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LONDON: JOHN MURRAY
LONDON: JOHN MURRAY
FIRST EDITION (Smith, Elder & Co.) . . . November 1897 Twenty-ninth Impression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . October 1914 Reprinted (John Murray) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . September 1917 Reprinted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . February 1921...
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PREFACE
PREFACE
The tales here told are written, not to glorify war, but to nourish patriotism. They represent an effort to renew in popular memory the great traditions of the Imperial race to which we belong. The history of the Empire of which we are subjects—the story of the struggles and sufferings by which it has been built up—is the best legacy which the past has bequeathed to us. But it is a treasure strangely neglected. The State makes primary education its anxious care, yet it does not make its own hist
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THE FIGHT OFF CAPE ST. VINCENT
THE FIGHT OFF CAPE ST. VINCENT
THE SCEPTRE OF THE SEA. "Old England's sons are English yet, Old England's hearts are strong; And still she wears her coronet Aflame with sword and song. As in their pride our fathers died, If need be, so die we; So wield we still, gainsay who will, The sceptre of the sea. We've Raleighs still for Raleigh's part, We've Nelsons yet unknown; The pulses of the Lion-Heart Beat on through Wellington. Hold, Britain, hold thy creed of old, Strong foe and steadfast friend, And still unto thy motto true,
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[Illustration: THE BATTLE OFF CAPE ST. VINCENT. Cutting the Spanish Line. From Allen's "Battles of the British Navy."]
[Illustration: THE BATTLE OFF CAPE ST. VINCENT. Cutting the Spanish Line. From Allen's "Battles of the British Navy."]
Nothing is more striking in the battle of St. Vincent than the swift and resolute fashion in which Sir John Jervis leaped, so to speak, at his enemy's throat, with the silent but deadly leap of a bulldog. As the fog lifted, about nine o'clock, with the suddenness and dramatic effect of the lifting of a curtain in a great theatre, it revealed to the British admiral a great opportunity. The weather division of the Spanish fleet, twenty-one gigantic ships, resembled nothing so much as a confused an
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THE HEIGHTS OF ABRAHAM
THE HEIGHTS OF ABRAHAM
"Sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife! To all the sensual world proclaim, One crowded hour of glorious life Is worth an age without a name." —SIR WALTER SCOTT. The year 1759 is a golden one in British history. A great French army that threatened Hanover was overthrown at Minden, chiefly by the heroic stupidity of six British regiments, who, mistaking their orders, charged the entire French cavalry in line, and destroyed them. "I have seen," said the astonished French general, "what I never th
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[Illustration: Siege of Quebec, 1759. From Parkman's "Montcalm & Wolfe."]
[Illustration: Siege of Quebec, 1759. From Parkman's "Montcalm & Wolfe."]
Quebec stands on the rocky nose of a promontory, shaped roughly like a bull's-head, looking eastward. The St. Lawrence flows eastward under the chin of the head; the St. Charles runs, so to speak, down its nose from the north to meet the St. Lawrence. The city itself stands on lofty cliffs, and as Wolfe looked upon it on that June evening far away, it was girt and crowned with batteries. The banks of the St. Lawrence, that define what we have called the throat of the bull, are precipitous and lo
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THE GREAT LORD HAWKE
THE GREAT LORD HAWKE
THE ENGLISH FLAG "What is the flag of England? Winds of the world, declare! ******** The lean white bear hath seen it in the long, long Arctic night, The musk-ox knows the standard that flouts the Northern light. ******** Never was isle so little, never was sea so lone, But over the scud and the palm-trees an English flag has flown. I have wrenched it free from the halliard to hang for a wisp on the Horn; I have chased it north to the Lizard—ribboned and rolled and torn; I have spread its folds
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THE NIGHT ATTACK ON BADAJOS
THE NIGHT ATTACK ON BADAJOS
"Hand to hand, and foot to foot; Nothing there, save death, was mute: Stroke, and thrust, and flash, and cry For quarter or for victory, Mingle there with the volleying thunder, Which makes the distant cities wonder How the sounding battle goes, If with them, or for their foes; If they must mourn, or must rejoice In that annihilating voice, Which pierces the deep hills through and through With an echo dread and new. ****** From the point of encountering blades to the hilt, Sabres and swords with
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[Illustration: Siege of Badajos, 1812. From Napier's "Peninsular War."]
