warlike state of the world called forth a congenial spirit, and your
military ardour led you to encounter the toils and dangers of war in
distant climes. Trained in the same camps, and animated by the same love
of glory as the great captain who now commands our armies, and fills the
world with his renown, you have bravely followed his brilliant career,
and shared in his unexampled triumphs. Renouncing the charms of ease,
and the seat of your ancestors, you have gallantly gone forth to the
tented fields of Portugal and Spain, and, having reaped the harvest of
our thanks for your achievements in the battle of Talavera, you now
stand before us crowned with the never-fading laurels of Salamanca; your
squadrons upon that memorable day, overthrowing the enemy’s embattled
ranks, laid open the road to victory; and the work which your gallantry
had commenced, your triumphant perseverance completed.
These heroic exploits have again entitled you to the public gratitude;
and I do now, in the name and by the command of the Commons of Great
Britain and Ireland, in Parliament assembled, deliver to you their
unanimous thanks for your distinguished exertions in the battle of
Salamanca, on the 22nd of July last, which terminated in a glorious and
decisive victory over the enemy’s army.[15]
VITTORIA (1813).
=Source.=--_Selections from the Wellington Despatches._ Gurwood. P. 700.
_To Earl Bathurst._
SALVATIERRA,
_22nd June, 1813_.
The enemy, commanded by King Joseph, having Marshal Jourdan as the
Major-General of the army, took up a position, on the night of the 19th
inst., in front of Vitoria; the left of which rested upon the heights
which end at La Puebla de Arganzon, and extended from thence across the
valley of the Zadorra, in front of the village of Ariñez. They occupied
with the right of the centre a height which commanded the valley to the
Zadorra. The right of their army was stationed near Vitoria, and was
destined to defend the passages of the river Zadorra, in the
neighbourhood of that city. They had a reserve in rear of their left, at
the village of Gomecha. The nature of the country through which the army
had passed since it had reached the Ebro had necessarily extended our
columns, and we halted on the 20th, in order to close them up, and moved
the left to Murguia, where it was most likely it would be required. I
reconnoitred the enemy’s position on that day, with a view to the attack
to be made on the following morning, if they should still remain in it.
We accordingly attacked the enemy yesterday, and I am happy to inform
your Lordship, that the Allied army under my command gained a complete
victory, having driven them from all their positions; having taken from
them 151 pieces of cannon, waggons of ammunition, all their baggage,
provisions, cattle, treasure, &c., and a considerable number of
prisoners.
The operations of the day commenced by Lieut.-General Sir R. Hill
obtaining possession of the heights of La Puebla, on which the enemy’s
left rested, which heights they had not occupied in great strength. He
detached for this service one brigade of the Spanish division under
General Morillo; the other brigade being employed in keeping the
communication between his main body on the high road from Miranda to
Vitoria, and the troops detached to the heights. The enemy, however,
soon discovered the importance of these heights, and reinforced their
troops there to such an extent, that Lieut.-General Sir R. Hill was
obliged to detach, first, the 71st regt. and the light infantry
battalion of General Walker’s brigade, under the command of
Lieut.-Colonel the Hon. H. Cadogan, and successively other troops to the
same point; and the Allies not only gained, but maintained possession of
these important heights throughout their operations, notwithstanding
all the efforts of the enemy to retake them.
The contest here was, however, very severe, and the loss sustained
considerable. General Morillo was wounded, but remained in the field;
and I am concerned to have to report that Lieut.-Colonel the Hon. H.
Cadogan has died of a wound which he received. In him His Majesty has
lost an officer of great merit and tried gallantry, who had already
acquired the respect and regard of the whole profession, and of whom it
might have been expected that, if he had lived, he would have rendered
the most important services to his country. Under cover of the
possession of these heights, Sir R. Hill successively passed the
Zadorra, at La Puebla, and the defile formed by the heights and the
river Zadorra, and attacked and gained possession of the village of
Subijana de Alava, in front of the enemy’s line, which the enemy made
repeated attempts to regain.
