER VI.

  THE REFORM OF THE ARMY.

  Sir John Moore's great work--His treatment of regimental
  officers--He trains a brigade for war--Shorncliffe Camp--Light
  troops--Their origin and history--Discipline--Intelligent
  code--Napoleon's proposed invasion of England--Nelson's
  victory at Trafalgar--Regimental life--Uniform
  of 1808--The beginning of the Peninsular War--Sir Arthur
  Wellesley--Vimiera--Occupation of Lisbon                       102


  CHAPTER VII.

  THE CORUNNA CAMPAIGN, AND AFTER.

  Sir John Moore at Lisbon--The 51st accompanies Sir David
  Baird to Corunna--Situation in the Peninsula--Moore
  advances north--Baird ordered to co-operate--Napoleon's
  forced march from Madrid--Retreat on Corunna commences--
  Hardships--Lack of discipline--Good work of the 51st at
  Lugo--Corunna reached--The battle--Death of Sir John Moore--The
  51st arrives in England--The Walcheren Expedition--Wellesley's
  operations in the Peninsula in 1810                            126


  CHAPTER VIII.

  CAMPAIGNS OF 1811 IN THE PENINSULA.

  The 51st ordered to take the field--Joins Wellington's army--
  Condition of Portugal--Major Rice's letters--Beresford at
  Badajoz--Battle of Fuentes d'Onor--Major Rice has an
  "all-but"--The French escape from Almeida--Second siege
  of Badajoz--Assaults on St Christoval--Failure and withdrawal--
  The colours of the 51st--Strange episode--Regimental
  officers--Wellington's reticence--Winter quarters              145


  CHAPTER IX.

  CIUDAD RODRIGO AND BADAJOZ.

  Sports and amusements of the army--Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo--The
  covering force--Guarding snow-passes--Fall of the
  fortress--Marching south--Siege of Badajoz--Attempt to
  surprise Llerena--Disastrous night march--Storming of
  Badajoz--Wild scenes--Remarks on the battle of Albuhera--
  Wellington's plans--Indiscipline of the army--Marauding--
  Punishments--Peninsular generals--The soldiers' opinion of
  Wellington--Flogging in the army                               180


  CHAPTER X.

  SALAMANCA AND MADRID.

  Wellington isolates Marmont--Follows him to Salamanca--General
  Graham gives a ball--Major Rice's horse shot
  under him and afterwards eaten--Grand manœuvres--Battle
  of Salamanca--Rout of the French--Advance on Madrid--Triumphal
  entry into the capital--Capture of the Retiro--The
  51st marches with Wellington to Burgos--Abortive
  assaults--The bridge at Valladolid--French valour at
  Tordesillas--Retreat from Burgos--Drunkenness of the two
  armies--Brave regimental women--Affair at San Muños--Numerous
  stragglers--Major Rice invalided                               205


  CHAPTER XI.

  DRIVING THE FRENCH OUT OF SPAIN, 1813.

  Wellington reorganises his army--The situation discussed--The
  51st marches to the Esla river--Passage of the Esla--King
  Joseph--Battle of Vittoria--Complete victory--Flight
  of the king and his army--Marauding and drunkenness--Wellington's
  strictures--Pursuit to Pampeluna--The 51st reaches the Pyrenees--
  Sharp skirmishes--Siege of San Sebastian--A hard day's fighting--
  The French 51st Regiment--Regimental numbers--Capture of San
  Sebastian                                                      227


  CHAPTER XII.

  THE CLOSE OF THE PENINSULAR WAR.

  Young regimental officers--Their effect upon the campaign--
  Casualties in the 51st--Wellington plans the invasion of
  France--Crosses the Bidassoa--Fights his way into the
  Pyrenees--Major Rice commands the 51st at the battle of
  the Nivelle--Peninsular medals--Battles before Bayonne--A
  short winter's rest--Campaign of 1814--Battle of
  Orthes--With Beresford to Bordeaux--Toulouse--Napoleon
  abdicates--Peace                                               247


  CHAPTER XIII.

  THE WATERLOO CAMPAIGN.

  Napoleon escapes from Elba--Europe decides to crush him--The
  51st proceeds to Belgium--Lieut.-Colonel Rice commands
  the regiment--The situation at the beginning of
  June 1815--The French invasion--Quatre Bras and Ligny--The
  battle of Waterloo described--The part played by
  the 51st--Rout of the French--Flight of Napoleon--Honours
  and rewards--Colonel Rice's letter about the battle            273


  CHAPTER XIV.

  PARIS--AND PEACE.

  The advance on Paris--The storming of Cambray--Rapid
  pursuit by the Prussians--Last shots--Anecdote of a 51st
  officer--Friendly enemies--Paris occupied--Napoleon's fate--Life
  in the French capital--Return of the regiment--The
  beginning of the long peace--Garrison duty--New
  uniform--Ten years in the Ionian Isles--Colonel Rice
  concludes his regimental soldiering--His subsequent employment
  and death                                                      296


  INDEX                                                          313




THE LIFE OF A REGIMENTAL OFFICER DURING THE GREAT WAR,

1793-1815.




CHAPTER I.

STUDYING FOR THE ARMY.


Samuel Rice was born at Chislehurst on the 19th August 1775, and was
the son of John Rice, one of an old Welsh family long established
at Mydfai (Mythvey).[1] His mother was a daughter of Samuel Plumbe,
who had married the sister of Henry Thrale, M.P., the then sole
proprietor of what subsequently became Barclay & Perkins' Brewery,
and the husband of the lady who has been named by posterity "Dr
Johnson's Mrs Thrale."

Being one of a family of thirteen, young Rice was fortunate in
having grandparents possessed of the wherewithal to give their
grandchildren a start in life, and possessed, moreover, of sufficient
intelligence to assure themselves that the money spent on education
was well laid out. It is, perhaps, remarkable that, although very
ordinary boys at school and not above getting into scrapes, all of
John Rice's seven sons entered honourable professions and did well.
The eldest took Holy Orders; two were in the Royal Navy; two in the
Army; and two were lawyers, one of the latter becoming an Indian
judge and receiving the honour of knighthood. John Rice himself, who
was an only child, had been at Eton, but his sons were educated at
Cheam (Mr Gilpin's), and Samuel, the second son, remained there until
1792, when, as was customary in those days, he was sent abroad to
learn French before entering the army.

Those were stirring times. France was in a state of revolution,
with her king and queen in prison; a republican Government on the
point of being established, and Continental Europe up in arms, with
the hope of being able to restore order in the country and prevent
the excesses which were likely to result from the indiscipline of a
republican army in league with the mob. At first England maintained a
strict neutrality, and held aloof from interference with the internal
affairs of France; thus, when, in the spring of 1792, Sam Rice took
up his residence at St Omer (some twenty miles from Calais), he found
the French well-disposed towards his countrymen, though he, the true
British boy of the period, was disinclined to regard his new hosts
otherwise than as the natural enemies of his country.

In spite of the fact that he was kept hard at work, learning not only
French, but also drawing, fencing, and dancing, he appears, from
his letters home, to have found leisure for shooting, fishing, and
riding, and he thoroughly enjoyed the change of scene as well as the
novelty of being at a tutor's instead of at school. On this subject
he wrote, soon after his arrival in France, to his elder brother,
then at Cambridge--

  "It gives me great pleasure to feel myself freed of my
  leading-strings, and to be my own master, doing what I will
  without being scolded and sworn at. I am like the Frenchmen; I
  like Liberty; but I think they have carried theirs too far, and
  will not do well without a little more steadiness. We find our own
  wine; I have bought for the present two dozen of claret and one of
  Burgundy. _You_ cannot afford to drink such wine."

This matter of wine, which in those days was considered a necessity
even for a young gentleman of barely seventeen, eventually led Sam
Rice to complain to his father about the scanty allowance which he
made him. Twenty guineas a-year for extras, including clothes, was,
he said, a ridiculously small sum upon which to attempt to "live as
other gentlemen do"; and he summed up his necessary annual expenses
as follows: "Wine (weak stuff), half a bottle a-day, and occasionally
giving to friends, eight guineas; washing, hairdressing, and hair
powder, six guineas." His appeal, however, had little effect, and on
his father's refusal to increase his allowance, the young student cut
down his wine bill in order to have more money to spend on shooting.

That he benefited by his sojourn abroad is evident from the letters
which he wrote in French to his father from time to time; and his
knowledge of the language proved of the greatest value to him in
after life. Living as he did at St Omer, in an atmosphere of military
preparedness for war, he acquired at an early age habits of careful
observation; he learned also to form his own opinions and to use his
own judgment, and he became imbued with the true military spirit. His
remarks on the situation as he found it at St Omer in 1792 are of
interest--

  "St Omer," he wrote, "is well fortified with ramparts and flanked
  with bastions; and there are several drawbridges before you get
  out of the town, which, of course, makes it very inaccessible, if
  well garrisoned. But the worst part is that they have got such a
  few meagre dogs that, I am sure, at the sight of an Austrian army
  they would be glad to accept of any terms of capitulation. To be
  sure there is one battalion of Swiss, who are undoubtedly good
  soldiers; but I believe that it is generally thought that they will
  not fight, because the Swiss remain neutral, and they cannot fight
  against the Germans, as they are allies. The people do not seem
  much afraid of the Austrians;[2] they stump and bully now, but
  when the enemy comes a little closer, I am very much mistaken if
  they will not draw in their horns."

Again, a little later, he wrote--

  "There is a great preparation for war here. I don't know how many
  hundred men are employed every day in repairing the batteries, in
  forming new ones, and in making new drawbridges, as well as in
  cutting rivers to surround the town. All this is done by order of
  General Lukener. Also vast quantities of stores and ammunition are
  daily brought into the town, and hay in abundance, for I never
  walk out of the town but I meet twenty or thirty waggon-loads of
  hay coming from the country to be laid up in the town in case
  of want. I heard yesterday that a party of hussars belonging to
  the French had killed no less than four hundred of the Austrian
  cavalry, but that General Gouire (or some such name), a French
  general, was killed. I cannot say that this is a fact; but, if it
  is, most likely you will have heard of it before this reaches you.
  Some gentlemen from here have been to see the camps at Valenciennes
  and Lille, and all along the side of French Flanders, which they
  say are so strongly entrenched that it will be impossible for the
  enemy to come into the country. They saw ten thousand hussars pass
  them all at once as they were in their carriage, and had to wait
  four hours to let the cannons pass. All the hussars had great
  moustaches, which gave them a savage appearance."

The wearing of moustaches by the French cavalry was a new idea, and
the infantry soon adopted the same method of producing a "savage
appearance." The British soldier of the period, on the other hand,
prided himself on his clean-shaved face, with, at the most, a
suspicion of side whisker, cut square with the line of the mouth.
"Shaved clean, and with the hair neatly tied and powdered," was the
regulation. Moustaches were not worn in the British army until many
years after Waterloo, and the order to wear them was received with
suspicion and dislike, being regarded as an attempt to Frenchify the
British army. It is recorded of one famous cavalry regiment that the
officers paid no attention to the order until the inspecting general
made strong comments on their shaved upper lips, and ordered the
colonel to enforce the moustache regulation. Within a few days each
officer appeared on parade fully equipped with a false moustache,
and this appendage was removed when parade was over. How long this
continued is not stated, but for a long time the officers of this
particular regiment were observed to be clean shaved when in plain
clothes and heavily moustached when in uniform. The British infantry
shaved the upper lip almost up to Crimean times.

But the Frenchmen's moustaches did not impress young Rice in 1792,
for he regarded the Republican soldiers as effete and useless,
and likely to become an easy prey to the invading Austrians and
Prussians. His dislike for the French as a nation was intense, and
he prayed for their downfall. "I think the French," he wrote, "a
parcel of d--d rascals, and I heartily hope the Austrians will give
them a good thrashing. We are to have a garrison of six thousand men
here, for they expect this town to be attacked by the Austrians, who
propose to burn the place by firing red-hot bullets, and so pass
over its ashes to Brussels." As events turned out, St Omer was not
attacked, but it was hardly the place for quiet study, and it is
wonderful that, under such circumstances, the boy learned anything.
As an experience, his seven months' residence in France must have
been full of interest and excitement. He lived, as it were, on
the outskirts of the fight--at times with the enemy's guns within
earshot, and he constantly saw troops marching to the front to the
tune of "Ça ira." He lived also in the midst of the Revolution,
for although St Omer itself was comparatively quiet, the accounts
which came from Paris sickened him and filled him with righteous
indignation. In one of his letters he mentions that he has just
heard of the massacre of some thousands of Aristocrats in Paris, and
he gives vent to his feelings in no measured terms. "The cruelties
and barbarities which have been committed will ever be a stain upon
the national character. This French nation, which was once the most
gentle, has now by its cruelties rendered itself the most savage and
barbarous. I am now a strong Aristocrat, and I should imagine that
people in England who favoured the Revolution must have changed
their opinions since the recent horrible massacre in Paris."

It was, however, one thing to declare himself an Aristocrat in a
letter home, but quite another thing to let it be known in St Omer,
and he admits sailing under false colours, in that he wore "the
cockaded tricolour, decreed by the National Assembly." He excuses
himself thus: "If you were to appear without one, you would be mobbed
and called 'Aristocrat' by every saucy boy in the street. So much so
that one of the actors last night at the Playhouse, during the time
he was performing, was shouted to for his cockade, and they would not
let him perform without it. One of the others brought him one, which
he put to his breast, but that did not satisfy the audience, for they
shouted again _à chapeau_, and he was obliged to put it in his hat,
to save himself from a broken head."

Though Sam Rice held French revolutionary methods in general
abhorrence, he appears to have approved of the treatment dealt out to
the religious orders, for, in describing events at St Omer, he says:
"The nuns are all going to be turned out of their convents, and also
the friars. Most of them have been sent away, and there only remains
one church of them, from which they will be speedily dislodged.
There were twelve capital houses with nice gardens which those
rascals the monks inhabited--one for each, and they were allowed a
considerable sum for their maintenance; but now the people have seen
what rogues they were, and have turned them out neck and crop, and
have sent them into the country to live upon twelve pounds a-year.
Their library and church are turned into magazines for hay and
different stores, and all the religious houses are to be converted
into barracks for the soldiers." It is perhaps worthy of remark that
eighteen of these persecuted Jesuit fathers of St Omer were granted,
in 1794, an asylum in England, and, bringing with them several of
their pupils, founded Stonyhurst College, for the education of Roman
Catholics.

As time went on, the cloud over France grew blacker, and by the end
of August the young English student was rejoicing in the thought
that the defeat of the French army by the Allies was about to be
realised, though he gave the French credit for offering a stubborn
resistance. "The French," he wrote on the 28th August (1792), "now
that they have so long enjoyed their liberty, will never, I think,
submit to a despotic government, and I believe that some would sooner
blow themselves up in their towns than capitulate. They seem not to
have the least idea that the enemy can enter into the kingdom, but
I am very much of opinion that he will do so sooner than the French
expect, and in that event the Prussians[3] will play the devil with
them. The Duke of Brunswick in his manifesto was very severe. He
said that all who did not submit to him, when his troops presented
themselves before the towns, would be put, every one, to the sword,
when taken; and he wrote especially to the Parisians, against whom
he has vowed vengeance. Three parts of the officers of the army
which was Lafayette's have deserted, and Lukener is suspended. It was
reported that Lafayette had deserted, but it is said now that he has
been stopped in endeavouring to escape with the _caisse militaire_.
In my opinion, the situation is very bad. Longwy, a town on the
frontier, is besieged by the Prussians. If they take it (and most
probably they will), they may march straight for Paris, as there are
no other fortified towns to obstruct their passage. Success attend
them! I long to hear of their arrival at Paris. We are very quiet at
St Omer, and most probably we shall continue so, as the Prussians do
not seem to be inclined to make their attack on this side. _Wednesday
evening._--I have just read in the 'Gazette' that Longwy is taken.
The King of Prussia, at the head of his army, made the attack, and
took the town in less than fifteen hours."

On the 7th September, just after the news of the September massacres
had reached him, he discussed the situation again: "The Allies
have already taken two towns--Longwy and Verdun, and there are no
fortified towns between them and Paris, but it seems to me that
they cannot reach Paris without an immense army, otherwise they
will be cut to pieces by the French armies. They say that on Sunday
and Monday two thousand Aristocrats were massacred in Paris in the
prisons."

His next letter was dated October 3, and in it he makes no mention
of the brilliant victory of the French at Valmy, where, on the 20th
September, Kellermann defeated the Prussians under the Duke of
Brunswick, and thus gave heart to the Republican forces. He must
have known of the victory, and he may have already referred to it in
a letter which has not been preserved, for he seems to have begun
to fear that all was not going well with the Allies. "I make no
doubt but what you have heard," he says, "that Lille is besieged. My
father, I am afraid, will be anxious for my safety, but I assure you
as yet there is nothing to cause anxiety; neither do I think that
there will be. It is not possible that they can take Lille, as it
is one of the strongest towns in France, and has a garrison which
is determined to hold out to the last. They have kept up a brisk
cannonading for these two or three days past, and even here I can
hear the report of the cannons very distinctly. Most people think
that it is only a false attack to draw off the French armies from
Verdun, where the Prussians are being kept blocked up. I think this
most probable, as they would never attempt to attack such a place
as Lille with only 20,000 men. Lille is very much damaged, as the
enemy fire red-hot balls, which, of course, have set fire to a great
many houses. Numbers of people are saving themselves from Lille and
taking shelter in St Omer. They come, some in carriages, with their
children; others in carts, with their household furniture; and a
pitiful sight it is to see the poor women and children reduced to
such extremities. I was up at half after five this morning to see a
regiment depart for Lille, and I was very well amused for my pains.
The soldiers seemed to wear a melancholy air, though they marched
to the tune of 'Ça ira,' which generally gives them courage and
consolation."

The postscript to this letter shows that even an English visitor had
to fall in with republican views: "You must direct to me, '_A Citoien
Rice, chez Citoien Boudeille, Rue de l'Egalité, St Omer_,' for you
know that the title _Monsieur_ has been abolished."

With regard to Lille (Lisle) Citizen Rice's forecast was correct;
for, on the 7th October, the Prussians raised the siege and departed,
thus shattering Rice's hopes of a speedy occupation of Paris by
the Allies. The Duke of Brunswick's manifesto, which he mentioned
in a previous letter, did more harm than good, as the insolence of
its tone irritated the French into deposing their king forthwith,
massacring Aristocrats wholesale in Paris, and putting forth all
their strength to defeat the Austrians and Prussians. In this they
succeeded beyond all expectation, for the victory of Valmy was
repeated at Jemappes (November 6); and, a week later, the French
entered Brussels and occupied the Austrian Netherlands. St Omer
appears now to have settled down to comparative quiet, and the young
Englishman to his studies and amusements; but, before the end of
the year, his father began to be anxious about the state of affairs
in France, and wrote, "the complexion of the times is such as, in
my opinion, renders it no longer proper for a young man designed
for the British army to remain in France." The people of England
realised that the climax was approaching. A revulsion of feeling
against the French had set in with the suspension of King Louis in
August; the September massacres had increased it; and the arraignment
of the unfortunate king on December 11 raised it to boiling-point.
Neither was this all, for England saw in the high-handed acts of
the victorious Revolutionary leaders a menace to the "rights and
liberties of Europe."

Sam Rice, therefore, quitted France early in December, only a month
before his return would have been made compulsory by the French
Government, when, upon the execution of Louis XVI. (January 21,
1793), an open rupture occurred between England and France. His
education was now considered to be complete, and his father set to
work to obtain for him a commission in the army.




CHAPTER II.

ENSIGN OF THE 51ST.


On the 12th February 1793 (a few days after the declaration of war by
France against England and Holland), Samuel Rice was appointed to an
Ensigncy, by purchase, in the 51st Regiment (2nd West York).

At that time, under ordinary circumstances, young gentlemen obtained
commissions in the army in one of two ways. Free commissions were
granted to a limited number of the sons of officers who had performed
good service for their country, and all other commissions were
purchased, upon the recommendation of two or more officers of high
rank. There were no examinations or other means of ascertaining the
standard of education of the would-be officer, and it may be taken
that Sam Rice was better educated than most young officers who then
joined the army. The greater number of commissions were obtained by
purchase, but in times of war, when the supply of officers was short,
colonels of regiments were allowed to employ the services of young
gentlemen (usually ensigns of militia), who were termed "volunteers,"
and who hoped, by distinguishing themselves on active service, to
be granted free commissions. During the many years of war which
terminated with Waterloo, a vast number of officers entered the army
in this way, and being, for the most part, men whose very livelihood
depended upon their zeal, proved themselves valuable officers.

The so-called purchase system, in one form or another, was almost
as old as the British standing army itself, and dated back to the
time when the colonel of a regiment was entirely responsible for
his corps, which was known by his name. For many years there was no
fixed scale of charges for commissions, the colonels charging more or
less what they liked, and employing agents to sell the commissions,
so that both the colonels and the agents feathered their nests very
satisfactorily. In this manner many useless officers found their way
into the army, and it was not until 1765 that the authorities took
the matter up and issued strict regulations on the subject. Then
the price to be paid to Government for a commission as Ensign, and
for promotion to each subsequent rank, was clearly laid down, the
colonels being forbidden to make any profit for themselves, though
the matter of what was termed "over regulation" was not touched on,
but left to the regimental officers themselves.

When Sam Rice entered the army he paid £450 for his first commission
as ensign in an infantry regiment; and the regulation prices paid
to Government at that time by officers of infantry on promotion
were as follows: to lieutenant, £250; captain, £1100; major,
£1400; lieut.-colonel, £1300. Consequently, by the time an officer
had reached the rank of lieut.-colonel, he had paid to Government
altogether £4500. But if he could not find the money to purchase
any step, it was open to him to purchase promotion to the half-pay
list, at a considerably reduced price, subsequently exchanging or
purchasing back to full pay, if he desired to do so. Eventually,
on retirement, the officer received from Government a lump sum
equivalent to the value of his commission, so that he got back the
sums which he had expended. This was termed Retirement by the Sale of
Commissions, but the regulations varied from time to time, and later
on lieutenant-colonels were given the choice of taking the lump sum,
or of retiring on full pay.

The above is a brief outline of the purchase system, in so far as
transactions between officers and the Government were concerned, but
many and various complications arose from the over-regulation prices
of commissions, with which the Government had nothing to do. These
transactions were carried out among the officers of the regiment,
with the assistance of the regimental agents, and the object of them
was to maintain a healthy flow of promotion by buying out the senior
officers. Death was the only other way of displacing them, for there
was no regulation by which an officer was forced to give up the
command of a regiment after holding it for a certain length of time,
and no age limit for any other officers. Every regiment appears to
have had its own recognised tariff, depending principally on the
purses of the officers; thus the over-regulation price of, say, a
lieutenant-colonelcy of a cavalry regiment was considerably higher
than that of an infantry regiment, and a lieutenant-colonel would not
retire unless the officers junior to him subscribed the sum which
he considered his rank and appointment were worth. In such a case
the procedure would be something as follows: the lieutenant-colonel
would name his price to the senior major, who would then see how the
amount could be made up by voluntary subscriptions from such officers
as would benefit by the retirement of the lieutenant-colonel. The
senior major would, of course, pay the largest amount, and the senior
captain and senior lieutenant would probably subscribe handsomely,
if they intended to purchase their respective steps. It frequently
happened, however, that officers could not afford to purchase their
promotion, in which case a junior officer could purchase over the
heads of his seniors, the latter deciding to wait for a death
vacancy, for which no over-regulation money was required.

The injustice of a system which permitted men with money to buy their
way to the front does not seem to have struck the officers--probably
because they knew of no other system,--and its advocates maintained
that it never interfered with the advancement of a good man, whom
the authorities were able to reward with free promotion to half pay,
or even to full pay. Still, there can be no two opinions about a
system which induced officers of the army to give as a common toast,
"A bloody war and a sickly season!" The system lived long and died
hard. Its abolition was debated for thirteen years, and even then
a Bill relating to it which was introduced in the House of Commons
was thrown out by the Lords, and purchase was only finally swept
away by a Royal Warrant of 1871, at great expense to the Government,
for compensation had to be paid to such officers as had subscribed
over-regulation money for their different steps.

However, to return to young Rice. Getting the ensign properly
outfitted caused a good deal of trouble, and eventually he was much
upset at finding, when on the voyage to join, that his tailor had
provided him with a "plain cap" instead of a "laced one." That was
rather a dressy age, for ever since George the Second reorganised
the uniform of the army on the Prussian model, tight-fitting
clothes, lace, frills, and powder reigned supreme. Each year saw
the introduction of some new ornamentation wherewith the soldier's
dress was beautified; and much more attention was paid to the smart
appearance of the men than to their professional training. The
officers, therefore, had to be very particular about their uniform,
as well as about their hair, and strict regulations were issued from
time to time as to the mode of wearing the hair, changes taking
place every few years. In 1793, both officers and men wore their
hair powdered and "clubbed"--_i.e._, the long, flat, greased and
powdered tail was rolled up, and bound round with a leather strap,
upon which, by way of ornament, the officers had a rosette, and the
men a small disc of polished leather. The head-dress of the period
was a black three-cornered cocked hat, with a black silk cockade
and silver lace and button; the full-dress coat, scarlet with
grass-green facings, was cut away in front, with tails falling to
the back of the knees; white breeches, and black cloth gaiters; the
sword hanging on the left side from a white leather cross-belt, over
the right shoulder and under the one epaulette; red silk sash wound
round the waist, over the waistcoat, but under the coat, and having
its tassels hanging towards the left side; a black leather stock
filling the opening in the collar of the coat, a white starched frill
beneath, and the silver gorget, with rosettes and ribbons, hanging
at the neck. In this manner was Sam Rice dressed when he put on his
"regimentals" for the edification of his sisters.

The 51st, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel John Moore, had left
England for Gibraltar in March 1792, and young Rice, after fitting
himself out, was ordered to embark in the _Neptune_ transport at
Portsmouth at the end of May 1793, and proceed to Gibraltar with a
draft for the regiment. England was now at war with France, and the
navies of the two countries were busy sweeping the seas. Transports
were not permitted to put to sea without the escort of a fleet, and,
as often as not, men-of-war were too much occupied to be available
for convoy duty. Consequently the unfortunate men on the _Neptune_
and other transports were kept on board in English ports for five
weary months, every day hoping that the morrow would see the Blue
Peter at the mast-head. Some of the letters written by Sam Rice under
these trying circumstances are not without interest. Early in June he
wrote to his father from Spithead, where the _Neptune_ was lying at
anchor--

  "I cannot say I much admire living at Spithead, and especially
  when in this state of uncertainty. It is not at all improbable but
  what we shall lay here some time longer, for I neither hear nor
  see anything that is like a preparation for a convoy. It is very
  unlucky for us that we lost the opportunity of going with Lord
  Hood. The _Venus_, which had an engagement with a French frigate,
  came in here yesterday. I fancy, if the truth were known, she got
  the worst of it, for she had two-and-twenty men and one lieutenant
  killed, as report says. By that I should think that the action must
  have been very smart. I was invited to dine on board the _Circe_[4]
  to-day, but could not go, as I am the only officer in the ship. She
  has taken a great many vessels, but chiefly privateers. Three were
  brought in this morning, with the British flag flying triumphant
  o'er the national one of France."

  The soldiers confined on the transports appear to have given a
  good deal of trouble, and strong measures had to be resorted to in
  order to maintain discipline. "In my last letter," wrote Ensign
  Rice, "I told you that I was to sit on a Court Martial, to be held
  on the _Granby_ transport. The crimes alleged against the prisoner
  were: impudence to one of the officers, disobedience of orders, and
  defrauding one of his messmates. I being the youngest officer had
  to give first my opinion, so sentenced him to receive 150 lashes;
  the next, which was Williams, said 200, as did all the rest. I
  was present at the punishment. Two drummers were sent for from
  Portsmouth, to perform. But the commanding officer, Captain Wood,
  considering he was but a raw recruit, or, I suppose, nothing but
  a wild Irishman, forgave him a little less than half the number,
  hoping that that would be sufficient for the present, and serve as
  an example to the rest. Our men, upon the whole, behave themselves
  tolerably well. We are obliged now and then to tie them up, for
  fighting or quarrelling, or suchlike things, but it is the nature
  of an Irishman to be quarrelsome. We cannot but expect it, and more
  especially when there are so many together."

Writing a week later, he again referred to the conduct of the troops
on the _Granby_: "The soldiers on board the _Granby_ transport were
yesterday very rebellious, but unluckily we could not pick out any
to make an example of. These fellows will never be orderly till they
have had, each of them, a good flogging, which, I think, they stand a
fair chance of having before they have been many days at Gibraltar. I
am very confident that if we were not surrounded by men-of-war, and
were to go to Gibraltar without a convoy, we should all be murdered."

The references to flogging in the two last letters must not be taken
to imply that young Rice was shaping for a martinet in this early
stage of his military career. In those days sentence of flogging
was passed on a soldier for offences which nowadays would carry
no higher punishment than a few days' detention; and, in reading
descriptions of military and naval punishments of a century ago, one
marvels at their positive brutality. It may be that we have finer
feelings than our ancestors had, or our natures may have become
softer, but whatever has brought about the change, the fact remains
that accounts of what took place on an ordinary flogging parade in
time of peace make one wonder how a civilised country like England
could have permitted such barbarities. Men were sentenced to receive
so many hundred lashes--even up to two thousand, on the bare back,
with a cat-o'-nine-tails--and the mode of carrying the punishment
into execution was as follows: The regiment having been drawn up in
square facing inwards, and the "triangle," of solid spars,[5] having
been erected in the centre of the square, the prisoner was marched in
and ordered to strip to the waist. He was then secured by the wrists
to the top of the triangle, and by the thighs and ankles to the side
spars. At a given signal the drum-major and his drummers advanced,
and were ordered by the commanding officer to "do their duty." The
first drummer took off his coat, and delivered twenty-five lashes,
when he was relieved by a second drummer, who delivered the same
number, the drum-major standing by with a cane ready to strike the
drummer if the lashes were not administered with sufficient strength.
And these drummers were all trained to the work, by flogging the
fleece off a sheep's skin, both with the right hand and with the
left, so that alternate drummers should inflict the punishment from
opposite sides of the triangle. Near at hand stood the adjutant
and the surgeon, the former to register the number of lashes, and
the latter to observe the victim and order him to be taken down if
he thought that further punishment at the time would endanger his
life. But there was no question of respite, for the number of lashes
awarded had to be given, if not at one time, then at several times.
Immediately the man was taken down, he was marched to hospital, and
carefully attended to until his back had healed; then, if he still
had more lashes to come, he was taken out again, and his back cut
open afresh; and we have it on the authority of Sir Charles Napier,
the Conqueror of Sind, that a man was often brought to the triangle a
third and a fourth time to receive the remainder of his punishment.

We spare the reader further details of this barbarous work, and we
have only said so much because it was necessary in order to show the
spirit of the times, and in order to draw attention to some of the
unpleasant duties of regimental officers.[6] It may be thought that
corporal punishment was rarely inflicted, but official returns prove
otherwise, and it is no exaggeration to say that, towards the end of
the eighteenth century, a regiment on home service would parade round
the triangle at least two or three times in a month. "In 1793," says
Lord William Bentinck, "infliction by the cat-o'-nine-tails was the
ordinary and general punishment for every offence, great and small,
only varied as to the amount according to the different degrees
of culpability, but always the lash; except in regard to the most
trivial offences, corporal punishment was the echo in each and every
one of the Articles of War."

It is not difficult to understand that, under such circumstances,
recruits for the army were slow in coming forward. Moreover, the
Government of the day neglected the soldier's comfort and welfare
in every possible way, underfeeding him, underpaying him, and
accommodating him in vile quarters. The majority of the recruits
brought up for enlistment were produced by the "crimps," who resorted
to every mean device in their prosperous business of catching men and
selling them to Government, and one can scarcely wonder that such
unwilling soldiers should have resented the harsh discipline to which
they were immediately subjected. These were the men with whom young
Rice first came into contact at Portsmouth--men, cooped up on board
ship, without recreation of any kind, for weeks on end, and unable
even to make a bid for freedom by desertion.

That there should have been a spirit of unrest on board the
transports was not very strange, but the possibility of the
disaffected troops murdering their officers was, of course, only wild
talk on the part of a youthful subaltern. This, however, was not a
very pleasant commencement to a young officer's service, but things
seem to have settled down as time went on, and as more military
officers joined the transports for duty. The only excitement was
that provided by the arrival of a man-of-war, after a successful
engagement. "I saw the _Nymph_," wrote Sam Rice on the 1st July, "as
well as _La Cléopatre_, coming into the harbour. The latter had her
mizzen-mast shot away, and was everywhere, I fancy, considerably
damaged. I have not been on board either of them; in fact, the truth
is, I have not been ashore since they came in. The brave sons of the
Republic, I understand, fought with great courage, as did, as usual,
the sons of Old England. The French captain was killed, or else, you
may depend upon it, the engagement would have lasted till one of them
had gone to the bottom. The _Phaeton_ has taken a very fine French
ship, named _La Prompte_. She only rates as a sloop in France, but is
as big as any of our twenty-eights."

In the middle of July the officers on the transports saw a chance of
sailing with the fleet under Lord Howe, but he had other business
on hand, and went without them. Sam expressed his disgust at his
lordship's conduct. "We thought that we were to sail under the
protection of Lord Howe's fleet, but in that we were disappointed,
for he sailed last Sunday evening without having the politeness to
take us with him. When we shall now sail I know not; but the report
is that it will be very soon and suddenly. It needs be so, for they
have given us a fair spell of Portsmouth. I now know enough of a
transport, which means that I will never go in one again, if I can
get my passage in any other vessel. I almost agree with Dr Johnson
that it is as well to enter a jail as a cabin.[7] We have had a bad
fever on board our ship for some time. Two have died of it, and
many more are ill at the hospital. I should not be surprised if we
were all to take the fever, after being so long confined in these
old rusty colliers, now in His Majesty's service for the purpose
of transporting us to Gibraltar. We are to be joined by seven more
transports, and Colonel Lindsay is to take the command of us all.
He has sent us two thousand cartridges on board, and orders how
we are to act in case of attack by the enemy. If one of us should
be separated from our convoy, and see a Frenchman, we are to run
immediately, and our men to be ordered to go betwixt decks. But, if
the Frenchman sails better than us, and comes alongside, we are,
with all our padding, to board, and play hell and the devil among
them--that is to say, if possible. There has been a great change
among the officers from ship to ship. I am the only one left upon
this ship, and consequently am officer commandant, till a Captain
Alcock, who is appointed here, comes on board. He has got a wife,
whom he intends to take to Gibraltar with him. I'd just as soon have
the devil on board as a woman; not that I have any natural antipathy
to women, but I assure you they are a great nuisance, especially in
such a confined place as a cabin. You might perhaps think a lady a
wonderful acquisition to a sea party, but I am very certain, if you
had ever been on a voyage with a woman you would never desire it
again."

Within the month he changed his mind about the lady, and on August 13
he imagined that he was within measurable distance of the end of all
his troubles. "I have just time to tell you," he scribbled in haste,
"that we have received our orders for sailing. Our convoy fired a gun
and hoisted a signal to get under weigh immediately. I do not suppose
we shall go farther than St Helens to-day. I came ashore this morning
at six o'clock to take leave of Old England, and to bring on board
Captain and Mrs Alcock. We have the _Diadem_, sixty-four, and the
_Active_, frigate, for our convoy." Five days later he wrote again
from St Helens, Isle of Wight, still jubilant at the thought that at
last he had made a start for Gibraltar, though disappointed in being
kept back by adverse winds. His letter shows how the vagaries of the
wind upset all calculations in the days of sailing vessels, and he
wrote as follows:--

  "I think I never beheld a finer sight in my life than the sailing
  of our fleet from Spithead. It consisted of about seventy-five
  sail. The _Diadem_ led the way; and the _Active_ brought up the
  rear. We had made about four leagues, when, to our great sorrow,
  our Commodore fired a gun as a signal to put back to St Helens,
  not thinking it prudent to put to sea, the wind not being very
  favourable. The 14th, we lay at anchor. The 15th, our Commodore
  early in the morning fired a gun for to get under weigh, which
  we immediately did. But we were again obliged to put back to St
  Helens, not being able to weather the land. The 16th, at anchor
  as before. The 17th, it blew a heavy gale, drove us from our
  anchorage, and carried us down almost as far as Spithead. The
  same day we were nigh being run foul of by an Ostend vessel,
  which had also broken from her anchor. I never experienced such
  a gale before, and, indeed, it rather astonished the old seamen,
  especially at this time of year. The wind is still contrary. I
  hope we shall soon leave this disagreeable place, which is worse
  than Spithead. Captain Alcock, who, I told you, has the military
  command of the _Neptune_, is really a worthy man, and has behaved
  to me, since he has been on board, with the greatest friendship and
  civility. He is more like a father to me than a commanding officer.
  He knows all the officers in our regiment, and has promised to
  introduce me, but more particularly to those whom he thinks it
  proper for a young man to associate with. Captain Alcock's younger
  brother is in my regiment, and is the oldest captain in it; he
  says that his brother will always stand my friend. I think I cannot
  be better off than I am at present. I am very well and happy in
  having met with such a worthy fellow as Captain Alcock. He has not
  been married above two months. His wife is a charming and agreeable
  woman, and we are all very comfortable together."

The fleet got away from St Helens on the 22nd August, but was
overtaken by another gale, and had to run for Portland Bay, where the
ships were forced to shelter until the 8th September. By that time
the bay had become filled with ships bound for various parts of the
world, the West India fleet of transports amongst them, and at length
the wind showed signs of being favourable for departure. Yet, as Sam
Rice's next letter shows, luck was all against them, and a few days
later the ships turned about and anchored in Torbay.

Writing from Torbay on the 17th September he describes what had
happened--

  "We left Weymouth on the 8th, the wind being in our favour. I
  believe never so large a fleet sailed from that place before, or
  ever will again. We were no less than two hundred sail in number.
  Many were the people who assembled to see us depart, and I do not
  in the least doubt but that the sight was highly worth seeing.
  We passed by this port, where we saw the Grand Fleet lying at
  anchor, and we little thought then that we should be obliged to
  go in. In a very short time we cleared the Land's End and steered
  on our course for Gibraltar. We had nearly reached the Bay of
  Biscay, when, to our great surprise, a frigate came up and spoke
  to our Commodore, upon which a signal was made for us all to
  bear homewards as fast as possible. You may be sure we were all
  thunderstruck at this uncommon proceeding, and were not a little
  vexed at the thought of returning after having made so much way.
  The next morning we passed by the Scilly Islands, and from thence
  bore away as fast as possible for this place, where we are safely
  riding with the Grand Fleet. The frigate above mentioned had been
  sent by Lord Howe, who, having had intelligence that the French
  fleet was not far off, and consisted of thirty-two sail of the
  line and nine frigates, very prudently, and fortunately for us,
  dispatched a frigate immediately with orders for us to return
  with all possible expedition. I was at first very much vexed
  at returning, but am now rejoiced to think that we have been
  fortunately saved from the rapacious claws of the French 'Sans
  culottes.'[8] I hear we have taken Toulon, with a great deal of
  shipping, but that we have had bad success before Dunkirk.[9] Three
  regiments are gone from the garrison of Gibraltar to Toulon; so, if
  any regiments go to the West Indies, ours most probably will be
  one. Our men are now in a sad condition; we have now three hospital
  ships, and all full of men with fevers. Several have died, and, no
  doubt, more will, if they continue much longer on board a ship. It
  is thought that we shall sail with Lord Howe's fleet, but that is
  at present quite uncertain."

Eventually, after having put back no less than nine times altogether,
the transports succeeded in getting away, and reached Gibraltar in
November, when Ensign Rice and his two hundred recruits joined the
51st. He found war the one topic of conversation, and the prospects
of the regiment proceeding on active service being freely discussed.
He learned now the true story of Toulon, which, although actually in
the occupation of a British and allied force, had not been "taken
with a great deal of shipping," but had been peacefully garrisoned
at the request of the Royalist (or Girondist) inhabitants. Admiral
Hood, who had brought his fleet to the Mediterranean, was cruising
up the coast from Gibraltar, when he received a message from the
Royalist Admiral at Toulon, asking him to co-operate in the defence
of that place against the Republicans (or Jacobins), and to hold
it until the monarchy should be restored. Hood agreed, and on the
27th August, troops having been sent from Gibraltar, and a Spanish
squadron having joined the British fleet, the Admiral took possession
of the forts and the many men-of-war in the harbour--amounting to not
less than one-third of the navy of France. He at once dismantled the
ships, and removed such of the sailors as were known to favour the
Republican cause, and he then sought assistance from the Spanish,
Neapolitan, and neighbouring Allies who, in the course of time, sent
him some 12,000 men. This mixed force, with 2000 British troops under
General O'Hara, essayed to protect Toulon from the ravages of the
Republicans, who soon arrived--to the number of 25,000--to besiege
the place, and by November became so active that General O'Hara sent
to Gibraltar for reinforcements.

The 50th and the 51st, which, for some weeks, had been standing
ready to go to the relief of the garrison of Toulon, at once
embarked (December 5), and young Rice considered himself in luck's
way in being called upon to take the field so soon after joining.
Ill-fortune, however, still dogged his footsteps, for the captains of
the transports delayed for three days in putting to sea, thus losing
a fair wind, so that it was not until the 29th that the regiment
arrived off Toulon, when it learned that the place had been evacuated
in haste ten days before, the garrison having made an unsuccessful
sally, in which General O'Hara was severely wounded and captured.
Finding that the garrison was now too weak to hold the town against
the vastly superior numbers of the Republican forces, Lord Hood set
fire to as many as possible of the French ships in the harbour, blew
up powder and stores, successfully embarked the British garrison, as
well as nearly 15,000 Royalists, who feared for their safety when
the Republicans should enter the town, and sailed for Hyères Bay[10]
(a little to the east of Toulon), where, on the 31st December, the
transports conveying the 50th and 51st joined the fleet--to be
received very coldly by the Admiral.

But Lord Hood's disappointment at the lateness of their arrival was
no greater than that of the officers of the reinforcing regiments.
That Toulon should have been abandoned, and that their prospects of
honour and glory should have been torn from them by no fault of their
own was bad enough, but, to make matters worse, the 51st lost all
their regimental baggage and stores, including everything belonging
to the officers, which had been placed on a separate vessel for
conveyance to Toulon. Sam Rice, a philosopher even in those days,
refers to this minor trouble very briefly. "The officers' and the
regimental baggage," he wrote, "went into Toulon in the _Moselle_
frigate,[11] which separated from the transports during the night and
did not know that the town was evacuated, because the English flag
was kept flying. You see we military gentlemen are subject to losses
as well as the rest of the world." And the loss both to officers and
the men was severe, for their colonel had been at great pains to
stock the ship with everything that the regiment could want.




CHAPTER III.

THE ATTACK ON CORSICA.


When Sam Rice joined the 51st, Lieut.-Colonel (afterwards Sir John)
Moore had held the command for three years, but was even then only
in his thirty-second year; for his promotion had been rapid, and he
had reached the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the thirteenth year of
his service. That Moore was a strong man goes without saying, and
that he was a man of very exceptional talents the world discovered
subsequently. A perfect gentleman, of unblemished character, a
reliable and zealous soldier, he was able to bring a great influence
to bear on those whom he commanded, and he had a special gift for
training young officers. It was in this respect that Sam Rice
benefited by being appointed to a regiment with such a commanding
officer, and he learned under Moore things which he never forgot.
At that time the condition of a regiment depended entirely upon the
commanding officer, for in the last decade of the eighteenth century
the British army was not in a very satisfactory state. Sir Henry
Bunbury,[12] who made a study of such matters, wrote sixty years
afterwards: "Men of the present generation can hardly form an idea
of what the military forces of England really were when the great
war broke out in 1793. Our army was lax in its discipline, entirely
without system, and very weak in numbers. Each colonel of a regiment
managed it according to his own notions, or neglected it altogether.
There was no uniformity of drill or movement, professional pride was
rare, professional knowledge still more so. The regimental officers
in those days were, as well as their men, hard drinkers; and the
latter, under a loose discipline, were much addicted to marauding and
acts of licentious violence, which made them detested by the people
of the country."

It is perhaps unjust to describe the officers as hard drinkers, if
by that is meant that they were all drunkards, or that they drank
harder than did their civilian friends and relatives. The morals of
the army were possibly no worse than the morals of general society at
that period, for it was an age of heavy drinking, when respectable
and respected old gentlemen drank themselves under the table every
evening, and boasted of the number of bottles of port which they
could consume at a sitting. Yet, if the opinions of Bunbury and
other writers holding somewhat similar views of the British army in
pre-Peninsular times are to be accepted, it cannot be maintained
that the tone among the officers of ordinary regiments of the line
was of a high order. Some certainly drank a great deal more than was
good for them; otherwise it would hardly have been necessary to put
in print in the standing orders of a certain regiment the caution
that "the Surgeon and his Mate must always be strictly sober."
Gambling was indulged in to an inordinate extent; and duelling was
not unknown. The fact is that the army was suffering from long years
of inaction, and from the pernicious effects of service in America,
India, and the West Indies, where regiments went to pieces and took
years to recover themselves. To this must be added the further
fact that the regimental officer was promoted not by merit, but by
purchase; so that it was only necessary for a man to bide his time,
and to have sufficient money at his back to buy his steps when they
came, and in due course he commanded his regiment, and continued to
command it until he could be bought out.

But, it may be asked, if such was indeed the state of affairs, how
came it that the British army rapidly emerged from this condition
of darkness to save Europe? How came it that the hard-drinking
British officer was able to pull himself together, and become
transformed into an upright and zealous soldier, capable of enduring
endless hardships and displaying great gallantry? The answer is
that all regiments were not bad; that most regiments--even the bad
ones--possessed some officers of high moral character and endowed
with exceptional talents, and when war came in 1793 these officers,
on the principle of the "survival of the fittest," came to the front,
and gradually established a tone on active service which had been
impossible to uphold in times of peace. Some regiments possessed
more of such officers than others, and some regiments, again, chanced
to have a colonel with sufficient strength of will to give a short
shrift to any of his subordinates who were not likely to be of value
to him. As the war progressed many of the junior, and not a few of
the senior, officers willingly or unwillingly fell out, to make room
for better men; many were found wanting and were removed; and many
had undermined their constitutions to such an extent that in their
first campaign they were carried off by what was commonly described
as "the fever," or the "distemper." While the weeding-out process
was at work during the last few years of the eighteenth century, and
during the opening years of the nineteenth, the annual wastage of
officers was immense; after that, matters righted themselves.

Still, it is an error to suppose that the whole army was in so bad
a state in 1793 as Bunbury would have us believe, for there are
still in existence the printed standing orders of a few regiments of
the line of about this date, and from these there is proof enough
that very great attention was paid to the wellbeing of corps. The
discipline was strict, though of the severe and mechanical order,
and it was maintained solely by the lash; duties in quarters were
performed with the utmost regularity; and if the standing orders
were carried out, the regiments should have been in excellent order.
It may, of course, be possible that such regiments as had standing
orders were, from this very fact, good regiments, and that the
strictures of Bunbury and others applied to the bad regiments, which
were, perhaps, more numerous than the good ones.

It is, however, quite certain that when the 51st regiment went on
service in 1793, its general condition left nothing to be desired,
since Moore had paid attention to such weeding-out of officers as was
necessary when he first took up the command in 1790, and all young
officers who joined afterwards were kept under his ever-watchful eye
until he was sure of them. "He felt that a perfect knowledge and an
exact performance of the humble, but important duties of a subaltern
officer, are the best foundations for subsequent military fame";[13]
and he required from his officers a punctilious attention to duty
and a thorough knowledge of their profession, so that they might be
looked up to and respected by the soldiers whom they were called upon
to command. And, a perfect gentleman himself, he had no place in the
51st for any officer who was not the same. He was not a martinet, and
he did not ride rough-shod over his officers and men, but he knew
exactly when the occasion demanded a right enforcement of discipline,
and when discipline could be relaxed without detriment to the
"machine," which he proudly described, in September 1793, as being in
as good order as he could get it.

So much has been said here of Colonel Moore's characteristics,[14]
because he was Sam Rice's first commanding officer, and because
his teachings left their mark upon the man who served continuously
with Moore's old regiment for thirty-eight years. To return to
affairs in the Mediterranean: Colonel Moore, as senior officer with
the reinforcements which joined Lord Hood's fleet in Hyères Bay,
immediately went on board the _Victory_, and reported his arrival to
the Admiral, who somewhat churlishly remarked that the reinforcements
were meagre and had arrived too late to be of any use. He forgot
that the delay was due to dilatoriness on the part of his own naval
officers, and he forgot also that had the reinforcements arrived a
fortnight earlier, they could not have prevented the evacuation of
Toulon, since, on the 16th December, the enemy had captured the forts
which dominated the anchorage of the British fleet.

The Admiral was now busily engaged in working out a plan for
employing the troops on the transports in some enterprise which,
while redounding to his own credit, would compensate in a measure for
the abandonment of the great French arsenal; for he was aware that
the evacuation of Toulon without destroying all the French ships,
although the only step that, under the circumstances, was possible,
might be regarded in England as a grave failure on his part.
Something, he decided, must be done at once, and that something must
take the form of providing for the British fleet in the Mediterranean
a base deeper in than that afforded by Gibraltar, which was at that
time the only British possession in the Mediterranean, and almost a
thousand miles from Genoa, in the neighbourhood of which port the
French and Austrian armies were operating. Lord Hood realised from
the outset the broad principle that, as Captain Mahan[15] says, "the
policy of Great Britain was to control the sea for the protection
of commerce, and to sustain on shore the continental powers in the
war against France--chiefly by money, but also by naval co-operation
when feasible." Under these circumstances, the Admiral's thoughts
naturally turned to Corsica, which, though still garrisoned by French
troops, was known to be more or less in revolt against the Republican
Government. The exact state of affairs in the island, however, and
the strength of the French defences and garrisons, were things about
which Lord Hood had little information; and though he regretted the
necessity for delaying the capture of Corsica, he wisely accepted,
on this occasion, the advice of the military commanders to send two
military officers to reconnoitre and report on the practicability of
making a descent on the island. Moore and a major of artillery named
Koehler were selected for this duty, and on the 11th January (1794)
left in the _Lowestoffe_ frigate, in which also sailed Sir Gilbert
Elliott, one of the King's Commissioners in the Mediterranean, who
was to endeavour to persuade the Corsican inhabitants to assist the
British force in ridding the island of the French interlopers.

It is unnecessary to dwell on Corsican history further than to say
that from 1559 to 1768 the island was a dependency of Genoa, and
that in the latter year, contrary to the wishes of the people,
was basely sold to France. The Corsicans then made a bid for
independence, but within a few months (1769) their army, under Pascal
(or Pasquale) Paoli, was defeated and crushed by the Count de Vaux.
It was with this Paoli, who, after a period of exile in England, had
returned to Corsica, that Sir Gilbert Elliott opened up negotiations,
and from him, without much difficulty, obtained the promise that the
Corsicans would aid the British in every possible way. Moore and his
companion made a careful reconnaissance of the various French posts
and forts, and on the 25th January the former returned to the Admiral
with his report. The fleet was then on its way from Hyères Bay to the
island of Elba, and in a few days anchored off Porto Ferrajo, where
it was proposed to disembark the Royalist refugees from Toulon and
place them under the protection of Tuscany (to whom Elba belonged),
while arrangements were being made for the leap on Corsica.

The story of the operations which followed, as told by the
chroniclers, is somewhat marred in the telling by constant references
to the bickerings and petty jealousies of the naval and military
commanders, each of whom appears to have been afraid that the rival
service would obtain all the _kudos_. Why, the reader may wonder,
is it necessary to hark back to these regrettable incidents, which
did not greatly affect the result of the operations? Only because
at one time they threatened to destroy the reputation of John
Moore, Colonel of the 51st, and did actually lead to his temporary
downfall. Lord Hood, strongly backed up by Horatio Nelson, then
captain of the _Agamemnon_, despised soldiers, and thought little
of the opinions of military officers. The naval plan was to rush at
everything, without weighing the consequences, and the suggestions
of the General, David Dundas (who had succeeded O'Hara), and other
military officers of experience, who counselled proceeding with
caution, were blown away, as showing weakness and want of enterprise.
Nelson himself said, "Armies go so slow, that seamen think they never
mean to get forward; but I daresay they act on a surer principle,
though we seldom fail." Nelson was, of course, in a measure right,
but he and other naval officers of the period failed to realise the
great difference between the facilities afforded to the respective
services--that whereas seamen always had at their back their ship,
providing them with quarters, food, ammunition, and everything that
they required; soldiers, when once put ashore on an expedition, had
to take everything with them and look after themselves.

The three principal places in Corsica held by the French were St
Fiorenzo (now St Florent) on the north, Bastia on the east, and Calvi
on the west; and in that order Lord Hood decided to attack each place
in succession. St Fiorenzo, the first to be dealt with, was situated
at the head of a deep bay, studded on the western shore with detached
forts, or towers, which, being constructed of solid masonry in a
circular form, deflected the round-shots which struck them. The most
formidable of these advanced works was the tower of Mortella,[16]
and it was impossible to attack St Fiorenzo until these outworks had
been carried. With the object, therefore, of reducing the Mortella
Tower, Moore was ordered to land at a little distance away, and with
the 51st (numbering 350) and a mixed force of soldiers and sailors
(numbering another 350), and with two guns, to march inland and
take the tower in rear, while the ships bombarded it from the sea.
Moore's force landed on the night of the 7th February, and after a
long march among the mountains reached, on the following evening,
a point from which the enemy's fortifications could be clearly
examined. Moore, who had reconnoitred them on his previous visit, was
surprised to find that the French had strengthened their position
considerably, and he came to the conclusion that his handful of men
was quite insufficient to assail all the fortifications in front of
St Fiorenzo. He therefore sent a despatch to General Dundas, and
reported that to attack with any prospect of success would require
all the General's available troops.

That day was spent in getting the guns into position and in a further
reconnaissance, while two ships bombarded the Mortella redoubt,
though without breaching it. The ships, moreover, were set on fire
by the enemy's hot shot, and were forced to sheer off, with a loss of
some sixty men. On the next day more guns were mounted on land, but
although they did little damage to the solid tower, their fire made
it impossible for the enemy to show himself or reply, and the French
officer in command, seeing that he could no nothing, surrendered.
The next outwork to be disposed of was the Convention redoubt, and
this gave a good deal of trouble. Moore, who was still conducting
operations on land, inspected the ground with General Dundas and
Major Koehler, and discovered an excellent artillery position, from
which it would be possible to batter the Convention. The difficulty
was to get the guns up the steep, rocky hill, but, with the aid of
a party of seamen with tackle, two 18-pounders and a howitzer were
mounted within the next few days, and a mortar and some other guns
were placed on a more accessible position, when the enemy's redoubt
was subjected to a heavy cannonade for two days. Moore had now with
him only the 51st, but on the 17th February the General gave him
orders for the assault that night. The Royals were to join the 51st,
and Moore was to assail the front of the redoubt, while the other
British regiments and the Corsicans were to deliver simultaneous
assaults on either flank.

Moore decided to attack in column of companies, the first company
consisting of the grenadiers and light infantry[17] of the Royals,
the second of the grenadiers of the 51st, the third of the light
company of the 51st, then the battalion of the Royals (only
sufficient to make five companies), then three companies of the 51st.
The other five companies of the 51st followed in rear as a support;
and in rear again came 130 sailors, under Captain Cooke, with
entrenching tools.

At 8.30 P.M., by the light of a brilliant moon, Moore led the
advance, which for a quarter of a mile could only be made in file.
After a little he reached a spot open enough to form up the column;
the enemy's piquets fired a few shots, as they realised what was
taking place; and Moore immediately ordered his column to push on.
When within fifty yards of the redoubt, they found themselves in a
slight hollow, unexposed to the enemy's fire, and here Moore halted
them for a few seconds preparatory to the final uphill rush. A moment
later the Royals and the 51st leaped into the head of the work, and
crossed bayonets with the Frenchmen, who stood their ground gallantly
and fought with desperation. Eventually, however, the flank attacks
pushed in and overwhelmed the defenders, though in the darkness it
was difficult to distinguish friend from foe, and, to add to the
confusion, the enemy holding the neighbouring redoubt of Fornali
began to open with grape-shot upon the victorious British. But before
midnight the latter had entrenched themselves, and within an hour it
was learned that the French had abandoned Fornali.

Arrangements were now made for the attack on St Fiorenzo itself, but
before they had been completed the enemy withdrew from the place and
retired to the fortified town of Bastia, situated on the east coast
of Corsica, and barely ten miles across the neck of the peninsula
from St Fiorenzo.

The coast near Bastia was quite open, and the town was not fortified
on that side; elsewhere, however, it was defended by four detached
redoubts and a citadel placed on heights at a little distance inland.
On February 23, Moore and General Dundas went across the mountains
to reconnoitre the enemy's position, and on the following day the
51st and 69th advanced to within a mile and a quarter of the French
piquets, who were heard throughout the night digging entrenchments
for their further security on the ground which it was necessary for
the British to occupy in order to capture Bastia from the land side.
Becoming aware of this, General Dundas, in the morning, ordered Moore
to withdraw his force, and, to the surprise and disappointment of
every one, the withdrawal took place. Moore at first imagined that
the General's idea was to perfect arrangements before delivering
the assault, but after a while he discovered that, in spite of Lord
Hood's constant request for co-operation from the land forces,
General Dundas had refused to attempt the capture of the town with
the small force under his command. This was a bitter discovery for
Moore, who was longing to lead his regiment to the front, but he
concealed his disappointment, as he considered that it would be "a
species of mutiny for a subordinate officer to pass any opinion" on
the action of his General.

Lord Hood, never on good terms with General Dundas, now brought
matters to a head by sending a somewhat extraordinary letter, in
which he said that upon the evacuation of Toulon the General's
command had practically ended, and that he (Lord Hood) was in
supreme command of both the fleet and the army. The General replied
with calmness that, unless the Admiral could produce his commission
from the King, neither he nor his officers would acknowledge his
pretensions to the command of the land forces. But Lord Hood's letter
probably had the result which he desired, for on the following day
General Dundas, on the grounds of ill health, gave up the command,
and having appointed the next senior officer, Colonel D'Aubant, a
brigadier-general, and given him the temporary command of the army,
left for England on the 11th March. D'Aubant proved himself a useless
commander, and being averse to an assault on Bastia, threw cold
water on every plan laid before him. In vain did Lord Hood urge the
necessity for an attempt being made by the land forces; and, after
holding several councils of war, he at length declared that he would
take Bastia with the marines[18] and sailors. Already a month had
been wasted in looking at the place--a month which gave the enemy
leisure to perfect his fortifications and entrenchments. Almost
another month passed before Bastia fell; and its fall was brought
about not by assault or bombardment, but by starvation, resulting
from Lord Hood's careful blockade from the sea and the Corsicans'
watchfulness on land. There had been practically no fighting, and
though Hood and Nelson dignified the operations with the name of
siege, the army was never in position, and all that was undertaken
by the ships was the maintenance of a strict blockade, and the
landing of some guns and a fighting force under Nelson. The guns did
little damage to the enemy or his works, thus wasting much valuable
ammunition, and the force commanded by Nelson (consisting of 1183
soldiers acting as marines on board ship and 250 sailors) made no
advance. On the 19th May Bastia was starved into surrender, and the
3500 men of the garrison gave up their arms to the British combined
forces, which numbered no more than 3000 soldiers and sailors.

Attention was now directed to Calvi (on the west coast of Corsica),
the only place of importance remaining in the possession of
the French. It was known that they had been busy for some time
victualling the place for a siege, and Lord Hood determined to
operate before the garrison of Calvi could be further reinforced.
Brigadier-General D'Aubant had gone home, on being relieved by
General Charles Stuart, who had been sent out from England to succeed
General Dundas, an appointment which met with the approval of every
one and which gave confidence to the troops. The regiments in
Corsica, though seven in number, were miserably weak, as they were
required to furnish detachments for duty as marines on board the
ships, and the climate had begun to tell on the health of the men.
General Stuart's "army," available for operations against Calvi,
consisted, therefore, of no more than 2300 men. These troops were
conveyed in transports from Bastia to Mortella Bay, and, on the 19th
June, after a further voyage, disembarked a few miles from Calvi,
and marched inland to a camp on the high ground some three miles
from the fortress. Colonel Moore was given the command of a special
"corps of reserve," consisting of the "flank companies of the Royal
Irish, 50th, and 51st, and the remains of the 2nd Battalion of the
Royals," so the command of the 51st devolved, for the time being, on
Major Pringle. Two outworks of considerable strength lay in front,
_i.e._, on the land side, of Calvi--viz., the Fort of Mozzello and
the fortified rock of Monteciesco. Batteries were immediately thrown
up on commanding heights, about 500 yards from these outworks, and on
the 7th July the enemy evacuated Monteciesco. The guns now turned on
Mozzello, and for ten days endeavoured to make a practicable breach,
the assailants suffering the whole time from the fire from Calvi
itself and from some minor outworks, and Captain Nelson, who was
present, unfortunately losing an eye, from splinters of stone being
flung into his face by a round-shot striking the ground in front of
him.

Before daylight on the morning of the 19th July, a breach having
been effected in the walls of the Mozzello redoubt, the troops
moved forward to the assault. Colonel Moore led the stormers, some
of whom carried sandbags, and others ladders. Shot, hand-grenades,
and live shells were hurtled down upon them by the defenders, but,
nothing daunted, the grenadiers charged forward, and plying their
bayonets with vigour, drove the Frenchmen out of the redoubt. In this
desperate encounter Moore was wounded in the head by a splinter of
a shell, but though knocked senseless for a moment, he continued to
lead his men until he made certain that the place had been secured,
and that entrenchments had been thrown up to cover the troops from
the fire of the enemy's guns in Calvi.

With the capture of the Mozzello redoubt, however, the enemy's
resistance virtually came to an end, and his guns ceased to fire. Yet
the Frenchmen refused to capitulate, and the British prosecuted the
siege with vigour, pushing forward new batteries and mounting upwards
of thirty pieces of ordnance. Moore wrote at the time: "The men and
officers fall ill daily; considerably more than a third of our force
are in the sick report; perhaps there never was so much work done by
so few men in the same space of time."[19] By the 30th July the enemy
began to consider the matter of terms, as Calvi had been set on fire
in two or three places, and the British guns were doing much damage.
After this General Stuart stopped all firing, while he entered into
negotiations with General Casabianca; and on the 10th August Calvi
surrendered, the defenders laying down their arms and forthwith
embarking on transports.

