CHAPTER III.
Leaving Campo Mayor we returned by the same route that we had come, re-crossing the Tagus at Ville Valhe, and halting at Albergeria, a village near the place from whence we had first set out to go to Badajos, and not far distant from Ciudade Roderigo, in which the French had a garrison. We remained here in camp for some time, very busy making fascions and gabions to fortify the position which our army had taken. While we lay in this encampment the weather was uncommonly warm, and the bushes and long grass, among which we had raised temporary huts, were rendered inflammable as tinder; the grass on our left had been by accident set fire to, and the flames soon spread in every direction. The whole of the soldiers were turned out to stop its progress; but in spite of their endeavours, it communicated to a wood which lay on the face of a steep hill in our rear, burning with the greatest fury. The night happened to be very dark, and there could scarcely be anything more grand or awful: the whole mountain was in a blaze of fire, and the noise and crackling of the trees burning was like the noise of a hurricane; it was a scene which a person could stand and gaze at it in mute astonishment, without being able to define the sensations which were raised in his mind. The wind fortunately carried the fire to the rear of our encampment, or it might have been productive of great injury, by blowing up the ammunition, &c.
From this place we removed more in advance to Robleda, a Spanish village. The people seemed to be comfortable, the houses were extremely clean, and here we had a fair specimen of the manners of the Spanish peasantry. All their domestic concerns were conducted with the greatest regularity: they were very punctual inthe observance of all the rites of their church, and in catechising their children. They seemed to me to be really pious, and from their prudent, industrious habits, happy and contented. The people I was quartered on were uncommonly friendly; being able to speak the language a little, and Dennis being of the same religious persuasion, we were almost considered as members of the family. The inhabitants were mostly all employed in agriculture, and were very lively and fond of amusement, particularly of singing and dancing; here they had their fondangos and boleras every Sunday evening after mass, dressed in the gay and becoming fashion of their country, and many a ditty was chaunted in praise of General Mina and Don Julian. The village, however, proved very unhealthy: during the short time we were in it, eighty or ninety of our men left us to go to the rear sick, most of them with fever and ague, and among the number my poor friend Dennis.
On the 24th September, in consequence of the advance of the French, we were ordered to march from this to El-Bodon; and it was with unfeigned regret on both sides, I believe, that we parted with our friendly hosts.
On the 25th, at two o’clock in the morning, we were turned out to the heights above the town, which our brigade, along with one of cavalry, occupied. Our position was on a range of heights, over which passed the road leading from Roderigo to Fuente Guinaldo. Here we lay under arms until about eight o’clock in the morning, when we perceived, issuing out of Roderigo, one column of cavalry after another advancing along the road towards our post, to the amount of about forty squadrons; these were succeeded by twelve or fourteen battalions of infantry, with twelve piece of cannon. Our situation now began to get precarious, being completely separated from the rest of the army, by at least six miles. Still we had no orders to retreat—and to retreat without orders is not the custom of the British army.
One of the regiments was posted on the hill over which the road passed, and when it was seen that the French were bent upon advancing in that direction, two more regiments, the 77th British, 21st Portuguese, and the brigade of cavalry, were sent to reinforce them.
This was scarcely done, when the advanced squadrons of the enemy’s cavalry and artillery made a furious attack on this post, and succeeded in taking two piece of Portuguese cannon. The Portuguese artillery behaved bravely, having stood until actually cut down at their guns, which were posted on a rising ground to the right. The 5th regiment was now ordered to charge, and they succeeded in retaking the guns. While this was going on on the right, we were attacked by another body of cavalry in front, which was met and repulsed with determined bravery by the 77th regiment. Our cavalry also were warmly engaged, and charged different bodies of the enemy which ascended on the left. Here we kept our post gallantly, surrounded by about two thousand cavalry—until at last the French infantry being brought up, we were ordered to retreat in squares on Fuente Guinaldo, supported only by the small body of cavalry already mentioned. The French cavalry seeing us preparing for retreat, rushed furiously on, and the various squares were now successively charged by powerful masses of their cavalry, one in particular on three faces of the square, but they halted, and repulsed them with the utmost steadiness and gallantry. The French in those charges suffered severely, having a tremendous fire poured in on them each time. As they rushed on with impetuosity, when they were brought to a dead stop by the points of our bayonets, they were thrown into the greatest confusion, and were brought down by our shot in numbers. The whole now proceeded to retreat in excellent order, at an ordinary pace, keeping exact distances, ready to form up in the event of a charge being made.
