Part 23

The nest of the Vivian family was Truro; here our hero was born, and here resided his father, John Vivian, who may be called the founder of the copper trade in Cornwall, and who subsequently became Vice-Warden of the Stannaries: but the present seat of the Vivians is Glynn, the ancient residence of the Glynn family, from which place the subject of the following remarks, Richard Hussey, first Baron Vivian of Glynn and Truro, derived the former of his titles. He derived his second name from his grandmother, who was a Miss Hussey, of Okehampton; his grandfather was the Rev. Thomas Vivian, of Comprigney, Kenwyn; he was vicar of Cornwood, Devon, and was a man of some literary ability.

Well do I remember, when I was quite a youngster, an autumnal visit in 1842 to the well-wooded valley which Glynn overlooks, and through which rushes the Fowey, a lovely trout-stream, when the 'fiery finger' had been laid upon the leaves of the myriad-tinted oaks in its glades; and when Death had just claimed the owner of that noble mansion. On the grand staircase hung the great picture by Shee,[156] representing the lithe figure of the tall, bronzed hero advancing in his hussar uniform, dismounted and bareheaded, fresh from the 'rapture of the fray;' whilst in the background was a servant holding a spirited white charger. I thought then, and think so still, that I had never seen a more goodly presence.

Vivian's mother was as much distinguished for her beauty and vivacity as his father was as an upright man of business, and able administrator of the Stannary laws. She was a daughter of the Rev. Richard Cranch, vicar of St. Clement's, near Truro, an early friend and patron of Sir Joshua Reynolds; and, accepting her own admission, must have had a sufficiency of admirers. 'What a fine creature she was!' said Dr. Wolcot ('Peter Pindar'). 'I once told her in jest that she _must_ be my wife, for I had never been so deeply in love before.' 'It is out of the question, my dear doctor,' she replied; 'it is impossible. I am _five deep_ already!' The charming buxom profile of the good old lady, who died in 1816, might until recently have been seen on her cenotaph at St. Mary's Church, Truro;[157] as well as a medallion portrait, on his marble tomb (with an epitaph), of her eldest and illustrious son, the subject of this notice.

He was born at Truro--probably at the house to which reference has just been made--on 28th July, 1775; and when about eight years old was sent to the Truro Grammar School under Dr. Cardew. Here, however, he did not long remain, as we find him from 1784 to 1787 at school at Lostwithiel, from which place he went direct to Harrow.

Another three years of his life were passed there; and in 1790 he entered at the old West-Country College--'Exeter'--at Oxford; but he only kept two terms. His education seems to have been completed by a visit to France in 1792.

The time had now come for Vivian to choose a profession; and in this important matter one hardly knows whether to admire more the liberality of the father, or the instinctive sagacity of the son. Mr. Vivian wished his heir to follow a pursuit in which distinction had been gained both by himself and by other members of the family, and an attempt was made in this direction. Our hero was accordingly articled to a Mr. Jonathan Elford, a solicitor, of Devonport, with a view to Vivian's becoming a 'counsellor, learned in the law;' but the attractions presented by the lives and the uniforms of the officers of a garrison town were an all-powerful opposing force; and, besides, Vivian could urge family precedents for a military career; for was not his great-uncle, Colonel Hussey, amongst the heroes who fell with Wolfe on the heights of Abraham?[158]

Accordingly, an ensign's commission in the 20th Regiment of Infantry was procured for him on 31st July, 1793. In the following year he got a captaincy in the 28th, and was present in all the affairs of that time between the French and British armies in the Low Countries; his regiment suffering severe losses at Geldermalsem. In 1795 he returned to England; and shortly afterwards made an attempt--the second unsuccessful one--to get with his regiment to the West Indies. But the war god had other and higher services in store for Vivian; and the winds and the waves drove back the transports to the British shore.

