I GET MY COMPANY AND PROCEED TO BADAJOZ.
On the departure of the prince I immediately joined my regiment at
Albuquerque. On my arrival I had the honour of dining with General
Hill. He congratulated me on my good fortune in carrying the prince
safely to Lisbon, remarking that had I not been able to harangue the
peasantry in their native language, sixty soldiers instead of six
would scarcely have been a sufficient guard. The general had heard
from several Spanish officers of the difficulty and danger which I had
encountered. He then congratulated me on the certainty of my immediate
promotion; was pleased to say that I should soon reap the reward which
I so well merited, and then handed me the following letter, which he
requested me to keep by me:--
“GALLEGOS: _January 16th, 1812_.
“SIR,--I am directed to transmit to you the annexed extract
of a letter from Lieutenant-Colonel Torrens, in reply to your
recommendation in favour of Lieutenant Blakeney.
“The Commander-in-Chief will take an early opportunity of
recommending Lieutenant Blakeney for promotion.
“I have the honour to be, etc.,
“FITZROY SOMERSET,
“_Military Secretary_.
“LIEUTENANT-GENERAL HILL.”
Towards the latter end of February my name appeared in the _Gazette_,
promoted to a company in the 36th Regiment, dated January 16th, 1812.
After endeavouring in vain to accomplish an exchange back into my
old corps, I forwarded a memorial to the Duke of Wellington applying
for permission to join the 1st Battalion 36th Regiment, then in the
Peninsula. His Grace answered that he could not interfere with the
appointment of an officer from one battalion to another; that being
promoted I must join the 2nd battalion, to which I properly belonged;
and that I must therefore proceed to England and report my arrival
to the adjutant-general. A copy of this answer was forwarded from
headquarters to the officer commanding the 1st Battalion 36th Regiment,
then at Almendralejo. It was matter of surprise to many that whilst
hundreds of officers were vainly applying for leave to go to England, I
could not procure leave to keep from it; but such, no doubt, were the
arrangements between the Horse Guards and the army in the Peninsula.
[Sidenote: THE AFFAIR OF MERIDA.]
In the beginning of March General Hill moved upon Merida, endeavouring
to surprise a detachment of the enemy there stationed. He approached
within a short distance without being discovered; but an advanced guard
being at length perceived, the enemy hastily evacuated the town. As we
neared the place we saw their rearguard of cavalry crossing the bridge.
Our cavalry and light artillery had previously forded the Guadiana, and
it was confidently expected would soon come up with the retiring foe.
No longer doing duty with the 28th Regiment, I rode over the bridge as
the German dragoons were closely pressing on the enemy’s rear, passing
by their flank. I soon came in view of their main body. They proceeded
hesitatingly, having no doubt been informed by their patrols that our
cavalry had already forded the Guadiana. They halted on a conical hill,
or rather rising mound, which they occupied from its base to its
summit, apparently expecting to be charged. I immediately wheeled round
and returning at full speed informed General Hill of what I had seen.
The general, whose coolness was never more apparent than when the full
energy of the mind was called into action, replied in his usual placid
manner: “Very well; we shall soon be with them. Gallop over the bridge
again and tell General Long to keep closer to the wood.” Instantly
setting off I soon recrossed the bridge, at the far end of which I
met Lord Charles Fitzroy returning after having delivered a similar
message. The cavalry general’s reply was that he wished to keep clear
of the skirts of the wood, when one of us remarked that the wood must
have skirts more extensive than a dragoon’s cloak to keep them at such
a distance. The enemy, perceiving how far they kept away, descended
from the mound on which they had expected to be charged, and rapidly
pushed forward without any molestation; for as our dragoons moved they
still more deviated from the enemy’s line of march, and seemed to be
_en route_ for Badajoz. Had our cavalry closed upon the wood and even
menaced a charge, the progress of the enemy would have been impeded;
but had our cavalry and light guns, by which they were accompanied,
pushed forward rapidly, which they could have done since the plain was
flat and level, and headed the enemy, they would have kept them until
our infantry came up. But nothing of the kind was attempted, and so
every French soldier escaped, though every one ought to have been made
prisoner, and this affair of Merida would have been more complete than
even that of Arroyo Molinos; for when I reported the position of the
enemy to General Hill, they were not more than two miles distant from
our advanced guard. This affair caused an era in the life of General
Hill; for I heard many of his oldest acquaintances remark that before
the evening of this day they never saw a cloud upon his brow.
