my servant was then able to help the sick man: as I had still a little
money left, I procured the necessary medicines, and such nourishment
as I thought he might safely bear. During the day my duties in the
hospital pretty well occupied me, but at night I was always able to
sit up for some time with him, and be of a little service. As you may
suppose, I did not see the less of my young friend, the cadet, by this
change; he had so often to come to ask after the invalid for Pepìta's
information, that at length he began to take an interest himself, and
during the crisis of the complaint, at a time when I was forced to be
absent on my duties, he, with Pepìta's assistance, took my place as a
watcher, and they actually remained for hours without speaking a word
lest they should waken the sick sleeper. However, I have no doubt they
made amends for it afterwards. The sisters soon became very kind to me
for my gay little friend's sake; they joined him in teaching me their
beautiful language, and though I was very stupid about it, I could not
but make good progress under such kind teachers. The younger sister
used to laugh at me and tease me very much, but I could not help liking
her more and more; so the time passed rapidly away, and day by day the
fair Spanish girl and her boy lover wound themselves closer round my
heart, till they became dear to me as if they had been my children.
A tall, sallow, down looking Spaniard was a frequent visiter at the
house of these two sisters: he was a man of considerable wealth,
the son of a Cadiz merchant, and at this time captain of the
carbineers--the company of "élite," in the second light infantry. The
cadet and I both took a great dislike to this man, which he seemed
heartily to return; there was a treacherous villanous expression in
his averted eye that at once attracted observation, and something
inexpressibly repulsive in his manner, servile and overbearing by
turns. He appeared to possess some unaccountable influence over
Pepìta's father, for, though it was evident that his attentions and
repeated visits were disagreeable to the young lady, every opportunity
was given him of improving her acquaintance. This system was, however,
as unsuccessful as it usually is; and the sallow captain's conversation
was not the less distasteful from being obediently endured. The fact
was, that large pecuniary assistance given to the family, unknown to
its younger members, was the secret of the influence now exercised,
through their parents, over their inclinations and tastes. The captain
had become acquainted with Pepìta, been attracted by her, and had made
this obligation the means of forcing himself upon her society. He
next tried to cause the prohibition of my little friend's visits; not
indeed that he looked upon the boy in the light of a rival, but as a
constraint upon his actions, and an interruption to his plans. Upon
this point, however, Pepìta proved unmanageable; and as there could be
no fair ostensible objection to her little playfellow's intimacy, it
still continued in spite of his sullen enemy.
In the mean time my patient was rapidly recovering; with his returning
strength, I grieve to say, the natural evil of his disposition again
displayed itself. He borrowed yet another small sum from my scanty
store, under the pretence of obtaining some warm clothes to enable him
to face the wintry air; but instead of so applying it, he lost most of
it at play the first day he was allowed to venture out. The captain of
carbineers was the winner, and thus an acquaintance commenced between
these men. They were in many respects kindred spirits--rapacious,
profligate, and unprincipled,--and soon contracted a close alliance,
offensive and defensive: the wealth and cunning of the one, and the
recklessness and ferocious courage of the other, made their partnership
most dangerous to any who might cross their path. The convalescent,
unrestrained for a moment by any feeling of gratitude towards me or my
little favourite, at once joined in a scheme against us. They could not
venture upon using open violence, as that probably would have defeated
its own object, by exciting the sympathies of our kind hosts in our
favour, but they agreed to entrap us into play, and thus drive us into
such necessities as might place us completely in their power. The
Spaniard knew that his chance of gaining Pepìta's favour was but small
until her little favourite and guardian was out of the way; and his
unworthy associate, as long as money was supplied, was indifferent as
to what service might be required of him in return.
