by Griff Hosker
Jean had not been idle and there was an effective barricade at the end with the cannon at its centre. The whole was protected by a hedgehog of bayonets and muskets and grim faced grenadiers. Jean pointed to the barracks. “It looks like they are awake. I heard a bugle and saw men lining up outside. I think we may have our first attack soon.”
“The Major is coming too.” I did a quick head count and saw that we had about eighty men. These were grenadiers and the best infantrymen France had. If we could not hold this narrow road against these poor Janissaries then it did not bode well for the invasion. By the time the garrison had stirred itself and marched towards us the sun was beginning to warm the walls. The men had eaten and had water. They were ready. The column of soldiers who marched towards us looked to be about two hundred strong. They marched in a column eight men wide.
Major Lefevre smiled, “This is almost too easy. Grenadiers, ready muskets. Front rank ready?”
The sergeant major roared, “Ready!”
When they were eighty yards away the major yelled, “Fire!”
The smoke prevented us from seeing the results. “Second rank, fire!”
The crash of the weapons mingled with the screams of the Janissaries. As the smoke cleared we saw the remains of the column fleeing back to their barracks. Before us, lay forty dead and dying soldiers. Even as the men cheered we heard, “Sails! It is the fleet, General Bonaparte is here.”
We went to the Ottoman soldiers and rescued as many of the wounded as we thought might live. Some of them were going to die and the kindest gesture would have been to slit their throats but Jean advised the major against it. “Let the locals look after them. They would see it as savagery in us. Remember major, we are in a foreign land with different cultures and our only way home is by the sea.”
I looked out to sea. “And remember sir, if the Royal Navy wants it back then there is little we can do about it is there? Our fleet is not the greatest in the world at the moment.”
The large battleships entered the harbour first and their open gun ports threatened the barracks. As the transports disgorged their troops the Turkish flag was lowered. The city had surrendered. We felt a little disappointed. I had expected more resistance. We were ignored on the sea wall. The prisoners still sat aboard the ‘Carillon’ and the grenadiers guarded the guns. The three of us returned aboard to see how Pierre had fared. As we stepped aboard François asked, “Can I disembark these prisoners now sir? The crew object to the smell because the deck is covered in piss and shit!”
I yelled over the side, “Sergeant, we are returning the prisoners to shore. Find some men to guard them.” The grenadier sergeant shot me a filthy look but I knew he would not disobey an order from an officer, even a cavalry officer. The grenadiers only had Major Lefevre left, the rest of their officers were dead. They had all led from the front’ that was what made them grenadiers. I suspected the sergeant would soon be promoted. ”There you go lieutenant, you can now send them ashore.”
The disgruntled men trudged off the ship and the sailors quickly began to swab the decks. “Thank you for that captain. Sailors hate to have a dirty ship.”
“It is my pleasure. How is Pierre?”
“He is awake and demanding food and wine.”
I laughed, “Then he is back to normal and he will live.”
Pierre was, indeed, much better and he grinned as we entered the orlop deck where the wounded were being dealt with. “Well sir, did you miss me?”
Tiny answered, “We managed without you sir and we didn’t lose a man. How’s that?”
“You see, sergeant major, it was my training that enabled you both to do that. So you see it was my victory. Where is the major?”
“Getting cleaned up and into uniform. We assume he will be wanted by the general. That is the advantage of being a minion; no one is bothered about you.”
In the end no-one came at all for a whole day. We ate and then slept while the city was invested. I think Major Lefevre was under the impression that the actions of his men merited a visit from the general. He did not know Bonaparte as we did. When the relief troops did arrive they were gunners and engineers who were completely indifferent to our efforts. We said goodbye to Francois, collected Pierre and our belongings and marched to the edge of the town. We headed to the headquarters, marked by the tricolour, to find out what our next orders would be.
Chapter 2
We were greeted by Colonel Bessières. He beamed at us. “Well done gentlemen, you did all that was asked of you. The general is delighted.”
Major Lefevre grumbled, somewhat sulkily, “We did wonder why no one came sooner, sir.”
Bessières looked a little shamefaced. “I am sorry about that but the general was very busy taking charge of the port. He has much to do. Major Lefevre if you would take your men to the camp south of the town you will find the rest of your regiment there.”
The major turned and shook Jean’s hand and then mine. “Thank you. It has been a pleasure to serve with you and I will think better of the chasseurs in future.”
“Good luck major.”
As they marched off we looked expectantly at Bessières. He smiled, “As you might expect the general has other orders for you four.” We noticed that he had completely overlooked the fact that one of our numbers was no longer with us. To the general’s staff we were a tool to be used and then discarded. “Your regiment is camped to the east of the town, about half a mile away, with the rest of the cavalry. If you follow your noses you can smell the horses. When you have recovered your horses return here, Major Bartiaux and Captain Macgregor. The general will have your new orders ready for you. And if you bring Lieutenant Bouchard with you that would expedite matters.”
As we walked back I asked Jean. “What do you think he wants with Pierre-François?”
