The second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST, and the other corps of
the division, commenced their march to the rear on the 1st of
January 1809. On arrival at Santarem, the intelligence of Sir
John Moore’s advance upon Sahagun had reached head-quarters, and
the anticipated danger being thus drawn from the frontiers of
Portugal, Brigadier-General Stewart was again ordered to halt. His
head-quarters continued at Santarem, and the THIRTY-FIRST occupied
cantonments in the neighbourhood of Bucellas. A month’s march in
incessant rain had seriously damaged the appointments, and the men
being indifferently provided with shoes, rendered a rest in this
pleasant quarter of infinite benefit.
In the meanwhile, the army under Lieut.-General Sir John Moore
had continued its retreat over two hundred and fifty miles of
mountainous country, constantly repulsing the attacks of the enemy.
The British army arrived at Corunna on the 11th of January, being
closely followed by Marshal Soult, who occupied a position on a
height above the town, in order to make an attack on the troops
while proceeding to embark. This operation commenced on the 16th
of January, and the French descending from the heights in three
columns, a sanguinary action ensued. Lieut.-General Sir John
Moore received a mortal wound from a cannon-ball, and his country
was deprived of an officer, who, both in his professional and
private character, had acquired universal esteem and admiration.
Lieut.-General Sir David Baird lost an arm, and the command
devolved on Lieut.-General Sir John Hope, who vigorously maintained
the action, the British remaining masters of the field. The
embarkation for England was effected on the following night, no
further molestation being offered by the enemy.
No change was made in the disposition of the army in Portugal
until the middle of March, when Lieut.-General Sherbrooke, and
Major-General John Randoll McKenzie, with their corps arrived.
The army was then drawn together between Lumiar and Sacavem, in
which position it encamped until toward the end of April, when
Lieut.-General Sir John Cradock commenced his advance towards Spain
on the 24th of that month; and when Lieut.-General Sir Arthur
Wellesley, who had arrived at Lisbon with reinforcements, assumed
the command of the army, the force was assembled at Leiria. The
first object of Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley was to dislodge
Marshal Soult from Oporto, and he accordingly marched towards that
city at the end of April.
A corps of British and Portuguese was detached, previous to Sir
Arthur Wellesley’s march upon Oporto, under Major-General McKenzie,
to watch the right bank of the Tagus in observation of Marshal
Victor in Estremadura. The second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST
joined this army, and remained posted at Thomar until after the
famous passage of the Douro by the British General, and the fall of
Oporto, which compelled Marshal Soult to retreat.
In the month of June the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST was
at Cortiçada with Major-General McKenzie’s head-quarters, and in
that officer’s division reached Placentia, whence on the 17th of
July it commenced its march to Oropesa, where it arrived on the
20th. A junction with the Spanish army under General Cuesta was
effected here, and on the 22nd the advanced guards, to which the
THIRTY-FIRST belonged, moved forward to the attack on the French
posts at _Talavera_. The enemy’s position was turned by the British
cavalry and infantry, while the Spanish General drove the French
on in front. On the 25th, in consequence of General Cuesta having
followed the enemy, two divisions of infantry were sent across the
Alberche to Casa Legas. The second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST
was in that commanded by Major-General McKenzie, and was brigaded
with the twenty-eighth and forty-fifth regiments.
On the 27th of July, when General Cuesta had retreated from
Alcabon under cover of Lieut.-General Sherbrooke’s divisions,
Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley withdrew to the position of
_Talavera_, leaving Major-General McKenzie on the Alberche to
protect the movement. When the French, on the 27th of July, crossed
this river, Major-General McKenzie’s division was posted near the
Casa des Salinas, his infantry in the forest, and cavalry on the
plain.
