Chapter XI

The Light Division holds the outposts at the bridge of Santarem. General
Junot wounded near Rio Maior. The allied army is put into
cantonments. How we passed the winter. Sufferings of the French army
from want of provisions and forage. They are harassed by the armed
peasantry and militia. Shooting and coursing parties close to the
French videttes. Their courteous conduct on those occasions towards
us. Anecdote of a dragoon and his cloak. Burlesque on horse-racing
in the cantonments of the Light Division. Flags of truce.
Conversation with French officers at the bridge of Santarem.
Theatrical performances. The Marquis de la Romana dies. The Duke of
Brunswick’s corps joins the Light Division. They desert by wholesale
to the French. Several are shot by sentence of a court-martial. The
corps is sent out of the Light Division. Lord Wellington
contemplates relieving the Light Division for a time at the
outposts, to give the men rest. This is not carried into effect.
Some regiments join the army from England. The 7th division of
infantry is formed. I go with a brother-officer on a frolic to
Lisbon for five days. Return to our old post at the bridge.
Lieutenant Strenowitz, of the 1st German Hussars, surprises a French
cavalry post. Marshal Mortier defeats a Spanish army near Badajoz,
and lays siege to the place. Massena commences his retreat out of
Portugal. State of Santarem. The 1st battalion 95th Riflemen drives
the French from a village. The Light Division and cavalry come up
with the French near Pombal. The castle is attacked. Action near
Redinha. Reach Condeixa. The Portuguese militia gain possession of
Coimbra. Massena changes his line of retreat. Lord Wellington
attacks Marshal Ney. He falls back to Miranda de Corvo. Conduct of
the French army during the retreat. The French leave numbers of
baggage-animals on the road much lacerated. The Light Division finds
the enemy on the Ceira. Action near Foz d’Aroce. Remarks. The army
out-marches the commissariat. Major Stewart of the 95th Rifle corps.
His character. Lord Wellington crosses the Alva. Massena retreats
towards Celerico. Affair near Freixadas. The 95th loses its
adjutant. His character. The army marches on Guarda. Massena falls
back behind the Coa. Action near Sabugal. Colonel Beckwith.

As the two armies remained here in a state of comparative inactivity more than three months, I propose giving a short sketch of what occurred during that period, and the manner we generally passed our time.

The Light Division had charge of the outposts at the causeway, three hundred men being always on picket at the head of the bridge, and several more on inlying picket near at hand. On the bridge (which was mined and charged) we constructed an abattis; and to render our post at the causeway more secure, we made covert ways and traverses.

The French were employed in the same manner on the opposite side, and in a few weeks they completed a very neat battery on the little hill, so as to enfilade the bridge. Here they kept about a brigade of infantry.

In various half-ruined hovels and stables near the bridge, our division was stowed away pretty close, sleeping fully accoutred throughout the winter; being so near the enemy, that a few minutes would have sufficed to bring us in contact. The sentries of the two armies were so near each other on the bridge, and the videttes of the cavalry so closely advanced on the marsh on the right, that they might have conversed without exalting their voices much.

Sir William Erskine and General Pack held the posts some distance to the left of the Light Division, near the town of Rio Maior; and in the course of the winter they had some sharp skirmishing with the French, who made forward movements, with the hope of obtaining provisions and forage, but were always disappointed and driven back. In an affray of this kind, which General Junot headed, with a view of procuring salt for his troops in Rio Maior, he was wounded in the face by Sir William Erskine’s light troops.

Lord Wellington’s head-quarters were at Cartaxo, where the Guards and the other troops composing the First Division were stationed. Other divisions were cantoned still further to the rear. Every day brought some rumour as to the intended movements of our adversaries, not one in fifty of which proved correct; for instance, “Massena would be reinforced immediately with thirty or forty thousand men from a distant part of Spain, and would instantly make a grand attack on our lines.” Two days afterwards, “Massena and his legions were off in a canter out of Portugal.”

