The occupation of Bucharest by the Austrians was followed by many ungracious acts which it was never anticipated a chivalric nation would impose on a defenceless people. These were chiefly felt in the forcible possession of the houses of the citizens without the courtesy of seeing whether they could be accommodated. No excuse could be offered for such ungallant proceedings, as the police had provided the Austrian troops with suitable billets. The same inconsiderate demeanour was paraded before the few British sappers quartered in the capital, who, to prevent the possibility of a pretext for collision, were all pent up with their Captain-Bent-in one domicile.[155] In their activity to find comfortable stabling, some Austrians, commanded by a sergeant, ordered the horses belonging to Captain Bent to be taken out to make room for three lively steeds which the pirating party had brought with them. It was not to be borne that they should attempt to encroach upon premises already too limited for the reasonable wants of the Captain and his sappers; and private Andrew Anderson, who happened to be on the spot at the time, met their demands with courageous sternness. This unexpected resistance caused the sergeant valorously to motion with his sabre, and to threaten, among other desperate penalties, to hang the Englishman; but Anderson, indisposed to yield his trust—though the odds were against him—made so imposing a demonstration of physical determination, that the dragoons, taken somewhat aback at his boldness, quickly decamped, and abandoned the intention of quartering themselves or their horses in the British billets. The fourth company from Malta, under Captain Craigie, reinforced the corps at Varna on the 14th August, and a detachment of the third company at Corfu was also sent thither, arriving at the head-quarters on the 25th August. They were ordered from their respective stations to the seat of war by Lord Raglan.[156] ----- Footnote 135: Promoted to be sergeant. Was the principal non-commissioned officer in charge of the huts sent from this country to the Crimea; and was wounded severely in the assault on the Redan on the 8th September, 1855. Footnote 136: A man of unsteady propensities from a long residence at the Cape of Good Hope, where liquor is cheap. He is, however, a first-rate soldier and sapper, and his intrepid bearing in the trenches before Sebastopol, gained him a special medal “for distinguished service in the field,” and a gratuity of five pounds. Such notice accorded to him as one of sixteen out of a fighting force of about 900 men, may well excite his pride; and if there be a tide in the affairs of men, surely this proud incident will cause that turn, and so fashion his future career that it will be as remarkable in peace for temperance and good behaviour, as in battle for heroism. Footnote 137: Died in camp before Sebastopol, in January, 1855. Footnote 138: