UC-NRLF 
 
I 
 
 +tt. 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 JANE K O SATHER 
 
\ . 
 
 i 
 

RECOLLECTIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 SIB GEORGE B. I/ESTRANGE, 
 
 LATB OP THE 31ST BEGIMENT, AND AETEBWABDS IN THE 
 SCOTS FUSILIEH GUAHDS. 
 
 WITH HELIOTYPE REPRODUCTIONS OF DRAWINGS 
 BY 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE ROYAL ARTILLERY. 
 
 THE PENINSULAR WAR. 
 
 Uontion : 
 SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, LOW, & SEARLE, 
 
 CROWN BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STREET. 
 [All rights resetted.] 
 
GILBERT AND EIV1NGTON, PRINTERS, 
 ST. JOHN'S SQUARE. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Portrait of Sir Roger L'Estrange (Frontispiece). 
 
 Sir George on horseback, playing the Flute, at the 
 
 head of the Irish Volunteers .... 20 
 
 Edmund and Beamish ...... 61 
 
 Tents in a Snow-storm 129 
 
 Sir George meeting the Duke on horseback . .152 
 
 The Escape of Stepney St. George at the Battle of 
 
 Albuera 194 
 
 The Meeting of the Veterans . . . . . 197 
 Hunstanton Hall 200 
 
 32712S 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 when most of these events happened, though 
 many of them were rather interesting, and 
 some of them even historic, as I may say with 
 Waverley, " sixty years since." 
 
 Solely with a view to rescue them from 
 oblivion amongst my family and a large circle 
 of relations, I took up my unpractised pen to 
 commit them to paper : it soon, however, got 
 rumoured about that I was scribbling, and 
 having permitted some of my nearest relations 
 to see and read what I had written, they urged 
 me to go on, and put them into print. I had 
 also several very kind and intimate friends who 
 were admitted into the secret, if such it was, 
 and they almost invariably desired me to place 
 their names on my list of subscribers. 
 
 The late Earl of Carlisle was then the popu- 
 lar Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and a rather 
 distinguished literary character himself : though 
 not on his personal staff, I received a great deal 
 of his hospitality, and his truly friendly dispo- 
 sition induced him to accept the Dedication of my 
 book. He corresponded with me on the subject, 
 and suggested improvements and alterations, 
 
PBEFACE. Vll 
 
 which I, of course, joyfully accepted; and I 
 received from him a complimentary letter. 
 
 This naturally rather flattered me, and gave 
 me a stimulus to proceed. I had commenced 
 from my earliest youth, I may say my birth, 
 and had made considerable progress, so much 
 so that the " Eecollections of Sir George 
 L' Estrange " were announced shortly to appear, 
 but this, alas ! was not permitted me : a succes- 
 sion of the most painful family afflictions fell 
 upon me, and I was deprived of four of the 
 elder branches of my family, almost in as many 
 consecutive years. Thus, of a family of eleven 
 who had attained to man's estate, four were 
 cut down prematurely : the remaining seven 
 are, thank God, still left to me and are flourish- 
 ing and happy in that state to which it has 
 pleased God to call them. The trial was too 
 severe to be borne with that submission which 
 I was bound to receive it with, and I was so 
 completely overthrown that I could not give 
 my attention or thoughts to the matter which 
 before absorbed them, and I gave up all idea of 
 my " Recollections." Time, however works 
 
Vlll PEE FACE. 
 
 wonders. A strong constitution which has not 
 yet broken down carried me through, and I 
 resolved to make a great exertion and try to 
 recover my lost powers. I, therefore, though 
 under a different form, resumed my pen, and 
 accordingly produced " Scraps from Recollec- 
 tion," which have been inserted in that 
 highly popular and well-edited Review, the 
 "St. James's Magazine;" and as I have been 
 urged to produce, not only these, but whatever 
 other scraps remain in my recollection in a 
 volume, I have consented to do so ; and trust- 
 ing that, whoever my readers may be, they will 
 recollect that the volume is produced by an 
 entirely new writer, arrived at an advanced age, 
 without having ever practised the mysteries of 
 the greygoose-quill, entirely without pretension, 
 or the slightest attempt at sensational writing, 
 adopting no fiction, but the plain truth of what 
 passed under his own observation, he therefore 
 trusts that critics, friends, readers, and particu- 
 larly his own relations, will 
 
 " Be to his faults a little blind, 
 And to his virtues ever kind, 
 And let him gently down the wind." 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 SIR ROGER L'ESTRANGE, Knight, is the only 
 member of the family who has distinguished 
 himself (as far as my knowledge goes) as a 
 literary character. 1 Lord Macaulay has pro- 
 nounced him, or rather denounced him, as a 
 " scurrilous pamphleteer." As I am not well 
 acquainted with his writings, I am not aware 
 on what grounds he has formed this very 
 uncomplimentary opinion. 
 
 I believe it is not disputed that he was the 
 first person who edited a newspaper in London. 
 I cannot give an opinion of the nature or 
 character of that publication, never having seen 
 a copy of this early attempt at Journalism. 
 
 1 1 regret that this observation appears to exclude the 
 very interesting and well written works of the Rev. Mr. 
 L'Estrange, particularly his Life of the Rev. Mr. Harness, 
 which I have read with great delight, instruction, and benefit. 
 
2 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 If it deserves the appellation of being " scur- 
 rilous," I rather think the example has not 
 been thrown away upon many of the members 
 of not only the London, but of the provincial 
 press ; however, the great bulk of the members 
 of that noble institution have not followed suit. 
 I believe there is an officer holding a high 
 rank in the army, at present occupied in writing 
 the life of that distinguished individual ; when 
 applied to by him, I was sorry that it was not 
 in my power to supply him with any information 
 or materials to promote his object. 
 
 I however referred him to the head of 
 the old English family ; and I have no doubt, 
 from the great industry of the gentleman who 
 is preparing the volume, that ample justice will 
 be done to the character of my distant rela- 
 tive perhaps my 301st cousin and I trust 
 that the verdict that has been given against 
 him by such a high authority as Lord Macaulay 
 will be reversed. I know that Doctor John- 
 son, in his great Dictionary, does not disdain 
 to quote him in innumerable instances in illus- 
 trating the meaning and sense of many words 
 
INTRODUCTION; 6 
 
 in the English language, and I hope his name 
 will be rescued from the obloquy thrown upon 
 him. 
 
 The portrait of Sir Roger L' Estrange, which 
 is the Frontispiece .to this book of "RecoPsc- 
 tions," does not give one the idea that he 
 could have been deserving of so insulting an 
 appellation. It is true that he accepted, like 
 myself, the now questionable honour of knight- 
 hood, which carried more weight with it in 
 those days than in the present. It was not 
 without incurring the disapprobation of some 
 members of my family that I accepted it, after 
 having respectfully declined it when offered to 
 me by my friend and patron, the Earl of Eglin- 
 ton; it was afterwards conferred upon me by 
 that kind, good man, the excellent and popular 
 Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, the Earl of Car- 
 lisle. To the latter nobleman I had, by per- 
 mission, dedicated this present volume. His 
 Lordship also suggested some alterations and 
 improvements, and corrected it with his own 
 well-practised literary hand ; for this I was 
 exceedingly grateful, but trials of a pccu- 
 
 B 2 
 
4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 liarly severe nature having occurred in my 
 family, postponed the production of my little 
 work until death had deprived me of more 
 than a post-mortem patronage of my book by 
 his Excellency. One word only he disapproved, 
 
 which is usually written d d ; in relating an 
 
 anecdote of my relative and brother-in-law^ 
 Colonel Perceval, I had stated that when Sir 
 Eobert Peel had appointed the Colonel to be 
 Usher of the Black Rod to the House of Lords, 
 on congratulating him the next day, Sir Eobert 
 said, " Perceval, you must be knighted." The 
 
 Colonel replied, " I'd as soon be d d." Sir 
 
 Eobert retorted, " You will probably be both ;" 
 but Perceval held out, and certainly was not 
 knighted. 
 
 In my original MS. I had entered rather at 
 length into the very stirring events of my early 
 youth, for I came into the world at a very 
 exciting period of Irish history, namely, just 
 before the breaking out of the great Rebellion 
 in 1798. " "Who fears to talk of '98 ?" I do 
 certainly. For I can have a very feeble recol- 
 lection of the bloody deeds that took place 
 
INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 when I was a year old, though I have a 
 lively recollection of the descriptions which I 
 used to listen to with intense interest as related 
 by my mother : for my father, though he took 
 a most important part in quelling that fearful 
 rebellion as Colonel of an Irish militia regi- 
 ment, " the King's County," was not very fond 
 of referring to those terrible scenes of bloodshed 
 that he was obliged to take a part in against 
 his own countrymen. I shall therefore lightly 
 pass over my history until I come to the period 
 when my eldest brother Henry choosing the pro- 
 fession of arms, was sent to Great Marlow, the 
 Sandhurst of those days. He got a commission 
 in the old fighting 5th, and went through the 
 campaigns for three years in Picton's division, 
 taking an honourable part in the numerous 
 bloody battles and sieges, including Badajoz, 
 Ciudad Eodrigo, &c. He was at the side 'of his 
 gallant colonel, Eidge, entering the citadel 
 of Badajoz, in the front of his regiment, 
 when Eidge received his death- wound, greatly 
 lamented by Lord Wellington and the whole 
 army. 
 
6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It was decided that I, the second son, should 
 be placed at Westminster School, and after 
 parting with my elder brother at Great Marlow, 
 I proceeded, as arranged between my father 
 and an old friend of the family, Mr. Harry 
 Malone, of Ballinahoun, in King's County, to 
 London, travelling in post-chaises all the way, 
 at that time, 1807, the only means of loco- 
 motion on wheels besides the old stage-coach. 
 After a few days passed at an hotel in Jermyn 
 Street, I walked down between my father and 
 his brother, the late General Guy L 5 Estrange, 
 to Little Dean's Yard, Westminster, where, 
 after a short conversation with the dame, Mother 
 Grant, as we used to call her, I was left in 
 charge of Phillimore, the usher of Mother 
 Grant's house. I must say, this gentleman 
 showed me every attention and kindness. I 
 now felt that I was launched into the world, 
 and soon found myself at home amongst my 
 numerous school-fellows. This was in the palmy 
 days of Westminster School. Most of the 
 great families in England sent their sons there ; 
 and I look back on the period I spent at the 
 
INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 dear old " Schola Regise Westmonasteriensis," 
 as the happiest of my life. An Old West- 
 minster, now a Peer of the realm, whose fag I 
 was and who has up to the present time, 1873, 
 enjoyed a green old age never lost an oppor- 
 tunity of doing me a kindness. At his hospi- 
 table board I have always been a welcome 
 guest; and he has sent me a little sketch or 
 memorandum of Westminster, which I cannot 
 resist inserting here, and which, I am sure, 
 will bo interesting to all Old Westminsters. 
 It is as follows : 
 
 RECOLLECTIONS OF AN OLD WESTMINSTER. 
 
 " First appearance of two young Innocents 
 on the stage of life at a Public School and 
 how their eyes were opened on that occasion. 
 
 " On opening day after the Midsummer 
 Vacation of a year that shall be nameless (save 
 that it was one of the ten first of the present 
 century), a hackney-coach deposited at the arch- 
 way that leads from Great into Little Dean's 
 Yard, a tall gentlemanly man, habited in black ; 
 of clerical appearance ; and with an irreproach- 
 
8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 able white fender bent round his neck and 
 with him two boys who, it may here be stated, 
 had for three antecedent years been in his 
 hands as their private tutor at home. These 
 youths, therefore, had never been exposed to 
 the defilements of a preparatory, or in West- 
 minster vernacular, of a { t'other school ;' so 
 that, as will easily be imagined, down to that 
 memorable day in their young biography, oaths 
 and unseemly language had been to them an 
 unknown tongue. Shortly after their arrival 
 another vehicle drove up ; when a short, thick- 
 set, mis-shapen boy of from fourteen to fifteen, 
 with white hair and a painful obliquity of vision 
 (Anglice, a squint), jumped out, and surveyed 
 the new comers with all the easy impertinence 
 of one who had been there before, and felt 
 himself at home. That he knew the place, and 
 the place knew him, soon became evident ; for 
 his feet had hardly touched ground, before a 
 Jew fruitseller (who had been in the habit of 
 selling him apples and oranges, and such like 
 delicacies on tick} at once hailed his return in 
 these words, c Well, Mr. H th, I hope this 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 time you have some money for me ? for you 
 have broken your word with me so often, I am 
 determined you shall do so no more. 5 What, 
 then, was the reply to this not unreasonable 
 expectation on the part of his Hebrew creditor ; 
 and what the language that greeted the ear of 
 the astonished tutor from the lips of the first 
 that chance had thrown in his way, of the 
 future associates of his cherished pupils ? 
 * D n your eyes, you infernal rip, I was robbed 
 on the road.' I was about to aver that these 
 were his ipsissima verba ; but truth compels 
 me to admit, that the words actually used by 
 this precocious ill-conditioned young hemp, were 
 even more low-lived and atrocious than those 
 I have here ventured to commit to paper. The 
 perturbation of mind of the horror-struck tutor 
 would be beyond my power to describe. 
 
 At the same time, in justice to the fair fame 
 of our dear Old Westminster, I must observe 
 that in the first place the specimen of it 
 here presented was probably without a fellow 
 in the whole school; and that, in the next, 
 in those days the tone of society everywhere 
 
10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 was less refined than it is now ; and that oaths 
 were then but ordinary expletives of conver- 
 sation, even among certain classes of men of 
 high station and maturer age. I must also 
 add, as an incontrovertible fact, that I venture 
 to lay down on the strength of my own expe- 
 rience and convictions founded on it (and not, 
 be it observed, in reference to one Public School 
 more than another) that there is more of mean- 
 ness and positive vice picked up and practised 
 in very many private schools, than the higher 
 spirit and loftier tone of one and all of the 
 public ones would for a moment tolerate ; that 
 in these last, the morality of the boys becomes 
 comparatively purified as they move up from 
 the lower to the higher grades; and that 
 little boys fresh from a preparatory Pandse- 
 nionium, will, while yet novices, actually do 
 things that by the time they reach the upper 
 forms, public opinion alone would deter them 
 
 from running the risk of being detected in. 
 * * * * 
 
 " One of the most popular boys of his day at 
 Westminster (and afterwards, as a man, equally 
 
INTRODUCTION. 1 1 
 
 so at the University), was the late Rev. W. 
 Foley. In early life lively and playful as he 
 was upright and pure-minded, he was also, it 
 must be confessed, most incorrigibly idle. The 
 word c application ' was not in his vocabulary, 
 as the following anecdote of him will show : 
 One of the routine exercises of the school, was 
 the composition of what was there called a 
 6 theme' (in other words, an essay), sometimes 
 in English, sometimes Latin, on a given subject, 
 called its * thesis.' Now this was a sort of task 
 our poor friend could never give attention to 
 nor compass always procrastinating, he never 
 had his theme completed in time, or, in fact, at 
 all. At length, it was communicated to him 
 from the then Head -master (Dr. Carey, after- 
 wards Bishop of Exeter) that such misconduct 
 could no longer be put up with; and that, in 
 case of its recurrence, most serious notice 
 would be taken of it. The very next day, the 
 words c Dulce et decorum est pro patrid mori ' 
 were given out as the thesis for an English 
 theme. As usual, Master Foley had been frit- 
 tering away his time ; and when quarter-bell 
 
12 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 began to ring for going into school, lie had 
 neither written a line of his theme nor even 
 reflected on the subject of it. In this emer- 
 gency, and justly dreading expulsion for his 
 contumacy, on an impulse of the moment he 
 sat down scribbled off the heading of his 
 thesis in large legible characters and under it 
 the following sapient but Laconic sentiment by 
 way of theme, viz. : ' There may be a great deal 
 of decorum in dying for one's country, but I 
 see in it very little of the dulcet He then 
 signed his name, and deliberately sent in his 
 paper as it stood. His case was a ticklish 
 one : and it had well-nigh gone hard with him. 
 The examining tutor, however, (Old Smedley, 
 better known as good " Old Steaks,") one of 
 the kindest and most gentle-hearted of men, 
 was so amused with the manoeuvre, that "/or 
 this once" he overlooked the transgression. 
 Had he brought it before Carey, Foley's doom 
 had been sealed ! 
 
 " On the death of his elder brother Tom, 
 he, "William Foley, succeeded to the paternal 
 estate in Herefordshire, and became in his turn 
 
INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 head of the family. His health, however, and 
 still more his spirits, had long been declining, 
 and eventually he too sank into a premature 
 grave. 
 
 " To him would I apply the words of 
 Horace 
 
 ' Quis desiderio sit pudor aut modus 
 Tarn cari capitis.' 
 
 # * * * 
 
 " Another simple pundit of a tutor was 
 Johnny Campbell (Usher at Mother Best's, 
 formerly Clapham's). On one occasion he 
 had invested capital in the purchase of a pair 
 of pistols. Sitting over the fire, and delibe- 
 rating now he had them what to do with them, 
 news was brought him that a mad cat had found 
 its way into the beer-cellar, and could not be 
 dislodged. ' Leave her to me,' says Campbell, 
 ' m shoot her I require no light, the glare 
 of her eye will be enough for me.' He accord- 
 ingly shut himself up with pussy in the cellar 
 fired one pistol at her, and then the other, but 
 without hitting. Not discouraged by his ill- 
 success he was preparing to reload, when he 
 
14 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 found himself most unexpectedly ankle-deep in 
 beer ; for, though he had twice missed the cat, 
 he had both times hit the beer-barrels, and let 
 out their contents. Instead of being obliged, 
 Mrs. Best threatened to take proceedings 
 against him for the value of her beer." 
 
 *.*''* 
 This opinion in favour of Public Schools, 
 given by an old friend, I fully endorse ; but I 
 hear that the rising generation are better looked 
 
 after in private schools than in my youthful 
 days. 
 
 Before I left "Westminster, which I did with 
 very great regret, it was decided that I also 
 should be allowed to follow the bent of my 
 inclination, and enter the army. My father 
 having the command of a Militia regiment, 
 which, having volunteered for general service, 
 was thankfully accepted by the Government 
 of the day, they were at once ordered to 
 England ; and, after a stormy passage of three 
 weeks, were at length safely landed at Ply- 
 mouth, and immediately marched to Hythe, 
 where they were quartered for a considerable 
 
INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 time. I had by this time received an Ensign's 
 commission in the King's County Militia, and 
 entered into all the amusements and recreations 
 of an officer, being well mounted and fully enjoy- 
 ing the sports of the field. It was here also that 
 I formed the acquaintance of a youth of exactly 
 the same age, who had just been appointed to a 
 commission in the 60th Regiment, the then Rifle 
 Corps. I allude to the fine old gentleman, Sir 
 John Rib ton, who is still alive and hearty, after 
 having received more wounds in that gallant 
 corps in the Peninsula, and afterwards in 
 America, than would suffice to have killed half 
 a dozen men. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 SIR GEORGE L'ESTRANGE, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 " For I had heard of battles, and I long'd 
 To follow to the field some warlike Lord." 
 
 Douglas. 
 
 Two generations have now nearly passed away 
 since the great Duke brought to a conclusion 
 the glorious Peninsular "War, placed Great 
 Britain at the head of the nations of the world, 
 and secured to his country a peace which lasted 
 for thirty-nine years. It was my fortune to 
 have taken a part, though a humble one, in 
 those memorable campaigns, having joined my 
 
 c 
 
18 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 regiment, the 31st, when in winter quarters 
 after the disastrous retreat from Burgos, the 
 siege of which Lord Wellington was unable to 
 maintain. The greater part of the heroes who 
 figured in those battles, and went through those 
 interesting campaigns, have passed away; for 
 years I have not met an old Peninsular officer, 
 to talk over and remind me of scenes so 
 long gone by, nor have I for a long period been 
 able to meet a man with whom I could " fight 
 our battles o'er again, or again to slay our 
 slain." Though many books have been written 
 on this very prolific subject, there may, however, 
 probably be some anecdotes which will not be 
 read without interest by a generous public, but 
 which I feel must create a deep interest in the 
 many members of my own family, as well as 
 those whose names I shall take the liberty of 
 introducing into these memoirs. 
 
 I read my original manuscript to one or two 
 friends, on whose judgment and good taste I 
 could rely; they urged me to proceed, but I 
 had made up my mind the other way. I trust 
 I have now apologized and accounted to my 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 19 
 
 numerous friends for what I cannot flatter 
 myself was a great disappointment, and I hope 
 they will accept it as such. Though late, I 
 shall now endeavour to redeem myself and 
 restore my name to their good opinion, by pub- 
 lishing, as it may be convenient to me to 
 produce them, some short sketches or " Scraps 
 from Recollection," of a prolonged and not 
 uneventful life. 
 
 I shall therefore commence with my depar- 
 ture for the. Peninsula, in company of a cousin 
 of my own, who was a hero in every sense of 
 the word, and wound up a very glorious career 
 by his death on the field of Waterloo, in the 
 year 1815, viz. Major Edmund L'Estrange, of 
 the 71st Highlanders, Light Infantry. 
 
 On the 1st of November, 1812, a splendid fleet 
 of upwards of 300 sail of transports, with their 
 men-of-war to convoy them to Lisbon, lay at 
 Spithead, on board of which were embarked a 
 large reinforcement of recruits to supply the 
 vacancies in Lord Wellington's army, in which 
 were detachments for most of the regiments 
 then in Spain, and also the Household Brigade 
 
 o 2 
 
20 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 of Cavalry going out to him for the first time. 
 My father's regiment, the King's County Militia, 
 having volunteered for foreign service from 
 Ireland, lay at Portsmouth, and as upwards of 
 100 of them had volunteered for the 31st Regi- 
 ment, the second battalion being with the army 
 in Spain, his Royal Highness the Duke of York 
 presented me with a commission in that regi- 
 ment, without purchase. These volunteers I 
 marched up from Portsmouth to Ashford, in 
 Kent, to undergo their preliminary drilling, and 
 I must confess they were a set of wild Irishmen, 
 whom I had some trouble and difficulty in coax- 
 ing along the march of several days. They were 
 unarmed, but ready notwithstanding for any 
 row that might turn up. My father having 
 given me a good horse, I rode at their head, and 
 hit upon an expedient which I found very suc- 
 cessful, which was to play Irish tunes for them 
 on the flute, at which I was no great proficient, 
 but they stepped along cheerily to their native 
 country airs, and I joined with them all in safety 
 at Ashford. They did not, however, remain 
 long there, but were soon equipped with their 
 
SIE GEOBGE ON HOBSEBACK, PLATING THE FLUTE, AT THE HEAD OF THE 
 IBISH VOLUNTEEBS. 
 
SIR GEOEGB I/EST11ANGE. 21 
 
 uniform, had '< Brown Bess " placed in their 
 hands, and in a very short time we were on our 
 return march to Portsmouth, to embark in the 
 above fleet for the Peninsula. I took the pre- 
 caution of embarking them the instant we 
 arrived at Portsmouth, and we found ourselves 
 on board a heavy- sailing transport brig, marked 
 " A 90," which was a great relief to my mind, 
 with my wild countrymen. I found on board 
 "A 90 " several detachments for other regi- 
 ments, all under the command of Major Jessop, 
 of the 44th Regiment, a splendid officer, a per- 
 fect gentleman, particularly handsome, and a 
 capital good fellow. I regret to say I have 
 never met him since to thank him for all his 
 kindness to me, a young officer of fifteen years 
 of age. 
 
 The sun rose bright on the morning of the next 
 day, though it was November ; and I have a per- 
 fect recollection of the splendid scene before me 
 when I came early on deck, a brisk breeze from 
 the northward, and the Blue Peter flying at 
 every mast-head. I was standing on the deck, 
 looking with delight at everything around me, 
 
22 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 and anticipating the glories of a campaign with 
 the " Great Duke," when a boat rowed along- 
 side, and I was much surprised to hear my name 
 asked for. I looked down, and saw a young 
 man, who, immediately he heard I was on 
 board, stepped on the quarter-deck, and said, 
 "Don't you know me, George?" I was not 
 long in recognizing my cousin Edmund, and 
 said, " Where in the world have you dropped 
 from ? I thought you were a prisoner in 
 France?" "So I was," said he, "but I have 
 made my escape ; arrived in London yesterday 
 morning; had an interview with his Royal 
 Highness the Duke of York, related the parti- 
 culars of my escape, and informed him that my 
 great ambition was at once to rejoin my general, 
 Sir Denis Pack, to whose staff I belong. His 
 Royal Highness told me that there was a fleet 
 lying at Spithead, waiting for a fair wind, in 
 which was an officer of the name, and I might 
 possibly overtake it before it sailed. I came 
 down by the mail last night, and here I am ; 
 by-the-bye," said he, " I have not a farthing of 
 money; can you help me?" I said, "I have 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 23 
 
 120 dollars, and you shall certainly have the 
 half of them." In less time than I write the 
 signal-gun for sailing was fired, and we, with a 
 spanking breeze behind us, were under weigh, 
 with our heads towards the Needles. The Isle 
 of Wight and the Needles were rapidly passed 
 under a bright sun, and as the evening closed in 
 and darkened, a heavy cloud rose up towards the 
 west, betokening a change in both wind and 
 weather, which was soon realized, and as the 
 night closed in in darkness, and almost black- 
 ness, we found ourselves in a gale of wind and a 
 fearful sea. It fell to my lot to be on the mid- 
 night watch for the first time, and when I got 
 up on deck in utter darkness, for we were not 
 allowed to use lights, I felt a little dismayed. 
 There evidently was great risk of collision, and 
 we could occasionally hear the roll of the drum 
 in some vessel towering on the top of a wave, 
 almost over our heads, of which nothing could be 
 discovered but a dark mass, which we might at 
 any moment come in contact with, and it would 
 have been utter destruction had we struck it. 
 We, however, escaped the dangers of this awful 
 
24 EECOLLECTIONS Ol 1 
 
 night ; and when the day broke, of this nume- 
 rous and gallant fleet, there was scarcely one 
 sail in sight ; but we frequently saw the black 
 horses of the Household Brigade floating past 
 us, thrown overboard, the victims of this 
 tremendous storm. 
 
 It was nearly a fortnight before we sighted 
 the shores of Portugal, and the scattered fleet 
 dropped into the Tagus, at Lisbon, one at a 
 time, and it was a considerable time before the 
 last of them arrived at their destination. I 
 began to be a pretty good sailor by this time, 
 and I recollect coming off the morning watch, 
 at eight o'clock, with a good appetite for my 
 breakfast, and rushing across the cabin, where 
 my comrades were pitching into it. In the 
 dusk I did not perceive that the skipper was 
 down below, and the trap -door open, when I 
 suddenly disappeared into those dark regions, 
 an awful fall, which might have broken my neck. 
 I was, however, speedily hauled up, and having 
 escaped with some severe bruises, was soon 
 .endeavouring to appease my appetite on the 
 unsavoury fare that usually accompanies break- 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 25 
 
 fast on board such a transport as the " A 
 90." 
 
 The desagremens of the voyage rapidly disap- 
 peared when we saw the lateen sails of the 
 Tagus boats, and were boarded by a Portuguese 
 pilot. Everything was new and interesting to 
 me, and it was with supreme delight that I 
 passed by the fort of Belem and found myself in 
 the calm and golden waters of the Tagus. Our 
 detachment was soon landed and marched to 
 their quarters; Edmund and I proceeded to 
 Lisbon to secure our billets, and I was rejoiced 
 to find that my loan to my cousin had fructified 
 on the voyage to the sum of 200 dollars, the 
 results of sundry games of chance with the other 
 officers on board. We were soon installed in 
 our new billets, and proceeded to view the 
 beauties and filth of Lisbon ; our rations were 
 served out, and I made my first essay in the 
 culinary art by endeavouring to turn them into 
 something resembling soup, but it was a very 
 bad imitation, and I was not sorry to find that 
 Edmund had several friends and acquaintances, 
 some of whom asked us to dinner. Amongst 
 
26 RECOLLECTIONS OP 
 
 the rest General Beresford, afterwards Lord 
 Beresf ord, who was at Lisbon for the recovery 
 from the wound he had received at the battle of 
 Albuera, had us frequently to dinner : he had 
 known Edmund when a prisoner in South 
 America, and my family in Ireland, and was the 
 first Beresford I had become acquainted with, 
 though I afterwards became more closely con- 
 nected with some of this noble and distinguished 
 family, of whom more hereafter. I also met 
 here Colonel Hardinge, afterwards Lord Har- 
 dinge, and D'Urban, afterwards Sir Benjamin 
 D 5 Urban, and heard all the news from the 
 army, which excited my youthful imagination, 
 and I was only anxious to be off to join my 
 regiment. This, however, I was unable to ac- 
 complish until nearly the end of the year 1812, 
 but I amused myself very well in Lisbon, went to 
 see all the sights there and at Cintra, and escaped 
 many an " aqua vai " by a miracle as I returned 
 from evening parties, operas, &c. ; the opera here 
 being open, to which was attached a gambling- 
 house, to relieve the young officers sent out from 
 England of their Crusade Nuovos and Douros. 
 
SIR GEORGE L'ESTRANGE. 27 
 
 There was a celebrated and very handsome 
 lady at the opera at that time, of the name of 
 Brunet, and a Portuguese gentleman, of the 
 name of Bandiera, seemed particularly struck 
 with her, and as he sat in the stage-box, when- 
 ever she approached near enough he exclaimed 
 " Multa buoneta Brunet." I should not, how- 
 ever, say anything disparaging of this gentle- 
 man, as he afterwards invited me to some of 
 the splendid banquets he was in the habit of 
 giving/ Preparatory to going up the country 
 it became necessary that I should procure 
 means of locomotion, so accordingly one morn- 
 ing I repaired to the Eosio, where was held 
 the market for horses, mules, &c., and I was 
 not long in closing a bargain for a very tight 
 little black English pony, for which I paid 100 
 dollars, and a long-legged ugly mule that I got 
 for eighty. Equipped with a pair of panniers 
 covered with cow-hide, in which I placed all my 
 worldly goods, having invested in a country 
 pack-saddle over which the panniers were 
 thrown across, a stretcher about six feet long, 
 and a small hair mattress and a pair of 
 
28 EECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 blankets which sat on the mule's back between 
 the panniers ; having also invested in an English 
 saddle and bridle for my pony, and a volumi- 
 nous camlet cloak which nearly covered myself 
 and horse, I felt myself prepared to meet the 
 world in arms, and to drive the French army 
 beyond the Pyrenees, which fact we eventually 
 accomplished. 
 
 Edmund had been on the look-out for some 
 party proceeding to join Sir Rowland Hill's 
 division, who would undertake the charge of a 
 youth of my calibre in that direction. Two 
 officers, of higher rank, in the 66th Eegiment, 
 then forming a provisional battalion with the 
 31st, one being a major the other a captain I 
 recollect their names but do not wish to give 
 them declined to be bothered with my com- 
 pany on my small pony, which probably could 
 not keep up with them and most likely they 
 were right. My recruits from the King's 
 County Militia had already started under com- 
 mand of other officers, and I only retained one 
 of them a quiet and thoroughly honest fellow, 
 of the name of Tim Ferry (I shall have to 
 
SIR GEOEGE I/ESTRANGE. 29 
 
 record his death hereafter). But he soon dis- 
 covered that a detachment of the 5th Dragoon 
 Guards, under the command of Captain Sib- 
 thorp, afterwards the celebrated and eccentric 
 member for Lincoln, was about to proceed to 
 the front, his lieutenant being Eichard Falkiner, 
 who had two brothers, officers in my father's 
 regiment : they most cheerfully undertook the 
 charge. 
 
 I was not very well got up for a campaign, 
 having no canteen ; but my mule was soon 
 equipped with pack-saddle ; the cow-hide pan- 
 niers, containing all my goods and chattels, 
 were soon packed up, thrown across him, my 
 bedding, &c., in the centre, the little black 
 pony accoutred with camlet cloak in front of 
 the saddle, and so I took a cordial and affec- 
 tionate leave of Edmund, , and commenced my 
 journey to join, Tim being in charge of the 
 baggage. But I forgot to mention that I had 
 brought out a single-barrelled gun from Eng- 
 land, of which we shall have more to say pre- 
 sently. During our voyage out Edmund had 
 
 * 
 
 frequently amused me with the account of his 
 
30 BECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 marvellous escapes from the fortress of Verdun 
 and the dungeons of Bitche. They naturally 
 made a deep impression on me, and I have a 
 perfect recollection of many of the interesting 
 circumstances and adventures that befell him. 
 I have reason to know that there is extant the 
 account of these escapes, written by himself. 
 Since his death I have made many endeavours 
 to recover them. The late General Brotherton 
 told me that he had seen them, that he believed 
 they were in Yorkshire, and that he would try 
 to get them ; in this he was not successful. 
 But I think I have got a clue, and nearly run 
 them to earth in Fifeshire ; and if I get them 
 they shall certainly appear. 1 Had he not 
 fallen at Waterloo he would certainly have 
 published them himself, for they were full of 
 interest. He used to describe to me the amuse- 
 ments of the British officers on parole at 
 Verdun ; how they got up plays and balls. 
 At one of the latter he went disguised as a 
 young French lady; his very fair complexion, 
 his slight, rather small figure, and his perfect 
 1 These appear at the end of the volume. 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 31 
 
 knowledge of French, favouring the deception. 
 He succeeded so well that his particular friend 
 Beamish, of the 31st, also a prisoner, did not 
 suspect him in the least. He danced several 
 times with him, and, in fact, became despe- 
 rately smitten ; followed him out into the street 
 when the dance was over ; was beside himself 
 with joy in fancying he had gained the affec- 
 tions of the pretty French girl ; and proceeding 
 a little too far in his attentions, discovered his 
 mistake. Exclaiming in his rich Irish brogue, 
 "Arrah! What's the maning of this?" Ed- 
 mund burst into loud laughter, and Beamish 
 had to endure the chaffing of his brother 
 prisoners for a long period. 
 
 Edmund, meantime, was pining to escape, 
 for " he was sick of captive thrall." He medi- 
 tated day and night how he could effect it, 
 longing to rejoin the army that was prose- 
 cuting the war in the Peninsula, and to get 
 back to his general, Pack. Nothing would 
 induce him to break his parole, and he com- 
 mitted some trivial offence, for which he was 
 placed in close arrest. He managed, however, 
 
32 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 one morning to get as far as the gates, close to 
 which lived the woman that sold him milk. 
 She discovered him at once, when he imme- 
 diately confessed what he was about, threw 
 himself on her generosity, and said it was a 
 matter of life or death to him. She proved 
 faithful. A waggon laden with hay was passing 
 the gate; the woman engaged the sentry in 
 conversation, directing his attention in a 
 different direction, and he passed out of the 
 gate at the opposite side of the waggon. He 
 was free. 
 
 Beamish also managed to scale the walls, 
 and by, I suppose, some preconcerted arrange- 
 ment, they found each other in a small wood 
 near Verdun, where they laid perdu till night. 
 
 I must have started with my friends of the 
 5th Dragoon Guards about the 20th of De- 
 cember, 1812. Our first three or four days' 
 marching were not very interesting. I had 
 sent my friend Tim with the baggage and my 
 pony, and taking my gun on my shoulder I 
 took across the country in the hope of having 
 some shooting a sort of steeple-chase in the 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 33 
 
 direction which the detachment had taken. I 
 cannot say that I was very successful ; but on 
 the day before Christmas I was so fortunate as 
 to knock down three snipes, two of them at one 
 shot, and they were a very acceptable addition 
 to our Christmas dinner at Santarem, where we 
 halted for that solemn day, and my two cavalry 
 friends enjoyed this addition to our Christmas- 
 day's fare of rations. At Santarem I heard 
 that the surgeon of our regiment, the celebrated 
 and well-known Maurice Quil, who has since 
 been immortalized in the genial pages of my 
 friend Charles Lever, whose loss we now de- 
 plore, was stationed on sick leave ; I therefore 
 found out his billet, and went to call upon him. 
 He came out to his door, and having explained 
 to him who I was, he said, " Is it a nephew of 
 Colonel L'Estrange you are ? " " Yes," says I. 
 " Ah, then, it's many the good dinner he gave 
 me ! " I thought this sounded well, and fully 
 expected an invitation from him in return. 
 But no, Maurice Quil never asked me if I had 
 " a mouth in my head;" and I made him my 
 bow, and returned to the pretty good dinner 
 
 D 
 
34 BECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 my friends of the 5th Dragoons had prepared, 
 with the addition of my three snipes. 
 
