Chapter 4:The First Duel

The transports that had lifted us from Bordeaux disembarked us on the English coast at Lyme Regis, where we kicked our heels for a week or two while the Powers That Be decided where next the regiment would be deployed. There was a certain amount of unrest in South West England, due to several factors, but in the main to the high price of food, and the greed of some landowners who were hell bent on enclosing common land.

During the time spent at Lyme Regis I had the good fortune to purchase a captain's commission, and as it was from an officer of the 69th I had no need to transfer into a different regiment.
Captain Ebenezer Merryweather had looked upon me as his protégé from the time I had first enlisted into the 69th at Lincoln, but after gaining my commission I was assigned to Captain Gurney Slade's company, and so saw less of him. Merry, as he was known, was an old man, well into his forties, and when Napoleon abdicated Merry decided to retire from the army, as there would be little chance of promotion now that the mainspring of the last war had been exiled to the island of Elba. To obtain ready money he was prepared to sell his captain's commission, and offered me first refusal.

I had spent most of my Badajoz plunder, but still had the gold coins that I had acquired after the battle of Vittoria, when King Joseph's baggage train had fallen into our hands and I was fortunate enough to be on hand when it happened. Our cavalry had made off with the most of the silver and gold plate, including King Joseph's chamber pot, but I came across several saddle bags, stuffed with gold coin. Wellington was greatly displeased that his troops had stopped to plunder the baggage train of King Joseph instead of chasing after the French, but then Wellington had plenty of gold and silver of his own, whereas we hadn't been paid for months.

I gratefully accepted Captain Merryweather's offer, and in due time became Captain Greenaway. I was very pleased to have reached this rank so swiftly, as I was not yet twenty four years of age. It was while Merry and I were celebrating his retirement, and my promotion, in the Lamb and Flag tavern in Lyme Regis that he told me of what had happened to poor Charles St. John. Captain Merryweather had been present when the initial argument had ignited.

"Braxton-Clark had had an astonishing run of luck with the cards, winning several rubbers of whist with his partner, that odious little man Maddox. I decided to quit the table then, as that sort of luck is usually because of card sharping, not that I could see how it was done. They then went on to play vingt et une, with Braxton-Clark acting as banker."
Merry took a pinch of snuff, offered me the box, which I refused, and continued his tale.

"Charles St. John had been drinking, heavily, and losing at cards, heavily. After losing another five card trick to Braxton-Clark's vingt et une, Charlie said, 'You must be frightfully unlucky in love, Butcher, as you are so damned lucky at cards.'"
Merry took another pinch from his snuff box.

"Charlie must have meant to antagonize Braxton-Clark by reminding us that he had started life as a butcher's boy. It certainly succeeded in doing just that, for I could see that Braxton-Clark was livid with anger. However he kept his composure, and replied, in a sneering tone, that his name was Jarvis, and that St. John must be as drunk as a fiddler's bitch not to able to recall the name. All of Braxton-Clark's cronies laughed at that and poor Charlie jumped up from his chair in a rage and shouted 'How dare you accuse me of being drunk, take it back this instant!' Braxton-Clark then asked Charlie if he was calling him out, and Charlie had replied 'Yes, damn it, I am, if you don't take back what you said'. Braxton-Clark didn't withdraw his remark and so seconds were chosen, and a time and place for the duel arranged between them. As Braxton-Clark had been challenged it was his choice of weapons, and he chose pistols."

"Being accused of drunkenness seems a feeble reason to fight a duel, especially as Charlie was drunk. Had there been any other disputes between Charlie and Braxton-Clark?"

Merry shook his head. "Not as far as I know. At one time they were as thick as thieve, but who knows how young men, with drink inside them, will behave?"

He drained his glass and called for another bottle, then said, rather sadly. "The duel was arranged far too swiftly, in my opinion. No time was given for reflection, and it was agreed, then and there, that the affair would be settled at dawn the next day. Charlie had the Honourable Augustus Sage acting as his second, and a more dim-witted man would be hard to find in the whole of the division. When Maddox, who was acting as second for Braxton-Clark, arrived on the duelling field the next morning he was carrying a case containing a brace of rifled duelling pistols, that Augustus Sage recognized as a pair of Purdey's, the finest firearms money can buy. They had been presented to Braxton-Clark before he left for Spain by his father, and had never been fired, or so Sage was told."