(Vol. v., pp. 34. 136. 185.)
I beg to renew my acknowledgments to the various gentlemen who have
afforded additional information respecting this brave man. So little has
been recorded of his personal history, that every item which can be
gleaned is valuable. It is certainly strange that no proper memoir of
one so distinguished in arms as Wolfe has yet been written. His career,
though short, was brilliant and embraces a period of time, as well as
events, which would render a sketch of his life, by a competent writer,
singularly interesting. Materials do not seem wanting; the detached
pieces of information, and references to sources where more may be
obtained, which have already appeared in "N. & Q." since I ventured to
start the subject in October last, indicate, that with a little industry
and research in proper quarters, Wolfe's history can yet be written to
advantage. England's young hero has, in this respect, been too much
neglected. Surely this national reproach will not be allowed to
continue.
In the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for January last, there is a very
interesting letter from Wolfe to a young officer on the subject of
military studies, supplied from the rich MS. stores of Mr. Robert Cole.
I am enabled to contribute the fragment of another letter from Wolfe,
also to a very young officer, pointing out how he ought to conduct
himself on entering the army. This fragment was discovered within these
few weeks, in the same old military chest where the twelve letters in
my possession were found, to which I formerly alluded. This fragment,
though neither dated, signed, nor addressed, is in Wolfe's handwriting
beyond all doubt. I have compared it with his other letters, and not
only do I find the resemblance perfect, but the paper on which the
fragment is written is identically the same with several of these
letters, the water-mark being the very appropriate one for a soldier,
"pro _patria_." This newly discovered portion of Wolfe's letter is
written closely on two pages of a sheet of post paper; and from
circumstances I am inclined to think the date must have been in the end
of 1757, when he was at Blackheath, soon after his return from the
descent on Rochefort, in which he held a command. I am unable, however,
to point out the name of the young officer for whose advantage the
fragmentary epistle was written; but he was evidently one in whose
welfare Wolfe took much interest, and intimate in Wolfe's family. The
introductory words, "_Dear Huty_," seem to be an affectionate
abbreviation of the young gentleman's surname; but how the fragment came
amongst the papers of Wolfe's other friend, Lieut.-Col. Rickson, to whom
the whole of the twelve letters in my possession are addressed, I cannot
at present say. Here is an exact copy, viz.:
"Dear Huty,
"By a Letter from my Mother I find you are now an officer in Lord
Chs. Hay's Regiment, which I heartily give you Joy of, and as I
sincerely wish you success in Life, you will give me Leave to give
you a few Hints which may be of use to you in it. The Field you
are going into is quite new to you, but may be trod very safely,
and soon made known to you, if you only get into it by the proper
Entrance. I make no doubt but you have entirely laid aside the Boy
and all Boyish amusements, and have considered yourself as a young
man going into a manly profession, where you must be answerable
for your own conduct. Your character in life must be that of a
Soldier, and a Gentleman: the first is to be acquired by
application and attendance on your duty; the second, by adhering
most strictly to the Dictates of Honour, and the Rules of Good
Breeding. To be more particular in each of these points; when you
join your Regiment, if there are any Officer's Guard mounted, be
sure constantly to attend the Parade, observe carefully the manner
of the officers taking their Posts, the exercise of their
Espontoon, &c.; when the Guard is marched off from the Parade,
attend it to the Place of Relief, and observe the manner and form
of Relieving, and when you return to your chamber (which should be
as soon as you cou'd, lest what you saw slip out of your Memory),
consult Bland's Military Discipline on that Head; this will be the
readiest method of learning this part of your Duty, which is what
you will be the soonest call'd on to perform.
