From the 26th of January up to the 20th of the following month nothing
occurred, either to myself individually or to the portion of the army
of which I was a member, particularly deserving of notice. During that
interval, indeed, a fresh supply of wearing apparel, of flannels,
stockings, and shoes, reached me, being a present from kind friends
at home; and seldom has any gift proved more acceptable, or arrived
more opportunely: but the reader is not, I daresay, over-anxious to
know whether the articles in question were too large or too small,
or whether they fitted to a hair's-breadth. Neither would it greatly
amuse him were I to detail at length how ships freighted with corn
reached Secoa; how fatigue parties were ordered out to unload them;
and how the loads, being justly divided, were issued as forage for
the horses, which stood much in need of it. It may, however, be worth
while to state that, previous to the arrival of these corn-ships, even
the cavalry and artillery were under the necessity of feeding their
horses chiefly upon chopped furze; and hence that disease had begun to
make rapid progress among them, many dying almost every day; and all,
even the most healthy, falling fast out of condition. But for this
providential supply of wholesome oats and barley, I question whether
we should have been able to take the field, at least effectively, till
later in the season.
On the 16th of February 1814, the Allied troops may be said to have
fairly broken up from their winter quarters. The corps to which I
belonged continued, indeed, under cover till the morning of the
21st; but we were already in a great measure at our posts, seeing
that our cantonments lay immediately in rear of the pickets. Such
divisions as had been quartered in and about St Jean de Luz began to
move to the front on the 16th; and pitching their tents on the crest
of the position, they waited quietly till their leader should see
fit to command a farther advance. On these occasions, no part of the
spectacle is more imposing than the march of the artillery. Of this
species of force, six pieces form a battery, then called a brigade:
each gun is dragged by four or six horses; by four, if the brigade be
intended to act with infantry--by six, if it belong to what is called
the horse-artillery. In the former case, eight gunners march on foot
beside each field-piece, two riding _à la postilion_; in the latter,
the gunners are all mounted and accoutred like yeomanry cavalry.
Then the tumbrils and ammunition-waggons, with their train of horses
and attendants, follow in rear of the guns; and the whole procession
covers, perhaps, as much ground as is covered by two moderately strong
battalions in marching order.
The greater part of the infantry attached to the left column had passed
when brigade after brigade of guns wound through our village. These,
halting just after they had cleared the street, diverged into some
open fields on the right and left of the road, where the whole park,
amounting to perhaps thirty pieces, was established. In another green
field at the opposite side of Bidart four heavy eighteen-pounders took
their station, to be in readiness, in case of need, to be transported
to Fort Charlotte. Last of all came the cavalry, consisting of the
12th and 16th Light Dragoons, and of two regiments of heavy Germans;
nor could we avoid remarking that, though the 12th and 16th Dragoons
are both of them distinguished corps, the horses of the foreigners
were, nevertheless, in far better order than those of our countrymen.
The fact I believe to be, that an Englishman, greatly as he piques
himself on his skill as a groom, never acquires that attachment to
his horse which a German trooper experiences. The latter dreams not
under any circumstances of attending to his own comfort till after he
has provided for the comfort of his steed. He will frequently sleep
beside it, through choice; and the noble animal seldom fails to return
the affection of his master, whose voice he knows, and whom he will
generally follow like a dog.
There was another striking difference in the two brigades of cavalry
which I remarked. The English rode on, many of them silent, some
chatting of a thousand things, others humming or whistling those
tuneless airs in which the lower orders of our countrymen delight. The
Germans, on the contrary, sang, and sang beautifully, a wild chorus--a
hymn, as I afterwards learned--different persons taking different
parts, and producing altogether the most exquisite harmony. So great an
impression did this music make upon me that I caught the air, and would
write it down for the benefit of my reader were I sufficiently master
of the art of notation; but as this happens not to be the case, he must
wait till we become personally acquainted, when I promise to play it
for him in my very best style upon the flute.
Nor was it only on the left that warlike movements occurred. The whole
army took the field; and that a serious campaign was already commenced
the sound of firing at the extreme right of the line gave notice. I had
wandered abroad with my gun on the morning of the 18th--not, indeed,
venturing to proceed far from home, but trying the neighbouring copses
for a hare or a woodcock--when my farther progress was arrested by the
report of several cannon in the direction of Lord Hill's division.
These were succeeded by a short, sharp discharge of musketry; and my
sport was immediately abandoned: but I found on my return that no alarm
was excited, and that every description of force which I had left in a
state of inaction continued still inactive.
