For production and entry, 60—sixty skil.
Engelschjön.
V.
We have thought it well to insert in the Appendix, the following notice from J. P. Laurent’s “Livet i Felten,”[151] relative to Mr. Bennett, so well known to almost every tourist and sportsman who has visited Christiania during the last twenty years; and to those of our readers who have chanced to linger in the quaint old rooms at 17, Store Strandgade, mentioned at page 52 of this work, the notice may probably have an additional interest.
“Til min store Sorg erfoer jeg her, at vor Engelskmand under mit Ophold i Kolding havde forladt Korpset og var dragen til Norge, som han pludselig havde faaet Lyst til at see. Da jeg anseer det meget uvist, om han atter faaer Lyst til at vende tilbage hertil, ved Udgangen af Vaabenstilstanden, og om han overhovedet nogensinde kommer tilbage til Danmark, baaber jeg ikke, at jeg begaaer en Indiskretionsfejl ved at navngive dette Menneske, der med saamegen Interesse personlig har fulgt vor Sag i over et halvt Aar. Da han paa Udrejsen bad Obersten om et maatte folge Korpset som civil Ledsager, naturligviis uden at staae i nogetsomhelst Forpligtelsesforhold til Korpset, tilbod han sig at assistere Lœgerne, og, efterat han var bleven Almindelig kjendt, kaldte Karlene ham ‘den Engelske Doktor.’ Han hed T. Bennett og Kaldte sig for Spög: Voluntary assistant to the medical officers of the Danish army. Inden han forlod Korpset var han afholdt af Alle paa Grund af sin godmodige Characteer og utrættelige Tjenstvillighed imod Alle. Ved Retiraden fra Nörre Maestrup efter det natlige Overfald laa en af vore Jægere syg i den Gaard, Fjenderne havde omringet, og var ganske sikkert bleven fangen, hvis ikke Bennett havde taget ham paa sin Ryg og slœbt afsted med ham, saalœnge han Kunde.—Paa Maeschen[152] (sic) vandrede han bestandig paa sin Fod, skjöndt man ikke vilde have nœgtet ham Plads paa Bagagevognene, og paa lœngere Toure tog han ofte Gevœret eller Tornystren fra de Trœtteste og bar det ufertrödent.—Naar det var, at vi laae i Bivouak, eller i lœngere Tid maatte staae opstillede paa et eller ander Sted uden at turde forlade samme, ilede Bennett stedse omkring og forskaffede, hvad han kunde, til at vedergvœge Obersten og Officererne med, og stedse bar han til det Öjemed et Par Flasker Viin i sin Tornyster. Man kunde vedblive at fortœlle mange lignende Exempler paa den Hengivenhed, hvormed han fölte sig knyttet til vort Korps, og den rastlöse Iver, hvormed han strœbte efter at tjene Alle, og vi vare Alle enige om, at han fortjente en offentlig Udemœrkelse.
“Den nœrmere Anledning til, at han fulgte med os, samt han noble Adfœrd i den Anledning fortjener ogsaa at omtales. Da Korpset forlod Kjöbenhavn, var det egentlig en Broder til en af de Frivillige, der önskede som Civil at ledsage os, i Begyndelsen rigtignok Kun til Roeskilde, men senere hile Felttoget med. Bennett troede at vœre den Frivilliges Familie nogen Forbindtlighed skyldig og skrev hjem til den, at naar den yngre Broder maatte gaae med, vilde han, Bennett, bestandig ledsage denne og fölge ham hjem, naar han selv vilde. Og da den yngre Broder forlod Korpset i Ejstrup i Begyndelsen af Juli Maaned, ledsagede Bennett ham ganske rigtigen til Kjöbenhavn, og blev i den Anledning forsynet med en sœrdeles smigrende Skrivelse fra vor Oberst. Men neppe var Bennett kommen til Kjöbenhavn, förend han uopfordret löb omkring til Officierernes Familier og bragte Hilsener fra Mœnd og Slœgtninge, og derpaa vendte han tilbage til Armeen og bragte os en Deel personlige Hilsener fra Hjemmet. Inden han blev mere bekjendt, paadrog han sig flere Ubehageligheder. Paa Als blev han antagen for en Spion, og i Haderslev vilde Politiet absolut arrestere ham som Friskaremand til Engelskmandens store Fornöjelse. Selv Karlene ansaae dette lange Menneske med stort, rödligt Skjœg og hvidt Halstörklœde for en förloben tydsk Haandvœrkssvend og holdt Öje med ham paa Marschen, indtil, de lœrte ham bedre at Kjende.—Endelig bör jeg ogsaa ömtale, at han er Forfatter af de engelske Vers og Krirgssange, som i afvigte Sommer fandtes indrykkede i den Berlingske Tidende.”
TRANSLATION.
“To my great sorrow, I here learn that our Englishman, during my stay at Kolding, has left the corps, and gone to Norway, as if he had suddenly formed a wish to see it. As I consider his return very uncertain previous to the expiring of the armistice, or whether he will revisit Denmark at all; whether or no, I wish to mention the person who has supported our cause with such personal interest for more than half a year. When he first arrived, the Colonel asked him whether he would accompany the army in the capacity of a civil officer, of course without any military obligation towards the corps. He volunteered his assistance in the medical department, and, after remaining some time with us, and becoming generally known, the men called him ‘the English Doctor.’ After this, T. Bennett sportively called himself ‘Voluntary Assistant to the Medical Officers of the Danish Army.’ Although he has left the corps, he was esteemed by every one, on account of his kindly character and earnest desire to be useful to everyone. On the retreat from Nörre Maestrup, after the nocturnal attack, one of our Jägers was lying in a yard; the enemy had surrounded it, and he was certain of being taken prisoner, had not Bennett carried him off on his back, and trudged away with him as far as he could. On the march he was always on foot, notwithstanding that he might have had a place on the baggage waggons, and on longer expeditions he would frequently take muskets or knapsacks from the weary, and carry them forward. When we happened to be lying in bivouac, or were forced to stop in any place, without daring to advance or recede, Bennett always went with the Colonel and officers to reconnoitre, for which purpose he carried a couple of bottles of wine in his knapsack. Many similar instances might be related of the devotion with which he felt himself bound to our army corps, and of his ardent zeal to be useful to all, and how all our men loved him. He deserved a public distinction.
“On the last occasion he accompanied us, his noble behaviour again deserves an excellent report. When the corps first left Copenhagen, there was a brother of one of our volunteers, who wished to accompany us in a civil capacity, and, indeed, reached Roeskilde sufficiently, but his health broke down at the review. Bennett deemed it his duty towards the volunteer’s family to write, that if the younger brother should join, he would be a companion to him, and bring him home if he wished it. And when the younger brother left the army, at Ejstrup, in the beginning of the month of July, Bennett most kindly went with him to Copenhagen, and, provided with a most flattering letter from the Colonel, was to remain there. Scarcely, however, had Bennett reached Copenhagen, ere he, unsolicitedly, visited the officers’ families, bringing greetings from friends and kindred, after which he immediately returned to the army, with many personal messages from home.