Reminiscences of Captain Gronow

by

Captain Rees Howell Gronow

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE

The spelling in this book is rather creative (including the occasional spelling of "ankle" as "ancle"), and the punctuation is remarkably varied. I have tried to preserve both, except that the spaces between a word and the following colon or semicolon have been removed. There are also many French words and phrases, whose meaning will usually be obvious as soon as you realise they are French. Of course I apologize for any genuine errors in spelling and punctuation that have crept into this file.

Captain Gronow is an entertaining raconteur who brings his own experiences in the Regency period and the wars with France delightfully to life. Gronow published several sets of memoirs. This file covers the first half of what he published. Search the web for "Captain Gronow" to learn more about this interesting gentleman.

The text is arranged as a series of topics, each with a title in capital letters. Sometimes there is continuity in this arrangement, sometimes there is not. There is no other structure to the text.

I have used the character for "pounds" (money) in this text: '£'. If the character in single quotes does not look like a pound sign to you, well, at least you know what is intended. The book text uses a lower case 'l' for this purpose, but in computer fonts the 'l', looking just like a '1' when following a string of digits, is confusing.

Many thanks to Pam Wisniewski for proofreading this text.

—Tobias D. Robison, September, 2001 [email protected]

Reminiscences of Captain Gronow

Formerly of the Grenadier Guards, and M.P. for Stafford:
being
Anecdotes of the camp, the court, and the clubs,
at the close of the last war with France.
Related by himself.

"O friends regretted, scenes for ever dear!
Remembrance hails you with her warmest tear!
Drooping she bends o'er pensive fancy's urn,
To trace the hours which never can return."

London:
Smith, Elder and Co., 65, Cornhill.
M.DCCC.LXII.

CONTENTS

A FEW WORDS TO THE READER
MY ENTRANCE INTO THE ARMY
DEPARTURE FOR AND ARRIVAL IN SPAIN
THE UNIFORM AND BEARING OF THE FRENCH SOLDIER
MAJOR-GENERAL STEWART AND LORD WELLINGTON
ST. JEAN DE LUZ
FOOLHARDINESS
DISCIPLINE
SIR JOHN WATERS
THE BATTLE OF THE NIVELLE
THE PASSAGE OF THE ADOUR
ARRIVAL OF THE GUARDS AT BORDEAUX
MRS. MARY ANNE CLARKE
MRS. MARY ANNE CLARKE AND COL. WARDLE
SOCIETY IN LONDON IN 1814
THE ITALIAN OPERA.—CATALANI
DINING AND COOKERY IN ENGLAND FIFTY YEARS AGO
THE PRINCE REGENT
PRINCESS CHARLOTTE OF WALES AT A FETE IN THE YEAR 1813, AT CARLTON HOUSE
BEAU BRUMMELL
ROMEO COATES
HYDE PARK AFTER THE PENINSULAR WAR
LONDON HOTELS IN 1814
THE CLUBS OF LONDON IN 1814
REMARKABLE CHARACTERS OF LONDON ABOUT THE YEARS 1814, 1815, 1816
THE GUARDS MARCHING FROM ENGHIEN ON THE 15TH OF JUNE
QUATRE BRAS
GENERAL APPEARANCE OF THE FIELD OF WATERLOO
THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON IN OUR SQUARE
THE FRENCH CAVALRY CHARGING THE BRUNSWICKERS