 The next morning we proceeded on our 
 march, halting in one of the miserable Portu- 
 guese villages on the route to Abrantes. In 
 one of these, arriving late and tired from my 
 cross-country march, I repaired to the billet- 
 master, who was the Alcalde, or Juez de Pays 
 of the place, to ask for my billet. He kept a 
 sort of a shop in the village, and I made known 
 as well as I could the nature of my visit. I 
 waited for a long time with great patience; 
 and seeing that there was little chance of my 
 procuring my billet, I fear I lost my temper, 
 and, mustering up probably the only few words 
 of Portuguese that I was acquainted with, I 
 shouted out to him, " Presto ! Filho da Puta ! " 
 " Filho da Puta vos mersai ! " retorted the 
 Alcalde, his yellow-brown face turning a ghastly 
 yellow with rage, and he rushed about the 
 shop, looking for a gun or some instrument to 
 take vengeance on me. His wife in the mean- 
 time advanced to me, imploring me by her 
 actions to leave the house to escape his rage, 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 35 
 
 that he would think nothing of shooting me, 
 which he probably might have done had not 
 two or three English soldiers providentially 
 entered the shop, which seemed to quell the 
 Alcalde's rage, and I procured at length my 
 billet. 
 
 We proceeded the following day on our 
 inarch towards Abrantes. I still, in the vain 
 hope of sport, went across country, got down 
 to the banks of the Tagus, and on the last day 
 of the year, when within about two miles of the 
 town, I saw an orderly Serjeant approaching 
 me. When he reached me he asked if I were 
 Ensign L J Estrange. I replied in the affirma- 
 tive, and he told me that I was to proceed with 
 as little delay as possible and report myself to 
 the Commandant. I lost little time in obeying 
 this mandate ; and, presenting myself at his 
 office, found myself in the presence of a very 
 rough-looking militaire, who showed me little 
 civility, not even asking me to sit down. This 
 was Colonel Royal, who I afterwards learnt 
 had risen from the ranks. He very shortly 
 informed me that there was a detachment of 
 
 D 2 
 
36 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 the Guards delayed there two days by the 
 illness of the officer in command, that it was 
 an escort of twenty-five mules laden with 
 dollars for head- quarters, that I must take the 
 command of them, and they were to march at 
 daylight the next morning. The name of the 
 officer who was taken ill was Lieutenant 
 Simpson, of the Grenadier Guards, the same 
 who afterwards commanded the army in the 
 Crimea. 
 
 On the 1st January, 1813, as the dawn of 
 day made objects tolerably distinct, a small 
 detachment of the Grenadier Guards fell in in 
 one of the streets of Abrantes. This was the 
 detachment placed under my command, and I 
 accordingly made my appearance at the ap- 
 pointed time. The admirable discipline and 
 good conduct of the non-commissioned officers of 
 the Guards is too well known to need any eulogy 
 from me ; but it was a fortunate circumstance 
 for so young and inexperienced an officer as I 
 was ; and I can only say that I never had occa- 
 sion to find fault with a single man, until I 
 delivered them over into other hands at Frenada, 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 37 
 
 then the head-quarters of the British army. 
 Then came a long line of small Spanish mules, 
 all in good condition, with their long coats 
 clipped closely under the pack-saddle, and 
 various devices cut out on their shining coats ; 
 each of them carried two not very large but 
 rather heavy boxes, for their contents were 
 Spanish dollars, though not at all an overload for 
 these useful animals. Three or four Spanish 
 muleteers, in their picturesque dress very fine- 
 looking fellows were in care of the mules ; the 
 whole being in charge of a Civil officer, an intel- 
 ligent and gentlemanlike fellow, with whom I 
 shortly became on very intimate terms. There 
 was very little delay on the parade that dark and 
 dismal and exceedingly cold morning. Taking 
 the hint from the sergeant that all was ready I 
 gave the word of command to march. This was 
 a sort of epoch in my life. I began to reflect, and 
 ifc appeared to me a strange thing to find that I, 
 who had never been supposed to be clever in 
 taking care of my own money, should have such 
 a vast sum suddenly thrust upon me, with the 
 command of a body of men who could not be 
 
38 KECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 exceeded in the whole world. With thoughts of 
 this nature, and looking back upon the kind and 
 good friends I was so recklessly and suddenly 
 separating from, I also began to think that I had 
 neither knife, fork, spoon, nor any of the little 
 necessaries so important to a young campaigner ; 
 and when we came to our first halt I was 
 agreeably relieved by an invitation from the 
 Civil officer to join him in a luncheon, a fine 
 cold boiled chicken, which he produced out of 
 his havresack : it needed no pressing to accept 
 this hospitable invitation ; and I even found the 
 Spanish muleteers very kind in offering me part 
 of their own messes. I suppose my youth, and 
 evident want of preparation, had some effect of 
 this sort, and I pursued my way not a little 
 proud of the position I held, though I knew 
 every step I was taking was in the wrong direc- 
 tion, Sir Rowland Hill's Division, to which I 
 belonged, being far away to the south. 
 
 "We pursued our march through a desolate 
 and devastated country until we arrived at 
 Castello Branco, a city that had been the scene 
 of one of the most bloody sieges of these warlike 
 
SIB GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 39 
 
 times. The town was a perfect ruin, and 
 deserted by the inhabitants. We had twice 
 crossed the Tagus, once on a bridge of boats, at 
 Villa Vella ; the surrounding country was of the 
 most desolate and forbidding nature, the villages 
 bearing the unmistakable marks of having been 
 the seat of war, and the billets of the most 
 wretched description, without furniture of any 
 kind, admitting the cold and wind both above 
 and below, and the weather most piercing cold. 
 The only effect of all this upon me was a bad 
 chilblain on my heel, which prevented my putting 
 on a boot for some months. After a long and 
 weary march we at length arrived at Frenada, 
 the head- quarters. Lord Wellington was absent, 
 and nobody knew where he was ; but we after- 
 wards found out that he had been at Cadiz, 
 endeavouring to bring the Spaniards into more 
 active co-operation with his British forces. I 
 enjoyed a rest of a couple of days immensely, 
 with a party of jovial fellows that I fell amongst, 
 and at the end of that period received a route, 
 or rather a sort of roving commission, to join 
 the 2nd Division, Sir Rowland Hill's, which 
 
40 EECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 were in winter-quarters in the neighbourhood 
 of Placentia. My route lay along the frontiers 
 of Spain and Portugal. In some parts of it 
 they had never seen a British soldier, and when 
 I and my friend Tim, who was my only compa- 
 nion, presented ourselves at what we thought 
 was our billet we were stared at with curiosity, 
 and a certain suspicion which was far from 
 pleasant, the Spanish peasantry at that time 
 having become ferocious from all the miseries 
 they had endured from the French invasion ; 
 and when I awoke in the morning from my rest, 
 after a long day's march, I felt very grateful 
 that my throat was not cut. After a long and 
 a most tedious and solitary march of several 
 hundred miles, 'I at length turned up, to my 
 great joy, in a village called Ceclavin, where the 
 head-quarters of General Byng's Brigade was 
 stationed, and I found my regiment, the 31st, 
 which I had been so long in search of. 
 
 I was received with open arms by the officers, 
 who had given me up as lost, they having 
 heard of my arrival in Lisbon in November, but 
 received no further tidings. My uncle having 
 
SIB GEOKGE L'ESTRANGE. 41 
 
 been very popular when in command of the 
 regiment ensured me this cordial reception. 
 Captain Dowdall took me under his immediate 
 protection, and ever acted until the end of the 
 campaign as if he had been my father : his kind- 
 ness I can never forget. The only fault I could 
 find was that he treated me too kindly, and 
 almost as a child, always insisting at our mess 
 (for we had a mess) that I should be helped 
 first to the pudding or pie that was provided, 
 which I thought was rather derogatory to so 
 experienced an officer. The morning after my 
 arrival it was agreed that a Board should be 
 held on my mule, whose shoulder had assumed 
 an alarming proportion in size from the pressure 
 of the pack-saddle, and Clifford, of the Buffs, an 
 experienced and clever volunteer veterinary, 
 came to the inspection. He shortly produced 
 his lancet, and made a deep incision in the 
 swelling. 
 
 I soon recovered from the fatigue of my long 
 march ; was excused from parade in consequence 
 of not being able to put up the heel of my shoe, 
 but was permitted to join the shooting-parties, 
 
42 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 headed by our gallant colonel, afterwards Sir 
 Alexander Leith, with three or four of the cap- 
 tains, who were inveterate sportsmen. The 
 colonel,, whom we all adored, and for whom we 
 would have faced the black gentleman himself 
 had he ordered us, was a rough Scotchman, 
 who generally designated us as a parcel of 
 " dom wavers," a term* of reproach at that 
 period in his country. Though I was only an 
 ensign I was appointed to the light company 
 then under the command of Captain Girdlestone, 
 one of the finest fellows and best officers in the 
 army. I was very proud of this appointment, 
 particularly when I found that several of the 
 volunteers from my father's Militia regiment 
 were also included, and who ever afterwards 
 went by the name of my pets. Alas ! I fear 
 that very few of them survived the two cam- 
 paigns which immediately followed our joining 
 the regiment. 
 
 We remained for some time at Ceclavin, pro- 
 ceeded thence to a small walled village called 
 Galesteo, and from thence to Placentia, where we 
 lay until the advance of the whole army was 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 43 
 
 ordered, about the 15th of May. Whilst we lay 
 at Galesteo, having formed the acquaintance of 
 Lieutenant Stepney St. George, of the 66th 
 regiment, then forming the 1st Provisional bat- 
 talion with the 31st, of whom I shall have a 
 good deal to relate hereafter, we became bosom 
 friends and were constant companions in all the 
 shooting excursions which were then the chief 
 amusement of the British army. It was in one 
 of these parties that I was so fortunate as to 
 knock down at a very long distance a splendid 
 bustard. We brought him in in triumph to 
 our quarters, and he regaled the mess for two 
 days, Stepney St. George, of course, being 
 invited to partake of him. We never made 
 very large bags, our ammunition being none of 
 the best, of our own manufacture, and we never 
 could discover the means of depriving the shot 
 of the long tails that appertain to the home 
 manufacture of this necessary article, and con- 
 sequently our aim was not as deadly as if it 
 came from our friend Mr. Walker's round tower 
 at Chester, but we generally managed to bring 
 in something, hares or rabbits, red-legged par- 
 
44 EECOLLECTIONS OF SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 
 
 tridges or woodcocks, and a sort of small bustard 
 that was very numerous in the district, but very 
 difficult to get at. Nothing very particular 
 occurred until the breaking up of the army, and 
 our advance to Salamanca and Vittoria. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 " The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, 
 Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel." 
 
 Hamlet. 
 
 I OBSERVED in my first chapter that during our 
 voyage to Lisbon and our stay there, my cousin, 
 Edmund L'Estrange, gave me long and amusing 
 accounts of his two escapes from the French 
 prison of Verdun and from the fortress of 
 Bitche; and that I had some hope of finding 
 some notes he made at the time, but I have 
 been disappointed. I must therefore trust to 
 memory and some memoranda which I have 
 fortunately preserved among the few relics I 
 have of my first campaign. I have already 
 mentioned that he, my cousin Edmund, got 
 through the gates of Verdun unchallenged, and 
 
46 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 met his friend Beamish, his admirer at the ball 
 as I before mentioned, at the place where the 
 rendezvous was fixed in case they should both 
 get safely away from the town. They took the 
 road towards the frontiers of the Netherlands. 
 Fearing discovery, they hid themselves in the 
 woods during the day, and only travelled at night; 
 Beamish speaking only broken French, dared 
 not attempt to purchase provisions or make 
 inquiries as to the route. Edmund therefore, 
 who fortunately spoke French like a native (a 
 rare accomplishment in those days), performed 
 the duty of foraging. I ought now to mention 
 the change of costume of my cousin Edmund. 
 During one of his foraging expeditions he made 
 acquaintance with a French peasant girl, who 
 we must suppose admired his pretty, girlish, 
 and innocent face ; but at all events, persuaded 
 by the honied accents of one who had most pro- 
 bably kissed the blarney- stone, she sold him her 
 costume de fete, or as we should say, her Sunday 
 clothes, with which he retired to a neighbouring 
 wood, and made himself up into the likeness of 
 a French servant-girl. He tied his own clothes 
 
SIB GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 47 
 
 up into a bundle and slung them over his 
 shoulder, quite in the style of a French girl ; 
 not with a stick as an Irishman as he was would 
 do, but with a thick red cotton handkerchief 
 rolled into a rope ; and to increase the resem- 
 blance he tied to the bundle a pair of wooden 
 sabots, as if a girl going in her best clothes and 
 shoes to service. 
 
 Approaching the frontiers of the Netherlands, 
 Edmund and . Beamish observed that gendarmes 
 were much more frequently met; and as it 
 would not have seemed natural that the girl 
 should reply to any inquiry which might be 
 made at any moment, Beamish decided to run 
 the risk alone, and Edmund taking leave of his 
 friend struck into the road to Furnes in the 
 Western Flanders, from which town he intended 
 to creep down to the shore, crossing the great 
 salt-marshes between the town and the coast. 
 After several hair-breadth escapes, having been 
 accosted and chucked under the chin, and on 
 more than one occasion seized by the waist and 
 kissed by an amorous gendarme; after having 
 crept into a barn, and slept among the sheaves of 
 
48 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 corn, and been discovered by his loud snoring 
 in the morning by two girls who entered to 
 fetch their milking-pails and stools, and whom 
 he amused with a long history of having run 
 away from home because papa and mamma 
 wished to marry her to a snuffy old village 
 schoolmaster, the two girls took pity on her, 
 and, indignant at the cruel usage of papa and 
 mamma, gave her a large tartine of black bread 
 and mackey, a kind of soft skim-milk cheese 
 very common in the Netherlands, and a drink of 
 new milk. They then put her on to a footpath 
 leading to Fumes, to which place he, or rather 
 she, said she was going to seek a place as 
 "bonne d'enfants." 
 
 However, it was night before Edmund arrived 
 within view of the walls of Furnes, and, arriving 
 at the gate, he found it was shut; and not 
 venturing to go to the guard-house, he made up 
 his mind to look out for a barn or stable in 
 which to lie perdu until early morning. Creep- 
 ing into a farm-yard with the intention of 
 ensconcing himself quietly in a barn or stable, 
 the dogs of the farm set up a furious barking, 
 
SIR GEORGE l/ESTRANGE. 49 
 
 and before he could retreat a door opened, and a 
 gleam of light discovered him to a girl who had 
 looked out on hearing the dogs barking. She 
 thought it was her father arriving from Furnes 
 market; but seeing only a girl, the farmer's 
 daughter accosted her, and asked her business, 
 and the truth was soon told, that she had 
 reached the gates after the retraite had been 
 sounded, and that she was looking out for a 
 lodging for the night. She added, however, 
 that which was certainly a slight divergence 
 from truth, that she was going to take service 
 in Furnes. The farmer's daughter asked her 
 to enter the house, which she did willingly; 
 a few minutes later the farmer arrived, and 
 having heard the story told by Edmund, invited 
 the seeming young female to supper, and told 
 her she should have a lodging for the night. 
 After an hour's talk with the farmer, his wife 
 and daughter, the daughter asked her new 
 female friend whether she would go to bed, 
 saying she should sleep with her. Edmund was 
 rather startled at this proposition, but remem- 
 bering his costume at once assented. Arrived 
 
 E 
 
50 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 in the room, the farmer's daughter began to 
 prepare for bed; but Edmund sat down on a 
 chair and began to reflect on the danger he was 
 in, knowing that the sudden discovery of his sex 
 would very likely lead to loud screams, and 
 certainly then to his arrest. I do not remember 
 the denouement; I only know that Edmund 
 discovered himself to the girl, who promised 
 secrecy and every assistance in her power ; and 
 learning from him that he wished to reach the 
 coast, pointed out to him a cross-country foot- 
 path, which she assured him would lead him to 
 the seaside, turning the town. 
 
 When arrived at the coast, Edmund, who was 
 well provided with money, did not hesitate to 
 knock at the door of a cabane, or French fisher- 
 man's cottage. The door was opened by a female, 
 and on inquiry it appeared that the husband 
 was off the coast fishing, that he was sure to be 
 home in the evening, as the fishermen dare not 
 go far outward for fear of the English cruisers, 
 and she invited Edmund to wait his return. 
 This he did, but most unfortunately he had 
 resumed his male costume, otherwise he might 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 51 
 
 have laid by for a day or two until Sunday, when 
 almost every fisherman went to mass at Furnes, 
 as he learnt from the fisherman's wife ; for he 
 might, had he thought of it in time, have in- 
 gratiated himself with the wife, and escaped 
 with the fisherman's boat alone on the Sunday 
 morning, in the same manner he did on a future 
 occasion. The man returned at dusk, having 
 carrried his fish to Furnes; and Edmund, 
 although he had many misgivings, asked him if 
 he could put him on board a cruiser then lying 
 at anchor three or four miles from the shore. 
 The man naturally exaggerated the dangers and 
 difficulties of the attempt, but at length con- 
 sented to put him on board on payment of one 
 thousand francs. Edmund was very unwilling 
 to part with his money before he was safe on 
 board the frigate ; but the man stood firm to 
 his demand, saying that the risk was so great 
 he must go and place the money in the hands 
 of his wife's brother, to be given to his wife in 
 case he should be taken, when he knew that 
 both himself and wife would be searched, and 
 the money taken from them, and that the pos- 
 
 E 2 
 
52 EECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 session of 40?. (1000 francs) would be some 
 consolation while in prison. Edmund at length 
 gave way, paid the fisherman the money in 
 French notes, with which he had provided him- 
 self at Verdun, and the fisherman took his 
 departure to deposit, as he said, the money with 
 his wife's brother. 
 
 Whether the whole statement of the fisherman 
 was a ruse to get this money and also the re- 
 ward for the arrest of an English prisoner, or 
 whether the brother, frightened at the risk to 
 his sister, over-persuaded the fisherman to 
 become traitor, suffice it to say, the man came 
 back from the town, and within a few minutes 
 afterwards a knocking was heard at the door, 
 and the terrible words " Ouvrez au nom de la 
 loi " struck the ears of poor Edmund ; he was 
 received with scant ceremony by two gendarmes, 
 and ordered to march to Furnes and thence to 
 Yerdun, keeping his hand on the stirrup of one 
 of them. The annoyance and fatigue of a 
 journey, the greater part on foot, between two 
 French gendarmes, and the long distance which 
 separates Furnes from Verdun, was a terrible 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTItANGE. 53 
 
 prospect. Fortunately a prisoner of war is ex- 
 empt from search, and Edmund had still some 
 cash in his possession, which he very wisely 
 employed in now and then offering* a bottle of 
 " Longue Bouchon "to his conductors, and thus 
 got an occasional lift in the saddle when one or 
 other of these gentry was tired of riding; he 
 also got a lift in carts from time to time. At 
 the towns and villages on the road he was some- 
 times the butt of insolent remarks ; sometimes, 
 on the contrary, he became an object of com- 
 miseration, particularly among the females. At 
 length Verdun was reached and he was consigned 
 to a cell in the fortress of Bitche, which was 
 very damp and dark. The following day he 
 was allowed to take a little air in the yard of 
 the prison, when he found that his neighbour in 
 the very next cell was his friend Beamish, who 
 had been arrested about two miles from the 
 frontier, and who complained that his cell was 
 positively two or three inches deep in water. 
 This close imprisonment did not last many days, 
 and the two friends were given better rooms, 
 but their parole was refused, under the pretence 
 
54 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 that they had already committed a breach of 
 parole, which was, as my readers know, totally 
 untrue, as they escaped when under arrest, 
 temporary though it might be. 
 
 Edmund though much beaten down was not 
 entirely discouraged; he hoped to make his 
 escape and join the English army, which he 
 knew was in Portugal. Beamish also insisted 
 on casting in his lot with his comrade Edmund. 
 
 Their second escape was well contrived : Ed- 
 mund had plenty of money, and this powerful 
 element he brought into play in bribing a dirty 
 little German Jew, who was in the habit of coming 
 to the prison to buy trinkets or clothes which the 
 prisoners frequently sold to purchase luxuries, 
 which were not included in the prison fare. 
 This little scoundrel screwed a hundred pounds 
 out of Edmund for procuring him the second- 
 hand uniform of a French officer, and the 
 uniform of a French fantassin, or infantry 
 soldier, for Beamish. The uniforms once in the 
 prison, they were soon donned, and Edmund 
 marched boldly to the gate, followed by Beamish. 
 The sentry presented arms to the officer, but 
 
STB GEOEGE L' ESTRANGE. f>5 
 
 stopped the linesman Beamish, who wisely held 
 his tongue save only to cry out " Capitaine ! " on 
 which Edmund turned, and seeing the dilemma, 
 cried out, " Laissez passer, c'est mon bros- 
 seur " " Let him pass, it's my brusher," for 
 the French soldiers are not called servants, 
 when employed by the officers, but " Brush ers. J} 
 The two escaped, stepped away at a steady pace 
 until out of sight, when they hurriedly gained 
 the great woods, the paths of which were well 
 known to them when they were still on parole. 
 After some consultation it was determined to 
 take the road towards the south, the distance 
 being very great, and persons proceeding in 
 that direction could scarcely be suspected of 
 being prisoners escaping from Bitche or from 
 Verdun. They once more adopted the plan of 
 travelling at night and lying by in the day. I 
 should mention that by an arrangement with the 
 Jew, they re-exchanged their uniforms for their 
 own clothes in a wood about four miles from 
 their prison, where the Jew met them by ap- 
 pointment. He was to go to a cabaret on the 
 high road, and when he saw the French officer 
 
56 RECOLLECTIONS OP 
 
 and y nnt as sin passing the cabaret, it was agreed 
 lie should follow them. He had been given a suit 
 of clothes for each of them when he left them 
 the uniforms, and as he was in the habit of pur- 
 chasing old clothes, he carried them away without 
 suspicion, and knowing that the two prisoners 
 would leave immediately they could dress them- 
 selves, he started direct from the prison for the 
 rendezvous, which by good fortune Edmund and 
 Beamish were enabled to keep. Of course a 
 good deal of chaffing and joking took place on 
 resigning the uniforms and retaking their own 
 dresses and blouses. 
 
 The little Jew became very much irritated at 
 some of their observations, for he was asked 
 from whom he had borrowed the uniforms, and 
 he feared that the two gentlemen might take 
 him by the throat and force him to disgorge a 
 part of his ill-gotten gains, if they knew he had 
 merely borrowed the dresses, when this searching 
 question was asked in the merest joke, for the 
 joker quite by accident had hit upon the truth ; 
 the little Jew was perfectly astounded at their 
 apparent knowledge of the fact of borrowing. 
 
SIR GEORGE J/ESTRANGE. 57 
 
 After some time spent in frightening the poor 
 devil, he was induced to confess, on the promise 
 that he should keep the money if he told the 
 truth. He then admitted that he had borrowed 
 the uniforms from the wardrobe of a Captain 
 who lodged in his house with his Brosseur, to 
 which last he had given ten francs to lie in 
 bed and pretend to be ill, so that he might lend 
 the Jew his uniform for a few hours ; therefore 
 the entire 100Z. went into the little Jew's pocket 
 without requiring him to lay out a single penny 
 beyond the ten francs. 
 
 The two friends met with no great dangers 
 on their road until they had arrived within ten 
 miles of Angouleme, on the road to Bordeaux, 
 when they were met, just as they were creeping 
 out of a wood, by a Garde-forestier or champetre. 
 This worthy individual suspected them of being 
 poachers and insisted on seeing their passports. 
 Here was a dilemma! Beamish had caught 
 the word " passport," and began to fumble in 
 his pocket; the only passport he had was his 
 pass to circulate when on parole three leagues 
 or thereabouts round Verdun ; Edmund was in 
 
58 EECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 the same situation, but seizing Beamish by the 
 arm he whispered to him in English to leave the 
 whole matter to him, Edmund, and to pretend 
 to be unsteady on his legs as if drunk. Edmund 
 then addressing the Garde-champetre, said to him 
 in French, " Poaching is it you suspect us of ? 
 Well, if that is the case we will go home with 
 you, and you can send to the Maire, and he will 
 soon tell you who we are." Of course these 
 words had two meanings; the Garde thought 
 his two poachers were friends of M. le Maire, 
 Edmund inwardly meant the words in quite 
 another sense, as we may easily believe. After 
 walking a few paces very peaceably, Beamish 
 began to stagger and rolled against the Garde, 
 who at first thought he was about to be 
 attacked by his prisoners, and seized hold of 
 the hilt of his short sabre ; but the next reel of 
 Beamish brought Edmund to the ground, who, 
 rising to his legs, immediately called on the 
 Garde for aid, as his friend was so tipsy he 
 could not walk. The Garde and Edmund at 
 length got Beamish on his legs, and one on 
 each side, a few paces were got over, when 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 59 
 
 Beamish again pretended to fall on his knees. 
 Of course, Beamish never opened his mouth, 
 but his friend Edmund began rating him 
 severely in French for making too free with 
 M. le Comte's champagne, and asking him 
 what would the Countess say if she saw him 
 in this state. The Garde with open mouth and 
 ears was taking in the title of Count and 
 Countess, and at length said, " Ces Messieurs 
 ont dine avec M. le Comte de la Roche Guyon." 
 Edmund replying in French, asked the Garde 
 how he could possibly know this; the Garde 
 replied, "Oh, I noticed you gentlemen were 
 coming from the direction of the chateau, but 
 I little thought the gentlemen had been dining 
 with the Count." Edmund, always ready, re- 
 plied, " Then where the devil do you think we 
 dined ?" The Garde now began to think he 
 had got into a scrape in venturing to charge 
 the Count's friends with being poachers, and 
 asked what was to be done; as Beamish 
 seemed too drunk to walk, he proposed if he 
 could manage to get him on his shoulders that 
 he would carry him to the chateau, which he 
 
60 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 said would be hard work, as it was at least a 
 league distant. The news that the chateau 
 where they had dined was between two and 
 three miles distant was very consolatory to 
 Edmund ; he began to see his way out of the 
 dilemma. Acceding to the kind offer, he pro- 
 posed to aid Beamish to mount the shoulders 
 of the stalwart Garde. After several attempts, 
 during which Beamish and the Garde kissed 
 the sod more than once, the gallant Beamish 
 was mounted and the Garde prepared to start 
 for the chateau. He had scarcely taken three 
 steps when he was suddenly tripped up, Ed- 
 mund, who was supposed to be supporting 
 Beamish from behind, having placed his leg 
 between those of the Garde, who with twelve 
 stone on his withers once more rolled on the 
 ground. The Garde thinking he had tripped 
 up against the root of a tree, begged pardon 
 for his false step, Beamish pretending by his 
 Ah's and Oh's to be much hurt. Edmund 
 asked the Garde if there was no place near where 
 his friend could repose until sober, adding, 
 " After all he is not in a state to return to the 
 
EDMUND AND BEAMISH. 
 
sm GEORGE L'ESTRANGE. 61 
 
 chateau ; and what would the ladies say ? " 
 Once more the Garde gave Edmund a hint 
 upon which he lost no time to enlarge. The 
 Garde observed, " Oh, for Mdme. la Comtesse 
 it's nothing, ces Messieurs get tipsy often 
 enough, but Mdlle. Valerie, sa fille, elle deteste 
 les soulards." " Mon Dieu," said Edmund, 
 "is it so ? she detests drunkards ; we must 
 never let the pauvre gargon ruin himself with 
 Mdlle." This last was enough for the Garde ; 
 for, -taking off his cocked hat, to which was 
 attached the tricoloured cockade of the Empire, 
 he bowed respectfully to Edmund, and humbly 
 observed, " That his house was close at hand, 
 and that he would long since have proposed 
 that les Messieurs should enter and repose 
 themselves, at all events until (Beamish) le 
 gentilhomme was capable of locomotion." 
 
 All this time Beamish was reposing on the 
 grass, and Edmund, pretending to be much 
 concerned at his state, stooped down, and whis- 
 pering in his ear, told him to be quiet and 
 allow himself to be carried. Beamish was once 
 more hoisted on the shoulders of the Garde, 
 
62 BE COLLECTIONS OF 
 
 and took good care to ride quiet. About five 
 minutes' walk brought the party to a snug 
 house situate on the borders of the forest, con- 
 taining three rooms and what was called the 
 gr enter, a large room in the roof, in which was 
 a truckle-bed occupied occasionally by any 
 friend who might stay drinking late with the 
 Garde, and sometimes by an assistant or two 
 when serious poaching was apprehended. The 
 Garde, who was a married man but without 
 children, on entering said a few words to his 
 wife : Edmund overheard some of the words, 
 " Amis de ^Monsieur le Comte." In a short 
 time a rabbit was skinned, cut to pieces, and 
 without washing away the blood the pieces 
 were placed in a deep frying-pan with two or 
 three slices of bacon cut into pieces the size of 
 a dice ; a piece of butter the size of an egg was 
 thrown into the pan, and two or three onions 
 sliced. All this was put on the wood fire, 
 when the Garde left the room and brought in 
 two or three bottles of red vin du pays, one of 
 which he uncorked and emptied about one-third 
 of its contents into the pan. Clean napkins 
 
SIB GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 63 
 
 were laid on the table, but no table-cloth, and 
 some slices of very brown bread were cut by 
 the wife and placed on the napkins. In a few 
 minutes the pan was taken from the fire, and 
 the best pieces extracted from it with a fork 
 were placed in the two gentlemen's plates; the 
 gravy or sauce with the bacon and onions was 
 in a manner pushed from the pan with a fork, 
 the pan being canted sufficiently to dispense 
 with the use of a spoon : Edmund told me the 
 dish was excellent. Beamish after many ex- 
 hortations was prevailed upon to sit upright 
 and pick a little supper, the honest Garde telling 
 him there was nothing like eating to set the 
 stomach right. I have given this little detail 
 of the cooking of the rabbit, as I afterwards 
 learnt this is the famous dish called Lapin a la 
 Chasseur. 
 
 After supper the Garde, who supped with his 
 wife in the corner of the same principal room or 
 kitchen, proposed to give up his bed to Edmund 
 and his friend. Of course this was refused, but 
 it was absolutely necessary before the Garde 
 would give up his kind offer, to explain to him 
 
64 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 that the company of Beamish for the night, 
 drunk as he was supposed to have been, would 
 not be agreeable to Edmund. Beamish was 
 therefore relegated to the truckle-bed in the 
 grenier, and Edmund, who had observed that 
 the Garde's bed-room had no issue save 
 through the kitchen, was at his request fur- 
 nished with a mattress, pillow, and blanket, 
 which he contrived to place close to the door of 
 the bed-room, so that the Garde could not 
 leave the house without his knowledge. I 
 omitted to say that Edmund had invented a 
 very complicated story, how his friend Beamish 
 had lost his vice from an accident ; that they 
 had come from Bordeaux on a pedestrian ex- 
 pedition, and were returning to that town ; 
 that the loss of voice of Beamish was tem- 
 porary ; that he could already pronounce 
 several words, and Beamish was called upon 
 in the morning at breakfast to show his powers 
 of speech by pronouncing words after their 
 very distinct pronunciation by Edmund. 
 
 I fear I have lingered too long at the Forest 
 Garde's house. At all events the fugitives left 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 65 
 
 very early in the morning; and, as if this 
 terrible rencontre was destined to end well, 
 they left the house comfortably seated under 
 the white tilt- cloth of a two- wheeled market- 
 cart, which called at the Garde's while they 
 were at breakfast, about five in the morning, to 
 carry to market any little article which the 
 Garde had to dispose of. The goods forwarded 
 that morning consisted of two fine buck chev- 
 reuils (or roe-deer), six or seven hares, and 
 twenty or thirty rabbits, besides the Count de 
 la Roche Guy on' s two friends, sitting on the 
 back bench behind the driver, his wife, and 
 little son. The two gentlemen wore blouses 
 of a light grey colour over their clothes, as the 
 custom then was, and which sensible custom 
 has continued until within these few years, if 
 not until the present day, for I saw blouses 
 stripped off on descending from the Diligence 
 at Macon, when there on my way to Switzer- 
 land four or five years agone. I knew the 
 wearers to be gentlemen of rank. I mention 
 the blouses, as they are useful in concealing 
 difference of rank. As both the gentlemen 
 
66 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 and the peasant wore blouses, their presence in 
 the cart was not noticed. All went well for 
 two or three hours, when they suddenly stopped 
 at the octroi-gate of Angouleme. Beamish, 
 who did not understand the words spoken by 
 a gentleman in uniform with a sword by his 
 side, who, putting his foot on the step of the 
 cart or carriole and looking under the tilt, said, 
 "Avez-vous quelque chose a declarer, Mes- 
 sieurs ? " began to squeeze Edmund's arm, as 
 much as to say, now you speak, for I can't, and 
 looked greatly relieved when Edmund replied, 
 " Bien, Monsieur," and the military-looking 
 gentleman immediately disappeared. 
 
 They now entered the town; it was about 
 eight o'clock a.m., and they drove direct to the 
 market-place. Stopping at the door of a small 
 inn, the game was taken from the cart, and the 
 woman and little boy got out, as it was her 
 business to attend the market, and sell the 
 butter, eggs, cheese, game, &c., which might 
 be entrusted to her and her husband. The 
 driver, now addressing Edmund, told him he 
 was going to a wayside cabaret just outside the 
 
SIB GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 67 
 
 town; that his wife remained to settle the 
 octroi dues which had been declared by her to 
 the gentleman in uniform, and sell the goods ; 
 that he was going a few miles on the other side 
 of the town after he had baited his horse and 
 refreshed himself, and asked Edmund if he 
 intended to accompany him farther, or preferred 
 to go to an inn in Angouleme. Edmund and 
 his friend preferred the cabaret, as they knew 
 if any inquiries were made as to who they were, 
 the driver would vouch for their being friends 
 of the Count. They therefore went to the 
 cabaret and sat down, in the course of an hour, 
 to an excellent fricandeau of veal, larded and 
 garnished with spinach, the standing dish on 
 market-days of every cabaret in the kingdom 
 of France. 
 
 After the dejeuner they once more mounted 
 the carriole, when Beamish, who had been 
 very silent, not even continuing the whis- 
 pered conversation he had hitherto carried on 
 with his friend Edmund, suddenly exclaimed, 
 " My dear Edmund, we must separate. I shall 
 certainly cause your arrest and mine too, and I 
 
 p 2 
 
68 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 may as well fall alone into the hands of the 
 Philistines." On Edmund remonstrating, the 
 gallant and kind-hearted Beamish replied, 
 " Nonsense ; I cannot always be shamming 
 drunk or pretending to have lost my speech. 
 I have been very near ruining you twice in the 
 last twenty-four hours. You cannot always 
 expect to escape so well as we have done 
 hitherto, and I shall leave you when we arrive 
 at the end of our ride. I shall pretend to be 
 afflicted with stammering if any questions are 
 asked, and with a few rolls and a pound of 
 cheese I can subsist Certainly through the two 
 or three days which my walk to Bordeaux to 
 our rendezvous there will occupy." 
 
