ART. III.-Recollections of the Peninsula. By the Author of Sketches of India. First American from the Second London Edition. Philadelphia, 1824. 12mo. pp. 260. Carey & Lea.

THIS little book is not so much, Recollections of the Peninsula, as it is recollections of what was done in the peninsula between 1809 and the end of the war, by that portion of the British army, to which the author was attached. It is an amusing and interesting narrative, or collection of narratives, confined almost entirely to proceedings within the camp, of which it gives near and familiar views. Very little is said of the plans or movements of the entire army; but instead of these we are told, in minute detail, of what the author himself saw, did and suffered. Such sketches are, in a good degree, new, and afford us often a striking and animated picture of a soldier's life, as it is every day passed in the field and before the enemy.

'We bivouacked daily;' says he, giving an account of the entrance into Spain from Portugal. 'It is a pleasant sight to see a column arrive at its halting ground. The camp is generally marked out if circumstances allow of it, on the edge of some wood, and near a river or stream. The troops are halted in open columns, arms piled, picquets and guards paraded and posted, and, in two minutes, all appear at home. Some fetch large stones to form fire places; others hurry off with canteens and kettles for water, while the wood resounds with the blows of the bill-hook. Dispersed, under the more distant trees, you see the officers; some dressing, some arranging a few boughs to shelter them by night; others kindling their own fires; while the most active are seen returning from the village, laden with bread, or, from some flocks of goats, feeding near us, with a supply of new milk.' p. 42.

Again he says;

'Instructed by our last year's wants, our officers now took the field very comfortably provided; many of us were mounted, most of us carried tents, and experience having shown us what would be really useful, we had, at our leisure, procured and planned many little camp conveniences. Myself and my companion had our tent, camp table, and stools, palliasses, canteen, &c., and, after our servants got accustomed to the life, provided the weather was fair, and no especial order of march, or readiness, interfered, our meals were prepared and served in bivouacks, the most rude and unfrequented, altogether remote from towns or cities, with the greatest

regularity, cleanliness, and comfort. A quarter of an hour after the halt of the column, our tent was pitched, kettle boiled, breakfast cloth spread, and tea things laid out under some shady tree, the goats milked, and we were seated in comfort at our cheerful meal. The dinner, too, no great variety in the cookery to be sure, for there are but two dishes seen in a camp, namely, soup and bouilli, or an Irish stew, but these with rice, pumpkin, tomatas, and a bottle of good country wine, left a moderate man little to wish for, and nothing to grumble at. pp. 93, 94.

Another lively account is given of the occupation of Bucellas.

'On the thirteenth my regiment again moved to Bucellas. Near this town ran the second line of defence, and the post being considered highly important, six British battalions were stationed in it in reserve. The whole time that we remained here, our line was regularly under arms two hours before break of day every morning; and when the sun appeared above the horizon, we generally manoeuvred for an hour before we were dismissed. For a few days on our first arrival in this quarter, my friend and I pitched our tent in the market place. Here I took my meals, but slept with my company in a church, in which about two hundred of our men were accommodated. The senior officer had the sacristy, the next a little chamber recess behind the high altar, and the rest of us made ourselves truly comfortable in the large organ loft. I used often to lean out of this gallery, and contemplate the strange scene below me. How a sober citizen from St Paul's churchyard would have stared, to see a serjeant of grenadiers writing his reports on the communion table, a fifer lounging at his ease in the pulpit, and practising his favorite quick step, and the men dividing and calling off their rations of raw beef on tombs of polished marble. Such, however, is but too faithful a picture of an every day occurrence on actual service.' pp. 123, 124.

The following is, we apprehend, a strongly marked and happy sketch.

'We had here [Arroyo] a most amusing specimen of French character. In the French column one of the regiments was numbered thirtyfour; in the British column also the thirtyfourth regiment led the pursuit, and got quite mixed with the enemy. Several of the French officers, as they tendered their swords, embraced the officers of the English thirtyfourth, saying,-" Ah, Messieurs, nous sommes des frères; nous sommes du trente-quatrième régiment tous deux."-" Vous êtes des braves."-"Les Anglois se battent toujours avec loyauté, et traitent bien leurs prisonniers."- "Ah, Messieurs, la fortune de la guerre est bien capricieuse."-Under any

circumstances, however unfortunate, this people will find some method of disarming wrath, courting favor, and softening their fate; they have spirits, too, wonderfully elastic; and have the readiest ingenuity in framing excuses for any disaster, or disgrace, which may befall them. I was on duty over the prisoners a few days after the affair; at the close of the day's march a chapel was allotted to them for the night, and to have seen them take possession of it, one really would have thought that they were still marching free, and in arms; they entered it, singing, "Grenadiers, ici; grenadiers, ici"-" Voltigeurs, là, là; voltigeurs, là, là”—and ran tumultuously, the grenadiers to the altar, and the voltigeurs to the gallery. In ten minutes all were at home, some playing cards, some singing, some dancing, here a man was performing punch, behind a great coat, with infinite drollery; there again, quieter men were occupied in repairing their clothes, or shoes, while in one part of the chapel a self elected orator was addressing a groupe on their late capture, in such terms, as, Messieurs, vous n'êtes pas déshonorés"- "On nous a trompé ; cet espion, cet Espagnol, nous a vendu." "Et comment! qui vous a dit cela ?" said a rough voice. "Monsieur," replied my orator, "vous me permettrez de savoir. Je suis de Paris même, et je connois la guerre." This speech was highly approved; for several vociferated-"Ah! oui, il a raison ; nous avons été vendus par ce vilain espion." "Nous aurions

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battu les Anglois dans une affaire rangée, mais certainement," said my little Parisian; and just then the rations making their appearance, they all hurried to the door, and singing some song, the chorus of which was "Bonne soupe, bonne soupe," they eagerly took their meat, and set about preparing it.' pp. 174, 175.

