E. Hermitte and G. Bodenbender - "Catalogo Instructivo de las Colecciones Mineralogicas"

Moliere (Poquelin) - "The Countess of Escarbagnas (La Comtesse D'Escarbagnas)"

Ivan Turgenev - "Dream Tales and Prose Poems"

Edith Wharton - "Crucial Instances"

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




He at once sent an orderly back, at full gallop, to order the men
in the valley to come on at the top of their speed; and then rode
along the hillside and joined Bull, who was now closely engaged
with the advancing columns of French. So hot was the fire, from
Bull's own men and the guerillas, that the two French battalions
wavered and came to a halt; and then, breaking into skirmishing
order, advanced up the hill.

"Don't wait too long, Bull," Terence said. "There is a steeper
slope behind you. However, I don't think they will come up very
far--not, at least, until they are reinforced. There is another
body just starting, and I think we can hold on here until they join
the skirmishing line. As soon as they do so, sound the order for
the men to fall back."

"Where are your men, sir?"

"They are four miles away, at the spot where I told you to join me.
However, the mistake is of no importance. I have sent off for them
and, as soon as they arrive and show themselves, I fancy the French
will retreat."

He tore out a leaf from his pocketbook, and wrote out an order to
Macwitty:

"Leave Captain Ryan with his command to hold the river; and march
at once, with the rest of your men, to the ford which we heard of,
a mile down the river. Cross there, and ascend the hills on the
French right; scattering your men so as to make as much show as
possible, and menacing the French with attack. Tell Captain Ryan to
redouble his fire, so as to prevent the French noticing the
withdrawal of your force."

This he gave to one of his orderlies, and told him to swim the
river and deliver it to Major Macwitty.

When Terence had done this, he was able to give his attention to
what was passing. Across the valley his men had now ascended the
hill, and joined the guerillas. The French cavalry, unable to
charge up the heights, had fallen back. A column of French, some
fifteen hundred strong, were marching in that direction.

As he had expected, the skirmishers in front of him were making but
little way; evidently halting for the arrival of the reinforcement,
which was still more than half a mile distant. The French gunners
had been withdrawn from the bank of the river, and were taking up
positions to cover the advance of their infantry; and their shot
presently came singing overhead--doing no harm, however, to the
Portuguese, who were lying down on the crest of the swell, and
keeping up a steady fire on the French skirmishers.

Ten minutes later the column was within a short distance of the
line of defenders. Terence gave the word, and his men retired up
another and steeper slope behind; while the guerillas were ordered
to remain to keep up a brisk fire, until the French were within
thirty yards of the crest, and were then to run back at full speed,
and join him above.

The Portuguese had scarcely taken up their position when a
tremendous fire broke out below. A minute later the guerillas were
seen rushing up the hill, and close behind them came the French
line, cheering loudly. As they appeared the Portuguese opened fire,
and with such steadiness and precision that the leading files of
the French were almost annihilated. But the wave swept upwards and,
encouraged by the shouts of their officers, they advanced against
the second position.

For half an hour an obstinate fight was maintained, the strength of
the position neutralizing the effect of the superior numbers of the
French. The Spaniards fought well, imitating the steadiness of the
Portuguese and, being for the most part good marksmen, their fire
was very deadly; and several determined attacks of the French were
beaten off with heavy loss.

Then, from the valley below, was heard the sound of a bugle. The
call was repeated by the bugles of the assailants and, slowly and
reluctantly, the French began to fall back.

Terence looked round. He had from time to time glanced across to
the hills opposite, and had seen his men there retiring steadily,
and in good order, before the assault of the French; and now he saw
that his force from the valley was marching rapidly along the
hilltop to their assistance; while away on the French right,
Macwitty's command, spread out to appear of much greater strength
than it really possessed, was moving down the slope, as if to the
assault.

Below, in the valley, a battalion of French infantry with their
cavalry and artillery were drawn up, and were evidently only
waiting for the return of the two assaulting columns, to join in
their retreat. The French commander doubtless supposed that he was
caught in a trap. Unable to effect the passage of the river, and
seeing the stubborn resistance his troops were meeting with on the
hills, the arrival of two fresh bodies of the enemy on the scene
induced him to believe that the foe were in great force; and that,
ere long, he might be completely surrounded. He moved forward
slowly, by the road he had come, and was presently joined by the
two detached parties.

