Opening the text

A British army, as it was,--is,--and ought to be : $b illustrated by examples during the Peninsular War; with observations upon India; the United States of America; Canada; the boundary line; the navy; steam warfare, &c.Campbell, James

History

A British army, as it was,--is,--and ought to be : $b illustrated by examples during the Peninsular War; with observations upon India; the United States of America; Canada; the boundary line; the navy; steam warfare, &c.

Name: A British army, as it was,--is,--and ought to be : $b illustrated by examples during the Peninsular War; with observations upon India; the United States of America; Canada; the boundary line; the navy; steam warfare, &c.
Author: Campbell, James

Campbell, James

Great Britain. Army

As soon as he disappeared, and that it was conjectured he had gone
over to the enemy, as captain of his company, I was called upon to
report upon the circumstances which could have led to so extraordinary
an event; and I was at the same time given to understand, that Lord
Wellington was uneasy lest he might have conveyed to the French some
useful intelligence; but I conclude that an explanatory letter which I
addressed to the officers commanding the regiment, set his Lordship's
mind at ease; for I unhesitatingly declared him to be totally unfit
to make any observations of consequence, as to the positions or state
of the army, or upon the country in rear of the lines; and in this
opinion, as we were afterwards able to ascertain, I proved to be quite
correct, for Marshal Massena finding him useless, he was altogether
neglected, and having been left by the French, in their retreat, asleep
in a hut, he fell into the hands of some of our light troops. It was
intended that he was to have been tried for deserting to the enemy, and
I was in consequence ordered to appear as the principal witness against
him; but upon his being brought before the General Court-Martial by
the Provost Marshal, it was at once ascertained, that he had become
deranged during his confinement. Upon this circumstance being made
known to Lord Wellington, he, I understood, ordered him to be sent
home, and I heard some time afterwards, that the unfortunate man died
in a lunatic asylum in Ireland. This was a melancholy instance of the
consequences of improper recommendations of persons for commissions in
the army, which I regret to say, was but too common in those days; and
my chief object in giving the story at all, is, that it may cause some
gentlemen in future, to consider what they are about, before they take
upon themselves the responsibility of introducing such men as Mr. B.
into her Majesty's army.

In the French armies, according to the system they pursue, an officer
possessing in many respects power not inferior to what I am so desirous
that our officers of military police should be intrusted, takes up
his station generally with or near the head-quarters of the army, or
close to what is to be the line of march of the following day, and, if
possible, within a reasonable distance of where he intends the markets
to be held, should the army be stationary even for a few days only, and
this enables him either personally to superintend what is going on,
or else to send his subordinates to do so. He or some of his people
patrole the neighbourhood of the camps, in order to protect all who
are coming to the markets with supplies, and, on the spot, he punishes
any one guilty of infringing the orders of the army.--Upon the line
of march he distributes his police in such a manner as to insure good
order amongst the soldiers, bat-men, carters, those attached to the
commissariat, sutlers, and even amongst the people bringing supplies to
the markets.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

History

A British army, as it was,--is,--and ought to be : $b illustrated by examples during the Peninsular War; with observations upon India; the United States of America; Canada; the boundary line; the navy; steam warfare, &c.

Campbell, James

Great Britain. Army

As soon as he disappeared, and that it was conjectured he had gone
over to the enemy, as captain of his company, I was called upon to
report upon the circumstances which could have led to so extraordinary
an event; and I was at the same time given to understand, that Lord
Wellington was uneasy lest he might have conveyed to the French some
useful intelligence; but I conclude that an explanatory letter which I
addressed to the officers commanding the regiment, set his Lordship's
mind at ease; for I unhesitatingly declared him to be totally unfit
to make any observations of consequence, as to the positions or state
of the army, or upon the country in rear of the lines; and in this
opinion, as we were afterwards able to ascertain, I proved to be quite
correct, for Marshal Massena finding him useless, he was altogether
neglected, and having been left by the French, in their retreat, asleep
in a hut, he fell into the hands of some of our light troops. It was
intended that he was to have been tried for deserting to the enemy, and
I was in consequence ordered to appear as the principal witness against
him; but upon his being brought before the General Court-Martial by
the Provost Marshal, it was at once ascertained, that he had become
deranged during his confinement. Upon this circumstance being made
known to Lord Wellington, he, I understood, ordered him to be sent
home, and I heard some time afterwards, that the unfortunate man died
in a lunatic asylum in Ireland. This was a melancholy instance of the
consequences of improper recommendations of persons for commissions in
the army, which I regret to say, was but too common in those days; and
my chief object in giving the story at all, is, that it may cause some
gentlemen in future, to consider what they are about, before they take
upon themselves the responsibility of introducing such men as Mr. B.
into her Majesty's army.

In the French armies, according to the system they pursue, an officer
possessing in many respects power not inferior to what I am so desirous
that our officers of military police should be intrusted, takes up
his station generally with or near the head-quarters of the army, or
close to what is to be the line of march of the following day, and, if
possible, within a reasonable distance of where he intends the markets
to be held, should the army be stationary even for a few days only, and
this enables him either personally to superintend what is going on,
or else to send his subordinates to do so. He or some of his people
patrole the neighbourhood of the camps, in order to protect all who
are coming to the markets with supplies, and, on the spot, he punishes
any one guilty of infringing the orders of the army.--Upon the line
of march he distributes his police in such a manner as to insure good
order amongst the soldiers, bat-men, carters, those attached to the
commissariat, sutlers, and even amongst the people bringing supplies to
the markets.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

A British army, as it was,--is,--and ought to be : $b illustrated by examples during the Peninsular War; with observations upon India; the United States of America; Canada; the boundary line; the navy; steam warfare, &c.

A British army, as it was,--is,--and ought to be : $b illustrated by examples during the Peninsular War; with observations upon India; the United States of America; Canada; the boundary line; the navy; steam warfare, &c.

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