Officers in the course of the war had received so many medals, that it
became extremely inconvenient to wear them, and it was the practice for
a short time to engrave the name of the second or third action on the
medal originally given to them.[56] It was afterwards determined that
only one medal should be worn by any officer; for every other action in
which he might distinguish himself, a gold clasp, with the name of the
event, was to be attached to the ribbon, until two clasps had been
received. On the next occasion whereon he might signalize himself, a
gold cross, having on each compartment the names of each of the four
services, was to be conferred instead of the medal and clasps originally
received. For every subsequent action a clasp was to be issued, to be
attached to the ribbon above the cross. In the centre of the cross,
which was fastened to the ribbon or swivel by a large ring, chased with
laurel, is a lion statant; in each compartment, surrounded by an edge of
laurel, is the name of the battle or action. Wreaths of laurel are also
round the names of the actions on the clasps.
So much reluctance was evinced by officers to relinquish the original
medals, that the design of having them returned was given up. When
officers had received both the medals, as necessarily happened during
the lengthened struggle in the Peninsula, the large one was worn, with
the clasps of the actions for which the small medals had been conferred.
The following regulations regarding the grant of the Cross and clasps
were published in the “London Gazette”:—
“Horse Guards, October 7th., 1813.
Whereas considerable inconvenience having been found to attend the
increased number of medals, that have been issued in commemoration of
the brilliant and distinguished events, in which the success of His
Majesty’s arms has received the royal approbation, the Prince Regent
has been pleased to command, in the name and on behalf of His Majesty,
that the following regulations shall be adopted, in the grant and
circulation of such marks of distinction, namely,—
1st.—That one medal only shall be borne by each officer, recommended
for such distinction.
2nd.—That for the second and third events, which may be subsequently
commemorated in like manner, each individual recommended to bear the
distinction, shall carry a gold clasp attached to the ribbon to which
the medal is suspended, and inscribed with the name of the battle, or
siege, to which it relates.
3rd.—That upon a claim being admitted to a fourth mark of distinction,
a cross[57] shall be borne by each officer, with the names of the four
battles, or sieges, respectively inscribed thereupon; and to be worn
in substitution of the distinctions previously granted to such
individuals.
4th.—Upon each occasion of a similar nature, that may occur
subsequently to the grant of a cross, the clasp shall again be issued
to those who have a claim to the additional distinction, to be borne
on the ribbon to which the cross is suspended, in the same manner as
described in No. 2, of these regulations.
His Royal Highness is further pleased to command, in the name and on
behalf of his Majesty, that the distribution of medals, or badges, for
military services of distinguished merit, shall be regulated as
follows, namely,—
1st.—That no general, or other officer, shall be considered entitled
to receive them, unless he has been personally, and particularly
engaged upon those occasions of great importance and peculiar
brilliancy, in commemoration of which the Prince Regent, in the name
and on behalf of His Majesty, may be graciously pleased to bestow such
marks of distinction.
2nd.—That no officer shall be considered a candidate for the medal, or
badge, except under the special selection and report of the Commander
of the Forces upon the spot, as having merited the distinction by
conspicuous services.
3rd.—That the Commander of the Forces shall transmit to the
Commander-in-Chief, returns signed by himself, specifying the names
and ranks of those officers whom he shall have selected as
particularly deserving.
4th.—The Commander of the Forces, in making the selection, will
restrict his choice to the undermentioned ranks,[58] namely,—General
officers: Commanding officers of brigades; Commanding officers of
artillery, or engineers; Adjutant-General, and Quartermaster-General,
Deputies of Adjutant-General, and Quartermaster-General, having the
rank of field officers; Assistants-Adjutant and Quartermaster-General,
having the rank of field officers, and being at the head of the staff,
with a detached corps, or distinct division of the army; Military
Secretary, having the rank of field officer; Commanding officers of
battalions, or corps equivalent thereto; and officers who may have
succeeded to the actual command during the engagement, in consequence
of the death, or removal, of the original commanding officer.
