The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-07-22
az and ARMY illustrated.

The Navy and Army illustrated.
It is a well known, If rarely harped
upon fact. that the PeninsuIar war would
have ended fatally for England, and con-
Bequently for Europe, In the winter of
the year 1SQS-'Gs, had it not been for an
Untoward accident to French aide-de-
camp
As it is possible that the precise cir
CuInstances of the case may be fresh to
or forgotten by some of my readers,
think it as well to set them down concise
" here. In December, 1903, Sir John
Moore, with 10000 men and sixty-four
guns. was marching gayly after Marshal
Soult, who had the same strength, with
the intention OF giving him such a pound
ing as would astonish him, while, I'M
known to Sir John, Napoleon himself
with $4,000 men. including the Imperial
guard, and with $50 guns, was pursuing
Moore with like intention.
The Napcleonic trap was exquisitely
baited the very door ready to snap Ma
poleon's aide-de-camp was on his way to
give Soult the order to stand at Astorga
and fight, for the moment was arrived
when the English leopard might be
driven into the sea.
Happily for the leopard aforesaid, Ma
poieon's messenger came to grief, and
his dispatches fell into the hands Of Sir
John, who learned in the nick Of time
the fate that was awaiting him
The sequel we all know; the mastery If
awful retreat across the Esla, the pursuit
by Soult and the emperor, until the a.
version of the latter and his guard by the
Austrian war; and finally the sad triumph
Of Corunna, which inspired the British
parliament to renew the strife and gave
Wellesley his chance In Portugal.
The manner in which these fateful dis
patches came into English hands has
been variously set down. the story to
which most credence has hitherto been
given running that the bearer, a man of
choleric disposition and intemperate hab-
its, allowed himself to be drawn into
tavern brawl and was then and there
knitted, his dispatches being carried by
his slaYers to the English camp and sold
TO the headquarters staff for what they
would fetch
This was the view Of the matter my
self, until recently, entertained But
since access has been given me to the
papers Of Capt. Daily, 1 have been fam
to believe that this admittedly extra
ordinary business was even yet more pc
cuIIar in its reality than has been gen
orally supposed. This is my reconstruc-
ton Of the plain tale which the gallant
officers papers (more particularly those
pertaining to his card account attest.
On Christmas eve, 1903, early in the
morning, Capt. DAILY was to be found
playing lansquenet with two young gen
tlemen and an elder one, who were as.
sisting him in the arduous task of COM
handing a squadron of the horse grena.
diers thrown forward toward the river
Carrion, in the Spanish province of Leon.
They were no great distance from sim
T1er.
Marshal Soult, and no doubt, as we
understand war nowadays, it was the
duty Of all to be on the alert; but NAL
Appleby, who was the squadron leader,
was not a strictly diligent man of war;
so the junior subaltern was deputed to do
their work while his elders INDUCED in a
quiet f1utter.
Luck was In favor of Capt Masham
and so much against Capt. Daily that in
tolerably rapid succession he lightened
himself of his never enormous stock of
ready money, bills on Mr.. Greenwood, of
Charng Cross, representing a future six
months pay discounted at war rates. his
second charger, the saddlery pertaining
to the same, various items Of his personal
wardrobe, and his whole armory, with
the exception of his sword. He played
away not only what he had with him at
the advanced post in the regimental carts
and aboard the transport. down at the
base, but every other possession near and
far of which the recollection occurred to
him, including a-half interest in a chasing
stable at the Curragh. After he had ac-
tually mortgaged the services of his bat
man, he had nothing left but his horse,
Pious William; the clothes he stood in
the sword he carried, and the value OF
his commission.
Then he smilingly observed that he
would play no more, and, Notwithstanding
cif1ori nxri "a n MT
Pious William in the pool shook himself
and retired, still smiling, from the little
knot of gamblers.
The men called at bantering jest after
the jauntily retreatlng figure, and saw
the shoulders shake as readily as their
own, but had they marked the wistful
look which, now his back was turned to
them. appeared on Capt. Days face
thAy would have spared their chaff
Sauutering past the sentry, Daily made
for clump Of olive trees few hundred
yards in front of the furtherest vidette;
II ought to have been either cut down or
occupied, out the youngest subaltern had
not rudimentary knowledge of the bust
ness Of placing pickets, and no one else
bothered his head about the matter.
Capt. Days object in approaching these
trees was to pick out a nice one on
which to hang himself, out of sight of his
friends; for Capt. Daily was as broke as
Aoke could be. Had he been at home ne
would have put pistol bullet through
the roof Of his mouth, but he was a good
enough soldier to remember the worry
the report of firearms causes on outpost
duty. and. besides, he had no pistol. hav-
ing just parted with his to Capt. Mashaln.
Again. he might have played the Roman
fool and died on his own sword. but he
feared that some wretched peasant might
be strung up under suspicion Of having