Young Rice, as a very junior subaltern in the 51st, of course had no
opportunity of distinguishing himself in these operations, and he
does not appear to have been much impressed by his first campaign. On
the 2nd August 1794 he wrote to his father from "Camp before Calvi,"
as follows:--

  "A flag of truce having just gone in, or rather hoisted in the town
  by the enemy, and being not so much distracted by shot and shell, I
  embrace the opportunity (which I may say with truth is almost the
  only one I have had since the commencement of the siege) of writing
  these few lines. Do not expect now, when I begin, that I am going
  to give you minute details of all our operations here. In the first
  place, it would not be in my power, and, in the next, they would
  be very uninteresting. The papers will in all probability soon
  show the fate of Calvi and the operations before it. They are, in
  my opinion, better able to provide news of that nature than are
  private letters. The most satisfactory news, I imagine, to you will
  be that of my health and safety. The flag of truce above mentioned
  will in all probability terminate in the capitulation of Calvi,
  which I am extremely glad to think likely, not on account of the
  danger of shot and shell, but on account of the great sickness from
  which both officers and men are suffering. The disease, which is a
  fever, not only happens to the most delicate, but seizes in the
  most sudden manner on the most robust and healthy. We have now out
  of our army upwards of 2000 lying in fevers, and a great number of
  officers. It is not very dangerous, but two officers have died of
  it. In my opinion, the disease arises from our having to lie in the
  trenches exposed to the intense heat of the sun. I am quite tired
  of the siege. We have taken all the enemy's outposts and silenced
  all his guns, and the town has been in flames for some days. If
  they continue stubborn, the General is determined to hearken to
  no more flags of truce, as he has so often been humbugged by them
  before; but to batter a breach and enter the town by storm, which
  will be easily effected, though perhaps not without a few broken
  heads. As yet only four officers have been killed, and six or seven
  wounded. Colonel Moore was slightly wounded on the head at the
  storming of the Mozzello redoubt, but is now, I am happy to say,
  quite recovered. An unfortunate shot killed an officer[20] of ours
  the day before yesterday in the trenches. He had only just joined,
  and was an excellent young fellow, and is much lamented.

  "I would thank you to tell Mr Greenwood[21] to write to Colonel
  Moore, as is customary, about my promotion; for until that time I
  do not take the rank of lieutenant in the regiment.

  "I was at the taking of Bastia, though did not reap many laurels
  there. All I can say is that we were ready to do anything that
  there was to be done. My Lord Hood and his marines claimed the
  honour--if there was any--of taking that town. Bastia is a very
  good town, and will make very pleasant quarters. Calvi is to
  appearance no great things. Ajaccio is much the pleasantest place
  in the whole island.

  "_August 4th._--My lieutenancy was this day noted to the
  regiment--the commission dated 1st April. We have not yet taken
  possession of the town, but are pretty certain the business is at
  an end. The General has not thought fit to divulge the great secret.

  "_August 11th._--The enemy marched out of Calvi yesterday with the
  honours of war, and embarked on board transports for conveyance to
  Toulon. The town of Calvi is in a deplorable state."


Sir John Moore's Diary bears out this last statement. "It is
inconceivable," he wrote, "the destruction our fire has occasioned;
there is literally not a house which has not been damaged by shot or
shell. The whole is a heap of ruins." Moore also often lamented the
sickness from which the troops suffered, but an entry made in his
Diary of the 16th August shows that Sam Rice's regiment was better
off than most. "The 51st," said Moore, "have fewer sick than any
other regiment, owing undoubtedly to our surgeon, M'Cleish, who is
a diligent and intelligent man; but also, in a great degree, to the
good regulation of our regimental hospital for these three or four
years past. This was one of the first things to which I attended on
getting the command of the regiment. It has remained in good order
ever since then. I am now rewarded by having three times the number
of duty men of _any regiment here_."[22]

The cause of all this sickness among the troops was undoubtedly
exposure, for there appears to have been no epidemic of any kind, and
modern soldiers under similar circumstances would probably suffer
equally. In the daytime the men lay out continuously beneath the
fierce heat of a Mediterranean summer's sun, and their dress was that
worn in England in the winter--viz., tight-fitting cloth clothes,
with their "clubbed" hair beneath a hat which, if anything, made
their heads the hotter. At night they slept out, almost uncovered,
among the mountains, at a temperature sometimes so low as almost to
freeze the very marrow in their bones. That sunstroke and sun fever
should have fallen upon them was little to be wondered at.




CHAPTER IV.

CORSICA WON AND LOST.


With the capture of Calvi French resistance in Corsica came to an
end, and the island became a British possession, the Corsicans, some
two months earlier, having declared their allegiance to the King of
England. Sir Charles Stuart at once began the distribution of his
troops in garrisons about the island, and the 51st sailed from Calvi
on the 19th August, going round to Bastia, of which place they were
to form the garrison. Writing from Bastia on the 11th September, Sam
Rice gives some account of events:--

  "I have the pleasure of telling you that we have quitted our canvas
  houses, and have taken up our quarters in this garrison, which is
  by no means an unpleasant one. How long we shall continue here is
  very uncertain at present, as there are other places in the island
  which must be garrisoned. Our regiment will very probably go to
  Ajaccio, which is, by all accounts, one of the pleasantest and most
  healthy places in the whole island. General Stuart, Colonel Moore,
  and some others of the great men set out, about a week ago, to
  take a tour of the island, for the purpose, I suppose, of finding
  out what places it will be necessary to garrison. The French, I
  hear, are making great preparations at Toulon, to endeavour to
  retake the island. I hope they will make the attempt, when we will
  give them a warm reception.

  "In the letter which I wrote to you after the surrender of Calvi, I
  think I mentioned the extreme sickness of our army. It was nothing
  then to what it is now. You will be astonished when I tell you
  that the 51st Regiment was almost 500 strong at the commencement
  of the siege of Calvi, but now, I am sorry to say, we have not a
  hundred fit for duty. The rest of the regiments are in the same
  way. The 12th Light Dragoons, who have had no fatigue, suffer alike
  from this shocking and unwholesome climate. The Corsicans say
  that, after this month is over, the climate will be very healthy
  until July. It is to be hoped so, else I am certain that in the
  course of three months we shall not have an English soldier in the
  island, if they continue to die as they have done for this some
  time past. The officers have suffered just as much as the men. I
  am the only officer of the regiment who has not been sick, and how
  I have weathered it so long is to me astonishing. In the conquest
  of this island we have suffered little by the sword, but sickness
  has played the devil. This is a subject too shocking to dwell upon,
  though we are so habituated to hear of deaths, that the death of a
  man is scarcely more noticed than that of a fly.

  "I forgot to tell you that we left Calvi the 19th August--my
  birthday--and embarked on board transports for this place, which is
  not above a day's sail with a good wind, but we unfortunately were
  kept nearly a week at sea. I believe I never gave you an account of
  Bastia; indeed I don't know whether I can, further than that it is
  a large and populous place, and resembles very much the generality
  of French towns. We are very much crowded here with French refugees
  who came from Toulon, so much so that the officers cannot get
  lodgings, which I think a great hardship after having been so
  long in the field. I have been employed since I have been here in
  recruiting my kit, which was rather the worse for campaigning. My
  bedding and cot I had the misfortune to lose the first week I was
  in Corsica, which was, I think, the greatest misfortune that could
  happen to a man, except the loss of his head. My softest bed for
  many months was the ground, with one blanket (which I purchased)
  to cover me. It was not really cold, so it did not much signify.
  You used to tell me what a lazy life a soldier's was. I don't
  know how it is, but I have not yet found it so, without you call
  lying in one's clothes for three or four months together, mounting
  out-pickets, and all such pleasant amusements being lazy. I assure
  you that the little service I have seen here has done me a great
  deal of good, and has shown me that there are more rough things
  than smooth in life.

  "We are going to be very gay here. An Italian Opera is shortly
  to open, which is to be patronised by the Governor, and is much
  approved of by the garrison. A coffee-house for English papers is
  also to be established, which I think a much better thing than the
  former. In fact, you do not know how grand we are going to be.

  "The _Moselle_ frigate, which, as I told you, went into Toulon
  with all our baggage and was captured, fell into our possession
  again coming out of Calvi, but the 'Sans culottes' took care that
  we should have none of our things with her. I shall come in for
  some prize-money for Calvi. Two fine frigates were taken with the
  town--_La Melpomonie_ and _La Mignonne_, which, it is to be hoped,
  will fetch some cash."

This letter and the following one give some idea of the life of a
subaltern in a marching regiment on foreign service in 1794, and for
that reason are not without interest. They deal little with politics,
because such matters did not concern a junior lieutenant in the army
who had sufficient to occupy his time in looking after the welfare
of his men, and in performing the ordinary routine duties of his
regiment and of the garrison. And it may be taken as certain that a
subaltern in Moore's regiment did not have much idle time.

  "BASTIA, _October 21, 1794_.

  "Since my last, Sir Gilbert Elliott has been appointed Viceroy
  of the extensive kingdom of Corsica, on account of which the
  municipality gave a Ball to the officers of the garrison and
  inhabitants. It was 'perfect liberty and equality,' for I believe
  such a mixture of people never was seen at any assembly whatever.
  The supper induced a great many of the poor Toulon emigrants, of
  whom there are numbers here, to go. Without exaggerating, they
  eat more voraciously and in a more unchristianlike manner than
  any pack of hounds I ever saw. It was certainly the most beastly
  sight I ever beheld, though at the same time the most laughable.
  Some pulling fowls into pieces with their hands; others legs and
  shoulders of mutton, and many pocketing. In short, it was the most
  complete scramble that I ever saw, or, I believe, ever was seen.
  Colonel Hely, of the 11th, gave the garrison a Ball last week,
  which was done in a very genteel manner. General Stuart gives one
  to-night, which, I daresay, will excel them all in brilliancy. He
  is a very gentlemanlike, pleasant man.

  "Sir Gilbert Elliott went yesterday to Corte, where he is going to
  stay a few months, and then returns to Bastia. Corte is distant
  about five-and-forty miles from here, and is the place where the
  Corsican parliament is held. There is an excellent road all the
  way to it, which was made at considerable expense by the French.
  I cannot give you any account of the country, as I have seen so
  little of it. Those who have been round the island, and in the
  internal parts, do not speak very favourably of it. I am sorry
  I cannot tell you our troops get much better, though it is to
  be hoped that they soon will, as the weather begins to get cold
  and consequently more favourable to their complaints, which are
  chiefly the fever and ague. We continue daily to bury a great
  number of men, and I am afraid we shall for this some time to come.
  It is a shocking sight to go round the different hospitals, which
  are crowded with patients. It is a duty which we have frequently to
  do, and which, you may conceive, is not a very pleasant one, though
  at the same time very necessary.

  "Poor Tourle of our regiment has been extremely ill ever since we
  left Calvi, and has just gone, with another captain of ours, to the
  internal parts of the country for the recovery of their healths.
  Most of the officers who have had this complaint have gone over
  to Italy, which is no doubt the best place, the climate being so
  favourable. We cannot muster above a hundred and fifty men fit for
  duty now, and I am afraid it will be some time before we can call
  ourselves a regiment again. The 12th Regiment of Light Dragoons
  embarked here for England the other day, and sailed with Lord Hood,
  who is also going home. The French fleet still continues to be
  blocked up by us. What will be the event of the blockade is not in
  my power to tell. Some pretend to say that the French left Toulon
  through policy. It no doubt keeps that port open. I can scarcely
  imagine that that was their intention, but leave it to more able
  politicians than myself to judge. By the last accounts from the
  Continent, we heard that a general action was daily expected. What
  will be the result of it we are anxious to hear. Our loss in the
  West Indies, I see by the papers, has been very considerable both
  by the sword and by sickness. The French appear to still keep a
  very strong post in Guadaloupe, and before it is taken much blood
  will be shed, I imagine."

This letter contains two items of public interest--viz., that Sir
Gilbert Elliott had been appointed Viceroy of Corsica, and that
Admiral Lord Hood had sailed for England. To the subaltern Sir
Gilbert's appointment and Lord Hood's departure meant little; to
his colonel, who was behind the scenes, they meant a good deal;
and to General Stuart they meant still more. It was the beginning
of the end, and the end was the loss of Corsica to Great Britain.
The veteran Admiral, who had already passed his seventieth year,
resigned, ostensibly because England refused to send him the
reinforcements for which he asked,[23] but in reality because he
had had a "personal quarrel with Lord Spencer, then the head of
the Admiralty."[24] Accustomed to carry all before him, and to win
victory after victory, he became the idol of the people, and in the
eyes of the navy he remained for many years the very essence of a
fighting sailor who could do no wrong. His vanity was flattered, and,
as he advanced in years, he began to consider himself infallible,
refusing to listen to any advice which did not fall in with his own
views. We have seen how he treated General Dundas and his successor
General Stuart, and, although it is evident that he was well
acquainted with Moore's worth, his pride forbade him to acknowledge
that any soldier could help him. With Sir Gilbert Elliott, as a pure
civilian, his relations had always been different. Each knew that the
other's good word would carry weight in England, and each showed an
equal contempt for the opinions of soldiers. Sir Gilbert had lived
on board the _Victory_ with the Admiral for some months prior to his
appointment as Viceroy, and had acquired the greatest admiration for
the gallant sailor, who doubtless impressed upon the future Viceroy
the importance of forming judgments for himself and not listening to
the suggestions of the military commanders.

With the departure of Lord Hood, the navy ceased to be interested in
Corsican affairs, so all cause for rivalry between the two services
came to an end. A new rivalry, however, at once arose. Sir Gilbert,
as Viceroy, became an autocrat, and although the exact terms of his
commission had not yet been made known to him, he took a leaf out
of Lord Hood's book, and informed General Stuart that he considered
himself Commander-in-Chief. The General, however, was not the man to
quietly accept a subordinate position in the force with which he had
completed the conquest of Corsica, and he politely gave Sir Gilbert
to understand that he intended to retain the command of the troops
until the Viceroy should receive the King's commission authorising
him to assume the functions of Commander-in-Chief, when he would be
prepared to hand over the command. Sir Gilbert was content to bide
his time, but friction, of course, was inevitable, since, without
a complete understanding between the heads of the civil and the
military departments, it was impossible to establish any proper
form of government in a newly acquired British possession. Moore's
position is a little difficult to understand, as at that time he
held no appointment other than that of Lieut.-Colonel commanding
the 51st Regiment, although he had been recommended for the post of
Adjutant-General, in place of Sir J. St Clair, who was going home.
Yet all along Moore was General Stuart's right-hand man, and to all
intents and purposes acted as his chief staff officer. Consequently,
he upheld his General in everything that he did, and resolved to
stand or fall with him. And the fall eventually came, though not for
some months.

In the meantime the troops were moved about and garrisons established
at various places, while three battalions of Corsicans were raised
for home defence. The 51st continued to garrison Bastia until the
end of the year, and from that place Sam Rice, on the 28th December
(1794) wrote to his father as follows:--

  "I am sorry to tell you that, since my last, we have had the
  misfortune to lose poor Captain Tourle,[25] who died a martyr to
  the complaint of this climate. He was the handsomest and most
  healthy man I ever saw. No regiment, I believe, ever lost so worthy
  a fellow, both as an officer and man; nor was any one ever more
  regretted. He was buried with all military pomp, attended by the
  two generals and all the officers of the garrison. We have still
  two or three officers ill, but not dangerously so. The nature of
  the climate is such that, if once attacked, a person is subject to
  relapses. What is very singular is that the inhabitants throughout
  the country are subject to the same complaint, which carries off
  numbers of them. There was a report the other day that the French
  fleet was off Ajaccio, but it was unfounded. Admiral Hotham's fleet
  is at Leghorn, and is daily expected at St Fiorenzo. We expect
  to march in a few days for Corte, to take up our quarters there.
  It is by all accounts a wretched place, but we are all happy at
  the thoughts of anything for a change. There are three Corsican
  battalions raised here. If they are to be drilled as our soldiers
  are, to stand the charge, which I suppose they are, I do not know
  how they will behave, as their manner of fighting is what we call
  bush-fighting--that is, to take a steady aim upon any one from
  behind a bush or tree,--in short, from any place from which the
  man can fire without being seen.[26] I see that there is a talk of
  peace. I am afraid that, if we make peace, we must resign the West
  India Islands and perhaps the famous island of Corsica, which will
  be a great loss to Government.

  "If I have made many blunders in this letter, I ascribe it all to
  a pretty Corse, who has been chatting to me all the time from the
  opposite window."

In the first week of January 1795, Sir Gilbert Elliott received
despatches from home, giving him supreme command of the army in
Corsica. Thereupon General Stuart resigned, and at the same time
General Trigge was appointed by the Viceroy to command the troops,
and Colonel Moore was put in orders as Adjutant-General, though,
before taking up the appointment, he took the 51st to Corte and
settled the regiment in its new quarters. Grave fears of a French
descent on Corsica soon began to be entertained, and the defence
of the island against a strong invading force gave the military
authorities cause for apprehension. The British fleet in the
neighbouring waters was still, however, of sufficient strength to
give a measure of confidence to the sister service on shore, and
if there were jealousies when the army and the navy were employed
together, they were forgotten by the soldiers when they heard of the
sailors' victories at sea. At any rate, so much may be gained from
the following letter, written by Sam Rice from Corte on the 28th
March 1795:--

  "What has been passing in this part of the world for this last
  month is certainly worth relating, but how to do it I am certainly
  much at a loss. I will begin with Admiral Hotham's engagement
  with the French fleet, but of course all I know of the business
  is from hearsay. I can give you no days or dates, for when the
  French fleet came out and when ours attacked I know not, except
  that it all happened. A few days ago the French fleet appeared off
  Cape Corso, which did not a little alarm us, particularly as our
  fleet was not then in the Bay of St Fiorenzo. We concluded, of
  course, that a descent was intended, which was really the case.
  However, the Viceroy immediately sent an express in an open boat
  to Admiral Hotham, who was then with the fleet at Leghorn, and the
  next morning our fleet was in sight. The French still kept in the
  same place, drawn up in _ligne de bataille_, and seemed resolved
  to meet us--like true Republicans, to conquer or perish in the
  attempt. Our fleet, coming up, soon made a change in the business,
  for the French set off as fast as possible, and we after them
  with a favourable wind. As the French ran, the fight could not be
  general, and, I believe, would not have taken place at all had not
  the _Inconstant_ frigate--a remarkably fast sailer--borne down upon
  the French and engaged a 74, whereupon the French Admiral ordered
  two other 74's to her relief. By that time the _Illustrious_ and
  _Courageux_--two of our 74's--came up and engaged the _Ça Ira_ and
  _Censeur_, and I believe as desperate an action as ever was fought
  ensued. The French ships at last were obliged to strike, but not
  before having seven hundred men killed on board one of their ships
  alone. The _Courageux_ lost all her masts, and the other was
  considerably damaged. Those, I believe, were the only ships which
  came into action; the rest made the best of their way to Toulon,
  it is supposed, excepting the _Sans Culottes_, a first rate, who
  was obliged to put into Genoa, with the loss of her masts, carried
  away in a gale of wind which came on soon after the engagement.
  The intention of the French fleet in coming out of Toulon was to
  proceed immediately to Corsica, to enter the Bay of St Fiorenzo,
  to land ten thousand troops, cut out of the harbour four sail of
  the line (which they had been informed Admiral Hotham had left
  behind), and then set off with them. The scheme was excellent, but,
  fortunately for us, it did not succeed, for it would have given
  them a complete superiority by sea, and probably we all should
  have been made prisoners of war, as it would have been impossible,
  I should think, for us to have defended ourselves with so small a
  force of British as we have in the island. The French having troops
  on board accounts for the number of men who were killed on the _Ça
  Ira_.

  "Since I began my letter an express is arrived from Bastia with the
  news that, after the dispersion of the French fleet, five sail of
  the line fell into the hands of the Spanish fleet, which was coming
  from Carthagena to our assistance. This news is generally supposed
  to be authentic, which I hope may be the case. I forgot to mention
  to you before that the _Berwick_, a 74 of ours, who, I think I
  told you in my last, had rolled her masts overboard in a gale of
  wind, was going from St Fiorenzo to Leghorn to be repaired, when,
  unfortunately, she fell in with the French fleet off Cape Corso,
  and was taken. She, notwithstanding, made a very gallant action, in
  which her captain was killed. Our fleet is now in Porto Spezia, not
  far, I believe, from Genoa."

The details of the fight described above are substantially correct,
though the engagement was carried on for two days, and the bulk
of the fighting was done by the _Agamemnon_ (Captain Nelson).
Undoubtedly, by this action Admiral Hotham saved Corsica for the
time being, but his victory was not as complete as it might have
been, or would have been, if Nelson had been in command of the fleet.
The latter recognised the necessity for staking everything on the
destruction of the French fleet there and then, and endeavoured in
vain to persuade the Admiral to pursue and prevent the enemy from
reaching Toulon. Hotham's contentment at the result of the engagement
bore fatal fruit, for the French ships which escaped to Toulon soon
refitted, and having been joined on the 4th April by some ten others
from Brest, formed a very powerful fleet, and became a serious menace
to the small British garrison of Corsica, at the best of times not
strong enough to resist invasion, and now much reduced by sickness.
About this time the 51st lost another officer, and Rice inveighs
against the climate again:--

  "I am sorry to tell you," he writes, "that we have had the
  misfortune to lose Captain Alcock[27] of our regiment, who departed
  this life, like poor Tourle, a martyr to the complaint of this
  cursed climate. He had been but a short time ill at Bastia, from
  whence he went to Leghorn for the recovery of his health, but on
  his first landing was seized with a violent fever, which carried
  him off in the course of a few days, in spite of the faculty. You
  may recollect my mentioning both him and his brother--the latter
  who was so civil to me on coming from England, and the former on
  my joining the regiment. Thus (in Alcock and Tourle) we have lost
  two of the worthiest, gentlemanlike, and handsomest men that ever
  any regiment possessed--the one captain of grenadiers, the other of
  light infantry. They were both great friends of Colonel Moore's,
  and, in short, of all the officers.

  "We still continue to be very sickly in our regiment, having
  above one hundred privates sick in the hospital, and an equal
  proportion of officers, for of the latter we have here five sick
  in the hospital, one in Italy, two gone home for the recovery of
  their healths, two dead, and several others who have had a lucky
  escape from death. What great acquisition this island can be to the
  Crown of Great Britain I leave to abler politicians than myself to
  determine. It certainly has a tolerable bay for our shipping, and
  that is all. It has been a fine burying-ground for the British
  this last year, and if we continue during this next year to bury
  in the same proportion, I am afraid that the air will become more
  pestilential than it naturally is. In the time of the Romans this
  place was well known for its insalubrity, and the banishment of a
  criminal to Corsica was thought sufficient punishment. We expect
  Colonel Moore here daily, who is coming for change of air, he
  having been likewise ill."

Soon after this it appears to have gradually dawned on even the
regimental officers that the defences of the island were not in too
satisfactory a condition. Moore, who was indefatigable in touring
the country, knew that the coast-line was open everywhere, and that
the towns were defenceless. The Viceroy, generally optimistic,
at times suffered from panic, and went so far as to consult the
military authorities on the state of the defences and how they could
be improved. He had his own views, however, on the subject, and as
they differed entirely from those of the Adjutant-General, little,
if any, improvement took place. Moreover, intrigue was at work among
the Corsicans, many of whom already doubted if British rule was any
better than French. How much the "man in the street," otherwise the
regimental subaltern, knew of what was going on is shown by the
following letter from Sam Rice:--

  "BASTIA, _May 2, 1795_.

  "I marched here about a fortnight ago with a detachment to assist
  in doing duty in this garrison. How long I shall stay here
  I cannot say. The number of French prisoners that we have in
  different parts of the island makes the duty hard, as they must, of
  course, be guarded. I went yesterday with a party to fetch above a
  hundred of them from near Fiorenzo, and brought them here the same
  day. They behave themselves very well at present, but should the
  French fleet appear off the coast I don't know what they may do.

  "A report prevails here that the French have received a
  reinforcement from Brest of six sail of the line. If such is the
  case I think we shall not long remain in the island. The French
  have a great party here, who would immediately join them in the
  event of a descent, and those who are now of our party would, I
  daresay, be better paid by the French, and so abandon us--such is
  the character of the Corsicans. If we may believe the French, they
  will not come here; they say that they are a nation too polished to
  ever think of so barbarous a country as Corsica. Barbarous as it
  is, I daresay they would be glad to chase us from it; not that it
  would be of any value to them, but, as long as we are here, they
  will be ever jealous, and indeed, in my opinion, very naturally so.
  We have orders to hold ourselves in readiness to take the field.
  Provisions and ammunition are constantly going to the interior of
  the country, in case of a retreat. Do not be surprised if my next
  is from some camp among the mountains. I send this by Captain St
  George, who takes home the Viceroy's despatches."

From this letter it would seem that the existence of two political
parties among the Corsicans was a matter of common knowledge, and it
would seem also to have been generally known that one party favoured
the French and the other the English. How the strings were pulled was
probably only known to a very few Englishmen; possibly only to the
Viceroy and Moore. Yet the puppets, placed upon the stage, played
gaily to the audience for a while, then snapped their strings and
played without them. From the beginning the Viceroy's methods had
been distasteful to the people, and their beloved Paoli, the Corsican
patriot, endeavoured to hint as much to Sir Gilbert, who, however,
took the hint as unwarrantable interference. From that time the
Viceroy became distrustful of Paoli, and set up, in opposition to
him, one Pozzo di Borgo, a man versed in intrigue, of few scruples,
and hated by the Corsicans, who, though they continued to be loyal to
the British Government, distrusted the influence which Pozzo had over
the Viceroy. Had Sir Gilbert kept in with Paoli, and governed through
him, all might have gone well. Instead, as Sir J. F. Maurice[28]
puts it, he attempted to apply the British Constitution to a people
to whom it was unsuited, and, in doing so, he used as his instrument
a worthless man, who had not the confidence of the people. Now,
Moore was a personal friend of Paoli, and the Viceroy knew it, and
he suspected Moore of intriguing against him, though, had he been
a judge of character, he would have known that Moore was always
too straightforward and outspoken to be capable of intrigue. Yet,
believing that Moore was disloyal, he took the step which any man so
placed would take. Not being an Oriental potentate, he did not have
his enemy quietly poisoned off, but he wrote home and asked for his
removal, and Moore was, in September 1795, ordered to quit the island
within forty-eight hours. On the 4th October Moore visited the 51st
at Corte and shook the dust of Corsica from off his feet. After his
departure the plot thickened, and in the early months of 1796 matters
began to assume an uncomfortable attitude; disaffection among the
people grew rife; and Paoli, in despair, went to England. From bad,
things then went rapidly to worse, and the following letter from Sam
Rice shows how, by the middle of the year, Corsican affairs were
already approaching a crisis.

  "BASTIA, _June 27, 1796_.

  "Our correspondence, I am afraid, will, every day now, become more
  uncertain and of course less frequent, owing to the French having
  overrun so great a part of Italy, and the rapid progress which
  they are still making. Our last news from Leghorn was that the
  Republicans were within a very few hours' march of that place; if
  so, the communication by that part of Italy will be entirely at an
  end. An officer from this garrison, who is going to England, and
  who will be the bearer of this, in order to be certain of avoiding
  the French, sets out this evening for Civita Vecchia, a seaport
  near Rome, and from thence will cross the Roman territories to
  some place on the Adriatic coast, whence he will take a vessel for
  Venice.[29]

  "I have the pleasure to tell you that the Regiment left Corte
  the beginning of this month. After what I have told you of that
  place in former letters, you may imagine that none of us regretted
  leaving it and its polite and agreeable people. Since my last,
  things in Corsica have been in a very disagreeable situation. The
  cause of the discontent of the Corsicans was first owing to the
  taxes, which they thought too oppressive. That discontent was not
  then by any means general, only some few villages refusing to pay
  by force of arms, but they were soon compelled by a party of our
  garrison from Corte. The last and most serious revolt happened
  about twenty miles from Corte, at a place called Bagnano. The
  Viceroy determined to put an end to such hostile acts, and came in
  person to Corte to give energy to the business. He was attended by
  a numerous suite of the most respectable people of the island, and
  also by a number of British and foreign troops. The troops from
  Bastia were joined by our grenadier company and light infantry
  company, to which latter I have the honour of belonging. When
  everything was ready for the campaign we marched for the revolted
  country, our army consisting of near five thousand men--British,
  foreigners, and natives. The first impediment we met with was a
  fort, on a very commanding situation, built in the time of the
  French. The Corsicans, who were in possession of it, refusing
  to submit at discretion, the troops were immediately ordered to
  surround it. Our two companies marched directly up to the fort and
  kept a very hot fire of musketry on it for some time, but, finding
  it impossible to scale the walls, we were obliged to retire, with
  the loss of our too brave captain of grenadiers, four privates
  killed and five wounded. It is since said that poor Shawe,[30] who
  was the person that fell, had no such orders as he was attempting
  to carry out. Whether he had or not it is now impossible to say.
  When anything fails the blame is generally cast on the sufferer.

  "No sooner had this unfortunate business happened than the news
  came from Corte that the town and foundry of that place were
  surrounded by natives, and that they were determined to cut off
  the Viceroy and the army, upon which we were immediately ordered
  to retreat on Corte. This rebel army was now so formidable near
  Corte, and so determined, that their chief sent word to the Viceroy
  that if he would not redress their grievances he should be under
  the necessity of doing it himself by force of arms, or something
  to that purpose. The Viceroy, wishing to spare blood, granted them
  nearly, I believe, what they wanted, which was the dismissal of his
  Corsican minister and some other men who had become odious to the
  people. The short and long of the business is that the people, not
  approving of the Viceroy's choice of his ministers and people about
  him, took the opportunity I before mentioned of forcing him to act
  in a different manner. What was first thought to be the revolt of a
  few villages has ended in that of nearly the whole country. Things
  are at present pretty quiet, but there is still a very considerable
  republican party in the island, and it is said that the French
  have landed a great many arms here, and have sent over officers to
  incite the people against us.

  "I have the pleasure to tell you that I am now oldest lieutenant.
  If a vacancy should happen I would not wish to purchase, as it is
  very probable, if I have good luck, that I shall get on without,
  particularly as the war is not yet at an end."

Little did Rice think when he despatched this letter that within
four months he and his regiment, together with the remainder of the
British troops, the Viceroy and his staff of civilian officials,
would be driven from Corsica. Yet during these four months events
happened swiftly, and a combination of circumstances--many quite
unforeseen--overwhelmed the Viceroy. He himself for a long while
had been extremely unpopular with the people, who were for the most
part in open rebellion. Napoleon Buonaparte was carrying all before
him on the Continent, and the accounts of his many victories filled
with admiration the minds not only of the French "emigrants," but
also of the Corsicans themselves, who gloried in the knowledge that
the conqueror was a Corsican. Then Spain, previously leagued with
the other powers against the French Republic, basely deserted and
went over to the enemy. As soon as this was known in England, the
British Government, fearing the worst, and aware that the British
fleet in the Mediterranean was not equal to the combined Spanish and
French fleets, decided forthwith to withdraw all the troops from
the Mediterranean, and sent instructions to Sir Gilbert Elliott to
evacuate Corsica.

But before this, the Viceroy, on hearing of the capture of Leghorn
by Napoleon, had despatched Nelson to occupy the Isle of Elba, where
he established a small force as a safeguard to Corsica, and he now
proposed to withdraw altogether from the latter island, and assemble
the troops at Porto Ferrajo, in Elba, preliminary to carrying out
his orders to remove the troops from the Mediterranean. Nelson,
on the 14th October, brought the British fleet to Bastia, for the
purpose of conveying the troops to Elba, and he arrived only in the
nick of time, for he found the garrison hard-pressed, the French
"emigrants" and the Corsicans having surrounded the citadel, to
which the garrison had withdrawn, and demanded its surrender. Bastia
itself was also in the hands of rioters, who had seized British
property and threatened to make a prisoner of the Viceroy. Nelson
at once rose to the occasion, and checked the riot by training his
guns on the town, at the same time sending a message on shore to say
that he was prepared to bombard the place and utterly destroy it.
The embarkation of the troops then commenced, but took some time,
and on the 18th, when the evacuation was nearing completion, news
came that the French had landed near Cape Corso and were marching
on Bastia. The guns were hastily spiked, but only just in time, for
the last boat-load of soldiers had barely left the shore, on the
20th, before the French advanced guard marched into the citadel of
Bastia. The dignified withdrawal suggested by the British Government
resolved itself, therefore, into a somewhat undignified flight, and,
but for the timely arrival of Nelson's fleet, worse things might have
happened--possibly an ignominious surrender.

The embarkation of all the troops without the loss of a single man,
albeit that a gale of wind was blowing at the time, was a very fine
performance; and the excitement was increased by the knowledge that
the Spanish fleet was bearing down upon Corsica, and could not be
distant more than twelve leagues. Yet Nelson took the fleet safely to
Elba, and there disembarked the troops.

Thus was Corsica lost to Great Britain. "It was impolitic," says
Southey,[31] "to annex this island to the British dominions, but,
having done so, it was disgraceful thus to abandon it. The disgrace
would have been spared, and every advantage which could have been
derived from the possession of the island secured, if the people had
at first been left to form a government for themselves, and protected
by us in the enjoyment of their independence." As things turned out,
it is doubtful if any good resulted from the occupation of Corsica,
beyond that, for a period, it may have been useful to the British
fleet in the Mediterranean, although it provided no facilities for
refitting or repairing damaged ships. Of the evils produced by the
conquest and possession of the island, enough perhaps has been said.
For a time, at any rate, the reputations of Hood, Dundas,[32] Stuart,
and Moore were sullied; the Corsicans suffered oppression, hardships,
and punishment for rebellion; Paoli, the Corsican patriot, retired to
England, and died there in exile;[33] England's fair name was dragged
in the dust, and many of England's soldiers found graves in the
island. Only two men came off with flying colours: the ex-Viceroy,
Sir Gilbert Elliott, was raised to the peerage, and Nelson added
glory to his name.




CHAPTER V.

FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN TO CEYLON.


The island of Elba, where the troops had taken refuge, belonged to
Tuscany, which, with other Austrian and Italian states, was allied
with Great Britain against the French Revolutionists. Tuscany,
however, was too weak to withstand the French invasion, and had
already lost Leghorn. For a time, therefore, it became doubtful
whether the British force in Elba would be able to obtain sufficient
provisions from the mainland close to the island, as there was always
the danger of the French cutting off the supplies, and Elba itself
had few resources. To make certain that the troops should not starve,
it was decided to despatch a small expedition to the mainland, to
dislodge the French from Piombino and the neighbourhood, and keep the
communications open. This was satisfactorily carried out in November
(1796) by Colonel Wemyss and a column consisting principally of the
Royal Irish Regiment, and Piombino was held by the British for the
next three months without being troubled by the French. Pure good
fortune saved the troops, both on the mainland and in Elba, at this
time, for before the end of the year the British fleet was withdrawn
from the Mediterranean, and, had the French chosen, they could have
captured the force left behind without much difficulty.

Sam Rice's letters during this eventful period were few, probably
because there was no possibility of sending them home, but in the
spring of 1797 he succeeded in getting a letter through. He wrote as
follows:--

  "PORTO FERRAJO, ISLE OF ELBA,
  _March 22, 1797_.

  "The _Fox_ cutter, which arrived here the other day from Sir John
  Jervis, with the famous and glorious news of the Spanish fleet
  being defeated,[34] sails to-morrow for Gibraltar. There is no
  news whatever to tell you from this quarter. The French, so near
  neighbours, are very peaceably inclined towards us, for they have
  not even paid us a visit, which they might very easily have done,
  and to our great annoyance. The most unfriendly thing that they
  have done since we have been here was to stop about two hundred fat
  bullocks, which were coming for the use of the army. Our troops
  being withdrawn from the cantonment[35] was the cause of that. The
  French have resumed their old posts,[36] and if we stay here much
  longer, we must take them a second time.

  "We are all heartily tired of this place; there is not an
  amusement of any kind; it is badly supplied with provisions, and
  everything at an exorbitant price. We unfortunate subalterns can
  scarce live. Our pay barely finds a good breakfast. These are the
  pleasures incident to a military life. We are as much in the dark
  as ever about our destination. Various are the reports. Some are of
  opinion that we are to go back to Corsica; others that we shall go
  to Portugal. The latter, I hope."

It seemed as if the authorities had forgotten the existence of the
small force at Elba. "But neither Jervis nor Nelson forgot that a
detachment of the British army was marooned in a little island off
the coast of Tuscany, in imminent danger of capture by the French,
and soon after the great naval victory off Cape St Vincent, Nelson
dashed back into the Mediterranean, ascertained that de Burgh and
his troops were safe, and conveyed them safely to Gibraltar."[37]
So, within a few weeks of the date of Sam Rice's last letter from
Elba, he and his regiment were on the way back to the Rock, and the
evacuation of the Mediterranean was complete. That any one should
have thought that there was a possibility of the troops from Elba
reoccupying Corsica at this juncture shows how little was known of
the situation and of the intentions of the British Government. The
idea of going to Portugal had more in it, and Sam Rice's hopes were
shortly to be realised.

What Captain Mahan calls the "Warfare against Commerce" had now set
in with a vengeance. To put the matter briefly: Napoleon, already
practically master of Continental Europe, aimed at being master of
the world, but found himself held in check by Great Britain and her
fleet. To destroy the power of Great Britain, therefore, became his
immediate object, and he knew that the only means of bringing this
about was by the destruction of her commerce with the world. From
England, he swore, the commerce of the world should pass to France;
but England was prepared not only to hold her own, but also to
wrest from France her little all. The English nation was determined
that even if the resources of the country were drained to the last
dregs, the despot of Europe should be held in check, and as time
went on many a financial crisis threatened, so that only by the most
strenuous efforts was it found possible to provide the sinews of
war. Fortunately, at this time the people of England were patriotic
to the core, and they raised large sums of money as "Voluntary
Contributions," which they presented to Government for the purpose
of carrying on the war, only ceasing to subscribe voluntarily when,
in 1798, the Government introduced the Income Tax, and declined free
gifts of money.

Napoleon began by ordering the maritime powers of Europe to close
their ports to British trading vessels; and England at once replied
that she would cut off all trade between the Continent and the
outside world; that only through England should there be any trade
at all. Such was the condition of affairs when the troops from Elba
arrived at Gibraltar in the spring of 1797. Spain had now become
the mere catspaw of France, who dictated to her on all occasions,
and the two powers set to work to coerce Portugal into joining
them, threatening the occupation of Lisbon by a French force if
Portugal should refuse to close her ports to English ships. Portugal,
observing the heavy combination against her, and the removal of
the buffer between herself and France, almost forgot her ancient
alliance with England; but, remembering it before she had committed
herself, she rejected the Franco-Spanish overtures, declared herself
for England, and armed to resist invasion. To support her in her
brave resolve England sent Sir Charles Stuart and a body of troops
to Lisbon, and, in June 1797, the 51st proceeded from Gibraltar to
join that force. But although Napoleon, smarting under the insult
offered to the Republic of France, desired above all things to bring
Portugal to her knees, he was too deeply involved in other parts of
Europe to be able to spare troops sufficient to carry out his threat
of marching on Lisbon. The British force in occupation, therefore,
was not called upon, during the next fifteen months, to do anything
more than ordinary garrison duty, which, according to Sam Rice, was
uninteresting to a degree, though the Portuguese did their best to
show hospitality to their allies, and though Rice's younger brother,
Henry, came into Lisbon in his ship on more than one occasion, and
helped Sam to make merry.

In June 1798, Rice, with less than six years' service, was promoted
captain in the 51st, and given the command of the light infantry
company--a much coveted post. But, as he had been for some years
a light infantry lieutenant, it was natural that he should have
the command of the company, which happened to become vacant at the
opportune moment. As we have already said, the grenadier and light
companies of regiments were composed of picked officers and men,
who wore uniforms different from the rest of the regiment. In the
case of the light infantry company the hair was not "clubbed," and
the head-dress consisted of a leather cap--almost a skull-cap, with
a large round peak straight up in front. The red jacket worn was
quite short, and the gaiters were much shorter than those of other
companies. The officers and sergeants were armed with fusils, and
wore pouches; so light infantry officers had silver epaulettes on
both shoulders, the sword-belt being held in place by the one and the
pouch-belt by the other. And upon the epaulettes, as well as upon
the cross-belt plate, was worn the light infantry badge--a silver
bugle-horn. A distinctive uniform of any kind always carries great
weight, and doubtless the light company officers held their heads
high, though they had some reason for doing so, since they knew
that on active service their place was with the vanguard--in the
forefront of the fight. But their daily pay was no higher than that
of their brother officers of the battalion companies--viz., captain,
9s. 5d., and lieutenant, 5s. 8d. And they could not complain, for a
lieutenant-colonel received no more than 15s. 11d., and a major 14s.
1d.--cheap enough food for powder!

While the 51st were eating out their hearts in inaction at Lisbon,
the British Navy was doing splendid work, sweeping the seas in every
direction, capturing French merchant vessels, and protecting British
commerce. Then Napoleon, seeking new fields for conquest, suddenly
bethought him of Egypt, and forthwith transported thirty thousand men
across the Mediterranean for the enterprise; but Nelson, following
him, utterly destroyed the French fleet in those seas at the battle
of the Nile, on the 1st August 1798. After this serious defeat, there
appeared to be little prospect of Napoleon being able to carry out
his threat of marching on Lisbon, and the 51st began to speculate
about their future movements, having little doubt that they would be
sent either to the West Indies or to the East Indies. In each quarter
there was every prospect of fighting, for the West India Islands had
been the scene of much conflict of recent years, their commercial
value being considerable, and their possession being, consequently,
of great importance. In the East Indies, also, much was doing; the
East India Company was still struggling for supremacy over the
native rulers; the great Mahratta war was being waged with vigour;
and operations in the Carnatic were not yet at an end. To develop
the trade of the East Indies was at this time of vital consequence
to England, and since the insignificant French possessions in India
(Chandernagore and Pondicherry) had already been captured, British
trade had no competitors in that part of the world. It was necessary,
however, to strengthen British rule in the country by reinforcing
the land forces; and it was necessary also to keep open the long
trade route between India and England by means of the Navy. The
convoy system was by this time in excellent working order, and all
British merchant vessels sailed under escort of men-of-war. It will
be remembered that as far back as 1793 Sam Rice described in some of
his earlier letters how large numbers of merchant ships assembled at
Portsmouth to be convoyed to their destinations, and how the ship
in which he sailed to Gibraltar was one of a fleet of two hundred.
But besides these convoys, the various trading routes were patrolled
by frigates and sloops-of-war, ever on the look-out for the enemy's
cruisers or merchantmen. So by the one means or the other British
ships were given a possibility of security, though occasionally a
venturesome merchant, to whom time meant money, refused to wait for
a convoy, and sent his ship to sea without one, as often as not to
be captured. In 1798 Government decided to put a stop to these risky
proceedings, and passed an Act making a convoy compulsory for every
British merchantman. The East India Company at this time possessed
a fleet of magnificent merchant vessels, and armed with guns; but
they always sailed in a body with a convoy of men-of-war, and,
considering the time taken in collecting a sufficient number of ships
for a convoy, the service was fairly regular. As a rule, the convoy
was relieved at St Helena, men-of-war from the Indian station being
responsible for the eastern half of the voyage, and the meeting of
the outward and homeward bound fleets at the little island was, from
all accounts, a fine sight.

It was to the East Indies that the 51st eventually received orders
to move, because news had reached England that some of the native
rulers were leaguing themselves with the French to oust the British,
and in October 1798 the regiment embarked at Lisbon, joined the fleet
of East Indiamen, and sailed for St Helena. In January they put in
at the Cape of Good Hope, and the following letter, written by Sam
Rice, from that place, shows that the voyage had not been without
incident:--

  "CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA,
  _January 26, 1799_.

  "Had not our water failed, I should not have had the pleasure
  of sending you these few lines, it being the positive order for
  the Commodore not to touch anywhere, except _en cas de besoin_.
  We arrived here three weeks ago after a passage of twelve weeks.
  Nothing material happened, only that one of the large Indiamen
  ran foul of us in the night and carried away part of our stern. I
  never was so frightened in my life. I thought that it was certainly
  all over with us. You can form no idea of the shock. Seamen think
  nothing of these things, but as for me, who am not a seaman and
  have no wish to be, I am in constant fear. Soon after our arrival
  we received orders to disembark, and to remain until such time as
  a reinforcement should arrive. I am happy to say that yesterday
  orders were issued for a re-embarkation. Our heavy baggage goes
  on board to-morrow; I imagine we shall do so the day after. The
  General, whose name is Dundas, reviewed us the other morning, and
  was highly pleased with our appearance, and not without reason. We
  no doubt are, for our numbers, _the prettiest and best-disciplined
  regiment in the Service_. You will excuse my mentioning it."

Here we see the true regimental officer's pride in his corps. The
spirit which Moore had created in his officers still lived--to the
51st officer no regiment was equal to the 51st,--and without such a
feeling, which was by no means universal in those days, a regiment
was of little real value. That the 51st was in as good order as
the officers thought is vouched for by General Dundas's Inspection
Report, which is still in existence.

The presence of a British general and British troops at Capetown in
1799 is worthy of comment, because no part of South Africa belonged
to Great Britain at that time, and Capetown was not actually captured
by the British, to hold for their own, until 1806,[38] and not
acknowledged as a British possession until 1814. The reason was
this: In 1794 the Cape had been for many years in the possession
of the Dutch East India Company, whose rights no other Europeans
disputed, and at the end of that year the French overran the
Netherlands, the Hereditary Stadtholder, the Prince of Orange, taking
refuge in England. Fearing that the French would proceed against the
Dutch colonies, the Prince thought of his alliance with Great Britain
and Prussia, and forthwith (February 1795) sent to the Dutch Governor
of the Cape a despatch, ordering him to admit into the colony any
British troops which might be sent, in order that they might protect
the Dutch possession from a French invasion. This despatch was
conveyed to the Cape by a British fleet, carrying British troops,
but the Governor, knowing that the Netherlands had become a Republic
and had joined France, refused to accept the orders of the exiled
Stadtholder. The British General's position was a peculiar one; he
had been ordered by his Government to occupy Capetown as a friendly
measure, but this the Dutch Governor declined to allow him to do. A
month was spent in negotiations, and when these failed, General Craig
took matters into his own hand, occupying Simonstown, and declaring
his intention of carrying out his orders. The Dutch flew to arms, and
expressed their determination to resist the unwarrantable intrusion,
but in August were driven out of the position which they had taken
up. In the following month a reinforcement of three thousand British
soldiers joined General Craig, and against these heavy odds the
Dutch could do little, so that the occupation of Capetown on the
16th September became an easy matter. From that time until 1803 the
British held the Cape, nominally for the Dutch, but in reality for
Great Britain; but by the Peace of Amiens, signed in March 1802, it
was restored to the Dutch, with the proviso that the English East
India Company could use it as a place of call.

In April 1799 the 51st disembarked at Madras, and took up quarters
in Fort St George. Southern India (or the Carnatic, as it was then
usually called), which, for some years past, had been in a state of
unrest, owing to the tyranny of the notorious Tippoo of Mysore, was
still the scene of military operations, but the 51st arrived just too
late to take part in the great victory at Seringapatam, where, on the
4th May, the British force stormed and captured Tippoo's stronghold,
annihilated the Mysore army, and killed the infamous ruler himself.
After that the country gradually settled down to comparative quiet,
and the British troops, no longer required for keeping order, were
free for employment elsewhere, the 51st receiving orders for Ceylon.

  "The homeward-bound fleet leaves the Roads to-morrow," wrote Sam
  Rice, from Fort St George, Madras, on the 9th August 1799. "The
  mail is ordered to be made up this evening. Only one ship has left
  this coast for England since our arrival, which was with the news
  of the capture of Seringapatam. I was then with a detachment up
  the country, and did not know of her sailing, which accounts for my
  not having written before.

  "I am sorry to say that we were not fortunate enough to share the
  honours with the conquerors of Mysore and divide with them the
  immense treasure of the tyrant in his capital. It is at least
  two thousand pounds out of my pocket, besides the chance of
  plunder--and being a flank company officer would have assisted me.
  It cannot be helped; better fortune another time. By the last news
  from Europe, this part of the world is likely to be the quietest
  for some time to come. The war seems only to be just begun; the
  fate of England and of Europe in general must soon be determined.
  We embarked for Colombo, in Ceylon, soon after our arrival here.
  After cruising in the Bay for three weeks, and beating against the
  monsoon in vain, we were at length compelled to put back, with half
  our men sick. Our loss has been very great, and the Regiment is
  still very sickly. It is yet thought that, when the monsoon shifts,
  we shall again attempt Colombo. I cannot give you a favourable
  account of India; the climate is so hot that, in my opinion, no
  real pleasure can be enjoyed; but this is always the cry of a
  newcomer; time and necessity may reconcile me to it."

Sam Rice's occasional references to prize-money and plunder sound
nowadays very mercenary in a British officer, but a century ago such
things added zest to the soldier's life, for, it must be remembered,
rewards were for the few, and medals only for the most senior of the
officers. Though plunder was not regarded as legitimate, prize-money
was quite in order and regulated by Government. Everything taken
from the enemy was sold by Government, and the amount realised was
divided among the troops engaged, according to rank, so that, in
the case of big captures, even a private soldier often received as
much as £100; at Seringapatam, for instance, more than a million of
money was divided amongst the troops, who, moreover, pillaged freely
on their own account. Eventually, but not until after the middle of
the nineteenth century, prize-money came to be considered degrading
to the spirit of the British soldier, who, it was thought, should
have higher motives for doing his duty. Moreover, the distribution
of prize-money to a part of the army, because that part happened to
make a fortunate capture, was certainly unjust to the remainder of
the army who might have had an equally hard time, though with less
luck. Consequently, it was decided to substitute for prize-money
a regulated rate of field-service allowance to all officers and
men engaged in a campaign, and captures from the enemy became the
property of Government. Private plunder, as a relic of barbarism, was
generally denounced, and was often dealt with as a crime for which
the punishment was death, yet, even in the Peninsular War, it went
on to a great extent, and was at times openly winked at. And the
Peninsular War cannot be said to have seen the last of open plunder,
as witness the sacking of the Summer Palace in 1860, and somewhat
similar, though perhaps less open, incidents up to forty years later.
Apart from the moral aspect of the question, plundering by an army
is, of course, subversive of all discipline, as men once given over
to plunder become irreclaimably out of hand. It has to be dealt
with drastically--no other means can check it; for it is a curious
psychological fact that, even in this present age of civilisation,
men whose morals are above suspicion, and who under ordinary
circumstances would not dream of misappropriating the smallest
portion of another man's property, regard the property of the absent
enemy as fair loot. The man's arguments are simple ones: if he did
not take the thing, some one else would do so; when the enemy fled he
abandoned all his possessions; and findings are keepings. All said
and done, nations themselves have not always set the best example;
and some of the art treasures of Europe have changed hands more than
once as a result of conquest.

It was not until February 1800 that the 51st again embarked for the
voyage to Ceylon, having in the meanwhile returned to garrison duty
at St Thomas' Mount and at Fort St George, and on its departure the
Governor-General of Madras, Lord Clive, issued a special valedictory
order, in which he remarked on the splendid state of the regiment and
its excellent discipline. Landing at Trincomalee three days after
leaving Madras, the regiment encamped there for a week, and then went
on again, by sea, to Colombo, at which place it eked out, for nearly
two years, an extremely dull garrison existence, as may be gathered
from the following extract from a letter written by Captain Rice at
Colombo, on the 26th July 1800:--

  "Our stay at Trincomalee was not long. This is by far the best
  place in the island, but, although it is surrounded by cinnamon
  gardens and many other fine things, I cannot say much in its
  favour. It is something cooler than the coast of India; existence
  may be endured; but there is no society whatever. It is most
  probable that our Regiment will remain some time on this island,--I
  am afraid longer than we wish. Everything here is very expensive,
  owing to the difficulty of getting supplies from the coast (India),
  which can only be done in the particular seasons. A secret
  expedition has lately been fitted out at Madras. Part has already
  sailed with H.M.'s 10th Regiment. We are always left out; better
  luck, I hope, for the future. Little is stirring in the country
  since the fall of the Mysorean tyrant, nor do I think there will be
  for some time to come. A Mahratta war was talked of, but I believe
  they are too wise."

Ceylon, when the 51st went there, had two principal British
settlements on the coast--Trincomalee and Colombo, which had been
captured from the Dutch as recently as 1796.[39] The British were
also in possession of, or at any rate had control over, such a depth
of coast-line all round the island as could be dominated by ships'
guns. The remainder of the island was ruled over by an independent
chief, with whom the Dutch had attempted to form treaties of
friendship, and whom likewise the British approached. This chief, the
King of Kandy, however, disliked, and had the strongest suspicions
of the motives of, all Europeans, and was, moreover, inflated with a
sense of his own importance, so the overtures of the British Governor
came to naught. On the death of the King of Kandy in 1798, trouble
arose concerning the succession to the throne, which was usurped by a
stranger without any pretensions. Plots and counterplots ensued among
the Kandians, and after a while one of the parties endeavoured to
enlist the services of the British, to establish order. The Governor
refused to interfere in the internal affairs of the Kandians, and
nothing of particular importance occurred until 1802, when some
native traders from British territory were ill-treated and robbed by
the Kandians, and redress for the outrage being refused, Governor
North decided to march on Kandy.

Although Kandy was no great distance from Colombo, it lay high up in
the mountains, and was most difficult of approach, the roads being
bad, the jungle dense, and the passes dangerous. On the 31st January
1803, the 51st, forming part of General Macdowall's column, commenced
the march, and after surmounting many difficulties, on the 19th
February stormed and carried two strong posts, and put the enemy to
flight. Hardships and sickness told considerably on the men, but
within a week of the first brush with the enemy, the 19th and 51st
Regiments marched into Kandy, which the enemy had evacuated and set
on fire. The capture of the capital had been tolerably simple, but
little good came of it, for the General soon found that sickness had
reduced his force to less than two thousand men, barely one half
of whom were Europeans, that supplies were running short, and that
his communications with Colombo were cut by the enemy, who began to
assume a threatening attitude on all sides of Kandy. A few skirmishes
took place during March; when, learning that no reinforcements would
be sent to him, Macdowall patched up a truce with the Kandians, and
leaving a thousand men, two-thirds of whom were natives, to garrison
Kandy, withdrew the remainder of his force, including the 51st, in
safety to Colombo, which was reached on the 9th April.

During the rest of the year small detachments of the regiment were
employed in repelling aggressions on the part of the Kandians, who
raided British territory in many directions. Several officers and a
considerable number of men died of disease, and the 51st was reduced
to a mere skeleton. Nor was the health of the other troops at Colombo
any better; and when it became known, in June 1803, that the garrison
at Kandy, now a handful of weaklings, was being besieged by the
infuriated Kandians, it was found to be impossible to send a force to
its relief; and India could not spare a single man for Ceylon, as all
available troops were required for the Mahratta War. In the end, the
Kandians recaptured their capital, and murdered the remnant of the
British garrison in cold blood, though preserving the life of Major
Davie, the commandant, whom they cast into prison, doubtless under
the impression that he might be useful to them some day. The war
died out in 1805, without any attempt on the part of the British to
revenge their murdered compatriots, for the reason that no sufficient
reinforcements were ever available, and the fate of Major Davie is
pitiful to think of. For nearly nine years he languished in a dungeon
in Kandy, and died there, worn out by disease, not to be revenged
until 1815, when the power of the Kandian kings was broken for ever,
and the whole island taken over by the British.

The 51st continued to garrison Colombo until 1807, and suffered
much from the enervating climate, losing a great many officers
and men, and having a number of officers invalided home--amongst
them Samuel Rice, whose constitution was undermined, and who never
really recovered from the effects of service in Ceylon, although he
managed to fight through many subsequent campaigns. In September
the remnant of the regiment landed in England, after an absence of
fifteen years, the last nine of which had been passed in absolute
exile. Home news lost most of its interest during the six or eight
months which it took to drift through to Ceylon, and what was going
on in Europe affected the exiles little, for their own petty war and
its attendant hardships gave them sufficient to think about. Yet,
in Europe stirring events had been in progress, and the 51st, in
going to the East, were denied the satisfaction of taking part in the
reoccupation of the Mediterranean, which commenced with the capture
of Minorca by a force under Sir Charles Stuart, only a month after
the regiment sailed from Lisbon. They missed also the subsequent
capture of Malta in 1800, and the chance of sharing in Abercromby's
great victories over the French in Egypt in 1801. But they did not
miss much else, for the Peace of Amiens (March 1802) brought the war
to a close, and though France again declared war against England
fourteen months later, no actual fighting took place on shore. The
British navy, however, continued to be actively employed, more
especially in frustrating Napoleon's designs for an invasion of
England, and this grand scheme was finally wrecked in October 1805,
when the mighty Nelson, at the cost of his life, almost annihilated
the French fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar. Napoleon being thus
deprived of the means of transporting his "Army of England" across
the Channel, turned and vented his wrath on Continental Europe,
carried his conquests far and wide, and proclaimed one of his
brothers King of Naples, and another King of Holland.

That there was plenty of fighting in prospect for the army was
apparent to the officers of the 51st when they reached England, but
for the moment they had no men, and the next few months were devoted
to bringing the regiment up to strength, as well as to gaining an
insight into the vast changes which had taken place in the army and
in military methods during the past decade; for the officers, who had
been absent from England for so long, soon realised that they were
considerably behind the times. In Ceylon they had heard little or
nothing of the great reforms in progress at home--reforms initiated
by none other than their old commanding officer, Major-General John
Moore, and, as will be shown in the next chapter, far-reaching in
their ultimate results.




CHAPTER VI.

THE REFORM OF THE ARMY.


After such brilliant work as was done by Abercromby's army in Egypt
in 1801, it may seem strange that any one should have questioned the
ability of the British army to meet and defeat any numerically equal
force in Europe. Fortunately for England, however, there were in the
army officers whose deep study of their profession told them that
the tactics of fighting were moving towards a change, and that old
methods before long would have to pass away. Fortunately, again, such
officers were not carried away by the glamour of the recent victories
in Egypt, and the fact that they themselves participated in those
victories added considerably to the weight of their counsels. It has
always been the case that campaigns, however successful they may have
been, have been followed by reforms in the army; for it is only from
experience gained in actual warfare that it is possible to discover
the shortcomings of a force, or how to set matters to rights. There
was, therefore, nothing peculiar in the move which was made in 1802
towards overhauling the affairs of the army, and the prime mover in
the reforms was the Commander-in-Chief, H.R.H. the Duke of York.

As was mentioned in an earlier chapter, it was common knowledge, as
far back as 1792, that a long immunity from European warfare was
beginning to tell on the wellbeing of the British army, and that the
officers were in a measure losing touch with their profession. Still,
no immediate action was taken, and the good work done in India, the
West Indies, and elsewhere led the authorities to believe that there
was nothing very much amiss. In 1802, however, came the opportunity.
The peace patched up in that year brought about extensive reductions
in the establishment of the British army, and it became necessary
to place a great many officers on half pay. Moore, who, after much
foreign service, was then commanding the Canterbury district, and
who, as we have previously shown, had great ideas on the subject of
good officers, seized the opportunity offered by these reductions
to weed out such officers as he deemed undesirable. The matter of
seniority was nothing to him, and he applied, at any rate to the
regiments under his immediate command, the hitherto unheard-of
principle--selection, pure and simple, and made by himself. His
methods were somewhat severe, and he did not confine his operations
to the junior officers, as is evident from his correspondence with
the Adjutant-General of the Army. "Some commanding officers," he
wrote in 1803, "the state of whose regiments justify it, must be told
to retire from the service, the duties of which they are unequal to.
The command must not be allowed to devolve upon their majors, who may
be equally incapable, but be given to officers of approved talents.
One or two measures of this sort generally known would excite an
exertion which at present is much wanted."[40]

Moore was ably supported, not only by the Commander-in-Chief,
but also by his old commanding officer of Corsican days, General
David Dundas, who, in these early years of reform, first was
Quartermaster-General of the Army, and afterwards was in command
of the Southern District--and so again Moore's commanding officer.
Moore's suggestions carried immense weight with the authorities,
and a great number of officers who had failed to take their
profession seriously found themselves retired on half pay. The
result, though disastrous to the officers concerned, put new life
into the commissioned ranks, and opened the way for the remodelling
of the whole organisation of the army. The question of the officers
having been settled, and their zeal and efficiency having been
assured, Moore's work was simplified, and it was on Moore--only a
major-general commanding a comparatively small district--that the
military authorities leaned in carrying out their scheme for the
reorganisation of the army. This was, of course, natural enough, for
Moore himself, if not the originator of the scheme, was at any rate
the chosen mouthpiece of General Dundas, whose views concerning the
training of troops were held in high esteem. But what is not easy
to understand is the absence of opposition on the part of the older
conservative officers, senior to Moore. The fact, however, remains
that he was given a free hand, and when, in 1803, he determined to
reform the discipline and training of the army on lines which he had
been working out for many years, principally during active service in
the West Indies, Holland, and Egypt, he was given the command of a
special brigade of selected regiments, with which he was permitted to
experiment to his heart's content.

The sole purpose of his system was to convert the British army into
a thoroughly sound and reliable fighting machine, suitable to the
times. He had observed that Napoleon was adopting new tactics; he
foresaw that the times were changing; and he realised the fact that
the experiences of fighting in India, in the West Indies, in Holland,
and in Egypt would be of small value to troops pitted against
Napoleon's trained veterans in Europe, unless such experiences were
thoroughly examined, with a view to discovering if the army had
learned anything worth learning, or if it was still behind the times.
Moore was perfectly convinced that in tactical formations in the
attack and the defence the methods of the infantry of the army were
out of date; but he knew, also, that the men of the British army were
made of sound stuff, and that under efficient officers they could
be trained to do anything. It is worthy of note, however, that the
changes which Moore introduced did not arise, as is usually the case,
from any improvement in firearms, but rather from a careful study
of recent campaigns in various parts of the world. In short, Moore
saw what was wrong, and endeavoured to set matters right, with what
result will presently be shown.

In order to understand how it came about that the British infantry
within a few years proved more than a match for the French in the
Peninsular War, it is necessary to have some knowledge of the methods
of fighting previously adopted by the armies of the two nations, and
then to see how Moore altered these methods, by assimilating the
good and by eliminating the bad, by pruning and by inducing fresh
growth. We shall see that, in the new system of training, everything
depended on the regimental officer; and we shall see that, when war
came, it was the regimental officer who made the British army almost
invincible.

Without entering too deeply into the history of tactics, we may
say that up to the middle of the eighteenth century the fighting
formation of infantry, whether in attack or defence, consisted
generally of solid bodies of troops, which marched up in two massive
columns, and then deployed, in the face of the opposing force,
into two lines each composed of three ranks. Skirmishers were then
unknown; and very great attention was paid to drill. About 1757 we
find the Austrians using light troops (Croats) to harass Frederick
the Great's army on the march; but these do not appear to have been
properly organised, and, though always annoying, they seldom acted
with real judgment. In 1774 Mesnil Durand invented a system in which
skirmishers played a considerable part. Battalions were to move
in double company columns at deploying intervals, two of the ten
companies of each battalion acting as skirmishers to cover the whole
front of the line of columns. It was held that in this way the fire
of the skirmishers would make itself felt to such an extent that it
would only remain for the heavy columns behind to push in and crush
the enemy by sheer weight. This was to a certain extent the system
adopted by the French in 1793, and employed by the French generals
in the Peninsular War, and by Napoleon until his final defeat at
Waterloo, except that the columns of attack were deep and solid, and
not merely single battalion columns or lines of battalion columns.

