{"product_id":"2940013158368","title":"Twenty-Five Years In The Rifle Brigade","description":"CHAPTER I.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     Birth and Parentage--Enters the Militia--Volunteers into the\u003cbr\u003e     Line--Joins the Army destined for Holland--The Troops embark at\u003cbr\u003e     Deal--Land at the Helder--Laxity of discipline--March for\u003cbr\u003e     Schagen--Detachment under Sir Ralph Abercromby sent to surprise\u003cbr\u003e     Hoorne--Hoorne surrenders.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI was born on the 4th of August, 1781, in the village of Corbridge, in\u003cbr\u003ethe county of Northumberland; of parents who may be said to have been\u003cbr\u003eamong the middle classes, my father being a tradesman. They gave me such\u003cbr\u003ean education as was customary with people of their station in life; viz.\u003cbr\u003ereading, writing, and arithmetic. My mother having sprung from a pious\u003cbr\u003erace, was the first to implant in my mind any sense of religion; indeed,\u003cbr\u003eit is to the spiritual seed sown in my heart by her during my youth,\u003cbr\u003ethat I am indebted, under God, for having been brought, many years\u003cbr\u003eafterwards, to consider my ways, and to turn to Him. Nevertheless, being\u003cbr\u003enaturally of a sensual and wicked disposition, I, as might be expected,\u003cbr\u003espent a dissolute youth, which often caused great pain and uneasiness to\u003cbr\u003emy good and pious mother. But I did not continue long under the paternal\u003cbr\u003eroof; for, having from my infancy a great predilection for a military\u003cbr\u003elife, I embraced almost the first opportunity that offered, after I\u003cbr\u003ebecame sufficiently grown, to enter into the militia of my native\u003cbr\u003ecounty. I enlisted on the 15th of November, 1798, being then little more\u003cbr\u003ethan seventeen years of age. I entered this service with the\u003cbr\u003edetermination that, should I not like a soldier's life, I would then,\u003cbr\u003eafter remaining a few years in it, return home; but, if I did like it,\u003cbr\u003eto volunteer into the line, and make that my occupation for life. It\u003cbr\u003ewill readily be believed that this undutiful step affected deeply my\u003cbr\u003eexcellent parents; for though my father was not _then_ a religious man,\u003cbr\u003ehe had a heart susceptible of the tenderest feelings; and I really\u003cbr\u003ebelieve that no parents ever felt more deeply the combined emotions of\u003cbr\u003etender regret at my leaving them so young, and for such a purpose, and\u003cbr\u003eat the disgrace which my wayward conduct had, as they imagined, brought\u003cbr\u003eupon myself. But though evil in itself, God overruled it for good to me,\u003cbr\u003eand, I trust, to them also. I would here remark that the life of a\u003cbr\u003esoldier was by no means considered in my native village, at that time,\u003cbr\u003eas at all creditable; and when I sometimes in my boyhood used to exhibit\u003cbr\u003esymptoms of a military inclination, I was often taunted with the then\u003cbr\u003eopprobrious expression, \"Ay, thou likes the smell of poother,\"\u003cbr\u003eintimating thereby that I was likely to disgrace myself by going for a\u003cbr\u003esoldier.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI left my family in much grief in the beginning of 1799, and marched\u003cbr\u003ewith several other recruits to join my regiment at Chelmsford in Essex,\u003cbr\u003ewhere we arrived in about a month, and where I began my military career.\u003cbr\u003eI always liked a soldier's life, consequently I did not suffer from many\u003cbr\u003eof those parts of it which are so unpleasant to those of a contrary\u003cbr\u003edisposition; and, as I took pleasure in it, I of course made more\u003cbr\u003eprogress in acquiring a knowledge of my duty than some others who set\u003cbr\u003eout with me. I was early placed in the first squad, an honour which I\u003cbr\u003econsidered no trifling one in those days,--but none of us finished our\u003cbr\u003edrill; for, in July of the same year, an order was issued, permitting\u003cbr\u003esuch men as chose to extend their services, to volunteer into the line,\u003cbr\u003ein order to recruit the army then destined for Holland. We had\u003cbr\u003epreviously marched from Chelmsford to Colchester, a distance of\u003cbr\u003etwenty-one miles, which march was to me, I think, the severest I ever\u003cbr\u003eunderwent; for being young, and totally unaccustomed to any thing like\u003cbr\u003eit, the weight of the musket, bayonet, accoutrements, and knapsack,\u003cbr\u003eappeared, towards the latter end of the march, to be almost intolerable;\u003cbr\u003ebut I kept up, although excessively tired. This will show how necessary\u003cbr\u003eit is at all times to accustom troops, destined for service, to move in\u003cbr\u003esuch order as they will be expected to do when they take the field--for,\u003cbr\u003eif unaccustomed to the carriage of the knapsack, and to frequent marches\u003cbr\u003ewith it for exercise, they will be utterly unable to perform any\u003cbr\u003emovement against, or in the face of an enemy, with that celerity\u003cbr\u003enecessary to ensure success.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47147462492400,"sku":"2940013158368","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013158368_p0.jpg?v=1763577748","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013158368","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}