proceeded into extensive cantonments (head-quarters at Clonmell),
from whence it was withdrawn in August following, and eight troops,
of eighty rank and file and eighty horses per troop, embarked at
Cork for Portugal. The transports sailed on the 2nd of September,
and on the 12th and 13th of that month the regiment landed at
Lisbon, and occupied the barracks at Belem.
[Sidenote: 1810]
The British army in Portugal, commanded by Lord Wellington, was
occupying quarters on the Mondego. The ROYAL DRAGOONS marched a
few stages up the country in January, 1810, and were stationed at
Santarem and Torres Novas, in the province of Estremadura; from
whence they marched, in February, to Niza and Alphalo, in the
Alentejo.
The enemy having an immense superiority of numbers, the British
commander was reduced to the necessity of acting on the defensive,
and his ultimate object was the protection of Lisbon. He, however,
resolved to maintain a frontier position as long as possible;
and, Ciudad Rodrigo being menaced in the end of April, the ROYAL
DRAGOONS were ordered to advance to Belmonte, in the province of
Beira, where they arrived on the 5th of May. The French army,
commanded by Marshal Massena, Prince of Esling, proved so numerous,
that all hope of preserving Ciudad Rodrigo was abandoned. The ROYAL
DRAGOONS left Belmonte on the 9th of June, and proceeded to Villa
Velha, from whence they marched, on the 1st of July, to Ville de
Touro, and towards the end of the same month to Alverca; the enemy
having taken Ciudad Rodrigo and besieged Almeida, the advanced
posts of the British army were removed to _Frexadas_.
The French took Almeida on the 27th of August, and on the
following day attacked a squadron of the ROYALS and a squadron
of the fourteenth light dragoons on piquet at _Frexadas_, under
the command of Major Dorville. The enemy brought forward a
superior force of cavalry, supported by infantry; but the two
British squadrons, undaunted by superior numbers, charged the
French horsemen with signal gallantry, and drove them from the
field with the loss of many men killed and wounded, and five taken
prisoners.[55] The ROYALS lost, in this encounter, two men and one
horse killed, and two men and one horse wounded.
The allied army retired a short distance. The ROYAL DRAGOONS
continued to be actively employed, and, in a skirmish with the
enemy on the 2nd of September at _Alverca_, on the main road to
Almeida, they had a serjeant wounded. The regiment retired from its
advanced position on the same day, and on the 19th of that month
was stationed at Santa Comba Dão.
The enemy continued to press upon the rear of the British army, and
a party of the ROYAL DRAGOONS had another encounter with the French
on the 21st of September, and had one man wounded, and another
wounded and taken prisoner.
Lord Wellington having resolved to make a stand on the heights
of _Busaco_, the army retired to that position, covered by the
ROYALS and fourteenth light dragoons. During the severe contest
in the mountains on the 27th of September, the ROYALS were formed
in reserve behind the position; and when the army retired to
the celebrated lines of _Torres Vedras_, the ROYALS once more
occupied the post of honour in the rear of the line of march. The
French pressing upon the retiring army near _Pombal_ on the 5th
of October, their audacity was punished by a piquet of the ROYALS
commanded by Lieutenant Carden, who charged the enemy and drove
them back with loss; but, having advanced too far in pursuit,
the lieutenant and one man, who were both wounded, were taken
prisoners: the piquet, however, captured and brought off a French
cavalry officer. The enemy's leading corps, being supported by
immense columns, continued to hover round the rear of the allied
army; and the temerity of their cavalry was again chastised on the
9th of October, near _Quinta de Torre_, by a squadron of the ROYAL
DRAGOONS, which made a gallant charge, driving the French horsemen
back with loss, and forcing them to take shelter behind a corps of
infantry. This corps was too strong to be attacked by the squadron,
and the ROYALS, having received a volley, retired with the loss of
six horses killed, and one serjeant-major and two men wounded, with
four men wounded and taken prisoners.
On the following day the allied army was in position in the
fortified lines, where it opposed to the advance of the enemy
a barrier so formidable that Marshal Massena, after several
reconnoisances, declined to attack it, and retired during the
night of the 14th of November. On the 15th the ROYAL DRAGOONS were
despatched after the enemy, and a piquet of the regiment took a
serjeant and five French dragoons prisoners.