It may therefore be said that skirmishers first took their place in
the organisation of Continental armies about 1774, but years before
that the question of their employment had been freely discussed. As
early as 1754 Comte Lancelot Turpin de Crissé had published a work
on the Art of War, in which he dealt with the uses of light troops
at some length, and the British army had had its bodies of trained
light infantrymen certainly before 1758.[41] In all probability they
originated about the year 1757, when the British generals, fighting
against the French in America, found that the latter's Red Indian
allies perpetually annoyed them on the march and on other occasions,
and determined to meet them in their own methods of fighting.
Consequently, every regiment in America was ordered to select "the
most enterprising officers and the most active of the privates with
the appellation of _Rangers_." Lord Howe, then commanding the 55th
Regiment, but in 1758 raised to the command of the army in the
field, was immensely impressed by the Red Indian methods of warfare,
and was supported by several commanding officers, who realised the
absurdities of tight clothes and movements in solid formation, when
engaging the enemy in the rough forest country of the New World. The
success which attended the experiment of the _Rangers_ led to the
formation of a light company in every regiment, and the valuable
services which these companies performed during the next few years
fully justified their existence. And the matter was carried still
further, for, in 1758, a whole regiment was equipped for light work,
and named Gage's Light Infantry.[42] In that year, however, while
leading a desperate attack on the French, Howe was shot dead, at the
head of the _Rangers_, in the hour of victory.

At the peace of 1763 all the light companies of regiments were
reduced, and the lessons learned in America for the time being were
forgotten. In 1770, however, some one remembered the value of light
troops, and the light companies were established afresh. In all
probability that some one was Lord Howe's brother, General William
Howe, who had distinguished himself as a leader of light infantry in
Wolfe's Quebec campaign of 1759, for in 1774 he was allowed to take
the light companies of seven regiments to Salisbury, and exercise
them as a battalion in certain manœuvres which he had invented. There
was apparently little similarity between Howe's formations and those
of Mesnil Durand mentioned above, for whereas the latter's flank
companies were employed with their own battalion, as part and parcel
of it in the fight, Howe's idea was to take these companies away from
their regiments, and form them into separate battalions, for distinct
and special work. In this way Sir William Howe, in chief command
of the British forces, employed the flank companies of regiments
during the War of American Independence, the most important and most
hazardous duties being performed by battalions composed of them.

Both Viscount Howe and his brother, Sir William, gained their first
knowledge of light troops from the Red Indians, and it may perhaps
be remarked that, in 1880-1881, irregular warfare with the Boers
gave us the idea of mounted infantry. There is a striking analogy
between the old light infantry and the modern mounted infantry:
each was the outcome of a desire for greater mobility than ordinary
infantry soldiers were capable of; each began in the same way; the
light company and the mounted infantry company contained the picked
men of the battalion, and, in war, these companies of the best men
were taken away from their regiments to work, with similar companies
of other regiments, as separate battalions, the merits or demerits of
which it is not necessary to enter into here.

To return to the development of light troops in the British army. In
1782 the light companies of nine regiments were assembled in camp at
Coxheath, Kent, and, together with two battalions of infantry and two
regiments of light dragoons, were practised in what was termed the
"Dundas Exercises," which were being tried for the first time. A year
or two later, Dundas visited the Prussian manœuvres, obtained some
fresh ideas, and then published his monumental work, which eventually
became the first drill-book authorised to be used in the British
army. Dundas, however, had very little new to say about light troops,
and his exercises were practically on the Continental model. In 1794
Sir Thomas Graham[43] (afterwards Lord Lynedoch) raised a regiment
(which was numbered the 90th), and had it equipped and drilled as a
light infantry corps, though it was not recognised officially as such
for another eleven years. It was in the above year that Moore was
working with Corsican troops in the field, and he always considered
the Corsicans the best light infantrymen in the world, although he
acknowledged that they lacked the discipline necessary for holding
their own against highly-trained troops. In 1798 Howe[44] again came
to the front, and superintended the training of a brigade of all
arms, assembled on the Essex coast, in his light drill. Lastly, in
1800, H.R.H. the Commander-in-Chief ordered the assembly at Horsham
of a temporary corps, for the purpose of training a body of men in
the use of the rifle, fourteen regiments being called upon to furnish
thirty privates and a proportion of officers and non-commissioned
officers. After the summer training, these men were moved to
Blatchington, and were then formed into the Rifle Corps (95th),[45]
for whom Colonel Coote Manningham and Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon.
W. Stewart drew up the famous 'Regulations for the Rifle Corps,'
published in 1801. The methods of training these riflemen were very
similar to those employed in training temporary light infantry corps
composed of the light companies of regiments, except in so far as the
superior range and accuracy of the rifle over the flintlock musket
altered the conditions of the attack and defence.

By this time it had been discovered that Napoleon had developed the
use of his _voltigeurs_ enormously, and that his victories were being
secured by the judicious employment of these light troops; so English
books dealing with the systematic training of light troops now began
to appear. The earliest of these was one based on a translation of
a work by a "German officer of distinction and of much military
experience," which, first produced in 1798 (reprinted in 1801 and
1803), under the title of 'Regulations for the Exercise of Riflemen
and Light Infantry, and Instructions for their Conduct in the Field,'
was ordered to be studied by all officers of the army. Who that
German officer was is never made clear, and in 1803 there appeared
another and a far more valuable work, entitled 'A Treatise upon the
Duties of Light Troops,' translated from the German of Colonel Von
Ehwald, but there is nothing in this book to lead one to believe that
Von Ehwald was the author of the earlier work. The gallant Colonel
had served in the Seven Years' War, commanded a corps of Hessian
jägers, in British pay, during the American War of Independence, and
subsequently commanded a light corps of the Danish army, and his
book contains a mass of useful information on the training of light
troops, as well as examples of their work in the field during several
campaigns.

Judging by the contents of this treatise, it is more than probable
that Sir John Moore had studied it in the original, for Von Ehwald's
ideas on discipline and training were identical with those upon which
Moore subsequently set to work. Both Von Ehwald and Moore held the
opinion that an army which could place in the field large numbers of
light troops, so highly trained and disciplined as to be capable of
working intelligently in extended order in more or less independent
small parties, would be able to outflank, outmanœuvre, and defeat an
enemy of superior strength who adhered to close formations. Rapidity
of movement, however, and the ability to make good use of ground as
well as of their firearms, were essential to the success of light
troops, and Moore knew that unless there could be produced a higher
standard of discipline than was yet known in the British army, it
would be impossible to create light troops of any value. And Moore's
ideas of discipline differed somewhat from those of most officers of
the time, in that he did not believe in the "mechanical discipline"
which made a mere automaton of the soldier, but rather in that
"intelligent discipline, best illustrated, perhaps, by a pack of
well-trained hounds, running in no order, but, without a straggler,
each making good use of his instinct, and following the same object
with the same relentless perseverance."[46] In his determination
to establish this new form of discipline lay Moore's success, and
he always maintained that by no other means than by inculcating
the strictest habits of intelligent discipline in all ranks could
self-reliance and initiative come natural to a body of troops.
Whether he discovered this for himself, or whether he learned it
from Von Ehwald, or whether, again, both of them were following the
lead of Napoleon, whose skirmishers had already made their mark in
European warfare, the fact remains that Sir John Moore was the first
person to attempt to apply it to a large number of British soldiers,
and he was the first person to succeed.

In the summer of 1803, therefore, Moore commenced work with his
famous brigade at Shorncliffe Camp, and he decided to train his
brigade as light troops, not in the usual way by extemporising
battalions out of light companies detached from various regiments,
but by employing whole regiments. For this purpose the 52nd and
the 43rd were, in 1803, formed into light infantry regiments, and,
together with the newly raised Rifle Corps (95th), handed over to
Moore to train. He began at the beginning, and thoroughly overhauled
the existing regimental systems; he went deeply into interior
economy, and instituted many reforms--so far-reaching and excellent
that they have remained almost unaltered to the present day. He
insisted that discipline could only be maintained by the officers of
all ranks always being in touch with their men, and ever having their
welfare at heart. A hard worker himself, he saw that all the officers
of his brigade worked hard also; and during the training seasons
at Shorncliffe the officers were seldom off duty on week-days, and
had to brush up for the General's inspection on Sundays, for Moore
did not recognise any necessity for recreation. On one occasion
the father of a young officer wrote to the General to say that he
proposed to send his son a horse. Moore's reply was characteristic:
"that he should be very pleased that the horse should be sent, but
that it would be necessary for the father to send with it some one to
ride it, for his son would have no time to do so."[47] His first care
was to have efficient officers; he watched them carefully, and he
got rid of those whom he deemed useless for his purpose, thus laying
the foundation-stone of the future building. With good and reliable
officers, establishing a chain of responsibility from highest to
lowest, with a thorough organisation of battalions on the company
system, with non-commissioned officers and men no longer ruled with
a rod of iron, but respecting and relying on their officers, Moore
began to see his way clear.

His next step was to practise, for a considerable time, drill and
movements in close formation--a proof that he was thorough, as well
as patient. An ordinary man with a new hobby to ride might have been
inclined to slur over, if not scoff at, things which he considered
old-fashioned. But Moore had a use for them, because he intended to
make his brigade absolutely perfect, and an example to be followed
by every other brigade in the British army. His brigade was to be
steadier on parade and better drilled than any other, and until
he was sure that it was so, he restrained himself from taking the
regiments on to their training as light troops. And he had other
reasons, for he felt that square drill, practised as a means to
an end, was the best discipline for men who were presently to act
independently and work out things for themselves. Moreover, he knew
that light troops alone would not win a battle, but that they must
be supported by well-disciplined bodies of men, moving in close
formation and maintaining strict order, until the moment arrived for
them to be thrown into the fight.

Sir David Dundas took the greatest interest in all that Moore was
doing, and often visited his camp. His drill-book was still the
official manual, and, as the first of its kind, was of the greatest
value. "There was, however, so much that was rigid, formal, and
unnecessary in Dundas's drill that it gained for him the nickname of
'Old Pivot'; while he also made the fatal mistake of distributing the
whole science of military evolution into eighteen manœuvres, which
were a sad stumbling-block to slow-witted officers. 'General,' said
Sir John Moore to him in 1804, 'that book of yours has done a great
deal of good, and would be of great value if it were not for those
damned eighteen manœuvres.' 'Why--ay,' answered Dundas slowly in
broad Scots, 'blockheads don't understand.'"[48] Yet Moore struggled
manfully with the eighteen manœuvres, and tried new methods of
performing them, before passing on to lighter movements--extended
order formations, advanced-guards, rear-guards, and outposts.

Undoubtedly, Moore's opportunity was unique, for his brigade had
its place in the defence of England, and it was thought that the
French intended to land somewhere near Shorncliffe. Consequently,
the brigade was considered to be on active service, and at the same
time was being trained for war, a state of affairs which naturally
tended to make all ranks keen to acquire military knowledge. There
was none of the make-believe of peace training; only a few miles of
sea lay between the brigade and the enemy, and on any dark night the
French might attempt to effect a landing between the Martello Towers
which studded the coast-line. At night, therefore, these towers and
three neighbouring forts were fully manned, and outposts covered the
camp on the heights above, the sentries being provided with ball
ammunition. By day, while a look-out was still maintained by the
guards, the brigade was drilled and practised at manœuvring over the
country inland; and now and again the order was given to strike camp
and march, when, within an hour, the whole brigade loaded up and
moved off--with everything complete and ready for active service in
any quarter of the globe. All this resulted from the discipline which
the General instilled into his regiments, and for three continuous
years he had them in his care. So that when, in 1806, he was called
away for service in Sicily, he left his brigade in the highest
state of discipline, and as light troops certainly superior to any
in Europe. The proof of this Moore did not live to see, but his
three regiments a few years later formed the Light Division, which
throughout the Peninsular War carried all before it.

Moore developed light movements enormously, producing a marvellous
elasticity in comparatively large bodies of troops, and under his
training whole regiments became as mobile and rapid in manœuvre as
previously no company of a regiment had been. To swiftly reach a
given point, and there bring as many rifles or muskets as possible
into the firing line; to make every officer and man use his own
intelligence in carrying out movements; and to impress upon them
the necessity for mutual support,--were the chief aims of Moore's
training; and he it was who originated for the British army that
self-dependent Thin Red Line which so soon was to become the
destroyer of Napoleon's deep and massive columns. For it was proved
over and over again in the long war which followed, that, with
opposing forces of equal numbers, the line two-deep, every man of
which was so disciplined as to stand firm, and every man of which
had the opportunity of using his rifle or musket, could make short
work of the more condensed three-deep line, or of the column which
presented a large target, and which at the same time could return
the fire only from the muskets of two ranks at the contracted head
of the column. It is interesting to note that Colonel Von Ehwald
was a strong advocate of the two-deep line both in attack and in
defence, for purposes of firing as well as for using the bayonet. "In
an attack with charged bayonets," he says, "I am convinced that, if
the corps drawn up in two ranks advances resolutely upon the other in
three, it will not be worse off for that rank less, as the pressure
of one upon the other, of which the French tacticians speak, exists
only in the imagination."

Now, the outcome of all this training of light troops was a new
fighting formation for the British army. In the first place, Moore
had proved that whole regiments could become intelligent and reliable
skirmishers, if properly taught; and he had proved, also, that
companies, or smaller bodies, of skirmishers, acting independently
though at the same time working towards the consummation of a
"general idea," were of the highest value when the commanders
of skirmishing units were allowed a free hand. Next, Moore had
discovered that, with these highly trained bodies of skirmishers
out in front, harassing the enemy in every direction, keeping down
his fire, and shattering his _moral_, massive bodies of troops in
rear were no longer required. So he instituted the attack formation
as follows:--First, the skirmishers in some strength; second, a
two-deep line in close order; third, a similar line; and it was with
these two lines, always kept in hand, that the _coup-de-grâce_--in
the shape of a withering volley, followed by a bayonet charge--was
given, at the moment when the enemy had begun to feel the effects
of the bickerings of the skirmishers. But the secret of success in
the employment of these shadowy lines against the enemy's columns
lay not only in the efficiency of the skirmishers, but also in the
superior discipline of the troops behind, who were brought up in
line of quarter-columns to within effective range of the position,
and then deployed into shoulder to shoulder lines of two ranks. It
was for these reasons that Moore drilled his regiments to become
equally proficient in close order movements as in skirmishing. Simple
as all this may appear nowadays, it was a revolution in fighting
methods, and necessitated a vast amount of preliminary training and
disciplining; but Moore's system had been carefully watched by the
authorities, and so satisfied were they of its soundness, that it
was applied as far as possible to all regiments of the army. It took
time, but the ultimate result was good, and it was soon found that a
new spirit was gradually passing into all ranks.

To sum up the nature of the reforms introduced into the army
between 1802 and 1807: we find, to begin with, a marked improvement
in the zeal and efficiency of the officers, produced not only by
getting rid of the useless ones, but also by the introduction of
new regulations relating to the grant of first commissions and
subsequent promotion. Thus the minimum age for an ensign was fixed
at sixteen,[49] and an officer was required to have served at least
three years for promotion to the rank of captain, and seven years
to that of major. Next we find the establishment of a new and high
code of discipline, as well as of morals, among both officers and
men, from which followed a closer union between the one and the
other, and a greater regard for the welfare of the soldier on the
part of the officer. Again, one uniform system of drill and manœuvre
was laid down and rigidly enforced for each arm of the service, for
hitherto such matters had been left to the commanding officers of
corps. "Such changes," wrote Lord Londonderry,[50] "together with the
establishment of hospitals for the wounded and disabled soldiers, and
for the education of children whose parents had fallen in the defence
of their country, could not fail of producing the most beneficial
effect upon the _moral_ of the British army, which, from being an
object of something like abhorrence to its own countrymen, and of
contempt to the troops of other nations, rose to command, as well as
to deserve, the esteem of the former, and the respect and admiration
of the latter."

The above is an outline of the somewhat startling ideas connected
with military reform which were thrust upon the officers of the 51st
on arriving home from Ceylon in the autumn of 1807, and they were
not slow to appreciate the situation. Their men were all new to them,
as they had brought few back to England, and they realised at once
that it would require strenuous efforts on their part to make up the
leeway. It speaks well for them that they were not found wanting,
and they were fortunate in having a commanding officer[51] capable
of rising to the occasion. The necessity of getting into fighting
trim with all speed was apparent to every one; for the cloud over
Europe still hung low and black, and the British expedition sent to
Copenhagen was at the moment destroying the Danish fleet--an act
which, it was well known, would increase Napoleon's hatred of England
tenfold. And so it proved, for before the end of the year a French
army invaded Portugal and entered Lisbon, and Napoleon thus fulfilled
his promise of humbling England's ancient ally.

The difficulties encountered by the regiment in learning its new
work were increased by constant changes of station; first it was
quartered at Chatham, then at Chichester, while early in 1808
it moved to Gosport, and in the spring to Guernsey. There is no
doubt that the regimental officers had plenty to do, with parades
morning and evening, and with a considerable amount of routine work
connected with interior economy. They were up early, as a subaltern
of each company had to call the company roll and inspect the rooms
immediately after reveille, and they were kept busy until they had
seen the men have their dinners at 1 P.M. At three o'clock the
officers dined, and turned out for parade afterwards; so they had
very little leisure for recreation, though what form of recreation
officers and men indulged in at this period is never made very clear.
Some of the officers hunted and shot, but outdoor games, as we know
them now, had not come into fashion. Cricket and football were in
their infancy, and had not reached the army; nor were there any
organised athletic sports; and, in all probability, the only games
played by the men were skittles, and a kind of "fives" in what was
termed the "ball alley." Only by marching were the soldiers kept in
good condition, for it had not yet been discovered that there was a
value in wholesome recreation.

By the spring of 1808 the 51st was a regiment again, but in the
matter of dress quite a different regiment to that which left
Lisbon for India ten years before; for the uniform of the army had
undergone alterations, and the mode of dressing the hair had changed.
The "queue," which had taken the place of the "club" in 1799, and
which was at first ten inches in length, was now shortened to seven
inches, and was tied, a little below the upper part of the collar of
the coat, with a black bow,[52] so that one inch of hair remained
free at the end; the men's coiffure, however, being no longer
powdered white. The officers still wore powdered hair and cocked
hats of considerable size, sometimes putting them on even with
the shoulders, at other times fore and aft; but for the men a new
head-dress had been devised, and this took the form of a cylindrical
shako, with a brass plate in front and above it a red and white tuft
coming out of a black cockade. The red coat had changed its shape,
and was buttoned up tight to the waist, the lapels, in the case of
the officers' coats, reaching right down, and being so made that they
could be buttoned across to form a double-breasted coat, or thrown
back to show the lining of facing cloth--something after the fashion
of the front of the present lancer tunic. The officers also wore very
high and roomy collars, to admit the large black neckcloth, which
was now much affected. And thus turned out, the whole regiment was
undoubtedly as smart as could be,--but what was better, the officers
and men were efficient soldiers.

In the meanwhile, events on the Continent had gone from bad to worse,
and Napoleon, not content with the occupation of Portugal, had thrown
off his alliance with Spain, marched on Madrid, and transferred his
brother Joseph from the throne of Naples to that of Spain. England at
once rose to the occasion, decided to free Portugal and Spain from
the French yoke, and forthwith launched an expedition of about 25,000
men for the purpose. The 51st, having so recently returned from
foreign service, was not included in the expeditionary force, which
landed, on the 1st August (1808), on the Portuguese coast, near the
mouth of the Mondego river, and commenced the advance on Lisbon. On
the 16th the French were first encountered at Obidos, where a slight
skirmish took place, and on the following day Sir Arthur Wellesley
fought and won the battle of Roliça.[53] Without entering into the
details of this the first campaign of the Peninsular War, we may
mention that the British and Portuguese routed the French at Vimiera
on the 21st August, and before the end of the month the enemy, by the
Convention of Cintra, agreed to evacuate Portugal. After this the
British army occupied Lisbon, and prepared for operations against the
French in Spain.

While these events were in progress, the 51st, chafing at having been
left behind, were moved from Guernsey to Chichester, and before long
had the satisfaction of receiving their orders for active service.




CHAPTER VII.

THE CORUNNA CAMPAIGN, AND AFTER.


After the occupation of Lisbon, Sir Arthur Wellesley, deeming it
improbable that the army would resume operations for some months,
went home on leave of absence; and, a little later, Sir John Moore
was given command of the British forces in Portugal. In October he
received despatches from Government wherein he was informed that
it had been decided to send Sir David Baird, with 10,000 men, to
Corunna, and Moore was instructed to take the 20,000 British troops
from Lisbon, and to form a junction with him forthwith, when,
together with the Spanish army, he was to attack the French and drive
them out of Spain.

To carry out his orders Moore had a choice of routes; he could
transport his force by sea to Corunna, or he could march through
Portugal and Spain. The former plan he rejected, as being likely
to cause delay; for, with sailing vessels and at such a season of
the year, it was impossible to estimate the length of time that the
voyage would occupy. He decided, therefore, to adopt the land route,
knowing that, if necessary, he could send his ships up the coast to
some port, which would then become his base, instead of Lisbon.
Accordingly, he desired Baird to march south-east to meet him at a
point to be afterwards named, probably either Valladolid or Burgos,
but the exact spot depending on the movements of the French.

Nearly three months before this the 51st had been warned for
active service, and on the 18th August marched from Chichester
to Portsmouth, where the regiment embarked in three transports,
to join Sir David Baird's force, then assembling at Falmouth for
some undisclosed destination. The regiment, mustering six hundred
bayonets, was in fine fettle, and Captain Sam Rice was in command of
the light infantry company. But eager as he and his brother officers
were to get to business, they were forced to possess their souls in
patience, for they were kept on board their transports for upwards
of two months, with little or nothing to do, except to discuss the
object of the expedition, their knowledge of which was vague in the
extreme. As far as the soldiers were concerned, they were jubilant,
and from a cause which nowadays may seem trivial. The order had gone
forth that their hair was no longer to be "tied," but cut short at
the neck! At length the long weeks of waiting came to an end, and on
the 8th October Baird's fleet of transports sailed from Falmouth,
five days later anchoring off Corunna. But even then further delays
occurred, as the Spanish officials objected to the landing of the
force, and it was another fortnight before the disembarkation was
completed.

To return to Moore. Before the end of October he had set his troops
in motion, but his arrangements were much upset by the reports of the
state of the roads which he wished to utilise for his march. So bad
were they said to be, that he considered it advisable to divide his
force and move by two routes; and before long he had reason to be
anxious about the safety of his detached columns, for the situation
was undergoing a change. At the time of his departure from Lisbon,
Moore had every reason to believe that the Spanish troops, aided
by the British forces under himself and Baird, would be able to
deal a heavy blow to the French invaders, and in this belief he was
supported by the knowledge that King Joseph, fearful of the impending
attack, had withdrawn from Madrid to the neighbourhood of Vittoria,
where he concentrated the French army on the Ebro. But Moore did know
that at this very time Napoleon was pouring reinforcements over the
Pyrenees in such quantities as to bring the strength of the French in
Spain up to some 250,000 men.

Napoleon had determined to secure Spain and Portugal at all costs;
and, placing himself at the head of the reinforcements, early in
November defeated a Spanish force which attempted to bar his way, and
advanced rapidly to Burgos. Thence he pushed a corps to the Carrion
river, to protect his right flank from the British, while he moved on
Madrid. In the meantime, Moore's main body was marching, viâ Ciudad
Rodrigo, on Salamanca; while Hope, with the cavalry, artillery,
and ammunition, had been sent by the circuitous route, Badajoz,
Talavera, Madrid, Escorial Pass, to rejoin Moore at Salamanca,
Valladolid, Burgos, or elsewhere, according to orders to be issued to
him later.

On the 15th November Moore reached Salamanca, and learned that the
French had already occupied Valladolid. Consequently he decided to
wait at Salamanca until Baird and Hope could join him. But the two
latter had met with great difficulties in the matter of transport,
and had been delayed beyond all expectations, so that on the 26th
November the head of Baird's column had got no farther than Astorga,
five marches north-west of Salamanca, and Hope was at the Escorial
Pass, six marches south-east of Salamanca. On that same day Lefebre's
French Corps, of 30,000 men, was approaching Valladolid, barely three
marches north-east of Salamanca, while Napoleon himself, marching on
Madrid, was at Arauda, some sixty miles as the crow flies due east
of Valladolid. Fortunately for the divided British forces, Napoleon
was in ignorance of their whereabouts; neither, on the other hand,
was Moore aware of the exact situation of the French, until two days
later, when both he and Hope were informed of Napoleon's proximity.

Hope realised at once that he must risk everything in the attempt
to take his artillery and ammunition to Moore at Salamanca; while
the latter, after sending orders to Baird to retire on Corunna
or Vigo, decided to wait as long as possible for Hope, and then,
retracing his steps into Portugal, defend the frontier and cover
Lisbon. Fortune favoured Hope, who, making a desperate cross-country
march, successfully formed a junction with Moore at Salamanca,
whereupon Moore changed his plans. He had heard that the Spaniards
intended to defend Madrid to the last, and, in order to assist them
in their endeavour, he determined on a bold stroke. He saw that
Napoleon's vast army was, like some beast of prey, sprawled out over
the provinces of Spain and crawling forward with open jaws within
measurable distance of Madrid; he saw the hopelessness of trying
conclusions with a beast ten times his own strength, but he knew
that if he suddenly dealt a furious blow on the beast's tail the
beast would spring round and attempt to rend him. This, then, was Sir
John Moore's idea when, at the beginning of December, he made up his
mind to strike at Napoleon's line of communications, which stretched
back to the Pyrenees. He calculated that Napoleon would immediately
turn upon him with all his strength, and the Spanish and Portuguese
forces would thus be given time to collect for the defence of their
respective capitals. His own subsequent line of action he had also
worked out carefully: having dealt his blow, and having succeeded in
bringing the bulk of the French army against him, he would draw off
his little force to Corunna or Vigo, and at one or the other place
embark and sail to Lisbon or Cadiz.

Fresh orders were therefore despatched to Baird, who had meanwhile
retired from Astorga, three marches to Villafranca. In these he was
instructed to advance towards Valladolid, and on the 11th December
Moore moved towards the same place, reaching the river Douro on the
13th. Here a French despatch was intercepted, and from it Moore
discovered the true state of affairs. Napoleon had captured Madrid
nine days before, had despatched Lefebre towards Lisbon and his
other corps in various directions, and now ordered Soult to move
his corps from the Carrion river westward into Galicia. It was also
evident, from this French despatch, that Napoleon had no knowledge
of the movements of the British, and that Soult's corps was without
support and of no great strength. So Moore decided to strike at Soult
forthwith, and, with this object, arranged with Baird to join forces
at Mayorga, instead of at Valladolid, at the same time instructing
his ships at Lisbon to proceed up the coast to Vigo, and giving
orders for the establishment of supply depôts along the route by
which he intended eventually to withdraw to the ships.

Upon receipt of these orders Baird advanced again to Astorga and,
on the 20th December, joined Moore at Mayorga. He took with him all
available battalions, but some were still in rear, since the Spanish
authorities had been unable to provide transport or provisions on
the road for any but small bodies of troops moving at intervals of
some days. The 51st Regiment, forming part of Leith's Brigade, was
still far behind, and did not come into the zone of operations until
the eventual retreat was in full swing. Moore, however, now had
sufficient men for his purpose, for he knew that Soult's force was
in numbers inferior to his own; and the operations at once commenced
by a brilliant cavalry action, in which Paget, with 400 British
sabres, routed 600 of the French cavalry at Sahagun. Soult was now
known to be at Saldanha and Carrion, and Moore decided to halt his
force for forty-eight hours in order to allow the rear divisions to
close up, and then to attack at dawn on the 24th December. On the
night of the 23rd-24th the troops set out on the march which was to
bring them at daylight before the bridge of Carrion, but they had not
marched far before they received the unwelcome order to retrace their
steps and return to their bivouacs at Sahagun. Moore had received
information which upset all his calculations; the scheme which he had
devised for drawing Napoleon's armies after him had worked only too
successfully, for he learned that Napoleon was already in full march
upon him, and that within a few hours the situation of the British
army might become critical. He determined, therefore, to abandon the
attack on Soult and endeavour to carry out his original programme by
withdrawing to his ships before Napoleon's masses should fall upon
him. That Christmas day was spent by the disappointed army in making
the second march of the long and arduous retreat to Corunna.

Napoleon, as was his wont when once his mind was made up, came like
a thunderbolt. On the 21st December, at the head of 40,000 men and
150 guns, he left Madrid, and, although he had to negotiate high
mountain passes, often blocked with snow, he marched a hundred miles
in less than five days, reaching Tordesillas, on the Douro, on the
25th December, and having his advanced cavalry well ahead of him on
the way to Benevente. He firmly believed that he and Soult had now
ringed-in Moore's force, which he imagined to be still at Sahagun.
But Moore, leaving only his cavalry and the two light brigades of
infantry at that place, had slipped away in the nick of time and
had crossed the Esla by the 26th without serious molestation. On
the following day the British cavalry fought long and gallantly and
completely checked the pursuit; on the 28th Craufurd's light, or
flank, brigade covered the withdrawal of the cavalry over the Esla by
the bridge of Castro Gonzalo and then blew up the bridge; and on the
29th the cavalry again covered themselves with glory by defeating a
strong body of French horsemen who had succeeded in fording the river.

On that day Moore's columns, which had been marching by two different
routes, re-united at Astorga, and there the soldiers felt convinced
that they would be called upon to halt and fight, since they knew
that Moore had told the Spanish general that he would make a stand
at Astorga, and they saw 10,000 Spaniards come into the place. But
Moore had given up all idea of offering battle until he had reached
the coast and was within sight of his ships. His men had already
suffered from the hard marching in pouring rain and in snow, and
along bad roads ankle-deep in mud; provisions were becoming scanty,
and the General considered it advisable to push on with all speed to
Villafranca and Lugo, where large supply depôts had been formed. On
the 30th December he rested his troops at Astorga, and by the 31st
both British and Spaniards were clear of the place, which was entered
within thirty-six hours by the infantry of Napoleon and Soult, coming
from La Baneza, where they had joined hands in the closing hours of
1808.

The new year opened on 25,000 dispirited, and even sullen, British
soldiers marching through the snow-laden passes, and unable to
understand why they should not turn and fight. Discipline became
lax; the men broke the ranks in search of plunder and drink; and the
stragglers were only kept on the move by the exertions of the cavalry
of the rearguard.

Yet Moore had outwitted Napoleon, who, in sheer disgust at having
failed to cut off his adversary, halted two days at Benevente, handed
over the pursuit to Soult, and himself returned to Paris--not again
to encounter British troops in the field until the eventful day
when his fate was sealed at Waterloo. His deputy, however, took up
the work with zeal and alacrity, and pressed forward to Astorga as
rapidly as possible.

The horrors of the retreat of the British army after leaving Astorga
have been so often described that it is needless to refer to them
further than to say that, with the exception of some dozen regiments,
the troops were completely demoralised and out of hand. Moore's
feelings of bitterness can be well understood, for here, almost at
the first trial, the discipline which he had assiduously preached
throughout his service had completely broken down. But this condition
of affairs existed only among the troops of the main body, for the
regiments forming the rearguard (which included the three which
he had personally trained at Shorncliffe) behaved throughout with
conspicuous gallantry and prevented Soult's pursuing force from
overwhelming the disorganised army.

Passing through Bembibre and Villafranca, Moore reached Lugo after
forced marching from which the men were worn out, and here he
decided to halt in order to enable the stragglers to come up, and,
if necessary, give battle. This, in a measure, raised the spirits of
the army, as the men far preferred the prospects of a fierce fight
to those of an immediate continuance of retreat. But, perhaps, the
greatest check to the demoralisation which had set in was the fact
that, at Lugo, Moore had the satisfaction of finding a most welcome
addition to his force in Leith's Brigade of 1800 fresh men, who had
not been harassed by the arduous marches of the past week, and with
Leith's Brigade, as has been already mentioned, was the 51st Regiment
and Captain Sam Rice.

At Lugo, therefore, on the 6th January 1809, Moore took up a strong
position, and all ranks, full of hopes of being speedily attacked,
fell into their places with evident delight. That same evening
the rearguard came into Lugo, and on the following morning Soult
appeared. But he felt his way with caution, and soon learned that
the force opposed to him was not merely the rearguard, which had
always been keeping him back, but Moore's whole army. Making a feint
attack on the Guards' Brigade on the right of the position, he moved
a division against the left, which was held by Leith's Brigade. The
fight soon began in earnest; Soult's guns opened on the advanced
piquets of the 76th Regiment, which then fell back on the 51st, when
the two regiments began to use their muskets with vigour. At this
moment Moore himself was an eye-witness of what was taking place,
and realising that Leith's men were greatly outnumbered by their
assailants, yet knowing that he could spare no troops to reinforce
them, galloped up to the 51st, and, appealing to his old regiment to
stand firm, placed himself at their head. The response was immediate
and unanimous. With a wild cheer the men emptied their muskets at the
enemy, then, without hesitation, charged home, and drove the French
before them at the point of the bayonet. The day was saved, and the
enemy, with a loss of some three hundred men, drew off.

But this gallant action, which received the well-merited praise of
the General, produced a state of affairs such as Moore least desired;
for Soult feared to attack the position again until he should
receive reinforcements from the rear. Throughout the 8th January the
British army remained in its position, expectant and ready, with its
officers and soldiers prepared to stake everything on the issue of
the hoped-for battle. Yet the day passed without a sign of a French
advance, and towards evening Moore's spirits fell, for he guessed
that Soult was waiting for reinforcements. At first he thought of
turning on his adversary while he was still weak, but he came to the
conclusion that the risk was too great; on the other hand, to remain
where he was until Soult should consider himself strong enough to
renew the attack would be suicidal. Therefore, he saw but one way
open to him--viz., to slip away from the position and continue the
retreat to the coast; and, his mind made up, he issued his orders for
the march. Destroying such stores and horses as would hinder their
progress, and leaving their bivouac fires burning in order to deceive
the enemy, the disheartened troops evacuated the position in the
dead of night. Fortune was against them all through the night; rain
fell in torrents, and the inky darkness made it impossible for them
to see their way, so that, by dawn, instead of having put fifteen
miles between themselves and the enemy, many benighted battalions,
after marching all night, found themselves but five miles from their
starting-point, and yet thoroughly exhausted. But Soult did not
discover that his enemy had gone until late next morning, and even
then he appears to have been unwilling to push the pursuit as rapidly
as he might have done.

Continuing the retreat in wretched weather, Moore's troops suffered
every manner of hardship and privation, but on reaching Betanzos,
on the morning of the 10th January, matters began to improve. The
columns were still well covered by the rearguard, who kept the French
at a distance; the sea was within sight, and the climate and weather
improved considerably. Moreover, provisions had been sent forward
from Corunna to Betanzos, and the half-starved men received ample
food; so that, seeing all their troubles at an end, they made the
last march to Corunna, on the 11th, with light hearts. But Moore had
no such feelings, for he had received the depressing news that his
ships, which he had ordered to come round from Vigo to Corunna, and
which he had expected to find in the harbour, had been delayed by
stress of weather. Doubtful for how long he would have to wait, and
within how short a time Soult would be able to bring overwhelming
force against him, the General prepared for the worst, making all
arrangements to fight, as well as for the immediate embarkation of
his army so soon as the ships should arrive. The bridges outside
Corunna were blown up, and all stores, munitions of war, and horses,
which he would not be able to remove, Moore caused to be destroyed.

On the 14th January the ships entered the harbour, and the
embarkation of the sick and wounded, guns, cavalry horses, and
transport animals was proceeded with as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile Soult began to press in, and Moore, seeing that he could
not expect to embark all his troops without a fight, selected a
defensive position some two miles outside Corunna. The four days'
rest, with good food, had had a wonderful effect on his men; the
stragglers had come in; fresh arms and ammunition had been supplied
from the ample stores at Corunna; the sickly men had been sent to
the ships; and the General found that he still had 15,000 determined
infantry soldiers and nine guns wherewith to withstand Soult's
onslaught. All the morning of the 16th the French were seen to be
massing in front of the position, but Soult apparently still feared
to attack, and Moore, thinking that he would not do so, gave orders
for the embarkation to continue. Yet, an hour later, Soult's guns
suddenly opened, and his columns dashed forward. Moore, overjoyed at
the sight, and sure of victory, saw before him a great and glorious
finale to the painful scenes which he had witnessed during the
previous weeks, and rode from point to point of the field, giving his
orders with calmness, and inspiring confidence in all directions. For
some time the battle raged furiously; the French were as eager for
the fray as were the British; here and there the latter were forced
to give way, but re-forming rapidly, turned again, and recovered
the lost ground. At length, the issue of the fight was no longer
doubtful; the French were driven back on all sides; the order for a
general advance of the victorious British line was given, and was
being carried out, when Moore fell mortally wounded, and Baird was
also struck. Confusion followed, further orders remained unissued,
and when Hope, the next senior, took command, it was too late to
continue the struggle. Prudence demanded that he should withdraw
the army and embark before the French could recover and return to
the attack, and under cover of darkness the whole of the British
force, save only the outposts, were withdrawn from the position,
and embarked. That night and the following day were spent in getting
every one on board, and by the 18th January the last of the troops
covering the embarkation quitted Corunna for England, Soult's guns
opening on the ships as they put to sea.

Thus ended Moore's last campaign, and those who knew nothing of
the General's original plan considered the retreat to have been a
disastrous flight, yet Moore's plan succeeded completely. He drew
Napoleon and 70,000 men away from the south and saved Lisbon from a
French occupation, which was the most that he ever expected to do.
The amount of hardship which his troops would have to endure in the
withdrawal to the coast, perhaps he had not anticipated; but, had he
lived, doubtless he would have claimed that the result was well worth
the sacrifice, and if, moreover, the victory over Soult at Corunna
had been completed, few would have been found to cavil at his plans
and operations.

The part played by the 51st in the battle of Corunna, though
small, was not unimportant. The regiment stood in second line to
the left rear of Elvina, opposite to which village the fiercest of
the fighting took place, and where Moore received his death-wound.
Considering its position, its losses were not heavy, only amounting
to some five-and-twenty men--mostly wounded. Neither did the regiment
suffer to such an extent in casualties during the actual retreat as
did most other regiments of Baird's original force; and if, as has
been maintained, want of discipline was accountable for heavy losses
during the retreat, then the officers of the 51st had good reason
to be proud of the discipline of their corps. Their three months'
absence from England, however, had lowered their numbers by 107 men,
and many gallant officers and soldiers suffered from the effects of
the hardships of this campaign to the end of their days. Sam Rice,
although he came out of it unscathed, was an invalid for some months
afterwards, and was unable to pass the doctors when his regiment was
next sent on active service. Yet, for this he must have remained
ever thankful, for the expedition in which the 51st took part in the
autumn of 1809 was, as will be shown, productive of nothing except
death and disease.

On disembarking in England after Corunna, the regiment was assembled
at Sandown Barracks, and in April marched into Devonshire, being
quartered first at Kingsbridge and then at Berryhead. In May it
received the honour of the title of Light Infantry, probably as a
reward for its good services in the Corunna campaign, and probably
also as a memorial to Sir John Moore, the exponent of everything
pertaining to light infantry, and the former commanding officer of
the regiment. The 71st was made a light infantry regiment about the
same time, but previous to that there had only been four regiments in
the British army so designated, and as light infantry they considered
themselves superior to all other regiments of the line. As such they
wore a distinctive uniform, which was much like that of the old light
infantry company; and their special duties on active service were to
be always in front of the army, gaining and keeping touch with the
enemy, fighting advanced- or rear-guard actions when on the march,
and forming a chain of outposts round the army when halted.

The spring and early summer of 1809 were spent by the 51st in
recruiting the regiment up to fighting strength, for when, in April,
Sir Arthur Wellesley returned to Portugal to continue the war, it
was not sufficiently strong to form part of the expedition. By July,
however, this difficulty had been overcome, for the stories told of
the Corunna campaign had roused the fighting spirit of the country,
and vast numbers of militiamen volunteered into the line. But when,
in this month, the 51st received a fresh call to arms, it was not
for Portugal, but for Holland, an expedition having been fitted out
for the purpose of destroying the French fleet and arsenals in the
Scheldt. Sam Rice, who had just given up the command of his company
on promotion to Major, did not accompany the regiment on this
service, but remained in command of the depôt at Berryhead Barracks.

The Walcheren Expedition, as it was called, proved a complete
failure. Operations commenced satisfactorily, and Flushing was
bombarded and captured in August; but, owing to misunderstanding
between the military and naval commanders (the Earl of Chatham and
Sir Richard Strachan), the enemy was not pursued with energy, and
the troops (some 40,000 in number) were kept idle on the island
of Walcheren, until fever decimated their ranks. In September the
greater part of the misdirected expedition returned to England, and
for several months afterwards the men continued to die from Walcheren
fever. The unfortunate circumstances gave rise to the following
caustic epigram:--

    "Lord Chatham, with his sabre drawn,
    Stood waiting for Sir Richard Strachan;
    Sir Richard, longing to be at 'em,
    Stood waiting for the Earl of Chatham."

So far the regiment's experiences of European warfare had not been
pleasant. Within a year it had taken part in two campaigns, in
each of which, although it had acquitted itself honourably, it had
sustained weighty losses. Unlike many other regiments, the 51st had
no second battalion upon which to draw to replace casualties, and
consequently it was not fit to proceed on active service in the
Peninsula until the end of 1810.

Meanwhile, Sir Arthur Wellesley, in supreme command of the allied
armies, had been actively engaged with the enemy from month to month,
and had won several hard-fought battles. He successfully frustrated
Soult's invasion of Portugal by defeating him on the Douro, in May
1809, and driving him out of Oporto. He gained a signal victory over
Marshal Victor at Talavera, in July; and thence retreated for the
winter to the banks of the Agueda river, between Almeida and Ciudad
Rodrigo. In 1810 Lord Wellington (as he now was) had for his opponent
Marshal Massena, who had been ordered to invade Portugal (while Soult
directed his attentions to Badajoz), and who, in June, commenced
operations by investing Ciudad Rodrigo, then held by a Spanish
garrison. Capturing that fortress in July, Massena advanced on the
neighbouring Portuguese fortress of Almeida, which also fell into
his hands, Wellington's advanced troops--the Light Division--being
forced back behind the Coa river after a desperate combat. In
September, however, Wellington encountered his adversary at Busaco,
thoroughly defeated him, and then withdrew rapidly to the impregnable
lines of Torres Vedras, which, with great foresight, he had caused
to be thrown up in front of Lisbon. Massena, ignorant of their
existence, and imagining that Wellington was retreating for immediate
embarkation, pressed forward for the capture of the Portugese
capital, but only to find his way barred by a series of strong
fortifications. Behind these defences the British army remained
unmolested throughout the winter, while the French, withdrawing to a
safe distance, sat down to await the coming of spring. This, then,
was the situation in Portugal when the 51st Regiment, quartered at
Steyning Barracks, received orders to join Wellington's army in the
Peninsula; and by this time Major Sam Rice was ready to be up and
doing.




CHAPTER VIII.

CAMPAIGNS OF 1811 IN THE PENINSULA.


In January 1811 the 51st embarked at Portsmouth for Lisbon in three
of His Majesty's ships, one of which (the _Danemark_), having on
board three companies under Major Rice, separated from the fleet
during a heavy gale, but eventually reached its destination on the
19th February. Lieut.-Colonel Mainwaring was in command of the
regiment, which left Lisbon early in March to join Wellington's army,
then advancing from the lines of Torres Vedras in pursuit of Massena,
who, with the break-up of the winter, had secretly withdrawn from his
cantonments about Santarem, leaving dummy sentries on outpost duty,
in order to deceive the British. But the _ruse_ succeeded for only a
few hours, for the officers of the Light Division, who, from across
the Rio Mayor, had been watching the enemy throughout the winter,
detected the men of straw through their "spy-glasses," reported that
the French were in full retreat, and immediately took up the pursuit.
Almost at once they were on the heels of Ney's rearguard, engaged it
at Pombal on the 11th March, and at Redinha on the 12th, and fought
again at Cazal Novo and Foz de Aronce[54] on the 14th and 15th; but
Ney, who knew his business only too well, never suffered himself to
become seriously embarrassed, his force always melting away at the
opportune moment, much to the disgust of his pursuers.

The young soldiers, of whom the 51st was now largely composed,
made an early acquaintance with the horrors of war, for a very few
marches brought them into the country through which the French army
had recently retreated, and signs of cruelty to the Portuguese
inhabitants and of wanton destruction of property were visible
everywhere. Villagers, deprived of all that they possessed, were left
to die of starvation; and towns and villages were ruthlessly set on
fire. Leyria was still in flames when the 51st passed through it,
and the road onwards was "broadly marked by the putrefying carcases
of dead French soldiers stretched beside the wreck accumulated by
their wanton, shameful outrages." The regiment joined Wellington's
army at the village of Carripinar, and on the 19th March the whole
force, except the two divisions still in close pursuit of the enemy,
assembled at Moita, where a halt of some days was made, in order to
obtain supplies from Lisbon. On the 28th March a forward movement
brought the troops to Celorico, when the 51st took its place in
the 7th Division (Major-General Houston), and on the following day
marched out with the centre column for the attack on Guarda. The
enemy, however, made no attempt to defend the town, but withdrew at
once, with the loss of a considerable number of prisoners.

Still retreating rapidly, Massena took up a position behind the
Coa, and at Sabugal, on the 3rd April, Wellington attacked him with
great success, utterly defeating him, and two days later forcing
him to cross the frontier into Spain. Wellington then commenced the
investment of Almeida, a Portuguese frontier fortress in possession
of the French, while Massena, unable to feed his army on the country,
retired to Salamanca. All April was spent by the British force in the
vicinity of Almeida, and the following extract from a letter written
by Major Rice on the 16th of the month, from "_Villa Mayor, upon a
branch of the Coa, and near Almeida_," will help to show how the
situation appeared to the regimental officer:--

  "As you will have heard of all our operations since Massena's
  flight, which was tolerably rapid, it would be useless for me
  to attempt a recapitulation, whose only merit would consist in
  incorrectness and stupidity. You will see by the public documents
  that no general action has taken place, though much skirmishing
  with the advance, which has always been to its credit and
  gallantry. Had the gentlemen--I mean the French--not been so very
  swift of foot, the business would have been most decisive and
  glorious for those concerned, as well as for the nation at large.
  The chase has been given these several days. It is indeed even
  reported they have quitted Salamanca. The whole of our army is
  now concentrated between Almeida and Ciudad Rodrigo--fortresses
  in possession of the enemy which still hold out. How they are to
  be disposed of is all a secret, but of this and all other matters
  of real importance you will be better informed at home than I am
  here. The whole tract of country passed by us since we left Lisbon
  is completely devastated--scarce a village or town that has not
  been fired by the French. The beautiful city of Leyria, with its
  convents and churches, has been made a dreadful example of--immense
  and valuable libraries all committed to the flames. For a collector
  of old and mutilated manuscripts and parchments there was a fine
  field, for they were kicking and blowing about in all directions.
  The poor, half-famished inhabitants literally vegetate in the
  fields,--a sight more distressing than any I have yet witnessed,
  and I thought till then that I had been pretty familiar with every
  species of human misery. It does not do to moralise, for such
  things are the consequence of warfare, but I do verily believe that
  never before was it conducted with so much barbarism--_au part
  des Français_,--the bare details of which shock the most obdurate
  and unfeeling heart. Lord Wellington and staff have just passed
  us. He is going to the side of Badajoz. Something, I conclude, of
  importance has transpired that calls his attention in the Alentejo.
  What is now to be done is mere matter of speculation; time, as in
  everything, will discover. We are horribly fed, sometimes three or
  four days without bread."

Again, on the 23rd April, he wrote from the same place:--

  "Still stationary; nothing whatever has transpired of any moment in
  this quarter since my last advice. Almeida continues invested; what
  is to be the result, as I said before, I am ignorant of. It is,
  however, pretty clear that no operations have as yet begun as to
  indicate the intention of a siege. One would suppose that something
  must shortly be attempted, unless Lord Wellington is informed as to
  the positive provisionment of the garrison, by which the trouble
  and the loss of heads may be spared. The French are friendly, and
  give us no trouble. They occupy a position on the Agueda with a
  corps of 4000 men--merely, I conclude, as a reconnaissance from the
  main body of the army, which is at Salamanca and in cantonments
  in the neighbourhood, or it may be further, from what I know, so
  little do we hear.

  "His lordship we have heard nothing of since his departure for the
  Alentejo. Some serious errors have been committed, to the full
  extent of which we remain in the dark. Much anxiety is, of course,
  expressed. I trust things will not prove so bad as report makes
  them, as any little reverse gives encouragement to _our friends_.
  A squadron of the 13th was surprised and taken near Badajoz
  lately; it was acting as a picket to a division of our army; the
  consequence was so far serious that the French cavalry pushed
  through the cantonments of the infantry, who, supposing themselves
  in security, were totally unprepared, and gaped (wide enough, I
  daresay) at the sight. A loss of a few ears, arms, old hats, &c., I
  conclude, took place, though as yet no details of the reverse have
  arrived. It is a d--d bad business, and won't bear telling.

  "What a gallant business at Cadiz! Is it not a pity so much good
  blood should be spilled for those dastardly Spaniards? Ought
  not now those zealous English fools in the cause of Spain to
  be sickened, or do they want another bloody fight, by way of
  ascertaining if British soldiers will fight? The game of Spain must
  be up. Of this country (Portugal) I shall not yet talk, though
  its ultimate fate cannot but be foreseen. But I must not discuss
  politics. The weather is here dreadfully cold and unpleasant,
  though you will scarce believe it from our geographical situation.
  Guarda, from which we are distant but five leagues, is supposed
  to be one of the highest cities in Europe, so of our atmosphere I
  leave you to judge. Hunger, misery, and grumbling is the order of
  the day."

Wellington's departure for the Alentejo and the events in the
neighbourhood of Badajoz, to which Rice refers in the above letters,
had been occasioned by the fact that while the pursuit of Massena
was being carried out, Soult, who had assembled a powerful army
in the south of Spain, advanced rapidly, and after defeating the
Spaniards, detached Mortier to besiege the fortress of Badajoz, held
by a Spanish garrison. On the 11th March the latter ignominiously
surrendered, and the French, having secured Badajoz, moved on and
captured Campo Mayor. A week later, Wellington, seeing no chance
of drawing Massena into a general engagement, and thus feeling
confident that he could spare a portion of his force, despatched
Marshal Beresford with two divisions of infantry and some cavalry and
artillery towards Campo Mayor. That fortress was reached on the 25th
March, but the enemy did not await the arrival of the British, who,
seeing the French in full retreat towards Badajoz, pushed on, and
after a brilliant cavalry charge captured the enemy's convoy, only,
however, to lose it again by rashly pursuing too far and coming under
the fire of the guns of the fortress.

Early in April, Beresford began the investment of Badajoz, but so
many difficulties, real or imaginary, lay in his way that before the
investment could be completed the French had ample time to provision
the place and repair its defences. It was on the 7th April that the
incident of the capture of a squadron of the 13th occurred, and
Napier says of it that the French general, with 3000 infantry, 500
cavalry, and four guns, "surprised a squadron of the 13th, which was
in front, and then came so close up to the main body as to exchange
shots; yet he was permitted to retire unmolested, in the face of
more than 20,000 men!" Napier attaches no blame to the 13th Light
Dragoons for what occurred, but rather extols their gallantry. Of the
supineness and inactivity of Beresford in all these operations he
has, however, much to say; and Rice's remarks point to the fact that
camp rumours were for once tolerably accurate.

With Wellington's arrival in front of Badajoz on the 21st April new
life was put into the operations, for he gave orders to prosecute the
siege with all vigour before Soult could come to the succour of the
garrison. Requisites for the siege, however, were not forthcoming in
sufficient quantities, for although guns, ammunition, and entrenching
tools had been ordered up from Lisbon, the transport for their
conveyance was hopelessly inadequate. Yet the engineer officers set
to work to mark out the trenches, and were preparing to break ground,
when Wellington received information from his northern army which
necessitated his immediate return to the neighbourhood of Almeida.
Leaving instructions, therefore, with Beresford to delay the siege
of Badajoz for the time being, he hurried north, to find, on his
arrival, that Massena's activity was causing considerable anxiety,
for it was known that the French marshal was advancing in strength to
raise the blockade of Almeida.

By the 28th April Wellington was back with his army, and taking in
the situation at once, decided to give battle between the Agueda and
the Coa. Massena conducted his operations much as his adversary had
foreseen that he would do, and within the week was fought the battle
of Fuentes d'Onor,[55] on ground midway between Ciudad Rodrigo and
Almeida.

Hereabouts the river system is somewhat intricate, no fewer than five
considerable streams flowing, in almost parallel channels, from south
to north. On the east the Agueda flows close by the walls of Ciudad
Rodrigo; westward of the Agueda are its tributaries, the Azava, the
Duas Casas, and the Turon; and a little to the west of Almeida is
the Coa--all within a space of thirty miles, and for the most part
unfordable. As early as the 24th April Massena had pushed forward his
advanced troops from Ciudad Rodrigo, with the object of seizing the
crossings of the Azava, but the British outposts on that river drove
them back, and continued to hold the river line, until Wellington
arrived and selected a position behind the Duas Casas, when the
outposts gradually fell back and allowed the French to advance. This
they did on the 2nd May, and, on the 3rd, succeeded in crossing the
Duas Casas at one point and capturing the village of Fuentes. They
did not, however, remain long in possession, for after a fierce fight
the British drove them out and forced them back across the Duas Casas.

Next day, Massena moved forward with 5000 cavalry and 40,000
infantry, and Wellington made some alterations in his dispositions,
so that his front now extended for a distance of some seven
miles. By this new arrangement, the 7th Division (to which the
51st belonged) was placed on the extreme right, near the hill of
Nava de Avel, opposite to which the French appeared to be massing
in strength. On the morning of the 5th May Massena pushed on, and
simultaneously attacked the village of Fuentes and the right of the
British position. The 7th Division, outnumbered, were forced back,
but the Light Division and the cavalry hastened to its support, and
restored the fight. Wellington, now observing that his right was in
imminent danger of being turned, ordered the 7th Division to draw
in, and the Light Division covered the withdrawal in a magnificent
manner. The enemy's strong force of cavalry made strenuous efforts
to crush this portion of the line, and what immediately occurred
is best described in the words of Napier. "The Light Division," he
says, "was thrown into squares; the Seventh Division, which was more
advanced, endeavoured to do the same, but the horsemen were too quick
upon them, and some were cut down; the remainder stood firm, and the
Chasseurs Britannique ranged behind a loose stone wall poured such a
fire that the French recoiled and seemed bewildered."

According to all accounts, the battle scene at this phase of the
fight was a most picturesque one. The vast plain was covered with
charging bodies of horsemen, who once and again endeavoured to
break the squares, which, nothing daunted, met the onslaught, and
leisurely retired. But the grandest sight of all on that memorable
day was perhaps that presented by Norman Ramsay's two-horse artillery
guns, which, hemmed in and cut off by the enemy's cavalry, saved
themselves, not by their fire, but by cleaving their way at full
gallop through the astonished French horsemen. This was, however, but
one incident of many in a day of great deeds, and for a long while
the issue of the fight hung in the balance. Failing to effect his
purpose on the British right, Massena directed his attention to the
capture of the village of Fuentes; but at this point also his troops
were eventually beaten back, and at nightfall the British and French
sentries, separated only by the breadth of the Duas Casas, agreed
to take water from the river without molestation--a tacit agreement
which always existed in Peninsular warfare between the veterans of
the opposing armies.

Considering the critical situation in which the 7th Division was
for so long placed, the casualties in the 51st on this day were
remarkably few--only half a dozen wounded. In the briefest of letters
Sam Rice described the events in which he had taken part as senior
major of the regiment. "We have suffered little," he wrote, "though
the first attack was made on our regiment by a body of cavalry, who
came up to the charge, but were soon convinced that we were not to
be trifled with. I am well and safe. I had an 'all-but,' having my
cap whisked off by a three-pounder, but received no other injury than
a temporary stunning from the concussion. The French again menaced
us this morning, but it has since proved a mere manœuvre, and they
are off, and we prepared to follow. I literally have not time to say
more."

This was written on the day after the battle, and it is possible
that the writer was too sick at heart to say more; for something had
occurred, as will be disclosed a little later on, which must have
caused endless regret to every officer of the regiment who came out
of action. They were not, however, given much time to brood over
their misfortune, for on the 10th May Massena gave up the attempt
to reach Almeida, and withdrew his army beyond the Agueda, when he
was relieved of his command by Marmont. That same night, Brenier,
in command of Almeida, seeing that there was now no hope of succour
reaching him, resolved on a bold stroke. Having destroyed the guns
of the fortress, he marshalled the garrison, and, in one solid mass,
at dead of night, broke through the blockading force, almost before
any one was aware of what was taking place, and eventually made his
escape with only a few casualties. Wellington, disgusted at the
escape of the garrison, vented his wrath on his lax troops in no
measured terms, and leaving Sir Brent Spencer with a sufficient force
to watch Marmont, despatched the remainder of the army to Badajoz,
the siege of which he proposed to renew at once.

While Wellington was fighting Massena at Fuentes d'Onor, much had
been going on in the neighbourhood of Badajoz, and Wellington,
although seemingly so fully occupied in the north, was at the same
time planning for the overthrow of Soult in the south. It will
be remembered that when he hurriedly left Badajoz, at the end of
April, to attend to Massena, he instructed Beresford to prosecute
the siege leisurely. Certainly Beresford could do no more, since,
as has been said, he lacked all the requisites for a regular siege,
but he attempted more, and failed ignominiously. From the 5th to
the 12th May the first siege of Badajoz was carried on without
sufficient organisation, and assaults were directed on various points
before they had been properly breached, with the result that within
the week Beresford had lost nearly a thousand men, and had made no
impression on the fortress. Then came the news that Soult was moving
to the relief of the garrison, when Beresford at once raised the
siege, marched south, and prepared to give battle. On the 16th May
was fought the memorable and bloody battle of Albuhera (or Albuera),
where, more by good luck than good management, Beresford, with a loss
of four thousand of his eight thousand men, succeeded in defeating
his adversary, whose losses were still heavier. The investment of
Badajoz was now resumed, and Wellington was soon on the spot, making
arrangements for a second siege.

Badajoz at this time was probably the strongest fortress on
the Spanish frontier. It was situated on the south bank of the
Guadiana, a broad and deep river, which was of itself considered
to be sufficient protection from an attack from the north. On
that side, therefore, the defences of the fortress consisted only
of a simple rampart. On all other sides the fortifications were
formidable, having regular bastioned fronts, with solid masonry
parapets, encircled by a ditch in places thirty feet deep. Within the
north-east angle of the fortress stood the ancient castle, built on
a hillock one hundred feet in height, and overlooking the Guadiana;
yet, in its turn, overlooked by the high ground (barely five hundred
yards distant) to the north of the river. In order to guard against
the possibility of an enemy's artillery occupying these heights and
demolishing the castle, a detached fort, known as St Christoval (or
San Christobal), had been built on them; while, on the opposite side
of Badajoz, there were two detached works--Pardeleras on the south,
and Picurina on the south-east.

In the first siege, Beresford had attempted to attack from the north,
capture St Christoval, and, after establishing batteries, breach and
assault the castle. St Christoval, however, proved too strong for the
assailants, and thus Beresford was forced to leave his work undone.
When Wellington came on the scene to prepare for the second siege, he
decided to follow Beresford's plan, and accordingly, on the 24th May,
the 7th Division invested St Christoval. Trenches were now commenced
towards the castle and towards St Christoval, and batteries were
soon erected. During the first few days of June the trenchwork made
rapid progress, and the guns fired continuously on the castle and on
the fort. On the 6th June, a practicable breach in St Christoval was
reported, and the assault was ordered to take place forthwith.

On the night of the 6th-7th, the assault was launched, Major
Macintosh, of the 85th, commanding the Stormers, and Ensign Dyas, of
the 51st, the Forlorn Hope. The advanced party succeeded in dropping
into the ditch undiscovered, and the Stormers with their escalading
ladders followed close behind, but on reaching the breach it was
found that the defenders had succeeded in repairing it, and had added
to its summit a high perpendicular wall--so high that the ladders
would not nearly reach the top. Then the enemy's musket-fire fell
upon the unfortunate Stormers, and shells, rolled from the ramparts,
bursting amongst them, played havoc in the ranks. Retreat was
inevitable, and upwards of a hundred dead and wounded were left in
the ditch.

Next day the guns reopened fire on St Christoval, and on the 9th June
a second assault was ordered. Ensign Dyas again led the Forlorn Hope,
and Major M'Geechy, of the 11th, the Stormers. The ladders carried
were much longer than those used on the previous occasion, yet they
did not prove long enough; for the defenders had removed the débris
from the foot of the breach and thus rendered the place safe from
escalade. Shot and shell now rained on the baffled assailants, but,
nothing daunted, they reared their ladders and pressed up them, in
the attempt to reach the rampart--only, however, to be bayoneted at
the top, or to be hurled backwards into the ditch as the defenders
pushed the ladders away. The disaster was complete. M'Geechy was
killed, and ere the troops could extricate themselves from the
ditch hundreds had fallen. Of the 51st alone there fell in these two
desperate assaults one officer killed and three officers wounded,
twenty-six men killed and seventy wounded; but Dyas, the hero of two
Forlorn Hopes, escaped unharmed, and was personally complimented by
Wellington for his gallantry.

Major Sam Rice, who had taken an active part in these assaults,
wrote, in his usual laconic way, from _Camp before Badajoz, 16th June
1811_:--

  "The siege of this place, which began under such favourable
  auspices, I am sorry to say, is not likely to terminate yet
  awhile, and, if at all, only by starvation, for it is most ably
  defended, beyond, I believe, the calculations of the scientifics.
  We opened fire from our batteries on the 2nd June, and proceeded
  to batter and destroy, but without much effect, for the guns and
  all apparatus are withdrawn within these last three days. The cause
  is said to be that Marshal Soult is again coming forward with
  a determination to dispute the point, and afford relief to the
  garrison; but before this a general action must be fought, and a
  bloody one it will be, for on this depends the fate of Badajoz and
  of the frontier--at any rate for a time. The place still continues
  invested, but all expect to move directly to the army in front.
  We have been most cruelly harassed day and night, and totally
  uncovered, as well as exposed to a most scorching sun. Our Regiment
  has suffered much in two unsuccessful attempts to storm a fort--
  100 men killed and wounded, and several officers. I have escaped
  wonderfully, though never under a hotter fire in all my life.
  I am writing from the bare ground, on which I have taken up my
  abode this last month entirely. Mainwaring is sick; I command the
  Regiment, reduced already to 300--so much for honour and glory!"

Almost immediately after this letter was written, Wellington,
learning that Marmont had come down and united with Soult, raised
the siege, and withdrew his force rapidly, a few miles, to the Caya
river, and on the 19th June the French armies entered Badajoz. The
combination against Wellington was now weighty. Soult and Marmont
could put sixty thousand men into the field, whereas the Allies on
the Caya could not muster half that number. But the French marshals
failed to discover this weakness, and Wellington found the ground
about the Caya so favourable that he was able to present a bold front
and deceive his opponents as to his actual strength, which, even
after Spencer joined him with the force left in the neighbourhood of
Almeida, stood at no more than twenty-eight thousand fighting men.
Unwilling to risk a battle without knowing the actual strength of
their adversary, Soult and Marmont made no attempt to advance, but
shortly afterwards retired and separated, to commence a new plan of
campaign.