We were much annoyed by shot and shell from theheights where the French artillery were posted, some of which falling in the squares did great mischief, killing and wounding several of our men, and blowing up our ammunition. We had about six miles to retreat in this manner before we reached the body of the army, with the French cavalry hanging on our flanks and rear, some of whom had even the audacity to ride to our front, and having taken part of our baggage, brought it back close past our columns: we could render no assistance, as our own safety wholly depended on keeping ourselves ready to form square. Here General Picton showed that coolness and intrepidity for which he was so much distinguished; for some time he rode at the head of our square, while a strong body of French hung on our right, waiting a favourable opportunity to charge. The captain who commanded us (both field officers being sick) was throwing many a fearful glance at them, and was rather in a state of perturbation—‘Never mind the French,’ said Picton, ‘mind your regiment; if the fellows come here, we will give them a warm reception.’
At length we came in sight of the rest of our army, and the main body of the French hung back, but we were escorted into the very lines by their advanced guard. Here, however, they met with a warm reception from some squadrons of our cavalry, which made them retreat. We halted in rear of Fuente Guinaldo, where an intrenched camp had been formed, and remained here that night and next day, during which the French, having brought forward their infantry, took post on a hill opposite, and we expected an engagement; but Lord Wellington, for good reasons, no doubt, deemed it more prudent to retire. When night came, we were ordered to kindle a great number of fires, for the purpose of making the French believe we still remained in our encampment. Two hours after, we commenced our retreat, leaving the fires burning brightly, and marched all night; the road we travelled was uncommonly narrow, and various impediments in the way often caused the rear to halt.The fatigue we had undergone the preceding two or three days, and the almost total want of sleep during that time, completely overcame us; the moment a halt was made, we dropped down on the ground fast asleep, and it was by the greatest exertion that we were able to rouse ourselves to proceed. So overpowering was its effects, that I would have been content to be taken prisoner, or even to suffer death, I dare say, had it been the alternative, had I been allowed to sleep. Indeed, some of the men could not resist its effects, and stepping aside off the road, threw themselves down, and yielded to its influence, although certain of being taken by the enemy, which they accordingly were. Next day we halted in a meadow, where, having our rations served out, we proceeded on to a village, near which our light division and cavalry had a severe skirmish with the French, whom they repulsed. The enemy then retreated to their old position, and we were quartered in a Portuguese village, on the frontiers, within a few leagues of Roderigo, where we remained until January, 1812. This was a miserable, dirty place, with a few poor wretched inhabitants in it. It was designated by the soldiers, the ‘Hungry Village;’ as, to answer some purpose which we were then unacquainted with, we had only half rations during the greater part of the time we were in it; to add to the rest, the officer in temporary command of the regiment at that time, was ignorant of his duty, which, in conjunction with a naturally cruel and vindictive disposition, bade fair to ruin the regiment in the few months he had the command of it. I shall not trace his pedigree to the low origin from whence he sprung, because, had he been a good man, it would only have enhanced his merit; nor shall I particularize the deformity of his person, which he could not help; but there will be no harm in giving a specimen of his mode of discipline while in command of the regiment, particularly as it forms a strong contrast to that of an officer whom I shall have occasion to mention in the course of this narrative.
Having neither the education nor the breeding of a gentleman, he felt jealous in the company of the officers, and lived in a retired and sullen manner. He generally passed his time in gossiping with his barber or his cook, or indeed any of the men, with an affectation of entering into all their concerns. By this and eavesdropping he became acquainted with little circumstances which another commanding officer would have disdained to listen to, and which he always made a bad use of. The full extent of his malevolent disposition was not known, however, until he got command of the regiment, when he introduced flogging for every trivial offence—in fact, the triangles were generally the accompaniment of every evening parade. In addition to this, he invented more disgraceful and torturing modes of inflicting the punishment; but all this was not enough,—he ordered that defaulters should have a patch of yellow and black cloth sewed on the sleeve of the regimental jacket, and a hole cut in it for every time they were flogged. The effects of this soon became visible: as good men were liable to be punished for the slightest fault, the barrier between them and hardened ill-doers was broken down, and as they had lost respect in their own eyes, they either became broken-hearted and inefficient soldiers, or grew reckless of every thing, and launched into crime; those who were hardened and unprincipled before, being brought by the prevalence of punishment nearer a level with better men, seemed to glory in misconduct. In fact, all ideas of honour and character were lost, and listless apathy and bad conduct were the prevailing features of the corps at this time.
That flogging is notoriously useless in reclaiming men where they are bad, must be evident to every one who knows anything of the service, and surely it is not politic to disgrace an individual, and break his heart for a casual error. There ought always to be an opening left for a man to retrieve a false step; but once bare his back at the halberts, and you shut it for ever.
