On the 28th of November the 71st and 92nd, under Colonel Cameron, marched to San Payo, and thence across the Sierra de Gate, in lovely weather and through splendid scenery, the road winding, rugged and dangerous, through thick woods overhanging steep precipices and round the boldest rocks, which re-echoed the sound of pipe tune or marching song. They lay that night in Perales, and on the 30th they occupied Casas de Don Gomez. During the march the usual measures were adopted to prevent men from falling out; one of these was stopping the allowance of wine; another, which seems a little hard, was not dismissing a company till any straggler belonging to it came in; but as an old Peninsular soldier said to the writer," If the officers didna claw us, the general would claw them." They went into quarters on the 1st of December at Corea, a town of about 600 houses, prettily situated on the River Alagon. Here newspapers arrived, and there was plenty of game to shoot. There was a good market, and they were well supplied with food and wine, also with shirts and other necessaries from Lisbon; but the colonel, not wishing to put the men to the expense of new fatigue pantaloons, "will not at present order new ones, and hopes that by a little care and mending they may stand for some time, and such men as have none may make them out of old greatcoats brought by the quartermaster from Lisbon." The names of all N.-C. officers and men who were present with the battalion between the 15th and 19th November are to be sent to the Orderly Room, agreeable to General Order, probably for them to get an allowance for clothing. Many men were in hospital at Corea; and Lieut.-General Sir W. Erskine, commanding the cavalry of Hill's Corps, Colonel Stewart of the 50th and Colonel Wilson, 39th, died from the effects of exposure. A good many had died or been invalided from the 92nd during the past year, a return of Walcheren fever and ague being often the cause; with rare exceptions, the invalids were described as of "good character." At Corea the battalion had resumed its usual smartness. Any man seen walking in the streets in a slovenly manner, or not properly dressed, "to be ordered to his quarters by any officer who meets him." At this time Wellington addressed a circular letter to the superior officers of the army. After saying that he will be able to keep the troops in cantonments for some time, and that clothing and necessaries are on their way to the different divisions, he draws particular attention to discipline, which, he remarks, becomes relaxed in every army after a long and active campaign. He goes on to declare " that discipline had deteriorated during the last campaign in a greater degree than he had ever witnessed or ever read of in any army, and this without any disaster, any unusual privation or hardship, save that of inclement weather; that officers had from the first lost all command over their men, hence outrages of all kinds and inexcusable losses had occurred. No army had ever made shorter marches in retreat, no army had been so little pressed by a pursuing enemy; and that the true cause of this unhappy state of affairs was to be found in the habitual neglect of duty by regimental officers. He does not question their zeal, far less their gallantry, but their constant and minute attention to the conduct of the soldiers, as well as to their arms, ammunition and food; and remarks the facility. with which the French soldiers cooked in comparison with our army," etc. These severe reproaches caused great dissatisfaction. It was felt that in some particulars they were founded on statements which were unintentionally inaccurate. The marches, though short as to distance, were long as to time: "the troops, ankle-deep in clay, mid-leg in water, lost their shoes, and with strained sinews heavily made their way, and withal they had but two rations in five days."* "Wellington knew not that the commissariat stores he had ordered up did not arrive regularly because of the extreme fatigue of the animals who carried them, and were often not available because the conductors, alarmed by reports of the enemy's cavalry, carried off or destroyed the field stores." The destruction of the swine, though it was a serious loss to the unfortunate owners, may be in some measure palliated, because that evening the soldiers had nothing but acorns to eat; but no doubt there had been great disorder in some parts of the retreat, and much of Napier. + Ibid. the suffering of all arose from these very disorders on the part of some. If soldiers break up the arrangements of their general by want of discipline, they have no right to complain of the misery which those arrangements were designed to prevent. The circular was not strictly just because it excepted none from blame; and those brigades and battalions who knew that they had honestly done their duty felt that their hard working, if unobtrusive exertions had not been appreciated. With regard to cooking, that most important part of military lore-for an army marches on its belly—a N.-C. officer of the 92nd remarks that the camp kettles then in use were made of strong iron to hold sixteen quarts for twelve men, and were carried on mules; and when the troops were engaged with the enemy or retreating before him, the baggage often did not arrive till midnight; but in 1813 they got light kettles, one to six men, which they carried themselves, and then they could cope with the French in cooking as well as in fighting. An officer of the 92nd admits that discipline was permitted to relax to a criminal degree in some regiments; "but I cannot allow that the misconduct of one or of a dozen battalions could ever form a good apology for bestowing upon the others a sweeping censure for offences which they knew they had never committed." He believes that if Wellington had taken a little time before giving vent to his indignation, he would have distinguished between the guilty and those who had done their duty under all circumstances. Since, however, this course was not followed, he affirms "publicly and unhesitatingly, that every officer in the regiment to which I belonged performed their several duties with credit to themselves and advantage to the service; and I fearlessly assert that throughout the whole of the retreat, the N.