In the wantonness of triumph, too, we had lighted some six or eight wax-candles; a vast quantity of which had been found in the store-rooms of the chateaux hard by; and having done ample justice to our luxurious supper, we were sitting in great splendour and in high spirits at the entrance of our hut, when the alarm of the approaching schooner was communicated to us.
"The Campaigns of the British Army at Washington and New Orleans 1814-1815"
G. R. Gleig
A tremendous cannonade mowed down our ranks, and deafened us with its roar; whilst two large chateaux and their outbuildings almost scorched us with the flames, and blinded us with the smoke which they emitted.
"The Campaigns of the British Army at Washington and New Orleans 1814-1815"
G. R. Gleig
Should any of my most patient listeners to these my humble confessions, wonder either here, or elsewhere, upon what very slight foundations I built these my "chateaux en Espagne," I have only one answer-"that from my boyhood I have had a taste for florid architecture, and would rather put up with any inconvenience of ground, than not build at all."
"The Confessions of Harry Lorrequer, Complete"
Charles James Lever (1806-1872)