  1John Shipp’s is the only book from the ranks which has been reprinted within the last ten years, I believe. Mr. Fitchett reproduced a few chapters of Anton and others in his rather disappointing Wellington’s Men. 2Kincaid, Random Shots from a Rifleman, p. 8. 3This was Woodberry of the 18th Hussars. 4Sir William Gomm’s Life, p. 31. 5See his curious dispatch from Cartaxo dated February 6th, 1811, concerning preaching officers. 6He describes himself as “rolling on the floor like one distracted, with the pains of hell getting hold, and hope seeming to be for ever shut out of my mind.”—Surtees, p. 172. 7He calls his little book Memoir of a Sergeant late of the 43rd Light Infantry, previously to and during the Peninsular War, including an account of his Conversion from Popery to the Protestant Religion. 8John Stevenson of the Scots Fusilier Guards. 9Life of Sir W. Napier, i. 235, 236. 10Dispatches, vii. p. 559. 11Ibid. vi. p. 485. 12This preposterous remark may be found on p. 28 of vol. vi. 13Only printed in 1894. 14Edited by Col. Willoughby Verner. 15Published 1881. Invaluable as a private record for the staff. 16Edited by his kinsman, the present Provost of Eton. 17Larpent was a lawyer who acted as Wellington’s Judge Advocate. 18It is hardly necessary to mention Jones’s slight Sketch (1818) or Goddard’s mass of undigested contemporary material (1814). 19Journal in Girod de l’Ain, p. 98. 20His well-written two volumes (issued 1829) are said to have been very largely the work of his aide-de-camp, St. Cyr-Nugues. 21Vacani’s Italian general history of the war is very slight on the English side, being mainly devoted to the doings of the Italians in Catalonia. 22Published under the rather romantic title of A Boy in the Peninsular War (which suggests a work of fiction), by Julian Corbett, in 1899. 23Published in the Revue Hispanique in 1907. 25Published 1831. A first-rate authority for Rifle Brigade and Light Division matters. 26Of the 29th Regt. Published only in 1887. 27Published 1867. 28Not to be confused with Sir George Bell. 29See for a dissection and disproof of this story Ropes’s Waterloo, pp. 238–242, 3rd edition. Mr. Horsburgh (p. 138) and others accept the story. But despite Lady Shelley’s note it is really incredible. 30For a dissection of Marbot’s blunders see the essay on his methods in Holland Rose’s Pitt and Napoleon, pp. 156–166. 31Blakeney wrote about 1835, at Paxos in the Ionian Isles; Smith in 1844, in India; Kincaid in 1847. 32His extraordinarily vivid narrative of the fortunes of Browne’s provisional battalion at Barrosa conflicts in detail with contemporary evidence which there is no reason to doubt, e.g. as to the numbers of the battalion, and as to the exact behaviour of General Whittingham. 33A strong case is that of the sergeant of the 43rd, mentioned above, on p. 7, who lets in scraps of Napier into his patchwork with the most unhappy effect. 34But only published by Constable & Co. in 1828. For more of his story, see the chapter on “The Rank and File.” 35Sergeant Lawrence’s Autobiography was not published till 1886. Cooper’s Seven Campaigns in Portugal, etc., came out in 1869. 36Only printed quite lately in the Revue Hispanique for 1907. 37Hanover, 1907, 2 vols. 38Published at Lisbon in 4 vols., 1862–80. 39His book is called Reminiscences of a Veteran, and was published so late as 1861. 40Twelve Years of Military Adventure, published 1829. 41Published in 1880. 42Published 1835, 2 vols. 43Published 1845. 44Two vols., published 1856. 45By D. Beresford-Pack, 1905. 46By Hon. Claud Vivian, 1897. 47Two vols., 1904. 48E.g. the cavalry general Long, who was writing in the spring of 1810 that “the next campaign in the Peninsula will close the eventful scene in the Peninsula, as far as we are concerned. I am strongly of opinion that neither ‘Marshal’ Wellington nor ‘Marshal’ Beresford will prevent the approaching subjugation of Portugal.” And, again, “Wellington, I suspect, feels himself tottering on his throne, and wishes to conciliate at any sacrifice.” 49Kincaid, chap. v., May, 1811. 50Cooke’s Narrative of events in the South of France, pp. 47, 48. 51Stanhope’s Conversations with the Duke of Wellington, p. 14. 52For a curious instance of this sort in the 92nd, see Hope’s Military Memoirs of an Infantry Officer, pp. 449–451. Cf. Sir George Napier’s Autobiography, pp. 125–128. 53Gronow’s Recollections, p. 66. 54McGrigor’s Autobiography, pp. 304, 305. 55When sending him to command in India. 56These two letters are in the Rice-Jones Correspondence (this R.E. officer is not to be confounded with Sir John Jones, the historian), lent to me by Hon. Henry Shore of Mount Elton, Clevedon. 57See Colborne’s Life and Letters, ed. Moore Smith, pp. 126, 127; 235, 236. 58Napier, vi. p. 175. 59Grattan, p. 332. 60The memorandum is on pp. 261–263 of vol. iv. of Wellington’s Dispatches. 61Dispatches, vol. v. pp. 123, 124. 62For an interesting chapter on the adventures of Colquhoun Grant see the autobiography of his brother-in-law, Sir J. McGrigor. 63Stanhope’s Conversations with the Duke of Wellington, p. 19. 64Foy’s diary in Girod de l’Ain, p. 178. 65For an analysis of the controversy, see Dumolin’s preface to his PrÉcis des Guerres de la RÉvolution, and compare Colin’s Education Militaire de Napoleon. 66See especially the record of the great English and Austrian charges against French infantry at Villers-en-Cauchies, Beaumont, and Willems (Fortescue’s British Army, lv. 240–56). 