Frasers of Philorth > Volume 1

THE FRASERS OF PHILORTH, LORDS SALTOUN. 273
ously been a very foul-tongued man, was so struck with this, that no oath
or bad language was ever heard to proceed from his mouth again.
In his letter of the 25th, begun at Camp near Serain, Lord Saltoun
says, "Yesterday we marched from Gourmignies to a place called Boussiers
short of Cateau, to-day we marched through Cateau" (Le Cateau Cambresis)
" to this place. The weather is most horrible, and resembles more a
winter than a summer campaign ; for it has rained almost every day since
the action, and the roads — for as yet we have been marching by the cross-
roads, and not the chaussees, to avoid the strong places — are up to the
men's knees in mud. The old King came up to us yesterday, and to-
day remains at Cateau. I am sorry to say poor Hughes " (his servant) " is
in a bad way. I have been obliged to leave him in the village where we
halted last night, for from violent rheumatics he was unable to sit on his
horse ; and the number of our wounded is so great, added to the confusion
that took place in the rear, owing to the false alarm the day of the Battle,
that our carts for carrying sick men have never come up, so I do not know
whether I shall ever see him again, indeed I much fear I shall not ; this,
added to the very disagreeable task, which I have just got through, of writ-
ing to the families of all our poor officers who fell an account of their death,
which as Commanding Officer I am obliged to do, the loss in action having
given me the temporary command of the second Battalion, has made me
very melancholy."
Lord Saltoun appears, however, to have been superseded in his command
of the battalion by some senior officer, for in the next service performed by the
First Begiment of Guards, for the description of which a reference must again
be made to Sir F. W. Hamilton's pages, he is found once more in command
of the light companies of the brigade. This service was the capture of the
maiden fortress of Peronne.
1 " On the morning of the 26th of June, as Sir John Byng " (who was now
temporarily commanding the first corps dlarm&e, consisting of the first and
third infantry divisions) " was passing the village of Vermand, where the
main body of the Duke's army lay, he learnt that the Duke himself was there,
and waited on him. The Duke at once exclaimed, ' You are the very person
1 History of the Grenadier Guards, vol. iii. p. 55.
2 M