Walter Horatio Pater - "Gaston de Latour: an unfinished romance"

Basil King - "The Conquest of Fear"

George V. Hobart - "You Should Worry Says John Henry"

Various - "The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue 28, April 1893"

Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature 2007
This paper argues that discourses of love in Ghanaian market literature for youth offer a view into complex negotiations of agency and empowerment. Drawing on Deborah Durham's notion of youth as "social `shifters'" and Francis Nyamnjoh's conception of the "interconnectedness" of agency, I take Ghanaian market literature as one specific case of how African literature for youth foregrounds questions of continuity and change as African societies enter into increasingly complex global relations. In this literature for youth, received notions of love, often constructed out of impressions from American pop and hip hop music, carry new notions of agency that compete with existing "domesticated" forms. Authors like Ike Tandoh and Evelyn Tay employ discourses of love to offer youth alternative avenues for empowerment in a context of socio-economic disenfranchizement. In a creative process of "straddling", this writing both reveals and reproduces the contradictions that obtain in youth configurations of agency.

Under Wellington\'s Command

G >> G. A. Henty >> Under Wellington\'s Command




The French army were still behind the Coa, occupied in restoring
the fortifications of Almeida and Ciudad Rodrigo, and it was not
until the 17th of September that Massena crossed the Coa, and began
the invasion of Portugal in earnest; his march being directed
towards Coimbra, by taking which line he hoped to prevent Hill, in
the south, from effecting a junction with Wellington.

The latter, however, had made every preparation for retreat and, as
soon as he found that Massena was in earnest, he sent word to Hill
to join him on the Alva, and fell back in that direction himself.

Terence received orders to co-operate with 10,000 of the Portuguese
militia, under the command of Trant. Wilson and Miller were to
harass Massena's right flank and rear. Had Wellington's orders been
carried out, Massena would have found the country deserted by its
inhabitants and entirely destitute of provisions; but as usual his
orders had been thwarted by the Portuguese government, who sent
secret instructions to the local authorities to take no steps to
carry them out; and the result was that Massena, as he advanced,
found ample stores for provisioning his army.

The speed with which Wellington fell back baffled his calculations
and, by the time he approached Viseu, the whole British army was
united, near Coimbra. His march had been delayed two days, by an
attack made by Trant and Terence upon the advanced guard, as it was
making its way through a defile. A hundred prisoners were taken,
with some baggage; and a serious blow would have been struck at the
French, had not the new Portuguese levies been seized with panic
and fled in confusion. Trant was, consequently, obliged to draw
off. The attack, however, had been so resolute and well-directed
that Massena, not knowing the strength of the force opposing him,
halted for two days until the whole army came up; and thus afforded
time for the British to concentrate, and make their arrangements.

[Illustration: Plan of the Battle of Busaco.]

The ground chosen by Wellington to oppose Massena's advance was on
the edge of the Sierra Busaco; which was separated, by a deep and
narrow valley, from the series of hills across which the French
were marching. There were four roads by which the French could
advance. The one from Mortagao, which was narrow and little used,
passed through Royalva. The other three led to the position
occupied by the British force between the village of Busaco and
Pena Cova. Trant's command was posted at Royalva. Terence with his
regiment took post, with a Portuguese brigade of cavalry, on the
heights above Santa Marcella, where the road leading south to
Espinel forked; a branch leading from it across the Mondego, in the
rear of the British position, to Coimbra. Here he could be aided,
if necessary, by the guns at Pena Cova, on the opposite side of the
river.

While the British were taking up their ground between Busaco and
Pena Cova, Ney and Regnier arrived on the crest of the opposite
hill. Had they attacked at once, as Ney wished, they might have
succeeded; for the divisions of Spenser, Leith, and Hill had not
yet arrived. But Massena was ten miles in the rear, and did not
come up until next day, with Junot's corps; by which time the whole
of the British army was ranged along the opposite heights.

Their force could be plainly made out from the French position, and
so formidable were the heights that had to be scaled by an
attacking force that Ney, impetuous and brave as he was, no longer
advocated an attack. Massena, however, was bent upon fighting. He
had every confidence in the valour of his troops, and was averse to
retiring from Portugal, baffled, by the long and rugged road he had
travelled; therefore dispositions were at once made for the attack.
Ney and Regnier were to storm the British position, while Junot's
corps was to be held in reserve.

