Napoleon at Fontainebleau and Elba; being a journal of occurrences in 1814-1815

Front matter

Cornell University Library DC 238.C18

Napoleon at Fontalnebleau and Elbabeim

3 1924 024 321 253

Preface

The Journal of the late Sm Neil Campbell, now ofiered to the pubhc, has been for some years in my possession. From time to time I had looked over the MS. in a cursory manner, and dim visions of submitting it to the press had flitted across my mind.

At each fresh reading I fancied the characters became more difficult to decipher, the paper (very thin and evidently of foreign manufacture) more blurred and wormeaten. One day, after a somewhat longer interval than usual of its being drawn out from under lock and key, —

the truth flashed upon me — it must be ' now or never.' There was no more choice in the matter. Either the MS. would perish by the mere process of natural decay — I should be obliged to say to it, as Horace to his book.

— or it must be at once transcribed.

Accordingly it was the pleasant employ of leisure hours during a prolonged winter — the break-in upon the daily routine of a ' country parson,' and the primary vi PREFACE.

duties of parish-work — to write out a fair copy of the complete MS., and so rescue it from its impending fate.

Some friends to whom it was then shown, agreed in thinking that, over and above the value of every fragment bearing upon Napoleon's history, the Diary of Sir Neil Campbell contained much information not hitherto disclosed, touching the conduct of Napoleon during his residence at Elba, the preparations for his escape, and his consummate skill both in veiling and executing the mancEuvres which led to the crowning event of his career.

It was therefore decided that the Journal should no longer remain in its manuscript form, but be laid before the general reader.

In the next place it seemed necessary to prefix a brief Memoir of the Author, in order to show (however imperfectly) what manner of man he was.

But here many difficulties arose from the scarcity of materials. There were few of Sir Neil Campbell's letters or papers at hand, by help of which to trace out the story of his life ' from year to year.'

The whole of his baggage, having been near the front when he received his wounds at Fere Champenoise in March 1814, disappeared from under the charge of the Cossacks, who were supposed to protect it, and could never afterwards be recovered. With it went the greater part of his military and official papers. At a subsequent period a box, in which the mass of his correspondence had been treasured up by one of his sisterp, was lost together with the ' Duntroon charterchest,';-contaimng many valuable documents and ancient

PllEFACE. vii

family relics, in consequence of the bankruptcy of the agent to whose care they had been committed by the owners, during their residence on the Continent. I have therefore been obhged, in preparing my own comparatively trifling portion of the book, to content myself with such scanty memoranda as had escaped these disastrous chances. Living in a remote part of the country, with no extensive general library of my own, I have enjoyed few opportunities of consulting books of reference, and thereby fully verifying allusions and facts of history ; so that I am only too well aware of my many shortcomings and possible mistakes. And last but not least embarrassment of all, ever present to my mind while venturing to write of ' battles, sieges, fortunes,' has been the great Emperor's dictum, as recorded by my uncle's pen, and evidently stamped with his approval, ' that the Archbishop of Malines, who had been his [Napoleon's] chaplain, ivas extremely addicted to descanting on military subjects, which is very disgusting to military men ! '

A. N. C. M°L.

Table Of Contents

MEMOIR.

Chapter I. [1776—1810.]

PAQE

Campbells of Duntroon — Commencement of Military Career — Jamaica — Caicos Islands — Military College — Shomoliff Camp — West Indies, Second Time — West Indies, Third Time — Martinique — The Saintes — Guadaloupe 3

Chapter II. [1810—1813.]

Resigns Staff Appointment in West Indies — Proceeds as Volunteer to Peninsula — Appointed Colonel of 16th Regiment Portuguese Infantry — Blockade of Almeida and Battle of Fuentes d'Onore — Blowing up of Works at Almeida and subsequent Catastrophe — ^Attack of Fever and Journey to Lisbon — Rejoins the Army near Sabugal— Relief of Ciudad Rodrigo by Marmont — Combats of El Bodon and Aldea de Ponte — Siege and Capture of Ciudad Rodrigo — Receives honourable Mention by Brigadier-General Pack, Lieutenant-General Picton, and Lord Wellington — Siege of Badajos — Advance from Ciudad Rodrigo towards the Douro — Holds temporary Command of Pack's Brigade — Bridge of Tordesillas — Battle of Salamanca — Occupation of Madrid — Capture of Hornwork at Fort St. Michael, near Burgos — Mentioned for the Second Time by Lord Wellington in Public Despatch — Retreat of the Army from Burgos — Invalided, and returns to England . 18

X CONTENTS.