The following letter from Major Rice gives his views on the situation
about this time:--

  "CAMPO MAYOR, _19th July 1811_.

  "Since my last we have been tolerably quiet; scarce even alarms,
  which have their advantages in keeping the body and soul in that
  activity so essential to the military character. It seems now
  pretty well ascertained that the French army is broken up for
  the present. Soult, with a corps, reoccupies Seville. Marmont,
  with the remaining force, Plasencia and its neighbourhood. By an
  intercepted letter from Marmont, and which is said to be authentic,
  he complains much of the disorganisation of his army, and want of
  resources of every kind, and particularly money, without which he
  can anticipate no future good. I suppose the gentlemen soldiers
  begin to grumble--pay or plunder is the cry. For my part, I've
  heard so much of armies being annihilated, want of pay, food, and
  clothing, &c., &c., and cowed at even the sight of British troops,
  all which statements have proved so incorrect by pretty fair
  experience, that I now give ear to nothing that is said, however
  apparently good the authority. Whatever may be their motives,
  one thing is pretty certain and known to both parties--that no
  active warfare can be carried on at this season of the year in the
  Alentejo without mutual destruction. The campaign may probably
  open again early in the autumn. On what point the attack is likely
  to be made, I as little care as I am able to form an opinion, but
  wherever it is, they will certainly get cursedly licked. So much
  for presumption! The whole of our army, which has been bivouacking
  in this vicinity, is now nearly in motion, standing by divisions
  along the frontier, to Castello Branco and beyond.

  "We march to-morrow for Nissa (or Niza), a town this side the
  Tagus, and near one of the principal fords, Villa Velha. The
  weather is most dreadfully hot. Crowded, and stenched out by all
  sorts of agreeables--dead animals, &c.--our situation is not
  the most delectable one. Withal, bad fare, and every article
  exorbitantly dear. Mainwaring has got a staff appointment, and an
  officer from half-pay has been brought in. What satisfaction is
  there in serving if it has not its reward? I am fairly sick of the
  business. I have had nothing but losses of late. A valuable horse
  broke from me while at Badajoz, swam the Guadiana, and I believe is
  now in the French lines. Poor Harry's[56] pistol, which I had in
  my sash the night of the storm (St Christoval), dropped out, and
  I lost also my poor dear Mary's[57] snuff-box, which I considered
  almost as my guardian angel, it having been my companion in every
  affair."

The latter part of this letter helps to throw light on Sam Rice's
character, and it is evident from it that he was a man who bore no
ill-will to any one. He mentions casually that "an officer from
half-pay has been brought in," and he immediately dismisses the
subject with, "I am fairly sick of the business," and never refers to
it again. Yet he, the senior major of the 51st, had been passed over
for the command of the regiment, and Lieut.-Colonel Mitchell, who
had had no previous connection with the regiment, had been brought
in over his head. Under such circumstances an ordinary man might
have been excused if he had given vent to his feelings by filling
two or three sheets of paper with abuse of every one in authority.
Major Rice was the victim of circumstances; by no fault of his
own he had lost the command of his regiment; but he was above all
things loyal, and he refused to give away his commanding officer,
Colonel Mainwaring. He says nothing whatever of any trouble. On the
16th June he writes, "Mainwaring is sick; I command the Regiment";
and on the 19th July, "Mainwaring has got a staff appointment." It
would have been easy for him to have told the whole story, and thus
excused himself, as certainly nine out of ten people would have done.
He, however, chose the better part, and left unsaid anything that
might have detracted from the conduct of his commanding officer,
and anything that might have been seized upon by gossip-mongers as
affecting the good name of the Regiment.

In later years Sir John Colborne related what took place in the
following words:[58]--"Colonel Mainwaring, of the 51st, was placed in
a position [Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro] in which he thought he was
sure to be surrounded by the French. So he called his officers and
said, 'we are sure of being taken or killed; therefore we'll burn the
colours.' Accordingly, they brought the colours and burnt them with
all funeral pomp, and buried the ashes, or kept them, I believe. It
so happened that the French never came near them. Lord Wellington
was exceedingly angry when he heard of it, as he knew well enough
where he had placed the regiment. So he ordered Mainwaring under
arrest and tried him by court-martial. An old colonel, who undertook
his defence, said, 'I believe it was something to do with religious
principles.' 'Oh,' said Lord Wellington, 'if it was a matter of
religious principles, I have nothing more to do with it. You may take
him out of arrest; but send him to Lisbon.' So he went to Lisbon, and
was never allowed to command his regiment again; he was sent home."

Such is the story, and there is little doubt that when Sam Rice
wrote, on the 16th June, that he was in temporary command, as
Mainwaring was sick, he knew perfectly well that his commanding
officer, although he certainly had been invalided to Lisbon, had been
virtually relieved of his command. But the authorities, evidently
unwilling to be too severe on an officer who had performed good
services for his country, but who had erred through excess of zeal,
so arranged matters that, on the 13th June 1811, Lieut.-Colonel
Mainwaring exchanged to the half-pay of the 26th Foot (with
Lieut.-Colonel Mitchell) and was appointed commandant of Hilsea
Barracks in England. The matter, of course, had to be referred home,
and so took some time, and in the meanwhile Colonel Mainwaring had
taken his regiment to the camp before Badajoz, and had been hurt in
the trenches.

Now, as a matter of fact, Sir John Colborne was wrong in saying
that "the French never came near them," for it is perfectly certain
that the 7th Division was posted in a most perilous position, and
was very seriously attacked, although certainly the 51st was not
so desperately engaged as were some of the other regiments. The
division, numbering some four thousand infantry (of whom the 51st
and 85th were the only British regiments), and supported by fourteen
hundred cavalry, was detached two miles from the main position, on
practically open ground, and every one in the division knew that
since Wellington's left flank was impregnable, Massena would, of
necessity, direct his attack on the right flank. Wellington himself
was well aware of this, but either he did not anticipate so vast a
turning movement as his adversary eventually launched, or he had
intended that the 7th Division should only hold the outlying position
assigned to it long enough to induce Massena to develop his attack
against it. Be that as it may, the fact remains that, at one time,
the 7th Division was threatened by twenty thousand of Massena's
infantry and nearly the whole of his masses of cavalry, and for
a while was in imminent danger of being cut off and annihilated.
Wellington, of course, set matters right as soon as he realised
that the situation was becoming critical, but there were some
who imagined that he was intensely annoyed at having made faulty
dispositions in the first instance, and that he endeavoured to
justify himself in the eyes of the 7th Division by venting his wrath
on the colonel of the 51st. At the same time the burning of the
colours was an extraordinary procedure on the part of the colonel,
and it is not easy to understand how it was that the other senior
officers of the regiment acquiesced in it, if, indeed, they did so.
When the circumstances became known to Wellington, he was bound to
take notice of what had occurred; but apparently the officers of
the 51st considered that he was unduly severe in treating their
colonel's action as anything more than an error of judgment, for
which a reprimand might have been sufficient. As it was, they always
maintained that the commander-in-chief had been harsh and unjust,
because it had been represented to him that Colonel Mainwaring had
doubted the wisdom of his dispositions.

Years afterwards his nephew, Frederick Mainwaring,[59] who, when
only fourteen years of age, fought as an ensign of the 51st at
Fuentes d'Onor and elsewhere, wrote very strongly on the subject,
and referred to the incident of the burning of the colours, though
without actually mentioning what had occurred, in the following
words:--

  "An action, in which this officer took the greatest responsibility
  upon himself, and which ought to have reflected credit upon him
  rather than annoyance, was misrepresented to the great Duke,
  who, with all his bright qualities, is said (if report does not
  greatly belie him) never to alter an opinion or a resolution once
  formed."[60]

Colonel Mainwaring was not the only commanding officer in the
Peninsula who was troubled by the presence of his regimental
colours in the field, for there were occasions upon which the
colours hampered the movements of a regiment very considerably.
In action they could never be neglected, since they were held to
contain, as it were, the soul of the regiment. Originally used as
the rallying-point, they had gradually come to be regarded as what
nowadays would be termed the _mascot_ of the regiment, so that
their loss in battle was thought likely to lead to the most dire
consequences. The officers who carried them knew that they were in
honour bound to defend them to the last, and when a whole regiment
was ordered to skirmish to the front, it was often necessary to leave
a company behind to guard the colours. As the war in the Peninsula
went on, light infantry regiments realised that their colours were
an encumbrance, and observing that rifle regiments were not provided
with colours, some of them got permission to place theirs in store.
But this was exceptional, and most regiments continued to carry their
colours into action. At Waterloo they were everywhere conspicuous,
and even in modern times their defence in the field has led to
fierce fighting and the performance of signal acts of gallantry.
Now, however, the extended battlefield has made their presence
an impossibility, and they are no longer taken on active service.
Perhaps, in this way, the sentiment attached to the "flag that bore
the battle and the breeze" has been rudely crushed; yet the colours
of to-day, emblazoned with numerous battle honours, are useful in
reminding the young soldiers of a regiment of the victories won by
their ancestors.

Whether, as a result of this trouble over the 51st colours at Fuentes
d'Onor, Rice suffered to any great extent by being passed over for
the command of the regiment is questionable. He certainly did not
succeed to the command for another six years; but, if nothing had
occurred, Colonel Mainwaring could have continued to hold it for
that length of time, or for even longer. The fact of another officer
having been brought in over his head did not reflect on Rice's
character as an officer, for it always has been well known to every
one in the service that an outside officer must take the place of a
commanding officer relieved of his command; and it will readily be
understood that such an arrangement is a necessity. As we shall see,
the authorities made it up to Rice in more ways than one, and he
eventually received as many decorations and honours as he would have
received if he had succeeded Colonel Mainwaring[61] in the command of
the 51st.

Having failed to reduce Badajoz, Wellington decided to invest
Ciudad Rodrigo, and towards that place his troops were now moving.
The 51st marched from Campo Mayor to Sabugal, and thence proceeded
to Alfayates and Villa Mayor, at which latter place the regiment
remained throughout the greater part of August and September, as will
be seen from the two following letters from Major Rice, who during
this time was in temporary command of the regiment:--

  "CAMP, OR BIVOUAC, NEAR PENA MACOR,
  _August 9th, 1811_.

  "My last (from Campo Mayor, I believe) informed you that, the foe
  being no longer to be dreaded in that quarter, the army was moving
  into cantonments along the frontier, and that we (that is, the 7th
  Division) were to occupy Nissa, or Niza. Such did take place, and
  all indulged in the fond hope that we should enjoy a little _otium_
  for a month or so; but, alas, it is willed otherwise, for we are
  once more in motion, and are so far advanced northwards, retracing
  our footsteps to the Coa. What is to be done, or the cause of this
  sudden movement, is a mystery, and I believe only known to the
  Lord of Lords--_in this country_, N.B.! I do not myself think any
  serious attack will again be made by Monsieur François, and in
  my opinion it is only a little ruse of Baron Douro's to distract
  him--harass--or what you will, and causing a 'diversion in the
  south,' as we say in Greek, &c., &c. Whatever may be the cause, it
  is no little annoyance to be so constantly on the march in this
  hot weather, and in a country more wretched than you can possibly
  imagine. Not an article of any description is to be purchased,
  and were it not for our rations we should be literally starved.
  We have not been under a roof for this some time; every day we
  take up fresh ground, and seek shelter in the woods, which luckily
  abound, or we should actually be grilled alive. As yet I have held
  out tolerably well, being unwilling to give in while there is a
  prospect of anything going on. How long I shall last I cannot
  say, for we are all getting sickly. The Regiment has no more than
  300 men. When his lordship sends dispatches, it is said that he
  stops private letters; he probably dipped into mine and saw their
  brilliancy, so fearing to be eclipsed he arrested their progress.
  This may account for their non-receipt!"


  "VILLA MAYOR, UPON THE COA,
  _19th August 1811_.

  "I wish I could convey to you anything new and interesting
  relative to this country, or what is likely to be the result of
  such apparently protracted operations. I am most positively in
  the utmost obscurity; mystery is the order of the day, really
  I believe because no one but the lord of lords is enlightened,
  and I sometimes doubt whether he is always so, such is the
  fluctuating state of Spain, and probably the difficulty of gaining
  intelligence of the real movements of the foe. The whole army
  still remains cantoned upon this frontier; the advance upon the
  Agueda, with pickets probably as far as Ciudad Rodrigo. They talk
  of a siege, but I do not hear of the arrival of the battering
  train, which may possibly be _en route_ from Oporto. You will
  hardly suppose us to be in such ignorance, but true it is, for one
  division scarce knows how the other is posted; but as there is one
  tolerable fair directing head, it is of no moment of what materials
  are composed those who act in so confined a sphere.

  "The French don't appear to have made any movement, still occupying
  Plasencia and the contiguous country. Ciudad Rodrigo has but a
  garrison of 1500 men. A considerable body at Salamanca, but nothing
  to oppose us if we choose to invest that place or make an advance,
  which is not, I think, likely. The French to do anything here must
  assemble in great force and bring forward their supplies, which you
  know is difficult in any country, much more so in such a barren
  desert as this is. The grand puzzle now is, what has been the cause
  of this rapid and unexpected movement from the Tagus to the Coa,
  when every one supposed we should be resting till the autumn? Be
  sure to send the fishing-rod. I'm longing to whip the Coa."

From this letter, as well as from many other letters, one sees how
very little was known, even to senior officers of regiments, as to
what was going on, or what was likely to happen. This is a matter
which is often forgotten by the layman, who is apt to think, when
reading the history of a campaign, that the regimental officers
failed on certain occasions to appreciate the situation, and
therefore failed to do the right thing at the right moment. Whereas,
in nine cases out of ten, in all probability the regimental officers
were completely in the dark as to the intentions of the commander
of the forces; and if the officers knew little of the operations
in progress, or of the reason for movements, the men in the ranks
knew still less. Thus we constantly find in the Peninsular letters
and journals of regimental officers and soldiers--at any rate at
the beginning of the war--expressions of distrust in the generals,
grumblings at having to perform forced marches for no apparent
reason, and disgust at being ordered to retreat at the moment when
they expected to give battle. But, as the war progressed, the men
learned to take things as they came, and made no attempt to reason
out the whys and the wherefores of strategical movements. The
discipline which had been drilled into the soldiers taught them that
it was not necessary for them to exercise their reasoning powers
until they were in actual touch with the enemy, and the officers
seldom thought ahead of the immediate tactical situation.

It must be remembered that a century ago few of the rank and file
could read or write, and few of the regimental officers were students
of the theory of the art of war. It was not possible, therefore, for
these officers and men to work out any great strategical scheme,
especially as they had no means of learning anything of the enemy's
movements going on at a distance. Hints and rumours filtered through
from the staff officers, and were greedily seized upon for discussion
in the bivouacs, but in the generality of cases they were quite
erroneous and frequently misleading. So the regimental officers
contented themselves with living in the present, without troubling
about problems of strategy, and they were quite unable to fathom the
mystery of the part played by politics in the war. It will be noticed
that Sam Rice, at the time a senior regimental officer, in his
letters declines to discuss politics, and says little about strategy.

In the vast store of literature dealing with the Peninsular War,
there are many volumes of officers' letters and journals, principally
of officers who served on the staff, and so to a certain extent
behind the scenes. Moreover, the majority of these books were written
up and edited years after the war had come to an end, and after every
movement in the various campaigns had been thoroughly discussed.
There are few books by regimental officers containing their views
written down at the time and not altered before publication, and in
such as there are we find questions of strategy either avoided or
dismissed in a few words, and even questions of tactics only vaguely
referred to. For but vaguely did these regimental officers ever know
whither they were going, or for what purpose, from one month's end
to the next. It was enough for them to be told that their regiment
would march at a certain hour in a certain direction, and that what
would happen afterwards would depend on circumstances. As soon as
touch was gained with the enemy, the regimental officers and the men
were given a general idea of the existing tactical situation and what
it was intended that they should do. But even then they were not
told all, and as often as not they went into action knowing no more
about the dispositions of the enemy than they could see with their
own eyes. Consequently there were occasions when, with a little more
information--a slight dispersal of the "fog of war"--they might have
crushed their enemy beyond recovery, instead of merely crippling him.

Why information about the enemy should have been withheld it is
difficult to understand, and it must have been most irritating. Of
the intentions of their great chief, officers and men never expected
to be informed, and they had neither the desire nor the ability to
probe into them. To Wellington himself this inability on the part of
his army to forecast his plans was probably an immense satisfaction,
for, he must have argued, if his own troops could not see through
the veil, it was not likely that the enemy would be able to do so.
And, naturally, for a general to be sure that his plans are kept
secret, with a possibility of his being able to blind and deceive
his adversary, is a great asset in war. On the other hand, it is an
undoubted fact that Wellington carried this matter of reticence to
extremes; he seldom took even his staff into his confidence; any
information which he collected he kept to himself; and only on rare
occasions did he discuss his plans with anyone. The wisdom of such
an attitude on the part of a commander-in-chief may, of course, be
questioned, on the grounds that if he were unfortunate enough to be
killed at the critical moment, the next senior officer would be in
the awkward predicament of having to formulate a plan of his own on
the spur of the moment. It may be argued that Wellington's plans were
so thoroughly worked out in every detail that there was no loophole
for failure, and no doubt as to what was intended. That may have been
so; but there is no proof, for fortunately it was never put to the
test, and the great man saw all his plans brought to a finish. Still,
it is well known that Wellington realised to the full the danger
of his policy of reticence; and it is on record that he himself
expressed the opinion that had he been placed _hors de combat_ by
the shot which passed over his head and wounded Lord Uxbridge at
Waterloo, the British and their Allies would have suffered defeat.
His generals may have chafed under such an autocratic rule, yet
they, as well as the whole army, had absolute confidence in their
leader--at any rate after the first year or two.

But the "grand puzzle" about which Rice wrote on the 19th August was
not so intricate as he seems to have thought; for Wellington had made
up his mind all along to attempt the capture of Ciudad Rodrigo, and
had only cantoned his troops about the Tagus in order to deceive the
enemy as to his intentions. He was now moving his army up towards
the fortress with all speed, hoping to reduce it before it could be
re-victualled for a siege. But in this he failed, for a convoy of
stores of all kinds had reached the place while Wellington's troops
were still at a distance from it. The 51st had remained at Villa
Mayor until the 22nd September, had then marched to Guinaldo, and
on 25th to Albergueria. Rice by this time had been forced to go to
hospital, and on the 26th September he wrote from Aldea da Ribeira:
"I have been confined to my bed for these eight days with a violent
attack of dysentery, accompanied by a good deal of fever. I think
the former is in some measure conquered. Am taking bark, for I am
most terribly low and hipped--all alone in a most miserable village.
How I shall get on I know not. The task is arduous for an invalid in
this most horrid of countries. The regiment is a league in advance;
a retreat or an action must take place within twenty-four hours,
for the French are only distant five leagues from our outposts. Our
army is in a wretched state; they say 30,000, with an immensity of
officers, sick; in short, you see nothing from morning to night but
misery. You must not consider my case desperate, so I beg of you not
to alarm Fanny."[62]

His next letter was from _Celorico, upon the Mondego, 12th October
1811_--

  "I gave you a few hasty lines, I think, on the 26th September. As
  I predicted that a retreat or an action would take place within
  twenty-four hours, so it happened. The French pushed forward in
  great force, and would gladly have brought on an action, but a
  wise head said nay, and we retrograded. The 3rd Division was
  pressed hard by the cavalry, but retired in good order by squares,
  so suffered not so much as might have been expected. The French
  have again taken themselves off, Marmont by the pass of Banos to
  Plasencia, and the Comte d'Orsini[63] (or some such name), with
  the remaining force, is gone into cantonments in the vicinity of
  Salamanca. What will be the end of all this kicking about and
  expense of shoe leather I cannot say. Our advanced posts extend
  nearly as far as before, though several divisions are on this side
  of the Coa, where I think they will remain for the winter, or until
  some fresh alarm calls us again into motion. I have been very
  unwell since my last, but am now considerably better, and have to
  complain principally of weakness. Another fortnight will, I hope,
  put the old horse once more on his legs. The best of them cannot go
  for ever. His lordship is just coming in to inspect the hospitals."

Shortly after this the 51st went into winter quarters at Pena Macor,
while Wellington perfected his arrangement for converting the
blockade of Ciudad Rodrigo into a siege. That the regimental officers
did not take a very bright view of the situation is evident from the
following letter from Major Rice:--

  "PENA MACOR, _4th December 1811_.

  "We have got papers down to the 15th November. Grand news was
  expected, such as Northern Coalition--the old joke! I wish we could
  get those Russian bears on foot; nothing can be done here but by
  something of the sort. Bony, I fear, is too deep, and John Bull
  such a cursed fool that I am no longer sanguine in the cause and
  the issue of the glorious struggle. The army has again been on the
  _qui vive_, but nothing done. A convoy of provisions was attempted
  to be thrown into Ciudad Rodrigo, but our lord was too deep. He
  has good intelligence and certain requisites. General Renaud
  passed some days here with us. He likes good living and plenty of
  wine--a tolerable sort of Frenchman. He was taken by Don Julian,
  the famous guerilla partisan. He thinks Bony will never forgive
  him, and is alarmed. I shall struggle on a little longer before
  I give in--take another round or two--the odds against me. My
  poor brother major[64] died the other day--a short illness, which
  terminated with a melancholy disease--what the wigs call _timor
  orsi_--otherwise, fear of hell."

So 1811 closed, and was followed by a year of strenuous work for the
British troops--a year of great victories, yet one also of arduous
marches, vast hardships, and heavy casualties. And Major Sam Rice
managed to "struggle on" to the end of it.




CHAPTER IX.

CIUDAD RODRIGO AND BADAJOZ.


While resting in cantonments when no operations were in immediate
prospect, the army in the Peninsula forgot its hardships, and
indulged in such recreations and amusements as it was found possible
to organise. Everything was done by the officers to keep up the
spirits of the men, though, since the age of playing games had not
yet come, there was little for them to do, beyond repairing their
clothing and shoes preparatory to the next campaign. The officers,
however, were able to amuse themselves in a variety of ways; when not
on short rations most regiments kept a certain number of pointers
and greyhounds, and many of the officers shot and coursed regularly;
fishing was also to be had in the rivers and streams; and each
division usually kept a scratch pack of hounds. Wellington himself
throughout the war hunted a pack which he had got out from England,
and in many parts of the country provided excellent sport for his
headquarter staff and any officers who cared to join in. Nor were
balls and other social entertainments forgotten, and whenever a
portion of the army was in the neighbourhood of a town the Spanish
ladies showed no unwillingness to enjoy gaieties offered to them.
But perhaps the greatest amusement was that provided by private
theatricals, which were held on every possible occasion for the
entertainment of the men. Several divisions had their own theatres,
the parts of both sexes being played by the officers, and everything
being done well--even to printed programmes. With such recreations,
and with periodical race meetings, the idle time passed pleasantly
enough; and when the men were again called upon to take up arms, they
did so cheerfully and with renewed vigour.

During this winter of 1811-12, however, the officers of the 51st had
few opportunities of hunting, for, until the first week of January,
they were kept at Pena Macor on the look-out for the enemy, in daily
expectation of receiving orders to march. Still, they managed to
enjoy themselves, as is vouched for by one of the ensigns. "We led
a most agreeable life," says young Mainwaring; "the neighbourhood
abounding in game, our days were spent in coursing and shooting. In
the evening there was always a party at someone's quarters, where
cigars, egg-wine, and good-humour generally sent half of us tipsy to
bed. Three times a-week a division club, formed by the German Light
Brigade in an empty convent, added to our amusements, and brought us
all together. Here was dancing, music, and cards; a faro bank for
those who were disposed to lose their money; two military bands for
the youngsters to dance to: and a sutler's room, where was every
species of refreshment at most moderate prices. Many a wild mad
scene have I been witness to, and perhaps partaker in, at this club,
but all was in perfect good-humour; no arguments or strife; nothing
but the ebullition of health and youth. Our generals and our superior
officers joined in and added to all our pleasures and amusements, as
in the field they shared all our privations and hardships."

On the 9th January Major Rice wrote hastily--

  "We are once more on the _qui vive_; the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo
  has commenced. What will be the issue must depend on circumstances.
  Marmont, it is supposed, has gone to the relief of Count Suchet
  in Catalonia. Our lord, I conclude, thinks it a fair opportunity
  of doing somewhat, all of which you will hear in due time, and in
  an official shape--much better than through private hand, at all
  events such an one as mine. We have (I mean our division) no orders
  as yet to quit our present position; possibly relief, support, or
  succour may be required. If so, we heroes, tried and valiant, shall
  fly."

On the following day came the long-awaited orders to move, and
the 7th Division, marching through Sabugal and Alfayates, reached
Guinaldo on the 13th January, and thence pushed on towards Ciudad
Rodrigo. The division, however, was not destined to take part in
the actual siege operations, or in the terrific assault which
terminated them, its special duty being to stand off and cover the
siege of the fortress by guarding the passes of the Sierra de Gaeta
against an inroad by the enemy from that direction. The 51st, with
their headquarters at the village of Pajo, furnished four officers'
piquets on the mountains in front of the two principal passes, in
situations fully exposed to the rigours of winter, the ground covered
with several feet of snow, and wolves howling round the sentries
throughout the night. Yet in after years the officers looked back on
this unpleasant duty almost with pleasure, remembering only that,
when not on piquet, they enjoyed excellent woodcock shooting!

Meanwhile Wellington had pushed on the siege works with astounding
rapidity, had effected practicable breaches several days earlier than
he expected, and on the evening of the 19th January assaulted and
carried Ciudad Rodrigo. Then the 7th Division, no longer required
at the passes, was withdrawn to the vicinity of the fortress. In a
letter, written from _Fuente de Guinaldo on the 27th January 1812_,
Major Rice says--

  "We quitted our Alpine abode yesterday, and have approximated a
  little to Rodrigo. It was conjectured that, upon the fall of that
  place, the army would make some forward movement--Salamanca at
  least; and some were so sanguine as to have flattered themselves
  to have spent the remainder of the winter at Madrid. Such an
  _événement_ would be rather agreeable than otherwise, particularly
  to me, who am such an admirer of the Spanish signoras. We heard
  yesterday of the sad reverses of the Spanish patriots under
  that obstinate old fool Blake--complete defeat and himself taken
  prisoner. Valencia is also fallen--to complete the tale of woe.
  The taking of Rodrigo will not compensate for so much disaster, as
  it is impossible, unless the Spaniards gain some ground, that our
  small aid can be of ultimate use. Rodrigo is fast being put into a
  state of defence. How it is to be garrisoned, or by what troops,
  I do not know--Spaniards, I presume. Our loss at Rodrigo has been
  rather severe, as you will see by the 'Gazette.' Two generals out
  of pocket, and poor Craufurd[65] has died. He was wounded in the
  vitals, mostly fatal in such cases. Who would not be a soldier
  when so pleasant a fate is in store for him? We are all now pretty
  tranquil, and I suppose shall remain so for a short time--until
  Marmont, with his hordes, gets in motion."

Early in February the 51st moved to its old quarters at Pena Macor,
and thence, a little later, commenced the march towards Badajoz, the
reduction of which fortress Wellington had determined to attempt
at once. The 7th Division was again detailed for covering duty,
and, with the 6th Division, was placed under the command of General
Graham. Crossing the Tagus at Villa Velha, the two divisions reached
Elvaz, and bivouacked close to Fort La Lippe until the arrival
of the army destined for the investment and siege of Badajoz.[66]
Then Graham crossed the Guadiana by the bridge of boats above that
place, and moved into position to the south-east. A short letter from
Major Rice, dated _Puebla, two miles from Zafra, 19th March 1812_,
describes what was taking place:--

  "Our lord continues to dash, having undertaken once more the siege
  of Badajoz. The better to insure success and prevent molestation
  two _corps d'armée_ have been formed and advanced into Spain--Hill
  on the side of Merida, and Graham of Balgowan in this direction,
  for which you must turn to maps. Our corps is respectable,
  comprising three divisions of infantry, two brigades of cavalry,
  two troops of horse artillery, with lots of heavy field-pieces. We
  crossed the Guadiana on pontoons on the morning of the 16th, and
  passed Valverde and Santa Martha. At the latter place we had near
  surprised a body of French, but had the mortification of seeing
  them in the distance retiring in squares, flanked by cavalry. We
  took one solitary dragoon. The French evacuated Zafra last night.
  We continue to pursue, but how far I am not in the secret--various
  reports, but only the wigs of course know. We are greeted in all
  the towns by acclamations of _Viva los Inglezes_--how charming and
  flattering! We suffer a few privations; long marches; and in the
  evening we generally turn in under the trees without any other
  covering than the 'grand canopy.' I hope we shall do something
  brilliant. Prepare yourself to hear of gallant exploits. I trust
  the siege of Badajoz will go on well. We, the 7th Division, luckily
  for us, were thought too good for the spade and shovel duty.

  _P.S._--I have just heard that we shall march again to-night. I
  suppose to put a little salt on Mr Frenchman's tail!"

Nothing very brilliant, however, was done by Graham's corps, although
it certainly carried out its _rôle_, and prevented any attempt of
the enemy to raise the siege. Nor was this an easy task, for Graham
displayed considerable activity, and endeavoured to do something
more than merely to hold the French in check. Discovering that a
small body of the enemy was occupying Llerena, eight leagues distant
from his headquarters, the general ordered the 51st and 100 German
riflemen to make a forced march and surprise the place. The garrison,
however, had received information of the threatened attack, and
evacuated Llerena, which was immediately occupied by the 51st. Yet,
within a few hours, the regiment learned that Soult was making a
night march on the town with 5000 men, and the small British force,
in its turn, was obliged to beat a hasty retreat. Graham waited a day
or two, and then determined to turn the tables on Soult. He issued
sudden orders for his whole corps to march on Llerena and surprise
Soult's force, and the 51st again took part in the enterprise.
Everything went well throughout the long march, and just before
dawn the troops approached the town. The surprise was thought to
be complete, and success seemed certain, when, of a sudden, there
arose a panic, which had the most dire consequences. General Graham
and his staff had ridden, unknown to the troops, on ahead of the
columns to reconnoitre, and were fired upon by a single vedette. They
immediately galloped back to the columns, with the unfortunate result
that they were mistaken for the enemy's cavalry. Major Rice, writing
a week afterwards, thus describes the affair:--

  "In one of our night rambles, when the whole force of our corps,
  12,000 in number, was advancing upon Llerena, the heads of
  columns were thrown into confusion by alarm of cavalry. A firing
  unfortunately began. Friends, and not foes, were shot. We[67]
  expended two officers and a private. It had like to have proved a
  business of the most serious nature. The Hero of Barrosa rowed us
  all most terribly for unsteadiness. The real fact is he himself
  was in fault, having been in front with a parcel of A.D.C.'s and
  staff, and other tom-fools; not being in their places, and gaping
  about, they came suddenly in contact with a French cavalry picket,
  upon which D.I.O.[68] was the word full speed. Our advance gave
  them a fire and frightened their animals, who ran furiously between
  our columns. We mistook the business for a charge of cavalry, and
  unfortunately a fire ensued. Several generals were spilt and run
  down. The affair was ludicrous enough. I was at the head of the
  column, but escaped by my horse tumbling head and heels into a
  ditch--a species of good luck, for I was running the gauntlet."

All this firing, of course, put an end to surprise, and by the
time that order was restored and the advance resumed, Soult and
his five thousand had slipped away. After a short stay at Llerena,
Graham moved on to the ground upon which had been fought the battle
of Albuhera; and while there the troops heard in the distance the
desperate firing which resulted in the capture of Badajoz.

It will be remembered that, twice during the previous year, the
fortress had been besieged and unsuccessfully assailed. On each of
those occasions Wellington had directed his attack from the north,
intending first to capture the detached work of St Christoval, in
order to establish batteries there preparatory to an assault on the
castle. For his third attempt he adopted a new plan, and decided to
attack from the south, capturing the Picurina outwork, breaching
the bastions opposite to it, and then delivering the assault. The
trenches were pushed rapidly forward; Picurina was carried by assault
on the night of the 25th March, and the breaching batteries were
immediately established. For ten days they battered the walls of the
fortress, until the necessary breaches were effected, when Wellington
gave immediate orders for the assault to take place; and on the
night of the 6th-7th April 1812 occurred one of the most bloody
struggles in the annals of war--a struggle the horrors of which lived
in the memories of the surviving assailants for ever afterwards. The
breaches defied all attempts; time after time assaults were delivered
and beaten back; and the ditch became filled with dead and wounded.
Elsewhere, however, fortune favoured the assailants, the 3rd Division
entering the place by the San Vincente bastion. Thus Wellington
captured his second fortress in 1812, but at the cost of 5000 men out
of the 21,000 engaged.

The scenes which followed the fall of the place are indescribable;
the victorious troops gave themselves up to plunder and
licentiousness of every description. Drink drove them mad, and no
one could control them. There is no denying the fact that fearful
crimes were committed by the British soldiers in Badajoz that night,
for each man carried his loaded musket and his bayonet, and brooked
no interference with his revels. Yet these men were not hardened
criminals, for in their sober moments they would have shuddered at
the very mention of such crimes as, under the influence of drink,
they themselves committed. They started to enjoy themselves--to hold
high carnival--but they were drunk with success at the outset, and,
even before the wine-vaults had been sacked, the carnival became
the wildest and most lawless ever held. But with this great tragedy
scraps of comedy occasionally mingled, and some of the scenes would,
at any other time, have been considered highly entertaining.
Dressed as monks and nuns, or wearing the gay clothes of Spanish
ladies, grizzled and begrimed veterans danced and sang through the
streets; and when eventually they were driven out of the town, they
wended their way to their bivouacs, wearing these same garments, and
staggering under the weight of such plunder as they had collected.

Quartermaster Surtees, who had an opportunity of seeing for himself
many of the horrors of this night and of the next day, tells the
hideous tale, in his 'Twenty-five Years in the Rifle Brigade,'
sufficiently fully to enable one to realise how utterly demoralised
a well-disciplined army can become almost at a moment's notice. His
remarks on the reason for this are of particular value, because he
had risen from the ranks and was intimately acquainted with human
nature as represented by the private soldier, and because he was a
man who thought deeply. He concludes his account of the sacking of
Badajoz in the following words:--

  "An English army is, perhaps, generally speaking, under stricter
  discipline than any other in the world; but in proportion as they
  are held tight while they are in hand, if circumstances occur to
  give them liberty I know of no army more difficult to restrain when
  once broke loose. A reason may perhaps be assigned for it in part.
  On such occasions as this siege, where they were long and much
  exposed to fatigue almost insupportable, to the most trying scenes of
  difficulty and danger, which were generally borne with cheerfulness
  and alacrity, they perhaps reasoned with themselves and one another
  in this manner,--that, as they had borne so much and so patiently to
  get possession of the place, it was but fair that they should have
  some indulgence when their work and trials were crowned with success,
  especially as the armies of other powers make it a rule generally to
  give an assaulted fortress up to plunder. They had also become quite
  reckless of life from so long exposure to death; but an English army
  cannot plunder like the French. The latter keep themselves more sober
  and look more to the solid and substantial benefit to be derived from
  it, while the former sacrifice everything to drink, and when once
  in a state of intoxication, with all the bad passions set loose at
  the same time, I know not what they will hesitate to perpetrate. The
  reader will judge of the state of our soldiers who had been engaged
  in the siege when Lord Wellington found it absolutely necessary to
  order in a Portuguese brigade to force the stragglers out of the town
  at the point of the bayonet."

Major Rice's next letter was written on the _10th April 1812, from
Camp in front of the Albuhera River, Beresford's position of the late
bloody fight_--

  "Since we crossed the Guadiana on the 16th March, of which I
  hastily apprised you, this _Corps d'armée_ has been, I may almost
  say unceasingly, in motion, having made nearly the circuit of
  Southern Estramadura, the object of which was to force the French
  from the towns and positions they occupied, and to throw every
  impediment in the way of concentration. In our numerous night
  marches, with a view to surprise, we have in general failed, owing
  to the very superior intelligence of our active enemy. Some good,
  however, may have resulted, though they very speedily retraced
  their steps, and yesterday they appeared in force within a league
  of this, but I believe nothing more than a strong reconnaissance of
  cavalry. Report now says they are off and our dragoons advancing,
  but it is of little consequence, since they could not relieve
  Badajoz. This, I hope, will go by the packet which takes the
  intelligence of the capture of Badajoz by assault. The particulars
  of the gallant but bloody business you will have in a better shape
  than I can give you. It was the most awful and tremendous firing I
  ever heard. We have had the good luck to escape, though our labour
  and anxiety for this last twenty days has been such as to claim
  attention as assisting in the glorious cause.

  "I have just been reconnoitring the ground of the battle of
  Albuhera, and have been conceited enough to think that even I could
  have managed it better. The blundering was great,[69] and terrible
  the sacrifice. Boots, caps, jackets, _et cetera_, are still kicking
  about--in short, it is the richest 'bed of honour' I have seen for
  a long while. If the French come on we are to act the farce over
  again on the same boards. I am scribbling this upon my knees amidst
  the greatest confusion of noises you ever heard--Babel a joke!
  Marmont, we hear, is not idle, and has invested Rodrigo. If so, we
  must again trot up to the north. No end to our labour. I am a good
  deal done up, but still hold on. I have not yet been into Badajoz.
  The confusion terrible, as you may suppose, after an assault, and
  given up to plunder. An order has this moment arrived to move to
  our front, I suppose to give chase. Soult has heard of our success,
  and I believe has thought it advisable to face about."

On the 19th April he wrote again, from Niza:--

  "The morning after I last wrote to you we broke up from the
  position of Albuhera and made an advance movement on Santa Martha.
  Soult was within two leagues with 30,000. He made a little show
  with cavalry, but thought proper to retire with his infantry,
  having heard of the fall of Badajoz. Had it not fallen it is
  thought that a general action must have taken place, which was to
  have been tried again upon the same ground--but this, I think,
  I before stated. I, and we all, thought of a chase; but no, for
  suddenly operations were changed. Our lord had heard that Marmont
  was playing the devil in the north, and had pushed to Castello
  Branco and Villa Velha to destroy the bridge of boats. The latter
  was not actually done _by the enemy_, but in the general panic it
  was cut adrift, which has occasioned some trouble in restoring.
  The plain truth and matter of fact is that a deep game has been
  playing, for had not Badajoz _miraculously_ fallen the siege must
  have been raised, we not having force to contend and resist the
  two divisions. We are now going all hands pell-mell north as hard
  as we can. Several divisions have crossed the Tagus--our turn
  to-morrow. God knows what is going to be done, as reports are so
  various. One thing is pretty clear: Marmont and his Goths have
  behaved with their usual barbarity, having destroyed and sacked
  most of the unfortunate towns which had previously escaped. Never
  in this world was so cruel and distressing warfare waged. It cannot
  last; the misery is too great to be endured, and all for what? Our
  army, pretty well jaded to death by one thing or other, cannot
  stand the incessant fatigue. The sickness is alarming, and every
  regiment worked to nothing. No energy whatever on the part of the
  Spaniards--at least not that I have seen. We shall in a few days
  pass the Coa, if Mr Frenchman will permit. I expect opposition; at
  all events he will annoy, and destroy the bridges. When we have
  arrived at Rodrigo, Soult will again show himself before Badajoz
  and down we shall come again, and so on until we are done up. You
  see I am not more sanguine as to general results than yourself. I
  am sorry to see so little hope. You can form no idea of the scene
  at Badajoz; no place was ever so sacked--and a variety of other
  things--_nameless_! The weather is horrible; constantly wet, and
  little covering."

The somewhat desponding tone of this letter is perhaps an indication
of the writer's weariness of soul--a weariness produced by constant
marching about without any apparent prospect of doing any good. The
senior regimental officers, who had the welfare of their men at
heart, and who understood, from long experience, that the soldiers'
powers of endurance had limits, ever dreaded a breakdown, and their
fears grew greater when they saw their regiment being harassed for
no clear purpose. This is evident from their letters, as is also
the fact that when once they knew that they were marching for the
definite object of meeting the enemy and of giving battle, they cast
aside their fears and prepared their men for the coming struggle. But
let us get behind the scenes and see what was really happening at
this particular time.

After the capture of Badajoz Wellington spent no time in inaction.
General Graham was placed in command of the fallen fortress, and was
given sufficient men to repair its defences and prevent its recapture
by the enemy; while the bulk of the army marched away. Soult, who had
been hastening from the south to the relief of the French garrison,
and who had been held in check by the covering troops, on hearing
that all was over, turned about and withdrew towards Seville.
Marmont, however, had succeeded, while the siege was in progress, in
invading Portugal and penetrating to Castello Branco. Wellington now
advanced against him; but the French general, forbidden by Napoleon
to attempt to form a junction with Soult, saw that little was to be
gained by advancing farther. His first impulse was to fight, but he
remembered that the rivers in his rear were in flood and would impede
his withdrawal in the event of defeat, so he deemed it more prudent
to retire behind the line of the Agueda river, and there await
developments.

Meanwhile Wellington was straining every nerve to meet the heavy
combinations which the French were bringing against him. King Joseph,
in supreme command of the French in the Peninsula, was in occupation
of Madrid, and thence issued orders to his subordinate generals, who,
however, lacked confidence in the military plans of their chief--a
fact which proved of the greatest advantage to Wellington. United
action on the part of the French generals would have placed the
Allies in a grave situation; but fortunately the three French armies
were at this time widely separated, and Wellington contrived so to
deceive his adversaries that they were quite unable to say against
which force he intended to operate. Soult in Andalusia felt certain
that the Allies would invade that province; King Joseph imagined that
the Spanish capital would be the immediate objective; while Marmont,
away to the north, had every reason to believe that Wellington was
bringing all his strength against him. As a matter of fact, the
original intention of the British commander had been to carry the
war into Andalusia, but, abandoning the idea (for political and
military reasons), he determined to attack Marmont. Yet, by means of
false reports and ostentatious movements, he contrived to continue to
deceive Soult as to his real plans.

Before following Marmont, however, Wellington deemed it necessary to
prevent Soult and the army of Andalusia from reinforcing him. Soult,
south of the Tagus, would have to cross that river before marching to
the assistance of Marmont; his pontoon trains had been captured in
Badajoz, and the only means of crossing the river was by the bridge
of boats which Marmont had constructed at Almaraz. The importance
of this crossing was well known to the French, who had consequently
thrown up three strong forts and a bridge-head to protect it; but the
destruction of Almaraz, with its bridge and its stores, was essential
to Wellington's plans, and, though doubtful of the possibility of
its being carried out, he ordered General Hill to make the attempt.
As events turned out, the surprise of Almaraz was one of the boldest
enterprises of the war, and by the 18th May Hill had done all that
was required of him. But until the work had been completed, whither
Hill had taken his force and for what purpose were things known only
to Wellington, who had halted the remainder of his army to await news
of the result of Hill's mission.

Writing from _Castello Branco, 22nd May 1812_, Major Rice describes
what was going on--

  "Hill's corps has marched upon Almaraz, to destroy the bridge
  across the Tagus. The object, it may be conjectured, is to
  prevent Marmont or anybody else crossing. I venture not to
  speculate further. What our lord is about I know not. Guinaldo
  is his headquarters. I suppose he is planning something great
  and glorious. Touching ourselves--the 7th Division--no talk of
  moves; an unusually long respite from toil, and much in favour
  of boots, shoes, and horseflesh. Our assizes have been going on
  since our arrival, and likely to continue. Much business on hand.
  I am on the jury. We generally hang or shoot half a dozen fellows,
  notwithstanding every soldier is a gentleman and a man of honour,
  and receives votes of thanks from both Houses of Parliament, which
  he does not value so much as a pot of Whitbread's Entire."

From the latter part of this letter it is evident that Wellington had
taken the opportunity of some leisure time to overhaul the discipline
of his army, and his methods were drastic in the extreme. Even before
he had witnessed the outrages committed by his men at Ciudad Rodrigo
and Badajoz, he had been appalled by the indiscipline of his troops
in disregarding orders concerning marauding. The British army was
operating in a friendly country, and it was therefore all the more
important that the inhabitants and their property should be treated
with due respect. The French, on the other hand, were at war with
Spain, and if, therefore, they pillaged and laid waste as they went
along, it was perhaps no more than the inhabitants expected, though
it is only fair to the French generals to state that, as a rule, they
did all in their power to suppress marauding and pillage. It must
be admitted that it was most difficult to impress upon the British
soldiers, marching on the heels of the French through a country
already pillaged, that it was a sin to take the goods of the people,
and doubtless at an early stage of the war the men got into the habit
of taking from the inhabitants of the villages any food or provisions
of which they were in want. As time passed matters went from bad
to worse, and the men did not stop at food, but began to plunder
the inhabitants of their money and valuables. Wine-cellars were
discovered and entered, with the result that drunkenness and outrages
of every description became common. Wellington, alive to the gravity
of the situation, issued stringent orders which, had they been
carried out, would have put an end to these evils; but there were no
means of carrying them out, and all this he represented from time
to time to the home authorities. He pointed out that under existing
circumstances it was impossible to bring home to the offenders the
offences which they had committed, and he recommended wider powers
to courts-martial and the formation of military police. He did not
complain of the discipline of regiments as a whole, but he wrote in
the strongest terms about the absence of discipline to be found in
detachments, which, of necessity, were always out in various parts
of the country; and he drew particular attention to the number of
malingerers who filled the hospitals principally for the purpose of
plundering when on the march. "The disorders which these soldiers
have," wrote Wellington to Lord Liverpool, "are of a very trifling
description; they are considered to render them incapable of serving
with their regiments; but they certainly do not incapacitate them
from committing outrages of all descriptions on their passage through
the country, and in the last movements of the hospitals, the soldiers
have not only plundered the inhabitants of their property, but the
hospital stores which moved with the hospitals, and have sold the
plunder. And all these outrages are committed with impunity; no proof
can be brought, on oath, before a court-martial that any individual
has committed an outrage, and the soldiers of the army are becoming
little better than a band of robbers."

On the top of all this came the wild orgies which accompanied the
sacking of Badajoz; and Wellington determined to adopt the strongest
measures in order to restore the discipline of his army. We may
say here, and without in any way belittling the military genius
of England's greatest soldier, that Wellington knew nothing of
the finer processes of producing and maintaining discipline among
British soldiers. He was not of the school of Sir John Moore. He had
no sympathy with the soldier, or indeed with the officer. He spoke
of the men who won his victories for him as the scum of the earth
and as the sweepings of the jails, and he treated them always with
coldness, amounting almost to contempt. Probably he was the hardest
master under whom men ever served, for at all times he governed by
the lash, and he never hesitated to shoot or hang an unfortunate
soldier, if he deemed it necessary to make an example. That these
executions were not sometimes necessary we do not pretend to say,
but the method of carrying them out, in the face of the whole army,
served only to brutalise it. Officers and men became callous even
of the capital punishment, and judging by the letter quoted above,
Major Rice thought little of condemning to death half a dozen men
for possibly trivial offences. Several of Wellington's generals,
taking their cue from their chief, flogged and hanged freely, with
the result that there was no love lost between them and their men;
but, like the dog who licks the hand that beat him, these soldiers
would follow their commanders without questioning, and perform for
them prodigious acts of valour. Few of the Peninsular generals were
really popular with their men, but Graham and Hill were exceptions.
The latter, though a brilliant leader, was always sympathetic, and
endeared himself to all ranks, who spoke of him among themselves as
"Daddy Hill," though he was barely old enough to have been the father
of any of them.

The feelings which the soldiers had towards Wellington ("Old
Douro," as they called him) are well described by an officer of the
51st:[70]--

  "Where is the British soldier who ever saw him on the field of
  battle that felt not within himself, though ten times his number
  stood in his front opposed to him, that that field must be one
  of victory? Wherever he was, with his calm countenance, on those
  occasions always with a smile upon it, the soldiers would say,
  'Ay, there he goes, boys. All's right.' And forward they rushed,
  careless of danger or numbers, and thus driving the French out
  of the strongest and most impregnable positions--such was their
  confidence in his talents and good fortune. And these were not
  the sentiments of the private soldier alone, but the deep-rooted
  feeling of every individual in that army. We followed, we fought
  for him, but though he won our confidence, he never gained our
  love."

These words were written after the Peninsular War and after Waterloo,
and scores of Wellington's officers wrote of their chief in a similar
strain. But in earlier Peninsular days, before the regimental
officers and the men had discovered their commander's greatness, they
had no great confidence in him, and they were wont to grumble at his
orders and to criticise his actions. Many of his earlier subordinate
generals, although quite ignorant of war, saw something wrong in
everything that Wellington did, and their removal to a less active
sphere in England gave these detractors the opportunity of spreading
calumnies about the only capable head which the army then possessed.
Wellington, however, survived all this and much more, and as the
war went on, the voice of the army changed, until, in the end, there
were few officers conceited enough to venture to doubt the wisdom of
his plans, and few of the rank and file who had not absolute faith
in everything that he did. He established among both officers and
men a reputation for infallibility, and he convinced them of his
instinctive genius for war. That he lacked the ability to gain their
affections was nothing to them, and it is certain that, in spite of
those who maintain that popularity with the troops is essential to
military genius, if any of his Peninsular or Waterloo veterans were
alive to-day, they would still hold Wellington to be the greatest of
British generals, even though they might admit that he was a hard
master, and one who never forgot and seldom forgave.

Long after he had fought his last battle--even to the end of his
days, Wellington upheld his harsh code of punishment, and he resisted
strenuously, with all the weight of his opinion, every attempt to
diminish flogging in the army in times of peace. Not until twelve
years after his death was this put an end to, and not until 1882 was
flogging on active service finally swept away by the Army Discipline
Act. Old and tried officers held views similar to those of the
great Duke,--by the lash alone could the discipline of the army be
maintained; and no greater supporter of corporal punishment can be
found than that high-minded leader of men, Sir William Napier, the
historian of the Peninsular War. He was a man acknowledged to have
been beloved--even worshipped by all ranks, as the epitome of all
that was just and sympathetic, a man who wrote of British soldiers,
as a class, as the most noble of men; yet, in 1846, he put all his
vast powers of reasoning into a letter to 'The Times', in order to
inveigh against what he considered the sentimental spirit of modern
times which desired the abolition, or reduction, of flogging in
the army. He firmly believed in the lash for certain offences as
a deterrent of crime, and no one knew and understood the British
soldier of his time better than did Sir William Napier. We can only
conclude, therefore, that the times have changed, and the men with
them; for thirty years' immunity from the lash has resulted in no
harm to the British army.




CHAPTER X.

SALAMANCA AND MADRID.


In June 1812 Wellington was ready to attack Marmont, whose army he
had now succeeded in isolating. By destroying the bridge at Almaraz
the commander-in-chief had made it practically impossible for Drouet
and Soult to reinforce Marmont; King Joseph's army was out of hand,
and not likely to take the field; and the only other French army
of any importance was kept busy in the neighbourhood of Corunna,
where small bodies of British troops were landed from time to time
to harass the Frenchmen. Marmont was at this time near Salamanca,
where he had strong fortifications, and it was known that he intended
to hold first the line of the Tormes river, and then, if forced to
retire, the line of the Douro.

On the 13th June, Wellington's army, consisting of nearly forty
thousand British and Portuguese troops, advanced to the Tormes, and
on the 17th was in front of Salamanca, from which the French withdrew
without offering battle, though they left some eight hundred men in
occupation of the forts. Major Rice wrote, on the 18th June, from
_Camp, left bank of the Tormes, half a mile from Salamanca--_

  "My latest from the Azava will have told you of our forward
  movement. We arrived before Salamanca on the 16th with little
  opposition; skirmishing, principally with cavalry; their advance
  posts all driven in. The military _coup d'œil_ was fine, as the
  whole operations and effect could at once be seen. Marmont made
  some show of defence in the evening, but thought it prudent in the
  night to retire with his principal force. He has, however, left
  two works in the town garrisoned, which defend the passage of the
  bridge, and which cause, therefore, a temporary inconvenience, as
  all supplies for the army have to be carried round by the ford.
  One division of the army is in the town, and notwithstanding all
  the firing that is going on, the shops are open, and every one
  walking about as in times of the most profound tranquillity. The
  apathy of these people is beyond description; death or danger
  seems not to cause a sensation. What is extraordinary enough is
  that to-night there is to be a ball given by General Graham. They
  will dance to the sound of the cannon. We are now constructing
  batteries; by to-morrow morning we hope they will be pounded out of
  their dens. Salamanca has been a fine town, the public buildings
  beautiful in the extreme, but most miserably dilapidated by the
  soft and gentle hand of war. I am just going to take a review of
  the ladies; yesterday they did not show. The cannon is roaring
  most tremendously. Our labours and fatigues have been very great;
  march always at one o'clock; now are continually on the alert, men
  remaining accoutred day and night. The enemy have fallen back upon
  Toro; whether we follow, or they retrograde, at present _je n'en
  sais rien_.

  "You talk of Philippon and his defence. The fellow showed genius
  in his mode of defence; but I cannot say much for his defenders;
  nothing that skill could devise was left untried; the place[71] was
  taken at last at the strongest point--so much for what I have said.
  We have been enjoying the 'canopy' since quitting our cantonments;
  the weather is scorching by day, and cold by night--pleasing
  variations. I still hold out. The Tormes is in winter a river of
  military importance, being extremely rapid. It has apparently a
  magnificent bridge of thirty arches. I am just going reconnoitring,
  but it will be a reconnaissance confined solely to the sweet
  signoras."

But the Frenchmen were not "pounded out of their dens" as quickly
as the Major had hoped, for the forts held out for another week or
more, during which time Marmont made every endeavour to drive the
British away and relieve the garrisons. The 51st were engaged almost
daily in assisting to frustrate Marmont's designs, though they came
in for no serious fighting until the 22nd. On that morning the
regiment came off twenty-four hours' outpost duty, but no sooner was
the brigade bivouac reached than an order was received to advance.
Moving forward for about a mile, the brigade deployed into line, and
then continued the advance up the slope of a hill, beyond the crest
of which nothing could be seen. That the enemy was at hand, however,
was soon made evident, as musket shots were heard, and a few stray
bullets passed over the men's heads. Presently balls came over the
hill in showers, and some, grazing the hill slope, began to make
havoc in the ranks. But the 51st and 68th, now aware that the enemy
was within measurable distance, moved steadily forward, unable to
fire since no mark was visible, and intent only on closing with the
foe. At length the hill was surmounted, when, not ten yards away, the
assailants saw the line of Frenchmen, and, with a wild cheer, dashed
in. Yet they were too late; the enemy's advanced post had played its
part, and, breaking, the men who composed it fled to the village,
about one hundred yards away, where a large force, lying concealed,
immediately opened fire and checked the British advance. The gallant
brigade had carried out its orders and cleared the hill, so falling
back a few yards it sheltered itself behind the crest, until the
enemy's fire slackened and then ceased. It had been a brisk skirmish,
and the 51st had suffered a good deal as they advanced up the hill,
Captain Smellie and some twenty men having been wounded, and two or
three men killed. A week afterwards, Major Rice, in a short note,
dated _Between Toro and Salamanca, 30th June 1812_, described the
affair--

  "The gallant 7th Division forced a post, left of the enemy.
  Wellington, our lord, was pleased to say that we run into
  them handsomely. The burst was sharp--the hottest I have ever
  experienced; we lost two or three and twenty. I escaped with only
  the loss of my favourite horse, which was shot under me. Marmont
  is expected to defend the passage of the Douro. We are dreadfully
  harassed; have not been under cover for a month. Much haste."

John Green,[72] who, as a private of the 68th, was present on this
occasion, refers to the fight in the following words: "The 51st
Regiment suffered considerably, having several killed and wounded.
Major Rice's horse was shot from under him. Some men belonging to
the Chasseurs Britanniques skinned the horse, and sold the flesh to
their own men and to the Portuguese at three _vints_, or four-pence
halfpenny per lb."

Major Rice had been unfortunate in his horses. One, it will be
remembered, broke away and deserted to the enemy at Badajoz. The
second was fated to be eaten by the allied troops. Probably the owner
considered the end of his second horse no more dreadful than that of
the first; and it is to be hoped that Government compensated him for
the loss of his two chargers, though it is not probable that any such
generosity was shown to the British officer, who, at that time, was
even required to provide at his own expense beasts of burden to carry
his baggage in the field.

Five days after these events the Salamanca forts fell, and Marmont
beat a retreat towards Valladolid. Wellington followed leisurely,
keeping touch with the enemy's rearguard, and engaging it slightly at
the bridge of Tordesillas on the 2nd July. But neither side yet felt
inclined to give battle; and the British were by no means hopeful
that their labours were going to be rewarded with a fight. Major Rice
certainly took a gloomy view of the future when he wrote, on the 6th
July, from _Camp near Medina del Campo_--

  "Our lord, I am just told, is making up his dispatches, and
  we scrubs are graciously permitted to avail ourselves of the
  opportunity. Since I last communicated, nothing of importance has
  transpired. The army appears to have come to a _check_--rather,
  I think, than a _fault_. Marmont has earthed himself safe on
  the left bank of the Douro, and secured the bridge in front of
  Tordesillas. The fords are not good and are always precarious, but
  about these I know nothing, so I ought not to presume to give an
  opinion as to what is intended, or what can be done with safety
  to the army. His lordship only can know, as he must necessarily
  possess the best information as to the strength and resources
  of the enemy. For my part, I am not a bit more sanguine in this
  glorious cause than ever, and though we have dashed a few leagues
  in this patriotic ground among the _vivas_ of the mob, manœuvring
  seems to be the game that both parties are inclined to, and, if I
  may judge, both are equally shy as to general action. We have been
  wretchedly off for this some time; scanty fare, bad biscuit, &c.
  The weather dreadfully hot by day and cold by night--beyond what I
  ever experienced. We are lying in cornfields without the smallest
  covering. How the men stand this severe work is to me astonishing.
  A few days must soon bring to light our lord's gigantic plan for
  annihilating the foe. If we take water or form bridge, it will be a
  second Lodi. My brains are baking into a paste. It is just rumoured
  that the brutes won't fight; if so, the game must be up in this
  favourite peninsula."

Marmont was now reinforced by Bonet's division, and, with this
addition to his strength, the French general was able to turn on
Wellington and force him to retire. Though at times Marmont pressed
his adversary hard, day succeeded day without any decided advantage
being gained by either side. Throughout the 19th, 20th, and 21st
July, the hostile armies manœuvred in presence of each other, at the
end of which time both armies had passed to the left bank of the
Tormes river. On the 22nd, Marmont, by rapidly extending his left,
attempted to cut Wellington's communications with Portugal, but the
wide extension proved his ruin, for the British commander saw the
opportunity for which he had been waiting so long, and immediately
seized it. He hurled one division against the French left with such
vigour as to roll it back in complete disorder, and, simultaneously,
with two other divisions he assailed the centre with like results.
Then bethinking himself of making victory doubly sure, he despatched
the Light Division post-haste to the Huerta ford, in the hope of
barring the passage of the Tormes to the disorganised masses of the
enemy. This movement, however, failed, as the French crossed higher
up stream, and made good their escape towards the Douro.

Such, briefly, was the battle of Salamanca, in which Marmont was
severely wounded and twelve thousand Frenchmen placed _hors de
combat_, while the Allies suffered a lost of six thousand.

The pursuit was taken up at once, and Clausel, who had succeeded
Marmont in command of the French army, collected his forces and
withdrew rapidly to Valladolid, which place, however, he was obliged
to evacuate on Wellington's arrival near the town on the 30th July.
Deciding to profit to the full by his almost unexpected success,
the latter then turned south and marched straight for the Spanish
capital. King Joseph fled, and on the 12th August the victorious
Allies entered Madrid amidst the acclamations of the populace.

Major Rice found no time to write of these events, but one of the
subalterns of the 51st thus describes the entry into Madrid: "The
next day, the 12th August, the anniversary of the Prince Regent's
birthday, we entered the capital of Spain, and never in my life did I
witness such a scene. No quiet John Bull can conceive the enthusiasm
the people of Madrid displayed on that day. If we had been angels
instead of men, we could not have been better received. Our division
was the first British one that entered, and our regiment, being the
head of the column, had the good fortune to lead. The crowds gathered
round us so quickly that we could scarce move on; they seemed frantic
with joy; every balcony, every window was filled with beautiful
women, who showered down flowers upon our heads as we passed, and
the air was rent with acclamations of 'Long live the brave scarlet
fellows (colorados), our deliverers!' 'George for ever!' 'Wellington,
the brave Wellington, for ever!' But when Wellington himself came,
no language can describe their feelings or enthusiasm. They fell
on their knees to kiss the ground his horse's hoofs had pressed,
and they deemed themselves fortunate if they could only touch his
clothes. Never shall I forget our entrance."

The French still held the Retiro, a fortified post in the centre
of the city, and on the following evening, while the officers of
the 51st were preparing to go to a ball given by the citizens to
Wellington and his officers, orders were received for the regiment
and the 68th to invest the place forthwith. Some few shots were
exchanged with the French sentries that night, but a cordon was drawn
rapidly round the Retiro, and next morning, when the fort was on
the point of being stormed, the garrison surrendered--amongst the
captures on this occasion being, strange to relate, the eagle of the
51st French Regiment, which, with others, was sent to England and
eventually deposited in Chelsea Hospital. And there were some of the
British 51st who regarded this eagle in the light of a phœnix rising
from the ashes of the colours burned on the eve of the battle of
Fuentes d'Onor.

Madrid now gave itself up to gaiety--balls, bull-fights,
illuminations, and fêtes of every description, and a week later
the 51st marched to the Escorial, where it was quartered until the
1st September. On that day Wellington, leaving two divisions under
General Hill at Madrid, took the remainder of his army with him
and marched north, for the purpose of driving back the enemy from
the Douro to Burgos. "Our march," says Ensign Mainwaring of the
51st, "though rapid, was by no means disagreeable; for traversing a
rich wine-country, our route lay through vast plains covered with
vineyards, and at this season, autumn, just before the vintage,
the vines were laden with clusters of ripe grapes, tempting to the
appetite and beautiful to the eye. In this manner we travelled on,
without anything occurring worthy of note till we came within sight
of the castle of Burgos, and we began to anticipate, not with much
pleasure, all the inglorious toils and arduous and fatiguing business
of a siege--the most disagreeable military duty a soldier has on
service, digging and delving in dust and dirt like ploughmen, to
shelter ourselves, ere morning's dawn, from shot and shell whizzing
about our ears at each moment, killing or mutilating our next
neighbour. No excitement, as in a general action, by the immediate
prospect of getting at the foe, your only hope that you may get
through your twenty-four hours in the trenches unscathed, back
to your bivouac, to eat, drink, and sleep till your turn in the
batteries comes round again, varied by the storm of an outwork or
a sortie of the enemy, to either of which occurrences the soldier
looks forward as something to enliven and break in upon the routine
of his daily labours."

Clausel had withdrawn slowly from the Douro as Wellington advanced,
and on the 18th September passed through Burgos, leaving a garrison
of eighteen hundred men in the castle. To invest and reduce this
Wellington set to work immediately, twelve thousand men being
detailed for the siege and twenty thousand for the covering force.
So strong, however, was the castle, and so determined the garrison,
that after an investment of thirty-three days, during which time five
separate assaults were delivered and repulsed, and several desperate
sallies of the garrison were met and beaten back, Wellington was
obliged to abandon the enterprise and raise the siege, when he
learned, in the middle of October, that Clausel, having received
a reinforcement of twelve thousand fresh troops from France, was
marching down upon him with some forty-four thousand men. During
these operations the 51st, with the remainder of the 7th Division,
formed part of the covering army, watching the country between Burgos
and Vittoria, and spending some days near the village of Monasterio,
but never called upon to do more than check reconnaissances pushed
out by the enemy.

