[115] The Burial of Sir John Moore at Corunna

  Not a drum was heard, nor a funeral note,
    As his corse to the rampart we hurried;
Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot
    O'er the grave where our hero we buried.

  We buried him darkly at dead of night,
    The sods with our bayonets turning;
By the struggling moonbeam's misty light
    And the lanthorn dimly burning.

   No useless coffin enclosed his breast,
    Nor in sheet nor in shroud we wound him;
But he lay like a warrior taking his rest
    With his martial cloak around him.

  Few and short were the prayers we said,
    And we spoke not a word of sorrow;
But we steadfastly gazed on the face that was dead,
    And we bitterly thought of the morrow.

  We thought, as we hollowed his narrow bed
    And smoothed down his lonely pillow,
That the foe and the stranger would tread o'er his head,
    And we far away on the billow!

  Lightly they'll talk of the spirit that's gone
    And o'er his cold ashes upbraid him,--
But little he'll reck, if they let him sleep on
    In the grave where a Briton has laid him.

  But half of our heavy task was done
    When the clock struck the hour for retiring:
And we heard the distant and random gun
    That the foe was sullenly firing.

  Slowly and sadly we laid him down,
    From the field of his fame fresh and gory;
We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone,
    But left him alone with his glory.

 	-- Charles Wolfe

I learnt this one way back in school, and it has stuck with me ever since -
the resonant lines, the timeworn but never trite sentiments and the
well-turned phrases make this a particularly memorable poem. The last two
lines of the second verse, in particular, are among my favourite pieces of
verse, both for the image and the sound of the words.

m.

Notes:

The battle of Corunna was part of the Peninsular War

  January 16, 1809: Sir John Moore, given command, takes the small British
  army through Portugal and into Spain to support the rumoured Spanish
  uprising and relieve Madrid. When this proves to be false, he has to
  retreat over and through terrible snow covered mountains pursued by
  Bonaparte himself with a massive army. Though saving Spain from fulI
  occupation and conquest by the French, he partially loses control of his
  army and scenes of drunkeness ensue. At Corunna harbour, he defeats the
  French pursuit under Marshal Soult but is killed at the moment of victory.

	<http://www.sharpe.stayfree.co.uk/the_battles-noframes.htm>

Biography:

 b. Dec. 14, 1791, Dublin, Ire.
 d. Feb. 21, 1823, Queenstown, County Cork

  Irish poet and clergyman, whose "Burial of Sir John Moore" (1817),
  commemorating the commander of the British forces at the Battle of Corunna
  (La Coruqa, Spain) during the Peninsular War, is one of the best-known
  funeral elegies in English. Wolfe attended Trinity College, Dublin, was
  ordained in 1817, and held curacies in County Tyrone.

  	-- EB

From: "b.t.stephens" <b.t.stephens@>

It may be an irrelevancy (but I have always liked this poem, from
schooldays 60 years ago), but I was surprised when putting a line in on
the web and getting various pages, that his Corpse was hurried. I always
remember that it was his Corse, not corpse. Who is right?

From: Martin Julian DeMello <martindemello@>

Also spracht b.t.stephens...
> It may be an irrelevancy (but I have always liked this poem, from
> schooldays 60 years ago), but I was surprised when putting a line in on
> the web and getting various pages, that his Corpse was hurried. I always
> remember that it was his Corse, not corpse. Who is right?

Corse is right - I just verified it against a number of canonical poetry
sites[1]. Bartleby does appear to have a typo in their Palgrave[2] (I'll
check my dead-tree Palgrave when I get home to see where the mistake
originated.)

m.

[1] http://www.bartleby.com/101/603.html
    http://www.library.utoronto.ca/utel/rp/poems/wolfe1b.html
    http://www.geocities.com/~spanoudi/poems/wolfe01.html
[2] http://www.bartleby.com/106/218.html

From: Terry Moore <aglishhouse@>

Would anybody know the family tree of Sir John Moore? Where he came from.
His father and mothers names , if he had brothers and sisters, wife and
children if any. We are trying to put a family tree together
Thanking you,
T.R.Moore

From: RockysGrace@

This poem touched my heart. I am researching my genealogy and my great, 
great. grandfather, James Grant, who was a Corporal in the British army and 
took part in the epic retreat at Corunna. He was also in the battles at 
Bucaso and Fuentes D'Noro.  He was wounded at the latter and pensioned out of 
the army and returned to his home in Scotland.  He lived to be one of the 
oldest pensioners in the British army and his descendants are scattered all 
over Britain, the USA, Australia and Canada. Your web site has added greatly 
to my research.  Thank you.

Grace Malloy
617 Lansdowne Ave.,
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Canada  R2W 0H8   

From: "Dorothy Bell" <db.consult@>

My G.G.G. Grandfather was Alexander Rollo and he is reported to have carried
the lantern at the burial of Sir John Moore.  So this poem is of special
interest to me.  Alexander is buried in the Tynemouth Priory graveyard.  I
am searching into my family history and would love to know more about
Alexander and his brave deed.
DBell

From: "J Wheater" <J.Wheater@>

A little more background:

Moore's dying was long and painful.  He had received a cannon ball in
the chest, and endured it all with great courage.  Not long before the
wound he had reprimanded a soldier similarly stricken, saying "Come, we
must bear these things better", and indeed he followed his own precept.

