Sergeant Brewer in Real Life

From The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia

Sergeant Brewer in Real Life is an article published in The Penny Illustrated Paper on 13 may 1905.

The journalist made an error on the rank and name, the character in the Arthur Conan Doyle's short story A Straggler of '15 (Waterloo) was : Corporal Gregory Brewster.


Sergeant Brewer in Real Life

The Penny Illustrated Paper
(13 may 1905, p. 290)

The dramatic climax in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "Waterloo," in which the old guardsman falls back dead after recounting his fighting days, is recalled in a striking manner, says the Chronicle, by the death of a Crimean veteran, named Friend, at Shoeburyness. After being unconscious for three days, Friend seemed to rally somewhat, and the watchers by his bedside noticed that he appeared to be attempting to describe something that was passing through his mind. Presently he was heard to mutter. "Hark! Music! The band of the 44th!" The old man raised himself up in bed, while a faint smile, flickered about his face, and then fell back almost immediately. He was dead. Friend enlisted in the old "Fighting 44th," and was made sergeant for a deed of heroism at the battle of Alma. He stood beside Captain Nolan when the "Charge" was ordered at Balaclava, and Nolan's body fell at his feet when the dead rider's horse stopped after the charge.