The Young Buglers

The Young Buglers, by G.A.
Henty

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Title: The Young Buglers
Author: G.A. Henty
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THE YOUNG BUGLERS
by G.A. Henty

PREFACE
To my Young Readers.
I remember that, as a boy, I regarded any attempt to mix instruction
with amusement as being as objectionable a practice as the
administration of powder in jam; but I think that this feeling arose from
the fact that in those days books contained a very small share of
amusement and a very large share of instruction. I have endeavored to
avoid this, and I hope that the accounts of battles and sieges, illustrated
as they are by maps, will be found as interesting as the lighter parts of
the story. As in my tale, "The Young Franc-Tireurs," I gave the outline
of the Franco-German war, so I have now endeavored to give the
salient features of the great Peninsular struggle. The military facts, with
the names of generals and regiments, the dates and places, are all

strictly accurate, and any one who has read with care the story of "The
Young Buglers" could pass an examination as to the leading events of
the Peninsular war.
Yours truly,
THE AUTHOR.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
A Coaching Adventure
CHAPTER II.
The Young Pickles
CHAPTER III.
Enlisted
CHAPTER IV.
A Tough Customer
CHAPTER V.
Overboard
CHAPTER VI.
Portugal
CHAPTER VII.

The Passage of the Douro--Talavera
CHAPTER VIII.
A Pause in Operations
CHAPTER IX.
"With the Guerillas"
CHAPTER X.
Madrid
CHAPTER XI.
The Fight on the Coa
CHAPTER XII.
Busaco and Torres Vedras
CHAPTER XIII.
Albuera
CHAPTER XIV.
Invalided Home
CHAPTER XV.
Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajos
CHAPTER XVI.
Salamanca

CHAPTER XVII.
Caught in a Trap
CHAPTER XVIII.
Just in Time
CHAPTER XIX.
Vittoria
CHAPTER XX.
Toulouse

THE YOUNG BUGLERS.
CHAPTER I.
A COACHING ADVENTURE.
Had any of the boys in the lower forms of Eton in the year 1808, been
asked who were the most popular boys of their own age, they would
have been almost sure to have answered, without the slightest
hesitation, Tom and Peter Scudamore, and yet it is probable that no two
boys were more often in disgrace. It was not that they were idle, upon
the contrary, both were fairly up in their respective forms, but they
were constantly getting into mischief of one sort or another; yet even
with the masters they were favorites, there was never anything low,
disgraceful, or ungentlemanly in their escapades, and they could be
trusted never to attempt to screen themselves from the consequences by
prevarication, much less by lying. If the masters heard that a party of
youngsters had been seen far out of bounds, they were pretty sure that
the Scudamores were among them; a farmer came in from a distance to
complain that his favorite tree had been stripped of its apples--for in

those days apples were looked upon by boys as fair objects of sport,--if
the head-master's favorite white poodle appeared dyed a deep blue, if
Mr. Jones, the most unpopular master in the school, upon coming out
of his door trod upon a quantity of tallow smeared all over the doorstep,
and was laid up for a week in consequence, there was generally a
strong suspicion that Tom and Peter Scudamore were concerned in the
matter. One of their tricks actually came to the ears of the Provost
himself, and caused quite a sensation in the place, but in this case,
fortunately for them, they escaped undetected.
One fine summer afternoon they were out on the water with two or
three other boys