Produced by Ted Garvin, S.R.Ellison, and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team
WITH MOORE AT CORUNNA
BY
G. A. HENTY
Author of "With Cochrane the Dauntless," "A Knight of the White Cross,"
"In Freedom's Cause," "St. Bartholomew's Eve," "Wulf the Saxon," etc.
[Illustration: TERENCE FINDS THAT THE _SEA-HORSE_ HAS BEEN BADLY MAULED
BETWEEN-DECKS.]
WITH TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS BY WAL PAGET
PREFACE
From the termination of the campaigns of Marlborough--at which time the
British army won for itself a reputation rivalled by that of no other in
Europe--to the year when the despatch of a small army under Sir Arthur
Wellesley marked the beginning of another series of British victories as
brilliant and as unbroken as those of that great commander, the opinion
had gained ground in Europe that the British had lost their military
virtues, and that, although undoubtedly powerful at sea, they could have
henceforth but little influence in European affairs. It is singular that
the revival of Britain's activity began under a Government which was one
of the most incapable that ever controlled the affairs of the country. Had
their deliberate purpose been to render nugatory the expedition
which--after innumerable vacillations and changes of purpose--they
despatched to Portugal, they could hardly have acted otherwise than they
did.
Their agents in the Peninsula were men singularly unfitted for the
position. Then the Government divided the commands among their generals
and admirals, sending to each absolutely contradictory orders, and when at
last they brought themselves to appoint one to the supreme command, they
changed that commander six times in the course of a year. While lavishing
enormous sums of money, arms, clothing, and materials of war upon the
Spaniards, who wasted or pocketed them, they kept their own army
unsupplied with money, transport, or clothes. Unsupported by the home
authorities, the British commanders had yet to struggle with the
faithlessness, mendacity, and inertness of the Portuguese and Spanish
authorities, and were hampered with obstacles such as never beset a
British commander before. Still, in spite of this, British genius and
valour triumphed over all difficulties, and Wellesley delivered Lisbon and
compelled the French army to surrender.
Then again, Moore, by his marvellous march, checked the course of victory
of Napoleon and saved Spain for a time. Cradock organized an army, and
Wellesley hurled back Soult's invasion of the north, and drove his army, a
dispirited and worn-out mass of fugitives, across the frontier, and in
less than a year from the commencement of the campaign carried the war
into Spain. So far I have endeavoured to sketch the course of these events
in the present volume. But the whole course of the Peninsular War was far
too long to be condensed in a single book, except in the form of history
pure and simple; therefore, I have been obliged to divide it into two
volumes; and I propose next year to follow up the adventures of my present
hero, who had the good fortune, with Trant, Wilson, and other British
officers, to attain the command of a body of native irregulars, acting in
connection with the movements of the British army.
Yours sincerely,
G. A. HENTY.
CONTENTS
CHAP.
I. THE MAYO FUSILIERS
II. TWO DANGERS
III. DISEMBARKED
IV. UNDER CANVAS
V. ROLICA AND VIMIERA
VI. A PAUSE
VII. THE ADVANCE
VIII. A FALSE ALARM
IX. THE RETREAT
X. CORUNNA
XI. AN ESCAPE
XII. A DANGEROUS MISSION
XIII. AN AWKWARD POSITION
XIV. AN INDEPENDENT COMMAND
XV. THE FIRST SKIRMISH
XVI. IN THE PASSES
XVII. AN ESCAPE
XVIII. MARY O'CONNOR
XIX. CONFIRMED IN COMMAND
XX. WITH THE MAYOS
XXI. PORTUGAL FREED
XXII. NEWS FROM HOME
ILLUSTRATIONS
TERENCE FINDS THAT THE _SEA-HORSE_ HAS BEEN BADLY MAULED BETWEEN-DECKS
TWO FRENCH PRIVATEERS BEAR DOWN UPON THE _SEA-HORSE_
"I SHOULD NOT HAVE MINDED BEING HIT, FATHER, IF YOU HAD ESCAPED"
"I AM TOLD THAT YOU WISH TO SPEAK TO ME, GENERAL"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, TERENCE?... WE WOULD HAVE THRASHED THEM OUT OF THEIR
BOOTS IN NO TIME"
"POOR OLD JACK! HE HAS CARRIED ME WELL EVER SINCE I GOT HIM AT TORRES
VEDRAS"
TERENCE RECEIVES A PRESENT OF A HORSE FROM SIR JOHN CRADOCK
"IN THE NAME OF THE JUNTA I DEMAND THAT AMMUNITION," SAID CORTINGOS
"THE FRENCH CAVALRY RODE UP TOWARDS THE SQUARES, BUT WERE MET WITH HEAVY
VOLLEYS"
"MACWITTY WAS STANDING COVERING THE TWO BOATMEN WITH HIS PISTOLS"
TERENCE BIDS GOOD-BYE TO HIS COUSIN, MARY O'CONNOR
"WHO ARE YOU, SIR, AND WHAT TROOPS ARE THESE?" SIR ARTHUR ASKED, SHARPLY
[Illustration: Sketch Map of NORTHERN PORTUGAL.]
