Brigadier Gerard and glory, he is always ready with a stirring speech or a gallant remark to a lady. Conan Doyle, in making his hero a vain, and often rather uncomprehending, Frenchman, was able to satirise both the stereotypical English view of the French and – by presenting them from Gerard's baffled point of view – English manners and attitudes. Gerard tells the stories from the point of view of an old man now living in retirement in Paris. We discover that he was born in Gascony in the early 1780s (he is 25 in "How the Brigadier Captured Saragossa"). In "How
Brigadier Gerard (horse) ask him to close the two-length gap, but neither Geoff Lewis, on Mill Reef, nor Frankie Durr, on My Swallow, had yet made any comparable move. Then, with under three furlongs left to run, Brigadier Gerard drew level with Mill Reef. Brigadier Gerard strode away to win by three lengths. What they said afterwards: Mill Reef’s jockey Geoff Lewis: ‘The moment Joe appeared it was all over’. ‘Joe’s horse had too much speed - he was too good’. ‘The winner was always going too well for me. As soon as Joe produced Brigadier Gerard I knew we were beaten’. My