A powder monkey’s a powder monkey

I found myself sharing the view of old General Scarlett, who once told me:
   ‘Splendid chaps the ordnance, but dammem, a powder monkey’s a powder monkey, ain’t he? Let ’em fill the cartridges and bore the guns, but don’t expect me to know a .577 from a mortar! What concern is that of a gentleman – or a soldier, either? Hey? Hey?

Flashman at the Charge, p.16, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

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Flashman, Flashman quotes,ordnance, powder monkey.