diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28981-8.txt | 6739 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28981-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 141469 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28981-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 149739 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28981-h/28981-h.htm | 6732 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28981.txt | 6739 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28981.zip | bin | 0 -> 141407 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
9 files changed, 20226 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/28981-8.txt b/28981-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1e491c6 --- /dev/null +++ b/28981-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6739 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Adventures in the Rifle Brigade, in the +Peninsula, France, and the Netherlands, by Captain J. Kincaid + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Adventures in the Rifle Brigade, in the Peninsula, France, and the Netherlands + from 1809 to 1815 + +Author: Captain J. Kincaid + +Release Date: May 29, 2009 [EBook #28981] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RIFLE BRIGADE *** + + + + +Produced by StevenGibbs, Christine P. Travers and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +[Transcriber's note: Obvious printer's errors have been corrected. +Hyphenation and accentuation have been standardised, all +other inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's spelling +has been maintained. + +There is no Chapter IV in this book. + +The errata changes have been included in the file.] + + + + +ADVENTURES + +IN THE + +RIFLE BRIGADE, + +IN THE + +PENINSULA, + +FRANCE, AND THE NETHERLANDS, + +FROM 1809 TO 1815. + + +BY CAPTAIN J. KINCAID. + + +LONDON: + +T. AND W. BOONE, STRAND. + +MDCCCXXX. + + + + +TO + +MAJOR-GEN. SIR ANDREW BARNARD, + +K. C. B. + +COLONEL OF THE FIRST BATTALION RIFLE BRIGADE, + +AND ITS LEADER + +DURING A LONG AND BRILLIANT PERIOD + +OF ITS HISTORY, + +THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED + +BY HIS VERY OBEDIENT + +AND VERY OBLIGED HUMBLE SERVANT, + +J. KINCAID. + + + + +ADVERTISEMENT. + + +In tracing the following scenes, I have chiefly drawn on the +reminiscences of my military life, and endeavoured faithfully to +convey to the mind of the reader the impression which they made on my +own at the time of their occurrence. Should any errors, as to dates or +trifling circumstances, have inadvertently crept into my narrative, I +hope they will be ascribed to want of memory, rather than to any +wilful intention to mislead. I am aware, that some objections may be +taken to my style; for + + "Rude am I in my speech, + And little bless'd with the set phrase of peace: + For, since these arms of mine had seven years' pith, + Till now, some nine moons wasted, they have us'd + Their dearest action in the tented field: + And little of this world can I speak, + More than pertains to feats of broil and battle; + And therefore little shall I grace my cause + In speaking for myself; yet, by your gracious patience, + I will a round unvarnished tale deliver," + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + Page + CHAPTER I. 1 + +Joined the Rifles. Walcheren Expedition. A young Soldier. A Marine +View. Campaign in South Beeveland. Retreat to Scotland. + + + CHAP. II. 4 + +Rejoin the Regiment. Embark for the Peninsula. Arrival in the Tagus. +The City of Lisbon, with its Contents. Sail for Figuera. Landing +extraordinary. Billet ditto. The City of Coimbra. A hard Case. A cold +Case, in which a favourite Scotch Dance is introduced. Climate. The +Duke of Wellington. + + + CHAP. III. 15 + +Other People, Myself, and my Regiment. Retreat to the Lines of Torres +Vedras. Leave Coimbra, followed by a select group of Natives. Ford the +Streets of Condacia in good spirits. A Provost-Marshal and his +favourites. A fall. Convent of Batalha. Turned out of Allenquer. +Passed through Sobral. Turned into Arruda. Quartering of the Light +Division, and their Quarters at Arruda. Burial of an only Child. Lines +of Torres Vedras. Difference of opinion between Massena and Myself. +Military Customs. + + + CHAP. V. 38 + +Campaign of 1811 opens. Massena's Retreat. Wretched Condition of the +Inhabitants on the Line of March. Affairs with the Enemy, near Pombal. +Description of a Bivouac. Action near Redinha. Destruction of Condacia +and Action near it. Burning of the Village of Illama, and Misery of +its Inhabitants. Action at Foz D'Aronce. Confidential Servants with +Donkey-Assistants. + + + CHAP. VI. 61 + +Passage of the Mondego. Swearing to a large Amount. Two Prisoners, +with their Two Views. Two Nuns, Two Pieces of Dough, and Two Kisses. A +Halt. Affair near Frexedas. Arrival near Guarda. Murder. A stray +Sentry. Battle of Sabugal. Spanish and Portuguese Frontiers. Blockade +of Almeida. Battle-like. Current Value of Lord Wellington's Nose. +Battle of Fuentes D'Onor. The Day after the Battle. A grave Remark. +The _Padre's_ House. Retreat of the Enemy. + + + CHAP. VII. 83 + +March to Estremadura. At Soito, growing Accommodations for Man and +Beast. British Taste displayed by Portuguese Wolves. False Alarm. +Luxuries of Roquingo Camp. A Chaplain of the Forces. Return towards +the North. Quarters near Castello de Vide. Blockade of Ciudad Rodrigo. +Village of Atalya; Fleas abundant; Food scarce. Advance of the French +Army. Affairs near Guinaldo. Our Minister administered to. An +unexpected Visit from our General and his Followers. End of the +Campaign of 1811. Winter Quarters. + + + CHAP. VIII. 100 + +Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo. The Garrison of an Outwork relieved. Spending +an Evening abroad. A Musical Study. An Addition to Soup. A short Cut. +Storming of the Town. A sweeping Clause. Advantages of leading a +Storming Party. Looking for a Customer. Disadvantages of being a +stormed Party. Confusion of all Parties. A waking Dream. Death of +General Crawford. Accident. Deaths. + + + CHAP. IX. 121 + +March to Estremadura. A Deserter shot. Riding for an Appetite. Effect +the Cure of a Sick Lady. Siege of Badajos. Trench-Work. Varieties +during the Siege. Taste of the Times. Storming of the Town. Its Fall. +Officers of a French Battalion. Not shot by Accident. Military +Shopkeepers. Lost Legs and cold Hearts. Affecting Anecdote. My +Servant. A Consignment to Satan. March again for the North. Sir Sidney +Beckwith. + + + CHAP. X. 143 + +A Farewell Address to Portalegré. History of a Night in Castello +Branco. Regimental Colours lost, with Directions where to find them. +Cases in which a Victory is sometimes won by those who lost it. +Advance to Salamanca. The City. The British Position on St. +Christoval. Affair in Position. Marmont's Change of Position and +Retreat. A Case of Bad Luck. Advance to Rueda, and Customs there. +Retire to Castrejon. Affairs on the 18th and 19th of July. Battle of +Salamanca, and Defeat of the Enemy. + + + CHAP. XI. 165 + +Distinguished Characters. A Charge of Dragoons. A Charge against the +Nature of Things. Olmeda and the French General, Ferez. Advance +towards Madrid. Adventures of my Dinner. The Town of Segovia. El +Palacio del Rio Frio. The Escurial. Enter Madrid. Rejoicings. Nearly +happy. Change of a Horse. Change of Quarters. A Change confounded. +Retire towards Salamanca. Boar-Hunt, Dinner-Hunt, and Bull-Hunt. A +Portuguese Funeral conducted by Rifle Undertakers. + + + CHAP. XII. 183 + +Reach Salamanca. Retreat from it. Pig Hunting, an Enemy to +Sleep-Hunting. Putting one's Foot in it. Affair on the 17th of +November. Bad Legs sometimes last longer than good ones. A Wet Birth. +Prospectus of a Day's Work. A lost _déjûné_ better than a found one. +Advantages not taken. A disagreeable Amusement, End of the Campaign of +1812. Winter Quarters. Orders and Disorders treated. Farewell Opinion +of Ancient Allies. My House. + + + CHAP. XIII. 200 + +A Review. Assembly of the Army. March to Salamanca. To Aldea Nueva. To +Toro. An Affair of the Hussar Brigade. To Palencia. To the +Neighbourhood of Burgos. To the Banks of the Ebro. Fruitful sleeping +place. To Medina. A Dance before it was due. Smell the Foe. Affair at +St. Milan. A Physical River. + + + CHAP. XIV. 213 + +Battle of Vittoria. Defeat of the Enemy. Confusion among their +Followers. Plunder. Colonel Cameron. Pursuit, and the Capture of their +Last Gun. Arrive near Pampeluna. At Villalba. An Irish method of +making a useless Bed useful. + + + CHAP. XV. 231 + +March to intercept Clausel. Tafalla. Olite. The dark End of a Night +March to Casada. Clausel's Escape. Sanguessa. My Tent struck. Return +to Villalba. Weighty Considerations on Females. St. Esteban. A Severe +Dance. Position at Bera. Soult's Advance, and Battle of the Pyrenees. +His Defeat and subsequent Actions. A Morning's Ride. + + + CHAP. XVI. 246 + +An Anniversary Dinner. Affair with the Enemy, and Fall of St. +Sebastian. A Building Speculation. A Fighting one, storming the +Heights of Bera. A Picture of France from the Pyrenees. Returns after +an Action. Sold by my Pay-Serjeant. A Recruit born at his Post. +Between Two Fires, a Sea and a Land one. Position of La Rhune. My +Picture taken in a Storm. Refreshing Invention for wintry Weather. + + + CHAP. XVII. 263 + +Battle of the Nivelle, and Defeat of the Enemy. A Bird of Evil Omen. +Chateau D'Arcangues. Prudence. An Enemy's Gratitude. Passage of the +Nive, and Battles near Bayonne, from 9th to 13th December. + + + CHAP. XVIII. 280 + +Change of Quarters. Change of Diet. Suttlers. Our new Quarter. A +long-going Horse gone. New Clothing. Adam's lineal Descendants. St. +Palais. Action at Tarbes. Faubourg of Toulouse. The green Man. Passage +of the Garonne. Battle of Toulouse. Peace. Castle Sarrazin. A Tender +Point. + + + CHAP. XIX. 301 + +Commencement of the War of 1815. Embark for Rotterdam. Ship's Stock. +Ship struck. A Pilot, a Smuggler, and a Lawyer. A Boat without Stock. +Join the Regiment at Brussels. + + + CHAP. XX. 307 + +Relative Situation of the Troops. March from Brussels. The Prince and +the Beggar. Battle of Quatre-Bras. + + + CHAP. XXI. 327 + +Battle of Waterloo, 18th June, 1815. "A Horse! a Horse!" Breakfast. +Position. Disposition. Meeting of _particular_ Friends. Dish of Powder +and Ball. Fricassee of Swords. End of First Course. Pounding. Brewing. +Peppering. Cutting and Maiming. Fury. Tantalizing. Charging. Cheering. +Chasing. Opinionizing. Anecdotes. The End. + + + + +ADVENTURES IN THE RIFLE BRIGADE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + Joined the Rifles. Walcheren Expedition. A young Soldier. A + Marine View. Campaign in South Beeveland. Retreat to Scotland. + + +I joined the second battalion rifle brigade, (then the ninety-fifth,) +at Hythe-Barracks, in the spring of 1809, and, in a month after, we +proceeded to form a part of the expedition to Holland, under the Earl +of Chatham. + +With the usual Quixotic feelings of a youngster, I remember how very +desirous I was, on the march to Deal, to impress the minds of the +natives with a suitable notion of the magnitude of my importance, by +carrying a donkey-load of pistols in my belt, and screwing my +naturally placid countenance up to a pitch of ferocity beyond what it +was calculated to bear. + +We embarked in the Downs, on board the Hussar frigate, and afterwards +removed to the Namur, a seventy-four, in which we were conveyed to our +destination. + +I had never before been in a ship of war, and it appeared to me, the +first night, as if the sailors and marines did not pull well together, +excepting by the ears; for my hammock was slung over the descent into +the cockpit, and I had scarcely turned-in when an officer of marines +came and abused his sentry for not seeing the lights out below, +according to orders. The sentry proceeded to explain, that the +_middies_ would not put them out for him, when the naked shoulders and +the head of one of them, illuminated with a red nightcap, made its +appearance above the hatchway, and began to take a lively share in +the argument. The marine officer, looking down, with some +astonishment, demanded, "d--n you, sir, who are you?" to which the +head and shoulders immediately rejoined, "and d--n and b--t you, sir, +who are you?" + +We landed on the island of South Beeveland, where we remained about +three weeks, playing at soldiers, smoking _mynheer's_ long clay pipes, +and drinking his _vrow's_ butter-milk, for which I paid liberally with +my precious blood to their infernal musquitos; not to mention that I +had all the extra valour shaken out of me by a horrible ague, which +commenced a campaign on my carcass, and compelled me to retire upon +Scotland, for the aid of my native air, by virtue of which it was +ultimately routed. + +I shall not carry my first chapter beyond my first campaign, as I am +anxious that my reader should not expend more than his first breath +upon an event which cost too many their last. + + + + +CHAP. II. + + Rejoin the Regiment. Embark for the Peninsula. Arrival in the + Tagus. The City of Lisbon, with its Contents. Sail for Figuera. + Landing extraordinary. Billet ditto. The City of Coimbra. A hard + Case. A cold Case, in which a favourite Scotch Dance is + introduced. Climate. The Duke of Wellington. + + +I rejoined the battalion, at Hythe, in the spring of 1810, and, +finding that the company to which I belonged had embarked, to join the +first battalion in the Peninsula, and that they were waiting at +Spithead for a fair wind, I immediately applied, and obtained +permission, to join them. + +We were about the usual time at sea, and indulged in the usual +amusements, beginning with keeping journals, in which I succeeded in +inserting two remarks on the state of the weather, when I found my +inclination for book-making superseded by the more disagreeable study +of appearing eminently happy under an irresistible inclination towards +sea-sickness. We anchored in the Tagus in September;--no thanks to the +ship, for she was a leaky one, and wishing foul winds to the skipper, +for he was a bad one. + +To look at Lisbon from the Tagus, there are few cities in the universe +that can promise so much, and none, I hope, that can keep it so badly. + +I only got on shore one day, for a few hours, and, as I never again +had an opportunity of correcting the impression, I have no objection +to its being considered an uncharitable one; but I wandered for a time +amid the abominations of its streets and squares, in the vain hope +that I had got involved among a congregation of stables and outhouses; +but when I was, at length, compelled to admit it as the miserable +apology for the fair city that I had seen from the harbour, I began to +contemplate, with astonishment, and no little amusement, the very +appropriate appearance of its inhabitants. + +The church, I concluded, had, on that occasion, indulged her numerous +offspring with a holiday, for they occupied a much larger portion of +the streets than all the world besides. Some of them were languidly +strolling about, and looking the sworn foes of time, while others +crowded the doors of the different coffee-houses; the fat +jolly-looking friars cooling themselves with lemonade, and the lean +mustard-pot-faced ones sipping coffee out of thimble-sized cups, with +as much caution as if it had been physic. + +The next class that attracted my attention was the numerous collection +of well-starved dogs, who were indulging in all the luxury of extreme +poverty on the endless dung-heaps. + +There, too, sat the industrious citizen, basking in the sunshine of +his shop-door, and gathering in the flock which is so bountifully +reared on his withered tribe of children. There strutted the spruce +cavalier, with his upper-man furnished at the expense of his lower, +and looking ridiculously imposing: and there--but sacred be their +daughters, for the sake of _one_, who shed a lustre over her squalid +sisterhood, sufficiently brilliant to redeem their whole nation from +the odious sin of ugliness. I was looking for an official person, +living somewhere near the Convent D'Estrella, and was endeavouring to +express my wishes to a boy, when I heard a female voice, in broken +English, from a balcony above, giving the information I desired. I +looked up, and saw a young girl, dressed in white, who was loveliness +itself! In the few words which passed between us, of lively +unconstrained civility on her part, and pure confounded gratitude on +mine, she seemed so perfectly after my own heart, that she lit a torch +in it which burnt for two years and a half. + +It must not detract from her merits that she was almost the only one +that I saw during that period in which it was my fate to tread war's +roughest, rudest path,--daily staring his grim majesty out of +countenance, and nightly slumbering on the cold earth, or in the +tenantless mansion, for I felt as if she would have been the chosen +companion of my waking dreams in _rosier_ walks, as I never recalled +the fair vision to my aid, even in the worst of times, that it did not +act upon my drooping spirits like a glass of brandy. + +It pleased the great disposer of naval events to remove us to another +and a better ship, and to send us off for Figuera, next day, with a +foul wind. + +Sailing at the rate of one mile in two hours, we reached Figuera's Bay +at the end of eight days, and were welcomed by about a hundred hideous +looking Portuguese women, whose joy was so excessive that they waded +up to their arm-pits through a heavy surf, and insisted on carrying us +on shore on their backs! I never clearly ascertained whether they had +been actuated by the purity of love or gold. + +Our men were lodged for the night in a large barn, and the officers +billetted in town. Mine chanced to be on the house of a mad-woman, +whose extraordinary appearance I never shall forget. Her petticoats +scarcely reached to the knee, and all above the lower part of the +bosom was bare; and though she looked not more than middle aged, her +skin seemed as if it had been regularly prepared to receive the +impression of her last will and testament; her head was defended by a +chevaux-de-frise of black wiry hair, which pointed fiercely in every +direction, while her eyes looked like two burnt holes in a blanket. I +had no sooner opened the door than she stuck her arms a-kimbo, and, +opening a mouth, which stretched from ear to ear, she began +vociferating "_bravo, bravissimo_!" + +Being a stranger alike to the appearance and the manners of the +natives, I thought it possible that the former might have been nothing +out of the common run, and concluding that she was overjoyed at seeing +her country reinforced, at that perilous moment, by a fellow upwards +of six feet high, and thinking it necessary to sympathize in some +degree in her patriotic feelings, I began to "_bravo_" too; but as her +second shout ascended ten degrees, and kept increasing in that ratio, +until it amounted to absolute frenzy, I faced to the right-about, and, +before our _tête-à-tête_ had lasted the brief space of three-quarters +of a minute, I disappeared with all possible haste, her terrific yells +vibrating in my astonished ears long after I had turned the corner of +the street; nor did I feel perfectly at ease until I found myself +stretched on a bundle of straw in a corner of the barn occupied by the +men. + +We proceeded, next morning, to join the army; and, as our route lay +through the city of Coimbra, we came to the magnanimous resolution of +providing ourselves with all manner of comforts and equipments for the +campaign on our arrival there; but, when we entered it, at the end of +the second day, our disappointment was quite eclipsed by astonishment +at finding ourselves the only living things in a city, which ought to +have been furnished with twenty thousand souls. + +Lord Wellington was then in the course of his retreat from the +frontiers of Spain to the lines of Torres Vedras, and had compelled +the inhabitants on the line of march to abandon their homes, and to +destroy or carry away every thing that could be of service to the +enemy. It was a measure that ultimately saved their country, though +ruinous and distressing to those concerned, and on no class of +individuals did it bear harder, for the moment, than our own little +detachment, a company of rosy-cheeked, chubbed youths, who, after +three months feeding on ship's dumplings, were thus thrust, at a +moment of extreme activity, in the face of an advancing foe, supported +by a pound of raw beef, drawn every day fresh from the bullock, and a +mouldy biscuit. + +The difficulties we encountered were nothing out of the usual course +of old campaigners; but, untrained and unprovided as I was, I still +looked back upon the twelve or fourteen days following the battle of +Busaco as the most trying I have ever experienced, for we were on our +legs from daylight until dark, in daily contact with the enemy; and, +to satisfy the stomach of an ostrich, I had, as already stated, only a +pound of beef, a pound of biscuit, and one glass of rum. A +brother-officer was kind enough to strap my boat-cloak and portmanteau +on the mule carrying his heavy baggage, which, on account of the +proximity of the foe, was never permitted to be within a day's march +of us, so that, in addition to my simple uniform, my only covering +every night was the canopy of heaven, from whence the dews descended +so refreshingly, that I generally awoke, at the end of an hour, +chilled, and wet to the skin; and I could only purchase an equal +length of additional repose by jumping up and running about, until I +acquired a sleeping quantity of warmth. Nothing in life can be more +ridiculous than seeing a lean, lank fellow start from a profound +sleep, at midnight, and begin lashing away at the highland fling, as +if St. Andrew himself had been playing the bagpipes; but it was a +measure that I very often had recourse to, as the cleverest method of +producing heat. In short, though the prudent general may preach the +propriety of light baggage in the enemy's presence, I will ever +maintain that there is marvellous small personal comfort in travelling +so fast and so lightly as I did. + +The Portuguese farmers will tell you that the beauty of their climate +consists in their crops receiving from the nightly dews the refreshing +influence of a summer's shower, and that they ripen in the daily sun. +But _they_ are a sordid set of rascals! Whereas _I_ speak with the +enlightened views of a man of war, and say, that it is poor +consolation to me, after having been deprived of my needful repose, +and kept all night in a fever, dancing wet and cold, to be told that I +shall be warm enough in the morning? it is like frying a person after +he has been boiled; and I insisted upon it, that if their sun had been +milder and their dews lighter that I should have found it much more +pleasant. + + + + +THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. + +From the moment that I joined the army, so intense was my desire to +get a look at this illustrious chief, that I never should have +forgiven the Frenchman that had killed me before I effected it. My +curiosity did not remain long ungratified; for, as our post was next +the enemy, I found, when anything was to be done, that it was his +also. He was just such a man as I had figured in my mind's eye, and I +thought that the stranger would betray a grievous want of penetration +who could not select the Duke of Wellington from amid five hundred in +the same uniform. + + + + +CHAP. III. + + Other People, Myself, and my Regiment. Retreat to the Lines of + Torres Vedras. Leave Coimbra, followed by a select group of + Natives. Ford the Streets of Condacia in good spirit. A + Provost-Marshal and his favourites. A fall. Convent of Batalha. + Turned out of Allenquer. Passed through Sobral. Turned into + Arruda. Quartering of the Light Division, and their Quarters at + Arruda. Burial of an only Child. Lines of Torres Vedras. + Difference of opinion between Massena and Myself. Military + Customs. + + +Having now brought myself regularly into the field, under the renowned +Wellington, should this narrative, by any accident, fall into the +hands of others who served there, and who may be unreasonable enough +to expect their names to be mentioned in it, let me tell them that +they are most confoundedly mistaken! Every man may write a book for +himself, if he likes, but _this_ is mine; and, as I borrow no man's +story, neither will I give any man a particle of credit for his deeds, +as I have got so little for my own that I have none to spare. Neither +will I mention any regiment but my own, if I can possibly avoid it, +for there is none other that I like so much, and none else so much +deserves it; for we were the light regiment of the Light Division, and +fired the first and last shot in almost every battle, siege, and +skirmish, in which the army was engaged during the war. + +In stating the foregoing resolution, however, with regard to +regiments, I beg to be understood as identifying our old and gallant +associates, the forty-third and fifty-second, as a part of ourselves, +for they bore their share in every thing, and I love them as I hope to +do my better half, (when I come to be divided,) wherever _we_ were, +_they_ were; and although the nature of our arm generally gave us more +employment in the way of skirmishing, yet, whenever it came to a +pinch, independent of a suitable mixture of them among us, we had +only to look behind to see a line, in which we might place a degree of +confidence, almost equal to our hopes in heaven; nor were we ever +disappointed. There never was a corps of riflemen in the hands of such +supporters! + +October 1st, 1810.--We stood to our arms at day light this morning, on +a hill in front of Coimbra; and, as the enemy soon after came on in +force, we retired before them through the city. The civil authorities, +in making their own hurried escape, had totally forgotten that they +had left a gaol full of rogues unprovided for, and who, as we were +passing near them, made the most hideous screaming for relief. Our +quarter-master-general very humanely took some men, who broke open the +doors, and the whole of them were soon seen howling along the bridge +into the wide world, in the most delightful delirium, with the French +dragoons at their heels. + +We retired, the same night, through Condacia, where the commissariat +were destroying quantities of stores that they were unable to carry +off. They handed out shoes and shirts to any one that would take them, +and the streets were literally running ankle deep with rum, in which +the soldiers were dipping their cups and helping themselves as they +marched along. The commissariat, some years afterwards, called for a +return of the men who had received shirts and shoes on this occasion, +with a view of making us pay for them, but we very briefly replied +that the one half were dead, and the other half would be d----d before +they would pay any thing. + +We retired this day to Leria, and, at the entrance of the city, saw an +English and a Portuguese soldier dangling by the bough of a tree--the +first summary example I had ever seen of martial law. + +A provost-marshal, on actual service, is a character of considerable +pretensions, as he can flog at pleasure, always moves about with a +guard of honour, and though he cannot altogether stop a man's breath +without an order, yet, when he is ordered to hang a given number out +of a crowd of plunderers, his _friends_ are not particularly +designated, so that he can invite any one that he takes a fancy to, to +follow him to the nearest tree, where he, without further ceremony, +relieves him from the cares and troubles of this wicked world. + +There was only one _furnished_ shop remaining in the town at this +time, and I went in to see what they had got to sell; but I had +scarcely past the threshold when I heard a tremendous clatter at my +heels, as if the opposite house had been pitched in at the door after +me; and, on wheeling round to ascertain the cause, I found, when the +dust cleared away, that a huge stone balcony, with iron railings, +which had been over the door, overcharged with a collection of old +wives looking at the troops, had tumbled down; and in spite of their +vociferations for the aid of their patron saints, some them were +considerably damaged. + +We halted one night near the Convent of Batalha, one of the finest +buildings in Portugal. It has, I believe, been clearly established, +that a living man in ever so bad health is better than two dead ones; +but it appears that the latter will vary in value according to +circumstances, for we found here, in very high preservation, the body +of King John of Portugal, who founded the edifice in commemoration of +some victory, God knows how long ago; and though he would have been +reckoned a highly valuable antique, within a glass case, in an +apothecary's hall in England, yet he was held so cheap in his own +house, that the very finger which most probably pointed the way to the +victory alluded to, is now in the baggage of the Rifle Brigade! +Reader, point not _thy_ finger at me, for I am not the man. + +Retired on the morning of a very wet, stormy day to Allenquer, a small +town on the top of a mountain, surrounded by still higher ones; and, +as the enemy had not shewn themselves the evening before, we took +possession of the houses, with a tolerable prospect of being permitted +the unusual treat of eating a dinner under cover. But by the time +that the pound of beef was parboiled, and while an officer of dragoons +was in the act of reporting that he had just patrolled six leagues to +the front, without seeing any signs of an enemy, we saw the +indefatigable rascals, on the mountain opposite our windows, just +beginning to wind round us, with a mixture of cavalry and infantry; +the wind blowing so strong, that the long tail of each particular +horse stuck as stiffly out in the face of the one behind, as if the +whole had been strung upon a cable and dragged by the leaders. We +turned out a few companies, and kept them in check while the division +was getting under arms, spilt the soup as usual, and transferring the +smoking solids to the haversack, for future mastication, we continued +our retreat. + +We past through the town of Sobral, soon after dark, the same night; +and, by the aid of some rushlights in a window, saw two apothecaries, +the very counterparts of Romeo's, who were the only remnants of the +place, and had braved the horrors of war for the sake of the +gallipots, and in the hopes that their profession would be held +sacred. They were both on the same side of the counter, looking each +other point blank in the face, their sharp noses not three inches +apart, and neither daring to utter a syllable, but both listening +intensely to the noise outside. Whatever their courage might have been +screwed up to before, it was evident that we were indebted for their +presence now to their fears; and their appearance altogether was so +ludicrous, that they excited universal shouts of laughter as they came +within view of the successive divisions. + +Our long retreat ended at midnight, on our arrival at the handsome +little town of Arruda, which was destined to be the piquet post of our +division, in front of the fortified lines. The quartering of our +division, whether by night or by day, was an affair of about five +minutes. The quarter-master-general preceded the troops, accompanied +by the brigade-majors and the quarter-masters of regiments; and after +marking off certain houses for his general and staff, he split the +remainder of the town between the majors of brigades: they in their +turn provided for their generals and staff, and then made a wholesale +division of streets among the quarter-masters of regiments, who, after +providing for their commanding officers and staff, retailed the +remaining houses, in equal proportions, among the companies; so that, +by the time that the regiment arrived, there was nothing to be done +beyond the quarter-master's simply telling each captain, "here's a +certain number of houses for you." + +Like all other places on the line of march, we found Arruda totally +deserted, and its inhabitants had fled in such a hurry, that the keys +of their house doors were the only things they carried away; so that +when we got admission, through our usual key,[1] we were not a little +gratified to find that the houses were not only regularly furnished, +but most of them had some food in the larder, and a plentiful supply +of good wines in the cellar; and, in short, that they only required a +few lodgers capable of appreciating the good things which the gods had +provided; and the deuce is in it if we were not the very folks who +could! + + [Footnote 1: Transmitting a rifle-ball through the key-hole: + it opens every lock.] + +Unfortunately for ourselves, and still more so for the proprietors, we +never dreamt of the possibility of our being able to keep possession +of the town, as we thought it a matter of course that the enemy would +attack our lines; and, as this was only an outpost, that it must fall +into their hands; so that, in conformity with the system upon which we +had all along been retreating, we destroyed every thing that we could +not use ourselves, to prevent their benefiting by it. But, when we +continued to hold the post beyond the expected period, our +indiscretion was visited on our own heads, as we had destroyed in a +day what would have made us luxurious for months. We were in hopes +that, afterwards, the enemy would have forced the post, if only for an +hour, that we might have saddled them with the mischief; but, as they +never even made the attempt, it left it in the power of ill-natured +people to say, that we had plundered one of our own towns. This was +the only instance during the war in which the light division had +reason to blush for their conduct, and even in that we had the law +martial on our side, whatever gospel law might have said against it. + +The day after our arrival, Mr. Simmons and myself had the curiosity to +look into the church, which was in nowise injured, and was fitted up +in a style of magnificence becoming such a town. The body of a poor +old woman was there, lying dead before the altar. It seemed as if she +had been too infirm to join in the general flight, and had just +dragged herself to that spot by a last effort of nature, and expired. +We immediately determined, that as her's was the only body that we had +found in the town, either alive or dead, that she should have more +glory in the grave than she appeared to have enjoyed on this side of +it; and, with our united exertions, we succeeded in raising a marble +slab, which surmounted a monumental vault, and was beautifully +embellished with armorial blazonry, and, depositing the body inside, +we replaced it again carefully. If the personage to whom it belonged +happened to have a tenant of his own for it soon afterwards, he must +have been rather astonished at the manner in which the apartment was +occupied. + +Those who wish a description of the lines of Torres Vedras, must read +_Napier_, or some one else who knows all about them; for my part, I +know nothing, excepting that I was told that one end of them rested on +the Tagus, and the other somewhere on the sea; and I saw, with my own +eyes, a variety of redoubts and field-works on the various hills which +stand between. This, however, I do know, that we have since kicked the +French out of more formidable looking and stronger places; and, with +all due deference be it spoken, I think that the Prince of Essling +ought to have tried his luck against them, as he could only have been +beaten by fighting, as he afterwards was without it! And if he thinks +that he would have lost as many men by trying, as he did by not +trying, he must allow me to differ in opinion with him!!! + +In very warm or very wet weather it was customary to put us under +cover in the town during the day, but we were always moved back to our +bivouac, on the heights, during the night; and it was rather amusing +to observe the different notions of individual comfort, in the +selection of furniture, which officers transferred from their _town +house_ to their _no house_ on the heights. A sofa, or a mattress, one +would have thought most likely to be put in requisition; but it was +not unusual to see a full-length looking-glass preferred to either. + +The post of the company to which I belonged, on the heights, was near +a redoubt, immediately behind Arruda; there was a cattle-shed near it, +which we cleaned out, and used as a sort of quarter. On turning out +from breakfast one morning, we found that the butcher had been about +to offer up the usual sacrifice of a bullock to the wants of the day; +but it had broken loose, and, in trying to regain his victim, had +caught it by the tail, which he twisted round his hand; and, when we +made our appearance, they were performing a variety of evolutions at a +gallop, to the great amusement of the soldiers; until an unlucky turn +brought them down upon our house, which had been excavated out of the +face of the hill, on which the upper part of the roof rested, and _in_ +they went, heels over head, butcher, bullock, tail and all, bearing +down the whole fabric with a tremendous crash. + +N.B. It was very fortunate that we happened to be outside; and very +unfortunate, as we were now obliged to remain out. + +We certainly lived in _clover_ while we remained here; every thing we +saw was our own, seeing no one there who had a more legitimate claim; +and every field was a vineyard. Ultimately it was considered too much +trouble to pluck the grapes, as there were a number of poor native +thieves in the habit of coming from the rear, every day, to steal +some, so that a soldier had nothing to do but to watch one until he +was marching off with his basket full, when he would very deliberately +place his back against that of the Portuguese, and relieve him of his +load, without wasting any words about the bargain. The poor wretch +would follow the soldier to the camp, in the hope of having his basket +returned, as it generally was, when emptied. + +Massena conceiving any attack upon our lines to be hopeless, as his +troops were rapidly mouldering away with sickness and want, at length +began to withdraw them nearer to the source of his supplies. + +He abandoned his position, opposite to us, on the night of the 9th of +November, leaving some stuffed-straw gentlemen occupying their usual +posts. Some of them were cavalry, some infantry, and they seemed such +respectable representatives of their spectral predecessors, that, in +the haze of the following morning, we thought that they had been +joined by some well-fed ones from the rear; and it was late in the day +before we discovered the mistake and advanced in pursuit. In passing +by the edge of a mill-pond, after dark, our adjutant and his horse +tumbled in, and, as the latter had no tail to hold on by, they were +both very nearly drowned. + +It was late ere we halted for the night, on the side of the road, near +to Allenquer, and I got under cover in a small house, which looked as +if it had been honoured as the head-quarters of the tailor-general of +the French army, for the floor was strewed with variegated threads, +various complexioned buttons, with particles and remnants of +_cabbage_; and, if it could not boast of the flesh and fowl of Noah's +ark, there was an abundance of the creeping things which it were to be +wished that that commander had not left behind. We marched before +daylight next morning, leaving a _rousing_ fire in the chimney, which +shortly became too small to hold it; for we had not proceeded far +before we perceived that the well-dried thatched roof had joined in +the general blaze, a circumstance which caused us no little +uneasiness, for our general, the late Major-general Robert Crawford, +had brought us up in the fear of our master; and, as he was a sort of +person who would not see a fire, of that kind, in the same _light_ +that we did, I was by no means satisfied that my commission lay snug +in my pocket, until we had fairly marched it out of sight, and in +which we were aided not a little by a slight fire of another kind, +which he was required to watch with the advanced guard. + +On our arrival at Vallé, on the 12th of Nov. we found the enemy behind +the Rio Maior, occupying the heights of Santarem, and exchanged some +shots with their advanced posts. In the course of the night we +experienced one of those tremendous thunderstorms which used to +precede the Wellington victories, and which induced us to expect a +general action on the following day. I had disposed myself to sleep in +a beautiful green hollow way, and, before I had time even to dream of +the effects of their heavy rains, I found myself floating most +majestically towards the river, in a fair way of becoming food for +the fishes. I ever after gave those inviting-looking spots a wide +birth, as I found that they were regular watercourses. + +Next morning our division crossed the river, and commenced a false +attack on the enemy's left, with a view of making them show their +force; and it was to have been turned into a real attack, if their +position was found to be occupied by a rear guard only; but, after +keeping up a smart skirmishing-fire the greater part of the day, Lord +Wellington was satisfied that their whole army was present, we were +consequently withdrawn. + +This affair terminated the campaign of 1810. Our division took +possession of the village of Vallé and its adjacents, and the rest of +the army was placed in cantonments, under whatever cover the +neighbouring country afforded. + +Our battalion was stationed in some empty farm-houses, near the end of +the bridge of Santarem, which was nearly half a mile long; and our +sentries and those of the enemy were within pistol-shot of each other +on the bridge. + +I do not mean to insinuate that a country is never so much at peace as +when at open war; but I do say that a soldier can no where sleep so +soundly, nor is he any where so secure from surprise, as when within +musket-shot of his enemy. + +We lay four months in this situation, divided only by a rivulet, +without once exchanging shots. Every evening, at the hour + + "When bucks to dinner go, + And cits to sup," + +it was our practice to dress for sleep: we saddled our horses, buckled +on our armour, and lay down, with the bare floor for a bed and a stone +for a pillow, ready for any thing, and reckless of every thing but the +honour of our corps and country; for I will say (to save the expense +of a trumpeter) that a more devoted set of fellows were never +associated. + +We stood to our arms every morning at an hour before daybreak, and +remained there until a _grey horse_ could be seen a mile off, (which +is the military criterion by which daylight is acknowledged, and the +hour of surprise past,) when we proceeded to unharness, and to indulge +in such _luxuries_ as our toilet and our table afforded. + +The Maior, as far as the bridge of Vallé, was navigable for the small +craft from Lisbon, so that our table, while we remained there, cut as +respectable a figure, as regular supplies of rice, salt fish, and +potatoes could make it; not to mention that our pig-skin was, at all +times, at least three parts full of a common red wine, which used to +be dignified by the name of _black-strap_. We had the utmost +difficulty, however, in keeping up appearances in the way of dress. +The jacket, in spite of shreds and patches, always maintained +something of the original about it; but woe befel the regimental +small-clothes, and they could only be replaced by very extraordinary +apologies, of which I remember that I had two pair at this period, +_one_ of a common brown Portuguese cloth, and the _other_, or +Sunday's pair, of black velvet. We had no women with the regiment; and +the ceremony of washing a shirt amounted to my servant's taking it by +the collar, and giving it a couple of shakes in the water, and then +hanging it up to dry. Smoothing-irons were not the fashion of the +times, and, if a fresh well-dressed aide-de-camp did occasionally come +from England, we used to stare at him with about as much respect as +Hotspur did at his "waiting gentlewoman." + +The winter here was uncommonly mild. I am not the sort of person to +put myself much in the way of ice, except on a warm summer's day; but +the only inconvenience that I felt in bathing, in the middle of +December, was the quantity of leeches that used to attach themselves +to my personal supporters, obliging me to cut a few capers to shake +them off, after leaving the water. + +Our piquet-post, at the bridge, became a regular lounge, for the +winter, to all manner of folks. + +I used to be much amused at seeing our naval officers come up from +Lisbon riding on mules, with huge ships' spy-glasses, like +six-pounders, strapped across the backs of their saddles. Their first +question invariably was, "Who is that fellow there," (pointing to the +enemy's sentry, close to us,) and, on being told that he was a +Frenchman, "Then why the devil don't you shoot him!" + +Repeated acts of civility passed between the French and us during this +tacit suspension of hostilities. The greyhounds of an officer followed +a hare, on one occasion, into their lines, and they very politely +returned them. + +I was one night on piquet, at the end of the bridge, when a ball came +from the French sentry and struck the burning billet of wood round +which we were sitting, and they sent in a flag of truce, next morning, +to apologize for the accident, and to say that it had been done by a +stupid fellow of a sentry, who imagined that people were advancing +upon him. We admitted the apology, though we knew well enough that it +had been done by a malicious rather than a stupid fellow, from the +situation we occupied. + +General Junot, one day reconnoitring, was severely wounded by a +sentry, and Lord Wellington, knowing that they were at that time +destitute of every thing in the shape of comfort, sent to request his +acceptance of any thing that Lisbon afforded that could be of any +service to him; but the French general was too much of a politician to +admit the want of any thing. + + + + +CHAP. V. + + Campaign of 1811 opens. Massena's Retreat. Wretched Condition of + the Inhabitants on the Line of March. Affairs with the Enemy, + near Pombal. Description of a Bivouac. Action near Redinha. + Destruction of Condacia and Action near it. Burning of the + Village of Illama, and Misery of its Inhabitants. Action at Foz + D'Aronce. Confidential Servants with Donkey-Assistants. + + +The campaign of 1811 commenced on the 6th of March, by the retreat of +the enemy from Santarem. + +Lord Wellington seemed to be perfectly acquainted with their +intentions, for he sent to apprize our piquets, the evening before, +that they were going off, and to desire that they should feel for them +occasionally during the night, and give the earliest information of +their having started. It was not, however, until daylight that we +were quite certain of their having gone, and our division was +instantly put in motion after them, passing through the town of +Santarem, around which their camp fires were still burning. + +Santarem is finely situated, and probably had been a handsome town. I +had never seen it in prosperity, and it now looked like a city of the +plague, represented by empty dogs and empty houses; and, but for the +tolling of a convent-bell by some unseen hand, its appearance was +altogether inhuman. + +We halted for the night near Pyrnes. This little town, and the few +wretched inhabitants who had been induced to remain in it under the +faithless promises of the French generals, shewed fearful signs of a +late visit from a barbarous and merciless foe. Young women were lying +in their houses brutally violated,--the streets were strewed with +broken furniture, intermixed with the putrid carcasses of murdered +peasants, mules, and donkeys, and every description of filth, that +filled the air with pestilential nausea. The few starved male +inhabitants who were stalking amid the wreck of their friends and +property, looked like so many skeletons who had been permitted to +leave their graves for the purpose of taking vengeance on their +oppressors, and the mangled body of every Frenchman who was +unfortunate or imprudent enough to stray from his column, shewed how +religiously they performed their mission. + +March 8th.--We overtook their rear guard this evening, snugly put up +for the night in a little village, the name of which I do not +recollect, but a couple of six pounders, supported by a few of our +rifles, induced them to extend their walk. + +March 9th.--While moving along the road this morning, we found a man, +who had deserted from us a short time before, in the uniform of a +French dragoon, with his head laid open by one of our bullets. He was +still alive, exciting any thing but sympathy among his former +associates. Towards the afternoon we found the enemy in force, on the +plain in front of Pombal, where we exchanged some shots. + +March 11th.--They retired yesterday to the heights behind Pombal, with +their advanced posts occupying the town and moorish castle, which our +battalion, assisted by some Cácadores, attacked this morning, and +drove them from with considerable loss. Dispositions were then made +for a general attack on their position, but the other divisions of our +army did not arrive until too late in the evening. We bivouacked for +the night in a ploughed field, under the castle, with our sentries +within pistol shot, while it rained in torrents. + +As it is possible that some of my readers might never have had the +misfortune to experience the comforts of a bivouac, and as the one +which I am now in, contains but a small quantity of sleep, I shall +devote a waking hour for their edification. + +When a regiment arrives at its ground for the night, it is formed in +columns of companies, at full, half, or quarter distance, according +to the space which circumstances will permit it to occupy. The officer +commanding each company then receives his orders; and, after +communicating whatever may be necessary to the men, he desires them to +"pile arms, and make themselves comfortable for the night." Now, I +pray thee, most sanguine reader, suffer not thy fervid imagination to +transport thee into elysian fields at the pleasing exhortation +conveyed in the concluding part of the captain's address, but rest +thee contentedly in the one where it is made, which in all probability +is a ploughed one, and that, too, in a state of preparation to take a +model of thy very beautiful person, under the melting influence of a +shower of rain. The soldiers of each company have a hereditary claim +to the ground next to their arms, as have their officers to a wider +range on the same line, limited to the end of a bugle sound, if not by +a neighbouring corps, or one that is not neighbourly, for the nearer a +man is to his enemy, the nearer he likes to be to his friends. Suffice +it, that each individual knows his place as well as if he had been +born on the estate, and takes immediate possession accordingly. In a +ploughed or a stubble field there is scarcely a choice of quarters; +but, whenever there is a sprinkling of trees, it is always an object +to secure a good one, as it affords shelter from the sun by day and +the dews by night, besides being a sort of home or sign post for a +group of officers, as denoting the best place of entertainment; for +they hang their spare clothing and accoutrements among the branches, +barricade themselves on each side with their saddles, canteens, and +portmanteaus, and, with a blazing fire in their front, they indulge, +according to their various humours, in a complete state of +gipsyfication. + +There are several degrees of comfort to be reckoned in a bivouac, two +of which will suffice. + +The first, and worst, is to arrive at the end of a cold wet day, too +dark to see your ground, and too near the enemy to be permitted to +unpack the knapsacks or to take off accoutrements; where, +unincumbered with baggage or eatables of any kind, you have the +consolation of knowing that things are now at their worst, and that +any change must be for the better. You keep yourself alive for a +while, in collecting material to feed your fire with. You take a smell +at your empty calibash, which recalls to your remembrance the +delicious flavour of its last drop of wine. You curse your servant for +not having contrived to send you something or other from the baggage, +(though you know that it was impossible). You then damn the enemy for +being so near you, though probably, as in the present instance, it was +you that came so near them. And, finally, you take a whiff at the end +of a cigar, if you have one, and keep grumbling through the smoke, +like distant thunder through a cloud, until you tumble into a most +warlike sleep. + +The next, and most common one, is, when you are not required to look +quite so sharp, and when the light baggage and provisions come in at +the heel of the regiment. If it is early in the day, the first thing +to be done is to make some tea, the most sovereign restorative for +jaded spirits. We then proceed to our various duties. The officers of +each company form a mess of themselves. One remains in camp to attend +to the duties of the regiment; a second attends to the mess: he goes +to the regimental butcher, and bespeaks a portion of the only +purchaseable commodities, hearts, livers, and kidneys; and also to see +whether he cannot _do_ the commissary out of a few extra biscuit, or a +canteen of brandy; and the remainder are gentlemen at large for the +day. But while they go hunting among the neighbouring regiments for +news, and the neighbouring houses for curiosity, they have always an +eye to their mess, and omit no opportunity of adding to the general +stock. + +Dinner hour, for fear of accidents, is always the hour when dinner can +be got ready; and the 14th section of the articles of war is always +most rigidly attended to, by every good officer parading himself round +the camp-kettle at the time fixed, with his haversack in his hand. A +haversack on service is a sort of dumb waiter. The mess have a good +many things in common, but the contents of the haversack are +exclusively the property of its owner; and a well regulated one ought +never to be without the following furniture, unless when the +perishable part is consumed, in consequence of every other means of +supply having failed, viz. a couple of biscuit, a sausage, a little +tea and sugar, a knife, fork, and spoon, a tin cup, (which answers to +the names of _tea-cup_, _soup-plate_, _wine-glass_, and _tumbler_,) a +pair of socks, a piece of soap, a tooth-brush, towel, and comb, and +half a dozen cigars. + +After doing justice to the dinner, if we feel in a humour for +additional society, we transfer ourselves to some neighbouring mess, +taking our cups, and whatever we mean to drink, along with us, for in +those times there is nothing to be expected from our friends beyond +the pleasure of their conversation: and, finally, we retire to rest. +To avoid inconvenience by the tossing off of the bed-clothes, each +officer has a blanket sewed up at the sides, like a sack, into which +he scrambles, and, with a green sod or a smooth stone for a pillow, +composes himself to sleep; and, under such a glorious reflecting +canopy as the heavens, it would be a subject of mortification to an +astronomer to see the celerity with which he tumbles into it. Habit +gives endurance, and fatigue is the best nightcap; no matter that the +veteran's countenance is alternately stormed with torrents of rain, +heavy dews, and hoar-frosts; no matter that his ears are assailed by a +million mouths of chattering locusts, and by some villanous donkey, +who every half hour pitches a _bray_ note, which, as a congregation of +presbyterians follow their clerk, is instantly taken up by every mule +and donkey in the army, and sent echoing from regiment to regiment, +over hill and valley, until it dies away in the distance; no matter +that the scorpion is lurking beneath his pillow, the snake winding his +slimy way by his side, and the lizard galloping over his face, wiping +his eyes with its long cold tail. + +All are unheeded, until the warning voice of the brazen instrument +sounds to arms. Strange it is, that the ear which is impervious to +what would disturb the rest of the world besides, should alone be +alive to one, and that, too, a sound which is likely to sooth the +sleep of the citizens, or at most, to set them dreaming of their +loves. But so it is: the first note of the melodious bugle places the +soldier on his legs, like lightning; when, muttering a few curses at +the unseasonableness of the hour, he plants himself on his alarm post, +without knowing or caring about the cause. + +Such is a bivouac; and our sleep-breaker having just sounded, the +reader will find what occurred, by reading on. + +March 12th.--We stood to our arms before daylight. Finding that the +enemy had quitted the position in our front, we proceeded to follow +them; and had not gone far before we heard the usual morning's +salutation, of a couple of shots, between their rear and our advanced +guard. On driving in their outposts, we found their whole army drawn +out on the plain, near Redinha, and instantly quarrelled with them on +a large scale. + +As every body has read Waverley and the Scottish Chiefs, and knows +that one battle is just like another, inasmuch as they always conclude +by one or both sides running away; and as it is nothing to me what +this or t'other regiment did, nor do I care three buttons what this or +t'other person thinks he did, I shall limit all my descriptions to +such events as immediately concerned the important personage most +interested in this history. + +Be it known then, that I was one of a crowd of skirmishers who were +enabling the French ones to carry the news of their own defeat through +a thick wood, at an infantry canter, when I found myself all at once +within a few yards of one of their regiments in line, which opened +such a fire, that had I not, rifleman like, taken instant advantage of +the cover of a good fir tree, my name would have unquestionably been +transmitted to posterity by that night's gazette. And, however +opposed it may be to the usual system of drill, I will maintain, from +that day's experience, that the cleverest method of teaching a recruit +to stand at attention, is to place him behind a tree and fire balls at +him; as, had our late worthy disciplinarian, Sir David Dundas, +himself, been looking on, I think that even _he_ must have admitted +that he never saw any one stand so fiercely upright as I did behind +mine, while the balls were rapping into it as fast as if a fellow had +been hammering a nail on the opposite side, not to mention the numbers +that were whistling past, within the eighth of an inch of every part +of my body, both before and behind, particularly in the vicinity of my +nose, for which the upper part of the tree could barely afford +protection. + +This was a last and a desperate stand made by their rear-guard, for +their own safety, immediately above the town, as their sole chance of +escape depended upon their being able to hold the post until the only +bridge across the river was clear of the other fugitives. But they +could not hold it long enough; for, while we were undergoing a +temporary sort of purgatory in their front, our comrades went working +round their flanks, which quickly sent them flying, with us +intermixed, at full cry, down the streets. + +Whether in love or war, I have always considered that the pursuer has +a decided advantage over the pursued. In the first, he may gain and +cannot lose; but, in the latter, when one sees his enemy at full speed +before him, one has such a peculiar conscious sort of feeling that he +is on the right side, that I would not exchange places for any +consideration. + +When we reached the bridge, the scene became exceedingly interesting, +for it was choked up by the fugitives who were, as usual, impeding +each other's progress, and we did not find that the application of our +swords to those nearest to us tended at all towards lessening their +disorder, for it induced about a hundred of them to rush into an +adjoining house for shelter, but that was netting regularly out of the +frying-pan into the fire, for the house happened to be really in +flames, and too hot to hold them, so that the same hundred were +quickly seen unkennelling again, half-cooked, into the very jaws of +their consumers. + +John Bull, however, is not a blood-thirsty person, so that those who +could not better themselves, had only to submit to a simple transfer +of personal property to ensure his protection. We, consequently, made +many prisoners at the bridge, and followed their army about a league +beyond it, keeping up a flying fight until dark. + +Just as Mr. Simmons and myself had crossed the river, and were talking +over the events of the day, not a yard asunder, there was a Portuguese +soldier in the act of passing between us, when a cannon-ball plunged +into his belly--his head doubled down to his feet, and he stood for a +moment in that posture before he rolled over a lifeless lump. + +March 13th.--Arrived on the hill above Condacia in time to see that +handsome little town in flames. Every species of barbarity continued +to mark the enemy's retreating steps. They burnt every town or +village through which they passed, and if we entered a church, which, +by accident, had been spared, it was to see the murdered bodies of the +peasantry on the altar. + +While Lord Wellington, with his staff, was on a hill a little in front +of us, waiting the result of a flank-movement which he had directed, +some of the enemy's sharpshooters stole, unperceived, very near to him +and began firing, but, fortunately, without effect. We immediately +detached a few of ours to meet them, but the others ran off on their +approach. + +We lay by our arms until towards evening, when the enemy withdrew a +short distance behind Condacia, and we closed up to them. There was a +continued popping between the advanced posts all night. + +March 14th.--Finding, at daylight, that the enemy still continued to +hold the strong ground before us, some divisions of the army were sent +to turn their flanks, while ours attacked them in front. + +We drove them from one strong hold to another, over a large track of +very difficult country, mountainous and rocky, and thickly intersected +with stone walls, and were involved in one continued hard skirmish +from daylight until dark. This was the most harassing day's fighting +that I ever experienced. + +Daylight left the two armies looking at each other, near the village +of Illama. The smoking roofs of the houses showed that the French had +just quitted and, as usual, set fire to it, when the company to which +I belonged was ordered on piquet there for the night. After posting +our sentries, my brother-officer and myself had the curiosity to look +into a house, and were shocked to find in it a mother and her child +dead, and the father, with three more, living, but so much reduced by +famine as to be unable to remove themselves from the flames. We +carried them into the open air, and offered the old man our few +remaining crumbs of biscuit, but he told us that he was too far gone +to benefit by them, and begged that we would give them to his +children. We lost no time in examining such of the other houses as +were yet safe to enter, and rescued many more individuals from one +horrible death, probably to reserve them for another equally so, and +more lingering, as we had nothing to give them, and marched at +daylight the following morning. + +Our post that night was one of terrific grandeur. The hills behind +were in a blaze of light with the British camp-fires, as were those in +our front with the French ones. Both hills were abrupt and lofty, not +above eight hundred yards asunder, and we were in the burning village +in the valley between. The roofs of houses every instant falling in, +and the sparks and flames ascending to the clouds. The streets were +strewed with the dying and the dead,--some had been murdered and some +killed in action, which, together with the half-famished wretches whom +we had saved from burning, contributed in making it a scene which was +well-calculated to shake a stout heart, as was proved in the instance +of one of our sentries, a well known "devil-may-care" sort of fellow. +I know not what appearances the burning rafters might have reflected +on the neighbouring trees at the time, but he had not been long on his +post before he came running into the piquet, and swore, by all the +saints in the calendar, that he saw six dead Frenchmen advancing upon +him with hatchets over their shoulders! + +We found by the buttons on the coats of some of the fallen foe, that +we had this day been opposed to the French ninety-fifth regiment, (the +same number as we were then,) and I cut off several of them, which I +preserved as trophies. + +March 15th.--We overtook the enemy a little before dark this +afternoon. They were drawn up behind the Ceira, at Fez D'Aronce, with +their rear-guard, under Marshal Ney, imprudently posted on our side of +the river, a circumstance which Lord Wellington took immediate +advantage of; and, by a furious attack, dislodged them, in such +confusion, that they blew up the bridge before half of their own +people had time to get over. Those who were thereby left behind, not +choosing to put themselves to the pain of being shot, took to the +river, which received them so hospitably that few of them ever quitted +it. Their loss, on this occasion, must have been very great, and, we +understood, at the time, that Ney had been sent to France, in +disgrace, in consequence of it. + +About the middle of the action, I observed some inexperienced light +troops rushing up a deep road-way to certain destruction, and ran to +warn them out of it, but I only arrived in time to partake the reward +of their indiscretion, for I was instantly struck with a musket-ball +above the left ear, which deposited me, at full length, in the mud. + +I know not how long I lay insensible, but, on recovering, my first +_feeling_ was for my head, to ascertain if any part of it was still +standing, for it appeared to me as if nothing remained above the +mouth; but, after repeated applications of all my fingers and thumbs +to the doubtful parts, I, at length, proved to myself, satisfactorily, +that it had rather increased than diminished by the concussion; and, +jumping on my legs, and hearing, by the whistling of the balls from +both sides, that the rascals who had got me into the scrape had been +driven back and left me there, I snatched my cap, which had saved my +life, and which had been spun off my head to the distance of ten or +twelve yards, and joined them, a short distance in the rear, when one +of them, a soldier of the sixtieth, came and told me that an officer +of ours had been killed, a short time before, pointing to the spot +where I myself had fallen, and that he had tried to take his jacket +off, but that the advance of the enemy had prevented him. I told him +that I was the one that had been killed, and that I was deucedly +obliged to him for his _kind_ intentions, while I felt still more so +to the enemy for their timely advance, otherwise, I have no doubt, but +my _friend_ would have taken a fancy to my trousers also, for I found +that he had absolutely unbuttoned my jacket. + +There is nothing so gratifying to frail mortality as a good dinner +when most wanted and least expected. It was perfectly dark before the +action finished, but, on going to take advantage of the fires which +the enemy had evacuated, we found their soup-kettles in full +operation, and every man's mess of biscuit lying beside them, in +stockings, as was the French mode of carrying them; and it is needless +to say how unceremoniously we proceeded to do the honours of the +feast. It ever after became a saying among the soldiers, whenever they +were on short allowance, "well, d--n my eyes, we must either fall in +with the French or the commissary to-day, I don't care which." + +As our baggage was always in the rear on occasions of this kind, the +officers of each company had a Portuguese boy, in charge of a donkey, +on whom their little comforts depended. He carried our boat-cloaks and +blankets, was provided with a small pig-skin for wine, a canteen for +spirits, a small quantity of tea and sugar, a goat tied to the donkey, +and two or three dollars in his pocket, for the purchase of bread, +butter, or any other luxury which good fortune might throw in his way +in the course of the day's march. We were never very scrupulous in +exacting information regarding the source of his supplies; so that he +had nothing to dread from our wrath, unless he had the misfortune to +make his appearance empty-handed. They were singularly faithful and +intelligent in making their way to us every evening, under the most +difficult circumstances. This was the only night during Massena's +retreat in which ours failed to find us; and, wandering the greater +part of the night in the intricate maze of camp-fires, it appeared +that he slept, after all, among some dragoons, within twenty yards of +us. + + + + +CHAP. VI. + + Passage of the Mondego. Swearing to a large Amount. Two + Prisoners, with their Two Views. Two Nuns, Two Pieces of Dough, + and Two Kisses. A Halt. Affair near Frexedas. Arrival near + Guarda. Murder. A stray Sentry. Battle of Sabugal. Spanish and + Portuguese Frontiers. Blockade of Almeida. Battle-like. Current + Value of Lord Wellington's Nose. Battle of Fuentes D'Onor. The + Day after the Battle. A grave Remark. The _Padre's_ House. + Retreat of the Enemy. + + +March 17th.--Found the enemy's rear-guard behind the Mondego, at Ponte +de Marcella, cannonaded them out of it, and then threw a temporary +bridge across the river, and followed them until dark. + +The late Sir Alexander Campbell, who commanded the division next to +ours, by a wanton excess of zeal in expecting an order to follow, +would not permit any thing belonging to us to pass the bridge, for +fear of impeding the march of his troops; and, as he received no order +to march, we were thereby prevented from getting any thing whatever to +eat for the next thirty-six hours. I know not whether the curses of +individuals are recorded under such circumstances, but, if they are, +the gallant general will have found the united hearty ones of four +thousand men registered against him for that particular act. + +March 19th.--We, this day, captured the aide-de-camp of General +Loison, together with his wife, who was dressed in a splendid hussar +uniform. _He_ was a Portuguese, and a traitor, and looked very like a +man who would be hanged. _She_ was a Spaniard, and very handsome, and +looked very like a woman who would get married again. + +March 20th.--We had now been three days without any thing in the shape +of bread, and meat without it, after a time, becomes almost +loathsome. Hearing that we were not likely to march quite so early as +usual this morning, I started, before daylight, to a village about two +miles off, in the face of the Sierra D'Estrella, in the hopes of being +able to purchase something, as it lay out of the hostile line of +movements. On my arrival there, I found some nuns who had fled from a +neighbouring convent, waiting outside the building of the village-oven +for some Indian-corn-leaven, which they had carried there to be baked, +and, when I explained my pressing wants, two of them, very kindly, +transferred me their shares, for which I gave each a kiss and a dollar +between. They took the former as an unusual favour; but looked at the +latter, as much as to say, "our poverty, and not our will, consents." +I ran off with my half-baked dough, and joined my comrades, just as +they were getting under arms. + +March 21st.--We, this day, reached the town of Mello, and had so far +outmarched our commissary that we found it necessary to wait for him; +and, in stopping to get a sight of our friends, we lost sight of our +foes, a circumstance which I was by no means sorry for, as it enabled +my shoulders, once more, to rejoice under the load of a couple of +biscuits, and made me no longer ashamed to look a cow or a sheep in +the face, now that they were not required to furnish more than their +regulated proportions of my daily food. + +March 30th.--We had no difficulty in tracing the enemy, by the wrecks +of houses and the butchered peasantry; and overtook their rear-guard, +this day, busy grinding corn, in some windmills, near the village of +Frexedas. As their situation offered a fair opportunity for us to reap +the fruits of their labours, we immediately attacked and drove them +from it, and, after securing what we wanted, we withdrew again, across +the valley, to the village of Alverca, where we were not without some +reasonable expectations that they would have returned the compliment, +as we had only a few squadrons of dragoons in addition to our +battalion, and we had seen them withdraw a much stronger force from +the opposite village; but, by keeping a number of our men all night +employed in making extensive fires on the hill above, it induced them +to think that our force was much greater than it really was; and we +remained unmolested. + +The only person we had hit in this affair was our adjutant, Mr. +Stewart, who was shot through the head from a window. He was a gallant +soldier, and deeply lamented. We placed his body in a chest, and +buried it in front of Colonel Beckwith's quarters. + +March 31st.--At daylight, this morning, we moved to our right, along +the ridge of mountains, to Guarda: on our arrival there, we saw the +imposing spectacle of the whole of the French army winding through the +valley below, just out of gun-shot. + +On taking possession of one of the villages which they had just +evacuated, we found the body of a well-dressed female, whom they had +murdered by a horrible refinement in cruelty. She had been placed upon +her back, alive, in the middle of the street, with the fragment of a +rock upon her breast, which it required four of our men to remove. + +April 1st.--We overtook the enemy this afternoon, in position, behind +the Coa, at Sabugal, with their advanced posts on our side of the +river. + +I was sent on piquet for the night, and had my sentries within +half-musket shot of theirs: it was wet, dark, and stormy when I went, +about midnight, to visit them, and I was not a little annoyed to find +one missing. Recollecting who he was, a steady old soldier and the +last man in the world to desert his post, I called his name aloud, +when his answering voice, followed by the discharge of a musket, +reached me nearly at the same time, from the direction of one of the +French sentries; and, after some inquiry, I found that in walking his +lonely round, in a brown study, no doubt, he had each turn taken ten +or twelve paces to his front, and only half that number to the rear, +until he had gradually worked himself up to within a few yards of his +adversary; and it would be difficult to say which of the two was most +astonished--the one at hearing a voice, or the other a shot so near, +but all my rhetoric, aided by the testimony of the serjeant and the +other sentries, could not convince the fellow that he was not on the +identical spot on which I had posted him. + +April 2d.--We moved this day to the right, nearer to the bridge, and +some shots were exchanged between the piquets. + + +BATTLE OF SABUGAL, + +April 3d, 1811. + +Early this morning our division moved still farther to its right, and +our brigade led the way across a ford, which took us up to the middle; +while the balls from the enemy's advanced posts were hissing in the +water around us, we drove in their light troops and commenced a +furious assault upon their main body. Thus far all was right; but a +thick drizzling rain now came on, in consequence of which the third +division, which was to have made a simultaneous attack to our left, +missed their way, and a brigade of dragoons under Sir William Erskine, +who were to have covered our right, went the Lord knows where, but +certainly not into the fight, although they started at the same time +that we did, and had the _music_ of our rifles to guide them; and, +even the second brigade of our own division could not afford us any +support, for nearly an hour, so that we were thus unconsciously left +with about fifteen hundred men, in the very impertinent attempt to +carry a formidable position, on which stood as many thousands. + +The weather, which had deprived us of the aid of our friends, favoured +us so far as to prevent the enemy from seeing the amount of our paltry +force; and the conduct of our gallant fellows, led on by Sir Sidney +Beckwith, was so truly heroic, that, incredible as it may seem, we had +the best of the fight throughout. Our first attack was met by such +overwhelming numbers, that we were forced back and followed by three +heavy columns, before which we retired slowly, and keeping up a +destructive fire, to the nearest rising ground, where we re-formed and +instantly charged their advancing masses, sending them flying at the +point of the bayonet, and entering their position along with them, +where we were assailed by fresh forces. Three times did the very same +thing occur. In our third attempt we got possession of one of their +howitzers, for which a desperate struggle was making, when we were at +the same moment charged by infantry in front and cavalry on the right, +and again compelled to fall back; but, fortunately, at this moment we +were reinforced by the arrival of the second brigade, and, with their +aid, we once more stormed their position and secured the well-earned +howitzer, while the third division came at the same time upon their +flank, and they were driven from the field in the greatest disorder. + +Lord Wellington's despatch on this occasion did ample justice to Sir +Sidney Beckwith and his brave brigade. Never were troops more +judiciously or more gallantly led. Never was a leader more devotedly +followed. + +In the course of the action a man of the name of Knight fell dead at +my feet, and though I heard a musket ball strike him, I could neither +find blood nor wound. + +There was a little spaniel belonging to one of our officers running +about the whole time, barking at the balls, and I saw him once +smelling at a live shell, which exploded in his face without hurting +him. + +The strife had scarcely ended among mortals, when it was taken up by +the elements with terrific violence. The _Scotch mist_ of the morning +had now increased to torrents, enough to cool the fever of our late +excitement, and accompanied by thunder and lightning. As a compliment +for our exertions in the fight, we were sent into the town, and had +the advantage of whatever cover its dilapidated state afforded. While +those who had not had the chance of getting broken skins, had now the +benefit of sleeping in wet ones. + +On the 5th of April we entered the frontiers of Spain, and slept in a +bed for the first time since I left the ship. Passing from the +Portuguese to the Spanish frontier is about equal to taking one step +from the coal-hole into the parlour, for the cottages on the former +are reared with filth, furnished with ditto, and peopled accordingly; +whereas, those of Spain, even within the same mile, are neatly +whitewashed, both without and within, and the poorest of them can +furnish a good bed, with clean linen, and the pillow-cases neatly +adorned with pink and sky-blue ribbons, while their dear little girls +look smiling and neat as their pillow-cases. + +After the action at Sabugal, the enemy retired to the neighbourhood of +Ciudad Rodrigo, without our getting another look at them, and we took +up the line of the Agueda and Axava rivers, for the blockade of the +fortress of Almeida, in which they had left a garrison indifferently +provisioned. + +The garrison had no means of providing for their cattle, but by +turning them out to graze upon the glacis; and we sent a few of our +rifles to practice against them, which very soon reduced them to salt +provisions. + +Towards the end of April the French army began to assemble on the +opposite bank of the Agueda to attempt the relief of the garrison, while +ours began to assemble in position at Fuentes D'Onor to dispute it. + +Our division still continued to hold the same line of outposts, and +had several sharp affairs between the piquets at the bridge of +Marialva. + +As a general action seemed now to be inevitable, we anxiously longed +for the return of Lord Wellington, who had been suddenly called to the +corps of the army under Marshal Beresford, near Badajos, as we would +rather see his long nose in the fight than a reinforcement of ten +thousand men any day. Indeed, there was a charm not only about himself +but all connected with him, for which no odds could compensate. The +known abilities of Sir George Murray, the gallant bearing of the +lamented Pakenham, of Lord Fitzroy Somerset, of the present Duke of +Richmond, Sir Colin Campbell, with others, the flower of our young +nobility and gentry, who, under the auspices of such a chief, seemed +always a group attendant on victory; and I'll venture to say that +there was not a bosom in that army that did not beat more lightly, +when we heard the joyful news of his arrival, the day before the +enemy's advance. + +He had ordered us not to dispute the passage of the river, so that +when the French army advanced, on the morning of the 3d of May, we +retired slowly before them, across the plains of Espeja, and drew into +the position, where the whole army was now assembled. Our division +took post in reserve, in the left centre. Towards evening, the enemy +made a fierce attack on the Village of Fuentes, but were repulsed with +loss. + +On the 4th, both armies looked at each other all day without +exchanging shots. + + +BATTLE OF FUENTES D'ONOR, + +May 5th, 1811. + +The day began to dawn, this fine May morning, with a rattling fire of +musketry on the extreme right of our position, which the enemy had +attacked, and to which point our division was rapidly moved. + +Our battalion was thrown into a wood, a little to the left and front +of the division engaged, and was instantly warmly opposed to the +French skirmishers; in the course of which I was struck with a +musket-ball on the left breast, which made me stagger a yard or two +backward, and, as I felt no pain, I concluded that I was dangerously +wounded; but it turned out to be owing to my not being hurt. While our +operations here were confined to a tame skirmish, and our view to the +oaks with which we were mingled, we found, by the evidence of our +ears, that the division which we had come to support was involved in a +more serious onset, for _there_ was the successive rattle of +artillery, the wild hurrah of charging squadrons, and the repulsing +volley of musketry; until Lord Wellington, finding his right too much +extended, directed _that_ division to fall back behind the small river +Touronne, and ours to join the main body of the army. The execution of +our movement presented a magnificent military spectacle, as the plain, +between us and the right of the army, was by this time in possession +of the French cavalry, and, while we were retiring through it with the +order and precision of a common field-day, they kept dancing around +us, and every instant threatening a charge, without daring to execute +it. + +We took up our new position at a right angle with the then right of +the British line, on which our left rested, and with our right on the +Touronne. The enemy followed our movement with a heavy column of +infantry; but, when they came near enough to exchange shots, they did +not seem to like our looks, as we occupied a low ridge of broken +rocks, against which even a rat could scarcely have hoped to advance +alive; and they again fell back, and opening a tremendous fire of +artillery, which was returned by a battery of our guns. In the course +of a short time, seeing no further demonstration against this part of +the position, our division was withdrawn, and placed in reserve in +rear of the centre. + +The battle continued to rage with fury in and about the village, +whilst we were lying by our arms under a burning hot sun, some stray +cannon-shot passing over and about us, whose progress we watched for +want of other employment. One of them bounded along in the direction +of an _amateur_, whom we had for some time been observing securely +placed, as he imagined, behind a piece of rock, which stood about five +feet above the ground, and over which nothing but his head was shown, +sheltered from the sun by an umbrella. The shot in question touched +the ground three or four times between us and him; he saw it +coming--lowered his umbrella, and withdrew his head. Its expiring +bound carried it into the very spot where he had that instant +disappeared. I hope he was not hurt; but the thing looked so +ridiculous that it excited a shout of laughter, and we saw no more of +him. + +A little before dusk, in the evening, our battalion was ordered +forward to relieve the troops engaged in the village, part of which +still remained in possession of the enemy, and I saw, by the mixed +nature of the dead, in every part of the streets, that it had been +successively in possession of both sides. The firing ceased with the +daylight, and I was sent, with a section of men, in charge of one of +the streets for the night. There was a wounded Serjeant of highlanders +lying on my post. A ball had passed through the back part of his head, +from which the brain was oozing, and his only sign of life was a +convulsive hiccough every two or three seconds. I sent for a medical +friend to look at him, who told me that he could not survive; I then +got a mattress from the nearest house, placed the poor fellow on it, +and made use of one corner as a pillow for myself, on which, after +the fatigues of the day, and though called occasionally to visit my +sentries, I slept most soundly. The highlander died in the course of +the night. + +When we stood to our arms, at daybreak next morning, we found the +enemy busy throwing up a six-gun battery, immediately in front of our +company's post, and we immediately set to work, with our whole hearts +and souls, and placed a wall, about twelve feet thick, between us, +which, no doubt, still remains there in the same garden, as a monument +of what can be effected, in a few minutes, by a hundred modern men, +when their personal safety is concerned; not but that the proprietor, +in the midst of his admiration, would rather see a good bed of garlic +on the spot, manured with the bodies of the architects. + +When the sun began to shine on the pacific disposition of the enemy, +we proceeded to consign the dead to their last earthly mansions, +giving every Englishman a grave to himself, and putting as many +Frenchmen into one as it could conveniently accommodate. Whilst in +the superintendence of this melancholy duty, and ruminating on the +words of the poet:-- + + "There's not a form of all that lie + Thus ghastly, wild and bare, + Tost, bleeding, in the stormy sky, + Black in the burning air, + But to his knee some infant clung, + But on his heart some fond heart hung!" + +I was grieved to think that the souls of deceased warriors should be +so selfish as to take to flight in their regimentals, for I never saw +the body of one with a rag on after battle. + +The day after one of those negative sort of victories is always one of +intense interest. The movements on each side are most jealously +watched, and each side is diligently occupied in strengthening such +points as the fight of the preceding day had proved to be the most +vulnerable. + +Lord Wellington was too deficient in his cavalry force to justify his +following up his victory; and the enemy, on their parts, had been too +roughly handled, in their last attempt, to think of repeating the +experiment; so that, during the next two days, though both armies +continued to hold the same ground, there was scarcely a shot +exchanged. + +They had made a few prisoners, chiefly guardsmen and highlanders, whom +they marched past the front of our position, in the most ostentatious +way, on the forenoon of the 6th; and, the day following, a number of +their regiments were paraded in the most imposing manner for review. +They looked uncommonly well, and we were proud to think that we had +beaten such fine-looking fellows so lately! + +Our regiment had been so long and so often quartered in Fuentes that +it was like fighting for our fire-sides. The _Padre's_ house stood at +the top of the town. He was an old friend of ours, and an old fool, +for he would not leave his house until it was too late to take +anything with him; but, curious enough, although it had been +repeatedly in the possession of both sides, and plundered, no doubt, +by many expert artists, yet none of them thought of looking so high as +the garret, which happened to be the repository of his money and +provisions. He came to us the day after the battle, weeping over his +supposed loss, like a sensitive Christian, and I accompanied him to +the house, to see whether there was not some consolation remaining for +him; but, when he found his treasure safe, he could scarcely bear its +restoration with becoming gravity. I helped him to carry off his bag +of dollars, and he returned the compliment with a leg of mutton. + +The French army retired on the night of the 7th, leaving Almeida to +its fate; but, by an extraordinary piece of luck, the garrison made +their escape the night after, in consequence of some mistake or +miscarriage of an order, which prevented a British regiment from +occupying the post intended for it. + +May 8th.--We advanced this morning, and occupied our former post at +Espeja, with some hopes of remaining quiet for a few days; but the +alarm sounding at daylight on the following morning, we took post on +the hill, in front of the village. It turned out to be only a patrole +of French cavalry, who retired on receiving a few shots from our +piquets, and we saw no more of them for a considerable time. + + + + +CHAP. VII. + + March to Estremadura. At Soito, growing Accommodations for Man + and Beast. British Taste displayed by Portuguese Wolves. False + Alarm. Luxuries of Roquingo Camp. A Chaplain of the Forces. + Return towards the North. Quarters near Castello de Vide. + Blockade of Ciudad Rodrigo. Village of Atalya; Fleas abundant; + Food scarce. Advance of the French Army. Affairs near Guinaldo. + Our Minister administered to. An unexpected Visit from our + General and his Followers. End of the Campaign of 1811. Winter + Quarters. + + +Lord Wellington, soon after the battle of Fuentes, was again called +into Estremadura, to superintend the operations of the corps of the +army under Marshal Beresford, who had, in the mean time, fought the +battle of Albuera, and laid siege to Badajos. In the beginning of +June our division was ordered thither also, to be in readiness to aid +his operations. We halted one night at the village of Soito, where +there are a great many chestnut trees of very extraordinary +dimensions; the outside of the trunk keeps growing as the inside +decays. I was one of a party of four persons who dined inside of one, +and I saw two or three horses put up in several others. + +We halted, also, one night on the banks of the Coa, near Sabugal, and +visited our late field of battle. We found that the dead had been +nearly all torn from their graves, and devoured by wolves, who are in +great force in that wild mountainous district, and shew very little +respect either for man or beast. They seldom, indeed, attack a man; +but if one happens to tie his horse to a tree, and leaves him +unattended, for a short time, he must not be surprised if he finds, on +his return, that he has parted with a good _rump steak_; _that_ is the +piece that they always prefer; and it is, therefore, clear to me, +that the first of the wolves must have been reared in England! + +We experienced, in the course of this very dark night, one of those +ridiculous false alarms which will sometimes happen in the best +organized body. Some bullocks strayed, by accident, amongst the piles +of arms, the falling clatter of which, frightened them so much that +they went galloping over the sleeping soldiers. The officers' +baggage-horses broke from their _moorings_, and joined in the general +charge; and a cry immediately arose, that it was the French cavalry. +The different regiments stood to their arms, and formed squares, +looking as sharp as thunder for something to fire at; and it was a +considerable time before the cause of the _row_ could be traced. The +different followers of the army, in the mean time, were scampering off +to the rear, spreading the most frightful reports. One woman of the +52d succeeded in getting three leagues off before daylight, and swore, +"that, as God was her judge, she did not leave her regiment until she +saw the last man of them cut to pieces!!!" + +On our arrival near Elvas, we found that Marshal Beresford had raised +the siege of Badajos; and we were, therefore, encamped on the river +Caya, near Roquingo. This was a sandy unsheltered district; and the +weather was so excessively hot, that we had no enjoyment, but that of +living three parts of the day up to the neck in a pool of water. + +Up to this period it had been a matter of no small difficulty to +ascertain, at any time, the day of the week; that of the month was +altogether out of the question, and could only be reckoned by counting +back to the date of the last battle; but our division was here joined +by a chaplain, whose duty it was to remind us of these things. He +might have been a very good man, but he was not prepossessing, either +in his appearance or manners. I remember, the first Sunday after his +arrival, the troops were paraded for divine service, and had been some +time waiting in square, when he at length rode into the centre of it, +with his tall, lank, ungainly figure, mounted on a starved, untrimmed, +unfurnished horse, and followed by a Portuguese boy, with his +canonicals and prayer-books on the back of a mule, with a hay-bridle, +and having, by way of clothing, about half a pair of straw breeches. +This spiritual comforter was the least calculated of any one that I +ever saw to excite devotion in the minds of men, who had seen nothing +in the shape of a divine for a year or two. + +In the beginning of August we began to retrace our steps towards the +north. We halted a few days in Portalegré, and a few more at Castello +de Vide. + +The latter place is surrounded by extensive gardens, belonging to the +richer citizens; in each of which there is a small summer-house, +containing one or two apartments, in which the proprietor, as I can +testify, may have the enjoyment of being fed upon by a more healthy +and better appetized flea, than is to be met with in town houses in +general. + +These _quintas_ fell to the lot of our battalion; and though their +beds, on that account, had not much sleep in them, yet, as those who +preferred the voice of the nightingale in a bed of cabbages, to the +pinch of a flea in a bed of feathers, had the alternative at their +option; I enjoyed my sojourn there very much. Each garden had a +bathing tank, with a plentiful supply of water, which at that season +was really a luxury; and they abounded in choice fruits. I there +formed an attachment to a mulberry-tree, which is still fondly +cherished in my remembrance. + +We reached the scene of our former operations, in the north, towards +the end of August. + +The French had advanced and blockaded Almeida, during our absence, but +they retired again on our approach, and we took up a more advanced +position than before, for the blockade of Ciudad Rodrigo. + +Our battalion occupied Atalya, a little village at the foot of the +Sierra de Gata, and in front of the River Vadilla. On taking +possession of my quarter, the people showed me an outhouse, which, +they said, I might use as a stable, and I took my horse into it, but, +seeing the floor strewed with what appeared to be a small brown seed, +heaps of which lay in each corner, as if shovelled together in +readiness to take to market, I took up a handful, out of curiosity, +and, truly, they were a curiosity, for I found that they were all +regular fleas, and that they were proceeding to eat both me and my +horse, without the smallest ceremony. I rushed out of the place, and +knocked them down by fistfuls, and never yet could comprehend the +cause of their congregating together in such a place. + +This neighbourhood had been so long the theatre of war, and +alternately forced to supply both armies, that the inhabitants, at +length, began to dread starvation themselves, and concealed, for their +private use, all that remained to them; so that, although they were +bountiful in their assurances of good wishes, it was impossible to +extract a loaf of their good bread, of which we were so wildly in want +that we were obliged to conceal patroles on the different roads and +footpaths, for many miles around, to search the peasants passing +between the different villages, giving them an order on the commissary +for whatever we took from them; and we were not too proud to take even +a few potatoes out of an old woman's basket. + +On one occasion, when some of us were out shooting, we discovered +about twenty hives of bees, in the face of a glen, concealed among the +gumcestus, and, stopping up the mouth of one them, we carried it home +on our shoulders, bees and all, and continued to levy contributions on +the _depot_ as long as we remained there. + +Towards the end of September, the garrison of Ciudad Rodrigo began to +get on such "short commons" that _Marmont_, who had succeeded +_Massena_, in the command of the French army, found it necessary to +assemble the whole of his forces, to enable him to throw provisions +into it. + +Lord Wellington was still pursuing his defensive system, and did not +attempt to oppose him; but Marmont, after having effected his object, +thought that he might as well take that opportunity of beating up our +quarters, in return for the trouble we had given him; and, +accordingly, on the morning of the 25th, he attacked a brigade of the +third division, stationed at El Bedon, which, after a brilliant +defence and retreat, conducted him opposite to the British position, +in front of Fuente Guinaldo. He busied himself, the whole of the +following day, in bringing up his troops for the attack. Our division, +in the mean time, remained on the banks of the Vadillo, and had nearly +been cut off, through the obstinacy of General Crawford, who did not +choose to obey an order he received to retire the day before; but we, +nevertheless, succeeded in joining the army, by a circuitous route, on +the afternoon of the 26th; and, the whole of both armies being now +assembled, we considered a battle on the morrow as inevitable. + +Lord Wellington, however, was not disposed to accommodate them on this +occasion; for, about the middle of the night, we received an order to +stand to our arms, with as little noise as possible, and to commence +retiring, the rest of the army having been already withdrawn, unknown +to us; an instance of the rapidity and uncertainty of our movements +which proved fatal to the liberty of several amateurs and followers of +the army, who, seeing an army of sixty thousand men lying asleep +around their camp-fires, at ten o'clock at night, naturally concluded +that they might safely indulge in a bed in the village behind, until +daylight, without the risk of being caught napping; but, long ere that +time, they found themselves on the high road to Ciudad Rodrigo, in the +rude grasp of an enemy. Amongst others, was the chaplain of our +division, whose outward man, as I have already said, conveyed no very +exalted notion of the respectability of his profession, and who was +treated with greater indignity than usually fell to the lot of +prisoners, for, after keeping him a couple of days, and finding that, +however gifted he might have been in spiritual lore, he was as +ignorant as Dominie Sampson on military matters; and, conceiving good +provisions to be thrown away upon him, they stripped him nearly naked +and dismissed him, like the barber in Gil Blas, with a kick in the +breech, and sent him in to us in a woful state. + +September 27th.--General Crawford remained behind us this morning, +with a troop of dragoons, to reconnoitre; and, while we were marching +carelessly along the road, he and his dragoons galloped right into our +column, with a cloud of French ones at his heels. Luckily, the ground +was in our favour; and, dispersing our men among the broken rocks, on +both sides of the road, we sent them back somewhat faster than they +came on. They were, however, soon replaced by their infantry, with +whom we continued in an uninteresting skirmish all day. There was some +sharp firing, the whole of the afternoon, to our left; and we retired, +in the evening, to Soito. + +This affair terminated the campaign of 1811, as the enemy retired the +same night, and we advanced next day to resume the blockade of +Rodrigo; and were suffered to remain quietly in cantonments until the +commencement of a new year. + +In every interval between our active services, we indulged in all +manner of childish trick and amusement, with an avidity and delight of +which it is impossible to convey an adequate idea. We lived united, as +men always are who are daily staring death in the face on the same +side, and who, caring little about it, look upon each new day added to +their lives as one more to rejoice in. + +We invited the villagers, every evening, to a dance at our quarters +alternately. A Spanish peasant girl has an address about her which I +have never met with in the same class of any other country; and she at +once enters into society with the ease and confidence of one who had +been accustomed to it all her life. We used to flourish away at the +bolero, fandango, and waltz, and wound up early in the evening with a +supper of roasted chestnuts. + +Our village _belles_, as already stated, made themselves perfectly at +home in our society, and we, too, should have enjoyed theirs for a +season; but, when month after month, and year after year, continued to +roll along, without producing any change, we found that the cherry +cheek and sparkling eye of rustic beauty furnished but a very poor +apology for the illuminated portion of Nature's fairest works, and +ardently longed for an opportunity of once more feasting our eyes on a +_lady_. + +In the month of December, we heard that the chief magistrate of +Rodrigo, with whom we were personally acquainted, had, with his +daughter and two other young ladies, taken shelter in Robledillo, a +little town in the Sierra de Gata, which, being within our range, +presented an attraction not to be resisted. + +Half-a-dozen of us immediately resolved ourselves into a committee of +ways and means. We had six months' pay due to us; so that the fandango +might have been danced in either of our pockets without the smallest +risk; but we had this consolation for our poverty, that there was +nothing to be bought, even if we had the means. Our only resource, +therefore, was to lighten the cares of such of our brother-officers as +were fortunate enough to have any thing to lose; and, at this moment +of doubt and difficulty, a small flock of turkeys, belonging to our +major, presented themselves, most imprudently, grazing opposite the +windows of our council-chamber, two of which were instantly committed +to the bottom of a sack, as a foundation to go upon. One of our spies, +soon after, apprehended a sheep, the property of another officer, +which was committed to the same place; and, getting the commissary to +advance us a few extra loaves of bread, some ration beef, and a +pig-skin full of wine, we placed a servant on a mule, with the whole +concern tackled to him, and proceeded on our journey. + +In passing over the mountain, we saw a wild boar bowling along, in the +midst of a snow-storm, and, voting them fitting companions, we +suffered him to pass, (particularly as he did not come within shot). + +On our arrival at Robledillo, we met with the most cordial reception +from the old magistrate; who, entering into the spirit of our visit, +provided us with quarters, and filled our room in the evening with +every body worth seeing in the place. We were malicious enough, by way +of amusement, to introduce a variety of absurd pastimes, under the +pretence of their being English, and which, by virtue thereof, were +implicitly adopted. We, therefore, passed a regular romping evening; +and, at a late hour, having conducted the ladies to their homes, some +friars, who were of the party, very kindly, intended doing us the same +favour, and, with that view, had begun to precede us with their +lanterns, but, in the frolic of the moment, we set upon them with +snow-balls, some of which struck upon their broad shoulders, while +others fizzed against their fiery faces, and, in their astonishment +and alarm, all sanctimony was forgotten; their oaths flew as thick as +our snow-balls, while they ran ducking their heads and dousing their +lights, for better concealment; but we, nevertheless, persevered until +we had pelted each to his own home. + +We were, afterwards, afraid that we had carried the joke rather too +far, and entertained some doubts as to the propriety of holding our +quarters for another day; but they set our minds at rest on that +point, by paying us an early visit in the morning, and seemed to enjoy +the joke in a manner that we could not have expected from the gravity +of their looks. + +We passed two more days much in the same manner, and, on the third, +returned to our cantonments, and found that our division had moved, +during our absence, into some villages nearer to Ciudad Rodrigo, +preparatory to the siege of that place. + +On inquiry, we found that we had never been suspected for the +_abduction_ of the sheep and turkeys, but that the blame, on the +contrary, had been attached to the poor soldiers, whose soup had been +tasted every day to see if it savoured of such dainties. The +proprietor of the turkeys was so particularly indignant that we +thought it prudent not to acknowledge ourselves as the culprits until +some time afterwards, when, as one of our party happened to be killed +in action, we, very uncharitably, put the whole of it on his +shoulders. + + + + +CHAP. VIII. + + Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo. The Garrison of an Outwork relieved. + Spending an Evening abroad. A Musical Study. An Addition to Soup. + A short Cut. Storming of the Town. A sweeping Clause. Advantages + of leading a Storming Party. Looking for a Customer. + Disadvantages of being a stormed Party. Confusion of all Parties. + A waking Dream. Death of General Crawford. Accident. Deaths. + + +SIEGE OF CIUDAD RODRIGO, + +January 8th, 1812. + +The campaign of 1812 commenced with the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, which +was invested by our division on the 8th of January. + +There was a smartish frost, with some snow on the ground; and, when we +arrived opposite the fortress, about midday, the garrison did not +appear to think that we were in earnest, for a number of their +officers came out, under the shelter of a stone-wall, within half +musket-shot, and amused themselves in saluting and bowing to us in +ridicule; but, ere the day was done, some of them had occasion to wear +the laugh on the opposite side of the countenance. + +We lay by our arms until dark, when a party, consisting of a hundred +volunteers from each regiment, under Colonel Colborne, of the +fifty-second, stormed and carried the Fort of St. Francisco, after a +short sharp action, in which the whole of its garrison were taken or +destroyed. The officer who commanded it was a chattering little +fellow, and acknowledged himself to have been one of our saluting +friends of the morning. He kept, incessantly, repeating a few words of +English which he had picked up during the assault, and the only ones, +I fancy, that were spoken, viz. "dem eyes, b--t eyes!" and, in +demanding the meaning of them, he required that we should, also, +explain why we stormed a place without first besieging it; for, he +said, that another officer would have relieved him of his charge at +daylight, had _we_ not _relieved_ him of it sooner. + +The enemy had calculated that this outwork would have kept us at bay +for a fortnight or three weeks; whereas, its capture, the first night, +enabled us to break ground at once, within breaching distance of the +walls of the town. They kept up a very heavy fire the whole night on +the working parties; but, as they aimed at random, we did not suffer +much; and made such good use of our time that, when daylight enabled +them to see what we were doing, we had dug ourselves under tolerable +cover. + +In addition to ours, the first, third, and fourth divisions were +employed in the siege. Each took the duties for twenty-four hours +alternately, and returned to their cantonments during the interval. + +We were relieved by the first division, under Sir Thomas Graham, on +the morning of the 9th, and marched to our quarters. + +Jan. 12th.--At ten o'clock this morning we resumed the duties of the +siege. It still continued to be dry frosty weather; and, as we were +obliged to ford the Agueda, up to the middle, every man carried a pair +of iced breeches into the trenches with him. + +My turn of duty did not arrive until eight in the evening, when I was +ordered to take thirty men with shovels to dig holes for ourselves, as +near as possible to the walls, for the delectable amusement of firing +at the embrasures for the remainder of the night. The enemy threw +frequent fire-balls among us, to see where we were; but, as we always +lay snug until their blaze was extinguished, they were not much the +wiser, except by finding, from having some one popt off from their +guns every instant, that they had got some neighbours whom they would +have been glad to get rid of. + +We were relieved as usual at ten next morning, and returned to our +cantonments. + +January 16th.--Entered on our third day's duty, and found the +breaching batteries in full operation, and our approaches close to the +walls on every side. When we arrived on the ground I was sent to take +command of the highland company, which we had at that time in the +regiment, and which was with the left wing, under Colonel Cameron. I +found them on piquet, between the right of the trenches and the river, +half of them posted at a mud-cottage, and the other half in a ruined +convent, close under the walls. It was a very tolerable post when at +it; but it is no joke travelling by daylight up to within a stone's +throw of a wall, on which there is a parcel of fellows who have no +other amusement but to fire at every body they see. + +We could not show our noses at any point without being fired at; but, +as we were merely posted there to protect the right flank of the +trenches from any sortie, we did not fire at them, and kept as quiet +as could be, considering the deadly blast that was blowing around us. +There are few situations in life where something cannot be learnt, and +I, myself, stand indebted to my twenty-four hours' residence there, +for a more correct knowledge of martial sounds than in the study of my +whole life time besides. They must be an unmusical pair of ears that +cannot inform the wearer whither a cannon or a musket played last, but +the various _notes_, emanating from their respective mouths, admit of +nice distinctions. My party was too small, and too well sheltered to +repay the enemy for the expense of shells and round shot; but the +quantity of grape and musketry aimed at our particular heads, made a +good concert of first and second whistles, while the more sonorous +voice of the round shot, travelling to our friends on the left, acted +as a thorough bass; and there was not a shell, that passed over us to +the trenches, that did not send back a fragment among us as soon as it +burst, as if to gratify a curiosity that I was far from expressing. + +We went into the cottage soon after dark, to partake of something that +had been prepared for dinner; and, when in the middle of it, a round +shot passed through both walls, immediately over our heads, and +garnished the soup with a greater quantity of our parent earth than +was quite palatable. + +We were relieved, as usual, by the first division, at ten next +morning; and, to avoid as much as possible the destructive fire from +the walls, they sent forward only three or four men at a time, and we +sent ours away in the same proportions. + +Every thing is by comparison in this world, and it is curious to +observe how men's feelings change with circumstances. In cool blood a +man would rather go a little out of his way than expose himself to +unnecessary danger; but we found, this morning, that by crossing the +river where we then were, and running the gauntlet for a mile, exposed +to the fire of two pieces of artillery, that we should be saved the +distance of two or three miles in returning to our quarters. After +coming out of such a _furnace_ as we had been frying in, the other +fire was not considered a fire at all, and passed without a moment's +hesitation. + + +STORMING OF CIUDAD RODRIGO. + +January 19th, 1812.--We moved to the scene of operations, about two +o'clock this afternoon; and, as it was a day before our regular turn, +we concluded that we were called there to lend a hand in finishing the +job we had begun so well; nor were we disappointed, for we found that +two practicable breaches had been effected, and that the place was to +be stormed in the evening by the third and light divisions, the former +by the right breach, and the latter by the left, while some Portuguese +troops were to attempt an escalade on the opposite sides of the town. + +About eight o'clock in the evening our division was accordingly formed +for the assault, behind a convent, near the left breach, in the +following order:--viz. + + 1st. Four companies of our battalion, under Colonel Cameron, to + line the crest of the glacis, and fire upon the ramparts. + + 2d. Some companies of Portuguese, carrying bags filled with hay + and straw, for throwing into the ditch, to facilitate the passage + of the storming party. + + 3d. The _forlorn hope_, consisting of an officer and twenty-five + volunteers. + + 4th. The _storming party_, consisting of three officers and one + hundred volunteers from each regiment, the officers from ours + were Captain Mitchell, Mr. Johnstone, and myself, and the whole + under the command of Major Napier, of the fifty-second. + + 5th. The main body of the division, under General Crawford, with + one brigade, under Major-General Vandeleur, and the other under + Colonel Barnard. + +At a given signal the different columns advanced to the assault; the +night was tolerably clear, and the enemy evidently expected us; for, +as soon as we turned the corner of the convent-wall, the space +between us and the breach became one blaze of light with their +fire-balls, which, while they lighted us on to glory, lightened not a +few of their lives and limbs; for the whole glacis was in consequence +swept by a well directed fire of grape and musketry, and they are the +devil's own brooms; but our gallant fellows walked through it, to the +point of attack, with the most determined steadiness, excepting the +Portuguese sack-bearers, most of whom lay down behind their bags, to +wait the result, while the few that were thrown into the ditch looked +so like dead bodies, that, when I leapt into it, I tried to avoid +them. + +The advantage of being on a storming party is considered as giving the +prior claim to be _put out of pain_, for they receive the first fire, +which is generally the best, not to mention that they are also +expected to receive the earliest salutation from the beams of timber, +hand-grenades, and other missiles, which the garrison are generally +prepared to transfer from the top of the wall, to the tops of the +heads of their foremost visitors. But I cannot say that I, myself, +experienced any such preference, for every ball has a considerable +distance to travel, and I have generally found them equally ready to +pick up their man at the end, as at the beginning of their flight; +luckily, too, the other preparations cannot always be accommodated to +the moment, so that, on the whole, the _odds_ are pretty _even_, that, +all concerned come in for an equal share of whatever happens to be +going on. + +We had some difficulty at first in finding the breach, as we had +entered the ditch opposite to a ravelin, which we mistook for a +bastion. I tried first one side of it and then the other, and seeing +one corner of it a good deal battered, with a ladder placed against +it, I concluded that it must be the breach, and calling to the +soldiers near me, to follow. I mounted with the most ferocious intent, +carrying a sword in one hand and a pistol in the other; but, when I +got up, I found nobody to fight with, except two of our own men, who +were already laid dead across the top of the ladder. I saw, in a +moment, that I had got into the wrong box, and was about to descend +again, when I heard a shout from the opposite side, that the breach +was there; and, moving in that direction, I dropped myself from the +ravelin, and landed in the ditch, opposite to the foot of the breach, +where I found the head of the storming party just beginning to fight +their way into it. The combat was of short duration, and, in less than +half an hour from the commencement of the attack, the place was in our +possession. + +After carrying the breach, we met with no further opposition, and +moved round the ramparts to see that they were perfectly clear of the +enemy, previous to entering the town. I was fortunate enough to take +the left-hand circuit, by accident, and thereby escaped the fate which +befel a great portion of those who went to the right, and who were +blown up, along with some of the third division, by the accidental +explosion of a magazine. + +I was highly amused, in moving round the ramparts, to find some of the +Portuguese troops just commencing their escalade, on the opposite +side, near the bridge, in ignorance of the place having already +fallen. Gallantly headed by their officers, they had got some ladders +placed against the wall, while about two thousand voices from the rear +were cheering, with all their might, for mutual encouragement; and, +like most other troops, under similar circumstances, it appeared to me +that their feet and their tongues went at a more equal pace after we +gave them the hint. On going a little further, we came opposite to the +ravelin, which had been my chief annoyance during my last days' +piquet. It was still crowded by the enemy, who had now thrown down +their arms, and endeavoured to excite our pity by virtue of their +being "Pauvres Italianos;" but our men had, somehow, imbibed a +horrible antipathy to the Italians, and every appeal they made in that +name was invariably answered with,--"You're Italians, are you? then, +d--n you, here's a shot for you;" and the action instantly followed +the word. + +A town taken by storm presents a frightful scene of outrage. The +soldiers no sooner obtain possession of it, than they think themselves +at liberty to do what they please. It is enough for them that there +_had_ been an enemy on the ramparts; and, without considering that the +poor inhabitants may, nevertheless, be friends and allies, they, in +the first moment of excitement, all share one common fate; and nothing +but the most extraordinary exertions on the part of the officers can +bring them back to a sense of their duty. + +We continued our course round the ramparts until we met the head of +the column which had gone by the right, and then descended into the +town. At the entrance of the first street, a French officer came out +of a door and claimed my protection, giving me his sword. He told me +that there was another officer in the same house who was afraid to +venture out, and entreated that I would go in for him. I, accordingly, +followed him up to the landing-place of a dark stair, and, while he +was calling to his friend, by name, to come down, "as there was an +English officer present who would protect him," a violent screaming +broke through a door at my elbow. I pushed it open, and found the +landlady struggling with an English soldier, whom I immediately +transferred to the bottom of the stair head foremost. The French +officer had followed me in at the door, and was so astonished at all +he saw, that he held up his hands, turned up the whites of his eyes, +and resolved himself into a state of the most eloquent silence. When +he did recover the use of his tongue, it was to recommend his landlady +to my notice, as the most amiable woman in existence. She, on her +part, professed the most unbounded gratitude, and entreated that I +would make her house my home forever; but, when I called upon her, a +few days after, she denied having ever seen me before, and stuck to it +most religiously. + +As the other officer could not be found, I descended into the street +again with my prisoner; and, finding the current of soldiers setting +towards the centre of the town, I followed the stream, which conducted +me into the great square, on one side of which the late garrison were +drawn up as prisoners, and the rest of it was filled with British and +Portuguese intermixed, without any order or regularity. I had been +there but a very short time, when they all commenced firing, without +any ostensible cause; some fired in at the doors and windows, some at +the roofs of houses, and others at the clouds; and, at last, some +heads began to be blown from their shoulders in the general hurricane, +when the voice of Sir Thomas Picton, with the power of twenty +trumpets, began to proclaim damnation to every body, while Colonel +Barnard, Colonel Cameron, and some other active officers, were +carrying it into effect with a strong hand; for, seizing the broken +barrels of muskets, which were lying about in great abundance, they +belaboured every fellow, most unmercifully, about the head who +attempted either to load or fire, and finally succeeded in reducing +them to order. In the midst of the scuffle, however, three of the +houses in the square were set on fire; and the confusion was such that +nothing could be done to save them; but, by the extraordinary +exertions of Colonel Barnard, during the whole of the night, the +flames were prevented from communicating to the adjoining buildings. + +We succeeded in getting a great portion of our battalion together by +one o'clock in the morning, and withdrew with them to the ramparts, +where we lay by our arms until daylight. + +There is nothing in this life half so enviable as the feelings of a +soldier after a victory. Previous to a battle, there is a certain sort +of something that pervades the mind which is not easily defined; it is +neither akin to joy or fear, and, probably, _anxiety_ may be nearer to +it than any other word in the dictionary: but, when the battle is +over, and crowned with victory, he finds himself elevated for awhile +into the regions of absolute bliss! It had ever been the summit of my +ambition to attain a post at the head of a storming party:--my wish +had now been accomplished, and gloriously ended; and I do think that, +after all was over, and our men laid asleep on the ramparts, that I +strutted about as important a personage, in my own opinion, as ever +trod the face of the earth; and, had the ghost of the renowned +Jack-the-giant-killer itself passed that way at the time, I'll venture +to say, that I would have given it a kick in the breech without the +smallest ceremony. But, as the sun began to rise, I began to fall from +the heroics; and, when he showed his face, I took a look at my own, +and found that I was too unclean a spirit to worship, for I was +covered with mud and dirt, with the greater part of my dress torn to +rags. + +The fifth division, which had not been employed in the siege, marched +in, and took charge of the town, on the morning of the 20th, and we +prepared to return to our cantonments. Lord Wellington happened to be +riding in at the gate at the time that we were marching out, and had +the curiosity to ask the officer of the leading company, what regiment +it was, for there was scarcely a vestige of uniform among the men, +some of whom were dressed in Frenchmen's coats, some in white +breeches, and huge jack-boots, some with cocked hats and queues; most +of their swords were fixed on the rifles, and stuck full of hams, +tongues, and loaves of bread, and not a few were carrying bird-cages! +There never was a better masked corps! + +General Crawford fell on the glacis, at the head of our division, and +was buried at the foot of the breach which they so gallantly carried. +His funeral was attended by Lord Wellington, and all the officers of +the division, by whom he was, ultimately, much liked. He had +introduced a system of discipline into the light division which made +them unrivalled. A very rigid exaction of the duties pointed out in +his code of regulations made him very unpopular at its commencement, +and it was not until a short time before he was lost to us for ever, +that we were capable of appreciating his merits, and fully sensible of +the incalculable advantages we derived from the perfection of his +system. + +Among other things carried from Ciudad Rodrigo, one of our men had the +misfortune to carry his death in his hands, under the mistaken shape +of amusement. He thought that it was a cannon-ball, and took it for +the purpose of playing at the game of nine-holes, but it happened to +be a live shell. In rolling it along it went over a bed of burning +ashes, and ignited without his observing it. Just as he had got it +between his legs, and was in the act of discharging it a second time, +it exploded, and nearly blew him to pieces. + +Several men of our division, who had deserted while we were blockading +Ciudad Rodrigo, were taken when it fell, and were sentenced to be +shot. Lord Wellington extended mercy to every one who could procure +any thing like a good character from his officers; but six of them, +who could not, were paraded and shot, in front of the division, near +the village of Ituera. Shooting appears to me to be a cruel kind of +execution, for twenty balls may pierce a man's body without touching a +vital spot. On the occasion alluded to, two of the men remained +standing after the first fire, and the Provost-Marshal was obliged to +put an end to their sufferings, by placing the muzzle of a piece at +each of their heads. + + + + +CHAP. IX. + + March to Estremadura. A Deserter shot. Riding for an Appetite. + Effect the Cure of a sick Lady. Siege of Badajos. Trench-Work. + Varieties during the Siege. Taste of the Times. Storming of the + Town. Its Fall. Officers of a French Battalion. Not shot by + Accident. Military Shopkeepers. Lost Legs and cold Hearts. + Affecting Anecdote. My Servant. A Consignment to Satan. March + again for the North. Sir Sidney Beckwith. + + +We remained about six weeks in cantonments, after the fall of Ciudad +Rodrigo; and, about the end of February, were again put in motion +towards Estremadura. + +March 7th.--Arrived near Castello de Vide, and quartered in the +neighbouring villages. Another deserter, who had also been taken at +the storming of Ciudad Rodrigo, was here shot, under the sentence of +a court martial. When he was paraded for that purpose, he protested +against their right to shoot him, until he first received the arrears +of pay which was due at the time of his desertion. + +March 14th.--Two of us rode out this afternoon to kill time until +dinner hour (six); but, when we returned to our quarters, there was +not a vestige of the regiment remaining, and our appetites were +considerably whetted, by having an additional distance of fourteen +miles to ride, in the dark, over roads on which we could not trust our +horses out of a walk. We joined them, at about eleven at night, in the +town of Portalegré. + +March 16th.--Quartered in the town of Elvas. + +I received a billet on a neat little house, occupied by an old lady +and her daughter, who were very desirous of evading such an +incumbrance. For, after resisting my entrance, until successive +applications of my foot had reduced the door to a condition which +would no longer second their efforts, the old lady resolved to try me +on another _tack_; and, opening the door, and, making a sign for me +to make no noise, she told me, in a whisper, that her daughter was +lying dangerously ill of a fever, in the only bed in the house, and +that she was, therefore, excessively sorry that she could not +accommodate me. As this information did not at all accord with my +notions of consistency, after their having suffered the preceding half +hour's bombardment, I requested to be shewn to the chamber of the +invalid, saying that I was a _medico_, and might be of service to her. +When she found remonstrance unavailing, she at length shewed me into a +room up-stairs, where there was a very genteel-looking young girl, the +very picture of _Portuguese_ health, lying with her eyes shut, in full +dress, on the top of the bed-clothes, where she had hurriedly thrown +herself. + +Seeing, at once, how matters stood, I walked up to the bed-side, and +hit her a slap on the thigh with my hand, asking her, at the same +time, how she felt herself? and never did Prince Hohenloe, himself, +perform a miracle more cleverly; for she bounced almost as high as the +ceiling, and flounced about the room, as well and as actively as +ever she did, with a countenance in which shame, anger, and a great +portion of natural humour were so amusingly blended, that I was +tempted to provoke her still further by a salute. Having thus +satisfied the mother that I had been the means of restoring her +daughter to her usual state of health, she thought it prudent to put +the best face upon it, and, therefore, invited me to partake of their +family dinner; in the course of which I succeeded so well in eating my +way into their affections, that we parted next morning with mutual +regret; they told me that I was the _best_ officer they had ever seen, +and begged that I would always make their house my home; but I was +never fated to see them again. We marched in the morning for Badajos. + + +SIEGE OF BADAJOS. + +On the 17th of March, 1812, the _third_, _fourth_, and _light +divisions_, encamped around Badajos, embracing the whole of the +inland side of the town on the left bank of the Guadiana, and +commenced breaking ground before it immediately after dark the same +night. + +The elements, on this occasion, adopted the cause of the besieged; for +we had scarcely taken up our ground, when a heavy rain commenced, and +continued, almost without intermission, for a fortnight; in +consequence thereof, the pontoon-bridge, connecting us with our +supplies from Elvas, was carried away, by the rapid increase of the +river, and the duties of the trenches were otherwise rendered +extremely harassing. We had a smaller force employed than at Rodrigo; +and the scale of operations was so much greater, that it required +every man to be actually in the trenches six hours every day, and the +same length of time every night, which, with the time required to +march to and from them, through fields more than ankle deep in a stiff +mud, left us never more than eight hours out of the twenty-four in +camp, and we never were dry the whole time. + +One day's trench-work is as like another as the days themselves; and +like nothing better than serving an apprenticeship to the double +calling of grave-digger and game-keeper, for we found ample employment +both for the spade and the rifle. + +The only varieties during the siege were,--First, The storming of +_Picuvina_, a formidable outwork, occupying the centre of our +operations. It was carried one evening, in the most gallant style, by +Major-General Sir James Kempt, at the head of the covering parties. +Secondly, A sortie made by the garrison, which they got the worst of, +although they succeeded in stealing some of our pickaxes and shovels. +Thirdly, A _circumbendibus_ described by a few daring French dragoons, +who succeeded in getting into the rear of our engineers' camp, at that +time unguarded, and lightened some of the officers of their +epaulettes. Lastly, Two field-pieces taken by the enemy to the +opposite side of the river, enfilading one of our parallels, and +materially disturbing the harmony within, as a cannon-shot is no very +welcome guest among gentlemen who happen to be lodged in a straight +ditch, without the power of _cutting_ it. + +Our batteries were supplied with ammunition, by the Portuguese +militia, from Elvas, a string of whom used to arrive every day, +reaching nearly from the one place to the other (twelve miles), each +man carrying a twenty-four pound shot, and cursing all the way and +back again. + +The Portuguese artillery, under British officers, was uncommonly good. +I used to be much amused in looking at a twelve-gun breaching-battery +of theirs. + +They knew the position of all the enemy's guns which could bear upon +them, and had one man posted to watch them, to give notice of what was +coming, whether a shot or a shell, who, accordingly, kept calling out, +"_bomba, balla, balla, bomba_;" and they ducked their heads until the +missile past: but, sometimes he would see a general discharge from all +arms, when he threw himself down, screaming out "_Jesus, todos, +todos!