August 13th, 1812.
As we approached the capital, imagination was busy in speculating on
the probable nature of our reception. The peasantry, with whom we had
hitherto been chiefly associated, had imbibed a rooted hatred to the
French, caused by the wanton cruelties experienced at their hands,
both in their persons and their property; otherwise they were a
cheerful, hospitable, and orderly people, and, had they been permitted
to live in peace and quietness, it was a matter of the most perfect
indifference to them whether Joseph, Ferdinand, or the ghost of Don
Quixotte was their king. But the citizens of Madrid had been living
four years in comparative peace, under the dominion of a French
government, and in the enjoyment of all the gaieties of that
luxurious court; to which, if I add that we entertained, at that time,
some slight jealousy regarding the pretensions of the French officers
to the favours of the fair, I believe the prevailing opinion was that
_we_ should be considered as the intruders. It was, therefore, a
matter of the most unexpected exultation, when we entered it, on the
afternoon of the 13th of August, to find ourselves hailed as
liberators, with the most joyous acclamations, by surrounding
multitudes, who continued their rejoicings for three successive days.
By day, the riches of each house were employed in decorations to its
exterior; and, by night, they were brilliantly illuminated, during
which time all business was suspended, and the whole population of the
city crowded the streets, emulating each other in heaping honours and
caresses upon us.
King Joseph had retired on our approach, leaving a garrison in the
fortified palace of El Retiro; but they surrendered some days
afterwards, and we remained there for three months, basking in the
sunshine of beauty, harmony, and peace. I shall ever look back to that
period as the most pleasing event of my military life.
The only bar to our perfect felicity was the want of money, as,
independent of long arrears, already due, the military chest continued
so very poor that it could not afford to give us more than a
fortnight's pay during these three months; and, as nobody could,
would, or should give cash for bills, we were obliged to sell silver
spoons, watches, and every thing of value that we stood possessed of,
to purchase the common necessaries of life.
My Irish _criado_, who used to take uncommon liberties with my
property, having been two or three days in the rear, with the baggage,
at the time of the battle of Salamanca, took upon himself to exchange
my baggage-horse for another; and his apology for so doing was, that
the one he had got was twice as big as the one he gave! The additional
size, however, so far from being an advantage, proved quite the
reverse; for I found that he could eat as much as he could carry,
and, as he was obliged to carry all that he had to eat, I was forced
to put him on half allowance, to make room for my baggage; in
consequence of which, every bone in his body soon became so _pointed_
that I could easily have hung my hat on any part of his hind quarters.
I therefore took advantage of our present repose to let him have the
benefit of a full allowance, that enabled me to effect an exchange
between him and a mule, getting five dollars to the bargain, which
made me one of the happiest and, I believe, also, one of the richest
men in the army. I expended the first dollar next day, in getting
admission to a bullfight, in their national amphitheatre, where the
first thing that met my astonished eyes was a mad bull giving the
finishing _prode_ to my unfortunate big horse.
Lord Wellington, with some divisions of the army, proceeded, about the
beginning of September, to undertake the siege of Burgos, leaving
those at Madrid, under the orders of Sir Rowland Hill, so that,
towards the end of October, our delightful sojourn there drew
perceptibly to a close, for it was known that King Joseph, with the
forces under Soult and Jourdan, now united, were moving upon Aranjuez,
and that all, excepting our own division, were already in motion, to
dispute the passage of the Tagus, and to cover the capital. About four
o'clock on the morning of the 23d of October, we received orders to be
on our alarm-posts at six, and, as soon as we had formed, we were
marched to the city of Alcala.
October 27th.--We were all this day marching to Arganda, and all night
marching back again. If any one thing is more particularly damned than
another it is a march of this kind.
October 30th--An order arrived, from Lord Wellington, for our corps of
the army to fall back upon Salamanca; we, therefore, returned to
Madrid, and, after halting outside the gates until we were joined by
Skerret's division, from Cadiz, we bade a last sorrowful adieu to our
friends in the city, and commenced our retreat.
