Reminiscences of Captain Gronow
Formerly of the Grenadier Guards, and M.P. for Stafford:
being
Anecdotes of the camp, the court, and the clubs,
at the close of the last war with France.
Related by himself.
"O friends regretted, scenes for ever dear!
Remembrance hails you with her warmest tear!
Drooping she bends o'er pensive fancy's urn,
To trace the hours which never can return."
London:
Smith, Elder and Co., 65, Cornhill.
M.DCCC.LXII.
CONTENTS
[A FEW WORDS TO THE READER]
[MY ENTRANCE INTO THE ARMY]
[DEPARTURE FOR AND ARRIVAL IN SPAIN]
[THE UNIFORM AND BEARING OF THE FRENCH SOLDIER]
[MAJOR-GENERAL STEWART AND LORD WELLINGTON]
[ST. JEAN DE LUZ]
[FOOLHARDINESS]
[DISCIPLINE]
[SIR JOHN WATERS]
[THE BATTLE OF THE NIVELLE]
[THE PASSAGE OF THE ADOUR]
[ARRIVAL OF THE GUARDS AT BORDEAUX]
[MRS. MARY ANNE CLARKE]
[MRS. MARY ANNE CLARKE AND COL. WARDLE]
[SOCIETY IN LONDON IN 1814]
[THE ITALIAN OPERA.—CATALANI]
[DINING AND COOKERY IN ENGLAND FIFTY YEARS AGO]
[THE PRINCE REGENT]
[PRINCESS CHARLOTTE OF WALES AT A FETE IN THE YEAR 1813, AT CARLTON HOUSE]
[BEAU BRUMMELL]
[ROMEO COATES]
[HYDE PARK AFTER THE PENINSULAR WAR]
[LONDON HOTELS IN 1814]
[THE CLUBS OF LONDON IN 1814]
[REMARKABLE CHARACTERS OF LONDON ABOUT THE YEARS 1814, 1815, 1816]
[THE GUARDS MARCHING FROM ENGHIEN ON THE 15TH OF JUNE]
[QUATRE BRAS]
[GENERAL APPEARANCE OF THE FIELD OF WATERLOO]
[THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON IN OUR SQUARE]
[THE FRENCH CAVALRY CHARGING THE BRUNSWICKERS]
[THE LAST CHARGE AT WATERLOO]
[HUGUEMONT]
[BYNG WITH HIS BRIGADE AT WATERLOO]
[THE LATE DUKE OF RICHMOND]
[THE UNFORTUNATE CHARGE OF THE HOUSEHOLD BRIGADE]
[THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S OPINION OF THE FRENCH CAVALRY]
[MARSHAL EXCELMANN'S OPINION OF THE BRITISH CAVALRY]
[APPEARANCE OF PARIS WHEN THE ALLIES ENTERED]
[MARSHAL NEY AND WELLINGTON]
[THE PALAIS ROYAL AFTER THE RESTORATION]
[THE ENGLISH IN PARIS AFTER THE RESTORATION OF THE BOURBONS]
[LES ANGLAISES POUR RIRE]
[COACHING AND RACING IN 1815]
[PARISIAN CAFES IN 1815]
[REVIEW OF THE ALLIED ARMIES BY THE ALLIED SOVEREIGNS IN PARIS]
[CONDUCT OF THE RUSSIAN AND PRUSSIAN SOLDIERS DURING THE OCCUPATION
OF PARIS BY THE ALLIES]
[THE BRITISH EMBASSY IN PARIS]
[ESCAPE OF LAVALETTE FROM PRISON]
[DUELLING IN FRANCE IN 1815]
[PISTOL SHOOTING]
[THE FAUBOURG ST. GERMAIN]
[THE SALON DES ETRANGERS IN PARIS]
[THE DUCHESS DE BERRI AT MASS AT THE CHAPELLE ROYALE]
[LORD WESTMORELAND]
[ALDERMAN WOOD]
[THE OPERA]
[FANNY ELSSLER]
[CHARLES X. AND LOUIS PHILIPPE]
[LORD THANET]
[LORD GRANVILLE, THE BRITISH AMBASSADOR]
[MARSHAL BLUCHER]
[JEW MONEY-LENDERS]
[LORD ALVANLEY]
[GENERAL PALMER]
["MONK" LEWIS]
[SIR THOMAS TURTON]
[GEORGE SMYTHE, THE LATE LORD STRANGFORD]
[THE HONOURABLE GEORGE TALBOT]
[A DINNER AT SIR JAMES BLAND BURGES'S, IN LOWER BROOK STREET; AUTUMN, 1815]
[LORD BYRON]
[SHELLEY]
[ROBERT SOUTHEY, THE POET]
[CAPTAIN HESSE, FORMERLY OF THE 18TH HUSSARS]
[VISITING IN THE COUNTRY]
[COLONEL KELLY AND HIS BLACKING]
[LORD ALLEN AND COUNT D'ORSAY]
[Mr. PHELPS]
[THE LATE LORD BLOOMFIELD]
[THE RIGHT HON. GEORGE CANNING]
[MRS. BOEHM, OF ST. JAMES'S SQUARE]
[DR. GOODALL, OF ETON]
[LORD MELBOURNE, THE DUKE OF LEINSTER, AND LORD NORMANBY]
[THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER]
[LADY CORK]
[THE DUCHESS OF GORDON]
[THE LATE MRS. BRADSHAW (MARIA TREE)]
[LADIES' JEWELLERY AND LOVERS]
[THE LATE LORD HENRY SEYMOUR]
[FRANCE AND THE FRENCH]
A FEW WORDS TO THE READER
It has been my lot to have lived through the greater part of one of the most eventful centuries of England's history, and I have been thrown amongst most of the remarkable men of my day; whether soldiers, statesman, men of letters, theatrical people, or those whose birth and fortune—rather, perhaps, than their virtues or talents—have caused them to be conspicuous in society at home or abroad. Nature having endowed me with a strong memory, I can recall with all their original vividness scenes that took place fifty years ago, and distinctly recollect the face, walk, and voice, as well as the dress and general manner, of everyone whom I have known. I have frequently repeated to my friends what I have seen and heard since the year that I joined the Guards (1813), and have been urged to commit to paper my anecdotes and reminiscences.