‘They will go aboard if I have to shoot them,’ Wellesley said.

For all his harsh words, however, the next morning he took the Coldstream Guards apart, and addressed them personally. The seven Yellow Reapers and three Grey Coppers were lined up some distance behind him, facing away so their jaws and teeth could not be seen. They had been rigged out with rope and sackcloth, and his aides were climbing over the new harnesses to no purpose but pure drama, as the rigging had already been thoroughly tried by the dragons themselves tugging on it.

‘Men,’ Wellesley said, ‘it is a damned sorry state of affairs we are in. That Corsican upstart sleeps in the King's bed, while his bully-boys steal cattle and wreck the harvest. It is more than any red-blooded Englishman can bear, and we are not going to bear it for much longer.’

‘That's right,’ a couple of men called back; a ‘hear, hear’ among mutterings of agreement.

‘Every one of you knows they cannot out-fight us, and now we have learned they cannot out-walk you, either. It is just one of Boney's tricks. Those damned lazy Frenchmen are being carted around on dragonback. That is how they have been getting the jump on us,’ Wellesley said, jerking his head back towards the dragons. 'I say it is time we put a stop to it, and your colonel here has solicited for you the honour of going first.

'It is no treat to go aloft, so I rely on you all to set an example for the rest of the Corps. When your sergeants give the word, you are to go aboard the dragons, one to a company, one column to a side, filling the rigging from front to back. The first company aboard in good order will have the honour of carrying the flag when we give Boney his well-deserved drubbing, and find an extra ration of rum in camp tonight.

‘And I hope there is no man here more faint of heart than a Frenchman,’ he added, ‘but if anyone here is too craven to go aloft for an hour, he may say so now, and be excused.’ He nodded to the colonel of the regiment, turned and walked over to the dragons, to make a show of speaking with Rowley.

No-one spoke, and the men filed in perfect order aboard the beasts. The rest of the army had been roused to watch the dragons lifting off. After a little prodding from the sergeants, the men aboard jeered cheerfully at the regiments marching below they sailed away.