Read Online Bonnie Prince Charlie: A Biography by Carolly Erickson - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Carolly Erickson
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rate." 9 Still, Charles was obstreperous and eager to show how brave he was, and insisted on going back several times to the house where the cannon had breached the walls, enjoying the fact that he was tempting fate.
He must also have enjoyed the stir he was creating with his charm and liveliness. Possibly because he was such a contrast to the diffident Don Carlos, the Spaniards were delighted with him. He was "adored by the officers and soldiers," Berwick wrote, for "his manner and conversation are really bewitching." 10 He mingled with the men, asking each one how he carried out his particular duties, talking with sappers and engineers and experts in artillery as if exceptionally concerned with their individual branch of siege craft. On one occasion he visited a group of men engaged in building earthworks, and began talking with them. "They were struck with wonder and astonishment," a witness wrote later, "when they heard this young Prince speaking to each of them in their own language. To the Walloon he spoke French, Spanish to the Spaniards, and to the Italians Italian, being perfect master of these three languages. The soldiers flocked about him and disputed among themselves who should have the honor of speaking a word to him." 11
Word of Charles's bravery went out via the Spaniards to Spain, and via the French to French diplomats throughout Europe. Unfortunately, it was also widely publicized that he had brought two friars along in his retinue—a faux pas which was certain to be published to his detriment in the newspapers in Protestant Holland and England. It was "one of those minor things which could lose a kingdom," Murray was told by Don Carlos's Italian physician, a cultivated man who had the Stuarts' interests at heart.
To counterbalance this there were the reports of Charles's winning manners, his success in gaining the genuine liking of Don Carlos, and his evident civility. He dined frequently with the king and with the officers, and spent time conversing with "some pretty gentlemen" Berwick knew. He never went to court, according to Murray, without saying something memorable while there; people remarked "that he was already a man," though still a boy in years. "Today at court," Murray wrote, "his cockade fell from his hat and Mr. de St. Estevan took it up and the hat in order to put it on, but was placing it wrong, upon which the King put it right." Charles immediately remarked "that he would keep that cockade as long as he lived because His Majesty had done him the honor to touch it." 12 It was flattery of the kind Chesterfield would have commended.
The Gaeta campaign whetted Charles's appetite for the military life, and after the capitulation of the fortress he went on to Naples at the invitation of Don Carlos. He wanted to accompany the Spanish army into Sicily, but James ordered him home. Despite the good reports he had received, he was dissatisfied with Charles for writing him so infrequently and so perfunctorily. (One of Charles's letters to his father read, in its entirety, "I am very glad that you are contented with me. I have been very good and hope with the Grace of God to continue so and humbly ask your Blessing. Charles P[rince]." 13 Beyond this, James was worried about his son's eating habits, even though Murray had written him that the boy ate twice as much at Gaeta as he did at home. "I earnestly recommend to you," James wrote to Charles, "to have a particular care of your diet, for it would be a foolish and vexatious thing should you fall sick there, by eating trash, and so not be able to do and see what is fit for you." 14 The food in Naples was bad enough, but that of Sicily would be impossible. Prince Charles must come home. So, laden with jewels, looking "rich and opulent," and no doubt shining with the praise and attention he had received, Charles returned to Rome with his retinue.
His reputation had preceded him. Von Stosch, who had dismissed the idea of sending a mere boy to the
He must also have enjoyed the stir he was creating with his charm and liveliness. Possibly because he was such a contrast to the diffident Don Carlos, the Spaniards were delighted with him. He was "adored by the officers and soldiers," Berwick wrote, for "his manner and conversation are really bewitching." 10 He mingled with the men, asking each one how he carried out his particular duties, talking with sappers and engineers and experts in artillery as if exceptionally concerned with their individual branch of siege craft. On one occasion he visited a group of men engaged in building earthworks, and began talking with them. "They were struck with wonder and astonishment," a witness wrote later, "when they heard this young Prince speaking to each of them in their own language. To the Walloon he spoke French, Spanish to the Spaniards, and to the Italians Italian, being perfect master of these three languages. The soldiers flocked about him and disputed among themselves who should have the honor of speaking a word to him." 11
Word of Charles's bravery went out via the Spaniards to Spain, and via the French to French diplomats throughout Europe. Unfortunately, it was also widely publicized that he had brought two friars along in his retinue—a faux pas which was certain to be published to his detriment in the newspapers in Protestant Holland and England. It was "one of those minor things which could lose a kingdom," Murray was told by Don Carlos's Italian physician, a cultivated man who had the Stuarts' interests at heart.
To counterbalance this there were the reports of Charles's winning manners, his success in gaining the genuine liking of Don Carlos, and his evident civility. He dined frequently with the king and with the officers, and spent time conversing with "some pretty gentlemen" Berwick knew. He never went to court, according to Murray, without saying something memorable while there; people remarked "that he was already a man," though still a boy in years. "Today at court," Murray wrote, "his cockade fell from his hat and Mr. de St. Estevan took it up and the hat in order to put it on, but was placing it wrong, upon which the King put it right." Charles immediately remarked "that he would keep that cockade as long as he lived because His Majesty had done him the honor to touch it." 12 It was flattery of the kind Chesterfield would have commended.
The Gaeta campaign whetted Charles's appetite for the military life, and after the capitulation of the fortress he went on to Naples at the invitation of Don Carlos. He wanted to accompany the Spanish army into Sicily, but James ordered him home. Despite the good reports he had received, he was dissatisfied with Charles for writing him so infrequently and so perfunctorily. (One of Charles's letters to his father read, in its entirety, "I am very glad that you are contented with me. I have been very good and hope with the Grace of God to continue so and humbly ask your Blessing. Charles P[rince]." 13 Beyond this, James was worried about his son's eating habits, even though Murray had written him that the boy ate twice as much at Gaeta as he did at home. "I earnestly recommend to you," James wrote to Charles, "to have a particular care of your diet, for it would be a foolish and vexatious thing should you fall sick there, by eating trash, and so not be able to do and see what is fit for you." 14 The food in Naples was bad enough, but that of Sicily would be impossible. Prince Charles must come home. So, laden with jewels, looking "rich and opulent," and no doubt shining with the praise and attention he had received, Charles returned to Rome with his retinue.
His reputation had preceded him. Von Stosch, who had dismissed the idea of sending a mere boy to the
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