For the next two years (1796-98) Vivian was doing garrison duty at Gibraltar. This sort of pursuit must have fretted so high a spirit as his, and probably led to his exchanging into a cavalry regiment, the 7th Light Dragoons, or 'Queen's Own' Hussars;--now, at least, he thought he should be sure to see service. Nor was he disappointed; for in 1799 he took part in the unfortunate Texel Expedition, under Sir Ralph Abercombie, one result of which, however, was the capture of Helder on the 28th August in that year.

To Vivian the piping times of peace during the next four or five years gave an opportunity for turning his thoughts from war to love; and in 1804 he married his first wife, Eliza, daughter of Philip Champion De Crespigny, of Aldborough (with whom, so the story goes, he ran off from a boarding-school). She was descended from an old French family, refugees from the Edict of Nantes; and the fruit of this marriage was two sons and three daughters.

The Peninsula was destined to be the scene of Vivian's next exploits; and in 1808 we find him landing with Sir John Moore at the once busy port of Corunna. He was engaged in most of the cavalry affairs during that brief campaign, and led the rear-guard during the historic retreat in January, 1809, collecting the infantry stragglers to the number of about 600, forming them, and so repulsing a pursuing enemy, almost as weak and winter-stricken as themselves. For his skill and valour on this memorable occasion he obtained the thanks of Sir G. Paget. He also received high commendation from that gallant hero and graceful gentleman, Sir John Moore himself, whose masterly tactics were recognised by his generous antagonist Soult's placing a monument to his remains on the Corunna ramparts,--celebrated in the ode with which we have all been familiar from our childhood.

After an interval of repose for about three years in Ireland, during which he was made Aide-de-camp to the Prince Regent, and attained the rank of a Colonel in the army, in 1813 Vivian was ordered to take part in the Peninsular campaign; and, in the August of that year, he landed at Bilbao--'the beautiful ford'--that scene of so many conflicts between the French and the Allies. He was now appointed Colonel on the staff, and had the command of a brigade of cavalry; and in the latter capacity he was present at most, if not all, of the important cavalry affairs in that campaign--gathering laurels at Orthes, Vittoria, and in the Pyrenees.

Vivian particularly distinguished himself in the following year at Croix d'Orade; of his conduct on that occasion there is no better description than that which is contained in the following extract from the Duke of Wellington's despatches to Earl Bathurst:

'Toulouse, 12th April, 1814.

'I have the pleasure to inform your lordship that I entered this town this morning, which the enemy evacuated during the night.... The continued fall of rain and the state of the river prevented me from laying the bridge till the morning of the 8th, when the Spanish corps and the Portuguese artillery ... crossed the Garonne. We immediately moved forward to the neighbourhood of the town; and the 18th Hussars, under the immediate command of Colonel Vivian, had an opportunity of making a most gallant attack upon a superior body of the enemy's cavalry, which they drove through the village of Croix d'Orade, and took about one hundred prisoners, and gave us possession of an important bridge over the river Ers, by which it was necessary to pass in order to attack the enemy's position. Colonel Vivian was unfortunately wounded upon this occasion, and I am afraid that I shall lose the benefit of his assistance for some time.'

For this affair he bore on his coat of arms (amongst other allusions to his brave deeds) a flying pennon inscribed with golden letters, 'Croix d'Orade.' The wound referred to by the Duke was from a carbine-shot in the right arm.

It is curious to contrast the Great Duke's appreciative eulogy of this brilliant exploit with Napier's sour version of it in his 'English Battles and Sieges in the Peninsula' (p. 453, ed. 1873): 'In this operation a single squadron of the 18th Hussars, under Major Hughes, being _inconsiderately_ pushed by Colonel Vivian across the bridge of St. Martin de la Touch, suddenly came upon a regiment of French cavalry. The rashness of the act, as often happens in war, proved the safety of the British; for the enemy, thinking a strong support must be near, discharged their carbines, and retreated at a canter. Hughes followed; the speed of both parties increased; and as the road did not admit egress by the sides, this great body of horsemen was pushed headlong by a few men under the batteries of St. Cyprian.'

