its place in brigade, the enemy’s fire had ceased, but as soon as
they were seen in motion, it recommenced with double fury; the
wall was knocked down in several places, and one round shot passed
between Colonel Pakenham and Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace, who were on
horseback close to each other. It carried away the top of the wall,
one of the stones striking Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace on the head
and knocking his hat off, but doing him no further injury, though,
for the moment, his men believed he had been killed. The regiment
then quitted the place by companies in file as the safest way to
avoid the effects of the cannonade: the companies returned, left in
front. Colonel Pakenham, with his hat shot through the leaf, and
his hand wrapped up in a pocket handkerchief, called out to Ensign
Grattan as he passed at the head of the foremost company, to know
where he was going, and why he left the village. Being told that it
was in consequence of orders from Colonel Mackinnon, Colonel Pakenham
replied, “I did not observe your _number_. Do as you are directed;
your regiment has done enough for this day; but you may tell whatever
troops you meet, that each man may as well bring a keg of ammunition
under his arm, for those rascals shall never get possession of the
town as long as I have life.” By four o’clock in the afternoon the
regiment had joined its brigade.
The conduct of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH at Fuentes d’Onor (as at Busaco)
obtained the particular notice of Lord Wellington, who, in his
despatch containing the account of that battle, says, “On one of
these occasions, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, with the Seventy-First and
Seventy-Ninth, under the command of Colonel Mackinnon, charged the
enemy, and drove them through the village. Colonel Mackinnon has
reported particularly the conduct of Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace and
Lieutenant and Adjutant Stewart of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiment.”
The loss of the regiment was not so great as might have been expected
from the brilliancy and seriousness of the affair in which it had
been engaged. This comparatively small loss is to be attributed to
the great steadiness and regularity of the men in their different
attacks, and to the rapidity with which, on all occasions, they
closed with their adversaries. Only one officer, Captain Irwin, was
killed, and four wounded, _viz._ Lieutenants Stewart, Macalpin, and
Halket, and Ensign Owgan. Of non-commissioned officers and privates,
seven were killed and fifty-three wounded.
For a few days after the battle of Fuentes d’Onor, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH
occupied the village of Navez de Aver, and was then ordered to
the south to join the forces engaged in the siege of Badajoz.
No opportunity occurred during this siege for the regiment to
distinguish itself as a body, but many detached instances of
intrepidity were displayed by the men as circumstances gave them an
opportunity. Amongst others, on the day before the first assault
on St. Christoval (the 5th of June), Private Edmund Man, of the
grenadier company, was employed in repairing a damaged embrasure
in one of the batteries against the castle. He was sitting outside
the embrasure, pegging in a fascine, when Colonel Fletcher, the
commanding engineer, who, though fearless of any danger as far as
regarded himself, was particularly tenacious of allowing the soldiers
to expose themselves unnecessarily, called to him, “Come in, my
fine fellow, and you will do your work as well, or nearly so at
all events.” “It’s hardly worth while, Colonel,” replied Man, “I am
just finished, and they cannot hit me, for they have been trying it
hard this quarter of an hour.” The words were scarcely out of the
brave fellow’s mouth, when a round shot cut him in two, the French
cannoniers cheering loudly at the same time at the accuracy of their
practice.
When the siege of Badajoz was raised in the month of June, the
EIGHTY-EIGHTH proceeded to quarters in Campo Mayor, where the second
battalion, which had joined the army on the advance from the lines of
Torres Vedras, was drafted into the first, making it a fine effective
corps, numbering upwards of one thousand bayonets. The staff of the
second battalion then returned to England to recruit.
