As the circumstances attending our present tour of duty had in them
more to interest and excite than usual, I shall describe them at
greater length.
The air was cold and bracing; it was a fine clear wintry day, when the
corps to which I was attached, strengthened by the half of another
battalion, began its march to the front. Instead of employing eighteen
hundred men at the outposts, nine hundred were now esteemed capable
of providing for the safety of the left column of the army; and such
was accordingly the extent of the force which, under the command of
a lieutenant-colonel, took the direction of the mayor's house. On
arriving there we found matters in a somewhat different order from that
in which we used to find them. The enemy, it appeared, had abandoned
the ground which their pickets formerly occupied. Our advanced parties
were, in consequence, pushed forward; and the stations of the extreme
sentinels were now in front of that ground upon which so much fighting
had taken place in the beginning of last month. The guards themselves,
instead of being hutted in and about the chateau, were disposed among
a range of cottages in the very centre of the field of battle; and the
objects which were by this means kept constantly before their eyes were
certainly not of the most cheering or encouraging description.
It was not my lot to take charge of a picket-guard on the immediate
day of our advance. My business, on the contrary, was to superintend
the erection of works, which appeared to me to be thrown up as much
for the purpose of giving the soldiers employment, and keeping their
blood in circulation, as to oppose an obstacle to the advance of
Marshal Soult, from whom no serious attack was now apprehended. On
the following morning, however, I led my party to the front; nor have
I frequently spent twenty-four hours in a state of higher excitement
than I experienced during the progress of the day and the night which
succeeded this movement.
In the first place, the weather had changed greatly for the worse. The
frost continued, indeed, as intense--perhaps it was more intense than
ever; but the snow came down in huge flakes, which a cold north-east
wind drove into our faces. The hut into which the main body of the
guard was ushered presented the same ruinous appearance with almost
every other house similarly situated; it furnished no shelter against
the blast, and very little against the shower. Intelligence had,
moreover, been conveyed to us by a deserter, that Soult, irritated at
the surprisal of his post upon the Nive, was determined to retaliate
whenever an opportunity might occur; and it was more than hinted,
that one object of the late retrogression from our front was to draw
us beyond our regular line, and so place us in an exposed situation.
The utmost caution and circumspection were accordingly enjoined, as
the only means of frustrating his designs; and of these the necessity
naturally increased as daylight departed.
That I might not be taken by surprise, in case any attack was made
upon me after dark, I devoted a good proportion of the day to a minute
examination of the country in front and on each flank of my post. For
this purpose I strolled over the fields, and found them strewed with
the decaying bodies of what had once been soldiers. The enemy, it was
evident, had not taken the trouble to bury even their own dead; for, of
the carcasses around me, as many, indeed more, were arrayed in French
than in British uniforms. No doubt they had furnished food for the
wolves, kites, and wild dogs from the thickets--for the flesh of the
most of them was torn, and the eyes of almost all were dug out; yet
there was one body, the body of a French soldier, quite untouched; and
how it chanced to be so, the reader may judge for himself, as soon as
he has perused the following little story.
About the middle of the line covered by my chain of sentries was a
small straggling village, containing a single street, about twenty
cottages, and as many gardens. In the street of that village lay about
half-a-dozen carcasses more than half devoured by birds and beasts
of prey, and in several of the gardens were other little clusters
similarly circumstanced. At the bottom of one of these gardens a
Frenchman lay upon his face, perfectly entire, and close beside the
body sat a dog. The poor brute, seeing us approach, began to howl
piteously, at the same time resisting every effort, not on my part
only, but on the part of another officer who accompanied me, to draw
him from the spot. We succeeded, indeed, in coaxing him as far as the
upper part of the garden--for, though large and lank, he was quite
gentle; but he left us there, returned to his post beside the body,
and, lifting up his nose into the air, howled again. There are few
things in my life that I regret more than not having secured that dog;
for it cannot I think be doubted that he was watching beside his dead
master, and that he defended him from the teeth and talons which made a
prey of all the rest. But I had at the time other thoughts in my mind,
and circumstances prevented my paying a second visit to the place
where I had found him.
Among other happy results, the more forward position in which the
pickets were now placed, furnished me with an opportunity of obtaining
a less imperfect view of the city and defences of Bayonne than any
which I had yet obtained. I say less imperfect; for even from the
tops of the houses no very accurate survey could be taken of a place
situated upon a sandy flat, and still five or six miles distant. But I
saw enough to confirm me in the idea which I had already formed, that
the moment of attack upon these intrenchments, come when it might,
could not fail to be a bloody one.
Daylight was by this time rapidly departing; and it became incumbent
upon me to contract the chain of my vedettes, and to establish my
party a little in the rear of the cottage where we had been hitherto
stationed. By acting thus I contrived to render myself as secure as a
detachment numerically so small can ever hope to be. There were two
lakes, or rather large ponds, in the line of my position--one on the
left of the main road, the other on the right; indeed, it was near the
opposite extremity of the last-mentioned lake that we unexpectedly
found ourselves exposed to a charge of cavalry during the late battle.