WITH MOORE AT CORUNNA
CHAPTER I
THE MAYO FUSILIERS
"What am I to do with you, Terence? It bothers me entirely; there is not a
soul who will take you, and if anyone would do so, you would wear out his
patience before a week's end; there is not a dog in the regiment that does
not put his tail between his legs and run for his bare life if he sees
you; and as for the colonel, he told me only the other day that he had so
many complaints against you, that he was fairly worn out with them."
"That was only his way, father; the colonel likes a joke as well as any of
them."
"Yes, when it is not played on himself; but you haven't even the sense to
respect persons, and it is well for you that he could not prove that it
was you who fastened the sparrow to the plume of feathers on his shako the
other day, and no one noticed it till the little baste began to flutter
just as he came on to parade, and nigh choked us all with trying to hold
in our laughter, while the colonel was nearly suffocated with passion. It
was lucky you were able to prove that you had gone off at daylight
fishing, and that no one had seen you anywhere near his quarters. By my
faith, if he could have proved it was you he would have had you turned out
of the barrack gate, and word given to the sentries that you were not to
be allowed to pass in again."
"I could have got over the wall, father," the boy said, calmly; "but mind,
I never said that it was I who fastened the sparrow in his shako."
"Because I never asked you, Terence; but it does not need the asking. What
I am to do with you I don't know. Your Uncle Tim would not take you if I
were to go down upon my knees to him. You were always in his bad books,
and you finished it when you fired off that blunderbuss in his garden as
he was passing along in the twilight, and yelled out 'Death to the
Protestants!'"
The boy burst into a fit of laughter. "How could I tell that he was going
to fall flat upon the ground and shout a million murders, when I fired
straight into the air?"
"Well, you did for yourself there, Terence. Not that the old man would
ever have taken to you, for he never forgave my marriage with his niece;
still, he might have left you some money some day, seeing that there is no
one nearer to him, and it would have come in mighty useful, for you are
not likely to get much from me. But we are no nearer the point yet. What
am I to do with you at all? Here is the regiment ordered on foreign
service and likely to have sharp work, and not a place where I can stow
you. It beats me altogether!"
"Why not take me with you, father?"
"I have thought of that, but you are too young entirely."
"I am nearly sixteen, father. I am sure I am as tall as many boys of
seventeen, and as strong too. Why should I not go? I am certain I could
stand roughing it as well as Dick Ryan, who is a good bit over sixteen.
Could I not go as a volunteer? Or I might enlist; the doctor would pass me
quick enough."
"O'Flaherty would pass you if you were a baby in arms; he is as full of
mischief as you are, and has not much more discretion; but you could not
carry a musket, full cartridge-box, and kit for a long day's march."
"I can carry a gun through a long day's shooting, dad; but you might make
me your soldier servant."
"Bedad, I should fare mighty badly, Terence; still as I don't see anything
else for you, I must try and take you somehow, even if you have to go as a
drummer. I will talk it over with the colonel, though I doubt whether he
has forgotten that sparrow yet."
"He would not bear malice, dad, even if he were sure that it was me--which
he cannot be."
