by Anonymous
Produced by Larry B. Harrison, and the Archives and SpecialCollections, University Libraries, Ball State Universityand the Online Distributed Proofreading Team athttps://www.pgdp.net
Book Cover]
CHILD OF THE REGIMENT.
NEW YORK: P. J. COZANS, PUBLISHER, 107 NASSAU STREET, CORNER OF ANN.
LITTLE MARY.
Not many years ago a terrible battle was fought between the soldiers ofNapoleon Bonaparte and the Austrians, at a small village in Italy. TheAustrians were severely beaten, and the houses of the village were seton fire by the cannon, and all burned or torn down; the poor villagerswere driven from their homes, and thousands of soldiers were killed orwounded, and left to die on the ground; the Austrians tried to get awayfrom the French, but the furious soldiers of Napoleon pursued them withtheir bayonets, or trampled them to death with their horses.
In the French army was a regiment of soldiers who were called_guards_; they were all dressed alike, in blue coats and whitepantaloons, trimmed with crimson and gold: they were terrible fellowsto fight, and their enemies were very much afraid of them, or theywere always in the thickest of the battle, clearing their way with thepoints of their bayonets. While this regiment was pursuing theAustrians, near the burning village, one of the Guards, an old man,saw a sweet little girl who could scarcely walk; her papa and mama hadbeen driven from their homes, and her papa, who carried her in hisarms, was killed by the soldiers. Mary, for that was her name, held upher little hands crying bitterly, as she lay among the killed andwounded; and the Old Guard, who was a brave but kind soldier, pitiedher, and took her in his arms, and when the battle was ended, carriedher to his tent, and calling his comrades together, told them of thelittle girl he had found; and no one knowing who she was, or who herparents were, they called her Mary, the Child of the Regiment, andagreed to take care of her as well as they could. Poor little Mary,she had no mama to undress her at night, and make her a little bed,but the good old Guard, gave her some of his supper and laid her downon some straw, for the soldiers have no other beds in their tents; andafter laying his coat over her to keep her warm, and his haversackunder her head, she sobbed awhile, and fell asleep to forget thescenes of that dreadful day. The next morning the old Guard awokelittle Mary, and washed her face, and combed her hair as well as hecould, for he had never taken care of a child in his life, and wasalmost afraid to touch her with his hard and rough hands, which hethought only fit to shoulder arms or charge bayonet with; and aftertaking some dried meat and hard bread for breakfast, he took her outto let her see the soldiers: they were delighted with Mary, and manyof them ran to take her up in their arms, but she liked the Old Guardbest, and wanted to be with him, for she was afraid of theirglittering muskets, as she remembered how terrible they looked onlythe day before, when the noise of their guns, and deafening hurrahshad almost frightened her to death; but they were kind to her, and sheafterwards loved them very much, for she said the whole of thetwenty-first regiment was her father, as they called her their child,and took care of her.
The old Guard then took little Mary to live with him, and she learnedto sew and play with her doll, which he had bought for her; anddelighted in filling his canteen with water, and polishing hisepaulettes; she would also sing and dance with him; which pleased himvery much, for he loved no body but her; as he was a great many milesfrom his home, and had marched all the way with the army.
At other times, when the old Guard was not with her, she amusedherself by rambling through the fields gathering wild flowers, orclimbing the mountains to see the army in the valley below.
At length the regiment was ordered home, and took little Mary with them.She suffered many hardships in travelling so great a journey, forsometimes she had to walk a long way, or ride on a baggage waggon, whichwas no better than a cart; and in crossing the Alps, they frequentlyslept on the cold ground, without any fire or even their suppers; and asthe mountains were covered with snow and ice, poor little Mary passedmany bitter nights and tedious days; and often thought of the peacefuland happy home she had lost for ever; but the old Guard was kind to her,and often carried her on his back or in his arms a great way: and aftermany lone weeks, during which time a great number of the poor soldiersdied from suffering and toil, they arrived in France.
