How the Brigadier Saved the Army

Name: How the Brigadier Saved the Army
Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Colonel Etienne Gerard recounts how, during the French army’s hungry and dangerous withdrawal from before the English lines of Torres Vedras, Marshal Massena must urgently warn General Clausel’s isolated force south of the Tagus to fall back. Ordinary messengers cannot cross the country controlled by Portuguese guerillas led by the cruel Manuelo, “The Smiler.” Two of Massena’s aides-de-camp, Cortex and Duplessis, have already failed to reach the beacon on the Sierra de Merodal, whose fire is to signal Clausel to light a corresponding beacon on the Sierra d’Ossa. Massena sends Gerard alone to ignite the Merodal beacon by midnight. Gerard travels on foot, avoiding the road, but finds the open country guarded by a disciplined cordon of guerilla sentries. He hides inside an empty wine-cask on a peasant wagon, hoping to pass through the lines, but the peasants have seen him conceal himself and deliver him to a guerilla outpost. Stripped of his weapons and fire-making tools, Gerard escapes by diving into another cask and rolling in it down a steep mountainside, surviving a violent descent into the woods. Near the mountain, Gerard finds the dying Duplessis, who gives him flint and steel and urges him to trust De Pombal. De Pombal, first lieutenant to Manuelo, claims that the chief has brutally flogged him and that he secretly plots against him. Yet he immediately pretends to seize Gerard, bringing him captive to the guerilla headquarters beside the beacon. He later explains that this apparent betrayal was necessary because other brigands were watching. Manuelo questions Gerard about Massena’s retreat and Clausel’s troops. Gerard agrees to answer truthfully only after securing the right to choose his manner of death. He intends to exploit this bargain: he asks to be burned alive upon the beacon at one minute before midnight, knowing that the resulting fire will give Clausel the needed signal. Manuelo accepts, amused by what he believes is Gerard’s vanity. De Pombal then arranges a rescue. He and his allies bind and gag Duplessis’s corpse and place it on the beacon as if it were Gerard. Gerard is carried away disguised as the dead officer while the guerillas set the beacon alight, burning the body amid their celebrations. De Pombal guides Gerard through the woods and down the mountain. From a distant hill, Gerard sees the Merodal beacon’s glow and, far to the south, the answering fire on Mount d’Ossa, proving that Clausel has received the warning and will withdraw his army.

By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle · First published 1902 · Genre: Historical Adventure, War Fiction, Historical Fiction · 10,102 words

First lines

I have told you, my friends, how we held the English shut up for six months, from October, 1810, to March, 1811, within their lines of Torres Vedras. It was during this time that I hunted the fox in their company, and showed them that amidst all their sportsmen there was not one who could outride a Hussar of Conflans. When I galloped back into the French lines with the blood of the creature still moist upon my blade the outposts who had seen what I had done raised a frenzied cry in my honour, whilst these English hunters still yelled behind me, so that I had the applause of both armies. It made the tears rise to my eyes to feel that I had won the admiration of so many brave men. These English are generous foes. That very evening there came a packet under a white flag addressed "To the Hussar officer who cut down the fox. " Within I found the fox itself in two pieces, as I had left it. There was a note also, short but hearty as the English fashion is, to say that as I had slaughtered the fox it only remained for me to eat it. They could not know that it was not our French custom to eat foxes, and it showed their desire that he who had won the honours of the chase should also partake of the game. It is not for a Frenchman to be outdone in politeness, and so I returned it to these brave hunters, and begged them to accept it as a side-dish for their next déjeuner de la chasse. It is thus that chivalrous opponents make war.

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Genres

Historical Adventure — Set during the Peninsular War and Massena's retreat from the Lines of Torres Vedras, the story centers on Colonel Gerard's hazardous mission to light a beacon and save Clausel's isolated army.
War Fiction — Military strategy, reconnaissance, guerrilla warfare, enemy lines, battlefield logistics, duty, and the fate of an entire French force drive the plot.
Historical Fiction — The narrative uses real Napoleonic-era settings, commanders, campaigns, and military conditions while telling a fictional adventure involving Colonel Etienne Gerard.
Adventure Fiction — The protagonist faces successive physical dangers, including infiltration, capture, escape, pursuit, deception, and a desperate nighttime journey through hostile terrain.

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How the Brigadier Saved the Army is listed on Textopian as a short story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, dated 1902 CE.

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Work type: Short story
Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Date: 1902 CE
Language: English
Genres: Historical Adventure, War Fiction, Historical Fiction, Adventure Fiction, Military Adventure
Length: 10,102 words
Structure: 1 section, 134 paragraphs
Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

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