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RANDOM SHOTS FROM A RIFLEMAN.
RANDOM SHOTS FROM A RIFLEMAN.
BY J. KINCAID, Late Captain in, and Author of "Adventures in the Rifle Brigade." SECOND EDITION. LONDON: T. AND W. BOONE, 29, NEW BOND STREET. M DCCC XLVII. TO MAJOR-GENERAL LORD FITZROY SOMERSET, K.C.B. &c. &c. &c. THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED BY HIS VERY OBEDIENT AND VERY OBLIGED HUMBLE SERVANT, J. KINCAID....
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NOTICE.
NOTICE.
When I sent my volume of "Adventures in the Rifle Brigade" into the world, some one of its many kind and indulgent critics was imprudent enough to say that "it had one fault, the rarest fault in books—it was too short;" and while I have therefore endeavoured to acquit myself of such an unlooked-for charge by sending this additional one, I need only observe that if it also fails to satisfy, they may have "yet another." Like its predecessor, this volume is drawn solely from memory, and of course o
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CHAPTER I. Family Pictures, with select Views of the Estate, fenced with distant Prospects.
CHAPTER I. Family Pictures, with select Views of the Estate, fenced with distant Prospects.
Every book has a beginning, and the beginning of every book is the undoubted spot on which the historian is bound to parade his hero. The novelist may therefore continue to envelope his man in a fog as long as he likes, but for myself I shall at once unfold to the world that I am my own hero; and though that same world hold my countrymen to be rich in wants, with the article of modesty among them, yet do I hope to maintain the character I have assumed, with as much propriety as can reasonably be
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ANECDOTE THE FIRST.
ANECDOTE THE FIRST.
Of all the vicissitudes of the late disastrous campaign, I found that nothing dwelt so interestingly on the remembrance of our officers as their affair at Calcabellos—partly because it was chiefly a regimental fight, and partly because they were taken at a disadvantage, and acquitted themselves becomingly. The regiment was formed in front of Calcabellos covering the rear of the infantry, and on the first appearance of the enemy they had been ordered to withdraw behind the town. Three parts of th
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ANECDOTE THE SECOND.
ANECDOTE THE SECOND.
In one of the actions in which our regiment was engaged, in covering the retreat to Corunna, a superior body of the enemy burst upon the post of a young officer of the name of Uniacke, compelling him to give way in disorder, and in the short scramble which followed, he very narrowly escaped being caught by the French officer who had led the advance,—a short stout fellow, with a cocked hat, and a pair of huge jack-boots. Uniacke was one of the most active men in the army, and being speedily joine
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ANECDOTE THE THIRD.
ANECDOTE THE THIRD.
At Astorga, a ludicrous alarm was occasioned by the frolic of an officer; though it might have led to more serious results. The regiment was quartered in a convent, and the officers and the friars were promiscuously bundled for the night on mattresses laid in one of the galleries; when, about midnight, Captain —— awaking, and seeing the back of one of the Padres looking him full in the face, from under the bed-clothes, as if inviting the slap of a fist, he, acting on the impulse of the moment, j
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ANECDOTE THE FOURTH.
ANECDOTE THE FOURTH.
When the straggling and the disorders of the army on the retreat to Corunna became so serious as to demand an example, Sir Edward Paget, who commanded the reserve, caused two of the plunderers to be tried by a court-martial, and they were sentenced to suffer death. The troops were ordered to parade in front of the town, to witness the execution, but, while in the act of assembling, a dragoon came galloping in from the front to inform Sir Edward by desire of his brother (Lord Paget), that the ene
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"A LAY OF LOVE FOR LADY BRIGHT."
"A LAY OF LOVE FOR LADY BRIGHT."
