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Logan Marshall - "The True Story of Our National Calamity of Flood, Fire and Tornado"

Thomas Hill Green - "An Estimate of the Value and Influence of Works of Fiction in Modern Times"

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




"It will be well to have a dozen copies made of the first five or
six pages, and the maps, for the perusal of any officer sent out
with a detachment on scouting duty, as a model of the sort of
report that an officer should send in of his work, when on such
duty."

The party at dinner was a small one, consisting only of some five
or six officers of the headquarter staff, and two generals of
divisions. After dinner, Lord Wellington asked Terence how he
escaped from Salamanca, and the latter briefly related the
particulars of his evasion.

"This is the second time you have escaped from a French prison,"
Lord Wellington said, when he had finished. "The last time, if I
remember rightly, you escaped from Bayonne in a boat."

"But you did not get to England in that boat, surely, Colonel
O'Connor?" one of the generals laughed.

"No, sir; we were driven off shore by a gale, and picked up by a
French privateer. We escaped from her as she was lying in port at
Brest, made our way to the mouth of the river Sienne, about nine
miles north of Granville; and then, stealing another boat, started
for Jersey. We were chased by a French privateer but, before she
came up to us, a Jersey privateer arrived and engaged her. While
the fight was going on we got on board the Jersey boat, which
finally captured the Frenchman, and took her into port."

"And from there, I suppose, you found your way to England, and
enjoyed a short rest from your labours?"

"No, sir. The captain of the privateer, who thought that we had
rendered him valuable assistance in the fight, sailed out with us
on to the ship track, and put us on board a transport bound for
Lisbon."

"Well, you are more heart and soul in it than I am," the general
laughed. "I should not have been able to deny myself a short run in
England."

"I was anxious to get back to my regiment, sir, as I was afraid
that, if I did not return before the next campaign opened, some
other officer might be appointed to its command."

"You need not trouble yourself on that score, in future, Colonel
O'Connor," Lord Wellington said. "If you have the bad luck to be
captured again, I shall know that your absence will be temporary
and, if it became necessary to appoint anyone else to your command,
it would only be until your return."

On leaving the commander-in-chief's quarters, the adjutant general
asked Terence when he thought of rejoining his regiment.

"I am going to start at once, sir. I ordered my horse to be saddled
and in readiness, at ten o'clock."

"You must not think of doing so," the adjutant said. "The road is
very bad, and not at all fit to be traversed on a dark night like
this. Besides, you would really gain nothing by it. If you leave at
daybreak, you will overtake your regiment before it has marched
many miles."



Chapter 14: Effecting A Diversion.


At twelve o'clock the next day Terence rode up to his regiment,
just as it had halted for two hours' rest. As soon as he was
recognized the men leapt to their feet, cheering vociferously, and
gathered round him; while, a minute or two later, Herrara, Ryan and
the two majors ran up to greet him.

[Illustration: The men leapt to their feet, cheering vociferously.]

"I have been expecting you for the last month," Ryan exclaimed,
"though how you were to get through the French lines was more than
I could imagine. Still, I made sure you would do it, somehow."

"You gave me credit for more sharpness than I possess, Dick. I felt
sure it could not be done, and so I had to go right down to Cadiz,
and back to Lisbon by ship. It was a very much easier affair than
ours was, and I met with no adventures and no difficulties on the
way.

"Well, Herrara, I heard at headquarters that the regiment is going
on well, and they fought stoutly at Banos. Your loss was not heavy,
I hope?"

"We had fifty-three killed, and a hundred more or less seriously
wounded. More than half of them have rejoined. The vacancies have
been filled up, and the two battalions are both at their full
strength.

"Two of the captains, Fernandez and Panza, were killed. I have
appointed two of the sergeants temporarily, pending your
confirmation, on your return."

"It is well that it is no worse. They were both good men, and will
be a loss to us. Whom have you appointed in their places?"

"Gomes and Mendoza, the two sergeant majors. They are both men of
good family, and thoroughly know their duty. Of course I filled
their places, for the time, with two of the colour sergeants."

"I suppose you have ridden from headquarters, Terence," Ryan put
in, "and must be as hungry as a hunter. We were just going to sit
down to a couple of chickens and a ham, so come along."

