’Precisely. Those are Oudinot’s
famous grenadiers. And the other grenadiers,
with the red shoulder-knots and the fur hats strapped
above their knapsacks, are the Imperial Guard, the
successors of the old Consular Guard who won Marengo
for us. Eighteen hundred of them got the cross
of honour after the battle. There is the 57th
of the line, which has been named “The Terrible,”
and there is the 7th Light Infantry, who come from
the Pyrenees, and who are well known to be the best
marchers and the greatest rascals in the army.
The light cavalry in green are the Horse Chasseurs
of the Guard, sometimes called the Guides, who are
said to be the Emperor’s favourite troops, although
he makes a great mistake if he prefers them to the
Hussars of Bercheny. The other cavalry with
the green pelisses are also chasseurs, but I cannot
tell from here what regiment they are. Their
colonel handles them admirably. They are moving
to a flank in open column of half-squadrons and then
wheeling into line to charge. We could not do
it better ourselves. And now, Monsieur de Laval,
here we are at the gates of the Camp of Boulogne,
and it is my duty to take you straight to the Emperor’s
quarters.’
CHAPTER X
THE ANTE-ROOM
The camp of Boulogne contained at that time one hundred
and fifty thousand infantry, with fifty thousand cavalry,
so that its population was second only to Paris among
the cities of France. It was divided into four
sections, the right camp, the left camp, the camp of
Wimereux, and the camp of Ambleteuse, the whole being
about a mile in depth, and extending along the seashore
for a length of about seven miles. On the land
side it was open, but on the sea side it was fringed
by powerful batteries containing mortars and cannon
of a size never seen before. These batteries
were placed along the edges of the high cliffs, and
their lofty position increased their range, and enabled
them to drop their missiles upon the decks of the
English ships.
It was a pretty sight to ride through the camp, for
the men had been there for more than a year, and had
done all that was possible to decorate and ornament
their tents. Most of them had little gardens
in front or around them, and the sun-burned fellows
might be seen as we passed kneeling in their shirt-sleeves
with their spuds and their watering-cans in the midst
of their flower-beds. Others sat in the sunshine
at the openings of the tents tying up their queues,
pipe-claying their belts, and polishing their arms,
hardly bestowing a glance upon us as we passed, for
patrols of cavalry were coming and going in every
direction. The endless lines were formed into
streets, with their names printed up upon boards.
Thus we had passed through the Rue d’Arcola,
the Rue de Kleber, the Rue d’Egypte, and the
Rue d’Artillerie Volante, before we found ourselves
in the great central square in which the headquarters
of the army were situated.
Copyrights
Uncle Bernac from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.
