The medal for this battle was similar to that granted for the victories
commencing with Roleia, and the following Memorandum, dated Horse
Guards, November, 1811, was published in the “London Gazette”:—
“The Prince Regent having been graciously pleased, in the name and on
behalf of His Majesty, to command that, in commemoration of the
brilliant victory obtained over the enemy by a division of His Majesty’s
army, under the command of Lieutenant-General Graham, at Barrosa, on the
5th. of March, 1811, the undermentioned officers of the army, present
upon that occasion, should enjoy the privilege of bearing a Medal, and
His Royal Highness having approved of the medal which has been struck,
is pleased to command, that it should be worn by the General Officers,
suspended by a ribbon, of the colour of the sash, with a blue edge,
round the neck, and by the Commanding Officers of corps and detachments,
and the Chiefs of Military Departments, attached by a ribbon of the same
colour to the button-hole of their uniform:—
Lieutenant-General Thomas Graham; Major-General William Thomas Dilkes;
Colonel William Wheatley, 1st. Foot Guards; Lieutenant-Colonels Charles
P. Belson, 28th. Foot, William Augustus Prevost, 67th. regiment, The
Hon. T. Cranley Onslow, 3rd. Foot Guards, Andrew F. Barnard, 95th. Rifle
regiment, John Macdonald, Deputy Adjutant-General, Edward Sebright, 1st.
Foot Guards, John Frederick Brown, 28th. regiment, Amos Godsill Norcott,
95th. Rifle regiment, The Hon. Charles M. Cathcart, Deputy
Quartermaster-General, Richard Bushe, 20th. Portuguese regiment,
Alexander Duncan, Royal Artillery, and Hugh Gough, 87th. regiment; and
Major A. F. Baron Bussche, 2nd. Light Dragoons, King’s German Legion.
By the command of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, in the name and
on the behalf of His Majesty.
FREDERICK, Commander-in-Chief.
HENRY TORRENS, Lieutenant-Colonel and Military Secretary.”
BATTLE OF FUENTES D’ONOR.
5TH. MAY, 1811.
At this period the sixth division of the British army had invested
Almeida, and a force of British and Portuguese, under Marshal Beresford,
was employed in the Alentejo and Spanish Estremadura, which compelled
the enemy to abandon Campo Mayor. Olivenza was next besieged by Marshal
Beresford, and retaken on the 15th. of April, 1811, after which he broke
ground before Badajoz.
Marshal Massena had reached Ciudad Rodrigo on the 25th. of April, and
having concentrated his forces, crossed the Agueda at that place on the
2nd. of May, and advanced towards the allied army, posted between that
river and the Coa, in order to blockade Almeida, which place, it was
ascertained, was but ill supplied with provisions for its garrison. Upon
the approach of the French, the British light division and cavalry fell
back upon Fuentes d’Onor, where three other divisions were posted, and
in which position Viscount Wellington determined to receive the attack
of the enemy.
The village of Fuentes d’Onor, (Fountain of Honor,) is situated on low
ground, at the bottom of a ravine, with an old chapel and some buildings
on a craggy eminence, which overhang one end. Shortly after the enemy
had formed on the ground, on the right of the Duas Casas, in the
afternoon of the 3rd., they attacked the village with a large force,
which was gallantly defended by Lieutenant-Colonel Williams, of the
fifth battalion of the 60th. regiment, in command of the light infantry
battalions, belonging to Major-General Picton’s division, supported by
the light infantry battalion in Major-General Nightingall’s brigade,
commanded by Major (afterwards Sir Robert) Dick, and the light infantry
battalion in Major-General Howard’s brigade, commanded by Major
Archibald M‘Donnell, of the 92nd. regiment, and the light infantry
battalion of the King’s German Legion, commanded by Major Charles Aly,
of the fifth battalion of the Line, and by the second battalion of the
83rd. regiment, under Major Henry William Carr.
These troops maintained their position, but the British commander seeing
the repeated efforts which were made to obtain possession of the
village, and being fully aware of the advantage the enemy would derive
therefrom in their subsequent operations, the place was reinforced
successively by the 71st., under the Honourable Lieutenant-Colonel
Cadogan, and the 79th. under Lieutenant-Colonel Cameron, and the 24th.
under Major Chamberlaine. The former, at the head of the 71st., charged
the French, and drove them from the part of the village of which they
had obtained momentary possession. About this time Lieutenant-Colonel
Williams was wounded, and the command devolved upon Lieutenant-Colonel
Cameron, of the 79th. regiment. The contest continued until night, when
the British Troops remained in possession of the whole. The light
infantry battalions and the 83rd. regiments were subsequently withdrawn,
leaving only the 71st. and 79th. regiments in the village, with the
second battalion of the 24th to support them.
During the 4th. of May the enemy reconnoitred the positions which the
British had occupied on the Duas Casas river, and that night General
Junot’s corps was moved from Almeida to the left of the position
occupied by the sixth corps, opposite to Fuentes d’Onor. From the course
of the reconnoissance it was considered that an attempt would be made to
obtain possession of that place, and of the ground occupied by the
troops behind the village, by crossing the Duas Casas at Poza Velho, and
in the evening the seventh division, under Major-General Houstoun, was
moved to the right, in order to protect, if possible, that passage.
On the morning of Sunday, the 5th. of May, the eighth corps appeared in
two columns, with all the cavalry on the opposite side of the valley of
the Duas Casas to Poza Velho; and as the sixth and ninth corps also made
a movement to their left, the light division, which had been brought
back from the neighbourhood of Almeida, was sent with the cavalry, under
Lieutenant-General Sir Stapleton Cotton, Bart., (afterwards
Field-Marshal Viscount Combermere, G.C.B.) to support Major-General
Houstoun, while the first and third divisions made a movement to their
right, along the ridge between the Turon and Duas Casas rivers,
corresponding to that of the sixth and ninth corps, on the right of the
latter river.
