The Autobiography of Sergeant William Lawrence Part 6

I may as well here give the details about the sergeants of our regiment. I was the only one in my company where there ought to have been six when I was promoted, so the whole duty fell heavily on me. The rest had been wounded at some time or other before, and then never pushed on much to get back to their regiment; many when recovered preferring to skulk in the hospitals in paltry situations such as doorkeepers or ward-masters, so getting a little extra pay, and then, as I shall again have occasion to show, being too ready to make their appearance when the war was over. Fortunately, however, they then met with no great encouragement. They had really plenty of opportunity to follow up the regiment if they had chosen, but I suppose they thought they were best off out of the smell of powder, and probably they were, but still that does not throw a very creditable light on them.

After we had received our clothes and provisions, we did not lie long at St. Jean de Luz, but again started on our marches, cruising about in the Pyrenees. For some time nothing of any particular note occurred until we again fell in with the enemy, who were stationed in huts which they had erected in the various valleys. We attacked them, and some sharp work ensued, for they did not seem to like the idea of abandoning their houses, which were much more comfortable than the open winter air, but we at last drove them off and took possession of their habitations, which a part of our army occupied. As for our regiment itself, we marched up the side of a mountain and encamped there.

We again found ourselves very short of provisions there, and besides that the rain was falling in torrents all night. We had nothing over our heads at first to cover them, so we set to and gathered a quant.i.ty of gra.s.s, sticks, stubble, and like things, and made a kind of wall to keep off a little of the wind and beating rain; and then we tried to make up our fires with anything we could get together, but owing to the wetness of the substances, they were not very lively, and it was a long time before we could get them to burn at all.

Our captain asked me if I could boil him a piece of beef, so I told him I would try and see what I could do to make the best of the bad circ.u.mstances, and accordingly I and a corporal of my company at once set to work, first placing our hanger over the fire and then swinging the kettle on it with the beef. The beef nearly filled the kettle, and though it was pouring with rain, it was a very awkward place to get water, as there were no springs near and no tanks to catch the rain in; consequently we had only about a quart of water in the pot, which had all boiled away before the beef was done. However, the captain was impatient for his supper, so it was taken up to him as it was, the pot-cover serving as a dish and a wooden canteen as a plate. I put it before him with salt on the edge of the canteen, and I likewise got him a piece of bread, which by the time he had it was nicely soaked by the rain-indeed we had not a dry thread on us by this time. The next bother was for a fork: I had a knife myself, but had lost the fork, so I got a stick and sharpened it at one end and gave him that as a subst.i.tute, and was rewarded by his praising me for my good contrivance.

Colonel Thornton coming up meanwhile, he was invited by the captain to partake of some of the beef, and he gladly accepted, as he said he was very hungry; so another plate, knife, and fork were wanted. I borrowed my comrade the corporal's canteen and knife, and manufactured another fork like the former to serve for the colonel, and they both said the beef was very good, but not very well done, which it certainly was not, for though it went down sweet like most things in those times, the inside was certainly hardly warm.

The colonel sent me to the quartermaster for a canteen of rum, which was equivalent to three pints, for which purpose another canteen had to be borrowed, but when I returned to him with it he said, "That's right; now go and drink it." I took it off to my comrade, and we both sat down under our artificial wall close by our fire to try and enjoy ourselves as best the inclemency of the weather would allow us, keeping, however, near our officers' green-carpeted nature's dining-room, so that if we were wanted we could hear them call. But when they did so, which was in a short time, it was for us to clear away, with orders at the same time to keep the remainder of the beef for ourselves; so we removed our dinner traps, pa.s.sing a good many remarks in a jocular spirit on our green pasture, wet cloth, and our scientific dishes, plates, knives, and forks, much to the amus.e.m.e.nt of the colonel and captain who were looking on, and then sat down to our own supper, which we very much needed. I remember remarking to my comrade that we had not done so badly over our cooking after all, but perhaps it was only the hunger that made us think so. After finis.h.i.+ng our supper and drinking the greater part of our rum, which no doubt got to a certain extent into our heads and served to keep out the cold and wet and make us generally comfortable, we curled ourselves into our blankets and lay down on the wet ground to rest.

