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LEAVES FROM THE DIARY

OP

AN OFFICER OF THE GUARDS

LONDON:

CHAJPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY.

1854.

£>C232

PBINTED BY

JOHN EDWARD TAYLOE, LITTLE QUEEH" STBEET,

Lincoln's INN FIELDS.

HENRY MORSE STEPHEUt

ac

TO

MAJOR-GENERAL HENRY BENTINCK,

THE OFFICEBS, NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICEES, AND SOLDIERS

OP

W$z Brtjjaoe of <£uartis,

SEBVINGr WITH

LOED BAGLAN'S AEMY IN THE CRIMEA,

THESE REMINISCENCES OF PAST SEEVICES WITH THE BEIGADE

AEE INSCEIBED

WITH FEETENT ATTACHMENT TO THEIE COLOURS

BY

A VETERAN COMRADE.

503313

PREFACE

These papers, taken from the Diary of an Officer
of the Guards, having appeared in a periodical
and met with approbation, are now, for the first
time, offered to the Public in a collective form.
They are trifles, but truthful ones. In dedicating
them to the Brigade to which the Author once
belonged, he cannot but remember how few re-
main of those who stood in its ranks when he left
them:

" Haec data pama diu viventibus."

Yet, as some of his proudest and most joyous days
were passed in their ranks, he is tempted to ad-
dress his recollections of former days to the pre-

VI PREFACE.

sent maintainers of their Sovereign's power and
their Country's glory.

"NlTLLI SECUNDXJS"

is the well-known motto of one of their regiments.
That all of them would maintain it intact, and
add fresh laurels to those won by their gallant
forefathers, was undoubted. Their recent splen-
did achievement on the heights of the Alma is
the proof.

London, October 10, 1854.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Departure from England. — Transports. — Voyage to Lisbon.
— Convoys. — The Tagus. — Massena. — Eigueiras. — March
to Coimbra 1

CHAPTER II.

Lord Wellington. — Sobral. — French Cavalry. — The Briga-
dier Massena retires. — Alemquer. — Causeway of Calhariz.
— End of the Campaign 16

CHAPTER III.

"Tolling" to Parade.— Anecdotes of Wellington.— Old Com-
rades.— The Marquis de la Romana. — General Alava. —
"Captain Taylor." — Strenuwitz. — Campaign of 1811. —
Pursuit of the Enemy. — Wellington's Despatch ... 34

CHAPTER IV.

Casal Nova. — The Napiers. — Repulse of Ney. — Want of pro-
visions.— Action at Sabugal. — Colonel Waters. — Conduct
of the Ministry. — Entry into Spain. — Almeida. — Mas-
sena's Advance. — Battle of Fuentes. — Anecdotes ... 57

CHAPTER V.

Hanoverian Hussars. — French Character. — Portuguese Go-
vernment.— Difficulties of the Campaign. — Officers. — The
English Cabinet. — Battle of Albuera 98

Vlll CONTENTS.

CHAPTEE VI.

Camp of St. Olaya. — Fever. — Sir B. Spencer. — An Escapade.
— Antiquated Notions. — Effect of a hot Climate. — A Duel.
— Advance of the French. — Gallant Rencontre. — El Bo-
don. — Euente Ghiinaldo. — Retreat of both Armies . . . 131

CHAPTER VII.

Amateurs. — Inaction. — The Duke and the Guards. — Sick-
ness.— Amusing characters. — Discipline. — The Enemy-
surprised. — A Winter March. — Scarcity. — An Elegy — A
Family Mansion. — Secret Preparations 167

CHAPTER VIII.

Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo. — Fort Renaud. — A Cold Night. —
Change of Plan. — Working in the Trenches. — Welcome
Visitors. — The Methodical Captain. — Opening of the Bat-
teries.— Craufurd's Eloquence. — Storming the Town. —
Looking for the Governor. — Surrender 203

CHAPTER IX.

Losses in each Army. — Musketry and Artillery. — Honours.
— General Mackinnbn. — Spanish Bigotry. — Character of
the Army. — New Clothes. — Abrantes. — Pipe-clay. — Defi-
ciency of Stores. — Character of Wellington 239

CHAPTER X.

Operations against Badajos. — Apathy of the English Go-
vernment. — Agreeable Society. — Gastronomy. — Spanish
Character. — Feminine Tact. — The Enemy's Corps. —
Forced March. — Bivouac at Albuera. — Hearing the
Storming of Badajos 262

SKETCHES

OF

CAMPAIGNING LIFE

CHAPTER I.

DEPAETI7EE EEOM ENGLAND.— TEANSPOETS. — VOYAGE TO LIS-
BON. — CONVOYS. — THE TAGTJS. — MASSENA. — PIOUEIEAS. —
MAECH TO COIMBEA.

In May, 1809, I was gazetted as an Ensign in the

Regiment, and in July of the following year

was ordered to join a detachment of the Guards
destined for our first battalion then serving with
Lord Wellington's army in Portugal. Every hour
of my home duties was looked upon as tedious
until the longed-for moment for joining my regi-
ment on active service should arrive. Having ob-
tained a short leave of absence, to bid my friends
adieu, I joined a draft or detachment of two
hundred men and eight officers, under command of

Lieutenant Colonel S , at Kingston-on-Thames,

and the next day we proceeded on our march to
Portsmouth.

On the 29th, to the tune of a militia band, ac-

B

% „ , TRANSPORTS.

companied by the cheers of the town's-people, we
marched down to the sallyport, and embarked in
smacks, to be conveyed to S pithead, where our ship
lay. This was a vessel of 300 tons burden, called
the ' Lord Eldon' — an old creaky craft, by origin a
collier, by transmutation a transport, remarkable
for the narrowness of its capacity and the slowness
of its motions. Although considered to be sound,
experience betrayed its frequent leaky propensi-
ties. Many now living remember the employment
of such an old vessel by the State. Human genius
has since applied a power to drive ships against
adverse winds and mountainous seas, to roll car-
riages at the rate of fifty miles an hour over the
surface of the earth, and, annihilating time and
space, to chain by its electric spark the lightning
of heaven, to waft man's wishes " from Indus to
the Pole."

The conveyance of troops on board transports
in those days was anything but luxurious, rapid, or
even safe. After a month's tugging at our anchor,
and bobbing up and down at Spithead, where
contrary winds and foul weather detained us, at
last on the 31st August, 1810, we weighed anchor,
by signal from our Commodore Captain Mackenzie
Praser, of the c Undaunted' frigate, and dropped
down off Yarmouth in the Isle of Wight. On the
following day (1st September), under convoy of the
frigate and five brigs of war, 130 sail of transports
and merchantmen passed through the Needles and

VOYAGE TO LISBON. 3

lay down Channel with a leading wind. Foul wea-
ther and adverse winds soon again beset us, and
we took six days beating to windward before we
reached the chops of the Channel and came off
Falmouth.

Although we had all started in the highest spirits,
our imaginations were sobered by bad weather and
boisterous seas; realities are very unsentimental,
and sea-sickness is a sad undignified disorder. The
weather however now became calm, and the wind
light though fair; we began to get our sea legs
and recover our appetites. A boat was lowered and
sent on shore for fresh provisions; on its return
towards evening, the breeze freshening, we made
sail again, and took leave of our country, as the
setting sun lingered over and lighted up the fast
fading shores, bays, and hills of our dear native
land, and then we stretched away toward the blue
waters of the Bay of Biscay. A fresh and favour-
able breeze throughout the night enabled us to run
down nearly a hundred miles, when morning showed
us the French coast off Cape Ushant. The wind
still freshened, and we continued our course di-
rectly across the Bay.

For a couple of days it blew very hard, and the
f Lord Eldon * (as usual) sprang a leak. Our men
pumped cheerfully and manfully night and day,
our officers sharing with the men spell and spell
about. The leak relieved us from the smell of
bilge-water; a dead calm succeeded, and we lay

BAY OF BISCAY.

like a log rolling to and fro in a tremendous swell ;
as the old song has it —

" There she lay-
All the day
In the Bay
Of Biscay oh."

The sea was like glass ; every board of our old
brig creaked like the shoes of its namesake, and
the canvas napped round the masts in helpless idle-
ness, whilst we were exposed to a burning sun on
deck and to stifling heat below. Our impatience
to advance seemed to increase in proportion to
our inability to move. Next the measles broke out
among our men, and did not spare the officers;
two hundred privates and ten of us were crammed
into a space not sufficient to contain half the num-
ber. Our Captain, who much more frequently had
a glass at his mouth than one at his eye, had never
extended his maritime knowledge beyond a voy-
age with coals from Shields to London and back
again, and was perfectly innocent of ever taking
an observation. He was a red-faced, gooseberry-
eyed, drunken Northumbrian skipper ; and his ves-
sel, the ci-devant collier, an ugly, slow, and leaky
drowning machine, always going to leeward like a
haystack.

From the various accounts that reached us pre-
vious to our sailing, our people were expected to
be in movement before we joined them, and we
feared the delay would, as it did eventually, pre-

CONVOYS. 5

vent us from sharing in a general action with the
enemy. At length a favourable wind sprang up,
and the first symptom we had of nearing the land
of our future operations was coming in sight of the
Berlengas rocks. The practice of sailing under
convoy in time of war, with so near a neighbour as
France for an enemy, was lying to every evening,
for the heavy sailing vessels of the fleet to come
up and the convoy to be well together during the
night, for fear of the enemy's cruisers cutting off
any straggling vessels. This was annoying to the
headmost ships, that were leading with a favourable
gale, and here again we lost way. I know not whe-
ther in this circumstance originated my disgust for
travelling in slow company, but ever since I cer-
tainly have strenuously avoided " slow coaches."

One still moonlight night, as we ran down the
coast of Portugal, we heard what we fancied to be
the distant roll of cannon from the shore. After
listening with mute attention, we ventured to com-
municate our hopes and fears to each other, and
to a grim old sailor who was standing silently on
the forecastle. On being applied to for his opinion,
he rejoined, with a tug at his waistband, a twirl of
his quid, and a turn on his heel, " It's the breakers
on the shore." This dry correction of our innocent
inexperience was highly relished by us.

On the 14th we came within sight of the rock
of Lisbon. A Portuguese pilot came on board : he
was unlike any of his breed in our own country,

6 APPROACH TO LISBON.

and we gazed on his dress, his mahogany-coloured
countenance and Jew-like profile, with curiosity.
We neared the coast, but, the wind failing, we did
not enter the Tagus till the evening of the next
day. Few, except such as have been some weeks at
sea, can conceive the satisfaction of approaching
land; but still fewer, without having experienced
it, could enter into our feelings, as we passed up
the Tagus in a fine summer evening of the month
of September. The gardens in their richest foli-
age, the scent from the shore of the aromatic pro-
ductions of the South, the lovely coast, the magic
beauty of Lisbon, its white mansions, convents,
cupolas, palaces and churches, reflected in the blue
waters of the Tagus, appeared like fairyland to us.
All was new, both earth and sky ; and most of us
were at that age when impressions such as these
are perhaps the strongest ; we seemed as if we had
fallen into another world. Our errand also, that of
supporting our country's honour in arms, had its
proud share in these pleasurable sensations.

It was dusk before we let drop our anchor off
Belem. An order from our commanding officer
forbade our going on shore for that night. Under
pretence however of getting a supply of vegetables
and fruit, we manned a boat and landed on the side
of the river opposite to Lisbon, where we obtained
an abundance of fine grapes and fruit of all kinds,
with some delicious wine. The state of our own
country, which, from its long protracted wars against

THE TAGUS.

nearly all Europe, had excluded a free intercourse
with foreigners, rendered all we saw of them doubly
strange; their habits, manners, appearance, all were
unlike our own, and this was the first time I had
ever set foot on a foreign strand.

The next day (the 16th) a portion of the officers
were allowed to go on shore, and I was among the
number. On landing I must confess the illusions
of the previous evening were nearly dispelled, with
regard to the lovely city we had viewed from afar :
each step we advanced, filth in the greatest quan-
tity and of the most disgusting nature presented it-
self, accompanied by a corresponding stench ; and
the strange figures, the uncouth noises, the appear-
ance of representatives of every country in their na-
tional dress, from Christian to Turk, congregated in
one dense crowd, was fairly bewildering. Attention
was no sooner attracted by one strange costume,
than another still more curious diverted us, and
so on in succession; till our sensations, agog as
they were for novelty, required a double portion of
the usual faculties, visual and auricular, to see and
comprehend what passed before us. In addition to
all this, on a nearer view I found one half the town
consisted of ruins, from the great earthquake of
half a century ago; the remaining mansions ap-
peared but thinly inhabited, except by English of-
ficers and employes , and the gayest part of Lisbon
was occupied by mercantile houses and shops.

We arrived at the inn, a dirty, spacious, dear,

8 ASPECT OF LISBON.

and badly attended hotel, with good wine and good
living, as we thought at least, who had just quitted
a transport. On landing, we went to report our
arrival to the Commandant, Colonel Peacock, of
the Guards*, who asked us all to dine with him the
next day. Mr. Stuartf, our Minister, gave a ball,
to which we were also invited. Neither " love nor
money" however could procure me a bed at the
inn that night ; all were filled ; some by officers who
had come down on leave from the Army, others
by those either embarking, or, like ourselves, dis-
embarking ; the squadron of our navy in the Tagus
also took their share of the inns when they came
on shore. Our men being still on board the trans-
port, we were not entitled to billets ; I contrived at
last, through a brother officer who had just left the
army, to obtain a bed in the apartments of a friend
of his, the Superior of a monastery. The goodly
Monk, who bestowed upon me a lodging, was a lively
comfortable-sized clerico, who, according to his own
account, had dreamed of more things in his philo-
sophy than saying his prayers ; and he spoke of the
world, and what was passing in it, as one who was
on good terms both with it and himself.

In the evening we attended our dinner and ball ;
the latter was very gay : the military and naval
uniforms of our own country mingled with those
of Portugal and Spain ; the dark eyes and expressive

* Afterwards Lieut. General Sir Warren Peacock, K.C.B.

f Afterwards Lord Stuart de Kothsay, our Ambassador at Paris.

countenances of the Lisbon ladies, contrasted with
the fair faces of our countrywomen, formed a novel
and agreeable mixture. The women of Portugal
have fine eyes, which are their principal attraction,
and more expressive countenances than the tamer
beauties of the North ; but their skin is generally
sallow, and neither in clearness of complexion nor
regularity of feature can they vie with their neigh-
bours the Spaniards or the natives of Italy. With
respect to the Portuguese men, they are generally
a Jewish-looking race, and in the higher orders
there prevails a diminutiveness of stature which is
anything but dignified.

The hospitable entertainment and affability of
our Minister were well known and appreciated by
the whole of the British Army during this event-
ful period. At this ball we heard that intelligence
had been received, that Marshal Massena with
120,000 men had taken Ciudad Rodrigo, and ad-
vanced ; and a sharp affair near Almeida, on the
Coa, had taken place between our Light Division
under Craufurd and the advance-guard of the
French army ; that Massena was about to invade
Portugal, and that our army was already in move-
ment. We had it also intimated to us from the
Commandant, that we were to shift our transports
to others, and go by sea round to Mondego Bay.

On our way from this gay scene, conning over
the new order of our destination, we encountered
an army of half- wild dogs in the streets. These

10 MONDEGO BAY.

animals, in conjunction with pigs, were the sole
scavengers of Lisbon; and as night approached,
the canine dustmen came forth from their dens in
the ruins of the town, to feed on its filth, and fight
over it half the night through. Sometimes even
they were bold enough, if interrupted at their
orgies, to attack foot-passengers. They were not
destroyed, in consequence of the samtary service
they rendered to his Majesty of Portugal's capital.

On the 18th, after taking leave of my comely land-
lord, who treated me with much kindness and hos-
pitality, and who in very good English gave me a
general invitation to come and lodge at his con-
vent whenever I returned to Lisbon, I hastened on
board. The best part of two days was now occupied
in shipping and unshipping, and laying in a little
stock of provisions, to carry us on our new excur-
sion. My lot, together with that of the Colonel, a
Captain, with one other Sub. and a hundred men,
fell to the good ship ' N. K/ transport ; and on the
21st of September, in company with three other
vessels containing detachments of other regiments,
we left the Tagus with a fair wind.

At Mondego Bay the forces under Sir Arthur
Wellesley had landed in 1808, previously to the
battles of Vimeira and Rolica and the Convention
of Cintra. The object of sending us round by sea
was to save time and fatigue to our men, and to
disembark nearer to our army. The wind how-
ever proved most unfavourable, and we were seven

FIGUEIRAS. 11

days at sea, performing a distance of twenty leagues.
Supposing we should accomplish our voyage in
forty -eight hours at most, the provisions were in-
sufficient, and we were necessarily placed on very
short commons ; the day we arrived, the whole of
our sea stock, ship's allowance and all, being con-
sumed.

We landed on the 28th at Buarcos, nearFigueiras,
a small fishing-village on the north side of the bay ;
we reached the shore from our transport in uncouth
Portuguese boats and in a tremendous surf. One
of our men, Chissel by name, was lost in the ope-
ration of landing ; the boat was overcrowded, and
the poor fellow sat on the gunnel ; a rolling ground-
swell sea struck us as we neared the beach and
pitched him overboard. He was a swimmer, but
the weight of his knapsack sank him, to rise no
more. Here we heard rumours of our army having
been sharply engaged with the French under Mas-
sena, who had advanced into Portugal with 100,000
men. At Figueiras, as soon as our men were bil-
leted, I went to seek my quarters, and, not speak-
ing a word of Portuguese, met with some difficulty.
At last I found myself lodged in an onion -loft,
together with an Irish hospital mate, the purest
piece of unsophisticated potato I ever beheld, with
red hair, original ideas, and a splendid brogue.
I was simple enough to believe that this was
" roughing it !" — four campaigns in the Penin-
sula convinced me to the contrary ; and on many

12 FIGUEIRAS.

a rainy and houseless night I looked back to my
onion-loft with regret.

The next morning (29th) five hundred of us, de-
tachments of different regiments, amongst whom
were some of the 95th Rifles under Captain Beck-
with*, had three days' rations served out, and we
left Figueiras to march to Montemor-o-Velho, a
small pretty village in the Val de Mondego. The
river Mondego rises in the mountains of the Serra
d'Estrella, near Guarda, takes its course through
the province of Beira, and waters a most lovely
valley, to which it gives its name; after passing
the towns of Celerico and Coimbra, it debouches
into the sea at Figueiras. Before the rains set in,
it is fordable almost everywhere.

On our arrival at Montemor, we were scarcely
settled in our quarters, when we distinctly heard a
cannonade, — no " breakers on the shore" this time !
our island ears were now first saluted by the sound
of hostile shot. On the 30th, by daylight, we were
on our march to Coimbra, and had proceeded about
ten miles, when we encountered the sick and
wounded, with baggage and stores, proceeding in
boats down the river to embark for Lisbon, and
were informed by them that our army, in an action
on the 27th, had repulsed the enemy with severe
loss, and that the Portuguese troops who shared

* This Officer, after serving with great credit to himself through
the Peninsular campaigns, reached the rank of Colonel, and is a
C.B. He lost his leg at Waterloo.

MARCH TO COIMBRA. 13

in the engagement had greatly distinguished them-
selves. Our forces however were in full retreat
for Lisbon. After about an hour's more marching,
we perceived at a distance on our left some small
bodies of cavalry slowly descending a mountain ;
our telescopes were immediately put in requisition,
and enabled us to discover them to be some of the
French advanced posts. There was not amongst
us a single round of ball-cartridge, none having
been served out to us on landing. A staff-officer
at this moment rode up, and said all our army
had passed to the left bank of the river, and that
our brigade was, to our agreeable surprise, at a vil-
lage not far distant from us on the opposite side.
We consequently forded the stream up to our
waists, and in an hour after joined our battalion at
a place called San Martinho do Bispo, within a mile
of Coimbra on the road to Lisbon. San Martinho,
for a Portuguese hamlet, was well looking, prettily
situated, and thriving, — the Bispo no doubt deri-
ving profit therefrom. After delivering over the
detachment of our men to the commanding officers
of the regiments which formed our brigade, and
the officers being posted to the different companies
of our battalions, our next step on joining our
corps was making the acquaintance of those of our
future comrades to whom we were as yet unknown.
Amongst them I remember well being struck by
the appearance of an intellectual-looking, high-
spirited, laughing little fellow, agreeably lounging

14 JOINING OUR CORPS.

in a many-coloured bed-gown out of a cottage
window in the main thoroughfare of our village.
He seemed to stand in high popular estimation,
and was warmly greeted by all who passed. Poor

W ! I here first made his acquaintance, from

which an intimacy and friendship resulted, that
lasted forty years and ended only with his life.

Our brigade, after a night's march from the
Serra de Busaco, had reached the village only in

the morning of the day we joined them. B ,

my brother Sub., belonged to the company to which
I was attached. We were quartered together, and
after the evening's refreshment, such as it was, we
partook of the same mattrass, laid on the mud floor
of our cabin, sleeping in our clothes and in our
cloaks, divesting our feet only of our boots. This
was a new situation ; a wakeful night ensued, and
I had ample time to ponder on the starry sky
through the glassless and shutterless window. My
more veteran comrade however slept soundly.

We were now within, a short distance of the
French Army, whose name and exploits had carried
terror throughout Europe. The following morning,
long before it was light, we were roused from our
lowly sleeping-berth by bugle and drum, and sallied
forth. The stars shone brightly ; we hurried to our
alarm post, and marched to an olive grove outside
the village. The animated scene, being the first of
the kind I had witnessed, was both interesting and
stirring. The well-bronzed features and muscular

APPROACHING THE FRENCH. 15

forms of our soldiers and new comrades, the light
way in which they spoke of fatigue, privation, and
danger, the hearty laugh, loud and long, and the
careless indifference of what the morrow might
bring, indicated the right stuff for soldiers ; such
men were not easily overcome, and, even if worsted
by overwhelming numbers, would afford an enemy
no cheaply-bought victory.

16

CHAPTER II.

LOED WELLINGTON. — SOBEAL. — PEENCH CAYALET. — THE BEI-
GADIEB. — MASSENA EETIEES. — ALEMQT7EE. — CAUSEWAY OF
CALHAEIZ. — END OE THE CAMPAIGN.

The division to which my regiment belonged,
amounting to nearly 7,000 men, were receiving
rations : the busy hum of so many voices, the glare
from the bivouac fires glancing on the arms, accou-
trements, and hard visages of the men, the dark
olive foliage overhanging this picture of apparent
confusion, struck most forcibly upon the eye of a
novice. Soon, however, one roll of the drum si-
lenced all the busy noise; we stood to our arms,
and a bayonet might be heard to fall. The column
moved slowly off; daylight discovered our whole
army in full retreat along parallel roads. The un-
practised eye, unaccustomed to view large masses,
would estimate the columns, as seen in loose
marching order, at double their real force, from the
extent of ground they covered. For miles, over
hill and dale, through heath and wood, clouds of
dust betrayed their direction and line of move-

FLIGHT OF THE PORTUGUESE NATION. 17

tnent ; and even amidst the dark pine-forests, the
masses were to be detected by the glancing of the
sun upon their arms, which, according to Horse-
Guards' regulations, it was thought necessary to
keep as bright as the brass knocker of a suburban
villa. New as this was to the uninitiated, it was
nothing in comparison to the accompanying flight
of the entire Portuguese nation. It was a fearful
sight to behold a whole nation's panic. It looked
as though no soul that could move had remained
behind. The strong, the healthy, and the young
were in arms ; the old, the decrepit, delicate wo-
men and young children, were on foot in flight,
wandering through forest, heath, and mountain —
in by-paths and cross-roads — over the face of their
own fatherland, to avoid the destroyer. They car-
ried on donkeys and mules, in their arms and on
their heads, all of their small worldly chattels they
could convey ; the rest was buried or destroyed, and
nothing was left to their foe but bare walls and
empty habitations. The French might revel in a
wilderness of dwellings — they were indeed masters
of the soil, for none were left to share it with them.
Portugal, as far as they occupied it, had become
part of Napoleon's empire.

About mid-day a short halt ensued, and while
thus resting, a numerous body of the staff* of the
army galloped by. At the head of this group a
remarkable and distinguished-looking officer cast
a hawk's-eye glance at our column, as he rapidly

c

18 LEYRIA.

passed, — it was Wellington ! This first view quite
realised my previously conceived idea of the hero
of India, of the Douro, and of Talavera, now fresh
from the field of Busaco. This then was the mind,
which moved not only an army, but a nation in its
defence !

On the 5th we continued our retreat and passed
through Leyria, the inhabitants of which had al-
ready fled ; the town was left desolate ; confusion
and plunder had done their work, and the provost-
martial his duty, by hanging two British soldiers
detected in the act of robbing. An hour after our
column had passed, the French cavalry came up
with our rear-guard, and a skirmish ensued. Our
light artillery were greatly pressed by the enemy,
so as at one time to force them to hasten their
pace considerably, to avoid being cut off. After
their retreat through the town, large casks of wine
were extracted from the cellars and rolled into the
streets, so as to block up the road, and by their
contents to tempt the new-comers to refresh them-
selves. This expedient was hit on by Lieut. -Colo-
nel Elley, D.A. Adjutant-general of Cavalry. Hav-
ing been sent back with a communication to our
rear, I happened to witness the commencement of
this scene, which perfectly answered the desired
end.

Until now the weather had been fine, although
too warm for us, who were unaccustomed to it;
but the evening we arrived at Aldea Gallega, the

LINES OF TORRES VEDRAS. 19

rains commenced, and came down in torrents snch
as are seen only in the South. We were forced to
follow Corporal Trim's plan, and by an additional
allowance (for want of better) of that detestable
alcohol, called in Portuguese agua ardente, "we
kept out the radical moisture by pouring in the
radical heat." I slept this night close to my com-
pany, on the gentle declivity of a ploughed field ;
and having taken up my berth in a furrow, found,
when I awoke next morning, that it had been
turned into a purling stream, which had run in at
my stock and out at my boots.

On the 8th we reached the small village of San
Quintinho, at the foot of the position which Lord
Wellington had long before pointed out and forti-
fied. Here our Division, for the first time since
I had joined them, was placed under cover. This
was the place chosen by Lord Wellington to dis-
pute with the enemy the possession of Portugal,
and on this spot hung the future fate of the Pe-
ninsula.

On the 9th we halted, and were kept all day
in constant readiness to turn out. Next day we
moved to Sobral, somewhat in advance of our po-
sition, and where the acclivity commences.

On the 11th, accompanied by an engineer of-
ficer, I was sent, in command of a working-party
of thirty men of my regiment, to mine a small
bridge which crossed a stream about five miles from
the village of Sobral, toward Torres Vedras. The

20 FRENCH CAVALRY.

engineer set us to work, but with most inadequate
tools, which were soon rendered useless by the
massive stone-work, and the strength of the ce-
ment. Whilst thus employed, Sir Lowry Cole's
Division (the Fourth) passed in rear of my party ;
and I perceived a general movement throughout
our army, which was occasioned by the advance of
the enemy. Our different divisions were moving
into the alignment assigned to each : shortly after,
a column of French cavalry made their appearance
in front of the bridge. The tools my men had to
work with were almost all broken; the engineer
officer had left me; the rest of the army were
moving to the rear, and a column of the enemy's
cavalry was at no great distance in my front: si-
tuated as I was, some hours must have elapsed
before the work could be accomplished; and no
powder had been provided to load the mine when
finished. In this dilemma, after due considera-
tion, I determined to retire, as no good could result
from our remaining.

We had scarcely come to this determination,
when we perceived that some of the enemy's dra-
goons had passed a ravine to our right, and al-
ready occupied the road by which we had come. I
now ordered my men to load, and we made for a
vineyard, which we gained just as the advance of
the column of cavalry had reached the bridge, and
joined those who had passed the ravine lower down,
and who intended to cut us off. Sending some of

ESCAPE FROM EXPLOSION. 21

my men to straggle up the slope of the vineyard,
as if we had all retired toward the heights, I con-
cealed the others behind a stone wall, within fifty
yards of the bridge; and as the enemy reached
this, and were crowding upon it to pass, we gave
them a well-directed volley, which unseated some,
and rolled over the horses of others, and then
moved quickly through the vineyard towards the
hills. By this time it became quite dark, the rain
fell heavily, and a thunderstorm commenced : our
uncertain steps were guided, in a pitch dark night,
only by the flashes of lightning. We wandered
for hours among these hills, without a track to
guide us, or a notion where we were, sliding in the
rich clammy soil at every step we took : at last, by
mere chance, we stumbled on a small mountain
village, the principal house of which had been de-
stined for Lord Wellington's head-quarters. This
was Pcro Negro.

Here we found out the destination of our bri-
gade from some of Lord Wellington's orderlies be-
longing to our corps ; and having procured a Por-
tuguese guide, in about an hour we rejoined our
battalion on the march, whilst wading a moun-
tain-torrent. Shortly after we came to a few miser-
able cottages, into which our brigade, with one
of German artillery, took shelter for the night.
We had just made fires to dry and warm ourselves,
when we heard an uncommon disturbance in the
next hut, which was only divided from that we

22 A POSITION.

occupied by a partition of loose stones, doing duty
as wall for both dwellings. It appeared that the
ammunition of the German reserve artillery, com-
manded by Major Hartman*, had been stowed
away in this place, and that the large fire we had
lighted had produced considerable alarm, its sparks
having found their way through the loose stones
into the next apartment, and falling on the cais-
sons of powder : wet blankets were applied, which
shortly set all right again. Two Portuguese sol-
diers, however, who had taken shelter amongst
us, as soon as they understood the nature of the
danger, made off, and, in spite of the inclemency
of the weather, we saw nothing more of them that
night.

An hour before daylight on the 12th we stood
to our arms, and our baggage was sent to the rear.
Daylight broke, but still all was quiet, and our
men proceeded to cook their rations. We occupied
the ridge of a steep ravine intersected by vine-
yards ; another hill rose in front of this, not quite
so high as that on which our line was formed, but
sufficiently so to exclude any view of the enemy
beneath ; we were consequently in like manner hid-
den from them. On this hill, separated from us
by the valley, the advanced posts of our Division
were placed, consisting of the 71st regiment under
Colonel Cadogan, and some Portuguese Cacadores;

* Now General Sir Julius Hartman, commanding the artillery
of the King of Hanover.

REPULSE OF THE ENEMY. 23

they were supported by the 42nd, the 79th High-
landers, and the 50th regiment; on the extreme
left, in rear of some windmills, lay the Light In-
fantry of the Guards. All remained quiet till about
mid-day, when the enemy, after rolling some empty
casks up to their advance posts in our front, busied
themselves by filling them with earth, and thus
made a breast-work, behind which they collected a
sufficient force to advance, and make a reconnois-
sance of our position. They came on with that
spirited liveliness with which French troops always
move to the attack; but the 71st and the gallant
Colonel Cadogan were not slow to meet them, and
in conjunction with the Cacadores drove them back.
The Colonel, at the head of his regiment, leaped his
horse over the casks into the midst of the enemy,
who were eventually driven down the hill faster
even than their ardour brought them up. Thus
closed the affair of the day, and no doubt their
curiosity was satisfied; as never, whilst we held the
position of the lines, did they again show any si-
milar intrusive propensities.

Many English travellers whose curiosity led them
at this time to visit our army, being of course
non-combatants, were known amongst us by the
name of amateurs. The continent of Europe be-
ing closed against England, except the footing we
had obtained for ourselves in Portugal, most of the
young men of travelling propensities used to favour
us with their company. It certainly was pleasant

24 A FULL-BLOWN FRIEND.

to see one's friends and acquaint ance, but some-
what troublesome and difficult to dispose of them
hospitably and safely, where lodging, feeding, or
fighting was in question; we found it awkward,
and they no doubt disagreeable. I remember Lord
George Nugent and H. Fox (subsequently attached
to our Legation in the United States) reaching the
army. Fremantle, the adjutant of the Coldstream,
though small in stature, was great in friendship
with Lord George,, " that young man about town,"
who arrived at Zibreira when we were all doubled
up in a lump in a large quinta, the men below, the
officers above, six and seven in a room together.
He arrived wet, hungry, fatigued and sleepy, and
therefore required clothes, food and rest. In size,
Nugent was no chicken, and Fremantle, even if he
had burst in the attempt, could not, like the frog
in the fable, have emulated him in bulk; the differ-
ence being somewhat between that of a gallant
cock-sparrow and a balloon. Poor Fremantle was
a warm-hearted fellow, replete with suggestive re-
source, full of fun, and on the occasion of adminis-
tering to the wants of his friend, proved himself
an adaptive (to coin a word) as well as inventive
genius. As clothes would not fit, by way of coat
he lent his friend his grey cloak, which, from its
curt proportions, resembled a mistranslated female
garment, of flannel texture, surrounding the colossal
shoulders of his full-blown friend. Then, in the
most hospitable and friendly manner, he adopted,

CASAES. 25

without leave, that vara avis in terris, a cooked
turkey (the real property of the battalion surgeon) ,
which had been left, in much negligent simplicity,
on the window-seat in the verandah of the quinta,
in readiness to deck the expectant table of an ad-
joining mess. I speak feelingly, as I know those
who suffered from the mal-appropriation, " et j'y
etais, j'en sais bien mieux le conte!" Fremantle
and his friends proving more eager ornithologists
than the original possessor, the bird was dissected,
and the doctor found nothing but its respectable
skeleton in a naked dish under his window next
morning, considerately left there as an object for
his scientific contemplation. Finally Fremantle
afforded his friend a corner on the soft side of a
deal board, on the floor, in a dormitory, surrounded
by the soothing and hush-a-by sounds of five other
snoring fellows.

After the affair at Sobral, we moved from Zi-
*breira to our right, and toward our rear to some
wretched cabins called Casaes. Our village (if a
few straggling houses could be dignified by the
name), was composed of edifices built by no means
with too great a nicety to the exclusion of cold or
wet. The one I occupied, which might be taken
as a specimen of the whole, was composed of two
apartments, an upper and a lower one ; the latter
was intended for a stable, as is the custom through-
out Portugal. Into this the men of the Company I
belonged to were packed, while in the upper rooin,
divided from the lower region by a floor full of

26 BATTLE OF THE FLEAS.

holes and of uncertain solidity, were quartered the

captain, myself, another subaltern, and W , the

assistant-surgeon of our battalion, a most enlight-
ened man and charming companion. An external
wooden staircase from the village street led to the
half-demolished door of our garret ; an opening like
that to a hay-loft immediately opposite the en-
trance served as window, and the tiles, through
which many an aperture was visible, admitted wind
and water, the rain washing the officers before it
reached the men below. Some husks of Indian corn
occupied the corner on the left of the door ; two
others were filled by large wooden chests, formerly
enclosing the worldly goods of the poor proprietors,
but now made to serve us as table and bed; a knap-
sack was our pillow, and our cloaks our covering.
A whole army of fleas in close column were in pre-
vious possession of this apartment ; they took up an
imposing position under the corn-husks ; we were
determined to dislodge them. They disputed the
point inch by inch, and the encounter with so for-
midable a phalanx was not ended without the loss
of blood on both sides; and, although the main
force had been routed, night after night much de-
sultory skirmishing ensued.

" Oh ye gentlemen of England
Who live at home at ease,
How little do you think upon
The dangers of the — Fleas /"

This, for the best part of five weeks, was our home;
the French were more al fresco, with certain ex-

THE BRIGADIER. 27

ceptions, than even we were, and as time jogged
on tliey hutted themselves.

One dark windy night I was on advance piquet,
not far from the large central fort; the French
sentries after dusk were pushed to within some
fifty yards of ours ; the orders were, not to fire
unless the enemy made a movement in advance ;
we habitually found them equally civil, and a tacit
understanding seemed to exist that we should not
shoot one another unless absolutely necessary. An
hour before daylight the General of the brigade
visited my piquet; it was a hazy morning, and
daylight broke slowly ; a fog hung in the dells and
over the undulating ground in our front; there
was an upright rock at some little distance in ad-
vance of the piquet, which looked, in the uncer-
tain light, like a French vedette with his long
drab cloak; the General fell into this mistake, and
thinking the presumed vedette had advanced too
near, ordered me to fire. Knowing thoroughly
the ground in my front, I ventured to assure him
of his error, at which insinuation he was pleased
to be angry and peremptorily ordered me to obey.
Of course my compliance was immediate ; but the
echo of my sentry's shot came back as flat a denial
of the presence of an enemy as the sound of a bul-
let against a rock could well venture to express in
contradiction to a brigadier. At this moment Lord
Wellington rode up ; he asked what had occasioned
the firing; the brigadier had an awkward excuse

28 LORD WELLINGTON.

to make, and to avow his incorrectness of vision ;
Lord Wellington, turning sharply round, asked him
how old he was ; the brigadier replied, " Forty-
four." "Ah!" said Lord Wellington, "you will
be a great soldier by the time you are as old as
I am." The future Duke at that time was only
forty-one. We remained unmolested in our posi-
tion, but in constant readiness to meet with prompt
attention any visit our opponents might think
proper to pay us ; for this purpose our men slept
in their accoutrements and we in our clothes. An
hour before daylight each morning we stood to
our arms j the baggage was packed and sent to the
rear; clear roads, a clear field, and no "impedi-
menta," was the order, and thus we remained till
daylight made all objects distinct in the distance.
Lord Wellington was with us almost daily before
dawn, and generally took up his post with his te-
lescope near our advance-piquets, or at the large
fort which looked down on Sobral and the enemy's
posts, till satisfied by personal observation in broad
daylight, that no movement of attack was contem-
plated by the enemy, after which he generally re-
turned to Pero Negro.

In the evening we often rode to the advance-
posts, to hear their bands and see their parades ;
sometimes our gun-boats on the Tagus, under
Lieutenant Frederick Berkeley*, would wake them,

* Now Admiral Berkeley, M.P. and one of the naval Lords
of the Admiralty.

MASSENA RETIRES. 29

up with a cannonade from the river. About this
time Lord Wellington received orders to invest
Marshal Beresford with the Grand Cross of the
Bath, in honour of which he gave a grand ball and
supper at Mafra, to which all officers who could
be spared from duty were invited. Being on out-
piquet that day I was not of the party, but I heard
it was to be regretted that more hunger than good-
breeding was evinced by some of the invited, whose
care for themselves was so great as not quite to
follow the maxim of " eat what you please, but
take nothing away." It would be hard, however,
in this instance, that the faults of the few should
be visited on the many; at the same time there
could be no doubt that, in the too general invi-
tation given by Lord Wellington, stronger marks
of the kitchen and pantry preferences than those
of the drawing-room were displayed by some of
the guests.

On the 14th of November, in the night, after
more than a month's sedative contemplation of
our heights, our ravines, our forts, our breast-
works and mined bridges, Massena broke up from
before the lines of Torres Vedras. In vain had he
cast a longing look to find a practicable entry, —
none such offered, and he retired in disgust : the
grapes were sour !

On the 16th we followed, and on our line of
march, in the wine-house of a quinta, midst empty
Casks, we found the body of a young French sol-

30 ALEMQUER.

dier; his face was covered with flies, his figure
emaciated, as if he had died from inanition, his
uniform in tatters, and without covering he lay on
his back upon the ground where he had probably
died and was left. Were it not disgusting by its
irreverence, it would have been amusing to see the
tricks they played with their own dead, stowing
them away in all inconceivable places, enclosing
them in large chests, placing them upright in Ml
uniform in the recesses of houses and convents,
tying them on to the top of windmills with their
arms in their hands, pointed as if levelled at those
who advanced, and, worse than all, throwing them
down wells ; one body, with its shako on, was found
seated in the pulpit of a roofless chapel, with its
musket in the position of presenting arms.

We reached Alemquer, where some little skir-
mishing had occurred that morning with the French
rear ; it was left totally empty, and in an extraordi-
nary condition of filth ; no windows, no doors, — all
were destroyed for firewood ; the weather was incle-
ment as far as rain went, the roads frightful in re-
spect to mud ; not an atom of provender for man or
beast to be had, Massena having been starved out
of his position before he left it. After seeing our
men under cover, several of our officers were hud-
dled, by way of quarter, into the large room of a
house in the main street, without fire or the means
of making one. In a kind of hiding-place I dis-
covered a sack of Indian corn, and looked on this

(

CAUSEWAY OF CALHARIZ. 31

as a prize for our poor horses and mules, till, on
examination, I found fine pieces of glass industri-
ously broken and mischievously mixed amongst it,
so that it would have killed an ostrich.

Next day, in equally bad weather, and in the
dark, we reached Cartaxo, and were stowed away
under cover in an empty convent, with the same
facilities of comfort as the previous night.

On the 19th, on assembling we heard that the
enemy were only at some eight miles' distance, and
that we were to attack them. The morning was
fine and the report exciting. Our Division, after
marching some two hours and a half, came to the
turn of a road leading down to a long causeway,
which crossed an extensive marsh ; above and im-
mediately opposite we once more recognized in line
and column and light-infantry order, ensconced
in olive groves and in a strong position behind
abattis, the persons we were seeking to follow with
so much trouble in such very bad weather. The
Light Division were to attack on our right, and we
were to storm this long causeway. Old Brigadier-
general Cameron (afterwards Sir Alan Cameron),
who was jealous that our brigade instead of his was
destined to lead the Division, informed us that, in
his opinion, if our brigade were to lead, "there
would be very few of His Majesty's Guards left to
tell the tale." With this admonition and in a dis-
appointed mood he left us, and we were much
amused at the gallant old soldier's manner of ex-

32 CALHARIZ.

pressing his envy at being deprived of the post of
honour.

The preparation for attack by the Light Divi-
sion and ours was all made, and on reaching the
head of the causeway of Calhariz, we received
orders to load. The causeway was eight hundred
yards in length ; our orders were to pass the Rio
Mayor, over which the bridge and causeway were
thrown, in close columns of sections right in front
(the width admitting no greater extension), and,
on reaching three parts of its length, to jump the
parapet on our left down into the marsh, throw
out skirmishers, form line quickly, and storm the
height before us; the Light Division were to at-
tempt to pass these marshes lower down to our
right; and Brigadier-general Craufurd, although
he tried to disguise it by hanging on his horse's
neck, looked full of impatient anxiety to receive
the order to advance, — but it came not.

" Owing to a mistake of the road by a brigade
of guns*, the attack could not be made as was in-
tended, and in fact ordered; and in the course of
that night and the following morning so much
rain had fallen, as to render it impracticable to
cross the Rio Mayor and its marshes. We still,
however, continued to work on with our troops on
the right of the position of Santarem, on which
side it appeared most practicable to approach it;

* See the Duke of Wellington's Memorandum of Operations,
No. 504.

END OF THE CAMPAIGN. 33

until the 22nd, when the enemy brought up troops
of the 8th corps from their rear, and drove in our
piquets beyond the bridge of Calhariz. From this
circumstance, and others, of which we obtained a
knowledge about the same time, it was evident that
they had their whole army between Santarem and
the Zazere, and not merely Regnier's rear-guard,
composed of the 2nd corps.

The question of attacking the enemy on their
position of Santarem was then well considered,
and the notion was relinquished, as the plan was
impracticable at that moment, on account of the
state of the roads and rivulets, as well as because
it was obvious that the enemy had their whole
army collected in certainly the strongest position
in Portugal. The original order to attack was
only meant to take place on their outposts, to
make them show their troops their position, and
their intention to hold it. This being counter-
manded, after three days' occupation of a few
houses, called Valle, on the 23rd of November our
Division countermarched to Cartaxo, which was
Lord Wellington's head-quarters for the winter.
The Light Division was left on out-post duty on
our side this famed causeway, in front of Santa-
rem. And thus ended the campaign of 1810.

34

CHAPTER III.

"TOLLING" TO PABADE. — ANECDOTES OP WELLINGTON. — OLD
COMEADES. — THE MAEQTTIS DE LA EOMANA. — GENEBAL
ALAVA. — " CAPTAIN TAYLOE." — STEENUWITZ. — CAMPAIGN OP
1811. — PUESUIT OP THE ENEMY. — WELLINGTON'S DESPATCH.

Head-quarters, Cartaxo, December 1st.

Here we were still riding at single anchor, ready
to wait on our neighbours early or late, who, being
only at a comfortable country visiting distance,
might step in at our breakfast or dinner hour any
day; we therefore for some time, both night and
day, remained ready dressed and accoutred to meet
them, and pay all possible and necessary attention
to their requirements, and that at the shortest
possible notice. In time things became more set-
tled, and, finding that our French neighbours had
become domesticated in their abode, and had os-
tensibly settled themselves down during the rainy
season and bad weather, we in turn began to think
of rendering ourselves a little more comfortable
than empty houses, shutterless windows, and hinges
without doors were likely to allow. We set about
in our quarters improving the property of the in-

35

habitants during their absence ; for as yet they had
not returned. As no fireplaces existed, we built
chimneys (assisted by the ingenious bricklayers of
our corps), repaired doors, made window-frames
and filled them with oiled paper. We concocted
portable tables and chairs, and stretchers for bed-
steads ; and at last, after sleeping for three months
in our clothes, actually had sufficient confidence
and hardihood to go to bed. I shall never forget
the comfortless feeling experienced in confiding
my person, for the first time, to a pair of cold stark
naked sheets. I could not sleep a wink. But at
length we accustomed ourselves to repose in our
beds, although all were prepared, at a moment's
notice, to turn out of them.

Our men were quartered in an empty monastery
on entering the town by the road from Lisbon, our
officers in the houses near them. Sir Brent Spen-
cer, who commanded our Division, had a strange
aversion to the noise of drums, and, in winter-
quarters, ordered them on no account to beat. By
some accident a bell, unstolen and unbroken, had
been left by the French in the belfry of the empty
monastic dwelling appropriated as a quarter for
one of the battalions ; their adjutant, Freniantle*,
who particularly disliked Sir Brent's partiality for
silence, was somewhat puzzled how the men and
officers were to be warned for assembly j and, as he

* Fremantle, previously and afterwards A.D.C. to the Duke
of Wellington.