In the regiment I belonged to, I had a good opportunity of marking its effects, and in every instance, I have observed that it changed the individual’s character for the worse; he either became broken-hearted and useless to the corps, or shameless and hardened. In two individual cases, its inefficiency to prevent the recurrence of the fault was particularly marked,—the first was desertion, and the second drunkenness. These men had received at various times upwards of two thousand lashes, but the first continued to absent himself, and the other to get drunk, periodically, although they were perfectly sure that flogging would be the result. There were men in the service to whom the excitement produced by ardent spirits seemed as necessary as food; in them this unnatural craving for liquor appeared to me to be a disease, calling for medical treatment more than punishment.
I have no doubt that many commanding officers resorted to corporal punishment from the conviction that it could not be done without; they had tried to dispense with it and could not—but I doubt much whether the experiment was fairly made. They found difficulties at the outset, and that it was more easy to exert their authority than their patience; the consequence was, that flogging was again resorted to, and they satisfied their conscience, by saying that it could not be dispensed with. The real method of accomplishing the desired end was neglected, namely, making themselves acquainted with the character and disposition of the men under their command: this, I believe, many would think incompatible with their dignity; but has not a commanding officer as good a right to make himself acquainted with the dispositions of his men, as the medical officer with their constitutions? If they did so, they would soon find other means than flogging, to make those under their command what they would wish them to be. I am aware that its frequency at one time had the effect of blinding the judgment of officers who possessed both feeling and discrimination; and I have occasionally witnessed a ludicrouswaste of sympathy on some inferior animal, where nothing of the kind was felt for their fellow-creature suffering under the lash. For instance, I have known an officer shed tears when his favourite horse broke its leg, and next day exult in seeing a poor wretch severely flogged for being late of delivering an order; but I am happy to say, that the severe discipline of the old school is fast falling into disrepute, and I hope the time is not far distant when it will altogether be abolished.
The lieutenant-colonel joined when Captain L—— had been some time exercising his power in this despotic manner, and being a man of a different stamp, he was not well pleased to find the men of his regiment, whom he had always been proud of, treated in this manner. His first order was to cut off all the badges which Captain L—— had ordered on the men. The frequent punishment was next done away, and the regiment was again placed on a fair footing; but the effect of their previous ill usage did not so soon disappear.
This village was situated at the foot of a high hill, which was covered with wood, and from which the wolves were in the habit of coming down at night, and prowling about the village in quest of prey. On one post beside the field where the cattle were killed, the sentries were very much annoyed by them; but I believe they did no farther injury than devouring some pigs and an ass, which had been left out all night. Towards the end of December we were once or twice marched from our village, to within a short distance of Roderigo, for the purpose of intercepting supplies which the French attempted to throw into it, and the weather being extremely cold, we suffered much on the journey. The governor of that garrison (General Renaud) while out on a reconnoitering party about this time, was taken prisoner by the Spanish Guerilla chief, Don Julian.
In the beginning of January, 1812, we were removed for the purpose of besieging Ciudade Roderigo, and we left this miserable village in the midst of a snow storm, and marched to Morti Agua. Next day we forded theAgueda, and took up our quarters in Ceridillo del Arroyo. The siege now commenced; the light division having succeeded, on the night of the 8th January, in storming one of the principal outworks (the redoubt of St Francisco), we opened the trenches the same night, within 600 yards of the town, the outwork which they had carried forming part of the first parallel. The weather was so severe, and the cold so intense, that the army could not encamp, but the divisions employed at the siege marched from their different quarters and relieved each other alternately, every four-and-twenty hours. Our division took its turn of the duty on the 11th, and the frost was so excessive that we were almost completely benumbed, and nothing but hard working, I believe, kept us from perishing with the cold; indeed, it was said that some Portuguese soldiers actually died from its effects. Still, however, the work went on rapidly, and on the night of the 13th, another outwork (the fortified convent of Santa Cruz) was stormed by the 1st division, under General Graham. On the 14th the batteries in the first parallel were formed, and commenced firing from twenty-two pieces of cannon; that same night the fourth division carried all the remaining outworks, and we were established in the second parallel, 150 yards from the town, on the 15th, on which day it fell our turn, a second time, for the duty.
The French kept up a very destructive fire on us during the whole of our operations, and while forming the second parallel they threw out some fire balls to enable them to see where we were working, that they might send their shot in that direction; one of them fell very near where a party were working, and by its light completely exposed them to the view of the enemy. A sergeant belonging to our regiment, of the name of Fraser, seeing the danger to which they were exposed, seized a spade, and jumping out of the trench, regardless of the enemy’s fire, ran forward to where it was burning, and having dug a hole, tumbled it in and covered it with earth.
