Commencement of the siege of Badajoz -- Sortie by the garrison
repulsed -- Lawrence takes a prisoner, who proves difficult of
persuasion -- Lawrence poses as champion of the regimental grog,
and is indulged in return with an uncomfortable spell of sentry
-- He eventually triumphs -- Move to, and capture of Olivencia --
Separates from a faithful friend -- Return towards Badajoz --
Battle of Albuera.
From Campo Mayor we went on towards Badajoz, some slight skirmishing
with the enemy's rear-guard taking place on the way, but with very
little success on either side. We made a stay at Elvas until
preparations had been made for crossing the Guadiana, and then we
proceeded to Badajoz, the town that so pestered the Allies during the
Peninsular War. Our brigade took up its position on the north side of
the town and river, and commenced throwing up batteries. During our
operations the French sallied out of the town, crossed the river, and
attempted to destroy a part of our work, thus actively engaging about
three hundred of our covering party, together with a small
reinforcement of grenadiers, which latter, however, soon made them
beat a retreat into the town again.
I succeeded in capturing a straggler here, but was not able to get him
into our lines by myself, on account of his lying down and refusing to
come; so I broke his musket, but not feeling inclined even then to
leave him, I knelt down to protect myself a little from the enemy's
shot, and waited for some assistance. This was not long in coming, for
the colonel, seeing my position, allowed a man, Towser by name, who
had volunteered, to come and lend me a hand, and thus we were enabled
to get my captive safe at last to the lines: not, however, without
some risk to our own lives, as the enemy were firing at us all the
time from a fort situated a short distance from the river. The man was
not at all willing at first to walk, so we dragged him by the leg
along the ground for some way; but owing to the roughness of the
road, he soon found that he preferred walking. We searched him and
found a doubloon and a half on his person, which Towser and I divided
equally between us. The colonel reprimanded me for running such a risk
for one prisoner, but he was satisfied with my answer, which was that
perhaps the man had been on the alert to fire at some of us, which
might have terminated in the colonel's own death, or maybe in mine.
The colonel had already been slightly wounded in the leg, which
obliged him afterwards to go into the hospital at Elvas, and some
thirty-eight of my comrades unfortunately met their deaths in this
affray.
The colonel sent a quantity of rum from Elvas to be divided amongst
those men who were in action at the time he received his wound, but
the officer then in charge of us, whom nobody in the regiment liked,
only served out the half of it, which only came to about half a pint
for each man, much to the discontent of all. I spoke out and said that
we ought to have it all, as the colonel had sent it, and we had had to
fight hard for it; which so put out the officer that he said I should
not have any at all. The sergeant, however, gave me a half a pint with
the rest, unbeknown to the officer, and immediately went and asked him
if I was to have any. The officer then told him to "let the rascals
have the lot, and then they would be satisfied," so thus I came in for
another half pint, which I put into my canteen with some water to
drink when I might next be on sentry.
This came to my turn on the very night following, and as it chanced, I
was commanded by the same officer that I have been alluding to. It was
not often that the major went round with the picket, but that night,
having taken the colonel's command, he did so, and saw me placed on
sentry. I was placed as outlying sentry, and ought to have been
relieved in three hours, instead of which, out of spite for the rum
job, the officer never came near me all night; in fact, I never saw a
man from the time I was put on till I came off myself in the morning.
I will give some details of the coincidences of that night, which was
dark but starlight, so that I could just catch a dim glimpse of the
enemy's before mentioned fort, and, owing to the heights, was able to
see the town very well.
The place where I was on sentry was in a field of standing wheat in
ear, amongst which I sat down and was fairly comfortable for about an
hour; after which the enemy seemed to have made out my position, and
kept dabbing at me with their muskets for a long time. I could not
make out how it was they had caught sight of me, but after they had
continued firing for some time, I at last found out the cause. On my
cap there was a large bright brass plate, which no doubt made a slight
reflection either from the stars or the light from the town, and so
drew their attention to me. So much for bright dress and brass plates,
thought I, though fortunately they had done me no harm; and now for
the remedy that I proposed. I took the loading-rod from my musket, and
stuck it fast into the ground, and placing my cap upon it, I proceeded
about ten yards to the right and sat down; and it was fortunate that I
did so, for during the night they put two shots through my cap, and
that would have been awkward if my head had been inside. It is not to
be supposed, however, that I sat there bareheaded all night, for I put
on my slop or foraging cap, and then sat hearkening to the sound of
chimes and bells pronouncing the hours of eleven, twelve, one, two,
three, and four, and the occasional whizzing of shells and shot over
my head.