36 ANECDOTES OF

could not drum them, he satisfied himself by or-
dering the drummer to toll his battalion to parade.
When it came to his knowledge, this ingenious
substitute amused Lord Wellington much ; it cer-
tainly was ridiculous enough on week-days (al-
though more appropriate on Sundays) to assemble
thus. Lord Wellington was very regular in at-
tending divine service at our church parade, but
always limited the time of its duration, saying to
the chaplain, " Briscal, say as much as you like in
five-and-twenty minutes, I shall not stay longer."
This winter I frequently dined with Lord Wel-
lington, and, on the first occasion of doing so, my
attention was naturally fixed on observing the man-
ners and conversation of our chief; they seemed
perfectly natural, straightforward and open. He
conversed with liveliness on most subjects. There
was at this period a light-heartedness of manner
about him, which betokened 'more of self-confidence
than anxiety or care, and which gave an agreeable
tone to the society around him. Although upon
his acts depended the fate of nations, few, from ob-
servation, could discover that he felt himself in a
more responsible position than the youngest sub-
altern of his army. He seemed to enjoy the boy-
ish tricks of those about him ; weighty affairs did
not appear to have impaired his zest for the play-
fulness or jokes of his followers. At table he sel-
dom spoke of military matters, and never of pass-
ing events in Portugal; the news of the day from

LORP WELLINGTON. 37

England, the amusements, or social state of Lis-
bon, or allusions to foreign countries, most fre-
quently formed the topics of his conversation.

One day I met there Mr. Sydenham, a friend of
Lord Wellington's, lately arrived on a visit to him.
In the course of conversation at table, this gentle-
man expressed his satisfaction at Lord Welling-
ton's apparent good looks and health, and added :
"With the details you have to think of, the nume-
rous affairs, both political and diplomatic, you have
to provide for, added to the military responsibility
you have to bear, I cannot conceive how you can
sleep in your bed ?" — "When I throw off my clothes
I throw off my cares, and when I turn in my bed
it is time to turn out/' was Lord Wellington's short
and characteristic reply.

The sudden change from a state of action and
excitement, where daily difficulties were to be over-
come or daily wants provided for, to one of com-
parative inactivity in our winter-quarters, was flat
and unprofitable. Without books or anything to
break the tedium vita, the arrival of a mail from
England was the great event. When newspapers
reached us they were read with avidity ; they con-
tained old news of ourselves, besides endless specu-
lative opinions on the result of the war, each in the
plenitude of their simplicity, or, according to their
own political views and interests. With one we
were all glorious and successful, with another Lord
Wellington was an ignoramus and we were all

38 NEWSPAPER REPORTS.

going to a place not to be named in print. On this
account I know no position more irksome than that
of an English general commanding an army in a
distant foreign land. He has his country's ene-
mies before him and his country's friends behind
him, and it is difficult to say which show him, or
desire to show him, less mercy. I am inclined to
think the easier of the two to deal with is the enemy
in front. Few can tell the harm that was done
during this war by newspaper reports and extracts
from the letters of officers from Lisbon and else-
where, lingerers about the hospitals and depots,
men ignorant and discontented, who wrote all kind
of trash, which by force of transit across the waves
was transformed into "important intelligence."
Lord Wellington, in writing on this subject to his
brother the Minister in Spain, Mr. Henry Welles-
ley, from Pero Negro, says, " The freedom of the
Press is undoubtedly a benefit, and it is difficult
possibly to fix the limits beyond which it shall not
go. But if the benefit consists in the information
which the Press conveys to the nation and the world
in general, it appears to be necessary that the infor-
mation should be founded in fact, and that discus-
sions upon the conduct of military operations and
the characters of officers who carry them on, should
be founded on real knowledge of events, of the true
state of affairs, of the character of the troops, and
above all of the topography of the country which
may be the seat of the operations." Every English-

OLD COMRADES. 39

man admires and would support the freedom of the
Press ; but as discretion is the better part of valour,
so ought it to be of the power of journalism, as there
is no end to the mischief that may be done for five-
pence. The enemy frequently gained intelligence of
importance to them through our papers, of which
otherwise they would have been wholly ignorant ;
and at one time Lord Wellington even, in a des-
patch to Lord Liverpool, expressed a hope that his
own despatches would not, on this account, be fully
published.

Personal considerations now began to have weight
with us, and our happiest hours were when the even-
ing closed in and we met together; the inhabitants
had begun to return to their homes, provisions had
become more plentiful, and when dinner (the best
we could provide) was served in our separate quar-
ters among the various coteries, many a young happy
face shone by the light of our merry wood fire —
many a joyous evening of mirth and laughter was
passed by the side of our stone chimney. Those
days, alas ! are now long gone : the space of nearly
half a century is creeping on between them and
us : different fates betided the different beings who
then were warmed by the cheery spirit of youth
and Lamego wine. Hopes, like our blood, ran
high and gilded the future for us ; but time and
reality have cast deep shadows over those early as-
pirations. Where now amongst immediate friends
are to be found Crofton, Jack Fremantle, George

40 DEATH OF THE

Fitz-Clarence, Paulet Mildmay, Gurwood, Tom
Bligh, Wentworth Burges ? All gone ! The first fell
in the sortie of Bayonne, the last in an enemy's
embrasure, leading a storming-party at Burgos;
the third of these died a member of the Upper
House, the fourth a member of the House of
Commons ; Fremantle a general, Gurwood a secre-
tary to the Duke of Wellington; and poor Tom
Bligh died, not as he wished, in the field, but of
protracted consumption at Valence. Alas ! time has
made sad havoc among friends as well as foes;
but memory peoples the earth again with them,
calling back to mind all their wit, humour, hila-
rity, and good feeling, till one is tempted, as in
the ci-devant jeune homme, to exclaim, " Oh ! ma
jeunesse, ma jeunesse, ou est ma jeunesse?"

On the 23d of January the Marquis de la Ro-
mana died suddenly, from bursting a blood-vessel,
as he was dressing to dine with Lord Wellington.
He had arrived not long before at Cartaxo in
bad health, having left his corps of 10,000 men
in the Alemtejo and at Badajos. He was greatly
regretted, being one of the best, if not the best,
of the Spanish generals. Lord Wellington wrote :
" In him the Spanish army have lost their bright-
est ornament, his country their most upright pa-
triot, and the world the most strenuous and zeal-
ous defender of the cause in which we are en-
gaged ; and I shall always acknowledge with gra-
titude the assistance which I received from him,

MARQUIS DE LA ROMANA. 41

as well by his operations as by bis counsel, since
he had been joined with this army." Lord Wel-
lington and his staff, besides many other officers,
attended the removal of the body, which was taken
down, on the carriage of a six-pounder gun, in
funeral procession to Velhada on the Tagus. On
this occasion I made the acquaintance of a very
amiable man and gallant soldier, who not only
acted but evidently felt as a chief mourner for his
departed friend. General Don Miguel Alava had
to deplore not alone the loss he had personally
sustained, but that by which his country might
suffer.

The surrendering of Badajos a few months after
through treachery amply realised his fears. This
Spanish nobleman's fate was singularly chequered.
He had fought against Nelson at the battle of Tra-
falgar, under Gravina; on our entering Portugal
and Spain he was attached to Lord Wellington,
as Spanish aide-de-camp, to communicate with the
Spanish armies, and during the whole of the Pen-
insular War he remained in the same post. His
estates near Vittoria had been plundered and taken
possession of by the French, and the battle subse-
quently fought there was on part of his property.
When the war was over he returned to Madrid ;
and Ferdinand the -Seventh, merely because he
gave his Majesty some honest advice concerning
the Cortes, rewarded his services by putting him
in prison, where he remained forty days in close

42 GENERAL ALAVA.

confinement. At the personal and urgent inter-
ference of the Duke of Wellington he was libe-
rated ; he afterwards became ambassador from the
grateful monarch who had incarcerated him, to
Louis the Eighteenth, and on the return of Na-
poleon to France he attended his Majesty in his
flight from Paris to Ghent. Alava was present,
in attendance on his old chief the Duke, at the
battle of Waterloo, although he was diplomatically
attached to the King of France. Here he was
again wounded, notwithstanding which he dictated
a despatch to his sovereign, one of the best and
most eloquently descriptive of any published of that
great event.

Soon after Waterloo I met him at Paris, at the
table of the late King of Holland (then Prince of
Orange) ; they had been brother aides-de-camp to
the Duke in the Peninsula, and their intimacy was
great ; the party was small, the weather was hot,
and the wine was cool. Old times were talked of;
position was forgotten, and sociability prevailed;
the conversation was on the late great action, when
the Prince said, forgetting that his old friend was
now the representative of the Spanish monarch.
u Ah ! Alava, what would the Spaniards have done,
had they been at Waterloo?"

" Very much what the Belgians did, your Royal
Highness."

In 1823, Alava formed one of the Cortes, and
was at Cadiz with King Ferdinand ; being a clever

GENERAL ALAVA. 4d

and moderate man, lie did his best to accommodate
matters on the arrival of the French under the
Duke d'Angouleme, but he found it impossible,
from the uncommon want of honesty in the cha-
racter of King Ferdinand. Again he was exiled,
his estates were confiscated, and he remained in
banishment until recalled by the Queen Regent,
on his being named to the Cortes. During his
exile he principally resided in England, and was
a constant guest of his old friend the Duke of
Wellington, both at Apsley House and at Strath-
fieldsaye.

But to return from this digression, we fre-
quently rode to our outposts at the causeway,
where our sentries and those of the enemy were
placed, quite within conversational distance of
each other. The French officers at first came
across and conversed with ours, and even invited
them into Santarem, to attend theatricals they
had got up among themselves. An order from
Lord Wellington however put a stop to this ; for,
although evil communication may not always cor-
rupt good manners, it is just possible that the
very purest intercourse may be the means of con-
veying inconvenient intelligence. Among the idle
Club3, which an assembly of officers off duty was
called, there was a story current at the outposts
concerning the Assistant Adjutant-general of the
Light Division, who, at the table of General Crau-
furd, his chief, used to ask the invited guests to

44

drink wine, and looking the object of his intended
attention full in the face would say, " Captain
Taylor, a glass of wine?" The officers, on com-
paring notes, found that in like manner all had

been so baptized, the fact being that Captain

called every officer whose name he did not know,
whatever his rank might be, "Captain Taylor."
When spoken to on this subject by a friend, he
replied, " Well now, what would you have me do ?
I don't know that their names are not Taylor;
there is great probability that I guess right, and
sometimes there is applicability when probability
is wanting; and as for Captain, as Gibbet says
in the play, 'that is a good travelling name/ and
so when I don't know a man, I always call him
Captain Taylor. Were I to call out Smith or
Brown, it might create confusion. Taylor is more
exclusive, and fits better ; there are many of that
breed most distinguished, from Stultz downwards."

Such was the prattle of a merry, gallant, amu-
sing, good-looking, and active man, — now a portly,
good-natured bon vivant general, who has served
in three out of the four Quarters of the globe.

This winter Cornet Strenuwitz, of the Hano-
verian Hussars, particularly distinguished himself
on outpost duty, taking prisoners a whole French
piquet, considerably more numerous than his own,
without losing a single one of his party : he dis-
covered that they were too far removed from their
supports, and in the night he cut them off. To

STRENUWITZ. 45

be outdone in alertness and manoeuvre annoyed
Messieurs les Francois much ; retaliation is sweet,
and they laid a plan to circumvent the cornet.
Unluckily for them, Strenuwitz knew the country
even better than they did ; and, having gained in-
telligence of their intention from a deserter, when
in a dark night they advanced round his flank to
carry off their prize, he and his piquet were no-
where to be found. Disliking to advance too far,
for fear of coming on our supports, the enemy
'were prudently drawing back towards their own
outposts, when they were surprised by a dashing
charge, and cut down by a body of cavalry, com-
ing from the very point on which they were di-
recting their retreat : all of them, including their
officer, were brought in prisoners to Cartaxo,
more or less wounded. Lord Wellington was
much pleased at this conduct, named Strenuwitz
in his despatches, and recommended him for pro-
motion*.

In spite of their occasional rencountres, when
brought into accidental proximity, the French and
English soldiers showed themselves noble ene-
mies, and betrayed far greater estimation of the
national qualities each possessed, than they did
of the countries the latter were sent to defend
and the former to conquer. This feeling was ob-
servable during many opportunities of intercourse

* He afterwards distinguished himself in a cavalry encounter
in the south of Spain.

46 THE CLOAK.

on outpost duty, — symptoms of it were displayed
in small acts of courtesy. An officer of the 16th
Light Dragoons (whose name not having noted at
the time I forget,) had, on making a reconnois-
sance, remained imprudently somewhat too long
in observation of one of the enemy's advance
guards. On his attention being drawn to his
flank, he perceived that, if he did not gallop for
it, he would be cut off from his own piquet and
made prisoner. It had rained all night — he was
enveloped in a well-saturated cloak, which embar-
rassed his movements, and added to the weight
his horse had to carry. Before setting spurs to
his charger, therefore, he at once unclasped his
mantle and let it fall to the ground; and thus
lightening himself and steed he escaped. Some few
days afterwards, a French dragoon was seen to ad-
vance towards our outposts; he approached one of
our vedettes as near as he thought prudent, and
making a sign to him, let fall something, and rode
back under cover of his own advance-posts. On
examination it was found to be the cloak, aban-
doned by the officer of the 16th a few days pre-
viously, his name and regiment being marked on
it. Many other similar acts of good feeling and
politeness came to my knowledge during my ser-
vices.

Amongst others of my comrades I was a sports-
man ; woodcocks were numerous, and snipes were
to be found on the low marshy grounds. We had

SPORTING EXCURSIONS. 47

at this time no dogs, but Lord Wellington kindly-
allowed officers of his acquaintance to take his;
and we frequently did so, to our pleasure and
profit ; as not only the sport, but the result of it,
when a good bag was made, was most acceptable,
where luxuries for the table by no means abounded :
many a pleasant hour was thus passed, which tended
to maintain our good health, and increase our
good cheer. In preparation for a day's sport,
two of us were seated one fine morning at break-
fast in my quarter, which was on the right hand,
half-way down the main street, on entering the
town from Lisbon; the windows looked on the
street, but at the back there was an open space
or kind of yard, with a well in common to many
houses adjoining : we were in a hurry to proceed
to our day's sport, but found our servants dila-
tory in making the necessary preparations for us.
After sundry hailings and ejaculations, sympto-
matic of our impatience, one of our people at last
came to us, with a face in which was depicted
surprise, risibility, and disgust. On our inquiring
what had happened, he replied, " Oh, we have got
him out \"

" Got whom out V we asked.

" Why, sir, in drawing water, I had the misfor-
tune to drop the camp-kettle into the well, and in
trying to fish it out with a hook, I pulled up by
the collar of his great-coat a dead French infantry
soldier !"

48 ROCKETS.

We had been drinking the water for a month !

Abont this time we received a supply of Con-
greve rockets from England, which were to be
experimented on by onr army. Lord Wellington,
thinking the enemy the best butt to try them
against, rode down to a low, marshy piece of
ground, which ran between the river and the
heights of Santarem, and was separated from the
town and French position by the confluence of
the Rio Mayor with the Tagus. We commenced
operations, at which, amongst others, I happened
to be present. The wind was high, and blowing
freshly in our teeth; the height to which the
rockets were to be directed necessitated a propor-
tionate degree of elevation: live shells were attached
to each rocket. After considerable preparation they
were discharged; but, to our no small inconve-
nience, instead of prosecuting their flight toward
the enemy, the wind carried them perpendicularly
up, and then brought two of them back amongst
us : this made a scurry, and we galloped off in dif-
ferent directions, to give room for the shells to
explode harmlessly. After this trial Lord Wel-
lington, in the Peninsular campaigns, made no
further use of deadly weapons of such uncertain
direction; even in Belgium, in 1815, a brigade
of rockets was sent out to him; but he turned
three parts of the brigade into guns, saying, that
he " preferred nine-pounders."

On riding one day toward our outposts, to our

MARSHAL JUNOT. 49

left, in the direction of Azambuja, we saw, on
reaching them, a number of French staff-officers
collected in our front. Amongst these was a Mar-
shal of France, whom we recognized by his cha-
peau plume : they approached our advanced sen-
tries, and at first rode along them ; when the Mar-
shal, through his telescope, began to reconnoitre
our ground, and the troops which held it. After
this he once more approached, and came within
some two hundred yards of our out-sentry, belong-
ing to the Portuguese Cacadores. This was consi-
dered a little too familiar, and displayed an inten-
tion of becoming more intimately acquainted with
us and our situation than we felt inclined to per-
mit of. The officer on duty, an English captain
in the Portuguese service, waved his hand to the
cortege of French staff-officers, as a polite signal
for them to retire ; but the Marshal and his Staff
paid no attention to the obliging hint : this neg-
lect induced our captain to order his sentry to fire,
which he did so successfully as to bring the Mar-
shal immediately down from his horse, the shot
li aving passed through his face. It was Junot who
was thus wounded ; and the English captain of
Cacadores gave the sentry who made the shot a
dollar, as a mark of his consideration for the cor-
rect view he had taken of things in his front.

On the 4th of March, 1811, a private of the
2 1th Kcgiment was condemned by a court-martial
to be hanged for desertion and theft. The sen-

50 MILITARY EXECUTION.

tence was carried into execution on the 5th, in pre-
sence of detachments of the regiments of the First
Division, to which the culprit belonged, and the fol-
lowing order was promulgated from head -quarters.

" Adjutant-general's Office, Cartaxo,
March 4th, 1811.

"1. As the object in assembling troops in any
station to witness a punishment, is to deter others
from the commission of the crime for which the
criminal is about to suffer, the Commander of the
Forces requests that, upon every occasion on which
troops are assembled for this purpose, the order
may be distinctly read and explained to them, and
that every man may understand the reason for
which the punishment is inflicted.

"2. As, for the two years during which the
Brigade of Guards have been under the command
of the Commander of the Forces, not only no sol-
dier has been brought to trial before a general
court-martial, but no one has been confined in a
public guard, the Commander of the Forces de-
sires that the attendance of this brigade at the ex-
ecution tomorrow may be dispensed with."

Rumours came of the enemy being about to
move ; and having lost a valuable baggage-mule on
our advance from the lines to the causeway of Ca-
lhariz, I now made it good by purchasing two at
head-quarters, from Lord March*.

On the night of the 5th of March, the campaign

* The present Duke of Eichmond.

OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN. 51

of 1811 commenced, by the enemy breaking up
from their position at Santarem, and beginning
their retreat from Portugal. Every military mo-
tive existed to induce them to have taken this step
long before, and they should have continued their
retreat when they broke up from before the lines ;
but political reasons outweighed all other consi-
derations. Applying a commonplace phrase to
the explanation of a diplomatic motive, — " What
would Mrs. Grundy have said " had they at once
abandoned their original intentions, and retired
from Portugal without a semblance of retaining it ?
Now all Europe, and Spain in particular, was Na-
poleon's Mrs. Grundy, in whose eyes he did not
wish to display either weakness or failure. If the
enemy preferred remaining cut off from their sup-
plies and communications, and starving a little
longer, instead of falling back to refit and refresh
themselves for a future struggle, we of course could
have no objection, especially as we were near our
own supplies. The patience, prudence, and self-
denial of our Chief, in forbearing to attack the ene-
my, and in bearing the opprobrium cast on him in
consequence by the ignorant or foolish in England,
were remarkable, but were now amply rewarded;
for, ill supported and inadequately supplied as he
had been by the Ministers of that day, still, by
husbanding his resources, he had gained his object
without risk or bloodshed, and all was prepared to
follow up the enemy.

52 PURSUIT OF THE ENEMY.

On the 6th, after three months' halt, and at half
an hour's warning, we left Cartaxo. Every corps
of our army was now in full pursuit of the enemy.
We entered Santarem, which had been the head-
quarters of the French army during the winter.
We found things in better order than we expected,
with the exception of a few houses the enemy had
gutted and burned : among other transmutations
we found a church turned into a theatre, with ap-
propriate decorations ! It was a fine, well-built
town, superior in size and situation to Cartaxo.
As this last place will probably not again be men-
tioned, I may here say that the British troops sent
to Portugal by Canning, in 1827, found the town
so little changed or improved, that even the names
of the officers, and the official quarters assigned to
them, were still to be found written in chalk on
doors and window-shutters, as they had been left
in the year 1810 ! For seventeen years they had
remained uneffaced from the different houses : was
this laziness, economy of soap and water, or for
love of " auld lang syne" ? I doubt the latter.

We reached Purnes on the 7th, and halted the
8th. It was a pretty village, romantically situated,
with a stream running through it, and with some
picturesque waterfalls not far distant. This village
was in a wretched condition ; the few inhabitants
left in it, who either could not or would not fly
on the advance of the French, t>r who had at-
tempted a return to their homes during the occu-

53

pation of the enemy, were absolutely starving ;
they had been robbed of all they had, and every
violence had been done them.

If the result of the advance of the French into
Portugal was calamitous, the scenes witnessed on
their retreat were deplorable. Destruction, incen-
diarism, violation, and murder, — in short, desola-
tion, marked their course. Their steps were traced
by the conflagration of towns, villages, and quin-
tas. From the mountain-heights might be seen to
rise the smoke from the valleys, where the habita-
tion of the peasant and mansion of the noble were
alike consumed. If the enemy could not exist in
the country, they had determined that nothing
should be left for others.

Well might Lord Wellington, at this time, write
as follows to Lord Liverpool, in reply to financial
objections for supplying the necessary men and
materials to prosecute the war in the Peninsula.
He says, under date of Santa Marinha, 23rd of
March, 1811 :—

" I shall be sorry if Government should think
themselves under the necessity of withdrawing from
this country, on account of the expense of the con-
From what I have seen of the objects of the
French Government, and the sacrifices they make
to accomplish them, I have no doubt that, if the
British army were for any reason to withdraw from
the Peninsula, and the French Government were
relieved from the pressure of military operations

54 PURSUIT OF THE ENEMY.

on the Continent, they would incur all risks to
land an army in his Majesty's dominions. Then,
indeed, would commence an expensive contest;
then would his Majesty's subjects discover what
are the miseries of war, which, by the blessing of
God, they have hitherto had no knowledge of; and
the cultivation, the beauty, and prosperity of the
country, and the virtues and happiness of its in-
habitants, would be destroyed, whatever might be
the result of the military operations. God forbid
that I should be a witness, much less an actor in the
scene ! and I only hope that the King's Govern-
ment will consider well what I have above stated
to your lordship ; will ascertain, as nearly as is in
their power, the actual expense of employing a cer-
tain number of men in this country, beyond that
of employing them at home, or elsewhere ; and will
keep up their force here on such a footing as will,
at all events, secure their possession, without keep-
ing the transports, if it does not enable their com-
mander to take advantage of events, and assume
the offensive."

The French being unable longer to occupy Por-
tugal, Massena declared he would render it not
worth living in ; and, as far as lay in his power, he
kept his word. On the 9th our Division moved by
Torres Novas, through a bleak and dreary country,
in bad weather, and did not reach Pialva, where we
halted for the night, till ten o'clock p.m.

On the 10th, again, through bad weather and

AFFAIR OF REDINHA. 55

worse roads, we followed in the enemy's track to
Cacarcs. On the 11th, after being on the march
from half-past six in the morning until ten o'clock
at night, wc bivouacked in the vicinity of Pombal.
Being sent to communicate an order to one of
our other brigades, I met in the dark, in an olive
grove, a heavy dragoon of ours who had lost his
way. He asked me where he " could find head- quar-
ters ;" the cavalry-man, to my surprise, had an Eng-
lish officer, in the uniform of his regiment, tied to
his back. This was Lieutenant , an Irish Ca-
tholic, belonging to the — th regiment, who had not
long before deserted to the enemy, and had been
re-taken in the skirmish at Pombal that morning,
and was now being conveyed a prisoner to Lord
Wellington. It was proved, afterwards, that the
man was insane ; and we had the satisfaction never
to hear anything more of him.

From the 11th to the 15th there were very sharp
affairs daily between the enemy and the Light,,
Third, Fourth, and Fifth Divisions, at Pombal,
Redinha, Condexa, Miranda, Foz d'Aronce, and
the Ceira river. The commencement of that at
Redinha was fine in the extreme. The day was
clear and bright, the mountainous tract of country
beautiful, and the ground on which we deployed
and moved forward under fire of the enemy's guns,
was extensive in space and grand in view. The
Light Division were hard at work, as they always
were, skirmishing with activity ; the curling smoke

56 RETREAT OF THE FRENCH.

rising from the hollow ; the sharp rattle of mus-
ketry ascending from the woods and the valleys
beneath our front; the booming of cannon-shot
through the air, and the echo of the whole from
the distant hills ; the solemn advance of our sup-
ports in three lines, by division, backed by co-
lumns,— oh ! it was a noble and gallant sight to
look upon, more like some pleasant movement of
troops in review, than the deadly and destructive
reality of strife ; but, as we gained ground, the re-
sults, though favourable, left behind their marks
of mischief. We marched past the dead, the dying,
or the wounded, to that success which, at the time,
made those casualties less heeded by the unharmed ;
but, like some rattling leap taken in a fox-chase, it
did not do in sober mind to look back on what you
had gone over. The day was gained, the fatigue
was passed, and rest at a merry bivouac fire re-
freshed the weary for the coming day and contest.
They both came, but that of the morrow was not
so exciting. The enemy, believing a larger force
was on the north bank of the Mondego than
merely Wilson and Grant's outposts, and having
made some ineffectual attempts to pass the bridge
at Coimbra, and some fords where they met resist-
ance, abandoned their idea of retreating in that
direction: and as the Third Division now hung
on their left flank, they took the road from Con-
dexa to the Puente de Murcella, burning Condexa
as they passed through it.

57

CHAPTER IV.

CASAL NOVA. — THE NAPIERS. — REPULSE OF* NEY. — WANT OF
PROVISIONS. — SABUGAL. — COLONEL WATERS. — CONDUCT OF
THE MINISTRY. — ENTRY INTO SPAIN. — ALMEIDA. — MASSENA'S
ADVANCE. — BATTLE OF FUENTES. — ANECDOTES.

The following day was the affair of Casal Nova.
Early dawn brought with it an intense fog, which
lasted for some time after sunrise ; our chief having
no taste for blindman's buff, we remained on our
ground, unable to move ; gradually the mountain-
tops began to show their heads, looking like so
many islets swimming in the sea of fog beneath.
At length the dense mass of mist rose, like a great
curtain, from the valleys below, when was displayed
to our longing eyes the glorious sight of the whole
French rear-guard in martial array, in position,
with the sun brightly glittering on their arms. It
was a sight enough to make a dolt a soldier ! We
moved — the same scene of sharp contest ensued —
the Light Division ever gallantly sticking to them,
and carrying all before them \ driving the enemy
from hill to hill, across ravines, over streams, from

58 CASAL NOVA*

valley to mountain, as we kept moving on in sup-
port, occasionally halting, and then again nioving
rapidly forward. The Light and Fourth Divisions
had turned the enemy's left ; our Division, and
the Fifth and Sixth, the heavy cavalry and artil-
lery, moved on their centre. The French retreat
at last became more rapid than regular ; confusion
ensued amongst them ; but they gained the Pass
of Miranda, burnt the town, and passed the Ceira
that night. Their army was now compressed and
crowded into one narrow line, between the high
sierras and the Mondego river : they destroyed part
of their baggage and ammunition, and left Mar-
shal Ney to cover the passage with a few batta-
lions.

We passed over the ground gained by our gal-
lant light troops : the wounded who could not
move to the rear were with the dead, lying as they
fell. Among the former were to be found three
brothers — those noble fellows, the Napiers. Wil-
liam and George, of the 43rd and 52nd, were ly-
ing, severely wounded, not far from the roadside ;
and Charles, who commanded the 50th, came up
at this moment and joined his brothers, not being
himself quite recovered from the wound he had re-
ceived at Busaco. Here, then, were three of one
family met together, each bearing on his person
the most emphatic mark of having done his duty
to his country ! They are now all general officers
and Knights of the Bath, and have well earned

THE NAPIERS. 59

their distinctions*. Sir Charles, previous to this,
had been left for dead on the field of Coruria, and
was so returned in the list of casualties : he had
been found, however, by a Spanish peasant, and
taken to his house, recovered, and, by the kindness
of Marshal Soult, was liberated. On his return
home, he found his family had been in mourning
for him. His after career and services, in annex-
ing Scinde, by conquest, to our Indian empire;
and his brother William's merits as a soldier, and
as the historian of the Peninsular war, are too well
known and appreciated to need any remark from
the writer of these pages ; he may be allowed how-
ever to express his admiration of the talents of
this distinguished family, who from, and long be-
fore, the days of the great inventor of logarithms,
Napier of Merchistoun, whether by sea, by land, or
in diplomacy, serve their country to advantage,
and never lose sight of their family motto, "Ready,
aye ready." Near the Napiers, among others ly-
ing wounded, was Captain Jones, a Welshman, and
an acquaintance of mine : surgeons were scarce,
which is generally the case when troops are skir-
mishing over a wild, broken, and extensive country,
in extended order. Jones was badly hurt, and, at
my suggestion, our Colonel allowed our assistant-
surgeon to look at him, on condition of the doc-
tor's immediate return, as we \wiv hurrying on,
and knew not how soon we might want his assist-
* Sir Charles since this was written is dead.

60 REPULSE OF NEY.

ance. I believe this medical officer aided the Na-
piers in their necessity, as well as Captain Jones ;
and if so, to this hour they know not who sent him.
The following day, the enemy having retired in
the night, we did not come up with them till four
o'clock p.m. They had been cooking when our ad-
vanced guard reached them. Lord Wellington ar-
rived; and, casting a rapid glance at their strong
position, ordered an instant attack. The Light
and Third Divisions advanced immediately, and
rather disturbed their culinary occupations, which
were found in matured preparation, kettles and all
on the fires. The visit of our advanced troops be-
ing too sudden to give them time to carry off their
provisions, our people appropriated these to them-
selves, and followed the foe, — the Light Division and
Packers Portuguese attacking their right flank, on
rough and rugged ground, the Third Division their
left, which rested on the village of Foz d'Aronce.
The Horse Artillery, galloping forward to a rising
ground, opened their fire with a sudden and great
effect. Ney's left wing was surprised, and fled in
great confusion, rushing down to the bridge and
ford, and were crushed to death or drowned in
considerable numbers*. We had a rapid scamper
of two miles at double-quick after the enemy this
evening across the country, through muddy lanes,
encumbered with asses and mules, which, incapable
of further moving, had been hamstrung, and were
* See Napier.

CONTINUED RETREAT OF MASSENA. 61

thus maimed, poor brutes, to render them useless
to us. Through thick pine-woods, without being
able to see anything, we followed au pas accelere,
direct toward our front, where the usual music pre-
vailed; but in spite of all our efforts, we arrived
only in time for Nightingale's brigade of our Di-
vision to take a share in the fray, which was a suf-
ficiently heavy one. Darkness now prevailed, and
was increased by the gloom of the pine-forest ; the
firing still continued, and we could see the flicker-
ing of musketry between the trees, throwing un-
certain and indistinct light on the objects around.
The Light Division had driven the French rear-
guard across the Ceira river with great loss. In
the dark, one French brigade fired into another ;
they blew up their spare ammunition, buried some
guns, destroyed their baggage, lost an eagle, and
suffered severely in killed and wounded in this ac-
tion. Massena retired behind the Alva, yet Ney
maintained the left bank of the Ceira until their
remaining encumbrances passed. Thus terminated
the first part of the retreat from Santarem. After
this we took some five hundred more prisoners, who
had been on a marauding excursion. Our Divi-
sion had been in support of Picton's. Our bivouac
was in the pine-wood; we were ordered to make no
fires, we had no provisions, our baggage was not
allowed to come up. It rained hard throughout
the night, but we were directed to make ourselves
as comfortable as we could. Next day some of us

62 THE MISERIES OF WAR.

got a portion of donkey-flesh, cut from the corpses
of those respectable animals left behind by the
enemy, but minus salt, biscuit, or other addenda ;
however, it was something, which was better than
nothing. For the rest, we had been successful;
for the result of these operations was, that Coim-
bra and Upper Beira were saved from the enemy's
ravages, and they were obliged to take for their
retreat the road by the Ponte de Murcella, which
enabled the Portuguese Militia, under Wilson and
Trant, to manoeuvre on the right bank of the Mon-
dego, which they had already prevented the enemy
from passing, and they further continued to act se-
verely on their flank, while the Allied Army still
pressed on their rear. They had no provisions ex-
cept what they plundered on the spot, and carried
on their backs ; they still continued burning and
destroying all they passed through of towns, vil-
lages, quintas, and houses.

While halting for further supplies from our Com-
missariat, near the banks of the Alva, I found in
a roofless house, which had been destroyed by the
flames, a poor old man, lying on his own threshold,
shot through the body ; a young woman, apparently
enceinte, suspended by the neck to a beam ; and a
child of tender age, lying at her feet, with its throat
cut. And this was "glorious war" as carried on by
the French army in Portugal, anno Domini 1811 !

Lord Wellington, about this date, writes on this
subject as follows to Lord Liverpool : —

CRUELTY OF THE FRENCH ARMY. 63

' ' I am concerned to be obliged to add to this ac-
count, that their conduct throughout this retreat
has been marked by a barbarity seldom equalled,
and never surpassed. Even in the towns of Torres
Novas, Thomar, and Purnes, in which the head-
quarters of some of the corps had been for four
months, and in which the inhabitants had been
invited, by promises of good treatment, to remain,
they were plundered, and many of their houses
destroyed, on the night the enemy withdrew from
their position ; and they have since burnt every
town and village through which they have passed.
The convent of Alcobaca was burnt by order from
the French head-quarters ; the bishop's palace, and
the whole town of Leyria, in which General Drouet
had had his head -quarters, shared the same fate ;
and there is not an inhabitant of the country, of
any class or description, who has had any dealing
or communication with the French army, who has
not had reason to repent of it and to complain of
them. This is the mode in which the promises
have been performed, and the assurances have been
fulfilled, which were held out in the proclamation of
the French commander-in-chief; in which he told
the inhabitants of Portugal that he was not come
to make war upon them, but with a powerful army
of 110,000 men to drive the English into the sea.
It is to be hoped that the example of what has oc-
curred in this country will teach the people of this
and of other nations what value they ought to place

64 WANT OF PROVISIONS.

on such promises and assurances ; and that there
is no security for life,, or for anything which makes
life valuable, excepting in decided resistance to the
enemy."

" Gallis fidem non habendam; hominibus levi-
bus, perfidis, et in ipsos Deos immortales impiis/'
said Cicero some two thousand years ago ; and so
might the Portuguese people have well said of the
descendants of these very Gauls.

We crossed the Sierra de Moita, and moved down
to the banks of the Alva ; here, having no further
commissariat resources, we were obliged to halt, to
await their arrival. To save land-transport, and to
have our munitions nearer, they were sent round
from the Tagus in transports to Mondego Bay.

We had outmarched our provisions, in addition
to which the Portuguese Government had, as usual,
failed in supplying their own troops, who were then
obliged to be furnished by our Commissariat; added
to this, some of the new and tardily-expedited re-
inforcements from England (which regiments ought
to have reached us before we left Cartaxo), on their
way up, against every order to the contrary, seized
the commissariat supplies intended for us, and at
this critical moment we were left without the means
of following the enemy. Our Division had in con-
sequence to halt, from the 19th, when we reached
Sarzadas, to the 25th of March. On this occasion
Lord Wellington wrote as follows : — " In the night
the enemy destroyed the bridge on the Ceira and

SURRENDER OF BADAJOS. 65

retreated, leaving a small rear-guard on the river.
The destruction of the bridge at Foz d'Aronce, the
fatigues which the troops have undergone for seve-
ral days, and the want of supplies have induced me
to halt the army this day." Again he writes, under
date of Gouvea, March 27th : " When I found that
the enemy retired with such celerity from Moita,
I continued the pursuit of them with the cavalry
and Light Division, supported by the Third and
Sixth Divisions; and I was induced to halt the
rest of the army till the supplies came up."

We all shared alike in commons so short, and
were glad, when we could get it, to have an addi-
tion of bullock's liver by way of a luxury. Neither
Indian corn, bread, nor biscuit, was to be seen;
and I remember giving a dollar for a ship's bis-
cuit to a sergeant of the 42nd, who was coming up
from the rear. During this recess from fighting,
we heard from Lord March (who complained that
nothing was going on) of the battle of Barossa,
and, as a counterpoise to this, of the loss of Ba-
dajos, surrendered by the Spaniards on the very
day after the governor had received Lord Welling-
ton's assurance that he should be relieved. It was
thought that the commandant had his price; for,
except a small breach, the defences were entire,
and the guns still mounted. Had Romana lived
to be there, this surrender, in all human proba-
bility, would not have occurred. We now hutted
ourselves during our halt; and being refreshed,

66 PURSUIT OF THE ENEMY.

provisioned, and washed in the river Alva, where
our battalion was daily marched down for the pur-
pose of ablution, we once more moved in advance
from Sarzadas and Moita on Celerico.

On the 29th, the Third, Sixth, and Light Divi-
sions again advanced, to attack the enemy in the
strong mountain position of Guarda. The wings
of these Divisions were supported, on the one side,
by the Portuguese Militia, on the other, by the
Fifth Division; while ours and the newly-formed
Seventh moved on the enemy's centre. The
French, being thus turned on either flank, re-
treated in confusion from this formidable post
without firing a shot.

On the 1st of April we moved toward the Coa :
Wilson and Trant passed it below Almeida to our
left ; the cavalry crossed the upper Coa on the
right ; the Light Division were ordered to ford a
little below; and the Fifth, with the artillery, to
force the bridge of Sabugal. Our Division and the
Seventh were in reserve, except a battalion sent to
the bridge of Seceiras. It was conjectured that,
after the enemy had quitted the position of Guarda
without firing a shot, and had passed the Coa, they
would continue their retreat without attempting to
resist the passage of the river, especially as both
Wilson and Trant, and our cavalry, had already
passed it on both their flanks.

On the 3rd, in anticipation of our Division oc-
cupying Sabugal, I was sent forward with our bri-

COLONEL WATERS. 67

gade-major to take up quarters for my regiment.
We met Colonel Jackson*", quarter-master-general
of our division, who informed us we might save
ourselves the trouble of proceeding further, as the
French were still in possession of the town ; and
that, in consequence of the fog, Colonel Waters
had just been taken by the enemy's light cavalry.
This being reported to Lord Wellington, he said,
f ' Ah ! they have caught him, but they will not
keep him." The prognostication showed how well
he knew those under him. Waters, on being made
prisoner, which occurred in the haze of the morn-
ing, from mistaking in the mist a French patrol
for Portuguese troops, was conducted before Mar-
shal Massena ; who examined him very closely con-
cerning our movements and intentions — but gained
very little information for his pains. The Mar-
shal then offered him his parole, which Waters re-
fused to accept : he was allowed however to retain
his horse, a famous mare he called the Bittern ;f
and, under a cavalry escort, was marched a clothe
prisoner to Ciudad Rodrigo. On reaching this
town he happened to be quartered, or rather con-
fined, in the room of a house, the proprietor of
which he had formerly known; he seized an op-
portunity, and requested the Spaniard to get the

* Of the Guards ; afterwards General Sir Eiehard Jackson,
Commander-in-Chief in Canada.

f Many years after, this man was turned out to grass by the
Duke of Wellington in Strathfieldsaye Park, where she died and
WM buried.

68 COLONEL WATERS.

rowels of his spurs sharpened, which was accom-
plished without the suspicion of those who guarded
him. Soon after this, he was conducted from Ciu-
dad Rodrigo on his way to Salamanca between two
gendarmes ; while thus situated, at the head of one
column of infantry, and in the rear of another, one
of the gendarmes halted and dismounted to tighten
his horse's girths, when Waters also obligingly pulled
up his horse, apparently to wait for him ; but at the
same time, turning his mare's head toward the
large wood which skirted the road, he plunged the
spurs in his steed's side. She bounded forward,
clearing all difficulties, and in the full gallop of a
well-bred English hunter, bade adieu to all follow-
ers and defiance to all obstacles : although instant
chase was given, and shots fired after the fugitive,
he gained the wood, adroitly threaded its intrica-
cies, and escaped in broad day from his cavalry
escort and the columns of French infantry ! In a
week after his capture, he presented himself once
more at head-quarters. On seeing Waters, Lord
Wellington remarked, " Ah ! I said so ; they might
catch him, but I knew they would not keep him."
But to return : by some blunder of a staff officer,
the attack on the enemy this morning was made
too soon, none of the divisions of the army having
reached their destined points ; it ended however in
the defeat of the enemy, by the gallantry of the
Light and Third Divisions passing the river, and
forcing them to retire. This was a very sharp af-

QUARTERS AT ST. ANTONIO. 69

fair j our two divisions, the First and Seventh, took
no share in it, but were planted for three hours
with piled arms in ploughed ground, and in heavy
rain, hearing (for it was too thick weather to see
anything) the rattling fire sustained at no great
distance. The affair lasted only an hour, but Lord
Wellington said that this was one of the most glo-
rious actions the British troops were ever engaged
in. In this affair my poor friend Gurwood was se-
verely wounded. After waiting thus unpleasantly
and provokingly, we at length moved four leagues
to our left, and got under cover at Angira de St.
Antonio, a village more sonorous in name than
accommodating in size; however, we were under
shelter, and five of us, including the A. Q. M.
General of the division, were stowed away, or con-
fined, in a space about the size, colour, and appear-
ance of a respectably-proportioned coalhole in the
neighbourhood of Berkeley-square.

Next day, the 4th, we halted in our delectable
abode, having passed the night in as close relation
to the poor inhabitants as sealing-wax to a letter :
the worst was, that these inhabitants had inhabi-
tants, who would not keep their distance, maugre
our all lying in our clothes : it rained too hard to
bivouac, and we could not conveniently cut off the
communication of our too great proximity. Many
sage and useful reflections suggested themselves
to us, as to the advantage individually gained by
young men travelling thus to see the world, and

70 PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTIONS.

the knowledge of facts obtained by riding and
walking through a new and wild country, without
too frequently inhabiting houses, sleeping in beds,
injuring our digestion by repletion, etc. After all,
we were the best disciples of Epicurus, for the true
Way to know the value of anything is to feel its
want : the contrast from rough to smooth being
transcendent, the enjoyment was in proportion. We
had been able to calculate to a nicety the difference
between the burning rays of a southern sun, and
the winter bivouac amoug snowy mountains; be-
tween food and its want, thirst without beverage,
and fatigue without rest ; so we made ourselves
happy, smiled at good fortune, and grinned and
bore the bad; and, in opposition to every rule of
arithmetic and calculation, made by the most cele-
brated actuary of the most respectable life assur-
ance company, still persevered in the desire and
intention to engage and beat the enemy wherever
they might give us an opportunity. The Peace
Association might possibly consider these dark re-
flections from a coalhole, but they were the best
we could make from such an abode ; and we hope
for forgiveness, in consideration of the real love we
had for our country, and the ardent desire we had
to serve it disinterestedly.

On the 5th, as our brigade formed column to
march, a dragoon of the First German Hussars
brought forth a beautiful mare, which he was lead-
ing with one hand, while in the other he held his

AFFECTING SCENE. 71

pistol; she moved with difficulty on three legs;
the fine creature had, the day before, received a
musket-shot in her fetlock joint; the wound was
incurable, and she was condemned by the veteri-
nary surgeon to be shot. The hussar informed us
that, by her dexterity and speed, the poor animal
had more than once saved him from death or a
prison in France ; and as he spoke of her merits,
the tears ran down his hardened, weather-beaten
and moustachioed face. He conducted his fated
charger to the rear of our column; we saw that
once or twice the poor fellow raised the loaded pis-
tol to the creature's head, and then, looking sadly
at her, took it down again. At length, in an
agony of grief, he dashed the pistol to the ground,
and covering his face with his hands, wept aloud !
He could not perform his duty, which one of our
men was obliged to accomplish for him.

We moved from Angira de St. Antonio, passed
the Coa, through Sabugal, and over part of the
ground on which the action of the 3rd took place,
to a village called Nave. Next day we marched to
Aldea Velha, and as our column, soon after day-
break, was moving through the town of Alfyates,
we saw Lord Wellington, who had apparently just
risen, and was lounging out of window, looking
gaily at us as we passed. He seemed in high spi-
rits and well pleased, as well he might be; for
the previous action at Sabugal had driven the last
Frenchman out of Portugal, with the exception

72 CONDUCT OF THE ministry.

only of the garrison of Almeida and such as were
his prisoners.

Thus gloriously and satisfactorily were vindicated
Lord Wellington's views, and his capability of de-
fending Portugal. This defence, long planned and
well digested, was now effectually executed ; a large
party in the English Cabinet had been strongly
averse to the undertaking, and I cannot do better
than show, from the best authority, in what way
and by whose decision Wellington and his army
were allowed to save Portugal and to remain in the
Peninsula. Many years after the war, I was dining
with Lord Maryborough, when he related that his
brother, the Duke of Wellington, communicated in
detail to the Government his plan for the defence
of Portugal. These proposals were laid before the
Cabinet. It so happened, that the Ministers were
nearly divided in opinion, and came to no decision
on the subject. Eventually however they agreed
to submit the question to the King in Council, al-
though the Prime Minister, Mr. Percival, did not
incline to a continuation of the Peninsular war.
When the King was informed of the circumstances,
he determined this important matter in the fol-
lowing concise manner : " Eh ! what, what ! Lord
Wellington is a very obstinate man, — I suppose he
must have his way."

In these few words was decided one of the most
serious and eventful questions in the policy of our
country; for it determined not only the fate of

CONDUCT OP THE MINISTRY. 73

England, but it had a most powerful effect on that
of all Europe. It was only one year after this that
the poor old King was placed in confinement ; at
the time, his Majesty at least showed more sense
than about one-half of his Cabinet. Later, — how-
ever previously they had opposed or subsequently
ill- supported these measures, — the dissentients took
credit to themselves for the successful result, and
willingly would have had the nation believe that it
was " all their own thunder."

Secret expeditions, descents for inadequate ob-
jects on unhealthy coasts in the worst possible sea-
son, were more congenial to the understanding of
such would-be statesmen. Had the troops sent to
Walcheren reinforced Lord Wellington in Portu-
gal, the saving of life would have been great, the
expense not greater, and the result quite different.
All these miscarriages in our military policy at a
critical moment in an eventful war, were engen-
dered by the idea of creating a " diversion " in fa-
vour of somebody. Our Government certainly suc-
ceeded, as most people laughed, except those who
caught the Walcheren fever. Lord Porchester's*
motion in the Commons for "inquiry into the
origin and conduct of this expedition to our op-
posite coasts," sufficiently showed, as far as the
"origin" went, the prevailing excesses of small
minds in great places; and as to the "conduct of
the expedition," the well-known lines —

* Lord Porchester, afterwards second Earl of Carnarvon.

