BRIDGEMAN'S LETTERS FROM CHINA AND HONG KONG
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There is a gap of several months between the second-last and last of Bridgeman's letters. The last letter was written on October 29, 1843 following his release from hospital where he had been ill with dysentry.23 He told his sister that he was still ill and very weak, but (perhaps on account of illness) he was coming home—at last.
Little information can be found on Orlando's subsequent life and career. We know that he continued with the 98th Regiment as a lieutenant until sometime in 1845, when he was transferred to the 11th Regiment of Hussars (Prince Albert's Own).24 Undoubtedly to Orlando's delight, this regiment was stationed in England, first at Newbridge and then at Coventry. Bridgeman served as a lieutenant with the 11th Hussars until sometime in 1847 when he appears to have quit the army.25 From 1847 until his death on October 4, 1913 at the age of ninety, he seems to have led a completely obscure life.26 The 1914 edition of Burke's Peerage described him as a “late” lieutenant in the 11th Hussars, a post he had held almost seventy years before. He died unmarried,
Reading Orlando's letters today one is inclined to picture him as something of a whining prig who found cause for complaint with everyone and everything. At his best, one might be charitable and describe him as retiring and sensitive. With his concern for the effects of the noon day sun and his distaste for unnecessary perspiration, he certainly was not suited to the rigorous and hard life of punitive expeditions in an expanding empire. Neither did he desire to join the rowdy drinking of his fellow officers, but preferred the company of his singing canaries. A Flashman he was not. Or was he? As with any historical document, one must keep in mind for whom the documents were written, in this case a sister. What sort of letter did he send his brother Francis, a captain in the 45th Regiment? We will probably never know, but one hopes that he told his brother that he joined Captain Balfour's farewell party, for a cup of tea at least.