The Prince Regent is therefore graciously pleased to command, in the
name and on behalf of His Majesty, that, in commemoration of the
brilliant victories obtained by His Majesty’s arms in the battles of
Roleia and Vimiera, Corunna, Talavera de la Reyna, Busaco, Barrosa,
Fuentes d’Onor, Albuhera, and Salamanca, and in the assaults and
captures of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, the officers of the army,
present on those occasions, shall enjoy the privilege of bearing
badges of distinction; and His Royal Highness having approved of the
crosses, medals, and clasps, which have been prepared, is pleased to
command that they shall be worn by the general officers, suspended by
a ribbon the colour of the sash, with a blue edge, round the neck; and
by the commanding officers of battalions, or corps equivalent thereto,
and officers who may have succeeded to the actual command during the
engagement, the chiefs of military departments, and their deputies and
assistants, (having the rank of field officers,) and such other
officers as may be specially recommended, attached by a ribbon of the
same description to the button-hole of their uniform.
The Prince Regent is also pleased to command, in the name and on the
behalf of His Majesty, that those badges which would have been
conferred upon the officers who have fallen at, or died since, the
above-named battles and sieges, shall, as a token of respect for their
memories, be transmitted to their respective families.
By command of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent.
FREDERICK, Commander-in-Chief.
H. TORRENS, Colonel and Military Secretary.”
AFFAIR OF CHATEAUGUAY.
26TH. OCTOBER, 1813.
This was one of the actions which occurred during the war between Great
Britain and the United States. In the autumn of 1813, a great effort was
made by the Americans for the invasion of Canada at different points.
The expedition commenced with the advance of Major-General Hampton to
the frontier, whilst Major-General Wilkinson, in co-operation, embarked
with ten thousand men, on Lake Ontario, and proceeded in boats down the
river St. Lawrence, with the intention of reaching Montreal. On the 8th.
of October, Major-General Hampton occupied with a considerable force of
regulars and militia, a position on the Chateauguay river, near the
settlement of the Four Corners. The American army crossed the line of
separation between Lower Canada and the United States early on the 21st.
of that month, surprised a small party of Indians, and drove in a picket
of militia, posted at the junction of the Ontard and Chateauguay rivers,
where it encamped, and proceeded in establishing a road of communication
with its last position, for the purpose of bringing forward its
artillery. All arrangements having been completed on the 24th., the
American General commenced on the following day his operations against
the advanced posts of the British; at about eleven o’clock in the
forenoon of the 26th. of October, his cavalry and light infantry were
discovered advancing on both banks of the Chateauguay, by a detachment
covering a working party of _habitans_ employed in felling timber, for
the purpose of constructing _abattis_.
Lieutenant-Colonel De Salaberry, who had the command of the advanced
pickets, composed of the light infantry company of the Canadian
Fencibles, and two companies of Voltigeurs, on the north side of the
river, made so excellent a disposition of his small force, that he
checked the advance of the principal column, led by Major-General
Hampton in person, and accompanied by Brigadier-General Izard; whilst
the American light brigade, under Colonel M‘Carty, was similarly
repulsed in its progress on the south side of the river, by the spirited
advance of the right flank company of the third battalion of the
embodied militia, under Captain Daly, supported by Captain Bruyer’s
company of Chateauguay Chasseurs. Captains Daly and Bruyer being
wounded, (the former twice severely,) and their companies having
sustained some loss, their position was immediately taken up by a flank
company of the first battalion of embodied militia. The American troops
rallied and repeatedly returned to the attack, but were foiled at all
points by a handful of men, who by their determined bravery, maintained
their position, and protected the working parties, who were enabled to
continue their labours.
Nearly all the British troops having been pushed forward for the defence
of Upper Canada, that of the lower province depended in a great degree
on the valour and exertions of its incorporated battalions and its
sedentary militia. This loyal and honourable line of conduct was
persevered in by the Canadians.
It appeared by report of prisoners taken in the affair on the
Chateauguay, that the American forces consisted of seven thousand
infantry and two hundred cavalry, with ten field pieces. The British
advance force, actually engaged, did not exceed three hundred, and the
enemy suffered severely, not only from the British fire, but also from
their own, some detached corps in the woods having fired upon each
other.
Lieutentant-General Sir George Prevost, Bart., solicited from His Royal
Highness the Prince Regent five pairs of colours for the first, second,
third, fourth, and fifth battalions of the embodied battalions of the
Canadian militia, as a mark of royal approbation of their conduct.
A medal was granted for this service, which was similar to that
authorized for the Peninsula actions, and it was afterwards commemorated
by a bar, when the general war medal was distributed.
PASSAGE OF THE NIVELLE.
