Memories of the Rifleman Benjamin Harris
Kingdom of Redonda (2008)
(Thanks to Remolina)
In 2008, Kingdom of Redonda published a new edition of the memoirs of Captain Contreras a valuable document on the life of a English soldier of the Golden Age That same year, the peculiar and academic editorial writer Javier Marias continued with the genre of war testimonies reissuing 'Memories of the Rifleman "(" The Recollections of rifleman Harris'), on the life of a British soldier from the early nineteenth century, who participated in the campaigns against Napoleon through half of Europe.
The main difference between both books is that, although the first dating back two centuries before, the author wrote it with his own hand, while the second was illiterate, and therefore owe it to someone else, the editor Henry Curling, its collection and start writing, some thirty years after the guns stop Rifleman Harris. These reports have been published several times, often relocating several passages, as the original volume, in spite of being arranged chronologically, contains several jumps back and forth, and some repetitions. This edition, by Ian Robertson returns to the original order, except for a paragraph that moves from site. This decision reinforces the sense of oral reports, war stories, we might say, having heard a veteran such as we said and as you come to mind.
memories themselves occupy only about two hundred pages, and if the book arrives at 360 is based include the prologue and epilogue Robertson in both English and English, including illustrations repeating (¿?), and the usual list of titles and positions of the imaginary kingdom of Redonda Marias continues to play to keep alive .
Harris was the son of a pastor of Dorset, and a young man learned the trade of shoemaker. Drawn out in 1802 for the Army Reserve and was forced to leave their homes just as his father began to need care and attention, as ill health were viniéndosele up. " Impressed with the look and reputation of the riflemen, with their green uniforms (like the covers of this book) and its obligation always go in the most dangerous places (first or last front line in the rear), ended in one of his best regiments, the 95 th. After spending periods of training in England and Ireland, he practiced his craft in Denmark, Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands.
landed in the Iberian Peninsula in Portugal, participated in major battles and Vimeiro Roliça and entered Spain just in time to join the dangerous and horrible withdrawal of the troops of General Moore from the plateau of Castile and Leon to the ports Vigo and La Coruna, persecuted by the French in midwinter and in the midst of great suffering. Achieved Vigo embarked on by the hair and after recovering back in England, was sent to Walcheren in the Netherlands, where, as almost all the English landed there, he fell so gravely ill that took years to recover enough to lead a life more or less normal. Therefore had to hang up his gun and return to be a shoemaker, which moreover do not stop even during his life as a soldier. His ability and the importance of footwear in an army away from home made him a valuable soldier beyond his ability to shoot.
English as a good soldier during his narrative can not avoid dropping his pride considered part of the best army the world, the best regiment, along with the best officers, etc., and you miss it strange to discover that they are not particularly welcome in many places to go, despite "coming to help." That was, obviously, the official excuse. The truth is that the British gave aid was for pure political interest to the progress of the great enemy of the moment, France.
Those things aside, as expected, a soldier's memoirs contain things that would be taken by incredible if there was a work of fiction and contain passages that even the best novelist could improve. In Portugal, after he witnessed a sergeant in great agony after being shot "Going from side to side as he crossed from side to side through both English", "half an hour had left the sergeant Frazer and, indeed, had so completely forgotten as if he died one hundred years. And that the spectacle of so much bloodshed that the mind does not allow delay in death in particular, even if it's the best friend of one. There was no time to think, because at that time it was all action for the Rifles, and barrel of my gun was so hot I could barely continuous shooting touch, and I was obliged to hold the rifle butt as he kept shooting. "
Later, after the battle, "I suddenly noticed a dead man who had fallen (...) opposite side from the bushes charred (...). This unfortunate, French apparently was so roasted as if it had been broached and turned into a fire. Several of my teammates were like me, and once more exchanged pleasantries about the look of the poor guy. All her clothes had been burned, and he was quite churruscado and shrunk like a dried frog. He pointed to one or two of the soldiers beside him, and we examined it closely with no little curiosity, turning their guns. I am surprised to remember how miserable fate of that poor wretch then we did not raise any compassion, but only laughter. "
There is also an emotional episode with the wife of a dead comrade, a peculiar situation in the home of a Danish and her five daughters, a sad Christmas Eve snowfall in Sahagún (León), drinking in several countries, Portuguese black eyes, and finally the desire, after months and months of convalescence that "For God's sake, let me go and die in my regiment!". But certainly my favorite paragraph is:
"While I was there sick (in hospital in Hythe, following the withdrawal from Galicia), I remember hearing that at some point he had decided to dispense with the Salute to bury our comrades, and many died so quickly. When he finally left the hospital and went to the cemetery to see their graves, I saw them lined up in two rows. In the same way they had to make in life, also lay dead in formation. "
Harris's military career was not particularly long, since being called up in 1802 to its final low in 1814, twelve years, but their active participation in foreign wars is reduced to the period 1808-1810. However, when Curling collected his memories, he considered a perfect example of the type of soldier who forged a global empire for His Majesties Gracious. So we should thank you put on record for posterity these experiences that he admired Harris could not write.
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