_" meaning "every thing." + +An officer of ours was sent one morning, before daylight, with ten +men, to dig holes for themselves, opposite to one of the enemy's guns, +which had been doing a great deal of mischief the day before, and he +had soon the satisfaction of knowing the effect of his practice, by +seeing them stopping up the embrasure with sandbags. After waiting a +little, he saw them beginning to remove the bags, when he made his men +open upon it again, and they were instantly replaced without the guns +being fired; presently he saw the huge cocked hat of a French officer +make its appearance on the rampart, near to the embrasure; but +knowing, by experience, that the _head_ was somewhere in the +neighbourhood, he watched until the flash of a musket, through the +long grass, showed the position of the owner, and, calling one of his +best shots, he desired him to take deliberate aim at the spot, and +lent his shoulder as a rest, to give it more elevation. Bang went the +shot, and it was the finishing flash for the Frenchman, for they saw +no more of _him_, although his cocked hat maintained its post until +dark. + +In proportion as the grand crisis approached, the anxiety of the +soldiers increased; not on account of any doubt or dread as to the +result, but for fear that the place should be surrendered without +standing an assault; for, singular as it may appear, although there +was a certainty of about one man out of every three being knocked +down, there were, perhaps, not three men, in the three divisions, who +would not rather have braved all the chances than receive it tamely +from the hands of the enemy. So great was the rage for passports into +eternity, in our battalion, on that occasion, that even the officers' +servants insisted on taking their places in the ranks; and I was +obliged to leave my baggage in charge of a man who had been wounded +some days before. + +On the 6th of April, three practicable breaches had been effected, +and arrangements were made for assaulting the town that night. The +third division, by escalade, at the castle; a brigade of the fifth +division, by escalade, at the opposite side of the town; while the +fourth and light divisions were to storm the breaches. The whole were +ordered to be formed for the attack at eight o'clock. + + +STORMING OF BADAJOS, + +April 6th, 1812. + +Our division formed for the attack of the left breach in the same +order as at Ciudad Rodrigo; the command of it had now devolved upon +our commandant, Colonel Barnard. I was then the acting adjutant of +four companies, under Colonel Cameron, who were to line the crest of +the glacis, and to fire at the ramparts and the top of the left +breach. + +The enemy seemed aware of our intentions. The fire of artillery and +musketry, which, for three weeks before, had been incessant, both +from the town and trenches, had now entirely ceased, as if by mutual +consent, and a deathlike silence, of nearly an hour, preceded the +awful scene of carnage. + +The signal to advance was made about nine o'clock, and our four +companies led the way. Colonel Cameron and myself had reconnoitred the +ground so accurately by daylight, that we succeeded in bringing the +head of our column to the very spot agreed on, opposite to the left +breach, and then formed line to the left, without a word being spoken, +each man lying down as he got into line, with the muzzle of his rifle +over the edge of the ditch, between the pallisades, all ready to open. +It was tolerably clear above, and we distinctly saw _their_ heads +lining the ramparts; but there was a sort of haze on the ground which, +with the colour of our dress, prevented them from seeing us, although +only a few yards asunder. One of their sentries, however, challenged +us twice, "_qui vive_," and, receiving no reply, he fired off his +musket, which was followed by their drums beating to arms; but _we_ +still remained perfectly quiet, and all was silence again for the +space of five or ten minutes, when the head of the forlorn hope at +length came up, and we took advantage of the first fire, while the +enemy's heads were yet visible. + +The scene that ensued furnished as respectable a representation of +hell itself as fire, and sword, and human sacrifices could make it; +for, in one instant, every engine of destruction was in full +operation. + +It is in vain to attempt a description of it. We were entirely +excluded from the right breach by an inundation which the heavy rains +had enabled the enemy to form; and the two others were rendered +totally impracticable by their interior defences. + +The five succeeding hours were therefore past in the most gallant and +hopeless attempts, on the part of individual officers, forming up +fifty or a hundred men at a time at the foot of the breach, and +endeavouring to carry it by desperate bravery; and, fatal as it proved +to each gallant band, in succession, yet, fast as one dissolved, +another was formed. We were informed, about twelve at night, that the +third division had established themselves in the castle; but, as its +situation and construction did not permit them to extend their +operations beyond it at the moment, it did not in the least affect our +opponents at the breach, whose defence continued as obstinate as ever. + +I was near Colonel Barnard after midnight, when he received repeated +messages, from Lord Wellington, to withdraw from the breach, and to +form the division for a renewal of the attack at daylight; but, as +fresh attempts continued to be made, and the troops were still +pressing forward into the ditch, it went against his gallant soul to +order a retreat while yet a chance remained; but, after heading +repeated attempts himself, he saw that it was hopeless, and the order +was reluctantly given about two o'clock in the morning. We fell back +about three hundred yards, and re-formed all that remained to us. + +Our regiment, alone, had to lament the loss of twenty-two officers +killed and wounded, ten of whom were killed, or afterwards died of +their wounds. We had scarcely got our men together when we were +informed of the success of the fifth division in their escalade, and +that the enemy were, in consequence, abandoning the breaches, and we +were immediately ordered forward to take possession of them. On our +arrival, we found them entirely evacuated, and had not occasion to +fire another shot; but we found the utmost difficulty, and even +danger, in getting in in the dark, even without opposition. As soon as +we succeeded in establishing our battalion inside, we sent piquets +into the different streets and lanes leading from the breach, and kept +the remainder in hand until day should throw some light on our +situation. + +When I was in the act of posting one of the piquets, a man of ours +brought me a prisoner, telling me that he was the governor; but the +other immediately said that he had only called himself so, the better +to ensure his protection; and then added, that he was the colonel of +one of the French regiments, and that all his surviving officers were +assembled at his quarters, in a street close by, and would surrender +themselves to any officer who would go with him for that purpose. I +accordingly took two or three men with me, and, accompanying him +there, found fifteen or sixteen of them assembled, and all seeming +very much surprised at the unexpected termination of the siege. They +could not comprehend under what circumstances the town had been lost, +and repeatedly asked me how I had got in; but I did not choose to +explain further than simply telling them that I had entered at the +breach, coupling the information with a look which was calculated to +convey somewhat more than I knew myself; for, in truth, when I began +to recollect that a few minutes before had seen me retiring from the +breach, under a fanciful overload of degradation, I thought that I had +now as good a right as any man to be astonished at finding myself +_lording_ it over the officers of a French battalion; nor was I much +wiser than they were, as to the manner of its accomplishment. They +were all very much dejected, excepting their major, who was a big +jolly-looking Dutchman, with medals enough, on his left breast, to +have furnished the window of a tolerable toy-shop. His accomplishments +were after the manner of Captain Dougal Dalgetty; and, while he +cracked his joke, he was not inattentive to the cracking of the corks +from the many wine-bottles which his colonel placed on the table +successively, along with some cold meat, for general refreshment, +prior to marching into captivity, and which I, though a free man, was +not too proud to join them in. + +When I had allowed their chief a reasonable time to secure what +valuables he wished, about his person, he told me that he had two +horses in the stable, which, as he would no longer be permitted to +keep, he recommended me to take; and, as a horse is the only thing on +such occasions that an officer can permit himself to consider a legal +prize, I caused one of them to be saddled, and his handsome black mare +thereby became my charger during the remainder of the war. + +In proceeding with my prisoners towards the breach, I took, by +mistake, a different road to that I came; and, as numbers of Frenchmen +were lurking about for a safe opportunity of surrendering themselves, +about a hundred additional ones added themselves to my column, as we +moved along, _jabbering_ their native dialect so loudly, as nearly to +occasion a dire catastrophe, as it prevented me from hearing some one +challenge in my front; but, fortunately, it was repeated, and I +instantly answered; for Colonel Barnard and Sir Colin Campbell had a +piquet of our men, drawn across the street, on the point of sending a +volley into us, thinking that we were a rallied body of the enemy. + +The whole of the garrison were marched off, as prisoners, to Elvas, +about ten o'clock in the morning, and our men were then permitted to +fall out, to enjoy themselves for the remainder of the day, as a +reward for having kept together so long as they were wanted. The whole +of the three divisions were, by this time, loose in the town; and the +usual frightful scene of plunder commenced, which the officers thought +it necessary to avoid for the moment, by retiring to the camp. + +We went into the town on the morning of the 8th, to endeavour to +collect our men, but only succeeded in part, as the same extraordinary +scene of plunder and rioting still continued. Wherever there was any +thing to eat or drink, the only saleable commodities, the soldiers had +turned the shopkeepers out of doors, and placed themselves regularly +behind the counter, selling off the contents of the shop. By and bye, +another and a stronger party would kick those out in their turn, and +there was no end to the succession of self-elected shopkeepers, until +Lord Wellington found that, to restore order, severe measures must be +resorted to. On the third day, he caused a Portuguese brigade to be +marched in, and kept standing to their arms, in the great square, +where the provost-martial erected a gallows, and proceeded to suspend +a few of the delinquents, which very quickly cleared the town of the +remainder, and enabled us to give a more satisfactory account of our +battalion than we had hitherto been able to do. + +It is wonderful how such scenes as these will deaden men's finer +feelings, and with what apathy it enables them to look upon the +sufferings of their fellow creatures! The third day after the fall of +the town, I rode, with Colonel Cameron, to take a bathe in the +Guadiana, and, in passing the verge of the camp of the 5th division, +we saw two soldiers standing at the door of a small shed, or outhouse, +shouting, waving their caps, and making signs that they wanted to +speak to us. We rode up to see what they wanted, and found that the +poor fellows had each lost a leg. They told us that a surgeon had +dressed their wounds on the night of the assault, but that they had +ever since been without food or assistance of any kind, although they, +each day, had opportunities of soliciting the aid of many of their +comrades, from whom they could obtain nothing but promises. In short, +surrounded by thousands of their countrymen within call, and not more +than three hundred yards from their own regiment, they were unable to +interest any one in their behalf, and were literally starving. + +It is unnecessary to say that we instantly galloped back to the camp +and had them removed to the hospital. + +On the morning of the 7th, when some of our officers were performing +the last duties to their fallen comrades, one of them had collected +the bodies of four of our young officers, who had been slain. He was +in the act of digging a grave for them, when an officer of the guards, +arrived on the spot, from a distant division of the army, and demanded +tidings of his brother, who was at that moment lying a naked lifeless +corpse, under his very eyes. The officer had the presence of mind to +see that the corpse was not recognized, and, wishing to spare the +other's feelings, told him that his brother was dangerously wounded, +but that he would hear more of him by going out to the camp; and +thither the other immediately bent his steps, with a seeming +_presentiment_ of the sad intelligence that awaited him. + +April 9th.--As I had not seen my domestic since the storming of the +town, I concluded that he had been killed; but he turned up this +morning, with a tremendous gash on his head, and mounted on the top of +a horse nearly twenty feet high, carrying under his arm one of those +glass cases which usually stand on the counters of jewellers' shops, +filled with all manner of trinkets. He looked exactly like the ghost +of a horse pedler. + +April 10th.--The devil take the man who stole my donkey last night. + +April 11th.--Marched again for the neighbourhood of Ciudad Rodrigo, +with the long-accustomed sounds of cannon and musketry ringing in my +fanciful ears as merrily as if the instruments themselves were still +playing. + +Sir Sidney Beckwith, one of the fathers of the rifles, was, at this +time, obliged to proceed to England for the recovery of health, and +did not again return to the Peninsula. In his departure, that army +lost one of the ablest of its outpost generals. Few officers knew so +well how to make the most of a small force. His courage, coupled with +his thorough knowledge of the soldier's character, was of that cool +intrepid kind, that would, at any time, convert a routed rabble into +an orderly effective force. A better officer, probably, never led a +brigade into the field! + + + + +CHAP X. + + A Farewell Address to Portalegré. History of a Night in Castello + Branco. Regimental Colours lost, with Directions where to find + them. Cases in which a Victory is sometimes won by those who lost + it. Advance to Salamanca. The City. The British Position on St. + Christoval. Affair in Position. Marmont's Change of Position and + Retreat. A Case of Bad Luck. Advance to Rueda, and Customs there. + Retire to Castrejon. Affairs on the 18th and 19th of July. Battle + of Salamanca, and Defeat of the Enemy. + + +April 13th, 1812.--Quartered at Portalegré. + +DEAR PORTALEGRÉ! + +I cannot quit thee, for the fourth and last time, without a parting +tribute to the remembrance of thy wild romantic scenery, and to the +kindness and hospitality of thy worthy citizens! May thy gates +continue shut to thine enemies as heretofore, and, as heretofore, may +they ever prove those of happiness to thy friends! Dear nuns of Santa +Clara! I thank thee for the enjoyment of many an hour of nothingness; +and thine, Santa Barbara, for many of a more intellectual cast! May +the voice of thy chapel-organ continue unrivalled but by the voices of +thy lovely choristers! and may the piano in thy refectory be replaced +by a better, in which the harmony of strings may supersede the +clattering of ivories! May the sweets which thou hast lavished on us +be showered upon thee ten thousand fold! And may those accursed iron +bars divide thee as effectually from death as they did from us!!! + +April 15th.--Quartered at Castello Branco. + +This town had been so often visited by the French and us, alternately, +that the inhabitants, at length, confounded their friends with their +foes; and by treating both sides as enemies, they succeeded in making +them so. + +When I went this evening to present my billet on a respectable +looking house, the door was opened by the lady of it, wearing a most +gingerly aspect. She told me, with an equivocal sort of look, that she +had two spare beds in the house, and that either of them were at my +service; and, by way of illustration, shewed me into a sort of +servant's room, off the kitchen, half full of apples, onions, +potatoes, and various kinds of lumber, with a dirty looking bed in one +corner; and, on my requesting to see the other, she conducted me up to +the garret, into the very counterpart of the one below, though the +room was somewhat differently garnished. I told her, that they were +certainly two capital beds; but, as I was a modest person, and +disliked all extremes, that I should be quite satisfied with any one +on the floor which I had not yet seen. This, however, she told me, was +impossible, as every one of them were required by her own family. +While we were descending the stair, disputing the point, I caught the +handle of the first door that I came to, twisted it open, and seeing +it a neat little room, with nothing but a table and two or three +chairs, I told her that it would suit me perfectly; and, desiring her +to have a good mattress with clean linen, laid in one corner of it, by +nine o'clock; adding a few hints, to satisfy her that I was quite in +earnest, I went to dine with my messmates. + +When I returned to the house, about ten o'clock, I was told that I +should find a light in the room and my bed ready. I accordingly +ascended, and found every thing as represented; and, in addition +thereto, I found another bed lying alongside of mine, containing a +huge fat friar, with a bald pate, fast asleep, and blowing the most +tremendous nasal trumpet that I ever heard! As my _friend_ had +evidently been placed there for my annoyance, I did not think it +necessary to use much ceremony in getting rid of him; and, catching +him by the two ears, I raised him up on his legs, while he groaned in +a seeming agonized doubt, whether the pain was inflicted by a man or a +night-mare; and before he had time to get himself broad awake, I had +chucked him and his clothing, bed and bedding, out at the door, +which I locked, and enjoyed a sound sleep the remainder of the night. + +They offered me no further molestation; but, in taking my departure, +at daylight, next morning, I observed my landlady reconnoitring me +from an up-stairs window, and thought it prudent not to go too near +it. + +While we had been employed at Badajos, Marmont had advanced in the +north, and blockaded Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida, sending advanced +parties into the frontier towns of Portugal, to the confusion and +consternation of the Portuguese militia, who had been stationed for +their protection; and who, quite satisfied with the _report_ of their +coming, did not think it necessary to wait the report of their cannon. +Marshal Beresford, in his paternal address to "_Los Valerossos_," in +commemoration of their conduct on this occasion, directed that the +colours of each regiment should be lodged in the town-halls of their +respective districts, until they each provided themselves with _a +pair_ out of the ranks of the enemy; but I never heard that any of +them were redeemed in the manner prescribed. + +The French retired upon Salamanca on our approach; and we resumed our +former quarters without opposition. + +Hitherto we had been fighting the description of battle in which John +Bull glories so much--gaining a brilliant and useless victory against +great odds. But we were now about to contend for fame on equal terms; +and, having tried both, I will say, without partiality, that I would +rather fight one man than two any day; for I have never been quite +satisfied that the additional _quantum_ of glory altogether +compensated for the proportionate loss of substance; a victory of that +kind being a doubtful and most unsatisfactory one to the performers, +with each occupying the same ground _after_, that they did _before_; +and the whole merit resting with the side which did not happen to +begin it. + +We remained about two months in cantonments, to recover the effects of +the late sieges; and as by that time all the perforated skins and +repairable cracked limbs had been mended, the army was assembled in +front of Ciudad Rodrigo, to commence what may be termed the second +campaign of 1812. + +The enemy retired from Salamanca on our approach, leaving garrisons in +three formidable little forts, which they had erected on the most +commanding points of the city, and which were immediately invested by +a British division. + +Salamanca, as a city, appeared to me to be more ancient than +respectable; for, excepting an old cathedral and a new square, I saw +nothing in it worth looking at, always saving and excepting their +pretty little girls, who (the deuce take them) cost me two nights good +sleep. For, by way of _doing a little dandy_ in passing through such a +celebrated city, I disencumbered the under part of my saddle of the +blanket, and the upper part of the boat-cloak with which it was +usually adorned; and the penalty which I paid for my gentility was, +sleeping the next two nights in position two miles in front of the +town, while these useful appendages were lying on the baggage two +miles in rear of it. + +The heights of St. Christoval, which we occupied as a position to +cover the siege, were strong, but quite unsheltered, and unfurnished +with either wood or water. We were indebted for our supplies of the +latter to the citizens of Salamanca; while stubbles and dry grass were +our only fuel. + +Marmont came down upon us the first night with a thundering cannonade, +and placed his army _en masse_ on the plain before us, almost within +gun shot. I was told that, while Lord Wellington was riding along the +line, under a fire of artillery, and accompanied by a numerous staff, +that a brace of greyhounds, in pursuit of a hare, passed close to him. +He was, at the moment, in earnest conversation with General Castanos; +but the instant he observed them, he gave the view hallo, and went +after them at full speed, to the utter astonishment of his foreign +accompaniments. Nor did he stop until he saw the hare killed; when he +returned, and resumed the commander-in-chief, as if nothing had +occurred. + +The enemy, next morning, commenced a sharp attack on our advanced +post, in the village of Moresco; and, as it continued to be fed by +both sides, there was every appearance of its bringing on a general +action; but they desisted towards the afternoon, and the village +remained divided between us. + +Marmont, after looking at us for several days, did not think it +prudent to risk an attack on our present post; and, as the +telegraph-rockets from the town told him that his garrison was reduced +to extremity, he crossed the Tormes, on the night of the 26th June, in +the hopes of being able to relieve them from that side of the river. +Our division followed his movement, and took post, for the night, at +Aldea Lingua. They sent forward a strong reconnoitring party at +daylight next morning, but they were opposed by General Bock's brigade +of heavy German dragoons, who would not permit them to see more than +was necessary; and, as the forts fell into our hands the same night, +Marmont had no longer an object in remaining there, and fell back, +behind the Douro, occupying the line of Toro and Torodesillas. + +By the accidental discharge of a musket, one day last year, the ramrod +entered the belly, passed through the body, and the end of it stuck in +the back-bone of one of the soldiers of our division, from whence it +was actually hammered out with a stone. The poor fellow recovered, and +joined his regiment, as well as ever he had been, and was, last night, +unfortunately drowned, while bathing in the Tormes. + +When the enemy retired, our division advanced and occupied Rueda, a +handsome little town, on the left bank of the Douro. + +It abounded in excellent wines, and our usual evening dances began +there to be graced by a superior class of females to what they had +hitherto been accustomed. I remember that, in passing the house of the +sexton, one evening, I saw his daughter baking a loaf of bread; and, +falling desperately in love with both her and the loaf, I carried the +one to the ball and the other to my quarters. A woman was a woman in +those days; and every officer made it a point of duty to marshal as +many as he could to the general assembly, no matter whether they were +countesses or _sextonesses_; and although we, in consequence, +frequently incurred the most indelible disgrace among the better +orders of our indiscriminate collection, some of whom would retire in +disgust; yet, as a sufficient number generally remained for our +evening's amusement, and we were only birds of passage, it was a +matter of the most perfect indifference to us what they thought; we +followed the same course wherever we went. + +The French army having, in the mean time, been largely reinforced; +and, as they commanded the passage of the Douro, we were in hourly +expectation of an offensive movement from them. As a precautionary +measure, one-half of our division bivouacked, every night, in front of +the town. On the evening of the 16th of July, it was our turn to be +in quarters, and we were in the full enjoyment of our usual evening's +amusement, when the bugles sounded to arms. + +As we had previously experienced two false alarms in the same +quarters, we thought it more than probable that this might prove one +also; and, therefore, prevailed upon the ladies to enjoy themselves, +until our return, upon the good things which we had provided for their +refreshment, and out of which I hope they drew enough of consolation +for our absence, as we have not seen them since. + +After forming on our alarm-post, we were moved off, in the dark, we +knew not whither; but every man following the one before him, with the +most implicit confidence, until, after marching all night, we found +ourselves, on the following morning, at daylight, near the village of +Castrejon, where we bivouacked for the day. + +I was sent on piquet on the evening of the 17th, to watch a portion of +the plain before us; and, soon after sunrise on the following morning, +a cannonade commenced, behind a hill, to my right; and, though the +combatants were not visible, it was evident that they were not dealing +in blank-cartridge, as mine happened to be the pitching-post of all +the enemy's round shot. While I was attentively watching its progress, +there arose, all at once, behind the rising ground to my left, a yell +of the most terrific import; and, convinced that it would give +instantaneous birth to as hideous a body, it made me look, with an eye +of lightning, at the ground around me; and, seeing a broad deep ditch +within a hundred yards, I lost not a moment in placing it between my +piquet and the extraordinary sound, I had scarcely effected the +movement, when Lord Wellington, with his staff, and a cloud of French +and English dragoons and horse artillery intermixed, came over the +hill at full cry, and all hammering at each others' heads in one +confused mass, over the very ground I had that instant quitted. It +appeared that his Lordship had gone there to reconnoitre, covered by +two guns and two squadrons of cavalry, who, by some accident, were +surprised, and charged by a superior body of the enemy, and sent +tumbling in upon us in the manner described. A piquet of the +forty-third had formed on our right, and we were obliged to remain +passive spectators of such an extraordinary scene going on within a +few yards of us, as we could not fire without an equal chance of +shooting some of our own side. Lord Wellington and his staff, with the +two guns, took shelter, for the moment, behind us, while the cavalry +went sweeping along our front, where, I suppose, they picked up some +reinforcement, for they returned, almost instantly, in the same +confused mass; but the French were now the flyers; and, I must do them +the justice to say, that they got off in a manner highly creditable to +themselves. I saw one, in particular, defending himself against two of +ours; and he would have made his escape from both, but an officer of +our dragoons came down the hill, and took him in flank, at full speed, +sending man and horse rolling, headlong, on the plain. + +I was highly interested, all this time, in observing the +distinguished characters which this unlooked-for _turn-up_ had +assembled around us. Marshal Beresford and the greater part of the +staff remained with their swords drawn, and the Duke himself did not +look more than half-pleased, while he silently despatched some of them +with orders. General Alten, and his huge German orderly dragoon, with +their swords drawn, cursed, the whole time, to a very large amount; +but, as it was in German, I had not the full benefit of it. He had an +opposition swearer in Captain Jenkinson, of the artillery, who +commanded the two guns, and whose oaths were chiefly aimed at himself +for his folly, as far as I could understand, in putting so much +confidence in his covering party, that he had not thought it necessary +to unfix the catch which horse-artillerymen, I believe, had to prevent +their swords quitting the scabbards when they are not wanted, and +which, on this occasion, prevented their jumping forth when they were +so unexpectedly called for. + +The straggling enemy had scarcely cleared away from our front, when +Lord Combermere came, from the right, with a reinforcement of cavalry; +and our piquet was, at the same moment, ordered to join the battalion. + +The movements which followed presented the most beautiful military +spectacle imaginable. The enemy were endeavouring to turn our left; +and, in making a counteracting movement, the two armies were marching +in parallel lines, close to each other, on a perfect plain, each ready +to take advantage of any opening of the other, and exchanging round +shot as they moved along. Our division brought up the rear of the +infantry, marching with the order and precision of a field-day, in +open column of companies, and in perfect readiness to receive the +enemy in any shape; who, on their part, had a huge cavalry force close +at hand, and equally ready to pounce upon us. Our movement was +supported by a formidable body of our own dragoons; and, as we drew +near the bank of the small river Guerrena, our horse-artillery +continued to file in the same line, to attract the attention of the +enemy, while we gradually distanced them a little, and crossed the +river into a position on the high grounds beyond it. The enemy passed +the river, on our left, and endeavoured to force that part of the +position; but the troops who were stationed there drove them back, +with great loss; and at dark the firing ceased. + +During the early part of the 19th there appeared to be no movements on +either side; but, in the afternoon, having fallen asleep in my tent, I +was awoke by the whistling of a cannon shot; and was just beginning to +abuse my servant for not having called me sooner, when we were ordered +to stand to our arms; and, as the enemy were making a movement to our +right, we made a corresponding one. The cannonade did not cease until +dark, when we lay down by our arms, the two armies very near to each +other, and fully expecting a general action on the morrow. + +July 20th.--We stood to our arms an hour before daylight, and Lord +Wellington held out every inducement for his opponent to attack him; +but Marmont evaded it, and continued his movement on our right, which +obliged us to continue ours, towards Salamanca; and we were a great +part of this day in parallel lines with them, the same as on the 18th. + +July 21st.--We crossed the Tormes just before dark this evening, about +two miles above Salamanca, the enemy having passed it higher up. +Before reaching our ground, we experienced one of the most tremendous +thunderstorms that I ever witnessed. A sheet of lightning struck the +head of our column, where I happened to be riding, and deprived me of +the use of my optics for at least ten minutes. A great many of our +dragoon horses broke from their piqueting during the storm, and +galloped past us into the French lines. We lay by our arms on the +banks of the river, and it continued to rain in torrents the whole of +the night. + + +BATTLE OF SALAMANCA. + +July 22d.--A sharp fire of musketry commenced at day light in the +morning; but, as it did not immediately concern us, and was nothing +unusual, we took no notice of it; but busied ourselves in getting our +arms and our bodies disengaged from the rust and the wet, engendered +by the storm of the past night. + +About ten o'clock, our division was ordered to stand to their arms, +and then moved into position, with our left resting on the Tormes, and +our right extending along a ridge of rising ground, thinly +interspersed with trees, beyond which the other divisions were formed +in continuation, with the exception of the third, which still remained +on the opposite bank of the river. + +The enemy were to be seen in motion on the opposite ridges, and a +straggling fire of musketry, with an occasional gun, acted as a sort +of prelude to the approaching conflict. We heard, about this time, +that Marmont had just sent to his _ci-devant_ landlord, in Salamanca, +to desire that he would have the usual dinner ready for himself and +staff at six o'clock; and so satisfied was "mine host" of the +infallibility of the French Marshal, that he absolutely set about +making the necessary preparations. + +There assuredly never was an army so anxious as ours was to be brought +into action on this occasion. They were a magnificent body of +well-tried soldiers, highly equipped, and in the highest health and +spirits, with the most devoted confidence in their leader, and an +invincible confidence in themselves. The retreat of the four preceding +days had annoyed us beyond measure, for we believed that we were +nearly equal to the enemy in point of numbers; and the idea of our +retiring before an equal number of any troops in the world was not to +be endured with common patience. + +We were kept the whole of the forenoon in the most torturing state of +suspense through contradictory reports. One passing officer telling +us that he had just heard the order given to attack, and the next +asserting, with equal confidence, that he had just heard the order to +retreat; and it was not until about two o'clock in the afternoon, that +affairs began to wear a more decided aspect; and when our own eyes and +ears at length conveyed the wished-for tidings that a battle was +inevitable; for we saw the enemy beginning to close upon our right, +and the cannonade had become general along the whole line. Lord +Wellington, about the same time, ordered the movement which decided +the fate of the day--that of bringing the third division, from beyond +the river on our left, rapidly to our extreme right, turning the +enemy, in their attempt to turn us, and commencing the offensive with +the whole of his right wing. The effect was instantaneous and +decisive, for although some obstinate and desperate fighting took +place in the centre, with various success, yet the victory was never +for a moment in doubt; and the enemy were soon in full retreat, +leaving seven thousand prisoners, two eagles, and eleven pieces of +artillery in our hands. Had we been favoured with two hours more +daylight, their loss would have been incalculable, for they committed +a blunder at starting, which they never got time to retrieve; and, +their retreat was, therefore, commenced in such disorder, and with a +river in their rear, that nothing but darkness could have saved them. + + + + +CHAP. XI. + + Distinguished Characters. A Charge of Dragoons. A Charge against + the Nature of Things. Olmeda and the French General, Ferez. + Advance towards Madrid. Adventures of my Dinner. The Town of + Segovia. El Palacio del Rio Frio. The Escurial. Enter Madrid. + Rejoicings. Nearly happy. Change of a Horse. Change of Quarters. + A Change confounded. Retire towards Salamanca. Boar-Hunt, + Dinner-Hunt, and Bull-Hunt. A Portuguese Funeral conducted by + Rifle Undertakers. + + +The third division, under Sir Edward Pakenham, the artillery, and some +regiments of dragoons, particularly distinguished themselves. But our +division, very much to our annoyance, came in for a very slender +portion of this day's glory. We were exposed to a cannonade the whole +of the afternoon; but, as we were not permitted to advance until very +late, we had only an opportunity of throwing a few straggling shot at +the fugitives, before we lost sight of them in the dark; and then +bivouacked for the night near the village of Huerta, (I think it was +called). + +We started after them at daylight next morning; and, crossing at a +ford of the Tormes, we found their rear-guard, consisting of three +regiments of infantry, with some cavalry and artillery, posted on a +formidable height above the village of Serna. General Bock, with his +brigade of heavy German dragoons, immediately went at them; and, +putting their cavalry to flight, he broke through their infantry, and +took or destroyed the whole of them. This was one of the most gallant +charges recorded in history. I saw many of these fine fellows lying +dead along with their horses, on which they were still astride, with +the sword firmly grasped in the hand, as they had fought the instant +before; and several of them still wearing a look of fierce defiance, +which death itself had been unable to quench. + +We halted for the night at a village near Penaranda. I took possession +of the church; and finding the floor strewed with the paraphernalia of +priesthood, I selected some silk gowns, and other gorgeous trappings, +with which I made a bed for myself in the porch, and where, "if all +had been gold that glittered," I should have looked a jewel indeed; +but it is lamentable to think, that, among the multifarious blessings +we enjoy in this life, we should never be able to get a dish of glory +and a dish of beef-steak on the same day; in consequence of which, the +heart, which ought properly to be soaring in the clouds, or, at all +events, in a castle half way up, is more generally to be found +grovelling about a hen-roost, in the vain hope, that, if it cannot get +hold of the hen herself, it may at least hit upon an egg; and such, I +remember, was the state of my feelings on this occasion, in +consequence of my having dined the three preceding days on the half of +my inclinations. + +We halted the next night in the handsome little town of Olmeda, which +had just been evacuated by the enemy. The French General, Ferez, died +there, in consequence of the wounds which he received at the battle of +Salamanca, and his remains had, the night before, been consigned to +the earth, with the highest honours, and a canopy of laurel placed +over his grave: but the French had no sooner left the town, than the +inhabitants exhumed the body, cut off the head, and spurned it with +the greatest indignity. They were in hopes that this line of conduct +would have proved a passport to our affections, and conducted us to +the spot, as to a trophy that they were proud of; but we expressed the +most unfeigned horror and indignation at their proceeding; and, +getting some soldiers to assist us, we carefully and respectfully +replaced his remains in the grave. His _was_ a noble head; and even in +death, it looked the brave, the gallant soldier. Our conduct had such +an effect on the Spaniards, that they brought back the canopy, of +their own accord, and promised, solemnly, that the grave should, +henceforth, rest undisturbed. + +July 26th.--We arrived on the banks of the Douro, within a league of +Valladolid, where we halted two days; and Lord Wellington, detaching a +division of infantry and some cavalry to watch the movements of the +defeated army, proceeded with the remainder of us towards Madrid. + +August 1st.--On approaching near to our bivouac this afternoon, I saw +a good large farm-house, about a mile off the road; and, getting +permission from my commandant, I made a cast thereto, in search of +something for dinner. There were two women belonging to the German +Legion, smoking their pipes in the kitchen, when I arrived; and, +having the highest respect for their marauding qualifications, I began +to fear that nothing was to be had, as they were sitting there so +quietly. I succeeded, however, in purchasing two pair of chickens; +and, neglecting the precaution of unscrewing their necks, I grasped a +handful of their legs, and, mounting my horse, proceeded towards the +camp; but I had scarcely gone a couple of hundred yards, when they +began opening their throats and flapping with their wings, which +startled my horse and sent him off at full speed. I lost the rein on +one side, and, in attempting to pull him up with the other, I brought +his foot into a rut, and down he came, sending me head-foremost into a +wet ditch! When I got on my legs, and shook myself a little, I saw +each particular hen galloping across the field, screeching with all +its might, while the horse was off in a different direction; and, +casting a rueful look at the chickens, I naturally followed him, as +the most valuable of the collection. Fortunately, a heavy boat-cloak +caused the saddle to roll under his belly; and finding that he could +not make way in consequence, he quietly waited for me about a quarter +of a mile off. When I had remounted, I looked back to the scene of my +disaster, and saw my two German _friends_ busily employed in catching +the chickens. I rode towards them, and they were, no doubt, in hopes +that I had broken my neck, that they might have the sacking of me, +also; for, as I approached, I observed them concealing the fowls under +their clothes, while the one took up a position behind the other. +After reconnoitring them a short time, I rode up and demanded the +fowls, when the one looked at the other, and, in well-feigned +astonishment, asked, in _Dutch_, what I could possibly mean? then gave +me to understand that they could not comprehend English; but I +immediately said, "Come, come! none of your gammon; you have got my +fowls, here's half a dollar for your trouble in catching them, so hand +them out." "Oh!" said one of them, in English, "it is de fowl you +want," and they then produced them. After paying them the stipulated +sum, I wished them all the compliments of the season, and thought +myself fortunate in getting off so well; for they were each six feet +high, and as strong as a horse, and I felt convinced that they had +often thrashed a better man than myself in the course of their +military career. + +August 7th.--Halted near the ancient town of Segovia, which bears a +strong resemblance to the old town of Edinburgh, built on a lofty +ridge, that terminates in an abrupt summit, on which stands the +fortified tower, celebrated in the Adventures of Gil Blas. It is a +fine old town, boasts of a superb Roman aqueduct, and is famous for +ladies' shoes. + +Our bivouac, this evening, was on the banks of El Rio Frio, near to a +new hunting-palace of the King of Spain. It was a large quadrangular +building, each side full of empty rooms, with nothing but their youth +to recommend them. + +On the 9th, we crossed the Guadarama mountains, and halted, for the +night, in the park of the Escurial. + +I had, from childhood upwards, considered this palace as the eighth +wonder of the world, and was, therefore, proportionately disappointed +at finding it a huge, gloomy, unmeaning pile of building, looking +somewhat less interesting than the wild craggy mountain opposite, and +without containing a single room large enough to flog a cat in. The +only apartment that I saw worth looking at was the one in which their +_dead kings live_! + + +ENTERED MADRID, + +August 13th, 1812. + +As we approached the capital, imagination was busy in speculating on +the probable nature of our reception. The peasantry, with whom we had +hitherto been chiefly associated, had imbibed a rooted hatred to the +French, caused by the wanton cruelties experienced at their hands, +both in their persons and their property; otherwise they were a +cheerful, hospitable, and orderly people, and, had they been permitted +to live in peace and quietness, it was a matter of the most perfect +indifference to them whether Joseph, Ferdinand, or the ghost of Don +Quixotte was their king. But the citizens of Madrid had been living +four years in comparative peace, under the dominion of a French +government, and in the enjoyment of all the gaieties of that +luxurious court; to which, if I add that we entertained, at that time, +some slight jealousy regarding the pretensions of the French officers +to the favours of the fair, I believe the prevailing opinion was that +_we_ should be considered as the intruders. It was, therefore, a +matter of the most unexpected exultation, when we entered it, on the +afternoon of the 13th of August, to find ourselves hailed as +liberators, with the most joyous acclamations, by surrounding +multitudes, who continued their rejoicings for three successive days. +By day, the riches of each house were employed in decorations to its +exterior; and, by night, they were brilliantly illuminated, during +which time all business was suspended, and the whole population of the +city crowded the streets, emulating each other in heaping honours and +caresses upon us. + +King Joseph had retired on our approach, leaving a garrison in the +fortified palace of El Retiro; but they surrendered some days +afterwards, and we remained there for three months, basking in the +sunshine of beauty, harmony, and peace. I shall ever look back to that +period as the most pleasing event of my military life. + +The only bar to our perfect felicity was the want of money, as, +independent of long arrears, already due, the military chest continued +so very poor that it could not afford to give us more than a +fortnight's pay during these three months; and, as nobody could, +would, or should give cash for bills, we were obliged to sell silver +spoons, watches, and every thing of value that we stood possessed of, +to purchase the common necessaries of life. + +My Irish _criado_, who used to take uncommon liberties with my +property, having been two or three days in the rear, with the baggage, +at the time of the battle of Salamanca, took upon himself to exchange +my baggage-horse for another; and his apology for so doing was, that +the one he had got was twice as big as the one he gave! The additional +size, however, so far from being an advantage, proved quite the +reverse; for I found that he could eat as much as he could carry, +and, as he was obliged to carry all that he had to eat, I was forced +to put him on half allowance, to make room for my baggage; in +consequence of which, every bone in his body soon became so _pointed_ +that I could easily have hung my hat on any part of his hind quarters. +I therefore took advantage of our present repose to let him have the +benefit of a full allowance, that enabled me to effect an exchange +between him and a mule, getting five dollars to the bargain, which +made me one of the happiest and, I believe, also, one of the richest +men in the army. I expended the first dollar next day, in getting +admission to a bullfight, in their national amphitheatre, where the +first thing that met my astonished eyes was a mad bull giving the +finishing _prode_ to my unfortunate big horse. + +Lord Wellington, with some divisions of the army, proceeded, about the +beginning of September, to undertake the siege of Burgos, leaving +those at Madrid, under the orders of Sir Rowland Hill, so that, +towards the end of October, our delightful sojourn there drew +perceptibly to a close, for it was known that King Joseph, with the +forces under Soult and Jourdan, now united, were moving upon Aranjuez, +and that all, excepting our own division, were already in motion, to +dispute the passage of the Tagus, and to cover the capital. About four +o'clock on the morning of the 23d of October, we received orders to be +on our alarm-posts at six, and, as soon as we had formed, we were +marched to the city of Alcala. + +October 27th.--We were all this day marching to Arganda, and all night +marching back again. If any one thing is more particularly damned than +another it is a march of this kind. + +October 30th--An order arrived, from Lord Wellington, for our corps of +the army to fall back upon Salamanca; we, therefore, returned to +Madrid, and, after halting outside the gates until we were joined by +Skerret's division, from Cadiz, we bade a last sorrowful adieu to our +friends in the city, and commenced our retreat. + +October 31st.--Halted for the night in the park of the Escurial. It is +amusing, on a division's first taking up its ground, to see the +numbers of hares that are, every instant, starting up among the men, +and the scrambling and shouting of the soldiers for the prize. This +day, when the usual shout was given, every man ran, with his cap in +his hand, to endeavour to capture poor _puss_, as he imagined, but +which turned out to be two wild boars, who contrived to make room for +themselves so long as there was nothing but men's caps to contend +with; but they very soon had as many bayonets as bristles in their +backs. We re-crossed the Guadarama mountains next morning. + +November 2d.--Halted, this night, in front of a small town, the name +of which I do not recollect. It was beginning to get dark by the time +I had posted our guards and piquets, when I rode into it, to endeavour +to find my messmates, who, I knew, had got a dinner waiting for me +somewhere. + +I entered a large square, or market-place, and found it crowded with +soldiers of all nations, most of them three-parts drunk, and in the +midst of whom a mad bull was performing the most extraordinary feats, +quite unnoticed, excepting by those who had the misfortune to attract +his attention. The first intimation that I had of him was his charging +past me, and making a thrust at our quarter-master, carrying off a +portion of his regimental trousers. He next got a fair toss at a +Portuguese soldier, and sent him spinning three or four turns up in +the air. I was highly amused in observing the fellow's astonishment +when he alighted, to see that he had not the remotest idea to what +accident he was indebted for such an evolution, although he seemed +fully prepared to quarrel with any one who chose to acknowledge any +participation in the deed; but the cause of it was, all the time, +finding fresh customers, and, making the grand tour of the square with +such velocity, I began to fear that I should soon be on his list also, +if I did not take shelter in the nearest house, a measure no sooner +thought of than executed. I, therefore, opened a door, and drove my +horse in before me; but there instantly arose such an uproar within, +that I began to wish myself once more on the outside on any terms, for +it happened to be occupied by English, Portuguese, and German +bullock-drivers, who had been seated round a table, scrambling for a +dinner, when my horse upset the table, lights, and every thing on it. +The only thing that I could make out amid their confused curses was, +that they had come to the determination of putting the cause of the +row to death; but, as I begged to differ with them on that point, I +took the liberty of knocking one or two of them down, and finally +succeeded in extricating my horse, with whom I retraced my way to the +camp, weary, angry, and hungry. On my arrival there, I found an +orderly waiting to show me the way to dinner, which once more restored +me to good humour with myself and all the world; while the adventure +afforded my companions a hearty laugh, at my expense. + +November 6th.--In the course of this day's march, while our battalion +formed the rear-guard, at a considerable distance in the rear of the +column, we found a Portuguese soldier, who had been left by his +regiment, lying in the middle of the road, apparently dead; but, on +examining him more closely, we had reason to think that he was merely +in a state of stupor, arising from fatigue and the heat of the +weather,--an opinion which caused us no little uneasiness. Although we +did not think it quite fair to bury a living man, yet we had no means +whatever of carrying him off; and to leave him where he was, would, in +all probability, have cost us a number of better lives than his had +ever been, for the French, who were then in sight, had hitherto been +following us at a very respectable distance; and, had they found that +we were retiring in such a hurry as to leave our half-dead people on +the road, they would not have been Frenchmen if they did not give us +an extra push, to help us along. Under all the circumstances of the +case, therefore, although our doctor was of opinion that, with time +and attention, he might recover, and not having either the one or the +other to spare, the remainder of us, who had voted ourselves into a +sort of board of survey, thought it most prudent to find him dead; +and, carrying him a little off the road to the edge of a ravine, we +scraped a hole in the sand with our swords, and placed him in it. We +covered him but very lightly, and left his head and arms at perfect +liberty; so that, although he might be said to have had both feet in +the grave, yet he might still have scrambled out of it, if he could. + + + + +CHAP. XII. + + Reach Salamanca. Retreat from it. Pig Hunting, an Enemy to + Sleep-Hunting. Putting one's Foot in it. Affair on the 17th of + November. Bad Legs sometimes last longer than good ones. A Wet + Birth. Prospectus of a Day's Work. A lost _déjûné_ better than a + found one. Advantages not taken. A disagreeable Amusement. End of + the Campaign of 1812. Winter Quarters. Orders and Disorders + treated. Farewell Opinion of Ancient Allies. My House. + + +November 7th.--Halted this night at Alba de Tormes, and next day +marched into quarters in Salamanca, where we rejoined Lord Wellington +with the army from Burgos. + +On the 14th, the British army concentrated on the field of their +former glory, in consequence of a part of the French army having +effected the passage of the river, above Alba de Tormes. On the 15th, +the whole of the enemy's force having passed the river, a cannonade +commenced early in the day; and it was the general belief that, ere +night, a second battle of Salamanca would be recorded. But, as all the +French armies in Spain were now united in our front, and out-numbered +us so far, Lord Wellington, seeing no decided advantage to be gained +by risking a battle, at length ordered a retreat, which we commenced +about three in the afternoon. Our division halted for the night at the +entrance of a forest about four miles from Salamanca. + +The heavy rains which usually precede the Spanish winter had set in +the day before; and, as the roads in that part of the country cease to +be roads for the remainder of the season, we were now walking nearly +knee deep, in a stiff mud, into which no man could thrust his foot, +with the certainty of having a shoe at the end of it when he pulled it +out again; and, that we might not be miserable by halves, we had, this +evening, to regale our chops with the last morsel of biscuit that +they were destined to grind during the retreat. + +We cut some boughs of trees to keep us out of the mud, and lay down to +sleep on them, wet to the skin; but the cannonade of the afternoon had +been succeeded, after dark, by a continued firing of musketry, which +led us to believe that our piquets were attacked, and, in momentary +expectation of an order to stand to our arms, we kept ourselves awake +the whole night, and were not a little provoked when we found, next +morning, that it had been occasioned by numerous stragglers from the +different regiments, shooting at the pigs belonging to the peasantry +which were grazing in the wood. + +November 16th.--Retiring from daylight until dark through the same +description of roads. The French dragoons kept close behind, but did +not attempt to molest us. It still continued to rain hard, and we +again passed the night in a wood. I was very industriously employed, +during the early part of it, feeling, in the dark, for acorns, as a +substitute for bread. + +November 17th.--At daylight this morning the enemy's cavalry advanced +in force; but they were kept in check by the skirmishers of the 14th +light dragoons, until the road became open, when we continued our +retreat. Our brigade-major was at this time obliged to go to the rear, +sick, and I was appointed to act for him. + +We were much surprised, in the course of the forenoon, to hear a sharp +firing commence behind us, on the very road by which we were retiring; +and it was not until we reached the spot that we learnt that the +troops who were retreating, by a road parallel to ours, had left it +too soon, and enabled some French dragoons, under cover of the forest, +to advance unperceived to the flank of our line of march, who, seeing +an interval between two divisions of infantry, which was filled with +light baggage and some passing officers, dashed at it, and made some +prisoners in the scramble of the moment, amongst whom was +Lieutenant-General Sir Edward Paget. + +Our division formed on the heights above Samunoz to cover the passage +of the rivulet, which was so swollen with the heavy rains, as only to +be passable at particular fords. While we waited there for the passage +of the rest of the army, the enemy, under cover of the forest, was, at +the same time, assembling in force close around us; and the moment +that we began to descend the hill, towards the rivulet, we were +assailed by a heavy fire of cannon and musketry, while their powerful +cavalry were in readiness to take advantage of any confusion which +might have occurred. We effected the passage, however, in excellent +order, and formed on the opposite bank of the stream, where we +continued under a cannonade and engaged in a sharp skirmish until +dark. + +Our loss on this occasion was considerable, but it would have been +much greater, had not the enemy's shells buried themselves so deep in +the soft ground, that their explosions did little injury. It appeared +singular to us, who were not medical men, that an officer and several +of our division, who were badly wounded on this occasion, in the leg, +and who were sent to the rear on gun-carriages, should have died of a +mortification in the limb which was _not_ wounded. + +When the firing ceased, we received the usual order "to make ourselves +comfortable for the night," and I never remember an instance in which +we had so much difficulty in obeying it; for the ground we occupied +was a perfect flat, which was flooded more than ankle deep with water, +excepting here and there, where the higher ground around the roots of +trees, presented circles of a few feet of visible earth, upon which we +grouped ourselves. Some few fires were kindled, at which we roasted +some bits of raw beef on the points of our swords, and eat them by way +of a dinner. There was plenty of water to apologize for the want of +better fluids, but bread sent no apology at all. + +Some divisions of the army had commenced retiring as soon as it was +dark, and the whole had been ordered to move, so that the roads might +be clear for us before daylight. I was sent twice in the course of the +night to see what progress they had made; but such was the state of +the roads, that even within an hour of daylight, two divisions, +besides our own, were still unmoved, which would consequently delay us +so long, that we looked forward to a severe harassing day's fighting; +a kind of fighting, too, that is the least palatable of any, where +much might be lost, and nothing was to be gained. With such prospects +before us, it made my very heart rejoice to see my brigadier's servant +commence boiling some chocolate and frying a beef-steak. I watched its +progress with a keenness which intense hunger alone could inspire, and +was on the very point of having my desires consummated, when the +general, getting uneasy at not having received any communication +relative to the movements of the morning, and, without considering how +feelingly my stomach yearned for a better acquaintance with the +contents of his frying-pan, desired me to ride to General Alten for +orders. I found the general at a neighbouring tree; but he cut off all +hopes of my timely return, by desiring me to remain with him until he +received the report of an officer whom he had sent to ascertain the +progress of the other divisions. + +While I was toasting myself at his fire, so sharply set that I could +have eaten one of my boots, I observed his German orderly dragoon, at +an adjoining fire, stirring up the contents of a camp-kettle, that +once more revived my departing hopes, and I presently had the +satisfaction of seeing him dipping in some basins, presenting one to +the general, one to the aide-de-camp, and a third to myself. The mess +which it contained I found, after swallowing the whole at a draught, +was neither more nor less than the produce of a piece of beef boiled +in plain water; and, though it would have been enough to have +physicked a dromedary at any other time, yet, as I could then have +made a good hole in the dromedary himself, it sufficiently satisfied +my cravings to make me equal to any thing for the remainder of the +day. + +We were soon after ordered to stand to our arms, and, as day lit up, a +thick haze hung on the opposite hills, which prevented our seeing the +enemy; and, as they did not attempt to feel for us, we, contrary to +our expectations, commenced our retreat unmolested; nor could we quite +believe our good fortune when, towards the afternoon, we had passed +several places where they could have assailed us, in flank, with great +advantage, and caused us a severe loss, almost in spite of fate; but +it afterwards appeared that they were quite knocked up with their +exertions in overtaking us the day before, and were unable to follow +further. We halted on a swampy height, behind St. Espiritu, and +experienced another night of starvation and rain. + +I now felt considerably more for my horse than myself, as he had been +three days and nights without a morsel of any kind to eat. Our +baggage-animals, too, we knew were equally ill off, and, as they +always preceded us a day's march, it was highly amusing, whenever we +found a dead horse, or a mule, lying on the road-side, to see the +anxiety with which every officer went up to reconnoitre him, each +fearing that he should have the misfortune to recognize it as his own. + +On the 19th of November we arrived at the convent of Caridad, near +Ciudad Rodrigo, and once more experienced the comforts of our baggage +and provisions. My boots had not been off since the 13th, and I found +it necessary to cut them to pieces, to get my swollen feet out of +them. + +This retreat terminated the campaign of 1812. After a few days' delay, +and some requisite changes about the neighbourhood, while all the +world were getting shook into their places, our battalion finally took +possession of the village of Alameida for the winter, where, after +forming a regimental mess, we detached an officer to Lamego, and +secured to ourselves a bountiful supply of the best juice of the +grape which the neighbouring banks of the Douro afforded. The quarter +we now occupied was naturally pretty much upon a par with those of the +last two winters, but it had the usual advantages attending the march +of intellect. The officers of the division united in fitting up an +empty chapel, in the village of Galegos, as an amateur theatre, for +which, by the by, we were all regularly cursed, from the altar, by the +bishop of Rodrigo. Lord Wellington kept a pack of foxhounds, and the +Hon. Captain Stewart, of ours, a pack of harriers, so that these, in +addition to our old _Bolero_ meetings, enabled us to pass a very +tolerable winter. + +The neighbouring plains abounded with hares; it was one of the most +beautiful coursing countries, perhaps, in the world; and there was, +also, some shooting to be had at the numerous vultures preying on the +dead carcasses which strewed the road-side on the line of our last +retreat. + +Up to this period Lord Wellington had been adored by the army, in +consideration of his brilliant achievements, and for his noble and +manly bearing in all things; but, in consequence of some disgraceful +irregularities which took place during the retreat, he immediately +after issued an order, conveying a sweeping censure on the whole army. +His general conduct was too upright for even the finger of malice +itself to point at; but as his censure, on this occasion, was not +strictly confined to the guilty, it afforded a handle to disappointed +persons, and excited a feeling against him, on the part of +individuals, which has probably never since been obliterated. + +It began by telling us that we had suffered no privations; and, though +this was hard to be digested on an empty stomach, yet, taking it in +its more liberal meaning, that our privations were not of an extent to +justify any irregularities, which I readily admit; still, as many +regiments were not guilty of any irregularities, it is not to be +wondered if such should have felt, at first, a little sulky to find, +in the general reproof, that no loop-hole whatever had been left for +them to creep through; for, I believe I am justified in saying that +neither our own, nor the two gallant corps associated with us, had a +single man absent that we could not satisfactorily account for. But it +touched us still more tenderly in not excepting us from his general +charge of inexpertness in camp arrangements; for, it was _our belief_, +and in which we were in some measure borne out by circumstances, that, +had he placed us, at the same moment, in the same field, with an equal +number of the best troops in France, that he would not only have seen +our fires as quickly lit, but every Frenchman roasting on them to the +bargain, if they waited long enough to be _dressed_; for there, +perhaps, never was, nor ever again will be, such a war-brigade as that +which was composed of the forty-third, fifty-second, and the rifles. + +That not only censure, but condign punishment was merited, in many +instances, is certain; and, had his lordship dismissed some officers +from the service, and caused some of the disorderly soldiers to be +shot, it would not only have been an act of justice, but, probably, a +necessary example. Had he hanged every commissary, too, who failed to +issue the regular rations to the troops dependent on him, unless they +proved that they were starved themselves, it would only have been a +just sacrifice to the offended stomachs of many thousands of gallant +fellows. + +In our brigade, I can safely say, that the order in question excited +"more of sorrow than of anger;" we thought that, had it been +_particular_, it would have been just; but, as it was _general_, that +it was inconsiderate; and we, therefore, regretted that he who had +been, and still was, the god of our idolatry, should thereby have laid +himself open to the attacks of the ill-natured. + +Alameida is a Spanish village, situated within a stone's throw of the +boundary-line of the sister-kingdom; and, as the head-quarters of the +army, as well as the nearest towns, from whence we drew our supplies, +lay in Portugal, our connexions, while we remained there, were chiefly +with the latter kingdom; and, having passed the three last winters on +their frontier, we, in the month of May, 1813, prepared to bid it a +final adieu, with very little regret. The people were kind and +hospitable, and not destitute of intelligence; but, somehow, they +appeared to be the creatures of a former age, and showed an indolence +and want of enterprise which marked them born for slaves; and, +although the two cacadore regiments attached to our division were, at +all times, in the highest order, and conducted themselves gallantly in +the field, yet, I am of opinion that, as a nation, they owe their +character for bravery almost entirely to the activity and gallantry of +the British officers who organized and led them. The veriest cowards +in existence must have shown the same front under such discipline. I +did not see enough of their gentry to enable me to form an opinion +about them; but the middling and lower orders are extremely filthy +both in their persons and in their houses, and they have all an +intolerable itch for gambling. The soldiers, though fainting with +fatigue on the line of march, invariably group themselves in +card-parties whenever they are allowed a few minutes' halt; and a +non-commissioned officer, with half-a-dozen men on any duty of +fatigue, are very generally to be seen as follows, viz. one man as a +sentry, to watch the approach of the superintending officer, one man +at work, and the non-commissioned officer, with the other four, at +cards. + +The cottages in Alameida, and, indeed, in all the Spanish villages, +generally contain two mud-floored apartments: the outer one, though +more cleanly than the Irish, is, nevertheless, fashioned after the +same manner, and is common alike to the pigs and the people; while the +inner looks more like the gun-room of a ship-of-war, having a +sitting-apartment in the centre, with small sleeping-cabins branching +from it, each illuminated by a port-hole, about a foot square. We did +not see daylight "through a glass darkly," as on London's +Ludgate-hill, for there the air circulated freely, and mild it came, +and pure, and fragrant, as if it had just stolen over a bed of roses. +If a man did not like _that_, he had only to shut his port, and remain +in darkness, inhaling his own preferred sweetness! The outside of my +sleeping-cabin was interwoven with ivy and honeysuckle, and, among the +branches, a nightingale had established itself, and sung sweetly, +night after night, during the whole of the winter. I could not part +from such a pleasing companion, and from a bed in which I had enjoyed +so many tranquil slumbers, without a sigh, though I was ungrateful +enough to accompany it with a fervent wish that I might never see them +again; for I looked upon the period that I had spent there as so much +time lost. + + + + +CHAP. XIII. + + A Review. Assembly of the Army. March to Salamanca. To Aldea + Nueva. To Toro. An Affair of the Hussar Brigade. To Palencia. To + the Neighbourhood of Burgos. To the Banks of the Ebro. Fruitful + sleeping place. To Medina. A Dance before it was due. Smell the + Foe. Affair at St. Milan. A Physical River. + + +May, 1813.--In the early part of this month our division was reviewed +by Lord Wellington, preparatory to the commencement of another +campaign; and I certainly never saw a body of troops in a more +highly-efficient state. It did one's very heart good to look at our +battalion that day, seeing each company standing a hundred strong, and +the intelligence of several campaigns stamped on each daring, bronzed +countenance, which looked you boldly in the face, in the fullness of +vigour and confidence, as if it cared neither for man nor devil. + +On the 21st of May, our division broke up from winter-quarters, and +assembled in front of Ciudad Rodrigo, with all excepting the left wing +of the army, which, under Sir Thomas Graham, had already passed the +Douro, and was ascending its right bank. + +An army which has seen some campaigns in the field, affords a great +deal of amusement in its assembling after winter-quarters. There is +not only the greeting of long-parted friends and acquaintances in the +same walks of life, but, among the different divisions which the +nature of the service generally threw a good deal together, there was +not so much as a mule or a donkey that was not known to each +individual, and its absence noticed; nor a scamp of a boy, or a common +Portuguese trull, who was not as particularly inquired after, as if +the fate of the campaign depended on their presence. + +On the 22d, we advanced towards Salamanca, and, the next day, halted +at Samunoz, on our late field of action. With what different feelings +did we now view the same spot! In our last visit, winter was on the +face of the land, as well as on our minds; we were worn out with +fatigue, mortification, and starvation; now, all was summer and +sunshine. The dismal swamps had now become verdant meadows; we had +plenty in the camp, vigour in our limbs, and hope in our bosoms. + +We were, this day, joined by the household brigade of cavalry from +England; and, as there was a report in the morning that the enemy were +in the neighbourhood, some of the life-guards concluded that every +thing in front of their camp must be a part of them, and they, +accordingly, apprehended some of the light dragoon horses, which +happened to be grazing near. One of their officers came to dine with +me that day, and he was in the act of reporting their capture, when my +orderly-book was brought at the moment, containing an offer of reward +for the detection of the thieves! + +On the 27th, we encamped on the banks of the Tormes, at a ford, about +a league below Salamanca. A body of the enemy, who had occupied the +city, suffered severely before they got away, in a brush with some +part of Sir Rowland Hill's corps; chiefly, I believe, from some of his +artillery. + +On the 28th, we crossed the river, and marched near to Aldea Nueva, +where we remained stationary for some days, under Sir Rowland Hill; +Lord Wellington having proceeded from Salamanca to join the left wing +of the army, beyond the Douro. + +On the 2d of June, we were again put in motion; and, after a very long +march, encamped near the Douro, opposite the town of Toro. + +Lord Wellington had arrived there the day before, without being +opposed by the enemy; but there had been an affair of cavalry, a short +distance beyond the town, in which the hussar brigade particularly +distinguished themselves, and took about three hundred prisoners. + +On the morning of the 3d, we crossed the river; and, marching through +the town of Toro, encamped about half a league beyond it. The enemy +had put the castle in a state of repair, and constructed a number of +other works to defend the passage of the river; but the masterly eye +of our chief, having seen his way round the town, spared them the +trouble of occupying the works; yet, loth to think that so much labour +should be altogether lost, he garrisoned their castle with the three +hundred taken by the hussar brigade, for which it made a very good +jail. + +On the 4th, we were again in motion, and had a long, warm, fatiguing +march; as, also, on the 5th and 6th. On the 7th, we encamped outside +of Palencia, a large rickety looking old town; with the front of every +house supported by pillars, like so many worn out old bachelors on +crutches. + +The French did not interfere with our accommodation in the slightest, +but made it a point to leave every place an hour or two before we came +to it; so that we quietly continued our daily course, following nearly +the line of the Canal de Castile, through a country luxuriant in +corn-fields and vineyards, until the 12th, when we arrived within two +or three leagues of Burgos, (on its left,) and where we found a body +of the enemy in position, whom we immediately proceeded to attack; but +they evaporated on our approach, and fell back upon Burgos. We +encamped for the night on the banks of a river, a short distance to +the rear. Next morning, at daylight, an explosion shook the ground +like an earthquake, and made every man jump upon his legs; and it was +not until some hours after, when Lord Wellington returned from +reconnoitring, that we learnt that the castle of Burgos had been just +blown up, and the town evacuated by the enemy. + +We continued our march on the 13th, through a very rich country. + +On the 14th, we had a long harassing day's march, through a rugged +mountainous country, which afforded only an occasional glimpse of +fertility, in some pretty little valleys with which it was +intersected. + +We started at daylight on the 15th, through a dreary region of solid +rock, bearing an abundant crop of loose stones, without a particle of +soil or vegetation visible to the naked eye in any direction. After +leaving nearly twenty miles of this horrible wilderness behind us, our +weary minds clogged with an imaginary view of nearly as much more of +it in our front, we found ourselves, all at once, looking down upon +the valley of the Ebro, near the village of Arenas, one of the +richest, loveliest, and most romantic spots that I ever beheld. The +influence of such a scene on the mind can scarcely be believed. Five +minutes before we were all as _lively_ as stones. In a moment we were +all fruits and flowers; and many a pair of legs, that one would have +thought had not a kick left in them, were, in five minutes after, seen +dancing across the bridge, to the tune of "the downfal of Paris," +which struck up from the bands of the different regiments. + +I lay down that night in a cottage garden, with my head on a melon, +and my eye on a cherry-tree, and resigned myself to a repose which +did not require a long courtship. + +We resumed our march at daybreak on the 16th. The road, in the first +instance, wound through orchards and luxurious gardens, and then +closed in to the edge of the river, through a difficult and formidable +pass, where the rocks on each side, arising to a prodigious height, +hung over each other in fearful grandeur, and in many places nearly +met together over our heads. + +After following the course of the river for nearly two miles, the +rocks on each side gradually expanded into another valley, lovely as +the one we had left, and where we found the fifth division of our army +lying encamped. They were still asleep; and the rising sun, and a +beautiful morning, gave additional sublimity to the scene; for there +was nothing but the tops of the white tents peeping above the fruit +trees; and an occasional sentinel pacing his post, that gave any +indication of what a nest of hornets the blast of a bugle could bring +out of that apparently peaceful solitude. + +Our road now wound up the mountain to our right; and, almost satiated +with the continued grandeur around us, we arrived, in the afternoon, +at the town of Medina, and encamped a short distance beyond it. + +We were welcomed into every town or village through which we passed, +by the peasant girls, who were in the habit of meeting us with +garlands of flowers, and dancing before us in a peculiar style of +their own; and it not unfrequently happened, that while they were so +employed with one regiment, the preceding one was diligently engaged +in pulling down some of their houses for firewood--a measure which we +were sometimes obliged to have recourse to, where no other fuel could +be had, and for which they were, ultimately, paid by the British +Government; but it was a measure that was more likely to have set the +poor souls dancing mad than for joy, had they foreseen the +consequences of our visit. + +June 17th.--We had not seen any thing of the enemy since we left the +neighbourhood of Burgos; but, after reaching our ground this evening, +we were aware that some of their videttes were feeling for us. + +On the morning of the 18th, we were ordered to march to San Milan, a +small town, about two leagues off; and where, on our arrival on the +hill above it, we found a division of French infantry, as strong as +ourselves, in the act of crossing our path. The surprise, I believe, +was mutual, though I doubt whether the pleasure was equally so; for we +were red hot for an opportunity of retaliating for the Salamanca +retreat; and, as the old saying goes, "there is no opportunity like +the present." Their leading brigade had nearly passed before we came +up, but not a moment was lost after we did. Our battalion dispersing +among the brushwood, went down the hill upon them; and, with a +destructive fire, broke through their line of march, supported by the +rest of the brigade. Those that had passed made no attempt at a stand, +but continued their flight, keeping up as good a fire as their +circumstances would permit; while we kept hanging on their flank and +rear, through a good rifle country, which enabled us to make +considerable havoc among them. Their general's aide-de-camp, amongst +others, was mortally wounded; and a lady, on a white horse, who +probably was his wife, remained beside him, until we came very near. +She appeared to be in great distress; but, though we called to her to +remain, and not to be alarmed, yet she galloped off as soon as a +decided step became necessary. The object of her solicitude did not +survive many minutes after we reached him. We followed the retreating +foe until late in the afternoon. On this occasion, our brigade came in +for all the blows, and the other for all the baggage, which was +marching between the two French brigades; the latter of which, seeing +the scrape into which the first had fallen, very prudently left it to +its fate, and dispersed on the opposite mountains, where some of them +fell into the hands of a Spanish force that was detached in pursuit; +but, I believe, the greater part succeeded in joining their army the +day after the battle of Vittoria. + +We heard a heavy cannonade all day to our left, occasioned, as we +understood, by the fifth division falling in with another detachment +of the enemy, which the unexpected and rapid movements of Lord +Wellington was hastening to their general point of assembly. + +On the early part of the 19th, we were fagging up the face of a +mountain, under a sultry hot sun, until we came to a place where a +beautiful clear stream was dashing down the face of it, when the +division was halted, to enable the men to refresh themselves. Every +man carries a cup, and every man ran and swallowed a cup full of +it--it was salt water from the springs of Salinas; and it was truly +ludicrous to see their faces after taking such a voluntary dose. I +observed an Irishman, who, not satisfied with the first trial, and +believing that his cup had been infected by some salt breaking loose +in his haversack, he washed it carefully and then drank a second one, +when, finding no change, he exclaimed,--"by J----s, boys, we must be +near the sea, for the water's getting salt!" We, soon after, passed +through the village of Salinas, situated at the source of the stream, +where there is a considerable salt manufactory. The inhabitants were +so delighted to see us, that they placed buckets full of it at the +doors of the different houses, and entreated our men to help +themselves as they passed along. It rained hard in the afternoon, and +it was late before we got to our ground. We heard a good deal of +firing in the neighbourhood in the course of the day, but our division +was not engaged. + +We retained the same bivouac all day on the 20th; it was behind a +range of mountains within a short distance of the left of the enemy's +position, as we afterwards discovered; and though we heard an +occasional gun, from the other side of the mountain in the course of +the day, fired at Lord Wellington's reconnoitring party, the peace of +our valley remained undisturbed. + + + + +CHAP. XIV. + + Battle of Vittoria. Defeat of the Enemy. Confusion among their + Followers. Plunder. Colonel Cameron. Pursuit, and the Capture of + their Last Gun. Arrive near Pampeluna. At Villalba. An Irish + method of making a useless Bed useful. + + +BATTLE OF VITTORIA, + +June 21st, 1813. + +Our division got under arms this morning before daylight, passed the +base of the mountain by its left, through the camp of the fourth +division, who were still asleep in their tents, to the banks of the +river Zadora, at the village of Tres Puentes. The opposite side of the +river was occupied by the enemy's advanced posts, and we saw their +army on the hills beyond, while the spires of Vittoria were visible +in the distance. We felt as if there was likely to be a battle; but as +that was an event we were never sure of, until we found ourselves +actually in it, we lay for some time just out of musket shot, +uncertain what was likely to turn up, and waiting for orders. At +length a sharp fire of musketry was heard to our right; and, on +looking in that direction, we saw the head of Sir Rowland Hill's +corps, together with some Spanish troops, attempting to force the +mountain which marked the enemy's left. The three battalions of our +regiment were, at the same moment, ordered forward to feel the enemy, +who lined the opposite banks of the river, with whom we were quickly +engaged in a warm skirmish. The affair with Sir Rowland Hill became +gradually warmer, but ours had apparently no other object than to +amuse those who were opposite to us, for the moment; so that, for +about two hours longer, it seemed as if there would be nothing but an +affair of outposts. About twelve o'clock, however, we were moved +rapidly to our left, followed by the rest of the division, till we +came to an abrupt turn of the river, where we found a bridge, +unoccupied by the enemy, which we immediately crossed, and took +possession of, what appeared to me to be, an old field-work, on the +other side. We had not been many seconds there before we observed the +bayonets of the third and seventh divisions glittering above the +standing corn, and advancing upon another bridge, which stood about a +quarter of a mile further to our left, and where, on their arrival, +they were warmly opposed by the enemy's light troops, who lined the +bank of the river, (which we ourselves were now on,) in great force, +for the defence of the bridge. As soon as this was observed by our +division, Colonel Barnard advanced with our battalion, and took them +in flank with such a furious fire as quickly dislodged them, and +thereby opened a passage for these two divisions free of expense, +which must otherwise have cost them dearly. What with the rapidity of +our movement, the colour of our dress, and our close contact with the +enemy, before they would abandon their post, we had the misfortune to +be identified with them for some time, by a battery of our own guns, +who, not observing the movement, continued to serve it out +indiscriminately, and all the while admiring their practice upon us; +nor was it until the red coats of the third division joined us, that +they discovered their mistake. + +The battle now commenced in earnest; and this was perhaps the most +interesting moment of the whole day. Sir Thomas Graham's artillery, +with the first and fifth divisions, began to be heard far to our left, +beyond Vittoria. The bridge, which we had just cleared, stood so near +to a part of the enemy's position, that the seventh division was +instantly engaged in close action with them at that point. + +On the mountain to our extreme right the action continued to be +general and obstinate, though we observed that the enemy were giving +ground slowly to Sir Rowland Hill. The passage of the river by our +division had turned the enemy's outpost, at the bridge, on our right, +where we had been engaged in the morning, and they were now +retreating, followed by the fourth division. The plain between them +and Sir Rowland Hill was occupied by the British cavalry, who were now +seen filing out of a wood, squadron after squadron, galloping into +form as they gradually cleared it. The hills behind were covered with +spectators, and the third and the light divisions, covered by our +battalion, advanced rapidly, upon a formidable hill, in front of the +enemy's centre, which they had neglected to occupy in sufficient +force. + +In the course of our progress, our men kept picking off the French +videttes, who were imprudent enough to hover too near us; and many a +horse, bounding along the plain, dragging his late rider by the +stirrup-irons, contributed in making it a scene of extraordinary and +exhilarating interest. + +Old Picton rode at the head of the third division, dressed in a blue +coat and a round hat, and swore as roundly all the way as if he had +been wearing two cocked ones. Our battalion soon cleared the hill in +question of the enemy's light troops; but we were pulled up on the +opposite side of it by one of their lines, which occupied a wall at +the entrance of a village immediately under us. During the few minutes +that we stopped there, while a brigade of the third division was +deploying into line, two of our companies lost two officers and thirty +men, chiefly from the fire of artillery bearing on the spot from the +French position. One of their shells burst immediately under my nose, +part of it struck my boot and stirrup-iron, and the rest of it kicked +up such a dust about me that my charger refused to obey orders; and, +while I was spurring and he capering, I heard a voice behind me, which +I knew to be Lord Wellington's, calling out, in a tone of reproof, +"look to keeping your men together, sir;" and though, God knows, I had +not the remotest idea that he was within a mile of me at the time, +yet, so sensible was I that circumstances warranted his supposing that +I was a young officer, cutting a caper, by way of bravado, before him, +that worlds would not have tempted me to look round at the moment. +The French fled from the wall as soon as they received a volley from a +part of the third division, and we instantly dashed down the hill, and +charged them through the village, capturing three of their guns; the +first, I believe, that were taken that day. They received a +reinforcement, and drove us back before our supports could come to our +assistance; but, in the scramble of the moment, our men were knowing +enough to cut the traces, and carry off the horses, so that, when we +retook the village, immediately after, the guns still remained in our +possession. The battle now became general along the whole line, and +the cannonade was tremendous. At one period, we held one side of a +wall, near the village, while the French were on the other, so that +any person who chose to put his head over from either side was sure of +getting a sword or a bayonet up his nostrils. This situation was, of +course, too good to be of long endurance. The victory, I believe, was +never for a moment doubtful. The enemy were so completely +out-generalled, and the superiority of our troops was such, that to +carry their positions required little more than the time necessary to +march to them. After forcing their centre, the fourth division and our +own got on the flank and rather in rear of the enemy's left wing, who +were retreating before Sir Rowland Hill, and who, to effect their +escape, were now obliged to fly in one confused mass. Had a single +regiment of our dragoons been at hand, or even a squadron, to have +forced them into shape for a few minutes, we must have taken from ten +to twenty thousand prisoners. After marching along side of them for +nearly two miles, and as a disorderly body will always move faster +than an orderly one, we had the mortification to see them gradually +heading us, until they finally made their escape. I have no doubt but +that our mounted gentlemen were doing their duty as they ought in +another part of the field; yet, it was impossible to deny ourselves +the satisfaction of cursing them all, because a portion had not been +there at such a critical moment. Our elevated situation, at this +time, afforded a good view of the field of battle to our left, and I +could not help being struck with an unusual appearance of unsteadiness +and want of confidence among the French troops. I saw a dense mass of +many thousands occupying a good defensible post, who gave way in the +greatest confusion, before a single line of the third division, almost +without feeling them. If there was nothing in any other part of the +position to justify the movement, and I do not think there was, they +ought to have been flogged, every man, from the general downwards. + +The ground was particularly favourable to the retreating foe, as every +half-mile afforded a fresh and formidable position, so that, from the +commencement of the action to the city of Vittoria, a distance of six +or eight miles, we were involved in one continued hard skirmish. On +passing Vittoria, however, the scene became quite new and infinitely +more amusing, as the French had made no provision for a retreat; and, +Sir Thomas Graham having seized upon the great road to France, the +only one left open was that leading by Pampeluna; and it was not open +long, for their fugitive army, and their myriads of followers, with +baggage, guns, carriages, &c. being all precipitated upon it at the +same moment, it got choked up about a mile beyond the town, in the +most glorious state of confusion; and the drivers, finding that one +pair of legs was worth two pair of wheels, abandoned it all to the +victors. + +Many of their followers who had light carriages, endeavoured to make +their escape through the fields; but it only served to prolong their +misery. + +I shall never forget the first that we overtook: it was in the midst +of a stubble-field, for some time between us and the French +skirmishers, the driver doing all he could to urge the horses along; +but our balls began to whistle so plentifully about his ears, that he +at last dismounted in despair, and, getting on his knees, under the +carriage, began praying. His place on the box was quickly occupied by +as many of our fellows as could stick on it, while others were +scrambling in at the doors on each side, and not a few on the roof, +handling the baskets there so roughly, as to occasion loud complaints +from the fowls within. I rode up to the carriage, to see that the +people inside were not improperly treated; but the only one there was +an old gouty gentleman, who, from the nature of his cargo, must either +have robbed his own house, or that of a very good fellow, for the +carriage was literally laden with wines and provisions. Never did +victors make a more legal or useful capture; for it was now six in the +evening, and it had evidently been the old gentleman's fault if he had +not already dined, whereas it was our misfortune, rather than our +fault, that we had not tasted anything since three o'clock in the +morning, so that when one of our men knocked the neck off a bottle, +and handed it to me, to take a drink, I nodded to the old fellow's +health, and drank it off without the smallest scruple of conscience. +It was excellent claret, and if he still lives to tell the story, I +fear he will not give us the credit of having belonged to such a +_civil_ department as his appeared. + +We did not cease the pursuit until dark, and then halted in a field of +wheat, about two miles beyond Vittoria. The victory was complete. They +carried off only one howitzer out of their numerous artillery, which, +with baggage, stores, provisions, money, and every thing that +constitutes the _matériel_ of an army, fell into our hands. + +It is much to be lamented, on those occasions, that the people who +contribute most to the victory should profit the least by it; not that +I am an advocate for plunder--on the contrary, I would much rather +that all our fighting was for pure _love_; but, as every thing of +value falls into the hands of the followers, and scoundrels who skulk +from the ranks for the double purpose of plundering and saving their +dastardly carcasses, what I regret is, that the man who deserts his +post should thereby have an opportunity of enriching himself with +impunity, while the true man gets nothing; but the evil I believe is +irremediable. Sir James Kempt, who commanded our brigade, in passing +one of the captured waggons in the evening, saw a soldier loading +himself with money, and was about to have him conveyed to the camp as +a prisoner, when the fellow begged hard to be released, and to be +allowed to retain what he had got, telling the general that all the +boxes in the waggon were filled with gold. Sir James, with his usual +liberality, immediately adopted the idea of securing it, as a reward +to his brigade, for their gallantry; and, getting a fatigue party, he +caused the boxes to be removed to his tent, and ordered an officer and +some men from each regiment to parade there next morning, to receive +their proportions of it; but, when they opened the boxes, they found +them filled with _hammers, nails, and horse-shoes_! + +Among the evil chances of that glorious day, I had to regret the +temporary loss of Colonel Cameron,--a bad wound in the thigh having +obliged him to go to England. Of him I can truly say, that, as a +_friend_, his heart was in the right place, and, as a _soldier_, his +right place was at the head of a regiment in the face of an enemy. I +never saw an officer feel more at home in such a situation, nor do I +know any one who could fill it better. + +A singular accident threw me in the way of a dying French officer, who +gave me a group of family portraits to transmit to his friends; but, +as it was not until the following year that I had an opportunity of +making the necessary inquiries after them, they had then left their +residence, and were nowhere to be heard of. + +As not only the body, but the mind, had been in constant occupation +since three o'clock in the morning, circumstances no sooner permitted +(about ten at night) than I threw myself on the ground, and fell into +a profound sleep, from which I did not awake until broad daylight, +when I found a French soldier squatted near me, intensely watching for +the opening of my _shutters_. He had contrived to conceal himself +there during the night; and, when he saw that I was awake, he +immediately jumped on his legs, and very obsequiously presented me +with a map of France, telling me that as there was now a probability +of our visiting his native country, he could make himself very useful, +and would be glad if I would accept of his services. I thought it +unfair, however, to deprive him of the present opportunity of seeing a +little more of the world himself, and, therefore, sent him to join the +rest of the prisoners, which would insure him a trip to England, free +of expense. + +About midday, on the 22d, our three battalions, with some cavalry and +artillery, were ordered in pursuit of the enemy. + +I do not know how it is, but I have always had a mortal objection to +be killed the day after a victory. In the actions preceding a battle, +or in the battle itself, it never gave me much uneasiness, as being +all in the way of business; but, after surviving the great day, I +always felt as if I had a right to live to tell the story; and I, +therefore, did not find the ensuing three days' fighting half so +pleasant as they otherwise would have been. + +Darkness overtook us this night without our overtaking the enemy; and +we halted in a grove of pines, exposed to a very heavy rain. In +imprudently shifting my things from one tree to another, after dark, +some rascal contrived to steal the velisse containing my dressing +things, than which I do not know a greater loss, when there is no +possibility of replacing any part of them. + +We overtook their rear-guard early on the following day, and, hanging +on their line of march until dark, we did them all the mischief that +we could. They burnt every village through which they passed, under +the pretence of impeding our movements; but, as it did not make the +slightest difference in that respect, we could only view it as a +wanton piece of cruelty. + +On the 24th, we were again engaged in pressing their rear the greater +part of the day; and, ultimately, in giving them the last kick, under +the walls of Pampeluna, where we had the glory of capturing their +last gun, which literally sent them into France without a single piece +of ordnance. + +Our battalion occupied, that night, a large, well-furnished, but +uninhabited chateau, a short distance from Pampeluna. + +We got under arms early on the morning of the 25th; and, passing by a +mountain-path, to the left of Pampeluna, within range of the guns, +though they did not fire at us, circled the town, until we reached the +village of Villalba, where we halted for the night. Since I joined +that army, I had never, up to that period, been master of any thing in +the shape of a bed; and, though I did not despise a bundle of straw, +when it could conveniently be had, yet my boat-cloak and blanket were +more generally to be seen, spread out for my reception on the bare +earth. But, in proceeding to turn into them, as usual, this evening, I +was not a little astonished to find, in their stead, a comfortable +mattress, with a suitable supply of linen, blankets, and pillows; in +short, the very identical bedding on which I had slept, the night +before, in the chateau, three leagues off, and which my rascal of an +Irishman had bundled altogether on the back of my mule, without giving +me the slightest hint of his intentions. On my taking him to task +about it, and telling him that he would certainly be hanged, all that +he said in reply was, "by J--s, they had more than a hundred beds in +that house, and not a single soul to sleep in them." I was very much +annoyed, at the time, that there was no possibility of returning them +to their rightful owner, as, independent of its being nothing short of +a regular robbery, I really looked upon them as a very unnecessary +encumbrance; but being forced, in some measure, to indulge in their +comforts, I was not long in changing my mind; and was, ultimately, not +very sorry that the possibility of restoration never did occur. + + + + +CHAP. XV. + + March to intercept Clausel. Tafalla. Olite. The dark End of a + Night March to Casada. Clausel's Escape. Sanguessa. My Tent + struck. Return to Villalba. Weighty Considerations on Females. + St. Esteban. A Severe Dance. Position at Bera. Soult's Advance, + and Battle of the Pyrenees. His Defeat and subsequent Actions. A + Morning's Ride. + + +June 26th, 1813.--Our division fell in this morning, at daylight, and, +marching out of Villalba, circled round the southern side of +Pampeluna, until we reached the great road leading to Tafalla, where +we found ourselves united with the third and fourth divisions, and a +large body of cavalry; the whole under the immediate command of Lord +Wellington, proceeded southward, with a view to intercept General +Clausel, who, with a strong division of the French army, had been at +Logrona, on the day of the battle of Vittoria, and was now +endeavouring to pass into the Pyrenees by our right. We marched until +sun set, and halted for the night in a wood. + +On the morning of the 27th we were again in motion, and passing +through a country abounding in fruits, and all manner of delightful +prospects; and through the handsome town of Tafalla, where we were +enthusiastically cheered by the beauteous occupants of the numerous +balconies overhanging the streets. We halted, for the night, in an +olive-grove, a short distance from Olite. + +At daylight next morning we passed through the town of Olite, and +continued our route until we began to enter among the mountains, about +midday, when we halted two hours, to enable the men to cook, and again +resumed our march. Darkness overtook us, while struggling through a +narrow rugged road, which wound its way along the bank of the Arragon; +and we did not reach our destination, at Casada, until near midnight, +where, amid torrents of rain, and in the darkness of the night, we +could find nothing but ploughed fields on which to repose our weary +limbs, nor could we find a particle of fuel to illuminate the +cheerless scene. + + Breathed there a man of soul so dead, + Who would not to himself have said, + This is--a confounded comfortless dwelling. + +Dear Sir Walter,--pray excuse the _Casadians_, from your curse +entailed on home haters, for if any one of them ever succeeds in +getting beyond the mountain, by the road which I traversed, he ought +to be anathematized if ever he seek his home again. + +We passed the whole of the next day in the same place. It was +discovered that Clausel had been walking blindly into the _lion's +den_, when the _alcaldé_ of a neighbouring village had warned him of +his danger, and he was thereby enabled to avoid us, by turning off +towards Zaragossa. We heard that Lord Wellington had caused the +informer to be hanged. I hope he did, but I don't believe it. + +On the 30th we began to retrace our steps to Pampeluna, in the course +of which we halted two nights at Sanguessa, a populous mountain town, +full of old rattle-trap houses, a good many of which we pulled down +for firewood, by way of making room for improvements. + +I was taking advantage of this extra day's halt to communicate to my +friends the important events of the past fortnight, when I found +myself all at once wrapped into a bundle, with my tent-pole, and sent +rolling upon the earth, mixed up with my portable table and writing +utensils, while the devil himself seemed to be dancing a hornpipe over +my body! Although this is a sort of thing that one will sometimes +submit to, when it comes by way of illusion, at its proper time and +place, such as a midnight visit from a night-mare; yet, as I seemed +now to be visited by a horse as well as a mare, and that, too, in the +middle of the day, and in the midst of a crowded camp, it was rather +too much of a joke, and I therefore sung out most lustily. I was not +long in getting extricated, and found that the whole scene had been +arranged by two rascally donkies, who, in a frolicsome humour, had +been chasing each other about the neighbourhood, until they finally +tumbled into my tent, with a force which drew every peg, and rolled +the whole of it over on the top of me! It might have been good sport +to them, but it was none to me! + +On the 3d of July, we resumed our quarters in Villalba, where we +halted during the whole of the next day; and were well supplied with +fish, fresh-butter, and eggs, brought by the peasantry of Biscay, who +are the most _manly_ set of _women_ that I ever saw. They are very +square across the shoulders; and, what between the quantity of fish, +and the quantity of yellow petticoats, they carry a load which an +ordinary mule might boast of. + +A division of Spaniards having relieved us in the blockade of +Pampeluna, our division, on the 5th of July, advanced into the +Pyrenees. + +On the 7th, we took up our quarters in the little town of St. Esteban, +situated in a lovely valley, watered by the Bidassoa. The different +valleys in the Pyrenees are very rich and fertile. The towns are clean +and regular, and the natives very handsome. They are particularly +smart about the limbs, and in no other part of the world have I seen +any thing, natural or artificial, to rival the complexions of the +ladies, _i.e._ to the admirers of pure red and white. + +We were allowed to remain several days in this enchanting spot, and +enjoyed ourselves exceedingly. They had an extraordinary style of +dancing, peculiar to themselves. At a particular part of the tune, +they all began thumping the floor with their feet, as hard and as fast +as they were able, not in the shape of a figure or flourish of any +kind, but even down pounding. I could not, myself, see any thing +either graceful or difficult in the operation; but they seemed to +think that there was only one lady amongst them who could do it in +perfection; she was the wife of a French Colonel, and had been left in +the care of her friends, (and his enemies): she certainly could pound +the ground both harder and faster than any one there, eliciting the +greatest applause after every performance; and yet I do not think that +she could have caught a _French_ husband by her superiority in that +particular step. + +After our few days halt, we advanced along the banks of the Bidassoa, +through a succession of beautiful little fertile valleys, thickly +studded with clean respectable looking farm-houses and little +villages, and bounded by stupendous, picturesque, and well wooded +mountains, until we came to the hill next to the village of Bera, +which we found occupied by a small force of the enemy, who, after +receiving a few shots from our people, retired through the village +into their position behind it. Our line of demarcation was then +clearly seen. The mountain which the French army occupied was the last +ridge of the Pyrenees; and their sentries stood on the face of it, +within pistol shot of the village of Bera, which now became the +advanced post of our division. The Bidassoa takes a sudden turn to the +left at Bera, and formed a natural boundary between the two armies +from thence to the sea; but all to our right was open, and merely +marked a continuation of the valley of Bera, which was a sort of +neutral ground, in which the French foragers and our own frequently +met and helped themselves, in the greatest good humour, while any +forage remained, without exchanging either words or blows. The left +wing of the army, under Sir Thomas Graham, now commenced the siege of +St. Sebastian; and as Lord Wellington had, at the same time, to cover +both that and the blockade of Pampeluna, our army occupied an extended +position of many miles. + +Marshal Soult having succeeded to the command of the French army, and +finding, towards the end of July, that St. Sebastian was about to be +stormed, and that the garrison of Pampeluna were beginning to get on +short allowance, he determined on making a bold push for the relief +of both places; and, assembling the whole of his army, he forced the +pass of Maya, and advanced rapidly upon Pampeluna. Lord Wellington was +never to be caught napping. His army occupied too extended a position +to offer effectual resistance at any of their advanced posts; but, by +the time that Marshal Soult had worked his way up to the last ridge of +the Pyrenees, and within sight of "the haven of his wishes," he found +his lordship waiting for him, with four divisions of the army, who +treated him to one of the most signal and sanguinary defeats that he +ever experienced. + +Our division, during the important movements on our right, was +employed in keeping up the communication between the troops under the +immediate command of Lord Wellington and those under Sir Thomas +Graham, at St. Sebastian. We retired, the first day, to the mountains +behind Le Secca; and, just as we were about to lie down for the night, +we were again ordered under arms, and continued our retreat in utter +darkness, through a mountain path, where, in many places, a false step +might have rolled a fellow as far as the other world. The consequence +was, that, although we were kept on our legs during the whole of the +night, we found, when daylight broke, that the tail of the column had +not got a quarter of a mile from their starting-post. + +On a good broad road it is all very well; but, on a narrow bad road, a +night march is like a night-mare, harassing a man to no purpose. + +On the 26th, we occupied a ridge of mountain near enough to hear the +battle, though not in a situation to see it; and remained the whole of +the day in the greatest torture, for want of news. About midnight we +heard the joyful tidings of the enemy's defeat, with the loss of four +thousand prisoners. Our division proceeded in pursuit, at daylight, on +the following morning. + +We moved rapidly by the same road on which we had retired, and, after +a forced march, found ourselves, when near sunset, on the flank of +their retiring column, on the Bidassoa, near the bridge of Janca, and +immediately proceeded to business. + +The sight of a Frenchman always acted like a cordial on the spirits of +a rifleman; and the fatigues of the day were forgotten, as our three +battalions extended among the brushwood, and went down to "knock the +dust out of their hairy knapsacks,"[2] as our men were in the habit of +expressing themselves; but, in place of knocking the dust out of them, +I believe that most of their knapsacks were knocked in the dust; for +the greater part of those who were not _floored_ along with their +knapsacks, shook them off, by way of enabling the owner to make a +smarter scramble across that portion of the road on which our leaden +shower was pouring; and, foes as they were, it was impossible not to +feel a degree of pity for their situation: pressed by an enemy in the +rear, an inaccessible mountain on their right, and a river on their +left, lined by an invisible foe, from whom there was no escape, but +the desperate one of running the gauntlet. However, "as every ---- has +his day," and this was ours, we must stand excused for making the most +of it. Each company, as they passed, gave us a volley; but as they had +nothing to guide their aim, except the smoke from our rifles, we had +very few men hit. + + [Footnote 2: The French knapsack is made of unshorn + goat-skin.] + +Amongst other papers found on the road that night, one of our officers +discovered the letter-book of the French military secretary, with his +correspondence included to the day before. It was immediately sent to +Lord Wellington. + +We advanced, next morning, and occupied our former post, at Bera. The +enemy still continued to hold the mountain of Echelar, which, as it +rose out of the right end of our ridge, was, properly speaking, a part +of our property; and we concluded, that a sense of justice would have +induced them to leave it of their own accord in the course of the day; +but when, towards the afternoon, they shewed no symptoms of quitting, +our division, leaving their kettles on the fire, proceeded to eject +them. As we approached the mountain, the peak of it caught a passing +cloud, that gradually descended in a thick fog, and excluded them from +our view. Our three battalions, however, having been let loose, under +Colonel Barnard, we soon made ourselves "Children of the Mist;" and, +guided to our opponents by the whistling of their balls, made them +descend from their "high estate;" and, handing them across the valley +into their own position, we then retired to ours, where we found our +tables ready spread, and a comfortable dinner waiting for us. + +This was one of the most gentleman-like day's fighting that I ever +experienced, although we had to lament the vacant seats of one or two +of our messmates. + +August 22d.--I narrowly escaped being taken prisoner this morning, +very foolishly. A division of Spaniards occupied the ground to our +left, beyond the Bidassoa; and, having mounted my horse to take a look +at their post, I passed through a small village, and then got on a +rugged path winding along the edge of the river, where I expected to +find their outposts. The river, at that place, was not above +knee-deep, and about ten or twelve yards across; and though I saw a +number of soldiers gathering chestnuts from a row of trees which lined +the opposite bank, I concluded that they were Spaniards, and kept +moving onwards; but, observing, at last, that I was an object of +greater curiosity than I ought to be, to people who had been in the +daily habit of seeing the uniform, it induced me to take a more +particular look at my neighbours; when, to my consternation, I saw the +French eagle ornamenting the front of every cap. I instantly wheeled +my horse to the right about; and seeing that I had a full quarter of a +mile to traverse at a walk, before I could get clear of them, I began +to whistle, with as much unconcern as I could muster, while my eye was +searching, like lightning, for the means of escape, in the event of +their trying to cut me off. I had soon the satisfaction of observing +that none of them had firelocks, which reduced my capture to the +chances of a race; for, though the hill on my right was inaccessible +to a horseman, it was not so to a dismounted Scotchman; and I, +therefore, determined, in case of necessity, to abandon my horse, and +shew them what I could do on my own bottom at a pinch. Fortunately, +they did not attempt it; and I could scarcely credit my good luck, +when I found myself once more in my own tent. + + + + +CHAP. XVI. + + An Anniversary Dinner. Affair with the Enemy, and Fall of St. + Sebastian. A Building Speculation. A Fighting one, storming the + Heights of Bera. A Picture of France from the Pyrenees. Returns + after an Action. Sold by my Pay-Serjeant. A Recruit born at his + Post. Between Two Fires, a Sea and a Land one. Position of La + Rhune. My Picture taken in a Storm. Refreshing Invention for + wintry Weather. + + +The 25th of August, being our regimental anniversary, was observed by +the officers of our three battalions with all due conviviality. Two +trenches, calculated to accommodate seventy gentlemen's legs, were dug +in the green sward; the earth between them stood for a table, and +behind was our seat, and though the table could not boast of _all_ +the delicacies of a civic entertainment, yet + + "The worms they crept in, and the worms they crept out," + +As the earth almost quaked with the weight of the feast, and the enemy +certainly did, from the noise of it. For so many fellows holding such +precarious tenures of their lives could not meet together in +commemoration of such an event, without indulging in an occasional +cheer--not a whispering cheer, but one that echoed far and wide into +the French lines, and as it was a sound that had often pierced them +before, and never yet boded them any good, we heard afterwards that +they were kept standing at their arms the greater part of the night in +consequence. + +At the time of Soult's last irruption into the Pyrenees, Sir Thomas +Graham had made an unsuccessful attempt to carry St. Sebastian by +storm, and having, ever since, been prosecuting the siege with +unremitting vigour, the works were now reduced to such a state as to +justify a second attempt, and our division sent forth their three +hundred volunteers to join the storming party.[3] The morning on which +we expected the assault to take place, we had turned out before +daylight, as usual, and as a thick fog hung on the French position, +which prevented our seeing them, we turned in again at the usual time, +but had scarcely done so, when the mist rode off on a passing breeze, +showing us the opposite hills bristling with their bayonets, and their +columns descending rapidly towards us. The bugles instantly sounded to +arms, and we formed on our alarm posts. We thought at first that the +attack was intended for us, but they presently began to pass the +river, a little below the village of Bera, and to advance against the +Spaniards on our left. They were covered by some mountain guns, from +which their first shell fell short, and made such a breach in their +own leading column, that we could not resist giving three cheers to +their marksman. Leaving a strong covering party to keep our division +in check at the bridge of Bera, their main body followed the +Spaniards, who, offering little opposition, continued retiring towards +St. Sebastian. + + [Footnote 3: Lieutenants Percival and Hamilton commanded + those from our battalion, and were both desperately wounded.] + +We remained quiet the early part of the day, under a harmless fire +from their mountain guns; but, towards the afternoon, our battalion, +with part of the forty-third, and supported by a brigade of Spaniards, +were ordered to pass by the bridge of Le Secca, and to move in a +parallel direction with the French, along the same ridge of hills. + +The different flanking-posts of the enemy permitted the forty-third +and us to pass them quietly, thinking, I suppose, that it was their +interest to keep the peace; but not so with the Spaniards, whom they +kept in a regular fever, under a smart fire, the whole way. We took up +a position at dark, on a pinnacle of the same mountain, within three +or four hundred yards of them. There had been a heavy firing all day +to our left, and we heard, in the course of the night, of the fall of +St. Sebastian, as well as of the defeat of the force which we had seen +following the Spaniards in that direction. + +As we always took the liberty of abusing our friends, the +commissaries, whether with or without reason, whenever we happened to +be on short allowance, it is but fair to say that when our supporting +Spanish brigadier came to compare notes with us here, we found that we +had three days' rations in the haversack against his none. He very +politely proposed to relieve us from half of ours, and to give a +receipt for it, but we told him that the trouble in carrying it was a +pleasure! + +At daylight next morning we found that the enemy had altogether +disappeared from our front. The heavy rains during the past night had +rendered the Bidassoa no longer fordable, and the bridge of Bera being +the only retreat left open, it was fortunate for them that they took +advantage of it before we had time to occupy the post with a +sufficient force to defend the passage, otherwise they would have been +compelled, in all probability, to have laid down their arms. + +As it was, they suffered very severely from two companies of our +second battalion, who were on piquet there. The two captains +commanding them were, however, killed in the affair. + +We returned in the course of the day and resumed our post at Bera, the +enemy continuing to hold theirs beyond it. + +The ensuing month passed by, without producing the slightest novelty, +and we began to get heartily tired of our situation. Our souls, in +fact, were strung for war, and peace afforded no enjoyment, unless the +place did, and there was none to be found in a valley of the Pyrenees, +which the ravages of contending armies had reduced to a desert. The +labours of the French on the opposite mountain had, in the first +instance, been confined to fortification; but, as the season advanced, +they seemed to think that the branch of a tree, or a sheet of +canvass, was too slender a barrier between them and a frosty night, +and their fortified camp was gradually becoming a fortified town, of +regular brick and mortar. Though we were living under the influence of +the same sky, we did not think it necessary to give ourselves the same +trouble, but reasoned on their proceedings like philosophers, and +calculated, from the aspect of the times, that there was a probability +of a speedy transfer of property, and that it might still be reserved +for us to give their town a name; nor were we disappointed. Late on +the night of the 7th of October, Colonel Barnard arrived from +head-quarters, with the intelligence that the next was to be the day +of trial. Accordingly, on the morning of the 8th, the fourth division +came up to support us, and we immediately marched down to the foot of +the enemy's position, shook off our knapsacks before their faces, and +went at them. + +The action commenced by five companies of our third battalion +advancing, under Colonel Ross, to dislodge the enemy from a hill which +they occupied in front of their entrenchments; and there never was a +movement more beautifully executed, for they walked quietly and +steadily up, and swept them regularly off without firing a single shot +until the enemy had turned their backs, when they then served them out +with a most destructive discharge. The movement excited the admiration +of all who witnessed it, and added another laurel to the already +crowded wreath which adorned the name of that distinguished officer. + +At the first look of the enemy's position, it appeared as if our +brigade had got the most difficult task to perform; but, as the +capture of this hill showed us a way round the flank of their +entrenchments, we carried one after the other, until we finally gained +the summit, with very little loss. Our second brigade, however, were +obliged to take "the bull by the horns," on their side, and suffered +more severely; but they rushed at every thing with a determination +that defied resistance, carrying redoubt after redoubt at the point of +the bayonet, until they finally joined us on the summit of the +mountain, with three hundred prisoners in their possession. + +We now found ourselves firmly established within the French territory, +with a prospect before us that was truly refreshing, considering that +we had not seen the sea for three years, and that our views, for +months, had been confined to fogs and the peaks of mountains. On our +left, the Bay of Biscay lay extended as far as the horizon, while +several of our ships of war were seen sporting upon her bosom. Beneath +us lay the pretty little town of St. Jean de Luz, which looked as if +it had just been framed out of the Lilliputian scenery of a toy-shop. +The town of Bayonne, too, was visible in the distance; and the view to +the right embraced a beautiful well-wooded country, thickly studded +with towns and villages, as far as the eye could reach. + +Sir Thomas Graham, with the left wing of the army, had, the same +morning, passed the Bidassoa, and established them, also, within the +French boundary. A brigade of Spaniards, on our right, had made a +simultaneous attack on La Rhune, the highest mountain on this part of +the Pyrenees, and which, since our last advance, was properly now a +part of our position. The enemy, however, refused to quit it; and the +firing between them did not cease until long after dark. + +The affair in which we were engaged terminated, properly speaking, +when we had expelled the enemy from the mountain; but some of our +straggling skirmishers continued to follow the retiring foe into the +valley beyond, with a view, no doubt, of seeing what a French house +contained. + +Lord Wellington, preparatory to this movement, had issued an order +requiring that private property, of every kind, should be strictly +respected; but we had been so long at war with France, that our men +had been accustomed to look upon them as their natural enemies, and +could not, at first, divest themselves of the idea that they had not a +right to partake of the good things abounding about the cottage-doors. +Our commandant, however, was determined to see the order rigidly +enforced, and it was, therefore, highly amusing to watch the return of +the depredators. The first who made his appearance was a bugler, +carrying a goose, which, after he had been well beaten about the head +with it, was transferred to the provost-marshal. The next was a +soldier, with a calf; the soldier was immediately sent to the +quarter-guard, and the calf to the provost-marshal. He was followed by +another soldier, mounted on a horse, who were, also, both consigned to +the same keeping; but, on the soldier stating that he had only got the +horse in charge from a volunteer, who was at that time attached to the +regiment, he was set at liberty. Presently the volunteer himself came +up, and, not observing the colonel lying on the grass, called out +among the soldiers, "Who is the ---- rascal that sent my horse to the +provost-marshal?" "It was I!" said the colonel, to the utter confusion +of the querist. Our chief was a good deal nettled at these +irregularities; and, some time after, on going to his tent, which was +pitched between the roofless walls of a house, conceive his +astonishment at finding the calf and the goose hanging in his own +larder! He looked serious for a moment, but, on receiving an +explanation, and after the row he had made about them, the thing was +too ridiculous, and he burst out laughing. It is due to all concerned +to state that they had, at last, been honestly come by, for I, as one +of his messmates, had purchased the goose from the proper quarter, and +another had done the same by the calf. + +Not anticipating this day's fight, I had given my pay-serjeant +twenty-five guineas, the day before, to distribute among the company; +and I did not discover, until too late, that he had neglected to do +it, as he disappeared in the course of the action, and was never +afterwards heard of. If he was killed, or taken prisoner, he must have +been a prize to somebody, though he left me a blank. + +Among other incidents of the day, one of our men had a son and heir +presented to him by his Portuguese wife, soon after the action. She +had been taken in labour while ascending the mountain; but it did not +seem to interfere with her proceedings in the least, for she, and her +child, and her donkey, came all three screeching into the camp, +immediately after, telling the news, as if it had been something very +extraordinary, and none of them a bit the worse. + +On the morning of the 9th, we turned out, as usual, an hour before +daylight. The sound of musketry, to our right, in our own hemisphere, +announced that the French and Spaniards had resumed their unfinished +argument of last night, relative to the occupation of La Rhune; while, +at the same time, "from our throne of clouds," we had an opportunity +of contemplating, with some astonishment, the proceedings of the +nether world. A French ship of war, considering St. Jean de Luz no +longer a free port, had endeavoured, under cover of the night, to +steal alongshore to Bayonne; and, when daylight broke, they had an +opportunity of seeing that they were not only within sight of their +port, but within sight of a British gun-brig, and, if they entertained +any doubts as to which of the two was nearest, their minds were +quickly relieved, on that point, by finding that they were not within +reach of their port, and strictly within reach of the _guns_ of the +brig, while two British frigates were bearing down with a press of +canvass. The Frenchman returned a few broadsides; he was double the +size of the one opposed to him, but, conceiving his case to be +hopeless, he at length set fire to the ship, and took to his boats. We +watched the progress of the flames until she finally blew up, and +disappeared in a column of smoke. The boats of our gun-brig were +afterwards seen employed in picking up the odds and ends. + +Our friends, the Spaniards, I have no doubt, would have been very glad +to have got rid of their opponents in the same kind of way, either by +their going without the mountain, or by their taking it with them. But +the mountain stood, and the French stood, until we began to wish the +mountain, the French, and the Spaniards at the devil; for, although we +knew that the affair between them was a matter of no consequence +whichever way it went, yet it was impossible for us to feel quite at +ease, while a fight was going on so near; it was, therefore, a great +relief when, in the afternoon, a few companies of our second brigade +were sent to their assistance, as the French then retired without +firing another shot. Between the French and us there was no humbug, it +was either peace or war. The war, on both sides, was conducted on the +grand scale, and, by a tacit sort of understanding, we never teased +each other unnecessarily. + +The French, after leaving La Rhune, established their advanced post on +Petite La Rhune, a mountain that stood as high as most of its +neighbours; but, as its name betokens, it was but a child to its +gigantic namesake, of which it seemed as if it had, at a former +period, formed a part; but, having been shaken off, like a useless +_galloche_, it now stood gaping, open-mouthed, at the place it had +left, (and which had now become our advanced post,) while the enemy +proceeded to furnish its jaws with a set of teeth, or, in other words, +to face it with breast-works, &c. a measure which they invariably had +recourse to in every new position. + +Encamped on the face of La Rhune, we remained a whole month idle +spectators of their preparations, and dearly longing for the day that +should afford us an opportunity of penetrating into the more +hospitable-looking low country beyond them; for the weather had become +excessively cold, and our camp stood exposed to the utmost fury of the +almost nightly tempest. Oft have I, in the middle of the night, awoke +from a sound sleep, and found my tent on the point of disappearing in +the air, like a balloon; and, leaving my warm blankets, been obliged +to snatch the mallet, and rush out in the midst of a hailstorm, to peg +it down. I think that I now see myself looking like one of those gay +creatures of the elements who dwelt (as Shakspeare has it) among the +rainbows! + +By way of contributing to the warmth of my tent, I dug a hole inside, +which I arranged as a fire-place, carrying the smoke underneath the +walls, and building a turf-chimney outside. I was not long in proving +the experiment, and, finding that it went exceedingly well, I was not +a little vain of the invention. However, it came on to rain very hard +while I was dining at a neighbouring tent, and, on my return to my +own, I found the fire not only extinguished, but a fountain playing +from the same place, up to the roof, watering my bed and baggage, and +all sides of it, most refreshingly. This showed me, at the expense of +my night's repose, that the rain oozed through the thin spongy surface +of earth, and, in particular places, rushed down in torrents between +the earth and the rock which it covered; and any incision in the +former was sure to produce a fountain. + +It is very singular that, notwithstanding our exposure to all the +severities of the worst of weather, that we had not a single sick man +in the battalion while we remained there. + + + + +CHAP. XVII. + + Battle of the Nivelle, and Defeat of the Enemy. A Bird of Evil + Omen. Chateau D'Arcangues. Prudence. An Enemy's Gratitude. + Passage of the Nive, and Battles near Bayonne, from 9th to 13th + December. + + +BATTLE OF THE NIVELLE, + +November 10th, 1813. + +The fall of Pampeluna having, at length, left our further movements +unshackled by an enemy in the rear, preparations were made for an +attack on their position, which, though rather too extended, was +formidable by nature, and rendered doubly so by art. + +Petite La Rhune was allotted to our division, as their first point of +attack; and, accordingly, the 10th being the day fixed, we moved to +our ground at midnight, on the 9th. The abrupt ridges in the +neighbourhood enabled us to lodge ourselves, unperceived, within +half-musket-shot of their piquets; and we had left every description +of animal behind us in camp, in order that neither the barking of dogs +nor the neighing of steeds should give indication of our intentions. +Our signal of attack was to be a gun from Sir John Hope, who had now +succeeded Sir Thomas Graham in the command of the left wing of the +army. + +We stood to our arms at dawn of day, which was soon followed by the +signal-gun; and each commanding officer, according to previous +instructions, led gallantly off to his point of attack. The French +must have been, no doubt, astonished to see such an armed force spring +out of the ground almost under their noses; but they were, +nevertheless, prepared behind their entrenchments, and caused us some +loss in passing the short space between us; but the whole place was +carried within the time required to walk over it; and, in less than +half-an-hour from the commencement of the attack, it was in our +possession, with all their tents left standing. + +Petite La Rhune was more of an outpost than a part of their position, +the latter being a chain of stupendous mountains in its rear; so that +while our battalion followed their skirmishers into the valley +between, the remainder of our division were forming for the attack on +the main position, and waiting for the co-operation of the other +divisions, the thunder of whose artillery, echoing along the valleys, +proclaimed that they were engaged, far and wide, on both sides of us. +About midday our division advanced to the grand attack on the most +formidable looking part of the whole of the enemy's position, and, +much to our surprise, we carried it with more ease and less loss than +the outpost in the morning, a circumstance which we could only account +for by supposing that it had been defended by the same troops, and +that they did not choose to sustain two _hard_ beatings on the same +day. The attack succeeded at every point; and, in the evening, we had +the satisfaction of seeing the left wing of the army marching into St. +Jean de Luz. + +Towards the end of the action, Colonel Barnard was struck with a +musket-ball, which carried him clean off his horse. The enemy, seeing +that they had shot an officer of rank, very maliciously kept up a +heavy firing on the spot, while we were carrying him under the brow of +the hill. The ball having passed through the lungs, he was spitting +blood, and, at the moment, had every appearance of being in a dying +state; but, to our joy and surprise, he, that day month, rode up to the +battalion, when it was in action, near Bayonne; and, I need not add, +that he was received with three hearty cheers. + +A curious fact occurred in our regiment at this period. Prior to the +action of the Nivelle, an owl had perched itself on the tent of one of +our officers (Lieut. Doyle). This officer was killed in the battle, +and the owl was afterwards seen on Capt. Duncan's tent. His +brother-officers quizzed him on the subject, by telling him that he +was the next on the list; a joke which Capt. D. did not much relish, +and it was prophetic, as he soon afterwards fell at Tarbes. + +The movements of the two or three days following placed the enemy +within their entrenchments at Bayonne, and the head-quarters of our +battalion in the Chateau D'Arcangues, with the outposts of the +division at the village of Bassasarry and its adjacents. + +I now felt myself both in a humour and a place to enjoy an interval of +peace and quietness. The country was abundant in every comfort; the +chateau was large, well-furnished, and unoccupied, except by a +bed-ridden grandmother, and young Arcangues, a gay rattling young +fellow, who furnished us with plenty of good wine, (by our paying for +the same,) and made one of our mess. + +On the 20th of November a strong reconnoitring party of the enemy +examined our chain of posts. They remained a considerable time within +half-musket-shot of one of our piquets, but we did not fire, and they +seemed at last as if they had all gone away. The place where they had +stood bounded our view in that direction, as it was a small sand-hill +with a mud-cottage at the end of it; after watching the spot intensely +for nearly an hour, and none shewing themselves, my curiosity would +keep no longer, and, desiring three men to follow, I rode forward to +ascertain the fact. When I cleared the end of the cottage, I found +myself within three yards of at least a dozen of them, who were seated +in a group behind a small hedge, with their arms laid against the wall +of the cottage, and a sentry with sloped arms, and his back towards +me, listening to their conversation. + +My first impulse was to gallop in amongst them, and order them to +surrender; but my three men were still twenty or thirty yards behind, +and, as my only chance of success was by surprise, I thought the risk +of the delay too great, and, reining back my horse, I made a signal to +my men to retire, which, from the soil being a deep sand, we were +enabled to do without the slightest noise; but all the while I had my +ears pricked up, expecting every instant to find a ball whistling +through my body; however, as none of them afterwards shewed themselves +past the end of the cottage, I concluded that they had remained +ignorant of my visit. + +We had an affair of some kind, once a week, while we remained there; +and as they were generally trifling, and we always found a good dinner +and a good bed in the chateau on our return, we considered them rather +a relief than otherwise. + +The only instance of a want of professional generosity that I ever had +occasion to remark in a French officer, occurred on one of these +occasions. We were about to push in their outposts, for some +particular purpose, and I was sent with an order for Lieutenant +Gardiner of ours, who was on piquet, to attack the post in his front, +as soon as he should see a corresponding movement on his flank, which +would take place almost immediately. The enemy's sentries were so +near, as to be quite at Mr. Gardiner's mercy, who immediately said to +me, "Well, I wo'n't kill these unfortunate rascals at all events, but +shall tell them to go in and join their piquet." I applauded his +motives, and rode off; but I had only gone a short distance when I +heard a volley of musketry behind me; and, seeing that it had come +from the French piquet, I turned back to see what had happened, and +found that the officer commanding it had no sooner got his sentries so +generously restored to him, than he instantly formed his piquet and +fired a volley at Lieutenant Gardiner, who was walking a little apart +from his men, waiting for the expected signal. The balls all fell +near, without touching him, and, for the honour of the French army, I +was glad to hear afterwards that the officer alluded to was a +militia-man. + + +BATTLES NEAR BAYONNE, + +December 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th, 1813. + +The centre and left wing of our army advanced on the morning of the +9th of December, and drove the enemy within their entrenchments, +threatening an attack on their lines. Lord Wellington had the double +object, in this movement, of reconnoitring their works, and effecting +the passage of the Nive with his right wing. The rivers Nive and Adour +unite in the town of Bayonne, so that while we were threatening to +storm the works on one side, Sir Rowland Hill passed the Nive, without +opposition, on the other, and took up his ground, with his right on +the Adour and his left on the Nive, on a contracted space, within a +very short distance of the walls of the town. On our side we were +engaged in a continued skirmish until dark, when we retired to our +quarters, under the supposition that we had got our usual week's +allowance, and that we should remain quiet again for a time. + +We turned out at daylight on the 10th; but, as there was a thick +drizzling rain which prevented us from seeing any thing, we soon +turned in again. My servant soon after came to tell me that Sir Lowry +Cole, and some of his staff, had just ascended to the top of the +chateau, a piece of information which did not quite please me, for I +fancied that the general had just discovered our quarter to be better +than his own, and had come for the purpose of taking possession of it. +However, in less than five minutes, we received an order for our +battalion to move up instantly to the support of the piquets; and, on +my descending to the door, to mount my horse, I found Sir Lowry +standing there, who asked if we had received any orders; and, on my +telling him that we had been ordered up to support the piquets, he +immediately desired a staff-officer to order up one of his brigades to +the rear of the chateau. This was one of the numerous instances in +which we had occasion to admire the prudence and forethought of the +great Wellington! He had foreseen the attack