The Autobiography of Sergeant William Lawrence by William Lawrence (fiction novels to read TXT) 📖

power on his throne. The armies being now moved into winter quarters chiefly in cantonments, our brigade took its route to St. Germains, which lies ten or twelve miles to the north-west of Paris on the River Seine, where we remained quartered a few months.

It was owing to this long stay, and my happening to see a young woman who gained my affections, that it fell out that I first then thought of marriage. For outside the barrack-gate where we were quartered was a movable stall, which was spread out in the day with fruit, spirits, tobacco, snuff, &c., and was cleared away at night. This was kept by the woman whom I afterwards made my wife. Her father was a gardener in business for himself, and this was the way in which he disposed of most of his goods. My first introduction was through my going to purchase a few articles that I wanted from her, and it very shortly became a general thing for me to dispose of the chief of such time as I had to spare at the stall; and thus the attachment was formed of which I am happy to say I never afterwards repented.

I happened to be at the stall one day when I saw a soldier of the Twenty-Seventh Regiment, which was stationed at the barracks as well as ours, deliberately take half a pound of tobacco which was already tied up off the stall and attempt to get off with it. But that didn't suit me, so I pursued and overtook him, and delivered him over to his own regiment to dispose of as they thought best after I had told them the circumstances. I told them too that I didn't wish to prosecute him myself, so I never heard anything more of him. I took the tobacco, however, back to my intended, who of course was pleased, as what young woman would not have been under the circumstances we were then in? And so our courtship went on; but for a very little while, for once we were enamoured of one another we were not long in making things all square for our union.

I made my intentions known to my captain, who I knew would not object, and he signed my paper to take to the colonel, whose permission I had next to get. The colonel could not understand at first my marrying a Frenchwoman, but he nevertheless consented, saying that she would do to teach the soldiers French, but that he advised me to wait till I got to England. But having got the grant, it was a question of now or never for me; so I made arrangements with the army chaplain, who fixed the time and we were duly united. It cost us nothing, for neither the parson nor clerk looked for any fee, neither were we troubled with any wedding-cake, but simply took ourselves off for a day's merrymaking.

My wife's maiden name had been Marie Louise Claire, but owing to Buonaparte's first wife having been Marie Louise too, she had been compelled to drop that name and assume that of Clotilde; a proclamation having been made that no one should be called Marie Louise but the Empress, and so by that vain freak of Buonaparte's all in France who were called Marie Louise had to change their names.

Of course before marrying her I had explained to my wife the course of life she would have to put up with, and that at any moment we might have to proceed from her native place, and even might be recalled to England, but she did not mind the prospect of all this. And at length the time arrived that we had to go, for orders were given, and that on very short notice, that we were to prepare to resume our march. A farewell had then to be taken of her parents, whom we expected never to behold again, and this cast a slight shadow for a time over my wife's countenance, but it quickly passed away within the next few succeeding days.

CHAPTER XXIV.

The brigade quartered near Cambray — Outrage on a native farmer — The perpetrators convicted and hanged — Lawrence sent to Valenciennes to learn the sword exercise — March to Calais and embarkation for Scotland — Tedious voyage — Kind reception by the inhabitants of Bridlington — Lawrence finds a silk dress rather a superfluity on a campaign — Shields — Excursion over the glass-works — Final landing at Leith and march to Glasgow.

From St. Germain we proceeded to Cambray. We were billeted at a village near Cambray called Aresne, where we had very good quarters and found the people particularly kind, and after remaining there a short time we were moved to a neighbouring village, where we got equally good quarters.

But here another of those unpleasant things happened which often have to occur that proper discipline and justice may be kept up. A part of the Twenty-Seventh Regiment was billeted at a village near where we were situated, most of whom were I believe Irish; and two of the more ruffianly, knowing that a farmer who lived close by had gone to market, and would probably return laden with the value of the goods he had sold, laid wait for him with the intention of robbing him; and having met him, they fell upon him and left him in a corn-field evidently for dead, first stripping him of everything valuable about his person. There the man lay till his friends becoming uneasy at his long absence a search was made and he was tracked to his mournful bed. He was not dead when found, and so was conveyed to his house and properly attended to by a doctor, and at the end of a week he was able to give an account of the ill-treatment he said he had received at the hands of two soldiers who were quartered in the village occupied by the Twenty-Seventh Regiment.