The French army took post on the heights of Santarem; and the ROYAL
DRAGOONS were stationed at Cazal Diera, Quinta, St. Christol, and
Porto de Mugem, from whence they sent out detachments on piquet and
outpost duty.
[Sidenote: 1811]
The French Marshal, having consumed his resources and wasted the
numbers and physical power of his army, retired from Santarem
on the night of the 5th of March, 1811. The ROYALS were again
despatched in pursuit, and in the series of brilliant exploits
which followed they took a distinguished part. They had a skirmish
with the enemy near _Pecoloo_ on the 7th of March, when they took
three prisoners, and had one man and one horse wounded. They had
another encounter with the French on the 8th of March, and had two
men and one horse wounded. They again came in contact with the
enemy on the 11th of March, near _Pombal_, and took two serjeants
and seventy-six men prisoners.
Resuming the pursuit on the following day the allies discovered
in their front a body of French cavalry, infantry, and artillery,
posted on a high table land near _Redinha_. Lord Wellington ordered
the troops to form in line, and the ROYAL DRAGOONS were directed to
support the attack of the infantry. Three shots from the British
centre was the signal to advance, and suddenly a most splendid
spectacle of war was exhibited. The woods seemed alive with troops,
and in a few moments thirty thousand men, forming three lines
of battle, were stretched across the plain, bending in a gentle
curve, and moving majestically onwards, while the horsemen and
guns, springing forward simultaneously from the centre and left
wing, charged under a general volley from the French battalions:
the latter were instantly hidden by the smoke, and when that had
cleared away, no enemy was to be seen, the French having made a
precipitate retreat to Condeixa.
The British again moved forward in pursuit, and on the 14th of
March the ROYAL DRAGOONS supported a successful attack of the
infantry on a French force posted in the mountains at _Casal Nova_:
they also supported the attack on the French position at _Foz
d'Aronce_ on the 15th; and on the 18th they encountered a party of
the enemy near _Sernadilla_, when they took a serjeant and twelve
men prisoners, and captured twelve mules: the ROYALS had only one
man wounded on this occasion. They continued hovering near the
French army; and on the 26th of March a patrole of the ROYALS,
commanded by Lieutenant Foster, with a patrole of the sixteenth
light dragoons, attacked a detachment of French cavalry near
_Alverca_ with distinguished gallantry, sabred several dragoons,
and took an officer and thirty-seven men prisoners.[56]
The ROYALS had another affair with a party of the enemy on the 28th
of March, when they captured a car laden with officers' baggage
near Ardés, and had one man wounded. On the third of April they
were posted in reserve during the action at _Sabugal_; and, on the
retreat of the French, they were detached in pursuit, and captured
several mules laden with baggage near _Alfayates_.
On the 7th of April the ROYALS were sent to the relief of a corps
of Portuguese militia, commanded by Colonel Trant, who had taken
post near _Fort Conception_. A brigade of French infantry was
within half a mile of the militia, whose destruction appeared
inevitable, when suddenly two cannon shots were heard to the
southward,--the French formed squares in retreat,--and in a few
minutes six squadrons of British cavalry and a troop of horse
artillery came sweeping up the plain in their rear. The Portuguese
were rescued from impending danger. The enemy, however, contrived
to effect their escape, with the loss of about three hundred men
killed, wounded, and taken prisoners, and part of their baggage:
among the other captures the ROYAL DRAGOONS took a drove of
fourteen bullocks and a horse.
The French army having been driven out of Portugal, the allies
blockaded _Almeida_. Marshal Massena advanced to relieve that
place, and he found the allied army posted on a fine table land,
the left at Fort Conception, and the right at the beautiful village
of _Fuentes d'Onor_. The village was attacked on the 3rd of May,
and on the 5th a general assault was made on the British army. The
French drove in the cavalry out-guards, and by the impetuosity of
their attacks gained some advantage; when two squadrons of the
ROYALS, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel CLIFTON, made a gallant
and successful charge on the enemy's cavalry, took a serjeant and
twenty-three men, and released a party of the foot guards who had
been made prisoners by the French. A party of the enemy's cavalry
made a gallant charge, and captured two guns belonging to Captain
Bull's troop of horse artillery; when a squadron of the ROYALS
dashed forward, routed the enemy, and retook the guns, which they
brought back to the British line, with several French prisoners.
Finally, the French were repulsed at every point of attack, and
forced to relinquish their design of relieving _Almeida_. The
ROYAL DRAGOONS had four men and nineteen horses killed; also two
serjeants, thirty-four men, and twenty-four horses wounded; and
they subsequently occupied their former quarters at Villa de Ceirva.
