Note 182 — 1812.

Soon after this change, an act of gross indiscipline occurred, which will afford a tolerable notion of some of the singular characters who held rank in the corps. A sergeant’s guard usually mounted in the sappers' barracks at Woolwich. One morning sergeant Millar was appointed to the new guard, and during the ceremony of “mounting,” was posted in front of it. Lieutenant Eaves, the officer on duty, gave the usual words of command. “Sergeant, to your guard, march!” Millar no sooner heard it, than he whirled his halberd in the air, and as every one stood amazed to see the upshot of this mad manœuvre, the pike turned point downwards and stuck in the earth. At this moment, to complete the extravaganza, Millar pitched on his hands, and with his legs towering erect in the air, paddled, with all the flexibility and steadiness of an acrobat, to his wondering guard!