that would take place, +and had his different divisions disposed to meet it. We no sooner +moved up, than we found ourselves a party engaged along with the +piquets; and, under a heavy skirmishing fire, retiring gradually from +hedge to hedge, according as the superior force of the enemy compelled +us to give ground, until we finally retired within our home, the +chateau, which was the first part of our position that was meant to be +defended in earnest. We had previously thrown up a mud rampart around +it, and loop-holed the different outhouses, so that we had nothing now +to do, but to line the walls and shew determined fight. The +forty-third occupied the church-yard to our left, which was also +partially fortified; and the third Cácadores and our third battalion, +occupied the space between, behind the hedge-rows, while the fourth +division was in readiness to support us from the rear. The enemy came +up to the opposite ridge, in formidable numbers, and began blazing at +our windows and loop-holes, and shewing some disposition to attempt it +by storm; but they thought better of it and withdrew their columns a +short distance to the rear, leaving the nearest hedge lined with their +skirmishers. An officer of ours, Mr. Hopewood, and one of our +serjeants, had been killed in the field opposite, within twenty yards +of where the enemy's skirmishers now were. We were very anxious to get +possession of their bodies, but had not force enough to effect it. +Several French soldiers came through the hedge, at different times, +with the intention, as we thought, of plundering, but our men shot +every one who attempted to go near them, until towards evening, when a +French officer approached, waving a white handkerchief and pointing to +some of his men who were following him with shovels. Seeing that his +intention was to bury them, we instantly ceased firing, nor did we +renew it again that night. + +The forty-third, from their post at the church, kept up an incessant +shower of musketry the whole of the day, at what was conceived, at the +time, to be a very long range; but from the quantity of balls which +were afterwards found sticking in every tree, where the enemy stood, +it was evident that their birth must have been rather uncomfortable. + +One of our officers, in the course of the day, had been passing +through a deep road-way, between two banks, with hedge-rows, when, to +his astonishment, a dragoon and his horse tumbled heels over head into +the road, as if they had been fired out of a cloud. Neither of them +were the least hurt; but it must have been no joke that tempted him to +take such a flight. + +Soult expected, by bringing his whole force to bear on our centre and +left wing, that he would have succeeded in forcing it, or, at all +events, of obliging Lord Wellington to withdraw Sir Rowland Hill from +beyond the Nive; but he effected neither, and darkness left the two +armies on the ground which they had fought on. + +General Alten and Sir James Kempt took up their quarters with us in +the chateau: our sentries and those of the enemy stood within +pistol-shot of each other in the ravine below. + +Young Arcangues, I presume, must have been rather disappointed at the +result of the day; for, even giving him credit for every kindly +feeling towards us, his wishes must still have been in favour of his +countrymen; but when he found that his chateau was to be a bone of +contention, it then became his interest that we should keep possession +of it; and he held out every inducement for us to do so; which, by the +by, was quite unnecessary, seeing that our own comfort so much +depended on it. However, though his supplies of claret had failed some +days before, he now discovered some fresh cases in the cellar, which +he immediately placed at our disposal; and, that our dire resolve to +defend the fortress should not be melted by weak woman's wailings, he +fixed an arm-chair on a mule, mounted his grandmother on it, and sent +her off to the rear, while the balls were whizzing about the +neighbourhood in a manner to which even she, poor old lady, was not +altogether insensible, though she had become a mounted heroine at a +period when she had given up all idea of ever sitting on any thing +more lively than a coffin. + +During the whole of the 11th each army retained the same ground, and +though there was an occasional exchange of shots at different points, +yet nothing material occurred. + +The enemy began throwing up a six-gun battery opposite our chateau; +and we employed ourselves in strengthening the works, as a +precautionary measure, though we had not much to dread from it, as +they were so strictly within range of our rifles, that he must have +been a lucky artilleryman who stood there to fire a second shot. + +In the course of the night a brigade of Belgians, who were with the +French army, having heard that their country had declared for their +legitimate king, passed over to our side, and surrendered. + +On the 12th there was heavy firing and hard fighting, all day, to our +left, but we remained perfectly quiet. Towards the afternoon, Sir +James Kempt formed our brigade, for the purpose of expelling the enemy +from the hill next the chateau, to which he thought them rather too +near; but, just as we reached our different points for commencing the +attack, we were recalled, and nothing further occurred. + +I went, about one o'clock in the morning, to visit our different +piquets; and seeing an unusual number of fires in the enemy's lines, I +concluded that they had lit them to mask some movement; and taking a +patrole with me, I stole cautiously forward, and found that they had +left the ground altogether. I immediately returned, and reported the +circumstance to General Alten, who sent off a despatch to apprize Lord +Wellington. + +As soon as day began to dawn, on the morning of the 13th, a tremendous +fire of artillery and musketry was heard to our right. Soult had +withdrawn every thing from our front in the course of the night, and +had now attacked Sir Rowland Hill with his whole force. Lord +Wellington, in expectation of this attack, had, last night, reinforced +Sir Rowland Hill with the sixth division; which enabled him to occupy +his contracted position so strongly, that Soult, unable to bring more +than his own front to bear upon him, sustained a signal and sanguinary +defeat. + +Lord Wellington galloped into the yard of our chateau, soon after the +attack had commenced, and demanded, with his usual quickness, what was +to be seen? Sir James Kempt, who was spying at the action from an +upper window, told him; and, after desiring Sir James to order Sir +Lowry Cole to follow him with the fourth division, he galloped off to +the scene of action. In the afternoon, when all was over, he called in +again, on his return to head-quarters, and told us, "that it was the +most glorious affair that he had ever seen; and that the enemy had +absolutely left upwards of five thousand men, killed and wounded, on +the ground." + +This was the last action in which we were concerned, near Bayonne. The +enemy seemed quite satisfied with what they had got; and offered us no +further molestation, but withdrew within their works. + + + + +CHAP. XVIII. + + Change of Quarters. Change of Diet. Suttlers. Our new Quarter. A + long-going Horse gone. New Clothing. Adam's lineal Descendants. + St. Palais. Action at Tarbes. Faubourg of Toulouse. The green + Man. Passage of the Garonne. Battle of Toulouse. Peace. Castle + Sarrazin. A tender Point. + + +Towards the end of the month, some divisions of the French army having +left Bayonne, and ascended the right bank of the Adour, it produced a +corresponding movement on our side, by which our division then +occupied Ustaritz, and some neighbouring villages; a change of +quarters we had no reason to rejoice in. + +At Arcangues, notwithstanding the influence of our messmate, "the +Seigneur du Village," our table had, latterly, exhibited gradual +symptoms of decay. But _here_, our voracious predecessors had not +only swallowed the calf, but the cow, and, literally, left us nothing; +so that, from an occasional turkey, or a pork-pie, we were now, all at +once, reduced to our daily ration of a withered pound of beef. A great +many necessaries of life could certainly be procured from St. Jean de +Luz, but the prices there were absolutely suicidical. The suttlers' +shops were too small to hold both their goods and their consciences; +so that, every pin's worth they sold cost us a dollar; and as every +dollar cost us seven shillings, they were, of course, not so plenty as +bad dinners. I have often regretted that the enemy never got an +opportunity of having the run of their shops for a few minutes, that +they might have been, in some measure, punished for their sins, even +in this world. + +The house that held our table, too, was but a wretched apology for the +one we had left. A bitter wind continued to blow; and as the granary +of a room which we occupied, on the first floor, had no fire-place, we +immediately proceeded to provide it with one, and continued filling +it up with such a load of bricks and mortar that the first floor was +on the point of becoming the ground one; and, having only a choice of +evils, on such an emergency, we, as usual, adopted that which appeared +to us to be the least, cutting down the only two fruit-trees in the +garden to prop it up with. We were rather on doubtful terms with the +landlord before, but this put us all square--no terms at all. + +Our animals, too, were in a woful plight, for want of forage. We were +obliged to send our baggage ones, every week, for their rations of +corn, three days' march, through oceans of mud, which ought, properly, +to have been navigated with boats. The whole cavalcade always moved +under the charge of an officer, and many were the anxious looks that +we took with our spy-glasses, from a hill overlooking the road, on the +days of their expected return, each endeavouring to descry his own. +Mine came back to me twice; but "the pitcher that goes often to the +well" was verified in his third trip, for--he perished in a muddy +grave. + +His death, however, was not so unexpected as it might have been, for, +although I cannot literally say that he had been dying by inches, +seeing that he had walked all the way from the frontiers of Portugal, +yet he had, nevertheless, been doing it on the grand scale--by miles. +I only fell in with him the day before the commencement of the +campaign, and, after reconnoitring him with my usual judgement, and +seeing that he was in possession of the regulated quantity of eyes, +legs, and mouth, and concluding that they were all calculated to +perform their different functions, I took him, as a man does his wife, +for better and for worse; and it was not until the end of the first +day's march that I found he had a broken jaw-bone, and could not eat, +and I had, therefore, been obliged to support him all along on spoon +diet; he was a capital horse, only for that! + +It has already been written, in another man's book, that we always +require just a little more than we have got to make us perfectly +happy; and, as we had given this neighbourhood a fair trial, and _that +little_ was not to be found in it, we were very glad when, towards the +end of February, we were permitted to look for it a little further on. +We broke up from quarters on the 21st, leaving Sir John Hope, with the +left wing of the army, in the investment of Bayonne, Lord Wellington +followed Soult with the remainder. + +The new clothing for the different regiments of the army had, in the +mean time, been gradually arriving at St. Jean de Luz; and, as the +commissariat transport was required for other purposes, not to mention +that a man's new coat always looks better on his own back than it does +on a mule's, the different regiments marched there for it in +succession. It did not come to our turn until we had taken a stride to +the front, as far as La Bastide; our retrograde movement, therefore, +obliged us to bid adieu to our division for some time. + +On our arrival at St. Jean de Luz, we found our new clothing, and some +new friends in the family of our old friend, Arcangues, which was one +of the most respectable in the district, and who showed us a great +deal of kindness. As it happened to be the commencement of Lent, the +young ladies were, at first, doubtful as to the propriety of joining +us in any of the gaieties; but, after a short consultation, they +arranged it with their consciences, and joined in the waltz right +merrily. Mademoiselle was really an exceedingly nice girl, and the +most lively companion in arms (in a waltz) that I ever met. + +Our clothing detained us there two days; on the third, we proceeded to +rejoin the division. + +The pride of ancestry is very tenaciously upheld among the Basques, +who are the mountaineers of that district. I had a fancy that most of +them grew wild, like their trees, without either fathers or mothers, +and was, therefore, much amused, one day, to hear a fellow, with a Tam +O'Shanter's bonnet, and a pair of bare legs, tracing his descent from +the first man, and maintaining that he spoke the same language too. +He might have added, if further proof were wanting, that he, also, +wore the same kind of shoes and stockings. + +On the 27th February, 1814, we marched, all day, to the tune of a +cannonade; it was the battle of Orthes; and, on our arrival, in the +evening, at the little town of St. Palais, we were very much annoyed +to find the seventy-ninth regiment stationed there, who handed us a +general order, desiring that the last-arrived regiment should relieve +the preceding one in charge of the place. This was the more vexatious, +knowing that there was no other regiment behind to relieve us. It was +a nice little town, and we were treated, by the inhabitants, like +friends and allies, experiencing much kindness and hospitality from +them; but a rifleman, in the rear, is like a fish out of the water; he +feels that he is not in his place. Seeing no other mode of obtaining a +release, we, at length, began detaining the different detachments who +were proceeding to join their regiments, with a view of forming a +battalion of them; but, by the time that we had collected a +sufficient number for that purpose, we received an order, from +head-quarters, to join the army; when, after a few days' forced +marches, we had, at length, the happiness of overtaking our division a +short distance beyond the town of Aire. The battle of Orthes was the +only affair of consequence that had taken place during our absence. + +We remained stationary, near Aire, until the middle of March, when the +army was again put in motion. + +On the morning of the 19th, while we were marching along the road, +near the town of Tarbes, we saw what appeared to be a small piquet of +the enemy, on the top of a hill to our left, looking down upon us, +when a company of our second battalion was immediately sent to +dislodge them. The enemy, however, increased in number, in proportion +to those sent against them, until not only the whole of the second, +but our own, and the third battalion were eventually brought into +action; and still we had more than double our number opposed to us; +but we, nevertheless, drove them from the field with great slaughter, +after a desperate struggle of a few minutes, in which we had eleven +officers killed and wounded. As this fight was purely a rifle one, and +took place within sight of the whole army, I may be justified in +giving the following quotation from the author of "Twelve Years' +Military Adventure," who was a spectator, and who, in allusion to this +affair, says, "Our rifles were immediately sent to dislodge the French +from the hills on our left, and our battalion was ordered to support +them. Nothing could exceed the manner in which the ninety-fifth set +about the business.... Certainly I never saw such skirmishers as the +ninety-fifth, now the rifle brigade. They could do the work much +better and with infinitely less loss than any other of our best light +troops. They possessed an individual boldness, a mutual understanding, +and a quickness of eye, in taking advantage of the ground, which, +taken altogether, I never saw equalled. They were, in fact, as much +superior to the French _voltigeurs_, as the latter were to our +skirmishers in general. As our regiment was often employed in +supporting them, I think I am fairly qualified to speak of their +merits." + +We followed the enemy until dark, when, after having taken up our +ground and lit our fires, they rather maliciously opened a cannonade +upon us; but, as few of their shots took effect, we did not put +ourselves to the inconvenience of moving, and they soon desisted. + +We continued in pursuit daily, until we finally arrived on the banks +of the Garonne, opposite Toulouse. The day after our arrival an +attempt was made, by our engineers, to throw a bridge across the +river, above the town; and we had assembled one morning, to be in +readiness to pass over, but they were obliged to abandon it for want +of the necessary number of pontoons, and we returned again to +quarters. + +We were stationed, for several days, in the suburb of St. Ciprien, +where we found ourselves exceedingly comfortable. It consisted chiefly +of the citizens' country houses, and an abundance of the public tea +and fruit accommodations, with which every large city is surrounded, +for the temptation of Sunday parties; and, as the inhabitants had all +fled hurriedly into town, leaving their cellars, generally speaking, +well stocked with a tolerable kind of wine, we made ourselves at home. + +It was finally determined that the passage of the river should be +tried below the town, and, preparatory thereto, we took ground to our +left, and got lodged in the chateau of a rich old West-India-man. He +was a tall ramrod of a fellow, upwards of six feet high, withered to a +cinder, and had a pair of green eyes, which looked as if they belonged +to somebody else, who was looking through his eye-holes; but, despite +his imperfections, he had got a young wife, and she was nursing a +young child. The "Green Man" (as we christened him) was not, however, +so bad as he looked; and we found our billet such a good one, that +when we were called away to fight, after a few days' residence with +him, I question, if left to our choice, whether we would not have +rather remained where we were! + +A bridge having, at length, been established, about a league below the +town, two British divisions passed over; but the enemy, by floating +timber and other things down the stream, succeeded in carrying one or +two of the pontoons from their moorings, which prevented any more from +crossing either that day or the succeeding one. It was expected that +the French would have taken advantage of this circumstance, to attack +the two divisions on the other side; but they thought it more prudent +to wait the attack in their own strong hold, and in doing so I believe +they acted wisely, for these two divisions had both flanks secured by +the river, their position was not too extended for their numbers, and +they had a clear space in their front, which was flanked by artillery +from the commanding ground on our side of the river; so that, +altogether, they would have been found ugly customers to any body who +chose to meddle with them. + +The bridge was re-established on the night of the 9th, and, at +daylight next morning, we bade adieu to the _Green Man_, inviting him +to come and see us in Toulouse in the evening. He laughed at the idea, +telling us that we should be lucky fellows if ever we got in; and, at +all events, he said, that he would bet a _déjeûné à la forchette_ for +a dozen, that we did not enter it in three days from that time. I took +the bet, and won, but the old rogue never came to pay me. + +We crossed the river, and advanced sufficiently near to the enemy's +position to be just out of the reach of their fire, where we waited +until dispositions were made for the attack, which took place as +follows:-- + +Sir Rowland Hill, who remained on the left bank of the Garonne, made a +show of attacking the bridge and suburb of the town on that side. + +On our side of the river the Spanish army, which had never hitherto +taken an active part in any of our general actions, now claimed the +post of honour, and advanced to storm the strongest part of the +heights. Our division was ordered to support them in the low grounds, +and, at the same time, to threaten a point of the canal; and Picton, +who was on our right, was ordered to make a false attack on the canal. +These were all that were visible to us. The remaining divisions of the +army were in continuation to the left. + +The Spaniards, anxious to monopolize all the glory, I rather think, +moved on to the attack a little too soon, and before the British +divisions on their left were in readiness to co-operate; however, be +that as it may, they were soon in a blaze of fire, and began walking +through it, at first, with a great show of gallantry and +determination; but their courage was not altogether screwed up to the +sticking point, and the nearer they came to the critical pass, the +less prepared they seemed to meet it, until they all finally faced to +the right-about, and came back upon us as fast as their heels could +carry them, pursued by the enemy. + +We instantly advanced to their relief, and concluded that they would +have rallied behind us; but they had no idea of doing any thing of the +kind; for, when with _Cuesta_ and some of the other Spanish generals, +they had been accustomed, under such circumstances, to run a hundred +miles at a time; so that, passing through the intervals of our +division, they went clear off to the rear, and we never saw them more. +The moment the French found us interpose between them and the +Spaniards they retired within their works. + +The only remark that Lord Wellington was said to have made on their +conduct, after waiting to see whether they would stand after they got +out of the reach of the enemy's shot, was, "well, d---- me, if ever I +saw ten thousand men run a race before!" However, notwithstanding +their disaster, many of their officers certainly evinced great +bravery, and on their account it is to be regretted that the attack +was made so soon, for they would otherwise have carried their point +with little loss, either of life or credit, as the British divisions +on the left soon after stormed and carried all the other works, and +obliged those who had been opposed to the Spaniards to evacuate theirs +without firing another shot. + +When the enemy were driven from the heights, they retired within the +town, and the canal then became their line of defence, which they +maintained the whole of the next day; but in the course of the +following night they left the town altogether, and we took possession +of it on the morning of the 12th. + +The inhabitants of Toulouse hoisted the white flag, and declared for +the Bourbons the moment that the French army had left it; and, in the +course of the same day, Colonel Cooke arrived from Paris, with the +extraordinary news of Napoleon's abdication. Soult has been accused of +having been in possession of that fact prior to the battle of +Toulouse; but, to disprove such an assertion, it can only be necessary +to think, for a moment, whether he would not have made it public the +day after the battle, while he yet held possession of the town, as it +would not only have enabled him to keep it, but, to those who knew no +better, it might have given him a shadow of claim to the victory, if +he chose to avail himself of it; and I have known a victory claimed by +a French marshal on more slender grounds. In place of knowing it then, +he did not even believe it now; and we were absolutely obliged to +follow him a day's march beyond Toulouse before he agreed to an +armistice. + +The news of the peace, at this period, certainly sounded as strangely +in our ears as it did in those of the French marshal, for it was a +change that we never had contemplated. We had been born in war, reared +in war, and war was our trade; and what soldiers had to do in peace, +was a problem yet to be solved among us. + +After remaining a few days at Toulouse, we were sent into quarters, in +the town of Castel-Sarazin, along with our old companions in arms, +the fifty-second, to wait the necessary arrangements for our final +removal from France. + +Castel-Sarazin is a respectable little town, on the right bank of the +Garonne; and its inhabitants received us so kindly, that every officer +found in his quarter a family home. We there, too, found both the time +and the opportunity of exercising one of the agreeable professions to +which we had long been strangers, that of making love to the pretty +little girls with which the place abounded; when, after a three +months' residence among them, the fatal order arrived for our march to +Bordeaux, for embarkation, the buckets full of salt tears that were +shed by men who had almost forgotten the way to weep was quite +ridiculous. I have never yet, however, clearly made out whether people +are most in love when they are laughing or when they are crying. Our +greatest love writers certainly give the preference to the latter. +_Scott_ thinks that "love is loveliest when it's bathed in tears;" and +_Moore_ tells his mistress to "give smiles to those who love her +less, but to keep her tears for him;" but what pleasure he can take in +seeing her in affliction, I cannot make out; nor, for the soul of me, +can I see why a face full of smiles should not be every bit as +valuable as one of tears, seeing that it is so much more pleasant to +look at. + +I have rather wandered, in search of an apology for my own countenance +not having gone into mourning on that melancholy occasion; for, to +tell the truth, (and if I had a visage sensible to such an impression, +I should blush while I tell it,) I was as much in love as any body, up +nearly to the last moment, when I fell out of it, as it were, by a +miracle; but, probably, a history of love's last look may be +considered as my justification. The day before our departure, in +returning from a ride, I overtook my love and her sister, strolling by +the river's side, and, instantly dismounting, I joined in their walk. +My horse was following, at the length of his bridle-reins, and, while +I was engaged in conversation with the sister, the other dropped +behind, and, when I looked round, I found her mounted _astride_ on my +horse! and with such a pair of legs, too! It was rather too good; and +"Richard was himself again." + +Although released, under the foregoing circumstances, from individual +attachment, that of a general nature continued strong as ever; and, +without an exception on either side, I do believe, that we parted with +mutual regret, and with the most unbounded love and good feeling +towards each other. We exchanged substantial proofs of it while +together; we continued to do so after we had parted; nor were we +forgotten when we were _no more_! It having appeared, in some of the +newspapers, a year afterwards, that every one of our officers had been +killed at Waterloo, that the regiment had been brought out of the +action by a volunteer, and the report having come to the knowledge of +our Castel-Sarazin friends, they drew up a letter, which they sent to +our commanding officer, signed by every person of respectability in +the place, lamenting our fate, expressing a hope that the report +might have been exaggerated, and entreating to be informed as to the +particular fate of each individual officer, whom they mentioned by +name. They were kind good-hearted souls, and may God bless them! + + + + +CHAP. XIX. + + Commencement of the War of 1815. Embark for Rotterdam. Ship's + Stock. Ship struck. A Pilot, a Smuggler, and a Lawyer. A Boat + without Stock. Join the Regiment at Brussels. + + +I have endeavoured, in this book of mine, to measure out the peace and +war in due proportions, according to the spirit of the times it speaks +of; and, as there appears to me to be as much peace in the last +chapter as occurred in Europe between 1814 and 1815, I shall, with the +reader's permission, lodge my regiment, at once, on Dover-heights, and +myself in Scotland, taking a shot at the last of the woodcocks, which +happened to be our relative positions, when Bonaparte's escape from +Elba once more summoned the army to the field. + +The first intimation I had of it was by a letter, informing me of the +embarkation of the battalion for the Netherlands, and desiring me to +join them there, without delay; and, finding that a brig was to sail, +the following day, from Leith to Rotterdam, I took a passage on board +of her. She was an odd one to look at, but the captain assured me that +she was a good one to go; and, besides, that he had provided every +thing that was elegant for our entertainment. The latter piece of +information I did not think of questioning until too late to profit by +it, for I had the mortification to discover, the first day, that his +whole stock consisted in a quarter of lamb, in addition to the ship's +own, with a few cabbages, and five gallons of whiskey. + +After having been ten days at sea, I was awoke, one morning before +daylight, with the ship's grinding over a sand-bank, on the coast of +Holland; fortunately, it did not blow hard, and a pilot soon after +came alongside, who, after exacting a reward suitable to the +occasion, at length, consented to come on board, and extricated us +from our perilous situation, carrying the vessel into the entrance of +one of the small branches of the river leading up to Rotterdam, where +we came to anchor. The captain was very desirous of appealing to a +magistrate for a reduction in the exorbitant demand of the pilot; and +I accompanied him on shore for that purpose. An Englishman made up to +us at the landing-place, and said that his name was C----, that he had +made his fortune by smuggling, and, though he was not permitted to +spend it in his native country, that he had the greatest pleasure in +being of service to his countrymen. As this was exactly the sort of +person we were in search of, the Captain explained his grievance; and +the other said that he would conduct him to a gentleman who would soon +put that to rights. We, accordingly, walked to the adjoining village, +in one of the houses of which he introduced us, formally, to a tall +Dutchman, with a pipe in his mouth and a pen behind his ear, who, +after hearing the story, proceeded to commit it, in large characters, +to a quire of foolscap. + +The cautious nature of the Scotchman did not altogether like the +appearance of the man of business, and demanding, through the +interpreter, whether there would be any thing to pay for his +proceedings? he was told that it would cost five guineas. "Five +devils," said Saunders; "What is it for?" "For a protest," said the +other. "D--n the protest," said the captain; "I came here to save five +guineas, and not to pay five more." I could stand the scene no longer, +and rushed out of the house, under the pretence of seeing the village; +and on my return to the ship, half an hour afterwards, I found the +captain fast asleep. I know not whether he swallowed the remainder of +the five gallons of whiskey, in addition to his five-guinea grievance, +but I could not shake him out of it, although the mate and I tried, +alternately, for upwards of two hours; and indeed I never heard +whether he ever got out of it,--for when I found that they had to go +outside to find another passage up to Rotterdam, I did not think it +prudent to trust myself any longer in the hands of such artists, and, +taking leave of the sleeper, with a last ineffectual shake, I hired a +boat to take me through the passage in which we then were. + +We started with a stiff fair wind, and the boatman assured me that we +should reach Rotterdam in less than five hours (forty miles); but it +soon lulled to a dead calm, which left us to the tedious operation of +tiding it up; and, to mend the matter, we had not a fraction of money +between us, nor any thing to eat or drink. I bore starvation all that +day and night, with the most christian-like fortitude; but, the next +morning, I could stand it no longer, and sending the boatman on shore, +to a neighbouring house, I instructed him either to beg or steal +something, whichever he should find the most prolific; but he was a +clumsy hand at both, and came on board again with only a very small +quantity of coffee. It, however, afforded some relief, and in the +afternoon we reached the town of Dort, and, on lodging my baggage in +pawn with a French inn-keeper, he advanced me the means of going on to +Rotterdam, where I got cash for the bill which I had on a merchant +there. Once more furnished with the "sinews of war," with my feet on +_terra firma_, I lost no time in setting forward to Antwerp, and from +thence to Brussels, when I had the happiness of rejoining my +battalion, which was then quartered in the city. + +Brussels was, at this time, a scene of extraordinary preparation, from +the succession of troops who were hourly arriving, and in their +formation into brigades and divisions. We had the good fortune to be +attached to the brigade of our old and favourite commander, Sir James +Kempt, and in the fifth division, under Sir Thomas Picton. It was the +only division quartered in Brussels, the others being all towards the +French frontier, except the Duke of Brunswick's corps, which lay on +the Antwerp road. + + + + +CHAP. XX. + + Relative Situation of the Troops. March from Brussels. The Prince + and the Beggar. Battle of Quatre-Bras. + + +As our division was composed of crack regiments, under crack +commanders, and headed by fire-eating generals, we had little to do +the first fortnight after my arrival, beyond indulging in all the +amusements of our delightful quarter; but, as the middle of June +approached, we began to get a little more on the _qui vive_, for we +were aware that Napoleon was about to make a dash at some particular +point; and, as he was not the sort of general to give his opponent an +idea of the when and the where, the greater part of our army was +necessarily disposed along the frontier, to meet him at his own +place. They were of course too much extended to offer effectual +resistance in their advanced position; but as our division and the +Duke of Brunswick's corps were held in reserve, at Brussels, in +readiness to be thrust at whatever point might be attacked, they were +a sufficient additional force to check the enemy for the time required +to concentrate the army. + +On the 14th of June it was generally known, among the military circles +in Brussels, that Buonaparte was in motion, at the head of his troops; +and though his movement was understood to point at the Prussians, yet +he was not sufficiently advanced to afford a correct clue to his +intentions. + +We were, the whole of the 15th, on the most anxious look out for news +from the front; but no report had been received prior to the hour of +dinner. I went, about seven in the evening, to take a stroll in the +park, and meeting one of the Duke's staff, he asked me, _en passant_, +whether my pack-saddles were all ready? I told him that they were +nearly so, and added, "I suppose they wo'n't be wanted, at all events, +before to-morrow?" to which he replied, in the act of leaving me, "If +you have any preparation to make, I would recommend you not to delay +so long." I took the hint, and returning to quarters, remained in +momentary expectation of an order to move. The bugles sounded to arms +about two hours after. + +To the credit of our battalion, be it recorded, that, although the +greater part were in bed when the assembly sounded, and billetted over +the most distant parts of that extensive city, every man was on his +alarm-post before eleven o'clock, in a complete state of marching +order: whereas, it was nearly two o'clock in the morning before we +were joined by the others. + +As a grand ball was to take place the same night, at the Duchess of +Richmond's, the order for the assembling of the troops was accompanied +by permission for any officer who chose to remain for the ball, +provided that he joined his regiment early in the morning. Several of +ours took advantage of it. + +Brussels was, at that time, thronged with British temporary residents; +who, no doubt, in the course of the two last days, must have heard, +through their military acquaintance, of the immediate prospect of +hostilities. But, accustomed, on their own ground, to hear of those +things as a piece of news in which they were not personally concerned; +and never dreaming of danger, in streets crowded with the gay uniforms +of their countrymen; it was not until their defenders were summoned to +the field, that they were fully sensible of their changed +circumstances; and the suddenness of the danger multiplying its +horrors, many of them were now seen running about in the wildest state +of distraction. + +Waiting for the arrival of the other regiments, we endeavoured to +snatch an hour's repose on the pavement; but we were every instant +disturbed, by ladies as well as gentlemen; some stumbling over us in +the dark--some shaking us out of our sleep, to be told the news--and +not a few, conceiving their immediate safety depending upon our +standing in place of lying. All those who applied for the benefit of +my advice, I recommended to go home to bed, to keep themselves +perfectly cool, and, to rest assured that, if their departure from the +city became necessary, (which I very much doubted,) they would have at +least one whole day to prepare for it, as we were leaving some beef +and potatoes behind us, for which, I was sure, we would fight, rather +than abandon! + +The whole of the division having, at length, assembled, we were put in +motion about three o'clock on the morning of the 16th, and advanced to +the village of Waterloo, where, forming in a field adjoining the road, +our men were allowed to prepare their breakfasts. I succeeded in +getting mine, in a small inn, on the left hand side of the village. + +Lord Wellington joined us about nine o'clock; and, from his very +particular orders, to see that the roads were kept clear of baggage, +and everything likely to impede the movements of the troops, I have +since been convinced that his lordship had thought it probable that +the position of Waterloo might, even that day, have become the scene +of action; for it was a good broad road, on which there were neither +the quantity of baggage nor of troops moving at the time, to excite +the slightest apprehension of confusion. Leaving us halted, he +galloped on to the front, followed by his staff; and we were soon +after joined by the Duke of Brunswick, with his corps of the army. + +His highness dismounted near the place where I was standing, and +seated himself on the road-side, along with his adjutant-general. He +soon after despatched his companion on some duty; and I was much +amused to see the vacated place immediately filled by an old +beggar-man; who, seeing nothing in the black hussar uniform beside him +denoting the high rank of the wearer, began to grunt and scratch +himself most luxuriously! The duke shewed a degree of courage which +few would, under such circumstances; for he maintained his post until +the return of his officer, when he very jocularly said, "Well, O----n, +you see that your place was not long unoccupied!"--How little idea had +I, at the time, that the life of the illustrious speaker was limited +to three short hours! + +About twelve o'clock an order arrived for the troops to advance, +leaving their baggage behind; and though it sounded warlike, yet we +did not expect to come in contact with the enemy, at all events, on +_that_ day. But, as we moved forward, the symptoms of their immediate +presence kept gradually increasing; for we presently met a cart-load +of wounded Belgians; and, after passing through Genappe, the distant +sound of a solitary gun struck on the listening ear. But all doubt on +the subject was quickly removed; for, on ascending the rising ground, +where stands the village of Quatre Bras, we saw a considerable plain +in our front, flanked on each side by a wood; and on another acclivity +beyond, we could perceive the enemy descending towards us, in most +imposing numbers. + +Quatre Bras, at that time, consisted of only three or four houses; +and, as its name betokens, I believe, stood at the junction of four +roads; on one of which we were moving; a second, inclined to the +right; a third, in the same degree, to the left; and the fourth, I +conclude, must have gone backwards; but, as I had not an eye in that +direction, I did not see it. + +The village was occupied by some Belgians, under the Prince of Orange, +who had an advanced post in a large farm-house, at the foot of the +road, which inclined to the right; and a part of his division, also, +occupied the wood on the same side. + +Lord Wellington, I believe, after leaving us at Waterloo, galloped on +to the Prussian position at Ligny, where he had an interview with +Blucher, in which they concerted measures for their mutual +co-operation. When we arrived at Quatre Bras, however, we found him in +a field near the Belgian outpost; and the enemy's guns were just +beginning to play upon the spot where he stood, surrounded by a +numerous staff. + +We halted for a moment on the brow of the hill; and as Sir Andrew +Barnard galloped forward to the head-quarter group, I followed, to be +in readiness to convey any orders to the battalion. The moment we +approached, Lord Fitzroy Somerset, separating himself from the duke, +said, "Barnard, you are wanted instantly; take your battalion and +endeavour to get possession of that village," pointing to one on the +face of the rising ground, down which the enemy were moving; "but if +you cannot do that, secure that wood on the left, and keep the road +open for communication with the Prussians." We instantly moved in the +given direction; but, ere we had got half-way to the village, we had +the mortification to see the enemy throw such a force into it, as +rendered any attempt to retake it, with our numbers, utterly hopeless; +and as another strong body of them were hastening towards the wood, +which was the second object pointed out to us, we immediately brought +them to action, and secured it. In moving to that point, one of our +men went raving mad, from excessive heat. The poor fellow cut a few +extraordinary capers, and died in the course of a few minutes. + +While our battalion-reserve occupied the front of the wood, our +skirmishers lined the side of the road, which was the Prussian line of +communication. The road itself, however, was crossed by such a shower +of balls, that none but a desperate traveller would have undertaken a +journey on it. We were presently reinforced by a small battalion of +foreign light troops, with whose assistance we were in hopes to have +driven the enemy a little further from it; but they were a raw body of +men, who had never before been under fire; and, as they could not be +prevailed upon to join our skirmishers, we could make no use of them +whatever. Their conduct, in fact, was an exact representation of +Mathews's ludicrous one of the American militia, for Sir Andrew +Barnard repeatedly pointed out to them which was the French, and +which our side; and, after explaining that they were not to fire a +shot until they joined our skirmishers, the word "March!" was given; +but _march_, to them, was always the signal to fire, for they stood +fast, and began blazing away, chiefly at our skirmishers too; the +officers commanding whom were every time sending back to say that we +were shooting them; until we were, at last, obliged to be satisfied +with whatever advantages their appearance could give, as even that was +of some consequence, where troops were so scarce. + +Buonaparte's attack on the Prussians had already commenced, and the +fire of artillery and musketry, in that direction, was tremendous; but +the intervening higher ground prevented us from seeing any part of it. + +The plain to our right, which we had just quitted, had, likewise, +become the scene of a sanguinary and unequal contest. Our division, +after we left it, deployed into line, and, in advancing, met and +routed the French infantry; but, in following up their advantage, +they encountered a furious charge of cavalry, and were obliged to +throw themselves into squares to receive it. With the exception of one +regiment, however, which had two companies cut to pieces, they were +not only successful in resisting the attack, but made awful havock in +the enemy's ranks, who, nevertheless, continued their forward career, +and went sweeping past them, like a whirlwind, up to the village of +Quatre Bras, to the confusion and consternation of the numerous +useless appendages of our army, who were there assembled, waiting the +result of the battle. + +The forward movement of the enemy's cavalry gave their infantry time +to rally; and, strongly reinforced with fresh troops, they again +advanced to the attack. This was a crisis in which, according to +Buonaparte's theory, the victory was theirs, by all the rules of war, +for they held superior numbers, both before and behind us; but the +gallant old Picton, who had been trained in a different school, did +not choose to confine himself to rules in those matters; despising +the force in his rear, he advanced, charged, and routed those in his +front, which created such a panic among the others, that they galloped +back through the intervals in his division, with no other object in +view but their own safety. After this desperate conflict, the firing, +on both sides, lulled almost to a calm for nearly an hour, while each +was busy in renewing their order of battle. The Duke of Brunswick had +been killed early in the action, endeavouring to rally his young +troops, who were unable to withstand the impetuosity of the French; +and, as we had no other cavalry force in the field, the few British +infantry regiments present, having to bear the full brunt of the +enemy's superior force of both arms, were now considerably reduced in +numbers. + +The battle, on the side of the Prussians, still continued to rage in +an unceasing roar of artillery. About four, in the afternoon, a troop +of their dragoons came, as a patrole, to inquire how it fared with us, +and told us, in passing, that they still maintained their position. +Their day, however, was still to be decided, and, indeed, for that +matter, so was our own; for, although the firing, for the moment, had +nearly ceased, I had not yet clearly made up my mind which side had +been the offensive, which the defensive, or which the winning. I had +merely the satisfaction of knowing that we had not lost it; for we had +met fairly in the middle of a field, (or, rather unfairly, considering +that they had two to one,) and, after the scramble was over, our +division still held the ground they fought on. All doubts on the +subject, however, began to be removed about five o'clock. The enemy's +artillery once more opened; and, on running to the brow of the hill, +to ascertain the cause, we perceived our old light-division general, +Count Alten, at the head of a fresh British division, moving gallantly +down the road towards us. It was, indeed, a joyful sight; for, as +already mentioned, our division had suffered so severely that we could +not help looking forward to a renewal of the action, with such a +disparity of force, with considerable anxiety; but this reinforcement +gave us new life, and, as soon as they came near enough to afford +support, we commenced the offensive, and, driving in the skirmishers +opposed to us, succeeded in gaining a considerable portion of the +position originally occupied by the enemy, when darkness obliged us to +desist. In justice to the foreign battalion, which had been all day +attached to us, I must say that, in this last movement, they joined us +cordially, and behaved exceedingly well. They had a very gallant young +fellow at their head; and their conduct, in the earlier part of the +day, can, therefore, only be ascribed to its being their first +appearance on such a stage. + +Leaving General Alten in possession of the ground which we had +assisted in winning, we returned in search of our division, and +reached them about eleven at night, lying asleep in their glory, on +the field where they had fought, which contained many a bloody trace +of the day's work. + +The firing, on the side of the Prussians, had altogether ceased +before dark, but recommenced, with redoubled fury, about an hour +after; and it was then, as we afterwards learnt, that they lost the +battle. + +We lay down by our arms, near the farm-house already mentioned, in +front of Quatre Bras; and the deuce is in it if we were not in good +trim for sleeping, seeing that we had been either marching or fighting +for twenty-six successive hours. + +An hour before daybreak, next morning, a rattling fire of musketry +along the whole line of piquets made every one spring to his arms; and +we remained looking as fierce as possible until daylight, when each +side was seen expecting an attack, while the piquets were blazing at +one another without any ostensible cause: it gradually ceased, as the +day advanced, and appeared to have been occasioned by a patrole of +dragoons getting between the piquets by accident: when firing +commences in the dark it is not easily stopped. + +June 17th.--As last night's fighting only ceased with the daylight, +the scene, this morning, presented a savage unsettled appearance; the +fields were strewed with the bodies of men, horses, torn clothing, and +shattered cuirasses; and, though no movements appeared to be going on +on either side, yet, as occasional shots continued to be exchanged at +different points, it kept every one wide awake. We had the +satisfaction of knowing that the whole of our army had assembled on +the hill behind in the course of the night. + +About nine o'clock, we received the news of Blucher's defeat, and of +his retreat to Wavre. Lord Wellington, therefore, immediately began to +withdraw his army to the position of Waterloo. + +Sir Andrew Barnard was ordered to remain as long as possible with our +battalion, to mask the retreat of the others; and was told, if we were +attacked, that the whole of the British cavalry were in readiness to +advance to our relief. I had an idea, however, that a single rifle +battalion in the midst of ten thousand dragoons, would come but +indifferently off in the event of a general crash, and was by no +means sorry when, between eleven and twelve o'clock, every regiment +had got clear off, and we followed, before the enemy had put any thing +in motion against us. + +After leaving the village of Quatre Bras, and passing through our +cavalry, who were formed on each side of the road, we drew up, at the +entrance of Genappe. The rain, at that moment, began to descend in +torrents, and our men were allowed to shelter themselves in the +nearest houses; but we were obliged to turn out again in the midst of +it, in less than five minutes, as we found the French cavalry and ours +already exchanging shots, and the latter were falling back to the more +favourable ground behind Genappe; we, therefore, retired with them, +_en masse_, through the village, and formed again on the rising ground +beyond. + +While we remained there, we had an opportunity of seeing the different +affairs of cavalry; and it did one's heart good to see how cordially +the life-guards went at their work: they had no idea of any thing but +straight-forward fighting, and sent their opponents flying in all +directions. The only _young_ thing they showed was in every one who +got a roll in the mud, (and, owing to the slipperiness of the ground, +there were many,) going off to the rear, according to their Hyde-Park +custom, as being no longer fit to appear on parade! I thought, at +first, that they had been all wounded, but, on finding how the case +stood, I could not help telling them that theirs was now the situation +to verify the old proverb, "the uglier the better soldier!" + +The roads, as well as the fields, had now become so heavy, that our +progress to the rear was very slow; and it was six in the evening +before we drew into the position of Waterloo. Our battalion took post +in the second line that night, with its right resting on the +Namur-road, behind La Haye Sainte, near a small mud-cottage, which Sir +Andrew Barnard occupied as a quarter. The enemy arrived in front, in +considerable force, about an hour after us, and a cannonade took place +in different parts of the line, which ended at dark, and we lay down +by our arms. It rained excessively hard the greater part of the night; +nevertheless, having succeeded in getting a bundle of hay for my +horse, and one of straw for myself, I secured the horse to his bundle, +by tying him to one of the men's swords stuck in the ground, and, +placing mine under his nose, I laid myself down upon it, and never +opened my eyes again until daylight. + + + + +CHAP. XXI. + + Battle of Waterloo. "A Horse! a Horse!" Breakfast. Position. + Disposition. Meeting of _particular_ Friends. Dish of Powder and + Ball. Fricassee of Swords. End of First Course. Pounding. + Brewing. Peppering. Cutting and Maiming. Fury. Tantalizing. + Charging. Cheering. Chasing. Opinionizing. Anecdotes. The End. + + +BATTLE OF WATERLOO, + +18th June, 1815. + +When I awoke, this morning, at daylight, I found myself drenched with +rain. I had slept so long and so soundly that I had, at first, but a +very confused notion of my situation; but having a bright idea that my +horse had been my companion when I went to sleep, I was rather +startled at finding that I was now alone; nor could I rub my eyes +clear enough to procure a sight of him, which was vexatious enough; +for, independent of his value _as a horse_, his services were +indispensable; and an adjutant might as well think of going into +action without his arms as without such a supporter. But whatever my +feelings might have been towards him, it was evident that he had none +for me, from having drawn his sword and marched off. The chances of +finding him again, amid ten thousand others, were about equal to the +odds against the needle in a bundle of hay; but for once the single +chance was gained, as, after a diligent search of an hour, he was +discovered between two artillery horses, about half a mile from where +he broke loose. + +The weather cleared up as the morning advanced; and, though every +thing remained quiet at the moment, we were confident that the day +would not pass off without an engagement, and, therefore, proceeded to +put our arms in order, as, also, to get ourselves dried and made as +comfortable as circumstances would permit. + +We made a fire against the wall of Sir Andrew Barnard's cottage, and +boiled a huge camp-kettle full of tea, mixed up with a suitable +quantity of milk and sugar, for breakfast; and, as it stood on the +edge of the high road, where all the big-wigs of the army had occasion +to pass, in the early part of the morning, I believe almost every one +of them, from the Duke downwards, claimed a cupful. + +About nine o'clock, we received an order to retain a quantity of spare +ammunition, in some secure place, and to send every thing in the shape +of baggage and baggage-animals to the rear. It, therefore, became +evident that the Duke meant to give battle in his present position; +and it was, at the same time, generally understood that a corps of +thirty thousand Prussians were moving to our support. + +About ten o'clock, an unusual bustle was observable among the +staff-officers, and we soon after received an order to stand to our +arms. The troops who had been stationed in our front during the night +were then moved off to the right, and our division took up its +fighting position. + +Our battalion stood on what was considered the left centre of the +position. We had our right resting on the Namur-road, about a hundred +yards in rear of the farm-house of La Haye Sainte, and our left +extending behind a broken hedge, which run along the ridge to the +left. Immediately in our front, and divided from La Haye Sainte only +by the great road, stood a small knoll, with a sand-hole in its +farthest side, which we occupied, as an advanced post, with three +companies. The remainder of the division was formed in two lines; the +first, consisting chiefly of light troops, behind the hedge, in +continuation from the left of our battalion reserve; and the second, +about a hundred yards in its rear. The guns were placed in the +intervals between the brigades, two pieces were in the road-way on our +right, and a rocket-brigade in the centre. + +The road had been cut through the rising ground, and was about twenty +or thirty feet deep where our right rested, and which, in a manner, +separated us from all the troops beyond. The division, I believe, +under General Alten occupied the ground next to us, on the right. He +had a light battalion of the German legion, posted inside of La Haye +Sainte, and the household brigade of cavalry stood under cover of the +rising ground behind him. On our left there were some Hanoverians and +Belgians, together with a brigade of British heavy dragoons, the +royals, and Scotch greys. + +These were all the observations on the disposition of our army that my +situation enabled me to make. The whole position seemed to be a gently +rising ground, presenting no obstacle at any point, excepting the +broken hedge in front of our division, and it was only one in +appearance, as it could be passed in every part. + +Shortly after we had taken up our ground, some columns, from the +enemy's left, were seen in motion towards Hugamont, and were soon +warmly engaged with the right of our army. A cannon ball, too, came +from the Lord knows where, for it was not fired at us, and took the +head off our right hand man. That part of their position, in our own +immediate front, next claimed our undivided attention. It had hitherto +been looking suspiciously innocent, with scarcely a human being upon +it; but innumerable black specks were now seen taking post at regular +distances in its front, and recognizing them as so many pieces of +artillery, I knew, from experience, although nothing else was yet +visible, that they were unerring symptoms of our not being destined to +be idle spectators. + +From the moment we took possession of the knoll, we had busied +ourselves in collecting branches of trees and other things, for the +purpose of making an _abatis_ to block up the road between that and +the farm-house, and soon completed one, which we thought looked +sufficiently formidable to keep out the whole of the French cavalry; +but it was put to the proof sooner than we expected, by a troop of our +own light dragoons, who, having occasion to gallop through, astonished +us not a little by clearing away every stick of it. We had just time +to replace the scattered branches, when the whole of the enemy's +artillery opened, and their countless columns began to advance under +cover of it. + +The scene at that moment was grand and imposing, and we had a few +minutes to spare for observation. The column destined as _our_ +particular _friends_, first attracted our notice, and seemed to +consist of about ten thousand infantry. A smaller body of infantry and +one of cavalry moved on their right; and, on their left, another huge +column of infantry, and a formidable body of cuirassiers, while beyond +them it seemed one moving mass. + +We saw Buonaparte himself take post on the side of the road, +immediately in our front, surrounded by a numerous staff; and each +regiment, as they passed him, rent the air with shouts of "_vive +l'Empereur_," nor did they cease after they had passed; but, backed by +the thunder of their artillery, and carrying with them the _rubidub_ +of drums, and the _tantarara_ of trumpets, in addition to their +increasing shouts, it looked, at first, as if they had some hopes of +scaring us off the ground; for it was a singular contrast to the stern +silence reigning on our side, where nothing, as yet, but the voices of +our great guns, told that we had mouths to open when we chose to use +them. Our rifles were, however, in a very few seconds, required to +play their parts, and opened such a fire on the advancing skirmishers +as quickly brought them to a stand still; but their columns advanced +steadily through them, although our incessant _tiralade_ was telling +in their centre with fearful exactness, and our post was quickly +turned in both flanks, which compelled us to fall back and join our +comrades, behind the hedge, though not before some of our officers and +theirs had been engaged in personal combat. + +When the heads of their columns shewed over the knoll which we had +just quitted, they received such a fire from our first line, that they +wavered, and hung behind it a little; but, cheered and encouraged by +the gallantry of their officers, who were dancing and flourishing +their swords in front, they at last boldly advanced to the opposite +side of our hedge, and began to deploy. Our first line, in the mean +time, was getting so thinned, that Picton found it necessary to bring +up his second, but fell in the act of doing it. The command of the +division, at that critical moment, devolved upon Sir James Kempt, who +was galloping along the line, animating the men to steadiness. He +called to me by name, where I happened to be standing on the right of +our battalion, and desired "that I would never quit that spot." I told +him that "he might depend upon it:" and in another instant I found +myself in a fair way of keeping my promise more religiously than I +intended; for, glancing my eye to the right, I saw the next field +covered with the cuirassiers, some of whom were making directly for +the gap in the hedge, where I was standing. I had not hitherto drawn +my sword, as it was generally to be had at a moment's warning; but, +from its having been exposed to the last night's rain, it had now got +rusted in the scabbard, and refused to come forth! I was in a +precious scrape. Mounted on my strong Flanders mare, and with my good +old sword in my hand, I would have braved all the chances without a +moment's hesitation; but, I confess, that I felt considerable doubts +as to the propriety of standing there to be sacrificed, without the +means of making a scramble for it. My mind, however, was happily +relieved from such an embarrassing consideration, before my decision +was required; for the next moment the cuirassiers were charged by our +household brigade; and the infantry in our front giving way at the +same time, under our terrific shower of musketry, the flying +cuirassiers tumbled in among the routed infantry, followed by the +life-guards, who were cutting away in all directions. Hundreds of the +infantry threw themselves down, and pretended to be dead, while the +cavalry galloped over them, and then got up and ran away. I never saw +such a scene in all my life. + +Lord Wellington had given orders that the troops were, on no account, +to leave the position to follow up any temporary advantage; so that +we now resumed our post, as we stood at the commencement of the +battle, and with three companies again advanced on the knoll. + +I was told, it was very ridiculous, at that moment, to see the number +of vacant spots that were left nearly along the whole of the line, +where a great part of the dark dressed foreign troops had stood, +intermixed with the British, when the action began. + +Our division got considerably reduced in numbers during the last +attack; but Lord Wellington's fostering hand sent Sir John Lambert to +our support, with the sixth division; and we now stood prepared for +another and a more desperate struggle. + +Our battalion had already lost three officers killed, and six or seven +wounded; among the latter were Sir Andrew Barnard and Colonel Cameron. + +Some one asking me what had become of my horse's ear, was the first +intimation I had of his being wounded; and I now found that, +independent of one ear having been shaved close to his head, (I +suppose by a cannon-shot,) a musket-ball had grazed across his +forehead, and another gone through one of his legs, but he did not +seem much the worse for either of them. + +Between two and three o'clock we were tolerably quiet, except from a +thundering cannonade; and the enemy had, by that time, got the range +of our position so accurately that every shot brought a ticket for +somebody's head. + +An occasional gun, beyond the plain, far to our left, marked the +approach of the Prussians; but their progress was too slow to afford a +hope of their arriving in time to take any share in the battle. + +On our right, the roar of cannon and musketry had been incessant from +the time of its commencement; but the higher ground, near us, +prevented our seeing anything of what was going on. + +Between three and four o'clock, the storm gathered again in our front. +Our three companies on the knoll were soon involved in a furious +fire. The Germans, occupying La Haye Sainte, expended all their +ammunition, and fled from the post. The French took possession of it; +and, as it flanked our knoll, we were obliged to abandon it also, and +fall back again behind the hedge. + +The loss of La Haye Sainte was of the most serious consequence, as it +afforded the enemy an establishment within our position. They +immediately brought up two guns on our side of it, and began serving +out some grape to us; but they were so very near, that we destroyed +their artillerymen before they could give us a second round. + +The silencing of these guns was succeeded by a very extraordinary +scene, on the same spot. A strong regiment of Hanoverians advanced in +line, to charge the enemy out of La Haye Sainte; but they were +themselves charged by a brigade of cuirassiers, and, excepting one +officer, on a little black horse, who went off to the rear, like a +shot out of a shovel, I do believe that every man of them was put to +death in about five seconds. A brigade of British light dragoons +advanced to their relief, and a few, on each side, began exchanging +thrusts; but it seemed likely to be a drawn battle between them, +without much harm being done, when our men brought it to a crisis +sooner than either side anticipated, for they previously had their +rifles eagerly pointed at the cuirassiers, with a view of saving the +perishing Hanoverians; but the fear of killing their friends withheld +them, until the others were utterly overwhelmed, when they instantly +opened a terrific fire on the whole concern, sending both sides to +flight; so that, on the small space of ground, within a hundred yards +of us, where five thousand men had been fighting the instant before, +there was not now a living soul to be seen. + +It made me mad to see the cuirassiers, in their retreat, stooping and +stabbing at our wounded men, as they lay on the ground. How I wished +that I had been blessed with Omnipotent power for a moment, that I +might have blighted them! + +The same field continued to be a wild one the whole of the afternoon. +It was a sort of duelling-post between the two armies, every half-hour +showing a meeting of some kind upon it; but they never exceeded a +short scramble, for men's lives were held very cheap there. + +For the two or three succeeding hours there was no variety with us, +but one continued blaze of musketry. The smoke hung so thick about, +that, although not more than eighty yards asunder, we could only +distinguish each other by the flashes of the pieces. + +A good many of our guns had been disabled, and a great many more +rendered unserviceable in consequence of the unprecedented close +fighting; for, in several places, where they had been posted but a +very few yards in front of the line, it was impossible to work them. + +I shall never forget the scene which the field of battle presented +about seven in the evening. I felt weary and worn out, less from +fatigue than anxiety. Our division, which had stood upwards of five +thousand men at the commencement of the battle, had gradually dwindled +down into a solitary line of skirmishers. The twenty-seventh regiment +were lying literally dead, in square, a few yards behind us. My horse +had received another shot through the leg, and one through the flap of +the saddle, which lodged in his body, sending him a step beyond the +pension-list. The smoke still hung so thick about us that we could see +nothing. I walked a little way to each flank, to endeavour to get a +glimpse of what was going on; but nothing met my eye except the +mangled remains of men and horses, and I was obliged to return to my +post as wise as I went. + +I had never yet heard of a battle in which every body was killed; but +this seemed likely to be an exception, as all were going by turns. We +got excessively impatient under the tame similitude of the latter part +of the process, and burned with desire to have a last thrust at our +respective _vis-à-vis_; for, however desperate our affairs were, we +had still the satisfaction of seeing that theirs were worse. Sir John +Lambert continued to stand as our support, at the head of three good +old regiments, one dead (the twenty-seventh) and two living ones; and +we took the liberty of soliciting him to aid our views; but the Duke's +orders on that head were so very particular that the gallant general +had no choice. + +Presently a cheer, which we knew to be British, commenced far to the +right, and made every one prick up his ears;--it was Lord Wellington's +long wished-for orders to advance; it gradually approached, growing +louder as it grew near;--we took it up by instinct, charged through +the hedge down upon the old knoll, sending our adversaries flying at +the point of the bayonet. Lord Wellington galloped up to us at the +instant, and our men began to cheer him; but he called out, "no +cheering, my lads, but forward, and complete your victory!" + +This movement had carried us clear of the smoke; and, to people who +had been for so many hours enveloped in darkness, in the midst of +destruction, and naturally anxious about the result of the day, the +scene which now met the eye conveyed a feeling of more exquisite +gratification than can be conceived. It was a fine summer's evening, +just before sunset. The French were flying in one confused mass. +British lines were seen in close pursuit, and in admirable order, as +far as the eye could reach to the right, while the plain to the left +was filled with Prussians. The enemy made one last attempt at a stand +on the rising ground to our right of La Belle Alliance; but a charge +from General Adams's brigade again threw them into a state of +confusion, which was now inextricable, and their ruin was complete. +Artillery, baggage, and every thing belonging to them, fell into our +hands. After pursuing them until dark, we halted about two miles +beyond the field of battle, leaving the Prussians to follow up the +victory. + +This was the last, the greatest, and the most uncomfortable heap of +glory that I ever had a hand in, and may the deuce take me if I think +that every body waited there to see the end of it, otherwise it never +could have been so troublesome to those who did. We were, take us all +in all, a very bad army. Our foreign auxiliaries, who constituted more +than half of our numerical strength, with some exceptions, were little +better than a raw militia--a body without a soul, or like an inflated +pillow, that gives to the touch, and resumes its shape again when the +pressure ceases--not to mention the many who went clear out of the +field, and were only seen while plundering our baggage in their +retreat. + +Our heavy cavalry made some brilliant charges in the early part of the +day; but they never knew when to stop, their ardour in following their +advantages carrying them headlong on, until many of them "burnt their +fingers," and got dispersed or destroyed. + +Of that gallant corps, the royal artillery, it is enough to say, that +they maintained their former reputation--the first in the world--and +it was a serious loss to us, in the latter part of the day, to be +deprived of this more powerful co-operation, from the causes already +mentioned. + +The British infantry and the King's German legion continued the +inflexible supporters of their country's honour throughout, and their +unshaken constancy under the most desperate circumstances showed that, +though they might be destroyed, they were not to be beaten. + +If Lord Wellington had been at the head of his old Peninsula army, I +am confident that he would have swept his opponents off the face of +the earth immediately after their first attack; but with such a +heterogeneous mixture under his command, he was obliged to submit to a +longer day. + +It will ever be a matter of dispute what the result of that day would +have been without the arrival of the Prussians: but it is clear to me +that Lord Wellington would not have fought at Waterloo unless Blucher +had promised to aid him with 30,000 men, as he required that number +to put him on a numerical footing with his adversary. It is certain +that the promised aid did not come in time to take any share whatever +in the battle. It is equally certain that the enemy had, long before, +been beaten into a mass of ruin, in condition for nothing but running, +and wanting but an apology to do it; and I will ever maintain that +Lord Wellington's last advance would have made it the same victory had +a Prussian never been seen there. + +The field of battle, next morning, presented a frightful scene of +carnage; it seemed as if the world had tumbled to pieces, and +three-fourths of every thing destroyed in the wreck. The ground +running parallel to the front of where we had stood was so thickly +strewed with fallen men and horses, that it was difficult to step +clear of their bodies; many of the former still alive, and imploring +assistance, which it was not in our power to bestow. + +The usual salutation on meeting an acquaintance of another regiment +after an action was to ask who had been hit? but on this occasion it +was "Who's alive?" Meeting one, next morning, a very little fellow, I +asked what had happened to them yesterday? "I'll be hanged," says he, +"if I know any thing at all about the matter, for I was all day +trodden in the mud and galloped over by every scoundrel who had a +horse; and, in short, that I only owe my existence to my +insignificance." + +Two of our men, on the morning of the 19th, lost their lives by a very +melancholy accident. They were cutting up a captured ammunition-waggon +for firewood, when one of their swords striking against a nail, sent a +spark among the powder. When I looked in the direction of the +explosion, I saw the two poor fellows about twenty or thirty feet up +in the air. On falling to the ground, though lying on their backs or +bellies, some extraordinary effort of nature, caused by the agony of +the moment, made them spring from that position, five or six times, to +the height of eight or ten feet, just as a fish does when thrown on +the ground after being newly caught. It was so unlike a scene in real +life that it was impossible to witness it without forgetting, for a +moment, the horror of their situation. + +I ran to the spot along with others, and found that every stitch of +clothes had been burnt off, and they were black as ink all over. They +were still alive, and told us their names, otherwise we could not have +recognized them; and, singular enough, they were able to walk off the +ground with a little support, but died shortly after. + +Among other officers who fell at Waterloo, we lost one of the wildest +youths that ever belonged to the service. He seemed to have a +prophetic notion of his approaching end, for he repeatedly told us, in +the early part of the morning, that he knew the devil would have him +before night. I shall relate one anecdote of him, which occurred while +we were in Spain. He went, by chance, to pass the day with two +officers, quartered at a neighbouring village, who happened to be, +that day, engaged to dine with the clergyman. Knowing their visitor's +mischievous propensities, they were at first afraid to make him one of +the party; but, after schooling him into a suitable propriety of +behaviour, and exacting a promise of implicit obedience, they, at +last, ventured to take him. On their arrival, the ceremony of +introduction had just been gone through, and their host seated at an +open window, when a favourite cat of his went purring about the young +gentleman's boots, who, catching it by the tail, and giving it two or +three preparatory swings round his head, sent it flying out at the +window where the parson was sitting, who only escaped it by suddenly +stooping. The only apology the youngster made for his conduct was, +"Egad, I think I astonished that fellow!" but whether it was the cat +or the parson he meant I never could learn. + +About twelve o'clock, on the day after the battle, we commenced our +march for Paris. I shall, therefore, leave my readers at Waterloo, in +the hope that, among the many stories of romance to which that and the +other celebrated fields gave birth, the foregoing unsophisticated one +of an eye-witness may not have been found altogether uninteresting. + + + + +THE END + + +ERRATA. + + +Page 7, line 13, _read_ "of lively." + +Page 9, line 18, _read_ "reinforced" _instead of_ "reenforced." + +Page 25, line 17, _read_ "her's" _instead of_ "hers." + +Page 27, line 3, _read_ "with him!!!" + +Page 73, line 8, _read_ "when we" _instead of_ "when it." + +Page 154, line 21, _read_ "17th" _instead of_ "19th." + +Page 178, line 14, _read_ "re-crossed" _instead of_ "re-crosed." + +Page 219, line 17, _read_ "held one side" _instead of_ "held on one +side." + +Page 266, line 13, _read_ "dying state;" _instead of_ "dying; state." + +Page 269, lines 14 and 15, _read_ "to remark in a French officer, +occurred" _instead of_ "to remark was that of a French officer, which +occurred." + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Adventures in the Rifle Brigade, in +the Peninsula, France, and the Netherlands, by Captain J. Kincaid + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RIFLE BRIGADE *** + +***** This file should be named 28981-8.txt or 28981-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/9/8/28981/ + +Produced by StevenGibbs, Christine P. Travers and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/28981-8.zip b/28981-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cf4ea58 --- /dev/null +++ b/28981-8.zip diff --git a/28981-h.zip b/28981-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..916167f --- /dev/null +++ b/28981-h.zip diff --git a/28981-h/28981-h.htm b/28981-h/28981-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8ac8462 --- /dev/null +++ b/28981-h/28981-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6732 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html lang="en"> + +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg e-Book of Adventures in the Rifle Brigade; Author: J. Kincaid.</title> + + +<style type="text/css"> +<!-- + +body {font-size: 1em; text-align: justify; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%;} + +h1 {font-size: 110%; text-align: center; margin-top: 4em; margin-bottom: 2em; line-height: 1.5em;} +h2 {font-size: 105%; text-align: center; margin-top: 4em; margin-bottom: 2em;} +h3 {font-size: 105%; text-align: center; margin-top: 4em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h4 {font-size: 95%; text-align: center; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} + +a:focus, a:active { outline:#ffee66 solid 2px; background-color:#ffee66;} +a:focus img, a:active img {outline: #ffee66 solid 2px; } + +p {text-indent: 1em;} + +ul {list-style-type: none;} + +.p2 {margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +.p4 {margin-top: 4em; margin-bottom: 1em;} + +.pagenum {visibility: hidden; + position: absolute; right:0; text-align: right; + font-size: 10px; + font-weight: normal; font-variant: normal; + font-style: normal; letter-spacing: normal; + color: #C0C0C0; background-color: inherit;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 95%;} +.smaller {font-size: smaller;} +.small {font-size: 70%;} + +.tn p {margin-left: 15%; width: 70%; text-indent: 0em; font-size: 80%; text-indent: 0em;} +.toc {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} +.resume {margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 10%; text-indent: -5%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 2em;} +.tocres {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 5%; text-indent: 0%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 2em;} +.order p {margin-left: 10%; text-indent: -5%;} +.poem {margin-left: 5%; font-size: 95%; text-indent: 0em;} +.poem15 {margin-left: 15%; font-size: 95%; text-indent: 0em;} + +.center {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;} +.noindent {text-indent: 0em;} +.right10 {text-align: right; margin-right: 20%;} +.add1em {margin-left: 1em;} +.add8em {margin-left: 8em;} +.min03em {margin-left: -0.3em;} + +.ralign {position: absolute; right: 5%; top: auto;} + + +--> +</style> + +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Adventures in the Rifle Brigade, in the +Peninsula, France, and the Netherlands, by Captain J. Kincaid + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Adventures in the Rifle Brigade, in the Peninsula, France, and the Netherlands + from 1809 to 1815 + +Author: Captain J. Kincaid + +Release Date: May 29, 2009 [EBook #28981] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RIFLE BRIGADE *** + + + + +Produced by StevenGibbs, Christine P. Travers and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<div class="tn"> +<p>Transcriber's note: Obvious printer's errors have been corrected. +Hyphenation and accentuation have been standardised, all +other inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's spelling +has been maintained.</p> + +<p>There is no Chapter IV in this book.</p> + +<p>The errata changes have been included in the file.</p> +</div> + + +<h1>ADVENTURES<br> +<span class="small">IN THE</span><br> +RIFLE BRIGADE,<br> +<span class="small">IN THE</span><br> +PENINSULA,<br> +FRANCE, AND THE NETHERLANDS,<br> +<span class="smaller"><span class="smcap">FROM</span> 1809 <span class="smcap">TO</span> 1815.</span></h1> + + +<h2>BY CAPTAIN J. KINCAID.</h2> + + +<p class="p4 center smaller">LONDON:<br> +T. AND W. BOONE, STRAND.<br> +MDCCCXXX.</p> + +<p class="p4 center">TO<br> +MAJOR-GEN. SIR ANDREW BARNARD,<br> +<span class="smaller">K. C. B.<br> +COLONEL OF THE FIRST BATTALION RIFLE BRIGADE,<br> +AND ITS LEADER<br> +DURING A LONG AND BRILLIANT PERIOD<br> +OF ITS HISTORY,<br> +THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED<br> +BY HIS VERY OBEDIENT<br> +AND VERY OBLIGED HUMBLE SERVANT,</span></p> + +<p class="right10">J. KINCAID.</p> + + + + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a id="pagevii" name="pagevii"></a>(p. vii)</span> ADVERTISEMENT.</h2> + + +<p>In tracing the following scenes, I have chiefly drawn on the +reminiscences of my military life, and endeavoured faithfully to convey +to the mind of the reader the impression which they made on my own at +the time of their occurrence. Should any errors, as to dates or trifling +circumstances, have inadvertently crept into my narrative, I hope they +will be ascribed to want of memory, rather than to any <span class="pagenum"><a id="pageviii" name="pageviii"></a>(p. viii)</span> wilful +intention to mislead. I am aware, that some objections may be taken to +my style; for</p> + +<p class="poem15"> +<span class="add8em">"Rude am I in my speech,</span><br> + And little bless'd with the set phrase of peace:<br> + For, since these arms of mine had seven years' pith,<br> + Till now, some nine moons wasted, they have us'd<br> + Their dearest action in the tented field:<br> + And little of this world can I speak,<br> + More than pertains to feats of broil and battle;<br> + And therefore little shall I grace my cause<br> + In speaking for myself; yet, by your gracious patience,<br> + I will a round unvarnished tale deliver,"</p> + + + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a id="pageix" name="pageix"></a>(p. ix)</span> CONTENTS.</h2> + + +<a id="toc" name="toc"></a> +<div class="toc"> +<p class="center">CHAPTER I.</p> + +<p class="tocres">Joined the Rifles. Walcheren Expedition. A young Soldier. A + Marine View. Campaign in South Beeveland. Retreat to Scotland. <span class="ralign"><a href="#page001">1</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">CHAP. II.</p> + +<p class="tocres">Rejoin the Regiment. Embark for the Peninsula. Arrival in the + Tagus. The City of Lisbon, with its Contents. Sail for Figuera. + Landing extraordinary. Billet ditto. The City of Coimbra. A hard + Case. A cold Case, in which a favourite Scotch Dance is + introduced. Climate. The Duke of Wellington. <span class="ralign"><a href="#page004">4</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">CHAP. III.</p> + +<p class="tocres">Other People, Myself, and my Regiment. Retreat to the Lines of + Torres Vedras. Leave Coimbra, followed by a select group of + Natives. Ford the Streets of Condacia in good spirits. A + Provost-Marshal and <span class="pagenum"><a id="pagex" name="pagex"></a>(p. x)</span> his favourites. A fall. Convent of + Batalha. Turned out of Allenquer. Passed through Sobral. Turned + into Arruda. Quartering of the Light Division, and their Quarters + at Arruda. Burial of an only Child. Lines of Torres Vedras. + Difference of opinion between Massena and Myself. Military + Customs. <span class="ralign"><a href="#page015">15</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">CHAP. V.</p> + +<p class="tocres">Campaign of 1811 opens. Massena's Retreat. Wretched Condition of + the Inhabitants on the Line of March. Affairs with the Enemy, + near Pombal. Description of a Bivouac. Action near Redinha. + Destruction of Condacia and Action near it. Burning of the + Village of Illama, and Misery of its Inhabitants. Action at Foz + D'Aronce. Confidential Servants with Donkey-Assistants. <span class="ralign"><a href="#page038">38</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">CHAP. VI.</p> + +<p class="tocres">Passage of the Mondego. Swearing to a large Amount. Two + Prisoners, with their Two Views. Two Nuns, Two Pieces of Dough, + and Two Kisses. A Halt. Affair near Frexedas. Arrival near + Guarda. Murder. A stray Sentry. Battle of Sabugal. Spanish and + Portuguese Frontiers. Blockade of Almeida. Battle-like. Current + Value of Lord Wellington's Nose. <span class="pagenum"><a id="pagexi" name="pagexi"></a>(p. xi)</span> Battle of Fuentes + D'Onor. The Day after the Battle. A grave Remark. The <i>Padre's</i> + House. Retreat of the Enemy. <span class="ralign"><a href="#page061">61</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">CHAP. VII.</p> + +<p class="tocres">March to Estremadura. At Soito, growing Accommodations for Man + and Beast. British Taste displayed by Portuguese Wolves. False + Alarm. Luxuries of Roquingo Camp. A Chaplain of the Forces. + Return towards the North. Quarters near Castello de Vide. + Blockade of Ciudad Rodrigo. Village of Atalya; Fleas abundant; + Food scarce. Advance of the French Army. Affairs near Guinaldo. + Our Minister administered to. An unexpected Visit from our + General and his Followers. End of the Campaign of 1811. Winter + Quarters. <span class="ralign"><a href="#page083">83</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">CHAP. VIII.</p> + +<p class="tocres">Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo. The Garrison of an Outwork relieved. + Spending an Evening abroad. A Musical Study. An Addition to Soup. + A short Cut. Storming of the Town. A sweeping Clause. Advantages + of leading a Storming Party. Looking for a Customer. + Disadvantages of being a stormed Party. Confusion of all Parties. + A waking Dream. Death of General Crawford. Accident. Deaths. <span class="ralign"><a href="#page100">100</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center"><span class="pagenum"><a id="pagexii" name="pagexii"></a>(p. xii)</span> CHAP. IX.</p> + +<p class="tocres">March to Estremadura. A Deserter shot. Riding for an Appetite. + Effect the Cure of a Sick Lady. Siege of Badajos. Trench-Work. + Varieties during the Siege. Taste of the Times. Storming of the + Town. Its Fall. Officers of a French Battalion. Not shot by + Accident. Military Shopkeepers. Lost Legs and cold Hearts. + Affecting Anecdote. My Servant. A Consignment to Satan. March + again for the North. Sir Sidney Beckwith. <span class="ralign"><a href="#page121">121</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">CHAP. X.</p> + +<p class="tocres">A Farewell Address to Portalegré. History of a Night in Castello + Branco. Regimental Colours lost, with Directions where to find + them. Cases in which a Victory is sometimes won by those who lost + it. Advance to Salamanca. The City. The British Position on St. + Christoval. Affair in Position. Marmont's Change of Position and + Retreat. A Case of Bad Luck. Advance to Rueda, and Customs there. + Retire to Castrejon. Affairs on the 18th and 19th of July. + Battle of Salamanca, and Defeat of the Enemy. <span class="ralign"><a href="#page143">143</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center"><span class="pagenum"><a id="pagexiii" name="pagexiii"></a>(p. xiii)</span> CHAP. XI.</p> + +<p class="tocres">Distinguished Characters. A Charge of Dragoons. A Charge against + the Nature of Things. Olmeda and the French General, Ferez. + Advance towards Madrid. Adventures of my Dinner. The Town of + Segovia. El Palacio del Rio Frio. The Escurial. Enter Madrid. + Rejoicings. Nearly happy. Change of a Horse. Change of Quarters. + A Change confounded. Retire towards Salamanca. Boar-Hunt, + Dinner-Hunt, and Bull-Hunt. A Portuguese Funeral conducted by + Rifle Undertakers. <span class="ralign"><a href="#page165">165</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">CHAP. XII.</p> + +<p class="tocres">Reach Salamanca. Retreat from it. Pig Hunting, an Enemy to + Sleep-Hunting. Putting one's Foot in it. Affair on the 17th of + November. Bad Legs sometimes last longer than good ones. A Wet + Birth. Prospectus of a Day's Work. A lost <i>déjûné</i> better than a + found one. Advantages not taken. A disagreeable Amusement, End of + the Campaign of 1812. Winter Quarters. Orders and Disorders + treated. Farewell Opinion of Ancient Allies. My House. <span class="ralign"><a href="#page183">183</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center"><span class="pagenum"><a id="pagexiv" name="pagexiv"></a>(p. xiv)</span> CHAP. XIII.</p> + +<p class="tocres">A Review. Assembly of the Army. March to Salamanca. To Aldea + Nueva. To Toro. An Affair of the Hussar Brigade. To Palencia. To + the Neighbourhood of Burgos. To the Banks of the Ebro. Fruitful + sleeping place. To Medina. A Dance before it was due. Smell the + Foe. Affair at St. Milan. A Physical River. <span class="ralign"><a href="#page200">200</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">CHAP. XIV.</p> + +<p class="tocres">Battle of Vittoria. Defeat of the Enemy. Confusion among their + Followers. Plunder. Colonel Cameron. Pursuit, and the Capture of + their Last Gun. Arrive near Pampeluna. At Villalba. An Irish + method of making a useless Bed useful. <span class="ralign"><a href="#page213">213</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">CHAP. XV.</p> + +<p class="tocres">March to intercept Clausel. Tafalla. Olite. The dark End of a + Night March to Casada. Clausel's Escape. Sanguessa. My Tent + struck. Return to Villalba. Weighty Considerations on Females. + St. Esteban. A Severe Dance. Position at Bera. Soult's Advance, + and Battle of the Pyrenees. His Defeat and subsequent Actions. A + Morning's Ride. <span class="ralign"><a href="#page231">231</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center"><span class="pagenum"><a id="pagexv" name="pagexv"></a>(p. xv)</span> CHAP. XVI.</p> + +<p class="tocres">An Anniversary Dinner. Affair with the Enemy, and Fall of St. + Sebastian. A Building Speculation. A Fighting one, storming the + Heights of Bera. A Picture of France from the Pyrenees. Returns + after an Action. Sold by my Pay-Serjeant. A Recruit born at his + Post. Between Two Fires, a Sea and a Land one. Position of La + Rhune. My Picture taken in a Storm. Refreshing Invention for + wintry Weather. <span class="ralign"><a href="#page246">246</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">CHAP. XVII.</p> + +<p class="tocres">Battle of the Nivelle, and Defeat of the Enemy. A Bird of Evil + Omen. Chateau D'Arcangues. Prudence. An Enemy's Gratitude. + Passage of the Nive, and Battles near Bayonne, from 9th to 13th + December. <span class="ralign"><a href="#page263">263</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">CHAP. XVIII.</p> + +<p class="tocres">Change of Quarters. Change of Diet. Suttlers. Our new Quarter. A + long-going Horse gone. New Clothing. Adam's lineal Descendants. + St. Palais. Action at Tarbes. Faubourg of Toulouse. The green + Man. Passage of the Garonne. Battle of Toulouse. Peace. Castle + Sarrazin. A Tender Point. <span class="ralign"><a href="#page280">280</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center"><span class="pagenum"><a id="pagexvi" name="pagexvi"></a>(p. xvi)</span> CHAP. XIX.</p> + +<p class="tocres">Commencement of the War of 1815. Embark for Rotterdam. Ship's + Stock. Ship struck. A Pilot, a Smuggler, and a Lawyer. A Boat + without Stock. Join the Regiment at Brussels. <span class="ralign"><a href="#page301">301</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">CHAP. XX.</p> + +<p class="tocres">Relative Situation of the Troops. March from Brussels. The Prince + and the Beggar. Battle of Quatre-Bras. <span class="ralign"><a href="#page307">307</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">CHAP. XXI.</p> + +<p class="tocres">Battle of Waterloo, 18th June, 1815. "A Horse! a Horse!" + Breakfast. Position. Disposition. Meeting of <i>particular</i> + Friends. Dish of Powder and Ball. Fricassee of Swords. End of + First Course. Pounding. Brewing. Peppering. Cutting and Maiming. + Fury. Tantalizing. Charging. Cheering. Chasing. Opinionizing. + Anecdotes. The End. <span class="ralign"><a href="#page327">327</a></span></p> +</div> + + + + +<h1><span class="pagenum"><a id="page001" name="page001"></a>(p. 001)</span> ADVENTURES IN THE RIFLE BRIGADE.</h1> + + + + +<h3>CHAPTER I.</h3> + +<p class="resume">Joined the Rifles. Walcheren Expedition. A young Soldier. A + Marine View. Campaign in South Beeveland. Retreat to Scotland.</p> + + +<p>I joined the second battalion rifle brigade, (then the ninety-fifth,) at +Hythe-Barracks, in the spring of 1809, and, in a month after, we +proceeded to form a part of the expedition to Holland, under the Earl of +Chatham.</p> + +<p>With the usual Quixotic feelings of a youngster, I remember how very +desirous I was, on <span class="pagenum"><a id="page002" name="page002"></a>(p. 002)</span> the march to Deal, to impress the minds of +the natives with a suitable notion of the magnitude of my importance, by +carrying a donkey-load of pistols in my belt, and screwing my naturally +placid countenance up to a pitch of ferocity beyond what it was +calculated to bear.</p> + +<p>We embarked in the Downs, on board the Hussar frigate, and afterwards +removed to the Namur, a seventy-four, in which we were conveyed to our +destination.</p> + +<p>I had never before been in a ship of war, and it appeared to me, the +first night, as if the sailors and marines did not pull well together, +excepting by the ears; for my hammock was slung over the descent into +the cockpit, and I had scarcely turned-in when an officer of marines +came and abused his sentry for not seeing the lights out below, +according to orders. The sentry proceeded to explain, that the <i>middies</i> +would not put them out for him, when the naked shoulders and the head of +one of them, illuminated with a red nightcap, made its appearance above +the hatchway, and began to take a lively share in <span class="pagenum"><a id="page003" name="page003"></a>(p. 003)</span> the +argument. The marine officer, looking down, with some astonishment, +demanded, "d—n you, sir, who are you?" to which the head and shoulders +immediately rejoined, "and d—n and b—t you, sir, who are you?"</p> + +<p>We landed on the island of South Beeveland, where we remained about +three weeks, playing at soldiers, smoking <i>mynheer's</i> long clay pipes, +and drinking his <i>vrow's</i> butter-milk, for which I paid liberally with +my precious blood to their infernal musquitos; not to mention that I had +all the extra valour shaken out of me by a horrible ague, which +commenced a campaign on my carcass, and compelled me to retire upon +Scotland, for the aid of my native air, by virtue of which it was +ultimately routed.</p> + +<p>I shall not carry my first chapter beyond my first campaign, as I am +anxious that my reader should not expend more than his first breath upon +an event which cost too many their last.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + + + + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page004" name="page004"></a>(p. 004)</span> CHAP. II.</h3> + +<p class="resume">Rejoin the Regiment. Embark for the Peninsula. Arrival in the + Tagus. The City of Lisbon, with its Contents. Sail for Figuera. + Landing extraordinary. Billet ditto. The City of Coimbra. A hard + Case. A cold Case, in which a favourite Scotch Dance is + introduced. Climate. The Duke of Wellington.</p> + + +<p>I rejoined the battalion, at Hythe, in the spring of 1810, and, finding +that the company to which I belonged had embarked, to join the first +battalion in the Peninsula, and that they were waiting at Spithead for a +fair wind, I immediately applied, and obtained permission, to join them.</p> + +<p>We were about the usual time at sea, and indulged in the usual +amusements, beginning with keeping journals, in which I succeeded in +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page005" name="page005"></a>(p. 005)</span> inserting two remarks on the state of the weather, when I +found my inclination for book-making superseded by the more disagreeable +study of appearing eminently happy under an irresistible inclination +towards sea-sickness. We anchored in the Tagus in September;—no thanks +to the ship, for she was a leaky one, and wishing foul winds to the +skipper, for he was a bad one.</p> + +<p>To look at Lisbon from the Tagus, there are few cities in the universe +that can promise so much, and none, I hope, that can keep it so badly.</p> + +<p>I only got on shore one day, for a few hours, and, as I never again had +an opportunity of correcting the impression, I have no objection to its +being considered an uncharitable one; but I wandered for a time amid the +abominations of its streets and squares, in the vain hope that I had got +involved among a congregation of stables and outhouses; but when I was, +at length, compelled to admit it as the miserable apology for the fair +city that I had seen from the harbour, I began to contemplate, with +astonishment, and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page006" name="page006"></a>(p. 006)</span> no little amusement, the very appropriate +appearance of its inhabitants.</p> + +<p>The church, I concluded, had, on that occasion, indulged her numerous +offspring with a holiday, for they occupied a much larger portion of the +streets than all the world besides. Some of them were languidly +strolling about, and looking the sworn foes of time, while others +crowded the doors of the different coffee-houses; the fat jolly-looking +friars cooling themselves with lemonade, and the lean mustard-pot-faced +ones sipping coffee out of thimble-sized cups, with as much caution as +if it had been physic.</p> + +<p>The next class that attracted my attention was the numerous collection +of well-starved dogs, who were indulging in all the luxury of extreme +poverty on the endless dung-heaps.</p> + +<p>There, too, sat the industrious citizen, basking in the sunshine of his +shop-door, and gathering in the flock which is so bountifully reared on +his withered tribe of children. There strutted the spruce cavalier, with +his upper-man furnished at the expense of his lower, and looking +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page007" name="page007"></a>(p. 007)</span> ridiculously imposing: and there—but sacred be their +daughters, for the sake of <i>one</i>, who shed a lustre over her squalid +sisterhood, sufficiently brilliant to redeem their whole nation from the +odious sin of ugliness. I was looking for an official person, living +somewhere near the Convent D'Estrella, and was endeavouring to express +my wishes to a boy, when I heard a female voice, in broken English, from +a balcony above, giving the information I desired. I looked up, and saw +a young girl, dressed in white, who was loveliness itself! In the few +words which passed between us, of lively unconstrained civility on her +part, and pure confounded gratitude on mine, she seemed so perfectly +after my own heart, that she lit a torch in it which burnt for two years +and a half.</p> + +<p>It must not detract from her merits that she was almost the only one +that I saw during that period in which it was my fate to tread war's +roughest, rudest path,—daily staring his grim majesty out of +countenance, and nightly slumbering on the cold earth, or in the +tenantless <span class="pagenum"><a id="page008" name="page008"></a>(p. 008)</span> mansion, for I felt as if she would have been the +chosen companion of my waking dreams in <i>rosier</i> walks, as I never +recalled the fair vision to my aid, even in the worst of times, that it +did not act upon my drooping spirits like a glass of brandy.</p> + +<p>It pleased the great disposer of naval events to remove us to another +and a better ship, and to send us off for Figuera, next day, with a foul +wind.</p> + +<p>Sailing at the rate of one mile in two hours, we reached Figuera's Bay +at the end of eight days, and were welcomed by about a hundred hideous +looking Portuguese women, whose joy was so excessive that they waded up +to their arm-pits through a heavy surf, and insisted on carrying us on +shore on their backs! I never clearly ascertained whether they had been +actuated by the purity of love or gold.</p> + +<p>Our men were lodged for the night in a large barn, and the officers +billetted in town. Mine chanced to be on the house of a mad-woman, whose +extraordinary appearance I never shall <span class="pagenum"><a id="page009" name="page009"></a>(p. 009)</span> forget. Her petticoats +scarcely reached to the knee, and all above the lower part of the bosom +was bare; and though she looked not more than middle aged, her skin +seemed as if it had been regularly prepared to receive the impression of +her last will and testament; her head was defended by a chevaux-de-frise +of black wiry hair, which pointed fiercely in every direction, while her +eyes looked like two burnt holes in a blanket. I had no sooner opened +the door than she stuck her arms a-kimbo, and, opening a mouth, which +stretched from ear to ear, she began vociferating "<i>bravo, bravissimo</i>!"</p> + +<p>Being a stranger alike to the appearance and the manners of the natives, +I thought it possible that the former might have been nothing out of the +common run, and concluding that she was overjoyed at seeing her country +reinforced, at that perilous moment, by a fellow upwards of six feet +high, and thinking it necessary to sympathize in some degree in her +patriotic feelings, I began to "<i>bravo</i>" too; but as her second shout +ascended ten degrees, and kept increasing <span class="pagenum"><a id="page010" name="page010"></a>(p. 010)</span> in that ratio, until +it amounted to absolute frenzy, I faced to the right-about, and, before +our <i>tête-à-tête</i> had lasted the brief space of three-quarters of a +minute, I disappeared with all possible haste, her terrific yells +vibrating in my astonished ears long after I had turned the corner of +the street; nor did I feel perfectly at ease until I found myself +stretched on a bundle of straw in a corner of the barn occupied by the +men.</p> + +<p>We proceeded, next morning, to join the army; and, as our route lay +through the city of Coimbra, we came to the magnanimous resolution of +providing ourselves with all manner of comforts and equipments for the +campaign on our arrival there; but, when we entered it, at the end of +the second day, our disappointment was quite eclipsed by astonishment at +finding ourselves the only living things in a city, which ought to have +been furnished with twenty thousand souls.</p> + +<p>Lord Wellington was then in the course of his retreat from the frontiers +of Spain to the lines of Torres Vedras, and had compelled the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page011" name="page011"></a>(p. 011)</span> +inhabitants on the line of march to abandon their homes, and to destroy +or carry away every thing that could be of service to the enemy. It was +a measure that ultimately saved their country, though ruinous and +distressing to those concerned, and on no class of individuals did it +bear harder, for the moment, than our own little detachment, a company +of rosy-cheeked, chubbed youths, who, after three months feeding on +ship's dumplings, were thus thrust, at a moment of extreme activity, in +the face of an advancing foe, supported by a pound of raw beef, drawn +every day fresh from the bullock, and a mouldy biscuit.</p> + +<p>The difficulties we encountered were nothing out of the usual course of +old campaigners; but, untrained and unprovided as I was, I still looked +back upon the twelve or fourteen days following the battle of Busaco as +the most trying I have ever experienced, for we were on our legs from +daylight until dark, in daily contact with the enemy; and, to satisfy +the stomach of an ostrich, I had, as already stated, only a <span class="pagenum"><a id="page012" name="page012"></a>(p. 012)</span> +pound of beef, a pound of biscuit, and one glass of rum. A +brother-officer was kind enough to strap my boat-cloak and portmanteau +on the mule carrying his heavy baggage, which, on account of the +proximity of the foe, was never permitted to be within a day's march of +us, so that, in addition to my simple uniform, my only covering every +night was the canopy of heaven, from whence the dews descended so +refreshingly, that I generally awoke, at the end of an hour, chilled, +and wet to the skin; and I could only purchase an equal length of +additional repose by jumping up and running about, until I acquired a +sleeping quantity of warmth. Nothing in life can be more ridiculous than +seeing a lean, lank fellow start from a profound sleep, at midnight, and +begin lashing away at the highland fling, as if St. Andrew himself had +been playing the bagpipes; but it was a measure that I very often had +recourse to, as the cleverest method of producing heat. In short, though +the prudent general may preach the propriety of light baggage in the +enemy's <span class="pagenum"><a id="page013" name="page013"></a>(p. 013)</span> presence, I will ever maintain that there is +marvellous small personal comfort in travelling so fast and so lightly +as I did.</p> + +<p>The Portuguese farmers will tell you that the beauty of their climate +consists in their crops receiving from the nightly dews the refreshing +influence of a summer's shower, and that they ripen in the daily sun. +But <i>they</i> are a sordid set of rascals! Whereas <i>I</i> speak with the +enlightened views of a man of war, and say, that it is poor consolation +to me, after having been deprived of my needful repose, and kept all +night in a fever, dancing wet and cold, to be told that I shall be warm +enough in the morning? it is like frying a person after he has been +boiled; and I insisted upon it, that if their sun had been milder and +their dews lighter that I should have found it much more pleasant.</p> + + +<h4><span class="pagenum"><a id="page014" name="page014"></a>(p. 014)</span> THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON.</h4> + +<p>From the moment that I joined the army, so intense was my desire to get +a look at this illustrious chief, that I never should have forgiven the +Frenchman that had killed me before I effected it. My curiosity did not +remain long ungratified; for, as our post was next the enemy, I found, +when anything was to be done, that it was his also. He was just such a +man as I had figured in my mind's eye, and I thought that the stranger +would betray a grievous want of penetration who could not select the +Duke of Wellington from amid five hundred in the same uniform.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + + + + + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page015" name="page015"></a>(p. 015)</span> CHAP. III.</h3> + +<p class="resume">Other People, Myself, and my Regiment. Retreat to the Lines of + Torres Vedras. Leave Coimbra, followed by a select group of + Natives. Ford the Streets of Condacia in good spirit. A + Provost-Marshal and his favourites. A fall. Convent of Batalha. + Turned out of Allenquer. Passed through Sobral. Turned into + Arruda. Quartering of the Light Division, and their Quarters at + Arruda. Burial of an only Child. Lines of Torres Vedras. + Difference of opinion between Massena and Myself. Military + Customs.</p> + + +<p>Having now brought myself regularly into the field, under the renowned +Wellington, should this narrative, by any accident, fall into the hands +of others who served there, and who may be unreasonable enough to expect +their names to be mentioned in it, let me tell them that <span class="pagenum"><a id="page016" name="page016"></a>(p. 016)</span> they +are most confoundedly mistaken! Every man may write a book for himself, +if he likes, but <i>this</i> is mine; and, as I borrow no man's story, +neither will I give any man a particle of credit for his deeds, as I +have got so little for my own that I have none to spare. Neither will I +mention any regiment but my own, if I can possibly avoid it, for there +is none other that I like so much, and none else so much deserves it; +for we were the light regiment of the Light Division, and fired the +first and last shot in almost every battle, siege, and skirmish, in +which the army was engaged during the war.</p> + +<p>In stating the foregoing resolution, however, with regard to regiments, +I beg to be understood as identifying our old and gallant associates, +the forty-third and fifty-second, as a part of ourselves, for they bore +their share in every thing, and I love them as I hope to do my better +half, (when I come to be divided,) wherever <i>we</i> were, <i>they</i> were; and +although the nature of our arm generally gave us more employment in the +way of skirmishing, yet, whenever it came to a pinch, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page017" name="page017"></a>(p. 017)</span> +independent of a suitable mixture of them among us, we had only to look +behind to see a line, in which we might place a degree of confidence, +almost equal to our hopes in heaven; nor were we ever disappointed. +There never was a corps of riflemen in the hands of such supporters!</p> + +<p>October 1st, 1810.—We stood to our arms at day light this morning, on a +hill in front of Coimbra; and, as the enemy soon after came on in force, +we retired before them through the city. The civil authorities, in +making their own hurried escape, had totally forgotten that they had +left a gaol full of rogues unprovided for, and who, as we were passing +near them, made the most hideous screaming for relief. Our +quarter-master-general very humanely took some men, who broke open the +doors, and the whole of them were soon seen howling along the bridge +into the wide world, in the most delightful delirium, with the French +dragoons at their heels.</p> + +<p>We retired, the same night, through Condacia, where the commissariat +were destroying quantities <span class="pagenum"><a id="page018" name="page018"></a>(p. 018)</span> of stores that they were unable to +carry off. They handed out shoes and shirts to any one that would take +them, and the streets were literally running ankle deep with rum, in +which the soldiers were dipping their cups and helping themselves as +they marched along. The commissariat, some years afterwards, called for +a return of the men who had received shirts and shoes on this occasion, +with a view of making us pay for them, but we very briefly replied that +the one half were dead, and the other half would be d——d before they +would pay any thing.</p> + +<p>We retired this day to Leria, and, at the entrance of the city, saw an +English and a Portuguese soldier dangling by the bough of a tree—the +first summary example I had ever seen of martial law.</p> + +<p>A provost-marshal, on actual service, is a character of considerable +pretensions, as he can flog at pleasure, always moves about with a guard +of honour, and though he cannot altogether stop a man's breath without +an order, yet, when he is <span class="pagenum"><a id="page019" name="page019"></a>(p. 019)</span> ordered to hang a given number out +of a crowd of plunderers, his <i>friends</i> are not particularly designated, +so that he can invite any one that he takes a fancy to, to follow him to +the nearest tree, where he, without further ceremony, relieves him from +the cares and troubles of this wicked world.</p> + +<p>There was only one <i>furnished</i> shop remaining in the town at this time, +and I went in to see what they had got to sell; but I had scarcely past +the threshold when I heard a tremendous clatter at my heels, as if the +opposite house had been pitched in at the door after me; and, on +wheeling round to ascertain the cause, I found, when the dust cleared +away, that a huge stone balcony, with iron railings, which had been over +the door, overcharged with a collection of old wives looking at the +troops, had tumbled down; and in spite of their vociferations for the +aid of their patron saints, some them were considerably damaged.</p> + +<p>We halted one night near the Convent of Batalha, one of the finest +buildings in Portugal. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page020" name="page020"></a>(p. 020)</span> It has, I believe, been clearly +established, that a living man in ever so bad health is better than two +dead ones; but it appears that the latter will vary in value according +to circumstances, for we found here, in very high preservation, the body +of King John of Portugal, who founded the edifice in commemoration of +some victory, God knows how long ago; and though he would have been +reckoned a highly valuable antique, within a glass case, in an +apothecary's hall in England, yet he was held so cheap in his own house, +that the very finger which most probably pointed the way to the victory +alluded to, is now in the baggage of the Rifle Brigade! Reader, point +not <i>thy</i> finger at me, for I am not the man.</p> + +<p>Retired on the morning of a very wet, stormy day to Allenquer, a small +town on the top of a mountain, surrounded by still higher ones; and, as +the enemy had not shewn themselves the evening before, we took +possession of the houses, with a tolerable prospect of being permitted +the unusual treat of eating a dinner under cover. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page021" name="page021"></a>(p. 021)</span> But by the +time that the pound of beef was parboiled, and while an officer of +dragoons was in the act of reporting that he had just patrolled six +leagues to the front, without seeing any signs of an enemy, we saw the +indefatigable rascals, on the mountain opposite our windows, just +beginning to wind round us, with a mixture of cavalry and infantry; the +wind blowing so strong, that the long tail of each particular horse +stuck as stiffly out in the face of the one behind, as if the whole had +been strung upon a cable and dragged by the leaders. We turned out a few +companies, and kept them in check while the division was getting under +arms, spilt the soup as usual, and transferring the smoking solids to +the haversack, for future mastication, we continued our retreat.</p> + +<p>We past through the town of Sobral, soon after dark, the same night; +and, by the aid of some rushlights in a window, saw two apothecaries, +the very counterparts of Romeo's, who were the only remnants of the +place, and had braved the horrors of war for the sake of the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page022" name="page022"></a>(p. 022)</span> +gallipots, and in the hopes that their profession would be held sacred. +They were both on the same side of the counter, looking each other point +blank in the face, their sharp noses not three inches apart, and neither +daring to utter a syllable, but both listening intensely to the noise +outside. Whatever their courage might have been screwed up to before, it +was evident that we were indebted for their presence now to their fears; +and their appearance altogether was so ludicrous, that they excited +universal shouts of laughter as they came within view of the successive +divisions.</p> + +<p>Our long retreat ended at midnight, on our arrival at the handsome +little town of Arruda, which was destined to be the piquet post of our +division, in front of the fortified lines. The quartering of our +division, whether by night or by day, was an affair of about five +minutes. The quarter-master-general preceded the troops, accompanied by +the brigade-majors and the quarter-masters of regiments; and after +marking off certain houses for his general and staff, he <span class="pagenum"><a id="page023" name="page023"></a>(p. 023)</span> split +the remainder of the town between the majors of brigades: they in their +turn provided for their generals and staff, and then made a wholesale +division of streets among the quarter-masters of regiments, who, after +providing for their commanding officers and staff, retailed the +remaining houses, in equal proportions, among the companies; so that, by +the time that the regiment arrived, there was nothing to be done beyond +the quarter-master's simply telling each captain, "here's a certain +number of houses for you."</p> + +<p>Like all other places on the line of march, we found Arruda totally +deserted, and its inhabitants had fled in such a hurry, that the keys of +their house doors were the only things they carried away; so that when +we got admission, through our usual key,<a id="footnotetag1" name="footnotetag1"></a><a href="#footnote1" title="Go to footnote 1"><span class="smaller">[1]</span></a> we were not a little +gratified to find that the houses were not only regularly furnished, but +most of them had some food in the larder, and a plentiful supply of +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page024" name="page024"></a>(p. 024)</span> good wines in the cellar; and, in short, that they only +required a few lodgers capable of appreciating the good things which the +gods had provided; and the deuce is in it if we were not the very folks +who could!</p> + +<p>Unfortunately for ourselves, and still more so for the proprietors, we +never dreamt of the possibility of our being able to keep possession of +the town, as we thought it a matter of course that the enemy would +attack our lines; and, as this was only an outpost, that it must fall +into their hands; so that, in conformity with the system upon which we +had all along been retreating, we destroyed every thing that we could +not use ourselves, to prevent their benefiting by it. But, when we +continued to hold the post beyond the expected period, our indiscretion +was visited on our own heads, as we had destroyed in a day what would +have made us luxurious for months. We were in hopes that, afterwards, +the enemy would have forced the post, if only for an hour, that we might +have saddled them with the mischief; but, as they never even made +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page025" name="page025"></a>(p. 025)</span> the attempt, it left it in the power of ill-natured people to +say, that we had plundered one of our own towns. This was the only +instance during the war in which the light division had reason to blush +for their conduct, and even in that we had the law martial on our side, +whatever gospel law might have said against it.</p> + +<p>The day after our arrival, Mr. Simmons and myself had the curiosity to +look into the church, which was in nowise injured, and was fitted up in +a style of magnificence becoming such a town. The body of a poor old +woman was there, lying dead before the altar. It seemed as if she had +been too infirm to join in the general flight, and had just dragged +herself to that spot by a last effort of nature, and expired. We +immediately determined, that as her's was the only body that we had +found in the town, either alive or dead, that she should have more glory +in the grave than she appeared to have enjoyed on this side of it; and, +with our united exertions, we succeeded in raising a marble slab, which +surmounted a monumental vault, and was beautifully <span class="pagenum"><a id="page026" name="page026"></a>(p. 026)</span> embellished +with armorial blazonry, and, depositing the body inside, we replaced it +again carefully. If the personage to whom it belonged happened to have a +tenant of his own for it soon afterwards, he must have been rather +astonished at the manner in which the apartment was occupied.</p> + +<p>Those who wish a description of the lines of Torres Vedras, must read +<i>Napier</i>, or some one else who knows all about them; for my part, I know +nothing, excepting that I was told that one end of them rested on the +Tagus, and the other somewhere on the sea; and I saw, with my own eyes, +a variety of redoubts and field-works on the various hills which stand +between. This, however, I do know, that we have since kicked the French +out of more formidable looking and stronger places; and, with all due +deference be it spoken, I think that the Prince of Essling ought to have +tried his luck against them, as he could only have been beaten by +fighting, as he afterwards was without it! And if he thinks that he +would have <span class="pagenum"><a id="page027" name="page027"></a>(p. 027)</span> lost as many men by trying, as he did by not +trying, he must allow me to differ in opinion with him!!!</p> + +<p>In very warm or very wet weather it was customary to put us under cover +in the town during the day, but we were always moved back to our +bivouac, on the heights, during the night; and it was rather amusing to +observe the different notions of individual comfort, in the selection of +furniture, which officers transferred from their <i>town house</i> to their +<i>no house</i> on the heights. A sofa, or a mattress, one would have thought +most likely to be put in requisition; but it was not unusual to see a +full-length looking-glass preferred to either.</p> + +<p>The post of the company to which I belonged, on the heights, was near a +redoubt, immediately behind Arruda; there was a cattle-shed near it, +which we cleaned out, and used as a sort of quarter. On turning out from +breakfast one morning, we found that the butcher had been about to offer +up the usual sacrifice of a bullock to the wants of the day; <span class="pagenum"><a id="page028" name="page028"></a>(p. 028)</span> +but it had broken loose, and, in trying to regain his victim, had caught +it by the tail, which he twisted round his hand; and, when we made our +appearance, they were performing a variety of evolutions at a gallop, to +the great amusement of the soldiers; until an unlucky turn brought them +down upon our house, which had been excavated out of the face of the +hill, on which the upper part of the roof rested, and <i>in</i> they went, +heels over head, butcher, bullock, tail and all, bearing down the whole +fabric with a tremendous crash.</p> + +<p>N.B. It was very fortunate that we happened to be outside; and very +unfortunate, as we were now obliged to remain out.</p> + +<p>We certainly lived in <i>clover</i> while we remained here; every thing we +saw was our own, seeing no one there who had a more legitimate claim; +and every field was a vineyard. Ultimately it was considered too much +trouble to pluck the grapes, as there were a number of poor native +thieves in the habit of coming from the rear, every day, to steal some, +so that a soldier had <span class="pagenum"><a id="page029" name="page029"></a>(p. 029)</span> nothing to do but to watch one until he +was marching off with his basket full, when he would very deliberately +place his back against that of the Portuguese, and relieve him of his +load, without wasting any words about the bargain. The poor wretch would +follow the soldier to the camp, in the hope of having his basket +returned, as it generally was, when emptied.</p> + +<p>Massena conceiving any attack upon our lines to be hopeless, as his +troops were rapidly mouldering away with sickness and want, at length +began to withdraw them nearer to the source of his supplies.</p> + +<p>He abandoned his position, opposite to us, on the night of the 9th of +November, leaving some stuffed-straw gentlemen occupying their usual +posts. Some of them were cavalry, some infantry, and they seemed such +respectable representatives of their spectral predecessors, that, in the +haze of the following morning, we thought that they had been joined by +some well-fed ones from the rear; and it was late in the day before +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page030" name="page030"></a>(p. 030)</span> we discovered the mistake and advanced in pursuit. In passing +by the edge of a mill-pond, after dark, our adjutant and his horse +tumbled in, and, as the latter had no tail to hold on by, they were both +very nearly drowned.</p> + +<p>It was late ere we halted for the night, on the side of the road, near +to Allenquer, and I got under cover in a small house, which looked as if +it had been honoured as the head-quarters of the tailor-general of the +French army, for the floor was strewed with variegated threads, various +complexioned buttons, with particles and remnants of <i>cabbage</i>; and, if +it could not boast of the flesh and fowl of Noah's ark, there was an +abundance of the creeping things which it were to be wished that that +commander had not left behind. We marched before daylight next morning, +leaving a <i>rousing</i> fire in the chimney, which shortly became too small +to hold it; for we had not proceeded far before we perceived that the +well-dried thatched roof had joined in the general blaze, a circumstance +which caused us no little uneasiness, for our general, the late +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page031" name="page031"></a>(p. 031)</span> Major-general Robert Crawford, had brought us up in the fear +of our master; and, as he was a sort of person who would not see a fire, +of that kind, in the same <i>light</i> that we did, I was by no means +satisfied that my commission lay snug in my pocket, until we had fairly +marched it out of sight, and in which we were aided not a little by a +slight fire of another kind, which he was required to watch with the +advanced guard.</p> + +<p>On our arrival at Vallé, on the 12th of Nov. we found the enemy behind +the Rio Maior, occupying the heights of Santarem, and exchanged some +shots with their advanced posts. In the course of the night we +experienced one of those tremendous thunderstorms which used to precede +the Wellington victories, and which induced us to expect a general +action on the following day. I had disposed myself to sleep in a +beautiful green hollow way, and, before I had time even to dream of the +effects of their heavy rains, I found myself floating most majestically +towards the river, in a fair way of becoming <span class="pagenum"><a id="page032" name="page032"></a>(p. 032)</span> food for the +fishes. I ever after gave those inviting-looking spots a wide birth, as +I found that they were regular watercourses.</p> + +<p>Next morning our division crossed the river, and commenced a false +attack on the enemy's left, with a view of making them show their force; +and it was to have been turned into a real attack, if their position was +found to be occupied by a rear guard only; but, after keeping up a smart +skirmishing-fire the greater part of the day, Lord Wellington was +satisfied that their whole army was present, we were consequently +withdrawn.</p> + +<p>This affair terminated the campaign of 1810. Our division took +possession of the village of Vallé and its adjacents, and the rest of +the army was placed in cantonments, under whatever cover the +neighbouring country afforded.</p> + +<p>Our battalion was stationed in some empty farm-houses, near the end of +the bridge of Santarem, which was nearly half a mile long; and our +sentries and those of the enemy were within pistol-shot of each other on +the bridge.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page033" name="page033"></a>(p. 033)</span> I do not mean to insinuate that a country is never so much at +peace as when at open war; but I do say that a soldier can no where +sleep so soundly, nor is he any where so secure from surprise, as when +within musket-shot of his enemy.</p> + +<p>We lay four months in this situation, divided only by a rivulet, without +once exchanging shots. Every evening, at the hour</p> + +<p class="poem15"> + "When bucks to dinner go,<br> + And cits to sup,"</p> + +<p class="noindent">it was our practice to dress for sleep: we saddled our horses, buckled +on our armour, and lay down, with the bare floor for a bed and a stone +for a pillow, ready for any thing, and reckless of every thing but the +honour of our corps and country; for I will say (to save the expense of +a trumpeter) that a more devoted set of fellows were never associated.</p> + +<p>We stood to our arms every morning at an hour before daybreak, and +remained there until <span class="pagenum"><a id="page034" name="page034"></a>(p. 034)</span> a <i>grey horse</i> could be seen a mile off, +(which is the military criterion by which daylight is acknowledged, and +the hour of surprise past,) when we proceeded to unharness, and to +indulge in such <i>luxuries</i> as our toilet and our table afforded.</p> + +<p>The Maior, as far as the bridge of Vallé, was navigable for the small +craft from Lisbon, so that our table, while we remained there, cut as +respectable a figure, as regular supplies of rice, salt fish, and +potatoes could make it; not to mention that our pig-skin was, at all +times, at least three parts full of a common red wine, which used to be +dignified by the name of <i>black-strap</i>. We had the utmost difficulty, +however, in keeping up appearances in the way of dress. The jacket, in +spite of shreds and patches, always maintained something of the original +about it; but woe befel the regimental small-clothes, and they could +only be replaced by very extraordinary apologies, of which I remember +that I had two pair at this period, <i>one</i> of a common brown Portuguese +cloth, and the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page035" name="page035"></a>(p. 035)</span> <i>other</i>, or Sunday's pair, of black velvet. We +had no women with the regiment; and the ceremony of washing a shirt +amounted to my servant's taking it by the collar, and giving it a couple +of shakes in the water, and then hanging it up to dry. Smoothing-irons +were not the fashion of the times, and, if a fresh well-dressed +aide-de-camp did occasionally come from England, we used to stare at him +with about as much respect as Hotspur did at his "waiting gentlewoman."</p> + +<p>The winter here was uncommonly mild. I am not the sort of person to put +myself much in the way of ice, except on a warm summer's day; but the +only inconvenience that I felt in bathing, in the middle of December, +was the quantity of leeches that used to attach themselves to my +personal supporters, obliging me to cut a few capers to shake them off, +after leaving the water.</p> + +<p>Our piquet-post, at the bridge, became a regular lounge, for the winter, +to all manner of folks.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page036" name="page036"></a>(p. 036)</span> I used to be much amused at seeing our naval officers come up +from Lisbon riding on mules, with huge ships' spy-glasses, like +six-pounders, strapped across the backs of their saddles. Their first +question invariably was, "Who is that fellow there," (pointing to the +enemy's sentry, close to us,) and, on being told that he was a +Frenchman, "Then why the devil don't you shoot him!"</p> + +<p>Repeated acts of civility passed between the French and us during this +tacit suspension of hostilities. The greyhounds of an officer followed a +hare, on one occasion, into their lines, and they very politely returned +them.</p> + +<p>I was one night on piquet, at the end of the bridge, when a ball came +from the French sentry and struck the burning billet of wood round which +we were sitting, and they sent in a flag of truce, next morning, to +apologize for the accident, and to say that it had been done by a stupid +fellow of a sentry, who imagined that people were advancing upon him. We +admitted <span class="pagenum"><a id="page037" name="page037"></a>(p. 037)</span> the apology, though we knew well enough that it had +been done by a malicious rather than a stupid fellow, from the situation +we occupied.</p> + +<p>General Junot, one day reconnoitring, was severely wounded by a sentry, +and Lord Wellington, knowing that they were at that time destitute of +every thing in the shape of comfort, sent to request his acceptance of +any thing that Lisbon afforded that could be of any service to him; but +the French general was too much of a politician to admit the want of any +thing.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + + + + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page038" name="page038"></a>(p. 038)</span> CHAP. V.</h3> + +<p class="resume">Campaign of 1811 opens. Massena's Retreat. Wretched Condition of + the Inhabitants on the Line of March. Affairs with the Enemy, + near Pombal. Description of a Bivouac. Action near Redinha. + Destruction of Condacia and Action near it. Burning of the + Village of Illama, and Misery of its Inhabitants. Action at Foz + D'Aronce. Confidential Servants with Donkey-Assistants.</p> + + +<p>The campaign of 1811 commenced on the 6th of March, by the retreat of +the enemy from Santarem.</p> + +<p>Lord Wellington seemed to be perfectly acquainted with their intentions, +for he sent to apprize our piquets, the evening before, that they were +going off, and to desire that they should feel for them occasionally +during the night, and give the earliest information of their <span class="pagenum"><a id="page039" name="page039"></a>(p. 039)</span> +having started. It was not, however, until daylight that we were quite +certain of their having gone, and our division was instantly put in +motion after them, passing through the town of Santarem, around which +their camp fires were still burning.</p> + +<p>Santarem is finely situated, and probably had been a handsome town. I +had never seen it in prosperity, and it now looked like a city of the +plague, represented by empty dogs and empty houses; and, but for the +tolling of a convent-bell by some unseen hand, its appearance was +altogether inhuman.</p> + +<p>We halted for the night near Pyrnes. This little town, and the few +wretched inhabitants who had been induced to remain in it under the +faithless promises of the French generals, shewed fearful signs of a +late visit from a barbarous and merciless foe. Young women were lying in +their houses brutally violated,—the streets were strewed with broken +furniture, intermixed with the putrid carcasses of murdered peasants, +mules, and donkeys, and every description of filth, that <span class="pagenum"><a id="page040" name="page040"></a>(p. 040)</span> +filled the air with pestilential nausea. The few starved male +inhabitants who were stalking amid the wreck of their friends and +property, looked like so many skeletons who had been permitted to leave +their graves for the purpose of taking vengeance on their oppressors, +and the mangled body of every Frenchman who was unfortunate or imprudent +enough to stray from his column, shewed how religiously they performed +their mission.</p> + +<p>March 8th.—We overtook their rear guard this evening, snugly put up for +the night in a little village, the name of which I do not recollect, but +a couple of six pounders, supported by a few of our rifles, induced them +to extend their walk.</p> + +<p>March 9th.—While moving along the road this morning, we found a man, +who had deserted from us a short time before, in the uniform of a French +dragoon, with his head laid open by one of our bullets. He was still +alive, exciting any thing but sympathy among his former associates. +Towards the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page041" name="page041"></a>(p. 041)</span> afternoon we found the enemy in force, on the plain +in front of Pombal, where we exchanged some shots.</p> + +<p>March 11th.—They retired yesterday to the heights behind Pombal, with +their advanced posts occupying the town and moorish castle, which our +battalion, assisted by some Cácadores, attacked this morning, and drove +them from with considerable loss. Dispositions were then made for a +general attack on their position, but the other divisions of our army +did not arrive until too late in the evening. We bivouacked for the +night in a ploughed field, under the castle, with our sentries within +pistol shot, while it rained in torrents.</p> + +<p>As it is possible that some of my readers might never have had the +misfortune to experience the comforts of a bivouac, and as the one which +I am now in, contains but a small quantity of sleep, I shall devote a +waking hour for their edification.