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In the preceding chapter it was stated that Mitchell was managing his uncle's colliery at the age of seventeen years. It will presently be stated that he was gazetted lieutenant in the in July 1811, when he had just passed his nineteenth, birthday There is complete uncertainty as to his activities during the intervening period: the one fact which emerges as his story proceeds is that he had great natural skill as a draughtsman, but whether he used this skill for any practical purpose at this time is not known.

The statement has been repeatedly made in recognized works of reference that he entered the army as a volunteer when sixteen years old: the most definite of these is that by Johns in the Australian Biographical Dictionary:

He entered the Army in 1808 and was A.D.C. to the Duke of Wellington: was known as "the Duke's famous draughtsman".

The Dictionary of National Biography states that he entered the army as a volunteer.[1]

It is necessary to examine these statements with some care. If, as Johns states, he entered the army in 1808 he would be only sixteen years old, but he was managing his uncle's colliery when he was seventeen, so that statement is probably incorrect: the other two may be regarded with equal reserve. As to the statement that he entered the army at some stage during this period of uncertainty, the evidence is inconclusive.

The term "volunteer" had, at that time, a more restricted and specific meaning than it has now. A volunteer was one who served as a junior officer, without pay, so that he might establish some claim to a commission without having to provide the large amount of money which was necessary to purchase even the lowest order of commission. Sir Charles Oman, the standard authority on the British army of this period has described the position:

In addition to the officers regularly commissioned, a battalion had often with it one or two "volunteers"...young men who were practically probationers; they were allowed to come out to an active service battalion on the chance of being gazetted to it without purchase on their own responsibility. They carried muskets and served in the ranks, but were allowed to wear uniforms of a better cloth than that given to the rank and file, and messed with the officers.[2]

The first clear evidence is in a draft, or copy, of an application by Mitchell to the Commander-in-Chief, Sir David Dundas:

Your memorialist, a native of Scotland, aged nineteen, is the son of respectable parentage now dead:* and has received a liberal and classical education qualifying him to fulfil the duties of a gentleman and a soldier.

Your memorialist ardently desires to enter into the services of his country in the Army, but has not the immediate means of purchasing a commission, nor other expectation of success than through the well-known liberality of Your Excellency.[3]

[* This refers to his father only: his mother was still alive.]

He stated that he was prepared to serve in any of His Majesty's regiments, and was anxious for active service where he might "have an opportunity of evincing his zeal for his country".

This memorial, in the copy which is available, carries neither date nor address; but it contains some internal evidence. He desired to enter the army, was anxious for active service, but had neither means to purchase a commission, nor the influence to secure him one. These statements are inconsistent with two, or more, years of active service as a volunteer. There is, moreover, some indirect evidence; from his many references to events in the Peninsular War the battles before 1811 are noticeably absent. His young mind could not have remained unimpressed by Rolica, Vimiero, Talavera, Bussaco, Torres Vedras, Fuentes d'Onoro, and Albuera--yet his later recorded reminiscences do not extend into this period. His service later was with the famous Light Brigade and he must have been stirred, if he had been present then, by memory of the cheers which greeted the arrival of that brigade after a forced march of forty-three miles in twenty-two hours at Talavera, nor would he forget that day at Bussaco when the Light Division under Craufurd was inflicting, heavy defeat upon Ney against superior numbers.

Mitchell never forgot his experiences in the Peninsula and the absence of any reference to this period before 1811 is significant: it seems, therefore, that the statement that he served as a volunteer before receiving a commission must be regarded as very doubtful. It could, on present evidence, be established only after patient research amongst the contemporary muster rolls, a task difficult enough under any circumstances, but especially difficult because it is not known in which battalion he is presumed to have served.

The matter is, however, placed beyond reasonable doubt by a document in the Mitchell Library,[4] bearing Mitchell's own signature, in which he states that his age on first appointment to the army was nineteen years, and the date of that appointment was 21 July 1811: this date does not agree with the official record which dates that appointment as 24 July. As the document was written when he was sixty-two years old, the difference of three days is not material. The general evidence here submitted also negatives the statement in the Australian Encyclopaedia that he entered the army under the patronage of the Duke of Wellington.

