The adventures of a soldier; or, Memoirs of Edward Costello, narratives of the campaigns in the ...

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Preface

In the late expedition under Sir De Lacy Evans, the objects of those who undertook to serve the regnant Queen of Spain, were as varied as their professions and characters* Many went to fight ; amongst these, perhaps, my own countrymen rather preponderated. Numbers went also to see the world, as they termed it ; and received in its organised bands the ugliest of its knocks ; and njany went to acquire what they had lost or could not gain in their own country — which if not fame and respectability, they hoped would be something approaching very close to the fashionable idea of one or both.

Among these last were a certain few, who, searching for the marvellous and the profitable,

PREFACE.

chanced on various occasions to fall into my company, or else introduced themselves with the object of drawing from me, when in the midst of strong waters and strong impulses, recollections of a life, which, however humble the actor, yet for the singular characteristics of the circumstances in which I had been placed, could not fail to interest the wonder-admiring part of the people*

It was, therefore, with no little surprise that, on my return to England, I witnessed, in the various periodicals of the time 3 certain extracts from my career, which I instantly recognised as mine, and mine only. The fact was, like my immortal countryman, poor Oliver Goldsmith ! in the storm of conflicting interests, I discovered that a lot had been cast for me, and that my fellow-sufferers, kindly keeping it a secret from all but themselves, had already had me immolated, and nearly all of me that was palatable had been devoured by their insatiable jaw x s. The most tasty portions had nearly vanished, when I ventured to claim <f my own ;** and at length sueceeded in putting together this volume; the materials of which might have lost^ their attractions in their distributed and mangled condition.

The pleasures I have enjoyed in passing anew over the campaigns of old times, are only to be equalled by the pain felt in the retrospective remembrances of my honored and never-to-beforgotten brother campaigners. Spain first gave rise to my earliest and noblest friendships and social feelings. Holding what remains of almost all the former, it, however, could not retain the latter, although innumerable changes had filled up the interval that elapsed since I first left the Peninsular, and my return. My re-visit would have been a very interesting one, but for the very different scenes I was obliged to witness, and which occupied the whole of my sympathies in making a comparison between a British soldier in 1835, &e. and the same character during his glorious career under Wellington.

This, however, is a series of memoirs not of comments • If, in the Legion, I witnessed any thing derogatory to the regulation of the service, notwithstanding we w T ere said to be purely ruled by the British military regulations, I always, when it lay in my power, marked the difference, and finding it not redressed, it remained only for me to recount the circumstances and hold the facts up to the interested ; and so far as they are herein detailed, no man can substantially deny them.

Little, however, as I can sympathise with the greater number of the officers of that Legion, I must bear my best feelings towards its humbler members. They were a noble set of fellows, maugre all the misrepresentations, all the aspersions, that party spirit fabricated for their destruction — men, whose intimate histories, if generally known, would have found their names and profession amongst the most respectable of the land ; and surely if circumstances ever proved its overwhelming influence in any body of individuals, it did on the British auxiliaries,

" Whose peers were beggars, and whose beggars peers !"

And these last rode 11 rough shod," even to the last gasp of their authority.

ADDRESS TO THE READER,

So many " Lives of a Soldier" have already been written, and those too 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.

ADDRESS.

vii

But every man's 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 track — could Wilkie, Hetherington, Plunkett, and many others of those humbler heroes, conquerors in such well contested fields as Rodrigo, Badajos, Salamanca, and Waterloo, &c, whose exploits form the principal attractions in these volumes, 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 fortune who would fail to read their histories and help to rear a cypress to their memories ?