[Illustration: Siege of Badajos, 1812. From Napier's "Peninsular War."]
On April 6, 1812, Badajos was stormed by Wellington; and the story forms one of the most tragical and splendid incidents in the military history of the world. Of "the night of horrors at Badajos," Napier says, "posterity can scarcely be expected to credit the tale." No tale, however, is better authenticated, or, as an example of what disciplined human valour is capable of achieving, better deserves to be told. Wellington was preparing for his great forward movement into Spain, the campaign which
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THE FIRE-SHIPS IN THE BASQUE ROADS
THE FIRE-SHIPS IN THE BASQUE ROADS
"Ship after ship, the whole night long, their high-built galleons came; Ship after ship, the whole night long, with her battle-thunder and flame; Ship after ship, the whole night long, drew back with her dead and her shame. For some were sunk and many were shattered, and so could fight us no more— God of battles, was ever a battle like this in the world before?" —TENNYSON. On the night of April 11, 1809, Lord Cochrane steered his floating mine against the gigantic boom that covered the French fl
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THE MAN WHO SPOILED NAPOLEON'S "DESTINY"!
THE MAN WHO SPOILED NAPOLEON'S "DESTINY"!
"Oh, who shall lightly say that Fame Is nothing but an empty name! Whilst in that sound there is a charm The nerves to brace, the heart to warm. As, thinking of the mighty dead, The young from slothful couch will start, And vow, with lifted hands outspread, Like them to act a noble part?" —JOANNA BAILLIE. From March 18 to May 20, 1799—for more than sixty days and nights, that is—a little, half-forgotten, and more than half-ruined Syrian town was the scene of one of the fiercest and most dramatic
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GREAT SEA-DUELS
GREAT SEA-DUELS
"The captain stood on the carronade: 'First Lieutenant,' says he, 'Send all my merry men after here, for they must list to me. I haven't the gift of the gab, my sons, because I'm bred to the sea. That ship there is a Frenchman, who means to fight with we. And odds, bobs, hammer and tongs, long as I've been to sea, I've fought 'gainst every odds—but I've gained the victory! ******** That ship there is a Frenchman, and if we don't take she, 'Tis a thousand bullets to one, that she will capture we.
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THE BLOOD-STAINED HILL OF BUSACO
THE BLOOD-STAINED HILL OF BUSACO
"Who would not fight for England? Who would not fling a life I' the ring, to meet a tyrant's gage, And glory in the strife? ***** Now, fair befall our England, On her proud and perilous road; And woe and wail to those who make Her footprints red with blood! Up with our red-cross banner—roll A thunder-peal of drums! Fight on there, every valiant soul, And, courage! England comes! Now, fair befall our England, On her proud and perilous road; And woe and wail to those who make Her footprints red wi
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OF NELSON AND THE NILE
OF NELSON AND THE NILE
"Britannia needs no bulwarks, No towers along the steep; Her march is o'er the mountain waves, Her home is on the deep. With thunders from her native oak, She quells the floods below, As they roar on the shore When the stormy winds do blow; When the battle rages loud and long, And the stormy winds do blow. The meteor flag of England Shall yet terrific burn, Till danger's troubled night depart, And the star of peace return. Then, then, ye ocean warriors, Our song and feast shall flow To the fame
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[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF THE NILE. Doubling on the French Line. From Allen's "Battles of the British Navy."]
[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF THE NILE. Doubling on the French Line. From Allen's "Battles of the British Navy."]