The rain descended in torrents all night and completely soaked us, but the morning broke out clear, and after we had disposed of the rest of our beef and rum, we joined all hands at work in wringing and shaking the water out of our blankets before putting them up into our knapsacks. We were obliged to do this while they were damp for fear of an attack from the enemy, it being a general rule to keep all in readiness; and, indeed, on this occasion it was not more than an hour after these preparations that the French a.s.sailed us. Not being willing to show fight, we retreated on that occasion, having nothing to attend to but ourselves and our kit, for we were without baggage and cannon. After a ten miles' journey or so we again halted expecting to be attacked again very soon, for which emergency we hastily prepared, needlessly, as it proved, however, for we eventually stopped here quietly for a month.

During this time that I have been speaking of the siege of San Sebastian had been going on, the town having up to this time been already attacked twice, but without success. Lord Wellington now ordered twenty men out of each regiment of our division to act in conjunction with the besiegers, and soon after they arrived, the order being given to attack, after about two hours' fighting they succeeded in capturing the town and driving the garrison into the castle, which was likewise obliged to surrender in about a week. Though there were many deaths occasioned in this siege, strange to say the whole twenty men of our regiment returned unhurt.

I remember during our stay here, our captain was fearfully troubled with the toothache. At last one night, after trying in vain to endure the pain, he came to me and said, "O sergeant, I am still troubled with the pain! What can you advise me for it?" I recommended him just to take a pipe of my tobacco, for I knew that would be a good thing for him, but he never could bear tobacco, so that it wanted a good deal of persuasion to at last make him consent to prefer the remedy to the pain. As he had no pipe of his own, I supplied him with the implement and some tobacco, and he began to smoke. But he had not been at it long before he said, "Why, sergeant, this will never do! The place seems whirling round. Here, take the pipe, for I feel precious queer; but my tooth is much better, and after all you are not such a bad doctor." He gave me half a pint of rum, and for a long time I heard nothing more of his toothache.

We stayed here, as I said before, about a month, and then again moved on after our enemy, our cavalry, pontoon bridges, and artillery coming on by the most convenient pa.s.ses of the mountains. While on the march we often had slight skirmishes with the enemy, but no regular pitched battle until we came to the Nivelle, where Soult had taken up a strong position. There our army halted in line, determined to attack and proceed if possible into France, as nothing more remained to be done in the Peninsula, Pampeluna having been obliged, owing to shortness of provisions, to surrender on the last day of October.

The Third, Fourth, and Seventh divisions, under Marshal Beresford and their respective generals, occupied the right centres of the line. We commenced the attack early on the 10th of November on a village which was defended by two redoubts. One of these our division took under General Cole, driving the enemy to some heights in the rear, where we again attacked them and drove them over the Nivelle.

After this we went into cantonments for a few weeks, but owing to the unsettled state of the French army who had attacked our left, and then, having failed, had proceeded against our right which was commanded by Sir Rowland Hill, Lord Wellington ordered the Sixth and our division to reinforce the right. We only arrived there, however, just in time to hear that the action was all over, the defeat of the enemy and their enforced retreat still further into their own country having been accomplished without our a.s.sistance.

CHAPTER XIX.

Advance to Orthes - Lawrence moralizes again on the vicissitudes of war - Losses of his own regiment during the campaign - Proclamation by Lord Wellington against plunder - Pa.s.sage of the Adour - Battle of Toulouse - Casualties in Lawrence's company - Sad death of a Frenchman in sight of his home - The French evacuate Toulouse - News arrives of the fall of Napoleon - Lawrence on ambition - The army ordered to Bordeaux to s.h.i.+p for England.

After remaining inactive for the most part during the rest of 1813 and until the February of the next year, we again made an attack on the French, who were lying near a village of which I do not remember the name, and drove them behind a river. There they took up a fresh position, but retained it only two or three days, again s.h.i.+fting and opening a way for us to proceed on our way to Orthes.