But I believe that the real state of suffering which the French army experienced during the winter was not exaggerated; nor, perhaps, until it retreated out of Portugal, was the full extent of the privations and hardships to which it had been subjected for some months, known to any one, except the Commander-in-Chief and a few officers of his personal staff. The horses in Massena’s army were kept alive latterly on the stalks of the vine, bruised and mixed with corn, when they were so fortunate as to procure any of the latter article. Many of the Portuguese peasantry, armed with fowling-pieces, pikes, &c. &c., aided by the militia and the _ordonenza_, continually harassed the French, cut off their supplies, killed stragglers without mercy, and in various other ways placed Massena’s army in any thing but an enviable situation.

The sportsmen in our division constantly had recourse to gun, pointer, and greyhound; and in the marshy plain between the Rio Maior and the Tagus we contrived to amuse ourselves very well, and often with success; hares, quails, snipes, and golden plovers, being abundant. In these pastimes the French cavalry pickets, posted on the marsh, never interfered with us, nor interrupted our sport, although we frequently coursed hares, and shot quails, within half range of their carbines. On the contrary, their conduct was courteous, and, if I may use the expression, gentlemanly to a degree. One anecdote in particular deserves being mentioned. It was customary for our cavalry pickets to patrole every morning before daybreak, to ascertain if any change or movement had taken place in the French chain of cavalry posts. One morning, in a thick fog, a small patrole of ours suddenly found themselves close to a superior force of French cavalry, and instantly retired; but, in the hurry, one of our dragoons dropped his cloak. Our patrole had ridden but a short distance to the rear, when it was called to by the French, one of whom riding up to within a short distance, dropped the captured cloak on the ground and rode away, making signals to the English dragoon who had lost it, to pick it up. This was carrying on the war as it should be; and it is but justice to add, that we rarely found them deficient on this point.

In addition to shooting and coursing, the sporting characters at the outposts went through the formal process of racing, near Vallé; and I can never forget the first essay of the kind, where six or eight half-starved devils, whose diet had for some months consisted principally of chopped straw and winter-grass, started, with _gentlemen riders_, for a sweepstakes. Before they had gone one hundred yards, the horse which was ridden by my friend T. of the 43d regiment, came down heels over head, from sheer debility; and those in his wake, according to the nautical phrase, ran foul of him and his racer, who lay floundering on the earth. A greater burlesque on horse-racing never was witnessed: were I certain of seeing so amusing an exhibition at Newmarket, Epsom, or Doncaster, I verily believe I should seldom fail to attend their meetings.

Flags of truce frequently passed between the two armies, which afforded us many opportunities of conversing with the French officers who came with them to the bridge. One of Massena’s aides-du-camp talked very big of the gaieties which were going on at Santarem, and of the theatre which the French officers had established there. It was intimated to this loquacious gentleman by the field-officer of our pickets, that the arrival at the French head-quarters of a large drove of cattle, some waggon-loads of flour or bread, and a few other necessaries of the sort, might, by possibility, be as acceptable, and rather more useful to them than all their dramatic works.

If, however, the French could get up theatrical performances, we, on the other side of the causeway, were determined not to be outdone in that respect. Accordingly, the soldiers of a certain company in our battalion did make the attempt, having converted an old house, in which olive oil had formerly been made, into a theatre: the blankets and great-coats of the soldiers made capital side-scenes; and had not too much wine and grog found their way behind them, no doubt the piece would have gone off with great éclat. But, as the truth must be told, they all forgot their parts; and it was a toss-up whether our attempt at horse-racing or play-acting was the most perfectly ludicrous.

Whilst we remained here, the Marquis de la Romana, who resided at Lord Wellington’s head-quarters, died; and, as a patriotic, zealous, and upright man, was a great loss to the Spanish nation. General Crawford went on leave of absence to England during the winter. When we arrived here from the lines of Torres Vedras, the Duke of Brunswick Oels’ corps of infantry, which had recently reached Portugal, was sent to join the Light Division. They deserted to the French in such numbers, that we had a _lease_ of them but for a few weeks. Lord Wellington caused several of them who had been taken in the attempt to desert to the enemy, to be tried and shot; and, immediately afterwards, he directed that the corps should be sent away from the Light Division.

After the Light Division had been about three months at the bridge of Santarem, Lord Wellington ordered over to his head-quarters the commanding-officers of regiments of that division, to confer about giving the men some rest, and relieving them for a time at the advanced posts. The unanimous wish of the officers commanding regiments coincided with that of his lordship, that the Light Division, which was only in its proper place, should remain where it was, and so it did. It was whispered that the Fusileer Brigade, and the remainder of General Cole’s division, would relieve us at the outposts; but this, like a thousand other _on dits_, proved without foundation.