The difficult nature of the country prevented the communication between
our different columns moving to the attack from their stations on the
river Bayas at as early an hour as I had expected; and it was late
before I knew that the column, composed of the 3rd and 7th divisions,
under the command of the Earl of Dalhousie, had arrived at the station
appointed for them. The 4th and Light divisions, however, passed the
Zadorra immediately after Sir R. Hill had possession of Subijana de
Alava; the former at the bridge of Manclares, and the latter at the
bridge of Tres-puentes; and almost as soon as these had crossed, the
column under the Earl of Dalhousie arrived at Mendoza; and the 3rd
division, under Lieut.-General Sir T. Picton, crossed at the bridge
higher up, followed by the 7th division, under the Earl of Dalhousie.
These 4 divisions, forming the centre of the army, were destined to
attack the height on which the right of the enemy’s centre was placed,
while Lieut.-General Sir R. Hill should move forward from Subijana de
Alava to attack the left. The enemy, however, having weakened his line
to strengthen his detachment on the hills, abandoned his position in the
valley as soon as he saw our disposition to attack it, and commenced
his retreat in good order towards Vitoria.
Our troops continued to advance in admirable order, notwithstanding the
difficulty of the ground. In the mean time, Lieut.-General Sir T.
Graham, who commanded the left of the army, consisting of the 1st and
5th divisions, and General Pack’s and Bradford’s brigades of infantry,
and General Bock’s and Anson’s of cavalry, and who had been moved on the
20th to Murguia, moved forward from thence on Vitoria, by the high road
from that town to Bilbao. He had, besides, with him the Spanish division
under Colonel Longa;[16] and General Giron, who had been detached to the
left, under a different view of the state of affairs, and had afterwards
been recalled, and had arrived on the 20th at Orduña, marched that
morning from thence, so as to be in the field in readiness to support
Lieut.-General Sir T. Graham, if his support had been required.
The enemy had a division of infantry with some cavalry advanced on the
great road from Vitoria to Bilbao, resting their right on some strong
heights covering the village of Gamarra Mayor. Both Gamarra and Abechuco
were strongly occupied as _têtes-de-pont_ and the bridges over the
Zadorra at these places. Brig.-General Pack with his Portuguese brigade,
and Colonel Longa with his Spanish division, were directed to turn and
gain the heights, supported by Major-General Anson’s brigade of light
dragoons, and the 5th division of infantry under the command of
Major-General Oswald, who was desired to take the command of all these
troops.
Lieut.-General Sir T. Graham reports, that in the execution of this
service the Portuguese and Spanish troops behaved admirably. The 4th
battalion of caçadores, and the 8th caçadores, particularly
distinguished themselves. Colonel Longa being on the left, took
possession of Gamarra Mayor.
As soon as the heights were in our possession, the village of Gamarra
Mayor was most gallantly stormed and carried by Major-General Robinson’s
brigade of the 5th division, which advanced in columns of battalions,
under a very heavy fire of artillery and musketry, without firing a
shot, assisted by 2 guns of Major Lawson’s brigade of artillery. The
enemy suffered severely, and lost 3 pieces of cannon.
The Lieut.-General then proceeded to attack the village of Abechuco with
the 1st division, by forming a strong battery against it, consisting of
Captain Dubourdieu’s brigade, and Captain Ramsay’s troop of horse
artillery; and under cover of this fire, Colonel Halkett’s brigade
advanced to the attack of the village, which was carried; the light
battalions having charged and taken 3 guns and a howitzer on the bridge.
This attack was supported by General Bradford’s brigade of Portuguese
infantry. During the operation at Abechuco, the enemy made the greatest
efforts to repossess themselves of the village of Gamarra Mayor, which
were gallantly repulsed by the 5th division, under the command of
Major-General Oswald. The enemy had, however, on the heights on the left
of the Zadorra, 2 divisions of infantry in reserve; and it was
impossible to cross by the bridge till the troops which had moved upon
the enemy’s centre and left had driven them through Vitoria. The whole
then co-operated in the pursuit, which was continued by all till after
it was dark.
The movement of the troops under Lieut.-General Sir T. Graham, and their
possession of Gamarra and Abechuco, intercepted the enemy’s retreat by
the high road to France. They were then obliged to turn to the road
towards Pamplona; but they were unable to hold any position for a
sufficient length of time to allow their baggage and artillery to be
drawn off. The whole, therefore, of the latter, which had not already
been taken by the troops in their attack of the successive positions
taken up by the enemy in their retreat from their first position at
Ariñez and on the Zadorra, and all their ammunition and baggage, and
everything they had, were taken close to Vitoria. I have reason to
believe that the enemy carried off with them one gun and one howitzer
only.