And so after nearly six years of deadly fighting, we had got clear out of Spain and Portugal and carried the war into our enemy's very kingdom. Portugal and Spain had long had to contain the deadly destroyers, but now the tide was changed, and it was the inhabitants of the south of France who were for a time to be subjected to the hateful inconveniences of war. They had little expected this turn in their fortunes: Napoleon had even at one time had the ambitious idea of driving us out of the Peninsula, but he now found us forcing his own army into its own country: he had at one time thought that he would subdue Europe, but had while labouring under that error been subdued himself.

And all this was very much to our gratification, for we had long been looking forward to this result, being entirely sick of Spain. As for those places which had become so famous through us, we could not help thinking and referring back to the many comrades we had left there in their cold graves. Since our regiment had left for Ireland on this expedition nine hundred strong, fifty-one hundred men had joined us from our depot, but at the time of our march to Orthes we did not in spite of this number more than seven hundred. I do not mean to say that we lost all these in battle, though I can safely say we did the greater part, either killed or badly wounded: but of course many must be reckoned who fell by disease, or as some did from their own drunkenness or gluttony, a.s.sisted by the inclemency of the climate; nor must those skulkers, of whom there must have been so many through the whole campaign, be forgotten.

Lord Wellington had watched with hatred the many excesses committed by the enemy on the Portuguese and Spanish inhabitants during the late campaign, and had determined, now he had carried the war into France, to set them for the future a better example; and accordingly he issued a proclamation that no plundering was to be carried on, on pain of death, which was much to the credit of our n.o.ble commander.

We arrived in France at a wrong time of the year to see its beauties, but from what I could then judge it abounded in elegancies and varieties of taste, such as vineyards, oranges, pomegranates, figs, and olive-trees to any extent, not altogether unlike the productions of Spain.

On nearing Orthes, we found the French had taken up a very strong position on a range of fine heights stretching from Orthes to St. Boes, and we were ordered in conjunction with the Seventh division to cross a river and attack the latter place, which had one of the heights occupied by the enemy at the back of it, giving them a commanding view of the place. Some delay was occasioned at the river, for there being no bridge, a pontoon was obliged to be thrown across; but this being accomplished, our divisions were soon over it, and being joined by a brigade of cavalry and artillery, we formed line and marched on St. Boes. The village was stoutly defended by the enemy, who on our nearing them fired briskly at us, for a long time standing their ground and trying hard to retain their charge; but they soon found they had sharp taskmasters to deal with, for our troops of the Fourth division under General Cole poured in on them like lions, and forced them after a violent resistance to start out of the place and take refuge on their strong heights.

We followed them up, but found that there they were for a long time more than a match for us, as they had such an advantage in the ground. We rushed up the formidable heights, but were again and again driven back by the fearful play of the enemy's artillery, the position being only accessible in a few places, and those so narrow that only a small body could move on them at once. But even with these disadvantages and the enemy's cannon playing on them our men, after receiving fresh and strong reinforcements, carried the heights; and not only this, but the whole of the army having been similarly engaged on the right, had meanwhile succeeded in driving the enemy from their lines there, capturing a great number of prisoners in their retreat, the cavalry pursuing them closely; and some field-pieces were likewise taken.

The enemy then fell back on the River Adour, the allied army soon following and engaging them in slight attacks in various parts of the line, till at last the French again took up a position on the heights near the town of Tarbes, on the said river; but they did not stay long there, being soon driven away by the Allies and retreating towards St. Gaudens. Thence they were again driven with great loss to themselves and a very trifling one to the Allies, this time to Toulouse on the Garonne, where they stood on the defensive on some more heights on the right bank of the river with every a.s.sailable part strongly fortified.

Some difficulty was met with in our march, owing to the chief of the bridges being destroyed and having to be replaced by pontoons, and those that were not destroyed being strongly fortified. One of these was guarded by some French cavalry, whom we annoyed very considerably by our fire as we approached them, having in case of their making an attack on us a fine artificial ditch to fall back into where it was next to impossible that they could get at us; our fire was made more daring by our knowing there was a body of hussars waiting out of their sight, ready to fall on them if they moved on us. We soon enticed out a body of about three hundred, who crossed the bridge under our retreating and destructive fire, and on their near approach we fell into our ditch, while at the same time our cavalry came up, and some close shaving ensued, a large quant.i.ty of spare heads, arms, legs, as well as many horses being soon strewn about the ground.