When the late Chaplain-General Gleig disputed a statement of Napier's relating to the battle of Vimiero, the latter writer fell back on the authority of the Duke of Wellington, which, of course, Napier preferred to that of Gleig, adding tartly, that 'the two authorities may be weighed by those who are fastidious.' A similar process may be recommended as to Wellington and Napier's authority touching Vivian's share in the affair at Croix d'Orade. It may also be well to add the significant fact that the 18th Hussars presented Vivian with a sword of honour on the occasion.

The year 1814 was further memorable in our hero's annals. The Transitory Peace was signed; Vivian was promoted to the rank of Major-General; returned to England; and was appointed to the command of the Sussex Military District, taking up his residence at Brighton. On thus giving up his connexion with the Hussars, his brother officers presented him with a piece of plate worth 250 guineas.

The curtain rises upon the eventful year 1815--the year in which Napoleon's ambitious career was to be at once and for ever checked by the Iron Duke on the field of WATERLOO.

Vivian, now a Knight Commander of the Bath, was the first major-general sent in command of a brigade of cavalry to join the army assembling at Brussels; and did 'yeoman's service' during the few days which preceded the great battle, notably covering the retreat (as at Corunna) of the army whilst falling back from Quatre Bras on Waterloo.

It would of course be out of place here (even if the familiar histories of the great battle, given by Siborne, Alison, and Hooper, had not also made it unnecessary) to attempt any description of that world-renowned fight. But Vivian's share in it demands more than a passing notice; and this I have drawn up from the authorities whom I have mentioned, as well as after having made a visit to the field of battle; and from other sources.

It may be premised that, at Waterloo, Vivian commanded the 6th Brigade of Cavalry of the British and King's German Legion. It was composed of the 1st, 10th, and 18th Hussars, numbering, according to Siborne, 1,279 sabres. They were at first stationed on the _extreme left_ of the first or main portion of the British line. The 10th and 18th regiments were in line in rear of the road to Wavre, and withdrawn a little from the crest of the ridge, the right of the 10th resting upon a lane. The 1st Hussars were also in line, and formed the reserve. The extreme left of this brigade was completely _en l'air_ (_i.e._, unsupported), upon high, open, and flat ground. A piquet, consisting of a squadron of the 10th, occupied the village of Smohain, and their vedettes were within half-carbine-shot of some of the French cavalry. Vandeleur's brigade of light horse was on Vivian's right.

But the frequent and furious charges of the enemy made it necessary, as the anxious, bloody day wore on, to strengthen the Duke's left centre; and accordingly in the sheet of Siborne's Atlas representing the field at a quarter before eight p.m., when the Prussians had begun to arrive, Vivian's cavalry appear as then occupying the _middle_ of the much-weakened British force, close at the rear of the Brunswickers and Nassauers. This change of position was effected on Vivian's own responsibility, and to the great satisfaction of the Duke; for when these fresh troops took up their position, the British cavalry had been reduced to mere skeletons of regiments. It is not difficult to fancy how long the day must have seemed to the fiery Hussars, who had not yet struck one blow, and who were anxiously longing for the opportunity of displaying their own valour, and of avenging the deaths of their slain comrades.

They were not to wait much longer, as we shall presently see; for, twenty minutes later, Vivian, instead of being at the rear of the British army, was at its head, sabring the Imperial Guard:--'Oh the wild charge they made!' It must be borne in mind that the crisis of the battle had arrived; and Napoleon, like a desperate gambler, had risked his all by sending his masses of reserves against the attenuated British regiments, with instructions, _at all hazards_, to force the centre, in the rear of which Vivian had placed himself, in a most trying position for cavalry, exposed as they were to the fire of the French tirailleurs. His first impression, on contemplating the destruction which he saw around him, was that he had come, once more, to cover a retreat of the Anglo-allied army: and, indeed, but for the exertions of himself and others--actually using the flats of their sabres--the contemptible Dutch-Belgian troops, who formed Wellington's second line, would have probably fled from the field, and have left a hideous and fatal gap in the British line.