On the morning of the 18th, a battery of seven guns was opened in the second parallel, while those in the first still continued their fire upon the walls. On the 19th our division again took their turn of the duty; but as the breaches were now considered practicable, the other troops destined for the attack were also assembled, it being Lord Wellington’s intention to storm it that night.
The attack was directed to be made in five different columns: the two right composed of part of our division, under the command of Major Ridge of the 5th regiment, and Colonel O’Toole of the 2d Caçadores, were to protect the attack of the third column (composed of our right brigade, commanded by General M’Kinnon), upon the principal breach; the left of this assault was to be covered by part of the light division, who were, at the same time, to ascend the breaches on the left; while General Pack’s brigade made a false attack on the south of the fort. On the right of the whole, the regiment I belonged to were to descend into the ditch, for the purpose of protecting the descent of General M’Kinnon’s brigade against any obstacles which might be thrown in the way by the enemy.
Thus arranged, some time after it was dark, we moved down from our encampment towards the town, and our regiment having formed behind the walls of an old convent, each section being provided with a pickaxe and rope, we advanced rank entire under a heavy fire from the garrison, to the brink of the trench, where, planting the one end of the pickaxe firmly in the ground, we threw the noose of the rope over the other, and then descended by it into the ditch. After descending, we moved along towards the breach. Our orders were to remain there, and protect the right brigade; but our colonel finding no obstacles in the way, pushed up the breach, leading on his regiment to the attack; the fifth regiment, which also belonged to the covering party, joined us as we ascended, and together we succeeded in establishing ourselves on the ramparts, in spite of the obstinate resistance made bythe French. The other troops advancing at the same time, we were masters of the town in half an hour from the commencement of the attack; but the gallant General M’Kinnon was killed by the springing of a mine, just as we gained the ramparts. The last time he was seen alive was when addressing a young officer who had displayed much courage,—‘Come,’ said he, ‘you are a fine lad, you and I will go together.’ The next moment the mine sprung. In the morning his body was got a short distance from the place, wounded and blackened by the explosion. He was much regretted, for he was an intelligent, brave, and enterprising officer. General Crawford, a brave and much beloved officer, who commanded the light division, was also mortally wounded in the assault.
The French had behaved well during the siege, and made a tolerable resistance at the breaches the night of the storm; but they appeared either to be panic struck, not expecting us to storm the town so soon, or the individual who commanded wanted ability, for the dispositions made for the defence were a mere nothing, in comparison to those at Badajos, when that town was taken some time after. In mounting the breach, we found great difficulty in ascending, from the loose earth slipping from under our feet at every step, and throwing us down; the enemy at the same time pouring their shot amongst us from above. After having gained possession of the ramparts, the enemy retreated into a square in the centre of the town, where they were pursued, and gave up their arms.
Among the prisoners taken, were eighteen deserters from our army, who were subsequently tried and shot. The town was partially plundered by those who had straggled from their regiments, but the different columns remained formed on the ramparts until daylight, when a party from each regiment were sent to bury the dead, and collect the wounded, and I was one of the number. The first we found was Captain W., a brave and good officer. He fell mortally wounded near the head of the breach, while cheering on his men to the assault.
Among the wounded lay Lieutenant T., whom we used to call Robinson Crusoe, from his wearing very large whiskers, and always carrying a goat skin haversack, in which he kept the greater part of his necessaries, including his pipe and tobacco, of which he was very fond. The other officers rather shunned his company, from his not being very exact in his dress, and eccentric in his habits; but he was well liked by the soldiers, being an excellent officer, and brave as a lion.
In this respect he was worth a hundred dandies. A few moments before he received the wound, he dragged a minikin officer from a hiding-place, and brandishing his sword over him, threatened to cut him down if he did not advance. But the poor fellow did not go many paces farther himself, when he was brought down by a grape shot; yet still he continued to cheer on, and encourage the men who were ascending.
On the ascent of the breach, lay many dead, and among the rest my ill-fated friend Sandy, whom I have had already occasion to mention, as parting from his wife at Jersey. When I saw him stretched lifeless on the breach, that scene flashed full upon my memory, and I could not but remark how true his wife’s forebodings had turned out.
By taking the town, we became masters of one hundred and fifty-three piece of cannon, including the heavy train of the French army, and a great number of stores. The Governor (General Banier,) seventy-eight officers, and one thousand seven hundred men, were taken prisoners.
Our division was marched out of the town in the morning, and returned to the village where we were quartered. On the way home we lost one of our men, and we never heard of him after. It was suspected that he either perished among the snow, which lay thick on the ground, or that he was murdered by some of the peasantry.