Bruéys had calculated that the English fleet must come down perpendicularly to his centre, and each ship in the process be raked by a line of fire a mile and a half long; but the moment the English ships rounded the island they tacked, hugged the shore, and swept through the gap between the leading vessel and the land. The British ships were so close to each other that Nelson, speaking from his own quarter-deck, was able to ask Hood in the Zealous , if he thought they had water enough to round t
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THE FUSILEERS AT ALBUERA
THE FUSILEERS AT ALBUERA
"And nearer, fast and nearer, Doth the red whirlwind come; And louder still, and still more loud, From underneath that rolling cloud, Is heard the trumpet's war-note proud, The trampling and the hum. And plainly, and more plainly, Now through the gloom appears, Far to left and far to right, In broken gleams of dark-blue light, The long array of helmets bright, The long array of spears." —MACAULAY. Albuera is the fiercest, bloodiest, and most amazing fight in the mighty drama of the Peninsular wa
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[Illustration: Battle of Albuera, 16th May, 1811. From Napier's "Peninsular War."]
[Illustration: Battle of Albuera, 16th May, 1811. From Napier's "Peninsular War."]
Beresford tried to persuade the Spaniards to charge as the French were thus circling round them. Shouts and gesticulations were in vain. He was a man of giant height and strength, and he actually seized a Spanish ensign in his iron grip, and carried him bodily, flag and all, at a run for fifty yards towards the moving French lines, and planted him there. When released, however, the bewildered Spaniard simply took to his heels and ran back to his friends, as a terrified sheep might run back to th
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THE "SHANNON" AND THE "CHESAPEAKE"
THE "SHANNON" AND THE "CHESAPEAKE"
"The signal to engage shall be A whistle and a hollo; Be one and all but firm, like me, And conquest soon will follow! You, Gunnel, keep the helm in hand— Thus, thus, boys! steady, steady, Till right ahead you see the land— Then soon as you are ready, The signal to engage shall be A whistle and a hollo; Be one and all but firm, like me, And conquest soon will follow!" —C. DIBDIN. On the early morning of June 1, 1813, a solitary British frigate, H.M.S. Shannon , was cruising within sight of Bosto
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THE GREAT BREACH OF CIUDAD RODRIGO
THE GREAT BREACH OF CIUDAD RODRIGO
"Attend, all ye who list to hear our noble England's praise, I tell of the thrice famous deeds she wrought in ancient days." —MACAULAY. The three great and memorable sieges of the Peninsular war are those of Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajos, and San Sebastian. The annals of battle record nowhere a more furious daring in assault or a more gallant courage in defence than that which raged in turn round each of these three great fortresses. Of the three sieges that of Badajos was the most picturesque and blo
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[Illustration: Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, 1812. From Napier's "Peninsular War."]
[Illustration: Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, 1812. From Napier's "Peninsular War."]
In the eleven days of the siege Wellington lost 1300 men and officers, out of whom 650 men and 60 officers were struck down on the slopes of the breaches. Two notable soldiers died in the attack—Craufurd, the famous leader of the light division, as he brought his men up to the lesser breach; and Mackinnon, who commanded a brigade of the third division, at the great breach. Mackinnon was a gallant Highlander, a soldier of great promise, beloved by his men. His "Children," as he called them, follo
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HOW THE "HERMIONE" WAS RECAPTURED
HOW THE "HERMIONE" WAS RECAPTURED
"They cleared the cruiser from end to end, From conning-tower to hold; They fought as they fought in Nelson's fleet— They were stripped to the waist, they were bare to the feet, As it was in the days of old." —KIPLING. The story of how the Hermione was lost is one of the scandals and the tragedies of British naval history; the tale of how it was re-won is one of its glories. The Hermione was a 32-gun frigate, cruising off Porto Rico, in the West Indies. On the evening of September 21, 1797, the
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FRENCH AND ENGLISH IN THE PASSES
FRENCH AND ENGLISH IN THE PASSES
"Beating from the wasted vines Back to France her banded swarms, Back to France with countless blows, Till o'er the hills her eagles flew Beyond the Pyrenean pines; Follow'd up in valley and glen With blare of bugle, clamour of men, Roll of cannon and clash of arms, And England pouring on her foes. Such a war had such a close." —TENNYSON. "In both the passes, and on the heights above them, there was desperate fighting. They fought on the mountain-tops, which could scarcely have witnessed any oth
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[Illustration: Combat of Roncesvalles, July 25, 1813. From Napier's "Peninsular War."]