10TH. NOVEMBER, 1813.
After the fall of St. Sebastian, the hostile armies remained for some
time inactive, or occupied only in strengthening their respective
positions, and preparing for the further prosecution of the campaign.
The troops, however, suffered severely from the inclemency of the
weather. Exposed on the bleak summits of the Pyrenees, they gazed with
intense longing on the beautiful plains of France, which lay stretched
out beneath their feet; but the close neighbourhood of a watchful enemy
rendered the greatest vigilance necessary, and the duties were severe.
Flushed with success the British troops ardently longed for further
victories. This moment at length arrived. Early on the morning of the
7th. of October, the army, under favour of a dark and stormy sky,
descended from the heights, crossed the Bidassoa, and with little
opposition established itself on the French territory. The continued
inclemency of the weather, and the badness of the roads, retarded the
further advance of the army till the 10th. of November, when all
preparations being completed, the columns moved down the passes of the
Pyrenees in the most perfect silence, and lay down, each at its
appointed station, to await the dawn of day to make their attack. This
was commenced by the fourth division, which carried a strong redoubt in
front of the village of Sarre, drove the enemy from that village, and
continued its advance against the heights in its rear, exposed to the
fire of entrenchments by which the position was secured. These, however,
were successively abandoned as the division advanced, the enemy flying
in great disorder, towards the bridges on the Nivelle; the garrison of
one redoubt, which alone offered any resistance, being made prisoners.
The other attacks were all equally successful; the enemy driven from the
centre of his line, concentrated himself on the heights above St. Pé,
whence he was dislodged by a flank movement of the third and seventh
divisions on the left, in conjunction with the sixth division, which
proceeded in the contrary direction. Marshal Soult at length withdrew
the whole of his army, and resigned his position to the allies, who went
into cantonments in advance of the Nivelle, where they enjoyed another
interval of repose.
In the Marquis of Wellington’s official report occurred the following;
after speaking of the handsome attack of the sixth division, he
continued, “I likewise particularly observed the gallant conduct of the
51st. and 68th. regiments, under the command of Major Rice and
Lieutenant-Colonel Hawkins, in Major-General Inglis’s brigade, in the
attack of the heights above St. Pé, in the afternoon of the 10th.”
The 43rd. and 52nd. regiments added to their former renown on this
occasion, especially in the storming of the Petite Rhune, and in the
completion of the victory.
Considering the strength of the positions attacked, and the length of
time (from daylight till dark) during which the troops were engaged, the
loss, although severe, was not so great as might have been expected.
Major-Generals Kempt and Byng were wounded. The enemy lost fifty guns,
two thousand men, fifteen hundred prisoners, and large quantities of
stores and ammunition.
The following regiments were engaged in this service:—the 2nd., 3rd.,
5th., 6th., 11th., 23rd., 24th., 27th., 28th., 31st., 32nd., 34th.,
36th., 39th., 40th., 42nd., 43rd., 45th., 48th., 51st., 52nd., 53rd.,
57th., 58th., 60th., 61st., 66th., 68th., 74th., 79th., 82nd., 83rd.,
87th., 88th., 91st., 94th., and Rifle Brigade.
ACTION AT CHRYSTLER’S FARM.
11TH. NOVEMBER, 1813.
Major-General James Wilkinson, who had been instructed to co-operate
with Major-General Hampton in the invasion of Lower Canada, and for the
avowed purpose of taking up his winter quarters in Montreal, quitted
Grenadier Island, on Lake Ontario, on the 30th October, 1813, with ten
thousand men, in small craft and batteaux, and proceeded down the St.
Lawrence. Having, on the 31st., halted a few miles below Gravelly Point,
on the south side of the river, his position was on the following day
reconnoitred, and subsequently cannonaded by a division of gunboats,
under the command of Captain Mulcaster, of the Royal Navy. By keeping
close to his own shore, the enemy arrived, on the 6th. of November,
within six miles of the port of Prescott, which he endeavoured to pass
unobserved during the night of the 7th.; but the attempt was frustrated
by the vigilance of Lieutenant-Colonel Pearson, who commanded there, and
the American Armada was compelled to sustain a heavy and destructive
cannonade during the whole of that operation.