In the autumn of this year the regiment was selected to support the
outposts of the army against the attacks of the French garrison of
Ciudad Rodrigo, and was cantoned in the villages of El Bodon, La
Encina, and Pastores. The French had been in the habit of plundering
the country around, and successful in several of their excursions
previous to the arrival of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH. A few nights after the
regiment occupied Pastores, its outposts were attempted by a party
from the garrison, which was immediately repulsed with loss, and its
commander killed on the spot by Corporal John Walsh of the light
infantry company. It was the first and also the last attempt the
enemy made on the EIGHTY-EIGHTH during its stay in the neighbourhood.
The blockade of Ciudad Rodrigo was completed on the 5th of September,
and preparations for the siege commenced, when the junction of
Marshal Marmont and Count Dorsenne obliged Lord Wellington to
abandon the design for a time. On the 25th of the same month,
the third division was attacked at El Bodon by General Montbrun,
and fell back upon Fuente Guinaldo, in good order and with little
loss, although the distance was eight miles, and the retreat was
made in the face of a powerful artillery and cavalry force. The
EIGHTY-EIGHTH suffered but slightly in this affair, and occupied for
its winter-quarters, or rather quarters of repose, the village of
Aldea da Ponte.
[Sidenote: 1812]
In the depth of the ensuing winter the army was suddenly called from
its cantonments to the siege of _Ciudad Rodrigo_, the investment of
which fortress was effected on the 8th of January, 1812. The service
of the trenches was carried on by the first, third, fourth, and light
divisions alternately, each taking the duty for four-and-twenty
hours. The weather was severe, and the troops without covering, but
the men were in high health and spirits, and the siege was prosecuted
with so much vigour, that on the 19th of the same month, two
practicable breaches having been made in the body of the place, Lord
Wellington determined to carry it by storm.
The third and light divisions had the honour to be selected for
this service; the latter was directed to attack the left or smaller
breach, while the assault of the grand breach was confided to the
former. The fourth division was in reserve. It was half-past six in
the evening when the orders for storming the town arrived; Colonel
Wallace was absent from the army on account of ill-health, and the
command of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH devolved upon Major Thompson. A few
minutes before the brigade was formed for the attack, Major-General
Mackinnon sent for Major Thompson, and told him, he wished the
forlorn hope to be led by a subaltern officer of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH;
adding, that in the event of such officer surviving, he should be
recommended for, and as a matter of course would obtain, a company.
Major Thompson felt the distinguished compliment to the EIGHTY-EIGHTH
which this intimation of the General’s wish conveyed, and calling his
officers together, informed them of it. Lieutenant William Mackie,
then _senior-lieutenant_, instantly stepped forward, and dropping
his sword, said, “Major, I am ready for that service.” “Go then,”
replied the Major, taking him by the hand, “Go, and God bless you!”
The soldiers, who were close at hand, heard what passed, and some
difficulty arose in selecting, out of the numbers who pressed forward
claiming on some pretence or other the preference in danger, the
twenty to which the Forlorn Hope was limited. The selection, however,
was quickly made from the company which Lieutenant Mackie commanded.
The regiment was formed in sections, right in front, and everything
in readiness to obey the signal gun for the advance, when
Lieutenant-General Picton and Major-General Mackinnon appeared
accompanied by their staff. Long harangues are seldom made to
British soldiers, and in the present instance Lieutenant-General
Picton’s words were few, but at the same time too animating, and too
characteristic of himself, not to be recorded verbatim. They were,
“RANGERS OF CONNAUGHT! It is not my intention to expend any powder
this evening: we will do this business with the cold iron.”
The troops then entered the trenches with Major-General Mackinnon at
their head; on leaving the approaches they advanced rapidly over the
rugged ground leading to the breach, many of the men carrying bags
filled with grass to throw into the ditch and break the descent.
Arrived at the foot of the breach they speedily mounted, but met with
a very gallant resistance, and many men and officers fell: amongst
the latter was the commander of the Brigade, Major-General Mackinnon,
who was killed with many others by an explosion of gunpowder in
the moment of victory. On each side the breach was a twenty-four
pounder, every discharge from which swept it with a raking fire.