Chapter III. Pauk

Appointed to Lord Cathoart's Staff — Sails from Harwicli to Gottenburgh — General Hope's Mission — Journey to Stockholm — Interviews with King, Queen, and Crown Prince of Sweden — Visit to Madame De Stael — Journey to Carlscrona 44

Chapter IV

Journey from Carlscrona to Kalisch — Joins Lord Cathoart's Staff — Emperor Alexander, Grand Duke Constantine, and Platoff — Parade of Russian Guards — Progress of Imperial Headquarters from Kalisch to Dresden — Presented to Emperor of Russia and King of Prussia — Advance of Allied Army through Saxony — Joins Wittgenstein — Battle of Lutzen — Incidents of Retreat through Dresden and aci-oss the Elbe — Battle of Bautzen — Distant View of Napoleon and Staff — Armistice — News of Battle of Vittoria — Comparison of Napoleon and Wellington 64

Chapter V. [1813—1814.]

Joins Headquarters of Duke of Wurtemburg before Dantzic — Incidents of Siege — Receives Imperial Russian Orders of St. George and St. Anne — Capitulation of Dantzic — Berlin — Dines vrith Princess of Orange — Evening Visit to Princess Louise of Prussia — Headquarters of Allied Sovereigns at Friboxirg — Rejoins Wittgenstein, and crosses the Rhine — Battle of Brienne, &c. — Printed Proclamation of Louis XVIII. at Nogent-sur-Seine — Wounded at Fere Champenoise — Arrives in Paris — Appointed British Commissioner to Elba — Knighted, with Patent of Augmentation to Arms 87

Chapter VI. [1814—1816]

Return from' Elba — Interview with Prince Regent — Debates in Parliament respecting Napoleon's Escape — Retrospect of Events at Elba during Sir N. Campbell's Mission— Proceeds to Brussels — Letter of Introduction from Lord Castlereagh— Dines with the Duke of Wellington on June 15— Witnesses the Battles of (./uatre Bras and Waterloo— Joins Sir Charles Colville's Divi-

CONTENTS. xi

PAGK

sion — Assault of Oambray — Mentioned in Despatches — Sir Charles Napier a Volunteer — Combat at Aubervilliers — Controversy between Sir Charles Napier and General von GroUmann — Capture of Paris — Appointed to Command of Hanseatic Legion — Receives the Thanks of Senate of Bremen — Legion broken up— Return to England — Companion of the Bath, and Knight of St. "Wladimir — Invalided and goes upon Half-pay . . 104

Chapter VII. [1816—1827.]

Various Visits to the Continent — ^France, Spain, &c. — Spanish Politics — Coronation of Charles X. — Made a Major-General — ■ Appointed Governor of Sierra Leone, and Colonel of Royal African Corps — Notices of the Colony — lUnesa and Death . . 125

JOUENAL.

Chapter I

Arrival in Paris — Appointed British Commissioner — Instructions from Lord Castlereagh — Goes to Fontainebleau — First Interview with Napoleon — Treaty of Fontainebleau — Vaiioua Anecdotes . 153

Chapter II

Morning of Departure — Conversation with Napoleon — Parting Address to the Old Guard — Leaves Fontainebleau — Interview with Napoleon at Briare — Incidents of Journey — Marshal Augereau — Arrival at Frej us . '■ 178

Chapter III

Napoleon embarks on board H.M.8. ' Undaunted ' — Incidents of Voyage — Notes of Conversation — Arrival at Elba— Excursions in the Island with Napoleon — Various Conversations — General Koller leaves Porto Ferrajo — Napoleon holds a Drawing-room — Statistics relating to Elba 198

Chapter IV. Page

Florence — Count Stahremberg — Eome — Interviews witli the Pope — Eeturns to Leghorn — Discovery of Napoleon's secret Agents — Escorts Madame Mere and Suite to Elba .... 257

• CHAPTER V.