74 LOSS OF MULES.

" The Earl of Chatham, with his sword drawn,
Stood waiting for Sir Richard Strachan ;
Sir Richard Strachan, ' longing to be at 'em,'
Stood waiting — for the Earl of Chatham," —

leave no further description of this melancholy his-
tory necessary.

From Aldea Velha we moved on to Forcalhos
(a frontier village of Portugal) . Here we experi-
enced very cold weather, with a fall of snow. Out
of thirteen horses and mules belonging to diffe-
rent officers, and enclosed for the night in one
yard, some thrifty fellow, of more good taste than
morality, stole the two mules I had purchased of
Lord March just before we moved from Cartaxo.
However much, on some occasions, it is desirable
to be an object of preference, I could have dis-
pensed with the advantage now ; and had I been
acquainted with Oriental sayings in those days, I
should have expressed a wish that the purloiner
of my mules might for ever have " a jackass sit
on his grave." A year after I discovered that the
culprit was a Spanish muleteer, and I recovered
one of the animals. My loss in horse and mule
flesh since my arrival in Portugal amounted to
one hundred pounds, besides the risk, on this oc-
casion, of being obliged to leave my baggage be-
hind— an inconvenient idea to reflect on. * How-
ever, by the obliging assistance of our battalion
surgeon and the commissary of our division, it was
conveyed till I could provide myself with fresh
beasts of burden.

THE ARMY ENTERS SPAIN. 70

On the 9th we entered Spain, and occupied the
frontier village of Almadilla. A brother Sub. and
I were quartered in the entrance-room of a cot-
tage, which served for parlour, kitchen, and all ; we
were doubled up with the inhabitants, six or seven
poor Spaniards, who were cooking and eating, at
various hours of the day, a mixture of oil, cab-
bage, and garlic, with a small piece of hog's flesh.
An earthern pot (called a pinella) containing this
mess was constantly simmering over a small fire
of damp straw and a few sticks. When wanted, it
was turned out into a large earthen dish placed on
a stool ; when the partakers, sitting around on the
floor, or on low three-legged seats, drew out their
long knives from their waistbands, and proceeded
to business with much solemnity and good breed-
ing, without any appearance of hurry or too great
an appetite. One of them would commence by
cutting slices from the large loaves of their most
excellent bread (the sight of which was a novel
luxury for us to look upon); and after distributing
these, they dipped their bread, knives, and fingers
into this garlic-smelling mixture, and bobbed for
the morsel of bacon, on catching which each con-
tented himself by rubbing it on the bread, and
then returning it into the dish. In this common
hall for cooking, eating, sleeping, and exit to the
street, there was no chimney ; the smoke escaped
by a few tiles removed from the roof, which by no
means sufficiently answered the purpose; the con-

76 DISCIPLINE OF THE ARMY.

sequence was, that our eyes and organs of respi-
ration suffered considerably. It did not however
affect these poor people, who seemed, like their
own bacon, to be smoke-dried. As it may be sup-
posed, we fed not with them, but cooked our own
rations in our own way and at our own time.

We were much struck at finding, that whatever
atrocities the enemy had committed on the towns,
villages, and people of Portugal (encouraged as
they were by their chief), their conduct was quite
altered on entering Spain. We found everything
here in a tolerably good state, the enemy having
resumed their sense of discipline, — a point by far
the most difficult to return to when once aban-
doned. This change was as sudden as it was re-
markable. In our army Lord Wellington's seve-
rity and discipline originated as much in a feeling
of humanity as that of the love of order and jus-
tice. He used to introduce everywhere the idea
of duty, into small as well as great things, and
instilled these principles throughout his army.
When later he entered France, he wrote : " I will
not have the French peasants plundered ." And
again on another occasion he says : "I do not
mind commanding a large or small army, but,
large or small, it must obey me, and, above all,
it must not plunder/'

Lord Wellington now invested Almeida, and it
was thought that it would not hold out for want
of provisions. Massena fell back to Salamanca,

WANT OF SUPPORT AT HOME. 77

on Marshal Bessieres' Army of the North: our
chief went southwards, to superintend the opera-
tions of Marshal Beresford's corps. Now that Por-
tugal had been freed of the enemy, the great ob-
ject of the war was to maintain it so. The next
important point was the possession of Almeida;
after this, to be able to take the initiative, and
carry the fortresses of Badajos and Ciudad Ro-
drigo from the enemy. These frontier strongholds,
once gained, would prove an obstruction to any
future attempts of the French on Portugal, while
it would give us every facility for a forward move-
ment into Spain.

In spite of Lord Wellington's signal success,
through good and evil report or estimation, still
he could not, even at this time, depend on support
from the English Ministry. The Opposition too,
understanding as little as the Government of the
nature or necessities of the war in which the
country was embarked, gave loud vent to their
discontent. Certainly the expenses were onerous,
but the necessity was undoubted : some field was
wanting on which to make a substantial war, and
it was found in Portugal, — not by the foresight of
English statesmen, but by the forecast and abili-
of an English soldier. People in England
really understand very little or nothing about
military matters. They are very patriotic, ener-
getic, admire brilliant actions, and exact success;
but, in the manner or means of attaining such a

78 WANT OF SUPPORT AT HOME.

result, or the strategy and tactics necessary to ac-
complish it, they are as simple-minded as people
not bred to the trade can well be.

Macaulay, in his essay on Hallam's f Constitu-
tional History/ says : " The jealousy with which
the oligarchy of Venice and the States of Hol-
land regarded their generals and armies induced
them perpetually to interfere in matters of which
they were incompetent to judge." This was very
applicable to England and its statesmen of the
years 1810 and 1811. The people at this time
were led to believe that Lord Wellington and his
army were " in a scrape." This idea was engen-
dered about the time of our retreat to the "Lines,"
of the surrender of Badajos, and was even con-
tinued long after.

It is reported that a Spanish officer of distinc-
tion said to Lord Wellington, in allusion to these
adverse circumstances, "Why, this is enough to
put you into a fever." He quietly answered, ' ' I
have acted to the best of my judgement, and care
neither for the enemy before me nor anything
they may say at home." The truth was, with the
exception of the expedition to Egypt, — which was
something more resembling a substantive war, —
our good Government had always been employing
small expeditions on partisan principles, with great
supposed secresy; in short, making little wars at
great expense, and small imbecile descents on the
coast of an enemy or supposed ally.

WANT OF SUPPORT AT HOME. 79

Paisley's l Military Policy of Great Britain '
was not published till the year 1808-9, and was
soon out of print. A second volume, promised
and announced, never made its appearance; but,
after that badly conceived, and worse executed, ex-
pedition to Walcheren, we had no more of these
"secret little wars." Whether this was the re-
sult of their bad success, Lord Wellington's ex-
emplification of good success, or Paisley's book
enlightening the stupid, is difficult to determine ;
but certain it was, we had no more of that which
was poetically alluded to in a famous song of the
well-known Captain Morris : —

" I sing of Holland's gin ;
Not the gin that Dutchmen trade in,

But I sing of the gin

They catch men in
Who go about crusading."

On the return of the late Duke of York from
one of those Dutch expeditions, he was on his
arrival visited by Sir T. S , one of his house-
hold, a well-known character ; who, after congra-
tulating his Royal Highness on his good looks
and his safe return, said, " And I still further con-
gratulate the country in not having had to ransom
you."

The English Government, when it threw an
army into Portugal, little fancied that it was
about to change the face of the world. All this
was due to Wellington; for, ill supported as he

80 CAPABILITIES OF THE SPANIARDS.

was, and with inadequate means, he created an
army, and knew how to use it. In a corner of
Europe, alone and in silence, he began operations
which, by his success, and the example he gave
to other nations, resulted in the overthrow of the
French empire. He himself said, at Toulouse, on
the conclusion of this war, that he " had an army
that was ready to go anywhere or do anything."

We were now left, during the absence of Lord
Wellington in the Alemtejo, under his second in
command, Sir Brent Spencer, a zealous, gallant
officer, without any great military genius; anxi-
ous and fidgety when there was nothing to do, but,
once under fire, looking like a philosopher solv-
ing a problem, perfectly cool and self-possessed,
which befriended the exercise of his best abili-
ties. Our army was cantoned along the sources
of the Azava and the river Dos Casas ; the Light
Division at Galegos and Espeja. For ease, our
cantonments were extended ; and we were sent on
the 17th of April from Almadilla to Puebla de
Azava, a better village, affording more room. Here
we began to remark the superiority in appearance
of the Spanish over the Portuguese peasants.

These Spaniards certainly were anything but
good soldiers, but they undoubtedly possessed all
the attributes to render them so. The peasantry
are capable, on small nutriment, of supporting
great fatigue; they are long-enduring and hardy,
with no want of courage, and only require to be

SPANISH PEASANTRY. 81

well officered and well organized. The Portu-
guese, without the same amount of these desira-
ble qualities, made much better troops ; and thus
proved what may be done by the advantages of
discipline. They, poor creatures, were at this
time suffering next to starvation in their ranks
(so ill supplied were they, that on one occasion,
on Massen a^s retreat, they were left for four days
without food !) by the misconduct of their own
Government, who, with combined ignorance, lazi-
ness, and roguery, left their own army in the last
necessities, in hopes, perhaps, that we should take
the burden on ourselves; and partially we were
forced to do so. At Puebla we were constantly
kept on the qui vive, in readiness to march at the
shortest warning; and on the 27th of April moved
again to our left, and returned to Almadilla.

Hearing that Massena and Marshal Bessieres'
forces had united, and were in motion again to-
ward the Portuguese frontier, Lord Wellington
left the Alemtejo, and arrived with us again; on
the 30th of April, accompanied by Sir Brent
Spencer, Picton, and his staff, he came to Alma-
dilla, and returned shortly after to head-quarters
at \ 'ilia Formosa. Massena, having collected his
army in the neighbourhood of Ciudad llodrigo,
was only waiting for the subsiding of the waters
of the Agueda to pass that river and advance. A
sudden order reached us on the 2nd of May, and
we commenced a night march by the light of a

82

lovely moon ; our movement was directed on Nave
d'Aver, to close on the rest of our army there
assembling. As soon as we sniffed the morning
breeze, and the early summer dawn broke, we be-
gan to examine our neighbourhood and reconnoitre
our neighbours : we found, at no great distance,
plenty of friends, which was pleasant, as we knew
that we had a much greater number of enemies
in our vicinity. The French army under Massena
recrossed the Agueda on the 2nd of May, with
the view of relieving the garrison of Almeida. To
prevent this, Lord Wellington concentrated his
army in position on some gently rising but exten-
sively open ground, above and in rear of the vil-
lage of Fuentes d'Ofior. On the same day the
Cavalry and Light Division, after a skirmish with
the enemy, retired from Gallegos and Espeja on
the Dos Casas.

On the morning of the 3rd, the First and Third
Divisions took up a position at about a cannon's
shot distance, in rear of the pretty village of
Fuentes d'Onor, and we lined some stone walls.
About nine a.m. the enemy's force was discernible;
and shortly after they commenced a cannonade
on our left, and an attack on the village, which
was gallantly defended by the light troops of the
Third Division under Lieut. -Colonel Williams*
of the 60th, and the light infantry of the Third Di-
vision, supported by Dick of the 42nd, the light

* Afterwards Sir William Williams.

BATTLE OF FUENTES d'oNOR. 83

infantry of the 92nd, and the 5th battalion Ger-
man Legion belonging to our Division*. At two
p.m. we moved to our left by a road leading to the
rear. At a little before five, our Division reinforced
the Third with the 24th, 71st, and 79th regiments,
and were sharply engaged in the town and among
the stone walls around it, contesting every inch of
the ground. This affair ended only at dusk, with
the village still remaining in our possession. We
lay on our arms all night, and stood to them an
hour before daylight, expecting, by break of dawn,
not " coffee and pistols for two," but cannon and
musketry for 32,000 infantry, 1200 cavalry, and
42 guns of the allied arms ; whilst our opponents
furnished 40,000 infantry, 5000 cavalry, and 30
pieces of artillery. But, instead of attacking us
on the 4th of May, they seemed as pacifically in-
clined as Quakers, or as the Peace Societv now
arc when in council assembled at Exeter Hall.
Thus the early morning passed; the heat of the
day approached, with all its Spanish intensity ;
lay on a dusty, sandy plain, unshaded and un-
shaved; the summer furnace of a southern tem-
perature was, as the sun declined, succeeded by a
beautiful calm evening; the gentle slope of our
position (dipping down to the Dos Casas and the
village of Fuentcs, and rising on the other side to-
ward that of the enemy) formed a kind of ravine,

* Dick of the 42nd, afterwards Major- General Sir Robert Dick,
killed at Sobraon.

84 PARADE OF THE FRENCH ARMY.

the bottom of which was of a rocky nature and
divided the two armies, the outposts of each lining
the banks of the little river. The enemy's main
force occupied a plateau of rising ground on one
side of this ravine, as ours did of the other. From
our position we could plainly see all that passed in
theirs.

In the cool of the evening a parade took place
of the cavalry and infantry of the Imperial Guard.
In their rear and on their left flank were consider-
able woods of cork-trees and of the ilex or south-
ern oak ; in front of these our enemy stood out in
strong relief and martial array, their bands play-
ing as they passed in review before Marshals Mas-
sena and Bessieres. It was a noble sight to behold
within our reach these armed men, our nation's
foe, surrounded by "all the pomp and circum-
stance of war/' and induced the

" Stern joy that warriors feel
In foemen worthy of their steel."

On our side we had no reviews ; the bands of the
German Legion (belonging to our Division) raised
their strains in answer to the French, and gave
back note for note, as on the morrow we did shot
for shot. The moon rose, the bivouac fires were
trimmed, the cigar smoked, and our soldiers sank
to rest.

On the 5th, long before day broke, we were to
be found in our ranks, arms in hand, anxious for
some exploit, and ready for any necessity. Mute

DANGER OF MASQUERADING. 85

and still, we rested in expectation of daylight and
what it might bring. The cold previous to early
dawn seems in adverse ratio to the intense and
broiling heat of the day; the dew in these lati-
tudes falls heavy after sunset, and the chilliness is
greatest at the point most distant from the pre-
vious day, and immediately before the dawn of the
next. We stood shivering and anxious, quite long-
ing for light, and heat, and movement. Move-
ment came before daylight, for I was ordered to
join a detachment sent to reinforce the piquets
of our brigade on outpost duty. The chief of
our Division accompanied this detachment; and,
as we arrived at the point of ground destined for
us, dawn began to break. At some eighty yards'
distance, and immediately between the enemy's ve-
dettes and our own, we saw two French horsemen
advancing on our sentries, one of whom turned
round and gesticulated to the enemy in an incom-
prehensible manner, then again moved toward
them, but at last directed their course toward
us. Sir Brent Spencer ordered one of our sen-
tries to fire, which he did with good effect, and
brought down the cavalier; while the other fellow
galloped into our lines in no small alarm. We
then found that they belonged to Don Julian San-
chez' guerilla corps, who, not long previously, had
taken a convoy of French clothing, and had bedi-
zened themselves out in these false colours. This
valiant gesticulator was Don Julian Sanchez' own

86

lieutenant, who, by some mistake, in the dark had
ridden between our piquets and those of the enemy:
seeing himself so near the foe and so well backed
by our infantry, in bravado he began to play antics
and defy them, and us also, as we thought. This
folly cost him his life. Sir Brent Spencer was
greatly annoyed at the mistake, as it occurred in
consequence of his own order. Lord Wellington
came down to the outposts ; and the chief of our
Division, in making his report, expressed his deep
regret at the occurrence. Lord Wellington, seeing
it was a case for which there was no remedy, said,
"Nevermind, Spencer ; it is only a Spaniard!"
Don Julian however was furious, although it was
entirely the fault of the lieutenant ; who had no
business to be where we found him, or in the uni-
form which occasioned the unhappy error. Soon
after this we were recalled, and rejoined our bri-
gade on the summit of the plateau, where we had
passed the night and still remained. The enemy,
hi the early part of the morning of the 5 th, were
quiet; but an hour or two after daylight, they
moved some heavy columns and the greater part
of the cavalry to their left. We broke into co-
lumns, and made a parallel movement along our
heights to our right.

About nine o' clock a.m. of this sultry morning
they commenced a heavy cannonade on us from
their left and centre. On reaching the gently-ris-
ing ground, eventually destined for our part of the

COMBAT WITH THE ENEMY. 87

position, we witnessed a brilliant and animating
sight. Looking toward our right flank, across a
plain terminated by the thick cork wood, we be-
held dense masses of men engaged in strife, and
enveloped in dust and smoke. At first, little was
clearly discernible; by degrees however, coming
out from this confusion, were developed forms and
shapes — horsemen charging — artillery, with their
horses at full speed, thundering forward with an
impetus that forced a way through the enemy —
and the Light and Seventh Divisions coming forth
from the chaos, and coolly retiring en echelon of
squares, exposed alternately to the fire of the
enemy's guns and the menaces of their cavalry,
which were met and checked by our numerically
weak squadrons. Here Brotherton of the 14th
particularly distinguished himself; and the present
Lord Londonderry* (then General Charles Stew-
art) took Colonel La Motte, of the 13th Chas-
seurs, in single combat, by dragging him by the
neck from off his horse. In this melee Felton
Hervey of the 14th, who had previously lost his
right arm at Oporto, was ridden at by a French
officer of the 13th Chasseurs a Cheval, who raised
hifl sword to cut him down; when, perceiving that
his enemy had but one arm, he dropped his weapon
to the salute, and passed on ! George Fitzclarence
also was wounded in this affair; but llamsey of
the artillery, by his prompt skill and intrepidity,

# He has died since tliis was written.

88 CHARGE OF FRENCH CAVALRY.

saved his guns, and at timely moments presented
his enemies with their contents. The steady and
soldier-like manner in which the Light and Seventh
Divisions seemed to rise out of this apparently in-
extricable confusion, and the way they repulsed the
enemy's efforts, were really most admirable.

At this moment an incident which befell our
Chasseurs Britanniques excited us much and added
to the interest of the scene. They were in line
when charged by French cavalry; their commander,
Lieutenant-Colonel Eustace (now General Sir Wil-
liam Eustace), did not attempt to alter his position,
but coolly received them in that formation. When
within some fifty yards of his bayonets he poured
in a murderous volley, which settled the difficulty,
and induced those of the enemy left in their sad-
dles to seek shelter in their rear from so rough a
treatment. After this retrograde flank movement
of the Light and Seventh Divisions, they were con-
centrated in rear and in support of our right. The
enemy's second and eighth corps and their cavalry
turned the wood and village of Poco Velho, which
obliged Lord Wellington to throw back his right
flank; the Seventh Division crossed the Turones,
the Light Division retired over the plain, and the
remainder of our Division not detached, together
with the Third and the Portuguese, withdrew to
the rising ground we had previously occupied. In
consequence, our Division held the right of the
position. Eight of the enemy's guns were now ad-

CHARGE OF FRENCH CAVALRY. 89

vanccd to within convenient range, and we soon
began to feel the effects of the fire from these and
their light troops. The guns of our Division in
our immediate front were commanded by Captain
Lawson ; they opened their fire with effect on the
enemy, which, together with our Light Infantry
and Rifles, covering our right flank (for we were en
potence),* and our piquets skirmishing in advance,
guarded our front against any sudden predatory
attack.

About this time Lord Wellington rode up ; and
seeing that the fire of the enemy's round shot,
shells, and sharpshooters was beginning to tell on
the front line of the Division, he ordered us to lie
down. There was an animated and cheery look
about him as he gave the order, which announced
his certainty of success, and strengthened our in-
tention to carry it into effect. Our further orders
were to remain on the ground until the enemy ap-
proached in columns to within some thirty yards,
then to rise, fire a volley, and charge bayonets : but
their masses of infantry never advanced.

A piquet of the Guards, skirmishing with the
enemy, was attacked by cavalry, but resisted them
with success. They were suddenly charged a second '
time from behind a rising ground, under cover
of which the cavalry had approached unperceived.
The horsemen dashed at once on them while in
extended order, and took them in flank and rear,
cut down the men in detail, and carried off many

90 RETREAT OF THE ENEMY.

prisoners. Out of a hundred rank and file and five
officers, only thirty of the former and one of the
latter escaped unwounded ; one of the remaining
three being killed and two taken. At this mo-
ment part of Lawson's guns under Lane opened
with grape on the French cavalry and mowed them
down, destroying, at the same time, many of our
infantry, mixed up as they were in this melee with
the French cavalry. Their reception from our guns
being more warm than pleasant, the enemy preci-
pitately vanished. Many of the remainder of this
piquet came in wounded ; and Captain Hervey of
the Coldstream, after resisting bravely, was cut
down and ridden over, but escaped and rejoined
his ranks*. The second officer who escaped was
Captain Home of the Third Guards. He had a
rencontre with three of the enemy's horsemen : in
trying to take him one of them seized the string
of a bottle hanging by his side, which broke, and
the cavalry man carried it off as a prize ; another
grasped his epaulette, which was torn from his
shoulder ; and the third, finding he would not sur-
render, attempted to cut him down. Home was
a powerful man, and, although on foot, lunged
with his sword and then closed with the trooper,
seized him by the neck and attempted to drag him
to the earth : the struggle was a fierce one, but the
Frenchman, finding he was likely to be worsted,
turned his horse sharp round and galloped off,

* This officer was afterwards killed afc Burgos.

CAPTAIN MELLISH. 91

leaving in the hand of his enemy his cross of the
Legion of Honour, which Home brought back tri-
umphantly to his corps. From Home's muscular
appearance and well-known courage and determi-
nation he was very likely to have brought in both
man and horse, had not the trooper made a timely
escape.

The 42nd Highlanders, under Lord Blantyre,
were also at the same time charged by cavalry, but
gave the enemy no encouragement to make a se-
cond attempt on them. Here an anecdote was
current of Captain Mellish, of sporting and New-
market fame, and at the time in the adjutant-ge-
neral's department. He came into the field that
morning mounted on a very woe-begone and sorry
hack, a regular Rosinante, looking as if it had
lived much too long on air and exercise. Some
ridicule was elicited by this turf hero and great
judge of horseflesh possessing so curiously infra
difj. a specimen of cattle : one said that Lord Wel-
lington had sent for a pack of hounds, and advised
him by no means to ride near the kennel ; another
suggested that it was unfortunate no knacker was
to be heard of in the neighbourhood ; a third of-
fered him five shillings for his charger. Mellish
took all in good humour, and said he would bet
any man £10 that before the day was out he would
get 625 for him. After some jeering the bet was
taken. The firing in the village of Fuentea being
heavy, he availed himself of the first opportunity

92 THE CAMERONIANS.

to convey an order there, and rode right into the
thick of the musketry : his horse was shot under
him : he claimed, as losing a second charger, value
£25, and thus he won his bet. A severe struggle
was now enacting at the foot and key of our posi-
tion in the village of Fuentes. Here, among others,
three battalions of our Division were carrying on an
intense combat with the enemy for its possession.
The 79th, or Cameronians, commanded by poor
Cameron (who fell on this occasion) , instead of co-
vering themselves by the walls and houses, chose
to stand on the top of the former, and were con-
sequently knocked down very rapidly by the ene-
my. Cameron and other officers did their best to
stop this most inartistical mode of carrying on
such a warfare, but with little effect ; as the High-
landmen exclaimed, " that they would rather stand
at the top of a wall, and be shot like men, than
bide behind it, and be killed like dogs." The 24th
and 79th, in contest with an enemy, were prac-
tising light infantry movements for the first time
in their lives*.

The 71st, under Cadogan, knew their work, were
au fait at it, and consequently were useful to them-
selves and friends, and much more formidable to
their enemies. After all, in our part of the posi-
tion, we had but a tiresome day of it, being occu-

* The folly of not accustoming our regiments at home to light
infantry drill occasioned in this affair not only a great disadvan-
tage, but the loss of many valuable lives.

STRAY SHOTS. 93

pied in playing Wall to something harder than the
enemy's Moonshine ; for, notwithstanding our re-
cumbent position, our line received plenty of fire,
but returned not a single shot during the whole
day. This was trying to the patience and worry-
ing to the temper of our men. I may here ven-
ture to name a few trivial circumstances incidental
to our situation, which may be explanatory to the
peaceable, or of interest to the uninitiated in such
scenes. A man of our company fell fast asleep,
and amused his comrades much by snoring loudly :
poor fellow ! a cannon-shot fell on his neck, just
between his head and his knapsack : instant death
ensued, without consciousness, and probably with-
out pain. His own particular friend and comrade
immediately requested to have his shoes ! "Whether
this was induced by affection for his friend, or the
necessities of his feet, remains to this day unex-
plained. The whistling of a shell, and its striking
amongst us, next occurred : the felt of a cap flew
in the air. Thinking, of course, that the cap and
head had gone together, I turned to see who it
was, when I beheld, amidst the titter and laughter
of his comrades, the great, broad, good-humoured
countenance of an Irishman named M'Culloch : he
was sitting upright, a queer figure, with half his
cap cut off close to his head. I asked him if he
was hurt : the fellow replied, with a grin, " No,
plase your honour; only a bit dizzy!" which an-
swer amused the company, who seemed to take Mr.

94 BATTLE OF FUENTES D^ONOR.

M'Culloch's escape for a good joke. (This poor
fellow was only spared for a short time ; during the
subsequent siege of Ciudad Rodrigo he was crushed
by the beam of a falling house.) Many other men
were harmed in various ways ; and my inseparable
companion, a favourite Portuguese dog, alarmed at
the bursting of a shell near us, set up a loud cry,
and disappeared never to return.

We next had an alarm of the approach of ca-
valry, and rose to receive them ; but they changed
their mind, and swept off to our left, and we once
more sank behind the slight ridge which covered
our front. We had scarcely however been a mi-
nute on our legs, when three of the men of oar
company were knocked down. Shortly after a shell
passed through the tumbril of one of our guns that
was in action in our front, and in its transit lit a
portfire : the agility and rapidity with which the
artillery-driver detached his horses from the shafts
were admirable : he risked himself, but saved them.
The tumbril immediately after exploded, driving
the splinters of the wheels, boxes, and shafts in
all directions, by which some of our artillery were
wounded. In the hollow in our rear, sinking to-
ward the Turones river, was placed our support, be-
longing to the second line of our Division, com-
posed of part of General Howard' s* brigade, the
92nd Highlanders, together with a brigade of the
German Legion. All the missiles lighting on our

* Afterwards Lord Howard of Effingham.

NARROW ESCAPE. 95

heights, bounded on en ricochet, and fell among
our reserve. I remember one shot particularly,
which, after striking close to our people, plumped
amidst a group of staff and field officers assembled
together in the bottom, taking off the head of Ge-
neral Howard's horse, traversing the carcase of
that of his aide-de-camp Captain Battersby, car-
rying off the leg of Major Stewart of the 92nd,
and, knocking down two rank and file of that re-
giment, went hopping on like a cricket-ball, as if
it had done nothing, — although this shot may be
fairly said to have done its duty. Felton Hervey,
who in the morning had escaped from the sabre of
the preux chevalier Frenchman, had, while riding
in our front, another narrow escape toward the
close of the day. A round shot struck his horse,
and hitting his sabretash, traversed the animal's
carcase ; and passing between Hervey's legs, came
out on the opposite side, close to his knee, inflict-
ing on it a severe contusion, and throwing him,
horse and all, to the ground, on the armless side
of his body. He was much shaken and hurt, but
would not leave the field.

As the enemy began to withdraw from before
us, their fire slackened: their guns first retired,
then their tirailleurs retreated, and we rose from
our earthy bed to witness some beautiful practice
from Lane's portion of Lawson's troop of artil-
lery. To cover their retreat, some heavy columns
of the enemy's cavalry advanced to within six or

96 A PARTING SALVO.

seven hundred yards, and began closing up, bent,
no doubt, upon mischief, when Lane opened three
guns on them with spherical case-shot : the prac-
tice was excellent, the shells bursting within a
hundred to a hundred and fifty yards from the
head of their columns, creating chasms in their
ranks, destroying and rolling over horses and ri-
ders, and drilling openings in their masses as if cut
down with scythes. The fourth shot sent them to
the right about ; and galloping off, they escaped
the storm of lead and iron from our guns. This
was the parting evening salvo; the enemy's fire
with us ceased soon after five o'clock p.m. ; in the
village it lasted longer ; but eventually the lower
part of Fuentes was abandoned by both sides, our
people holding the upper portion, and the enemy
retiring to some distance from the little river Dos
Casas, which now once more separated the two
armies. The casualties in our brigade from a seven
hours' cannonade and fire of musketry, including
the killed, and wounded, and missing among the
skirmishers, amounted to one hundred and thirty-
six men and five officers.

This number would have been much greater had
not Lord Wellington economized us by his order to
lie down. In the field he was ever most chary of
his men ; following that sound principle of war-
fare which inflicts as much injury on, and receives
as little from, an enemy, as the facilities of ground,
the nature of a position, and the adaptation of his

REST AFTER BATTLE. 97

troops to it would allow. The general loss of the al-
lied army in this action was 1500 men and officers
killed, wounded, and missing ; that of the French
was considerably greater, besides their attempt to
relieve their garrison in Almeida having been frus-
trated. The sense of success was pleasing to us,
and the greetings of the unharmed as sincere and
cordial, as was our regret for those less fortunate
than ourselves. Once more assembled round the
bivouac fire, we began to think of the " creature
comforts," which were not less acceptable from
their scarcity; the piquets were thrown out, the
moon rose, we wrapped our cloaks around us, and
slept away the fatigue and heat of the day, many
losing themselves in the happiest of all English
soldiers' dreams — that of England, friends, and
home.

98

CHAPTER V.

HANOVEEIAN HTTSSAES. — FBENCH CHAEACTEE. — POETTTGTTESE
GOVEBNMENT. — DIFFICULTIES OF THE CAMPAIGN. — OFFICEES.
—THE ENGLISH CABINET. — BATTLE OF ALBUEBA.

The stars were still bright in the heavens, and the
dawn of day from the east had not yet appeared,
when we were again on foot, trying to descry
through the dark some object that might lead to
an idea of the enemy's further intentions. We
saw nothing but their watchfires, and all was in
repose. As morning broke, our telescopes were in
requisition : the enemy lay still before us — the day
began its broiling course — the dead, and the car-
cases of horses, lay strewn about the field in front,
where they had fallen. A flag of truce was sent,
and a mutual agreement come to that we should
bury our dead. Brotherton carried the flag. He
was requested by Hervey to seek out the chival-
rous young French officer who had respected a dis-
abled foe, by saluting instead of cutting him down,
and present to him, in his name, a pair of English
pistols which he always carried in his holsters. On

OUTPOSTS. 99

inquiry, it unfortunately was found that this gal-
lant young Frenchman had fallen in the action of
the previous day. During these few hours of civil
intercourse, many of us, like schoolboys released,
rushed down to the Turones river to swim, — no
slight luxury in hot weather, and in the absence of
everything but one shirt, which, being washed, was
left to dry on a rock, whilst we disported in the
water. On this and the following day both armies
remained in the same position. We were occupied
in throwing up breastworks and making trous de
hup in defence against their powerful cavalry.

On the 7th they made a reconnaissance on our
right, to have a nearer view of these works. Very
strong piquets were thrown out, and these were
strengthened after dark. It happened, on the night
of the 7th, that I was on outpost duty ; Almeida
was still held by the French, and, uncertain of Mar-
shal Massena's intentions, Lord Wellington (who,
the whole of this time, lay on the ground near us)
exacted great alertness in the out-piquets, and an
immediate report of the slightest movement in our
front. About midnight I patrolled, in advance of
our sentries, down to a vedette of the 1st Hano-
verian Hussars. On communicating with him, he
told me, in his own peculiar English, that " She
move" (meaning the enemy). I asked him his rea-
son for thinking so ; he answered, " Listen ! you
hear vaggon and gun moves on de road." On pla-
cing my ear to the ground, I found this was the

100 MOVEMENTS OF THE ENEMY.

case. I then asked in which direction he thought
they were moving ; he answered, " From de left to
de right." I demanded why he thought so. " Be-
cause leetle ting (shadows) pass bivouac fire from
der left to der right, so dey go dat vey."

Having, for my own satisfaction, ascertained the
correctness of his intelligent observation, I re-
ported the circumstance to my supporting piquet
and the field-officer of the night. Lord Welling-
ton immediately came down, and advancing to the
outpost, asked, " Who reported that the enemy
were in motion?" He was informed of the fact, as
well as the grounds for the belief that they were
moving in our front to their left. Lord Welling-
ton reconnoitered himself, and being satisfied of
the truth, said, in allusion to the Hussar's report,
" A d — d sharp fellow that ; I wish I had more of
them." For the rest of the night Lord Welling-
ton remained in his cloak on the high ground of
the position in our rear.

In the morning we found that the enemy had
withdrawn from immediately before us. On the
10th they repassed the Agueda, and withdrew al-
together, moving on Salamanca, where Massena
was relieved from the command of his army, and
was succeeded by Marmont. Thus ended these
movements, and the battle of Fuentes d'Ofior.

The Duke has been accused of want of sympa-
thy for individuals, and of having an insufficient
sense of the services of his army. He certainly

Wellington's estimation g;f his aiuiy. 101

was not demonstrative ; his habitual reserve often
concealed feelings that he was chary of display-
ing ; but he was always fair and just when circum-
stances did not involve a compromise of system, or
interfere with his sense of the public advantage.
In a letter of condolence to old General Cameron,
on the death of his gallant son (who received his
death- wound in command of the 79th), he says :
" I am convinced that you will credit the assur-
ance which I give you, that I condole with you
most sincerely upon this misfortune. . . . You will
always regret and lament his loss, I am convinced ;
but I hope you will derive some consolation from
the reflection, that he fell in the performance of
his duty, and at the head of your brave regiment,
loved and respected by all who knew him, in an ac-
tion in which, if possible, the British troops sur-
passed everything they had done before." With
regard to an insufficient sense of the services of
his army, I will here relate an anecdote exempli-
fying his estimation of them, and characteristi-
cally truthful of himself and those he commanded.
After the battle of Toulouse the Adjutant-General
of Cavalry, Colonel Elley*, dined at head-quarters.

* Lieutenant-Colonel Sir John Elley, of the Royal Horse Guards
(Blue), entered that Regiment as a private soldier, served in the cam-
paign in Holland under the Duke of York in that capacity, and after-
wards as an officer on the Staff throughout the Peninsula and at "Wa-
terloo. By prudence, good conduct, sagacity, and courage, he mounted
through every grade of the army to the rank of Lieutenant-Geueral,
K.C.B., and M.P. for Windsor.

10? T1VENCH CH^KACTER.

The Duke was in unusually high spirits : he had
received the announcement of Buonaparte's abdi-
cation ; the war was at an end, and none seemed
more rejoiced at its termination than the Duke
himself. Sir John told me that he had never seen
him in higher spirits or more communicative.
The conversation turned on the late immediate
movements of the two armies, when the Duke ex-
claimed, " I will tell you the difference between
Soult and me: when he gets into a difficulty, his
troops don't get him out of it; when I get into
one, mine always do."

Looking on the action of Fuentes d'Onor as an
epoch which finished a particular period of the war
on the northern frontier of Portugal, I may be al-
lowed to indulge in some slight reflections on the
French, our army, and the Portuguese Govern-
ment. The enemy's conduct to Portugal had been
not only foolishly faithless and unjust, but in every
way most atrocious. Talleyrand said, in allusion
to the commencement of the Peninsular war, "C'est
le commencement de la fin ;" and later, diplomati-
cally observed, " C'est plus qu'un crime, c'est une
faute." However, the restless spirit of their re-
sentment resembled virtue in one respect, as to do
its work at a palpable loss, and thus to become its
own reward. Individually, the French possess emi-
nently good qualities* : it must be confessed that,

* See the uncontrolled possession of Paris by the lowest rabble in
1830 for three whole days, without the slightest tendency to plunder,

FRENCH CHARACTER. 103

as a nation, although capable of good and great
actions, they are often so trifling in serious mat-
ters, and so serious in trifling ones, that one never
knows exactly when the sublime begins or the ri-
diculous ends. I do not coincide with an Hibernian
friend of mine (a good hater, but whose hatred
was tempered by the propensities of a bon vivanf),
who used to declare that, for his part, he would
only " just lave enough of them alive to cook, and
cultivate the vines ! " I differ from my friend suf-
ficiently to be able to render them full justice. I
know them to be a clever, intelligent, and agree-
able people ; and, in spite of their misconduct, we
could not help admiring their powers of endurance,
under every possible species and extremity of pri-
vation, and their continued gallantry and good hu-
mour under the most adverse circumstances. We
were bound to acknowledge them a brave and wor-
thy foe. No army but a French one could be ca-
pable of such a strain on order and discipline as to
afford a nine months' sanction of marauding and
laxity, and then rapidly at once to return to obe-
dience and regularity.

Whatever virtues are possessed by an English
army, woe be to the commander who relaxes dis-
cipline with them! The Duke's own orders and
many living witnesses are sufficient to prove, that
such liberties must not be taken with an army

extortion, or violence, beyond the open contention with political ad-

104 BLOCKADE OF ALMEIDA.

which, while under control, make the very best
troops in Europe. The conduct of the Portuguese
Government at this time was so tiresome, dishear-
tening, and unjust toward their own army and
their allies ; their correspondence with Lord Wel-
lington so prevaricating, imbecile, and dishonest ;
that we might well apply to our dear ally what
Duke Cosmo of Florence said of his friends, (( That
we read in Scripture, we ought to forgive our ene-
mies ; but that we nowhere read, we ought to for-
give our friends ."

On the 11th of May, the enemy having recrossed
the Agueda, with the exception of one brigade left
in front of Ciudad Rodrigo, our army resumed its
cantonments on the banks of the Azava and Agueda,
and we returned to our former quarters at Puebla
and Almadilla. Having been for ten days deprived
of our baggage, which had been sent to the rear
during the foregoing operations, it was no small
luxury to be once more restored to servants, horses,
clean linen, and razors. The Sixth Division, after
the action, resumed the blockade of Almeida -, but,
in spite of the defeat of the far superior force
brought by Massena against Lord Wellington at
Fuentes d'Ofior, and that by this result the relief
of the French garrison of Almeida was for the time
baffled, Lord Wellington, to his no small mortifica-
tion, found that between the night of the 1 1th and
the morning of the 12th the garrison of Almeida,
after blowing up a portion of the works of the town,

ESCAPE OF THE FRENCH GARRISON. 105

escaped. This was occasioned by the dilatory com-
pliance of a general officer with the orders he re-
ceived from Lord Wellington ; on their receipt, it
was said that, instead of promulgating them imme-
diately, the General put them into his pocket and
forgot them. The consequence was, that the troops
destined to cover a point in the line between the
Agueda and the fortress of Almeida, arrived too
late to prevent their escape ; and again, those who
followed the flying garrison with inadequate force,
attacked them (with more courage than prudence
or military skill) when they had passed the river
and had arrived within reach of support. Two di-
visions and a brigade had been left, to prevent the
escape of 1400 men under Brennier ; every neces-
sary instruction was given by Lord Wellington, but
all miscarried by the failure of a prompt obedience
to orders. In writing to Lord Liverpool, Lord
Wellington says on this point : —

"Possibly I Jiave to reproach myself for not
having been on the spot. However, it is that alone
in the whole operation in which I have to reproach
myself, as everything was done that could be done
in the way of order and instruction. I certainly
feel every day more and more the difficulty of the
situation in which I am placed. I am obliged to
be everywhere ; and if absent from any operation,
something goes wrong. It is to be hoped that the
generals and other officers of the army will, at last,
acquire that experience which will teach them that

106 DIFFICULTIES OF THE CAMPAIGN.

success can be attained only by attention to the
most minute details, and by tracing every part of
every operation from its origin to its conclusion,
point by point, and ascertaining that the whole is
understood by those who are to execute it."

Those who were witnesses of Lord Wellington's
many difficulties, can attest that that of making the
inattentive or incompetent comprehend his views
and obey his orders, was not the slightest among
them. No really good school, to form superior
officers, had existed (India alone excepted). Since
the days of Marlborough, no English army had
been let loose on the continent of Europe to make
substantial war ; island Generals, — half fish, half
flesh, — with transports at their backs, like snails
and their shells, — were employed to carry out some
great effort of military strategy, begotten in the
brain of some most unmilitary Minister ; ' ' creating
diversions," cutting Dutch sluices, or consigning
men to die at unhealthy seasons in pestilential
Flemish bogs. One great Minister, who shall be
nameless, had a brother a General, to whom it was
said he submitted all his plans ; but as the Minister
was really a man of ability, although not military,
and the other was a military man without any such
advantage, the civilian, in imparting his military
lucubrations to the soldier, did not reap the same
benefit as Moliere did when he read his plays to
his cook. All necessary requirements for so op-
posite and enlarged a game of war as was now to

DIFFICULTIES OF THE CAMPAIGN. 107

be played in the Peninsula, had to be created by
the chief who commanded. Commissariats, depots,
hospitals, transports, munitions of war, bullets,
clothing, beef, gunpowder, and shoes, had to be
conveyed, received, and distributed. All such de-
tails, at a distance from our naval resources, had to
be thought of and provided for; and even down
to the feeding and condition of cavalry horses, and
the avoidance of sore backs, Lord Wellington had
to remark and give instructions upon, besides the
discipline of the army, the tactics of war, the cul-
tivation of the good feeling of the natives, and the
diplomatic relations with their Government. He
writes to Colonel Gordon, from Quinta de Granicha,
June 12th, 1811 : " In addition to embarrassments
of all descriptions, surrounding us on all sides, I
have to contend with an ancient enmity between
these two nations, which is more like that of cat
and dog than anything else; of which no sense
of common danger, or common interest, or any-
thing, can get the better, even in individuals. Our
transport, which is the great lever of the Commis-
sariat, is done principally, if not entirely, by Spa-
nish muleteers; and, to oblige Mr. Kennedy, they
would probably once or twice carry provisions to
a Portuguese regiment ; but they would prefer to
quit us and attend the French, to being obliged to
perform this duty constantly."

Lord Wellington had few to aid him in all this.
With some bright exceptions, those sent out in the

108 CHOICE OF OFFICERS.

higher grades were anything but what was wanted,
failing in all bnt personal conrage. Like Lord
Collingwood's supply of officers after the battle of
Trafalgar, political interest, personal favour, and
partiality out-balanced capability, activity, and fit-
ness in those sent to fill up the vacancies created
by death, wounds, or sickness. It was then from
the junior ranks of the army that Lord Welling-
ton made his officers : ' c the young ones," to use a
sporting phrase, " will always beat the old ones/'
particularly when the last are without experience.
The young brigadiers, colonels, lieutenant-colonels,
majors, and captains were those he looked to and
made efficient ; many, even of the last rank in staff
situations, in the artillery and engineers, gained,
by their intelligence, well-bought reputations for
themselves, and often added to those above them
approbation and honour which they did not al-
ways quite deserve, but which they accepted, being
satisfied (however little their own promptness or.
discretion might have contributed to it) that suc-
cess was the test of merit. It was quite wonderful
how the Chief could work with such tools ; and
had he not created others of a sharper description
to act as Mentors, failures and blunders would
have been more frequent than they were. The
most remarkable position of Lord Wellington was
that in this army, which he continued to command
for so long and with such brilliant success, he had
not even the power of making a corporal : he might

CHOICE OF OFFICERS. 109

recommend for promotion officers who distinguished
themselves, but that was not always attended to or
complied with. An instance of this, not a singular
one I fear, was that of Ensign Dyas of the 51st
regiment, who twice volunteered to lead storming
parties on the outwork of San Cristoval at the first
siege of Badajos in 1811. His name was men-
tioned in despatches, and Lord Wellington recom-
mended him for promotion ; yet he never obtained
it till after the return of the army from the Penin-
sula in 1814, and then only by an accidental meet-
ing with an influential person (the late Sir Frede-
rick Ponsonby), who once more brought his ser-
vices before the Horse Guards. Besides neglect
or forgetfulness, there existed much jealousy of re-
commendations which interfered with home pa-
tronage.

Lord Wellington, writing in August 1810*, to the
then military secretary at the Horse Guards, Lieu-
tenant-Colonel Torrens, remonstrates at the ill-
success his recommendations met with, for promo-
ting officers for services in the field. He says:
" I have never been able to understand the prin-
ciple on which the claims of gentlemen of family,
fortune, and influence in the country, to promotion
in the army, founded on their military conduct,
character, and services, should be rejected, while
the claims of others, no better founded on military

* See * Selection of Wellington Despatches,' No. 425, by Gar-
wood.

110 CHOICE OF OFFICERS.

pretensions, were invariably attended to. I, who
command the largest British army that has been
employed against the enemy for many years, and
have npon my hands certainly the most extensive
and difficult concern that was ever imposed upon
any British officer, have not the power of making
even a corporal ! ! It is impossible this system
can last. It will do very well for trifling expedi-
tions and short services ; but those who are to su-
perintend the discipline, and to excite and regulate
the exertions of the officers of the army during a
long-continued service, must have the power of re-
warding them by the only mode in which they can
be rewarded, — that is, by promotion. I would also
observe that this practice would be entirely con-
sistent with the unvaried usage of the British army.
I must say, that the public can have no greater
interest than in the conduct and discipline of an
army employed against the enemy in the field ; and
I am thoroughly convinced that, whatever may be
the result in my hands, a British army cannot be
kept in the field for any length of time, unless the
officers composing it have some hope that their
exertions will certainly be rewarded by promotion ;
and that to be abroad on service, and to do their
duty with zeal and intelligence, afford prospects of
promotion not afforded by the mere presence of an
officer with his regiment, and his bearing the King's
commission for a certain number of years." Our
Chief ends the above communication by saying,

Wellington's sense of duty. Ill

" I would not give one pin to have the disposal of
every commission in the army." It was the prin-
ciple, for the public good, he advocated ; not the
patronage, that he desired to engross.