Major Thompson of the Seventy-Fourth (acting engineer), observing the
destruction occasioned by these guns, ordered the few men who were
next at hand to storm the one on the left; the nearest men happened
to be three of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, Brazel, who saved Captain Dunne’s
life at Busaco, Kelly and Swan. Beneath them and the gun was a deep
retrenchment, which would have rendered it impossible for them to
reach it in time to anticipate its next fatal discharge, if they were
encumbered with their firelocks. Without a moment’s hesitation they
threw aside the heavier weapon, and armed only with their bayonets,
leaped the interposing barrier, rushed up to the muzzle of the piece,
and after a short but terrific combat (in which Swan lost his arm
by the stroke of a sabre) put all the French cannoniers to death
and silenced the gun. The troops on the breach were now safe from
the havock which had a few minutes before been so fatal to their
comrades, and in half an hour the town was carried.
Lieutenant Mackie, guided by the fugitives of the garrison, was the
first to arrive with his party at the gates of the citadel, where
the enemy inquired for a General Officer to receive their surrender.
The Lieutenant being a Grenadier officer, pointed to his epaulettes
as a guarantee of their safety in surrendering to him, and the gate
was immediately opened. The officer commanding the advance of the
light division coming up at the moment, the governor and his staff
were conducted to Lord Wellington, who had by this time reached the
ramparts.
Lieutenant Faris was engaged during the assault in a desperate
hand-to-hand conflict. Two French grenadiers, observing him far in
advance of his men, attacked him. One fired and immediately ran away,
his bullet passing through the Lieutenant’s coat; the other then
fired, wounded him slightly in the thigh, and immediately closed upon
him with the bayonet, making a thrust at the body, which Lieutenant
Faris parried with his sabre, but received a severe wound in the leg;
a personal struggle then took place, from which Lieutenant F. at
length succeeded in disengaging himself, and killed his adversary by
a sabre cut on the head. By this time he was completely exhausted,
and was obliged to be carried into the next house. His wounds,
however, though severe, were neither of them dangerous, and he soon
recovered.
The loss of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH before _Ciudad Rodrigo_ was one
officer, Lieutenant Beresford, and twenty rank and file killed;
four Lieutenants, Flack, Armstrong, Johnston, and W. Kingsmill, two
serjeants, and fifty-four rank and file wounded. Lord Wellington in
his despatches notices the third division and this regiment in the
following words,—
“The conduct of all parts of the Third Division in these
operations, which they performed with so much gallantry and
exactness on the evening of the 19th in the dark, affords the
strongest proofs of the abilities of Lieutenant-General Picton
and Major-General Mackinnon, &c.” And again: “It is but justice
to the third division, to report that the men who performed the
sap belonged to the Forty-Fifth, Seventy-Fourth, and EIGHTY-EIGHTH
Regiments.”
After the reduction of Ciudad Rodrigo, the regiment occupied the
village of Albergeria until the middle of February, when it marched
towards the South to join the forces in Alentejo, and act against the
fortress of _Badajoz_. In this siege the duty of the trenches was
performed by the third, fourth, and sixth divisions, about sixteen
thousand strong, while the French garrison amounted to six thousand.