•

Interview -with Napoleon in company with Captain Battersby —

Goes to Leghorn to meet Admiral HaUowell — Arrest of Emissaries — Letter from Count Stahremberg — Despatch from Lord Castlereagh— Declaration of War by Dey of Algiers— Interview vnth General and Madame Bertrand — Conversation, on September 16, of three Hours with Napoleon — Arrival of Polish Lady and Child at Elba— Habits of Napoleon — Goes to Florence, and is presented to the Grand Duke 280

Chapter VI

Arrival of Polish Lancers — Tunisian Corsair — Edict of Napoleon — Hints thrown out by General Bertrand — Conversation with Napoleon, October 31 — Arrival of Pauline — Pecuniary Embarrassments of Napoleon — Writes to Lord Castlereagh on Subject — Resistance to Contributions — Visit to Florence — Interview vrith M. Hyde de Neuville — Old Guns sent from Porto Ferrajo — Conversation with Napoleon, December 4, of three Hours and a Half — Presents Captain Adye — List of Napoleon's Vessels — Report of Conversation between Napoleon and M. Litta — Interview with Napoleon, December 21 — Discharge of Soldiers — Gradual Estrangement of Napoleon 308

Chapter VII

Goes to Genoa — Interview with Napoleon on Retui'n — M. Ricci, Vice-Consul — Suspicious Persons at Porto Ferrajo — Warm Argument with General Bertrand — Visit to Continent — Meets Mr. Cooke, Under-Secretary — Suspicious Circumstances — Embarks in ' Partridge ' for Elba— Landing and Discovery of Napoleon's Escape-^— Interviews with Mr. Grattan, Madame Bertrand, M. Lapis, and Pauline— Pursuit of Napoleon— Return* to England . 351

MEMOIR

OF

MAJOR-GEN. SIR NEIL CAMPBELL, KNT,, C.B.

KNIGHT OP THE IMPERIAL EITSSIAN

OBDBES OP ST. GEOBSE, ST. ANNE, AND ST. WLADIMIR ;

SOMETIME BRITISH COMMISSIONEB WITH NAPOLEON AT ELBA ;

GOVEBNOB OP SIEBBA LEONE; AND COLONEL OP

CHAPTEE I.

[1776—1810.]

CAMPBELLS OF DTJNTKOON COMMENCEMENT OF MILITAET CAREER —

JAMAICA — CAICOS ISLANDS — MILITARY COLLEGE — SHORNCLIFP CAMP WEST INDIES, SECOND TIME — WEST INDIES, THIRD TIME — MAR- TINIQUE — THE SAINTES — GTTADALOTJPE.

Sir JSTeil Campbell, the writer of tlie MS. narrative hereafter to be detailed, was the second son of Neil Campbell, Esq., of Dimtroon Castle and Oib, in the county of Argyle, a Highland gentleman of ancient lineage, and fair landed estate, and was born on May 1, 1776. His mother was Jean, daughter of Archibald Campbell, Esq., of Blandfield, a younger son of Campbell of Craignish, and Captain in the 3rd (King's Own) Dragoons, who had served as Aide-de-camp to General Humphry Bland, and Judge Advocate, during the war in the Low Countries, and the campaign against the Pretender, under the orders of H.E.H. the Duke of Cumberland, 1745-46.

The eldest son of 'Duntroon,' on whom the hopes of the family had fondly rested, fell mortally wounded at the battle of the Holder, October 2, 1799,— 'shot through the body,' as wrote his Colonel, Sir Allan Cameron, ' while most gallantly leading the Grenadier Company ' of the 79th Highlanders — and was the first officer of that famous regiment ever killed in action. He had previously served in the East Indies, at the taking of Pondicherry in 1793, and

b2

4 MEMOIR OF SIR NEIL CAMPBELL. Chap. L

at the capture of the Cape of Good Hope in 1795. General Stewart of Garth, in his ' Military Annals of Highland Regiments' (vol. ii. p. 28), thus speaks of him: 'At Bergen, 1799, the regiment lost Captain James Campbell of Duntroon, who, with great intelligence, an open and generous mind, and a personal appearance the most prepossessing, exhibited in every view, according to the opinion of an old Highlander, a perfect model of one of the heroes described in Ossian.'

