THE BATTLE OF FUENTES D’ONORO.
So soundly did I sleep that the tumult and confusion of the morning never
awoke me; and the Guerilla, whose cavalry were stationed along the edge of
the ravine near the heights of Echora, would not permit of my being roused
before the last moment. Mike stood near me with my horses, and it was only
when the squadrons were actually forming that I sprang to my feet and
looked around me.
The day was just breaking; a thick mist lay upon the parched earth, and
concealed everything a hundred yards from where we stood. From this dense
vapor the cavalry defiled along the base of the hill, followed by the
horse artillery and the Guards, disappearing again as they passed us,
but proving, by the mass of troops now assembled, that our position was
regarded as the probable point of attack.
While the troops continued to take up their position, the sun shone out,
and a slight breeze blowing at the same, moment, the heavy clouds moved
past, and we beheld the magnificent panorama of the battle-field. Before
us, at the distance of less than half a league, the French cavalry were
drawn up in three strong columns; the Cuirassiers of the Guard, plainly
distinguished by their steel cuirasses, flanked by the Polish Lancers and a
strong huzzar brigade; a powerful artillery train supported the left, and
an infantry force occupied the entire space between the right and the
rising ground opposite Poço Velho. Farther to the right again, the column
destined for the attack of Fuentes d’Onoro were forming, and we could see
that, profiting by their past experience, they were bent upon attacking the
village with an overwhelming force.
For above two hours the French continued to manoeuvre, more than one
alteration having taken place in their disposition; fresh battalions were
moved towards the front, and gradually the whole of their cavalry was
assembled on the extreme left in front of our position. Our people were
ordered to breakfast where we stood; and a little after seven o’clock a
staff officer came riding down the line, followed in a few moments after by
General Crawfurd, when no sooner was his well-known brown cob recognized by
the troops than a hearty cheer greeted him along the whole division.
“Thank ye, boys; thank ye, boys, with all my heart. No man feels more
sensibly what that cheer means than I do. Guards, Lord Wellington relies
upon your maintaining this position, which is essential to the safety of
the whole line. You will be supported by the light division. I need say
no more. If such troops cannot keep their ground, none can. Fourteenth,
there’s your place; the artillery and the Sixteenth are with you. They’ve
the odds of us in numbers, lads; but it will tell all the better in the
‘Gazette.’ I see they’re moving; so fall in now, fall in; and Merivale,
move to the front. Ramsey, prepare to open your fire on the attacking
squadrons.”
As he spoke, the low murmuring sound of distantly moving cavalry crept
along the earth, growing louder and louder, till at length we could detect
the heavy tramp of the squadrons as they came on in a trot, our pace
being merely a walk. While we thus advanced into the plain, the artillery
unlimbered behind us, and the Spanish cavalry, breaking into skirmishers,
dashed boldly to the front.
It was an exciting moment. The ground dipped between the two armies so
as to conceal the head of the advancing column of the French, and as the
Spanish skirmishers disappeared down the ridge, our beating hearts and
straining eyes followed their last horseman.
“Halt! halt!” was passed from squadron to squadron, and the same instant
the sharp ring of the pistol shots and the clash of steel from the valley,
told us the battle had begun. We could hear the Guerilla war-cry mingle
with the French shout, while the thickening crash of fire-arms implied a
sharper conflict. Our fellows were already manifesting some impatience
to press on, when a Spanish horseman appeared above the ridge, another
followed, and another, and then pell-mell, broken and disordered, they
fell back before the pursuing cavalry in flying masses; while the French,
charging them hotly home, utterly routed and repulsed them.
The leading squadrons of the French now fell back upon their support; the
column of attack thickened, and a thundering noise between their masses
announced their brigade of light guns as they galloped to the front. It was
then for the first time that I felt dispirited; far as my eye could stretch
the dense mass of sabres extended, defiling from the distant hills and
winding its slow length across the plain. I turned to look at our line,
scarce one thousand strong, and could not help feeling that our hour was
come: the feeling flashed vividly across my mind, but the next instant I
felt my cheek redden with shame as I gazed upon the sparkling eyes and bold
looks around me, the lips compressed, the hands knitted to their sabres;
all were motionless, but burning to advance.
The French had halted on the brow of the hill to form, when Merivale came
cantering up to us.
“Fourteenth, are you ready? Are you ready, lads?”
“Ready, sir! ready!” re-echoed along the line.
“Then push them home and charge! Charge!” cried he, raising his voice to a
shout at the last word.