With these considerations, therefore, I send these volumes forth, trusting that the reader will bear in mind that he who wrote them was both actor and spectator in the scenes he has viii

ADDRESS, 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 men — my 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,

Chapter I. Pagb

Iatroduction of myself to the reader— To the service — Who would not be a Soldier ? — A recruit — Wilkie — Cupid' 8 Row- do w — The service endangered by another — Arrival at Liverpool — I am made prisoner, but not by the French — Recaptured by our sergeant — Lichfield round-house — St. Paul's — I join my regiment, and the regiment joins us — Great numbers of rank and file burnt alive. . . 1

Chapter II

I join Captain O' Hare's Company — He falls in love — The " fair" and " unfair" appointment — Disappointment — Things of a private nature — Tom Crawley— An example — The Hero— How to catch "flats" in " squads" — New way to tap a barrel— A Rifleman's plan for sweeping chimneys and tap-rooms — Pipe-clay and parade — The Regiment embarks for Portugal. 10

CHAPTER III. Tom Plunket's Military Career

CONTEXTS.

lington saluted by the enemy — Remarkable feature of the case — A French curative or an ill- wind, &c. . , 153

CHAPTER XV,

Storming of Badajos — I join the Forlorn Hope again— Presentiments of Major O'Hare and Captain Jones — Their deaths — The S termers — The Ladder-men — I am wounded — The French prisoner — O'Brien — Sacking of the town — Scene of horror — Reflections — The Duke of Wellington and his men — Johnny Castles introduced with a rope round his neck — 'The drummer-boy — A fire-lock goes off and so does a Corporal — I return to the camp — Casualties at Badajos — The French prisoner and a new acquaintance — His account of the evacuation of Almeida — His opinion of the British soldiers , 169

CHAPTER XVI.

1 recover from my wounds and rejoin my regiment at Ituera — 44 Nine holes n — March for Salamanca — Sergeant Battersby — The grenadier and the murder of his wife, &c, &c, — Marmont out- manoeuvred — Assault of Fort St. Vincent — Retreat of the enemy — We arrive at Ru eda — The wine - vaults — My descent into one — Fright, &c. — Manoeuvring of the two armies — Skirmishing — A gallant Frenchman — Pratt and his prisoner

CHAPTER XVII.

Battle of Salamanca — My wounds break out afresh — I go into the Hospital at Salamanca — The Germans and their prisoners — A recognition — Michael Connelly — His death and burial — Josh. Hetherington again — A new acquaintance — His accounts of the Guerillas, &c, — A keepsake for a sweetheart — The Guerilla — The army retrace their steps to Salamanca — Proceed to Rodrigo — Heavy wet — Spanish payment acknowledgment — A dry coat —

CONTENTS.

XV

Lord Charles Spencer and his acorns — We continue our march — The babes in the wood — Hard skirmishing with the enemy's advanced guard — A woman in distress — Pepper — Hunger, cold, and fatigue — Finish of the Burgos retreat 198

CHAPTER XVIII.

Head-quarters at Grenalda— -jDon Julian Sanchez, the celebrated Guerilla Chief — Weakness of our numbers — Incorporation of Spaniards into our regiments — A thief — Punishment of, and opinion of the men — General orders for a collection among the men and officers to relieve Russian losses — A ball, in which thousands were present — Campaign of 1812 commenced — The Life Guards and the Blues join us— The French retreat to Burgos — Secret expedition for bread — Our surprise — Retreat — General Sir Lowry Cole — His temple spectacles made use of to reconnoitre— Our escape— A few remarks — Three alternatives-— A cavalry affair on the 18th June — German brotherhood again • . 213

/ CHAPTER XIX.

We encamp near, P^eMa^ on, the road p> Vittoria— jBattle of Vittoria — A, man . obUgipd to.frpld his jaw — Affair of Bayonets — The 88th — Blanco— Daly — French defeated — A prisoner rescued — The carriage of Joseph Napoleon — His wife, &c. — His baton — A prize — Attempt to rob me — Sergeant Lee — Night scenes after the battle— The sale of the spoils — I distribute my . money for safety — We march on Salvatierra — Halt at Pampeluna — Another brush wanted — Lesaca — The enemy on the heights of Santa Barbara dislodged — The French attempt to relieve Pampeluna — TheBidassoa — The French too late for the " fare" — We also — A race back by

COy TENTS.

FACE

lington saluted by the enemy — Remarkable feature of the ease — A French curative or an ill -wind, &c. . „ ] 53

CHAPTER XV.

