in the extreme. In the midst of winter, in a dreary and desolate
country, the soldiers chilled and drenched with the heavy rains,
and wearied by long and rapid marches, were almost destitute of
fuel to cook their victuals, and it was with extreme difficulty
that they could procure shelter. Provisions were scarce,
irregularly issued, and difficult of attainment. The waggons,
in which were their magazines, baggage, and stores, were often
deserted in the night by the Spanish drivers, who were terrified by
the approach of the French. Thus baggage, ammunition, stores, and
even money were destroyed to prevent them falling into the hands of
the enemy; and the weak, the sick, and the wounded were necessarily
left behind.
[Sidenote: 1809.]
On the 5th of January 1809, the troops took up a position at
Lugo, where they remained bivouacked in order of battle until the
9th of that month, when they marched in the night, and arrived
at _Corunna_ on the 11th of January. The British army, having
accomplished one of the most celebrated retreats recorded in modern
history, repulsing the pursuing enemy in all his attacks, and
having traversed two hundred and fifty miles of mountainous country
under very disheartening circumstances, accompanied by severe
privation, was not destined to embark for England without a battle.
Marshal Soult, Duke of Dalmatia, having taken up a position above
the town of _Corunna_, made arrangements for attacking the British
army as soon as the troops should commence their embarkation. The
sick men, the women, and baggage having been conveyed on board
ship, preparations were made for embarking the troops on the 16th
of January 1809. The French instantly descended from the heights,
and advanced, about two o’clock, to attack the British position in
front of _Corunna_; a sanguinary action ensued, and before dark the
French were defeated in all their attacks. Lieut.-General Sir John
Moore was killed, and the battle was scarcely ended, when, wrapped
in a military cloak, his remains were interred in the citadel of
Corunna, over which Marshal Soult, with the chivalrous feeling of
a true soldier, erected a monument.
This victory enabled the British troops to be embarked without
further molestation. In this battle the first battalion of the
THIRTY-SIXTH was posted on the left of the British line.
During the retreat to _Corunna_, and its services there, the
battalion had Lieutenant John White wounded, and one serjeant and
two rank and file killed; one serjeant, three drummers, and one
hundred and fifty-three rank and file, were taken prisoners.
In commemoration of this battle, and of the conduct of the
battalion during the expedition, the THIRTY-SIXTH, in common with
the army employed under Lieut.-General Sir John Moore, received the
Royal authority to bear the word “CORUNNA” on the regimental colour
and appointments.[18]
The army also received the thanks of both Houses of Parliament “for
its distinguished discipline, firmness, and valour in the battle of
CORUNNA.”
On the 17th of January the battalion embarked at Corunna for
England; portions landed at Plymouth, Portsmouth, and Deal, but the
several divisions were assembled at Battle, in Sussex, during the
month of February.
Immense preparations had been made by the British Government to fit
out the most formidable armament that had for a long time proceeded
from England. The troops amounted to forty thousand men, commanded
by Lieut.-General the Earl of Chatham; the naval portion consisted
of thirty-nine ships of the line, thirty-six frigates, and numerous
gun-boats and bomb-vessels, and other small craft, under Admiral
Sir Richard Strachan. The object of the expedition was to obtain
possession of the islands at the mouth of the _Scheldt_, and to
destroy the French ships in that river, with the docks and arsenals
at Antwerp. The first battalion of the THIRTY-SIXTH regiment
received orders to prepare itself for this service, and on the
16th of July embarked at Portsmouth for _Walcheren_, under the
command of Colonel Burne. The expedition sailed from the Downs
on the 28th of July, and on the morning of the 1st of August the
THIRTY-SIXTH and other corps were landed, and on the same day the
troops advanced to the investment of _Flushing_, which operation
was warmly contested by the enemy.
By the 13th of August, the preparations for the attack on the town
were completed, and on the night of the 14th one of the enemy’s
batteries, advanced upon the sea dyke in front of Lieut.-General
Alexander Mackenzie Fraser’s position, was most gallantly carried
at the point of the bayonet by detachments from the THIRTY-SIXTH,
Seventy-first, and the light battalions of the King’s German
legion, under Lieut.-Colonel Denis Pack, of the Seventy-first,
although opposed to great superiority of numbers; the troops took
forty prisoners, and killed and wounded a great many of the enemy.