In creating the efficiency of his army against in-
numerable adverse circumstances, — disparaged at
home, condemned by an influential portion of the
press, contradicted by the Opposition, ill supported
by the Ministry, and thwarted by our allies, — the
devotion Lord Wellington displayed to his duty
and to his country's interests, overcame all diffi-
culties and vanquished all opposition. This perse-
vering and unwearied spirit of contention against
obstacles, by its heartiness roused the self-esteem
of others, and stimulated their faculties to aid and
assist him in his objects. At the same time, no
sacrifice of personal feeling on his part was too
great to submit to, for what he deemed the public
good \ in proof of which I will quote a letter he
wrote, on a previous occasion, to his brother the
Marquis Wellesley, wherein he alludes to some
disagreeable annoyances he had been subjected to
by those in power.

" You will see," he says, " how much the resolu-
tion" (the cause of his annoyance) "will amioy me;
but I never had much value for the public spirit of
any man who does not sacrifice his private views
and convenience when it is necessary."

In further exemplification of how perfectly he
acted up to this principle, it will only be necessary

112 THE ENGLISH CABINET.

here to quote letters written at the time by persons
in official situations (to be found in Napier' s l Pe-
ninsular War'), which, together with his own de-
spatches, demonstrate at once the ill support of all
Lord Wellington's views by our own and all the
Governments concerned, and his want of necessary
means to carry them out; thus subjecting him,
not only to the sacrifice of his private " views and
convenience," but endangering the vital cause in
which England, Portugal, and Spain were engaged.

Napier says : " The inefficient state of the Eng-
lish Cabinet may be judged of by the following
extracts : —

u < jiprn} 1810. I hope by next mail will be
sent something more satisfactory and useful than
we have yet done in the way of instructions. But
I am afraid the late O. P. riots have occupied all
the thoughts of our great men here, so as to make
them, or at least some of them, forget more dis-
tant but not less interesting concerns.'

« 'jprny 1811. With respect to the evils you
allude to, as arising from the inefficiency of the
Portuguese Government, the people here are by no
means so satisfied of their existence as you who are
on the spot. Here we judge only of the results ;
the details we read over, but, being unable to re-
medy, forget them the next day ; and in the mean-
time, be the tools you have to work with good or
bad, so it is, that you have produced results so far
beyond the most sanguine expectations entertained

DIFFICULTIES OF LORD WELLINGTON. 113

here by all who have not been in Portugal within
the last eight months, that none inquire the causes
which prevented more being done in a shorter time ;
of which indeed there seems to have been a great
probability, if the Government would have stepped
forward at an earlier period with one hand in their
pockets, and in the other strong energetic decla-
rations of the indispensable necessity of a change
of measures and principles in the Government.'

" Sept. 1811. I have done everything in my
power to get people here to attend to their real
interests in Portugal, and I have clamoured for
money ! money ! money ! in every office to which
I have had access. To all my clamour and all my
arguments I have invariably received the same an-
swer, ' that the thing is impossible/ The Prince
himself certainly appears to be a la hauteur des cir-
constances, and has expressed his determination to
make every exertion to promote the good cause in
the Peninsula. Lord Wellesley has a perfect com-
prehension of -the subject in its fullest extent, and
is fully aware of the several measures which Great
Britain ought and could adopt. But such is the
state of parties, and such the condition of the pre-
sent Government, that I really despair of witness-
ing any decided and adequate effort on our part to
save the Peninsula. The present feeling appears
to be, that we have done mighty things, and all
that is in our power ; that the rest must be left to
all-bounteous Providence ; and that, if we do not

i

114 THE ENGLISH CABINET.

succeed, we must console ourselves by the reflec-
tion that Providence has not been so propitious to
us as we deserved. This feeling, you must allow,
is wonderfully moral and Christian-like * but still,
nothing will be done until we have a more vigo-
rous military system, and a Ministry capable of
directing the resources of the nation to something
nobler than a war of descents and embarkations.
A more perfect picture of an imbecile Adminis-
tration could scarcely be exhibited ; and it was not
wonderful that Lord Wellington, oppressed with
the folly of the Peninsular Governments, should
have often resolved to relinquish a contest that
was one of constant risks, difficulties, and cares,
when he had no better support from England."

We remained in observation in the frontier vil-
lages of Spain, but the Third and Seventh Divisions
were now ordered to the Alemtejo, to join Beres-
ford, who was carrying on operations against Bada-
jos. Spencer was left in the north, in command
of the First, Fifth, Sixth, and Light Divisions, and
the cavalry.

On the 15th, Lord Wellington left us for the
Alemtejo ; but before he reached it, the battle of
Albuera had been fought. This action took place
on the 16th of May. Soult having rapidly advanced
from the south, in force, to raise the siege of Ba-
dajos, Beresford met him at Albuera, and a bloody
action ensued. Our people gained the victory in
a brilliant manner, but this was not accomplished

BATTLE OF ALBUERA. 115

without considerable and severe loss. Much more
mischief would certainly have ensued had not Har-
dinge (now Lord Hardinge, commanding-in-chief
the army, but then one of those young staff-officers
to whom I have alluded) rendered timely and good
sendee by his moral as well as personal courage,
taking upon himself that day a responsibility of
no ordinary kind, which mainly contributed to the
successful result of the action. Lord Wellington
writes as follows to Spencer, from Elvas, under
date of the 22nd May : — " I went yesterday to Al-
buera, and saw the field of battle. We had a very
good position, and I think should have gained a
complete victory in it, without any material loss, if
the Spaniards could have manoeuvred, but unfor-
tunately they cannot. The French are retiring, but
I do not think it clear that they are going beyond
the Sierra Morena. As I know you have plenty
of correspondents, I do not give you any details of
the action here, or of our loss."

Lord Wellington, writing to Admiral Berkeley,
under date of May 20th, says: — "The fighting
was desperate, and the loss of the British has been
very severe; but, adverting to the nature of the
contest, and the manner in which they held their
ground against all the efforts the whole French
army could make against them, notwithstanding
all the losses which they had sustained, I think this
action one most glorious and honourable to the
character of the troops."

116 SIEGE OF BADAJOS RESUMED.

After this action the siege of Badajos was re-
sumed under the same disadvantages with which
it had been first commenced : insufficient mate-
rial, no adequate battering train, inefficiency of
implements, and tools of bad quality*, no trained
sappers and miners, a scarcity of ammunition, and
great difficulty of transport. Everything imme-
diately necessary to accompany or supply our army
was conveyed on mule-back ; the badness of the
roads, the ill construction and scarcity of the Por-
tuguese and Spanish bullock-cars, and the slowness
of wheel-conveyance drawn by oxen in a moun-
tainous country, rendering them less available and
more cumbersome. Another consideration was,
the facility with which animals, carrying loads on
their backs, can move on byepaths, crossroads, and
over the open country, disembarrassing easily the
main communication when wanted for the opera-
tions of the army. (For this reason, in Belgium,
previous to Waterloo, the Duke ordered all bag-
gage to be conveyed as in Spain and Portugal.)

The interest of the war now turned toward the
Alemtejo and the southern frontier of Portugal.
We were still left, however, under Spencer in the
north, to watch Marmont at Salamanca, the garri-
son of Ciudad Hodrigo, and some few outposts in
the Agueda. One night I was on piquet : patrol-
ling before daylight along a pathway in our woody
and hilly neighbourhood, we perceived in the twi-

* The quality is not much better at present.

A FORCED MARCH. 117

light two French soldiers on a marauding excur-
sion from their own outposts. Before they saw
us we indulged in a slight detour, came suddenly
on them, and made them both prisoners. One of
these men told me that 20,000 of the enemy were
moving from Salamanca, by the other side of the
Sierra de Gatta, towards Badajos. I sent my pri-
soners in, with this intelligence, to be further ex-
amined at head-quarters. The next day Don
Julian Sanchez came over to our quarters, and
confirmed this fellow's story, that the enemy in
front were moving. In consequence of this report,
and what had occurred in the Alemtejo, Sir Brent
Spencer deemed it necessary to move some of the
divisions under his command to Lord Wellington's
support, and ours was ordered to direct its line of
march toward the south. This was considered so
pressing and urgent, that we left Puebla on the
25th, at two o'clock p.m., and did not halt till one
o'clock a.m. of the 26th, and then only until four
a.m. We reached Penamacor at six p.m. the same
evening, having marched (through bad roads and
over a mountainous country in the summer heats)
fifty-six miles in twenty-seven hours, with only
three hours' halt. On our arrival we found that
we were not wanted in the south, but might be so
in the north, and we received orders to march T)ack
again. General Howard's brigade only, with the
Portuguese, continued to move on to the Alemtejo,
and we returned to Puebla, through Argira de San

118 TRAITS OF WELLINGTON.

Antonio, Sabugal, Soita, Alfyates, Aldea de Ponte,
and Almadilla. This was very pretty exercise, kept
ns in good wind and condition, and indulged us in
the habit of stretching our legs ; but it wore out
that important part of a soldier's kit on service,
the men's shoes.

Lord Wellington, who thought of everything,
would scarcely have failed to communicate his
wishes, had he wanted us. Certainly, Beresford's
lighting at Albuera as he did was, to say the least
of it, an inconvenient work of supererogation and a
waste of life, which did not assist in any way Lord
Wellington's plans. Badajos could not have been
taken with the inadequate means in our possession,
and the defence of such operations was not worth
a general action. A timely withdrawal from the
siege, without encountering the enemy, would have
embarrassed Soult, economized our troops, and
avoided a fearful risk, without the chance even of
obtaining any adequate advantage. It is dangerous
to trust with discretionary powers men who possess
great courage and small perspicacity. Napier says,
C( Practical study may make a good general, as to
the handling of troops and the designing a cam-
paign ; but the ascendancy of spirit which leads the
wise, while it controls the insolence of folly, is a
rare gift of nature ;" and even that, with all its in-
fluences, is not always successful in making others
do right. But Lord Wellington, not having the
attributes of Sir Boyle Roche's bird, "could not

GOOD FEELING OF THE SPANIARDS. 119

well be in two places at once;" he wrote how-
ever, after the battle, that " the enemy never had
such superiority of numbers opposed to the Bri-
tish troops as in this action." One of our Chief's
greatest merits was, that the great ' ' master never
found fault with his tools." Whatever private
strictures or intimations he might have made on
mistakes, failures, and blunders, his public ones
were never condemnatory. On all occasions, in
this way, he displayed the utmost patience and
forbearance to faults which required, from their
consequences, the utmost exercise of these virtues.

Our return to the Spanish village, after our
rapid run over the mountains at the back of the
Serra d'Estrella, was greeted by the inhabitants
with welcome and good feeling. Since we had
been in Spain (the people finding that we paid for
everything we wanted, and put them to as little
inconvenience as we could help) our supplies and
resources became more abundant, and our inter-
course with the natives agreeable. They were a
fine race to look upon, and much superior, in this
respect, to their neighbours the Portuguese. Poor
Portugal, desolated and ground down as it had
been by the iron hand of aggressive war, did not
at this period show in favourable contrast with the
less oppressed Spaniards, about whom there was
always a staid manner and a dignity of deportment
very prepossessing.

On the 30th of May, being the birthday of his

120 BULL-FIGHT AND BALL.

Spanish Majesty King Ferdinand the Seventh, a
bull-fight and a ball, to which we were all invited,
was given at Fuente Guinaldo by Don Julian San-
chez (formerly a respectable butcher in Ciudad Ro-
drigo) and the officers of his guerilla corps. ' Duty
prevented me from availing myself of this oppor-
tunity to witness this truly national amusement;
I heard however from my comrades, that much
patriotism, with cold kid and fried fish, was dis-
played upon the occasion, and the annoyance cre-
ated by one of our corps having killed Julian's
lieutenant at Fuentes d'Ofior seemed forgotten.
The soothing influence exercised by the presence
of many pretty Spanish women softened all rude
or contentious feelings or recollections. In return
for this pleasant intercourse and hospitable treat-
ment, we determined to give these ladies and the
guerillas a dance, on the 4th of June, the birthday
of our own Sovereign. There being no ball-rooms
at the village of Puebla de Azava, we constructed
a very pretty bower of leaves, lighted up with pa-
per lamps, and wreathed round with flowers ; the
English colours formed an ornament at the upper
end, or place of honour, of this temporary apart-
ment; a band from the German Legion set the
swimming dance in motion; we had waltzes, bo-
leros, and fandangos, dark eyes, favourable glances,
agreeable smiles, white teeth, charming figures, and
graceful movement. We actually began to feel a
little humanized; in short, to us it was "una

ABRUPT ANNOUNCEMENT. 121

ticrra de los duendes*." We were very attentive
and careful in refreshing the sedentary duennas,
those Cerberuses of young hearts, with ample por-
tions of punch, wine, and cake, and with as good
a cold supper as the facilities of the neighbour-
hood afforded. We even extracted from Ciudad
Rodrigo (although in the enemy's keeping) many
sweetmeats and donas hermosas, to adorn our bower
and deck our table. All was in good keeping and
good taste — gay, lively, animated, happy — when,
about three o'clock in the morning, some fellow,
of ill-omened voice and stentorian lungs, thrust
his ugly warlike head through an aperture of our
bower, and hallooed out, "March directly \" Had
a mine exploded among our peaceful, happy group,
more sudden or greater confusion could not have
been occasioned; hurry-scurry instantly ensued
amidst officers, servants, guerillas, and ladies ; the
latter cried out, " Los Franceses ! los Franceses ! "
although we had very good reason to believe that
they did not dread them half so much as their bro-
thers and fathers, — that is, with the exception of
the old ladies, whose nerves were more delicate
than those of the younger portion of the sex. Then
came a scrambling and inquiry among the servitors
after plates, knives, forks, and spoons; the ladies
and guerillas calling for their horses; the drums
beating the generate, men moving down to the
company alarm-posts, batmen saddling mules and

* Fairyland.

122 MARCH TO ALMADILLA.

horses ; in short, great excitement and more regret
at leaving so suddenly many agreeable, but too re-
cently made acquaintances; at last however, like
good soldiers and light-hearted Christians, we sub-
mitted to the consolatory French maxim, "C'est la
fortune de la guerre."

Our column being formed, we moved on Alma-
dilla, where we awaited further orders. No one
about us seemed to understand what these move-
ments meant, > and if ignorance is bliss, we were
left to its utmost enjoyment. At last intelligence
reached us that the enemy, under Marmont, had
made a show of passing the Agueda with some ca-
valry and a column of infantry. Sir Brent Spen-
cer, brave as a lion in personal courage, was sensi-
tively nervous in that moral portion of the virtue,
the responsibility of command. Much vacillation
ensued. Brigadier-general Pack precipitately de-
stroyed the recently repaired works at Almeida;
our army was somewhat disjointed in relative con-
nection to the different Divisions ; our movements
seemed of an uncertain nature, and our baggage
was somewhat widely dispersed over the coun-
try. "In this state the Adjutant-general Pack-
enham observed that the French did not advance
as if to give battle — that their numbers were small
— their movements more ostentatious than vigo-
rous, and probably designed to cover a flank move-
ment by the passes leading to the Tagus. He
therefore urged Spencer to assume a position of

RETKEAT TOWARD THE COA. 123

battle, and thus force the enemy to discover his
numbers and intentions, or march at once to Lord
Wellington's assistance. His views were sup-
ported by Colonel Waters, who, having been close
to the French, said they were too clean and well-
dressed to have come off a long march, and must
therefore be part of the garrison of Ciudad Ro-
drigo; he had also ascertained that a large body
was pointing toward the passes*."

At three o'clock a.m. of the morning of the
6th, we moved from Almadilla on Soita, where we
again halted from eight till twelve. The whole of
our corps d'armee was now in movement in three
columns of divisions, — the First from Almadilla,
Aldea de Ponte, and Villa Major; the Light from
Espeja; the Fifth from Nave d'Aver, and Sixth
from Almeida, Villa Formosa, and the surround-
ing villages, in full retreat toward the Coa. Some
skirmishing and a cannonade ensued between the
advance guard of the enemy and our Light Divi-
sion and cavalry, in which Captain Purvis of the
Royals distinguished himself. In the night, as
the Light Division, with their arms piled, were in
bivouac, a sudden alarm took place in consequence
of some fellow roaring out, " French cavalry ! "
There was no doubt that a charge was made on the
sleeping troops, trampling over the men and their
arms, hurting some of the former and knocking
down the latter. On rising to seize their mus-

* See Napier.

124 A MIDNIGHT CHARGE.

kets, our people discovered a drove of some fifty
unruly bullocks, who, led by one more hungry and
adventurous than the rest, had departed from their
line of march, trotted off from the roadway in
search of food, and, in spite of their drivers, scam-
pered over a part of the 43rd and 52nd regiments.
In the confusion thus created, some fellow suddenly
aroused from sleep, who had possibly dreamed of
the enemy, seeing a dark body of galloping qua-
drupeds, called out, " French cavalry ! " totally for-
getting that outposts had been set to guard against
such an unpleasant intrusion.

On the 7th we passed the Coa, and took up a
position in its rear: there we remained till two
o'clock p.m. of the 8th, when, Packenham and
Waters' s surmises of the intentions of the enemy
proving correct — that their advance was meant to
cover a flank movement, — and they having retired
again, we received orders to march to Mimao, on
the road to Penamacor, en route for the Alemtejo;
thus keeping a parallel movement with Marmont's
corps. The Light Division headed our march,
leaving Penamacor to our left. Our movement
was directed to the passage of the Tagus at Villa
Velha by Pedragao, Escalhos de Ceima, Sarnardas,
and Atalaya ; the heat was something awful, par-
ticularly to our poor men, each of whom, under
the weight of nearly seventy pounds* (including

* It is to be hoped that in future campaigns this load may be
lightened.

OVERPOWERING HEAT. 125

great-coat, blanket, knapsack, arms, and accoutre-
ments), was moving, sometimes in the hottest part
of the day, through deep valleys covered with the
shrub of the gum-cistus, emitting a powerfully aro-
matic and sickening effluvium. Thus surrounded
and closed in by hills, the sun struck with intense
force into these deep valleys, which, together with
the dust raised by the movement of large columns
of men, and a want of circulation of air, was most
distressing and overpowering. I have seen a man's
havresac wet with perspiration through his thick
red coat, as if it had been dipped in water. Our
men however bore this well, and few, if any, were
left behind. One poor fellow was struck down by
a coup de soleil. After the first day or two, Sir
Brent ordered us to march at one o'clock a.m., so
as to reach our halting-place before the heats be-
gan. It is no joke to be exposed to the sun in
Spain or Portugal in the middle of a summer's
day, when the thermometer stands between 80° or
90° of Fahrenheit. When the enemy kept at a
respectful distance, Lord Wellington always made
us march in the night, so as to reach our bivouac
or camp in the morning, before the sun's power
prevailed.

On the 14th we passed the Tagus between two
precipitous hills. The stream here is rapid, and its
width more than a quarter of a mile ; there were
but two boats, each of which could transport only
two hundred men at a time, so our transit was slow,

126 PORTALEGRE.

and the passage of the guns and baggage slower.
Poor Johnstone of the Artillery was drowned on
this occasion; he was much esteemed by all, and
looked upon as a fine fellow and good officer. Al-
though young, he had served in the campaigns of
1808-9-10-11, and had escaped unharmed till now.
Here, my cattle failing, I purchased another mule
of Joyce of the 60th Rifles.

On the 15th we bivouacked near Niza, and on
the 16th reached Portalegre, refreshed by rain,
which cooled us ; and, after an absence from our
baggage of two days, we entered our quarters,
which comforted us. The siege of Badajos had
now been raised, and Lord Wellington wrote that
"the quantity of 241b. shot, we understand, that
could be sent from Lisbon was 480, which we fired
in about two hours ! " Picton said we had been
" suing Badajos in forma pauperis" Portalegre
was, with the exception of Lisbon, the first entirely
undamaged town that I had as yet seen since
entering Portugal, and, consequently, the only one
that gave any notion of the original national ha-
bits or peaceful employments of the people. It
was a large well-built city, with the advantage of
being neither dilapidated nor deserted, which was
so far favourable as to give it (in comparison to
what we had recently seen) a busy and somewhat
thriving appearance. The Bishop's palace was a
spacious building; the houses were good, with
shops and other industrial indications of human-

ANECDOTES OF CRAUFURD. 127

ity. The Light Division, being in advance of ours,
reached it two days before us. General Craufurd,
who was in command, took up his quarters at the
Bishop's palace; Spencer, commanding-in- chief the
whole of this wing of our army, sent on to take up
his quarters in the said palace. His aide-de-camp,
Captain Browne, found Craufurd in possession, and
having announced Sir Brent's wishes, and his in-
tention to occupy it, Craufurd, ill to manage and
of fiery temper, did not like to vacate so comfort-
able an abode, and insinuated that he considered
himself divested of military rank, and wished that
his superior officer would consider himself so, and
further mentioned something about the posses-
sion of pistols, and other small matters concerning
eight paces, which intimation he desired might be
conveyed to Sir Brent, as a hint of the manner in
which he meant to resist the intended ejection.
This was so strong a step against the rules of order
and discipline, that Spencer was obliged to report
it to Lord Wellington; and thus the Chief had,
among other more serious occupations of mind and
time, to administer corrective advice to his fiery-
dispositioned lieutenant.

Both Spencer and Craufurd were men of tried
and well-known intrepidity, and such differences
were ill-timed, foolish, and detrimental to the ser-
vice. Certainly, on this occasion, the junior, to
say the least of it, was rather too demonstrative of
the want of estimation in which he held his senior.

128 THE INSULTED COMMISSARY.

Without vouching for its correctness, I may
mention another anecdote of Craufurd, which was
current at this time. He had some cause for dis-
content with a Commissary attached to his divi-
sion, who was displaced. On the appointment of
another, the General formed his division into a
square, and introduced the Commissary; when,
addressing his men, he animadverted on the mis-
conduct of the former officer holding that position,
who had not, he conceived, been sufficiently active
in supplying the Division ; and added, that if the
present Commissary did not do his duty better,
they might hang him, for what he cared !

This uncourteous announcement did not suit
the commissioned dignity or personal feelings of
the purveyor of provisions, who took the matter
much to heart, and quite au pied de la lettre. Un-
der this impression, and being perfectly unappeas-
able, he repaired to head- quarters, to make a for-
mal report of what had occurred. Lord Welling-
ton, happening at the time to be very much en-
gaged, could not see him. He waited, and sent
in a second time to say that he was in attendance.
At last he was admitted ; when Lord Wellington
asked, c ' Well, what do you want ?" The unfor-
tunate complainant, with much circumlocution,
related his injuries. Lord Wellington could not
bear a roundabout story ; conciseness, alacrity, and
energy were the elements in which he lived. He
liked all that was to be done or said brought to a

SMALL MEANS, BUT A BOLD FRONT. 129

point clearly and quickly ; and when the Commis-
sary ended the history of his sorrows by saying
that the General had declared " they might take me
and hang me/' Lord Wellington replied, " Did he,
by G — ? You had better take care ; he is sure to
be as good as his word/'

On the 19th we left Portalegre, and it was with
regret that we moved from so unusually good a
quarter. Marmont, with the army of Portugal,
directed his march by the Puerta de Banos, to join
Soult. The whole French combined force of these
two Marshals, amounting to some 80,000 men,
was now concentrated in our front. Lord Wel-
lington writes from Elvas, under date of the 17th
of June, 1811: — "Under these circumstances I
should, and shall, avoid a general action, if I can ;
but I must put a countenance upon the state of
affairs, and matters must be risked till provisions
be placed in Elvas/'

With this view our Chief visited the position of
Albuera, and ordered entrenchments to be thrown
up to strengthen this ground. Elvas, which had
been perfectly neglected by the Portuguese Govern-
ment (although their only stronghold of conse-
quence in the Alemtejo), was now, at the oft-re-
peated demand of Lord Wellington, being provi-
sioned and armed; and this at the eleventh hour.
Some of the guns were so useless, and the ammu-
nition so scant, that a detachment of French ca-
valry were allowed to pass over the glacis of the

K

130 A FLAT RESULT.

fortress without a single gun being brought to bear
upon, or even a shot fired at them.

Our Division on the 23rd moved from Azumar
to St. Olaya, where we hutted ourselves. The
same day, " the French cavalry having passed the
Guadiana in two columns, one by the bridge of
Badajos, the other by the fords below the con-
fluence of the Caya; the former drove back the
outposts, yet, being opposed by Madden' s horse-
men and the heavy dragoons, retired without being
able to discover the position on that side. The
other column, moving towards Villa Viciosa and
Elvas, cut off a squadron of the 11th Dragoons;
and the second German hussars escaped from it to
Elvas with great difficulty. One hundred and fifty
men were killed or taken in this affair, and the
French aver that Colonel Lallemand drew the Bri-
tish cavalry into an ambuscade. The rumours in
the allied camp were discordant, but no more fight-
ing occurred ; and a fruitless attempt to surprise
the English detachments at Albuquerque ended
the demonstrations. The French Marshals then
spread their forces along the Guadiana from Xeres
de los Cavalheiros to Montijo, and proceeded to
collect provisions. A great and decisive battle
had been expected; and though the crisis glided
away quietly, the moment was one of the most
dangerous of the whole war*."

* See Napier.

131

CHAPTER VI.

CAMP OP ST. OLATA. — FEVER. — SIR B. SPENCER. — AN ESCAPADE
— ANTIQUATED- NOTIONS. — EFFECT OF A HOT CLIMATE. — A
DUEL. — ADVANCE OF THE FRENCH. — GALLANT RENCONTRE. —
EL BODON. — FUENTE GUINALDO. — RETREAT OF BOTH ARMIES.

Lord Wellington wrote from the Quinta de San
Joao under date of the 30th June : —

"As nothing is believed in England that is
written by persons in authority in this country, it
is not believed that the generals commanding the
French armies have no communication with each
other, and that they are entirely ignorant of all
that is passing around them ; and that they have,
in fact, no information, excepting what they derive
from deserters from the foreign regiments in our
service, — of whom there are, I am sorry to say, too
many, — and from the prisoners occasionally sent
back to them, in exchange for some of our officers
and soldiers. Adverting to the superiority of the
enemy's numbers over the allied British and Por-
tuguese armies, and to the inefficiency of the Spa-
nish troops, I attribute the success which wc have

132 LETTER TO DUMOURIEZ.

had hitherto in a great degree to the want of in-
formation by the enemy's general officers. At this
moment, though the whole army are within a few
miles of them, they do not know where they are ;
but, if disabled prisoners are to be sent to them,
they will get all the information they require, if
not directly from themselves, from their friends in
the French interest at Lisbon, from Portuguese or
English newspapers" etc.

And further to show the state of affairs at this
period, it may be as well to quote other short ex-
tracts from a letter of Lord Wellington's to Ge-
neral Dumouriez, under date the 5th July, from
the same Quinta.

" II y a presque trois ans, a present, que je con-
duis les operations de la guerre la plus extraor-
dinaire qu'il y eut jamais. . . . Je crois que ni
Buonaparte, ni le monde, n'ont compte sur les
difficultes a subjuguer la Peninsule, etant oppose
par une bonne armee en Portugal. II a fait des ef-
forts gigantesques, dignes de sa reputation et des
forces dont il a la disposition; mais il n'en a pas
fait assez encore; et je crois que Tancien dictum
de Henri Quatre, que ' quand on fait la guerre en
Espagne avec peu de monde, on est battu, et avec
beaucoup de monde, on meurt de faim/ se trou-
vera verifie de nos jours; et que Buonaparte ne
pourra jamais nourrir, meme de la maniere Fran-
caise moderne, une armee assez grande pour faire
la conquete des royaumes de la Peninsule, si les

CAMP OF ST. OLAYA. 133

allies ont seulement une armee assez forte pour
arreter ses progres. . . . Vous verrez quelle est
Fespece de guerre que nous faisons. II faut de la
patience, de la grande patience, pour la faire," etc.

We remained in our hutted camp in daily ex-
pectation of the enemy's movement in advance.
The heat was excessive, our shelter from its in-
tenseness inadequate ; large plains, dotted and in-
terspersed with olive-trees, afforded more dust than
shade ; our hut3 were not constructed of the best
materials to defend us from the sun's scorching
blaze ; soon after daybreak they became little hot-
houses, or rather ovens, from whence came forth
for parade an almost baked battalion. At this
place our brigade was considerably strengthened,
by a reinforcement of detachments from our dif-
ferent regiments at Cadiz. Here also his Royal
Highness the Prince of Orange joined us, as aide-
de-camp to Lord Wellington. He was accompa-
nied by his friend, Henry Johnson"*, acting as his
equerry and aide-de-camp.

On this occasion Lord Wellington reviewed the
whole army, to show it to his Royal Highness. To
be sure, we were not so numerous as the combined
corps of the two French marshals in our front ; but
what there was of us, together with the Germans,
improved by past experience under Lord Welling-

* Now Sir Henry A. Johnson, Bart., of Gresford Lodge, Den-
bigh.

134 GUADIANA FEVER.

ton's guidance, was tried good stuff. At the same
time our ranks were a motley group of all nations,
British, Hanoverians, Brunswickers, Chasseurs Bri-
tanniques (composed of French royalists and de-
serters), Portuguese, and , Spaniards. We were in
appearance like Joseph's many-coloured garment ;
whilst our enemy formed one compact army, under
French chiefs, with the advantage of one discipline
and one language. In our ranks sickness began
now to prevail to a considerable extent. Our vici-
nity at this season to the banks of the Guadiana
was anything but healthy : fever existed on the
low and extensive plains surrounding the river.
We were not sorry to find, therefore, that the
enemy had withdrawn from before us.

After provisioning Badajos, " Marmont covered
Soult's retrograde operations and retired gradually ;
he quartered his army in the valley of the Tagus,
leaving one division at Truxillo." We were thus
relieved from the French when we had most reason
to expect, if not an attack from them, at least one
from the Guadiana fever. Indeed, the latter had
already made some progress ; but we were now
spared a further contest with both, and the incon-
venience of a longer residence in an unwholesome
vicinity. Want of provisions and the pestilent
neighbourhood induced the enemy to decamp.
Marmont so placed his force on the Tagus as to
act on the flank of any movement of ours against
Soult and towards Andalucia ; his central position

SIR BRENT SPENCER. 135

covered Madrid, and lie could in a short time col-
lect 70,000 men against any incursion Lord Wel-
lington might have contemplated in that direc-
tion; but after all, the concentration by the two
French Marshals of 80,000 men did not result in
a renewal of an attempt to invade Portugal. We
therefore regarded each other with contemplative
curiosity, our chief waiting and watching like a
tiger for a spring upon his prey.

On the 2nd of July we broke up from our camp,
and marched, via Azumar, to Portalegre. Here
Lord March left head-quarters on sick leave for
Lisbon, and Sir Brent Spencer left for England.
The latter had frequently been good enough to no-
tice me ; and, on taking leave of him, he informed
me that, in consequence of Sir Thomas Graham's
appointment to this army as second in command
(having held that high position himself for so long),
he could not reconcile to his feelings to accept a
lower post, such as remaining in command of the
First Division, which had been offered him by
Lord Wellington. He had therefore determined
to resign and return to England; that he men-
tioned this to me, as he had intended to have ap-
pointed me his aide-de-camp, had I liked to serve
on his personal staff; and that, should he be em-
ployed elsewhere, he would keep the appointment
open till he heard from me. I thanked him for
hifl kind intentions, and the estimation in which
he was good enough to hold me ; and replied, that

136 BUOYANT SPIRITS.

should he hold any command on active service, I
would most readily accept his offer, but that in any
other case I should be loth to leave this army, as
I conceived it to be the duty of every young officer
to serve where he could most profit in the know-
ledge of his profession. He was good enough to
approve my views, and so we parted, and the mat-
ter ended; for he did not succeed to Sir George
Prevosfs command in America, as was at the time
contemplated.

During the few days we halted at Portalegre, a
young, gallant, and hilarious major-general (who
was quartered in the Bishop's Palace, near the
church) had, as usual, a few officers at dinner.
The company was composed of youthful and buoy-
ant spirits like himself; the weather was very hot,
and the wine very plentiful. After a somewhat
late sitting, it was proposed, in consequence of the
tempting vicinity of a wardrobe full of canonicals, to
attire ourselves in priestly garments, and to march
forth with long candles in our hands; this was
put into effect, chaunting, in grave procession, as
we went, most unintelligible music, interrupted by
bursts of laughter. Luckily, it was late and the
inhabitants were at rest ; or otherwise disagreeable
consequences would in all probability have ensued.
A report of this effervescence of wine and reckless
spirit reached head-quarters ; and, considering the
sacred ceremonies it imitated, the prejudices it
waged war against, the high military rank of the

CANNONS, NOT OF THE CHURCH. 137

person engaged in it, and the consequent bad ex-
ample to others, this escapade was severely rebuked
by Lord Wellington. He who was the promoter
of the fun and folly will now perhaps smile as he
recognizes the scene of past thoughtlessness (should
its relation meet his sight), for he still lives*; and
but lately, at St. Paul's, I saw him shed abundant
tears of regret on the bier of him who recalled the
too lively young general to a sense of his position.
Thus was settled this great candle and surplice
question, which unfortunately in these days cannot
be so easily settled at home !

Lord Wellington then turned his mind to other
cannons, not of the Church, but of those in the
mouth of which " man seeks the bubble, reputa-
tion." "He caused the battering train of iron
guns and mortars, just arrived from England, with
their gunners, to be re-embarked ostentatiously at
Lisbon as if for Cadiz, but had them shifted at sea
into smaller craft; and while the original vessels
went to their destination, the train was secretly
landed at Oporto, and carried up the Douro in
boats to Lamego. From thence they were brought
to Villaponte, near Celorico, without attracting
attention; because Lamego and Celorico, being
great depots, the passage of stores was constant.
Other combinations deceived the enemy and facili-
tated the project, before the troops commenced
their march for Beira. . . . The bringing sixty -

* I am sorry to say that he has died since this was written.

138 PORTUGUESE DIFFICULTIES.

eight huge guns, with proportionate stores, across
fifty miles of mountain was an operation of mag-
nitude. Five thousand draft bullocks were re-
quired for the train alone, and above a thousand
militia were for several weeks employed merely to
repair the road*."

At about the same time all our field-guns, ex-
cept those of the Horse Artillery, were exchanged
for others sent out at Lord Wellington's request.
We found the French eight-pounder guns over-
powering against our sixes, nice light little things,
fit only for short and sweet Lilliputian boating
expeditions, but not made to contend with the
heavier calibre of metal the enemy brought to bear
upon us.

Lord Wellington, immediately after the battle
of Albuera, had sent Beresford to Lisbon to orga-
nize the restoration of the Portuguese army. No
man was more fit and capable for the execution of
this object than Lord Beresford, as demonstrated
by the organization, the discipline, and eventual
state of the Portuguese army, which had hitherto
been paid by England, and three-fourths of them
supplied from our commissariat ; but still the Por-
tuguese Government left the remaining fourth to
starve. " The disputes between Lord Wellington
and the Portuguese Government were also becom-
ing unappeasable ; he drew up powerful expositions
of his grievous situation, sent one to the Brazils,

# Napier.

CONFIDENCE IN WELLINGTON. 139

and another to England, declaring that if a new
system was not adopted he could not and would
not continue the war*." The successful results
of the conduct of the campaigns in the Peninsula
by Lord Wellington's prudence, activity, and fore-
sight, seem at length to have inoculated the Mi-
nistry in England with more confidence in his
views and somewhat less in their own. Luckily,
at this moment no Cabinet Minister happened to
be affected with that serious and cruel disorder, a
strategetic expeditionary mania to any other part
of the new or old world ; so we began to be more
effectively supported with men and material, al-
though money was still wanting in our military
chest. This change for the better did not occur
till after the army had been engaged in this war
for nearly three years ; and, in spite of all the re-
presentations made by Lord Wellington, Mr. Per-
cival still remained inimical to his views, and either
would not or could not understand this great con-
centrated effort towards one grand and worthy
end. The Spaniards would not consent to be offi-
cered by us ; and at this moment were, as far as
their armies went, really of little or no use.

Lord Wellington writes to his brother on this
subject as follows: —

" You will then say, what is Great Britain to
do? I answer, persevere in the contest, and do
the best she can ; while she endeavours to prevail
* Napier,

140 ANTIQUATED NOTIONS.

upon the Spaniards to improve their military sys-
tem We have already, in some degree,

altered the nature of the war, and of the French
military system. They are now, in a great mea-
sure, on the defensive, and are carrying on a war
of magazines. They will soon, if they have not
already, come upon the resources of France ; and
as soon as that is the case, you may depend upon
it the war will not last long. We may spend ten
millions a year in this country, but it is a very
erroneous notion to suppose that all that expense
is incurred by the war in the Peninsula. Our es-
tablishment which we have here would cost very
near half that sum if they were kept at home, and
the surplus only should be charged as the expense
of this war. I do not mean to say that that ex-
pense is not great, but it must be borne as long as
the Spaniards and Portuguese can hold out, or we
must take our leave of our character as a great
country."

The military departments at home also seemed
in happy ignorance of the nature of the requisites
essential for an army established in continuous
warlike operations on the continent of Europe.
Pig-tails, pipe-clay, stiff stocks, powder, tight
breeches, long gaiters, and eight hundred lashes
before breakfast, were the costume and discipline
of that day and the old time before it. These
antiquated notions began to be loosened, through
the practical knowledge and necessities of the war.

SIR THOMAS GRAHAM. 141

We ourselves were in a normal school of education
under him, who lived to see and assisted to make
great and advantageous changes and improvements.
Lord Wellington, having changed the artillery of
the army to a larger calibre of gun, and received
reinforcements of some cavalry and infantry from
England, once more set us in motion for the north
of Portugal, having obtained intelligence that Ciu-
dad Rodrigo was straitened for provisions.

On the 31st, accordingly, our Division moved
from Portalegre to Alpahao; on the 1st reached
Niza ; and on the 2nd passed the Tagus on a pon-
toon bridge — another most requisite material for
an army, and now for the first time only in our
possession. In descending from the north, the fly-
ing bridge of two old crazy boats was the dilatory
and only mode of transit over the Tagus. (Here,
by moonlight, after so many hours' exposure to
the sun, sundry of us took a most luxurious swim
in the Tagus.)

On the 7th our new chief of division, Sir Thomas
Graham*, joined us as second in command of the
army. He was a fine, gallant-looking old man,
who began his military career somewhat late in
life, by raising, at forty years of age, a regiment,
of which he became at once the colonel, and in
this rank commenced his services.

We continued to move by Sarnadas and Castello
Branco to Escalhos de Ceima, where we had a
* Afterwards Lord Lynedoch.

142 WELLINGTON AT SERINGAPATAM.

day's halt j then on to San Miguel, Pedragao, Val
de Lobo, and finally to Penamacor, where we halt-
ed. The Light Division took np their old quarters
between the Agueda and Dos Casas, at Gallegos
and Espeja. Lord Wellington left General Hill
with 10,000 men in the Alemtejo to watch Soult,
and cover any attempt on Lisbon from that quar-
ter; Hill's front being covered again with some
Spanish corps. It was remarkable that he was the
only one of his generals, after the battle of Al-
buera, to whom Lord "Wellington confided, for any
length of time, the command of a separate corps ;
and well did General Hill merit the confidence
placed in him.

No man however was more fair and considerate
towards a first failure of others in a military at-
tempt than Lord Wellington. A staff-officer, at-
tached to head-quarters, informed me he had heard
him declare that a man failing once (under certain
circumstances) should not preclude his being tried
again; and on one occasion he added, " Where
should I have been had I not had a second trial at
Seringapatam ?"

Marmont was drawn to the north by our move-
ments ; and although our advance arrived too late
to prevent some small supplies reaching Ciudad
Rodrigo, still the enemy made no attempt to mo-
lest any of our corps on their march, except by
some French dragoons from Plasencia, who " cap-
tured a convoy of mules loaded with wine, got

EFFECT OF A HOT CLIMATE. 143

drunk, and in that state falling on some Portu-
guese infantry, were beaten, and lost the mules
again*."

On this march, the weather being very hot, most
of us preferred bivouacking to sleeping in the filthy
cottages, with their too numerous inhabitants. One
of my horses knocked up, and I left him, poor fel-
low ! on the top of a mountain, at his own discre-
tion, to sustain himself as best he could on some
sorry-looking leaves and grass. I had no choice
in the matter, or he either: he could not move
further. It was no longer possible for him to carry
me ; and, as it did not occur to me to parry him,
we parted, wishing each other well, no doubt. I
lightened his back of the saddle, which I placed
On my own till the day's march was over. Priva-
tions and hot weather render men anything but
amiable. It requires much forbearance and good
feeling in such positions to ' ' love your neighbour
as yourself;" besides, perhaps the fiery sun may
add to fiery tempers ; for which reason there gene-
rally is more squabbling in India than elsewhere ;
in short, people get bilious, if they are not ' ' born
so." I [eaven knows, as far as indulgence in comes-
tibles went, we had neither profuseness nor luxury
to generate dyspepsia. But, be this as, it might,
it did not prevent two field-officers of our brigade
from coming to loggerheads. One of them esta-
blished himself at the village of Pedragao, in some

* General Ilarvey's Journal, MS. See Napier.

144 A DUEL.

hovel, more convenient-looking than ordinary. The
other, of senior rank, arrived later, but, on doing
so, turned out the first possessor. Warm expres-
sions passed in consequence; and the following day,
while on the march, the ejected party rode up to,
and remonstrated with, the ejector. The latter
coolly assured him that, "so far from relinquish-
ing his right to what he had done now, he should
continue to act in the same manner on all future
occasions." The other replied that, in such a case,
he "sheltered himself under his rank as a supe-
rior officer, to be guilty of a dirty and ungentle-
manlike action." This, of course, was a closer to
the conversation at the time.

After some little delay, these two men went
out; the junior fired at the senior, the senior at
the junior, and so ended this stupid and ill-con-
ditioned dispute. Most people thought that, as the
French were so near, it was a pity these gentle-
men should have had occasion to try to shoot one
another ; by only going a little distance the enemy
would, in all probability, have done it for them
with the greatest possible pleasure, and in a much
more soldierlike and professional way. Our sub-
ordinate rank precluded us from entering into the
indulgence of such luxuries : we belonged to that
happy portion of his Majesty' s service who were in
the full enjoyment of what sailors call "monkey's
allowance," tha,t is, of "more kicks than half-
pence." With the alacrity of youth, however, the

BLUNDERS OF THE NEWSPAPERS. 1 15

necessity of obedience to those numerous grades
above us, and the inutility of resistance, I do not
remember any instance of a duel among the sub-
alterns ; although I have seen men turned out, not
only of quarters, by those immediately above them
in seniority, but even from under the scanty shade
afforded by an olive-tree. At that cheery age we
bore all, laughed at all, and were ready for all.
We left it to those of higher rank, and more ma-
tured ill-temper, of less good feeling, or absence
of good breeding, to set so bad an example when
on service before an enemy.

The English newspapers of the 15th July reached
us here, and kindly communicated to us that we
had all retired to our lines at Torres Vedras* !

On the 28th of August however we moved from
Pcnamacor, and closed up to our advanced divisions
on the frontier of Spain, passing through Val de

* As illustrative of the ill-omened reports and opinions exist-
ing at home at this time, I may venture to quote an anecdote
from Moore's Diary, with a note of Lord John Eussell's on it.
" Sheridan always maintained that the Duke of Wellington would
succeed in Portugal ; General Tarleton the reverse. It was a
matter of constant dispute between them. Tarleton, who had
been wrong, grew obstinate ; so on the news of the retreat of the
French, Sheridan, by way of taunt, said, 'Well, Tarleton, are
you on your high horse still ?' — ' Oh, higher than ever ! if I was
on a horse before, I am now on an elephant.' — ' No, no, my dear
fellow ; you were on an ass before, and you are on a mule now.' "
Lord John goes on to say, " I remember that, having been at the
lines of Torres Vedras, Sheridan was much pleased with my
sanguine account of the position. — Ed. of Moore's Letters and
Diary."

L

146 REINFORCEMENT OF THE FRENCH.

Lobo, Sabugal, to Nave 6° Aver. Ciudad Rodrigo
was now surrounded by the piquets of the Light
Division, which were extended to the Salamanca
side of the town, cutting off the communication
between the garrison and the surrounding country.
Marmont was at Plasencia, and Dorsenne, with
20,000 men, in the north; their communication
with each other was sustained through the passes
of the Sierra de Francia, " where, early in Sep-
tember, Marmont pushed a detachment from Pla-
sencia, and surprised a British cavalry piquet at
St. Martin de Trabejo, and this opened his com-
munications with Dorsenne." Ciudad Rodrigo
could not be besieged in the face of these com-
bined corps, and even the blockade must be raised
if they united and advanced. Our Spanish allies
were at this moment of small, or rather, of no
use to themselves or us. From the reports of re-
inforcements arriving to the French in Spain, the
formation of depots at Burgos, etc., and, lastly,
that Napoleon himself meant to head an army to
drive us from Portugal, Lord-Wellington was in-
duced to order the lines on both banks of the
Tagus around Lisbon to be again strengthened,
and many additional labourers were employed in
their further improvement and completion. The
garrison of Rodrigo now again became short of
provisions; Marmont had been reinforced from
France, and had 50,000 men. He now entered on
a combined operation with Dorsenne, to succour

147

the garrison of the above place. Marmont passed
the mountains, and collected a large convoy at Be-
jar; Dorsenne and Souham collected another con-
voy at Salamanca, and came down to Tamames
on the 21st. This was a far superior force to any
that we could front them with ; and although Lord
Wellington was nnable to fight beyond the Agueda,
he would not retreat till he had seen the French
army, lest a detachment might relieve the place,
instead of their being obliged to bring their whole
force to effect that object.

The operations which followed MarmomVs ad-
vance it is neither my province nor my intention
to detail, further than to afford some general idea
of what occurred. In our extended position, co-
vering the different roads and their wide range
leading into Portugal, personal observation of si-
multaneous events, beyond our own immediate lo-
cality, was out of the question. I can only nar-
rate, therefore, the occurrences to the different
corps and to individuals, as they came to my know-
ledge after the events. Marmont' s specific object
was the maintenance of Ciudad Rodrigo, hitherto
surrounded by our outposts, to regarrison it with
fresh troops, and to supply it amply with food and
military munitions. Situated as we were, this
object could not be prevented, except at the risk
of a general action against a superior force ; which,
having no sufficiently adequate object to attain,
Lord Wellington did not contemplate.

148

POSITIONS OF THE ALLIED ARMY.

