On the 18th of February 1809, after a long and rather harassing march,
the 1st Battalion of the 50th arrived at Braborne Lees in Kent, where
the 2nd had been stationed for some time. Both having assembled and
reunited, old friends and companions in arms meeting once more, a
general scene of festivity took place; the young hands entertaining
their more fortunate brethren, lately returned from the field of
honour, joyous living and good cheer was the order of the day, and it
might be added that conviviality was the regulation for the night.
The 68th and 85th Light Infantry being in the same barracks
contributed in no small extent to those revelries, and each in
succession most liberally displaying the generous hospitalities of the
table, this round of dissipation was continued until a route was
announced to us, for both battalions of the 50th to march forthwith;
the 1st for Ramsgate, and the 2nd for the town of Ashford, four miles
distant. Having obtained my Lieutenancy previous to our return, and
being consequently effective in the 2nd, I joined and marched with
them.
Before proceeding further I must say a word or two about those friends
we left behind.--The 85th, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Cuyler, was
a very smart regiment; and the officers a gay set of light bobs, full
of life and glee. I never saw a finer party of young men; longing for
military enterprise, they cared not in what quarter of the world it
might be offered. To see those happy fellows seated round their mess
table, mingled with the 50th, their delighted guests, it would have
been impossible to imagine that they were so soon to be disunited;
however so it was, and great was the pity that such was to be their
lot; they were in a short time after separated, and dispersed in
various directions, being removed to other regiments and other
destinations. More than a quarter of a century has since elapsed, in
the course of which period I have met with a few of them, others have
left the stage of life or retired from the service, while but small
indeed is the remnant of that gallant band, who once belonged to a
Regiment which has distinguished itself in many a battle field, and
than which there is not a better in the British army.
The 68th was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Johnston. The officers,
more steady, perhaps, from being more experienced, than their brother
flankers, were a remarkably pleasant set of men, many of whom bore the
appearance of having seen some hard service.
We found Ashford a very dull and uninteresting place, the good people
of which, not being particularly fond of military gentlemen, left us
very much to ourselves, to cogitate as we might in our country
quarters. We made this out pretty well, however, with our regimental
society; and, having also some female campaigners, we carried on the
war happily enough, notwithstanding the churlish deportment of our
civilized neighbours. The Ashfordians, though they looked shy upon us
as a body, could, nevertheless, condescend to notice such of our young
men as boasted a drop of noble blood, or were graced by the possession
of some ancient name. A well-stocked purse was, moreover, a good
introduction to their mahogany; and the fortunate hero, whose
shoulders gloried in a _pair_ of epaulets, or upon whose heels the
spurs might dangle, had a most excellent chance of finding favour in
their aristocratic sight. The humble subs, contented with their
barrack-room parties, were perhaps gainers by the arrangement; for,
although they could not boast of so much tinsel or cold display, there
was among them much more social manners and generous liberality, while
good fellowship and unaffected mirth presided at their less splendid
though far more cheerful board. In the barracks of Ashford, our
companions militant were the 91st Highlanders, and the Warwickshire
Militia, both of which were in capital order for any duty; the latter
in particular, commanded by Colonel S.E. Steward, was a noble body of
men, exemplary alike in appearance and discipline. So that any
regiment of the line might consider it an honour to receive volunteers
from such a corps. The 91st, under Colonel Douglas, has always upheld
the distinguished character for which these Northern warriors have
been famed.
In the early part of the succeeding month of May, the second battalion
received their route for Reading Street, in Kent, where we got into
quarters after a few days hard marching. The temporary barracks which
we occupied were situated in the centre of a highly improved country,
about three miles from the small town of Tenterden. The weather being
delightful at this pleasant season, and our duty not being extremely
severe, the time passed in a manner quite in unison with our wishes,
and without any greater degree of suffering than what occasionally
arose from the hardship incident to a night campaign, upon a
Bacchanalian expedition. As the invitations to the feast were but "few
and far between," the dangers to be encountered on this service were
by no means numerous or important. Deprived by our retired
circumstances of any extensive intercourse with the "gay and lively
throng," we were getting somewhat rusticated, and might in time have
become very quiet and harmless animals, had we been permitted so to
remain. But our retirement was much too easy a mode of existence for
gentlemen of the sword, and all our dreams of luxury and peace were
soon disturbed, by a sudden order from the higher powers, for several
of our officers and non-commissioned officers to proceed with the
utmost rapidity to the Isle of Wight, in order to join a battalion of
detachments, which was then forming at Albany Barracks, and which was
destined to compose a portion of the expedition under the Earl of
Chatham. Being included in the number allotted for this service, I
accompanied the following officers, who commenced their march for
Portsmouth, on Sunday the 25th of June, 1809: Captain Henry
Montgomery, Captain Edward Atkins, Lieutenant William Turner,
Lieutenant Richard Jones, and Lieutenant James Thomas.