The speaker was Captain O'Connor of his Majesty's regiment of Mayo
Fusiliers, now under orders to proceed to Portugal to form part of the
force that was being despatched under Sir Arthur Wellesley to assist the
Portuguese in resisting the advance of the French. He was a widower, and
Terence was his only child. The boy had been brought up in the regiment.
His mother had died when he was nine years old, and Terence had been
allowed by his father to run pretty nearly wild. He picked up a certain
amount of education, for he was as sharp at lessons as at most other
things. His mother had taught him to read and write, and the officers and
their wives were always ready to lend him books; and as, during the hours
when drill and exercise were going on, he had plenty of time to himself,
he had got through a very large amount of desultory reading, and, having a
retentive memory, knew quite as much as most lads of his age, although the
knowledge was of a much more irregular kind.
He was a general favourite among the officers and men of the regiment,
though his tricks got him into frequent scrapes, and more than one
prophesied that his eventual fate was likely to be hanging. He was great
at making acquaintances among the country people, and knew the exact spot
where the best fishing could be had for miles round; he had also been
given leave to shoot on many of the estates in the neighbourhood.
His father had, from the first, absolutely forbidden him to associate with
the drummer boys.
"I don't mind your going into the men's quarters," he said, "you will come
to no harm there, but among the boys you might get into bad habits; some
of them are thorough young scamps. With the men you would always be one of
their officers' sons, while with the boys you would soon become a mere
playmate."
As he grew older, Terence, being a son of one of the senior officers,
became a companion of the ensigns, and one or other of them generally
accompanied him on his fishing excursions, and were not unfrequently
participators in his escapades, several of which were directed against the
tranquillity of the inhabitants of Athlone. One night the bells of the
three churches had been rung simultaneously and violently, and the idea
that either the town was in flames, or that the French had landed, or that
the whole country was up in arms, brought all the inhabitants to their
doors in a state of violent excitement and scanty attire. No clew was ever
obtained as to the author of this outrage, nor was anyone able to discover
the origin of the rumour that circulated through the town, that a large
amount of gunpowder had been stored in some house or other in the
market-place, and that on a certain night half the town would be blown
into the air.
So circumstantial were the details that a deputation waited on Colonel
Corcoran, and a strong search-party was sent down to examine the cellars
of all the houses in the market-place and for some distance round. These
and some similar occurrences had much alarmed the good people of Athlone,
and it was certain that more than one person must have been concerned in
them.
"I have come, Colonel," Captain O'Connor said, when he called upon his
commanding officer, "to speak to you about Terence."
The colonel smiled grimly. "It is a comfort to think that we are going to
get rid of him, O'Connor; he is enough to demoralize a whole brigade, to
say nothing of a battalion, and the worst of it is he respects no one. I
am as convinced as can be that it was he who fastened that baste of a bird
in my shako the other day, and made me the laughing stock of the whole
regiment on parade. Faith, I could not for the life of me make out what
was the matter, there was a tugging and a jumping and a fluttering
overhead, and I thought the shako was going to fly away. It fairly gave me
a scare, for I thought the shako had gone mad, and that the divil was in
it. I have often overlooked his tricks for your sake, but when it comes to
his commanding officer, it is too serious altogether."
"Well, you see, Colonel, the lad proved clearly enough that he was out of
the way at the time; and besides, you know he has given you many a hearty
laugh."
"He has that," the colonel admitted.
"And, moreover," Captain O'Connor went on, "even if he did do this, which
I don't know, for I never asked him" ("Trust you for that," the colonel
muttered), "you are not his commanding officer, though you are mine, and
that is the matter that I came to speak to you about. You see there is no
one in whose charge I can leave him, and the lad wants to go with us; he
would enlist as a drummer, if he could go no other way, and when he got
out there I should get the adjutant to tell him off as my soldier
servant."
"It would not do, O'Connor," the colonel laughed.
"Then I thought, Colonel, that possibly he might go as a volunteer--most
regiments take out one or two young fellows, who have not interest enough
to obtain a commission."
"He is too young, O'Connor; besides, the boy is enough to corrupt a whole
regiment; he has made half the lads as wild as he is himself. Sure you can
never be after asking me to saddle the regiment with him, now that there
is a good chance of getting quit of him altogether."
"I think that he would not be so bad when we are out there, Colonel; it is
just because he has nothing to do that he gets into mischief. With plenty
of hard work and other things to think of I don't believe that he would be
any trouble."
"Do you think that you can answer for him, O'Connor?"
"Indeed and I cannot," the captain laughed; "but I will answer for it that
he will not joke with you, Colonel. The lad is really steady enough, and I
am sure that if he were in the regiment he would not dream of playing
tricks with his commanding officer, whatever else he might do."
"That goes a long way towards removing my objection," the colonel said,
with a twinkle in his eye; "but he is too young for a volunteer--a
volunteer is the sort of man to be the first to climb a breach, or to risk
his life in some desperate enterprise, so as to win a commission. But
there is another way. I had a letter yesterday from the Horse Guards,
saying that as I am two ensigns short, they had appointed one who will
join us at Cork, and that they gave me the right of nominating another. I
own that Terence occurred to me, but sixteen is the youngest limit of age,
and he must be certified and all that by the doctor. Now Daly is away on
leave, and is to join us at Cork; but O'Flaherty would do; still, I don't
know how he would get over the difficulty about the age."
"Trust him for that. I am indeed obliged to you, Colonel."
"Don't say anything about it, O'Connor; if we had been going to stay at
home I don't think that I could have brought myself to take him into the
regiment, but as we are going on service he won't have much opportunity
for mischief, and even if he does let out a little--not at my expense, you
know--a laugh does the men good when they are wet through and their
stomachs are empty." He rang a bell. "Orderly, tell the adjutant and
Doctor O'Flaherty that I wish to see them. Mr. Cleary," he went on, as
soon as the former entered, "I have been requested by the Horse Guards to
nominate an ensign, so as to fill up our ranks before starting, and I have
determined to give the appointment to Terence O'Connor."
"Very well, sir, I am glad to hear it; he is a favourite with us all, but
I am afraid that he is under age."
"Is there any regular form to be filled up?"
"None that I know of in the case of officers, sir. I fancy they pass some
sort of medical examination at the Horse Guards, but, of course, in this
case it would be impossible. Still, I should say that, in writing to state
that you have nominated him, it would be better to send a medical
certificate, and certainly it ought to be mentioned that he is of the
right age."
At this moment the assistant-surgeon entered. "Doctor O'Flaherty," the
colonel said, "I wish you to write a certificate to the effect that
Terence O'Connor is physically fit to take part in a campaign as an
officer."
"I can do that, Colonel, without difficulty; he is as fit as a fiddle, and
can march half the regiment off their legs."
"Yes, I know that, but there is one difficulty, Doctor, he is under the
regulation age."
O'Flaherty thought for a moment and then sat down at the table, and taking
a sheet of paper, be began:
_I certify that Terence O' Connor is going on for seventeen years of
age, he is five feet eight in height, thirty-four inches round the
chest, is active, and fully capable of the performance of his duties
as an officer either at home or abroad._
Then he added another line and signed his name.
"As a member of a learned profession, Colonel," he said, gravely, "I would
scorn to tell a lie even for the son of Captain O'Connor;" and he passed
the paper across to him.
The colonel looked grave, and Captain O'Connor disappointed. He was
reassured, however, when his commanding officer broke into a laugh.
"That will do well, O'Flaherty," he said; "I thought that you would find
some way of getting us out of the difficulty."
"I have told the strict truth, Colonel," the doctor said, gravely. "I have
certified that Terence O'Connor is going on for seventeen; I defy any man
to say that he is not. He will get there one of these days, if a French
bullet does not stop him on the way, a contingency that it is needless for
me to mention."
"I suppose that it is not strictly regular to omit the date of his birth,"
the colonel said; "but just at present I expect they are not very
particular. I suppose that that will do, Mr. Cleary?"
"I think that you can countersign that, Colonel," the adjutant said, with
a laugh. "The Horse Guards do not move very rapidly, and by the time that
letter gets to London we may be on board ship, and they would hardly
bother to send a letter for further particulars to us in Spain, but will
no doubt gazette him at once. The fact, too--which of course you will
mention--that he is the son of the senior captain of your regiment, will
in itself render them less likely to bother about the matter."
