it had not been accustomed, it went into disorder. Not one in ten of us was used to campaigning, whereas the French had lately come from Germany, where they had been inured to hardship for some years. They entered Spain as invaders, we as allies; hence, if provisions were to be got in any way, they were not deterred from taking them."

In the Battle of Corunna, the 92nd was posted on the left of the line near the sea, and protected by a steep hill in their front; as a battalion they were not materially engaged, but Lieut.-Colonel Napier (92nd) was field officer for the day in command of the outposts, of which a detachment of his regiment formed part.

Ensign Hector Innes thus describes what he saw when on picket with his company :-" Our sentries were close to the French. Colonel Napier sent me to General Hope, distant about two miles, to inform him of the local situation of our position, distant about three miles from our regiment and brigade. I went accoutred with my trusty claymore and pistol, with my stockings all down. I had to pass quite close to the enemy, and through a turnip field, which annoyed me a great deal more. When I returned I found they had not attacked us, so Tulloch (his cousin in another regiment) and I sat down and ate some cold beef as salt as Lot's wife, but we were soon roused from our meal by some shots which fell at our side, and my servant who had brought the dinner was mortally wounded. The business began about half four, when the enemy rushed down instantaneously in crowds in all directions, firing smartly on the pickets (ours on the left). For a while we withstood vigorously their attacks. However, being overpowered by numbers, we retired with loss, and afterwards rallied and took post behind a hedge. I do assure you we had some fun; you would have laughed had you seen how we scampered with Jack Frenchman at our heels; but fortune favoured us. I commanded a few but trusty men, who after three hours were successful. We charged through the village along with two companies of the 14th Regiment, who, I am rather piqued to find, get all the merit. We certainly gave them a complete thrashing. I had the curiosity to examine the enemy's position, and was struck with astonish

N

ment to see the awful carnage; they were lying actually all above one another."

Sergeant Robertson says that Colonel Napier was giving orders to carry the village, when a shot struck him in the groin; one of the men immediately bound up the wound with his shirt and carried him to the rear, but he died shortly after. Although we were twice driven from the post we returned to the attack with redoubled fury, and at last retained it in defiance of all the efforts of the enemy to dislodge us. Exasperated at being thus repulsed, the French sent down. a strong reinforcement upon us to drive all before it, but General Hope, perceiving the movement, ordered two companies of the 14th to our assistance. Then came the tug of war; there was little or no firing, but fair hand-to-hand fighting; night put an end to the contest, the French withdrawing from the village, while we remained masters of it."

Captain Seton's (92nd) account is short and to the point. "The Battle of Corunna was bloody and bravely contested. The French got a devil of a drubbing, though five to one. As they were beat back, they always pressed forward with fresh troops. Night put an end to the action."

CHAPTER XI.

By the death of Lieut.-Colonel Napier the command of the 1st Battalion devolved upon Lieut.-Colonel Lamont.* Owing to the death of Moore, and Sir David Baird being wounded, Sir John Hope had assumed command of the army. Colonel Lamont had been sent for by Sir John, and Sergeant Robertson accompanied him as orderly. He says "We received orders to keep our post till five o'clock in the morning to deceive the enemy, and then to make the best of our way to the ships. It was dusk, and Colonel Lamont and I lost our way, and, before we were aware, found ourselves amongst a French picket. They were busy killing a bullock, but we did not wait to partake of it, and made the best of our way to our own picket." At 5 a.m. on the 17th, the pickets started for the beach as fast as they could. They were observed and pursued by cavalry, but having little more than a mile to go, they reached the boats just in time. About mid-day the French established a battery on the heights of San Lucia, which fired on the shipping, causing confusion and disorder among the transports; the merchant seamen, not bargaining for this sort of thing, went below and left the soldiers to do seamen's duty as best they could. Some masters cut their cables, and four vessels went ashore. They were burned, and men-o'-war's boats removed the troops, while the Victory brought her guns to bear on the battery and silenced its noise. Beresford's Brigade kept possession of the citadel till the 18th, when, the wounded being all on board, his troops embarked and the fleet sailed for England.

