The Sun.
London, England, 1836-11-02 00:00:00

lELVE MONTHS IN THE BRITISH
LEGION,

421,' OEFICER OF 'THE 9TH REGIMEXT.
London-, 34acrone, 1836.
This volume incl
the 'Ales a history of the movements of
British LoP.'ion from the landing of the first divi-
sion at SP. n Sebastian, in July 1835, until after the
battle of: the sth of May, when the narrator quitted
the s'Jrvice. We had no conception that a little work
So very interesting could be composed from such scanty,
and to the English public, common-place
.mater,:dis.
The writer speaks in the highest possible tP:eIIIS of the bravery of the Legion, and his statenT:cnts to this ef-
fect are fully borne out by the acr,ount which he gives
of the conduct of the men 'when, exposed to the at-
tacks of the enemy. Of The Spaniards in general he
is a great admirer, al`,:hough he does not scruple to
brand the great bull.;
or in of the native officers with treachery
-caracity. ne appears quite satisfied that the
misfortunes of the Legion hare been mainly attributable
to the incapacity of General Alava, and the treacheiy.
of Cordova, whose great object, from the first lao4lllg
of the Legion, was to betray it, together with its brave
Generf.ll, into the hands of the Carli. The foow-
ing extract will convey to our readcts sts a
tolerablyll cor-
rect idea of the Spanish ex-Commander-in-Chief's
person, character, and. intentions:—
" It was during war stay at Ilarraza that I had an oppor-
tul nity of seeing Cordova, who frequently rode through the
age with b;,s staff to visit the outposts, and reconnoitre
the -country, On one occasion he dismounted for a quarter
of an hour in front of the Palacio, and, curious to have a
Closer 'view of the Spanish god of war, I mingled in the
-crov:d of officers standing a few paces apart, and beheld the
"tor of Arlaban. He was a small, slightly..rnade man,
stoopingsomewhat inthe shoulders, and with p.ce expressiverfa
ofnothing save a look of languid discontent,,, to which a sharp twinkling eye gave the characteristic. air of a Jew clothes..
dealer. His gait and manners w'ere slow and sauntering,
and impressed the sp atectator wits ere
idea of a man shattered
With disease, or enervated bl; dissipation. His dress on the
three occasions that I har,pened to view him minutely, was
uncouth and slovenly, -consisting of a long brown redingote,
that by
find k its want of sb ape and fit reminded me of Paganini's,
scarlet clot/-, waistcoat, closely buttoned to te chin
Y a single row of gilt buttons ; a small cocked-hat stuck
l°no side e:f the head, with a cockade expressive of the
oyalty wan king in his heart ; and a pair of worsted host or
eggings strapped below the knee,
with large silver spurs
buckled on the heels.
" When I first saw him at Ilariaza, he wore a regulation
sword of the British Legion, but afterwards used one of
different manufacture. The red waistcoat, however, seemed
to be a great favourite, as he seldom appeared without it
but,even on grand occasions. He wears no beard or whiskers,
indulges in a pair of stunted mustachios on the upper
hp, which adds to tine expression of languid nonchalance
Predominant in his countenance. In a word, see Luis Per-
Ahridez de Cordova in a crowd, without knowing him to be
buke of M'endigorria and Count of Arlaban, and he would
taken for a sickly attorney or a discontented tailor,
" Pronigate in his manners, and, destitute of tale
rus as a
B(ddkr he possesses no one moral quality excer;i a restless
4rr.;bition, backed by a species of intriguing elVnnincr, in which
ttnY diplomatic attache be his T.:latch. ''Hated by
most of his generals, who u:obraid hitri with the want of mere
Personal courage, he is l.ooked upon by the army as a man
,w,ho, to gain his own Dirty ends, is ready to betray them into
the hands of the en
,emy, and who, by virtue of his rank and
exalted position. 'is carryino. on a traffic in the flesh and
blood of his ;t;ldiers, to make an accommodation with the
flernies of his sovereign and preserve his rank and influence
the country. The command that he possesses over the
:weak and misguided woman at the head of the Government
P.o great, that he is frequently oken of as the succssor O:' Munoz, whenever God or an assassin please to take him
Trona the world ; and his known hostility to Liberalism,
Points him out as not without influence in the ranks of the
Carlist party. Thus let affairs turn out as they may, it is
a matter of small concern to tare Hero of Mendigorria, who
plays the cards of each part', and laughs at both.
" The opinions here -put forward on the character and
honesty of Cordova, are shared by nine-tenths of the honest
Liberals in Spain. Let his conduct since his appointment
to the chief comEriand be examined, and no man possessed
of a grain of crimmon sense can acquit him either of trea-
Zchery orlncaT;Jacity. Has he met the enemy on equal terms ?
7.--a retreat has been the consequence. Has an advantage
en, gained ?—he has refused to follow it up. His first
uvance upon Arlaban was signalized by a retreat which
the to have no object but to betray the Legion into
e hands of the enemy. His second, in which he appears
t° have beaten the enemy on several points, was suddenly
a terminated by an invitation to a ball at Madrid, and that at
time when the success of the Auxiliaries in the North
va
equired a push to be made on all sides to improve the ad-
set n,
°4 f• from Madrid, his first object was to
~f-Got a marriage between the young Queen and the
1,-;".°:( Don Carlos—a proposal which, when it was rejected
t,'148'.P.0- 'winning party, has vainly been attempted to be
ed off as a false report. The only Ministry which was
41-"enlated to benefit the country he has contrived to upset,
t1(1 now he and Isturitz go band in hand in the task of
securing the regeneration of Spain."
Buch is the man who so deceivd General Evans,
,at that Hon. and Gallant Officer was induced "to
'tirite to the electors of WestrAinster in the most lan-
tatory terms of his fidelity, courage, and zeal for the
lecess of the British troops. We dare affirm that
bey:l,ns will not again be made the dupe of a Spanish
4h, J's account of his own loyalty, prowess, and friend-
ip,