At daybreak on the 29th the French descended the hill; Ney's
troops, in three columns of attack, moving against a large convent
towards the British left centre; while Regnier, in two columns,
advanced against the centre. Regnier's men were the first engaged
and, mounting the hill with great gallantry and resolution, pushed
the skirmishers of Picton's division before them and, in spite of
the grape fire of a battery of six guns, almost gained the summit
of the hill--the leading battalions establishing themselves among
the rocks there, while those behind wheeled to the right.
Wellington, who was on the spot, swept the flank of this force with
grape; and the 88th and a wing of the 45th charged down upon them
furiously.

The French, exhausted by their efforts in climbing the hill, were
unable to resist the onslaught; and the English and French, mixed
up together, went down the hill; the French still resisting, but
unable to check their opponents who, favoured by the steep descent,
swept all before them.

In the meantime, the battalions that had gained the crest held
their own against the rest of the third division and, had they been
followed by the troops who had wheeled off towards their right, the
British position would have been cut in two. General Leith, seeing
the critical state of affairs had, as soon as he saw the third
division pressed back, despatched a brigade to its assistance. It
had to make a considerable detour round a ravine; but it now
arrived and, attacking with fury, drove the French grenadiers from
the rocks; and pursued them, with a continuous fire of musketry,
until they were out of range. The rest of Leith's division soon
arrived, and General Hill moved his division to the position before
occupied by Leith. Thus, so formidable a force was concentrated at
the point where Regnier made his effort that, having no reserves,
he did not venture to renew the attack.

On their right the French had met with no better success. In front
of the convent, but on lower ground, was a plateau; and on this
Crawford posted the 43rd and 52nd Regiments of the line, in a
slight dip, which concealed them from observation by the French. A
quarter of a mile behind them, on the high ground close to the
convent, was a regiment of German infantry. These were in full
sight of the enemy. The other regiment of the light division was
placed lower down the hill, and supported by the guns of a battery.

Two of Ney's columns advanced up the hill with great speed and
gallantry; never pausing for a moment, although their ranks were
swept by grape from the artillery, and a heavy musketry fire by the
light troops. The latter were forced to fall back before the
advance. The guns were withdrawn, and the French were within a few
yards of the edge of the plateau, when Crawford launched the 43rd
and 52nd Regiments against them.

Wholly unprepared for such an attack, the French were hurled down
the hill. Only one of their columns attempted to retrieve the
disaster, and advanced against the right of the light division.
Here, however, they met Pack's brigade; while Crawford's artillery
swept the wood through which they were ascending. Finally, they
were forced to retire down the hill, and the action came to an end.
Never did the French fight more bravely; but the position, held by
determined troops, was practically impregnable. The French loss in
killed and wounded was 4500, that of the allies only 1300; the
difference being caused by the fact that the French ranks,
throughout the action, were swept with grape by the British
batteries; while the French artillery could do nothing to aid their
infantry.



Chapter 11: The French Advance.


As there were no signs of any French force approaching the position
held by the Portuguese, Terence moved his regiment a short distance
forward, to a point which enabled them to obtain a view right down
the valley in which the conflict was taking place. He then allowed
them to fall out of their ranks; knowing that in less than a minute
from the call being sounded they would be under arms again, and in
readiness to move in any direction required. Then, with Herrara and
his three English officers, he moved a short distance away and
watched the scene.

As soon as Regnier's columns had crossed the bottom of the ravine,
their guns along the crest opened fire on the British position
facing them.

"They are too far off for grape," Terence said. "You remember,
Ryan, at Corunna, how those French batteries pounded us from the
crest, and how little real damage they did us. A round shot does
not do much more harm than a bullet, unless it strikes a column in
motion, or troops massed in solid formation.

"Those fellows are mounting the hill very fast."

"They are, indeed," Ryan agreed. "You can see how the line of smoke
of our skirmishers on the hillside gets higher and higher."

"I wish our regiment was there, Colonel," Bull said. "We might do
some good; while here we are of no more use than if we were a
hundred miles away."

"No, no, Bull, that is not the case. If the French had not seen
that this position was strongly held, they might have moved a
division by this road and, if they had done so, they would have
turned the main position altogether, and forced Wellington to fall
back, at once. So you see, we are doing good here; though I do not
say that I should not like to be over there."