In due course of time the day came when the convalescent was pronounced
cured, and fit for duty; to celebrate this event the captain of
carbineers asked him to an entertainment, and the cadet and myself were
also invited. We of course determined not to accept the hospitality
of the man we disliked and suspected; but he pressed us very much;
the ungrateful Englishman seconded him strongly, urging upon us that
he could not enjoy his restored health, if those to whom he owed his
recovery refused to join in his gladness. At length we reluctantly
consented, and at seven o'clock in the evening all four assembled
at the hotel. This was the opportunity fixed upon to carry out the
designs against us. I shall not enter into the details of that unlucky
evening; they succeeded but too well in their plans. Finding that it
was in vain to tempt me to play, they made me drink the health of my
late patient, in some drugged liquor I suppose, for soon after I fell
into a deep sleep, and when I awoke, found myself alone in the room
where we had dined, and the light of the sun streaming in through the
windows. It was well on to mid-day.
Several minutes passed before I could recollect where I was, and how
I had come there. When I had in some measure collected my scattered
thoughts, and shaken off the heavy lethargic feeling that still weighed
upon me, I hastened to seek my beloved little companion, anxiously
wondering what could have become of him. I learned at the house where
he lived that he had returned very late the night before, apparently
tired and excited; and that early this morning he had received orders
to join a portion of his regiment that was posted on the lines two
miles from the town. When my daily duties were ended I walked off to
where the cadet had been sent. He seem oppressed and worn out with
fatigue and want of rest; I found him lying on a bank beside his tent
thinking sadly on Pepìta, his gay dress disordered, his long dark hair
damp and neglected, and his eyes red with weeping. I took the poor
child by the hand, and tried to comfort him in my best Spanish, but for
a long time he would only answer, me with sobs, and at length he sobbed
himself to sleep. I wrapped his little cloak round him, and watched
patiently till he awoke, after about an hour's refreshing rest: then he
found words, and told me all that had occurred to him since I had gone
to sleep at the unlucky entertainment.
The host soon pleaded some excuse and left us, when the Englishman
immediately proposed play; dice were laid on the table, but the cadet
refused for a long time: he had never played in his life, nor felt its
horrible temptations. But in his education this maddening vice had
not been guarded against; no one had taught him that its beginning,
was furious avarice,--its end destruction and despair. He was simply
innocent of all knowledge of its pleasures and its woes. The tempter
told him that to play was manly, and that if he feared to lose money,
he had no spirit. So he played, and lost all he had, and much more.
When too tired to go on, he wrote an acknowledgment of what he owed,
under the direction of his dangerous associate; and then, very wretched
and frightened at what he had done, went home and slept. He would
not go, however, till the Englishman promised to see me safely to my
billet. I need not add that the promise was not kept. It was about
midnight when the cadet went away. My late patient then examined me
closely to see that I slept soundly; finding there was but little
chance of my interfering with their plans, he quietly shut the door,
and left me, hastening to seek his employer and relate his success. A
relation of my little friend, residing in the town, had been requested
to watch over him, and supply his wants, while remaining at San
Sebastian. To this person the captain of carbineers went early the next
morning, and by affecting an interest in the boy, as a brother officer,
managed to persuade the guardian to request that his ward might be
removed at once from the garrison, to save him from the bad company and
dissipated habits he had fallen into. The written acknowledgment of the
heavy gambling debt, contracted only the night before, was handed in
while the accuser was yet speaking, with a demand for payment from an
officer of the Legion waiting outside. This appeared proof conclusive.
In half an hour the cadet was on his way to the lines, under strict
orders not on any account to re-enter the city. Before he left, he had
sent in all directions vainly searching for me to advise him in his
emergency, and to make some effort to have this cruel and unaccountable
sentence reversed.
The first week of March approached its end. From day to day the order
to advance into the Carlist country was expected; the city and the
surrounding neighbourhood were full of troops, the streets and roads
literally blocked up with guns, ammunition waggons, and bullock-carts,
passing and repassing for the armament or supply of the different
divisions of the army. General officers were observed in frequent
consultation with their leader. Aides-de-camp galloped about in all
directions. Large buildings were cleared out, and churches prepared as
hospitals with grim rows of iron bedsteads ranged along the vaulted
aisles. Steamboats buzzed backwards and forward, between the harbour
and the neighbouring port of Passages. Deserters came and went. Vague
rumours seemed to float in the air. Some great and terrible day was
plainly close at hand.
