Letters from Maria Josepha Lady Stanley to Her Father Lord Sheffield
These letters, written between 1797 and 1815, are part of a series from Maria Josepha Stanley to her father Lord Sheffield. At the beginning of the period Maria Josepha had been married six months, and was living in Newcastle-upon-Tyne where her husband, a Captain in the Cheshire Militia, had been posted with his regiment to resist any attempted invasion by the forces of the Directorate. Edited by Lord Stanley of Alderley.
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Newcastle. Feby. 27th, ’97 ... This lovely weather we have had above a week past, gives him (J. T. Stanley) an opportunity to have his men out frequently, and as he is teaching himself, as well as them, I am in daily fear of the return of our Lieutenant Colonel who will put an end to his manoeuvres. Major le Marchant’s1 Sword Exercise is the great Entertainment of the Town of Newcastle, and it is a very pretty sight, as the variety of uniforms, red and blue, of the thirteen different regiments of which there are detachments here, have a very gay and theatrical effect. Last Thursday they mounted for the first time, and no horses ears were cut off. Sixteen of le Marchant’s men went through the whole exercise, in single combat, run at a thing, and cut a potatoe in full gallop. From hence le Marchant goes to Bath to teach the troops in that District, and then to Ireland.
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