Before leaving this debatable ground it is necessary to dispose of one statement. One writer has stated that Wellington had entrusted to Mitchell the task of laying out the lines of the famous fortifications at Torres Vedras.[5] The statement is absurd. Mitchell was then only seventeen years old and, as has been suggested above, was not even in the army. The lines were constructed by Colonel Fletcher, the Chief Engineer, under Wellington's personal supervision.

Passing now from this uncertain period of two years about which so little is known, the first definitely fixed point in the story is Mitchell's gazettal, on 24 July 1811, as a second lieutenant in the First Battalion of the 95th Regiment of Foot.[6]

As already stated, Mitchell's application for a commission had been made to Dundas as Commander-in-Chief, the application stating that Mitchell was then "aged nineteen": as he was not nineteen until 15 June 1811, and Dundas had ceased to be Commander-in-Chief in May of that year, Mitchell was probably anticipating a little in stating his age as nineteen. He was, however, commissioned one month after his nineteenth birthday.

He was extremely fortunate in being posted to the 95th Regiment, one of the most deservedly famous in the Peninsular army. Captain J. Kincaid, Mitchell's "old and esteemed friend", wrote of the 95th Regiment:

We were the light regiment of the Light Division and fired the first and the last shot in almost every battle, siege and skirmish in which the army was engaged during the war.

This was the first regiment to be armed with the new rifled-bore weapon in place of the old smooth-bore musket which was still the main weapon used by the infantry.[7] The 95th, with the 43rd and the 52nd Regiments, formed the light troops which were the British answer to the French tirailleurs. These tirailleurs in battle acted as skirmishers ahead of the main attacking French column, and it was their function, acting as snipers behind any available cover, to cause disorder in the waiting British ranks by shooting as many men or officers as they could. But the activities of the British Light Division were not limited to such skirmishing functions: they were prominent in many frontal attacks and fierce close fighting. Their dark green uniform made them a distinctive group amongst the red jackets of the rest of the army. Their commander, General Robert Craufurd, unfortunately killed at Ciudad Rodrigo, was himself a distinctive personality, worthy of this famous division.

Mitchell, or indeed any other officer or private of that magnificent Light Division, could well feel, all through his life, pride in his service with it. But while their courage in battle and their military efficiency were beyond question, the personal character and behaviour of the individuals was not always on this high plane. The army, owing to the conditions of recruitment and service in those days, contained too high a proportion of loose characters and some criminals.[8] Even their courage was not always controlled, especially in the earlier stages of the war in the Peninsula: at Rolica, for example, which was one of Wellington's earliest battles in Portugal, the riflemen outposts pressed on too far and were for a while in danger.[9] The loose characters caused Wellington much worry by stealing from the local residents, and they were responsible for the disgraceful behaviour of the army after the fall of Badajoz, Ciudad Rodrigo, and San Sebastian, when drunkenness, murder, rape, and looting were practically unrestrained. It will presently be seen that even the 95th were involved in these excesses.

Wellington had arrived in Portugal in April 1809, to take command of the British army with Lisbon as his headquarters. So complete had been the Napoleonic domination of Europe that a small strip of the western coast of Portugal from Corunna to Lisbon was the only ground in all Europe left for the British army as a base for military operations (Map I). Napoleon had boastfully declared his determination to drive the British into the sea from even this tenuous hold on the Continent. The activities under Sir John Moore during 1808 had not affected the situation as just described.

MAP I. Map of Spain showing the main Peninsular War battles

An initial series of small successes by Wellington added to the difficulties experienced by the French through long-haul transport. A hostile population caused the French to retreat, and within four weeks after Wellington had landed in Lisbon no Frenchmen other than prisoners and deserters remained in Portugal. But these favourable conditions did not continue: the French returned in force and Wellington, hampered by lack of reinforcements and supplies from England as well as by an unfriendly Parliament at home, was obliged to assume a defensive strategy, holding the narrow Lisbon peninsula between the Tagus River and the sea.