On the 21st October began the memorable retreat from Burgos--a
retreat which proved almost as arduous as that to Corunna, nearly
four years before. The weather was generally severe, and the enemy
pressed the pursuit vigorously, ever engaging the cavalry of the
rearguard and sometimes making captures. The rivers were in flood and
seldom passable save at the bridges, facts which gave the advantage
to Wellington, whose engineers, now adept at mines and explosions,
blew up each bridge as it was crossed, and thus from time to time
checked the French onslaught. In this way, by the 26th October,
Wellington was behind the Pisuerga river, with the mined bridge at
Cabezon between him and the enemy, and thence he despatched parties
to secure the bridges in his rear--viz., at Tudela and Tordesillas
on the Douro, and at Valladolid and Simancas on the Pisuerga. The
7th Division was employed in holding the three last-named bridges,
the 51st being responsible for that at Valladolid. The French came
on swiftly, and leaving a division in front of Wellington's main
body, threw out their right and swept down on the post held by the
51st. Opening from the high ground on the opposite bank with cannon
and musketry, the enemy soon rendered the bridge untenable; but
the company of the 51st defending it, even after the lieutenant in
command had been borne to the rear with his right arm shattered,
gallantly held on until the mine was ready. Then, having lost three
men killed and fourteen wounded, the company withdrew rapidly as
the bridge was blown up. The bridge at Simancas, being similarly
menaced, was also destroyed, as was that at Tordesillas, on the
28th, by a party of the Brunswick Oels Corps detached for the
purpose. But the destruction of the latter bridge was of little
avail, for it was followed by an act of daring gallantry on the
part of the French, perhaps without parallel in the history of war.
Riding up to the broken bridge, the Frenchmen, annoyed at finding it
impassable, hesitated for a moment, but then, dismounting, they set
to work to form a small raft, upon which they placed their arms and
clothes. Napier tells the story of what followed, and it is worth
repeating. "Sixty officers and non-commissioned officers," he says,
"then plunged into the water with their swords between their teeth,
swimming, and pushing the raft before them. Under the protection of
a cannonade they thus crossed this great river, though it was in
full and strong water and the weather very cold, and having reached
the other side, naked as they were, stormed the tower, whereupon the
Brunswickers, amazed at the action, abandoned their ground, leaving
the gallant Frenchmen masters of the passage."

The French restored the bridge as quickly as possible, but in the
meanwhile Wellington had withdrawn to the left bank of the Douro by
the Tudela bridge and by the Puente de Douro, and on the 30th October
he marched towards Tordesillas in such strength as to prevent the
enemy making use of the bridge which they had so nobly won. On this
very spot Major Rice wrote his last letter of the year:--

  "CAMP BEFORE THE BRIDGE OF TORDESILLAS,
  LEFT BANK OF THE DOURO,
  _5th November 1812_.

  "You will not fail to perceive, as per date, that our movements
  of late have been retrograde--I won't call it in this place
  _retreating_, because it is possibly only a little run on the part
  of our Most Noble and Gallant Marquis, whose judgment and military
  abilities are inferior _nulli_--not even Bony the Great. You will,
  however, see all in public print, and then you may call it what
  you like, and I think we shall be perfectly _d'accord_. My last
  short and hasty, though brilliant, display of matter was from
  Monasterio. The following day we were pushed in very gallantly (by
  _superior force_ understood); our loss not great, and we committed
  some havoc among the legions--hats and wigs cheap enough. The great
  superiority of the enemy in all the arms of war, I suppose, upon
  reconnaissance, decided his lordship on raising the siege of Burgos
  and falling back. The fact of the matter is, we were doing too
  much for our means, and, _entre nous_, are lucky in getting clear
  off. Our movements have been rapid, and not a little pressed; fine
  destruction of bridges, &c.; in fact, all the agreeables attending
  retrograde movements, or, as Soult calls them, _to the flank_.

  "Our division defended the front of Valladolid, to retard the
  enemy. Our regiment lost a few men; a poor woman, singularly
  enough, was killed by the first cannon ball fired, and an officer
  minus an arm. Two officers of ours have also died this week. Our
  sufferings have not been a little; the weather horridly cold and
  wet; not once under cover for these last two months. The poor
  soldiers dreadfully off; but I must not depict all the miseries;
  the truth must not be told at all times. And why tell you, or
  talk on subjects which you cannot understand? I often think how
  ridiculous one of my compositions would appear in print, under the
  head of 'Intercepted Correspondence from Spain!'

  "The whole army is now encamped in an immense vineyard--as far
  as the eye can reach, and the river between us and Mr Frenchman.
  Our people chat across, while going for water or washing. War is
  a strange business, and I am most heartily tired of the novelty.
  Hill's army has quitted the Tagus, and is moving upon us. The game,
  I think, is pretty well up. It is labour in vain, while poor John
  Bull only suffers and bleeds, as you will see by those who caught
  the bubble against the walls of Burgos. How lucky we are to get
  out of the digging business! So excellent a corps must always be
  in front, for the general safety of the whole. The unfortunate
  country people are being driven to desperation; what between friend
  and foe, their situation is deplorable; everything is taken from
  them, either by force or on requisition. The scenes of warfare
  are too shocking to witness. Sick and wounded men, in want of
  every comfort, add to the horrors which words cannot describe. But
  one must not reflect. Some French wag wrote up upon a wall: _un
  bon soldat faut avoir la force d'un cheval, le cœur d'un lion,
  l'appétit d'un souris, l'humanité d'un bête_--a true bill enough,
  and expressive of the Peninsular and Favourite War. The army must
  have repose; it is naked, jaded, and done up. If the lord gets
  hold of this, I shall certainly be hanged. You shall hear soon of
  further operations and all agreeables."

Officers writing from the seat of war seldom told the whole bare
tale; possibly they had the feeling that their letters were
overhauled in transit, or they may have been disinclined to mention
incidents which their friends at home, knowing nothing of war or of
human weakness under trying circumstances, would regard as outrages.
But these things left unsaid came out afterwards, and what Major Rice
thought that his brother (to whom the above letter was written) would
not understand was the extraordinary incident which took place at
the very commencement of the retreat from Burgos. Arriving late in
camp, after a heavy day of marching, near the town of Duenas, between
Burgos and Valladolid, the men heard that the wine-vaults were full
of the recent vintage, and with one accord they broke loose and
sacked the vaults. "Some of them were found dead, literally drowned
in wine, it having overflowed in the cellars and suffocated the poor
wretches who were too drunk to escape. Next morning, at daybreak,
when we stood to our arms to recommence the march, the scene was
one, perhaps, without parallel in the annals of military history;
for I scarcely exaggerate when I say that, with the exception of the
officers, the whole army was drunk." Thus wrote Ensign Mainwaring of
the 51st, and Napier bears him out in saying that at one time "twelve
thousand men were in a state of helpless inebriety." Fortunately
the rearguard was well away from the neighbourhood of the wine,
though, as the historian points out, there was at the moment little
to fear from the enemy, "since the French drunkards were even more
numerous than those of the British army." Small wonder that the major
thought that his civilian brother would not understand such things.
He himself realised, as probably did Wellington also, that fatigue
had produced so great a craving for drink as to drive the men mad.
To punish twelve thousand men equally implicated was, of course, out
of the question, and fortunately there was no further opportunity of
obtaining drink during the retreat. The incident, however, showed
the temper of the troops, and, though many bore their hardships with
extraordinary fortitude, and though all fought valiantly when called
upon to do so, there is no disguising the fact that the discipline of
the army as a whole was bad.

The woman who, Major Rice says, was killed by the first shot at
the Valladolid bridge, was the wife of a soldier of the regiment,
and at the moment when the unfortunate shot struck her she was
sitting by the side of her husband, eating her breakfast in fancied
shelter. One wonders what the women of those days were made of, for
numbers of them accompanied the army throughout the Peninsular War,
and shared all the trials and troubles of their husbands. Numerous
are the stories told of the heroism of these women, but why they
were permitted to take the field is never made clear. With every
regiment there marched several of them; children were born to them
on the line of march; they died of fatigue; they saw their husbands
killed in action, and sometimes they married again, while still on
active service. Green, in his 'Vicissitudes,' mentions the case of
a regimental woman (of the 68th) who married no fewer than four
husbands during the war, each one dying or being killed almost
before her eyes. One marvels at the indomitable courage possessed
by these women of a century ago; and there were officers' wives who
at times were present with the army, one notable case being that of
Mrs Dalbiac, who, throughout the battle of Salamanca, seated on her
horse, and often exposed to the enemy's fire, calmly watched her
husband's performances in the fight. Nor was this courage restricted
to British women, for every one knows the romantic story of the young
Spanish lady who became the wife of Major (afterwards Sir Harry)
Smith, after Badajoz, and thenceforward followed the fortunes of her
husband in bivouac and camp until the end of the war.[73]

The army remained in the Tordesillas camp only a day after Major
Rice despatched the above letter, when it marched to Salamanca, and
there, on the 10th November, it was joined by Hill's force from
Madrid. It will be remembered that when Wellington marched north on
the 1st September, he left two divisions (under Hill) in occupation
of the Spanish capital. After a while the armies of Soult and King
Joseph began to display considerable activity, and towards the end
of October were reported to be marching on Madrid in overwhelming
strength. Whether Hill could have held his own is doubtful; perhaps,
fortunately, he was not required to make the attempt, even if he had
any intention of doing so, for Wellington, so soon as he had decided
on withdrawing from before Burgos, ordered Hill to abandon Madrid and
join him, if possible, by way of the Guadarama Pass. On the last day
of October, therefore, Hill, having blown up the Retiro and destroyed
the stores in Madrid, retreated by the Guadarama, and was never
seriously pressed by the French.

The united army then marched out of Salamanca on the way to Ciudad
Rodrigo, and during the following week the rearguard was almost
continuously at bay. The main body plodded on, generally in pelting
rain, always on muddy roads, short of food, and otherwise distressed
beyond measure. As on the retreat to Corunna, the soldiers grew
sullen for want of a battle, and at length the sight of vast herds
of swine in the forests proved too much for them. They wanted food,
and here it was at hand; so they quitted the ranks by hundreds to
shoot the pigs, until Wellington, hearing the heavy firing, thought
that the enemy was pushing an attack. For a time the army was at the
mercy of the French, had they but known it; but order was presently
restored, though not before two of the marauders had been hanged, by
Wellington's command, as an example to the rest, and not before two
thousand British stragglers had been captured by the enemy.

At San Muños the 51st came in for a sharp skirmish, and had Captain
McCabe killed and eight men wounded; at the passage of the Huebra,
the Light Division, covering the rear, had some heavy fighting, for
the enemy's pursuit was vigorous, and his artillery fire often heavy.
Stragglers were cut off, and a good deal of baggage was captured,
but at length the troops saw the friendly walls of Ciudad Rodrigo,
and knew that their troubles were at an end. The retreat had lasted
for nearly a month; the weather throughout was inclement; the sick
and wounded suffered severely; the whole army was hungry as well as
footsore; and consequently the bulk of the men were out of hand, and
even insubordinate. The pig-raiding prevailed up to the last day's
march, for no punishment could stop it; and had the retreat continued
a little longer, Wellington's army must have suffered some terrible
disaster.

Once back on their old ground, and supplied with ample provisions
from Rodrigo, the men's spirits were restored, and getting into dry
quarters in the villages surrounding the fortress, the soldiers
settled down for the winter, and put the weary retreat out of their
minds. They were worn out; for almost a year they had marched
continuously, and fought frequently; they had placed to their credit
the capture of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, the victory at Salamanca,
the triumphant entry into Madrid, and numerous minor successes. Only
the retreat from Burgos tarnished their laurels; for when their
losses, during this last phase of the year's operations, came to
be reckoned up, they were found to be heavy. Including the siege
of Burgos, Wellington's army suffered to the extent of some nine
thousand men, not counting a vast number of officers and soldiers
subsequently invalided from the effects of the unfortunate retreat.

Major Rice, probably to his own astonishment, succeeded in struggling
on to the end of the year's campaigning, and then, having seen his
regiment settled in tolerable comfort in cantonments, was forced to
give in. He was immediately invalided home, and his brother, who had
received his Tordesillas letter only on the 26th December, was no
little surprised at the arrival, on the 15th January (1813), of the
following hurriedly written note, bearing the Falmouth post-mark:--

  "You will be surprised, but I trust agreeably, that I am landed
  on British ground. I made my escape with some difficulty, though
  honourably, from the Favourite Peninsula. I ventured my carcass
  in the packet as the safest conveyance, but it was like to have
  proved most woeful. Never did I, nor probably ever shall I,
  suffer such distress. Dreadful weather, and all but lost by bad
  reckoning on the part of the marine tribe. We got on the breakers
  off Ushant--blowing a gale of wind; nothing but a miracle saved us
  from a watery grave. I never felt till then _Danger_--in its most
  pitiable state. I've been in contact with my friend _Death_ often,
  and rather familiar, but he appeared at that moment more grim than
  usual. I will recount my manifold adventures when we meet, which I
  hope will be in a few days. I touch on my way at Morshead's and my
  friend Kelly's near Launceston. You shall hear on what day I can be
  with you.

  _"Falmouth, 11 o'clock, 13th January 1813._--Just landed from the
  packet--fatigued and jaded beyond description."

Such was the home-coming of one of many gallant men, who, broken
down by the hardships which they had endured while fighting for the
honour and glory of their country, arrived to find their stay-at-home
fellow-countrymen playing the part of arm-chair critics, and decrying
Wellington's great work. These critics forgot the splendid victories
which the Commander-in-Chief had won, and the fame which he had been
building up for England, and they remembered only what had happened
latest--the retreat from Burgos, which they regarded, seemingly with
joy, as a disaster to British arms. Yet is it ever so.




CHAPTER XI.

DRIVING THE FRENCH OUT OF SPAIN, 1813.


Major Rice was not fit to take the field again for some months;
Colonel Mitchell was also invalided early in the year; and the junior
major (Major Roberts), therefore, had the good fortune to command the
51st during the early part of the campaign of 1813. The winter had
been spent pleasantly enough in cantonments, the officers hunting,
shooting, and holding race meetings; and although sickness, resulting
from the hardships of the past year, was prevalent amongst the troops
for some time, the long rest completely restored the health of the
army.

In the early spring Wellington began to get his divisions into
fighting form for the coming campaign. The retreat from Burgos
showed him the necessity of paying attention to discipline, in
order to get the men in hand again; exercise was also required to
enable them to cope with the physical exertions to which he knew
they would shortly be subjected; and so, from February to April,
regiments paraded almost daily for brigade and divisional manœuvres,
and were constantly reviewed by their generals, as well as by the
Commander-in-Chief. By the middle of May all was ready for the great
forward movement, which, within a few weeks, resulted in driving the
enemy to the Pyrenees, and, before the end of the year, into France.

At first sight it seems extraordinary that such great success should
have been in store for the Allies, only recently suffering from
what can but be regarded as a somewhat ignominious handling by the
enemy, for it was all that they could do to hold their own against
him during the retreat to Ciudad Rodrigo. The winter, however, had
brought about a change in the situation, and the complexion of
affairs was entirely altered, not only in the Peninsula itself, but
also in other parts of Europe. Napoleon had met with disaster in
Russia, and, for the time being, the retreat from Moscow had hipped
him, yet with no crushing effect. He required a leaven of seasoned
troops wherewith to stiffen his vast army of hastily-raised recruits,
and he therefore drew away from the Peninsula thousands of his best
officers and men. With joy Wellington became aware of these events,
and he realised that at last his opportunity had come. The Spanish
and Portuguese Governments rose to the occasion, and Wellington was
given the supreme command of the allied troops, numbering in all
parts of the Peninsula some 200,000 men (including the British). But
for his immediate operations he could not reckon on more than 90,000;
while the French still had in Spain 230,000, of whom, however, only
120,000, with 100 guns, were available to meet the Allies on the
northern line of invasion. "Yet this," says Napier, "was a great
power, of one nation, one spirit, one discipline"--as opposed to
the heterogeneous force of the three nations. Had Napoleon been in
personal command of his army in Spain, Wellington's task would have
been no light one, for the Emperor grasped the situation even from
afar, and instructed his brother Joseph accordingly, enjoining on him
to act promptly and to concentrate every available man in the north.

El Rey Joseph, however, was not the man for the work; he preferred
being a king to being a commander-in-chief; he quarrelled with his
generals; he was slow and vacillating; and he failed signally, so
much so that when Wellington opened the campaign Joseph's army was
still scattered. All this was much to Wellington's advantage, and
furthermore, he had the comfortable feeling that, advancing with his
left practically in touch with the sea, the command of which his
fleet held, he could shift his base as occasion demanded, and thus
avoid the necessity of maintaining a lengthy line of communications
as his army moved forward. In May 1813, therefore, when Wellington
had matured his plans, he felt confident that he held Joseph
Bonaparte in the hollow of his hand; and he made certain that there
should be no loophole for failure. Ordering Graham, with 40,000 men,
to push through the Portuguese province of Tras os Montes to the Esla
river, and thence outflank the French line on the Douro, Wellington
himself, with 30,000, intended to march direct on Valladolid, where
King Joseph had his headquarters, and force the enemy back from the
Douro. That accomplished, and General Castaños with 20,000 Galicians
having joined, a new front was to be formed, when the 90,000 Allies
were to make a general advance and, assailing the French all along
the line, drive them to the Pyrenees.

The 51st, in the 1st Brigade of the 7th Division (General Lord
Dalhousie), marched from its cantonments on the 14th May, with Sir
Thomas Graham's force, to the north-west. On the 18th it crossed the
Douro, near Villa Nova, but not without difficulty, the crossing
being effected in boats, and occupying twelve hours. Thence the
direction of the march was north-east, across the country lying in
the bend of the river, and on the 20th Miranda de Douro was reached.
After a halt of five days, the 7th Division moved on to the Esla
river, and encamped on its banks from the 27th to the 30th May.
Wellington now came across to see how Graham was progressing, and
after a careful reconnaissance of the Esla, he ordered the troops to
cross by a ford at daybreak on the 31st; but, since the enemy was
known to be in some strength on the opposite bank, it was decided to
push a covering party of all arms across the river during the dark
hours of the night. This party consisted of the hussar brigade, some
artillery, the 51st, and 400 Brunswick light infantry, and at 1 A.M.
on the 31st they moved down to the river. Here the water was found
to be deeper and the current more rapid than had been anticipated,
an unexpected spate having come down during the previous few hours,
but it was all-important that the covering force should cross to the
other side before daybreak. Accordingly, the infantry were instructed
to hold on to the stirrup-leathers of the hussars, and the passage
began. For a time the greatest confusion occurred; the rush of the
water caused the horses to plunge and rear; several soldiers were
swept off their feet, lost their hold of the stirrup-leathers, and
were drowned. The bulk of the party, however, reached the opposite
bank in safety, though with their ammunition saturated, shortly
after dawn, and found, to their relief, that the enemy had hastily
withdrawn, leaving only a cavalry piquet of forty men to watch the
ford. The Frenchmen retired before the advancing hussars, who pursued
at top speed, and after a sharp skirmish captured nearly all of them.

On the 1st June the 51st marched to Toro, and on the following day
pitched camp on its old ground at Tordesillas. Here Wellington
reviewed the 6th and 7th Divisions, and having been joined by the
Galicians, was now ready, with his 90,000 men and 100 guns, for the
great forward movement, which he set going on the 4th June. King
Joseph, unable to obtain the reinforcements which he had called up,
thought first of making a stand at Burgos, then withdrew to Pancorbo,
and subsequently to Vittoria. Wellington, following swiftly, gave
him no breathing space, but pressing on his flanks on all occasions,
forced him to give way. Yet the king still regarded the retirement of
his army as merely a temporary expedient, and fully believed that as
soon as his reinforcements should join him he could turn the tables
on his adversary. But he was ignorant alike of Wellington's strength
and of the fact that the Allies' base had been transferred from
Lisbon to the ports of the Biscay coast.

The Ebro was crossed on the 16th June, and on the 20th the 51st,
little thinking that the morrow would bring forth a decisive battle,
was within a march of Vittoria. Wellington knew that King Joseph
intended to take up a position to cover the place, which, with its
vast accumulation of war material and stores, besides a convoy of
treasure recently arrived from France for the payment of the troops,
could not readily be abandoned. And Wellington was confident of a
great victory.

Vittoria stood--as indeed it stands to-day--compactly built on an
eminence, rising up at the end of a plain, or rather basin, some ten
miles long by eight miles broad. To the north of the town the river
Zadorra flows east and west for some miles, until, on approaching
the Morillas range, it takes a sudden bend, almost at right angles,
to the south. Then, through the Pass of Pueblas, it finds its way
to the Ebro. Parallel to the main course of the Zadorra, and at a
distance of some three miles to the north, runs a range of hills; on
the opposite bank, and five miles to its south, is another parallel
range; while the western edge of the basin consists of the Morillas
mountains, pierced at one point--namely, the Pueblas defile.

It was behind this latter range that Wellington, on the 20th June,
had assembled his army. The French defending Vittoria were holding
the line of the Zadorra, intending to bar its passage at all points.
Seven bridges spanned the river, which, though narrow, was deep,
and in most parts flowed between precipitous banks. Reille's corps,
forming the right of the French line, was posted to the north of the
town, with orders to hold the two bridges at Gamara Mayor and Ariaga;
Maransin's brigade, on the extreme left, occupied the southern range
of hills, with the object of guarding that flank and preventing
the passage of the Pueblas defile; while the centre of the enemy's
line of battle extended along the Hermandad ridge. Midway between
this ridge and the Morillas mountains flowed the Zadorra, with four
bridges at no great distance apart. Wellington's plan was soon
formed. Graham, with twenty thousand men, was ordered to march to
the flank and attack Reille; Hill, with another twenty thousand, was
to force the passage of the Pueblas defile, push back Maransin, and
seize the bridge of Nanclares. To the remainder of the army, under
the great commander himself, was allotted the task of pouring over
the Morillas mountains on to the four bridges which lay below, and of
assaulting the enemy's centre.

Dawn of the 21st June was ushered in by showers of rain and
steamy heat. Hill moved forward to attack Maransin, and met with
considerable opposition; but he succeeded in gaining the heights,
in passing his division through the Pueblas defile, and in seizing
the village of Subijana de Alava. Meanwhile Graham had moved wide
away to the left, and the troops of Wellington's main attack had
crossed the Morillas mountains and were nearing the bridges over
the Zadorra--namely, from left to right, Mendoza, Tres Puentes,
Villodas, and Nanclares. All this had taken time, and it was past
noon before the 51st, in the 1st Brigade of the 7th Division, moved
forward for the general assault on the enemy's centre. Picton was in
chief command of this (the left) portion of the attack, and moved
the 3rd and 7th Division rapidly down to the Mendoza bridge, the
passage of which was contested by the enemy's cavalry and infantry,
aided by his artillery. The British had, however, already gained a
footing on the left bank of the river, as, finding that Tres Puentes
was unguarded, Wellington had hurried across it Kempt's brigade of
the Light Division and some hussars. This cleared the way for Picton,
for the riflemen of Kempt's brigade made a spirited attack on the
enemy opposite the Mendoza bridge, which was immediately crossed by a
brigade of the 3rd Division, the remainder of that division and the
7th Division fording the river a little higher up.

The fighting now became severe, as the Frenchmen held tenaciously to
their position on the Hermandad ridge, and raked the assailants with
artillery fire from the village of Margarita, until the 52nd Light
Infantry coming up, charged the enemy out of the village. The 3rd
and Light Divisions then pressed southwards and carried the village
of Ariñez, from which the defenders rapidly withdrew. Thence the
victorious Allies swept east, and followed the French, now ordered
to retire upon Vittoria. Hill had worked his way forward on the
right; the far-distant sounds of Graham's attack on the left could be
distinctly heard through the din of battle; and Wellington knew that
all was going well.

At this juncture King Joseph began to realise the situation; that
his flanks were in imminent danger, and that his centre, still
six miles in front of Vittoria, ran the risk of being cut off and
annihilated; so, unwillingly, he ordered a retirement. And his men,
magnificent soldiers that they were, gave an object-lesson in the
art of defending and retiring from successive positions. The six
miles of country over which the ensuing running fight took place was
undulating, rough, and broken; and the enemy, knowing each ridge,
hillock, and fold in the ground, made every use of such knowledge, so
that resistance was constant. Successive positions were taken up, and
defended with gun and musket, until their defence seemed hopeless;
and each position abandoned told its tale of destruction--of dead and
wounded Frenchmen, and of captured guns. Hour after hour the battle
raged, and at about six o'clock in the evening the enemy made his
last stand on a low ridge, barely a mile from Vittoria, refusing to
acknowledge even then that he was beaten. Here stood eighty guns,
pouring grape and round shot on the assailants, while amongst the
guns and on their flanks the infantry used their muskets with deadly
effect. For the moment the Allies were unable to face the storm,
and the French general, noticing the recoil of the 3rd Division,
and under the impression that he was fighting a rearguard action,
commenced to withdraw the troops on his left flank. But the 4th
Division, observing the movement, rushed headlong on the retiring
body, and carried the position.

Then, and not till then, did King Joseph, watching events from the
town, understand that the day was lost. Up till that moment he had
imagined his centre to be impregnable, his left flank to be secure,
and Reille still holding his ground on the right. Yet there were few
of the inhabitants of Vittoria so sanguine as the king, and early
in the afternoon the roads running east from the town were already
blocked with carriages, carts, and fugitives on foot. Then, when the
centre gave way, panic prevailed; the king ordered the guns to take
the road to Salvatierra; the allied cavalry swept through and round
Vittoria, and the infantry followed with all speed.

Vittoria, not fortified in any way, was evacuated; but Reille still
maintained his position, which he now found to be most dangerous.
Desperate fighting had been going on all day in this part of the
field; Graham's men stormed the two bridges, and carried them, but
only to be driven from them again, and kept at bay by Reille's
guns and infantry soldiers. A deadlock ensued; neither side could
make headway. Then Reille suddenly became aware of the fact that
Wellington's troops were pouring between his rear and the town, and
that the victorious cavalry were threatening to destroy him. In the
nick of time he saw the danger, skilfully disposed his troops, and
with great gallantry fought his way to Metauco, on the Salvatierra
road, where he attempted to form a rearguard to the fugitive French
army. Darkness alone saved him, for the Allies, flushed with victory,
pursued until they could no longer distinguish friend from foe.

In this long battle, fought in the heat of a Spanish summer, almost
six thousand officers and men fell on each side; but the rout of the
enemy was complete, and the French army in the Peninsula had never
experienced a more crushing defeat. All their guns, their depôts of
stores and ammunition, their treasure chest, their wagons, their
records, and in fact everything that they possessed, fell into the
hands of the victors; and the army that fled was a disorganised
rabble, having nothing but the clothes on their backs and the muskets
in their hands.

The 51st, which had been in the thick of the fight all through,
losing some forty-five officers and men, bivouacked that night two
miles from Vittoria, and on the following day joined in the pursuit
of the enemy towards Pampeluna. The Frenchmen were well on the run,
and a rapid pursuit would probably have resulted in their complete
dispersal, and in Wellington's immediate invasion of France. But a
rapid pursuit was found to be impossible, for the reason that, as
so often had been the case before, victory had proved too much for
the Allies. "The night of the battle," wrote Wellington, "instead
of being passed in getting rest and food to prepare the soldiers
for pursuit the following day, was passed by them in looking for
plunder. The consequence was that they were incapable of marching in
pursuit of the enemy and were totally knocked up." Two days later,
he stated that no fewer than eight thousand British soldiers were
absent, and scattered all over the country marauding, and that the
majority of those who remained with their regiments were under the
influence of drink, so that "when marches of over twelve miles were
attempted, the line of route was crowded with stragglers and men
seeking admittance to hospital."

In spite of all this, Wellington started, on the morning of the 22nd
June, with six divisions and the light cavalry, for Salvatierra, and
on the 25th reached Pampeluna, which he immediately blockaded. After
much marching about during the following few weeks, in the endeavour
to clear the whole country of the enemy, the 51st assisted in driving
the fugitives out of the valley of the Bastan, and then followed
towards the Pyrenees, taking up a position at Echallar. During the
last week of July and the first week of August the regiment came in
for some sharp fighting, more especially on the heights above Ostiz,
where it suffered the loss of thirty men, and again at the pass of
Dona Maria. From that time until the end of August the 7th Division
was occupied in watching the passes of Echallar and Zagaramurdi; but
on the 30th it received sudden orders to strike tents and march to
the bridge of Lesaca, for the purpose of covering the operations now
in active progress against San Sebastian.

Previous to this, Marshal Soult, who had relieved King Joseph in
supreme command of the French army in the Pyrenees, had reorganised
his forces, and, towards the end of July, had made a bold but
unsuccessful attempt to relieve the garrison of Pampeluna, being
very severely handled in withdrawing to the Pyrenees, and it was
in his overthrow that the 51st assisted at Ostiz, Dona Maria, and
elsewhere, as mentioned above. The French marshal then took up a
line of defence along the right bank of the Bidassoa, from its
mouth up-stream to the village of Vera (situated at the point where
the river bends almost at right angles), and onwards across the
foothills and ridges of the Pyrenees to St Jean Pied de Port. In
the meantime, Wellington, having disposed his troops so as to watch
Soult all along the line, proceeded with the siege of San Sebastian,
the great fortress standing on the sea-coast, some fifteen miles (as
the crow flies) from Vera. The place was strong, well-provisioned
and well-garrisoned, and Wellington was insufficiently equipped
to reduce it quickly; moreover, Soult's activity necessitated the
employment of large bodies of the allied army at a distance from
the fortress. So much, in fact, was this the case that, towards the
end of July, Wellington was obliged to utilise the services of so
many of the besieging troops elsewhere that he found it necessary to
convert the siege into a simple blockade. When, however, he had got
rid of all these difficulties, and when Soult had been forced back,
Wellington found it possible to renew the siege of San Sebastian.
The heavy guns and other siege necessaries, for which he had waited
for so long, having arrived from England in the middle of August, the
British commander returned to the charge with all the determination
for which he was ever noted. For ten days the great guns battered
the walls, during which period the besiegers suffered severely from
the fire of the enemy's artillery, and were constantly called upon
to repel with the bayonet the sallies of the garrison. To the men
in the trenches it seemed as if the capture of the place was still
far off, but Wellington thought otherwise, and on the 30th August
he issued orders for the assault to take place a little before noon
next day, at the same time instructing the troops covering the siege
to be prepared to frustrate any attempt by Soult to interfere with
the operations. It was for that purpose that the 51st was despatched
with all haste to the Lesaca bridge, and thence sent forward, with
the rest of Inglis's brigade, to support a Portuguese brigade on the
slopes of the Peña de Haya (known to the French as Mount Aya, or Les
Trois Couronnes).

The 31st August was a busy day, not only at San Sebastian itself, but
also with the covering troops, for, as Wellington had anticipated,
Soult made a strenuous effort to interrupt the siege. The country
lying within the bend of the Bidassoa, between Vera and San
Sebastian, was wild and mountainous, with few roads; and within that
bend the covering troops were in position facing approximately east.
Three bridges spanned the river--Behobia, close to its mouth, Vera,
a little above that village, and Lesaca, some three miles higher up
stream. These, therefore, were the principal permanent crossings
available for an attack on the Allies' position from the east, except
that the Behobia bridge was broken and required to be repaired. The
river also, when low, could be forded at two or three points between
Vera and Behobia; and since Soult possessed a pontoon train, he could
throw bridges across the river at other points. Thus the Bidassoa,
in its lower course, presented but a slight obstacle to an advance,
though its passage might cause delay.

Soult's design was to pass some forty thousand across the river
at two different points, each body fighting its way through the
mountains until Oyarzun was reached, when, the whole force having
concentrated, a fresh advance was to be made towards San Sebastian,
some six miles distant. Wellington had foreseen all this, and had
made his dispositions accordingly, watching the lower crossings from
the heights of San Marcial, and the fords and bridges about Vera from
the Peña de Haya--both strong and commanding positions.

Before daylight, Reille, with eighteen thousand men, forded the
river near Behobia, and attacked the Spanish force posted about San
Marcial. Wellington himself arrived on the scene at the critical
moment, and so inspired were the Spaniards by his presence and
exhortations that they fought with the greatest valour, and succeeded
in repulsing the attack--even to driving the French into the river.
While this was in progress, Clausel, with twenty thousand Frenchmen,
crossed by the fords near Vera and assailed the slopes of the Peña
de Haya, held by the 9th Portuguese Brigade, supported by General
Inglis's brigade, with which was the 51st, now commanded by Colonel
Mitchell. Here the French were too strong for the defenders, who,
resisting gallantly, were forced back up the slopes until they
reached the 4th Division, at the foundry of San Antonio. The fight
which ensued was long and bickering, and it was not until two in the
afternoon that Clausel's skirmishers reached San Antonio. Meanwhile
Wellington directed a portion of the Light Division from Santa
Barbara across the Upper Bidassoa, to move by the Lesaca bridge, and,
taking some Spanish troops with them, to reinforce Inglis. Clausel
observing these movements, and fearing for the safety of his left
flank and rear, halted his force and sent to Soult for orders.

The 51st lost heavily in its retirement up the slopes to San
Antonio, having one officer killed and eleven officers wounded,
and upwards of seventy men killed or wounded. Nor was it possible
for the regiment, when forced back out of San Antonio, to take all
their wounded with them, and in connection with this the following
appears in the records of the 51st: "Some of the wounded had to
be left behind, and they, falling into the hands of the French,
discovered that the regiment with which they had been engaged
was the French 51st. Pointing to the common number, the English
soldiers were then received by their captors rather as distressed
comrades than prisoners. Their wants were immediately attended to,
their wounds dressed, and every article of their personal property
carefully preserved for them. In the morning the French commenced
their retreat, and left their grateful prisoners to be reclaimed
by their regiment, which listened with joy to the universal story
of the kindness they had experienced. 'This is the real chivalry
of modern warfare, and robs it of half its horrors.'" At the time
probably neither regiment knew, or remembered, that just a year
before they had been in conflict at the Retiro, in Madrid, when the
eagle of the French 51st had been captured. But this meeting of the
British 51st with the French 51st is not without parallel in the
annals of the Peninsular War, for there are other instances of the
freemasonry of regimental numbers. In the 'Historical Records of the
43rd Light Infantry,' the following incident is related: "In the
evening (December 12, 1813), on calling the roll of the regiment, a
dozen men were reported missing, whereupon Colonel Napier despatched
an officer with a sergeant and patrol in quest. The men were found in
a small house filled with apples, on most amicable terms with about
as many French soldiers--oddly enough, belonging to the Imperial
43rd. The same object, that of securing the tempting fruit, had
impelled both parties to the spot, and all had gone on the apple raid
unarmed. The French, on observing that the English bore '43' on their
breastplates, examined them attentively, cordially shook hands, and
expressed much pleasure in the accidental _rencontre_, asking many
questions as to rations and allowances; and assured them that if
they would accompany them to a post a little way off they would give
them some first-rate brandy. Upon the appearance of the officer, the
Frenchmen, believing themselves prisoners, brought forth the whole of
their spoil as a peace-offering: but he merely pointed to the door,
whence they effected their escape, while the English truants, with
crammed haversacks, were escorted back to their quarters."

In those days the British soldier gloried in the number of his
regiment, and doubtless the French soldier did so also. Under such
circumstances one can easily understand that the number should have
become a bond of union, even between men who when on duty were
ready to bayonet one another. There is no doubt that, apart from
such _entente cordiale_ incidents as the above, the power of the
regimental number was great; the traditions of the regiment were
built up round its number, and when, in 1881, a civilian Secretary
of State for War thought fit to substitute county titles for the old
numbers, he introduced the most unpopular army reform ever devised by
a War Minister. In the eyes of a civilian it may have been a small
matter, but it was a bid to destroy the _esprit de corps_ of half the
army. That it did not seriously affect regiments was due to the fact
that they steered a middle course, styling themselves officially by
their new county titles, and unofficially retaining their ancient
numbers.

But to return to the events of the 30th August 1813: while Clausel
awaited Soult's orders at San Antonio, Reille had renewed the
attack on San Marcial. For some hours the Spaniards continued to
hold their own, but it is doubtful if they could have done so much
longer, when fortunately the elements came to their aid. At about
3 P.M. there fell on the combatants one of the most violent storms
ever experienced even in these lofty mountains, and the tempest of
wind and rain raged for two or three hours, pinning the assailants
to the ground and making further progress absolutely impossible. As
darkness came on Reille succeeded in withdrawing his force across the
river, but Clausel, who had now been ordered by Soult to retire from
San Antonio, was less fortunate, for although he himself with two
brigades succeeded in fording the Bidassoa near Vera, his lieutenant,
General Vandermaesen, with the remainder of the troops, was cut off
by the rising waters. His sole prospect of escape from this perilous
situation was by forcing the passage of the guarded bridge a little
above Vera, and this, during the dark and stormy night, he was
successful in doing, though at the cost of his own life, and with the
loss of nearly three hundred of his men. Soult's attempt, therefore,
to interrupt the operations against San Sebastian had proved a dismal
failure, and while the covering force had been employed in thus
holding the French in check, the great fortress had fallen, after an
assault as desperate and as bloody as that which had won Badajoz in
the previous year.

But Wellington had now cleared up the situation, for, save the
garrison of the castle within San Sebastian, which held out for a
few days longer, and that of Pampeluna, which was kept locked up
until its capitulation in November, no Frenchmen (other than those
of Suchet's corps in Catalonia) tarried beyond the Spanish slopes of
the Pyrenees. It remained for the Allies to drive them through the
mountains into France, and there was still heavy fighting in front of
them.




CHAPTER XII.

THE CLOSE OF THE PENINSULAR WAR.


Any one who has read a great number of letters from the Peninsula
must often have been struck by the marked difference between those
written by young officers and those by their seniors. The older
men were often despondent in times of hardship, and were generally
critical of the actions of those in command; while the subalterns
and younger captains seem to have been ever in high spirits, and
bubbling over with youth and gaiety. There is no doubt that, as far
as regimental officers were concerned, this matter of youth put
an immense amount of dash into all the operations undertaken, and
inspired the soldiers with courage as well as with confidence. And it
is not too much to say that an army officered by a preponderance of
middle-aged men would have taken twice as long to rid northern Spain
of the French. The human factor in warfare is usually overlooked by
the casual reader of military history; he knows the characteristics
of the chief commanders in a campaign; he knows such well-worn
theories as Napoleon's presence on a battlefield being equivalent to
forty thousand men; but otherwise he regards battalions as composed
of officers and men all turned out of the same mould--of like
temperament, of like age, and of like physique.

Now, if a study were made of the average ages of British regimental
officers in the several campaigns of the hundred years ending 1908,
it would probably be found that they varied very considerably, and
it might be interesting to discover whether the ages of the officers
affected the "go" of the campaign one way or the other. But, as
concerns the Peninsular army, it is an undoubted fact that regimental
officers were far younger than they have ever been since. As a rule,
an officer was a captain within six years of joining his regiment,
and, unless unfortunate, a major within another six years, while,
with any luck, he obtained the command of his regiment before he
was much over thirty years of age. Napier gives many instances:
Lieut.-Colonel Charles Macleod, who was killed at the head of the
43rd in the breach at Badajoz, had not reached his 27th year;
Lieut.-Colonel Thomas Lloyd fell leading the 94th at the battle of
Nivelle, at the age of thirty; Sir William Napier himself was only
twenty-nine when he finished his last campaign, and his brother, Sir
George, was but a year older at the close of the Peninsular War;
Sir John Colborne (Lord Seaton) considered himself a most unlucky
man in not having obtained the command of a regiment until he was
thirty-two; and many other cases might be cited of the youth of
the senior officers of regiments. These were the men who led their
battalions to victory after victory, and their subordinates were
for the most part mere boys. Many fought through the Peninsular War
while still in their teens, and Colborne affirmed that, when he was
commanding the 66th, he was the only officer of the regiment over
twenty-five years of age. We know that young Mainwaring, of the 51st,
aged fourteen, was leading the veterans of the regiment at Fuentes
d'Onor, and we have his own word for it, that when he entered Madrid
with the victorious army he was so young that the gaieties of the
city failed to amuse him, and that he preferred to spend his evenings
quietly with the old Spanish couple upon whom he was billeted. And
most regiments, doubtless, had ensigns as young as Mainwaring.

We of to-day naturally question the value of such youthful
officers--lads who nowadays would be in the ranks of their school
cadet corps. Yet it is an extraordinary fact that these boys
commanded men often old enough to be their fathers, and were followed
by them with the greatest devotion. Sir William Napier writes of
one of his subalterns, Edward Freer, killed at the battle of the
Nivelle, that, though only a lieutenant, he "was rich in honour, for
he bore many scars and was young of days. He was only nineteen, but
had seen more combats and sieges than he could count years. Slight in
person, and of such surpassing and delicate beauty that the Spaniards
often thought him a girl disguised in man's clothing, he was yet so
vigorous, so active, so brave, that the most daring and experienced
veterans watched his looks on the field of battle, and would obey his
slightest sign in the most difficult situations.... He was pierced
with three balls at the first storming of the Rhune rocks, and the
sternest soldiers in the regiment wept even in the middle of the
fight when they heard of his fate."

There is no shadow of doubt that, young as they were, the regimental
officers of this period, taken as a whole, knew their business
thoroughly; that is to say, the commanding officer could handle his
regiment with skill, and the captains and subalterns were expert
company officers both in the field and in quarters. The majority
of them possessed initiative, and in the fight seldom made a
mistake or missed an opportunity. Their school was war, and in that
rough-and-ready school they picked up all that they knew, for few
of them, except those who had been trained under Sir John Moore at
Shorncliffe, had learned anything of soldiering before they landed
in the Peninsula. Even the most hypercritical of modern writers must
admit that the officer of a hundred years ago performed the duties
of the rank for which he drew pay well and truly and to the best
of his ability. And what more, it may be asked, can be expected of
any one? Certainly the State had no cause for complaint that it
was not getting good value for its money, for it paid its infantry
captains no more than ten shillings and sixpence a-day, and its
ensigns half that sum, for doing their duty nobly, for undermining
their constitutions through exposure, privation, and hardships, and
for risking their lives for days, weeks, months, and years on end.
They were practical, fighting soldiers; but there have arisen modern
critics who say of them that their minds were small and undeveloped,
because they were not students of the military art, because they
had not read military history and therefore did not realise that
history is always repeating itself, and because such things as
strategy and grand tactics were outside their sphere of thought. We
do not deny that if these officers were aiming at something higher
than regimental soldiering, there is a measure of sense in these
criticisms; but we would point out that, except in the case of one
or two senior officers in each regiment, there had been no time for
the study of books; for if we accept the statement that captains and
subalterns were under twenty-five years of age at the close of the
Peninsular War, and that most of them had been on active service
practically from the day they joined, we fail to see when they could
have read military history. And, even if they had had leisure to read
such works on military history as were available a hundred years ago,
there is no reason to suppose that their duties, as simple regimental
officers, would have been performed the better. Afterwards many of
them went to High Wycombe (Staff College) to continue their study of
the art of war, the practical part of which they had already learned,
and it was not found that their experience of war had in any way
impaired their reasoning powers.

But in the Peninsula, youth and ignorance of military history do
not appear to have interfered with successful leading, and he who
delights to read of gallant deeds will find, in the accounts of
the various fights, scores of episodes in which boy officers set
brilliant examples to their men, and by their valour at a critical
moment often saved the day. Such were the leaders of Forlorn Hopes
and of similar desperate enterprises, and it would seem as if these
lads must have matured much more rapidly than do the boys of the
present age. Yet it may be that the rank and file were so magnificent
that, at ordinary times, they were capable of being driven with a
silken thread. That the soldiers, in spite of Wellington's dictum as
to their being "the scum of the earth," were magnificent, is certain,
and it is equally certain that they were devoted to their officers.
There is scarcely a regiment in the army whose history does not
record some gallant act performed by a soldier to save the life of
an officer; and these rugged veterans went out of their way to show
kindness to the boy subalterns in times of sickness or of hardship.

It may be thought that, with older officers, the frequent outbreaks
of indiscipline which sullied the good name of Wellington's soldiers
might have been avoided. But who can say whether the great captain
would have benefited in the long-run? Occasionally his operations
were delayed by the marauding and drunkenness of his troops, but
there is no proof that his plans ever broke down owing to the youth
of his regimental officers, and he never appears to have complained
that they were too young, though he may have hinted that a few of
his generals were too old, for some of them were ten years older
than himself.[74] But it may seem extraordinary that officers of the
army as a whole should have been so young towards the end of the
Peninsular War, for one has always imagined that, under the Purchase
System, promotion was remarkably slow. Still, the wastage produced by
the long war was enormous; deaths, wounds, and disease ploughed deep
into the commissioned ranks; and to keep up the supply of officers
was no easy matter. Officers, captains as well as subalterns, were
transferred from the militia to the regular army;[75] from time
to time non-commissioned officers were promoted ensigns, for good
service in the field; but the majority of commissions were given
to cadets of the Royal Military College,[76] at the average age of
fifteen, or to boys, equally young, appointed direct to regiments.

The loss of twelve officers and seventy-two men (killed or wounded),
in the fighting of the 31st August, reduced the strength of the 51st
woefully, and it was one of the regiments which could least afford
such a depletion, since it was in the unfortunate situation of
having no second battalion in England upon which to fall back for
reinforcements of officers and men. Most regiments in the field had
a second battalion at home, ready to make good the casualties in the
foreign battalion as they occurred, but the fate of the 51st had been
against its ever having been able to recruit a second battalion. The
68th, also, with which the 51st had been brigaded for the greater
part of the war, was suffering from the same cause, and so reduced in
numbers were the two regiments that it became a great question what
to do with them. The regiments themselves were for linking up and
forming themselves into what was termed a "provisional battalion,"
and Wellington agreed to the proposal; but the authorities at home,
refusing to sanction anything of the kind, informed Wellington that,
if he deemed it necessary, he could send the regiments home to
recruit up to strength. But the Commander-in-Chief had no intention
of parting with any of his tried soldiers, and he preferred weak
battalions of veterans to full ones of recruits, so the 51st and 68th
remained with Inglis's brigade of the 7th Division, to fight the war
to a finish.

After the fall of San Sebastian, the 51st recrossed to the right bank
of the Bidassoa and occupied its former position near Santa Barbara,
facing Vera. Here it remained throughout the month of September,
and early in October moved to Echallar, to await the development of
Wellington's plans. Major Rice, who had been kept in England after
the expiration of his sick leave, because the authorities thought
that Wellington would send the regiment home, now rejoined, in the
best of health and spirits, though disappointed at having missed the
three months' fighting in which his regiment had taken part. He saw,
however, that he was still in time to take his share of plenty of
rough work; and so it proved.

Wellington, having driven the French out of northern Spain into
the Pyrenees, at first had no intention of following them into
France, his reasons being that Napoleon might at any moment send
reinforcements to Soult, and that a French army (under Suchet) was
still in possession of the Mediterranean province of Catalonia, in
eastern Spain. With Suchet in his rear, his position was insecure;
and if large reinforcements were despatched to Soult, the allied army
might fare badly, although the proximity of the sea-base rendered
disaster impossible. When, therefore, San Sebastian fell, Wellington
inclined to transfer the war to Catalonia, but political pressure
from home and the news of Napoleon's misfortunes in Germany combined
to cause him to change his plans, when, as Napier says, he "matured
an offensive movement as daring as any undertaken during the whole
war"--in short, an assault on Soult's whole line of fortifications in
the Pyrenees, and the invasion of France.

Between the opposing armies the Bidassoa flowed from Vera to the sea;
but to the north and north-east of Vera there was no such well-marked
dividing line--only the labyrinth of rocky spurs and ravines which
seamed the mountain-slopes. Wellington's plan was to advance
simultaneously on the right and on the left, the troops on the right
storming Soult's fortified posts among the mountains, while those on
the left forced the passage of the Lower Bidassoa. These operations
were to have commenced ill the middle of September, but, owing to
faulty arrangements in the matter of pontoons and subsequently to
bad weather, they were deferred until the 6th October. That night
everything was got ready, and at daybreak next morning Wellington's
carefully laid plans were set going, their extraordinary boldness
altogether deceiving Soult.

Under the protection of a heavy cannonade from San Marcial and the
neighbourhood, the divisions on the left forded the Lower Bidassoa
at several points almost before the French had fired a shot, and,
turning the enemy out of his positions, crossed the frontier into
France. At the same time, the Light Division advancing on Vera,
and thence up the mountain-slopes, carried position after position
with astounding impetuosity; while, farther away on the right,
the 7th Division and others guarded the Echallar pass and various
roads and tracks through the mountains. Desultory fighting went on
upon the crests of the Pyrenees during the next two days, after
which Wellington called a halt, and from his headquarters at Vera
reorganised the commands of his army. Hill was given the right, from
Roncesvalles to the Bastan; Beresford the centre, which included
Echallar, where the 7th Division was posted; and Hope the left, from
the Mandale mountain to the sea. Tents were brought up, and the
troops encamped on their several positions, eagerly awaiting the
order to move forward; but Wellington had not yet decided finally
whether to invade France or to move back into Spain and carry the
war into Catalonia. A month was thus spent, in the most inclement
weather, on the summits of the bleak Pyrenees, and the allied army
suffered great hardships, some of the posts being at times snowed
up and cut off from provisions. Fortunately they were provided with
tents--though they were a cold comfort; nevertheless, the shelter
which they afforded was certainly preferable to bivouacs among the
rocks.

Prior to the opening of the campaign of 1813, regiments had been
unacquainted with the luxury of canvas, and it is wonderful how they
managed to exist for so many years in such variations of climate.
Whenever possible, the troops were billeted in the towns, villages,
and farms; but when actually in the field the bivouac was resorted
to, and as time went on the old soldiers became adepts at making
themselves comfortable, in shelters formed of boughs of trees, or
even in hastily constructed huts, when halting in the more wooded
parts of the country. In 1812, tents were improvised out of blankets,
two of which were fastened together by tapes sewn on to the sides,
and then stretched over a pole supported by the arm piles; but these
provided shelter for only four men, who, moreover, had but two
blankets among them in which to sleep. The whole matter was one of
transport, and Wellington had always refused to allow the movements
of his army to be hampered by excessive baggage. By this time,
however, the medical officers had learnt by experience that much
of the sickness of the army was attributable to exposure, and the
authorities at length sanctioned the issue of four tents per company,
three for the men and one for the officers, but their carriage was
not to entail any increase in the number of transport animals.
Hitherto the company mules carried nothing except the heavy iron
camp-kettles, or cauldrons, but now these were exchanged for lighter
ones of tin, which the men (six to a kettle) took it in turn to carry
on their knapsacks, while the mules carried the tents.

Meanwhile, Soult had taken advantage of the inaction of his foe,
and had caused to be thrown up a complete chain of entrenchments,
some thirty miles long, covering St Jean de Luz on his right, and
extending along the course of the Nivelle to its upper waters, whence
the left of his line stretched eastward to the river Nive. The centre
was guarded by outworks, erected about the Smaller Rhune and Sarre,
to the east of the Greater Rhune; and so strong was this vast line
that the most careful reconnaissances could discover scarcely a
single weak spot in it.

At length Wellington made up his mind to move on into France, for he
had now learned that Suchet would not co-operate with Soult, and he
had learned also that Napoleon had met with successes in Germany. The
time, therefore, was opportune to attack Soult, and to delay might
result in his opponent receiving reinforcements from Napoleon. The
British commander arrived at this decision early in November, and
on the 9th issued his orders. His plan was to strike at the French
centre, cross the Nivelle at the bridge of Amotz, and attempt to
divide Soult's force. Before any general advance could be made,
however, it was necessary to clear the foreground by capturing the
outworks in the Pyrenees, and the Light Division, still in position
about the Greater Rhune, facing the strongly fortified Smaller Rhune,
not a mile distant, was ordered to push forward on the morrow.
This the regiments of the famous division did in the most gallant
manner, thus opening what was known as the battle of the Nivelle, and
sweeping the Frenchmen from their fortified posts at the point of the
bayonet.

The strength of the enemy's right determined Wellington to make
no immediate advance on that side, but to bring round Hill's and
Beresford's divisions in a species of gigantic wheel, so as to cross
the Nivelle above and below the bridge of Amotz, and cut Soult's
army in two. While, therefore, the Light Division was fighting its
way through the enemy's advanced works, the 4th and 7th Divisions
were sent against the forts of San Barbe and Grenada. It was a day
of grand work, but we can do no more than follow the fortunes of the
51st, in Inglis's brigade of the 7th Division.

By a stroke of luck for Major Sam Rice, Colonel Mitchell had
been placed on the sick list at Echallar, and the command of
the regiment devolved on the major, who soon showed that he was
equal to the responsibility. From the mouth of the Echallar
pass, the 7th Division advanced rapidly on the Grenada fort,
which covered the village of Sarre, while the 4th Division moved
against the neighbouring fort of San Barbe, the regiments carrying
scaling-ladders, wherewith, if necessary, to storm the works. Such
aids, however, were not needed, for the defenders, powerless to
withstand the fire of the eighteen British guns which accompanied
the attack, fled from the forts, and though they stood for a
while at Sarre, they soon broke before the determined onslaught
of the pursuers. The victorious divisions, as they forged ahead,
presently found themselves confronted by two redoubts, Louis XIV.
and Harastaguia. The former was immediately stormed and carried at
the point of the bayonet, and attention was then paid to the latter,
in front of which the 31st French Regiment had been placed as a
covering force. Upon this unfortunate regiment the 7th Division fell
forthwith, breaking it and putting it to the rout, and driving the
garrison from the redoubt--even to the banks of the Nivelle.

The French, pursued vigorously by the 4th and 7th Divisions,
crossed the river by the various bridges, and took up positions on
the heights above St Pé, whereupon Wellington, halting the other
divisions, pushed the 3rd and the 7th across the river against
Maransin's French division, which stood its ground and fought
desperately. "After a hard struggle, in which General Inglis
was wounded, and the 51st and 68th Regiments were handled very
roughly,"[77] the attack succeeded, and Maransin's troops were put to
flight. Thus, at nightfall, when darkness put an end to the fight,
the British had established themselves in rear of the French right,
and Wellington had reason to be proud of the valour of his troops.
In his despatch he included the following: "I likewise particularly
observed the gallant conduct of the 51st and 68th Regiments under
command of Major Rice and Lieut.-Colonel Hawkins, in Major-General
Inglis's brigade, in the attack of the heights above St Pé, in the
afternoon of the 10th." On this day the 51st lost two officers and
twenty-two men killed, two officers and seventy-three men wounded,
and one officer (Captain Phelps) taken prisoner. "Major Rice," says
the 'Records of the 51st Regiment,' "commanding the regiment on this
occasion in the absence of Colonel Mitchell, detained at Echallar by
sickness, was rewarded for his bravery by a lieutenant-colonelcy and
the Gold Medal."

The Peninsular Gold Medal was a much-coveted decoration, for it
was given sparingly, and only to selected officers, for certain
engagements. No officer could claim the right to receive it, but
as the war progressed regulations were issued from time to time,
and recommendations for the decoration were restricted to certain
ranks for the satisfactory performance of certain duties. It must be
remembered that, at the commencement of the Peninsular War, medals
were almost unknown in the British army. A few had been struck
to commemorate great naval victories, but they were bestowed at
first only on the chief commanders, though towards the close of the
eighteenth century a wider distribution was made to the navy and
marines. Soldiers, however, knew nothing of medals, and even Sir John
Moore, with all his war service, died without ever having received
a medal.[78] The suggestion of granting medals to officers engaged
in the war in the Peninsula probably came from Sir Arthur Wellesley,
who had recently come from India, where the Honourable East India
Company was accustomed to issue medals to all its native troops for
the various Indian wars. Gold medals in two sizes were therefore
struck and granted to senior officers, the larger medals being given
to generals and the smaller to other officers, as a rule not below
the rank of major. On one side of the medal was the name of the
action for which it was granted, and on the principle of _bis dat qui
cito dat_, the medals were distributed as soon as possible after the
action, being sent out for the purpose to the seat of war.

As time went on senior officers began to accumulate many medals,
since they received one for each great battle or siege; and the
authorities deemed it advisable to issue no more than one medal to an
officer, engraving upon it subsequently the names of all the general
actions at which he was present. Presently a fresh difficulty
arose: the actions became too numerous to admit of their names being
engraved on the limited space of the medal; so, eventually, in
1813, regulations concerning the issue of gold medals were finally
approved. It was then laid down that an officer should wear only
one gold medal, upon which should be engraved the first action in
which he was engaged; that for the second and third action he should
receive gold clasps, inscribed with the names of the actions. The
fourth action entitled the officer to the Gold Cross, upon which were
engraved all four actions, and which was to be worn in substitution
of the gold medal and clasps previously received; and gold clasps
were added to the ribbon of the gold cross for each subsequent action
after the original four.

As far as regimental officers were concerned, the commanding officer
of a full battalion present in an action for which a commemorative
medal was struck[79] was usually recommended for the smaller gold
medal (or clasp if he was already in possession of the medal), even
though he might have been a major temporarily in command. As a
rule, no other regimental officer received the medal for services
performed as such, but occasionally a major or a captain was given
the decoration for some particularly brilliant service, for which
nowadays he would be awarded the V.C. or the D.S.O. But anything like
a general distribution of medals to every one engaged was not given
a thought; in fact the idea of wearing medals at all was so new that
the majority of officers and men of the army regarded such things
as far beyond their reach; and it was not until after the issue of
a silver medal to all ranks of the army present at Waterloo, that
Peninsular veterans began to consider themselves slighted. Yet for
upwards of thirty years they agitated in vain, and only in 1848 was
justice done to them by the issue of a silver medal, with clasps.
Probably, by that time, the greater number of these brave men had
passed away, for, between 1808 and 1848, thousands had been killed in
action, died of wounds or of disease contracted on active service,
died in afterlife from the effects of exposure and hardships during
long years of campaigning, or died of old age.

The regimental officers, perhaps, felt the non-recognition of their
services more than did the men, for they argued that they had shared
in many Peninsular victories as hard-fought as Waterloo, and had
nothing to show for them except the scars on their bodies. And
they felt the injustice the more when they remembered the manner
in which the gold medal had been awarded. Almost every officer on
the staff--even the most junior in field rank--had received it
as a matter of course; but no such generosity had been extended
to regimental officers, few of whom had been able to fulfil the
qualifications prescribed by the authorities. There were captains
and subalterns who had fought in battles and sieges innumerable,
often severely wounded and even maimed for life, yet who went
undecorated; while there were majors, perhaps but once engaged, who,
by a stroke of fortune, brought their regiments out of action, and
thereby qualified for recommendation for the gold medal. Major Sam
Rice, however, was not one of these, for he had seen as much service
as any officer of the 51st. Still, but for the temporary illness
of his commanding officer, his Peninsular services would have gone
unrewarded.

After the battle of the Nivelle, Soult withdrew his main body to the
entrenched camp at Bayonne. He destroyed the bridge at Ustaritz,
and disposed his troops along the right bank of the river Nive, so
as to watch all the other crossings. The weather favoured him; for,
throughout the next eight days, rain fell incessantly, the river
came down in flood, and the roads, knee-deep in mud and slush, were
practically impassable, so that Wellington was restrained from
following up his victory. Further circumstances, moreover, forced
delay upon him: the Spanish troops, elated at the invasion of France,
murdered and pillaged the unfortunate inhabitants far and wide, and
so incensed was Wellington at their conduct that he forthwith put to
death all whom he took red-handed, and sent the Spanish divisions,
composed of some 25,000 men, back across the frontier, to their own
country, although by so doing he foresaw the possibility of serious
trouble with the Spanish Government.

Wellington now felt his way cautiously, his available troops being
too few to run any great risks, and he would not have moved forward
immediately except for the fact that the enemy still had a footing at
one point on the left bank of the Nive. This was at the Cambo bridge,
which, covered by a bridge-head on the left bank, was a source of
grave concern to the British commander, since its possession could
be taken advantage of by Soult to launch an attack on Wellington's
right flank. On the 16th November, therefore, Hill was ordered
to move out and threaten the bridge-head, an operation which was
completely successful, as the enemy made no stand, but, blowing up
the bridge-head and the bridge, evacuated the left bank of the river
at the first sight of Hill's reconnaissance. With the Nive between
his right flank and the French, Wellington knew that he could bide
his time, and complete his preparations for a further advance. And it
was nearly a month before he pushed on again.

Between the 8th and 13th December the fighting was heavy and almost
continuous, but the 51st saw little of it, being moved about from
point to point, in reserve, and being brought up at the concluding
action at St Pierre only when the day had been won. But in these
stoutly contested battles before Bayonne, otherwise known as the
"Battles of the Nive," the Anglo-Portuguese force had met with great
successes, had crossed that river, and had pushed the enemy back
upon Bayonne, thus earning the well-merited praise of its commander,
who himself averred that, had he gone against his conscience and
brought up the 25,000 disgraced Spaniards, he would have carried
Bayonne and driven Soult's army to the winds. As it was, he held the
line which he had gained until he opened the campaign of 1814, and
commenced the final phase of the long war.

At the time Wellington had the unpleasant feeling that the Spanish
Government, smarting under the insult which had been offered to
the national army, would join the French, and force the British
commander to fight for the embarkation of his army. Within the next
few weeks, however, the political situation cleared up, and Soult
began to suffer from the calls made upon him by Napoleon to supply
reinforcements for the army with which he was endeavouring to stem
the tide of German invasion on the eastern frontiers of France. Soult
still held the fortress of Bayonne, standing at the confluence of the
Nive with the Adour, and up-stream from Bayonne he held the right
bank of the Adour as far as the mouth of the river Bidouse, whence
his line, bending southwards almost at right angles, followed the
right bank of the latter river. Wellington's immediate objective was
Bayonne, the investment of which place he had determined to effect
at once, and for this purpose it was necessary to throw a portion of
his army across the Adour. With the sea at his command, he decided
to cross the river below Bayonne, and in order to distract Soult's
attention from that direction he threatened the French centre and
left, about the upper Adour and Bidouse, with all the troops whom he
could spare.

Towards the middle of February (1814) the operations commenced. On
the 26th, Hope, with magnificent skill, threw a bridge of boats
across the Adour, at the point some three hundred yards wide, and
completed the investment of Bayonne forthwith. Meanwhile Soult's
troops had been kept fully occupied among the rivers and streams
to the eastward, and on the 27th was fought the battle of Orthes.
The 51st, which, with the 7th Division (forming part of Beresford's
command), had been pushing the French north-eastward from the river
Bidouse during the previous week, found itself on the morning of the
27th near St Boes, opposite the enemy's right. Soult had taken up a
strong position along the heights extending from St Boes to the Gave
de Pau about the village of Orthes, and had made up his mind to give
battle. Wellington was ready to meet him. Beresford, with the 4th and
7th Divisions, was ordered to attack the right from the north-west;
Hill, with the 2nd Division, moving from the south bank of the Gave
de Pau, was directed to advance on the bridge of Orthes and turn the
French left; while Picton, with the 3rd and 6th Divisions, and Alten,
with the Light Division, held the centre.