Several regiments arrived at Lisbon from England or Ireland about this time; amongst others, the 51st and 68th Light Infantry; and the 7th division of infantry was now formed, or, more properly speaking, the 8th, there being previously six numbered divisions, independent of the Light.

During our stay at Vallé I obtained leave of absence for five days, to go to Lisbon with a brother-officer, merely for the sake of a frolic. We lost no time on the road, and found ourselves at Latour’s hotel in as short a time as our horses could conveniently carry us thither. It is not less strange than true, that on our return from the opera, when I got into a regular-built bed, I could no more sleep than I could have taken wing and flown across the Tagus. Ever since the month of February 1810 (exactly one year), we had been constantly so near the enemy at the advanced posts, sleeping in our clothes, in bivouac, or in some hovel of a picket-house, rolled up in our cloaks on the ground, that I felt quite like a fish out of water, and was not reconciled to a bed. We spent our five days’ leave of absence in Lisbon in the manner which may be supposed, after having been so long estranged from civilised life. In truth we made the most of our time, and lost no opportunity of amusing ourselves in the ways best suited to our taste. When we returned to our old post at the causeway, we found every thing _in statu quo_.

During this temporary inactivity of the hostile armies, ours remained generally healthy. Many, however, were afflicted with fevers, agues, and dysenteries; but when the nature and description of our winter-quarters are considered (of the troops at the outposts at least), and the number of men always on duty, and exposed to the weather during several winter months, it appears extraordinary that so little sickness existed. A sharp attack of fever and ague, which I experienced early in February, placed me for a little time _hors de combat_, and reduced me to a skeleton. To the log-books of my comrades, therefore, I am indebted for items of what occurred during my short illness.

Lieutenant Strenowitz, of the German Hussars, at the head of his picket of twenty men, surprised and made prisoners one of the French cavalry pickets near the town of Rio Maior. This took place in February. During that month, the French, under Soult or Mortier, attacked one of the Spanish armies in the vicinity of Badajoz. The Spaniards were completely defeated; and the French forthwith commenced the siege of that fortress.

The remainder of the winter passed away at the outposts, much in the same manner as I have already described. A thousand reports, vague and contradictory, were ever afloat as to Massena’s intentions. The 5th of March put an end to all surmises.

1811.

MASSENA’S RETREAT OUT OF PORTUGAL.

It had been rumoured for some time, that Massena was removing his sick, heavy artillery, baggage, and other encumbrances, to the rear, and as his army was known to be rapidly decreasing, from sickness, want of provisions, medicine, &c. &c. we daily expected that they would decamp and retreat into Spain. Lord Wellington sent orders to our division at the outposts to keep a sharp look-out, and to report the instant they disappeared from our front.

On the night of the 5th of March they retreated, and had recourse to an old trick of theirs, already alluded to in this journal; that of manufacturing sentries of straw, and placing caps on them. When day-light thoroughly broke, on the 6th, the deception was explained, which during the twilight had created something like a doubt. The Light Division was immediately ordered in pursuit; and on entering Santarem, where Massena’s head-quarters had been the whole winter, that ill-fated town presented such a picture of misery, filth, devastation, and dilapidation, as no pen can describe.

In the march of the Light Brigade from Lisbon to Talavera in 1809, we halted two days at Santarem, at which time its appearance was altogether extremely prepossessing. How utterly changed was it now! The extensive and valuable olive-groves which clothed the sides of the hill on which the town stands, had long since been cut down by the French to construct _abattis_, and for firewood. For this act no blame can be attached to them, as no one will deny their right to strengthen their position by whatever means were nearest at hand, nor to their making as good fires as they were able, to keep out cold and the devil from their winter-quarters. But what defence can possibly be set up for the wanton destruction of houses, furniture, churches, convents, and, in short, of every place and every thing in and about this unfortunate town, and that, also, under the immediate eye of Massena and his numerous staff? Here and there a wretched, half-starved, cadaverous Portuguese, with an appearance scarcely human, who had contrived to drag on a miserable existence during the winter, might be seen amongst the ruined habitations, thereby completing the sickening picture.