As soon as they moved on, Terence sent an orderly at a gallop
across the valley, to order Macwitty and Moras to follow the French
along on the hills on their side of the valley, and to harass them
as much as possible; while he, with Bull's command, kept parallel
with them on his side.

The French cavalry kept ahead of their column. The leading
battalion was thrown out as skirmishers, on the lower slopes of the
hills; while the artillery, in the rear, kept up a heavy fire upon
the Portuguese and Spanish, as soon as they were made out on the
hills above them. Terence kept his men on the crest, and signalled
to Macwitty to do the same; but the guerillas swarmed down the
hillside, and maintained a galling fire on the French column.
Terence took his men along at the double and, heading the column,
descended into the valley at the point they had fortified.

Here there was a sharp fight. The French cavalry fell back, after
suffering heavily. Their infantry advanced gallantly and, after a
fierce fight, drove the Portuguese from their wall and up the
hillside. Here they maintained a heavy fire, until the column
opened out and the French artillery came to the front; when Terence
at once ordered the men to scatter, and climb the hill at full
speed.

Without attempting to repair the broken bridges, the French
infantry crossed the stream breast high, and the cavalry and
artillery followed; and Terence, seeing that their retreat could
not be seriously molested, and that if he attempted to do so, he
should suffer very heavily from their artillery, sounded a halt;
and the French continued their retreat to Valladolid, leaving
behind them all their baggage, which they had been unable to get
across the stream.

Terence's force came down from the hills and assembled in the
valley. Congratulations were exchanged on the success that had
attended their efforts. Then the roll was at once called, and it
was found that a hundred and three men of the Minho regiment were
missing. There was no roll among the guerillas; but Moras's
estimate, after counting the number assembled, was, that upwards of
two hundred were absent from the ranks, fully half of these having
been overtaken and killed by the French cavalry.

Terence at once sent off two parties of his own men, to the points
where the fight had been fiercest. They were to collect the
wounded, including those of the French, and to carry them down into
the valley; while parties of guerillas searched the hillsides, down
to the scene of action, for their comrades who had fallen from the
fire of the French artillery and musketry.

When the wounded were collected, it was found there were upwards of
two hundred French infantry, fifty-nine guerillas, and twenty-four
Portuguese. The smaller proportion of wounded of the latter being
accounted for by the fact that so many had been shot through the
head, while lying down to fire at the French as they climbed the
hill. Two hundred and thirty French soldiers had been killed.
Terence at once set his men to dig wide trenches, in which the
soldiers of the three nationalities were laid side by side.

A considerable amount of reserve ammunition being captured in the
waggons, the men's cartridge boxes were filled up again, and the
rest was packed in a waggon. Some of the drivers had cut their
traces, but others had neglected to do this, and there were
sufficient waggons to carry all the wounded, both friends and
enemies, together with a considerable amount of flour.

The French wounded were taken to the ford by which Macwitty had
crossed; and then some of them who had been wounded in the leg and,
although unable to walk, were fit to drive, were given the reins
and told to take the waggons to Zamora, a distance of twelve miles.
Fifty men were told off to march with them, until within sight of
the town; as otherwise they would have assuredly been attacked, and
the whole of the wounded massacred by the Spanish peasants.

The force then broke up again, each column taking as much flour and
meat as the men could carry. The remaining waggons and stores were
heaped together, and set on fire.

Long before this was done, they had been rejoined by Ryan and his
command. He had remained guarding the river until the French had
disappeared up the valley, and had then crossed at the ford but,
though using all haste, he did not rejoin the force until the whole
of the fighting was over.

"This has been a good day's work, Terence," he said when, that
evening, the force had entered Tordesillas and quartered themselves
there for the night. "You may be sure that the general at
Valladolid will send messengers to Salamanca, giving a greatly
exaggerated account of our force; and begging them to send down to
Marmont, at once, for a large reinforcement. If the couriers make a
detour, in the first place, we shall not be able to cut them off."