The army under King Joseph consisted of the whole of the armies of the
South, and of the Centre, and of 4 divisions and all the cavalry of the
army of Portugal, and some troops of the army of the North. General
Foy’s division of the army of Portugal was in the neighbourhood of
Bilbao; and General Clausel, who commanded the army of the North, was
near Logroño with one division of the army of Portugal commanded by
General Taupin, and General Van-der-Maessen’s division of the army of
the North. The 6th division of the allied army under Major-General the
Hon. E. Pakenham was likewise absent, having been detained at Medina de
Pomar for 3 days, to cover the march of our magazines and stores.
I cannot extol too highly the good conduct of all the General Officers,
officers, and soldiers of the army in this action. Lieut.-General Sir R.
Hill speaks highly of the conduct of General Morillo and the Spanish
troops under his command, and that of Lieut.-General the Hon. W.
Stewart, and the Conde de Amarante, who commanded divisions of infantry
under his directions. He likewise mentions the conduct of Colonel the
Hon. R. W. O’Callaghan, who maintained the village of Subijana de Alava
against all the efforts of the enemy to regain possession of it, and
that of Lieut.-Colonel Rooke of the Adjutant-General’s department, and
Lieut.-Colonel the Hon. A. Abercrombie of the Quartermaster-General’s
department. It was impossible for the movements of any troops to be
conducted with more spirit and regularity than those of their respective
divisions, by Lieut.-Generals the Earl of Dalhousie, Sir T. Picton, Sir
L. Cole, and Major-General Baron C. Alten. The troops advanced in
échelons of regiments in two, and occasionally three lines; and the
Portuguese troops in the 3rd and 4th divisions, under the command of
Brig.-General Power and Colonel Stubbs, led the march with steadiness
and gallantry never surpassed on any occasion.
Major-General the Hon. C. Colville’s brigade of the 3rd division was
seriously attacked in its advance by a very superior force well formed,
which it drove in, supported by General Inglis’ brigade of the 7th
division, commanded by Colonel Grant of the 82nd. These officers and the
troops under their command distinguished themselves.
Major-General Vandeleur’s brigade of the Light division was, during the
advance upon Vitoria, detached to the support of the 7th division; and
Lieut.-General the Earl of Dalhousie has reported most favourably of its
conduct. Lieut.-General Sir T. Graham particularly reports his sense of
the assistance he received from Colonel De Lancy, the Deputy
Quartermaster-General, and from Lieut.-Colonel Gouverie, of the
Adjutant-General’s department, and from the officers of his personal
staff; and from Lieut.-Colonel the Hon. A. Upton, A.Q.M.G., and Major
Hope, A.A.G., with the 1st division; and Major-General Oswald reports
the same of Lieut.-Colonel Berkeley of the Adjutant-General’s
department, and Lieut.-Colonel Gomm of the Quartermaster-General’s
department.
I am particularly indebted to Lieut.-General Sir T. Graham, and to
Lieut.-General Sir R. Hill, for the manner in which they have
respectively conducted the service entrusted to them, since the
commencement of the operations which have ended in the battle of the
21st; and for their conduct in that battle; as likewise to Marshal Sir
W. Beresford, for the friendly advice and assistance which I have
received from him upon all occasions during the late operations.
I must not omit to mention likewise the conduct of General Giron, who
commands the Galician army, who made a forced march from Orduña, and was
actually on the ground in readiness to support Lieut.-General Sir T.
Graham.
I have frequently been indebted, and have had occasion to call the
attention of your Lordship to the conduct of the Quartermaster-General,
Sir G. Murray, who in the late operations, and in the battle of the 21st
June, has again given the greatest assistance. I am likewise much
indebted to Lord Aylmer, the Deputy Adjutant-General, and to the
officers of the departments of the Adjutant and Quartermaster-General
respectively; and also to Lord FitzRoy Somerset, and Lieut.-Colonel
Campbell, and those of my personal staff; and to Lieut.-Colonel Sir R.
Fletcher, and the officers of the Royal Engineers.
Colonel H.S.H. the Hereditary Prince of Orange was in the field as my
aide-de-camp, and conducted himself with his usual gallantry and
intelligence.
Mariscal de Campo, Don L. Wimpffen, and the Inspector-General, Don T.
