FRANCS.Colonel8564.21Lieutenant-colonel6934.74Major and Chef d'Escadron5797.90Captain3221.05First-lieutenant2842.11Second-lieutenant2652.63Sub-lieutenant2463.16Adjutant1022.00Sergeant-major511.00Sergeant401.50Farrier346.75Corporal200.75Trumpeter127.75Trooper109.50
(The N.C.O.s have 91.25 francs extra in the field.)
Note the exactitude of the above figures to a single centime, and yet there may be in addition hundreds or even thousands of francs handled in reality, either in money or in kind.
Always, &c.,(Signed) URBAIN GOHIER.
I leave to M. Gohier the whole responsibility for these statements, as I am not in a position to test their correctness. I may add, however, that French officers, whatever their faults, have always seemed to me remarkably straightforward in money matters, and even M. Gohier—whom I cannot follow in his virulent attacks upon all officers indiscriminately—has never even hinted that any of them enrich themselves by dishonourable means.
Accused persons are examined by aJuge d'instruction(examining magistrate)in camera. Prisoners are considered guilty until they can prove their innocence. The examining magistrate can use any means he likes to obtain a confession; he can send a prisoner to solitary confinement (au secret) for weeks, if he chooses. He collects all information respecting the prisoner, bewilders him, lies to him if he thinks fit, and can keep him for months in confinement, before committing him for trial or releasing him.
In most of the cases which would be disposed of in England by a Police Magistrate, within twenty-four hours of arrest, the accused is kept, in France, for a period of from one to three months under lock and key, before being tried by thePolice Correctionnelle(Police Court), and in case of crimes which have to be tried by a jury the preliminary inquiry orinstructionlasts from three toeighteenmonths. Three or four years ago in one of the celebrated cases which ended in an acquittal, theinstructionof the case lasted eighteen months, during the whole of which time the accused was kept in prison, being for a considerable period in the strictest solitary confinement.
It is only during the last two years that a new law has been passed, enabling accused persons to be assisted by counsel during theinstruction—counsel being present during the examination of the accused. Formerly theaccused was not allowed to be assisted by counsel until the examination was closed.
As I said before, bail does not exist in France, except in rare instances with the approval of the Minister for Justice. In such cases bail takes the form of a deposit in cash, usually amounting to many hundreds or even thousands of pounds.
TheJuge d'instructioncan, however, release a prisoner off hand, or grant him provisional liberty, but this is also very rarely done.
Limitation in the case of criminal offences, however, exists in France. For offences which entail a maximum punishment of five years' imprisonment, no prosecution can take place after a lapse of three years from the date of the commission of the crime.
In the case of felonies (even in the case of murder), no prosecution can take place after thirty years have elapsed since the crime was committed.
On the other hand, if a citizen is accused of any crime or felony, and he absconds, he can be tried and sentencedpar contumacein his absence.
Constitution of a Squadron.Captain in Command.Second Captain.1st Peloton2nd Peloton(30 men)(30 men)1st LieutenantSub-lieutenant(In command)(In command)Sergeant-majorSergeant2 SergeantsCaporal-fourrierTrumpeterTrumpeter3rd Peloton4th Peloton(30 men)(30 men)Sub-lieutenant2nd Lieutenant(In command)(In command)SergeantSergent-fourrier2 SergeantsTrumpeterTrumpeterEachpeloton(company) consists of threeescouades(squads) of ten men, each under a corporal.Total.2 Captains.1Caporal-fourrier.2 Lieutenants.6 Sergeants.2 Sub-lieutenants.12 Corporals.1 Sergeant-major.4 Trumpeters.1Sergent-fourrier.120 Troopers.
Printed byBallantyne, Hanson & Co.London & Edinburgh
BEING THE EXPERIENCES OF A PRIVATESOLDIER IN THE BRITISH INFANTRYAT HOME AND ABROADBYHORACE WYNDHAMLATE OF THE —TH REGT.Crown 8vo, cloth. Price 3s. 6d.
The Academy.—"A really excellent budget of information about Army life in all its aspects. We can cordially recommend it to all who take a personal or patriotic interest in the army."
The Daily Mail.—"A particularly interesting and instructive book about army life in its varied aspects. Even Mr. Kipling may learn a great deal from these enlightening pages."
The Daily Telegraph.—"The book is full of excellent suggestions on matters both great and small, and should prove of much interest to the general public. Mr. Wyndham gives a bright and amusing as well as a faithful record, and he renders a real service in bringing home to us the daily life of the men in the Queen's service."
The Spectator.—"As a description of a phase of existence very little known outside the Army itself, and in its inner details only vaguely surmised even by the most careful officers, we think it ought to be very interesting to many readers both inside and outside the Army. In all his views the author is wholesome, sane, and intelligent. His discussion of the position of gentlemen in the ranks, and scornful repudiation of the idea of a 'regiment of gentlemen,' are both interesting."
The Speaker.—"Mr. Wyndham's book has, in a high degree, the qualities of truthfulness and modesty; the author makes it his business to tell an unvarnished tale, to put life itself upon the page; and we may safely say that the result of his endeavour is a narrative which can be neglected by no judicious writer upon the subject of life in the British Army during recent years."
The Pall Mall Gazette.—"Life as a soldier has been described several times before, but never with such effect as in this handy and interesting volume. The interesting matter and common sense contained therein thoroughly recommend it to all interested in the welfare of the Army."
Literature.—"It is to Mr. Wyndham's advantage that he is throughout in perfect touch with his subject, instead of treating it from theolim meminissestandpoint, which is generally misleading and sometimes insincere. Another point in his favour is that he is up-to-date. His work, as a whole, will probably hold good for some years to come, as not only a readable narrative but also a substantially accurate work of reference."