Heavens, what a crash was there! Our horses, in top condition, no sooner
felt the spur than they bounded madly onwards. The pace--for the distance
did not exceed four hundred yards--was like racing. To resist the impetus
of our approach was impossible; and without a shot fired, scarcely a
sabre-cut exchanged, we actually rode down their advanced squadrons,
hurling them headlong upon their supporting division, and rolling men and
horses beneath us on every side. The French fell back upon their artillery;
but before they could succeed in opening their fire upon us, we had
wheeled, and carrying off about seventy prisoners, galloped back to our
position with the loss of but two men in the affair. The whole thing was so
sudden, so bold, and so successful, that I remember well, as we rode
back, a hearty burst of laughter was ringing through the squadron at the
ludicrous display of horsemanship the French presented as they tumbled
headlong down the hill; and I cannot help treasuring the recollection,
for from that moment, all thought of anything short of victory completely
quitted my mind, and many of my brother officers, who had participated in
my feelings at the commencement of the day, confessed to me afterwards that
it was then for the first time they felt assured of beating the enemy.
While we slowly fell back to our position, the French were seen advancing
in great force from the village of Almeida, to the attack of Poço Velho;
they came on at a rapid pace, their artillery upon their front and flank,
large masses of cavalry hovering around them. The attack upon the village
was now opened by the large guns; and amidst the booming of the artillery
and the crashing volleys of small fire-arms, rose the shout of the
assailants, and the wild cry of the Guerilla cavalry, who had formed in
front of the village. The French advanced firmly, driving back the pickets,
and actually inundated the devoted village with a shower of grape; the
blazing fires burst from the ignited roofs; and the black, dense smoke,
rising on high, seemed to rest like a pall over the little hamlet.
The conflict was now a tremendous one; our Seventh Division held the
village with the bayonet; but the French continuing to pour in mass upon
mass, drove them back with loss, and at the end of an hour’s hard fighting,
took possession of the place.
The wood upon the left flank was now seen to swarm with light infantry, and
the advancement of their whole left proved that they meditated to turn our
flank; the space between the village and the hill of Naval d’Aver became
thus the central position; and here the Guerilla force, led on by Julian
Sanches, seemed to await the French with confidence. Soon, however, the
cuirassiers came galloping to the spot, and almost without exchanging a
sabre-cut, the Guerillas fell back, and retired behind the Turones. This
movement of Julian was more attributable to anger than to fear; for his
favorite lieutenant, being mistaken for a French officer, was shot by a
soldier of the Guards a few minutes before.
Montbrun pursued the Guerillas with some squadrons of horse, but they
turned resolutely upon the French, and not till overwhelmed by numbers did
they show any disposition to retreat.
The French, however, now threw forward their whole cavalry, and driving
back the English horse, succeeded in turning the right of the Seventh
Division. The battle by this time was general. The staff officers who came
up from the left informed us that Fuentes d’Onoro was attacked in force,
Massena himself leading the assault in person; while thus for seven miles
the fight was maintained hotly at intervals, it was evident that upon the
maintenance of our position the fortune of the day depended. Hitherto we
had been repulsed from the village and the wood; and the dark masses of
infantry which were assembled upon our right, seemed to threaten the hill
of Naval d’Aver with as sad a catastrophe.
Crawfurd came now galloping up among us, his eye flashing fire, and his
uniform splashed and covered with foam:
“Steady Sixteenth, steady! Don’t blow your horses! Have your fellows
advanced, Malcolm?” said he, turning to an officer who stood beside him.
“Ay, there they go!” pointing with his finger to the wood where, as he
spoke, the short ringing of the British rifle proclaimed the advance of
that brigade. “Let the cavalry prepare to charge! And now, Ramsey, let us
give it them home!”
Scarcely were the words spoken, when the squadrons were formed, and in an
instant after, the French light infantry were seen retreating from the
wood, and flying in disorderly masses across the plain. Our squadrons
riding down among them, actually cut them to atoms, while the light
artillery, unlimbering, threw in a deadly discharge of grape-shot.
“To the right, Fourteenth, to the right!” cried General Stewart. “Have at
their hussars!”
Whirling by them, we advanced at a gallop, and dashed towards the enemy,
who, not less resolutely bent, came boldly forward to meet us. The shock
was terrific! The leading squadrons on both sides went down almost to a
man, and all order being lost, the encounter became one of hand to hand.
The struggle was deadly; neither party would give way; and while fortune
now inclined hither and thither, Sir Charles Stewart singled out the French
general, Lamotte, and carried him off his prisoner. Meanwhile Montbrun’s
cavalry and the cuirassiers came riding up, and the retreat now sounding
through our ranks, we were obliged to fall back upon the infantry. The
French pursued us hotly; and so rapid was their movement, that before
Ramsey’s brigade could limber up and away, their squadrons had surrounded
him and captured his guns.