While they were taking their meal, Terence gave them an account of
the manner in which he had escaped from Salamanca.

"So you were in our old quarters, Terence! Well, you certainly have
a marvellous knack of getting out of scrapes. When we saw your
horse carrying you into the middle of the French cavalry, I thought
for a moment that the Minho regiment had lost its colonel; but it
was not for long, and soon I was sure that, somehow or other, you
would give them the slip again. Of course I have been thinking of
you as a prisoner at Ciudad, and I was afraid that they would keep
a sharper watch over you, there, than they did at Bayonne. Still, I
felt sure that you would manage it somehow, even without the help
we had.

"What are your orders?"

"I have none, save that we are to march to Miranda, where we shall
find a guerilla force under Moras; and we are to operate with him,
and do all we can to attract the attention of the French. That is
all I know, for I have not had time to look at the written
instructions I received from the adjutant general when I said
goodbye to him, last night; but I don't think there are any precise
orders.

"What were yours, Herrara?"

"They are that I was to consult with Moras; to operate carefully,
and not to be drawn into any combat with superior or nearly equal
French forces; which I took to mean equal to the strength of the
regiment, for the guerillas are not to be depended upon, to the
smallest extent, in anything like a pitched combat."

"There is no doubt about that," Terence agreed. "For cutting off
small parties, harassing convoys, or anything of that sort, they
are excellent; but for down-right hard fighting, the guerillas are
not worth their salt. The great advantage of them is that they
render it necessary for the French to send very strong guards with
their baggage and convoys; and occasionally, when they are
particularly bold and numerous, to despatch columns in pursuit of
them. If it were not for these bands, they would be able to
concentrate all their troops, and would soon capture Andalusia and
Valencia, and then turn their attention to other work. As it is,
they have to keep the roads clear, to leave strong garrisons
everywhere, and to keep a sufficient force in each province to make
head against the guerillas; for if they did not do so, all their
friends would be speedily killed, and the peasantry be constantly
incited to rise."

"Do you know anything of this Moras?"

"He is said to be a good leader," Herrara replied, "and to have
gathered under him a number of other bands. He has the reputation
of being less savage and cruel than the greater part of these
partisan leaders; and though, no doubt, he kills prisoners--for in
that he could hardly restrain his men--he does not permit the
barbarous cruelties that are a disgrace to the Spanish people. In
fact, I believe his orders are that no prisoners are to be taken."

"I will look at my instructions," Terence said, drawing out the
paper he had received the night before.

"Yes," he said, when he had read them; "my instructions are a good
deal like yours, but they leave my hands somewhat more free. I am
to consult with Moras, to operate with him when I think it
advisable, and in all respects to act entirely upon my own judgment
and discretion; the main object being to compel the French to
detach as many men as possible from this neighbourhood, in order to
oppose me; and I am to take every advantage the nature of the
country may afford to inflict heavy blows upon them."

"That is all right," Ryan said cheerfully. "I had quite made up my
mind that we should always be dependent upon Moras; and be kept
inactive, owing to his refusal to carry out anything Herrara might
propose; but as you can act independently of him, we are sure to
have plenty of fun."

"We will make it as hot for them as we can, Dick; and if we cannot
do more, we can certainly oblige the French to keep something like
a division idle, to hold us in check. With the two battalions, and
Moras's irregulars, we ought to be able to harass them amazingly;
and to hold any of these mountain passes against a considerable
force."

After two hours' halt the march was renewed and, two days later,
the regiment arrived at Miranda. The frontier ran close to this
town, the Douro separating the two countries. They learned that
Moras was lying four miles farther to the north, and across the
frontier line; doubtless preferring to remain in Spain, in order to
prevent a quarrel between his followers and the Portuguese.

The next morning Terence, accompanied by Ryan and four mounted
orderlies, rode into the glen where he and his followers were
lying. They had erected a great number of small arbours of boughs
and bushes and, as Terence rode up to one of these, which was
larger and better finished than the rest, Moras himself came to the
entrance to meet them.

