The regiment billeted at Olivencia -- Curious astronomical
conjunction -- Lawrence exemplifies the truth of an old proverb
at the expense of his hosts, and draws down the wrath of the
church on himself -- Succeeds more satisfactorily in the case of
his comrade -- The army shifted to the valley of the Mondego --
Lord Wellington's hopes in Almeida and Ciudad Rodrigo being
disappointed, it falls back still further to Busaco -- Battle of
Busaco -- Lawrence makes a capture, which may be regarded by some
readers as emblematic.
At the beginning of 1810 we proceeded from Badajoz to Olivencia, and
were there billeted on the inhabitants, two or more in a house, as the
circumstances would permit. I remember one very curious thing which
occurred at this time, which was that the names of the drum-majors of
the three regiments that were collected in this place were Sun, Moon,
and Star, our regiment having the Moon, the Fifty-third the Sun, and
the Ninth the Star, so that if having the Sun, Moon, and Star fighting
for us was any help, they were there all ready.
I happened to be billeted with a comrade of the name of Lewis
Phillips, a Welshman, in a house occupied by a respectable but poor
man and his wife, whom we found on the whole very kindly meaning
towards us. Their occupation was that of labourers, and at this
particular season of the year they were employed in picking
olive-berries. Before going out to their work in the morning they
would prepare their supper; which, as it was then Lent, and they were
not allowed to eat meat, consisted, as far as I was able to observe,
of a mixture of greens, oil, cayenne pepper, and salt, which they
would leave on the embers in an earthenware jar to be cooked by the
time they came back; and as generally either myself or my comrade was
in the way, they would ask us to occasionally give it a stir. One day
after I had been there some little time, I was left as cook, and
feeling in rather a mischievous mood, I cut some of my meat up very
small--not much indeed, as may be supposed, out of the pound, which
was all that we then received--and put it into the jar; and by
nighttime it was so boiled and stirred that even I, who knew it was
there, could scarcely recognize it. On their return they were very
hungry and soon partook of their _caldo_, as they called it,
pronouncing it to be very good, and praising me as the best cook they
had had for some time, little suspecting what that same best cook had
put into it. I was foolish enough, though indeed I did not expect what
a bother I should throw up, to ask them then what they thought was in
their _caldo_, and when I told them there was meat in it, they
exclaimed they had eaten the Devil, or words to that effect in their
language, which we were beginning to understand pretty well by that
time after being so long in the country. When they had been and got
rid of all they had eaten for supper, they reported me to their priest
for making them eat meat in Lent contrary to the laws of their
religion; and on the priest coming to the house he condemned me for
ever, and prayed to them telling them not to take any notice, as it
was done against their will and by an ignorant Protestant.
They never liked me much afterwards, nor set me to watch their
_caldo_, and, as they were obliged to have me there still, managed to
make me rather uncomfortable; but this did not altogether debar me
from continuing my jokes, and more as I thought it was pretty well
time for Lewis to have his turn of it. It happened that Lewis
particularly disliked olive oil, and I was myself very fond of it,
and as we were very seldom on duty together, it used to fall to the
one off to cook and bring the other his meals to the guard. So one day
I pitched upon a plan by which to take Mr. Taffy in, he being on guard
and I the cook that day. I asked him what he would have for his
dinner, and he said some potatoes fried in butter, a piece of bread,
and his usual pint of wine: so I got some olive oil, and fried the
potatoes in that instead of in butter; and when his turn came for him
to be relieved for a time off sentry, took his meal to him, which,
coming as it did when he was very hungry, he was not long in lapping
up. I then asked him how he had enjoyed it; and he answered he had
never had a better meal in his life. I said, "Lewis, I thought you did
not like oil." "No, no more I do; there was no oil there." I told him
I had fried the potatoes in oil, but I could not make him believe it,
so at last I said if he was agreeable I would make another mess in the
same manner when we were both together at liberty. He consented, so
the first time we were both together to dinner I commenced my frying,
he being witness to the whole operation, and I found that I succeeded
better in my experiment with Lewis than with the worthy people of the
house, for after that he could eat as much oil as I could.