Information worthy of being relied on was obtained, that the greater
part of the troops had been removed from our front for some remote
operations, and that there now remained a force inferior to our own.
But this was the flower of the Carlist army. Stout Chapelchuris--the
"white caps" of Guipuzcoa, hardy shepherds from the hills of Alava,
with the Requetè--the fiercest soldiers of Navarre. Their watch-fires
blazed each night on the rugged slopes of the Pyrenees; and as the
morning sun lighted the deep gorges of the mountains, from every hamlet
and shady valley along the line arose their stirring shout, "For God,
and for the King." All day long, in sunshine or in storm, they laboured
at their intrenchments. The musket was laid carefully aside, and the
pick-axe supplied its place. They dug, and delved, and toiled, fencing
round each Biscayan cottage as if it were a holy place. Every gentle
slope on the projecting spurs of the great mountains was cut and carved
into breastworks and parapets; every ivied wall of their rich orchards
was pierced with loopholes, every village church turned into a citadel.
Men worked, women aided, children tried to aid. The hated Christinos,
and the still more hated English were before them; behind them lay
their own loved and lovely land. And still, as they toiled, when
betimes the wearied arm ached and the faithful spirit drooped, a shout
would roll along the valleys and echo among the hills that nerved them
with fresh strength, and cheered them with a firmer hope--"For God, and
for the King."
Late on the afternoon of the 9th of March, aides-de-camp were sent to
all parts of the lines with strict orders that no one should, on any
account, be allowed to pass out. An hour after nightfall, the whole
army was put in motion, the main part filed on to the glacis of the
fortress of San Sebastian, battalion after battalion formed in close
column, piled their arms, and lay down in their ranks, preserving a
profound silence: the artillery horses were harnessed, and remained in
readiness within the city walls. By about two o'clock in the morning,
each corps had taken up its place. About eight thousand men were
assembled on the space of a few acres; scarcely a sound was heard, not
a creature moved through the streets of the town, not a solitary lamp
made "visible" the darkness of the night. The sentries paced their
round upon the walls as at other times, and their measured tread was
distinct and clear in the noiseless air. And yet, though I saw nothing
and heard nothing of them, I _felt_ the crowded thousands round me;
there was a heaviness and oppression in the atmosphere like the threat
of a coming storm, and the ground seemed slightly to tremble, or rather
throb, as if in sympathy with the hearts that beat above in hope or
fear.
But among the dwellings within the city, there was anxious hurrying
from room to room, and from hundreds of windows straining eyes strove
against the thick darkness of the night:--wives, mothers, sisters, and
those who, though they bore none of those hallowed names, yet loved
most tenderly some one in the assembled host about to brave the chance
of life or death. Dolòres and Pepìta were alone in their large gloomy
house; their father was on the walls with his company of the national
guard. The convalescent was with his regiment on the glacis; I was
there too, attached for the time to the same corps, and the odious
captain of carbineers was also at the muster. And where was Pepìta's
play-fellow? They had not seen him since the night of the ill-fated
entertainment. The second light infantry were drawn up close to the
ramparts; of course, the brave boy is there too. "Ay de mi!" said the
younger girl to Dolòres, "that I should not see the dear child before
the battle." "It can't be helped," answered her sister, "and it is now
full time to go to rest; we are alone in the house too, and midnight
has struck long since." But Pepìta would not be persuaded; she seated
herself in her father's great chair, and bade Dolòres goodnight. The
elder sister, seeing her determination, kissed her and went her way.