</p> + +<p>When a regiment arrives at its ground for the night, it is formed in +columns of companies, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page042" name="page042"></a>(p. 042)</span> at full, half, or quarter distance, +according to the space which circumstances will permit it to occupy. The +officer commanding each company then receives his orders; and, after +communicating whatever may be necessary to the men, he desires them to +"pile arms, and make themselves comfortable for the night." Now, I pray +thee, most sanguine reader, suffer not thy fervid imagination to +transport thee into elysian fields at the pleasing exhortation conveyed +in the concluding part of the captain's address, but rest thee +contentedly in the one where it is made, which in all probability is a +ploughed one, and that, too, in a state of preparation to take a model +of thy very beautiful person, under the melting influence of a shower of +rain. The soldiers of each company have a hereditary claim to the ground +next to their arms, as have their officers to a wider range on the same +line, limited to the end of a bugle sound, if not by a neighbouring +corps, or one that is not neighbourly, for the nearer a man is to his +enemy, the nearer he likes to be to his friends. Suffice it, that each +individual <span class="pagenum"><a id="page043" name="page043"></a>(p. 043)</span> knows his place as well as if he had been born on +the estate, and takes immediate possession accordingly. In a ploughed or +a stubble field there is scarcely a choice of quarters; but, whenever +there is a sprinkling of trees, it is always an object to secure a good +one, as it affords shelter from the sun by day and the dews by night, +besides being a sort of home or sign post for a group of officers, as +denoting the best place of entertainment; for they hang their spare +clothing and accoutrements among the branches, barricade themselves on +each side with their saddles, canteens, and portmanteaus, and, with a +blazing fire in their front, they indulge, according to their various +humours, in a complete state of gipsyfication.</p> + +<p>There are several degrees of comfort to be reckoned in a bivouac, two of +which will suffice.</p> + +<p>The first, and worst, is to arrive at the end of a cold wet day, too +dark to see your ground, and too near the enemy to be permitted to +unpack the knapsacks or to take off accoutrements; <span class="pagenum"><a id="page044" name="page044"></a>(p. 044)</span> where, +unincumbered with baggage or eatables of any kind, you have the +consolation of knowing that things are now at their worst, and that any +change must be for the better. You keep yourself alive for a while, in +collecting material to feed your fire with. You take a smell at your +empty calibash, which recalls to your remembrance the delicious flavour +of its last drop of wine. You curse your servant for not having +contrived to send you something or other from the baggage, (though you +know that it was impossible). You then damn the enemy for being so near +you, though probably, as in the present instance, it was you that came +so near them. And, finally, you take a whiff at the end of a cigar, if +you have one, and keep grumbling through the smoke, like distant thunder +through a cloud, until you tumble into a most warlike sleep.</p> + +<p>The next, and most common one, is, when you are not required to look +quite so sharp, and when the light baggage and provisions come in at the +heel of the regiment. If it is early in the day, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page045" name="page045"></a>(p. 045)</span> the first +thing to be done is to make some tea, the most sovereign restorative for +jaded spirits. We then proceed to our various duties. The officers of +each company form a mess of themselves. One remains in camp to attend to +the duties of the regiment; a second attends to the mess: he goes to the +regimental butcher, and bespeaks a portion of the only purchaseable +commodities, hearts, livers, and kidneys; and also to see whether he +cannot <i>do</i> the commissary out of a few extra biscuit, or a canteen of +brandy; and the remainder are gentlemen at large for the day. But while +they go hunting among the neighbouring regiments for news, and the +neighbouring houses for curiosity, they have always an eye to their +mess, and omit no opportunity of adding to the general stock.</p> + +<p>Dinner hour, for fear of accidents, is always the hour when dinner can +be got ready; and the 14th section of the articles of war is always most +rigidly attended to, by every good officer parading himself round the +camp-kettle at the time fixed, with his haversack in his hand. A +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page046" name="page046"></a>(p. 046)</span> haversack on service is a sort of dumb waiter. The mess have a +good many things in common, but the contents of the haversack are +exclusively the property of its owner; and a well regulated one ought +never to be without the following furniture, unless when the perishable +part is consumed, in consequence of every other means of supply having +failed, viz. a couple of biscuit, a sausage, a little tea and sugar, a +knife, fork, and spoon, a tin cup, (which answers to the names of +<i>tea-cup</i>, <i>soup-plate</i>, <i>wine-glass</i>, and <i>tumbler</i>,) a pair of socks, +a piece of soap, a tooth-brush, towel, and comb, and half a dozen +cigars.</p> + +<p>After doing justice to the dinner, if we feel in a humour for additional +society, we transfer ourselves to some neighbouring mess, taking our +cups, and whatever we mean to drink, along with us, for in those times +there is nothing to be expected from our friends beyond the pleasure of +their conversation: and, finally, we retire to rest. To avoid +inconvenience by the tossing off of the bed-clothes, each officer has a +blanket <span class="pagenum"><a id="page047" name="page047"></a>(p. 047)</span> sewed up at the sides, like a sack, into which he +scrambles, and, with a green sod or a smooth stone for a pillow, +composes himself to sleep; and, under such a glorious reflecting canopy +as the heavens, it would be a subject of mortification to an astronomer +to see the celerity with which he tumbles into it. Habit gives +endurance, and fatigue is the best nightcap; no matter that the +veteran's countenance is alternately stormed with torrents of rain, +heavy dews, and hoar-frosts; no matter that his ears are assailed by a +million mouths of chattering locusts, and by some villanous donkey, who +every half hour pitches a <i>bray</i> note, which, as a congregation of +presbyterians follow their clerk, is instantly taken up by every mule +and donkey in the army, and sent echoing from regiment to regiment, over +hill and valley, until it dies away in the distance; no matter that the +scorpion is lurking beneath his pillow, the snake winding his slimy way +by his side, and the lizard galloping over his face, wiping his eyes +with its long cold tail.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page048" name="page048"></a>(p. 048)</span> All are unheeded, until the warning voice of the brazen +instrument sounds to arms. Strange it is, that the ear which is +impervious to what would disturb the rest of the world besides, should +alone be alive to one, and that, too, a sound which is likely to sooth +the sleep of the citizens, or at most, to set them dreaming of their +loves. But so it is: the first note of the melodious bugle places the +soldier on his legs, like lightning; when, muttering a few curses at the +unseasonableness of the hour, he plants himself on his alarm post, +without knowing or caring about the cause.</p> + +<p>Such is a bivouac; and our sleep-breaker having just sounded, the reader +will find what occurred, by reading on.</p> + +<p>March 12th.—We stood to our arms before daylight. Finding that the +enemy had quitted the position in our front, we proceeded to follow +them; and had not gone far before we heard the usual morning's +salutation, of a couple of shots, between their rear and our advanced +guard. On driving in their outposts, we <span class="pagenum"><a id="page049" name="page049"></a>(p. 049)</span> found their whole army +drawn out on the plain, near Redinha, and instantly quarrelled with them +on a large scale.</p> + +<p>As every body has read Waverley and the Scottish Chiefs, and knows that +one battle is just like another, inasmuch as they always conclude by one +or both sides running away; and as it is nothing to me what this or +t'other regiment did, nor do I care three buttons what this or t'other +person thinks he did, I shall limit all my descriptions to such events +as immediately concerned the important personage most interested in this +history.</p> + +<p>Be it known then, that I was one of a crowd of skirmishers who were +enabling the French ones to carry the news of their own defeat through a +thick wood, at an infantry canter, when I found myself all at once +within a few yards of one of their regiments in line, which opened such +a fire, that had I not, rifleman like, taken instant advantage of the +cover of a good fir tree, my name would have unquestionably been +transmitted to posterity by that night's gazette. And, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page050" name="page050"></a>(p. 050)</span> however +opposed it may be to the usual system of drill, I will maintain, from +that day's experience, that the cleverest method of teaching a recruit +to stand at attention, is to place him behind a tree and fire balls at +him; as, had our late worthy disciplinarian, Sir David Dundas, himself, +been looking on, I think that even <i>he</i> must have admitted that he never +saw any one stand so fiercely upright as I did behind mine, while the +balls were rapping into it as fast as if a fellow had been hammering a +nail on the opposite side, not to mention the numbers that were +whistling past, within the eighth of an inch of every part of my body, +both before and behind, particularly in the vicinity of my nose, for +which the upper part of the tree could barely afford protection.</p> + +<p>This was a last and a desperate stand made by their rear-guard, for +their own safety, immediately above the town, as their sole chance of +escape depended upon their being able to hold the post until the only +bridge across the river was clear of the other fugitives. But they could +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page051" name="page051"></a>(p. 051)</span> not hold it long enough; for, while we were undergoing a +temporary sort of purgatory in their front, our comrades went working +round their flanks, which quickly sent them flying, with us intermixed, +at full cry, down the streets.</p> + +<p>Whether in love or war, I have always considered that the pursuer has a +decided advantage over the pursued. In the first, he may gain and cannot +lose; but, in the latter, when one sees his enemy at full speed before +him, one has such a peculiar conscious sort of feeling that he is on the +right side, that I would not exchange places for any consideration.</p> + +<p>When we reached the bridge, the scene became exceedingly interesting, +for it was choked up by the fugitives who were, as usual, impeding each +other's progress, and we did not find that the application of our swords +to those nearest to us tended at all towards lessening their disorder, +for it induced about a hundred of them to rush into an adjoining house +for shelter, but that was netting regularly out of the frying-pan into +the fire, for the house happened to be really in <span class="pagenum"><a id="page052" name="page052"></a>(p. 052)</span> flames, and +too hot to hold them, so that the same hundred were quickly seen +unkennelling again, half-cooked, into the very jaws of their consumers.</p> + +<p>John Bull, however, is not a blood-thirsty person, so that those who +could not better themselves, had only to submit to a simple transfer of +personal property to ensure his protection. We, consequently, made many +prisoners at the bridge, and followed their army about a league beyond +it, keeping up a flying fight until dark.</p> + +<p>Just as Mr. Simmons and myself had crossed the river, and were talking +over the events of the day, not a yard asunder, there was a Portuguese +soldier in the act of passing between us, when a cannon-ball plunged +into his belly—his head doubled down to his feet, and he stood for a +moment in that posture before he rolled over a lifeless lump.</p> + +<p>March 13th.—Arrived on the hill above Condacia in time to see that +handsome little town in flames. Every species of barbarity continued to +mark the enemy's retreating steps. They burnt <span class="pagenum"><a id="page053" name="page053"></a>(p. 053)</span> every town or +village through which they passed, and if we entered a church, which, by +accident, had been spared, it was to see the murdered bodies of the +peasantry on the altar.</p> + +<p>While Lord Wellington, with his staff, was on a hill a little in front +of us, waiting the result of a flank-movement which he had directed, +some of the enemy's sharpshooters stole, unperceived, very near to him +and began firing, but, fortunately, without effect. We immediately +detached a few of ours to meet them, but the others ran off on their +approach.</p> + +<p>We lay by our arms until towards evening, when the enemy withdrew a +short distance behind Condacia, and we closed up to them. There was a +continued popping between the advanced posts all night.</p> + +<p>March 14th.—Finding, at daylight, that the enemy still continued to +hold the strong ground before us, some divisions of the army were sent +to turn their flanks, while ours attacked them in front.</p> + +<p>We drove them from one strong hold to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page054" name="page054"></a>(p. 054)</span> another, over a large +track of very difficult country, mountainous and rocky, and thickly +intersected with stone walls, and were involved in one continued hard +skirmish from daylight until dark. This was the most harassing day's +fighting that I ever experienced.</p> + +<p>Daylight left the two armies looking at each other, near the village of +Illama. The smoking roofs of the houses showed that the French had just +quitted and, as usual, set fire to it, when the company to which I +belonged was ordered on piquet there for the night. After posting our +sentries, my brother-officer and myself had the curiosity to look into a +house, and were shocked to find in it a mother and her child dead, and +the father, with three more, living, but so much reduced by famine as to +be unable to remove themselves from the flames. We carried them into the +open air, and offered the old man our few remaining crumbs of biscuit, +but he told us that he was too far gone to benefit by them, and begged +that we would give them to his children. We lost no time in examining +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page055" name="page055"></a>(p. 055)</span> such of the other houses as were yet safe to enter, and +rescued many more individuals from one horrible death, probably to +reserve them for another equally so, and more lingering, as we had +nothing to give them, and marched at daylight the following morning.</p> + +<p>Our post that night was one of terrific grandeur. The hills behind were +in a blaze of light with the British camp-fires, as were those in our +front with the French ones. Both hills were abrupt and lofty, not above +eight hundred yards asunder, and we were in the burning village in the +valley between. The roofs of houses every instant falling in, and the +sparks and flames ascending to the clouds. The streets were strewed with +the dying and the dead,—some had been murdered and some killed in +action, which, together with the half-famished wretches whom we had +saved from burning, contributed in making it a scene which was +well-calculated to shake a stout heart, as was proved in the instance of +one of our sentries, a well known "devil-may-care" sort of fellow. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page056" name="page056"></a>(p. 056)</span> I know not what appearances the burning rafters might have +reflected on the neighbouring trees at the time, but he had not been +long on his post before he came running into the piquet, and swore, by +all the saints in the calendar, that he saw six dead Frenchmen advancing +upon him with hatchets over their shoulders!</p> + +<p>We found by the buttons on the coats of some of the fallen foe, that we +had this day been opposed to the French ninety-fifth regiment, (the same +number as we were then,) and I cut off several of them, which I +preserved as trophies.</p> + +<p>March 15th.—We overtook the enemy a little before dark this afternoon. +They were drawn up behind the Ceira, at Fez D'Aronce, with their +rear-guard, under Marshal Ney, imprudently posted on our side of the +river, a circumstance which Lord Wellington took immediate advantage of; +and, by a furious attack, dislodged them, in such confusion, that they +blew up the bridge before half of their own people had time to get over. +Those who were thereby left behind, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page057" name="page057"></a>(p. 057)</span> not choosing to put +themselves to the pain of being shot, took to the river, which received +them so hospitably that few of them ever quitted it. Their loss, on this +occasion, must have been very great, and, we understood, at the time, +that Ney had been sent to France, in disgrace, in consequence of it.</p> + +<p>About the middle of the action, I observed some inexperienced light +troops rushing up a deep road-way to certain destruction, and ran to +warn them out of it, but I only arrived in time to partake the reward of +their indiscretion, for I was instantly struck with a musket-ball above +the left ear, which deposited me, at full length, in the mud.</p> + +<p>I know not how long I lay insensible, but, on recovering, my first +<i>feeling</i> was for my head, to ascertain if any part of it was still +standing, for it appeared to me as if nothing remained above the mouth; +but, after repeated applications of all my fingers and thumbs to the +doubtful parts, I, at length, proved to myself, satisfactorily, that it +had rather increased than <span class="pagenum"><a id="page058" name="page058"></a>(p. 058)</span> diminished by the concussion; and, +jumping on my legs, and hearing, by the whistling of the balls from both +sides, that the rascals who had got me into the scrape had been driven +back and left me there, I snatched my cap, which had saved my life, and +which had been spun off my head to the distance of ten or twelve yards, +and joined them, a short distance in the rear, when one of them, a +soldier of the sixtieth, came and told me that an officer of ours had +been killed, a short time before, pointing to the spot where I myself +had fallen, and that he had tried to take his jacket off, but that the +advance of the enemy had prevented him. I told him that I was the one +that had been killed, and that I was deucedly obliged to him for his +<i>kind</i> intentions, while I felt still more so to the enemy for their +timely advance, otherwise, I have no doubt, but my <i>friend</i> would have +taken a fancy to my trousers also, for I found that he had absolutely +unbuttoned my jacket.</p> + +<p>There is nothing so gratifying to frail mortality as a good dinner when +most wanted and least <span class="pagenum"><a id="page059" name="page059"></a>(p. 059)</span> expected. It was perfectly dark before +the action finished, but, on going to take advantage of the fires which +the enemy had evacuated, we found their soup-kettles in full operation, +and every man's mess of biscuit lying beside them, in stockings, as was +the French mode of carrying them; and it is needless to say how +unceremoniously we proceeded to do the honours of the feast. It ever +after became a saying among the soldiers, whenever they were on short +allowance, "well, d—n my eyes, we must either fall in with the French +or the commissary to-day, I don't care which."</p> + +<p>As our baggage was always in the rear on occasions of this kind, the +officers of each company had a Portuguese boy, in charge of a donkey, on +whom their little comforts depended. He carried our boat-cloaks and +blankets, was provided with a small pig-skin for wine, a canteen for +spirits, a small quantity of tea and sugar, a goat tied to the donkey, +and two or three dollars in his pocket, for the purchase of bread, +butter, or any other luxury which good <span class="pagenum"><a id="page060" name="page060"></a>(p. 060)</span> fortune might throw in +his way in the course of the day's march. We were never very scrupulous +in exacting information regarding the source of his supplies; so that he +had nothing to dread from our wrath, unless he had the misfortune to +make his appearance empty-handed. They were singularly faithful and +intelligent in making their way to us every evening, under the most +difficult circumstances. This was the only night during Massena's +retreat in which ours failed to find us; and, wandering the greater part +of the night in the intricate maze of camp-fires, it appeared that he +slept, after all, among some dragoons, within twenty yards of us.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + + + + + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page061" name="page061"></a>(p. 061)</span> CHAP. VI.</h3> + +<p class="resume">Passage of the Mondego. Swearing to a large Amount. Two + Prisoners, with their Two Views. Two Nuns, Two Pieces of Dough, + and Two Kisses. A Halt. Affair near Frexedas. Arrival near + Guarda. Murder. A stray Sentry. Battle of Sabugal. Spanish and + Portuguese Frontiers. Blockade of Almeida. Battle-like. Current + Value of Lord Wellington's Nose. Battle of Fuentes D'Onor. The + Day after the Battle. A grave Remark. The <i>Padre's</i> House. + Retreat of the Enemy.</p> + + +<p>March 17th.—Found the enemy's rear-guard behind the Mondego, at Ponte +de Marcella, cannonaded them out of it, and then threw a temporary +bridge across the river, and followed them until dark.</p> + +<p>The late Sir Alexander Campbell, who commanded the division next to +ours, by a wanton <span class="pagenum"><a id="page062" name="page062"></a>(p. 062)</span> excess of zeal in expecting an order to +follow, would not permit any thing belonging to us to pass the bridge, +for fear of impeding the march of his troops; and, as he received no +order to march, we were thereby prevented from getting any thing +whatever to eat for the next thirty-six hours. I know not whether the +curses of individuals are recorded under such circumstances, but, if +they are, the gallant general will have found the united hearty ones of +four thousand men registered against him for that particular act.</p> + +<p>March 19th.—We, this day, captured the aide-de-camp of General Loison, +together with his wife, who was dressed in a splendid hussar uniform. +<i>He</i> was a Portuguese, and a traitor, and looked very like a man who +would be hanged. <i>She</i> was a Spaniard, and very handsome, and looked +very like a woman who would get married again.</p> + +<p>March 20th.—We had now been three days without any thing in the shape +of bread, and meat without it, after a time, becomes almost <span class="pagenum"><a id="page063" name="page063"></a>(p. 063)</span> +loathsome. Hearing that we were not likely to march quite so early as +usual this morning, I started, before daylight, to a village about two +miles off, in the face of the Sierra D'Estrella, in the hopes of being +able to purchase something, as it lay out of the hostile line of +movements. On my arrival there, I found some nuns who had fled from a +neighbouring convent, waiting outside the building of the village-oven +for some Indian-corn-leaven, which they had carried there to be baked, +and, when I explained my pressing wants, two of them, very kindly, +transferred me their shares, for which I gave each a kiss and a dollar +between. They took the former as an unusual favour; but looked at the +latter, as much as to say, "our poverty, and not our will, consents." I +ran off with my half-baked dough, and joined my comrades, just as they +were getting under arms.</p> + +<p>March 21st.—We, this day, reached the town of Mello, and had so far +outmarched our commissary that we found it necessary to wait for him; +and, in stopping to get a sight of our <span class="pagenum"><a id="page064" name="page064"></a>(p. 064)</span> friends, we lost sight +of our foes, a circumstance which I was by no means sorry for, as it +enabled my shoulders, once more, to rejoice under the load of a couple +of biscuits, and made me no longer ashamed to look a cow or a sheep in +the face, now that they were not required to furnish more than their +regulated proportions of my daily food.</p> + +<p>March 30th.—We had no difficulty in tracing the enemy, by the wrecks of +houses and the butchered peasantry; and overtook their rear-guard, this +day, busy grinding corn, in some windmills, near the village of +Frexedas. As their situation offered a fair opportunity for us to reap +the fruits of their labours, we immediately attacked and drove them from +it, and, after securing what we wanted, we withdrew again, across the +valley, to the village of Alverca, where we were not without some +reasonable expectations that they would have returned the compliment, as +we had only a few squadrons of dragoons in addition to our battalion, +and we had seen them withdraw a much stronger force <span class="pagenum"><a id="page065" name="page065"></a>(p. 065)</span> from the +opposite village; but, by keeping a number of our men all night employed +in making extensive fires on the hill above, it induced them to think +that our force was much greater than it really was; and we remained +unmolested.</p> + +<p>The only person we had hit in this affair was our adjutant, Mr. Stewart, +who was shot through the head from a window. He was a gallant soldier, +and deeply lamented. We placed his body in a chest, and buried it in +front of Colonel Beckwith's quarters.</p> + +<p>March 31st.—At daylight, this morning, we moved to our right, along the +ridge of mountains, to Guarda: on our arrival there, we saw the imposing +spectacle of the whole of the French army winding through the valley +below, just out of gun-shot.</p> + +<p>On taking possession of one of the villages which they had just +evacuated, we found the body of a well-dressed female, whom they had +murdered by a horrible refinement in cruelty. She had been placed upon +her back, alive, in the middle of the street, with the fragment of a +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page066" name="page066"></a>(p. 066)</span> rock upon her breast, which it required four of our men to +remove.</p> + +<p>April 1st.—We overtook the enemy this afternoon, in position, behind +the Coa, at Sabugal, with their advanced posts on our side of the river.</p> + +<p>I was sent on piquet for the night, and had my sentries within +half-musket shot of theirs: it was wet, dark, and stormy when I went, +about midnight, to visit them, and I was not a little annoyed to find +one missing. Recollecting who he was, a steady old soldier and the last +man in the world to desert his post, I called his name aloud, when his +answering voice, followed by the discharge of a musket, reached me +nearly at the same time, from the direction of one of the French +sentries; and, after some inquiry, I found that in walking his lonely +round, in a brown study, no doubt, he had each turn taken ten or twelve +paces to his front, and only half that number to the rear, until he had +gradually worked himself up to within a few yards of his adversary; and +it would be difficult to say which <span class="pagenum"><a id="page067" name="page067"></a>(p. 067)</span> of the two was most +astonished—the one at hearing a voice, or the other a shot so near, but +all my rhetoric, aided by the testimony of the serjeant and the other +sentries, could not convince the fellow that he was not on the identical +spot on which I had posted him.</p> + +<p>April 2d.—We moved this day to the right, nearer to the bridge, and +some shots were exchanged between the piquets.</p> + + +<h4>BATTLE OF SABUGAL,<br> + +April 3d, 1811.</h4> + +<p>Early this morning our division moved still farther to its right, and +our brigade led the way across a ford, which took us up to the middle; +while the balls from the enemy's advanced posts were hissing in the +water around us, we drove in their light troops and commenced a furious +assault upon their main body. Thus far all was right; but a thick +drizzling rain now came on, in consequence of which the third division, +which was <span class="pagenum"><a id="page068" name="page068"></a>(p. 068)</span> to have made a simultaneous attack to our left, +missed their way, and a brigade of dragoons under Sir William Erskine, +who were to have covered our right, went the Lord knows where, but +certainly not into the fight, although they started at the same time +that we did, and had the <i>music</i> of our rifles to guide them; and, even +the second brigade of our own division could not afford us any support, +for nearly an hour, so that we were thus unconsciously left with about +fifteen hundred men, in the very impertinent attempt to carry a +formidable position, on which stood as many thousands.</p> + +<p>The weather, which had deprived us of the aid of our friends, favoured +us so far as to prevent the enemy from seeing the amount of our paltry +force; and the conduct of our gallant fellows, led on by Sir Sidney +Beckwith, was so truly heroic, that, incredible as it may seem, we had +the best of the fight throughout. Our first attack was met by such +overwhelming numbers, that we were forced back and followed by three +heavy columns, before which we retired slowly, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page069" name="page069"></a>(p. 069)</span> and keeping up +a destructive fire, to the nearest rising ground, where we re-formed and +instantly charged their advancing masses, sending them flying at the +point of the bayonet, and entering their position along with them, where +we were assailed by fresh forces. Three times did the very same thing +occur. In our third attempt we got possession of one of their howitzers, +for which a desperate struggle was making, when we were at the same +moment charged by infantry in front and cavalry on the right, and again +compelled to fall back; but, fortunately, at this moment we were +reinforced by the arrival of the second brigade, and, with their aid, we +once more stormed their position and secured the well-earned howitzer, +while the third division came at the same time upon their flank, and +they were driven from the field in the greatest disorder.</p> + +<p>Lord Wellington's despatch on this occasion did ample justice to Sir +Sidney Beckwith and his brave brigade. Never were troops more +judiciously or more gallantly led. Never was a leader more devotedly +followed.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page070" name="page070"></a>(p. 070)</span> In the course of the action a man of the name of Knight fell +dead at my feet, and though I heard a musket ball strike him, I could +neither find blood nor wound.</p> + +<p>There was a little spaniel belonging to one of our officers running +about the whole time, barking at the balls, and I saw him once smelling +at a live shell, which exploded in his face without hurting him.</p> + +<p>The strife had scarcely ended among mortals, when it was taken up by the +elements with terrific violence. The <i>Scotch mist</i> of the morning had +now increased to torrents, enough to cool the fever of our late +excitement, and accompanied by thunder and lightning. As a compliment +for our exertions in the fight, we were sent into the town, and had the +advantage of whatever cover its dilapidated state afforded. While those +who had not had the chance of getting broken skins, had now the benefit +of sleeping in wet ones.</p> + +<p>On the 5th of April we entered the frontiers of Spain, and slept in a +bed for the first time <span class="pagenum"><a id="page071" name="page071"></a>(p. 071)</span> since I left the ship. Passing from the +Portuguese to the Spanish frontier is about equal to taking one step +from the coal-hole into the parlour, for the cottages on the former are +reared with filth, furnished with ditto, and peopled accordingly; +whereas, those of Spain, even within the same mile, are neatly +whitewashed, both without and within, and the poorest of them can +furnish a good bed, with clean linen, and the pillow-cases neatly +adorned with pink and sky-blue ribbons, while their dear little girls +look smiling and neat as their pillow-cases.</p> + +<p>After the action at Sabugal, the enemy retired to the neighbourhood of +Ciudad Rodrigo, without our getting another look at them, and we took up +the line of the Agueda and Axava rivers, for the blockade of the +fortress of Almeida, in which they had left a garrison indifferently +provisioned.</p> + +<p>The garrison had no means of providing for their cattle, but by turning +them out to graze upon the glacis; and we sent a few of our <span class="pagenum"><a id="page072" name="page072"></a>(p. 072)</span> +rifles to practice against them, which very soon reduced them to salt +provisions.</p> + +<p>Towards the end of April the French army began to assemble on the +opposite bank of the Agueda to attempt the relief of the garrison, while +ours began to assemble in position at Fuentes D'Onor to dispute it.</p> + +<p>Our division still continued to hold the same line of outposts, and had +several sharp affairs between the piquets at the bridge of Marialva.</p> + +<p>As a general action seemed now to be inevitable, we anxiously longed for +the return of Lord Wellington, who had been suddenly called to the corps +of the army under Marshal Beresford, near Badajos, as we would rather +see his long nose in the fight than a reinforcement of ten thousand men +any day. Indeed, there was a charm not only about himself but all +connected with him, for which no odds could compensate. The known +abilities of Sir George Murray, the gallant bearing of the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page073" name="page073"></a>(p. 073)</span> +lamented Pakenham, of Lord Fitzroy Somerset, of the present Duke of +Richmond, Sir Colin Campbell, with others, the flower of our young +nobility and gentry, who, under the auspices of such a chief, seemed +always a group attendant on victory; and I'll venture to say that there +was not a bosom in that army that did not beat more lightly, when we +heard the joyful news of his arrival, the day before the enemy's +advance.</p> + +<p>He had ordered us not to dispute the passage of the river, so that when +the French army advanced, on the morning of the 3d of May, we retired +slowly before them, across the plains of Espeja, and drew into the +position, where the whole army was now assembled. Our division took post +in reserve, in the left centre. Towards evening, the enemy made a fierce +attack on the Village of Fuentes, but were repulsed with loss.</p> + +<p>On the 4th, both armies looked at each other all day without exchanging +shots.</p> + + +<h4><span class="pagenum"><a id="page074" name="page074"></a>(p. 074)</span> BATTLE OF FUENTES D'ONOR,<br> + +May 5th, 1811.</h4> + +<p>The day began to dawn, this fine May morning, with a rattling fire of +musketry on the extreme right of our position, which the enemy had +attacked, and to which point our division was rapidly moved.</p> + +<p>Our battalion was thrown into a wood, a little to the left and front of +the division engaged, and was instantly warmly opposed to the French +skirmishers; in the course of which I was struck with a musket-ball on +the left breast, which made me stagger a yard or two backward, and, as I +felt no pain, I concluded that I was dangerously wounded; but it turned +out to be owing to my not being hurt. While our operations here were +confined to a tame skirmish, and our view to the oaks with which we were +mingled, we found, by the evidence of our ears, that the division which +we had come to support was involved in a more serious onset, for <i>there</i> +was the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page075" name="page075"></a>(p. 075)</span> successive rattle of artillery, the wild hurrah of +charging squadrons, and the repulsing volley of musketry; until Lord +Wellington, finding his right too much extended, directed <i>that</i> +division to fall back behind the small river Touronne, and ours to join +the main body of the army. The execution of our movement presented a +magnificent military spectacle, as the plain, between us and the right +of the army, was by this time in possession of the French cavalry, and, +while we were retiring through it with the order and precision of a +common field-day, they kept dancing around us, and every instant +threatening a charge, without daring to execute it.</p> + +<p>We took up our new position at a right angle with the then right of the +British line, on which our left rested, and with our right on the +Touronne. The enemy followed our movement with a heavy column of +infantry; but, when they came near enough to exchange shots, they did +not seem to like our looks, as we occupied a low ridge of broken rocks, +against which even a rat could scarcely have hoped to advance alive; +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page076" name="page076"></a>(p. 076)</span> and they again fell back, and opening a tremendous fire of +artillery, which was returned by a battery of our guns. In the course of +a short time, seeing no further demonstration against this part of the +position, our division was withdrawn, and placed in reserve in rear of +the centre.</p> + +<p>The battle continued to rage with fury in and about the village, whilst +we were lying by our arms under a burning hot sun, some stray +cannon-shot passing over and about us, whose progress we watched for +want of other employment. One of them bounded along in the direction of +an <i>amateur</i>, whom we had for some time been observing securely placed, +as he imagined, behind a piece of rock, which stood about five feet +above the ground, and over which nothing but his head was shown, +sheltered from the sun by an umbrella. The shot in question touched the +ground three or four times between us and him; he saw it coming—lowered +his umbrella, and withdrew his head. Its expiring bound carried it into +the very spot where he had that instant <span class="pagenum"><a id="page077" name="page077"></a>(p. 077)</span> disappeared. I hope he +was not hurt; but the thing looked so ridiculous that it excited a shout +of laughter, and we saw no more of him.</p> + +<p>A little before dusk, in the evening, our battalion was ordered forward +to relieve the troops engaged in the village, part of which still +remained in possession of the enemy, and I saw, by the mixed nature of +the dead, in every part of the streets, that it had been successively in +possession of both sides. The firing ceased with the daylight, and I was +sent, with a section of men, in charge of one of the streets for the +night. There was a wounded Serjeant of highlanders lying on my post. A +ball had passed through the back part of his head, from which the brain +was oozing, and his only sign of life was a convulsive hiccough every +two or three seconds. I sent for a medical friend to look at him, who +told me that he could not survive; I then got a mattress from the +nearest house, placed the poor fellow on it, and made use of one corner +as a pillow for myself, on which, after <span class="pagenum"><a id="page078" name="page078"></a>(p. 078)</span> the fatigues of the +day, and though called occasionally to visit my sentries, I slept most +soundly. The highlander died in the course of the night.</p> + +<p>When we stood to our arms, at daybreak next morning, we found the enemy +busy throwing up a six-gun battery, immediately in front of our +company's post, and we immediately set to work, with our whole hearts +and souls, and placed a wall, about twelve feet thick, between us, +which, no doubt, still remains there in the same garden, as a monument +of what can be effected, in a few minutes, by a hundred modern men, when +their personal safety is concerned; not but that the proprietor, in the +midst of his admiration, would rather see a good bed of garlic on the +spot, manured with the bodies of the architects.</p> + +<p>When the sun began to shine on the pacific disposition of the enemy, we +proceeded to consign the dead to their last earthly mansions, giving +every Englishman a grave to himself, and putting as many Frenchmen into +one as it could <span class="pagenum"><a id="page079" name="page079"></a>(p. 079)</span> conveniently accommodate. Whilst in the +superintendence of this melancholy duty, and ruminating on the words of +the poet:—</p> + +<p class="poem15"> +<span class="min03em">"</span>There's not a form of all that lie<br> +<span class="add1em">Thus ghastly, wild and bare,</span><br> + Tost, bleeding, in the stormy sky,<br> +<span class="add1em">Black in the burning air,</span><br> + But to his knee some infant clung,<br> + But on his heart some fond heart hung!"</p> + +<p>I was grieved to think that the souls of deceased warriors should be so +selfish as to take to flight in their regimentals, for I never saw the +body of one with a rag on after battle.</p> + +<p>The day after one of those negative sort of victories is always one of +intense interest. The movements on each side are most jealously watched, +and each side is diligently occupied in strengthening such points as the +fight of the preceding day had proved to be the most vulnerable.</p> + +<p>Lord Wellington was too deficient in his cavalry force to justify his +following up his victory; <span class="pagenum"><a id="page080" name="page080"></a>(p. 080)</span> and the enemy, on their parts, had +been too roughly handled, in their last attempt, to think of repeating +the experiment; so that, during the next two days, though both armies +continued to hold the same ground, there was scarcely a shot exchanged.</p> + +<p>They had made a few prisoners, chiefly guardsmen and highlanders, whom +they marched past the front of our position, in the most ostentatious +way, on the forenoon of the 6th; and, the day following, a number of +their regiments were paraded in the most imposing manner for review. +They looked uncommonly well, and we were proud to think that we had +beaten such fine-looking fellows so lately!</p> + +<p>Our regiment had been so long and so often quartered in Fuentes that it +was like fighting for our fire-sides. The <i>Padre's</i> house stood at the +top of the town. He was an old friend of ours, and an old fool, for he +would not leave his house until it was too late to take anything with +him; but, curious enough, although it had been repeatedly in the +possession of both sides, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page081" name="page081"></a>(p. 081)</span> and plundered, no doubt, by many +expert artists, yet none of them thought of looking so high as the +garret, which happened to be the repository of his money and provisions. +He came to us the day after the battle, weeping over his supposed loss, +like a sensitive Christian, and I accompanied him to the house, to see +whether there was not some consolation remaining for him; but, when he +found his treasure safe, he could scarcely bear its restoration with +becoming gravity. I helped him to carry off his bag of dollars, and he +returned the compliment with a leg of mutton.</p> + +<p>The French army retired on the night of the 7th, leaving Almeida to its +fate; but, by an extraordinary piece of luck, the garrison made their +escape the night after, in consequence of some mistake or miscarriage of +an order, which prevented a British regiment from occupying the post +intended for it.</p> + +<p>May 8th.—We advanced this morning, and occupied our former post at +Espeja, with some hopes of remaining quiet for a few days; but <span class="pagenum"><a id="page082" name="page082"></a>(p. 082)</span> +the alarm sounding at daylight on the following morning, we took post on +the hill, in front of the village. It turned out to be only a patrole of +French cavalry, who retired on receiving a few shots from our piquets, +and we saw no more of them for a considerable time.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + + + + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page083" name="page083"></a>(p. 083)</span> CHAP. VII.</h3> + +<p class="resume">March to Estremadura. At Soito, growing Accommodations for Man + and Beast. British Taste displayed by Portuguese Wolves. False + Alarm. Luxuries of Roquingo Camp. A Chaplain of the Forces. + Return towards the North. Quarters near Castello de Vide. + Blockade of Ciudad Rodrigo. Village of Atalya; Fleas abundant; + Food scarce. Advance of the French Army. Affairs near Guinaldo. + Our Minister administered to. An unexpected Visit from our + General and his Followers. End of the Campaign of 1811. Winter + Quarters.</p> + + +<p>Lord Wellington, soon after the battle of Fuentes, was again called into +Estremadura, to superintend the operations of the corps of the army +under Marshal Beresford, who had, in the mean time, fought the battle of +Albuera, and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page084" name="page084"></a>(p. 084)</span> laid siege to Badajos. In the beginning of June +our division was ordered thither also, to be in readiness to aid his +operations. We halted one night at the village of Soito, where there are +a great many chestnut trees of very extraordinary dimensions; the +outside of the trunk keeps growing as the inside decays. I was one of a +party of four persons who dined inside of one, and I saw two or three +horses put up in several others.</p> + +<p>We halted, also, one night on the banks of the Coa, near Sabugal, and +visited our late field of battle. We found that the dead had been nearly +all torn from their graves, and devoured by wolves, who are in great +force in that wild mountainous district, and shew very little respect +either for man or beast. They seldom, indeed, attack a man; but if one +happens to tie his horse to a tree, and leaves him unattended, for a +short time, he must not be surprised if he finds, on his return, that he +has parted with a good <i>rump steak</i>; <i>that</i> is the piece that they always +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page085" name="page085"></a>(p. 085)</span> prefer; and it is, therefore, clear to me, that the first of +the wolves must have been reared in England!</p> + +<p>We experienced, in the course of this very dark night, one of those +ridiculous false alarms which will sometimes happen in the best +organized body. Some bullocks strayed, by accident, amongst the piles of +arms, the falling clatter of which, frightened them so much that they +went galloping over the sleeping soldiers. The officers' baggage-horses +broke from their <i>moorings</i>, and joined in the general charge; and a cry +immediately arose, that it was the French cavalry. The different +regiments stood to their arms, and formed squares, looking as sharp as +thunder for something to fire at; and it was a considerable time before +the cause of the <i>row</i> could be traced. The different followers of the +army, in the mean time, were scampering off to the rear, spreading the +most frightful reports. One woman of the 52d succeeded in getting three +leagues off before daylight, and swore, "that, as God was her judge, she +did not leave <span class="pagenum"><a id="page086" name="page086"></a>(p. 086)</span> her regiment until she saw the last man of them +cut to pieces!!!"</p> + +<p>On our arrival near Elvas, we found that Marshal Beresford had raised +the siege of Badajos; and we were, therefore, encamped on the river +Caya, near Roquingo. This was a sandy unsheltered district; and the +weather was so excessively hot, that we had no enjoyment, but that of +living three parts of the day up to the neck in a pool of water.</p> + +<p>Up to this period it had been a matter of no small difficulty to +ascertain, at any time, the day of the week; that of the month was +altogether out of the question, and could only be reckoned by counting +back to the date of the last battle; but our division was here joined by +a chaplain, whose duty it was to remind us of these things. He might +have been a very good man, but he was not prepossessing, either in his +appearance or manners. I remember, the first Sunday after his arrival, +the troops were paraded for divine service, and had been some time +waiting in square, when he at length rode <span class="pagenum"><a id="page087" name="page087"></a>(p. 087)</span> into the centre of +it, with his tall, lank, ungainly figure, mounted on a starved, +untrimmed, unfurnished horse, and followed by a Portuguese boy, with his +canonicals and prayer-books on the back of a mule, with a hay-bridle, +and having, by way of clothing, about half a pair of straw breeches. +This spiritual comforter was the least calculated of any one that I ever +saw to excite devotion in the minds of men, who had seen nothing in the +shape of a divine for a year or two.</p> + +<p>In the beginning of August we began to retrace our steps towards the +north. We halted a few days in Portalegré, and a few more at Castello de +Vide.</p> + +<p>The latter place is surrounded by extensive gardens, belonging to the +richer citizens; in each of which there is a small summer-house, +containing one or two apartments, in which the proprietor, as I can +testify, may have the enjoyment of being fed upon by a more healthy and +better appetized flea, than is to be met with in town houses in general.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page088" name="page088"></a>(p. 088)</span> These <i>quintas</i> fell to the lot of our battalion; and though +their beds, on that account, had not much sleep in them, yet, as those +who preferred the voice of the nightingale in a bed of cabbages, to the +pinch of a flea in a bed of feathers, had the alternative at their +option; I enjoyed my sojourn there very much. Each garden had a bathing +tank, with a plentiful supply of water, which at that season was really +a luxury; and they abounded in choice fruits. I there formed an +attachment to a mulberry-tree, which is still fondly cherished in my +remembrance.</p> + +<p>We reached the scene of our former operations, in the north, towards the +end of August.</p> + +<p>The French had advanced and blockaded Almeida, during our absence, but +they retired again on our approach, and we took up a more advanced +position than before, for the blockade of Ciudad Rodrigo.</p> + +<p>Our battalion occupied Atalya, a little village at the foot of the +Sierra de Gata, and in front of the River Vadilla. On taking possession +of my quarter, the people showed me an outhouse, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page089" name="page089"></a>(p. 089)</span> which, they +said, I might use as a stable, and I took my horse into it, but, seeing +the floor strewed with what appeared to be a small brown seed, heaps of +which lay in each corner, as if shovelled together in readiness to take +to market, I took up a handful, out of curiosity, and, truly, they were +a curiosity, for I found that they were all regular fleas, and that they +were proceeding to eat both me and my horse, without the smallest +ceremony. I rushed out of the place, and knocked them down by fistfuls, +and never yet could comprehend the cause of their congregating together +in such a place.</p> + +<p>This neighbourhood had been so long the theatre of war, and alternately +forced to supply both armies, that the inhabitants, at length, began to +dread starvation themselves, and concealed, for their private use, all +that remained to them; so that, although they were bountiful in their +assurances of good wishes, it was impossible to extract a loaf of their +good bread, of which we were so wildly in want that we were obliged to +conceal patroles on the different roads <span class="pagenum"><a id="page090" name="page090"></a>(p. 090)</span> and footpaths, for +many miles around, to search the peasants passing between the different +villages, giving them an order on the commissary for whatever we took +from them; and we were not too proud to take even a few potatoes out of +an old woman's basket.</p> + +<p>On one occasion, when some of us were out shooting, we discovered about +twenty hives of bees, in the face of a glen, concealed among the +gumcestus, and, stopping up the mouth of one them, we carried it home on +our shoulders, bees and all, and continued to levy contributions on the +<i>depot</i> as long as we remained there.</p> + +<p>Towards the end of September, the garrison of Ciudad Rodrigo began to +get on such "short commons" that <i>Marmont</i>, who had succeeded <i>Massena</i>, +in the command of the French army, found it necessary to assemble the +whole of his forces, to enable him to throw provisions into it.</p> + +<p>Lord Wellington was still pursuing his defensive system, and did not +attempt to oppose him; but Marmont, after having effected his object, +thought that he might as well take that opportunity <span class="pagenum"><a id="page091" name="page091"></a>(p. 091)</span> of beating +up our quarters, in return for the trouble we had given him; and, +accordingly, on the morning of the 25th, he attacked a brigade of the +third division, stationed at El Bedon, which, after a brilliant defence +and retreat, conducted him opposite to the British position, in front of +Fuente Guinaldo. He busied himself, the whole of the following day, in +bringing up his troops for the attack. Our division, in the mean time, +remained on the banks of the Vadillo, and had nearly been cut off, +through the obstinacy of General Crawford, who did not choose to obey an +order he received to retire the day before; but we, nevertheless, +succeeded in joining the army, by a circuitous route, on the afternoon +of the 26th; and, the whole of both armies being now assembled, we +considered a battle on the morrow as inevitable.</p> + +<p>Lord Wellington, however, was not disposed to accommodate them on this +occasion; for, about the middle of the night, we received an order to +stand to our arms, with as little noise as possible, and to commence +retiring, the rest <span class="pagenum"><a id="page092" name="page092"></a>(p. 092)</span> of the army having been already withdrawn, +unknown to us; an instance of the rapidity and uncertainty of our +movements which proved fatal to the liberty of several amateurs and +followers of the army, who, seeing an army of sixty thousand men lying +asleep around their camp-fires, at ten o'clock at night, naturally +concluded that they might safely indulge in a bed in the village behind, +until daylight, without the risk of being caught napping; but, long ere +that time, they found themselves on the high road to Ciudad Rodrigo, in +the rude grasp of an enemy. Amongst others, was the chaplain of our +division, whose outward man, as I have already said, conveyed no very +exalted notion of the respectability of his profession, and who was +treated with greater indignity than usually fell to the lot of +prisoners, for, after keeping him a couple of days, and finding that, +however gifted he might have been in spiritual lore, he was as ignorant +as Dominie Sampson on military matters; and, conceiving good provisions +to be thrown away upon him, they stripped him nearly naked <span class="pagenum"><a id="page093" name="page093"></a>(p. 093)</span> and +dismissed him, like the barber in Gil Blas, with a kick in the breech, +and sent him in to us in a woful state.</p> + +<p>September 27th.—General Crawford remained behind us this morning, with +a troop of dragoons, to reconnoitre; and, while we were marching +carelessly along the road, he and his dragoons galloped right into our +column, with a cloud of French ones at his heels. Luckily, the ground +was in our favour; and, dispersing our men among the broken rocks, on +both sides of the road, we sent them back somewhat faster than they came +on. They were, however, soon replaced by their infantry, with whom we +continued in an uninteresting skirmish all day. There was some sharp +firing, the whole of the afternoon, to our left; and we retired, in the +evening, to Soito.</p> + +<p>This affair terminated the campaign of 1811, as the enemy retired the +same night, and we advanced next day to resume the blockade of Rodrigo; +and were suffered to remain quietly <span class="pagenum"><a id="page094" name="page094"></a>(p. 094)</span> in cantonments until the +commencement of a new year.</p> + +<p>In every interval between our active services, we indulged in all manner +of childish trick and amusement, with an avidity and delight of which it +is impossible to convey an adequate idea. We lived united, as men always +are who are daily staring death in the face on the same side, and who, +caring little about it, look upon each new day added to their lives as +one more to rejoice in.</p> + +<p>We invited the villagers, every evening, to a dance at our quarters +alternately. A Spanish peasant girl has an address about her which I +have never met with in the same class of any other country; and she at +once enters into society with the ease and confidence of one who had +been accustomed to it all her life. We used to flourish away at the +bolero, fandango, and waltz, and wound up early in the evening with a +supper of roasted chestnuts.</p> + +<p>Our village <i>belles</i>, as already stated, made themselves perfectly at +home in our society, and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page095" name="page095"></a>(p. 095)</span> we, too, should have enjoyed theirs +for a season; but, when month after month, and year after year, +continued to roll along, without producing any change, we found that the +cherry cheek and sparkling eye of rustic beauty furnished but a very +poor apology for the illuminated portion of Nature's fairest works, and +ardently longed for an opportunity of once more feasting our eyes on a +<i>lady</i>.</p> + +<p>In the month of December, we heard that the chief magistrate of Rodrigo, +with whom we were personally acquainted, had, with his daughter and two +other young ladies, taken shelter in Robledillo, a little town in the +Sierra de Gata, which, being within our range, presented an attraction +not to be resisted.</p> + +<p>Half-a-dozen of us immediately resolved ourselves into a committee of +ways and means. We had six months' pay due to us; so that the fandango +might have been danced in either of our pockets without the smallest +risk; but we had this consolation for our poverty, that there was +nothing to be bought, even if we had the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page096" name="page096"></a>(p. 096)</span> means. Our only +resource, therefore, was to lighten the cares of such of our +brother-officers as were fortunate enough to have any thing to lose; +and, at this moment of doubt and difficulty, a small flock of turkeys, +belonging to our major, presented themselves, most imprudently, grazing +opposite the windows of our council-chamber, two of which were instantly +committed to the bottom of a sack, as a foundation to go upon. One of +our spies, soon after, apprehended a sheep, the property of another +officer, which was committed to the same place; and, getting the +commissary to advance us a few extra loaves of bread, some ration beef, +and a pig-skin full of wine, we placed a servant on a mule, with the +whole concern tackled to him, and proceeded on our journey.</p> + +<p>In passing over the mountain, we saw a wild boar bowling along, in the +midst of a snow-storm, and, voting them fitting companions, we suffered +him to pass, (particularly as he did not come within shot).</p> + +<p>On our arrival at Robledillo, we met with the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page097" name="page097"></a>(p. 097)</span> most cordial +reception from the old magistrate; who, entering into the spirit of our +visit, provided us with quarters, and filled our room in the evening +with every body worth seeing in the place. We were malicious enough, by +way of amusement, to introduce a variety of absurd pastimes, under the +pretence of their being English, and which, by virtue thereof, were +implicitly adopted. We, therefore, passed a regular romping evening; +and, at a late hour, having conducted the ladies to their homes, some +friars, who were of the party, very kindly, intended doing us the same +favour, and, with that view, had begun to precede us with their +lanterns, but, in the frolic of the moment, we set upon them with +snow-balls, some of which struck upon their broad shoulders, while +others fizzed against their fiery faces, and, in their astonishment and +alarm, all sanctimony was forgotten; their oaths flew as thick as our +snow-balls, while they ran ducking their heads and dousing their lights, +for better concealment; but we, nevertheless, persevered until we had +pelted each to his own home.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page098" name="page098"></a>(p. 098)</span> We were, afterwards, afraid that we had carried the joke rather +too far, and entertained some doubts as to the propriety of holding our +quarters for another day; but they set our minds at rest on that point, +by paying us an early visit in the morning, and seemed to enjoy the joke +in a manner that we could not have expected from the gravity of their +looks.</p> + +<p>We passed two more days much in the same manner, and, on the third, +returned to our cantonments, and found that our division had moved, +during our absence, into some villages nearer to Ciudad Rodrigo, +preparatory to the siege of that place.</p> + +<p>On inquiry, we found that we had never been suspected for the +<i>abduction</i> of the sheep and turkeys, but that the blame, on the +contrary, had been attached to the poor soldiers, whose soup had been +tasted every day to see if it savoured of such dainties. The proprietor +of the turkeys was so particularly indignant that we thought it prudent +not to acknowledge ourselves as the culprits until some time afterwards, +when, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page099" name="page099"></a>(p. 099)</span> as one of our party happened to be killed in action, we, +very uncharitably, put the whole of it on his shoulders.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + + + + + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page100" name="page100"></a>(p. 100)</span> CHAP. VIII.</h3> + +<p class="resume">Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo. The Garrison of an Outwork relieved. + Spending an Evening abroad. A Musical Study. An Addition to Soup. + A short Cut. Storming of the Town. A sweeping Clause. Advantages + of leading a Storming Party. Looking for a Customer. + Disadvantages of being a stormed Party. Confusion of all Parties. + A waking Dream. Death of General Crawford. Accident. Deaths.</p> + + +<h4>SIEGE OF CIUDAD RODRIGO,<br> + +January 8th, 1812.</h4> + +<p>The campaign of 1812 commenced with the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, which +was invested by our division on the 8th of January.</p> + +<p>There was a smartish frost, with some snow on the ground; and, when we +arrived opposite the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page101" name="page101"></a>(p. 101)</span> fortress, about midday, the garrison did +not appear to think that we were in earnest, for a number of their +officers came out, under the shelter of a stone-wall, within half +musket-shot, and amused themselves in saluting and bowing to us in +ridicule; but, ere the day was done, some of them had occasion to wear +the laugh on the opposite side of the countenance.</p> + +<p>We lay by our arms until dark, when a party, consisting of a hundred +volunteers from each regiment, under Colonel Colborne, of the +fifty-second, stormed and carried the Fort of St. Francisco, after a +short sharp action, in which the whole of its garrison were taken or +destroyed. The officer who commanded it was a chattering little fellow, +and acknowledged himself to have been one of our saluting friends of the +morning. He kept, incessantly, repeating a few words of English which he +had picked up during the assault, and the only ones, I fancy, that were +spoken, viz. "dem eyes, b—t eyes!" and, in demanding the meaning of +them, he <span class="pagenum"><a id="page102" name="page102"></a>(p. 102)</span> required that we should, also, explain why we stormed +a place without first besieging it; for, he said, that another officer +would have relieved him of his charge at daylight, had <i>we</i> not +<i>relieved</i> him of it sooner.</p> + +<p>The enemy had calculated that this outwork would have kept us at bay for +a fortnight or three weeks; whereas, its capture, the first night, +enabled us to break ground at once, within breaching distance of the +walls of the town. They kept up a very heavy fire the whole night on the +working parties; but, as they aimed at random, we did not suffer much; +and made such good use of our time that, when daylight enabled them to +see what we were doing, we had dug ourselves under tolerable cover.</p> + +<p>In addition to ours, the first, third, and fourth divisions were +employed in the siege. Each took the duties for twenty-four hours +alternately, and returned to their cantonments during the interval.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page103" name="page103"></a>(p. 103)</span> We were relieved by the first division, under Sir Thomas +Graham, on the morning of the 9th, and marched to our quarters.</p> + +<p>Jan. 12th.—At ten o'clock this morning we resumed the duties of the +siege. It still continued to be dry frosty weather; and, as we were +obliged to ford the Agueda, up to the middle, every man carried a pair +of iced breeches into the trenches with him.</p> + +<p>My turn of duty did not arrive until eight in the evening, when I was +ordered to take thirty men with shovels to dig holes for ourselves, as +near as possible to the walls, for the delectable amusement of firing at +the embrasures for the remainder of the night. The enemy threw frequent +fire-balls among us, to see where we were; but, as we always lay snug +until their blaze was extinguished, they were not much the wiser, except +by finding, from having some one popt off from their guns every +instant, that they had got some neighbours whom they would have been +glad to get rid of.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page104" name="page104"></a>(p. 104)</span> We were relieved as usual at ten next morning, and returned to +our cantonments.</p> + +<p>January 16th.—Entered on our third day's duty, and found the breaching +batteries in full operation, and our approaches close to the walls on +every side. When we arrived on the ground I was sent to take command of +the highland company, which we had at that time in the regiment, and +which was with the left wing, under Colonel Cameron. I found them on +piquet, between the right of the trenches and the river, half of them +posted at a mud-cottage, and the other half in a ruined convent, close +under the walls. It was a very tolerable post when at it; but it is no +joke travelling by daylight up to within a stone's throw of a wall, on +which there is a parcel of fellows who have no other amusement but to +fire at every body they see.</p> + +<p>We could not show our noses at any point without being fired at; but, as +we were merely posted there to protect the right flank of the trenches +from any sortie, we did not fire at <span class="pagenum"><a id="page105" name="page105"></a>(p. 105)</span> them, and kept as quiet as +could be, considering the deadly blast that was blowing around us. There +are few situations in life where something cannot be learnt, and I, +myself, stand indebted to my twenty-four hours' residence there, for a +more correct knowledge of martial sounds than in the study of my whole +life time besides. They must be an unmusical pair of ears that cannot +inform the wearer whither a cannon or a musket played last, but the +various <i>notes</i>, emanating from their respective mouths, admit of nice +distinctions. My party was too small, and too well sheltered to repay +the enemy for the expense of shells and round shot; but the quantity of +grape and musketry aimed at our particular heads, made a good concert of +first and second whistles, while the more sonorous voice of the round +shot, travelling to our friends on the left, acted as a thorough bass; +and there was not a shell, that passed over us to the trenches, that did +not send back a fragment among us as soon as it burst, as if to gratify +a curiosity that I was far from expressing.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page106" name="page106"></a>(p. 106)</span> We went into the cottage soon after dark, to partake of +something that had been prepared for dinner; and, when in the middle of +it, a round shot passed through both walls, immediately over our heads, +and garnished the soup with a greater quantity of our parent earth than +was quite palatable.</p> + +<p>We were relieved, as usual, by the first division, at ten next morning; +and, to avoid as much as possible the destructive fire from the walls, +they sent forward only three or four men at a time, and we sent ours +away in the same proportions.</p> + +<p>Every thing is by comparison in this world, and it is curious to observe +how men's feelings change with circumstances. In cool blood a man would +rather go a little out of his way than expose himself to unnecessary +danger; but we found, this morning, that by crossing the river where we +then were, and running the gauntlet for a mile, exposed to the fire of +two pieces of artillery, that we should be saved the distance of two or +three miles in returning to our quarters. After coming out of such a +<i>furnace</i> <span class="pagenum"><a id="page107" name="page107"></a>(p. 107)</span> as we had been frying in, the other fire was not +considered a fire at all, and passed without a moment's hesitation.</p> + + +<h4>STORMING OF CIUDAD RODRIGO.</h4> + +<p>January 19th, 1812.—We moved to the scene of operations, about two +o'clock this afternoon; and, as it was a day before our regular turn, we +concluded that we were called there to lend a hand in finishing the job +we had begun so well; nor were we disappointed, for we found that two +practicable breaches had been effected, and that the place was to be +stormed in the evening by the third and light divisions, the former by +the right breach, and the latter by the left, while some Portuguese +troops were to attempt an escalade on the opposite sides of the town.</p> + +<p>About eight o'clock in the evening our division was accordingly formed +for the assault, behind a convent, near the left breach, in the +following order:—viz.</p> + +<div class="order"> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page108" name="page108"></a>(p. 108)</span> 1st. Four companies of our battalion, under Colonel + Cameron, to line the crest of the glacis, and fire upon the + ramparts.</p> + +<p>2d. Some companies of Portuguese, carrying bags filled with hay + and straw, for throwing into the ditch, to facilitate the passage + of the storming party.</p> + +<p>3d. The <i>forlorn hope</i>, consisting of an officer and twenty-five + volunteers.</p> + +<p>4th. The <i>storming party</i>, consisting of three officers and one + hundred volunteers from each regiment, the officers from ours + were Captain Mitchell, Mr. Johnstone, and myself, and the whole + under the command of Major Napier, of the fifty-second.</p> + +<p>5th. The main body of the division, under General Crawford, with + one brigade, under Major-General Vandeleur, and the other under + Colonel Barnard.</p> +</div> + +<p>At a given signal the different columns advanced to the assault; the +night was tolerably clear, and the enemy evidently expected us; for, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page109" name="page109"></a>(p. 109)</span> as soon as we turned the corner of the convent-wall, the space +between us and the breach became one blaze of light with their +fire-balls, which, while they lighted us on to glory, lightened not a +few of their lives and limbs; for the whole glacis was in consequence +swept by a well directed fire of grape and musketry, and they are the +devil's own brooms; but our gallant fellows walked through it, to the +point of attack, with the most determined steadiness, excepting the +Portuguese sack-bearers, most of whom lay down behind their bags, to +wait the result, while the few that were thrown into the ditch looked so +like dead bodies, that, when I leapt into it, I tried to avoid them.</p> + +<p>The advantage of being on a storming party is considered as giving the +prior claim to be <i>put out of pain</i>, for they receive the first fire, +which is generally the best, not to mention that they are also expected +to receive the earliest salutation from the beams of timber, +hand-grenades, and other missiles, which the garrison are generally +prepared to transfer from the top <span class="pagenum"><a id="page110" name="page110"></a>(p. 110)</span> of the wall, to the tops of +the heads of their foremost visitors. But I cannot say that I, myself, +experienced any such preference, for every ball has a considerable +distance to travel, and I have generally found them equally ready to +pick up their man at the end, as at the beginning of their flight; +luckily, too, the other preparations cannot always be accommodated to +the moment, so that, on the whole, the <i>odds</i> are pretty <i>even</i>, that, +all concerned come in for an equal share of whatever happens to be going +on.</p> + +<p>We had some difficulty at first in finding the breach, as we had entered +the ditch opposite to a ravelin, which we mistook for a bastion. I tried +first one side of it and then the other, and seeing one corner of it a +good deal battered, with a ladder placed against it, I concluded that it +must be the breach, and calling to the soldiers near me, to follow. I +mounted with the most ferocious intent, carrying a sword in one hand and +a pistol in the other; but, when I got up, I found nobody to fight with, +except two of our <span class="pagenum"><a id="page111" name="page111"></a>(p. 111)</span> own men, who were already laid dead across +the top of the ladder. I saw, in a moment, that I had got into the wrong +box, and was about to descend again, when I heard a shout from the +opposite side, that the breach was there; and, moving in that direction, +I dropped myself from the ravelin, and landed in the ditch, opposite to +the foot of the breach, where I found the head of the storming party +just beginning to fight their way into it. The combat was of short +duration, and, in less than half an hour from the commencement of the +attack, the place was in our possession.</p> + +<p>After carrying the breach, we met with no further opposition, and moved +round the ramparts to see that they were perfectly clear of the enemy, +previous to entering the town. I was fortunate enough to take the +left-hand circuit, by accident, and thereby escaped the fate which befel +a great portion of those who went to the right, and who were blown up, +along with some of the third division, by the accidental explosion of a +magazine.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page112" name="page112"></a>(p. 112)</span> I was highly amused, in moving round the ramparts, to find some +of the Portuguese troops just commencing their escalade, on the opposite +side, near the bridge, in ignorance of the place having already fallen. +Gallantly headed by their officers, they had got some ladders placed +against the wall, while about two thousand voices from the rear were +cheering, with all their might, for mutual encouragement; and, like most +other troops, under similar circumstances, it appeared to me that their +feet and their tongues went at a more equal pace after we gave them the +hint. On going a little further, we came opposite to the ravelin, which +had been my chief annoyance during my last days' piquet. It was still +crowded by the enemy, who had now thrown down their arms, and +endeavoured to excite our pity by virtue of their being "Pauvres +Italianos;" but our men had, somehow, imbibed a horrible antipathy to +the Italians, and every appeal they made in that name was invariably +answered with,—"You're Italians, are you? then, d—n you, here's a shot +for <span class="pagenum"><a id="page113" name="page113"></a>(p. 113)</span> you;" and the action instantly followed the word.</p> + +<p>A town taken by storm presents a frightful scene of outrage. The +soldiers no sooner obtain possession of it, than they think themselves +at liberty to do what they please. It is enough for them that there +<i>had</i> been an enemy on the ramparts; and, without considering that the +poor inhabitants may, nevertheless, be friends and allies, they, in the +first moment of excitement, all share one common fate; and nothing but +the most extraordinary exertions on the part of the officers can bring +them back to a sense of their duty.</p> + +<p>We continued our course round the ramparts until we met the head of the +column which had gone by the right, and then descended into the town. At +the entrance of the first street, a French officer came out of a door +and claimed my protection, giving me his sword. He told me that there +was another officer in the same house who was afraid to venture out, and +entreated that I would go in for him. I, accordingly, followed <span class="pagenum"><a id="page114" name="page114"></a>(p. 114)</span> +him up to the landing-place of a dark stair, and, while he was calling +to his friend, by name, to come down, "as there was an English officer +present who would protect him," a violent screaming broke through a door +at my elbow. I pushed it open, and found the landlady struggling with an +English soldier, whom I immediately transferred to the bottom of the +stair head foremost. The French officer had followed me in at the door, +and was so astonished at all he saw, that he held up his hands, turned +up the whites of his eyes, and resolved himself into a state of the most +eloquent silence. When he did recover the use of his tongue, it was to +recommend his landlady to my notice, as the most amiable woman in +existence. She, on her part, professed the most unbounded gratitude, and +entreated that I would make her house my home forever; but, when I +called upon her, a few days after, she denied having ever seen me +before, and stuck to it most religiously.</p> + +<p>As the other officer could not be found, I descended into the street +again with my prisoner; <span class="pagenum"><a id="page115" name="page115"></a>(p. 115)</span> and, finding the current of soldiers +setting towards the centre of the town, I followed the stream, which +conducted me into the great square, on one side of which the late +garrison were drawn up as prisoners, and the rest of it was filled with +British and Portuguese intermixed, without any order or regularity. I +had been there but a very short time, when they all commenced firing, +without any ostensible cause; some fired in at the doors and windows, +some at the roofs of houses, and others at the clouds; and, at last, +some heads began to be blown from their shoulders in the general +hurricane, when the voice of Sir Thomas Picton, with the power of twenty +trumpets, began to proclaim damnation to every body, while Colonel +Barnard, Colonel Cameron, and some other active officers, were carrying +it into effect with a strong hand; for, seizing the broken barrels of +muskets, which were lying about in great abundance, they belaboured +every fellow, most unmercifully, about the head who attempted either to +load or fire, and finally succeeded in reducing them to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page116" name="page116"></a>(p. 116)</span> order. +In the midst of the scuffle, however, three of the houses in the square +were set on fire; and the confusion was such that nothing could be done +to save them; but, by the extraordinary exertions of Colonel Barnard, +during the whole of the night, the flames were prevented from +communicating to the adjoining buildings.</p> + +<p>We succeeded in getting a great portion of our battalion together by one +o'clock in the morning, and withdrew with them to the ramparts, where we +lay by our arms until daylight.</p> + +<p>There is nothing in this life half so enviable as the feelings of a +soldier after a victory. Previous to a battle, there is a certain sort +of something that pervades the mind which is not easily defined; it is +neither akin to joy or fear, and, probably, <i>anxiety</i> may be nearer to +it than any other word in the dictionary: but, when the battle is over, +and crowned with victory, he finds himself elevated for awhile into the +regions of absolute bliss! It had ever been the summit of my ambition to +attain a post at the head of a storming party:—my wish had now been +accomplished, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page117" name="page117"></a>(p. 117)</span> and gloriously ended; and I do think that, after +all was over, and our men laid asleep on the ramparts, that I strutted +about as important a personage, in my own opinion, as ever trod the face +of the earth; and, had the ghost of the renowned Jack-the-giant-killer +itself passed that way at the time, I'll venture to say, that I would +have given it a kick in the breech without the smallest ceremony. But, +as the sun began to rise, I began to fall from the heroics; and, when he +showed his face, I took a look at my own, and found that I was too +unclean a spirit to worship, for I was covered with mud and dirt, with +the greater part of my dress torn to rags.</p> + +<p>The fifth division, which had not been employed in the siege, marched +in, and took charge of the town, on the morning of the 20th, and we +prepared to return to our cantonments. Lord Wellington happened to be +riding in at the gate at the time that we were marching out, and had the +curiosity to ask the officer of the leading company, what regiment it +was, for there was <span class="pagenum"><a id="page118" name="page118"></a>(p. 118)</span> scarcely a vestige of uniform among the +men, some of whom were dressed in Frenchmen's coats, some in white +breeches, and huge jack-boots, some with cocked hats and queues; most of +their swords were fixed on the rifles, and stuck full of hams, tongues, +and loaves of bread, and not a few were carrying bird-cages! There never +was a better masked corps!</p> + +<p>General Crawford fell on the glacis, at the head of our division, and +was buried at the foot of the breach which they so gallantly carried. +His funeral was attended by Lord Wellington, and all the officers of the +division, by whom he was, ultimately, much liked. He had introduced a +system of discipline into the light division which made them unrivalled. +A very rigid exaction of the duties pointed out in his code of +regulations made him very unpopular at its commencement, and it was not +until a short time before he was lost to us for ever, that we were +capable of appreciating his merits, and fully sensible of the +incalculable advantages we derived from the perfection of his system.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page119" name="page119"></a>(p. 119)</span> Among other things carried from Ciudad Rodrigo, one of our men +had the misfortune to carry his death in his hands, under the mistaken +shape of amusement. He thought that it was a cannon-ball, and took it +for the purpose of playing at the game of nine-holes, but it happened to +be a live shell. In rolling it along it went over a bed of burning +ashes, and ignited without his observing it. Just as he had got it +between his legs, and was in the act of discharging it a second time, it +exploded, and nearly blew him to pieces.</p> + +<p>Several men of our division, who had deserted while we were blockading +Ciudad Rodrigo, were taken when it fell, and were sentenced to be shot. +Lord Wellington extended mercy to every one who could procure any thing +like a good character from his officers; but six of them, who could not, +were paraded and shot, in front of the division, near the village of +Ituera. Shooting appears to me to be a cruel kind of execution, for +twenty balls may pierce a man's body without touching a vital spot. On +the occasion <span class="pagenum"><a id="page120" name="page120"></a>(p. 120)</span> alluded to, two of the men remained standing +after the first fire, and the Provost-Marshal was obliged to put an end +to their sufferings, by placing the muzzle of a piece at each of their +heads.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + + + + + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page121" name="page121"></a>(p. 121)</span> CHAP. IX.</h3> + +<p class="resume">March to Estremadura. A Deserter shot. Riding for an Appetite. + Effect the Cure of a sick Lady. Siege of Badajos. Trench-Work. + Varieties during the Siege. Taste of the Times. Storming of the + Town. Its Fall. Officers of a French Battalion. Not shot by + Accident. Military Shopkeepers. Lost Legs and cold Hearts. + Affecting Anecdote. My Servant. A Consignment to Satan. March + again for the North. Sir Sidney Beckwith.</p> + + +<p>We remained about six weeks in cantonments, after the fall of Ciudad +Rodrigo; and, about the end of February, were again put in motion +towards Estremadura.</p> + +<p>March 7th.—Arrived near Castello de Vide, and quartered in the +neighbouring villages. Another deserter, who had also been taken at the +storming of Ciudad Rodrigo, was here shot, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page122" name="page122"></a>(p. 122)</span> under the sentence +of a court martial. When he was paraded for that purpose, he protested +against their right to shoot him, until he first received the arrears of +pay which was due at the time of his desertion.</p> + +<p>March 14th.—Two of us rode out this afternoon to kill time until dinner +hour (six); but, when we returned to our quarters, there was not a +vestige of the regiment remaining, and our appetites were considerably +whetted, by having an additional distance of fourteen miles to ride, in +the dark, over roads on which we could not trust our horses out of a +walk. We joined them, at about eleven at night, in the town of +Portalegré.</p> + +<p>March 16th.—Quartered in the town of Elvas.</p> + +<p>I received a billet on a neat little house, occupied by an old lady and +her daughter, who were very desirous of evading such an incumbrance. +For, after resisting my entrance, until successive applications of my +foot had reduced the door to a condition which would no longer second +their efforts, the old lady resolved to try me on another <i>tack</i>; and, +opening the door, and, making a sign <span class="pagenum"><a id="page123" name="page123"></a>(p. 123)</span> for me to make no noise, +she told me, in a whisper, that her daughter was lying dangerously ill +of a fever, in the only bed in the house, and that she was, therefore, +excessively sorry that she could not accommodate me. As this information +did not at all accord with my notions of consistency, after their having +suffered the preceding half hour's bombardment, I requested to be shewn +to the chamber of the invalid, saying that I was a <i>medico</i>, and might +be of service to her. When she found remonstrance unavailing, she at +length shewed me into a room up-stairs, where there was a very +genteel-looking young girl, the very picture of <i>Portuguese</i> health, +lying with her eyes shut, in full dress, on the top of the bed-clothes, +where she had hurriedly thrown herself.</p> + +<p>Seeing, at once, how matters stood, I walked up to the bed-side, and hit +her a slap on the thigh with my hand, asking her, at the same time, how +she felt herself? and never did Prince Hohenloe, himself, perform a +miracle more cleverly; for she bounced almost as high as the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page124" name="page124"></a>(p. 124)</span> +ceiling, and flounced about the room, as well and as actively as ever +she did, with a countenance in which shame, anger, and a great portion +of natural humour were so amusingly blended, that I was tempted to +provoke her still further by a salute. Having thus satisfied the mother +that I had been the means of restoring her daughter to her usual state +of health, she thought it prudent to put the best face upon it, and, +therefore, invited me to partake of their family dinner; in the course +of which I succeeded so well in eating my way into their affections, +that we parted next morning with mutual regret; they told me that I was +the <i>best</i> officer they had ever seen, and begged that I would always +make their house my home; but I was never fated to see them again. We +marched in the morning for Badajos.</p> + + +<h4>SIEGE OF BADAJOS.</h4> + +<p>On the 17th of March, 1812, the <i>third</i>, <i>fourth</i>, and <i>light +divisions</i>, encamped around Badajos, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page125" name="page125"></a>(p. 125)</span> embracing the whole of +the inland side of the town on the left bank of the Guadiana, and +commenced breaking ground before it immediately after dark the same +night.</p> + +<p>The elements, on this occasion, adopted the cause of the besieged; for +we had scarcely taken up our ground, when a heavy rain commenced, and +continued, almost without intermission, for a fortnight; in consequence +thereof, the pontoon-bridge, connecting us with our supplies from Elvas, +was carried away, by the rapid increase of the river, and the duties of +the trenches were otherwise rendered extremely harassing. We had a +smaller force employed than at Rodrigo; and the scale of operations was +so much greater, that it required every man to be actually in the +trenches six hours every day, and the same length of time every night, +which, with the time required to march to and from them, through fields +more than ankle deep in a stiff mud, left us never more than eight hours +out of the twenty-four in camp, and we never were dry the whole time.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page126" name="page126"></a>(p. 126)</span> One day's trench-work is as like another as the days +themselves; and like nothing better than serving an apprenticeship to +the double calling of grave-digger and game-keeper, for we found ample +employment both for the spade and the rifle.</p> + +<p>The only varieties during the siege were,—First, The storming of +<i>Picuvina</i>, a formidable outwork, occupying the centre of our +operations. It was carried one evening, in the most gallant style, by +Major-General Sir James Kempt, at the head of the covering parties. +Secondly, A sortie made by the garrison, which they got the worst of, +although they succeeded in stealing some of our pickaxes and shovels. +Thirdly, A <i>circumbendibus</i> described by a few daring French dragoons, +who succeeded in getting into the rear of our engineers' camp, at that +time unguarded, and lightened some of the officers of their epaulettes. +Lastly, Two field-pieces taken by the enemy to the opposite side of the +river, enfilading one of our parallels, and materially disturbing the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page127" name="page127"></a>(p. 127)</span> harmony within, as a cannon-shot is no very welcome guest +among gentlemen who happen to be lodged in a straight ditch, without the +power of <i>cutting</i> it.</p> + +<p>Our batteries were supplied with ammunition, by the Portuguese militia, +from Elvas, a string of whom used to arrive every day, reaching nearly +from the one place to the other (twelve miles), each man carrying a +twenty-four pound shot, and cursing all the way and back again.</p> + +<p>The Portuguese artillery, under British officers, was uncommonly good. I +used to be much amused in looking at a twelve-gun breaching-battery of +theirs.</p> + +<p>They knew the position of all the enemy's guns which could bear upon +them, and had one man posted to watch them, to give notice of what was +coming, whether a shot or a shell, who, accordingly, kept calling out, +"<i>bomba, balla, balla, bomba</i>;" and they ducked their heads until the +missile past: but, sometimes he would see a general discharge from all +arms, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page128" name="page128"></a>(p. 128)</span> when he threw himself down, screaming out "<i>Jesus, +todos, todos!</i>" meaning "every thing."</p> + +<p>An officer of ours was sent one morning, before daylight, with ten men, +to dig holes for themselves, opposite to one of the enemy's guns, which +had been doing a great deal of mischief the day before, and he had soon +the satisfaction of knowing the effect of his practice, by seeing them +stopping up the embrasure with sandbags. After waiting a little, he saw +them beginning to remove the bags, when he made his men open upon it +again, and they were instantly replaced without the guns being fired; +presently he saw the huge cocked hat of a French officer make its +appearance on the rampart, near to the embrasure; but knowing, by +experience, that the <i>head</i> was somewhere in the neighbourhood, he +watched until the flash of a musket, through the long grass, showed the +position of the owner, and, calling one of his best shots, he desired +him to take deliberate aim at the spot, and lent his shoulder as a rest, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page129" name="page129"></a>(p. 129)</span> to give it more elevation. Bang went the shot, and it was the +finishing flash for the Frenchman, for they saw no more of <i>him</i>, +although his cocked hat maintained its post until dark.</p> + +<p>In proportion as the grand crisis approached, the anxiety of the +soldiers increased; not on account of any doubt or dread as to the +result, but for fear that the place should be surrendered without +standing an assault; for, singular as it may appear, although there was +a certainty of about one man out of every three being knocked down, +there were, perhaps, not three men, in the three divisions, who would +not rather have braved all the chances than receive it tamely from the +hands of the enemy. So great was the rage for passports into eternity, +in our battalion, on that occasion, that even the officers' servants +insisted on taking their places in the ranks; and I was obliged to leave +my baggage in charge of a man who had been wounded some days before.</p> + +<p>On the 6th of April, three practicable breaches <span class="pagenum"><a id="page130" name="page130"></a>(p. 130)</span> had been +effected, and arrangements were made for assaulting the town that night. +The third division, by escalade, at the castle; a brigade of the fifth +division, by escalade, at the opposite side of the town; while the +fourth and light divisions were to storm the breaches. The whole were +ordered to be formed for the attack at eight o'clock.</p> + + +<h4>STORMING OF BADAJOS,<br> + +April 6th, 1812.</h4> + +<p>Our division formed for the attack of the left breach in the same order +as at Ciudad Rodrigo; the command of it had now devolved upon our +commandant, Colonel Barnard. I was then the acting adjutant of four +companies, under Colonel Cameron, who were to line the crest of the +glacis, and to fire at the ramparts and the top of the left breach.</p> + +<p>The enemy seemed aware of our intentions. The fire of artillery and +musketry, which, for <span class="pagenum"><a id="page131" name="page131"></a>(p. 131)</span> three weeks before, had been incessant, +both from the town and trenches, had now entirely ceased, as if by +mutual consent, and a deathlike silence, of nearly an hour, preceded the +awful scene of carnage.</p> + +<p>The signal to advance was made about nine o'clock, and our four +companies led the way. Colonel Cameron and myself had reconnoitred the +ground so accurately by daylight, that we succeeded in bringing the head +of our column to the very spot agreed on, opposite to the left breach, +and then formed line to the left, without a word being spoken, each man +lying down as he got into line, with the muzzle of his rifle over the +edge of the ditch, between the pallisades, all ready to open. It was +tolerably clear above, and we distinctly saw <i>their</i> heads lining the +ramparts; but there was a sort of haze on the ground which, with the +colour of our dress, prevented them from seeing us, although only a few +yards asunder. One of their sentries, however, challenged us twice, +"<i>qui vive</i>," and, receiving no reply, he fired off his musket, which +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page132" name="page132"></a>(p. 132)</span> was followed by their drums beating to arms; but <i>we</i> still +remained perfectly quiet, and all was silence again for the space of +five or ten minutes, when the head of the forlorn hope at length came +up, and we took advantage of the first fire, while the enemy's heads +were yet visible.</p> + +<p>The scene that ensued furnished as respectable a representation of hell +itself as fire, and sword, and human sacrifices could make it; for, in +one instant, every engine of destruction was in full operation.</p> + +<p>It is in vain to attempt a description of it. We were entirely excluded +from the right breach by an inundation which the heavy rains had enabled +the enemy to form; and the two others were rendered totally +impracticable by their interior defences.</p> + +<p>The five succeeding hours were therefore past in the most gallant and +hopeless attempts, on the part of individual officers, forming up fifty +or a hundred men at a time at the foot of the breach, and endeavouring +to carry it by desperate bravery; and, fatal as it proved to each +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page133" name="page133"></a>(p. 133)</span> gallant band, in succession, yet, fast as one dissolved, +another was formed. We were informed, about twelve at night, that the +third division had established themselves in the castle; but, as its +situation and construction did not permit them to extend their +operations beyond it at the moment, it did not in the least affect our +opponents at the breach, whose defence continued as obstinate as ever.</p> + +<p>I was near Colonel Barnard after midnight, when he received repeated +messages, from Lord Wellington, to withdraw from the breach, and to form +the division for a renewal of the attack at daylight; but, as fresh +attempts continued to be made, and the troops were still pressing +forward into the ditch, it went against his gallant soul to order a +retreat while yet a chance remained; but, after heading repeated +attempts himself, he saw that it was hopeless, and the order was +reluctantly given about two o'clock in the morning. We fell back about +three hundred yards, and re-formed all that remained to us.</p> + +<p>Our regiment, alone, had to lament the loss of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page134" name="page134"></a>(p. 134)</span> twenty-two +officers killed and wounded, ten of whom were killed, or afterwards died +of their wounds. We had scarcely got our men together when we were +informed of the success of the fifth division in their escalade, and +that the enemy were, in consequence, abandoning the breaches, and we +were immediately ordered forward to take possession of them. On our +arrival, we found them entirely evacuated, and had not occasion to fire +another shot; but we found the utmost difficulty, and even danger, in +getting in in the dark, even without opposition. As soon as we succeeded +in establishing our battalion inside, we sent piquets into the different +streets and lanes leading from the breach, and kept the remainder in +hand until day should throw some light on our situation.</p> + +<p>When I was in the act of posting one of the piquets, a man of ours +brought me a prisoner, telling me that he was the governor; but the +other immediately said that he had only called himself so, the better to +ensure his protection; and then added, that he was the colonel of one +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page135" name="page135"></a>(p. 135)</span> of the French regiments, and that all his surviving officers +were assembled at his quarters, in a street close by, and would +surrender themselves to any officer who would go with him for that +purpose. I accordingly took two or three men with me, and, accompanying +him there, found fifteen or sixteen of them assembled, and all seeming +very much surprised at the unexpected termination of the siege. They +could not comprehend under what circumstances the town had been lost, +and repeatedly asked me how I had got in; but I did not choose to +explain further than simply telling them that I had entered at the +breach, coupling the information with a look which was calculated to +convey somewhat more than I knew myself; for, in truth, when I began to +recollect that a few minutes before had seen me retiring from the +breach, under a fanciful overload of degradation, I thought that I had +now as good a right as any man to be astonished at finding myself +<i>lording</i> it over the officers of a French battalion; nor was I much +wiser than they were, as to the manner of its accomplishment. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page136" name="page136"></a>(p. 136)</span> +They were all very much dejected, excepting their major, who was a big +jolly-looking Dutchman, with medals enough, on his left breast, to have +furnished the window of a tolerable toy-shop. His accomplishments were +after the manner of Captain Dougal Dalgetty; and, while he cracked his +joke, he was not inattentive to the cracking of the corks from the many +wine-bottles which his colonel placed on the table successively, along +with some cold meat, for general refreshment, prior to marching into +captivity, and which I, though a free man, was not too proud to join +them in.</p> + +<p>When I had allowed their chief a reasonable time to secure what +valuables he wished, about his person, he told me that he had two horses +in the stable, which, as he would no longer be permitted to keep, he +recommended me to take; and, as a horse is the only thing on such +occasions that an officer can permit himself to consider a legal prize, +I caused one of them to be saddled, and his handsome black mare thereby +became my charger during the remainder of the war.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page137" name="page137"></a>(p. 137)</span> In proceeding with my prisoners towards the breach, I took, by +mistake, a different road to that I came; and, as numbers of Frenchmen +were lurking about for a safe opportunity of surrendering themselves, +about a hundred additional ones added themselves to my column, as we +moved along, <i>jabbering</i> their native dialect so loudly, as nearly to +occasion a dire catastrophe, as it prevented me from hearing some one +challenge in my front; but, fortunately, it was repeated, and I +instantly answered; for Colonel Barnard and Sir Colin Campbell had a +piquet of our men, drawn across the street, on the point of sending a +volley into us, thinking that we were a rallied body of the enemy.</p> + +<p>The whole of the garrison were marched off, as prisoners, to Elvas, +about ten o'clock in the morning, and our men were then permitted to +fall out, to enjoy themselves for the remainder of the day, as a reward +for having kept together so long as they were wanted. The whole of the +three divisions were, by this time, loose in the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page138" name="page138"></a>(p. 138)</span> town; and the +usual frightful scene of plunder commenced, which the officers thought +it necessary to avoid for the moment, by retiring to the camp.</p> + +<p>We went into the town on the morning of the 8th, to endeavour to collect +our men, but only succeeded in part, as the same extraordinary scene of +plunder and rioting still continued. Wherever there was any thing to eat +or drink, the only saleable commodities, the soldiers had turned the +shopkeepers out of doors, and placed themselves regularly behind the +counter, selling off the contents of the shop. By and bye, another and a +stronger party would kick those out in their turn, and there was no end +to the succession of self-elected shopkeepers, until Lord Wellington +found that, to restore order, severe measures must be resorted to. On +the third day, he caused a Portuguese brigade to be marched in, and kept +standing to their arms, in the great square, where the provost-martial +erected a gallows, and proceeded to suspend a few of the delinquents, +which very quickly <span class="pagenum"><a id="page139" name="page139"></a>(p. 139)</span> cleared the town of the remainder, and +enabled us to give a more satisfactory account of our battalion than we +had hitherto been able to do.</p> + +<p>It is wonderful how such scenes as these will deaden men's finer +feelings, and with what apathy it enables them to look upon the +sufferings of their fellow creatures! The third day after the fall of +the town, I rode, with Colonel Cameron, to take a bathe in the Guadiana, +and, in passing the verge of the camp of the 5th division, we saw two +soldiers standing at the door of a small shed, or outhouse, shouting, +waving their caps, and making signs that they wanted to speak to us. We +rode up to see what they wanted, and found that the poor fellows had +each lost a leg. They told us that a surgeon had dressed their wounds on +the night of the assault, but that they had ever since been without food +or assistance of any kind, although they, each day, had opportunities of +soliciting the aid of many of their comrades, from whom they could +obtain nothing but promises. In short, surrounded by thousands of their +countrymen <span class="pagenum"><a id="page140" name="page140"></a>(p. 140)</span> within call, and not more than three hundred yards +from their own regiment, they were unable to interest any one in their +behalf, and were literally starving.</p> + +<p>It is unnecessary to say that we instantly galloped back to the camp and +had them removed to the hospital.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 7th, when some of our officers were performing the +last duties to their fallen comrades, one of them had collected the +bodies of four of our young officers, who had been slain. He was in the +act of digging a grave for them, when an officer of the guards, arrived +on the spot, from a distant division of the army, and demanded tidings +of his brother, who was at that moment lying a naked lifeless corpse, +under his very eyes. The officer had the presence of mind to see that +the corpse was not recognized, and, wishing to spare the other's +feelings, told him that his brother was dangerously wounded, but that he +would hear more of him by going out to the camp; and thither the other +immediately bent his <span class="pagenum"><a id="page141" name="page141"></a>(p. 141)</span> steps, with a seeming <i>presentiment</i> of +the sad intelligence that awaited him.</p> + +<p>April 9th.—As I had not seen my domestic since the storming of the +town, I concluded that he had been killed; but he turned up this +morning, with a tremendous gash on his head, and mounted on the top of a +horse nearly twenty feet high, carrying under his arm one of those glass +cases which usually stand on the counters of jewellers' shops, filled +with all manner of trinkets. He looked exactly like the ghost of a horse +pedler.</p> + +<p>April 10th.—The devil take the man who stole my donkey last night.</p> + +<p>April 11th.—Marched again for the neighbourhood of Ciudad Rodrigo, with +the long-accustomed sounds of cannon and musketry ringing in my fanciful +ears as merrily as if the instruments themselves were still playing.</p> + +<p>Sir Sidney Beckwith, one of the fathers of the rifles, was, at this +time, obliged to proceed to England for the recovery of health, and did +not again return to the Peninsula. In his departure, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page142" name="page142"></a>(p. 142)</span> that army +lost one of the ablest of its outpost generals. Few officers knew so +well how to make the most of a small force. His courage, coupled with +his thorough knowledge of the soldier's character, was of that cool +intrepid kind, that would, at any time, convert a routed rabble into an +orderly effective force. A better officer, probably, never led a brigade +into the field!<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + + + + + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page143" name="page143"></a>(p. 143)</span> CHAP X.</h3> + +<p class="resume">A Farewell Address to Portalegré. History of a Night in Castello + Branco. Regimental Colours lost, with Directions where to find + them. Cases in which a Victory is sometimes won by those who lost + it. Advance to Salamanca. The City. The British Position on St. + Christoval. Affair in Position. Marmont's Change of Position and + Retreat. A Case of Bad Luck. Advance to Rueda, and Customs there. + Retire to Castrejon. Affairs on the 18th and 19th of July. Battle + of Salamanca, and Defeat of the Enemy.</p> + + +<p class="center">April 13th, 1812.—Quartered at Portalegré.</p> + +<p class="smcap">Dear Portalegré!</p> + +<p>I cannot quit thee, for the fourth and last time, without a parting +tribute to the remembrance of thy wild romantic scenery, and to the +kindness and hospitality of thy worthy citizens! May <span class="pagenum"><a id="page144" name="page144"></a>(p. 144)</span> thy gates +continue shut to thine enemies as heretofore, and, as heretofore, may +they ever prove those of happiness to thy friends! Dear nuns of Santa +Clara! I thank thee for the enjoyment of many an hour of nothingness; +and thine, Santa Barbara, for many of a more intellectual cast! May the +voice of thy chapel-organ continue unrivalled but by the voices of thy +lovely choristers! and may the piano in thy refectory be replaced by a +better, in which the harmony of strings may supersede the clattering of +ivories! May the sweets which thou hast lavished on us be showered upon +thee ten thousand fold! And may those accursed iron bars divide thee as +effectually from death as they did from us!!!</p> + +<p>April 15th.—Quartered at Castello Branco.</p> + +<p>This town had been so often visited by the French and us, alternately, +that the inhabitants, at length, confounded their friends with their +foes; and by treating both sides as enemies, they succeeded in making +them so.</p> + +<p>When I went this evening to present my billet <span class="pagenum"><a id="page145" name="page145"></a>(p. 145)</span> on a respectable +looking house, the door was opened by the lady of it, wearing a most +gingerly aspect. She told me, with an equivocal sort of look, that she +had two spare beds in the house, and that either of them were at my +service; and, by way of illustration, shewed me into a sort of servant's +room, off the kitchen, half full of apples, onions, potatoes, and +various kinds of lumber, with a dirty looking bed in one corner; and, on +my requesting to see the other, she conducted me up to the garret, into +the very counterpart of the one below, though the room was somewhat +differently garnished. I told her, that they were certainly two capital +beds; but, as I was a modest person, and disliked all extremes, that I +should be quite satisfied with any one on the floor which I had not yet +seen. This, however, she told me, was impossible, as every one of them +were required by her own family. While we were descending the stair, +disputing the point, I caught the handle of the first door that I came +to, twisted it open, and seeing it a neat little room, with <span class="pagenum"><a id="page146" name="page146"></a>(p. 146)</span> +nothing but a table and two or three chairs, I told her that it would +suit me perfectly; and, desiring her to have a good mattress with clean +linen, laid in one corner of it, by nine o'clock; adding a few hints, to +satisfy her that I was quite in earnest, I went to dine with my +messmates.</p> + +<p>When I returned to the house, about ten o'clock, I was told that I +should find a light in the room and my bed ready. I accordingly +ascended, and found every thing as represented; and, in addition +thereto, I found another bed lying alongside of mine, containing a huge +fat friar, with a bald pate, fast asleep, and blowing the most +tremendous nasal trumpet that I ever heard! As my <i>friend</i> had evidently +been placed there for my annoyance, I did not think it necessary to use +much ceremony in getting rid of him; and, catching him by the two ears, +I raised him up on his legs, while he groaned in a seeming agonized +doubt, whether the pain was inflicted by a man or a night-mare; and +before he had time to get himself broad awake, I had chucked <span class="pagenum"><a id="page147" name="page147"></a>(p. 147)</span> +him and his clothing, bed and bedding, out at the door, which I locked, +and enjoyed a sound sleep the remainder of the night.</p> + +<p>They offered me no further molestation; but, in taking my departure, at +daylight, next morning, I observed my landlady reconnoitring me from an +up-stairs window, and thought it prudent not to go too near it.</p> + +<p>While we had been employed at Badajos, Marmont had advanced in the +north, and blockaded Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida, sending advanced +parties into the frontier towns of Portugal, to the confusion and +consternation of the Portuguese militia, who had been stationed for +their protection; and who, quite satisfied with the <i>report</i> of their +coming, did not think it necessary to wait the report of their cannon. +Marshal Beresford, in his paternal address to "<i>Los Valerossos</i>," in +commemoration of their conduct on this occasion, directed that the +colours of each regiment should be lodged in the town-halls of their +respective districts, until they each provided themselves with <i>a pair</i> +out of the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page148" name="page148"></a>(p. 148)</span> ranks of the enemy; but I never heard that any of +them were redeemed in the manner prescribed.</p> + +<p>The French retired upon Salamanca on our approach; and we resumed our +former quarters without opposition.</p> + +<p>Hitherto we had been fighting the description of battle in which John +Bull glories so much—gaining a brilliant and useless victory against +great odds. But we were now about to contend for fame on equal terms; +and, having tried both, I will say, without partiality, that I would +rather fight one man than two any day; for I have never been quite +satisfied that the additional <i>quantum</i> of glory altogether compensated +for the proportionate loss of substance; a victory of that kind being a +doubtful and most unsatisfactory one to the performers, with each +occupying the same ground <i>after</i>, that they did <i>before</i>; and the whole +merit resting with the side which did not happen to begin it.</p> + +<p>We remained about two months in cantonments, to recover the effects of +the late sieges; and as by that time all the perforated skins and +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page149" name="page149"></a>(p. 149)</span> repairable cracked limbs had been mended, the army was +assembled in front of Ciudad Rodrigo, to commence what may be termed the +second campaign of 1812.</p> + +<p>The enemy retired from Salamanca on our approach, leaving garrisons in +three formidable little forts, which they had erected on the most +commanding points of the city, and which were immediately invested by a +British division.</p> + +<p>Salamanca, as a city, appeared to me to be more ancient than +respectable; for, excepting an old cathedral and a new square, I saw +nothing in it worth looking at, always saving and excepting their pretty +little girls, who (the deuce take them) cost me two nights good sleep. +For, by way of <i>doing a little dandy</i> in passing through such a +celebrated city, I disencumbered the under part of my saddle of the +blanket, and the upper part of the boat-cloak with which it was usually +adorned; and the penalty which I paid for my gentility was, sleeping the +next two nights in position two miles in front of the town, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page150" name="page150"></a>(p. 150)</span> +while these useful appendages were lying on the baggage two miles in +rear of it.</p> + +<p>The heights of St. Christoval, which we occupied as a position to cover +the siege, were strong, but quite unsheltered, and unfurnished with +either wood or water. We were indebted for our supplies of the latter to +the citizens of Salamanca; while stubbles and dry grass were our only +fuel.</p> + +<p>Marmont came down upon us the first night with a thundering cannonade, +and placed his army <i>en masse</i> on the plain before us, almost within gun +shot. I was told that, while Lord Wellington was riding along the line, +under a fire of artillery, and accompanied by a numerous staff, that a +brace of greyhounds, in pursuit of a hare, passed close to him. He was, +at the moment, in earnest conversation with General Castanos; but the +instant he observed them, he gave the view hallo, and went after them at +full speed, to the utter astonishment of his foreign accompaniments. Nor +did he stop until he saw <span class="pagenum"><a id="page151" name="page151"></a>(p. 151)</span> the hare killed; when he returned, +and resumed the commander-in-chief, as if nothing had occurred.</p> + +<p>The enemy, next morning, commenced a sharp attack on our advanced post, +in the village of Moresco; and, as it continued to be fed by both sides, +there was every appearance of its bringing on a general action; but they +desisted towards the afternoon, and the village remained divided between +us.</p> + +<p>Marmont, after looking at us for several days, did not think it prudent +to risk an attack on our present post; and, as the telegraph-rockets +from the town told him that his garrison was reduced to extremity, he +crossed the Tormes, on the night of the 26th June, in the hopes of being +able to relieve them from that side of the river. Our division followed +his movement, and took post, for the night, at Aldea Lingua. They sent +forward a strong reconnoitring party at daylight next morning, but they +were opposed by General Bock's brigade of heavy German dragoons, who +would not permit them to see more <span class="pagenum"><a id="page152" name="page152"></a>(p. 152)</span> than was necessary; and, as +the forts fell into our hands the same night, Marmont had no longer an +object in remaining there, and fell back, behind the Douro, occupying +the line of Toro and Torodesillas.</p> + +<p>By the accidental discharge of a musket, one day last year, the ramrod +entered the belly, passed through the body, and the end of it stuck in +the back-bone of one of the soldiers of our division, from whence it was +actually hammered out with a stone. The poor fellow recovered, and +joined his regiment, as well as ever he had been, and was, last night, +unfortunately drowned, while bathing in the Tormes.</p> + +<p>When the enemy retired, our division advanced and occupied Rueda, a +handsome little town, on the left bank of the Douro.</p> + +<p>It abounded in excellent wines, and our usual evening dances began there +to be graced by a superior class of females to what they had hitherto +been accustomed. I remember that, in passing the house of the sexton, +one evening, I saw his daughter baking a loaf of bread; and, falling +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page153" name="page153"></a>(p. 153)</span> desperately in love with both her and the loaf, I carried the +one to the ball and the other to my quarters. A woman was a woman in +those days; and every officer made it a point of duty to marshal as many +as he could to the general assembly, no matter whether they were +countesses or <i>sextonesses</i>; and although we, in consequence, frequently +incurred the most indelible disgrace among the better orders of our +indiscriminate collection, some of whom would retire in disgust; yet, as +a sufficient number generally remained for our evening's amusement, and +we were only birds of passage, it was a matter of the most perfect +indifference to us what they thought; we followed the same course +wherever we went.</p> + +<p>The French army having, in the mean time, been largely reinforced; and, +as they commanded the passage of the Douro, we were in hourly +expectation of an offensive movement from them. As a precautionary +measure, one-half of our division bivouacked, every night, in front of +the town. On the evening of the 16th of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page154" name="page154"></a>(p. 154)</span> July, it was our turn +to be in quarters, and we were in the full enjoyment of our usual +evening's amusement, when the bugles sounded to arms.</p> + +<p>As we had previously experienced two false alarms in the same quarters, +we thought it more than probable that this might prove one also; and, +therefore, prevailed upon the ladies to enjoy themselves, until our +return, upon the good things which we had provided for their +refreshment, and out of which I hope they drew enough of consolation for +our absence, as we have not seen them since.</p> + +<p>After forming on our alarm-post, we were moved off, in the dark, we knew +not whither; but every man following the one before him, with the most +implicit confidence, until, after marching all night, we found +ourselves, on the following morning, at daylight, near the village of +Castrejon, where we bivouacked for the day.</p> + +<p>I was sent on piquet on the evening of the 17th, to watch a portion of +the plain before us; and, soon after sunrise on the following morning, a +cannonade commenced, behind a hill, to my <span class="pagenum"><a id="page155" name="page155"></a>(p. 155)</span> right; and, though +the combatants were not visible, it was evident that they were not +dealing in blank-cartridge, as mine happened to be the pitching-post of +all the enemy's round shot. While I was attentively watching its +progress, there arose, all at once, behind the rising ground to my left, +a yell of the most terrific import; and, convinced that it would give +instantaneous birth to as hideous a body, it made me look, with an eye +of lightning, at the ground around me; and, seeing a broad deep ditch +within a hundred yards, I lost not a moment in placing it between my +piquet and the extraordinary sound, I had scarcely effected the +movement, when Lord Wellington, with his staff, and a cloud of French +and English dragoons and horse artillery intermixed, came over the hill +at full cry, and all hammering at each others' heads in one confused +mass, over the very ground I had that instant quitted. It appeared that +his Lordship had gone there to reconnoitre, covered by two guns and two +squadrons of cavalry, who, by some accident, were surprised, and charged +by <span class="pagenum"><a id="page156" name="page156"></a>(p. 156)</span> a superior body of the enemy, and sent tumbling in upon us +in the manner described. A piquet of the forty-third had formed on our +right, and we were obliged to remain passive spectators of such an +extraordinary scene going on within a few yards of us, as we could not +fire without an equal chance of shooting some of our own side. Lord +Wellington and his staff, with the two guns, took shelter, for the +moment, behind us, while the cavalry went sweeping along our front, +where, I suppose, they picked up some reinforcement, for they returned, +almost instantly, in the same confused mass; but the French were now the +flyers; and, I must do them the justice to say, that they got off in a +manner highly creditable to themselves. I saw one, in particular, +defending himself against two of ours; and he would have made his escape +from both, but an officer of our dragoons came down the hill, and took +him in flank, at full speed, sending man and horse rolling, headlong, on +the plain.</p> + +<p>I was highly interested, all this time, in observing <span class="pagenum"><a id="page157" name="page157"></a>(p. 157)</span> the +distinguished characters which this unlooked-for <i>turn-up</i> had assembled +around us. Marshal Beresford and the greater part of the staff remained +with their swords drawn, and the Duke himself did not look more than +half-pleased, while he silently despatched some of them with orders. +General Alten, and his huge German orderly dragoon, with their swords +drawn, cursed, the whole time, to a very large amount; but, as it was in +German, I had not the full benefit of it. He had an opposition swearer +in Captain Jenkinson, of the artillery, who commanded the two guns, and +whose oaths were chiefly aimed at himself for his folly, as far as I +could understand, in putting so much confidence in his covering party, +that he had not thought it necessary to unfix the catch which +horse-artillerymen, I believe, had to prevent their swords quitting the +scabbards when they are not wanted, and which, on this occasion, +prevented their jumping forth when they were so unexpectedly called for.</p> + +<p>The straggling enemy had scarcely cleared <span class="pagenum"><a id="page158" name="page158"></a>(p. 158)</span> away from our front, +when Lord Combermere came, from the right, with a reinforcement of +cavalry; and our piquet was, at the same moment, ordered to join the +battalion.</p> + +<p>The movements which followed presented the most beautiful military +spectacle imaginable. The enemy were endeavouring to turn our left; and, +in making a counteracting movement, the two armies were marching in +parallel lines, close to each other, on a perfect plain, each ready to +take advantage of any opening of the other, and exchanging round shot as +they moved along. Our division brought up the rear of the infantry, +marching with the order and precision of a field-day, in open column of +companies, and in perfect readiness to receive the enemy in any shape; +who, on their part, had a huge cavalry force close at hand, and equally +ready to pounce upon us. Our movement was supported by a formidable body +of our own dragoons; and, as we drew near the bank of the small river +Guerrena, our horse-artillery continued to file in the same line, to +attract the attention of the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page159" name="page159"></a>(p. 159)</span> enemy, while we gradually +distanced them a little, and crossed the river into a position on the +high grounds beyond it. The enemy passed the river, on our left, and +endeavoured to force that part of the position; but the troops who were +stationed there drove them back, with great loss; and at dark the firing +ceased.</p> + +<p>During the early part of the 19th there appeared to be no movements on +either side; but, in the afternoon, having fallen asleep in my tent, I +was awoke by the whistling of a cannon shot; and was just beginning to +abuse my servant for not having called me sooner, when we were ordered +to stand to our arms; and, as the enemy were making a movement to our +right, we made a corresponding one. The cannonade did not cease until +dark, when we lay down by our arms, the two armies very near to each +other, and fully expecting a general action on the morrow.</p> + +<p>July 20th.—We stood to our arms an hour before daylight, and Lord +Wellington held out <span class="pagenum"><a id="page160" name="page160"></a>(p. 160)</span> every inducement for his opponent to +attack him; but Marmont evaded it, and continued his movement on our +right, which obliged us to continue ours, towards Salamanca; and we were +a great part of this day in parallel lines with them, the same as on the +18th.</p> + +<p>July 21st.—We crossed the Tormes just before dark this evening, about +two miles above Salamanca, the enemy having passed it higher up. Before +reaching our ground, we experienced one of the most tremendous +thunderstorms that I ever witnessed. A sheet of lightning struck the +head of our column, where I happened to be riding, and deprived me of +the use of my optics for at least ten minutes. A great many of our +dragoon horses broke from their piqueting during the storm, and galloped +past us into the French lines. We lay by our arms on the banks of the +river, and it continued to rain in torrents the whole of the night.</p> + + +<h4><span class="pagenum"><a id="page161" name="page161"></a>(p. 161)</span> BATTLE OF SALAMANCA.</h4> + +<p>July 22d.—A sharp fire of musketry commenced at day light in the +morning; but, as it did not immediately concern us, and was nothing +unusual, we took no notice of it; but busied ourselves in getting our +arms and our bodies disengaged from the rust and the wet, engendered by +the storm of the past night.</p> + +<p>About ten o'clock, our division was ordered to stand to their arms, and +then moved into position, with our left resting on the Tormes, and our +right extending along a ridge of rising ground, thinly interspersed with +trees, beyond which the other divisions were formed in continuation, +with the exception of the third, which still remained on the opposite +bank of the river.</p> + +<p>The enemy were to be seen in motion on the opposite ridges, and a +straggling fire of musketry, with an occasional gun, acted as a sort of +prelude to the approaching conflict. We heard, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page162" name="page162"></a>(p. 162)</span> about this +time, that Marmont had just sent to his <i>ci-devant</i> landlord, in +Salamanca, to desire that he would have the usual dinner ready for +himself and staff at six o'clock; and so satisfied was "mine host" of +the infallibility of the French Marshal, that he absolutely set about +making the necessary preparations.</p> + +<p>There assuredly never was an army so anxious as ours was to be brought +into action on this occasion. They were a magnificent body of well-tried +soldiers, highly equipped, and in the highest health and spirits, with +the most devoted confidence in their leader, and an invincible +confidence in themselves. The retreat of the four preceding days had +annoyed us beyond measure, for we believed that we were nearly equal to +the enemy in point of numbers; and the idea of our retiring before an +equal number of any troops in the world was not to be endured with +common patience.</p> + +<p>We were kept the whole of the forenoon in the most torturing state of +suspense through contradictory reports. One passing officer telling +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page163" name="page163"></a>(p. 163)</span> us that he had just heard the order given to attack, and the +next asserting, with equal confidence, that he had just heard the order +to retreat; and it was not until about two o'clock in the afternoon, +that affairs began to wear a more decided aspect; and when our own eyes +and ears at length conveyed the wished-for tidings that a battle was +inevitable; for we saw the enemy beginning to close upon our right, and +the cannonade had become general along the whole line. Lord Wellington, +about the same time, ordered the movement which decided the fate of the +day—that of bringing the third division, from beyond the river on our +left, rapidly to our extreme right, turning the enemy, in their attempt +to turn us, and commencing the offensive with the whole of his right +wing. The effect was instantaneous and decisive, for although some +obstinate and desperate fighting took place in the centre, with various +success, yet the victory was never for a moment in doubt; and the enemy +were soon in full retreat, leaving seven thousand prisoners, two eagles, +and eleven <span class="pagenum"><a id="page164" name="page164"></a>(p. 164)</span> pieces of artillery in our hands. Had we been +favoured with two hours more daylight, their loss would have been +incalculable, for they committed a blunder at starting, which they never +got time to retrieve; and, their retreat was, therefore, commenced in +such disorder, and with a river in their rear, that nothing but darkness +could have saved them.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + + + + + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page165" name="page165"></a>(p. 165)</span> CHAP. XI.</h3> + +<p class="resume">Distinguished Characters. A Charge of Dragoons. A Charge against + the Nature of Things. Olmeda and the French General, Ferez. + Advance towards Madrid. Adventures of my Dinner. The Town of + Segovia. El Palacio del Rio Frio. The Escurial. Enter Madrid. + Rejoicings. Nearly happy. Change of a Horse. Change of Quarters. + A Change confounded. Retire towards Salamanca. Boar-Hunt, + Dinner-Hunt, and Bull-Hunt. A Portuguese Funeral conducted by + Rifle Undertakers.</p> + + +<p>The third division, under Sir Edward Pakenham, the artillery, and some +regiments of dragoons, particularly distinguished themselves. But our +division, very much to our annoyance, came in for a very slender portion +of this day's glory. We were exposed to a cannonade the whole of the +afternoon; but, as we were not permitted <span class="pagenum"><a id="page166" name="page166"></a>(p. 166)</span> to advance until very +late, we had only an opportunity of throwing a few straggling shot at +the fugitives, before we lost sight of them in the dark; and then +bivouacked for the night near the village of Huerta, (I think it was +called).</p> + +<p>We started after them at daylight next morning; and, crossing at a ford +of the Tormes, we found their rear-guard, consisting of three regiments +of infantry, with some cavalry and artillery, posted on a formidable +height above the village of Serna. General Bock, with his brigade of +heavy German dragoons, immediately went at them; and, putting their +cavalry to flight, he broke through their infantry, and took or +destroyed the whole of them. This was one of the most gallant charges +recorded in history. I saw many of these fine fellows lying dead along +with their horses, on which they were still astride, with the sword +firmly grasped in the hand, as they had fought the instant before; and +several of them still wearing a look of fierce defiance, which death +itself had been unable to quench.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page167" name="page167"></a>(p. 167)</span> We halted for the night at a village near Penaranda. I took +possession of the church; and finding the floor strewed with the +paraphernalia of priesthood, I selected some silk gowns, and other +gorgeous trappings, with which I made a bed for myself in the porch, and +where, "if all had been gold that glittered," I should have looked a +jewel indeed; but it is lamentable to think, that, among the +multifarious blessings we enjoy in this life, we should never be able to +get a dish of glory and a dish of beef-steak on the same day; in +consequence of which, the heart, which ought properly to be soaring in +the clouds, or, at all events, in a castle half way up, is more +generally to be found grovelling about a hen-roost, in the vain hope, +that, if it cannot get hold of the hen herself, it may at least hit upon +an egg; and such, I remember, was the state of my feelings on this +occasion, in consequence of my having dined the three preceding days on +the half of my inclinations.</p> + +<p>We halted the next night in the handsome little town of Olmeda, which +had just been <span class="pagenum"><a id="page168" name="page168"></a>(p. 168)</span> evacuated by the enemy. The French General, +Ferez, died there, in consequence of the wounds which he received at the +battle of Salamanca, and his remains had, the night before, been +consigned to the earth, with the highest honours, and a canopy of laurel +placed over his grave: but the French had no sooner left the town, than +the inhabitants exhumed the body, cut off the head, and spurned it with +the greatest indignity. They were in hopes that this line of conduct +would have proved a passport to our affections, and conducted us to the +spot, as to a trophy that they were proud of; but we expressed the most +unfeigned horror and indignation at their proceeding; and, getting some +soldiers to assist us, we carefully and respectfully replaced his +remains in the grave. His <i>was</i> a noble head; and even in death, it +looked the brave, the gallant soldier. Our conduct had such an effect on +the Spaniards, that they brought back the canopy, of their own accord, +and promised, solemnly, that the grave should, henceforth, rest +undisturbed.</p> + +<p>July 26th.—We arrived on the banks of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page169" name="page169"></a>(p. 169)</span> the Douro, within a +league of Valladolid, where we halted two days; and Lord Wellington, +detaching a division of infantry and some cavalry to watch the movements +of the defeated army, proceeded with the remainder of us towards Madrid.</p> + +<p>August 1st.