With high glee, and an elastic tone of spirits, we entered upon our
journey, equipped and fitted out in a most singular manner, for, such
was the speed demanded on this pressing occasion, that every kind of
conveyance, inclusive of coach, caravan, gig, and fish cart, was put
in requisition for the more hasty removal of our martial band.
Although there was something bordering on the ludicrous in the mode of
our turn out, we cut, nevertheless, a most formidable and imposing
figure.
With scarcely any breathing time, we pursued our hurried course, the
wonder-struck natives of the towns and hamlets through which we passed
staring and gazing upon us, with open mouths, while with joyous looks
we dashed along, as though his satanic majesty himself was at our
heels. The officers were in and outside of coaches, as the case might
be, while the serjeants, corporals and drummers, mounted on vehicles
of more humble pretensions, exhibited their pikes, fusils, and other
weapons, stuck out of windows, doors and various similar openings.
This strange and whimsical cavalcade was not unlike a moveable
battering train, or a troop of warriors in ancient times, and bore no
manner of resemblance to a party of modern heroes travelling
genteelly, though not leisurely, on the King's highway.
On arriving at Newport, in the Isle of Wight, we soon became
acquainted with the several officers who were summoned on the same
duty, and who belonged to different regiments remaining in England.
The battalion of embodied detachments, which was composed of men from
the dépôts of those corps on foreign service, amounted to at least a
thousand bayonets, and when completed for the field was a most
effective and powerful body of soldiers.--With regard to costume, it
was rather motley in appearance, from the many coloured facings
displayed throughout the line; and the officers wearing the plain
round hat, with a small feather stuck on one side like a marine,
served to render still more apparent the diversity of style and
fashion exhibited in our variegated ranks.
Lieutenant Colonel the Honorable Basil Cochrane, our commandant, was a
bold determined officer, and strict disciplinarian. He belonged to the
36th, in which he afterwards served in the Peninsular war, and having
a natural genius for a military life, he, like his brother of nautical
celebrity, was conspicuous on many occasions, during that hard-fought
contest.
The arrangements being concluded, our medley battalion marched to West
Cowes, where it embarked, on the 15th of July, on board of the
Weymouth, armed en flute, Captain Trounce, and on the following day we
sailed to Spithead, where, the troops being much crowded, some of them
were removed to the Clarence Transport[16]. We steered for the Downs
under convoy, on the 25th of the same month. On the 31st, the whole
fleet set sail with a fair wind, and beautifully clear weather,
standing away to the Northward, in the direction of the Dutch
coast.[17]
[16] The night before we sailed from Cowes, a melancholy
event took place; Lieutenant Orr, of the 79th regiment, a
fine spirited young man, was drowned by some accident along
side the ship, as she lay at anchor.
[17] _The undermentioned officers served with the battalion
of embodied detachments on the expedition to Walcheren._
Commanding Lieut. Col. the Hon. Basil Cochrane, 36th regt,
_dead_.
Major John Wardlaw, from 64th regiment.
Major Gomm, from 6th foot.
Major Alexander Petre, from 79th regiment.
[a]Captain William Bains, from 6th regiment, _killed_.
Captain Thompson, from 6th regiment, _dead_.
Captain Henry Balguy, from 36th regiment.
Captain Nathaniel Farewell, from 36th regiment.
Captain Chaloner, from 36th regiment.
Captain Henry Montgomery, from 50th regiment, _dead_.
Captain Edward Adkin, from 50th regiment.
Captain Cooksey, from 79th regiment, _dead_.
Captain Forbes, from 78th regiment.
Captain McPherson, from 78th regiment.
Lieutenant McQueen, from 78th regiment.
Lieutenant Munro, from 78th regiment.
Adjutant Cameron, from 78th regiment, _dead_.
Lieutenant Orr, from 79th regiment, _drowned_.
Lieutenant Turner, from 50th regiment.
Lieutenant Patterson, from 50th regiment.
Lieutenant Jones, from 50th regiment.
Lieutenant Thomas, from 50th regiment.
Ensign Bair, from 33rd regiment.
Ensign Buck, from 33rd regiment.
Lieutenant Tarletou, from 6th regiment.
Lieutenant Addison, from 6th regiment.
Lieutenant Jennings, from 6th regiment.
