Beat the Drums Slowly by Adrian Goldsworthy

Author:Adrian Goldsworthy [Goldsworthy, Adrian]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
Tags: Historical, Fiction, Mystery & Detective
ISBN: 9780297860396
Google: zQk3cPmK550C
Amazon: B005DXP8I8
Barnesnoble: B005DXP8I8
Publisher: W&N
Published: 2011-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

16

Bodies lay everywhere. In this alley it was hard to walk and not tread on human flesh. Major MacAndrews wished that his wife had not insisted on coming with him. He could see that she was at least as tired as he was, and a natural protectiveness convinced him that she was less able to bear it. It was also a shame that she should have to see this. There was no reason to expect that they would find any sign of their daughter, or indeed his missing officer. Nevertheless, they both tramped through the streets, as they did at each new town on the road. Behind them came the grenadiers and Number One Company. The rest of the battalion was allocated to clear up different parts of the town.

There were hundreds stretched in the mud of Bembibre – perhaps even thousands. Most were men, but there were a good number of women and even a few children.

‘Good God alive,’ said MacAndrews as he looked down at a child of no more than ten, bare legged and sprawled beside her mother. He could no longer remember a worse New Year.

‘Animals.’ It took a good deal to shock his wife. ‘Just animals, or perhaps worse because beasts cannot know right from wrong.’

Nearly all the men wore filthy and stained red coats. Here and there was the dark blue of an artilleryman or hussar, and just occasionally the green of a rifleman. A few moved, stirring slightly or moaning. The rest lay completely still, snow beginning to gather on them. Everywhere were dark red pools. From many an open mouth a thin stream of thick red liquid trickled.

‘Is the whole damned army drunk?’ Esther asked her husband. It was not a joke. In her voice was a doubt he had rarely heard before in all their long years of marriage. Amid such appalling scenes of collapse and disaster, her worst fears no longer seemed impossible. She shook her head, and some of the familiar spirit returned. ‘No wonder you lost America.’

MacAndrews took her hand, then had to let it go as they stepped around a circle of half a dozen redcoats and a couple of their women, all passed out where they had been licking the same pool of spilled wine. Behind them, the men of the 106th prodded, kicked and yelled at the prostrate figures. A few were already dead from the cold.

The Grenadier Company worked its way down a section of one of the side streets. Hanley stayed outside, supervising the men as they woke the sleepers in the street and dragged the dead clear of the track, while Pringle led parties of men into the buildings. In one house his grenadiers found a cellar flooded with wine where a row of barrels had been sprung open. Three redcoats floated where they had drowned when they grew insensibly drunk. The air was heavy with the smell of strong wine. Billy Pringle struggled to breathe as he leaned against the wall.

‘Waste of good wine,’ he managed to croak, and then with a gesture set the men to work clearing up.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.