ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER
WRITTEN BY HIMSELF.
BEING
THE MEMOIRS
OF
EDWARD COSTELLO, K.S.F.
FORMERLY A NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICER IN THE RIFLE BRIGADE,
LATE CAPTAIN IN THE BRITISH LEGION, AND NOW ONE OF THE WARDENS OF
THE TOWER OF LONDON;
COMPRISING
NARRATIVES OF THE CAMPAIGNS IN THE PENINSULA UNDER THE
DUKE OF WELLINGTON,
AND THE SUBSEQUENT CIVIL WARS IN SPAIN.
What, must I tell it thee?
As oer my evning fire I musing sat
Some few days since, my minds eye backward turnd
Upon the various changes I have passd
How in my youth with gay attire allurd,
And all the grand accoutrements of war,
I left my peaceful home: Then my first battles,
When clashing arms, and sights of blood were new:
Then all the after-chances of the war;
Ay, and that field, a well-fought field it was.
COUNT BASIL.
Second Edition.
LONDON:
COLBURN AND CO., PUBLISHERS,
GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.
1852.
LONDON:
Printed by Schulze and Co., 13, Poland Street.
TO
GENERAL SIR A. F. BARNARD, K.C.B, K.C.H.
&c. &c. &c.
COLONEL OF THE RIFLE BRIGADE,
AND GOVERNOR OF CHELSEA COLLEGE,
THIS VOLUME
Is most respectfully Dedicated,
BY THE AUTHOR,
EDWARD COSTELLO.
PREFACE
TO
THE FIRST EDITION.
So many Lives of Soldiers have already been written, and by abler pens than mine, and so many tales have arisen out of the chequered scenes of the late Peninsular War, and the short existence of the British Legion, that I dare not be very sanguine of creating for my work any great degree of interest.
But every mans life is a volume of change, felt and expressed according to his peculiar dispositions and feelings, which are as varied under a military as they can be under a civil life. Could the never to be forgotten Tom Crawley but give his own detail!could Long Tom of Lincoln, once one of the smartest of our regiment, now the forlorn bone-picker of Knightsbridge, but pen his own eventful trackcould Wilkie, Hetherington, Plunket, and many others of those humbler heroes, conquerors in such well-contested fields as Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca, and Waterloo, &c., whose exploits form the principal attractions in this volume, and whose stubborn spirits and perforated bodies formed key-stones for the fame of our immortal Wellington, whose standard might have found a sandy support but for the individual bravery of the soldiers of his invincible divisions: could they but recount their varied casts of fortunewho would fail to read their histories and help to rear a cypress to their memories?
With these considerations, I send this volume forth, trusting that the reader will bear in mind that he who wrote it was both actor and spectator in the scenes he has narrated, and feels assured that by their perusal, he will be enabled to guess at what is generally felt and experienced by the individual soldier.
In the British Legion I held a medium rank. I saw not only what its soldiers were, but caught a glance at their officers: with them my military career flickered out its last moments of existence. Its brighter fortunes, short as they were, however, gave me sufficient opportunity to value those unfortunate menmy humbler comrades, and to be convinced by their deeds, that the British soldier, with sickness, oppression, the lash, and other distresses, still possessed his old spirit, and was as fitted to reap laurels as he had been in more glorious times.
EDWARD COSTELLO.
CONTENTS.
Introduction of myself to the readerTo the serviceWho would not be a Soldier?A recruitWilkieCupids Row-dowThe service endangered by anotherArrival at LiverpoolI am made prisoner, but not by the FrenchRecaptured by our sergeantLichfield round-houseSt. PaulsI join my regiment, and the regiment joins usGreat numbers of rank and file burnt alive
I join Captain OHares companyHe falls in a passionThe fair and unfair appointmentDisappointmentThings of a private natureTom CrawleyAn exampleThe HeroHow to catch flats in squadsNew way to tap a barrelA Riflemans plan for sweeping chimneys and tap-roomsPipe-clay and paradeThe regiment embark for Portugal
Tom Plunkets Military Career
Arrival in PortugalCraufords forced marchesTeetotalism with a vengeanceThe effect of the opposite extremeSpanish mode of keeping a man from stealing wineFalse reportsTalaveraWe arrive the day after the fightA battle sceneSir Arthur WellesleyGeneral CuestaDough Boy HillThe feverI am taken illElvas hospitalHow to cure a feverConvalescenceBurial scenesOur SextonsMarch to my regimentThe GermansPig-skins in danger, our own alsoCaptain PakenhamHanging mattersTwo dozen of eachNot sham painGerman discipline
Old TrowsersSleeping and wakingOHare againColonel BeckwithTwo upon oneMeagherBarba del PuercoGeneral Crauford taken by surpriseThe Portuguese incorporation with the light divisionRodrigoGallegosThe Beacon night scenes on picquetLord WellingtonNapoleons MarriageCraufords stratagemThe French spyWe retreat to Fort Conception
Villa de MulaNight expedition to Villa de PuercoBoth parties retireDeath of Colonel TalbotA soldiers graveThe effects of a miscarriageFort Conception blown upA mistake and no mistakeAnother mistake, a ball in the right kneeThe bridge over the CoaA friend in need, a friend indeedCharity abroad and at homeA surgeons adviceA blessingA cough, an uncomfortable companionSpanish apathyWe arrive at Fraxedas
MondegoThe CoimbraFiguerasThe maggotsLisbonBattle of BusacoRetreat to Torres VedrasLord Wellingtons generalshipBelemJack ashore and Jonathan alsoYankey and LankeyBilly MNabbThe Highland kite and Lowland tailJosh. HetheringtonSperum PocoPortuguese pietyArudaDoing what the enemy left undoneTom Crawley againIn stateA hot berthOur enemies laugh at Tom in his glory
The enemy retire upon SantaremWe retire upon ValleThe bridge over the Rio MayorThe French out-lying sentriesTheir camp groundComparative quietudeThe stillEscape from assassinationTom Crawleys ghost-storyThe Death and Glory menThe charms of a Brunswickian appetiteTheir desertionsSergeant FlemingHis court-martialWe meet our enemies on the water and contendA comment on both sides
General Crauford leaves for EnglandSir William Erskine takes the commandMounseer StraussWe enter SantaremScenes of horrorMile posts of the grande armeRetaliations of the PortugueseTwo upon onePombalSmart workGerman gallantryAuctionA new divisionRedinhaAn accidentLong Tom of LincolnThe deserterA return of favours
Our march upon CondeixaTom Crawley againHot and coldAffair of Casal NovaDeath of Major StewartThe French continue retreatingThe two brothersNight sceneThe French continue their havocThe CaadoreThe pet goatLord Wellington againOur old ColonelThe promise of the StaffThe RecruitsBritish enthusiasm inspiredThe two French prisonersParticulars of Massenas retreat and state of his troopsSt. Patricks DayIf I had a donkeyThe river CairaOur distressing privationsOBrien and the old PatroneArrival at FriexedasAdjutant Stewart killedSabugalCarrying of the enemys positionEncomiums of our ColonelDeath of Lieut. ArbuthnotDisagreeable bed-fellowA light on the subjectEvacuation of Portugal by the French, Almeida exceptedThe British follow into SpainArrival at GallegosThe enemy active in RodrigoThe skulkerPoor BurkeExpedition and disappointment in search of a convoy
