My diminutive figure soon attracted the attention of the leading company of the regiment, composed of gigantic Yorkshire grenadiers[1], and excited so much merriment among them, and so encreased my previous confusion, that my eyes became dim and my feet seemed scarcely to touch the ground. However, some kind expressions from the officers who came forward and surrounded me, and their gay appearance soon dispelled my inquietude.
A short time proved sufficient to instruct me in the duties required; and the varied amusements caused the early months of my career to glide rapidly on. Our uniform was plain, faced with green, but suddenly altered owing to an officer of expensive habits, who ordered a new coat to be made and covered with a profusion of gold lace, in which he appeared at the mess table, and so captivated his companions by his rich display, that a unanimous burst of admiration broke forth. Although the lieutenant colonel was as much averse from any thing of the sort as it was possible for any one to be, the new pattern was carried by acclamation, and a tacit consent wrung from the commanding officer, intermixed with his hearty execrations. Frequently, after the alteration, he used to wear his old coat at the mess table by way of a treat, when, to his extreme mortification, the very officer who caused the change would throw out hints about officers being unregimentally dressed.
Such was the ingenuity of this individual, that on being refused leave of absence, he waited personally on a general, and afterwards declared that he had represented the necessity of his appearance at home in such moving words, that he not only obtained double the time originally asked for, but also drew tears of sympathy from the general's eyes.
In the early part of the summer, General Sir John Moore inspected us on our parade ground, and was pleased to pass his high encomiums on the very fine appearance and steadiness of the men while under arms. Indeed the militia at large were equal to the line[2], in the execution of their evolutions and discipline, and were well adapted for the defence of their native shores, at this epoch threatened with invasion by the French. Had their services been required to repel such an aggression,—led on by experienced generals, without doubt they would have proved themselves equal to cope with any troops in the world; and those who had an opportunity of judging at that time, will, I am confident, fully coincide with me and join in just admiration at the high state of perfection that national force had been brought to.
During the summer the troops in the numerous towns and camps in Kent were reviewed. Our brigade left Ashford and joined two battalions of the rifle corps, 95th[3], at Bradbourne Lees and manœuvred before the Duke of York. The 43rd and 52nd light infantry regiments were organised under the immediate superintendence of Sir John Moore[4] (assisted by Major General McKenzie) at Hythe, and Shorncliff camp, in the most exemplary manner. Those corps were indeed the admiration of all, for their discipline, and the rapidity of their light movements, all of which being executed on the moveable pivot, by divisions, or sections, formed columns, squares, lines, and echelon, without a halt, by merely marking time.
The moveable pivot preserved a regular cadence, handsome to the sight, and of great utility. In course of time these useful evolutions extended throughout the army, and, for aught I know, are still called "new!" with perhaps a few alterations.
The officers of these regiments wore a neat soldier-like uniform of scarlet, facings white and buff, with a pair of small silver epaulettes; and such was the similarity of costume of the two corps, that, at a short distance, it was hardly possible to distinguish one from the other; and, when formed in a line on the green sod at Shorncliff, they presented a fine coup d'œil. The rifle corps wore dark green with black lace, helmets and long green feathers[5].
It is a strange coincidence, that these corps should have been so near each other, (almost within sight of Napoleon's grand camp at Boulogne) for the purpose of joining their efforts to repel the threatened attack on the coast, and that, in after years, they should be united in a series of brilliant victories gained over the French legions, during a period of service, which, in future ages, will create wonder at the extraordinary rise and fall of Napoleon in the centre of civilised Europe; whose legions like an overwhelming lava spread death and destruction far and wide; drove all nature into mourning, and converted Europe into an hospital.
Napoleon at this period had formed at Boulogne and its vicinity a powerful army, which he hoped to be enabled to throw across the channel by the end of August and effect a landing in England under the protection of the combined French and Spanish fleets, commanded by Admiral Villeneuve, who was expected from the West Indies about that time to concentrate the different fleets in the French and Spanish ports, to be composed of sixty ships of war destined to cover the numerous flotilla which was also to be crowded with soldiers inured to war.
Every effort on the part of this country was made to frustrate such a design. Martello towers had been erected along the coast of Kent at certain distances, and thousands of navigators and soldiers were hard at work cutting the military canal twenty yards wide across Romney Marsh. Beacons were placed on the tops of the highest hills, to light up, and alarm the country in case of a sudden descent of the enemy. Fortunately however the hostile movements of the Austrians obliged Napoleon to break up his camp at Boulogne, and march to oppose them. The latter part of this year produced extraordinary events; Napoleon was again overwhelming the continent by his military achievements, and Nelson in a like manner, by his naval exploits, was clearing all before him. These great commanders seemed striving to outvie each other on their peculiar elements, and each won a great battle[6], and within a few months of each other.