But this was not the worst part of our day's work, for after they had been tumbled back over the bridge, our division came up and we followed them right up towards their heights, keeping Toulouse some distance to our right. Before we reached the heights, however, we had to attack and carry a small village they were occupying. This was the commencement of the action of that b.l.o.o.d.y day which cost the armies on both sides numbers of their best men. It was fought on the Easter Sunday of 1814.

From the village we proceeded over some difficult ground to attack their right under a brisk fire from their artillery, so brisk, indeed, that one of General Cole's orderlies had his horse shot under him; and then we formed line and dashed up the hill, which was defended by some thousands of the French, nearly half of whom were cavalry. We soon returned their fire, which at that time was a perfect storm of grape and canister, and directly we got near we charged them, but in vain, as owing to the sudden appearance of some of their cavalry we had to halt and form square: and indeed we must have been routed altogether by their combined infantry and cavalry, had not our Rocket Brigade stepped forward and played fearful havoc among their cavalry, driving them back. I had never before seen this rocket charge and have never either since; by all appearance it was most successful in this case, for it soon turned them to the right-about, and made them retreat.

The Spaniards were chiefly engaged on our right, and I never saw them fight better, for they seemed on this occasion as determined as the British: and indeed of the two they suffered most, as the French, knowing them to be cowards, thought they would be certain of some success in that quarter, but they stood their ground well, only a few of their number getting into confusion.

When once we had gained this advantage and taken a part of their heights, our artillery joined us, and their play together with our action soon made the French fall back on their works at Toulouse, whilst we remained on our newly won height overlooking Toulouse and there encamped. I remember well the loss of a man in my company in this action, who had entered the army during the war for a period of seven years at first, and this period having expired for some time, he was mad to be out of these constant scenes of bloodshed and conflicts, but owing to the continuation of the war he had not been allowed to depart. He was not the only one in this plight, for there were thousands of others like him in the army, and several in my own company alone. Sixteen guineas had been offered to each for their services for life, and many had accepted, while many had refused, and of course amongst the latter was the man of whom I am speaking. His name was William Marsh, and he was a native of Bath in Somerset. He was by trade a tailor, and earned many a s.h.i.+lling at his trade in the army from various of his comrades who employed him. As I said, the poor man was sick of war, and before entering this very action had been wis.h.i.+ng he could have both his legs shot off, so that he might be out of the affair altogether; little expecting that it might really be the case, or nearly as bad, for he had not been in action long before his wish was accomplished, as he was shot through the calves of both his legs by a musket-ball which took him sideways and pierced right through. Poor Marsh did begin to sing out most heartily, and I couldn't help saying, "Hullo there, Marsh, you are satisfied now your wish is fulfilled, I hope." He begged and prayed me to move him out of the thick of the fight, so I dragged him under a bank and there left him, and from that time till now I never saw or heard anything more of him. He was far, however, from being mortally wounded, though perhaps from neglect it may have turned to something fatal.

Another of our comrades in the front of our line had his foot completely smashed by a cannon-ball pitching right on to it, yet he managed to hobble to the rear in that state on his heel. I felt quite hurt for this poor fellow, who was a brave soldier, and seemed to be enduring great agonies.

Night having drawn in, all firing ceased, and the men set to examine the ground they had gained, chiefly to find firewood. I happened to be about when I came across a Frenchman who had been badly wounded and had crawled under a bank: I went up to him and asked him if I could do anything for him. He had been shot in the stomach, and when he asked for water and I gave him some out of my canteen, which was nearly full, of which he drank heartily, in a very short time it only fell out again through his wound. But the most astonis.h.i.+ng thing was that he pointed me out his father's house, which was as far as I could judge about half a mile off, and said that he had not seen his parents for six years, for since he had come back to this place, he had not been able to fall out to go and see them. He begged me to take him so that he might die there in the presence of his parents, but I told him I could not do that, as there were a quant.i.ty of French there. However, I got an old blanket and wrapped it round him, making him as comfortable as I could under the circ.u.mstances, and seemingly much better resigned to his fearful fate, and then I left him and returned to my own place of repose, and after eating my supper and drinking my allowance of grog, I wrapped my own blanket round me, lay down, and was soon unconscious in sleep. I woke early in the morning, and having nothing particular to do, I crept out of my blanket and put all things straight; and then, more out of curiosity than from any other motive, proceeded to the poor Frenchman to ascertain if he was yet living; but his death must have taken place some hours before, as he was quite cold and stiff.