Lieutenant-General Sir George Prevost, having anticipated the
possibility of the American government sending its whole concentrated
force from Lake Ontario towards this territory, had ordered a corps of
observation, consisting of the remains of the 49th. regiment, the second
battalion of the 89th., and three companies of the Voltigeurs, with a
division of gunboats, the whole under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel
J. W. Morrison, of the 89th., to follow the movements of Major-General
Wilkinson’s army.
An attack was made at Chrystler’s Farm, on the 11th. of November, 1813,
upon the corps of observation, by a portion of the American force, under
Brigadier-General Boyd, amounting to nearly four thousand men, which
resulted in the complete repulse and defeat of the enemy, with
considerable loss, upwards of one hundred prisoners, with a field-piece,
being captured; their total loss was estimated at eight hundred men.
This action commenced about two o’clock in the afternoon, when the
Americans, having moved forward from Chrystler’s point, attacked the
advance, which gradually fell back to the position selected for the
detachment to occupy, the right resting on the river, and the left on a
pine wood, exhibiting a front of about seven hundred yards.
In consequence of the ground being open, the troops were thus disposed:
the flank companies of the 49th. regiment, the detachment of the
Canadian Fencibles, with one field-piece, under Lieutenant-Colonel
Pearson on the right, a little advanced on the road; three companies of
the 89th. regiment under Captain Barnes, with a gun formed in
_echellon_, with the advance on its left supporting it. The 49th. and
89th. thrown more to the rear, with a gun, formed the main body and
reserve, extending to the woods on the left, which were occupied by the
Voltigeurs under Major Herriot, and the Indians under Lieutenant
Anderson. At about half-past two the action became general, when the
enemy endeavoured, by moving forward a brigade from his right, to turn
the British left, but was repulsed by the 89th. forming _en potence_
with the 49th., and both corps moving forward, occasionally firing by
platoons. His efforts were next directed against the right, and to
repulse this movement, the 49th. took ground in that direction, in
_echellon_, followed by the 89th.; when within half-musket-shot the line
was formed under a heavy, but irregular fire from the Americans.
Orders were next given for the 49th. to charge the gun posted opposite,
but it became necessary when within a short distance of it, to check
this forward movement, in consequence of a charge from the American
cavalry on the right, lest they should fall upon their rear; but they
were received in so gallant a manner by the companies of the 89th.,
under Captain Barnes, and the well-directed fire from the artillery,
that they quickly retreated, and by an immediate charge from three
companies, one gun was captured.
About half-past four the Americans gave way at all points from an
exceedingly strong position, endeavouring to cover the retreat by their
light infantry, which were soon driven away by Lieutenant-Colonel
Pearson. The detachment for the night occupied the ground from which the
foe had been driven, and afterwards moved forward in pursuit.
This action was also rewarded by the usual medal, and consequently a
bar, inscribed “CHRYSTLER’S FARM,” was authorized when the war medal was
granted. The force engaged consisted of the Royal Artillery, 49th., the
second battalion of the 89th. regiment; Canadian Fencibles, Canadian
Voltigeurs, and Militia Artillery and Dragoons, and Indians.
No distinction has been granted for the colours, on account of either
Chateauguay or Chrystler’s Farm.
PASSAGE OF THE NIVE.
9TH. TO 13TH. DECEMBER, 1813.
After the retreat of the French from the Nivelle, they occupied a
position in front of Bayonne, which had, since the battle of Vittoria,
been entrenched with great labour. The bad state of the roads, and the
swelling of the rivulets from the fall of rain, had prevented the
Marquis of Wellington from at once passing the Nive.[59] The state of
the weather and roads at length enabled the British commander to collect
the materials, and make preparations for forming the necessary bridges.
The troops moved out of their cantonments on the 8th. of December, and
Lieutenant-General Sir Rowland Hill, with the right of the army, crossed
on the 9th. at, and in the neighbourhood of Cambo, Marshal Sir William
Beresford supporting the operation by passing the sixth division, under
Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Clinton, at Ustaritz; both operations
succeeded completely. The enemy were immediately driven from the right
bank of the river, and retired towards Bayonne, by the great road of St.
Jean Pied de Port. Those posted opposite Cambo were nearly intercepted
by the sixth division, and one regiment, being driven from the road, was
compelled to march across the country.
On the morning of the 10th. of December the enemy moved out of the
entrenched camp with their whole army, with the exception only of that
portion which occupied the works opposite to Sir Rowland Hill’s
position, and drove in the pickets of the light division, when an action
ensued, the brunt of which fell upon the first Portuguese brigade under
Major-General Arch. Campbell, and upon Major-General Robinson’s brigade
of the fifth division, which moved up in support.