Of our fair friends the nuns, it was difficult to say what had been the fate; but it is to be presumed that they left Santarem before the French occupied it. The convents, of which they had been inmates in 1809, exhibited now nothing but piles of filth, disgusting beyond description.

The French rear-guard had left Santarem before the arrival of the Light Division, which pushed on after them on the road to Pernes, where it passed the night. The sketch given of Santarem will suffice for Pernes, which had fared equally bad, and presented objects of misery and disgust at every step, sufficient to raise feelings of the highest indignation against Massena and his followers, to whose name indelible disgrace will be attached for their atrocious and wanton cruelties.

The Light Division and some cavalry, which formed the advanced guard, were followed and supported by other divisions brought up from the rear, as soon as it was known that the French were retreating.

On the 8th of March, the Light Division first came in contact with the enemy’s rear-guard, at a small village, which our battalion was instantly ordered to attack, and from whence it soon dislodged them. On the 9th the advanced guard came up with the enemy, who, in considerable force, was drawn out on a plain in front of Pombal, and some skirmishing took place towards evening.

The castle, as also the walls near it, and the town itself, all of which were very defensible, the French held with a strong force of infantry, the main body of their army having fallen back, on the 10th, to a formidable position behind the town. On the 11th our battalion and the 3d Portuguese Caçadores attacked the castle, and, after a sharp conflict, drove the enemy from it with considerable loss. Had the other divisions of the army been at hand, there is but little doubt that Lord Wellington would have made a general attack on their position behind the town. A deluge of rain descended at night, which, with the extreme proximity to the French advanced posts, was well calculated to keep people on the _qui vive_.

During the night of the 11th, Massena withdrew his army from Pombal; and on the following day, the Light Division and cavalry came up with them near Redinha. The French set fire to Pombal, in the most wanton and barbarous manner, before they retreated from it. Lord Wellington made dispositions for attacking them immediately. The Light Division was soon warmly engaged, and, after a fierce struggle, forced the French through some thick and extensive woods. The rear-guard made a gallant attempt to check their pursuers near the town of Redinha, the bridge leading across the river being choked at the moment with disheartened fugitives, for whose safety the rear-guard appeared inclined to make great sacrifices; but their flanks being assailed simultaneously, whilst they were pressed warmly in front, they were obliged to give way, and were chased through the town, suffering severely in killed, wounded, and prisoners, in their attempt to cross the bridge, to which they were crowding in great confusion and dismay. No respite was allowed them; and the Light Division, with some cavalry, stuck close to their heels until night.

On reaching Condeixa the next day, it was found to have shared the same fate as Pombal and other towns which lay in Massena’s line of retreat. It had been plundered and set on fire, and such enormities committed, as would have disgraced a band of Hottentots or North American Indians. During this day, although no serious engagement took place, there was some skirmishing, which terminated only by the approach of night. The French withdrew from Condeixa to a position further in their rear, in consequence of a movement made on their flank by General Picton’s division.

On the 14th, Marshal Ney, who commanded the French rear-guard, halted in a position presenting many obstacles. Colonel Trant, with a body of Portuguese militia and irregular troops, had got possession of Coimbra, which frustrated Massena’s plans, and prevented his retreating by that city to Vizeu. He therefore bent his steps towards the river Alva, so as to reach the road from Ponte de Marcella to Celerico. Lord Wellington attacked Marshal Ney in front with the Light Division, whilst with other divisions he turned his flanks; and, after a long and extremely hard day’s work, throughout the whole of which the Light Division was sharply engaged in driving the enemy from one stronghold to another, Marshal Ney fell back to Miranda de Corvo, which town, like Pombal, Condeixa, and others, was in flames.

It would be a useless repetition to detail the pitiable state of every town and village which lay in Massena’s line of retreat. Flames, ruin, murder, and devastation, marked their track. If any man is to be found bold enough to defend their conduct in this retreat, he is a fit subject to have been incorporated with that army, which disgraced the name of Europeans.

Being closely pursued, the French destroyed at and near Miranda de Corvo a quantity of baggage, ammunition, &c.; and that their baggage-animals might not prove useful to their pursuers, they cut the back-sinews of their legs, and left great numbers of them in this state of suffering on the road. It would have been more humane, would have answered the same purpose, and have occasioned less delay to the French on their retreat, if a musket-ball had been sent through the head of each unfortunate animal, instead of their being left to linger in such a lacerated state.

