CHAPTER XII.
I arosenext morning refreshed and vigorous, and prepared to follow my ordinary occupation of shooting. It was a clear frosty day, the sun was shining brightly overhead, and a thousand little birds were rejoicing in the warmth of his beams. My dogs were in high condition; my gun was clean and in good order; and myself big with the determination not to fire in too great a hurry, but to be sure of my aim before I pulled the trigger. Thus attended, and thus animated, I set forth after breakfast; and having previously ascertained the favourite haunt of a hare which had more than once escaped me, I turned my steps towards it. My faithful spaniel had just begun to give tongue, and my fowling-piece was already in a position to be lifted at once to my shoulder, when the report of a single cannon, coming from the front, attracted my attention. I stopped short, but had not time to call in my dog when another and another discharge took place, mixed with an occasional rattle of musketry. This waswarning enough. Though the hare started from her seat, I permitted her to depart in peace; and whistling loudly for my four-footed companions, I ran back towards my quarters. As I proceeded, the firing became every moment more and more heavy, till at length it had increased into an uninterrupted roar.
On reaching the houses, I found that the alarm was already given. The bugles were sounding to recall such as might be abroad, and the men were accoutring with all haste. For ourselves, Grey and I took care on the present occasion to make better provision against detention than we had done the day before; but our baggage we were obliged to leave, that it might be packed and made ready for removal by our batmen. Aide-de-camp after aide-de-camp passed, in the meanwhile, to and fro—one galloping from the front to urge an immediate advance, another galloping from the rear to ascertain how matters were going; whilst the various battalions, as each was equipped and ready, hurried down to the main road to join its particular brigade.
A quarter of an hour had scarcely elapsed from the moment that the alarm was first given when we found ourselves marching once more in the same direction, and nearly in the same order, as yesterday. Our march had in it, however, even more of deepexcitement than that of the preceding day. We had not proceeded above a mile when indications of what was going on in front began to present themselves, in the form of baggage-mules and horses pouring in all haste and confusion to the rear. A wounded man or two likewise from time to time dragged himself in the same direction, and gave, as the wounded invariably do, the most alarming account of the state of affairs. "Push on, push on, for God's sake!" said one poor fellow who had been shot in the head, and was lying, rather than sitting, across a horse; "push on, or it will be all over. Forty thousand of the enemy are coming on, and there not two thousand men up to oppose them." Of course we quickened our pace with infinite goodwill.
A group of perhaps twenty wounded privates and officers had passed, when the next body which met us was a detachment of ten sound men and a sergeant, who were conducting to the rear about a hundred French prisoners. These were saluted with a cheer; but even these urged us forward, with the intelligence that the fifth division must soon be overpowered. And now the scene of action began to open upon us. We had passed through Bidart, and were descending the little eminence on which it stands, when the combatants became distinguishable; and a very magnificent as well as gratifyingspectacle they presented. The merest handful of British troops were opposing themselves, in the most determined manner, to a mass of men so dense and so extended as to cover the whole of the main road as far as the eye could reach. Our people were, it is true, giving way. They had already maintained an unequal contest for upwards of two hours; and their numbers, originally small, were fast diminishing. But no sooner had the head of our column shown itself than their confidence returned, and they renewed the struggle with increased alacrity.
The same circumstance which gave fresh courage to our comrades, acted, as may be supposed, in a contrary manner upon the enemy. Not that they fell into confusion, or exhibited any symptoms of dismay; but it was evident, from their mode of proceeding, that their general had lost his confidence of immediate success, and that he deemed it necessary to trust less to the weight of his single column, and to add manœuvring and skill to brute violence. His attack was accordingly suspended, while a battery of ten or twelve guns being brought to the front, opened, not upon the division with which he had been hitherto engaged, but upon us. And I must confess that the guns were well served. The gunners laying them for a particular bend in the road caused us to suffer some loss long before we arrived within range of musketry.
As soon as we had passed this perilous spot, we abandoned the main road, and turning into an open green field on the right, wheeled into line. In front of us was a thick wood, for the possession of which our people and the French were warmly struggling. On our side, it was garrisoned by a battalion of Portuguese and a couple of British regiments, and it was assaulted by a perfect swarm of French tirailleurs; but neither did the latter succeed in driving their opponents through it, nor could the former deliver themselves from the annoyance of continual assaults. It was peculiarly the business of the battalion to which I belonged to give support to the defenders of that wood. For this purpose company after company was sent forward, as a fresh supply of men became necessary; whilst two other battalions, continuing steadily in line, prepared to use the bayonet with effect, in case our efforts to maintain our ground should prove unavailing.