This prolonged period of defence culminated in the French attack on the historic lines of Torres Vedras. When this failed the French decided to withdraw from Portugal, and by the first week in April 1811, again no French troops were left in Portugal. So clear and decisive had been the results of Wellington's clashes with the Napoleonic armies that, for the first time since Napoleon had begun his triumphal conquest of Europe, there dawned a hope that the invincible French army was not, after all, undefeatable. While this hope was slowly rising in Europe Wellington's own army had no doubts: well equipped, exuberant in victory, they had a supreme confidence in their great leader which nothing could, or did, destroy.

But, Portugal now being freed, Wellington was not content to rest there. The great frontier fortresses of Badajoz and Ciudad Rodrigo on the western Spanish border remained, and Massena was still loose in Spain with a large force. Wellington decided to move into Spain. He met and defeated Massena at Fuentes d'Onoro on 3 May 1811, while Beresford had, at the same time, met Soult at Albuera and gained a doubtful victory. The effect of these two field engagements concentrated attention on Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, to which Wellington now moved.

At this point the known military career of Mitchell begins. The possibility of service as a volunteer during all this period has already been discussed and discounted. But his commission in the 95th Regiment dated from 24 July 1811, and his service began from that date.

The date on which he arrived in Portugal to begin active war service is not known: the current circumstances important to his personal career can now, at this stage, be stated. He joined, as a most junior officer, a regiment of seasoned campaigners proudly conscious of great battle honours, confident in their superiority under their trusted commander Craufurd: he became a member of an army which had been hammered into a condition of high morale and great efficiency by a military genius. As a young man at the most impressionable age he could not have escaped the influences of such an environment; the Peninsular veteran was very apt to have a firm conviction that he was one of a special order of mankind.

Mitchell's commission was almost coincident with the retirement of Sir David Dundas from the post of Commander-in-Chief and the assumption of that post by the Duke of York, whose administration became notorious for patronage, nepotism, and inefficient, if not corrupt, administration. No officer could remain unaware of, or unaffected by, these conditions.

Wellington was fortunate in having General Sir George Murray (Plate I) as his Quartermaster General. In the discharge of the responsible and varied duties of that position Murray proved himself to be extremely competent. Not only was he responsible for all supplies for the army, a service which became complicated by Wellington's rapid movements, but he was responsible for all intelligence work and especially that of the collection of information about the country over which the army was expected to move. Officers on headquarters staff, or those temporarily doing staff duties, were required to travel widely, often at a distance from the area of active military operations, mapping, sketching, reporting on roads, bridges, resources, and billeting facilities in villages and towns. This work became so extensive that it was found necessary to call on officers, not officially on the staff, to assist in this work. As it will appear later Mitchell found himself associated with, and distinguished himself in, these activities.[10]

Plate I. Sir George Murray From a painting by Pieter Christoph Wonder in the National Portrait Gallery

Murray was relieved of his post as Quartermaster General soon after Mitchell's arrival in the Peninsula: he was "promoted" in 1811 to an unnecessary post in Ireland to make way for a favourite of the Duke of York, Colonel James Willoughby Gordon, who, however, proved to be incompetent and disloyal and was later removed. Murray was reappointed to his former post in September 1813.

From the time of joining his regiment in Portugal, Mitchell spent his time partly on service with his regiment and partly on staff duty engaged in topographical and survey intelligence work: it was during this work that his skill as a draughtsman and indeed as an artist began to be recognized. Wyld's Atlas of the Peninsula War contains a sketch labelled "Affair near El Bodon, 25 September 1811, from the original by Major Sir T. Mitchell".

Although this affair at El Bodon was a minor conflict it was notable in that Wellington himself, with his staff, was surrounded by the French and had literally to fight his way out of real danger.

It is known that Murray before his supersession had intermittently employed Mitchell on intelligence work so that if this sketch was made at the time this is the first record of Mitchell at work as an officer in the army.