Lieutenant Pinkney, from 36th regiment.
Lieutenant Bone, from 36th regiment.
Ensign Tunstal, from 36th regiment.
Ensign Finlayson, from 22nd regiment.
Ensign Clarke, from 22nd regiment.
Ensign Beauclerk, from 33rd regiment.
[a] Killed on his return while gallantly assisting in the
defence of Guernsey Packet, which was attacked by a French
Privateer.
On the 1st of August the troops commenced their debarkation, and the
battalion of detachments landed near the village of Camp Vere in the
island of Walcheren, without any opposition.
The French having taken post with their main body in the strongly
fortified town of Flushing, were resolved to defend the place to the
last extremity; the necessary preparations were therefore made for the
attack of that celebrated fortress. Being in Sir Thomas Picton's
division, we were among the number of those allotted for that duty, as
well as for service in the trenches, we marched accordingly to the
ground laid out for us before the works.
Constant occupation having rendered it impossible to keep a journal of
the siege, and having no dependence upon memory, which in general
proves a treacherous friend, I must abstain from any detail, and
confine my remarks to a mere outline of those affairs in which our
regiment was more immediately concerned. I may, however, be allowed
briefly to remark, that the stirring events of this brief campaign
were productive of wonderful excitement among us; and that the
bombardment of the citadel and town, and the incidents that occurred
on the night preceding the surrender, were of such awful grandeur as
to baffle the most descriptive powers.
On the morning after its fall, Flushing presented a thoroughly ruinous
and desolate appearance, from the terrible effects of shot, shells and
Congreve rockets. Almost every building had experienced their
destructive power. Those which stood on ground a little raised, or
high above the ramparts, together with the public edifices and towers
of the churches, were completely demolished. A great portion of the
town was reduced to ashes by the conflagrations arising from the
flaming rockets, which, penetrating whatever they came in contact
with, carried fire and ruin in their train. The wretched and
despairing inhabitants, forced by the ceaseless cannonade to take
refuge in their subterraneous chambers, were even there exposed to the
falling shells; for these, and other projectiles, descending with
amazing velocity, and piercing every floor, finished their career by
an explosion, no less fatal to the building than to the unfortunate
people it contained. It was a fearful and melancholy sight, to
contemplate the scene, and was well calculated to fill the mind with
sentiments of a most depressing nature. The shattered and riddled
dwellings, apparently reeling on their base, and cast nearly off their
perpendicular, seemed almost ready to come down with a tremendous
crash.
The half burnt and dilapidated remains of the more important fabrics,
scorched by the fire, and blackened with smoke, lay heaped in dusky
and spectral masses, truly monumental of their direful fate. The
deserted and gloomy streets, lanes, and alleys, were overspread with
the fragments of the battered walls, accumulated rubbish, and dead
bodies. The stagnant, foul and muddy canals, (by which the place is
intersected), were covered with dark weeds, and on them floated the
putrid remains of various animals, tainting with their pernicious
odour the overheated and oppressive atmosphere. At every step we
encountered the haggard, woebegone and famished aspect of starving
creatures, emerging from their dreary cells, or thinly scattered here
and there, whose funereal countenances might have led one to fancy
that they had lately escaped from the cold and cheerless tomb. These
horrible sights, with many more such, enough to harrow up the soul,
glared around us on all sides, throughout the limits of this unhappy
place, upon which misfortune may well be said to have set her seal.
The troops of the besieging army were drawn up, while the French
garrison passing in review, marched out with the honours of war. This
ceremony being ended, and the enemy having evacuated the fortress, we
entered the gates, and took up our abode in the miserable and
comfortless quarters allotted for our reception.
The heat of the weather was suffocating; and quite sufficient of
itself to produce the sickness which broke out among our soldiers.
Indeed the causes already alluded to in a little time induced a fever,
or something bearing more resemblance to a plague, which led to a
scene of dismay and horror, far exceeding that in which the besieged
had been involved. Contagion and disease, with all their attendant
woes, quickly spread their baneful influence throgout our ranks. The
poisonous exhalations, and marsh miasmata from the loathsome waters of
the canals, combined with the fervid and contaminated air, generated
and extended that deadly endemic, to which so many of our troops
engaged in this campaign became the victims. Men and officers were
attacked in the most sudden and violent manner, while on parade in
good health, and were led away under the fatal illness from which they
were soon released by the hand of death. So destructive were the
ravages of this frightful pestilence that, before many days had
elapsed, our numbers were much diminished, and scarcely enough of men
could be found to perform the duties of the place. The hospitals were
filled, and the convalescents were reduced to so low a state, that it
was a considerable time before they were fit for any service.