—On approaching near to our bivouac this afternoon, I saw a +good large farm-house, about a mile off the road; and, getting +permission from my commandant, I made a cast thereto, in search of +something for dinner. There were two women belonging to the German +Legion, smoking their pipes in the kitchen, when I arrived; and, having +the highest respect for their marauding qualifications, I began to fear +that nothing was to be had, as they were sitting there so quietly. I +succeeded, however, in purchasing two pair of chickens; and, neglecting +the precaution of unscrewing their necks, I grasped a handful of their +legs, and, mounting my horse, proceeded towards the camp; but I had +scarcely gone a couple of hundred yards, when they began opening their +throats and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page170" name="page170"></a>(p. 170)</span> flapping with their wings, which startled my horse +and sent him off at full speed. I lost the rein on one side, and, in +attempting to pull him up with the other, I brought his foot into a rut, +and down he came, sending me head-foremost into a wet ditch! When I got +on my legs, and shook myself a little, I saw each particular hen +galloping across the field, screeching with all its might, while the +horse was off in a different direction; and, casting a rueful look at +the chickens, I naturally followed him, as the most valuable of the +collection. Fortunately, a heavy boat-cloak caused the saddle to roll +under his belly; and finding that he could not make way in consequence, +he quietly waited for me about a quarter of a mile off. When I had +remounted, I looked back to the scene of my disaster, and saw my two +German <i>friends</i> busily employed in catching the chickens. I rode +towards them, and they were, no doubt, in hopes that I had broken my +neck, that they might have the sacking of me, also; for, as I +approached, I observed them concealing the fowls under their <span class="pagenum"><a id="page171" name="page171"></a>(p. 171)</span> +clothes, while the one took up a position behind the other. After +reconnoitring them a short time, I rode up and demanded the fowls, when +the one looked at the other, and, in well-feigned astonishment, asked, +in <i>Dutch</i>, what I could possibly mean? then gave me to understand that +they could not comprehend English; but I immediately said, "Come, come! +none of your gammon; you have got my fowls, here's half a dollar for +your trouble in catching them, so hand them out." "Oh!" said one of +them, in English, "it is de fowl you want," and they then produced them. +After paying them the stipulated sum, I wished them all the compliments +of the season, and thought myself fortunate in getting off so well; for +they were each six feet high, and as strong as a horse, and I felt +convinced that they had often thrashed a better man than myself in the +course of their military career.</p> + +<p>August 7th.—Halted near the ancient town of Segovia, which bears a +strong resemblance to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page172" name="page172"></a>(p. 172)</span> the old town of Edinburgh, built on a +lofty ridge, that terminates in an abrupt summit, on which stands the +fortified tower, celebrated in the Adventures of Gil Blas. It is a fine +old town, boasts of a superb Roman aqueduct, and is famous for ladies' +shoes.</p> + +<p>Our bivouac, this evening, was on the banks of El Rio Frio, near to a +new hunting-palace of the King of Spain. It was a large quadrangular +building, each side full of empty rooms, with nothing but their youth to +recommend them.</p> + +<p>On the 9th, we crossed the Guadarama mountains, and halted, for the +night, in the park of the Escurial.</p> + +<p>I had, from childhood upwards, considered this palace as the eighth +wonder of the world, and was, therefore, proportionately disappointed at +finding it a huge, gloomy, unmeaning pile of building, looking somewhat +less interesting than the wild craggy mountain opposite, and without +containing a single room large enough to flog a <span class="pagenum"><a id="page173" name="page173"></a>(p. 173)</span> cat in. The +only apartment that I saw worth looking at was the one in which their +<i>dead kings live</i>!</p> + + +<h4>ENTERED MADRID,<br> + +August 13th, 1812.</h4> + +<p>As we approached the capital, imagination was busy in speculating on the +probable nature of our reception. The peasantry, with whom we had +hitherto been chiefly associated, had imbibed a rooted hatred to the +French, caused by the wanton cruelties experienced at their hands, both +in their persons and their property; otherwise they were a cheerful, +hospitable, and orderly people, and, had they been permitted to live in +peace and quietness, it was a matter of the most perfect indifference to +them whether Joseph, Ferdinand, or the ghost of Don Quixotte was their +king. But the citizens of Madrid had been living four years in +comparative peace, under the dominion of a French government, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page174" name="page174"></a>(p. 174)</span> +and in the enjoyment of all the gaieties of that luxurious court; to +which, if I add that we entertained, at that time, some slight jealousy +regarding the pretensions of the French officers to the favours of the +fair, I believe the prevailing opinion was that <i>we</i> should be +considered as the intruders. It was, therefore, a matter of the most +unexpected exultation, when we entered it, on the afternoon of the 13th +of August, to find ourselves hailed as liberators, with the most joyous +acclamations, by surrounding multitudes, who continued their rejoicings +for three successive days. By day, the riches of each house were +employed in decorations to its exterior; and, by night, they were +brilliantly illuminated, during which time all business was suspended, +and the whole population of the city crowded the streets, emulating each +other in heaping honours and caresses upon us.</p> + +<p>King Joseph had retired on our approach, leaving a garrison in the +fortified palace of El Retiro; but they surrendered some days +afterwards, and we remained there for three months, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page175" name="page175"></a>(p. 175)</span> basking in +the sunshine of beauty, harmony, and peace. I shall ever look back to +that period as the most pleasing event of my military life.</p> + +<p>The only bar to our perfect felicity was the want of money, as, +independent of long arrears, already due, the military chest continued +so very poor that it could not afford to give us more than a fortnight's +pay during these three months; and, as nobody could, would, or should +give cash for bills, we were obliged to sell silver spoons, watches, and +every thing of value that we stood possessed of, to purchase the common +necessaries of life.</p> + +<p>My Irish <i>criado</i>, who used to take uncommon liberties with my property, +having been two or three days in the rear, with the baggage, at the time +of the battle of Salamanca, took upon himself to exchange my +baggage-horse for another; and his apology for so doing was, that the +one he had got was twice as big as the one he gave! The additional size, +however, so far from being an advantage, proved quite the reverse; +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page176" name="page176"></a>(p. 176)</span> for I found that he could eat as much as he could carry, and, +as he was obliged to carry all that he had to eat, I was forced to put +him on half allowance, to make room for my baggage; in consequence of +which, every bone in his body soon became so <i>pointed</i> that I could +easily have hung my hat on any part of his hind quarters. I therefore +took advantage of our present repose to let him have the benefit of a +full allowance, that enabled me to effect an exchange between him and a +mule, getting five dollars to the bargain, which made me one of the +happiest and, I believe, also, one of the richest men in the army. I +expended the first dollar next day, in getting admission to a bullfight, +in their national amphitheatre, where the first thing that met my +astonished eyes was a mad bull giving the finishing <i>prode</i> to my +unfortunate big horse.</p> + +<p>Lord Wellington, with some divisions of the army, proceeded, about the +beginning of September, to undertake the siege of Burgos, leaving those +at Madrid, under the orders of Sir Rowland <span class="pagenum"><a id="page177" name="page177"></a>(p. 177)</span> Hill, so that, +towards the end of October, our delightful sojourn there drew +perceptibly to a close, for it was known that King Joseph, with the +forces under Soult and Jourdan, now united, were moving upon Aranjuez, +and that all, excepting our own division, were already in motion, to +dispute the passage of the Tagus, and to cover the capital. About four +o'clock on the morning of the 23d of October, we received orders to be +on our alarm-posts at six, and, as soon as we had formed, we were +marched to the city of Alcala.</p> + +<p>October 27th.—We were all this day marching to Arganda, and all night +marching back again. If any one thing is more particularly damned than +another it is a march of this kind.</p> + +<p>October 30th—An order arrived, from Lord Wellington, for our corps of +the army to fall back upon Salamanca; we, therefore, returned to Madrid, +and, after halting outside the gates until we were joined by Skerret's +division, from Cadiz, we bade a last sorrowful adieu to our friends in +the city, and commenced our retreat.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page178" name="page178"></a>(p. 178)</span> October 31st.—Halted for the night in the park of the +Escurial. It is amusing, on a division's first taking up its ground, to +see the numbers of hares that are, every instant, starting up among the +men, and the scrambling and shouting of the soldiers for the prize. This +day, when the usual shout was given, every man ran, with his cap in his +hand, to endeavour to capture poor <i>puss</i>, as he imagined, but which +turned out to be two wild boars, who contrived to make room for +themselves so long as there was nothing but men's caps to contend with; +but they very soon had as many bayonets as bristles in their backs. We +re-crossed the Guadarama mountains next morning.</p> + +<p>November 2d.—Halted, this night, in front of a small town, the name of +which I do not recollect. It was beginning to get dark by the time I had +posted our guards and piquets, when I rode into it, to endeavour to find +my messmates, who, I knew, had got a dinner waiting for me somewhere.</p> + +<p>I entered a large square, or market-place, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page179" name="page179"></a>(p. 179)</span> and found it +crowded with soldiers of all nations, most of them three-parts drunk, +and in the midst of whom a mad bull was performing the most +extraordinary feats, quite unnoticed, excepting by those who had the +misfortune to attract his attention. The first intimation that I had of +him was his charging past me, and making a thrust at our quarter-master, +carrying off a portion of his regimental trousers. He next got a fair +toss at a Portuguese soldier, and sent him spinning three or four turns +up in the air. I was highly amused in observing the fellow's +astonishment when he alighted, to see that he had not the remotest idea +to what accident he was indebted for such an evolution, although he +seemed fully prepared to quarrel with any one who chose to acknowledge +any participation in the deed; but the cause of it was, all the time, +finding fresh customers, and, making the grand tour of the square with +such velocity, I began to fear that I should soon be on his list also, +if I did not take shelter in the nearest house, a measure no sooner +thought <span class="pagenum"><a id="page180" name="page180"></a>(p. 180)</span> of than executed. I, therefore, opened a door, and +drove my horse in before me; but there instantly arose such an uproar +within, that I began to wish myself once more on the outside on any +terms, for it happened to be occupied by English, Portuguese, and German +bullock-drivers, who had been seated round a table, scrambling for a +dinner, when my horse upset the table, lights, and every thing on it. +The only thing that I could make out amid their confused curses was, +that they had come to the determination of putting the cause of the row +to death; but, as I begged to differ with them on that point, I took the +liberty of knocking one or two of them down, and finally succeeded in +extricating my horse, with whom I retraced my way to the camp, weary, +angry, and hungry. On my arrival there, I found an orderly waiting to +show me the way to dinner, which once more restored me to good humour +with myself and all the world; while the adventure afforded my +companions a hearty laugh, at my expense.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page181" name="page181"></a>(p. 181)</span> November 6th.—In the course of this day's march, while our +battalion formed the rear-guard, at a considerable distance in the rear +of the column, we found a Portuguese soldier, who had been left by his +regiment, lying in the middle of the road, apparently dead; but, on +examining him more closely, we had reason to think that he was merely in +a state of stupor, arising from fatigue and the heat of the weather,—an +opinion which caused us no little uneasiness. Although we did not think +it quite fair to bury a living man, yet we had no means whatever of +carrying him off; and to leave him where he was, would, in all +probability, have cost us a number of better lives than his had ever +been, for the French, who were then in sight, had hitherto been +following us at a very respectable distance; and, had they found that we +were retiring in such a hurry as to leave our half-dead people on the +road, they would not have been Frenchmen if they did not give us an +extra push, to help us along. Under all the circumstances of the case, +therefore, although our doctor was <span class="pagenum"><a id="page182" name="page182"></a>(p. 182)</span> of opinion that, with time +and attention, he might recover, and not having either the one or the +other to spare, the remainder of us, who had voted ourselves into a sort +of board of survey, thought it most prudent to find him dead; and, +carrying him a little off the road to the edge of a ravine, we scraped a +hole in the sand with our swords, and placed him in it. We covered him +but very lightly, and left his head and arms at perfect liberty; so +that, although he might be said to have had both feet in the grave, yet +he might still have scrambled out of it, if he could.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + + + + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page183" name="page183"></a>(p. 183)</span> CHAP. XII.</h3> + +<p class="resume">Reach Salamanca. Retreat from it. Pig Hunting, an Enemy to + Sleep-Hunting. Putting one's Foot in it. Affair on the 17th of + November. Bad Legs sometimes last longer than good ones. A Wet + Birth. Prospectus of a Day's Work. A lost <i>déjûné</i> better than a + found one. Advantages not taken. A disagreeable Amusement. End of + the Campaign of 1812. Winter Quarters. Orders and Disorders + treated. Farewell Opinion of Ancient Allies. My House.</p> + + +<p>November 7th.—Halted this night at Alba de Tormes, and next day marched +into quarters in Salamanca, where we rejoined Lord Wellington with the +army from Burgos.</p> + +<p>On the 14th, the British army concentrated on the field of their former +glory, in consequence of a part of the French army having effected +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page184" name="page184"></a>(p. 184)</span> the passage of the river, above Alba de Tormes. On the 15th, +the whole of the enemy's force having passed the river, a cannonade +commenced early in the day; and it was the general belief that, ere +night, a second battle of Salamanca would be recorded. But, as all the +French armies in Spain were now united in our front, and out-numbered us +so far, Lord Wellington, seeing no decided advantage to be gained by +risking a battle, at length ordered a retreat, which we commenced about +three in the afternoon. Our division halted for the night at the +entrance of a forest about four miles from Salamanca.</p> + +<p>The heavy rains which usually precede the Spanish winter had set in the +day before; and, as the roads in that part of the country cease to be +roads for the remainder of the season, we were now walking nearly knee +deep, in a stiff mud, into which no man could thrust his foot, with the +certainty of having a shoe at the end of it when he pulled it out again; +and, that we might not be miserable by halves, we had, this evening, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page185" name="page185"></a>(p. 185)</span> to regale our chops with the last morsel of biscuit that they +were destined to grind during the retreat.</p> + +<p>We cut some boughs of trees to keep us out of the mud, and lay down to +sleep on them, wet to the skin; but the cannonade of the afternoon had +been succeeded, after dark, by a continued firing of musketry, which led +us to believe that our piquets were attacked, and, in momentary +expectation of an order to stand to our arms, we kept ourselves awake +the whole night, and were not a little provoked when we found, next +morning, that it had been occasioned by numerous stragglers from the +different regiments, shooting at the pigs belonging to the peasantry +which were grazing in the wood.</p> + +<p>November 16th.—Retiring from daylight until dark through the same +description of roads. The French dragoons kept close behind, but did not +attempt to molest us. It still continued to rain hard, and we again +passed the night in a wood. I was very industriously employed, during +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page186" name="page186"></a>(p. 186)</span> the early part of it, feeling, in the dark, for acorns, as a +substitute for bread.</p> + +<p>November 17th.—At daylight this morning the enemy's cavalry advanced in +force; but they were kept in check by the skirmishers of the 14th light +dragoons, until the road became open, when we continued our retreat. Our +brigade-major was at this time obliged to go to the rear, sick, and I +was appointed to act for him.</p> + +<p>We were much surprised, in the course of the forenoon, to hear a sharp +firing commence behind us, on the very road by which we were retiring; +and it was not until we reached the spot that we learnt that the troops +who were retreating, by a road parallel to ours, had left it too soon, +and enabled some French dragoons, under cover of the forest, to advance +unperceived to the flank of our line of march, who, seeing an interval +between two divisions of infantry, which was filled with light baggage +and some passing officers, dashed at it, and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page187" name="page187"></a>(p. 187)</span> made some +prisoners in the scramble of the moment, amongst whom was +Lieutenant-General Sir Edward Paget.</p> + +<p>Our division formed on the heights above Samunoz to cover the passage of +the rivulet, which was so swollen with the heavy rains, as only to be +passable at particular fords. While we waited there for the passage of +the rest of the army, the enemy, under cover of the forest, was, at the +same time, assembling in force close around us; and the moment that we +began to descend the hill, towards the rivulet, we were assailed by a +heavy fire of cannon and musketry, while their powerful cavalry were in +readiness to take advantage of any confusion which might have occurred. +We effected the passage, however, in excellent order, and formed on the +opposite bank of the stream, where we continued under a cannonade and +engaged in a sharp skirmish until dark.</p> + +<p>Our loss on this occasion was considerable, but it would have been much +greater, had not the enemy's shells buried themselves so deep in +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page188" name="page188"></a>(p. 188)</span> the soft ground, that their explosions did little injury. It +appeared singular to us, who were not medical men, that an officer and +several of our division, who were badly wounded on this occasion, in the +leg, and who were sent to the rear on gun-carriages, should have died of +a mortification in the limb which was <i>not</i> wounded.</p> + +<p>When the firing ceased, we received the usual order "to make ourselves +comfortable for the night," and I never remember an instance in which we +had so much difficulty in obeying it; for the ground we occupied was a +perfect flat, which was flooded more than ankle deep with water, +excepting here and there, where the higher ground around the roots of +trees, presented circles of a few feet of visible earth, upon which we +grouped ourselves. Some few fires were kindled, at which we roasted some +bits of raw beef on the points of our swords, and eat them by way of a +dinner. There was plenty of water to apologize for the want of better +fluids, but bread sent no apology at all.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page189" name="page189"></a>(p. 189)</span> Some divisions of the army had commenced retiring as soon as it +was dark, and the whole had been ordered to move, so that the roads +might be clear for us before daylight. I was sent twice in the course of +the night to see what progress they had made; but such was the state of +the roads, that even within an hour of daylight, two divisions, besides +our own, were still unmoved, which would consequently delay us so long, +that we looked forward to a severe harassing day's fighting; a kind of +fighting, too, that is the least palatable of any, where much might be +lost, and nothing was to be gained. With such prospects before us, it +made my very heart rejoice to see my brigadier's servant commence +boiling some chocolate and frying a beef-steak. I watched its progress +with a keenness which intense hunger alone could inspire, and was on the +very point of having my desires consummated, when the general, getting +uneasy at not having received any communication relative to the +movements of the morning, and, without considering how feelingly my +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page190" name="page190"></a>(p. 190)</span> stomach yearned for a better acquaintance with the contents of +his frying-pan, desired me to ride to General Alten for orders. I found +the general at a neighbouring tree; but he cut off all hopes of my +timely return, by desiring me to remain with him until he received the +report of an officer whom he had sent to ascertain the progress of the +other divisions.</p> + +<p>While I was toasting myself at his fire, so sharply set that I could +have eaten one of my boots, I observed his German orderly dragoon, at an +adjoining fire, stirring up the contents of a camp-kettle, that once +more revived my departing hopes, and I presently had the satisfaction of +seeing him dipping in some basins, presenting one to the general, one to +the aide-de-camp, and a third to myself. The mess which it contained I +found, after swallowing the whole at a draught, was neither more nor +less than the produce of a piece of beef boiled in plain water; and, +though it would have been enough to have physicked a dromedary at any +other time, yet, as I could then have made a <span class="pagenum"><a id="page191" name="page191"></a>(p. 191)</span> good hole in the +dromedary himself, it sufficiently satisfied my cravings to make me +equal to any thing for the remainder of the day.</p> + +<p>We were soon after ordered to stand to our arms, and, as day lit up, a +thick haze hung on the opposite hills, which prevented our seeing the +enemy; and, as they did not attempt to feel for us, we, contrary to our +expectations, commenced our retreat unmolested; nor could we quite +believe our good fortune when, towards the afternoon, we had passed +several places where they could have assailed us, in flank, with great +advantage, and caused us a severe loss, almost in spite of fate; but it +afterwards appeared that they were quite knocked up with their exertions +in overtaking us the day before, and were unable to follow further. We +halted on a swampy height, behind St. Espiritu, and experienced another +night of starvation and rain.</p> + +<p>I now felt considerably more for my horse than myself, as he had been +three days and nights without a morsel of any kind to eat. Our <span class="pagenum"><a id="page192" name="page192"></a>(p. 192)</span> +baggage-animals, too, we knew were equally ill off, and, as they always +preceded us a day's march, it was highly amusing, whenever we found a +dead horse, or a mule, lying on the road-side, to see the anxiety with +which every officer went up to reconnoitre him, each fearing that he +should have the misfortune to recognize it as his own.</p> + +<p>On the 19th of November we arrived at the convent of Caridad, near +Ciudad Rodrigo, and once more experienced the comforts of our baggage +and provisions. My boots had not been off since the 13th, and I found it +necessary to cut them to pieces, to get my swollen feet out of them.</p> + +<p>This retreat terminated the campaign of 1812. After a few days' delay, +and some requisite changes about the neighbourhood, while all the world +were getting shook into their places, our battalion finally took +possession of the village of Alameida for the winter, where, after +forming a regimental mess, we detached an officer to Lamego, and secured +to ourselves a bountiful <span class="pagenum"><a id="page193" name="page193"></a>(p. 193)</span> supply of the best juice of the grape +which the neighbouring banks of the Douro afforded. The quarter we now +occupied was naturally pretty much upon a par with those of the last two +winters, but it had the usual advantages attending the march of +intellect. The officers of the division united in fitting up an empty +chapel, in the village of Galegos, as an amateur theatre, for which, by +the by, we were all regularly cursed, from the altar, by the bishop of +Rodrigo. Lord Wellington kept a pack of foxhounds, and the Hon. Captain +Stewart, of ours, a pack of harriers, so that these, in addition to our +old <i>Bolero</i> meetings, enabled us to pass a very tolerable winter.</p> + +<p>The neighbouring plains abounded with hares; it was one of the most +beautiful coursing countries, perhaps, in the world; and there was, +also, some shooting to be had at the numerous vultures preying on the +dead carcasses which strewed the road-side on the line of our last +retreat.</p> + +<p>Up to this period Lord Wellington had been adored by the army, in +consideration of his <span class="pagenum"><a id="page194" name="page194"></a>(p. 194)</span> brilliant achievements, and for his noble +and manly bearing in all things; but, in consequence of some disgraceful +irregularities which took place during the retreat, he immediately after +issued an order, conveying a sweeping censure on the whole army. His +general conduct was too upright for even the finger of malice itself to +point at; but as his censure, on this occasion, was not strictly +confined to the guilty, it afforded a handle to disappointed persons, +and excited a feeling against him, on the part of individuals, which has +probably never since been obliterated.</p> + +<p>It began by telling us that we had suffered no privations; and, though +this was hard to be digested on an empty stomach, yet, taking it in its +more liberal meaning, that our privations were not of an extent to +justify any irregularities, which I readily admit; still, as many +regiments were not guilty of any irregularities, it is not to be +wondered if such should have felt, at first, a little sulky to find, in +the general reproof, that no loop-hole whatever had been left for them +to creep through; for, I <span class="pagenum"><a id="page195" name="page195"></a>(p. 195)</span> believe I am justified in saying that +neither our own, nor the two gallant corps associated with us, had a +single man absent that we could not satisfactorily account for. But it +touched us still more tenderly in not excepting us from his general +charge of inexpertness in camp arrangements; for, it was <i>our belief</i>, +and in which we were in some measure borne out by circumstances, that, +had he placed us, at the same moment, in the same field, with an equal +number of the best troops in France, that he would not only have seen +our fires as quickly lit, but every Frenchman roasting on them to the +bargain, if they waited long enough to be <i>dressed</i>; for there, perhaps, +never was, nor ever again will be, such a war-brigade as that which was +composed of the forty-third, fifty-second, and the rifles.</p> + +<p>That not only censure, but condign punishment was merited, in many +instances, is certain; and, had his lordship dismissed some officers +from the service, and caused some of the disorderly soldiers to be shot, +it would not only have been an act of justice, but, probably, a +necessary <span class="pagenum"><a id="page196" name="page196"></a>(p. 196)</span> example. Had he hanged every commissary, too, who +failed to issue the regular rations to the troops dependent on him, +unless they proved that they were starved themselves, it would only have +been a just sacrifice to the offended stomachs of many thousands of +gallant fellows.</p> + +<p>In our brigade, I can safely say, that the order in question excited +"more of sorrow than of anger;" we thought that, had it been +<i>particular</i>, it would have been just; but, as it was <i>general</i>, that it +was inconsiderate; and we, therefore, regretted that he who had been, +and still was, the god of our idolatry, should thereby have laid himself +open to the attacks of the ill-natured.</p> + +<p>Alameida is a Spanish village, situated within a stone's throw of the +boundary-line of the sister-kingdom; and, as the head-quarters of the +army, as well as the nearest towns, from whence we drew our supplies, +lay in Portugal, our connexions, while we remained there, were chiefly +with the latter kingdom; and, having passed the three last winters on +their frontier, we, in the month of May, 1813, prepared to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page197" name="page197"></a>(p. 197)</span> bid +it a final adieu, with very little regret. The people were kind and +hospitable, and not destitute of intelligence; but, somehow, they +appeared to be the creatures of a former age, and showed an indolence +and want of enterprise which marked them born for slaves; and, although +the two cacadore regiments attached to our division were, at all times, +in the highest order, and conducted themselves gallantly in the field, +yet, I am of opinion that, as a nation, they owe their character for +bravery almost entirely to the activity and gallantry of the British +officers who organized and led them. The veriest cowards in existence +must have shown the same front under such discipline. I did not see +enough of their gentry to enable me to form an opinion about them; but +the middling and lower orders are extremely filthy both in their persons +and in their houses, and they have all an intolerable itch for gambling. +The soldiers, though fainting with fatigue on the line of march, +invariably group themselves in card-parties whenever they are allowed a +few minutes' <span class="pagenum"><a id="page198" name="page198"></a>(p. 198)</span> halt; and a non-commissioned officer, with +half-a-dozen men on any duty of fatigue, are very generally to be seen +as follows, viz. one man as a sentry, to watch the approach of the +superintending officer, one man at work, and the non-commissioned +officer, with the other four, at cards.</p> + +<p>The cottages in Alameida, and, indeed, in all the Spanish villages, +generally contain two mud-floored apartments: the outer one, though more +cleanly than the Irish, is, nevertheless, fashioned after the same +manner, and is common alike to the pigs and the people; while the inner +looks more like the gun-room of a ship-of-war, having a +sitting-apartment in the centre, with small sleeping-cabins branching +from it, each illuminated by a port-hole, about a foot square. We did +not see daylight "through a glass darkly," as on London's Ludgate-hill, +for there the air circulated freely, and mild it came, and pure, and +fragrant, as if it had just stolen over a bed of roses. If a man did not +like <i>that</i>, he had only to shut his port, and remain in darkness, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page199" name="page199"></a>(p. 199)</span> inhaling his own preferred sweetness! The outside of my +sleeping-cabin was interwoven with ivy and honeysuckle, and, among the +branches, a nightingale had established itself, and sung sweetly, night +after night, during the whole of the winter. I could not part from such +a pleasing companion, and from a bed in which I had enjoyed so many +tranquil slumbers, without a sigh, though I was ungrateful enough to +accompany it with a fervent wish that I might never see them again; for +I looked upon the period that I had spent there as so much time lost.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + + + + + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page200" name="page200"></a>(p. 200)</span> CHAP. XIII.</h3> + +<p class="resume">A Review. Assembly of the Army. March to Salamanca. To Aldea + Nueva. To Toro. An Affair of the Hussar Brigade. To Palencia. To + the Neighbourhood of Burgos. To the Banks of the Ebro. Fruitful + sleeping place. To Medina. A Dance before it was due. Smell the + Foe. Affair at St. Milan. A Physical River.</p> + + +<p>May, 1813.—In the early part of this month our division was reviewed by +Lord Wellington, preparatory to the commencement of another campaign; +and I certainly never saw a body of troops in a more highly-efficient +state. It did one's very heart good to look at our battalion that day, +seeing each company standing a hundred strong, and the intelligence of +several campaigns stamped on each daring, bronzed countenance, which +looked you boldly in the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page201" name="page201"></a>(p. 201)</span> face, in the fullness of vigour and +confidence, as if it cared neither for man nor devil.</p> + +<p>On the 21st of May, our division broke up from winter-quarters, and +assembled in front of Ciudad Rodrigo, with all excepting the left wing +of the army, which, under Sir Thomas Graham, had already passed the +Douro, and was ascending its right bank.</p> + +<p>An army which has seen some campaigns in the field, affords a great deal +of amusement in its assembling after winter-quarters. There is not only +the greeting of long-parted friends and acquaintances in the same walks +of life, but, among the different divisions which the nature of the +service generally threw a good deal together, there was not so much as a +mule or a donkey that was not known to each individual, and its absence +noticed; nor a scamp of a boy, or a common Portuguese trull, who was not +as particularly inquired after, as if the fate of the campaign depended +on their presence.</p> + +<p>On the 22d, we advanced towards Salamanca, and, the next day, halted at +Samunoz, on our <span class="pagenum"><a id="page202" name="page202"></a>(p. 202)</span> late field of action. With what different +feelings did we now view the same spot! In our last visit, winter was on +the face of the land, as well as on our minds; we were worn out with +fatigue, mortification, and starvation; now, all was summer and +sunshine. The dismal swamps had now become verdant meadows; we had +plenty in the camp, vigour in our limbs, and hope in our bosoms.</p> + +<p>We were, this day, joined by the household brigade of cavalry from +England; and, as there was a report in the morning that the enemy were +in the neighbourhood, some of the life-guards concluded that every thing +in front of their camp must be a part of them, and they, accordingly, +apprehended some of the light dragoon horses, which happened to be +grazing near. One of their officers came to dine with me that day, and +he was in the act of reporting their capture, when my orderly-book was +brought at the moment, containing an offer of reward for the detection +of the thieves!</p> + +<p>On the 27th, we encamped on the banks of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page203" name="page203"></a>(p. 203)</span> the Tormes, at a +ford, about a league below Salamanca. A body of the enemy, who had +occupied the city, suffered severely before they got away, in a brush +with some part of Sir Rowland Hill's corps; chiefly, I believe, from +some of his artillery.</p> + +<p>On the 28th, we crossed the river, and marched near to Aldea Nueva, +where we remained stationary for some days, under Sir Rowland Hill; Lord +Wellington having proceeded from Salamanca to join the left wing of the +army, beyond the Douro.</p> + +<p>On the 2d of June, we were again put in motion; and, after a very long +march, encamped near the Douro, opposite the town of Toro.</p> + +<p>Lord Wellington had arrived there the day before, without being opposed +by the enemy; but there had been an affair of cavalry, a short distance +beyond the town, in which the hussar brigade particularly distinguished +themselves, and took about three hundred prisoners.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 3d, we crossed the river; and, marching through +the town of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page204" name="page204"></a>(p. 204)</span> Toro, encamped about half a league beyond it. The +enemy had put the castle in a state of repair, and constructed a number +of other works to defend the passage of the river; but the masterly eye +of our chief, having seen his way round the town, spared them the +trouble of occupying the works; yet, loth to think that so much labour +should be altogether lost, he garrisoned their castle with the three +hundred taken by the hussar brigade, for which it made a very good jail.</p> + +<p>On the 4th, we were again in motion, and had a long, warm, fatiguing +march; as, also, on the 5th and 6th. On the 7th, we encamped outside of +Palencia, a large rickety looking old town; with the front of every +house supported by pillars, like so many worn out old bachelors on +crutches.</p> + +<p>The French did not interfere with our accommodation in the slightest, +but made it a point to leave every place an hour or two before we came +to it; so that we quietly continued our daily course, following nearly +the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page205" name="page205"></a>(p. 205)</span> line of the Canal de Castile, through a country luxuriant +in corn-fields and vineyards, until the 12th, when we arrived within two +or three leagues of Burgos, (on its left,) and where we found a body of +the enemy in position, whom we immediately proceeded to attack; but they +evaporated on our approach, and fell back upon Burgos. We encamped for +the night on the banks of a river, a short distance to the rear. Next +morning, at daylight, an explosion shook the ground like an earthquake, +and made every man jump upon his legs; and it was not until some hours +after, when Lord Wellington returned from reconnoitring, that we learnt +that the castle of Burgos had been just blown up, and the town evacuated +by the enemy.</p> + +<p>We continued our march on the 13th, through a very rich country.</p> + +<p>On the 14th, we had a long harassing day's march, through a rugged +mountainous country, which afforded only an occasional glimpse of +fertility, in some pretty little valleys with which it was intersected.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page206" name="page206"></a>(p. 206)</span> We started at daylight on the 15th, through a dreary region of +solid rock, bearing an abundant crop of loose stones, without a particle +of soil or vegetation visible to the naked eye in any direction. After +leaving nearly twenty miles of this horrible wilderness behind us, our +weary minds clogged with an imaginary view of nearly as much more of it +in our front, we found ourselves, all at once, looking down upon the +valley of the Ebro, near the village of Arenas, one of the richest, +loveliest, and most romantic spots that I ever beheld. The influence of +such a scene on the mind can scarcely be believed. Five minutes before +we were all as <i>lively</i> as stones. In a moment we were all fruits and +flowers; and many a pair of legs, that one would have thought had not a +kick left in them, were, in five minutes after, seen dancing across the +bridge, to the tune of "the downfal of Paris," which struck up from the +bands of the different regiments.</p> + +<p>I lay down that night in a cottage garden, with my head on a melon, and +my eye on a <span class="pagenum"><a id="page207" name="page207"></a>(p. 207)</span> cherry-tree, and resigned myself to a repose which +did not require a long courtship.</p> + +<p>We resumed our march at daybreak on the 16th. The road, in the first +instance, wound through orchards and luxurious gardens, and then closed +in to the edge of the river, through a difficult and formidable pass, +where the rocks on each side, arising to a prodigious height, hung over +each other in fearful grandeur, and in many places nearly met together +over our heads.</p> + +<p>After following the course of the river for nearly two miles, the rocks +on each side gradually expanded into another valley, lovely as the one +we had left, and where we found the fifth division of our army lying +encamped. They were still asleep; and the rising sun, and a beautiful +morning, gave additional sublimity to the scene; for there was nothing +but the tops of the white tents peeping above the fruit trees; and an +occasional sentinel pacing his post, that gave any indication of what a +nest of hornets the blast of a bugle could bring out of that apparently +peaceful solitude.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page208" name="page208"></a>(p. 208)</span> Our road now wound up the mountain to our right; and, almost +satiated with the continued grandeur around us, we arrived, in the +afternoon, at the town of Medina, and encamped a short distance beyond +it.</p> + +<p>We were welcomed into every town or village through which we passed, by +the peasant girls, who were in the habit of meeting us with garlands of +flowers, and dancing before us in a peculiar style of their own; and it +not unfrequently happened, that while they were so employed with one +regiment, the preceding one was diligently engaged in pulling down some +of their houses for firewood—a measure which we were sometimes obliged +to have recourse to, where no other fuel could be had, and for which +they were, ultimately, paid by the British Government; but it was a +measure that was more likely to have set the poor souls dancing mad than +for joy, had they foreseen the consequences of our visit.</p> + +<p>June 17th.—We had not seen any thing of the enemy since we left the +neighbourhood of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page209" name="page209"></a>(p. 209)</span> Burgos; but, after reaching our ground this +evening, we were aware that some of their videttes were feeling for us.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 18th, we were ordered to march to San Milan, a +small town, about two leagues off; and where, on our arrival on the hill +above it, we found a division of French infantry, as strong as +ourselves, in the act of crossing our path. The surprise, I believe, was +mutual, though I doubt whether the pleasure was equally so; for we were +red hot for an opportunity of retaliating for the Salamanca retreat; +and, as the old saying goes, "there is no opportunity like the present." +Their leading brigade had nearly passed before we came up, but not a +moment was lost after we did. Our battalion dispersing among the +brushwood, went down the hill upon them; and, with a destructive fire, +broke through their line of march, supported by the rest of the brigade. +Those that had passed made no attempt at a stand, but continued their +flight, keeping up as good a <span class="pagenum"><a id="page210" name="page210"></a>(p. 210)</span> fire as their circumstances would +permit; while we kept hanging on their flank and rear, through a good +rifle country, which enabled us to make considerable havoc among them. +Their general's aide-de-camp, amongst others, was mortally wounded; and +a lady, on a white horse, who probably was his wife, remained beside +him, until we came very near. She appeared to be in great distress; but, +though we called to her to remain, and not to be alarmed, yet she +galloped off as soon as a decided step became necessary. The object of +her solicitude did not survive many minutes after we reached him. We +followed the retreating foe until late in the afternoon. On this +occasion, our brigade came in for all the blows, and the other for all +the baggage, which was marching between the two French brigades; the +latter of which, seeing the scrape into which the first had fallen, very +prudently left it to its fate, and dispersed on the opposite mountains, +where some of them fell into the hands of a Spanish <span class="pagenum"><a id="page211" name="page211"></a>(p. 211)</span> force that +was detached in pursuit; but, I believe, the greater part succeeded in +joining their army the day after the battle of Vittoria.</p> + +<p>We heard a heavy cannonade all day to our left, occasioned, as we +understood, by the fifth division falling in with another detachment of +the enemy, which the unexpected and rapid movements of Lord Wellington +was hastening to their general point of assembly.</p> + +<p>On the early part of the 19th, we were fagging up the face of a +mountain, under a sultry hot sun, until we came to a place where a +beautiful clear stream was dashing down the face of it, when the +division was halted, to enable the men to refresh themselves. Every man +carries a cup, and every man ran and swallowed a cup full of it—it was +salt water from the springs of Salinas; and it was truly ludicrous to +see their faces after taking such a voluntary dose. I observed an +Irishman, who, not satisfied with the first trial, and believing that +his cup had been infected by some salt breaking loose in his haversack, +he washed it carefully and then drank a second <span class="pagenum"><a id="page212" name="page212"></a>(p. 212)</span> one, when, +finding no change, he exclaimed,—"by J——s, boys, we must be near the +sea, for the water's getting salt!" We, soon after, passed through the +village of Salinas, situated at the source of the stream, where there is +a considerable salt manufactory. The inhabitants were so delighted to +see us, that they placed buckets full of it at the doors of the +different houses, and entreated our men to help themselves as they +passed along. It rained hard in the afternoon, and it was late before we +got to our ground. We heard a good deal of firing in the neighbourhood +in the course of the day, but our division was not engaged.</p> + +<p>We retained the same bivouac all day on the 20th; it was behind a range +of mountains within a short distance of the left of the enemy's +position, as we afterwards discovered; and though we heard an occasional +gun, from the other side of the mountain in the course of the day, fired +at Lord Wellington's reconnoitring party, the peace of our valley +remained undisturbed.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + + + + + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page213" name="page213"></a>(p. 213)</span> CHAP. XIV.</h3> + +<p class="resume">Battle of Vittoria. Defeat of the Enemy. Confusion among their + Followers. Plunder. Colonel Cameron. Pursuit, and the Capture of + their Last Gun. Arrive near Pampeluna. At Villalba. An Irish + method of making a useless Bed useful.</p> + + +<h4>BATTLE OF VITTORIA,<br> + +June 21st, 1813.</h4> + +<p>Our division got under arms this morning before daylight, passed the +base of the mountain by its left, through the camp of the fourth +division, who were still asleep in their tents, to the banks of the +river Zadora, at the village of Tres Puentes. The opposite side of the +river was occupied by the enemy's advanced posts, and we saw their army +on the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page214" name="page214"></a>(p. 214)</span> hills beyond, while the spires of Vittoria were visible +in the distance. We felt as if there was likely to be a battle; but as +that was an event we were never sure of, until we found ourselves +actually in it, we lay for some time just out of musket shot, uncertain +what was likely to turn up, and waiting for orders. At length a sharp +fire of musketry was heard to our right; and, on looking in that +direction, we saw the head of Sir Rowland Hill's corps, together with +some Spanish troops, attempting to force the mountain which marked the +enemy's left. The three battalions of our regiment were, at the same +moment, ordered forward to feel the enemy, who lined the opposite banks +of the river, with whom we were quickly engaged in a warm skirmish. The +affair with Sir Rowland Hill became gradually warmer, but ours had +apparently no other object than to amuse those who were opposite to us, +for the moment; so that, for about two hours longer, it seemed as if +there would be nothing but an affair of outposts. About twelve o'clock, +however, we were moved rapidly to our <span class="pagenum"><a id="page215" name="page215"></a>(p. 215)</span> left, followed by the +rest of the division, till we came to an abrupt turn of the river, where +we found a bridge, unoccupied by the enemy, which we immediately +crossed, and took possession of, what appeared to me to be, an old +field-work, on the other side. We had not been many seconds there before +we observed the bayonets of the third and seventh divisions glittering +above the standing corn, and advancing upon another bridge, which stood +about a quarter of a mile further to our left, and where, on their +arrival, they were warmly opposed by the enemy's light troops, who lined +the bank of the river, (which we ourselves were now on,) in great force, +for the defence of the bridge. As soon as this was observed by our +division, Colonel Barnard advanced with our battalion, and took them in +flank with such a furious fire as quickly dislodged them, and thereby +opened a passage for these two divisions free of expense, which must +otherwise have cost them dearly. What with the rapidity of our movement, +the colour of our dress, and our close contact with <span class="pagenum"><a id="page216" name="page216"></a>(p. 216)</span> the enemy, +before they would abandon their post, we had the misfortune to be +identified with them for some time, by a battery of our own guns, who, +not observing the movement, continued to serve it out indiscriminately, +and all the while admiring their practice upon us; nor was it until the +red coats of the third division joined us, that they discovered their +mistake.</p> + +<p>The battle now commenced in earnest; and this was perhaps the most +interesting moment of the whole day. Sir Thomas Graham's artillery, with +the first and fifth divisions, began to be heard far to our left, beyond +Vittoria. The bridge, which we had just cleared, stood so near to a part +of the enemy's position, that the seventh division was instantly engaged +in close action with them at that point.</p> + +<p>On the mountain to our extreme right the action continued to be general +and obstinate, though we observed that the enemy were giving ground +slowly to Sir Rowland Hill. The passage of the river by our division had +turned the enemy's outpost, at the bridge, on our right, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page217" name="page217"></a>(p. 217)</span> where +we had been engaged in the morning, and they were now retreating, +followed by the fourth division. The plain between them and Sir Rowland +Hill was occupied by the British cavalry, who were now seen filing out +of a wood, squadron after squadron, galloping into form as they +gradually cleared it. The hills behind were covered with spectators, and +the third and the light divisions, covered by our battalion, advanced +rapidly, upon a formidable hill, in front of the enemy's centre, which +they had neglected to occupy in sufficient force.</p> + +<p>In the course of our progress, our men kept picking off the French +videttes, who were imprudent enough to hover too near us; and many a +horse, bounding along the plain, dragging his late rider by the +stirrup-irons, contributed in making it a scene of extraordinary and +exhilarating interest.</p> + +<p>Old Picton rode at the head of the third division, dressed in a blue +coat and a round hat, and swore as roundly all the way as if he had been +wearing two cocked ones. Our battalion <span class="pagenum"><a id="page218" name="page218"></a>(p. 218)</span> soon cleared the hill +in question of the enemy's light troops; but we were pulled up on the +opposite side of it by one of their lines, which occupied a wall at the +entrance of a village immediately under us. During the few minutes that +we stopped there, while a brigade of the third division was deploying +into line, two of our companies lost two officers and thirty men, +chiefly from the fire of artillery bearing on the spot from the French +position. One of their shells burst immediately under my nose, part of +it struck my boot and stirrup-iron, and the rest of it kicked up such a +dust about me that my charger refused to obey orders; and, while I was +spurring and he capering, I heard a voice behind me, which I knew to be +Lord Wellington's, calling out, in a tone of reproof, "look to keeping +your men together, sir;" and though, God knows, I had not the remotest +idea that he was within a mile of me at the time, yet, so sensible was I +that circumstances warranted his supposing that I was a young officer, +cutting a caper, by way of bravado, before him, that <span class="pagenum"><a id="page219" name="page219"></a>(p. 219)</span> worlds +would not have tempted me to look round at the moment. The French fled +from the wall as soon as they received a volley from a part of the third +division, and we instantly dashed down the hill, and charged them +through the village, capturing three of their guns; the first, I +believe, that were taken that day. They received a reinforcement, and +drove us back before our supports could come to our assistance; but, in +the scramble of the moment, our men were knowing enough to cut the +traces, and carry off the horses, so that, when we retook the village, +immediately after, the guns still remained in our possession. The battle +now became general along the whole line, and the cannonade was +tremendous. At one period, we held one side of a wall, near the village, +while the French were on the other, so that any person who chose to put +his head over from either side was sure of getting a sword or a bayonet +up his nostrils. This situation was, of course, too good to be of long +endurance. The victory, I believe, was never for a moment doubtful. The +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page220" name="page220"></a>(p. 220)</span> enemy were so completely out-generalled, and the superiority +of our troops was such, that to carry their positions required little +more than the time necessary to march to them. After forcing their +centre, the fourth division and our own got on the flank and rather in +rear of the enemy's left wing, who were retreating before Sir Rowland +Hill, and who, to effect their escape, were now obliged to fly in one +confused mass. Had a single regiment of our dragoons been at hand, or +even a squadron, to have forced them into shape for a few minutes, we +must have taken from ten to twenty thousand prisoners. After marching +along side of them for nearly two miles, and as a disorderly body will +always move faster than an orderly one, we had the mortification to see +them gradually heading us, until they finally made their escape. I have +no doubt but that our mounted gentlemen were doing their duty as they +ought in another part of the field; yet, it was impossible to deny +ourselves the satisfaction of cursing them all, because a portion had +not been there at such a critical moment. Our <span class="pagenum"><a id="page221" name="page221"></a>(p. 221)</span> elevated +situation, at this time, afforded a good view of the field of battle to +our left, and I could not help being struck with an unusual appearance +of unsteadiness and want of confidence among the French troops. I saw a +dense mass of many thousands occupying a good defensible post, who gave +way in the greatest confusion, before a single line of the third +division, almost without feeling them. If there was nothing in any other +part of the position to justify the movement, and I do not think there +was, they ought to have been flogged, every man, from the general +downwards.</p> + +<p>The ground was particularly favourable to the retreating foe, as every +half-mile afforded a fresh and formidable position, so that, from the +commencement of the action to the city of Vittoria, a distance of six or +eight miles, we were involved in one continued hard skirmish. On passing +Vittoria, however, the scene became quite new and infinitely more +amusing, as the French had made no provision for a retreat; and, Sir +Thomas Graham having seized upon the great <span class="pagenum"><a id="page222" name="page222"></a>(p. 222)</span> road to France, the +only one left open was that leading by Pampeluna; and it was not open +long, for their fugitive army, and their myriads of followers, with +baggage, guns, carriages, &c. being all precipitated upon it at the same +moment, it got choked up about a mile beyond the town, in the most +glorious state of confusion; and the drivers, finding that one pair of +legs was worth two pair of wheels, abandoned it all to the victors.</p> + +<p>Many of their followers who had light carriages, endeavoured to make +their escape through the fields; but it only served to prolong their +misery.</p> + +<p>I shall never forget the first that we overtook: it was in the midst of +a stubble-field, for some time between us and the French skirmishers, +the driver doing all he could to urge the horses along; but our balls +began to whistle so plentifully about his ears, that he at last +dismounted in despair, and, getting on his knees, under the carriage, +began praying. His place on the box was quickly occupied by as many of +our fellows <span class="pagenum"><a id="page223" name="page223"></a>(p. 223)</span> as could stick on it, while others were scrambling +in at the doors on each side, and not a few on the roof, handling the +baskets there so roughly, as to occasion loud complaints from the fowls +within. I rode up to the carriage, to see that the people inside were +not improperly treated; but the only one there was an old gouty +gentleman, who, from the nature of his cargo, must either have robbed +his own house, or that of a very good fellow, for the carriage was +literally laden with wines and provisions. Never did victors make a more +legal or useful capture; for it was now six in the evening, and it had +evidently been the old gentleman's fault if he had not already dined, +whereas it was our misfortune, rather than our fault, that we had not +tasted anything since three o'clock in the morning, so that when one of +our men knocked the neck off a bottle, and handed it to me, to take a +drink, I nodded to the old fellow's health, and drank it off without the +smallest scruple of conscience. It was excellent claret, and if he still +lives to tell the story, I fear he will not give us the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page224" name="page224"></a>(p. 224)</span> credit +of having belonged to such a <i>civil</i> department as his appeared.</p> + +<p>We did not cease the pursuit until dark, and then halted in a field of +wheat, about two miles beyond Vittoria. The victory was complete. They +carried off only one howitzer out of their numerous artillery, which, +with baggage, stores, provisions, money, and every thing that +constitutes the <i>matériel</i> of an army, fell into our hands.</p> + +<p>It is much to be lamented, on those occasions, that the people who +contribute most to the victory should profit the least by it; not that I +am an advocate for plunder—on the contrary, I would much rather that +all our fighting was for pure <i>love</i>; but, as every thing of value falls +into the hands of the followers, and scoundrels who skulk from the ranks +for the double purpose of plundering and saving their dastardly +carcasses, what I regret is, that the man who deserts his post should +thereby have an opportunity of enriching himself with impunity, while +the true man gets nothing; but the evil I believe is irremediable. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page225" name="page225"></a>(p. 225)</span> Sir James Kempt, who commanded our brigade, in passing one of +the captured waggons in the evening, saw a soldier loading himself with +money, and was about to have him conveyed to the camp as a prisoner, +when the fellow begged hard to be released, and to be allowed to retain +what he had got, telling the general that all the boxes in the waggon +were filled with gold. Sir James, with his usual liberality, immediately +adopted the idea of securing it, as a reward to his brigade, for their +gallantry; and, getting a fatigue party, he caused the boxes to be +removed to his tent, and ordered an officer and some men from each +regiment to parade there next morning, to receive their proportions of +it; but, when they opened the boxes, they found them filled with +<i>hammers, nails, and horse-shoes</i>!</p> + +<p>Among the evil chances of that glorious day, I had to regret the +temporary loss of Colonel Cameron,—a bad wound in the thigh having +obliged him to go to England. Of him I can truly say, that, as a +<i>friend</i>, his heart was in the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page226" name="page226"></a>(p. 226)</span> right place, and, as a +<i>soldier</i>, his right place was at the head of a regiment in the face of +an enemy. I never saw an officer feel more at home in such a situation, +nor do I know any one who could fill it better.</p> + +<p>A singular accident threw me in the way of a dying French officer, who +gave me a group of family portraits to transmit to his friends; but, as +it was not until the following year that I had an opportunity of making +the necessary inquiries after them, they had then left their residence, +and were nowhere to be heard of.</p> + +<p>As not only the body, but the mind, had been in constant occupation +since three o'clock in the morning, circumstances no sooner permitted +(about ten at night) than I threw myself on the ground, and fell into a +profound sleep, from which I did not awake until broad daylight, when I +found a French soldier squatted near me, intensely watching for the +opening of my <i>shutters</i>. He had contrived to conceal himself there +during the night; and, when he saw that I was awake, he immediately +jumped <span class="pagenum"><a id="page227" name="page227"></a>(p. 227)</span> on his legs, and very obsequiously presented me with a +map of France, telling me that as there was now a probability of our +visiting his native country, he could make himself very useful, and +would be glad if I would accept of his services. I thought it unfair, +however, to deprive him of the present opportunity of seeing a little +more of the world himself, and, therefore, sent him to join the rest of +the prisoners, which would insure him a trip to England, free of +expense.</p> + +<p>About midday, on the 22d, our three battalions, with some cavalry and +artillery, were ordered in pursuit of the enemy.</p> + +<p>I do not know how it is, but I have always had a mortal objection to be +killed the day after a victory. In the actions preceding a battle, or in +the battle itself, it never gave me much uneasiness, as being all in the +way of business; but, after surviving the great day, I always felt as if +I had a right to live to tell the story; and I, therefore, did not find +the ensuing three days' <span class="pagenum"><a id="page228" name="page228"></a>(p. 228)</span> fighting half so pleasant as they +otherwise would have been.</p> + +<p>Darkness overtook us this night without our overtaking the enemy; and we +halted in a grove of pines, exposed to a very heavy rain. In imprudently +shifting my things from one tree to another, after dark, some rascal +contrived to steal the velisse containing my dressing things, than which +I do not know a greater loss, when there is no possibility of replacing +any part of them.</p> + +<p>We overtook their rear-guard early on the following day, and, hanging on +their line of march until dark, we did them all the mischief that we +could. They burnt every village through which they passed, under the +pretence of impeding our movements; but, as it did not make the +slightest difference in that respect, we could only view it as a wanton +piece of cruelty.</p> + +<p>On the 24th, we were again engaged in pressing their rear the greater +part of the day; and, ultimately, in giving them the last kick, under +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page229" name="page229"></a>(p. 229)</span> the walls of Pampeluna, where we had the glory of capturing +their last gun, which literally sent them into France without a single +piece of ordnance.</p> + +<p>Our battalion occupied, that night, a large, well-furnished, but +uninhabited chateau, a short distance from Pampeluna.</p> + +<p>We got under arms early on the morning of the 25th; and, passing by a +mountain-path, to the left of Pampeluna, within range of the guns, +though they did not fire at us, circled the town, until we reached the +village of Villalba, where we halted for the night. Since I joined that +army, I had never, up to that period, been master of any thing in the +shape of a bed; and, though I did not despise a bundle of straw, when it +could conveniently be had, yet my boat-cloak and blanket were more +generally to be seen, spread out for my reception on the bare earth. +But, in proceeding to turn into them, as usual, this evening, I was not +a little astonished to find, in their stead, a comfortable mattress, +with a suitable supply of linen, blankets, and pillows; in short, the +very identical bedding on <span class="pagenum"><a id="page230" name="page230"></a>(p. 230)</span> which I had slept, the night before, +in the chateau, three leagues off, and which my rascal of an Irishman +had bundled altogether on the back of my mule, without giving me the +slightest hint of his intentions. On my taking him to task about it, and +telling him that he would certainly be hanged, all that he said in reply +was, "by J—s, they had more than a hundred beds in that house, and not +a single soul to sleep in them." I was very much annoyed, at the time, +that there was no possibility of returning them to their rightful owner, +as, independent of its being nothing short of a regular robbery, I +really looked upon them as a very unnecessary encumbrance; but being +forced, in some measure, to indulge in their comforts, I was not long in +changing my mind; and was, ultimately, not very sorry that the +possibility of restoration never did occur.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + + + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page231" name="page231"></a>(p. 231)</span> CHAP. XV.</h3> + +<p class="resume">March to intercept Clausel. Tafalla. Olite. The dark End of a + Night March to Casada. Clausel's Escape. Sanguessa. My Tent + struck. Return to Villalba. Weighty Considerations on Females. + St. Esteban. A Severe Dance. Position at Bera. Soult's Advance, + and Battle of the Pyrenees. His Defeat and subsequent Actions. A + Morning's Ride.</p> + + +<p>June 26th, 1813.—Our division fell in this morning, at daylight, and, +marching out of Villalba, circled round the southern side of Pampeluna, +until we reached the great road leading to Tafalla, where we found +ourselves united with the third and fourth divisions, and a large body +of cavalry; the whole under the immediate command of Lord Wellington, +proceeded southward, with a view to intercept General <span class="pagenum"><a id="page232" name="page232"></a>(p. 232)</span> Clausel, +who, with a strong division of the French army, had been at Logrona, on +the day of the battle of Vittoria, and was now endeavouring to pass into +the Pyrenees by our right. We marched until sun set, and halted for the +night in a wood.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 27th we were again in motion, and passing through +a country abounding in fruits, and all manner of delightful prospects; +and through the handsome town of Tafalla, where we were enthusiastically +cheered by the beauteous occupants of the numerous balconies overhanging +the streets. We halted, for the night, in an olive-grove, a short +distance from Olite.</p> + +<p>At daylight next morning we passed through the town of Olite, and +continued our route until we began to enter among the mountains, about +midday, when we halted two hours, to enable the men to cook, and again +resumed our march. Darkness overtook us, while struggling through a +narrow rugged road, which wound its way along the bank of the Arragon; +and we did not <span class="pagenum"><a id="page233" name="page233"></a>(p. 233)</span> reach our destination, at Casada, until near +midnight, where, amid torrents of rain, and in the darkness of the +night, we could find nothing but ploughed fields on which to repose our +weary limbs, nor could we find a particle of fuel to illuminate the +cheerless scene.</p> + +<p class="poem15"> + Breathed there a man of soul so dead,<br> + Who would not to himself have said,<br> + This is—a confounded comfortless dwelling.</p> + +<p>Dear Sir Walter,—pray excuse the <i>Casadians</i>, from your curse entailed +on home haters, for if any one of them ever succeeds in getting beyond +the mountain, by the road which I traversed, he ought to be +anathematized if ever he seek his home again.</p> + +<p>We passed the whole of the next day in the same place. It was discovered +that Clausel had been walking blindly into the <i>lion's den</i>, when the +<i>alcaldé</i> of a neighbouring village had warned him of his danger, and he +was thereby enabled <span class="pagenum"><a id="page234" name="page234"></a>(p. 234)</span> to avoid us, by turning off towards +Zaragossa. We heard that Lord Wellington had caused the informer to be +hanged. I hope he did, but I don't believe it.</p> + +<p>On the 30th we began to retrace our steps to Pampeluna, in the course of +which we halted two nights at Sanguessa, a populous mountain town, full +of old rattle-trap houses, a good many of which we pulled down for +firewood, by way of making room for improvements.</p> + +<p>I was taking advantage of this extra day's halt to communicate to my +friends the important events of the past fortnight, when I found myself +all at once wrapped into a bundle, with my tent-pole, and sent rolling +upon the earth, mixed up with my portable table and writing utensils, +while the devil himself seemed to be dancing a hornpipe over my body! +Although this is a sort of thing that one will sometimes submit to, when +it comes by way of illusion, at its proper time and place, such as a +midnight visit from a night-mare; yet, as I seemed now to be visited by +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page235" name="page235"></a>(p. 235)</span> a horse as well as a mare, and that, too, in the middle of the +day, and in the midst of a crowded camp, it was rather too much of a +joke, and I therefore sung out most lustily. I was not long in getting +extricated, and found that the whole scene had been arranged by two +rascally donkies, who, in a frolicsome humour, had been chasing each +other about the neighbourhood, until they finally tumbled into my tent, +with a force which drew every peg, and rolled the whole of it over on +the top of me! It might have been good sport to them, but it was none to +me!</p> + +<p>On the 3d of July, we resumed our quarters in Villalba, where we halted +during the whole of the next day; and were well supplied with fish, +fresh-butter, and eggs, brought by the peasantry of Biscay, who are the +most <i>manly</i> set of <i>women</i> that I ever saw. They are very square across +the shoulders; and, what between the quantity of fish, and the quantity +of yellow petticoats, they carry a load which an ordinary mule might +boast of.</p> + +<p>A division of Spaniards having relieved us in <span class="pagenum"><a id="page236" name="page236"></a>(p. 236)</span> the blockade of +Pampeluna, our division, on the 5th of July, advanced into the Pyrenees.</p> + +<p>On the 7th, we took up our quarters in the little town of St. Esteban, +situated in a lovely valley, watered by the Bidassoa. The different +valleys in the Pyrenees are very rich and fertile. The towns are clean +and regular, and the natives very handsome. They are particularly smart +about the limbs, and in no other part of the world have I seen any +thing, natural or artificial, to rival the complexions of the ladies, +<i>i.e.</i> to the admirers of pure red and white.</p> + +<p>We were allowed to remain several days in this enchanting spot, and +enjoyed ourselves exceedingly. They had an extraordinary style of +dancing, peculiar to themselves. At a particular part of the tune, they +all began thumping the floor with their feet, as hard and as fast as +they were able, not in the shape of a figure or flourish of any kind, +but even down pounding. I could not, myself, see any thing either +graceful or difficult in the operation; but they seemed to think that +there was only one lady amongst them who <span class="pagenum"><a id="page237" name="page237"></a>(p. 237)</span> could do it in +perfection; she was the wife of a French Colonel, and had been left in +the care of her friends, (and his enemies): she certainly could pound +the ground both harder and faster than any one there, eliciting the +greatest applause after every performance; and yet I do not think that +she could have caught a <i>French</i> husband by her superiority in that +particular step.</p> + +<p>After our few days halt, we advanced along the banks of the Bidassoa, +through a succession of beautiful little fertile valleys, thickly +studded with clean respectable looking farm-houses and little villages, +and bounded by stupendous, picturesque, and well wooded mountains, until +we came to the hill next to the village of Bera, which we found occupied +by a small force of the enemy, who, after receiving a few shots from our +people, retired through the village into their position behind it. Our +line of demarcation was then clearly seen. The mountain which the French +army occupied was the last ridge of the Pyrenees; and their sentries +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page238" name="page238"></a>(p. 238)</span> stood on the face of it, within pistol shot of the village of +Bera, which now became the advanced post of our division. The Bidassoa +takes a sudden turn to the left at Bera, and formed a natural boundary +between the two armies from thence to the sea; but all to our right was +open, and merely marked a continuation of the valley of Bera, which was +a sort of neutral ground, in which the French foragers and our own +frequently met and helped themselves, in the greatest good humour, while +any forage remained, without exchanging either words or blows. The left +wing of the army, under Sir Thomas Graham, now commenced the siege of +St. Sebastian; and as Lord Wellington had, at the same time, to cover +both that and the blockade of Pampeluna, our army occupied an extended +position of many miles.</p> + +<p>Marshal Soult having succeeded to the command of the French army, and +finding, towards the end of July, that St. Sebastian was about to be +stormed, and that the garrison of Pampeluna were beginning to get on +short allowance, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page239" name="page239"></a>(p. 239)</span> he determined on making a bold push for the +relief of both places; and, assembling the whole of his army, he forced +the pass of Maya, and advanced rapidly upon Pampeluna. Lord Wellington +was never to be caught napping. His army occupied too extended a +position to offer effectual resistance at any of their advanced posts; +but, by the time that Marshal Soult had worked his way up to the last +ridge of the Pyrenees, and within sight of "the haven of his wishes," he +found his lordship waiting for him, with four divisions of the army, who +treated him to one of the most signal and sanguinary defeats that he +ever experienced.</p> + +<p>Our division, during the important movements on our right, was employed +in keeping up the communication between the troops under the immediate +command of Lord Wellington and those under Sir Thomas Graham, at St. +Sebastian. We retired, the first day, to the mountains behind Le Secca; +and, just as we were about to lie down for the night, we were again +ordered under arms, and continued our retreat <span class="pagenum"><a id="page240" name="page240"></a>(p. 240)</span> in utter +darkness, through a mountain path, where, in many places, a false step +might have rolled a fellow as far as the other world. The consequence +was, that, although we were kept on our legs during the whole of the +night, we found, when daylight broke, that the tail of the column had +not got a quarter of a mile from their starting-post.</p> + +<p>On a good broad road it is all very well; but, on a narrow bad road, a +night march is like a night-mare, harassing a man to no purpose.</p> + +<p>On the 26th, we occupied a ridge of mountain near enough to hear the +battle, though not in a situation to see it; and remained the whole of +the day in the greatest torture, for want of news. About midnight we +heard the joyful tidings of the enemy's defeat, with the loss of four +thousand prisoners. Our division proceeded in pursuit, at daylight, on +the following morning.</p> + +<p>We moved rapidly by the same road on which we had retired, and, after a +forced march, found ourselves, when near sunset, on the flank of their +retiring column, on the Bidassoa, near <span class="pagenum"><a id="page241" name="page241"></a>(p. 241)</span> the bridge of Janca, +and immediately proceeded to business.</p> + +<p>The sight of a Frenchman always acted like a cordial on the spirits of a +rifleman; and the fatigues of the day were forgotten, as our three +battalions extended among the brushwood, and went down to "knock the +dust out of their hairy knapsacks,"<a id="footnotetag2" name="footnotetag2"></a><a href="#footnote2" title="Go to footnote 2"><span class="smaller">[2]</span></a> as our men were in the habit of +expressing themselves; but, in place of knocking the dust out of them, I +believe that most of their knapsacks were knocked in the dust; for the +greater part of those who were not <i>floored</i> along with their knapsacks, +shook them off, by way of enabling the owner to make a smarter scramble +across that portion of the road on which our leaden shower was pouring; +and, foes as they were, it was impossible not to feel a degree of pity +for their situation: pressed by an enemy in the rear, an inaccessible +mountain on their right, and a river on their left, lined by an +invisible foe, from whom there was <span class="pagenum"><a id="page242" name="page242"></a>(p. 242)</span> no escape, but the +desperate one of running the gauntlet. However, "as every —— has his +day," and this was ours, we must stand excused for making the most of +it. Each company, as they passed, gave us a volley; but as they had +nothing to guide their aim, except the smoke from our rifles, we had +very few men hit.</p> + +<p>Amongst other papers found on the road that night, one of our officers +discovered the letter-book of the French military secretary, with his +correspondence included to the day before. It was immediately sent to +Lord Wellington.</p> + +<p>We advanced, next morning, and occupied our former post, at Bera. The +enemy still continued to hold the mountain of Echelar, which, as it rose +out of the right end of our ridge, was, properly speaking, a part of our +property; and we concluded, that a sense of justice would have induced +them to leave it of their own accord in the course of the day; but when, +towards the afternoon, they shewed no symptoms of quitting, our +division, leaving their kettles on the fire, proceeded to eject them. As +we approached <span class="pagenum"><a id="page243" name="page243"></a>(p. 243)</span> the mountain, the peak of it caught a passing +cloud, that gradually descended in a thick fog, and excluded them from +our view. Our three battalions, however, having been let loose, under +Colonel Barnard, we soon made ourselves "Children of the Mist;" and, +guided to our opponents by the whistling of their balls, made them +descend from their "high estate;" and, handing them across the valley +into their own position, we then retired to ours, where we found our +tables ready spread, and a comfortable dinner waiting for us.</p> + +<p>This was one of the most gentleman-like day's fighting that I ever +experienced, although we had to lament the vacant seats of one or two of +our messmates.</p> + +<p>August 22d.—I narrowly escaped being taken prisoner this morning, very +foolishly. A division of Spaniards occupied the ground to our left, +beyond the Bidassoa; and, having mounted my horse to take a look at +their post, I passed through a small village, and then got on a rugged +path winding along the edge of the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page244" name="page244"></a>(p. 244)</span> river, where I expected to +find their outposts. The river, at that place, was not above knee-deep, +and about ten or twelve yards across; and though I saw a number of +soldiers gathering chestnuts from a row of trees which lined the +opposite bank, I concluded that they were Spaniards, and kept moving +onwards; but, observing, at last, that I was an object of greater +curiosity than I ought to be, to people who had been in the daily habit +of seeing the uniform, it induced me to take a more particular look at +my neighbours; when, to my consternation, I saw the French eagle +ornamenting the front of every cap. I instantly wheeled my horse to the +right about; and seeing that I had a full quarter of a mile to traverse +at a walk, before I could get clear of them, I began to whistle, with as +much unconcern as I could muster, while my eye was searching, like +lightning, for the means of escape, in the event of their trying to cut +me off. I had soon the satisfaction of observing that none of them had +firelocks, which reduced my capture to the chances of a race; for, +though <span class="pagenum"><a id="page245" name="page245"></a>(p. 245)</span> the hill on my right was inaccessible to a horseman, it +was not so to a dismounted Scotchman; and I, therefore, determined, in +case of necessity, to abandon my horse, and shew them what I could do on +my own bottom at a pinch. Fortunately, they did not attempt it; and I +could scarcely credit my good luck, when I found myself once more in my +own tent.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + + + + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page246" name="page246"></a>(p. 246)</span> CHAP. XVI.</h3> + +<p class="resume">An Anniversary Dinner. Affair with the Enemy, and Fall of St. + Sebastian. A Building Speculation. A Fighting one, storming the + Heights of Bera. A Picture of France from the Pyrenees. Returns + after an Action. Sold by my Pay-Serjeant. A Recruit born at his + Post. Between Two Fires, a Sea and a Land one. Position of La + Rhune. My Picture taken in a Storm. Refreshing Invention for + wintry Weather.</p> + + +<p>The 25th of August, being our regimental anniversary, was observed by +the officers of our three battalions with all due conviviality. Two +trenches, calculated to accommodate seventy gentlemen's legs, were dug +in the green sward; the earth between them stood for a table, and behind +was our seat, and though the table <span class="pagenum"><a id="page247" name="page247"></a>(p. 247)</span> could not boast of <i>all</i> +the delicacies of a civic entertainment, yet</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "The worms they crept in, and the worms they crept out,"</p> + +<p class="noindent">As the earth almost quaked with the weight of the feast, and the enemy +certainly did, from the noise of it. For so many fellows holding such +precarious tenures of their lives could not meet together in +commemoration of such an event, without indulging in an occasional +cheer—not a whispering cheer, but one that echoed far and wide into the +French lines, and as it was a sound that had often pierced them before, +and never yet boded them any good, we heard afterwards that they were +kept standing at their arms the greater part of the night in +consequence.</p> + +<p>At the time of Soult's last irruption into the Pyrenees, Sir Thomas +Graham had made an unsuccessful attempt to carry St. Sebastian by storm, +and having, ever since, been prosecuting the siege with unremitting +vigour, the works <span class="pagenum"><a id="page248" name="page248"></a>(p. 248)</span> were now reduced to such a state as to +justify a second attempt, and our division sent forth their three +hundred volunteers to join the storming party.<a id="footnotetag3" name="footnotetag3"></a><a href="#footnote3" title="Go to footnote 3"><span class="smaller">[3]</span></a> The morning on which +we expected the assault to take place, we had turned out before +daylight, as usual, and as a thick fog hung on the French position, +which prevented our seeing them, we turned in again at the usual time, +but had scarcely done so, when the mist rode off on a passing breeze, +showing us the opposite hills bristling with their bayonets, and their +columns descending rapidly towards us. The bugles instantly sounded to +arms, and we formed on our alarm posts. We thought at first that the +attack was intended for us, but they presently began to pass the river, +a little below the village of Bera, and to advance against the Spaniards +on our left. They were covered by some mountain guns, from which their +first shell fell short, and made such <span class="pagenum"><a id="page249" name="page249"></a>(p. 249)</span> a breach in their own +leading column, that we could not resist giving three cheers to their +marksman. Leaving a strong covering party to keep our division in check +at the bridge of Bera, their main body followed the Spaniards, who, +offering little opposition, continued retiring towards St. Sebastian.</p> + +<p>We remained quiet the early part of the day, under a harmless fire from +their mountain guns; but, towards the afternoon, our battalion, with +part of the forty-third, and supported by a brigade of Spaniards, were +ordered to pass by the bridge of Le Secca, and to move in a parallel +direction with the French, along the same ridge of hills.</p> + +<p>The different flanking-posts of the enemy permitted the forty-third and +us to pass them quietly, thinking, I suppose, that it was their interest +to keep the peace; but not so with the Spaniards, whom they kept in a +regular fever, under a smart fire, the whole way. We took up a position +at dark, on a pinnacle of the same mountain, within three or four +hundred yards of them. There had been a heavy firing <span class="pagenum"><a id="page250" name="page250"></a>(p. 250)</span> all day +to our left, and we heard, in the course of the night, of the fall of +St. Sebastian, as well as of the defeat of the force which we had seen +following the Spaniards in that direction.</p> + +<p>As we always took the liberty of abusing our friends, the commissaries, +whether with or without reason, whenever we happened to be on short +allowance, it is but fair to say that when our supporting Spanish +brigadier came to compare notes with us here, we found that we had three +days' rations in the haversack against his none. He very politely +proposed to relieve us from half of ours, and to give a receipt for it, +but we told him that the trouble in carrying it was a pleasure!</p> + +<p>At daylight next morning we found that the enemy had altogether +disappeared from our front. The heavy rains during the past night had +rendered the Bidassoa no longer fordable, and the bridge of Bera being +the only retreat left open, it was fortunate for them that they took +advantage of it before we had time to occupy <span class="pagenum"><a id="page251" name="page251"></a>(p. 251)</span> the post with a +sufficient force to defend the passage, otherwise they would have been +compelled, in all probability, to have laid down their arms.</p> + +<p>As it was, they suffered very severely from two companies of our second +battalion, who were on piquet there. The two captains commanding them +were, however, killed in the affair.</p> + +<p>We returned in the course of the day and resumed our post at Bera, the +enemy continuing to hold theirs beyond it.</p> + +<p>The ensuing month passed by, without producing the slightest novelty, +and we began to get heartily tired of our situation. Our souls, in fact, +were strung for war, and peace afforded no enjoyment, unless the place +did, and there was none to be found in a valley of the Pyrenees, which +the ravages of contending armies had reduced to a desert. The labours of +the French on the opposite mountain had, in the first instance, been +confined to fortification; but, as the season advanced, they seemed to +think that the branch of a tree, or a sheet of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page252" name="page252"></a>(p. 252)</span> canvass, was +too slender a barrier between them and a frosty night, and their +fortified camp was gradually becoming a fortified town, of regular brick +and mortar. Though we were living under the influence of the same sky, +we did not think it necessary to give ourselves the same trouble, but +reasoned on their proceedings like philosophers, and calculated, from +the aspect of the times, that there was a probability of a speedy +transfer of property, and that it might still be reserved for us to give +their town a name; nor were we disappointed. Late on the night of the +7th of October, Colonel Barnard arrived from head-quarters, with the +intelligence that the next was to be the day of trial. Accordingly, on +the morning of the 8th, the fourth division came up to support us, and +we immediately marched down to the foot of the enemy's position, shook +off our knapsacks before their faces, and went at them.</p> + +<p>The action commenced by five companies of our third battalion advancing, +under Colonel Ross, to dislodge the enemy from a hill which <span class="pagenum"><a id="page253" name="page253"></a>(p. 253)</span> +they occupied in front of their entrenchments; and there never was a +movement more beautifully executed, for they walked quietly and steadily +up, and swept them regularly off without firing a single shot until the +enemy had turned their backs, when they then served them out with a most +destructive discharge. The movement excited the admiration of all who +witnessed it, and added another laurel to the already crowded wreath +which adorned the name of that distinguished officer.</p> + +<p>At the first look of the enemy's position, it appeared as if our brigade +had got the most difficult task to perform; but, as the capture of this +hill showed us a way round the flank of their entrenchments, we carried +one after the other, until we finally gained the summit, with very +little loss. Our second brigade, however, were obliged to take "the bull +by the horns," on their side, and suffered more severely; but they +rushed at every thing with a determination that defied resistance, +carrying redoubt after redoubt at the point of the bayonet, until they +finally <span class="pagenum"><a id="page254" name="page254"></a>(p. 254)</span> joined us on the summit of the mountain, with three +hundred prisoners in their possession.</p> + +<p>We now found ourselves firmly established within the French territory, +with a prospect before us that was truly refreshing, considering that we +had not seen the sea for three years, and that our views, for months, +had been confined to fogs and the peaks of mountains. On our left, the +Bay of Biscay lay extended as far as the horizon, while several of our +ships of war were seen sporting upon her bosom. Beneath us lay the +pretty little town of St. Jean de Luz, which looked as if it had just +been framed out of the Lilliputian scenery of a toy-shop. The town of +Bayonne, too, was visible in the distance; and the view to the right +embraced a beautiful well-wooded country, thickly studded with towns and +villages, as far as the eye could reach.</p> + +<p>Sir Thomas Graham, with the left wing of the army, had, the same +morning, passed the Bidassoa, and established them, also, within the +French boundary. A brigade of Spaniards, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page255" name="page255"></a>(p. 255)</span> on our right, had +made a simultaneous attack on La Rhune, the highest mountain on this +part of the Pyrenees, and which, since our last advance, was properly +now a part of our position. The enemy, however, refused to quit it; and +the firing between them did not cease until long after dark.</p> + +<p>The affair in which we were engaged terminated, properly speaking, when +we had expelled the enemy from the mountain; but some of our straggling +skirmishers continued to follow the retiring foe into the valley beyond, +with a view, no doubt, of seeing what a French house contained.</p> + +<p>Lord Wellington, preparatory to this movement, had issued an order +requiring that private property, of every kind, should be strictly +respected; but we had been so long at war with France, that our men had +been accustomed to look upon them as their natural enemies, and could +not, at first, divest themselves of the idea that they had not a right +to partake of the good things abounding about the cottage-doors. Our +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page256" name="page256"></a>(p. 256)</span> commandant, however, was determined to see the order rigidly +enforced, and it was, therefore, highly amusing to watch the return of +the depredators. The first who made his appearance was a bugler, +carrying a goose, which, after he had been well beaten about the head +with it, was transferred to the provost-marshal. The next was a soldier, +with a calf; the soldier was immediately sent to the quarter-guard, and +the calf to the provost-marshal. He was followed by another soldier, +mounted on a horse, who were, also, both consigned to the same keeping; +but, on the soldier stating that he had only got the horse in charge +from a volunteer, who was at that time attached to the regiment, he was +set at liberty. Presently the volunteer himself came up, and, not +observing the colonel lying on the grass, called out among the soldiers, +"Who is the —— rascal that sent my horse to the provost-marshal?" "It +was I!" said the colonel, to the utter confusion of the querist. Our +chief was a good deal nettled at these irregularities; and, some time +after, on going to his tent, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page257" name="page257"></a>(p. 257)</span> which was pitched between the +roofless walls of a house, conceive his astonishment at finding the calf +and the goose hanging in his own larder! He looked serious for a moment, +but, on receiving an explanation, and after the row he had made about +them, the thing was too ridiculous, and he burst out laughing. It is due +to all concerned to state that they had, at last, been honestly come by, +for I, as one of his messmates, had purchased the goose from the proper +quarter, and another had done the same by the calf.</p> + +<p>Not anticipating this day's fight, I had given my pay-serjeant +twenty-five guineas, the day before, to distribute among the company; +and I did not discover, until too late, that he had neglected to do it, +as he disappeared in the course of the action, and was never afterwards +heard of. If he was killed, or taken prisoner, he must have been a prize +to somebody, though he left me a blank.</p> + +<p>Among other incidents of the day, one of our men had a son and heir +presented to him by his <span class="pagenum"><a id="page258" name="page258"></a>(p. 258)</span> Portuguese wife, soon after the +action. She had been taken in labour while ascending the mountain; but +it did not seem to interfere with her proceedings in the least, for she, +and her child, and her donkey, came all three screeching into the camp, +immediately after, telling the news, as if it had been something very +extraordinary, and none of them a bit the worse.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 9th, we turned out, as usual, an hour before +daylight. The sound of musketry, to our right, in our own hemisphere, +announced that the French and Spaniards had resumed their unfinished +argument of last night, relative to the occupation of La Rhune; while, +at the same time, "from our throne of clouds," we had an opportunity of +contemplating, with some astonishment, the proceedings of the nether +world. A French ship of war, considering St. Jean de Luz no longer a +free port, had endeavoured, under cover of the night, to steal +alongshore to Bayonne; and, when daylight broke, they had an opportunity +of seeing that <span class="pagenum"><a id="page259" name="page259"></a>(p. 259)</span> they were not only within sight of their port, +but within sight of a British gun-brig, and, if they entertained any +doubts as to which of the two was nearest, their minds were quickly +relieved, on that point, by finding that they were not within reach of +their port, and strictly within reach of the <i>guns</i> of the brig, while +two British frigates were bearing down with a press of canvass. The +Frenchman returned a few broadsides; he was double the size of the one +opposed to him, but, conceiving his case to be hopeless, he at length +set fire to the ship, and took to his boats. We watched the progress of +the flames until she finally blew up, and disappeared in a column of +smoke. The boats of our gun-brig were afterwards seen employed in +picking up the odds and ends.</p> + +<p>Our friends, the Spaniards, I have no doubt, would have been very glad +to have got rid of their opponents in the same kind of way, either by +their going without the mountain, or by their taking it with them. But +the mountain stood, and the French stood, until we began to wish +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page260" name="page260"></a>(p. 260)</span> the mountain, the French, and the Spaniards at the devil; for, +although we knew that the affair between them was a matter of no +consequence whichever way it went, yet it was impossible for us to feel +quite at ease, while a fight was going on so near; it was, therefore, a +great relief when, in the afternoon, a few companies of our second +brigade were sent to their assistance, as the French then retired +without firing another shot. Between the French and us there was no +humbug, it was either peace or war. The war, on both sides, was +conducted on the grand scale, and, by a tacit sort of understanding, we +never teased each other unnecessarily.</p> + +<p>The French, after leaving La Rhune, established their advanced post on +Petite La Rhune, a mountain that stood as high as most of its +neighbours; but, as its name betokens, it was but a child to its +gigantic namesake, of which it seemed as if it had, at a former period, +formed a part; but, having been shaken off, like a useless <i>galloche</i>, +it now stood gaping, open-mouthed, at the place it had left, (and which +had <span class="pagenum"><a id="page261" name="page261"></a>(p. 261)</span> now become our advanced post,) while the enemy proceeded +to furnish its jaws with a set of teeth, or, in other words, to face it +with breast-works, &c. a measure which they invariably had recourse to +in every new position.</p> + +<p>Encamped on the face of La Rhune, we remained a whole month idle +spectators of their preparations, and dearly longing for the day that +should afford us an opportunity of penetrating into the more +hospitable-looking low country beyond them; for the weather had become +excessively cold, and our camp stood exposed to the utmost fury of the +almost nightly tempest. Oft have I, in the middle of the night, awoke +from a sound sleep, and found my tent on the point of disappearing in +the air, like a balloon; and, leaving my warm blankets, been obliged to +snatch the mallet, and rush out in the midst of a hailstorm, to peg it +down. I think that I now see myself looking like one of those gay +creatures of the elements who dwelt (as Shakspeare has it) among the +rainbows!</p> + +<p>By way of contributing to the warmth of my <span class="pagenum"><a id="page262" name="page262"></a>(p. 262)</span> tent, I dug a hole +inside, which I arranged as a fire-place, carrying the smoke underneath +the walls, and building a turf-chimney outside. I was not long in +proving the experiment, and, finding that it went exceedingly well, I +was not a little vain of the invention. However, it came on to rain very +hard while I was dining at a neighbouring tent, and, on my return to my +own, I found the fire not only extinguished, but a fountain playing from +the same place, up to the roof, watering my bed and baggage, and all +sides of it, most refreshingly. This showed me, at the expense of my +night's repose, that the rain oozed through the thin spongy surface of +earth, and, in particular places, rushed down in torrents between the +earth and the rock which it covered; and any incision in the former was +sure to produce a fountain.</p> + +<p>It is very singular that, notwithstanding our exposure to all the +severities of the worst of weather, that we had not a single sick man in +the battalion while we remained there.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + + + + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page263" name="page263"></a>(p. 263)</span> CHAP. XVII.</h3> + +<p class="resume">Battle of the Nivelle, and Defeat of the Enemy. A Bird of Evil + Omen. Chateau D'Arcangues. Prudence. An Enemy's Gratitude. + Passage of the Nive, and Battles near Bayonne, from 9th to 13th + December.</p> + + +<h4>BATTLE OF THE NIVELLE,<br> + +November 10th, 1813.</h4> + +<p>The fall of Pampeluna having, at length, left our further movements +unshackled by an enemy in the rear, preparations were made for an attack +on their position, which, though rather too extended, was formidable by +nature, and rendered doubly so by art.</p> + +<p>Petite La Rhune was allotted to our division, as their first point of +attack; and, accordingly, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page264" name="page264"></a>(p. 264)</span> the 10th being the day fixed, we +moved to our ground at midnight, on the 9th. The abrupt ridges in the +neighbourhood enabled us to lodge ourselves, unperceived, within +half-musket-shot of their piquets; and we had left every description of +animal behind us in camp, in order that neither the barking of dogs nor +the neighing of steeds should give indication of our intentions. Our +signal of attack was to be a gun from Sir John Hope, who had now +succeeded Sir Thomas Graham in the command of the left wing of the army.</p> + +<p>We stood to our arms at dawn of day, which was soon followed by the +signal-gun; and each commanding officer, according to previous +instructions, led gallantly off to his point of attack. The French must +have been, no doubt, astonished to see such an armed force spring out of +the ground almost under their noses; but they were, nevertheless, +prepared behind their entrenchments, and caused us some loss in passing +the short space between us; but the whole place was carried within the +time required to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page265" name="page265"></a>(p. 265)</span> walk over it; and, in less than half-an-hour +from the commencement of the attack, it was in our possession, with all +their tents left standing.</p> + +<p>Petite La Rhune was more of an outpost than a part of their position, +the latter being a chain of stupendous mountains in its rear; so that +while our battalion followed their skirmishers into the valley between, +the remainder of our division were forming for the attack on the main +position, and waiting for the co-operation of the other divisions, the +thunder of whose artillery, echoing along the valleys, proclaimed that +they were engaged, far and wide, on both sides of us. About midday our +division advanced to the grand attack on the most formidable looking +part of the whole of the enemy's position, and, much to our surprise, we +carried it with more ease and less loss than the outpost in the morning, +a circumstance which we could only account for by supposing that it had +been defended by the same troops, and that they did not choose to +sustain two <i>hard</i> beatings on the same day. The attack succeeded at +every point; and, in the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page266" name="page266"></a>(p. 266)</span> evening, we had the satisfaction of +seeing the left wing of the army marching into St. Jean de Luz.</p> + +<p>Towards the end of the action, Colonel Barnard was struck with a +musket-ball, which carried him clean off his horse. The enemy, seeing +that they had shot an officer of rank, very maliciously kept up a heavy +firing on the spot, while we were carrying him under the brow of the +hill. The ball having passed through the lungs, he was spitting blood, +and, at the moment, had every appearance of being in a dying state; but, +to our joy and surprise, he, that day month, rode up to the battalion, +when it was in action, near Bayonne; and, I need not add, that he was +received with three hearty cheers.</p> + +<p>A curious fact occurred in our regiment at this period. Prior to the +action of the Nivelle, an owl had perched itself on the tent of one of +our officers (Lieut. Doyle). This officer was killed in the battle, and +the owl was afterwards seen on Capt. Duncan's tent. His brother-officers +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page267" name="page267"></a>(p. 267)</span> quizzed him on the subject, by telling him that he was the +next on the list; a joke which Capt. D. did not much relish, and it was +prophetic, as he soon afterwards fell at Tarbes.</p> + +<p>The movements of the two or three days following placed the enemy within +their entrenchments at Bayonne, and the head-quarters of our battalion +in the Chateau D'Arcangues, with the outposts of the division at the +village of Bassasarry and its adjacents.</p> + +<p>I now felt myself both in a humour and a place to enjoy an interval of +peace and quietness. The country was abundant in every comfort; the +chateau was large, well-furnished, and unoccupied, except by a +bed-ridden grandmother, and young Arcangues, a gay rattling young +fellow, who furnished us with plenty of good wine, (by our paying for +the same,) and made one of our mess.</p> + +<p>On the 20th of November a strong reconnoitring party of the enemy +examined our chain of posts. They remained a considerable time within +half-musket-shot of one of our piquets, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page268" name="page268"></a>(p. 268)</span> but we did not fire, +and they seemed at last as if they had all gone away. The place where +they had stood bounded our view in that direction, as it was a small +sand-hill with a mud-cottage at the end of it; after watching the spot +intensely for nearly an hour, and none shewing themselves, my curiosity +would keep no longer, and, desiring three men to follow, I rode forward +to ascertain the fact. When I cleared the end of the cottage, I found +myself within three yards of at least a dozen of them, who were seated +in a group behind a small hedge, with their arms laid against the wall +of the cottage, and a sentry with sloped arms, and his back towards me, +listening to their conversation.</p> + +<p>My first impulse was to gallop in amongst them, and order them to +surrender; but my three men were still twenty or thirty yards behind, +and, as my only chance of success was by surprise, I thought the risk of +the delay too great, and, reining back my horse, I made a signal to my +men to retire, which, from the soil being a deep sand, we were enabled +to do without <span class="pagenum"><a id="page269" name="page269"></a>(p. 269)</span> the slightest noise; but all the while I had my +ears pricked up, expecting every instant to find a ball whistling +through my body; however, as none of them afterwards shewed themselves +past the end of the cottage, I concluded that they had remained ignorant +of my visit.</p> + +<p>We had an affair of some kind, once a week, while we remained there; and +as they were generally trifling, and we always found a good dinner and a +good bed in the chateau on our return, we considered them rather a +relief than otherwise.</p> + +<p>The only instance of a want of professional generosity that I ever had +occasion to remark in a French officer, occurred on one of these +occasions. We were about to push in their outposts, for some particular +purpose, and I was sent with an order for Lieutenant Gardiner of ours, +who was on piquet, to attack the post in his front, as soon as he should +see a corresponding movement on his flank, which would take place almost +immediately. The enemy's sentries were so near, as to be quite at Mr. +Gardiner's mercy, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page270" name="page270"></a>(p. 270)</span> who immediately said to me, "Well, I wo'n't +kill these unfortunate rascals at all events, but shall tell them to go +in and join their piquet." I applauded his motives, and rode off; but I +had only gone a short distance when I heard a volley of musketry behind +me; and, seeing that it had come from the French piquet, I turned back +to see what had happened, and found that the officer commanding it had +no sooner got his sentries so generously restored to him, than he +instantly formed his piquet and fired a volley at Lieutenant Gardiner, +who was walking a little apart from his men, waiting for the expected +signal. The balls all fell near, without touching him, and, for the +honour of the French army, I was glad to hear afterwards that the +officer alluded to was a militia-man.</p> + + +<h4>BATTLES NEAR BAYONNE,<br> + +December 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th, 1813.</h4> + +<p>The centre and left wing of our army advanced <span class="pagenum"><a id="page271" name="page271"></a>(p. 271)</span> on the morning +of the 9th of December, and drove the enemy within their entrenchments, +threatening an attack on their lines. Lord Wellington had the double +object, in this movement, of reconnoitring their works, and effecting +the passage of the Nive with his right wing. The rivers Nive and Adour +unite in the town of Bayonne, so that while we were threatening to storm +the works on one side, Sir Rowland Hill passed the Nive, without +opposition, on the other, and took up his ground, with his right on the +Adour and his left on the Nive, on a contracted space, within a very +short distance of the walls of the town. On our side we were engaged in +a continued skirmish until dark, when we retired to our quarters, under +the supposition that we had got our usual week's allowance, and that we +should remain quiet again for a time.</p> + +<p>We turned out at daylight on the 10th; but, as there was a thick +drizzling rain which prevented us from seeing any thing, we soon turned +in again. My servant soon after came <span class="pagenum"><a id="page272" name="page272"></a>(p. 272)</span> to tell me that Sir Lowry +Cole, and some of his staff, had just ascended to the top of the +chateau, a piece of information which did not quite please me, for I +fancied that the general had just discovered our quarter to be better +than his own, and had come for the purpose of taking possession of it. +However, in less than five minutes, we received an order for our +battalion to move up instantly to the support of the piquets; and, on my +descending to the door, to mount my horse, I found Sir Lowry standing +there, who asked if we had received any orders; and, on my telling him +that we had been ordered up to support the piquets, he immediately +desired a staff-officer to order up one of his brigades to the rear of +the chateau. This was one of the numerous instances in which we had +occasion to admire the prudence and forethought of the great Wellington! +He had foreseen the attack that would take place, and had his different +divisions disposed to meet it. We no sooner moved up, than we found +ourselves a party engaged along with the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page273" name="page273"></a>(p. 273)</span> piquets; and, under a +heavy skirmishing fire, retiring gradually from hedge to hedge, +according as the superior force of the enemy compelled us to give +ground, until we finally retired within our home, the chateau, which was +the first part of our position that was meant to be defended in earnest. +We had previously thrown up a mud rampart around it, and loop-holed the +different outhouses, so that we had nothing now to do, but to line the +walls and shew determined fight. The forty-third occupied the +church-yard to our left, which was also partially fortified; and the +third Cácadores and our third battalion, occupied the space between, +behind the hedge-rows, while the fourth division was in readiness to +support us from the rear. The enemy came up to the opposite ridge, in +formidable numbers, and began blazing at our windows and loop-holes, and +shewing some disposition to attempt it by storm; but they thought better +of it and withdrew their columns a short distance to the rear, leaving +the nearest hedge lined with their skirmishers. An officer of ours, Mr. +Hopewood, and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page274" name="page274"></a>(p. 274)</span> one of our serjeants, had been killed in the +field opposite, within twenty yards of where the enemy's skirmishers now +were. We were very anxious to get possession of their bodies, but had +not force enough to effect it. Several French soldiers came through the +hedge, at different times, with the intention, as we thought, of +plundering, but our men shot every one who attempted to go near them, +until towards evening, when a French officer approached, waving a white +handkerchief and pointing to some of his men who were following him with +shovels. Seeing that his intention was to bury them, we instantly ceased +firing, nor did we renew it again that night.</p> + +<p>The forty-third, from their post at the church, kept up an incessant +shower of musketry the whole of the day, at what was conceived, at the +time, to be a very long range; but from the quantity of balls which were +afterwards found sticking in every tree, where the enemy stood, it was +evident that their birth must have been rather uncomfortable.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page275" name="page275"></a>(p. 275)</span> One of our officers, in the course of the day, had been passing +through a deep road-way, between two banks, with hedge-rows, when, to +his astonishment, a dragoon and his horse tumbled heels over head into +the road, as if they had been fired out of a cloud. Neither of them were +the least hurt; but it must have been no joke that tempted him to take +such a flight.</p> + +<p>Soult expected, by bringing his whole force to bear on our centre and +left wing, that he would have succeeded in forcing it, or, at all +events, of obliging Lord Wellington to withdraw Sir Rowland Hill from +beyond the Nive; but he effected neither, and darkness left the two +armies on the ground which they had fought on.</p> + +<p>General Alten and Sir James Kempt took up their quarters with us in the +chateau: our sentries and those of the enemy stood within pistol-shot of +each other in the ravine below.</p> + +<p>Young Arcangues, I presume, must have been rather disappointed at the +result of the day; for, even giving him credit for every kindly feeling +towards us, his wishes must still have <span class="pagenum"><a id="page276" name="page276"></a>(p. 276)</span> been in favour of his +countrymen; but when he found that his chateau was to be a bone of +contention, it then became his interest that we should keep possession +of it; and he held out every inducement for us to do so; which, by the +by, was quite unnecessary, seeing that our own comfort so much depended +on it. However, though his supplies of claret had failed some days +before, he now discovered some fresh cases in the cellar, which he +immediately placed at our disposal; and, that our dire resolve to defend +the fortress should not be melted by weak woman's wailings, he fixed an +arm-chair on a mule, mounted his grandmother on it, and sent her off to +the rear, while the balls were whizzing about the neighbourhood in a +manner to which even she, poor old lady, was not altogether insensible, +though she had become a mounted heroine at a period when she had given +up all idea of ever sitting on any thing more lively than a coffin.</p> + +<p>During the whole of the 11th each army retained the same ground, and +though there was <span class="pagenum"><a id="page277" name="page277"></a>(p. 277)</span> an occasional exchange of shots at different +points, yet nothing material occurred.</p> + +<p>The enemy began throwing up a six-gun battery opposite our chateau; and +we employed ourselves in strengthening the works, as a precautionary +measure, though we had not much to dread from it, as they were so +strictly within range of our rifles, that he must have been a lucky +artilleryman who stood there to fire a second shot.</p> + +<p>In the course of the night a brigade of Belgians, who were with the +French army, having heard that their country had declared for their +legitimate king, passed over to our side, and surrendered.</p> + +<p>On the 12th there was heavy firing and hard fighting, all day, to our +left, but we remained perfectly quiet. Towards the afternoon, Sir James +Kempt formed our brigade, for the purpose of expelling the enemy from +the hill next the chateau, to which he thought them rather too near; +but, just as we reached our different <span class="pagenum"><a id="page278" name="page278"></a>(p. 278)</span> points for commencing +the attack, we were recalled, and nothing further occurred.</p> + +<p>I went, about one o'clock in the morning, to visit our different +piquets; and seeing an unusual number of fires in the enemy's lines, I +concluded that they had lit them to mask some movement; and taking a +patrole with me, I stole cautiously forward, and found that they had +left the ground altogether. I immediately returned, and reported the +circumstance to General Alten, who sent off a despatch to apprize Lord +Wellington.</p> + +<p>As soon as day began to dawn, on the morning of the 13th, a tremendous +fire of artillery and musketry was heard to our right. Soult had +withdrawn every thing from our front in the course of the night, and had +now attacked Sir Rowland Hill with his whole force. Lord Wellington, in +expectation of this attack, had, last night, reinforced Sir Rowland Hill +with the sixth division; which enabled him to occupy his contracted +position so strongly, that Soult, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page279" name="page279"></a>(p. 279)</span> unable to bring more than +his own front to bear upon him, sustained a signal and sanguinary +defeat.</p> + +<p>Lord Wellington galloped into the yard of our chateau, soon after the +attack had commenced, and demanded, with his usual quickness, what was +to be seen? Sir James Kempt, who was spying at the action from an upper +window, told him; and, after desiring Sir James to order Sir Lowry Cole +to follow him with the fourth division, he galloped off to the scene of +action. In the afternoon, when all was over, he called in again, on his +return to head-quarters, and told us, "that it was the most glorious +affair that he had ever seen; and that the enemy had absolutely left +upwards of five thousand men, killed and wounded, on the ground."</p> + +<p>This was the last action in which we were concerned, near Bayonne. The +enemy seemed quite satisfied with what they had got; and offered us no +further molestation, but withdrew within their works.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + + + + + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page280" name="page280"></a>(p. 280)</span> CHAP. XVIII.</h3> + +<p class="resume">Change of Quarters. Change of Diet. Suttlers. Our new Quarter. A + long-going Horse gone. New Clothing. Adam's lineal Descendants. + St. Palais. Action at Tarbes. Faubourg of Toulouse. The green + Man. Passage of the Garonne. Battle of Toulouse. Peace. Castle + Sarrazin. A tender Point.</p> + + +<p>Towards the end of the month, some divisions of the French army having +left Bayonne, and ascended the right bank of the Adour, it produced a +corresponding movement on our side, by which our division then occupied +Ustaritz, and some neighbouring villages; a change of quarters we had no +reason to rejoice in.</p> + +<p>At Arcangues, notwithstanding the influence of our messmate, "the +Seigneur du Village," our table had, latterly, exhibited gradual +symptoms <span class="pagenum"><a id="page281" name="page281"></a>(p. 281)</span> of decay. But <i>here</i>, our voracious predecessors had +not only swallowed the calf, but the cow, and, literally, left us +nothing; so that, from an occasional turkey, or a pork-pie, we were now, +all at once, reduced to our daily ration of a withered pound of beef. A +great many necessaries of life could certainly be procured from St. Jean +de Luz, but the prices there were absolutely suicidical. The suttlers' +shops were too small to hold both their goods and their consciences; so +that, every pin's worth they sold cost us a dollar; and as every dollar +cost us seven shillings, they were, of course, not so plenty as bad +dinners. I have often regretted that the enemy never got an opportunity +of having the run of their shops for a few minutes, that they might have +been, in some measure, punished for their sins, even in this world.</p> + +<p>The house that held our table, too, was but a wretched apology for the +one we had left. A bitter wind continued to blow; and as the granary of +a room which we occupied, on the first floor, had no fire-place, we +immediately <span class="pagenum"><a id="page282" name="page282"></a>(p. 282)</span> proceeded to provide it with one, and continued +filling it up with such a load of bricks and mortar that the first floor +was on the point of becoming the ground one; and, having only a choice +of evils, on such an emergency, we, as usual, adopted that which +appeared to us to be the least, cutting down the only two fruit-trees in +the garden to prop it up with. We were rather on doubtful terms with the +landlord before, but this put us all square—no terms at all.</p> + +<p>Our animals, too, were in a woful plight, for want of forage. We were +obliged to send our baggage ones, every week, for their rations of corn, +three days' march, through oceans of mud, which ought, properly, to have +been navigated with boats. The whole cavalcade always moved under the +charge of an officer, and many were the anxious looks that we took with +our spy-glasses, from a hill overlooking the road, on the days of their +expected return, each endeavouring to descry his own. Mine came back to +me twice; but "the pitcher that goes often to the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page283" name="page283"></a>(p. 283)</span> well" was +verified in his third trip, for—he perished in a muddy grave.</p> + +<p>His death, however, was not so unexpected as it might have been, for, +although I cannot literally say that he had been dying by inches, seeing +that he had walked all the way from the frontiers of Portugal, yet he +had, nevertheless, been doing it on the grand scale—by miles. I only +fell in with him the day before the commencement of the campaign, and, +after reconnoitring him with my usual judgement, and seeing that he was +in possession of the regulated quantity of eyes, legs, and mouth, and +concluding that they were all calculated to perform their different +functions, I took him, as a man does his wife, for better and for worse; +and it was not until the end of the first day's march that I found he +had a broken jaw-bone, and could not eat, and I had, therefore, been +obliged to support him all along on spoon diet; he was a capital horse, +only for that!</p> + +<p>It has already been written, in another man's book, that we always +require just a little more <span class="pagenum"><a id="page284" name="page284"></a>(p. 284)</span> than we have got to make us +perfectly happy; and, as we had given this neighbourhood a fair trial, +and <i>that little</i> was not to be found in it, we were very glad when, +towards the end of February, we were permitted to look for it a little +further on. We broke up from quarters on the 21st, leaving Sir John +Hope, with the left wing of the army, in the investment of Bayonne, Lord +Wellington followed Soult with the remainder.</p> + +<p>The new clothing for the different regiments of the army had, in the +mean time, been gradually arriving at St. Jean de Luz; and, as the +commissariat transport was required for other purposes, not to mention +that a man's new coat always looks better on his own back than it does +on a mule's, the different regiments marched there for it in succession. +It did not come to our turn until we had taken a stride to the front, as +far as La Bastide; our retrograde movement, therefore, obliged us to bid +adieu to our division for some time.</p> + +<p>On our arrival at St. Jean de Luz, we found our new clothing, and some +new friends in the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page285" name="page285"></a>(p. 285)</span> family of our old friend, Arcangues, which +was one of the most respectable in the district, and who showed us a +great deal of kindness. As it happened to be the commencement of Lent, +the young ladies were, at first, doubtful as to the propriety of joining +us in any of the gaieties; but, after a short consultation, they +arranged it with their consciences, and joined in the waltz right +merrily. Mademoiselle was really an exceedingly nice girl, and the most +lively companion in arms (in a waltz) that I ever met.</p> + +<p>Our clothing detained us there two days; on the third, we proceeded to +rejoin the division.</p> + +<p>The pride of ancestry is very tenaciously upheld among the Basques, who +are the mountaineers of that district. I had a fancy that most of them +grew wild, like their trees, without either fathers or mothers, and was, +therefore, much amused, one day, to hear a fellow, with a Tam +O'Shanter's bonnet, and a pair of bare legs, tracing his descent from +the first man, and maintaining that he spoke the same language <span class="pagenum"><a id="page286" name="page286"></a>(p. 286)</span> +too. He might have added, if further proof were wanting, that he, also, +wore the same kind of shoes and stockings.</p> + +<p>On the 27th February, 1814, we marched, all day, to the tune of a +cannonade; it was the battle of Orthes; and, on our arrival, in the +evening, at the little town of St. Palais, we were very much annoyed to +find the seventy-ninth regiment stationed there, who handed us a general +order, desiring that the last-arrived regiment should relieve the +preceding one in charge of the place. This was the more vexatious, +knowing that there was no other regiment behind to relieve us. It was a +nice little town, and we were treated, by the inhabitants, like friends +and allies, experiencing much kindness and hospitality from them; but a +rifleman, in the rear, is like a fish out of the water; he feels that he +is not in his place. Seeing no other mode of obtaining a release, we, at +length, began detaining the different detachments who were proceeding to +join their regiments, with a view of forming a battalion of them; but, +by the time that we had <span class="pagenum"><a id="page287" name="page287"></a>(p. 287)</span> collected a sufficient number for that +purpose, we received an order, from head-quarters, to join the army; +when, after a few days' forced marches, we had, at length, the happiness +of overtaking our division a short distance beyond the town of Aire. The +battle of Orthes was the only affair of consequence that had taken place +during our absence.</p> + +<p>We remained stationary, near Aire, until the middle of March, when the +army was again put in motion.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 19th, while we were marching along the road, near +the town of Tarbes, we saw what appeared to be a small piquet of the +enemy, on the top of a hill to our left, looking down upon us, when a +company of our second battalion was immediately sent to dislodge them. +The enemy, however, increased in number, in proportion to those sent +against them, until not only the whole of the second, but our own, and +the third battalion were eventually brought into action; and still we +had more than double our number opposed to us; <span class="pagenum"><a id="page288" name="page288"></a>(p. 288)</span> but we, +nevertheless, drove them from the field with great slaughter, after a +desperate struggle of a few minutes, in which we had eleven officers +killed and wounded. As this fight was purely a rifle one, and took place +within sight of the whole army, I may be justified in giving the +following quotation from the author of "Twelve Years' Military +Adventure," who was a spectator, and who, in allusion to this affair, +says, "Our rifles were immediately sent to dislodge the French from the +hills on our left, and our battalion was ordered to support them. +Nothing could exceed the manner in which the ninety-fifth set about the +business.... Certainly I never saw such skirmishers as the ninety-fifth, +now the rifle brigade. They could do the work much better and with +infinitely less loss than any other of our best light troops. They +possessed an individual boldness, a mutual understanding, and a +quickness of eye, in taking advantage of the ground, which, taken +altogether, I never saw equalled. They were, in fact, as much superior +to the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page289" name="page289"></a>(p. 289)</span> French <i>voltigeurs</i>, as the latter were to our +skirmishers in general. As our regiment was often employed in supporting +them, I think I am fairly qualified to speak of their merits."</p> + +<p>We followed the enemy until dark, when, after having taken up our ground +and lit our fires, they rather maliciously opened a cannonade upon us; +but, as few of their shots took effect, we did not put ourselves to the +inconvenience of moving, and they soon desisted.</p> + +<p>We continued in pursuit daily, until we finally arrived on the banks of +the Garonne, opposite Toulouse. The day after our arrival an attempt was +made, by our engineers, to throw a bridge across the river, above the +town; and we had assembled one morning, to be in readiness to pass over, +but they were obliged to abandon it for want of the necessary number of +pontoons, and we returned again to quarters.</p> + +<p>We were stationed, for several days, in the suburb of St. Ciprien, where +we found ourselves exceedingly comfortable. It consisted chiefly of +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page290" name="page290"></a>(p. 290)</span> the citizens' country houses, and an abundance of the public +tea and fruit accommodations, with which every large city is surrounded, +for the temptation of Sunday parties; and, as the inhabitants had all +fled hurriedly into town, leaving their cellars, generally speaking, +well stocked with a tolerable kind of wine, we made ourselves at home.</p> + +<p>It was finally determined that the passage of the river should be tried +below the town, and, preparatory thereto, we took ground to our left, +and got lodged in the chateau of a rich old West-India-man. He was a +tall ramrod of a fellow, upwards of six feet high, withered to a cinder, +and had a pair of green eyes, which looked as if they belonged to +somebody else, who was looking through his eye-holes; but, despite his +imperfections, he had got a young wife, and she was nursing a young +child. The "Green Man" (as we christened him) was not, however, so bad +as he looked; and we found our billet such a good one, that when we were +called away to fight, after a few days' residence with <span class="pagenum"><a id="page291" name="page291"></a>(p. 291)</span> him, I +question, if left to our choice, whether we would not have rather +remained where we were!</p> + +<p>A bridge having, at length, been established, about a league below the +town, two British divisions passed over; but the enemy, by floating +timber and other things down the stream, succeeded in carrying one or +two of the pontoons from their moorings, which prevented any more from +crossing either that day or the succeeding one. It was expected that the +French would have taken advantage of this circumstance, to attack the +two divisions on the other side; but they thought it more prudent to +wait the attack in their own strong hold, and in doing so I believe they +acted wisely, for these two divisions had both flanks secured by the +river, their position was not too extended for their numbers, and they +had a clear space in their front, which was flanked by artillery from +the commanding ground on our side of the river; so that, altogether, +they would have been found ugly customers to any body who chose to +meddle with them.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page292" name="page292"></a>(p. 292)</span> The bridge was re-established on the night of the 9th, and, at +daylight next morning, we bade adieu to the <i>Green Man</i>, inviting him to +come and see us in Toulouse in the evening. He laughed at the idea, +telling us that we should be lucky fellows if ever we got in; and, at +all events, he said, that he would bet a <i>déjeûné à la forchette</i> for a +dozen, that we did not enter it in three days from that time. I took the +bet, and won, but the old rogue never came to pay me.</p> + +<p>We crossed the river, and advanced sufficiently near to the enemy's +position to be just out of the reach of their fire, where we waited +until dispositions were made for the attack, which took place as +follows:—</p> + +<p>Sir Rowland Hill, who remained on the left bank of the Garonne, made a +show of attacking the bridge and suburb of the town on that side.</p> + +<p>On our side of the river the Spanish army, which had never hitherto +taken an active part in any of our general actions, now claimed the post +of honour, and advanced to storm the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page293" name="page293"></a>(p. 293)</span> strongest part of the +heights. Our division was ordered to support them in the low grounds, +and, at the same time, to threaten a point of the canal; and Picton, who +was on our right, was ordered to make a false attack on the canal. These +were all that were visible to us. The remaining divisions of the army +were in continuation to the left.</p> + +<p>The Spaniards, anxious to monopolize all the glory, I rather think, +moved on to the attack a little too soon, and before the British +divisions on their left were in readiness to co-operate; however, be +that as it may, they were soon in a blaze of fire, and began walking +through it, at first, with a great show of gallantry and determination; +but their courage was not altogether screwed up to the sticking point, +and the nearer they came to the critical pass, the less prepared they +seemed to meet it, until they all finally faced to the right-about, and +came back upon us as fast as their heels could carry them, pursued by +the enemy.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page294" name="page294"></a>(p. 294)</span> We instantly advanced to their relief, and concluded that they +would have rallied behind us; but they had no idea of doing any thing of +the kind; for, when with <i>Cuesta</i> and some of the other Spanish +generals, they had been accustomed, under such circumstances, to run a +hundred miles at a time; so that, passing through the intervals of our +division, they went clear off to the rear, and we never saw them more. +The moment the French found us interpose between them and the Spaniards +they retired within their works.</p> + +<p>The only remark that Lord Wellington was said to have made on their +conduct, after waiting to see whether they would stand after they got +out of the reach of the enemy's shot, was, "well, d—— me, if ever I +saw ten thousand men run a race before!" However, notwithstanding their +disaster, many of their officers certainly evinced great bravery, and on +their account it is to be regretted that the attack was made so soon, +for they would otherwise <span class="pagenum"><a id="page295" name="page295"></a>(p. 295)</span> have carried their point with little +loss, either of life or credit, as the British divisions on the left +soon after stormed and carried all the other works, and obliged those +who had been opposed to the Spaniards to evacuate theirs without firing +another shot.</p> + +<p>When the enemy were driven from the heights, they retired within the +town, and the canal then became their line of defence, which they +maintained the whole of the next day; but in the course of the following +night they left the town altogether, and we took possession of it on the +morning of the 12th.</p> + +<p>The inhabitants of Toulouse hoisted the white flag, and declared for the +Bourbons the moment that the French army had left it; and, in the course +of the same day, Colonel Cooke arrived from Paris, with the +extraordinary news of Napoleon's abdication. Soult has been accused of +having been in possession of that fact prior to the battle of Toulouse; +but, to disprove such an assertion, it can only be necessary to think, +for <span class="pagenum"><a id="page296" name="page296"></a>(p. 296)</span> a moment, whether he would not have made it public the day +after the battle, while he yet held possession of the town, as it would +not only have enabled him to keep it, but, to those who knew no better, +it might have given him a shadow of claim to the victory, if he chose to +avail himself of it; and I have known a victory claimed by a French +marshal on more slender grounds. In place of knowing it then, he did not +even believe it now; and we were absolutely obliged to follow him a +day's march beyond Toulouse before he agreed to an armistice.</p> + +<p>The news of the peace, at this period, certainly sounded as strangely in +our ears as it did in those of the French marshal, for it was a change +that we never had contemplated. We had been born in war, reared in war, +and war was our trade; and what soldiers had to do in peace, was a +problem yet to be solved among us.</p> + +<p>After remaining a few days at Toulouse, we were sent into quarters, in +the town of Castel-Sarazin, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page297" name="page297"></a>(p. 297)</span> along with our old companions in +arms, the fifty-second, to wait the necessary arrangements for our final +removal from France.