Going out to dinner (facing p. 438) — Phiz's thirty-first illustration for Charles Lever's Charles O'Malley, The Irish Dragoon, May 1841. Steel engraving for Chapter LXXXVIII, "Patrick's Day in the Peninsula." 9.3 cm high by 16.7 cm wide (3 ¾ by 6 ½ inches), vignetted. [Click on image to enlarge it.]
Passage Illustrated: A Lighthearted Military "Expedition"
The grenadier company were drawn up beside the road, and I was not long in detecting my friend O’Shaughnessy, who wore a tremendous shamrock in his shako. “Left face, wheel! Quick march! Don’t forget the mustard!” said the bold major; and a loud roar of laughing from my brother officers followed him off the ground. I soon explained the injunction, and having invited some three or four to accompany me to the dinner, waited with all patience for the conclusion of the parade.
The sun was setting as I mounted, and joined by Hampden, Baker, the doctor, and another, set out for O’Shaughnessy’s quarters. As we rode along, we were continually falling in with others bent upon the same errand as ourselves, and ere we arrived at Melanté our party was some thirty strong; and truly a most extraordinary procession did we form. Few of the invited came without some contribution to the general stock; and while a staff-officer flourished a ham, a smart hussar might be seen with a plucked turkey, trussed for roasting; most carried bottles, as the consumption of fluid was likely to be considerable; and one fat old major jogged along on a broken-winded pony, with a basket of potatoes on his arm. Good fellowship was the order of the day, and certainly a more jovial squadron seldom was met together than ours. As we turned the angle of a rising ground, a hearty cheer greeted us, and we beheld in front of an old ordnance marquee a party of some fifty fellows engaged in all the pleasing duties of the cuisine. Maurice, conspicuous above all, with a white apron and a ladle in his hand, was running hither and thither, advising, admonishing, instructing, and occasionally imprecating. Ceasing for a second his functions, he gave us a cheer and a yell like that of an Indian savage, and then resumed his duties beside a huge boiler, which, from the frequency of his explorations into its contents, we judged to be punch.
“Charley, my son, I’ve a place for you; don’t forget. Where’s my learned brother? — haven’t you brought him with you? Ah, Doctor, how goes it?” [Chapter LXXXVIII, "Patrick's Day in the Peninsula," 438]
Commentary: O'Malley's Return to Active — and Jolly — Duty: 16 March 1811
Phiz passes up the opportunity to depict Sir George Dashwood's masquerade party in Lisbon for a cavalry scene to underscore O'Malley's return to the Dragoons. News that the French under Massena have suddenly retreated from the plain at Villa Franca interrupts the masked ball, and leads to a general mobilisation of forces. Quitting the flirtatious Donna Inez, O'Malley returns to active duty with the Fourteenth Irish Dragoons at Torres Vedras, in the advanced guard — and the usual cast of characters welcomes him back, among them Hampden, Baker, Dr. Quill, and the regimental Scots physician. On 12 March 1811, O'Malley's skirmishers encounter the French artillery and infantry drawn up on a ridge above the village of Redinha. Wellington attacks in force, and the French under Marshal Ney withdraw, setting the village ablaze in a "scorched earth" strategy. Further British victories of limited scope occur at Casal de Novo and Foz d'Arouce, but Ney continues his destruction of towns and villages in the region: "The country was a desert!" (436).
On the 16th the Fourteenth takes a break, offering O'Malley the opportunity to narrate "a glorious night in the Peninsula" (436) in celebration of St. Patrick's Day with an officers' dinner hosted by Dan O'Shaughnessy at 7:00 P. M., after the parade. As the rain clears that morning on 16 March, the band strikes up "St. Patrick's Day," particularly gratifying for the Irish regiments. In Phiz's illustration, in the very centre of the cavalcade of thirteen horsemen (although Lever specifies the party is thirty strong) O'Malley chats with the readily recognizable Major Monsoon, whom Lever refers to simply as "one fat old major . . . on a broken-winded pony" (438). The engraving makes the Peninsular Campaign look like one continuous, jolly party of exuberant cavalry officers.
Historical Note: Sir Arthur Wellesley, now styled "Lord Wellington" (1809, not 1811)
Since Lever has just mentioned that for his brilliant defensive tactics and victories without the usual losses the government has proclaimed Sir Arthur Wellesley "Duke of Wellington," the date on which O'Malley and Mickey depart from Lisbon to re-join the Fourteenth Light Dragoons should be early March 1809, not 1811. According to Wellington as Military Commander by Michael Glover, Arthur Wellesley first signed himself "Wellington" from 16 September 1809 onward. But Lever misdates the name change to show Wellington's growing reputation and the success of O'Malley's unit. The recent battle on 13 March 1811 at Redhina was inconclusive, with Ney fighting a largely successful rear-guard action against the cautious Wellington. Massena was forced to withdraw into Spain, having utterly failed to capture Portugal.
Related Material
- Charles Lever's Charles O'Malley, The Irish Dragoon (1840-41)
- Hablot Knight Browne, 1815-1882; A Brief Biography
- Cattermole and Phiz: The First illustrators of Barnaby Rudge: A Team Effort by "The Clock Works" (1841)
- Horses by "Phiz" for Charles Lever's Charles O'Malley, The Irish Dragoon (Nov.-Dec. 1841, rpt., 1873)
- Phiz: 'A Good Hand at a Horse'" — A Gallery and Brief Overview of Phiz's Illustrations of Horses for Defoe, Dickens, Lever, and Ainsworth (1836-64)
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image, and (2) link your document to this URL.]
Bibliography
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Lester, Valerie Browne. Phiz: The Man Who Drew Dickens. London: Chatto and Windus, 2004.
Lever, Charles. Charles O'Malley, The Irish Dragoon. Illustrated by Phiz [Hablot Knight Browne]. Published serially in The Dublin University Magazine from Vol. XV (March 1840) through XVIII (December 1841). Dublin: William Curry, March 1840 through December 1841, 2 vols. London: Samuel Holdsworth, 1842; rpt., Chapman and Hall, 1873.
Lever, Charles. Charles O'Malley, The Irish Dragoon. "Edited by Harry Lorrequer." Dublin: William Curry, Jun. London: W. S. Orr, 1841. 2 vols.
Lever, Charles. Charles O'Malley, The Irish Dragoon. Illustrated by Phiz [Hablot Knight Browne]. Novels and Romances of Charles Lever. Vol. I and II. In two volumes. Project Gutenberg. Last Updated: 2 September 2016.
Steig, Michael. Chapter Two: "The Beginnings of 'Phiz': Pickwick, Nickleby, and the Emergence from Caricature." Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington: Indiana U. P., 1978. Pp. 24-50.
Stevenson, Lionel. Chapter V, "Renegade from Physic, 1839-1841." Dr. Quicksilver: The Life of Charles Lever. London: Chapman and Hall, 1939. Pp. 73-93.
Created 25 March 2023