CHAPTER XVI.
Wehad not been long in Coria, when a considerable number of our men found a residence in hospital, and not a few of our oldest and most experienced officers a premature grave. Amongst the latter, were Lieutenant-General Sir William Erskine, commanding the cavalry of Sir Rowland Hill's corps; Colonel Wilson, 39th regiment, and Colonel Stewart, 50th regiment; the former commanding the second, and the latter the first brigade of the second division.
The French being also without tents, were equally tired of the campaign, and in want of repose. Their clothing being much like our own, they, on retiring into quarters, looked around for something to shelter their bodies from the inclemencies of a Spanish winter. At Bejer, a town fifteen leagues from Salamanca, and about an equal distance from Coria, there was at that time a large quantity of woollen cloth in possession of a manufacturer, who had calculated on a very different issueto the campaign. This the French fixed their eyes upon, and to seize upon it, an expedition under General Foy, was prepared at Salamanca. On receiving notice of the enemy's intentions, Sir Rowland Hill ordered the 71st regiment and 6th caçadores to advance from Monte-Hermosa, and an adjoining village, to the aid of the inhabitants of Bejer, and the 50th and 92nd were pushed forward from Coria to Monte-Hermosa. These movements convincing the enemy that the rich prize would not be tamely given up, they thought it prudent to retire, and try whether a little undisturbed repose might not lull us into a criminal security.
Monte-Hermosa was exclusively occupied by farmers and their dependants. The streets being extremely filthy, and in the most wretched repair, we found it most unpleasant to be out after sun-set. Altogether it was an uncomfortable quarter; the weather being wet and extremely cold, the windows without glass, and the apartments without fire, I declare I never knew what it was to be warm, save when in bed, or sometimes after dinner.
In the second week of February, General Foy made another dash at Bejer, but Sir Rowland Hill having received timely notice of his intentions, ordered the 71st and 6th caçadores to move from Banos to Bejer, the 50th to Banos, and 92nd to follow as a reserve. When the 71st and caçadores occupied Bejer on the 12th of February,Foy was only a few miles from it; but on hearing of their arrival, he again retired. To secure the place against any future attack, the 50th and 6th caçadores were thrown into Bejer as a permanent garrison, the 71st occupied the villages of Puerto-de-Banos, and Candeleiria, and the 92nd regiment the town of Banos a few miles in rear. The 60th rifle company were quartered in Herbas.
A few days after this attempt had been so timeously frustrated, the hills of Bejer and Banos again rung with the dreadful note of preparation. Thinking to carry it by surprise, Foy advanced again at the head of 3000 picked troops, and with so much secrecy, that he was within a short distance of the piquets, before Lieutenant-Colonel Harrison of the 50th regiment, then commanding the garrison, received notice of his approach. So unexpected indeed was the attack, that one of the out-lying piquets was nearly surrounded before the officer in charge of it knew that the enemy was nearer to them than Salamanca.
In a few minutes after driving in the piquets, Foy was before the gates of Bejer anticipating an easy victory. But unfortunately for Foy and his followers, the several entrances were guarded by detachments of the old 50th, over whose lifeless trunks it behoved them to march before they could accomplish their object. The attack was made with all the characteristic bravery of Frenchmen, and was repulsed with that unflinching courage sopeculiar to that excellent corps. Foy's great numerical superiority gave him decided advantages, but this had an effect on the spirits of the troops, directly the reverse of that which might have been anticipated, for as the danger increased, so did the courage of the troops, till Foy, perceiving that his reiterated attempts to penetrate into the town, were not to be attended with any other result than a defeat, withdrew before his adversaries could turn it into a disgraceful one. Part of the garrison followed the fugitives, and inflicted on them a severe punishment for their effrontery in attempting to intrude themselves into Bejer society without permission. Foy's loss amounted to upwards of a hundred killed and wounded, and amongst the latter, was an aid-de-camp on the Staff of the General.
On receipt of the first notice of Foy's approach, Colonel Cameron, 92nd regiment, then in command of the first brigade, ordered four companies of the 71st regiment to move from Puerto-de-Banos to Bejer, and the 92nd to advance to a position in front of the pass of Banos, in order to be in readiness to move to wherever their services might be required. The former exerted themselves to be up in time, but were too late to take part in the action. They, however, had the pleasing satisfaction of witnessing the flight of their foes, and the victorious march of their friends from Bejer's blood-stained gates.