Even the unwarlike reader will probably understand me when I say that the feelings of a man hurried into battle as we were to-day are totally different from those of the same man who goes gradually, and as it were preparedly, into danger. We had dreamed of nothing less than a general action this morning, and we found ourselves bearing the brunt of it before we could very well make up our minds as to the proximity of an enemy.Everything was accordingly done, every word spoken and every movement made, under the influence of that species of excitement which shuts out all ideas except those which spring from the circumstances immediately about you—I mean an apprehension lest your own men shall give way, and an inexpressible eagerness to close with your adversary. Nor were sundry opportunities wanting of gratifying the last of these desires. We fought, at least where I was stationed, in a thick wood; and more than once it occurred that we fought hand to hand.
Affairs had continued in this state till about three in the afternoon, when the enemy, as if weary with their fruitless efforts, began to slacken in their exertions, and gradually to fall back. Not very far from the spot where I was posted stood a chateau, the property of the Mayor of Biaritz, for the occupation of which the French had made during the morning several desperate but unavailing efforts. Towards it, as soon as the firing began to wax faint, Sir John Hope, attended by three or four aides-de-camp and a few orderly dragoons, made his way. He had already mounted to an upper room, for the purpose of observing from thence the enemy's proceedings; his staff and orderlies were lounging about the courtyard, and the few skirmishers which lined the hedge in front were lying down to rest, when a mass of French infantry, which had formed in ahollow road a little to the left, dashed forward. The movement was so rapid, and the force employed so great, that all opposition on the part of the few British troops then up was overcome; the house was surrounded. Instantly a cry was raised—"Save the General! save the General!" and a rush was made from all quarters towards the chateau; but our assistance was unnecessary. Sir John, seeing what had happened, threw himself upon his horse, and, at the head of his mounted attendants, charged from the doorway of the courtyard. He received, indeed, no fewer than three musket-balls through his hat, and his horse was so severely wounded that its strength served only to carry him to a place of safety; but the charge was decisive. Many of the French were sabred, and the little party escaped; and now the fight was renewed on all sides with desperate resolution. Again and again the enemy pressed forward to empty the wood of its defenders and to secure the highroad, but all their efforts failed; and when the approach of darkness compelled the combatants to separate, the two armies occupied almost the same ground which belonged to them respectively when the fighting began.
It were vain for me to attempt any description of the scene which now took place. So vigorous had been the last attack, and so determined our resistance, that when daylight disappeared the Frenchand Allied troops found themselves completely mixed together. Instead of the roar of musketry, my ears were accordingly saluted by shouts and exclamations delivered in almost every European tongue. French, English, German, Dutch, Spaniards, Portuguese—the natives, in short, of almost every kingdom—were here; and as each called out in his own language as loud as he could bawl, for the purpose of discovering his comrades, and giving evidence of his own situation, a jargon was produced such as no man has probably listened to before, unless we except the artificers employed long ago in the erection of Babel. So complete, indeed, was the confusion, that neither the one party nor the other made the slightest attempt to avail themselves of it for military purposes. On the contrary, we were each of us heartily glad to get rid of our troublesome neighbours, and not a littled pleased when order became so far restored as to permit our taking up a definite position for the night.
The enemy having gradually collected their scattered battalions, retired to the hollow way from which they last emerged. On our part no movement of importance was made, except that the corps to which I belonged, leaving its original garrison to watch the wood during the hours of darkness, fell back as far as the green field, or rather common, where we had left the rest of the brigade.Here, with numbers considerably diminished, we drew up in line; when, the arms being piled, we followed the example of our companions, and lighted large fires, round which men and officers indiscriminately crowded, in groups more or less numerous, according as each fire was capable of affording to them warmth.