When night closed the French were still in great force in front of the
British posts, on the ground from which they had driven the pickets.
During the night they retired from Lieutenant-General Sir John Hope’s
front, leaving small posts, which were immediately driven in. About
three in the afternoon they again drove in that officer’s pickets, and
attacked his posts, but were once more repulsed with considerable loss.
On the morning of the 12th. the attack was re-commenced by the enemy
with the same want of success, the first division under Major-General
Howard, having relieved the fifth division; the enemy discontinued it in
the afternoon, and retired entirely within the entrenched camp on that
night. After the 10th. the attack was never renewed on the posts of the
light division.
It was not until the 12th. of December that the first division, under
Major-General Howard, was engaged, when the guards conducted themselves
with their usual spirit.
Having thus failed in all the attacks with their whole force upon the
British left, the enemy withdrew into their entrenchments on the night
of the 12th., and passed a large force through Bayonne; with which, on
the morning of the 13th. of December, a most desperate attack was made
upon the troops under Lieutenant-General Sir Rowland Hill. In
expectation of this the Marquis of Wellington had requested Marshal Sir
William Beresford to reinforce the Lieutenant-General with the sixth
division, which crossed the Nive at daylight on that morning; and a
further reinforcement of the fourth division, with two brigades of the
third, received orders to join Sir Rowland Hill. The troops under his
immediate command had defeated the enemy with immense loss, before these
succours arrived. Two guns and some prisoners were taken from the
French, who, being beaten at all points, and having sustained
considerable loss, were compelled to withdraw upon their entrenchment.
Soult’s objects were to gain the bridge of St. Pierre, to make himself
master of the road to St. Jean Pied de Port, and to break through the
position of the allies. For these purposes he put forth his whole
strength, and was completely vanquished. Even before the sixth division
arrived, Sir Rowland Hill had repulsed him with prodigious loss; and
although he skilfully availed himself of a high ground in retreating, he
could not stand against the famous charge of General Byng, and was
entirely defeated. It was a battle fought and won by the corps of Sir
Rowland Hill alone and unaided. At the instant of victory Lord
Wellington came up, and in the ecstacy of the moment of triumph, caught
him by the hand, and said, “Hill, the day is your own.”
The late Field-Marshal the Earl of Strafford, and Colonel of the
Coldstream Guards, (then Major-General Byng,) highly distinguished
himself in this action, wherein he led his troops, under a most galling
fire, to the assault of a strong height occupied in great force by the
enemy, and having himself ascended the hill first with the colour of the
31st. regiment of foot in his hand, he planted it upon the summit, and
drove the enemy (far superior in numbers) down the ridge to the suburbs
of St. Pierre, for which act he received the royal authority on the 4th.
of July, 1815, to bear the following honourable augmentation, namely,
“Over the arms of the family of Byng, in bend sinister, a representation
of the colour of the 31st. regiment,” and the following crest, namely,
“Out of a mural crown an arm embowed, grasping the colour of the
aforesaid 31st. regiment, and, pendent from the wrist by a riband, the
Gold Cross presented to him by His Majesty’s command, as a mark of his
royal approbation of his distinguished services,” and in an escroll
above, the word “Mouguerre,” being the name of a height near the hamlet
of St. Pierre.
The following regiments took part in this action The 16th. Light
Dragoons, 1st., 3rd., 4th., 9th., 11th., 28th., 31st., 32nd., 34th.,
36th., 38th., 39th., 42nd., 43rd., 50th., 52nd., 57th., 59th., 60th.,
61st., 62nd., 66th., 71st., 76th., 79th., 84th., 85th., 91st., and 92nd.
Foot, and Rifle Brigade.
BATTLE OF ORTHES.
27TH. FEBRUARY, 1814.
Little rest was accorded to the Peninsula troops. The weather having
improved, and the roads become passable, in the second week of February
the Marquis of Wellington continued his victorious career. The sixth and
light divisions were ordered to break up from the blockade of Bayonne,
and General Don Manuel Freyre was directed to close up the cantonments
of his corps towards Iran, and to be prepared to move when the left of
the army should cross the Adour. Immediately after the passage of the
Gave d’Oléron, by Sir Rowland Hill, at Villenave, on the 24th. of
February, that general and Sir Henry Clinton moved towards Orthes, near
which place the French army was assembled on the 25th., having destroyed
all the bridges on the Gave de Pau.
