One night the French camp was surprised by Arabs. A murderous fire so astonished our soldiers, that they almost wavered at first; but Marshal Bugeaud rushed from his tent, and his presence inspiring our troops with their wonted enthusiasm, the enemy was repulsed.
When the conflict was ended, the marshal noticed that every one smiled on looking at him. He raised his hands to his head. In his haste, he had left his tent adorned with the anything but heroic head-gear of the King of Yvetot; in short, a night-cap.
The next day, when the trumpets gave the signal for the troops to resume their march, the zouaves, in memory of that original coifiure, sung in deafening chorus:
“As-tu vu
La casquette
La casquette,
As-tu vu
La casquette,
Du Père Bugeaud?”
Two or three days afterward, the marshal, on giving the order for departure, said to the trumpeters: “Boys, sound la casquette.”
So this name still clings to the order. To how many victories it has led, and will lead the zouaves!
Father Bugeaud’s casquette, by insuring the success of “Duc Job,” yielded eighty thousand francs to the Théâtre Français, and sixty thousand francs to M. Léon Laya.
It is a night-cap well worth the having.