The year 1811 closed with a suspension of hostilities for the winter, but in 1812 Wellington began that series of movements which was to take him across Spain into France and to the final triumph. He began with an attack on the fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo without waiting for the end of the winter. He invested this strong fortress on 8 January 1812, and took it by assault on 19 January--a success very important to Wellington's plans, as this stronghold was blocking his proposed north-easterly route through Spain. Here the Light Division was well in the front line of the attack and greatly distinguished itself, their commander, Craufurd, being killed. A party of one hundred volunteers from the 95th Regiment took part in the actual storming of the breach through which the fortress was finally taken.

In connexion with this siege Mitchell's father-in-law, General Blunt, writing to him from Cork (5 August 1834) and referring to William Napier's book History of the War in the Peninsula, said: "I perceive in the notes or appendix you are honourably mentioned as one of four only remaining in the breach at Rodrigo."[11] The reference is to a statement by an eye-witness contained in an appendix to vol. iv of Napier's work. But General Blunt was mistaken; the Mitchell who led this storming party was Captain (later Colonel) Mitchell of the 2nd Battalion of the 95th Regiment.[12]

What part Thomas Mitchell played during this siege is unknown, but that he was present is shown by the fact that he received the appropriate bar to his general service medal.

After the town had been taken there were scenes of disorder, violence, and brutality. On the morning following the capture, Wellington, riding into the town, saw a disorderly group of soldiers, and enquired who they were. He was disturbed to find that they were from his trusted 95th, who had fought gloriously the night before.[13]

Now Wellington turned his attention to the fortress of Badajoz, which threatened the rear of his projected northward march. On 16 March 1812, he invested this place. Here we have definite record of Mitchell; he wrote of his feelings when, on 17 March 1836, he began his third journey of exploration:

I remembered that exactly on that morning twenty-four years before, I marched down the glaciers of Elvas, to the tune of "St. Patrick's day in the morning" as the sun rose over the beleaguered towers of Badajoz.[14]

Badajoz was captured on 6 April 1812. Here again the Light Division was prominent and distinguished itself by cool bravery and fierce courage. Its losses were heavy, there were twenty-five casualties amongst the officers alone.

Napier in the work already quoted wrote:

Who shall measure out the glory of Ridge, of Macleod, of Nicholas, or of O'Hare of the 95th who perished on the breach at the head of the stormers, and with him nearly all the volunteers for that desperate service.[15]

Mitchell's personal share on this occasion is not known but he was not likely to forget the occasion and in 1836 on the Glenelg River in Victoria he named his base depot Fort O'Hare

in memory of a truly brave soldier, my commanding officer, who fell at Badajoz in leading the forlorn hope of the Light Division to the storm."[16]

He also gave the name of O'Hare Creek to a tributary of George's River near his property at Wilton. Major Peter O'Hare had achieved the distinction, very uncommon in those times, of having risen from the ranks by sheer merit.

At Badajoz, as at Rodrigo, the capture of the town was followed by three days of riotous disorder, with murder, rape, looting, and unrestrained drunkenness. The brave, disciplined, British army became an uncontrolled, savage mob. Mitchell's reactions to these two scenes of violence are not indicated by anything definite during his later life: deductions might be made, but they would be unsafe and unjustified.

Now a new phase began: Wellington was free to move northwards, Spain being unguarded by western strongposts. It is necessary here to anticipate a little and consider the direction of Wellington's future movements. His route was to be along a direct line, in a north-easterly direction from Lisbon to that angle where the eastern coast of France joins the northern coast of Spain. From Lisbon to Salamanca the route, after following the valley lands of the Tagus for about one hundred miles turns northwards for about another hundred and thirty miles along the highland broken country between two great ranges of mountains up to six thousand feet high. The first section of this route was already well known to Wellington and his staff, but the second section was more difficult, with continual crossing of rapid streams (tributaries forming the head waters of the Douro River), on one of which lies the town of Salamanca.