Lisbon was doubtless as rich in abominations now as it was a year after, without any other redeeming virtue, which is a very ugly commencement to a tale of love; but having landed my reader a second time at the same place, I am anxious to relieve him from the fear of being treated to a second edition of the same story, and to assure him that my head-piece has been some time charged with fresh ammunition and I mean to discharge it now, to prevent its getting rusty. I intend to fight those battles
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CHAP. IV. Shewing how generals may descend upon particulars with a cat-o'-nine tails. Some extra Tales added. Historical, Comical, and Warlike all.
CHAP. IV. Shewing how generals may descend upon particulars with a cat-o'-nine tails. Some extra Tales added. Historical, Comical, and Warlike all.
Crawfurd was no common character. He, like a gallant cotemporary of his, was not born to be a great general, but he certainly was a distinguished one,—the history of his division and the position which he held beyond the Coa in 1810, attest the fact. He had neither judgement, temper, nor discretion to fit him for a chief, and as a subordinate he required to be held with a tight rein, but his talents as a general of division were nevertheless of the first order. He received the three British regi
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CHAP. V. The paying of a French compliment, which will be repaid in a future chapter. A fierce attack upon hairs. A niece compliment, and lessons gratis to untaught sword-bearers.
CHAP. V. The paying of a French compliment, which will be repaid in a future chapter. A fierce attack upon hairs. A niece compliment, and lessons gratis to untaught sword-bearers.
After the action of the Coa the enemy quickly possessed themselves of the fortress of Almeida, when there remained nothing between Massena and his kingdom but the simple article of Lord Wellington's army, of which he calculated he would be able to superintend the embarkation within the time requisite for his infantry to march to Lisbon. He therefore put his legions in motion to pay his distinguished adversary that last mark of respect. The Wellingtonians retired slowly before them shewing their
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THE OFFICER'S STORY.
THE OFFICER'S STORY.
On the banks of the river Carron, near the celebrated village of that name, which shows its glowing fields of fiery furnaces, stirred by ten thousand imps of darkness, as if all the devils from the nether world there held perpetual revels, toasting their red hot irons and twisting them into all manner of fantastic shapes—tea-kettles, ten-pounders, and ten-penny nails—I say, that near that village—not in the upper and romantic region of it, where old Norval of yore fished up his basketful of youn
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CHAP. VII.
CHAP. VII.
The month of March, eighteen hundred and eleven, showed the successful workings of Lord Wellington's admirable arrangements. The hitherto victorious French army, which, under their "spoilt child of fortune," had advanced to certain conquest, were now obliged to bundle up their traps and march back again, leaving nearly half their numbers to fatten the land which they had beggared. They had fallen, too, on nameless ground, in sickness and in want, and without a shot, by which their friends and re
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CHAP. VII. The persecution of the guardian of two angels. A Caçadore and his mounted followers. A chief of hussars in his trousers. A chief of rifles in his glory, and a sub of ditto with two screws in the neck.
CHAP. VII. The persecution of the guardian of two angels. A Caçadore and his mounted followers. A chief of hussars in his trousers. A chief of rifles in his glory, and a sub of ditto with two screws in the neck.
In one of the first chapters of this book I not only pledged my constancy to my fair readers, but vowed to renew my addresses from time to time as opportunities offered. As my feet, however, have since trodden from one extremity of a kingdom to the other, and many months have, in the meanwhile, rolled away without giving me an opportunity of redeeming the pledge, I fear that my fidelity might be doubted if I delayed longer in assuring them that the spirit has all along been willing, but the subj
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SHOT THE FIRST. The Duel.
SHOT THE FIRST. The Duel.
On reaching Paris, after the battle of Waterloo, we found Johnny Petit in very bad humour; and that three out of every four of the officers in each army were not disposed of by private contract, with pistols and small swords, must be ascribed to our ignorance alike of their language and their national method of conveying offence; for, in regard to the first, although we were aware that the sacre bœuftake and sacre pomme de terre , with which we were constantly saluted, were not applied complimen
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SHOT THE SECOND. Cannon-Law.
SHOT THE SECOND. Cannon-Law.