He did not at all correspond with Terence's ideas of a guerilla
chief. He was a young man, of three or four and twenty; of slim
figure and with a handsome, thoughtful face. He had been a student
of divinity at Salamanca, but had killed a French officer in a
duel, brought on by the insolence of the latter; and had been
compelled to fly. A few men had gathered round him, and he had at
once raised his standard as a guerilla chief.

At first his operations had been on a very small scale; but the
success that had attended these enterprises, and the reports of his
reckless bravery, had speedily swelled the number of his followers;
and although as a rule he kept only a hundred with him, he could at
any time, by sending round a summons, collect five times that
number, in a few hours.

When Terence introduced himself as the colonel of the two
battalions that had arrived, at Miranda, to operate in conjunction
with him, Moras held out his hand frankly.

"I am very glad indeed to meet you, Colonel O'Connor," he said. "I
received a despatch four days ago from your general, saying that
the Minho regiment would shortly arrive at Miranda, to act in
concert with me. I was glad indeed when I heard of this, for the
name of the regiment is well known, on this side of the frontier as
well as on the other, having been engaged in many gallant actions;
and your name is equally well known, in connection with it; but I
hardly expected to meet you, for the despatch said the Minho
regiment under Lieutenant Colonel Herrara."

"Yes. I only rejoined it two days ago, having been taken prisoner
at Fuentes d'Onoro, and having made my escape from Salamanca."

"Your aid will be invaluable, senor. My own men are brave enough,
but they are irregulars in the full sense of the word;" and he
smiled. "And although they can be relied upon for a sudden attack,
or for the defence of a pass, they could not stand against a French
force of a quarter of their strength, in the plain. We want a
backbone, and no better one could be found than your regiment.

"I am the more glad that you are in command, because you know,
unhappily, we and the Portuguese do not get on well together and,
while my men would hesitate to obey a Portuguese commander, and
would have no confidence in him, they would gladly accept your
leadership."

"I hope that there will be no difficulties on the ground of race,"
Terence said. "We are fighting in a common cause, against a common
enemy; and dissensions between ourselves are as absurd as they are
dangerous.

"Let me introduce Captain Ryan, adjutant of the regiment."

Moras shook hands with Ryan; who had been looking on, with some
surprise, at the colloquy between him and Terence. Moras then asked
them into his arbour.

"I have little to offer you," he said, with a smile, "save black
bread and wine. The latter, however, is good. I obtained a large
supply of it from a convoy we captured, a few days since."

The wine was indeed excellent and, accustomed as they were to the
coarse bread of the country, Terence and Ryan were able to eat it
with satisfaction.

"Now, Colonel," Moras said, "beyond the fact that we are to act in
concert, I know nothing of the plans. Please to remember that,
while it is said that we are to discuss our plans of operations
together, I place myself unreservedly under your orders. Of
irregular warfare I have learned something; but of military
science, and anything like extensive operations, I am as ignorant
as a child; while you have shown your capacity for command. I may
be of advantage to you, from my knowledge of the country; and
indeed, there is not a village track that someone or other of my
followers is not well acquainted with."

"That, of course, will be of great advantage to us," Terence
replied courteously, "and I thank you much for what you have said;
but I am sure, from what I have heard, you underrate your
abilities. Beyond regimental drill, I knew very little of warfare
until I, quite by an accident, came to assume the command of my
regiment; and it was only because I drilled and disciplined it
thoroughly that I had the good fortune to obtain some successes
with it. Your acquaintance with the country will be fully a set off
to any superior knowledge that I may have of military matters, and
I have no doubt that we shall get on well together.

"The instructions that I have received are to the effect that we
are to make incursions and attacks in various directions;
concealing, as far as possible, our strength; and so to oblige the
French to detach a considerable number of troops to hold us in
check. This would relieve the pressure upon Lord Wellington's army,
and would deter the enemy from making any offensive movement into
Portugal; until our general has received the reinforcements
expected shortly, and is in a position to take the offensive."

"It will be just the work to suit us," the guerilla chief said.
"And as I received a subsidy from your political agent at Lisbon, a
few days since, I am in a position to keep the whole force I have
together; which is more than I can do generally for, even if
successful in an attack on a convoy, the greater portion of the men
scatter and return to their homes and, as long as their share of
the booty lasts, they do not care to come out again."