"The French will soon be at the top of the hill," Herrara
exclaimed. "See how they are pushing upwards."

"They certainly are gaining ground fast," Macwitty said. "They are
within a hundred yards of the top. Our men don't seem to be able to
make any stand against them at all.

"Colonel, the lower column is turning off more towards their left."

"They had better have kept together, Macwitty. It is evident that
Picton's division is hard pressed, as it is and, if those two
columns had united and thrown themselves upon him, they would have
broken right through our line. As it is, the second party will have
Leith's division to deal with. Do you see one of his brigades
marching swiftly to meet them, and some guns sweeping the French
flank? I wish we were nearer."

The scene had become too exciting for further conversation, and
they watched almost breathlessly. The line of smoke on the top of
the crest showed that the head of the column had made good its
footing there; while the quick puffs of smoke, and the rattle of
musketry, denoted that the other column was also within a short
distance of the summit. But Leith's regiments were approaching the
spot at the double. Presently there was the crash of a tremendous
volley, and then the leading regiment disappeared over the brow of
the hill, and into brushwood. The roar of musketry was heavy and
continuous, and then Ryan gave a joyous shout, as it could be seen
that the two long smoke wreaths were becoming mixed together, and
that the movement was downwards and, ere long, the dark masses of
troops could be seen descending the hill even more rapidly than
they had climbed it. Leith's second brigade was now approaching the
scene of the struggle, and was near at hand; Hill's division was
seen in motion towards the same spot.

"That is all right now," Terence said; "but there is another big
fight going on, further up the valley."

It was too far off to make out the movements of the troops but,
even at that distance, the smoke rolling up from the hillside gave
some idea of the course of the fight. Here, too, after mounting
more than halfway up the slope, it could be seen that the tide of
war was rolling down again; though more slowly, and with harder
fighting than it had done in the struggle nearer to them. And when
at last the firing gradually ceased, they knew that the French had
been repulsed, all along the line.

"The men had better open their haversacks and eat a meal," Terence
said. "We may get an order to move, at any moment."

No orders came, however, and the troops remained in the positions
that they occupied until the following morning. Then a heavy
skirmishing fire broke out and, for some time, it seemed as if the
battle was to be renewed. No heavy masses of the French, however,
came down from the hill on their side to support the light troops
in the valley and, in the afternoon, the firing died away. Towards
evening a staff officer rode up, at full speed, and handed a note
to Terence.

"The French have turned our left by the Royalva Pass. Trant has
failed to check them, and the whole army must fall back. These are
your instructions."

The mishap had not been Trant's fault. He had been sent by the
Portuguese general on a tremendous detour and, when he arrived at
the position assigned to him, his troops were utterly exhausted by
their long and fatiguing march. A large proportion had deserted or
fallen out and, with but 1500 wearied and dispirited men, he could
offer but little resistance to the French advance and, being
attacked by their cavalry, had been driven away with loss. Terence
opened the note.

"You will march at once. Keep along on this side of the Mondego,
breaking up your command into small parties, who will visit every
village within reach. All of their inhabitants who have not obeyed
the proclamations, and retired, are to leave at once. Destroy all
provisions that you can find. Set fire to the mills and, where this
is not practicable, smash the machinery and, bearing south as you
go, spread out over the country between the Zezere and the sea, and
continue to carry on the duty assigned to you, compelling the
peasants to drive their animals before them, along the roads to
Lisbon."

"I understand, sir," Terence said, after reading the note, "and
will carry out the orders to the best of my ability."

Five minutes later the regiment was under arms. Terence called the
whole of the officers together, and explained the instructions that
he had received. The two battalions were broken up into half
companies which, as they marched along the Mondego, were to be left
behind, one by one; each party, when left, turning south, and
proceeding to carry out the orders received. In a few cases, only,
were companies to keep intact as, although a hundred men would be
ample for the duty at the large villages, two hundred would not be
too much in a town like Leiria.

On reaching Foz d'Aronce, half a battalion moved to the east, to
work down by the river Zezere. The rest turned to the right, to
follow the course of the Mondego down to the sea. For convenience,
and in order to keep the troops in hand, Bull, Macwitty, Ryan, and
Herrara each took the command of half a battalion; with orders to
supervise the work of the companies belonging to it, and to keep in
touch with the nearest company of the next battalion, so that the
two thousand men could advance, to a certain extent, abreast of
each other.

