BY

SEA AND LAND;

FROM THE

COMMENCEMENT OF THE GREAT FRENCH REVOLUTION

TO THE PRESENT TIME:

WITH A RETROSPECTIVE VIEW OF THE CELEBRATED EPOCHS OF BRITISH MILITARY HISTORY;

PREFACE.

"This England never did, nor never shall,
Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror." - SHAKSPERE.

A BRIEF prelude, or note of introduction to a book, is a matter both of interest and assistance to the reader. A great, and probably a lengthened struggle has just commenced in Europe-a struggle in which England has an important part to play. The war-cry has sounded throughout the land, and an enthusiasm prevails which invests the past military and naval triumphs of the country with more than ordinary interest.

Our design is to present to our countrymen, "those better Romans of a better time," a concise and trustworthy record of the great Military and Naval struggles in which England has been concerned, for upwards of half a century, in almost every quarter of the globe. Our labours will date from that grand and terrible convulsion,the Great French Revolution of 1793. For upwards of twenty years afterwards, Europe was one great battle-field: the nations were shaken as with political earthquakes; society rocked to its foundations; and it seemed as if men stood in the vestibule of a new life, when despotism should be no more, freedom be crowned throughout the earth, and men be brothers. The glorious vision proved but a dream: and the Revolution, which had been baptized in blood, perished in blood.

Different opinions will, of course, be entertained of the wisdom of England's rulers during that wild time of war; and a different policy has since been adopted by their successors in power: but every British heart will feel a glow of pleasure in reading of the courage, patriotism, and indomitable spirit, by which our brave soldiers tore the laurels from the brows of heroes decorated with the trophies of Italy, Egypt, and Germany; and placed their country's honour on the highest pinnacle of fame and glory. A love of his Fatherland-a sense of pride that he is an Englishman, will animate the bosom of the inexperienced youth, when he learns and will warm the heart of the aged man when he remembers-that the efforts of his country's warriors have secured to her honour, happiness, and independence; -that they have rendered her the sacred fane of peace and freedom-the centre of civilisation -the chastiser of the oppressor-the hope, stay, and avenger of all suffering nationsand the admiration of the world.

But while England's brave soldiers shall be remembered with the honour due to

"He that

them, her heroes of the sea shall not be forgotten. With a great people, times of difficulty and danger produce great men to contend with and subdue them. wrestles with us," said the eloquent Edmund Burke, "strengthens us: our adversary is our helper." Disappointments and defeats rouse the illustrious to renewed exertions, and point out to them the path to success and glory. It was singularly thus with England during the close of the last century and the commencement of the present. When her very existence, in a political sense, was threatened with destruction-when her national independence was endangered, there arose a host of strong-minded, strong-handed men in the cabinet, in the field, and on the wave, whose united exertions snatched her from the ordeal, and left her the inheritrix of a prouder name and more exalted glory than she had hitherto enjoyed.

At the head of that branch of our national service-the Navy-stands the glorious name of Nelson; and, honour it as we may, it is but the first of a band of heroes whose dashing, fearless deeds have shed a lustre around

"The flag that has braved a thousand years the battle and the breeze!"

The ocean is regarded as the natural element of the dwellers in this "precious stone set in the silver sea," as the habitation, glory, and delight of Britons; and its brave sons have gloriously co-operated with our armies in vindicating the rights and liberties of mankind, and in preserving their beloved country unprofaned and unsullied by a hostile foot.