Banos stands in a narrow valley surrounded with rugged mountains, some of which rise in precipitous masses from the banks of two little rivulets, one of which winds past the town on the west, and the other, after dividing the village into nearly two equal parts, joins the first at the lower extremity of the town, and then meanders through the valley, till its waters are lost in a more notable stream. The northern division is situated in the Province of Leon; the southern in Estremadura. The inhabitants of this town have ever been distinguished for their industry, and loyalty to their sovereign, for which they have sometimes paid rather dearly. One day, soon after we entered Banos, one of our officers rather unguardedly inquired at his landlady, if the inhabitants of Banos werehearty in the good cause. On the question being put, the lady with an air of great importance, arose, walked to a window which overlooked the ruins of some houses which had been burned down by the French, and then pointing to them, said, "Sir, to these I refer you for an answer."
The French on one occasion carried off the wife of one of the most respectable inhabitants in Banos, on the pretence that her husband was a patriot, and did not restore her until the latter paid them several hundred dollars. On the cash being paid, the lady returned to her home in a state of mind bordering on insanity; and at the time we took leave of Banos, she still furnished a livingand melancholy monument of the miseries which the ambition of one man had drawn down upon the inhabitants of the Peninsula.
The life of a private soldier, when on service similar to that in which the British troops were engaged in the Peninsula, is but too often one of such vicissitude, hardship, and privation, that to see the poor fellows occasionally placed in situations where they can enjoy something approaching to the comforts of a domestic hearth, far from the din of war, must, I conceive, yield to others, as it never failed to do to me, a degree of pleasure far beyond the power of language to express. In one of those situations, our merry blades rather unexpectedly found themselves on entering Banos, where in every house the nut-brown knee, and weather-beaten countenance, met with nothing but smiles, and the most marked attention. And what is still more astonishing, the longer we remained amongst them, the more friendly did the town's-people become, till at length the soldiers and the inhabitants of each house messed together as one family,—the former furnishing beef, bread, &c. and the latter pease, beans, pork, oil, garlic, and other vegetables. To show how much attached the inhabitants were to the men, I may mention the following fact:—When Sir Rowland Hill passed through the town, a day or two after the Highlanders had left Banos, a deputation, composed of the principal inhabitants, waited on him, to return him thanks for the protection he hadafforded them against the enemy. Before the deputation departed, the General inquired if they had any complaints to prefer against the regiment that had just left them; to which the head of the deputation instantly replied,—"Sir Rowland Hill, had you been here when the Highlanders marched out of our village, our tears would have answered your question."
Now, to what can we attribute the friendly reception which the 92nd met with at Banos, and the subsequent kindness which they experienced in that rural town, but to that kindred spirit which seems to possess the breast of every mountaineer throughout the world? In all ages, and in every clime, the mountaineer has invariably been found to possess in an eminent degree that heroic courage which nothing could shake,—no dangers appal. To enumerate those countries so distinguished in historical record for having given birth to a hardy and intrepid soldiery, appears superfluous; for where is the man who has not personally perused, or heard read over the details of those battles, the issues of which have furnished the world with decisive proof, that in every country famed for its rocks, its hills, and its torrents, spirits, daring and adventurous as the heroes of romance, have ever been as numerous as its male population? Scotland, for example, the land of the mountain and flood, whose snow-cap't hills formed an impervious barrier to the victorious legions of the Queen ofthe world, has, from the first invasion of her soil by a foreign foe, continued to send forth a race of warriors unrivalled for deeds of arms on the field of strife. But why should I particularize, for in every quarter the mountaineer has ever been distinguished for his rusticity, hospitality, and bravery. In Asia, almost the only opposition offered to Alexander's career of conquest, was from the natives inhabiting the mountainous regions of that extensive continent. In Spain,—in Switzerland,—and in the Tyrol, feats of arms have been performed not less worthy the attention of the historian, than those of Leonidas and his followers at Thermopylæ. And I conceive this no small encomium; for while the sun shall continue to perform his diurnal journey, so long will the battle of Thermopylæ be handed down from one generation to another, as one of the most splendid sacrifices ever offered up at the altar of liberty. Till the end of time the name of Leonidas will be pronounced with veneration by the sons of liberty in whatever generation they may live, or in whatever clime their lot may be cast. The conduct of the Spartan king and his three hundred incomparable warriors, at the straits of Thermopylæ, has furnished the world with the most incontestible proofs we could desire, that a handful of men, born and reared in the lap of liberty, will never listen to proposals which tend to abridge their freedom, even when backed, as on that occasion, with millions of armed slaves. Forslaves, who know nothing but a blind obedience to the will and capricious humours of their tyrannical masters, fight not for glory,—for honour,—or liberty. No; these words have no place in the slave's vocabulary. Freemen alone know the true meaning of them, and knowing it, look upon every thing else as nothing in the balance. In the hour of danger, freemen despise every thing but what redounds to their country's good; and when duty imposes upon them the dreadful alternative, lay down their lives with as much pleasure as the poor slave feels reluctance in parting with his.