Foz d'Aronce had already been evacuated by its inhabitants, but in
all other villages the orders were carried out. By daybreak the
last company in the two battalions reached the sea coast and, after
two hours' rest, began its march south. The others had long been at
work.

It was a painful duty. The frightened villagers had to be roused in
the darkness, and told that the French were approaching, and that
they must fly at once, taking their animals and what they could
carry off in carts away with them. While the terrified people were
harnessing horses to their carts, piling their few valuables into
them, and packing their children on the top, the troops went from
house to house, searching for and destroying provisions, setting
fire to barns stored with corn, and burning or disabling any flour
mills they met with.

Then, as soon as work was done, they forced the villagers to take
the southern road. There was no difficulty in doing this for,
although they had stolidly opposed all the measures ordered by
Wellington, trusting that the French would not come; now that they
had heard they were near, a wild panic seized them. Had an orderly
retreat been made before, almost all their belongings might have
been saved. Now but little could be taken, even by the most
fortunate. The children, the sick, the aged had to be carried in
carts and, in their haste and terror, they left behind many things
that might well have been saved.

The peasantry in the villages suffered less than the townspeople,
as their horses and carts afforded means of transport: but even
here the scenes were most painful. In the towns, however, they were
vastly more so. The means for carriage for such a large number of
people being wanting, the greater number of the inhabitants were
forced to make their way on foot, along roads so crowded with
vehicles of every kind that the British divisions were frequently
brought to a standstill, for hours, where the nature of the country
prevented their quitting the road and making their way across the
fields.

On the 29th, the greater portion of the British troops passed the
Mondego. Hill retired upon Thomar, and the rest of the troops were
concentrated at Milheada. The commissariat stores followed the
coast road down to Peniche, and were embarked there. The light
division and the cavalry remained, after the main body had been
drawn across the Mondego, north of that river.

Soon after starting on his work, Terence learned that the British
troops had passed through Pombal, Leiria, and Thomar. It was
consequently unnecessary for him to endeavour to clear those towns.

The delays caused at every village rendered the work slow, as well
as arduous. The French drove the light division through Coimbra
and, following, pressed so hotly that a number of minor combats
took place between their cavalry and the British rear guards.
Before Leiria the rear guards had to fight strongly, to enable the
guns to quit the town before the French entered it.

Terence presently received orders to collect his regiment again
and, crossing the Zezere, to endeavour to join Trant and the other
leaders of irregular bands, and to harass Massena's rear. He had
already, knowing that great bodies of French cavalry had crossed
the Mondego, called in the companies that were working Leiria and
the coast; as they might otherwise have been cut up, in detail, by
the French cavalry. With these he marched east, picking up the
other companies as he went and, on the same evening, the regiment
was collected on the Zezere.

Having followed the river up, he reached Foz d'Aronce and then,
finding that several bodies of French troops had already passed
through that village, he turned to the left and camped close to the
Mondego; sending ten of his men over the river, in peasants'
clothes, to ascertain the movements of the enemy. One of them
returned with news that he had come upon a party of Trant's men,
who told him that their main body were but two miles away, and that
there were no French north of Coimbra.

The regiment had made a march of upwards of forty miles that day.
Therefore, leaving them to rest, Terence forded the Mondego and
rode, with Ryan, to Trant's village.

"I am glad, indeed, to see you, O'Connor," the partisan leader
said, as Terence entered the cottage where he had established
himself. "Is your regiment with you?"

"Yes, it is three miles away, on the other side of the river. We
have marched something like eighty miles, in two days. We have been
busy burning mills and destroying provisions, but the French
cavalry are all over the country, so I was ordered to join you, and
aid you to harass the French line of communication, and to do them
what damage we could."

"There is not much to be done in the way of cutting their
communications; at least, there is nothing to be done to the north
and east of this place, for Massena brought all his baggage and
everything else with him; and cut himself loose, altogether, from
his base at Ciudad. If the people had but carried out Wellington's
orders, Massena would have suffered a fearful disaster. We have
learned, from stragglers we have taken, that the fourteen days'
provisions with which they marched were altogether exhausted; and
that they had been unable to obtain any here. They would have had
to retreat, instantly; but I hear that, in Coimbra alone, there is
enough food for their whole army, for at least two months."