The attach was somewhat sudden, and the THIRTY-FIRST and
eighty-seventh regiments, which were in the wood on the right of
the Alberche, sustained some loss. As the enemy increased his
numbers on the British side of the river, Major-General McKenzie
fell back gradually, and entering the position by the left of the
combined army, took up his ground in a second line, in rear of the
foot guards. In the dusk of the evening the enemy commenced his
attack on the British left, but failed; in the night the attack was
repeated, and on the morning of the 28th of July the French renewed
the attack on the height on the British left, and were again
repulsed with considerable loss. After a pause of some hours the
attacks were renewed upon the whole British front, and the action
became general. Brigadier-General Alexander Campbell’s division,
on the British right, sustained the assault of the enemy’s fourth
corps, assisted by Major-General McKenzie’s brigade. “The English
regiments, putting the French skirmishers aside, met the advancing
columns with loud shouts, and breaking in on their front, and
lapping their flanks with fire, and giving no respite, pushed them
back with a terrible carnage. Ten guns were taken; but as General
Campbell prudently forbore pursuit, the French rallied on their
supports, and made a show of attacking again: vain attempt! The
British artillery and musketry played too vehemently upon their
masses, and a Spanish regiment of cavalry charging on their flank
at the same time, the whole retired in disorder, and the victory
was secured in that quarter.”[39]
The ten captured guns remained in possession of the
British;--Major-General John Randoll McKenzie was killed;--and the
second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, under Major John
Williams Watson, conducted itself in such a manner as to merit
notice in the despatch, as well as approbation in General Orders.
Major Watson received a medal, and was afterwards promoted to the
rank of Lieutenant-Colonel for his conduct on this occasion.
The THIRTY-FIRST, in the actions of the 27th and 28th of July,
had Captain William Lodge, two serjeants, and forty-two rank and
file _killed_; Captains Nicolls and Coleman,--Lieutenants George
Beamish, Adderley Beamish, and Girdlestone,--Ensigns Gamble and
Soden,--Assistant-Surgeon Edwards,--eight serjeants, and one
hundred and eighty-two rank and file, _wounded_. Most of the
wounded fell into the hands of the French, on the abandonment of
Talavera afterwards by the Spanish General. Assistant-Surgeon
Edwards, who was left in charge of the wounded, died shortly
afterwards.
The news of the brilliant victory of _Talavera_, gained over the
French army commanded by Joseph Bonaparte in person, excited
great joy in England, and Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley was
raised to the peerage by the title of Viscount Wellington. The
Royal Authority was afterwards given for the THIRTY-FIRST to bear
the word “TALAVERA” on the Regimental Colour and Appointments, to
commemorate the distinguished conduct of the second battalion on
that memorable occasion.
After the battle of the 28th of July, the second battalion was
posted to Major-General Tilson’s brigade, in the division commanded
by Major-General Rowland (afterwards Viscount) Hill; and on the 3rd
of August marched from Talavera, in order to oppose the French, who
had entered Estremadura by Placentia.
On the 3rd of September, the head-quarters arrived at Badajoz,
and the army was distributed about Elvas, Campo Mayor, and other
places, the THIRTY-FIRST being in the division cantoned at Montejo.
The troops had suffered greatly on the march from Talavera,
generally from dysentery, brought on by bad food, fatigue, and
exposure. When the second battalion had rested awhile in its
position, the sickness that had been kept off in a great measure
by the previous excitement, now visited the men severely, and a
considerable number died.
[Sidenote: 1810]
When Viscount Wellington broke up from the Guadiana in the month
of December, and crossed the Tagus, he left Lieut.-General Hill,
who had been appointed to serve on the Staff in the Peninsula as
a Lieut.-General, after the battle of _Talavera_, with a force of
ten thousand men, British and Portuguese, at Abrantes. Among the
former was the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST; it continued
at that place until February 1810, when Lieut.-General Hill, on the
approach of Marshal Mortier on Badajoz, marched to Portalegre, and
occupied that strong position. He made a move on the 23rd of April
through the Sierra de St. Marmede, which had the desired effect of
relieving General O’Donnell at Albuquerque, the enemy retiring to
Merida. Lieut.-General Hill was once more at Portalegre on the 26th
of April, and on the 15th of May he again quitted his cantonment,
by which movement he disengaged Badajoz from the attention of the
enemy, who had made a reconnoisance on the 12th of that place, and
relieved General Ballasteros, returning in a few days afterwards to
his old position.
During the continuance of the division at Portalegre, it was always
on the alert, owing to General Regnier’s movements in Estremadura.
