The Phantom Regiment; or, Stories of "Ours" — John Shaqi
The Phantom Regiment; or, Stories of "Ours"Grant, James
General
The Phantom Regiment; or, Stories of "Ours"
Grant, James
Adventure stories; British -- Foreign countries -- Fiction; Soldiers -- Fiction
command of the battalion, when recommending the blessed saint to
further promotion from the rank of captain which he had held since
the year 1706. (With this long and pompous flourish, the Spaniard
opened his pocket-book, and read a translation from the Portugese,
which ran as follows.)*
* See notes at end
"Don Herculeo Antonio Carlos Luiz, José Maria de Albuquerque e Arajo
de Magalhaens Homem, noble of Her Majesty's household, cavalier of
the sacred order of St. John of Jerusalem, and of the most
illustrious the military order of Christ, lord of the towns and
partidos of Moncarapacho and Terragudo, hereditary alcalde-mayor of
the ancient city of Faro by the sea, and Major of the Regiment of
Infantry of the noble city of Lagos in the kingdom of Algarve, for
her most faithful majesty, Donna Maria, Francesco Isabella the first;
whom God and the Blessed Virgin long preserve, &c., &c., &c.
"I hereby attest and certify to all who shall see these presents,
signed at the bottom with my sign-manual, and the broad seal of my
family arms a little to the left thereof, that the Lord St. Anthony
of Lisbon (commonly and most falsely called of Padua) has been
enlisted, and has borne a place in this regiment since the 24th of
January, ever since the year of our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ 1668.
"I do further certify, upon my word of honour, as a noble, a knight,
and a good Catholic, what hereunder followeth.
"That on the said 24th of January, 1668, by order of His Majesty Don
Pedro II. (whom God hath in glory), then Regent of the valiant
kingdoms of Portugal and Algarve for Don Alphonso VI.,--St. Anthony
was duly enlisted as a private soldier in this Infantry Regiment of
Lagos, when it was first formed by command of the same illustrious
prince; and of that holy enlistment there is a register extant in
vol. i. of the records of the said regiment, page 143, wherein he
gave as security or caution for his good conduct, the queen of
angels, who became answerable to the colonel that he would never
desert his colours, but always behave as became a good Portugese
grenadier. Hence did the saint continue to serve and do duty as a
private until the 12th of March, 1683, on which day the same Prince
Regent became King of Portugal by the death of his brother Don
Alphonso VI., when he was graciously pleased to promote St. Anthony
to the rank of Lieutenant of Grenadiers in the said regiment, for
having, a short time before, valiantly put himself at the head, of a
detachment of the regiment which was marching from Jurumenha to the
garrison of Olivença, both in the province of Alentizo, and beat off
four times their number of Castilians who had been lying in ambush
for them, with the intention of carrying them all prisoners to the
castle of Badajoz, the enemy having obtained information by spies, of
the march of the said detachment, every soldier of which saw our
blessed patron, visibly, and to all appearance in the body, and
attended by his pig.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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