In the latter end of April, a military execution of a most afflicting description, took place in a field about half-a-mile from Banos. The crime for which the unfortunate young man was condemned to die, was desertion to the enemy, and attempting to stab the non-commissioned officer who apprehended him. A little before the hour of execution, the regiment was drawn up so as to form three sides of a square, the other side, as is usual on similar occasions, was left open as the place of execution. Our chaplain being absent, the schoolmaster sergeant accompanied the poor lad to the fatal spot, and all the way from the village read portions of Scripture. On their arrival at the point assigned them, the criminal joined very audibly in singing a few verses of a psalm, and then, after spending a few minutes in prayer, the fatal cap was drawn over his eyes, and the provost-marshalwith his party advanced from the rear of the column to carry the sentence into effect. At this awfully affecting part of the scene, the whole regiment, officers and men, knelt down, and on behalf of him who then stood on the verge of a never-ending eternity, offered up humble supplications to the throne of mercy. In a few moments thereafter the party fired, and in an instant the world closed upon the culprit for ever.
Previous to entering upon a new campaign, it was deemed advisable to give all those men who had enlisted in 1806, an opportunity of renewing their engagements, either for a limited or unlimited period. Men not above thirty-five years of age were allowed to enlist for life, and received sixteen guineas. Those above thirty-five for seven years only, and received eleven guineas of bounty. As the great proportion of them had imbibed the notion that they would not survive even the shortest period of service, those who could claim the indulgence very generally accepted the highest bounty, in order to indulge in a few Bacchanalian campaigns, before the Gallic cock should have an opportunity of crowing over their graves.
John Bull has frequently been accused of possessing a prodigious appetite for blood, aye, for human blood, and that give him plenty of it he will part with a little cash, in the shape of taxes, as pleasantly as any man in the world. I shall not say that he is guilty of the crime laid to his charge;but I do assert that he must have viewed our inactivity in 1813, as something bordering on picking his pocket; for loud and sore grumbled John. So much so, indeed, that many thought he would put a Gordian knot on his purse-strings, if our Generalissimo did not immediately transmit him an assurance that his troops should be instantly put in motion, and neither permitted to eat, drink, or sleep, until they had placed their mouths close to those of the enemy's cannon, to the imminent hazard of their heads, but to the great delight and amusement of John.
The cause of our inactivity may be summed up in a few words. At the close of the campaign of 1812, our cavalry and artillery were very inefficient, from the great loss of horses in action and from fatigue. Many battalions of infantry were miserably clothed,—their accoutrements considerably damaged,—and their camp equipment was in a most wretched state. From various causes their numbers had been also considerably reduced; besides the deaths, many went into hospital in November, who were not fit for service until the beginning of May. Our military chest required to be re-lined, our stores of provisions and ammunition replenished, and our camp equipment renewed. Under these circumstances, what could Lord Wellington do but exercise his patience, till men, horses, money, and military stores could be transported to him from England? Such were the causes of our inactivity.These, however, being all removed in the second week of May, the Marquis of Wellington prepared to take the field, at the head of as fine a little army as could be desired.