_Flushing_ capitulated on the 15th of August; the garrison becoming
prisoners of war.
From the 8th to the 15th of August the THIRTY-SIXTH had three rank
and file killed; Major Alexander Mackenzie was dangerously wounded;
two serjeants and seven rank and file were wounded.
An epidemic disease of a fatal character broke out among the
troops, and the following officers and men of the THIRTY-SIXTH
regiment died of fever:--Captains Waddle, C. Douglas, and Alexander
Barbor, Lieutenant McDermott, Assistant-Surgeon James McFarlane,
fourteen serjeants, two drummers, and two hundred rank and file.
On the 10th of December 1809 the first battalion embarked for
England, and arrived at Woolwich on the 22d of that month; it
subsequently returned to Battle in Sussex.
[Sidenote: 1810.]
During the year 1810 the first battalion was stationed at Battle.
The second battalion was moved from Worcester to Kidderminster in
the spring, and in the summer to Cirencester, and subsequently to
Horsham.
[Sidenote: 1811.]
The first battalion occupied the barracks at Battle until January
1811, on the 28th of which month it embarked at Portsmouth under
the command of Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable Basil Cochrane on board
His Majesty’s ship “Victory,” and landed at Lisbon on the 5th of
March. The battalion immediately joined in the pursuit of Marshal
Massena from Santarem, and was in position at the expulsion of the
enemy from Guarda on the 29th of March.
The battalion was next employed in the blockade of _Almeida_, and
Marshal Massena, having concentrated his forces, crossed the Agueda
on the 2d of May for the purpose of relieving the place. This
movement led to the actions at _Fuentes d’Onor_ on the 3d and 5th
of May. In the battle of the 5th the battalion was in position,
but was not actively engaged. The French were defeated, after a
prolonged contest, and Marshal Massena left _Almeida_ to its fate.
The place was evacuated by General Brennier at midnight of the 10th
of May, when the enemy blew up the works, and the greater part of
the garrison succeeded in effecting its escape during the night.
On the 11th of May, when the garrison of _Almeida_ effected its
escape through the corps on duty, Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable
Basil Cochrane, with about half of the first battalion of the
THIRTY-SIXTH regiment, had the good fortune to come up with the
French at the bridge of _Barba del Puerco_; and, in conjunction
with the Grenadier company of the Fourth foot under Captain Thomas
Burke, caused them considerable loss. Many were killed and wounded,
and three hundred were taken prisoners, but the rest escaped.
The remainder of the battalion took another road in the pursuit,
under the orders of Brigadier-General Robert Burne, Lieut.-Colonel
of the THIRTY-SIXTH, and intercepted many stragglers, whom they
made prisoners.
The casualties under Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable Basil Cochrane
were two killed;--Lieutenant Charles Moody and eight rank and file
were taken prisoners.
Early in June 1811 the battalion commenced its march for the
south of Portugal, and continued at the camp of Arronches until
the 18th of July, when it again returned to the north, and was in
cantonments at Barquilla, in Spain, during August and September;
on the 25th of September it was in position at the affair of
_Especha_, when the enemy advanced to relieve _Ciudad Rodrigo_,
which was blockaded by the Allied army. The battalion was likewise
in position at the subsequent affair near _Ronda_ on the 27th of
September.
On the 30th of September the British army went into cantonments,
the THIRTY-SIXTH occupying the village of Pinziu. There
Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable Basil Cochrane found his health so
much on the decline that he was compelled to apply for leave to
return to England; and on the 13th of October he quitted the corps
for that purpose, the command of which then devolved on Major
William Cross.
On the 24th of November the battalion marched to Gallegos, in
Spain, with the view of intercepting a convoy of provisions
intended for the garrison of Ciudad Rodrigo, but the incessant rain
had so flooded the rivers that it was found impossible to cross at
the points intended, which circumstance enabled the convoy to reach
its destination.
The battalion commenced its march to new cantonments at Mongualda
on the 27th of November, which it reached on the 3d of December.
[Sidenote: 1812.]