Terence now produced a map with which he had been supplied, and a
considerable time was spent in obtaining full particulars of the
country through which the troops might have to march; ascertaining
the best spots for resistance when retreating, or for attacking
columns who might be despatched in pursuit of them; and in
discussing the manner and direction in which their operations would
most alarm and annoy the enemy.

It was finally agreed that Terence should break up his battalions
into three parties. Two of these consisted each of half a
battalion, 500 strong, and would be under the command of Bull and
Macwitty. Each of them would be accompanied by 300 guerillas, who
would act as scouts and, in case opportunity should offer, join in
any fighting that might take place.

The other two half battalions formed the third body, under the
command of Terence, himself; and would, with the main force of the
guerillas, occupy the roads between Zamora, Salamanca, and
Valladolid. In this way the French would be harassed at several
points, and would find it so difficult to obtain information as to
the real strength of the foe that was threatening them, that they
would be obliged to send up a considerable force to oppose them;
and would hesitate to undertake any serious advance into Portugal
until the question was cleared up, and their lines of communication
assured again.

It was agreed, in the first place, that the forces should unite in
the mountains west of Braganza, between the river Esla on the east
and Tera on the north; affording a strong position from which, in
case of any very large force mustering against them, they could
retire across the frontier into Portugal. Terence had been supplied
with money, and an authority to give orders on the paymaster's
department for such purchases as were absolutely necessary. Moras
was also well supplied, having not only the money that had been
sent him, but the proceeds of a successful attack upon a convoy
proceeding to Salamanca; in which he had captured a commissariat
chest, with a considerable sum of money, besides a large number of
cattle and several waggon loads of flour. All these provisions,
with some that Terence had authority to draw from the stores at
Miranda, were to be taken to the spot they had chosen as their
headquarters in the hills.

"You beat me altogether, Terence," Ryan said as, after all these
matters had been arranged, they rode out from the guerilla's camp.
"It is only about three months since I saw you. Then you could only
just get along in Spanish. Now you are chattering away in it as if
you had never spoken anything else, all your life."

"Well, you see, Dick, I knew just enough, when I was taken
prisoner, to be able to, as you say, get along in it; and that made
all the difference to me. If I had known nothing at all of it, I
should not have been able to benefit by my trip with the muleteers
in Spain. As it was, I was able to talk with them and, as we rode
side by side all day; and sat together by a fire for hours, after
we had halted when the day's journey was over, we did a tremendous
lot of talking; and as you see, I came out, at the end of the
month, able to get along really fluently. I, no doubt, make a good
many mistakes, and mix a good many Portuguese words with my
Spanish; but that does not matter in the least, so long as one is
with friends; although it would matter a good deal if I were trying
to pass as a Spaniard, among people who might betray me if they
found out that I was English.

"I see that you have improved in Portuguese almost as much as I
have in Spanish. It is really only the first drudgery that is
difficult, in learning a language. When once one makes a start one
gets on very fast; especially if one is not afraid of making
mistakes. I never care a rap whether I make blunders or not, so
that I can but make myself understood."

Three days later the two bodies were assembled in a valley, about
equally distant from Miranda and Braganza. It had the advantage of
being entered, from the east, only through a narrow gorge, which
could be defended against a very superior force; while there were
two mountain tracks leading from it, by which the force there could
be withdrawn, should the entrance be forced. A day was spent by the
leaders in making their final arrangements; while the men worked at
the erection of a great wall of rocks, twelve feet high and as many
thick, across the mouth of the gorge; collecting quantities of
stones and rocks, on the heights on either side, to roll down upon
any enemy who might endeavour to scale them; while another very
strong party built a wall, six feet high, in a great semicircle
round the upper mouth of the gorge, so that a column forcing its
way through, thus far, would be met by so heavy a fire that they
could only debouch into the valley with immense loss.

Two hundred men of the Minho regiment, drawn from Terence's party,
were to occupy the valley; with three hundred of the guerillas, who
would be able to do good service by occupying the heights, while
the regular infantry held the newly-erected walls. One of Moras'
most trusted lieutenants was to command them while, after some
discussion, it was arranged that Herrara should be in general
command of the garrison.