The battle was opened by Beresford at about 9 A.M., but, although he
pushed in the enemy's right and carried the village of St Boes, he
was in turn forced to retire, and was roughly handled by the French
guns. Picton, who had at the same time been pressing forward against
the centre, met with no better success, and was also driven back.
For the moment the situation was critical, and it seemed as if Soult
would snatch a victory; but Wellington's master-mind realised what
was happening, and, quick as thought, he hurled a counter-attack of
Alten's and Picton's men in between two parts of the French army
which had become separated. Beresford turned, recaptured St Boes, and
cut off Soult's retreat by the Dax road; and at the same time Hill
forded the Gave de Pau a little above Orthes, and menaced Soult's
left. The French, smitten in front and flank, drew off rapidly to the
north-east, and the battle resolved itself into a race between Hill's
Division and Soult's army for the bridge at Sault de Navailles, three
miles away. The retreat was well carried out, and though Hill's
cavalry pursued with a certain amount of success, Soult contrived to
pass the bridge and destroy it, thus putting an end to the pursuit.

This was the last general action of the Peninsular War in which
the 51st was engaged, for although the regiment crossed the Adour
at St Sever, and advanced as far as Mont de Marsan, it was then
detached, in order to accompany Beresford to Bordeaux, which city was
wavering between allegiance to Napoleon or to the Bourbons. To settle
matters, and to give confidence to the Bourbon party, Wellington
sent Beresford with twelve thousand men, and the appearance of this
force before Bordeaux, on the 12th March, had the desired result;
whereupon Beresford, leaving Lord Dalhousie with the 7th Division and
three squadrons of cavalry to occupy the place, marched back to the
army. But as soon as Beresford had departed, the Napoleonists took
heart and attempted an insurrection, in which they were supported by
the advance of a French force from outside. For the next few weeks,
therefore, the 51st was constantly engaged in skirmishes with the
enemy, who was eventually dispersed by the arrival of a British fleet
in the Garonne.

While these events were passing in the neighbourhood of Bordeaux,
Wellington was following Soult. On the 20th March, a short but
fierce fight at Tarbes resulted in the defeat of the French, who,
however, retiring towards Toulouse, continued to dispute the advance
of the Allies towards the upper Garonne, until, on the 10th April,
Wellington caught them at Toulouse, and overthrew them. With this
victory the war was brought to a close, for, the day after Wellington
entered the town, the news of Napoleon's abdication was received from
Paris, and the preliminaries for a permanent peace were entered into.

At Bordeaux the 51st remained in the enjoyment of a good deal of
pleasure and gaiety until July, when it embarked for England, and
proceeded first to Plymouth and then to Portsmouth, from which latter
place it had started three years and a half before for the Peninsula.
In that time the regiment had lost many officers and a great number
of men, but these gallant dead had helped to gain seven fresh
battle honours for the colours of the 51st. Personal rewards were
restricted to the three senior officers, each of whom received the
Gold Medal and brevet promotion, otherwise the officers and men found
their reward only in the knowledge that they had fought for the glory
of England, and had upheld the good name of their regiment. Napier,
in the concluding paragraph of his 'Battles and Sieges,' writes of
the Peninsular army as follows:--

  "Thus the war terminated, and with it all remembrance of the
  veterans' services. Yet those veterans had won nineteen pitched
  battles and innumerable combats; had made or sustained ten sieges,
  and taken four great fortresses; had twice expelled the French
  from Portugal, once from Spain; had penetrated France, and killed,
  wounded, or captured two hundred thousand enemies--leaving of their
  own number forty thousand dead, whose bones whiten the plains and
  mountains of the Peninsula."

But, if one turns to the lighter side of the war, one gathers from
the journals and letters of officers that, in all this campaigning,
with its attendant bloodshed and misery, there was usually some
bright lining to the cloud. The vast majority of the officers, as
has been shown, were of an age particularly susceptible to sparkling
eyes and suchlike things, and the Spanish and French ladies appear to
have been no less susceptible to the charming manners of the brave
young Englishmen--even though the latter loved and rode away. There
were not a few instances, however, of attachments which ended in
marriage, and some of the non-commissioned officers and men also
brought home Spanish or French wives. These men of war certainly
carried large hearts buttoned within their tight-fitting coatees, and
the cordiality of the _entente_ was beyond dispute, as is evident
from the following words with which one of Napier's subalterns
concludes his account of the war[80]--words which, when compared with
the above-quoted paragraph, show with what different eyes a bachelor
lieutenant and a married lieutenant-colonel looked on life:--

  "But at the conclusion of the war there was such an abundance of
  kissing as probably the like of it was never seen before, which put
  one in mind of the adage, 'that none but the brave deserve the fair.'
  There was kissing in the valleys, and kissing upon the hills, and,
  in short, there was embracing, kissing, and counter-kissing from
  Toulouse to Bordeaux."




CHAPTER XIII.

THE WATERLOO CAMPAIGN.


Samuel Rice's regimental soldiering so far had been full of
excitement, and he had certainly borne his share of service abroad
and in the field. He had suffered considerably in health, and had
been invalided on more than one occasion, but his twenty-one years'
service had not been without reward, although, it may be remarked, he
himself appears to have thought little of his brevet or of his gold
medal. His letters of this time show that, like many another senior
regimental officer, he considered that he had had enough campaigning
to satisfy him for some years--if not for his lifetime,--and he
rejoiced in the idea of a lasting peace and the quiet of garrison
life at home. So convinced was he that a period of leisure and rest
was in store for him that, confirmed bachelor as he had hitherto
believed himself to be, he seized the opportunity to get married.
Yet, within a very few months, his dream vanished; for he was
suddenly called upon to leave his bride and go back to war.

Napoleon was once again the cause of all the trouble. When he
abdicated in April 1814, he was deported, as a state prisoner, to
the Island of Elba, in the Mediterranean; although, out of deference
to the feelings of so great a man, his sentence of imprisonment was
couched in the most polite terms: Elba was ceded to him, and there
he was permitted to reside, with a large retinue and a pension from
France. The nations of Europe hugged themselves with the hope that
they had settled the troubler for all time, but early in March
1815 they received a rude awakening; for Napoleon was not the man
to settle down quietly, at the age of forty-six, without making an
effort to retrieve his fallen fortunes and recover his lost throne;
and he astonished the world by escaping from Elba, and landing in the
south of France. Here he was received enthusiastically by the people,
and more especially by his old soldiers, who, again raising the cry
of _Vive l'Empereur!_ forthwith joined his standard and marched on
Paris, whereupon the Bourbon king fled, and Napoleon once more defied
all Europe.

By the Treaty of Paris (1814) Napoleon had agreed for himself and
his family to renounce the throne of France, and the allied Powers
had agreed to evacuate French territory. A congress then assembled
at Vienna to settle various weighty questions connected with the
rearrangement of frontiers, which Napoleon's high-handed conquests
had upset in all directions. How long this congress would have sat
it is impossible to say; no two Powers would come to terms on any
point put forward, and as time went on events moved towards an open
rupture between certain of the Powers. Napoleon's escape, however,
put an end to all differences, and the nations one and all determined
to combine against the common "enemy and disturber of the world." The
armies of some of the Powers had not retired far beyond the frontiers
of France, and these turned about and prepared for an immediate
invasion, while those at a distance began to move up.

Towards the close of 1813 Great Britain had sent an army, under
the command of Sir Thomas Graham, to the Netherlands (Holland and
Belgium), to assist the Prince of Orange in holding his own against
the French, and the bulk of that army, still remaining in these
countries after the peace of 1814, formed the nucleus of Wellington's
army of 1815, reinforcements being despatched rapidly from England.

On the 30th March, the 51st landed at Ostend. Lieut.-Colonel Rice
was in luck again, for he found himself in command of the regiment,
Colonel Mitchell having been appointed to the command of a brigade.
Travelling in barges on the canal, the regiment moved through Bruges
to Ghent, where it halted for a few days, and then marched to
Brussels, a week later moving into cantonments at Grammont.

The command of the Anglo-Dutch or Anglo-Belgian army was given to
Wellington, who soon assembled, in the Netherlands, some 100,000
troops. Acting in conjunction with him was the Army of the Lower
Rhine, consisting of Prussians and Saxons, under Blücher, numbering
another 100,000 or perhaps a little more. Next came the Austrians
and Bavarians (under Schweidnitz), who, to the number of 250,000,
were known as the Army of the Upper Rhine; while, away in rear,
170,000 Russians were moving up in reserve. Moreover, the Spaniards,
Portuguese, Swiss, Sardinians, Danes and Swedes, were all ready
to close in on France, in the event of their co-operation being
required. As a matter of fact, Wellington and Blücher hewed their
road to victory without the assistance of the others.

Had Wellington had his way, he would have moved into France and
assumed the offensive before Napoleon should have time to reorganise
his army, but for political and other reasons this was found to be
impossible, and April and May were spent in making arrangements for
the defence of Belgium; for it was judged that Napoleon would strike
at Brussels as soon as possible. He himself would have preferred to
have bided his time, but he was forced into immediate action by the
knowledge that, if he were to delay, he would be overwhelmed by the
Austrians and Russians. He despised the army of Wellington, and he
thought little of the British commander, against whom, however, he
had never as yet been pitted. For these reasons he was not long in
making up his mind to invade Belgium.

Meanwhile Wellington and Blücher had disposed their armies so as to
watch the approaches to the Belgian capital, and by the beginning of
June the general situation was as follows: At Brussels Wellington
had his headquarters, and kept Cole's and Picton's divisions in
reserve. In front, _i.e._, towards the south, Hill's corps was on the
right, stretching from the Scheldt up to about Ath; and the Prince
of Orange's corps at Mons, Enghien, and Nivelles, prolonged the line
to the left; while the Dutch and Belgian cavalry, covering these two
corps, were posted well out in front, and Lord Uxbridge's British
cavalry was kept in rear, about Grammont. To the left again came the
Prussians, with the headquarters of their corps at Charleroi, Namur,
Ciney, and Liège. So that the whole line covered a front of about one
hundred miles, and was, roughly speaking, forty to fifty miles to the
south of Brussels.

The 51st was in the 4th British Brigade (Mitchell), belonging to the
4th Division (Colville), in Hill's corps, and the regiment remained
in its cantonments at Grammont until the morning of the 16th June.
How little was known up to this time of the coming campaign is
vouched for by a letter which Colonel Rice wrote at Grammont on the
9th June, but which was not posted till the 13th. He wrote as if the
army generally had no idea of any immediate fighting taking place.
"We are at present quiet," he said; "all a matter of conjecture as
to what is to be done. The Great Duke knows, but we poor devils know
nothing."

But at this time even the Great Duke himself did not know what was
going on at any great distance beyond his outposts. Up to the 12th
June he had not heard that the French were actually moving towards
the Belgian frontier, though he may have suspected it; and so badly
served was he by his intelligence officers (who, it is only fair to
say, were themselves kept in ignorance of events by the Prussian
staff), that it was not until the afternoon of the 15th that he was
able to decide whether Napoleon intended to advance on Brussels
in one column, by the direct road _viâ_ Charleroi, or whether he
would divide his force so as to send a portion of it by the western
route through Mons and Hal. Meanwhile Napoleon, with his customary
energy, had matured his plans rapidly, and had pushed forward his
several corps towards the frontier; so that, when he himself left
Paris on the 12th June, he had made up his mind that he would cross
into Belgium on the 15th, and be in possession of Brussels shortly
afterwards, having defeated Blücher's Prussians and Wellington's
British and allied troops. He concentrated rapidly, and on the night
of the 14th nearly the whole of his army was in bivouac close up to
the Prussian outposts. At dawn on the 15th he saw the first item on
his programme carried out, the French forcing back the Prussians,
occupying Charleroi, and advancing northwards towards Quatre Bras.

At 3 P.M. that day Wellington was apprised of these movements, but
so certain was he of the soundness of his dispositions that he
feared nothing. Learning that no French troops were moving in the
direction of Mons, he knew that his right flank was safe, so at
5 P.M. he issued orders for a general concentration of his force
towards Quatre Bras--the point where the Nivelles-Ligny road crossed
the road from Charleroi to Brussels--and at 10 P.M. he supplemented
these orders by detailed instructions as to routes and objectives.
Then he attended the famous ball given by the Duchess of Richmond in
Brussels, whereat a great many British officers were present, though
all had been warned that they were to leave early and join their
regiments marching to the front. Straight from the festive scene,
therefore, many rode all night to overtake the troops only as they
were becoming engaged with the enemy.

At daybreak on the 16th the 51st (with Mitchell's brigade) left
Grammont for Braine le Comte, where, after a weary march, it halted
for the night in pouring rain. During the march the sounds of guns
were distinctly heard in the distance, yet no one in the regiment
knew what was taking place, or the whereabouts of the enemy. But not
far away stirring events had been in progress. At 11 A.M. Wellington,
riding from Brussels, had reached the position which his advanced
troops were taking up at Quatre Bras, though by that time only some
7000 Dutch and Belgians, under the Prince of Orange, had arrived.
Fortunately, however, Napoleon appeared to be directing all his
energies against Blücher's 80,000 Prussians, in the neighbourhood
of Ligny, and Wellington rode across to confer with the Prussian
Field-Marshal, eventually agreeing to go to his assistance at 4 P.M.,
if not himself attacked.

Wellington then returned to Quatre Bras, and within a couple of hours
realised that the Prussians would have to look after themselves; for
Napoleon, aiming at a double victory, sent Ney against Wellington
early in the afternoon, and the battle which raged around Quatre Bras
for the remainder of the day only ended in a victory for Wellington
by the timely arrival of the reserves from Brussels. Blücher, in the
meanwhile, had been severely handled by Napoleon, who, after a bloody
conflict of nearly six hours, succeeded in breaking the centre of the
Prussian line and driving the defeated army from the field. But of
the forced retreat of his Prussian allies from Ligny Wellington heard
nothing definite until next morning, when he learned that Blücher had
retired upon Wavre.

No sooner did Wellington become aware of the Prussian retreat than
he decided to fall back from Quatre Bras to the position at Waterloo
which he had had in his mind all along, and at about 10 A.M. on the
17th June he sent word to Blücher that he would fight at Waterloo
if a Prussian corps would join him there. He then issued orders for
the retirement from Quatre Bras, and sent instructions to Prince
Frederic's Dutch-Belgians and such troops of the 4th Division as were
at Braine le Comte or on the road to Nivelles to assemble at the
former of these two places and await orders, while all other troops
were to retire at once to Waterloo. Now it happened that Mitchell's
brigade alone of the 4th Division, marching early from Braine le
Comte, had reached Nivelles before the order arrived, and thus
avoided sharing in the ill-luck which befell the remainder of the
division--viz., being posted on the flank at Tubize, near Hal, while
the great victory of the 18th June was being won.[81] Mitchell,
therefore, paraded his brigade with the 2nd Division, already at
Nivelles; and at noon the 51st was marching north by the Brussels
road.

The march of the afternoon was hot and dusty, and was made all the
more disagreeable by the road frequently becoming blocked by troops,
guns, wagons, and ambulances withdrawing from Quatre Bras. The
prospects of a fight, however, kept the men going, and the sight of
some French columns in motion during the afternoon put new life into
them. It was evident that an engagement could not be long delayed,
and many imagined that it would take place before nightfall. Towards
evening Mitchell marched his brigade on to that part of the position
allotted to it--on the extreme right near Braine la Leud, and there
the 51st and the other regiments of the brigade bivouacked. In all
directions troops could be seen moving into position; and though
darkness was approaching it still seemed as if the fight could not be
postponed till the morrow. Masses of French troops were visible at no
great distance, and a few British guns were already opening fire on
some of the enemy's infantry, while parties of cavalry were briskly
engaged in more than one part of the field.

But the night closed in without matters going further, and it was a
night not easily forgotten by those who slept out in it. Rain fell in
torrents, so that the bivouacs became a sea of mud, and the soldiers,
lying out in the open, were drenched to the skin. When at length day
broke and the heavy rain ceased, the situation became fully apparent,
and no doubt remained as to the severity of the coming struggle. Less
than a mile separated the two great armies, drawn up and facing one
another. Between them lay a shallow valley, some two or three miles
in length, and averaging half a mile in width, the sides sloping
gently, but being everywhere uneven and undulating. The trend of the
valley was east and west, and Wellington's army occupied the northern
crest and ground in rear, slightly in advance of the village of Mont
St Jean; while the French were in position on the southern crest.
From south to north, and dividing each position into two almost equal
parts, ran the great paved causeway from Charleroi to Brussels. Such
was the field whereon was fought the memorable battle of Waterloo, so
named from the village a little in rear of Mont St Jean; and within
that cramped area there were at one time engaged no fewer than one
hundred and eighty thousand combatants.

It is not proposed to treat here of the battle of Waterloo
in detail--a task to which numerous bulky volumes have been
devoted,--but in describing the small part played in the fight by
Lieut.-Colonel Sam Rice and his regiment, it will be necessary at
any rate to sum up the situation at various times, in order to make
the narrative complete. Still it may be said at once that the bulk
of Mitchell's brigade kept to the one part of the field throughout
the day, at times gaining ground, at times forced back, yet ever
awaiting attack in the vicinity of Hougoumont. The brigade was weak
in numbers, mustering no more than 1800 bayonets, of which the 51st
supplied 540. The duty allotted to Mitchell was an important one,
since Wellington considered it probable that Napoleon would attempt
to turn his right flank and push through to Brussels by way of the
road through Hal, and it was for that reason that he had detached the
Dutch-Belgians and part of the 4th Division (numbering in all some
18,000 men) to the neighbourhood of Hal. These troops were some five
miles from the field of battle, and at the outset Mitchell's brigade
was called upon to hold in check any determined movement of the enemy
in this direction until fresh dispositions could be made.

Wellington had taken up a strong defensive position, with most of
his troops drawn back below the actual crest, and with his reserves
well concealed by the folds of the ground. Napoleon, on the other
hand, deigned to little concealment, and sought to break down his
opponents' defences by sheer weight of numbers. At a little before
noon the fight commenced, Napoleon sending forward his brother,
Prince Jerome, against the advanced post of Hougoumont, which, as
the key of the position, was strongly held by the Allies. At the
same time an artillery duel opened all along the line, and a tempest
of shot and shell raged across the valley; but the defenders of
Hougoumont, reinforced by the whole of Byng's British Guards,
resisted every onslaught of the French columns, even though parties
of the enemy established themselves close up to the buildings and set
them on fire. Almost continuously during the afternoon the attacks
on this vital point went on, and so numerous at times were the
assailants that they were able to overlap it and threaten the right
of the Allies' main line. Here Mitchell's men came into action, and
assisted in forcing back the assailants.

Early in the day Mitchell had advanced several companies, for the
purpose of closing the gap between Hougoumont and Braine la Leud,
and one company of the 51st was posted close to an abatis which had
been placed across the main road a little in rear of the entrance to
the avenue of Hougoumont. Four other companies of the regiment were
extended farther to the right, along the hollow way leading to Braine
la Leud, with instructions to engage the enemy's skirmishers as they
advanced, and then to endeavour to harass with heavy musket fire the
solid columns following their skirmishers. As had been expected, the
French columns came on, covered by skirmishers, but so advantageous
was the ground over which they advanced, and so high the standing
corn through which they moved, that the companies of the 51st
could not observe their approach until they were almost upon them.
Then, rising, the British soldiers poured in their fire at forty
paces, and, cheering wildly, dashed forward at the charge. And the
impetuous onslaught had the desired effect, for the enemy, although
supported by cavalry, were beaten back. The four companies of the
51st were then ordered to retire some two hundred yards, and rejoin
the regiment.

While this was in progress, Napoleon was busy making preparations for
his grand assault, designed to break the left centre of the British
position. For this great effort, seventy-four guns were moved up, so
as to bring their fire to bear, at a range of less than half a mile,
on the Allies; and Marshal Ney was placed in command of 18,000 men
in four columns, supported by Kellerman's cavalry division. Napoleon
hoped that this combined attack would be final and decisive; that,
having captured the advanced post of La Haie Sainte, the columns
would be able to sweep onwards to Mont St Jean, cut off Wellington
from Brussels as well as from the Prussians coming from the direction
of Wavre, and thus make victory complete. At 1 P.M. Ney's masses of
columns moved down into the valley, and passed the seventy-four guns,
which immediately opened fire over their heads, and caused havoc in
the ranks of the Allies. Three of the columns pressed forward towards
the Allies' centre, while the third moved away north-east, with the
intention of driving in the left flank. Whether by design or by
accident, Ney's principal attack was directed against the portion of
the front line held by Bylandt's brigade of Dutch and Belgians, and
no sooner did the French skirmishers, covering the advance of the
columns, begin to make use of their muskets than panic seized their
adversaries, who turned and fled in disorder. Then was Wellington's
forethought, as well as the wisdom of his dispositions, apparent, for
doubting the loyalty of the Dutch-Belgians, he had been careful to
support them everywhere by British brigades, and here, close in rear,
stood Picton's division, ready to take the place of the disloyal or
cowardly Dutch-Belgians.

Although barely recovered from the effects of their recent fighting
at Quatre Bras, Picton's 3000 gallant men responded to the call, and
advanced in two thin lines to meet the 12,000 Frenchmen, already
flushed with victory. Nearer the columns approached, and the British
lines halted to receive them. Then, when within a few yards, Ney
ordered his columns to deploy into line, Picton, taking advantage of
the momentary check, delivered a withering volley and then charged in
with the bayonet. The head of the leading French column was hurled
back in confusion, and the 3000 British soldiers flung themselves
upon the disorganised 12,000 Frenchmen, before they could recover
from their first surprise. Picton was shot dead as he led the charge,
but his gallant action had saved the situation, and it remained for
the cavalry to complete Ney's discomfiture in this part of the field,
charging the broken infantry, overthrowing the cavalry, and putting
the seventy-four guns out of action for the remainder of the day.

Thus ended the second phase of the great battle, and so far Napoleon
had made no headway. Yet he was by no means disheartened, and,
ordering all his remaining guns into action, he pounded the British
line from a distance, while he prepared for his next assault. At
4 P.M. began another phase of the fight, when Wellington's right
wing was assailed by squadron after squadron of Cuirassiers, fresh
bodies of infantry moving at the same time against La Haie Sainte
and Hougoumont. The charges of the French cavalry were magnificent,
but the squares in which Wellington had rapidly formed his troops
resisted all the enemy's efforts to break them. The British guns
also stood firm, firing grape at the charging horsemen, until they
arrived within forty yards, when, discharging a salvo, the gunners
quitted their guns for the time being and fell back to the shelter
of the infantry squares. Four times did the French cavalry charge
home, using some 12,000 men for the purpose; yet were they able to
do no more than to ride round and between the squares, which, being
arranged chequerwise, met them with bristling bayonets and a rattling
musketry fire in all directions, throwing them into disorder and
obliging the greater number to draw off, with heavy losses in killed,
wounded, and prisoners.

It was just before this that the company of the 51st, still posted
near the abatis on the Nivelles road, was able to do some execution.
A party of Cuirassiers, captured by the British cavalry after riding
into the position, broke away from their escort and endeavoured to
make their way back to their own lines. Galloping down the Nivelles
road, hotly pursued by the escort, they first came under fire of
a detachment of the 51st, out in front of the regiment; but from
this fire they suffered little, as it became masked by the pursuing
British dragoons. The sound of the firing in his rear, however,
attracted the attention of Captain Ross, commanding the 51st company
near the abatis, and he soon became aware of the approach of the
fugitives, who, ignorant of the fact that the road was blocked, came
on at full speed. Then Ross turned his men about, and, opening fire,
emptied many saddles. "Eight of the Cuirassiers," says Siborne,
the historian, "and twelve of their horses, were killed, and the
remainder, about sixty, taken or dispersed."

The greater part of Napoleon's famous heavy cavalry was now _hors de
combat_, and had effected little, except that perhaps their several
charges had helped Donzelot's infantry to gain a footing in the
vicinity of La Haie Sainte, and thus enabled them, a little later, to
capture that post. This success to be of any value Napoleon realised
would have to be followed up forthwith, for he was already aware that
the Prussians from Wavre were approaching his right flank. It was
past seven o'clock in the evening, and there was no time to lose;
consequently, Napoleon bestirred himself, and prepared for his final
grand assault on Wellington's position. The capture of La Haie Sainte
proved of great value to the Frenchmen, for Donzelot's men were able
to prevent, with their musketry fire, the British gunners in their
front from fighting their guns. French guns were then brought up to
the post, and at a range of less than a hundred yards, poured grape
into the ranks of the Allies. Napoleon felt confident that victory
was within his grasp; his grand reserve--his veterans of the Old
Guard--still remained at hand, fresh and ready for a supreme effort,
and he determined that they should make that effort. Placing Ney in
command of the two massive columns of infantry, he ordered them to
take a line between La Haie Sainte and Hougoumont, and assail the
position. As his beloved veterans passed him on the way to the front,
he sat on his white horse with outstretched arm, pointing in the
direction which the attack was to take, and the cheers which came
from the old soldiers convinced him that if it were possible at this
juncture for any troops to break down Wellington's defences, then his
Imperial Guard would do it.

Down the slope in front of La Belle Alliance, into the shallow
valley marched these 10,000 warriors, headed by the drummers beating
the _pas de charge_.[82] Then, as they began to ascend towards the
British position, they pushed forward a cloud of skirmishers, who,
joining hands with those of Donzelot, opened a heavy fire. The two
columns, advancing to the attack in close order, were now seen to
be heading straight for that part of the line held by Maitland's
brigade of Guards. On the right of Maitland, Adam's brigade had been
moved up, so as to prolong the line as far as the northern enclosure
of Hougoumont, to the right rear of which, again, stood Mitchell's
brigade, in support of the gallant garrison of the château.

Barely four hundred yards separated the head of the leading French
column from the British position, when Sir John Colborne, commanding
the 52nd, of Adam's brigade, swiftly realised the situation. Acting
on his own initiative, he gave the order to his regiment to advance
in quick time towards the flank of the attacking columns, and the
long red line moved forward in perfect order. Then suddenly he
wheeled his whole line up, so as to face the flank of the columns,
and threw out a company of skirmishers with orders to open fire
on the Imperial Guard. The Frenchmen, thus challenged, halted and
replied, and by so doing brought destruction upon themselves, for
Colborne's line was ready for them. The ranks closed up; the bugles
rang out; and with one mighty roar from the regiment, eight hundred
British bayonets bore down on the veterans of France. But the latter
did not stand to receive the charge; the sudden onslaught appalled
them; the leading battalions broke and fled to the rear, and in their
flight carried with them the whole of the Imperial Guard--the flower
of the French army, and Napoleon's last hope. No time was given to
them to re-form, for the remainder of Adam's brigade and Maitland's
Guards opened fire upon them from the higher ground as they fled; and
Wellington, with the light of victory in his eyes, ordered a general
advance towards La Belle Alliance, where Napoleon and Ney could be
seen rallying their men for a last stand.

But when, as the sun fast approached the horizon, Blücher's Prussians
were observed to be moving in rapidly from the east and north-east,
the French knew that the squares into which they had been hastily
formed would be powerless to stem the tide of the advancing hosts.
One man alone amongst them all remained resolute. Napoleon even then
refused to acknowledge himself beaten, and enjoined on his soldiers
to stand firm, and, if necessary, die by his side on the field. His
generals, however, saw that all hope had gone, and begged their
emperor to make good his escape while there was yet time. Then, as
the squares gave way and melted into the great mass of fugitives
pressing south, Soult and the others rode off with their mighty
leader--away from his last field of battle. In Wellington, the
"Sepoy-General" at whom he had scoffed, Napoleon had met his match.

The pursuit did not slacken for an instant, and Wellington led on
his victorious troops as far as Rossomme, when, assured that victory
was complete and that the Prussians were following on the heels of
the flying Frenchmen, he drew rein, and in the moonlight rode back
towards Waterloo. At Genappe he met Marshal Blücher; and, amidst the
cheers of those around them, the two great warriors gripped hands, as
they congratulated each other on the brilliant result of the battle.
Then it was arranged that the Prussians should continue the pursuit;
while the British army, worn out by nine hours' hard fighting,
bivouacked on the actual battlefield.

The 51st and the 14th lay on their arms for the night in the wood
of Hougoumont; the 23rd, having taken part in the general advance,
bivouacked near La Belle Alliance; and next morning Mitchell's three
regiments, having united again, marched to Nivelles, where they
halted for a day to get rations, and were congratulated, in special
orders issued by Lord Hill and by Sir Charles Colville, on the part
that they had played in "the glorious and for ever memorable battle
of the 18th June." For their share in this victory both Colonel
Mitchell and Lieutenant-Colonel Rice were appointed Companions of the
Bath. Thus once again fortune smiled on Samuel Rice, who, until the
autumn of 1813, had considered himself the most unlucky of officers.
A stroke of luck, as has been shown, gave him the temporary command
of the 51st at the battle of the Nivelle, the Peninsular Gold Medal,
and a brevet lieutenant-colonelcy; by luck he obtained the temporary
command of the regiment at Waterloo, the Waterloo Medal, and the
C.B., as well as the sum of £433, being a field-officer's share of
the prize-money granted by Parliament to the victorious army. And
by pure and simple luck alone did the 51st take part in the great
battle, instead of being at Tubize with the rest of the 4th Division.
Moreover, all this led subsequently to Colonel Rice receiving the
further honour of being appointed a Knight of Hanover. Yet there
are some who maintain that there is no such thing as luck. Without
it, Colonel Rice would have missed four decorations--in an age when
decorations were not freely given; and without it, he would have gone
to his grave unrewarded for his many campaigns, for the Silver Medal
for the Peninsular War was not granted until eight years after his
death. The services rendered by himself and his regiment at Waterloo
may not have been very remarkable, though it is certain that they did
all that was required of them.

Some years afterwards, when Captain William Siborne was constructing
his famous model of Waterloo, now in the Museum of the R.U.S.
Institution, Colonel Rice, among other survivors of the battle,
was requested to describe the movements of the regiment which he
commanded on that eventful day. His reply[83] was characteristic of
the man: he claimed no honour or glory for himself, but he set forth
the bald facts:--

  "The 51st Regiment was in the Corps of the Army immediately under
  Lord Hill--brigaded with the 14th and 23rd, under the command of
  Colonel Mitchell, being a Light Corps, and standing at the head of
  the column upon its first formation at the crest of the position.
  Companies were in succession ordered in front, and occupied ground
  to the right of the Nivelles road, pretty nearly in line with the
  Hougoumont farm. Lastly, the remaining companies under my command
  descended and took possession of a favourable rising ground,
  covered with thick brushwood, and very defensible against any
  sudden attack of cavalry. Here we remained posted, waiting orders.

  "Late in the day, I forget the hour, an aide-de-camp from Lord Hill
  came down with an order to keep _this ground_ to the _last_, as he
  was withdrawing his whole force to the left, and that I must not
  expect _any support_. Consequently I prepared myself to render as
  defensible as possible the post committed to my charge.

  "Being so separated from the army, you will perceive we bore no
  decided part in the action, and were but holding ground during the
  great movements. The French had a line of cavalry--vedettes--in
  our front; and to their rear, at a considerable distance, I
  could perceive a body of lancers, who no doubt were waiting some
  favourable moment to advance.

  "Situated as I was, I could see but little of what was going on to
  my left, except the charge of the French cuirassiers, on the left
  of Hougoumont farm, on the position. After being foiled in this
  attempt against the squares, a considerable body passed down the
  Nivelles road, on which there was an _abatis_. I was so placed as
  to perceive this, and gave my parties in advance orders to fire,
  for being so much in their rear, I could not well distinguish
  friend from foe. The fire was successful, though some few
  miraculously cleared the _abatis_. I mention this merely to show
  our ground more than anything else.

  "What I have offered I fear you will not consider very
  satisfactory, but you must remember we were not connected during
  any part of the memorable day with any of the principal movements.
  In fact, I have considered my regiment as a picket detached from
  the main body, throwing out skirmishers and supports, according to
  my own view, and in covering a certain space of ground.

  "I have been frequently questioned respecting the battle of
  Waterloo and movements, and my reply has invariably been that I was
  so situated as to have but a partial view of the field, and not
  engaged in the great conflict that was raging to my left. In fact,
  I may say that I was stationary throughout the day, and the only
  order I received was the one I have already mentioned.--I beg, &c.,

  S. RICE,
  _Colonel late 51st Regiment_."




CHAPTER XIV.

PARIS--AND PEACE.


To capture the French capital as rapidly as possible, and before
Napoleon should have an opportunity of rallying his defeated army,
now became the object of the allied forces. On the 20th June the
Prussians had passed the frontier in hot pursuit of the fugitive
Frenchmen, and by the 23rd Blücher was at Catillon and Wellington at
Le Cateau Cambresis. Meanwhile, the French had begun to recover from
their panic, and twenty thousand had assembled at Laon, where Soult
was working strenuously to get them into order, hoping that when
Grouchy arrived with his corps it would be possible to do something
to check the advance of the Allies. After Ligny, Grouchy had pursued
the beaten Prussians towards Wavre, where he defeated their rearguard
on the 18th and 19th June. Then, retreating, he beat off an attack
by Pirch at Namur on the 20th, and withdrew into France. Wellington
and Blücher were aware of all this, and debated whether to turn aside
and attack Soult forthwith, or whether to pass him by and push on to
Paris. They decided on the latter course.

From the Belgian frontier four principal roads converged on Paris.
On the easternmost road the French were collecting at Laon, while
scattered fugitives, making for the capital, were pressing along
the other three roads, of which the two on the west were allotted
to Wellington's columns and the third to Blücher's troops. On the
24th June Mitchell's brigade, which had marched from Nivelles to Le
Cateau, received orders to proceed to Cambray, which was still held
by a French garrison. The reduction of the place was entrusted to
Colville's division, and the garrison was summoned that night, but
refused to surrender. Next morning Colville ordered the assault of
the works, detailing the light companies of Johnstone's brigade to
storm the Valencienne gate, while the 23rd and 51st simultaneously
assaulted the Paris gate. The two regiments succeeded in breaking
open the outer gate of the Couvre Port with little difficulty, but
the Paris gate itself resisted every effort. Close by, however, there
was found a breach in the walls under repair, and by storming this an
entry was effected, without much loss--the 51st having no more than
two men killed and ten wounded. The Valencienne gate was carried by
Johnstone's brigade, and the garrison withdrew to the citadel, which
held out until the evening of the 25th.

The advance on Paris was then resumed; Peronne was captured by the
Guards division and Ham by the Prussians; and a few days later Soult
and Grouchy, retreating towards Paris, made a feeble attempt to cut
in on Blücher's flank, but failing to make any impression continued
the march to the capital, which they reached on the 29th June.
Napoleon himself had arrived there on the 21st, but had been forced
by the Chamber of Deputies to abdicate, and had then retired to
Malmaison, a few miles out of Paris.

On the 29th Blücher was at Gonesse, with his advanced troops close to
Aubervilliers, near St Denis; and Wellington was at Senlis. Although
the Chamber had asked for a suspension of hostilities, no agreement
had been arrived at, and knowing that the French now had some 80,000
soldiers in Paris, Wellington and Blücher decided that the Prussians
should move round to the south of the city, while the remainder of
the allied troops pushed in from the north. On the 30th, therefore,
the Prussians crossed the Seine near St Germains, and two days later
Blücher was at Versailles. On that day (July 2) Wellington threw a
bridge across the Seine at Argenteuil, to better his communications
with Blücher, and on the following day the last shots of the campaign
were fired, the Prussians having a smart skirmish at Issy, and the
opposing piquets on the north of the city exchanging a few shots. In
the evening part of the 51st moved to the village of Aubervilliers,
which had not been wholly abandoned by the French troops, so that,
as had frequently occurred in Peninsula times, one half of the
village was held by the British and the other by the French, without
molesting one another. And here occurred one of those curious
incidents illustrative of the friendship of enemies which were not
uncommon in Peninsular warfare. Ensign Mainwaring tells the story:--

  "We soon grew friends, and on the full security of honourable warfare
  some of us crossed the streets and entered into conversation with the
  officers. They good-naturedly asked us how we were off for eatables,
  and offered to send us some white bread and tobacco; and the nearest
  picket was immediately furnished with a good supply, for which their
  sutler-woman was well paid, though the French refused at first to
  take payment. They asked us into the house and gave us an excellent
  luncheon, and whilst we were all laughing and talking away, one of
  the officers, by his epaulettes apparently a major, took hold of the
  button of my jacket, and looking at it exclaimed, 'Ah, 51st! Was
  monsieur with his regiment in Spain? for I saved the life of one of
  your captains, whom we captured at the battle of Nivelle; he was _un
  brave homme, bel homme_. Is he alive? I should so much like to see
  him.' It was rather singular that the person of whom he spoke was
  the captain of my company (Phelps),[84] and I accordingly told the
  Frenchman that his wish could be instantly and easily gratified,
  that the _Brave_ was in a house not a hundred yards distant, and
  I immediately sent for him. He soon came; the Gaul was delighted,
  flew into his arms, kissed him on one cheek and then on the other,
  talked with the utmost rapidity, asked a hundred questions and never
  waited for one answer from my gallant old chief, who, when he got
  breathing-time, recognised him instantly, shook him heartily by the
  hand, acknowledged that he had saved his life, prevented his being
  plundered or ill-used, and that he behaved in the kindest and most
  generous manner possible to him.[85] No one who saw us all clustered
  together in this friendly manner, amongst these mustachioed veterans
  of Napoleon, would ever have imagined that we were foes, and that
  perhaps in a short half hour we might be seeking each other's lives,
  with bayonets clashing and bullets whizzing from those hands so
  cordially grasped in kind and grateful feeling without one spark of
  national hate or animosity between us."

In all probability, although young Mainwaring was not in the
secret, the senior officers on both sides had an inkling that the
campaign was over, for, earlier in the day, an agreement to suspend
hostilities had been negotiated at St Cloud. This was known as the
"Convention of Paris," by the provisions of which the French army was
to be withdrawn to the south of the river Loire within eight days,
and Paris to be handed over to the Allies. During the two following
days the French troops marched out of the capital, and the Allies
encamped in the Bois de Boulogne, the occupation of the actual city
being completed on the 7th July, on which day Adam's brigade made a
triumphant entry and pitched camp in the Champs Elysées. Thus within
three weeks of the firing of the first shot of the campaign Napoleon
had been crushed, his capital captured, and Louis XVIII. restored to
the throne.

The fate of the greatest Frenchman who ever lived was certainly
pitiable, yet for the peace of Europe it was impossible to allow
him liberty. From Paris he fled to Rochefort on the 2nd July,
hoping to escape to America, but discovering that the Bourbons were
about to arrest him, he surrendered to Captain Maitland of H.M.S.
_Bellerophon_, and was at once conveyed to Plymouth. Here he made
the bold request to be permitted to reside in England, as a country
gentleman, on his parole; but the allied Powers refused his request,
and politely intimated to him their decision that the remainder of
his life should be spent at St Helena. There, accordingly, he lived,
in open arrest, until the end came on the 5th May 1821.

Paris was the second European capital into which Samuel Rice and
the 51st, as part of a triumphant army, had marched within the past
three years, and as all chance of further fighting was at an end,
they thoroughly enjoyed the life which they led for the next few
weeks. Great numbers of English people visited Paris, to see their
relations and friends in the army of occupation, and as the Parisians
themselves were both friendly and hospitable, there was no lack of
amusement. There were, of course, plenty of guards to be found and
other duties to be performed, the most interesting of which, perhaps,
were in connection with the removal of art treasures from the Louvre.
For many years Napoleon and his victorious generals had made it a
custom to bring back as spoils of war the choicest paintings and
statues to be found in the museums of conquered countries, and
to place them in the Louvre, to become heirlooms for the French
nation. Now, however, that the Allies were masters of the situation,
they decided to restore all these things to their rightful owners,
and the various regiments furnished working parties, to assist in
packing up the treasures, as well as guards, to prevent possible
French interference, for many days in succession. Curiously enough,
the Parisians paid very little attention to what was going on, and
the removal of everything that was claimed by foreign nations was
effected without trouble.

Gay times the British subaltern had in Paris, with dances, dinners,
and theatres galore, and many a one lost everything he possessed at
the gaming tables. Yet the young officer cared little for his losses,
and the Frenchmen wanted every scrap of British gold that they could
collect, since they were called upon to pay a war indemnity of thirty
million pounds for espousing the cause of Napoleon and defying all
Europe.

Until the 30th October, the 51st remained encamped in the Bois de
Boulogne, and then moved to the village of Verrieres, some ten miles
from Paris, five weeks later receiving orders to march to Calais and
embark for England, since the regiment was not required to form part
of the army of occupation of France. So Samuel Rice returned from his
last campaign, covered with honour and glory, to rest on his laurels,
and to settle down to the dull monotony of peace-time soldiering--the
comparison between which and campaigning is well described in the
following words:--

  "Those were spirit-stirring days indeed, and although it may perhaps
  be wrong to say so, yet what has life to offer now that can compare
  with them? How tame, how stupid, how insipid, does all the monotony
  of the daily routine of drills, peace-guards, and dress-parades,
  which now fill up and fritter away our time, appear to them whose
  lives for years were passed in camps, living in the open air, seeing
  the glorious sun rise every day, or watching by the piquet-fires at
  night the beautiful stars; their minds elevated by the thought that
  they were doing their duty to their country, that the eyes of all
  Europe were upon their slightest movements, their hearts beating with
  enthusiasm, as victory followed victory; and if death sometimes came
  in the midst of all this, its sting was scarcely felt, since the
  soldier's soul winged its flight to heaven 'mid the roar of cannon,
  the blaze of musketry, and the victorious cheers of his gallant
  comrades."

Thus soliloquised Frederick Mainwaring, when, some years afterwards,
he was setting down stray reminiscences of his fighting days. He was
then, with eighteen years' service, still only a lieutenant in the
51st, and a decade of garrison life must have weighed heavily on him.
But his lot was shared by plenty of other Peninsular and Waterloo
heroes, and amongst them, his commanding officer, Colonel Rice. Yet
Mainwaring was more fortunate than many of his brother officers,
who, when the reductions consequent on peace took place, were placed
on half pay, and so debarred from even following the profession to
which they had devoted the best part of their lives.[86] Hundreds of
officers were thus thrown on their own resources, and for years the
country was flooded with half-pay lieutenants. It was, of course,
impossible to retain the services of all of them, and the Government
cannot be accused of meanness, for the half pay of the infantry
lieutenant was increased very considerably, and he was allowed to
count two years for Waterloo towards service qualifying for the
higher rate.

The 51st arrived in England in January 1816, to commence a five
years' tour of garrison duty, being quartered first at Blatchington
and then at Chichester, with a detachment for duty at the Pavilion,
at Brighton. In 1817 it moved to Chatham, and later in the year
to Portsmouth, Samuel Rice being promoted to the command of the
regiment, on the death of Colonel Mitchell, on the 20th April.
In 1818 the 51st marched from Portsmouth to Plymouth, and in the
following year moved by sea to Chatham and Sheerness, whence
company detachments were furnished for Harwich and for the island
of Heligoland.[87] In 1820 the regiment was on the move again,
changing quarters an extraordinary number of times, and being
frequently split up into detachments. Romford, Brighton, Chichester,
Croydon, Woolwich, Greenwich, Deptford, Bow, Stratford, Teddington,
Twickenham, Isleworth, and Winchester all provided temporary homes
for headquarters or detachments during the year. Three months in
barracks at Winchester was the longest resting-time allowed the
regiment, for though the officers had begun to hope that these were
to be their quarters for a year or two, in February 1821 they were
ordered to Portsmouth, and, after all these incessant movements, it
came almost as a relief to them to receive, in April, further orders
to prepare for immediate embarkation for the Mediterranean.

In spite of its distracting changes of quarters, the regiment had
found time to gather recruits and to recover from the effects of
active service, so that by 1820 it was up to full strength, and most
favourably reported on by the inspecting general for "its movements
and appearance." With regard to the latter point, it may be of
interest to remark on the dress of the officers and soldiers of this
time. It will be remembered that in 1809, when the 51st was made a
light infantry regiment, it received a new uniform, and in this it
fought through the Peninsular War and the Waterloo campaign, though
during the former strict regulations in the matter of dress were,
by force of circumstances, seldom adhered to. It was frequently
impossible for officers to replenish their worn-out garments, and
at times they presented a most ragged appearance--very different
from that in which they are handed down to posterity by painters of
the various battle-scenes. Still, so much was thought of the smart
turn-out of a regiment even on active service, that it was a point
of honour with both officers and men to clean up on every possible
occasion, and it is on record that the men who stormed Badajoz
spent the hours previous to the assault in polishing themselves up,
"as if for a review." The light infantry uniform which should have
been worn by the 51st from 1809 onwards, consisted principally of a
short-tailed, easy-fitting red jacket, white breeches, black cloth
leggings, and shoes, with a light felt shako (having an oilskin
covering for wet weather) as head-dress. At first the officers
wore cocked hats, but in 1811 these were replaced by shakos with a
green feather in front. Probably it was found that the breeches and
leggings were difficult to keep in repair, for it is certain that
they soon disappeared in favour of blue-grey cloth trousers, with
short spat-gaiters underneath; and the officers, who were supposed
to wear long boots (to the knee), took to the trousers also, wearing
leather gaiters over them, if they were able to obtain them. In
the interval between the Peninsular War and the Waterloo campaign
regiments had time to return to a strict uniformity of dress, and
the grey trousers became the regulation covering for the legs on
active service; otherwise there was no change until after Waterloo.

As soon as peace was established and regiments began to return
home, the military tailors, who had had idle times for some years,
cast about for openings for innovations; but since the army had
now established the fact that it was intended for fighting more
than for show, and since the uniform worn in 1815 was considered
both serviceable and showy, the tailors found some difficulty in
introducing alterations. The opportunity came, however, in 1816,
when some one took a fancy to the head-dresses worn by some of the
foreign troops forming part of the army of occupation of France,
and forthwith a new shako was designed for the British army. This
was heavy and cumbersome, being seven and a half inches high and
eleven inches in diameter at the top, but its shape and size gave
the tailors wide scope for lace and other adornments. So appearance,
not for the first or the last time, was made to override utility.
Other innovations in dress soon followed, and by 1821 the uniform
in which the 51st had fought in the Peninsula and at Waterloo was
almost entirely altered. The grey trousers had gone, and the white
breeches and black leggings had come back; the curved light infantry
sabre, worn by the officers suspended from slings, was replaced by a
straight sword, hung in a frog from the white shoulder-belt; and for
the short-tailed light infantry jacket there had been substituted the
long-tailed coatee. The 51st still wore grass-green facings, but in
April 1821 his Majesty conferred upon the regiment the additional
title of "The King's Own Light Infantry," when its facings were
changed to blue and the lace to gold (oak-leaf pattern). A year later
the historic breeches and leggings finally disappeared, and trousers,
grey or white according to the season, were ordered to be worn.

In May 1821 the 51st, six hundred and fifty strong, embarked at
Portsmouth for the Ionian Isles, and reaching Corfu in the following
month, occupied the Citadel and Fort Neuf. It was just twenty-four
years since Samuel Rice and the regiment had arrived at Gibraltar
from Elba, when the general scuttle from the Mediterranean had taken
place, but in those twenty-four years Great Britain had established
a firm footing in that sea, having taken and retained possession of
Malta (1800) and the Ionian Isles (1809), and having at different
times occupied, but subsequently evacuated, Minorca, Sicily, and
Alexandria. The Ionian Isles, in which the 51st remained for thirteen
long years, were seven in number--viz., Corfu, Cephalonia, Zante,
Ithaca, Santa Maura, Cerigo, and Paxo--and, though essentially Greek,
had been under Neapolitan and Venetian rule previous to being ceded
to France in 1797. In 1801 they were formed into a republic (The
Septinsular Republic) under the protection of Turkey and Russia,
but only to pass again to France in 1807. Collingwood captured
Cephalonia, Zante, Santa Maura, and Ithaca in 1809, and by the Treaty
of Paris (1815) all seven islands became a British Protectorate,
remaining such until 1863, when they were transferred to Greece. As
a foreign station for British troops the islands were always most
popular, at any rate with the officers, the climate being good and
the shooting excellent.

Probably no officer was better acquainted with the Ionian Islands
than was Colonel Samuel Rice, for during the last ten years of
his command of the 51st the regiment furnished detachments at
different times to all the islands, and the colonel transferred
his headquarters from one to another, though residing principally
at Cephalonia, Zante, and Corfu. Life there was devoid of all
excitement, except, perhaps, that afforded by the wrangling between
the High Commissioner of the Islands, Sir Frederick Adam (of Adam's
brigade of Waterloo fame), and the British Resident of Cephalonia,
Charles Napier, the eventual conqueror of Sind; but Rice's twenty
odd years of campaigning had left him none too strong, and he was
apparently content to finish out his regimental service by devoting
himself to the welfare of the corps of which he was so justly proud.
That under his command the 51st retained its high reputation there is
ample proof in the reports made by various inspecting generals; and
when he gave up the command, in July 1831, he had the satisfaction
of feeling that, as the last officer of the 51st who had served in
it under Sir John Moore, he had carried out the teachings of his
illustrious chief for thirty-eight years, and handed the regiment
over to his successor not only in as good a state as he had found it
on joining as an ensign in 1793, but also with added laurels which,
moreover, he himself had helped to win.

During the period of Samuel Rice's regimental service the 51st was
abroad for no less than thirty years; but those were strenuous times,
and no regiment could count on a lengthy sojourn at home, for, in
addition to the long war in Europe, Great Britain was kept busily
engaged in the East Indies, in the West Indies, and in America. Still
it was exceptional even then for a regiment to be so continuously
on foreign service, but in this respect, it may be remarked, the
51st was always exceptional. Apart from the campaigning, and apart
from the bad climate of foreign stations, the life of the regimental
officer was ever without rest, for the slight repose which might have
come with service at home was broken into by the authorities, who
seem to have been at pains to deny a resting-place to a regiment for
more than a few months at a time. Yet we people of to-day find fault
with the unfortunate officer of a century ago, because he did not
read military history and study the theory of his profession! There
can be little doubt, however, that the effect of all this harassing
service was to wear out the officer before his time. Some veterans
there were, of course, who, being particularly robust, lived to a
ripe old age, but the majority of those officers who fought for
England in the great struggle from 1793 to 1815 passed away long
before attaining the allotted span of three-score years and ten. And
Samuel Rice was one of these.

Under the usual purchase system arrangements, a purse was made
up to induce Colonel Rice to vacate the command of the regiment,
but, hoping for further employment, he exchanged to the half-pay
unattached list. Having no son of his own to carry on his name in the
51st, he did his best to make amends by getting two of his three Rice
nephews[88] appointed to the regiment, thus prolonging the family
connection with it for a further period of twenty-three years. He
remained on half pay until 1834, when he was appointed Inspecting
Field Officer of the Leeds Recruiting District, an appointment,
however, which he held for only a little more than a year, as his
health gave way and obliged him to lay down his sword. He died in
London on the 7th March 1840, in his sixty-fifth year, leaving a
widow and a daughter.[89]

Such was the career of a typical regimental officer of the old
school, who served his country throughout, perhaps, the most
critical period of its existence, who witnessed the rise and fall of
England's inveterate enemy, who shared in the victories which won for
England fame, and who never claimed that he had done more than play
a very minor part in the epoch-making drama. Still, Samuel Rice was
one of those who helped to raise the power and name of England to the
loftiest position in Europe--and, indeed, in the world.




FOOTNOTES:

[1] An account of the Rice family will be found in 'Some Things we
have Remembered,' by Percy Melville Thornton. London: Longman. 1912.

[2] France declared war against Austria 20th April 1792.

[3] Prussia joined Austria on the 26th July, and the Duke of
Brunswick held the post of commander-in-chief of the allied armies.

[4] His younger brother Charles Rice was at the time a midshipman on
the _Circe_.

[5] Originally, on active service at any rate, the triangle was
formed of halberds, lashed together. Hence the term "brought to the
halberds."

[6] Flogging in the navy was carried out with even greater severity
than in the army, the most brutal form of the punishment being that
known as "flogging round the fleet."

[7] "Why, sir, no man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to
get himself into a jail."--DR JOHNSON.

[8] The Royalists applied this term to the Republican leaders, who
affected a carelessness in dress; and subsequently all Republicans
were called "Sans culottes," _i.e._, ragamuffins. Nowadays the French
use the term, in a more literal sense, as slang for our Highlanders.

[9] The Duke of York defeated by Hoche, 7th September 1793.

[10] It is perhaps worthy of note that there were present at Toulon
on the eventful 19th December 1793, two men who afterwards became
world-renowned. Napoleon Buonaparte, aged twenty-three, commanded
the Republican artillery which was instrumental in hastening
the withdrawal of the British from Toulon. Horatio Nelson, aged
thirty-five, commanded the _Agamemnon_, forming part of Lord Hood's
fleet. Napoleon was then on the winning side, but twelve years later
Nelson wiped out his fleet at Trafalgar, and died on board the
_Victory_, which had been Lord Hood's flagship at Toulon.

[11] _La Moselle_, previously a French sloop.

[12] 'Narrative of Some Passages in the Great War with France,
1799-1810.' By Lieut.-General Sir Henry Bunbury. Bentley, 1854.

[13] Extract from the General Order, issued 1st February 1809, by
H.R.H. the Commander-in-Chief, on the death of Sir John Moore.

[14] See also chapter vi. for Sir John Moore's remarkable success in
training officers and men for war.

[15] 'The Influence of Sea Power upon the French Revolution,' by
Captain A. T. Mahan, U.S.N. 2nd edition. 1893.

[16] General Sir J. F. Maurice, in his 'Diary of Sir John Moore,'
says that the tower was so named from its situation on the shore of
Mortella Bay--_i.e._, the Bay of Myrtles: that it was on the plan of
this tower that the so-called "Martello Towers" on the English coast
were afterwards built; and that the spelling "Martello" was an error
in an early despatch. The derivation of the word as coming from an
engineer of the name of Martel is said to be pure fiction.

[17] At this period all regiments had ten companies, the flank
companies being known as the grenadier company and the light, or
light infantry, company. It was considered an honour to belong to
these two companies, which consisted of picked men under picked
officers.

[18] Not the Royal Marines as we know them, but detachments of
ordinary infantry regiments, detailed for duty as marines on board
the ships, and under the command of the Admiral. The following
regiments furnished marine detachments to Lord Hood's fleet at this
time--the 11th, 25th, 30th, and 69th.

[19] Maurice's 'Diary of Sir John Moore.'

[20] Ensign Thomas Boggis, killed 30th July 1794.--'Records of the
51st.'

[21] The Regimental Agent, who would (presumably) have to write to
the Colonel to inform him that the purchase money had been lodged
with him.

[22] Maurice's 'Diary of Sir John Moore.'

[23] Southey's 'Life of Nelson.'

[24] Maurice's 'Diary of Sir John Moore.'

[25] James Tourle entered the 51st as ensign, 1784; lieutenant,
1790; captain, 1791. He commanded the light infantry company,
and died on the 6th November 1794. Colonel Moore mentions him as
"a gentlemanly, spirited officer, as well as a worthy, cheerful
companion."--Maurice's 'Diary of Sir John Moore,' vol. i. p. 130.

[26] The Corsicans were by nature true light infantrymen, and some
years later Sir John Moore suggested the advisability of recruiting,
for the British army, a light infantry corps in Corsica, whose
inhabitants he considered to be the most suitable in Europe for the
purpose.

[27] Charles Alcock, ensign, 51st, 1781; lieutenant, 1786; captain,
1791.

[28] 'Diary of Sir John Moore.'

[29] According to the postmark this letter was not delivered in
London until the 19th August.

[30] Robert Shawe, ensign, 51st, 1782; lieutenant, 1788; captain,
1793.

[31] 'Life of Nelson.'

[32] Sir David Dundas, at the age of seventy-four, was (1809)
appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Army, _vice_ H.R.H. the Duke
of York (who resigned on account of certain scandals), and held
office for two years, after which the Duke of York again took up the
appointment. Sir David was a fine old soldier of the pre-Peninsular
type, but, as Commander-in-Chief, was not popular with the army. He
published, in 1788, his famous book on drill, which became the first
authorised Manual for the British army; and he lived to the age of
eighty-five.

[33] He was buried in the old St Pancras cemetery, London; but,
in 1889, his remains were exhumed and conveyed to Corsica for
re-interment.

[34] Off Cape St Vincent (S.-W. Portugal), 14th February 1797, where
the Mediterranean fleet (15 sail) defeated the Spanish fleet (27
ships), capturing four ships and sinking several others. For this
victory Sir J. Jervis was created Lord St Vincent.

[35] Piombino, on the Italian coast.

[36] On the coast of the mainland opposite Elba.

[37] Gretton's 'History of the Royal Irish.'

[38] Sir David Baird, the hero of Seringapatam, commanded the troops,
and Sir H. Popham the naval forces.

[39] Sam Rice's brother Charles was present, with the fleet, at
these captures. He died in 1801, and his Ceylon prize-money was
subsequently paid to his relatives.

[40] Maurice's 'Diary of Sir John Moore.'

[41] Highlanders, in whom guerilla warfare was inherent, had been
employed much in the same way as light infantrymen for a number of
years, though without any systematic training.

[42] Fortescue ('History of the British Army') says that the regiment
was clothed in dark brown. This would seem to have been the first
regiment in the British army to be designated "Light Infantry";
it was numbered the 80th, but was disbanded within a few years.
In 1759 Morgan's Light Infantry was raised, numbered the 90th,
and disbanded in 1763. For the next forty years no light infantry
regiments appeared in the Army List. The following are the dates of
the formation of other light infantry regiments: 1803, 52nd and 43rd;
1808, 68th and 85th; 1809, 71st and 51st; 1815, 90th; 1822, 13th;
1840, 105th and 106th; 1855, Royal Marines; 1858, 32nd. There are now
in the Regular Army seven light infantry regiments, each with two
battalions.

[43] Thomas Graham, of Balgowan, was born in 1748, and married (1774)
a daughter of Lord Cathcart. On his wife's death in 1792 he joined
Lord Hood's fleet as a volunteer, but came home in 1794 and raised
the 90th, or Perthshire Volunteers, being gazetted to the command of
it in the same year. He was thus forty-six when he obtained his first
commission, but he became a famous general, and the victor of Barrosa.

[44] This was the Sir William Howe previously mentioned, subsequently
(1799) 5th Viscount Howe. His eldest brother, the 3rd Viscount,
killed in 1758, was succeeded, as 4th Viscount, by his brother, the
famous Admiral, who again was succeeded by his brother, Sir William.

[45] Afterwards the Rifle Brigade.

[46] Colonel Henderson's 'Science of War.'

[47] Maurice's 'Diary of Sir John Moore.'

[48] Fortescue's 'History of the British Army,' vol. iii.

[49] This order appears to have been held in abeyance during the
Peninsular War, as officers as young as fourteen frequently joined
regiments. Its object, however, was to abolish the pernicious custom
of granting ensigncies to children in the nursery, and allowing them
leave of absence until they were old enough to join.

[50] 'Narrative of the Peninsular War,' by Lieut.-General Charles
William Vane, Marquess of Londonderry, G.C.B., G.C.H., Colonel of the
Tenth Hussars. 1826. He was better known as General Charles Stewart,
Adjutant-General of Wellington's army.

[51] Lieut.-Colonel (afterwards Sir Ralph) Darling.

[52] A survival of this queue-bow is to be found in the "flash,"
still worn by the Royal Welsh Fusiliers.

[53] Roliça is sometimes written Roleia; Vimiera, Vimeiro; Corunna,
Coruña, &c. The spelling followed in this book is that to be found on
the Colours of British regiments.

[54] Other spellings, Casal Novo, and Foz d'Arouce (or Foz do Arouce).

[55] This is the spelling of the name of the village as borne on
the colours of the regiments present at the battle. Napier calls it
Fuentes Onoro, other writers Fuentes d'Honor, Fuentes d'Honoro, &c.
The correct local spelling is, however, Fuentes de Oñoro.

[56] His brother, Lieut. Henry Rice, R.N., who died 1808.

[57] His sister, Mary Rice, who died 1810.

[58] 'Life of John Colborne, Field-Marshal Lord Seaton.' By G. C.
Moore-Smith, M.A. London: John Murray. 1903.

[59] Frederick Mainwaring served with the 51st throughout the
Peninsular War and in the Waterloo campaign. Before he had reached
his nineteenth year he had been present at the battles of Fuentes
d'Onor, Salamanca, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nivelle, and Waterloo, besides
many minor actions.

[60] "Four Years of a Soldier's Life," in Colburn's 'United Service
Magazine,' August 1844.

[61] Colonel John Montague Mainwaring, previous to having incurred
Lord Wellington's displeasure, had had a most distinguished career.
Entering the army in 1784, he served with the 67th Regiment at the
capture of several of the West India islands; was with the 51st in
the Corunna campaign, and in the Walcheren expedition; and took the
regiment to the Peninsula in 1811. On retiring from the 51st he was
given the command of Hilsea Barracks; was promoted colonel, 1813;
major-general, 1819; lieut.-general, 1837; and died in 1842.

[62] His sister.

[63] Dorsenne.

[64] Frederick Sparks.

[65] Major-General Robert Craufurd, of the Light Division. He was
mortally wounded in the assault on the lesser breach, and was
subsequently buried there.

[66] Napier gives the following figures: troops (British and
Portuguese) employed at the siege, 21,784; Hill's covering force,
9674; Graham's covering force, 19,567.

[67] _I.e._, the 51st.

[68] "D--n it, I'm off"--a common expression of the period.

[69] "Marshal Beresford had fixed upon and studied his own field of
battle above a month before the action took place, and yet occupied
it in such a manner as to render defeat almost certain; his infantry
was not held in hand, and his inferiority in guns and cavalry was
not compensated for by entrenchments."--Napier's 'History of the
Peninsular War.'

[70] Ensign Mainwaring.

[71] Badajoz.

[72] 'Vicissitudes of a Soldier's Life.' By John Green, late of the
Durham Light Infantry. 1827.

[73] 'The Autobiography of Lieutenant-General Sir Harry Smith,
Baronet of Aliwal on the Sutlej, G.C.B.' Edited, with the addition
of some supplementary chapters, by G. C. Moore-Smith, M.A. London:
John Murray. 1901. Sir Harry saw much service in the Peninsula and
at Waterloo; made a name for himself as victor of Aliwal (India);
and was subsequently Commander-in-Chief at the Cape of Good Hope.
The memory of Sir Harry is kept alive by the name of two towns in
South Africa--Aliwal North, and Harrismith; while that of his wife is
preserved in the name of Ladysmith.

[74] In 1813, Wellington was 44; Paget (Anglesey), 45; Beresford, 45;
Hope, 48; Picton, 55; Graham (Lynedoch), 65; while Hill was only 41.

[75] Later in this year (December 1813), Samuel Rice's younger
brother, Frederick, a militia officer, was given a company in the
51st, but was placed on half pay in the following year. In 1815,
when travelling on the Continent, he heard of the coming struggle,
and hastened to Brussels, in order to offer his services as a
volunteer. Although too late to take part in the battle of Waterloo,
he accompanied the 51st (unofficially) on the march to Paris, and was
present at the storming of Cambray. He died at Geneva in 1823.