About midnight on the 10th of May the French garrison in _Almeida_
blew up the works, then rushed in one column out of the town,
forced their passage through the blockading troops, and directed
their march on Villa de Ceirva; but finding it occupied by the
ROYALS they changed the direction of their march and moved on Barba
del Puerco. A party of the ROYAL DRAGOONS having been suddenly
called out in the night, overtook the rear of the French column,
which they attacked, and took a serjeant and nine men prisoners.
The fourth and thirty-sixth foot also pursued the enemy; but the
main body of the garrison made good their retreat. The regiment had
two men wounded on this occasion.
After this affair Lord Wellington proceeded to Estremadura, to
besiege Badajoz: but the ROYAL DRAGOONS remained with the forces
left on the frontiers of Portugal, near Ciudad Rodrigo; and they
were stationed in advance to cover the front from Villa de Egua to
Espejo.
The French army, having been reinforced, and placed under the
command of Marshal Marmont, advanced at daybreak on the morning
of the 6th of June in two columns, when the light division
was directed to retire from Gallegos upon _Nave d'Aver_, and
subsequently upon Alfayetes; and the ROYALS, commanded by
Lieutenant-Colonel CLIFTON, with a troop of the fourteenth light
dragoons, were assembled at Gallegos to cover the retreat. The
French brought forward about two thousand cavalry, six thousand
infantry, and ten guns; and the ROYALS confronted this immense
force with a degree of fortitude and valour seldom equalled.[57]
That celebrated French cavalry officer, General Montbrun, manœuvred
to outflank the ROYALS; but his squadrons were attacked and
defeated twice, and the retreat was effected with little loss.
For their distinguished conduct on this occasion the ROYALS were
publicly thanked by Lieutenant-General Sir Brent Spencer, who
commanded, in the absence of Lord Wellington in Estremadura. They
lost on this occasion a troop-serjeant-major, three men, and six
horses killed; and nine men wounded.
The ROYALS subsequently bivouacked near Sabugal, from whence they
proceeded to Arronches, and were encamped at the conflux of the
Caya and Algrette: towards the end of July they marched to Idanha a
Nova, on the frontiers of Portugal; and in August to Villa de Toura
and Iteura. Meanwhile Lord Wellington returned from Estremadura,
and afterwards blockaded Ciudad Rodrigo. Marshal Marmont advanced;
when his lordship raised the blockade, and took up a defensive
position, and the ROYAL DRAGOONS were posted on the 22nd of
September on the Upper Azava. A series of attacks and manœuvres
followed, and on the 25th the ROYALS were in the position of Fuente
Guinaldo: from whence they were ordered to retire on the following
day; and on the 27th were posted near Alfayates, with a piquet at
_Aldea de Ponte_, which was attacked by the enemy, when Lieutenant
Ross had his horse killed under him, and three men and six horses
were wounded. On the following day the ROYALS were with the army
in position behind Soito; and Lord Wellington offered battle, but
the enemy retired, and the allied army went into cantonments. The
ROYALS were stationed at Adão; subsequently at Espejo, and towards
the end of November marched for Meda.
[Sidenote: 1812]
Lord Wellington having resolved to besiege _Ciudad Rodrigo_, the
ROYAL DRAGOONS marched to the vicinity of that city in January,
1812, and took post at Villa Turpina, to cover the troops employed
in the siege. This city was taken by storm on the 19th of that
month, and, when the works were put in a state of defence, the
ROYALS marched to St. Jao de Presquere. The siege of _Badajoz_--the
capital of Spanish Estremadura, situate on a beautiful plain on
the banks of the Guadiana, was next determined upon: the army was
accordingly put in motion for the south, and the ROYAL DRAGOONS,
proceeding by way of Abrantes into Spanish Estremadura, were placed
under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Graham; and,
having crossed the Guadiana on the 16th of March, advanced upon
Valverde and Santa Martha, and thence towards Llerena,--an old town
of Estremadura, which once belonged to the knights of St. John.
On the 19th of March the ROYALS were at Villa Franca; but on the
advance of Marshal Soult, with a considerable force, they retired.
_Badajoz_ was taken on the 6th of April, and Lord Wellington
afterwards proceeded to the north; but the ROYAL DRAGOONS remained
in Estremadura, forming part of the force left in the south under
the command of Lieutenant-General Sir Rowland Hill.