The Campbells of Duntroon, a younger branch of the House of Argyll, had been for centuries established in their wild and rocky stronghold, the time-worn battlements of which, overlooking Loch Crinan, still form a prominent feature in that bold and picturesque scenery. Although now, except in the female line, that ancient race has come to an end,' and the lands so long possessed by them have passed into other hands, many and curious are the Gaelic legends and antique poems yet in existence, telling quaintly the story of their feuds and their friendships, the devotion of their retainers, and the martial

' A tablet erected in Kilmartiu Church, Argyleahire, records as follows :

To the Memory of

Last anrriTiiig Son of Neil Campbell, Esq., of Duntroon and Gib.

Bom 17tli December, 1779. Died 29tli August, 1867.

1795, commenced liis Military Career in the West Indies, under Sir Ralph Abercromby,

against the French, the Caribs, and Negroes.

1800, Major of Brigade to the Artillery at Gibraltar.

1809, joined the Spanish Army under General Caesta. As Volunteer present at the Battle of

Medellin. and all the Operations with the British Troops in the South o( Spain, at

Caatalla, Tarragona, &c., and engaged at the Battle of Talavera.

1810, in Isle of Leon, A.D.O. to the Duke of Albuquerque and Military Correspondent to

Mr. Prere at Madrid.

1811, raised a Spanish L. I. Begiment, appointed its Colonel, had the rank of Major-General

and the Orders of Charles III. and San Fernando conferred upon him.

181 1-14, commanded a Spanish Brigade in the Pield.

1815—21, in Catalonia, on General Castanos' Staff, and Militai-y CoiTespondent to

Mr. Prere at Madrid.

1823, his active Military Service ended, commenced a Diplomatic Career, and, as British

Commissioner, made a Treaty with the Columbian Eepublio.

1825—30, Charge d'Affaires at Bogota, South America.

1 833—40. H. B. M. Agent and Consul-General in Egypt and Syria.

His Burvivlng Sisters, Jane, Widow of Lieut.-General Archibald Maclachlan, and Elizabeth

erect this Tablet to record the Public Services of the last Representative '

of their Family,

Chap. I. FAMILY OF DUNTROON. 5

exploits of tlieir sons in tlie old feudal times.'^ It had passed into a proverb, that ' the Castle of Duntroon had never wanted a hero, a bard, or a piper.'

The authentic records of the family date back to the year 1390, when Duncan, son of Sir Colin, 13th Knight of Lochow, acquired the lands of Duntroon, and became the founder of that branch of the Argyll family.

The ' Origines Parochiales Scotise ' quotes from Argyll Charters and Breadalbane Inventory as follows (vol. ii. p. 93) :

' In the year 1448, one of the Stewards of Ardskodniche, under Sir Duncan Campbell of Lochow, was Duncan Yong Campbell of Duntrone.

' In 1470, a precept of seisin by Colin, Earl of Argyll, is addressed to John Campbell of Duntroone and others.

' In 1511, Donald Campbell of Downtron was one of the ■local baillies of Archibald, Earl of Argyll.

' In 1513, a precept of seisin by King James V., in favour of Earl Colin, is witnessed by John Campbell of Duntrone.

' In 1531, John Campbell of Duntrwn was one to whose arbitration all disputes between Archibald, Earl of Argyll, and Duncan Campbell of Glenorchy (ancestor of the Breadalbane family) were submitted by the parties.

' In 1565 there appear on record Duncan Campbell of Duntrone and Donald Campbell his brother.'

In ' Sketches of the Highlanders ' (vol. ii. p. 31), General Stewart of Garth refers to the 'uniform practice in the families of the Campbells of Melfort, Duntroon, and DunstafEhage, that when the head of either family died, the chief mourners should be the other two lairds, one of whom supported the head to the grave, while the other walked before the corpse. In this manner friendship took the place of the nearest consanguinity, for even the eldest

» ' Gaelic Relics,' Nos. 1, 2, 8, 16. January, March, April, 1823, and Aokermann's Repoaitoi-y of the Arts : March, 1825,

6 MEMOISr OF Sm NEIL CAMPBELL. Chap. I.

sons of tlie deceased were not permitted to interfere with this arrangement. The first progenitors of these families were three sons of the family of Argyll, who took this method of preserving the friendship, and securing the support of their posterity to one another.'

