The Cavaliers of Fortune; Or, British Heroes in Foreign WarsGrant, James
History
The Cavaliers of Fortune; Or, British Heroes in Foreign Wars
Grant, James
British -- Foreign countries; Great Britain -- History, Military
Thirty thousand pounds' worth of plunder, and ten baggage waggons, with
all the plate of the fugitives, were taken, and all their munitions of
war; however, they had buried in the earth a great quantity of arms. In
1850, a labourer, when digging a trench in a field near the outworks of
old Frankfort, came upon a depot of old weapons, decaying, and covered
with rust. Among them were 2000 matchlocks, being part of the munition
concealed by the garrison of Count Schomberg. As soon as his wounds
permitted him to travel, Walter Butler left Frankfort, for Gustavus
was too generous to detain as a prisoner one whose gallant spirit was
writhing under unmerited reproaches. He travelled towards Silesia, and
sought out a Colonel Behem, who had commanded a regiment of German
infantry at the defence of Frankfort, and to whom he was fortunate
enough in tracing the first of the slanderous reports, and challenged
him to single combat on horse or foot, with sword and pistol; but, awed
by the justice of Butler's cause, his known skill and courage, and
by the formidable testimonial of Gustavus Adolphus, he signed a full
retractation and apology.
Butler then went into Poland, and at his own expense raised a fine
regiment of cavalry, all clad in buff coats, with back and breast
pieces, and triple-barred helmets. While recruiting there he daily ran
the risk of being murdered by the Polish peasantry, who were averse
to the Imperial service; but he marched as soon as his new levy was
completed, and on his return to the Emperor's army took possession
of Prague, the capital of Bohemia. This made him more than ever a
favourite of the great Wallenstein.
Soon after this exploit he married the Countess of Fondowna.
He was at Prague when the ambitious Wallenstein became false to the
interests of the Empire, and fell into the deadly snare prepared for
him at Egra by Colonel James Butler and others, on whose unscrupulous
fidelity the Imperial court could rely. Had Walter not been a rigidly
honourable man, he might have realized a large fortune by the death of
his leader, who, being always fond of foreign troops, wished him to
return to Ireland for the purpose of raising a body of infantry to cope
with the Scottish brigades of Gustavus. For this purpose he offered
him money to the amount of 32,000_l._ sterling by bills of exchange
at Hamburg, and ready cash, which was lying useless at his palace of
Sagan, on the bank of the Bober, in Prussian Silesia. But he declined
the service with these remarkable words--"Poor old Ireland has been
drained too much of her men already." This anecdote, says Walter Harte
in his history, I learned at Vienna.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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