"Well, just write out the letter of nomination, Cleary; I am a mighty bad
hand at doing things neatly."
The adjutant drew a sheet of foolscap to him and wrote:--
_To the Adjutant-general, Horse Guards,_
_Sir, I have the honour to inform you that, in accordance with the
privilege granted to me in your communication of--_
and he looked at the colonel.
"The 14th inst.," the latter said, after consulting the letter.
_--I beg to nominate as an ensign in this regiment, Terence O'
Connor, the son of Captain Lawrence O' Connor, its senior captain. I
inclose certificate of Assistant-surgeon O' Flaherty,--the surgeon
being at present absent on leave--certifying to his physical fitness
for a commission in his Majesty's service. Mr. O' Connor having been
brought up from childhood in the regiment is already perfectly
acquainted with the work, and will therefore be able to take up his
duties without difficulty. This fact has had some influence in my
choice, as a young officer who had to be taught all his duties would
have been of no use for service in the field for a considerable time
after landing in Portugal. Relying on the nomination being approved
by the commander-in-chief, I shall at once put him on the staff of
the regiment for foreign service, as there will be no time to wait
your reply._
_I have the honour to be_
_Your humble, obedient servant,_
Then he left a space, and added:
_Colonel Mayo Fusiliers._
"Now, if you will sign it, Colonel, the matter will be complete, and I
will send it off with O'Flaherty's certificate today."
"That is a good stroke, Cleary," the colonel said, as he read it aloud.
"They will see that it is too late to raise any questions, and the 'going
on for seventeen' will be accepted as sufficient."
He touched a bell.
"Orderly, tell Mr. Terence O'Connor that I wish to see him."
Terence was sitting in a state of suppressed excitement at his father's
quarters. He had a strong belief that the matter would be managed somehow,
for he knew that the colonel had no malice in his disposition, and would
not let the episode of the bird--for which he was now heartily
sorry--stand in the way. On receiving the message he at once went across
to the colonel's quarters. The latter rose and held out his hand to him as
he entered.
"Terence O'Connor," he said, "I am pleased to be able to inform you that
from the present moment you are to consider yourself an officer in his
Majesty's Mayo Fusiliers. The Horse Guards have given me the privilege of
nominating a gentleman to the vacant ensigncy, and I have had great
pleasure in nominating your father's son. Now, lad," he said, in different
tone of voice, "I feel sure that you will do credit my nomination, and
that you will keep your love of fun and mischief within reasonable
bounds."
"I will try to do so, Colonel," the lad said, in a low voice, "and I am
grateful indeed for the kindness that you have shown me. I have always
hoped that some day I might obtain a commission in your regiment, but
never even hoped that it would be until after I had done something to
deserve it. Indeed I did not think that it was even possible that I could
obtain a commission until----"
"Tut, tut, lad, don't say a word about age! Doctor O'Flaherty had
certified that you are going on for seventeen, which is quite sufficient
for me, and at any rate you will see that boyish tricks are out of place
in the case of an officer going on for seventeen. Now, your father had
best take you down into the town and get you measured for your uniforms at
once. You must make them hurry on with his undress clothes, O'Connor. I
should not bother about full-dress till we get back again; it is not
likely to be wanted, and the lad will soon grow out of them. If there
should happen to be full-dress parade in Portugal, Cleary will put him on
as officer of the day, or give him some duties that will keep him from
parade. We may get the route any day, and the sooner he gets his uniform
the better."
Two days later Terence took his place on parade as an officer of the
regiment. He had witnessed such numberless drills that he had picked up
every word of command, knew his proper place in every formation, and fell
into the work as readily as if he had been at it for years. He had been
heartily congratulated by the officers of the regiment.
"I am awfully glad that you are one of us, Terence," Dick Ryan said. "I
don't know what we should have done without you. I expect we shall have
tremendous fun in Portugal."
"I expect we shall, Dick; but we shall have to be careful. We shall be on
active service, you see, and from what they say of him I don't think Sir
Arthur Wellesley is the sort of man to appreciate jokes."
