A number of our men might be seen, from morning until night, bringing them in, and making a very good harvest, for they were plentiful all around the town, particularly in rear of our 21-gun battery. This order did not last long enough, for on the 4th November, 1854, it was cancelled as follows:—
General Order No. 1, of the 24th October, authorising payment for shot delivered at the Camp of the Right Siege Train, is cancelled.
Therefore, it was not only food and clothing we were hard up for, but we had actually no shot to use, and if the enemy had known it we should have had to use the bayonet to defend our batteries with, though I believe we should have managed to hold our own: but fancy the surprise of the enemy when they found their own shot going back to them.
This was repeated in front of Delhi, in 1857; but the men in this instance got grog for every shot they fetched, and we may rest assured they got as many as they could.
REMARKABLE WOUNDS AND HAIR-BREADTH ESCAPES.
King William III had some remarkable escapes, for it is stated that at the battle of Loddon, he was narrowly missed by three musket shots; one passed through his periwig, and made him deaf for some time, another through the sleeve of his coat, doing no harm, the third carried off the knot of his scarf, and left a contusion on his side.
King Charles XII of Sweden, though repeatedly signalising himself in famous battles, received no wound, but one evening, after fighting a terrible battle against the Russians, as he was changing his dress, he found a ball lodged in his black cravat, while another had passed through his hat, and a third had broken his watch and remained in his pocket at his left breast.
Lieut.-General Carpenter and the division under General Stanhope were taken prisoners by the French and Spanish forces at the battle of Brihuega, in the mountains of Castile, 7th December, 1710. On this occasion General Carpenter was wounded by a musket ball, which broke part of his jaw, and lodged under the root of his tongue, where it remained several months before it could be extracted, and the pain, it is needless to add, was very great, but he survived this remarkable wound twenty-one years. He died on the 10th February, 1732, aged 75.
Captain Murray, of the 42nd Highlanders, was wounded at the battle of Martinique in 1762, by a musket ball, which entered his left side, under the lower rib, passed up through the left lobe of the lungs (as was ascertained after his death), crossed his chest and, mounting up to his right shoulder, lodged under the scapula. His case being considered desperate, the only object of the Surgeons in attendance was to make his situation as easy as possible for the few hours they supposed he had to live, but, to the great surprise of all around, he was on his legs in a few weeks, and before he reached England was quite recovered—at least his health and appetite were restored. He was, however, never afterwards able to lie down, and during the 32 years of his subsequent life, slept in an upright posture, supported in his bed by pillows. He died in 1794, a Lieut.-General and Colonel of the 72nd Regiment.