Ah, what can ail thee, wretched wight,

   Alone and palely loitering?

The sedge is withered from the lake,

   And no birds sing.

...

I saw their starved lips in the gloam,

   With horrid warning gaped wide,

And I awoke and found me here,

   On the cold hill side.

...

--From "La Bell Dame Sans Merci" by Keats

This poem is referenced in my novel Smoke, and I include it here because Noah Vale/Duncan Kane and Pip from the novel are featured in my short story in this upcoming anthology:

You may notice my name on the cover. So I got that going for me. Get it now. It just came available. I also suspect that this post was inspired by the dialogue from my story. To borrow a phrase from Billy Joel, "I could be wrong--but I'm not." Actually, odds are good that I'm wrong because there are many talented writers with stories in the anthology who may have written notable dialogue, and it would be presumptuous of me to think that mine stands out -- but I will continue to do so.

The poem also relates to the story I'm currently writing for my next submission, which features Napoleonic soldiers and crusader knights and their foes in the holy land.

I finished Andrew Fields Quatre Bras: Prelude to Waterloo, and I'm still enjoying a couple books of short stories and an autobiography.

I was going to give you some teasing information about the Vorn, but you saw the picture in the previous newsletter, so I don't think I'll say anything more about that. Read the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire Series to get the skinny on all those fine beasties and more.

Fun Fact: Napoleon at Jaffa

After subjugating Egypt, Napoleon led his small army toward Syria in February of 1799. The army of 13,000 was divided into four divisions under Generals Kleber, Reynier, Bon, and Lannes. The latter would eventually become a Marshal of the Empire and die in 1809 following the battle of Aspern-Essling in which he was struck by a cannonball and had a leg amputated. 

Bonaparte wanted to take the port of Acre, but the British navy, the formidable walls, the defenders' stout resistance, and the plague all worked to prevent Bonaparte's success. Before he got to Acre, he first overcame resistance at El Arish and Jaffa. The garrison at El Arish, which had surrendered and sworn not to take up arms against the French, had joined the Jaffa garrison.

Bonaparte had lost two valuable weeks in the siege of El Arish and had to get back to Egypt to contest an expected landing by Ottoman forces. He hoped to make up time with a quick conquest of Jaffa. Plague was already working on his army.

Near the walls of Jaffa, Napoleon had brushes with death from an artillery shell and a sniper's bullet that went through his hat (I believe it was only the latter that pierced his chapeau). He sent an officer and trumpeter to approach and enter the city with a letter advising the commander that the garrison and city would be protected if they surrendered, otherwise shelling would begin the next morning.

A short time later, the heads of the officer and trumpeter appeared on spears raised above the city gate, and the bodies were thrown from the walls. Things were not getting off to a promising start at Jaffa.

Bonaparte used the terrain and tree cover to push his artillery within 150 yards of the walls. The shelling began as promised on March 4, 1799. The Jaffa garrison made a series of attacks against the besiegers, but they were not sufficient to break the siege.

During the afternoon of March 7, the French stormed the walls. Although the castle was taken by 8 pm, house to house fighting continued until it became a massacre as the French killed everyone where any resistance was offered until it became a murderous frenzy of robbery and plunder.

Resistance continued in fortified buildings and mosques until the defenders offered to surrender in exchange for their lives. Many of these prisoners were sent away to other cities, and the Egyptians among them were released to Egypt.

Bonaparte lacked sufficient food for his own army and couldn't provide for the prisoners. He couldn't trust them to be released on oath as many of them had already violated the oath they had taken on their surrender and release at El Arish. The war council met and considered the problem, ruling out sending them all to Egypt under armed escort as the already weakened army could not spare the troops for such an escort... You can find the rest of the story here.

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Anyone else feel like this? I know I do.