It is September, 1797. William Hirst has been stationed in Gibraltar for well over a year. He clearly hates being there. What kind of place is it really? Would it be any better with a wife at his side?
Gibraltar
I always thought Gibraltar was an island but it is actually an isthmus extending out from the landmass of Spain. An isthmus is a narrow strip of land that connects two larger landmasses and separates two bodies of water. Isthmuses have been strategic locations for centuries and Gibraltar is no exception.
By 1797 Gibraltar is a Crown Colony of the United Kingdom. Although a small territory of only 6.7 sq. km (2.6 sq mi) – most of it the “Rock of Gibraltar” – it assumed greater importance to the British following the loss of the American Colonies.
During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars the Gibraltar garrison is considerably expanded. Both the British Army and the Royal Navy are garrisoned there, which causes its own problems of joint operation. The Army is used as an offensive force to attach the cities along the Mediterranean coast in France, Minorca, Egypt, Morocco, Portugal and Spain. In return they are under constant expectation of a retaliatory siege.
Food and water are in relatively scarce supply. Epidemic diseases like cholera and yellow fever and their very own “Gibraltar fever” run rampant.
The population of Gibraltar, which had been relatively steady since 1704, included 2,890 civilians in 1791 in addition to approximately 3,000 soldiers.
In short, it was a crowded, unhealthy place in 1797. William Hirst was right when he asserted
I do assure you that this is the worst place a soldier can lay in
William Hirst – 16th September 1797
Another soldier wrote:
Here is nothing to do not any news, all things being dormant and in suspense, with the harmless diversions of drinking, dancing, reveling, whoring, gaming, and other innocent debaucheries to pass the time – and really, to speak my own opinion I think and believe that Sodom and Gomorrah were not half so wicked and profane as this worth city and garrison of Gibraltar.
Max Hastings, ed. (1986) The Oxford Book of Military Anecdotes. Oxford University Press. P. 152] https://archive.org/details/oxfordbookofmili00maxh/mode/2up?q=Gibraltar
Basically, it is the Mos Eisley of the late 18th century.
You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
Alec Guiness as Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars, 1975 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076759/characters/nm0000027
A Soldier Needs a Wife … with him
But what of his assertion that
a man that has his wife with him … may save money without end, for the people that have wives with them take Houses in the Town, and sells different articles, and saves Money very fast …
William Hirst – 16th September 1797
Is this true?
It may well have been … but it wasn’t easy.
In the first place, it was difficult for a soldier to marry. Officially discouraged, marriage while in service required the permission of the Commanding Officer, which was given sparingly (Haythornthwaite, 229).
Hirst was already married, of course. A number of lawful wives were permitted to accompany their husbands on campaign but the proportion was 6 wives to 100 men, including Non-Commissioned Officers (Haythornthwaite, 231). How to choose which ones?
A naval officer described one such method:
The soldiers had formed into a circle, in the centre of which stood their officers round a drum, whilst outside the circle, at a short distance, a number of women were assembled in distinct groups, and all seemed eagerly watching the proceedings … the worm kept approaching stealthily towards the circle, and endeavouring to get a glimpse of what was passing within its bounds … The circle continued unbroken, except by the soldiers, who in turns quitted the ranks to return to the centre; and I was surprised to hear the rattling of dice which were thrown on the drum-head, and the throws were frequently followed by a long drawing of the breath as if it had been held for several minutes, and sometimes by an hysterical laugh of joyous certainty … They had been casting lots to ascertain who were to go, and who to stay behind.
Haythornthwaite, 232
Should they be allowed to join their husbands, wives, both legal and unofficial, were not always welcomed by the others soldiers.
The single man is certainly better calculated for a soldier than the married, and could it possibly be so managed, there never ought to be above 3 or 4 women in a company, that number is necessary to keep the linen, etc. in order, but more become a burthen.
Haythornthwaite, 230
More often, wives like Mary Hirst were compelled to remain at home, usually for years, with neither financial support nor news of their husbands.
Perhaps she is hoping for a reunion like Burn’s The Soldier’s Return, in which a veteran returns home to find his faithful sweetheart still waiting.
Is Mary still waiting?
Sources
Philp J. Haythornthwaite. 2012. Redcoats: The British Soldiers of the Napoleonic Wars. Pen & Sword Military.
Jason R. Musteen. 2005. Becoming Nelson’s Refuge and Wellington’s Rock: The Ascendancy of Gibraltar during the Age of Napoleon (1793-1815). PhD Thesis. Florida State University. https://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu%3A180392
The History of Gibraltar, Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Gibraltar
The William Hirst Letters 1787-1798 
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