This group of riders turned the front of the regiment,
and then passed along the rear, coming close to where we stood; and as
the plainly dressed gentleman rode by, he bent towards me, and I tried to
raise my hat, but did not succeed very well, because the fierce wind had
compelled me to jam it tightly upon my head. The Duke of Cambridge (for
this was he) is a comely-looking gentlemanly man, of bluff English face,
with a great deal of brown beard about it. Though a pretty tall man, he
appears, on horseback, broad and round in proportion to his height. I
looked at him with a certain sort of interest, and a feeling of kindness;
for one does feel kindly to whatever human being is anywise marked out
from the rest, unless it be by his disagreeable qualities.
The troops, from twelve to fifteen thousand, now fell into marching
order, and went to attack a wood, where we were to suppose the enemy to
be stationed. The sham-fight seemed to me rather clumsily managed, and
without any striking incident or result. The officers had prophesied,
the night before, that General K------, commanding in the camp, would
make a muddle of it; and probably he did. After the review, the Duke of
Cambridge with his attendant officers took their station, and all the
regiments marched in front of him, saluting as they passed. As each
colonel rode by, and as the banner of each regiment was lowered, the Duke
lifted his hat.
The most splendid effect of this parade was the gleam of the sun upon the
long line of bayonets,--the sheen of all that steel appearing like a
wavering fringe of light upon the dark masses of troops below.
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