The subaltern

by G. R. Gleig

The left column of the army had not long established itself in France ere crowds of sutlers, and other camp-followers, began to pour in. These persons, taking possession of such of the enemy's huts as had escaped the violence of our soldiers, opened their shops in due form along the highroad, and soon gave to the spot which they occupied the appearance of a settled village during the season of a fair, when booths and caravans of wild beasts crowd its little street. This village became, before long, a favourite resort of the idle, and of such as still retained a few dollars in their purses; and many were the bottles of nominal brown stout which, night after night, were consumed at the sign of the "Jolly Soldier."

I hardly recollect any period of my active life more devoid of interesting occurrences than that which intervened between the crossing of the Spanish border and the advance of the army towards Bayonne. We continued on the heights of Handaye from the 8th of October till the 9th of November, during the greater part of which time the weather was very inclement—cold showers of rain unceasingly falling, and tremendous gusts of wind prevailing. Indeed, we began to fear at last that nothing more would be done this season, and that we should either fall back to the towns of Irun and Fontarabia, or spend the winter under canvas. That we were wantonly kept here, no one imagined: on the contrary, we were quite aware that nothing but the protracted defence of Pampeluna hindered our advance; and joyful was the news which at length reached us that that important city had surrendered.

Of course I did not confine myself to my tent, or within the hounds of the camp, all this while. I shot and fished as usual; made excursions to the rear and to the front, as the humour directed; and adopted every ordinary expedient to kill time. On these occasions adventures were not always wanting, though they were, for the most part, such as would excite little interest were they repeated. But one I recollect which deserves narration more, perhaps, than the others, and that I will detail.

During the time that the British army occupied its position along the Spanish bank of the Bidassoa a vast number of desertions took place. As this was an event which had but rarely occurred before, many opinions were hazarded as to its cause. For my own part, I attributed it entirely to the operation of superstitious terror on the minds of the men, and for this reason: It is the usual custom, in planting sentinels in the immediate presence of an enemy, to station them in pairs, so that one may patrol as far as the next post while the other remains steady on his ground. Perhaps, too, the wish of giving greater confidence to the men themselves may have some weight in dictating the arrangement; at all events, there can be no doubt of the fact, and that much increased confidence does arise from it. Such, however, was the nature of the ground covered by our pickets among the Pyrenees, that in many places there was hardly room for a couple of sentinels to occupy a single post, and it was only at the mouths of the various passes that, for insuring the repose of the army, two were more desirable than one. Rugged as the country was, however, almost every foot of it had been contested; and the dead, falling among rocks and cliffs, were left in various instances, from necessity, unburied. It was exactly in those parts where the dead lay unburied that single sentinels were planted. That soldiers and sailors are often superstitious everybody knows; nor can it be pleasant for the strongest-minded among them to spend two or three hours of a stormy night beside a mangled and half-devoured carcass. Indeed, I have been myself more than once remonstrated with for desiring as brave a fellow as any in the corps to keep guard near one of his fallen comrades. "I don't care for living men," said the soldier; "but, for Godsake, sir, don't keep me beside him." And wherever I could yield to the remonstrance, I invariably did so. My own opinion, therefore, was, that many of our sentries became so unmanned by superstitious dread, that they could not keep their ground. They knew that if they returned to the picket a severe punishment awaited them; and hence they went over to the enemy rather than endure the pangs of a diseased imagination.

As a proof that my views were correct, it was remarked that the army had no sooner descended from the mountains, and taken up a position which required a chain of double sentinels to be renewed, than desertion in a great degree ceased. A few instances still occurred, as will always be the case where men of all tempers are brought together, as in an army; but they bore no proportion whatever to those which took place among the Pyrenees. With a view of stopping the practice entirely, an order was issued which prohibited the men from passing the advanced sentries, and assured all who might be caught on the neutral ground—that is, on the ground between the enemy's outposts and our own—that they should be arrested, brought back, and treated as deserters.

I had ridden towards the front one morning, for the purpose of visiting a friend in the fifth division, when I learned that three men had been seized a few days previously half-way between the two chains of posts, and that one of them had confessed that their intention was to desert. A court-martial was immediately ordered; the prisoners were condemned to be shot; and this was the day on which the sentence was to be carried into execution. I consequently found the division, on my arrival, getting under arms; and being informed of the circumstances, I determined, after a short struggle with my weaker feelings, to witness the proceeding.

It was altogether a most solemn and impressive spectacle. The soldiers took their stations and formed their ranks without speaking a word, and looked at one another with that peculiar expression which, without seeming to imply any doubt on their part of the perfect propriety of the measure, indicated sincere reluctance to become spectators of it. The same feeling evidently pervaded the minds of the officers; indeed, you could well-nigh perceive the sort of shudder which ran through the frames of all who were on parade.

The place appointed for the execution was a little elevated plain a few hundred yards in front of the camp, and near the picket from which the culprits had deserted. Hither the different battalions directed their steps; and the whole division being formed into three sides of a hollow square, the men "ordered" their arms, and stood still. At the vacant side of this square a grave was dug—the earth which had been excavated being piled up on its opposite bank; and this, as the event proved, was the spot to be occupied by the prisoners.

We had stood thus about five minutes, when the muffled drums of the corps to which the culprits belonged were heard beating the dead march; and they themselves, handcuffed and surrounded by their guards, made their appearance. One was a fine young fellow, tall and well made; another was a dark, thick-set, little man, about thirty years of age; and the third had nothing remarkable in his countenance except an expression of deep cunning and treachery. They all moved forward with considerable firmness, and took their stations on the mound, when, the word "Attention" being given, a staff-officer advanced into the centre of the square and read aloud the proceedings of the court. By these, sentence of death was passed upon all three; but the most villanous-looking among them was recommended to mercy, on the ground that he had added treachery to his other crimes.

As soon as the reading was finished, the prisoners were commanded to kneel down upon the ground, and a handkerchief was tied over the eyes of each. During the progress of this operation I looked round—not so much from curiosity as to give a momentary relief to my own excited feelings—upon the countenances of the soldiers. They were, one and all of them, deadly pale; indeed, the teeth of many were set close together, and their breathing seemed to be repressed. It was altogether a most harrowing moment.