104: SWABEY DIARY. 
and got back just as May,! and Lindsay,? the Brigade-Major, and 
Adjutant were sitting down to dinner, the Colonel being ill in bed. I 
was glad soon after to get to bed in May’s room, where Sutton had 
made the arrangements. The Colonel and party had been infamously 
expelled from head-quarters to make room for whom? for anybody who 
meureoyy Gowns) | (Clivrny cleeseayclec, GORI! 5 5 5 o ¢ 4 A 0 3 © 
10th November.—Breakfasting early, and after an audience with the 
good old Colonel, I went to the paymaster, who informed me that money 
had arrived, and if I could wait a day or two the troop accounts might 
be settled. I easily made up my mind, and leaving the papers, rode 
over to Ross’s troop at Puebla de Azava, three leagues? off, in Spain, 
but through the uncommon ignorance of the people could not get 
directed, every one telling me they did not know even the name of the 
place. I have since suspected this was through fear of being taken as 
guides. I therefore went to Alvagaria, where I found General Picton’s, 
the third division, and from there got to Ross‘ in time for dinner ; 
passed an exceedingly pleasant evening, played whist, had a billet to 
myself, corn for my animals, and a man to take care of my horse, 
CC ley ioe eleacen ice seu ie see | ee a one uk ele re Oe Ra ume ce 
11th November.—Rode with my friend George Smyth to Guinaldo, 
where the light division lay, they were fitting up a ruined chapel, and 
Captain Bell, the Deputy-Adjutant-General, was painting scenes for the 
representation of Henry IV. on Thursday week. At this place I formed 
some idea of the Spanish superiority over the Portuguese; the towns 
1 Captain John May (Kane’s List, No. 883) was employed afloat in bomb service from December 
1797, to 10th April, 1801. He was present at the siege of Copenhagen in 1807. : 
He began his Peninsular service in the Portuguese Artillery, but on 13th June, 1809, became 
Brigade-Major, R.A., having exchanged with Captain Alexander Dickson; these distinguished 
officers were firm friends, and their cordially co-operation throughout the war resulted in the suc- 
cessful solution of many important artillery problems. Captain May, who became A.A.G., R.A. 
in 1811, was present at every operation of importance from the battle of Talavera to that of 
Toulouse, besides many mivor affairs. He was mentioned in despatches for the sieges of Ciudad 
Rodrigo, Badajos, Burgos, and St. Sebastian. He was wounded when charging with the cavalry 
the French rear-guard the morning after the battle of Salamanca, and again at the battle of 
Vitoria. 
Sir John May was A.A.G., R.A. in the campaign of 1815, he was present at Quartre Bras and 
Waterloo. For his long and distinguished services he received the K.C.B., the K.C.H., the K.7.S. 
of Portugal, the order of St. Anne of Russia, and the gold cross with three clasps. Major-General Sir 
John May, who was a lineal descendant of Thomas May the historian «f the Commonwealth, died 
in London in 1847. The maps he bad used during his campaigns were presented by Lady May to 
the R.A. Institution in 1854, one, an original map of the country between the rivers Coa and 
Agueda, is beautifully executed. 
2 Lieutenant W. F. Lindsay (Kane’s List, No. 1185). 
3A Spanish league = 2°63 English miles. 
4Captain Hew Dalrymple Ross (Kane’s List, No. 890) commanded “A” (the Chestnut( 
Troop (now “fA” Battery), R.H.A., from 1806 to 1825. He served with it in the Peninsula 
attached to the “light division,” from June 1809 to the end of the war in 1814. He was present 
at the battles of Busaco, Fuentes de Honor, Salamanca, Vitoria, Pyrences from 26th to 30th 
July, 18138, near Bayonne; at the sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajos, and forts of Salamanca ; at 
the actions on the Coa, Pombal, Redinha, Cazal Nova, Fox. d’Aronce, Sabugal, Aldea de Ponte, 
Castrajon, San Munos, San Milau; at the passage of the Bidarsoa, the Nivelle, and the Nive, he 
was three times wounded during these campaigns, and was made a brevet Lieut.-Colonel and 
K.C.B., he received the gold cross and two clasps, silver medal with three clasps, and the K.T.S. 
of Portugal. 
Sir Hew was with his troop et Waterloo, and he received the 2nd class of St. Anne of Russia on 
that occasion. Je commanded the troops in the northern district from 1825 to 1840, he then be- 
came D A.G., R.A., and later was Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance. He was made a 
G.C.B. in 1855, and a Field-Marshal in 1867, and died as Governor of Chelsea Hospital in his 
90th year in 1868. 