“Where is Ramsey?” cried Crawfurd, as he galloped to the head of our
division. “Cut off--cut off! Taken, by G----! There he goes!” said he,
pointing with his finger, as a dense cloud of mingled smoke and dust moved
darkly across the plain. “Form into column once more!”
As he spoke, the dense mass before us seemed agitated by some mighty
commotion; the flashing of blades, and the rattling of small-arms, mingled
with shouts of triumph or defiance, burst forth, and the ominous cloud
lowering more darkly, seemed peopled by those in deadly strife. An English
cheer pealed high above all other sounds; a second followed; the mass was
rent asunder, and like the forked lightning from a thunder-cloud, Ramsey
rode forth at the head of his battery, the horses bounding madly, while the
guns sprang behind them like things of no weight; the gunners leaped to
their places, and fighting hand to hand with the French cavalry, they flew
across the plain.
“Nobly done, gallant Ramsey!” said a voice behind me. I turned at the
sound; it was Lord Wellington who spoke. My eye fixed upon his stern
features, I forgot all else; when he suddenly recalled me to my
recollection by saying,--
“Follow your brigade, sir. Charge!”
In an instant I was with my people, who, intervening betwixt Ramsey and his
pursuers, repulsed the enemy with loss, and carried off several prisoners.
The French, however, came up in greater strength; overwhelming masses of
cavalry came sweeping upon us, and we were obliged to retire behind the
light division, which rapidly formed into squares to resist the cavalry.
The Seventh Division, which was more advanced, were, however, too late for
this movement, and before they could effect their formation, the French
were upon them. At this moment they owed their safety to the Chasseurs
Britanniques, who poured in a flanking fire, so close, and with so deadly
an aim, that their foes recoiled, beaten and bewildered.
Meanwhile the French had become masters of Pogo Velho; the formidable
masses had nearly outflanked us on the right. The battle was lost if we
could not fall back upon our original position, and concentrate our force
upon Fuentes d’Onoro. To effect this was a work of great difficulty; but
no time was to be lost. The Seventh Division were ordered to cross the
Turones, while Crawfurd, forming the light division into squares, covered
their retreat, and supported by the cavalry, sustained the whole force of
the enemy’s attack.
Then was the moment to witness the cool and steady bravery of British
infantry; the squares dotted across the enormous plain seemed as nothing
amidst that confused and flying multitude, composed of commissariat
baggage, camp-followers, peasants, and finally, broken pickets and videttes
arriving from the wood. A cloud of cavalry hovered and darkened around
them; the Polish Lancers shook their long spears, impatient of delay, and
the wild huzzas burst momentarily from their squadrons as they waited for
the word to attack. But the British stood firm and undaunted; and although
the enemy rode round their squares, Montbrun himself at their head, they
never dared to charge them. Meanwhile the Seventh Division fell back, as
if on a parade, and crossing the river, took up their ground at Frenada,
pivoting upon the First Division; the remainder of the line also fell back,
and assumed a position at right angles with their former one, the cavalry
forming in front, and holding the French in check during the movement. This
was a splendid manoeuvre, and when made in face of an overnumbering enemy,
one unmatched during the whole war.
At sight of this new front, the French stopped short, and opened a fire
from their heavy guns. The British batteries replied with vigor and
silenced the enemy’s cannon. The cavalry drew out of range, and the
infantry gradually fell back to their former position. While this was going
on, the attack upon Fuentes d’Onoro was continued with unabated vigor.
The three British regiments in the lower town were pierced by the
French tirailleurs, who poured upon them in overwhelming numbers; the
Seventy-ninth were broken, ten companies taken, and Cameron, their colonel,
mortally wounded. Thus the lower village was in the hands of the enemy,
while from the upper town the incessant roll of musketry proclaimed the
obstinate resistance of the British.
At this period the reserves were called up from the right, in time to
resist the additional troops which Drouet continued to bring on. The
French, reinforced by the whole Sixth Corps, now came forward at a
quick-step. Dashing through the ruined streets of the lower town, they
crossed the rivulet, fighting bravely, and charged against the height.
Already their leading files had gained the crag beside the chapel. A French
colonel holding his cap upon his sword-point waved on his men.
The grizzly features of the grenadiers soon appeared, and the dark column,
half-climbing, half-running, were seen scaling the height. A rifle-bullet
sent the French leader tumbling from the precipice; and a cheer--mad and
reckless as the war-cry of an Indian--rent the sky, as the 71st and 79th
Highlanders sprang upon the enemy.
Our part was a short one; advancing in half squadrons, we were concealed
from the observation of the enemy by the thick vineyards which skirted the
lower town, waiting, with impatience, the moment when our gallant infantry
should succeed in turning the tide of battle. We were ordered to dismount,
and stood with our bridles on our arms, anxious and expectant. The charge
of the French column was made close to where we were standing,--the
inspiriting cheers of the officers, the loud _vivas_ of the men, were
plainly heard by us as they rushed to the assault; but the space between
us was intersected by walls and brushwood, which totally prevented the
movements of cavalry.