While stationed, in the province of Artois, with the Army of Occupation, one of our soldiers committed a most aggravated case of highway-robbery upon a Frenchwoman, for which he was tried by a court-martial, condemned, and suffered death within three days. About a fortnight after, when the whole affair had nearly been forgotten by us, the French report of the outrage, after having gone through its routine of the different official functionaries, made its appearance at our head-quarters, describi
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SHOT THE THIRD. Civil Law.
SHOT THE THIRD. Civil Law.
Whilst on the station mentioned in the foregoing anecdote, two of our medical officers went in a gig, on a short tour, in the neighbourhood of our cantonments, and having unconsciously passed the line of demarkation, they were pulled up on their entrance into the first town they came to, for the payment of the usual toll; but they claimed a right to be exempted from it on the score of their being officers of the Army of Occupation. The collector of the customs, however, being of a different opin
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SHOT THE FOURTH. Sword Law.
SHOT THE FOURTH. Sword Law.
At the commencement of the battle of Waterloo, three companies of our riflemen held a sand bank, in front of the position, and abreast of La Haye Saint, which we clung to most tenaciously, and it was not until we were stormed in front and turned in both flanks that we finally left it. Previous to doing so, however, a French officer rushed out of their ranks and made a dash at one of ours, but neglecting the prudent precaution of calculating the chances of success before striking the first blow,
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SHOT THE FIFTH. Love Law.
SHOT THE FIFTH. Love Law.
Of all the evils with which a sober community can be cursed, there is none so great as a guard-house; for while the notable house-wife is superintending the scouring of her kitchen coppers, and the worthy citizen is selling his sweets, the daughters are as surely to be found lavishing their's upon their gaudy neighbour, while the nursery-maid standing a story higher is to be seen sending her regards a step lower—into the sentry-box. Though many years have now passed away, I remember as if but ye
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SHOT THE SIXTH. At a sore subject.
SHOT THE SIXTH. At a sore subject.
"They who can feel for other's woes should ne'er have cause to mourn their own!" so sayeth the poet, and so should I say if I saw them feeling; but I have found such a marvellous scarcity of those tender-hearted subjects on the field of battle, that, in good sooth, if the soldier had not a tear to shed for his own woes, he stood a very good chance of dying unwept, which may either be considered a merry or a dreary end, according to the notion of the individual. In taking a comparative view of th
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CHAP. IX. A bishop's gathering.—Volunteers for a soldier's love, with a portrait of the lover.—Burning a bivouac.—Old invented thrashing machines and baking concerns.—A flying Padre taking a shot flying.
CHAP. IX. A bishop's gathering.—Volunteers for a soldier's love, with a portrait of the lover.—Burning a bivouac.—Old invented thrashing machines and baking concerns.—A flying Padre taking a shot flying.
Soon after the battle of Fuentes Lord Wellington was again called to the south, leaving us with a burning desire to follow, which was eventually gratified; for, after various coquettish movements between us and the enemy, which carried us in retreat near to Sabugal, we, at length, received an order for the south; and, leaving our adversaries to do that which might seem best unto them, we were all at once helm up for the other side of the Tagus. On our way there we halted a night at Castello Bran
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CHAP. X. Shewing how a volunteer may not be what Doctor Johnson made him.—A mayor's nest.—Cupping.—The Author's reasons for punishing the world with a book.—And some volunteers of the right sort.
CHAP. X. Shewing how a volunteer may not be what Doctor Johnson made him.—A mayor's nest.—Cupping.—The Author's reasons for punishing the world with a book.—And some volunteers of the right sort.
When we next changed our quarter we found the new one peopled exclusively by old wives and their husbands, and, as the enemy were at a distance, we should certainly have gone defunct through sheer ennui, had not fortune sent us a fresh volunteer—a regular "broth of a boy," from the Emerald Isle, who afforded ample scope for the exercise of our mischievous propensities during our hours of idleness. A volunteer—be it known to all who know it not—is generally a young man with some pretensions to ge
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CHAP. XI. Very short, with a few anecdotes still shorter; but the principal actors thought the scenes long enough.