 Edmund was much perplexed ; he knew well 
 enough the- danger was much greater in the 
 company of a man who could not speak French 
 save with a most violent Britannic accent, 
 nevertheless he still insisted on not separating, 
 and the gallant Beamish seemed to acquiesce. 
 They arrived at Montmoreau, a small town 
 about fourteen miles farther on the direct road 
 to Bordeaux, and quitted the carriole together, 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 69 
 
 after liberally, but not too extravagantly, re- 
 warding the driver, and proceeded together to 
 a cabaret, where they supped and occupied a 
 double-bedded room. Waking early in the 
 morning, Edmund was ' surprised to find 
 Beamish already up, and his bed deserted. 
 He thought he must be gone down to look 
 after breakfast, and thought further how 
 foolish he was. On descending to the kitchen, 
 the host told him the dumb gentleman left^oon 
 after daybreak, leaving a note, which was 
 sealed with a wafer, on the table. The note 
 was short, but expressive : " Good-bye, old 
 friend; we shall meet, I trust, at Bordeaux. 
 I could not continue to peril your chance." 
 
 So his gallant friend was gone. We after- 
 wards heard that he was once more taken ; but 
 of this I am by no means certain. A few years 
 later, I believe, he fell among the heroes who 
 died on the field of Waterloo. I have no doubt 
 that Edmund's journal would enlighten us on 
 this point, but at all events I have been fortu- 
 nate in having transcribed a few pages at 
 Lisbon, from whence, and from my own notes 
 
70 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 and a rather retentive memory, I have drawn 
 these pages. 
 
 Edmund once alone ran but little risk; he 
 walked, and sometimes rode, from Montmoreau, 
 where they parted, to Libourne ; here he rested 
 a day or two, sending a letter to his country- 
 woman, Madame Lynch, wife of the then Maire 
 of Bordeaux. M. Lynch, although born in 
 France, was also of Irish descent. Madame 
 Lynch informed him he might safely approach 
 Bordeaux with the passport she sent him, 
 which was that of a young man of the same 
 age. Once arrived at Bordeaux he was most 
 kindly received by M. and Madame Lynch. 
 The family kept him out of sight when any 
 stranger called ; but in a short time a 'passport 
 was procured for him under his own French 
 sounding name, although there was no French 
 blood in his veins, save the drop of pure 
 Norman of the time of the Conqueror. At all 
 events the passport was very useful it pro- 
 cured him a pass to amuse himself with a 
 sailing-boat on the Garonne. Of course (as 
 with all passes of the kind) it limited his sea- 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 71 
 
 ward route to a few hundred of yards before 
 arriving at the station of the Douane, at Test, 
 a little hamlet then, but now a fashionable 
 watering-place, at the mouth of the Garonne. 
 This pass or. licence was to be the means of his 
 escape, for he took care to purchase the fastest 
 undecked sailing pleasure-boat he could find, 
 and for weeks took a daily cruise up and down 
 the river, sometimes approaching the limit near 
 the Custom-house station; sometimes, as if by 
 accident, omitting to luff until he was in front 
 of these green-coated gentry. 
 
 One day he heard that a French fleet was 
 lying off the coast, about three miles, and a day 
 or two later that the fleet had left and that a 
 small English fleet was lying at anchor on the 
 very same spot. Edmund longed for a gale of 
 wind off the coast and down the last reach of 
 the Garonne. He was at length gratified : 
 having tacked some distance up the stream, 
 with a very light wind, he had not turned to 
 run back ten minutes when it came on to blow 
 hard towards the sea; Edmund thought his 
 hour was come, and running down with all sail 
 
72 EECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 set, he was soon opposite the station of the 
 Douane; he had so often overstepped his 
 bounds (or rather oversailed) that the Douaniers 
 paid no attention, when Edmund's black 
 servant, whom he had hired to attend to the 
 boat, began to shout, the cowardly rascal 
 fearing a shot from the Douane. Edmund, 
 however, soon quieted him, for drawing a 
 pistol from his pocket and pointing it at his 
 head at about three yards' distance, he told him 
 to lie down, and that if he opened his mouth 
 he was a dead man. The nigger's voice had, 
 however, reached the ears of the Douane, and 
 Edmund saw four or five men hastily launching 
 a boat about the size of his own. This did not 
 greatly alarm him, for he had a spanking breeze 
 and a good boat, and if nothing gave way, he 
 felt sure he should be under the guns of the 
 English ships before the Douaniers could get 
 within shot of him. He was not disappointed. 
 The Douaniers seeing the flying boat running 
 right under the English guns, thought that 
 discretion was the better part of valour, so 
 emptying their muskets in the direction of 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 73 
 
 Edmund's boat, they gave up the chase, and 
 Edmund had the pleasure of seeing them 
 returning slowly to their post, pulling hard 
 with four oars (their mast taken down) 
 against the breeze which had carried him to 
 safety. 
 
 The black man was set free, and ordered to 
 return to Bordeaux, when the wind had dropped 
 the next morning. 
 
 Before returning to the narrative of my first 
 march and first bivouac, I may as well mention 
 that circumstances subsequently carried me to 
 Bordeaux when the war was over, although 
 peace had not been proclaimed. I was lodged 
 with my General, Sir John Byng, at the house 
 of the Maire, M. Lynch; and Madame Lynch 
 told me the story of my cousin Edmund's visit 
 and fortunate escape. 1 
 
 1 See Appendix. 
 
CHAPTER 
 
 " Last noon beheld them full of lusty life j 
 Last eve in beauty's circle proudly gay ; 
 The midnight brought the signal sound of strife ; 
 The morn the marshalling in arms the day 
 Battle's magnificently stern array." 
 
 Childe Harold. 
 
 I MUST now return to my personal narrative. I 
 fear I have nothing to tell so amusing as the 
 escapes from Verdun ; but at all events I shall 
 give a youngster's impression of war as pre- 
 sented to me. 
 
 My first bivouac after the first day's march 
 can never be obliterated from my memory. The 
 novelty, the excitement, the feeling that I was 
 now really a soldier and no longer a " feather- 
 bed hero," stirred up my energies. This march 
 
EECOLLECTIONS OF SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 75 
 
 took place on the breaking-up of the winter- 
 quarters of the British army to advance on the 
 French, who were then falling back on Vittoria, 
 to make their final stand in Spain. The pitching 
 the tents when evening came and the day's 
 march was over, the cutting down of trees, the 
 lopping of branches for fires for cooking our 
 rations for our dinner or supper, reminded me 
 of a gigantic picnic; the fine wild scenery 
 around us, and later in the evening the loud 
 buzzing of the insects and the deep-toned 
 croaking of the frogs all these sounds so much 
 louder than in our more temperate islands 
 naturally caused a lasting impression ; and the 
 novelty of sleeping, or rather attempting to 
 sleep, for the first time under canvas, completely 
 banished sleep from my eyes, until the mono- 
 tonous tap ! tap ! tap ! of the drum, seeming 
 to come as it did, from a long distance on 
 the left flank, advancing towards us as its 
 sound was taken up, or rather repeated by 
 regiment after regiment, and passed us on to 
 our left flani;, warned us that the time of march 
 approached, and that tents must be struck, 
 
76 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 baggage packed, and ourselves prepared to 
 march, in the course of another half-hour or less. 
 I got off my camp-bed, but the sleepless night 
 and excitement had their effect. I felt heavy 
 and sick, but I soon shook off the temporary 
 indisposition. I am happy to say I never suffered 
 an hour's illness during the war. Being attached 
 to the Light Infantry Company, I was relieved 
 from baggage guard ; so, mounting my pony, I 
 proceeded with the army in the direction of 
 Talavera. After a few days' march we were 
 halted under the walls of that beautiful town, 
 and visited the field where that great and bloody 
 battle of Talavera had been so lately fought. 
 "When arms were piled and the division at rest, 
 I started for the town, and I confess I think I 
 have seen no other town in Spain which can 
 compare with Talavera. Perhaps the open 
 shops and the general feeling of gaiety and 
 security presented in the appearance of the in- 
 habitants, things which we had not yet seen in 
 Spain, may have, induced me to see the town 
 " en couleur de rose." 
 
 We were not, however, permitted to linger 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 77 
 
 long at Talavera. The very next morning we 
 heard that our cavalry had had a slight brush 
 with the cavalry of the enemy, who had re- 
 treated behind the Tormes, blowing up the 
 bridge behind them. The bridge was quickly 
 repaired, but in a very partial manner, so that 
 we had great difficulty in persuading our horses 
 to cross. However, we got over in safety. I 
 now began to think I smelt powder, and that I 
 was about to experience that curious sensation 
 felt when for the first time bullets are heard 
 whistling about our juvenile ears. I was about 
 to receive what the French have so aptly named 
 " Le bapteme de feu." 
 
 We marched rapidly across a most verdant 
 and luxuriant country. We left Valladolid in 
 view on our right, many of us very much de- 
 siring to see the inside, as well as the outside of 
 its walls, but we were disappointed. We neither 
 saw Valladolid nor Madrid. 
 
 Every morning, for we were now in June, 
 the tap ! tap ! tap ! of the now familiar drum 
 awoke us to face a burning sun ; for, however 
 early we started, we were nearly roasted alive 
 
78 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 before nine o'clock. But we forgot all our 
 fatigue and marched briskly on our way witli 
 the earnest desire of overtaking the retreating 
 French army. We were, however, halted for 
 three days at Urbado, from whence the now to 
 us familiar name of Urbado Camp. On the 
 third day we continued our march ; the troops 
 were in splendid condition, both as regards 
 health and discipline, and we well knew that a 
 great battle was imminent ; which proved to be 
 a well-founded belief, for our march eventually 
 terminated at Yittoria, where that great and 
 glorious battle was fought which put an end to 
 the French power in Spain. I shall now take 
 the liberty of saying a few words respecting 
 our enemies the French. 
 
 There seemed to be a national antipathy 
 between the French and the Spaniards, and as 
 pleasant and gentlemanly a feeling between the 
 English and the French. I may mention, as an 
 example of this feeling, a circumstance which 
 occurred, I may almost say to myself, at all 
 events within my immediate knowledge. I was 
 sent three or four miles to the front, with a 
 
SIR GEORGE L' ESTRANGE. 79 
 
 picquet of thirty men. We occupied a sort of 
 farm-house, called a " Quinta," about a mile 
 from the French lines : it was near Roncesvalles, 
 on the road to St. Jean Pied du Port. It was 
 well known to the French that we were at the 
 Quinta, for the scouts came close to us several 
 times, but we were there three days unmo- 
 lested. 
 
 They knew from their scouts also when we were 
 relieved by a party of General Morillo's Spanish 
 soldiers. The same night they relieved us, they 
 were attacked and all taken prisoners. It was 
 evident enough they did not want us. We fre- 
 quently found a French soldier, and sometimes 
 a French officer, at a spring, a quarter of a 
 mile in our front I mean in front of the Quinta. 
 There was always an exchange of civilities be- 
 tween the Red and Blue, but I well know that 
 a Spaniard would have been fired on without 
 remorse, and vice versa. The Spaniards were 
 excusable in their hate, as the French were in- 
 vaders, but why the French hated the Spaniards 
 so violently I never knew; but probably the 
 guerilla fighting in the earlier part of the war, 
 
80 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 which was a most bloody species of warfare, 
 may have been the cause. 
 
 At all times when we were in a country which 
 looked like sporting, we got out our shot-guns, 
 for I must, as we are talking of campaigning, 
 explain that we did not get out our rifles or old 
 Brown Besses, and being, as I have just said, 
 on a gentlemanly footing with the enemy, we 
 made many sporting excursions with more or 
 less success. The most remarkable one I re- 
 collect, both from the extraordinary quantity 
 and quality of the game met with and the empty 
 bags which went home, induces me to mention 
 it. While at the Urbado Camp, which lies in a 
 fine, flat agricultural-looking plain of many miles 
 in extent, we heard that the plain abounded with 
 game, particularly with bustards. A party was 
 therefore formed to circumvent these splendid 
 birds. A number of soldiers offered their services 
 as beaters, and a keen sportsman, Captain Blomer, 
 Colonels Leith, Mcolls, and Knox, with the 
 young subaltern, myself, formed the party. We 
 were soon equipped, and under the orders of 
 Captain Blomer we proceeded towards that part 
 
SIB GEOUGE L'ESTRANGE. 81 
 
 of the plain on which the bustards had been 
 seen. It was, as I have before observed, the 
 month of June, not a very sporting season of 
 the year ; but as the hen bustards were sitting 
 closely, it was not likely we should fall in with 
 more than one or two, perhaps by stumbling 
 over their nests. But the cock bustard was our 
 quarry, these fine birds being in the habit of 
 assembling on an open space on the plain, and 
 strutting about with their wings scraping the 
 ground like a village-gobbler, as they say in 
 America, or turkey-cock. It was not long be- 
 fore the keen eye of Blomer detected the birds 
 going through their morning performance of 
 strutting and blowing. "We were immediately 
 halted, and told to take up positions in line 
 behind bushes, stones, or hillocks, to remain 
 perfectly quiet, and wait for the birds. Blomer, 
 with his beaters, took a long detour, and throw- 
 ing his right and left wings forward, he advanced 
 slowly on the birds, with the view of driving 
 them to pass over our heads. I could hear my 
 own heart beat so loud that I was almost afraid 
 the birds would hear it. Suddenly we saw the 
 
 G 
 
82 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 whole flock rise ; a shot was fired behind them, 
 and they all came down upon us. Some flew 
 right over my head, and over the heads of my 
 brother sportsmen ; some flew to the right or 
 left of us ; they certainly were long shots, but 
 after a general discharge not a bird fell. Without 
 boasting of myself I may say we were all good 
 game shots ; but whether it was the excitement 
 caused by the novelty and size of the game, or 
 whether it was the poor quality of our ammuni- 
 tion, of which I spoke before, not a feather did 
 I see fall. "We had spent a long morning in 
 the attempt to make a bag. "We had out- 
 manoeuvred the feathered enemy, but we re- 
 turned hungry to camp without a trophy of war 
 either in the shape of killed, wounded, or 
 prisoners. We only brought home empty bags 
 and most formidable appetites. 
 
 Once more I must return to our march, for I 
 left our troops some miles in advance. We had 
 now got into a hilly country. A spur from the 
 mountains ran down to the river. The high road 
 a good and wide one ran between the spur 
 of the hill and the river. Morillo and his fine 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 83 
 
 Spanish division, attached to Lord Hill's corps, 
 were now close up with us. We followed the road, 
 and suddenly turning the hip or spur of the hill 
 or mountain, we saw before us the great plain of 
 Vittoria, with the whole French army in position. 
 I will now give my impressions of a great battle. 
 
 THE BATTLE OP VITTORIA. 
 
 I do not pretend, as a subaltern, to give a 
 strategic account of this great battle. I shall 
 confine myself to an outline of the scene, the 
 movement, the smoke, the din, and the carnage. 
 I shall endeavour to describe my own feelings 
 and doings in this my first engagement. As, 
 however, these events happened more than half 
 a century since, I may remind my readers that 
 our army on the field of Yittoria was com- 
 manded in chief by Lord Wellesley, the corps 
 d'armee in which I was a subaltern by Sir 
 Rowland Hill. The Spaniards under Morillo 
 were attached to our corps, and the Portuguese 
 were under General Buchan. The troops were 
 confident in their generals, and of victory. My 
 corps stood to its arms on arriving on the field ; 
 
 G 2 
 
84 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 the tents and baggage were sent to the rear ; 
 the dismounted officers were informed that they 
 must quit the saddle, and my capital little Eng- 
 lish pony was handed over to Antonio, my Por- 
 tuguese boy, with orders to join the baggage- 
 guard with the other horses. It was about 
 eight o'clock in the morning ; the sun was 
 now well above the horizon, and assumed the 
 shape of a huge crimson ball ; it was the early 
 sun of the 21st of June, the longest day in the 
 year, now about to be the witness of a great, 
 glorious, though bloody battle. The French 
 army, although they had been retreating, were 
 encumbered with plunder, which they were 
 endeavouring to carry off into France ; but we 
 saved them further trouble on this score. The 
 sight of this great army of enemies made a deep 
 impression on the mind of so young a soldier. 
 The town of Yittoria, about three miles to our 
 left, was indistinctly visible. The left of the 
 French army rested on the heights abutting on 
 the river Zadora, and was thrown forward very 
 considerably in advance of the town; but we 
 could easily trace the French line until it seemed 
 
SIB GEOEGE I/ESTKANGE. 85 
 
 to entangle itself in an enormous mass of all 
 sorts of guns, waggons, tumbrels, &c., &c., 
 which covered a large portion of the plain. 
 
 The moment was a most exciting one. As 
 we marched up to our post in line of battle, I 
 observed a man lying on his back a little to my 
 left. I could not resist going over to look at 
 the body ; it was that of a young Frenchman who 
 had evidently died that morning but from what 
 cause I did not ascertain. It was the first dead 
 body I had seen on the field, and caused a 
 painful and sickening sensation, which, how- 
 ever, was shortly to be passed by, as death on 
 the field became a matter of common occurrence. 
 
 We shortly after this arrived at the base of a 
 slightly elevated piece of ground, where we 
 halted, our general wishing to place us in as safe 
 a position as he could, while the rear of the army 
 was coming up, and forming in line of battle. 
 A cannon-ball from the French lines speedily 
 informed us that we were not quite protected, 
 and also that the French had exactly discovered 
 our distance ; and the ball passed through our 
 column, scattering the brains of one or two of 
 
86 RECOLLECTIONS OP 
 
 our soldiers upon their comrades. Tliis began 
 to look like business. "We were, however, 
 ordered to pile arms, a few of the light company 
 retaining theirs, and forming in front to keep 
 up the appearance of skirmishing with the 
 French sharpshooters, who occupied a wood in 
 considerable numbers exactly in our front, and 
 between the lines of the two armies. A sharp 
 firing on the right gave us notice that the ball 
 had been opened in that quarter. It was Morillo's 
 Spanish division that had come in contact with 
 the most advanced part of the French army. 
 The Spaniards, though acting admirably under 
 their patriotic and gallant general, were unable 
 to make much impression on the French troops, 
 until they were reinforced by a British battalion 
 sent to their assistance. This was that brave 
 regiment the 71st Highlanders, under the com- 
 mand of one of the best and most experienced 
 officers in the army, Colonel Cadogan. Soon a 
 rumour passed through our column, as we lay 
 in our position, that he had fallen, which was 
 very quickly confirmed by an aide-de-camp, who 
 arrived to our general, and the news was re- 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 87 
 
 ceived with deep emotion by our officers, most 
 of whom knew and admired him. We had, 
 however, short time for lamentation. The rear 
 of the army had already arrived in their posi- 
 tion, and the order "Stand to your arms!" 
 was given, and very quickly responded to. Our 
 light companies, of which mine was one, were 
 ordered to form in extended skirmishing order, 
 in front of the brigade, and were directed to 
 advance and clear the wood, from which the 
 sharpshooters were annoying us, and at whom I 
 had myself taken several shots from the musket 
 of the corporal of my company. A field of corn, 
 standing four or five feet high, and just ready 
 for the sickle, was between us and the wood, 
 and as we advanced through it, besides the 
 bullets from the wood, an occasional cannon- 
 ball bowled along through it, its course being 
 easily seen by the lowering of the ears of corn, 
 as if reaped. As they rolled through it, I felt as 
 if I could have stopped some of these balls 
 with my foot, they appeared to roll so slowly. 
 Fortunately for me I did not try the experiment, 
 as the loss of a leg would have ensued. 
 
88 EECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 As we approached the -wood, the fire from it 
 slackened, and we entered and passed through 
 without meeting much opposition ; but when we 
 emerged at the opposite side, we saw the dark line 
 of the French army, still in their position, within 
 point-blank distance. A perfect hailstorm of 
 bullets was poured down upon us, which, if it 
 had lasted, must have swept us all into eternity. 
 But we pushed forward, and the French turned. 
 Looking to my right, I saw my captain, Girdle- 
 stone, wounded aud supported by the bugler. 
 I rushed over to him; he seized me by the 
 hand, gave it a hard squeeze, and said to me, 
 " Go on, my boy ! your name will be men- 
 tioned." I felt a certain choking sensation in 
 my throat ; a tear swelled into my eye, but it 
 had not time to fall. I ran on frantically to the 
 front, screaming at the top of my voice, " Come 
 on, 31st !" which cry could not have reached 
 the ears of the half of my company, in conse- 
 quence of the roar of the battle. Bub these 
 brave fellows did not require to be called to 
 advance ; the only difficulty was to keep them 
 back. The bugler, whose name was Butter- 
 
SIB GEOKGE I/ESTRANGE. 89 
 
 worth, whom I had left supporting Girdlestone, 
 had again joined, and continued to sound the 
 advance, which he never for a moment omitted 
 to do from the time the word was given. I was 
 parched with thirst from the heat and excite- 
 ment, when an officer attached to the light com- 
 pany of the Buffs, seeing me panting for breath, 
 dipped his hand, on which was a thick glove, 
 into a ditch, which was more blood than water, 
 and passed it across my mouth, which greatly re- 
 freshed me. By the wound of Girdlestone I found 
 myself placed in command of the light company of 
 the 31st, who had been through the greater part of 
 the Peninsular War, and, though reduced in num- 
 bers, were as gallant a lot of men as ever existed. 
 I began to feel that, at the age of sixteen, I was 
 placed in a very responsible position, and deter- 
 mined to keep myself as cool and steady as 
 was possible. I had hardly time to make this 
 determination when I heard a tremendous rush 
 on our left; the ground seemed actually to 
 quake under me, and, looking in the direction 
 of the sound, I saw the whole British host 
 artillery, cavalry, and infantry throwing them- 
 
90 RECOLLECTIONS OP 
 
 selves on the line of the French army. Three or 
 four regiments of cavalry were at the moment 
 charging, and galloped up to the foot of the 
 eminence on which the French line stood; it 
 was too steep for the horses to ascend, and they 
 were obliged to wheel. But the firm and un- 
 compromising style in which the British army 
 advanced was too much for the nerves of the 
 French; they turned in retreat along their 
 whole line, and the battle of Vittoria was won. 
 
 For the rest of the day it was easy work for us. 
 In looking towards the town of Vittoria, I saw 
 a moving mass of all sorts of vehicles retiring 
 over the plain; it was the whole of the materiel 
 of the French army, their baggage and their 
 plunder. Notwithstanding their hasty retreat, 
 the whole fell into the hands of Lord Welling- 
 ton's army. Here was taken the famous Berlin, 
 fitted up with every conveniencce and luxury, 
 with silver and Sevres china: this was the 
 travelling-carriage of King Joseph, and which 
 in after-years delighted the eyes of our children 
 at Madame Tussaud's. The battle had raged 
 to a much more intense degree far away to our 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 91 
 
 left, in the neighbourhood of the town of Yittoria, 
 and in some instances swept right through it ; 
 but, as I did not see it, I will not pretend to 
 describe it. It has now become a matter of 
 history, from Lord Wellington's despatches 
 and other competent authorities. Indeed, we 
 were ignorant of almost every detail of the 
 action, save those which passed under our own 
 observation, until we received the English 
 newspapers some time afterwards; but it is well 
 known how complete was the defeat : 150 guns, 
 the whole of Joseph Buonaparte's personal 
 baggage, and, as I before observed, his carriage, 
 fell into the hands of our army. I regret to 
 say, but am scarcely surprised at it, that there 
 were some breaches of discipline, now known 
 under the Indian name of " looting," which 
 were severely censured, and in some instances 
 punished ; but it would be invidious to name 
 any particular regiment after all had otherwise 
 behaved so well. The French are first-rate 
 hands at running away when once they are 
 panic- s truck ; and although we passed rapidly 
 over the plain in pursuit, we could not again 
 
92 EECOLLECTIONS OP 
 
 come up to them. While thus in pursuit, I 
 observed a large body of men moving parallel 
 with us on our right. I said to an officer near 
 me, " Those fellows are French." He said, 
 " -No, they are Spaniards." I, however, was 
 right, and if we could have informed one of 
 the commanders of our cavalry, they would 
 every one of them have been taken prisoners. 
 A couple of squadrons would have been enough. 
 Seeing us, they rapidly moved off. The ground, 
 as we marched forward, was strewed with all 
 sorts of papers, letters, &c., and, as I passed 
 along, I occasionally picked up a loose paper. 
 Sometimes it was a love-letter, and sometimes 
 a touching effusion from a beloved mother or 
 sister to some young French soldier. The 
 firing had nearly ceased, but an occasional 
 flying shot from a gun enlivened us. Almost 
 the last shot that was fired for it was now 
 near evening I heard whistling along exactly 
 in my direction. The usual feeling is to dip 
 the head, and thus make a low bow to these 
 dangerous missiles, as they generally fly over 
 head. This ball was, however, flying low, and, 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 93 
 
 as it rushed up to me, an involuntary impulse 
 caused me to jump as high as I could; and, 
 at the moment, I thought it was a fortunate 
 jump for me, as the cannon-ball seemed to strike 
 exactly on the spot I had been standing upon, 
 and passed to the rear, leaving me uninjured. 
 
 "We continued the pursuit of the French 
 until dark, when we were halted, and had to 
 make ourselves as comfortable as we could, 
 without our baggage or tents. A double 
 allowance of rum, was, however, served out, 
 and a small piece of raw beef, cut from some 
 bullocks which had been driven in, hastily 
 killed and cut up, and almost as quickly grilled 
 at the point of the bayonet or ramrod. As 
 soon as the toasted beef was swallowed, we lay 
 down upon the bare ground, which fortunately 
 was quite dry; and my gallant Colonel, Leith, 
 Captains Nicholls and Knox, and myself slept 
 under one blanket. I happened to get a centre 
 berth under the aforesaid blanket, in which 
 there was a long split, which just came to my 
 share. I was too much fatigued to take notice 
 why I felt so chilled, but I slept like a top until 
 
94 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 the assembly was sounded before daybreak the 
 next morning, when I found I had been sleep- 
 ing with the window (query blanket?) open. 
 Before daybreak we were standing to our arms ; 
 the old three taps of the morning drum did not 
 now come into play. We again started in pur- 
 suit of the French in the direction of Ron- 
 cesvalles, famous for its battle mentioned in 
 the " Song of Roland," where "Roland the 
 Brave and Oliver, and every paladin and peer 
 on Roncesvalles fell." We had not gone far 
 before we found an abandoned gun, making up 
 the tale of 151. I really believe this was the 
 villainous tube which threw the shot so near 
 me and made me jump for my life. In a short 
 time we came to Pampeluna. The French threw 
 a garrison into this strongly-fortified town, but 
 had not time to provision it; they had pro- 
 visions only for a very short time. We passed 
 by without any apprehension of leaving so 
 strong a place in our rear, as it was to be sur- 
 rounded and blockaded by the Spaniards, who 
 were already in force on the spot. The rear of 
 retreating and defeated army leaves many a 
 
SIB GEOKGE I/ESTRANGE. 95 
 
 record of its passage, in dead and dying men, 
 and horses more or less severely wounded, and 
 various sorts of debris such as broken waggons, 
 and useless arms, knapsacks, &c., &c. We took 
 little notice or care for these objects, and left 
 even valuable muskets on the road as we passed. 
 After a few hours we reached the town of Eon- 
 cesvalles, which is at the foot of the Pyrenees, 
 where we halted. The town was not imposing ; 
 a few small houses, a couple of rather large 
 monastical-looking buildings, which we soon 
 ascertained had been converted into Posadas. 
 We were not long in seeking the interior of the 
 buildings to ascertain what good things we 
 could procure to appease our ravenous appetites. 
 The viands produced were cooked with the 
 usual quantity of garlick, so grateful to the 
 Spanish appetite, but so uncongenial to the 
 English stomach ; but hunger is an admirable 
 sauce, and we really enjoyed our repast. Late 
 in the evening our baggage, &c., came up, our 
 tents were soon pitched, and those who had not 
 ensconced themselves in the few houses were 
 again comfortably in bivouac in their tents. I 
 
96 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 forgot to mention that my Portuguese boy, 
 Antonio, had the talent to find me out during 
 the night, when I was sleeping under the torn 
 blanket ; he brought me my pony, cloak, and 
 blanket. This boy was frequently the butt of 
 the soldier's jokes, which he took very patiently. 
 Among others, when rations of meat were served 
 out in the usual manner by a kind of lottery, 
 performed by placing a soldier with his back to 
 the table or ground, where the rations were laid 
 out, another soldier, pointing to a piece of meat, 
 would call out, " This," meaning, "Who is this 
 for?" when the soldier with his back to the 
 table would name a comrade at hazard, as the 
 recipient of the piece of meat. Sometimes he 
 would call out " Ista," pointing to a bad, bony 
 morsel, and the response was inevitably Antonio, 
 or Portugee boy; for, by using the word " Ista" 
 the Spanish for " this," it was intended to 
 inform the soldier that it was a bad piece, good 
 for the Portuguese boys. The next day our light 
 companies were informed that they would be 
 required to make a sort of secret movement, in 
 as light marching order as possible. This was 
 
STB GEORGE I/ESTRANGE* tfY 
 
 to a place about three miles to the front, on the 
 road to St. Jean Pied de Port. Our com- 
 mandant, I believe, had sealed orders, not to 
 be opened till after our arrival at the Quinta, 
 which I before mentioned when speaking of 
 the feelings of the French towards us, and 
 towards the Spaniards. The country was in 
 all the gorgeous beauty of midsummer, the 
 trees many of them fruit-bearing : cherry-trees 
 were plentiful, with quantities of fruit ripe 
 and delicious they were in the sultry heat. 
 Things altogether seemed very much altered for 
 the better ; we had, in fact, passed the frontier 
 into France, which had not been ravaged by war 
 like unhappy Spain and Portugal, and we were 
 the first of the "enemies' troops," over the 
 French frontier. We had thus the satisfaction 
 of being the first to enter the territory of La 
 Belle France and the Grande Empire. "We took 
 up our quarters for the night in and about the 
 Quinta ; but kept a sharp look out, as we were 
 on rather dangerous ground. The rear-guard of 
 the French Army was, as before said, halted in 
 a small village a mile or two in our front, and 
 
 H 
 
98 RECOLLECTIONS OF SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 
 
 the sealed orders were tliat early in the morning 
 we were to make a dash at the village, rush 
 through it without firing a shot, and make 
 prisoners of this small rear-guard if possible. 
 "We should probably have succeeded had it not 
 been for a German soldier of the single com- 
 pany of the 60th Rifles attached to our little 
 light brigade. He could not resist the oppor- 
 tunity of firing a shot into the village before we 
 had reached it. The report, of course, alarmed 
 the little garrison, who were instantly on the 
 move, and, with the rapidity of French sol- 
 diers, the greater part of them escaped. 
 "When we returned to Eoncesvalles, a Spanish 
 picquet occupied the Quinta, and that night 
 the Spaniards in return were surprised by the 
 French, and every one of them made prisoners, 
 as I have related previously. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 " Nor yet, alas ! the dreadful work is done, 
 Fresh legions pour adown the Pyrenees : 
 It deepens still, the work is scarce begun; 
 Nor mortal eye the distant end foresees." 
 
 Childe Harold. 
 
 ON our return from the Quinta, in front of 
 Koncesvalles, on the lower road to St. Jean 
 Pied de Port, we encamped again for a "few 
 days. My gun, as usual, was soon in requisi- 
 tion, to ascertain if any game was to be found 
 in the neigbourhood. We found that quails 
 were rather numerous, but having no dogs to 
 point or rouse them, we found it very difficult 
 to get them on the wing, the birds being very 
 young, and lying like-stones. Our attention was 
 soon turned from these agreeable pastimes, as 
 an order came for the light companies to move 
 to the front. We were shortly on the move 
 
 H 2 
 
100 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 again, and were led up a very narrow road 
 leading us to the top of the Pyrenees, scarcely 
 wide enough to admit the wheels of a 6-pounder. 
 As we marched up this mountain- side, I ob- 
 served for the first time the curious effect of the 
 cloud or mist pouring over the brow of the 
 mountain, or through the defiles, which I ex- 
 pected every moment to come down in a heavy 
 shower ; but it turned out that it was only the 
 mist. 
 
 After a march of about three miles we arrived 
 at the summit of the Pyrenees, and saw the 
 fertile valleys of France spread out before us as 
 if on a map. Here finding a plateau of natural 
 growth, we were ordered to pitch our tents, and 
 make ourselves as comfortable as we could, 
 which we were certainly well inclined to do. I 
 slept like a top, after the fatigues of the day, 
 and began the next morning to look about me 
 and admire the magnificent scenery that lay 
 before, around, and almost at our feet ; the fine 
 woods of well-grown trees furnished the sides of 
 the mountains more than halfway up to our 
 elevated position or bank. The rendezvous or 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 101 
 
 alarm-post was pointed out to us, which we 
 were ordered to repair to in case of any move- 
 ment of the enemy in our front, and every pre- 
 caution taken to prevent a surprise, by sending 
 outlying pickets, &c. We soon began to find 
 ourselves tolerably comfortable. The eagle and 
 the vulture, sure accompaniments of an army 
 in the field, which provides ample provender for 
 them, soared over our heads in splendid circles 
 of flight, and I soon began to think of my gun, 
 and what chance there was of sport. I sallied 
 out by myself to prospect the country ; looking 
 down from those sublime heights upon the val- 
 leys below were the noble woods that adorned 
 the sides of the mountain. I saw little chance 
 of finding any game in these high and wild 
 regions, except perhaps the chance of coming 
 on a bear, if I ventured into the woods, as I 
 heard that they were to be found in these 
 regions. After amusing myself for half an hour 
 in starting a large stone to roll down the 
 mountain side, until it came with a crash into 
 the forest of trees, some half-mile or so below, 
 quite forgetting where it might eventually go 
 
102 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 to, or on whose head at the bottom it might 
 possibly fall, I lay down on the side of the 
 mountain to rest myself a little. I was sur- 
 prised to see just at my elbow a delicious- 
 looking ripe strawberry, and then another and 
 another, and found that the ground was 
 covered with them. After regaling myself on 
 this delicious god-send, I lost very little time in 
 returning to camp, and reporting to my brother 
 officers the treasure I had hit upon, when there 
 was an instantaneous rush to the strawberry- 
 beds, such as I should suppose might in these 
 .days happen in the rush to the gold-diggings. 
 The time hung heavily enough on our hands in 
 this elevated camp for several days ; I could not 
 even turn my gun to any account, except an occa- 
 sional shot, at a long distance, at an eagle or a 
 vulture as he circled over our heads. Some- 
 times these disgusting birds, when heavily 
 gorged with their prey, would allow us to ap- 
 proach within a few yards, when they with 
 difficulty arose from the ground or rock on 
 which they were seated, but I never, unfor- 
 tunately, was prepared for such a chance. It 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTBANGE. 103 
 
 is true, however, that we were frequently in- 
 terested by the reports that we heard of what 
 was going on in our front. 
 
 When the news reached the Emperor that the 
 Ebro had been passed, the battle of Vittoria 
 won, and the French army beaten and dis- 
 organized, driven into France, and the French 
 territory violated by the feet of the enemy, 
 Bonaparte, who was then in the north, and 
 whose luck had begun to turn, despatched 
 Marshal Soult in hot haste to reorganize the 
 French army, and endeavour to recover the lost 
 ground. The Marshal, who was supposed to 
 be the best general under his command, lost no 
 time in obeying his orders. He collected every 
 man that -he could lay his hands on, and sent 
 them to the Spanish frontier by every conceivable 
 means he could procure. "Waggons, coaches, 
 and every means of conveyance were pressed 
 into the service, and in an incredibly short 
 period he had assembled a force, as he thought, 
 sufficient to drive the redcoats backward to the 
 Ebro and into the sea. Rumours reached us daily 
 of what was preparing for us, and on the 23rd 
 
104 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 of July he issued his famous manifesto to his 
 army ; and as it has probably never reached the 
 ears of many of the present generation I do 
 not hesitate to give it here, though it has often, 
 I conclude, been published and perused with 
 interest by many who must have passed away. 
 It was dated from St. Jean Pied de Port, and 
 is as follows : 
 
 PROCLAMATION OF MARSHAL SOULT. 
 
 (To be read at the heads of Companies in each 
 Regiment, 23rd July, 1813.) 
 
 " Soldiers ! The recent events of the war 
 have induced his Majesty the Emperor to invest 
 me, by an Imperial decree of the 1st instant, 
 with the command of the armies of Spain, and 
 to honour me with the flattering title of his 
 ' Lieutenant. 5 This high distinction cannot but 
 convey to my mind sensations of gratitude and 
 joy, but they are not unalloyed with regret at 
 the train of events which have, in the opinion 
 of his Majesty, rendered such an appointment 
 necessary in Spain. 
 