"No, I should say not. Of course, we shall have to draw in a bit. It would
not do to set the bells of Lisbon ringing."
"I should think not, Dick. Still, I dare say we shall have plenty of fun,
and at any rate we are likely, from what they say, to have plenty of
fighting. I don't expect the Portuguese will be much good, and as there
are forty or fifty thousand Frenchmen in Portugal, we shall have all our
work to do, unless they send out a much bigger force than is collecting at
Cork. It is a pity that the 10,000 men who have been sent out to Sweden on
what my father says is a fool's errand are not going with us instead. We
might make a good stand-up fight of it then, whereas I don't see that with
only 6,000 or 7,000 we can do much good against Junot's 40,000."
"Oh, I dare say we shall get on somehow!" Dick said, carelessly. "Sir
Arthur knows what he is about, and it is our turn to do something now. The
navy has had it all its own way so far, and it is quite fair that we
should do our share. I have a brother in the navy, and the fellows are
getting too cheeky altogether. They seem to think that no one can fight
but themselves. Except in Egypt we have never had a chance at all of
showing we can lick the French just as easily on land as we can at sea."
"I hope we shall, Dick. They have certainly had a great deal more practice
at it than we have."
"Now I think we ought to do something here that they will remember us for
before we start, Terence."
"Well, if you do, I am not with you this time, Dick. I am not going to
begin by getting in the colonel's bad books after he has been kind enough
to nominate me for a commission. I promised him that I would try and not
get into any scrapes, and I am not going to break my word. When we once
get out there I shall be game to join in anything that is not likely to
make a great row, but I have done with it for the present."
"I should like to have one more good bit of fun," Ryan said; "but I expect
you are right, Terence, in what you say about yourself, and it is no use
our thinking to humbug Athlone again if you are not in it with us;
besides, they are getting too sharp. They did not half turn out last time,
and, indeed, we had a narrow escape of being caught. Well, I shall be very
glad when we are off; it is stupid work waiting for the route, with all
leave stopped, and we not even allowed to go out for a day's fishing."
Three days later the expected order arrived. As the baggage had all been
packed up, that which was to be left behind being handed over to the care
of the barrack-master, and a considerable portion of the heavy baggage
sent on by cart, there was no delay. Officers and men were alike delighted
that the period of waiting had come to an end, and there was loud cheering
in the barrack-yard as soon as the news came. At daybreak next morning the
rest of the baggage started under a guard, and three hours later the Mayo
Fusiliers marched through the town with their band playing at their head,
and amid the cheers of the populace.
As yet the martial spirit that was roused by the struggle in the Peninsula
had scarcely begun to show itself, but there was a strong animosity to
France throughout England, and a desire to aid the people of Spain and
Portugal in their efforts for freedom. In Ireland, for the most part,
there was no such feeling. Since the battle of the Boyne and the siege of
Limerick, France had been regarded by the greater portion of the
peasantry, and a section of the population of the towns, as the natural
ally of Ireland, and there was a hope that when Napoleon had all Europe
prostrate under his feet he would come as the deliverer of Ireland from
the English yoke. Consequently, although the townspeople of Athlone
cheered the regiment as it marched away, the country people held aloof
from it as it passed along the road. Scowling looks from the women greeted
it in the villages, while the men ostentatiously continued their work in
the fields without turning to cast a glance at them.
Terence was not posted to his father's company, but was in that of Captain
O'Driscol, although the lad himself would have preferred to be with
Captain O'Grady, with whom he was a great favourite. The latter was one of
the captains whose companies were unprovided with an ensign, and he had
asked the adjutant to let him have the lad instead of the ensign who was
to join at Cork.
"The matter has been settled the other way, O'Grady; in the colonel's
opinion he will be much better with O'Driscol, who is more likely to keep
him in order than you are."
O'Grady was one of the most original characters in the regiment. He was
rather under middle height, and had a smooth face, a guileless and
innocent expression, and a habit of opening his light-blue eyes as in
wonder. His hair was short, and stuck up aggressively; his brogue was the
strongest in the regiment; his blunders were innumerable, and his look of
amazement at the laughter they called forth was admirably feigned, save
that the twinkle of his eye induced a suspicion that he himself enjoyed
the joke as well as anyone. His good-humour was imperturbable, and he was
immensely popular both among men and officers.