"No, Dick, and we wouldn't, if we could. I have no doubt that he
will report the force with which his column was engaged as being
nearly double what it really is. Besides, sharp as we have been, I
expect some messengers will, by this time, have got through from
Zamora. The commandant there will report that a large force is in
the neighbourhood of that town; and that, without leaving the place
entirely undefended, he has not strength enough to sally out
against them. They cannot know that this force and ours have joined
hands in the attack on the Valladolid column, nor that this
represented anything like the whole of the force that have been
harrying the country and cutting off detached posts. The fact, too,
that this gathering was not a mere collection of guerillas, or of
the revolted peasantry; but that there were regular troops among
them, in considerable numbers, will have a great effect; and
Marmont will feel himself obliged, when he gets the news, to send
some fifteen or twenty thousand troops up here to clear the
country.

"Now, the first thing to do is to draw up a report of the
engagement, and to send it off to Wellington. I think that it will
be a good thing, Dick, for you to carry it yourself. I don't think
that there is any fear of your being interrupted on your way to
Miranda, and as an officer you will be able to get fresh horses,
and take the news quicker than an orderly could do; and it is of
great importance that the chief should know, as soon as possible,
what has taken place here. I shall speak very strongly of your
services during the past week, and it is always a good thing for an
officer selected to carry the news of a success; and lastly, you
can give a much better account of our operations, since we crossed
the frontier, than an orderly could do, and Wellington may want to
send orders back for our future work."

"I am game," Ryan said, "and thank you for the offer. How long will
you be?"

"Well, it is eight o'clock now, and if you start at midnight it
will be soon enough; so if you have finished your supper, you had
better lie down on that bed in the next room and get a sleep; for
you were marching all last night, and will want some rest before
starting on such a journey."



Chapter 15: Dick Ryan's Capture.


Terence wrote two despatches, one giving a full account of the
engagement, the other a detail of the work that had been performed
since they crossed the frontier. He wrote them in duplicate, so
that he might send off another messenger, three hours later; in
case, by any chance, Ryan failed to reach Miranda. He carefully
abstained from giving any real account of the strength of the
various columns, in each case putting the number at five times
their actual strength so that, if the despatches should miscarry,
not only would no information be conveyed to the French, but they
would be led to believe that the invading force was vastly stronger
than they had hitherto supposed. Ryan was, of course, to explain,
when he delivered the despatches, that the figures must in all
cases be divided by five, and the reason why false numbers had been
inserted.

Terence let him sleep until one o'clock, and then roused him.
Several French horses had been found, straying riderless along the
valley; and the best of these was picked out for him. A few minutes
later, Dick was on his way to Miranda. The road by which he was to
travel would take him some six miles south of Zamora, and the
distance to be ridden was between fifty and sixty miles. He knew
that he could not do this at a gallop, and went along at a steady
pace, sometimes trotting and sometimes cantering. It was now late
in September and, at half-past five, it was still dark when Ryan
approached the spot where the road he was following crossed the
main road between Zamora and Salamanca.

He was riding at a canter, when suddenly, to his surprise and
consternation, he rode into the midst of a body of cavalry, halted
on the main road. The sound of his horse's feet had been heard and,
before he could even draw his sword, he was seized and taken
prisoner. A French officer rode down the line.

"What is the matter?" he asked.

"We have taken a prisoner, sir," the sergeant answered. "We heard
him coming by this crossroad, and seized him as he rode in among
us. He is a soldier--an officer, I should think, from what I can
see of him."

"Who are you, sir?" the French officer said to Ryan.

The latter saw that concealment was useless. It would soon be light
enough for his scarlet uniform to be seen. He therefore replied, in
broken French:

"My name is Ryan. I hold the rank of captain. I was riding to
Miranda when, unfortunately, I fell in with your troopers as they
were halted. I did not hear and, of course, could not see them
until I was among them."

[Illustration: 'Search him at once.']

"Riding with despatches, no doubt," the officer said. "Search him
at once, men. He might destroy them."

"Here they are, sir," Ryan said, taking the despatches from inside
his jacket. "You need not have me searched. I give you my word of
honour, as a British officer, that I have no others on me."