At this period the third division of the British army was at the broken
bridge of Berenx, five miles lower down the river, having the sixth and
seventh divisions (then arrived under Marshal Beresford) on its left,
while the remainder of the force was assembled in front of Orthes. On
the 26th. the third division forded the river lower down, and a pontoon
bridge was afterwards laid at Berenx, by which the fourth and sixth
divisions crossed on the morning of the 27th., at which time the third
division was already posted with skirmishers thrown out close upon the
left centre of the French position. The sixth division was placed on the
right between the third division and the river, and the light division
on its left in rear as a reserve. During the whole morning there had
been occasional skirmishing by the third division, but the real attack
commenced at nine o’clock by the third and sixth divisions on the French
left centre, and the fourth and seventh divisions on their right, which
last was intended to be the principal point of attack; but it having
been found, after three hours’ hard fighting, that the enemy were there
too strongly posted, the Marquis of Wellington ordered an advance of the
third and sixth divisions, with the 52nd. regiment, from the centre upon
the left centre of the French position, which they carried and secured
the victory;[60] meanwhile Lieutenant-General Sir Rowland Hill, with the
second division, had crossed the river above Orthes, and nearly cut off
the only line of retreat open to the enemy, who then retired from the
field, but without confusion, and constantly resisting the advance. The
allies followed, keeping up an incessant fire and cannonade, but lost
many men, particularly of the third division, which was the most
strongly opposed; this continued until the French nearly reached the Luy
de Bearn river, when their retreat became a flight, and they effected
their escape by the fords and one bridge, which they destroyed, having
lost four thousand men and six guns. In this battle the Marquis of
Wellington was wounded.[61]
The regiments engaged at Orthes were the 14th. Light Dragoons, 5th.,
6th., 7th., 11th., 20th., 23rd., 24th., 27th., 28th., 31st., 32nd.,
34th., 36th., 39th., 40th., 42nd., 45th., 48th., 50th., 51st., 52nd.,
58th., 60th., 61st., 66th., 68th., 71st., 74th., 82nd., 83rd., 87th.,
88th., 91st., 92nd., and 94th Foot, and the Rifle Brigade.[62]
BATTLE OF TOULOUSE.
10TH. APRIL, 1814.
This, the last general action of the Peninsula war, was fought on Easter
Sunday, the 10th. of April, 1814. 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_.
The city itself was only accessible from the south, and its strong
though old-fashioned walls had been rendered more defensible by
redoubts, and by an exterior line of entrenchments on a strong and
rugged range of heights, about two miles in length beyond the canal. On
the 28th. of March the enemy’s troops were driven within the suburbs of
St. Cyprien, and several attempts were made to attack them by crossing
the Garonne above Toulouse. Operations were, however, impeded by the
floods and rapidity of the river, until the 3rd. of April, when the
third, fourth, and sixth divisions, with three brigades of cavalry,
under Marshal Beresford, passed over by a pontoon bridge fifteen miles
below Toulouse; but the crossing of the remainder of the army was again
impeded by the rising of the river, which caused the removal of the
bridges, until the 8th., when the Marquis of Wellington crossed, and
advanced within five miles of Toulouse; Lieutenant-General Sir Rowland
Hill, with two divisions, remaining on the left bank.
The Marquis of Wellington then fixed his plan of attack on the French
position, according to which, on the left of the Garonne,
Lieutenant-General Sir Rowland Hill was to menace the suburb of St.
Cyprien, while on the right of the river the third and light divisions
were to menace the northern front, driving the enemy’s outposts within
the canal, from its junction with the Garonne to the commencement of the
range of heights at the hill of Pugade. A Spanish division was to carry
that hill, and the fourth and sixth divisions, under Marshal Beresford,
to carry the heights beyond it. On the 10th. of April, at about six
o’clock in the morning, the battle commenced, and the different columns
advanced according to orders. The third division on the right, next the
Garonne, drove in the outposts of the enemy for about three miles, as
far as the bridge of Jumeaux on the canal; this bridge was defended by a
strong palisade _tête-de-pont_, too high to be forced without ladders,
and approachable only on open flat. Six companies of the 74th., (three
under Brevet-Major Miller, and three under Captain McQueen,) were
ordered to attack this work, which they did in the most gallant style;
but it was commanded from the opposite side of the canal, and was
impregnable without artillery; the attacking party was therefore
compelled to retire, after sustaining severe loss. The French then
occupied the work in great force, and the continued efforts of the whole
brigade could not dispossess them. The attack upon this work was
unfortunately ordered by Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton, after the
duty assigned to his division of driving in the outposts and menacing
the enemy had been performed, although the impossibility of carrying the
work without artillery had been represented.
