djutant-general.

It was the young man's first taste of warfare, and a very bitter one it
proved to be. The experiences of Marlborough and Frederick on the
battlefields of Europe were of little use in the jungle, where the
Burmese knew a thousand hiding-places undreamed of by the English, who
had the unhealthy climate to fight against as well. At last Havelock
fell ill like the rest, and was sent to his brother, then stationed at
Poonah, not far from Bombay, to recover his health.

Havelock went very unwillingly; he was doing his work to the
satisfaction of the general, and he knew it; besides, he could not help
thinking that before he got better the war might have ended, or someone
else might be filling his place. However, there was no help for it, and
as soon as he was on board ship he began to feel for the first time how
ill he had really been. Once at Poonah he soon recovered, and in June
was able to return to the camp in Burmah.

For a long while it had been Havelock's habit to hold a sort of Bible
class for any of the men whom he could persuade to come to it; and not
only did he give them religious teaching, but he made them understand
that he expected them to 'live soberly, righteously, and godly,' as the
Catechism says. They were not to quarrel, or to drink too much, or to do
as little work as possible. They were to tell the truth, even if it got
them into trouble, and they were to bear the hardships that fall to the
lot of every soldier--hunger and thirst, heat and cold--without
grumbling. And the men accepted his teaching, and tried to act up to it,
because they saw that Havelock asked nothing of them that he did not
practise himself.

'Havelock's Saints' was their nickname among the rest of the camp, but
sometimes even their enemies were forced to admit that 'Havelock's
Saints' had their uses. One night sir Archibald Campbell ordered a
sudden attack to be made on the Burmese by a certain corps. The
messenger or orderly who was sent with the order returned saying that
the men were too drunk to be fit for duty.

'Then call out Havelock's Saints,' said the commander-in-chief; '_they_
are always sober and to be depended upon, and Havelock himself is always
ready.'

So the night attack was made by the 'Saints,' and the position carried.

* * * * *

At the end of the Burmese war Havelock returned to his regiment, then
commanded by colonel Sale, who became his lifelong friend.