The Bravest of the Brave

The Bravest of the Brave

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Henty #20 in our series by G. A. Henty
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Title: The Bravest of the Brave or, with Peterborough in Spain
Author: G. A. Henty
Release Date: January, 2005 [EBook #7318] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on April 11,
2003]
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The Bravest of the Brave; or, With Peterborough in Spain, by G. A.
Henty.

PREFACE
My Dear Lads:
There are few great leaders whose lives and actions have so completely
fallen into oblivion as those of the Earl of Peterborough. His career as a
general was a brief one, extending only over little more than a year, and
yet in that time he showed a genius for warfare which has never been
surpassed, and performed feats of daring worthy of taking their place
among those of the leaders of chivalry.
The fact that they have made so slight a mark upon history is due to
several reasons. In the first place, they were overshadowed by the glory
and successes of Marlborough; they were performed in a cause which
could scarcely be said to be that of England, and in which the public
had a comparatively feeble interest; the object, too, for which he fought
was frustrated, and the war was an unsuccessful one, although from no
fault on his part.
But most of all, Lord Peterborough failed to attain that place in the list
of British worthies to which his genius and his bravery should have
raised him, because that genius was directed by no steady aim or
purpose. Lord Peterborough is, indeed, one of the most striking
instances in history of genius and talent wasted, and a life thrown away
by want of fixed principle and by an inability or unwillingness to work
with other men. He quarreled in turn with every party and with almost
every individual with whom he came in contact; and while he himself
was constantly changing his opinions, he was intolerant of all opinions

differing from those which he at the moment held, and was always
ready to express in the most open and offensive manner his contempt
and dislike for those who differed from him. His eccentricities were
great; he was haughty and arrogant, hasty and passionate; he denied his
God, quarreled with his king, and rendered himself utterly obnoxious to
every party in the state.
And yet there was a vast amount of good in this strange man. He was
generous and warm hearted to a fault, kind to those in station beneath
him, thoughtful and considerate for his troops, who adored him, cool in
danger, sagacious in difficulties, and capable at need of evincing a
patience and calmness wholly at variance with his ordinary impetuous
character. Although he did not scruple to carry deception, in order to
mislead an enemy, to a point vastly beyond what is generally
considered admissible in war, he was true to his word and punctiliously
honorable in the ordinary affairs of life.
For the historical events I have described, and for the details of
Peterborough's conduct and character, I have relied chiefly upon the
memoir of the earl written by Mr. C. Warburton, and published some
thirty years ago.

CHAPTER I
: THE WAR OF THE SUCCESSION
"He is an idle vagabond!" the mayor of the good town of Southampton
said, in high wrath--"a ne'er do well, and an insolent puppy; and as to
you, Mistress Alice, if I catch you exchanging words with him again,
ay, or nodding to him, or looking as if in any way you were conscious
of his presence, I will put you on bread and water, and will send