On the 25th of May a squadron of the ROYALS, commanded by Major
DORVILLE, proceeded on out-post duty to _Llera_. On the 27th, at
night, the commanding officer ascertained that a French brigade
had advanced within a short distance of his post: he therefore
retired to a wood about a mile behind the village, and having
placed a small piquet on an eminence, with a support at the
ford of a rivulet in front of the wood, the squadron bivouacked
for the night. In the mean time a brigade of French cavalry,
commanded by Brigadier-General L'Allemand, advanced to _Llera_,
and surrounded the village at midnight, expecting to surprise the
squadron in its quarters; but on discovering that it had marched,
he advanced towards the wood, and, attacking the piquet, wounded
and took prisoners one serjeant and five men. Meanwhile the support
commenced a brisk fire, and gallantly defended the passage of the
ford, and the squadron, not having drawn bit, immediately mounted
and formed; when the French, being foiled in their object, retired:
the squadron followed, and continued skirmishing with the enemy
until they had passed _Llera_, and then resumed its former post.
On the 11th of June the seventeenth and twenty-ninth regiments
of French dragoons, commanded by Brigadier-General L'Allemand,
again proceeded to the vicinity of _Llera_, when Major-General
Slade advanced with the ROYALS and third dragoon guards, and
having attacked the French, routed them, and continued the pursuit
about nine miles. On arriving at the vicinity of _Maguilla_ the
British regiments had another opportunity of charging, when they
broke the enemy's first line, sabred many of the men, and took
one of General L'Allemand's aides-de-camp prisoner. The British
regiments rushed forward in pursuit with too much eagerness, each
vying with the other which should most distinguish itself; and in
a moment of confusion the French brought forward a reserve, and
charged the broken squadrons with such fury that they were obliged
to retire.[58] The ROYALS lost in this encounter one serjeant,
eleven men, and six horses killed; also nineteen men, and eight
horses wounded; and Lieutenant Windsor, with four serjeants and
thirty-nine men, taken prisoners. Lieutenant Windsor and most of
the men were wounded before they were taken.
Patroles were afterwards sent on the road to _Maguilla_, and on
the 14th of June a serjeant and twenty-five men of the ROYALS,
with the like number of the third dragoon guards, encountered a
squadron of French dragoons, which they charged with distinguished
gallantry, and having sabred a number of men, took a captain (the
commanding officer of the squadron), with a serjeant and twenty
men, prisoners; and captured twenty-three horses.
On the 18th of June the ROYALS marched for Albuhera: they were
subsequently encamped near Llerena, from whence they marched
to Los Santos. Meanwhile the forces under Lord Wellington had
defeated the French at _Salamanca_; and on the news of this success
Lieutenant-General Sir Rowland Hill advanced. The ROYALS were in
motion on the 30th of July, and proceeded to Villa Franca, and
subsequently to Fuente del Maestre.
The main army having marched to Madrid, Sir Rowland Hill advanced
to act in concert with Lord Wellington. The ROYALS advanced on the
27th of August, and on the 6th of September were at Villa Nova;
left that place on the 13th of September; crossed the pontoon
bridge at Almarez on the 19th, and arrived at Talavera, in the
valley of the Tagus, on the 28th; from whence they proceeded to
Tembleque, in New Castile. Lord Wellington having left Madrid and
besieged the castle of Burgos, Lieutenant-General Sir Rowland
Hill took up a position on the Tagus, and the ROYALS marched by
Aranjuez,--a beautiful palace of the kings of Spain,--to Morata.
The enemy, however, concentrated his forces, and advanced, with
an immense superiority of numbers, to relieve Burgos, when Lord
Wellington raised the siege and retired, and Lieutenant-General Sir
Rowland Hill made a corresponding movement. The ROYALS commenced
retiring on the 27th of October by Madrid and the pass of the
Guadarama mountains, and arrived, on the 12th of November, at
Salamanca; from whence they proceeded on the 15th to _Arguilla_,
and on the 17th had an encounter with the enemy, when four men and
one horse were wounded. Leaving Arguilla on the 28th of November
they proceeded to Zelreira, and towards the end of December to
Alcantara.