Marshal Sir William Beresford crossed the Ers, formed his corps in
three columns of lines in the village of Croix d’Orade, the fourth
division leading, with which he immediately carried Mont Blanc. 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. The gallant efforts of Lieutenant-General Don
Manuel Freyre upon the Pugade Hill did not meet with success, but they
were highly applauded by the Marquis of Wellington. Meanwhile Marshal
Sir William Beresford, with the fourth division under the command of
Lieutenant-General Sir Lowry Cole, and the sixth division under
Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Clinton, attacked and carried the heights
on the enemy’s right, and the redoubt which covered and protected that
flank; and he lodged those troops on the same heights with the enemy,
who were, however, still in possession of four redoubts, and of the
entrenchments and fortified houses. The badness of the roads had
induced the Marshal to leave his artillery in the village of Mont
Blanc; some time elapsed before it could be brought up, and before
Lieutenant-General Don Manuel Freyre’s corps could be re-formed and
led again to the attack. As soon as this was effected the Marshal
continued his movement along the ridge, and carried, with
Major-General Pack’s brigade of the sixth division, the two principal
redoubts and fortified houses in the French centre. The enemy made a
desperate effort from the canal to regain these redoubts, but they
were repulsed with considerable loss; and the sixth division
continuing its movement along the ridge of the height, and the Spanish
troops pursuing a corresponding movement upon the front, the French
were driven from the two redoubts and entrenchments on the left, and
the whole range of heights were gained by the British.
In his despatch, the Marquis of Wellington added,—“We did not gain this
advantage, however, without severe loss, particularly in the brave sixth
division. Lieutenant-Colonel Coghlan, of the 61st., an officer of great
merit and promise, was unfortunately killed in the attack of the
heights; Major-General Pack was wounded, but was enabled to remain in
the field; and Colonel Douglas, of the 8th. Portuguese regiment, lost
his leg, and I am afraid I shall be deprived for a considerable time of
his assistance.”
“The 36th., 42nd., 79th., and 61st. regiments lost considerable numbers,
and were highly distinguished throughout the day.
“The fourth division, although exposed on their march along the enemy’s
front in a galling fire, were not so much engaged as the sixth division,
and did not suffer so much; but they conducted themselves with their
usual gallantry.”
After these operations the French withdrew behind the canal, and thus
ended this hard-fought but unnecessary battle.[63]
The 5th. Dragoon Guards, 3rd. and 4th. Light Dragoons, 2nd., 5th., 7th.,
11th., 20th., 23rd., 27th., 36th., 40th., 42nd., 43rd., 45th., 48th.,
52nd., 53rd., 60th., 61st., 74th., 79th., 83rd., 87th., 88th., 91st.,
94th., and Rifle Brigade were engaged at TOULOUSE.
During the night of the 11th. of April, the French troops evacuated
Toulouse, and a white flag was hoisted. On the following day the Marquis
of Wellington entered the city, amidst the acclamations of the
inhabitants. In the course of the afternoon of the 12th. of April,
intelligence was received of the abdication of Napoleon, and had not the
express been delayed on the journey by the French police, the sacrifice
of many valuable lives would have been prevented. A disbelief in the
truth of this intelligence occasioned much unnecessary bloodshed at
Bayonne, the garrison of which made a desperate sortie on the night of
the 14th. of April, and Lieutenant-General Sir John Hope, (afterwards
Earl of Hopetoun,) was taken prisoner. Major-General Andrew Hay was
killed, and Major-General Stopford was wounded.
A treaty of peace was signed between Great Britain and France; May
30th., 1814, Louis the Eighteenth was restored to the throne of France;
and Napoleon Bonaparte was permitted to reside at Elba, with the title
of Emperor, the sovereignty of that island having been conceded to him
by the allied powers.[64]