I do not recollect to have witnessed, during the whole course of my military career, a warlike spectacle more striking than that which was now before me. Besides my own corps, three battalions of infantry lay stretched in a single green field round their watch-fires, amounting in all to about a hundred. Immediately behind them stood their arms, piled up in regular order, and glancing in the flames, which threw a dark-red light across the common upon the bare branches beyond. About twenty yards in rear, two regiments of cavalry were similarly disposed of, their horses being picketed in line and the men seated or lying on the ground. Looking further back, and towards the opposite side of the road, the fires of the whole of the fifth and first divisions met the eye, darkened now and again as the soldiers passed between them, or a heap of wood was cast on to feed their brightness. By the light of these fires I could farther perceive that the road itself was thronged with artillery and tumbrils; whilst the glaring atmosphere above the wood showed that ittoo was fully tenanted, and that its occupants were, like ourselves, reposing in an attitude of watchfulness. To complete the picture, the night chanced to be uncommonly dark. Neither moon nor stars were out; and though no rain fell, a considerable fog was in the air, which hindered the flames from ascending beyond a certain height, and caused them to shed a stronger colouring upon the surrounding objects. Then the knowledge that the enemy was at hand, and that we only waited for the dawn of to-morrow to renew the combat; the whole of these circumstances combined gave so deep an interest to our situation, that it was long ere I was able to follow the example of my comrades and lie down. Fatigue, however, at length prevailed over enthusiasm; and having heartily partaken of the meal which our faithful Francisco brought up, I wrapped my cloak about me, and taking my station like the rest with my feet towards the fire, fell fast asleep.
It was still dark when the general stir among the troops put an end to my repose. The infantry stood to their arms, the cavalry mounted their horses, the artillerymen were at their guns with lighted matches—all in the space of a minute, without a word spoken or a trumpet sounded. Early as it was, however, our fires had all but consumed themselves; they had become dull and red, and theythrew not out heat enough to keep our blood greatly above the freezing-point; but we bore the intense cold with exemplary patience, in the full assurance of warm work as soon as daylight should appear. Nor is there any hour in the four-and-twenty, as every traveller knows, so fruitful in intense cold as that which immediately precedes the dawn. Today, too, it chanced to freeze, with a cutting wind directly in our faces; nevertheless our courage was high, and we counted the moments impatiently as they passed, not so much from a sense of our present uncomfortable situation, as from an eager desire to renew the battle.
Day dawned at length, but the enemy made no movement. They were before us, as they had been all night, in countless numbers; but, like ourselves, they stood quietly in their ranks, as if they expected to be attacked rather than to attack. For nearly two hours both armies continued stationary, till Lord Wellington coming up ordered three Portuguese battalions to advance, with no other design than to bring matters to a crisis. Nor did this movement fail to lead the enemy into a renewal of offensive operations. The Portuguese brigade was gallantly met, and, after a good deal of firing, repulsed; and the repulse of it was followed by a determined assault upon such of our corps as defended the road and occupied the wood.
Nothing can be more spirited or impetuous than the first attack of French troops. They come on for a while slowly and in silence, till, having reached within a hundred yards or two of the point to be assailed, they raise a loud but discordant yell, and rush forward. The advance of their column is, moreover, covered by a perfect cloud of tirailleurs, who press on, apparently in utter confusion, but with every demonstration of courage; who fire irregularly, it is true, but with great rapidity and precision; and who are as much at home in the art of availing themselves of every species of cover as any light troops in the world. The ardour of the French is, however, admirably opposed by the coolness and undaunted deportment of Britons. On the present occasion, for instance, our people met their assailants exactly as if the whole affair had been a piece of acting, no man quitting his ground, but each deliberately waiting till the word of command was given, and then discharging his piece. Every effort of Marshal Soult to possess himself of the mayor's house, and of the enclosure and wood about it, accordingly proved fruitless; and hence his formidable column, which covered the highroad as far as the eye could reach, was perforce obliged to halt and to remain idle.
Matters continued in this state till towards noon, and yet a comparatively trifling number of ourtroops were engaged. The entire brigade to which I belonged, the brigade of light cavalry, as well as the greater proportion of the first division, had been mere spectators of the valour of others; when the enemy, as if worn out with fatigue, and disheartened by repeated failures, suddenly began to retire. His column of infantry having moved to the rear, till some rising ground in a great degree concealed it, seemed to disperse; his guns were withdrawn; and his skirmishers falling back, left our advanced corps in possession of the disputed post. A retreat, indeed, appeared to have begun, and to many it was matter of surprise that no pursuit was on our side instituted. But our general, by keeping his soldiers steady in their places, showed that he was quite aware of his adversary's intentions, and that he was a far better judge of the measures which it behoved him to adopt than any of the numerous critics who presumed to pass censure upon him. The whole of this movement was no other than a manœuvre on the part of the French marshal to draw our troops from their position, and to enfeeble the centre of our line, by causing the left to be too far advanced; but, though skilfully executed, it proved of no avail,—thanks to the superior sagacity of Lord Wellington. Instead of being harassed by any useless change of ground, we were commanded to take advantage of the temporary truce by cookingour dinners—a measure which the long fast of many of the soldiers, particularly of the Portuguese, who had eaten nothing during the whole of yesterday, rendered peculiarly desirable.