CHAP. XI. Very short, with a few anecdotes still shorter; but the principal actors thought the scenes long enough.
After the fall of Ciudad Rodrigo, our battalion took possession for a time of Ituera, a pretty little village on the banks of the Azava. It was a delightful coursing country, abounding in hares; and as the chase in those days afforded a double gratification—the one present, and the other in perspective, (the dinner hour,) it was always followed with much assiduity. The village, too, happened to be within a short ride of Ciudad, so that frequent visits to our friends formed an agreeable variety,
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CHAP. XII. Shewing rough visitors receiving a rough reception. Some living and moving specimens thereof. Tailors not such fractions of humanity as is generally believed. Gentle visitors receiving a gentle reception, which ends by shewing that two shakes joined together sound more melodiously on the heart-strings than two hands which shake of their own accord.
CHAP. XII. Shewing rough visitors receiving a rough reception. Some living and moving specimens thereof. Tailors not such fractions of humanity as is generally believed. Gentle visitors receiving a gentle reception, which ends by shewing that two shakes joined together sound more melodiously on the heart-strings than two hands which shake of their own accord.
Pass we on to Badajos—to that last, that direful, but glorious night—the 6th of April—"so fiercely fought, so terribly won, so dreadful in all its circumstances, that posterity can scarcely be expected to credit the tale." Any one who has taken the trouble to read and digest what Napier has said in vindication of the measures adopted by Lord Wellington for the subjugation of those fortresses in the manner in which it was done, must feel satisfied that their propriety admits of no dispute. But as
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CHAP. XIII. Specimens of target-practice, in which markers may become marked men.—A grave anecdote, shewing how "some men have honours thrust upon them."—A line drawn between man and beast.—Lines drawn between regiments, and shewing how credit may not be gained by losing what they are made of.—Aristocratic.—Dedicatic.—Dissertation on advanced guards, and desertion of knapsacks, shewing that "the greater haste the worse speed."
CHAP. XIII. Specimens of target-practice, in which markers may become marked men.—A grave anecdote, shewing how "some men have honours thrust upon them."—A line drawn between man and beast.—Lines drawn between regiments, and shewing how credit may not be gained by losing what they are made of.—Aristocratic.—Dedicatic.—Dissertation on advanced guards, and desertion of knapsacks, shewing that "the greater haste the worse speed."
With discipline restored, Badajos secured, and the French relieving army gone to the right about, we found ourselves once more transferred to the North. Marmont had, during our absence, thrown away much valuable time in cutting some unmeaning vagaries before the Portuguese militia, which, happily for us, he might have spent more profitably; and now that we approached him, he fell back upon Salamanca, leaving us to take quiet possession of our former cantonments. Lord Wellington had thus, by a fo
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PUBLISHED BY T. and W. BOONE, 29, NEW BOND STREET.
PUBLISHED BY T. and W. BOONE, 29, NEW BOND STREET.
AN ESSAY ON THE PRINCIPLES AND CONSTRUCTION OF MILITARY BRIDGES, AND THE PASSAGE OF RIVERS IN MILITARY OPERATIONS , BY MAJOR-GENERAL SIR HOWARD DOUGLAS, BART. K.S.C., D.C.L., F.R.S., &c. &c. The Second Edition, containing much additional Matter and Plates, 8vo. price 20s. boards. COLONIZATION ; PARTICULARLY IN SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA : WITH SOME REMARKS ON SMALL FARMS AND OVER POPULATION. By COLONEL CHARLES JAMES NAPIER, C.B. Author of "The Colonies; particularly the Ionian Islands."
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Transcribers' Notes
Transcribers' Notes
Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed. Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced quotation marks retained. Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained. Text uses "Padré", "Padrè", and "Padre". Advertisement at front: "déjá" was printed with those accent marks. There are two "CHAPTER VII"'s in the Contents and in the body. Page 11 : "remarkable" has been changed to "remar
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