[Illustration: Combat of Roncesvalles, July 25, 1813. From Napier's "Peninsular War."]
There were two combats of Sauroren, and each was, in Wellington's own phrase, "bludgeon work"—a battle of soldiers rather than of generals, a tangle of fierce charges and counter-charges, of volleys delivered so close that they scorched the very clothes of the opposing lines, and sustained so fiercely that they died down only because the lines of desperately firing men crumbled into ruin and silence. Nothing could be finer than the way in which a French column, swiftly, sternly, and without firi
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FAMOUS CUTTING-OUT EXPEDITIONS
FAMOUS CUTTING-OUT EXPEDITIONS
"We have fed our sea for a thousand years, And she calls us, still unfed, Though there's never a wave of all her waves But marks our English dead; We have strawed our best to the weed's unrest, To the shark and the sheering gull. If blood be the price of admiralty, Lord God, we ha' paid in full! There's never a flood goes shoreward now But lifts a keel we manned; There's never an ebb goes seaward now But drops our dead on the sand. ****** We must feed our sea for a thousand years, For that is ou
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MOUNTAIN COMBATS
MOUNTAIN COMBATS
"At length the freshening western blast Aside the shroud of battle cast; And first the ridge of mingled spears Above the brightening cloud appears; And in the smoke the pennons flew, As in the storm the white sea-mew. Then marked they, dashing broad and far, The broken billows of the war, And plumèd crests of chieftains brave Floating like foam upon the wave, But nought distinct they see." —SCOTT. The brilliant and heroic combats on the Nive belong to the later stages of the Pyrenean campaign; a
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THE BLOODIEST FIGHT IN THE PENINSULA
THE BLOODIEST FIGHT IN THE PENINSULA
"Then out spoke brave Horatius, The captain of the gate: 'To every man upon this earth Death cometh soon or late; And how can man die better Than facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers And the temples of his gods?'" —MACAULAY. Hill's front stretched through two miles; his left; a wooded craggy ridge, was held by Pringle's brigade, but was parted from the centre by a marshy valley and a chain of ponds; his centre occupied a crescent-shaped broken ridge; his right, under General Byng, h
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[Illustration: Battle of St. Pierre, December 9th & 13th, 1813. From Napier's "Peninsular War."]
[Illustration: Battle of St. Pierre, December 9th & 13th, 1813. From Napier's "Peninsular War."]
In the meanwhile on both the right and the left of the British position an almost unique disaster had befallen Hill's troops. Peacock, the colonel of the 71st, through some bewitched failure of nerve or of judgment, withdrew that regiment from the fight. It was a Highland regiment, great in fighting reputation, and full of daring. How black were the looks of the officers, and what loud swearing in Gaelic took place in the ranks, as the gallant regiment—discipline overcoming human nature—obeyed t
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THE BATTLE OF THE BALTIC
THE BATTLE OF THE BALTIC
"Let us think of them that sleep Full many a fathom deep By thy wild and stormy deep, Elsinore!" —CAMPBELL. "I have been in a hundred and five engagements, but that of to-day is the most terrible of them all." This was how Nelson himself summed up the great fight off Copenhagen, or the battle of the Baltic as it is sometimes called, fought on April 2, 1801. It was a battle betwixt Britons and Danes. The men who fought under the blood-red flag of Great Britain, and under the split flag of Denmark
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[Illustration: The Battle of the Baltic, April 2nd, 1801. From Brenton's Naval History.]
[Illustration: The Battle of the Baltic, April 2nd, 1801. From Brenton's Naval History.]
The Sound is narrow and shallow, a mere tangle of shoals wrinkled with twisted channels and scoured by the swift tides. King's Channel runs straight up towards the city, but a huge sandbank, like the point of a toe, splits the channel into two just as it reaches the harbour. The western edge runs up, pocket-shaped, into the city, and forms the actual port; the main channel contracts, swings round to the south-east, and forms a narrow passage between the shallows in front of the city and a huge s
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KING-MAKING WATERLOO
KING-MAKING WATERLOO
"Last noon beheld them full of lusty life, 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! The thunder-clouds close o'er it, which when rent The earth is cover'd thick with other clay, Which her own clay shall cover, heap'd and pent, Rider and horse—friend, foe—in one red burial blent!" —BYRON. "I look upon Salamanca, Vittoria, and Waterloo as my three best battles—those which h
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[Illustration: Battle of Waterloo, June 18th, 1815.]