On the 23rd the advance guard of the enemy's
corps d'armee made their appearance from the hills,
and descended into the plains surrounding the for-
tress, but they soon after withdrew. Our divisions
were distributed as follows: — the Light Division
at Vadillo, near Ciudad, well posted to watch the
enemy's advance ; the Third Division at El Bodon
and Pastores, supported by the Fourth in the
neighbourhood of Fuente Guinaldo, which place
was Lord Wellington's head-quarters; the Sixth,
with Anson's cavalry, at Espeja and Campillo;
the First, Fifth, and Seventh being in reserve at
Payo, Almadilla, and Nave d'Aver: the last was
our post, where we were held in immediate readi-
ness to support either our front, our right, or any
divisions needing our collate?*al assistance. The
baggage was despatched to our rear and to the
other side of the Coa ; our movements were thus
left disembarrassed from encumbrances either in
" highways or bye-ways."

On the 24th a corps, under General Montbrun,
again advanced, and crossed the Agueda with 6000
cavalry, four divisions of infantry, and twelve guns.
At daybreak on the 25th the enemy made a recon~
naissance, to mask the introduction into Ciudad
Bodrigo of their convoy of provisions and a fresh
garrison. With this intention they passed the
Lower Azava with fourteen squadrons of cavalry of
the Imperial Guard, and with a corps d' elite, the
Lanciers de Berg, Murat's own favourite regiment.

FIRST PASSAGE OF ARMS. 149

We early heard the popping in our front to our
left, and inclined to hope that our Division might
soon have some nearer participation in what was
passing ; but it did not so happen. Like the pa-
tients of foreign pathologists under a medecine ex-
pectante, we were not too patiently awaiting the
result, but were hoping for a further early seance
or consideration of our present position from our
French leeches. Sir Thomas Graham commanded
our wing of the army, of which our division formed
the left centre and reserve, the Sixth Division and
Anson's cavalry being to our left and in front ; one
squadron of the 14th, under Brotherton*, and an-
other of the 16th, under Hay and Major Cocks
(considerably in advance of their supports), were
on the right bank of the Azava. The first passage
of arms, which occurred that morning, arose be-
tween these troops and the enemy. The Lanciers
de Berg, about 900 strong, advanced most rapidly,
and gallantly, in order to cut off all preparatory
impediments of skirmishing. The lance and sword
were their weapons, they being only partially
armed with carbines. The distance our advance
was from its reserves, the serried phalanx of su-
perior numbers armed with new, formidable, and
hitherto unencountered weapons, induced our ad-
vance post of cavalry to retire, on the principle
de reenter pour mieux sauter. They frequently

* Now Lieutenant-General Brotherton, C.B., late Inspector of
Cavalry.

150 THE FRENCH REPULSED.

however formed up and checked the too rapid ad-
vance of their foe ; and then again, in compliance
with orders, retired on their own brigade. At
length the enemy were encountered by our three
squadrons, were charged, and promptly checked;
they attempted to rally and return, when, to their
no small astonishment, they received a well laid-in
volley from the Light Infantry of Hulse's Brigade
of the Sixth Division, composed of the light com-
panies of the 11th, 53rd, and 61st regiments, under
Major John Mansel. These had been placed, by
Sir Thomas Graham, under cover in a cork-wood
on the flank of the rallying Lanciers de Berg, of
whom sixty were rolled over by the fire of the 61st
light company and the charge of cavalry. Among
the prisoners was Lieutenant-Colonel O'Flyn, an
Irish Catholic in the French service, who, after
surrendering, attempted to escape, and was killed.
He evidently was of the genus Dandy, for, in
stripping the body, they found that under his
boots the Colonel wore silk stockings. The dra-
goon who served as valet on the occasion offered
his epaulettes to the officer of the 14th, command-
ing his troop, who rejected the proffered trophy,
but made particular inquiries concerning Colonel
O'Flyn's sudden demise, which being satisfactorily
accounted for, no more was said on the subject.
Another officer also was here taken; his name I
forget, having made no note of it, although on ar-
riving at Nave d'Aver he dined where I met him.

GALLANT RENCONTRE. 151

He was gay, good-looking, light-hearted, and reck-
less, and with so happy a disposition that he drank
and sang, seeming careless, or at least unwilling
to show annoyance, at being made prisoner. In
one of the melees of this day a sous-officier of the
enemy left his ranks, and singling out Brotherton,
charged him. A trial of skill with the sabre en-
sued, each showing good knowledge of the weapon
he wore. Matters thus remained equal, till the
Frenchman suddenly drew a pistol from his holster
and shot Brotherton' s horse through the head;
it fell instantly. Brotherton quickly disengaged
himself from the fallen charger, and the French-
man was about to follow up his advantage, when
another officer of the 14th, as pistols were resorted
to in preference to swords, shot the Frenchman
dead. The horse from which Brotherton had been
dismounted by the pistol-shot was a trooper, his
own having been killed or wounded the day pre-
viously; and, singular to relate, the poor wounded
troop-horse recovered its consciousness, rose, trot-
ted back, replaced himself in the rank of his troop,
and fell down dead ! The above gallant rencontre
and its results were witnessed by those engaged,
and many are still living who remember the facts.
After the charges made by the squadrons of the
14th and 16th on the Lanciers de Berg and the
French advance guard, the latter were driven
across the Azava, and our people once more re-oc-
cupied the ground of their original outposts of the

152 THE HEIGHTS OF EL BODON.

morning at Carpio. On our right other matters
were transacting, which I cannot better explain
than by referring to a short paragraph from Lord
Wellington's despatch, under date of the 29th
September, 1811, from Quadraseis. He says : —

" But the enemy's attention was principally di-
rected during this day to the position of the Third
Division on the hills between Fuente Guinaldo and
Pastores. About eight in the morning they moved
a column, consisting of between thirty and forty
squadrons of cavalry and fourteen battalions of
infantry, and twelve pieces of cannon, from Ciu-
dad Rodrigo, in such direction that it was doubt-
ful whether they would attempt to ascend the hills
by La Encina or by the direct road of El Bodon
towards Fuente Guinaldo, and I was not sure on
which road they would make their attack till they
actually commenced it upon the last."

From our post at Nave d'Aver our attention and
our telescopes were turned to these objects. We
plainly saw the advancing masses of the French
approaching the heights of El Bodon, where, with
a small advanced guard, Lord Wellington com-
manded in person. We witnessed the salute the
enemy received from our guns, and marked the
curling smoke rising in clouds from their brazen
mouths, echoing and resounding again and again
from their crested height over plain and wood and
far intervening space. At once, and suddenly, it
ceased; a closer struggle and confusion ensued;

DEFENCE OF THE HEIGHTS.

153

then once again the destructive booming recom-
menced, and thus went on: now the undulating
ground or elbowed point of some small promon-
tory intercepted sound and sight together, then
the kind of hogVback formation of hill on which
the operations were transacting gave us but a par-
tial and uncertain view of what was really passing.
After about an hour's uncertainty and investment
of the promontory by the enemy's numerous ca-
valry, at length (by force of numbers and dashing
courage) we saw they had reached the ascent and
gathered on its summit. Next in their turn the
enemy's guns opened, and we beheld our people,
surrounded by clouds of cavalry, retiring in co-
lumns and squares. After this we could no longer
see distinctly what took place, but what did occur
is pretty much as follows. Marmont advanced
with his columns of cavalry, directing their march
to the height, on which four battalions of infantry,
a brigade of Portuguese guns, and three squadrons
of cavalry were posted under Lord Wellington in
person. They formed part of the Third Division,
consisting of the 5th and 77th British, and the
9th and 21st Portuguese regiments, the guns under
Aivntschild, and the German Hussars under Victor
Alten. "This height was convex towards the
enemy, and covered in front and on both flanks
by deep ravines." Marmont, surrounded by his
staff, advanced to the foot of this height and halted
immediately beneath it, until the closing up of his

154 INTREPID CHARGE.

infantry columns. Lord Wellington was posted
immediately above this spot, and the chiefs and
head-qnarter staff of the two armies were not two
hundred yards distant from each other. On look-
ing over the height, every movement of the French
marshal and his staff could be distinctly seen.
From their proximity, as the voices ascended, the
conversation carried on below could almost be
overheard. The enemy, on the contrary, could
neither see what force occupied or what move-
ments were occurring on the hill above, and had
therefore no notion of what they should meet with
on reaching its summit. Lord Wellington now
ordered the guns to open; with good effect and
unerring aim they sent their destructive messen-
gers into Montbrun's columns of cavalry in the
plain beneath ; they had scarcely done so however,
when a sweep of French horsemen, like a whirl-
wind, stormed the rocky height, charged the guns
in flank, cut down the gunners at their posts, and
took two cannon. Major Ridge, commanding the
5th Regiment, a prompt and intrepid soldier, im-
mediately brought down the bayonets of his batta-
lion to the charge, and storming the dashing cap-
tors, drove them headlong from the rocky heights,
and retook the guns. Lieutenant-Colonel Harvey*,
attached to head-quarter staff, promptly seized the
occasion, and ordered the draft mules to the front ;

* In the Portuguese service at the time, now General Sir
Robert Harvey, K.C.B.

THE HEIGHTS CARRIED BY THE FRENCH. 155

the guns were limbered up, and by the quick and
gallant decision of Ridge and the ready energy of
Harvey, these two guns were not only at the mo-
ment saved, but the enemy felt later the inconve-
nience of their being so. While this was going on
with the 5th, the 77th Regiment, under Lieutenant-
Colonel Broomhead, were attacked in front by an-
other body of the enemy's cavalry, which they re-
pulsed by an instant advance and charge of bayo-
nets. Again and again did the enemy storm these
heights with their horsemen, but in spite of the
great numerical superiority of their cavalry, they
were manfully maintained by the oft-repeated and
almost constant charges delivered by Victor Alten's
three squadrons of the 1st German Hussars and
11th Light Dragoons. At length the enemy made
a great and simultaneous effort from two opposite
points at once, and, rising from the valleys beneath
like some vast wave, they rushed up, and with
weight and force irresistible reached the crowning
plateau.

It was not until the hill had been carried by su-
perior numbers of the enemy's cavalry, and that a
division of their infantry were fast closing up for
an attack, their artillery already being in action,
that Lord Wellington thought proper to order the
small body of troops he commanded at this post to
retire on Fuente Guinaldo, where he had previously
thrown up some redoubts and fieldworks. A bri-
gade of the Fourth Division had been ordered up

156 NARROW ESCAPE OF WELLINGTON.

from Guinaldo, and the remainder of the Third
Division from El Bodon, except that part of it at
Pastores, which was too distant. The French ca-
valry, on reaching the summit, dashed on among
its defenders; assailants and assailed, with the
chiefs and the staff of the contending armies,
seemed in the sudden melee to be thrown together
in inextricable confusion. Lord Wellington was
greatly exposed at this moment, and had a narrow
escape amidst the rush of French horsemen: though
at first surrounded by the friendly few, he suddenly
was now enveloped by the inimical many. A few
yards only separated him from the charging enemy ;
I think it was poor Gordon"*, his aide-de-camp,
who was said to have first pointed out the proxi-
mate danger of being captured, before Lord Wel-
lington thought proper to turn his horse and canter
off. The enemy, on reaching the height, seemed
astonished at the paucity of the defenders they had
so stoutly contended against, but, odd to say, pro-
fited little, as our casualties were few, and they
scarcely took a single prisoner. The two weak
battalions of the 5th and 77th were now thrown
into one square, supported by the 21st Portuguese
in solid formation of close column. The enemy's
cavalry immediately rushed forward, and obliged
our cavalry to retire to the support of the Portu-

* Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon. Sir Alexander Gordon, of
the 3rd Guards, aide-de-camp to the Duke of Wellington, fell at
Waterloo.

ADMIRABLE RETREAT. 157

guese regiment. Much hard galloping ensued : the
5th and 77th were charged by the French horse-
men on three faces of their square; when thus
brought to bay, they halted, receiving the attack
with cool, steady, and gallant bearing, repulsed it,
then rose from their bristly formation, and, in pha-
lanxed order and admirable discipline, once again
moved on. For six miles across an open country,
in face of this superior force, did these small co-
lumns, in square, continue their march, menaced
and surrounded on all sides by their enemy, and
exposed to the fire of the French artillery inflict-
ing chasms in their ranks ; they quietly closed up,
maintained their formation, although with dimi-
nished front, and once more moved towards the
position destined for them by their great chief.
In their retreat, a shell fell into the solid column
of the 21st Portuguese, and burst in its centre,
destroying numbers; they opened out, left the
dead or wounded, closed in again, and moved on.
The Quartermaster-General, Colonel Murray*, rode
up to this regiment to give them an order, but
neither the commanding nor any other officer who
happened to be present, understood English suffi-
ciently to enable him to communicate his orders to
them. Captain Burgoynef, of the Engineers, be-

* Afterwards tin* Right Hon. Lieutenant-General Sir George
Murray, G.C.B., M.P.

+ Now Lieutrna nt -General Sir John Burgoyne, G.C.B., In-
spector of Fortifications.

158 ANECDOTE OF LORD C. MANNERS.

ing at hand, offered his services as a linguist, and
was ordered to remain with this battalion, and di-
rected to communicate to them the instructions to
be conveyed during the remainder of these very
brilliant and creditable movements. Our infantry,
thus surrounded, conducted themselves in as cool
and orderly a manner as at a field-day ; those pre-
sent declared they never saw a more beautiful
sight. Such is the worth of steady discipline !

The French cavalry were now galloping in for-
ward movement all over the field, out-flanking our
cavalry and infantry, pressing on our rear, and in
all parts became inconveniently disturbing and ob-
trusive. To sportsmen, and the many home-bred
seekers of action and excitement, I may here re-
late an episode of adventure, midst more serious
matters of the kind, which occurred that morning.

Lord Charles Manners, extra aide-de-camp to
Lord Wellington, in a most sportsman-like man-
ner escaped from being made prisoner. By hard
work his horse had been knocked up, and he rode
to the rear, where he had posted his fresh one, to
get a remount ; on returning, he met an officer of
artillery, who informed him where he would find
Lord Wellington (this was on the hill immediately
above them, over which he was retreating with our
troops) ; the artillery officer, however, advised him
by no means to go in a direct line, as he must, in
such case, throw himself and his newly -remounted
charger right into the range of fire of three French

ANECDOTE OF LORD C. MANNERS. 159

howitzers which had just opened upon our retiring
columns.

On this, Lord Charles took a slanting direction,
and turned the hill, instead of going directly up it,
but on rounding a small declivity he came plump
upon two squadrons of French Chasseurs a Cheval ;
he instantly drew up his horse (a capital hunter)
from a canter to a walk, and at that pace quietly
proceeded on to reconnoitre. On arriving within
some thirty yards of the enemy, however, the
French General, Dejean, commanding these troops,
accompanied by four orderlies, had stationed him-
self at their head in advance, and called out, " Que
cherchez-vous, Monsieur?" The gallant Aide-de-
camp replied, " Milord Wellington." The General
immediately made a signal with his sword, point-
ing out Lord Charles to his orderlies, who galloped
forward to take him, but he turned his horse ; and,
knowing the country, led them across a difficult
part and towards a nasty wide yawning water-
course, still keeping the direction in which he be-
lieved Lord Wellington to be. The pursuing four
pressed on, and when within hopeful distance of
catching the pursued, to their astonishment they
saw his horse flying in the air over the vast chasm,
which, becoming to them an impassable barrier,
brought them up to a stand-still. Alava, on the
hill above, seeing the pursuit, and what was pass-
ing beneath, not knowing the confidence placed in
his horse by Lord Charles, sent down some Spanish

160 craufurd's obstinacy.

guerillas, who soon induced the baffled pursuers
to return hastily under cover of their numerous
friends; whilst Lord Charles, in a quiet canter,
continued his course and joined Lord Wellington.
Some of the rest of the Third Division had now
joined, and also forming squares, the whole conti-
nued to retire. Soon after they were met by the
Fourth Division advancing to their support : under
the fire of the enemy's artillery, and environed by
their cavalry, they still continued their retreat to
the ground near Fuente Guinaldo. Here Lord
Wellington had already caused two redoubts and
some fieldworks to be thrown up : orders had been
sent to the Light Division to retire from Vadillo,
with which that gallant but unmanageable Chief
of Division, Craufurd, did not think proper to com-
ply. With or without reason, he really liked fight-
ing, and never threw away a chance of bringing
a " scrimmage" about ; he always held to his own
ideas, and loved to see his name in the Gazette.

i With many sterling and soldier-like qualities, he
was the sublime of the refractory and provokingly
useful. The consequence of all this delay created
much inconvenience and no small danger to Lord
Wellington, who had taken up the position at Gui-
naldOj and awaited Craufurd's joining him. The
deployment of Marmonfs forces towards this point
became threatening ; but, at all events, Lord Wel-
lington would not and could not move further to
the rear until assured of the safety of the Light

CRITICAL POSITION. 161

Division. Separated, and at a distance, Craufurd's
procrastination to obey orders very nearly occa-
sioned him to be cut off from the rest of our army;
and he had to make a considerable detour and a
night-march to retrieve himself, and regain his
communication with Lord Wellington. Here again
was exemplified the necessity of prompt obedience
to the chief in command, whose designs and rea-
sons the commanders of separate corps may not at
the moment be able to comprehend. In the mean-
time Lord Wellington, having regained his en-
trenchments about four o' clock p.m., the enemy,
whose activity in favouring the retreating columns
with round shot and shell had been excessive,
halted and ceased firing. While this was going on
upon our right, the advance of the left wing of the
army, under Graham, was ordered to fall back on
our division at Nave d'Aver, leaving cavalry out-
posts on the Azava, and thus we passed the night.

On the 26th, in the morning, Lord Wellington
still held his post at Guinaldo with only the Third
and Fourth Divisions, some cavalry, and guns ; in
all about 14,000 men. No news of the Light
Division had as yet reached Lord Wellington ; he
therefore held his ground, deploying his troops to
make them look more numerous than they were, —
in short, making as imposing an appearance to his
enemy as he could. The concentrated and over-
whelming numbers of the enemy had been brought
to bear on this one single point of the extended

M

162 ANECDOTE OF WELLINGTON.

divisions of our army. Sixty thousand Frenchmen,
with great superiority of cavalry and 100 guns, stood
immediately before, and their sentries and vedettes
in actual and immediate contact with those of the
two Divisions commanded by Lord Wellington in
person. This certainly was a most anxious and
critical moment : all eyes were turned to the front,
in momentary expectation of a crushing attempt
being made on our small force, when Lord Wel-
lington, seemingly tired of waiting, and feeling
drowsy, told one of his aides-de-camp to call him
if anything was the matter, wrapped himself in his
cloak, lay down in the broiling sun, and slept very
composedly and soundly for more than two hours'*.
For some unknown reason, Marmont made no at-
tack this day; he did not seem to know the po-
sitions of our different divisions, was deceived by
the appearances displayed by our Chief, and was
otherwise mystified.

Of the operations of the 27th, Lord Wellington
writes as follows : —

" It had Jeen the enemy's intention to turn the
left of the position of Guinaldo, by moving a co-
lumn into the valley of the Upper Azava, and

* The greatest general of antiquity possessed a similar power
of sleeping when he would, or rather when he could. Livy (xxi.
4) records of Hannibal, " Vigiliarum somnique nee die, nee nocte
discriminata tempora. Id quod gerendis rebus superesset quieti
datum : eaque neque molli stratu, neque silentio arcessita. Multi
ssepe, militari sagulo opertum, humi jacentem inter custodias sta-
tionesque militum, conspexerunt."

A SKIRMISH. 163

thence ascending the height in the rear of the po-
sition by Castillejos; and from this column they
detached a division of infantry and fourteen regi-
ments of cavalry to follow our retreat by Alber-
gueria, and another body of the same strength
followed us by Forcalhos. The former attacked
the piquets of the cavalry at Aldea da Ponte, and
drove them in ; and they pushed on nearly as far
as Alfyates. I then made General Pakenham at-
tack them with his brigade of the Fourth Division,
supported by Lieutenant- General the Hon. L. Cole
and the Fourth Division, and by Sir S. Cotton's*
cavalry; and the enemy were driven through Al-
dea da Ponte, back upon Albergueria, and the
piquets of the cavalry resumed their station. But
the enemy having been reinforced by the troops
which marched from Forcalhos, again advanced
about sunset, and drove in the piquets of the ca-
valry from Aldea da Ponte, and took possession of
the village. Lieutenant- General Cole again at-
tacked them, with a part of General Pakenham's
brigade, and drove them through the village ; but
night having come on, and as General Pakenham
was not certain what was passing on his flanks, or
of the numbers of the enemy, and he knew that
the army were to fall back still further, he evacu-
ated the village, which the enemy occupied, and
held during the night."

There had been this day some very heavy skir-

* Now Lord Combermere.

164 BOTH ARMIES RETIRE.

mishing at Aldea da Ponte; and in this sharp affair,
among others, Captain Prevost, son of Sir George,
and aide-de-camp to Sir Lowry Cole, was killed.
On this night, the 27th, I was on piquet in front
of Nave d'Aver, when, about ten o' clock, an order
came to withdraw the outposts. Our division
made a night march of six hours, and halted at
Bismuda, in rear of Villa Major.

On the 26th the army were all concentrated in
a very strong position on the heights behind Soito,
having the Sierra de Mesas on their right and Hen-
do on the Coa on our left. A loop of the river co-
vered both flanks ; and, in addition, rough, rocky,
and woody ground impeded the advance of the
enemy in front. The most singular circumstance
was, that the enemy commenced their retreat at
the very same time that we did, and we were each
moving away from one another !

It is not my intention to enter into the merits of
the tactics displayed on this occasion, for much
superlatively fine military criticism has been be-
stowed upon these movements. One strategic cen-
sor thinks that the position on which Lord Wel-
lington meant to retire, and perhaps fight, with a
river in his rear, was objectionable ; another, that
his contempt for his enemy led him into a hazard-
ous imprudence; and a third, that if Marmont
had done this, and if he had done that, neither of
which he did do, why, something else would have
probably resulted. These suggestions may or may

MILITARY CRITICISMS. 165

not be sound : the movements may not have been
upon military principles strictly correct; but the
argument of what might have happened, but which
did not happen, is like entering into that compli-
cated point, that if your aunt was not your aunt,
she might have been your uncle. The fact was,
that Lord Wellington on this occasion placed him-
self hors de regie, and acquired the knowledge he
wished to obtain, while the enemy had no know-
ledge of him; his own quickness, and the excel-
lence of his troops, rendered such a liberty at least
warrantable. All movements depended upon sup-
ply. He knew that the enemy wanted means to
support an army together for any length of time.
Ignorant as Marmont was of the precise where-
abouts of Lord Wellington's divisions, he perfectly
well knew that if a successful action had been
fought, it would scarcely have led him into Portu-
gal ; where there was as little to be found to sustain
life, as poor James Macdonald of the Guards dis-
covered when he opened an economical General's
cupboard, and found two lean mice contemplating,
with tears in their eyes, a hard crust of bread !

Lord Wellington was master of his circumstances,
was aware of his enemy's ignorance, knew no se-
rious attempt could at that moment be made on
Portugal by Marmont ; he therefore put on a bold
front, made an imposing appearance, and gained
his object without any great loss. I find the fol-
lowing paragraph in an old letter of mine, written

166 MILITARY CRITICISMS.

just before these movements, and dated from Nave
d'Aver, the 24th of September, 1811, addressed to
a general officer in England : —

"The enemy are advancing with a convoy for
Ciudad Rodrigo. Report also says, that they are
in movement in the Alemtejo; but I will make
two bets. One is, that whatever force the French
can bring (and Marmont is reported to have 60,000
men in our front), they will not attempt to
enter Portugal ; and the next is, that if they try,
we shall not fight till we reach a position on the
Coa. God knows what will be the result; I do
not mean the result in case of fighting, for that we
are all confident about, but the result of their ad-
vance. By the bye, it is said that the Duke of
Leinster, Lords Delawarr and Clare, and Henry
Fitzgerald* have landed at Lisbon, and are all on
their way up to see the army. A very nice time
they have chosen for their trip ! No baggage,
much movement, short commons, and no respect
of personages. Adieu ! I am called away."

The first part of this letter was perfectly verified
by what I have related in the foregoing pages.

* Afterwards Lord De Eos.

167

CHAPTER VII.

AMATEURS. — TEMPORARY INACTION. — THE DUKE AND THE
GUARDS.— SICKNESS. — AMUSING CHARACTERS. — DISCIPLINE.
— THE ENEMY SURPRISED. — A WINTER MARCH. — SCARCITY.
— AN ELEGY.— A FAMILY MANSION. — SECRET PREPARATIONS.

During this campaign we had many amateurs, or
T. G.s as they would, be called in modern phraseo-
logy, whose curiosity far exceeded their cognizance
of military position; one of these found himself
suddenly one fine morning in the midst of a French
instead of an English out-piquet. Although arri-
ving early, and quite unexpectedly, he was politely
requested to remain and make a sojourn with them ;
he pleaded his non-combative qualities, protested
" qu'il n'etait pas du tout, du tout militaire," laid
great stress upon his love of the peaceful, the beau-
tiful, the picturesque ; that he was a mere wanderer
to sec the country and the war, and assured the
French officer he was "purement un amateur."
He who had charge of the Gallic outpost, however,
was incredulous and uninfluenced by such sophistry,
and could not understand such a fine-drawn dis-

168 AMATEURS.

tinction in so doubtful a predicament ; besides, our
unlucky countryman had adopted a military cos-
tume,— a blue coat, cocked hat, and sword, — which
rendered his belligerent appearance more complete,
and his peaceable pretensions less credible. Al-
though later in life (tempora mutantur !) he might
have declared himself one of "Bright and Cob-
den's own," at the time all his protestations were
in vain. To the head-quarters of the enemy's
army he was sent a prisoner.

Not long previous to this, a French lieutenant-
colonel had been taken by some of our people.
When our unfortunate traveller reached his desti-
nation, a flag of truce was sent to Lord Welling-
ton from the French Marshal, saying that they had
taken a prisoner, calling himself an amateur ; that
the Marshal did not clearly comprehend what that
name implied, as they had none such in their army ;
but if Lord Wellington would exchange him for
the lieutenant-colonel lately taken from them,
the Marshal would return the amateur. Lord Wel-
lington is stated to have answered, that he was
" much obliged to the French commander for the
proposition, but he begged he would keep him."
I do remember however an amateur whose tho-
rough English feeling led him, at Waterloo, into
the thick of the fight ; and whose activity, useful-
ness, and gallantry were conspicuous throughout
the whole of that eventful day. In a plain blue
coat, and round hat, he had ridden that morning

TEMPORARY INACTION. 169

from Brussels, joined the Duke on the field, and
attached himself to him. As the staff of the great
hero began to fall around him, and casualties oc-
curred to man and horse, he supplied their place,
and conveyed orders for the Duke to different parts
of the field. This circumstance was well known at
the time to all, and ought to be perpetuated, for
none more honourably or honestly earned distinc-
tion that day than the present Earl Bathurst, then
Lord Apsley. May other amateurs, in future wars,
emulate so chivalrous and patriotic an example !

But to return from this digression. After the
convoy and the fresh garrison had been thrown
into Ciudad Rodrigo, Marmont had no object, and
Lord Wellington quite as little temptation, to
fight. If the French Marshal had accomplished
his purpose, the English General had equally ob-
tained his end, having acquired, by personal ob-
servation, a knowledge of the amount of force the
enemy could bring into the field, when the mo-
ment should arrive for his contemplated attack on
Ciudad Rodrigo.

The weather was now cold and rainy ; the 28th
would have been a beautiful day for ducks and
hackney-coachmen ; had either been in the neigh-
bourhood, we certainly should have roasted, beyond
a joke, the former interesting absentees, and availed
ourselves of the services of the latter in considera-
tion of the want of umbrellas in the army !

We moved to Rendo ; on the 29th crossed the

170 MYSTIFYING THE ENEMY.

Coa to Gata, and on the 30th reached Val des
Ayres, — a pretty village situated between Celorico
and Guarda, hanging on the slope, and at the foot
of a ridge or spur thrown out from the Serra
d'Estrella towards the Val de Mondego. This, as
far as the picturesque went, was certainly a most
beautiful country. The French having retired to
Salamanca, Banos, and Plasencia, our outposts
were left to watch Ciudad Rodrigo, and Lord Wel-
lington established his head-quarters at Frenada.
These, our retiring movements from the frontier of
Portugal, were intended to lull Marshal Marmont
into security, and the belief of our peaceable in-
tentions for the rest of the winter ; we therefore
arrived at our pretty village in the Val de Mon-
dego under the false pretext of making it our win-
ter quarters, as the autumnal rains had set in. In
the absence of more military or exciting exploits,
we were disposed to recognize the truthful philo-
sophy of two lines we found written on an old door
in an empty house, by some French gaillard :

" Heureux, heureux, celui qui, bien loin de la guerre,
Goute d'un petit plat et boit dans un grand verre !"

Our only difficulty was, as an American would
say, "to realize to ourselves" so pleasant a prac-
tice. The army was three months in arrear of pay;
bills on England were difficult to cash, and at a
villainous exchange of six shillings for the dollar,
of which the current value was five ; comestibles
were difficult to procure ; and luxuries, such as tea,

SCARCITY OF LUXURIES. 171

sugar, brandy, etc., to be found only on occasions
of the few-and-far-between visits of sutlers who
followed the army. One fellow of this calling, an
Italian, enjoying the murderous name of Sangui-
netti, was the most constant of his kind, and the
most extortionate in his constancy; his visits, in
their long intervals of uncertainty, bespoke more
of the Jew than the angel ; that is, in ministering
to our wants he had a lively sense of his own in-
terests, his motto evidently being —

" Con arte e con inganno
Si vive mezzo 1' anno,
Con inganno e con arte
Si yive 1' altra parte."

He was however one of those necessary evils on
which fellows who rough it, and have no choice,
will fall back occasionally. Another battalion of
our brigade was quartered at no great distance, at
the village of Lagiosa; our interchange of visits
and good fellowship was frequent, but our means
of hospitality were few ; however, those fellows of
our division, the Guards, were accused of " rough-
ing it on a beefsteak and a bottle of port," which,
no doubt, they always did, like the rest of the
army, when they could get it, but never otherwise.
Apropos to " the gentlemen's sons," as they were
called, I may here narrate an anecdote in allusion
to them, although it did not occur till many years
after in England.

At a supper at Hatfield House, in Hertfordshire,

172 THE GUARDS.

Sir John S , Bart., and Colonel H. B ,

afterwards Lord D , entered into an animated

discussion on the respective merits of the Guards
and the Line ; they became warm in defence of
their individual opinions, and at last appealed to
the Duke of Wellington, who was present. " Oh!"
he said, " I am all for the Guards — all for the
Guards." One of the disputants rejoined, " I told
you so ; those fellows in silk stockings and shoes
have more blood about them, and blood will tell."
" Ah !" said the Duke, " I did not mean that ; I
meant the non-commissioned officers." The Duke
certainly gave strong proof of his estimation of the
merits and good conduct of the non-commissioned
officers of the Guards; for during the period I
happened to serve with the First Division of the
army, to which the Second Brigade of Guards be-
longed, he recommended for commissions, as adju-
tants, quarter-masters, and subalterns in different
regiments, no less than fourteen non-commissioned
officers of that brigade. The Duke, on this occa-
sion, seeing the disputants were heated, probably
meant to turn the warm discussion into pleasantry,
and availed himself of the merits of the non-com-
missioned officers for that purpose; for no man's
estimation of the Guards as an entire corps was
higher than that of the Duke of Wellington him-
self. However possible it may be to meet with a
heaven-born Minister of State (although I confess I
really never saw one) , he knew right well that in a

173

less exalted situation there were no such things as
heaven-born non-commissioned officers : somebody
must have created them after their birth. If the
commanding officers, adjutants, captains, and sub-
alterns did not maintain the discipline, and keep up
the system which formed the non-commissioned offi-
cers, who else did ? The estimation in which the
Duke seemed to hold this small portion of his army-
may be gathered from a reference to his general
orders, his despatches, and the way in which he
always spoke of them as a body. No one could
accuse the Duke of being prone to compliment;
downright and truthful expression was his forte ;
and as he seemed to think the first might deterio-
rate from the last, he made no use of it. He was
much more given to saying what he thought of
things and persons, than some people found it con-
venient to hear; and whenever a man desired to
deeply impress his own merit upon the Duke, he
was pretty sure to have, in return, in terse and con-
cise words, the Duke's estimation of him.

From this it may be collected that, in like man-
ner, when he did speak favourably, it might be
relied upon as equally proceeding from the sound
conviction of his own mind, and that he considered
the interest of truth better served by facts than
by fables. Baron Miiffling narrates one of these
short expressions of his confidence and reliance,
which I will venture to copy here. He states this
to have happened between the Duke and himself
on the field of Waterloo, in the morning, imme-

174 DEFENCE OF HOUGOUMONT.

diately after the action had commenced, and says
that he " spoke with the Duke after the battle had
begun, about the strength and weakness of his line
of battle;" and goes on to state, " not fearing for
his centre and left wing, I considered his right
wing the weakest point, and Hougoumont, in par-
ticular, I deemed untenable in a serious assault by
the enemy. This the Duke disputed, as he had
put the old chateau in a state of defence, and
caused the long garden-wall towards the field of
battle to be crenellated ; and he added, ' I have
thrown Macdonell* into it/ an officer on whom
he placed especial reliance." Lieutenant- Colonel
Macdonell, of the Coldstream, commanded the
light infantry companies of the Second Brigade
of Guards in Hougoumont : the Duke's expression
therefore conveys a reliance not only on the officer
in command, but on the troops he commanded.
None on that day of trial, in conduct, endurance,
or discipline, were more severely tested than those
who perseveringly held this post against repeated
attacks by overwhelming numbers. Credit there-
fore must be accorded as due through each grade,
from rank-and-file to rank of commander, to those
who so well fulfilled the duty expected of them
and the confidence placed in them by their great
Commander ;f those not in the chateau equally
responded to his call, and gained his approbation,

* Lieutenant- General Sir James Macdonell, K.C.B., K.C.H.,
Colonel of the 71st Regiment.

f This was afforded at the close of the action by the Duke

THE ARMY AT WATERLOO. 175

as all good troops of every corps and every arm did
on that day. In a paragraph from his Waterloo
despatch he says, " It gives me the greatest satis-
faction to assure your lordship " (the Secretary for
War and Colonies, then Lord Bathurst), " that the
army never upon any occasion conducted itself
better. The division of Guards under Lieutenant-
General Cooke*, who is severely wounded, Major
General Maitlandf, and Major General ByngJ, set
an example which was followed by all§." As to
controversies concerning the merits of individual
corps in relation to each other, I confess I condemn
them. Where all act well and perform their duty,

himself. Baron Muffling goes on to narrate : — " I met the Duke
in the neighbourhood of La Haye Sainte, holding a telescope in
his right hand ; he called out to me from a distance, ' Well ! you
see Macdonell has held Hougoumont.' This was an expression
of pleasure that his brave comrade had answered his expectations."

* Afterwards Sir George Cooke, K.C.B. ; lost an arm at
Waterloo.

t General Sir Peregrine Maitland, G.C.B., Colonel of the 17th
Regiment.

X Now General the Earl of Strafford, G.C.B. etc. etc., Colonel
of the Coldstream Regiment of Guards.

§ The expression attributed to the Duke, " Up Guards, and
at them again!" I have good reason for knowing was never made
use of by him. He was not even with the Brigade of Guards in
question at the time they rose from their recumbent position to at-
tack the Freneh column in their front, and therefore could not well
have t hus addressed them. I never heard this story till long after,
on my return to England, when it was related by a lady at a din-
ner-table; probabU it was the invention of some goodly Botherby.
I remember denying my belief in it at the time, and my view lias
since been sufficiently confirmed. Besides, the words bear no
internal evidence of t Ho style either of thought or expression of
him to whom they were attributed.

176 SICKNESS IN THE ARMY.

the only cause of emulative dispute should be how
to serve their country best by licking her enemies
the most. This is the goal to be reached ; the rest
is all twaddle.

But retournons a nos moutons at Yal des Ayres.
The autumnal rains set in, and the weather was
very bad. There was at this time a good deal of
sickness in the ranks of our army; for example,
out of my own company alone, in strength sixty-
six rank-and-file and four officers, thirty of the
former were sick absent and two sick present, and
of the four latter I was the only one doing duty,
one being wounded and a prisoner, and two sick at
Coimbra. In our battalion there were at this time,
of officers, ten sick absent, four sick present, one
prisoner, one invalided, and two just dead; and
this in proportion was pretty much the same in
other corps. I here had a touch of the ague,
but a light heart and Lamego wine soon made
this enemy retire. At this time too I was much
pressed to try and obtain leave to go home on
some important family matters; but that I also
successfully resisted, although the temptation cer-
tainly was great, to see once more friends and
home; however, I stuck to my colours and the
service, feeling, from the dearth of officers, that
I could not be conveniently spared. I did not
choose to apply for leave of absence; and being
fairly embarked in my profession, it would have
annoyed me to have been absent while active and
brilliant operations were going on, and we pretty

AMUSING CHARACTERS. 177

well knew that our pretended winter-quarters were
all a blind. I therefore remained, in failure of
others, in command of my company.

I had some troublesome although amusing cha-
racters to control. Two of them I especially re-
member : one an Irishman, M'Culloch, whose cap
had been carried off by a shell at Fuentes d'Onor ;
the other a Scotchman, by name Campbell. These
two fellows were comrades, although quite opposite
characters; each retained the unmistakeable type
of his nation ; the opposite quality of disposition
was soothed by the mutual love of ebriosity. This
made the intimacy more piquant. Pat was all
blatheremskite, as they called it in his fatherland,
with some wit, great good humour, and the small-
est possible powers of calculation. Campbell was
a clever, long-headed, canny Scot, and well edu-
cated,— so much so as to have in his knapsack
a small well-thumbed edition of Horace. This
seemed to him in his soberer hours a great re-
source; from it he would quote to his comrades
most unintelligible conversation, which, in his
hard, dry manner, was most amusingly conveyed.
Campbell, through his powers of arithmetic, be-
came the honoured homme d'affaires of his friend
M'Culloch; and when pay-day arrived, Campbell
received the money from the pay-sergeant, and ex-
plained the particulars to his friend. The first
impulse with both on receiving money was, imme-
diately to get drunk ; and, do what one could, by

178 COMICAL SCENE.

remonstrance or punishment, this was not to be
prevented. When drunk, they were most joy-
ously loving friends j but as soon as drunkenness
ceased to be drunk, Campbell could never make
M'Culloch understand the " spee-dalities" of the
account between them, when on the wrong side
of his ledger. They were regularly brought up to
me to see justice done; I generally first accom-
plished this by punishing them both for inebriety,
but their wrangling often put to the test all my
powers of gravity. The Irishman's real or pre-
tended want of comprehension, larded with the
most ridiculous expressions and witty remarks, —
the Scotchman's grave face, cool logic, and au-
thentic arithmetic, pushed with keenness to de-
monstration,— was a never-failing scene served up
monthly to my notice. In those days the very in-
exclusive mode of recruiting the army brought us
acquainted with many ineligible characters; the
necessities of the war being great, scruples against
enlistment were few, — all were fish that came
to the net, and all were indiscriminately taken.
Many fine, gallant, good fellows enlisted from right
and proper motives, and did well ; but still, as ca-
sualties by sickness and the sword prevented the
supply from keeping pace with the demand, at last
anything was taken: even manumitted gaol-birds
were admitted as ' ' food for powder."

This portion of the British army carried along
with it its inconveniences, both in bad example

MILITARY DISCIPLINE. 179

and the necessity of its repression. The mainte-
nance of discipline on service is a very different
affair from managing the system of regularity ac-
complished at home or in colonial garrisons. It
is to the previous tiresome attention to trifles that
is to be attributed the acquired habit of punctu-
ality, order, and obedience. The persevering, un-
varying system instils into the mind of the soldier
at last, not merely the physical, but the moral
obligation in the performance of a requisite duty.
From such training it is that good soldiers are
afterwards made : with the Englishman this takes
time, and requires opportunities which do not oc-
cur on sendee ; for then different and far greater
difficulties arise in maintaining even the ground-
work that had been established. Much depends
not only on individual character, but on the depth
with which that character has been imbued (not to
say inoculated) with the proper virus. In a cam-
paign an immediate change ensues, a strain upon
all former pipeclay ordinances occurs, — more dis-
cretionary power being left at the disposition * of
the soldier in taking care of himself, instead of
being taken care of; he is more his own master;
necessity then becomes the mother of contrivance ;
they have a thousand things to learn for tli
which cannot be taught in barracks and garrisons,
and arc most essential acquirements to enable men
to meet the hardships they encounter. To obtain
the knowledge, under all circumstances, to shift

180 MILITARY DISCIPLINE.

for themselves ; to make the most out of a little ;
to economize rest and food when opportunity af-
fords them ; to show invention and adaptation of
means to ends, and a conservation and economy of
their physical powers ; to maintain a healthy body,
sound feet, and a strong stomach, reserving, ac-
cording to their means, always something to put
into it ; in short, to keep themselves, under diffi-
cult circumstances, in good bodily condition ; — all
this has to be learned by the young soldier and
officer. On this point the Duke of Wellington
was reported to have said, " that he would rather
have one man who had served two campaigns, than
two men who had not served one/' While on this
subject I may remark, that without food or drink
there is no one of Heaven's creation who feels so
small as an Englishman ; whether it proceeds from
want of habit of abstinence, or construction of sto-
mach, the fact was evident. In other nations the
early habit of vegetable diet in preference to ani-
mal food, the temperament of blood, or the effect
of climate, seems to render them better able to
support this kind of privation. To make an Eng-
lishman march up to his mark, or fight up to his
habits, you must feed him : if you do not, he will
plunder, for go without it he will not*. I have
seen Spaniards, Portuguese, French, and even

* As instance of which, I will here give the Duke's opinion, on
the authority of Baron Muffling, who says, that after Waterloo,
" on the march to Paris, the Prussian army made longer marches

SANDALS AND SHOES. 181

Germans, support this species of hardship better
than the English soldier ; he and his horse stand
training in this way worse than any others.

Another material consideration on service is the
men's shoes. After the battle of Salamanca a cir-
cumstance occurred to the First Division of the
army in relation to this. With no immediate
means at hand to supply them with others, they
had fairly marched their shoes off; they adopted
the system of the Spanish muleteers, and resorted
to the raw hides of the fresh-killed bullocks, which
had been slaughtered for their food. They placed
their foot on the warm hide, and cut out a suffici-
ency to cover this most vulnerable part of a soldier's
person, and making a sandal of it marched on with
ease and glee. Afterwards the difficulty was, when
French shoes were taken at the surrender of the
Retiro at Madrid, to induce the men to quit the
easy, well-fitting, and pliant sandal, for the hard and
cumbrous leather shoe. Wisely and advantageously

than the English ; and when in the morning I made my daily
communications to the Duke, I took the liberty of respectfully
calling his attention to this, and suggesting that it would bo brt-
fcflr if lie kepi the same pace as his ally. He was silent at first,
but on my urging bim again to move more rapidly, he said to me,
'Do not press me on this point, for I tell you it won't do. If
you were better acquainted with the English army, its composi-
tion and habits, you would say thesame. I cannot separate from
my tents and tnv supplies. My troops must be well kept and well
supplied in camp, if order and discipline are to be maintained.
It is better that I should arrive two days later in Paris, than that
discipline should be relaxed.' "

182 REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS.

to palliate and correct the ills that troops in war
are heir to, is no easy undertaking. The difficulties
are not to be appreciated until officers and men are
fairly embarked in the reality of a Continental
campaign; endurance of severe privation at one
moment, and exposure to temptation at another,
are great disturbers of health and discipline.

Morally and physically to bear and forbear is the
lesson to be learned, — this is the real morale en
action : to tame down the turbulent, and cultivate
a good feeling in the well disposed, are the duties
of the officer, amidst want, fatigue, and demoraliz-
ing influences. He should have tact and discrimi-
nation, and a knowledge of the characters of those
under him. Punishments on service will vary as
much as those who may deserve them ; and the
manner of putting in force what crime may well
merit and example exact, is often difficult and some-
times detrimental, paradoxical as the case may
appear. The main point, however, is to keep up
as kindly and good a feeling between all grades as
is possible ; and when I talk of punishment, I will
not inflict one on my reader by helping him to so
somniferous a subject as a treatise on discipline,
but shall leave that to those whose duty it may be.
All I have to observe in this case is, the immense
improvement, since the time of which I write,
which has been made in the discipline and moral
educational instruction of our army.

October 22nd. — We heard at this time of a

DON JULIAN SANCHEZ. 183

stealthy, clever operation carried out by our friend
Don Julian Sanchez, of guerilla fame, who closely
watched the French garrison of Ciudad Rodrigo.
In the night the enemy were accustomed to send
forth from the town their live-stock to feed on the
glacis, their custom being to withdraw them within
the town again as daylight broke. Julian Sanchez
having obtained information of this, laid wait with
his horsemen, pounced one dark rainy night upon
the supping quadrupeds, killed those in charge of
them, and drove off nearly two hundred bullocks
from under the very guns of the fortress. This
loss being made evident to the Governor next morn-
ing, he came out himself, with an escort, to recon-
noitre j and, when at no great distance beyond the
range of his own artillery, they suddenly received
an unexpected and equally impromptu visit from
the same guerilla chief, who, having killed and
wounded some in the onslaught, took all the rest
prisoners, including General Renaud and his two
aides-de-camp; but afterwards the two last con-
trived to make their escape. The Light, Third,
and Fourth Divisions were at this time between
the Coa and the Agueda, distantly watching the
garrison of Rodrigo. The First, Fifth, Sixth, and
Seventh, together with the greater part of our
artillery, were placed, for the sake of provisions,
in an extended order from the frontier to as far
back as the Val de Mondego.

The rainy season set in with all its wonted

184 UNCOMFORTABLE QUARTERS.

vigour : tremendous storms of thunder and wind
drove the rain against the barren mountains by
which we were surrounded ; these last disgorged
what they received in foaming watercourses, de-
scending in jumping torrents past dwellings beneath,
and rendering both rivers and roads impassable.
Few of the cottages we were destined to inhabit
could be considered in that state of repair that
English architects would considerately pronounce
wind, water, or weather proof. However, to be
under cover at all in such a season was a luxury
which did not last very long. On the 1st Novem-
ber we received orders to march next morning to
Acores, and from thence to proceed to bivouac near
Gata. We commenced our march, and had nearly
reached Lagiosa, when we were happily counter-
manded, and very thankfully returned to Graciosa
and Val des Ayres.