Leaving a subject upon which it is painful longer to dwell, it may be
observed that affairs in a short time were restored to order, and the
inhabitants, who remained, having ventured from their hiding places,
and resumed their dwellings, and usual occupations, endeavoured as far
as in their power to extend their kindness towards us. This was all
they had to offer; and, while sympathizing with them, we could not but
lament, that so great a portion of unmitigated suffering should have
become their lot, but such is the fortune of war.
While our battalion was at Flushing the Officers frequently visited
the town of Middleburgh, the capital of the Island, and pleasantly
situated in its centre. It is a clean and very beautiful place,
surrounded by gardens and richly improved pleasure grounds, among
which are interspersed many handsome buildings and cottages, laid out
with a degree of taste and neatness, seldom to be found beyond the
boundaries of England. With regard to the town it is perfection
itself, free from every nuisance; the houses are well built, the
streets wide and regularly paved. Within doors, the love for
ornamental work, combined with elegance, was forcibly evinced; the
painting, gilding, and other embellishments, were most conspicuous,
the walls being lined, either with the coloured delft tiles or, in
those of a higher class, encased with damask, silk, or velvet.
Pier-glasses and mirrors, with costly frames, chandeliers, and
pictures, enlivened their rooms, the furniture of which corresponded
well with these expensive decorations.
To heighten the smart appearance of their streets, the newly painted
shops were shewn off to the best advantage; and, in those containing
plate, or metal ware, the goods, polished and burnished up most
highly, as they lay exposed for sale, were dazzling to the eye, as
well as tempting to the purse of the admiring passenger. At that time,
one of their annual fairs, continuing for a fortnight, was going on:
this being the grand centre of attraction, the Dutchmen and their
Frows, with the youthful damsels, were in numerous attendance, and
seemed quite unconcerned, as if no calamity had happened to their
principal sea-port. This circumstance furnished an additional proof of
the proverbial apathy of these plodding islanders.
They have here a few most extraordinary customs, among which may be
ranked the mode of fitting up their sleeping establishment. On
entering my chamber, at the Hotel in Middleburgh, escorted by the fair
though rotund fille de chambre, I perceived that the counterpane and
blankets were absent without leave. On demanding of my rosy guide the
cause of this, and explaining that, although the night was warm, I
conceived this by much too cool a manner of slumbering, she replied by
pointing, with an arch and significant smile, to a mountain of
feathers. Then, by raising one corner of the ponderous bale, she gave
me to understand that my weary limbs were to repose between two of
these enormous beds; after which she departed with a heavy step,
leaving me to ruminate upon the best mode of proceeding. As I did not
possess any of the heat-defying qualities of the incombustible
Monsieur Chabert, I chose the lesser of two evils, and decided upon
occupying the outside place, on which I accordingly took up my
station.
On the 7th of September the corps of detachments embarked at Flushing,
and the fleet setting sail from the island of Walcheren, with a fair
wind, arrived at Portsmouth on the 10th, where the troops were landed.
Our battalion marched to Porchester Castle, from whence, after
remaining a short time, the several drafts of which it was composed
proceeded to Albany Barracks in the Isle of Wight, for the purpose of
reassembling at their respective dépôts.
Having joined my regiment at Ospringe, in Kent, I received leave of
absence, and, passing the winter in the enjoyment of Irish
hospitality, returned at the expiration of four months to the
regiment, which was then quartered at Silver Hill barracks, in Sussex.
Here I found all my old companions pleasantly situated, and spending
their time in a very social and agreeable manner, while carrying on
the war in their country quarters. As the hum-drum round of daily
occupation in barracks admits of no variety, it would be a waste of my
reader's time and patience to enter into particulars of our peace
campaigns. A little excitement and change of things was, however, soon
brought about, by the unexpected arrival of our 1st battalion, lately
employed on Lord Chatham's expedition; which, under the command of
Major Charles Hill, marched from Hastings on the 22nd of June. They
were stationed here until the 10th of August, when they got the route
for Lewes, from whence they departed, a second time to join the army
in Spain.
The 2nd was ordered to East Bourne, where they arrived on the 12th of
November, 1810. In the temporary sheds, erected on the sandy beach
near that town, we had excellent accommodation, and having, moreover,
a good commandant, we had nothing whatever to complain of. The 81st
regiment, under Lieutenant Col. Milling, and the Flint Rifles, were
stationed here, and their officers being a jovial, pleasant set of
fellows, our rooms presented many a display of merriment and glee,
during the brief space of our companionship.