There had likewise been, from time immemorial, a ' bond of friendship ' between the Campbells of Glenorchy and the Duntroon family; and, according to the terms of an ancient treaty, the heir of the Chief of Breadalbane for many generations was fostered at ' the Castle of Turrets.' To this quaint custom the venerable Earl of Breadalbane (father of the Marchioness de Grey) was wont pleasantly to refer, when any of the Duntroon family chanced to be visiting at Taymouth, and would especially delight in relating the old Highland tradition to his English guests.

Duntroon, or ' the Castle of Turrets ' (' Neil Oig of the Turrets ' having been, in olden days, the Gaelic patronymic of the laird), was famed for the natural defences of its position, and the unusual strength and thickness of its walls. In the ' Statistical Account of Scotland' (Argyleshire p. 558) there is an anecdote told relating to this very point. ' Duntroon Castle,' it says, ' withstood the ravages of the celebrated Coll Macdonnell, alias Colla Ciotach, i. e. left-handed Coll, and his followers, when he invaded Argyleshire.' And after giving some account of this wild adventurer, the story goes on to tell, that having with his kinsman, the Earl of Antrim (who bore no goodwill to Argyll for having joined the Covenanters), raised a body of 3000 men in Ulster, Macdonnell landed in Kintyre, and proceeded northwards, destroying and pillaging all in his way. From Castle Sween he proceeded by sea with his forces towards the Bay of Crinan intending to attack and destroy Duntroon Castle, and sending forward his piper by land in order to procure information. The piper was admitted into the castle

Chap. I. COMMENCEMENT OF MILITARY CAREER. 7

where he found, by the peculiar construction and narrowness of the staircase, that only one person could enter at a time to attack the place, and that it was othei-wise sufficiently strong to repel the invaders ; and being himself suspected, he was confined to one of the upper turrets of the castle, where, seeing MacdonneU's forces approaching, he contrived to warn him of the danger of making the attack, by playing on his bagpipes the weU-known pibroch.

Dearest Coll, stun the tower, shun the tower, &o.'

This warning was understood by Macdonnell, who finding Duntroon Castle impregnable, left his faithful piper to his fate, and with his forces proceeded northwards, destroying and plundering everything in his way.

Bom and nurtured in this wild ancestral home, the young Neil Campbell entered the Army in 1797. His first service was in the West Indies, where he remained for three years. In October, 1798, we find him stationed at Jamaica, as ensign in the 67th Regiment. In consequence of the evacuation of St. Domingo by the British at that period, and its delivery to Toussaint I'Ouverture the Negro chief, the colonists of the Caicos, or Turks' Islands, were apprehensive that an attack might be made upon them by the Blacks. They therefore sent an appeal for protection to the Earl of Balcarres, the Governor and Commander of the Forces in Jamaica, who accordingly despatched a small detachment of the 67th Regiment, and a party of Artillery with guns and stores, under the command of Ensign Neil CampbeU. The Caicos Islands are of different sizes, extending for many leagues, the whole encircled by a reef of coral rocks, excepting in one part, where there is deep water and anchorage within the reef. Upon a small bank opposite to this anchorage Ensign Campbell placed his

' The ' warning,' now called ' the March of Duntroon Castle,' is still played by the pipers.

8 JIEMOIR OF SIR NEIL CAMPBELL. Chap. I.

detachment, and then proceeded to construct defences, barracts, and storehouses. As the inhabitants, from the capture of their corn vessels and other disappointments incident to an infant colony, were nearly in a state of famine, the detachment was compelled to subsist entirely for many weeks upon fish procured by themselves and Indian corn. Many of the soldiers of the 67th having been rebels taken at Vinegar Hill, and transported from Ireland, were with great difficulty kept in any kind of subordination until commissariat provisions arrived from New Providence in the Bahamas. On his quitting the Caicos, Ensign Campbell received an unanimous vote of thanks from the community in accordance with the following resolution : ' That the zeal, vigilance, and judgment, manifested by Neil Campbell, Esq., of Her Majesty's 67th Regiment, in discharge of his duty as Commandant of Eort George, together with his unremitting attention to the interests and securitj^ of the Caicos, justly entitle him to the thanks and esteem of all its inhabitants.'