In the beginning of July, Lieut.-General Hill concentrated his
corps at Campo Mayor, previously to an expedition into Estremadura
in conjunction with the Marquis de Romana. General Regnier had,
however, frustrated this plan, by quitting Merida on the 10th of
July, and marching upon Aleonete and Almaraz, effected the passage
of the Tagus on the 16th. Lieut.-General Hill made a parallel
movement, and crossing the river at Vilha Velha, was at Castello
Branco on the 21st; he encamped at Sarzedas, in front of the
Sobreira Formosa, remaining some time in observation between the
Estrella and the Tagus.
Upon Marshal Massena concentrating his force for the invasion
of Portugal, Lieut.-General Hill fell back from his position at
Sarzedas, and on the 21 st of August, arrived on the Alva. On the
26th, the THIRTY-FIRST in Lieut.-General Hill’s corps, crossed the
Mondego, arrived on the _Sierra de Busaco_, and was posted on the
right, across the road leading over the mountain ridge to Peña
Cova, but the battalion was not engaged in the action.
When General Regnier attacked the position held by the third and
fifth divisions, Lieut.-General Hill withdrew towards his left to
support them; it was unnecessary however, these divisions having
repulsed the enemy, and he therefore continued in his original
position.
After the battle of Busaco, fought on the 27th of September, the
army withdrew from the Sierra, and Lieut.-General Hill’s division
marched on Thomar, arriving there on the 4th of October; whence
continuing its retreat by Santarem, it took up its ground, on the
8th, on the right of the Torres Vedras lines at Alhandra, on the
right of the Tagus, in which position the second battalion of
the THIRTY-FIRST had several skirmishes with the enemy, without
sustaining much loss. The battalion remained at Alhandra, opposite
which was the second French corps under General Regnier.
On the 17th of November, the second division crossed the Tagus
at Villada upon Abrantes, where the French were in retreat. Upon
Marshal Massena taking up a position at Santarem, it halted at
Chamako, where the head-quarters were stationed; the troops being
so distributed as to have an eye to the enemy, and prevent his
crossing to the south of the Tagus. Lieut.-General Hill returned
to England on account of ill health in December, and Marshal Sir
William Carr (now Viscount) Beresford succeeded him in the command
of his division, which amounted to fourteen thousand men, British
and Portuguese.
[Sidenote: 1811]
The hostile armies remained in the same positions until the
beginning of March, when Marshal Massena broke up from Santarem,
and Major-General the Honorable William Stewart, with a body of
troops, of which the THIRTY-FIRST formed part, crossed the Tagus at
Abrantes, and moved to Thomar, while Marshal Beresford remained at
Barla, and did not join in the pursuit of Marshal Massena.
Towards the end of March, Sir William Beresford arrived at
Portalegre with twenty thousand infantry, two thousand cavalry,
and eighteen guns, with orders to relieve Campo Mayor, and besiege
_Olivenza_ and _Badajoz_. The first object was effected on the
25th of March; it was an affair of cavalry only. On the 6th of
April, the passage of the Guadiana took place at Jurumenha, and
the army occupied a position on a strong range of hills. On the
9th of April, _Olivenza_ was summoned, and not surrendering the
army encamped round it. General Latour Maubourg having retired
to Llerena, Marshal Beresford leaving the fourth division, with
Colonel Madden’s cavalry, opposite Olivenza, took post on the 11th
at _Albuhera_, the infantry being on the 16th drawn nearer to
_Badajoz_, which place was invested on the 8th of May.
On the 8th and 10th of May, the French made two sorties, but were
driven back with considerable loss. Marshal Soult’s approach to
relieve Badajoz having been ascertained, the siege was raised on
the night of the 12th, and moving to _Albuhera_, the British were
in position on the 15th of May.
The second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST was on the left of
Lieut.-Colonel Colborne’s brigade, in the division under
Major-General the Honorable William Stewart, which was drawn up,
in one line, behind the village of _Albuhera_; its right on a
commanding hill, over which the Valverde road passed; its left on
the road to Badajoz.