From its want of novelty the prospect of bivou-
acking in a mist, with spongy ground for a bed,
could always be dispensed with by us without re-
gret. Such anticipations remind me of a learned
acquaintance of mine, of antiquarian propensities,
who, in perfect seriousness, on visiting Rome, de-
clared he did not think that the interior of the
Pantheon looked comfortable ! What my worthy
friend meant to predicate by this is not easy to de-
termine— probably that he found in his temporary
visits small " indoor relief," to use a union-house
phrase ; while, on the other hand, in bad weather

ARROYO MOLINOS. 185

we had a constant lively sense of the inconveni-
ences of " the outdoor" system.

Soon after our return to our lately left quarter,
we heard of General HuTs* successful surprise in
the south of General Girard's force at Arroyo Mo-
linos. These movements were well planned and
equally well executed. A small movable column,
under Girard, had been foraging between the
Tagus and the Guadiana, in the neighbourhood of
Caceres, and preventing our allies, the Spaniards,
under Morillo, from supporting his troops from
that quarter. Lord Wellington ordered Hill to
drive the enemy away, who advanced, on the 26th
of October, to Malpertida de Caceres for that pur-
pose. The enemy withdrew to Arroyo Molinos,
leaving a rear-guard at Albala. Hill saw his ad-
vantage, and promptly seized it, by a forced night
march on a shorter parallel road, and reached,
without their knowledge, Alcuesca, only a league
distant from the enemy f. The village of Arroyo
was situated in a plain, and behind it a sierra, or
ridge of rocks, rose in the form of a crescent.

During the night, though the weather was dread-
ful, no fires were permitted in the Allied camp,
and at two o'clock in the morning of the 28th,
the troops moved to a low ridge, only half a mile
distant from Arroyo. Behind this they formed
into three columns, the infantry on the flanks, the

* Afterwards Lord Hill, Commander-in-Chief of the Army,
t See Napier.

186 THE ENEMY SURPRISED.

cavalry in the centre; and before daylight, on a
misty, stormy October morning, which favoured
their approach, the left wing moved direct upon
the enemy, while the other infantry column and
cavalry, with the guns, directed their march to the
right, and intercepted the enemy's retreat by flank-
ing it, and reached the other side, with the view of
entirely cutting off their escape. One brigade of
Girard's had marched early in the morning, and
were out of harm's way, but the rest, Dambrou-
ski's infantry and Bridie' s cavalry, were found in
happy ignorance of danger, comfortably prepar-
ing for their march, their horses of the rear-guard
unbridled and tied to olive-trees, the infantry
only gathering to form outside on the Medellin
road, and Girard himself in his quarters waiting
to mount his horse, when Howard's Brigade, the
50th, 71st, and 92d entered pellmell amongst them,
the last two regiments charging down the street,
and the Highland pibrochs singing forth the old
Jacobite air of " Johnny Cope, are ye rising yet ?"
The enemy, — that is, those who could escape, —
after some hard fighting and struggling, were
driven to the end of the village, the 50th securing
those who had been captured. The remainder
of the French formed in squares outside, and co-
vered the main body of their horsemen on the left.
Cadogan, with the 71st, lined the garden- walls, and
opened a galling fire on the nearest square; the
92nd cleared the village, and formed upon the ene-

PURSUIT. 187

my's right j the Spanish cavalry skirted the houses,
to endeavour to intercept their line of retreat. The
guns opened on the French squares; our 13th Dra-
goons captured their artillery ; the 9th Dragoons
and 2nd German Hussars charged their cavalry,
and entirely dispersed it with great loss; Girard
was wounded, but still kept his infantry together,
and continued his retreat by the Truxillo road ; his
men were falling by fifties, and his situation was
desperate, but on further retiring he found the
road closed by the right column of the Allies, while
Howard's Brigade were pressing and coming up
fast on his front. Nothing being left for it, the
enemy now, sooner than surrender, broke, and
throwing away their arms and knapsacks, endea-
voured to escape singly by scaling the almost inac-
cessible rocks of the sierra, which overtopped the
village and the roads. They were pursued even in
this attempt, by the 28th and 34th, led by Gene-
ral Howard, who followed them step by step up
the rocks, and many prisoners were made. Girard,
wounded, and Dambrouski and Briche escaped with
about GOO out of 3000 men, and after wandering
in the Guadalupe mountains, crossed the Guadiana
at Orrclano, and joined Drouet. The spoil was,
all the French artillery, baggage, and commissariat,
together with two generals taken (Brun and Prince
d'Arenberg), thirty other officers, and 1300 pri-
soners. A private of the 92nd took Prince d'Aren-
berg. The loss of the Allies was not more than

188 A WINTER MARCH.

seventy killed and wounded ; but Strenowitz of the
German Hussars, to whom I have before alluded
as having distinguished himself, being on this
occasion too forward in the pursuit, was made
prisoner. On the application however of General
Hill to General Drouet, the latter kindly released
him. Lord Hill, speaking of the troops under him
in his despatch to Lord Wellington, says : — " No
praise of mine can do justice to their admirable
conduct ; the patience and goodwill shown by all
ranks during forced marches in the worst of wea-
ther, their strict attention to the orders they re-
ceived, the precision with which they moved to the
attack, and their obedience to command during
the action ; in short, the manner in which every
one has performed his duty from the first com-
mencement of the operations, merits my warmest
thanks, and will not, I am sure, be passed unob-
served by your Lordship."

On the 24th of November we suddenly received
an order to move ; we were to leave our baggage
behind at Val des Ayres, and to march directly in
advance to the frontier. It was a hard frost, and
the weather was severely cold; we left Graciosa
about midday, to climb one of those bleak off-
shoot ranges of the Serra d'Estrella, the top of
which last is, in summer and winter, covered with
snow. In our ascent, we faced the iced wind rush-
ing down from the mountain's hoary head, which
was sufficient to cool the hottest temper, or chill

SCARCITY OF PROVISIONS. 189

the warmest heart : keen and piercing were the
effects to those exposed to it. Over this wild,
barren country, we this day marched six long Por-
tuguese leagues, equivalent to twenty-four English
miles, and did not reach till midnight the miser-
ble village of Regiosa, where we halted. Being
very unwell, and only just recovered from an in-
flammation of the chest, followed by ague and fever,
I remember this day's march right well: great
weakness and raging headache were my disagree-
able companions in this day's pedestrianism. It
was too cold to mount my horse, and I led him.
On our arrival we had two companies and three
officers of our battalion put under cover at this
poor place : it could hold no more, and scarcely
even these. The rest were dispersed about in dif-
ferent small villages, so as to put our men under
roofs, — a desirable object, as far as health went, at
this season, in these cold and mountainous regions.
In thus dispersing the troops, by some blunder-
ing our two companies found themselves deserted
by the Commissary, and were left without rations.
Those men who had the savoir-faire about them,
and had economized their prior stock of biscuit,
now conveniently discovered it, perhaps at the bot-
tom of their haversacks; but those who had not,
were left for six-and-thirty hours without food, or
any means of procuring it. Luckily I discovered
in my portable larder (a fishing basket attached
to my horse's saddle) one biscuit and a small piece

190 OBJECT OF THE MARCH.

of cheese, which was divided amongst three of us ;
then, thanking our stars that we were on the right
side of the door of a house, we made in our smoky
hovel the best fire we could, stretched ourselves on
the ground in our cloaks before it, and slept till
daylight roused us once more to renew our march.

We moved three leagues to Aldea de Dona, and
next day to Nave d'Aver. The occasion of our
thus closing up to the frontier, was the assembly,
in the neighbourhood of Tamames, of some 14,000
of the enemy, to convey fresh cattle and a com-
mander into Ciudad Rodrigo, in lieu of those lately
filched from that fortress by Julian Sanchez. Lord
Wellington fully meant to cross the Azava and the
Agueda, to attack them with his whole force, in
their charitable attempt to succour their friends,
for which purpose all our divisions had been moved
in concentration to between the Coa and Agueda ;
but, unluckily, the weather had been so bad, and
the rain so abundant, that it rendered the fords of
the Azava and Agueda impassable. Taking ad-
vantage of this, General Thiebault seized the occa-
sion, introduced the convoy and the new Governor
General Barrie, and precipitately retired, before we
could get at him across these waters.

Having previously, in winter, been in the south
of Portugal, or the neighbourhood of Lisbon, we
were unaccustomed to sharp cold ; and on reach-
ing the high plateau of open country, on which
Nave d'Aver stands, we felt it more severely. The

AN ELEGY. 191

rivers remained flooded, but the frost was still as
hard as in a more northern latitude; the hovels
of Nave d'Aver formed but a polite excuse for a
covering. We sat, when indoors (for in-windows
we could not call it, there being none beyond bro-
ken shutters), wrapped in our cloaks, on the family
household chests of the poor inhabitants, round a
brazarico, or pan of hot ashes, to warm the extre-
mities of man ; a joke or a cigar in our mouth, to
console the stomach or brush up the intellect ; our
drink, when we could get it, some kind of wine
or alcohol, to fill the internal portion of human
nature's commissariat depot. These, together with
a sincere good wish for a better abode, a battle,
or anything, in short, that would circulate the
blood or interest the mind, formed our desiderata ;
though we bore our hardships with the true spirit
of well-tried, red-coated philosophers.

As I have hitherto depicted our situation in
prose, I may now, perhaps, venture to give a poe-
tical description thereof, in the shape of

&n lElegg,

By a Subaltern Officer in Cantonments on the Banks of the Coa
in 1811.

Tn these dark, wretched, and unfurnish'd cells,
"Where many a moping, half-starved hero dwells,
And erer-musing Bfelanchofy reigns,

What mean lliesc tumults in an ensign's v.
Whence come thoe t witchings that invade repose?
Is it roast-beef, or shadows cross my nose,

192 AN ELEGY.

Which, eager, snuffing up the tainted air,
Fancies it feasts on culinary fare?
Vain shadows, hence! nor dare to sport with one
So sad, so comfortless, so woe-begone,
Whose clamorous bowels cease to know good cheer-
Hunger in front, starvation in the rear.
Night's sable mantle now wraps nature up,
Now bucks to dinner go, and cits to sup ;
Deep lost in sleep, around, my comrades snore,
Whilst I, awake, my adverse fate deplore ;
Groan to the night's dull ear my lonely grief,
And sigh for England, and her fine roast-beef.
Oh ! plenteous England, comfort's dwelling-place,
Blest be thy well-fed, glossy, John Bull face ;
Blest be the land of aldermanic paunches,
Of rich soup turtle, glorious ven'son haunches !
Inoculated by mad martial ardour,
Why did I ever quit thy well-stored larder ?
Why, fired with scarlet fever in ill time,
Come here to fight and starve in this curst clime ?
In vision now I only feasts prepare,
And, waking, feed like poets, on thin air.
My days lag tardily on leaden wings,
And night no comfort, no refreshment brings ;
For though, oppress' d with toil, I seek for ease,
Nature's restorer flies from scoundrel fleas,
Who, e'en more num'rous than Arcadia's flocks,
Bite from my nightcap to my very socks,
And swarm all o'er, and thick infix their smarts,
As erst on Gulliver pour'd pigmy darts,
When fast by Lilliputian fetters bound,
He fumed, and swore, and bellow' d on the ground.
Now, while o'er all around uncertain sleep
Prevails, alone I my sad vigils keep,
Let me, like Philomel, pour forth my sorrow, —
The sad detail that fresh awaits tomorrow.
First, milkless tea presents the morn's repast,
MiscalTd a breakfast, but in truth a fast ;

AN ELEGY. 193

Harsh, mouldy biscuit, served in portions spare,
By niggard Commissary's frugal care ;
No butter, no fresh eggs, no mutton-chops,
No crisp brown toast, such as spruce waiter pops,
In London coffee-house, beneath your beard,
When thrice the well-pull'd hungry bell is heard j
Not e'en a cup or saucer decks the board,
But from the haversack's foul motley hoard
A vessel's dragg'd, ten thousand debts to pay,
Doom'd to ten thousand uses, night and day.
Then dinner ; oh, ye gods! who deign to stoop
To mortal's moans, contemplate this our soup.
See the smoking bullock's thin lean flanks,
Portion' d in morsels through the famish' d ranks j
See in camp kettles all we have to dine,
Yielding soup meagre that would frighten swine.
Such the two sorry meals — but two — alas !
And these scarce e'en enliven'd by a glass.
'Twere impious to insult the god of vines,
Profane his sacred juice, his rosy wines,
By calling wine the rank, sour, scanty stuff,
Which " special favour" gives, nor gives enough.
Can such repasts be meant to feed and drench
Great Britain's heroes, sent to fight the French ?
Better at home, in some dark cellar vile,
Mend shoes as cobbler, than starve here in style ;
Or muffins cry, or occupation meek
Ply in St. Giles's, for a pound a week.
Ye fat rich citizens of London town,
Who roll in coaches, and who sleep in down,
Upraised by trade, who wallow in your wealth,
And snug o'er claret drink " the army's health,"
Turn here your eye, and give a pitying stare \
Come, and behold how we lank warriors fare.
Think not of ball-room strut, or lounging gait
In public walks, our military bait
To catch your daughters, oft ten-thousand prize,
Our gold and scarlet sparkling like their eyes j

194 AN ELEGY.

But see the crimson'd coat seam'd o'er with stitches,
The torn, degen'rate, regimental breeches ;
Behold how pale and worn the once brisk sash is,
See the last relics of these spatterdashes.
The ci-devant gay suit now alter' d grown, —
All glare, all brilliancy, all splendour gone.
Hail, sweet recruiting service ! pleasing toil,
Ball-room campaigns, tea-parties, cards, dice, Hoyle :
Ye days when dangling was my only duty,
Envied by cits, caress' d by every beauty,
Dreaded by mothers, trembling at each glance
Shot at their daughters going down the dance.
Ah ! how tormenting memory sad reviews
Those happy hours when in silk hose, thin shoes,
And sprightly scarlet, much the tailor's pride,
I lounged and flatter' d at the fair one's side !
Away, curs'd busy fancy ; leave this vision ;
Increase not misery by keen derision !
Away, quick hasten from these dreary walls ;
Attend soft heroes to their plays and balls !
Pleasure's fled hence, wide now the gulf between us ;
Stern Mars has routed Bacchus and sweet Yenus.

I can no more ; the lamp's last fading ray

Reminds me of parade ere break of day,

"Where shiv'ring I must stand, though bleak the morning,

Housed by the drummer's hateful warning.

Come then, my boat-cloak, let me wrap thee round,

And snore in concert, stretch'd upon the ground,

Midst all these sleepers, grunting in their nooks ;

Oh ! may I dream of frying-pans and cooks,

Pots, spits, and larders, and when on viands fall,

Guzzle with aldermen of famed Guildhall.

And haste the day when I, on Albion's shore,

May stuff and cram till I can cram no more :

Haste the blest night when deep shall sink this frame

In fields of feathers, not in fields of fame.

A VIEW OF CIITDAD RODR1GO. 195

The above parody on Pope's 'Abelard* came
from Gallegos, the cantonments of the Light Di-
vision, and was printed by the perambulating press,
established at head-quarters to facilitate the pro-
mulgation of Lord Wellington's orders. The few
copies struck off fell amongst the personal friends
of the author ; some still living may recognize the
attempt to turn privations into pleasantries, and
to "laugh in care's face." These lines at the time
obtained popularity and circulation without the
aid even of booksellers or publishers. It was the
author of ( The Pleasures of Hope/ I think, who
said that he " forgave Buonaparte all his delin-
quencies, in consideration of his having, on one
occasion, shot a bookseller." This remark surely
ought to have come from the author of ' The Plea-
sures of Memory.' I may say of the originator
of the elegy, that while I leave to others the appre-
ciation of the author's fancy, I reserve to myself a
sure and lively remembrance of the truthfulness
of his facts.

The bracing weather had the advantage of driv-
ing away my ague. In the absence of our Adjutant,
who had departed on a visit to Lord Wellington,
at head-quarters, his duties devolved upon me,
which increased my occupations ; nevertheless, I
contrived to find time to take a gallop with another
officer towards Cindad llodrigo, for the purpose of
obtaining a sketch of the town and its environs.
I passed our outposts, and proceeded three miles

196 GOOD QUARTERS.

beyond them, as these only extended as far as the
heights of Marialva, near Carpio.

We reached the enemy's vedettes, when they
sent out a patrole after us, but I had accomplished
what I wished before they made their approach.
As in the state of the rivers nothing further
could now be done with the enemy, we were put
en route on the 30th of November for Navas, on
our way to Pinhel, which we reached on the 1st of
December. This town, though subjected to the
frequent dilapidating occupation of the French,
was a good quarter, not ill supplied with the re-
quisites to render a sojourn there agreeable. Sir
Thomas Graham, and the head-quarter staff of our
division, took up their abode in one of its chief
houses ; and we now began once more to use our
best ingenuity to make our men's quarters com-
fortable and clean, and to strain our inventive fa-
culties towards the same end, in favour of our own
abodes. I luckily had, in common with a com-
rade, a quarter with the astounding luxury of
glazed windows to it : such palatial grandeur sel-
dom in these days fell to the lot of a subaltern in
that country ; but we were not long destined thus
to be framed and glazed.

The anticipatory idea of comfort was added to
in no slight degree by the hospitality of the Chief
of our Division*, at whose table I frequently found
myself a guest. However, c ' a change came o'er the

* Sir Thomas Graham.

A FAMILY MANSION. 197

spirit" of this dream, for I was shortly after sent out
of town with my company to the Quinta de Toro,
a mile and a half from Pinhel, on the road to Ce-
lorico. This had been a fine old chateau, the pro-
perty of a Portuguese Fidalgo, who had fled on the
French invasion. The enemy had done much da-
mage, but there were still remaining some habit-
able rooms, with a great deal of fine old tapestry,
and many other signs left of the better and happier
days it had been witness to. I know nothing more
melancholy than to visit a fine old family mansion
in a state of half-ruin ; somehow I am apt, in my
" mind's eye," to repeople it with its former occu-
pants from generation to generation, and fancy all
the youthful aspirations of hope, love, and kindly
feelings that these chambers had encompassed in
bygone days, mixed, no doubt, with fears, disap-
pointments, anxieties, or distress, and " all the ills
that man is heir to." To my mind there is some-
thing in the scenes of past pleasure or pain which
sanctifies the spot where they have occurred.

Poor human nature had here played its high
pranks; the chambers, with the broken remnants
of furniture, bore silent testimony to all that once
had been, but was no longer. Lodged in the
Quinta of a Portuguese noblemen, seated in a
park, with the Coa's tributary streams running
through it, surrounded with woods, and encom-
passed by walls, I began to fancy myself transmo-
grified into that beau ideal of English good taste

198 ALMEIDA.

— a country gentleman. The banished owner (and
his (t forbears/' as they are called in Scotland) often
came to my thoughts, although I knew them not, or
ever did know them; even their names are now for-
gotten, although then familiar to me. Foreign in-
vasion had sent them forth wanderers from their
hearths and home; they fled to Oporto, or else-
where, rather than witness or expose themselves
to personal insult or the ravages of war. Their
forced absence was but an episode in such inroads
on their country.

We found in these domains some game, and
woodcocks in plenty, which afforded us not only
the pleasure of exhilarating exercise, but a profit
to our table.

This was too good to last. On the 17th I was
sent, with a detachment of my regiment, on a
working party, to the fortress of Almeida. This
frontier stronghold was almost in a state of ruin ;
hardly a roof was left on any house. The French
siege of it in 1810, the explosion of the magazine
on that occasion, Brennier's destruction of the
works on his abandoning the town in 1811, the
precipitate mischief done by Packe on Marmont's
advance against Spencer in the summer of the
same year, rendered both the town and its fortifi-
cations a chaos. Two faces of the scarp and para-
pet of this hexagon-formed work (that to the west
and south) had been blown into the ditch, and the
guns buried in the ruins. The works were now

SECRET PREPARATIONS. 199

again undergoing repair, to place them in a state
of sufficient defence against a coup de main. Our
battering train had also arrived here, composed of
seventy-eight heavy pieces of ordnance. A great
number of cars were also in course of construction,
to facilitate the conveyance of ammunition; and
we were occupied in making fascines and gabions,
and rapidly preparing, in every way possible, for
carrying into effect the immediate siege of Ciu-
dad E-odrigo. The dilapidated state of Almeida,
and the arrival of our heavy artillery, served as
an excuse to the enemy for our operations, which
they believed were confined merely to defensive
measures of precaution, in preparing and arming
this Portuguese frontier fortress.

Under this blind Lord Wellington put forth all
his and our energies to hasten the preparations for
the siege of the Spanish frontier fortress. The
Light and Third Divisions were moved nearer to
Ciudad Rodrigo; he called together all the ge-
neral officers and heads of departments, not as a
council, for he was not in the habit of asking other
people's opinions on professional matters, but to
give them his own. Having acquired the neces-
sary information for himself, he admitted of no
advice from others ; he well digested and reflected
on what he intended to accomplish, and, having
made up his own mind, he laid down his instruc-
tions and gave his orders to carry them into effect,
and on all possible occasions superintended their

200 THE MASTER MIND.

execution : he really was a chief on whom all de-
pended. What a contrast is this with Baron
Muffling' s descriptions of the councils of war, even
within the Prussian army itself, in the campaigns
of 1813 and 1814; the scenes described between
himself, Gneisenau, and others, concerning the
movements of their army; the open wranglings,
coolnesses, jealousies, and differences in the Allied
German Divisions of the same nation ! How, with
such a system and want of unity in command,
they brought matters to the result they did, is
surprising. With us no time was lost in dispute
or clashing opinions : one master mind prevailed
throughout the whole of our campaigns ; he tho-
roughly comprehended and taught others to exe-
cute that which he required. This was an im-
mense advantage, and resulted (though frequently
under most difficult circumstances) in entire suc-
cess. Being placed whilst at Almeida under the
orders of the engineer officers, we lived entirely
with them. After accomplishing our work we
once more returned to Pinhel, and to our former
country abode of the Quint a de Toro. A mail,
— ay, news from England — dear old England ! — a
bundle of friendly letters awaited my arrival. No
one but those who have experienced long delay
and doubtful silence can sufficiently appreciate the
pleasure derived from receiving in a distant land
letters from home; circumstances at other times
of small import then appear matters of deep inte-

RESULTS OF THE CAMPAIGN. 201

rest; the slight indisposition of a friend, or the
death of some favourite old dog, casts a deeper re-
gret,— the success, health, or happiness, of those
you love, bestows a greater pleasure. In distance
and uncertain absence the thoughtful minds and
kind hearts whose affections guide their pens, af-
ford invaluable testimonials to the longing recipi-
ents of them, particularly when one calculates the
chance that they come from friends you "ne'er
may see again." On again reaching my regiment
I found that my comrades, in our absence, had
been at work as well as ourselves, although not
quite on the same objects. Out of an old room
they had constructed a theatre, and had got up
amongst them the comedy of ' The Heir at Law/
while we of the working parties to Almeida had
been preparing for ' The Tragedy of the Siege and
Capture of Ciudad Rodrigo.' The former intended
theatrical representation was in a most untimely
manner interrupted by the operations requisite for
the latter. But before entering on a new year, or
commencing another campaign, I may venture, in
conclusion, to observe that this was begun on the
6th of March, and might be said to have closed in
the December following; that Portugal had been
completely liberated from French possession ; and
through numerous minor and two general actions
and one siege Lord Wellington had established his
army on a firm defensive footing on the northern
frontier, holding the retaken fortress of Almeida,

202 RESULTS OF THE CAMPAIGN.

while Lord Hill's corps was left to cover the south-
ern portion of that kingdom. In these manoeuvres
and movements, of nine months' duration, our di-
vision had marched 849 English miles; without
at all looking on such exercise as extraordinary, it
was, at least, sufficient to keep our men in good
wind, hardy condition, and sound understandings.

203

CHAPTER VIII.

SIEGE OF CIT7DAD BODEIGO. — POET EENATTD. — A COLD NIGHT. —
CHANGE OF PLAN. — WOBKING IN THE TEENCHES. — UNWEL-
COME VISITOES. — THE METHODICAL CAPTAIN. — OPENING OF
THE BATTEBIES. — CEAFFTJED'S ELOQUENCE. — STOEMING THE
TOWN. — LOOKING FOE THE GOVEENOE. — STTEEENDEB.

In September of 181 1, after Marmont had re-
lieved Ciudad Rodrigo, and subsequently replaced
the cattle and Governor stolen from it by Julian
Sanchez, the French Commander fell back to Sa-
lamanca, and eventually to Valladolid, with the
greater part of his forces. " At this time also,
17,000 of the Imperial Guards were withdrawn
by Napoleon for his Russian campaign, and above
40,000 troops of the enemy, of different arms, had
quitted Spain on the same errand. The rest of
their armies were spread over an immense extent
of country. Marmont, deceived by the seemingly
careless winter attitude of the Allies, and for the
accommodation of provisioning his troops," and
watching the guerilla corps, was at a greater dis-
tance from Ciudad than would enable him to as-

204

semble his army with facility to succour and sup-
port it on a sndden emergency ; besides, his atten-
tion, at this time, was turned towards the opera-
tions going on in the east of Spain. Lord Wel-
lington, well prepared, seized the opportunity he
had long looked for; and, in spite of the incle-
mency of the season, suddenly and at once invested
the fortress and commenced the siege.

It was at daybreak on a bitter cold morning, on
the 4th of January, that our division started from
their cantonments to take part in this siege, and
commence the campaign of 1812. The Light,
First, Third, and Fourth Divisions, with Packers
Portuguese Brigade, were destined for this service,
and were concentrated, in the first days of Janu-
ary, in the neighbourhood of our old battle-field,
the banks of the Azava and Agueda. Across this
latter river a bridge had been thrown at Marialva,
by Lord Wellington,

Our first day's march, of sixteen miles, towards
the scene of our new operations, was bad enough
in respect to weather and roads ; but, on reaching
the half-roofless houses of As Navas, matters were
still worse. He who had a soul for music might
possibly view the creeks and crannies of our shel-
terless habitations with harmonious intentions, for
many were the sites admirably adapted for the in-
troduction of the iEolian harp; the less tasteful
however, and the unmusical, who felt not the at-
tributes of that which ' l soothes the savage breast,"

DIFFICULTIES OF TRANSPORT. 205

did not appear to have an adequate sense of the
pleasures of their situation. In addition to other
difficulties, we had to depend, for the transport of
food, and all the requisite material for our opera-
tion, on our friends and allies, the Spaniards and
Portuguese. The way in which this was accom-
plished is best shown by Lord "Wellington's own
words : in writing to Lord Liverpool, he says : —
"What do you think of empty carts taking two
days to go ten miles on a good road ? After all, I
am obliged to appear satisfied, or they would de-
sert. At this season of the year, depending upon
Portuguese and Spaniards for means of having
what is required, I can scarce venture to calculate
the time which this operation" (the siege) "will
take ; but I should think no less than twenty-four
or twenty-five days. If we do not succeed, we shall,
at least, bring back upon ourselves all the force
that has marched away ; and I hope we may save
Valencia, or, at all events, afford more time to the
Austrians and Galicians, etc. If we do succeed,
we shall make a fine campaign in the spring."

On the 6th, head-quarters were moved to Ga-
llegos. Lord Wellington, attended by Colonel
Fletcher, Chief Engineer, and some officers of the
staff, made a reconnoissance of the place; they
crossed the Agueda by the fords about two miles
below the town; and, unattended by any escort,
reached several points from which they obtained a
sufficient view of the defences (of the fortress) to

206 COMMENCEMENT OF OPERATIONS.

decide on the attack*. Encased, bnt scarcely co-
vered, we remained in a state of ventilation within
the half- wrecked houses of As Navas till the 8th,
when we joyfully moved to Espeja, as a village
nearer to the scene of our future operations, and
affording better shelter from the frost and snow.
Toward sunset we reached the quarters intended
for us during the siege; once ensconced in our
different cottages, we refreshed ourselves with
whatever provisions the Commissary, our own in-
dustry, and a few dollars permitted us to obtain.

About eight o'clock p.m. we were contentedly
sitting round a fire, in the fall enjoyment of cigars
and mulled wine, when a sound greeted our ears —
not of iEolian chords, but the soldier's music — the
cannon — booming forth through the calm frosty
air of the night its sonorous eloquence. We went
forth into the village street ; the cannonade conti-
nued and became heavy; distance, and the wind
in an adverse quarter, prevented our hearing any
sound of musketry, but we saw, by the flashes
from the guns, the horizon lighted far above the
woods and undulating ground which intervened
between our village of Espeja and the town of
Ciudad. A large assembly of officers and men
were collected, in order to try to make out results
from sound, but to little purpose beyond ascertain-
ing that, as the cannonade continued throughout
the night, the siege had begun. We thought that
* See Jones's ' Sieges.'

THE TOWN RECONNOITRED. 207

we should have had the honour of taking the ini-
tiative in this affair, but it was commenced by the
Light Division in a clever, dashing style, and in
the following manner. Here, before inserting a
further quotation, let me plead my excuse for so
doing. As often as I was not on the spot when
some occurrence took place on which the subse-
quent narrative turns, I have left the relation of it
to the authority either of an eye-witness or of the
able historian of these campaigns ; for, were I to
describe what I did not see with my own eyes, I
might be accused of presumption, and render my-
self liable to the rebuke which Hannibal conveyed
when he happened to hear a distinguished orator
discoursing on the subject of war. He was asked
what he thought of it ; Hannibal replied, " that he
had heard many absurd things in his life, but never
anything half so absurd as this." Would that
some could recall to themselves the Italian pro-
verb : " Chi non sa niente non dubita di niente \n
It would save many a controversy occasioning loss
of valuable time and invaluable patience. But to
return from this digression.

u During the day, everything was kept as quiet
as possible, and an equal examination made of
every side of the town, so as to prevent any suspi-
cion of an immediate effort, or of the point about
to be attacked. The Light Division and Packers
Portuguese Brigade forded the Agueda, near Cari-
dad, three miles above the fortress ; and, making a

208 FORT RENAUD.

circuit, took post, without being observed, beyond
the Tesso Grande, a round hill rising gradually
from the city, on which the enemy had constructed
a redoubt," called after the abstracted Governor,
Fort Renaud. This was distant from the fortified
Convent of San Francisco four hundred yards, and
some six hundred from the artillery on the ramparts
of the place. <c The Light Division remained quiet
during the day, unperceived by the enemy ; and,
as there was no regular investment, the enemy
had no idea that the siege had commenced ; but as
soon as it became dark a brigade formed under
arms on the northern side of the Upper Teson,
and a working party of 700 men paraded in their
rear, in two divisions of 300 men and 400 men
respectively, the former intended to make a lodg-
ment near the redoubt as soon as it should be car-
ried, and the other to open a communication to it
from the rear. At eight p.m. Lieutenant-Colonel
Colborne*, with three companies of the 52nd
regiment, advanced along the Upper Teson to the
assault of the redoubt. The garrison of the work
discovered the assailants when about .150 yards
distant, and had time to fire two or three rounds
from their artillery (two guns and a howitzer) be-
fore the escalade commenced. Lieutenant Thom-
son of the engineers, who accompanied the de-
tachment with a party of sappers, carrying scaling
ladders, fascines, axes, etc., on arriving at the
* Now Lieutenant- General Lord Seaton.

FORT RENAUD. 209

counterscarp, finding the palisades to be within
three feet of it, and nearly of the same height, im-
mediately placed the fascines from the one to the
other, and formed a bridge by which a part of the
storming party walked over the palisades, and
jumped into the ditch, when, finding the scarp
without a revetment, they readily scrambled to the
top of the parapet, and came into contact with the
bayonets of the defenders.

"Whilst this was going forward in front, another
party went round to the gorge, where there was no
ditch, and forced over or through the gate; thus
enveloped on every side, the resistance was short,
and of fifty men, the garrison of the redoubt, four
only escaped into the town, two officers and forty
men being made prisoners, and three left dead in
the work. The British loss was six men killed,
and three officers and sixteen men wounded. In-
stantly the redoubt was carried, the precaution was
taken of making its rear perfectly accessible, by
breaking down the gates, and forming openings in
its rear enclosure Avail; but in a very short time
the garrison directed such a quick fire into the
work, that it was thought right to withdraw e
one from its interior. The first division of work-
opened a trench on the flank of the redoubt
as a lodgment; and the second division opened the
communication to it from the rear across the Upper
Teson, both of which operations were accomplished
with little loss, as the garrison continued to direct

p

210 THE STORMING PARTY.

nearly all their fire into the work throughout the
night*." Thus the Light Division commenced
the siege. My friend Gurwood of the 52nd was
of the party, and says : — " In my attempt to force
the gate at the gorge we were interrupted by the
enemy throwing over lighted grenades, but, as I
saw the gate was low, I 'went round the angle of the
fort, where I told Lieutenant-Colonel Colbornef
that I thought, if I had a few ladders, I could get
in at the gorge ; the ladders were furnished, but
were, however, of no use, for before they were
placed the gate was suddenly blown open. I
rushed into the fort, accompanied by Lieutenant
Anderson of the 52nd and our men, and we met
our other storming party coming over the angle of
the redoubt.

" On our return to camp I went to a shed in the
rear, where, after receiving their wounds in the
assault, Captain Mein and Lieutenant Woodgate
of my regiment had been carried for the night,
and where the lately-captured prisoners were also
lodged until daylight. Here, in conversation with
the French officer of the artillery, I learned the
cause of the gate at the gorge of the redoubt being
blown open, which had appeared so extraordinary
to Lieutenant Anderson and myself. The French
officer told me that a sergeant of artillery, in the
act of throwing a live shell upon the storming
party in the ditch, was shot dead, the lighted shell

* See Jones's • Sieges.' f The present Lord Seaton.

QUICK WORK. 211

falling within the fort ; fearing the explosion of
the shell among the men defending the parapet,
he had kicked it toward the gorge, where, stopped
by the bottom of the gate, it exploded and blew it
open."

The successful night attack of the redoubt on
the hill of San Francisco, otherwise called the
Upper Teson, enabled our people immediately to
break ground within six hundred yards of the
place, notwithstanding the enemy still held the
fortified convents flanking the works of the town.
This was at once a great step gained in time and
progress. The rise on which stood the captured
redoubt was a plateau that extended towards the
city, but suddenly descended to a valley and small
stream. On the opposite side of this, and within
very commodious musket-range of the ramparts
of the town, rose a small round eminence called
the Lower Tcson. The ground was rocky, and in
some parts shingly, and the fire brought to bear
on this attack by the enemy was greater than on
some other points that might have been chosen j
but Lord Wellington selected this in preference to
any other, for he was fighting against time as well
against the garrison, and wished to make short
work of it, by taking the town before Mannont
could possibly attempt to relieve it. On arriving
at Espeja, on the evening of the 8th, our division
had been ordered to cook a day's provisions over-
night, for the next day's service.

212 ECONOMY OF SHOE-LEATHER.

On the morning of the 9th, in darkness, our
battalions assembled for the purpose of relieving
the Light Division. The noise of the city's guns
still continued to disturb the calm of the night,
and their echoes accompanied us as we moved
from the cover of our village to take our share in
the operations of the siege. From the assembled
columns at our alarm post we broke into line of
march, and about nine o'clock reached the ford of
the Agueda. The river was partially frozen, and
the stream rapid and deep, with much ice on the
sides, and two or three feet depth of water in the
shallows. Previous to our descent to take water,
which our fellows did like good poodle-dogs who
had something to bring out of it, the column was
halted and orders received for our men to strip off
their shoes and stockings. On commencing the
unusual operation of denuding their lower extre-
mities, between two high banks in a close and nar-
row lane, we were made fully aware of the absence,
in our neighbourhood, of Houbigant Chardin or
any other dealer in perfumery. Our Commander's
act of consideration for the men, however, proved
of no small comfort, as well as benefit to them,
destined as they were to be exposed to atmospheric
influences for twenty-four hours in a hard frost,
and thus saved both their feet and their shoes.
Passing a second small stream, we arrived about
midday in rear of the Tesso Grande. This hill
concealed our bivouac from the sight of the

WORKING IN THE TRENCHES. 213

enemy's guns, and here were assembled the mate-
rials for the siege and the relief of the Divisions
destined to use them.

The German Legion were the first to relieve the
working parties and guard of the trenches, pre-
viously occupied by the Light Division under
Major-General Sir Robert Craufurd. Our prede-
cessors had obtained for themselves a pretty good
cover during the night; in the day our relieving
parties were occupied in deepening, widening, and
perfecting the approaches to the first parallel. The
garrison threw a good many shells from heavy thir-
teen-inch mortars, and some round shot from the
Convent of San Francisco and the ramparts, but
not with the effect or damage they intended, al-
though the ground was hard from frost and flinty
by nature, and the enemy's missiles were increased
by driving the stones their shot encountered, like
grape, amongst and over our men at work. Soon
after four p.m. our brigade relieved the Germans ;
we had a covering party of 500, and a working
party of 1200 men. The enemy appeared already
to have discovered the time fixed for our reliefs,
being able to see, probably from the top of the
Cathedral, the movements on the plateau of the
Tosso Grande. On entering the trenches they
welcomed us with a pretty brisk cannonade and
fire of shells, a species of cricket-ball that no one
seemed in a hurry to catch; indeed, as an old
cricketer, I may presume to say, that, fortunately,

214 A COLD NIGHT AND WARM FIRE.

the " fielding" was most indifferent. No great
mischief ensued, although some few casualties oc-
curred; and we commenced working on the first
parallel and intended batteries at one and the
same time.

It snowed, and the night was intensely dark
and cold; one of our comrades, a good-natured,
agreeable little fellow, who sang beautifully, put
on three shirts to preserve his voicey for which
care of himself, though his appearance verged on
the globular, we all felt sincerely obliged to him*.
As far as the fire from the ramparts could keep
us warm, the enemy were considerate, both as to
abundance and variety of fuel. They poured a
very heavy shower on our trenches and our conti-
nuation of the first parallel, their calibre of gun
being twenty-four and thirty-two pounders. They
knew pretty well our intention to break fresh
ground in the dark, and were uncomfortably cu-
rious to discover the exact spot of our operations.
During this work my observation was occasionally
drawn to the features and general bearing of our
soldiers ; they seemed " as men on earnest business
bent," stern, and not to be frustrated. The fre-
quent cry of "shot!" or " shellf!" from men posted
on the look-out, to warn us when such left the

* Many years have sped since then ; I hear however that he
still favours his intimate friends with the charms of his song.

t Thirteen-inch mortars threw into the air their iron balloons
from the enemy's ramparts. s

LIGHT WITHOUT HEAT. 215

enemy's mortars, was very harassing. That of
" shot" however was nearly unheeded, as the ball
either passed, struck the outside of the trench, or
knocked some one over, almost as soon as the cry
was uttered. Our party were occupied in breaking
ground, by placing gabions and filling them as fast
as possible ; we excavated the earth on the inner
side, and thus covered ourselves as quickly as we
could.

Captain Ross, the directing engineer of the
night, a most intelligent and excellent officer, was
killed by a round of grape from a gun on the Con-
vent of San Francisco, as he was in the act of
giving us orders. Scarce a moment had elapsed
before a sergeant of our detachment was knocked
over by one of the stones that the round shot from
the town scattered in all directions. Light-balls
flew from the ramparts in frequent parabolas, shed-
ding a red glare on all around, bright enough to
indicate not only our points of operation, but the
very forms ■ of our men as they were working.
Thither the enemy directed their guns, and salvos
of shot and shell immediately followed the dis-
covery. While the glare of light lasted, the shower
of missiles fell so thick in its vicinity that we were
ordered to conceal ourselves till it was over. Then,
again emerging, we recommenced, like moles, to
bury ourselves in the earth, — a curious expedient
to avoid that ceremony at the hands of others.
The French, par pare?ithese, doubtless imagined

216 MORNING VIEW OF THE CITY.

that, like Charles the Fifth, we were rehearsing
our own funeral, and gradually inuring ourselves
to being dead; many of us with a success even
more prompt than attended the apprenticeship of
that hypochondriacal potentate. Although sup-
perless, we worked throughout the night, actively
and to the satisfaction of the engineering officers.
We were anxiously looking out for dawn, which
would test the worth of our night's exertions.

At last early light appeared in the east, streak-
ing like a thread the sky above the mountains.
An interesting panoramic view presented itself
from our trenches on the Tesso Grande. The at-
mosphere was clear, frosty, and bracing ; the sur-
rounding scene bold and beautiful. In the centre of
a large undulating plain, backed by broken ground,
covered with ilex and cork-wood, stood the tall
city, rearing its head over the surrounding level.
The absence of foliage in its immediate vicinity
caused the forms of the buildings to stand out in
hard relief beneath the morning light. The sun's
young rays glanced on the cupolas of its churches
and convents, and made the rising smoke from the
city's early fires look still more blue. In the
far distance were seen the snow-covered Sierras de
Francia and de Gata warmly tinged by the sun-
light, contrasting well with the silver-coloured
stream of the Agueda. For a moment there was
a dead calm, broken only by the occasional boom-
ing of a gun, fired as if in sleepy laziness, which

RETURN TO ESPEJA. 217

perhaps the unusual activity of the previous night
had engendered. The sounds from the guns echoed
through the pure thin air to the distant hills, bound-
ing back again in threefold repetition of defiance ;
while in our front sternly stood the bold fortress
flouting its hostile flag in the morning breeze. The
cannonade was for the present confined to our op-
ponents; as yet we made no response, but were
merely preparing a reply ; when the time did come,
our iron-tongued oratory was the most Convincing,
and prevailed. After fourteen hours' occupation of
the works, and having traced out the three batte-
ries (Nos. 1, 2, and 3), we were relieved, and found
the enemy as much aux petits soins for us as when
we entered the trenches, dismissing us with all
the honours of war. They blazed away with much
noise, but to little purpose. Of our brigade, we
lost, during the whole night's operations, not one
officer, and only six rank-and-file killed and ten
wounded. Colonel Fermor* of the Guards, the
field officer commanding in the trenches, had his
hat shot off by the splinter of a shell, which was
the nearest approach to promotion in his corps
during the night.

A Ye reached our bivouac in rear of the Tesso
Grande, where neither hut, tent, nor scarcely a fire
was to be seen, there being a melancholy deficiency
of material for such accommodation. Tents there
were none, for not until the year after, in the

* Afterwards Lord Pomfivt .

218 CREATURE COMFORTS.

campaign of 181 3, were such save-health essen-
tials issued out to our army*. We formed column
and moved off in march from our barren place
of assembly, to return once more to our country
village quarters, judiciously using the same salu-
tary precaution in repassing the streams we had
adopted in fording them on our advance to the
trenches. About four p.m. we again arrived at
Espeja, and right glad we were to find ourselves
under cover; for —

" Condisce i diletti
Memoria di pene,
Ne sa che sia bene
Chi mal non soffri."

Much to our satisfaction we here greeted Sangui-
netti the sutler, that man of elastic views in moral
and monetary obligations ; he had reached our vil-
lage from Lisbon, with a cargo of hams, porter,
brandy, champagne, tea, cheese, and other comes-
tibles, with which to warm the inward man and
strengthen the body. We now learned that the
enemy had some 15,000 men upon the Upper
Tormes, and that Marmont might be expected to

* " Our own Correspondent" in the l Times,' on the landing of
our troops in the Crimea, expresses his astonishment that " old
generals, young lords, and gentlemen" should bivouac and have
"no bed but a reeking puddle, under a saturated blanket."
From the year 1808 to that of 1813 our army were without
tents ; and many a night, in the four first campaigns in the
Peninsula, and even the nights at Quatre Bras and before
Waterloo, have these " old generals" experienced this unheard-of
hardship.

IN THE TRENCHES AGAIN. 219

make every possible exertion to relieve Ciudad
Rodrigo from our attack. Still, we well knew the
rapid and prompt action of our chief in anything
he undertook, and with perfect confidence we
awaited the result.

On the 11th, at daybreak, most part of our bat-
tering train from Almeida passed through Gallegos
for the trenches on the Tesso Grande ; and on the
13th we again moved towards the city, to resume
our share of industry in accomplishing the batteries
and advances of our works of attack. On our re-
occupation of the trenches, we found progress had
been made, but not so rapidly as could have been
wished : the weather was so cold, and the enemy's
fire so warm, that, in conjunction with the want of
transport for the necessary materials, the labour
had been greatly impeded ; even the greater por-
tion of ammunition for* the battering train was still
waiting conveyance from Villa de Ponte, and Ave
again heard that Marmont was collecting his forces
to succour the place. Every exertion was used to
complete the batteries, but the front they occu-
pied was so very limited, and the garrison direct-
ing their fire against them only, had now attained
the range so accurately, and threw shells so in-
and with such long fuses, that half the
time and attention of the 1000 workmen of our
brigade were directed to self-preservation. To
oppose this heavy fire, it became necessary to
persevere in making the parapets of the batteries

220 CHANGE OF OPERATION.

of sufficient thickness ; and all the excavation be-
ing confined to the interior, both night and day,
the progress of the work was very unsatisfactory,
particularly as, the batteries being on the slope of
the hill, it required considerable height of parapet
to secure their rear*. These causes induced Lord
Wellington to change his plan; and he resolved to
open a breach from his counter-batteries, which
were from 500 to 600 yards distant from the cur-
tain of the enemy's ramparts, and then storm the
place without blowing in the counterscarp.

We found that during the night of the 12th, and
early on the morning of the 13th, in a fog, which
occasionally arose from the Agueda, the Light Di-
vision had dug pits beneath the walls of the city, in
which the 95th Rifles were placed for the purpose
of picking off the enemy's gunners, while too cor-
rectly and to us inconveniently serving their guns.
These pits were little separate excavations in the
earth at some few yards' distance from each other,
and about 150 from the enemy's embrasures. From
our sloping eminence they looked like so many
little graves, and had all the convenience of such,
for, once arrived in them, the occupant was safe
enough ; but as neither sap nor cover of any kind
assured the communication with such deadly holes,
the great danger was in reaching these spots of in-
terment, except under cover of fog or night. From
these counterfeit graves many of the enemy's gun-

* See Jones and Napier.