[Illustration: Battle of Waterloo, June 18th, 1815.]
Clearness on some points, it is true, is slowly emerging. It is admitted, for example, that Napoleon took the allies by surprise when he crossed the Sambre, and, in the very first stage of the campaign, scored a brilliant strategic success over them. Wellington himself, on the night of the famous ball, took the Duke of Richmond into his dressing-room, shut the door, and said, "Napoleon has humbugged me, by ——; he has gained twenty-four hours' march on me." The Duke went on to explain that he had
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I. THE RIVAL HOSTS
I. THE RIVAL HOSTS
"Hark! I hear the tramp of thousands, And of armèd men the hum; Lo! a nation's hosts have gathered Round the quick alarming drum,— Saying, 'Come, Freeman, come, Ere your heritage be wasted,' said the quick alarming drum. ****** 'Let me of my heart take counsel: War is not of life the sum; Who shall stay and reap the harvest When the autumn days shall come?' But the drum Echoed, 'Come! Death shall reap the braver harvest,' said the solemn-sounding drum. What if, 'mid the cannons' thunder, Whistli
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II. HOUGOUMONT
II. HOUGOUMONT
"The trumpets sound, the banners fly, The glittering spears are rankèd ready, The shouts o' war are heard afar, The battle closes thick and bloody." —BURNS. The ground was heavy with the rains of the night, and Napoleon lingered till nearly noon before he launched his attack on the British lines. At ten minutes to twelve the first heavy gun rang sullenly from the French ridge, and from the French left Reille's corps, 6000 strong, flung itself on Hougoumont. The French are magnificent skirmishers
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III. PICTON AND D'ERLON
III. PICTON AND D'ERLON
"But on the British heart were lost The terrors of the charging host; For not an eye the storm that view'd Changed its proud glance of fortitude. Nor was one forward footstep staid, As dropp'd the dying and the dead." —SCOTT. Meantime a furious artillery duel raged between the opposing ridges. Wellington had ordered his gunners not to fire at the French batteries, but only at the French columns, while the French, in the main, concentrated their fire on the British guns. French practice under the
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IV. "SCOTLAND FOR EVER!"
IV. "SCOTLAND FOR EVER!"
"Beneath their fire, in full career, Rush'd on the ponderous cuirassier, The lancer couch'd his ruthless spear, And hurrying as to havoc near, The cohorts' eagles flew. In one dark torrent, broad and strong, The advancing onset roll'd along, Forth harbinger'd by fierce acclaim That, from the shroud of smoke and flame, Peal'd wildly the imperial name!" —SCOTT. The attack of the Household and Union Brigades at Waterloo is one of the most dazzling and dramatic incidents of the great fight. For sudd
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V. HORSEMEN AND SQUARES
V. HORSEMEN AND SQUARES
"But yet, though thick the shafts as snow, Though charging knights like whirlwinds go, Though bill-men ply the ghastly blow, Unbroken was the ring; The stubborn spearmen still made good Their dark impenetrable wood, Each stepping where his comrade stood, The instant that he fell. No thought was there of dastard flight; Linked in the serried phalanx tight, Groom fought like noble, squire like knight, As fearlessly and well." —SCOTT. Napoleon's infantry had failed to capture either Hougoumont or L
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VI. THE FIGHT OF THE GUNNERS
VI. THE FIGHT OF THE GUNNERS
"Three hundred cannon-mouths roar'd loud; And from their throats with flash and cloud Their showers of iron threw." —SCOTT. One of the most realistic pictures of the fight at this stage is given by Captain Mercer, in command of a battery of horse artillery. Mercer was on the extreme British right during the first stage of the battle, and only got occasional glimpses of the ridge where the fight was raging—intermittent visions of French cavalry riding in furious charges, and abandoned British bat
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VII. THE OLD GUARD
VII. THE OLD GUARD
"On came the whirlwind—like the last, But fiercest sweep of tempest blast— On came the whirlwind—steel-gleams broke Like lightning through the rolling smoke; The war was waked anew." —SCOTT. Napoleon had expended in vain upon the stubborn British lines his infantry, his cavalry, and his artillery. There remained only the Guard! The long summer evening was drawing to a close, when, at half-past seven, he marshalled these famous soldiers for the final attack. It is a curious fact that the intellig
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VIII. THE GREAT DEFEAT.