At length, after hearing the bells strike the last-named hour, and
seeing the dawn, too, beginning to peep over the distant horizon,
knowing that my turn to be relieved had long since passed, I put back
my loading rod into its place and my cap on my head, and decamped to
the body picket. There I met the major, who seeing me return, and
knowing that it was my turn for rest, asked me where I had been. I
said, "Were you not with the officer when he placed me on sentry last
night?" He replied; "Yes, has he not relieved you since?" On which I
told him no, and that I thought it was time to relieve myself,
likewise showing him my cap for him to judge what a hot night I had
had of it. I also gave the reason that I thought for the officer's
spite, which put him out terribly, so much so that he immediately
called up the officer, who had retired to rest some hours, and told
him that if they had not been so near the enemy, he would have had him
tried by court-martial for his neglect: which might have ended by his
being cashiered out of the service. That was the first and last time
that he ever left me on sentry all night.
Our stay here, however, was of short duration for we proceeded further
towards Olivencia, which was garrisoned by about four hundred of the
enemy. We crossed the Guadiana near that place on a bridge constructed
of empty casks and planks, and sat down before the town about the 11th
of April. In a few days our batteries were all ready for action, and
on the garrison refusing to surrender, we commenced firing, and soon
made a breach; but at that point the governor, fearing an assault,
immediately surrendered, and he and his garrison were all taken
prisoners.
It was at this place that I parted with Tom. For being bothered by the
colonel's servant to let him have my pet, I foolishly consented,
though my comrades did their best to persuade me to keep him. He told
me he wanted to take him to England, and gave me a dollar for him, but
I afterwards found out that he had killed him for his master's dinner.
I think I felt as sorry for that as I ever did for anything, for I
dearly liked Tom.
From Olivencia we marched again towards Badajoz, but owing to Soult's
army being on its way to relieve that town, Beresford had occupied the
heights of Albuera, about thirteen miles southeast of Badajoz, in
order to check the enemy if possible in their intended object. General
Cole therefore advanced to Albuera as well, and the action had just
commenced when he arrived. The Allies had taken up their position on a
fine ridge of heights, and the French under Marshal Soult made their
appearance on the 15th of May.
On the following morning they made an attack on the right, which was
occupied by the Spaniards, who soon gave way in great disorder, again
leaving the brunt of the battle to the British; and not only that, but
also thus allowing the French to gain part of the heights. A noble
attack, however, was made by the Second division, the first brigade of
which in trying to gain the ridge was met by the fierce Polish
Lancers, who slaughtered a tremendous number of them; in fact, the
battle was at one time thought to have been gained by the French, and
most likely would have been, had not Colonel Harding hurled part of
our division and a reserve Portuguese brigade against the enemy, and
so renewed the fight. General Cole himself led our fusiliers up the
hill. Six British guns and some colours were then already in the
enemy's possession, but Cole's troops soon dispersed the lancers,
and, recapturing the guns and colours, drove the French down again in
confusion.
It is useless for me to give any further details of this celebrated
battle, for it has been already depicted so many times and so much
more ably than I could do; but the Allies could not have lost less
than seven thousand killed, wounded and missing, while the French loss
was stated to be nine thousand. It was seldom, however, that we
arrived at the correct estimate of the enemy's loss, it being
generally the custom to state it as greater than ours, and my opinion
is that in this battle the Allies lost quite an equal number to the
French. The Spaniards especially must have sustained a great loss in
their confusion. It was always a bother to get them to stir forward
during a battle, but retreating was what they were best at, and then
it was always in confusion; at the battle of Albuera indeed whilst
they were in this state they even fired at random, and several shots
went amongst the English.
General Cole was himself wounded in this engagement, which resulted so
sadly for both parties; for it could hardly be termed a victory for
either side, and if so it was a very dearly bought one. Still it was
we who remained on the field in the end.