Jean shrugged. “You know him as well as I do Robbie. He will have some skill which the general needs.”
I noticed, as we walked that Pierre was struggling with his breath. “We had better slow up. Pierre is not finding this easy.”
“I will be alright. Don’t worry about me.”
“We will have the doctor take a look at you when we reach the regiment. Although I am no surgeon that looked like a nasty wound to me.”
“You saved my life sir and that is enough.”
Bessières had been correct, we could smell the horses. There were more cavalry that I had seen before. They were mainly dragoons but there was also a regiment of hussars too. The general intended to defeat whoever the Ottomans threw against us. We soon found our tents and the colonel was pleased to see us. “We wondered how your mission had gone.” He suddenly realised there were only four of us. “What happened?”
We told him, and he nodded, “That is war. It is a shame; he was a good sergeant.” He saw Pierre’s pale face. “And what happened to you Lieutenant Boucher?”
“A pirate stabbed me in the back.”
“Can the sergeant major take him to the surgeon sir?”
“Of course. Off you go.” When they had gone the colonel poured us a beaker of wine each. “This campaign promises to be difficult. We already have men fainting with the heat and the horses are not coping well either. It is like nothing I have ever experienced.”
We showed him the clothes we had stolen. “The locals wear these and they keep you cooler even if you wear them on top of your uniform. It is strange.”
“Well that won’t help us; they won’t keep the horses cool. And we are having problems with the water. That is why we are drinking wine; it is safer. We have only been here little more than a day and we already have men going down with dysentery and diarrhoea.”
“Sir, the general wants to see the two of us again. I think he has another mission in mind.”
Albert gave a wry smile, “Your trouble, Jean, is that you are too good at what you do. You need to make mistakes a little more often.”
“And he wants to see Lieutenant Bouchard.”
“Really?
That seems strange. He is a good officer but a little bookish really. He seems an academic rather than a soldier. Still…” He shrugged and then grinned, “The stable detail will be glad to see you captain, Killer has been living up to his name.”
“With your permission sir I will go and see to him.”
“And I will find the lieutenant. I don’t think that the general likes to be kept waiting.”
Killer was glad to see me and the stable detail was overjoyed. “He is as mad as a fish sir! He can be nice as pie one minute and then try to take your hand off the next.”
“He does take some getting used to. Come on boy, let’s go and visit with the general.”
It was good to be on his back again and I headed for the officer’s tents. Jean had told me that when my father had served in the regiment then every officer had a servant. Since the revolution all that had changed but we did have a trooper for every two officers to put the tents up and see to our needs. “Ah Trooper Lannes, did all my equipment come ashore?”
“Yes sir. Your chest is under your bed and your musket is on top of it. I gave it a good clean this morning. The sea air does them no good at all.”
“Thank you for that.” My best uniform was in the chest. The attack on the harbour had not merited a good uniform but a meeting with General Napoleon Bonaparte did. When I stepped out of the tent I saw Jean and the lieutenant there with their horses.
Pierre-François asked, as I mounted Killer. “Why me sir? I am not like you two officers. I am not suited to sneaking around behind the enemy lines.”
Jean winked at me, “Oh and we are the sneaky officers who are, are we?”
The flustered lieutenant said, “Oh no sir. You are both legends in the regiment. The things you have done…”
“He is teasing, Pierre-François, but we were not chosen originally because we were sneaky but because we had skills the general needed. He must have a skill of yours in mind.”
“But I just studied books sir.”
I laughed, “Which in this regiment is something of a rarity.”
“Come on you two, the sooner we get there the sooner we will solve this mystery.”
As we had predicted we had to cool our heels in the antechamber to the general’s office. At least it was cool. Eventually Bessières came out with an armful of papers. “You can go in now.”
Bonaparte did not look up as we entered. “Close the door behind you.”
He leaned back on his chair and peered at Pierre-François. “I suspect you are wondering why you are here with these two warriors eh lieutenant?”
“Er yes sir.”
“Someone at the Commission of Science and Arts thinks highly of you. It seems you have some skill in archaeology and the study of the past?”
A look of relief washed over the young man’s face. “Oh yes sir. It is my passion I…”
The general put a hand up to stop him. “Spare me the details. Tell me what you know of Alexander the Great in relation to Egypt.”
“Er he founded Alexandria. He visited the oracle at Siwa and Ptolemy had his body buried at Memphis.”
“Good. I have made the right choice. I want you to find his body.” Pierre-François’ mouth dropped open but the general was studying his papers and maps again. “And of course if you find any treasure whilst you are doing so then so much the better. Captain Macgregor seems to have a nose for such things.”
“Are we going too sir?”
“Of course, is that not obvious? You leave as soon as possible. You are to take a squadron of your troopers for protection. Bessières has your orders. You will travel with the army while we head south to secure the land around the Pyramids and then you will be detached.”
With that we were dismissed. I put my arm around the lieutenant’s shoulders. “That is the way he carries on Pierre-François. Do not worry we will manage.”
“But what if I cannot find it?”