The same degree of suspense prevailed amongst us during the 19th and
20th. On the latter of these days my mind at least was kept busy by a
journey to the harbour, for the purpose of bringing up a fresh supply
of corn for the horses; though it was a species of employment with
which I would have readily dispensed, inasmuch as the day chanced to
be particularly cold, with snow. But our anxiety was destined not to
be of long continuance, an order reaching us that night at a late
hour to be accoutred and in line of march by three o'clock on the
following morning. Now then at length we applied ourselves to the task
of packing the baggage. The tents were once more summoned into use;
their condition closely examined; such rents as appeared in the canvas
were hastily repaired, and every deficiency in pegs and strings made
good. Then the ordinary supply of _provend_, as Major Dalgetty would
call it, being put up, we threw ourselves down in our clothes, and fell
asleep.
It was still dark as pitch when the well-known sound of troops hurrying
to their stations roused me from my slumber. As I had little to do in
the way of accoutring, except to buckle on my sabre and to stick my
pistols in a black leathern haversack, which on such occasions usually
hung at my back, abundance of time was given for the consumption
of as much breakfast as at that early hour I felt disposed to eat;
after which I took post beside my men. The reader will have doubtless
noted that, like the good soldier already named, I never set out upon
any military expedition without having in the first place laid in a
foundation of stamina to work upon. And here I would recommend to all
young warriors, who may be gathering laurels when nothing of me shall
remain except these Memoirs, invariably to follow my example. They may
depend upon it that an empty stomach, so far from being a provocative,
is a serious antidote to valour; and that a man who has eaten nothing
previous to either an advance or a retreat runs no little risk of
finding his strength fail at the very moment when its continuance is
of vital importance to him. No, no; your hot-brained youth, who is too
impatient to eat, is like your over-anxious hunter, which refuses its
corn because the hounds pass the stable. Neither the one nor the other
will go through a hard day's work.
The troops being formed in marching order, the word was given, and
we advanced in the direction, now so familiar to us, of the mayor's
house. As we passed the park of artillery, we heard rather than saw the
drivers limbering up, and preparations busily making for service. The
tramp of many feet, too, could be discerned, as well as the clattering
of horses' hoofs, the jingling of steel scabbards, and the rattle of
canteens and cartouch-boxes; but it was not till these various sounds
had become faint and distant that daylight began to break upon us. We
had, however, been conscious of having struck into a sort of by-lane,
and of having proceeded for some time in a direction towards the right;
and hence, when objects became visible, we were not surprised to find
that we had passed even the village of Arcanques, and that all the
country hitherto traversed by us was left behind. As may be guessed,
this circumstance alone excited pleasurable emotions; for we were weary
of the eternal mayor's house and Fort Charlotte, and anxious to reach
some other field on which to prove our courage.
The point towards which our steps were turned was a lofty eminence,
distant about a quarter of a mile from the banks of the Nive, and
commanding an extensive view of a country extremely beautiful. The
height had been occupied during the preceding day by a part of the
fifth division, which now resigned the charge to us, and descending
into the plain, crossed the river and pushed off in a direction to
the right. For ourselves, we were commanded to halt here; and as
neither the tents nor baggage had arrived--as indeed we soon learned
that they were not to follow--we sedulously set about lighting fires,
and prepared to bivouac. These were early days as yet, however, for
bivouacking; and hence arrangements were made for getting us under
cover during the night; in accordance with which we descended soon
after sunset to a large chateau, close beside the advanced sentries,
where ample accommodation was found for all of us. There the night
was passed, not altogether free from apprehension, seeing that no
pickets--only a chain of sentinels--were between us and the enemy; but
as everything remained quiet, without any attempt being made to molest
us, no evil consequences resulted from the adoption of a plan agreeable
enough, it is true, but savouring perhaps of rashness rather than
excess of wisdom.
As soon as the morrow's early parade was dismissed, and I perceived
that no indication was given of farther movements, I took my gun and
set off to the woods, where I hoped to find game enough to furnish out
a comfortable repast in the evening. Nor was I disappointed. Hares
and woodcocks abounded here; there were, moreover, numerous flocks of
golden plovers; and of these I contrived to bring home a sufficient
number to satisfy my own wants and the wants of others. But it was
not alone because I chanced to be particularly successful in shooting
that the day's excursion gave me pleasure; the country round was more
romantic and striking than any which I had yet seen, and came nearer
to a realisation of my previously-conceived notions respecting scenery
in the south of France. All was hill and dale, sweeping groves and
green meadows, with here and there a vineyard, already beginning to
give signs of vegetation, and to put forth its delicate fibres, like
our hop-plant in the month of May. The proximity of the Nive, too,
added not a little to the beauty of the prospect, as it flowed gently
and quietly on, winding for a while between sloping grass fields, and
then eluding the eye amid the thick groves which overhung its banks.
