Fire and Folly (Man of Conflict Series Book 3)

by Andrew Wareham

  "Ah, General Heythorne! How do you do, sir?"

  "Well indeed, Your Royal Highness! May I present Colonel Pearce of the Hampshires, sir?"

  The plump face creased into a pleasant smile and he nodded to Septimus.

  "From India, I believe, sir? Recently involved in an action in the Bay? Unusual, indeed, for our soldiers to be capturing privateers!"

  General Heythorne commented that this was merely one of Colonel Pearce's claims to distinction.

  "Yes, indeed, the Company tells me that you did rather well in Bombay, sir!"

  The Prince was skilled at listening to whispers from his suite and uttering them as his own words.

  "I shall look forward to meeting you again, sir, after your next success."

  Septimus bowed again and was led to the side so as not to turn his back on Royalty.

  They remained for nearly an hour and Septimus was introduced to a dozen and more of assorted officers and gentlemen.

  "None of them important, Colonel Pearce, but you might meet any of them on campaign on a general's staff or with a legation or consulate or whatever. Useful for them to remember greeting you at St James."

  They left quietly and made their way to Horse Guards where the General gave Septimus a briefing on what he expected of the next months.

  "No invasion in autumn or winter, goes without saying, Colonel. Landing an army in a Channel storm is not a good idea. Could not be done across a beach. They would have to take a harbour, and not one of the small places. Not an easy task, if you look at a map. Not possible, in fact. They might attempt a raid in force, just to see what could be done, but even that is unlikely. Different matter in spring, but still not easy without they have full command of the Channel. The Navy says they won't take the Channel."

  "Then what is the French intention, sir? They have anything up to one quarter of a million men along the coast."

  "They think, at Number Ten that is, the politicians, that Bonaparte hopes it might be done, but does not really believe it to be possible. He is threatening us, so they say, hoping that we will sign a peace that will allow him to take the Germanies and Austria and then use them to conquer Russia. They are sure that Russia is his eventual aim - a thousand miles and more of wheat fields to feed Continental Europe and millions of serfs who may be turned into soldiers. Then, in twenty or thirty years, France will grow so powerful that an invasion will become a reality."

  That seemed a far more likely aim.

  "So, sir, what is to be done?"

  "Build the army. Recruit and train, and institute Second Battalions where we don't have 'em at the moment. Fortifications along the coast, that goes without saying. Support the Germans and Austrians with money. Wait till Bonaparte attacks Russia and then sell them guns and powder to keep the war going and weaken France. For you, sir, rigorous training and support for the civil power; we can tolerate no unrest just at the moment! Build your companies to their fullest strength. You must do your very best to bring on your young officers."

  General Heythorne coughed and looked uncomfortable, seemed to be searching for the right words.

  "I am saying this to you, Colonel Pearce, because you are in many ways one of the new sorts of officer we are finding among us."

  Septimus raised an eyebrow.

  "Thing is, Colonel Pearce, that there are only so many of the old officers about. The army has grown greatly since the wars began, and now most of our new officers come from the lower reaches of the County, or, like you, sir, from the uppermost ranks of the merchant classes, or even from doctors and lawyers and clergy of the Church of England. Well, what I am to say, sir, is that even those are becoming less available now. It will be the sons of attorneys and apothecaries and land agents and such before very long. And we will be forced to take more from the ranks, sergeants turned not merely into Quartermasters but into fighting officers of the line!"

  "I see, sir. These officers will not be wanted in the Guards or the London Regiments or the Cavalry, I would imagine."

  "You are correct, Colonel Pearce."

  "Therefore, I and those like me in the Regiments of the Line must welcome them and turn them into the men we want."

  "Quite, sir!"

  "Then so be it, General. I would point out, sir, that few of these young men will have private incomes - so they will not be suited to ceremonial duties and the cost involved in such."

  Full dress uniform was expensive, and showed wear very quickly; a Guards officer would not expect to get two years use of his finery - but a Guardee had to have a private income, could not exist in the regiment without.

  "Difficult, sir! But I accept your point. What of Mess Bills?"

  "I suspect that the income of some of my farms will be diverted to that purpose, General. They must be kept low so that the young men can live on their pay."

  "That is wholly wrong, Colonel Pearce, but unavoidable, I fear. There is, of course, not the least prospect of officers' pay being increased."

  "I would wish to increase that of the men first, sir. While they are so very poor they cannot save or keep a family and when they become too old to march there is little but the gutter for them. It is not good enough, sir!"

  "The money is not there, Colonel Pearce. The country is stretched to its very limit already, I fear."

  Septimus argued no further - if the politicians could not be persuaded then there was small point to haranguing a general.

  He came away from London within reason satisfied; he had his colonelcy and with seniority in the rank - the general had assured him that when he purchased he would be back-dated to include his months or years as a brevet. He spent his hours in the post-chaise crawling south and west to deciding exactly what must be changed in his battalion. The first thing to go must be Major Reynolds, and the next would be the existing training routine. The general had told him that there would be money to build extra barrack-rooms and an extension to the Officers Mess so that a Second Battalion could be formed within months. The new colonel would inevitably be his junior and he would have a measure of control of both battalions. There was much to be done.