Of these lakes I gladly took advantage. Planting my people in a large
house about a hundred yards in rear, I formed my sentinels into a
curved line, causing the extremities to rest each upon its own pond,
and pushing forward the centre in the shape of a bow. "Now, then,"
thought I, "everything must depend upon the vigilance of the watchmen;"
and, to render that as perfect as possible, I resolved to spend the
whole night in passing from the one to the other. Nor did I break that
resolution. I may safely say that I did not sit down for five minutes
at a time from sunset on the 24th till sunrise on the 25th.
The snow, which during an hour or two in the afternoon had ceased,
began again to fall in increased quantities after dark. The wind,
too, grew more and more boisterous every moment; it roared in the
woods, and whistled fearfully through the ruined houses; and at every
pause I could distinctly hear the wolf's long howl, and the growl
and short bark of the wild dogs, as they quarrelled over the mangled
carcasses scattered round me. Near the margin of the right-hand lake,
in particular, this horrible din was constantly audible. There lay
there, apart from each other, about ten bodies, of whom seven wore the
fragments of a British uniform; and on these a whole troop of animals,
from the thickets beyond, gorged themselves. Close beside one of these
bodies I had been under the necessity of planting a sentinel; and the
weakness of my party would not permit me to allow him a companion.
He was rather a young man, and had selected the post for himself, in
order to show that superstitious terrors had no power over him; but he
bitterly lamented his temerity, as the situation in which I found him
showed.
I visited his post about half an hour after he had assumed it--that is
to say, a little before midnight: he was neither standing nor sitting,
but leaning against a tree, and was fairly covered with a coat of
frozen snow. His firelock had dropped from his hand, and lay across the
chest of the dead man beside whom he had chosen to place himself. When
I spoke to the sentry, and desired to know why he had not challenged as
I approached, he made no answer; and on examining more closely, I found
that he was in a swoon. Of course I despatched my orderly for a relief,
and kept watch myself till he returned, when, with the assistance of
my comrades, I first dragged the dead body to the lake, into which
it was thrown, and then removed the insensible but living man to the
picket-house. There several minutes were spent in chafing and rubbing
him before he opened his eyes; but being at length restored to the use
of speech, he gave the following account of his adventure:--
He said that the corporal had hardly quitted him when his ears were
assailed with the most dreadful sounds, such as, he was very certain,
no earthly creature could produce; that he saw through the gloom a
whole troop of devils dancing beside the water's edge; and that a
creature in white came creeping towards his post, groaning heavily all
the way. He endeavoured to call out to it, but the words stuck in his
throat, nor could he utter so much as a cry. Just then he swore that
the dead man sat up and stared him in the face; after which he had no
recollection of anything, till he found himself in the picket-house. I
have no reason to suspect that man of cowardice; neither, as my reader
will easily believe, did I treat his story with any other notice than a
hearty laugh; but in the absolute truth of it he uniformly persisted,
and, if he be alive, persists I daresay to this hour.
After this adventure with my foolhardy and at the same time
superstitious follower, nothing occurred during the night which seems
to deserve special notice. As I have already mentioned, I took care to
visit the sentinels so often that danger of surprisal was effectually
averted. That these constant perambulations would have been undertaken
as a matter of choice I by no means pretend to say, for it was a night
of storm and intense cold: but I felt my situation to be a critical
one; and feeling so, I should have been less at ease by the side of a
comfortable fire than I was while forcing my way against the wind and
snow. Nor had I any reason to find fault with the conduct of my men.
Being warned of their danger in good time, they were thoroughly on the
alert to guard against it. I found each sentry more watchful than his
neighbour--in other words, one and all of them completely on the _qui
vive_.
I recollect, indeed, on one occasion being put a little upon my mettle.
It was about two in the morning when I was informed by a soldier, who
kept watch at the extremity of the hamlet, that he had heard within
the last ten minutes a more than usual noise in a large house about a
hundred and fifty yards in front of his post. He described it to me as
if people were tearing up boards, or thumping down heavy weights upon
the floor; and he himself seemed to think that a body of infantry had
arrived and established themselves within the building. I listened
attentively in order to catch any sound which might proceed from that
quarter, but none reached me. He persisted, however, in his story; and
added, that if the noise which he had heard proceeded not from men,
it must come from spirits. "And why not from dogs or wolves?" said
I. "Because dogs and wolves cannot split wood," said he; "and I will
swear, that if ever I heard planks torn asunder, I heard it now." Being
little inclined to leave the matter in doubt, I remained with the
sentinel, and despatched my orderly to bring up half-a-dozen men for
the purpose of making a reconnaissance.
The reader has probably anticipated that I found the house empty.