In a moment numerous fires were again lighted, and half of the men in each regiment, disencumbering themselves of their accoutrements, set to work, felling wood, boiling kettles, and preparing food for their comrades. In the meanwhile, six or eight spring-waggons arriving, such of the wounded as were unable to crawl to the rear were collected from the various spots where they lay mingled with the dead, and lifted into them with as much care as circumstances would permit. It was a sad spectacle this. The shrieks and groans of many of these poor fellows sounded horribly in our ears; whilst the absolute silence of the rest was not less appalling, inasmuch as it gave but too much reason to believe that they were removed from the field only to die in the waggons. Nor were the muleteers and other followers of the camp idle. These harpies, spreading themselves in vast numbers over the face of the country, stripped and plundered the dead in an incredibly short space of time; and they were withal so skilful in their vocation that they rarely afforded an opportunity of detecting them in the act. Nothing, indeed, has ever astonished me more than the celerity with which these body-strippersexecute their task. A man falls by your side, and the very next moment, if you chance to look round, he is as naked as he was when he came into the world, without your being able so much as to guess by whom his garments have been taken.
Whilst all these persons were engaged in their various occupations, I wandered towards the front, for the purpose of examining, in a moment of coolness, the nature of the ground on which we had yesterday fought. It was well dotted with the carcasses of men and horses. Round the mayor's house, in particular, they lay in clusters; and not a few of the Frenchmen bore marks of having fallen by the sabre. One man, in particular, I observed, whose head was cloven asunder, the sword of his adversary having fairly divided it as far as the eyes; another lay upon his back, with his face split into two parts across the line of the nose. The great majority had, however, been shot; and they were mixed indiscriminately together, English and French, as if each had been cut off by the hand of his next neighbour.
I was not, however, so fully occupied in contemplating the dead but that I cast various anxious glances towards the living; nor was ground of anxiety wanting. The enemy had, indeed, fallen back; neither did he show any column upon the road, nor any masses in the woods; but I observedhis men crossing the highway towards our right by twos and threes at a time, as if some formation were going on which he desired might escape notice. Nor was the circumstance lost upon my companions. "We shall have it again presently," said a veteran sergeant who stood near me; and the prediction was hardly uttered when it was fulfilled. As if they had risen from beneath the earth, two ponderous masses of infantry, covered by the fire of twelve pieces of cannon, rushed forward, one a little to the right of where I was, and the other upon the church and village of Arcanques; and such was the fury of their attack, that for the instant they carried everything before them. A Portuguese corps which occupied the former of those points was broken, and gave way; a British regiment, stationed to support them, followed their example: and now, for the first time since the battle began, the head of a French column showed itself upon the common.
In the meanwhile all was hurry and bustle in the rear. The plunderers, taking to their heels, fled in all directions; the waggons with the wounded set off at full speed; our people, casting their half-dressed provisions into the fire, buckled on their accoutrements, and took their stations; and the artillery, which had begun to retire, came up again at a hand-gallop to the front. Two squadrons of cavalry were next ordered out, partly to stop thefugitives, partly to check a body of the enemy which at this moment appeared upon the main road; and I must say that our troopers executed both of these orders with great effect. Every man whom they met, no matter whether he were an English or a Portuguese soldier, they drove back, beating him with the flats of their swords over the head and shoulders; and then, suddenly rushing past a projecting copse which concealed their motions, they spread death and dismay among the French infantry. But we had not much time given to watch the operations of others. We were ourselves in line in a moment, and advancing to the charge.
It was a tremendous and overwhelming rush. The enemy stood nobly, and fought with desperate resolution; but we bore them back, as I have seen one bull borne back by another, into the wood. And then began again the same ceaseless roar of musketry which had sounded in our ears last evening; whilst four or five pieces of cannon sent showers of grape and canister amongst us, which, but for the shelter afforded by the trees, must have swept us all into eternity.