After a little time, the young girl began to yield to fatigue; she
cried heartily with anxiety for her dear child, but at length overcome
by drowsiness, laid her soft round arm upon the table close by, her
head then drooped gently till resting upon it, and she fell sound
asleep; while her long black hair, broken loose from its bands, flowed
in rich profusion over her graceful neck. She dreamed of her boy lover,
for a fond sweet smile played upon her parted lips.
Now a little scene passes that it saddens me to recall to memory. The
boy lover has contrived to get away from his regiment unobserved, and
has reached the well-known door; it is only closed, not locked. He
opens it very gently, and walks with noiseless footsteps into the room,
so noiseless that the sleeper is not awakened, kneels down beside her,
and for many minutes gazes on her lovely face in silent happiness. But
time flies fast. He rises, takes gently in his hand one of her long
locks, cuts it off, and puts it in his bosom; then bends over her,
presses his lips softly to hers for a moment, and hastens away. And yet
that night she only dreamed that he had bidden her farewell.
The cadet had not long rejoined his regiment, where I had sought him,
when our conversation was interrupted by a loud trumpet-blast--the
sound for the advance.--Ere it had ceased to echo, a broad blue flame
shot up into the dark sky from the roof of a house in the centre of the
city, illumining the sea and land around with a dismal and sinister
light. For an instant, thousands of startled upturned faces shone livid
in the sudden gleam, then vanished into darkness deeper than before.
But soon, on a neighbouring hill beyond the lines, another flame bursts
forth; again from a high peak of the Pyrenees; and again and again,
further and further away to the mountains of Navarre, the traitor
signal fire flashed forth the notice of our march,--and from that hour
every city and town, village and hamlet of the north sent forth its
armed men to crush us in defeat.
A few battalions went on in front, the artillery followed, next came
the main body of the army. We crossed the little river Urumea over the
wooden bridge close to the town, followed the road towards Passages for
some distance, and then turned into the hilly lands to the south-east
of San Sebastian. The heads of columns took positions on or near Alza
heights, forming by regiments as they came up, still under cover of
the darkness. But though the march was conducted with great order and
silence, the heavy rumbling of the guns over the stony roads, and the
measured tramp of thousands of armed men were plainly heard for many
miles around. By dawn of day the army was in order of battle, with the
artillery in position commanding the Ametza hill, where a small Carlist
force was intrenched.
Between these opposing forces was a hatred far deadlier than the
usual animosity of war. The Christinos and Carlists thirsted for each
other's blood, with all the fierce ardour of civil strife, animated
by the memory of years of mutual insult, cruelty, and wrong. Brother
against brother--father against son--best friend turned to bitterest
foe--priests against their flocks--kindred against kindred. "For God
and for the King,"--"For Liberty and Spain." But to our foes, we of the
British Legion were the most odious of all; strangers, mercenaries,
heretics, scoffers, polluters of their sacred soil; so did they term
us. For us there was no quarter; in the heat of battle, or by cold
judicial form, it was all the same: to fall into their hands was
certainly a tortured death. Their king had issued the bloody mandate;
they were its ready executioners. At different times, and under
different circumstances, many of our men had fallen alive into their
hands, but the doom of these unfortunates was always the same. About a
week since, five Scottish soldiers, while cutting wood, unarmed, in a
grove close by our lines, were suddenly seized, bound, and carried away
to Hernani, the nearest town; they were tied to stakes in the great
square, and shot to death, slowly, with many wounds, commencing at
the feet, and gradually rising higher, till a kind bullet struck some
vital spot. One of these victims was a brawny giant with a huge black
bushy beard; I recollect him well, it was said he had been the Glasgow
hangman. Our men swore frightful vengeance; a black flag--unsanctioned
by the authorities--waved over Alza fort; and as orders were given by
the generals for the safety of the enemies who might be taken, it was
agreed among the soldiers that there should be _no prisoners_.