Fearlessly their dark column moved up the heights, fixing the bayonets
as they went. No tirailleurs preceded them, but the tall shako of the
Grenadier of the Guard was seen in the first rank. Long before the end of
the column had passed us, the leading files were in action. A deafening
peal of musketry--so loud, so dense, it seemed like artillery--burst forth.
A volume of black smoke rolled heavily down from the heights and hid all
from our view, except when the vivid lightning of the platoon firing rent
the veil asunder, and showed us the troops almost in hand to hand conflict.
“It’s Picton’s Division, I’m certain,” cried Merivale; “I hear the bagpipes
of the Highlanders.”
“You are right, sir,” said Hampden, “the Seventy-first are in the same
brigade, and I know their bugles well. There they go again!”
“Fourteenth! Fourteenth!” cried a voice from behind, and at the same
moment, a staff officer, without his hat, and his horse bleeding from a
recent sabre-cut, came up. “You must move to the rear, Colonel Merivale;
the French have gained the heights! Move round by the causeway; bring up
your squadrons as quickly as you can, and support the infantry!”
In a moment we were in our saddles; but scarcely was the word “to fall in”
given, when a loud cheer rent the very air; the musketry seemed suddenly
to cease, and the dark mass which continued to struggle up the heights
wavered, broke, and turned.
“What can that be?” said Merivale. “What can it mean?”
“I can tell you, sir,” said I, proudly, while I felt my heart throb as
though it would bound from my bosom.
“And what is it, boy? Speak!”
“There it goes again! That was an Irish shout! The Eighty-eighth are at
them!”
“By Jove, here they come!” said Hampden. “God help the Frenchmen now!”
The words were not well spoken, when the red coats of our gallant fellows
were seen dashing through the vineyard.
“The steel, boys; nothing but the steel!” shouted a loud voice from the
crag above our heads.
I looked up. It was the stern Picton himself who spoke. The Eighty-eighth
now led the pursuit, and sprang from rock to rock in all the mad
impetuosity of battle; and like some mighty billow rolling before the gale,
the French went down the heights.
“Gallant Eighty-eighth! Gloriously done!” cried Picton, as he waved his
hat.
“Aren’t we Connaught robbers, now?” shouted a rich brogue, as its owner,
breathless and bleeding, pressed forward in the charge.
A hearty burst of laughter mingled with the din of the battle.
“Now for it, boys! Now for _our_ work!” said old Merivale, drawing his
sabre as he spoke. “Forward! and charge!”
We waited not a second bidding, but bursting from our concealment,
galloped down into the broken column. It was no regular charge, but an
indiscriminate rush. Scarcely offering resistance, the enemy fell beneath
our sabres, or the still more deadly bayonets of the infantry, who were
inextricably mingled up in the conflict.
The chase was followed up for above half a mile, when we fell back,
fortunately in good time; for the French had opened a heavy fire from their
artillery, and regardless of their own retreating column, poured a shower
of grape among our squadrons. As we retired, the struggling files of the
Rangers joined us,--their faces and accoutrements blackened and begrimed
with powder; many of them, themselves wounded, had captured prisoners; and
one huge fellow of the grenadier company was seen driving before him a
no less powerful Frenchman, and to whom, as he turned from time to time
reluctantly, and scowled upon his jailer, the other vociferated some Irish
imprecation, whose harsh intentions were made most palpably evident by a
flourish of a drawn bayonet.
“Who is he?” said Mike; “who is he, ahagur?”
“Sorra one o’ me knows,” said the other; “but it’s the chap that shot
Lieutenant Mahony, and I never took my eye off him after; and if the
lieutenant’s not dead, sure it’ll be a satisfaction to him that I cotch
him.”
The lower town was now evacuated by the French, who retired beyond the
range of our artillery; the upper continued in the occupation of our
troops; and worn out and exhausted, surrounded by dead and dying, both
parties abandoned the contest, and the battle was over.
Both sides laid claim to the victory; the French, because, having taken the
village of Poço Velho, they had pierced the British line, and compelled
them to fall back and assume a new position; the British, because the
attack upon Fuentes d’Onoro has been successfully resisted, and the
blockade of Almeida--the real object of the battle--maintained. The loss
to each was tremendous; fifteen hundred men and officers, of whom three
hundred were prisoners, were lost by the allies, and a far greater number
fell among the forces of the enemy.
After the action, a brigade of the light division released the troops in
the village, and the armies bivouacked once more in sight of each other.