Storming of Badajos — I join the Forlorn Hope again — Presentiments of Major O'Hare and Captain Jones — Their deaths — The Storm ers — The Ladder-men — I am wounded — The French prisoner — O'Brien — Sacking of the town — Scene of horror — Reflections — The Duke of Wellington and Ins men — Johnny Castles introduced with a rope round his neck — The drummer-boy — A fire -lock goes off and so does a Corporal — I return to the camp — Casualties at Badajos — The French prisoner and a new acquaintance — His account of the e\ T acuation of Almeida — His opinion of the British soldiers . 1 69

CHAPTER XVI.

1 recover from my wounds and rejoin my regiment at Ituera— " Nine holes " — March for Salamanca — Sergeant Battersby — The grenadier and the murder of his wife, &c. t &c. — Marmont out- manoeuvred — Assault of Fort St. Vincent — Retreat of the enemy — We arrive at Rueda — The wine-vaults — My descent into one — Fright, &c. — Manceuvring of the two armies — Skirmishing — A gallant Frenchman— Pratt and his prisoner . ,187

CHAPTER XVII.

Battle of Salamanca — My wounds break out afresh — I go into the Ho&pital at Salamanca — The Germans and their prisoners — A recognition — Michael Connelly — His death and burial — Josh. Hetherington again — A new acquaintance — His accounts of the Guerillas, &c. — A keepsake for a sweetheart — The Guerilla — The army retrace their steps to Salamanca — Proceed to Rodrigo — Heavy wet — Spanish payment acknowledgment — A dry coat —

CONTENTS.

XV

Lord Charles Spencer and his acorns — We continue our march — The babes in the wood — Hard skirmishing with the enemy's advanced guard — A woman in distress — Pepper — Hunger, cold, and fatigue — Finish of the Burgos retreat 198

CHAPTER XVIII.

Head-quarters at Grenalda— £>on Julian Sanchez, the celebrated Guerilla Chief — Weakness of our numbers — Incorporation of Spaniards into our regiments — A thief — Punishment of, and opinion of the men — General orders for a collection among the men and officers to relieve Russian losses — A ball, in which thousands were present — Campaign of 1812 commenced — The Life Guards and the Blues join us— The French retreat to Burgos — Secret expedition for bread — Our surprise — Retreat — General Sir Lowry Cole — His temple spectacles made use of to reconnoitre— Our escape— A few remarks — Three alternatives-*— A cavalry affair on the 18th June — German brotherhood again . • .213

CHAPTER XIX.

We encamp near.Puebla, on, the road to Vittoria— iBattle of Vittoria — A man L obliged to, bold his jaw — Affair of Bayonets — The 88th — Blanco — Daly — French defeated — A prisoner rescued — The carriage of Joseph Napoleon — His wife, &c. — His baton — A prize— Attempt to rob me — Sergeant Lee — Night scenes after the battle — The sale of the spoils — I distribute my . money for safety — We march on- Salvatierra — Halt at Pampeluna — Another brush wanted — Lesaca — The enemy on the heights of Santa Barbara dislodged — The French attempt to relieve Pampeluna — TheBidassoa — The French too late for the " fare" — We also — A race back by

CONTENTS.

PAGE

lington saluted by the enemy — Remarkable feature of the case — A French curative or an ill-wind, &c. . .153

CHAPTER XV.

Stonning <of Badajos — I join the Forlorn Hope again — Presentiments of Major O'Hare and Captain Jones— Their deaths — The Stormera — The Ladder-men — I am wounded — The French prisoner — O'Brien — Sacking of the town — Scene of horror — Reflections — The Duke of Wellington and Ins men — Johnny Castles introduced with a rope round his neck — The drummer-boy — A fire-lock goes off and so does a Corporal — I return to the camp — Casualties at Badajos — The French prisoner and a new acquaintance — His account of the evacuation of Almeida — His opinion of the British soldiers , 169

CHAPTER XVI.

I recover from my wounds and rejoin my regiment at Ituera — " Nine holes March for Salamanca — Sergeant Battcrsby — The grenadier and the murder of his wife, &c.» &c, — Marmont out- manoeuvred — Assault of Fort St. Vincent — Retreat of the enemy — We arrive at Rueda — The wine-vaults— My descent into one — Fright, &c, — Manoeuvring of the two armies — Skirmishing — A gallant Frenchman — Pratt and his prisoner . ,187

CHAPTER XVII.