  He reached his house late that evening, the children both abed when he finally made his way inside. The last fifteen miles had been taken at a walk, the sun down and a half-moon and cloudy sky, the post-boys unhappy to be on the road at all, but he had insisted that he had to be on duty in the morning and had offered a half-guinea apiece to be in Winchester that night.

  They had risked the horses' legs for that money, but unwillingly - a broken-down horse would have cost their jobs.

  Marianne was delighted to see the marks of rank and insisted that he tell her every detail of the levee and of the Prince.

  "What did he look like, husband?"

  "A fat debauchee, my love, the lines of a life of dissipation clear on his face even under a coating of rouge and powder. He creaked when he moved - I suspect a corset!"

  "Yet he is said to be a handsome prince!"

  "He was, I doubt not, as a boy," Septimus answered diplomatically, knowing that princes are always handsome in the newssheets. "He smelt of brandy, I fear me."

  There had also been a smell of old sweat, as if the Prince was not too much given to washing his person, but there was little need to emphasize that.

  "What of the Court, Septimus?"

  "Lady Jersey was there, of course."

  Marianne did not know why 'of course' and Septimus was obliged to explain. She was inclined to be condemnatory of the habits of the aristocratic rich.

  "They are idle and bored, my dear - they must find something to do with their empty days."

  She feared she was less broad-minded than he.

  "What comes next, sir?"

  "Work, my dear - for you as well as me. You are now Mrs Colonel, with all that entails."

  Mrs Colonel Vaughan had taught her a little and she had observed her predecessor and thought she knew all that she must do.

  "I must attend when the regiment dines-in, as
senior hostess. I must arrange entertainments every week for the officers' ladies and dinners at least once a fortnight, every officer to attend in rotation. I must visit every officers' wife at frequent intervals, to be alert to any domestic difficulties which I must solve myself or bring to you, informally if at all possible. I must be known to the sergeants' wives and they must understand that if need be they may come knocking at the back door so that problems may be averted before they arise. The Sergeant-Major's wife especially must be made an ally."

  "Basically, yes, ma'am. The regiment is a family, in many ways, and you are to be mother to them all, I am afraid. Particularly, I would add, to the new young men who will be joining us."

  He explained just what and who they might expect.

  "They will all have had some schooling, and some few may have read the military textbooks with their teachers. They will have the proper mode of speech, but many will have to be taught the ways of the genteel. They must learn to ride, as well, though some may have that skill already. Particularly, they must be shown how to deal with the men - no excess of severity, that I will most stringently demand!"

  He appeared in his office next morning, colonel's star above the crown on his shoulder, and made very sure that his rank was known to all. It was better to be over-insistent than to allow junior officers to embarrass themselves in ignorance. He called Major Reynolds to him first.

  "We shall be in Winchester for the whole of the winter at least, Major Reynolds, but will probably then spread the various companies out along the coast from Southampton to Christchurch, to link up with the area to be covered by the New Foresters. That will, of course, mean that the battalion will be spread thin, mighty thin! It will be necessary to work with the various voluntary units to be discovered in our rear. There will be Fencibles and Volunteers and one or two only partly official little companies of men. I suspect we will find the gamekeepers of some of the larger estates banded together, for example - and they may well be a damned sight more useful than the more formal companies who march out in their pretty uniforms!"

  "Yes, sir." Reynolds was puzzled - he did not see what all this had to do with him at that moment.

  "So, Major Reynolds, for six months we shall be doing no more than train. If you wish to send in your papers then now is the time to do it, sir. Either the commission will finally be bought or Captain Carter can be made acting, but there will be time to make the change."

  Reynolds appreciated now what Septimus was saying - better for the regiment that he went sooner rather than later. He had no objections; he was tired of the military existence.

  "I shall take the requisite action immediately, sir."

  "Thank you!"

  Short now of two majors it was necessary to make Captain Carter acting; he did not know whether he could afford to purchase and needed to discover, discreetly if possible. He tried to think of Carter's close friends in the Mess. He called the adjutant, Lieutenant Green, to him, put the problem in his hands.

  "Oh, yes, sir; he has the cash for that, sir. And his colonelcy when the time comes, sir. His godfather, an uncle I believe on the mother's side, never married and left him the better part of ten thousands, sir. He received the notification immediately before we left Bombay, sir. He had said that he did not wish to purchase the vacancy held by Major Reynolds, though as next senior in the battalion he had the right."

  "Good of him! Showed tact and loyalty to the regiment. Would you beg him to favour me with his presence, Mr Green?"

  "Major Reynolds is to go to half-pay, Mr Carter. Will you wish to purchase?"

  "If you please, sir."

  "It would please me very much, Mr Carter. There is to be a push to recruit more men and there will be much to do with the company officers. It is very likely that the battalion will be posted along the Hampshire coast west of Southampton, probably in penny packets at every cove and stretch of beach! Even the most junior of ensigns may find himself in command of a detachment and obliged to take decisions!"