In this region the country presented special difficulties requiring accurate and detailed intelligence work: and it was here that Mitchell laid the foundations of his reputation, for he was seconded from May 1812 to the Quartermaster General's staff under Gordon. He was, for the next five months, busy on field work, surveying, mapping, and general topographical intelligence.

After necessary reconnaissances and assembling of supplies, Wellington moved north to Salamanca (Plate II) where, after capturing the forts on 27 June 1812, he met the main .French army on 15 July. During the next seven days both armies were manoeuvring for position. On the night of 21 July there was a heavy thunderstorm, and suddenly, at midday on 22 July, Wellington decided to attack. The French were overwhelmingly defeated. Lord Liverpool, now Prime Minister in England, stated that it was the most decisive as well as the most brilliant victory which had crowned the British army for centuries.[17] The French General Foy who commanded one of the French divisions recorded in his diary that the battle had raised Wellington almost to the level of Marlborough and that Wellington had shown himself a great and able master of manoeuvres. Although the campaign was far from over, the Salamanca battle ended the French domination in Spain.

Plate II. Salamanca, 1812. From a drawing by Thomas Mitchell, reproduced from Wyld's Atlas by courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum

As Mitchell was still engaged on staff work it is probable that he took no part in the actual fighting but he was almost certainly there at the time, as he received the bar for this battle, and his memories of this time remained, for on 22 July 1846--the thirty-fourth anniversary of the battle--he, being then in Queensland on his fourth expedition, entered in his journal:

The bright prospects of this morning were a pleasant contrast to the temporary difficulties of yesterday. Such is human life in travelling, and so it was in war at Salamanca this day thirty-four years back.[18]

Actually it was not as it had been at Salamanca, for whereas then a fine day had followed a thunderstorm, in 1846 when Mitchell made this entry in his diary he had just found a welcome river and open country after passing through a parched drought-stricken area. He was moved by the anniversary rather than by the contrast.

It should be noted too that, on 22 July 1836, he had named Mt. Arapiles in Victoria and recorded: "I ascended this hill on the anniversary of the battle of Salamanca, and hence the name."[19] Arapiles was the name of the mountain in Spain which overlooked the battlefield. This battle had obviously made a deep impression on his memory.

After Salamanca the French armies were reformed, and Wellington was forced to pause in his forward thrust: he was, indeed, compelled to retreat to the Portuguese frontier after failing to capture Burgos. This retreat was made under very adverse circumstances: bad weather, shocking roads, worn-out clothing; and the discomfort of the troops was intensified because, by bad staff work, the provisions were sent by the wrong route, and the army had to subsist on what could be gathered locally. The winter of 1812-13 was spent in Portugal reorganizing the army for the campaign of 1813; Mitchell had rejoined his regiment in October 1812, and nothing is known of his activities during the next few months.

Wellington was, however, far from idle and was planning his next moves: it is significant that Mitchell was back on the Quartermaster General's staff in April 1813, and there can be little doubt that he, with many others, was out surveying, mapping, and gathering all information essential before Wellington's advance which began in the following month, on 22 May 1813. There can be no doubt that Mitchell's services were valuable and appreciated for he remained on staff duties until the end of the war, and did not rejoin his regiment during that period.

Wellington's first move was back to Salamanca, then on through the very difficult mountain country north of the Douro River. Burgos was taken and the British army reached the Ebro River, the French retreating before them. At the Ebro the French had lost touch with the British army, and with Wellington's movements. He had taken the bold decision to cross the high ranges of the Sierra de Cantabria through which there were only a few, and difficult, passes.

In five days Wellington had brought his army over these mountains and came down on Vittoria: here they met and completely routed the French army. This was on 21 June 1813; in exactly thirty days Wellington had brought his army nearly two hundred miles, had passed that army through difficult mountain passes, and had defeated the French army within fifty miles of the border of France.

Wellington was not the man to undertake so difficult a feat of army movement and supply without the fullest information about the country to be crossed, so Mitchell must have been continuously busy on field survey work; he was not present at the battle at Vittoria as he did not receive the appropriate bar to his general service medal.