On the 14th of January 1812 the battalion was moved from Mongualda,
by forced marches, to assist in the siege of _Ciudad Rodrigo_,
which, however, was taken on the night of the 19th of January by
the troops under Viscount Wellington, just as the THIRTY-SIXTH were
on the point of leaving Nava d’Aver, within ten miles of the scene
of operations; the battalion remained at Nava d’Aver until Ciudad
Rodrigo was secured against a _coup de main_, and then marched into
cantonments at Meda, which it reached on the 3d of February.
Major-General Henry Clinton arrived and assumed the command of the
sixth division on the 11th of February. On the 20th of that month
the battalion marched for the south of Portugal, reached Estremos
on the 6th of March, and remained there until the 14th, on which
day it proceeded to Borba, and on the 15th to the camp at Elvas,
where the army was assembled. On the following day it marched to
aid in investing _Badajoz_, and from thence proceeded with the
covering army, under Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Graham (afterwards
Lord Lynedoch), which, after the affairs of Usagré, Llerena,
Berlonga, and Asuaga, effected the expulsion of the enemy from
Spanish Estremadura, and then returned to support the attack on
_Badajoz_. The battalion reached Albuhera on the 6th of April, on
the night of which Badajoz was stormed and carried.
The enemy being thus thwarted in all his views against the south,
in which the principal part of the British troops was assembled,
made a sudden invasion of the north of Portugal, and advanced as
far as Castello Branco. The sixth division was in consequence moved
with the utmost rapidity in that direction, but on its approach the
enemy retired, and the division again returned to the south, the
THIRTY-SIXTH taking up cantonments at Castello de Vide on the 30th
of April.
On the 5th May 1812, Lieut.-Colonel Lewis Davies arrived, and
assumed the command of the THIRTY-SIXTH; towards the end of the
month Major William Cross, who had been in very bad health for
several weeks, proceeded to join the second battalion in England.
The battalion marched to Azumar on the 8th of May, and on the 13th
to Arronches, from which it moved towards the end of the month
to Puebla, in Spain, then to Badajoz, where it halted five days,
thence to Castello de Vide for two days, from which it marched
through Castello Branco in the direction of Salamanca, which it
reached on the 17th of June, and operations were then immediately
commenced against the Forts at Salamanca by the light companies
of the division under Colonel Samuel Venables Hinde, of the
Thirty-second regiment. They were attacked without success on the
23d, and carried on the 27th of June by a party under the command
of Lieut.-Colonel Davies, of the THIRTY-SIXTH, with a loss to the
battalion of Lieutenant George Mackenzie and eleven rank and file
killed, and Captain Paul Minchin Hobart and twenty-five rank and
file wounded. Captain Hobart, who was promoted to the brevet rank
of Major on the 23d of July 1812, died of his wounds.
The battalion then occupied different villages in the
neighbourhood, and on the 22d of July it took a considerable share
in the battle of Salamanca. The change of the allied position and
various manœuvres occupied the day without any close engagement,
excepting on the left for the possession of the Arapiles; the
battle of _Salamanca_ did not commence in earnest until after three
o’clock, when the French left, having been very much extended
by the advance of the division of General Thomières, with the
light cavalry and fifty pieces of artillery, along a range of
heights parallel with the British line, to cut off the right of
the allies from the Ciudad Rodrigo road, the third division was
ordered to advance in four columns, supported by cavalry to turn
the French left. The evolutions of this great battle are too varied
to be clearly described with brevity. The sixth division under
Major-General Clinton, of which the THIRTY-SIXTH formed part, was
placed at first in reserve, but at a critical period in the action
it was ordered up to relieve the fourth division, and the battle
was soon restored to its former success.
The enemy’s right, reinforced by the troops which had fled from
his left, and by those which had by this time retired from the
Arapiles, still continued to resist; and while other corps were
directed to turn the right, the sixth division, supported by the
third and fifth, attacked the front. It was dark before this point
was carried by the sixth division, and the enemy then fled through
the woods towards the Tormes.
Lieut.-General Sir William Napier, in his History of the Peninsular
War, thus sums up the account of this victory:--
“The battle of Salamanca, remarkable in many points of view,
was not least so in this, that it was the first decided victory
gained by the allies in the Peninsula. In former actions the
French had been repulsed, here they were driven headlong, as it
were, before a mighty wind, without help or stay, and the results
were proportionate.”