The Outlook.—"No one interested in the contemporary condition or in the future amelioration of the British Army can neglect such a book as this, for it affords a remarkable glimpse of military life at the very bottom of the ladder. It is, moreover, both lucid and temperate."
The World.—"Gives one a very good notion of the soldier's life at Aldershot, the Curragh, or Gib.—cleaning, drilling, feeding, mounting guard—a life which is so like that of the ordinary housemaid, until the guns begin to shoot. The private's grievances are set forth moderately and convincingly. Mr. Wyndham's book, giving the soldier's view, should point the way to those whose pressing duty it is to make military service more popular."
The Nottingham Guardian.—"Mr. Wyndham is gifted with no inconsiderable power of observation, and writes in a style at once forcible and agreeable. He gives remarkably graphic pictures of life in barracks and in camp, and criticises with the freedom of one who has made the subject a speciality."
London: WM. HEINEMANN, 21 Bedford St., W.C.
(1812-1813)AUTHORISED TRANSLATION, FROM THEFRENCH ORIGINAL EDITED BYPAUL COTTINANDMAURICE HÉNAULTWith a Frontispiece. 8vo, cloth. Price 6s.
The Review of Reviews.—"All imaginative pictures drawn by authors in an attempt to depict war as it really is sink into insignificance beside this actual record of a soldier's daily experience in the rearguard of the Army of Moscow. The Peace Societies could desire no more effective literature, and, if they are wise, will do all they can to promote the sale of this book."
The Times.—"A vivid narrative of Napoleon's ill-starred Russian campaign as viewed from the ranks. Bourgogne was a shrewd soldier, imbued with the national worship of Napoleon, experienced in the wars of the Empire, and endowed with a rare narrative power. The dramatic and tragic incidents with which his pages abound are full of attraction."
The Pall Mall Gazette.—"Bourgogne is, so to speak, the small-change for De Ségur—the vernacular of that classic. The Brigadier-General on the Staff tells you what the retreat from Moscow looked like. The Sergeant of the Guard was in a position to tell you what it felt like. Moreover, the Sergeant happens to be an impressionist of the convincing sort. He not only makes you see what he saw, but he perfectly persuades you that he saw it. So it is that the true inwardness of the ghastlydébacleis shown up to you with a new vividness by the ingenuous sidelights this literary non-com. has cast upon it."
The Morning Post.—"These Memoirs are well written, full of interest, and abound in dramatic situations. They have, moreover, the recommendation of being admirably rendered into English, and read almost like an English work."
Literature.—"Ségur tells the story of the disastrous retreat from the officer's point of view. Now we have the narrative of the soldier in the ranks. Ségur was a man of culture. Bourgogne was not always sure of his spelling. Yet the sergeant's story is the more vivid of the two. He was nolittérateur, yet his book, for intensity of feeling, minuteness of description, even lucidity of style, will vie with any romance of war."
The Illustrated London News.—"No adventure-story ever written approaches in interest the appalling account of the retreat from Moscow given by Sergeant Bourgogne in his Memoirs. Poe himself could not invent horrors more ghastly, nor describe them more graphically."
The Daily Chronicle.—"Verily this is a human document of the most terrible and engrossing kind we ever remember to have come across. The annals of war are rich in tales of disaster and suffering, but in none so dreadful as this story of the retreat of Napoleon's Grand Army from Moscow. Sergeant Bourgogne has left us a record, of the campaign from the point of view of the common soldier which must rank as an unconscious masterpiece of naïve and touching war-chronicling and characterisation. His narrative bears the hall-mark of veracity and vivid realism. No romancer could possibly have served up such a gruesome dish of military horrors as has now been placed before us by Sergeant Bourgogne. Even Nansen in his 'Farthest North' pales in interest before the frosts, the snows, and the cruel winds of this non-commissioned Xenophon of the Imperial Guard. We can heartily recommend this book as one of the most appalling, and at times pathetic, pictures of the horrors of war that was ever penned."
London: WM. HEINEMANN, 21 Bedford St., W.C.
Transcriber's NotesThe Table of Contents was generated for this file.Obvious errors of punctuation and diacritics repaired.Hyphen added: head-gear (p. 49).Hyphen removed: headquarters (p. 31).P. 17: "de" changed to "des" (Maréchal des Logis Chef).P. 37: "to" added (told us to go to the Paymaster's).P. 47: "arn't" changed to "aren't" (socks aren't regulation).P. 89: "be" changed to "he" ("Now look here, old man," said he).P. 110: "talking" changed to "taking" (taking off his hat).P. 144-5: duplicate syllable at page boundary removed (hollering).P. 171: "your're" changed to "you're" (you're holding there).P. 202: duplicate "that" deleted (tell me that you have come here).Ad for "The Queen's Service": "olium meminisse" changed to "olim meminisse".
The Table of Contents was generated for this file.
Obvious errors of punctuation and diacritics repaired.
Hyphen added: head-gear (p. 49).
Hyphen removed: headquarters (p. 31).
P. 17: "de" changed to "des" (Maréchal des Logis Chef).
P. 37: "to" added (told us to go to the Paymaster's).
P. 47: "arn't" changed to "aren't" (socks aren't regulation).
P. 89: "be" changed to "he" ("Now look here, old man," said he).
P. 110: "talking" changed to "taking" (taking off his hat).
P. 144-5: duplicate syllable at page boundary removed (hollering).
P. 171: "your're" changed to "you're" (you're holding there).
P. 202: duplicate "that" deleted (tell me that you have come here).
Ad for "The Queen's Service": "olium meminisse" changed to "olim meminisse".