O’Donoju, and the officers of the staff of the Spanish army, have
invariably rendered me every assistance in their power in the course of
these operations; and I avail myself of this opportunity of expressing
my satisfaction with their conduct; as likewise with that of Mariscal de
Campo, Don M. de Alava; and of the Brig.-General Don J. O’Lawlor, who
have been so long and usefully employed with me.
The artillery was most judiciously placed by Lieut.-Colonel Dickson, and
was well served; and the army is particularly indebted to that corps.
The nature of the ground did not allow of the cavalry being generally
engaged; but the General Officers, commanding the several brigades, kept
the troops under their command respectively close to the infantry to
support them, and they were most active in the pursuit of the enemy
after they had been driven through Vitoria.
I send this dispatch by my aide-de-camp, Captain Fremantle, whom I beg
leave to recommend to your Lordship’s protection. He will have the
honour of laying at the feet of His Royal Highness the colours of the
4th batt. 100th regt., and Marshal Jourdan’s bâton of a Marshal of
France, taken by the 87th regt.
I enclose a return of the killed and wounded in the late operations, and
a return of the ordnance, carriages, and ammunition taken from the enemy
in the action of the 21st inst.
DEPOSITION OF NAPOLEON (1814).
I.--APRIL 8.
=Source.=--Byron’s _Works_, 1898. Letters and Journals. Vol. ii., p. 408.
_April 8_, [1814].
Out of town six days. On my return, found my poor little pagod,
Napoleon, pushed off his pedestal;--the thieves are in Paris. It is his
own fault. Like Milo, he would rend the oak; but it closed again, wedged
his hands, and now the beasts--lion, bear, down to the dirtiest
jackal--may all tear him. That Muscovite winter _wedged_ his arms;--ever
since, he has fought with his feet and teeth. The last may still leave
their marks; and “I guess now” (as the Yankees say) that he will yet
play them a pass. He is in their rear--between them and their homes.
Query--will they ever reach them?
II.--APRIL 9.
_Saturday, April 9, 1814._
I mark this day!
Napoleon Buonaparte has abdicated the throne of the world. “Excellent
well.” Methinks Sylla did better; for he revenged and resigned in the
height of his sway, red with the slaughter of his foes--the finest
instance of glorious contempt of the rascals upon record. Dioclesian did
well too--Amurath not amiss, had he become aught except a
dervise--Charles the Fifth but so so--but Napoleon, worst of all. What!
wait till they were in his capital, and then talk of his readiness to
give up what is already gone!! “What whining monk art thou--what holy
cheat?” ’Sdeath!--Dionysius at Corinth was yet a king to this. The “Isle
of Elba” to retire to!--Well--if it had been Caprea, I should have
marvelled less. “I see men’s minds are but a parcel of their fortunes.”
I am utterly bewildered and confounded.
I don’t know--but I think _I_, even _I_ (an insect compared with this
creature), have set my life on casts not a millionth part of this man’s.
But, after all, a crown may be not worth dying for. Yet, to outlive
_Lodi_ for this!!! Oh that Juvenal or Johnson could rise from the dead!
_Expende--quot libras in duce summo invenies?_ I knew they were light in
the balance of mortality; but I thought their living dust weighed more
_carats_. Alas! this imperial diamond hath a flaw in it, and is now
hardly fit to stick in a glazier’s pencil:--the pen of the historian
won’t rate it worth a ducat.
Psha! “something too much of this.” But I won’t give him up even now;
though all his admirers have, like the thanes, “fallen from him.”
TOULOUSE TAKEN BY WELLINGTON (1814).
=Source.=--_Selections from the Wellington Despatches._ Gurwood. P. 809.
_To Earl Bathurst._
TOULOUSE,
_12th April, 1814_.
I have the pleasure to inform your Lordship that I entered this town
this morning, which the enemy evacuated during the night, retiring by
the road of Carcassone.
The continued fall of rain and the state of the river prevented me from
laying the bridge till the morning of the 8th, when the Spanish corps
and the Portuguese artillery, under the immediate orders of
Lieut.-General Don M. Freyre, and the headquarters, crossed the Garonne.
We immediately moved forward to the neighbourhood of the town; and the
18th hussars, under the immediate command of Colonel Vivian, had an
opportunity of making a most gallant attack upon a superior body of the
enemy’s cavalry, which they drove through the village of Croix d’Orade,
and took about 100 prisoners, and gave us possession of an important
bridge over the river Ers, by which it was necessary to pass, in order
to attack the enemy’s position. Colonel Vivian was unfortunately
wounded upon this occasion; and I am afraid that I shall lose the
benefit of his assistance for some time.