 " It is known to you, soldiers, that the enmity 
 of Eussia, roused into active hostility by the 
 
S1E GEORGE L*ESTRANGE. 105 
 
 eternal enemy of the Continent, made it incum- 
 bent that numerous armies should be assembled 
 in Germany early in the spring. For this pur- 
 pose were many of your comrades withdrawn. 
 The Emperor himself assumed the command, 
 and the arms of France, guided by his powerful 
 and commanding genius, achieved a succession 
 of as brilliant victories as any that adorn the 
 annals of our country. The presumptuous 
 hopes of aggrandizement entertained by the 
 enemy were confounded, pacific overtures were 
 made, and the Emperor, always inclined to con- 
 sult the welfare of his subjects by following 
 moderate counsels, listened to the proposals 
 that were made. 
 
 " While Germany was thus the theatre of 
 great events, that enemy, who, under pretence 
 of succouring the inhabitants of the Peninsula, 
 has in reality devoted them to ruin, was not 
 inactive. He assembled the whole of his dis- 
 posable force, English, Spaniards, and Por- 
 tuguese, under his most experienced officers, 
 and, relying upon the superiority of his num- 
 bers, advanced in three divisions against the 
 
106 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 French force assembled upon the Douro. With 
 well-provided fortresses in his front and rear, a 
 skilful general, enjoying the confidence of his 
 troops, might, by selecting good positions, have 
 braved and discomfited his motley levy. But 
 unhappily at this critical period timorous and 
 pusillanimous counsels were followed. The 
 fortresses were abandoned and blown up, hasty 
 and disorderly marches gave confidence to the 
 enemy, and a veteran army, small indeed in 
 number, but great in all that constitutes the 
 military character, which had fought, bled, and 
 triumphed in every province in Spain, beheld 
 with indignation its laurels tarnished and itself 
 compelled to abandon all its acquisitions the 
 trophies of many a well-fought and bloody day. 
 When, at length, the indignant voice of the 
 troops arrested this disgraceful flight, and its 
 commander, touched with shame, yielded to the 
 general desire, and determined upon giving 
 battle near Vittoria, who can doubt from this 
 generous enthusiasm, this fine sense of honour, 
 what would have been the result had the general 
 been worthy of his troops ; had he, in short, 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 107 
 
 made those dispositions and movements which 
 would have secured to one part of his army the 
 co-operation and support of the other ? 
 
 " Let us not, however, defraud the enemy of 
 the praise which is due to him ; the dispo- 
 sitions and arrangements of their general have 
 been prompt, skilful, and consecutive. The 
 valour and steadiness of his troops have been 
 praiseworthy. Yet do not forget that it is to 
 the benefit of your example they owe their 
 present military character, and that whenever 
 the relative duties of a French general and his 
 troops have been ably fulfilled, their enemies 
 have commonly had no other resource than 
 flight. Soldiers, I partake of your chagrin, 
 your grief, your indignation; I know that the 
 blame of the present situation of the army is 
 imputable to others ; be the merit of repairing 
 ifc yours. I have borne testimony to the 
 Emperor of your bravery and zeal. His in- 
 structions are to drive the enemy from those 
 lofty heights, which enable them proudly to 
 survey our fertile valleys, and chase them 
 across the Ebro. It is on the Spanish soil 
 
108 BECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 that your tents must next be pitched, and from 
 thence your resources drawn. No difficulties can 
 be insurmountable to your valour and devotion. 
 
 " Let us, then, exert ourselves with mutual 
 ardour, and be assured that nothing can give 
 greater felicity to the paternal heart of the 
 Emperor than the knowledge of the triumphs 
 of his army, of its increasing glory, of its 
 having rendered itself worthy of him and of 
 our dear country. 
 
 " Extensive but combined movements for the 
 relief of the fortresses are upon the eve of 
 taking place. They will be completed in a few 
 days. Let the account of our success be dated 
 from Vittoria, and the birth of his Imperial 
 Majesty be celebrated in that city, so shall we 
 render memorable an epoch deservedly dear to 
 all Frenchmen. 
 
 " SOULT, Duo DE DALMATIE, 
 " Lieutenant de I'Empereur." 
 
 I may as well remark that the blockade of 
 Pampeluna was still manfully maintained by 
 the Spaniards, and the siege of St. Sebastian, 
 
SIR GEOHGE L'ESTRANGE. 109 
 
 after some fruitless attempts to storm it, by 
 which our army sustained great loss, was still 
 continued. We could hear the roar of the 
 cannon almost continuously, though we were 
 at a considerable distance, ours being the 
 extreme right of the British lines. There was 
 only one pass a few miles to our right, called 
 the Pass of Jaca, or Haca as pronounced, which 
 was occupied by the Spaniards. The other 
 two British Brigades of our division, that is, 
 the Highland Brigade and O'Callaghan's 
 Brigade, occupied the pass of Maya, several 
 miles to our left ; and Sir Lowry Cole's division 
 also occupied some intermediate position. 
 
 On the evening of the 24th we were apprised 
 that something might be expected, and desired 
 to be particularly on the alert. "We had been 
 in the habit of standing to our arms an hour 
 before day, and not returning to our camp until 
 we could see a grey horse a mile off. On the 
 morning of the 25th, however, as soon as we 
 could distinguish anything at the front, we saw 
 that the French were coming up, and forming 
 themselves in columns to our front, and we 
 
110 RECOLLECTIONS 01 
 
 began to see that we were about to have 
 another brush with tbe enemy, and that they 
 were going to try the experiment under the 
 distinguished and powerful commander, Marshal 
 Soult. They continued to bring up their 
 columns for several hours ; I conclude- that 
 the miserable state of the roads did not admit 
 of any very rapid movements. A spur of the 
 mountain ran down for a short space to our 
 left. Our position was a rocky eminence, 
 entirely composed of large rocks, an admirable 
 position for light troops to occupy. The road 
 to the front passed just on the right of this 
 eminence, and there shortly after our arrival 
 I saw General Morillo, mounted on a tall black 
 Spanish horse, with long white military gloves 
 which came nearly to his elbow, and which he 
 kept continually pulling up, as it appeared to 
 me by a sort of nervous movement. He sent 
 out a lot of his Spaniards to skirmish in the 
 front ; and we were ordered to defend our 
 position to the last extremity, a duty which we 
 performed with the usual pluck and determina- 
 tion of British soldiers. 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. Ill 
 
 At length, about one or two o'clock, we 
 observed the whole of the French army in our 
 front advancing to the attack. The Spanish 
 skirmishers were of course soon driven in, and 
 a cloud of French sharpshooters were thrown 
 in thousands against us. With great gallantry, 
 and before very long, they arrived at the foot of 
 the rocky eminence that we were left to defend 
 to the last, of course to give time to our 
 general to retire his brigade, which it was 
 evident was the inevitable result of the attack 
 of so large a force on one brigade. "We kept 
 the rocky position, as we were ordered, to the 
 last, and it was not until the French sharp- 
 shooters were mingling with our men that we 
 saw the necessity of retreating; our left was 
 also turned by the French troops. We had a 
 considerable space to traverse before we could 
 be safe from the fire, behind a spur of the hill 
 in our rear, and we had to make for it. I con- 
 fess I was greatly inclined to have a run for it, 
 but I recollected what an example it would be 
 to our men, and besides I had a great repug- 
 nance to running away. However, I walked as 
 
112 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 speedily as I could, particularly as the French 
 bullets were constantly striking the side of the 
 hill all about me, and it was with much satis- 
 faction I at last found myself under a certain 
 degree of protection, with most of my men in 
 pretty good condition, and few killed or 
 wounded. The French seemed satisfied with 
 having driven us from our position, and inclined 
 to follow us up slowly. The general had re- 
 tired the brigade in the direction of Konces- 
 valles, and as we got a little to the rear he 
 halted the light companies, and, with tears in 
 his eyes, thanked them for the gallant stand 
 they had made in their position. We did not 
 remain long to rest ourselves, but followed the 
 brigade down the hill in the direction of Ron- 
 cesvalles. As we descended the hill I was 
 walking alongside of the general on horseback, 
 and feeling the gravel rather penetrating my 
 foot, I turned it up to Sir John, and showed 
 him the bare skin of my foot, both shoe and 
 stocking being worn through. He said, " There 
 is one of my mules that is not gone to the rear 
 with the baggage, and I think I have a pair of 
 
SIR GEORGE J/ESTRANGE. 113 
 
 shoes that I will lend you," which he did when 
 we got down to the town, but remarked at the 
 same time, " I shall not be ashamed to take 
 them back when we next see our baggage,'* 
 which I promised faithfully and performed, 
 though they were nearly by that time in the 
 state of my old cast-off ones. 
 
 We passed Roncesvalles, pursuing our retreat 
 in the direction of Pampeluna, and marched on 
 rather dejected until night began to gather in 
 about us, when at length we were ordered to 
 halt, light our fires, and commence our cooking, 
 the tents and baggage still far to the rear. 
 "We had not accomplished this interesting per- 
 formance when the bugle sounded to fall in, 
 and we were ordered to put out our fires. In 
 fact, the French were close on our track. I 
 now began to discover the difference between a 
 victorious advance and a retreat in face of the 
 enemy. We trudged along all night in the 
 dark. I was so sleepy that I could not keep 
 my eyes open, and once or twice lay down to 
 endeavour to get a little rest; but the feet of 
 the retreating soldiers soon roused me from my 
 
 T 
 
114 RECOLLECTIONS OP 
 
 precarious rest, and on standing up at one 
 particular place, I observed a gentleman in a 
 blue military frock-coat and a round hat, riding 
 in the opposite direction to that we were going, 
 and I heard him say, "Right about, right 
 
 about. It is odd if 10,000 British cannot 
 
 show their faces to 30,000 Frenchmen." It 
 was Picton; his division was in the rear, and 
 we were falling back upon it : however, his 
 gleam of hope did not last long, and we were 
 soon on the line of retreat again. 
 
 As the day dawned upon us we were in sight 
 of Pampeluna, some distance on our left, en- 
 compassed with clouds of Spanish cavalry and 
 infantry blockading the town, and as we passed 
 over the summit of a rather high hill or moun- 
 tain we saw the French army making a most 
 determined attack on the British. We com- 
 manded the view, which was magnificent ; and 
 the first thing that met my eye was a battalion 
 of Portuguese scattered and running like mad, 
 and immediately a large body of French formed 
 themselves en masse on our position. I thought 
 things were beginning to look bad, but iranie- 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 115 
 
 diately afterwards I saw a regiment of redcoats 
 go at the French column like bull-dogs. I 
 must say the French stood their ground won- 
 derfully, and for a moment or two it appeared 
 to me doubtful what the issue would be ; but 
 just as this gallant regiment got within a few 
 paces of the French column, I saw the two 
 colours go out in front of our heroes almost up 
 to the French bayonets, the battalions following 
 them true as steel, when they hurled the 
 Frenchmen down the steep face of the Pyrenean 
 mountain that they expected to drive us from. 
 This regiment^was the 21st Fusiliers. I asked 
 afterwards who the gallant youths were who 
 carried the colours with such commandable 
 effect, and was informed that one of them was 
 Francis Russell, in whose room I and the 
 second Marquis of Anglesey slept at West- 
 minster ; and we were both his fags. " Hoorah 
 for Westminster 1 " said I. Our battalion im- 
 mediately moved down to the spot~~on which I 
 saw this brilliant charge executed : there was a 
 little square plot, about the size of an Irish- 
 man's potato-garden, surrounded by a low wall 
 
 i 2 
 
116 RECOLLECTIONS OP 
 
 about one foot and a half high, within this 
 space lay eight dead bodies six French, one 
 Portuguese, and the other English. An unfor- 
 tunate French sergeant, shot through the 
 lungs, and evidently in mortal agony, made 
 such a row, that my general asked me to see 
 him moved to a small house in the rear. 
 Though the action was, I may say, concluded, 
 I felt as if it was turning my back on the 
 enemy: I, however, obeyed my general's 
 orders, had him carried to the house, where 
 I found the surgeon at work, got him a glass 
 of water, for which he returned me thanks, 
 with a squeeze of my hand, and I returned as 
 quickly as possible to my company. 
 
 We halted exactly on the spot where I had 
 seen the fine charge of the Fusiliers executed a 
 few minutes before ; the dead bodies lay before 
 us, and we remained, until the evening set in, 
 exactly in the same position, looking at the 
 French army on the face of the mountain 
 exactly opposite to us. They did not show 
 any intention of renewing the attack upon us, 
 but, on the contrary, as the day closed in, the 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANOE. 117 
 
 French soldiers and our own men got the water 
 from the same small stream that flowed in the 
 valley between us, and we met on the most 
 friendly footing for that purpose. We could 
 distinctly hear the bands of, the different French 
 regiments play, and so near, that we could 
 distinguish the air. I recollect one in par- 
 ticular, that we afterwards discovered from two 
 bandsmen who had deserted, and came over to 
 us, and were immediately taken into our band, 
 to whom they taught it. It was called Bona- 
 parte's March, and a very fine piece of music it 
 was ; I remember the air of it to the present 
 day. When night set in, I lay down in my 
 camlet cloak which Antonio, my Portuguese 
 boy, had brought up to me towards evening, 
 and slept like a top until wakened up by some 
 mounted officer riding at full speed over me. I 
 felt the horse's legs as they caught in my cloak, 
 but the horse, as I believe is usually the case, 
 avoided trampling upon me. It was probably 
 some aide-de-camp despatched with a message 
 to some other of our generals, or perhaps to the 
 Spaniards around Pampeluna, for he was going 
 
118 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 in that direction, but I never discovered wlib 
 he was. 
 
 My own gallant captain, Girdlestone, having 
 recovered from his wound at Yittoria (it was 
 merely a flesh wound through the thigh), had 
 rejoined us this morning ; he came up, looking 
 a's well and as fresh as paint, which we all 
 rejoiced to see, but he had a bright new regi- 
 mental coat on, and very clean white trousers, 
 which I suppose made him a conspicuous mark 
 to the French sharpshooters, for before the day 
 was over he was again wounded exactly in the 
 same place, and he had again to return to be 
 nursed through his second wound at Vittoria. 
 1 scarcely had time to speak to him, so short 
 was the interval before he was again wounded. 
 
 The next morning we, as usual, stood to our 
 arms before daylight, not knowing what im- 
 portant events were before us during the day. 
 There was a good deal of anxiety about where 
 the sixth division was, which report said was 
 moving in our direction; the enemy did not 
 show any symptoms of wishing to renew the 
 battle, in fact they seemed to have had enough 
 
SIR GEORGE L'ESTRANGE. 119 
 
 of it, and we remained the greater part of the 
 day looking at each other. Towards evening, 
 however, we heard that the sixth division was 
 approaching, and with it "Wellington himself." 
 The moment we heard this every man in the 
 British army knew and felt that all was right, 
 and we waited perfectly patient for the next 
 move. Nothing further took place with us 
 that evening ; we remained exactly in the same 
 position, and when we had sufficient light the 
 next -morning to see what was before us, we 
 observed that the French army was retiring; 
 in fact, Wellington had turned their position 
 and saved us the trouble of going at them in 
 front. Before many hours were over one of 
 the finest spectacles of the campaign occurred; 
 the French army, retreating, had thrown out 
 a cloud of skirmishers to cover it; our army 
 was immediately in motion to follow them up. 
 Our brigade formed the head of the column, 
 and our light companies were thrown out in 
 front to reply to the French sharpshooters. 
 The scenery was magnificent, the day bright 
 and sunshiny. Between our extended line of 
 
120 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 skirmishers, which extended across the valley, 
 and the head of the column rode Lord Wel- 
 lington and a splendidly-mounted staff. It was 
 exactly like a brilliant field-day, or sham fight, 
 although occasionally a bullet passed from front 
 to rear, or vice versa. In this form we ad- 
 vanced during the greater part of the day, 
 until the French began to think it was nearly 
 time to halt for the night and bivouac ; and to 
 give us notice of this their intention, they in- 
 creased the number of their sharpshooters, and 
 treated us to a very sharp fire for some little 
 time. At length we took the hint, and gave up 
 any further attack upon them that evening, as 
 all they seemed to want was time to get 
 away. 
 
 The next morning we were very early on the 
 the alert, driving the French army before us 
 through the magnificent valley of the Bastan. 
 Towards the middle of the day our general got 
 information that the provisions destined for the 
 relief of Pampeluna were halted in the beautiful 
 secluded village of Elizondo, about a couple or 
 three miles in our front. He determined to 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 121 
 
 make a dash at them ; our light companies were 
 delighted at the prospect when they were de- 
 sired to leave their knapsacks, and anything 
 that would impede their rapid progress, behind 
 for the battalion to carry after thern^ and away 
 wo went at the double. We soon arrived at 
 Elizondo, took the whole convoy, and were told 
 that the French general as he evacuated the 
 tow.n with his troops, was heard to say, 
 " Doucement, mes enfans. " He could not, 
 however, persuade them to wait for us, and we 
 found ourselves in possession of a number of 
 casks of brandy, bread, biscuits, and other 
 creature comforts. The general, fearing the 
 soldiers would get at the brandy, had the casks 
 stove in, and let the brandy run about the 
 street, and it was a sight to see the soldiers 
 lying down on their faces and lapping it up 
 with their hands. We suffered no loss in this 
 charming little episode, except one, alas ! a 
 serious one to me. When we set off at the 
 double, I gave my pony to Antonio, wishing to 
 go on foot with my men. We left the brigade 
 a considerable way in the rear. A small de- 
 
122 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 tachment of French cavalry by some accident 
 got between us and our comrades, and my dear 
 little English pony, my saddle and bridle, 
 blanket and camlet cloak, fell into the hands of 
 the enemy. The only thing that escaped was 
 my little Portuguese boy, who I suppose was 
 valueless. I never saw the pony again, but 
 I heard that she was afterwards seen in the 
 streets of Paris. The next morning there was an 
 auction of all the stores, &c., that we had taken, 
 mules and all. In consideration of the loss of 
 my pony, my general allowed me to get one of 
 the mules at a low price. I selected one which 
 I thought was the best, and got on his back to 
 go and join my company, but before we got out 
 of the street he tumbled on his head, sending 
 me face foremost on to the pavement. I, how- 
 ever, was light, and escaped pretty safe, only a 
 little bruised, but I determined never to perch 
 myself on the back of a mule again. The 
 French army never could make another stand ; 
 they retired over the Pass of Maya, where a 
 few days ago they had driven back and killed 
 numbers of our Highland Brigade. 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 123 
 
 We again marched up to the top of the 
 Pyrenees, and again looked down upon France, 
 
 *and in another day or two found ourselves 
 back in our old position above Roncesvalles, in 
 which town we heard that only a week before 
 Marshal Soult had asked, as he rode through 
 the town, " Where are those redcoats, that I 
 
 1 may drive them into the sea ? " . He had not 
 gone far before he found them, and I suspect 
 he found that he had " caught a Tartar." 
 
 I must say a few words before taking leave of 
 the beautiful valley of Bastan, after the capture 
 of the convoy destined for the relief of Pam- 
 peluna. We pursued the flying French army in 
 the direction of the Pass of Maya, where the 
 Highland Brigade of our division had so dis- 
 tinguished themselves and suffered so much just 
 a week before. We advanced until we arrived 
 at the summit of the Pyrenees at the Pass of 
 Maya, and again had the satisfaction of looking 
 down upon the " sunny fields of La Belle 
 France." As we ascended the mountain I saw 
 an officer in hot pursuit of a round loaf of bread 
 that was rolling down the mountain at best 
 
124 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 pace. With great difficulty the officer just 
 overtook it as it arrived near the spot where I 
 was standing. On looking at him I discovered 
 that he was my cousin, William L'Estrange, then 
 a subaltern in the llth Regiment, the same who 
 afterwards settled at Kilcommon, in the King's 
 County, and became the father of a numerous 
 and interesting family. This was the first and 
 only time I met him during the campaigns, as 
 his regiment was attached to another division 
 of the army. We were not long kept in sus- 
 pense on the top of the Pyrenees, and soon 
 received the order to return to Elizondo. We 
 reached it about dusk, and were informed that 
 we were to remain there for the night. The 
 baggage had not come up. My pony, with 
 my blanket and boat-cloak, was a prisoner 
 in France. I was the only officer now with 
 my company, Girdlestone having been again 
 wounded and gone to the rear. I had nothing 
 for it but to select the softest stone I could find 
 for a pillow, and lie down to take my night's 
 repose with nothing but the clothes I had had 
 on me for the last week. Never did I sleep 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 125 
 
 sounder, though I felt the cold of the night air 
 without a covering very severely ; nevertheless 
 I never slept sounder in my life, and, as the day 
 dawned, what was my delight in seeing that the 
 baggage had come up, and that it, with Antonio, 
 was just on the opposite side of a small, clear 
 rivulet, on the banks of which I had taken my 
 night's repose. I was very soon upon my legs, 
 and quickly divested myself of all my clothes, 
 plunged into the river and swam across, con- 
 gratulating myself on having parted company 
 particularly with my under garments. I sent 
 Antonio round to fetch my upper garments, 
 which I could not afford to part with in the 
 present state of my wardrobe, but desired him 
 to leave the rest on the bank to their fate. On 
 inquiring for my faithful old batman, Tim 
 Ferry, who had been ordered to join the ranks 
 at the commencement of these actions, I was 
 informed that he had received a severe wound 
 in the knee; that in his agony he exclaimed, 
 " Och, I may thank the captain " (meaning 
 Captain Dowdale) " for this, for if I had been 
 with the baggage I wouldn't have been here ! " 
 
126 RECOLLECTIONS OF SIR GEORGE L*ESTRANGE. 
 
 This was the last I heard of the poor fellow, 
 and I believe he died of the wound. Having 
 enjoyed the luxury of a change of garments 
 and of clean linen, which I had been for ten 
 days a stranger to, I felt myself so refreshed 
 by my night's repose and my cold bath that I 
 was ready for anything; but when I looked 
 down on my general's shoes that he lent me at 
 Roncesvalles, I said, " How can I think of re- 
 turning them in this condition ? They are not 
 fit to make a pair of old slippers." I did, how- 
 ever, return them, and they were thankfully 
 received by Sir John. We immediately com- 
 menced our march to our old quarters at Ron- 
 cesvalles, where we arrived without any great 
 adventure, and reoccupied the old stations which 
 the French Marshal had endeavoured to drive 
 us from, and remained till the opening of the 
 next and final campaign, which included the 
 battles of the Mve, Nivelle, Orthes, and, winding 
 up, the uncalled-for battle of Toulouse. 1 
 
 1 It is supposed that Marshal Soult was quite aware that 
 it was all up with the Emperor before he fought the battle 
 of Toulouse. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 " Till dark above, and white below, 
 Decided drives the flaky snow." 
 
 Marmion. 
 
 THREE weary months slowly passed away after 
 the excitement of the last battle in the Pyre- 
 nees. Nothing could be more monotonous 
 than our lives : we reoccupied our old camp ; 
 we had nothing to excite or employ us. All 
 fear of attack from the front had vanished. 
 Even the Emperor's Lieutenant, Marshal Soult, 
 with all his energy and soldierly qualities, 
 could not again organize an army to take the 
 offensive. When we strolled out on the fields 
 in which we had been so hotly engaged fight- 
 ing so short a time since, nothing remained but 
 the little mounds of earth hastily thrown over 
 
128 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 the dead, but so lightly, that in many instances 
 an arm, a foot, or perhaps a leg was exposed : 
 and a hideous stench polluted and infected 
 the air near these scattered graves. These 
 were but melancholy promenades. The bodies, 
 we knew, had all been stripped, for even the 
 lofty tops of the mountain where they fell did 
 not protect the dead from the heartless and 
 often murderous camp-followers, whose trade it 
 is to rifle the dead of their clothing, and it 
 must be feared not unfrequently shortening the 
 term of the mortal suffering of the wounded 
 who have the misfortune to fall into their mer- 
 ciless hands. I can scarcely recall to my 
 " Recollections >J the manner in which we 
 passed this uninteresting period. We had 
 ample time to discuss the various scenes of 
 danger and bloody strife through which we 
 had passed; to recall to memory and lament 
 the friends we had lost, and talk over their 
 noble deeds and their failures; and those who 
 smoked of whom in those days I was not 
 one puffed their pipes or cigars, by way of 
 passing their time; until at length came the 
 
TENTS IN A SNOW-STORM. 
 
SIR GEORGE I/BSTRANGl. 129 
 
 month of November, with a snowstorm which I 
 shall never forget. 
 
 Our camp equipage, and especially our tents, 
 had come out from England at the beginning of 
 the year ; they had therefore been a long time 
 in store, and consequently the tent-cloths were 
 rather decayed, which was unpleasant indeed, 
 for when the snow begins to fall on the top of 
 the Pyrenees it comes with a vengeance. I 
 fancied myself very comfortable in my tent, 
 with a stretcher and mattress, under a pair of 
 blankets, when, about the middle of the night, 
 or towards the morning, I felt something un- 
 commonly heavy, very wet and cold, descend 
 upon me. I was for some time in doubt of 
 what had happened, and half asleep, half awake, 
 knew not what to do. The snow had fallen 
 very heavily on the tent, and a sudden gust of 
 wind, added to the weight of the snow, had 
 forced the pole of the tent through the top of 
 it. I did not exactly like my position, and with 
 considerable difficulty crawled from under the 
 debris, and sought shelter in a neighbouring 
 tent belonging to a brother officer, and having 
 
130 EECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 ensconced myself, as I thought, comfortably 
 in my blankets, which I had managed to bring 
 with me, fancied I was all snug again. I had 
 not, however, been more than ten minutes in 
 my new quarters, when an exactly similar 
 catastrophe occurred. I therefore gave up, as 
 hopeless, making any improvement in my con- 
 dition for that night, beyond a partial propping 
 up; and when I arose in the morning, and 
 looked out, there was scarcely a single tent 
 in the camp standing. 
 
 Our position now became untenable ; we were 
 not long kept in suspense ; our good general, 
 Sir John Byng, soon heard of the position we 
 were in, and early in the morning we were 
 greeted by an order to descend immediately to 
 Roncesvalles. We were alert in obeying this 
 order, and reached the bottom of the hill before 
 nightfall. There we found our battalion under 
 the command of that gallant Scotchman, 
 Colonel, afterwards Sir James Leith. The 31st 
 was about the only regiment which carried on the 
 appearance of a mess during the campaign. It 
 consisted of the field officers, the captains, the 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 131 
 
 Adjutant Bolton, Lieutenant Elwyn (an exceed- 
 ingly well-informed English gentleman), and 
 myself. When the light companies returned from 
 their elevated perch, we found a sort of mess- 
 room erected of branches of trees, and covered 
 with the fresh skins of the animals lately slaugh- 
 tered for our rations ; these made a tolerable roof 
 as long as the fine weather lasted, but when two 
 or three feet of snow rested on this roof, the 
 internal heat from the dinner-party, the dinner, 
 and the cigars, which were constantly burning, 
 naturally melted the snow on the top of the 
 fresh sheep or goatskins, and a ruddy drop 
 kept perpetually falling into our potage or our 
 glasses of grog. 1 thought this might be a 
 good time to try what game there was to be 
 shot, particularly as I heard the note of the 
 wild goose, as I lay in my bed one moonlight 
 night, passing very near over our heads on 
 their migratory southern passage. I was rather 
 disappointed not seeing one after a long walk 
 with my gun the next day ; but I got a shot 
 at a woodcock, and bagged him, and, on exami- 
 nation, I found that he had lost a leg either by 
 
 K 2 
 
132 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 shot or trap; but the wound was perfectly 
 healed, and must have happened in the previous 
 season at latest. It was impossible that we 
 could remain much longer in" this position. A 
 report was current that an outlying picket had 
 been lost in the snow-storm, and I believe there 
 was a life or two lost. At all events, we were 
 obliged to abandon a couple of our field-pieces 
 on the summit of the mountain ; the snow 
 totally prevented their removal. 
 
 The next morning our general received orders 
 to move to the left, in the direction of the valley 
 of the Bastan. We made an early start, and had 
 much difficulty in making our way through the 
 almost impervious, wooded mountain side, upon 
 mere goatherds' pathways ; but, after a march 
 of six or eight hours, we had descended out of 
 the region of snow, and found the weather very 
 pleasant, though cold ; this was, I think, upon 
 the 9th of November. "We reached the valley 
 towards nightfall, close to the Maya Pass ; the 
 moon was at the full, and really as bright as 
 day. "We then had a night-march, crossed over 
 the summit of the pass, and began to descend 
 
SIK GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 133 
 
 into the territory of the enemy. Our generals 
 knew well that the French army occupied an 
 intrenched camp in our front. It was an 
 important point that it should not be discovered 
 that we were descending on them. The bright 
 shining of the muskets, which, though called 
 " Brown Bess," were as bright as steel, or the 
 large brass plates worn in those days in front 
 of the soldiers' caps, might betray us to the 
 enemy on that bright night. Qur men were 
 therefore ordered to turn the brass plates on 
 their caps to the rear and to reverse their arms, 
 and march as silently as possible ; the battle of 
 the Nive was before us. 
 
 Early in the morning Lord Hill's corps d'armee 
 formed in close columns at the French foot of the 
 Pyrenees. It was a sight to be remembered. "We 
 were going to carry the war into the heart of the 
 enemy's country ; in fact, to invade the so long 
 overbearing country, the mighty French Empire, 
 with its still unvanquished Emperor at its head, 
 and still in command of enormous armies. His 
 first general (Soult) he had appointed his lieu- 
 tenant, and placed him at the head of what 
 
134 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 remained of the army of Spain ; and nobly did 
 he do his duty to his Emperor and his country. 
 Defeated time after time, his army dispersed 
 and fugitive, he rallied them in a most wonderful 
 manner, and fought the four last general actions 
 of the campaign and several minor ones with 
 consummate ability and courage. 
 
 Shortly after daybreak, on the 10th of 
 November, Sir Eowland HuTs fine corps 
 marched past, the officers saluting, and we 
 soon heard distant firing on the left, and could 
 see the flashes from the artillery and musketry 
 by degrees it advanced nearer, and we could 
 observe that the French army, notwithstanding 
 their intrenched position, were being driven back. 
 The position occupied by the French was a low 
 range of hills, the left of the French army 
 resting behind their intrenchments exactly in 
 our front ; and very soon the left of the British 
 army had established themselves on the position 
 abandoned by the French, and were rapidly 
 advancing towards the front of our division, 
 and, taking the French on their flank, were 
 apparently gaining an easy victory ; the French 
 
SIR GEORGE L*ESTRAls 7 GE. 135 
 
 seemed unable to resist them. Our general of 
 division (Sir William Steward) apparently 
 feared that the victory would be gained without 
 his assistance, and that our names would not 
 be mentioned in the despatch. At all events 
 he gave orders to us to advance and attack 
 that part of the French position in our front. 
 Rather fearful loss of life ensued. The French- 
 men were posted behind a deep trench, the 
 bank being thrown up on their side of the ditch. 
 This gave them great protection ; and, besides 
 this, about one hundred yards in their front, 
 they had cut down trees and placed other 
 obstacles, forming an abatis, through which we 
 had to approach them almost in single files, and 
 the consequence was -that our men were shot 
 down almost as fast as- they emerged, like wood- 
 cocks from their cover. The cannon-balls were 
 passing over our heads from both sides, and in 
 less than ten or fifteen minutes the ground was 
 covered with our killed and wounded; how I 
 escaped is a marvel to me to the present day. 
 My captain, however poor Girdlestone, who 
 had only just rejoined us from the rear, re- 
 
136 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 covered from his second wound in the Pyrenees 
 was again severely wounded. His left arm 
 was so shattered that he wore it in a leather 
 case for the rest of his life ; it would have been 
 better if it had been amputated on the spot. I 
 never saw him but once afterwards in London, 
 his arm still suspended in its leather case. A 
 braver soldier never stepped, or a more perfect 
 gentleman. Several other officers and men fell 
 in this short but sanguinary encounter. How I 
 reached the ditch and got over it I cannot say, 
 the moment was too exciting for " Recollec- 
 tions;" but I did get over with a* very few 
 of my men, and thought it my duty, in the 
 absence of any orders for I was again my own 
 commanding officer to advance after the re- 
 tiring French, trusting to being followed by what 
 remained of my gallant light company. As I 
 proceeded I saw a French soldier, who, in the 
 act of running away, turned and fired his 
 musket. He was then about a couple of hun- 
 dred yards before. I suddenly felt a blow in 
 the upper part of my leg that astonished me. 
 I had heard that a wound at first did not inflict 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 137 
 
 much pain ; I found it quite the reverse with a 
 contusion, for I felt it very sorely, clapped my 
 hand on my thigh, and expected to see it 
 covered with blood ; but no, it was only a severe 
 contusion, breaking the skin on the spot it had 
 struck, the mark of which I still retain, and my 
 leg was next day black from my knee to my hip. 
 At the very moment I received the blow a 
 mounted officer rode up to me and said, 
 " Hallo, George, are you much hurt ?" It was 
 my before-mentioned cousin Edmund, then aide- 
 de-camp to Sir Denis Pack, whose division it 
 was that was chasing the French before them, 
 and would soon have cleared our front had our 
 general had the patience to wait for them. 
 Edmund put his hand into his holster and pro- 
 duced a sandwich, which he gave me. I said 
 to him, " There is the rascal that fired the shot 
 that hit me," pointing to a Frenchman some 
 distance in our front. He put spurs to his 
 horse and went at best speed after him, and 
 soon came up to him ; the Frenchman in the 
 meantime had time to reload. As Edmund 
 came up to him, he turned round and fired his 
 
138 BECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 musket in his face. Edmund rode leisurely 
 back to me and said, " That fellow will never 
 fire at you again." He had cut him down ; but 
 he said, " Look here;" the whole of the front 
 of his cocked hat which the staff wore in those 
 days, fore and aft, was blown off, and singed 
 with the powder of the Frenchman's musket 
 a close shave rather. We continued to ad- 
 vance, and passing by the rows of French huts, 
 which were built in regular line, I went into one 
 of them from curiosity. I had a pair of white 
 Russian ducks on, and when I came out of the 
 hut I looked down and - saw the lower part of 
 my ducks perfectly black. They were covered 
 with fleas, with which the huts abounded. We 
 proceeded in our advance until we arrived at a 
 sort of tete-de-pont. The bridge, however, was 
 blown up, and the French army, with several 
 pieces of artillery, was on the other side. This 
 was the bridge of Cambo, so well known to 
 many of our officers. A sort of cannonade was 
 kept up from both sides until the 'evening closed 
 in, and we of course halted for the night, and 
 tried to make ourselves as comfortable as pos- 
 
S1E GEORGE T/ESTBANGE. 139 
 
 sible, and await the events of the coming day 
 with as much patience as we could command. 
 Amongst those who fell, killed, and were 
 wounded of my acquaintance on this eventful 
 morning, besides Girdlestone's severe wound, 
 Major Acland of the 57th, or old " Die-Hards," 
 who had lately been attached to our light com- 
 panies, died a soldier's death. He was greatly 
 lamented. 
 