[76] At High Wycombe until 1812, when it moved to Sandhurst.

[77] Napier's 'Battles and Sieges.'

[78] The Gold Medal for Corunna, inscribed with his name, was
subsequently handed to his relatives, and is now to be seen,
with other relics of the great man, at the Museum of the R.U.S.
Institution.

[79] The battles and sieges for which Gold Crosses, Gold Medals, or
clasps were granted were as follows: Maida, Roliça, Vimiera, Corunna,
Sahagun (and other cavalry actions), Talavera, Busaco, Barrosa,
Fuentes d'Onor, Albuhera, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca,
Vittoria, Pyrenees, St Sebastian, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, Toulouse,
and, in addition, Martinique (1809), Guadaloupe (1810), Java (1811),
Fort Detroit, America (1812), Chateauguay, America (1813), and
Chrystler's Farm, America (1813).

[80] 'Narrative of Events in the South of France.' By Captain John
Henry Cooke, late of the 43rd Regiment of Light Infantry. London,
1835. The author was a distinguished regimental officer; was present
at all the important battles and sieges; was twice wounded; received
the Peninsular Medal with eight clasps and the Spanish Gold Cross;
was appointed to the Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms; became Ensign of the
Yeomen of the Guard, and was knighted.

[81] The 35th, 54th, 59th, and 91st Regiments, forming the 6th
British Brigade (4th Division) received no acknowledgment of their
services in the Waterloo campaign, their absence from the battle
debarring them from obtaining the battle honour for their colours.
But the officers and men were granted the medal, and took their share
of the prize-money voted by Parliament.

[82] In the Peninsular War a considerable amount of theatrical effect
was given to the French attack by the bold advance of the drummers,
whose drumming was called by the British soldiers _Old Trousers_.

[83] Published (1891) in 'Waterloo Letters,' edited by Major-General
H. T. Siborne, late Colonel R.E., son of Captain W. Siborne, the
historian. These letters were selected for publication out of several
hundreds, the originals of all of which are now in the Library of the
British Museum.

[84] James Henry Phelps, K.H.; ensign, 51st, 1798; major, 4th Foot,
1834; retired (lieut.-colonel), 1838; police magistrate, Liverpool;
died at Sydney, 1842.

[85] In the affair near Sarre (during the battle of the Nivelle, 10th
November 1813), Captain Phelps held on too long, and was cut off.
He then ran for it, but the Frenchmen discharged their muskets at
him, surrounded him, and took him prisoner. Even then he would have
been bayoneted but for the timely arrival on the spot of the French
officer. By a miracle, none of the shots fired at him had taken
effect, though several bullets had passed through his clothes and cap.

[86] On the reduction of the establishment of the regiment, a captain
and twelve subalterns of the 51st were transferred to the half-pay
list. None of them rejoined the 51st, and only three ever served
again.

[87] Heligoland was a British possession from 1807 to 1890, when, by
the Anglo-German Agreement, it was ceded to Germany.

[88] Percy John Rice, ensign, 51st, 1828; lieutenant, 1834; captain,
1837; major, 1849; died (unmarried) at Bangalore, India, 1850.

Augustus Thomas Rice, ensign, 51st, 1831; lieutenant, 1837; captain,
1841; major, 1852; brevet lieut.-colonel, 1853; retired as colonel on
full pay, 1854; died (unmarried), 1888. He served with distinction in
the Burmese War, 1852; severely wounded at the capture of Bassein;
mentioned in despatches; promoted for gallantry; and received the
medal for Pegu.

Samuel Rice's third nephew, Horatio Morgan Rice, took holy orders,
and died in 1863, leaving a son, the Reverend John Morgan Rice (who
died without issue in 1895), and a daughter, Miss Lucy Augusta Rice,
who is the sole surviving member of the family bearing the name of
Rice.

[89] The daughter, Margaret Rice, married Captain B. T. Foord Bowes,
95th Regiment, and died (without issue) in 1842. Samuel Rice survived
all his twelve brothers and sisters except one--viz., Sir Ralph Rice,
who lived for another ten years.




INDEX.


  Abercromby (Abercrombie), Sir Ralph, 100, 102

  Adam, Gen. Sir F., commands 3rd British Brigade at Waterloo, 289, 290,
        301;
    High Commissioner of Ionian Isles, 309

  Adour R., 267, 269;
    Gen. Hope throws a bridge of boats across the, 268

  _Agamemnon_, Nelson in command of the, at Toulon, 33 _n._;
    in the attack on Corsica, 43;
    in naval engagement off Corsica, 69

  Agents, regimental, 53 _n._

  Ages of officers, 120, 121 _n._;
    in Peninsular War, 167, 247-253

  Agueda R., 143, 149, 152, 153, 156, 172

  Ajaccio, 54, 56, 65

  Albergueria, 177

  Albuhera (Albuera), battle of, 157, 188, 191, 192, 193

  Alcock, Capt. C., 51st, 29;
    death of, 70

  Aldea da Ribeira, 177

  Alentejo (Alemtejo), 148, 149, 150, 162

  Alexandria, 308

  Alfayates, 170, 182

  Almaraz, Hill destroys the bridge at, 197, 205

  Almeida, fortress of, held by Portuguese, 143;
    captured by French, 144;
    invested by British, 147, 148, 149, 152, 153;
    French garrison escapes from, 156;
    Spencer leaves neighbourhood of, 161

  Alten, Gen. Baron C., commands Light Division, 268, 269

  America, 107, 108, 109, 112

  Amiens, peace of, 92

  Amotz, bridge of, 259

  Amusements of officers and men, 59, 123, 180, 206, 214, 302

  Andalusia, 196, 197

  Anglesey, Marquis of (Lord Paget, Lord Uxbridge), 132, 176, 253 _n._,
        277

  Arauda, 129

  Argenteuil, 298

  Ariaga, 233

  Ariñez, 234

  Army, British, 1793, 22-25, 35, 36;
    reform of the, 1802-7, chap. vi. _See also_ Soldiers, British

  Army Discipline Act, and flogging, 203

  Artillery, employment of, 44, 45, 49, 50, 51, 53, 54, 78, 128, 136,
        139, 140, 142, 151, 152, 155, 158, 159, 160, 188, 206, 216, 218,
        235, 240, 269, 279, 283, 286, 287, 288

  Astorga, 129, 130, 131, 133, 134

  Ath, 277

  Aubervilliers, 298

  Austria, 5, 7, 9 _n._, 12, 81, 106, 276

  Aya, Mont (Peña de Haya), 240, 241, 242

  Azava R., 153, 206


  Badajoz, chap. ix., 129, 143, 148, 149, 150, 156, 157, 158, 160, 161,
        163, 165, 170, 188, 192, 193, 194, 195, 197, 198, 200, 207, 209,
        224, 245, 248;
    surrender of Spanish garrison of, 151;
    occupied by French and invested by Beresford, 151;
    first siege of, 152;
    description of, 157;
    second siege of, 158;
    third siege of, 184, 185, 186;
    assault of, 189;
    sacking of, 190

  Baird, Gen. Sir David, at Seringapatam and at Cape Town, 90 _n._;
    in Corunna Campaign, chap. vii. _passim_

  Ball given by Duchess of Richmond at Brussels, 279

  Banos, pass of, 178

  Barrosa, 110 _n._, 187

  Base, change of, 127, 229, 232

  Bastan R., 238, 256

  Bastia, 43, 47, 48, 50, 53, 54, 56, 58, 60, 68, 71, 75, 78;
   capture of, 49;
   evacuation of, 79

  Bavarians, 276

  Bayonet, use of the, 46, 51, 119, 136, 191, 240, 259, 260, 285, 286,
        287, 290, 300 _n._

  Bayonne, 265, 266, 267, 268

  Behobia, 241

  Belgian troops, 277, 286

  Belgium, 275, 276, 277

  Belle Alliance, La, 289, 290, 292

  _Bellerophon_, H.M.S., conveys Napoleon to England, 301

  Bembibre, 135

  Benevente, 133, 134

  Bentinck, Lord William, on flogging, 24

  Beresford, W. Carr, Viscount (Marshal, Portuguese Army), invests
        Badajoz, 151, 152;
    defeats Soult at Albuhera, 157, 192 _n._;
    fails to capture Badajoz, 158-160;
    age of, 253 _n._;
    in the Pyrenees, 256;
    at the battle of the Nivelle, 259;
    at the battle of Orthes, 268, 269;
    occupies Bordeaux, 269, 270

  _Berwick_, the, 68

  Betanzos, 137, 138

  Bidassoa R., 239, 240, 241, 242, 245, 254, 256

  Bidouse R., 267, 268

  Blake, Gen. (Spanish Army), taken prisoner, 184

  Blücher, Field-Marshal (Prince Blücher von Wahlstadt), 275, 276, 277,
        278, 279, 296, 297, 298;
    defeated by Napoleon at Ligny, 280;
    comes to Wellington's aid at Waterloo, 291;
    meets Wellington at Genappe, 291

  Boers, typical mounted infantry, 109

  Boggis, Ensign T., 51st, killed at Calvi, 53 _n._

  Bois de Boulogne, Allies encamp in the, 300, 302

  Bonaparte, Napoleon, 33, 77, 78, 84, 87, 100, 105, 107, 122, 124, 128,
        129, 130, 131, 132, 134, 140, 179, 196, 218, 228, 229, 247, 255,
        258, 259, 267, 269, 273, 275, 283, 296, 302;
    new fighting formations of, 112;
    abdication of, 270;
    breaks faith and quits Elba, 274;
    prepares to invade Belgium, 276, 278;
    attacks and defeats Blücher at Ligny, 279;
    at Waterloo, 285, 286, 288, 290, 291;
    reaches Paris after Waterloo, abdicates, and retires to Malmaison,
        298;
    surrenders to Capt. Maitland at Rochefort, conveyed to England, and
        deported to St Helena, 301

  Bonaparte, Prince Jerome, commands a French Division at Waterloo, 283

  Bonaparte, Joseph, King of Naples and afterwards of Spain, 124;
    holds the line of the Ebro R., 128;
    in command of French Army in Peninsula, 196;
    his weak character, 205, 229, 235;
    evacuates Madrid, 212;
    marches on Madrid, 222, 223;
    routed by Wellington at Vittoria, 235, 236;
    superseded by Soult, 239

  Bonet, Gen. (Fr.), 211

  Bordeaux, occupied by Beresford, 269;
    held by 7th Division, 270

  Bourbons, 269, 274, 284

  Braine la Leud, 281, 284

  Braine le Comte, 279, 280

  Brenier, Gen. (Fr.), breaks out of Almeida, 156

  Bridges, destruction of, 138, 193, 194, 197, 198, 205, 216, 241, 266,
        269

  Bruges, 275

  Brussels, 275, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 285;
    arrangements for defence of, 276, 277

  Buonaparte. _See_ Bonaparte

  Burgos, 127, 129, 214, 215, 218, 219, 220, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227,
        231

  Busaco, battle of, 144

  Bylandt, Gen. Count de, commands a Dutch-Belgian brigade at Waterloo,
        285

  Byng, Gen. Sir J., commands a brigade of Guards at Waterloo, 284


  Cabezon, 216

  Cadiz, 130, 150

  "Ça ira," 7

  Calais, 51st marches from Paris to, 303

  Calvi, 43, 54, 56, 57, 58;
    capture of, 49-53

  Cambo, bridge of, 266

  Cambray, storming of, 253 _n._, 297

  Camp-kettles, 258

  Campo Mayor, 151, 162, 170

  Cape of Good Hope, situation at the, 1799, 89

  Cape Town, 89, 90, 91, 92

  Carnatic, India, 87, 92

  Carrion R., 128, 131, 132

  Carripinar, 146

  Castaños, Gen. (Sp.), 230

  Castello Branco, 163, 193, 196, 197

  Castro Gonzalo, bridge of, 133

  Casualties, 51, 53, 55, 57, 64, 70, 76, 98, 140, 141, 142, 143, 155,
        157, 159, 160, 161, 179, 189, 208, 212, 216, 223, 224, 225, 231,
        237, 253, 254, 261, 270, 271, 287

  Catalonia, 182, 246, 255, 257

  Cateau Cambresis, 296, 297

  Catillon, 296

  Cavalry, employment of, 61, 128, 132, 133, 149, 151, 154, 166, 185,
        187, 230, 236, 270, 277, 281, 285, 286, 287, 288, 294

  Caya R., 161

  Cazal Novo, 146

  Celorico, 146, 177

  Cephalonia, 308, 309

  Ceylon, 92, 93, 95, 96, 121

  Champs Elysées occupied by British troops, 301

  Chandernagore, 88

  Charleroi, 277, 278, 282

  Chatham, Earl of, in Walcheren Expedition, 142

  Chelsea Hospital, 213

  Ciney, 277

  Cintra, Convention of, 125

  Ciudad Rodrigo, 128, 143, 144, 148, 153, 170, 172, 176, 182, 193, 198,
        223, 224, 228;
    chap. ix. _passim_;
    British siege of, 178, 179;
    storming of, 183, 184

  Clausel, Gen. (Fr.), 212, 215, 242, 245

  Climate, of Corsica, 55, 57, 61, 65, 70;
    of India, 93;
    of Ceylon, 96, 99;
    of the Peninsula, 133, 134, 137, 138, 150, 160, 162, 183, 207, 223,
        257

  Clive, Lord, Gov.-Gen. Madras, 1800, 95

  Coa R., 147, 152, 153, 170, 171, 172, 178, 194;
    combat at the, 144

  Colborne, Sir John (Lord Seaton), 164, 165, 248, 249;
    at Waterloo, 290

  Cole, Gen. Sir J. L., commands 6th Division at Waterloo, 276

  Colombo, 93, 98, 99

  Colours, regimental, 164, 167, 168, 169, 213, 281 _n._

  Colville, Gen. Sir C., commands 4th Division at Waterloo, 277, 292, 297

  Commerce, Napoleon's efforts to destroy British, 84

  Commissions, how obtained, 1793, 14;
    1813, 253;
    prices of, 15;
    limits of age for, 120

  Congress at Vienna, 274

  Convention of Cintra, 125;
    of Paris, 300

  Convoy Act, 88

  Convoy duty, 19, 88

  Cooke, Capt. J. H., 43rd, 272 _n._

  Copenhagen, expedition to, 122

  Corfu, 308, 309

  Corporal Punishment. _See_ Flogging

  Corsica, chaps. iii. and iv. _passim_, 83

  Corsican troops, 65;
    Moore's opinion of, 111

  Corte, 60, 66, 74, 75

  Corunna (Coruña), 125 _n._, 129, 130, 132, 138, 140, 142, 205, 215,
        262 _n._;
    campaign, chap. vii.;
    battle of, 139

  _Courageux_, the, 67

  Courts-martial, 198, 199

  Craig, Gen., occupies Cape Town, 1795, 91

  Craufurd, Gen. R., 133, 184

  Craufurd's Flank Brigade, 133;
    Light Division, 184 _n._

  Cuirassiers, French, at Waterloo, 287, 288, 294


  "Daddy Hill," 201

  Dalbiac, Mrs, at Salamanca, 222

  Dalhousie, Gen. Lord, 230, 270

  _Danemark_, the, 145

  Danish Fleet destroyed at Copenhagen, 122

  Darling, Sir Ralph, 51st, 122 _n._

  D'Aubant, Brig.-Gen., in Corsica, 48, 49

  Davie, Major, imprisoned at Kandy, 99

  Dax, 269

  Decorations, 93, 261-265;
    for Waterloo, 264, 292, 293

  Discipline, 39, 95, 113, 114, 115, 121, 134, 135, 141, 194, 198, 199,
        200, 203, 204, 220, 223, 224, 252

  Divisions. _See_ Peninsular Army

  Dona Maria, pass of, 238, 239

  Donzelot, Gen. (Fr.), at Waterloo, 288, 289

  Dorsenne, Gen. (Fr.), 178

  Douro, Baron. _See_ Wellington, Duke of

  Douro R., 131, 133, 205, 209, 210, 212, 214, 215, 216, 217, 230;
    passage of the, 143

  Drill, 36;
    Mesnil Durand's system of, 106, 107;
    Dundas's book on, 110, 116;
    of riflemen and light infantry, 112;
    Moore's system of, 115, 116

  Drouet, Gen. (Fr.), 205

  Drummers, French, in action, 289

  Drunkenness, 36, 37, 134, 189, 191, 199, 220, 221, 238, 252

  Duas Casas R., 153, 155

  Duelling, 37

  Duenas, village of, 220

  Dundas, Gen. Sir David, commanding in Corsica, 43, 44, 45, 47, 48;
    quarrels with Sir G. Elliott, 49, 62;
    his services, 80, 104;
    book on drill, 110, 116

  Dunkirk, 30

  Durand. _See_ Mesnil Durand.

  Dutch East India Company and South Africa, 91, 92;
    in Ceylon, 97;
    troops at Waterloo, 279, 283, 285, 286

  Duties, of officers, 39, 59, 114, 122, 214, 250;
    of light troops, 112

  Dyas, Ens. Joseph, 51st, 159, 160


  Eagles, capture of French, 213

  East India Company, Hon. (H. E. I. C.), 87, 88, 92, 262;
    Dutch, 91, 92

  East Indies. _See_ India.

  Ebro R., 128, 232

  Echallar, 238, 254, 256, 259, 260, 261

  Egypt, 87, 100, 102, 105

  Ehwald. _See_ Von Ehwald.

  Elba, Island of, 42, 78, 79, 81, 85, 308;
    Napoleon at, and escape from, 274

  Elliott, Sir Gilbert, and Corsica, 41, 42, 59, 60, 62, 63, 64, 73, 78,
        80

  Elvaz, 184

  Elvina, 140

  Enghien, 277

  Escalade, employment of, 51, 76, 159, 260

  Escorial (Escurial), 129, 214

  Esla R., 133, 229, 230

  Estramadura, 191


  Flank Brigade. _See_ Craufurd's Flank Brigade.

  Flank companies. _See_ Grenadier company;
    Light company.

  Flogging, 21-24, 201, 203, 204

  Flushing, 142

  Food, scarcity of, 149, 150, 171, 211, 223, 257

  Formations, fighting, of British in Corsica, 45, 46;
    of foreign armies before 1800, 106;
    Mesnil Durand on, 106, 107;
    of British in America, 108, 109;
    Moore and Von Ehwald on, 113;
    Dundas on, 116;
    of British in the Peninsular War, 118, 119, 154, 208;
    of British at Waterloo, 284, 286, 290, 295;
    of French at Waterloo, 107, 284, 285, 286, 288, 289

  Fortescue, Hon. J. W., 'History of the British Army,' 108 _n._, 116 _n_.

  Fort St George, Madras, 92, 95

  _Fox_, the, 82

  Foz d'Aronce, 146

  France, state of, in 1792, chap. i.;
    declares war against England and Holland, 14;
    leagued with Austria, 41;
    joined by Spain, 78;
    joined by the Netherlands, 91;
    makes war on Portugal and Spain, 124;
    invaded by Wellington, 258;
    throws over Napoleon and makes peace, 270;
    receives back Napoleon, 274;
    at war with all Europe, 275;
    crushed at Waterloo, 291;
    restores Louis XVIII. to the throne, 301;
    pays a war indemnity, 302.
    _See also_ Bonaparte, Napoleon.

  Frederic of Orange, Prince, 280

  Freer, Lieut. E., 43rd, 249

  French and English in the Peninsula, relations of, 155, 242-244, 298,
        299

  French possessions in India, 88

  Fuente Guinaldo, 177, 182, 183, 198

  Fuentes d'Onor (Fuentes de Oñoro), 156, 164, 167, 169, 213, 249;
    battle of, 153-156


  Galicia, 131, 230, 231

  Gamara Mayor, 233

  Gambling, 37, 181, 302

  Games and recreations of officers and men. _See_ Amusements.

  Garonne R., 270

  Gata (Gaeta), Sierra de, 183

  Gave de Pau, 268, 269

  Genappe, Wellington meets Blücher at, 291

  Generals, Wellington's, 201, 202

  Germany and Germans, 186, 255, 258, 267

  Ghent, 275

  Gibraltar, 31, 32, 40, 82, 83, 85, 88, 308

  Girondists, 31

  Gonesse, 298

  Graham, Gen. Sir T. (Lord Lynedoch), 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 195, 201,
        206, 229, 230, 233, 235, 236, 253 _n_.;
    with Lord Hood's fleet, 110 _n._;
    raises the 90th Regt., 110;
    commands in the Netherlands, 275

  Grammont, 275, 277, 279

  Greece, 309

  Grenada, Fort, 259, 260

  Grenadier Company, 45, 70

  Grouchy, Marshal Count de (Fr.), 296, 297

  Guadarama, 223

  Guadiana R., 157, 158, 163, 185, 191

  Guard, Napoleon's Old, Imperial, 289;
    defeated at Waterloo, 290

  Guarda, 147, 150

  Guards, British, at Waterloo, 284, 289, 290

  Guinaldo. _See_ Fuente Guinaldo.


  Haie Sainte, La, 285, 287, 288, 289

  Hair, fashions in soldiers', 4, 18, 55, 86, 123, 127

  Hal, 278, 280, 283

  Half pay, officers on, 103, 165, 304, 311

  Ham, 297

  Hawkins, Lt.-Col., 68th, 261

  Heligoland, 305

  Henderson, Col. G. F. R., 'Science of War' quoted, viii., 113

  Hermandad, 233, 234

  High Wycombe, Military College at, 251, 253 _n_.

  Hill, Gen. Sir R. (Viscount Hill), 201, 214, 222, 223, 233, 234,
        253 _n_., 256, 259, 266, 268, 269, 277, 292, 293, 294;
    at Almaraz, 197;
    commands 2nd Corps at Waterloo, 277

  Holland, 91, 105, 142, 275. _See also_ Dutch.

  Honourable East India Company, 87, 88, 92;
    and medals, 262

  Hood, Admiral Lord, 20, 31, 32, 33, 40, 41, 43, 48, 49, 54, 61, 62,
        63, 80

  Hope, Gen. Sir J. (4th Earl of Hopetoun), 128, 129, 130, 253 _n_.,
        256, 268;
    assumes command at Corunna, 139

  Hospitals, 55, 178, 200

  Hotham, Admiral, 65, 67, 68

  Hougoumont, 283, 284, 287, 289, 290, 292, 294

  Hounds, Wellington's pack of, 180

  Houston, Gen., 146

  Howe, Gen. Lord (3rd Viscount), 109, 111 _n_.;
    killed in America, 108

  Howe, Adm. Lord (4th Viscount), 25, 31, 111 _n_.

  Howe, Gen. Sir W. (afterwards 5th Viscount Howe), 109, 111

  Huebra R., 224

  Huerta, 212

  Hunting on active service, 180

  Hyères Bay, 33, 40, 42


  _Illustrious_, the, 67

  Imperial Guard, Napoleon's, 289, 290

  Income Tax, introduction of, 84

  _Inconstant_, the, 67

  Indemnity paid by France, 302

  India, 51st proceeds to, 89;
    climate of, 93, 96;
    condition of, 98, 103

  India, French possessions in, 88, 262

  Infantry, training of, 105-120.
    _See also_ Light Infantry;
      Mounted Infantry

  Inglis, Gen., 240, 242, 254, 259, 260

  Ionian Isles, 308, 309

  Issy, 298

  Italy, 81


  Jacobins, 31

  Jägers, Hessian, in British pay, 1774, 112

  Jervis, Adm. Sir J. (Lord St Vincent), defeats the Spanish fleet off
        Cape St Vincent, 82, 83

  Johnstone, Major-Gen., commands 6th British Brigade at the storming of
        Cambray, 297

  Joseph Bonaparte. _See_ Bonaparte, Joseph


  Kandy, King of, 97; capture of, 98;
    massacre of British garrison of, 99

  Kellermann, Marshal, Duc de Valmy, 11;
    commands 3rd French Cavalry Corps at Waterloo, 285

  Kempt, General Sir J., 234

  King Joseph. _See_ Bonaparte, Joseph

  Koehler, Major, R. A., in Corsica, 41, 45


  La Baneza, 134

  La Belle Alliance, 289, 290, 292

  La Haie Sainte, 285, 287, 288, 289

  La Lippe, Fort, 184

  Laon, 296, 297

  Lefebre, Gen. (Fr.), 129, 131

  Leith, Gen. Sir J., 131, 135, 136

  Lesaca, 238, 240, 241, 242

  Leyria, 146, 148

  Liège, 277

  Light Division. _See_ Peninsular Army

  Light Infantry, 106, 107, 110, 112, 116, 119;
    Corsican troops as, 65, 111;
    first formation of regiments of, 108 _n_., 141;
    duties of, 141, 142.
    _See also_ Skirmishers.

  Light (or Light Infantry) companies, 45, 127, 141;
    uniform of, 86;
    introduction of, 108;
    abolition of, 109;
    reintroduction of, 109

  Ligny, 278, 279, 296;
    Prussians defeated at, 280

  Lisbon, 100, 128, 130, 131, 140, 144, 145, 146, 148, 152, 165, 232;
    garrisoned by 51st (1797), 85-89;
    occupied by the French, 122;
    British advance on (1808), 124;
    occupied by the British, 125

  Liverpool, Lord, 200

  Llerena, 186, 187, 188

  Lloyd, Col. T., 94th, 248

  Loire R., 300

  Londonderry, 3rd Marquis of (Gen. Hon. Sir C. Stewart), 121

  Louis XIV. Redoubt, 260

  Louis XVIII. restored to the throne of France, 301

  _Lowestoffe_, the, 41

  Lugo, 134, 135

  Lynedoch, Lord. _See_ Graham, Gen. Sir T.


  M'Cabe, Capt. J., 51st, 224

  M'Cleish, Surgeon D., 51st, 54

  Macdowall, Gen., commanding in Ceylon, 97, 98

  M'Geechy, Maj. A., 11th, 159

  Macintosh, Maj. Æneas, 85th, 159

  Macleod, Col. C., 43rd, 248

  Madras, 92, 95, 96

  Madrid, 128, 129, 130, 132, 183, 196, 214, 222, 223, 224, 243;
    captured by Napoleon, 131;
    British occupation of, chap. x.;
    British entry into, 212, 213;
    British evacuation of, 223

  Mahratta War, 87, 96, 99

  Mainwaring, Col. J. M., 51st, 145, 161, 163, 164, 165, 167, 168, 169

  Mainwaring, Major F., 51st, 167, 181, 201, 202, 214, 220, 249, 299,
        300, 303, 304

  Maitland, Major-Gen. Sir P., commands a brigade of Guards at Waterloo,
        289, 290

  Maitland, Capt., R.N., conveys Napoleon to England on H.M.S.
        _Bellerophon_, 301

  Malingering, 200

  Malmaison, Napoleon at, 298

  Malta, 100, 308

  Mandale, 256

  Maransin, Gen. (Fr.), 233, 260, 261

  Marauding. _See_ Plunder.

  Margarita, 234

  Marmont, Marshal, Duc de Ragusa, 156, 161, 162, 178, 182, 184, 193,
        194, 195, 196, 197, 205, 206, 207, 209, 210, 211, 212

  Marsan, Mont de, 269

  Martello towers, origin of, 44 _n._;
    on the Kentish coast, 117

  Massena, Marshal, Duc de Rivoli, Prince d'Essling, 143, 144, 145, 147,
        150, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 166

  Maurice, Sir J. F., and 'Sir J. Moore's Diary,' 44 _n._, 51 _n._, 54,
        55, 64 _n._, 73, 104 _n._, 115

  Mayorga, 131

  Medals, 93, 261-265, 271, 281 _n._, 292, 293

  Medina del Campo, 210

  Mediterranean, 40, 100, 308

  Mendoza, 234

  Merida, 185

  Mesnil Durand, system of drill (1774), 106, 107, 109

  Metauco, 237

  Militia, 14, 142, 253

  Minorca, 308

  Minto, Lord. _See_ Elliott, Sir Gilbert

  Miranda de Douro, 230

  Mitchell, Col. H. H., 51st, 164, 165, 227, 242, 259, 261, 275, 279,
        280, 281, 283, 284, 290, 292, 293, 297;
    commands 4th British Brigade at Waterloo, 277;
    death of, 304

  Moita, 146

  Monasterio, 215, 218

  Mondego R., 277;
    first expeditionary force to the Peninsula lands near the mouth of
        the, 124

  Mons, 277, 278

  Mont Aya. _See_ Peña de Haya

  Mont de Marsan, 269

  Mont St Jean, 282, 285

  Moore, Gen. Sir John, Lt.-Col. commanding 51st Regt., 19, 35, 64, 141,
        309;
    character of, 35;
    his treatment of young officers, 39, 59;
    interviews Adm. Ld. Hood, 40;
    his special mission to Corsica, 41, 42, 43;
    in attack on St Fiorenzo, 44-46;
    at siege of Bastia, 47;
    at capture of Calvi, 50-52;
    wounded, 50;
    his care of sick, 54;
    on staff work in Corsica, 56, 63, 71;
    opinion of Corsican troops, 65 _n._, 111;
    rupture with Sir G. Elliott, 73, 80;
    ordered home, 74;
    influence over officers, 90;
    military reform, 101, chap. vi. _passim_;
    commanding at Canterbury, 103;
    selection of officers, 103, 104;
    trains a brigade for war, 105-120;
    his camp at Shorncliffe, 114-119, 250;
    views on tactics and discipline, 105, 106, 113-120, 200;
    in command of British forces in Portugal, 126;
    marches to meet Baird, 128-130;
    his plans for harassing Napoleon, 130;
    decides to attack Soult, 131;
    retreat to Corunna, 132-138;
    death of, 139;
    general order relating to death of, 39 _n._;
    his decorations, 262

  Morillas Mountains, 232, 233

  Mortier, Gen. (Fr.), 151

  Moscow, Napoleon's retreat from, 228

  _Moselle_, the, 33, 59

  Mounted Infantry compared with Light Infantry, 109

  Moustaches, introduction of, 6;
    worn by French at Waterloo, 300

  Mules as baggage animals, 258

  Musket, flintlock (the "Brown Bess" in use throughout the War,
        1793-1815), 112, 136, 208, 235, 284, 285, 287, 288, 294, 300 _n._

  Mysore, conquest of, 92, 93, 96


  Namur, 277, 296

  Nanclares, 233, 234

  Napier, Sir C., his opinion on flogging, 23;
    in Ionian Isles, 309

  Napier, Sir G. T., 248

  Napier, Sir W. F. P., the historian, 151, 153 _n._, 154, 192 _n._, 217,
        220, 228, 243, 248, 249, 255, 261, 271;
    his advocacy of flogging, 203, 204

  Naples, Joseph Bonaparte King of, 124

  Napoleon. _See_ Bonaparte, Napoleon

  Nava de Avel (Nava d'Aver), 154

  Navy, British, 42, 43, 49, 67, 87, 88, 100, 262

  Nelson, Adm. Lord, 33, 43, 49, 50, 69, 78, 79, 80, 83, 87, 100

  Netherlands, 91, 275, 285, 286

  Ney, Marshal, Duc d'Elchingen, Prince de la Moskowa, 145, 146, 270,
        285, 286;
    attacks Wellington at Quatre Bras, 279, 280;
    at Waterloo, 289

  Nile, battle of the, 87

  Nive R., 258;
    battles of the, 265-267

  Nivelle R., 258, 259, 260;
    battle of the, 248, 259-261, 265, 292, 299

  Nivelles, 277, 278, 280, 281, 287, 292, 293, 294, 297

  Niza, 163, 170, 193

  Numbers, regimental, 213, 242-244


  Obidos, 125

  Officers, 1793, 14, 36, 37;
    Moore's treatment of, 39, 59, 103, 104, 114, 115;
    letters and journals of, 174;
    amusements of, 59, 123, 180, 206, 214, 302;
    duties of, 59, 114, 122, 214, 250;
    pay of, 83, 87, 250;
    ages of, 247-253;
    characteristics of, 247-253, 271

  O'Hara, Gen. C., 32, 43

  "Old Douro," 201

  Old Guard, Napoleon's, at Waterloo, 289, 290

  "Old Pivot," 116

  "Old Trousers," 289 _n._

  Oporto, 143, 172

  Orange, Gen. H.R.H. the Prince of, 91, 275, 279;
    commands 1st Corps at Waterloo, 277

  Orange, Prince Frederic of, 280

  Orthes, battle of, 268, 269

  Ostiz (Ostitz), 238, 239

  Oyarzun, 241


  Paget, Lord. _See_ Anglesey

  Pajo, 183

  Pampeluna (Pamplona), 237, 238, 239, 246

  Pancorbo, 231

  Paoli, Pascal, the Corsican patriot, 42, 73, 74, 80

  Pardeleras, 158

  Paris, 134, 270, 274, 296, 297, 298;
    treaty of (1814), 274;
    Allies advance on, 296-300;
    Convention of, 300;
    evacuated by French troops, 300;
    Allies occupy, 301, 302

  Pay, officers', 83, 87, 250

  Peña de Haya, 240, 241, 242

  Pena Macor (Penamacor), 170, 178, 179, 181, 184

  Peninsular Army--
    2nd Division, 268
    3rd Division, 178, 189, 234, 235, 260, 268
    4th Division, 236, 242, 259, 260, 268
    6th Division, 231, 268
    7th Division, 146, 154, 155, 166, 170, 182, 183, 184, 198, 208, 215,
        230, 231, 234, 238, 254, 256, 259, 260, 268, 270
    Light Division, 118, 144, 145, 154, 184 _n._, 212, 224, 234, 242,
        256, 259, 268
    Craufurd's Flank Brigade, 133
    Leith's Brigade, 131, 135, 136

  Peninsular War, chaps. vii.-xii. _passim_

  Peronne, 297

  Phelps, Capt. J. H., 51st, 261, 299, 300 _n._

  Phillipon, Gen. (Fr.), 207

  Picton, Gen. Sir T., 234, 253 _n._, 268, 269;
    commands 5th Div. at Waterloo, 279;
    death of, 286

  Picurina, 158, 188

  Piombino (Italy) occupied by Brit. troops, 81, 82

  Pirch, Gen. von (Prus.), defeated by Grouchy at Namur, 296

  Pisuerga R., 216

  Plasencia, 162, 172

  Plunder and marauding, 93, 94, 95, 191, 193, 198, 199, 200, 223, 224,
        238, 265

  Police, military, want of in Pen. War, 199

  Pombal, combat at, 145

  Pondicherry, 88

  Popham, Adm. Sir H., captures Cape Town (1806), 90 _n._

  Porto Ferrajo, Elba, 42, 82

  Portugal, 83, 126, 128, 130, 142, 143, 144, 150, 195, 211, 271;
    allied with England, 85;
    in French occupation, 122, 124;
    evacuated by French, 125

  Portuguese troops, 191, 209, 242, 266

  Pozzo di Borgo, 73

  Pringle, Major R., 51st, 50

  Prize-money, 59, 93, 94, 281 _n._, 292

  Promotion, 16, 17, 37, 77, 86, 120, 163, 164, 261, 271, 292, 303, 304

  Prussians, 275, 277, 278, 279, 285, 288, 296, 297;
    defeated by French at Ligny, 280;
    at Waterloo, 291;
    at Paris, 298

  Puebla, 185

  Pueblas, pass of, 232, 233

  Puente de Douro, 217

  Punishment of soldiers, 21, 198, 201, 203, 204, 223

  Purchase system, 15-18, 37, 77, 253, 311

  Pyrenees, 128, 130, 228, 230, 238, 239, 246, 255, 256, 257, 259;
    battles of the, 238-258


  Quatre Bras, 278, 281, 286;
    Ney attacks Wellington at, 279, 280

  Quebec, Sir W. Howe at, 109


  Ramsay, Norman, at Fuentes d'Onor, 155

  Rangers, the first regular light troops, 108

  Recreations. _See_ Amusements

  Recruiting, 1793, 24

  Red Indians, methods of fighting of, 107, 108, 109

  Redinha, combat at, 145

  Reform, Army, 1802-7, chap. vi.

  Regiments, condition of, 1793, 37, 38, 39; 90, 103, 114, 135, 141, 178,
        190, 191, 199, 250, 252, 254, 305

  Regiments, British, or in British pay:--
    12th Light Dragoons, 57, 61
    13th Light Dragoons, 149, 151, 152
    1st Foot (Royals), 45, 46
    11th, 48, 159
    13th, 108 _n._
    14th, 292, 293
    18th (Royal Irish), 50, 81
    19th, 98
    23rd, 123 _n._, 292, 293, 297
    25th, 48
    26th, 165
    30th, 48
    35th, 281 _n._
    43rd, 108 _n._, 114, 243, 248, 272 _n._
    50th, 32, 50
    51st, 2nd West York, 14;
      uniform of, 18, 123, 305;
      commanded by Lt.-Col. John Moore, 19, 35, 64, 141, 309;
      proceeds to Gibraltar, 19;
      prepares for active service, 32;
      embarks for Toulon, 32;
      loses its baggage, 33;
      joins Lord Hood's fleet, 40;
      in the attack on Corsica, chap. iii.;
      at the capture of St Fiorenzo, Bastia, and Calvi, 44-52;
      leaves Corsica for Elba, 79;
      withdrawn from the Mediterranean, 83;
      quartered at Lisbon, 85, 86;
      ordered to India, 89;
      lands at Cape Town, 89;
      arrives at Madras, 92;
      proceeds to Ceylon, 95;
      at the capture of Kandy, 98;
      garrisons Colombo, 99;
      returns to England, 99;
      proceeds with Baird to Corunna, 127;
      fights at Lugo, 136;
      in the retreat to Corunna, 137, 138;
      at the battle of Corunna, 139, 140;
      arrives in England, 141;
      made Light Infantry, 141;
      in the Walcheren Expedition, 143;
      joins Wellington's army in the Peninsula, 145;
      at the battle of Fuentes d'Onor, 154, 155;
      marches to Badajoz, and twice assaults St Christoval, 159, 160;
      with the covering force at Ciudad Rodrigo, 182, 183;
      with Graham outside Badajoz, 185;
      at the surprise of Llerena, 187;
      at the battle of Salamanca, 206-212;
      enters Madrid at the head of the army, 213;
      at the capture of the Retiro, 213;
      covers the siege of Burgos, 215;
      in the retreat to Ciudad Rodrigo, 215-224;
      attacked at the Valladolid bridge, 216;
      fights at San Muños, 224;
      fords the Esla R., 230;
      at the battle of Vittoria, 234-238;
      engaged in the Pyrenees, 238;
      fights at the Peña de Haya, 242;
      at the battle of the Nivelle, 260, 261;
      at the battle of Orthes, 268, 269;
      accompanies Beresford to Bordeaux, 269;
      returns to England, 270;
      embarks for the Waterloo Campaign, 275;
      at the battle of Waterloo, 282-295;
      at the storming of Cambray, 297;
      enters Paris, 301;
      marches to Calais and returns to England, 303;
      on home service, 304, 305;
      entitled King's Own Light Infantry, 308;
      commanded by Col. Samuel Rice in the Ionian Isles for ten years,
        308, 309
    52nd, 108 _n._, 114, 234, 290
    54th, 281 _n._
    55th, 108
    59th, 281 _n._
    66th, 248
    67th, 169 _n._
    68th, 108 _n._, 208, 209, 213, 222, 254, 260, 261
    69th, 48
    71st, 108 _n._, 141
    76th, 136
    80th (or Gage's Light Infantry, 1758), 108 _n._
    85th, 108 _n._, 159, 166
    90th (or Morgan's Light Infantry), 108 _n._
    90th, Perthshire Volunteers, raised by Graham, 108 n., 110, 111
    94th, 248
    95th (Rifle Brigade), 111, 112, 114, 190
    105th, 108 _n._
    106th, 108 _n._
    Hessian Jägers, 112
    Chasseurs Britanniques, 154, 209
    Brunswick Oels Corps, 216, 217, 230

  Renaud, Gen. (Fr.), taken prisoner, 179

  Retiro, the, Madrid, 213, 223, 243

  Revolution, French, 2-13

  Rhune, La, Pyrenees, 258, 259

  Rice, Col. A. T., 51st, 311 _n._

  Rice, Lieut. C., R.N., 20, 96 _n._

  Rice, Capt. F., 51st, 253 _n._

  Rice, Lieut. H., R.N., 86, 163 _n._

  Rice, Major P. J., 51st, 311 _n._

  Rice, Sir Ralph, 311 _n._

  Rice, Col. Samuel, _passim_

  Richmond, Duchess of, ball at Brussels, 279

  Rifle, earliest use of the, by a whole regiment, 111

  Rifle Corps, the, 95th (afterwards Rifle Brigade), first formation of,
        111, 112

  Roads in Ceylon, 97;
    in the Peninsula, 128, 132, 133, 223, 236, 240, 265

  Roberts, Major D., 51st, 227

  Rochefort, Napoleon flies to, and surrenders, 301

  Roliça (Roleia), battle of, 125

  Roncesvalles, 256

  Ross, Capt. J., 51st, at Waterloo, 288

  Rossommes, 291

  Russia, 179, 228, 276, 308


  Sabugal, 170, 182; combat at, 147

  Sahagun, 133;
    cavalry action at, 132

  Sailing vessels, transport of troops in, 19-30, 32, 33, 79, 88, 89, 93,
        126, 127, 138, 145

  San Antonio, 242, 245

  Santa Barbara, 242, 254

  San Barbe, 259, 260

  St Boes, 268, 269

  St Christoval (San Christobal), 158, 163, 188

  St Cloud, 300

  St Denis, 298

  St Fiorenzo, Corsica, 43, 44, 46, 47, 67, 68, 72

  St Germains, 298

  St Helena, 89;
    Napoleon in exile at, 301

  St Helens, Isle of Wight, 27, 28, 29

  St Jean, Mont, 282, 285

  St Jean de Luz, 258

  St Jean Pied de Port, 239

  San Marcial, 241, 245, 256

  Santa Martha, 185, 193

  San Muñoz, 224

  St Omer, 2-12

  St Pé, 260, 261

  St Pierre, 266

  St Sebastian (San Sebastian), 238, 239, 240, 241, 245, 246, 254, 255;
    siege of, 240;
    assault of, 245

  St Sever, 269

  St Thomas's Mount, Madras, 95

  St Vincent, Lord. _See_ Jervis, Adm. Sir J.

  San Vincente redoubt, 189

  Salamanca, 128, 129, 130, 147, 148, 149, 172, 178, 205, 206, 208, 210,
        222, 223, 224;
    campaign of, chap. x.;
    battle of, 211, 212

  Saldanha, 132

  Salisbury, troops trained at, 1774, 109

  Salvatierra, 236, 237, 238

  Sanchez, Don Julian, 179

  Sandhurst, 253 _n._

  "Sans culottes," 30, 59

  Santarem, 145

  Sarre, 258, 260, 300 _n._

  Sault de Navailles, 269

  Saxons, 275

  Scheldt R., 142, 277

  Schweidnitz, Gen., 276

  Seaton, Lord. _See_ Colborne, Sir J.

  Senlis, 298

  "Sepoy General," Napoleon's name for Wellington, 291

  Septinsular Republic (Ionian Isles), 308

  Seringapatam, 90 _n._;
    capture of, 92

  Seville, 162, 195

  Shawe, Capt. R., 51st, killed in Corsica, 76

  Shorncliffe, 135, 250;
    Sir J. Moore's camp at, 114-120

  Siborne, Capt. W., the historian, 288;
    his model of Waterloo, 293

  Sicily, 308;
    Sir J. Moore goes to, 117

  Sickness of troops, in Corsica, 51, 52, 54, 55, 57, 60, 61, 65, 69;
    in India, 93;
    in Ceylon, 98, 99;
    in Walcheren, 142, 145;
    in Peninsula, 177, 178, 179, 194, 219, 224, 258

  Sierra de Gata (Gaeta), 183

  Simancas, 216

  Simonstown, South Africa, occupied by British in 1795, 91

  Skirmishers, Croats as (1757), 106;
    Mesnil Durand advocates use of (1774), 106, 107;
    Red Indians as, 107;
    Highlanders as, 107 _n._;
    training of British, 112-120;
    at Waterloo, 284, 285, 289, 295.
    _See also_ Light Infantry;
      Jägers;
      Voltigeurs.

  Smellie, Capt. P., 51st, 208

  Smith, Gen. Sir Harry, 222

  Soldiers, British, amusements of, 123, 180;
    characteristics of, 250, 252, 257;
    conduct of, 20, 21, 36, 94, 95, 134, 189, 190, 191, 199, 200, 223,
        224, 237, 238, 243;
    punishment of, 22-24, 198, 201, 203, 204, 223

  Soult, Marshal, Duc de Dalmatie, Moore's adversary in Corunna campaign,
        131-140;
    defeated by Wellesley at the Douro, 143;
    commands French in South Spain, 150;
    moves towards Badajoz, 152, 157;
    defeated at Albuhera, 157;
    joined by Marmont, 161;
    retires to Seville, 162;
    encounters Graham outside Badajoz, 186;
    in Andalusia, 195, 196, 197;
    cut off by destruction of Almaraz bridge, 205;
    advances on Madrid with King Joseph, 222;
    commands French army in the Pyrenees, 239;
    attempts to relieve Pampeluna and San Sebastian, 239-245;
    holds the line of the Nivelle, 258;
    defeated by Wellington, 260;
    holds Bayonne and the line of the Nive, 265;
    defeated at Orthes, 268;
    retires to the north-east, 269;
    defeated at Toulouse, 270;
    quits Waterloo with Napoleon, 291;
    collects the French army at Laon, 296;
    retreats on Paris, 297

  South Africa, British and Dutch in, 1794-1814, 90-92

  Spain, 126, 127, 128, 147, 150, 151, 198, 228, 229, 247, 255, 257,
        271, 299;
    allied with England, 32, 68;
    allied with France, 78, 85;
    thrown over by Napoleon and allied with England, 124;
    Joseph Bonaparte King of, 124, 126, 127, 128, 147, 150

  Spanish fleet, 68, 79, 82

  Spanish troops, 133, 144, 150, 151, 194, 241, 242, 265, 267

  Sparks, Major F., 51st, death of, 179

  Spencer, Sir Brent, 156, 161

  Squares, fighting in, 154, 178, 185, 287

  Stewart, Gen. Hon. Sir C. _See_ Londonderry, 3rd Marquis of.

  Stonyhurst College, founding of, 9

  Strachan, Adm. Sir R., 142

  Straggling, 134, 135, 138, 223, 224, 238

  Stuart, Sir C., in Corsica, 49, 50, 51, 56, 60, 62, 63, 66, 80;
    occupies Lisbon, 85;
    captures Minorca, 100

  Subijana de Alava, 233

  Suchet, Gen. Count, 152, 246, 255, 258

  Surtees, Quartermaster, 95th Rifles, 190


  Tactics, changes in, 102, 105, 106-120

  Tagus R., 163, 172, 177, 184, 194, 197, 219

  Tarbes, combat at, 270

  Tents, 238, 256, 257, 258

  Theatricals on active service, 181

  "Thin Red Line," outcome of Sir J. Moore's system of training, 118

  Thrale, Mrs, connection with Rice family, 1

  Tippoo of Mysore, 92, 96

  Tordesillas, 133, 210, 216, 217, 222, 225, 231

  Tormes R., 205, 206, 207, 211, 212

  Toro, 207, 208, 231

  Torres Vedras, lines of, 144, 145

  Toulon, 30, 31, 32, 33, 40, 42, 48, 54, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 68, 69

  Toulouse, final defeat of French at, 270

  Tourle, Capt. J., 51st, 61, 64, 70

  Trafalgar, battle of, 100

  Training, officers, 39;
    infantry, 105-120

  Transport (land), difficulties of, 129, 209, 257, 258

  Transport (sea), 19, 32, 33, 79, 88, 89, 93, 126, 127, 138, 145

  Tras os Montes, 229

  Treaty of Paris, 274, 308

  Tres Puentes, 234

  Trigge, Gen., commanding in Corsica, 66

  Trincomalee, 95, 96

  Trois Couronnes, Mont des. _See_ Peña de Haya.

  Tubize, 280, 292

  Tudela, 216, 217

  Turkey, 308

  Turon R., 153

  Turpin de Crissé, Comte Lancelot, on the Art of War, 107

  Tuscany, 81, 83


  Uniform, 1793, 18, 19;
    1794, 55;
    1808, 123;
    of Light Infantry, 141;
    1809-1821, 305-308

  Ustaritz, bridge of, 265

  Uxbridge, Lord. _See_ Anglesey, Marquis of.


  Valencia, 184

  Valencienne, 297

  Valladolid, 127, 129, 131, 210, 212, 216, 218, 221, 229

  Valverde, 185

  Vandermaesen, Gen. (Fr.), 245

  Vera, 239, 240, 241, 242, 245, 254, 255, 256

  Verrieres, 302

  Versailles, 298

  Victor, Marshal (Fr.), 143

  _Victory_, H.M.S., 33, 63

  Vienna, Congress at, 274

  Vigo, 129, 130, 131, 138

  Villafranca, 130, 134, 135

  Villa Mayor, 147, 170, 171, 177

  Villa Nova, 230

  Villa Velha, 163, 184, 193

  Villodas, 234

  Vimiera (Vimeiro), battle of, 125

  Vittoria, 128, 215, 231, 232, 237;
    battle of, 233-238

  Voltigeurs, Napoleon's first skirmishers, 112

  "Voluntary Contributions," 84

  Volunteers, officers serving as, 14, 253 _n._

  Von Ehwald, Colonel, on the training of light troops, 112, 113, 114, 118


  Walcheren Expedition, 142

  "War against Commerce," 84

  War in the Mediterranean, chaps. iii., iv.;
    in India and Ceylon, 92-99;
    in the Peninsula and S. of France, chaps, vii.-xii.;
    in Belgium and France, chaps. xiii., xiv.

  Waterloo, 134, 168, 176, 202, 203, 253 _n._, 296, 304;
    campaign, chap. xiii.;
    Allies concentrate on, 280;
    village of, 282;
    battle of, 282-295

  Wavre, 296;
    Blücher retires to, after Ligny, 280, 285;
    Prussians march from, to Waterloo, 288

  Weather, influence of, on operations, 133, 134, 137, 138, 150, 160,
        163, 171, 183, 195, 207, 223, 224, 245, 257, 265, 281, 282

  Wellesley, Sir A. _See_ Wellington, Duke of.

  Wellington, Duke of, at Roliça, 125;
    comes home from Portugal, 126;
    takes command in Portugal, 143;
    defeats Soult at the Douro, and Victor at Talavera, 143;
    defeats Massena at Busaco, and retires to Torres Vedras, 144;
    pursues Massena and defeats him at Sabugal, 146, 147;
    invests Badajoz, 151;
    defeats Massena at Fuentes d'Onor, 152-155;
    commences second siege of Badajoz, 157;
    withdraws to the Caya R., 161;
    captures Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, chap. ix.;
    pursues Marmont and defeats him at Salamanca, 205-212;
    enters Madrid, 212, 213;
    attempts capture of Burgos, 214;
    retreats to Ciudad Rodrigo, 215-224;
    advances north, 230;
    defeats King Joseph at Vittoria, 232-237;
    drives the French to the Pyrenees and blockades Pampeluna, 238;
    captures St Sebastian, 245;
    invades France, 256;
    defeats Soult at the Nivelle, 260, 261;
    wins victories at the Nive, Orthes, and Toulouse, 266-270;
    takes command of Anglo-Dutch army in the Netherlands, 275;
    attacked by Ney at Quatre Bras, 280;
    withdraws to Waterloo, 280;
    defeats Napoleon, 282-295;
    meets Blücher at Genappe, 291;
    enters Paris, 300;
    his character, 160, 165, 166, 168, 200, 201, 202, 203, 218, 223,
        257, 265;
    his reticence, 170, 175, 176;
    keeps a pack of hounds, 180

  Wemyss, Colonel, occupies Piombino, Italy, 81

  West Indies, 87, 103, 105

  Wolfe, Gen. J., and Quebec, 109

  Women, regimental, 218, 221, 222, 272


  York, H.R.H. the Duke of, 30, 80, 103, 111


  Zadorra R., 232, 233, 234

  Zafra, 185

  Zagaramurdi, 238

  Zante, 309




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LIST OF PUBLICATIONS.


=The Kingis Quair=, together with A Ballad of Good Counsel. By King
James I. Edited by the Rev. Professor W. W. Skeat, M.A., LL.D. pp.
113 and lv.

=The Poems of William Dunbar.= Part I. Edited by John Small, M.A. pp.
160 and iv.

=The Court of Venus=, By Iohne Rolland, 1575. Edited by the Rev.
Walter Gregor, M.A., LL.D. pp. 231 and xxxii.

=The Poems of William Dunbar.= Part II. Edited by John Small, M.A.
pp. 169 and vi.

=Leslie's Historie of Scotland.= Part I. Translated into Scottish
from the original Latin by Father James Dalrymple. Edited by the Rev.
E. G. Cody, O.S.B. pp. 130 and iv.

=Schir William Wallace, Knight of Ellerslie.= Part I. By Henry the
Minstrel, commonly known as Blind Harry. Edited by James Moir, M.A.
pp. 181.

=The Wallace.= Part II. Edited by James Moir, M.A. pp. 198.

=Sir Tristrem.= With Introduction, Notes, and Glossary. Edited by G.
P. M'Neill, M.A. pp. 148 and xlviii.

=The Poems of Alexander Montgomerie.= Part I. Edited by James
Cranstoun, M.A., LL.D. pp. 176 and vii.

=The Poems of Alexander Montgomerie.= Part II. Edited by James
Cranstoun, M.A., LL.D. pp. 160 and iv.

=The Poems of Alexander Montgomerie.= Part III. Edited by James
Cranstoun, M.A., LL.D. pp. 96 and lvii.

=Gau's Richt Vay to the Kingdome of Heuine.= Edited by the Rev.
Professor Mitchell, D.D. pp. 130 and lviii.

=Legends of the Saints= (Fourteenth Century). Part I. Edited by the
Rev. W. M. Metcalfe, M.A. pp. 224 and v.

=Leslie's Historie of Scotland.= Part II. Edited by the Rev. E. G.
Cody, O.S.B. pp. 270 and xxvi.

=Niniane Winȝet's Works.= Vol. I. Edited by the Rev. J. King Hewison.
pp. 140 and cxx.

=The Poems of William Dunbar.= Part III. Introduction. By Æ. J. G.
Mackay, LL.D. pp. cclxxxiii.

=The Wallace.= Part III. Introduction, Notes, and Glossary. By James
Moir, M.A. pp. 189 and liv.

=Legends of the Saints.= Part II. Edited by the Rev. W. M. Metcalfe,
M.A. pp. 386 and iii.

=Leslie's Historie of Scotland.= Part III. Edited by the Rev. E. G.
Cody, O.S.B. pp. 262 and iii.

=Satirical Poems of the Time of the Reformation.= Part I. Edited by
James Cranstoun, M.A., LL.D. pp. 220 and vi.

=The Poems of William Dunbar.= Part IV. Containing the first portion
of the Notes. By the Rev. W. Gregor, LL.D. pp. 244.

=Niniane Winȝet's Works.= Vol. II. Notes and Glossary. By the Rev. J.
King Hewison. pp. 203 and xxxiii.

=Legends of the Saints.= Part III. Edited by the Rev. W. M. Metcalfe,
M.A. pp. 192 and iii.

=Satirical Poems of the Time of the Reformation.= Part II. Edited by
James Cranstoun, M.A., LL.D. pp. 181 and lix.

=Legends of the Saints.= Part IV. Completing the Text. Edited by the
Rev. W. M. Metcalfe, M.A. pp. 285 and iii.

=The Vernacular Writings of George Buchanan.= Edited by P. Hume
Brown, M.A., LL.D. pp. 75 and xxxviii.

=Scottish Alliterative Poems in Riming Stanzas.= Part I. Edited by F.
J. Amours, pp. 187 and vi.

=Satirical Poems of the Time of the Reformation.= Part III.
Containing first portion of Notes. By James Cranstoun, M.A., LL.D.
pp. 188 and iii.

=The Poems of William Dunbar.= Part V. Completion of Notes and
Glossary. By the Rev. W. Gregor, LL.D. And Appendix, by Æ. J. G.
Mackay, LL.D. pp. 291.

=Satirical Poems of the Time of the Reformation.= Part IV. Completion
of Notes, Appendix, Glossary, and Index of Proper Names. By James
Cranstoun, M.A., LL.D. pp. 186 and xii.

=Barbour's Bruce.= Part I. Edited by the Rev. Professor Walter W.
Skeat, M.A., LL.D. pp. 351 and iii.

=Barbour's Bruce.= Part II. Edited by the Rev. Professor Walter W.
Skeat, M.A., LL.D. pp. 450 and viii.

=Barbour's Bruce.= Part III. Introduction. By the Rev. Professor
Walter W. Skeat, M.A., LL.D. pp. cxi.

=Leslie's Historie of Scotland.= Edited by the Rev. E. G. Cody,
O.S.B. Part IV. Completion of Text, with Notes, Glossary, &c. By
William Murison, M.A. pp. 328 and vii.

=Legends of the Saints.= Part V. Notes (first portion). By the Rev.
W. M. Metcalfe, D.D. pp. 256 and iv.

=The Poems of Alexander Scott.= Edited by James Cranstoun, M.A.,
LL.D. pp. 218 and xxii.

=Legends of the Saints.= Part VI. Completion of Notes and Glossary.
By the Rev. W. M. Metcalfe, D.D. pp. 240 and l.

=Scottish Alliterative Poems in Riming Stanzas.= Part II. Edited by
F. J. Amours, pp. 294 and xc.

=The Gude and Godlie Ballatis.= Edited by the Rev. Professor
Mitchell, D.D. pp. 338 and cliv.

=The Works of Mure of Rowallan.= Vol. I. Edited by William Tough,
M.A. pp. 306 and xxvii.

=Works of Mure of Rowallan.= Vol. II. Edited by William Tough, M.A.
pp. 345 and iii.

=Lindesay of Pitscottie's Historie and Cronicles.= Vol. I. Edited by
Æneas J. G. Mackay, LL.D. pp. 414 and clx.

=Lindesay of Pitscottie's Historie and Cronicles.= Vol. II. Edited by
Æneas J. G. Mackay, LL.D. pp. 478 and xii.

=Gilbert of the Haye's Prose MS. (1456).= Vol. I. _The Buke of the
Law of Armys, or Buke of Bataillis._ Edited by J. H. Stevenson, pp.
303 and cvii.

=Catholic Tractates of the Sixteenth Century (1573-1600).= Edited by
Thomas Graves Law, LL.D. pp. 308 and lxiii.

=The New Testament in Scots=, being Purvey's Revision of Wycliffe's
Version, turned into Scots by Murdoch Nisbet (c. 1520). Edited by
Thomas Graves Law, LL.D. Vol. I. pp. 300 and xxxvii.

=Livy's History of Rome: The First Five Books.= Translated into Scots
by John Bellenden (1533). Vol. I. Edited by W. A. Craigie, M.A. pp.
305 and xvii.

=The Poems of Alexander Hume(? 1557-1609).= Edited by the Rev.
Alexander Lawson, B.D. pp. 279 and lxxiii.

=The New Testament in Scots.= Edited by Thomas Graves Law, LL.D. Vol.
II. pp. 367 and ix.

=The Original Chronicle of Andrew of Wyntoun (c. 1420).= Printed on
Parallel Pages from the Cottonian and Wemyss MSS., with the Variants
of the other Texts. Edited by F. J. Amours. Vol. II. (Text, Vol. I.)
pp. 351 and xix.

=Livy's History of Rome: The First Five Books.= Completion of Text,
with Notes and Glossary. Edited by W. A. Craigie, M.A. Vol. II. pp.
408.

=The New Testament in Scots.= Edited by Thomas Graves Law, LL.D. Vol.
III. pp. 397 and xiii.

=The Original Chronicle of Andrew of Wyntoun.= Edited by F. J.
Amours. Vol. III. (Text, Vol. II.) pp. 497 and xiv.

=The Original Chronicle of Andrew of Wyntoun.= Edited by F. J.
Amours. Vol. IV. (Text, Vol. III.) pp. 435 and xi.

=The Poems of Robert Henryson.= Edited by Professor G. Gregory Smith.
Vol. II. (Text, Vol I.) pp. 327 and xxi.

=The Original Chronicle of Andrew of Wyntoun.= Edited by F. J.
Amours. Vol. V. (Text, Vol. IV.) pp. 433 and xi.

=The Original Chronicle of Andrew of Wyntoun.= Edited by F. J.
Amours. Vol. VI. (Text, Vol. V.) pp. 436 and xv.

=The Poems of Robert Henryson.= Edited by Professor G. Gregory Smith.
Vol. III. (Text, Vol. II.) pp. 198 and xix.

=Poems of Alexander Montgomerie=, and other Pieces from Laing MS. No.
447. Supplementary Volume. Edited, with Introduction, Appendices,
Notes, and Glossary, by George Stevenson, M.A. pp. 392 and lxv.

=The Kingis Quair by James I. of Scotland.= Edited by Rev. Walter W.
Skeat, Litt.D., LL.D, D.C.L., Ph.D., F.B.A. _New Series._


FORTHCOMING WORKS.

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=Gilbert of the Haye's Prose MS. (1459).= Vol. II. _The Buke of the
Order of Chivalry_, &c. Edited by J. H. Stevenson, M.A.

=The Vernacular Works of James VI., King of Scots.= Edited by
Oliphant Smeaton.

=Specimens of Early Legal Documents in Scots.= Edited by David
Murray, LL.D.

=The Maitland Folio MS.= Edited by J. T. T. Brown. (_See_ SERIES OF
MS. COLLECTIONS.)

=John of Ireland's Works (1490)=, from the MS. in the Advocates'
Library.

=Montgomerie's Poems=, from the Laing MS. Edited by George Stevenson,
M.A. [_In the press._]

=The Makculloch and Gray MSS.=, with Excerpts from the Chepman and
Myllar Prints. Edited by George Stevenson, M.A.

=Catechisms of the Reformation.= Edited by William Carruthers.

The Editorial Committee has other works under consideration,
including--

=The Bulk of the Most Noble and Valiant Conqueror Alexander the
Grit.= From the unique copy of Arbuthnot's print of 1580, in the
possession of the Earl of Dalhousie.

J. Stewart's =Abbregement of Roland Furiovs, translait ovt of Ariost,
togither vith svm rapsodies of the Author, &c.= From the dedication
MS. copy presented to James VI., now preserved in the Advocates'
Library.

Abacuk Bysset's ='Rolmentis of Courts' (1622)=, from the MS. in the
Library of the University of Edinburgh (Laing Collection) and the MS.
in the Advocates' Library.

=The Poems of Gavin Douglas.=

=The Poems of Sir David Lyndsay.=

  &c.      &c.

And occasional Volumes of a MISCELLANY of Shorter Pieces.
(Information regarding possible contributions will be gladly received
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=PERIODS OF EUROPEAN LITERATURE: A Complete and= CONTINUOUS HISTORY
OF THE SUBJECT. Edited by PROFESSOR SAINTSBURY. In 12 crown 8vo
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THE FLOURISHING OF ROMANCE AND THE RISE OF ALLEGORY. (12th and 13th
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THE ROMANTIC REVOLT. By Prof. C. E. Vaughan.

