Page:Memorials of Capt. Hedley Vicars, Ninety-seventh Regiment by Marsh, Catherine, 1818-1912.djvu/167

160 son, and all the children, and don't forget old Sophy, Mrs. Aves, and Mrs. Richardson. Ever, my own darling Clara, your most affectionate and deeply-attached brother.

All his letters were written in the highest spirits on first landing in the Crimea. The "escape from a winter of being quietly shelved in the Piræus," as he expressed it, to the centre of the scene of action, the necessity for constant activity, and the calling forth to the uttermost of his early love of adventure, "dearer for danger" all combined to increase his buoyant tone. "It is no use doing things by halves," he wrote on the 22d. of December, "we must go at it hammer and tongs! The men are dispirited, naturally enough, by losing so many of their comrades from cholera. I can answer for it they would soon cheer up if they were led against the Russians."

To his second sister he writes by the same mail, "The rain is pouring in torrents, but I have this night been in bed, for a wonder, so I shall have a little time to dry; but I pity the poor fellows in the trenches — 200 men of ours and 700 of other regiments. The men of all the British regiments are dying in numbers every day, and many are buried without any funeral service. We are now, to mend matters, placed on half rations; but I never was much of an epicure, so I am quite contented with what they give me. Indeed, I have no patience with fellows who are always grumbling. Our hardships certainly are very great, but as soldiers we ought to bear them without a murmur. Many officers, I hear, are now resigning their commissions. I can only say, shame on those who desert their country in her time of need. We all made a great mistake in not bringing warm clothing with us here. I did buy a comforter, which is more than most fel-