October 31st.--Halted for the night in the park of the Escurial. It is
amusing, on a division's first taking up its ground, to see the
numbers of hares that are, every instant, starting up among the men,
and the scrambling and shouting of the soldiers for the prize. This
day, when the usual shout was given, every man ran, with his cap in
his hand, to endeavour to capture poor _puss_, as he imagined, but
which turned out to be two wild boars, who contrived to make room for
themselves so long as there was nothing but men's caps to contend
with; but they very soon had as many bayonets as bristles in their
backs. We re-crossed the Guadarama mountains next morning.
November 2d.--Halted, this night, in front of a small town, the name
of which I do not recollect. It was beginning to get dark by the time
I had posted our guards and piquets, when I rode into it, to endeavour
to find my messmates, who, I knew, had got a dinner waiting for me
somewhere.
I entered a large square, or market-place, and found it crowded with
soldiers of all nations, most of them three-parts drunk, and in the
midst of whom a mad bull was performing the most extraordinary feats,
quite unnoticed, excepting by those who had the misfortune to attract
his attention. The first intimation that I had of him was his charging
past me, and making a thrust at our quarter-master, carrying off a
portion of his regimental trousers. He next got a fair toss at a
Portuguese soldier, and sent him spinning three or four turns up in
the air. I was highly amused in observing the fellow's astonishment
when he alighted, to see that he had not the remotest idea to what
accident he was indebted for such an evolution, although he seemed
fully prepared to quarrel with any one who chose to acknowledge any
participation in the deed; but the cause of it was, all the time,
finding fresh customers, and, making the grand tour of the square with
such velocity, I began to fear that I should soon be on his list also,
if I did not take shelter in the nearest house, a measure no sooner
thought of than executed. I, therefore, opened a door, and drove my
horse in before me; but there instantly arose such an uproar within,
that I began to wish myself once more on the outside on any terms, for
it happened to be occupied by English, Portuguese, and German
bullock-drivers, who had been seated round a table, scrambling for a
dinner, when my horse upset the table, lights, and every thing on it.
The only thing that I could make out amid their confused curses was,
that they had come to the determination of putting the cause of the
row to death; but, as I begged to differ with them on that point, I
took the liberty of knocking one or two of them down, and finally
succeeded in extricating my horse, with whom I retraced my way to the
camp, weary, angry, and hungry. On my arrival there, I found an
orderly waiting to show me the way to dinner, which once more restored
me to good humour with myself and all the world; while the adventure
afforded my companions a hearty laugh, at my expense.
November 6th.--In the course of this day's march, while our battalion
formed the rear-guard, at a considerable distance in the rear of the
column, we found a Portuguese soldier, who had been left by his
regiment, lying in the middle of the road, apparently dead; but, on
examining him more closely, we had reason to think that he was merely
in a state of stupor, arising from fatigue and the heat of the
weather,--an opinion which caused us no little uneasiness. Although we
did not think it quite fair to bury a living man, yet we had no means
whatever of carrying him off; and to leave him where he was, would, in
all probability, have cost us a number of better lives than his had
ever been, for the French, who were then in sight, had hitherto been
following us at a very respectable distance; and, had they found that
we were retiring in such a hurry as to leave our half-dead people on
the road, they would not have been Frenchmen if they did not give us
an extra push, to help us along. Under all the circumstances of the
case, therefore, although our doctor was of opinion that, with time
and attention, he might recover, and not having either the one or the
other to spare, the remainder of us, who had voted ourselves into a
sort of board of survey, thought it most prudent to find him dead;
and, carrying him a little off the road to the edge of a ravine, we
scraped a hole in the sand with our swords, and placed him in it. We
covered him but very lightly, and left his head and arms at perfect
liberty; so that, although he might be said to have had both feet in
the grave, yet he might still have scrambled out of it, if he could.