The THIRTY-SIXTH had Captains William Tulloh and Alexander
Middleton, Lieutenants Arthur Parker and Richard Barton, one
serjeant, and fifteen rank and file killed. Brevet-Major John Fox,
Lieutenants Walter Ewart, and David Price, Ensigns Richard James
Bourchier, William Wainwright, with four serjeants and seventy rank
and file, were wounded. Lieutenant Ewart subsequently died of his
wounds.
Lieut.-Colonel Davies obtained the medal issued for the victory
gained at Salamanca; and the THIRTY-SIXTH subsequently received
the Royal Authority to bear the word “SALAMANCA” on the regimental
colour and appointments, in commemoration of the gallantry
displayed in that battle.
On the 23d of July the battalion was employed in pursuit of
the enemy by the route of Alba de Tormes, and in August went
into cantonments at Cuellar; towards the end of that month it
marched again, and encamped before _Burgos_, which the Marquis of
Wellington (that title having been conferred upon him after the
victory at Salamanca) ordered should be forthwith invested.
Major Molyneux Smith, of the THIRTY-SIXTH, died on the 21st of
August 1812, and Brevet-Major John Fox was appointed his successor
on the 1st of October following. The battalion took an active share
in all the operations against Burgos, from which the British army
retired on the 21st of October. The THIRTY-SIXTH, during the siege,
had seven rank and file killed and eleven wounded.
After this most harassing retreat, rendered so by the severity
of the weather and the dreadful state of the roads, as well as
by a numerous and active-pursuing enemy, the battalion, early in
December, reached Falgosa de Medelina, in Portugal, where it halted
for some weeks.
[Sidenote: 1813.]
In February 1813 the battalion marched from Falgosa de Medelina to
Toraish, where it remained until May. There Lieut.-Colonel Davies,
in consequence of ill-health, left the corps for England, when the
command devolved on Brevet Lieut.-Colonel John Ward.
On the 14th of May the allied army again advanced, crossed the
Douro on the 19th, and halted on the 20th at Toro de Monte Corva;
on the 24th reached Malhadus, and halted until the 27th, and on
the 29th entered Spain by crossing the Corsa, near Murga, where the
troops, of which the THIRTY-SIXTH formed part, halted until the
31st. On the 1st of June they crossed the Esla by a pontoon bridge,
and continued the march until the 19th, when they halted at Madina
to observe General Clausel’s corps, and cover the British stores
and ammunition.
The battalion reached _Vittoria_ on the 22d of June, the day
following the victory gained there by the Marquis of Wellington,
and halted at that place during the 23d and 24th, still observing
General Clausel. On the 26th the battalion marched to Mondragoa,
and afterwards retrograded to Montinca, whence Clausel was pursued
to the bridge of Lagosa, where the battalion arrived on the 30th
of June; and, marching again on the 1st of July, it encamped near
_Pampeluna_ on the 5th of that month.
There the battalion halted until the 13th of July, and on the
following day it marched to Lanz, where it remained until the
22d; and on the 23d it crossed the Low Pyrenees to the valley of
San Estevan; on the 27th the battalion re-crossed the Pyrenees to
Torrossa.
On the 28th of July the battalion was in position near _Pampeluna_,
and was warmly engaged, the light company under Captain William
Campbell being detached in smart skirmishing. On the following day
both armies remained quiet; but on the 30th of July the battalion
was again engaged early in the morning, the light company being, as
before, detached, under Captain Campbell, to expel the enemy from
the village of _Sorauren_. About eight o’clock Major Martin Leggatt
arrived, and assumed the command, when Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Ward
immediately proceeded to join the light company in Sorauren.
Marshal Soult was however foiled, and about two o’clock in the
afternoon the enemy was in general retreat, being pursued by the
whole army.
In approbation of the conduct of Major Leggatt, Brevet
Lieut.-Colonel Ward and Captain Campbell on the three
last-mentioned days, His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, in the
name and behalf of His Majesty, was graciously pleased to present
each of them with a medal for the battles of the Pyrenees, and to
promote Captain Campbell to the brevet rank of Major.
The THIRTY-SIXTH subsequently received the Royal Authority to bear
on the regimental colour and appointments the word “PYRENEES,” in
commemoration of the services of the first battalion in the actions
which occurred there, and which have been designated the “_Battles
of the Pyrenees_.”