The loss of the Allies in this conflict was over four thousand in killed and wounded, more than two thousand being of the British, whilst that of the enemy was upwards of three thousand. But then there must be considered the advantageous ground they fought on, and the fearful havoc they made in our ranks before we were able to return a shot.

Lord Wellington now finding that Toulouse would not surrender, ordered fortifications to be thrown up for the reduction of that place, but they proved to be unneeded, for in the dead of the night the French disappeared from the place and retreated in a south-easterly direction towards Villefranche. We were soon following them up, and part of our army had slight skirmishes with them, but we never again saw their main body in that part of their country, for a day or two after our move from Toulouse the news came of Buonaparte's overthrow and the proclamation of peace, Buonaparte himself having been sent to the island of Elba. This was indeed good news for most of our troops: certainly for the young officers it took away many chances of promotion, though it made death less likely as well; but ambition sometimes leads a man a long way out of his course, and very often adds tenfold to his sorrow. After the arrival of this welcome news, we encamped for three or four days longer to give our commander time to form his next plans. We were then ordered to Bordeaux to s.h.i.+p for our isles, the Spaniards and Portuguese being sent to their own country.

CHAPTER XX.

General delight at the end of the war - March to Bordeaux - Kind reception of the troops by the inhabitants of the country on the way - Particular good fortune of Lawrence - Great attention on the part of his host - A magnificent dinner - Singular effects of a campaign on Lawrence's taste for feather-beds - He tells of moving accidents, &c., &c., and excites the pity of his hostess - Two men sentenced to be flogged, but begged off by the inhabitants of the town - Arrival at Bordeaux - Encampment on the Garonne - Fraternizing of the natives and the troops - Good times in camp - Sudden influx of skulkers, who, however, receive but as poor a welcome as they deserve.

Things now seemed to a.s.sume an entirely different aspect, indeed to take a new birth altogether. All were in a most joyous state, and none more so than the Spaniards, who were always only too ready to give up fighting. The Portuguese had always shown themselves the better race in the field of action, but they likewise now enjoyed the thought of returning to their own country, although it had been so pillaged. I had many a long conversation with stragglers of both these nations before we started on our long march, and so I had an opportunity of studying their thoughts on the subject.

We did not seem to be in any hurry to quit the country before everything was thoroughly arranged, and having no enemy pus.h.i.+ng on our rear, we were often billeted at towns and villages longer than we need have been, which caused our march to take more time to accomplish, but made it much more comfortable. We were generally billeted on the inhabitants during our halts, the best billets being of course chosen for the officers, then for the sergeants, and then for the corporals and privates, the numbers being suited to the accommodation of the places; but I very seldom had more than one with me besides myself.

The inhabitants could not have behaved better to us if they had been our own countrymen; and I well remember how at the last stage where we put up before coming to Bordeaux two of us, myself and a private of the same company, were billeted at quite a gentleman's house, the owners of which were unusually kind to us. We found we had completely jumped into clover, and fortunately it happened to be Sat.u.r.day night, so that our halt was till Monday morning; not that Sunday in those times had been used to make much difference to us, for two of our bloodiest conflicts had happened on that day, but in this case, our haste not being urgent, it gave us a kind of sweet repose.

As soon as we arrived at our house we were shown into our room, which was a very nice one and beautifully furnished; and when we had taken off our accoutrements, we went downstairs to a sort of bath-room, where we had a good wash in tubs of water that were placed in readiness for us. Then the gentleman had some clean stockings brought up to us, and when we had made ourselves comfortable he sent up to our room a loaf of bread and a large bottle of wine holding about three pints, which we found most acceptable; and it not being long before the family's dinner was ready, our hostess would insist on our dining with them. For my own part, not being used to such pomp, and never having before even seen it, being more accustomed to the kind of dinners and suppers in which I have described our own colonel and captain as taking part, I would sooner have crept out of the invitation; but being pressed we consented, and having been shown into the dining-room, we sat down to an excellent repast with n.o.body else but the lady and gentleman.