 The next morning at dawn we were all on 
 the alert ; with a swollen river in our front (the 
 Nive), the remains of the blown-up bridge upon 
 it, a very deep ford just above the broken bridge, 
 and a French army on the other side, it looked 
 as if we should have something very sharp. We 
 knew that our artillery could keep clear a cer- 
 tain distance from the bridge and the banks of 
 the river, and we advanced with the usual con- 
 fidence of British soldiers. When we came up 
 to the river it looked formidable enough ; a 
 strong stream running, and we did not exactly 
 know the depth of the ford. Mine was the 
 leading company. My general, Byng, desired 
 me to wade before the company descended into 
 
140 KECOLLECTTONS OF 
 
 it, to prove its depth. I of course obeyed his 
 orders, and found that it took me up to the hips, 
 and thanked my stars when I reached the other 
 side without a volley from our opposite friends, 
 which I fully expected, or even a cannon-shot 
 thrown at us. The fact was, the French had 
 retreated. My company, with their pouches 
 over their knapsacks, to " keep their powder 
 dry," followed by threes, their arms linked for 
 mutual support, and soon stood by my side. 
 The rest of the division quickly followed, but it 
 was remarkable how much the resistance of so 
 many men in the water increased its force and 
 raised its height, so that they were all pretty well 
 soused : some were carried away by the stream, 
 especially the Portuguese, who do not appear to 
 be good waders ; and I even saw a dragoon, 
 horse and all, carried down by the torrent, and 
 I conclude they were drowned, though we did 
 not wait to see the result. Being the first to 
 cross, I believe I suffered less from the ducking 
 than the rest of the brigade; and I know on 
 rather a cold day I took a long time to dry, but 
 felt myself considerably warmer from our rapid 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 141 
 
 march; and when we arrived at the pretty 
 village of Vieux Mouguerre, I shortly afterwards 
 saw some magnificent hogs slaughtered, the 
 hair burnt or singed off by straw fires, and 
 served out to us for rations. I thought I had 
 never eaten such delicious pork-chops in my life 
 before. We were now close to the celebrated 
 fortress of Bayonne, just out of the reach of the 
 guns, and I shall later have to relate what 
 fighting happened in and about that town, 
 caused by the repeated gallant though unsuc- 
 cessful sorties made by Marshal Soult on the 
 left, and afterwards on the right flank of the 
 British army. 
 
 "We got into rather comfortable quarters at 
 Vieux Mouguerre ; at all events -we had a roof 
 over our heads a desirable substitute for our 
 old tents on the mountains, of which we had 
 become tired. Sir John Byng established him- 
 self in a very good house at the Bayonne ex- 
 tremity of the town, belonging probably to the 
 lord or squire of the village, and Sir Rowland 
 Hill occupied a tolerably good house in the 
 village, where he also put up his pack of hounds. 
 
142 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 Our little mess was placed on the best footing 
 possible, and one of the deserters who joined 
 our regiment in the Pyrenees became our mess- 
 man, and, considering his knowledge of the 
 country and French customs, it was judicious 
 our appointing him. We had not many duties 
 to interfere with our amusements, which were 
 chiefly shooting-parties, though we were not 
 rewarded with any great amount of game. I 
 generally carried my gun on my shoulder in 
 case of a chance shot. The most unpleasant 
 part of our duty was the standing-to-arms an 
 hour before daylight, and remaining there till 
 we could see a grey horse a mile off. "We had 
 also unpleasant night pickets on the bank of the 
 river Adour on our right, by which river pro- 
 visions, &c., were conveyed into Bayonne in 
 boats ; these always moved at night with muffled 
 oars, and our duty was to fire into them as they 
 passed, if we could find out in what direction 
 to take our aim ; but we could seldom ascertain 
 whether our fire had produced effect ; the river 
 was wide and rapid, and the nights were very 
 dark. We had also another unpleasant duty, 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 143 
 
 which was the outlying pickets about a mile from 
 the town in the direction of Bayonne, and of 
 course kept up communication with those in the 
 rear, in case of any alarm from the front. 
 
 Nearly a month passed away very speedily, 
 and the middle of December was reached, during 
 which period the French Marshal, Soult, was 
 indefatigable in reorganizing the remains of the 
 French army, raising recruits and reinforce- 
 ments in every possible way. The British army 
 was cut in two by a considerable river, the 
 Nive. Lord Wellington's left rested on the sea, 
 his right upon the above-named river. Lord 
 Hill's corps and another division lay between 
 two rivers, the Nive and Adour ; the right, 
 being our brigade, was protected -.by the river I 
 have before designated, the Adour. Here was 
 a fine opportunity for Soult attacking our army 
 in detail, which he was not long in availing 
 himself of. He moved the right of his army 
 through Bayonne, and commenced a furious 
 assault on the British left, but after a severe 
 conflict the French were defeated. We could 
 plainly hear the guns and the firing during this 
 
144 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 action. But though Soult was defeated, ho did 
 not despair. On the night' of the 12th of 
 December I was in command of the most ad- 
 vanced outlying picket, not very far from the 
 walls of Bayonne. I was very much on the alert, 
 as I felt I was in a responsible position, and 
 took no rest that night, for I heard a rumbling 
 noise going on during the whole period, from 
 the movement, it appeared to me, of guns and 
 waggons through the strongly-fortified town. 
 So convinced was I that there was something 
 in the wind, that I sent my corporal to say what 
 I had observed and heard, and to communicate 
 the intelligence at the proper quarter in the 
 rear. Nor was I mistaken; the Marshal had 
 moved nearly the whole of his army through 
 Bayonne in the night, and the first ray of light 
 in the morning assured me that an attack was 
 meditated. 
 
 Shortly after daylight our pickets were called 
 in, and very shortly afterwards a tremendous 
 attack was made on our portion of the army, 
 and never did that army distinguish itself more 
 than in repelling so gloriously this assault. The 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 145 
 
 French came on in heavy column ; Sir John 
 Byng had moved his brigade to the left, leaving 
 the light companies and some other troops to 
 defend that part of the position in front of 
 Vieux Mouguerre. We had some very sharp 
 practice, and, overwhelmed with numbers, were 
 driven through the greater part of the village. 
 Sir John Byng's brigade stood the brunt of this 
 part of the action and highly distinguished 
 itself, particularly by a charge they made on 
 the heavy attacking columns, when he took the 
 king's colour out of the hands of Elwyn who 
 carried it, and headed the charge, for which he 
 has now the colour of the 31st in his armorial 
 bearings and the words " Vieux Mouguerre," 
 and as supporters two soldiers of the grenadier 
 company of the 31st. Poor Elwyn, who was a 
 very sensitive man, felt this very much, and, as 
 I heard, shed tears, for I was to the right ; it 
 would have been my duty to have carried the 
 king's colour as junior lieutenant, had I not been 
 detached with my own light company. Elwyn, 
 who, as I have already said, was a very high- 
 minded and accomplished officer, as brave and 
 
 L 
 
146 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 bold as a lion, felt it was a sort of slur on his 
 courage ; but no other officer or soldier in the 
 brigade had any other opinion of him than that 
 he was everything a soldier ought to be. I am 
 very glad to have this opportunity of speaking 
 of him, though in after-life I never met him; 
 and as he was of rather a delicate constitution, 
 he probably did not live very long; and if he 
 has departed this life, which is only too probable, 
 his friends may not object to the liberty I have 
 taken of sounding his praise. 
 
 While our brigade was so warmly engaged 
 with the enemy, Colonel Ross's troop of horse 
 artillery arrived at a most opportune moment ; 
 nothing could exceed the gallant style in which 
 they went into action; the celerity of their 
 movement, the admirably well-directed fire 
 which they threw into the French column con- 
 tributed in a great degree to the signal victory 
 we obtained. The French were now again 
 defeated, and retired in the best order they 
 could under the walls of Bayonne. We ad- 
 vanced until our skirmishers were almost mixed 
 together. My little light company occupied a 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 147 
 
 grove of tall elm-trees, which were some pro- 
 tection; for not only musketry, but shot and 
 shell were crashing through the trees over and 
 about us. I found that my men had exhausted 
 all their ammunition. I went up to Major 
 Cameron, of the Buffs, who commanded us, to 
 tell him so, and that I saw French soldiers in 
 the wood close to us, and what were we to do ? 
 " Give them the bayonet if they come on," said 
 the major. "Very well, sir," said I, and re- 
 turned to my company. At the foot of the tree 
 I was standing by, I saw one of my company 
 lying oh his back ; I stood over him, and saw 
 him raise his arm, and put his hand to the back 
 of his head; he did this several times, but I 
 saw at once it was all over with him, a musket- 
 ball having entered his forehead and come out 
 at the back, a fearful wound. I then recog- 
 nized that it was the body of poor McMulty, a 
 man from the county of Sligo, but not one of 
 my original volunteers. I felt very sorry for the 
 poor fellow ; he was as brave a soldier as ever 
 walked, and had been all through the war. The 
 only difficulty in action was to restrain him, for 
 
 L 2 
 
148 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 he was always pushing himself into danger; 
 and when, on one occasion, I remonstrated with 
 him, and told him he would be surely shot, 
 "Oh, sir," he said, " they will never kill me 
 until I have my pockets full of Frenchmen's 
 gold." A prophecy which was nearly accom- 
 plished, for he showed me a watch which he got 
 from a dead Frenchman at Vittoria, and I 
 believe he also got some doubloons, which he 
 did not acknowledge. His great fault was that 
 it was very hard to keep him in order in 
 quarters ; he was a very determined fellow, and 
 could not resist the temptation of rum, or still 
 greater, of what is called loot. I was, however, 
 sorry to lose such a man from my now sadly 
 diminished company. 
 
 Very shortly before this .action, a day or two 
 only, a youth joined the Buffs, just sent out 
 from England. I cannot resist mentioning his 
 name, for, though our acquaintance was short, 
 I took a great fancy to him his name was 
 Blake. I think he came from Norfolk, and when 
 he joined he was appointed to a vacancy in the 
 light company of that gallant old corps, the 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 149 
 
 Buffs. He was very tall, remarkably handsome, 
 well dressed, and evidently a gentleman every 
 inch of him. What was my dismay to see him 
 also stretched on his back in the same wood. 
 I went up to him, and found a cannon-shot had 
 passed through both his thighs. He was car- 
 ried into Vieux Mouguerre, and amputation 
 was performed by a surgeon of his regiment 
 that night, which he bore like a hero ; and I 
 heard that he recovered from his very severe 
 wound ; and though he lived some time after, I 
 never saw him again, save once, when I went in 
 to ask him how he was after his amputation. 
 I cannot say how much I felt for this poor 
 young gentleman. Night brought the action to 
 a close. "We returned into our old quarters, 
 and refreshed ourselves as we could after this 
 hard day, and waited impatiently the English 
 newspapers, with Lord Wellington's despatch, 
 giving an account of these actions. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 " For this is England's greatest son : 
 He that gain'd a hundred fights, 
 Nor ever lost an English gun." 
 
 Ode to the Duke of Wellington. 
 
 VERY shortly after this a general order came out 
 from Lord "Wellington's head-quarters, which 
 caused some sensation in the army at the time. 
 The commanding officers of three regiments in 
 our division were given leave to return to Eng- 
 land. The regiments were the Buffs, the 71st, 
 and the " Die-Hards," or 57th Regiment. 
 
 It was easy to account for two of these being 
 sent home, the officers commanding the Buffs 
 and the 71st. Our General had met one of 
 them going to the rear during the action, and 
 on asking him where he was going to, he said 
 he was going to the rear to order up ammu- 
 nition. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 151 
 
 The 71st Regiment, commanded by the other, 
 Lad become much demoralized since the death 
 of their celebrated colonel (Cadogan) at Vitto- 
 ria; but why was old McDonald, of the "Die- 
 Hards," included in this order ? He certainly 
 had one misfortune he had grown too old in 
 the service, and perhaps it was time that he 
 should be relieved from duty but he was as 
 hard as nails, as full of fight as any Irishman 
 or Scotchman, and he was highly respected, 
 I may say adored, in his regiment ; and we all 
 felt hurt, and he, I believe, more than any of 
 us, that his name appeared in such company. 
 I believe he did not long survive it. Though I 
 recollect the names of the other two, I do not, 
 after what I have just said, wish to make them 
 public, and perhaps wound the feelings of their 
 relatives, if they have any left. 
 
 We remained peacefully and unmolested for 
 a considerable time at Vieux Mouguerre after 
 the actions. My general was very kind to me, 
 and often had me to dinner at his villa. Be- 
 tween that and Bayonne was a very woodcock- 
 looking piece of cover, which I had a great 
 
152 RECOLLECTIONS OP 
 
 hankering after. One day, strolling out with 
 my gun on my shoulder, a gentleman in a blue 
 frock-coat and round hat, was riding past, when 
 he asked me if I could tell him where General 
 Hill resided in this village. Though I had 
 scarcely ever seen him before, I could not be 
 mistaken in those marked features and eagle- 
 eye. I said, " Oh, my lord, I shall be happy to 
 show you !" It was Lord Wellington himself. 
 I walked beside his horse and pointed out the 
 house he inquired for, when he thanked me, 
 and left me as proud as a peacock after having 
 a conversation with our great commander. He 
 did not remain more than half an hour or 
 so. I hung about the town in hopes of seeing 
 him again, and shortly after his departure Sir 
 Rowland Hill -came riding by with his pack of 
 hounds at his heels. * With his invariably kind 
 and almost bashful manner, he said, " I am 
 going to put' my hounds into this little wood ; 
 they may perhaps flush a woodcock, and you 
 get a shot." This was exactly the thing I 
 longed for, and feeling elated by being spoken 
 to by the two great men of the army, I folio wed 
 
SIR GEORGE MEETING THE DUKE ON HORSEBACK. 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 153 
 
 the hounds to the cover-side; but, alas! no 
 woodcock made its appearance, to my no small 
 disappointment. 
 
 Shortly after this my cousin Edmund, whom 
 I have often mentioned, rode into our village, 
 called on me, and said his division (the 6th) 
 was within a few miles : " You must come over 
 and dine with my General (Pack), and we will 
 make you a shakedown for the night." I lost 
 no time in going to our Colonel (Leith) to ask 
 his permission ; and, though rather rough, there 
 was not a warmer-hearted fellow in the army. 
 He at once gave me permission to go, and I 
 ordered out my steed, who had actually grown 
 fat and sleek m on the bruised goss or furzes, 
 which was nearly his only forage, and which 
 abounds in that district. Edmund and I started 
 for General Pack's head- quarters ; he received 
 me cordially, and soon put me at my ease. We 
 had a good dinner and a pleasant party. The 
 officers on his staff were particularly conspi- 
 cuous by their extremely handsome appearance 
 and their splendid Hussar uniforms that of 
 the 10th Hussars, at that time the crack cavalry 
 
154 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 regiment of the army. Their names were the 
 Count de Grammont and Captain Synge. I 
 never saw two finer specimens of what a soldier 
 ought to be magnificent-looking fellows; the 
 Count, I believe, afterwards became Due de 
 Guise. I often saw Colonel Synge in Ireland 
 afterwards. They quite eclipsed my little 
 cousin Edmund L'Estrange,an especial favourite 
 with Pack, 1 who left a written record of his 
 worth, which was sent to me afterwards by his 
 successor, and which I still preserve. After 
 looking over the field of action and the particu- 
 lar points and circumstances, and listening to a 
 detail of what took place from Edmund, I 
 returned to my old quarters and companions, 
 rather proud of the distinguished individuals I 
 had been visiting. 
 
 There was a considerable lull in our warlike 
 operations after these severe and sanguinary 
 actions. We had no apprehension from the 
 front; we knew the French army had pretty 
 nearly had enough of it, and were not likely to 
 renew the contest or be the assailants. 
 
 1 Vide Appendix. 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 155 
 
 The English newspapers began to bring 
 tidings from the great Emperor's army in the 
 north of Europe, of disasters in Russia, of the 
 burning of Moscow, and the commencement of 
 that sad and fearful retreat. Discomfited by 
 Russia, France lay before us. The so fre- 
 quently defeated army which had occupied 
 Spain, notwithstanding the exertions made 
 by their newly-arrived general, Field-Marshal 
 Soult, was dispirited. Our troops had gained 
 so much confidence in their commander and 
 the gallant generals in command of divisions 
 and brigades that they were irresistible. The 
 Spaniards themselves were reorganized, clothed, 
 and equipped by British capital, and now pre- 
 sented a formidable and efficient force ; but 
 their hatred to France, their irrepressible ten- 
 dency to plunder the country, drew forth the 
 most stringent orders from the Commander-in- 
 chief, who was forced to keep them very much 
 in check and towards the rear, lest their atro- 
 cities should rouse the French nation against 
 us ; our commander's game being to gain them 
 to our side, which they showed they were well 
 
156 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 disposed to. Very severe notice was taken of 
 any act of plunder on the part of our own 
 men; and I recollect an order, written on half 
 a sheet of paper, with reference to two men 
 who had been detected by our commander 
 himself in the act of plunder, viz. " Private 
 so-and-so, of blank regiment, now in charge of 
 the Provost-Marshal of the second division, 
 will be hanged to-morrow morning, in presence 
 of such troops as can be conveniently assem- 
 bled/' I saw the order carried into execution. 
 
 The winter had now nearly passed away, and 
 the fine weather so peculiar to the South of 
 France seemed to have set in. Our cavalry 
 and the other horses and mules of the army 
 had recovered their condition; reinforcements 
 had come out from England. In fact, we were 
 in prime order to commence another campaign, 
 and in full expectation to receive the order to 
 advance. 
 
 Soult was no despicable general, notwith- 
 standing all his reverses, and was full of re- 
 sources. The order at length came to move. 
 A strong detachment of the army was left in 
 
SIR GEORGE L ? ESTRANGE. 157 
 
 the rear to blockade Bayonne. The com- 
 mander of that fortress we knew would defend 
 it to the last, which he did, and made his cele- 
 brated and sanguinary sortie, when the Guards 
 lost so many brave officers and men, when the 
 war had virtually come to an end, and after the 
 battle of Toulouse. Our army started in a 
 southern direction towards Tarbes and Pau. 
 We had to cross several of the gaves or streams 
 that descend from the Pyrenees. "We had as 
 yet not seen the face of our enemy, but- we 
 knew they were not far off. As we approached 
 Tarbes an order was passed, " Cavalry to the 
 front." In a short time a brigade of light 
 dragoons came rattling past us at a great pace, 
 their sabres drawn, and evidently eager for the 
 fray. We drew up on one side of the narrow 
 road to give them room to pass, and were not 
 a little splashed by the mud they threw up as 
 they went by. I heard a soldier remark to his 
 comrade, " Never mind, they will soon come 
 back again," an observation which was very 
 soon fulfilled, as the order for " Infantry to the 
 front," was passed, and we soon went by the 
 
158 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 cavalry again. The ground was not fit for 
 cavalry action, and after some slight skirmish- 
 ing, in which our light cavalry showed that 
 they were ready for anything, we advanced to 
 the front, but found that the enemy had " ske- 
 daddled," to use a Yankee expression. 
 
 Our next march was then to the charming 
 little town of Pau, situated in a lovely country 
 with its beautifully- trained vineyards. We 
 would willingly have halted here for a few 
 days, to enjoy the delights of what is now 
 become such a fashionable watering-place, but 
 that was not our destiny; en avant was the 
 word of the British army, and we at once 
 commenced our advance. At the end of a 
 long day's march, late in the evening, we came 
 into what appeared an admirable bivouac, 
 plenty of wood and water, and our baggage 
 well up. Just as we reached the camping- 
 ground I saw a woodcock, and thought I 
 marked him down. I lost no time in commu- 
 nicating this important piece of information to 
 my friend and chum and invariable shooting 
 companion, Stepney St. George, of the 66th. 
 
SIR GEORGE 1/ESTRANGE. 159 
 
 We lost not a minute in getting our guns 
 together and proceeding in pursuit of our 
 doomed game. We had not an idea that there 
 was a Frenchman within five miles of us ; but 
 just as we got to the spot where I expected to 
 find the woodcock, we heard the bugles of the 
 brigade sounding the assembly. We of course 
 hurried back to our respective regiments, and 
 just arrived in time to fall into our places 
 when we were ordered to advance. A terrible 
 sharp piece of work we had of it. Exactly in 
 our front was a hill of considerable height, 
 sparingly covered with trees and very steep, 
 on the top of which was a division of the French 
 army, under the command of General Harispe. 
 They had just come up from Barcelona, where 
 they had only to contend with the troops of 
 Sir John Murray, and did not know what it 
 was to get the worst of it. 
 
 In less than fifteen minutes after leaving our 
 camp we found ourselves hotly engaged with 
 this new corps. They stood their ground like 
 men, and even crossed bayonets with a bat- 
 talion of our division, which I think was the 
 
160 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 39 tli, in General O'Callaghan's brigade. This, 
 though one of the shortest, was one of the most 
 sanguinary actions of the campaign. It was 
 not what is called a general action, but was 
 styled the battle of Garris. When I got to the 
 top of the hill it was so dark that I could 
 scarcely discern whether the stems of the trees 
 were not Frenchmen. Just at the point at 
 which we arrived was a single, solitary-looking 
 house, which none of us had the time or 
 curiosity to look into. I was in the front of 
 this house, looking towards where the enemy 
 ought to be, and trying to form my scattered 
 company. I had just moved from the left flank 
 to the right, when I saw a rush of soldiers. 
 They were a party of twenty or thirty French- 
 men, who had* concealed themselves in this 
 house, and, in the dusk, made a rush down and 
 wounded the left-hand man of my company. 
 We managed, however, to give them a parting 
 volley as they rushed down the hill, but whether 
 with effect I never ascertained or went to look. 
 I forgot to mention that after the battles 
 near Bayonne, &c., I was considered too young 
 
SIB GEOEGE J/ESTRANGE. 161 
 
 an officer to be left in command of the light 
 company, and Captain Edward Knox was ap- 
 pointed to it. On this evening poor Knox 
 received a severe wound through the shoulder 
 blade-bone, and it was found necessary to take 
 the arm out at the socket. I frequently met 
 him in after-life. He was an excellent good 
 fellow, and could do more with his one arm 
 that was left than most people could do with 
 two. The command of the company was not 
 taken from me again until the end of the war. 
 
 My poor shooting companion and great 
 friend, Stepney St. George, came to great grief 
 on this eventful evening. As I said before, 
 being always well mounted, he generally acted 
 as aide-de-rcamp when we were engaged. How 
 he managed to ride ijp this steep hill I cannot 
 conceive, but he did so. Just as he arrived 
 at the summit he received a musket-ball in his 
 left arm, and, as he fell from his horse, his head 
 came in contact with the point of the bayonet 
 of one of his own men, which pierced his skull : 
 for this he was afterwards trepanned when he 
 came to England. He was carried down by 
 
 M 
 
162 RECOLLECTIONS OF SIR GEORGE L^ESTRANGE. 
 
 bullock- waggon to Cambo, where there was an 
 hospital, and he has often related to me the 
 miseries and the torture he underwent : his 
 recovery was miraculous. He did, however, 
 recover, and afterwards married my youngest 
 sister, by whom he left a large family. 
 
 Another fine fellow also fell in this action, 
 Colonel Fearon, a brother of our lieutenant- 
 colonel. He commanded a fine battalion of 
 Portuguese in the brigade of that noble fellow 
 Sir John Buchan, who was a most intimate 
 and kind friend of mine. We remained on the 
 field that night, and made the best of it, but 
 it was uncomfortable enough. The next day 
 we moved in the direction of Orthes, where the 
 celebrated battle was on the eve of coining off. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 " Grace was in all her steps, Heaven in her eye, 
 In all her gestures dignity and love." 
 
 Paradise Lost. 
 
 THE short, very sharp, and decisive action on 
 the heights of Garris, with which my last 
 chapter concluded, was no impediment to our 
 immediate advance, and towards the middle of 
 the next day we were in motion in the direction 
 of Orthes, and it was not very long before we 
 were within sound of the booming of the great 
 guns. Lord Wellington had again brought 
 Marshal Soult and the French army to bay. 
 The attack commenced on the left, and though 
 the enemy made a very determined stand at the 
 commencement, they were totally unable to 
 resist the impetuous attack made on them by 
 the divisions composing the left of the British 
 army, in which, however, we suffered severe 
 
 M 2 
 
164 RECOLLECTIONS OP 
 
 loss ; and amongst those severely wounded was 
 the late Duke of Richmond, then Lord March, 
 who received a musket-ball through the body. 
 He was on the staff of Lord Wellington and in 
 the 52nd Light Infantry, the uniform of which 
 was almost identical with that which I wore 
 that of the Light Infantry of the 31st Regi- 
 ment and I was on more than one occasion 
 spoken to in mistake for him. We had been at 
 Westminster together, and I well remember 
 how he led on his schoolfellows in repelling the 
 attacks that in those days were annually made 
 by the roughs in Tothill Street and its then 
 discreditable neighbourhood on the Westmin- 
 ster Boys on and after the celebrated 5th of 
 November. Though his Grace recovered from 
 his severe wound, I have heard that he felt it 
 occasionally for the rest of his life; but he 
 lived to obtain the tardy Peninsular medal for 
 that gallant army, though nearly thirty years 
 elapsed from the period when it was won. I 
 got one of the medals with six clasps, and was 
 at the dinner given to the Duke of Richmond 
 on the occasion, which was attended by 200 
 
SIR GEOKGE I/ESTKANGE. 165 
 
 officers, of which I was the youngest in the 
 room. 
 
 When our corps (Sir Rowland Hill's) came 
 in sight of the field at Orthes the battle had 
 been virtually gained. We saw the greater 
 part of the French army scattered over the 
 plain like a flock of sheep in full retreat, or 
 rather running away, throwing down their 
 knapsacks, their muskets, and everything that 
 could impede their flight, for such it must be 
 called, and all moving in an oblique direction 
 from the left towards our right, in the hope of 
 gaining a certain bridge, where they expected 
 they would be safe. " Where are the cavalry ?" 
 everybody asked. " What an opportunity they 
 are losing of going into these runaways and 
 making a clean sweep of them ! " But the 
 cavalry at that moment were not available, 
 and most of the fugitives gained the desired 
 bridge. 
 
 We thought that the French army must be so 
 demoralized by this defeat, that it would be no 
 easy matter to again get them into fighting 
 order; but the French marshal was not so 
 
166 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 easily extinguished, and before many days he 
 was able again to show a front; and at St. 
 Gauden's, and afterwards at Aire, we had some 
 sharp fighting, but always with the advantage 
 on our side. After a sharp action near Aire, 
 where our division was engaged, towards 
 evening, as darkness approached, our light 
 company's commander, Major Daniel Dudgeon, 
 of the 66th, a man weighing twenty stone, who 
 rode a black charger seventeen hands high, 
 from which he had alighted, told me that my 
 company must furnish an outlying picket. 
 " Very well, major," said I ; " I'll go." Then 
 he said he would accompany me to place the 
 picket; so we advanced through a narrow 
 lane up to our ankles in mud and water, for 
 there had been heavy rain, and I followed the 
 big major. We had not advanced very far 
 when I saw a flash from a musket in front, for 
 it was now nearly dark, and I saw my dear old 
 commandant fall down in the muddy lane and 
 splash me all over. I immediately, with the 
 help of a few soldiers, got him lifted up, and we 
 carried him into a small house that happened to 
 
SIE GEOEGE I/ESTRANGE. 167 
 
 be near. We lost no time in sending for the 
 surgeon of the regiment, who soon arrived, and 
 we laid poor Dudgeon down on a table in the 
 room. We discovered that a ball had entered 
 at the stomach a very corpulent and alder- 
 manic one and it struck me that it must be 
 all up with him. The surgeon, however, con- 
 tinued his examination, and at last said, " I 
 think I feel the ball." He took his lancet, 
 made a slight incision in his back, and held the 
 ball in his hand. We of course thought it 
 had passed through his body ; but no, this was 
 not the case. It had struck on a very elastic 
 substance, had passed all round his body just 
 under the skin, and lodged in his back, from 
 which it was extracted as related ; and many 
 months had not elapsed before we had the dear 
 old man back again with us, to the great de- 
 light of his numerous friends and admirers, for 
 he was a favourite with all. 
 
 When he was taken to the rear I began to 
 look about my outlying picket. The fires of 
 the French army were blazing on every hill as 
 far as the eye could carry us, and I watched 
 
168 KECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 them with great interest, speculating upon 
 whether they would wait for us or give us 
 another field day the next morning. The prac- 
 tised eye soon learns to discover signs and 
 tokens. I watched the night-fires, and could 
 distinguish when men passed to and fro be- 
 tween me and the fire. For a long period I 
 could see that they were there; but towards 
 morning the fires began to decline, I could see 
 no passing to and fro, and I came to the con- 
 elusion that they were off, turned into the 
 small house, where the operation had been 
 performed on Dudgeon, and slept soundly till 
 the bugle sounded in the morning. Lord 
 Wellington lost no time in following up the 
 retreating French army, which was falling back 
 upon Toulouse. Soult made his final, and as it 
 afterwards turned out, his uncalled for stand ; 
 for it was generally understood and believed, 
 that he had received positive and authentic in- 
 formation of the overthrow and downfall of the 
 Great Emperor, and the advance of the allied 
 arjnies on Paris. He could not resist the temp- 
 tation of the chance of for once defeating the 
 
SIB GEOKGE L'ESTBANGE. 169 
 
 British army and their renowned general, in 
 the very strong position he had taken up at 
 Toulouse. He issued a very inflated procla- 
 mation to the French army and people, of which 
 the following is a translation : 
 
 " From General Quarters, 
 
 " 8th March, 1814. 
 
 " SOLDIERS, At the battle of Orthes you 
 did your duty ; the enemy suffered much 
 heavier losses than ours ; his blood covered the 
 ground; therefore you may consider this passage 
 of arms as an advantage. We are Called to a 
 hundred other combats ; there is no repose 
 for us, attacking or attacked, until this army, 
 formed of such extraordinary elements, shall be 
 entirely destroyed, or shall have evacuated the 
 territory of the Empire. However great their 
 numerical superiority, or whatever may be their 
 projects, they little suspect the dangers with 
 which they are surrounded, or the perils which 
 await them ; but time will teach them, and also 
 the general who commands them, that French 
 honour cannot be outraged without punishment. 
 
170 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 Soldiers ! ! the general who commands the army 
 against which we fight daily, has had the impu- 
 dence to incite you, and to incite your country- 
 men, to revolt and sedition. He speaks of 
 peace, and he excites the French to civil war ; 
 thanks to him for letting you know his projects. 
 From that moment your strength is multiplied 
 a hundredfold; from that moment he himself 
 rallied to the Imperial eagles those who by 
 deceptive appearances he had deceived into 
 thinking he carried on the war with loyalty. 
 
 " No peace with a nation so disloyal and 
 perfidious ; no peace with the English and 
 their auxiliaries until they have evacuated the 
 territory of the Empire. They have dared to 
 insult the national honour ; they have had the 
 infamy to excite the French to falsify their 
 oaths, and to perjure themselves vis-a-vis of the 
 Emperor. This offence can only be revenged 
 by blood. To arms ! this cry is heard through- 
 out the south ; there is not a Frenchman who is 
 not bound to avenge, otherwise he abjures his 
 country, and should be counted among her 
 enemies. A few days more and those who 
 believed in the delicacy and sincerity of the 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 171 
 
 English will discover, at their expense, that these 
 artful promises had no other object than to 
 lower and subdue their courage. If to-day the 
 English pay and affect generosity, to-morrow 
 enormous contributions will be levied which 
 will largely reimburse their outlay. These 
 pusillanimous creatures, who calculate the 
 sacrifices they will have to make to save their 
 country, will soon discover that the English, 
 by this war, have no other object than to cause 
 France to destroy herself, and to subjugate the 
 French as they have already done the Spanish, 
 the Portuguese, and the Sicilians, and all other 
 people who groan under their domination. The 
 history of the past will present itself to those 
 anti- French who prefer temporary comforts to 
 the safety of their country ; and they will see 
 the English excite Frenchmen to cut one 
 another's throats as they did at Quiberon. They 
 will see the English at the head of all the con- 
 spiracies, and of all odious schemes, perfidies, 
 and political assassinations, bouleversing all 
 principles of right by the destruction of all 
 great industrial establishments, thus satisfying 
 their insatiable ambition and greediness. 
 
172 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 " Does there exist a single point on the globe 
 where they have not destroyed, by seduction 
 of the workmen, or by violence, the factories 
 and mills in which the products might rival or 
 surpass their own ? This will be the fate of 
 our manufacturing establishments, if the English 
 obtain their ends. 
 
 " Soldiers ! condemn to eternal disgrace and 
 execration every Frenchman who has favoured 
 in any way the insidious projects of our enemies. 
 Yow also eternal opprobrium, and deny them as 
 Frenchmen, those who can defend themselves, 
 but who avail themselves of specious pretexts 
 to obtain dispensation of their services ; and 
 also those who by corruption or indolence 
 receive and conceal deserters instead of driving 
 them back to their ranks. From this moment 
 there is nothing in common between such men 
 and ourselves, and we can safely anticipate 
 that inexorable history will bring down execra- 
 tion on their names to all posterity. As to us 
 our duty is distinctly traced out : honour and 
 fidelity is our motto ; fight to the last against 
 the enemies of our august Emperor and our 
 dear France ; respect to property and person ; 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ ESTRANGE. 173 
 
 pity the misfortune of those who are momen- 
 tarily subjected to the enemy, and hasten their 
 deliverance ; obedience and implacable hatred to 
 traitors and enemies among Frenchmen ; war 
 to the death, to those who endeavour to cause 
 divisions among you, and to those cowards who 
 desert the imperial eagles to range themselves 
 under other colours. Let us always bear in 
 mind the fifteen centuries of glory and in- 
 numerable triumphs which have illustrated our 
 country; contemplate the prodigious efforts of 
 our great Emperor and his signal victories, 
 which will eternalize the French name. Be 
 you worthy of him, and we may then leave, 
 without a stain, to our children the heritage 
 which we received from our fathers ; and let us 
 die with arms in our hands sooner than survive 
 our honour. 
 
 " Signed by the Marshal of the Empire, 
 
 Lieutenant of the Emperor, 
 " THE MARSHAL DUKE OF DALMATIA. 
 
 " Certified a true copy by the Lieu tenant- 
 General of the Staff of the Army, 
 
 " THE COUNT GAZAN." 
 
174 RECOLLECTIONS OP 
 
 While all these events were in progress, the 
 Due d'Angouleme had arrived at Bordeaux, 
 and the Mayor of Bordeaux had issued a pro- 
 clamation declaring in favour of the Bourbons, 
 rather prematurely as Lord Wellington con- 
 sidered it, as it placed him in a difficult 
 position : 
 
 " Le Maire de Bordeaux a ses Concitoyens, 
 " liabitans de Bordeaux. 
 
 "A Bordeaux, ce 12 Mars, 1814. 
 
 " Le Magistrat paternal de votre ville a ete 
 appele par les plus heureuses circonstances a se 
 rendre Tinterprete de vos voeux trop longtemps 
 comprimes, et 1'organe de votre interet, pour 
 accueillir, en votre nom, le neveu, le gendre de 
 Louis XVI., dont la presence change en allies 
 des peuples irrites, qui jusqu'a vos portes ont 
 eu le nom d'ennemis. 
 
 " Deja, Bordelais, les proclamations, que, dans 
 Timpuissance de la presse, vos plumes impa- 
 tientes ont multiplies, nous ont rassures sur les 
 intentions de votre Roi et les projects de ses 
 allies. 
 
 " Ce n'est pas pour assujettir nos contrees a 
 
SIB GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 175 
 
 une domination etrangere que les Anglais, les 
 Espagnols, et les Portugais y apparaissent. Us 
 se sont reunis dans le midi, comme d'autres 
 peuples au nord, pour detruire le fleau des 
 nations, et le remplacer par un Monarque, pere 
 du peuple. Ce n'est meme que par lui que nous 
 pouvons appaiser le ressentiment d'une nation 
 voisine, centre laquelle nous a lance le des- 
 potisme le plus perfide. 
 
 66 Si je n'avais ete convaincu que la presence 
 des Bourbons conduits par leurs genereux allies 
 devait amener la fin de vos maux, je n'aurais 
 sans doute jamais deserte votre ville ; mais 
 j'aurais courbe la tete en silence sous un joug 
 passager. On ne m'eut point vu arborer cette 
 couleur qui presage un gouvernement pur, si Ton 
 ne m'avait garanti que toutes les classes de 
 citoyens jouiront de ces bienfaits que les progres 
 de Tesprit humain promettaient a notre siecle. 
 
