by Griff Hosker
“But mine is the fastest horse in the land.”
“But has he had guns fired at him? Has he had to ride all day and all night across rough ground? This horse is not afraid of guns and he can carry your tiny weight to the ends of the earth and back. I will be happier if you are riding him. One of your ladies can ride your horse. Mount… please.”
I saw the shock on Sergeant Marciano’s face while my men barely hid their grins. They did not know the words but they could tell what I was saying. She nodded and mounted. I was pleased that she wore breeches as did her women. In fact the one who looked most ill at ease was Alberto.
I said quietly to Sergeant Marciano, “Detail a man to watch Alberto. I fear he will fall off.”
Suddenly there was the crack of muskets. “Benito, lead them away. My men and I will buy us time.”
As the Neapolitans galloped towards the Sorrento gate I whipped Badger around and headed for the north gate. We reached the gate, which was still locked and saw no sign of the French but I knew they were coming. The sound of the muskets had told me that. We dismounted and hid behind the wall. We each had a carbine and two loaded pistols. There was a flurry of shots and I saw some Neapolitan soldiers running towards us. They were pursued by French Chasseurs. As I had expected the French cavalry had deigned to use firearms and were sabring the fleeing troops. It meant that they were focussed on the ground close to them.
“Wait for it lads. At fifty yards let them have it. Carbine first and then the pistols.” I was counting on the shock factor. These cavalry were not with the main column. They were the scouts. They had overextended themselves.
“Fire!”
As soon as the carbines fired we were blind and so we emptied our pistols into the grey murk of the smoke. “Let’s get out of here.” As we mounted and were above the smoke I saw that we had emptied eight saddles and the others had retreated. They would approach warily and that had bought us valuable time.
We wasted no time in heading for the Sorrento gate. The road we were taking led us away from the narrow coastal path and it tracked through the hills which ran inland from the sea. To my horror I saw them walking their horses as though out on an afternoon ride.
Sergeant Marciano knew that he had let me down from my murderous expression but the Queen just smiled. “Your Majesty, until we are at least twenty miles from here I want us to canter or even gallop. If your ladies cannot manage it then we will leave them.”
I am not sure she had been spoken to like that before but she shrugged and said, “Very well.”
She was a good rider and I was impressed by her seat. “Joe, take Trooper Cartwright and lead the way. I’ll bring up the rear with the other two lads. Keep up a good pace until we reach Sorrento. Hopefully there will be a boat there.”
I kept glancing over my shoulder to see if we were being pursued but I could see no sign of the green uniforms. There was just a prickle at the back of my neck which told me there were horsemen following us. I had been to Sorrento once before but I had sailed to Naples and I did not know the road well. I kept hoping that I would see the port around the next bend in the road but I was disappointed each time. Finally, the road suddenly swung around a headland and I caught a glimpse of Sorrento in the distance. I had not looked at a map before but now I saw that it was virtually a dead end. The cliffs rose high on the southern side of the bay. We could be trapped there.
“Trooper Rae, you and the boys stay at the back I need one of the Neapolitans to do a little job for us.”
“Sir.”
I kicked Badger on and we overtook the riders at the rear. I rode next to Sergeant Marciano. “Benito, send one of your boys down to the port. If there are no boats we will head for Salerno.”
“Yes, Captain,” he smiled, “sensible.”
I reined Badger in and allowed the others to overtake me. “Anything?”
“No sir.” Trooper Rae pointed ahead, “We’ll have to rest soon sir. Our horses can run all day but these Neapolitan horses, well sir, they are like a bunch of nags.” He pointed at the Queen’s white one which was sweating profusely. ”Even the Queen’s!”
“You are right but we need to put as much distance as we cane between us and the French.”
“Will they follow sir?”
“I have no doubt that they will question those at the palace and find out that the Queen has fled. They will want her. Yes, Trooper Rae, they will come.”
He was right of course and, just two miles up the road we were forced to stop when one of the Queen’s ladies slipped from her mount. She was not hurt but she cried a lot and the others joined in. I made the best of it, “Give the horses some grain and drink a little of the water. Sergeant, any sign of your man?”
“No Captain Matthews, but he will be back soon.”
As we waited I looked at the road. It twisted and turned and was treacherous in places. We would have to travel a little slower for a while.
“How are you, your majesty?”
She grimaced, “It is some years since I rode so hard and I am no longer a young woman but,” she smiled, “I am Queen Carolina and I will bear it.”
“Good. With luck there will be a boat in Sorrento and your ordeal will soon be over.”
Even as the words came out of my mouth our hopes were dashed. The trooper sent to investigate Sorrento galloped up shaking his head. “The harbour is empty. Nothing bigger than a fishing boat, Captain.”
That decided me. “Sergeant Marciano, you and your men lead. We will head to Salerno. How long will it take us do you think?”
He looked downcast, “We will be lucky to get there by night.”
“Then we had better be lucky for that is where we will be staying tonight. If you hear firing then it means the French have caught us. Keep the rest going. Do not stop for us. Understand?”
“Yes sir.”
The Queen had heard all. “Do not take risks my Scottish friend. If I am caught then we will negotiate something.”