On the 1st of August the battalion reached Bargetta, and halted
there until the 3d; on the following day it pursued the enemy to
the valley of Alduides; and on the 5th and 6th the battalion was in
position;--on the 7th it marched and encamped in the valley near
Maya, and on the 8th moved to the camp at the Pass of Maya, where
the battalion remained until the 9th of September.
Major William Cross arrived at the camp of Maya on the 10th of
September, and resumed the command of the battalion.
The battalion was present in the affair of _Urdax_ on the 7th of
October, and had forty-six rank and file killed and wounded.
The British army was put in motion at an early hour in the morning
of the 10th of November, and advanced to attack the enemy in his
fortified position on the _Nivelle_. In the battle which ensued, it
was the proud lot of the sixth division, of which the THIRTY-SIXTH
formed part, to charge and carry the enemy’s breastwork and
principal redoubt on the heights of _Ainhoa_, with the loss of one
drummer and five rank and file killed.
The Marquis of Wellington, in his despatch of the 13th of November,
thus alluded to the conduct of the THIRTY-SIXTH on this occasion:--
“I had the pleasure of seeing the sixth division under
Lieut.-General Sir Henry Clinton, after having crossed the
Nivelle, and having driven in the enemy’s piquets on both banks,
and having covered the passage of the Portuguese division under
Lieut.-Colonel Sir John Hamilton, on its right, _make a most
handsome attack upon the right of the enemy’s position behind
Ainhoa, and on the right of the Nivelle, and carry all the
entrenchments, and the redoubt on that flank_. Lieut.-General Sir
John Hamilton, supported with the Portuguese division, the sixth
division on its right, and both co-operated in the attack of the
second redoubt, which was immediately carried.”
In this battle the THIRTY-SIXTH had Captains Robert Blakeney and
William Gillam, Lieutenants Thomas L’Estrange and William Tunstall,
Ensigns James McCabe and John Skerry, one serjeant and fifty-eight
rank and file, wounded.
Major Cross, for his services on this day, was promoted to the
brevet rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, and was with Brevet-Major
Campbell honoured with the medal for the battle of the Nivelle.
The THIRTY-SIXTH subsequently received the Royal Authority to bear
the word “NIVELLE” on the regimental colour and appointments, in
commemoration of the gallantry of the first battalion in that
battle.
After this victory the battalion was in cantonments at Usteritz,
on the river _Nive_, observing the enemy,--who was in force on the
opposite side,--until the 9th of December, when the passage of the
river was forced, and the battle of the _Nive_ ensued. In the
passage of the Nive the THIRTY-SIXTH had only three rank and file
wounded.
The enemy having failed in all his attacks, with his whole force,
on the British left, withdrew into his entrenchments on the night
of the 12th of December, and passed a large force through Bayonne,
with which, on the morning of the 13th, he made a most desperate
attack on the troops under Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill; the
Marquis of Wellington, in expectation of this attack, had given
orders that the Lieut.-General should be reinforced with the sixth
division, which crossed the Nive at daylight on that morning.
The THIRTY-SIXTH were accordingly in position at _Bidart_, but
Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill defeated the enemy with the troops
under his own immediate command on the 13th of December, with
immense loss, before the arrival of the reinforcement, although the
march of the sixth division afforded him great facility in making
his movements.
In commemoration of the operations connected with the passage of
the river _Nive_, the THIRTY-SIXTH subsequently received the Royal
Authority to bear the word “NIVE” on the regimental colour and
appointments.
On the 14th of December the THIRTY-SIXTH occupied cantonments at
Ville Franque, and commenced the severe duty of the blockade of
_Bayonne_.
[Sidenote: 1814.]
The battalion was employed on this duty until the 21st of February
1814, on which day the army advanced, the THIRTY-SIXTH being
selected by Lieut.-General Sir Henry Clinton, K.B., for the
important duty of protecting the artillery of the division from an
apprehended attack upon it by the enemy’s garrison of St. Jean Pied
de Port, which the dreadful state of the roads obliged it nearly to
pass. This obstacle fortunately surmounted, by forced marches the
THIRTY-SIXTH rejoined the army on the 26th of February, and shared
in the battle of _Orthes_ on the following day.