UNWELCOME VISITORS. 221

ners were put in preparation to inhabit real ones ;
that is, if any of their friends had sufficient deli-
cate attention for them to take the time or trou-
ble to dig them. During this night we again had
sharp work from cold, labour, and our opponents'
destructive intentions. A dropping fire of mus-
ketry from the ramparts continued to visit us, and
two of my party at work on the parapet of No. 2
battery were hit, which, considering the distance
(about 600 yards) and the darkness, was accidental,
although looked upon by us, in those days of shoy*t
ranges, as an extraordinary circumstance. The
enemy's light-balls were constant, and their round
shot and heavy thirteen-inch shells followed in
abundance.

On one of these machines falling perhaps within
a distance from us of only a few feet, the general
order for immediate prostration was given, and
it was curious from this posture to look on our
men's impatient faces while watching the hissing
fuse, and awaiting its expected explosion, which
generally covered those in the neighbourhood with
dust and dirt ; then up once more they were, and
to work again like " good uns." On passing down
the trenches with Lieutenant Marshall of the En-
gineers*, from whom I was receiving instructions
for my portion of the working party, a shell alit
close to us and immediately burst, carrying a

* Afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel Marshall, an energetic man
and good soldier, who was wounded later in this siege.

222 RELIEF.

splinter near to Marshall's head : he showed his
disapprobation of such a liberty by impatiently
exclaiming " Oh, you brute ! " as if the cold pro-
jectile had had any choice in the course it had
taken. A simultaneous flight of these monsters
was puzzling, as it rendered them difficult to avoid,
and had nbt traverses been thrown up in the bat-
teries, the casualties must have been much greater
than they were. At first, these unwelcome visitors
were regarded by us as no joke, but when accus-
tomed to them, our men would laugh at the in-
convenient accidents they occasioned; such as
some fellow in the dark, in endeavouring to avoid
one of these noisy intruders on our privacy, throw-
ing himself into a spot more immediately handy
than choice, and rising from his recumbent posi-
tion adorned with the fortunate attributes of the
Goddess Cloacina. One incident of this kind I
well remember happened to poor Rodney of the
Guards.

This night we got twenty-eight guns into the
trenches, laid the platform, began the second pa-
rallel, and continued the approaches by the flying
sap. The Santa Cruz Convent was surprised and
stormed by the light infantry of the Germans of
our division. This last success relieved us from
a very ugly flanking fire, brought on our working
parties from this most ecclesiastical habitation, and
the right of the trenches was thus secured. Some
of the German officers suffered severely during the

THE METHODICAL CAPTAIN. 223

night's operations; one poor fellow, whose name
time has obliterated from my memory, had both
his legs carried off by a round shot. At three a.m.
we were relieved, our brigade having made good
progress during our eleven hours' work. In the
morning we once more took our road to Espeja,
and again made our pedestrian ablutions in re-
passing the Agueda.

Restored to our village cabin-homes (for a sol-
dier's home is wherever he may happen to sleep),
and cordially greeted by the Spanish peasants, we
indemnified ourselves for past fatigue, by rest and
provender. When off duty in the trenches our
parades were as regular as those in a garrison bar-
rack-yard or " nigger" colony. B , subaltern

to the company next to mine, was a dry fellow,
with considerable humour ; his captain an old of-
ficer and brevet-major. Unlike Voltaire's descrip-
tion of " Le Pere Adam, qui n'etait pas le premier
des hommes*," our Major was an excellent man —
father by seniority of us all, but prim, stiff, exceed-
ingly correct in all he did or said, and with the
best-brushed coat in the battalion. These advan-
tages obtained for him the sobriquet of the Par-
son ; but this name, however well known to " the
young ones," was too much revered ever to be
breathed in presence of its possessor. The morn-
ing after our return from the trenches B was

called over the eonls for appearing late on parade.

* A Jesuit, one of the standing butts of the lively pliilosopher.

224 PROGRESS OP THE SIEGE.

As soon however as he had inspected, told off, and
proved his company, he approached the group of
officers assembled in the centre, and in the most
solemn manner placed in the hands of the captain
of his company its morning state, at the same
time reporting to him, with the greatest gravity
of countenance, that the congregation were in good
order. The shouts of laughter which ensued com-
pensated B for the previous rebuke to which

he had exposed himself.

About four or five p. m. of the 14th, we heard
the increased fire of artillery from the siege, and
knew from it that the medicine we had been pre-
paring over-night, was now in course of adminis-
tration. We were also informed the following day,
that a sortie had been made by the garrison, but
was checked by the working parties in the trenches,
who took to their arms and repulsed the attempt.
In the evening our batteries opened : twenty-five
pieces were directed on the fausse braie and ram-
part, and two against the Convent of San Francisco.
Fifty pieces of cannon replied in hot haste to the
opening of our guns, and the distant hills reverbe-
rated the hostile sound of eighty contending pieces
of artillery. In the night, the other religious sanc-
tuary of San Francisco was stormed, and taken by
the 40;th Eegiment. It would be tedious to reca-
pitulate the same scenes which have already been
described; suffice it to say, on the 17th our Di-
vision again took its turn of duty, and once more

PROGRESS OF THE SIEGE. 225

occupied the trenches. The only difference was,
that our works now approached nearer to comple-
tion, and to the fated city. Lord "Wellington, who
never procrastinated, had ordered a battery to be
formed and armed, to create a smaller breach in a
turret to the left of the larger one. The cannonade
became sharper and more animated. We were no
longer, as when last in the enemy's vicinity, the
only objects acting as targets : the " reciprocity"
now was not all on one side.

We laboured in repairing the batteries and plat-
forms injured by the enemy's shot. The second
parallel was pushed to the Lower Teson, within
180 yards of the ramparts : our defences were made
higher as we descended the slope — firing parties
were mixed with our workmen, to keep up an in-
cessant discharge of musketry on the breach. The
occupants of the little graves, as we called them,
in spite of the infliction of showers of grape from
the town, rendered good service. Still the garri-
son's shot knocked about our new-laid gabions,
injured some of our guns in the batteries, wound-
ed the Commandant of our Artillery, General
Borthwick, and entirely ruined the sap, without the
slightest regard to our taste or convenience. The
casualties of our Division, however, were fortu-
nately very few in proportion to the quantities of
hard material flying about, and the weight of fire
brought on our works. In the morning, in a fog,
we left the trenches. During these duties a feat

Q

226 VEGETABLE DIET.

of gormandizing was performed by a soldier of the
3rd Guards. Vegetables were scarcely ever to be
heard of, gardens hardly to be seen, and the con-
stant visitation of this portion of the frontier pro-
vinces by four armies of different nations did not
by any means assist horticultural pursuits, but ren-
dered the produce of such industry in marvellous
request. The Guardsman was on a piquet in a
garden under the city walls, wherein he devoured
so large a portion of raw cabbage, that, not hav-
ing the stomach of a cow, he died, poor fellow !
Others, stationed in the same paradise of an out-
post, more prudent or less voracious, secured these
rarities to carry off;

And, with sense more canny, and less savage,
* * Took the liberty to boil' their cabbage.

Considerable progress in achieving their object
had been made by our breaching batteries; and
again, as we dragged our slow length along towards
our village shelter, we conversed on the chances of
our Division storming.

On the 20th we should again have charge of
the trenches, and we trusted that by that day the
breach would be practicable ; and as we had had
our share of the dirty work, we hopefully looked
forward to obtain some of the honours. But in
this we were unluckily disappointed.

On the 18th our fire was resumed with increased
violence, and our guns were right well served.

PREPARATIONS FOR STORMING. 227

On the 19th, Major Sturgeon* of the staff corps
having closely examined the place, both breaches
were reported practicable ; our battering guns were
then turned against the artillery of the ramparts,
a plan of attack was formed, and Lord Wellington
ordered the assault for that evening'. The general
order to accomplish his intent was issued in that
direct, succinct, and terse language so peculiar to
himself.

" Head-quarters, Jan. 19th, 1812.

"The attack upon Ciudad must be made this
evening, at seven o' clock f

which sounded very much like, " the town of Ciu-
dad must be taken this evening, at seven o'clock."
The assault occurred under the eye and immediate
superintendence of Lord Wellington. In giving
a sketch of the storming of the town, I shall con-
fine myself to some few details drawn from me-
moranda of my own made at the time, information
obtained from others, actors in the scene, and a
pamphlet printed for private circulation, but not
published, given to me by my friend Gurwood, who
led the forlorn hope at the little breach.

The operation of the assault was confided to the

* Not he of the Mayor of Garret, who, with " Captain Tripe
and Ensign Pattypan, returning to town in the Turnham Green
stage, was stopped, robbed, and cruelly beaten by a single foot-
pad." This Sturgeon was a different guess kind of character. He
was unfortunately killed by a French tirailleur in the south of
France, in 1813, while reconnoitring from a vineyard some of
the enemy's columns.

228 PREPARATIONS FOR STORMING.

Third Division under Picton, who was charged
with the right and centre attack, and that of the
great breach ; the Light Division under Craufurd,
with the left attack on the small breach; and
Packers Portuguese, with a false attack on the re-
verse side of the town. As soon as it was dark,
the Third Division was formed in the first parallel,
the Light Division behind the Convent of San
Francisco, and the Portuguese Brigade on the
Agueda, above the bridge.

They all "in silent muster and with noiseless
march" moved simultaneously to the posts allotted
them. Hay -bags, hatchets, and scaling-ladders were
provided and distributed to each advance party
according to the requirements of their respec-
tive services. The right attack was led by Colo-
nel O'Toole, of the Portuguese Cacadores; the
centre, to the great breach, by Major Manners of
the 74th, with a forlorn hope under Lieutenant
Mackie of the 88th j the left was commanded by
Major Napier of the 52nd, with a forlorn hope
under Lieutenant Gurwood of the same regiment.
The advance or storming parties were composed,
both men and officers, of volunteers : the number
being limited, the selection of the candidates for
this service created amongst the rejected great
jealousy and discontent. All the troops reached
their posts without seeming to have attracted the
enemy's attention*. Lord Wellington, who had

* Grurwood.

CRAUFURD AND ELDER. 229

boon reconnoitring the breaches in the ramparts,
was standing on the top of the ruins of the Con-
vent of San Francisco, and in person pointed out
the lesser breach to Colonel Colborne and Major
Napier ; he addressed the latter by saying, " Now
do you understand exactly the way you are to take,
so as to arrive at the breach without noise or con-
fusion ? " Napier's answer was, " Yes, perfectly/'
Some of the staff observed to Napier, " Why don't
you load?" He replied, "No; if we cannot do
the business without loading, we shall not do it at
all." Lord Wellington instantly turned round,
and exclaimed, " Leave him alone !,J

Craufurd, on all occasions of this nature, like
some Greek hero or Roman leader, was much given
to eloquence, and always addressed to his Division
a speech. It was his usual way, and was more a
habit of his own than one requisite to such men
and officers as composed the Light Division : they
would have done his bidding and their duty at a
simple word of command. The General not speak-
ing Portuguese, called upon Lieutenant-Colonel
Elder*, commanding the 3rd or Villa Real Caca-
dores of the Light Division, to address some ex-
pressions of encouragement to his men. Elder,
though in command of a corps of that nation's
troops, unfortunately was as innocent of the ver-
nacular of their language as the General himself;
Elder's powers of speech, even in his own tongue,

* Afterwards Major-General Sir George Elder.

230 craufurd's eloquence.

did not run to seed or into anything at all ap-
proaching to the oratorical or classical: more
prompt in deed than word, he conveyed his com-
munications to his corps in a kind of Anglo-Por-
tuguese, or rather Portuguese English, a species of
lingua franca peculiar to himself, but which they
understood. His men admired his courage, liked
his conduct, and would have followed him any-
where and everywhere. It is but justice to this
officer to say that his battalion was in the very best
possible state of discipline, and set an example ad-
vantageous for other corps to follow. At this mo-
ment the firing commenced on the right with the
Third Division. Craufurd again impatiently called
out, " D — it, Sir, why do you not obey my orders
and speak energetically to your men ?" Elder was
puzzled, and at last he roared out, " Vamos, Villa
K,3al !" which was about one of the greatest efforts
at eloquence he had ever attempted in his life in
any language. But it was effective. Elder's peo-
ple were destined to carry hay-bags to throw into
the ditch to lessen the depth for the men to jump
down; but as some delay and mistake occurred
in their delivery to the Cacadores, the signal to
advance was given in the meantime. Away went
the storming party of three hundred volunteers
under Major Napier, with a forlorn hope of twenty-
five under Gurwood : they had about three hun-
dred yards to clear before reaching the ditch of the
town : these troops at once jumped in, the fausse

THE LITTLE BREACH. 231

braie in the centre was scaled, and the foot of the
breach was gained j but the ditch being dark and
intricate, Gurwood at first led his party too much
to the left, and missed the entrance to the breach,
but placed his ladders against the wall of the fausse
braie, and thus taking in flank the enemy, who
were defending it, they hastily retired up the breach.
The other stormers went straight to their point.
At this moment the leader of the forlorn hope
was struck down by a wound in the head, but
sprang up again and joined Major t Napier and
Captain Jones of the 5.2nd, together with Captain
Mitchel of the 95th Rifles, Ferguson of the 43rd,
and some other officers, who, at the head of the
stormers, were all going up the breach together.
When two-thirds of the ascent had been gained,
the way was found so contracted, with a gun placed
lengthways across the top, which closed the open-
ing, that our leading men, crushed together by its
narrowness towards the summit, staggered under
their own efforts and the enemy's fire. Such is the
instinct of self-defence, that, although no man had
been allowed to load, every musket in the crowd
on the breach was snapped. At this moment
Major Napier was knocked down by a grape-shot,
which shattered his arm. In falling, he was sup-
ported by Lord March, aide-de-camp to Lord
Wellington, who from impulse had gone with the
storming party into the ditch, but he called to
his men to trust to their bayonets. All the offi-

232 THE ASSAULT.

cers simultaneously sprang to the front, when the
charge was renewed with a furious shout, and the
entrance was gained.

The supporting regiments followed close, and
came up in sections abreast : Lieutenant- Colonel
Colborne, although very badly wounded in the
shoulder, formed the 52nd on the top of the ram-
part, wheeled them to the left, and led them against
the enemy. The 43rd went to the right, and the
place was won. During this contest, which lasted
only a few minutes after the fausse braie was
passed, the fighting continued at the great breach
with unabated violence ; but when the 43rd and the
stormers came pouring down upon the enemy's
flank, the latter bent before the storm. Picton's
Division carried the great breach after innumer-
ble obstacles and a continued smashing fire from
the enemy. Packe, with his Portuguese Brigade,
converted his false attack into a real one ; and his
leading parties under Major Lynch followed the
enemy's troops from their advance works into the
fausse braie, and made prisoners of all who op-
posed them.

All the attacks having succeeded, " in less than
half an hour from the time the assault commenced
our troops were in possession, and formed on the
ramparts of the place, each body contiguous to the
other; the enemy then submitted, having sustained
considerable loss in the contest*." Unlike Baillie
# See Duke of Wellington's Despatches.

THE ASSAULT. 233

Nichol Jarvie's description of " fellows that would
stick at nothing/' our fellows stuck at everything
they met. High stone walls, well-defended ram-
parts bristling with musketry, mines, loop-holed
houses, live shells, and grape-shot, are irritating
obstacles, and likely to create delay to forward
movements. It is difficult, in storming a town on
a dark night, to know exactly the moment when
resistance really ceases and forbearance should be-
gin. The very nature of this kind of service gives
great license to dispersed combatants to form their
own peculiar opinions on this very delicate sub-
ject. In such moments of excitement, individual
responsibility becomes great, and the decent duties
of forbearance are too frequently apt to be thrown
aside in favour of settling all doubts by the bayo-
net. Our division not having assiste, as the French
call it, in the storming, I shall continue to give its
details as they came to my knowledge from those
who were present. I will now, therefore, more at
large allow my friend Gurwood to tell his own
story of the assault of the place and the surrender
of its Governor.

" On leaving the bastion, to go along the ram-
part to the left, my attention was attracted by a
cry ; and I saw some soldiers of my party, one of
whom was Pat Lowe, in the act of bayoneting a
French officer who resisted being plundered. Hav-
ing lost my sword in the breach when stunned, I
picked up on the rampart a broken French musket,

234

knocked Lowe down, and saved the French officer,
who complained to me of being robbed of his epau-
lette or something else. I told him that he might
think himself lucky, after the garrison had stood
an assault, to have his life saved. I said I would
protect him, but that he must accompany me to
the Salamanca gate, which I knew to be close at
hand. He said it was useless to attempt to open
it, as it was muree — blocked up with stones. I went
down, however, by one of the slopes from the ram-
part to examine, and found it as stated. On ques-
tioning the French officer where he thought the
Governor might be, he told me, that previous to
assault, he had been seen going in the direction of
the great breach, but that, if not killed, he would
no doubt be found either in his house or at La
Tour Quarree, or Citadel. The ramparts were filled
with men of the Light Division descending into
the town. On passing over the gate of San Palayo
I saw from the wall a large party of French in the
ravelin of the fausse braie outside, crying out that
they had surrendered; but we could not get at
them. We then heard an explosion, and, from
the smoke, saw it was in the direction of the great
breach. This explosion was followed by a dead si-
lence for some moments, when it was interrupted
by the bugles of the regiments of the Light Divi-
sion sounding l Cease firing/ I was thus assured
that all was safe. I continued along the ramparts
until we arrived at the Citadel or Tour Quarree,

LOOKING FOR THE GOVERNOR. 235

which commanded the bridge over the river. The
gate was closed. M' In tyre, one of the men with
me, proposed blowing the gate open by firing into
the lock ; but on seeing some of the enemy on the
top of the turrets of the Tower, and at the recom-
mendation of the French officer who was with me,
I went round from the gate to the rampart, from
whence I called out to them to surrender, or they
would be put to death, as the town was taken.
The answer being to return to the gate, which
would be opened, I did so and found admittance.
I proceeded with the person who opened it to the
square tower inside, the door of which was closed.
The officer who had opened the outside gate, told
me that the Governor and other officers were with-
in the Tower. I repeated the threat, that they
would certainly be put to death if they did not
surrender, but that I would protect them if they
did. I was answered from within, " Je ne me
rendrai qu'au General en Chef/ I replied that
the General en Chef would not take the trouble to
come there, and that if the door was not immedi-
ately opened it would be blown open, ' qu'ils pe-
riraient tous.' After some slight hesitation, the
door was unbarred, and I found my way in with
Corporal M'Intyre and Lowe behind me. It was
a square chamber, and, as I saw by the light of a
lantern held up by one of tliem, filled with officers.
The Lantern was immediately knocked down by a
musket from behind me, and Lowe, who did it,

236 THE SURRENDER.

cried out, e Dear Mr. Gurwood, they will murder
you.' All was now dark, excepting from the light
of the moon, then rising and shining through the
open door from behind us. I was seized round the
neck, and I fully expected a sword in my body;
but my alarm ceased immediately on the person
kissing me, saying, ' Je suis le Gouverneur de la
place, le General Barrie ; je suis votre prisonnier/
He then took off his sword and gave it me. I re-
ceived it, telling him that I would take him to the
General en Chef, to whom he should surrender his
sword. I conducted him out of the Tower, saying
that I would protect any of the officers who chose
to accompany me. I told M'Intyre and Lowe
that I no longer required them, and I descended
with my prisoners from the Tower into the town,
proceeding by the main street, which led from the
bridge to the Plaza Mayor. There was still some
firing going on, but chiefly from plunderers blow-
ing open the doors of houses, by applying their
muskets to the locks. At the request of the Go-
vernor I proceeded to his house in the Plaza. The
troops were pouring in on all sides, most of them
of the Third Division. I called out, as I went, for
Lord Wellington, when a gruff and imperious voice,
which I knew to be that of General Picton, said,
' What do you want with Lord Wellington, Sir?
you had better join your regiment/

" Fearing to lose my prisoners, I made no reply,
but having ascertained, while in the Governor's

THE SURRENDER. 237

house, from Captain Rice Jones, of the Engineers,
that Lord Wellington was coming into town from
the suburb of San Francisco by the little breach,
I followed that direction. On leaving the Plaza
Mayor, and when out of hearing of General Pic-
ton, I continued crying out, ' Lord Wellington !
Lord Wellington ! ' In the care and protection
of my prisoners I necessarily overlooked and aban-
doned many things, and heeded not the excesses
I witnessed in my passage through the town ; and
on arriving at that part of the rampart in the vi-
cinity of the little breach, I again cried out, ' Lord
Wellington ! ' when a voice, which I recognized,
exclaimed, ( Who wants me?5 I immediately pro-
ceeded up the slope near the rampart; I crossed
the trench with the Governor, the officer com-
manding the Artillery, and three or four other
officers, and I presented to Lord Wellington the
Governor, to whom I gave back his sword, which
I had carried since his surrender. Lord Welling-
ton immediately said to me, fDid you take him?'
I replied, ' Yes, Sir, I took him in the citadel above
the Almeida gate/ Upon which, giving the sword
to me, he said, ' Take it, you are the proper person
to wear it.' The rising moon, and some few houses
on fire near the little breach, rendered everything
around visible. Lord Wellington, turning to Colo-
nel Barnard* (of the 95th Rifles), said, 'Barnard,

* Now Lieutenant-General Sir Andrew Barnard, Deputy Go-
vernor of Chelsea.

238 THE SURRENDER.

as Generals Craufurd and Vandeleur are wounded,
you command the Light Division; you command
in the town, — have it evacuated immediately.'
Lord Wellington then spoke to the Governor and
the officer of the French artillery, respecting the
gates and magazines, and gave other directions, at
which moment Marshal Beresford asked me what
was going on in the town ; and on my telling him
of the plunder and excesses I had witnessed on
my passage through it, he repeated this to Lord
Wellington. General Barrie interrupted them;
on which Lord Wellington turned round to his
aide-de-camp Lord Clinton, and said, 'Take him
away/ Seeing the Governor looking very much
cast down, I was in the act of giving him back
his sword, when the Prince of Orange* or Lord
March f pulled me by the skirt of my jacket, and
one of them, I believe Lord March, said, 'Don't
be such a fool/ M

* Late King of the Netherlands,
f Now Duke of Richmond.

239

CHAPTER IX.

LOSSES IN EACH AEMY .— MUSKETRY AND ARTILLERY.— HONOURS.
— GENERAL MACKINNON. — SPANISH BIGOTRY.— CHARACTER OP
THE AEMY. — NEW CLOTHES. — ABRANTES. — PIPE-CLAY. — DEFI-
CIENCY OF STORES. — CHARACTER OF WELLINGTON.

Shortly after the surrender of the Governor,
Lieutenant-Colonel Colborne, of the 52nd, came
from the interior of the town to the lesser breach,
and, being badly wounded, was helped over it by
Lord Wellington's aide-de-camp, Captain Burgh*.
The confusion caused by a triumphant soldiery in
a town taken by assault, and the excesses result-
ing from it, are more lamentable than surprising.
In such events the definition between right and
wrong is sadly mixed up, and I fe^ar no distinc-
tion was made between our Spanish friends and
our French enemies; at all events, it was not
too nicely kept. The officers lost all control over
their men. Alas ! as Byron has it, —

" Sweet is
Pillage to soldiers, prize-money to seamen."

The 43rd, under Lieutenant-Colonel Macleodf,

* Now Lieutenant- General Lord Downes.

t "Killed subsequently at the storming of Badajos.

240 THE LOSSES ON EACH SIDE.

were amongst the best conducted; and in the
surrounding hurly-burly, Captain Duffy's* com-
pany of that corps was remarked by Lord Wel-
lington himself for its good discipline and soldier-
like conduct. The French garrison originally con-
sisted of about 2000 men, of which 300 had fallen
during the siege, and 1700 men with 78 officers
were made prisoners ; 150 pieces of artillery, in-
cluding the whole of the battering train of Mar-
mont's army, were taken. The loss on our side,
exclusive of him who killed himself by eating cold
cabbage in a garden, was 1200 men and ninety
officers ; 650 of the former and sixty of the latter
were slain or wounded in the assault. General
Craufurd, a man of hot and eccentric tempera-
ment, but of great ability, was killed : he was
shot through the lungs, and was buried on the
25th, on the spot where he received his death-
wound, at the foot of the lesser breach. His re-
mains were attended to their last home by Lord
Wellington and his staff. General Mackinnon
was killed by the explosion of the mine to which
Gurwood's f Narrative' alludes, while leading his
brigade in the Third Division ; he was, with many
others, blown from the top of the great breach
into the ditch. " This entrance into the city was
cut off from it by a perpendicular descent of six-
teen feet, and the bottom was planted with sharp
spikes, and strewn with live shells ; the houses be-

* Now Major- General Duffy.

GENERAL MACKINNON. 241

hind were all loopholcd, and garnished with mus-
keteers, and on the flanks there were cuts, not in-
deed very deep or wide, and the French had left
the temporary bridges over them ; but behind were
parapets, so powerfully defended, that it was said
the Third Division could never have carried them
had not the Light Division taken the enemy in
flank, — an assertion easier made than proved*."

Mackinnon was a good and gallant soldier, and
an intelligent man. He commanded a brigade in
Picton's Division, although he regimentally be-
longed to the Coldstream Guards. With these
perished many other fine fellows : amongst them
a Captain of the 45 th, of whom it has been felici-
tously said, that " Three generals and sixty other
officers had fallen, but the soldiers, fresh from the
strife, only talked of Hardyman." General Van-
deleur, Colonel Colborne, and a crowd of inferior
rank were wounded. Unhappily, the slaughter
did not end with the assault : for the next day, as
the prisoners and their escort were marching out
of the breach, an accidental explosion took place,
and numbers of both were blown into the airf.

A curious statistic of the mass of fire brought by
the enemy on our troops, during the siege of eleven
days, from forty-eight pieces of ordnance, is given
in Jones's ' Sieges in Spain.' lie states that 21,000
rounds of shell and shot were launched against our
approaches. Confined as these were in space, and

* See Napier, f Ibid.

R

242 MUSKETRY AND ARTILLERY.

narrow in dimensions, it was astonishing, from the
concentrated direction of the missiles, that our ca-
sualties were not greater. Now, supposing all these
to have occurred from the cannonade only, which
was very far from being the case, and transferring
the cause of loss of those who fell on this occasion
from musketry, the bayonet, and mines, to the
enemy 's artillery alone, we should then have some
five men killed or wounded for about every hun-
dred rounds of cannon-shot and shell fired. From
the above circumstance, I may be allowed to state
to the uninitiated, how much more numerically de-
structive is the fire of musketry than that of round
shot and shell. In confirmation of this, I will here
recite the following remarks made on the subject
by other authorities. At Cambrai, in 1817, at din-
ner at the Duke of Wellington's, I heard Sir George
Wood* state, that in Lord Howe's great action on
the 1st of June, two barrels and a half of gunpow-
der were fired for every man killed or wounded.
" Ay/' said the Duke, taking up the conversation,
"and at Trafalgar, where about 25,000 British
sailors were engaged, under 1300 were killed and
wounded; while at Talavera de la Keyna, out of
an army of 19,000 men I lost 5000, principally
by musketry."

The Duke, whose economy in action of the life
of his troops was well known to us, merely meant

* Colonel Sir George Wood, then Chief of Artillery to the
Army of Occupation in France.

ENDURANCE OF FATIGUE. 243

to state a simple fact in illustration of the effects
of the different species of fire. He hated a " but-
cher's hill/' and never made one if he could possibly
avoid it. To quote his own words, in writing to
the relative of one of his personal staff who fell at
Waterloo, speaking of the victory gained, he says,
" The glory resulting from such actions, so dearly
bought, is no consolation to me."

Amongst other random recollections I noted the
above conversation at the time. It is more forcibly
brought to my mind by a feat of endurance of fa-
tigue which I performed at the same period. I
had reached Qambrai at a quarter past two p.m.
that day, with despatches for the Duke from our
Ambassador Lord Stuart de Rothesay, at Paris. I
quitted the Embassy at half-past three the same
morning, after a ball \ was in my saddle by four,
and rode the distance of twenty-two French posts
(or 110 English miles), franc etrier, in ten hours
and a quarter ; delivered my despatches ; dined at
head-quarters, by the Duke's invitation j attended
that night another ball at the Hotel de Ville ; had
an early field-day the following morniug; played a
cricket-match against the garrison of Valenciennes,
succeeded in getting fifty runs ; attended a lively
dinner under a tent, which somehow or other lasted
till sunrise the following day, and was, after all, fresh
and fit for duty as if I had done nothing. From
the example of energy of mind and activity of
body set us by our great Chief, we were all, from

244 REMARKS ON THE SIEGE.

spirit, training, and emulation, ready for and up
to anything by night or day, in " camp, or court,
or grove."

In a service short and sharp as that of the siege
and capture of Ciudad Rodrigo, more than an ordi-
dinary amount of casualties must be expected, es-
pecially when we reflect that it was taken in eleven,
instead of twenty-four days, the time originally
contemplated as necessary by Wellington himself.
Massena, previous to his attack on Portugal in
1810, took six weeks to plant the French flag on
the city's ramparts. Our Chief, not having had
leisure to attend to the elementary ^procrastination
of scientific engineering by which lives are saved,
at once cut the gordian knot which want of time
did not allow him to untie. Within four days'
march of 45,000 Frenchmen under one of their
most celebrated Marshals, and against the strict
rules of military science, he fairly wrenched the
fortress from the enemy's grasp, and seized the
prize. The bridge over the Agueda had been es-
tablished only on the 1st of January, the trenches
were opened on the 8th, and the city fell on the
19th. Marmont only heard of the attack on the
15th, and not till the 26th did he know of the
capture of the fortress. On the first intelligence
reaching him, he concentrated his army at Sala-
manca ; but, on being made aware of his loss, he
again retired to Valladolid. The theft was com-
plete : Julian Sanchez, with the Austrian Stren-

HONOURS. 245

nuwitz, in our Hanoverian Hussars, had the pre-
vious autumn niched from the fortress its former
Governor Rcnaud ; and now our great Chief had
committed something more than petty larceny, by
taking the town itself.

To recompense an exploit so boldly undertaken
and so gloriously finished, Lord Wellington was
created Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo by the Spaniards,
Earl of Wellington by the English, and Marquis
of Torres Vedras by the Portuguese. This last
title was most certainly conquered long before it
was surrendered by the Portuguese Government.
" Taking all the difficulties and peculiarities of the
enterprise into consideration, the reduction of this
fortress, whether viewed in conception or arrange-
ment or execution, must be ranked as one of the
happiest, boldest, and most creditable achievements
recorded in our military annals *." None, cer-
tainly, could have accomplished the service better
than those who took the town ; still the regret in
our Division was great that we had not participated
in the assault. One day later, and it would have
fallen to our turn. We were almost tempted to
blame the prompt decision of our Chief. We had
undergone all the unpleasant part — the dirty work
and its attendant hardships — without obtaining any
credit beyond preparing, in stealthy mole-like man-
ner, the way for others to distinguish themselves.
When the distance we had to march, the icy streams

* See Jones's * Sieges.'

246 GENERAL MACKINNON.

we had to ford, the bivouacking in frost and snow
without fire, the fatigue of labour and absence of
rest every fourth day for thirty-five consecutive
hours, were considered, we fairly might be allowed
to envy those who, although participators in simi-
lar fatigue and privation, had at least gained the
honours and rewards to which their dashing gal-
lantry had so fully entitled them. But, as there
is no pleasing everybody, we were obliged to take
things as they came : we grinned and bore it.

The day after the storming, I was sent in com-
mand of a party from Espeja to Ciudad, to recover,
if possible, the body of General Mackinnon. We
were some time in the search before we could dis-
cover his remains. After exhuming from frag-
ments of masonry and dust many poor fellows'
corpses, we at last extracted the Genera? s from
beneath others in the ditch, and it was conveyed
by a sergeant's party to Espeja. Thinking that
some memorial of him would be acceptable to his
family, I remember cutting off from the back of
his head a lock of hair, to send to his widow. I
gave it to his friend and brother officer*, Lieu-
tenant-Colonel Jackson, Deputy Quarter-Master
of our Division.

At Ciudad I found the Fifth Division had been
brought up, and were in possession of the town.
In the 4th Regiment, belonging to this Division,

* Of the Coldstream Guards, afterwards Lieutenant-Greneral
Sir Richard Jackson, Commander-in-Chief in Canada.

BURIAL OF MACKINNON. 247

was my friend Captain Burke, who gave me pro-
vender and a shake-down in his quarters for the
night. They were all hard at work, levelling our
trenches and destroying our batteries; and the
artillery of the battering train were withdrawing
our guns and conveying them across the Agueda.
Lord Wellington had been early into the town
that morning, and, after examining the state of
the defences, gave all the necessary orders for
clearing away the rubbish from the breaches, and
repairing the ramparts ; after which he returned to
Gallegos, and sent off his aide-de-camp (Captain
Gordon of the Guards) the same day to England,
with despatches reporting the capture of the place.
Every arrangement was now made to restore the
fortifications and provision the place quickly, as
Marmont's army was expected. In anticipation
of such an arrival, Hill's corps had been previously
ordered up from the Alemtejo as far as Castello
Branco.

On the 23rd we buried General Mackinnon with
military honours. He was an amiable man, a good
officer, and was much regretted. His last place of
rest was dug in the market-place of the small vil-
lage of Espeja, and his remains were followed to
the grave by his brother officers of the Guards.

It was strange, but true, that even after the re-
cent services rendered by us to the Spanish nation,
and with some claims to consideration, acknow-
ledged at least by the peasantry, still priestly bi-

248 SPANISH BIGOTRY.

gotry prevailed, and denied interment in conse-
crated ground to the remains of those u heretics"
who had fought and fallen in their cause. We
were regarded by them as quite fit to supply them
with money, furnish them with munitions of war,
and shield them from defeat in this world, but as
by no means worthy of Christian burial, or our
souls being saved in the next. The Turk is more
tolerant. As soldiers, this want of charity affected
us but little : we viewed it more in pity than in
anger. It was annoying to us only as wounding
the feelings of the absent relations of those of our
countrymen who fell. The Spanish nation might
have been a little more courteous ; and as we had
come to be killed for their advantage, it would
have been a little more civil had they allowed us
to bury ourselves with due decency. We were
however by no means particular on this point,
having a decided preference for living in a good
place, rather than coveting the pleasure of being
buried in the choicest spot with the greatest dis-
tinction.

The rains, with strong gales of wind, now set in
with such violence as only those can conceive who
know what southern rains are. The trestle-bridge
at Marialva was carried away, and the river rose
two feet over the stone bridge under the walls of
Ciudad; thus communications by roads were im-
peded, and the passage of the Agueda stopped. Had
this occurred earlier, we should never have accom-

BAD WEATHER. 249

plished, as we did, the work of the approaches. Our
trenches would have become aqueducts instead of
viaducts, such as later we had some experience of
at Burgos. Frost acted on this occasion more ef-
ficiently as our ally than our friends the Spaniards.
It was well known to us how often military ope-
rations are dependent on that which influences
the barometer. The bad weather had its incon-
veniences even under cover of our village cabins.
One of them, in which lay part of my company,
was either rained or blown down in the night, and
several of the men were severely hurt; amongst
them my Irish friend M'Culloch, famed, as I be-
fore mentioned, for more courage than arithmetic,
not having been born to interfere with Babbage
in his discovery of the calculating machine. The
beam of the house fell on him and broke his arm,
and he was otherwise so much injured as to oblige
us to send him to the depot-hospital at Coimbra,
where the poor fellow died.

At this time I was again urged to return home.
This word sounded warmly and cheerily in my ears.
My news informed me of the death of a very near
relative, the possessor of considerable landed pro-
perty, to which my friends were good enough to
suppose I ought to succeed j and they wrote under
this impression, pressing my return to England to
attend the opening of the will. There were few with
us w\\o would not have clone their best to gain the
estimation of him who commanded our army. We

250 CHARACTER OF THE ARMY.

well knew the high feelings by which he was ac-
tuated, and how he appreciated, from the lowest to
the highest, those whom he found always ready and
at all times in the right place. We were equally
aware how our Chief detested applications for leave,
or excuses that took officers from their duty, and
he frequently expressed his astonishment at the
applications made to him for this purpose. I there-
fore replied to my friends (and I name this as a
working of the spirit that had been instilled into

and prevailed amongst us) that " if even has

left me the family estate/' which he did prospec-
tively, " nothing will persuade me to quit the ser-
vice or leave this army to go home until, in course
of duty, I am ordered so to do."

Our army was drawn from the sinews of the
people, the intelligence of the middle classes, and
the scions of the titled and untitled landed aristo-
cracy of our country, embodied together in arms to
serve their fatherland. All, from the private sol-
dier upwards, emulated obtaining the notice and
meriting the good opinion of him who kept up
the energies and inspired ardour into the hearts
of those he commanded. Great personal sacrifices
were frequently made ; ease, luxury, and indepen-
dence were cast aside. In speaking, not only of
that army, but of the profession in general, I can-
not resist quoting here a well-merited and truthful
paragraph from a letter recently published by the
clever but eccentric member for Surrey, Henry

CHARACTER OF THE ARMY. 251

Drummond, Esq., who, in relation to classes, and
in assigning Lis reasons for declining to attend the
Peace Conference lately held at Edinburgh, says :
— ' ' Take the army and navy as a class, and take
any other class of men in the country; compare
them together for talents, patriotism, honour, vir-
tue, disinterestedness, kindness, self-devotion, — in
short, every quality that ennobles men, and I assert
that the military class is beyond measure superior
to every other." Here is a picture drawn by a dis-
interested observer ; a man of acuteness, and great
knowledge and experience of the world. From a
life's service in the class alluded to, I may venture
to bear testimony to the above view being just and
true*. One of the causes which maintain high
feeling and character in the profession of arms is,
that when we do meet with an unworthy member
of it, we get rid of him ; whilst some other classes
keep theirs, and not only occasionally try to de-
fend them, but show great sensitiveness even when
they are attacked : surely this is doing a wrong
toward themselves. Why not use a little " fullers'
earth" to take the stains out of their own cloth,
as promptly and effectively as we do out of ours ?
It is their bounden duty to cleanse themselves
from suspicion, or they must submit with good
grace to the chance and inconvenience of being

* In exemplification of a MOM of duty, patriot inn,, anil self-
devotion, I cannot do better than refer to Captain M'Clure's late
despatch to the Admiralty, on his discoven of the North-west
Passage j it is full of high-toned and right feeling.

252 BADAJOS.

condemned, perhaps unjustly, as a body, in public
opinion.

But to return to our movements. In consequence
of Marmont's threatened advance, we were kept on
the qui vive. The report of his intentions was ren-
dered still more suspicious by the floods having cut
us off from communications with Ciudad Rodrigo.
We feared the enemy might pounce upon the for-
tress before the fortifications had been sufficiently
repaired, or that we could get at him. We conse-
quently were ordered always to have a day's pro-
visions cooked in advance, with which to line our
haversacks, that we might be ready to move at a
moment's notice ; but this alert turned out to be
unnecessary. Our Chief had no sooner succeeded
in the capture and repair of Ciudad, and garrisoned
it from the Spanish army under Castanos, its new
Governor being Vives, to whom he personally gave
instructions concerning the plan and intention of
the new works and their defence, than he imme-
diately turned his attention to attack Badajos, and
wrote, under date of the 29th, from Gallegos, to
Lord Liverpool as follows : —

" I now propose to attack Badajos as soon as I
can; I have ordered all the preparatory arrange-
ments to be made, and I hope that everything will
be in readiness to enable me to invest the place by
the second week in March. We shall have great
advantages by making the attack so early, if the
weather will allow of it. First, all the torrents in

NEW CLOTHES. 253

this part of the country are then full, so that we may-
assemble nearly our whole army on the Guadiana
without risk to anything valuable here. Secondly,
it will be convenient to assemble our army at an
early period in Estremadura for the sake of the
green forage, which comes in earlier to the south
than here. Thirdly, we shall have advantages in
point of subsistence over the enemy at that season,
which we should not have at a later period. Fourth-
ly, their operations will necessarily be confined by
the swelling of the rivers in that part as well as
here. The bad weather which we must expect, or
other circumstances, may however prevent us from
carrying our plan into execution ; but I can only
assure you that I shall not abandon it lightly, and
I have taken measures to have the best equipments
for this enterprise."

In consequence of this, we were all, with the ex-
ception of the Fifth Division, who remained on the
frontier and in observation in the neighbourhood
of Ciudad, put in movement for the Alemtejo. Our
Division's march was directed on Abrantes, for the
purpose of reclothing our fellows ; with which ob-
ject the clothing had been sent up to that town
from Lisbon, — it must be confessed, not before it
was wanted, for in the haberdashery line we were
all a little like those troops with which Falstaff,
from a delicate sense of propriety, would not march
through Coventry. The captain of my company
having gone home on leave, I once more tumbled

254 SAVING THE HORSES.

into the command of it. On the occasion of onr
march to the south, my horse being " a galled jade,
whose withers were" by no means "unwrung," I
marched on foot; and although such exercise suited
both my tastes and habits well, still as a warning to
my soldier-servant to avoid a too great frequency of
the inconvenience resulting from my baggage-ani-
mals having sore backs, I always made him carry
his knapsack when they were thus afflicted, but re-
lieved him from his burden when they were sound
and well. I give this hint to uninitiated young
officers, as I found my plan answered completely.
Sore backs were always engendered from neglect
in the man who loaded the mules, by omitting to
double the horsecloths and blankets under the
saddles and pack-saddles, so as to prevent local
pressure on their withers or loins. When the
soldier-servant finds that he relieves his own back
by taking care of those of his master's animals,
fewer raws are established in every way.

We now for the tenth time passed the Coa. Our
line of march led us along the frontiers of Portugal
and Spain, by the back of the Serra d'Estrella
through the towns and villages of Aldea da Ponte,
Sabugal, Castelhero, Carea, Elpendrinha Lardoso,
Castello Branco, Atalaya, passing the Tagus at Villa
Velha, and so on to Niza, Gaviao, and Abrantes, a
distance of 150 miles. I had some capital partridge-
shooting on our line of march ; and, much to the
disgust of our chief of brigade, on one occasion I

A CONVIVIAL PARTY. 255

shot a fox. I was threatened, for so unsportsman-
like an act, by our sport-loving Brigadier Sir H.
C, never to be allowed leave of absence, which he
jokingly said he could not find it in his conscience
to grant to the author of so atrocious a proceeding.
As I never, however, asked for a day's leave from
my duties during the three years and a half I served
in the Peninsula, his observation mattered little,
had it been even made in earnest. As we arrived
at each place of halt, I used to take my gun and an
excellent English setter, my companion, and gene-
rally furnished my table, and that of a comrade
or two, with plcasanter provision than was issued
out by the commissary of his most gracious Ma-
jesty King George the Third, God bless him ! We
halted eleven days at Abrantes, which is a good
town. Here we fitted our men's clothing, and
prepared ourselves for our prospective operations
in procuring such necessaries as we conceived we
might want. For the first time since my arrival
with the army I found myself in possession of a
small bell-tent, sent out to me from England by
my friends. Our poor men had no such essentials
till the following year.

Two days after reaching Abrantes, my friend
Gurwood of the 52nd dined with me, on his way
through to embark at Lisbon for England. I re-
member our having a very merry party ; he was full
of the well-deserved honours he had gained, and
we, in high spirits and health, were animated with

256 PIPE CLAY.

the hope to obtain the like should the opportunity
be offered us. The night dwindled into the little
hours of morning ere we parted, some of us never
to meet our gallant friend again, — amongst them,
Harvey* and Burgess of the Coldstream, who fell
later in this campaign, the last while heading a
storming party, thus emulating his former brother
officer of the 52nd in all but his success, poor
fellow !

In addition to commanding my company, I now
had imposed upon me the duties of Adjutant, as
the officer holding that office in my corps had pro-
ceeded on leave to Lisbon. My time was pretty
well occupied therefore, and sometimes not agree-
ably. Our Chief of battalion was by no means
blessed with too strong a head, or too soft a tem-
per; he certainly had the merit sometimes to ac-
knowledge himself in the wrong, though that wrong
became tiresome, as more frequent in its recurrence
than his acknowledgment of it. He was a gallant,
thick-headed man ; and if the former quality pal-
liates the latter, and charity covers a multitude of
sins, still vulgar violence certainly modifies a mul-
titude of virtues. He was a remarkable contrast
to those who had preceded and succeeded him in
command ; the latter of whom, almost without
exception, rose to well-earned honours and dis-
tinctions. We obeyed orders however, and indem-
nified ourselves by laughing at what could not be

* Son of the late Admiral Sir Eliab Harvey.

SERVICE OFFICERS. 257

avoided. A friend of mine in another corps used
to say, that he flattered himself in the course of
his military life he had been commanded by the
greatest number of fools in the service, but that
on this occasion we certainly seemed to have ap-
propriated to ourselves one whom he quite longed
to add to the list of his experiences. If men in
command will but reflect that "more flies are
caught with a spoonful of honey than a barrel of
vinegar," and that, with power accorded them, tact
and management may lead to willing instead of
unwilling obedience, any person of moderate intel-
lect will prefer that line which is surest, best, and
easiest of accomplishment, to that which is the op-
posite. When officers from home came out to us,
we found them too frequently impregnated with all
the punctilios enforced by the Horse Guards clock ;
with ideas redolent of hair-powder and blank car-
tridge ; stiff in stocks, starched in frills, with Dun-
das's eighteen manoeuvres or commandments. All
this had to be changed. A normal school for real
soldiers Avas undergoing the process of formation;
the new-comers at first thought they had tumbled
amongst a strange, loose set of half-wild men, little
in accordance with their preconceived opinions. At
length they began to discover how the art was car-
ried on, and found that they had much to unlearn,
as well as much to acquire, before they could make

fmselves useful.
Materials for the contemplated siege of Badajos
5

258 DEARTH OF STORES.

were now collecting, and passing through Abrantes
towards the neighbourhood of their destined use.
Scarcity of these, and inefficient transport, was, as
usual, the prevailing difficulty to be fought against.
In spite of all that had been done, and pointed out,
and recommended by our Chief, still our Ministers
at home, although they continued the war, starved
it. Neither money nor necessaries were forthcom-
ing when wanted ; the means were always inade-
quate to the end. Sufficiency of artillery could
not be transported from Ciudad to Badajos ; a sup-
ply of guns, of the necessary calibre of twenty-four
pounders, could not be obtained at Lisbon. Ad-
miral Berkeley, when applied to, said he had not
the means to afford them. Local preparations had
been silently proceeding at Elvas, but still dearth
of stores, and tools, and guns, and shot existed,
attributable to the want of conduct of our Govern-
ment at home, in civil as well as military matters,
towards this army during the greater part of the
Peninsular war.