Battle of Salamanca — My wounds break out afresh — I go into the Hospital at Salamanca— The Germans and their prisoners — A recognition — Michael Connelly — His death and burial — Josh. Hetherington again— A new acquaintance — His accounts of the Guerillas, &c- — A keepsake for a sweetheart — The Guerilla — The army retrace their steps to Salamanca — Proceed to Rodrigo — Heavy wet — Spanish payment acknowledgment — A dry coat —

Lord Charles Spencer and his acorns — We continue our march — The babes in the wood — Hard skirmishing with the enemy's advanced guard — A woman in distress — Pepper — Hunger, cold, and fatigue— Finish of the Bur. gos retreat 198

CHAPTER XYllh

Head-quarters at Grenalda — jDon Julian Sanchez, the celebrated Guerilla Chief — Weakness of our numbers — Incorporation of Spaniards into our regiments — A thief — Punishment of, and opinion of the men — General orders for a collection among the men and officers to relieve Russian losses — A ball, in which thousands were present — Campaign of 1812 commenced — The Life Guards and the Blues join us— The French retreat to Burgos — Secret expedition for bread — Our surprise — Retreat — General Sir Lowry Cole — His temple spectacles made use of to reconnoitre — Our escape — A few remarks — Three alternatives-— A cavalry affair on the 18th June — German brotherhood again . i .213

CHAPTER XIX.

We encamp near Fuebla, on. the road to Vittoria — Battle of Vittoria — A, man obliged to bold his jaw — Affair of Bayonets — The SSth — Blanco — Daly — French defeated — A prisoner rescued — The carriage of Joseph Napoleon — His wife, &c. — His baton — A prize — Attempt to rob me — Sergeant Lee — Night scenes after the battle — The sale of the spoils — I distribute my money for safety — We march on Salvatierra — Halt at Pampeluna — Another brush wanted — Lesaca — The enemy on the heights of Santa Barbara dislodged — The French attempt to relieve Pampeluna — TheBidassoa — The French too late for the " fare" — We also — A race back by

XVI

CONTENTS.

way of ** hurry*'— The Regiment's birth-day— Sergeant's Fawfoot'a loss and re-instalment — My treasure — My comrade — His good faith — Siege and storm of San Sebastian — The four hundred gallant Frenchmen — Their charge and escape — The 52nd and their badges — Remarks, &c 226

CHAPTER XX.

We encamp on the banks of the Bidassoa— Scenes od the water- edge — A narrow escape with a lady in question, " Ah ! there's the rub" — Tom Crawley and the biscuits — Our 3d battalion carry the heights of Vera — The French camp, " the last of the French"— The Pyrenees — The mountain farther up hill and down dale — The battle of the Nivelle — Manly and Spanish affection — Blanco again — His gallantry — Tom Crawley — A hug from a granny dear — The last struggle — Crawley's departure — A tear for Tom — A reel — St* Jean de Luz — The French endeavour to make a stand —Colonel Sir Andrew Barnard wounded — Death messengers fly fast 249

CHAPTER XXI. 9th December — Our picquets driven in — We are nearly out- flanked — We retire — A rally under the eye of Wellington — Lieutenant Hopwood and Sergeant Brotherwood killed — Excellent feeling between the French and English soldiers — Consequent General Order — Johnny Castles in the advance — Picquet-house — Murder at Tarbes — Blanco again — Collection made for the widow —Battle of Toulouse — " Amende Honorable" — We encamp on the banks of the Garonne — " Fall in" — The Spaniards make a mistake — General Picton rectifies it — The enemy retreat into Toulouse — They evacuate the town — French leave— Theatre of Toulouse — *' A Rifleman on the look out" 261

CONTENTS.

xvii

CHAPTER XXII.

We continue to pursue the enemy on their retreat — Halted on the second day — A carriage brings Soult and Peace— French troops disbanded — Friendly intercourse with our men — Castle Sarazin — Our men prefer the ground for a bed, in preference to a feather one — The French sergeant — The invitation — Parade — The dinner — Farewell to the Spaniards and Portuguese — Cupid enlisting deserters — Poor Blanco — Embarcation for England — The Ville de Paris — The sergeant in hope of a wife — Arrival at Portsmouth — The sergeant in search of a wife — Their meeting and parting . . • 271

CHAPTER XXIII.