 " Les mains des Bourbons sont pures du sang 
 Frangais. Le testament de Louis XVI. a la 
 main, ' ils oublient tout ressentiment ; ' partout 
 ils proclament et ils prouvent que la tolerance 
 est le premier besoin de leurs ames. Instruits 
 
176 RECOLLECTIONS OP 
 
 que les ministres (Tune religion di'fferente de 
 celle qu'ils professent ont gemi sur le sort des 
 Rois et des Pontifes, ils promittent une egale 
 protection a tous les cultes qui invoquent un 
 Dieu de paix et de reconciliation. 
 
 " C'est en deplorant des horrible ravages de 
 la tyrannie qu'amena la licence, qu'ils oublient 
 les erreurs causees par les illusions de la liberte. 
 Loin d'en vouloir a ceux qui, avec une ardeur 
 trop punie, en ont poursuivi de vains fantomes, 
 ils viennent leur restituer cette liberte veritable 
 qui laisse a la fois le peuple et le Monarque sans 
 defiance. Toutes les institutions liberales seront 
 maintenues. Effraye de la facilite des Fran?ais 
 a voter des impots, soutiens du despotisme, le 
 Prince sera le premier a concerter, avec vos 
 representans, le mode le plus egal, la repartition 
 la plus equitable, pour que le peuple ne soit pas 
 
 " Ces courtes et consolantes paroles qui 
 vient de vous adresser 1'epoux de la fille de 
 Louis XYI. ' Plus de tyran ! Plus de guerre ! 
 Plus de conscription 1 Plus de impots vexar 
 toires ! ' ont deja rassure vos families. 
 
SIE GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 177 
 
 " Deja sa Majestd a deux fois proclam a la 
 face de TEurope que Tinter^t de l'6tat lui ferait 
 une loi de consolider des ventes qui par d'in- 
 nombrables mutations ont interesse* tant de 
 families a des propriety's desormais garanties. 
 
 " Bordelais ! Je me suis assure* que la ferme 
 volonte de sa Majeste etait de favoriser 1'in- 
 dustrie et de ramener parmi nous cette impar- 
 tiale liberte de commerce qui, avant 1789, avait 
 repandu Taisance dans toutes les classes labo- 
 reuses ; vos recoltes vont cesser d'etre ruineuses ; 
 les colonies trop longtemps separees de la mere- 
 patrie vous seront rendues ; la mer, qui etait 
 devenue comme inutile pour vous, va ramener 
 dans votre port des pavilions amis. L'ouvrier 
 laborieux ne verra plus ses mains oisives^ et le 
 marin rendu a sa noble profession va naviguer 
 de nouveau pour acheter le repos de sa vieillesse 
 et leguer son experience a ses fils. 
 
 "L'epoux de la fille de Louis XVI. est dans 
 vos murs: il vous fera bientot entendre lui- 
 meme Fexpression des sentimens qui raniment, 
 et de ceux du Monarque dont il est le repre- 
 sentant et l'interprete. L'espoir des jours de 
 
 N 
 
178 EECOLLECT10NS OF 
 
 bonheur qu'il vous assure a soutenu mes 
 forces. 
 
 " Je n'ai pas besoin de vous inviter a la 
 Concorde. Tous nos voeux ne tendent-ils pas 
 au meme but, la destruction de la tyrannic sous 
 laquelle nous avons tous egalement gemi? 
 Mais chacun de nous doit y concourir avec 
 autant d'ordre que d'ardeur. Amsterdam n'a 
 point attendu la presence de ses liberateurs, 
 pour se prononcer et retablir 1'ancien gouverne- 
 ment, seul capable de rappeler son commerce 
 et sa prosperite; c'est au patriotisme des 
 negocians que le stadthouder a du son reta- 
 blissement, et la prompte creation de Tarmee, 
 qui defend par ses mains la liberte Hollandaise. 
 
 " Les premiers vous aurez donne un sem- 
 blable exemple a la France. La gloire et 
 Tavantage qu'en retirera notre ville la rendront 
 a jamais celebre et heureuse entre les cites. 
 
 "Tout nous permet d'esperer qu'a Texces 
 des maux vont succeder enfin ces temps desires 
 par la sagesse, oil doivent cesser les rivalites des 
 nations; et peut-etre etait-il reserve au Grand 
 Capitaine, qui a deja mcrite le titre de Libe- 
 
SIR GEORGE I/E STRANGE. 179 
 
 rateur des Peuples,' d'attacher son nom glo- 
 rieux a 1'epoque de cet heureux prodige. 
 
 " Tels sont, mes concitoyens ! les motifs, 
 les esperances, qui ont guide mes demarches 
 et m'ont determine a faire pour vous, s'il le 
 fall ait, le sacrifice de ma vie. Dieu m'est 
 tfimoin que je n'ai eu en vue que le bonheur de 
 notre patrie. Vive le Roi ! 
 
 "Ls MAIRE LYNCH." 
 
 Our corps of the British army arrived in the 
 neighbourhood of Toulouse early in April, and 
 it was Lord Wellington's intention to have 
 crossed the Garonne above the town of Tou- 
 louse, and Sir Rowland Hill's corps, being on 
 the right of the army, was destined to perform 
 this operation. After remaining a day or two 
 in our camp, an order came that we should 
 approach the river, which we did by a very 
 long night-march, and tiresome enough it was, 
 as all night-marches are ; but when we arrived 
 within reach of the river, it was discovered that 
 there were not pontoons sufficient to span the 
 river, and our disappointment was great when 
 
 N 2 
 
180 EECOLLECTIONS OP 
 
 we found that we were not destined to give 
 the finishing stroke to this brilliant campaign. 
 Another fatiguing night-march brought us 
 back to our old camping-ground, and a delay 
 took place while Lord Wellington made dispo- 
 sitions to pass the left of the army across the 
 river below the town, a feat which he accom- 
 plished with his usual judgment, and which 
 has been detailed in his own despatches and 
 every history of the war. We lay patiently in 
 our camp, though sorely regretting the fate 
 that prevented our taking a more prominent 
 part in the approaching action. 
 
 However, on the evening of the 9th of 
 April, there were symptoms of a move, and by 
 daylight the next morning we were in the 
 immediate vicinity of the town. We arrived at 
 a long, straight, and wide road or rather street, 
 for there were houses on both sides of it, and 
 it became necessary to feel our way. My com- 
 pany being as usual at the head of the brigade, 
 my dear old general desired me to cross this 
 road or street, and to desire my company to 
 follow, by twos and threes, to ascertain if any 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 181 
 
 of the enemy were in occupation of the houses 
 on the opposite side. I immediately crossed 
 over, and observed that at some distance to my 
 left the enemy had thrown up a barricade to 
 protect the bridge. I had got about half way 
 over before I was observed by the Frenchmen, 
 who immediately commenced to pot at me and 
 my men that were following me. I did not 
 think it would be dignified to accelerate my 
 pace, but arrived at the opposite side unin- 
 jured, as well as all my mjen, and was rejoiced 
 to find, instead of French soldiers, a remark- 
 ably nice, well-furnished villa, that had evi- 
 dently been just vacated, containing a billiard- 
 table, and all the apparatus in good order, 
 ladies' shoes and slippers scattered about, with 
 other portions of ladies' dresses, and in fact it 
 gave one the idea of a very respectable and 
 comfortable residence. Though rather fond of 
 a game of billiards, the view from the windows 
 was too interesting to admit of such amuse- 
 ment. The town of Toulouse was under my 
 eyes, and the heights at the other side occupied 
 by the French army in position quite in view. 
 
182 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 Moreover, the action had commenced, and my 
 whole attention was occupied in observing the 
 progress of the great battle that was raging in 
 our front, while I was in comparative safety, 
 only that it was necessary to keep a sharp look- 
 out upon the parties in our immediate front. 
 The battle raged fast and furious for a very 
 considerable period. The Spaniards, who com- 
 menced the attack, were unable to make any 
 impression on the French lines, and were in 
 fact driven back; and it was not until Lord 
 Wellington sent a considerable number of the 
 redcoats to the front, that the tide of the 
 action was turned. Our brave fellows suffered 
 severely, and for a long time I was in despair 
 as to the result; the fire sometimes retiring 
 filled me with dismay, and the advancing fire 
 was very slow and apparently indecisive. 
 
 The French columns still occupied the hill, 
 and it was not until near evening that I saw 
 the Congreve Rocket Brigade, I believe for the 
 first time brought into action, sending their 
 hissing, serpentine-looking missiles along the 
 top of the hill into the French columns. They 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 183 
 
 could not stand up against these fearful 
 weapons. I saw that the battle was gained, 
 that the French columns were in retreat, and 
 could not help giving a cheer for the result of 
 this sanguinary and conclusive victory. 
 
 It is probable that the two or three days 
 which had been lost about the crossing of the 
 river, forced Lord Wellington to fight the 
 battle of Toulouse on Easter Sunday, of all 
 days in the year, being the 10th of April, 1814. 
 Thus terminated this great and glorious war, 
 and I found that we had accomplished, what in 
 my early start I had contemplated, the driving 
 of the French army out of the Peninsula and 
 across the Pyrenees, and began to be proud of 
 myself in having taken a part, though a very 
 humble one, in these triumphant events. 
 
 Lord Wellington being aware that the war 
 was at an end, did not think of following up 
 Soult's army. The marshal must have suffered 
 some remorse of conscience in having sacrificed 
 so many lives unnecessarily ; but we must all 
 acknowledge that never was there an army so 
 frequently and invariably beaten as his was, 
 
184 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 making a more brilliant and gallant stand than 
 did this French army under their indefatigable 
 general and such adverse circumstances. Our 
 entry and reception in Toulouse was something 
 magnificent ; the whole population seemed 
 seized with a sudden passion for the Bourbons 
 and the English. From every window in the 
 town, the white flag, or some other emblem of 
 loyalty, was exhibited in the shape of flags or 
 carpets, in shawls or even sheets. . The theatres 
 were opened and filled with English officers 
 and soldiers and loyal French citizens. " God 
 save the King" and "Vive Henri Quatre" 
 were the only songs they would listen to ; and 
 whenever any of our great officers appeared, he 
 was received with immense cheering. A great 
 ball was given to them ; a certain number of 
 officers only could be invited ; I was fortunate 
 enough to get an invitation ; and as I had pre- 
 served pretty well my Light Infantry jacket, 
 and for which I had got a new pair of chain 
 wings, I looked very smart. When I entered 
 the ball-room, I was dazzled with the brilliancy 
 of the lights, and the assemblage of splendidly- 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 185 
 
 dressed ladies, young and old. The young 
 ladies were all ranged round the room like 
 wallflowers. Sir Lowry Cole introduced me to 
 several French people very good-naturedly as 
 a cousin of his, which was a feather in the cap 
 of a bashful young subaltern ; but when I was 
 told I might ask any young lady in the room I 
 pleased to dance, I was entranced and lost no 
 time in making my selection. I fortunately hit 
 upon a first-rate dancer. A waltz was struck 
 up, which was then perfectly new to me, but 
 she twirled me round like a teetotum till I 
 became so giddy that I thought the whole room 
 was going round, and when we stopped I nearly 
 fell down upon my face. My partner, however, 
 good-naturedly supported me until I had reco- 
 vered my stability, but I eschewed "the waltz 
 for the rest of that evening. My regiment had 
 passed through the town, and just before we 
 arrived at some charming suburban villas, where 
 we were to take up our quarters, I was rather 
 startled by a loud cheer and seeing the caps of 
 every soldier in the regiment waving in the air 
 over their heads. " What in the world is the 
 
186 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 matter ? " I inquired, when I was informed that 
 my uncle, the late General Guy Carleton 
 L'Estrange, 1 had suddenly appeared on the 
 line of march. After the battle of Albuera, 
 where he commanded the 31st Eegiment, he 
 certainly distinguished himself by an impromptu 
 manoeuvre which overthrew the Polish lancers, 
 and which is still practised in the old regiment, 
 and called the Albuera manoeuvre. He was 
 promoted to the command of the 26th Regi- 
 ment, and was stationed at Gibraltar. He 
 could not resist the temptation of witnessing 
 the winding up of the war, and he and his 
 friend, Colonel Alexander Saunderson, of Castle 
 Saunderson, father of the present worthy and 
 distinguished member for Cavan, whom I am 
 proud to call my friend, having provided them- 
 selves with good horses, started to ride across 
 Spain, which they accomplished; and the 
 manner in which he was received by his old 
 regiment, who had not seen him for more than 
 two years, is a proof of his popularity as a 
 commanding officer. I naturally felt very 
 
 1 See Appendix II. 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 187 
 
 proud of it, and ever afterwards he was a good 
 and kind uncle to me. He afterwards married 
 Miss Sarah Rawson, of that beautiful seat, Nidd 
 Hall, in Yorkshire, and they never lost an op- 
 portunity of doing me a kindness, or failed to 
 receive me hospitably into their house ; in fact 
 I had no relations to whom I was more sin- 
 cerely attached, or whose memories I more 
 revere than Uncle Guy and Aunt Sarah. 
 
 They rest in peace side by side, having died 
 without issue, in the ancient burying-ground of 
 the old family of Rawson at Nidd Hall. 
 
 The city of Toulouse was the scene of the 
 most exuberant rejoicings ; the theatres were 
 thrown open, and balls, concerts, and dinner 
 parties were the order of the day and night, 
 The arrival of my uncle, then Colonel Guy 
 C. L'Estrange of the 26th Regiment, was a 
 subject of great gratification to me. He got 
 a billet close to where his old regiment, the 
 31st, was stationed, about a mile on the south 
 side of the city. He and I generally rode into 
 the town every morning, to hear the news and 
 amuse ourselves. We heard that a day was 
 
188 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 appointed for the Due d'Angouleme to make a 
 sort of triumphal entree into Toulouse. An 
 enormous cavalcade of British and other officers, 
 numbering several hundreds, rode out to meet 
 his Royal Highness some miles from the town 
 and escort him into it, and I formed one 
 of the numerous escort. His reception was 
 enthusiastic, and the rejoicings were kept up 
 for some days. Lord Charles Churchill had 
 been appointed aide-de-camp to General Byng, 
 but did not remain long with him, and he then 
 did me the honour to offer it to me, and asked 
 me to accompany him to Bordeaux on his way 
 to Paris. Before he left he invited General 
 Kempt, who commanded a brigade, to dine 
 with him; he came, and by some accident he 
 was the only guest, so that it was a trio the 
 two generals and myself. The conversation, in 
 which, however, I scarcely took a part, turned 
 on military affairs, and I was greatly surprised, 
 and my blood began to boil, at several sarcastic 
 and bitter remarks he made to my general. 
 He was, however, the guest, and General Byng 
 accordingly commanded his temper, which he 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 189 
 
 not always capable of doing, and took little 
 notice of his sarcasms ; I was not sorry when 
 he took his departure. General Byng asked 
 me if I should be ready in a day or two to start 
 for Bordeaux ; I said, certainly ; so accordingly 
 mounting a splendid thorough-bred black horse 
 called Sultan, his servant leading another black 
 charger, and I mounted on my Rosinante 
 Knockcrockery, we made an early start one 
 morning without any other escort. My general 
 was not a man of very many words, and we 
 rode along slowly and silently enough. One 
 day on our march he asked me, now that our 
 second battalion would probably be reduced 
 and put upon half -pay, what it was my inten- 
 tion to do. " Should you like to have a com- 
 mission in the Guards?" "Of all things," I 
 replied. He then . said, " The Duke of Glou- 
 cester is a great friend of mine, and I will be 
 happy to recommend you, and ask for a com- 
 mission in his regiment (then the 3rd Foot 
 Guards but now the Scots Fusileer Guards) ; 
 but I should recommend you not to go into 
 the Guards unless you have 2001. a year besides 
 
190 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 your pay. I said I would write to my father 
 to tell him of this kind offer, which I did, and 
 soon got an answer that I should have the 
 200Z. a year. 
 
 After a few days, of rather a dreary inarch, 
 we arrived all right at Bordeaux. The mayor 
 of Bordeaux, whom I have already men- 
 tioned, took us into his house, and a very 
 hospitable and agreeable quarter it was. And, 
 to my surprise, I found it was the very house 
 in which my cousin Edmund, so often men- 
 tioned heretofore, was put up and concealed 
 when making his escape from Bitche; and 
 they showed me the cupboard where he lay 
 perdu on the approach of any suspicious cha- 
 racters. I need not say, for their name 
 proclaims it, that this family were of Irish 
 extraction, which probably accounts for their 
 great kindness and protection of one of their 
 own countrymen. I remained about a week 
 or ten days in this charming place, enjoying 
 the society which we met at the mayor's house, 
 joining in the dance or game of cards which 
 they got up for our amusement. The morning 
 
SIB GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 191 
 
 I left Bordeaux I found that I had my old horse 
 Knockcrockery on my hands, and not wishing 
 to let him fall into strange hands who might 
 maltreat him, I had him led out of the stable, 
 and took aim at a white star he had on the 
 forehead with my pistol. He fell dead at my 
 feet without any apparent pang. My general 
 got me a passage to England in a man-of- 
 war brig, the " Thais," commanded by Cap- 
 tain Weir. We had a very pleasant party on 
 board, amongst the rest a remarkably hand- 
 some lady, the wife of Sir Peter Parker, who 
 had been ordered off to America, and the Cap- 
 tain was kindness itself. We had a roughish 
 passage across the Bay of Biscay ; we were 
 obliged to take shelter for a night in the Scilly 
 Islands, and the next day I had the inex- 
 pressible pleasure of landing at Falmouth, and 
 immediately took my place in one of the stage- 
 coaches of that day, for London. It happened 
 to be a Sunday : the whole of the population 
 were turned out in their best apparel, and were 
 all rejoicing at the termination of the war, the 
 return of peace and plenty ; and after having 
 
192 BEOOLLECTIONS OF SIB GEORGE I/E STRANGE. 
 
 passed two years almost entirely deprived of 
 female society, I was immensely struck with the 
 great beauty of my countrywomen as we passed 
 along the road, which certainly exceeds that of 
 any other I had seen ; and after some hours' 
 travelling, I found myself once more in delight- 
 ful London, having passed through some of the 
 most charming counties in dear and beautiful 
 England. 
 
 In future essays, should I survive to write, I 
 shall state how I got my commission in the 
 Guards, served for seven years in London, 
 Windsor, and the Tower, and at the end ex- 
 changed on half-pay. 
 
TTTTT 
 
 " Grace was in all her steps, heaven in her eye, 
 In all her gestures, dignity and love." 
 
 Milton. 
 
 IN my last chapter, which brought the Penin- 
 sular War to a glorious termination, I omitted, 
 or rather forgot, several anecdotes which I have 
 since recalled to memory, and should not wish 
 to leave out of my "Recollections," as they 
 might be interesting to many of my gentle 
 readers, for they have brought forth many 
 letters which are most gratifying and com- 
 plimentary to me. In the few observations 
 which I made referring to my late brother-in-law, 
 Stepney St. George, I forgot to mention what 
 had happened to him at the battle of Albuera, 
 before my time, but related to me by himself 
 and his brother officers. In that very bloody 
 and almost doubtful victory he received a very 
 
 o 
 
194 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 severe wound, and lay upon the field of battle. 
 A Polish lancer, probably attracted by his 
 bright scarlet coat and gold epaulets (for he, 
 having plenty of private means, was always well 
 dressed), gave him a poke with his lance, and 
 finding there was life in him, thought he 
 should perhaps secure an officer of high rank. 
 He took him by the collar, and was dragging 
 him into the French lines in a state of insen- 
 sibility, when St. George was aroused from his 
 swoon by something warm trickling down upon 
 his head. It proved to be the life-blood of the 
 Pole, who had received a mortal wound from a 
 musket- shot, which relieved him of his burden, 
 and poor St. George managed to crawl back into 
 the British lines, and was saved. 
 
 Within the last four days previous to the 
 time I now write (the 10th of June, 1873), I 
 was down in the County Koscommon, and went 
 to have a day's fishing in the Carnadoe Waters, 
 a tributary to the Shannon. On the shore, 
 where our boats awaited us, there was a small 
 farm-house, which I heard was occupied by a 
 very old man who had been in the Peninsula. 
 
A Li: 1 V :.:''::/'. 
 
 THE ESCAPE OF STEPNEY ST. GEORGE AT THE BATTLE OF ALBUERA. 
 
SIR GEORGE L'ESTRA.NGE. 195 
 
 I do not like missing an opportunity, now very 
 rare, of meeting with one of these old veterans, 
 and went in. I found a remarkably fine speci- 
 men of an old soldier, a man of the name of Wash- 
 ington, in his ninety-seventh year, as straight as 
 a ramrod, with all his faculties, sight, hearing, 
 and memory perfect ; but what was my surprise 
 when I found he had been one of my old Light 
 Infantry Company in the 3 1 st Regiment ? He had 
 been out with the regiment since the commence- 
 ment of the war in the year 1808, and in all the 
 general actions of that exciting and interesting 
 period, without a wound up to the 13th of 
 December, 1813. He was as much surprised as 
 I was, and could scarcely believe I was the 
 youth who commanded the company the day he 
 was wounded. He stripped his leg and showed 
 me where the ball had passed through his knee ; 
 he told me that I said to him, " "Washington, 
 you are down at last," and that he replied, 
 " I shall soon be up again." He went to the 
 rear on my horse, and met Lord "Wellington and 
 Sir R. Hill, who desired him to keep on the 
 low ground, or he and the horse would be 
 
 o 2 
 
196 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 knocked to smash in a few moments, the shot 
 and shell were falling so fast. He got to the 
 rear, and was sent to the military hospital at 
 Cambo, and proceeded from thence by St. Jean 
 de Luz to England, where he recovered from 
 his wound, served for ten years more in the first 
 battalion in Sicily, Naples, &c., and then retired 
 on a pension of Is. per diem. I hope I shall 
 be able to get this small pension increased to 
 2s. 6d. for the remainder of this poor old man's 
 life, and will be quite ready to certify what I 
 know of his former military career. When he 
 took me by the hand, after recalling many of 
 the scenes we had passed through, and the name 
 of almost every officer that we both so well 
 remembered, the poor old man shed tears, and 
 I could scarcely refrain from responding to 
 them. He mentioned the three colonels I have 
 already alluded to in a former chapter, and 
 named the colonel who, having been shot 
 through the trousers, went to the rear, and, 
 instead of the doctor, one of the regimental 
 tailors was sent to dress his wound. 
 
 I have also received a most interesting letter 
 
THE 3IEETJNG OP THE VETEUAXS. 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 197 
 
 from another gentleman whom I had formerly 
 mentioned, and it is so creditable to him, so 
 gratifying and flattering to me, that I asked his 
 permission to bring it into this chapter, and 
 the following is a copy of it. I have accepted 
 his kind invitation to visit him in Norfolk, and 
 look forward to introduce my daughters, who 
 are also invited, to his family with feelings of 
 great pleasure : 
 
 " Wroxham House, Norwich, 
 
 "May 12th, 1873. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR, A friend of mine, who reads 
 with great interest your ' Scraps from Recol- 
 tion,' has pointed out to me your complimentary 
 mention of my name in the April number of the 
 St. James 9 Monthly Review. I have a pleasing 
 recollection of my short acquaintance with you 
 at Vieux Mouguerre, where the light company of 
 the 31st joined the Buffs 57th and 66th light com- 
 panies of Sir John Byng's brigade, and have ever 
 entertained a lively and grateful remembrance 
 of your kindness and good offices in hastening 
 to my assistance when I fell, severely wounded 
 in both legs, on the afternoon of the 13th of 
 
198 RECOLLECTIONS OP 
 
 December, 1813. You then very considerately 
 bound up the extensive wounds in my left leg 
 with a sash, making with a piece of stick a 
 temporary tourniquet, thus saving me probably 
 from bleeding to death during my long and 
 painful carriage to the rear. I remember, too, 
 that you exerted your authority to compel some 
 French prisoners we had captured to assist a 
 few of our own slightly wounded men to carry 
 me off. On my way I met the Duke of Wel- 
 lington and his staff riding to the front. He, 
 commiserating my shattered condition, stopped 
 to ask my name, &c., and sent an aide-de-camp 
 to fetch a surgeon, pointing out some huts to 
 which I might be carried. I, however, (I had 
 many years after an opportunity of thanking 
 him,) finding that shells from the enemy were 
 falling near the huts, went on to Mou- 
 guerre, and had the satisfaction of meeting the 
 surgeon of the Buffs coming out under Lord 
 Wellington's orders, viz. Dr. Sheckleton, after- 
 wards an eminent accoucheur in Dublin, where 
 I visited him about forty years ago. When the 
 army crossed the Adour, in the early spring, I 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 199 
 
 was removed to St. Jean de Luz, and about 
 June embarked for England in 1814. By the 
 blessing of God and a strong constitution I had 
 quite recovered by the summer of 1815, and 
 was walking on an artificial leg, riding on 
 horseback, and not long afterwards following 
 the hounds. Placed on the G.R.V. Battalion, 
 I was allowed to retire on full pay for life as a 
 lieutenant of seven years' standing and with a 
 captain's pension. In 1838 1 married a sister 
 of Sir Robert John Harvey, K.C.B., whom you 
 may remember on the Quartermaster General's 
 staff, and have seven children living ; my eldest 
 son is a barrister ; my second son, a lieutenant 
 in the 8th Regiment King's, has just now an 
 appointment to survey, with other officers, 
 6 Cannock Chase,' in Staffordshire, with a 
 view to autumn manosuvres there. In 1847, an 
 old friend of mine left me a charming residence 
 here, with good estates connected, and I then 
 took the name of Humphrey in addition to that 
 of Blake (at his request) ; and by the death of 
 my elder brothers I have since succeeded to a 
 family property, also in this neighbourhood. I 
 
200 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 am now seventy-seven years and a half old, am 
 a J.P. and D.L., county of Norfolk, and still 
 enjoy good general health. I should be well 
 pleased to have you for a guest at "Wroxham, if 
 you would be tempted into this country to see 
 Hunstanton Hall, the ancient seat of the 
 L'Estranges, about which you used to inquire 
 of me, believing your Irish branch to be 
 descended from the Norfolk family. I have 
 some photographs of the hall made many years 
 ago from my drawings, but you had better see 
 the place itself, which is very interesting, I 
 assure you. Sincerely yours, 
 
 " E. BLAKE HUMPHBEY." 
 
 After this digression I return to London, 
 where I had just arrived at the conclusion of 
 my last chapter. The allied armies had en- 
 tered and taken possession of Paris. Prussia, 
 groaning under the barbarous treatment they 
 had received from the French army when in 
 occupation of their beloved Fatherland, was 
 panting for revenge, and it required all the 
 energy of our great Duke to prevent their corn- 
 
Oi ; 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRAKGE. 201 
 
 mitting the greatest atrocities. They were de- 
 termined to demolish the Bridge of Jena and 
 the column in the Place Vendome; and the 
 Duke, it was said, found great difficulty in per- 
 suading old Blucher to exert his influence with 
 his noble army and prevent their retaliating on 
 the inhabitants of Paris the many acts of op- 
 pression which the French army had committed 
 on most of the families or friends of the Prus- 
 sian soldiers. Order, however, was at length 
 restored, and the allied sovereigns, with Wel- 
 lington and Blucher, arrived in London. They 
 were of course received with acclamation, and 
 London was en fete for a considerable time. 
 
 It was resolved that they should go in pro- 
 cession and great pomp to St. Paul's ; I 
 suppose, to return thanks for the great event- 
 that had restored peace to Europe after these 
 long and sanguinary wars. All London of 
 course turned out to see this great procession, 
 and it was with difficulty and considerable cost 
 that a window or a seat or even standing- 
 ground could be obtained. I, with my cousin 
 Edmund, who had also arrived in town, was so 
 
202 EECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 fortunate as to get an order for Northumberland 
 House, and accordingly proceeding to the roof 
 of that noble building, we took up our position 
 just under the straight tail of the lion that 
 crowns the edifice; from thence we had a 
 splendid view of the procession as it passed 
 under us up the Strand, and we recognized 
 many of the gallant heroes whom we recollected 
 to have seen during that part of the Peninsular 
 War in which we had taken a part. After a 
 short stay in London I began to feel a strong 
 wish to return and visit my family in Ireland, to 
 whom I was devotedly attached, and soon took 
 a place in the Holyhead mail, for there was no 
 steam in those days, en route for Dublin. When 
 I arrived there I found that most of my 
 family were in the county of Sligo, at Temple 
 House, the residence of Colonel Perceval, who 
 had been married to my eldest sister before I 
 went out to the Peninsula, and I found a letter 
 from her to inform me that a coach had lately 
 been placed on the road that actually performed 
 the journey in a single day. I lost no time in 
 Dublin, and after a journey that I thought 
 
SIB GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 203 
 
 would never come to an end, found myself 
 drawing up to the hall-door of one of the oldest 
 inhabited thatched houses in Ireland. I thought 
 I saw a perfect angel at the door, and in a 
 minute was in the arms of my favourite sister 
 Sophie, two years younger than myself, whom I 
 had left what is called a slip of a girl, but now 
 developed into the most lovely and magnificent 
 woman that I thought I had ever laid my eyes 
 on. I need not describe the reception I met with 
 from every member of the family as well as herself. 
 She afterwards became the wife of E. J. Cooper, 
 Esq., of Marknee Castle, for* many years mem- 
 ber of Parliament for the county of Sligo. But 
 little more than a year after her marriage, in her 
 confinement of her firstborn son, they were 
 both carried from Dublin to a vault in the 
 church of Collooney, where her husband erected 
 to her memory a very beautiful monument, which 
 was sculptured in Italy. I had the melancholy 
 happiness, in company with my cousin, who 
 afterwards became my most beloved wife, of 
 receiving her last sigh. In consequence of the 
 youth of both parties, their union was pro- 
 
204 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 tract ed for upwards of a year, and in my 
 opinion should be a warning to all parents not 
 to permit their daughters to have long engage- 
 ments before marriage, as it is to this I attri- 
 bute her premature death. After my arrival at 
 Temple House, where I need not say I enjoyed 
 the greatest happiness for some time, I made a 
 tour of visits to all my friends, and was received 
 with acclamation wherever I went, after the 
 dangers I had escaped. I kept a sharp look- 
 out for all the Gazettes, in expectation of seeing 
 my name as an officer in the Guards, according 
 to my general's (now Sir John Byng) kind 
 promise. A vacancy did not occur till after the 
 battle of "Waterloo, when to my great joy, at 
 the head of five death-vacancies in that sangui- 
 nary action, I saw that I was gazetted an 
 ensign and lieutenant in the 3rd Foot Guards. 
 It would be presumptuous of me to attempt 
 any detail of that great battle which has been 
 described a hundred times ; but one name in the 
 long list of killed was that of my dear and well- 
 beloved cousin Edmund. His leg was carried off 
 by a cannon-ball when aide-de-camp to the gallant 
 
SIR GEORGE L'ESTRAXGE. 205 
 
 Sir Denis Pack. A successful amputation was 
 performed ; lie was going on well, when a false 
 alarm was spread by some of the fugitives, of 
 which there were many, that the French were 
 coming on. With a lively recollection of his 
 former imprisonment and escape from Verdun, 
 he dreaded falling into their hands again, and 
 insisted on being removed. The moving brought 
 on hemorrhage, and he sank from loss of blood. 
 Thus fell as noble and gallant an officer as any 
 in his Majesty's service, deeply lamented by 
 every member of his family, to which he was an 
 ornament, and by the numerous friends who 
 knew his value and his worth, and by none more 
 than his gallant general, Sir Denis Pack, who 
 left recorded the very high opinion he enter- 
 tained of him, and which was sent to me by his 
 heir, when Sir Denis, after many years, passed 
 away himself. It is a great pleasure to me to 
 dwell on the " recollections n of this young 
 hero, as I may justly call him ; and I am sure it 
 will be grateful to many members of his family, 
 particularly his sister, who is still living, at a 
 very advanced age, that I have had this oppor- 
 
206 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 tunity of recording his many amiable qualities 
 as a soldier, a son, and a brother. Since writing 
 the above I have found amongst rny papers Sir 
 Denis Pack's testimony, which I give from his 
 own manuscript : 
 
 " Abbeville, December 28th, 1815. 
 " I am informed that Mrs. L'Estrange, the 
 mother of my late much-lamented aide-de-camp, 
 Major L'Estrange, has applied for relief from 
 the Waterloo Fund, stating in her memorial that 
 she is the widow of an officer who sold out of 
 the army after twenty-five years' service ; that 
 her husband afterwards served for many years 
 and till his death as Adjutant of a regiment of 
 Militia; but having sold out of the army, as 
 above stated, he left her without a pension and 
 in very distressed circumstances, with a family 
 of five sons and three daughters. The second 
 son, a lieutenant in his Majesty's Navy, dis- 
 tinguished himself in several engagements, and 
 in one had his arm carried off by a cannon-shot, 
 and in the sequel lost his life in a line-of-battle 
 ship on the coast of France. Of the merits of 
 the eldest, who fell in the battle of Waterloo, I 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 207 
 
 am really unable to speak in adequate terms. 
 He was gallant and accomplished, and endeared 
 to me by all the ties that can attach a general 
 to his aide-de-camp. He was recommended by 
 the Duke of Wellington for the rank he held, 
 and I have no doubt that had he survived his 
 Grace's last glorious victory, he would have 
 obtained a lieutenant-colonelcy in the same 
 honourable way. He joined the 71st Regiment 
 when very young, served with it in Europe, 
 Africa, and America, and shared in the well- 
 earned fame of the corps, beloved and esteemed 
 by all his brother officers. His mother has 
 stated that out of his little income he allowed 
 her one hundred a year. I have no doubt he 
 did, and by his generous disposition greatly 
 contributed to the family's support, which by 
 his fall has, in truth, suffered an irreparable 
 loss. I have felt myself in duty called upon 
 to offer this, believe me, gentlemen, but just 
 tribute of praise to the memory of an officer 
 of very great promise, who has fallen in the 
 service of his country ; and I shall only further 
 beg leave to recommend to your warmest pro- 
 
208 RECOLLECTIONS OP 
 
 tection the family so much dependent on him, 
 and which consists, as I have stated, of a widow 
 (his mother), two daughters, and three sons, 
 two of whom are in the army, one a lieutenant 
 in the 24th Regiment, the other an ensign in 
 the 71st. This statement I believe to be per- 
 fectly correct, and I shall add that 1 have 
 always heard that her husband bore an excel- 
 lent character as an officer and a gentleman. 
 " I have the honour to be, gentlemen, 
 " Your sincere and obedient servant, 
 
 " D. PACK." 
 
