Incidents during the stay at Monte Video -- The beguiling of
Goodfellow -- A man hanged and then condemned to be transported
-- Matrimonial designs of a Spanish father frustrated -- Advance
to and occupation of Colonia -- Heroic conduct of a tallow
chandler -- He proves of service in more ways than one --
Expedition to San Pedro -- A battle with a hot breakfast at the
end -- Narrow escape of Lawrence from being shot -- Unfortunate
results of a combination of booty.
Now that we had got possession of a fine town, we could lie up
comfortably, only having to put out three or four hundred men on
picket round the walls and see that the gates of the town were closed
every night at sunset and not opened till daylight in the morning, and
then feeling that we could make ourselves quite at home. The
inhabitants were meanwhile not altogether deprived of their
livelihood, as our general issued a proclamation that they should open
their shops and carry on their business as usual: and if any declined
to open, he was kind enough to send parties to do it for them.
During the time that we lay there, which I should think was at least
five months, the only things that occurred that could be called out of
the way were, I am sorry to say, of rather an unpleasant nature. One
thing was that a sergeant and corporal of the Spanish army came in
disguise and tried to enlist any of our men who would join their
service; and unfortunately a sergeant named Goodfellow, one of my own
regiment, accepted their proposals, tempted by the heavy bounty they
offered. But while passing out of the town in disguise with the
Spaniards, he was met and recognized by the general himself and his
staff: a most unlucky encounter for the three runaways, for they were
brought back again and put under charge immediately, and a
court-martial ordered on them next day. Our colonel, however, implored
so hard for our sergeant's life on account of the regiment's late
good conduct in the field, that the general granted it, and changed
his sentence to one of transportation for life: but the Spaniards were
not quite so leniently dealt with, for they were tried and hanged, to
make sure that they could not repeat their mischievous practices.
We also found among the prisoners an Irishman who had somehow got away
from us over on to the wrong side, and had been fighting against us.
He was tried and sentenced to be hanged, and we all had to march up
next day to witness his execution and take example from it. But his
life was not destined to end here, for the rope was not altogether a
strong one, and he was fortunate enough when he fell to break it.
Directly his feet touched ground, he begged hard for mercy: and the
rope had made such a terrible mark on his neck that I suppose the
general thought he had been hanged enough: so he was sent into
hospital, and when he recovered, transported for the rest of the life
that had thus been given back to him. While he was on his way down the
town to go on board the vessel, I should think that if he had one
dollar given him, he had at least half a peck, though I do not expect
they would be much use to him where he was going to. I never heard any
more of him, but I don't suppose many men could say that they had been
hanged and then transported afterwards.
Another case of desertion was that of an officer's servant, who went
away with the greater part of his master's clothes, taking with him
likewise a Spanish lady; he was lucky enough to get off safe, and
nothing was heard of him afterwards. This was not at all a rare
temptation, though, that was put in our soldiers' way; for I was
myself offered a fortune by a Spanish gentleman, together with his
daughter, if I would desert and remain in the country. Whenever he met
me about he would treat me to anything I liked to name, which I
sometimes found very acceptable, and he would often give me money as
well, in hopes of gaining me over in time. He had more chances of
making up to me, for I forgot to mention that I had received a slight
wound in the left leg in storming the town, which kept me limping
about and partially disabled from duty for nearly a fortnight; but I
don't think he would have minded his daughter not marrying me in
particular, so long as he could persuade some one. But he happened one
day to leave his horse tied up close to our main guard while he went
into a kind of public-house, and occupied himself treating some of our
men; and the fact being discovered by those outside that his stirrups
were of solid gold, when he came out again one of them was missing. It
must have weighed at least a pound, so naturally he thought it worth
while reporting the circumstance to the colonel, and a search was
made; but no clue could be found to the missing stirrup, so he had to
ride away as best he could with only the other one; so he only came
off a loser in the end, and he never got his daughter married after
all.
After staying in the town for the time stated, a thousand of us were
despatched up the river Rio de la Plata to a small place called
Colonia, where an army of Spaniards about four or five thousand strong
was lying. We landed with ease, and the enemy retreated out of the
place after firing a few shots, leaving it in our hands, so that we
again found ourselves for a time in comfortable quarters. We placed
pickets of two or three hundred men round the place, and fixed a
_chevaux de frise_ in the gate, formed of very sharp and pointed
swords stuck very thickly into a beam which was made to turn on its
axis: rather an awkward instrument to face if one is not used to it.
Duty at this place was rather hard, owing to there being so few of us,
and such a number on picket or at work building some batteries for our
better protection.