Another sketch of a similar kind, and no less spirited, is to be found at pp. 136-7, giving an account of an amusing interview with some French officers on the banks of the Tagus, where Wellington so long held his enemy at bay, and where the two armies, when it happened, had been quietly watching each other nearly three months.

'About the middle of February, as I was one day walking by the river side with three or four companions, we observed an unusual crowd on the opposite bank, and several French officers. They saluted us, with a "Bon jour, Messieurs ;" and we soon fell into conversation. They were exceedingly courteous. They spoke in the highest terms of Romana, who had lately died, calling him "Le seul général Espagnol digne de son grade." They asked after Lord Wellington; saying he had done wonders with the Portuguese, and praising him greatly for his conduct of the campaign. They next inquired if our king was not dead; and ōn

our replying that he was not, one of them spoke, but inaudibly; another, in a louder voice, repeated "Le général dit, que tout le monde aime votre Roi George, qu'il a été bon père de famille, et bon père de son peuple." We were thus, at once, let into the rank of one of their party, and not a little delighted at the manner in which they had spoken of our excellent and unfortunate sovereign. A great deal of good humor prevailed; we quizzed each other freely. They asked us how we liked bacallao and aceite, instead of English roast beef? and we, what they did at Santarem without the restaurateurs, cafés, and salles de spectacle of their dear Paris? They replied, laughing, that they had a theatre; and asked us to come over, and witness the performance of that evening, which would be, "L'Entrée des François dans Lisbonne." A friend of mine most readily replied, that he recommended to them "La répétition d'une nouvelle pièce, 'La Fuite des François.'" They burst into a long, loud, and general laugh ;--the joke was too good, too home. Their general, however, did not think it wise to remain longer; but he pulled off his hat, and wishing us good day with perfect good humor, went up the hill, and the group immediately dispersed.' pp. 136-138.

We will add but one more extract, and that is of the French army as it appeared before and after the battle of Buzaco.

'On the twentysixth we again moved, and fording the Mondego, climbed the lofty Sierra de Buzaco, and found ourselves on the right of Wellington's army, and in order of battle. Our position extended nearly eight miles along this mountainous and rocky ridge, and the ground on which we formed inclining with a slope to our own rear, most admirably concealed both the disposition and the numbers of our force. My regiment had no sooner piled arms, than I walked to the verge of the mountain on which we lay, in the hope that I might discover something of the enemy. Little, however, was I prepared for the magnificent scene which burst on my astonished sight. Far as the eye could stretch, the glittering of steel, and clouds of dust raised by cavalry and artillery, proclaimed the march of a countless army; while, immediately below me, at the feet of those precipitous heights, on which I stood, their picquets were already posted; thousands of them were already halted in their bivouacks, and column too after column, arriving in quick succession, reposed upon the ground allotted to them, and swelled the black and enormous masses. The numbers of the enemy were, at the lowest calculation, seventyfive thousand, and their host formed in three distinct and heavy columns; while to the rear of their left, at a more considerable distance, you might see a

large encampment of their cavalry, and the whole country behind them seemed covered with their train, their ambulance, and their commissariat. This, then, was a French army; here lay, before me, the men who had once, for nearly two years, kept the whole coast of England in alarm; who had conquered Italy, overrun Austria, shouted victory on the plains of Austerlitz, and humbled, in one day, the power, the pride, and the martial renown of Prussia, on the field of Jena. Tomorrow, methought, I may, for the first time, hear the din of battle, behold the work of slaughter, share the honors of a hard fought field, or be numbered with the slain. I returned slowly to the line; and, after an evening passed in very interesting and animated conversation, though we had neither baggage nor fires, we lay down, rolled in our cloaks, and with the stony surface of the mountain for our bed, and the sky for our canopy, slept or thought away the night. Two hours before break of day, the line was under arms; but the two hours glided by rapidly and silently. At last, just as the day dawned, a few distant shots were heard on our left, and were soon followed by the discharge of cannon, and the quick, heavy, and continued roll of musketry. We received orders to move, and support the troops attacked; the whole of Hill's corps, amounting to fourteen thousand men, was thrown into open column, and moved to its left in steady double quick, and in the highest order.

'When within about a furlong of one of the points of attack, from which the enemy was just then driven by the seventyfourth regiment, I cast my eye back to see if I could discover the rear of our divisions; eleven thousand men were following; all in sight, all in open column, all rapidly advancing in double quick time. No one, but a soldier, can picture to himself such a sight; and it is, even for him, a rare and a grand one. It certainly must have had a very strong effect on such of the enemy as, from the summit of the ridge, which they had most intrepidly ascended, beheld it, and who, ignorant of Hill's presence, thought they had been attacking the extreme of the British right. We were halted exactly in rear of that spot, from which the seventyfourth regiment, having just repulsed a column, was retiring in line, with the most beautiful regularity, its colors all torn with shot. Here a few shells flew harmlessly over our line, but we had not the honor of being engaged. The first wounded man I ever beheld in the field was carried past me, at this moment; he was a fine young Englishman, in the Portuguese service, and lay helplessly in a blanket, with both his legs shattered by cannon shot. He looked pale, and big drops of perspiration stood on his manly forehead; but he spoke not-his agony appeared unutterable. I secretly wished him death; a mercy, I believe, that was not very long withheld. About this time, Lord Wellington, with a numerous staff, galloped up, and