 Ireland was in a very critical state when the 
 battle of Waterloo was fought ; disaffection to 
 the British Government was wound up to the 
 highest pitch. Had "Wellington been defeated, 
 there is little doubt but Ireland would have 
 been up in arms; and so well were matters 
 organized, that the news of the great battle 
 was known in most parts of the country before 
 any official account was published. There were 
 no electric wires in those days, but it was per- 
 fectly evident, from the downcast countenances 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 209 
 
 of those who were well known to be disaffected, 
 that they had received intelligence that they 
 did not like. At the time the news arrived I 
 was in Limerick, on a visit to Bishop War- 
 burton; his son, the archdeacon, was a great 
 friend of our family, and he had invited me down 
 with my horse (a celebrated hunter, called 
 "White Stockings," from having legs of that 
 colour), to have some hunting with Mr. TuthnTs 
 celebrated pack of stag-hounds, and to have 
 some cock-shooting at Curragh, the seat then 
 of Mr. Spring Rice, afterwards Lord Monteagle, 
 and other places in that fine county. The 
 peasantry there, as well as in my own county, 
 the King's, were very generally of that sect who 
 bore so much enmity to England ; and you could 
 see by their faces how chapfallen they were. I 
 lost no time in returning to my father's house 
 at Moystown, to be greeted as a guardsman, 
 and could scarcely avail myself of the month's 
 leave I was given before joining my battalion in 
 London. This period soon passed away, and 
 my arrival was reported at the orderly-room at 
 the Horse Guards. 
 
 p 
 
210 EECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 Immediately after joining I received a letter 
 from my old general and patron, Sir John 
 Byng, from the army of occupation at Cambray, 
 offering me the appointment of aide-de-camp 
 in place of Captain Dumerresq, who had been 
 severely wounded at Waterloo. I instantly 
 went to the colonel of my regiment, the late 
 Duke of Gloucester, to ask his Eoyal Highness's 
 permission to go out and join Sir John Byng as 
 aide-de-camp, who had so kindly remembered 
 me. His Royal Highness told me that there 
 was a rule in his regiment, that no officer 
 should go on the staff till he had done a year's 
 duty with the regiment. I replied that I had 
 done two campaigns in the Peninsula ; but his 
 Eoyal Highness, who was rather obtuse, could 
 not see the relevancy of my argument, and I had 
 to make my bow, rather depressed .in having 
 lost what was the great object of all young 
 officers, an appointment on the staff. I, how- 
 ever, determined to make the best of it, and 
 began to think that a campaign or two in 
 London was not so bad after all ; and I returned 
 to my duty and to make the acquaintance of my 
 
SIE GEORGE L' ESTRANGE. 211 
 
 brother officers, who nevertheless thought I was 
 rather hardly treated. At that time there was 
 a spendid lot of young officers in the regiment, 
 amongst others the celebrated Dick Armit, 
 who became my bosom friend, and of whom I 
 hope to have a great deal more to relate. There 
 were several Irishmen at the time in it ; next 
 above me was the Hon. Jack Westenra, who is 
 still alive ; Chidley Coote, brother of Sir Charles, 
 who is also still alive, and, when I saw him 
 lately, looking as well and as cheery as ever ; 
 Lord Rokeby, then Henry Montagu; George 
 Anson, afterwards the general who died near 
 Lucknow ; Sir David Baird, and that uncommon 
 jolly fellow and good sportsman, Jack Standen ; 
 also the late Sir Charles Phipps, and the present 
 Sir William Knollys ; all these are well-known 
 and almost public characters, and it can easily 
 be guessed that with such a set of companions 
 I scarcely regretted not being with the army of 
 occupation at Cambray. I soon made my way 
 into the best society in London, and passed 
 many happy, uncommonly gay, and very 
 pleasant days. Nor can I omit to mention 
 
 p 2 
 
212 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 my most excellent friend Forster, now a general 
 officer, and for many years the well-known 
 military secretary to his Eoyal Highness the 
 Duke of Cambridge, the Eoyal Duke who has 
 commanded, and, I rejoice to say, still continues 
 to command with so much ability and so much 
 popularity and efficiency the army which, alas ! 
 I have taken my leave of finally, having re- 
 ceived a valedictory letter, written by his Eoyal 
 Highness's commands, from General Egerton, 
 which I am proud of and mean to hand down as 
 an heirloom in my family. There are many other 
 names, now that I have begun to mention them, 
 I ought not to omit. Berkeley Drummond was 
 our adjutant, afterwards succeeded by Sir 
 Archibald Murray, who, as well as his clever, 
 agreeable and handsome brother, Digby Murray, 
 were great friends of mine : they were in some 
 way related to Lord Digby 's family, and as 
 my second sister Mary had married a Digby, 
 Eichard, who resided at Geashill Castle in the 
 King's County, it formed a sort of bond between 
 us. He was cousin and agent to the then Lord 
 Digby, of a peculiarly strong religious turn of 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 213 
 
 mind, which many of the Digbys possess. I 
 always felt that he was a little too good for me, 
 but he did not survive more than a year, when 
 he fell a victim to consumption. My sister, to 
 whom he left all his property, was delivered of 
 a posthumous son, a fine boy; he lived to be 
 three or four years old, and was carried off 
 by croup. My sister married, secondly, the 
 talented gentleman now at the head of what 
 remains of the old Irish Church ; a Church 
 which, pounded and compounded, commuted and 
 disinherited, but not disgraced, I am fully con- 
 vinced will yet arise, like the Phoenix, out of 
 her ashes. 
 
 My sister left a large family by her second 
 marriage, many of whom survive, and therefore 
 I am silent. She died in Rome, and was buried 
 in the English burial-ground there. I had 
 heard that the authorities there refused to re 
 cord on her tombstone the inscription her 
 husband had penned; indeed I believe Chief 
 Justice Whiteside mentions the circumstance in 
 his book ; I being at Mentone, on a visit to two 
 of my daughters who, alas ! are both gone now, 
 
214 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 determined to visit my sister's grave, and 
 accordingly proceeded by Leghorn to Rome. 
 After visiting many of the wonders of that 
 wondrous city, I went to the Vatican, and sent 
 in my curd to Monsignor Talbot, a countryman 
 whose family were well known to me. He 
 was, I believe, the Pope's Chamberlain if his 
 Holiness possesses such a feminine appendage. 
 The Monsignor received me very kindly. I 
 told him the object of my visit, that I had seen 
 the mutilated inscription. He asked me what 
 the words were that were omitted. I told him 
 I believed they were, " In sure and certain hope 
 of a blessed resurrection," and the word " Kev." 
 preceding her husband's name. He told me 
 that there was only one name their Church con- 
 demned without redemption. He then asked 
 me the date; I told him, and he seemed re- 
 lieved, and said that was before the present 
 Pope had occupied the chair. I said "Yes," 
 and observed that I did not think his 'present 
 Holiness would sanction such an illiberal pro- 
 ceeding. I asked permission to pay my respects 
 to his Holiness ; there was no public day before 
 
SIR GEORGE I/ESTRANGE. 215 
 
 I was to leave Rome for Naples; but a magni- 
 ficent dragoon in the evening clattered into the 
 courtyard of my hotel, with an enormous card 
 inviting me for twelve o'clock the next day. I 
 got up my court-dress, and Ribbon and Badge 
 of St. Patrick, and presented myself in due 
 time, and was immediately ushered by myself 
 into the room ; his Holiness was sitting also 
 quite alone. He received me with great urbanity, 
 and very soon placed me at my ease, and we 
 had a very long conversation in broken French, 
 at which we were neither of us great adepts. 
 He asked me where I came from, and whither I 
 was going. He seemed much pleased to learn 
 that I came from a country where he had so 
 many friends, asked me who was Lord Lieu- 
 tenant, and when I named the Earl of Carlisle 
 he seemed a little put out ; when I told him I 
 was going to Corfu, he told me that only a day 
 or two before he had ordained a bishop for that 
 island, and recommended me to make his ac- 
 quaintance, which I did, and found him every, 
 thing his Holiness represented him to be. I 
 was greatly struck by the benevolent and truly 
 
216 RECOLLECTIONS OF SIR GEOEGE I/ESTBAKGE. 
 
 religious appearance of his Holiness ; and when 
 he stood up and held out his hand to me with 
 the Fisherman's ring on it, I did not hesitate to 
 kiss it ; and received with the greatest humility 
 and respect the blessing of the man whom I 
 had so often heard disrespectfully spoken of 
 in my own country* 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 L 
 
 I HAVE since received a most .interesting 
 Memoir of the late Major Edmund L } Estrange, 
 71st Highland Light Infantry, written by his 
 brother Lieutenant- Colonel A* E. L'Estrange, 
 late 71st Highland Light Infantry, whose death 
 was announced in the " Obituary " of the " St. 
 James's Magazine and United Empire Review," 
 August, 1873 : 
 
 "June V7th. At 17, Howard Place, Edinburgh, 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Anthony Eoger L'Estrange, 
 retired full-pay, her Majesty's 71st Highlanders, 
 son of the late Captain Anthony L'Estrange, 
 late of the 88th Connaught Rangers, and 
 youngest brother of the late Major Edmund 
 
218 APPENDIX. 
 
 L'Estrange, 71st Highlanders, who was killed 
 at Waterloo. Born in the early part of 1800, 
 Colonel L'Estrange entered the army in 1815, 
 and was present at the battle of Waterloo, in 
 the 71st Regiment, in which regiment he served 
 until 1856, when, as Major, he retired on full- 
 pay from the army. This officer was therefore 
 the brother of one of the two prisoners who 
 escaped from Yerdun and Bitche, the story of 
 which was so graphically told by Sir George 
 L'Estrange in the November number of the 
 ' St. James's Magazine ' for 1872." 
 
 Colonel A. R. L'E strange' s Memoir of his 
 brother Edmund is as follows : 
 
 " The following Scraps are Roger's, every line ; 
 Pray, gentle reader, take them not for mine." 
 
 The subject of this narrative obtained a com- 
 mission in the 71st Regiment in 1804, at that 
 time commanded by the noted Colonel Pack. 
 He accompanied his regiment with the expedi- 
 tion to the Cape of Good Hope, served with the 
 corps at the capture of Cape Town, and the 
 total defeat of the enemy on that occasion. 
 
APPENDIX. 219 
 
 After this affair the 71st proceeded to South 
 America, where it was actively engaged in the 
 operations against the enemy. The contest was 
 at first crowned with success ; but other events 
 of an unforeseen nature, especially the disgrace 
 of General Whitelock, Commanding the forces, 
 led to the defeat of the English, who were over- 
 powered and made prisoners of war, Buenos 
 Ayres falling into the hands of the enemy. 
 According to some reports then in circulation, 
 it was given out that the flints were removed 
 from the fire-arms of our soldiers, but in what 
 manner never clearly came to light. The 
 British officers were escorted by couples into 
 the interior of the country. The late Major- 
 General Macdonald, of the Royal Artillery, was 
 Ensign L'Estrange's companion on the journey: 
 they were conducted fifteen hundred miles from 
 Buenos Ayres into the wildest part of South 
 America, and detained as prisoners upwards of 
 twelve months. 
 
 About this period Colonel Pack effected his 
 escape from the enemy under very trying cir- 
 cumstances. A humorous rhyme came out at 
 
220 APPENDIX. 
 
 the time relating to that gallant officer's 
 flight :- 
 
 " The devil break the gaoler's back, 
 That let thee loose, sweet Denis Pack." 
 
 A treaty of peace was soon afterwards brought 
 about, and the British troops returned to Eng- 
 land. 
 
 In 1806 Ensign L'Estrange was promoted to 
 a Lieutenancy in the 71st. He accompanied 
 them with the expedition to Portugal, under 
 the late Sir John Moore, at the breaking out of 
 the Peninsular War ; and served in the various 
 operations of the army until the beginning of 
 1809, when he was again taken prisoner. 
 
 The following extract is taken from a journal 
 of the late Sir Benjamin D'Urban : 
 
 " In the latter end of 1808, I was employed 
 on the Quartermaster- General's staff. I was 
 sent on a service of observation of great im- 
 portance to ascertain the real movements of a 
 French corps, under Marshal Lefevre, that had 
 arrived at Placencia and Coria, and seriously 
 menaced the frontiers of Portugal (then very 
 defenceless). 
 
APPENDIX. 221 
 
 "Major Guy L'Estrange, an old and dear 
 friend of mine, of the 31st Regiment, and his 
 cousin Lieutenant Edmund L'Estrange, of the 
 71st Regiment, at their own desire accompanied 
 me, and we proceeded with all possible speed to 
 Legura, Alcantara, and Ooria, where we came 
 into the immediate neighbourhood of the French 
 corps, and were enabled to watch it closely, and 
 send back to Portugal correct intelligence of its 
 movements. 
 
 " In the course of this service, which re- 
 quired great circumspection, I was deeply 
 indebted to the active ability of my two com- 
 panions, and I well remember the sagacity and 
 spirit of enterprise of Lieutenant L'Estrange, 
 and the great advantage besides which I derived 
 from his knowledge of the Spanish language, of 
 which I was then sadly ignorant. Thus we 
 attended Sir Robert Wilson in the desultory 
 but very enterprising operations in which he was 
 then incessantly engaged, and which had for 
 their object to deceive the enemy, and delay as 
 long as possible his nearer advance to learn the 
 defenceless condition of the frontiers of For- 
 
222 APPENDIX. 
 
 tugal. Very valuable and gallant were the ser- 
 vices of Lieutenant L'Estrange in all these 
 enterprises, until at length Sir Robert "Wilson 
 in person surprised and carried off a small post 
 of French cavalry near Calvedella, in the attack 
 of which Edmund L'Estrange's behaviour was 
 as usual excellent. But the French reserve 
 coming rapidly to the rescue with an over- 
 powering superiority, as well in number as in 
 quality of their force, overthrew and routed us, 
 and pursued us very inveterately. In the con- 
 fusion of our retreat poor L' Estrange fell into 
 the hands of the French cavalry, who sur- 
 rounded and made him prisoner. He was then 
 sent into France, and I deeply lamented his 
 loss on every account, public and private, for 
 he was a most amiable and estimable young 
 man ; and a more gallant and intelligent officer, 
 or one of greater promise, it has never been my 
 good fortune to meet with ; and I had afterwards 
 good reason to know how highly he was thought 
 of by his regimental commanding officer, Sir 
 Denis Pack (whose aide-de-camp he afterwards 
 became), and by his whole regiment." 
 
APPENDIX. 223 
 
 His sudden capture was entirely owing to the 
 horse he rode having formerly belonged to the 
 French cavalry. 
 
 L J Estrange was at this period employed in 
 reconnoitring at some distance in advance of 
 his friends, when he was unexpectedly surprised 
 by a mounted picquet of the enemy, who, upon 
 observing him, caused their trumpeter to blow 
 the charge ; his horse became instantly un- 
 manageable ; the well-known martial sound 
 completely fascinated the animal, so that all his 
 efforts to spur him on proved fruitless ; from 
 this unlucky event he was surrounded and made 
 prisoner ; the officer in command coming up at 
 the moment in full gallop, made a cut at him 
 with his sabre, which, however, L'E strange 
 dexterously parried, and he then was forced to 
 surrender. Lieutenant L'E strange was now 
 taken under escort overland to Verdun, in the 
 east of France, a station selected by their 
 Government for English prisoners of war. 
 The journey occupied some time, and was 
 tedious and fatiguing. He arrived at his des- 
 tination in March, 1809, and was detained 
 
224 APPENDIX. 
 
 for a considerable period at that place on 
 parole. 
 
 At first he became reconciled in a measure to 
 his position, in consequence of the hospitality 
 evinced by the French residents at Verdun to 
 the English prisoners. 
 
 Balls and parties succeeded each other, and a 
 variety of amusements introduced, to all of 
 which they were invited. At % ball masque 
 L' Estrange appeared in female costume, where 
 the following adventure occurred to him, which 
 unfortunately resulted in a duel, and he was 
 severely wounded. 
 
 His partner in the dance, a naval officer of 
 the British service, was not aware of the de- 
 ception ; his attentions being encouraged, a 
 flirtation ensued, which gave no little amuse- 
 ment to those in the secret. 
 
 During the course of the evening the officer 
 in question discovered the imposition ; but in- 
 stead of taking it in good part, his anger was 
 aroused. An apology was freely offered, and 
 every exertion made by friends on both sides 
 to subdue his resentment. All their efforts were 
 
APPENDIX. 225 
 
 unavailing; nothing would satisfy him but a 
 hostile meeting, which accordingly took place 
 the next morning. L' Estrange fired in the air ; 
 his opponent's shot, passing through his right 
 side, seriously wounded him, but he ultimately 
 made a perfect recovery. His adversary ex- 
 pressed deep regret for what had happened, and 
 was particularly kind to him during his illness : 
 they afterwards became great friends. 
 
 This incident created no little sensation in the 
 various circles of Verdun. The police were 
 much censured on account of the duel, and the 
 authorities dismissed some from office ; this 
 naturally gave rise to increased animosity 
 towards the English. Some time after he had 
 a disagreement with a tradesman who exacted 
 payment of his bill over again, the receipt for 
 which could not at first be found amongst his 
 papers, and, refusing to wait until further 
 search had been made, hurried to the Prefect 
 to lodge a complaint, glad of an opportunity to 
 exercise his power. - L' Estrange was thus un- 
 justly thrown into prison, without even giving 
 him the satisfaction of explaining the circum- 
 
 Q 
 
226 APPENDIX. 
 
 stance. However, at this period it occurred to 
 him that he could now, with propriety and 
 honour, effect his escape ; he was tired of a life 
 of idleness and dissipation, and longed to re- 
 sume the active duties of his profession. Full 
 of this idea, he consulted his friends on the 
 subject, for he had many; in fact, he was a 
 universal favourite ; they all agreed that as he 
 was imprisoned his parole became nugatory. 
 With these assurances, he made up his mind to 
 escape, and succeeded in doing so, disguised as 
 a pedlar. By this arrangement, he was enabled 
 to carry some wearing apparel without attract- 
 ing particular notice. His knowledge of the 
 French language (which he spoke with fluency) 
 he found of great use, but the want of a passe- 
 port was a terrible drawback. To avoid the 
 police, who were constantly on his track, often 
 puzzled him, and he was obliged to journey on 
 foot at night, taking refuge in the woods by 
 day. He had provided himself with a variety 
 of costumes, yet, with all his precautions, he 
 had the utmost difficulty to outwit the vigilance 
 of the gendarmerie in pursuit of him. One 
 
APPENDIX. 227 
 
 adventure is worth relating, and somewhat 
 romantic. He was so closely pressed by his 
 tormentors, that he adopted the disguise of a 
 female, a peasant's dress which he purchased in 
 a village at nightfall; returning with it to a 
 neighbouring wood, his late hiding-place, he 
 put it on, concealing the other garments there ; 
 repairing to an auberge for refreshment in his 
 new character, and while in the act of partaking 
 it, the police suddenly made their appearance. 
 He heard them eagerly inquiring after a fugitive 
 English prisoner, describing to the landlord a 
 person resembling himself in all particulars; 
 they were actually in the same room within a 
 few steps of him, but, quietly continuing 
 his repast, he did not attract their obser- 
 vation. 
 
 In the same costume he approached a cottage 
 in the vicinity of the village, and begged a 
 night's lodging ; his request was granted. In 
 order to baffle the designs of the police, he 
 resolved to remain in his present concealment ; 
 the cottagers were extremely kind, and not 
 arousing their suspicions he passed a week with 
 Q 2 
 
228 APPENDIX. 
 
 those good people, assisting them to work in 
 the fields, it being harvest time ; in this manner 
 he made himself very useful ; the family con- 
 sisted of the farmer, his wife, two sons, and a 
 daughter. After a few days the latter dis- 
 covered his deception ; she promised faithfully 
 not to betray him, and she kept her word. To get 
 away from this perilous position without delay 
 was not an easy matter; his inventive genius 
 did not desert him now. Feigning sickness 
 one morning, he proposed to take charge of the 
 dwelling while the family were at work ; during 
 their absence he fled from the cottage, and 
 reached his hiding-place in the wood, without 
 attracting any notice, where he had previously 
 left his bundle. 
 
 In the afternoon observing a party of mounted 
 gendarmerie proceeding towards the village, he 
 felt convinced they were the very same that he 
 had been in such unpleasantly close proximity 
 to at the auberge : he was afterwards confirmed 
 in this supposition. Later in the day he saw a 
 man advancing on horseback with a pillion; 
 reflecting upon the wisest plan to pursue, he 
 
APPENDIX. 229 
 
 suddenly decided how to act, and coming out of 
 his shady recess, asked the rider to give him a 
 lift ? His request was willingly complied with. 
 " Montez, Mademoiselle ! " said the equestrian, 
 and, backing the animal, our adventurer was soon 
 seated on the pillion. "While conversing with 
 his unsuspecting companion, who told him as an 
 amusing piece of information, he had just met 
 the gendarmerie, and they were in search of 
 an English prisoner who had escaped from Ver- 
 dun I Prudence prompted him not to be too 
 inquisitive, in case it might lead to more awk- 
 ward consequences. He had ascertained the 
 fact without doubt that the party referred to 
 were retracing their steps in pursuit of the 
 fugitive, and, like hounds at fault in the chase, 
 were trying back to find their game. 
 
 This circumstance removed considerable un- 
 easiness from his mind, and he now hoped to be 
 able to continue his journey with less risk of 
 being captured. When they had travelled about 
 two leagues he dismounted, wishing him good 
 night, with many thanks for his politeness ; and 
 directed his steps towards a plantation which 
 
230 APPENDIX. 
 
 was some little distance from the road, where, 
 throwing off his woman's garb for that of his 
 own sex, and, feeling less apprehensive than he 
 had done for some time, he lifted up his heart in 
 gratitude to God for thus far preserving him 
 from falling into the hands of his enemies ; 
 then, sitting down to rest in this tranquil spot, 
 he began considering which would be the safest 
 character to personate on his way to Rotterdam. 
 The female he thought objectionable, as the 
 police might have gained information from the 
 cottagers, of his late proceedings, and the ped- 
 lar's was equally imprudent ; so he resolved to 
 equip himself as a sailor ; but, alas ! on seeking 
 through his little stock of requisites, he did not 
 possess the necessary additions to make his 
 toilet complete as a jolly tar ; at last he decided 
 to try the dress of a labourer seeking harvest 
 work ; with & red wig and a patch on his eye, he 
 was sure it would be difficult for any one to 
 recognize him. After reposing until twilight set 
 in, he emerged cautiously from his place of con- 
 cealment, and resumed his journey onwards. 
 Here and there he succeeded in picking up the 
 
APPENDIX . 231 
 
 rig-out of a sailor, which he adopted. From 
 this period he was particularly fortunate, and 
 finally arrived at Rotterdam without further 
 adventure. It was in the autumn of 1810 he 
 entered that city, and put up at an obscure inn 
 frequented by nautical people, with a view not 
 only of avoiding detection, but also to be in a 
 better position of procuring a passage to Eng- 
 land, a most difficult matter to accomplish, as 
 the war was then at its height between the two 
 nations, and the gendarmerie always on the 
 qui-vive. 
 
 He negotiated with a smuggler to land him 
 on the British coast for a stipulated sum ; but 
 instead of fulfilling his agreement he betrayed 
 him to the police, and L J Estrange was arrested 
 and put in irons. He was detained at Rotter- 
 dam until instructions were received from the 
 Government respecting his future destination. 
 
 In the meantime very vigilant measures were 
 observed to prevent his escape ; a sentry, with 
 loaded gun, was placed outside his prison-door 
 day and night. 
 
 When about three weeks had elapsed, an 
 
232 APPENDIX. 
 
 order came for his removal to the Fortress of 
 Bitche, under a strong escort. This most trying 
 journey lasted upwards of six weeks ; his suffer- 
 ings the while were truly distressing, as the 
 gendarmes treated him with the utmost 
 cruelty the whole way, and were in the habit of 
 tying their unfortunate victim to the tail of 
 one of their horses, thus inhumanly dragging 
 him along. He remonstrated against such bar- 
 barous discipline as calmly as his painful 
 position would admit of: it proved of no 
 avail, they compelled him to submit; at the 
 end of each weary day, he was confined in 
 the darkest cell they could procure in the 
 prisons of the different towns at which they 
 halted. 
 
 During this tedious march he was deprived 
 of the common comforts of life; he did not 
 exchange any part of his wearing apparel, not 
 even his shirt, the whole way ; he was reduced 
 to a shocking state of misery, a spectacle worse 
 than the poorest beggar. On reaching the 
 Fortress of Bitche he was placed in a dungeon 
 heavily ironed, forty feet underground: all 
 
APPENDIX. 233 
 
 hopes of liberty now seemed utterly lost. Tor- 
 tured in mind as well as body, together with 
 the hardships he had endured on his journey, 
 immured in a damp, loathsome cell, without pure 
 air, and scarcely a glimmer of light, covered 
 with dirt and vermin, it is. not to be supposed 
 he could bear much longer this weight of 
 woe. 
 
 In words of fervent prayer he besought the 
 Almighty to release him from his agony, and 
 
 ere many days had elapsed he ceased to feel at 
 
 
 
 least the bitterness of his fate, as he was soon 
 seized with a violent fever, which, for a time, 
 rendered him insensible to the torments so 
 mercilessly heaped upon him by his relentless 
 persecutors. 
 
 For weeks his life was despaired of. At 
 length he rallied, but did not recover his 
 strength for more than six months. During 
 his convalescence he was often visited by a 
 French officer stationed in the fortress, who 
 appeared to take a lively interest in him, and 
 owing to his kindness his condition was much 
 improved. Through his intercession the irons 
 
234 APPENDIX. 
 
 were set aside, and he was removed to a better 
 quarter, not so damp or deep underground. 
 
 The fever he was labouring under being of a 
 very severe type he progressed but slowly, 
 extreme debility followed ; this humane young 
 man procured him wine and more nutritious 
 food than was usually allowed, indeed he was 
 the means, in God's hands, of saving his life by 
 his constant care. His friend had often charge 
 of the guard over the prisoners. 
 
 The officer on this duty had a privilege of 
 inviting one of the prisoners at a time, under 
 certain restrictions, to his guard-room. 
 
 As L 5 Estrange gradually regained his health, 
 whenever the already spoken of young French- 
 man was employed in this service, he invariably 
 selected him amongst the others; they thus 
 became most intimate. Owing to his inter- 
 ference, the commandant granted him permis- 
 sion to exercise in a courtyard with the rest 
 of his fellow-captives, which indulgence was 
 not intended to extend to him in consequence 
 of his escape from Verdun. This little walk 
 every day, even in so narrow a space, was a 
 
APPENDIX. 235 
 
 great source of enjoyment after a close confine- 
 ment of so many months ; lie now managed 
 occasionally to hold converse with some of his 
 companions during this hour of recreation. 
 Notwithstanding the endless precautions ad- 
 hered to, sentries posted everywhere to prevent 
 if possible any chance of escape, 'yet more and 
 more arose the long pent-up, fondly cherished 
 prospect of liberty: he panted for freedom, 
 thoughts of dear absent friends, and distant 
 loved scenes continually haunted him. An 
 active mind when roused to dwell on the attain- 
 ment of any particular object will never deem 
 it hopeless, but on the contrary exert every 
 energy to overcome the difficulties, let them be 
 ever so great and perplexing. Such was his 
 case. 
 
 At this period he was senior of. his rank in 
 the 71st, and what particularly annoyed him was 
 the circumstance of so many of his juniors having 
 been promoted over him, arising from the 
 regulations of the service prohibiting officers 
 obtaining advancement in their profession while 
 prisoners of war. 
 
236 APPENDIX. 
 
 L'Estrange's friends at home used every 
 exertion to effect an exchange with a French 
 prisoner of war of his own rank. The autho- 
 rities at the Horse Guards forwarded this 
 measure to the utmost, but the French Govern- 
 ment was dilatory, so the application failed to 
 come to anything, hence another disappoint- 
 ment. The only chance of getting away from 
 his hated state of exile was in flight, and how to 
 accomplish this undertaking was ever upper- 
 most in his mind ; he came to the conclusion it 
 would be madness to attempt so hazardous a 
 scheme without assistance, and for some time 
 felt puzzled as to who would be the best person 
 in the garrison to entrust with his secret plans. 
 At length he decided upon consulting the French 
 officer, whose repeated acts of kindness led him 
 now to hope he would not shrink from affording 
 all the necessary aid to further his views ; elated 
 with these reflections, and earnestly seeking 
 God's blessing on the result, he determined to 
 await patiently the first opportunity. It was 
 difficult to repress the eagerness he felt for the 
 interview to come off. Fortunately, not many 
 
APPENDIX. 237 
 
 days elapsed ere the longed-for event took 
 place, by his receiving an invitation from his 
 friend to meet in the guard-room allotted for 
 those (as before said) on this duty. His warm- 
 hearted companion realized his fondest expecta- 
 tions, entering fully into his numerous projects, 
 and promised to help him to the utmost of his 
 power to carry them out. And, truly, all 
 along he never forsook him, but continued his 
 faithful ally to the end. 
 
 They could not at first come to any defi- 
 nite understanding on the subject, it required 
 some mature consideration. On one occasion 
 L J E strange related that during the hour's 
 exercise in the prison-yard he had now and 
 then spoken to a spirited lad, an English mid- 
 shipman, full of life and activity, who pined so 
 sadly to get off, talking of nothing else, poor 
 boy. Could it be possibly arranged for them to 
 go together? He was undoubtedly an in- 
 telligent youth, and might be of use. After 
 various conversations, carefully weighing every 
 obstacle in their path, they at last agreed that 
 the least likely chance of attracting notice was 
 
238 APPENDIX. 
 
 to leave the fortress in the dress of a French 
 officer, which his friend volunteered to provide 
 him out of his own kit, and the young middy, 
 in a suit of livery, to pass off as his servant. 
 The clothes were to be smuggled by degrees 
 into each of their cells. When all this was 
 satisfactorily accomplished, and both knew the 
 countersign, the kindly Frenchman told them 
 they were to prepare on such an evening, at a 
 certain hour, for he purposed when taking his 
 rounds to leave their dungeon-doors unlocked 
 for a few minutes, so as to give them the 
 opportunity of slipping out, and then he 
 intended joining them a short distance, to 
 guide their steps within view of the entrance- 
 gate. 
 
 It need hardly be said how anxiously they 
 awaited the time appointed for their deliver- 
 ance. At length the lock turning grated on 
 their attentive ears, warning them both to 
 make their exit at once, when the officer 
 silently approached according to promise, lead- 
 ing the way through dismal corridors, dimly lit 
 here and there by an oil lamp, until getting 
 
APPENDIX. 239 
 
 out into the night air, and after going a little 
 further, whispered a God-speed to them and hur- 
 ried farewell, motioning by a gesture the path to 
 take, soon disappeared in a contrary direction. 
 
 Our two fugitives proceeded on, until ab- 
 ruptly accosted by a sentinel with the usual Qui 
 mve ? who then turned to address his unsophis- 
 ticated companion. L' Estrange recollecting at 
 the moment he could not speak a word of cor- 
 rect French, quickly exclaimed, "C'est mon 
 domestique :" to their intense relief the sentry 
 added, "C'est bon ; passe, mon^officier," and 
 unfastening the postern, quietly allowed them to 
 depart. 
 
 The formidable ramparts of the citadel 
 frowned menacingly in the gloom, increasing the 
 darkness as they hastily strode along : at the 
 termination of them, without further interrup- 
 tions, they found themselves on the main road, 
 heartily thankful for their good luck so far ; and 
 breathing more freely than they had as yet done, 
 they were enabled to converse unreservedly, 
 the elder impressing the young fellow with him 
 to be sure to follow his advice regarding their 
 
240 'APPENDIX. 
 
 movements, as so much depended on prudence 
 and forethought. He told him his object was 
 to reach Verdun, a distance of thirty leagues, 
 where he had many friends and acquaintances 
 prisoners of war, one in particular being Sir 
 Stephen May, to whom he had communicated 
 his intention of effecting his escape from Bitche, 
 requesting him, if he could possibly manage 
 it, to render any assistance in the event of 
 his being compelled to scale the walls of that 
 garrison, every turn of which he knew so well 
 during his lengthened detention there. The 
 greatest drawback now to contend with arose 
 from the want of a passeport, which precluded 
 them from attempting to enter the town with- 
 out being arrested, or to travel in any public 
 conveyance. 
 
 It was June, 1811, between nine and ten 
 o'clock p.m., that these two commenced their 
 journey on foot to Yerdun ; the undertaking 
 was favoured by mild, warm weather ; they cal- 
 culated that their escape would not be dis- 
 covered until eight o'clock the next morning, 
 when measures would be immediately taken to 
 
APPENDIX. 241 
 
 follow their track. L'E strange being the 
 most experienced, decided upon their doing as 
 he did before, walking all night long, and rest- 
 ing by day in some hiding-place, from whence 
 they might singly emerge cautiously fco purchase 
 food at unfrequented-looking farm-houses, or 
 small village shops. Making the most of their 
 time, they continued steadily to advance on 
 their way, thinking they must have now got 
 nearly forty miles from Bitche ; feeling com- 
 pletely exhausted, unaccustomed to exercise as 
 they had been for months, their feet began to 
 swell and blister most painfully; so both re- 
 solved to take refuge in the first wood they 
 came to, and recruit their failing strength, after 
 which one or other should sally forth to pro- 
 cure something to eat, as the cravings of appe- 
 tite were becoming highly unpleasant. 
 
 L'E strange considered it advisable then to 
 divest, himself of the French uniform for that 
 of a peasant, a light suit of which he had put on 
 under the military one, with a wig and bonnet 
 blue he had stowed away in his pretended 
 servant's pocket before starting. Discarding 
 
 E 
 
242 APPENDIX. 
 
 his false mustachios, he made a bundle of the 
 things taken off, and each gladly laid down on 
 the soft green grass, very soon falling into a 
 deep sleep. 
 
 From this they awoke greatly refreshed. 
 After which he went to seek some bread or any- 
 thing in that way, and shortly returned with a 
 pretty fair supply of what they were so much in 
 need of; partaking of their frugal meal, they 
 again set out with renewed vigour, L' Estrange 
 carrying the bundle of clothes under his arm. 
 It was now the dusk of the evening, and the 
 stars were twinkling numerously in the dark 
 blue canopy above, and thoughts of the mighty 
 Creator of all things roused feelings of love and 
 gratitude to God for their safety thus far. 
 These young men knew their capture would be 
 certain should their pursuers overtake them: 
 although they felt very stiff in their limbs on 
 resuming the journey, they fully determined not 
 to stop until Verdun came in sight, except for 
 a short time, during the heat of the next day, 
 so on they went the whole night. The hot 
 morning sun became at length very overpower- 
 
APPENDIX. 243 
 
 ing. The midshipman declared his toe-nails 
 were coming off, and sure enough on examina- 
 tion it was found to be the case. 
 
 Seeing a stream of cool water, in it they 
 bathed their weary feet, and found it most 
 soothing ; they fain would have stayed on there, 
 but it was too near the high road. About a 
 quarter of a mile distant appeared a thick 
 plantation : to that they directed their steps, 
 where they managed to get several hours' need- 
 ful rest. Upon arising, contrary to L'Estrange's 
 advice, his companion said he must bathe his 
 feet once more in the water they were at in the 
 morning ; the former told him very probably he 
 might be perceived, and if spoken to, not know- 
 ing the language well, would undoubtedly cause 
 suspicion ; he would persist in going, as his feet 
 were so painful the temptation could not be 
 resisted. L 5 Estrange watched his receding 
 figure, anxiously trusting he would come back 
 all right. But it was otherwise ordained, for 
 hour after hour passed without his doing so; 
 much alarmed, and heartily grieved for his 
 friend's imprudence, a dozen times he was on 
 
 E 2 
 
244 APPENDIX. 
 
 the point of going in quest of him, when voices 
 and the sound of horses' feet in the distance 
 warned him what madness it would be to ven- 
 ture out. Alas ! poor fellow ! that he had been 
 seized by the police there could be little doubt. 
 
 Quite unnerved and depressed by what had 
 happened, the perils of his own position 
 weighed more heavily on his mind now than 
 when shared with by another. He knew his 
 chief chance of safety was to remain perfectly 
 still until darkness set in; he singled out the 
 largest tree to climb into, should he hear any 
 one approaching his place of concealment. 
 
 It was with deep feelings of sadness for the 
 fate of his less fortunate comrade, that he started 
 once more on his way much later than usual, 
 thinking about sixteen miles further would bring 
 him to the walls of Yerdun, where he fully 
 expected to meet Sir Stephen May waiting to 
 render the assistance he had solicited from him, 
 to get into the town. Buoyed up with this hope, 
 he made all the speed he could ; but on arriving 
 at the wished-for haven great was his disappoint- 
 ment to find his friend had mistaken the point 
 
APPENDIX. 245 
 
 of rendezvous. Owing to this he had to stop 
 outside the town all night, to try and scale the 
 walls without help was the height of folly ; 
 overcome with fatigue and hunger he continued 
 for a long time in a sort of stupor, until daylight 
 roused him to a deeper sense of his helpless 
 condition ; he was completely at a loss what 
 course to pursue, if he was much longer in his 
 present destitute state he must perish from 
 hunger ; if he surrendered, the horrors of a dun- 
 geon awaited him : in this desponding mood his 
 attention was attracted by observing the ap- 
 proach of some waggons loaded with hay, pro- 
 ceeding towards the entrance-gate ; suddenly a 
 new means of deliverance flashed across his 
 brain, his plan was instantly formed, of cau- 
 tiously drawing near to, and walking by the 
 side of one of them, shaded by its bulky freight 
 from the driver's view ; strange to say, in this 
 simple manner he safely passed the barrier with- 
 out arresting the notice of the officials employed 
 to demand passports, their usual vigilance was 
 at fault on this occasion. He quickly hurried 
 to the residence of Sir Stephen May, who gave 
 
246 APPENDIX. 
 
 him a hearty welcome, although little expecting 
 his arrival, having given up all hopes of his 
 succeeding to elude the watchfulness of the 
 gendarmes. 
 