"Put him in the middle of the troop, sergeant," the officer said.
"Put a trooper in special charge of him, on each side. Unbuckle his
reins, and buckle them on to those of the troopers. Do you ride
behind him, and keep a sharp lookout upon him. It is an important
capture."

Five minutes later, the squadron again started on their way south.
Ryan, after silently cursing his bad luck at having arrived at the
spot just as this body of cavalry were crossing, wondered what evil
fortune had sent them there, at that precise moment. He was not
long in arriving at a conclusion. The convoy of the French wounded
had arrived at Zamora, late in the evening; and the commandant,
thinking it likely that the enemy, who had hitherto blocked the
roads, might have concentrated for the attack on the column, had
decided upon sending off a squadron of cavalry to carry the
important news he had learned, from the wounded, of the defeat of
the column, five thousand strong, coming to his relief from
Valladolid.

The party proceeded at a brisk trot, and, meeting with no
resistance, arrived at Salamanca by ten o'clock in the morning. The
officer in command at once rode with Ryan, the latter guarded by
four troopers, to the residence of the general. Leaving Dick with
his escort outside, he entered the house, and sent in his name, and
the duty with which he was charged, to the general. He was at once
shown into his room.

"I congratulate you on having got through, Captain D'Estrelles,"
the general said, as he entered. "It is ten days since we heard
from Zamora. We have sent off six messengers, I don't know whether
any of them have arrived."

"No, sir, none of them. The commandant sent off one or two, every
day; and I suppose they, like those you sent, were all stopped."

"The whole country seems on fire," the general said. "We have had
five or six parties come in here disarmed, who had been captured by
the enemy; and it would seem that all our posts on the road to
Zamora, and on that to Valladolid, have been captured. The men
could only report that they were suddenly attacked by such
overwhelming forces that resistance was impossible. They say that
the whole country seems to swarm with guerillas, but there are
certainly a considerable number of regular troops among them. What
has happened at Zamora?"

"These despatches will inform you, sir; but I may tell you that we
are virtually beleaguered. The country round swarms with the enemy.
Two or three reconnaissances in force met with the most determined
opposition."

"Are you in communication with Valladolid?"

"No, sir. Our communications were stopped at the same time as those
to this town; but I am sorry to say that you will see, by the
general's despatch, that a severe disaster has happened to the
column coming from Valladolid to our relief."

The general took the despatch and rapidly perused its contents.

"A column five thousand strong, with cavalry and guns, repulsed!
The enemy must be in force, indeed. From the estimates we have
received from prisoners they released, I thought they must be fully
ten thousand strong. I see that the wounded who were sent by Moras
estimate those engaged with him at twelve thousand; and it is
hardly probable that they could, at such short notice, have
assembled in anything like their full strength."

"I have also to report, general, that we, this morning before
daybreak, captured a British officer on his way to Miranda, with
despatches. We were fortunately halted for the moment, so that he
was unaware of our presence until he rode into the midst of us.
These are his despatches. I have not opened them."

"It is an important capture, indeed," the general said; "that is,
if the report contains details of the fighting. Its contents may
enable us to form a clearer idea than we can, at present, of their
numbers."

He broke the seal and read the account of the battle.

"It is signed T. O'Connor, colonel," he said. "The name is
well-known to us as that of a very active partisan leader. Three of
the columns appear to have been commanded by British officers. Here
we have them: Major Bull, Major Macwitty, and Captain Ryan."

"It is Captain Ryan whom we have made prisoner, sir."

"Their dispositions appear to have been good, and ably worked out.
The bridge across the river had been destroyed, and our crossing
was opposed by one column. While we were attempting to force the
passage, three more columns attacked us, one on each flank and
rear; while a fourth, composed of a portion of the force defending
the passage who, as soon as we were fairly engaged with the other
columns, crossed the ford lower down, leaving a thousand men to
face us on the river bank, advanced against our left. Finding
themselves thus greatly outnumbered, the column fell back, leaving
behind them some five hundred dead and wounded. Their passage was
closed by the enemy, who had broken down some bridges and thrown a
breastwork across the valley; but after sharp fighting they made
their way through."

He then turned to the other despatch.