I beg to refer on these points not only to the
Duke of Wellington's own despatches on the sub-
ject, but also to his brother the Marquis Welles-
ley's statements concerning the administration of
that day.. He says, " They were timid without
prudence, narrow without energy, profuse without
the fruits of expenditure, and slow without the be-
nefits of caution ';" in spite of all which, our Chief
fairly dragged these " timid, doubting, vacillating

CHARACTER OF WELLINGTON. 259

[Ministers through the sloughs of their mediocrity
at the wheels of his triumphal car."

If these men, with whom he was in constant
counsel, heeded not his warning voice, others, both
in and out of Parliament, not having similar advan-
tages, might be excused for doubting of a success
they had no means of testing or comprehending.
The precedents before their eyes, and their re-
miniscences of military expeditions, both in con-
ception and execution, were taken from Holland,
Walcheren, and Buenos Ayres, and those there
commanding. The puissant at home thought with
Shakspeare, that " reputation is an idle and most
false imposition, oft got without merit." From
beginning to end our Chief's merits were disputed,
his opinions contradicted, and his demands neg-
lected. These people could not comprehend that one
man should do a deed that none other but him-
self could have accomplished. A French author,
Monsieur Maurel/says, " Mais personne, ni amis,
ni ennemis, personne ne soupconnait alors ce que
c'etait que Wellington ; l'Angleterre elle-meme ne
Pa connu que tres-tard, et il y a une portion con-
siderable du peuple Anglais qui ne sait pas bicn
au juste tout ce qu'il lui doit." And again, an-
other Frenchman, not very easily suspected of
partialities to England or the English, Monsieur
Thiers, writes : — " There is no use in denying it —
every circumstance considered, the Duke of Wel-
lington was the greatest general whom the late

260 CHARACTER OF WELLINGTON.

wars have offered for human contemplation; his
mind was so equally poised, notwithstanding the
vivacity of his genius, that he was always ready,
and equally prompt, on every occasion : he united
the powerful combination of Napoleon to the steady
judgement of Moreau. Each of these mighty cap-
tains was, perhaps, in some degree superior to
Wellington in his peculiar walk. Napoleon may
have had more rapidity of view and plan upon the
battle-field, and could suddenly change his whole
line of battle, as at Marengo. Moreau everywhere
understood better the management of a retreating
army before an exulting enemy. But the exqui-
site apprehension and intelligence of Arthur Wel-
lesley served him instead of both, and took at once
the conduct and the measures that the occasion
required. Many of our military" (French !) " men
have contested his genius, but no man can deny
him the most equable judgement that was ever
met with in a great soldier. It is this admirable
judgement, this discerning wisdom of the mind,
which has misled Europe as to his genius. Men
do not expect to see in the same person the ac-
tive and the passive spirit equally great ; nor does
nature usually bestow such opposite gifts on the
same person. In Napoleon, a steady judgement
and an endurance of calamity were not the con-
comitants of his impulsive genius and tremendous
activity ; while Moreau had all his passive great-
ness. But the Duke of Wellington has united the

CHARACTER OF WELLINGTON. 261

two qualities. Nay, more : the noble army he
had so long commanded had gradually learnt to
partake of the character of their leader. No sol-
diers in the world but the English could have stood
those successive charges, and that murderous artil-
lery, which they so bravely bore at Waterloo."

262

CHAPTER X.

OPERATIONS AGAINST BADAJOS. — APATHY OF THE ENGLISH GO-
VERNMENT.— AGREEABLE SOCIETY. — GASTRONOMY. — SPANISH
CHARACTER. — FEMININE INGENUITY. — THE ENEMY'S CORPS. —
FORCED MARCH. — ALBTJERA. — STORMING BADAJOS.

Having completed the fitting of our men's cloth-
ing, and furnished ourselves with what we could
get as necessary for hard marching and active ser-
vice, on the 3rd of March we once more moved on
Elvas by Gaviao, Garfete, Flores de Rosa, Alta do
Chao, to Fronteira, which we reached on the 7th.
Here we again halted for a few days. All the
troops were now concentrating towards Badajos,
preparatory to the siege. Lord Wellington still
remained at Frenada in the north, from whence
he wrote to Lord Liverpool as follows : — " All my
arrangements preparatory to the attack of Badajos
are in train, and, I believe, getting on well. Some
of the troops have marched for the Alemtejo, and
others will follow soon, and I intend to go myself
the last } as I know that my removal from one part
of the country to the other will be the signal for

OPERATIONS AGAINST BADAJOS. 263

the enemy, that the part to which I am going is to
be the scene of active operations." In accordance
with these views, Lord Wellington remained on
the banks of the Coa, and did not arrive at Elvas
till the 11 tli of March. We were for the moment
well lodged in Eronteira, which was a capital vil-
lage, in distance four leagues from the good town
of Estremoz, and therefore in a convenient and
comfortable neighbourhood.

The Alemtejo in general, and this part of it in
particular, had suffered less from the ravages of
war than most other provinces of Portugal. The
climate is milder and the soil more fertile than
on the rugged northern frontier of the kingdom.
Here we were informed that Hill's corps had
moved on to Merida and Talavera Real. The
enemy had much strengthened Badajos, by repair-
ing the ramparts, remounting guns, adding to the
outworks, and forming mines. The garrison con-
sisted of 4000 French and 1000 German troops,
with 150 cavalry. Phillipon, a General of Engi-
neers and a clever man, was in command. He
had already been a prisoner in England, but had
escaped by breaking his parole; and, strange to
say, was again opposed to us as governor of this
fortress.

Pontoons were now being brought up to form a
bridge over the Guadiana. We were all very san-
guine as to the result. If not interrupted by Mar-
mont's or Soult's armies, we had little doubt of

264 APATHY OP THE

success. Two ways alone offered, to evade inter-
ruption: one was to take the place before the
enemy could collect their forces to annoy us ; the
other was to cover the siege by corps in advance,
fight a general action, and disable them from fur-
ther interference with our occupations. The sea-
son was favourable, the weather fine, and not too
hot. We still had the equinoctial rains to look
forward to, — rather cooling torrents to encounter
before the broiling heats of a Peninsular summer
set in. Lord Wellington writes from Elvas as fol-
lows*:— " I had intended to commence the opera-
tions against Badajos between the 6th and 7th of
March, and all my arrangements were made ac-
cordingly ; but, because the large and rich town of
Evora, which has suffered in no manner by the
war, would supply no carriages, I could not com-
mence till the 17th. At this moment the powder
for the siege, and much of the shot, and many of
the engineers' stores, are not arrived at Elvas, and
we are obliged to consume the stores of that garri-
son. I am destroying the equipments of the army
in transporting the stores from Elvas to the ground
of the siege, because no assistance is given by the
country, or assistance quite inadequate to the de-
mand and wants of the service, etc. I cannot how-
ever avoid taking the opportunity of calling the
attention of your Lordship and of his Majesty's
Government to the neglect of the Portuguese au-

* See Despatches to Lord Liverpool.

ENGLISH GOVERNMENT. 265

tliorities to furnish the means of transport neces-
sary for the success of this or any other operation.
My own anxiety, and the detail into which I am
obliged to enter, in order to find resources to over-
come difficulties which occur at every moment, I
put out of the question, although I believe no offi-
cer at the head of an army was ever so hampered,
and it is desirable that the attention of one in that
situation should be turned to other objects. But
the serious inconveniences to which the troops are
exposed, and the difficulties and risks which attend
the execution of all services for want of means of
transport, become of such magnitude that no offi-
cer can venture to be responsible for them; . . .
and I hope that his Majesty's Government will
exert their influence with the Prince Regent of
Portugal, to order the local Government not only
to frame a law which shall have for its object the
equipment of the armies in such a manner as to
enable them to defend the country, but to carry
that law into execution, so that the people of the
country shall understand that they must comply
with its provisions."

AYhy our Government, furnishing as they did an
army, together with the money and munitions of
war, in defence of Portugal, did not, previous to
this advanced period of our operations, diplomati-
cally and effectively stipulate for the means to carry
that war on, especially as all that was required
of the people was paid for by us, was best known

266 APATHY OF THE

to our Ministers at home, but was perfectly unac-
countable to anybody else. Inadequate as were
our supplies, we had not the effective means of
moving what we had. Lord Wellington was con-
stantly at the last stretch of his ingenuity to pro-
vide what was wanting, or procure the necessary
means towards the end. He was constantly ac-
quainting our Government at home of this fact,
with but slight or no result. On one occasion he
remonstrated with them in the following words : —
" It is the duty of the King's Ministers to provide
supplies for the service, and not to undertake a
service for which they cannot provide adequate
supplies of money and every other requisite."

These worse than errors of our Government at
home were overcome by the extraordinary energy
and determination of the great man who com-
manded ; but, as the vice of ill supporting and at-
tempting to control military men in what concerns
their own profession seems inherent in our English
Government, it may be as well to observe that the
want of a cordial support and a love of dictation
by unprofessional authorities in the face of all ex-
perience can have but one result, and that a mis-
chievous one*. A soldier is bound to obey, and

* I much fear it will be found that the late universally-
regretted General Godwin experienced in no slight degree the
disadvantages of this system in the Burmese war. Sir Charles
Napier says, in his 'Defects of the Indian Government,' "Of
fourteen Commanders-in-chief in India, since the year 1792, ten
have resigned before their term (of service) was out ; and of those

ENGLISH GOVERNMENT. 267

must do so ; but that is no reason why the com-
mander of an army should be expected to accom-
plish objects without being afforded the means re-
quired ; or that his views, actions, and movements
should be thwarted or overborne by the ideas of
non-professional and irresponsible governors or
Ministers. However salutary and necessary their
views may be in ordinary times, they have a most
pernicious effect in war, or under circumstances
which require rapidity of decision and unhampered
energy. " In the life of nations, as in that of indi-
viduals, there are moments which decide their fate
for years. To use that moment is success, to lose
it is ruin/' In England the undue influence and
love of interference by civilian Ministers with the
strategical operations of a military commander is
the very worst species of Aulic Council.

The Austrian machine, detrimental as it was to
freedom of movement, was at least composed of
military men, who might be supposed to compre-
hend what they dictated; but this illegitimate con-
trol with us happens to be the very reverse with
regard to any professional knowledge, and is likely
therefore to prove, if possible, still more calamitous.
England's great Chief often said, " Never make a
little war ;" it would be still better, if possible, to
never make any ; but when you do, be in earnest.
Let your supply be ample in men, and ilot nig-

who did not, two were Governors- General ; the others, but two,
held their commands to the last, ' sullering all tilings.' "

268 PERSONAL COURAGE.

gardly in quantity and efficiency of material ; well
weigh the merits of him who is appointed to the
critical post of commander, but, when chosen, sup-
port him effectively, grant him full confidence, then
throw on him, if you will, all the responsibility of
his free action-*.

Generally speaking, in the men of our army,
there was to be found much more audacity of per-
sonal than of moral courage, caused probably by
the early habit of submission to discipline, and a
too great deference for the opinions of those above
them, interfering with the feeling of self-reliance.
The great and remarkable exception was Lord
Wellington himself; and he felt this advantage so
strongly, that, whatever official rebuke he found it
necessary to inflict on individuals, for want of judge-
ment in acting or not acting for themselves, he al-
ways gave those under him the aid of his public

* A similar misunderstanding between the Government at
home and the Commander abroad, or rather a similar incapacity
in the home Government, occurred in the great war of Hanni-
bal with Rome. After the annihilation of the Roman army at
Cannse, the Carthaginian general sent envoys to Carthage, to de-
mand fresh supplies of men and money, and, above all, a well-
appointed battering train, in order to enable him, on the opening
of the next year's campaign, to attack Rome itself. The reply of
the Anti-Barcha party, as represented by its mouthpiece Hanno,
was that since Hannibal had, according to his own account,
achieved such successes in the field, he must be fully competent
to provide himself henceforward both with the sinews and the
engines of war. Hannibal was consequently disabled, by this
unreasonable parsimony, from following up his movements in the
field, and Rome was saved.

PLEASANT EVENING. 269

support, by which he encouraged a feeling that he
himself so eminently possessed. He is a bad work-
man who finds fault with his tools ; correcting, but
also upholding, men placed in highly difficult posi-
tions, is the best of all possible ways of being well
served.

On the 14th, at half an hour's warning, we left
Frontcira, and marched by Alta do Chao to Elvas,
were we bivouacked between Fort la Lippe and
that town. With the exception of the Fifth Divi-
sion, still on the Coa, and Hill's corps in advance
in Spain, all our legions were assembled here pre-
paratory to our destined operations against Badajos.
Lord Wellington had already arrived. I was fre->
quently asked to dine at head-quarters. I have a
lively remembrance on this occasion of passing a
pleasant evening in one of the best houses the town
of Elvas afforded. The assembled party amounted
to some eighteen, among whom were the authori-
ties of the town, some ladies, two commanding offi-
cers of the regiments of the Guards, other younger
and lively characters belonging to Lord Welling-
ton's personal staff and the corps en bivouac in the
city's neighbourhood. Lord Wellington was in
high spirits, and very attentive to two pretty Por-
tuguese young ladies, whose names I heard, but
have forgotten, although at the time I was intro-
duced to them. With great liveliness they pos-
sessed good manners, spoke French well, and of
course formed the centre of attraction. During

270 A VORACIOUS APPETITE.

dinner there was a man, to what corps belonging
has escaped my memory, whose appetite exceeded
everything but onr astonishment at it, and his own
surprise at finding himself surrounded by so many
dainties. Certainly, in those days of scarcity, an
invitation to a decent dinner was well worthy of
attention. The commissaries and some few of the
generals, according to their capabilities, might oc-
casionally indulge their hospitality. Lord Wel-
lington, although personally moderate in all his
habits, still, as circumstances permitted, kept the
best table going, as he was in possession of a good
French cook and a maitre d'hotel.

The attention of the latter, as well as our own,
was excited in no ordinary degree by the develop-
ment of the unaccustomed guest's powers. His
youthful passion for pastry made pate after pate
disappear, for to the rapidity of a conjuror he
added the swallow of a cormorant. He by no means
confined himself to such light material however,
and shortly proved that he was not purely farina-
ceous, by turning his abilities to more substantial
fare with equally strong marks of a monopolizing
spirit. Like the camel at the spring in the desert,
he seemed determined to lay in a stock which
should bear him harmless against all coming pri-
vation. After having unconsciously occasioned us
considerable amusement, in which our great Chief
participated with as much zest as the youngest
amongst us, and that mirth and wine had suffi-

AGREEABLE SOCIETY. 271

ciently circulated, we all rose together with the
ladies from table, and retired to the drawing-room.
In the course of the evening the two young ladies,
under the sanction of their respectable bundle of
a maternity, gratified Lord Wellington's taste for
music by singing many pretty airs, amongst which
a duet so forcibly struck me as to stamp the air
in my memory even to this day. The words ran
thus : —

" Lindos olhos matadores
Tem a gentil bella Arminda,
Tern a gentil bella Arminda.
Alvos dentes, boca linda.
Gosto della mas porem
Tenho medo dos amores j
Sao crueis, nao pagao bem,
Sao crueis, nao pagao bem."

The charms of song and the bright eyes of those
who sang shed their soft influence on us. A gal-
lant troubadour, Colonel Fermor of the Guards,
was so inspired as to indulge the ladies en revanche
with several French romances. Thus concluded
an agreeable evening, which carried with it some
humanizing remembrances ; and as we returned to
our Orson-like life in the fields, we thought with
regret of these pleasant hours that had but too
speedily passed.

On the 15th, at about a league from Elvas, a
pontoon bridge had been laid over the Guadiana,
and by daybreak on the following morning we were
on foot again. The successful opening of a cam-

272 INVESTMENT OF BADAJOS.

paign always acts favourably on the spirits of a
soldiery ; and now Lord Wellington was about to
fulfil his promise previously made to Lord Liver-
pool, that " if we took Ciudad Rodrigo we should
make a fine campaign in the spring." In further-
ance of this assurance we crossed the Guadiana on
the 16th of March, 1812, to commence movements
and operations which lasted, without interruption,
until the middle of the November following. On
the 16th Badajos was invested by Marshal Beres-
ford, who crossed the river, and drove in the
enemy's outposts. The Third, Fourth, and Light
Divisions, and a brigade of Hamilton's Portuguese,
about 15,000 men, were destined for the attack of
the fortress. The First, Sixth, and Seventh Divi-
sions, and two brigades of cavalry, formed a corps
under our divisional chief, Sir Thomas Graham,
and our movements were directed by Yalverde and
Santa Martha upon Llerena ; Hill moved by Me-
rida upon Almendralejos. These corps acted as
a covering army to protect the operations of the
siege, and amounted to 30,000. The Fifth Divi-
sion was on the march from Beira ; and the whole
army consisted of about 51,000 sabres and bayo-
nets, of which 20,000 were Portuguese*. Soult's
army at this time was between Seville and Cadiz,
and some movable columns of Drouet's and Dari-
cau's, of about 5000 men each, at Villa Franca and
near Medellin. Before entering further into notice

* See Napier.

A CAMP DINNER. 273

of movements necessarily connected with my anec-
dotical journal, I may mention that Lord Welling-
ton, in taking the field, thought proper to inaugu-
rate the event by giving a grand fete to Field-
Marshal Beresford and his staff, a cordial to his
friends, as an introduction to the more inimical
operation of the siege of Badajos, — thus following
the soldier's motto, " Let us be merry today, for
tomorrow we die*." Near Badajos there was no
house or building within half a mile of the spot
selected for Lord Wellington's head-quarter camp.
It was a bleak and barren place enough, the only
advantage being that, although within range, it
concealed by some rising ground from the fire
of the fortress. During the siege however two or
three shells did fall amongst these canvas resi-
dences. The tents for the use of the two Head-
quarter Staffs of the British and Portuguese armies
brought from Elvas that morning ; they ar-
rived at their destination at nine o'clock; the
ground was marked out, the tents erected, the kit-
chens made, a substantial oven built by transport-
ing materials from the stone wal] of a vineyard
half a mile off, mortar was concocted, wood for
fuel collected, and everything accomplished before
one o'clock, at which time that man of celebrity
the chef or head cook, reached his scene of glory.

* Lieutenant-General Lord Keane, when Commander-in-Chief
at Jamaica, had these words written over his dining-room door,
— I suppose, in compliment to the yellow fever.

T

274 GASTRONOMY.

Surrounded and within range of all the warlike
implements of destruction, this greater than Vatel
" a parfaitement conserve son sang-froid dans ses
entrees." At half-past two, the elements on which
his art depended arrived on foot. The bullocks,
poor things ! little thought of the uses to which
they were walking, or that their respectable parts
(although their forms partook of the greyhound
cut) would be so precipitately transubstantiated
into joints, gravy, and gelatinous substances. They
however were killed, skinned, and cut up ; and by
six o'clock were served up to a company of distin-
guished men in as many savoury shapes as any
party of guests in Grosvenor-square ever sat down
to dawdle over, — the difference being that air and
exercise, and a too great absence of plenty, occa-
sioned a somewhat different appreciation of the
indulgence, and a keener sense of the value of
things. Dryden's recommendation of " Take the
goods the gods provide thee" was then turned from
a poetical to a practical fact, leaving " lovely
Thais" out of the question, unfortunately because
nobody had much time to attend to her, poor lady !
It may be seen, from the sudden preparations and
rapid accomplishment of this banquet, that in
pleasure, as well as business, the grass was never
allowed to grow under our feet. Without half the
ceremony I have alluded to, and with the slightest
possible disguise by cookery, I have often seen a
lean, well-travelled bullock killed and eaten in half

COVERING ARMY. 275

an hour, his hide and horns alone remaining in
demonstration of what he once had been.

Having passed the pontoon bridge over the Gua-
diana, we entered on immense plains of unwhole-
some and malaria-like appearance, producing coarse
grass and great quantities of the wild garlic. We
followed no road. The First, Sixth, and Seventh
Divisions, and two brigades of cavalry, marched in
contiguous columns over this wide and tiresome
expanse of level. Neither tree nor hill was to be
seen. No living thing was visible except innume-
rable hares, which sprang up amidst our columns.
The men's shouts drove them like shuttlecocks from
one to the other, till, bewildered by noise, and
surrounded by foes, followed by every yelping cur,
galloped after by every officer they approached,
they fell a sacrifice in endeavouring to force their
way through our ranks. In their endeavours to
escape they were almost all killed, and afforded
capital sport to the many, and no slight profit to
the few. Between forty and fifty hares graced the
bivouac fires of our camp this day. The weather
in the morning was mild and pleasant, though dark
and lowering, but in the evening it became cold and
rainy. We bivouacked this night near Valvcrde,
a village in a decent state of preservation.

This night, for the first time, I felt the genial
comfort attached to the proprietorship of a tent. I
had thus suddenly become le petit proprittaire in
reality, and indulged in the pride of possession :

276 Graham's advance.

the more so as it was the first tenement of any-
kind that ever really belonged to me, and I has-
tened to show a proper sense of the claims of hos-
pitality by sharing it with a tentless comrade. En-
sconced beneath its cover this tempestuous night,
we smoked our cigars, and listened in contemptuous
security to the pattering rain driven by the wild
wind against its sides. The disagreeable remem-
brance of being frequently out on such a night as
this, peculiarly recommended to us the advantage
of being ivithin. Those happy young fellows lately
at Chobham camp had a sufficiency of bad weather
probably to make them estimate at a guess the
disadvantage of being on the wrong side of canvas,
and might possibly have presented to their minds
a comparison between the inside seat of a first-class
railway carriage and the outside one on a donkey
in a storm. It was with grateful feelings towards
those kind friends who had sent me this defence
against weather, that we drank to them with the
soldier's toast, " Here's a health to all absent
friends, God bless them \" They, alas ! with many
others, are gone, and can no more read the passing
record of my gratitude.

On the 17th the Third and Fourth and Light
Divisions broke ground before Badajos ; but as our
corps d'armee, under Graham, advanced towards the
south, we knew little and heard nothing in detail
of the operations in our rear. We had an enemy
in front who was to occupy our attention, and we

ZAFRA. 277

wished, in return, to occupy his, by preventing his
dwelling too pertinaciously on the operations of the
siege that we were destined to mask. In the mean-
time we had to feel for the enemy's movable co-
lumns, which we knew to be in our neighbourhood,
and consequently outposts, patrols, and piquets
were in plenty. We moved on Santa Martha ; a
small force belonging to Soult's corps retired as we
advanced. It was reported that Marmont was at
Talavera de la Reyna. We continued our move-
ments by La Para to Zafra, an excellent town,
which the enemy had left but a few hours before
we entered it. The weather was so bad and the
Spanish towns so good, that we left off bivouack-
ing and were sheltered in most agreeable and ca-
pital quarters. We were delighted with this part
of Spain, and with the comparatively clean, good
houses, — their well whitewashed exteriors indent-
ed by substantial doors and iron-grated windows,
from whence peeped forth the dark houri eyes of
the Spanish women, — the good-nature and lively
manners of these people, their guitars, their song
and dance. Though too short our stay, Zafra was
to us a pleasant place ; in comparison to the rough
life we led, quite an oasis in the desert. Short of
labouring on the land, we bad become by living in
it the purest of all possible species of agriculturists,
for we sojourned entirely in the fields, woods, bogs,
and mountains. The roofs which were destined to
shelter us in Portugal were widely different and

278 THE CITIES OF THE SOUTH.

greatly inferior to those offered us in Spain, and
resembled more, with due deference to Hibernian
proprietors, an Irish hovel than a human habita-
tion.

In Spain, although not quit of those hopping
vampires the fleas, always to be found in southern
climates, the people, the towns, and houses stood us
in compensation. Besides, after a man had been
some time on service in these countries, his mental
as well as his bodily feelings became hardened:
the latter by degrees partook of the rhinoceros, and
both at length defied the petty stings of fortune
and of vermin. Our taste for Spanish towns in-
creased with experience ; being already on the road
to Seville, we hoped, before we finished our pro-
menade, to reach the cities of the south so much
lauded in the native tongue.

" Quien no ha visto Sevilla,
No ha visto maravilla ;
Quien no ha visto Grranada,
No ha visto nada."

Eighteen more years from this period were to
elapse before I was to tread the streets and visit
the Alcazar of Seville, and enjoy the scenes and the
climate of the Yega of Granada, with all the gran-
deur of its overhanging Sierra de Nevada, and the
beautiful remains of its Morescan palaces. The
people of this part of Spain, — the middle and
lower order, for of the high classes we saw little,
and what we did see was by no means prepos-

SPANISH CHARACTER. 279

sessing, — are a remarkably handsome, fine-looking
race/occasionally betraying a tinge of the Saracen
blood, mixed with the sangre azul, which spoke in
palliation of the Valencian proverb : —

" Buen cielo, buen tierra,
Mai entre tierra y cielo*."

Still there was amongst them an assimilation in
tastes to their not far distant neighbours the Ita-
lians, and the dolce far niente seemed to prevail.
When roused to energy they may be induced to
act, but, with pompous promises and grandiloquent
phrases, postponement and the fear of troubling
their lazy intellects predominated. It was always
mafiana, but never today, with them. To put off
everything, seemed looked upon as the acme of all
that was clever ; and never to do that which they
could persuade another to do for them, was the per-
fection of dexterity. Their whole mind, in short,
seemed bent upon doing nothing, and — they did it.
At the same time there is no want of quickness or
intelligence in them. When imperative interest
or passion urges, they display all the readiness of
resource and acuteness so truthfully depicted in the
character of Figaro.

On occasion of the movements of some of the
enemy's flying columns employed against the Spa-
nish guerillas, as our detective police might be

* Which may be translated thus : —
"Fair sky, fair land j
All between, nothing grand."

280 TACT AGAINST POWER.

against pickpockets, the French marched on a
Spanish town to punish it for some real or pre-
tended grievance. The people fled, as, innocent
or guilty, they well knew the result would be dis-
astrous. They left their houses in the night, or, as
our sergeant-major, a man of eloquence, used to say,
they " surreptitiously and promiscuously took their
departure." Of all the inhabitants, two young
girls, of considerable personal attractions, alone
remained, in a house belonging to one of the autho-
rities of the town. Their alarm at such a visit of
vengeance may be conceived. They well knew that
their good looks were their least defensive quality ;
" for beauty provoketh thieves sooner than gold."
No means of escape presenting itself, the elder di-
rected the younger to retire to her bed, which could
scarcely be considered the safest place in the house.
Militarily, it seemed a false position to assume for
a weak garrison intending a resolute defence, but
what will address and good tactic not accomplish ?
She painted her sister's face a ghastly white, and
gave to the apartment all the air of a sick room.
These preparations had scarcely been completed
when the enemy, arriving from different directions,
finding nothing in kitchen or cellar, set about ex-
ploring the other rooms. On entering the sup-
posed invalid's apartment, the nursing sister, in the
deepest apparent affliction, covering her face with
a handkerchief, broke out into loud lamentations —
" Madre de Dios ! la pobrecica tiene una calentura

FEMININE INGENUITY. 281

contagiosa — la peste*." The French rushed out
instantaneously, vacating the quarter even more
promptly than they had entered it, echoing the cry
as they went — ' ' La peste ! la peste ! le diable em-
porte la peste I" The obtrusive visit of their would-
be conquerors was thus disposed of by these ready-
witted beauties. It must be confessed, however,
that to the female portion of the community Mes-
sieurs les Francais generally made themselves very
acceptable ; and although the Spanish women com-
plained of them, saying that " Los ladrones Fran-
ceses have eaten all our Andalucian bulls, killed
our poultry, and knocked from their niches every
emblem of the Virgin/' still many of them were
sufficiently imbued with the attributes of Christian
charity to return good for evil, and not to allow
their patriotic prejudices to overcome their perso-
nal feelings. In all characters that a Frenchman
may be called upon to enact, he is always prover-
bially insinuating, gay, and agreeable; and the
Spanish women, if there be truth in our experience,
seemed well disposed to act up to their national
proverb, of —

" Todo el mundo es un bolero,
El que no bayla es un tontof."

It was with great regret that on the 21st we
left Zafra to occupy Fucntes del Meistro, where

* Mother of our Lord ! the poor Utile tiling has a contagious
fever (In- plague.

f All the world is a ball, and lie is a fool who does not dance.

282

liowev.er we still found good cantonments, — the
more acceptable as the weather continued very bad.
Although this town was fourteen leagues from Ba-
dajos, we could distinctly hear the cannonade, as
its deep, unfriendly sound came undulating through
the air. We here heard that the enemy had made
a sortie, in which they lost some men ; that Colo-
nel Fletcher, our chief engineer, had been wounded,
and that Captain Cuthbert, Picton's aide-de-camp,
had been killed ; that some of our batteries were
to have opened on this day, and that a breach
might be expected to be rendered practicable in
about ten days.

With regard to our covering corps, the Seventh
Division was at Villa Franca, some of our cavalry
at Zafra, and the rest at Llerena and its environs.
Marmont, report said, was still at Talavera de la
Reyna with 36,000 men (which however was doubt-
ful) ; Suchet at Valencia. Soult was occupied in
collecting his forces, some 20,000, at Seville and
its neighbourhood ; and 10,000 more of the enemy
were at this time at or near Medellin. We were
all full of conjecture. Many seemed to think that
a general action would shortly ensue. I remem-
ber differing with some of my comrades on this
point. I thought that our foes were not likely to
attack us unless they could hope to raise the siege,
and this they could not do unless they brought
down on us their whole force. The distance be-
tween their different corps prohibited a combina-

OUR MOVEMENTS. 283

tion within a probable time to save the fortress.
Without such a hope, it was useless and not to
their advantage to fight, as there was nothing to
fight for. Marmont was said to display no incli-
nation to act in conjunction with Soult, but we
subsequently discovered, from intercepted de-
spatches, that the Emperor's orders directed him
to operate in the north and on the banks of the
Coa, threatening an irruption into the province of
Beira in Portugal. On further information we
found that the delay occasioned by the bad wea-
ther, want of materiel, and inefficiency of transport
had still further postponed the opening of our bat-
teries against Badajos. At the same time Lord
Wellington himself said, we were not by 20,000
men so strong on the left bank of the Guadiana
as we ought to be. We were uncertain also of
Drouet's whereabouts -, he was believed to be in the
neighbourhood of Don Benito, with a view to pro-
tect the junction of Foy by the bridge of Medellin.
Lord Wellington's intention was to move our right
ions and the cavalry to Zalamea and Quintana,
at the same time that our left division from Alman-
dralejo should reach Oliva, and Hill's corps Me-
dellin, and thus force back the enemy from their
best communications across the Guadiana with
Soult, and by thus intercepting them create delay
in their conjunctive movements. But we could
not hope to maintain this position long, as Soult
could move from the south on our right flank, or,

284 HASTY DEPARTURE.

if he chose, on our rear. To gain Badajos, there-
fore, we were once more fighting against time, as
we did at Ciudad Rodrigo. The difference was,
that here the task was tougher; the place from
natural position as well as art being stronger, its
garrison more numerous, and its governor more
able. At Fuentes del Meistro, having marched
on foot from the northern frontier of Spain, a dis-
tance of between three and four hundred miles, I
here purchased another mule, although our Ad-
jutant, whose duties devolved upon me, had left
me his stud during his absence. It was fortunate
I did so, as our movements now became much
more rapid and harassing. A sudden thought
struck the commander of our corps oVarmee ; and
on the 25th, without baggage, and at the short-
est possible notice, we left Fuentes del Meistro at
seven a.m. and proceeded two leagues towards Los
Santos, where, having halted for a few minutes
only outside the town, we continued our march
four leagues further, and reached Bien Venide at
five p.m., having accomplished, in ten hours' march,
with scarcely a check, six "leguas grandillones,"
a distance most uncertain, except as to its being a
short one.

The country was a dead open flat, devoid of trees,
and with only occasional culture. We established
our bivouac beside a small stream, in some low un-
dulating ground, concealed under a gentle slope,
and were ordered to consider ourselves au secret.

FORCED MARCH AND SURPRISE. 285

The day had been hot, the march rapid and harass-
ing, and some rest was requisite. Evening closed
in ; the moon rose and seemed to look down in
bright contempt on our barren hiding-place. Our
divisions were all assembled here, but at ten at
night we were on foot again, directing our march
on the town of Llercna. We now discovered that
this secret and forced march was for the purpose
of surprising a small flying column of the enemy,
consisting of some 2600 men belonging to Drouet's
corps. The operation was an attempted imitation
of the Arroyo de Molinos affair, so cleverly exe-
cuted by Hill in the previous campaign of 1811.
11,000 infantry, 2000 cavalry, and 24 pieces of
artillery, were formed in contiguous columns ; the
First, Sixth, and Seventh Divisions in one body,
the two brigades of cavalry on our left, and the 24
guns in our front, with some light infantry in ad-
vance. Thus massed we moved in close order du-
ring the rest of the night. This formation forbade
our availing ourselves of the road further than as
a line of direction across the country we were tra-
\\TMiig. Previous to our leaving our bivouac at
Bien Venide, we heard that those we were about
to seek were safely in their quarters at Llercna, in
perfect ignorance of our stealthy, tiger-like ap-
proach. They were sleeping probably, and little
dreaming of our intended visit to them at such an
unfashionably early hour. Unluckily, no move-
ment of any part of our force on the enemy's

286 MOVEMENTS IN THE DARK.

flanks, to intercept their retreat, seemed to have
been in contemplation, and we moved altogether
in a straight line, and in one lump. We had also
to take on trust the chance of the prudence and
loyalty of the Spanish peasants to their own cause.
As they might give information of our approach,
we took the precaution of allowing none that we
knew of, or could stop, to proceed in the direction
of Llerena. In an open country, devoid of hill or
wood, it requires rather more address to conceal a
body of some 13,000 men, in movement on its sur-
face, than for a gentleman of the thimble-rig pro-
fession to hide his pea on the downs and heaths of
Ascot or of Epsom.

The moon had set, — the night, though starlight,
was dark; we marched in close formation and in
strict silence, but still a large body moving over
the flat face of mother earth might be detected, and
the clink of cavalry sabres, the roll of the wheel-
of guns, the tramp of horses, and the heavy sound-
ing tread of 13,000 warriors might be wafted
through the still night air to a distance, and attract
the attentive ears set on watch to ward the approach
of coming danger. A dog's bark, a bird's flight, or
a hare's course, would create suspicion that some
disturbing influence was on foot, and would put
on the alert those well versed in outpost duty and
war's alarms, thereby betraying the movements of
our column. On and on we went, in wearisome
darkness and in seemingly interminable space ; half-

SURPRISING OURSELVES. 287

asleep and stumbling, our men blundered against
each other, then again resumed their order, giving
vent to some grumbling exclamation of discon-
tent. The night was far spent, but before daylight
had dawned we all at once were aroused from our
monotonous heavy trudge by coming upon a ca-
valry patrol, despatched by the enemy from one of
their neighbouring outposts to reconnoitre. They
instantly fired on us and galloped off. Had our
movements been kept secret till now this ren-
contre must have effectively revealed them. The
contretemps unfortunately did not end here, in con-
sequence of all our divisions having been injudi-
ciously ordered to load. When we came upon the
enemy, the Sixth Division had on the march gained
slightly in advance of the rest, and the Seventh,
on receiving the fire of the French patrol, were
tempted to return it, and by so doing fired into
the Sixth, as the flashes of the enemy's carbines
came from that direction. Fortunately, the offi-
cers of this last column restrained their men from
returning the untoward salute, or, in the surround-
ing darkness, we should all have been fighting one
another. As it was, a surgeon, a paymaster, and
six men were killed and wounded \ and thus, in
the most critical moment of an intended surprise,
we much surprised ourselves by firing on our own
people instead of the enemy, to whom, by all this
noise, we gave undoubted notice of our approach.
It may be imagined that some excitement ensued.

288 LLERENA.

The columns were now closed up, the officers in-
stantaneously dismounted and fell into their ranks,

leaving their horses to shift for themselves. S ,

who commanded the company next to mine, did
not at all approve of quitting a steed he " ne'er
might see again. M I luckily found a little drum-
mer, whom, in an unauthorized manner, I pressed
into my service, consigning my Eosinante to his
charge. My mind, being made easy on that score,
was turned in anxious expectation to what would
next follow.

We still moved forward, marching over some of
the bodies that the Seventh Division had slain;
at length, at daybreak, we arrived within a short
distance of the town of Llerena; and as objects
became more visible, we discovered our enemy on
the other side of it, quietly marching away, leav-
ing us to our reflections. A parting shot or two
from our guns, by way of acquainting them with
our address, was the only communication that en-
sued between us. Our long march, like auld Mees-
tress M'Sillygossip's long story, related by the late
Mr. Mathews in his ' At Home/ was a wearisome
prolixity without a point. A forced march of nearly
fifty miles had been accomplished in nineteen hours,
by a body of 13,000 men, for the purpose of sur-
prising 2600 of the enemy; but as no detached
flank movements were attempted to intercept or
even interrupt their retreat, they marched out of
one end of the town of Llerena as we marched into

REPOSE. 289

the other. Had the execution of our movements
been supported by strategical combinations, the re-
sult might have been different. As it was however,
we were so far successful that, by driving back on
its reserve this small advance corps of Drouet, we
effectually interrupted any immediate communica-
tion between him, Daricau, and Soult. The enemy
exchanged some few shots with our light troops,
when they went their way, and we saw no more of
them. After our fatiguing but somewhat futile
attempt, we were rewarded by a twenty-four hours'
halt in the good town of Llerena. Good towns
being as scarce as the opportunities we had of en-
joying them, this indulgence was duly appreciated
by way of compensation for our disappointments.
Next day, our baggage having come up, after a re-
freshing rest in our excellent quarters, we moved
again four leagues further to a bivouac near Mar-
guillas. This village is situated on a plateau be-
tween the streams of the Coracha and Matachiel,
at the foot and no great distance from one of the
spurs, or offshoots, of the Sierra Morena, running
down in this direction to the plains beneath. Here,
to our astonishment, the German Legion and our
brigade remained quiet for a few days : we were in
a happy state of uncertainty, although kept in con-
stant readiness and expectation to move. The other
two Divisions had gone forward ; the Seventh to
Asuaga, and the Sixth to Berlenga on our right,
in the direction of Seville, on the road leading to

u

290 MAKING AN ACQUAINTANCE.

the south. Major- General Stopford's Brigade of
Infantry was pushed still further forward in the
same direction, and as far as Quadalcanal. Vari-
ous reports reached us concerning the enemy, but
nothing that could be depended on. The breach-
ing batteries at Badajos were to open on the 31st,
and should the enemy intend to make an attempt
to interrupt our operations, or relieve the fortress,
they had not a moment to lose. Hill's corps was
still in the neighbourhood of Medellin.

On the 1st of April we left Marguillas, moving
in a retrograde direction on Badajos, by Llera
and Usagre to Los Santos. Here our route was
changed from that of Fuentes del Meistro to La
Para, then to Almandral, and thence to a bivouac
in the woods in front of the position of Albuera,
where, after a five days' march, all our corps, under
Sir Thomas Graham, were again concentrated,
ready once more to occupy the old battle-field, if
rendered necessary by the enemy's advance. Of
them we heard nothing, but surmised, from these
movements of ours, that they were approaching.
During this march a gay and gallant young
Guardsman, aide-de-camp to Sir Rowland Hill,
reached us with communications from his chief.
A better informed and more agreeable companion
and good soldier was not easily found. We were
about the same age and standing, and our ac-
quaintance, begun here, ripened into great inti-
macy in after-life, for I never gambled, borrowed,

BIVOUAC OF ALBUERA. 291

or lent him money ! Lively, brave, and warm-
hearted, he was, alas ! reckless, thoughtless, and
extravagant ; would lend or give you, while he
had it, all he had; but could afford to owe you,
even to the Greek Kalends, any amount of cash
you lent him. I fear it might be said of him that
he never paid a debt, except that to nature. His
reckless gallantry lost him his life in India, where
he fell, much lamented. Peace be to his manes !
I loved him well, in spite of his faults, for he had
many good and even great qualities. His name
matters not ; it was well known and distinguished
in our military annals of the preceding century ;
his friends will recognize it but too well in reading
this tribute to his memory.

In our ilex and cork- wood bivouac, en attendant
the expected advance of Soult, our men hutted
themselves. From those excellent troops, the Ha-
noverian Legion belonging to the Division, our
men learned much in this as well as many other
useful arts. The Germans displayed great inge-
nuity in rural architecture, forming commodious
turf-and-leafy dwellings half underground, small
sunken snuggeries, very cleverly contrived, and
adapted to the nature of their necessities. Serv-
ing as a defence against the heats of day, the dews
of night, and the rains of spring and autumn, they
were rendered more or less substantial or effective,
according to circumstances and the probable time
of their occupation. Light and simply defensive

292 THE IDLE CLUB.

against the elements for a night's lodging, they
became more beaver-like when a longer residence
was promised. The English generally improve on
the invention of others, and, in following so good
an example, we even constructed stables and sheds
for our horses and beasts of burden.

It was always considered one of the greatest
camp conveniences, and highly diplomatic, to be
well with the quarter-master of the regiment, or
on intimate terms with the butcher of the bri-
gade. They were the chiefs, the masters of the
ceremonies, and distributors of the delicacies of
provender (such as oxtails and lumps of suet from
the well-marched and hastily-killed cattle) to the
numerous hungry applicants. These, on being
paid for, might, as a favour, be added to the ra-
tions of the officers ; "but what was this amongst

so many?" Our good old quarter-master H

was a character, — a perfect specimen of this class.
He had risen by his merit ; and, by weight, rotun-
dity, and respectability, he maintained the dignity
of his position. Possessed of great matter-of-fact
good sense, he was an honest, bright-faced, down-
right old soldier. He always had the best fire in
all our bivouacs, and had become the oracle of all
the ensigns. The " idle club" of the camp would
frequently assemble around his merry bonfire, to
hear or communicate the current news or reports
of the day, yclept in Peninsular language "shaves."
Those handicraftsmen of our corps, the pioneers,

OUR QUARTERMASTER. 293

were his attendants ; and, under his orders, they
were the cutters of wood, the shoers of horses, and
dispensers of liquor, when such was received for
distribution from the commissaries. The well-
known sound of Knock, the cooper, singing out
in his shrill, squeaky voice, "Cucks (cooks) for
wine*!" may still tingle in the ears and rest in
the memories of those who heard them in " auld
lang syne ;" and the joyous buzz and commotion
created amongst our men by so welcome an an-
nouncement, may still be remembered.

In Soult's hasty retreat from Oporto in May,
1809, our brigade came suddenly on the enemy's
rear-guard near Salamonde, and turned their re-
treat into a flight, taking from them baggage and
all kinds of material. Two very powerful nags,
one black and the other white, such as drag dili-
gences in France, fell to the lot of that " tun of
man," old H , the quarter-master. He con-
trived always to keep these cattle — out of compli-
ment to himself, I suppose — in an unusual state of
rotund condition. Unwieldy as he appeared, he
was a perfect picture on horseback, for the combi-
nation was complete of the " Elephant and Castle,"
a goodly sign warmly greeted wherever met with.
On the march he always headed the baggage of the
brigade, and far, far off in the winding distance

* The pioneers' duty, under the superintendence of the quarter-
< ant, was to distribute the liquor amongst the cooks
of the different messes of the men.

294 THE PIC-NIC.

might be seen his portly figure, on the milk-white
steed, as unlike as possible to (C Death on the pale
horse ! M

The distributions of camp delicacies from the
above cavalier, or from Jones, the butcher, added
in no small degree to eke out the rations of the
separate messes and pic-nics of the ofiicers. Sel-
dom more than two of us messed together, chiefly
those belonging to the same company or the one
next in line to it. We found from experience that,
however well masters might agree, it was difficult
to get servants to do so, for which reason I pre-
ferred the pic-nic plan, instead of having a mess
in common. Two or three would thus club their
provender and dine together, each bringing his
plates, knives, forks, and drinking cups. I well

remember my friend B joined us frequently

in this way. He always brought his couvert, as
the French call it, but deuce the thing else in the
shape of comestible or beverage. When rallied on
the absence of these most essential contributions
to a pic-nic, and accused of providing nothing, he
would reply that we cruelly maligned him, for he
always brought his knife, fork, and an excellent
appetite.

At this bivouac near Albuera, and on the 6th of
April, towards evening, a reinforcement of detach-
ments from England reached our brigade, under
the command of Lieutenant-Colonel B — — , af-
terwards D. A., Adjutant- General to our division.

THE GUNS OF BADAJOS. 295

The rest of the draft was composed of four hun-
dred men, together with two young ensigns, H

and R , belonging to our regiment. The first

of these made a right good soldier, and was severely
wounded later at Salamanca. He now sits in the
House of Commons, and is an Irish peer. With
this detachment I received an English spaniel, six
shirts, and a groom-boy. We made our recruits
as welcome and comfortable as we could, by offer-
ing such hospitality as the field afforded, and did
our best to make them forget the luxuries of beef,
porter, iced champagne, and sugar-plums. Their
round fresh English faces bore strong contrast
to the copper-coloured, weather-beaten visages of
our old hands. Recent news from dear England,
brought by these blooming fellows, was very ac-
ceptable, and was received at all times with plea-
sure, whether coming in verbal, printed, or written
shape. After sunset, and the convivial hour of
the evening meal had passed, most of us in time
and due course retired to our tents and to rest.
The night was dry, though mild and cloudy;
everything wTas still save the customary croaking
of frogs, or the low murmur of conversation at
some bivouac fire; all but the sentries and camp
guards had sunk to sleep; the occasional sound
of a distant gun alone broke the silence ; when at
once, and as if from a volcano, explosions, like
thunder, rent the air of night, and bounded along
the surface of the earth. Salvo after salvo in con-

296. THE STORMING OF BADAJOS.

tinued succession reached the ear of the sleeping
soldier, and roused him in his bivouac lair to the
consciousness of the living struggle carried on by
his not far distant comrades — Lord Wellington was
storming Badajos.

THE END.

JOHN BDWABD TATLOB, PRTNTEB,
LITTLE QUEEN STBEET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS.

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