The death of Colonel Napier was a great grief to the regiment, which he had joined as senior captain when it was raised. He had commanded the 1st Battalion since Colonel Erskine was killed in Egypt in 1801, and both battalions

Lamont of Lamont, chief of his clan; he entered the army as ensign, 42nd Regiment, March 1793, was promoted in the Clan Alpine Fencibles, and afterwards in the 92nd; retired a Major-General.

for a time after the 2nd was raised. Strict without nagging, just without harshness, and considerate without weakness, he was a worthy successor to such excellent commanding officers as Huntly and Erskine. His best epitaph is in the words of one of his N.-C. officers, who described him as one whom every man in the regiment adored, and to whom he was more like an affectionate father than a commanding officer."

The regiment lost, besides, Lieut.-Colonel Napier, Lieutenant Archibald MacDonald, who died of his wounds shortly afterwards; two rank and file were killed, and four wounded. The whole army lamented the death of the good and gallant Sir John Moore, under whom the Gordon Highlanders had served so constantly, both in peace and war. They had peculiar reasons to love and respect him, and the officers changed the blue line in their lace to black, which is still worn in his memory. After speaking of his mother, and his "satisfaction to know that we have beaten the French," his last words were, "I hope England will be satisfied; I hope my country will do me justice."

The touching scene of the burial of Sir John Moore, as described both in prose and poetry, will ever live in the hearts of his countrymen.

"The loss of the British army at Corunna was never officially returned, but was estimated by Sir John Hope at about 800. The French loss I have no accurate account of. I have heard from French officers that it was above 3000 men." This number Napier thinks exaggerated, but that it certainly was very great. He attributes it to the arms of the British being new, and their ammunition fresh, and that "the physical strength and coolness of the men render the fire of the Englishmen at all times the most destructive known." "The nature of the ground also prevented any movement of artillery on either side, hence the French columns were exposed in their attacks to a fire of grape, which they could not return, because of the distance of their batteries."

The misfortunes of the British were, however, not over. A severe gale scattered the transports; some of them were

* I cannot find their names, and the Order Books and returns of this campaign seem to have been lost.

wrecked on the shores of England, and others ran to the nearest ports; so that the inhabitants of the towns along the Channel who had seen the successive expeditions which composed Moore's army embark with all the pomp and circumstance of military display, were struck with horror and dismay when they beheld them return, reduced in numbers, with haggard faces and ragged clothing. As the news spread throughout the country, the fate of these gallant men became a subject of general commiseration, and the hopes of the nation, which had been raised by the victories at Roliça and Vimiera, and the early successes of the Spaniards at Baylen and Saragossa, were changed to despondency by the late disasters. A cry was raised that Great Britain could never contend with France except at sea; and this, though in every regular engagement her troops had defeated the veterans of Napoleon, and had only retreated because their numbers were quite inadequate to the task required of them.

But notwithstanding the misfortunes which attended the campaign, it was even more calamitous to the arms of France. One whole corps d'armée had capitulated, and surrendered the kingdom of Portugal, which was still held by the British; another had surrendered to the Spaniards at Baylen. The spell was broken, Continental nations discovered that the French armies were not invincible, and Austria prepared to renew the struggle. By drawing Napoleon to the northern extremity of Spain, Moore gave time to the southern provinces to restore their army and strengthen their fortresses, and thus to prepare the way for the campaigns of Wellington, which Great Britain supported with a determined tenacity of purpose not hitherto exhibited by the nation in her Continental expeditions.

The 1st Battalion landed at Portsmouth on the 26th of January, and arrived at Weely in three divisions on the 13th, 14th, and 15th February. The following extracts from letters and journals will give an idea of the difference between the arrival of troops from foreign service in those days, and the comforts which now await them on return to their native land.

Mr Innes, who was, with about 100 of the 92nd, along