Now Spain had been almost cleared of the French armies, which were retreating over the border into France at the extreme southwest corner of that country. But there remained still two strong French fortresses in Spain close to the border--Pampeluna and San Sebastian. As well as these two strongposts Wellington had to face the great barrier of the Pyrenees, fifty miles of high rugged mountain ranges, up to six thousand feet high, through which there were eight practicable passes by any one of which the reorganized French army might return to attack Wellington. They did, in fact, return through the passes of Maya and Roncesvalles, the latter evoking memories of Charlemagne. It was at Roncesvalles when the armies were facing each other that Wellington's personal appearance at a most critical moment ensured victory for the British. The fighting against the French armies coming down through the Pyrenees to relieve Pampeluna and San Sebastian lasted for nine days, ending in the repulse of the French. San Sebastian fell on 8 September and Pampeluna on 31 October 1813, and on 7 October Wellington had crossed into France. Mitchell received the bars to his medal for both the Pyrenees and San Sebastian battles.

At this stage (September 1813) Murray had returned to Spain to replace Gordon in his old position as Quartermaster General.[20] It is now possible to visualize Mitchell's activities. From April 1813, until the end of the war in April 1814, he had been continuously engaged in his field survey work through some of the most difficult country in Europe, country through which even today there are few practicable routes: first in northern Spain, then in southern France as far as Toulouse. For the last seven months he had been under the direct supervision of Murray, whose complete approval, and actual friendship, he had secured. As a surveyor and draughtsman he had gained an established reputation.

He had become a full lieutenant on 16 September 1813, and in the week before Vittoria, the climax of Wellington's campaign, he had celebrated his twenty-first birthday: that he had reached maturity in more than time cannot be doubted.

Nothing is known of his personal life during these three years of active service, but there are occasional glimpses of external reactions. A brother officer in the 95th Regiment, Captain John Molloy (later to be a settler at the Swan River settlement) knew Mitchell as "a most zealous and indefatigable person and an excellent draftsman" and remembered that on the Peninsula Mitchell used often to be absent for weeks at a time with his sketch book working among the hills.[21] On the other side is Mitchell's statement in a letter to Sir Benjamin D'Urban (18 June 1815): "A junior officer on the staff, I was persecuted by the jealousy of the officers of my regiment."[22] There is no clue to this, but regimental jealousy of a junior officer selected for special staff duty would be natural enough. There is also a curious note in a letter Mitchell wrote to his mother (14 October 1820): he complained that his brother John had "touched upon that delicate point, my services abroad, in a style not reconcileable to the feelings of any officer".[23] The significance of this is obscure.

The war having ended, Murray obtained approval from the Treasury to have full plans made of all the Peninsular battlefields and selected Mitchell from amongst all who must have been available for this work:[24] this was a notable tribute to Mitchell's skill and reliability. This arrangement was made at Bordeaux in June 1814, and Mitchell at once proceeded to Portugal and Spain to begin this task. According to Napier he remained in the Peninsula for more than two years with pay as a staff officer (he still retained his commission in the 95th Regiment);[25] his extra expenses--about five thousand pounds--were also paid; and in Spain he was attended constantly by two Spanish dragoons as a protection.

This work meant that he was not with his regiment at Waterloo: writing to Sir Benjamin D'Urban (18 June 1815)* he said:

My absence from the glorious battle of Waterloo (in which my brother and others suffered so much) is a sacrifice I shall ever regret as a soldier.[26]

[* This is the date on the letter but Mitchell must have written the wrong date thoughtlessly as this was the day on which Waterloo was fought, and he was then in Spain and could not have known of the battle.]