All hopes of being permitted to remain in the Peninsula having
vanished, I resolved to return to England. With heavy heart I parted
from the regiment in which I first drew my sword, in which my earliest
friendships were formed and my mind modelled as a soldier. In Colonel
Abercrombie’s quarters at Merida many of the officers were assembled.
Sorrowful, I bade adieu to my gallant old comrades, and quaffed a
goblet to their future success whilst I clasped the colours to my
breast--those colours which alone throughout the British army proudly
display the names of the two bloodiest fought battles in the Peninsula,
Barossa and Albuera; and in each of these battles the regiment claimed
a double share of the glory. At Barossa, while Colonel Belson at the
head of the 1st Battalion charged and turned the chosen grenadiers
forming the right of the enemy’s line, Colonel Browne of the regiment,
at the head of their flank companies, united with those of two other
corps, commanded the independent flank battalion; and this battalion,
the first in the battle and alone, suffered more casualties both in
officers and men (I allude particularly to the flankers of the 28th
Regiment) than triple that sustained by any other battalion present
in that memorable fight. At Albuera the 2nd Battalion of the regiment
were led by a gallant officer, Colonel Patterson; and the brigade in
which they served, that which with the brigade of the gallant Fusiliers
turned the wavering fortunes of the day, were commanded by the gallant
Abercrombie, the second lieutenant-colonel of the regiment.
[Sidenote: FAREWELL TO THE SLASHERS.]
Next morning at parting the light bobs gave me a cheer. I distinguished
among them some few of the old ventriloquists of Galicia; but on this
occasion their notes were, I believe, genuine. I bade a mournful
farewell to the old Slashers, and bent my steps towards Badajoz, then
about to be besieged. The next evening (March 15th) I came before the
place; and very opportunely Lieutenant Huddleston of the 28th Regiment,
my brother officer in the battalion company which I commanded for a
short time, arrived on the same day, being appointed to serve in the
Engineer department. He willingly shared his tent with me; and Sir
Frederick Slavin, also of the 28th Regiment, then adjutant-general
of the 3rd Division, introduced me to General Picton, who did me the
honour of saying that I should always find a cover at his table during
my stay before Badajoz. General Bowes, with whom I had the pleasure
of being acquainted at Gibraltar, gave me a similar invitation. Thus,
finding myself comparatively at home, I felt in no way inclined to
proceed too quickly to Lisbon.
During the siege I assisted generally in the trenches. On March 16th
everything was finally arranged, and on the following evening the
different divisions and regiments prepared to occupy their respective
posts. All the troops being assembled, generals and commanding officers
inspected their brigades and regiments in review order. The parade
was magnificent and imposing. The colours of each regiment proudly,
though scantily, floated in the breeze; they displayed but very little
embroidery. Scarcely could the well-earned badges of the regiments be
discerned; yet their lacerated condition, caused by the numberless
wounds which they received in battle, gave martial dignity to their
appearance and animated every British breast with national pride. The
review being terminated, a signal was given for each corps to proceed
to that spot of ground which they were destined to open. The whole
moved off. All the bands by one accord played the same tune, which
was cheered with shouts that bore ominous import and appeared to shake
Badajoz to its foundation. The music played was the animating national
Irish air, St. Patrick’s Day, when the shamrock was proudly clustered
with the laurel; and indeed, though these two shrubs are not reckoned
of the same family by proud collectors in the Cabinet, veterans hold
them to be closely allied in the field. Never was St. Patrick’s day
more loudly cheered or by stouter hearts, and never was the music more
nobly accompanied nor with more warlike bass; for all the troops echoed
the inspiring national air as proudly they marched to their ground.