67The French battalion then comprising nine companies, of which one, the Voltigeur company, would not be in the column. 68From an essay entitled Character of the Armies of the various European Powers, in a collection called Essays on the Theory and Practice of the Art of War. 3 vols. London: Philips & Co. 69Though Marshal Broglie had used something like an approach to permanent divisions in the Seven Years’ War: see Colin’s Transformations de la Guerre, p. 97. 70Colin quotes as bad examples of French armies coming on the field dispersedly, without the proper timing and co-operation, Wattignies, Neresheim (1796), and all Moreau’s operations beyond the Rhine in that year from Rastadt to Ettlingen (Transformations de la Guerre, p. 99). 71See Dumolin’s PrÉcis d’Histoire Militaire, x. p. 263, and Colin’s Tactique et Discipline, p. lxxxv. 72At Arcola Augereau’s division attacked the bridge over a raised road passing over a dyke only 30 feet broad, with marshes on each side. There were three regiments, one behind the other. Cohorn’s column at Ebersburg was not so deep, only a brigade. But it had to defile over a bridge 200 yards long. 73E.g.: this was the formation of the 3rd corps at LÜtzen, see Fabry, Journal des 3me et 5me Corps en 1813, p. 7. 74Foy’s Vie Militaire, ed. Girod de l’Ain, p. 107. 75Habitually but not invariably: e.g. for a use of eight skirmishing companies from five battalions at Villamuriel in Oct. 12, by Maucune, see BÉchaud’s Journal, pp. 406–7, in Études NapolÉoniemes I. 76Sir James Sinclair in his Observations on the Military System of Great Britain, so far as respects the formation of Infantry, deals with this idea at great length, and proposes to have 160 skirmishers to each battalion of 640 men. 77See Fortescue, British Army, iv. p. 921. 78See the anecdote of the 28th regiment at Alexandria, whose rear rank faced about, and fought back-to-back with the front rank, when unexpectedly assailed from behind by French cavalry which had passed through a gap in the line. Hence the grant of the double shako-plate, before and behind, made to the regiment. 79Till lately I had supposed that Reynier had at least his left wing, or striking Échelon, in columns of battalions, but evidence shown me by Col. James proves that, despite of the fact that the French narratives do not show it, the majority at least of Reynier’s men were deployed. This is borne out by Bunbury’s narrative, p. 244, where it is definitely stated, as well as by Boothby’s, p. 78. 80Those of Reynier. See my Peninsular War, Bussaco chapter. 81See Stanhope’s Conversations with the Duke of Wellington, p. 109. 82The phrase comes from the De Ros Manuscript, quoted in Maxwell’s Life of Wellington, ii. p. 20. 83Foy’s Vie Militaire, ed. Girod de l’Ain, pp. 270, 271. 84Donkin’s Brigade, Wellington’s last reserve, which was never engaged with infantry all day, lost 195 men without firing a shot—save by its skirmishers. 85See Fortescue, iv. p. 841. 86The interesting circular to Brigadiers conveying this information runs, “The Commander of the Forces recommends the companies of the 5/60th regiment to the particular care of the officers commanding the brigades to which they are attached: they will find them to be most useful, active, and brave troops in the field, and they will add essentially to the strength of their brigades.”—General Orders, p. 262. 87These “independent rifle companies” of the K.G.L., which appear in so many “morning states,” were isolated men left behind (mainly, no doubt, in hospital) by the two “Light Battalions” of the K.G.L. when they left Portugal in company with Sir John Moore. 88To descend into detail, in May, 1811, the 5/60th supplied light companies to Stopford’s, Nightingale’s, Mackinnon’s (3 companies), Myers’, Hulse’s, Colborne’s, Hoghton’s, and Abercrombie’s brigades. The Brunswick Oels JÄgers supplied the extra company to Hay’s and Dunlop’s brigades, while the rest of the battalion was in Sontag’s brigade. The 3/95th gave a company to Howard’s brigade, while the other battalions of this famous rifle corps were in the two brigades of the Light Division. The German brigade of LÖwe had its own “independent light companies.” Only Colville’s and Burne’s brigades had no such provision in the whole army. 89Save in Hamilton’s Portuguese division, which did not get its CaÇador battalions till 1812. 90In 1811 of the armies opposed to Wellington (Soult’s and Marmont’s) there was one division of 6 battalions, one of 9, two of 10, one of 11, seven of 12, one of 13. The battalions varied from 400 apiece in the 5th corps to over 600 in the 1st corps. The average was about 500, not including men detached or in hospital. A voltigeur company would have varied between 80 and 110 men. 91Note especially Vigo-Roussillon’s account of Barrosa, where he speaks of his regiment having pierced the first British line, when all that it really did was to thrust back four companies of the 95th rifles, and two of the 20th Portuguese. Similarly Reynier’s report on Bussaco says that Merle’s division broke the front line of Picton, and only failed before his second. But the “front line” was only five light companies. 92Wellington to Beresford, Dispatches, vii. p. 427. 93If the ordre mixte was formed by a regiment of three battalions of 600 men each, only 634 men out of 1800 were in the front two ranks. If by a regiment of four battalions (two deployed, two in column in the flanks), the slightly better result of 1034 men out of 2400 able to use their muskets would be produced. 