On the morning of the 16th of May, the grand attack was made by
the French on the right of the position, and in a line at right
angles to it: this point was contested by the Spaniards without
success,--they gave way, and the French columns pushing on, seized
the crown of the hill, and bringing up their reserves, established
their batteries in position on it. At this moment Major-General the
Honorable William Stewart brought forward Lieut.-Colonel Colborne’s
brigade, and arrived with it at the foot of the hill, while all
was in confusion above. The Major-General rushed on in open column
of companies, attempting to form his line in succession as the
battalions arrived. The THIRTY-FIRST, the left of the brigade, was
still in column, when four regiments of hussars and lancers, which
had been concealed by the heavy rain falling at the time, passed by
the right flank to the rear of the line.
“_One battalion only_ (_the_ THIRTY-FIRST) _being still in column,
escaped the storm, and maintained its ground, while the French
horsemen, riding violently over everything else, penetrated to all
parts._”[40]
Major-General the Honorable William Lumley sent some squadrons of
cavalry to take the attention of the Lancers, but the THIRTY-FIRST
continued to hold the height, while the Spaniards would not
advance, and Marshal Soult still kept his columns together on the
point he had assailed. Major-General Hoghton’s brigade coming up
in good order, under Major-General the Honorable William Stewart,
and being soon afterwards reinforced by a portion of the fourth
division, relieved the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST from
the difficulty of its position.
The THIRTY-FIRST had two serjeants and twenty-six rank and file
_killed_; and Captains Fleming and Knox, Lieutenants Butler,
Gethen, and Bolton; Ensigns Wilson and Nicholson; four serjeants,
and one hundred and sixteen rank and file, _wounded_.
Major George Guy Carleton L’Estrange, who commanded the
battalion, at the battle of _Albuhera_, was promoted to the rank
of Lieut.-Colonel in the army for his conduct on that day, and
received a medal. Viscount Wellington alluded to his gallantry in
the following terms:--
“There is one officer, Major L’Estrange, of the THIRTY-FIRST, whom
I must recommend, in the strongest manner, for promotion in some
way or other. _After the other parts of the same brigade were swept
off by the Cavalry, this little battalion alone held its ground
against all the ‘colonnes en masse.’_”
Captain Peter Fearon, of the THIRTY-FIRST, distinguished himself on
the same day in command of the Lusitanian legion, and received a
medal for his conduct.
The Royal Authority was afterwards given for the THIRTY-FIRST to
bear the word “ALBUHERA” on the regimental colour and appointments,
to commemorate the distinguished conduct of the second battalion on
that memorable occasion.
The army was again in position during the 17th of May, the enemy
appearing to meditate another attack; the remainder of the fourth
division, however, arrived by forced marches from Jurumenha, and on
the 18th Marshal Soult retreated, followed by Marshal Beresford,
who left the Portuguese to make a show of investing Badajoz. The
infantry had no affair with the enemy during his retreat; and when
he assumed a position at Llerena, the operations terminated.
Major-General Hill at this period rejoined from England, and the
second siege of _Badajoz_ commenced on the 30th of May.
The second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST continued under
Lieut.-General Hill, to which rank he was promoted on the 4th of
June 1811, in the covering army, which was posted between Merida
and Albuhera. Having been much reduced in the late action, it
was formed, with the sixty-sixth regiment, into a Provisional
Battalion, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Colborne.
When Marshal Soult advanced, and the siege of Badajoz was raised,
the covering army was once more concentrated on the position of
Albuhera. The French Marshal did not, however, attack; on the 17th
of June, the British crossed the Guadiana, and prepared for the
probability of an engagement with the united corps of Marshals
Marmont and Soult. In July, the British were relieved from their
presence, and the Commander-in-Chief, Viscount Wellington, leaving
Lieut.-General Hill to watch Estremadura, at Portalegre, Villa
Viciosa, and Estremos, with ten thousand men, put the rest of the
army into quarters near the Tagus.
The THIRTY-FIRST continued with Lieut.-General Hill in the second
division: this part of the army was constantly on the alert, but
nothing very important occurred until October.
On the 9th of October, Lieut.-General Hill’s force was concentrated
behind Campo Mayor, and on the 22nd marched to drive Marshal Girard
from Caçeres: at daylight on the 28th of October, the British
General surprised the French Marshal at _Arroyo dos Molinos_, in
which brilliant affair the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST was
present.
