CH. II. GENERAL DESNOUETTES. 53 they are obliged to make forced marches and undergo much fatigue, and suffer many hardships and privations, very soon got into a state of disorder, plundering the inhabitants, breaking open the wine vaults, getting beastly drunk, and straggling over the country, by which means great numbers were made prisoners by the enemy, and many killed by the justly enraged Spaniards. At Benevento, a large town where we halted for one night, one of Napoleon's generals, and a relation of his own, called Lefevre Desnouettes, commanding a division of cavalry of the Imperial Guard, crossed the river and formed up his troops on a plain, upon which our Hussars under Sir Charles Stewart attacked them with great spirit, and in a very short time completely upset them, killing, wounding, and taking many prisoners, among whom was the general himself, who, being attacked by a couple of our Hussars as he made an attempt to gain a ford, and being slightly wounded in the head, surrendered himself just as Sir Charles Stewart came up, who sent him to head-quarters, where he arrived magnificently dressed in scarlet and gold as general of the Imperial Hussars. Sir John Moore received him in the kindest manner, and seeing he was bleeding, immediately sent for some water and washed the wound himself, gave him fresh linen, &c., and sent in a flag of truce to request that his baggage might be allowed to come to him, which was permitted by Napoleon, and that night it arrived, with several horses and servants, &c., for the French generals have always a great proportion of baggage. When General Lefevre was dressed, and just before we sat down to dinner, Sir John Moore asked him if there was anything he wished, upon which Lefevre cast a glance at his side (his sword having been taken from him when made prisoner) and then looked at Sir John Moore, who, comprehending what he meant, with all the high feeling of a soldier and the grace of a perfect gentleman, unbuckled his own sword from his side and presented it to his prisoner, who, I grieve to say for the honour of his profession, deserved it not. Lefevre Desnouettes broke his parole of honour, and made his escape from England some time after Moore's death! was justly disgraced by Napoleon, though he was allowed to serve afterwards, and at last died an exile in America. What has become of the sword I know not, but I can CH. II. PAROLE OF HONOUR. 55 never forget how much we were all struck with Sir John Moore's conduct; the whole transaction was perfect, the kindness of expression and the soldierlike sympathy which was apparent in the British general's countenance was perfectly beautiful; but was there ever an act of his during his life that was not perfect? If ever any of you, my boys, should, by the fortune of war, be made prisoner, and be on your parole, and should so horribly disgrace yourself by breaking that parole, I would never see you again ; indeed, I should use every endeavour to have you sent back to the nation whose army made you a prisoner. A man's word once given is sacred, and nothing should induce him to break it. If he does, his honour is gone, and he forfeits all claim to the character of a gentleman, and should never be treated as one. We proceeded on our retreat towards Coruña. Our march was made with great rapidity, and the men and officers were obliged to be eternally under arms, as the enemy pursued us as quickly as possible, in hopes of bringing us to action while in a more open country than he knew we should be in once we reached Astorga. This often obliged the rear-guard under General Paget to be many hours without food or rest, as they had not time to cook. There never was any want of provisions, but great want of time to cook them, and this it was impossible to prevent, as the enemy gave us no respite till we got to Astorga, where, notwithstanding that Sir John Moore had requested the Spanish General Romana not to quarter his army, but to leave that city and the road through Galicia free for the march of the British, we found the town crammed full of Spanish troops, and of course the arrival of our army made the confusion beyond anything. And here the army was in a highly disorganised state, breaking open stores, plundering the houses, &c., and a horrid scene of drunkenness in all the corps except General Paget's and the Guards at Villafranca. The general found it necessary to make an example by shooting a private of the 15th Hussars, whom Captain Pasley and myself caught plundering a house; and upon our laying hold of him he was most insolent, and struck Pasley. The facts being stated to the general, he was shot that morning; and this had some effect, but not much, I am sorry to say. At Lugo, the French having only pursued us CH. II. LUGO. 57 from Astorga with Marshal Soult's corps (as Buonaparte, who had passed in review at Astorga, two days after we left it, ninety thousand troops, had been obliged to hurry off with the Imperial Guards and other corps towards Germany, in consequence of Austria having declared war against him), we made a halt in order to rest the troops and if possible to give battle and cripple Soult's corps, which would enable us to retreat more leisurely and consequently more regularly. Sir John Moore took up an excellent position, and offered battle to the Marshal, who, after a slight demonstration and a smart skirmish, in which we lost a few killed and wounded, thought it the most prudent thing to leave us quiet, as he felt sure we must move off the next day, and that he could not fail to have us at Coruña. As I was riding along the position in the morning with some orders in a great hurry, and as I passed that part of the line where your uncle Charles, who commanded the 50th Regiment, and his friend Major Stanhope were eating a famous dish of Irish stew' for breakfast, these two fellows, knowing that I dared not stop, ran up and put this savoury dish to my nose by way of tantalising me, who had been on horseback nearly |