"But could we not have destroyed it, as we retreated?"

"Of course, we ought to have done so," Trant said; "but from what I
hear, the affair was very badly managed. Instead of the first
division that went through burning all the magazines and stores, it
was left to Crawford to do so; and he, as usual, stopped so long
facing the enemy that, at last, he was regularly chased through
Coimbra and, the roads being blocked with carts, his brigade would
have been destroyed had the French infantry pushed strongly after
him.

"Things are just as bad, in the way of provisions, on the other
side of the river. We have done a great deal in the way of
destroying mills and magazines. I am afraid Massena will find
enough provisions to last his army all the winter."

"That is bad."

"Had it only been Coimbra, no very great harm would have been done;
for the French troops got altogether out of hand when they entered,
plundered the place and, as I hear, destroyed enough provisions to
have lasted them a month."

"Of course, they hold the town?"

"Oh yes! It is full of their sick and wounded."

"What force have you?" Terence asked.

"I have 1500 men of my own. Miller and Wilson, with some of the
Northern militias, will be here shortly; and I expect, in a few
days, we shall have eight thousand men."

"The great thing would be to act before the French know that there
is so strong a force in the neighbourhood," Terence said, "because
as soon as they hear that, they are sure to send a strong force
back to Coimbra."

"How do you mean, to act?" Trant asked in some surprise.

"I propose that we should capture Coimbra, at once. I have 2000 men
and you have 1500. I don't suppose they have left above a couple of
thousand in the town, perhaps even less and, if we take them by
surprise, I should think we ought to be able to manage that number,
without difficulty. I certainly consider my own men to be a match
for an equal number of French."

"It is a grand idea," Trant said, "and I don't see why we should
not carry it out. As you say, the sooner the better. They may know
that I am here, but they will never dream of my making such attempt
with a force which, I must own, is not always to be relied upon.
They are always shifting and changing. After a long march, half of
them will desert; then in a few days the ranks swell again.
Consequently, the men have little discipline and no confidence in
each other, and are little better than raw levies; but for rough
street fighting I have no doubt they would be all right, especially
when backed by good troops like yours.

"How would you proceed? As yours is the real fighting body, you
should have the command."

"Not at all," Terence said warmly. "You are my senior officer, not
only in rank but in age and experience. My orders were to assist
you as far as I could and, while we are together, I am ready to
carry out your orders in any way."

"Will your men be able to attack in the morning?"

"Certainly. They will have a good night's rest, and will be quite
ready for work, say, at four o'clock in the morning. It is not more
than two hours' march to Coimbra, so that we shall be there by
daybreak. Have they any troops between us and the town?"

"They have a post at a village, a mile this side, O'Connor. Do you
know how far their army is, on the other side of the river?"

"I know that they had a division close to Leiria, the day before
yesterday; but whether they have any large body just across the
Mondego, I cannot say."

"Then we will first surprise their post. I will undertake that.
Will you march your force down the river, close to the town? I have
a hundred cavalry and, as soon as I have captured the post, I will
send them on at a gallop; with orders to ride straight through to
the bridge, and prevent any mounted messengers passing across it.
As soon as you hear them come along the road, do you at once enter
the town. I will bring my men on at the double, and we shall not be
many minutes after you.

"It would be as well for you to enter it by several streets, as
that will cause greater confusion than if you were in a solid body.
The principal point is the great convent of Santa Clara, which has
been converted into a hospital. No doubt a portion of the garrison
are there; the rest will be scattered about in the public
buildings, and can be overpowered in detail.

"I think we are certain of success. I hope you will stop for a time
and take supper with me and, in the meantime, I will send down
orders for my men to be under arms, here, at half-past three."

[Illustration: 'Good news. We are going to take Coimbra.']

Terence and Ryan remained for an hour, and then rode back to the
regiment. The men were all sound asleep, but Herrara and the two
majors were sitting round a campfire.

"What news, Colonel?" the former asked, as Terence rode up.

"Good news. We are going to take Coimbra, tomorrow morning. All
Massena's sick and wounded, and his heavy baggage are there. They
have no suspicion that any force is yet assembled in the
neighbourhood and, I expect, we shall have easy work of it. They
have a post a mile out of the town. Trant will surprise and capture
that, at five in the morning. Just before daybreak we shall enter
the town. We must march from here at half-past three."

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