"O'Driscol!" he repeated, in mild astonishment. "Do you mean to say that
O'Driscol will keep him in better order than meself? If there is one man
in this regiment more than another who would get on well with the lad it
is meself, barring none."
"You would get on well enough with him, O'Grady, I have no doubt, but it
would be by letting him have his own way, and in encouraging him in
mischief of all kinds."
O'Grady's eyebrows were elevated, and his eyes expressed hopeless
bewilderment.
"You are wrong entirely, Cleary; nature intended me for a schoolmaster,
and it is just an accident that I have taken to soldiering. I flatter
meself that no one looks after his subalterns more sharply than I do. My
only fear is that I am too severe with them. I may be mild in my manners,
but they know me well enough to tremble if I speak sternly to them."
"The trembling would be with amusement," the adjutant grumbled. "Well, the
colonel has settled the matter, and Terence will be in Orders to-morrow as
appointed to O'Driscol's company, and the other to yours."
"Thank you for nothing, Cleary," O'Grady said, with dignity. "You would
have seen that under my tuition the lad would have turned out one of the
smartest officers in the regiment."
"You have heard of the Spartan way of teaching their sons to avoid
drunkenness, Captain O'Grady?"
"Divil a word, Cleary; but I reckon that the best way with the haythens
was to keep them from touching whisky. It is what I always recommend to
the men of my company when I come across one of them the worse for
liquor."
The adjutant laughed. "That was not the Spartan way, O'Grady; but the
advice, if taken, would doubtless have the same effect."
"And who were the Spartans at all?"
"I have not time to tell you now, O'Grady; I have no end of business on my
hands."
"Thin what do you keep me talking here for? haven't I a lot of work on me
hands too. I came in to ask a simple question, and instead of giving me a
civil answer you kape me wasting my time wid your O'Driscols and your
Spartans and all kinds of rigmarole. That is the worst of being in an
Irish regiment, nothing can be done widout ever so much blather;" and
Captain O'Grady stalked out of the orderly-room.
On the march Terence had no difficulty in obtaining leave from his captain
to drop behind and march with his friend Dick Ryan. The marches were long
ones, and they halted only at Parsonstown, Templemore, Tipperary, and
Fermoy, as the colonel had received orders to use all speed. At each place
a portion of the regiment was accommodated in the barracks, while the rest
were quartered in the town. Late in the evening of the fifth day's march
they arrived at Cork, and the next day went on board the two transports
provided for them, and joined the fleet assembled in the Cove. Some of the
ships had been lying there for nearly a month waiting orders, and the
troops on board were heartily weary of their confinement. The news,
however, that Sir Arthur Wellesley had been at last appointed to command
them, and that they were to sail for Portugal, had caused great delight,
for it had been feared that they might, like other bodies of troops, be
shipped off to some distant spot, only to remain there for months and then
to be brought home again.
Nothing, indeed, could exceed the vacillation and confusion that reigned
in the English cabinet at that time. The forces of England were frittered
away in small and objectless expeditions, the plans of action were changed
with every report sent either by the interested leaders of insurrectionary
movements in Spain, or by the signally incompetent men who had been sent
out to represent England, and who distributed broadcast British money and
British arms to the most unworthy applicants. By their lavishness and
subservience to the Spaniards our representatives increased the natural
arrogance of these people, and caused them to regard England as a power
which was honoured by being permitted to share in the Spanish efforts
against the French generals. General Spencer with 5,000 men was kept for
months sailing up and down the coast of Spain and Portugal, receiving
contradictory orders from home, and endeavouring in vain to co-operate
with the Spanish generals, each of whom had his own private purposes, and
was bent on gratifying personal ambitions and of thwarting the schemes of
his rivals, rather than on opposing the common enemy.