But Adams's infantry brigade had swept, like a triumphant wave, the front of the Allied line, and the moment had arrived when a daring charge by fresh cavalry against the shattered Imperial Guard and the French cavalry reserves round La Belle Alliance, was all that was wanting to secure the impending victory. Vivian was the happy man upon whom this glorious task devolved. He moved out to the rear of Alten's division, and thus clearing himself from the British infantry, advanced directly to the front by the right of Maitland's brigade of Guards. His orders from the Duke were not to attack till the infantry came up to his support, unless he was '_confident of success_.'

At this juncture, Sir Hussey Vivian--encouraged by the cheers of his comrades, heard above the fierce trumpet-blasts, by the ringing of scabbards as the swords leaped forth, and by the victorious omen bestowed by a crimson gleam of the rapidly setting sun, which now pierced and incarnadined the smoke and clouds--charged in echelons of regiments; the 10th, headed by himself, leading: and with that regiment he dispersed and drove in the cavalry posted in the front and on the left of the squares of the Old Guard. No sooner was this done, than, galloping to his left, he led on the 18th, also in person, against the Cuirassiers of De Lorte, who were on the right of that veteran body; the 1st Hussars of the German Legion following. In a few minutes the dazzling helmets of the French Cuirassiers and the spears of their Lancers were seen scattered in every direction! At the same time the 2nd King's German Legion, which Wellington had moved up to support Vivian, successfully charged a body of Cuirassiers on the right of the 10th; and although this corps was in its turn assailed by fresh Cuirassiers, and thrown into disorder, it quickly rallied, and soon drove the French off that part of the field. The squares of the Guard were thus laid bare, and the artillery in the intervals opened a heavy fire on the British horse; but Vivian, dashing on, captured the guns, twenty-four in number, _before any foot-soldier on his left arrived_. Then, seeing the Osnaburgh red-coats coming up to his support, he ventured to attack the squares themselves. Such was the ardour of the men, that a squadron of the 10th, having re-formed after taking the artillery, and Vivian himself leading them, charged one of the squares with unparalleled vehemence. That attack was, after a short struggle, at first repulsed by the steady fire of the veteran French grenadiers. The French square, nevertheless, fell back after the shock, still keeping up a rolling fire on its opponents, who never ceased to cut at them till they too were lost in the crowd of fugitives. About this time Vandeleur's brigade came up. It charged upon Vivian's right, defeating a body of French infantry, who were formed in square, and who were endeavouring to restore the battle in that quarter; but the rout was now complete.

Wellington, encouraged by the rapid and beautiful style in which Vivian's brigade advanced, and by the brilliant success of the attack, now ordered, amid the enthusiastic cheering of the troops, the long-looked-for general advance of the whole line. That this was, as Siborne well describes it, 'a march of triumph rather than of attack,' is matter of history. The battle of Waterloo was won; and the British General's prediction was verified, in the words of Scott, that 'England should tell the fight.'

That night Vivian and his exhausted Hussars, satiated with their bloody victory, bivouacked in advance of the main body of the English at the little village of Hilaincourt; while the fresh Prussian troops followed up the retreat of the flying French.

One or two episodes in this memorable achievement have been recorded by Captain Malet, in his 'History of the 18th Hussars.' As at Balaclava, there came an order which

'Some one had blunder'd:'

the leading half-squadron, in the final charge, was wheeling in precisely the wrong direction, which Vivian perceiving, at once rode up to rectify, exclaiming, says Malet, 'with emphasis, and a good hearty d----, that it was _towards_ the enemy he wanted them to wheel!'

Again, after the 18th regiment had been led to the charge, Vivian, on returning (with his arm in a sling, the result of the wound at Croix d'Orade) to lead on the 10th also, was intercepted by a straggling French cuirassier, who cut at the English General. Taking his reins, however, in his right hand, which was barely able to grasp them, Vivian not only parried the blow with his sword in his left hand, but also contrived to wound his antagonist in the neck. This unequal combat might possibly have ended fatally for the gallant Cornishman, had not his German orderly galloped up at this moment, and cut the luckless Frenchman down.

