Beat the Drums Slowly by Adrian Goldsworthy Read Free Book Online

MacAndrews could not now recall when first he had been told of the emperor’s presence in Spain. For some reason he had always believed it. The French army had been beaten, first by the Spanish and then by the British in Portugal, and with the rest of continental Europe now forced to submit to his will, it seemed only reasonable for him to come in person to avenge the defeats in the Iberian peninsula. An overlord made by war could not permit any crack in the illusion of his infallible power. He was bound to come, and it seemed equally reasonable that he would bring with him regiments greater in number and older in war than the young conscripts whom he had sent a year ago to overrun Spain and Portugal.
    Such matters had only a general concern for MacAndrews, for he had no say in such great matters and no one was likely to ask him how the campaign should be conducted. Forty-eight was very elderly for a major still to be on active service with a regiment. In the spring, he had been a fractionally less old captain, with no apparent prospect of promotion, for he lacked both money and influence. The 106th was the most junior regiment of the line, lacking any battle honours or the slightest prestige. Lieutenant Colonel Moss had purchased the command of the battalion, and his relentless pressure had finally been rewarded when they were added to an expeditionary force. MacAndrews succeeded to his majority following the sudden death through alcohol and rage of the 106th’s senior major.
    Moss had died in the first attack at Roliça – privately MacAndrews felt he was recklessly dangerous as a battalion commander. Of the two majors, Toye was senior, but he had been wounded and captured at the same time, and that had left MacAndrews in command of the 106th for the remainder of the campaign. They were mentioned in Wellesley’s dispatch for Roliça, and more than played their part at Vimeiro. Toye was released from captivity after Cintra, and as the senior man naturally became the new lieutenant colonel. Custom dictated that vacancies created by battlefield casualties were filled in accordance with seniority.
    Toye commanded the 106th, but his wound from Roliça proved a bad one, and his recovery, and indeed his life, was placed in jeopardy by a savage bout of fever. After several weeks the doctors no longer despaired of his life, but it was feared that his health was permanently broken. With Toye unable to attempt his duties, MacAndrews continued to lead the battalion, and had taken them north to the border fortress of Almeida. Their task was to ensure that the terms of the Convention were enforced, and the French garrison permitted to leave. In a few places there had been difficulties, when the local Portuguese troops showed an understandable reluctance to let the French escape so easily. The sight of redcoats, as a reminder of their goodwill towards their ally, had sometimes proved necessary. In the event, matters had already been decided peacefully before they arrived, and instead they had begun a quiet spell reinforcing the garrison of the spacious fortress.
    ‘I think we have done well,’ said Brotherton, interrupting his commander’s thoughts. ‘The Reserve Division appears a fine formation, and General Paget and his staff know their business. It would be nice to think that our attachment was a tribute to our conduct in August.’ The two men had claimed a room with a table as the battalion office and worked long into the night. They had almost finished and had dismissed the clerks, leaving them a moment to settle any more private matters.
    ‘Aye, perhaps,’ said MacAndrews, registering sufficient Caledonian doubt that even a man who knew him far less well than the adjutant would have realised his scepticism. ‘Although it does appear to be true that we have been summoned to replace the Sixtieth, on account of their misconduct.’ The 5/60th were greenjackets, armed with rifles rather than the inaccurate smooth-bore