Quartered in Dover — Receive our new clothing, &c. May, 1815 — Receive orders to embark for Ostend — We arrive safe — Bruges — Ghent — Brussels — 15th of June — Belong to the 5th Divieion under General Picton — Descend the wood of Soignies to Waterloo — Duke of Wellington arrives from Brussels — Battle of Waterloo — I receive a wound in my right hand, shatters one of my fingers — Return to Brussels — The pretty house-keeper — The child — Its dead mother — Gemappe — Scenes on the road to Brussels — Arrival at Brussels — Numbers of wounded in the streets — Kindness and attention of the Brussels' ladies — The fair surgeon .... 282

CHAPTER XXIV.

Brussels' hospitals — The British and French soldiers under amputation — I lose my finger — Another loss also — I leave the hospital and am removed to the Provost guard — The Belgian marauders bared to the skin — The point of honour — Sensation produced on their comrades — .The Belgian regiment under arms — Guard house surxviii

-CONTENTS.

rounded— Narrow escape — Removal of the Belgians- Assassination of a French count by a Cossack officer — Medals sent from England — Consequent dissensions — Poor Wheatley — Quarters at Mouvres — Augustine — An old acquaintance — A rival — Augustine leaves her father's house — Pursued — Her father's despair — Removal to Cambray — The regiment receives orders to embark for England— We part 294

CHAPTER XXV.

Disembark at Dover' — Shorn Cliff Barracks — I am an invalid, and pass the board at Chelsea — Augustine's arrival — Sixpence a day — Sir Andrew Barnard— Sir David Dundas — My hopeless condition — Blood-money — The Honourable Doctor Wellesley — Mr. Woodford — Augustine returns with me to France — I retrace my steps alone to Calais — To Dover — Dreadful extremes — A new field for practice — A friend in need — Another " Forlorn Hope" — Colonel 'Ford — A Rifleman without an appetite — Death of Augustine .... 309

CHAPTER XXVI.

I enter the British legion as lieutenant — Raise a regiment of Riflemen — Appoint the non-commissioned officers — Recruiting districts — The peer and the dustmen — General Evans' thanks — Embark at Gravesend — Voyage across the Bay of Biscay — Arrival in Spain — We land at Portugaletta — Pat's logic — Spanish sentries shoot a man by mistake — A bad omen — Men confined for not wearing that which they never had — Modern rifle officers — Colonel de Rottenburgh — Legion officers classified — Fine appearance of the men — Rifles march to Zorossa — Head quarters at Bilboa — Bad quarters of the men — Severe drills — Bad beginning — The men begin to droop through ill-treatment — M Cats" indiscriminately used — Lieutenant Robinson drowned . .319

CHAPTER XXVIL

Intention of the Spanish Government respecting our whiter quarters — March to Vittoria— Enemy oblige us to go round — The rear of the legion engaged — Baggage divided from it — Commencement of the plunder at Bilboa— Arrival at Castro — Enemy supposed to be in the vicinity — We remain at Castro — March the next day — Mountainous route — An accident — The pass of Las Goras — March to Breviesca — My company placed in the advance — Orders to prepare for cavalry^- Doubts and fears — A narrow escape — Arrival at Breviesca — Head Quarters — My old Patrone — Hints to revolutionists — System of regular drill begun — Riflemen drilled collectively — I practice my company in sham fighting — Provosts and hardship*— Lay in a winter stock of sickness — Legion paid up to November, 1835 — Last Payment — March of death — We march for Vittoria — Pass of Pancorbo — The dead Patrone — Approach to Vittoria— My old recollections — The 45 th — Halt about three miles from the city — Spanish troops come out to meet us — Triumphant entry into Vittoria— The veteran Colonel 332

CHAPTER XXV1IL

Vittoria as it then was — A bad wind that blows nobody any good — Rifles rather comfortable at first — Severe weather — Morning scenes and cries in Vittoria — The flogging system — Men not starved — A comparison of facts — Hospitals get crammed with sick — Singular economy — The old Colonel's two sons — The Chapelgorris — Decimated

CONTENTS.

byorderof Espartero — The Rifles march toMatuca — The whole Legion assemble at Matuca — Cordova engaged —A Carlist village — A confession — A night retreat — Colonel's anxiety — Arlaban — Change of looks both in the men and the inhabitants — March to Trevena — Sharp winter of 1835 347

CHAPTER XXIX.