I shook my head, “You do not know the French. Your capture would take the heart from your people. I will get you through.”
“I believe you will.”
“Now go.”
I let them get some way ahead. “Load your pistols.” This was the first chance we had had since the attack at the palace to reload. I wanted the six of us to have as much firepower as we could. Once we had loaded we trotted along the trail. I could see the beautiful bay of Sorrento below me. I wondered if Old Carlo, the fisherman who had helped me before still fished from there. I had considered his boat but he could only have taken four of us and I knew that the Queen would not abandon any of her people. We would either all survive or we would be captured. Chance, in the form of the accident, had made us all rest at noon and that had helped us. Horses and riders were slightly fresher. The sea air kept it a little cooler than it might have been and I began to hope that we might make it.
Our hopes were dashed when Trooper Rae warned, “Riders behind us sir.”
I looked ahead and saw that the road crested a rise and disappeared. I watched as the last four Neapolitans dropped over the other side. “We will ambush them on the other side of the rise.”
The road helped us by twisting away to the left. I saw the last three riders vanish into the tree lined track. “Tie your horses to whatever you can. Sergeant Seymour, take three men to the left. Trooper Rae, you come with me.”
I tied Badger to a scrubby and stunted old olive tree. I had no worries. Badger would not stray. I heard the hooves as the French cavalry thundered after us. They were not galloping but they would have good horses and they were eating up the road at a steady pace. Their leader did not have to take lady riders into consideration. I caught a glimpse of their shakoes as they began to rise towards us. We were all well hidden and the Tarleton helmet blended with the rocks better than one might have hoped. I counted on the fact that they thought we would keep on running. They would not expect an ambush.
“Wait until they are close. Th
e bugler and officers will be at the front. I want them dead. “
From the noise of the hooves it was a full troop of cavalry. We could only hope to slow them. Our brief rest had allowed them to catch up. Perhaps their horses were tiring. I shook my head; I was clutching at straws. I had to do this one piece at a time; ambush them and then try to escape. I knew that as soon as the first shot was fired Sergeant Marciano would know what was happening and they would hurry on.
They came along in a column of twos. I saw the captain and bugler leading the column. I gave a wry smile as I saw their queues and moustaches. It was like looking at my old regiment. I had no time for sentiment. I was now a British soldier.
“Fire!”
The carbines all barked. The troopers drew their pistols but I reloaded my carbine. The wall of smoke was thicker on Sergeant Seymour’s side but the air was clearer on mine. I aimed at the sergeant who was rallying the men. My ball took him in the shoulder and he fell from his horse. I drew my pistol and fired. The column was in disarray. The riderless horses were milling around and, with their leaders dead or wounded, the troopers were looking for someone to make a decision.
“Get mounted, draw your swords. We are going to attack them.”
To their credit none of my men questioned my suicidal order. I wanted the French to think that there were more of us than there actually were. I led the way with Rae next to me, boot to boot. “Charge the 11th!”
The men whooped and hollered as though we were a regiment and we charged through the smoke. I saw a surprised trooper who had dismounted to give comfort to the wounded bugler. He stared at me as I sliced down and split his face open. Badger knocked a horse to the side as I skewered a second trooper. I saw the green uniforms begin to flee. I stabbed at the back of one man who slipped from his horse.
“Halt!” I sheathed my sword.
I turned to count and saw that we had suffered no casualties. There were four riderless horses. “Grab those horses and let’s go.”
As I turned the sergeant I had wounded began to rise from the floor. He held his pistol with his good arm and it was aimed at me. In one motion I drew my own pistol and fired. The brave sergeant’s head disappeared. All that were left were the dead and the dying. Nine officers and troopers had fallen. I hoped that their deaths would buy us at least an hour.
I was delighted when it took us almost an hour to catch up with the others. It showed that Sergeant Marciano had obeyed orders. There was relief on their faces as all six of us rode up. They had all stopped when they saw us. The Queen looked concerned, “We heard the shooting and when you did not come…”
I smiled, “We had the advantage of surprise your majesty but that will not last. We have four spare horses. If any of our mounts are suffering we can replace them. Lead on Benito there are still a hundred cavalry chasing us.”
I was relieved when we saw, in the distance, the lights of Salerno. We had seen no sign of pursuit for an hour and I knew that the French would struggle to make good time, in the dark, over such a treacherous road. What worried me more was the fact that I had seen neither hide nor hair of the Neapolitan army. Where had de Damas taken them? The road we had just used was perfect to slow down the French. Their artillery and cavalry would be useless. As I had shown, with just six men, a much larger force could easily be stopped. I wondered why the British and Russian soldiers had been withdrawn. With twelve thousand men Naples could easily have been held. It had to be politics. I decided to ask the Queen when we halted.
The town had a wall and a barred gate but Sergeant Marciano soon gained us admission. They were only militia on the walls and there were less than forty of them. They would not halt the French. Had we so chosen, we could have driven them from the walls. The mayor was delighted to have the Queen but I also saw fear in his eyes. Like me he knew the attraction of the Queen to an invading enemy.
We took over the house of a noble who had fled to Sicily when the French had crossed the border. While food was prepared I went around the men and horses with the two sergeants. I wanted to know if there were any weaknesses. There were not.