94This I have from a document in the archives of the Ministry of War at Paris, which says that “the line of attack was formed by a brigade in column of attack. To its right and left the front line was in a mixed formation; that is to say, on each side of the central column was a battalion deployed in line, and on each of the outer sides of the deployed battalions was a battalion or regiment in column, so that at each end the line was composed of a column ready to form square, in case hostile cavalry should attempt to fall upon one of our flanks.” 95A phrase used by a French marshal at Bussaco! 96Reprinted by General Trochu in his ArmÉe franÇaise en 1867, pp. 239, 240. 99Though a few depleted regiments also went home, so that the total strength never was over 18 regiments, 9000 horse or under, to 70,000 men in all. See pages 192–3. 100See Dispatches, vol. viii. p. 112. 101General Orders (collected volume), pp. 481, 482. 102See Chapter XVIII., “A note on Sieges.” 103See the Diary of Major Brooke, in Blackwood for 1908, p. 448, which I edited. 104Memoirs of Sergeant Donaldson (94th), ii. p. 217, and cf. for a similar story, Rifleman Harris, pp. 30, 31. 105See Sidney’s Life of Lord Hill, p. 228. 106He wanted, he wrote, “to have a place of meeting where they can enjoy social intercourse combined with economy, and cultivate old acquaintance formed on service.” Hitherto “officers coming to town for a short period were driven into expensive and bad taverns and coffee-houses, without a chance of meeting their friends or any good society.” 107Twenty-five Years in the Rifle Brigade, by Surtees of the 95th. 108Caddell of the 28th, p. 99. 109Especially Bunbury, Dallas, and Blakeney. 110“Le gÉnÉral Était de haute stature,” says Vigo-Roussillon: “il avait les cheveux tous blancs, et Était encore alerte et trÈs vif, quoiqu’il avait soixante ans. Sa physionomie noble et ouverte m’avait inspirÉ le respect, mÊme sur le champ de bataille.”—Revue des deux Mondes, August, 1891. 111Stanhope’s Conversations with Wellington, p. 69. 112Kincaid, p. 116. 113That he made the request is definitely stated in Stanhope’s Conversations, p. 69. 114Grattan’s Adventures with the Connaught Rangers, p. 16. 115Grattan, pp. 116, 117. 116See McCarthy’s Siege of Badajoz, p. 35, and Robinson’s Life of Picton, ii. p. 170. 117McCarthy’s Siege of Badajoz, p. 41. 118Robinson’s Life of Picton, ii. p. 390. 119See especially McCarthy, quoted above, and Macpherson (notes in Robinson, ii. pp. 394–397). 120Cole’s Peninsular Generals, ii. p. 84. 121His brother, Sir Charles Craufurd, had married the Dowager Duchess of Newcastle, and as the duke was a minor, his mother and her husband disposed of the Pelham pocket-boroughs and other patronage. 122He was absent on leave from the winter of 1810 till May 1811, and only just rejoined in time for the battle of Fuentes de OÑoro. 123All this comes from Shaw-Kennedy’s Diary, which is printed at length in a most unlikely place,—the Appendix to Lord F. Fitzclarence’s Manual of Outpost Duties, a book of the 1840’s. 124See Larpent’s Journal, p. 85, and Alex. Craufurd’s Life of General Robert Craufurd, pp. 184, 185. 125William Napier refused to subscribe to a testimonial to Alten at the end of the war, openly saying that he saw no sufficient merit in him. 126For a bitter story of how his brigadiers, Barclay and Beckwith, spoke of him, see Moore-Smith’s Life of Colborne, p. 174. Cf. too p. 35 of Hay’s Reminiscences of 1808–15, for an anecdote of Craufurd’s occasional snubbing of his officers. Cf. also George Simmond’s British Rifleman, pp. 26, 27. 127Jan. 20, 1912, in a letter from Colonel Willoughby Verner. 128See Hay’s Peninsular Reminiscences, 1808–15. 129See Rifleman Harris, p. 206. 130Hardinge advised the advance, but it was Cole who, being in responsible command, ordered and executed it. He it is who should have the credit both for the resolve and for the tactics. 131See Wellington to Torrens (the patronage secretary at the Horse Guards), August 4, 1810. 132See, e.g., Wellington, Dispatches, vi., under Oct. 4, 1810. Among the generals whose departure he viewed (for various reasons) with equanimity, were Sir Robert Wilson, Lightburne, Tilson, and Nightingale. 133Minute on p. 572 of the Collected General Orders. 134Stewart chafed at his checks, and wrote bitterly to Castlereagh about the insignificance of his position. 136For special note as to the functions of the “Staff Corps of Cavalry” raised in March, 1813, see the General Order of that date. This body must be carefully distinguished from the Staff Corps, concerning which see Fortescue’s British Army, iv. p. 881: it was a kind of subsidiary corps of military artificers, independent of the Ordnance Office to which “Royal Military Artificers” belonged. This was a vicious duplication of parallel organizations. 137General Order, Freneda, Nov. 1, 1811. 138Private Journal of Judge-Advocate Larpent, 1812–14, published London, 1853. 139Names may suffice to show the class from which they were drawn: Marquis of Worcester, Lord March, Bathurst, Bouverie, Burghersh, Canning, Manners, Stanhope, Fremantle, Gordon, de Burgh, Cadogan, Fitzroy Somerset. 141See General Order of May 4, 1809. 142Its most ambitious efforts were a small volume of maps printed at Cambray, during the occupation of France after Waterloo, with notes by Col. Carmichael Smith, R.E., and the General Orders for 1815, printed at Paris, by Sergeant Buchan, 3rd Guards, head printer to the Army of Occupation. 