-C. officers and privates obeyed the orders of their officers with the same. cheerfulness and alacrity for which they have ever been distinguished." Colonel Cameron seems to have been of the same opinion, for in Regimental Orders he calls attention. to the orders of the Commander of the Forces, and "in the most pointed manner" desires that they may be enforced by the captains of companies, and that they see that the subalterns and N.-C. officers exert themselves "to prevent in the 92nd Regiment what has given occasion to the Commander of the Forces so strongly to animadvert upon the conduct of some other corps." Sergeant Robertson writes that after the imputation cast on the commanding officers, discipline was exercised with the utmost rigour. "The 92nd was not so severely dealt with as several regiments; but whether we deserved it or not, I cannot say." R.O., December 24th. The commanding officer requests officers commanding companies will endeavour to give their men as good dinners as they possibly can to-morrow and something (extra) for breakfast, as it is Christmas Day, and that they will see them at it. A letter from the adjutant-general, Horse Guards, to Lord Wellington was published at Corea. His earnest attention is requested by command of H.R.H. the Commander-in-Chief to a branch of the service from which H.R.H. expects the most essential benefits will be derived; "I allude to the establishment of military chaplains and the duties which attach to them." The letter continues that the chaplains have "been selected with the utmost care and circumspection by the first prelates of this country." They are to have the pay and allowances of major, and are to receive from all persons that respect which is so justly due to their rank and profession. They are to visit the sick and the hospitals at least twice a week. At divine worship no more are to be assembled at one time than the voice can reach; service to close with a "short practical sermon suited to the habits and understandings of soldiers "" in conformity with the custom of the Established Church.' "'** R.O., 28th December 1812.-The detachment joined this day, under Lieut. Macpherson, to be posted to companies. † Regimental chaplains had been done away thirteen years before, because the duty was not properly performed. There were no paid Presbyterian or Roman Catholic army chaplains till a much later period.-Clode's "Military Forces of the Crown." In monthly returns, dated 25th January 1813, mention is made of Lieut. Ronald Macdonald, two sergeants, and thirty-six rank and file as having joined from the 2nd Battalion then in Scotland, and two rank and file from Portugal. X R.O., Corea, 31st December 1812.-As to-morrow is New Year's Day, the commanding officer recommends it to officers commanding companies to feed their men well by letting them have a breakfast and as good a dinner as they can upon that occasion, and that they will visit them at their meals. No doubt their Spanish hosts entered into the festivities of the soldiers, who would keep up "first footing" and "Oidche Challuinn" with all the spirit of their country; the Spanish wine making the best of "plotty," and aguardiente doing duty for mountain dew as the dram which rewards the rhymers in the latter quaint old custom.* R.O., Corea, 3rd January 1813. It is intended to commence the regimental school to-morrow. Such N.-C. officers and men as wish to attend it will be allowed leave from evening parade daily and from one day's duty each week; and the commanding officer strongly recommends the officers to advise their N.-C. officers and the young men of their companies to attend the school as a thing which will tend so much to their own advantage hereafter. Corea, 5th January 1813.-The battalion will march tomorrow morning at eight o'clock, agreeable to this day's brigade orders. First pipe to sound at half-past six. * On New Year's Eve, known in the Lowlands as "Hogmanay,” and as "Oidche Challuinn " in the Highlands, the people gathered at the residence of the principal person of the place and marched round the house three times from east to west (deiseil) chanting an invocation for a blessing on it and all within, such as Beannaich an tigh 's na bheil ann, At the door each was admitted only after reciting a verse or sentiment (duan), which the mistress rewarded with a dram. A bit of singed wool from the breast of a sheep (caisein Calluinn) was handed round under the noses of the guests, who were supposed to pretend the smell delicious. After this, a man with a bull's or other hide drawn over his head and shoulders entered and ran through the house, the others shouting and laughing and beating him with sticks till he gained the outside. All were entertained by the master, and the night was spent in singing and dancing. This ceremony, which I have seen several times in the West Highlands, is no doubt very ancient in its origin, and symbolical in character, but is seldom practised of late years. It is, however, still continued in the regiment, though in more modern fashion. |