Having been promoted to a lieutenancy in the 67th Regiment by purchase, Neil Campbell returned to England in 1800, and shortly after joined the Rifle Corps (96th Regiment) upon its original formation, obtaining his company by purchase in the following year.

About this time his zeal and abilities began to attract the attention of his superior officers ; and, after passing through a course of study at the Military College,'' from February 1802 to September 1803, he was appointed Assistant-Quartermaster-General in the Southern District in which situation he remained until promoted, at the special recommendation of Sir John Moore, to a majority in

4 'High Wycombe would be everything that is bad, and learn

"William's ruination ; all the tricks nothing, though others dc study

played there have been made known and learn.' Llfa of Sir Charles

to me by Neil Campbell : there are a Ncqiicr, vol. i. pp. 30 .51. set who keep horses, race, bet, play,

Chap. I. SliORNCLIFF CAMP. 9

the 43rd Light Infantry, then in his brigade at Shorncliff. Besides his own merits, Major Campbell found a passport to the General's favour through the fact, that his eldest brother James, a captain in the 79th Highlanders, had served in Sir John Moore's Brigade during the expedition to the Helder, where, as before mentioned, he was mortally wounded at the head of the Grenadier company of his regiment.

It was while stationed at ShornclifF, that ISTeil Campbell formed that close and lasting friendship with Sir Charles Napier, which was often referred to by that great soldier, and of which mention is made in his Life.®

When recalling anecdotes of the camp, Sir Char]e3 wotdd tell of an impromptu race, from the bottom to the top of the ShornclifP height, which took place on some occasion among a party of officers, when, as he said, ' Neil Campbell beat us all ! '

Of this period of service Sir William Napier speaks in the life of his distinguished brother,'' ' To awaken the faculties of those under him, inspiring and teaching, was one of Sir John Moore's qualifications for command. At Shorncliff Camp he devised such improvements in drill, discipline, dress, arms, formations, and movements, as would have placed him. for military reforms beside the Athenian Iphicrates, if he had not the greater glory of dying like the Spartan Brasidas. His materials were the 43rd, 62nd, and Eifle Regiments ; and he so fashioned them, that afterwards, as the Light Division under Wellington, they were found to be soldiers unsurpassable, perhaps never equalled. The separate successful careers of the officers strikingly attest the merit of the school. So long a list of notable men could not be presented by three regiments of any service in the world.'

That in this school of heroes, this nursery for military

10 MEMOIR OF SIR NEIL CAMPBELL. Chap. I.

tactics, Neil Campbell was no tmready learner, is testified hy Ms 'Instructions for Light Infantry and Eiflemen.' In the Introduction to the second edition, dated April 4th, 1812, when he was ' in camp before Badajos,' and dedicated by permission to H.E.H. the Dute of York, Commander-in-Chief, he thus writes :

' The first edition of this publication appeared without any name ; and nothing is claimed beyond the labour of writing out, selecting, and arranging the exercises, which were practised by the 95th Eifle Eegiment, under Colonel Manningham and the Honourable Lieutenant- Colonel William Stewart, with the subsequent practice of the Light Infantry Brigade (comprising the 43rd, 52nd, and 95th Eegiments) under Major-General Sir John Moore, from the year 1800 to 1806, during which period the author served in the 96th and 43rd Eegiments.

' The same system of instructions and exercises which were established by these three distinguished officers (two of whom have since sacrificed their valuable lives for their king and country), are still practised by these corps ; and the conspicuous services of the gallant Light Division (composed of them, the 1st and 3rd Portuguese Ca9adores), in the Peninsula, require no comment.

' It has further been extended to all the Ca^adore battalions of thePortuguese Army by a translation, verbatim, of the first edition, which has been given to them by Marshal Sir William Carr Beresford, Commander-in-Chief of the Portuguese Army, approved of by his Eoyal Highness the Prince Eegent of Portugal.

' A translation has likewise been made into the Spanish language, upon which the light corps of Major-General Whittingham's Legion is now forming in the Island of Majorca.'