You can still see his tomb, in the English Garden in Corunna (la Coruna
to the Spanish).  The tomb was put up by Soult (or Ney was it?) in
Moore's honour, so maybe he was not allowed to "sleep on in the grave
where a Briton ... laid him".

See Carola Oman's biography of this great soldier, and remember him on
January 16th.

From: "Terry Tustin" <ttustin@>

I saw You e-mail on a web page about Sir John Moore and wanted to let
you Know that reverned Charles Moore was the father of Dr John Moore who
in turn Is the Father of sir John Moore  and 4 other sons and one
daughter. One son became a Doctor another secrtary of state, one in the
Navy and the last was bred to the bar.
Sir John Moore is my GGGG Grandfather he was born in Glasgow Scotland
his father Dr. John Moore was born in Stirling Scotland.
The last to carry the name Moore in my Family was my Great Grandmother
Gertie Moore Hart who took her mothers madien name as her middle name as
is the way of the Scot's.

From: "Robin Herron" <robherron@>

A brief note to say that English Heritage are holding an open day this
Sunday 14th September at Tynemouth Priory and Castle where Rollo's grave
lies and it is hoped to repeat the period reconstruction relating to the
burial as last year. Tynemouth Pageant Players will be providing a
number of period characterisations illustrating the history of the site
on Sunday.

It is understood that Denis Rollo a well known gunner is a descendant of
Alexander Rollo and it would be helpful if anyone can provide a means of
contacting him, last known of around Woolwich garrison HQ

Robin Herron

From: Candy Brenner <newsgirl@>


Grace, I'm researching my grandfather, Dr. John C. Moore, son of William
B. Moore. John was a pharmacist who married Lenore Wood, daughter of ?
and Bridget Wood of Saginaw Michigan. Lenore was born in Canada and I've
found a Wm. B. Moore in Saginaw around 1900. John used the abbreviation
Esq. in signing my mother's birth certificate. What does that mean?
After their marriage, Lenore and John lived in Cleveland, TN, where my
mother was born in 1920. Any clues for you or me here? If so, contact me
at newsgirl@

From: "Mark Barrett" <mark.barrett7@>

I am 83 years old.
I also remember the poem "The Burial of Sir John Moore at Corunna" from
schooldays. It is the first two lines of verse 2 which have particularly
stayed in my mind.
My recent interest has been aroused by reading again a little booklet
which I have had in my possession for several years called "Borne To The
Grave By Heroes" written by Major Frank A. O. Clark formerly of the
Grenadier Guards. This is the life story of a William Martin
Middleditch, a Regimental Sergeant Major of the First Foot Guards. The
title reflects R.S.M. Middleditch's wish, expressed at the time he knew
his own death to be near, and I quote the words of Major Clark:- "The
dying man made one of his last requests. He asked his friends, veterans
of the great battle of Waterloo, to carry his body to his grave. He had
been present at the burial of Sir John Moore who after being carried
from the battlefield by the 9th of Foot (E. Norfolks) was carried by
three Highlanders and three Guardsmen to his final resting place.
William would have seen this and remembered. William's dying wish was to
be borne to his grave in the same manner."
R.S.M. Middleditch's grave is in the Great Church Yard in Bury St.
Edmund's, Suffolk.
I would be happy to share such knowledge as I have.

Douglas Barrett

From: "R. Chris Rutt" <chrisrutt@>

I had been unaware of this deeply moving poem until I had the pleasure
of visiting La Coru=F1a last spring, and visited the tomb of Sir John,
where this work is engraved on the memorial.

I can only say that it moved me deeply, and led to a developing  a
deeper interest in the Peninsular War (the War of Indepence as the
spanish call it)..

Further research on Sir John Moore reveals a man far ahead of the
political and military thinking of his time.

R. Chris Rutt
chrisrutt@

From: Alex Rollo <arne12614@>

Hello Dorothy.
My name is Alexander Rollo and I live at South Shields.  I'm a GGG grandson of Cpl.Alexander Rollo and I am also researching the Rollo Family History.  I have had some success, especially when researching Alexander's roots at Scotland.  I am very interested in your family lineage and also how successful you have been. 

My Linage from Cpl. Alexander ---is--- William---then--- Alexander---then---  James Outwin---then---Alfred Richard Johannesen---then myself Alexander.

I  have some records tracing the family back to ca. 1707 and possibly to 1644.

From: GOODCHILDSETH@

Where is Elvina where the actual battle took place? I am un able to find it  
on map or gazeteer.

From: "Kenneth Light" <khlight@>

Yes, take a look at he National Dictionary of Biography, p. 800, London
1903. Sir John's brother Graham was in the Navy - commodore of the
squadron that escorted the royal family of Portugal to Brazil, in
1807-08. If you are interested take a look at the site www.ihp.org.br
which has a summary of the voyage - both in Port & in English, under my
name Kenneth Light

From: "Bob Le Vaillant" <bob@>

I'm using this as a title for a new novel. As an ex military man, it seems
to sum up all that soldiering is about.