April 1st.--After my last date on Thursday, I visited the National
Gallery. At three o'clock, having packed a travelling-bag, I went to
Bennoch's office, and lunched with him; and at about five we took the
rail from the Waterloo station for Aldershott Camp. At Tamborough we
were cordially received by Lieutenant Shaw, of the North Cork Rifles, and
were escorted by him, in a fly, to his quarters. The camp is a large
city, composed of numberless wooden barracks, arranged in regular
streets, on a wide, bleak heath, with an extensive and dreary prospect on
all sides. Lieutenant Shaw assigned me one room in his hut, and Bennoch
another, and made us as comfortable as kind hospitality could; but the
huts are very small, and the rooms have no size at all; neither are they
air-tight, and the sharp wind whistles in at the crevices; and, on the
whole, of all discomfortable places, I am inclined to reckon Aldershott
Camp the most so. I suppose the government has placed the camp on that
windy heath, and built such wretched huts, for the very purpose of
rendering life as little desirable as may be to the soldiers, so that
they should throw it away the more willingly.
At seven o'clock we dined at the regimental mess, with the officers of
the North Cork. The mess-room is by far the most endurable place to be
found in camp. The hut is large, and the mess-room is capable of
receiving between thirty and forty guests, besides the officers of the
regiment, when a great dinner-party is given. As I saw it, the whole
space was divided into a dining-room and two anterooms by red curtains
drawn across; and the second anteroom seems to be a general rendezvous
for the officers, where they meet at all times, and talk, or look over
the newspapers and the army-register, which constitute the chief of their
reading. The Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonel of the regiment received
Bennoch and me with great cordiality, as did all the other officers, and
we sat down to a splendid dinner.
All the officers of the regiment are Irishmen, and all of them, I
believe, men of fortune; and they do what they can towards alleviating
their hardships in camp by eating and drinking of the best that can be
obtained of all good things. The table service and plate were as fine as
those in any nobleman's establishment; the dishes numerous and admirably
got up; and the wines delectable and genuine,--as they had need to be;
for there is a great consumption of them. I liked these Irish officers
exceedingly;--not that it would be possible to live long among them
without finding existence a bore; for they have no thought, no
intellectual movement, no ideas, that I was aware of, beyond horses,
dogs, drill, garrisons, field-days, whist, wine, cigars, and all that
kind of thing; yet they were really gentlemen living on the best terms
with one another,--courteous, kind, most hospitable, with a rich Irish
humor, softened down by social refinements,--not too refined either, but
a most happy sort of behavior, as natural as that of children, and with a
safe freedom that made one feel entirely at my ease. I think well of the
Irish gentlemen, for their sakes; and I believe I might fairly attribute
to Lieutenant-Colonel Stowell (next whom I sat) a higher and finer
cultivation than the above description indicates. Indeed, many of them
may have been capable of much more intellectual intercourse than that of
the mess-table; but I suppose it would not have been in keeping with
their camp life, nor suggested by it. Several of the elder officers were
men who had been long in the army; and the Colonel--a bluff, hearty old
soldier, with a profile like an eagle's head and beak--was a veteran of
the Peninsula, and had a medal on his breast with clasps for three famous
battles besides that of Waterloo.
The regimental band played during dinner, and the Lieutenant-Colonel
apologized to me for its not playing "Hail Columbia," the tune not coning
within their musical accomplishments. It was no great matter, however;
for I should not have distinguished it from any other tune; but, to do me
what honor was possible, in the way of national airs, the band was
ordered to play a series of negro melodies, and I was entirely satisfied.
It is really funny that the "wood-notes wild" of those poor black slaves
should have been played in a foreign laud as an honorable compliment to
one of their white countrymen.
After dinner we played whist, and then had some broiled bones for supper,
and finally went home to our respective huts not much earlier than four
o'clock. But I don't wonder these gentlemen sit up as long as they can
keep their eyes open; for never was there anything so utterly comfortless
as their camp-beds. They are really worse than the bed of honor, no
wider, no softer, no warmer, and affording not nearly so sound sleep.
Indeed, I got hardly any sleep at all, and almost as soon as I did close
my eyes, the bugles sounded, and the drums beat reveille, and from that
moment the camp was all astir; so I pretty soon uprose, and went to the
mess-room for my breakfast, feeling wonderfully fresh and well,
considering what my night had been.