Major-General Houstoun’s advanced guard, consisting of the 85th., under
Major M‘Intosh, and the 2nd Portuguese Caçadores, under
Lieutenant-Colonel Nixon, was attacked by the eighth corps, and
compelled to retire, which was done in good order, although with some
loss. The eighth corps being thus established in Poza Velho, the enemy’s
cavalry turned the right of the seventh division between that place and
Nave d’Aver, and charged.
The charge of the advanced guard of the French cavalry was met by two or
three squadrons of the different regiments of British Dragoons, and the
enemy was driven back, Colonel La Motte, of the 13th. Chasseurs, and
some prisoners being taken. The main body was checked, and obliged to
retire, by the fire of Major-General Houstoun’s division, the Chasseurs
Britanniques and a detachment of the Duke of Brunswick’s Light Infantry
behaving in the most steady manner. Notwithstanding the repulse of this
charge, Viscount Wellington determined to concentrate his force towards
the left, and to move the seventh light and the other two divisions, and
the cavalry from Poza Velho towards Fuentes d’Onor. The former place and
neighbourhood had been occupied in the hope of maintaining the
communication across the Coa by Sabugal, as well as to provide for the
blockade, which objects, it became obvious, were incompatible with each
other, and that which was deemed the least important was abandoned; the
light division was placed in reserve in the rear of the left of the
first, and the seventh on some commanding ground beyond the Turon, which
protected the right flank and rear of the first division, besides
covering the communication with the Coa, and prevented that of the
French with Almeida by the roads between the Turon and that river.
Upon this occasion the movement of the troops, although under very
critical circumstances, was well conducted by Major-General Houstoun,
Brigadier-General Craufurd, and Lieutenant-General Sir Stapleton Cotton.
The seventh division was covered in its passage of the Turon by the
light, under Brigadier-General Craufurd, and this last, in its march to
join the first division, by the British cavalry. The British position
thus extended on the high ground from the Turon to the Duas Casas. The
seventh division on the left of the former, covered the rear of the
right; the first division, in two lines, was on the right; Colonel
Ashworth’s brigade, in two lines, in the centre; and the third division,
in two lines, on the left. The light division and British cavalry in
reserve; and the village of Fuentes d’Onor in front of the left. Don
Julian’s infantry joined the seventh division in Frenada, and he was
sent with his cavalry to endeavour to interrupt the enemy’s
communication with Ciudad Rodrigo. The efforts on the right part of the
British position, after it was occupied as above described, were
confined to a cannonade, and to some cavalry charges upon the advanced
posts.
One of these was repulsed by the pickets of the first division, under
Lieutenant-Colonel Hill, of the 3rd. regiment of Guards; but as they
were falling back, they did not see the direction of another in
sufficient time to oppose it, and the Lieutenant-Colonel was taken
prisoner, many men were wounded and some captured, before a detachment
of the British cavalry could move up to their support. The second
battalion of the 42nd., under Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Blantyre, also
repulsed a charge of the cavalry directed against them. They likewise
attempted to push a body of light infantry down the ravine of the Turon
to the right of the first division, which was repulsed by the light
infantry of the Guards, under Lieutenant-Colonel Guise, aided by five
companies of the 95th., under Captain O’Hara.
Throughout this day the enemy’s principal effort was again directed
against Fuentes d’Onor, and notwithstanding that the whole of the sixth
corps was at different periods employed to attack this village, the
French were never able to gain more than a temporary possession. It was
defended by the 24th., 71st., and 79th. regiments, under the command of
Colonel Cameron; these troops were supported by the light infantry
battalions in the third division, commanded by Major Woodgate; the light
infantry battalions in the first division, commanded by Majors Dick,
M‘Donnell, and Aly; the 6th. Portuguese Caçadores, commanded by Major
Pinto; by the light companies in Colonel Champelmond’s Portuguese
brigade, under Colonel Sutton; and those in Colonel Ashworth’s
Portuguese brigade, under Lieutenant-Colonel Pynn; and by the pickets of
the third division, under the command of the Honourable
Lieutenant-Colonel Trench. Lieutenant-Colonel Cameron was severely
wounded in the afternoon, and the command in the village devolved upon
the Honourable Lieutenant-Colonel Cadogan.
In addition to the foregoing, the troops in Fuentes d’Onor were
supported, when pressed by the enemy, by the 74th. regiment, under Major
Russell Manners, and the 88th. Connaught Rangers, under
Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace, belonging to Colonel Mac Kinnon’s brigade;
on one of these occasions the 88th., with the 71st. and 79th., under the
command of Colonel Mac Kinnon, charged the enemy, and drove them through
the village.
This prolonged contest again lasted in this quarter until night, when
the British still held their post, and from that time there was no fresh
attempt made on any part of their position. Although the actions were
partial, yet they were very severe, and the casualties were also. The
enemy had a great superiority of force, and their loss was likewise
great; they left four hundred killed in the village of Fuentes d’Onor.
The following regiments were engaged at FUENTES D’ONOR:—14th. and 16th.
Light Dragoons; the 24th., 42nd., 43rd., 45th., 52nd., 60th., 71st.,
74th., 79th., 83rd., 85th., 88th., 92nd., and Rifle Brigade.
On the 8th. of May the enemy retired to the woods between Espeja,
Gallegos, and Fuentes d’Onor, in which position the whole army was
collected by the following day, with the exception of that part of the
second corps which continued opposite Almeida; but during the night of
the 9th. the whole broke up and retired across the Azava, covering their
retreat by their numerous cavalry, and on the following day the whole
crossed the Agueda, leaving Almeida to its fate.