The brave fellow was reluctant to remain inactive; but he had been,
for some time, seriously unwell, having been laid up for a time
with a severe attack of dysentery; and was really unfit for any
continued exertion, although he had made light of his illness, and
refused to go on the sick list. Terence pointed out to him that the
command was a very important one. Here all the plunder that they
might obtain from the enemy would be carried; and if, by means of
spies or traitors, the French obtained news of the situation of the
post, he might be attacked in great force before the other
detachments could arrive to his assistance.

As there were four thousand French troops at Zamora, it was agreed
that no direct attack could be made upon the town. Bull with his
force was to watch the garrison, attack any detachments that might
be sent out--leaving them severely alone when they sallied out in
force, and to content himself with outmarching their infantry, and
beating off any cavalry attacks. He was, if necessary, to retreat
in the direction of their stronghold.

Macwitty was to occupy the road between Zamora and Valladolid,
while the main body held the roads between both the latter town,
and Zamora, to Salamanca. Frequent communication was to be kept up
between them, so that either column might speedily be reinforced,
if necessary.

In the course of a week, the whole country was in a state of alarm.
Bridges were broken down, roads blocked by deep cuttings across
them, convoys attacked, small French posts at Tordesillas,
Fuentelapena, and Valparaiso captured--the French soldiers being
disarmed, and then taken under an escort to within ten miles of
Salamanca. Toro was entered suddenly, and a garrison of three
hundred men taken by surprise, and forced to lay down their arms.
The powder, bullocks, and waggons with their stores were sent, by
circuitous routes, to the bridge across the Douro at Miranda, and
then up to their stronghold.

So vigilant a watch was kept on the roads that no single courier
was able to make his way from Valladolid to Salamanca or Zamora
and, beyond the fact that the whole country seemed swarming with
enemies, the French commanders were in absolute ignorance of the
strength of the force that had so suddenly invaded Leon.

One day a messenger rode in from Macwitty to Fuentelapena, where
Terence had his headquarters; saying that a body of 4000 French
infantry, with 1000 cavalry, were on the march from Valladolid
towards Zamora. Strong positions had already been selected for the
defence, and a bridge broken down at a point where the road crossed
a tributary of the Douro.

Terence at once sent Ryan with 200 men to reinforce Macwitty, and
despatched several mounted messengers to find Bull, and to tell him
to join him on the road, four miles to the east of the point where
Macwitty was defending the passage of the river. He himself marched
directly on that point, crossing the river at Tordesillas. He
arrived there early in the morning, and found that the French
column had passed, late the evening before.

At this point the road ran between two hills, several times
crossing a stream that wound along the valley. A large number of
men were at once set to work, breaking down the bridges and
throwing up a breastwork along the bank, where the river made a
sharp bend, crossing the valley from the foot of the hills on one
side to that of those on the other. While this work was being done
cannon shots were heard, then a distant rattle of musketry.

Terence knew that by this time Ryan would have joined Macwitty; and
Moras at once started, with his men and 400 of the Portuguese, to
threaten the French rear, and make a dash upon their baggage.
Terence's orders to the officers in command of these two companies
were that they were to keep their men well together, and to cover
the retreat of the guerillas from cavalry attacks. The firing
continued for the next hour and a half, then it suddenly swelled in
volume, and amid the rattle could be heard the sound of heavy
volleys of musketry.

Terence had, half an hour before, ridden forward at full speed with
four mounted orderlies. When he arrived at a spot where he could
survey the scene of combat, he saw that it was more serious than he
had anticipated. The guerillas were falling back rapidly, but as
soon as they gained the high ground they halted and opened fire
upon the cavalry who, scattered over the plain, were pursuing them.
His own men were retreating steadily and in good order, facing
round and pouring heavy volleys into the French cavalry, as they
charged them.

The French attack on Macwitty had ceased, and Terence saw bodies of
infantry moving towards the right where, on rising ground, a body
of troops about a thousand strong were showing themselves
menacingly. He had no doubt for a moment that this was Bull's
command who, hearing the firing, and supposing that Terence was
engaged there, had led his command straight to the scene of action.

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