Man Of War

There were few in that gathering who had been at the near-disastrous crossing of the Esla that day, fifteen years ago, when the Duke of Wellington began his final push to evict the French from Spain, but ‘Esla’ was seared deep in the collective memory of the regiment. And it was not, after all, a true enemy that was to be attacked: was the enterprise worth a single dragoon’s life? Hervey was keen to hear the verdict.

‘It seems to me,’ said Captain Christopher Worsley, in temporary command of Second Squadron, ‘that it is above all a test of our powers of éclairage in the dark, if such a word is not thereby inappropriate.’

Lord Holderness smiled. ‘I think, in a way, the word is really most apposite. Shall we say au clair de la lune?’

There was polite laughter.

Fairbrother was intrigued by the jousting; but Christopher Worsley, he knew, had been with Hervey at Waltham Abbey – had been shot down, indeed – and by comparison, a ride through the night in peaceable Berkshire must be nothing. ‘There is a moon, I take it?’ he whispered.

They had not seen it in a week, but the tables declared there to be one. ‘Yes; and fullish,’ replied Hervey.

Myles Vanneck spoke again. ‘But we may expect for sure that the Grenadiers will be picketing every approach to the bridge. One of their company officers told me they would be nine-hundred strong in the field.’ The First Guards, the Grenadiers, were the principal element of the opposing forces, and Vanneck did not underestimate them, for all that their days were tied to parades in the capital. ‘Do we know where the rest of the GOC’s force is, Colonel?’

‘Yes,’ said Lord Holderness assuredly. ‘They do not march from their barracks until tomorrow morning. These are preliminary trials for us and the Grenadiers, since we had no field inspection last year. It is, in truth, a contest of horse and foot. We and the Guards shall have the general’s undivided attention for a full twenty-four hours.’

‘Do we have any information regarding what else the Grenadiers may be doing, or are they entirely disposed to keeping us from the bridge?’

‘I am proceeding on that assumption,’ replied Holderness. ‘If they have other assignments then that is to our advantage. But the ratio, as you perceive, is three-to-one against us, and we the attacking force. Not what the strategian would call favourable.’

‘But we have the initiative,’ suggested Vanneck.

‘We do,’ agreed Worsley. ‘But we need more of it. Do they have any guns?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Holderness. ‘But we may learn more when we meet with the Chestnuts in one hour.’

The little group fell silent.

‘What is your opinion, Hervey?’ asked Lord Holderness, raising his voice slightly to include his erstwhile second in command.

Hervey could see no immediate course but the application of ruthless logic. A direct assault was impossible: the odds were too strongly against them, even (perhaps especially) at night. Yet if there were nine hundred Grenadiers within half an hour’s forced march of the bridge (as must be assumed), then it would avail the regiment nothing to capture it too early by, as the French called it, coup de main, for a determined counter-attack would hurl any but the strongest force from the bridge. If, however, the coup de main were left until the last minute – until just before first light – there would be no time for a secondary plan to be put into action if that were to fail. The only conclusion possible was that coup de main must be combined with ruse de guerre. But how, he could not yet fathom.

‘I see no alternative to getting across the river between here and Dorney, Colonel, and making a surprise attack from the rear with a small number of men, say a dozen, and then to employ some ruse – which I cannot yet conceive – to persuade the Grenadiers that a counterattack would be futile.’

Lord Holderness nodded, intrigued.

‘I am not proposing we disguise ourselves and try one of the bridges; the general will have them well posted with sentries, and even if we were to hoodwink them, the general would certainly disallow it once he discovered it – as he surely must do. No, we must admit the bridges destroyed as if by powder.’

Captain Worsley looked doubtful. ‘You saw the river when we crossed at Eton, Hervey. I don’t think I ever saw it worse in all the time I was there.’

Hervey nodded. He had no doubt of his brother officer’s courage. ‘The means of crossing is a practical question. First we must decide what the mission demands.’

Fairbrother pulled at Hervey’s sleeve. ‘There is a way,’ he whispered.

‘You have an opinion, Captain Fairbrother?’ said Lord Holderness.

Hervey beckoned his friend to speak.