‘And turned aside the fatal blow,And lifted up my sinking head’?
‘And turned aside the fatal blow,And lifted up my sinking head’?
‘And turned aside the fatal blow,And lifted up my sinking head’?
‘And turned aside the fatal blow,
And lifted up my sinking head’?
On the evening of the 24th of July, which was stormy,a most dangerous crisis arrived, and it proved to be a memorable period. Our whole force under arms consisted of four thousand infantry, eleven hundred cavalry, and six guns; and the position occupied was about one mile and a half in length, extending in an oblique line towards the Coa. The cavalry piquets were upon the plain in front, the right on some broken ground, and the left resting on an unfinished tower eight hundred yards from Almeida; the rear was on the edge of the ravine forming the channel of the Coa, and the bridge was more than a mile distant in the bottom of the chasm. The lightning towards midnight became unusually vivid. Having been under arms for several hours, we were drenched with rain. As the day dawned a few pistol-shots in front, followed by an order for the cavalry reserve and the guns to advance, gave notice of the enemy’s approach; and as the morning cleared, twenty-four thousand French infantry, five thousand cavalry, and thirty pieces of artillery were observed marching from Turones. Our line was immediately contracted, and brought under the edge of the ravine. In an instant four thousand hostile cavalry swept the plain, and our regiment was unaccountably placed within an enclosure of solid masonry at least ten feet high, situate on the left of the road, with but one narrow outlet about half musket-shot down the ravine.
While thus shut up the firing in front redoubled, the cavalry, the artillery, and the cacadores successively passed by in retreat, and the sharp clang of the 95th Rifles was heard along the edge of the plain above. A few moments later and we should have been surrounded; but here, as in every other part of the field, the quickness and knowledge of the battalion officer remedied the faults of the general. In little more than a minute, by united effort, we contrived to loosen some large stones, when, by a powerful exertion, we burst the enclosure, and the regiment, reformed incolumn of companies, was the next instant up with the riflemen. There was no room to array the line, no time for anything but battle; every captain carried off his company as an independent body, the whole presenting a mass of skirmishers, acting in small parties and under no regular command, yet each confident in the courage and discipline of those on his right and left, and all regulating their movements by a common discretion. Having the advantage of ground and number, the enemy broke over the edge of the ravine; their guns, ranged along the summit, played hotly with grape; and their hussars, galloping over the glacis of Almeida, poured down the road, sabreing everything in their way. The British regiments, however, extricated themselves from their perilous situation. Falling back slowly, and yet stopping and fighting whenever opportunity offered, they made their way through a rugged country, tangled with vineyards, in despite of the enemy, who was so fierce and eager, that even the horsemen rode in among the enclosures striking at us, as we mounted the walls or scrambled over the rocks. Just then, I found myself within pistol-shot of the enemy, while my passage was checked by a deep chasm or ravine. As not a moment was to be lost, I contrived to mount to the edge, and, having gained the opposite side, put myself in a crouching position, and managed to slide down the steep and slippery descent without injury.
On approaching the river, a more open space presented itself; but the left wing being harder pressed, and having the shortest distance, the bridge was so crowded as to be impassable. Here therefore we made a stand. The post was maintained until the enemy, gathering in great numbers, made a second burst, when the companies fell back. At this moment the right wing of the 52nd was seen marching towards the bridge, which was still crowded with the passing troops, when M’Leod, a very young man, immediately turned his horse round, called to the troops to follow, and, takingoff his cap, rode with a shout towards the enemy. The suddenness of the thing, and the distinguished action of the man, produced the effect he designed. We all rushed after him, cheering and charging as if a whole army were behind to sustain us; the enemy’s skirmishers, amazed at this unexpected movement, were directly checked. The conflict was tremendous. Thrice we repulsed the enemy at the point of the bayonet. M’Leod was in the hottest of the battle, and a ball passed through the collar of his coat; still he was to be seen with a pistol in his right hand, among the last to retire. At length the bugle sounded for retreat. Just then, my left-hand man, one of the stoutest in the regiment, was hit by a musket-shot; he threw his head back, and was instantly dead. I fired at the fellow who shot my comrade; and before I could re-load, my pay-sergeant, Thomas, received a ball in the thigh, and earnestly implored me to carry him away. As the enemy was not far off, such a load was by no means desirable; but he was my friend. I therefore took him up; and though several shots were directed to us, they all missed, and I was able, though encumbered with such weight, to carry him safely over the bridge. At length the assistance of another soldier was procured. We then carried the wounded man between us, and placed him on a car, when he returned me sincere thanks.