Phillipon maintained an incessant fire of cannon, roared forth in proud
defiance from the destined fortress; and Badajoz being now invested on
both sides of the Guadiana, the operations of the siege were eagerly
pressed forward.
On the 19th, during the completion of the 1st parallel, a sortie was
made by the besieged soon after mid-day. Fifteen hundred of their
infantry, screened by the ravelin San Roque, formed between that
opening and the Picurina or small redoubt. They immediately pressed
forward and gained the works before our men could seize their arms,
while at the same time a party of cavalry, about fifty, the only
horsemen in the fortress, got in rear of the parallel. The confusion
was great at the first onset. Those on guard and the working men
were driven out of the trenches, and the cavalry sabred many in the
depôts at the rear; but the mischief being quickly discovered was soon
remedied. The Guards being reinforced immediately rallied and drove the
enemy out of the works at the point of the bayonet, when many lives
were lost. A part of the embankment was thrown into the trenches, and
the enemy carried away almost all the entrenching tools found in the
parallel. We lost one hundred and fifty men in killed and wounded
during this attack.
[Sidenote: CAPTURE OF FORT PICURINA.]
The siege was now carried on without interruption, notwithstanding the
severity of the weather, which frequently filled the trenches with
water; and so great was the fall of rain on the 22nd that the pontoon
bridge was carried away by the Guadiana overflowing its banks, and
the flying bridges over that river could scarcely be worked. This
threatened a failure of the siege, from the difficulty of supplying the
troops with provisions and the impossibility of bringing the guns and
ammunition across. Fortunately for the attack of the fortress however
the disaster was remedied by the river falling within its banks.
The morning of the 25th was ushered in by saluting the garrison with
twenty-eight pieces of cannon, opened from six different batteries;
and in the evening Fort Picurina was stormed, gallantly carried and
permanently retained. The enemy made a sortie on the night of the 29th,
on the right bank of the Guadiana against General Hamilton’s division,
who invested the fortress on that side; they were driven back with
loss, and on this occasion the besiegers had no casualties.
On the last day of March twenty-six pieces of ordnance from the 2nd
Parallel opened their fire against Fort Trinidad and the flank of the
protecting bastion, Santa Maria. This fire continued incessantly, aided
by an additional battery of six guns, which also opened from the 2nd
Parallel on the morning of April 4th against the ravelin of San Roque.
On the evening of the 6th Trinidad, Santa Maria and the ravelin of San
Roque were breached.
Preparations were made to storm the town that night; but reports
having been made by the engineers that strong works had been erected
for the defence of the two breaches, particularly in rear of the
large one made in the face of the bastion of Trinidad, where deep
retrenchments had been constructed and every means resorted to which
art and science could devise to prevent an entrance, the attack was
therefore put off. Many hundred lives were spared, but for twenty-four
hours only. All the guns in the 2nd Parallel were now directed against
the curtain of Trinidad; and towards the following evening a third
breach appeared; and the storming of Badajoz was arranged in the
following order for the night of the 6th. The 4th division under
command of Major-General the Honourable C. Colville, and the light
division under Lieutenant-Colonel Barnard, were destined to attack the
three breaches opened in the bastion of Trinidad, Santa Maria and the
connecting curtain. Lieutenant-General Picton, with the 3rd or fighting
division, was directed to attack the castle, which, from the great
height of its walls and no breach having been attempted there, the
enemy considered secure against assault. The ground left vacant by the
advance of the 4th and light divisions was to be occupied by the 5th
division, commanded by General Leith, with instructions to detach his
left brigade, under General Walker, to make a false attack against the
works of the fortress near the Guadiana, as also against the detached
work the Pardaleras. Brigadier-General Power, commanding a Portuguese
brigade on the opposite bank, was ordered to divert by making false
attacks upon a newly formed redoubt called Mon Cœur, upon Fort St.