At the picket-house, which was some distance from the town, there
lived a soap-boiler and tallow-chandler, who was very kind to us while
we were there on duty, killing a bullock almost every night for our
use, as he only required the skin and tallow, and any one may suppose
that two hundred hungry men knew what to do with the rest of it. An
incident took place during our stay at his house which will show how
well disposed he was towards us. We had passed a very quiet week
there, when one night the Spaniards passed our picket secretly in the
darkness, fired a volley into the town, and then immediately
retreated. Our picket only just managed to get through safely into the
town, leaving one of our men asleep in the picket-house, and he must
certainly have met his death if he had been caught there singly; but
the tallow-chandler, though himself a Spaniard, concealed him under a
quantity of dry hides while the enemy were scouring the place in
search of stragglers, and so saved his life. In consequence of this
surprise, still heavier duty was afterwards put upon us, the picket
having to be augmented to prevent further annoyance.
Two or three days after this had occurred the tallow-chandler was sent
for to join the Spanish army, no doubt because their general suspected
him of favouring the English; but he would not go until he had
obtained our colonel's advice, which was that he should go by all
means, and if he could conveniently come back with full particulars of
the enemy's strength he should be rewarded. As far as I can remember,
he had been away about ten days, when he again made his appearance
with the requisite information. What reward he got I cannot say, but
as the result of his tidings, about two or three days afterwards we
were called under arms at midnight and supplied with half a pound of
beef for each man; the order then being given to return to our
lodgings for two hours, and at the end of that time to fall in again.
Meanwhile a number of sailors came from on board our ships to take
charge of the town during our absence, we being now bound for some
place as yet unknown to us.
A little after two in the morning we left the town with an Indian for
our guide. We asked in the best manner that we could where we were
going to, but all we could understand from him was that we were on the
way to fight some Spaniards, which of course we had pretty well
guessed before, and that we should have some four or five thousand of
them to encounter. This last bit of news made us think that we were
going to have hard nuts to crack, but we found them a very cowardly
sort of folk to deal with, for after marching some five or six miles,
we despatched skirmishing parties, who fell in with their picket and
took a few prisoners, and soon made the others retreat without doing
anything further than to send up some rockets to alarm the body of the
enemy.
We marched on still further till we came nearly up to them, when we
found a river in our way; fortunately it was not very deep, so we
waded through it under a fire from the Spanish cannon, which killed
two of our men while in the act of crossing; and as soon as we were
over we formed line and advanced towards the enemy, who lay on some
fine rising ground in our front. They had some few pieces of cannon
with them, and opened the first fire with both cannon and musketry,
but every shot seemed to rise over our heads, and I don't think that
volley killed a man. We were up and at them like dragons, wounding and
taking their general with about a hundred and fifty other prisoners;
likewise a stand of colours, three pieces of cannon, and their
baggage. Moreover, we found a nice breakfast cooking for us in the
shape of fowls, geese, turkeys, beef, rice, and _calavancos_, (though
the latter were rather too warm with cayenne pepper and garlic,) all
of which the enemy had had to leave in his hurry, and which came in
very acceptably at the end of a long march.
The colonel ordered everything to be taken from the prisoners we had
made, as that was how he had been served himself when he had been
taken prisoner at Buenos Ayres, so we set to clearing them of all they
possessed, their money, which amounted to about two thousand dollars,
their clothes, and even their boots. I had a very narrow escape while
the plunder was going on. I entered one of the enemy's storehouses, at
one end of which a quantity of bullocks' hides were lying, at a
sufficient distance from the wall to allow a man to pass or hide
behind them; and there beside the heap stood a Spaniard whom I knew
well, as he had sold cakes to us while we were at Colonia, and who now
offered me a pot of honey to eat. I had my misgivings, however, so
made motion for him to eat first, for fear of poison; and at the same
time, casting my eye to the left, I saw a Spaniard emerge from between
the hides and the wall with a pistol, which he levelled at me. I
became pretty active, as may be supposed under the circumstances, and
managed to guard it off; but the shot whizzed very close to my head
nevertheless, which made me very much enraged with the man, and
determined he should not escape. Unfortunately for him, one of our
dismounted cavalry, an Irishman, came in, and on my telling him there
was a Spaniard behind the hides, who had just fired a pistol at me,
"Tare an' 'ounds," says he, "I'll fetch him out; you stand at one end
to stop him with your bayonet while I drive him out." So Paddy went
round with his sword, and after a little exercise behind, "Look out
comrade," he sang out, "he's coming;" and sure enough I skewered him
to the wall by driving my bayonet right through his body, while Paddy
came out and finished him by splitting his head nearly in two with his
heavy sword, remarking as he did it, "Bad luck to ye, I don't think
ye'll ever shoot another Englishman, or Irishman either." The other
man had meanwhile made off.
We had taken amongst other things about twenty barrels of gunpowder
and a quantity of cigars, which latter, owing to the carelessness of
one man, proved to be more plague than profit; for whilst most of us
were smoking, one of the company, going near the powder, happened to
let a spark fall from his cigar, which resulted in twelve men being
blown into the air: and though none were killed on the spot, they were
so frightfully burnt that several died on reaching Colonia. I believe
all that we lost actually killed by the enemy's hand were the two men
who fell in crossing the river. We gave ten dollars to each of the
widows of the men killed, and the rest of the prize-money was divided.