“Then the general will be angry so if you cannot find it then please find something which is as valuable to him. Take heart, we will not be doing this immediately anyway.”
When we reached the camp we were greeted by Captain Alaine and Pierre. They both looked glum. “What’s the matter with you two? Isn’t it hot enough for you?” The temperature was so high that shades had had to be rigged over the horses.
Pierre looked too upset to speak. Claude put his arm around his old friend. “He is to be given a discharge from the army. He will fight no more.”
I was almost bereft of words. Jean nodded, “I feared it was a bad wound. What did the surgeon say?”
Claude spoke for Pierre. “He said the lung had been punctured. He will always be short of breath. The colonel knows.”
I found my voice, “What will you do?”
“I do not know. The army has been my whole life.”
“You could always open a bar. That would suit you.”
“Where would I get the money from for that?”
“The regimental fund?” We all paid into a fund for just such an occasion.
“The colonel has been more than generous but it would not buy a decent tavern.”
I looked at Jean and had a sudden flash of inspiration. “Julian! It is perfect?”
“Of course!”
Claude and Pierre looked at the two of us who were grinning as though we had just had the best news ever. “What are you two going on about? Who is Julian?”
“You met him at Montenotte. He was the son of the gardener at home but he lost his legs in the Italian campaign and we helped him to buy a tavern close by Breteuil. He needs a partner and you would be perfect for each other.”
“O course it is in the north and far away from the warm sea and the fine wine… but.”
“Would he be happy about this?”
Jean and I looked at each other and nodded. “I will write a letter for you to take.” Jean suddenly looked at him. “When do you leave?”
“This evening; I am to sail on the ‘Carillon’. We are taking all the wounded back to Toulon with despatches from the general.”
I felt sick. “So this is goodbye then?”
“In an hour or so, yes. I will go and tell the others and meet you in the mess tent.”
He wandered off looking suddenly frail and less confident. First it had been Michael and now it was Pierre. My friends were getting fewer in number. I went to my tent and sat on the bed. I could not abandon Pierre with nothing to show for our friendship. I took out the purse of coins given to me by Sir John MacAlpin, the Knight of St.John. He had given it to me to pay for my journey back to Scotland but I had plenty. I took out four of the gold pieces and returned the purse to my money belt.
I felt a little lost and so I went to the mess tent. I found Pierre-François poring over a book. “Where did you get the book from?”
“Colonel Bessières gave it to me. The general thought it might be useful.”
“Well do not forget we have a large part of this land to subjugate before we can dig up the past.”
“I know sir but I do not want to let the general down.”
That was how Bonaparte worked. He made you feel you were doing it for him and for France. No wonder his Guards were fanatically loyal to him. Jean came in with the letter. I told him of my decision to give some of the money to Pierre. He smiled and showed me the small purse he also held. “I had some spare coins left over from the trip to Vienna. We will make him take them.” Both of us knew that Pierre might let pride get in the way of good judgement.
Most of the officers who had served with Pierre and all the sergeants were there to say goodbye. Tiny looked even more upset than Pierre. He looked up to Pierre, almost like a father. The colonel said goodbye first. Albert regarded all of us as his sons and Pierre had served with him a long time. Jean and I waited until the end. The wagon to take him to the harbour was outside when it was our turn. We gave him the letter and the coins. As we had expected he tried to refuse them.
“No Pierre, you looked after me
when I first joined and I want to repay you. This isn’t goodbye anyway. We will be home sometime and I am looking forward to seeing the changes that you and Julian make to the inn.”
“You take care of yourself Robbie. You are too reckless for your own good. Let others do some of the dangerous stuff.” He looked at Jean, “I know you’ll look after him Jean.”
“Of course Pierre.”
As he climbed on the cart he leaned down and said quietly, “And don’t trust that bastard Bonaparte. He is sneaky and cunning. He just looks out for himself.”
“I will. Take care.”
As the cart headed north I felt sad. A few months later I was pleased that he had escaped the horror which was yet to come. He would be survivor from this war.
We had no time to feel sorry for ourselves as the whole army headed south the next day. It was one of the toughest journeys I have ever undertaken. The heat, the dust and the sand all combined to make every mile a living hell. What was worse was the effect it had on the animals. Four horses went lame and had to be destroyed. When you added that to the fact that we had lost eight men to dysentery too it became obvious that we were becoming weakened by this land and we had not even lost a man in combat yet! I was luckier than most because Killer didn’t seem as affected by the heat as the others did but we still had a hundred and eighty miles of the torture to endure.
The general had the rest of the regiment as scouts but had told the colonel to spare us as he was saving us for his special mission. It did not make it any easier for us to watch the others coming back exhausted each day. We felt as though we were letting the regiment down. It became even worse when they began to suffer casualties. The Turks laid ambushes for our patrols and soon the other squadrons were becoming decimated. It was like a slow death for the regiment as the troopers were taken in ones and twos.
Claude was the one who, after a week on the road, found the enemy. He reported to us after he had seen the general. “Well we have an interesting battle coming up. They have fifty thousand men.” He paused, “And they are all cavalry!”