143See, for example, York’s Alkmaar dispatch of Oct. 6, 1799. 144E.g. in Walsh’s Expedition to Holland in 1799, p. 22, the whole original landing force of the British, 15,000 bayonets, is called the “first division,” but only in contrast to the troops not yet landed, not technically. 145With the exception, of course, that the 1st and 3rd CaÇador battalions served all through the war in the two brigades of the Light Division. 1471/43rd, 1/52nd, 1/95th. 1482/5th, 1/11th, 2/28th, 2/34th, 2/39th, 2/42nd, 2/58th. The 1/40th and 2/24th joined Wellington in time for Talavera. 149The original British brigade of the 5th division consisted of the 3/1st, 1/9th, and 2/38th. 150The 2/30th and 2/44th, to which the 1/4th was subsequently added. 151The name Army-Corps appears first in the Waterloo Campaign of 1815. 152The succession of brigadiers seems to have been, in the one brigade, Pack followed by Wilson and Alex. Campbell; in the other Bradford continued almost through the whole war, but McMahon was in command in part of 1811–12. After June, 1811, Ashworth’s Brigade was regularly attached to the 2nd division. 153Now no longer wanted, as Leith had received his second British brigade. 1542nd, 1/36th, and (added long months after) the 1/32nd. 1551/50th, 1/71st, and 1/92nd. 15651st, 85th, with the Chasseurs Britanniques and the Brunswick Oels JÄgers. The 68th joined in July, but the 85th went home in October. 1571st and 2nd Light Battalions, K.G.L., which landed very late, joined Beresford’s army in Estremadura, and only united with their proper division in June. 158See notes on these battalions in the chapter on “The Auxiliaries.” 159After Albuera their nickname was changed to “the Enthusiastics.” 160This happened with the 5th, 28th, 38th, 39th, 42nd. The 2/4th and 2/52nd came out for a short time, and then discharged their serviceable men into their 1st battalion, and went home. 162These thirty-seven were the 2nd, 12th, 13th, 16th, 17th, 19th, 20th, 22nd, 29th, 33rd, 37th, 41st, 46th, 49th, 51st, 54th, 55th, 64th, 65th, 68th, 70th, 74th, 75th, 76th, 77th, 80th, 85th, 86th, 93rd, 94th, and 97th to 103rd. 163Which were intended for home service only, and were called the “Army of Reserve.” But ere long they were utilized for general service. 164The regiments which raised belated second battalions were the 12th (in 1813), the 22nd (in 1814), the 37th (in 1811), the 41st (in 1814), the 73rd (in 1809), the 86th (in 1814), the 93rd (in 1814). The 95th (in 1809), and the 56th in 1813, raised a third battalion. 165For all the establishments see Table in Appendix I. 166This was the case with the 7th, 48th, 52nd and 88th in 1811. 167The 3rd Hussars, K.G.L., 2/14th, 2/23rd, 2/43rd, 2/81st, never returned to serve under Wellington in 1809–14. 168In 1810 the following returned to Portugal 3/1st, 1/4th, 1/9th, 1/50th, 1/71st, 1/79th. In 1811 the following: 2nd, 1/26th, 1/28th, 1/32nd, 1/36th, 51st, 2/52nd, 1st and 2nd Light K.G.L. In 1812 the following: 1/5th, 1/6th, 20th, 1/38th, 1/42nd, 2/59th, 1/82nd, 1/91st. In 1813 the 7th, 10th, 15th, 18th Hussars, the first and third battalions of the 1st Foot Guards, and the 76th. 169These were the 1/3rd, 2/9th, 29th, 1/40th, 1/45th, 5/60th, 97th, the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 7th Line Battalions of the K.G.L., and the 20th Light Dragoons, the last-named incomplete. 170The regiments which arrived with Wellesley, or before him, during the spring and the preceding winter of 1808–1809, were 3/27th, 2/31st, and 14th Light Dragoons, during the winter; in April, 1st Coldstream Guards, 1st Scots Fusilier Guards, 2/7th, 2/30th, 2/48th, 2/53rd, 2/66th, 2/83rd, 2/87th, 1/88th, 16th Light Dragoons, 3rd Dragoon Guards, 4th Dragoons. 171Since April there had come out the 23rd Light Dragoons, 1st Hussars, K.G.L., 1/61st, 1/48th, 2/24th; but the 20th Light Dragoons had been deducted (sent to Sicily), while the 2/9th and 2/30th had been sent back to Lisbon, for passage to Gibraltar. The net gain, therefore, between April and July was only one cavalry regiment. 172To recapitulate again. 1st battalions: 1/3rd, 1/40th, 1/45th, 1/48th, 1/61st, 1/88th. 2nd battalions: 2/7th, 2/31st, 2/24th, 2/48th, 2/53rd, 2/66th, 2/83rd, 2/87th. Other junior battalions: 3/27th (left at Lisbon), 5/60th. Single battalion regiments, 29th, 97th. There were also two “Battalions of Detachments.” 173The strongest battalions at Talavera were 1/3rd Foot Guards 1019, 1st Coldstream 970, 1/48th 807; the weakest were 2/66th 526, 97th 502, 2/83rd 535. 174Viz. 2/7th, 2/48th. 1752/24th, 2/31st, 2/53rd, 2/66th. The first battalions of three of these were in the East Indies, that of the fourth in Sicily. 1761/7th, 1/11th, 1/23rd, 1/37th, 1/39th, 1/57th. 1772/5th, 2/34th, 2/38th, 2/44th, 2/47th, 2/58th, 2/62nd, 2/84th. 17868th, 74th, 77th, 85th, 94th. 179This was the case with the 2/62nd, 77th, 1/37th, 2/84th. 180The sixth of the units of the provisional battalions being a single battalion corps, the 2nd Foot or Queen’s. 181Typical figures are 77th, landed in July 859 of all ranks—had only 560 present in September. The 68th, landed about the same time, had 233 sick to 412 effective: the 51st, landed in April, 246 sick to 251 effective! But the 51st had lost men in the second siege of Badajoz. The other two regiments had not seen much service. 182Over 14,000 men in October, 1811. 