[Sidenote: 1813]
The ROYAL DRAGOONS passed the winter and spring of 1813 in Spanish
Estremadura, from whence they advanced, in the middle of May, to
turn the enemy's position on the northern bank of the Douro; and,
arriving at Salamanca on the 26th of that month, they forded the
river Tormes above the town, and encountered a body of French
infantry and a few cavalry under General Villatte, who was retiring
from Salamanca in the direction of Alba de Tormes, when the right
squadron, led by Lieutenant-Colonel CLIFTON, charged the enemy with
signal gallantry, sabred a number of men, and took one hundred
and forty-three prisoners, with four tumbrils. In this action
the ROYALS had five horses killed, and ten men and three horses
wounded: Major Purvis's charger was also killed under him.
After this action the ROYALS bivouacked near La Orbado until the
3rd of June, when they advanced, with the army, on Valladolid. The
enemy withdrew his troops from Madrid, and retired on Burgos; and
on the approach of the allied army blew up the castle and fell
back towards the Ebro, and subsequently to _Vittoria_, where he
prepared to give battle. The allied army followed in pursuit; and
in this long and toilsome march the ROYALS were subjected to much
fatigue and privation,--frequently marching from daybreak in the
morning until dusk in the evening, through a romantic and difficult
tract of country, and climbing mountains and passing defiles and
rugged precipices heretofore deemed impracticable. The horses, from
practice, ascended and descended the mountains with astonishing
facility; and on the 20th of June the troops were in front of the
enemy's position.
At daylight on the morning of the 21st of June the ROYAL DRAGOONS
left their bivouac, and advanced to support the attack of the
infantry on the heights in front of _Vittoria_. The face of the
ground was so rugged that the operations of the cavalry were
impeded, and for some time the services of the ROYALS were limited
to supporting the columns of attack: towards the evening they,
however, advanced to charge, but the enemy fled in confusion,
leaving behind them cannon, ammunition, baggage, and the military
chest of the army. The ROYALS moved forward in pursuit, and
bivouacked about three miles beyond _Vittoria_: their loss was
only one man and two horses killed, and one horse wounded.
On this occasion the regiment was commanded by Major Purvis,
Lieutenant-Colonel Clifton being in command of the brigade.
The ROYALS advanced in pursuit of the enemy on the following
morning, and on the 2nd of July they were at Suista and other
villages near _Pampeluna_, which place was blockaded by the allied
army. They left that quarter, however, on the 18th of July, for
Sanguesa, a town of Navarre, on the river Arragon, twenty-five
miles from _Pampeluna_. Towards the end of that month the French
army advanced to relieve _Pampeluna_, when the ROYALS were
immediately ordered to return to the vicinity of that place, and
they were formed in column at the foot of the mountains during the
battle of the _Pyrenees_. They remained with the blockading force
near _Pampeluna_ until the 10th of August, when, forage becoming
scarce, they again proceeded to the plains of the Arragon, where
they remained, together with General Mina's division of Spaniards,
as a corps of reserve and support to the blockade, until after the
surrender of that fortress. They were subsequently stationed at
Villa Franca during the winter.
[Sidenote: 1814]
In the mean time the main army had entered France. On the 3rd of
February, 1814, the ROYAL DRAGOONS marched to Tauste: from whence
they proceeded, in the beginning of March, through the Pyrenean
mountains, and entered France on the 9th of that month. For a
short period they were stationed near _Bayonne_, which place was
blockaded by the allied army; but they subsequently advanced up the
country, and on the 10th of April were at the battle of _Toulouse_,
when they were employed in covering the light brigade of guns, and
in driving the piquets of the enemy under the walls of the city,
which was immediately besieged. The French, having retired, the
ROYALS were ordered forward to Villa Franche, and afterwards to
Gardouch. These brilliant successes of the British troops were
followed by the abdication of Buonaparte, and the restoration of
peace.
The ROYAL DRAGOONS returned to Villa Franche on the 23rd of April,
where they remained about a month, and then moved to Montguiscarde;
and on the 2nd of June commenced their march through France to
Calais, where they arrived on the 17th of July. They embarked on
the following day, landed at Dover on the 19th, and marched from
thence to Bristol, where they arrived on the 11th of August; and
shortly afterwards the establishment was reduced from ten to eight
troops. In November the quarters were removed from Bristol to
Exeter; and the brilliant services of the regiment were rewarded
with permission to bear the word "PENINSULA," as an honorary
distinction, on the standards and appointments.
[Sidenote: 1815]