colspan="2">CHAPTER X.

SALAMANCA AND MADRID. Wellington isolates Marmont—Follows him to Salamanca—General Graham gives a ball—Major Rice's horse shot under him and afterwards eaten—Grand manœuvres—Battle of Salamanca—Rout of the French—Advance on Madrid—Triumphal entry into the capital—Capture of the Retiro—The 51st marches with Wellington to Burgos—Abortive assaults—The bridge at Valladolid—French valour at Tordesillas—Retreat from Burgos—Drunkenness of the two armies—Brave regimental women—Affair at San Muños—Numerous stragglers—Major Rice invalided 205 CHAPTER XI. DRIVING THE FRENCH OUT OF SPAIN, 1813. Wellington reorganises his army—The situation discussed—The 51st marches to the Esla river—Passage of the Esla—King Joseph—Battle of Vittoria—Complete victory—Flight of the king and his army—Marauding and drunkenness—Wellington's strictures—Pursuit to Pampeluna—The 51st reaches the Pyrenees—Sharp skirmishes—Siege of San Sebastian—A hard day's fighting—The French 51st Regiment—Regimental numbers—Capture of San Sebastian 227 CHAPTER XII. THE CLOSE OF THE PENINSULAR WAR. Young regimental officers—Their effect upon the campaign—Casualties in the 51st—Wellington plans the invasion of France—Crosses the Bidassoa—Fights his way into the Pyrenees—Major Rice commands the 51st at the battle of the Nivelle—Peninsular medals—Battles before Bayonne—A short winter's rest—Campaign of 1814—Battle of Orthes—With Beresford to Bordeaux—Toulouse—Napoleon abdicates—Peace 247 CHAPTER XIII. THE WATERLOO CAMPAIGN. Napoleon escapes from Elba—Europe decides to crush him—The 51st proceeds to Belgium—Lieut.-Colonel Rice commands the regiment—The situation at the beginning of June 1815—The French invasion—Quatre Bras and Ligny—The battle of Waterloo described—The part played by the 51st—Rout of the French—Flight of Napoleon—Honours and rewards—Colonel Rice's letter about the battle 273 CHAPTER XIV. PARIS—AND PEACE. The advance on Paris—The storming of Cambray—Rapid pursuit by the Prussians—Last shots—Anecdote of a 51st officer—Friendly enemies—Paris occupied—Napoleon's fate—Life in the French capital—Return of the regiment—The beginning of the long peace—Garrison duty—New uniform—Ten years in the Ionian Isles—Colonel Rice concludes his regimental soldiering—His subsequent employment and death 296 Index 313

---

THE
LIFE OF A REGIMENTAL OFFICER
DURING THE GREAT WAR,
1793-1815.

---

CHAPTER I.
STUDYING FOR THE ARMY.

Samuel Rice was born at Chislehurst on the 19th August 1775, and was the son of John Rice, one of an old Welsh family long established at Mydfai (Mythvey).[1] His mother was a daughter of Samuel Plumbe, who had married the sister of Henry Thrale, M.P., the then sole proprietor of what subsequently became Barclay & Perkins' Brewery, and the husband of the lady who has been named by posterity "Dr Johnson's Mrs Thrale."

Being one of a family of thirteen, young Rice was fortunate in having grandparents possessed of the wherewithal to give their grandchildren a start in life, and possessed, moreover, of sufficient intelligence to assure themselves that the money spent on education was well laid out. It is, perhaps, remarkable that, although very ordinary boys at school and not above getting into scrapes, all of John Rice's seven sons entered honourable professions and did well. The eldest took Holy Orders; two were in the Royal Navy; two in the Army; and two were lawyers, one of the latter becoming an Indian judge and receiving the honour of knighthood. John Rice himself, who was an only child, had been at Eton, but his sons were educated at Cheam (Mr Gilpin's), and Samuel, the second son, remained there until 1792, when, as was customary in those days, he was sent abroad to learn French before entering the army.

Those were stirring times. France was in a state of revolution, with her king and queen in prison; a republican Government on the point of being established, and Continental Europe up in arms, with the hope of being able to restore order in the country and prevent the excesses which were likely to result from the indiscipline of a republican army in league with the mob. At first England maintained a strict neutrality, and held aloof from interference with the internal affairs of France; thus, when, in the spring of 1792, Sam Rice took up his residence at St Omer (some twenty miles from Calais), he found the French well-disposed towards his countrymen, though he, the true British boy of the period, was disinclined to regard his new hosts otherwise than as the natural enemies of his country.

In spite of the fact that he was kept hard at work, learning not only French, but also drawing, fencing, and dancing, he appears, from his letters home, to have found leisure for shooting, fishing, and riding, and he thoroughly enjoyed the change of scene as well as the novelty of being at a tutor's instead of at school. On this subject he wrote, soon after his arrival in France, to his elder brother, then at Cambridge—