The division of the Work, entitled "OUR INDIAN CAMPAIGNS AND BATTLE-FIELDS," will possess a novelty and originality impossible in a mere compilation. All that is to be found extant on the subject, in a printed form, are a few isolated and meagre details of some of the military operations in the course of the numerous Wars which will be narrated in this Work; and as they have been the production of civilians, or of unscientific military men, they are not only unscientific and unsatisfactory, but inaccurate and defective. Though what is known as "a popular style" will be adopted, yet the author will remember that he was a soldier, and one who did not follow war as a pastime, but studied it as a science. Our military proceedings in India are a mystery to many well-informed Englishmen. The history of that vast empire, with its gorgeous wealth, its population as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is upon the seashore;" their barbaric practices, and wild mystic traditions of religion; the sterile deserts of their land, alternated with the most luxuriant and gigantic vegetation; its chains of mountains, and their dreaded rocky passes; -are to many as a book closed and sealed with seven scals. The author of this Work will endeavour to rend those seals asunder, and reveal the historic mystery enclosed within them in a style which he anticipates will command the approbation of his countrymen. No popular, and, at the same time, competent account of British progress and reverses, and, finally, of British triumphs, has yet been written. This is the reason why Indian affairs are unknown, and Indian politics turned away from as uninteresting.

Little need be said concerning that portion of the Work which relates to the REPUBLICAN, CONSULAR, AND IMPERIAL BATTLE-FIELDS OF FRANCE, in connexion with her struggles with England. In it will be celebrated, we trust with an impartial pen, the wonderful achievements, and the prodigies of valour and patriotism displayed by the infant and undisciplined armies of Republican France; -the rise, the deeds, and fall of that military meteor, Napoleon Buonaparte, "the fame of whose victories and marvellous fortune," as he himself has said, " will traverse ages;" and be a lesson to "despots, prone to cruelty, avarice, and dissoluteness, and who, in the very moment of triumph, are intent on defrauding the people (by whose valour and suffering they have conquered) of the only reward they demanded-just government." Wonderful is it to reflect, that these startling deeds were done-these awful conflicts waged, in our own time! Ancient history can scarcely parallel the blood-stained records of these gigantic wars. In executing this portion of his task, the author will endeavour to avoid all those misrepresentations and hyperbolical versions of historic facts which detract from the value of much that has been written concerning them. He will strive, by the rigid and patient examination of details, to extract and exhibit the truth in a spirit equally devoid of adulation or detraction;-in a word, to act the part of the faithful and impartial historian.

In the pages of this Work, the operations and results of our expeditionary forces in the East, and those of our fleets in the Baltic and Black Seas, will be fully and explicitly detailed; and should, unfortunately, a general war be the consequence of Russian Aggression, a succinct and vivid narrative of its operations, casualties, and results, will be embodied in the pages of "ENGLAND'S BATTLES BY SEA AND LAND." Neither will the heroism and exploits of our brave allies, the gallant French, be forgotten or slightingly treated: their martial bearing and true military pretensions shall be portrayed in all their lustre, greatness, and renown. The Work will be closed with brief histories of the rise and progress of the British Army and Navy; particularizing the individual exploits of the respective regiments of our gallant army.

To render the HISTORY OF ENGLAND'S BATTLES as complete as possible, a retrospective view will be given of the most celebrated events of British Military and Naval History, Crecy, Poictiers, Agincourt-Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, Malplaquet ;and the other battle-fields and memorable contests in which English courage and heroism have shone in resplendent, unfading, and imperishable renown. Modern science has changed the aspect of war; and the musket has utterly superseded the bow: but the student of history will not willingly forget the deeds of those brave, keen-eyed, brawnyarmed archers, whose winged shafts, falling in flights which darkened the sky, spread terror and death among their enemies.

Such is the design of the Work to which we invite a nation's attention in the time of strife, of self-denial, and (it may be, to some extent) of peril. Is it not wise, we ask, to review past struggles, and to glean from them the lessons they yield for our guidance now? The unthinking clamours of a people have sometimes driven governments into unnecessary wars; while, at other times, the fear of increased taxation has generated such a love of peace, as to endanger the national respect. With a people better informed with regard to its history, and the causes of the storm now about to pass over Europe, this will not be again.

It is a solemn time;--a time pregnant with events and changes;-a time whose coming incidents involve the fate of nations; -a time when freedom is cast into the balance; -а time when down-trodden nations rouse themselves from momentary despair, and prepare for the renewal of the conflict; - a time when the genius of Britain calls aloud for the exertions or endurance of all her children. From the mysterious and murky veil that