The town of Toulouse is surrounded on three sides by the canal of
Languedoc and the Garonne. On the left of that river, the suburb, which
the enemy had fortified with strong field works in front of the ancient
wall, formed a good _tête de pont_. They had likewise formed a _tête de
pont_ at each bridge of the canal, which was besides defended by the
fire in some places of musketry, and in all of artillery from the
ancient wall of the town. Beyond the canal to the eastward, and between
that and the river Ers, is a height which extends as far as Montaudran,
and over which pass all the approaches to the canal and town to the
eastward, which it defends; and the enemy, in addition to the _têtes de
pont_ on the bridges of the canal, had fortified this height with 5
redoubts, connected by lines of entrenchments, and had, with
extraordinary diligence, made every preparation for defence. They had
likewise broken all the bridges over the Ers within our reach, by which
the right of their position could be approached. The roads, however,
from the Arriège to Toulouse being impracticable for cavalry or
artillery, and nearly so for infantry, as reported in my dispatch to
your Lordship of the 1st instant, I had no alternative, excepting to
attack the enemy in this formidable position.
It was necessary to move the pontoon bridge higher up the Garonne, in
order to shorten the communication with Lieut.-General Sir R. Hill’s
corps, as soon as the Spanish corps had passed; and this operation was
not effected till so late an hour on the 9th as to induce me to defer
the attack till the following morning.
The plan, according to which I determined to attack the enemy, was for
Marshal Sir W. Beresford, who was on the right of the Ers with the 4th
and 6th divisions, to cross that river at the bridge of Croix d’Orade,
to gain possession of Montblanc, and to march up the left of the Ers to
turn the enemy’s right, while Lieut.-General Don M. Freyre, with the
Spanish corps under his command, supported by the British cavalry,
should attack the front. Lieut.-General Sir S. Cotton was to follow the
Marshal’s movement with Major-General Lord E. Somerset’s brigade of
hussars; and Colonel Vivian’s brigade, under the command of Colonel
Arentschildt, was to observe the movements of the enemy’s cavalry on
both banks of the Ers beyond our left. The 3rd and Light divisions,
under the command of Lieut.-General Sir T. Picton and Major-General C.
Baron Alten, and the brigade of German cavalry, were to observe the
enemy on the lower part of the canal, and to draw their attention to
that quarter by threatening the _têtes de pont_, while Lieut.-General
Sir R. Hill was to do the same on the suburb on the left of the Garonne.
Marshal Sir W. Beresford crossed the Ers, and formed his corps in 3
columns of lines in the village of Croix d’Orade, the 4th division
leading, with which he immediately carried Montblanc. He then moved up
the Ers in the same order, over most difficult ground, in a direction
parallel to the enemy’s fortified position; and as soon as he reached
the point at which he turned it, he formed his lines and moved to the
attack. During these operations, Lieut.-General Don M. Freyre moved
along the left of the Ers to the front of Croix d’Orade, where he formed
his corps in 2 lines with a reserve on a height in front of the left of
the enemy’s position, on which height the Portuguese artillery was
placed; and Major-General Ponsonby’s brigade of cavalry in reserve in
the rear.
As soon as formed, and that it was seen that Marshal Sir W. Beresford
was ready, Lieut.-General Don M. Freyre moved forward to the attack. The
troops marched in good order, under a very heavy fire of musketry and
artillery, and showed great spirit, the General and all his Staff being
at their head; and the 2 lines were soon lodged under some banks
immediately under the enemy’s entrenchments; the reserve and Portuguese
artillery, and British cavalry, continuing on the height on which the
troops had first formed. The enemy, however, repulsed the movement of
the right of General Freyre’s line round their left flank; and having
followed up their success, and turned our right by both sides of the
high road leading from Toulouse to Croix d’Orade, they soon compelled
the whole corps to retire. It gave me great satisfaction to see that,
although they suffered considerably in retiring, the troops rallied
again as soon as the Light division, which was immediately on their
right, moved up; and I cannot sufficiently applaud the exertions of
Lieut.-General Don M. Freyre, the officers of the Staff of the 4th
Spanish army, and of the officers of the General Staff, to rally and
form them again.