During the early part of the 15th, a thick mist from the mountains favoured the retreat of the enemy, and for some time prevented pursuit. When it cleared away, the advanced guard followed through Miranda de Corvo, which was still burning, and towards evening came up with the French in position behind the Ceira, a mountain river; but Marshal Ney’s corps, which formed the rear-guard, had not crossed, and was near Foz d’Aroce, having at its back the rocky bed of the Ceira, which was passable only by a bridge; heavy rains having rendered the fords impracticable. Of this perilous situation of Marshal Ney’s corps, Lord Wellington, ever alert, took immediate advantage.

The day was drawing to a close, and the troops were cooking their suppers, when a sudden order reached the bivouac for them to fall in, and to attack the French rear-guard. The enemy were not driven from their ground without a stout resistance and many broken heads on both sides. At length they were forced back, in utter confusion, on the narrow bridge, which their comrades on the opposite side blew up; thus leaving on the same side the river with the British, many of their countrymen, who were drowned in the Ceira, by attempting to flounder through its rapid stream. Some hundreds perished in this manner; and they threw two of their eagles into the river, to prevent their becoming trophies of the victors.

Between the killed, wounded, drowned, and prisoners, the loss of the French must necessarily have been severe in this action, which, like many other engagements before and since, between advanced and rear-guards, where the Light Division happened to be principally engaged, has been dignified with the appellation of an _affair_. An unfortunate and disastrous affair it proved for the French; and it may here be observed, that the numerous engagements of this description, which rarely find their way into the Gazette, except under the head of affairs of posts, are not so very trifling in their nature as some persons may be inclined to fancy, who have merely hearsay evidence of such matters. In this action the 3d Division and other troops also took an active part.

It is difficult to conjecture why Marshal Ney’s corps was placed in a position so opposite to all rule, and so replete with peril. If Massena directed him to occupy for the night the ground on which Lord Wellington attacked him, he was the person to whom culpability must be attached. If Marshal Ney took up that position without orders, he clearly committed an error. Massena, however, who (it is to be presumed) was at hand, and fully aware of Ney’s situation, might have withdrawn his rear-guard across the Ceira before it was attacked. In either case, then, Massena appears to have been the person responsible for that grand error. These ideas naturally suggest themselves to persons not in the grand secret; but it is possible that Marshal Massena had some cogent reason for thus exposing his rear-guard. The contest did not terminate until after dark; and during the night, he retired from his position on the Ceira.

Having out-marched the commissariat, and the country being so thoroughly ransacked and plundered as to afford provisions of no kind, Lord Wellington was unable to proceed far in pursuit of the French on the 16th.

During the operations of the last few days, our corps had to regret the loss of many of its members. Amongst the number must not be omitted the name of Major Stewart, who commanded one wing of our 1st battalion, at the head of which he fell, whilst gallantly leading it to the attack. By his death the regiment was deprived of an officer who thoroughly understood the command of light troops, and was quite at home at outpost duty. He had a quick and accurate eye in taking advantage of ground, was devoted to the particular nature of our service, and his mind soared far above the uninteresting minutiæ of barrack-yard drill—the exact distance from button to button on the soldier’s jacket, the width of his leather stock, and other matters of the kind, which in too many regiments are considered of vital importance.

On the 17th the French army took up a position behind the Alva, the banks of which are rugged and difficult of access in many places. By means of fords, and a temporary bridge, Lord Wellington contrived to effect the passage of the river at different points, turned their flanks, and obliged them to give up that line of defence. Some prisoners were made by the advanced guard, which pursued the harassed enemy until night. Massena continued his retreat by the road at the foot of Sierra d’Estrella towards Celerico, and was followed by the British with as much haste as the want of provisions would permit, their rapid advance having left the commissariat far behind, and the country affording not a morsel of any thing for man or horse. From these unavoidable causes, more respite was granted to the retreating army than would otherwise have been their lot.