Some shots from the English artillery on Alza heights began the battle;
as the smoke curled up in white wreaths through the pure morning air,
the deadly missiles fell lazily into the Carlist breastworks, and burst
with destructive accuracy. At the same time, the Irish brigade of the
Legion crossed the valley between us and the enemy at a rapid pace--for
a time hidden in the mists of the low grounds--but as they neared the
hostile parapets they re-appeared, ascending the sloping hill, then
their pace increased to a run, and at last they broke, and rushed like
a flock of wolves upon the foe. The Carlists waited till the assailants
were close at hand, fired one sharp rattling volley into their leading
files, and, abandoning the position, fled rapidly down the opposite
side of the hill. An English brigade, consisting of the rifles and two
London regiments, had at the same time attacked the intrenchments on
our right, threatening to cut off a retreat should an effort be made to
hold them against the front attack. My duties lay with this portion of
the army.
Some time was now passed in pushing our line forward to the new
position we had so cheaply gained. The English brigade skirmished
against feeble detachments of the Carlists in the hollow to our right,
by the banks of the Urumea. In front of the Ametza heights, lay a
lovely valley ornamented with picturesque cottages and orchards; to the
left there projected into the low grounds a wide elevated platform from
the stony hill of San Gerònimo; beyond this stony hill was the main
road to France, the object of our expedition. Some Spanish battalions
were pushed across the low grounds to our left front, and briskly
attacked the platform; they made, but slow progress, for the Carlists
fought stoutly for every foot of ground. Soon, however, the lumbering
guns followed, and opened their murderous fire; fresh troops pushed on
till the platform was gained, and the defenders retired slowly up the
stony hill. But here there was a check. Protected by their parapets,
and aided by the difficulties of the rocky slope, the Carlists held
their ground, determined, come what might, to cover the great French
road. Battalion after battalion of the Christinos, charged this height
in vain. The regiment of the Princessa, more than two thousand strong,
the pride of the sunny south, was beaten back three times, and left its
best and bravest dead among the rugged rocks.
Among the inhabitants of these Biscayan provinces, some few had
joined the constitutional cause. Perhaps their motives for so doing
may not have been purely political, or altogether abstract ideas
about liberal governments. However, they formed themselves into a
free corps about one thousand strong, and from their fierce courage,
hardihood, and knowledge of the country, they were more useful to
their friends, and dangerous to their enemies, than any troops in
the Queen's army. The fact was, that a great proportion of them were
deserters, malefactors escaped from justice, or desperate, villains
from other European nations. They wore red jackets like the Legion,
with waist-belts containing their bayonet and ammunition, a blanket
twisted like a rope, passing round over the left shoulder and under
the right arm, was their only additional burthen, and a red flat cap
or Boyna completed their equipment; this last was called in the Basque
tongue Chapelgorri, and from it the corps derived its name. They chose
their own officers, owned but little obedience even to the generals,
claimed the right of leading the advance, gave or took no quarter, and
plundered unmercifully upon all occasions. These peculiar regulations,
though rendering them terrible in war, were attended with certain
inconveniences to the members of the corps. They were hunted like wild
beasts by their enemies, often condemned and shot for mutiny by their
own leaders, and stabbed in midnight by brawls by one another. The
result of all this was that on the morning of the 10th of March, only
three hundred and eighty Chapelgorris remained alive, to march under
their chief "El Pastor."
At break of day, these fierce freebooters had started off on their own
account from our far left, and made a dash at a place called Renteria,
some distance within the Carlist country. Their attack was unexpected,
and after a few random shots, the village was abandoned to them. In
this poor place, there was very little plunder to be found, but they
took what they could, and destroyed the rest; they chanced, however,
upon some gold and silver communion plate in the churches; this they
put upon a mule's back, and with laudable precaution sent to the rear;
then having done as much with fire and steel as their limited time
would permit, they plunged into the deep woody ravines lying between
them and the hill of San Gerònimo, and with desperate daring made
straight for the scene of strife, through this difficult and hostile
country.