THE YOUNG BUGLERS

by G.A. Henty



PREFACE

To my Young Readers.

I remember that, as a boy, I regarded any attempt to mix instruction with amusement as being as objectionable a practice as the administration of powder in jam; but I think that this feeling arose from the fact that in those days books contained a very small share of amusement and a very large share of instruction. I have endeavored to avoid this, and I hope that the accounts of battles and sieges, illustrated as they are by maps, will be found as interesting as the lighter parts of the story. As in my tale, "The Young Franc-Tireurs," I gave the outline of the Franco-German war, so I have now endeavored to give the salient features of the great Peninsular struggle. The military facts, with the names of generals and regiments, the dates and places, are all strictly accurate, and any one who has read with care the story of "The Young Buglers" could pass an examination as to the leading events of the Peninsular war.

Yours truly,

G. A. HENTY


CONTENTS.

   
CHAPTER I.   A Coaching Adventure
CHAPTER II.   The Young Pickles
CHAPTER III.   Enlisted
CHAPTER IV.   A Tough Customer
CHAPTER V.   Overboard
CHAPTER VI.   Portugal
CHAPTER VII.   The Passage of the Douro--Talavera
CHAPTER VIII.   A Pause in Operations
CHAPTER IX.   "With the Guerillas"
CHAPTER X.   Madrid
CHAPTER XI.   The Fight on the Coa
CHAPTER XII.   Busaco and Torres Vedras
CHAPTER XIII.   Albuera
CHAPTER XIV.   Invalided Home
CHAPTER XV.   Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajos
CHAPTER XVI.   Salamanca
CHAPTER XVII.   Caught in a Trap
CHAPTER XVIII.   Just in Time
CHAPTER XIX.   Vittoria
CHAPTER XX.   Toulouse