The table was laid out most gorgeously with glittering silver, which came very awkward to our clumsy hands, as we had been more accustomed to using our fingers for some years; to set off which gorgeousness our waiter, who was evidently the family footman, wore an out-of-the-way fine and ugly dress, with his hair plastered up with white powder, of which I had such an aversion during the first part of my stay in the army. A most palatable dinner was served of which I freely partook, though I had very little idea of what it consisted, and some good wine was likewise often handed round with which our gla.s.ses were constantly kept filled.

After dinner was over, the white-headed gentleman entered with coffee, a fas.h.i.+on which then surprised us very much; but nevertheless, more out of compliment than because we needed it, we took a cup each with some sugar-candy which was also handed round to sweeten it. When that was finished, just to keep us still going, the gentleman asked us if we smoked, and on our saying we both did, the bell was rung, and the footman entering with tobacco, we took a pipe with the gentleman, the lady having previously retired into the drawing-room. Then getting more used to the distinguished style, and the wine no doubt having made us more chatty, we for a time thoroughly enjoyed ourselves with our pipes, and began to feel new men with all our grandeur.

We were next invited to partake of tea in the drawing-room, but being very tired, we begged to be excused; and this being granted, the bed-candles being rung for, and having wished him good-night, we went to our room and there had a hearty laugh over the evening's business; though we had not been able to understand half what the gentleman had said, not being used to the French so well as to the Spanish language. We retired to rest in a fine feather bed, which being a luxury we had not seen for years, was consequently too soft for our hard bones, and we found we could not sleep owing to the change. My comrade soon jumped out of bed, saying, "I'll be bothered, sergeant, I can't sleep here!" "No," said I, "no more can I;" so we prepared our usual bed by wrapping ourselves into a blanket, and then with a knapsack as a pillow we lay on the floor and soon sank into a profound slumber.

Late in the morning, for we had overslept ourselves, the servant knocked at the door and said breakfast was waiting; and in a very short time the master himself came up and knocked, and on our calling to him to come in he opened the door, and looking in, found we had been sleeping on the floor. On his wanting to know if there were fleas in the bed, or what was the cause of our lying on the floor, we made him understand as well as we could, but it must have been very imperfectly at the best. He then went down again, and we soon following him, found an excellent breakfast ready, of which we made a first-rate meal, and after they had left us, for they had finished long before us, my comrade and I agreed that we had fallen on luck now, and no mistake.

Very soon after we had finished our breakfast, the servant entered to conduct us to the drawing-room, which was splendidly furnished, though for my own part I would rather have been down in the kitchen. We went in, however, and our hostess took down a book describing the French and English languages, so that they might understand some of our words better, and again asked us the reason why we did not sleep on our bed. I told her we had not slept on a feather bed for six years, and answered her other questions, giving her a slight description of the trials of a soldier in the time of war. She was very much touched, and could not forbear from crying, more especially when I added that two privates were to be whipped that very morning for having got drunk overnight and making a disturbance in the town, to serve as an example to the regiment. They had been tried by court-martial and sentenced to a hundred lashes, to be administered in the town and witnessed by the inhabitants.

Although it was Sunday, the drums beat for the regiment to a.s.semble, and the men were brought into our square; and their sentence having been read in the presence of all, the first man was led to the halberds, and the drummers got ready to begin. But five or six gentlemen of the town made their way into our square and begged the colonel so hard to let them off, as that was the general wish of the inhabitants, that at last he dismissed the victims with a reprimand. The two then thanked the colonel, but he told them not to do so, for had it not been for the timely interference of the gentlemen, he would have given them every lash. All were then ordered to disperse, and I returned to my excellent quarters, where we again received for the rest of the day no end of kindnesses in the way of luxurious meals, luncheons, dinner, and coffee, together with plenty of wine, and before we went to bed, brandy was introduced as a finish: and having taken a hot gla.s.s of that with water, we retired and slept in a similar way to the night before.