183Wellington wrote to the Secretary of War (Lord Bathurst), “I assure you that some of the best battalions with the army are the provisional battalions. I have lately seen two of these engaged, that formed of the 2/24th and 2/58th, and that formed from the 2nd Queen’s and 2/53rd: it is impossible for any troops to behave better. The same arrangement could now be applied with great advantage to the 51st and 68th, and also to other regiments” (Dispatches, x. p. 629). There was another “provisional battalion” composed of the 2/30th and 2/44th for a short time in 1812–13. 184Probably a year later Wellington would not have allowed the 29th and 97th, both old single battalion regiments sent home after Albuera, to depart, but would have worked them together as a “provisional battalion.” He expresses great regret in his private correspondence at losing two excellent units because they had fallen to about 250 men each. 185After Albuera, where they both suffered heavily, the 2nd was sent home, discharging its serviceable men into the 1st, which was the first connection with the sister-battalion that it had. 186Such figures are, however, occasionally found, e.g. the 1/4th at Bussaco, and the 1/43rd in September, 1811, had over 1000 of all ranks. So had the 1/42nd at Salamanca. 187These chanced to be the 1/43rd and the 2/38th respectively. The two Guards battalions were each just under 900 of all ranks at this time. 1883rd Dragoon Guards, 1st and 4th Dragoons, 14th and 16th Light Dragoons, 1st Hussars, K.G.L. 18913th Light Dragoons. 1903rd, 4th, 5th Dragoon Guards; 1st, 3rd, and 4th Dragoons; 9th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 16th Light Dragoons; 1st and 2nd Heavy Dragoons, K.G.L.; 1st and 2nd Hussars, K.G.L. 191Tomkinson in his diary observes (p. 230) that the 11th Light Dragoons was not in such bad state as the other condemned regiments, but that their colonel was so senior that he stood in the way of the promotion of several more capable officers to command brigades—hence Wellington resolved to get him out of the country. 192Dispatches, vii. p. 58. To Lord Liverpool. 1939th and 11th Light Dragoons, 4th Dragoon Guards, 2nd Hussars, K.G.L. 194Viz. the 1st Royals, 13th, 14th, and 16th Light Dragoons, and 1st Hussars, K.G.L. See General Orders, October 2, 1811. 195In the Talavera army, taking the general totals, there were 536 lieutenants to 259 ensigns; in the Bussaco army 624 to 237; in the 1811 army (March) 739 to 323—in each case more than two to one. 196Viz. killed, the Brigadier-Gen. Hoghton and one major, wounded two lieutenant-colonels and two majors. 197Picton, though wounded in the foot at Badajoz, rode with his division for some time after it marched from Estremadura for the North, but the wound getting inflamed he was compelled to go into hospital, and Wallace had his place for some weeks in June, Pakenham appearing as divisional commander in July. 198See the bitter remarks on pp. 367–369 on Blakeney’s Autobiography. For a number of illustrative anecdotes see Leach’s curious little book, Rambles on the Banks of Styx, which is full of Peninsular grievances. 199The allusion is to the obscure business of influence in distributing commissions said to have been used by the Duke of York’s mistress, Mrs. Mary Ann Clarke. 200For more of this pamphlet, see Stocqueler’s Personal History of the Horse Guards, pp. 60–67. 201For an astounding story of an ensign who had been a billiard-marker in Dublin, and who was ultimately cashiered for theft, see Col. Bunbury’s Reminiscences, vol. i. pp. 26–28. 202Memoirs of Captain George Ellers, 12th Foot, p. 43. 203See the instances in General Orders for April 23, 1810, and July 16, 1812. 204For a good example, see Dickson Papers, pp. 622, 623, where the good Dickson gets one officer to own that he was “betrayed in a moment of intoxication” into insulting words, and the other to say that the counter-charge with which he replied was made “in a moment of great irritation and passion.” The apologies were both passed as satisfactory. 205A series of court-martials in one Peninsular battalion shows us such a picture, with the colonel on one side and the two majors on the other. The former prosecuted the senior major for embezzlement, while at the same moment a subaltern was “broke” for alleging that the junior major had shown cowardice in the field. The Horse Guards finally dispersed all the officers into different corps, as the only way of ending the feud. 206See pp. 121–2 of vol. ii. of Robinson’s Life of Picton. 207Letter printed in Vie Militaire, ed. Girod de l’Ain, p. 98. 208See the heading “Lisbon” in the collected volume of General Orders, pp. 206, 207. 209General Orders, Freneda, December 4, 1811. For anecdotes about this officer’s shirking propensities, see pp. 27–36 of the second series of Grattan’s Adventures with the Connaught Rangers. He was ultimately cashiered. 210Gleig’s Reminiscences of Wellington, p. 303. 211Conversations with Duke of Wellington, pp. 13 and 18. 213When the 90th was raised in 1794, out of the 746 men 165 were English and 56 Irish—not much less than a third of the whole. Cf. Delavoye’s History of the 90th, p. 3. In the Waterloo campaign the 71st had 83 English and 56 Irish in its ranks. 214Woolwright’s History of the 77th, p. 29. 215Rogerson’s History of the 53rd, p. 35. 216See Fortescue’s History of the British Army, vi. pp. 180–183. 