It would have been altogether as sweet and pastoral a landscape as
the imagination can very well picture, but for the remote view of the
intrenched camp which from various points might be obtained, and the
nearer glimpse of numerous watch-fires, round which groups of armed
men were swarming. But to me these were of course precisely the most
interesting objects in the panorama.
The game which the sporting members of the corps contrived this day
to pick up was so abundant that we resolved to admit the whole of our
brother officers to a participation in it, and to spend an evening
together after the fashion of a reunion at home. For this purpose
all the culinary utensils within reach were put in requisition, and
all the individuals skilled in the gastronomic art were invited to
give proof of their abilities. Beef--lean beef--that everlasting and
insipid food of soldiers--was disguised in every imaginable form;
hares were melted down into soup, woodcocks stewed, golden plovers
roasted, and sundry rabbits curried. In a word, we sat down, in number
about five-and-twenty, at six o'clock, to a dinner which would have
done no discredit in point of cookery to the favourite disciple of Dr
Kitchener, and which Sir William Curtis himself would not have deemed
unworthy of his notice. Good cheer, moreover, is generally the parent
of good-humour, and good-humour is the source of benevolence; nor would
it be easy to point out in this selfish world of ours five-and-twenty
persons whose hearts overflow more richly with the milk of human
kindness than did ours as we took our seats by the well-filled board.
Fervently did we wish that every corps in the British army--ay, and in
the French army too--could that day fare as well; while we proceeded to
prove, in the most satisfactory of all manners, that delicate viands
were not thrown away, at least upon us.
These praiseworthy expressions had hardly ceased, and we had just begun
to pay our addresses to the well-boiled soup, when the tread of horses'
hoofs attracted our notice. It would have been a positive sin had the
enemy come on at such a moment as this; and I verily believe we in our
wrath would have given him no quarter. Nevertheless, sins are daily
committed; nor were we by any means at ease touching this important
matter, till the cause of the alarm appeared. It was a wounded officer,
who had been shot in a skirmish this morning, and was now slowly
travelling to the rear, being with difficulty held on his horse by a
couple of attendants. Our dinner was instantly abandoned, and we all
ran to offer such assistance as our means enabled us to offer. But the
poor fellow was too seriously hurt to accept of our invitations to eat.
The surgeon accordingly took him in charge, and having amputated the
arm which one ball had broken, and striven in vain to extract another
from his side, he left him to the care of his servant. The man was dead
before morning.
It is impossible to describe the chilling effect of this adventure upon
all of us. Steeled as men necessarily become in a continued state of
warfare against the milder and more gentle feelings of our nature,
they must be hardened indeed if they can behold a dying fellow-creature
arrive among them in an hour of jollity and mirth without viewing the
contrast in so strong a light as to damp, if it be unable utterly to
destroy, their hilarity. For our own parts, we returned indeed to
table, and chatted, or endeavoured to chat, as if no such guest had
come among us. But it would not do. Our party, which we had designed to
keep together till dawn, broke up soon after ten o'clock; and we lay
down to sleep with minds more full of our suffering brother in arms
than of our own joviality.
The wounded officer belonged to a regiment of the fifth division. He
had acted with a small party as one of the flank patrol during an
oblique movement of his brigade along the front of the enemy's line,
and falling in with a body of their skirmishers, had been wounded in a
wood, where the rapid advance of the column left him. His servant and
another man, having procured a horse from one of his friends, returned
to his assistance. But before they could discover him the division
was too far on its way to be overtaken; consequently they took with
him a direction to the rear, which brought them to our house. He had
received his wounds at an early hour in the day, and had been preserved
from bleeding to death only by the cold; but the long period which
elapsed ere the hurts could be dressed rendered them doubly severe.
Our surgeon indeed assured us, that no care, however speedily bestowed,
could have saved him; and therefore it was perhaps as well that the
absence of medical assistance shortened his misery by protecting him
from the torture necessarily attendant upon useless dressings.
We had just begun to drop into a forgetfulness of all causes both of
joy and sorrow when a dragoon arrived with orders for the commanding
officer, by which it appeared that we were to be under arms at three
o'clock next morning, and to follow where the bearer--a soldier of
the corps of guides--should lead. Something, too, was whispered about
a general attack upon the enemy's lines--of passing the Adour--and
investing Bayonne; but these were mere surmises, naturally following
upon such vague directions. For myself, I permitted them not to occupy
much of my attention, or to keep their places long in my mind; but
philosophically concluding that I had no choice submitted to me, and
that I must go wherever I should be sent, and act exactly as I should
be desired, I once more threw myself on the floor and closed my eyes.
Sleep was not long a stranger to them.