One of the officers was consequently informed of the occurrence, and immediately went to the farmer to learn the rights of the story. The man could not tell the amount of money that had been taken from him, but he said he could recognize the men again. As soon, therefore, as he was able to walk, the officer took him down the ranks of his regiment, and certainly he proved to be correct about recognizing them, for he immediately picked out two men who were found to have been out at the time described. They were conveyed as prisoners to the guard-room, and reported to the general, who immediately ordered a court-martial, and, accepting the evidence of their sergeant, who pronounced them to be as often tipsy as not, found them guilty, and they were sentenced to be hanged. The sentence was, however, first sent to be approved of by Lord Wellington, who sanctioned it and returned it; and the execution was accordingly ordered to be carried out.

The men were allowed a week to prepare themselves for their awful doom, and at the end of that time the brigade was called together to take warning from their unhappy fate. It was on a Monday morning that we formed square round the gallows which had been erected for the occasion; and all being ready, the men were brought under the gallows in a spring-wagon guarded by a sergeant and twelve men of their own regiment, one of which latter having adjusted the ropes, the chaplain read the service. Then the question usual in these cases was put, but all they had to say was that they were both guilty and hoped this would be a warning to their comrades. The chaplain then left them, and on the wagon being moved along they were left dancing on nothing. The poor fellows were not long in expiring, but they were left one hour before they were cut down, during which time we had to retain our post, and at the end of it each regiment retired solemnly to its own quarters, leaving a company of the men's own regiment to bury them.

During the brigade's stay near Cambray an order was received that a captain and five sergeants from each regiment should be sent to Valenciennes to learn the sword exercise; so Captain Barnard of my own company was chosen, and amongst the five of our sergeants myself. We started accordingly to Valenciennes, which was about twenty-five or thirty miles from Cambray, and remained there six weeks till we got sick enough of the sword exercise, having six hours a day of it for the whole six weeks except on Sundays. At the end of that time we again joined our regiment, which had been ordered to return immediately to Scotland.

The day after our arrival the regiment was put on the march for Calais. We were quartered in cantonments every night, and at one of our sleeping-places I met a Jew, and having a silver watch to dispose of, I asked him what he would give me for it. He replied fifteen francs and a silk dress, which I took, and when we arrived at Calais we changed the French money into English; but since I had left my own country the coinage had been altered, which bothered me a little at first sight, and certainly did not bring me any gain. We lay in Calais two nights, where I and my wife got very comfortable quarters. I may as well say here that she had borne the marches quite as well as I did, if not in some cases better.

Three colliers had been contracted with to convey our regiment to Scotland, and from the appearance of the vessels themselves, I very much doubted, if bad weather should set in, that we should ever reach Leith, the port we set sail for, they being the rickettiest old watertubs I ever saw. Leith was supposed to be three days' sail from Calais with a fair wind, but we had a foul one nearly the whole time, and we were seven weeks on the voyage, having to put in at Bridlington in Yorkshire to wait for this fair wind. My wife, who had never before seen salt water, was at first ill and found the whole voyage terribly long and tedious; but to me, who had long since learnt not to be troubled with trifles, it mattered not weather or no, and I was by this time thoroughly used too to long voyages by water after my American trips.

Our stay at Bridlington lasted three weeks. The first night we were there, the mayor invited the officers to dine with him, and sent a quart of beer on board for each man, and half that quantity for each woman. During our stay here too, we were allowed to go on shore in the day but obliged to be on board by nine o'clock at night. The inhabitants were particularly kind to us, amongst other things offering our women their houses to wash their clothes in, which offer many accepted. And here I at last got a chance to get rid of my silk dress, which was a thing that my wife hardly required while travelling about, and I had been trying to dispose of it ever since I obtained it. I used to visit a public-house in the neighbourhood where I noticed the daughter of the place, a fine-looking girl, used to sport her silk dress, so I sold her mine for fifty shillings and a gallon of beer, which latter I gave to her customers.

At last the favouring breeze sprang up, and we again attempted to proceed on our voyage. We were