Allan Mallinson - A Regimental Affair

‘This is too much,’ Howard muttered. ‘And I who have never heard a shot fired in anger am stood gawking.’

‘Come then,’ said Hervey, turning.

But Cashman called for the crowd to give him three cheers, making them both turn back once more. And then, in the language the sailor knew best, he called to the hangman to ‘let go the jib-boom’.

Suddenly his words were choked off. His body swung crazily in mid-air. He struggled only briefly, but it silenced the crowd. When his writhing was no more, several of the onlookers muttered, ‘God rest his soul.’ Some made the sign of the cross. For a while, as the sheriffs’ men took down the body, there was scarcely a word, but as quickly as the silence had come the clamour returned, and everywhere there were shouts of ‘Murder! Murder! Shame! Shame!’

The constables looked about anxiously as Hervey and Howard took the opportunity to push their way to the end of the street. There was the sound of splintering timber and then a terrific roar as some of the rougher elements mounted the scaffold and pulled down the gibbet. The pavement boards outside Beckwith’s shop gave way and the crowd surged into the middle of the street, the constables quickly abandoning their attempts to hold them back and running to the west end where one of the City magistrates stood with an armed guard.

‘We’d better leave them to it. This is no place for either of us,’ said Hervey, having to fend off one of the ladies of the district (business always increased after a public execution).

The magistrate looked nervous too. More people — and a sight less respectable-looking than before — were coming from the rookeries. The crowd in Skinner Street was now in a distinct tumult. He clearly feared for property and life. Hervey saw him signal to one of his deputies at the end of the street, and then take out his pocketbook.

‘Our Sovereign Lord the King,’ he began, though the tumult was so great that none beyond a dozen yards could have heard him; ‘chargeth and commandeth all persons being assembled, immediately to disperse themselves and peaceably to depart—’ A piece of rotten fruit struck the magistrate square in the face, but he faltered only for a second before continuing. ‘… Peaceably to depart to their habitations or to their lawful business, upon the pains contained in the Act made in the first year of King George for preventing tumultuous and riotous assemblies. God save the King!’

But this magistrate was not going to wait a full hour for the crowd to disperse, as the Riot Act required. In less than a minute there was a sudden roar and then the clatter of hooves above it, as the City officials’ force of last resort appeared from around the corner.

‘Great gods!’ exclaimed Hervey. The facings were unmistakable. ‘It is the Sixth! And I recognize some of those dragoons!’ What a place to see them, jeered by their own countrymen when only a year ago they had been cheered to the eaves. He balked at the prospect of what they had to do, but he wanted to be with them nevertheless. ‘Go to it, the Sixth!’ he called, before he could think better of it.

Howard had turned the colour of the Sixth’s facings. His eyes were empty.

‘My dear fellow,’ said Hervey, grasping his arm, ‘I think we’d better get you some brandy.’

‘No, no; it is all right. I want just to walk, that is all,’ he replied, shaking his head.

Hervey glanced back over his shoulder at the dragoons.

‘Why don’t you stay?’ said Howard. ‘I’ll make my way back to Whitehall: there’s no chance of getting to the Saracen’s Head by the looks of things.’

Hervey was not of a mind to leave him, but Howard protested he was perfectly well enough to find a chaise.

‘Very well, then,’ Hervey conceded. ‘But let’s dine as we said. A little later, though — say, eight? At the United Services,’ and he reached for his hunter to see how long he had. It was gone — twisted from the chain, for it had no safety swivel. ‘Oh, in heaven’s name!’ he groaned.

Lord John Howard raised his eyebrows as if to apologize for his city.

‘It saw me through Belgium and India, and now a wretch from—’

Howard stayed his protest with a hand on his arm. ‘I think I should remain here with you.’

‘No,’ said Hervey shaking his head. ‘They’ll not have another thing from me. Go back to the Horse Guards. You have duties to be about.’

Hervey turned back to see the dragoons already beginning to advance with sabres drawn.

‘The flats, mind; the flats only!’ called their cornet, a face new to him.

He thought it odd that a half-troop on duty such as this was under command of so junior an officer. He could see the serjeant — Noakes, a steady sort, but never a man for troop work — behind the rear rank. A fat lot of good he’d do there with a greenhead cornet in front! But Hervey was relieved to see that the right marker was sound. What a welcome sight was Collins, his old covering-corporal. Collins had galloped for him in the Peninsula and at Waterloo; and (eighteen months ago now) to Boulogne and from there to Le Havre with Henrietta on that ill-starred chase to reach his ship. Why Collins had but two chevrons still, Hervey couldn’t imagine. He’d back his wits in an affair, any day, against those of ‘Auntie’ Noakes.

The sight of drawn swords served notice to the crowd. To some it was a signal to be off, and Hervey was pleased that the cornet had sense, at least, to advance slowly enough to give them plenty of room. But to the roughs at the far end of the street the appearance of the cavalry was a signal to increase their mischief, and to open a steady fusillade of brickbats. These dropped well short of the dragoons, however, onto the front of the crowd not yet managed to get away. Soon there were men — and women — fallen to the cobbles, some bleeding from gashes about the head. It would be an even uglier sight from astride a horse, thought Hervey; and bewildering, too, since the ‘innocents’ were now in the way of any effort to quell the more violent rioters. But it was not a time for too much thinking. If the line of dragoons stood still they’d positively encourage trouble.

Another hail of stones fell, closer to the line this time. ‘Turn about, turn about!’ Hervey shouted: the hindquarters of a troop-horse would, he knew, be a powerful street sweeper — and would do no lasting damage. There was certainly no room now for the flat of the sabre underhand. The cornet must have seen this, for he shouted to his dragoons to raise swords. This only made the roughs bellow defiantly, and increase their fusillade of stones. Some of the braver ones climbed to the roofs of the buildings either side of the street, and it was not long before they began hurling slates down at the dragoons.

One of the first casualties was the cornet himself. A piece of guttering hit the brow of his shako and then his charger’s head. He managed at first to stay in the saddle, but before his coverman could close to support him the horse reared full upright, paddling with his forelegs as if at a prizefight. The cornet, half dazed already, had no chance. He fell heavily to the ground, hitting his head hard on the cobbles. The dragoons behind tried desperately not to trample him, but more than one iron struck.

‘Christ!’ cursed Hervey as he pushed through the crowd to reach him.

Some dragoons had stopped, trying to shield the cornet where he lay. Some were still pushing forward at the crowd, and those behind were falling into confusion, not knowing what was happening in front. Serjeant Noakes looked at a loss, while Hervey could see Corporal Collins shouting something to the front rank, whose dragoons began returning sabres to the carry and kicking their horses’ flanks to urge them forward.