He advised the building of the Martello
towers which had been found very useful in Corsica. Sandgate
inhabitants were greatly reassured when he took lodgings for his
mother and spinster sister, Jane.
After a good dinner at York Cottage, he
recommended the officers present to run up the hill back to the camp. He
declared that every inch of land would be fiercely defended.
On the heights of Shorncliffe he trained
the Light Brigade in the tactics of swift movement and harassment of the
enemy that he had learnt in the American war. He was a humane commander,
choosing his young officers carefully and following their career, even
sometimes lending money for the purpose of commissions.
The men, as well as being correctly
drilled, should learn the arts of peace, reading and music. He did not
use the customary harsh punishments for the slightest breach of military
discipline. Any hardships they faced, he would share, sleeping out in
the rain when tents were unobtainable in Ireland.
His father was a successful doctor and
author but he was not rich. In an age when commissions were awarded
through patronage or money, the young John had to make his own way in
the world and gradually climbed the latter of promotion, ending as a
General and Knight of the Bath.
He never married, believing matrimony to
be unwise for a serving officer but lost his heart twice, once to pretty
Caroline Fox - he was 46, she was 17 - and to Lady Hester Stanhope,
Pitt's niece and an adventurous traveller in the East.
He served with distinction in many
theatres of war, first in Minorca at the age of 15, in American, in
Corsica, in the West Indies, where he nearly died of yellow fever but
won praise in two key battles, and in Holland where he was several times
wounded.
He was dubious about Britain's chances in
Egypt, but the battle of Alexandrian was a triumph and it ended in the
French expulsion from the whole country. The officers presented him with
a magnificent sword, speaking of their respect and veneration for him.
He went to Sicily which he found full of
dirt and intrigue, and to Sweden where he had to escape in disguise from
the made King Gustav who had threatened to arrest him. His last command
was in Portugal and Spain. The French were in a strong position and the
Spanish army was not to be relied on. Even the English troops were
in a mutinous mood when asked to retreat northwards, the idea being to
cut Napoleon's lines of communication with France.
The weather was icy, the road difficult
and the stand at Corunna could be considered a victory or defeat,
depending on the view taken of it. Moore was badly wounded by sent away
the surgeon to attend on others who had a better chance of life.
The Rev. Charles Wolfe's poem caught the
imagination of the nation:
Not a drum was heard, not a
funeral note,
As his corse to the rampart we
hurried;
Not a soldier discharged his
farewell shot,
O'er the grave where our hero
is buried.
There is a monument in St Paul's Church
but he still lied at Corunna in a building overlooking the Atlantis
surrounded by a beautiful garden.
200 Years Anniversary of the Death of Sir John Moore
Article to be published in the Winter 08 Sandgate News |