Napier's statement that he remained in the Peninsula for "more than two years" understates the position: he was there until July 1819, when, the Treasury having refused to approve any further expenditure, he returned to England, having, as stated in the preceding chapter married Mary Blunt in June 1818.[27]

He had been placed on half-pay in December 1818, and the 'withdrawal of all approval for his special work in the Peninsula so soon after his marriage must have embarrassed him: but this difficulty may not have lasted for long, for Murray, who had been appointed in 1819 to command the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, arranged for him to be stationed at the College so that he might complete his plans, probably with special pay. Such an arrangement was a recognized practice in those times, the officer remaining on the army records as being on half-pay.[28] It is possible that he had begun duty at the College in 1819, but it is clear that he was there in 1820, for the letter to his mother dated 14 October 1820 was addressed from there.

In November 1821, he was transferred to the 54th Foot and was again on full pay.[29] This may have been the step that Murray arranged as it was only a nominal appointment, that regiment being then in South Africa, and later in India. In October 1822 he was given a brevet captaincy, and in March 1824 he transferred to the 97th Foot. All this time he remained a first lieutenant, but in January 1825 he was transferred to the 2nd Foot as a full captain.

Murray left Sandhurst in 1824, but Mitchell remained there until September 1826, and on the 29th of that month he became a major (unattached) and placed on half-pay.[30] Writing to his mother (14 September 1826) he informed her that he had been made a major on half-pay:

The Duke of York has been particularly favourable to me--this promotion has cost me £1,400, £200 of it I have borrowed. All my friend

s approve highly of the measure as it will lead to higher rank and command. But I am sadly pushed for money to live.[31]

He was now living at Thistle Grove, Chelsea. He applied to be reinstated: "I applied by letter dated 4th October 1826 to be placed on full pay, and never wished to be on half-pay."[32]

He must have had some financial resources for he had been able to produce £2,000 on his marriage, and now, eight years later, another £1,200. But his fortunes had definitely changed: he was now without prospects in the army, and the unbroken peace in Europe held no promise for junior army officers. He was receiving half-pay only, which may have varied from time to time but probably was never more than £175 per annum.

To complete here the outline of his military career, he received a brevet lieutenant-colonelcy in November 1841, and in June 1854 became a brevet colonel.[33] In Australia he was always familiarly known as "the Major". One of his last activities as a military officer on active duty was the publication of a book Outlines of a system of surveying for Geographical and Military purposes which was commended in a review in the Naval and Military Magazine.

The maps and plans he had prepared at Sandhurst, which can still be seen, are sufficient evidence that his selection for this task was fully justified. Many of them were reproduced in Wyld's Atlas of the Peninsula War. There is also contemporary testimony. Sir William Napier, in his History of the Peninsula War, wrote:

Captain Mitchell's drawings were made by him after the war, by order of the government and at the public expense...Never was money better laid out, for I believe no topographical drawings, whether they be considered for accuracy of detail, perfection of manner, or beauty of execution, ever exceeded Mitchell's.[34]

Murray's own verdict, written on 23 October 1825 from Dublin, where Murray was then Commander-in-Chief of the forces in Ireland, is given in a letter to Hay, Permanent Under-Secretary at the Colonial Office:

There is a Captain Mitchell who has been employed by me first in making surveys in the Peninsula of the several fields of Battle, and subsequently in drawing military plans from their actual surveys. He is a very intelligent and industrious man and possesses a considerable share of enterprise and adventure. He is a skilful, accurate, and practised surveyor, and a very good draftsman. His plans are indeed beautifully executed.[35]

With the end of Mitchell's work on these plans he faced a real crisis: his active temperament would not allow him to remain idle, and his young, and increasing, family involved expenses for which his half-pay was quite inadequate. His friend, Murray, remained as Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, and was always friendly (Mitchell could write, in 1834, that he had enjoyed Murray's "kind patronage for upwards of twenty years") but he could help only with letters.[36]

So Mitchell sought other opportunities for the use of his skill and experience. Learning that a vessel had been commissioned for the purpose of making a survey of the Grecian Archipelago he offered his services with the object of connecting (where it might be practicable to do so) a land survey with the marine survey.[37] He sought the support of Murray who wrote (23 October 1825) to Hay, strongly recommending Mitchell.[38] Portion of this letter has already been quoted, but he added: "I ought perhaps to mention that you must not expect to find Captain Mitchell a Greek scholar." It is clear from the relative dates that Mitchell made this application nearly a year before he was placed on half-pay: he may have realized that his future in the army was uncertain, or perhaps he hoped to be seconded for this service.