217To quote an interesting explanatory note from the autobiography of Morris of the 73rd. “The militia would be drawn up in line, and the officers for the regiments requiring volunteers would give a glowing description of their several corps, describing the victories they had gained, and the honours they had acquired, and conclude by offering the bounty. If these inducements were not effectual in getting men, coercive measures were adopted: the militia colonel would put on heavy and long drills and field exercises, which were so tedious and oppressive that many men would embrace the alternative, and volunteer for the regulars” (p. 13). 218A canny Scot makes his explanation for volunteering in a fashion which combines patriotism, love of adventure, and calculation. “In the militia I serve secure of life and limb, but with no prospect of future benefit for old age (pension) to which I may attain. It is better to hazard both abroad in the regular service, than to have poverty and hard-labour accompanying me to a peaceful grave at home.” Anton’s Retrospect of a Military Life, p. 39. 219See the amusing narrative of Lawrence of the 20th and his two evasions from his stone-mason employer. 220See Stanhope’s Conversations with Wellington, p. 13. 221Journal of T.S. of the 71st in Constable’s Memorials of the Late War, i. p. 25. 222Note by Colborne on p. 396 of his Life by Moore-Smith. 223Rifleman Harris, pp. 10–16. 224In the Court-Martials on privates printed in General Orders, out of 280 trials I make out 80 certainly Irish names, and a good many more probably Irish—while there are only 23 Scots. There were certainly not four times as many Irish as Scots in the Peninsular Army, though there were more than twice as many. 225See also Stanhope’s Conversations with Wellington, p. 6. 226Twenty-five Years in the Rifle Brigade, pp. 47, 48. 227Both court-martialled, of course: see General Orders, vol. vii. 228This incident occurs in the unprinted letters of F. Monro, R.A., lent to me by his kinsfolk of to-day. 229One of the Duke’s acrid generalizations on this point was “the non-commissioned officers of the Guards regularly got drunk once a day, by eight in the evening, and got to bed soon after—but they always took care to do first what they were bid.”—Stanhope’s Conversations with the Duke of Wellington, p. 18. 230See Anton’s (42nd, Black Watch) Retrospect of a Military Life, pp. 239, 240. 231Retrospect of a Military Life, pp. 57, 58. 232Memoirs of Sergeant Morley, 5th Foot, p. 101. 233The survivors in 1809 were the regiments of de Meuron, Rolle, Dillon, and de Watteville. 234This proviso was neither submitted to nor approved by the British Government, who refused to take notice of it. Napoleon, during many disputes as to the exchange of prisoners in later years, always found a good excuse for breaking off negociations in the fact that he held that 4000 or 5000 Hanoverians of the K.G.L. should be reckoned as men requiring exchange. 235I note among the deserters from the German Legion in 1812–14 the strange and non-Teutonic names of Gormowsky, Melofsky, Schilinsky, Wutgok, Prochinsky, Borofsky, Ferdinando, Panderan, Kowalzuch, Matteivich, etc. 236The other two names are one Swiss the other Croatian. 237Names such as Davy, Woodgate, Galiffe, Andrews, McKenzie, Holmes, Linstow, Wynne, Joyce, Gilbert are unmistakably British. See Colonel Rigaud’s History of the 5/60th, Appendix i. 240This corps only raised its second battalion in 1811. 241Algarve, Nos. 2 (Lagos) and 14 (Tavira). Alemtejo, Nos. 5 and 17 (1st and 2nd of Elvas), 8 (Evora), 20 (Campomayor), 22 (Serpa). Lisbon, Nos. 1, 4, 10, 16. Estremadura, No. 7 (Setubal), 19 (Cascaes), 11 (Peniche). Beira, Nos. 3 and 15 (raised in the Lamego district), 11 and 23 (1st and 2nd of Almeida). Oporto region, Nos. 6 and 18 (1st and 2nd of Oporto), 9 (Viana), 21 (ValenÇa). Tras-os-Montes, Nos. 12 (Chaves), and 24 (Braganza). 242The three Lusitanian battalions wore a uniform of ivy-green, the nine others a dark brown dress. The cut of both was fashioned in imitation of that of the British Rifle Brigade. 243Beresford to Wellington, Supplementary Dispatches, vi. p. 774. 244From a memorandum by Benjamin D’Urban, Beresford’s Quartermaster-General, or rather Chief of the Staff, in the unpublished D’Urban papers. 245From a letter to his friend, J. Wilson, in the unpublished D’Urban Correspondence. 246General Orders, Santa Marinha, March 25, 1811. 247The case of an officer who openly cohabited with the wife of a private, and fought with and thrashed her not-unreasonably jealous husband. 248See General Orders, July 2, 1813. 249There is a long quarrel of this sort between Colonel Cochrane of the 36th and General A. Campbell, whose original cause was in details of mismanagement at the escape of Brennier from Almeida. 250General Orders, Lesaca, September 20, 1813. In this case a lieutenant of the 5/60th had been condemned for violently resisting the turning out of his horses from a stable by his senior, “using opprobrious and disgraceful language” and threatening to strike him. 251General Orders, Garris, February 24, 1814. 252Ibid., Freneda, February 3, 1813. 253See Wellington Dispatches, vol. ii., pp. 330 and 369, and for his recapture Stepney’s Diary, p. 55. 254Case of Corporal Hammond of the 87th, January 24, 1810. 255Viz. 5/60th, 97th, 1, 2, 5, 7 Line of the K.G.L., 1 and 2 Light K.G.L., Brunswick Oels and Chasseurs Britanniques. 256The tale comes from p. xxxi. of the Introduction to the Collected General Orders. 257General Orders, September 22, 1809. 258See the printed report of the Long Court-Martial on Colonel Quentin, London, 1814, p. 272. 