</p> + +<p>Castel-Sarazin is a respectable little town, on the right bank of the +Garonne; and its inhabitants received us so kindly, that every officer +found in his quarter a family home. We there, too, found both the time +and the opportunity of exercising one of the agreeable professions to +which we had long been strangers, that of making love to the pretty +little girls with which the place abounded; when, after a three months' +residence among them, the fatal order arrived for our march to Bordeaux, +for embarkation, the buckets full of salt tears that were shed by men +who had almost forgotten the way to weep was quite ridiculous. I have +never yet, however, clearly made out whether people are most in love +when they are laughing or when they are crying. Our greatest love +writers certainly give the preference to the latter. <i>Scott</i> thinks that +"love is loveliest when it's bathed in tears;" and <i>Moore</i> tells his +mistress to "give <span class="pagenum"><a id="page298" name="page298"></a>(p. 298)</span> smiles to those who love her less, but to +keep her tears for him;" but what pleasure he can take in seeing her in +affliction, I cannot make out; nor, for the soul of me, can I see why a +face full of smiles should not be every bit as valuable as one of tears, +seeing that it is so much more pleasant to look at.</p> + +<p>I have rather wandered, in search of an apology for my own countenance +not having gone into mourning on that melancholy occasion; for, to tell +the truth, (and if I had a visage sensible to such an impression, I +should blush while I tell it,) I was as much in love as any body, up +nearly to the last moment, when I fell out of it, as it were, by a +miracle; but, probably, a history of love's last look may be considered +as my justification. The day before our departure, in returning from a +ride, I overtook my love and her sister, strolling by the river's side, +and, instantly dismounting, I joined in their walk. My horse was +following, at the length of his bridle-reins, and, while I was engaged +in conversation with the sister, the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page299" name="page299"></a>(p. 299)</span> other dropped behind, +and, when I looked round, I found her mounted <i>astride</i> on my horse! and +with such a pair of legs, too! It was rather too good; and "Richard was +himself again."</p> + +<p>Although released, under the foregoing circumstances, from individual +attachment, that of a general nature continued strong as ever; and, +without an exception on either side, I do believe, that we parted with +mutual regret, and with the most unbounded love and good feeling towards +each other. We exchanged substantial proofs of it while together; we +continued to do so after we had parted; nor were we forgotten when we +were <i>no more</i>! It having appeared, in some of the newspapers, a year +afterwards, that every one of our officers had been killed at Waterloo, +that the regiment had been brought out of the action by a volunteer, and +the report having come to the knowledge of our Castel-Sarazin friends, +they drew up a letter, which they sent to our commanding officer, signed +by every person of respectability in the place, lamenting our fate, +expressing a hope that the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page300" name="page300"></a>(p. 300)</span> report might have been exaggerated, +and entreating to be informed as to the particular fate of each +individual officer, whom they mentioned by name. They were kind +good-hearted souls, and may God bless them!<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + + + + + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page301" name="page301"></a>(p. 301)</span> CHAP. XIX.</h3> + +<p class="resume">Commencement of the War of 1815. Embark for Rotterdam. Ship's + Stock. Ship struck. A Pilot, a Smuggler, and a Lawyer. A Boat + without Stock. Join the Regiment at Brussels.</p> + + +<p>I have endeavoured, in this book of mine, to measure out the peace and +war in due proportions, according to the spirit of the times it speaks +of; and, as there appears to me to be as much peace in the last chapter +as occurred in Europe between 1814 and 1815, I shall, with the reader's +permission, lodge my regiment, at once, on Dover-heights, and myself in +Scotland, taking a shot at the last of the woodcocks, which happened to +be our relative positions, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page302" name="page302"></a>(p. 302)</span> when Bonaparte's escape from Elba +once more summoned the army to the field.</p> + +<p>The first intimation I had of it was by a letter, informing me of the +embarkation of the battalion for the Netherlands, and desiring me to +join them there, without delay; and, finding that a brig was to sail, +the following day, from Leith to Rotterdam, I took a passage on board of +her. She was an odd one to look at, but the captain assured me that she +was a good one to go; and, besides, that he had provided every thing +that was elegant for our entertainment. The latter piece of information +I did not think of questioning until too late to profit by it, for I had +the mortification to discover, the first day, that his whole stock +consisted in a quarter of lamb, in addition to the ship's own, with a +few cabbages, and five gallons of whiskey.</p> + +<p>After having been ten days at sea, I was awoke, one morning before +daylight, with the ship's grinding over a sand-bank, on the coast of +Holland; fortunately, it did not blow hard, and a pilot soon after came +alongside, who, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page303" name="page303"></a>(p. 303)</span> after exacting a reward suitable to the +occasion, at length, consented to come on board, and extricated us from +our perilous situation, carrying the vessel into the entrance of one of +the small branches of the river leading up to Rotterdam, where we came +to anchor. The captain was very desirous of appealing to a magistrate +for a reduction in the exorbitant demand of the pilot; and I accompanied +him on shore for that purpose. An Englishman made up to us at the +landing-place, and said that his name was C——, that he had made his +fortune by smuggling, and, though he was not permitted to spend it in +his native country, that he had the greatest pleasure in being of +service to his countrymen. As this was exactly the sort of person we +were in search of, the Captain explained his grievance; and the other +said that he would conduct him to a gentleman who would soon put that to +rights. We, accordingly, walked to the adjoining village, in one of the +houses of which he introduced us, formally, to a tall Dutchman, with a +pipe in his mouth and a pen behind his <span class="pagenum"><a id="page304" name="page304"></a>(p. 304)</span> ear, who, after hearing +the story, proceeded to commit it, in large characters, to a quire of +foolscap.</p> + +<p>The cautious nature of the Scotchman did not altogether like the +appearance of the man of business, and demanding, through the +interpreter, whether there would be any thing to pay for his +proceedings? he was told that it would cost five guineas. "Five devils," +said Saunders; "What is it for?" "For a protest," said the other. "D—n +the protest," said the captain; "I came here to save five guineas, and +not to pay five more." I could stand the scene no longer, and rushed out +of the house, under the pretence of seeing the village; and on my return +to the ship, half an hour afterwards, I found the captain fast asleep. I +know not whether he swallowed the remainder of the five gallons of +whiskey, in addition to his five-guinea grievance, but I could not shake +him out of it, although the mate and I tried, alternately, for upwards +of two hours; and indeed I never heard whether he ever got out of +it,—for when <span class="pagenum"><a id="page305" name="page305"></a>(p. 305)</span> I found that they had to go outside to find +another passage up to Rotterdam, I did not think it prudent to trust +myself any longer in the hands of such artists, and, taking leave of the +sleeper, with a last ineffectual shake, I hired a boat to take me +through the passage in which we then were.</p> + +<p>We started with a stiff fair wind, and the boatman assured me that we +should reach Rotterdam in less than five hours (forty miles); but it +soon lulled to a dead calm, which left us to the tedious operation of +tiding it up; and, to mend the matter, we had not a fraction of money +between us, nor any thing to eat or drink. I bore starvation all that +day and night, with the most christian-like fortitude; but, the next +morning, I could stand it no longer, and sending the boatman on shore, +to a neighbouring house, I instructed him either to beg or steal +something, whichever he should find the most prolific; but he was a +clumsy hand at both, and came on board again with only a very small +quantity of coffee. It, however, afforded some relief, and in the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page306" name="page306"></a>(p. 306)</span> afternoon we reached the town of Dort, and, on lodging my +baggage in pawn with a French inn-keeper, he advanced me the means of +going on to Rotterdam, where I got cash for the bill which I had on a +merchant there. Once more furnished with the "sinews of war," with my +feet on <i>terra firma</i>, I lost no time in setting forward to Antwerp, and +from thence to Brussels, when I had the happiness of rejoining my +battalion, which was then quartered in the city.</p> + +<p>Brussels was, at this time, a scene of extraordinary preparation, from +the succession of troops who were hourly arriving, and in their +formation into brigades and divisions. We had the good fortune to be +attached to the brigade of our old and favourite commander, Sir James +Kempt, and in the fifth division, under Sir Thomas Picton. It was the +only division quartered in Brussels, the others being all towards the +French frontier, except the Duke of Brunswick's corps, which lay on the +Antwerp road.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + + + + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page307" name="page307"></a>(p. 307)</span> CHAP. XX.</h3> + +<p class="resume">Relative Situation of the Troops. March from Brussels. The Prince + and the Beggar. Battle of Quatre-Bras.</p> + + +<p>As our division was composed of crack regiments, under crack commanders, +and headed by fire-eating generals, we had little to do the first +fortnight after my arrival, beyond indulging in all the amusements of +our delightful quarter; but, as the middle of June approached, we began +to get a little more on the <i>qui vive</i>, for we were aware that Napoleon +was about to make a dash at some particular point; and, as he was not +the sort of general to give his opponent an idea of the when and the +where, the greater part of our army was necessarily disposed along the +frontier, to meet him at his own <span class="pagenum"><a id="page308" name="page308"></a>(p. 308)</span> place. They were of course +too much extended to offer effectual resistance in their advanced +position; but as our division and the Duke of Brunswick's corps were +held in reserve, at Brussels, in readiness to be thrust at whatever +point might be attacked, they were a sufficient additional force to +check the enemy for the time required to concentrate the army.</p> + +<p>On the 14th of June it was generally known, among the military circles +in Brussels, that Buonaparte was in motion, at the head of his troops; +and though his movement was understood to point at the Prussians, yet he +was not sufficiently advanced to afford a correct clue to his +intentions.</p> + +<p>We were, the whole of the 15th, on the most anxious look out for news +from the front; but no report had been received prior to the hour of +dinner. I went, about seven in the evening, to take a stroll in the +park, and meeting one of the Duke's staff, he asked me, <i>en passant</i>, +whether my pack-saddles were all ready? I told him <span class="pagenum"><a id="page309" name="page309"></a>(p. 309)</span> that they +were nearly so, and added, "I suppose they wo'n't be wanted, at all +events, before to-morrow?" to which he replied, in the act of leaving +me, "If you have any preparation to make, I would recommend you not to +delay so long." I took the hint, and returning to quarters, remained in +momentary expectation of an order to move. The bugles sounded to arms +about two hours after.</p> + +<p>To the credit of our battalion, be it recorded, that, although the +greater part were in bed when the assembly sounded, and billetted over +the most distant parts of that extensive city, every man was on his +alarm-post before eleven o'clock, in a complete state of marching order: +whereas, it was nearly two o'clock in the morning before we were joined +by the others.</p> + +<p>As a grand ball was to take place the same night, at the Duchess of +Richmond's, the order for the assembling of the troops was accompanied +by permission for any officer who chose to remain for the ball, provided +that he joined his <span class="pagenum"><a id="page310" name="page310"></a>(p. 310)</span> regiment early in the morning. Several of +ours took advantage of it.</p> + +<p>Brussels was, at that time, thronged with British temporary residents; +who, no doubt, in the course of the two last days, must have heard, +through their military acquaintance, of the immediate prospect of +hostilities. But, accustomed, on their own ground, to hear of those +things as a piece of news in which they were not personally concerned; +and never dreaming of danger, in streets crowded with the gay uniforms +of their countrymen; it was not until their defenders were summoned to +the field, that they were fully sensible of their changed circumstances; +and the suddenness of the danger multiplying its horrors, many of them +were now seen running about in the wildest state of distraction.</p> + +<p>Waiting for the arrival of the other regiments, we endeavoured to snatch +an hour's repose on the pavement; but we were every instant disturbed, +by ladies as well as gentlemen; some <span class="pagenum"><a id="page311" name="page311"></a>(p. 311)</span> stumbling over us in the +dark—some shaking us out of our sleep, to be told the news—and not a +few, conceiving their immediate safety depending upon our standing in +place of lying. All those who applied for the benefit of my advice, I +recommended to go home to bed, to keep themselves perfectly cool, and, +to rest assured that, if their departure from the city became necessary, +(which I very much doubted,) they would have at least one whole day to +prepare for it, as we were leaving some beef and potatoes behind us, for +which, I was sure, we would fight, rather than abandon!</p> + +<p>The whole of the division having, at length, assembled, we were put in +motion about three o'clock on the morning of the 16th, and advanced to +the village of Waterloo, where, forming in a field adjoining the road, +our men were allowed to prepare their breakfasts. I succeeded in getting +mine, in a small inn, on the left hand side of the village.</p> + +<p>Lord Wellington joined us about nine o'clock; and, from his very +particular orders, to see that <span class="pagenum"><a id="page312" name="page312"></a>(p. 312)</span> the roads were kept clear of +baggage, and everything likely to impede the movements of the troops, I +have since been convinced that his lordship had thought it probable that +the position of Waterloo might, even that day, have become the scene of +action; for it was a good broad road, on which there were neither the +quantity of baggage nor of troops moving at the time, to excite the +slightest apprehension of confusion. Leaving us halted, he galloped on +to the front, followed by his staff; and we were soon after joined by +the Duke of Brunswick, with his corps of the army.</p> + +<p>His highness dismounted near the place where I was standing, and seated +himself on the road-side, along with his adjutant-general. He soon after +despatched his companion on some duty; and I was much amused to see the +vacated place immediately filled by an old beggar-man; who, seeing +nothing in the black hussar uniform beside him denoting the high rank of +the wearer, began to grunt and scratch himself most luxuriously! The +duke shewed a degree of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page313" name="page313"></a>(p. 313)</span> courage which few would, under such +circumstances; for he maintained his post until the return of his +officer, when he very jocularly said, "Well, O——n, you see that your +place was not long unoccupied!"—How little idea had I, at the time, +that the life of the illustrious speaker was limited to three short +hours!</p> + +<p>About twelve o'clock an order arrived for the troops to advance, leaving +their baggage behind; and though it sounded warlike, yet we did not +expect to come in contact with the enemy, at all events, on <i>that</i> day. +But, as we moved forward, the symptoms of their immediate presence kept +gradually increasing; for we presently met a cart-load of wounded +Belgians; and, after passing through Genappe, the distant sound of a +solitary gun struck on the listening ear. But all doubt on the subject +was quickly removed; for, on ascending the rising ground, where stands +the village of Quatre Bras, we saw a considerable plain in our front, +flanked on each side by a wood; and on another acclivity <span class="pagenum"><a id="page314" name="page314"></a>(p. 314)</span> +beyond, we could perceive the enemy descending towards us, in most +imposing numbers.</p> + +<p>Quatre Bras, at that time, consisted of only three or four houses; and, +as its name betokens, I believe, stood at the junction of four roads; on +one of which we were moving; a second, inclined to the right; a third, +in the same degree, to the left; and the fourth, I conclude, must have +gone backwards; but, as I had not an eye in that direction, I did not +see it.</p> + +<p>The village was occupied by some Belgians, under the Prince of Orange, +who had an advanced post in a large farm-house, at the foot of the road, +which inclined to the right; and a part of his division, also, occupied +the wood on the same side.</p> + +<p>Lord Wellington, I believe, after leaving us at Waterloo, galloped on to +the Prussian position at Ligny, where he had an interview with Blucher, +in which they concerted measures for their mutual co-operation. When we +arrived at Quatre Bras, however, we found him in a <span class="pagenum"><a id="page315" name="page315"></a>(p. 315)</span> field near +the Belgian outpost; and the enemy's guns were just beginning to play +upon the spot where he stood, surrounded by a numerous staff.</p> + +<p>We halted for a moment on the brow of the hill; and as Sir Andrew +Barnard galloped forward to the head-quarter group, I followed, to be in +readiness to convey any orders to the battalion. The moment we +approached, Lord Fitzroy Somerset, separating himself from the duke, +said, "Barnard, you are wanted instantly; take your battalion and +endeavour to get possession of that village," pointing to one on the +face of the rising ground, down which the enemy were moving; "but if you +cannot do that, secure that wood on the left, and keep the road open for +communication with the Prussians." We instantly moved in the given +direction; but, ere we had got half-way to the village, we had the +mortification to see the enemy throw such a force into it, as rendered +any attempt to retake it, with our numbers, utterly hopeless; and as +another strong body of them were hastening towards the wood, which +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page316" name="page316"></a>(p. 316)</span> was the second object pointed out to us, we immediately +brought them to action, and secured it. In moving to that point, one of +our men went raving mad, from excessive heat. The poor fellow cut a few +extraordinary capers, and died in the course of a few minutes.</p> + +<p>While our battalion-reserve occupied the front of the wood, our +skirmishers lined the side of the road, which was the Prussian line of +communication. The road itself, however, was crossed by such a shower of +balls, that none but a desperate traveller would have undertaken a +journey on it. We were presently reinforced by a small battalion of +foreign light troops, with whose assistance we were in hopes to have +driven the enemy a little further from it; but they were a raw body of +men, who had never before been under fire; and, as they could not be +prevailed upon to join our skirmishers, we could make no use of them +whatever. Their conduct, in fact, was an exact representation of +Mathews's ludicrous one of the American militia, for Sir Andrew Barnard +repeatedly pointed out to them <span class="pagenum"><a id="page317" name="page317"></a>(p. 317)</span> which was the French, and which +our side; and, after explaining that they were not to fire a shot until +they joined our skirmishers, the word "March!" was given; but <i>march</i>, +to them, was always the signal to fire, for they stood fast, and began +blazing away, chiefly at our skirmishers too; the officers commanding +whom were every time sending back to say that we were shooting them; +until we were, at last, obliged to be satisfied with whatever advantages +their appearance could give, as even that was of some consequence, where +troops were so scarce.</p> + +<p>Buonaparte's attack on the Prussians had already commenced, and the fire +of artillery and musketry, in that direction, was tremendous; but the +intervening higher ground prevented us from seeing any part of it.</p> + +<p>The plain to our right, which we had just quitted, had, likewise, become +the scene of a sanguinary and unequal contest. Our division, after we +left it, deployed into line, and, in advancing, met and routed the +French infantry; <span class="pagenum"><a id="page318" name="page318"></a>(p. 318)</span> but, in following up their advantage, they +encountered a furious charge of cavalry, and were obliged to throw +themselves into squares to receive it. With the exception of one +regiment, however, which had two companies cut to pieces, they were not +only successful in resisting the attack, but made awful havock in the +enemy's ranks, who, nevertheless, continued their forward career, and +went sweeping past them, like a whirlwind, up to the village of Quatre +Bras, to the confusion and consternation of the numerous useless +appendages of our army, who were there assembled, waiting the result of +the battle.</p> + +<p>The forward movement of the enemy's cavalry gave their infantry time to +rally; and, strongly reinforced with fresh troops, they again advanced +to the attack. This was a crisis in which, according to Buonaparte's +theory, the victory was theirs, by all the rules of war, for they held +superior numbers, both before and behind us; but the gallant old Picton, +who had been trained in a different school, did not choose <span class="pagenum"><a id="page319" name="page319"></a>(p. 319)</span> to +confine himself to rules in those matters; despising the force in his +rear, he advanced, charged, and routed those in his front, which created +such a panic among the others, that they galloped back through the +intervals in his division, with no other object in view but their own +safety. After this desperate conflict, the firing, on both sides, lulled +almost to a calm for nearly an hour, while each was busy in renewing +their order of battle. The Duke of Brunswick had been killed early in +the action, endeavouring to rally his young troops, who were unable to +withstand the impetuosity of the French; and, as we had no other cavalry +force in the field, the few British infantry regiments present, having +to bear the full brunt of the enemy's superior force of both arms, were +now considerably reduced in numbers.</p> + +<p>The battle, on the side of the Prussians, still continued to rage in an +unceasing roar of artillery. About four, in the afternoon, a troop of +their dragoons came, as a patrole, to inquire how it fared with us, and +told us, in passing, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page320" name="page320"></a>(p. 320)</span> that they still maintained their +position. Their day, however, was still to be decided, and, indeed, for +that matter, so was our own; for, although the firing, for the moment, +had nearly ceased, I had not yet clearly made up my mind which side had +been the offensive, which the defensive, or which the winning. I had +merely the satisfaction of knowing that we had not lost it; for we had +met fairly in the middle of a field, (or, rather unfairly, considering +that they had two to one,) and, after the scramble was over, our +division still held the ground they fought on. All doubts on the +subject, however, began to be removed about five o'clock. The enemy's +artillery once more opened; and, on running to the brow of the hill, to +ascertain the cause, we perceived our old light-division general, Count +Alten, at the head of a fresh British division, moving gallantly down +the road towards us. It was, indeed, a joyful sight; for, as already +mentioned, our division had suffered so severely that we could not help +looking forward to a renewal of the action, with such a disparity of +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page321" name="page321"></a>(p. 321)</span> force, with considerable anxiety; but this reinforcement gave +us new life, and, as soon as they came near enough to afford support, we +commenced the offensive, and, driving in the skirmishers opposed to us, +succeeded in gaining a considerable portion of the position originally +occupied by the enemy, when darkness obliged us to desist. In justice to +the foreign battalion, which had been all day attached to us, I must say +that, in this last movement, they joined us cordially, and behaved +exceedingly well. They had a very gallant young fellow at their head; +and their conduct, in the earlier part of the day, can, therefore, only +be ascribed to its being their first appearance on such a stage.</p> + +<p>Leaving General Alten in possession of the ground which we had assisted +in winning, we returned in search of our division, and reached them +about eleven at night, lying asleep in their glory, on the field where +they had fought, which contained many a bloody trace of the day's work.</p> + +<p>The firing, on the side of the Prussians, had <span class="pagenum"><a id="page322" name="page322"></a>(p. 322)</span> altogether +ceased before dark, but recommenced, with redoubled fury, about an hour +after; and it was then, as we afterwards learnt, that they lost the +battle.</p> + +<p>We lay down by our arms, near the farm-house already mentioned, in front +of Quatre Bras; and the deuce is in it if we were not in good trim for +sleeping, seeing that we had been either marching or fighting for +twenty-six successive hours.</p> + +<p>An hour before daybreak, next morning, a rattling fire of musketry along +the whole line of piquets made every one spring to his arms; and we +remained looking as fierce as possible until daylight, when each side +was seen expecting an attack, while the piquets were blazing at one +another without any ostensible cause: it gradually ceased, as the day +advanced, and appeared to have been occasioned by a patrole of dragoons +getting between the piquets by accident: when firing commences in the +dark it is not easily stopped.</p> + +<p>June 17th.—As last night's fighting only ceased <span class="pagenum"><a id="page323" name="page323"></a>(p. 323)</span> with the +daylight, the scene, this morning, presented a savage unsettled +appearance; the fields were strewed with the bodies of men, horses, torn +clothing, and shattered cuirasses; and, though no movements appeared to +be going on on either side, yet, as occasional shots continued to be +exchanged at different points, it kept every one wide awake. We had the +satisfaction of knowing that the whole of our army had assembled on the +hill behind in the course of the night.</p> + +<p>About nine o'clock, we received the news of Blucher's defeat, and of his +retreat to Wavre. Lord Wellington, therefore, immediately began to +withdraw his army to the position of Waterloo.</p> + +<p>Sir Andrew Barnard was ordered to remain as long as possible with our +battalion, to mask the retreat of the others; and was told, if we were +attacked, that the whole of the British cavalry were in readiness to +advance to our relief. I had an idea, however, that a single rifle +battalion in the midst of ten thousand dragoons, would come but +indifferently off in the event of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page324" name="page324"></a>(p. 324)</span> a general crash, and was by +no means sorry when, between eleven and twelve o'clock, every regiment +had got clear off, and we followed, before the enemy had put any thing +in motion against us.</p> + +<p>After leaving the village of Quatre Bras, and passing through our +cavalry, who were formed on each side of the road, we drew up, at the +entrance of Genappe. The rain, at that moment, began to descend in +torrents, and our men were allowed to shelter themselves in the nearest +houses; but we were obliged to turn out again in the midst of it, in +less than five minutes, as we found the French cavalry and ours already +exchanging shots, and the latter were falling back to the more +favourable ground behind Genappe; we, therefore, retired with them, <i>en +masse</i>, through the village, and formed again on the rising ground +beyond.</p> + +<p>While we remained there, we had an opportunity of seeing the different +affairs of cavalry; and it did one's heart good to see how cordially the +life-guards went at their work: they had no <span class="pagenum"><a id="page325" name="page325"></a>(p. 325)</span> idea of any thing +but straight-forward fighting, and sent their opponents flying in all +directions. The only <i>young</i> thing they showed was in every one who got +a roll in the mud, (and, owing to the slipperiness of the ground, there +were many,) going off to the rear, according to their Hyde-Park custom, +as being no longer fit to appear on parade! I thought, at first, that +they had been all wounded, but, on finding how the case stood, I could +not help telling them that theirs was now the situation to verify the +old proverb, "the uglier the better soldier!"</p> + +<p>The roads, as well as the fields, had now become so heavy, that our +progress to the rear was very slow; and it was six in the evening before +we drew into the position of Waterloo. Our battalion took post in the +second line that night, with its right resting on the Namur-road, behind +La Haye Sainte, near a small mud-cottage, which Sir Andrew Barnard +occupied as a quarter. The enemy arrived in front, in considerable +force, about an hour after us, and a cannonade took place in different +parts of the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page326" name="page326"></a>(p. 326)</span> line, which ended at dark, and we lay down by our +arms. It rained excessively hard the greater part of the night; +nevertheless, having succeeded in getting a bundle of hay for my horse, +and one of straw for myself, I secured the horse to his bundle, by tying +him to one of the men's swords stuck in the ground, and, placing mine +under his nose, I laid myself down upon it, and never opened my eyes +again until daylight.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + + + + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page327" name="page327"></a>(p. 327)</span> CHAP. XXI.</h3> + +<p class="resume">Battle of Waterloo. "A Horse! a Horse!" Breakfast. Position. + Disposition. Meeting of <i>particular</i> Friends. Dish of Powder and + Ball. Fricassee of Swords. End of First Course. Pounding. + Brewing. Peppering. Cutting and Maiming. Fury. Tantalizing. + Charging. Cheering. Chasing. Opinionizing. Anecdotes. The End.</p> + + +<h4>BATTLE OF WATERLOO,<br> + +18th June, 1815.</h4> + +<p>When I awoke, this morning, at daylight, I found myself drenched with +rain. I had slept so long and so soundly that I had, at first, but a +very confused notion of my situation; but having a bright idea that my +horse had been my companion when I went to sleep, I was rather <span class="pagenum"><a id="page328" name="page328"></a>(p. 328)</span> +startled at finding that I was now alone; nor could I rub my eyes clear +enough to procure a sight of him, which was vexatious enough; for, +independent of his value <i>as a horse</i>, his services were indispensable; +and an adjutant might as well think of going into action without his +arms as without such a supporter. But whatever my feelings might have +been towards him, it was evident that he had none for me, from having +drawn his sword and marched off. The chances of finding him again, amid +ten thousand others, were about equal to the odds against the needle in +a bundle of hay; but for once the single chance was gained, as, after a +diligent search of an hour, he was discovered between two artillery +horses, about half a mile from where he broke loose.</p> + +<p>The weather cleared up as the morning advanced; and, though every thing +remained quiet at the moment, we were confident that the day would not +pass off without an engagement, and, therefore, proceeded to put our +arms in order, as, also, to get ourselves dried and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page329" name="page329"></a>(p. 329)</span> made as +comfortable as circumstances would permit.</p> + +<p>We made a fire against the wall of Sir Andrew Barnard's cottage, and +boiled a huge camp-kettle full of tea, mixed up with a suitable quantity +of milk and sugar, for breakfast; and, as it stood on the edge of the +high road, where all the big-wigs of the army had occasion to pass, in +the early part of the morning, I believe almost every one of them, from +the Duke downwards, claimed a cupful.</p> + +<p>About nine o'clock, we received an order to retain a quantity of spare +ammunition, in some secure place, and to send every thing in the shape +of baggage and baggage-animals to the rear. It, therefore, became +evident that the Duke meant to give battle in his present position; and +it was, at the same time, generally understood that a corps of thirty +thousand Prussians were moving to our support.</p> + +<p>About ten o'clock, an unusual bustle was observable among the +staff-officers, and we soon after received an order to stand to our +arms. The <span class="pagenum"><a id="page330" name="page330"></a>(p. 330)</span> troops who had been stationed in our front during +the night were then moved off to the right, and our division took up its +fighting position.</p> + +<p>Our battalion stood on what was considered the left centre of the +position. We had our right resting on the Namur-road, about a hundred +yards in rear of the farm-house of La Haye Sainte, and our left +extending behind a broken hedge, which run along the ridge to the left. +Immediately in our front, and divided from La Haye Sainte only by the +great road, stood a small knoll, with a sand-hole in its farthest side, +which we occupied, as an advanced post, with three companies. The +remainder of the division was formed in two lines; the first, consisting +chiefly of light troops, behind the hedge, in continuation from the left +of our battalion reserve; and the second, about a hundred yards in its +rear. The guns were placed in the intervals between the brigades, two +pieces were in the road-way on our right, and a rocket-brigade in the +centre.</p> + +<p>The road had been cut through the rising ground, and was about twenty or +thirty feet deep <span class="pagenum"><a id="page331" name="page331"></a>(p. 331)</span> where our right rested, and which, in a +manner, separated us from all the troops beyond. The division, I +believe, under General Alten occupied the ground next to us, on the +right. He had a light battalion of the German legion, posted inside of +La Haye Sainte, and the household brigade of cavalry stood under cover +of the rising ground behind him. On our left there were some Hanoverians +and Belgians, together with a brigade of British heavy dragoons, the +royals, and Scotch greys.</p> + +<p>These were all the observations on the disposition of our army that my +situation enabled me to make. The whole position seemed to be a gently +rising ground, presenting no obstacle at any point, excepting the broken +hedge in front of our division, and it was only one in appearance, as it +could be passed in every part.</p> + +<p>Shortly after we had taken up our ground, some columns, from the enemy's +left, were seen in motion towards Hugamont, and were soon warmly engaged +with the right of our army. A cannon ball, too, came from the Lord knows +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page332" name="page332"></a>(p. 332)</span> where, for it was not fired at us, and took the head off our +right hand man. That part of their position, in our own immediate front, +next claimed our undivided attention. It had hitherto been looking +suspiciously innocent, with scarcely a human being upon it; but +innumerable black specks were now seen taking post at regular distances +in its front, and recognizing them as so many pieces of artillery, I +knew, from experience, although nothing else was yet visible, that they +were unerring symptoms of our not being destined to be idle spectators.</p> + +<p>From the moment we took possession of the knoll, we had busied ourselves +in collecting branches of trees and other things, for the purpose of +making an <i>abatis</i> to block up the road between that and the farm-house, +and soon completed one, which we thought looked sufficiently formidable +to keep out the whole of the French cavalry; but it was put to the proof +sooner than we expected, by a troop of our own light dragoons, who, +having occasion to gallop through, astonished us not a little by +clearing away every <span class="pagenum"><a id="page333" name="page333"></a>(p. 333)</span> stick of it. We had just time to replace +the scattered branches, when the whole of the enemy's artillery opened, +and their countless columns began to advance under cover of it.</p> + +<p>The scene at that moment was grand and imposing, and we had a few +minutes to spare for observation. The column destined as <i>our</i> +particular <i>friends</i>, first attracted our notice, and seemed to consist +of about ten thousand infantry. A smaller body of infantry and one of +cavalry moved on their right; and, on their left, another huge column of +infantry, and a formidable body of cuirassiers, while beyond them it +seemed one moving mass.</p> + +<p>We saw Buonaparte himself take post on the side of the road, immediately +in our front, surrounded by a numerous staff; and each regiment, as they +passed him, rent the air with shouts of "<i>vive l'Empereur</i>," nor did +they cease after they had passed; but, backed by the thunder of their +artillery, and carrying with them the <i>rubidub</i> of drums, and the +<i>tantarara</i> of trumpets, in addition to their increasing shouts, it +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page334" name="page334"></a>(p. 334)</span> looked, at first, as if they had some hopes of scaring us off +the ground; for it was a singular contrast to the stern silence reigning +on our side, where nothing, as yet, but the voices of our great guns, +told that we had mouths to open when we chose to use them. Our rifles +were, however, in a very few seconds, required to play their parts, and +opened such a fire on the advancing skirmishers as quickly brought them +to a stand still; but their columns advanced steadily through them, +although our incessant <i>tiralade</i> was telling in their centre with +fearful exactness, and our post was quickly turned in both flanks, which +compelled us to fall back and join our comrades, behind the hedge, +though not before some of our officers and theirs had been engaged in +personal combat.</p> + +<p>When the heads of their columns shewed over the knoll which we had just +quitted, they received such a fire from our first line, that they +wavered, and hung behind it a little; but, cheered and encouraged by the +gallantry of their officers, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page335" name="page335"></a>(p. 335)</span> who were dancing and flourishing +their swords in front, they at last boldly advanced to the opposite side +of our hedge, and began to deploy. Our first line, in the mean time, was +getting so thinned, that Picton found it necessary to bring up his +second, but fell in the act of doing it. The command of the division, at +that critical moment, devolved upon Sir James Kempt, who was galloping +along the line, animating the men to steadiness. He called to me by +name, where I happened to be standing on the right of our battalion, and +desired "that I would never quit that spot." I told him that "he might +depend upon it:" and in another instant I found myself in a fair way of +keeping my promise more religiously than I intended; for, glancing my +eye to the right, I saw the next field covered with the cuirassiers, +some of whom were making directly for the gap in the hedge, where I was +standing. I had not hitherto drawn my sword, as it was generally to be +had at a moment's warning; but, from its having been exposed to the last +night's rain, it had now got <span class="pagenum"><a id="page336" name="page336"></a>(p. 336)</span> rusted in the scabbard, and +refused to come forth! I was in a precious scrape. Mounted on my strong +Flanders mare, and with my good old sword in my hand, I would have +braved all the chances without a moment's hesitation; but, I confess, +that I felt considerable doubts as to the propriety of standing there to +be sacrificed, without the means of making a scramble for it. My mind, +however, was happily relieved from such an embarrassing consideration, +before my decision was required; for the next moment the cuirassiers +were charged by our household brigade; and the infantry in our front +giving way at the same time, under our terrific shower of musketry, the +flying cuirassiers tumbled in among the routed infantry, followed by the +life-guards, who were cutting away in all directions. Hundreds of the +infantry threw themselves down, and pretended to be dead, while the +cavalry galloped over them, and then got up and ran away. I never saw +such a scene in all my life.</p> + +<p>Lord Wellington had given orders that the troops were, on no account, to +leave the position <span class="pagenum"><a id="page337" name="page337"></a>(p. 337)</span> to follow up any temporary advantage; so +that we now resumed our post, as we stood at the commencement of the +battle, and with three companies again advanced on the knoll.</p> + +<p>I was told, it was very ridiculous, at that moment, to see the number of +vacant spots that were left nearly along the whole of the line, where a +great part of the dark dressed foreign troops had stood, intermixed with +the British, when the action began.</p> + +<p>Our division got considerably reduced in numbers during the last attack; +but Lord Wellington's fostering hand sent Sir John Lambert to our +support, with the sixth division; and we now stood prepared for another +and a more desperate struggle.</p> + +<p>Our battalion had already lost three officers killed, and six or seven +wounded; among the latter were Sir Andrew Barnard and Colonel Cameron.</p> + +<p>Some one asking me what had become of my horse's ear, was the first +intimation I had of his being wounded; and I now found that, independent +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page338" name="page338"></a>(p. 338)</span> of one ear having been shaved close to his head, (I suppose by +a cannon-shot,) a musket-ball had grazed across his forehead, and +another gone through one of his legs, but he did not seem much the worse +for either of them.</p> + +<p>Between two and three o'clock we were tolerably quiet, except from a +thundering cannonade; and the enemy had, by that time, got the range of +our position so accurately that every shot brought a ticket for +somebody's head.</p> + +<p>An occasional gun, beyond the plain, far to our left, marked the +approach of the Prussians; but their progress was too slow to afford a +hope of their arriving in time to take any share in the battle.</p> + +<p>On our right, the roar of cannon and musketry had been incessant from +the time of its commencement; but the higher ground, near us, prevented +our seeing anything of what was going on.</p> + +<p>Between three and four o'clock, the storm gathered again in our front. +Our three companies <span class="pagenum"><a id="page339" name="page339"></a>(p. 339)</span> on the knoll were soon involved in a +furious fire. The Germans, occupying La Haye Sainte, expended all their +ammunition, and fled from the post. The French took possession of it; +and, as it flanked our knoll, we were obliged to abandon it also, and +fall back again behind the hedge.</p> + +<p>The loss of La Haye Sainte was of the most serious consequence, as it +afforded the enemy an establishment within our position. They +immediately brought up two guns on our side of it, and began serving out +some grape to us; but they were so very near, that we destroyed their +artillerymen before they could give us a second round.</p> + +<p>The silencing of these guns was succeeded by a very extraordinary scene, +on the same spot. A strong regiment of Hanoverians advanced in line, to +charge the enemy out of La Haye Sainte; but they were themselves charged +by a brigade of cuirassiers, and, excepting one officer, on a little +black horse, who went off to the rear, like <span class="pagenum"><a id="page340" name="page340"></a>(p. 340)</span> a shot out of a +shovel, I do believe that every man of them was put to death in about +five seconds. A brigade of British light dragoons advanced to their +relief, and a few, on each side, began exchanging thrusts; but it seemed +likely to be a drawn battle between them, without much harm being done, +when our men brought it to a crisis sooner than either side anticipated, +for they previously had their rifles eagerly pointed at the cuirassiers, +with a view of saving the perishing Hanoverians; but the fear of killing +their friends withheld them, until the others were utterly overwhelmed, +when they instantly opened a terrific fire on the whole concern, sending +both sides to flight; so that, on the small space of ground, within a +hundred yards of us, where five thousand men had been fighting the +instant before, there was not now a living soul to be seen.</p> + +<p>It made me mad to see the cuirassiers, in their retreat, stooping and +stabbing at our wounded men, as they lay on the ground. How <span class="pagenum"><a id="page341" name="page341"></a>(p. 341)</span> I +wished that I had been blessed with Omnipotent power for a moment, that +I might have blighted them!</p> + +<p>The same field continued to be a wild one the whole of the afternoon. It +was a sort of duelling-post between the two armies, every half-hour +showing a meeting of some kind upon it; but they never exceeded a short +scramble, for men's lives were held very cheap there.</p> + +<p>For the two or three succeeding hours there was no variety with us, but +one continued blaze of musketry. The smoke hung so thick about, that, +although not more than eighty yards asunder, we could only distinguish +each other by the flashes of the pieces.</p> + +<p>A good many of our guns had been disabled, and a great many more +rendered unserviceable in consequence of the unprecedented close +fighting; for, in several places, where they had been posted but a very +few yards in front of the line, it was impossible to work them.</p> + +<p>I shall never forget the scene which the field of battle presented about +seven in the evening. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page342" name="page342"></a>(p. 342)</span> I felt weary and worn out, less from +fatigue than anxiety. Our division, which had stood upwards of five +thousand men at the commencement of the battle, had gradually dwindled +down into a solitary line of skirmishers. The twenty-seventh regiment +were lying literally dead, in square, a few yards behind us. My horse +had received another shot through the leg, and one through the flap of +the saddle, which lodged in his body, sending him a step beyond the +pension-list. The smoke still hung so thick about us that we could see +nothing. I walked a little way to each flank, to endeavour to get a +glimpse of what was going on; but nothing met my eye except the mangled +remains of men and horses, and I was obliged to return to my post as +wise as I went.</p> + +<p>I had never yet heard of a battle in which every body was killed; but +this seemed likely to be an exception, as all were going by turns. We +got excessively impatient under the tame similitude of the latter part +of the process, and burned with desire to have a last thrust at our +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page343" name="page343"></a>(p. 343)</span> respective <i>vis-à-vis</i>; for, however desperate our affairs +were, we had still the satisfaction of seeing that theirs were worse. +Sir John Lambert continued to stand as our support, at the head of three +good old regiments, one dead (the twenty-seventh) and two living ones; +and we took the liberty of soliciting him to aid our views; but the +Duke's orders on that head were so very particular that the gallant +general had no choice.</p> + +<p>Presently a cheer, which we knew to be British, commenced far to the +right, and made every one prick up his ears;—it was Lord Wellington's +long wished-for orders to advance; it gradually approached, growing +louder as it grew near;—we took it up by instinct, charged through the +hedge down upon the old knoll, sending our adversaries flying at the +point of the bayonet. Lord Wellington galloped up to us at the instant, +and our men began to cheer him; but he called out, "no cheering, my +lads, but forward, and complete your victory!"</p> + +<p>This movement had carried us clear of the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page344" name="page344"></a>(p. 344)</span> smoke; and, to +people who had been for so many hours enveloped in darkness, in the +midst of destruction, and naturally anxious about the result of the day, +the scene which now met the eye conveyed a feeling of more exquisite +gratification than can be conceived. It was a fine summer's evening, +just before sunset. The French were flying in one confused mass. British +lines were seen in close pursuit, and in admirable order, as far as the +eye could reach to the right, while the plain to the left was filled +with Prussians. The enemy made one last attempt at a stand on the rising +ground to our right of La Belle Alliance; but a charge from General +Adams's brigade again threw them into a state of confusion, which was +now inextricable, and their ruin was complete. Artillery, baggage, and +every thing belonging to them, fell into our hands. After pursuing them +until dark, we halted about two miles beyond the field of battle, +leaving the Prussians to follow up the victory.</p> + +<p>This was the last, the greatest, and the most uncomfortable heap of +glory that I ever had a <span class="pagenum"><a id="page345" name="page345"></a>(p. 345)</span> hand in, and may the deuce take me if +I think that every body waited there to see the end of it, otherwise it +never could have been so troublesome to those who did. We were, take us +all in all, a very bad army. Our foreign auxiliaries, who constituted +more than half of our numerical strength, with some exceptions, were +little better than a raw militia—a body without a soul, or like an +inflated pillow, that gives to the touch, and resumes its shape again +when the pressure ceases—not to mention the many who went clear out of +the field, and were only seen while plundering our baggage in their +retreat.</p> + +<p>Our heavy cavalry made some brilliant charges in the early part of the +day; but they never knew when to stop, their ardour in following their +advantages carrying them headlong on, until many of them "burnt their +fingers," and got dispersed or destroyed.</p> + +<p>Of that gallant corps, the royal artillery, it is enough to say, that +they maintained their former reputation—the first in the world—and it +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page346" name="page346"></a>(p. 346)</span> was a serious loss to us, in the latter part of the day, to be +deprived of this more powerful co-operation, from the causes already +mentioned.</p> + +<p>The British infantry and the King's German legion continued the +inflexible supporters of their country's honour throughout, and their +unshaken constancy under the most desperate circumstances showed that, +though they might be destroyed, they were not to be beaten.</p> + +<p>If Lord Wellington had been at the head of his old Peninsula army, I am +confident that he would have swept his opponents off the face of the +earth immediately after their first attack; but with such a +heterogeneous mixture under his command, he was obliged to submit to a +longer day.</p> + +<p>It will ever be a matter of dispute what the result of that day would +have been without the arrival of the Prussians: but it is clear to me +that Lord Wellington would not have fought at Waterloo unless Blucher +had promised to aid him with 30,000 men, as he required that number +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page347" name="page347"></a>(p. 347)</span> to put him on a numerical footing with his adversary. It is +certain that the promised aid did not come in time to take any share +whatever in the battle. It is equally certain that the enemy had, long +before, been beaten into a mass of ruin, in condition for nothing but +running, and wanting but an apology to do it; and I will ever maintain +that Lord Wellington's last advance would have made it the same victory +had a Prussian never been seen there.</p> + +<p>The field of battle, next morning, presented a frightful scene of +carnage; it seemed as if the world had tumbled to pieces, and +three-fourths of every thing destroyed in the wreck. The ground running +parallel to the front of where we had stood was so thickly strewed with +fallen men and horses, that it was difficult to step clear of their +bodies; many of the former still alive, and imploring assistance, which +it was not in our power to bestow.</p> + +<p>The usual salutation on meeting an acquaintance of another regiment +after an action was to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page348" name="page348"></a>(p. 348)</span> ask who had been hit? but on this +occasion it was "Who's alive?" Meeting one, next morning, a very little +fellow, I asked what had happened to them yesterday? "I'll be hanged," +says he, "if I know any thing at all about the matter, for I was all day +trodden in the mud and galloped over by every scoundrel who had a horse; +and, in short, that I only owe my existence to my insignificance."</p> + +<p>Two of our men, on the morning of the 19th, lost their lives by a very +melancholy accident. They were cutting up a captured ammunition-waggon +for firewood, when one of their swords striking against a nail, sent a +spark among the powder. When I looked in the direction of the explosion, +I saw the two poor fellows about twenty or thirty feet up in the air. On +falling to the ground, though lying on their backs or bellies, some +extraordinary effort of nature, caused by the agony of the moment, made +them spring from that position, five or six times, to the height of +eight or ten feet, just as a fish <span class="pagenum"><a id="page349" name="page349"></a>(p. 349)</span> does when thrown on the +ground after being newly caught. It was so unlike a scene in real life +that it was impossible to witness it without forgetting, for a moment, +the horror of their situation.</p> + +<p>I ran to the spot along with others, and found that every stitch of +clothes had been burnt off, and they were black as ink all over. They +were still alive, and told us their names, otherwise we could not have +recognized them; and, singular enough, they were able to walk off the +ground with a little support, but died shortly after.</p> + +<p>Among other officers who fell at Waterloo, we lost one of the wildest +youths that ever belonged to the service. He seemed to have a prophetic +notion of his approaching end, for he repeatedly told us, in the early +part of the morning, that he knew the devil would have him before night. +I shall relate one anecdote of him, which occurred while we were in +Spain. He went, by chance, to pass the day with two <span class="pagenum"><a id="page350" name="page350"></a>(p. 350)</span> officers, +quartered at a neighbouring village, who happened to be, that day, +engaged to dine with the clergyman. Knowing their visitor's mischievous +propensities, they were at first afraid to make him one of the party; +but, after schooling him into a suitable propriety of behaviour, and +exacting a promise of implicit obedience, they, at last, ventured to +take him. On their arrival, the ceremony of introduction had just been +gone through, and their host seated at an open window, when a favourite +cat of his went purring about the young gentleman's boots, who, catching +it by the tail, and giving it two or three preparatory swings round his +head, sent it flying out at the window where the parson was sitting, who +only escaped it by suddenly stooping. The only apology the youngster +made for his conduct was, "Egad, I think I astonished that fellow!" but +whether it was the cat or the parson he meant I never could learn.</p> + +<p>About twelve o'clock, on the day after the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page351" name="page351"></a>(p. 351)</span> battle, we +commenced our march for Paris. I shall, therefore, leave my readers at +Waterloo, in the hope that, among the many stories of romance to which +that and the other celebrated fields gave birth, the foregoing +unsophisticated one of an eye-witness may not have been found altogether +uninteresting.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + + +<h2>THE END</h2> + + + + +<h2>ERRATA.</h2> + + +<p>Page 7, line 13, <i>read</i> "of lively."</p> + +<p>Page 9, line 18, <i>read</i> "reinforced" <i>instead of</i> "reenforced."</p> + +<p>Page 25, line 17, <i>read</i> "her's" <i>instead of</i> "hers."</p> + +<p>Page 27, line 3, <i>read</i> "with him!!!"</p> + +<p>Page 73, line 8, <i>read</i> "when we" <i>instead of</i> "when it."</p> + +<p>Page 154, line 21, <i>read</i> "17th" <i>instead of</i> "19th."</p> + +<p>Page 178, line 14, <i>read</i> "re-crossed" <i>instead of</i> "re-crosed."</p> + +<p>Page 219, line 17, <i>read</i> "held one side" <i>instead of</i> "held on one +side."</p> + +<p>Page 266, line 13, <i>read</i> "dying state;" <i>instead of</i> "dying; state."</p> + +<p>Page 269, lines 14 and 15, <i>read</i> "to remark in a French officer, +occurred" <i>instead of</i> "to remark was that of a French officer, which +occurred."</p> + + + +<p class="p4"><a id="footnote1" name="footnote1"></a> +<b>Footnote 1:</b> Transmitting a rifle-ball through the key-hole: it opens +every lock.<a href="#footnotetag1"><span class="small">[Back to Main Text]</span></a></p> + +<p><a id="footnote2" name="footnote2"></a> +<b>Footnote 2:</b> The French knapsack is made of unshorn goat-skin.<a href="#footnotetag2"><span class="small">[Back to Main Text]</span></a></p> + +<p><a id="footnote3" name="footnote3"></a> +<b>Footnote 3:</b> Lieutenants Percival and Hamilton commanded those from our +battalion, and were both desperately wounded.<a href="#footnotetag3"><span class="small">[Back to Main Text]</span></a></p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Adventures in the Rifle Brigade, in +the Peninsula, France, and the Netherlands, by Captain J. Kincaid + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RIFLE BRIGADE *** + +***** This file should be named 28981-h.htm or 28981-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/9/8/28981/ + +Produced by StevenGibbs, Christine P. Travers and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/28981.txt b/28981.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..952e547 --- /dev/null +++ b/28981.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6739 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Adventures in the Rifle Brigade, in the +Peninsula, France, and the Netherlands, by Captain J. Kincaid + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Adventures in the Rifle Brigade, in the Peninsula, France, and the Netherlands + from 1809 to 1815 + +Author: Captain J. Kincaid + +Release Date: May 29, 2009 [EBook #28981] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RIFLE BRIGADE *** + + + + +Produced by StevenGibbs, Christine P. Travers and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +[Transcriber's note: Obvious printer's errors have been corrected. +Hyphenation and accentuation have been standardised, all +other inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's spelling +has been maintained. + +There is no Chapter IV in this book. + +The errata changes have been included in the file.] + + + + +ADVENTURES + +IN THE + +RIFLE BRIGADE, + +IN THE + +PENINSULA, + +FRANCE, AND THE NETHERLANDS, + +FROM 1809 TO 1815. + + +BY CAPTAIN J. KINCAID. + + +LONDON: + +T. AND W. BOONE, STRAND. + +MDCCCXXX. + + + + +TO + +MAJOR-GEN. SIR ANDREW BARNARD, + +K. C. B. + +COLONEL OF THE FIRST BATTALION RIFLE BRIGADE, + +AND ITS LEADER + +DURING A LONG AND BRILLIANT PERIOD + +OF ITS HISTORY, + +THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED + +BY HIS VERY OBEDIENT + +AND VERY OBLIGED HUMBLE SERVANT, + +J. KINCAID. + + + + +ADVERTISEMENT. + + +In tracing the following scenes, I have chiefly drawn on the +reminiscences of my military life, and endeavoured faithfully to +convey to the mind of the reader the impression which they made on my +own at the time of their occurrence. Should any errors, as to dates or +trifling circumstances, have inadvertently crept into my narrative, I +hope they will be ascribed to want of memory, rather than to any +wilful intention to mislead. I am aware, that some objections may be +taken to my style; for + + "Rude am I in my speech, + And little bless'd with the set phrase of peace: + For, since these arms of mine had seven years' pith, + Till now, some nine moons wasted, they have us'd + Their dearest action in the tented field: + And little of this world can I speak, + More than pertains to feats of broil and battle; + And therefore little shall I grace my cause + In speaking for myself; yet, by your gracious patience, + I will a round unvarnished tale deliver," + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + Page + CHAPTER I. 1 + +Joined the Rifles. Walcheren Expedition. A young Soldier. A Marine +View. Campaign in South Beeveland. Retreat to Scotland. + + + CHAP. II. 4 + +Rejoin the Regiment. Embark for the Peninsula. Arrival in the Tagus. +The City of Lisbon, with its Contents. Sail for Figuera. Landing +extraordinary. Billet ditto. The City of Coimbra. A hard Case. A cold +Case, in which a favourite Scotch Dance is introduced. Climate. The +Duke of Wellington. + + + CHAP. III. 15 + +Other People, Myself, and my Regiment. Retreat to the Lines of Torres +Vedras. Leave Coimbra, followed by a select group of Natives. Ford the +Streets of Condacia in good spirits. A Provost-Marshal and his +favourites. A fall. Convent of Batalha. Turned out of Allenquer. +Passed through Sobral. Turned into Arruda. Quartering of the Light +Division, and their Quarters at Arruda. Burial of an only Child. Lines +of Torres Vedras. Difference of opinion between Massena and Myself. +Military Customs. + + + CHAP. V. 38 + +Campaign of 1811 opens. Massena's Retreat. Wretched Condition of the +Inhabitants on the Line of March. Affairs with the Enemy, near Pombal. +Description of a Bivouac. Action near Redinha. Destruction of Condacia +and Action near it. Burning of the Village of Illama, and Misery of +its Inhabitants. Action at Foz D'Aronce. Confidential Servants with +Donkey-Assistants. + + + CHAP. VI. 61 + +Passage of the Mondego. Swearing to a large Amount. Two Prisoners, +with their Two Views. Two Nuns, Two Pieces of Dough, and Two Kisses. A +Halt. Affair near Frexedas. Arrival near Guarda. Murder. A stray +Sentry. Battle of Sabugal. Spanish and Portuguese Frontiers. Blockade +of Almeida. Battle-like. Current Value of Lord Wellington's Nose. +Battle of Fuentes D'Onor. The Day after the Battle. A grave Remark. +The _Padre's_ House. Retreat of the Enemy. + + + CHAP. VII. 83 + +March to Estremadura. At Soito, growing Accommodations for Man and +Beast. British Taste displayed by Portuguese Wolves. False Alarm. +Luxuries of Roquingo Camp. A Chaplain of the Forces. Return towards +the North. Quarters near Castello de Vide. Blockade of Ciudad Rodrigo. +Village of Atalya; Fleas abundant; Food scarce. Advance of the French +Army. Affairs near Guinaldo. Our Minister administered to. An +unexpected Visit from our General and his Followers. End of the +Campaign of 1811. Winter Quarters. + + + CHAP. VIII. 100 + +Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo. The Garrison of an Outwork relieved. Spending +an Evening abroad. A Musical Study. An Addition to Soup. A short Cut. +Storming of the Town. A sweeping Clause. Advantages of leading a +Storming Party. Looking for a Customer. Disadvantages of being a +stormed Party. Confusion of all Parties. A waking Dream. Death of +General Crawford. Accident. Deaths. + + + CHAP. IX. 121 + +March to Estremadura. A Deserter shot. Riding for an Appetite. Effect +the Cure of a Sick Lady. Siege of Badajos. Trench-Work. Varieties +during the Siege. Taste of the Times. Storming of the Town. Its Fall. +Officers of a French Battalion. Not shot by Accident. Military +Shopkeepers. Lost Legs and cold Hearts. Affecting Anecdote. My +Servant. A Consignment to Satan. March again for the North. Sir Sidney +Beckwith. + + + CHAP. X. 143 + +A Farewell Address to Portalegre. History of a Night in Castello +Branco. Regimental Colours lost, with Directions where to find them. +Cases in which a Victory is sometimes won by those who lost it. +Advance to Salamanca. The City. The British Position on St. +Christoval. Affair in Position. Marmont's Change of Position and +Retreat. A Case of Bad Luck. Advance to Rueda, and Customs there. +Retire to Castrejon. Affairs on the 18th and 19th of July. Battle of +Salamanca, and Defeat of the Enemy. + + + CHAP. XI. 165 + +Distinguished Characters. A Charge of Dragoons. A Charge against the +Nature of Things. Olmeda and the French General, Ferez. Advance +towards Madrid. Adventures of my Dinner. The Town of Segovia. El +Palacio del Rio Frio. The Escurial. Enter Madrid. Rejoicings. Nearly +happy. Change of a Horse. Change of Quarters. A Change confounded. +Retire towards Salamanca. Boar-Hunt, Dinner-Hunt, and Bull-Hunt. A +Portuguese Funeral conducted by Rifle Undertakers. + + + CHAP. XII. 183 + +Reach Salamanca. Retreat from it. Pig Hunting, an Enemy to +Sleep-Hunting. Putting one's Foot in it. Affair on the 17th of +November. Bad Legs sometimes last longer than good ones. A Wet Birth. +Prospectus of a Day's Work. A lost _dejune_ better than a found one. +Advantages not taken. A disagreeable Amusement, End of the Campaign of +1812. Winter Quarters. Orders and Disorders treated. Farewell Opinion +of Ancient Allies. My House. + + + CHAP. XIII. 200 + +A Review. Assembly of the Army. March to Salamanca. To Aldea Nueva. To +Toro. An Affair of the Hussar Brigade. To Palencia. To the +Neighbourhood of Burgos. To the Banks of the Ebro. Fruitful sleeping +place. To Medina. A Dance before it was due. Smell the Foe. Affair at +St. Milan. A Physical River. + + + CHAP. XIV. 213 + +Battle of Vittoria. Defeat of the Enemy. Confusion among their +Followers. Plunder. Colonel Cameron. Pursuit, and the Capture of their +Last Gun. Arrive near Pampeluna. At Villalba. An Irish method of +making a useless Bed useful. + + + CHAP. XV. 231 + +March to intercept Clausel. Tafalla. Olite. The dark End of a Night +March to Casada. Clausel's Escape. Sanguessa. My Tent struck. Return +to Villalba. Weighty Considerations on Females. St. Esteban. A Severe +Dance. Position at Bera. Soult's Advance, and Battle of the Pyrenees. +His Defeat and subsequent Actions. A Morning's Ride. + + + CHAP. XVI. 246 + +An Anniversary Dinner. Affair with the Enemy, and Fall of St. +Sebastian. A Building Speculation. A Fighting one, storming the +Heights of Bera. A Picture of France from the Pyrenees. Returns after +an Action. Sold by my Pay-Serjeant. A Recruit born at his Post. +Between Two Fires, a Sea and a Land one. Position of La Rhune. My +Picture taken in a Storm. Refreshing Invention for wintry Weather. + + + CHAP. XVII. 263 + +Battle of the Nivelle, and Defeat of the Enemy. A Bird of Evil Omen. +Chateau D'Arcangues. Prudence. An Enemy's Gratitude. Passage of the +Nive, and Battles near Bayonne, from 9th to 13th December. + + + CHAP. XVIII. 280 + +Change of Quarters. Change of Diet. Suttlers. Our new Quarter. A +long-going Horse gone. New Clothing. Adam's lineal Descendants. St. +Palais. Action at Tarbes. Faubourg of Toulouse. The green Man. Passage +of the Garonne. Battle of Toulouse. Peace. Castle Sarrazin. A Tender +Point. + + + CHAP. XIX. 301 + +Commencement of the War of 1815. Embark for Rotterdam. Ship's Stock. +Ship struck. A Pilot, a Smuggler, and a Lawyer. A Boat without Stock. +Join the Regiment at Brussels. + + + CHAP. XX. 307 + +Relative Situation of the Troops. March from Brussels. The Prince and +the Beggar. Battle of Quatre-Bras. + + + CHAP. XXI. 327 + +Battle of Waterloo, 18th June, 1815. "A Horse! a Horse!" Breakfast. +Position. Disposition. Meeting of _particular_ Friends. Dish of Powder +and Ball. Fricassee of Swords. End of First Course. Pounding. Brewing. +Peppering. Cutting and Maiming. Fury. Tantalizing. Charging. Cheering. +Chasing. Opinionizing. Anecdotes. The End. + + + + +ADVENTURES IN THE RIFLE BRIGADE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + Joined the Rifles. Walcheren Expedition. A young Soldier. A + Marine View. Campaign in South Beeveland. Retreat to Scotland. + + +I joined the second battalion rifle brigade, (then the ninety-fifth,) +at Hythe-Barracks, in the spring of 1809, and, in a month after, we +proceeded to form a part of the expedition to Holland, under the Earl +of Chatham. + +With the usual Quixotic feelings of a youngster, I remember how very +desirous I was, on the march to Deal, to impress the minds of the +natives with a suitable notion of the magnitude of my importance, by +carrying a donkey-load of pistols in my belt, and screwing my +naturally placid countenance up to a pitch of ferocity beyond what it +was calculated to bear. + +We embarked in the Downs, on board the Hussar frigate, and afterwards +removed to the Namur, a seventy-four, in which we were conveyed to our +destination. + +I had never before been in a ship of war, and it appeared to me, the +first night, as if the sailors and marines did not pull well together, +excepting by the ears; for my hammock was slung over the descent into +the cockpit, and I had scarcely turned-in when an officer of marines +came and abused his sentry for not seeing the lights out below, +according to orders. The sentry proceeded to explain, that the +_middies_ would not put them out for him, when the naked shoulders and +the head of one of them, illuminated with a red nightcap, made its +appearance above the hatchway, and began to take a lively share in +the argument. The marine officer, looking down, with some +astonishment, demanded, "d--n you, sir, who are you?" to which the +head and shoulders immediately rejoined, "and d--n and b--t you, sir, +who are you?" + +We landed on the island of South Beeveland, where we remained about +three weeks, playing at soldiers, smoking _mynheer's_ long clay pipes, +and drinking his _vrow's_ butter-milk, for which I paid liberally with +my precious blood to their infernal musquitos; not to mention that I +had all the extra valour shaken out of me by a horrible ague, which +commenced a campaign on my carcass, and compelled me to retire upon +Scotland, for the aid of my native air, by virtue of which it was +ultimately routed. + +I shall not carry my first chapter beyond my first campaign, as I am +anxious that my reader should not expend more than his first breath +upon an event which cost too many their last. + + + + +CHAP. II. + + Rejoin the Regiment. Embark for the Peninsula. Arrival in the + Tagus. The City of Lisbon, with its Contents. Sail for Figuera. + Landing extraordinary. Billet ditto. The City of Coimbra. A hard + Case. A cold Case, in which a favourite Scotch Dance is + introduced. Climate. The Duke of Wellington. + + +I rejoined the battalion, at Hythe, in the spring of 1810, and, +finding that the company to which I belonged had embarked, to join the +first battalion in the Peninsula, and that they were waiting at +Spithead for a fair wind, I immediately applied, and obtained +permission, to join them. + +We were about the usual time at sea, and indulged in the usual +amusements, beginning with keeping journals, in which I succeeded in +inserting two remarks on the state of the weather, when I found my +inclination for book-making superseded by the more disagreeable study +of appearing eminently happy under an irresistible inclination towards +sea-sickness. We anchored in the Tagus in September;--no thanks to the +ship, for she was a leaky one, and wishing foul winds to the skipper, +for he was a bad one. + +To look at Lisbon from the Tagus, there are few cities in the universe +that can promise so much, and none, I hope, that can keep it so badly. + +I only got on shore one day, for a few hours, and, as I never again +had an opportunity of correcting the impression, I have no objection +to its being considered an uncharitable one; but I wandered for a time +amid the abominations of its streets and squares, in the vain hope +that I had got involved among a congregation of stables and outhouses; +but when I was, at length, compelled to admit it as the miserable +apology for the fair city that I had seen from the harbour, I began to +contemplate, with astonishment, and no little amusement, the very +appropriate appearance of its inhabitants. + +The church, I concluded, had, on that occasion, indulged her numerous +offspring with a holiday, for they occupied a much larger portion of +the streets than all the world besides. Some of them were languidly +strolling about, and looking the sworn foes of time, while others +crowded the doors of the different coffee-houses; the fat +jolly-looking friars cooling themselves with lemonade, and the lean +mustard-pot-faced ones sipping coffee out of thimble-sized cups, with +as much caution as if it had been physic. + +The next class that attracted my attention was the numerous collection +of well-starved dogs, who were indulging in all the luxury of extreme +poverty on the endless dung-heaps. + +There, too, sat the industrious citizen, basking in the sunshine of +his shop-door, and gathering in the flock which is so bountifully +reared on his withered tribe of children. There strutted the spruce +cavalier, with his upper-man furnished at the expense of his lower, +and looking ridiculously imposing: and there--but sacred be their +daughters, for the sake of _one_, who shed a lustre over her squalid +sisterhood, sufficiently brilliant to redeem their whole nation from +the odious sin of ugliness. I was looking for an official person, +living somewhere near the Convent D'Estrella, and was endeavouring to +express my wishes to a boy, when I heard a female voice, in broken +English, from a balcony above, giving the information I desired. I +looked up, and saw a young girl, dressed in white, who was loveliness +itself! In the few words which passed between us, of lively +unconstrained civility on her part, and pure confounded gratitude on +mine, she seemed so perfectly after my own heart, that she lit a torch +in it which burnt for two years and a half. + +It must not detract from her merits that she was almost the only one +that I saw during that period in which it was my fate to tread war's +roughest, rudest path,--daily staring his grim majesty out of +countenance, and nightly slumbering on the cold earth, or in the +tenantless mansion, for I felt as if she would have been the chosen +companion of my waking dreams in _rosier_ walks, as I never recalled +the fair vision to my aid, even in the worst of times, that it did not +act upon my drooping spirits like a glass of brandy. + +It pleased the great disposer of naval events to remove us to another +and a better ship, and to send us off for Figuera, next day, with a +foul wind. + +Sailing at the rate of one mile in two hours, we reached Figuera's Bay +at the end of eight days, and were welcomed by about a hundred hideous +looking Portuguese women, whose joy was so excessive that they waded +up to their arm-pits through a heavy surf, and insisted on carrying us +on shore on their backs! I never clearly ascertained whether they had +been actuated by the purity of love or gold. + +Our men were lodged for the night in a large barn, and the officers +billetted in town. Mine chanced to be on the house of a mad-woman, +whose extraordinary appearance I never shall forget. Her petticoats +scarcely reached to the knee, and all above the lower part of the +bosom was bare; and though she looked not more than middle aged, her +skin seemed as if it had been regularly prepared to receive the +impression of her last will and testament; her head was defended by a +chevaux-de-frise of black wiry hair, which pointed fiercely in every +direction, while her eyes looked like two burnt holes in a blanket. I +had no sooner opened the door than she stuck her arms a-kimbo, and, +opening a mouth, which stretched from ear to ear, she began +vociferating "_bravo, bravissimo_!" + +Being a stranger alike to the appearance and the manners of the +natives, I thought it possible that the former might have been nothing +out of the common run, and concluding that she was overjoyed at seeing +her country reinforced, at that perilous moment, by a fellow upwards +of six feet high, and thinking it necessary to sympathize in some +degree in her patriotic feelings, I began to "_bravo_" too; but as her +second shout ascended ten degrees, and kept increasing in that ratio, +until it amounted to absolute frenzy, I faced to the right-about, and, +before our _tete-a-tete_ had lasted the brief space of three-quarters +of a minute, I disappeared with all possible haste, her terrific yells +vibrating in my astonished ears long after I had turned the corner of +the street; nor did I feel perfectly at ease until I found myself +stretched on a bundle of straw in a corner of the barn occupied by the +men. + +We proceeded, next morning, to join the army; and, as our route lay +through the city of Coimbra, we came to the magnanimous resolution of +providing ourselves with all manner of comforts and equipments for the +campaign on our arrival there; but, when we entered it, at the end of +the second day, our disappointment was quite eclipsed by astonishment +at finding ourselves the only living things in a city, which ought to +have been furnished with twenty thousand souls. + +Lord Wellington was then in the course of his retreat from the +frontiers of Spain to the lines of Torres Vedras, and had compelled +the inhabitants on the line of march to abandon their homes, and to +destroy or carry away every thing that could be of service to the +enemy. It was a measure that ultimately saved their country, though +ruinous and distressing to those concerned, and on no class of +individuals did it bear harder, for the moment, than our own little +detachment, a company of rosy-cheeked, chubbed youths, who, after +three months feeding on ship's dumplings, were thus thrust, at a +moment of extreme activity, in the face of an advancing foe, supported +by a pound of raw beef, drawn every day fresh from the bullock, and a +mouldy biscuit. + +The difficulties we encountered were nothing out of the usual course +of old campaigners; but, untrained and unprovided as I was, I still +looked back upon the twelve or fourteen days following the battle of +Busaco as the most trying I have ever experienced, for we were on our +legs from daylight until dark, in daily contact with the enemy; and, +to satisfy the stomach of an ostrich, I had, as already stated, only a +pound of beef, a pound of biscuit, and one glass of rum. A +brother-officer was kind enough to strap my boat-cloak and portmanteau +on the mule carrying his heavy baggage, which, on account of the +proximity of the foe, was never permitted to be within a day's march +of us, so that, in addition to my simple uniform, my only covering +every night was the canopy of heaven, from whence the dews descended +so refreshingly, that I generally awoke, at the end of an hour, +chilled, and wet to the skin; and I could only purchase an equal +length of additional repose by jumping up and running about, until I +acquired a sleeping quantity of warmth. Nothing in life can be more +ridiculous than seeing a lean, lank fellow start from a profound +sleep, at midnight, and begin lashing away at the highland fling, as +if St. Andrew himself had been playing the bagpipes; but it was a +measure that I very often had recourse to, as the cleverest method of +producing heat. In short, though the prudent general may preach the +propriety of light baggage in the enemy's presence, I will ever +maintain that there is marvellous small personal comfort in travelling +so fast and so lightly as I did. + +The Portuguese farmers will tell you that the beauty of their climate +consists in their crops receiving from the nightly dews the refreshing +influence of a summer's shower, and that they ripen in the daily sun. +But _they_ are a sordid set of rascals! Whereas _I_ speak with the +enlightened views of a man of war, and say, that it is poor +consolation to me, after having been deprived of my needful repose, +and kept all night in a fever, dancing wet and cold, to be told that I +shall be warm enough in the morning? it is like frying a person after +he has been boiled; and I insisted upon it, that if their sun had been +milder and their dews lighter that I should have found it much more +pleasant. + + + + +THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. + +From the moment that I joined the army, so intense was my desire to +get a look at this illustrious chief, that I never should have +forgiven the Frenchman that had killed me before I effected it. My +curiosity did not remain long ungratified; for, as our post was next +the enemy, I found, when anything was to be done, that it was his +also. He was just such a man as I had figured in my mind's eye, and I +thought that the stranger would betray a grievous want of penetration +who could not select the Duke of Wellington from amid five hundred in +the same uniform. + + + + +CHAP. III. + + Other People, Myself, and my Regiment. Retreat to the Lines of + Torres Vedras. Leave Coimbra, followed by a select group of + Natives. Ford the Streets of Condacia in good spirit. A + Provost-Marshal and his favourites. A fall. Convent of Batalha. + Turned out of Allenquer. Passed through Sobral. Turned into + Arruda. Quartering of the Light Division, and their Quarters at + Arruda. Burial of an only Child. Lines of Torres Vedras. + Difference of opinion between Massena and Myself. Military + Customs. + + +Having now brought myself regularly into the field, under the renowned +Wellington, should this narrative, by any accident, fall into the +hands of others who served there, and who may be unreasonable enough +to expect their names to be mentioned in it, let me tell them that +they are most confoundedly mistaken! Every man may write a book for +himself, if he likes, but _this_ is mine; and, as I borrow no man's +story, neither will I give any man a particle of credit for his deeds, +as I have got so little for my own that I have none to spare. Neither +will I mention any regiment but my own, if I can possibly avoid it, +for there is none other that I like so much, and none else so much +deserves it; for we were the light regiment of the Light Division, and +fired the first and last shot in almost every battle, siege, and +skirmish, in which the army was engaged during the war. + +In stating the foregoing resolution, however, with regard to +regiments, I beg to be understood as identifying our old and gallant +associates, the forty-third and fifty-second, as a part of ourselves, +for they bore their share in every thing, and I love them as I hope to +do my better half, (when I come to be divided,) wherever _we_ were, +_they_ were; and although the nature of our arm generally gave us more +employment in the way of skirmishing, yet, whenever it came to a +pinch, independent of a suitable mixture of them among us, we had +only to look behind to see a line, in which we might place a degree of +confidence, almost equal to our hopes in heaven; nor were we ever +disappointed. There never was a corps of riflemen in the hands of such +supporters! + +October 1st, 1810.--We stood to our arms at day light this morning, on +a hill in front of Coimbra; and, as the enemy soon after came on in +force, we retired before them through the city. The civil authorities, +in making their own hurried escape, had totally forgotten that they +had left a gaol full of rogues unprovided for, and who, as we were +passing near them, made the most hideous screaming for relief. Our +quarter-master-general very humanely took some men, who broke open the +doors, and the whole of them were soon seen howling along the bridge +into the wide world, in the most delightful delirium, with the French +dragoons at their heels. + +We retired, the same night, through Condacia, where the commissariat +were destroying quantities of stores that they were unable to carry +off. They handed out shoes and shirts to any one that would take them, +and the streets were literally running ankle deep with rum, in which +the soldiers were dipping their cups and helping themselves as they +marched along. The commissariat, some years afterwards, called for a +return of the men who had received shirts and shoes on this occasion, +with a view of making us pay for them, but we very briefly replied +that the one half were dead, and the other half would be d----d before +they would pay any thing. + +We retired this day to Leria, and, at the entrance of the city, saw an +English and a Portuguese soldier dangling by the bough of a tree--the +first summary example I had ever seen of martial law. + +A provost-marshal, on actual service, is a character of considerable +pretensions, as he can flog at pleasure, always moves about with a +guard of honour, and though he cannot altogether stop a man's breath +without an order, yet, when he is ordered to hang a given number out +of a crowd of plunderers, his _friends_ are not particularly +designated, so that he can invite any one that he takes a fancy to, to +follow him to the nearest tree, where he, without further ceremony, +relieves him from the cares and troubles of this wicked world. + +There was only one _furnished_ shop remaining in the town at this +time, and I went in to see what they had got to sell; but I had +scarcely past the threshold when I heard a tremendous clatter at my +heels, as if the opposite house had been pitched in at the door after +me; and, on wheeling round to ascertain the cause, I found, when the +dust cleared away, that a huge stone balcony, with iron railings, +which had been over the door, overcharged with a collection of old +wives looking at the troops, had tumbled down; and in spite of their +vociferations for the aid of their patron saints, some them were +considerably damaged. + +We halted one night near the Convent of Batalha, one of the finest +buildings in Portugal. It has, I believe, been clearly established, +that a living man in ever so bad health is better than two dead ones; +but it appears that the latter will vary in value according to +circumstances, for we found here, in very high preservation, the body +of King John of Portugal, who founded the edifice in commemoration of +some victory, God knows how long ago; and though he would have been +reckoned a highly valuable antique, within a glass case, in an +apothecary's hall in England, yet he was held so cheap in his own +house, that the very finger which most probably pointed the way to the +victory alluded to, is now in the baggage of the Rifle Brigade! +Reader, point not _thy_ finger at me, for I am not the man. + +Retired on the morning of a very wet, stormy day to Allenquer, a small +town on the top of a mountain, surrounded by still higher ones; and, +as the enemy had not shewn themselves the evening before, we took +possession of the houses, with a tolerable prospect of being permitted +the unusual treat of eating a dinner under cover. But by the time +that the pound of beef was parboiled, and while an officer of dragoons +was in the act of reporting that he had just patrolled six leagues to +the front, without seeing any signs of an enemy, we saw the +indefatigable rascals, on the mountain opposite our windows, just +beginning to wind round us, with a mixture of cavalry and infantry; +the wind blowing so strong, that the long tail of each particular +horse stuck as stiffly out in the face of the one behind, as if the +whole had been strung upon a cable and dragged by the leaders. We +turned out a few companies, and kept them in check while the division +was getting under arms, spilt the soup as usual, and transferring the +smoking solids to the haversack, for future mastication, we continued +our retreat. + +We past through the town of Sobral, soon after dark, the same night; +and, by the aid of some rushlights in a window, saw two apothecaries, +the very counterparts of Romeo's, who were the only remnants of the +place, and had braved the horrors of war for the sake of the +gallipots, and in the hopes that their profession would be held +sacred. They were both on the same side of the counter, looking each +other point blank in the face, their sharp noses not three inches +apart, and neither daring to utter a syllable, but both listening +intensely to the noise outside. Whatever their courage might have been +screwed up to before, it was evident that we were indebted for their +presence now to their fears; and their appearance altogether was so +ludicrous, that they excited universal shouts of laughter as they came +within view of the successive divisions. + +Our long retreat ended at midnight, on our arrival at the handsome +little town of Arruda, which was destined to be the piquet post of our +division, in front of the fortified lines. The quartering of our +division, whether by night or by day, was an affair of about five +minutes. The quarter-master-general preceded the troops, accompanied +by the brigade-majors and the quarter-masters of regiments; and after +marking off certain houses for his general and staff, he split the +remainder of the town between the majors of brigades: they in their +turn provided for their generals and staff, and then made a wholesale +division of streets among the quarter-masters of regiments, who, after +providing for their commanding officers and staff, retailed the +remaining houses, in equal proportions, among the companies; so that, +by the time that the regiment arrived, there was nothing to be done +beyond the quarter-master's simply telling each captain, "here's a +certain number of houses for you." + +Like all other places on the line of march, we found Arruda totally +deserted, and its inhabitants had fled in such a hurry, that the keys +of their house doors were the only things they carried away; so that +when we got admission, through our usual key,[1] we were not a little +gratified to find that the houses were not only regularly furnished, +but most of them had some food in the larder, and a plentiful supply +of good wines in the cellar; and, in short, that they only required a +few lodgers capable of appreciating the good things which the gods had +provided; and the deuce is in it if we were not the very folks who +could! + + [Footnote 1: Transmitting a rifle-ball through the key-hole: + it opens every lock.] + +Unfortunately for ourselves, and still more so for the proprietors, we +never dreamt of the possibility of our being able to keep possession +of the town, as we thought it a matter of course that the enemy would +attack our lines; and, as this was only an outpost, that it must fall +into their hands; so that, in conformity with the system upon which we +had all along been retreating, we destroyed every thing that we could +not use ourselves, to prevent their benefiting by it. But, when we +continued to hold the post beyond the expected period, our +indiscretion was visited on our own heads, as we had destroyed in a +day what would have made us luxurious for months. We were in hopes +that, afterwards, the enemy would have forced the post, if only for an +hour, that we might have saddled them with the mischief; but, as they +never even made the attempt, it left it in the power of ill-natured +people to say, that we had plundered one of our own towns. This was +the only instance during the war in which the light division had +reason to blush for their conduct, and even in that we had the law +martial on our side, whatever gospel law might have said against it. + +The day after our arrival, Mr. Simmons and myself had the curiosity to +look into the church, which was in nowise injured, and was fitted up +in a style of magnificence becoming such a town. The body of a poor +old woman was there, lying dead before the altar. It seemed as if she +had been too infirm to join in the general flight, and had just +dragged herself to that spot by a last effort of nature, and expired. +We immediately determined, that as her's was the only body that we had +found in the town, either alive or dead, that she should have more +glory in the grave than she appeared to have enjoyed on this side of +it; and, with our united exertions, we succeeded in raising a marble +slab, which surmounted a monumental vault, and was beautifully +embellished with armorial blazonry, and, depositing the body inside, +we replaced it again carefully. If the personage to whom it belonged +happened to have a tenant of his own for it soon afterwards, he must +have been rather astonished at the manner in which the apartment was +occupied. + +Those who wish a description of the lines of Torres Vedras, must read +_Napier_, or some one else who knows all about them; for my part, I +know nothing, excepting that I was told that one end of them rested on +the Tagus, and the other somewhere on the sea; and I saw, with my own +eyes, a variety of redoubts and field-works on the various hills which +stand between. This, however, I do know, that we have since kicked the +French out of more formidable looking and stronger places; and, with +all due deference be it spoken, I think that the Prince of Essling +ought to have tried his luck against them, as he could only have been +beaten by fighting, as he afterwards was without it! And if he thinks +that he would have lost as many men by trying, as he did by not +trying, he must allow me to differ in opinion with him!!! + +In very warm or very wet weather it was customary to put us under +cover in the town during the day, but we were always moved back to our +bivouac, on the heights, during the night; and it was rather amusing +to observe the different notions of individual comfort, in the +selection of furniture, which officers transferred from their _town +house_ to their _no house_ on the heights. A sofa, or a mattress, one +would have thought most likely to be put in requisition; but it was +not unusual to see a full-length looking-glass preferred to either. + +The post of the company to which I belonged, on the heights, was near +a redoubt, immediately behind Arruda; there was a cattle-shed near it, +which we cleaned out, and used as a sort of quarter. On turning out +from breakfast one morning, we found that the butcher had been about +to offer up the usual sacrifice of a bullock to the wants of the day; +but it had broken loose, and, in trying to regain his victim, had +caught it by the tail, which he twisted round his hand; and, when we +made our appearance, they were performing a variety of evolutions at a +gallop, to the great amusement of the soldiers; until an unlucky turn +brought them down upon our house, which had been excavated out of the +face of the hill, on which the upper part of the roof rested, and _in_ +they went, heels over head, butcher, bullock, tail and all, bearing +down the whole fabric with a tremendous crash. + +N.B. It was very fortunate that we happened to be outside; and very +unfortunate, as we were now obliged to remain out. + +We certainly lived in _clover_ while we remained here; every thing we +saw was our own, seeing no one there who had a more legitimate claim; +and every field was a vineyard. Ultimately it was considered too much +trouble to pluck the grapes, as there were a number of poor native +thieves in the habit of coming from the rear, every day, to steal +some, so that a soldier had nothing to do but to watch one until he +was marching off with his basket full, when he would very deliberately +place his back against that of the Portuguese, and relieve him of his +load, without wasting any words about the bargain. The poor wretch +would follow the soldier to the camp, in the hope of having his basket +returned, as it generally was, when emptied. + +Massena conceiving any attack upon our lines to be hopeless, as his +troops were rapidly mouldering away with sickness and want, at length +began to withdraw them nearer to the source of his supplies. + +He abandoned his position, opposite to us, on the night of the 9th of +November, leaving some stuffed-straw gentlemen occupying their usual +posts. Some of them were cavalry, some infantry, and they seemed such +respectable representatives of their spectral predecessors, that, in +the haze of the following morning, we thought that they had been +joined by some well-fed ones from the rear; and it was late in the day +before we discovered the mistake and advanced in pursuit. In passing +by the edge of a mill-pond, after dark, our adjutant and his horse +tumbled in, and, as the latter had no tail to hold on by, they were +both very nearly drowned. + +It was late ere we halted for the night, on the side of the road, near +to Allenquer, and I got under cover in a small house, which looked as +if it had been honoured as the head-quarters of the tailor-general of +the French army, for the floor was strewed with variegated threads, +various complexioned buttons, with particles and remnants of +_cabbage_; and, if it could not boast of the flesh and fowl of Noah's +ark, there was an abundance of the creeping things which it were to be +wished that that commander had not left behind. We marched before +daylight next morning, leaving a _rousing_ fire in the chimney, which +shortly became too small to hold it; for we had not proceeded far +before we perceived that the well-dried thatched roof had joined in +the general blaze, a circumstance which caused us no little +uneasiness, for our general, the late Major-general Robert Crawford, +had brought us up in the fear of our master; and, as he was a sort of +person who would not see a fire, of that kind, in the same _light_ +that we did, I was by no means satisfied that my commission lay snug +in my pocket, until we had fairly marched it out of sight, and in +which we were aided not a little by a slight fire of another kind, +which he was required to watch with the advanced guard. + +On our arrival at Valle, on the 12th of Nov. we found the enemy behind +the Rio Maior, occupying the heights of Santarem, and exchanged some +shots with their advanced posts. In the course of the night we +experienced one of those tremendous thunderstorms which used to +precede the Wellington victories, and which induced us to expect a +general action on the following day. I had disposed myself to sleep in +a beautiful green hollow way, and, before I had time even to dream of +the effects of their heavy rains, I found myself floating most +majestically towards the river, in a fair way of becoming food for +the fishes. I ever after gave those inviting-looking spots a wide +birth, as I found that they were regular watercourses. + +Next morning our division crossed the river, and commenced a false +attack on the enemy's left, with a view of making them show their +force; and it was to have been turned into a real attack, if their +position was found to be occupied by a rear guard only; but, after +keeping up a smart skirmishing-fire the greater part of the day, Lord +Wellington was satisfied that their whole army was present, we were +consequently withdrawn. + +This affair terminated the campaign of 1810. Our division took +possession of the village of Valle and its adjacents, and the rest of +the army was placed in cantonments, under whatever cover the +neighbouring country afforded. + +Our battalion was stationed in some empty farm-houses, near the end of +the bridge of Santarem, which was nearly half a mile long; and our +sentries and those of the enemy were within pistol-shot of each other +on the bridge. + +I do not mean to insinuate that a country is never so much at peace as +when at open war; but I do say that a soldier can no where sleep so +soundly, nor is he any where so secure from surprise, as when within +musket-shot of his enemy. + +We lay four months in this situation, divided only by a rivulet, +without once exchanging shots. Every evening, at the hour + + "When bucks to dinner go, + And cits to sup," + +it was our practice to dress for sleep: we saddled our horses, buckled +on our armour, and lay down, with the bare floor for a bed and a stone +for a pillow, ready for any thing, and reckless of every thing but the +honour of our corps and country; for I will say (to save the expense +of a trumpeter) that a more devoted set of fellows were never +associated. + +We stood to our arms every morning at an hour before daybreak, and +remained there until a _grey horse_ could be seen a mile off, (which +is the military criterion by which daylight is acknowledged, and the +hour of surprise past,) when we proceeded to unharness, and to indulge +in such _luxuries_ as our toilet and our table afforded. + +The Maior, as far as the bridge of Valle, was navigable for the small +craft from Lisbon, so that our table, while we remained there, cut as +respectable a figure, as regular supplies of rice, salt fish, and +potatoes could make it; not to mention that our pig-skin was, at all +times, at least three parts full of a common red wine, which used to +be dignified by the name of _black-strap_. We had the utmost +difficulty, however, in keeping up appearances in the way of dress. +The jacket, in spite of shreds and patches, always maintained +something of the original about it; but woe befel the regimental +small-clothes, and they could only be replaced by very extraordinary +apologies, of which I remember that I had two pair at this period, +_one_ of a common brown Portuguese cloth, and the _other_, or +Sunday's pair, of black velvet. We had no women with the regiment; and +the ceremony of washing a shirt amounted to my servant's taking it by +the collar, and giving it a couple of shakes in the water, and then +hanging it up to dry. Smoothing-irons were not the fashion of the +times, and, if a fresh well-dressed aide-de-camp did occasionally come +from England, we used to stare at him with about as much respect as +Hotspur did at his "waiting gentlewoman." + +The winter here was uncommonly mild. I am not the sort of person to +put myself much in the way of ice, except on a warm summer's day; but +the only inconvenience that I felt in bathing, in the middle of +December, was the quantity of leeches that used to attach themselves +to my personal supporters, obliging me to cut a few capers to shake +them off, after leaving the water. + +Our piquet-post, at the bridge, became a regular lounge, for the +winter, to all manner of folks. + +I used to be much amused at seeing our naval officers come up from +Lisbon riding on mules, with huge ships' spy-glasses, like +six-pounders, strapped across the backs of their saddles. Their first +question invariably was, "Who is that fellow there," (pointing to the +enemy's sentry, close to us,) and, on being told that he was a +Frenchman, "Then why the devil don't you shoot him!" + +Repeated acts of civility passed between the French and us during this +tacit suspension of hostilities. The greyhounds of an officer followed +a hare, on one occasion, into their lines, and they very politely +returned them. + +I was one night on piquet, at the end of the bridge, when a ball came +from the French sentry and struck the burning billet of wood round +which we were sitting, and they sent in a flag of truce, next morning, +to apologize for the accident, and to say that it had been done by a +stupid fellow of a sentry, who imagined that people were advancing +upon him. We admitted the apology, though we knew well enough that it +had been done by a malicious rather than a stupid fellow, from the +situation we occupied. + +General Junot, one day reconnoitring, was severely wounded by a +sentry, and Lord Wellington, knowing that they were at that time +destitute of every thing in the shape of comfort, sent to request his +acceptance of any thing that Lisbon afforded that could be of any +service to him; but the French general was too much of a politician to +admit the want of any thing. + + + + +CHAP. V. + + Campaign of 1811 opens. Massena's Retreat. Wretched Condition of + the Inhabitants on the Line of March. Affairs with the Enemy, + near Pombal. Description of a Bivouac. Action near Redinha. + Destruction of Condacia and Action near it. Burning of the + Village of Illama, and Misery of its Inhabitants. Action at Foz + D'Aronce. Confidential Servants with Donkey-Assistants. + + +The campaign of 1811 commenced on the 6th of March, by the retreat of +the enemy from Santarem. + +Lord Wellington seemed to be perfectly acquainted with their +intentions, for he sent to apprize our piquets, the evening before, +that they were going off, and to desire that they should feel for them +occasionally during the night, and give the earliest information of +their having started. It was not, however, until daylight that we +were quite certain of their having gone, and our division was +instantly put in motion after them, passing through the town of +Santarem, around which their camp fires were still burning. + +Santarem is finely situated, and probably had been a handsome town. I +had never seen it in prosperity, and it now looked like a city of the +plague, represented by empty dogs and empty houses; and, but for the +tolling of a convent-bell by some unseen hand, its appearance was +altogether inhuman. + +We halted for the night near Pyrnes. This little town, and the few +wretched inhabitants who had been induced to remain in it under the +faithless promises of the French generals, shewed fearful signs of a +late visit from a barbarous and merciless foe. Young women were lying +in their houses brutally violated,--the streets were strewed with +broken furniture, intermixed with the putrid carcasses of murdered +peasants, mules, and donkeys, and every description of filth, that +filled the air with pestilential nausea. The few starved male +inhabitants who were stalking amid the wreck of their friends and +property, looked like so many skeletons who had been permitted to +leave their graves for the purpose of taking vengeance on their +oppressors, and the mangled body of every Frenchman who was +unfortunate or imprudent enough to stray from his column, shewed how +religiously they performed their mission. + +March 8th.--We overtook their rear guard this evening, snugly put up +for the night in a little village, the name of which I do not +recollect, but a couple of six pounders, supported by a few of our +rifles, induced them to extend their walk. + +March 9th.--While moving along the road this morning, we found a man, +who had deserted from us a short time before, in the uniform of a +French dragoon, with his head laid open by one of our bullets. He was +still alive, exciting any thing but sympathy among his former +associates. Towards the afternoon we found the enemy in force, on the +plain in front of Pombal, where we exchanged some shots. + +March 11th.--They retired yesterday to the heights behind Pombal, with +their advanced posts occupying the town and moorish castle, which our +battalion, assisted by some Cacadores, attacked this morning, and +drove them from with considerable loss. Dispositions were then made +for a general attack on their position, but the other divisions of our +army did not arrive until too late in the evening. We bivouacked for +the night in a ploughed field, under the castle, with our sentries +within pistol shot, while it rained in torrents. + +As it is possible that some of my readers might never have had the +misfortune to experience the comforts of a bivouac, and as the one +which I am now in, contains but a small quantity of sleep, I shall +devote a waking hour for their edification. + +When a regiment arrives at its ground for the night, it is formed in +columns of companies, at full, half, or quarter distance, according +to the space which circumstances will permit it to occupy. The officer +commanding each company then receives his orders; and, after +communicating whatever may be necessary to the men, he desires them to +"pile arms, and make themselves comfortable for the night." Now, I +pray thee, most sanguine reader, suffer not thy fervid imagination to +transport thee into elysian fields at the pleasing exhortation +conveyed in the concluding part of the captain's address, but rest +thee contentedly in the one where it is made, which in all probability +is a ploughed one, and that, too, in a state of preparation to take a +model of thy very beautiful person, under the melting influence of a +shower of rain. The soldiers of each company have a hereditary claim +to the ground next to their arms, as have their officers to a wider +range on the same line, limited to the end of a bugle sound, if not by +a neighbouring corps, or one that is not neighbourly, for the nearer a +man is to his enemy, the nearer he likes to be to his friends. Suffice +it, that each individual knows his place as well as if he had been +born on the estate, and takes immediate possession accordingly. In a +ploughed or a stubble field there is scarcely a choice of quarters; +but, whenever there is a sprinkling of trees, it is always an object +to secure a good one, as it affords shelter from the sun by day and +the dews by night, besides being a sort of home or sign post for a +group of officers, as denoting the best place of entertainment; for +they hang their spare clothing and accoutrements among the branches, +barricade themselves on each side with their saddles, canteens, and +portmanteaus, and, with a blazing fire in their front, they indulge, +according to their various humours, in a complete state of +gipsyfication. + +There are several degrees of comfort to be reckoned in a bivouac, two +of which will suffice. + +The first, and worst, is to arrive at the end of a cold wet day, too +dark to see your ground, and too near the enemy to be permitted to +unpack the knapsacks or to take off accoutrements; where, +unincumbered with baggage or eatables of any kind, you have the +consolation of knowing that things are now at their worst, and that +any change must be for the better. You keep yourself alive for a +while, in collecting material to feed your fire with. You take a smell +at your empty calibash, which recalls to your remembrance the +delicious flavour of its last drop of wine. You curse your servant for +not having contrived to send you something or other from the baggage, +(though you know that it was impossible). You then damn the enemy for +being so near you, though probably, as in the present instance, it was +you that came so near them. And, finally, you take a whiff at the end +of a cigar, if you have one, and keep grumbling through the smoke, +like distant thunder through a cloud, until you tumble into a most +warlike sleep. + +The next, and most common one, is, when you are not required to look +quite so sharp, and when the light baggage and provisions come in at +the heel of the regiment. If it is early in the day, the first thing +to be done is to make some tea, the most sovereign restorative for +jaded spirits. We then proceed to our various duties. The officers of +each company form a mess of themselves. One remains in camp to attend +to the duties of the regiment; a second attends to the mess: he goes +to the regimental butcher, and bespeaks a portion of the only +purchaseable commodities, hearts, livers, and kidneys; and also to see +whether he cannot _do_ the commissary out of a few extra biscuit, or a +canteen of brandy; and the remainder are gentlemen at large for the +day. But while they go hunting among the neighbouring regiments for +news, and the neighbouring houses for curiosity, they have always an +eye to their mess, and omit no opportunity of adding to the general +stock. + +Dinner hour, for fear of accidents, is always the hour when dinner can +be got ready; and the 14th section of the articles of war is always +most rigidly attended to, by every good officer parading himself round +the camp-kettle at the time fixed, with his haversack in his hand. A +haversack on service is a sort of dumb waiter. The mess have a good +many things in common, but the contents of the haversack are +exclusively the property of its owner; and a well regulated one ought +never to be without the following furniture, unless when the +perishable part is consumed, in consequence of every other means of +supply having failed, viz. a couple of biscuit, a sausage, a little +tea and sugar, a knife, fork, and spoon, a tin cup, (which answers to +the names of _tea-cup_, _soup-plate_, _wine-glass_, and _tumbler_,) a +pair of socks, a piece of soap, a tooth-brush, towel, and comb, and +half a dozen cigars. + +After doing justice to the dinner, if we feel in a humour for +additional society, we transfer ourselves to some neighbouring mess, +taking our cups, and whatever we mean to drink, along with us, for in +those times there is nothing to be expected from our friends beyond +the pleasure of their conversation: and, finally, we retire to rest. +To avoid inconvenience by the tossing off of the bed-clothes, each +officer has a blanket sewed up at the sides, like a sack, into which +he scrambles, and, with a green sod or a smooth stone for a pillow, +composes himself to sleep; and, under such a glorious reflecting +canopy as the heavens, it would be a subject of mortification to an +astronomer to see the celerity with which he tumbles into it. Habit +gives endurance, and fatigue is the best nightcap; no matter that the +veteran's countenance is alternately stormed with torrents of rain, +heavy dews, and hoar-frosts; no matter that his ears are assailed by a +million mouths of chattering locusts, and by some villanous donkey, +who every half hour pitches a _bray_ note, which, as a congregation of +presbyterians follow their clerk, is instantly taken up by every mule +and donkey in the army, and sent echoing from regiment to regiment, +over hill and valley, until it dies away in the distance; no matter +that the scorpion is lurking beneath his pillow, the snake winding his +slimy way by his side, and the lizard galloping over his face, wiping +his eyes with its long cold tail. + +All are unheeded, until the warning voice of the brazen instrument +sounds to arms. Strange it is, that the ear which is impervious to +what would disturb the rest of the world besides, should alone be +alive to one, and that, too, a sound which is likely to sooth the +sleep of the citizens, or at most, to set them dreaming of their +loves. But so it is: the first note of the melodious bugle places the +soldier on his legs, like lightning; when, muttering a few curses at +the unseasonableness of the hour, he plants himself on his alarm post, +without knowing or caring about the cause. + +Such is a bivouac; and our sleep-breaker having just sounded, the +reader will find what occurred, by reading on. + +March 12th.--We stood to our arms before daylight. Finding that the +enemy had quitted the position in our front, we proceeded to follow +them; and had not gone far before we heard the usual morning's +salutation, of a couple of shots, between their rear and our advanced +guard. On driving in their outposts, we found their whole army drawn +out on the plain, near Redinha, and instantly quarrelled with them on +a large scale. + +As every body has read Waverley and the Scottish Chiefs, and knows +that one battle is just like another, inasmuch as they always conclude +by one or both sides running away; and as it is nothing to me what +this or t'other regiment did, nor do I care three buttons what this or +t'other person thinks he did, I shall limit all my descriptions to +such events as immediately concerned the important personage most +interested in this history. + +Be it known then, that I was one of a crowd of skirmishers who were +enabling the French ones to carry the news of their own defeat through +a thick wood, at an infantry canter, when I found myself all at once +within a few yards of one of their regiments in line, which opened +such a fire, that had I not, rifleman like, taken instant advantage of +the cover of a good fir tree, my name would have unquestionably been +transmitted to posterity by that night's gazette. And, however +opposed it may be to the usual system of drill, I will maintain, from +that day's experience, that the cleverest method of teaching a recruit +to stand at attention, is to place him behind a tree and fire balls at +him; as, had our late worthy disciplinarian, Sir David Dundas, +himself, been looking on, I think that even _he_ must have admitted +that he never saw any one stand so fiercely upright as I did behind +mine, while the balls were rapping into it as fast as if a fellow had +been hammering a nail on the opposite side, not to mention the numbers +that were whistling past, within the eighth of an inch of every part +of my body, both before and behind, particularly in the vicinity of my +nose, for which the upper part of the tree could barely afford +protection. + +This was a last and a desperate stand made by their rear-guard, for +their own safety, immediately above the town, as their sole chance of +escape depended upon their being able to hold the post until the only +bridge across the river was clear of the other fugitives. But they +could not hold it long enough; for, while we were undergoing a +temporary sort of purgatory in their front, our comrades went working +round their flanks, which quickly sent them flying, with us +intermixed, at full cry, down the streets. + +Whether in love or war, I have always considered that the pursuer has +a decided advantage over the pursued. In the first, he may gain and +cannot lose; but, in the latter, when one sees his enemy at full speed +before him, one has such a peculiar conscious sort of feeling that he +is on the right side, that I would not exchange places for any +consideration. + +When we reached the bridge, the scene became exceedingly interesting, +for it was choked up by the fugitives who were, as usual, impeding +each other's progress, and we did not find that the application of our +swords to those nearest to us tended at all towards lessening their +disorder, for it induced about a hundred of them to rush into an +adjoining house for shelter, but that was netting regularly out of the +frying-pan into the fire, for the house happened to be really in +flames, and too hot to hold them, so that the same hundred were +quickly seen unkennelling again, half-cooked, into the very jaws of +their consumers. + +John Bull, however, is not a blood-thirsty person, so that those who +could not better themselves, had only to submit to a simple transfer +of personal property to ensure his protection. We, consequently, made +many prisoners at the bridge, and followed their army about a league +beyond it, keeping up a flying fight until dark. + +Just as Mr. Simmons and myself had crossed the river, and were talking +over the events of the day, not a yard asunder, there was a Portuguese +soldier in the act of passing between us, when a cannon-ball plunged +into his belly--his head doubled down to his feet, and he stood for a +moment in that posture before he rolled over a lifeless lump. + +March 13th.--Arrived on the hill above Condacia in time to see that +handsome little town in flames. Every species of barbarity continued +to mark the enemy's retreating steps. They burnt every town or +village through which they passed, and if we entered a church, which, +by accident, had been spared, it was to see the murdered bodies of the +peasantry on the altar. + +While Lord Wellington, with his staff, was on a hill a little in front +of us, waiting the result of a flank-movement which he had directed, +some of the enemy's sharpshooters stole, unperceived, very near to him +and began firing, but, fortunately, without effect. We immediately +detached a few of ours to meet them, but the others ran off on their +approach. + +We lay by our arms until towards evening, when the enemy withdrew a +short distance behind Condacia, and we closed up to them. There was a +continued popping between the advanced posts all night. + +March 14th.--Finding, at daylight, that the enemy still continued to +hold the strong ground before us, some divisions of the army were sent +to turn their flanks, while ours attacked them in front. + +We drove them from one strong hold to another, over a large track of +very difficult country, mountainous and rocky, and thickly intersected +with stone walls, and were involved in one continued hard skirmish +from daylight until dark. This was the most harassing day's fighting +that I ever experienced. + +Daylight left the two armies looking at each other, near the village +of Illama. The smoking roofs of the houses showed that the French had +just quitted and, as usual, set fire to it, when the company to which +I belonged was ordered on piquet there for the night. After posting +our sentries, my brother-officer and myself had the curiosity to look +into a house, and were shocked to find in it a mother and her child +dead, and the father, with three more, living, but so much reduced by +famine as to be unable to remove themselves from the flames. We +carried them into the open air, and offered the old man our few +remaining crumbs of biscuit, but he told us that he was too far gone +to benefit by them, and begged that we would give them to his +children. We lost no time in examining such of the other houses as +were yet safe to enter, and rescued many more individuals from one +horrible death, probably to reserve them for another equally so, and +more lingering, as we had nothing to give them, and marched at +daylight the following morning. + +Our post that night was one of terrific grandeur. The hills behind +were in a blaze of light with the British camp-fires, as were those in +our front with the French ones. Both hills were abrupt and lofty, not +above eight hundred yards asunder, and we were in the burning village +in the valley between. The roofs of houses every instant falling in, +and the sparks and flames ascending to the clouds. The streets were +strewed with the dying and the dead,--some had been murdered and some +killed in action, which, together with the half-famished wretches whom +we had saved from burning, contributed in making it a scene which was +well-calculated to shake a stout heart, as was proved in the instance +of one of our sentries, a well known "devil-may-care" sort of fellow. +I know not what appearances the burning rafters might have reflected +on the neighbouring trees at the time, but he had not been long on his +post before he came running into the piquet, and swore, by all the +saints in the calendar, that he saw six dead Frenchmen advancing upon +him with hatchets over their shoulders! + +We found by the buttons on the coats of some of the fallen foe, that +we had this day been opposed to the French ninety-fifth regiment, (the +same number as we were then,) and I cut off several of them, which I +preserved as trophies. + +March 15th.--We overtook the enemy a little before dark this +afternoon. They were drawn up behind the Ceira, at Fez D'Aronce, with +their rear-guard, under Marshal Ney, imprudently posted on our side of +the river, a circumstance which Lord Wellington took immediate +advantage of; and, by a furious attack, dislodged them, in such +confusion, that they blew up the bridge before half of their own +people had time to get over. Those who were thereby left behind, not +choosing to put themselves to the pain of being shot, took to the +river, which received them so hospitably that few of them ever quitted +it. Their loss, on this occasion, must have been very great, and, we +understood, at the time, that Ney had been sent to France, in +disgrace, in consequence of it. + +About the middle of the action, I observed some inexperienced light +troops rushing up a deep road-way to certain destruction, and ran to +warn them out of it, but I only arrived in time to partake the reward +of their indiscretion, for I was instantly struck with a musket-ball +above the left ear, which deposited me, at full length, in the mud. + +I know not how long I lay insensible, but, on recovering, my first +_feeling_ was for my head, to ascertain if any part of it was still +standing, for it appeared to me as if nothing remained above the +mouth; but, after repeated applications of all my fingers and thumbs +to the doubtful parts, I, at length, proved to myself, satisfactorily, +that it had rather increased than diminished by the concussion; and, +jumping on my legs, and hearing, by the whistling of the balls from +both sides, that the rascals who had got me into the scrape had been +driven back and left me there, I snatched my cap, which had saved my +life, and which had been spun off my head to the distance of ten or +twelve yards, and joined them, a short distance in the rear, when one +of them, a soldier of the sixtieth, came and told me that an officer +of ours had been killed, a short time before, pointing to the spot +where I myself had fallen, and that he had tried to take his jacket +off, but that the advance of the enemy had prevented him. I told him +that I was the one that had been killed, and that I was deucedly +obliged to him for his _kind_ intentions, while I felt still more so +to the enemy for their timely advance, otherwise, I have no doubt, but +my _friend_ would have taken a fancy to my trousers also, for I found +that he had absolutely unbuttoned my jacket. + +There is nothing so gratifying to frail mortality as a good dinner +when most wanted and least expected. It was perfectly dark before the +action finished, but, on going to take advantage of the fires which +the enemy had evacuated, we found their soup-kettles in full +operation, and every man's mess of biscuit lying beside them, in +stockings, as was the French mode of carrying them; and it is needless +to say how unceremoniously we proceeded to do the honours of the +feast. It ever after became a saying among the soldiers, whenever they +were on short allowance, "well, d--n my eyes, we must either fall in +with the French or the commissary to-day, I don't care which." + +As our baggage was always in the rear on occasions of this kind, the +officers of each company had a Portuguese boy, in charge of a donkey, +on whom their little comforts depended. He carried our boat-cloaks and +blankets, was provided with a small pig-skin for wine, a canteen for +spirits, a small quantity of tea and sugar, a goat tied to the donkey, +and two or three dollars in his pocket, for the purchase of bread, +butter, or any other luxury which good fortune might throw in his way +in the course of the day's march. We were never very scrupulous in +exacting information regarding the source of his supplies; so that he +had nothing to dread from our wrath, unless he had the misfortune to +make his appearance empty-handed. They were singularly faithful and +intelligent in making their way to us every evening, under the most +difficult circumstances. This was the only night during Massena's +retreat in which ours failed to find us; and, wandering the greater +part of the night in the intricate maze of camp-fires, it appeared +that he slept, after all, among some dragoons, within twenty yards of +us. + + + + +CHAP. VI. + + Passage of the Mondego. Swearing to a large Amount. Two + Prisoners, with their Two Views. Two Nuns, Two Pieces of Dough, + and Two Kisses. A Halt. Affair near Frexedas. Arrival near + Guarda. Murder. A stray Sentry. Battle of Sabugal. Spanish and + Portuguese Frontiers. Blockade of Almeida. Battle-like. Current + Value of Lord Wellington's Nose. Battle of Fuentes D'Onor. The + Day after the Battle. A grave Remark. The _Padre's_ House. + Retreat of the Enemy. + + +March 17th.--Found the enemy's rear-guard behind the Mondego, at Ponte +de Marcella, cannonaded them out of it, and then threw a temporary +bridge across the river, and followed them until dark. + +The late Sir Alexander Campbell, who commanded the division next to +ours, by a wanton excess of zeal in expecting an order to follow, +would not permit any thing belonging to us to pass the bridge, for +fear of impeding the march of his troops; and, as he received no order +to march, we were thereby prevented from getting any thing whatever to +eat for the next thirty-six hours. I know not whether the curses of +individuals are recorded under such circumstances, but, if they are, +the gallant general will have found the united hearty ones of four +thousand men registered against him for that particular act. + +March 19th.--We, this day, captured the aide-de-camp of General +Loison, together with his wife, who was dressed in a splendid hussar +uniform. _He_ was a Portuguese, and a traitor, and looked very like a +man who would be hanged. _She_ was a Spaniard, and very handsome, and +looked very like a woman who would get married again. + +March 20th.--We had now been three days without any thing in the shape +of bread, and meat without it, after a time, becomes almost +loathsome. Hearing that we were not likely to march quite so early as +usual this morning, I started, before daylight, to a village about two +miles off, in the face of the Sierra D'Estrella, in the hopes of being +able to purchase something, as it lay out of the hostile line of +movements. On my arrival there, I found some nuns who had fled from a +neighbouring convent, waiting outside the building of the village-oven +for some Indian-corn-leaven, which they had carried there to be baked, +and, when I explained my pressing wants, two of them, very kindly, +transferred me their shares, for which I gave each a kiss and a dollar +between. They took the former as an unusual favour; but looked at the +latter, as much as to say, "our poverty, and not our will, consents." +I ran off with my half-baked dough, and joined my comrades, just as +they were getting under arms. + +March 21st.--We, this day, reached the town of Mello, and had so far +outmarched our commissary that we found it necessary to wait for him; +and, in stopping to get a sight of our friends, we lost sight of our +foes, a circumstance which I was by no means sorry for, as it enabled +my shoulders, once more, to rejoice under the load of a couple of +biscuits, and made me no longer ashamed to look a cow or a sheep in +the face, now that they were not required to furnish more than their +regulated proportions of my daily food. + +March 30th.--We had no difficulty in tracing the enemy, by the wrecks +of houses and the butchered peasantry; and overtook their rear-guard, +this day, busy grinding corn, in some windmills, near the village of +Frexedas. As their situation offered a fair opportunity for us to reap +the fruits of their labours, we immediately attacked and drove them +from it, and, after securing what we wanted, we withdrew again, across +the valley, to the village of Alverca, where we were not without some +reasonable expectations that they would have returned the compliment, +as we had only a few squadrons of dragoons in addition to our +battalion, and we had seen them withdraw a much stronger force from +the opposite village; but, by keeping a number of our men all night +employed in making extensive fires on the hill above, it induced them +to think that our force was much greater than it really was; and we +remained unmolested. + +The only person we had hit in this affair was our adjutant, Mr. +Stewart, who was shot through the head from a window. He was a gallant +soldier, and deeply lamented. We placed his body in a chest, and +buried it in front of Colonel Beckwith's quarters. + +March 31st.--At daylight, this morning, we moved to our right, along +the ridge of mountains, to Guarda: on our arrival there, we saw the +imposing spectacle of the whole of the French army winding through the +valley below, just out of gun-shot. + +On taking possession of one of the villages which they had just +evacuated, we found the body of a well-dressed female, whom they had +murdered by a horrible refinement in cruelty. She had been placed upon +her back, alive, in the middle of the street, with the fragment of a +rock upon her breast, which it required four of our men to remove. + +April 1st.--We overtook the enemy this afternoon, in position, behind +the Coa, at Sabugal, with their advanced posts on our side of the +river. + +I was sent on piquet for the night, and had my sentries within +half-musket shot of theirs: it was wet, dark, and stormy when I went, +about midnight, to visit them, and I was not a little annoyed to find +one missing. Recollecting who he was, a steady old soldier and the +last man in the world to desert his post, I called his name aloud, +when his answering voice, followed by the discharge of a musket, +reached me nearly at the same time, from the direction of one of the +French sentries; and, after some inquiry, I found that in walking his +lonely round, in a brown study, no doubt, he had each turn taken ten +or twelve paces to his front, and only half that number to the rear, +until he had gradually worked himself up to within a few yards of his +adversary; and it would be difficult to say which of the two was most +astonished--the one at hearing a voice, or the other a shot so near, +but all my rhetoric, aided by the testimony of the serjeant and the +other sentries, could not convince the fellow that he was not on the +identical spot on which I had posted him. + +April 2d.