Although nothing came of this proposal, Hay did not forget Mitchell; when Governor Darling renewed his pressing requests for more skilled surveyors for New South Wales, Hay sent for Mitchell (13 January 1827) and offered him the choice of three positions in that colony:[39]

1. A principal assistant or secondary in the general survey.

2. A collector having some knowledge of surveying for allotting lands, etc.

3. A civil engineer.

As to the first, there was a reservation that Lord Bathurst, the Secretary of State, might have already offered the position to another. Mitchell therefore wrote at once (14 January 1827) to Murray telling him of the interview and asking for his support.[40] Murray wrote (17 January) to Hay, thanking him for remembering Mitchell and adding:

You are already aware of my sentiments in regard to his talents and requirements, and his active and industrious habits. I will add further that I believe him to be a strictly honest and well-principled man, and from my own experience I am inclined to think that it is very desirable to let no opportunity pass of sending out men of this latter description.

Mitchell was appointed to the first of the three positions; and Hay in a private letter to Darling (2 February 1827) said that, in consequence of Darling's very pressing demands for additional surveyors and the difficulty of finding properly qualified persons, Mitchell's offer of services had been accepted:

It was impossible to induce an officer of this superior order in his profession to accept one of the subordinate appointments in the Surveyor General's Department, and, moreover, conceiving that it would be of importance, not only to have the benefit of this officer's exertions as second to Mr Oxley, but to have a person in the colony who was competent to succeed him whenever circumstances required such an appointment, Lord Bathurst has not hesitated to allow that consideration to outweigh every other; and you will therefore have the goodness to understand that Major Mitchell is to be considered as standing next in rank to Mr Oxley, whom he will ultimately succeed.

Major Mitchell's salary has been fixed by Lord Bathurst at £500 per annum commencing from the date of his embarkation, in addition to which he will of course receive the usual allowance for a horse and for lodgings.[41]

In addition to this salary he was also receiving the half-pay from the army: this he received during the rest of his life. Before leaving England for Australia Mitchell insured his life for £1,000 to cover debts incurred in connexion with the purchase of his equipment.[42]

Immediately upon receiving notice of his appointment, and while still in London, Mitchell wrote to Hay (9 February 1827) requesting that land, in the proportion usually allotted to officers of his rank and standing, be granted to him in New South Wales.[43] This letter, however, carries an office minute that it would be much better for Mitchell to obtain land by application to the Governor after he had discharged the duties of his office for a short time.

So Mitchell came to New South Wales with the reversion of the position of Surveyor General in succession to Oxley, who was already an invalid. It is important to note, however, that in his letter to Murray of 14 January telling of the interview with Hay, Mitchell had said of the third position--that of civil engineer: "I do not feel qualified to undertake the comprehensive duties of the third." This point will be the subject of reference later in this story.

After having spent all the formative years of his life--he was now thirty-five years old--in the army under the fluctuating fortunes of the Peninsular War, at a time when influential patronage was more important than efficiency, he had now to adapt himself to the very difficult conditions of the civil service in the colonies. His career in New South Wales cannot be judged rightly unless the factors in his social and administrative environment are, at least superficially, appreciated.

As to his professional skill, he had been engaged on intelligence work requiring acute and exact observation under active, service conditions; and had then been employed on survey work and preparation of plans requiring accurate technique in the field, and skilled draughtsmanship in preparing the resultant plans, for a total period of fourteen years, at the end of which he had earned great praise. He was then, as he was always to be in Australia, tireless and unremitting in his personal traverses of country to be covered. He had become country-wise, experienced in estimating, as was essential in army intelligence work, the salient features in the topography of any region. This may have affected his later disposition towards "feature surveys" although these were forced on him by the prevailing conditions: that aspect will appear prominently later in this story.