  Carter winced; the rule was almost inflexible - ensigns were not to be placed in command unless there was no possible alternative. Ensigns were little more than schoolboys and were to be given the chance to grow up before they were forced to take man's responsibilities.

  "That will make demands on the sergeants, sir."

  "Damned right it will, Mr Carter. I am not at all sure how to go about telling them of the need, either. What do you think? You are my second-in-command now, and by far the best man in the battalion for the job, I would add."

  "Thank you, sir. The sergeant-major must be the answer, sir."

  "Officially or off-record?"

  "Damned if I know, sir. Shall we ask him?"

  The sergeant-major was sure that an answer could be found. The first step, he said, must be to train the young gentlemen in drill and the demands of the parade ground; the next was to bring them into the habit of command.

  "They must learn how to give an order, sir. Then they must be told what the orders should be. It can be done, sir - provided they understand exactly what their sergeants are saying to them, and why. That must be explained by you, sir."

  Man of Conflict Series

  BOOK THREE

  Chapter Two

  “They’ve landed, sir! The word’s in from the Castle, sir. A horseman just come in, galloped all the way, his horse is half-dead under him, sir! That’s what they said, sir.”

  The adjutant paused for breath, urgency written across his face.

  Septimus rose quickly, buttoning his uniform coat and grabbing at his shako. There was a cold wind blowing and he gave a thought to his warm greatcoat, opened his mouth to call to Cooper. He stopped in mid-yell; he peered out of the window that looked over the parade ground, spotted a few autumn leaves blowing along the paths.

  “That is a westerly wind, Lieutenant Green.”

  The adjutant stopped and looked out himself.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “A strong westerly wind, Lieutenant Green.”

  “So it is, sir.”

  “A strong wind in Winchester is liable to be half of a gale down on the Solent, probably more further out to sea. Additionally, Lieutenant Green, the last briefing we received informed us that the bulk of the French are to be found along the narrows of the Channel; where was it, the ‘Pas de Calais’, did the man say? Clustered around the port of Boulogne, I believe.”

  An officer from Horse Guards had visited them only the previous week, had informed the officers of the nature of the enemy facing them. He had painted a very convincing picture of the ravening hordes about to be unleashed on the peaceful English countryside.

  “Yes, indeed, sir – more than a quarter of a million men under arms, sir!”

  “And all of them well to the east of here and with half a westerly gale blowing, man!”

  Green thought about that for a moment, decided that his colonel might have a valid point.

  “But the messenger from the Castle was very explicit, sir. ‘A French fleet’ seen offshore, he said, sir. We must make ready to march, sir.”

  “Inform Major Carter, Mr Green. Then pass the message to the company officers. All to be present and correct for… what is the time now? Ten o’clock… Officers to meet me in the Mess at eleven. The men to be paraded in march order with sixty rounds and three days of rations on their backs at twelve o’clock. Inform the sergeant-major and instruct the QM to report to me at soonest. Will you look at that sky? It’s going to rain and we shall be marching out in it!”

  Two further messages had come from the Lord Lieutenant’s office at the Castle by the time the officers had assembled.

  “Three separate messages insist that there is a French invasion fleet entering the Solent, gentlemen. It seems a very unlikely thing for them to do, but they are Frogs, after all.”

  One or two laughed but most nodded very seriously and implied that they were not at all surprised.

  “I presume the battery at Hurst Point will have been overwhelme
d at an early stage. The old castle mounts forty-two pounders, I believe, and commands the whole width of the Solent just where it is at its narrowest. There are more guns mounted on the Island, I am told.”

  They nodded earnestly – the French must have come in great force to have silenced those defences so quickly. They were a little surprised; it might not have been impossible to hear the artillery fire even at their distance.

  “Major Carter will lead his companies down the valley of the Itchen to Southampton and then follow the coast along Southampton Water and towards Buckler’s Hard. I shall take the other half of the battalion directly to Lymington, by way of Romsey. If possible I shall overnight at or near Lymington and then press on, sending a company to Beaulieu and another to Hurst Castle itself. I expect to make camp on the coast between Hurst Point and Christchurch.”

  They nodded again – this was much as they had discussed at previous briefings.

  “Ensigns Baker and Austin from Major Carter’s companies and Ensigns Marshall and Pugh of mine will act as liaison between us. On horseback, obviously, gentlemen, your task being to ride from one column to the other informing each where exactly we are to be found at any given hour. Should contact be made with the French then it will be incumbent upon you to pass the information quickly and then be available to take word to Southampton and Winchester. The four of you are chosen for the obvious reason, of course.”

  The four boys showed no evidence at all that they understood what that reason might be, standing blank in the face, their eyes flickering from one to another in search of a clue.

  One aged sixteen years, two of seventeen, the fourth a fully grown man of some nineteen summers; all with more in the way of spots than of brain.

  Septimus had long realised that most of his ensigns had chosen a military existence for lack of the nous to achieve success in one of the professions. He could accept that they might not make the best of lawyers or doctors, but surely they could at least have become curates in the Church of England; anything rather than soldiers!