--We moved this day to the right, nearer to the bridge, and +some shots were exchanged between the piquets. + + +BATTLE OF SABUGAL, + +April 3d, 1811. + +Early this morning our division moved still farther to its right, and +our brigade led the way across a ford, which took us up to the middle; +while the balls from the enemy's advanced posts were hissing in the +water around us, we drove in their light troops and commenced a +furious assault upon their main body. Thus far all was right; but a +thick drizzling rain now came on, in consequence of which the third +division, which was to have made a simultaneous attack to our left, +missed their way, and a brigade of dragoons under Sir William Erskine, +who were to have covered our right, went the Lord knows where, but +certainly not into the fight, although they started at the same time +that we did, and had the _music_ of our rifles to guide them; and, +even the second brigade of our own division could not afford us any +support, for nearly an hour, so that we were thus unconsciously left +with about fifteen hundred men, in the very impertinent attempt to +carry a formidable position, on which stood as many thousands. + +The weather, which had deprived us of the aid of our friends, favoured +us so far as to prevent the enemy from seeing the amount of our paltry +force; and the conduct of our gallant fellows, led on by Sir Sidney +Beckwith, was so truly heroic, that, incredible as it may seem, we had +the best of the fight throughout. Our first attack was met by such +overwhelming numbers, that we were forced back and followed by three +heavy columns, before which we retired slowly, and keeping up a +destructive fire, to the nearest rising ground, where we re-formed and +instantly charged their advancing masses, sending them flying at the +point of the bayonet, and entering their position along with them, +where we were assailed by fresh forces. Three times did the very same +thing occur. In our third attempt we got possession of one of their +howitzers, for which a desperate struggle was making, when we were at +the same moment charged by infantry in front and cavalry on the right, +and again compelled to fall back; but, fortunately, at this moment we +were reinforced by the arrival of the second brigade, and, with their +aid, we once more stormed their position and secured the well-earned +howitzer, while the third division came at the same time upon their +flank, and they were driven from the field in the greatest disorder. + +Lord Wellington's despatch on this occasion did ample justice to Sir +Sidney Beckwith and his brave brigade. Never were troops more +judiciously or more gallantly led. Never was a leader more devotedly +followed. + +In the course of the action a man of the name of Knight fell dead at +my feet, and though I heard a musket ball strike him, I could neither +find blood nor wound. + +There was a little spaniel belonging to one of our officers running +about the whole time, barking at the balls, and I saw him once +smelling at a live shell, which exploded in his face without hurting +him. + +The strife had scarcely ended among mortals, when it was taken up by +the elements with terrific violence. The _Scotch mist_ of the morning +had now increased to torrents, enough to cool the fever of our late +excitement, and accompanied by thunder and lightning. As a compliment +for our exertions in the fight, we were sent into the town, and had +the advantage of whatever cover its dilapidated state afforded. While +those who had not had the chance of getting broken skins, had now the +benefit of sleeping in wet ones. + +On the 5th of April we entered the frontiers of Spain, and slept in a +bed for the first time since I left the ship. Passing from the +Portuguese to the Spanish frontier is about equal to taking one step +from the coal-hole into the parlour, for the cottages on the former +are reared with filth, furnished with ditto, and peopled accordingly; +whereas, those of Spain, even within the same mile, are neatly +whitewashed, both without and within, and the poorest of them can +furnish a good bed, with clean linen, and the pillow-cases neatly +adorned with pink and sky-blue ribbons, while their dear little girls +look smiling and neat as their pillow-cases. + +After the action at Sabugal, the enemy retired to the neighbourhood of +Ciudad Rodrigo, without our getting another look at them, and we took +up the line of the Agueda and Axava rivers, for the blockade of the +fortress of Almeida, in which they had left a garrison indifferently +provisioned. + +The garrison had no means of providing for their cattle, but by +turning them out to graze upon the glacis; and we sent a few of our +rifles to practice against them, which very soon reduced them to salt +provisions. + +Towards the end of April the French army began to assemble on the +opposite bank of the Agueda to attempt the relief of the garrison, while +ours began to assemble in position at Fuentes D'Onor to dispute it. + +Our division still continued to hold the same line of outposts, and +had several sharp affairs between the piquets at the bridge of +Marialva. + +As a general action seemed now to be inevitable, we anxiously longed +for the return of Lord Wellington, who had been suddenly called to the +corps of the army under Marshal Beresford, near Badajos, as we would +rather see his long nose in the fight than a reinforcement of ten +thousand men any day. Indeed, there was a charm not only about himself +but all connected with him, for which no odds could compensate. The +known abilities of Sir George Murray, the gallant bearing of the +lamented Pakenham, of Lord Fitzroy Somerset, of the present Duke of +Richmond, Sir Colin Campbell, with others, the flower of our young +nobility and gentry, who, under the auspices of such a chief, seemed +always a group attendant on victory; and I'll venture to say that +there was not a bosom in that army that did not beat more lightly, +when we heard the joyful news of his arrival, the day before the +enemy's advance. + +He had ordered us not to dispute the passage of the river, so that +when the French army advanced, on the morning of the 3d of May, we +retired slowly before them, across the plains of Espeja, and drew into +the position, where the whole army was now assembled. Our division +took post in reserve, in the left centre. Towards evening, the enemy +made a fierce attack on the Village of Fuentes, but were repulsed with +loss. + +On the 4th, both armies looked at each other all day without +exchanging shots. + + +BATTLE OF FUENTES D'ONOR, + +May 5th, 1811. + +The day began to dawn, this fine May morning, with a rattling fire of +musketry on the extreme right of our position, which the enemy had +attacked, and to which point our division was rapidly moved. + +Our battalion was thrown into a wood, a little to the left and front +of the division engaged, and was instantly warmly opposed to the +French skirmishers; in the course of which I was struck with a +musket-ball on the left breast, which made me stagger a yard or two +backward, and, as I felt no pain, I concluded that I was dangerously +wounded; but it turned out to be owing to my not being hurt. While our +operations here were confined to a tame skirmish, and our view to the +oaks with which we were mingled, we found, by the evidence of our +ears, that the division which we had come to support was involved in a +more serious onset, for _there_ was the successive rattle of +artillery, the wild hurrah of charging squadrons, and the repulsing +volley of musketry; until Lord Wellington, finding his right too much +extended, directed _that_ division to fall back behind the small river +Touronne, and ours to join the main body of the army. The execution of +our movement presented a magnificent military spectacle, as the plain, +between us and the right of the army, was by this time in possession +of the French cavalry, and, while we were retiring through it with the +order and precision of a common field-day, they kept dancing around +us, and every instant threatening a charge, without daring to execute +it. + +We took up our new position at a right angle with the then right of +the British line, on which our left rested, and with our right on the +Touronne. The enemy followed our movement with a heavy column of +infantry; but, when they came near enough to exchange shots, they did +not seem to like our looks, as we occupied a low ridge of broken +rocks, against which even a rat could scarcely have hoped to advance +alive; and they again fell back, and opening a tremendous fire of +artillery, which was returned by a battery of our guns. In the course +of a short time, seeing no further demonstration against this part of +the position, our division was withdrawn, and placed in reserve in +rear of the centre. + +The battle continued to rage with fury in and about the village, +whilst we were lying by our arms under a burning hot sun, some stray +cannon-shot passing over and about us, whose progress we watched for +want of other employment. One of them bounded along in the direction +of an _amateur_, whom we had for some time been observing securely +placed, as he imagined, behind a piece of rock, which stood about five +feet above the ground, and over which nothing but his head was shown, +sheltered from the sun by an umbrella. The shot in question touched +the ground three or four times between us and him; he saw it +coming--lowered his umbrella, and withdrew his head. Its expiring +bound carried it into the very spot where he had that instant +disappeared. I hope he was not hurt; but the thing looked so +ridiculous that it excited a shout of laughter, and we saw no more of +him. + +A little before dusk, in the evening, our battalion was ordered +forward to relieve the troops engaged in the village, part of which +still remained in possession of the enemy, and I saw, by the mixed +nature of the dead, in every part of the streets, that it had been +successively in possession of both sides. The firing ceased with the +daylight, and I was sent, with a section of men, in charge of one of +the streets for the night. There was a wounded Serjeant of highlanders +lying on my post. A ball had passed through the back part of his head, +from which the brain was oozing, and his only sign of life was a +convulsive hiccough every two or three seconds. I sent for a medical +friend to look at him, who told me that he could not survive; I then +got a mattress from the nearest house, placed the poor fellow on it, +and made use of one corner as a pillow for myself, on which, after +the fatigues of the day, and though called occasionally to visit my +sentries, I slept most soundly. The highlander died in the course of +the night. + +When we stood to our arms, at daybreak next morning, we found the +enemy busy throwing up a six-gun battery, immediately in front of our +company's post, and we immediately set to work, with our whole hearts +and souls, and placed a wall, about twelve feet thick, between us, +which, no doubt, still remains there in the same garden, as a monument +of what can be effected, in a few minutes, by a hundred modern men, +when their personal safety is concerned; not but that the proprietor, +in the midst of his admiration, would rather see a good bed of garlic +on the spot, manured with the bodies of the architects. + +When the sun began to shine on the pacific disposition of the enemy, +we proceeded to consign the dead to their last earthly mansions, +giving every Englishman a grave to himself, and putting as many +Frenchmen into one as it could conveniently accommodate. Whilst in +the superintendence of this melancholy duty, and ruminating on the +words of the poet:-- + + "There's not a form of all that lie + Thus ghastly, wild and bare, + Tost, bleeding, in the stormy sky, + Black in the burning air, + But to his knee some infant clung, + But on his heart some fond heart hung!" + +I was grieved to think that the souls of deceased warriors should be +so selfish as to take to flight in their regimentals, for I never saw +the body of one with a rag on after battle. + +The day after one of those negative sort of victories is always one of +intense interest. The movements on each side are most jealously +watched, and each side is diligently occupied in strengthening such +points as the fight of the preceding day had proved to be the most +vulnerable. + +Lord Wellington was too deficient in his cavalry force to justify his +following up his victory; and the enemy, on their parts, had been too +roughly handled, in their last attempt, to think of repeating the +experiment; so that, during the next two days, though both armies +continued to hold the same ground, there was scarcely a shot +exchanged. + +They had made a few prisoners, chiefly guardsmen and highlanders, whom +they marched past the front of our position, in the most ostentatious +way, on the forenoon of the 6th; and, the day following, a number of +their regiments were paraded in the most imposing manner for review. +They looked uncommonly well, and we were proud to think that we had +beaten such fine-looking fellows so lately! + +Our regiment had been so long and so often quartered in Fuentes that +it was like fighting for our fire-sides. The _Padre's_ house stood at +the top of the town. He was an old friend of ours, and an old fool, +for he would not leave his house until it was too late to take +anything with him; but, curious enough, although it had been +repeatedly in the possession of both sides, and plundered, no doubt, +by many expert artists, yet none of them thought of looking so high as +the garret, which happened to be the repository of his money and +provisions. He came to us the day after the battle, weeping over his +supposed loss, like a sensitive Christian, and I accompanied him to +the house, to see whether there was not some consolation remaining for +him; but, when he found his treasure safe, he could scarcely bear its +restoration with becoming gravity. I helped him to carry off his bag +of dollars, and he returned the compliment with a leg of mutton. + +The French army retired on the night of the 7th, leaving Almeida to +its fate; but, by an extraordinary piece of luck, the garrison made +their escape the night after, in consequence of some mistake or +miscarriage of an order, which prevented a British regiment from +occupying the post intended for it. + +May 8th.--We advanced this morning, and occupied our former post at +Espeja, with some hopes of remaining quiet for a few days; but the +alarm sounding at daylight on the following morning, we took post on +the hill, in front of the village. It turned out to be only a patrole +of French cavalry, who retired on receiving a few shots from our +piquets, and we saw no more of them for a considerable time. + + + + +CHAP. VII. + + March to Estremadura. At Soito, growing Accommodations for Man + and Beast. British Taste displayed by Portuguese Wolves. False + Alarm. Luxuries of Roquingo Camp. A Chaplain of the Forces. + Return towards the North. Quarters near Castello de Vide. + Blockade of Ciudad Rodrigo. Village of Atalya; Fleas abundant; + Food scarce. Advance of the French Army. Affairs near Guinaldo. + Our Minister administered to. An unexpected Visit from our + General and his Followers. End of the Campaign of 1811. Winter + Quarters. + + +Lord Wellington, soon after the battle of Fuentes, was again called +into Estremadura, to superintend the operations of the corps of the +army under Marshal Beresford, who had, in the mean time, fought the +battle of Albuera, and laid siege to Badajos. In the beginning of +June our division was ordered thither also, to be in readiness to aid +his operations. We halted one night at the village of Soito, where +there are a great many chestnut trees of very extraordinary +dimensions; the outside of the trunk keeps growing as the inside +decays. I was one of a party of four persons who dined inside of one, +and I saw two or three horses put up in several others. + +We halted, also, one night on the banks of the Coa, near Sabugal, and +visited our late field of battle. We found that the dead had been +nearly all torn from their graves, and devoured by wolves, who are in +great force in that wild mountainous district, and shew very little +respect either for man or beast. They seldom, indeed, attack a man; +but if one happens to tie his horse to a tree, and leaves him +unattended, for a short time, he must not be surprised if he finds, on +his return, that he has parted with a good _rump steak_; _that_ is the +piece that they always prefer; and it is, therefore, clear to me, +that the first of the wolves must have been reared in England! + +We experienced, in the course of this very dark night, one of those +ridiculous false alarms which will sometimes happen in the best +organized body. Some bullocks strayed, by accident, amongst the piles +of arms, the falling clatter of which, frightened them so much that +they went galloping over the sleeping soldiers. The officers' +baggage-horses broke from their _moorings_, and joined in the general +charge; and a cry immediately arose, that it was the French cavalry. +The different regiments stood to their arms, and formed squares, +looking as sharp as thunder for something to fire at; and it was a +considerable time before the cause of the _row_ could be traced. The +different followers of the army, in the mean time, were scampering off +to the rear, spreading the most frightful reports. One woman of the +52d succeeded in getting three leagues off before daylight, and swore, +"that, as God was her judge, she did not leave her regiment until she +saw the last man of them cut to pieces!!!" + +On our arrival near Elvas, we found that Marshal Beresford had raised +the siege of Badajos; and we were, therefore, encamped on the river +Caya, near Roquingo. This was a sandy unsheltered district; and the +weather was so excessively hot, that we had no enjoyment, but that of +living three parts of the day up to the neck in a pool of water. + +Up to this period it had been a matter of no small difficulty to +ascertain, at any time, the day of the week; that of the month was +altogether out of the question, and could only be reckoned by counting +back to the date of the last battle; but our division was here joined +by a chaplain, whose duty it was to remind us of these things. He +might have been a very good man, but he was not prepossessing, either +in his appearance or manners. I remember, the first Sunday after his +arrival, the troops were paraded for divine service, and had been some +time waiting in square, when he at length rode into the centre of it, +with his tall, lank, ungainly figure, mounted on a starved, untrimmed, +unfurnished horse, and followed by a Portuguese boy, with his +canonicals and prayer-books on the back of a mule, with a hay-bridle, +and having, by way of clothing, about half a pair of straw breeches. +This spiritual comforter was the least calculated of any one that I +ever saw to excite devotion in the minds of men, who had seen nothing +in the shape of a divine for a year or two. + +In the beginning of August we began to retrace our steps towards the +north. We halted a few days in Portalegre, and a few more at Castello +de Vide. + +The latter place is surrounded by extensive gardens, belonging to the +richer citizens; in each of which there is a small summer-house, +containing one or two apartments, in which the proprietor, as I can +testify, may have the enjoyment of being fed upon by a more healthy +and better appetized flea, than is to be met with in town houses in +general. + +These _quintas_ fell to the lot of our battalion; and though their +beds, on that account, had not much sleep in them, yet, as those who +preferred the voice of the nightingale in a bed of cabbages, to the +pinch of a flea in a bed of feathers, had the alternative at their +option; I enjoyed my sojourn there very much. Each garden had a +bathing tank, with a plentiful supply of water, which at that season +was really a luxury; and they abounded in choice fruits. I there +formed an attachment to a mulberry-tree, which is still fondly +cherished in my remembrance. + +We reached the scene of our former operations, in the north, towards +the end of August. + +The French had advanced and blockaded Almeida, during our absence, but +they retired again on our approach, and we took up a more advanced +position than before, for the blockade of Ciudad Rodrigo. + +Our battalion occupied Atalya, a little village at the foot of the +Sierra de Gata, and in front of the River Vadilla. On taking +possession of my quarter, the people showed me an outhouse, which, +they said, I might use as a stable, and I took my horse into it, but, +seeing the floor strewed with what appeared to be a small brown seed, +heaps of which lay in each corner, as if shovelled together in +readiness to take to market, I took up a handful, out of curiosity, +and, truly, they were a curiosity, for I found that they were all +regular fleas, and that they were proceeding to eat both me and my +horse, without the smallest ceremony. I rushed out of the place, and +knocked them down by fistfuls, and never yet could comprehend the +cause of their congregating together in such a place. + +This neighbourhood had been so long the theatre of war, and +alternately forced to supply both armies, that the inhabitants, at +length, began to dread starvation themselves, and concealed, for their +private use, all that remained to them; so that, although they were +bountiful in their assurances of good wishes, it was impossible to +extract a loaf of their good bread, of which we were so wildly in want +that we were obliged to conceal patroles on the different roads and +footpaths, for many miles around, to search the peasants passing +between the different villages, giving them an order on the commissary +for whatever we took from them; and we were not too proud to take even +a few potatoes out of an old woman's basket. + +On one occasion, when some of us were out shooting, we discovered +about twenty hives of bees, in the face of a glen, concealed among the +gumcestus, and, stopping up the mouth of one them, we carried it home +on our shoulders, bees and all, and continued to levy contributions on +the _depot_ as long as we remained there. + +Towards the end of September, the garrison of Ciudad Rodrigo began to +get on such "short commons" that _Marmont_, who had succeeded +_Massena_, in the command of the French army, found it necessary to +assemble the whole of his forces, to enable him to throw provisions +into it. + +Lord Wellington was still pursuing his defensive system, and did not +attempt to oppose him; but Marmont, after having effected his object, +thought that he might as well take that opportunity of beating up our +quarters, in return for the trouble we had given him; and, +accordingly, on the morning of the 25th, he attacked a brigade of the +third division, stationed at El Bedon, which, after a brilliant +defence and retreat, conducted him opposite to the British position, +in front of Fuente Guinaldo. He busied himself, the whole of the +following day, in bringing up his troops for the attack. Our division, +in the mean time, remained on the banks of the Vadillo, and had nearly +been cut off, through the obstinacy of General Crawford, who did not +choose to obey an order he received to retire the day before; but we, +nevertheless, succeeded in joining the army, by a circuitous route, on +the afternoon of the 26th; and, the whole of both armies being now +assembled, we considered a battle on the morrow as inevitable. + +Lord Wellington, however, was not disposed to accommodate them on this +occasion; for, about the middle of the night, we received an order to +stand to our arms, with as little noise as possible, and to commence +retiring, the rest of the army having been already withdrawn, unknown +to us; an instance of the rapidity and uncertainty of our movements +which proved fatal to the liberty of several amateurs and followers of +the army, who, seeing an army of sixty thousand men lying asleep +around their camp-fires, at ten o'clock at night, naturally concluded +that they might safely indulge in a bed in the village behind, until +daylight, without the risk of being caught napping; but, long ere that +time, they found themselves on the high road to Ciudad Rodrigo, in the +rude grasp of an enemy. Amongst others, was the chaplain of our +division, whose outward man, as I have already said, conveyed no very +exalted notion of the respectability of his profession, and who was +treated with greater indignity than usually fell to the lot of +prisoners, for, after keeping him a couple of days, and finding that, +however gifted he might have been in spiritual lore, he was as +ignorant as Dominie Sampson on military matters; and, conceiving good +provisions to be thrown away upon him, they stripped him nearly naked +and dismissed him, like the barber in Gil Blas, with a kick in the +breech, and sent him in to us in a woful state. + +September 27th.--General Crawford remained behind us this morning, +with a troop of dragoons, to reconnoitre; and, while we were marching +carelessly along the road, he and his dragoons galloped right into our +column, with a cloud of French ones at his heels. Luckily, the ground +was in our favour; and, dispersing our men among the broken rocks, on +both sides of the road, we sent them back somewhat faster than they +came on. They were, however, soon replaced by their infantry, with +whom we continued in an uninteresting skirmish all day. There was some +sharp firing, the whole of the afternoon, to our left; and we retired, +in the evening, to Soito. + +This affair terminated the campaign of 1811, as the enemy retired the +same night, and we advanced next day to resume the blockade of +Rodrigo; and were suffered to remain quietly in cantonments until the +commencement of a new year. + +In every interval between our active services, we indulged in all +manner of childish trick and amusement, with an avidity and delight of +which it is impossible to convey an adequate idea. We lived united, as +men always are who are daily staring death in the face on the same +side, and who, caring little about it, look upon each new day added to +their lives as one more to rejoice in. + +We invited the villagers, every evening, to a dance at our quarters +alternately. A Spanish peasant girl has an address about her which I +have never met with in the same class of any other country; and she at +once enters into society with the ease and confidence of one who had +been accustomed to it all her life. We used to flourish away at the +bolero, fandango, and waltz, and wound up early in the evening with a +supper of roasted chestnuts. + +Our village _belles_, as already stated, made themselves perfectly at +home in our society, and we, too, should have enjoyed theirs for a +season; but, when month after month, and year after year, continued to +roll along, without producing any change, we found that the cherry +cheek and sparkling eye of rustic beauty furnished but a very poor +apology for the illuminated portion of Nature's fairest works, and +ardently longed for an opportunity of once more feasting our eyes on a +_lady_. + +In the month of December, we heard that the chief magistrate of +Rodrigo, with whom we were personally acquainted, had, with his +daughter and two other young ladies, taken shelter in Robledillo, a +little town in the Sierra de Gata, which, being within our range, +presented an attraction not to be resisted. + +Half-a-dozen of us immediately resolved ourselves into a committee of +ways and means. We had six months' pay due to us; so that the fandango +might have been danced in either of our pockets without the smallest +risk; but we had this consolation for our poverty, that there was +nothing to be bought, even if we had the means. Our only resource, +therefore, was to lighten the cares of such of our brother-officers as +were fortunate enough to have any thing to lose; and, at this moment +of doubt and difficulty, a small flock of turkeys, belonging to our +major, presented themselves, most imprudently, grazing opposite the +windows of our council-chamber, two of which were instantly committed +to the bottom of a sack, as a foundation to go upon. One of our spies, +soon after, apprehended a sheep, the property of another officer, +which was committed to the same place; and, getting the commissary to +advance us a few extra loaves of bread, some ration beef, and a +pig-skin full of wine, we placed a servant on a mule, with the whole +concern tackled to him, and proceeded on our journey. + +In passing over the mountain, we saw a wild boar bowling along, in the +midst of a snow-storm, and, voting them fitting companions, we +suffered him to pass, (particularly as he did not come within shot). + +On our arrival at Robledillo, we met with the most cordial reception +from the old magistrate; who, entering into the spirit of our visit, +provided us with quarters, and filled our room in the evening with +every body worth seeing in the place. We were malicious enough, by way +of amusement, to introduce a variety of absurd pastimes, under the +pretence of their being English, and which, by virtue thereof, were +implicitly adopted. We, therefore, passed a regular romping evening; +and, at a late hour, having conducted the ladies to their homes, some +friars, who were of the party, very kindly, intended doing us the same +favour, and, with that view, had begun to precede us with their +lanterns, but, in the frolic of the moment, we set upon them with +snow-balls, some of which struck upon their broad shoulders, while +others fizzed against their fiery faces, and, in their astonishment +and alarm, all sanctimony was forgotten; their oaths flew as thick as +our snow-balls, while they ran ducking their heads and dousing their +lights, for better concealment; but we, nevertheless, persevered until +we had pelted each to his own home. + +We were, afterwards, afraid that we had carried the joke rather too +far, and entertained some doubts as to the propriety of holding our +quarters for another day; but they set our minds at rest on that +point, by paying us an early visit in the morning, and seemed to enjoy +the joke in a manner that we could not have expected from the gravity +of their looks. + +We passed two more days much in the same manner, and, on the third, +returned to our cantonments, and found that our division had moved, +during our absence, into some villages nearer to Ciudad Rodrigo, +preparatory to the siege of that place. + +On inquiry, we found that we had never been suspected for the +_abduction_ of the sheep and turkeys, but that the blame, on the +contrary, had been attached to the poor soldiers, whose soup had been +tasted every day to see if it savoured of such dainties. The +proprietor of the turkeys was so particularly indignant that we +thought it prudent not to acknowledge ourselves as the culprits until +some time afterwards, when, as one of our party happened to be killed +in action, we, very uncharitably, put the whole of it on his +shoulders. + + + + +CHAP. VIII. + + Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo. The Garrison of an Outwork relieved. + Spending an Evening abroad. A Musical Study. An Addition to Soup. + A short Cut. Storming of the Town. A sweeping Clause. Advantages + of leading a Storming Party. Looking for a Customer. + Disadvantages of being a stormed Party. Confusion of all Parties. + A waking Dream. Death of General Crawford. Accident. Deaths. + + +SIEGE OF CIUDAD RODRIGO, + +January 8th, 1812. + +The campaign of 1812 commenced with the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, which +was invested by our division on the 8th of January. + +There was a smartish frost, with some snow on the ground; and, when we +arrived opposite the fortress, about midday, the garrison did not +appear to think that we were in earnest, for a number of their +officers came out, under the shelter of a stone-wall, within half +musket-shot, and amused themselves in saluting and bowing to us in +ridicule; but, ere the day was done, some of them had occasion to wear +the laugh on the opposite side of the countenance. + +We lay by our arms until dark, when a party, consisting of a hundred +volunteers from each regiment, under Colonel Colborne, of the +fifty-second, stormed and carried the Fort of St. Francisco, after a +short sharp action, in which the whole of its garrison were taken or +destroyed. The officer who commanded it was a chattering little +fellow, and acknowledged himself to have been one of our saluting +friends of the morning. He kept, incessantly, repeating a few words of +English which he had picked up during the assault, and the only ones, +I fancy, that were spoken, viz. "dem eyes, b--t eyes!" and, in +demanding the meaning of them, he required that we should, also, +explain why we stormed a place without first besieging it; for, he +said, that another officer would have relieved him of his charge at +daylight, had _we_ not _relieved_ him of it sooner. + +The enemy had calculated that this outwork would have kept us at bay +for a fortnight or three weeks; whereas, its capture, the first night, +enabled us to break ground at once, within breaching distance of the +walls of the town. They kept up a very heavy fire the whole night on +the working parties; but, as they aimed at random, we did not suffer +much; and made such good use of our time that, when daylight enabled +them to see what we were doing, we had dug ourselves under tolerable +cover. + +In addition to ours, the first, third, and fourth divisions were +employed in the siege. Each took the duties for twenty-four hours +alternately, and returned to their cantonments during the interval. + +We were relieved by the first division, under Sir Thomas Graham, on +the morning of the 9th, and marched to our quarters. + +Jan. 12th.--At ten o'clock this morning we resumed the duties of the +siege. It still continued to be dry frosty weather; and, as we were +obliged to ford the Agueda, up to the middle, every man carried a pair +of iced breeches into the trenches with him. + +My turn of duty did not arrive until eight in the evening, when I was +ordered to take thirty men with shovels to dig holes for ourselves, as +near as possible to the walls, for the delectable amusement of firing +at the embrasures for the remainder of the night. The enemy threw +frequent fire-balls among us, to see where we were; but, as we always +lay snug until their blaze was extinguished, they were not much the +wiser, except by finding, from having some one popt off from their +guns every instant, that they had got some neighbours whom they would +have been glad to get rid of. + +We were relieved as usual at ten next morning, and returned to our +cantonments. + +January 16th.--Entered on our third day's duty, and found the +breaching batteries in full operation, and our approaches close to the +walls on every side. When we arrived on the ground I was sent to take +command of the highland company, which we had at that time in the +regiment, and which was with the left wing, under Colonel Cameron. I +found them on piquet, between the right of the trenches and the river, +half of them posted at a mud-cottage, and the other half in a ruined +convent, close under the walls. It was a very tolerable post when at +it; but it is no joke travelling by daylight up to within a stone's +throw of a wall, on which there is a parcel of fellows who have no +other amusement but to fire at every body they see. + +We could not show our noses at any point without being fired at; but, +as we were merely posted there to protect the right flank of the +trenches from any sortie, we did not fire at them, and kept as quiet +as could be, considering the deadly blast that was blowing around us. +There are few situations in life where something cannot be learnt, and +I, myself, stand indebted to my twenty-four hours' residence there, +for a more correct knowledge of martial sounds than in the study of my +whole life time besides. They must be an unmusical pair of ears that +cannot inform the wearer whither a cannon or a musket played last, but +the various _notes_, emanating from their respective mouths, admit of +nice distinctions. My party was too small, and too well sheltered to +repay the enemy for the expense of shells and round shot; but the +quantity of grape and musketry aimed at our particular heads, made a +good concert of first and second whistles, while the more sonorous +voice of the round shot, travelling to our friends on the left, acted +as a thorough bass; and there was not a shell, that passed over us to +the trenches, that did not send back a fragment among us as soon as it +burst, as if to gratify a curiosity that I was far from expressing. + +We went into the cottage soon after dark, to partake of something that +had been prepared for dinner; and, when in the middle of it, a round +shot passed through both walls, immediately over our heads, and +garnished the soup with a greater quantity of our parent earth than +was quite palatable. + +We were relieved, as usual, by the first division, at ten next +morning; and, to avoid as much as possible the destructive fire from +the walls, they sent forward only three or four men at a time, and we +sent ours away in the same proportions. + +Every thing is by comparison in this world, and it is curious to +observe how men's feelings change with circumstances. In cool blood a +man would rather go a little out of his way than expose himself to +unnecessary danger; but we found, this morning, that by crossing the +river where we then were, and running the gauntlet for a mile, exposed +to the fire of two pieces of artillery, that we should be saved the +distance of two or three miles in returning to our quarters. After +coming out of such a _furnace_ as we had been frying in, the other +fire was not considered a fire at all, and passed without a moment's +hesitation. + + +STORMING OF CIUDAD RODRIGO. + +January 19th, 1812.--We moved to the scene of operations, about two +o'clock this afternoon; and, as it was a day before our regular turn, +we concluded that we were called there to lend a hand in finishing the +job we had begun so well; nor were we disappointed, for we found that +two practicable breaches had been effected, and that the place was to +be stormed in the evening by the third and light divisions, the former +by the right breach, and the latter by the left, while some Portuguese +troops were to attempt an escalade on the opposite sides of the town. + +About eight o'clock in the evening our division was accordingly formed +for the assault, behind a convent, near the left breach, in the +following order:--viz. + + 1st. Four companies of our battalion, under Colonel Cameron, to + line the crest of the glacis, and fire upon the ramparts. + + 2d. Some companies of Portuguese, carrying bags filled with hay + and straw, for throwing into the ditch, to facilitate the passage + of the storming party. + + 3d. The _forlorn hope_, consisting of an officer and twenty-five + volunteers. + + 4th. The _storming party_, consisting of three officers and one + hundred volunteers from each regiment, the officers from ours + were Captain Mitchell, Mr. Johnstone, and myself, and the whole + under the command of Major Napier, of the fifty-second. + + 5th. The main body of the division, under General Crawford, with + one brigade, under Major-General Vandeleur, and the other under + Colonel Barnard. + +At a given signal the different columns advanced to the assault; the +night was tolerably clear, and the enemy evidently expected us; for, +as soon as we turned the corner of the convent-wall, the space +between us and the breach became one blaze of light with their +fire-balls, which, while they lighted us on to glory, lightened not a +few of their lives and limbs; for the whole glacis was in consequence +swept by a well directed fire of grape and musketry, and they are the +devil's own brooms; but our gallant fellows walked through it, to the +point of attack, with the most determined steadiness, excepting the +Portuguese sack-bearers, most of whom lay down behind their bags, to +wait the result, while the few that were thrown into the ditch looked +so like dead bodies, that, when I leapt into it, I tried to avoid +them. + +The advantage of being on a storming party is considered as giving the +prior claim to be _put out of pain_, for they receive the first fire, +which is generally the best, not to mention that they are also +expected to receive the earliest salutation from the beams of timber, +hand-grenades, and other missiles, which the garrison are generally +prepared to transfer from the top of the wall, to the tops of the +heads of their foremost visitors. But I cannot say that I, myself, +experienced any such preference, for every ball has a considerable +distance to travel, and I have generally found them equally ready to +pick up their man at the end, as at the beginning of their flight; +luckily, too, the other preparations cannot always be accommodated to +the moment, so that, on the whole, the _odds_ are pretty _even_, that, +all concerned come in for an equal share of whatever happens to be +going on. + +We had some difficulty at first in finding the breach, as we had +entered the ditch opposite to a ravelin, which we mistook for a +bastion. I tried first one side of it and then the other, and seeing +one corner of it a good deal battered, with a ladder placed against +it, I concluded that it must be the breach, and calling to the +soldiers near me, to follow. I mounted with the most ferocious intent, +carrying a sword in one hand and a pistol in the other; but, when I +got up, I found nobody to fight with, except two of our own men, who +were already laid dead across the top of the ladder. I saw, in a +moment, that I had got into the wrong box, and was about to descend +again, when I heard a shout from the opposite side, that the breach +was there; and, moving in that direction, I dropped myself from the +ravelin, and landed in the ditch, opposite to the foot of the breach, +where I found the head of the storming party just beginning to fight +their way into it. The combat was of short duration, and, in less than +half an hour from the commencement of the attack, the place was in our +possession. + +After carrying the breach, we met with no further opposition, and +moved round the ramparts to see that they were perfectly clear of the +enemy, previous to entering the town. I was fortunate enough to take +the left-hand circuit, by accident, and thereby escaped the fate which +befel a great portion of those who went to the right, and who were +blown up, along with some of the third division, by the accidental +explosion of a magazine. + +I was highly amused, in moving round the ramparts, to find some of the +Portuguese troops just commencing their escalade, on the opposite +side, near the bridge, in ignorance of the place having already +fallen. Gallantly headed by their officers, they had got some ladders +placed against the wall, while about two thousand voices from the rear +were cheering, with all their might, for mutual encouragement; and, +like most other troops, under similar circumstances, it appeared to me +that their feet and their tongues went at a more equal pace after we +gave them the hint. On going a little further, we came opposite to the +ravelin, which had been my chief annoyance during my last days' +piquet. It was still crowded by the enemy, who had now thrown down +their arms, and endeavoured to excite our pity by virtue of their +being "Pauvres Italianos;" but our men had, somehow, imbibed a +horrible antipathy to the Italians, and every appeal they made in that +name was invariably answered with,--"You're Italians, are you? then, +d--n you, here's a shot for you;" and the action instantly followed +the word. + +A town taken by storm presents a frightful scene of outrage. The +soldiers no sooner obtain possession of it, than they think themselves +at liberty to do what they please. It is enough for them that there +_had_ been an enemy on the ramparts; and, without considering that the +poor inhabitants may, nevertheless, be friends and allies, they, in +the first moment of excitement, all share one common fate; and nothing +but the most extraordinary exertions on the part of the officers can +bring them back to a sense of their duty. + +We continued our course round the ramparts until we met the head of +the column which had gone by the right, and then descended into the +town. At the entrance of the first street, a French officer came out +of a door and claimed my protection, giving me his sword. He told me +that there was another officer in the same house who was afraid to +venture out, and entreated that I would go in for him. I, accordingly, +followed him up to the landing-place of a dark stair, and, while he +was calling to his friend, by name, to come down, "as there was an +English officer present who would protect him," a violent screaming +broke through a door at my elbow. I pushed it open, and found the +landlady struggling with an English soldier, whom I immediately +transferred to the bottom of the stair head foremost. The French +officer had followed me in at the door, and was so astonished at all +he saw, that he held up his hands, turned up the whites of his eyes, +and resolved himself into a state of the most eloquent silence. When +he did recover the use of his tongue, it was to recommend his landlady +to my notice, as the most amiable woman in existence. She, on her +part, professed the most unbounded gratitude, and entreated that I +would make her house my home forever; but, when I called upon her, a +few days after, she denied having ever seen me before, and stuck to it +most religiously. + +As the other officer could not be found, I descended into the street +again with my prisoner; and, finding the current of soldiers setting +towards the centre of the town, I followed the stream, which conducted +me into the great square, on one side of which the late garrison were +drawn up as prisoners, and the rest of it was filled with British and +Portuguese intermixed, without any order or regularity. I had been +there but a very short time, when they all commenced firing, without +any ostensible cause; some fired in at the doors and windows, some at +the roofs of houses, and others at the clouds; and, at last, some +heads began to be blown from their shoulders in the general hurricane, +when the voice of Sir Thomas Picton, with the power of twenty +trumpets, began to proclaim damnation to every body, while Colonel +Barnard, Colonel Cameron, and some other active officers, were +carrying it into effect with a strong hand; for, seizing the broken +barrels of muskets, which were lying about in great abundance, they +belaboured every fellow, most unmercifully, about the head who +attempted either to load or fire, and finally succeeded in reducing +them to order. In the midst of the scuffle, however, three of the +houses in the square were set on fire; and the confusion was such that +nothing could be done to save them; but, by the extraordinary +exertions of Colonel Barnard, during the whole of the night, the +flames were prevented from communicating to the adjoining buildings. + +We succeeded in getting a great portion of our battalion together by +one o'clock in the morning, and withdrew with them to the ramparts, +where we lay by our arms until daylight. + +There is nothing in this life half so enviable as the feelings of a +soldier after a victory. Previous to a battle, there is a certain sort +of something that pervades the mind which is not easily defined; it is +neither akin to joy or fear, and, probably, _anxiety_ may be nearer to +it than any other word in the dictionary: but, when the battle is +over, and crowned with victory, he finds himself elevated for awhile +into the regions of absolute bliss! It had ever been the summit of my +ambition to attain a post at the head of a storming party:--my wish +had now been accomplished, and gloriously ended; and I do think that, +after all was over, and our men laid asleep on the ramparts, that I +strutted about as important a personage, in my own opinion, as ever +trod the face of the earth; and, had the ghost of the renowned +Jack-the-giant-killer itself passed that way at the time, I'll venture +to say, that I would have given it a kick in the breech without the +smallest ceremony. But, as the sun began to rise, I began to fall from +the heroics; and, when he showed his face, I took a look at my own, +and found that I was too unclean a spirit to worship, for I was +covered with mud and dirt, with the greater part of my dress torn to +rags. + +The fifth division, which had not been employed in the siege, marched +in, and took charge of the town, on the morning of the 20th, and we +prepared to return to our cantonments. Lord Wellington happened to be +riding in at the gate at the time that we were marching out, and had +the curiosity to ask the officer of the leading company, what regiment +it was, for there was scarcely a vestige of uniform among the men, +some of whom were dressed in Frenchmen's coats, some in white +breeches, and huge jack-boots, some with cocked hats and queues; most +of their swords were fixed on the rifles, and stuck full of hams, +tongues, and loaves of bread, and not a few were carrying bird-cages! +There never was a better masked corps! + +General Crawford fell on the glacis, at the head of our division, and +was buried at the foot of the breach which they so gallantly carried. +His funeral was attended by Lord Wellington, and all the officers of +the division, by whom he was, ultimately, much liked. He had +introduced a system of discipline into the light division which made +them unrivalled. A very rigid exaction of the duties pointed out in +his code of regulations made him very unpopular at its commencement, +and it was not until a short time before he was lost to us for ever, +that we were capable of appreciating his merits, and fully sensible of +the incalculable advantages we derived from the perfection of his +system. + +Among other things carried from Ciudad Rodrigo, one of our men had the +misfortune to carry his death in his hands, under the mistaken shape +of amusement. He thought that it was a cannon-ball, and took it for +the purpose of playing at the game of nine-holes, but it happened to +be a live shell. In rolling it along it went over a bed of burning +ashes, and ignited without his observing it. Just as he had got it +between his legs, and was in the act of discharging it a second time, +it exploded, and nearly blew him to pieces. + +Several men of our division, who had deserted while we were blockading +Ciudad Rodrigo, were taken when it fell, and were sentenced to be +shot. Lord Wellington extended mercy to every one who could procure +any thing like a good character from his officers; but six of them, +who could not, were paraded and shot, in front of the division, near +the village of Ituera. Shooting appears to me to be a cruel kind of +execution, for twenty balls may pierce a man's body without touching a +vital spot. On the occasion alluded to, two of the men remained +standing after the first fire, and the Provost-Marshal was obliged to +put an end to their sufferings, by placing the muzzle of a piece at +each of their heads. + + + + +CHAP. IX. + + March to Estremadura. A Deserter shot. Riding for an Appetite. + Effect the Cure of a sick Lady. Siege of Badajos. Trench-Work. + Varieties during the Siege. Taste of the Times. Storming of the + Town. Its Fall. Officers of a French Battalion. Not shot by + Accident. Military Shopkeepers. Lost Legs and cold Hearts. + Affecting Anecdote. My Servant. A Consignment to Satan. March + again for the North. Sir Sidney Beckwith. + + +We remained about six weeks in cantonments, after the fall of Ciudad +Rodrigo; and, about the end of February, were again put in motion +towards Estremadura. + +March 7th.--Arrived near Castello de Vide, and quartered in the +neighbouring villages. Another deserter, who had also been taken at +the storming of Ciudad Rodrigo, was here shot, under the sentence of +a court martial. When he was paraded for that purpose, he protested +against their right to shoot him, until he first received the arrears +of pay which was due at the time of his desertion. + +March 14th.--Two of us rode out this afternoon to kill time until +dinner hour (six); but, when we returned to our quarters, there was +not a vestige of the regiment remaining, and our appetites were +considerably whetted, by having an additional distance of fourteen +miles to ride, in the dark, over roads on which we could not trust our +horses out of a walk. We joined them, at about eleven at night, in the +town of Portalegre. + +March 16th.--Quartered in the town of Elvas. + +I received a billet on a neat little house, occupied by an old lady +and her daughter, who were very desirous of evading such an +incumbrance. For, after resisting my entrance, until successive +applications of my foot had reduced the door to a condition which +would no longer second their efforts, the old lady resolved to try me +on another _tack_; and, opening the door, and, making a sign for me +to make no noise, she told me, in a whisper, that her daughter was +lying dangerously ill of a fever, in the only bed in the house, and +that she was, therefore, excessively sorry that she could not +accommodate me. As this information did not at all accord with my +notions of consistency, after their having suffered the preceding half +hour's bombardment, I requested to be shewn to the chamber of the +invalid, saying that I was a _medico_, and might be of service to her. +When she found remonstrance unavailing, she at length shewed me into a +room up-stairs, where there was a very genteel-looking young girl, the +very picture of _Portuguese_ health, lying with her eyes shut, in full +dress, on the top of the bed-clothes, where she had hurriedly thrown +herself. + +Seeing, at once, how matters stood, I walked up to the bed-side, and +hit her a slap on the thigh with my hand, asking her, at the same +time, how she felt herself? and never did Prince Hohenloe, himself, +perform a miracle more cleverly; for she bounced almost as high as the +ceiling, and flounced about the room, as well and as actively as +ever she did, with a countenance in which shame, anger, and a great +portion of natural humour were so amusingly blended, that I was +tempted to provoke her still further by a salute. Having thus +satisfied the mother that I had been the means of restoring her +daughter to her usual state of health, she thought it prudent to put +the best face upon it, and, therefore, invited me to partake of their +family dinner; in the course of which I succeeded so well in eating my +way into their affections, that we parted next morning with mutual +regret; they told me that I was the _best_ officer they had ever seen, +and begged that I would always make their house my home; but I was +never fated to see them again. We marched in the morning for Badajos. + + +SIEGE OF BADAJOS. + +On the 17th of March, 1812, the _third_, _fourth_, and _light +divisions_, encamped around Badajos, embracing the whole of the +inland side of the town on the left bank of the Guadiana, and +commenced breaking ground before it immediately after dark the same +night. + +The elements, on this occasion, adopted the cause of the besieged; for +we had scarcely taken up our ground, when a heavy rain commenced, and +continued, almost without intermission, for a fortnight; in +consequence thereof, the pontoon-bridge, connecting us with our +supplies from Elvas, was carried away, by the rapid increase of the +river, and the duties of the trenches were otherwise rendered +extremely harassing. We had a smaller force employed than at Rodrigo; +and the scale of operations was so much greater, that it required +every man to be actually in the trenches six hours every day, and the +same length of time every night, which, with the time required to +march to and from them, through fields more than ankle deep in a stiff +mud, left us never more than eight hours out of the twenty-four in +camp, and we never were dry the whole time. + +One day's trench-work is as like another as the days themselves; and +like nothing better than serving an apprenticeship to the double +calling of grave-digger and game-keeper, for we found ample employment +both for the spade and the rifle. + +The only varieties during the siege were,--First, The storming of +_Picuvina_, a formidable outwork, occupying the centre of our +operations. It was carried one evening, in the most gallant style, by +Major-General Sir James Kempt, at the head of the covering parties. +Secondly, A sortie made by the garrison, which they got the worst of, +although they succeeded in stealing some of our pickaxes and shovels. +Thirdly, A _circumbendibus_ described by a few daring French dragoons, +who succeeded in getting into the rear of our engineers' camp, at that +time unguarded, and lightened some of the officers of their +epaulettes. Lastly, Two field-pieces taken by the enemy to the +opposite side of the river, enfilading one of our parallels, and +materially disturbing the harmony within, as a cannon-shot is no very +welcome guest among gentlemen who happen to be lodged in a straight +ditch, without the power of _cutting_ it. + +Our batteries were supplied with ammunition, by the Portuguese +militia, from Elvas, a string of whom used to arrive every day, +reaching nearly from the one place to the other (twelve miles), each +man carrying a twenty-four pound shot, and cursing all the way and +back again. + +The Portuguese artillery, under British officers, was uncommonly good. +I used to be much amused in looking at a twelve-gun breaching-battery +of theirs. + +They knew the position of all the enemy's guns which could bear upon +them, and had one man posted to watch them, to give notice of what was +coming, whether a shot or a shell, who, accordingly, kept calling out, +"_bomba, balla, balla, bomba_;" and they ducked their heads until the +missile past: but, sometimes he would see a general discharge from all +arms, when he threw himself down, screaming out "_Jesus, todos, +todos!_" meaning "every thing." + +An officer of ours was sent one morning, before daylight, with ten +men, to dig holes for themselves, opposite to one of the enemy's guns, +which had been doing a great deal of mischief the day before, and he +had soon the satisfaction of knowing the effect of his practice, by +seeing them stopping up the embrasure with sandbags. After waiting a +little, he saw them beginning to remove the bags, when he made his men +open upon it again, and they were instantly replaced without the guns +being fired; presently he saw the huge cocked hat of a French officer +make its appearance on the rampart, near to the embrasure; but +knowing, by experience, that the _head_ was somewhere in the +neighbourhood, he watched until the flash of a musket, through the +long grass, showed the position of the owner, and, calling one of his +best shots, he desired him to take deliberate aim at the spot, and +lent his shoulder as a rest, to give it more elevation. Bang went the +shot, and it was the finishing flash for the Frenchman, for they saw +no more of _him_, although his cocked hat maintained its post until +dark. + +In proportion as the grand crisis approached, the anxiety of the +soldiers increased; not on account of any doubt or dread as to the +result, but for fear that the place should be surrendered without +standing an assault; for, singular as it may appear, although there +was a certainty of about one man out of every three being knocked +down, there were, perhaps, not three men, in the three divisions, who +would not rather have braved all the chances than receive it tamely +from the hands of the enemy. So great was the rage for passports into +eternity, in our battalion, on that occasion, that even the officers' +servants insisted on taking their places in the ranks; and I was +obliged to leave my baggage in charge of a man who had been wounded +some days before. + +On the 6th of April, three practicable breaches had been effected, +and arrangements were made for assaulting the town that night. The +third division, by escalade, at the castle; a brigade of the fifth +division, by escalade, at the opposite side of the town; while the +fourth and light divisions were to storm the breaches. The whole were +ordered to be formed for the attack at eight o'clock. + + +STORMING OF BADAJOS, + +April 6th, 1812. + +Our division formed for the attack of the left breach in the same +order as at Ciudad Rodrigo; the command of it had now devolved upon +our commandant, Colonel Barnard. I was then the acting adjutant of +four companies, under Colonel Cameron, who were to line the crest of +the glacis, and to fire at the ramparts and the top of the left +breach. + +The enemy seemed aware of our intentions. The fire of artillery and +musketry, which, for three weeks before, had been incessant, both +from the town and trenches, had now entirely ceased, as if by mutual +consent, and a deathlike silence, of nearly an hour, preceded the +awful scene of carnage. + +The signal to advance was made about nine o'clock, and our four +companies led the way. Colonel Cameron and myself had reconnoitred the +ground so accurately by daylight, that we succeeded in bringing the +head of our column to the very spot agreed on, opposite to the left +breach, and then formed line to the left, without a word being spoken, +each man lying down as he got into line, with the muzzle of his rifle +over the edge of the ditch, between the pallisades, all ready to open. +It was tolerably clear above, and we distinctly saw _their_ heads +lining the ramparts; but there was a sort of haze on the ground which, +with the colour of our dress, prevented them from seeing us, although +only a few yards asunder. One of their sentries, however, challenged +us twice, "_qui vive_," and, receiving no reply, he fired off his +musket, which was followed by their drums beating to arms; but _we_ +still remained perfectly quiet, and all was silence again for the +space of five or ten minutes, when the head of the forlorn hope at +length came up, and we took advantage of the first fire, while the +enemy's heads were yet visible. + +The scene that ensued furnished as respectable a representation of +hell itself as fire, and sword, and human sacrifices could make it; +for, in one instant, every engine of destruction was in full +operation. + +It is in vain to attempt a description of it. We were entirely +excluded from the right breach by an inundation which the heavy rains +had enabled the enemy to form; and the two others were rendered +totally impracticable by their interior defences. + +The five succeeding hours were therefore past in the most gallant and +hopeless attempts, on the part of individual officers, forming up +fifty or a hundred men at a time at the foot of the breach, and +endeavouring to carry it by desperate bravery; and, fatal as it proved +to each gallant band, in succession, yet, fast as one dissolved, +another was formed. We were informed, about twelve at night, that the +third division had established themselves in the castle; but, as its +situation and construction did not permit them to extend their +operations beyond it at the moment, it did not in the least affect our +opponents at the breach, whose defence continued as obstinate as ever. + +I was near Colonel Barnard after midnight, when he received repeated +messages, from Lord Wellington, to withdraw from the breach, and to +form the division for a renewal of the attack at daylight; but, as +fresh attempts continued to be made, and the troops were still +pressing forward into the ditch, it went against his gallant soul to +order a retreat while yet a chance remained; but, after heading +repeated attempts himself, he saw that it was hopeless, and the order +was reluctantly given about two o'clock in the morning. We fell back +about three hundred yards, and re-formed all that remained to us. + +Our regiment, alone, had to lament the loss of twenty-two officers +killed and wounded, ten of whom were killed, or afterwards died of +their wounds. We had scarcely got our men together when we were +informed of the success of the fifth division in their escalade, and +that the enemy were, in consequence, abandoning the breaches, and we +were immediately ordered forward to take possession of them. On our +arrival, we found them entirely evacuated, and had not occasion to +fire another shot; but we found the utmost difficulty, and even +danger, in getting in in the dark, even without opposition. As soon as +we succeeded in establishing our battalion inside, we sent piquets +into the different streets and lanes leading from the breach, and kept +the remainder in hand until day should throw some light on our +situation. + +When I was in the act of posting one of the piquets, a man of ours +brought me a prisoner, telling me that he was the governor; but the +other immediately said that he had only called himself so, the better +to ensure his protection; and then added, that he was the colonel of +one of the French regiments, and that all his surviving officers were +assembled at his quarters, in a street close by, and would surrender +themselves to any officer who would go with him for that purpose. I +accordingly took two or three men with me, and, accompanying him +there, found fifteen or sixteen of them assembled, and all seeming +very much surprised at the unexpected termination of the siege. They +could not comprehend under what circumstances the town had been lost, +and repeatedly asked me how I had got in; but I did not choose to +explain further than simply telling them that I had entered at the +breach, coupling the information with a look which was calculated to +convey somewhat more than I knew myself; for, in truth, when I began +to recollect that a few minutes before had seen me retiring from the +breach, under a fanciful overload of degradation, I thought that I had +now as good a right as any man to be astonished at finding myself +_lording_ it over the officers of a French battalion; nor was I much +wiser than they were, as to the manner of its accomplishment. They +were all very much dejected, excepting their major, who was a big +jolly-looking Dutchman, with medals enough, on his left breast, to +have furnished the window of a tolerable toy-shop. His accomplishments +were after the manner of Captain Dougal Dalgetty; and, while he +cracked his joke, he was not inattentive to the cracking of the corks +from the many wine-bottles which his colonel placed on the table +successively, along with some cold meat, for general refreshment, +prior to marching into captivity, and which I, though a free man, was +not too proud to join them in. + +When I had allowed their chief a reasonable time to secure what +valuables he wished, about his person, he told me that he had two +horses in the stable, which, as he would no longer be permitted to +keep, he recommended me to take; and, as a horse is the only thing on +such occasions that an officer can permit himself to consider a legal +prize, I caused one of them to be saddled, and his handsome black mare +thereby became my charger during the remainder of the war. + +In proceeding with my prisoners towards the breach, I took, by +mistake, a different road to that I came; and, as numbers of Frenchmen +were lurking about for a safe opportunity of surrendering themselves, +about a hundred additional ones added themselves to my column, as we +moved along, _jabbering_ their native dialect so loudly, as nearly to +occasion a dire catastrophe, as it prevented me from hearing some one +challenge in my front; but, fortunately, it was repeated, and I +instantly answered; for Colonel Barnard and Sir Colin Campbell had a +piquet of our men, drawn across the street, on the point of sending a +volley into us, thinking that we were a rallied body of the enemy. + +The whole of the garrison were marched off, as prisoners, to Elvas, +about ten o'clock in the morning, and our men were then permitted to +fall out, to enjoy themselves for the remainder of the day, as a +reward for having kept together so long as they were wanted. The whole +of the three divisions were, by this time, loose in the town; and the +usual frightful scene of plunder commenced, which the officers thought +it necessary to avoid for the moment, by retiring to the camp. + +We went into the town on the morning of the 8th, to endeavour to +collect our men, but only succeeded in part, as the same extraordinary +scene of plunder and rioting still continued. Wherever there was any +thing to eat or drink, the only saleable commodities, the soldiers had +turned the shopkeepers out of doors, and placed themselves regularly +behind the counter, selling off the contents of the shop. By and bye, +another and a stronger party would kick those out in their turn, and +there was no end to the succession of self-elected shopkeepers, until +Lord Wellington found that, to restore order, severe measures must be +resorted to. On the third day, he caused a Portuguese brigade to be +marched in, and kept standing to their arms, in the great square, +where the provost-martial erected a gallows, and proceeded to suspend +a few of the delinquents, which very quickly cleared the town of the +remainder, and enabled us to give a more satisfactory account of our +battalion than we had hitherto been able to do. + +It is wonderful how such scenes as these will deaden men's finer +feelings, and with what apathy it enables them to look upon the +sufferings of their fellow creatures! The third day after the fall of +the town, I rode, with Colonel Cameron, to take a bathe in the +Guadiana, and, in passing the verge of the camp of the 5th division, +we saw two soldiers standing at the door of a small shed, or outhouse, +shouting, waving their caps, and making signs that they wanted to +speak to us. We rode up to see what they wanted, and found that the +poor fellows had each lost a leg. They told us that a surgeon had +dressed their wounds on the night of the assault, but that they had +ever since been without food or assistance of any kind, although they, +each day, had opportunities of soliciting the aid of many of their +comrades, from whom they could obtain nothing but promises. In short, +surrounded by thousands of their countrymen within call, and not more +than three hundred yards from their own regiment, they were unable to +interest any one in their behalf, and were literally starving. + +It is unnecessary to say that we instantly galloped back to the camp +and had them removed to the hospital. + +On the morning of the 7th, when some of our officers were performing +the last duties to their fallen comrades, one of them had collected +the bodies of four of our young officers, who had been slain. He was +in the act of digging a grave for them, when an officer of the guards, +arrived on the spot, from a distant division of the army, and demanded +tidings of his brother, who was at that moment lying a naked lifeless +corpse, under his very eyes. The officer had the presence of mind to +see that the corpse was not recognized, and, wishing to spare the +other's feelings, told him that his brother was dangerously wounded, +but that he would hear more of him by going out to the camp; and +thither the other immediately bent his steps, with a seeming +_presentiment_ of the sad intelligence that awaited him. + +April 9th.--As I had not seen my domestic since the storming of the +town, I concluded that he had been killed; but he turned up this +morning, with a tremendous gash on his head, and mounted on the top of +a horse nearly twenty feet high, carrying under his arm one of those +glass cases which usually stand on the counters of jewellers' shops, +filled with all manner of trinkets. He looked exactly like the ghost +of a horse pedler. + +April 10th.--The devil take the man who stole my donkey last night. + +April 11th.--Marched again for the neighbourhood of Ciudad Rodrigo, +with the long-accustomed sounds of cannon and musketry ringing in my +fanciful ears as merrily as if the instruments themselves were still +playing. + +Sir Sidney Beckwith, one of the fathers of the rifles, was, at this +time, obliged to proceed to England for the recovery of health, and +did not again return to the Peninsula. In his departure, that army +lost one of the ablest of its outpost generals. Few officers knew so +well how to make the most of a small force. His courage, coupled with +his thorough knowledge of the soldier's character, was of that cool +intrepid kind, that would, at any time, convert a routed rabble into +an orderly effective force. A better officer, probably, never led a +brigade into the field! + + + + +CHAP X. + + A Farewell Address to Portalegre. History of a Night in Castello + Branco. Regimental Colours lost, with Directions where to find + them. Cases in which a Victory is sometimes won by those who lost + it. Advance to Salamanca. The City. The British Position on St. + Christoval. Affair in Position. Marmont's Change of Position and + Retreat. A Case of Bad Luck. Advance to Rueda, and Customs there. + Retire to Castrejon. Affairs on the 18th and 19th of July. Battle + of Salamanca, and Defeat of the Enemy. + + +April 13th, 1812.--Quartered at Portalegre. + +DEAR PORTALEGRE! + +I cannot quit thee, for the fourth and last time, without a parting +tribute to the remembrance of thy wild romantic scenery, and to the +kindness and hospitality of thy worthy citizens! May thy gates +continue shut to thine enemies as heretofore, and, as heretofore, may +they ever prove those of happiness to thy friends! Dear nuns of Santa +Clara! I thank thee for the enjoyment of many an hour of nothingness; +and thine, Santa Barbara, for many of a more intellectual cast! May +the voice of thy chapel-organ continue unrivalled but by the voices of +thy lovely choristers! and may the piano in thy refectory be replaced +by a better, in which the harmony of strings may supersede the +clattering of ivories! May the sweets which thou hast lavished on us +be showered upon thee ten thousand fold! And may those accursed iron +bars divide thee as effectually from death as they did from us!!! + +April 15th.--Quartered at Castello Branco. + +This town had been so often visited by the French and us, alternately, +that the inhabitants, at length, confounded their friends with their +foes; and by treating both sides as enemies, they succeeded in making +them so. + +When I went this evening to present my billet on a respectable +looking house, the door was opened by the lady of it, wearing a most +gingerly aspect. She told me, with an equivocal sort of look, that she +had two spare beds in the house, and that either of them were at my +service; and, by way of illustration, shewed me into a sort of +servant's room, off the kitchen, half full of apples, onions, +potatoes, and various kinds of lumber, with a dirty looking bed in one +corner; and, on my requesting to see the other, she conducted me up to +the garret, into the very counterpart of the one below, though the +room was somewhat differently garnished. I told her, that they were +certainly two capital beds; but, as I was a modest person, and +disliked all extremes, that I should be quite satisfied with any one +on the floor which I had not yet seen. This, however, she told me, was +impossible, as every one of them were required by her own family. +While we were descending the stair, disputing the point, I caught the +handle of the first door that I came to, twisted it open, and seeing +it a neat little room, with nothing but a table and two or three +chairs, I told her that it would suit me perfectly; and, desiring her +to have a good mattress with clean linen, laid in one corner of it, by +nine o'clock; adding a few hints, to satisfy her that I was quite in +earnest, I went to dine with my messmates. + +When I returned to the house, about ten o'clock, I was told that I +should find a light in the room and my bed ready. I accordingly +ascended, and found every thing as represented; and, in addition +thereto, I found another bed lying alongside of mine, containing a +huge fat friar, with a bald pate, fast asleep, and blowing the most +tremendous nasal trumpet that I ever heard! As my _friend_ had +evidently been placed there for my annoyance, I did not think it +necessary to use much ceremony in getting rid of him; and, catching +him by the two ears, I raised him up on his legs, while he groaned in +a seeming agonized doubt, whether the pain was inflicted by a man or a +night-mare; and before he had time to get himself broad awake, I had +chucked him and his clothing, bed and bedding, out at the door, +which I locked, and enjoyed a sound sleep the remainder of the night. + +They offered me no further molestation; but, in taking my departure, +at daylight, next morning, I observed my landlady reconnoitring me +from an up-stairs window, and thought it prudent not to go too near +it. + +While we had been employed at Badajos, Marmont had advanced in the +north, and blockaded Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida, sending advanced +parties into the frontier towns of Portugal, to the confusion and +consternation of the Portuguese militia, who had been stationed for +their protection; and who, quite satisfied with the _report_ of their +coming, did not think it necessary to wait the report of their cannon. +Marshal Beresford, in his paternal address to "_Los Valerossos_," in +commemoration of their conduct on this occasion, directed that the +colours of each regiment should be lodged in the town-halls of their +respective districts, until they each provided themselves with _a +pair_ out of the ranks of the enemy; but I never heard that any of +them were redeemed in the manner prescribed. + +The French retired upon Salamanca on our approach; and we resumed our +former quarters without opposition. + +Hitherto we had been fighting the description of battle in which John +Bull glories so much--gaining a brilliant and useless victory against +great odds. But we were now about to contend for fame on equal terms; +and, having tried both, I will say, without partiality, that I would +rather fight one man than two any day; for I have never been quite +satisfied that the additional _quantum_ of glory altogether +compensated for the proportionate loss of substance; a victory of that +kind being a doubtful and most unsatisfactory one to the performers, +with each occupying the same ground _after_, that they did _before_; +and the whole merit resting with the side which did not happen to +begin it. + +We remained about two months in cantonments, to recover the effects of +the late sieges; and as by that time all the perforated skins and +repairable cracked limbs had been mended, the army was assembled in +front of Ciudad Rodrigo, to commence what may be termed the second +campaign of 1812. + +The enemy retired from Salamanca on our approach, leaving garrisons in +three formidable little forts, which they had erected on the most +commanding points of the city, and which were immediately invested by +a British division. + +Salamanca, as a city, appeared to me to be more ancient than +respectable; for, excepting an old cathedral and a new square, I saw +nothing in it worth looking at, always saving and excepting their +pretty little girls, who (the deuce take them) cost me two nights good +sleep. For, by way of _doing a little dandy_ in passing through such a +celebrated city, I disencumbered the under part of my saddle of the +blanket, and the upper part of the boat-cloak with which it was +usually adorned; and the penalty which I paid for my gentility was, +sleeping the next two nights in position two miles in front of the +town, while these useful appendages were lying on the baggage two +miles in rear of it. + +The heights of St. Christoval, which we occupied as a position to +cover the siege, were strong, but quite unsheltered, and unfurnished +with either wood or water. We were indebted for our supplies of the +latter to the citizens of Salamanca; while stubbles and dry grass were +our only fuel. + +Marmont came down upon us the first night with a thundering cannonade, +and placed his army _en masse_ on the plain before us, almost within +gun shot. I was told that, while Lord Wellington was riding along the +line, under a fire of artillery, and accompanied by a numerous staff, +that a brace of greyhounds, in pursuit of a hare, passed close to him. +He was, at the moment, in earnest conversation with General Castanos; +but the instant he observed them, he gave the view hallo, and went +after them at full speed, to the utter astonishment of his foreign +accompaniments. Nor did he stop until he saw the hare killed; when he +returned, and resumed the commander-in-chief, as if nothing had +occurred. + +The enemy, next morning, commenced a sharp attack on our advanced +post, in the village of Moresco; and, as it continued to be fed by +both sides, there was every appearance of its bringing on a general +action; but they desisted towards the afternoon, and the village +remained divided between us. + +Marmont, after looking at us for several days, did not think it +prudent to risk an attack on our present post; and, as the +telegraph-rockets from the town told him that his garrison was reduced +to extremity, he crossed the Tormes, on the night of the 26th June, in +the hopes of being able to relieve them from that side of the river. +Our division followed his movement, and took post, for the night, at +Aldea Lingua. They sent forward a strong reconnoitring party at +daylight next morning, but they were opposed by General Bock's brigade +of heavy German dragoons, who would not permit them to see more than +was necessary; and, as the forts fell into our hands the same night, +Marmont had no longer an object in remaining there, and fell back, +behind the Douro, occupying the line of Toro and Torodesillas. + +By the accidental discharge of a musket, one day last year, the ramrod +entered the belly, passed through the body, and the end of it stuck in +the back-bone of one of the soldiers of our division, from whence it +was actually hammered out with a stone. The poor fellow recovered, and +joined his regiment, as well as ever he had been, and was, last night, +unfortunately drowned, while bathing in the Tormes. + +When the enemy retired, our division advanced and occupied Rueda, a +handsome little town, on the left bank of the Douro. + +It abounded in excellent wines, and our usual evening dances began +there to be graced by a superior class of females to what they had +hitherto been accustomed. I remember that, in passing the house of the +sexton, one evening, I saw his daughter baking a loaf of bread; and, +falling desperately in love with both her and the loaf, I carried the +one to the ball and the other to my quarters. A woman was a woman in +those days; and every officer made it a point of duty to marshal as +many as he could to the general assembly, no matter whether they were +countesses or _sextonesses_; and although we, in consequence, +frequently incurred the most indelible disgrace among the better +orders of our indiscriminate collection, some of whom would retire in +disgust; yet, as a sufficient number generally remained for our +evening's amusement, and we were only birds of passage, it was a +matter of the most perfect indifference to us what they thought; we +followed the same course wherever we went. + +The French army having, in the mean time, been largely reinforced; +and, as they commanded the passage of the Douro, we were in hourly +expectation of an offensive movement from them. As a precautionary +measure, one-half of our division bivouacked, every night, in front of +the town. On the evening of the 16th of July, it was our turn to be +in quarters, and we were in the full enjoyment of our usual evening's +amusement, when the bugles sounded to arms. + +As we had previously experienced two false alarms in the same +quarters, we thought it more than probable that this might prove one +also; and, therefore, prevailed upon the ladies to enjoy themselves, +until our return, upon the good things which we had provided for their +refreshment, and out of which I hope they drew enough of consolation +for our absence, as we have not seen them since. + +After forming on our alarm-post, we were moved off, in the dark, we +knew not whither; but every man following the one before him, with the +most implicit confidence, until, after marching all night, we found +ourselves, on the following morning, at daylight, near the village of +Castrejon, where we bivouacked for the day. + +I was sent on piquet on the evening of the 17th, to watch a portion of +the plain before us; and, soon after sunrise on the following morning, +a cannonade commenced, behind a hill, to my right; and, though the +combatants were not visible, it was evident that they were not dealing +in blank-cartridge, as mine happened to be the pitching-post of all +the enemy's round shot. While I was attentively watching its progress, +there arose, all at once, behind the rising ground to my left, a yell +of the most terrific import; and, convinced that it would give +instantaneous birth to as hideous a body, it made me look, with an eye +of lightning, at the ground around me; and, seeing a broad deep ditch +within a hundred yards, I lost not a moment in placing it between my +piquet and the extraordinary sound, I had scarcely effected the +movement, when Lord Wellington, with his staff, and a cloud of French +and English dragoons and horse artillery intermixed, came over the +hill at full cry, and all hammering at each others' heads in one +confused mass, over the very ground I had that instant quitted. It +appeared that his Lordship had gone there to reconnoitre, covered by +two guns and two squadrons of cavalry, who, by some accident, were +surprised, and charged by a superior body of the enemy, and sent +tumbling in upon us in the manner described. A piquet of the +forty-third had formed on our right, and we were obliged to remain +passive spectators of such an extraordinary scene going on within a +few yards of us, as we could not fire without an equal chance of +shooting some of our own side. Lord Wellington and his staff, with the +two guns, took shelter, for the moment, behind us, while the cavalry +went sweeping along our front, where, I suppose, they picked up some +reinforcement, for they returned, almost instantly, in the same +confused mass; but the French were now the flyers; and, I must do them +the justice to say, that they got off in a manner highly creditable to +themselves. I saw one, in particular, defending himself against two of +ours; and he would have made his escape from both, but an officer of +our dragoons came down the hill, and took him in flank, at full speed, +sending man and horse rolling, headlong, on the plain. + +I was highly interested, all this time, in observing the +distinguished characters which this unlooked-for _turn-up_ had +assembled around us. Marshal Beresford and the greater part of the +staff remained with their swords drawn, and the Duke himself did not +look more than half-pleased, while he silently despatched some of them +with orders. General Alten, and his huge German orderly dragoon, with +their swords drawn, cursed, the whole time, to a very large amount; +but, as it was in German, I had not the full benefit of it. He had an +opposition swearer in Captain Jenkinson, of the artillery, who +commanded the two guns, and whose oaths were chiefly aimed at himself +for his folly, as far as I could understand, in putting so much +confidence in his covering party, that he had not thought it necessary +to unfix the catch which horse-artillerymen, I believe, had to prevent +their swords quitting the scabbards when they are not wanted, and +which, on this occasion, prevented their jumping forth when they were +so unexpectedly called for. + +The straggling enemy had scarcely cleared away from our front, when +Lord Combermere came, from the right, with a reinforcement of cavalry; +and our piquet was, at the same moment, ordered to join the battalion. + +The movements which followed presented the most beautiful military +spectacle imaginable. The enemy were endeavouring to turn our left; +and, in making a counteracting movement, the two armies were marching +in parallel lines, close to each other, on a perfect plain, each ready +to take advantage of any opening of the other, and exchanging round +shot as they moved along. Our division brought up the rear of the +infantry, marching with the order and precision of a field-day, in +open column of companies, and in perfect readiness to receive the +enemy in any shape; who, on their part, had a huge cavalry force close +at hand, and equally ready to pounce upon us. Our movement was +supported by a formidable body of our own dragoons; and, as we drew +near the bank of the small river Guerrena, our horse-artillery +continued to file in the same line, to attract the attention of the +enemy, while we gradually distanced them a little, and crossed the +river into a position on the high grounds beyond it. The enemy passed +the river, on our left, and endeavoured to force that part of the +position; but the troops who were stationed there drove them back, +with great loss; and at dark the firing ceased. + +During the early part of the 19th there appeared to be no movements on +either side; but, in the afternoon, having fallen asleep in my tent, I +was awoke by the whistling of a cannon shot; and was just beginning to +abuse my servant for not having called me sooner, when we were ordered +to stand to our arms; and, as the enemy were making a movement to our +right, we made a corresponding one. The cannonade did not cease until +dark, when we lay down by our arms, the two armies very near to each +other, and fully expecting a general action on the morrow. + +July 20th.--We stood to our arms an hour before daylight, and Lord +Wellington held out every inducement for his opponent to attack him; +but Marmont evaded it, and continued his movement on our right, which +obliged us to continue ours, towards Salamanca; and we were a great +part of this day in parallel lines with them, the same as on the 18th. + +July 21st.--We crossed the Tormes just before dark this evening, about +two miles above Salamanca, the enemy having passed it higher up. +Before reaching our ground, we experienced one of the most tremendous +thunderstorms that I ever witnessed. A sheet of lightning struck the +head of our column, where I happened to be riding, and deprived me of +the use of my optics for at least ten minutes. A great many of our +dragoon horses broke from their piqueting during the storm, and +galloped past us into the French lines. We lay by our arms on the +banks of the river, and it continued to rain in torrents the whole of +the night. + + +BATTLE OF SALAMANCA. + +July 22d.--A sharp fire of musketry commenced at day light in the +morning; but, as it did not immediately concern us, and was nothing +unusual, we took no notice of it; but busied ourselves in getting our +arms and our bodies disengaged from the rust and the wet, engendered +by the storm of the past night. + +About ten o'clock, our division was ordered to stand to their arms, +and then moved into position, with our left resting on the Tormes, and +our right extending along a ridge of rising ground, thinly +interspersed with trees, beyond which the other divisions were formed +in continuation, with the exception of the third, which still remained +on the opposite bank of the river. + +The enemy were to be seen in motion on the opposite ridges, and a +straggling fire of musketry, with an occasional gun, acted as a sort +of prelude to the approaching conflict. We heard, about this time, +that Marmont had just sent to his _ci-devant_ landlord, in Salamanca, +to desire that he would have the usual dinner ready for himself and +staff at six o'clock; and so satisfied was "mine host" of the +infallibility of the French Marshal, that he absolutely set about +making the necessary preparations. + +There assuredly never was an army so anxious as ours was to be brought +into action on this occasion. They were a magnificent body of +well-tried soldiers, highly equipped, and in the highest health and +spirits, with the most devoted confidence in their leader, and an +invincible confidence in themselves. The retreat of the four preceding +days had annoyed us beyond measure, for we believed that we were +nearly equal to the enemy in point of numbers; and the idea of our +retiring before an equal number of any troops in the world was not to +be endured with common patience. + +We were kept the whole of the forenoon in the most torturing state of +suspense through contradictory reports. One passing officer telling +us that he had just heard the order given to attack, and the next +asserting, with equal confidence, that he had just heard the order to +retreat; and it was not until about two o'clock in the afternoon, that +affairs began to wear a more decided aspect; and when our own eyes and +ears at length conveyed the wished-for tidings that a battle was +inevitable; for we saw the enemy beginning to close upon our right, +and the cannonade had become general along the whole line. Lord +Wellington, about the same time, ordered the movement which decided +the fate of the day--that of bringing the third division, from beyond +the river on our left, rapidly to our extreme right, turning the +enemy, in their attempt to turn us, and commencing the offensive with +the whole of his right wing. The effect was instantaneous and +decisive, for although some obstinate and desperate fighting took +place in the centre, with various success, yet the victory was never +for a moment in doubt; and the enemy were soon in full retreat, +leaving seven thousand prisoners, two eagles, and eleven pieces of +artillery in our hands. Had we been favoured with two hours more +daylight, their loss would have been incalculable, for they committed +a blunder at starting, which they never got time to retrieve; and, +their retreat was, therefore, commenced in such disorder, and with a +river in their rear, that nothing but darkness could have saved them. + + + + +CHAP. XI. + + Distinguished Characters. A Charge of Dragoons. A Charge against + the Nature of Things. Olmeda and the French General, Ferez. + Advance towards Madrid. Adventures of my Dinner. The Town of + Segovia. El Palacio del Rio Frio. The Escurial. Enter Madrid. + Rejoicings. Nearly happy. Change of a Horse. Change of Quarters. + A Change confounded. Retire towards Salamanca. Boar-Hunt, + Dinner-Hunt, and Bull-Hunt. A Portuguese Funeral conducted by + Rifle Undertakers. + + +The third division, under Sir Edward Pakenham, the artillery, and some +regiments of dragoons, particularly distinguished themselves. But our +division, very much to our annoyance, came in for a very slender +portion of this day's glory. We were exposed to a cannonade the whole +of the afternoon; but, as we were not permitted to advance until very +late, we had only an opportunity of throwing a few straggling shot at +the fugitives, before we lost sight of them in the dark; and then +bivouacked for the night near the village of Huerta, (I think it was +called). + +We started after them at daylight next morning; and, crossing at a +ford of the Tormes, we found their rear-guard, consisting of three +regiments of infantry, with some cavalry and artillery, posted on a +formidable height above the village of Serna. General Bock, with his +brigade of heavy German dragoons, immediately went at them; and, +putting their cavalry to flight, he broke through their infantry, and +took or destroyed the whole of them. This was one of the most gallant +charges recorded in history. I saw many of these fine fellows lying +dead along with their horses, on which they were still astride, with +the sword firmly grasped in the hand, as they had fought the instant +before; and several of them still wearing a look of fierce defiance, +which death itself had been unable to quench. + +We halted for the night at a village near Penaranda. I took possession +of the church; and finding the floor strewed with the paraphernalia of +priesthood, I selected some silk gowns, and other gorgeous trappings, +with which I made a bed for myself in the porch, and where, "if all +had been gold that glittered," I should have looked a jewel indeed; +but it is lamentable to think, that, among the multifarious blessings +we enjoy in this life, we should never be able to get a dish of glory +and a dish of beef-steak on the same day; in consequence of which, the +heart, which ought properly to be soaring in the clouds, or, at all +events, in a castle half way up, is more generally to be found +grovelling about a hen-roost, in the vain hope, that, if it cannot get +hold of the hen herself, it may at least hit upon an egg; and such, I +remember, was the state of my feelings on this occasion, in +consequence of my having dined the three preceding days on the half of +my inclinations. + +We halted the next night in the handsome little town of Olmeda, which +had just been evacuated by the enemy. The French General, Ferez, died +there, in consequence of the wounds which he received at the battle of +Salamanca, and his remains had, the night before, been consigned to +the earth, with the highest honours, and a canopy of laurel placed +over his grave: but the French had no sooner left the town, than the +inhabitants exhumed the body, cut off the head, and spurned it with +the greatest indignity. They were in hopes that this line of conduct +would have proved a passport to our affections, and conducted us to +the spot, as to a trophy that they were proud of; but we expressed the +most unfeigned horror and indignation at their proceeding; and, +getting some soldiers to assist us, we carefully and respectfully +replaced his remains in the grave. His _was_ a noble head; and even in +death, it looked the brave, the gallant soldier. Our conduct had such +an effect on the Spaniards, that they brought back the canopy, of +their own accord, and promised, solemnly, that the grave should, +henceforth, rest undisturbed. + +July 26th.--We arrived on the banks of the Douro, within a league of +Valladolid, where we halted two days; and Lord Wellington, detaching a +division of infantry and some cavalry to watch the movements of the +defeated army, proceeded with the remainder of us towards Madrid. + +August 1st.--On approaching near to our bivouac this afternoon, I saw +a good large farm-house, about a mile off the road; and, getting +permission from my commandant, I made a cast thereto, in search of +something for dinner. There were two women belonging to the German +Legion, smoking their pipes in the kitchen, when I arrived; and, +having the highest respect for their marauding qualifications, I began +to fear that nothing was to be had, as they were sitting there so +quietly. I succeeded, however, in purchasing two pair of chickens; +and, neglecting the precaution of unscrewing their necks, I grasped a +handful of their legs, and, mounting my horse, proceeded towards the +camp; but I had scarcely gone a couple of hundred yards, when they +began opening their throats and flapping with their wings, which +startled my horse and sent him off at full speed. I lost the rein on +one side, and, in attempting to pull him up with the other, I brought +his foot into a rut, and down he came, sending me head-foremost into a +wet ditch! When I got on my legs, and shook myself a little, I saw +each particular hen galloping across the field, screeching with all +its might, while the horse was off in a different direction; and, +casting a rueful look at the chickens, I naturally followed him, as +the most valuable of the collection. Fortunately, a heavy boat-cloak +caused the saddle to roll under his belly; and finding that he could +not make way in consequence, he quietly waited for me about a quarter +of a mile off. When I had remounted, I looked back to the scene of my +disaster, and saw my two German _friends_ busily employed in catching +the chickens. I rode towards them, and they were, no doubt, in hopes +that I had broken my neck, that they might have the sacking of me, +also; for, as I approached, I observed them concealing the fowls under +their clothes, while the one took up a position behind the other. +After reconnoitring them a short time, I rode up and demanded the +fowls, when the one looked at the other, and, in well-feigned +astonishment, asked, in _Dutch_, what I could possibly mean? then gave +me to understand that they could not comprehend English; but I +immediately said, "Come, come! none of your gammon; you have got my +fowls, here's half a dollar for your trouble in catching them, so hand +them out." "Oh!" said one of them, in English, "it is de fowl you +want," and they then produced them. After paying them the stipulated +sum, I wished them all the compliments of the season, and thought +myself fortunate in getting off so well; for they were each six feet +high, and as strong as a horse, and I felt convinced that they had +often thrashed a better man than myself in the course of their +military career. + +August 7th.--Halted near the ancient town of Segovia, which bears a +strong resemblance to the old town of Edinburgh, built on a lofty +ridge, that terminates in an abrupt summit, on which stands the +fortified tower, celebrated in the Adventures of Gil Blas. It is a +fine old town, boasts of a superb Roman aqueduct, and is famous for +ladies' shoes. + +Our bivouac, this evening, was on the banks of El Rio Frio, near to a +new hunting-palace of the King of Spain. It was a large quadrangular +building, each side full of empty rooms, with nothing but their youth +to recommend them. + +On the 9th, we crossed the Guadarama mountains, and halted, for the +night, in the park of the Escurial. + +I had, from childhood upwards, considered this palace as the eighth +wonder of the world, and was, therefore, proportionately disappointed +at finding it a huge, gloomy, unmeaning pile of building, looking +somewhat less interesting than the wild craggy mountain opposite, and +without containing a single room large enough to flog a cat in. The +only apartment that I saw worth looking at was the one in which their +_dead kings live_! + + +ENTERED MADRID, + +August 13th, 1812. + +As we approached the capital, imagination was busy in speculating on +the probable nature of our reception. The peasantry, with whom we had +hitherto been chiefly associated, had imbibed a rooted hatred to the +French, caused by the wanton cruelties experienced at their hands, +both in their persons and their property; otherwise they were a +cheerful, hospitable, and orderly people, and, had they been permitted +to live in peace and quietness, it was a matter of the most perfect +indifference to them whether Joseph, Ferdinand, or the ghost of Don +Quixotte was their king. But the citizens of Madrid had been living +four years in comparative peace, under the dominion of a French +government, and in the enjoyment of all the gaieties of that +luxurious court; to which, if I add that we entertained, at that time, +some slight jealousy regarding the pretensions of the French officers +to the favours of the fair, I believe the prevailing opinion was that +_we_ should be considered as the intruders. It was, therefore, a +matter of the most unexpected exultation, when we entered it, on the +afternoon of the 13th of August, to find ourselves hailed as +liberators, with the most joyous acclamations, by surrounding +multitudes, who continued their rejoicings for three successive days. +By day, the riches of each house were employed in decorations to its +exterior; and, by night, they were brilliantly illuminated, during +which time all business was suspended, and the whole population of the +city crowded the streets, emulating each other in heaping honours and +caresses upon us. + +King Joseph had retired on our approach, leaving a garrison in the +fortified palace of El Retiro; but they surrendered some days +afterwards, and we remained there for three months, basking in the +sunshine of beauty, harmony, and peace. I shall ever look back to that +period as the most pleasing event of my military life. + +The only bar to our perfect felicity was the want of money, as, +independent of long arrears, already due, the military chest continued +so very poor that it could not afford to give us more than a +fortnight's pay during these three months; and, as nobody could, +would, or should give cash for bills, we were obliged to sell silver +spoons, watches, and every thing of value that we stood possessed of, +to purchase the common necessaries of life. + +My Irish _criado_, who used to take uncommon liberties with my +property, having been two or three days in the rear, with the baggage, +at the time of the battle of Salamanca, took upon himself to exchange +my baggage-horse for another; and his apology for so doing was, that +the one he had got was twice as big as the one he gave! The additional +size, however, so far from being an advantage, proved quite the +reverse; for I found that he could eat as much as he could carry, +and, as he was obliged to carry all that he had to eat, I was forced +to put him on half allowance, to make room for my baggage; in +consequence of which, every bone in his body soon became so _pointed_ +that I could easily have hung my hat on any part of his hind quarters. +I therefore took advantage of our present repose to let him have the +benefit of a full allowance, that enabled me to effect an exchange +between him and a mule, getting five dollars to the bargain, which +made me one of the happiest and, I believe, also, one of the richest +men in the army. I expended the first dollar next day, in getting +admission to a bullfight, in their national amphitheatre, where the +first thing that met my astonished eyes was a mad bull giving the +finishing _prode_ to my unfortunate big horse. + +Lord Wellington, with some divisions of the army, proceeded, about the +beginning of September, to undertake the siege of Burgos, leaving +those at Madrid, under the orders of Sir Rowland Hill, so that, +towards the end of October, our delightful sojourn there drew +perceptibly to a close, for it was known that King Joseph, with the +forces under Soult and Jourdan, now united, were moving upon Aranjuez, +and that all, excepting our own division, were already in motion, to +dispute the passage of the Tagus, and to cover the capital. About four +o'clock on the morning of the 23d of October, we received orders to be +on our alarm-posts at six, and, as soon as we had formed, we were +marched to the city of Alcala. + +October 27th.--We were all this day marching to Arganda, and all night +marching back again. If any one thing is more particularly damned than +another it is a march of this kind. + +October 30th--An order arrived, from Lord Wellington, for our corps of +the army to fall back upon Salamanca; we, therefore, returned to +Madrid, and, after halting outside the gates until we were joined by +Skerret's division, from Cadiz, we bade a last sorrowful adieu to our +friends in the city, and commenced our retreat. + +October 31st.--Halted for the night in the park of the Escurial. It is +amusing, on a division's first taking up its ground, to see the +numbers of hares that are, every instant, starting up among the men, +and the scrambling and shouting of the soldiers for the prize. This +day, when the usual shout was given, every man ran, with his cap in +his hand, to endeavour to capture poor _puss_, as he imagined, but +which turned out to be two wild boars, who contrived to make room for +themselves so long as there was nothing but men's caps to contend +with; but they very soon had as many bayonets as bristles in their +backs. We re-crossed the Guadarama mountains next morning. + +November 2d.--Halted, this night, in front of a small town, the name +of which I do not recollect. It was beginning to get dark by the time +I had posted our guards and piquets, when I rode into it, to endeavour +to find my messmates, who, I knew, had got a dinner waiting for me +somewhere. + +I entered a large square, or market-place, and found it crowded with +soldiers of all nations, most of them three-parts drunk, and in the +midst of whom a mad bull was performing the most extraordinary feats, +quite unnoticed, excepting by those who had the misfortune to attract +his attention. The first intimation that I had of him was his charging +past me, and making a thrust at our quarter-master, carrying off a +portion of his regimental trousers. He next got a fair toss at a +Portuguese soldier, and sent him spinning three or four turns up in +the air. I was highly amused in observing the fellow's astonishment +when he alighted, to see that he had not the remotest idea to what +accident he was indebted for such an evolution, although he seemed +fully prepared to quarrel with any one who chose to acknowledge any +participation in the deed; but the cause of it was, all the time, +finding fresh customers, and, making the grand tour of the square with +such velocity, I began to fear that I should soon be on his list also, +if I did not take shelter in the nearest house, a measure no sooner +thought of than executed. I, therefore, opened a door, and drove my +horse in before me; but there instantly arose such an uproar within, +that I began to wish myself once more on the outside on any terms, for +it happened to be occupied by English, Portuguese, and German +bullock-drivers, who had been seated round a table, scrambling for a +dinner, when my horse upset the table, lights, and every thing on it. +The only thing that I could make out amid their confused curses was, +that they had come to the determination of putting the cause of the +row to death; but, as I begged to differ with them on that point, I +took the liberty of knocking one or two of them down, and finally +succeeded in extricating my horse, with whom I retraced my way to the +camp, weary, angry, and hungry. On my arrival there, I found an +orderly waiting to show me the way to dinner, which once more restored +me to good humour with myself and all the world; while the adventure +afforded my companions a hearty laugh, at my expense. + +November 6th.--In the course of this day's march, while our battalion +formed the rear-guard, at a considerable distance in the rear of the +column, we found a Portuguese soldier, who had been left by his +regiment, lying in the middle of the road, apparently dead; but, on +examining him more closely, we had reason to think that he was merely +in a state of stupor, arising from fatigue and the heat of the +weather,--an opinion which caused us no little uneasiness. Although we +did not think it quite fair to bury a living man, yet we had no means +whatever of carrying him off; and to leave him where he was, would, in +all probability, have cost us a number of better lives than his had +ever been, for the French, who were then in sight, had hitherto been +following us at a very respectable distance; and, had they found that +we were retiring in such a hurry as to leave our half-dead people on +the road, they would not have been Frenchmen if they did not give us +an extra push, to help us along. Under all the circumstances of the +case, therefore, although our doctor was of opinion that, with time +and attention, he might recover, and not having either the one or the +other to spare, the remainder of us, who had voted ourselves into a +sort of board of survey, thought it most prudent to find him dead; +and, carrying him a little off the road to the edge of a ravine, we +scraped a hole in the sand with our swords, and placed him in it. We +covered him but very lightly, and left his head and arms at perfect +liberty; so that, although he might be said to have had both feet in +the grave, yet he might still have scrambled out of it, if he could. + + + + +CHAP. XII. + + Reach Salamanca. Retreat from it. Pig Hunting, an Enemy to + Sleep-Hunting. Putting one's Foot in it. Affair on the 17th of + November. Bad Legs sometimes last longer than good ones. A Wet + Birth. Prospectus of a Day's Work. A lost _dejune_ better than a + found one. Advantages not taken. A disagreeable Amusement. End of + the Campaign of 1812. Winter Quarters. Orders and Disorders + treated. Farewell Opinion of Ancient Allies. My House. + + +November 7th.--Halted this night at Alba de Tormes, and next day +marched into quarters in Salamanca, where we rejoined Lord Wellington +with the army from Burgos. + +On the 14th, the British army concentrated on the field of their +former glory, in consequence of a part of the French army having +effected the passage of the river, above Alba de Tormes. On the 15th, +the whole of the enemy's force having passed the river, a cannonade +commenced early in the day; and it was the general belief that, ere +night, a second battle of Salamanca would be recorded. But, as all the +French armies in Spain were now united in our front, and out-numbered +us so far, Lord Wellington, seeing no decided advantage to be gained +by risking a battle, at length ordered a retreat, which we commenced +about three in the afternoon. Our division halted for the night at the +entrance of a forest about four miles from Salamanca. + +The heavy rains which usually precede the Spanish winter had set in +the day before; and, as the roads in that part of the country cease to +be roads for the remainder of the season, we were now walking nearly +knee deep, in a stiff mud, into which no man could thrust his foot, +with the certainty of having a shoe at the end of it when he pulled it +out again; and, that we might not be miserable by halves, we had, this +evening, to regale our chops with the last morsel of biscuit that +they were destined to grind during the retreat. + +We cut some boughs of trees to keep us out of the mud, and lay down to +sleep on them, wet to the skin; but the cannonade of the afternoon had +been succeeded, after dark, by a continued firing of musketry, which +led us to believe that our piquets were attacked, and, in momentary +expectation of an order to stand to our arms, we kept ourselves awake +the whole night, and were not a little provoked when we found, next +morning, that it had been occasioned by numerous stragglers from the +different regiments, shooting at the pigs belonging to the peasantry +which were grazing in the wood. + +November 16th.--Retiring from daylight until dark through the same +description of roads. The French dragoons kept close behind, but did +not attempt to molest us. It still continued to rain hard, and we +again passed the night in a wood. I was very industriously employed, +during the early part of it, feeling, in the dark, for acorns, as a +substitute for bread. + +November 17th.--At daylight this morning the enemy's cavalry advanced +in force; but they were kept in check by the skirmishers of the 14th +light dragoons, until the road became open, when we continued our +retreat. Our brigade-major was at this time obliged to go to the rear, +sick, and I was appointed to act for him. + +We were much surprised, in the course of the forenoon, to hear a sharp +firing commence behind us, on the very road by which we were retiring; +and it was not until we reached the spot that we learnt that the +troops who were retreating, by a road parallel to ours, had left it +too soon, and enabled some French dragoons, under cover of the forest, +to advance unperceived to the flank of our line of march, who, seeing +an interval between two divisions of infantry, which was filled with +light baggage and some passing officers, dashed at it, and made some +prisoners in the scramble of the moment, amongst whom was +Lieutenant-General Sir Edward Paget. + +Our division formed on the heights above Samunoz to cover the passage +of the rivulet, which was so swollen with the heavy rains, as only to +be passable at particular fords. While we waited there for the passage +of the rest of the army, the enemy, under cover of the forest, was, at +the same time, assembling in force close around us; and the moment +that we began to descend the hill, towards the rivulet, we were +assailed by a heavy fire of cannon and musketry, while their powerful +cavalry were in readiness to take advantage of any confusion which +might have occurred. We effected the passage, however, in excellent +order, and formed on the opposite bank of the stream, where we +continued under a cannonade and engaged in a sharp skirmish until +dark. + +Our loss on this occasion was considerable, but it would have been +much greater, had not the enemy's shells buried themselves so deep in +the soft ground, that their explosions did little injury. It appeared +singular to us, who were not medical men, that an officer and several +of our division, who were badly wounded on this occasion, in the leg, +and who were sent to the rear on gun-carriages, should have died of a +mortification in the limb which was _not_ wounded. + +When the firing ceased, we received the usual order "to make ourselves +comfortable for the night," and I never remember an instance in which +we had so much difficulty in obeying it; for the ground we occupied +was a perfect flat, which was flooded more than ankle deep with water, +excepting here and there, where the higher ground around the roots of +trees, presented circles of a few feet of visible earth, upon which we +grouped ourselves. Some few fires were kindled, at which we roasted +some bits of raw beef on the points of our swords, and eat them by way +of a dinner. There was plenty of water to apologize for the want of +better fluids, but bread sent no apology at all. + +Some divisions of the army had commenced retiring as soon as it was +dark, and the whole had been ordered to move, so that the roads might +be clear for us before daylight. I was sent twice in the course of the +night to see what progress they had made; but such was the state of +the roads, that even within an hour of daylight, two divisions, +besides our own, were still unmoved, which would consequently delay us +so long, that we looked forward to a severe harassing day's fighting; +a kind of fighting, too, that is the least palatable of any, where +much might be lost, and nothing was to be gained. With such prospects +before us, it made my very heart rejoice to see my brigadier's servant +commence boiling some chocolate and frying a beef-steak. I watched its +progress with a keenness which intense hunger alone could inspire, and +was on the very point of having my desires consummated, when the +general, getting uneasy at not having received any communication +relative to the movements of the morning, and, without considering how +feelingly my stomach yearned for a better acquaintance with the +contents of his frying-pan, desired me to ride to General Alten for +orders. I found the general at a neighbouring tree; but he cut off all +hopes of my timely return, by desiring me to remain with him until he +received the report of an officer whom he had sent to ascertain the +progress of the other divisions. + +While I was toasting myself at his fire, so sharply set that I could +have eaten one of my boots, I observed his German orderly dragoon, at +an adjoining fire, stirring up the contents of a camp-kettle, that +once more revived my departing hopes, and I presently had the +satisfaction of seeing him dipping in some basins, presenting one to +the general, one to the aide-de-camp, and a third to myself. The mess +which it contained I found, after swallowing the whole at a draught, +was neither more nor less than the produce of a piece of beef boiled +in plain water; and, though it would have been enough to have +physicked a dromedary at any other time, yet, as I could then have +made a good hole in the dromedary himself, it sufficiently satisfied +my cravings to make me equal to any thing for the remainder of the +day. + +We were soon after ordered to stand to our arms, and, as day lit up, a +thick haze hung on the opposite hills, which prevented our seeing the +enemy; and, as they did not attempt to feel for us, we, contrary to +our expectations, commenced our retreat unmolested; nor could we quite +believe our good fortune when, towards the afternoon, we had passed +several places where they could have assailed us, in flank, with great +advantage, and caused us a severe loss, almost in spite of fate; but +it afterwards appeared that they were quite knocked up with their +exertions in overtaking us the day before, and were unable to follow +further. We halted on a swampy height, behind St. Espiritu, and +experienced another night of starvation and rain. + +I now felt considerably more for my horse than myself, as he had been +three days and nights without a morsel of any kind to eat. Our +baggage-animals, too, we knew were equally ill off, and, as they +always preceded us a day's march, it was highly amusing, whenever we +found a dead horse, or a mule, lying on the road-side, to see the +anxiety with which every officer went up to reconnoitre him, each +fearing that he should have the misfortune to recognize it as his own. + +On the 19th of November we arrived at the convent of Caridad, near +Ciudad Rodrigo, and once more experienced the comforts of our baggage +and provisions. My boots had not been off since the 13th, and I found +it necessary to cut them to pieces, to get my swollen feet out of +them. + +This retreat terminated the campaign of 1812. After a few days' delay, +and some requisite changes about the neighbourhood, while all the +world were getting shook into their places, our battalion finally took +possession of the village of Alameida for the winter, where, after +forming a regimental mess, we detached an officer to Lamego, and +secured to ourselves a bountiful supply of the best juice of the +grape which the neighbouring banks of the Douro afforded. The quarter +we now occupied was naturally pretty much upon a par with those of the +last two winters, but it had the usual advantages attending the march +of intellect. The officers of the division united in fitting up an +empty chapel, in the village of Galegos, as an amateur theatre, for +which, by the by, we were all regularly cursed, from the altar, by the +bishop of Rodrigo. Lord Wellington kept a pack of foxhounds, and the +Hon. Captain Stewart, of ours, a pack of harriers, so that these, in +addition to our old _Bolero_ meetings, enabled us to pass a very +tolerable winter. + +The neighbouring plains abounded with hares; it was one of the most +beautiful coursing countries, perhaps, in the world; and there was, +also, some shooting to be had at the numerous vultures preying on the +dead carcasses which strewed the road-side on the line of our last +retreat. + +Up to this period Lord Wellington had been adored by the army, in +consideration of his brilliant achievements, and for his noble and +manly bearing in all things; but, in consequence of some disgraceful +irregularities which took place during the retreat, he immediately +after issued an order, conveying a sweeping censure on the whole army. +His general conduct was too upright for even the finger of malice +itself to point at; but as his censure, on this occasion, was not +strictly confined to the guilty, it afforded a handle to disappointed +persons, and excited a feeling against him, on the part of +individuals, which has probably never since been obliterated. + +It began by telling us that we had suffered no privations; and, though +this was hard to be digested on an empty stomach, yet, taking it in +its more liberal meaning, that our privations were not of an extent to +justify any irregularities, which I readily admit; still, as many +regiments were not guilty of any irregularities, it is not to be +wondered if such should have felt, at first, a little sulky to find, +in the general reproof, that no loop-hole whatever had been left for +them to creep through; for, I believe I am justified in saying that +neither our own, nor the two gallant corps associated with us, had a +single man absent that we could not satisfactorily account for. But it +touched us still more tenderly in not excepting us from his general +charge of inexpertness in camp arrangements; for, it was _our belief_, +and in which we were in some measure borne out by circumstances, that, +had he placed us, at the same moment, in the same field, with an equal +number of the best troops in France, that he would not only have seen +our fires as quickly lit, but every Frenchman roasting on them to the +bargain, if they waited long enough to be _dressed_; for there, +perhaps, never was, nor ever again will be, such a war-brigade as that +which was composed of the forty-third, fifty-second, and the rifles. + +That not only censure, but condign punishment was merited, in many +instances, is certain; and, had his lordship dismissed some officers +from the service, and caused some of the disorderly soldiers to be +shot, it would not only have been an act of justice, but, probably, a +necessary example. Had he hanged every commissary, too, who failed to +issue the regular rations to the troops dependent on him, unless they +proved that they were starved themselves, it would only have been a +just sacrifice to the offended stomachs of many thousands of gallant +fellows. + +In our brigade, I can safely say, that the order in question excited +"more of sorrow than of anger;" we thought that, had it been +_particular_, it would have been just; but, as it was _general_, that +it was inconsiderate; and we, therefore, regretted that he who had +been, and still was, the god of our idolatry, should thereby have laid +himself open to the attacks of the ill-natured. + +Alameida is a Spanish village, situated within a stone's throw of the +boundary-line of the sister-kingdom; and, as the head-quarters of the +army, as well as the nearest towns, from whence we drew our supplies, +lay in Portugal, our connexions, while we remained there, were chiefly +with the latter kingdom; and, having passed the three last winters on +their frontier, we, in the month of May, 1813, prepared to bid it a +final adieu, with very little regret. The people were kind and +hospitable, and not destitute of intelligence; but, somehow, they +appeared to be the creatures of a former age, and showed an indolence +and want of enterprise which marked them born for slaves; and, +although the two cacadore regiments attached to our division were, at +all times, in the highest order, and conducted themselves gallantly in +the field, yet, I am of opinion that, as a nation, they owe their +character for bravery almost entirely to the activity and gallantry of +the British officers who organized and led them. The veriest cowards +in existence must have shown the same front under such discipline. I +did not see enough of their gentry to enable me to form an opinion +about them; but the middling and lower orders are extremely filthy +both in their persons and in their houses, and they have all an +intolerable itch for gambling. The soldiers, though fainting with +fatigue on the line of march, invariably group themselves in +card-parties whenever they are allowed a few minutes' halt; and a +non-commissioned officer, with half-a-dozen men on any duty of +fatigue, are very generally to be seen as follows, viz. one man as a +sentry, to watch the approach of the superintending officer, one man +at work, and the non-commissioned officer, with the other four, at +cards. + +The cottages in Alameida, and, indeed, in all the Spanish villages, +generally contain two mud-floored apartments: the outer one, though +more cleanly than the Irish, is, nevertheless, fashioned after the +same manner, and is common alike to the pigs and the people; while the +inner looks more like the gun-room of a ship-of-war, having a +sitting-apartment in the centre, with small sleeping-cabins branching +from it, each illuminated by a port-hole, about a foot square. We did +not see daylight "through a glass darkly," as on London's +Ludgate-hill, for there the air circulated freely, and mild it came, +and pure, and fragrant, as if it had just stolen over a bed of roses. +If a man did not like _that_, he had only to shut his port, and remain +in darkness, inhaling his own preferred sweetness! The outside of my +sleeping-cabin was interwoven with ivy and honeysuckle, and, among the +branches, a nightingale had established itself, and sung sweetly, +night after night, during the whole of the winter. I could not part +from such a pleasing companion, and from a bed in which I had enjoyed +so many tranquil slumbers, without a sigh, though I was ungrateful +enough to accompany it with a fervent wish that I might never see them +again; for I looked upon the period that I had spent there as so much +time lost. + + + + +CHAP. XIII. + + A Review. Assembly of the Army. March to Salamanca. To Aldea + Nueva. To Toro. An Affair of the Hussar Brigade. To Palencia. To + the Neighbourhood of Burgos. To the Banks of the Ebro. Fruitful + sleeping place. To Medina. A Dance before it was due. Smell the + Foe. Affair at St. Milan. A Physical River. + + +May, 1813.--In the early part of this month our division was reviewed +by Lord Wellington, preparatory to the commencement of another +campaign; and I certainly never saw a body of troops in a more +highly-efficient state. It did one's very heart good to look at our +battalion that day, seeing each company standing a hundred strong, and +the intelligence of several campaigns stamped on each daring, bronzed +countenance, which looked you boldly in the face, in the fullness of +vigour and confidence, as if it cared neither for man nor devil. + +On the 21st of May, our division broke up from winter-quarters, and +assembled in front of Ciudad Rodrigo, with all excepting the left wing +of the army, which, under Sir Thomas Graham, had already passed the +Douro, and was ascending its right bank. + +An army which has seen some campaigns in the field, affords a great +deal of amusement in its assembling after winter-quarters. There is +not only the greeting of long-parted friends and acquaintances in the +same walks of life, but, among the different divisions which the +nature of the service generally threw a good deal together, there was +not so much as a mule or a donkey that was not known to each +individual, and its absence noticed; nor a scamp of a boy, or a common +Portuguese trull, who was not as particularly inquired after, as if +the fate of the campaign depended on their presence. + +On the 22d, we advanced towards Salamanca, and, the next day, halted +at Samunoz, on our late field of action. With what different feelings +did we now view the same spot! In our last visit, winter was on the +face of the land, as well as on our minds; we were worn out with +fatigue, mortification, and starvation; now, all was summer and +sunshine. The dismal swamps had now become verdant meadows; we had +plenty in the camp, vigour in our limbs, and hope in our bosoms. + +We were, this day, joined by the household brigade of cavalry from +England; and, as there was a report in the morning that the enemy were +in the neighbourhood, some of the life-guards concluded that every +thing in front of their camp must be a part of them, and they, +accordingly, apprehended some of the light dragoon horses, which +happened to be grazing near. One of their officers came to dine with +me that day, and he was in the act of reporting their capture, when my +orderly-book was brought at the moment, containing an offer of reward +for the detection of the thieves! + +On the 27th, we encamped on the banks of the Tormes, at a ford, about +a league below Salamanca. A body of the enemy, who had occupied the +city, suffered severely before they got away, in a brush with some +part of Sir Rowland Hill's corps; chiefly, I believe, from some of his +artillery. + +On the 28th, we crossed the river, and marched near to Aldea Nueva, +where we remained stationary for some days, under Sir Rowland Hill; +Lord Wellington having proceeded from Salamanca to join the left wing +of the army, beyond the Douro. + +On the 2d of June, we were again put in motion; and, after a very long +march, encamped near the Douro, opposite the town of Toro. + +Lord Wellington had arrived there the day before, without being +opposed by the enemy; but there had been an affair of cavalry, a short +distance beyond the town, in which the hussar brigade particularly +distinguished themselves, and took about three hundred prisoners. + +On the morning of the 3d, we crossed the river; and, marching through +the town of Toro, encamped about half a league beyond it. The enemy +had put the castle in a state of repair, and constructed a number of +other works to defend the passage of the river; but the masterly eye +of our chief, having seen his way round the town, spared them the +trouble of occupying the works; yet, loth to think that so much labour +should be altogether lost, he garrisoned their castle with the three +hundred taken by the hussar brigade, for which it made a very good +jail. + +On the 4th, we were again in motion, and had a long, warm, fatiguing +march; as, also, on the 5th and 6th. On the 7th, we encamped outside +of Palencia, a large rickety looking old town; with the front of every +house supported by pillars, like so many worn out old bachelors on +crutches. + +The French did not interfere with our accommodation in the slightest, +but made it a point to leave every place an hour or two before we came +to it; so that we quietly continued our daily course, following nearly +the line of the Canal de Castile, through a country luxuriant in +corn-fields and vineyards, until the 12th, when we arrived within two +or three leagues of Burgos, (on its left,) and where we found a body +of the enemy in position, whom we immediately proceeded to attack; but +they evaporated on our approach, and fell back upon Burgos. We +encamped for the night on the banks of a river, a short distance to +the rear. Next morning, at daylight, an explosion shook the ground +like an earthquake, and made every man jump upon his legs; and it was +not until some hours after, when Lord Wellington returned from +reconnoitring, that we learnt that the castle of Burgos had been just +blown up, and the town evacuated by the enemy. + +We continued our march on the 13th, through a very rich country. + +On the 14th, we had a long harassing day's march, through a rugged +mountainous country, which afforded only an occasional glimpse of +fertility, in some pretty little valleys with which it was +intersected. + +We started at daylight on the 15th, through a dreary region of solid +rock, bearing an abundant crop of loose stones, without a particle of +soil or vegetation visible to the naked eye in any direction. After +leaving nearly twenty miles of this horrible wilderness behind us, our +weary minds clogged with an imaginary view of nearly as much more of +it in our front, we found ourselves, all at once, looking down upon +the valley of the Ebro, near the village of Arenas, one of the +richest, loveliest, and most romantic spots that I ever beheld. The +influence of such a scene on the mind can scarcely be believed. Five +minutes before we were all as _lively_ as stones. In a moment we were +all fruits and flowers; and many a pair of legs, that one would have +thought had not a kick left in them, were, in five minutes after, seen +dancing across the bridge, to the tune of "the downfal of Paris," +which struck up from the bands of the different regiments. + +I lay down that night in a cottage garden, with my head on a melon, +and my eye on a cherry-tree, and resigned myself to a repose which +did not require a long courtship. + +We resumed our march at daybreak on the 16th. The road, in the first +instance, wound through orchards and luxurious gardens, and then +closed in to the edge of the river, through a difficult and formidable +pass, where the rocks on each side, arising to a prodigious height, +hung over each other in fearful grandeur, and in many places nearly +met together over our heads. + +After following the course of the river for nearly two miles, the +rocks on each side gradually expanded into another valley, lovely as +the one we had left, and where we found the fifth division of our army +lying encamped. They were still asleep; and the rising sun, and a +beautiful morning, gave additional sublimity to the scene; for there +was nothing but the tops of the white tents peeping above the fruit +trees; and an occasional sentinel pacing his post, that gave any +indication of what a nest of hornets the blast of a bugle could bring +out of that apparently peaceful solitude. + +Our road now wound up the mountain to our right; and, almost satiated +with the continued grandeur around us, we arrived, in the afternoon, +at the town of Medina, and encamped a short distance beyond it. + +We were welcomed into every town or village through which we passed, +by the peasant girls, who were in the habit of meeting us with +garlands of flowers, and dancing before us in a peculiar style of +their own; and it not unfrequently happened, that while they were so +employed with one regiment, the preceding one was diligently engaged +in pulling down some of their houses for firewood--a measure which we +were sometimes obliged to have recourse to, where no other fuel could +be had, and for which they were, ultimately, paid by the British +Government; but it was a measure that was more likely to have set the +poor souls dancing mad than for joy, had they foreseen the +consequences of our visit. + +June 17th.