For nearly sixteen years, from 1808 to 1824, when a revised work upon the subject was published by order of the Adjutant-General, this book was used in all Light In-

Chap. 1. VOYAGE TO WEST INDIES. 11

fantry Regiments as the only standard of reference for uniformity of movement and practice.

In February, 1806, Major Neil Campbell was removed from the 43rd to the 1st battalion of the 54th Regiment, in order that he might endeavour to keep in check some irregularities which had arisen in that corps. Accompanying it to Jamaica in 1807, he remained there for a year, when failing health compeEed him to return to England for a brief rest. In October 1808, however, he again proceeded to the West Indies, for the third time, having been appointed Deputy- Adjutant-General to the Forces in the Windward and Leeward Islands, with the brevet of Lieutenant-Colonel.

A Journal kept by him during the voyage, and illustrated by plans and drawings, relates the usual incidents on board a troopship of that period, sailing from Woolwich to Barbadoes, and passing by Porto Santo, Madeira, and Tenerifie. The ' Creole ' mounted twelve six-pounders and two nine-pounders ; had a crew of twenty-four men, including master and mate ; and carried, besides Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell and his servant, a detachment of Artillery, consisting of five officers and forty-six men. At the Downs she joined company with 160 sail, many of them transports destined for Spain; but soon after, weighing anchor from thence, the convoy was caught by a tremendous gale, which effectually dispersed it, and blew over several of the vessels — the ' Creole ' among them — to the French coast near Boulogne, though with no ultimate loss. On November 2nd, off Lymington, a detachment of Foreign Artillery, consisting of one sergeant and twenty-sis men, was taken in.

On the 4th the ' Creole ' passed through a fleet of light transports beating up Channel. ' These are probably,' Colonel Campbell notes, ' the ships returning from France, after landing the French troops agreeably to the Convention of Cintra.' ' On the 18th, the day being a dead calm, the

12 MEMOIR OF SIR NEIL CAMPBELL. Chap. I.

boat was lowered to pursue a turtle, wMcli was spied 800 yards from the sMp. Two hands rowed, I took the helm, and the master sat in the bow of the boat ready to seize him. As he seemed to. be asleep upon the surface of the water, we approached him with as little noise as possible. When the boat almost touched him, the mate suddenly grasped him by one of his fore-fins, and tossed him into the boat. The exploit being witnessed from the ship, we were welcomed by a loud cheer in exultation of our success. The appearance of the ship with all its sails set, indolently bending from one side to another, her deck and sides crowded with men, the sea clear and smooth as glass, and the delightful warmth of the day, were truly beautiful and cheering to our spirits. There was no small anxiety to view the prize — sailors and soldiers, women and children, all crowding about us to satisfy their curiosity. The turtle was laid on his back upon the deck, to the joy of every one. In course of tbe evening we made three attempts after other turtle, but none of them succeeded. They were not asleep, and, when we approached within a few yards, lifted up their heads, surveyed us, and disappeared.'

In the early part of the year 1809, Colonel Campbell served as Deputy-Adjutant- General with the expedition wbicb captured the island of Martinique.

The fleet and transports destined for the attack having been assembled in Carlisle Bay, Barbadoes, got under weigh on the morning of January 28th. The Commander-in-Chief, Lieutenant-General Sir George Beckwith, was on board the 'Castor,' Captain Beaver; Lieutenant-General Sir George Prevost on board the ' Penelope,' Captain Dick ; Major-General Maitland and Briga.dier-General Sir Charles Shipley, commanding the Engineers, on board the ' Neptune,' Admiral Sir Charles Cochrane. Colonel Campbell was on board the ' Owen ' schooner, taken up by his own department. The Artillery were commanded by Brigadier- General Stehelin.

Chap. I. CAPTURE OF MARTINIQUE. 13

The campaign was short but brilliant, lasting only twenty-five days. The army landed at various points of the island without opposition, under cover of the fleet, by sunset on January SO. On February l,"the different corps having been united under the Commander-in-Chief, advanced to the attack of the enemy's first position, which was protected in front by a deep ravine formed by the river Monsieur, and carried up the heights of Mount Surrery, which were exceedingly steep and rugged, and strengthened by redoubts.