Sergeant Marciano insisted on providing the pickets that night. “No Captain, you and your men have taken all the risks. We will watch tonight. It is not honourable to let others do all the fighting for you.”
My men stabled the horses and saw to their needs. Their welfare came before ours.
The Queen had spoken for a long time with the mayor. When I entered the dining room she rose to speak with me. “You look tired Captain Matthews.”
I shook my head, “I am a soldier. I will be fine.”
“You did well today. The sergeant told me what you intended and I could not believe that you would survive. You have done this sort of thing before?”
“A few times.”
“Then I am hopeful that we will defeat the French if there are more men like you.”
“Tell me, your majesty, did you discover if there were any ships in the harbour?”
“None big enough for all of us.”
“My men and I do not matter. Are there any big enough to take you and your ladies away?”
“You think I would leave those who fled with me? I have responsibilities too. And to answer your question there is nothing bigger than a fishing boat in the harbour. Everyone fled.” She smiled wryly, “Sicily will be so overcrowded soon that it might sink beneath the waves.”
I realised I needed a map. “I must go and get a map.”
She restrained me. “No, you will eat. Alberto, go and find the Captain a map.”
Happy to be doing something useful again the little man trotted off and I was forced to sit with the Queen and her ladies. I felt guilty. I should be looking to the needs of my men. The Queen seemed to read my thoughts. “The two sergeants seem quite competent and they will get food for the men.”
“But they don’t speak each other’s language.”
She laughed, “Then they will learn won’t they.”
I reluctantly sat down and, as I began to eat, realised that it had been many hours since I had eaten. I was ravenous. The Queen seemed amused by my appetite. She waited until I had finished and then said in Austrian, “Someone said you could speak the language of my birth. Would you mind if we conversed in that language for a while? It has been some time.”
“Not at all.” She asked questions about me and my men. I had to be very careful not to tell her the total truth about myself. When Alberto returned with the map she reverted to Italian and said, “You are an interesting man, Captain Matthews. You have told me much and yet not all. Are all your countrymen so interesting?”
“As with all nationalities, some are and some aren’t.”
Alberto’s little head bobbed up and down as he laid the map out on the now cleared table. “It is the best one I could find.”
I looked at the coast from Salerno to Reggio. “Are there any other ports along the way?”
Alberto shook his head, “Little fishing villages.”
“And do we know your majesty, where your army is?”
She looked angry for the briefest of moments and then shrugged, “Like you Captain Matthews I hoped that we would have met them but I have no idea.”
I looked at the map. We had about a hundred and fifty miles before we came to the next big town, Cosenza. That would take two or perhaps three days. Then there was a short hop of sixty miles or so to Reggio. We could do that in one day.
The Queen saw my frown. “What is the problem, Captain?”
I noticed that her hand was on mine again, “Call me Robbie, your majesty.”
She said the name tentatively, as though tasting it, “Robbie. Yes I like it. What is the problem, Robbie?”
“I think it will take three or four days of hard riding to reach Reggio. The French will be looking either for you or your army. We will need to push on and I am not certain that your people are up to it.”
I must have offended Alberto for he stood up as straight as he could. �
��I may not be a soldier like you, Captain Matthews, but I can do my duty as can the Queen’s ladies. If her majesty can endure the pain of the saddle then so can we.”
Queen Carolina patted him on the hand, “Brave little Alberto.”
“I am sorry, Alberto, I never meant to question your honour. If you ask my sergeant he will let you have some saddle soap for your saddle and,“ I lowered my voice, “olive oil is very good for your seat too.”
He brightened, “Thank you. I should have thought of that myself.”
I excused myself and went to find the other soldiers. “We will be pushing on to Reggio on horseback.” I saw the looks on their faces and nodded, “I know; it will be hard. We now have four more horses. Benito, see how many more you can get. We will take as many supplies as we can. I hope we can find places to sleep. I don’t want to take tents; that is assuming we could get them. Joe, make sure we have as much ammunition as we can get our hands on. Check the saddlebags of those Chasseurs’ horses. Most troopers keep spares. There may even be a couple of pistols for the Neapolitans.” That was everything I could think of.
“Sir, get some rest. It will do us no good if you collapse on us.”
“Thank you sergeant but, until we reach Sicily, I don’t think any of us will get much rest. By the way how is the language coming on?”
He grinned, “I speak a little Italian now and Benito here speaks some English.”
“Good morning Capitano.” Benito seemed proud of his English phrase.
I laughed, “It is evening but well done!”
After I had checked the perimeter and made sure that there were guards at all the gates I returned to the room I would be sharing with my men. They were all asleep apart from Sergeant Seymour. “At least we have food sir and you know the lads. So long as they have a full belly then they are happy.”
He was right. I knew that I was lucky in that the men chosen by the Sergeant were not the type to get drunk as soon as they found some booze. They had drunk wine, along with the Neapolitans, but it had been in moderation.
As I rolled in the blanket I said, sleepily, “We just take this one day at a time Joe and hope that we have a little luck on the way.” He might have replied but I didn’t hear it; I was out for the count.