 He related to his friend the history of all 
 the sufferings he had gone through since 
 their last meeting, not forgetting to tell the 
 sad capture of the poor young midshipman the 
 day before. 
 
 L 5 Estrange had now, as much as ever, to be 
 on his guard to avoid discovery; for the French 
 Government offered large rewards for his appre- 
 hension. Strict orders were given to search in 
 every direction to find him. The dwelling of his 
 host was frequently visited by the police, as well 
 as the houses of all the English prisoners. His 
 friend contrived an ingenious hiding-place for 
 him, in a small recess annexed to their sitting- 
 room ; in this L' Estrange took refuge during the 
 operation of searching, which answered admira- 
 bly. These restrictions obliged him to be con- 
 stantly on the alert. 
 
 Sir Stephen's servant (a most faithful creature) 
 was let into the secret, after vowing never to be- 
 
APPENDIX. 247 
 
 tray him, and his efforts proved of great assist- 
 ance. 
 
 Sir Stephen and he alone knew the singular 
 position he was placed in ; a telegraphic warn- 
 ing was established between them, the latter 
 announcing by a peculiar whistle the approach 
 of the enemy; owing to this arrangement 
 L* Estrange had time to fly to his place of con- 
 cealment. In consequence of having so con- 
 stantly to be on the qui-vive, his stay at Verdun 
 was considerably prolonged, being unable to leave 
 the house except at night well disguised. One 
 evening, while out in this way, the following 
 incident occurred, showing what risk he ran. 
 
 Meeting an old brother officer, Captain R , 
 
 he was about to welcome him aloud, when 
 L' Estrange, afraid of exciting observation, made 
 a sign to prevent his doing so, and they passed 
 each other without further recognition. Day by 
 day getting more impatient with such bagatelle 
 work, an idea suggested itself which might tend 
 to divert the gendarmes from incessantly perse- 
 cuting him. By means of the press, through the 
 agency of his friend, he had an advertisement 
 
248 APPENDIX. 
 
 published in a Paris newspaper, notifying that 
 the " fugitive English officer, Monsieur L'Es- 
 trange, who absconded from Bitche, had ar- 
 rived safely on the coast of France, and was 
 supposed to be hidden near Calais, awaiting an 
 opportunity to escape to England." 
 
 In the course of a few weeks, the result of 
 this scheme became apparent, as the officials 
 sensibly relaxed in their precautions, and even- 
 tually discontinued their unwelcome visits to 
 Sir Stephen's dwelling. 
 
 This was a great victory gained, the wheel of 
 fortune had certainly taken a turn in his favour, 
 But he did not, however, abate in his measures 
 to guard against surprise ; the reward offered to 
 secure him was too tempting a bait to be alto- 
 gether lost sight of. 
 
 To obtain a passe-port now exclusively occu- 
 pied his thoughts, as being unprovided with 
 one prevented his progress onwards. 
 
 Sir Stephen May at last helped him out of 
 this dilemma by rather a questionable mode of 
 transaction, but which was happily crowned 
 with success. He happened to be at a stationer's 
 
APPENDIX. 249 
 
 shop, where lie was in the habit of dealing ; 
 while employed in selecting some articles he 
 required, he was accidentally shown the passe- 
 port forms, this was a good opportunity of 
 realizing the wishes of L' Estrange : to purchase 
 any would only lead to suspicion, so he resolved 
 to take possession of some of them secretly; 
 when the shopman was otherwise engaged he 
 cleverly managed to pocket a couple un- 
 observed, and he returned in the highest 
 spirits, triumphantly displaying his treasures to 
 the astonished gaze of L'Estrange. The next 
 consideration was how to fill up one of these 
 forms in the usual way, with a description of 
 the bearer, his age and profession ; it was a 
 puzzling task to undertake, and which required 
 much practice at dissimulation to accomplish ; 
 with an old passe-port of his friend's he com- 
 menced copying all the signatures of the pre- 
 fects, and in a short time completed it so dex- 
 terously that the closest observer could not 
 detect the fraud. Although very fragile, the 
 identical passe-port is still in existence. Another 
 obstacle had still to be overcome before he could 
 
250 APPENDIX. 
 
 leave Verdun; it was necessary to have his 
 passe-port examined by the authorities. To 
 attain this object he employed Sir Stephen's 
 trusty servant to concoct a plan for getting 
 it done. He accordingly left the precious docu- 
 ment at the passe-port office with a message 
 from the owner, saying he was unable to present 
 it himself as his time was so fully occupied, but 
 would call for it in a few days. The servant 
 then deputed an acquaintance to apply for it at 
 the appointed hour, requesting him to state that 
 pressure of business was the cause of Monsieur 
 not doing so. The paper was handed to the 
 messenger, signed in regular form, without re- 
 mark, the servant, cautious and intelligent, 
 remained at some distance from the office, 
 anxiously awaiting the result; after receiving 
 it safely, he quickly hastened home to his mas- 
 ter, highly delighted in having thus easily out- 
 witted the officials, and exultingly delivered it 
 to L'Estrange, who warmly thanked this worthy 
 man for the service he had so cleverly performed. 
 One day following, Sir Stephen was informed, 
 during a conversation with a French officer of 
 
APPENDIX. 251 
 
 the garrison, that the Government had come to 
 the conclusion the British officer who escaped 
 from Bitche had reached Calais ; although strict 
 search was desired to be made in all directions, 
 no tidings had since been heard of him. Nothing 
 in the shape of news could just then have 
 pleased L'Estrange more ; possessed as he 
 now was of the long coveted passe-port, he 
 decided at once upon leaving Verdun, dressed 
 again in the French uniform which he wore 
 with such success on his departure from Bitche; 
 assuming a black wig and mustachios of the 
 same dark hue, he presented a most imposing 
 appearance, feigning the name of Captain 
 Robert, journeying to the seat of war in Spain, 
 to rejoin his regiment. Before starting, he 
 found it absolutely necessary to replenish his 
 scanty wardrobe, which consisted only, when he 
 arrived in his humble garb at Verdun, of the 
 small bundle already twice mentioned, contain- 
 ing the uniform he was then wearing. 
 
 Having completed all these arrangements to 
 his satisfaction, and feeling most thankful to God 
 for his present brighter prospects, after bidding 
 
252 APPENDIX. 
 
 a long farewell to his good and kind friend, not 
 forgetting the faithful attendant whose efforts 
 had been so useful, he left Yerdun by the 
 night diligence in the middle of April, 1812, 
 and reached Paris without any particular 
 occurrence, his passe-port vise by autho- 
 rity gave him assurance and safety; passing 
 through fortified towns it was examined but 
 not very closely, seeing that the owner was 
 a military man. His place of abode in the 
 French capital was a quiet hotel in a remote 
 quarter of the city, where he changed his 
 uniform, and put on civilian's clothes, thinking 
 he would be less remarkable in them, and 
 having more freedom of action, be the better 
 enabled to visit and enjoy the numerous attrac- 
 tions in that charming metropolis. He saw the 
 young King of Rome, son and heir of the great 
 Napoleon (whose sad fate was little contem- 
 plated then). Having satisfied his curiosity 
 with all that was to be seen in the chief city of 
 France, his next care was to prepare for his 
 journey onwards, and to get his passe-port once 
 more vise without creating suspicion, which 
 
APPENDIX. 253 
 
 he was fortunate enough to get done without 
 much delay. So he started again by the diligence 
 for Bordeaux, disguised similarly as on leaving 
 Verdun. 
 
 The only event which took place in going 
 there worth mentioning, happened during a 
 conversation with two fellow-travellers, French 
 officers ; one of them asked him if he was a 
 Frenchman, to which he replied he was a 
 Dutchman, but had been long resident in France. 
 He told them this as he thought the language 
 of that country the most unlikely for his com- 
 panions to understand. This opinion proved 
 correct, for they pressed him no further, but it 
 was a great relief to him when they happily 
 took their departure from the diligence before 
 it arrived at Bordeaux. 
 
 Having safely got there, he repaired to the 
 residence of a family to whom Sir Stephen 
 May had given him a letter of introduction, 
 where he was most kindly received. The family 
 promised to assist him to the utmost of their 
 power to facilitate his escape to England. They 
 appeared to take a warm interest in his welfare, 
 
254 APPENDIX. 
 
 congratulated him on his clever flight from 
 Bitche, and assured him the authorities had 
 abandoned the idea of recapturing him as 
 hopeless, having come to the conclusion that he 
 had already reached England. This was all 
 very satisfactory ; he felt quite at home with 
 these hospitable people, and began at once con- 
 sulting them regarding the most prudent plan 
 of regaining his native land. He left off the 
 uniform, appearing again as a civilian, and 
 requested his new friends as a favour to intimate 
 to the servants of the house that Monsieur was 
 a connexion of the family; a suggestion they 
 adopted without delay, both to promote their 
 own safety, as well as to satisfy the curiosity of 
 the establishment. 
 
 His chief employment now consisted in 
 making the requisite preparations for his much 
 desired journey home. To secure a passage 
 from Bordeaux to England, at a period when 
 war was at its height between the two countries, 
 was extremely hazardous and almost impossible ; 
 therefore the scheme he formed to carry out 
 this object was a bold expedient, but none other 
 
APPENDIX. 255 
 
 appeared practicable, namely, to purchase a 
 boat and sail direct for Great Britain. 
 
 In accordance with this resolution, he bought 
 a fishing-boat, hired a servant, procured a passe- 
 port to proceed down the river, in which both 
 were described as fishermen. The next thing 
 was to lay in a supply of provisions and water ; 
 to get a chart of the river, a compass, together 
 with nets and other fishing apparatus ; having 
 had some experience formerly in yachting, satis- 
 fied also that the sailor was well skilled, likewise 
 that their united efforts were found sufficient to 
 manage the small craft. In two days they got 
 to the mouth of the river very quietly, but 
 shortly began to feel the effects of the swell 
 that at all times more or less agitates the Bay 
 of Biscay. It told at once on the frail bark 
 they were in ; one great roll of the mighty 
 element would have quickly sent them to per- 
 dition. Up to this mom'ent his sailor servant had 
 no idea of the enterprise he was about to at- 
 tempt ; the open sea before them, a stiff breeze 
 and the mountain-like waves of the ocean, raised 
 him to a terrible state of alarm ; he asked in a 
 
256 APPENDIX. 
 
 most excited manner if Monsieur intended run- 
 ning out to sea. L' Estrange giving him no an- 
 swer, he was on the point of raising a signal to 
 attract the guard-ship anchored at the entrance 
 of the harbour. L' Estrange, fully alive to the 
 fact that his fate was sealed if the crew of the 
 frigate took the alarm, the occasion required no 
 wavering of purpose at the impulse of the 
 moment he clapped a pistol to the fellow's head 
 and threatened to shoot him if he dared to move 
 or utter a sound. This had the desired effect ; 
 he remained silent and motionless for a con- 
 siderable time afterwards. The wind being off 
 the land was so far favourable for their progress, 
 when just at this critical point, two chasse- 
 marees were despatched in pursuit of them. 
 With a fervent prayer to the Almighty to pre- 
 serve him, L J Estrange put on all the sail the 
 little smack could bear, seized the tiller from 
 his trembling companion and struck out right 
 from shore. They had a good offing and a good 
 start, being separated by several miles from the 
 enemy's boats when the chase began. They 
 continued firing every now and then, the shots 
 
APPENDIX. 257 
 
 fortunately only whistling harmlessly in the 
 air. Providentially the wind lulled, and a dead 
 calm set in. His servant by this time becoming 
 more reconciled to his position, thinking it pro- 
 bably wisest to make the best of a bad bargain, 
 took to the oars, and they both pulled lustily as 
 for their lives. It was nearly dusk ere they lost 
 sight of the persevering chasse-marees. Ah 1 
 night they continued in this way, now rowing, 
 now resting to recruit their weary frames. But 
 towards morning the wind freshening, L'Es- 
 trange shaped his course by compass for the 
 Basque Eoads, where he knew the British fleet 
 was at anchor on the look out for the enemy. 
 Thus the day passed anxiously on. However, 
 about noon, his fondest hopes were realized 
 by coming in sight of the English squadron. 
 "With fervent thanks to God for His great mercies 
 and boundless joy he bore direct for them. As 
 he approached the fleet, a boat was despatched 
 from the flag- ship, with orders to board and 
 search the stranger. During this process, 
 L'Estrange lost but little time in apprising the 
 crew that he was an English officer, who had 
 
 s 
 
258 APPENDIX. 
 
 escaped from France, where lie had been more 
 than three years a prisoner. Upon hearing this 
 ,the honest sailors welcomed him with loud and 
 hearty cheers. 
 
 In this rapturous manner he was conducted 
 to the flag-ship, amidst the roars of the gallant 
 tars. When he came to the quarter-deck the 
 cheers and hurrahs were repeated by all the 
 officers and seamen on board each vessel. He 
 was then presented to the Admiral, who received 
 him with the utmost kindness, had a cabin 
 prepared for his accommodation, providing him 
 with every comfort. He related the outlines of 
 his adventures to the Admiral, who listened to 
 his story with profound attention, after which he 
 highly complimented him on his ability and 
 tact in making such a remarkable escape. 
 
 It would be difficult to describe his feelings 
 of happiness in finding himself at last safely on 
 board a British man-of-war. After all the 
 hardships and difficulties he had gone through, 
 it graciously pleased the Almighty to crown his 
 efforts in the end with success. Before many 
 days elapsed, he was landed at Plymouth, where 
 
APPENDIX. 259 
 
 the major and corporation of that borough gave 
 him a public dinner, on which occasion his 
 health was drunk with all the honours. 
 
 He proceeded from Plymouth forthwith to 
 London, and obtained an interview with his late 
 Royal Highness the Duke of York, who gave 
 him a most gratifying reception. 
 
 A company being then vacant in the 71st, 
 His Royal Highness was pleased to grant his 
 promotion ; and, in addition, bestowed upon him 
 all his back rank in the regiment as a particular 
 mark of his favour. 
 
 He subsequently sailed for Portugal, and be- 
 came aide-de-camp to Sir Denis Pack, then in 
 command of a brigade of the army under Wel- 
 lington. He served on his staff with that bri- 
 gade, which bore a very distinguished part, to 
 the close of the Peninsular War in 1814 He 
 was wounded at the battle of Vittoria, and had 
 two horses shot under him at Toulouse, the last 
 desperate engagement in the Peninsular War. 
 
 When at Bordeaux again, he had the pleasure 
 of meeting the kind family, who were instru- 
 mental in assisting him in his departure from 
 
 s 2 
 
260 APPENDIX. 
 
 that place : they still continued to pay him 
 every attention and hospitality. 
 
 Bonaparte having been once more proclaimed 
 Emperor of France, after his flight from Elba 
 in 1815, hostilities recommenced between Eng- 
 land and France. 
 
 At the memorable battle of Waterloo, Sir 
 Denis Pack l was a second time in command of 
 a brigade. L'Estrange, now brevet-major, was 
 again appointed his aide-de-camp. In the midst 
 of the thickest of the carnage which took place 
 on that ever to be remembered day, this gallant 
 young fellow was amongst the number of those 
 ruthlessly struck down in that terrible but vic- 
 torious battle. A round-shot struck and shat- 
 tered his right leg, killing his horse at the same 
 moment. He underwent amputation of the 
 limb, but the fearful shock to the nervous system, 
 
 1 Many years after this sad event, Lady Pack, on the 
 death of her husband, while looking over his private papers 
 in a cabinet, discovered the miniature, in a red morocco 
 case, of the subject of this short Memoir. She forwarded it 
 to his youngest brother, at that time Captain in the 7 1st 
 Highland Light Infantry, according to Sir Denis' desire 
 that it should be sent to him at his death. 
 
APPENDIX. 261 
 
 and excessive loss of blood, proved too much 
 for his constitution, and he died from exhaus- 
 tion. Thus fell prematurely as brave an officer 
 as ever served in the British army, at the early 
 age of twenty-seven, and eleven years' service, 
 most deeply lamented by a widowed mother, 
 and a numerous circle of sorrowing relatives 
 and friends. 
 
II. 
 
 THE following favourable notices of Lieut. - 
 Colonel George Guy Carleton L'Estrange 
 (uncle of Sir George L'Estrange), and some 
 extracts relating the distinguished part taken 
 by the Second Battalion of the 31st Regiment 
 in several battles of the Peninsular War, are 
 taken from the " Historical Record of the 
 31st, or, The Huntingdonshire Regiment of 
 Foot. By Richard Cannon, Esq. Printed by 
 Authority:" 
 
 MANCHESTER. 
 
 In August 1819, in consequence of disturb- 
 ances in the manufacturing districts, three 
 companies of the 31st Regiment proceeded to 
 Manchester, three to Macclesfield, and three 
 to Stockport. On the 10th of the same month 
 the regiment was employed in Manchester. 
 
 An assemblage of people estimated at forty 
 
APPENDIX. 263 
 
 to sixty thousand, took place on the 16th of 
 August, in an open space in the town of Man- 
 chester, named St. Peter's Field, for the pur- 
 pose of petitioning Parliament. Such meetings 
 having been forbidden by proclamation some 
 weeks previously, the military were employed 
 by the civil authorities in dispersing the crowd 
 of persons who had entered the town, with 
 banners, some of which were of a menacing 
 nature. 
 
 The troops of the garrison, the 15th Hussars, 
 the 31st and 88th Regiments, with the Chester 
 and Manchester Yeomanry Cavalry, were ordered 
 to be assembled in the vicinity, .under the 
 Senior Officer Lieut. -Colonel L'E strange, of the 
 31st Regiment. The Yeomanry were engaged 
 during part of the day in dispersing the mul- 
 titude, many of whom received injuries, and 
 eight or ten were killed. The regular troops 
 behaved with their usual coolness and discipline 
 in the delicate and important duty they had to 
 perform. The thanks of the Prince Regent 
 and of the Magistrates were communicated to 
 the troops in the following letters : 
 
264 APPENDIX. 
 
 " Whitehall, 21st August, 1819. 
 " Sir, I lost no time in laying before the 
 Prince Regent your letter to me of the 17th 
 August, together with the enclosure to yourself 
 from Lieut.-Colonel L'Estrange, and I have 
 great satisfaction in obeying the commands of 
 his Royal Highness, by requesting that you will 
 express to Lieut.-Colonel L'Estrange and to the 
 officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates, 
 that served under his command at Manchester 
 on the 16th of August, his Royal Highnsss's 
 high approbation of the exemplary manner in 
 which they assisted and supported the civil 
 authorities of the County Palatine of Lancaster 
 on that day. 
 
 " I have, &c., 
 (Signed) " SIDMOUTH." 
 
 " New Bailey Court House, August 17th, 1819. 
 " The Magistrates of the two counties of Lan- 
 caster and Chester, assembled at Manchester, 
 request Lieut.-Colonel L'Estrange will accept 
 for himself, and convey to the officers, non- 
 commissioned officers, and privates under his 
 
APPENDIX. 265 
 
 command, their best and sincerest thanks, for 
 the energy, tempered by the greatest humanity, 
 displayed in their conduct yesterday, a conduct 
 peculiarly characteristic of the British soldier. 
 (Signed) " WM. HUTTON, Chairman" 
 
 The disturbances among the manufacturing 
 classes having subsided, the 31st Regiment left 
 Manchester on the 2nd of June, 1820. The 
 troops had been much harassed throughout the 
 winter, in consequence of the ill spirit which 
 prevailed among the people of the surrounding 
 districts, and on the removal of the regiment 
 the municipal authorities of Manchester and 
 Salford, addressed a letter to Lieut. -Colonel 
 L'Estrange, expressing their regret at its de- 
 parture and their esteem for its conduct during 
 the eventful period the corps was stationed in 
 those towns. 
 
 On the 10th of June, 1820, the regiment 
 arrived at Sunderland. 
 
 ALBUERA. 
 
 The second battalion of the 31st was on the 
 left of Lieut. -Colonel Colborne's brigade, in the 
 
266 APPENDIX. 
 
 division under Major- General the Honourable 
 William Stewart, which was drawn up, in one 
 line, behind the village of Albuera ; its right 
 on a commanding hill, over which the Val- 
 verde Road passed; its left on the road to 
 Badajoz. 
 
 On the morning of the 16th of May, the 
 grand attack was made by the French on the 
 right of the position and in a line at right 
 angles to it : this point was contested by the 
 Spaniards without success they gave way and 
 the French columns pushing on, seized the 
 crown of the hill, and bringing up their reserves, 
 established their batteries in position on it. 
 At this moment Major- General the Honourable 
 William Stewart brought forth Lieut. -Colonel 
 Colborne's brigade, and arrived with it at the 
 foot of the hill, while all was in confusion 
 above. The Major-General rushed on in open 
 column of companies, attempting to form his 
 line in succession as the battalions arrived. 
 The 31st, the left of the brigade, was still in 
 column, when four regiments of hussars and 
 lancers, which had been concealed by the heavy 
 
APPENDIX. 267 
 
 rain falling at the time, passed by the right 
 flank to the rear of the line. 
 
 " One battalion only (the 31st), being still 
 in column, escaped the storm, and maintained 
 its ground, while the French horsemen, riding 
 violently over everything else, penetrated to all 
 parts." ' 
 
 Major-General the Honourable William Lum- 
 ley sent some squadrons of cavalry to take the 
 attention of the lancers, but the 31st con- 
 tinued to hold the height, while the Spaniards 
 would not advance, and Marshal Soult still 
 kept his columns together on the point he had 
 assailed. Major-General Houghton's brigade 
 coming up in good order, under Major-General 
 the Honourable "William Stewart, and being soon 
 afterwards reinforced by a portion of the fourth 
 division, relieved the second battalion of the 
 31st from the difficulty of its position. 
 
 The 31st had two Serjeants and twenty-six 
 rank and file killed, and Captains Fleming and 
 Knox, Lieutenants Butler, Gethen, and Bolton, 
 
 1 " History of the Peninsular War. By Major-General 
 Sir William Napier." 
 
268 APPENDIX. 
 
 Ensigns Wilson and Nicholson, four Serjeants, 
 and 116 rank and file, wounded. Major George 
 Guy Carleton L'Estrange, who commanded the 
 battalion at the battle of Albuera, was pro- 
 moted to the rank of Lieut. -Colonel in the army 
 for his conduct on that day, and received a 
 medal. Viscount "Wellington alluded to his 
 gallantry in the following terms : " There is 
 one officer Major L'Estrange, of the 31st, whom 
 I must recommend in the strongest manner, for 
 promotion in some way or other. After the 
 other parts of the same brigade were swept off 
 by the cavalry, this little battalion alone held 
 its ground against all the colonnes en masse." 
 
 Captain Peter Fearon, of the 31st, dis- 
 tinguished himself on the same day in command 
 of the Lusitanian Legion, and received a medal 
 for his conduct. 
 
 The Eoyal Authority was afterwards given 
 for the 31st to bear the word " Albuera " on 
 their regimental colour and appointments, to 
 commemorate the distinguished conduct of the 
 second battalion on that memorable occasion. 
 
APPENDIX. 269 
 
 VITTORIA. PYRENEES. THE NIVELLE. 
 
 The allied army remained in cantonments 
 until the month of May, 1813; on the 19th of 
 that month the second battalion of the 31st, in 
 the second division, broke up from its winter- 
 quarters, and, forming a part of the right wing 
 of the army, shared in the operations during 
 the advance upon Burgos and Vittoria ; in the 
 plan for the action of the 21st of June, before 
 Vittoria, Lieutenant- General Sir Eowland Hill's 
 corps, composed of Morillo's Spaniards, Syl- 
 veira's Portuguese, and the second British 
 division, forming the right of the allied army, 
 was to attack the enemy's left, and forcing 
 the passage of the Lower Zadora at Puebla, 
 assail the French on the heights beyond, 
 entering the plain of Vittoria by the defile of 
 La Puebla. The river was passed about ten 
 o'clock a.m., and Morillo's Spaniards assailed 
 the mountain with his first brigade ; but meet- 
 ing with much resistance on the heights, called 
 up his second brigade, which (the French being 
 also reinforced) was supported by part of the 
 
270 APPENDIX. 
 
 second division; while Lieutenant- General Sir 
 Eowland Hill, with the rest, passed through 
 the defile, and, seizing the village of Subijana 
 de Alava, held his ground. He thus connected 
 his own right with the troops on the mountain, 
 and maintained this forward position, although 
 the French made great efforts to dislodge the 
 Allies from this vantage-ground. 
 
 Meanwhile the fourth division crossed by the 
 bridge of Nanclares. The action on the British 
 right was severe, and sustained with great gal- 
 lantry. The French, being driven from all 
 their defences, retreated with such precipitation 
 towards Pampeluna as to abandon all their bag- 
 gage, artillery, ammunition, military chests, and 
 the court equipage of King Joseph, whose carriage 
 being seized, he had barely time to escape on 
 horseback. The defeat was the most complete 
 that the French had experienced in Spain. The 
 Idton of Marshal Jourdan was taken, and the 
 Prince Regent, in the name and behalf of his 
 Majesty, appointed the Marquis of Wellington a 
 Field Marshal. In a most flattering letter, the 
 Prince Regent thus conferred the honour : "You 
 
APPENDIX. 271 
 
 have sent me among the trophies of your un- 
 rivalled fame, the staff of a French Marshal, 
 and I send you in return that of England." 
 
 During part of the day the second battalion 
 of the 31st was stationed to cover a brigade of 
 guns : its loss was not very great, being one 
 private killed and thirteen wounded. Captain 
 Girdlestone was the only officer of the 31st who 
 was wounded. 
 
 Lieutenant- Colonel Leith received a medal 
 for his conduct in command of the battalion; 
 and the Royal Authority was afterwards given 
 for the word "Vittoria" to be inscribed on 
 the regimental colour and appointments of the 
 31st Regiment, to commemorate the gallantry 
 of the second battalion in that battle. 
 
 The second battalion of the 31st Regiment 
 shared in the pursuit of the enemy after his 
 defeat at Vittoria; and when the Marquis of 
 Wellington marched, on the 26th of June, to 
 intercept the French general, Clausel, it re- 
 mained with the other corps of the second 
 division for the siege of Pampeluna. 
 
 Although the enemy had withdrawn his right 
 
272 APPENDIX. 
 
 and left into France, lie maintained his centre 
 in force in the rich valley of Bastan, which 
 afforded numerous strong positions ; and the 
 troops under Lieutenant- General Sir Rowland 
 Hill, having been relieved from the blockade of 
 Pampeluna, advanced to dislodge the French. 
 On the 4th of July, and the three following 
 days, General Gazan was driven from the valley 
 of the Bastan by the troops under Lieutenant- 
 General Sir Eowland Hill, and the positions 
 abandoned by the enemy were occupied by 
 the British. Major-General Byng's brigade, of 
 which the 31st formed part, with some Spanish 
 corps under General Morillo, took possession of 
 the Pass of Eoncesvalles on the 7th of July. 
 In this celebrated valley the 31st remained for 
 a few days. v 
 
 Marshal Soult having arrived at Bayonne on 
 the 13th of July, to command, as Lieutenant of 
 the Emperor, the united French army of Spain, 
 amounting to above 78,000 men. exclusive of 
 garrisons, collected more than 60,000 of his own 
 left, and advanced on the 25th of July to 
 force the Pass of Roncesvalles. The brigade 
 
APPENDIX. 273 
 
 which had been ordered to occupy the pass, 
 and of which the 31st formed a part, kept 
 the French in check for several hours, but 
 was obliged to fall back- on perceiving that 
 a strong body had succeeded in turning the 
 position. 
 
 The 31st had two privates killed and threo 
 wounded in the action on the 25th of July. On 
 the 28th and 30th of July the battalion was 
 engaged in the attack made upon the enemy on 
 the heights in front of Pampeluna, and had 
 Captain Girdlestone, Ensign Smith, and Quar- 
 master M'Intosh, together with thirty-three 
 rank and file, wounded ; two rank and file were 
 killed. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Leith received a clasp, in 
 addition to his former medal, for his conduct 
 on these occasions. 
 
 The 31st Regiment subsequently received the 
 Royal Authority to bear the word " Pyrenees " 
 on the regimental colour and appointments, to 
 commemorate the services of the second bat- 
 talion in these several combats, which had been 
 designated the " Battles of the Pyrenees." 
 
274 APPENDIX. 
 
 On the 31st of July Major-General Byng's 
 brigade captured a large convoy near Elizondo, 
 and made many prisoners. 
 
 The British troops resumed their position in 
 the Pyrenees, awaiting the capture of St. 
 Sebastian and Pampeluna. St. Sebastian was 
 captured on the 31st of August, and on the 
 31st of October the French garrison of 
 Pampeluna surrendered prisoners of war. 
 Pampeluna being captured, the right of the 
 allied army, which had been employed in 
 covering the blockade, became disengaged ; and 
 the British commander, looking down from the 
 lofty Pyrenees on the well-guarded territory of 
 France, resolved to carry the war into the heart 
 of that country. The British army, early on 
 the morning of the 10th of November, descended 
 into the valleys on the French side ; the divi- 
 sion of which the 31st formed part entered 
 France by the Pass of Maya, having sustained 
 some loss in the capture of one of the enemy's 
 redoubts. 
 
 Only one man belonging to the battalion was 
 killed, but Gaptain Girdlestone and eleven rank 
 
APPENDIX. 275 
 
 and file were wounded. Marshal Soult's army 
 was driven from his fortified position on the 
 river Nivelle, and several guns and prisoners 
 were captured. The French being pursued on 
 the following day, retired to their fortified 
 camp near Bayonne. 
 
 Captain Thomas Samuel Nicolls was pro- 
 moted to the rank of Major in the army for his 
 conduct on this day, and the 31st afterwards 
 received the Royal Authority to bear the word 
 "Nivelle" on the regimental colour and ap- 
 pointments, in testimony of the gallantry of the 
 second battalion in that action. 
 
 The action at ST. PIEEEE, near Bayonne. 
 
 This great service was thus performed by 
 Sir Rowland Hill. The enemy, who had failed 
 in all their attempts with their whole force 
 upon Lord Wellington's left, withdrew to their 
 intrenchments on the night of December 12th, 
 and passed a large body of troops through the 
 town of Bayonne. With these, on the morning 
 of the 13th, they made a desperate attack on 
 Sir Rowland Hill. This, as has appeared, was 
 
 T 2 
 
276 APPENDIX. 
 
 not unexpected; and Lord Wellington had 
 placed at his disposal not only the sixth 
 division, but the fourth division, and two 
 brigades of the third. 
 
 Soult's objects were to gain the bridge of 
 St. Pierre, to make himself master of the road 
 to St. Jean Pied de Port, and to break through 
 the position of the Allies. For these purposes 
 he put forth his whole strength, and was com- 
 pletely vanquished. Even before the sixth 
 division arrived, Sir Rowland Hill had repulsed 
 him with prodigious loss ; and although he skil- 
 fully availed himself of a high ground in re- 
 treating, he could not stand against the famous 
 charge of General Byng, and was entirely 
 defeated. 
 
 It was a battle fought and won by the corps 
 of Sir Rowland Hill, alone and unaided. At 
 the instant of victory Lord "Wellington came up, 
 and in the ecstasy of the moment of triumph, 
 caught him by the hand, and said, " Hill, the 
 day is your own !" 
 
 The 31st had seven rank and file killed, and 
 three Serjeants, two drummers, and twenty- 
 
APPENDIX. 277 
 
 seven rank and file, wounded. Lieut. -Colonel 
 Leith, who received a cross for his conduct, 
 was slightly wounded. Ensign Hardy died of 
 his wounds. 
 
 OETHES. TOULOUSE. 
 
 On the 27th of February the second battalion 
 of the 31st, in Lieut. -General Sir Eowland 
 Hill's division, crossed the Adour on the right 
 of Orthes, with the loss of only two rank and 
 file wounded. 
 
 Lieut.-Colonel Leith gained another dis- 
 tinction, and the 31st afterwards received the 
 Royal Authority to bear the word " Orthes " on 
 the regimental colour and appointments, in 
 commemoration of the conduct of the second 
 battalion in that battle. 
 
 Advancing rapidly against the enemy, Lieut.- 
 General Sir Rowland Hill engaged him at Aire, 
 on which occasion the 31st had Ensign Hard- 
 castle (captain in the 3rd Portuguese Ca?a- 
 dores), one serjeant, and two rank and file, 
 wounded. 
 
 On the 10th of April, the second battalion of 
 
278 APPENDIX. 
 
 the 31st Regiment was in action with the 
 French in the suburbs of Toulouse, and had 
 one private wounded. 
 
 During the night of the 10th of April, the 
 French army evacuated Toulouse, and the 
 white flag was hoisted. On the day following, 
 the Marquis of Wellington entered the city 
 amidst the acclamations of the inhabitants. 
 In the afternoon of this day intelligence was 
 received of the abdication of Napoleon; and 
 had not the express been delayed on the 
 journey by the French police, the sacrifice of 
 many valuable lives would have been prevented. 
 A disbelief in the truth of this intelligence 
 occasioned much unnecessary bloodshed at 
 Bayonne, the garrison of which made a despe- 
 rate sortie on the 14th of April, and Lieut.- 
 General Sir John Hope, afterwards Earl of 
 Hopetoun, was wounded and taken prisoner. 
 Major-General Andrew Hay was killed, and 
 Major-General Stopford was wounded. This 
 was the last action of the Peninsular War. 
 The advance of the allied troops into the heart 
 of France led to a Treaty of Peace, by which 
 
APPENDIX. 279 
 
 Louis XVIII. was restored to the throne of 
 that kingdom, and Napoleon Bonaparte was 
 permitted to reside at Elba, the sovereignty of 
 that island having been conferred upon him 
 by the Allied Powers. 
 
 The war being ended, the second battalion 
 of the 31st Regiment was ordered to return to 
 England. It marched from Toulouse to Bor- 
 deaux on the 3rd of June, and on the 12th of 
 July embarked in the " Rodney," disembarking 
 on the 23rd at the Cove of* Cork, whence it 
 immediately marched to Middleton. 
 
 In commemoration of the services of the 
 second battalion, the 31st subsequently received 
 the Royal Authority to bear the word " Penin- 
 sula" on the regimental colour and appoint- 
 ments, in addition to the names of the several 
 actions in which the second battalion had taken 
 a prominent part, during the war in Spain from 
 1808 to 1814, namely, "Talavera," "Albuera," 
 "Vittoria," "Pyrenees," "Nivelle," " Nive," 
 and " Orthes." 
 
 Lieut. -Colonel Alexander Leith was nomi- 
 nated a Knight Commander of the Order of the 
 
280 APPENDIX. 
 
 Bath for his conduct in command of the second 
 battalion during the Peninsular War. 
 
 In 1814, Lieut. -Colonel George Guy Carleton 
 L'E strange, who was promoted from Major in 
 the 31st Regiment to the rank of Lieut. -Colonel 
 in the 26th Regiment on the 15th of December, 
 1812, was nominated a Companion of the Order 
 of the Bath for his conduct while serving with 
 the second battalion of the 31st Regiment. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, ST. JOHN'S SQUARE, LONDON. 
 
.'.to- 
 
 RETURN TO the circulation desk of any 
 University of California Library 
 or to the 
 
 NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 Bldg. 400, Richmond Field Station 
 University of California 
 Richmond, CA 94804-4698 
 
 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 
 2-month loans may be renewed by calling 
 
 (415)642-6753 
 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books 
 
 to NRLF 
 Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days 
 
 prior to due date 
 
 DUE AS STAMPED BELOW 
 
 QP 
 
 W ' 
 
 JAN 
 
 7 1993 
 
 
 
 
\X 
 
 YC 7526 
 
 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 i3i