By this time she had grown up to be a fine girl; she always lived withthe regiment, and had almost forgotten her papa and mama, and thebattle. The old Guard had never tried to find any of her friends, forhe thought they were all killed when the village was destroyed; at anyrate nobody had ever enquired for her; and they had no hopes offinding out who she was or who her parents were. While the regimentstayed in France they were quartered near a large city, where Maryused to buy fruit and flowers for herself, and many things to pleasethe Old Guard. She was delighted with the town, and wished to livethere very much; upon which the regiment agreed to send her to aboarding school, where she soon became acquainted with many littlegirls who were amiable and kind, and much amused with her storiesabout the army, particularly the battle and her journey across the Alps.
During Mary's stay in the town she became acquainted with a school-boynamed Rodolph, who was in the same class with her. He was a sprightly,daring little fellow, and on one occasion threw himself between Maryand a mad ox that was rushing furiously along the street, and wouldprobably have gored her to death but for the courage of Rodolph, whosucceeded in rescuing her. From this time Mary became much attached tohim, and they frequently took many pleasant rambles together, and theOld Guard called him a little corporal, and said he might one day bean officer.
Rodolph was the son of a poor widow, who had lost her husband inbattle, and was in consequence reduced in circumstances, and scarcelyable to support herself and send him to school; but more misfortunescame upon them, and they were at a loss what to do to save themselvesfrom the poor-house. Rodolph was proud, and could not bear the thoughtof poverty and want, and was determined to do something to relieve thedistress of his mother.
One day, while occupied with these thoughts, the fife and drum of arecruiting party met his ears, and as a large sum of money was offeredto those who would join the army, and a military life (as related bylittle Mary) he thought would be the most likely to suit him, hestepped forward to the ranks, took his gun, held up his head, andbecame a soldier in a minute.
Rodolph rushed home to present the money to his mother, who was almostdistracted when she heard what he had done; as the regiment he hadjoined was ordered into immediate service, and he would soon be in allthe hardships and horrors of war, from which she never expected hewould return.
War is a horrible thing, and Rodolph before long was seen upon the fieldof victory; here he behaved so bravely that he was made a corporal, andafterwards a sergeant; and at another hard fought battle attracted thenotice of his officer, and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.
But good fortune was in store for the young soldier, in a way that hewould never have thought of; it happened that the wife of the colonel ofthe regiment to which Rodolph belonged, who had followed her husband tothe field of battle, was surprised one day while alone, by twostragglers from the enemy who were proceeding to rob and perhaps murderher; when very fortunately Rodolph and another soldier who happened nearthe spot, and drawing their swords, attacked the robbers boldly;Rodolph's comrade however received a severe wound, and he was thereforeleft alone to defend himself and the lady against the ruffians; butRodolph was fearless and fought desperately; he wounded the twovillains, and conveyed the lady in safety to the tent of the officer.
The colonel scarcely knew how to show his gratitude; he gave Rodolph alarge sum of money which he immediately sent home to his mother, andgave him also the command of a company of soldiers, after raising
himto the rank of captain.
How happy was Rodolph when he was thus raised from a common soldierand many hardships, to independence and honour, notwithstanding allthe dangers and sufferings he had encountered. Another officer was,however, very much displeased with the good fortune which had attendedone whom he considered to be so much below him, and took everyopportunity to insult and injure him. Rodolph bore this for some timewith great patience, but at last the gentleman became so ugly andtroubled him so much, that he could not bear it any longer; and theconsequence was, though he knew it was very wrong, that he was forcedto fight a duel, or else be looked upon as a coward by the rest of hiscompanions in arms.
They at length met to fight, and Rodolph not wishing to harm his enemy,fired his pistol in the air, but the other taking advantage of Rodolph,severely wounded him. It was sometime before Rodolph recovered, but hedid at last, and by earnestly entreating the