THE LINES OF TORRES VEDRAS
Continued fighting—General Beresford knighted—English and French
officers spend evenings together at theatres, etc. with consent of
their commanders—Massena retires to Santarem
THE French were up and in position along our whole line. The next day
Marshal Massena massed the strongest of his columns in front of our most
formidable works, and desperate attacks were made on various parts of
our line, but these, after hours of hard fighting, were always repulsed.
The rest of each day was spent in staring at each other and watching the
movements of the enemy, and frequently by a heavy cannonade for hours by
both armies. Our loss was considerable; and from the French deserters,
who were very numerous at this time, we learnt that their killed and
wounded far exceeded ours, and that they were suffering much from
sickness and want of provisions. In this way we remained constantly on
the defensive, and frequently fighting, for upwards of four months, our
army keeping our own ground and never attempting to attack the enemy,
and always driving them back with much slaughter whenever they advanced
to storm or carry away any of our works. During these operations the
Marquis de la Romana, with his division of the Spanish army, joined us.
When we had been so employed for about two months, an authority reached
Lord Wellington from England to confer the honour of knighthood on
General Beresford, then the Commander-in-Chief of the Portuguese army. A
general order was issued by Lord Wellington inviting one-third of the
combined armies of England, Spain, and Portugal to assemble at the royal
palace of Mafra, on a given day, to witness the ceremony of General
Beresford being knighted, which stated that the Commander-in-Chief
intended to return to his post at an early hour that night, and wished
every officer to do the same, and concluded with an expression of his
confidence that the remaining generals and officers of the army who were
left at their posts would do their duty if attacked by the enemy during
his absence. I was one of the happy ones who took advantage of this
invitation, and at an early hour on the day named I started for the
palace of Mafra, a distance of about fifteen miles. On our arrival there
we found not only many hundreds of officers—English, Spanish, and
Portuguese—but also a great portion of the Portuguese nobility, all come
to do honour to the occasion, Lord Wellington and his brilliant staff
amongst them; and, what was more remarkable, large masses of the French
army not a quarter of a mile away from us, with their advanced piquets
and sentries, were looking quietly and coolly on at our gathering, and
although our visitors from Lisbon advanced in crowds as near as possible
to look and stare at them in turn, not the slightest attempt was made by
our brave enemies to alarm or disturb them. The same consideration and
courtesy was continued during the whole of that memorable occasion, so I
think to this day that the good feeling and understanding must have been
previously arranged between Lord Wellington and General Massena.
As soon as the whole company had arrived, as many as could be got in
were assembled in the principal hall of the palace; then appeared Lord
Wellington with General Beresford on his arm, followed by a numerous
suite of general officers and Portuguese nobility, and the
Commander-in-Chief’s personal staff. A circle was formed in the centre
of the hall, into which all the grandees entered. His Majesty’s commands
were then read, on which General Beresford knelt down, and Lord
Wellington, drawing his sword, waved it over the General’s head, saying,
“Arise, Sir William Carr Beresford,” and ended so far the imposing
pageant. Then was opened a folding door, displaying many tables laid out
with a most recherché dinner and choice wines for at least five hundred
people. I was one of the fortunate ones who succeeded in getting early
admission. Then dancing was commenced, and kept on without ceasing until
daylight. Our popular commander danced without ever resting, and
appeared thoroughly to enjoy himself, though he retired at midnight, and
many followed his example; but by far the greater number remained till
morning, much to the delight of all the lovely and illustrious donnas
and señoras of Lisbon. The night was very dark, and many officers going
home lost their way and got into the enemy’s lines, but on stating
whence they came, were all treated most kindly, and at daylight were
allowed with hearty good wishes to proceed to their respective quarters.
For many weeks after this we continued in the Lines of Torres Vedras
receiving the enemy’s attacks, and after many hard struggles invariably
driving them back in confusion. At last Marshal Massena saw he could
neither force our position, nor hope for any lasting success by
continuing his efforts, so about the middle of January, 1811, being
known to be sorely tried for supplies and provisions, he retreated with
his army thirty miles or more, then established his headquarters at
Santarem, the approach to which he at once fortified. We followed
without delay and fixed our headquarters at Cartaxo, within ten miles of
Santarem, with one Light Division in front and in sight of the enemy.
The remaining corps were distributed on the various roads to our right
and left, following and watching the movements of our foes; and so we
continued for two months, without anything important being done. Our
Light Division did make some attempt to force the enemy’s advance
position in front of Santarem. This was a narrow causeway nearly a
quarter of a mile long, built with stone and lime over the centre of an
extensive bog or morass, very soft and knee-deep in water, at the
enemy’s end being strongly fortified with numerous covering breastworks
and guns in battery; but each attack failed with considerable loss to
us. For some weeks no further efforts were made in this direction, for
after a long reconnaissance it was believed that the storming and
carrying of such a place would entail a fearful sacrifice of life. It
was then determined to make one more effort, and the three grenadier
companies of my brigade were told off to lead the advance of the
storming party across the causeway. For this perilous duty we marched
off one morning before daylight to a certain rendezvous in a wood near
the site of our intended operations. There we found, in considerable
numbers, masses of infantry and many guns in battery, ready to support
us, and a part of the Light Division prepared to flank our advance, by
taking at once the swamps and marshes, and so clearing the way for other
troops to follow with the hope of turning both the enemy’s flanks and
getting into their rear, while we, the storming party, at the double,
with our powerful supports, should pass the causeway and storm and carry
the enemy’s stronghold and batteries at the end of it. All was well
arranged, and willing and ready were all to make the attempt; but
fortunately for many of us, just about the appointed hour for our
advance it came on to rain heavily, and so continued without ceasing for
some hours after daylight. As we could no longer conceal our movements
from the enemy, this attack was given up, and we marched back to our
quarters without any loss, but with a good wetting. Had the attack taken
place our loss would have been terribly heavy.
The most happy feeling prevailed between our Light Division and the
French advanced posts and garrison at Santarem. Many of our officers
used to go by special invitation to pass their evenings at the theatre
with the French officers at Santarem, and on every such occasion were
treated in the most hospitable manner, and always returned well pleased
with their visits. Of course, the sanction of the Commanders-in-Chief of
both armies was given to this intimacy. The Marquis de la Romana died at
Cartaxo while we were there, and was laid in state for many days, and
buried with much splendour and all military honours.
While here our “patrone,” the owner of our house, used to visit us very
frequently. One morning, while he was present, I was sitting before the
fire and poking with the tongs at the back of the chimney, when suddenly
it gave way, exposing a tin box, on which “patrone” called out in alarm,
“Mio dinhero! mio dinhero!” and at once seized it; but we insisted on
seeing the contents, and found a considerable sum of money, the poor
man’s all, and of course we restored it to him. When the French were
advancing some months before, most of the inhabitants hid their
treasures much in the same way.
I was one morning taking an early walk with Lieutenant Hunt, of my
regiment, in the immediate neighbourhood of Cartaxo, when we observed in
a field a mule and a donkey grazing; not far off was a Portuguese
peasant. I called him and asked to whom the animals belonged; he said he
did not know, but that he believed they had strayed from the French
lines, so I told him to drive them up to my quarters, and that I would
give him a few dollars for his trouble.
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