THE ROMANTIC TRIUMPH. By T. S. Omond.

THE LATER NINETEENTH CENTURY. By Prof. Saintsbury.


=PHILOSOPHICAL CLASSICS FOR ENGLISH READERS.= Edited by WILLIAM
KNIGHT, LL.D., Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of St
Andrews. _Re-issue in Shilling Volumes net._

  DESCARTES            Prof. Mahaffy.
  BUTLER               Rev. W. L. Collins.
  BERKELEY             Prof. Campbell Fraser.
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  KANT                 Prof. Wallace.
  HAMILTON             Prof. Veitch.
  HEGEL                Prof. Edward Caird.
  LEIBNIZ              John Theodore Merz.
  VICO                 Prof. Flint.
  HOBBES               Prof. Croom Robertson.
  HUME                 Prof. Knight.
  SPINOZA              Principal Caird.
  BACON--PART I.       Prof. Nichol.
  BACON--PART II.      Prof. Nichol.
  LOCKE                Prof. Campbell Fraser.


=FOREIGN CLASSICS FOR ENGLISH READERS.= Edited by MRS OLIPHANT. CHEAP
RE-ISSUE. In limp cloth, fcap. 8vo, price 1s. each net.

  DANTE                        Mrs Oliphant.
  VOLTAIRE                     General Sir E. B. Hamley, K.C.B.
  PASCAL                       Principal Tulloch.
  PETRARCH                     Henry Reeve, C.B.
  GOETHE                       A. Hayward, Q.C.
  MOLIÈRE                      Editor and F. Traver, M.A.
  MONTAIGNE                    Rev. W. L. Collins.
  RABELAIS                     Sir Walter Besant.
  CALDERON                     E. J. Hasell.
  SAINT SIMON                  C. W. Collins.
  CERVANTES                    Mrs Oliphant.
  CORNEILLE AND RACINE         Henry M. Trollope.
  MADAME DE SÉVIGNÉ            Miss Thackeray.
  LA FONTAINE AND OTHER      } Rev. W. Lucas
    FRENCH FABULISTS         } Collins, M.A.
  SCHILLER                     James Sime, M.A.
  TASSO                        E. J. Hasell.
  ROUSSEAU                     Henry Grey Graham.
  ALFRED DE MUSSET             C. F. Oliphant.


=ANCIENT CLASSICS FOR ENGLISH READERS.= Edited by the REV. W. LUCAS
COLLINS, M.A. CHEAP RE-ISSUE. In limp cloth, fcap. 8vo, price 1s.
each net. _Contents of the Series_--

  HOMER: ILIAD              Rev. W. Lucas Collins.
  HOMER: ODYSSEY            Rev. W. Lucas Collins.
  HERODOTUS                 G. C. Swayne.
  CÆSAR                     Anthony Trollope.
  VIRGIL                    Rev. W. Lucas Collins.
  HORACE                    Sir Theodore Martin.
  ÆSCHYLUS                  Bishop Copleston.
  XENOPHON                  Sir Alex. Grant.
  CICERO                    Rev. W. Lucas Collins.
  SOPHOCLES                 C. W. Collins.
  PLINY                   { Rev. A. Church and
                          { W. J. Brodribb.
  EURIPIDES                 W. B. Donne.
  JUVENAL                   E. Walford.
  ARISTOPHANES              Rev. W. Lucas Collins.
  HESIOD AND THEOGNIS       J. Davies.
  PLAUTUS AND TERENCE       Rev. W. L. Collins.
  TACITUS                   W. B. Donne.
  LUCIAN                    Rev. W. Lucas Collins.
  PLATO                     C. W. Collins.
  GREEK ANTHOLOGY           Lord Neaves.
  LIVY                      Rev. W. Lucas Collins.
  OVID                      Rev. A. Church.
  CATULLUS, TIBULLUS, AND } J. DAVIES.
    PEOPERTIUS            }
  DEMOSTHENES               W. J. Brodribb.
  ARISTOTLE                 Sir Alex. Grant.
  THUCYDIDES                Rev. W. Lucas Collins.
  LUCRETIUS                 W. H. Mallock.
  PINDAR                    Rev. F. D. Morice.




WM. BLACKWOOD & SONS' EDUCATIONAL WORKS


_CONTENTS._


                                PAGE
  ENGLISH                         35
  HISTORY                         42
  LATIN AND GREEK                 42
  MODERN LANGUAGES                49
  MATHEMATICS                     52
  GEOGRAPHY                       53
  CHEMISTRY AND POPULAR SCIENCE   54
  GEOLOGY                         54
  PALÆONTOLOGY                    54
  PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY              55
  PSYCHOLOGY AND LOGIC            55
  FORESTRY                        55
  ELEMENTARY SERIES               56
  WRITING AND COPY BOOKS          64
  UNIVERSITY CALENDAR             64


EDUCATIONAL WORKS.

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ENGLISH.


=A History of English Criticism.=

By GEORGE SAINTSBURY, M.A. (Oxon.), Hon. LL.D. (Aberd.), Professor of
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=WORKS BY J. LOGIE ROBERTSON, M.A.=

=A History of English Literature.=

For Secondary Schools. By J. LOGIE ROBERTSON, M.A., First English
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=Paraphrasing, Analysis, and Correction of Sentences.=

By D. M. J. JAMES, M.A., Gordon Schools, Huntly. 1s.

_Also in Two Parts_:--

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The School Anthology of English Verse.

A Selection of English Verse from Chaucer to the Present Day.

EDITED BY

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'The Granta Shakespeare,' &c.

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STORMONTH'S ENGLISH DICTIONARIES,

PRONOUNCING, ETYMOLOGICAL, AND EXPLANATORY.


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reader, in consequence, some of the emotion he himself has felt."

=Mr G. K. Chesterton in 'The Daily News.'=--"Mr Wight Duff has made
an exceedingly good selection from the poems of Byron, and added to
them a clear and capable introductory study."

=Professor R. Wülker in 'Englische Studien.'=--"Wight Duff's Byron
wird sicherlich dazu beitragen des Dichters Werke in England mehr zu
verbreiten, als dies bisher geschehen ist. Aber auch in Deutschland
ist das Buch allen Freunden Byron's warm zu empfehlen."


=HISTORY.=

=A Short History of Scotland.=

By ANDREW LANG. Crown 8vo, 5s. net.


=LATIN AND GREEK.=


=Higher Latin Prose.=

With an Introduction by H. W. AUDEN, M.A., Principal, Upper Canada
College, Toronto; formerly Assistant-Master, Fettes College,
Edinburgh; late Scholar of Christ's College, Cambridge, and Bell
University Scholar. 2s. 6d.

*** _A Key_ (_for Teachers only_), 5_s._ _net_.

=Educational Times.=--"Those who are in need of a short practical
guide on the subject will find Mr Auden's little work well worth a
trial.... The passages chosen are well suited for translation."

=School Guardian.=--"This is an excellent Latin prose manual. The
hints on composition are first-rate, and should be of considerable
use to the student of style who has mastered the ordinary rules of
prose writing.... Altogether, this is a very valuable little book."


=Lower Latin Prose.=

By K. P. WILSON, M.A., Assistant-Master, Fettes College, Edinburgh.
2s. 6d.

*** _A Key_ (_for Teachers only_), 5_s._ _net_.

=Journal of Education.=--"A well-arranged and helpful manual. The
whole book is well printed and clear. We can unreservedly recommend
the work."


=Higher Latin Unseens.=

For the Use of Higher Forms and University Students. Selected, with
Introductory Hints on Translation, by H. W. AUDEN, M.A., Principal,
Upper Canada College, Toronto; formerly Assistant-Master, Fettes
College, Edinburgh; late Scholar of Christ's College, Cambridge, and
Bell University Scholar. 2s. 6d.

=Educational News.=--"The hints on translation given by Mr Auden are
the most useful and judicious we have seen in such small bulk, and
they are illustrated with skilful point and aptness."


=Lower Latin Unseens.=

Selected, with Introduction, by W. LOBBAN, M.A., Classical Master,
High School, Glasgow. 2s.

=Athenæum.=--"More interesting in substance than such things usually
are."

=Journal of Education.=--"Will be welcomed by all teachers of Latin."

=School Guardian.=--"The introductory hints on translation should be
well studied; they are most valuable, and well put."


Now issued at 1s. 6d. net to meet the requirements of the Education
Department for a Latin Translation Book suited to pupils in the early
stage of the subject. In its more expensive form the volume has been
extensively used by the greater Public Schools, and is in its Twelfth
Edition. A specimen copy will be sent gratis to any teacher wishing
to examine the book with a view to introduction.

_TWELFTH EDITION._

ADITUS FACILIORES.

AN EASY LATIN CONSTRUING BOOK,

_WITH VOCABULARY._

by

A. W. POTTS, M.A., LL.D.,

Late Head-Master of the Fettes College, Edinburgh, and sometime
Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge;

AND THE

Rev. C. DARNELL, M.A.,

Late Head-Master of Cargilfield Preparatory School, Edinburgh, and
Scholar of Pembroke and Downing Colleges, Cambridge.


_Contents._

=PART I.=--=Stories and Fables=--The Wolf on his Death-Bed--Alexander
and the Pirate--Zeno's Teaching--Ten Helpers--The Swallow and the
Ants--Discontent--Pleasures of Country Life--The Wolf and the
Lamb--Simplicity of Farm Life in Ancient Italy--The Conceited
Jackdaw--The Ant and the Grasshopper--The Hares contemplate
Suicide--The Clever Parrot--Simple Living--The Human Hand--The
Bear--Value of Rivers--Love of the Country--Juno and the Peacock--The
Camel--The Swallow and the Birds--The Boy and the Echo--The Stag
and the Fountain--The Cat's Device--The Human Figure--The Silly
Crow--Abraham's Death-Bed--The Frogs ask for a King--The Gods select
severally a Favourite Tree--Hear the Other Side.

=PART II.=--=Historical Extracts=--THE STORY OF THE FABII: Historical
Introduction--The Story of the Fabii. THE CONQUEST OF VEII:
Historical Introduction--The Conquest of Veii. THE SACRIFICE OF
DECIUS: Historical Introduction--The Sacrifice of Decius.

=PART III.=--=The First Roman Invasion of Britain=--Introduction
to Extracts from Cæsar's Commentaries--The First Roman Invasion of
Britain.

=PART IV.=--=The Life of Alexander the Great=--Historical
Introduction--Life and Campaigns of Alexander the Great.

  APPENDIX.    VOCABULARY.    ADDENDA.

_Two Maps to Illustrate the First Roman Invasion of Britain and the
Campaigns of Alexander the Great._


=First Latin Sentences and Prose.=

By K. P. WILSON, M.A., late Scholar of Pembroke College, Cambridge;
Assistant-Master at Fettes College. With Vocabulary. 2s. 6d. Also
issued in Two Parts, 1s. 6d. each.

=Saturday Review.=--"This is just the right sort of help the beginner
wants.... It is certainly a book to be recommended for preparatory
schools or the lower classes of a public school."

=Educational Review.=--"Form masters in search of a new composition
book will welcome this publication."


=A First Latin Reader.=

With Notes, Exercises, and Vocabulary. By K. P. WILSON, M.A., Fettes
College. Crown 8vo, 1s. 6d.


=Tales of Ancient Thessaly.=

An Elementary Latin Reading-Book, with Notes and Vocabulary. By J.
W. E. PEARCE, M.A., Headmaster of Merton Court Preparatory School,
Sidcup; late Assistant-Master, University College School, London.
With a Preface by J. L. PATON, M.A., late Fellow of St John's
College, Cambridge; Headmaster of the Grammar School, Manchester. 1s.

=Guardian.=--"A striking and attractive volume. Altogether, we have
here quite a noteworthy little venture, to which we wish all success."


=Latin Verse Unseens.=

By G. MIDDLETON, M.A., Classical Master, Aberdeen Grammar School,
late Scholar of Emmanuel College, Cambridge; Joint-Author of
'Student's Companion to Latin Authors.' 1s. 6d.

=Schoolmaster.=--"They form excellent practice in 'unseen' work, in a
great variety of style and subject. For purposes of general study and
as practice for examinations the book is a thoroughly useful one."


=Latin Historical Unseens.=

For Army Classes. By L. C. VAUGHAN WILKES, M.A. 2s.

=Army and Navy Gazette.=--"Will be found very useful by candidates
for entrance to Sandhurst, Woolwich, and the Militia."


=Stonyhurst Latin Grammar.=

By Rev. JOHN GERARD. Second Edition. Pp. 199. 3s.


=Aditus Faciliores Græci.=

An Easy Greek Construing Book, with Complete Vocabulary. By the
late A. W. POTTS, M.A., LL.D., and the Rev. C. Darnell, M.A. Fifth
Edition. Fcap. 8vo, 3s.


=Camenarum Flosculos in Usum Fettesianorum decerptos Notis quibusdam
illustraverunt.= A. GUL. POTTS, M.A., LL.D.; GUL. A. HEARD, M.A.,
LL.D. New Impression. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d.


=Greek Accidence.=

For Use in Preparatory and Public Schools. By T. C. WEATHERHEAD,
M.A., Headmaster, Choir School, King's College, Cambridge; formerly
of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Bell University Scholar. 1s. 6d.

=Literature.=--"Not the least of its merits is the clearness of the
type, both Greek and English."

=Pilot.=--++"The most useful book for beginners we have seen."++


=The Messenian Wars.=

An Elementary Greek Reader. With Exercises and Full Vocabulary. By H.
W. AUDEN, M.A., Principal, Upper Canada College, Toronto; formerly
Assistant-Master, Fettes College, Edinburgh; late Scholar of Christ's
College, Cambridge, and Bell University Scholar. 1s. 6d.

=Saturday Review.=--"A far more spirited narrative than the Anabasis.
We warmly commend the book."


=Higher Greek Prose.=

With an Introduction by H. W. Auden, M.A., Principal, Upper Canada
College, Toronto. 2s. 6d. *** _Key (for Teachers only_),
5_s._ _net_.

=Guardian.=--"The selection of passages for translation into Greek is
certainly well made."

=Journal of Education.=--"A manual of well-graduated exercises in
Greek Prose Composition, ranging from short sentences to continuous
pieces."


=Lower Greek Prose.=

By K. P. WILSON, M.A., Assistant-Master in Fettes College, Edinburgh.
2s. 6d. *** _A Key (for Teachers only_), 5_s_. _net_.

=School Guardian.=--"A well-arranged book, designed to meet the needs
of middle forms in schools."


=Higher Greek Unseens.=

For the Use of Higher Forms and University Students. Selected, with
Introductory Hints on Translation, by H. W. AUDEN, M.A., Principal,
Upper Canada College, Toronto; formerly Assistant-Master, Fettes
College, Edinburgh. 2s. 6d.

=Educational Times.=--"It contains a good selection quite difficult
enough for the highest forms of public schools."

=Schoolmaster.=--"The introductory remarks on style and translation
form eminently profitable preliminary reading for the earnest and
diligent worker in the golden mine of classical scholarship."


=Greek Unseens.=

BEING ONE HUNDRED PASSAGES FOR TRANSLATION AT SIGHT IN JUNIOR
CLASSES. Selected and arranged. With Introduction by W. LOBBAN, M.A.,
Classical Master, The High School, Glasgow. 2s.

This little book is ++designed for the use of those preparing for
the Leaving Certificate, Scotch Preliminary, London Matriculation,
and similar examinations in Greek.++ The extracts are drawn from
over a score of different authors, and regard has been had in the
selection to literary or historical interest, and in the arrangement
to progressive difficulty.


=Greek Verse Unseens.=

By T. R. MILLS, M.A., Lecturer in Classics, University College,
Dundee, formerly Scholar of Wadham College, Oxford; Joint-Author of
'Student's Companion to Latin Authors.' 1s. 6d.

=School Guardian.=--"A capital selection made with much
discretion.... It is a great merit that the selections are
intelligible apart from their context."

=University Correspondent.=--"This careful and judicious selection
should be found very useful in the higher forms of schools and in
preparing for less advanced University examinations for Honours."


=Greek Test Papers.=

By JAMES MOIR, Litt.D., LL.D., late co-Rector of Aberdeen Grammar
School. 2s. 6d.

*** _A Key (for Teachers only_), 5_s._ _net_.

=University Correspondent.=--"This useful book.... The papers are
based on the long experience of a practical teacher, and should prove
extremely helpful and suggestive to all teachers of Greek."


=Greek Prose Phrase Book.=

Based on Thucydides, Xenophon, Demosthenes, and Plato. Arranged
according to subjects, with Indexes. By H. W. AUDEN, M.A., Editor of
'Meissner's Latin Phrase Book.' Interleaved, 3s. 6d.

=Spectator.=--"A good piece of work, and likely to be useful."

=Athenæum.=--"A useful little volume, helpful to boys who are
learning to write Greek prose."

=Journal of Education.=--"Of great service to schoolboys and
schoolmasters alike. The idea of interleaving is especially
commendable."


=Aristophanes--Pax.=

Edited, with Introduction and Notes, by H. SHARPLEY, M.A., late
Scholar of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. In 1 vol. 12s. 6d. _net_.


=A Short History of the Ancient Greeks from the Earliest Times to the
Roman Conquest.=

By P. GILES, Litt.D., LL.D., University Reader in Comparative
Philology, Cambridge. With Maps and Illustrations. [_In preparation_.]


=Outlines of Greek History.=

By the SAME AUTHOR. In 1 vol. [_In preparation_.]


=A Manual of Classical Geography.=

By JOHN L. MYRES, M.A., Fellow of Magdalene College; Professor of
Ancient History, Oxford. [_In preparation_.]


BLACKWOODS'

_ILLUSTRATED_

CLASSICAL TEXTS.

GENERAL EDITOR--H. W. AUDEN, M.A.

Principal of Upper Canada College, Toronto; formerly Assistant-Master
at Fettes College; late Scholar of Christ's College, Cambridge, and
Bell University Scholar.


_=Literature.=_--"The best we have seen of the new type of
schoolbook."

_=Academy=._--"If the price of this series is considered, we know not
where to look for its equal."

_=Public School Magazine.=_--"The plates and maps seem to have been
prepared regardless of cost. We wonder how it can all be done at the
price."


BLACKWOODS' CLASSICAL TEXTS.


=Cæsar--Gallic War, Books I.-III.=

By J. M. HARDWICH, M.A., Assistant-Master at Rugby; late Scholar of
St John's College, Cambridge. With or without Vocabulary. 1s. 6d.


=Cæsar--Gallic War, Books IV., V.=

By Rev. ST J. B. WYNNE WILLSON, M.A., Headmaster, Haileybury College;
late Scholar of St John's College, Cambridge. With or without
Vocabulary, 1s. 6d. Vocabulary separately, 3d.


=Cæsar--Gallic War, Books VI., VII.=

By C. A. A. DU PONTET, M.A., Assistant-Master at Harrow. With or
without Vocabulary. 1s. 6d.


=Virgil--Georgic I.=

By J. SARGEAUNT, M.A., Assistant-Master at Westminster; late Scholar
of University College, Oxford. 1s. 6d.


=Virgil--Georgic IV.=

By J. SARGEAUNT, M.A., Assistant-Master at Westminster; late Scholar
of University College, Oxford. 1s. 6d.


=Virgil--Æneid, Books V., VI.=

By Rev. ST J. B. WYNNE WILLSON, M.A., Headmaster, Haileybury College.
1s. 6d.


=Ovid--Metamorphoses (Selections).=

By J. H. VINCE, M.A., late Scholar of Christ's College, Cambridge,
Assistant-Master at Bradfield. 1s. 6d.


=Ovid--Elegiac Extracts.=

By R. B. BURNABY, M.A. Oxon.; Classical Master, Trinity College,
Glenalmond. 1s. 6d.


=Arrian--Anabasis, Books I., II.=

By H. W. AUDEN, M.A., late Scholar of Christ's College, Cambridge;
Principal of Upper Canada College, Toronto; formerly Assistant-Master
at Fettes College. 2s. 6d.


=Homer--Odyssey, Book VI.=

By E. E. SIKES, M.A., Fellow and Lecturer of St John's College,
Cambridge. 1s. 6d.


=Homer--Odyssey, Book VII.=

By E. E. SIKES, M.A., Fellow and Lecturer of St John's College,
Cambridge. [_In preparation._]


=Demosthenes--Olynthiacs, 1-3.=

By H. SHARPLEY, M.A., late Scholar of Corpus College, Oxford;
Assistant-Master at Hereford School. 1s. 6d.


=Horace--Odes, Books I., II.=

By J. SARGEAUNT, M.A., late Scholar of University College, Oxford;
Assistant-Master at Westminster. 1s. 6d.


=Horace--Odes, Books III., IV.=

By J. SARGEAUNT, M.A., Assistant-Master at Westminster. 1s. 6d.


=Cicero--In Catilinam, I.-IV.=

By H. W. AUDEN, M.A., late Scholar of Christ's College, Cambridge;
Principal of Upper Canada College, Toronto; formerly Assistant-Master
at Fettes College. 1s. 6d.


=Cicero--De Senectute and De Amicitia.=

By J. H. VINCE, M.A., Assistant-Master at Bradfield. [_In
preparation_.]


=Cicero--Pro Lege Manilia and Pro Archia.=

By K. P. WILSON, M.A., late Scholar of Pembroke College, Cambridge;
Assistant-Master at Fettes College. 2s. 6d.


=Cicero--Select Letters.=

By Rev. T. NICKLIN, M.A., Assistant-Master at Rossall. 2s. 6d.


=Cicero--Pro Caecina.=

By Rev. J. M. LUPTON, M.A. Cantab., Assistant-Master at Marlborough
College. [_In preparation._]


=Tacitus--Agricola.=

By H. F. MORLAND SIMPSON, M.A., late Scholar of Pembroke College,
Cambridge; Rector of Aberdeen Grammar School. [_In preparation._]


=Xenophon--Anabasis, Books I., II.=

By A. JAGGER, M.A., late Scholar of Pembroke College, Cambridge;
Headmaster, Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Mansfield. 1s. 6d.


=Sallust--Jugurtha.=

By I. F. SMEDLEY, M.A., Assistant-Master at Westminster; late Fellow
of Pembroke College, Cambridge. 1s. 6d.


=Euripides--Hercules Furens.=

By E. H. BLAKENEY, M.A., Headmaster, King's School, Ely. 2s. 6d.


=Livy--Book XXVIII.=

By G. MIDDLETON, M.A., Classical Master in Aberdeen Grammar School;
and Professor A. SOUTER, D.Litt., Yates Professor of New Testament
Greek, Mansfield College, Oxford. 1s. 6d.


=Livy--Book IX.=

By J. A. NICKLIN, B.A., late Scholar of St John's College, Cambridge;
Assistant-Master at Liverpool College. [_In preparation._]


=Nepos--Select Lives.=

By Rev. E. J. W. HOUGHTON, D.D., Headmaster of Rossall School. [_In
the press._]


MODERN LANGUAGES.


FRENCH.


=Historical Reader of Early French.=

Containing Passages Illustrative of the Growth of the French Language
from the Earliest Times to the end of the 15th Century. By HERBERT
A. STRONG, LL.D., Officier de l'Instruction Publique, Professor
of Latin, University College, Liverpool; and L. D. BARNETT, M.A.,
Litt.D. 3s.

=Guardian.=--"A most valuable companion to the modern handbooks on
historical French grammar."


=The Tutorial Handbook of French Composition.=

By ALFRED MERCIER, L.-ès-L., Lecturer on French Language and
Literature in the University of St Andrews. 3s. 6d.

=Educational Times.=--"A very useful book, which admirably
accomplishes its object of helping students preparing for
examinations.... It is on rather novel lines, which commend
themselves at once to any one who has had to teach the subject."


=French Historical Unseens.=

For Army Classes. By N. E. TOKE, B.A. 2s. 6d.

=Journal of Education.=--"A distinctly good book.... May be
unreservedly commended."


=A First Book of "Free Composition" in French.=

By J. EDMOND MANSION, B.-ès-L., Headmaster of Modern Languages in the
Royal Academical Institution, Belfast. 1s.

=School World.=--"We recommend it warmly to all teachers of French,
and trust that it will have a wide circulation."


=French Test Papers for Civil Service and University Students.=

Edited by EMILE B. LE FRANÇOIS, French Tutor, Redcliff House,
Winchester House, St Ives, &c., Clifton, Bristol. 2s.

=Weekly Register.=--"Deserves as much praise as can be heaped on
it.... Thoroughly good work throughout."


=All French Verbs in Twelve Hours (except Defective Verbs).=

By ALFRED J. WYATT, M.A. 1s.

=Weekly Register.=--"Altogether unique among French grammatical
helps, with a system, with a _coup d'œil_, with avoidance of
repetition, with a premium on intellectual study, which constitute a
new departure."


=The Children's Guide to the French Language.=

By ANNIE G. FERRIER, Teacher of French in the Ladies' College, Queen
Street, Edinburgh. 1s.

=Schoolmaster.=--"The method is good, and the book will be found
helpful by those who have to teach French to small children."


GERMAN.


=A History of German Literature.=

By JOHN G. ROBERTSON, Ph.D., Professor of German in the University of
London. 10s. 6d. net.

=Times.=--"In such an enterprise even a tolerable approach to success
is something of an achievement, and in regard to German literature
Mr Robertson appears to have made a nearer approach than any other
English writer."


=Outlines of the History of German Literature.=

For the Use of Schools. By the SAME AUTHOR. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. net.


=DR LUBOVIUS' GERMAN SERIES.=


=A Practical German Grammar, Reader and Writer.=

By LOUIS LUBOVIUS, Ph.D., German Master, Hillhead High School,
Glasgow; Lecturer on German, U.F.C. Training College; Examiner for
Degrees in Arts. University of Glasgow.

  Part I.--Elementary. 2s.
  Part II. 3s.


=Lower German.=

Reading, Supplementary Grammar with Exercises, and Material for
Composition. With Notes and Vocabulary, and Ten Songs in Sol-Fa
Notation. By LOUIS LUBOVIUS, Ph.D. 2s. 6d.

=Athenæum.=--"The volume is well designed."

=Preparatory Schools Review.=--"A capital reading-book for middle
forms."


=Progressive German Composition.=

With copious Notes and Idioms, and FIRST INTRODUCTION TO GERMAN
PHILOLOGY. By LOUIS LUBOVIUS, Ph.D. 3s. 6d.

_Also in Two Parts:_--

=Progressive German Composition.= 2s. 6d.

*** _A Key (for Teachers only_), 5_s._ _net_.

=First Introduction to German Philology.= 1s. 6d.

=Journal of Education.=--"The passages for translation are well
selected, and the notes to the passages, as well as the grammatical
introduction, give real assistance.... The part of the book dealing
with German philology deserves great praise."


=A Compendious German Reader.=

Consisting of Historical Extracts, Specimens of German Literature,
Lives of German Authors, an Outline of German History (1640-1890),
Biographical and Historical Notes. Especially adapted for the use of
Army Classes. By G. B. BEAK, M.A. 2s. 6d.

=Guardian.=--"This method of compilation is certainly an improvement
on the hotch-potch of miscellaneous passages to be found in many of
the older books."


=Spartanerjünglinge. A Story of Life in a Cadet College.=

By PAUL VON SZCZEPANSKI. Edited, with Vocabulary and Notes, by J. M.
MORRISON, M.A., Master in Modern Languages, Aberdeen Grammar School.
2s.

_Scotsman._--"An admirable reader for teaching German on the new
method, and is sure to prove popular both with students and with
teachers."


=A German Reader for Technical Schools.=

By EWALD F. SECKLER, Senior Language Master at the Birmingham
Municipal Day School; German Lecturer, Birmingham Evening School;
French Lecturer, Stourbridge Technical School. 2s.


SPANISH.


=A Spanish Grammar.=

With Copious Exercises in Translation and Composition; Easy reading
Lessons and Extracts from Spanish Authors; a List of Idioms; a
Glossary of Commercial Terms (English-Spanish); and a copious General
Vocabulary (Spanish-English). By WILLIAM A. KESSEN, Teacher of
Spanish. Hillhead High School, Glasgow. 3s. 6d.

=Investors' Review.=--"To the student who wishes to master the
Spanish language for commercial or literary purposes this admirable
little book will prove invaluable."

=Commerce.=--"Contains practically all that is necessary for the
acquirement of a working knowledge of the language."


MATHEMATICS.


=Arithmetic.=

With numerous Examples, Revision Tests, and Examination Papers. By
A. VEITCH LOTHIAN, M.A., B.Sc., F.R.S.E., Mathematical and Science
Lecturer, E.C. Training College, Glasgow. _With Answers._ 3s. 6d.

=Guardian.=--"A work of first-rate importance.... We should find it
hard to suggest any improvement.... We venture to predict that when
the book becomes known, it will command a very wide circulation in
our public schools and elsewhere."


=Practical Arithmetical Exercises.=

FOR SENIOR PUPILS IN SCHOOLS. Containing upwards of 8000 Examples,
consisting in great part of Problems, and 750 Extracts from
Examination Papers. Second Edition, Revised. 364 pages, 3s. _With
Answers_, 3s. 6d.

JAMES WELTON, Esq., _Lecturer on Education, and Master of Method,
Yorkshire College_.--"Your 'Practical Arithmetic' seems to me the
most complete collection of exercises in existence. Both idea and
execution are excellent."


=Elementary Algebra.=

The Complete Book, 288 pp., cloth, 2s. _With Answers_, 2s. 6d.
_Answers_ sold separately, price 9d. Pt. I., 64 pp., 6d. Pt. II., 64
pp., 6d. Pt. III., 70 pp., 6d. Pt. IV., 96 pp., 9d. _Answers_ to Pts.
I., II., III., each 2d. _Answers_ to Pt. IV., 3d.

=Educational News.=-"A short and compact introduction to algebra....
The exercises are remarkably good, and the arrangement of the
subject-matter is on the soundest principles. The work is, on the
whole, to be commended as being at once inexpensive and scholarly."


=Handbook of Mental Arithmetic.=

With 7200 Examples and Answers. 264 pp. 2s. 6d. Also in Six Parts,
limp cloth, price 6d. each.

=Teachers' Monthly.=--"The examples are mainly concrete, as they
should be, are of all varieties, and, what is most important, of the
right amount of difficulty."

=Educational News.=--"This is, as a matter of fact, at once a
handbook and a handy book. It is an absolute storehouse of exercises
in mental computations.... There are most valuable practical hints to
teachers."


=Modern Geometry of the Point, Straight Line, and Circle.=

An Elementary Treatise. By J. A. THIRD, D.Sc., Headmaster of Spier's
School, Beith. 3s.

=Schoolmaster.=--"Each branch of this wide subject is treated with
brevity, it is true, and yet with amazing completeness considering
the size of the volume. So earnest and reliable an effort deserves
success."

=Journal of Education.=--"An exceedingly useful text-book, full
enough for nearly every educational purpose, and yet not repellent by
overloading."

=Educational News.=--"A book which will easily take rank among the
best of its kind. The subject is treated with complete thoroughness
and honesty."


=Mensuration.=

128 pp., cloth, 1s. Also in Two Parts. Pt. I., Parallelograms and
Triangles. 64 pp. Paper, 4d.; cloth, 6d. Pt. II., Circles and Solids.
64 pp. Paper, 4d.; cloth, 6d. _Answers_ may be had separately, price
2d. each Part.

=Educational Times.=--"The explanations are always clear and to the
point, while the exercises are so exceptionally numerous that a wide
selection is offered to the students who make use of the book."


=Higher Arithmetic.=

For Ex-Standard and Continuation Classes. 128 pp. Paper, 6d.; cloth,
8d. With _Answers_, cloth, 11d. _Answers_ may be had separately,
price 3d.


=GEOGRAPHY.=


_Fifty-Fifth Thousand._

=Elements of Modern Geography.=

By the Rev. ALEXANDER MACKAY, LL.D., F.R.G.S. Revised to the present
time. Pp. 300. 3s.

=Schoolmaster.=--"For senior pupils or pupil-teachers the book
contains all that is desirable.... It is well got up, and bears the
mark of much care in the authorship and editing."


_One Hundred and Ninety-Sixth Thousand._

=Outlines of Modern Geography.=

By the SAME AUTHOR. Revised to the present time. Pp. 128. 1s.

These 'Outlines'--in many respects an epitome of the 'Elements'--are
carefully prepared to meet the wants of beginners. The arrangement is
the same as in the Author's larger works.


_One Hundred and Fifth Thousand._

=First Steps in Geography.=

By the SAME AUTHOR. 18mo, pp. 56. Sewed, 4d.; in cloth, 6d.


=A Manual of Classical Geography.=

By JOHN L. MYRES, M.A., Professor of Ancient History, Oxford. [_In
preparation._]


=CHEMISTRY AND POPULAR SCIENCE.=


=Forty Elementary Lessons in Chemistry.=

By W. L. SARGANT, M.A., Headmaster, Oakham School. Illustrated. 1s.
6d.

=Glasgow Herald.=--"Remarkably well arranged for teaching purposes,
and shows the compiler to have a real grip of sound educational
principles. The book is clearly written and aptly illustrated."


=Inorganic Tables, with Notes and Equations.=

By H. M. TIMPANY, B.Sc., Science Master, Borough Technical School,
Shrewsbury. Crown 8vo, 1s.


=Things of Everyday.=

A Popular Science Reader on Some Common Things. With Illustrations.
2s.

=Guardian.=--"Will be found useful by teachers in elementary and
continuation schools who have to conduct classes in the 'science
of common things.'... Well and strongly bound, and illustrated by
beautifully clear diagrams."


=GEOLOGY.=


=An Intermediate Text-Book of Geology.=

By Professor CHARLES LAPWORTH, LL.D., University, Birmingham. Founded
on Dr Page's 'Introductory Text-Book of Geology.' With Illustrations.
5s.

=Educational News.=--"The work is lucid and attractive, and will take
high rank among the best text-books on the subject."

=Publishers' Circular.=--"The arrangement of the new book is in every
way excellent, and it need hardly be said that it is thoroughly up to
date in all details.... Simplicity and clearness in the book are as
pronounced as its accuracy, and students and teachers alike will find
it of lasting benefit to them."

=Education.=--"The name of the Author is a guarantee that the subject
is effectively treated, and the information and views up to date."


=PALÆONTOLOGY.=


=A Manual of Palæontology.=

For the Use of Students. With a General Introduction on the
Principles of Palæontology. By Professor H. ALLEYNE NICHOLSON,
Aberdeen, and RICHARD LYDEKKER, B.A., F.G.S. &c. Third Edition.
Entirely rewritten and greatly enlarged. 2 vols. 8vo, with 1419
Engravings. 63s.


PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.


_Fifteenth Edition, Revised._

=Introductory Text-Book of Physical Geography.=

With Sketch-Maps and Illustrations. By DAVID PAGE, LL.D., &c.,
Professor of Geology in the Durham College of Science, Newcastle.
Revised by Professor CHARLES LAPWORTH. 2s. 6d.

=Athenæum.=--"The divisions of the subject are so clearly defined,
the explanations are so lucid, the relations of one portion of the
subject to another are so satisfactorily shown, and, above all, the
bearings of the allied sciences to Physical Geography are brought out
with so much precision, that every reader will feel that difficulties
have been removed and the path of study smoothed before him."


PSYCHOLOGY AND LOGIC.


=An Introductory Text-Book of Logic.=

With Numerous Examples and Exercises. By SYDNEY HERBERT MELLONE, M.A.
(Lond.), D.Sc. (Edin.); Examiner in Philosophy in the University of
Edinburgh. Fifth Edition, Revised. Crown 8vo, 5s.

=Scotsman.=--"This is a well-studied academic text-book, in which
the traditional doctrine that has been handed down from Aristotle to
the university professors of to-day is expounded with clearness, and
upon an instructive system which leads up naturally to the deeper
and different speculations involved in modern logic.... The book, in
fine, is an excellent working text-book of its subject, likely to
prove useful both to students and to teachers."


=Elements of Psychology.=

By SYDNEY HERBERT MELLONE, M.A. (Lond.), D.Sc. (Edin.), and MARGARET
DRUMMOND, M.A. (Edin.) Second Edition, Revised. Crown 8vo, 5s.

=Scotsman.=--"Thoroughness is a feature of the work, and, treating
psychology as a living science, it will be found fresh, suggestive,
and up-to-date."

=Education.=--"The authors of this volume have made satisfactory use
of accredited authorities; in addition, they have pursued original
investigations and conducted experiments, with the result that great
freshness of treatment marks their contribution to the teaching of
psychology."


=A Short History of Logic.=

By ROBERT ADAMSON, LL.D., Late Professor of Logic in the University
of Glasgow. Edited by W. R. SORLEY, Litt.D., LL.D., Fellow of the
British Academy, Professor of Moral Philosophy, University of
Cambridge. Crown 8vo, 5s net.

"There is no other History of Logic--short or long--in English, and
no similar short work in any other language."


FORESTRY.


=The Elements of British Forestry.=

A Handbook for Forest Apprentices and Students of Forestry. By
JOHN NISBET, D.Œ., Professor of Forestry at the West of Scotland
Agricultural College, Author of 'The Forester.' Crown 8vo, 5s. 6d.
net.


=Forest Entomology.=

By A. T. GILLANDERS, Wood Manager to His Grace the Duke of
Northumberland, K.G. Second Edition, Revised. With 351 Illustrations.
Demy 8vo, 15s. net.


=ELEMENTARY SERIES.=


BLACKWOODS'

LITERATURE READERS.

Edited by JOHN ADAMS, M.A., LL.D.,

Professor of Education in the University of London.

  BOOK I.     Pp. 228. Price 1s.
  BOOK II.    Pp. 275. Price 1s. 4d.
  BOOK III.   Pp. 303. Price 1s. 6d.
  BOOK IV.    Pp. 381. Price 1s. 6d.

NOTE.

++=This new Series would seek to do for Literature what has already
been done by many series of School Readers for History, Geography,
and Science. Many teachers feel that their pupils should be
introduced as soon as possible to the works of the great writers,
and that reading may be learnt from these works at least as well as
from compilations specially written for the young. Because of recent
changes in Inspection, the present is a specially suitable time for
the Introduction of such a series into Elementary Schools. In the
Preparatory Departments of Secondary Schools the need for such a
series is clamant.=++

++=It is to be noted that the books are not manuals of English
literature, but merely Readers, the matter of which is drawn entirely
from authors of recognised standing. All the usual aids given in
Readers are supplied; but illustrations, as affording no help in
dealing with Literature, are excluded from the series.=++

"The volumes, which are capitally printed, consist of selected
readings of increasing difficulty, to which notes and exercises
are added at the end. The selected pieces are admirably chosen,
especially in the later books, which will form a beginning for a
really sound and wide appreciation of the stores of good English
verse and prose."--_=Athenæum=._

"The selected readings ... are interesting, and possessed of
real literary value. The books are well bound, the paper is
excellent, and the unusual boldness and clear spacing of the
type go far to compensate for the entire absence of pictorial
illustrations."--_=Guardian=_.

A very excellent gradus to the more accessible heights of the English
Parnassus.... The appendices on spelling, word-building, and grammar
are the work of a skilful, practical teacher."--_=Pall Mall Gazette=_.

"If we had the making of the English Educational Code for Elementary
Schools, we should insert a regulation that all boys and girls
should spend two whole years on these four books, and on nothing
else."--_=Bradford Observer=_.

"The books are graded with remarkable skill."--_=Glasgow Herald.=_


="Absolutely the best set of all the history readers that have
hitherto been published."--=_=The Guardian.=_


THE STORY OF THE WORLD.

FOR THE CHILDREN OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. (In Five Books.)

By M. B. SYNGE.

_With Coloured Frontispieces and numerous Illustrations by E. M.
Synge, A.R.E., and Maps._


BOOK I. ON THE SHORES OF THE GREAT SEA. 1s. 4d.

Colonial Edition, 1s. 6d.

The Home of Abraham--Into Africa--Joseph in Egypt--The Children of
Israel--The First Merchant Fleet--Hiram, King of Tyre--King Solomon's
Fleet--The Story of Carthage--The Story of the Argonauts--The Siege
of Troy--The Adventures of Ulysses--The Dawn of History--The Fall
of Tyre--The Rise of Carthage--Hanno's Adventures--The Battle of
Marathon--King Ahasuerus--How Leonidas kept the Pass--Some Greek
Colonies--Athens--The Death of Socrates--The Story of Romulus
and Remus--How Horatius kept the Bridge--Coriolanus--Alexander
the Great--King of Macedonia--The Conquest of India--Alexander's
City--The Roman Fleet--The Adventures of Hannibal--The End of
Carthage--The Triumph of Rome--Julius Cæsar--The Flight of
Pompey--The Death of Cæsar.


BOOK II. THE DISCOVERY OF NEW WORLDS. 1s. 6d.

The Roman World--The Tragedy of Nero--The Great Fire in Rome--The
Destruction of Pompeii--Marcus Aurelius--Christians to the Lions--A
New Rome--The Armies of the North--King Arthur and his Knights--How
the Northmen conquered England--The First Crusade--Frederick
Barbarossa--The Third Crusade--The Days of Chivalry--Queen of the
Adriatic--The Story of Marco Polo--Dante's Great Poem--The Maid of
Orleans--Prince Henry, the Sailor--The Invention of Printing--Vasco
da Gama's Great Voyage--Golden Goa--Christopher Columbus--The Last of
the Moors--Discovery of the New World--Columbus in Chains--Discovery
of the Pacific--Magellan's Straits--Montezuma--Siege and Fall of
Mexico--Conquest of Peru--A Great Awakening.


BOOK III. THE AWAKENING OF EUROPE. 1s. 6d.

Colonial Edition, 1s. 9d.

Story of the Netherlands--The Story of Martin Luther--The Massacre
of St Bartholomew--The Siege of Leyden--William the Silent--Drake's
Voyage round the World--The Great Armada--Virginia--Story of the
Revenge--Sir Walter Raleigh--The 'Fairy Queen'--First Voyage of
the East India Company--Henry Hudson--Captain John Smith--The
Founding of Quebec--The Pilgrim Fathers--Thirty Years of War--The
Dutch at Sea--Van Riebeek's Colony--Oliver Cromwell--Two Famous
Admirals--De Ruyter--The Founder of Pennsylvania--The 'Pilgrim's
Progress'--William's Invitation--The Struggle in Ireland--The Siege
of Vienna by the Turks--The Story of the Huguenots--The Battle of
Blenheim--How Peter the Great learned Shipbuilding--Charles XII. of
Sweden--The Boyhood of Frederick the Great--Anson's Voyage round the
World--Maria Theresa--The Story of Scotland.


BOOK IV. THE STRUGGLE FOR SEA POWER. 1s. 9d.

The Story of the Great Mogul--Robert Clive--The Black Hole of
Calcutta--The Struggle for North America--George Washington--How
Pitt saved England--The Fall of Quebec--"The Great Lord Hawke"--The
Declaration of Independence--Captain Cook's Story--James Bruce and
the Nile--The Trial of Warren Hastings--Maria Antoinette--The Fall
of the Bastile--Napoleon Bonaparte--Horatio Nelson--The Adventures
of Mungo Park--The Travels of Baron Humboldt--The Battle of the
Nile--Copenhagen--Napoleon--Trafalgar--The Death of Nelson--The
Rise of Wellington--The First Australian Colony--Story of the Slave
Trade--The Defence of Saragoza--Sir John Moore at Corunna--The
Victory of Talavera--The Peasant Hero of the Tyrol--The "Shannon"
and the "Chesapeake"--Napoleon's Retreat from Moscow--Wellington's
Victories in Spain--The Fall of the Empire--Story of the Steam
Engine--Waterloo--The Exile of St Helena.


BOOK V. GROWTH OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. 2s.

How Spain lost South America--The Greek War--Victoria, Queen
of England--The Great Boer Trek--The Story of Natal--The
Story of Canada--The Winning of the West--A Great Arctic
Expedition--Discoveries in Australia--The Last King of France--Louis
Kossuth and Hungary--The Crimean War--The Indian Mutiny--King of
United Italy--Civil War in America--The Mexican Revolution--Founding
the German Empire--The Franco-German War--The Dream of Cecil
Rhodes--The Dutch Republics in South Africa--Livingstone's
discoveries in Central Africa--China's Long Sleep--Japan, Britain's
Ally--Russia--The Annexation of Burma--The Story of Afghanistan--The
Empire of India--Gordon, the Hero of Khartum--The Redemption of
Egypt--The Story of British West Africa--The Story of Uganda--The
Founding of Rhodesia--British South Africa--The Dominion of
Canada--Australia--The New Nation--Freedom for Cuba--Reign of Queen
Victoria--Welding the Empire--Citizenship.

Also in 2 volumes, at 3s. 6d. each net, suitable as prize books.


Uniform with this Series.

THE WORLD'S CHILDHOOD.

_With numerous Illustrations by Brinsley Le Fanu._


I. STORIES OF THE FAIRIES, 10d.

_CONTENTS_

  1.  Lit-tle Red Ri-ding Hood.
  2.  The Three Bears.
  3.  The Snow-Child.
  4.  Tom Thumb.
  5.  The Ug-ly Duck-ling.
  6.  Puss in Boots.
  7.  The Lit-tle Girl and the Cats.
  8.  Jack and the Bean-Stalk.
  9.  Gol-dy.
  10. Cin-der-el-la--Part I.
  11. Cin-der-el-la--Part II.
  12. The Lost Bell.
  13. Jack the Gi-ant Kill-er.
  14. Star-bright and Bird-ie.
  15. Beau-ty and the Beast.
  16. Peach-Dar-ling.
  17. In Search of a Night's Rest.
  18. Dick Whit-ting-ton and his Cat.
  19. The Sleep-ing Beau-ty.


II. STORIES OF THE GREEK GODS AND HEROES, 10d.

_CONTENTS._

  1.  A-bout the Gods.
  2.  The Names of the Gods.
  3.  Turn-ed in-to Stone.
  4.  The Shin-ing Char-i-ot.
  5.  The Laur-el Tree.
  6.  A Horse with Wings.
  7.  The Cy-press Tree.
  8.  The Fruits of the Earth.
  9.  Cu-pid's Gold-en Ar-rows.
  10. Pan's Pipe.
  11. A Long Sleep.
  12. The Re-ward of Kind-ness.
  13. At-a-lan-ta's Race.
  14. The Stor-y of Al-ces-tis.
  15. The Snow-White Bull.
  16. The Spi-der and his Web.
  17. I-o--the White Cow.
  18. The Three Gold-en Ap-ples.
  19. The Ol-ive Tree.
  20. A Boy Her-o of Old.
  21. The Thread of Ar-i-ad-ne.
  22. The Boy who tried to Fly.
  23. The Gold-en Harp.
      Teacher's Appendix.


"If history can be given a form likely to make it palatable to
young folks, "F" has succeeded in doing so in these 'Stories of the
English.' It is no exaggeration to say that the book represents not
only _=a masterpiece in literature for children=_, but a work of no
slight value for the national good."--=_Scotsman._=

STORIES OF THE ENGLISH FOR SCHOOLS.

By F.


_FOR JUNIOR SCHOLARS._

Vol. I.--FROM THE COMING OF THE ENGLISH TO THE ARMADA.--=1s. 6d.=

_CONTENTS._--The coming of the White Horse--The coming of the
Cross--The Fight with the Raven--Alfred the Great--Edward the
Confessor--William the Conqueror--The Kings of the Golden
Broom--Richard Lion-Heart--King John and Magna Charta--Earl Simon
the Righteous--Edward the Englishman--Bannockburn and Berkeley--The
Lions and the Lilies--A King dethroned--Prince Hal--King Harry--The
Wars of the Roses--Henry VIII. and the Revolt from Rome--Edward VI.
and Mary--Elizabeth, the Great Queen: (1) English Adventurers and the
Cruise of the _Pelican_; (2) Mary, Queen of Scots; (3) Papist Plots
and the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew; (4) The Armada.

_ILLUSTRATIONS._--Dover Castle--The Pharos, Dover--Norsemen--Homes of
our Ancestors--Château Gaillard--Tomb of a Crusader (Gervase Alard),
Winchelsea Church--Carnarvon Castle--Coronation Chair, Westminster
Abbey--Knights of the Fourteenth Century--Edward the Third--The
Battle of Cressy--Tomb of Edward the Third, Westminster Abbey--Tomb
of the Black Prince, Canterbury Cathedral--Richard II. on his voyage
to Ireland--Jerusalem Chamber, Westminster Abbey--Henry V. with
Military Attendants--Henry V. addressing his Army--Joan of Arc--The
Crowning of Henry VII. on Bosworth Field--Henry VIII.--Wolsey--Sir
Thomas More taking leave of his Daughter--Calais during the Sixteenth
Century--Queen Elizabeth--The Armada--Drake--Mary, Queen of
Scots--Drake playing Bowls with his Captains--Sir Walter Raleigh.


_FOR SENIOR SCHOLARS._

Vol. II--THE STRUGGLE FOR POWER AND GREATER ENGLAND.--=1s. 6d.=

_CONTENTS._--The First of the Stuarts--The Struggle for Power--The
Puritan Tyranny--The Second Struggle for Power: Charles II.--The
Revolution--The Fight with France: The Dutch King--Queen Anne and
Marlborough--Greater England--The Story of Anson--The Story of
Wolfe--The Story of Captain Cook--The Story of Clive--The War of
American Independence--The great French War--The Story of Nelson--The
Story of the Great Duke--The End of the Stories.

_ILLUSTRATIONS._--James I.--Bacon--Charles I.--A
Cavalier--Oliver Cromwell--The Great Fire of London--The Seven
Bishops going to the Tower--Landing of William of Orange in
England--Marlborough--Gibraltar--Chatham--Fight between the
_Centurion_ and the Manila Ship--General Wolfe--The Death of Captain
Cook--Washington--Pitt--Napoleon Bonaparte--Nelson--H.M.S. _Victory_,
Portsmouth Harbour--Duke of Wellington--Napoleon on board the
_Bellerophon_.

=_Moira O'Neill_=, Author of 'Songs of the Glen of Antrim,' writing
to Mr Blackwood, says: "F.'s 'Stories of the English' was written for
my little daughter Susan. The child is quite fascinated by it, but
equally so are all the grown-up friends to whom I have shown it. I
lent it once to a sailor uncle, and he sat up to all hours of that
night with it, and afterwards told me that he could hardly believe
that such an account of Nelson's great battles had been written by a
woman, because it was technically accurate. And a soldier friend and
critic used almost the same words about the account of Marlborough's
campaigns. F. is the most patient and faithful student of history
that I know. She has such a strong literary sense that she simply
could not write anything except in a literary form, and combined with
it she has that rare thing, a judicial mind. This, I think, gives her
work a quite peculiar value."


=Standard Readers.=

Revised Edition. With Supplementary Pages, consisting of "Spelling
Lists," "Word-Building," "Prefixes and Suffixes," &c. Profusely
Illustrated with Superior Engravings.

  BOOK   I.  40 Lessons             8d.
  BOOK  II.  40 Lessons             9d.
  BOOK III.  60 Lessons         1s. 0d.
  BOOK  IV.  60 Lessons         1s. 3d.
  BOOK   V.  60 Lessons         1s. 4d.
  BOOK  VI.  60 Lessons         1s. 6d.

=Schoolmaster.=--"We strongly recommend these books.... Children
will be sure to like them; the matter is extremely suitable and
interesting, the print very distinct, and the paper a pleasure to
feel."


=Infant Series.=

  FIRST   PICTURE PRIMER.      Sewed, 2d.; cloth, 3d.
  SECOND  PICTURE PRIMER.      Sewed, 2d.; cloth, 3d.
  PICTURE READING SHEETS.

1ST SERIES. | 2ND SERIES.

Each containing 16 sheets, unmounted, 3s. 6d. Mounted on 8 boards
with cloth border, price 14s.; varnished, 3s. 6d. per set extra.

Or the 16 sheets laid on linen, varnished, and mounted on a roller,
17s. 6d.

THE INFANT PICTURE READER. With numerous Illustrations. Cloth, limp,
6d.

=Educational News.=--"Teachers will find these Primers a useful
introduction to the art of reading. We consider them well adapted to
their purpose."


=Geographical Readers.=

With numerous Maps, Diagrams, and Illustrations.

  GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. (For Stand. I.)  96 pp.    9d.
  BOOK   I.  (For Stand.  II.)  96 pp.            9d.
  BOOK  II.  (For Stand. III.) 156 pp.        1s. 0d.
  BOOK III.  (For Stand.  IV.) 192 pp.        1s. 3d.
  BOOK  IV.  (For Stand.   V.) 256 pp.        1s. 6d.
  BOOK   V.  (For Stand.  VI.) 256 pp.        1s. 6d.
  BOOK  VI.  (For Stand. VII.) 256 pp.        1s. 9d.

=Schoolmaster.=--"This is a really excellent series of Geographical
Readers. The volumes have, in common, the attractiveness which good
paper, clear type, effective woodcuts, and durable binding can
present; whilst their contents, both as to quality and quantity, are
so graded as to be admirably adapted to the several stages of the
pupil's progress."


=Historical Readers.=

With numerous Portraits, Maps, and other Illustrations.

  SHORT STORIES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY    160 pp.  1s. 0d.
  FIRST  HISTORICAL READER              160 pp.  1s. 0d.
  SECOND HISTORICAL READER              224 pp.  1s. 4d.
  THIRD  HISTORICAL READER              256 pp.  1s. 6d.

=Schoolmaster.=--"These new Historical Readers have been carefully
compiled. The facts are well selected; the story is well told in
language most likely to impress itself in the memory of young
children; and the poetical pieces are fitting accompaniments to the
prose."

=School Board Chronicle.=--"The treatment is unconventional, but
always in good taste. The volumes will meet with much favour
generally as lively, useful, high-toned Historical Readers."


=Standard Authors.=

Adapted for Schools.

HAWTHORNE'S TANGLEWOOD TALES. With Notes and Illustrations. 160 pp.
1s. 2d.


=Aytoun's Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers.=

With Introduction, Notes, and Life of the Author, for Junior Classes.

  EDINBURGH AFTER FLODDEN     32 pages, 2d.; cloth, 3½d.
  THE EXECUTION OF MONTROSE   32 pages, 2d.; cloth, 3½d.
  THE BURIAL-MARCH OF DUNDEE  32 pages, 2d.; cloth, 3½d.
  THE ISLAND OF THE SCOTS     32 pages, 2d.; cloth, 3½d.

=Teachers' Aid.=--"Capital annotated editions.... Beautifully clear
and painstaking; we commend them heartily to our brother and sister
teachers."

=Educational News.=--"Useful issues of well-known poems.... The notes
are exceedingly appropriate, and leave nothing in doubt. For class
purposes we can specially recommend these little books."


=School Recitation Books.=

  BOOK    I.  32 pages        2d.
  BOOK   II.  32 pages        2d.
  BOOK  III.  48 pages        3d.
  BOOK   IV.  48 pages        3d.
  BOOK    V.  64 pages        4d.
  BOOK   VI.  64 pages        4d.

=Schoolmistress.=--"These six books are a valuable contribution
to school literature. The poems for each standard are judiciously
chosen, the explanatory notes and questions at the end of every
lesson are very suitable."


=Grammar and Analysis.=

  BOOK  II.  24 pages       Paper, 1½d.;    cloth, 2½d.
  BOOK III.  24 pages       Paper, 1½d.;    cloth, 2½d.
  BOOK  IV.  48 pages       Paper, 2d.;     cloth, 3d.
  BOOK   V.  64 pages       Paper, 3d.;     cloth, 4d.
  BOOK  VI.  64 pages       Paper, 3d.;     cloth, 4d.
  BOOK VII.  64 pages       Paper, 3d.;     cloth, 4d.

=Schoolmaster.=--"This is a series of good practical books whose
merits ought to ensure for them a wide sale. Among their leading
merits are simplicity in definitions, judicious recapitulation, and
abundance of well-selected exercises for practice."

=Teachers' Aid.=--"For thoroughness, method, style, and high-class
work, commend us to these little text-books.... A practical hand has
impressed every line with individuality.... We are determined to use
them in our own department."


=Arithmetical Exercises.=

  BOOK   I.           Paper, 1½d.;    cloth, 2½d.
  BOOK  II.           Paper, 1½d.;    cloth, 2½d.
  BOOK III.           Paper, 2d.;     cloth, 3d.
  BOOK  IV.           Paper, 2d.;     cloth, 3d.
  BOOK   V.           Paper, 2d.;     cloth, 3d.
  BOOK  VI.           Paper, 2d.;     cloth, 3d.
  BOOK VII.           Paper, 3d.;     cloth, 4d.
  HIGHER ARITHMETIC for Ex-Standard and Continuation
  Classes.  128 pp.   Paper, 6d.;     cloth, 8d.

*** _ANSWERS may be had separately, and are supplied direct to
Teachers only._

=Schoolmaster.=--"We can speak in terms of high praise respecting
this series of Arithmetical Exercises. They have been carefully
constructed. They are well graduated, and contain a large and varied
collection of examples.... We can recommend the series to our
readers."

=Schoolmistress.=--"Large quantity, excellent quality, great
variety, and good arrangement are the characteristics of this set of
Arithmetical Exercises."


=Elementary Grammar and Composition.=

Based on the ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. With a Chapter on WORD-BUILDING
and DERIVATION, and containing numerous Exercises. New Edition. 1s.

=Schoolmaster.=--"A very valuable book. It is constructive as well
as analytic, and well-planned exercises have been framed to teach
the young student how to use the elements of his mother-tongue....
A junior text-book that is calculated to yield most satisfactory
results."

=Educational Times.=--"The plan ought to work well.... A decided
advance from the old-fashioned practice of teaching."


=Grammar and Analysis.=

Scotch Code.

  STANDARD   II.  24 pages.  Paper, 1½d.;    cloth, 2½d.
  STANDARD  III.  32 pages.  Paper, 1½d.;    cloth, 2½d.
  STANDARD   IV.  56 pages.  Paper, 2½d.;    cloth, 3½d.
  STANDARD    V.  56 pages.  Paper, 2½d.;    cloth, 3½d.
  STANDARD   VI.  64 pages.  Paper, 3d.;     cloth, 4d.

=Teachers' Aid.=--"These are thoughtfully written and very
practically conceived little helps.... They are most exhaustive, and
brimming with examples."


=New Arithmetical Exercises.=

Scotch Code.

  STANDARD    I.  32 pages    Paper, 1½d.;    cloth, 2½d.
  STANDARD   II.  32 pages    Paper, 1½d.;    cloth, 2½d.
  STANDARD  III.  56 pages    Paper, 2d.;     cloth, 3d.
  STANDARD   IV.  64 pages    Paper, 3d.;     cloth, 4d.
  STANDARD    V.  80 pages    Paper, 4d.;     cloth, 6d.
  STANDARD   VI.  80 pages    Paper, 4d.;     cloth, 6d.
  HIGHER ARITHMETIC for Ex-Standard and Continuation
  Classes        128 pages    Paper, 6d.;     cloth, 8d.

*** _ANSWERS may be had separately, and are supplied direct to
Teachers only._

=Educational News.=--"The gradation of the exercises is perfect,
and the examples, which are very numerous, are of every conceivable
variety. There is ample choice for the teacher under every head. We
recommend the series as excellent School Arithmetics."


=Merit Certificate Arithmetic.=

96 pp. Paper cover, 6d. cloth, 8d


=Mensuration.=

128 pp., cloth, 1s. Also in Two Parts. Pt. I., Parallelograms and
Triangles. 64 pp. Paper, 4d.; cloth, 6d. Pt. II., Circles and Solids.
64 pp. Paper, 4d.; cloth, 6d. _Answers_ may be had separately, price
2d. each Part.

=Educational Times.=--"The explanations are always clear and to the
point, while the exercises are so exceptionally numerous that a wide
selection is offered to the students who make use of the book."


=A First Book on Physical Geography.=

For Use in Schools. 64 pp. 4d.

=Journal of Education.=--"This is a capital little book, describing
shortly and clearly the geographical phenomena of nature."


=Manual Instruction--Woodwork.= DESIGNED TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF
THE MINUTE OF THE SCIENCE AND ART DEPARTMENT ON MANUAL INSTRUCTION.
By GEORGE ST JOHN, Undenominational School, Handsworth, Birmingham.
With 100 Illustrations. 1s.


=Blackwoods' Simplex Civil Service Copy Books.=

By JOHN T. PEARCE, B.A., Leith Academy. Price 2d. each.

CONTENTS OF THE SERIES.

  No. 1. Elements, Short Letters, Words.
   "  2. Long Letters, Easy Words.
   "  3. Capitals, Half-line Words.
   "  4. Text, Double Ruling, Sentences.
   "  5. Half-Text, Sentences, Figures.
   "  6. Intermediate, Transcription, &c.
   "  7. Small Hand, Double Ruling.
   "  8. Small Hand, Single Ruling.

_The Headlines are graduated, up-to-date, and attractive._


=Blackwoods' Universal Writing Books.=

Have been designed to accompany the above series, and teachers will
find it advantageous to use them as Dictation Copies, because by them
the learner is kept continually writing at the correct slope, &c. No
1. is adapted for LOWER CLASSES, No. 2 for HIGHER CLASSES. Price 2d.
each.

=Practical Teacher.=--"Our readers would do well to write for a
specimen of this book, and of the blank exercise-books ruled on the
same principle. They are worth careful attention."

=School World.=--"Those teachers who are anxious to train their
pupils to write in the style associated with Civil Service
Competitions should find the copy-books designed by Mr Pearce very
useful. The writing is certainly simple; it may, in fact, be reduced
to four elements, in which the pupil is rigorously exercised in
the earlier books before proceeding in later numbers to continuous
writing."

=Schoolmaster.=--"Those of our readers in search of new books should
see these."

=Journal of Education.=--"Aids the eye and guides the hand, and thus
checkmates any bias towards error in the slope."


UNIVERSITY CALENDARS.


=St Andrews University Calendar.=

Printed and Published for the Senatus Academicus. Crown 8vo, 2s. 6d.
net.


=St Andrews University L.L.A. Calendar.=

Printed and Published for the Senatus Academicus. Crown 8vo, 1s.


WILLIAM BLACKWOOD & SONS, EDINBURGH AND LONDON.




  TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE

  Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.

  Bold text is denoted by =equal signs=.

  Underlined text is denoted by ++double plus signs++.

  The 3-star triangle symbol is denoted by ***.

  The yogh symbol is denoted by ȝ; two occurrences in "Winȝet's".

  A subscript is denoted by _{x}; one occurrence in "CHCl_{3}".

  Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
  corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
  the text and consultation of external sources.

  Except for those changes noted below, misspelling in the text, and
  inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. For example,
  well-known, well known; piquet, picket; round shot, round-shot.

  Pg 27. 'a voyage' replaced by 'on a voyage'.
  Pg 29. 'but what' replaced by 'but that'.
  Pg 121. 'the somewat' replaced by 'the somewhat'.
  Pg 162. 'biovouacking' replaced by 'bivouacking'.
  Pg 171. 'no more that' replaced by 'no more than'.
  Pg 210. 'mauœuvring' replaced by 'manœuvring'.
  Pg 216. 'now adepts' replaced by 'now adept'.
  Pg 218. 'reconnaisance' replaced by 'reconnaissance'.
  Pg 221. 'that those' replaced by 'than those'.