Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 57, No. 355, May 1845Various
Philosophy
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 57, No. 355, May 1845
Various
England -- Periodicals; Scotland -- Periodicals
A horrible account, but doubtless a correct one. Our author seems to have
been in the south of Spain at the time of the Matanzas insurrection, and
consequently in the right place to get at the true particulars of the
affair.
In the chapters on the Spanish Army, &c., although amusing enough, we do
not consider the English resident to have been so successful as in most
other parts of his work. We would caution him against believing, or at any
rate expecting others to believe, the marvels recorded by Spanish gazettes
of Spanish armies and generals--marvels which usually get repeated and
magnified to most preposterous dimensions by the _embustero_ retailers of
such intelligence. We would also warn him against indulging in such
enthusiasm as he displays in speaking of General Leon--a very fine fellow
undoubtedly, a good soldier and dashing officer, but yet a little
overrated in these lines. "In his unexaggerated feats of war, he eclipsed
the Homeric heroes, and rivalled the incredible exploits of Charlemagne
and his peers. His tremendous lance spread terror and dismay among the
enemies of his queen and country, and the glorious inequalities of Crecy
and Azincour were revived in the deeds of Leon, witnessed by living men."
Revived and considerably eclipsed, we should say, judging from the list of
exploits that follows. If our friend the English resident be in any degree
acquainted with military matters, he must be aware that the dispersal of
an army of eleven thousand infantry, and one thousand horse, by a hundred
and fifty hussars, a feat which he attributes to Leon, is an absurdity;
and that if such a thing, or any thing like it, did occur, it must have
been when the hundred and fifty dragoons were closely backed by some much
more numerous force.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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