Long before this, however, this whole regiment, and all the other
regiments, marched off to take part in a general review, and Bennoch and
I followed, as soon as we had eaten a few mutton-chops. It was a bright,
sunshiny day; but with a strong east-wind, as piercing and pitiless as
ever blew; and this wide, undulating plain of Aldershott seemed just the
place where the east-wind was at home. Still, it acted, on the whole,
like an invigorating cordial; and whereas in pleasanter circumstances I
should have lain down, and gone to sleep, I now felt as if I could do
without sleep for a month.
In due time we found out the place of the North Cork Regiment in the
general battle-array, and were greeted as old comrades by the Colonel and
other officers. Soon the soldiers (who, when we first reached them, were
strolling about, or standing at ease) were called into order; and anon we
saw a group of mounted officers riding along the lines, and among them a
gentleman in a civilian's round hat, and plain frock and trousers, riding
on a white horse. This group of riders turned the front of the regiment,
and then passed along the rear, coming close to where we stood; and as
the plainly dressed gentleman rode by, he bent towards me, and I tried to
raise my hat, but did not succeed very well, because the fierce wind had
compelled me to jam it tightly upon my head. The Duke of Cambridge (for
this was he) is a comely-looking gentlemanly man, of bluff English face,
with a great deal of brown beard about it. Though a pretty tall man, he
appears, on horseback, broad and round in proportion to his height. I
looked at him with a certain sort of interest, and a feeling of kindness;
for one does feel kindly to whatever human being is anywise marked out
from the rest, unless it be by his disagreeable qualities.
The troops, from twelve to fifteen thousand, now fell into marching
order, and went to attack a wood, where we were to suppose the enemy to
be stationed. The sham-fight seemed to me rather clumsily managed, and
without any striking incident or result. The officers had prophesied,
the night before, that General K------, commanding in the camp, would
make a muddle of it; and probably he did. After the review, the Duke of
Cambridge with his attendant officers took their station, and all the
regiments marched in front of him, saluting as they passed. As each
colonel rode by, and as the banner of each regiment was lowered, the Duke
lifted his hat.
The most splendid effect of this parade was the gleam of the sun upon the
long line of bayonets,--the sheen of all that steel appearing like a
wavering fringe of light upon the dark masses of troops below. It was
very fine. But I was glad when all was done, and I could go back to the
mess-room, whither I carried an excellent appetite for luncheon. After
this we walked about the camp,--looked at some model tents, inspected the
arrangements and modes of living in the huts of the privates; and thus
gained more and more adequate ideas of the vile uncomfortableness of a
military life. Finally, I went to the anteroom and turned over the
regimental literature,--a peerage and baronetage,--an army and militia
register, a number of the Sporting Magazine, and one of the United
Service, while Bennoch took another walk. Before dinner we both tried to
catch a little nap by way of compensation for last night's deficiencies;
but, for my part, the attempt was fruitless.
The dinner was as splendid and as agreeable as that of the evening
before; and I believe it was nearly two o'clock when Bennoch and I bade
farewell to our kind entertainers. For my part I fraternized with these
military gentlemen in a way that augurs the very best things for the
future peace of the two countries. They all expressed the warmest
sympathies towards America and it was easy to judge from their
conversation that there is no real friendliness on the part of the
military towards the French. The old antipathy is just as strong as
ever,--stronger than ever, perhaps, on account of the comparatively more
brilliant success of the French in this Russian war. So, with most
Christian sentiments of peace and brotherly love, we returned to our hut,
and lay down, each in his narrow bed.
Early in the morning the drums and bugles began the usual bedevilment;
and shortly after six I dressed, and we had breakfast at the mess-room,
shook hands with Lieutenant Shaw (our more especial host), and drove off
to the railway station at Ash.
I know not whether I have mentioned that the villages neighboring to the
camp have suffered terribly as regards morality from the vicinity of the
soldiers. Quiet old English towns, that till within a little time ago
had kept their antique simplicity and innocence, have now no such thing
as female virtue in them, so far as the lower classes are concerned.
This is expressing the matter too strongly, no doubt; but there is too
much truth in it, nevertheless; and one of the officers remarked that
even ladies of respectability had grown much more free in manners and
conversation than at first. I have heard observations similar to this
from a Nova-Scotian, in reference to the moral influence of soldiers when
stationed in the provinces.