From Celerico, Massena bent his steps towards Guarda; and in following him, the advanced guard came up with, in the end of March, part of the French rear-guard near Freixadas. Colonel Beckwith directed an attack on them by a party of the 95th Riflemen, who soon drove them from a windmill where they were at work, and through the village. On this occasion our battalion sustained a loss by the death of its adjutant, Mr. Stewart. It is perhaps not too much to say, that no man in any corps ever filled the situation of adjutant better than he did, and very few half so well. He was open-hearted, manly, friendly, and independent, a most gallant and zealous officer, and much devoted to his own corps. He neither cringed to, nor worshipped any man, but did his duty manfully, and with impartiality,—two qualities inestimable in adjutants. By the soldiers he was idolised, and very justly. When his duties as adjutant did not interfere, he was amongst the first to enter into any frolic and fun; and a more jovial soul never existed.

The army was directed to march on Guarda, where Massena had concentrated his force, and appeared confident, in the apparently impregnable position which he had taken up. The unexpected advance, however, of the allied army on different points simultaneously, had the immediate effect of hurrying him from the mountainous region on which he was perched, and obliged him to seek safety behind the Coa, where the advanced guard found him on the 1st of April.

The rocky banks of the Coa the Light Division had reason to remember, as eight months had scarcely elapsed since its collision with Marshal Ney’s corps near Almeida. The French marshal failed not to make the most of the position which the rugged, and in some places inaccessible, banks of the Coa afforded. His left, under General Regnier, extended considerably above Sabugal, and occupied the formidable heights which overlook the river, and are in some places studded with chestnut-trees of large size.

Towards the left of the French position, Lord Wellington turned his particular attention; and on the 2d of April made arrangements for attacking it the following day.

ACTION NEAR SABUGAL

The outline of the plan was, that the Light Division and some cavalry should pass the river by a ford at some distance above Sabugal, whilst other divisions assailed the position by fords and the bridge near the town. The operations of the day commenced by the Light Division passing the Coa at a ford of considerable depth, under fire of Regnier’s advanced posts, who were driven back on their supports by Colonel Beckwith’s brigade, which first crossed the river.

In this, as in all other mountainous regions, thick fogs appear and disappear very suddenly; and such was the case on the present occasion. Its temporary dispersion discovered Colonel Beckwith’s little brigade almost in contact with the whole of Regnier’s corps, which, after a sharp fire, forced back, with overwhelming numbers, the four companies of the 95th (that composed Colonel Beckwith’s advance) on the 43d regiment; and, aware that the number of his opponents was trifling, the French general made an impetuous attack with infantry, cavalry, and artillery, to crush and annihilate them before support should arrive. But the 43d, on which the Riflemen were driven back for support, was a corps not to be meddled with free of expense, as they very soon proved to their antagonists, by driving them back in most gallant style with the bayonet. Fearful as were the odds, Colonel Beckwith’s brigade pursued the French into their own position, and inflicted on them a severe loss; but being reinforced, they again drove back this handful of men. They, however, possessed themselves of some stone walls and broken ground, by which they contrived to hold on until they once more obliged their enemy to retreat; and entering their position with them, charged and captured a howitzer. For the recapture of this, the French were making another grand effort, when the second brigade of the Light Division, with troops also of the 3d and other divisions, arrived near the scene of action, which obliged Regnier to make a rapid retreat. In less than forty-eight hours afterwards, the whole French army was over the Portuguese frontier, and sought shelter under the guns of Ciudad Rodrigo. A French garrison was left in Almeida.

Thus did Massena’s invasion of Portugal terminate; and in this manner was his threat fulfilled of “driving the English into the sea.”

In consequence of the hazy weather, the movements of the different divisions did not take place precisely as Lord Wellington intended; for some of them lost their way in the fog, and, not reaching the point of attack chalked out for them at the exact moment, the Light Division was thus unavoidably left for a length of time engaged in a most unequal contest. That it held its ground stoutly, and made a gallant and successful struggle for victory, will scarcely be denied by those to whom the very name of “Light Division” has ever been like wormwood. In his public despatches Lord Wellington eulogised the conduct of the Light Division in the highest terms. Colonel Beckwith’s forehead was grazed by a bullet, and his horse was shot under him. That cool courage which can look calmly at danger, and adopt measures to meet it at the instant, under the most critical and appalling circumstances, Colonel Beckwith possessed in an eminent degree. The number of dead bodies left on the field by the French, attested the nature of the conflict. The loss of Colonel Beckwith’s brigade was also severe.