VIII. THE GREAT DEFEAT.
"And while amid their scattered band Raged the fierce riders' bloody brand, Recoil'd in common rout and fear, Lancer and Guard and Cuirassier, Horsemen and foot—a mingled host, Their leaders fall'n, their standards lost." —SCOTT. Napoleon watched the huge black echelon of battalions mount the slope, their right section crumbled under the rush of the British Guards. Colborne and the 52nd tumbled the left flank into ruin; the British cavalry swept down upon them. Those who stood near Napoleon watc
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THE NIGHT ATTACK OFF CADIZ
THE NIGHT ATTACK OFF CADIZ
"'Captain,' they cry, 'the fight is done, They bid you send your sword!' And he answered, 'Grapple her stern and bow. They have asked for the steel. They shall have it now; Out cutlasses, and board!'" —KIPLING. On the morning of July 3, 1801, a curious scene, which might almost be described as a sea comedy, was being transacted off the coast of Alicante. Three huge French line-of-battle ships were manoeuvring and firing round a tiny little British brig-of-war. It was like three mastiffs worrying
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I. THE STRATEGY
I. THE STRATEGY
"Uprose the soul of him a star On that brave day of Ocean days; It rolled the smoke from Trafalgar To darken Austerlitz ablaze. Are we the men of old, its light Will point us under every sky The path he took; and must we fight, Our Nelson be our battle-cry! He leads: we hear our Seaman's call In the roll of battles won; For he is Britain's Admiral Till setting of her sun." —GEORGE MEREDITH. That Trafalgar was a great British victory, won by splendid seamanship and by magnificent courage, everybo
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II. HOW THE FLEETS MET
II. HOW THE FLEETS MET
"Wherever the gleams of an English fire On an English roof-tree shine, Wherever the fire of a youth's desire Is laid upon Honour's shrine, Wherever brave deeds are treasured and told, In the tale of the deeds of yore, Like jewels of price in a chain of gold Are the name and the fame he bore. Wherever the track of our English ships Lies white on the ocean foam, His name is sweet to our English lips As the names of the flowers at home; Wherever the heart of an English boy Grows big with a deed of
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[Illustration: The Attack at Trafalgar, October 21st, 1805. Five minutes past noon. From Mahan's "Life of Nelson."]
[Illustration: The Attack at Trafalgar, October 21st, 1805. Five minutes past noon. From Mahan's "Life of Nelson."]
By twelve o'clock the two huge fleets were slowly approaching each other: the British columns compact, grim, orderly; the Franco-Spanish line loose, but magnificently picturesque, a far-stretching line of lofty hulls, a swaying forest of sky-piercing masts. They still preserve the remark of one prosaic British sailor, who, surveying the enemy through an open port, offered the comment, "What a fine sight, Bill, yon ships would make at Spithead!" It is curious to reflect how exactly both British a
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III. HOW THE VICTORY WAS WON
III. HOW THE VICTORY WAS WON
"All is over and done. Render thanks to the Giver; England, for thy son Let the bell be toll'd. Render thanks to the Giver, And render him to the mould. Under the cross of gold That shines over city and river, There he shall rest for ever Among the wise and the bold." —TENNYSON. Nelson's strategy at Trafalgar is described quaintly, but with real insight, in a sentence which a Spanish novelist, Don Perez Galdos, puts into the mouth of one of his characters: "Nelson, who, as everybody knows, was n
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