Talavera Read online

  “You will rot in hell, you harridan!”

  “Rot in hell? Such a quaint concept for someone who has seen the horrors of war.”

  “Then kill me and get it over with!”

  She laughed and it was the most evil sound I had ever heard, “Kill you quickly? I think not. I have all the time in the world. Your friends search the city for me, Sharp is dead and I will enjoy making you suffer. I shall mark you a little first. A cut here, a slice there. Take an eye, your nose, your ears, I…”

  Two enormous hands appeared from out of the dark and, gripping her, lifted her bodily into the air. Her feet kicked and she tried to stab her assailant. It was to no avail. I heard a voice from behind me, “You are lucky, Robbie, that she took so long to do that which she intended. We would not have reached you in time otherwise.” It was Colonel Selkirk!

  The feet stopped moving and Angus laid down the body. “Aye, she was a tough one alright. Come, sir, let me lift you up.”

  His ham-like fist pulled me to my feet. The Colonel had lit the candle once more and was now using it to light his cigar. “You are a lucky fellow. Damned lucky! Angus, see to the Major’s wound.” The Scottish soldier ripped part of the Widow’s dress and pressed it to the wound.

  Just then the door burst open and Corporal Harris and Trooper Mulhern carried an obviously wounded Sharp down the passage and into the room. My trusty Sergeant looked up, “Colonel Selkirk, I never thought I would be so glad to see you. So, the bitch is dead?”

  Angus said, “Aye, Sergeant, I broke her bloody neck!”

  “And you, Sergeant?”

  “I didn’t trust that Giorgio. He led me down an alley and I remembered that was how they got you. He was quick and he managed to stab my left arm. I gutted him. These two lads found me.”

  “Aye, sir, the colonel kept the patrols going. We still haven’t found the lady.”

  “Nor will you. Tell the Colonel to call off his search. She was thrown into the river. The Black Widow had her killed.”

  The Colonel said, “Well you two lads take Sergeant Sharp to the doctor. Angus and I will wait with the Major until you return.”

  “But, sir…”

  “An order, Sergeant Sharp!”

  Alan reluctantly left us. When they had gone the Colonel said, “Get rid of the bodies, eh Angus.”

  “Right sir.”

  After he had gone, I said, “Well out with it, Colonel.”

  I saw the wry smile as he said, “Impertinent, Major. You are a clever laddie and I am guessing you can work most of this out.”

  “You staked me out like a goat!”

  “Aye, but it was the only way to draw her out. She failed with you and that hurt her professional pride. She planted Giorgio with the lady. I am sorry about that. We did not know that she knew the Black Widow. When the Portuguese chap was killed, we came back here and tried to find her. She remained hidden. She had gold and she used it to buy mercenaries. We have been watching your house since you arrived. She was a damned clever woman. The key we found on her dead man was what they call a skeleton key. It would open any door. I think you came within a whisker of death. We heard the pistol and came as quickly as we could. Like I said, her gloating saved you.”

  The Colonel had saved my life but that had not been important to him. He had eliminated one of Britain’s enemies. Donna Maria was just collateral damage. For me, it was a loss I would bear until the end of my days. She had died because of me and I would never forget that. I would obey orders but that night changed me forever.

  The End

  Glossary

  Fictional characters are in italics

  Boots and Saddles- a bugle call sounded for mounted troops to mount and take their place in line. It has been derived from neither boots, nor from saddles, but from the French boute-selle, "put on saddle"

  Brigadier- in the French cavalry he would be the equivalent of a corporal. In all other references, he is the commander of a brigade of either horse or foot

  Cesar Alpini- Robbie’s cousin and the head of the Sicilian branch of the family

  Sergeant Alan Sharp- Robbie’s servant and companion

  Caçadores- Portuguese light infantry

  Major Robbie (Macgregor) Matthews-illegitimate son of the Count of Breteuil

  Colonel James Selkirk- War department

  Colpack-fur hat worn by the guards and elite companies

  Crack- from the Irish ‘craich’, good fun, enjoyable

  David Hudson- The Alpini agent in London

  Joe Seymour- Corporal and then Sergeant 11th Light Dragoons

  Joseph Fouché- Napoleon’s Chief of Police and Spy catcher

  Lieutenant Commander Jonathan Teer- Captain of the Black Prince

  Le Casse-Poitrine -Rot gut (strong drink-slang)

  Les Goddams- the English (slang)

  Marche a terre- foot slogger (slang)

  Middy- Midshipman (slang)

  musketoon- Cavalry musket

  Paget Carbine- Light Cavalry weapon

  pichet- a small jug for wine in France

  Pompey- naval slang for Portsmouth

  Prefeito – Portuguese official

  Roast Beef- French slang for British soldiers

  Rooking- cheating a customer

  Snotty- naval slang for a raw lieutenant

  Tarleton Helmet- Headgear worn by light cavalry until 1812

  Vrai Bougre -old campaigner (slang) It means true fellow

  Windage- the gap between the ball and the wall of the cannon which means the ball does not fire true.

  Historical note

  For the London Street maps, I used http://mapco.net/anon/anon01.htm

  Battle of Oporto

  This battle happened almost exactly the way I wrote. I have used Major Matthews to represent the actions of a number of people. There was a damaged ferry found. The sources vary in its position. One source has it 3 Km from Oporto and the other 4 miles. I split the difference. Sir John Murray ferried two regiments of horse and a battery of horse artillery across to cut the road.

  The bridge was blown leaving Soult confident that he had held Wellesley. It was a barber who rowed across the river and told Wellesley that there were four barges hidden under the cliffs. They sailed back and forth landing three battalions. Amazingly the French mistook the red coats for Swiss mercenaries. It took an hour for the French to realise that they had the British north of the river. With a screen of tirailleurs before them, three battalions of infantry tried to shift the brigade of infantry, British howitzers silenced the batteries brought into action. With the populace raised Soult abandoned Oporto. 300 French were killed and the 1500 in Oporto hospital were taken prisoner. Only 123 British and Portuguese troops were lost. It was a remarkable victory!

  Colonel Rufane Shaw Donkin was the brigade commander of the two Irish regiments. He played an important part in the battle of Talavera too. The names of the leading characters and the role they played have been taken from the events. I have fictionalised their conversations.

  For the voyage to and from Spain, I used the Stanford University resource http:orbis.stanford.edu

  The books I used for reference were:

  Napoleon’s Line Chasseurs- Bukhari/MacBride

  Napoleon’s War in Spain- Lachouque, Tranie, Carmigniani

  The Napoleonic Source Book- Philip J Haythornthwaite,

  Wellington’s Military Machine- Philip J Haythornthwaite

  The Peninsular War- Roger Parkinson

  Military Dress of the Peninsular War 1808-1814

  The History of the Napoleonic Wars-Richard Holmes,

  The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data book- Digby Smith,

  The Napoleonic Wars Vol 1 & 2- Liliane and Fred Funcken

  The Napoleonic Wars- Michael Glover

  Talavera 1809-Chartrand and Turner

  Wellington’s Regiments- Ian Fletcher.

  Wellington’s Light Cavalry- Bryan Fosten

  Wellington’s Heavy Cavalry- Bryan Fosten


  Griff Hosker

  April 2019

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