After we had stayed at Olivencia for some weeks, chiefly in order to
refresh ourselves after the long and tedious marches, warfare, and
illness to which for the last two years we had been subjected, Lord
Wellington removed his headquarters to Visen, and the army went for
the most part into cantonments on the valley of the Mondego. Lord
Wellington knew that his troops were then only strong enough for
defensive operations, and was therefore determined, unless strongly
reinforced, not to take rash measures; but on the enemy's fresh
invasion of Portugal he again shifted his headquarters to Celorico.
After that we moved on to another small place, called, as far as I am
able to remember, Guarda, near Almeida, about eight or ten leagues
from Ciudad Rodrigo.
Almeida was at that time garrisoned by some Portuguese troops
commanded by an English officer. The French had invested it, but Lord
Wellington expected that it would have been able to baffle the enemy
until the commencement of the rainy season, and would thus retard the
enemy's movements. Almeida was a town of very great strength, but
Massena opened fire on it about the 23rd of August, and it was obliged
to capitulate as soon afterwards as the 27th, a magazine containing
most of the ammunition having blown up, taking with it great part of
the town and the fortifications; the governor being thus disappointed
of his desire to detain the French any longer. In this sad accident
hundreds of the inhabitants and the soldiery, with many of the enemy,
who were assembled outside to watch the effect, were launched into
eternity either by the explosion itself or by the huge falling masses.
And not only did this misfortune occur, but Ciudad Rodrigo meanwhile
had fallen into the enemy's hands, and thus a way was opened for a
fourfold contest.
Owing to these repeated disappointments of Lord Wellington's plans, we
were again obliged to fall back into the valley of the Mondego,
crossing that river and taking up our position on the heights of
Busaco, situate about six leagues north-east of Coimbra. Our march was
one of great difficulty, owing to the heavy rains and bad roads; but
Lord Wellington did his best to provide against these as much as
possible by taking the best road; while, on the other hand, Massena,
who was following us up on his way to Lisbon, had taken the very
worst; and what was more, owing to ignorance of the country, had
little expected to meet a range of heights with, above all, us on the
top of them, ready to retard his progress as much as possible.
We arrived at Busaco about the centre of September, and on the 26th
our line was formed. Our division, under General Cole, occupied the
extreme left of the line, looking down on a flat country, where the
British cavalry were drawn up in reserve. The divisions of Generals
Hill, Leith, and Picton occupied the right of our line, with the first
division, commanded by Sir Bryant Spencer, in the centre. In the
meantime the French had taken up their position in front, and a
splendid view we had of their encampment from Busaco heights for a
time; but it was not destined to be for long that we were to witness
this fine sight, without mingling some of their best blood with ours,
for early on the morning of the 27th they were in active stir,
evidently in the full intention of storming our heights. We were
immediately ordered under arms, and ready, if necessary, to go into
action.
Early in the morning the French made their appearance. The action
commenced on our right and centre, the heaviest fire keeping there the
whole time that the battle lasted, as the division I was in had but
slight brushes with them. The French must have lost in this engagement
some four or five thousand men, while we lost little more than a
thousand: but it must be borne in mind what an immense advantage we
had over them, as, being situated as we were on the heights, we could
witness their every movement. That night they retreated to their old
position, disheartened at the little success they had gained, or
rather at the actual defeat they had suffered, and not feeling
inclined to renew the contest next day: and some very slight
engagements were all that ensued, chiefly on the left where the light
infantry were.
Whilst strolling about one day on these heights I caught a fine cock,
which I tamed by tying him to my knapsack by the leg and carrying him
about with me, much to the amusement of my comrades; for after I had
had him about a fortnight, he became so tame that he would sit on my
knapsack quite quietly, without even the string to his leg. We named
him Tom, and I took to carrying him about everywhere, even on to the
battlefield; wherever my knapsack went, Tom went too, and when the
balls were whizzing about, which he did not seem altogether to like,
he would make that curious noise which many may have observed as such
which a bird like this would make when pursued or frightened. He
served, however, to while away many a long and dreary hour pleasantly
by his peculiar little ways, and we all became very fond of him: and
he grew quite fat on the many tit-bits he received from my comrades
and myself during our mess, it being quite marvellous to see how
regularly he went to each in turn for his contribution. And it was
still more curious to see how Tom was always ready for action on any
move of the knapsacks, and not only that, but how very seldom he made
any mistake as to which was the right one. However, certain it was
that after he had inhabited my knapsack for a little time he had made
sufficient marks on it that I could never mistake it for any other, so
perhaps he went by them as well as myself.