Cristoval, upon the _tête du pont_ and upon I forget what else. With
these instructions the troops moved forward from the entrenchments
about ten o’clock at night to attack the destined town. The 3rd
Division, under Picton, preceded the general movement about a quarter
of an hour for the purpose of drawing away the enemy’s attention from
the openings in the wall, since these were considered the only really
vulnerable points of the fortress. The 4th and light divisions pushed
gallantly forward against these breaches, and were not discovered
until they had entered the ditch. During their advance the town was
liberally supplied with shells from our batteries, and the upper parts
of the breaches were continually fired upon by light troops placed
upon the glacis to disperse the enemy and prevent their repairing the
broken defences. This fire was but slightly answered, until the two
divisions mentioned were discovered entering the ditch, when they were
assailed by an awful cannonade, accompanied by the sharp and incessant
chattering of musketry. Fireballs were shot forth from the fortress,
which illumined the surrounding space and discovered every subsequent
movement.
[Sidenote: NIGHT ATTACK ON BADAJOZ.]
The dreadful strife now commenced. The thundering cheer of the British
soldiers as they rushed forward through the outer ditch, together with
the appalling roar of all arms sent forth in defiance from within,
was tremendous. Whenever an instant pause occurred it was filled
by the heartrending shrieks of the trodden-down wounded and by the
lengthened groans of the dying. Three times were the breaches cleared
of Frenchmen, driven off at the point of the bayonet by gallant
British soldiers to the very summit, when they were by the no less
gallant foe each time driven back, leaving their bravest officers
and foremost soldiers behind, who, whether killed or wounded, were
tossed down headlong to the foot of the breaches. Throughout this
dreadful conflict our bugles were continually sounding the advance.
The cry of “Bravo! bravo!” resounded through the ditches and along
the foot of the breaches; but no British cry was heard from within
the walls of Badajoz save that of despair, uttered by the bravest,
who despite of all obstacles forced their way into the body of the
place, and there through dire necessity abandoned, groaned forth their
last stabbed by unnumbered wounds. Again and again were the breaches
attacked with redoubled fury and defended with equal pertinacity and
stern resolution, seconded by every resource which science could adopt
or ingenuity suggest. Bags and barrels of gunpowder with short fuses
were rolled down, which, bursting at the bottom or along the face of
the breaches, destroyed all who advanced. Thousands of live shells,
hand-grenades, fireballs and every species of destructive combustible
were thrown down the breaches and over the walls into the ditches,
which, lighting and exploding at the same instant, rivalled the
lightning and thunder of heaven. This at intervals was succeeded by an
impenetrable darkness as of the infernal regions. Gallant foes laughing
at death met, fought, bled and rolled upon earth; and from the very
earth destruction burst, for the exploding mines cast up friends and
foes together, who in burning torture clashed and shrieked in the air.
Partly burned they fell back into the inundating water, continually
lighted by the incessant bursting of shells. Thus assailed by opposing
elements, they made the horrid scene yet more horrid by shrieks uttered
in wild despair, vainly struggling against a watery grave with limbs
convulsed and quivering from the consuming fire. The roaring of cannon,
the bursting of shells, the rattle of musketry, the awful explosion of
mines and the flaring sickly blaze of fireballs seemed not of human
invention, but rather as if all the elements of nature had greedily
combined in the general havoc, and heaven, earth and hell had united
for the destruction alike of devoted Badajoz and of its furious
assailants.
[Sidenote: HELL ON EARTH.]
In consequence of untoward disasters, which occurred at the very
onset by the troops being falsely led, their numbers were seriously
diminished and their compact formation disorganised. The third or last
opening in the curtain was never attempted, although this breach was
the most practicable, as it had been made only a few hours before, and
thus there had been no time to strengthen its defences. Owing to this
ruinous mistake, the harassed and depressed troops failed in their
repeated attacks.