Return to Vittoria — The mortality and state of the hospitals — Deaths among the medical officers — Scenes in the wards — Legion supposed to be poisoned — Don Jose Elgoez — His first ordeal — A discovery — Execution of the two bakers— Description of the " Garotta" — Legion march and countermarches — Mode of warfare adopted by General Evans — Frequent desertion . 357

CHAPTER XXX.

Sudden and unjust dismissal of the officers — Copies from General Orders — Spanish compliments to the French and British Legions — Cordova between two fires — Some French officers resign — Difference betwixt the British and French Legion— Parting moments between a French Colonel and his men — Legion receive orders to proceed to San Sebastian — The sick left behind to guard the sick — March through the country to Santander — Arrival at the Convent at Carbon — New clothing — Recruits, &c. — My opinion of the Legion .... 366

CHAPTER XXXI.

Embark for San Sebastian — A 32-pounder, and no mistake — A bloody farce --Brains where they were wanted, unfortunately — A prize — Arrival at San Sebastian —

C0XTENT3.

Anticipated attack — Colonel de Rottenburgh taken ill — Major Fortescue — Opinions— His maiden speech — Two companies broke up the others of the regiment — 5 th of May — Attack on the lines of San Sebastian — A hullabaloo— 6th Scotch taken for enemies — Helter skelter — I receive a severe wound — Am carried into San Sebastian — Letter to my wife 372

CHAPTER XXXII.

The loss of my company in the late action — Apprehensions about my leg — Medal and pewter — A candidate for Knighthood — Captain Plunkett — His death, &c« A Rifleman assassinated — Fire eaters — Sketch of San Sebastian — - Lord John Hay's battery — Something serious — Awkward squads — Singular decline of Spanish bigotry — A Sectarian alarmed , 383

CHAPTER XXXHL

Disorganised state of the Legion — Three months 1 pay — A holiday — The 6th and 8th Scotch lay down their arms — Reasons — My wishes to retire from the Legion — I give up the command of the company — A reflexion — I embark for San tender — Report myself to Colonel Arbuthnot — My new command — The convent of Carbon — Short description — Inhabitants of— First sample — A speculation — A Quarter-master's conscience — I place him under arrest — A horse ! A horse !. , * 392

CHAPTER XXXIV.

An orderly dragoon puts us all in confusion — A stir — Retreat upon Santander — The dangers of forgetfulness — Cure for a fever — We return to our old quarters — Captain Shields and Major Clark's visit — An appeal by order of Espartero — The Rifles march toMatuca — The whole Legion assemble at Matuca — Cordova engaged — A Carlist village — A confession — A night retreat — Colonel's anxiety — Arlaban — Change of looks both in the men and the inhabitants — March to Trevena — Sharp winter of 1835 347

CHAPTER XXIX.

Return to Vittoria — The mortality and state of the hospitals — Deaths among the medical officers — Scenes in the wards — Legion supposed to be poisoned — Don Jose Elgoez — His first ordeal — A discovery — Execution of the two baiters— Description of the " Garotta"— Legion march and countermarches — Mode of warfare adopted by General Evans— Frequent desertion . 357

CHAPTER XXX.

Sudden and unjust dismissal of the officers — Copies from General Orders — Spanish compliments to the French and British Legions— Cordova between two fires — Some French officers resign — Difference betwixt the British and French Legion — Parting momenta between a French Colonel and his men — Legion receive orders to proceed to San Sebastian — The sick left behind to guard the sick — March through the country to Santander — Arrival at the Convent at Carbon — New clothing— Recruits, &c. — My opinion of the Legion . 366