Not only were the English ministry incapable of devising any plan of
action, but they were constantly changing the naval and military officers
of the forces. At one moment one general or admiral seemed to possess
their confidence, while soon afterwards, without the slightest reason, two
or three others with greater political influence were placed over his
head; and when at last Sir Arthur Wellesley, whose services in India
marked him as our greatest soldier, was sent out with supreme military
power, they gave him no definite plan of action. General Spencer was
nominally placed under his orders by one set of instructions, while
another authorized him to commence operations in the south, without
reference to Sir Arthur Wellesley. Admiral Purvis, who was junior to
Admiral Collingwood, was authorized to control the operations of Sir
Arthur, while Wellesley himself had scarcely sailed when Sir Hew Dalrymple
was appointed to the chief command of the forces, Sir Harry Burrard was
appointed second in command, and Sir Arthur Wellesley was reduced to the
fourth rank in the army that he had been sent out to command, two of the
men placed above him being almost unknown, they never having commanded any
military force in the field.
The 9,000 men assembled in the Cove of Cork knew nothing of these things;
they were going out under the command of the victor of Assaye to measure
their strength against that of the French, and they had no fear of the
result.
"I hope," Captain O'Grady said, as the officers of the wing of the
regiment to which he belonged sat down to dinner for the first time on
board the transport, "that we shall not have to keep together in going
out."
"Why so, O'Grady?" another captain asked.
"Because there is no doubt at all that our ship is the fastest in the
fleet, and that we shall get there in time to have a little brush with the
French all to ourselves before the others arrive."
"What makes you think that she is the fastest ship here, O'Grady?"
"Anyone can see it with half an eye, O'Driscol. Look at her lines; she is
a flyer, and if we are not obliged to keep with the others we shall be out
of sight of the rest of them before we have sailed six hours."
"I don't pretend to know anything about her lines, O'Grady, but she looks
to me a regular old tub."
"She is old," O'Grady admitted, reluctantly, "but give her plenty of wind
and you will see how she can walk along."
There was a laugh all round the table; O'Grady's absolute confidence in
anything in which he was interested was known to them all. His horse had
been notoriously the most worthless animal in the regiment, but although
continually last in the hunting field, O'Grady's opinion of her speed was
never shaken. There was always an excuse ready; the horse had been badly
shod, or it was out of sorts and had not had its feed before starting, or
the going was heavy and it did not like heavy ground, or the country was
too hilly or too flat for it. It was the same with his company, with his
non-commissioned officers, with his soldier servant, a notoriously drunken
rascal, and with his quarters.
O'Grady looked round in mild expostulation at the laugh.
"You will see," he said, confidently, "there can be no mistake about it."
Two days later a ship-of-war entered the harbour, the usual salutes were
exchanged, then a signal was run up to one of her mast-heads, and again
the guns of the forts pealed out a salute, and word ran through the
transports that Sir Arthur Wellesley was on board. On the following day
the fleet got under way, the transports being escorted by a line-of-battle
ship and four frigates, which were to join Lord Collingwood's squadron as
soon as they had seen their charge safe into the Tagus.
Before evening the _Sea-horse_ was a mile astern of the rearmost ship of
the convoy, and one of the frigates sailing back fired a gun as a signal
to her to close up.
"Well, O'Grady, we have left the fleet, you see, though not in the way you
predicted."
"Whist, man! don't you see that the captain is out of temper because they
have all got to keep together, instead of letting him go ahead?"
Every rag of sail was now piled on to the ship, and as many of the others
were showing nothing above their topgallant sails she rejoined the rest
just as darkness fell.
"There, you see!" O'Grady said, triumphantly, "look what she can do when
she likes."
"We do see, O'Grady. With twice as much sail up as anything else, she has
in three hours picked up the mile she had lost."
"Wait until we get some wind."
"I hope we sha'n't get anything of the sort--at least no strong winds; the
old tub would open every seam if we did, and we might think ourselves
lucky if we got through it at all."
O'Grady smiled pleasantly, and said it was useless to argue with so
obstinate a man.
"I am afraid O'Grady is wrong as usual," Dick Ryan said to Terence, who
was sitting next to him. "When once he has taken an idea into his head
nothing will persuade him that he is wrong; there is no doubt the
_Sea-horse_ is as slow as she can be. I suppose her owners have some
interest with the government, or they would surely never have taken up
such an old tub as a troop-ship."