On the following morning we had to a.s.semble by seven o'clock, so no time was allowed us for breakfast; but our host had ordered our canteens to be filled with their best wine, and a parcel of sandwiches to be made up for each of us. We shook hands with the gentleman, duly thanking him for his kindness, and, rejoining our regiment, were soon on the march again for Bordeaux, which being not more than a day's march distant we reached the same night. We encamped at a place two miles off the city on the banks of the River Garonne, to which even large s.h.i.+ps were able to ascend. Here we lay for five or six weeks, during which time the inhabitants made many excursions from the city especially on Sundays, to inspect our army, swarms of costermongers likewise visiting us every day with wine, spirits, bread, meat, fish, and fruit of every description for sale. Every Sunday afternoon the bands of all the regiments played, while the French amused themselves with dancing, many of them, both male and female, on stilts, which entertained us more than anything, and besides this there were all kinds of other jollities in which our soldiers freely joined.

And now I will take the opportunity of saying a few more words as regards the skulkers. As soon as the peace was declared no less than seven sergeants of my own company alone had either at this place or on the march thither made their appearance from the snug dens where they had been lying, most of whom had been occupying themselves with some trivial employment in the pay of the Spaniards or Portuguese, but had now at this crisis abandoned whatever they had been doing, for fear of being left in the country, or perhaps because they thought that they might still come in for a share of the praise and pay. Before they appeared I was the only sergeant in our company, while if the proper number had been there, there would have been six. I do not mean to say that there had been no cause at first for their staying behind, for there were some laid up like myself at Elvas and Estremoz, but it was their duty to follow up the regiment when they were able, as I had done myself.

The captain of my company, who had been like myself through the whole campaign excepting when actually in hospital, pretended not to know them when he saw them, and asked them, "Where on earth do you come from? you certainly don't belong to my company, by your appearance." He then called me to say if I knew them. I remarked, "They seem to have been in luck's way about their clothes, at any rate;" and so they did, for whilst ours were as ragged as sheep and as black as rooks, theirs were as red and new as if they had never been on, and their shoes were to match, whilst ours were completely worn out by our continual marches, the captain's being quite as bad as any private's.

We found that two of these men had left the regiment for hospital on our retreat from Talavera, and had never shown themselves since, the others having been away in like manner for rather shorter periods. Now the whole had returned we were overstocked with sergeants, having two more than our complement, so our captain sent the two who had been longest absent to the colonel with a written request that they should be transferred somewhere else; the other five he allowed to remain, but only for as short a time as possible till he could get rid of them also, as he told them his company should not be disgraced by them longer than he could help. He likewise told them that many of his privates deserved the stripes more than they did; and indeed it was not long before he got them transferred, and their places filled up by some of the braver heroes from among such of the privates as had at all distinguished themselves in any conflict.

CHAPTER XXI.

Embarkation of the troops - Lawrence's regiment sent to Ireland - He receives his pay for the war and promptly spends it - Ordered on foreign service again to the West Indies - Terrific storm which compels the fleet to put back into Cork - Arrival at Barbadoes - Death of a young captain from fever - Jamaica - Discovery of a female stowaway - Lawrence told off to deposit her on sh.o.r.e - The regiment proceeds to New Orleans - A new kind of fortification to be stormed - Doings in camp on Dolphin Isle - Return to England - News arriving of Napoleon's escape from Elba, the regiment is sent on at once to Flanders - Ghent - March to Brussels.

After remaining at Bordeaux for five or six weeks the army embarked on board s.h.i.+ps bound for various parts of the British Isles. Our regiment was again despatched to Ireland, most of us being Irish. We were conveyed thither by the Sultan, a fine man-of-war with seventy-four guns. We had a very good pa.s.sage, and amused ourselves very much with the sailors on board, who on their part had many a good laugh at our general ragged appearance. We landed in Ireland at Monkstown, near Cork, and marched thence to Fermoy, whence after lying two three days in the barracks there, we proceeded to Athlone in West Meath, where we were stationed for about two months.