As the regiments passed the bridge, they planted themselves in loose order on the side of the mountain; the artillery drew up on the summit, and the cavalry were disposed in parties on the roads to the right, because two miles higher up the stream there were fords, and beyond them the bridge of Castello Bom. The French skirmishers, swarming on the right bank, opened a biting fire, which was returned as bitterly; the artillery on both sides played across the ravine, the sounds were repeated by numberless echoes, and the smoke, rising slowly, resolved itself into an immense arch,sparkling with the whirling phases of the flying shells. The enemy despatched a dragoon to try the depth of the stream above; but two shots from the 52nd killed man and horse, and the carcases floating down the river discovered that it was impassable. The monotonous tones of a French drum were then heard, and in another second the head of a column was at the long, narrow bridge. A drummer and an officer in splendid uniform leaped forward together, and the whole rushed on with loud cries. The depth of the ravine at first deceived the soldiers’ aim on our side, and two-thirds of the passage were won before an English shot had brought down an enemy. A few paces onward the line of death was traced, and the whole of the leading French section fell as one man. Still the gallant column pressed forward, but no foot could pass that terrible line. The killed and wounded rolled together, until the heap rose nearly to a level with the parapet. Our shouts now rose loudly, but they were confidently answered; and in half an hour a second column, more numerous than the first, again crowded the bridge. This time the range was better judged, and ere half the distance was passed, the multitude was again torn, shattered, dispersed, and slain. Ten or twelve men only succeeded in crossing, and took shelter under the rocks at the brink of the river. The skirmishing was renewed, and a French surgeon, coming down to the very foot of the bridge, waved his handkerchief, and commenced dressing the wounded under the hottest fire. The appeal was heard; every musket turned from him, although his still undaunted countrymen were preparing for a third attempt. This last effort was comparatively feeble, and soon failed. The combat was nevertheless continued by the French, as a point of honour to cover the escape of those who had passed the bridge, and by the English from ignorance of their object. One of the enemy’s guns was dismantled, a powder magazine blew up, and many continued to fall on both sides till four o’clock,when a heavy rain caused a momentary cessation of fire. The men among the rocks returned unmolested to their own party, the fight ceased, and we retired behind the Pinkel river. On our side upwards of three hundred were killed or wounded. The French lost more than a thousand men.
During the march that ensued, which of necessity was rapid, my mind was deeply impressed with the occurrences of the preceding eventful day. Many of my valued friends were missing, and their remains lay unburied on the spot where they fell. Colonel Hull, who had joined the regiment only the day before the action, was killed; and I afterwards saw his body, with the face downwards, thrown across the back of a mule, for conveyance to some place of interment. The colonel’s nephew was also badly wounded in the mouth, and obliged to return to England. Despondency is not, however, the fitting mood for a soldier. Tears for the dead were soon brushed away, and, to secure our own preservation, thought was soon diverted from musing on the past to the active operations before us. Unremitted exertions were made by the commissariat to provide us with necessaries. Grapes were plentiful; vegetables also were within reach. Bread in sufficient quantities, with a pipe of wine in front for regimental use, afforded an agreeable prospect; and the evening after the arrival of this welcome reinforcement was spent in a good-humoured review of dangers gone by.