"When off Duty get a Serg't or a Corporal, whom the Adjutant will
recommend to you, to teach you the Exercise of the Firelock, which
I beg of you to make yourself as much master of as if you were a
simple soldier; the exact and nice knowledge of this will readily
bring you to understand all other parts of your Duty, make you a
proper judge of the performance of the Men, and qualify you for
the post of an Adjutant, and in time many other employments of
Credit. When you are posted to your Company, take care that the
Sergeants or Corporals constantly bring you the orders; treat
those officers with kindness, but keep them at a Distance, so will
you be beloved and respected by them; read your orders with
attention, and if anything in particular concerns yourself, put it
down in your Memorandum Book, which I wou'd have you constantly in
your Pocket ready for any Remarks; be sure to attend constantly
morning and evening the Roll Calling of the Company, watch
carefully the Absentees, and enquire into reasons for their being
so, and particularly be watchfull they do not endeavour to impose
on you sham Excuses, which they are apt to do with young officers,
but will be deterr'd from it by a proper severity in detecting
them;----"
Here, unfortunately, the remainder of the sheet has been torn off, and
the continuation of the excellent precepts it no doubt contained, is
irretrievably lost. Enough has luckily been preserved to show what an
admirably disciplined soldier mind Wolfe possessed, taken in conjunction
with the outline of military reading, pointed out in the letter
contributed by Mr. Cole, already alluded to, and written with the same
kindly object (the instruction of youthful officers), probably only a
few months prior to the date of the mutilated one.
As it may be thought desirable to say something more than I have done,
regarding the packet of Wolfe's letters in my custody, I beg to state
that the officer to whom they are all addressed, was William Rickson, a
native of Pembroke. He was eight years older than Wolfe. They appear to
have served together in Flanders. Both were at the battle of Dettigen,
and their names appear in the list of promotions consequent on that
victory. Rickson and young Wolfe were also in the same regiment,
commanded by Wolfe's father, in Flanders. I think it was then known as
"Onslows." Both father and son appear to have felt a strong attachment
to Rickson: this appears from the letters. On the part of James Wolfe in
particular, this attachment was of the most ardent description. In one
letter, dated Banff (Scotland), 9th June, 1751, he thus writes to
Rickson:
"I believe that no man can have a sincerer regard for you than
myself, nor can any man wish to serve and assist you with more
ardour;" and "Attachments between men of certain characters do
generally arise from something alike in their natures, and should
never fall from a certain degree of firmness, that makes them the
same all the world over, and incapable of any diminution. I have
(as you justly acknowledge) a perseverance in friendship, that
time, nor distance, nor circumstance, can defeat,--nay, even
neglect can hardly conquer it; and you are just as warm and as
near me in North America as you would be upon the spot."
Rickson survived Wolfe eleven years, and I possess the key of the tomb
in which his remains repose in Restalrig churchyard, near Edinburgh. A
fine miniature of him in his antique regimentals also exists; and it is
interesting to contemplate the lineaments of a countenance so familiar
to Wolfe, and of a man to whom the latter seems to have communicated his
inmost thoughts. There are passages in the letters indicative of this to
a degree, that I felt bound in honour not to disclose. Rickson died a
lieutenant-colonel in 1770. His antique military chest remained in
possession of relatives in Scotland almost forgotten, till about three
years ago curiosity prompted the examination of a mass of old papers,
covered with dust, lying at the bottom of it. A number of curious
documents have thus been brought to light, including a file of letters
to Rickson from the Duke of Queensbury (under whose auspices he
constructed the military roads in Gallowayshire) and other distinguished
personages of the last century, but best of all twelve invaluable
letters from the lamented Wolfe, tied up by themselves, probably by
Rickson, as memorials of his bosom friend who fell in the arms of
victory. It was, as already said, among these old papers that the
fragment of the letter above quoted was also found lately, on a more
careful inspection of the antique chest in which they lay. I was so much
struck with the noble sentiments expressed by Wolfe in the letters, that
I ventured to write a short sketch of him from very imperfect materials,
which appeared, along with the letters themselves, _ad longam_, in
Tait's _Edinburgh Magazine_ for December, 1849. Had I been aware of some
of the facts which have since been contributed to the "N. & Q.," I would
have modified certain passages in the narrative. All I aimed at,
however, was merely to elucidate the letters which accident placed in my
custody. But I now earnestly invite some competent writer to rescue
Wolfe's history from the undeserved neglect and obscurity in which it is
at present shrouded. I shall cheerfully allow any such party access to
the whole letters, under proper guards for their safety, and my address
has been left with the Editor accordingly.
Ȝ.
Glasgow.