259Printed in General Orders, vol. v. 1813, the accused being Col. Archdall of the 1/40th. 260Sergeant Donaldson’s Eventful Life of a Soldier, pp. 145, 146. 261There are Peninsular-period Good-Conduct medals for the 10th and 11th Hussars (starting 1812), 5th Foot (Northumberland Fusiliers), 7th Fusiliers, 22nd, 38th, 52nd, 71st, 74th, 88th, 95th, 97th, and some other corps, not to speak of others which were medals for special deeds of courage or for marksmanship. 262See Hope’s Memoirs of an Infantry Officer, 1808–15, pp. 459–60. 263This is said to have been the case in the 1/48th when it was under Colonel Donnellan, who fell at Talavera. 264Autobiography of Sergeant William Lawrence, pp. 48, 49. 265Rough Notes, by Sir George Bell, i. p. 120. 266Probably the case of a private of the 34th who had struck his captain, in a rage. This flogging (1813) was the only one of such severity which occurred in the regiment while Bell was serving with it in 1812–1814. 267See footnote to p. xxv. of Selected General Orders. 268These can be found in Fitzclarence on Outpost Duty, mentioned above, in which they were printed at full length. It is still easy to procure. 269Donaldson of the 94th, pp. 179–181. 270General Order, May 23, 1809. 271See reproofs in 1811 and 1812 in Collected General Orders, p. 20. 272“Under the orders of Sir John Moore a horse or mule was allowed to each captain of a company of infantry, and a horse or mule in common among the subalterns. And under the orders of Sir John Cradock, which have been the rule for this army, the subalterns were allowed a horse or mule between them” (General Orders, p. 122). 273I find, e.g., in diaries, that 2nd Lieut. Hough, R.A., got “two domestics, a country horse, and a mule” immediately on landing. Geo. Simmons and Harry Smith of the 95th were certainly habitually riding when only lieutenants. So was Grattan of the 88th. Bell of the 34th being impecunious had “only half a burro along with another lad.” Bunbury of the Buffs had half a horse and half a mule in conjunction with another subaltern. Hay of the 52nd was just in the regulation with one mule to himself, on his first campaign, but bought a Portuguese mare before he had been a year in the field. 274From that amusing piece of doggerel (strictly contemporary) The Military Adventures of Johnny Newcome. 275Notes to Johnny Newcome, p. 30. 276Grattan of the 88th, selling his horse on leaving the Peninsula at the Lisbon Horse-Fair, says that he got 125 dollars for it, equalling at the then rate of exchange £31 5s. Boothby, R.E., buying a red English stallion, considers himself very lucky to get it for 30 guineas. A donkey fetched about 15 dollars only. 277There are several court-martials on officers who (disregarding this order) kept a soldier-servant or bÂtman out of the ranks. 278One officer relates that he came upon his own mule-boy, aged ten or twelve, deliberately beating out the brains of a wounded Frenchman, at Salamanca, with a large stone. Another diarist speaks of making a wounded Frenchman comfortable while he went for a surgeon, and returning to find him stabbed and stripped. A third (F. Monro, R.A.) says, “I found myself among the dead and dying, to the shame of human nature be it said, both stripped, some half-naked, some wholly so, and this done principally by those infernal devils in mortal shape, the cruel, cowardly Portuguese followers, unfeeling ruffians. The Portuguese pillaged and plundered our own wounded officers before they were dead!” 279See Ross Lewin’s With the 32nd in the Peninsular War, p. 205. 280Sergeant Anton’s Retrospect of a Military Life, pp. 60, 61. 281Rough Notes of an Old Soldier, vol. i. pp. 74, 75. 282Wellington (General Order of April 26, 1814) makes the concession that colonels may permit “a few who have proved themselves useful and regular,” to accompany the soldiers to whom they are attached “with a view to being ultimately married.” 283For details see Donaldson’s Eventful Life of a Soldier, pp. 231, 232. 284History of the Peninsular War, vol. iv. p. 276. Also mentioned in Tomkinson’s Diary, p. 185. 285Memoirs of Lejeune, vol. ii. p. 108. I am a little inclined to think that this may have been the household establishment of Hill’s senior aide-de-camp, Currie, as the sight was seen by Lejeune in the Elvas-Olivenza direction, where the 2nd division was then quartered. 286See Dickson Papers I., p. 448. 287This letter, found among Lord Liverpool’s papers in 1869, was communicated to me by Mr. F. Turner of Frome. 288See Connolly’s Royal Sappers and Miners, pp. 187–8 and 194. 289Jones, Sieges of the Peninsula, i. p. 169. 290General Orders, p. 275. 291Jones’ Sieges of the Peninsula, ii. p. 97. 292Grattan’s With the Connaught Rangers, pp. 193, 194. 293Grattan, dealing with the Storm of Rodrigo, p. 145. 294Sergeant Donaldson, p. 155: he is speaking of the last assault on Badajoz. 295Instead of the brass plate with regimental badge or number, the Light infantry and rifles had only a bugle-horn. 296Light infantry had a small green tuft on the front of the shako; regiments of the rest of the line a larger upright plume fixed on the side. 297Cooke of the 43rd says (in his Narrative of Events in the South of France, p. 67) that “distorted by alternate rain and sunshine, as well as by having served as pillows and nightcaps, our caps had assumed the most monstrous and grotesque shapes.” 298Grattan’s Connaught Rangers, p. 51. 299See Leslie’s edition of the Dickson Papers, ii. p. 994. 