The army returned to its cantonments about Portalegre immediately
afterwards, and remained in them until the 24th and 25th of
December, when it moved upon Merida, and arrived there on the 30th
to surprise General Dombrouski, and attack General Drouet. They
both retired, abandoning magazines of wheat, and Lieut.-General
Hill took up his cantonments at Merida on the 6th of January, 1812.
[Sidenote: 1812]
Immediately afterwards Lieut.-General Hill fell back upon the
frontiers of Portugal, while the grand army was investing _Ciudad
Rodrigo_, and occupied Portalegre.
In March, _Badajoz_ was invested for the third time, and
Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill’s[41] corps again formed part of
the covering army. He halted at Almendralejos, while Lieut.-General
Sir Thomas Graham (afterwards Lord Lynedoch) took post at Zafra.
Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill’s division then moved forward,
and took post at Medellin. When the breaches at Badajoz were
nearly practicable, Marshal Soult, having effected a junction with
Generals Drouet and Daricau, advanced to relieve it. Viscount
Wellington thereupon determined to fight him at Albuhera.
Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Graham then fell back towards that place,
and Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill having destroyed the bridge at
Merida, marched from the Upper Guadiana to Talavera Real. Marshal
Soult did not however advance in time, and _Badajoz_ was taken on
the 6th of April.
After the fall of Badajoz, when Viscount Wellington marched towards
Beira, two divisions of British infantry, in one of which was the
second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST, remained with Lieut.-General
Sir Rowland Hill in Estremadura, to cover Badajoz during the
re-establishment of its works. Nothing occurred in the army until
the 12th of May, when six thousand men, with twelve field-pieces,
crossed the Guadiana at Merida, and joining the battering train
and pontoons, formed the force destined to surprise the French at
_Almaraz_.
The THIRTY-FIRST remained in position on the Guadiana, while the
expedition proceeded to attack the French works on the Bridge at
_Almaraz_, on the Tagus, which were captured on the 19th of May.
The bridge having been destroyed, and the communication between the
several divisions of the French army rendered more difficult, the
British troops returned to the south of the Guadiana.
A great part of June was passed in operations against General
Drouet, until he was reinforced on the 18th of that month with
General Barrois’s division of infantry, and two divisions of
cavalry. Hereupon Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill fell back
gradually to Albuhera, and took up a position on the former field,
awaiting an attack. The enemy did not advance, and on the 2nd of
July, Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill broke up from Albuhera, and
moved upon General Drouet, who retired towards Cordova. At the end
of July, Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill was at Llerena, and the
second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, in Brigadier-General
Byng’s brigade, was detached to Merida. General Drouet made a
demonstration, but no action of infantry ensued.
After the victory gained by the army under Viscount Wellington on
the 22nd of July at Salamanca, the troops under Lieut.-General Sir
Rowland Hill penetrated the Spanish provinces: during the month of
August they were engaged in the pursuit of General Drouet, and in
the beginning of October they were on the Tagus, between Aranjuez
and Toledo.
While the army under the Marquis of Wellington, which title was
conferred upon him after the victory of Salamanca, was engaged
in the siege of the Castle of _Burgos_, the second battalion of
the THIRTY-FIRST regiment remained at Aranjuez. In consequence
of the necessity of raising the siege of Burgos, and retreating,
Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill broke up from his ground on the
Tagus, to effect a junction with the grand army, which commenced
its retrograde movement from Burgos on the 21st of October.
On the 30th of October, Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill, having
taken up a position of defence on the Jarama, was pressed by
the enemy, who attacked the bridge of Aranjuez. The French were
repulsed by Colonel Skerrett, with the forty-seventh (of which he
was the Lieutenant-Colonel), and part of the ninety-fifth regiment,
now the Rifle Brigade. The retreat continued without molestation;
and on the 8th of November, the troops under Lieut.-General Sir
Rowland Hill were at Alba, while the Marquis of Wellington occupied
the heights of San Christoval. The brigade of the second division,
in which the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST was posted, being
in the neighbourhood of the fords of Encinas.