CHAPTER XI.
I hadbeen out with my gun during the whole of the 8th of December, and returned at a late hour in the evening, not a little weary with wandering, when the first intelligence communicated to me was that the corps had received orders to be under arms at an early hour next morning, when the whole of the army would advance. In a former chapter I have hinted that a continued tract of rainy weather drove Lord Wellington, earlier than he had intended, and against his inclination, into winter quarters. The consequence was, that the position of the army was not in every respect to his mind. The right, in particular, was too far thrown back; and the course of the Nivelle interfered in a very inconvenient degree with the communications between it and the left. We were accordingly given to understand that the object of our present movement was merely to facilitate the crossing of that river by Sir Rowland Hill's corps; and that as soonas this object was attained, we should be permitted to return in peace to our comfortable quarters.
In consequence of this information, Grey and myself made fewer preparations than we had been in the habit of doing on other and similar occasions. Instead of packing up our baggage, and ordering out our sumpter-pony and faithful Portuguese, we left everything in our apartment in its ordinary condition. Strict charges were indeed given to the servants that a cheerful fire and a substantial meal should be prepared against our return in the evening; but we put up neither food nor clothes for immediate use, in full expectation that such things would not be required.
The night of the 8th passed quietly over, and I arose about two hours before dawn on the 9th, perfectly fresh, and, like those around me, in high spirits. We had been so long idle, that the near prospect of a little fighting, instead of creating gloomy sensations, was viewed with sincere delight; and we took our places, and began our march towards the highroad, in silence, it is true, but with extreme goodwill. There we remained stationary till the day broke; when the word being given to advance, we pushed forward in the direction of Bayonne.
The brigade to which I belonged took post at the head of the first division, and immediately inrear of the fifth. The situation afforded to me on several occasions, as the inequalities of the road placed me from time to time on the summit of an eminence, very favourable opportunities of beholding the whole of the warlike mass which was moving; nor is it easy to imagine a more imposing or more elevating spectacle. The entire left wing of the army advanced in a single continuous column along the main road, and covered, at the most moderate computation, a space of four miles. As far, indeed, as the eye could reach, nothing was to be seen except swarms of infantry, clothed not only in scarlet, but in green, blue, and brown uniforms. Here and there a brigade of guns occupied a vacant space between the last files of one division and the first of another, and in rear of all came the cavalry. Of their appearance I was unable accurately to judge, they were so distant.
We had proceeded about five miles, and it was past eight o'clock, when, our advanced-guard falling in with the French pickets, a smart skirmish began. It was really a beautiful sight. The enemy made, it is true, no very determined stand; but they did not give up a rood of ground without exchanging a few shots with their assailants, who pressed forward, vigorously indeed, but with all the caution and circumspection which mark the advance of a skilful skirmisher. The column, in the meanwhile, movedslowly but steadily on; nor was it once called upon, during the whole of the day, to deploy into line.
When the light troops of an army are engaged as ours were this morning, the heavy infantry marches at a slow rate; and short halts or checks are constantly occurring. These befel to-day with unusual frequency. The fact, I believe, was, that Lord Wellington had no desire to bring his left into determined action at all. His object was fully attained as long as he kept the right of the enemy in a state of anxiety and irresolution; but the ground which we gained was in no degree important to the furtherance of the sole design which we had in view. Of course the tardiness of our motions gave a better opportunity of watching the progress of those connected with us; nor have I ever beheld a field-day at home more regularly gone through than this trifling affair of the 9th December.
It was getting somewhat late—perhaps it might be three or four o'clock in the afternoon—when our column, having overcome all opposition, halted on some rising ground about three miles from the walls of Bayonne. From this point we obtained a perfect view of the outworks of that town, as well as of the formidable line of fortifications which Soult had thrown up along the course of the Adour; but of the city itself we saw little, on account of several groves of elm and other trees which intervened.It will readily be imagined that we turned our glasses towards the intrenched camp with feelings very different from those which actuate an ordinary observer of the face of a strange country. That the French marshal had been at work upon these lines not only from the moment of his last defeat, but from the very first day of his assuming the command of the army of Spain, we were aware; and hence we were by no means surprised at beholding such an obstacle presented to our further progress in France. But I cannot say that the sight cast even a damp upon our usual confidence. We knew that whatever could be done to render these mighty preparations useless our gallant general would effect; and perhaps we were each of us vain enough to believe that nothing could resist our own individual valour. Be that as it may, though we freely acknowledged that many a brave fellow must find a grave ere these works could come into our possession, we would have advanced to the attack at the instant, not only without reluctance, but with the most perfect assurance of success.