300Memoirs of Captain Ellers, p. 124 (dealing with the year 1800). “He never wore powder though it was the regulation to do so. His hair was cropped close. I have heard him say that hair powder was very prejudicial to the health, as impeding perspiration, and he was no doubt right.” 301See for example the description of the 43rd preparing to storm Rodrigo, in Grattan, p. 145. 302Military Journal of Col. Leslie of Balquhain, p. 229. 303Memoirs of Captain Cooke, ii. p. 76. 3047th, 10th, 15th Hussars. The 18th were still called Light Dragoons in 1808. 305In April, 1813, 10th, 15th, 18th Hussars, the 7th Hussars followed in September of the same year. 306Ker-Porter’s Letters from Portugal and Spain, 1808–9, p. 219. 307The Royal Military Artificers were wearing in the early years of the century a most extraordinary and ugly head-dress, a tall top-hat with brim, looking more fit for civilian’s wear, and having nothing military about it except the “shaving-brush” stuck at one side. It was not unlike, however, the hat of the Marines. For illustration of it see the plates in Connolly’s History of the Royal Sappers and Miners, vol. i. 308There are plenty of stories about him in Grattan’s With the Connaught Rangers. This one, however, is from Bell’s Rough Notes, i. 95. 309See the letter in General Rigaud’s History of the 5/60th. 311There is a curious anecdote in the diary (p. 28) of Cooper of the 1/7th, of a sergeant, who, running with the point of his pike low, caught it in the ground, and fell forward on its butt-end, which went right through his body. 312E.g. there is a Waterloo story of a sergeant of the 18th Hussars, who long engaged with a cuirassier, and unable to get at him because of his armour and helm, ultimately killed him with a thrust in the mouth. I should not like to take it as certain. 313For ample details about them see Mr. Milne’s Standards and Colours of the Army, Leeds, 1893. 314Autobiography of Sergt. Lawrence, p. 239. 315See above, p. 161. 317Cf. p. 266 above. 318Hennegan’s Seven Years’ Campaigning, i. p. 52. 319Dallas was taking care of the brigade of Skerrett, then marching (Oct., 1812) from Seville to Aranjuez, right across Central Spain. 320Autobiography of the Rev. Alexander Dallas, London, 1871, pp. 59, 60. 321For the maddening delays, caused by the impossibility of finding a mule-train ready to go back to the front, a good example may be found in the autobiography of Quartermaster Surtees of the 95th, stranded at Abrantes for unending weeks in the late autumn of 1812 with the new clothing of his battalion, which (as he knew) was suffering bitterly for want of it. 322See Donaldson’s Eventful Life of a Soldier, pp. 219, 220. 323Surtees’s Twenty-five Years in the Rifle Brigade, pp. 173, 175. 324From Travels and Adventures of Bugler William Green, late of the Rifle Brigade, Coventry, 1857—a most interesting little book. 325Memoirs of John Stevenson, 3rd Foot Guards, p. 191. 326Recorded in Tancred’s Historical Medals: for details see Stevenson, as also the Life of a Scottish Soldier, which is a 71st book (p. 118). 327The absurd semi-religious correspondence of the Duke and ‘Miss J.’ in the 1840’s, published some ten years back may be remembered. 328Sir H. Calvert, Adjutant General, to Wellington, 8th November, 1811. 329See Stevenson, p. 172. 330Surtees, pp. 177–9. 331For the “Belemites” see above, pp. 204–5. 332Who “never went into action without subjecting himself to a strict self-examination, when after having (as he humbly hoped) made his peace with God, he left the result in His hands with perfect confidence that He will determine what is best for him.”—See Cole’s Peninsular Generals, ii. 292. 333In 1809 the 14th, formerly Bedfordshire, took the Territorial Designation of Bucks; and the 16th, formerly Bucks, became Beds. 334Of these 25, twenty had been with Moore’s army in the Corunna Retreat, and 23 went to Walcheren. 335Of these 42, seven had been with Moore’s army in the Corunna Retreat, and 14 went to Walcheren. 336Of these 11, three (l/43rd, 1/52nd, 1/95th) had been with Moore’s army. 337Of these 3, one (3/1st) had been with Moore’s army in the Corunna Retreat and went to Walcheren. 3389th, 30th, 47th, 48th, 53rd, 56th, 83rd, 84th, 87th. The 83rd was far over this figure, 2461, a wholly exceptional strength. 3394th, 5th, 7th, 11th, 23rd, 24th, 28th, 31st, 42nd, 43rd, 44th, 52nd, 66th, 67th, 81st, 88th, 89th. 3406th, 21st, 32nd, 34th, 35th, 38th, 39th, 40th, 50th, 58th, 61st, 71st, 78th, 79th, 82nd, 92nd. 3413rd, 8th, 10th, 18th, 26th, 36th, 45th, 57th, 62nd, 63rd, 72nd, 90th. 34215th, 25th, 59th, 69th, 73rd, 91st, 96th. 34313th, 17th, 29th, 76th, 80th, 93rd. 3442nd, 12th, 19th, 20th, 22nd, 33rd, 49th, 51st, 64th, 97th, 90th, 101st, 102nd. 34537th, 41st, 54th, 55th, 65th, 68th, 70th, 74th, 75th, 77th, 85th, 86th, 94th, 99th, 100th. 34616th, 46th, 103rd. 347The 94th went out to Cadiz in 1810; the 75th, not long back from India, was very weak and did not go on foreign service (Sicily) till 1812. 348This brigade was added to IV on January 2. 349These regiments had arrived at Lisbon in April, but having been at Walcheren were not at first sent into the field till July, since the 8th of which month they had been shown as a brigade under Leith. 350Some accounts represent the Light Battalions as forming a separate brigade under Halkett. 351Not the same man who commanded the 7th Division in 1812, but the 1st Earl of Hopetoun. |
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