It was so; for, after stealing through the street with the utmost
caution--stopping every two minutes and applying my ear to the ground,
in order to catch the slightest noise--after peeping over the garden
wall, listening at the entrance, and creeping up the front steps with
the pace of a burglar, I found that the chateau was wholly tenantless;
and what was more, that not a trace of its having been recently
visited, at least by human beings, could be discovered. Nevertheless
I commended the soldier for his watchfulness, advised him to continue
equally vigilant as long as he should remain on duty, and leaving it to
himself to decide whether the sounds which he had reported proceeded
from ghosts or more tangible creatures, I quitted him.
It may not be amiss if I state here, what I have already more than
hinted, that on all these occasions I was accompanied by a spaniel
bitch. I had brought the creature with me from England when she was
a puppy of only nine months old; and she became attached to me in a
degree such as would not in all probability have been the case had
my mode of life being more settled, and she in consequence less my
companion. Nor was it only because I was fond of the animal that I
taught her to follow my fortunes thus closely. A well-trained dog is
no bad helpmate to an officer who has charge of an outpost; indeed I
was never greatly alarmed, notwithstanding the communications of my
vedettes, unless my four-footed patrol confirmed their statements. If
she barked or growled, then I felt assured that something dangerous was
near; if she continued quiet, I was comparatively easy. To that dog,
indeed, I owe my life; but the circumstance under which she preserved
it occurred in a different quarter of the world, and has no right to be
introduced into my present narrative.
In this manner was the night of the 24th of January spent. About an
hour before daybreak on the 25th I mustered my picket, according to
custom, and kept them standing under arms in front of the house till
dawn appeared. This measure was necessary, not only because it is a
standing order in the British army for advanced corps to get under arms
thus early, but because experience has proved that the first of the
morning is the favourite moment of attack, inasmuch as, by commencing
hostilities at that young hour of the day, good hopes are held out of
effecting something decisive before the day shall have ended. On the
present occasion, however, no attack was made; and hence, after waiting
the usual time, I prepared again to shift my ground, and to take post
at the more advanced station which I held yesterday, and which I had
evacuated solely for the purpose of making myself less insecure during
the hours of darkness.
We had returned to our daylight position about a quarter of an hour,
when a patrol of light cavalry arrived, and proposed to plant a vedette
upon the top of an eminence about a mile in our front. The person who
commanded the party, however, appeared to be a little in doubt as to
the practicability of performing the orders which he had received.
He said that the enemy were not willing to allow that height to be
occupied by us; that the last relief which had attempted to establish
itself there was driven off; and that he was not without apprehension
of an ambuscade, and of being taken with his whole party;--in a word,
he begged that I would allow a portion of my men to follow him, and
that I would support him in case he should be attacked either by
infantry or cavalry.
To say the truth, I was a good deal puzzled how to act, for nothing
had been communicated to me on the subject; nevertheless I determined
to lend as much assistance as I could spare, and accordingly directed
about a dozen men to follow the dragoons. Not deeming it right,
however, to intrust a detachment of my own people entirely to the
charge of a stranger, I resolved to accompany them; and perhaps it was
well that I did.
We were yet a half musket-shot from the hill which the cavalry were
desired to occupy when we observed a superior force of French dragoons
advancing from the lines towards the same point. The push now was
for the high ground. We foot-soldiers could not of course keep pace
with our mounted comrades, but we followed them at the double, and
arrived at the base just as they had crowned the height. They were
hardly there, however, when a discordant shout, or rather yell, told
us that the French were ascending by the opposite side. Our dragoons,
I observed, instantly formed line; they discharged their pistols, and
made a show of charging: but whether it was that the enemy's numbers
overawed them, or that their horses took fright at the report, I cannot
tell, but before the caps of their opponents were visible to our
eyes their order was lost, and themselves in full retreat. Down they
came, both parties at full speed; and now it was our turn to act. I
had already placed my men behind a turf fence, with strict orders not
to fire till I should command them. It was in vain that I stood upon
the top of the wall and shouted and waved to the fugitives to take a
direction to the right or left. They rode directly towards the ditch,
as if their object had been to trample us under foot; and, what was
still more alarming, the enemy were close behind them. In self-defence,
I was therefore obliged to give the preconcerted signal. My people
fired. One of our own, and three of the French dragoons dropped. The
latter, apparently astonished at the unlooked-for discharge, pulled up.
"Now, now," cried we, "charge, charge, and redeem your honour!" The
dragoons did so; and we, rising at the same instant with loud shouts,
the enemy were completely routed. Two of their troopers were taken; and
of all who escaped, hardly one escaped without a wound.
After this trifling skirmish, the French no longer disputed with us the
possession of the hill. Leaving the cavalry, therefore, to maintain it,
I fell back with my men to the picket-house; and, about an hour after
my return, was by no means displeased to find another party arrive to
relieve us. Having given to the officer in charge as much information
as I myself possessed, I called in my sentries and marched to the rear.