BY THE SAME AUTHOR A PRISONER OF FRANCE, the Memoirs, Diary, and Correspondence of Charles Boothby , Captain Royal Engineers, during his last Campaign. Square Crown 8vo. Cloth. Price 6s. Containing Frontispiece Portrait of the Author, and several Pen-and-ink Sketches. “We cordially recommend this charming bit of autobiography.”— Daily Chronicle. “Should be in the hands of all young soldiers, for it is a manual of soldierly kindness and fine humanity.”— Vanity Fair. A. & C. BLACK, SOHO SQ

Why should I now write my life, or retrace the more adventurous part of it? I have no material to afford instruction or impart knowledge even to the humblest class of readers. I have been an unobservant and an unintelligent traveller. The exclusive occupation of an arduous profession may indeed excuse this, but cannot obviate its sterilising consequences. I have no new events, no unknown regions, no wonderful discoveries to unfold. Reader, there are a great many good reasons for not troubling th

Captain Boothby’s design of publishing his journals was never carried out in his lifetime, and now, six-and-seventy years after he wrote the above introduction, they are brought out for the first time in book form. Incorporated with them are his letters to the various members of his family, which, having been written without any thought of reproduction, are perhaps even more vivid and natural than the journal itself. These carry on the narrative, and bridge over what might otherwise have been ga

Began to blow hard as we made the Scilly Isles, chops of Channel so rough, landsmen on beam ends. In Bay of Biscay, increased to squally gale. One entire day in cabin. Great confusion from violence of motion. Every day afterwards on deck. April 26, 1805. —Delightful starlight night. Fleet in compact body with lights astern; silence only broken by mellowed sea noises. So happy a time for the feast of thought, that I could not leave deck till after midnight. April 27. —Voyage ten days old. Wrote t

July 4, 1806. —The position of the enemy was at right angles with the trend of the beach, and so distant from it as to admit of operations between the sea and his left flank, which was weak from the nature of the ground, an inconvenience the enemy could not avoid from our being masters of the water, upon which was Sir Sidney Smith with a line-of-battle ship and three frigates. The British marched with extended flanks and a heavy column in the centre, the right flank covered by the sea, the left

Messina , August 18, 1807 . My dear Boothby —I had the pleasure of receiving your letter of the 22nd July, on my return from Palermo, two days ago. All I shall say at present is, that I have a strong wish to serve and to oblige you. I shall speak both to Major Bryce and to General Oakes on the subject of your wishes, and when an opportunity offers, if the situation is thought eligible for you and can be managed, you shall have my interest.—I have the honour to remain with great regards, very fai

Sudbury , March 1808 . Dear Sir —I did myself the honour to wait upon you in London, and trust that you will allow me to say by letter what I would have expressed in conversation. I experienced with much regret the breaking up of that army in which I felt so fortunately situated and befriended by you. But I do not despair of being again under your command, which is my first wish, and have only to fear the being sent out of the way before anything should occur. As your kindness on that head, as o

Mr. Boothby will be pleased to proceed this night by Castracontrigo, and endeavour to reach Sanabria to-morrow evening, or early on the following morning. The object is to obtain correct information of any movements of the enemy from Benavente towards Orense, and to transmit the same by the most expeditious and secure route to Sir John Moore. Also to endeavour to induce the Spanish troops now at or near Sanabria to defend the passes as long as possible, and also to defend the fortress of Puebla

On the Burial of Sir John Moore Plymouth Dock , January 28, 1809 . Ever dearest Father —You will not be very sorry to hear of my arrival in England in good health, but, on the other hand, I have not a penny that I know of, nor a shirt nearer than Lisbon. I shall come up to London without delay, find out where you are, and endeavour to spend some time amongst you, to lay down my head, and settle my affairs. The man I looked up to as a god, and held in the most cordial respect and affection, after

To one who enters the Tagus in a fine season there is something inexpressibly captivating wherever he turns his eyes. The magnificent rock or mountain, forming a gigantic portal to the mouth of the river, is remarkable for the richness and variety of colour, the grandeur of its size, and the wildness and taste of its form. From this feature, towards Lisbon, towns, orange groves, forts, and palaces make every yard a picture, and as he approaches Lisbon the size and style of the buildings advance;

April 1809. —As my stay is remembered with indifference, it was not marked by any high degree of satisfaction. Although I did not pretend to form a deliberate opinion upon the affairs of the Peninsula, yet my involuntary belief was that there would be no campaign. I considered Sir John Moore’s retreat as a lesson likely to teach caution to the British Government, and that they would not now venture to stake the flower of her army on the fate of Spain against the wishes of the nation, seeing that

April 16, 1809. —About the middle of the month of April I left the capital of Portugal. I was to bear-lead a party of artificers and some mules laden with intrenching tools, and among other désagréments Mr. Louis came to me already thoroughly exhausted, and could not for love nor money procure a beast. “Then walk,” said I. “Pardon me,” said he, “’tis wholly out of my power.” “Then stay behind,” returned I, chafed at his little control over difficulties. “’Tis what I shall be reduced to,” answere

April 1809. —None of the roads leading into the town of Lisbon announce one’s approach to a great capital. They are universally paved, the sides of the road overhung with vines and trees, with awkward country houses, and now and then a tasteless palace. The road from Cintra to Lisbon by Ociras is the best furnished, and more diversified by the contrivances of wealth than any by which I have approached that metropolis. By the right bank of the Tagus to Santarem nothing is at all interesting until

Quite private. Don’t speak of this. July 1, 1808. My dear Uncle —We are certainly bound for England. Sir John Moore was made prisoner at Stockholm, and escaped in disguise, having, I suppose, been previously provided with couriers’ passes, etc. I am now going on board the Victory to ask Sir John if there will be any objection to your going in this ship, and as no objection can be made, you had better, if it suits you, put yourself afloat as soon as possible, as we shall sail to-morrow. If you th

Before reading the official despatches on the battle of Corunna it is important to have some idea of the plan adopted by the enemy, and it is with the greatest interest we read that, 32 “When Buonaparte received intelligence that the British were moving to the Duero,” he said, ‘Moore is the only General now fit to contend with me; I shall advance against him in person.’ “Orders were then sent to the Duke of Dalmatia to give way, if attacked, and to decoy the British to Burgos, or as far eastward

London Gazette Extraordinary Downing Street , January 24, 1809 . The Honourable Captain Hope arrived late last night with a Despatch from Lieutenant-General Sir David Baird to Lord Viscount Castlereagh, one of His Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State, of which the following is a copy:— His Majesty’s Ship “Ville de Paris,” At Sea , January 18, 1809 . My Lord —By the much-lamented death of Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore, who fell in action with the Enemy on the 16th instant, it has become m

His Majesty’s Ship “Audacious,” Off Corunna , January 18, 1809 . Sir —In compliance with the desire contained in your communication of yesterday, I avail myself of the first moment I have been able to command to detail to you the occurrences of the action which took place in front of Corunna on the 16th instant. It will be in your recollection, that about one in the afternoon of that day the Enemy, who had in the morning received reinforcements, and who had placed some guns in front of the right

Headquarters, Coruña , January 16, 1809 . G. O.—The Commander of the Forces directs that commanding officers of regiments will as soon as possible after they embark make themselves acquainted with what ships the men of their regiments are embarked, both sick and convalescents, and that they will make out the most correct states of their respective corps; that they will state the number of sick present, also those left at different places, and mention at the back of the return where the men retur