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Article EXCERPTS ET COLLECTANEA. ← Page 4 of 4
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Excerpts Et Collectanea.
ball came by accident or design Avas never yet discovered , though more believe the latter than the former . The Major to another regiment had beat a man pretty severely as they Avere going to the field of exercise : Avhen the platoon opposite to him hat ! tired , the Major called out that he AV . IS Avoun ' ded . The man who had been beat , hearing it , immediately quitted his rankand applying himself to the officers' Gentlemensays heI
, , , , desire you will examine my arms ; my . firelock misses ! fire , and thank God it did ; ' Avhich , upon searching , proved true . ^ When the Major ' s wound Avas dressed , the top of a ramrod was taken out of it , which , it Avas supposed , had been forced off by the cartridge in ramming down the charge . Had the wound been made by a ball , and the poor fellow ' s piece not missed fire , every body would have
condemned him , as there would have been strong appearances of design against him . Upon the . retreat after the brave , but fruitless attack upon the fort of San-Lazaro , near Carthagena , in the West-Indies , the Lieutenant of grenadiers in the 15 th regiment of foot , the Captain and other Lieutenant being dangerously wounded , marching in the rear of his
men , Avhich is the officer ' s post upon a retreat , one of the men observed to him , that the Spaniards fired very thick that way ; ' but , ' says he , ' they shall not hurt you if I can piwent it , for I will march directly behind you , and receive the shot , lest they should hit you . ' This , you may be sure , the officer would not suffer for fear of his credit . They both got to the camp unhurt , but the poor honest creature died the next day of the sickness that then raged dreadfully amongst the few remaining troops .
The soldiers of a certain Scots regiment heard that their Lieutenant-colonel Avas to retire , and that a Captain , ancl not their Major , Avho was their great favourite , was to purchase of him . They held a consultation among themselves , and the result-was , a deputation of two or three of them to wait on the Major , Avho , in a very respectful manner , begyed to know if there was any truth in the report , and why he did not purchase the Lieutenant-colonelcy ? He told
them , that what the } ' had heard Avas very true , and that he could not purchase for AA'ant of money . They then entreated him to . take no steps in the affair until they had made their report to their comrades ; Avhich they immediately did , ancl by them were ' ordered to AA'ait again on the Major , ancl to tell him , that the Avhole regiment was so sensible of his merit as an officer , ancl had always been so
Avell used by him , that they were determined he should not have the mortification of a younger officer coming over him ; they therefore earnestly entreated him to make a bargain for the commission . in agitation , and they would , furnish the money , which they had actually raised amongst themselves , and which the deputies laid before him at the same time . This singular act of generosity and gratitude did not take place , for the Lieutenant-colonel Avas either killed or preferred , I forget which now , and the Major succeeded him , to the great joy of the whole corps .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Excerpts Et Collectanea.
ball came by accident or design Avas never yet discovered , though more believe the latter than the former . The Major to another regiment had beat a man pretty severely as they Avere going to the field of exercise : Avhen the platoon opposite to him hat ! tired , the Major called out that he AV . IS Avoun ' ded . The man who had been beat , hearing it , immediately quitted his rankand applying himself to the officers' Gentlemensays heI
, , , , desire you will examine my arms ; my . firelock misses ! fire , and thank God it did ; ' Avhich , upon searching , proved true . ^ When the Major ' s wound Avas dressed , the top of a ramrod was taken out of it , which , it Avas supposed , had been forced off by the cartridge in ramming down the charge . Had the wound been made by a ball , and the poor fellow ' s piece not missed fire , every body would have
condemned him , as there would have been strong appearances of design against him . Upon the . retreat after the brave , but fruitless attack upon the fort of San-Lazaro , near Carthagena , in the West-Indies , the Lieutenant of grenadiers in the 15 th regiment of foot , the Captain and other Lieutenant being dangerously wounded , marching in the rear of his
men , Avhich is the officer ' s post upon a retreat , one of the men observed to him , that the Spaniards fired very thick that way ; ' but , ' says he , ' they shall not hurt you if I can piwent it , for I will march directly behind you , and receive the shot , lest they should hit you . ' This , you may be sure , the officer would not suffer for fear of his credit . They both got to the camp unhurt , but the poor honest creature died the next day of the sickness that then raged dreadfully amongst the few remaining troops .
The soldiers of a certain Scots regiment heard that their Lieutenant-colonel Avas to retire , and that a Captain , ancl not their Major , Avho was their great favourite , was to purchase of him . They held a consultation among themselves , and the result-was , a deputation of two or three of them to wait on the Major , Avho , in a very respectful manner , begyed to know if there was any truth in the report , and why he did not purchase the Lieutenant-colonelcy ? He told
them , that what the } ' had heard Avas very true , and that he could not purchase for AA'ant of money . They then entreated him to . take no steps in the affair until they had made their report to their comrades ; Avhich they immediately did , ancl by them were ' ordered to AA'ait again on the Major , ancl to tell him , that the Avhole regiment was so sensible of his merit as an officer , ancl had always been so
Avell used by him , that they were determined he should not have the mortification of a younger officer coming over him ; they therefore earnestly entreated him to make a bargain for the commission . in agitation , and they would , furnish the money , which they had actually raised amongst themselves , and which the deputies laid before him at the same time . This singular act of generosity and gratitude did not take place , for the Lieutenant-colonel Avas either killed or preferred , I forget which now , and the Major succeeded him , to the great joy of the whole corps .