Military

"It was the last of the regiment's stay in Meryton, and all the young ladies in the neighbourhood were drooping apace."

NAPOLEON’S CARRIAGE Taken at Waterloo.
(from the Lady’s Magazine...January, 1816)

THE carriage of Bonaparte is, in many respects, very like the modern English carriages. Its colour is a dark blue, with a light ornament in gold, the imperial arms painted on the doors. The springs, the pole, the wheels, &c. are uncommonly strong, and the whole of very excellent workmanship. But, with all that, the carriage is of an awkward appearance, because there is a great prominence in the front, which contains the room for bed, the necessaire, &c. The interior of the carriage proves, that Bonaparte valued convenience and security. The blinds behind the windows shut and open by means of a spring, and may be closed so as to form an impenetrable barrier. They may, besides, be secured by a bold on each side. On the ceiling of the carriage there is a net work to put small travelling requisites into. In the front there are many small compartments, partly, as it seems, for maps, partly for telescopes, &c. By the side of these small compartments there is a writing desk, which may be drawn out so as to write on it whilst riding: an ink-stand, some pens, sealing wax, &c. were found in it. Beneath the writing desk there is a hole for the end of the patent iron bed, which was found in the carriage, and which may immediately be made up in the carriage. Two Merino mattrasses seem to belong to the bed. Beneath the compartments for the maps is the room for the necessaire, which shall be described afterwards; and, under the seat, the room for the liquor case. On one of the doors of the carriage, two pistol holsters were discovered, in which two rifle pistols, of the manufactory of Versailles, were found; and, in a holster close to the seat, a double barrelled pistol was fount too. These pistols were loaded.

The seat is divided by a separation, so that the aid-du camp, sitting in the carriage with the Ex-Emperor, was never to touch the person of his haughty master. In the back of the coach there is a lanthorn with a reverbere, and a pipe with a spring before it, to put wax tapers into, of which the victors found a great many in the coach.

There are four lamps on the corners of the carriage. The four horses are of a brown colour, pretty stout Normans. The harness is very little worthy an imperial equippage, and is but to be recognised as belonging to it by the bees, which are to be seen in several places.

The two articles which were found in the carriage most worthy of a more accurate description, are the necessaire, and the liquor case of the Ex-Emperor. The former is an elegant mahogany box like the English writing desks, and has the imperial arms most beautifully engraved on the cover; the whole contains a multitude of articles both of necessity and luxury, all made of silver and strongly gilt; an elegant tooth brush, razors of mother-of-pearl, an elegant shaving box, a tea pot, with the sugar box in it, two elegant candlesticks, some small plates for breakfast, and even articles rarely to be met with in a necessaire; as, for instance, a gimblet, is to be met with here. That the Ex-Emperor did not forget to make his toilette comme il faut is to be proved by several bottles with eau de Cologne, eau de Lavende, salt spirit, &c. and, though he endeavoured to exclude all the products of the English manufactories from France and the Continent, he allowed himself some Windsor soap. All these several articles are arranged in so very compact a manner, and in the limits of a box hardly 1-1/4 feet by 8 inches, that it will excite the admiration of every observer.

The liquor case, made of mahogany, like the necessaire, contained two bottles, one of them filled with rum, the other with a sweet wine, now quite evaporated. There are besides to be found in it, a pepper and salt box, with the contents; a mustard box, and an oblong case for sandwiches, all of gilt silver: some silver knives, and forks, and spoons, and some silver breakfast plates. In a small compartment of the case there was found a musket ball reduced to the form of a thin lead medal; perhaps a ball by which one of his favorites was killed, or which had missed himself and had been found in his clothes.

Besides these two curiosities, the contents of the carriage consisted of a pair of red morocco slippers, a green velvet cap, probably to be worn in the carriage, several useful silver articles, and his bedstead made of iron and folded together, so as to form a machine about 2-1/2 feet long, and a large silver watch and a silver chain to it, to hand it up in the carriage: it has an alarum, and on the whole, looks like a silver pocket watch, of uncommon size. A saddle cloth of Jerome Napoleon, of crimson velvet, with his initials, the eagle, and the bees, embroidered in gold, complete the whole.

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July 26, 1809, Stockholm

To Helvig's at 8, where sat an hour tête-à-tête in his library. Amused by his military science, and interested by his warmth and frankness. He is a German by birth. Gave me samples of powder which, he says, has more than double the usual force, i.e., that a pistol of fifteen-inch barrel will do effect at 100 yards, and a musket at 600! samples of florite, a composition. Showed me a sort of paper maché for cannon cartridges, much cheaper and better than linen or cloth. A telescope for measuring distance. The distance required is found by mere inspection of a graduated scale attached to the telescope. An instrument for measuring distances by time, in form of a watch; gives with perfect accuracy the sixtieth part of a second. Every artillery officer is obliged to have one. The cost, $15. Moulds, by which every part of a musket or pistol must be made, so that every part may fit every piece.

The following parallel of rank or precedence between the Army, Navy,
and Governors of Great Britain was established by the King in 1760.

FLYING ARTILLERY: A modern invention, of the utmost value in the operation of war. A small cannon, as a six pounder, is slung between two horses; and these tractable animals are accustomed by practice to stand while the piece is discharged between their heads. Beside the originality of the thought, the merit of this contrivance consists in the disposition of the leathern gear, by which the horses are saved from the shock attendant upon the recoil of the cannon. The great utility of this invention is obvious. The heavy artillery has always been an extreme incumbrance upon the march of an army; to bring it to the place of an action, is work of time, as well as labour; and in case of precipitate retreat, it can seldom be carried away: the flying artillery keeps pace with the most rapid march of the troops; can be galloped from one part of the field to another and, being harnessed during the whole action, retires as swiftly as the cavalry itself. It is said to have been an invention of a professor in the University of Edinburgh.

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LONDON, June 1.

This morning some experiments were tried at Woolwich before Lord Viscount Townshend, Lord Amherst, Generals Hervey and Desaguliers, and a number of other officers, with a rifle gun, upon a new construction by Capt. Ferguson, of the 70th regiment; when that gentleman, under the disadvantages of a heavy rain and a high wind, performed the four following things, none of which had ever before been accomplished with any other small arm:--1st. He fired during four or five minutes at a target, at 200 yards distance at the rate of four shots each minute. 2dly. He fired six shots in one minute. 3rdly. He fired four times per minute, advancing at the same time at the rate of four miles in the hour. 4thly. He poured a bottle of water into the pan and barrel of the piece when loaded, so as to wet every grain of the powder, and in less than half a minute it fired as well as ever without extracting the ball. He also hit the Bull's Eye at 100 yards, lying with his back on the ground; and notwithstanding the unequalness of the wind and wetness of the weather, he only missed the target three times during the whole course of the experiment.

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[January] 28

In all the Towns I have been in there is Recruiting for Soldiers, and many means are us'd to obtain them. Some Advertisements or Bills stuck up at the Corner of the Streets mention 50 & 100 Guineas & Raffled for by a certain number of men that will enlist others 15, 18 & 20 Guineas for each man. At Manchester every night the Recruiting Sergeants went about the Streets with Torches lighted, Drums, etc. One of them always had a kind of Procession in the following order

Two lighted Torches
the Sergeant with a drawn Sword
a Band of Music
four paper Lanterns on high Poles with the Bounty,
God Save the King etc. written on them in large letters
Ten Drums etc. and Fifes
Sergeants, Corporals, Recruits, etc.

This means of a large Mob & the Great Shew induced persons to enlist, but in all the Regiments newly rais'd I saw most of them were Boys & many as young as 13 & 14 years old, and many old Men.