How the Brigadier Took the Field against the Mar

Name: How the Brigadier Took the Field against the Marshal Millefleurs
Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

In “How the Brigadier Took the Field against the Marshal Millefleurs,” Colonel Gerard is summoned by Marshal Massena, who is preparing to retreat from Santarem because the English lines cannot be forced and the country is exhausted. Massena assigns Gerard fifty Hussars of Conflans and three tasks: rescue the supposed Dowager Countess of La Ronda from the Abbey of Almeixal, hang the brigand leader known as Marshal Millefleurs, and destroy his band of five hundred deserters, brigands, and stragglers. Gerard must report at Abrantes by the following night. On the road to Almeixal, Gerard encounters an equal force of English dragoons led by his acquaintance, the Hon. Sir Russell Bart. The two officers initially prepare to fight, but recognize one another and discover that Wellington has sent the Englishmen on the identical mission: to deal with Marshal Millefleurs, whose real name is Alexis Morgan. They declare a temporary alliance and combine their half-squadrons. From a hill they see that the Abbey is a formidable fortress, too strong for cavalry to storm. At a nearby inn, they meet a starving Capuchin who claims to be the dispossessed Abbot of Almeixal. He describes the fortifications and proposes that one half of their combined force pose as deserters, enter the Abbey, seize the gate at dawn, and admit the other half. Gerard reluctantly yields the honour of entering first to Bart and the English dragoons. Bart’s men disguise themselves as disorderly deserters and are admitted after a parley at the gate, while Gerard’s hussars remain outside. That night, however, Gerard is seized in his sleep. The supposed Abbot reveals himself as Alexis Morgan, Marshal Millefleurs, while the innkeeper is Sergeant Chenier, a renegade French soldier. Morgan explains that both expeditions have been watched from the beginning. The English dragoons have been lured into the Abbey’s enclosed quadrangle, where they must surrender or be shot down. Gerard, bound and gagged, is to be taken there as well. Papilette, Gerard’s sub-officer, arrives to report and instantly attacks Chenier. Chenier attempts to stab Gerard, but Gerard throws himself from the bed, and Papilette kills the renegade and frees his colonel. When Morgan returns, Gerard and Papilette overpower him after a violent struggle. Gerard takes the disguised brigand prisoner and decides to use him as a bargaining counter for the captured Englishmen. At dawn Gerard rides before the Abbey walls with Morgan bound beneath a tree and a rope prepared for hanging. The garrison, made up of mixed French, English, and Portuguese deserters, is horrified to see its leader in his power. Gerard forces them to negotiate. They admit that fourteen dragoons, including Bart, were killed while resisting capture, but agree to release the surviving thirty-seven men with their horses and arms in exchange for Morgan’s life. Gerard also demands the release of the Countess of La Ronda. Morgan proposes that her wishes be consulted, and the woman is brought out. Rather than seeking rescue, she rushes to Morgan and calls him “my own Alexis.” Morgan reveals that she is not the Dowager Countess at all, but his wife, Mrs. Alexis Morgan, whom he jokingly styles Madame la Maréchale Millefleurs. Gerard realizes that he has been deceived again, but accepts the return of the dragoons as the best outcome possible. The prisoners are restored, Morgan is released, and Gerard obtains his promise that Bart and the other dead Englishmen will receive fitting burial. Gerard challenges Morgan to meet him with swords on horseback, but Morgan refuses, saying that he cannot risk either Gerard’s life or his own happiness with his bride. Gerard departs with his hussars and the rescued dragoons, warning Morgan that they will meet again.

By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle · First published 1895 · Genre: Historical Adventure Fiction, Napoleonic War Fiction, Military Fiction · 11,161 words

First lines

Massena was a thin, sour little fellow, and after his hunting accident he had only one eye, but when it looked out from under his cocked hat there was not much upon a field of battle which escaped it. He could stand in front of a battalion, and with a single sweep tell you if a buckle or a gaiter button were out of place. Neither the officers nor the men were very fond of him, for he was, as you know, a miser, and soldiers love that their leaders should be freehanded. At the same time, when it came to work they had a very high respect for him, and they would rather fight under him than under anyone except the Emperor himself, and Lannes, when he was alive. After all, if he had a tight grasp upon his moneybags, there was a day also, you must remember, when that same grip was upon Zurich and Genoa. He clutched on to his positions as he did to his strong box, and it took a very clever man to loosen him from either.

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Genres

Historical Adventure Fiction — The story combines a Napoleonic-era setting with a hazardous mission, cavalry travel, infiltration, captivity, rescue, and negotiations with an outlaw leader.
Napoleonic War Fiction — Its plot is set during the Peninsular War under Marshal Massena, with French and British forces, hussars, dragoons, military commands, and references to Wellington and the Torres Vedras campaign.
Military Fiction — Military life, command structure, reconnaissance, cavalry tactics, discipline, uniforms, rivalry, and battlefield reputation dominate both the action and narration.
Adventure Fiction — Colonel Gerard undertakes a dangerous expedition against a fortified bandit stronghold, encountering ambushes, disguise, betrayal, imprisonment, and a hostage exchange.

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How the Brigadier Took the Field against the Marshal Millefleurs is listed on Textopian as a short story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, dated 1895 CE.

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Work type: Short story
Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Date: 1895 CE
Language: English
Genres: Historical Adventure Fiction, Napoleonic War Fiction, Military Fiction, Adventure Fiction, Comic Fiction
Length: 11,161 words
Structure: 1 section, 198 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

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