q„-
leis'ne writer has interspersed the graver portions of
narralive with some very amusing anecdotes, chiefly
lied by the officers and men of the Irish Brigade.
„I;"aese brave fellows were in the highest glee in the
wii.m.st,. of dan.r.4er, and cracked jokes with the balls
18t11ng rOla.nd them, as if they were engaged at a
t-11411.4e of ahi.ndy. During the thickest of the battle of
of. -May, when the men were falling on every
the e'':" an officer's servant of the 7th regiment," says
aq (11`' titer, « ran up with a cartridge in his mouth to
he, Ateer, and pulling the heads of a couple of cackling
An, s
te °tit of his haversack, exclaimed in a rich brogue,
tire your honour wont forget to dine with my
to
tir. to-day.' It was impossible, we should think,
"line an invitation so given, with a prospect of
Sic cline
fare.
co, ,allowing extract contains the most vivid
"% ac-
tl'at has yet appeared of the sufferings of the
4711 at Vittoria
Wbie4Y recollections of Vittoria are not of the most egrehee-
IN; The natural gloominess of the town, added to. th
look
opal sickness that broke out at this period,
gaveflutllt ofe
andck °la city of the plague. The hospitals were
'treei dying, and from dawn of day till set of sun, the
111.114,8 re-echoed to the melancholy sounds of the fife and
°ort: Playing the Dead March as the departed soldier was
lid te!,t° his last home. The air seemed loaded with fever,
I,ustpc,'"e who marched in the train followed with a thelack-
n - eYe, as if aware that t
heir turn was next. The boys,
ibou streets
struck the mournful solemnity of a cere-
-44d doY' oich is unknor.n in the Spanish army, paraded up
411t11,r,'1l with stie]As reversed and whistling the funeral
ache lwries in the balconies caught up the air and
1, -',.°;:rev -
,;ii fan .!.tn't_ tleir pianos—the very bugles that sounded
advance had a lugubrious sound, as if blown
quq..4l 4,44_4 his grave ; and at length the Dead March in
ter t?g tkme the only piece of music current in Vitoria
th Whole of the five months the Legion was quer-
he
and in the vicinity.
Ste, huh tuber of deaths speedily augmented to such a
at
'oat attem tat ceremony was abolished, and the
there were `carried paway in carts to the burial grou,
:"ese they Were thrown six or seven into the same. hole.f.
;040,144t died of our regiment were buried in a piece of
be pr;vt,!rtside the walls, called the Campo Santo,
o. n the priest to mutter over a prayer or two,
th4ll. 4
'°4l is loaf that the deceased was a good Catholic.
fan atholiC better than no bread ,' and it was thought
prayerover a dea d Protestant was better
i
iktl ,1 -11 o yet at all.
fti n
rind. e occasion, beinc, in command of a funeral. party,
our arrival ate the ground that the priest had
111 appointment, I placed a corporal with a file of
%Yi 17 street to waylay the first churchman that passed
i°,1.13.kr er,!!'g him vi et armis before rne, as I knew that all
the tGI „--„e,uses would be made, if I followed the more
4er.re„'"u reverent mode of requesting him to perform
,11 the had not waited long in the church-yard,
ti,„Sdrawii
_" Placed at the brink of the grave, and the sal-
-14. or 5e1,„,,(.4, In single file on each side, before I heard a
rt'ffaimi!aing and noise in the porch, and beheld the cor-
t 'e"tn lag his instructions to the letter, hauling up a
••() I
P hi tort',
14,11bj,,PrieSt by the skirt of his garment, and explaining
er-no:tewr'rds and signs, that soldier inzt,olLwiea
poorn te l 11141(%entiernan, rciat no quiere stay any lor.gerw.ereT}
.ah end „b 9 fancied that the heretics going to
be'vlth , him then and there, came very humbly to
'l'd to I.s 1"g fore-and-aft cocked-hat in his hand, and
,n 0
Iv What crime he had committed, to be seized

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