As soon as we were fairly in the wood, our compact order was, in spite of every effort, lost. We fought, however, with the same spirit as before, in detached parties, and pressed the enemy on allhands, who became as much divided as ourselves, till not only was the ground recovered which had at first been abandoned, but we were considerably in advance of our original position. Nor was it practicable even then to check the ardour of the men. As fast as the enemy retired, our soldiers pushed on, till at length we found ourselves on the margin of a little lake, round the extremity of which the French were fleeing in great confusion. Such a sight added fuel to the fire of our eagerness, and we pursued in a state of little less confusion than that which prevailed among the fugitives.
We had already reached the farther end of the lake, and were in hot and heedless chase of a couple of field-pieces, when a cry was suddenly raised of "The cavalry! the cavalry!" Several troops of French dragoons were advancing; their horses were already in speed. There was no time to collect or form a square, so we threw ourselves as we best could into compact circles, and stood to receive them. They came on with the noise of thunder. One circle wavered—some of the men abandoned their ranks—the cavalry rode through it in an instant. That in which I was stood more firm. We permitted them to approach till the breasts of the horses almost touched our bayonets, when a close and well-directed volley was poured in, and numbers fell beneath it. But we knew that we had no businessto remain where we were. Having therefore repelled this charge, we slowly retraced our steps, the cavalry hovering round us as we retired, till we had gained once more the shelter of the wood, and were safe from farther molestation. There we stood fast, till a bugle sounding the recall warned us to retire still farther; and we again united ourselves with the rest of the brigade.
The attack upon our post being thus defeated, we were directed to lie down in a ditch, for the purpose of sheltering ourselves against a heavy cannonade with which the enemy still entertained us. A couple of brigades were at the same time moved towards the right to support the light division, which had been very sorely pressed in its position of Arcanques. The French column had come on at a moment when a regiment which held the church were in the act of cleaning their rifles, and hence one-half of the troops were virtually unarmed. But though driven through the village and gardens, our people maintained themselves in the church, and the rising ground on which it stood; nor did the French succeed in making any lasting impression on that point. The loss, however, had on our part been so great, and the enemy still continued his exertions with so much ardour, that it was deemed requisite to send fresh regiments to relieve those which had been so long engaged; and hencefive or six battalions were withdrawn from our rear; and the post which they had hitherto assisted in maintaining was left entirely to our protection.
Whether it was the intention of Soult to cause this movement, or whether he only hoped to avail himself of it as soon as it should have been made, I know not; but just as the bayonets of our detached troops began to glitter in the wood behind Arcanques, another most determined charge was made upon the corps in our immediate front. This corps was not only weak in point of numbers, but worn out with hard fighting and want of food. It gave way almost immediately. Again the French were upon us; again we were hotly engaged, and, as it appeared to me, with a still denser and more numerous division than any which had yet attacked us. The wood and the mayor's house were now both of them carried—the French came on with loud shouts and great courage—our Portuguese allies fairly fled the field—one or two British regiments were overpowered—and even we, whose ranks had hitherto been preserved, began to waver, when Lord Wellington himself rode up. The effect was electrical. "You must keep your ground, my lads," cried he; "there is nothing behind you. Charge! charge!" Instantly a shout was raised. Many fugitives who had lost their own corps threw themselves into line upon our flank. We poured in but one volley, andthen rushed on with the bayonet. The enemy would not stand it; their ranks were broken, and they fled in utter confusion. We followed, without giving them a moment to recover from their panic; and having suffered hardly any loss in killed or wounded, we once more took possession of the chateau and the thicket. This was the last effort on either side, darkness having already set in; and hence we found ourselves, for the second time, at the close of a day of carnage and fatigue, occupying exactly the spot of ground which we had occupied when the day began. The same wild and outlandish tumult ensued; men of all countries bawling and hallooing to each other; and the same arrangements of lighting fires, and lying down to sleep around them, were entered into by the weary combatants. The corps to which I belonged was indeed moved about a quarter of a mile to the right, where the charge of the outposts was committed to it; and those who had hitherto kept them being called in, were permitted to repose more securely in the rear. But, with this exception, everything which had been done during the night before was repeated, and such as were not actually employed on picket slept soundly beside their watch-fires.