The sound of firing had gradually subsided—the enemy having withdrawn within their intrenchments, and our skirmishers being called in to join their respective corps. The left column, dividing itself according to its brigades, had taken post along a ridge of high ground, and our men, piling theirarms, set about lighting fires in all directions, when I wandered from the corps, as my invariable custom was, in search of adventures. I had strolled forward for the purpose of obtaining, if possible, a more perfect view of the enemy's lines, and was stepping across a ditch on my return, when a low groan, as if from some person in acute pain, attracted my notice. I looked down into the ditch, which was, perhaps, four feet deep, and beheld three human beings lying at the bottom of it. They were all perfectly naked, and two of them were motionless. On farther examination, I found that they were three French soldiers, of whom one only was alive; and he lay bleeding from a severe wound in the face, a musket-ball having broken both cheek-bones. He was, however, sensible; so I ran for help, and he was carried by some of our people to a neighbouring house. Here the poor fellow, whom his own countrymen had stripped and deserted, was well taken care of; but he had suffered so much from exposure to cold that all attempts to preserve life were vain, and he died in about a quarter of an hour after his wound was dressed.
In the meanwhile Lord Wellington, putting himself at the head of a small body of cavalry, and attended by a few companies of light infantry, proceeded to the front in order to reconnoitre theenemy's works. This he was permitted to do without any further molestation than arose from the occasional discharge of a field-gun, as he and his party presented a favourable mark to the gunners. But neither he nor his followers received the slightest injury from these discharges; and by six in the evening he had effected every object which he desired to accomplish. Orders were accordingly issued for the troops to fall back to their former quarters; and the main road was again crowded with armed men marching to the rear, in a fashion not perhaps quite so orderly as that which distinguished their advance.
A heavy rain had begun about an hour previous to this movement, accompanied by a cold wind which blew directly in our faces; darkness, too, set rapidly in; the road soon became deep and muddy, from the trampling of a multitude of men and horses; and something like an inclination to grumble began to arise in our bosoms. Perhaps I need not tell the reader that between the infantry and cavalry in the British army a considerable degree of jealousy exists—the former description of force regarding the latter as more ornamental than useful, the latter regarding the former as extremely ungenteel. I was myself an officer of infantry; and I perfectly recollect the feelings which were excited at a particular period of the march when thecorps, weary, wet, and hungry, was rudely ordered by a squadron or two of light troopers to "get out of the way, and allow them to pass." Recollect, good reader, that the rain was falling as if it had come from buckets; that each infantry soldier carries a load of perhaps fifty pounds weight about his person; that our brave fellows had walked under this load upwards of fourteen miles, and were still six long miles from a place of rest,—and you will not wonder that the troopers were saluted with "curses not loud but deep," as they somewhat wantonly jostled their less fortunate comrades into the deepest and dirtiest sides of the way. I must confess that I shared in the indignation of my men; though, of course, I exerted myself as much as possible to prevent its being more openly displayed.
Never has any saloon, when brilliantly lighted up and filled with the splendour and elegance of a fashionable assembly, appeared half so attractive to my eyes as did our own humble apartment this evening, with its carpetless floor, its logs of wood arranged instead of chairs, and a few deals, or rather a piece of scaffolding, placed in the centre as a substitute for a table. A large fire was blazing on the rudely-constructed hearth, which shed a bright glare over the white walls; and our unpolished table being covered with a clean cloth, over which were arranged plates, knives, forks, anddrinking-cups, gave promise of a substantial meal, and of an evening of real enjoyment. Nor were our hopes blighted. We had just time to strip off our wet and muddy garments, and to substitute others in their room, when a huge piece of roast-beef smoked upon the board, and summoned us to an occupation more agreeable than any which could have been at that moment proposed to us. Moreover, our faithful valets had taken care to provide an ample supply of wine, a bottle or two of champagne, with claret of no mean quality, which, with a little French beer, brisk and weak, and well-flavoured, served exceedingly well to wash down the more solid portions of our repast. To complete the thing, a few of our most intimate companions dropping in soon after the fragments had been cleared away, our cigars were lighted, and the atmosphere of the apartment became speedily impregnated with the delicious fumes of tobacco—in sending forth clouds of which, no other interruption took place than was produced by an occasional uplifting of the wine-cup to the lips, and an expression, or short ejaculation, indicative of the perfect satisfaction of him who uttered it. I have seen many merry and many happy days and nights, both before and since, but an evening of more quiet luxury than this I certainly do not recollect at any period to have spent.
At length the fatigues of the day began to tell upon us in a degree somewhat too powerful for enjoyment. We had been under arms from four in the morning till nine at night, during the whole of which time no opportunity of eating had been supplied to us; nor had we been permitted to unbend either our minds or bodies in any effectual degree. Like other animals who have fasted long, we had all gorged ourselves as soon as the means of so doing were furnished; and hence the sensation of absolute rest degenerated gradually into languor, and sleep laid his leaden fingers on our eyelids. I do not believe that half-a-dozen sentences of ordinary length had been uttered amongst us when, about eleven o'clock, our last cup of wine was drained off; and our guests departing each to his own billet, we betook ourselves to our pallets. I need not add that our slumber was thoroughly unbroken.