--We had not seen any thing of the enemy since we left the +neighbourhood of Burgos; but, after reaching our ground this evening, +we were aware that some of their videttes were feeling for us. + +On the morning of the 18th, we were ordered to march to San Milan, a +small town, about two leagues off; and where, on our arrival on the +hill above it, we found a division of French infantry, as strong as +ourselves, in the act of crossing our path. The surprise, I believe, +was mutual, though I doubt whether the pleasure was equally so; for we +were red hot for an opportunity of retaliating for the Salamanca +retreat; and, as the old saying goes, "there is no opportunity like +the present." Their leading brigade had nearly passed before we came +up, but not a moment was lost after we did. Our battalion dispersing +among the brushwood, went down the hill upon them; and, with a +destructive fire, broke through their line of march, supported by the +rest of the brigade. Those that had passed made no attempt at a stand, +but continued their flight, keeping up as good a fire as their +circumstances would permit; while we kept hanging on their flank and +rear, through a good rifle country, which enabled us to make +considerable havoc among them. Their general's aide-de-camp, amongst +others, was mortally wounded; and a lady, on a white horse, who +probably was his wife, remained beside him, until we came very near. +She appeared to be in great distress; but, though we called to her to +remain, and not to be alarmed, yet she galloped off as soon as a +decided step became necessary. The object of her solicitude did not +survive many minutes after we reached him. We followed the retreating +foe until late in the afternoon. On this occasion, our brigade came in +for all the blows, and the other for all the baggage, which was +marching between the two French brigades; the latter of which, seeing +the scrape into which the first had fallen, very prudently left it to +its fate, and dispersed on the opposite mountains, where some of them +fell into the hands of a Spanish force that was detached in pursuit; +but, I believe, the greater part succeeded in joining their army the +day after the battle of Vittoria. + +We heard a heavy cannonade all day to our left, occasioned, as we +understood, by the fifth division falling in with another detachment +of the enemy, which the unexpected and rapid movements of Lord +Wellington was hastening to their general point of assembly. + +On the early part of the 19th, we were fagging up the face of a +mountain, under a sultry hot sun, until we came to a place where a +beautiful clear stream was dashing down the face of it, when the +division was halted, to enable the men to refresh themselves. Every +man carries a cup, and every man ran and swallowed a cup full of +it--it was salt water from the springs of Salinas; and it was truly +ludicrous to see their faces after taking such a voluntary dose. I +observed an Irishman, who, not satisfied with the first trial, and +believing that his cup had been infected by some salt breaking loose +in his haversack, he washed it carefully and then drank a second one, +when, finding no change, he exclaimed,--"by J----s, boys, we must be +near the sea, for the water's getting salt!" We, soon after, passed +through the village of Salinas, situated at the source of the stream, +where there is a considerable salt manufactory. The inhabitants were +so delighted to see us, that they placed buckets full of it at the +doors of the different houses, and entreated our men to help +themselves as they passed along. It rained hard in the afternoon, and +it was late before we got to our ground. We heard a good deal of +firing in the neighbourhood in the course of the day, but our division +was not engaged. + +We retained the same bivouac all day on the 20th; it was behind a +range of mountains within a short distance of the left of the enemy's +position, as we afterwards discovered; and though we heard an +occasional gun, from the other side of the mountain in the course of +the day, fired at Lord Wellington's reconnoitring party, the peace of +our valley remained undisturbed. + + + + +CHAP. XIV. + + Battle of Vittoria. Defeat of the Enemy. Confusion among their + Followers. Plunder. Colonel Cameron. Pursuit, and the Capture of + their Last Gun. Arrive near Pampeluna. At Villalba. An Irish + method of making a useless Bed useful. + + +BATTLE OF VITTORIA, + +June 21st, 1813. + +Our division got under arms this morning before daylight, passed the +base of the mountain by its left, through the camp of the fourth +division, who were still asleep in their tents, to the banks of the +river Zadora, at the village of Tres Puentes. The opposite side of the +river was occupied by the enemy's advanced posts, and we saw their +army on the hills beyond, while the spires of Vittoria were visible +in the distance. We felt as if there was likely to be a battle; but as +that was an event we were never sure of, until we found ourselves +actually in it, we lay for some time just out of musket shot, +uncertain what was likely to turn up, and waiting for orders. At +length a sharp fire of musketry was heard to our right; and, on +looking in that direction, we saw the head of Sir Rowland Hill's +corps, together with some Spanish troops, attempting to force the +mountain which marked the enemy's left. The three battalions of our +regiment were, at the same moment, ordered forward to feel the enemy, +who lined the opposite banks of the river, with whom we were quickly +engaged in a warm skirmish. The affair with Sir Rowland Hill became +gradually warmer, but ours had apparently no other object than to +amuse those who were opposite to us, for the moment; so that, for +about two hours longer, it seemed as if there would be nothing but an +affair of outposts. About twelve o'clock, however, we were moved +rapidly to our left, followed by the rest of the division, till we +came to an abrupt turn of the river, where we found a bridge, +unoccupied by the enemy, which we immediately crossed, and took +possession of, what appeared to me to be, an old field-work, on the +other side. We had not been many seconds there before we observed the +bayonets of the third and seventh divisions glittering above the +standing corn, and advancing upon another bridge, which stood about a +quarter of a mile further to our left, and where, on their arrival, +they were warmly opposed by the enemy's light troops, who lined the +bank of the river, (which we ourselves were now on,) in great force, +for the defence of the bridge. As soon as this was observed by our +division, Colonel Barnard advanced with our battalion, and took them +in flank with such a furious fire as quickly dislodged them, and +thereby opened a passage for these two divisions free of expense, +which must otherwise have cost them dearly. What with the rapidity of +our movement, the colour of our dress, and our close contact with the +enemy, before they would abandon their post, we had the misfortune to +be identified with them for some time, by a battery of our own guns, +who, not observing the movement, continued to serve it out +indiscriminately, and all the while admiring their practice upon us; +nor was it until the red coats of the third division joined us, that +they discovered their mistake. + +The battle now commenced in earnest; and this was perhaps the most +interesting moment of the whole day. Sir Thomas Graham's artillery, +with the first and fifth divisions, began to be heard far to our left, +beyond Vittoria. The bridge, which we had just cleared, stood so near +to a part of the enemy's position, that the seventh division was +instantly engaged in close action with them at that point. + +On the mountain to our extreme right the action continued to be +general and obstinate, though we observed that the enemy were giving +ground slowly to Sir Rowland Hill. The passage of the river by our +division had turned the enemy's outpost, at the bridge, on our right, +where we had been engaged in the morning, and they were now +retreating, followed by the fourth division. The plain between them +and Sir Rowland Hill was occupied by the British cavalry, who were now +seen filing out of a wood, squadron after squadron, galloping into +form as they gradually cleared it. The hills behind were covered with +spectators, and the third and the light divisions, covered by our +battalion, advanced rapidly, upon a formidable hill, in front of the +enemy's centre, which they had neglected to occupy in sufficient +force. + +In the course of our progress, our men kept picking off the French +videttes, who were imprudent enough to hover too near us; and many a +horse, bounding along the plain, dragging his late rider by the +stirrup-irons, contributed in making it a scene of extraordinary and +exhilarating interest. + +Old Picton rode at the head of the third division, dressed in a blue +coat and a round hat, and swore as roundly all the way as if he had +been wearing two cocked ones. Our battalion soon cleared the hill in +question of the enemy's light troops; but we were pulled up on the +opposite side of it by one of their lines, which occupied a wall at +the entrance of a village immediately under us. During the few minutes +that we stopped there, while a brigade of the third division was +deploying into line, two of our companies lost two officers and thirty +men, chiefly from the fire of artillery bearing on the spot from the +French position. One of their shells burst immediately under my nose, +part of it struck my boot and stirrup-iron, and the rest of it kicked +up such a dust about me that my charger refused to obey orders; and, +while I was spurring and he capering, I heard a voice behind me, which +I knew to be Lord Wellington's, calling out, in a tone of reproof, +"look to keeping your men together, sir;" and though, God knows, I had +not the remotest idea that he was within a mile of me at the time, +yet, so sensible was I that circumstances warranted his supposing that +I was a young officer, cutting a caper, by way of bravado, before him, +that worlds would not have tempted me to look round at the moment. +The French fled from the wall as soon as they received a volley from a +part of the third division, and we instantly dashed down the hill, and +charged them through the village, capturing three of their guns; the +first, I believe, that were taken that day. They received a +reinforcement, and drove us back before our supports could come to our +assistance; but, in the scramble of the moment, our men were knowing +enough to cut the traces, and carry off the horses, so that, when we +retook the village, immediately after, the guns still remained in our +possession. The battle now became general along the whole line, and +the cannonade was tremendous. At one period, we held one side of a +wall, near the village, while the French were on the other, so that +any person who chose to put his head over from either side was sure of +getting a sword or a bayonet up his nostrils. This situation was, of +course, too good to be of long endurance. The victory, I believe, was +never for a moment doubtful. The enemy were so completely +out-generalled, and the superiority of our troops was such, that to +carry their positions required little more than the time necessary to +march to them. After forcing their centre, the fourth division and our +own got on the flank and rather in rear of the enemy's left wing, who +were retreating before Sir Rowland Hill, and who, to effect their +escape, were now obliged to fly in one confused mass. Had a single +regiment of our dragoons been at hand, or even a squadron, to have +forced them into shape for a few minutes, we must have taken from ten +to twenty thousand prisoners. After marching along side of them for +nearly two miles, and as a disorderly body will always move faster +than an orderly one, we had the mortification to see them gradually +heading us, until they finally made their escape. I have no doubt but +that our mounted gentlemen were doing their duty as they ought in +another part of the field; yet, it was impossible to deny ourselves +the satisfaction of cursing them all, because a portion had not been +there at such a critical moment. Our elevated situation, at this +time, afforded a good view of the field of battle to our left, and I +could not help being struck with an unusual appearance of unsteadiness +and want of confidence among the French troops. I saw a dense mass of +many thousands occupying a good defensible post, who gave way in the +greatest confusion, before a single line of the third division, almost +without feeling them. If there was nothing in any other part of the +position to justify the movement, and I do not think there was, they +ought to have been flogged, every man, from the general downwards. + +The ground was particularly favourable to the retreating foe, as every +half-mile afforded a fresh and formidable position, so that, from the +commencement of the action to the city of Vittoria, a distance of six +or eight miles, we were involved in one continued hard skirmish. On +passing Vittoria, however, the scene became quite new and infinitely +more amusing, as the French had made no provision for a retreat; and, +Sir Thomas Graham having seized upon the great road to France, the +only one left open was that leading by Pampeluna; and it was not open +long, for their fugitive army, and their myriads of followers, with +baggage, guns, carriages, &c. being all precipitated upon it at the +same moment, it got choked up about a mile beyond the town, in the +most glorious state of confusion; and the drivers, finding that one +pair of legs was worth two pair of wheels, abandoned it all to the +victors. + +Many of their followers who had light carriages, endeavoured to make +their escape through the fields; but it only served to prolong their +misery. + +I shall never forget the first that we overtook: it was in the midst +of a stubble-field, for some time between us and the French +skirmishers, the driver doing all he could to urge the horses along; +but our balls began to whistle so plentifully about his ears, that he +at last dismounted in despair, and, getting on his knees, under the +carriage, began praying. His place on the box was quickly occupied by +as many of our fellows as could stick on it, while others were +scrambling in at the doors on each side, and not a few on the roof, +handling the baskets there so roughly, as to occasion loud complaints +from the fowls within. I rode up to the carriage, to see that the +people inside were not improperly treated; but the only one there was +an old gouty gentleman, who, from the nature of his cargo, must either +have robbed his own house, or that of a very good fellow, for the +carriage was literally laden with wines and provisions. Never did +victors make a more legal or useful capture; for it was now six in the +evening, and it had evidently been the old gentleman's fault if he had +not already dined, whereas it was our misfortune, rather than our +fault, that we had not tasted anything since three o'clock in the +morning, so that when one of our men knocked the neck off a bottle, +and handed it to me, to take a drink, I nodded to the old fellow's +health, and drank it off without the smallest scruple of conscience. +It was excellent claret, and if he still lives to tell the story, I +fear he will not give us the credit of having belonged to such a +_civil_ department as his appeared. + +We did not cease the pursuit until dark, and then halted in a field of +wheat, about two miles beyond Vittoria. The victory was complete. They +carried off only one howitzer out of their numerous artillery, which, +with baggage, stores, provisions, money, and every thing that +constitutes the _materiel_ of an army, fell into our hands. + +It is much to be lamented, on those occasions, that the people who +contribute most to the victory should profit the least by it; not that +I am an advocate for plunder--on the contrary, I would much rather +that all our fighting was for pure _love_; but, as every thing of +value falls into the hands of the followers, and scoundrels who skulk +from the ranks for the double purpose of plundering and saving their +dastardly carcasses, what I regret is, that the man who deserts his +post should thereby have an opportunity of enriching himself with +impunity, while the true man gets nothing; but the evil I believe is +irremediable. Sir James Kempt, who commanded our brigade, in passing +one of the captured waggons in the evening, saw a soldier loading +himself with money, and was about to have him conveyed to the camp as +a prisoner, when the fellow begged hard to be released, and to be +allowed to retain what he had got, telling the general that all the +boxes in the waggon were filled with gold. Sir James, with his usual +liberality, immediately adopted the idea of securing it, as a reward +to his brigade, for their gallantry; and, getting a fatigue party, he +caused the boxes to be removed to his tent, and ordered an officer and +some men from each regiment to parade there next morning, to receive +their proportions of it; but, when they opened the boxes, they found +them filled with _hammers, nails, and horse-shoes_! + +Among the evil chances of that glorious day, I had to regret the +temporary loss of Colonel Cameron,--a bad wound in the thigh having +obliged him to go to England. Of him I can truly say, that, as a +_friend_, his heart was in the right place, and, as a _soldier_, his +right place was at the head of a regiment in the face of an enemy. I +never saw an officer feel more at home in such a situation, nor do I +know any one who could fill it better. + +A singular accident threw me in the way of a dying French officer, who +gave me a group of family portraits to transmit to his friends; but, +as it was not until the following year that I had an opportunity of +making the necessary inquiries after them, they had then left their +residence, and were nowhere to be heard of. + +As not only the body, but the mind, had been in constant occupation +since three o'clock in the morning, circumstances no sooner permitted +(about ten at night) than I threw myself on the ground, and fell into +a profound sleep, from which I did not awake until broad daylight, +when I found a French soldier squatted near me, intensely watching for +the opening of my _shutters_. He had contrived to conceal himself +there during the night; and, when he saw that I was awake, he +immediately jumped on his legs, and very obsequiously presented me +with a map of France, telling me that as there was now a probability +of our visiting his native country, he could make himself very useful, +and would be glad if I would accept of his services. I thought it +unfair, however, to deprive him of the present opportunity of seeing a +little more of the world himself, and, therefore, sent him to join the +rest of the prisoners, which would insure him a trip to England, free +of expense. + +About midday, on the 22d, our three battalions, with some cavalry and +artillery, were ordered in pursuit of the enemy. + +I do not know how it is, but I have always had a mortal objection to +be killed the day after a victory. In the actions preceding a battle, +or in the battle itself, it never gave me much uneasiness, as being +all in the way of business; but, after surviving the great day, I +always felt as if I had a right to live to tell the story; and I, +therefore, did not find the ensuing three days' fighting half so +pleasant as they otherwise would have been. + +Darkness overtook us this night without our overtaking the enemy; and +we halted in a grove of pines, exposed to a very heavy rain. In +imprudently shifting my things from one tree to another, after dark, +some rascal contrived to steal the velisse containing my dressing +things, than which I do not know a greater loss, when there is no +possibility of replacing any part of them. + +We overtook their rear-guard early on the following day, and, hanging +on their line of march until dark, we did them all the mischief that +we could. They burnt every village through which they passed, under +the pretence of impeding our movements; but, as it did not make the +slightest difference in that respect, we could only view it as a +wanton piece of cruelty. + +On the 24th, we were again engaged in pressing their rear the greater +part of the day; and, ultimately, in giving them the last kick, under +the walls of Pampeluna, where we had the glory of capturing their +last gun, which literally sent them into France without a single piece +of ordnance. + +Our battalion occupied, that night, a large, well-furnished, but +uninhabited chateau, a short distance from Pampeluna. + +We got under arms early on the morning of the 25th; and, passing by a +mountain-path, to the left of Pampeluna, within range of the guns, +though they did not fire at us, circled the town, until we reached the +village of Villalba, where we halted for the night. Since I joined +that army, I had never, up to that period, been master of any thing in +the shape of a bed; and, though I did not despise a bundle of straw, +when it could conveniently be had, yet my boat-cloak and blanket were +more generally to be seen, spread out for my reception on the bare +earth. But, in proceeding to turn into them, as usual, this evening, I +was not a little astonished to find, in their stead, a comfortable +mattress, with a suitable supply of linen, blankets, and pillows; in +short, the very identical bedding on which I had slept, the night +before, in the chateau, three leagues off, and which my rascal of an +Irishman had bundled altogether on the back of my mule, without giving +me the slightest hint of his intentions. On my taking him to task +about it, and telling him that he would certainly be hanged, all that +he said in reply was, "by J--s, they had more than a hundred beds in +that house, and not a single soul to sleep in them." I was very much +annoyed, at the time, that there was no possibility of returning them +to their rightful owner, as, independent of its being nothing short of +a regular robbery, I really looked upon them as a very unnecessary +encumbrance; but being forced, in some measure, to indulge in their +comforts, I was not long in changing my mind; and was, ultimately, not +very sorry that the possibility of restoration never did occur. + + + + +CHAP. XV. + + March to intercept Clausel. Tafalla. Olite. The dark End of a + Night March to Casada. Clausel's Escape. Sanguessa. My Tent + struck. Return to Villalba. Weighty Considerations on Females. + St. Esteban. A Severe Dance. Position at Bera. Soult's Advance, + and Battle of the Pyrenees. His Defeat and subsequent Actions. A + Morning's Ride. + + +June 26th, 1813.--Our division fell in this morning, at daylight, and, +marching out of Villalba, circled round the southern side of +Pampeluna, until we reached the great road leading to Tafalla, where +we found ourselves united with the third and fourth divisions, and a +large body of cavalry; the whole under the immediate command of Lord +Wellington, proceeded southward, with a view to intercept General +Clausel, who, with a strong division of the French army, had been at +Logrona, on the day of the battle of Vittoria, and was now +endeavouring to pass into the Pyrenees by our right. We marched until +sun set, and halted for the night in a wood. + +On the morning of the 27th we were again in motion, and passing +through a country abounding in fruits, and all manner of delightful +prospects; and through the handsome town of Tafalla, where we were +enthusiastically cheered by the beauteous occupants of the numerous +balconies overhanging the streets. We halted, for the night, in an +olive-grove, a short distance from Olite. + +At daylight next morning we passed through the town of Olite, and +continued our route until we began to enter among the mountains, about +midday, when we halted two hours, to enable the men to cook, and again +resumed our march. Darkness overtook us, while struggling through a +narrow rugged road, which wound its way along the bank of the Arragon; +and we did not reach our destination, at Casada, until near midnight, +where, amid torrents of rain, and in the darkness of the night, we +could find nothing but ploughed fields on which to repose our weary +limbs, nor could we find a particle of fuel to illuminate the +cheerless scene. + + Breathed there a man of soul so dead, + Who would not to himself have said, + This is--a confounded comfortless dwelling. + +Dear Sir Walter,--pray excuse the _Casadians_, from your curse +entailed on home haters, for if any one of them ever succeeds in +getting beyond the mountain, by the road which I traversed, he ought +to be anathematized if ever he seek his home again. + +We passed the whole of the next day in the same place. It was +discovered that Clausel had been walking blindly into the _lion's +den_, when the _alcalde_ of a neighbouring village had warned him of +his danger, and he was thereby enabled to avoid us, by turning off +towards Zaragossa. We heard that Lord Wellington had caused the +informer to be hanged. I hope he did, but I don't believe it. + +On the 30th we began to retrace our steps to Pampeluna, in the course +of which we halted two nights at Sanguessa, a populous mountain town, +full of old rattle-trap houses, a good many of which we pulled down +for firewood, by way of making room for improvements. + +I was taking advantage of this extra day's halt to communicate to my +friends the important events of the past fortnight, when I found +myself all at once wrapped into a bundle, with my tent-pole, and sent +rolling upon the earth, mixed up with my portable table and writing +utensils, while the devil himself seemed to be dancing a hornpipe over +my body! Although this is a sort of thing that one will sometimes +submit to, when it comes by way of illusion, at its proper time and +place, such as a midnight visit from a night-mare; yet, as I seemed +now to be visited by a horse as well as a mare, and that, too, in the +middle of the day, and in the midst of a crowded camp, it was rather +too much of a joke, and I therefore sung out most lustily. I was not +long in getting extricated, and found that the whole scene had been +arranged by two rascally donkies, who, in a frolicsome humour, had +been chasing each other about the neighbourhood, until they finally +tumbled into my tent, with a force which drew every peg, and rolled +the whole of it over on the top of me! It might have been good sport +to them, but it was none to me! + +On the 3d of July, we resumed our quarters in Villalba, where we +halted during the whole of the next day; and were well supplied with +fish, fresh-butter, and eggs, brought by the peasantry of Biscay, who +are the most _manly_ set of _women_ that I ever saw. They are very +square across the shoulders; and, what between the quantity of fish, +and the quantity of yellow petticoats, they carry a load which an +ordinary mule might boast of. + +A division of Spaniards having relieved us in the blockade of +Pampeluna, our division, on the 5th of July, advanced into the +Pyrenees. + +On the 7th, we took up our quarters in the little town of St. Esteban, +situated in a lovely valley, watered by the Bidassoa. The different +valleys in the Pyrenees are very rich and fertile. The towns are clean +and regular, and the natives very handsome. They are particularly +smart about the limbs, and in no other part of the world have I seen +any thing, natural or artificial, to rival the complexions of the +ladies, _i.e._ to the admirers of pure red and white. + +We were allowed to remain several days in this enchanting spot, and +enjoyed ourselves exceedingly. They had an extraordinary style of +dancing, peculiar to themselves. At a particular part of the tune, +they all began thumping the floor with their feet, as hard and as fast +as they were able, not in the shape of a figure or flourish of any +kind, but even down pounding. I could not, myself, see any thing +either graceful or difficult in the operation; but they seemed to +think that there was only one lady amongst them who could do it in +perfection; she was the wife of a French Colonel, and had been left in +the care of her friends, (and his enemies): she certainly could pound +the ground both harder and faster than any one there, eliciting the +greatest applause after every performance; and yet I do not think that +she could have caught a _French_ husband by her superiority in that +particular step. + +After our few days halt, we advanced along the banks of the Bidassoa, +through a succession of beautiful little fertile valleys, thickly +studded with clean respectable looking farm-houses and little +villages, and bounded by stupendous, picturesque, and well wooded +mountains, until we came to the hill next to the village of Bera, +which we found occupied by a small force of the enemy, who, after +receiving a few shots from our people, retired through the village +into their position behind it. Our line of demarcation was then +clearly seen. The mountain which the French army occupied was the last +ridge of the Pyrenees; and their sentries stood on the face of it, +within pistol shot of the village of Bera, which now became the +advanced post of our division. The Bidassoa takes a sudden turn to the +left at Bera, and formed a natural boundary between the two armies +from thence to the sea; but all to our right was open, and merely +marked a continuation of the valley of Bera, which was a sort of +neutral ground, in which the French foragers and our own frequently +met and helped themselves, in the greatest good humour, while any +forage remained, without exchanging either words or blows. The left +wing of the army, under Sir Thomas Graham, now commenced the siege of +St. Sebastian; and as Lord Wellington had, at the same time, to cover +both that and the blockade of Pampeluna, our army occupied an extended +position of many miles. + +Marshal Soult having succeeded to the command of the French army, and +finding, towards the end of July, that St. Sebastian was about to be +stormed, and that the garrison of Pampeluna were beginning to get on +short allowance, he determined on making a bold push for the relief +of both places; and, assembling the whole of his army, he forced the +pass of Maya, and advanced rapidly upon Pampeluna. Lord Wellington was +never to be caught napping. His army occupied too extended a position +to offer effectual resistance at any of their advanced posts; but, by +the time that Marshal Soult had worked his way up to the last ridge of +the Pyrenees, and within sight of "the haven of his wishes," he found +his lordship waiting for him, with four divisions of the army, who +treated him to one of the most signal and sanguinary defeats that he +ever experienced. + +Our division, during the important movements on our right, was +employed in keeping up the communication between the troops under the +immediate command of Lord Wellington and those under Sir Thomas +Graham, at St. Sebastian. We retired, the first day, to the mountains +behind Le Secca; and, just as we were about to lie down for the night, +we were again ordered under arms, and continued our retreat in utter +darkness, through a mountain path, where, in many places, a false step +might have rolled a fellow as far as the other world. The consequence +was, that, although we were kept on our legs during the whole of the +night, we found, when daylight broke, that the tail of the column had +not got a quarter of a mile from their starting-post. + +On a good broad road it is all very well; but, on a narrow bad road, a +night march is like a night-mare, harassing a man to no purpose. + +On the 26th, we occupied a ridge of mountain near enough to hear the +battle, though not in a situation to see it; and remained the whole of +the day in the greatest torture, for want of news. About midnight we +heard the joyful tidings of the enemy's defeat, with the loss of four +thousand prisoners. Our division proceeded in pursuit, at daylight, on +the following morning. + +We moved rapidly by the same road on which we had retired, and, after +a forced march, found ourselves, when near sunset, on the flank of +their retiring column, on the Bidassoa, near the bridge of Janca, and +immediately proceeded to business. + +The sight of a Frenchman always acted like a cordial on the spirits of +a rifleman; and the fatigues of the day were forgotten, as our three +battalions extended among the brushwood, and went down to "knock the +dust out of their hairy knapsacks,"[2] as our men were in the habit of +expressing themselves; but, in place of knocking the dust out of them, +I believe that most of their knapsacks were knocked in the dust; for +the greater part of those who were not _floored_ along with their +knapsacks, shook them off, by way of enabling the owner to make a +smarter scramble across that portion of the road on which our leaden +shower was pouring; and, foes as they were, it was impossible not to +feel a degree of pity for their situation: pressed by an enemy in the +rear, an inaccessible mountain on their right, and a river on their +left, lined by an invisible foe, from whom there was no escape, but +the desperate one of running the gauntlet. However, "as every ---- has +his day," and this was ours, we must stand excused for making the most +of it. Each company, as they passed, gave us a volley; but as they had +nothing to guide their aim, except the smoke from our rifles, we had +very few men hit. + + [Footnote 2: The French knapsack is made of unshorn + goat-skin.] + +Amongst other papers found on the road that night, one of our officers +discovered the letter-book of the French military secretary, with his +correspondence included to the day before. It was immediately sent to +Lord Wellington. + +We advanced, next morning, and occupied our former post, at Bera. The +enemy still continued to hold the mountain of Echelar, which, as it +rose out of the right end of our ridge, was, properly speaking, a part +of our property; and we concluded, that a sense of justice would have +induced them to leave it of their own accord in the course of the day; +but when, towards the afternoon, they shewed no symptoms of quitting, +our division, leaving their kettles on the fire, proceeded to eject +them. As we approached the mountain, the peak of it caught a passing +cloud, that gradually descended in a thick fog, and excluded them from +our view. Our three battalions, however, having been let loose, under +Colonel Barnard, we soon made ourselves "Children of the Mist;" and, +guided to our opponents by the whistling of their balls, made them +descend from their "high estate;" and, handing them across the valley +into their own position, we then retired to ours, where we found our +tables ready spread, and a comfortable dinner waiting for us. + +This was one of the most gentleman-like day's fighting that I ever +experienced, although we had to lament the vacant seats of one or two +of our messmates. + +August 22d.--I narrowly escaped being taken prisoner this morning, +very foolishly. A division of Spaniards occupied the ground to our +left, beyond the Bidassoa; and, having mounted my horse to take a look +at their post, I passed through a small village, and then got on a +rugged path winding along the edge of the river, where I expected to +find their outposts. The river, at that place, was not above +knee-deep, and about ten or twelve yards across; and though I saw a +number of soldiers gathering chestnuts from a row of trees which lined +the opposite bank, I concluded that they were Spaniards, and kept +moving onwards; but, observing, at last, that I was an object of +greater curiosity than I ought to be, to people who had been in the +daily habit of seeing the uniform, it induced me to take a more +particular look at my neighbours; when, to my consternation, I saw the +French eagle ornamenting the front of every cap. I instantly wheeled +my horse to the right about; and seeing that I had a full quarter of a +mile to traverse at a walk, before I could get clear of them, I began +to whistle, with as much unconcern as I could muster, while my eye was +searching, like lightning, for the means of escape, in the event of +their trying to cut me off. I had soon the satisfaction of observing +that none of them had firelocks, which reduced my capture to the +chances of a race; for, though the hill on my right was inaccessible +to a horseman, it was not so to a dismounted Scotchman; and I, +therefore, determined, in case of necessity, to abandon my horse, and +shew them what I could do on my own bottom at a pinch. Fortunately, +they did not attempt it; and I could scarcely credit my good luck, +when I found myself once more in my own tent. + + + + +CHAP. XVI. + + An Anniversary Dinner. Affair with the Enemy, and Fall of St. + Sebastian. A Building Speculation. A Fighting one, storming the + Heights of Bera. A Picture of France from the Pyrenees. Returns + after an Action. Sold by my Pay-Serjeant. A Recruit born at his + Post. Between Two Fires, a Sea and a Land one. Position of La + Rhune. My Picture taken in a Storm. Refreshing Invention for + wintry Weather. + + +The 25th of August, being our regimental anniversary, was observed by +the officers of our three battalions with all due conviviality. Two +trenches, calculated to accommodate seventy gentlemen's legs, were dug +in the green sward; the earth between them stood for a table, and +behind was our seat, and though the table could not boast of _all_ +the delicacies of a civic entertainment, yet + + "The worms they crept in, and the worms they crept out," + +As the earth almost quaked with the weight of the feast, and the enemy +certainly did, from the noise of it. For so many fellows holding such +precarious tenures of their lives could not meet together in +commemoration of such an event, without indulging in an occasional +cheer--not a whispering cheer, but one that echoed far and wide into +the French lines, and as it was a sound that had often pierced them +before, and never yet boded them any good, we heard afterwards that +they were kept standing at their arms the greater part of the night in +consequence. + +At the time of Soult's last irruption into the Pyrenees, Sir Thomas +Graham had made an unsuccessful attempt to carry St. Sebastian by +storm, and having, ever since, been prosecuting the siege with +unremitting vigour, the works were now reduced to such a state as to +justify a second attempt, and our division sent forth their three +hundred volunteers to join the storming party.[3] The morning on which +we expected the assault to take place, we had turned out before +daylight, as usual, and as a thick fog hung on the French position, +which prevented our seeing them, we turned in again at the usual time, +but had scarcely done so, when the mist rode off on a passing breeze, +showing us the opposite hills bristling with their bayonets, and their +columns descending rapidly towards us. The bugles instantly sounded to +arms, and we formed on our alarm posts. We thought at first that the +attack was intended for us, but they presently began to pass the +river, a little below the village of Bera, and to advance against the +Spaniards on our left. They were covered by some mountain guns, from +which their first shell fell short, and made such a breach in their +own leading column, that we could not resist giving three cheers to +their marksman. Leaving a strong covering party to keep our division +in check at the bridge of Bera, their main body followed the +Spaniards, who, offering little opposition, continued retiring towards +St. Sebastian. + + [Footnote 3: Lieutenants Percival and Hamilton commanded + those from our battalion, and were both desperately wounded.] + +We remained quiet the early part of the day, under a harmless fire +from their mountain guns; but, towards the afternoon, our battalion, +with part of the forty-third, and supported by a brigade of Spaniards, +were ordered to pass by the bridge of Le Secca, and to move in a +parallel direction with the French, along the same ridge of hills. + +The different flanking-posts of the enemy permitted the forty-third +and us to pass them quietly, thinking, I suppose, that it was their +interest to keep the peace; but not so with the Spaniards, whom they +kept in a regular fever, under a smart fire, the whole way. We took up +a position at dark, on a pinnacle of the same mountain, within three +or four hundred yards of them. There had been a heavy firing all day +to our left, and we heard, in the course of the night, of the fall of +St. Sebastian, as well as of the defeat of the force which we had seen +following the Spaniards in that direction. + +As we always took the liberty of abusing our friends, the +commissaries, whether with or without reason, whenever we happened to +be on short allowance, it is but fair to say that when our supporting +Spanish brigadier came to compare notes with us here, we found that we +had three days' rations in the haversack against his none. He very +politely proposed to relieve us from half of ours, and to give a +receipt for it, but we told him that the trouble in carrying it was a +pleasure! + +At daylight next morning we found that the enemy had altogether +disappeared from our front. The heavy rains during the past night had +rendered the Bidassoa no longer fordable, and the bridge of Bera being +the only retreat left open, it was fortunate for them that they took +advantage of it before we had time to occupy the post with a +sufficient force to defend the passage, otherwise they would have been +compelled, in all probability, to have laid down their arms. + +As it was, they suffered very severely from two companies of our +second battalion, who were on piquet there. The two captains +commanding them were, however, killed in the affair. + +We returned in the course of the day and resumed our post at Bera, the +enemy continuing to hold theirs beyond it. + +The ensuing month passed by, without producing the slightest novelty, +and we began to get heartily tired of our situation. Our souls, in +fact, were strung for war, and peace afforded no enjoyment, unless the +place did, and there was none to be found in a valley of the Pyrenees, +which the ravages of contending armies had reduced to a desert. The +labours of the French on the opposite mountain had, in the first +instance, been confined to fortification; but, as the season advanced, +they seemed to think that the branch of a tree, or a sheet of +canvass, was too slender a barrier between them and a frosty night, +and their fortified camp was gradually becoming a fortified town, of +regular brick and mortar. Though we were living under the influence of +the same sky, we did not think it necessary to give ourselves the same +trouble, but reasoned on their proceedings like philosophers, and +calculated, from the aspect of the times, that there was a probability +of a speedy transfer of property, and that it might still be reserved +for us to give their town a name; nor were we disappointed. Late on +the night of the 7th of October, Colonel Barnard arrived from +head-quarters, with the intelligence that the next was to be the day +of trial. Accordingly, on the morning of the 8th, the fourth division +came up to support us, and we immediately marched down to the foot of +the enemy's position, shook off our knapsacks before their faces, and +went at them. + +The action commenced by five companies of our third battalion +advancing, under Colonel Ross, to dislodge the enemy from a hill which +they occupied in front of their entrenchments; and there never was a +movement more beautifully executed, for they walked quietly and +steadily up, and swept them regularly off without firing a single shot +until the enemy had turned their backs, when they then served them out +with a most destructive discharge. The movement excited the admiration +of all who witnessed it, and added another laurel to the already +crowded wreath which adorned the name of that distinguished officer. + +At the first look of the enemy's position, it appeared as if our +brigade had got the most difficult task to perform; but, as the +capture of this hill showed us a way round the flank of their +entrenchments, we carried one after the other, until we finally gained +the summit, with very little loss. Our second brigade, however, were +obliged to take "the bull by the horns," on their side, and suffered +more severely; but they rushed at every thing with a determination +that defied resistance, carrying redoubt after redoubt at the point of +the bayonet, until they finally joined us on the summit of the +mountain, with three hundred prisoners in their possession. + +We now found ourselves firmly established within the French territory, +with a prospect before us that was truly refreshing, considering that +we had not seen the sea for three years, and that our views, for +months, had been confined to fogs and the peaks of mountains. On our +left, the Bay of Biscay lay extended as far as the horizon, while +several of our ships of war were seen sporting upon her bosom. Beneath +us lay the pretty little town of St. Jean de Luz, which looked as if +it had just been framed out of the Lilliputian scenery of a toy-shop. +The town of Bayonne, too, was visible in the distance; and the view to +the right embraced a beautiful well-wooded country, thickly studded +with towns and villages, as far as the eye could reach. + +Sir Thomas Graham, with the left wing of the army, had, the same +morning, passed the Bidassoa, and established them, also, within the +French boundary. A brigade of Spaniards, on our right, had made a +simultaneous attack on La Rhune, the highest mountain on this part of +the Pyrenees, and which, since our last advance, was properly now a +part of our position. The enemy, however, refused to quit it; and the +firing between them did not cease until long after dark. + +The affair in which we were engaged terminated, properly speaking, +when we had expelled the enemy from the mountain; but some of our +straggling skirmishers continued to follow the retiring foe into the +valley beyond, with a view, no doubt, of seeing what a French house +contained. + +Lord Wellington, preparatory to this movement, had issued an order +requiring that private property, of every kind, should be strictly +respected; but we had been so long at war with France, that our men +had been accustomed to look upon them as their natural enemies, and +could not, at first, divest themselves of the idea that they had not a +right to partake of the good things abounding about the cottage-doors. +Our commandant, however, was determined to see the order rigidly +enforced, and it was, therefore, highly amusing to watch the return of +the depredators. The first who made his appearance was a bugler, +carrying a goose, which, after he had been well beaten about the head +with it, was transferred to the provost-marshal. The next was a +soldier, with a calf; the soldier was immediately sent to the +quarter-guard, and the calf to the provost-marshal. He was followed by +another soldier, mounted on a horse, who were, also, both consigned to +the same keeping; but, on the soldier stating that he had only got the +horse in charge from a volunteer, who was at that time attached to the +regiment, he was set at liberty. Presently the volunteer himself came +up, and, not observing the colonel lying on the grass, called out +among the soldiers, "Who is the ---- rascal that sent my horse to the +provost-marshal?" "It was I!" said the colonel, to the utter confusion +of the querist. Our chief was a good deal nettled at these +irregularities; and, some time after, on going to his tent, which was +pitched between the roofless walls of a house, conceive his +astonishment at finding the calf and the goose hanging in his own +larder! He looked serious for a moment, but, on receiving an +explanation, and after the row he had made about them, the thing was +too ridiculous, and he burst out laughing. It is due to all concerned +to state that they had, at last, been honestly come by, for I, as one +of his messmates, had purchased the goose from the proper quarter, and +another had done the same by the calf. + +Not anticipating this day's fight, I had given my pay-serjeant +twenty-five guineas, the day before, to distribute among the company; +and I did not discover, until too late, that he had neglected to do +it, as he disappeared in the course of the action, and was never +afterwards heard of. If he was killed, or taken prisoner, he must have +been a prize to somebody, though he left me a blank. + +Among other incidents of the day, one of our men had a son and heir +presented to him by his Portuguese wife, soon after the action. She +had been taken in labour while ascending the mountain; but it did not +seem to interfere with her proceedings in the least, for she, and her +child, and her donkey, came all three screeching into the camp, +immediately after, telling the news, as if it had been something very +extraordinary, and none of them a bit the worse. + +On the morning of the 9th, we turned out, as usual, an hour before +daylight. The sound of musketry, to our right, in our own hemisphere, +announced that the French and Spaniards had resumed their unfinished +argument of last night, relative to the occupation of La Rhune; while, +at the same time, "from our throne of clouds," we had an opportunity +of contemplating, with some astonishment, the proceedings of the +nether world. A French ship of war, considering St. Jean de Luz no +longer a free port, had endeavoured, under cover of the night, to +steal alongshore to Bayonne; and, when daylight broke, they had an +opportunity of seeing that they were not only within sight of their +port, but within sight of a British gun-brig, and, if they entertained +any doubts as to which of the two was nearest, their minds were +quickly relieved, on that point, by finding that they were not within +reach of their port, and strictly within reach of the _guns_ of the +brig, while two British frigates were bearing down with a press of +canvass. The Frenchman returned a few broadsides; he was double the +size of the one opposed to him, but, conceiving his case to be +hopeless, he at length set fire to the ship, and took to his boats. We +watched the progress of the flames until she finally blew up, and +disappeared in a column of smoke. The boats of our gun-brig were +afterwards seen employed in picking up the odds and ends. + +Our friends, the Spaniards, I have no doubt, would have been very glad +to have got rid of their opponents in the same kind of way, either by +their going without the mountain, or by their taking it with them. But +the mountain stood, and the French stood, until we began to wish the +mountain, the French, and the Spaniards at the devil; for, although we +knew that the affair between them was a matter of no consequence +whichever way it went, yet it was impossible for us to feel quite at +ease, while a fight was going on so near; it was, therefore, a great +relief when, in the afternoon, a few companies of our second brigade +were sent to their assistance, as the French then retired without +firing another shot. Between the French and us there was no humbug, it +was either peace or war. The war, on both sides, was conducted on the +grand scale, and, by a tacit sort of understanding, we never teased +each other unnecessarily. + +The French, after leaving La Rhune, established their advanced post on +Petite La Rhune, a mountain that stood as high as most of its +neighbours; but, as its name betokens, it was but a child to its +gigantic namesake, of which it seemed as if it had, at a former +period, formed a part; but, having been shaken off, like a useless +_galloche_, it now stood gaping, open-mouthed, at the place it had +left, (and which had now become our advanced post,) while the enemy +proceeded to furnish its jaws with a set of teeth, or, in other words, +to face it with breast-works, &c. a measure which they invariably had +recourse to in every new position. + +Encamped on the face of La Rhune, we remained a whole month idle +spectators of their preparations, and dearly longing for the day that +should afford us an opportunity of penetrating into the more +hospitable-looking low country beyond them; for the weather had become +excessively cold, and our camp stood exposed to the utmost fury of the +almost nightly tempest. Oft have I, in the middle of the night, awoke +from a sound sleep, and found my tent on the point of disappearing in +the air, like a balloon; and, leaving my warm blankets, been obliged +to snatch the mallet, and rush out in the midst of a hailstorm, to peg +it down. I think that I now see myself looking like one of those gay +creatures of the elements who dwelt (as Shakspeare has it) among the +rainbows! + +By way of contributing to the warmth of my tent, I dug a hole inside, +which I arranged as a fire-place, carrying the smoke underneath the +walls, and building a turf-chimney outside. I was not long in proving +the experiment, and, finding that it went exceedingly well, I was not +a little vain of the invention. However, it came on to rain very hard +while I was dining at a neighbouring tent, and, on my return to my +own, I found the fire not only extinguished, but a fountain playing +from the same place, up to the roof, watering my bed and baggage, and +all sides of it, most refreshingly. This showed me, at the expense of +my night's repose, that the rain oozed through the thin spongy surface +of earth, and, in particular places, rushed down in torrents between +the earth and the rock which it covered; and any incision in the +former was sure to produce a fountain. + +It is very singular that, notwithstanding our exposure to all the +severities of the worst of weather, that we had not a single sick man +in the battalion while we remained there. + + + + +CHAP. XVII. + + Battle of the Nivelle, and Defeat of the Enemy. A Bird of Evil + Omen. Chateau D'Arcangues. Prudence. An Enemy's Gratitude. + Passage of the Nive, and Battles near Bayonne, from 9th to 13th + December. + + +BATTLE OF THE NIVELLE, + +November 10th, 1813. + +The fall of Pampeluna having, at length, left our further movements +unshackled by an enemy in the rear, preparations were made for an +attack on their position, which, though rather too extended, was +formidable by nature, and rendered doubly so by art. + +Petite La Rhune was allotted to our division, as their first point of +attack; and, accordingly, the 10th being the day fixed, we moved to +our ground at midnight, on the 9th. The abrupt ridges in the +neighbourhood enabled us to lodge ourselves, unperceived, within +half-musket-shot of their piquets; and we had left every description +of animal behind us in camp, in order that neither the barking of dogs +nor the neighing of steeds should give indication of our intentions. +Our signal of attack was to be a gun from Sir John Hope, who had now +succeeded Sir Thomas Graham in the command of the left wing of the +army. + +We stood to our arms at dawn of day, which was soon followed by the +signal-gun; and each commanding officer, according to previous +instructions, led gallantly off to his point of attack. The French +must have been, no doubt, astonished to see such an armed force spring +out of the ground almost under their noses; but they were, +nevertheless, prepared behind their entrenchments, and caused us some +loss in passing the short space between us; but the whole place was +carried within the time required to walk over it; and, in less than +half-an-hour from the commencement of the attack, it was in our +possession, with all their tents left standing. + +Petite La Rhune was more of an outpost than a part of their position, +the latter being a chain of stupendous mountains in its rear; so that +while our battalion followed their skirmishers into the valley +between, the remainder of our division were forming for the attack on +the main position, and waiting for the co-operation of the other +divisions, the thunder of whose artillery, echoing along the valleys, +proclaimed that they were engaged, far and wide, on both sides of us. +About midday our division advanced to the grand attack on the most +formidable looking part of the whole of the enemy's position, and, +much to our surprise, we carried it with more ease and less loss than +the outpost in the morning, a circumstance which we could only account +for by supposing that it had been defended by the same troops, and +that they did not choose to sustain two _hard_ beatings on the same +day. The attack succeeded at every point; and, in the evening, we had +the satisfaction of seeing the left wing of the army marching into St. +Jean de Luz. + +Towards the end of the action, Colonel Barnard was struck with a +musket-ball, which carried him clean off his horse. The enemy, seeing +that they had shot an officer of rank, very maliciously kept up a +heavy firing on the spot, while we were carrying him under the brow of +the hill. The ball having passed through the lungs, he was spitting +blood, and, at the moment, had every appearance of being in a dying +state; but, to our joy and surprise, he, that day month, rode up to the +battalion, when it was in action, near Bayonne; and, I need not add, +that he was received with three hearty cheers. + +A curious fact occurred in our regiment at this period. Prior to the +action of the Nivelle, an owl had perched itself on the tent of one of +our officers (Lieut. Doyle). This officer was killed in the battle, +and the owl was afterwards seen on Capt. Duncan's tent. His +brother-officers quizzed him on the subject, by telling him that he +was the next on the list; a joke which Capt. D. did not much relish, +and it was prophetic, as he soon afterwards fell at Tarbes. + +The movements of the two or three days following placed the enemy +within their entrenchments at Bayonne, and the head-quarters of our +battalion in the Chateau D'Arcangues, with the outposts of the +division at the village of Bassasarry and its adjacents. + +I now felt myself both in a humour and a place to enjoy an interval of +peace and quietness. The country was abundant in every comfort; the +chateau was large, well-furnished, and unoccupied, except by a +bed-ridden grandmother, and young Arcangues, a gay rattling young +fellow, who furnished us with plenty of good wine, (by our paying for +the same,) and made one of our mess. + +On the 20th of November a strong reconnoitring party of the enemy +examined our chain of posts. They remained a considerable time within +half-musket-shot of one of our piquets, but we did not fire, and they +seemed at last as if they had all gone away. The place where they had +stood bounded our view in that direction, as it was a small sand-hill +with a mud-cottage at the end of it; after watching the spot intensely +for nearly an hour, and none shewing themselves, my curiosity would +keep no longer, and, desiring three men to follow, I rode forward to +ascertain the fact. When I cleared the end of the cottage, I found +myself within three yards of at least a dozen of them, who were seated +in a group behind a small hedge, with their arms laid against the wall +of the cottage, and a sentry with sloped arms, and his back towards +me, listening to their conversation. + +My first impulse was to gallop in amongst them, and order them to +surrender; but my three men were still twenty or thirty yards behind, +and, as my only chance of success was by surprise, I thought the risk +of the delay too great, and, reining back my horse, I made a signal to +my men to retire, which, from the soil being a deep sand, we were +enabled to do without the slightest noise; but all the while I had my +ears pricked up, expecting every instant to find a ball whistling +through my body; however, as none of them afterwards shewed themselves +past the end of the cottage, I concluded that they had remained +ignorant of my visit. + +We had an affair of some kind, once a week, while we remained there; +and as they were generally trifling, and we always found a good dinner +and a good bed in the chateau on our return, we considered them rather +a relief than otherwise. + +The only instance of a want of professional generosity that I ever had +occasion to remark in a French officer, occurred on one of these +occasions. We were about to push in their outposts, for some +particular purpose, and I was sent with an order for Lieutenant +Gardiner of ours, who was on piquet, to attack the post in his front, +as soon as he should see a corresponding movement on his flank, which +would take place almost immediately. The enemy's sentries were so +near, as to be quite at Mr. Gardiner's mercy, who immediately said to +me, "Well, I wo'n't kill these unfortunate rascals at all events, but +shall tell them to go in and join their piquet." I applauded his +motives, and rode off; but I had only gone a short distance when I +heard a volley of musketry behind me; and, seeing that it had come +from the French piquet, I turned back to see what had happened, and +found that the officer commanding it had no sooner got his sentries so +generously restored to him, than he instantly formed his piquet and +fired a volley at Lieutenant Gardiner, who was walking a little apart +from his men, waiting for the expected signal. The balls all fell +near, without touching him, and, for the honour of the French army, I +was glad to hear afterwards that the officer alluded to was a +militia-man. + + +BATTLES NEAR BAYONNE, + +December 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th, 1813. + +The centre and left wing of our army advanced on the morning of the +9th of December, and drove the enemy within their entrenchments, +threatening an attack on their lines. Lord Wellington had the double +object, in this movement, of reconnoitring their works, and effecting +the passage of the Nive with his right wing. The rivers Nive and Adour +unite in the town of Bayonne, so that while we were threatening to +storm the works on one side, Sir Rowland Hill passed the Nive, without +opposition, on the other, and took up his ground, with his right on +the Adour and his left on the Nive, on a contracted space, within a +very short distance of the walls of the town. On our side we were +engaged in a continued skirmish until dark, when we retired to our +quarters, under the supposition that we had got our usual week's +allowance, and that we should remain quiet again for a time. + +We turned out at daylight on the 10th; but, as there was a thick +drizzling rain which prevented us from seeing any thing, we soon +turned in again. My servant soon after came to tell me that Sir Lowry +Cole, and some of his staff, had just ascended to the top of the +chateau, a piece of information which did not quite please me, for I +fancied that the general had just discovered our quarter to be better +than his own, and had come for the purpose of taking possession of it. +However, in less than five minutes, we received an order for our +battalion to move up instantly to the support of the piquets; and, on +my descending to the door, to mount my horse, I found Sir Lowry +standing there, who asked if we had received any orders; and, on my +telling him that we had been ordered up to support the piquets, he +immediately desired a staff-officer to order up one of his brigades to +the rear of the chateau. This was one of the numerous instances in +which we had occasion to admire the prudence and forethought of the +great Wellington! He had foreseen the attack that would take place, +and had his different divisions disposed to meet it. We no sooner +moved up, than we found ourselves a party engaged along with the +piquets; and, under a heavy skirmishing fire, retiring gradually from +hedge to hedge, according as the superior force of the enemy compelled +us to give ground, until we finally retired within our home, the +chateau, which was the first part of our position that was meant to be +defended in earnest. We had previously thrown up a mud rampart around +it, and loop-holed the different outhouses, so that we had nothing now +to do, but to line the walls and shew determined fight. The +forty-third occupied the church-yard to our left, which was also +partially fortified; and the third Cacadores and our third battalion, +occupied the space between, behind the hedge-rows, while the fourth +division was in readiness to support us from the rear. The enemy came +up to the opposite ridge, in formidable numbers, and began blazing at +our windows and loop-holes, and shewing some disposition to attempt it +by storm; but they thought better of it and withdrew their columns a +short distance to the rear, leaving the nearest hedge lined with their +skirmishers. An officer of ours, Mr. Hopewood, and one of our +serjeants, had been killed in the field opposite, within twenty yards +of where the enemy's skirmishers now were. We were very anxious to get +possession of their bodies, but had not force enough to effect it. +Several French soldiers came through the hedge, at different times, +with the intention, as we thought, of plundering, but our men shot +every one who attempted to go near them, until towards evening, when a +French officer approached, waving a white handkerchief and pointing to +some of his men who were following him with shovels. Seeing that his +intention was to bury them, we instantly ceased firing, nor did we +renew it again that night. + +The forty-third, from their post at the church, kept up an incessant +shower of musketry the whole of the day, at what was conceived, at the +time, to be a very long range; but from the quantity of balls which +were afterwards found sticking in every tree, where the enemy stood, +it was evident that their birth must have been rather uncomfortable. + +One of our officers, in the course of the day, had been passing +through a deep road-way, between two banks, with hedge-rows, when, to +his astonishment, a dragoon and his horse tumbled heels over head into +the road, as if they had been fired out of a cloud. Neither of them +were the least hurt; but it must have been no joke that tempted him to +take such a flight. + +Soult expected, by bringing his whole force to bear on our centre and +left wing, that he would have succeeded in forcing it, or, at all +events, of obliging Lord Wellington to withdraw Sir Rowland Hill from +beyond the Nive; but he effected neither, and darkness left the two +armies on the ground which they had fought on. + +General Alten and Sir James Kempt took up their quarters with us in +the chateau: our sentries and those of the enemy stood within +pistol-shot of each other in the ravine below. + +Young Arcangues, I presume, must have been rather disappointed at the +result of the day; for, even giving him credit for every kindly +feeling towards us, his wishes must still have been in favour of his +countrymen; but when he found that his chateau was to be a bone of +contention, it then became his interest that we should keep possession +of it; and he held out every inducement for us to do so; which, by the +by, was quite unnecessary, seeing that our own comfort so much +depended on it. However, though his supplies of claret had failed some +days before, he now discovered some fresh cases in the cellar, which +he immediately placed at our disposal; and, that our dire resolve to +defend the fortress should not be melted by weak woman's wailings, he +fixed an arm-chair on a mule, mounted his grandmother on it, and sent +her off to the rear, while the balls were whizzing about the +neighbourhood in a manner to which even she, poor old lady, was not +altogether insensible, though she had become a mounted heroine at a +period when she had given up all idea of ever sitting on any thing +more lively than a coffin. + +During the whole of the 11th each army retained the same ground, and +though there was an occasional exchange of shots at different points, +yet nothing material occurred. + +The enemy began throwing up a six-gun battery opposite our chateau; +and we employed ourselves in strengthening the works, as a +precautionary measure, though we had not much to dread from it, as +they were so strictly within range of our rifles, that he must have +been a lucky artilleryman who stood there to fire a second shot. + +In the course of the night a brigade of Belgians, who were with the +French army, having heard that their country had declared for their +legitimate king, passed over to our side, and surrendered. + +On the 12th there was heavy firing and hard fighting, all day, to our +left, but we remained perfectly quiet. Towards the afternoon, Sir +James Kempt formed our brigade, for the purpose of expelling the enemy +from the hill next the chateau, to which he thought them rather too +near; but, just as we reached our different points for commencing the +attack, we were recalled, and nothing further occurred. + +I went, about one o'clock in the morning, to visit our different +piquets; and seeing an unusual number of fires in the enemy's lines, I +concluded that they had lit them to mask some movement; and taking a +patrole with me, I stole cautiously forward, and found that they had +left the ground altogether. I immediately returned, and reported the +circumstance to General Alten, who sent off a despatch to apprize Lord +Wellington. + +As soon as day began to dawn, on the morning of the 13th, a tremendous +fire of artillery and musketry was heard to our right. Soult had +withdrawn every thing from our front in the course of the night, and +had now attacked Sir Rowland Hill with his whole force. Lord +Wellington, in expectation of this attack, had, last night, reinforced +Sir Rowland Hill with the sixth division; which enabled him to occupy +his contracted position so strongly, that Soult, unable to bring more +than his own front to bear upon him, sustained a signal and sanguinary +defeat. + +Lord Wellington galloped into the yard of our chateau, soon after the +attack had commenced, and demanded, with his usual quickness, what was +to be seen? Sir James Kempt, who was spying at the action from an +upper window, told him; and, after desiring Sir James to order Sir +Lowry Cole to follow him with the fourth division, he galloped off to +the scene of action. In the afternoon, when all was over, he called in +again, on his return to head-quarters, and told us, "that it was the +most glorious affair that he had ever seen; and that the enemy had +absolutely left upwards of five thousand men, killed and wounded, on +the ground." + +This was the last action in which we were concerned, near Bayonne. The +enemy seemed quite satisfied with what they had got; and offered us no +further molestation, but withdrew within their works. + + + + +CHAP. XVIII. + + Change of Quarters. Change of Diet. Suttlers. Our new Quarter. A + long-going Horse gone. New Clothing. Adam's lineal Descendants. + St. Palais. Action at Tarbes. Faubourg of Toulouse. The green + Man. Passage of the Garonne. Battle of Toulouse. Peace. Castle + Sarrazin. A tender Point. + + +Towards the end of the month, some divisions of the French army having +left Bayonne, and ascended the right bank of the Adour, it produced a +corresponding movement on our side, by which our division then +occupied Ustaritz, and some neighbouring villages; a change of +quarters we had no reason to rejoice in. + +At Arcangues, notwithstanding the influence of our messmate, "the +Seigneur du Village," our table had, latterly, exhibited gradual +symptoms of decay. But _here_, our voracious predecessors had not +only swallowed the calf, but the cow, and, literally, left us nothing; +so that, from an occasional turkey, or a pork-pie, we were now, all at +once, reduced to our daily ration of a withered pound of beef. A great +many necessaries of life could certainly be procured from St. Jean de +Luz, but the prices there were absolutely suicidical. The suttlers' +shops were too small to hold both their goods and their consciences; +so that, every pin's worth they sold cost us a dollar; and as every +dollar cost us seven shillings, they were, of course, not so plenty as +bad dinners. I have often regretted that the enemy never got an +opportunity of having the run of their shops for a few minutes, that +they might have been, in some measure, punished for their sins, even +in this world. + +The house that held our table, too, was but a wretched apology for the +one we had left. A bitter wind continued to blow; and as the granary +of a room which we occupied, on the first floor, had no fire-place, we +immediately proceeded to provide it with one, and continued filling +it up with such a load of bricks and mortar that the first floor was +on the point of becoming the ground one; and, having only a choice of +evils, on such an emergency, we, as usual, adopted that which appeared +to us to be the least, cutting down the only two fruit-trees in the +garden to prop it up with. We were rather on doubtful terms with the +landlord before, but this put us all square--no terms at all. + +Our animals, too, were in a woful plight, for want of forage. We were +obliged to send our baggage ones, every week, for their rations of +corn, three days' march, through oceans of mud, which ought, properly, +to have been navigated with boats. The whole cavalcade always moved +under the charge of an officer, and many were the anxious looks that +we took with our spy-glasses, from a hill overlooking the road, on the +days of their expected return, each endeavouring to descry his own. +Mine came back to me twice; but "the pitcher that goes often to the +well" was verified in his third trip, for--he perished in a muddy +grave. + +His death, however, was not so unexpected as it might have been, for, +although I cannot literally say that he had been dying by inches, +seeing that he had walked all the way from the frontiers of Portugal, +yet he had, nevertheless, been doing it on the grand scale--by miles. +I only fell in with him the day before the commencement of the +campaign, and, after reconnoitring him with my usual judgement, and +seeing that he was in possession of the regulated quantity of eyes, +legs, and mouth, and concluding that they were all calculated to +perform their different functions, I took him, as a man does his wife, +for better and for worse; and it was not until the end of the first +day's march that I found he had a broken jaw-bone, and could not eat, +and I had, therefore, been obliged to support him all along on spoon +diet; he was a capital horse, only for that! + +It has already been written, in another man's book, that we always +require just a little more than we have got to make us perfectly +happy; and, as we had given this neighbourhood a fair trial, and _that +little_ was not to be found in it, we were very glad when, towards the +end of February, we were permitted to look for it a little further on. +We broke up from quarters on the 21st, leaving Sir John Hope, with the +left wing of the army, in the investment of Bayonne, Lord Wellington +followed Soult with the remainder. + +The new clothing for the different regiments of the army had, in the +mean time, been gradually arriving at St. Jean de Luz; and, as the +commissariat transport was required for other purposes, not to mention +that a man's new coat always looks better on his own back than it does +on a mule's, the different regiments marched there for it in +succession. It did not come to our turn until we had taken a stride to +the front, as far as La Bastide; our retrograde movement, therefore, +obliged us to bid adieu to our division for some time. + +On our arrival at St. Jean de Luz, we found our new clothing, and some +new friends in the family of our old friend, Arcangues, which was one +of the most respectable in the district, and who showed us a great +deal of kindness. As it happened to be the commencement of Lent, the +young ladies were, at first, doubtful as to the propriety of joining +us in any of the gaieties; but, after a short consultation, they +arranged it with their consciences, and joined in the waltz right +merrily. Mademoiselle was really an exceedingly nice girl, and the +most lively companion in arms (in a waltz) that I ever met. + +Our clothing detained us there two days; on the third, we proceeded to +rejoin the division. + +The pride of ancestry is very tenaciously upheld among the Basques, +who are the mountaineers of that district. I had a fancy that most of +them grew wild, like their trees, without either fathers or mothers, +and was, therefore, much amused, one day, to hear a fellow, with a Tam +O'Shanter's bonnet, and a pair of bare legs, tracing his descent from +the first man, and maintaining that he spoke the same language too. +He might have added, if further proof were wanting, that he, also, +wore the same kind of shoes and stockings. + +On the 27th February, 1814, we marched, all day, to the tune of a +cannonade; it was the battle of Orthes; and, on our arrival, in the +evening, at the little town of St. Palais, we were very much annoyed +to find the seventy-ninth regiment stationed there, who handed us a +general order, desiring that the last-arrived regiment should relieve +the preceding one in charge of the place. This was the more vexatious, +knowing that there was no other regiment behind to relieve us. It was +a nice little town, and we were treated, by the inhabitants, like +friends and allies, experiencing much kindness and hospitality from +them; but a rifleman, in the rear, is like a fish out of the water; he +feels that he is not in his place. Seeing no other mode of obtaining a +release, we, at length, began detaining the different detachments who +were proceeding to join their regiments, with a view of forming a +battalion of them; but, by the time that we had collected a +sufficient number for that purpose, we received an order, from +head-quarters, to join the army; when, after a few days' forced +marches, we had, at length, the happiness of overtaking our division a +short distance beyond the town of Aire. The battle of Orthes was the +only affair of consequence that had taken place during our absence. + +We remained stationary, near Aire, until the middle of March, when the +army was again put in motion. + +On the morning of the 19th, while we were marching along the road, +near the town of Tarbes, we saw what appeared to be a small piquet of +the enemy, on the top of a hill to our left, looking down upon us, +when a company of our second battalion was immediately sent to +dislodge them. The enemy, however, increased in number, in proportion +to those sent against them, until not only the whole of the second, +but our own, and the third battalion were eventually brought into +action; and still we had more than double our number opposed to us; +but we, nevertheless, drove them from the field with great slaughter, +after a desperate struggle of a few minutes, in which we had eleven +officers killed and wounded. As this fight was purely a rifle one, and +took place within sight of the whole army, I may be justified in +giving the following quotation from the author of "Twelve Years' +Military Adventure," who was a spectator, and who, in allusion to this +affair, says, "Our rifles were immediately sent to dislodge the French +from the hills on our left, and our battalion was ordered to support +them. Nothing could exceed the manner in which the ninety-fifth set +about the business.... Certainly I never saw such skirmishers as the +ninety-fifth, now the rifle brigade. They could do the work much +better and with infinitely less loss than any other of our best light +troops. They possessed an individual boldness, a mutual understanding, +and a quickness of eye, in taking advantage of the ground, which, +taken altogether, I never saw equalled. They were, in fact, as much +superior to the French _voltigeurs_, as the latter were to our +skirmishers in general. As our regiment was often employed in +supporting them, I think I am fairly qualified to speak of their +merits." + +We followed the enemy until dark, when, after having taken up our +ground and lit our fires, they rather maliciously opened a cannonade +upon us; but, as few of their shots took effect, we did not put +ourselves to the inconvenience of moving, and they soon desisted. + +We continued in pursuit daily, until we finally arrived on the banks +of the Garonne, opposite Toulouse. The day after our arrival an +attempt was made, by our engineers, to throw a bridge across the +river, above the town; and we had assembled one morning, to be in +readiness to pass over, but they were obliged to abandon it for want +of the necessary number of pontoons, and we returned again to +quarters. + +We were stationed, for several days, in the suburb of St. Ciprien, +where we found ourselves exceedingly comfortable. It consisted chiefly +of the citizens' country houses, and an abundance of the public tea +and fruit accommodations, with which every large city is surrounded, +for the temptation of Sunday parties; and, as the inhabitants had all +fled hurriedly into town, leaving their cellars, generally speaking, +well stocked with a tolerable kind of wine, we made ourselves at home. + +It was finally determined that the passage of the river should be +tried below the town, and, preparatory thereto, we took ground to our +left, and got lodged in the chateau of a rich old West-India-man. He +was a tall ramrod of a fellow, upwards of six feet high, withered to a +cinder, and had a pair of green eyes, which looked as if they belonged +to somebody else, who was looking through his eye-holes; but, despite +his imperfections, he had got a young wife, and she was nursing a +young child. The "Green Man" (as we christened him) was not, however, +so bad as he looked; and we found our billet such a good one, that +when we were called away to fight, after a few days' residence with +him, I question, if left to our choice, whether we would not have +rather remained where we were! + +A bridge having, at length, been established, about a league below the +town, two British divisions passed over; but the enemy, by floating +timber and other things down the stream, succeeded in carrying one or +two of the pontoons from their moorings, which prevented any more from +crossing either that day or the succeeding one. It was expected that +the French would have taken advantage of this circumstance, to attack +the two divisions on the other side; but they thought it more prudent +to wait the attack in their own strong hold, and in doing so I believe +they acted wisely, for these two divisions had both flanks secured by +the river, their position was not too extended for their numbers, and +they had a clear space in their front, which was flanked by artillery +from the commanding ground on our side of the river; so that, +altogether, they would have been found ugly customers to any body who +chose to meddle with them. + +The bridge was re-established on the night of the 9th, and, at +daylight next morning, we bade adieu to the _Green Man_, inviting him +to come and see us in Toulouse in the evening. He laughed at the idea, +telling us that we should be lucky fellows if ever we got in; and, at +all events, he said, that he would bet a _dejeune a la forchette_ for +a dozen, that we did not enter it in three days from that time. I took +the bet, and won, but the old rogue never came to pay me. + +We crossed the river, and advanced sufficiently near to the enemy's +position to be just out of the reach of their fire, where we waited +until dispositions were made for the attack, which took place as +follows:-- + +Sir Rowland Hill, who remained on the left bank of the Garonne, made a +show of attacking the bridge and suburb of the town on that side. + +On our side of the river the Spanish army, which had never hitherto +taken an active part in any of our general actions, now claimed the +post of honour, and advanced to storm the strongest part of the +heights. Our division was ordered to support them in the low grounds, +and, at the same time, to threaten a point of the canal; and Picton, +who was on our right, was ordered to make a false attack on the canal. +These were all that were visible to us. The remaining divisions of the +army were in continuation to the left. + +The Spaniards, anxious to monopolize all the glory, I rather think, +moved on to the attack a little too soon, and before the British +divisions on their left were in readiness to co-operate; however, be +that as it may, they were soon in a blaze of fire, and began walking +through it, at first, with a great show of gallantry and +determination; but their courage was not altogether screwed up to the +sticking point, and the nearer they came to the critical pass, the +less prepared they seemed to meet it, until they all finally faced to +the right-about, and came back upon us as fast as their heels could +carry them, pursued by the enemy. + +We instantly advanced to their relief, and concluded that they would +have rallied behind us; but they had no idea of doing any thing of the +kind; for, when with _Cuesta_ and some of the other Spanish generals, +they had been accustomed, under such circumstances, to run a hundred +miles at a time; so that, passing through the intervals of our +division, they went clear off to the rear, and we never saw them more. +The moment the French found us interpose between them and the +Spaniards they retired within their works. + +The only remark that Lord Wellington was said to have made on their +conduct, after waiting to see whether they would stand after they got +out of the reach of the enemy's shot, was, "well, d---- me, if ever I +saw ten thousand men run a race before!" However, notwithstanding +their disaster, many of their officers certainly evinced great +bravery, and on their account it is to be regretted that the attack +was made so soon, for they would otherwise have carried their point +with little loss, either of life or credit, as the British divisions +on the left soon after stormed and carried all the other works, and +obliged those who had been opposed to the Spaniards to evacuate theirs +without firing another shot. + +When the enemy were driven from the heights, they retired within the +town, and the canal then became their line of defence, which they +maintained the whole of the next day; but in the course of the +following night they left the town altogether, and we took possession +of it on the morning of the 12th. + +The inhabitants of Toulouse hoisted the white flag, and declared for +the Bourbons the moment that the French army had left it; and, in the +course of the same day, Colonel Cooke arrived from Paris, with the +extraordinary news of Napoleon's abdication. Soult has been accused of +having been in possession of that fact prior to the battle of +Toulouse; but, to disprove such an assertion, it can only be necessary +to think, for a moment, whether he would not have made it public the +day after the battle, while he yet held possession of the town, as it +would not only have enabled him to keep it, but, to those who knew no +better, it might have given him a shadow of claim to the victory, if +he chose to avail himself of it; and I have known a victory claimed by +a French marshal on more slender grounds. In place of knowing it then, +he did not even believe it now; and we were absolutely obliged to +follow him a day's march beyond Toulouse before he agreed to an +armistice. + +The news of the peace, at this period, certainly sounded as strangely +in our ears as it did in those of the French marshal, for it was a +change that we never had contemplated. We had been born in war, reared +in war, and war was our trade; and what soldiers had to do in peace, +was a problem yet to be solved among us. + +After remaining a few days at Toulouse, we were sent into quarters, in +the town of Castel-Sarazin, along with our old companions in arms, +the fifty-second, to wait the necessary arrangements for our final +removal from France. + +Castel-Sarazin is a respectable little town, on the right bank of the +Garonne; and its inhabitants received us so kindly, that every officer +found in his quarter a family home. We there, too, found both the time +and the opportunity of exercising one of the agreeable professions to +which we had long been strangers, that of making love to the pretty +little girls with which the place abounded; when, after a three +months' residence among them, the fatal order arrived for our march to +Bordeaux, for embarkation, the buckets full of salt tears that were +shed by men who had almost forgotten the way to weep was quite +ridiculous. I have never yet, however, clearly made out whether people +are most in love when they are laughing or when they are crying. Our +greatest love writers certainly give the preference to the latter. +_Scott_ thinks that "love is loveliest when it's bathed in tears;" and +_Moore_ tells his mistress to "give smiles to those who love her +less, but to keep her tears for him;" but what pleasure he can take in +seeing her in affliction, I cannot make out; nor, for the soul of me, +can I see why a face full of smiles should not be every bit as +valuable as one of tears, seeing that it is so much more pleasant to +look at. + +I have rather wandered, in search of an apology for my own countenance +not having gone into mourning on that melancholy occasion; for, to +tell the truth, (and if I had a visage sensible to such an impression, +I should blush while I tell it,) I was as much in love as any body, up +nearly to the last moment, when I fell out of it, as it were, by a +miracle; but, probably, a history of love's last look may be +considered as my justification. The day before our departure, in +returning from a ride, I overtook my love and her sister, strolling by +the river's side, and, instantly dismounting, I joined in their walk. +My horse was following, at the length of his bridle-reins, and, while +I was engaged in conversation with the sister, the other dropped +behind, and, when I looked round, I found her mounted _astride_ on my +horse! and with such a pair of legs, too! It was rather too good; and +"Richard was himself again." + +Although released, under the foregoing circumstances, from individual +attachment, that of a general nature continued strong as ever; and, +without an exception on either side, I do believe, that we parted with +mutual regret, and with the most unbounded love and good feeling +towards each other. We exchanged substantial proofs of it while +together; we continued to do so after we had parted; nor were we +forgotten when we were _no more_! It having appeared, in some of the +newspapers, a year afterwards, that every one of our officers had been +killed at Waterloo, that the regiment had been brought out of the +action by a volunteer, and the report having come to the knowledge of +our Castel-Sarazin friends, they drew up a letter, which they sent to +our commanding officer, signed by every person of respectability in +the place, lamenting our fate, expressing a hope that the report +might have been exaggerated, and entreating to be informed as to the +particular fate of each individual officer, whom they mentioned by +name. They were kind good-hearted souls, and may God bless them! + + + + +CHAP. XIX. + + Commencement of the War of 1815. Embark for Rotterdam. Ship's + Stock. Ship struck. A Pilot, a Smuggler, and a Lawyer. A Boat + without Stock. Join the Regiment at Brussels. + + +I have endeavoured, in this book of mine, to measure out the peace and +war in due proportions, according to the spirit of the times it speaks +of; and, as there appears to me to be as much peace in the last +chapter as occurred in Europe between 1814 and 1815, I shall, with the +reader's permission, lodge my regiment, at once, on Dover-heights, and +myself in Scotland, taking a shot at the last of the woodcocks, which +happened to be our relative positions, when Bonaparte's escape from +Elba once more summoned the army to the field. + +The first intimation I had of it was by a letter, informing me of the +embarkation of the battalion for the Netherlands, and desiring me to +join them there, without delay; and, finding that a brig was to sail, +the following day, from Leith to Rotterdam, I took a passage on board +of her. She was an odd one to look at, but the captain assured me that +she was a good one to go; and, besides, that he had provided every +thing that was elegant for our entertainment. The latter piece of +information I did not think of questioning until too late to profit by +it, for I had the mortification to discover, the first day, that his +whole stock consisted in a quarter of lamb, in addition to the ship's +own, with a few cabbages, and five gallons of whiskey. + +After having been ten days at sea, I was awoke, one morning before +daylight, with the ship's grinding over a sand-bank, on the coast of +Holland; fortunately, it did not blow hard, and a pilot soon after +came alongside, who, after exacting a reward suitable to the +occasion, at length, consented to come on board, and extricated us +from our perilous situation, carrying the vessel into the entrance of +one of the small branches of the river leading up to Rotterdam, where +we came to anchor. The captain was very desirous of appealing to a +magistrate for a reduction in the exorbitant demand of the pilot; and +I accompanied him on shore for that purpose. An Englishman made up to +us at the landing-place, and said that his name was C----, that he had +made his fortune by smuggling, and, though he was not permitted to +spend it in his native country, that he had the greatest pleasure in +being of service to his countrymen. As this was exactly the sort of +person we were in search of, the Captain explained his grievance; and +the other said that he would conduct him to a gentleman who would soon +put that to rights. We, accordingly, walked to the adjoining village, +in one of the houses of which he introduced us, formally, to a tall +Dutchman, with a pipe in his mouth and a pen behind his ear, who, +after hearing the story, proceeded to commit it, in large characters, +to a quire of foolscap. + +The cautious nature of the Scotchman did not altogether like the +appearance of the man of business, and demanding, through the +interpreter, whether there would be any thing to pay for his +proceedings? he was told that it would cost five guineas. "Five +devils," said Saunders; "What is it for?" "For a protest," said the +other. "D--n the protest," said the captain; "I came here to save five +guineas, and not to pay five more." I could stand the scene no longer, +and rushed out of the house, under the pretence of seeing the village; +and on my return to the ship, half an hour afterwards, I found the +captain fast asleep. I know not whether he swallowed the remainder of +the five gallons of whiskey, in addition to his five-guinea grievance, +but I could not shake him out of it, although the mate and I tried, +alternately, for upwards of two hours; and indeed I never heard +whether he ever got out of it,--for when I found that they had to go +outside to find another passage up to Rotterdam, I did not think it +prudent to trust myself any longer in the hands of such artists, and, +taking leave of the sleeper, with a last ineffectual shake, I hired a +boat to take me through the passage in which we then were. + +We started with a stiff fair wind, and the boatman assured me that we +should reach Rotterdam in less than five hours (forty miles); but it +soon lulled to a dead calm, which left us to the tedious operation of +tiding it up; and, to mend the matter, we had not a fraction of money +between us, nor any thing to eat or drink. I bore starvation all that +day and night, with the most christian-like fortitude; but, the next +morning, I could stand it no longer, and sending the boatman on shore, +to a neighbouring house, I instructed him either to beg or steal +something, whichever he should find the most prolific; but he was a +clumsy hand at both, and came on board again with only a very small +quantity of coffee. It, however, afforded some relief, and in the +afternoon we reached the town of Dort, and, on lodging my baggage in +pawn with a French inn-keeper, he advanced me the means of going on to +Rotterdam, where I got cash for the bill which I had on a merchant +there. Once more furnished with the "sinews of war," with my feet on +_terra firma_, I lost no time in setting forward to Antwerp, and from +thence to Brussels, when I had the happiness of rejoining my +battalion, which was then quartered in the city. + +Brussels was, at this time, a scene of extraordinary preparation, from +the succession of troops who were hourly arriving, and in their +formation into brigades and divisions. We had the good fortune to be +attached to the brigade of our old and favourite commander, Sir James +Kempt, and in the fifth division, under Sir Thomas Picton. It was the +only division quartered in Brussels, the others being all towards the +French frontier, except the Duke of Brunswick's corps, which lay on +the Antwerp road. + + + + +CHAP. XX. + + Relative Situation of the Troops. March from Brussels. The Prince + and the Beggar. Battle of Quatre-Bras. + + +As our division was composed of crack regiments, under crack +commanders, and headed by fire-eating generals, we had little to do +the first fortnight after my arrival, beyond indulging in all the +amusements of our delightful quarter; but, as the middle of June +approached, we began to get a little more on the _qui vive_, for we +were aware that Napoleon was about to make a dash at some particular +point; and, as he was not the sort of general to give his opponent an +idea of the when and the where, the greater part of our army was +necessarily disposed along the frontier, to meet him at his own +place. They were of course too much extended to offer effectual +resistance in their advanced position; but as our division and the +Duke of Brunswick's corps were held in reserve, at Brussels, in +readiness to be thrust at whatever point might be attacked, they were +a sufficient additional force to check the enemy for the time required +to concentrate the army. + +On the 14th of June it was generally known, among the military circles +in Brussels, that Buonaparte was in motion, at the head of his troops; +and though his movement was understood to point at the Prussians, yet +he was not sufficiently advanced to afford a correct clue to his +intentions. + +We were, the whole of the 15th, on the most anxious look out for news +from the front; but no report had been received prior to the hour of +dinner. I went, about seven in the evening, to take a stroll in the +park, and meeting one of the Duke's staff, he asked me, _en passant_, +whether my pack-saddles were all ready? I told him that they were +nearly so, and added, "I suppose they wo'n't be wanted, at all events, +before to-morrow?" to which he replied, in the act of leaving me, "If +you have any preparation to make, I would recommend you not to delay +so long." I took the hint, and returning to quarters, remained in +momentary expectation of an order to move. The bugles sounded to arms +about two hours after. + +To the credit of our battalion, be it recorded, that, although the +greater part were in bed when the assembly sounded, and billetted over +the most distant parts of that extensive city, every man was on his +alarm-post before eleven o'clock, in a complete state of marching +order: whereas, it was nearly two o'clock in the morning before we +were joined by the others. + +As a grand ball was to take place the same night, at the Duchess of +Richmond's, the order for the assembling of the troops was accompanied +by permission for any officer who chose to remain for the ball, +provided that he joined his regiment early in the morning. Several of +ours took advantage of it. + +Brussels was, at that time, thronged with British temporary residents; +who, no doubt, in the course of the two last days, must have heard, +through their military acquaintance, of the immediate prospect of +hostilities. But, accustomed, on their own ground, to hear of those +things as a piece of news in which they were not personally concerned; +and never dreaming of danger, in streets crowded with the gay uniforms +of their countrymen; it was not until their defenders were summoned to +the field, that they were fully sensible of their changed +circumstances; and the suddenness of the danger multiplying its +horrors, many of them were now seen running about in the wildest state +of distraction. + +Waiting for the arrival of the other regiments, we endeavoured to +snatch an hour's repose on the pavement; but we were every instant +disturbed, by ladies as well as gentlemen; some stumbling over us in +the dark--some shaking us out of our sleep, to be told the news--and +not a few, conceiving their immediate safety depending upon our +standing in place of lying. All those who applied for the benefit of +my advice, I recommended to go home to bed, to keep themselves +perfectly cool, and, to rest assured that, if their departure from the +city became necessary, (which I very much doubted,) they would have at +least one whole day to prepare for it, as we were leaving some beef +and potatoes behind us, for which, I was sure, we would fight, rather +than abandon! + +The whole of the division having, at length, assembled, we were put in +motion about three o'clock on the morning of the 16th, and advanced to +the village of Waterloo, where, forming in a field adjoining the road, +our men were allowed to prepare their breakfasts. I succeeded in +getting mine, in a small inn, on the left hand side of the village. + +Lord Wellington joined us about nine o'clock; and, from his very +particular orders, to see that the roads were kept clear of baggage, +and everything likely to impede the movements of the troops, I have +since been convinced that his lordship had thought it probable that +the position of Waterloo might, even that day, have become the scene +of action; for it was a good broad road, on which there were neither +the quantity of baggage nor of troops moving at the time, to excite +the slightest apprehension of confusion. Leaving us halted, he +galloped on to the front, followed by his staff; and we were soon +after joined by the Duke of Brunswick, with his corps of the army. + +His highness dismounted near the place where I was standing, and +seated himself on the road-side, along with his adjutant-general. He +soon after despatched his companion on some duty; and I was much +amused to see the vacated place immediately filled by an old +beggar-man; who, seeing nothing in the black hussar uniform beside him +denoting the high rank of the wearer, began to grunt and scratch +himself most luxuriously! The duke shewed a degree of courage which +few would, under such circumstances; for he maintained his post until +the return of his officer, when he very jocularly said, "Well, O----n, +you see that your place was not long unoccupied!"--How little idea had +I, at the time, that the life of the illustrious speaker was limited +to three short hours! + +About twelve o'clock an order arrived for the troops to advance, +leaving their baggage behind; and though it sounded warlike, yet we +did not expect to come in contact with the enemy, at all events, on +_that_ day. But, as we moved forward, the symptoms of their immediate +presence kept gradually increasing; for we presently met a cart-load +of wounded Belgians; and, after passing through Genappe, the distant +sound of a solitary gun struck on the listening ear. But all doubt on +the subject was quickly removed; for, on ascending the rising ground, +where stands the village of Quatre Bras, we saw a considerable plain +in our front, flanked on each side by a wood; and on another acclivity +beyond, we could perceive the enemy descending towards us, in most +imposing numbers. + +Quatre Bras, at that time, consisted of only three or four houses; +and, as its name betokens, I believe, stood at the junction of four +roads; on one of which we were moving; a second, inclined to the +right; a third, in the same degree, to the left; and the fourth, I +conclude, must have gone backwards; but, as I had not an eye in that +direction, I did not see it. + +The village was occupied by some Belgians, under the Prince of Orange, +who had an advanced post in a large farm-house, at the foot of the +road, which inclined to the right; and a part of his division, also, +occupied the wood on the same side. + +Lord Wellington, I believe, after leaving us at Waterloo, galloped on +to the Prussian position at Ligny, where he had an interview with +Blucher, in which they concerted measures for their mutual +co-operation. When we arrived at Quatre Bras, however, we found him in +a field near the Belgian outpost; and the enemy's guns were just +beginning to play upon the spot where he stood, surrounded by a +numerous staff. + +We halted for a moment on the brow of the hill; and as Sir Andrew +Barnard galloped forward to the head-quarter group, I followed, to be +in readiness to convey any orders to the battalion. The moment we +approached, Lord Fitzroy Somerset, separating himself from the duke, +said, "Barnard, you are wanted instantly; take your battalion and +endeavour to get possession of that village," pointing to one on the +face of the rising ground, down which the enemy were moving; "but if +you cannot do that, secure that wood on the left, and keep the road +open for communication with the Prussians." We instantly moved in the +given direction; but, ere we had got half-way to the village, we had +the mortification to see the enemy throw such a force into it, as +rendered any attempt to retake it, with our numbers, utterly hopeless; +and as another strong body of them were hastening towards the wood, +which was the second object pointed out to us, we immediately brought +them to action, and secured it. In moving to that point, one of our +men went raving mad, from excessive heat. The poor fellow cut a few +extraordinary capers, and died in the course of a few minutes. + +While our battalion-reserve occupied the front of the wood, our +skirmishers lined the side of the road, which was the Prussian line of +communication. The road itself, however, was crossed by such a shower +of balls, that none but a desperate traveller would have undertaken a +journey on it. We were presently reinforced by a small battalion of +foreign light troops, with whose assistance we were in hopes to have +driven the enemy a little further from it; but they were a raw body of +men, who had never before been under fire; and, as they could not be +prevailed upon to join our skirmishers, we could make no use of them +whatever. Their conduct, in fact, was an exact representation of +Mathews's ludicrous one of the American militia, for Sir Andrew +Barnard repeatedly pointed out to them which was the French, and +which our side; and, after explaining that they were not to fire a +shot until they joined our skirmishers, the word "March!" was given; +but _march_, to them, was always the signal to fire, for they stood +fast, and began blazing away, chiefly at our skirmishers too; the +officers commanding whom were every time sending back to say that we +were shooting them; until we were, at last, obliged to be satisfied +with whatever advantages their appearance could give, as even that was +of some consequence, where troops were so scarce. + +Buonaparte's attack on the Prussians had already commenced, and the +fire of artillery and musketry, in that direction, was tremendous; but +the intervening higher ground prevented us from seeing any part of it. + +The plain to our right, which we had just quitted, had, likewise, +become the scene of a sanguinary and unequal contest. Our division, +after we left it, deployed into line, and, in advancing, met and +routed the French infantry; but, in following up their advantage, +they encountered a furious charge of cavalry, and were obliged to +throw themselves into squares to receive it. With the exception of one +regiment, however, which had two companies cut to pieces, they were +not only successful in resisting the attack, but made awful havock in +the enemy's ranks, who, nevertheless, continued their forward career, +and went sweeping past them, like a whirlwind, up to the village of +Quatre Bras, to the confusion and consternation of the numerous +useless appendages of our army, who were there assembled, waiting the +result of the battle. + +The forward movement of the enemy's cavalry gave their infantry time +to rally; and, strongly reinforced with fresh troops, they again +advanced to the attack. This was a crisis in which, according to +Buonaparte's theory, the victory was theirs, by all the rules of war, +for they held superior numbers, both before and behind us; but the +gallant old Picton, who had been trained in a different school, did +not choose to confine himself to rules in those matters; despising +the force in his rear, he advanced, charged, and routed those in his +front, which created such a panic among the others, that they galloped +back through the intervals in his division, with no other object in +view but their own safety. After this desperate conflict, the firing, +on both sides, lulled almost to a calm for nearly an hour, while each +was busy in renewing their order of battle. The Duke of Brunswick had +been killed early in the action, endeavouring to rally his young +troops, who were unable to withstand the impetuosity of the French; +and, as we had no other cavalry force in the field, the few British +infantry regiments present, having to bear the full brunt of the +enemy's superior force of both arms, were now considerably reduced in +numbers. + +The battle, on the side of the Prussians, still continued to rage in +an unceasing roar of artillery. About four, in the afternoon, a troop +of their dragoons came, as a patrole, to inquire how it fared with us, +and told us, in passing, that they still maintained their position. +Their day, however, was still to be decided, and, indeed, for that +matter, so was our own; for, although the firing, for the moment, had +nearly ceased, I had not yet clearly made up my mind which side had +been the offensive, which the defensive, or which the winning. I had +merely the satisfaction of knowing that we had not lost it; for we had +met fairly in the middle of a field, (or, rather unfairly, considering +that they had two to one,) and, after the scramble was over, our +division still held the ground they fought on. All doubts on the +subject, however, began to be removed about five o'clock. The enemy's +artillery once more opened; and, on running to the brow of the hill, +to ascertain the cause, we perceived our old light-division general, +Count Alten, at the head of a fresh British division, moving gallantly +down the road towards us. It was, indeed, a joyful sight; for, as +already mentioned, our division had suffered so severely that we could +not help looking forward to a renewal of the action, with such a +disparity of force, with considerable anxiety; but this reinforcement +gave us new life, and, as soon as they came near enough to afford +support, we commenced the offensive, and, driving in the skirmishers +opposed to us, succeeded in gaining a considerable portion of the +position originally occupied by the enemy, when darkness obliged us to +desist. In justice to the foreign battalion, which had been all day +attached to us, I must say that, in this last movement, they joined us +cordially, and behaved exceedingly well. They had a very gallant young +fellow at their head; and their conduct, in the earlier part of the +day, can, therefore, only be ascribed to its being their first +appearance on such a stage. + +Leaving General Alten in possession of the ground which we had +assisted in winning, we returned in search of our division, and +reached them about eleven at night, lying asleep in their glory, on +the field where they had fought, which contained many a bloody trace +of the day's work. + +The firing, on the side of the Prussians, had altogether ceased +before dark, but recommenced, with redoubled fury, about an hour +after; and it was then, as we afterwards learnt, that they lost the +battle. + +We lay down by our arms, near the farm-house already mentioned, in +front of Quatre Bras; and the deuce is in it if we were not in good +trim for sleeping, seeing that we had been either marching or fighting +for twenty-six successive hours. + +An hour before daybreak, next morning, a rattling fire of musketry +along the whole line of piquets made every one spring to his arms; and +we remained looking as fierce as possible until daylight, when each +side was seen expecting an attack, while the piquets were blazing at +one another without any ostensible cause: it gradually ceased, as the +day advanced, and appeared to have been occasioned by a patrole of +dragoons getting between the piquets by accident: when firing +commences in the dark it is not easily stopped. + +June 17th.--As last night's fighting only ceased with the daylight, +the scene, this morning, presented a savage unsettled appearance; the +fields were strewed with the bodies of men, horses, torn clothing, and +shattered cuirasses; and, though no movements appeared to be going on +on either side, yet, as occasional shots continued to be exchanged at +different points, it kept every one wide awake. We had the +satisfaction of knowing that the whole of our army had assembled on +the hill behind in the course of the night. + +About nine o'clock, we received the news of Blucher's defeat, and of +his retreat to Wavre. Lord Wellington, therefore, immediately began to +withdraw his army to the position of Waterloo. + +Sir Andrew Barnard was ordered to remain as long as possible with our +battalion, to mask the retreat of the others; and was told, if we were +attacked, that the whole of the British cavalry were in readiness to +advance to our relief. I had an idea, however, that a single rifle +battalion in the midst of ten thousand dragoons, would come but +indifferently off in the event of a general crash, and was by no +means sorry when, between eleven and twelve o'clock, every regiment +had got clear off, and we followed, before the enemy had put any thing +in motion against us. + +After leaving the village of Quatre Bras, and passing through our +cavalry, who were formed on each side of the road, we drew up, at the +entrance of Genappe. The rain, at that moment, began to descend in +torrents, and our men were allowed to shelter themselves in the +nearest houses; but we were obliged to turn out again in the midst of +it, in less than five minutes, as we found the French cavalry and ours +already exchanging shots, and the latter were falling back to the more +favourable ground behind Genappe; we, therefore, retired with them, +_en masse_, through the village, and formed again on the rising ground +beyond. + +While we remained there, we had an opportunity of seeing the different +affairs of cavalry; and it did one's heart good to see how cordially +the life-guards went at their work: they had no idea of any thing but +straight-forward fighting, and sent their opponents flying in all +directions. The only _young_ thing they showed was in every one who +got a roll in the mud, (and, owing to the slipperiness of the ground, +there were many,) going off to the rear, according to their Hyde-Park +custom, as being no longer fit to appear on parade! I thought, at +first, that they had been all wounded, but, on finding how the case +stood, I could not help telling them that theirs was now the situation +to verify the old proverb, "the uglier the better soldier!" + +The roads, as well as the fields, had now become so heavy, that our +progress to the rear was very slow; and it was six in the evening +before we drew into the position of Waterloo. Our battalion took post +in the second line that night, with its right resting on the +Namur-road, behind La Haye Sainte, near a small mud-cottage, which Sir +Andrew Barnard occupied as a quarter. The enemy arrived in front, in +considerable force, about an hour after us, and a cannonade took place +in different parts of the line, which ended at dark, and we lay down +by our arms. It rained excessively hard the greater part of the night; +nevertheless, having succeeded in getting a bundle of hay for my +horse, and one of straw for myself, I secured the horse to his bundle, +by tying him to one of the men's swords stuck in the ground, and, +placing mine under his nose, I laid myself down upon it, and never +opened my eyes again until daylight. + + + + +CHAP. XXI. + + Battle of Waterloo. "A Horse! a Horse!" Breakfast. Position. + Disposition. Meeting of _particular_ Friends. Dish of Powder and + Ball. Fricassee of Swords. End of First Course. Pounding. + Brewing. Peppering. Cutting and Maiming. Fury. Tantalizing. + Charging. Cheering. Chasing. Opinionizing. Anecdotes. The End. + + +BATTLE OF WATERLOO, + +18th June, 1815. + +When I awoke, this morning, at daylight, I found myself drenched with +rain. I had slept so long and so soundly that I had, at first, but a +very confused notion of my situation; but having a bright idea that my +horse had been my companion when I went to sleep, I was rather +startled at finding that I was now alone; nor could I rub my eyes +clear enough to procure a sight of him, which was vexatious enough; +for, independent of his value _as a horse_, his services were +indispensable; and an adjutant might as well think of going into +action without his arms as without such a supporter. But whatever my +feelings might have been towards him, it was evident that he had none +for me, from having drawn his sword and marched off. The chances of +finding him again, amid ten thousand others, were about equal to the +odds against the needle in a bundle of hay; but for once the single +chance was gained, as, after a diligent search of an hour, he was +discovered between two artillery horses, about half a mile from where +he broke loose. + +The weather cleared up as the morning advanced; and, though every +thing remained quiet at the moment, we were confident that the day +would not pass off without an engagement, and, therefore, proceeded to +put our arms in order, as, also, to get ourselves dried and made as +comfortable as circumstances would permit. + +We made a fire against the wall of Sir Andrew Barnard's cottage, and +boiled a huge camp-kettle full of tea, mixed up with a suitable +quantity of milk and sugar, for breakfast; and, as it stood on the +edge of the high road, where all the big-wigs of the army had occasion +to pass, in the early part of the morning, I believe almost every one +of them, from the Duke downwards, claimed a cupful. + +About nine o'clock, we received an order to retain a quantity of spare +ammunition, in some secure place, and to send every thing in the shape +of baggage and baggage-animals to the rear. It, therefore, became +evident that the Duke meant to give battle in his present position; +and it was, at the same time, generally understood that a corps of +thirty thousand Prussians were moving to our support. + +About ten o'clock, an unusual bustle was observable among the +staff-officers, and we soon after received an order to stand to our +arms. The troops who had been stationed in our front during the night +were then moved off to the right, and our division took up its +fighting position. + +Our battalion stood on what was considered the left centre of the +position. We had our right resting on the Namur-road, about a hundred +yards in rear of the farm-house of La Haye Sainte, and our left +extending behind a broken hedge, which run along the ridge to the +left. Immediately in our front, and divided from La Haye Sainte only +by the great road, stood a small knoll, with a sand-hole in its +farthest side, which we occupied, as an advanced post, with three +companies. The remainder of the division was formed in two lines; the +first, consisting chiefly of light troops, behind the hedge, in +continuation from the left of our battalion reserve; and the second, +about a hundred yards in its rear. The guns were placed in the +intervals between the brigades, two pieces were in the road-way on our +right, and a rocket-brigade in the centre. + +The road had been cut through the rising ground, and was about twenty +or thirty feet deep where our right rested, and which, in a manner, +separated us from all the troops beyond. The division, I believe, +under General Alten occupied the ground next to us, on the right. He +had a light battalion of the German legion, posted inside of La Haye +Sainte, and the household brigade of cavalry stood under cover of the +rising ground behind him. On our left there were some Hanoverians and +Belgians, together with a brigade of British heavy dragoons, the +royals, and Scotch greys. + +These were all the observations on the disposition of our army that my +situation enabled me to make. The whole position seemed to be a gently +rising ground, presenting no obstacle at any point, excepting the +broken hedge in front of our division, and it was only one in +appearance, as it could be passed in every part. + +Shortly after we had taken up our ground, some columns, from the +enemy's left, were seen in motion towards Hugamont, and were soon +warmly engaged with the right of our army. A cannon ball, too, came +from the Lord knows where, for it was not fired at us, and took the +head off our right hand man. That part of their position, in our own +immediate front, next claimed our undivided attention. It had hitherto +been looking suspiciously innocent, with scarcely a human being upon +it; but innumerable black specks were now seen taking post at regular +distances in its front, and recognizing them as so many pieces of +artillery, I knew, from experience, although nothing else was yet +visible, that they were unerring symptoms of our not being destined to +be idle spectators. + +From the moment we took possession of the knoll, we had busied +ourselves in collecting branches of trees and other things, for the +purpose of making an _abatis_ to block up the road between that and +the farm-house, and soon completed one, which we thought looked +sufficiently formidable to keep out the whole of the French cavalry; +but it was put to the proof sooner than we expected, by a troop of our +own light dragoons, who, having occasion to gallop through, astonished +us not a little by clearing away every stick of it. We had just time +to replace the scattered branches, when the whole of the enemy's +artillery opened, and their countless columns began to advance under +cover of it. + +The scene at that moment was grand and imposing, and we had a few +minutes to spare for observation. The column destined as _our_ +particular _friends_, first attracted our notice, and seemed to +consist of about ten thousand infantry. A smaller body of infantry and +one of cavalry moved on their right; and, on their left, another huge +column of infantry, and a formidable body of cuirassiers, while beyond +them it seemed one moving mass. + +We saw Buonaparte himself take post on the side of the road, +immediately in our front, surrounded by a numerous staff; and each +regiment, as they passed him, rent the air with shouts of "_vive +l'Empereur_," nor did they cease after they had passed; but, backed by +the thunder of their artillery, and carrying with them the _rubidub_ +of drums, and the _tantarara_ of trumpets, in addition to their +increasing shouts, it looked, at first, as if they had some hopes of +scaring us off the ground; for it was a singular contrast to the stern +silence reigning on our side, where nothing, as yet, but the voices of +our great guns, told that we had mouths to open when we chose to use +them. Our rifles were, however, in a very few seconds, required to +play their parts, and opened such a fire on the advancing skirmishers +as quickly brought them to a stand still; but their columns advanced +steadily through them, although our incessant _tiralade_ was telling +in their centre with fearful exactness, and our post was quickly +turned in both flanks, which compelled us to fall back and join our +comrades, behind the hedge, though not before some of our officers and +theirs had been engaged in personal combat. + +When the heads of their columns shewed over the knoll which we had +just quitted, they received such a fire from our first line, that they +wavered, and hung behind it a little; but, cheered and encouraged by +the gallantry of their officers, who were dancing and flourishing +their swords in front, they at last boldly advanced to the opposite +side of our hedge, and began to deploy. Our first line, in the mean +time, was getting so thinned, that Picton found it necessary to bring +up his second, but fell in the act of doing it. The command of the +division, at that critical moment, devolved upon Sir James Kempt, who +was galloping along the line, animating the men to steadiness. He +called to me by name, where I happened to be standing on the right of +our battalion, and desired "that I would never quit that spot." I told +him that "he might depend upon it:" and in another instant I found +myself in a fair way of keeping my promise more religiously than I +intended; for, glancing my eye to the right, I saw the next field +covered with the cuirassiers, some of whom were making directly for +the gap in the hedge, where I was standing. I had not hitherto drawn +my sword, as it was generally to be had at a moment's warning; but, +from its having been exposed to the last night's rain, it had now got +rusted in the scabbard, and refused to come forth! I was in a +precious scrape. Mounted on my strong Flanders mare, and with my good +old sword in my hand, I would have braved all the chances without a +moment's hesitation; but, I confess, that I felt considerable doubts +as to the propriety of standing there to be sacrificed, without the +means of making a scramble for it. My mind, however, was happily +relieved from such an embarrassing consideration, before my decision +was required; for the next moment the cuirassiers were charged by our +household brigade; and the infantry in our front giving way at the +same time, under our terrific shower of musketry, the flying +cuirassiers tumbled in among the routed infantry, followed by the +life-guards, who were cutting away in all directions. Hundreds of the +infantry threw themselves down, and pretended to be dead, while the +cavalry galloped over them, and then got up and ran away. I never saw +such a scene in all my life. + +Lord Wellington had given orders that the troops were, on no account, +to leave the position to follow up any temporary advantage; so that +we now resumed our post, as we stood at the commencement of the +battle, and with three companies again advanced on the knoll. + +I was told, it was very ridiculous, at that moment, to see the number +of vacant spots that were left nearly along the whole of the line, +where a great part of the dark dressed foreign troops had stood, +intermixed with the British, when the action began. + +Our division got considerably reduced in numbers during the last +attack; but Lord Wellington's fostering hand sent Sir John Lambert to +our support, with the sixth division; and we now stood prepared for +another and a more desperate struggle. + +Our battalion had already lost three officers killed, and six or seven +wounded; among the latter were Sir Andrew Barnard and Colonel Cameron. + +Some one asking me what had become of my horse's ear, was the first +intimation I had of his being wounded; and I now found that, +independent of one ear having been shaved close to his head, (I +suppose by a cannon-shot,) a musket-ball had grazed across his +forehead, and another gone through one of his legs, but he did not +seem much the worse for either of them. + +Between two and three o'clock we were tolerably quiet, except from a +thundering cannonade; and the enemy had, by that time, got the range +of our position so accurately that every shot brought a ticket for +somebody's head. + +An occasional gun, beyond the plain, far to our left, marked the +approach of the Prussians; but their progress was too slow to afford a +hope of their arriving in time to take any share in the battle. + +On our right, the roar of cannon and musketry had been incessant from +the time of its commencement; but the higher ground, near us, +prevented our seeing anything of what was going on. + +Between three and four o'clock, the storm gathered again in our front. +Our three companies on the knoll were soon involved in a furious +fire. The Germans, occupying La Haye Sainte, expended all their +ammunition, and fled from the post. The French took possession of it; +and, as it flanked our knoll, we were obliged to abandon it also, and +fall back again behind the hedge. + +The loss of La Haye Sainte was of the most serious consequence, as it +afforded the enemy an establishment within our position. They +immediately brought up two guns on our side of it, and began serving +out some grape to us; but they were so very near, that we destroyed +their artillerymen before they could give us a second round. + +The silencing of these guns was succeeded by a very extraordinary +scene, on the same spot. A strong regiment of Hanoverians advanced in +line, to charge the enemy out of La Haye Sainte; but they were +themselves charged by a brigade of cuirassiers, and, excepting one +officer, on a little black horse, who went off to the rear, like a +shot out of a shovel, I do believe that every man of them was put to +death in about five seconds. A brigade of British light dragoons +advanced to their relief, and a few, on each side, began exchanging +thrusts; but it seemed likely to be a drawn battle between them, +without much harm being done, when our men brought it to a crisis +sooner than either side anticipated, for they previously had their +rifles eagerly pointed at the cuirassiers, with a view of saving the +perishing Hanoverians; but the fear of killing their friends withheld +them, until the others were utterly overwhelmed, when they instantly +opened a terrific fire on the whole concern, sending both sides to +flight; so that, on the small space of ground, within a hundred yards +of us, where five thousand men had been fighting the instant before, +there was not now a living soul to be seen. + +It made me mad to see the cuirassiers, in their retreat, stooping and +stabbing at our wounded men, as they lay on the ground. How I wished +that I had been blessed with Omnipotent power for a moment, that I +might have blighted them! + +The same field continued to be a wild one the whole of the afternoon. +It was a sort of duelling-post between the two armies, every half-hour +showing a meeting of some kind upon it; but they never exceeded a +short scramble, for men's lives were held very cheap there. + +For the two or three succeeding hours there was no variety with us, +but one continued blaze of musketry. The smoke hung so thick about, +that, although not more than eighty yards asunder, we could only +distinguish each other by the flashes of the pieces. + +A good many of our guns had been disabled, and a great many more +rendered unserviceable in consequence of the unprecedented close +fighting; for, in several places, where they had been posted but a +very few yards in front of the line, it was impossible to work them. + +I shall never forget the scene which the field of battle presented +about seven in the evening. I felt weary and worn out, less from +fatigue than anxiety. Our division, which had stood upwards of five +thousand men at the commencement of the battle, had gradually dwindled +down into a solitary line of skirmishers. The twenty-seventh regiment +were lying literally dead, in square, a few yards behind us. My horse +had received another shot through the leg, and one through the flap of +the saddle, which lodged in his body, sending him a step beyond the +pension-list. The smoke still hung so thick about us that we could see +nothing. I walked a little way to each flank, to endeavour to get a +glimpse of what was going on; but nothing met my eye except the +mangled remains of men and horses, and I was obliged to return to my +post as wise as I went. + +I had never yet heard of a battle in which every body was killed; but +this seemed likely to be an exception, as all were going by turns. We +got excessively impatient under the tame similitude of the latter part +of the process, and burned with desire to have a last thrust at our +respective _vis-a-vis_; for, however desperate our affairs were, we +had still the satisfaction of seeing that theirs were worse. Sir John +Lambert continued to stand as our support, at the head of three good +old regiments, one dead (the twenty-seventh) and two living ones; and +we took the liberty of soliciting him to aid our views; but the Duke's +orders on that head were so very particular that the gallant general +had no choice. + +Presently a cheer, which we knew to be British, commenced far to the +right, and made every one prick up his ears;--it was Lord Wellington's +long wished-for orders to advance; it gradually approached, growing +louder as it grew near;--we took it up by instinct, charged through +the hedge down upon the old knoll, sending our adversaries flying at +the point of the bayonet. Lord Wellington galloped up to us at the +instant, and our men began to cheer him; but he called out, "no +cheering, my lads, but forward, and complete your victory!" + +This movement had carried us clear of the smoke; and, to people who +had been for so many hours enveloped in darkness, in the midst of +destruction, and naturally anxious about the result of the day, the +scene which now met the eye conveyed a feeling of more exquisite +gratification than can be conceived. It was a fine summer's evening, +just before sunset. The French were flying in one confused mass. +British lines were seen in close pursuit, and in admirable order, as +far as the eye could reach to the right, while the plain to the left +was filled with Prussians. The enemy made one last attempt at a stand +on the rising ground to our right of La Belle Alliance; but a charge +from General Adams's brigade again threw them into a state of +confusion, which was now inextricable, and their ruin was complete. +Artillery, baggage, and every thing belonging to them, fell into our +hands. After pursuing them until dark, we halted about two miles +beyond the field of battle, leaving the Prussians to follow up the +victory. + +This was the last, the greatest, and the most uncomfortable heap of +glory that I ever had a hand in, and may the deuce take me if I think +that every body waited there to see the end of it, otherwise it never +could have been so troublesome to those who did. We were, take us all +in all, a very bad army. Our foreign auxiliaries, who constituted more +than half of our numerical strength, with some exceptions, were little +better than a raw militia--a body without a soul, or like an inflated +pillow, that gives to the touch, and resumes its shape again when the +pressure ceases--not to mention the many who went clear out of the +field, and were only seen while plundering our baggage in their +retreat. + +Our heavy cavalry made some brilliant charges in the early part of the +day; but they never knew when to stop, their ardour in following their +advantages carrying them headlong on, until many of them "burnt their +fingers," and got dispersed or destroyed. + +Of that gallant corps, the royal artillery, it is enough to say, that +they maintained their former reputation--the first in the world--and +it was a serious loss to us, in the latter part of the day, to be +deprived of this more powerful co-operation, from the causes already +mentioned. + +The British infantry and the King's German legion continued the +inflexible supporters of their country's honour throughout, and their +unshaken constancy under the most desperate circumstances showed that, +though they might be destroyed, they were not to be beaten. + +If Lord Wellington had been at the head of his old Peninsula army, I +am confident that he would have swept his opponents off the face of +the earth immediately after their first attack; but with such a +heterogeneous mixture under his command, he was obliged to submit to a +longer day. + +It will ever be a matter of dispute what the result of that day would +have been without the arrival of the Prussians: but it is clear to me +that Lord Wellington would not have fought at Waterloo unless Blucher +had promised to aid him with 30,000 men, as he required that number +to put him on a numerical footing with his adversary. It is certain +that the promised aid did not come in time to take any share whatever +in the battle. It is equally certain that the enemy had, long before, +been beaten into a mass of ruin, in condition for nothing but running, +and wanting but an apology to do it; and I will ever maintain that +Lord Wellington's last advance would have made it the same victory had +a Prussian never been seen there. + +The field of battle, next morning, presented a frightful scene of +carnage; it seemed as if the world had tumbled to pieces, and +three-fourths of every thing destroyed in the wreck. The ground +running parallel to the front of where we had stood was so thickly +strewed with fallen men and horses, that it was difficult to step +clear of their bodies; many of the former still alive, and imploring +assistance, which it was not in our power to bestow. + +The usual salutation on meeting an acquaintance of another regiment +after an action was to ask who had been hit? but on this occasion it +was "Who's alive?" Meeting one, next morning, a very little fellow, I +asked what had happened to them yesterday? "I'll be hanged," says he, +"if I know any thing at all about the matter, for I was all day +trodden in the mud and galloped over by every scoundrel who had a +horse; and, in short, that I only owe my existence to my +insignificance." + +Two of our men, on the morning of the 19th, lost their lives by a very +melancholy accident. They were cutting up a captured ammunition-waggon +for firewood, when one of their swords striking against a nail, sent a +spark among the powder. When I looked in the direction of the +explosion, I saw the two poor fellows about twenty or thirty feet up +in the air. On falling to the ground, though lying on their backs or +bellies, some extraordinary effort of nature, caused by the agony of +the moment, made them spring from that position, five or six times, to +the height of eight or ten feet, just as a fish does when thrown on +the ground after being newly caught. It was so unlike a scene in real +life that it was impossible to witness it without forgetting, for a +moment, the horror of their situation. + +I ran to the spot along with others, and found that every stitch of +clothes had been burnt off, and they were black as ink all over. They +were still alive, and told us their names, otherwise we could not have +recognized them; and, singular enough, they were able to walk off the +ground with a little support, but died shortly after. + +Among other officers who fell at Waterloo, we lost one of the wildest +youths that ever belonged to the service. He seemed to have a +prophetic notion of his approaching end, for he repeatedly told us, in +the early part of the morning, that he knew the devil would have him +before night. I shall relate one anecdote of him, which occurred while +we were in Spain. He went, by chance, to pass the day with two +officers, quartered at a neighbouring village, who happened to be, +that day, engaged to dine with the clergyman. Knowing their visitor's +mischievous propensities, they were at first afraid to make him one of +the party; but, after schooling him into a suitable propriety of +behaviour, and exacting a promise of implicit obedience, they, at +last, ventured to take him. On their arrival, the ceremony of +introduction had just been gone through, and their host seated at an +open window, when a favourite cat of his went purring about the young +gentleman's boots, who, catching it by the tail, and giving it two or +three preparatory swings round his head, sent it flying out at the +window where the parson was sitting, who only escaped it by suddenly +stooping. The only apology the youngster made for his conduct was, +"Egad, I think I astonished that fellow!" but whether it was the cat +or the parson he meant I never could learn. + +About twelve o'clock, on the day after the battle, we commenced our +march for Paris. I shall, therefore, leave my readers at Waterloo, in +the hope that, among the many stories of romance to which that and the +other celebrated fields gave birth, the foregoing unsophisticated one +of an eye-witness may not have been found altogether uninteresting. + + + + +THE END + + +ERRATA. + + +Page 7, line 13, _read_ "of lively." + +Page 9, line 18, _read_ "reinforced" _instead of_ "reenforced." + +Page 25, line 17, _read_ "her's" _instead of_ "hers." + +Page 27, line 3, _read_ "with him!!!" + +Page 73, line 8, _read_ "when we" _instead of_ "when it." + +Page 154, line 21, _read_ "17th" _instead of_ "19th." + +Page 178, line 14, _read_ "re-crossed" _instead of_ "re-crosed." + +Page 219, line 17, _read_ "held one side" _instead of_ "held on one +side." + +Page 266, line 13, _read_ "dying state;" _instead of_ "dying; state." + +Page 269, lines 14 and 15, _read_ "to remark in a French officer, +occurred" _instead of_ "to remark was that of a French officer, which +occurred." + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Adventures in the Rifle Brigade, in +the Peninsula, France, and the Netherlands, by Captain J. Kincaid + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RIFLE BRIGADE *** + +***** This file should be named 28981.txt or 28981.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/9/8/28981/ + +Produced by StevenGibbs, Christine P. Travers and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/28981.zip b/28981.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2ce547c --- /dev/null +++ b/28981.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..73fe14c --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #28981 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28981) |