"This is still more useful," he said. "It is a general report of
their proceedings since they crossed the frontier, and gives the
number of each column. They total up to twenty-five thousand men;
of which some ten thousand seem to be regular troops, the rest
guerillas."

"Do you wish to see the prisoner, sir? He is waiting with the
guard, outside."

"Yes, I might as well see him though, as a point of fact, he can
give us no more information than that contained in these reports,
which are very full and detailed."

"So, sir," he said when Ryan was brought in, "you are a British
officer."

"I am, sir," Dick replied quietly. "At present on detached duty,
serving on the staff of Colonel O'Connor."

"Who is with the guerilla chief, Moras," the general said.

"Yes, sir. The troops under Colonel O'Connor have been acting in
concert with Moras, and other forces; much to the advantage of such
of your soldiers as fell into our hands, not one of whom has
suffered insult or injury; and all have been permitted to go free,
after being deprived of their arms. Colonel O'Connor also sent away
all the French wounded who fell into our hands after the battle, in
waggons, escorted by a strong body of his troops to within a mile
of Zamora; in order to protect them from massacre by the peasants."

"He behaved, sir, as a British officer would be expected to
behave," the general said warmly. "Were the war always conducted on
the same principle, it would be better for both armies and for the
people of this country. I will place you on parole, if you choose."

"I thank you, General, but I would rather have my hands free,
should I see any opportunity of escaping."

"That you are not likely to do," the general said, "for if you
refuse to be bound by your parole, I must take measures against
your having any of these opportunities that you speak of, until the
country is cleared and you can be sent with a convoy to France. I
am sorry that you refuse but, as I should do so myself, under
similar circumstances, I cannot blame you."

Accordingly, Ryan was taken to a strong prison in the heart of the
city; where, however, he was assigned comfortable quarters, a
sentry being placed at his door and, as the window that looked into
the courtyard was strongly barred, his chances of escape seemed
slight, indeed; and he was almost inclined to regret that he had
not accepted the general's offer, and given his parole not to
attempt to escape.

Two days later one of Moras's men, who belonged to Salamanca, went
into the town to see some friends, and brought back the news that a
British officer had been captured by a party of French dragoons,
coming from Zamora. He had been seen by many of the townspeople as
he sat on his horse, with four troopers round him, at the door of
the governor's house. He had been lodged in the city prison. A
comparison of dates showed that there could be no doubt that the
prisoner was Dick Ryan, and Terence was greatly vexed at his loss.

"So far as the despatches go," he said to Herrara--who had, on the
day before, arrived from their stronghold, which was now safe from
attack, "there can be no doubt that it is fortunate rather than
otherwise that they have fallen into the hands of the French; for
they will give them an altogether exaggerated impression of our
strength, and I have no doubt that the orderly who left, two hours
later, has got through in safety. Still, I am greatly annoyed that
Ryan has been made prisoner. I miss his services and companionship
very much and, if I can possibly get him out, I will do so. I will
see Moras, and ask him to send the man who brought the news back
again, to gather further particulars. I would take the matter in
hand myself but, being in command here, I must consider the duty
with which I am intrusted before a question of private friendship."

Moras presently came in to see Terence and, when the latter told
him what he wanted, he undertook at once to obtain every detail
possible as to the place of Ryan's confinement.

"A number of my men come from the town," he said, "and I will cause
inquiries to be made among them, at once; and choose half a dozen,
with connections who may be able to assist, and send them into
Salamanca; with instructions to act in concert, to ascertain
whether it is possible to do anything by bribery, to endeavour to
communicate with the prisoner, and to devise some plan for his
escape from the gaol.

"It was a strong place before the French came. It was the city
prison; but they took it over, and have used it not only for
prisoners of war, but for persons suspected of being in
communication with your people, and even for officers of their own
army who have been convicted of insubordination or disobedience of
orders, or other offences. One of the men I will send, and to whom
I shall intrust the general arrangement of the matter, is one of my
lieutenants, Leon Gonzales. He has been a friend of mine since
boyhood, and entered as a law student when I went into the college
for divinity. He is daring and fearless. He has an excellent head,
and a large acquaintance among the young men at the university and,
indeed, in all classes of society. He belongs to one of our best
families."

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