Visiting the 60th Rifles

Edrington shrugged, and Duke Orsino shifted. The black gelding was still young, and being trained, but the way Simmerson had treated his horse seemed to have unsettled him. "He'll have to find new ways - I don't think he's seen any active service since ... Well, possibly none. And we do rather depend on our neighbours - which might be the 33rd."

Brandy whickered softly, and Vickery patted his neck again. "I hope he won't do anything stupid, that's all. I am firmly of the opinion that men shouldn't be allowed to end up in charge of a regiment without having experienced active service beforehand. It causes far too much uncertainty."

"We don't have time..." Edrington stopped and said rather more temperately. "He has experienced majors. My hope would rather be that - for one reason or another - he lets them guide him, or even command the regiment, until he is more sure of what he is doing. As he did at Pombal."

"I think that is about the best that we can hope for," Vickery said. "I would not rely too heavily on the 33rd until we know whether they and their Colonel may be relied upon."

Edrington grinned. "If you have to fall back on the line, make for the 62nd then. If you take refuge with the 33rd you might not get out so easily." It was, he thought, easy to say that he shouldn't rely on Simmerson and the 33rd, but in battle you relied on each other, and they were likely to be brigaded together. All he could do was hope that Picton - or any other general in charge, up to and including Wellesley, knew the man's weaknesses, and strengths - if they existed.

"We'll do that, sir," Vickery said, hoping that they wouldn't find themselves in a position where they had to trust to the 33rd's steadiness under fire. It was quite a pleasant day, and even Simerson's boorishness couldn't completely spoil it.

"I think I should reinforce the scouts, sir. And I will show you the Company books and Pye's transfer papers this evening, before letting Simmerson see them."

"Very well. I leave that to you. And I hope to God there is nothing wrong with the paperwork... At either end."

"There won't be, sir," Vickery said, a hint of determination showing on his face.

"You show remarkable faith in the 33rd - there is going to be a risk that they won't be able to find their documents. But ours will have the necessary signatures." Edrington stared ahead. The French were there, and he was worrying about paperwork. "I'd rather like Si.. the Colonel to take his complaint to the General. He would put him right on the merits of Riflemen. "

Vickery refrained from rolling his eyes. "If Simmerson and the 33rd have lost their paperwork, that is their lookout, sir. I would have thought he would have more important things to be worrying about than paperwork, however. Especially this close to the French." He shook his head, smiling. "And do I dare admit to wishing to be a fly on the wall during that conversation, sir?I daresay the General could make even Colonel Sir Henry Simmerson sit up and take note."

Edrington gave a quick smile, but became serious. "We will need your riflemen, and you, but we also need the 33rd, and the other line regiments. We just have to hope that we can convince Colonel Simmerson - because paperwork, however excellent, isn't going to make him our friend."

"I doubt there is anything that can work such a miracle as that, sir. We will just have to do the best we can and hope that what we do can convince him of our usefulness. Although he strikes me as one who prefers all soldiers to stand in line and be shot at, as in the days of Marlborough. I rather fancy that Riflemen have no place in the field of battle as he imagines it to be. Although I am prepared to be mistaken, of course."

Vickery thought again how lucky he and his men were to be attached to a regiment such a the 62nd, whose Colonel was prepared to see the merits of the Rifles.

"He has yet to face the tirailleurs... We adapt and experiment, of course, as they did in Marlborough's day, and improve on what we already have."

"We may, but I rather suspect that to someone of Simmerson's stamp, a battle should be exactly as depicted in paintings of Maplaquet or Blenheim. Bugles, banners and bags of glory - nothing else will do. I sincerely hope I am wrong, however."

"And cannon with little balls of white smoke - I have one of my great-grandfather, on a rather unlikely horse... " Edrington smiled and then shrugged. "We must wait and see. I do not doubt that you will do what is required, if you are given the chance, and Colonel Simmerson will not persuade me otherwise."

"We shall do our utmost to repay your trust. And it shall not be said that the Rifles fell at the first hurdle. You have seen a demonstration of our tactics, but a demonstration cannot show how men will perform when under fire, after all. After Vimeiro and Rolica, I feel I can assure you that we know our duty and will do our utmost to execute it. And I daresay there are some in green who will take a chance to do their duty even if that chance is not given to them by those in power."

Edrington raised an eyebrow at that declaration of independence. "You and your men will obey orders, Captain Vickery, and wait to be asked. A fine thing it would be if Companies took it into their own heads to act without the faintest idea of where that action fits into the overall plan - and what else they might have been required to do, if they hadn't decided to use their initiative."

Vickery looked across at the 62nd's Colonel. "I was not referring to my men or myself, Colonel." He glanced towards where Sharpe and his men of the 95th were marching. "There are some men who think the less of a man because of where he has come from, despite his being where he is now. And for those who have fought their way up, they have to keep fighting to prove that they are worthy of being where they are now. And I do not just mean on the field of battle, either."

The Colonel's lips twitched. "There are indeed, but I struggle against it. But I will say the same thing to Mr Sharpe. Once you have your orders, and are in action, you and he will no doubt use your initiative - but neither I nor the Generals will want to find that even so small a part of the army has wandered off to do its own thing without waiting to learn what it might usefully be employed in doing."

Vickery's lip twitched. "I am sure that Mister Sharpe, from all I have heard of him, will not fail to find some sort of useful employment. Apparently he has a knack of doing that."

"I will discuss that with Mr Sharpe," Edrington said repressively. "Possibly his previous commanders have failed to appreciate him."

"Quite possibly they have, sir," Vickery answered blandly. "I believe I shall increase the number of our scouting patrols, sir. I should think twenty men should be sufficient, and that will allow those of us left to reinforce them in good time, if needed. Do you suppose that the Frogs have done the sensible thing and retreated across the Douro by now?"

"Not as far as I know - but they may do so once they learn we are here in such numbers. They must have their agents and spies, as we do. But we are to assume that their forward position is just north of the Vouga, and that the chances of their patrols being south of the river - to see what we are up to - much be high."