Here the hospitals were soon crammed with sick; but the most cruel part of this was, a man was no sooner conveyed to hospital, than the chief part of his clothing was taken from him, and given to men able to perform their duty; so that, if he happened to recover, he rejoined his regiment almost naked. From this cause he generally got a relapse, returned to hospital, and nothing more was heard of him. To give the reader some slight idea of the number of men who died through want and negligence, I will subjoin the names of Sergeants alone belonging to my own company (observing that I had the charge of what is termed the staff company). They are as follows: Sergeant-Major Powley, Colour-Sergeant Smith, Pay-Sergeant Madicott, Sergeants Bushel, Watson, and Hornsby, and Armoury-Sergeant Bleakey. I remember one day, while sitting smoking a cigar at my quarters at Vittoria, the Colonel’s wife rushed into the room, and throwing her arms around my neck in tears and in the most heart-rending tone, cried, “Mon Dieu! mon Dieu!” and almost fainted. At this moment her husband, the old Colonel, entered, with looks and attitude baffling all description; he approached near me, while his wife still hung on my neck. He stood silent and motionless; at one moment despair depicted in his face, the next his eyes glistened with apparent transports of joy, although the tears rolled rapidly down his cheeks. I was transfixed to my chair (while the old lady still remained crying on my shoulder), wondering what could be the cause of this strange visit. But, with the reader’s permission, I will unravel the mystery. Some time previously, the Chapelgorris—in which regiment the Colonel’s two sons had volunteered—had taken a Carlist village, named La Bastide, and in driving the enemy out, a priest, who was flying with the Carlists, was shot. On the Chapelgorris returning to the village, they plundered the church, and drank wine out of the chalice. This was made known to the government of Madrid; and it was falsely added, that the priest had been murdered in the church, with a view to spoliation. Espartero, the commander of this division, was accordingly written to, and censured for having suffered such an outrage.