preparations to receive him, he sent a flag of truce to demand a cessation
of hostilities, saying that he wanted to shoot an officer and several
men for acts of robbery committed by them, with every sort of atrocity,
on the farmers and peasantry of the country. The execution took place
in view of both armies, and a terrible lesson it was. I cannot specify
the date of this event, but think it must have been the latter end of
November, 1813. About the same time General Harispe, who commanded a
corps of Basques, issued a proclamation forbidding the peasantry to
supply the English with provisions or forage, on pain of death; it stated
that we were savages, and, as a proof of this, our horses were born
with short tails. I saw this absurd proclamation, which was published
in French and in the Basque languages, and distributed all over the
country. Before we left the neighbourhood of Bayonne for Bordeaux, a
soldier was hanged for robbery, on the sands of the Adour. This sort
of punishment astonished the French almost as much as it did the soldier.
On a march we were very severe, and if any of our men were caught committing
an act of violence or brigandage, the offender was tried by a drum-head
court-martial, and hanged in a very short time.

I knew an officer of the 18th Hussars, W. R., young, rich, and a fine-looking
fellow, who joined the army not far from St Sebastian. His stud of
horses was remarkable for their blood, his grooms were English, and
three in number. He brought with him a light cart to carry forage,
and a fourgon for his own baggage. All went on well, till he came to
go on outpost duty; but not finding there any of the comforts to which
he had been accustomed, he quietly mounted his charger, told his astonished
sergeant that campaigning was not intended for a gentleman, and instantly
galloped off to his quarters, ordering his servants to pack up everything
immediately, as he had hired a transport to take him off to England.
He left us before any one had time to stop him; and though despatches