Vivian's own account of the affair, as contained in the following extract from a letter written by him soon after the battle to Mr. Pendarves, will probably be read with interest:

'St. Benir, in part of the Château, 23rd June, 1815.

'... About six o'clock, however, I learnt that the cavalry in the centre had suffered dreadfully, and the Prussians about that time having formed to my left, I took upon myself to move off from our left, and halted directly to the centre of our line, where I arrived most opportunely at the instant that Bonaparte was making his last and most desperate effort; and never did I witness anything so terrific--the ground actually covered with dead and dying, cannon-shot and shells flying thicker than I ever heard even musketry before, and our troops some of them giving way. In this state of affairs, I wheeled my brigade into line, close (within ten yards) in the rear of our infantry, and prepared to charge the instant they had retreated through my intervals (the three squadron officers of the 10th were wounded at this instant); this, however, gave them confidence, and the brigades that were literally running away halted on our cheering them, and again began firing. The enemy on their part began to waver; the Duke observed it, and ordered the infantry to advance. I immediately wheeled the brigade by half-squadrons to the right and in column over the dead and dying, trotted round the right of our infantry, passed the French infantry, and formed lines of regiments on the first half-squadrons.

'With the 10th I charged a body of French Cuirassiers and Lancers infinitely superior to them, and completely routed them. I then went to the 18th, and charged a second body that was supporting a square of Imperial Guards; and the 18th not only defeated them, but took fourteen pieces of cannon that had been firing grape at us during our movement. I then, with the 10th, having re-formed them, charged a square of infantry (Imperial Guards), the men of which we cut down in the ranks; and here the last shot was fired. From this moment all was _de route_.

'Whether the Duke will do my brigade justice or not, I know not; but Bonaparte has given them their due in his account. We are the cavalry that he alludes to, where at the end he says, "At eight o'clock," etc.; and the Colonel of the 3rd Chasseurs, who lodged the night before last in the house I occupied, last night told the proprietor "that two regiments of British Hussars decided the affair."[159] The third regiment (1st Hussars) I kept in reserve.

'Of course, our loss was severe. All those returned missing are since ascertained to have been killed.

'I never saw such a day, nor anyone else. I expect and hope that every soldier will bear a medal with "Mont St. Jean" on it. I would rather do so than be adorned by the brightest star that any potentate could bestow on me....

'To Wynne Pendarves, Esq., 'No. 11, Queen Anne Street, London.'

For his services on this occasion Vivian received the following decorations: viz., the Order of Maria Theresa from the Emperor of Austria; the Order of St. Wladimir from the Emperor of Russia; and that of Hanover from the Prince Regent.

In his despatch dated 'Waterloo, 19th June, 1815,' the day after that great and glorious victory, the Duke says that the British army 'never, upon any occasion, conducted itself better.... There is no officer nor description of troops that did not behave well. I must, however, particularly mention, for his Royal Highness's approbation----' Here follows a list of heroic and illustrious names; amongst which Truro men especially, but also all Cornishmen, and all Englishmen, ever read, with glowing pride, the name of our own hero, Major-General Sir Hussey Vivian.

A brother-officer of Vivian's (Colonel Taylor, of the 10th Hussars) wrote the following lines on the occasion:

'From the left flank, in column, winding far, Speeds with a whirlwind's force the swift hussar; Tho' to their thund'ring hoofs the plain resounds Still cautious discipline their ardour bounds. Who, with a hero's port and lofty form, With waving sabre onward guides the storm? While through the tangled corn and yielding clay His spurs incessant urge his panting grey[160]-- 'Tis VIVIAN, pride of old Cornubia's hills, His veins the untainted blood of Britons fills. Him follows close a Manners,[161] glorious name, In him a Granby's soul aspires to fame, Or such as erst, when Rodney gained the day, Ebb'd from his kinsman's wound the life away. "Front form the line!" cries VIVIAN; still its course The head maintained; the rear with headlong force Speeds at the word, till troops to troops combine, And each firm squadron forms the serried line.'