The place was invested on the 16th of March, and the trenches
opened the same night. On the night of the 19th the garrison made
a sortie with two thousand men against the right of the trenches
with great gallantry, and at first with considerable success, but
were finally driven back to the town with loss. In that part of
the British line which faced the advanced fort called La Picurina,
were two batteries in a forward state, occupied by a party of the
Forty-Fifth and EIGHTY-EIGHTH, under the command of Captain Hogan of
the EIGHTY-EIGHTH. The trenches were in such a state from the rain
which had fallen almost incessantly from the commencement of the
siege, that the working parties were up to their knees in water, and
it was deemed right to keep the covering troops as much as possible
out of the wet ground. About half an hour before the usual time
of relieving the guard of the trenches, Ensigns Darcy and Grattan
of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, although the smoke of the French batteries
combined with a heavy fog rendered it impossible to distinguish
objects at any distance, thought they observed symptoms of the
enemy’s meditating a sortie from the Picurina Fort. Without waiting
for orders, they instantly directed the working party to throw down
their tools and resume their arms; in the next moment, and before
many of the men were in readiness to act, the French made a rush at
the battery No. 2, but were received at the point of the bayonet, by
the few assembled men of the Forty-Fifth and EIGHTY-EIGHTH, and thus
the readiness and presence of mind of two young officers, and the
firmness of a handful of brave men, preserved the half finished works
from destruction. Some of the soldiers pursued the repulsed enemy as
far as the glacis of the town, and two privates of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH,
Kelly of the fourth company (who has been already mentioned for his
conduct at Talavera, Busaco, and Ciudad Rodrigo) and M‘Gowan of the
grenadiers particularly distinguished themselves.
On the 24th the regiment lost one Lieutenant (North) killed, and
had another Lieutenant (Stewart) wounded, by the fire of the place.
On the evening of the 25th it was determined to storm the Picurina
redoubt; five hundred men of the third division were ordered upon
that duty, and amongst them a detachment of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH,
commanded by Captain Oates and Lieutenant George Johnston. The latter
officer was a volunteer; it was not his tour of duty in the trenches,
and he still carried his arm in a sling from the effects of his wound
at Ciudad Rodrigo; but the moment he heard that Captain Oates, who
was the Captain of his company, was to be of the storming party, he
determined to join him. The first attack was made at the gorge of
the redoubt, but the defences were too strong and the resistance too
obstinate even for troops accustomed to victory; repulsed there,
however, and with severe loss, they did not abandon the attack in
despair; gliding round the flanks and faces of the work, they sought
for, and at length obtained, an entry by scaling the ramparts. In
one of these attempts the ladders proving too short, Captain Oates
observing that the ditch though very deep was narrow, called out,
“Come, boys, though the ladders are too short to mount _up_ the
ditch, let us try our hand with them across it.” In a few minutes
three ladders were pitched from the glacis into the mouth of an
embrasure, and across them, in spite of a severe fire of musketry and
grape. Captain Oates led the way into the redoubt; here he soon fell,
disabled by a severe wound, and Lieutenant Johnston was killed within
a few paces of him; in fact, of fifteen officers who were with the
party not one escaped unhurt.
During the further progress of the siege, the regiment lost a
field-officer, Major Thompson, who was killed in the trenches on the
night of the 28th, and on the same night Brevet-Major Murphy was
wounded. In the final assault on the 6th of April, the escalade of
the castle was the duty allotted to the third division. Lieutenant
Whitelaw of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH volunteered to lead the advance of
twenty men, but less fortunate than his brother officer, Lieutenant
Mackie at Ciudad Rodrigo, fell at the moment of victory; Captain
Lindsay of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH was also killed while in the act of
raising a ladder for his company to escalade the castle wall; three
other Lieutenants were killed (Mansfield, Cotton, and Macalpine); and
one Captain (Peshall) and four Lieutenants (Faris, Armstrong, Davern,
and Grattan) wounded. Mr. Thomas Martin, eldest son of Richard
Martin, Esq., many years M.P. for Galway, who had joined the regiment
as a volunteer soon after the opening of the trenches and accompanied
the grenadiers in the assault, was also wounded in the shoulder. The
total loss of the regiment before Badajoz, during the sieges in June,
1811, and in March and April, 1812, amounted to eight officers, five
serjeants, and forty-two rank and file killed; and eight officers,
ten serjeants, and one hundred and sixty-six rank and file wounded.
After the fall of _Badajoz_, the regiment returned to the frontiers
of Beira, where it remained till the army again took the field in
June. At the battle of _Salamanca_, (22nd July) the EIGHTY-EIGHTH,
together with the Forty-Fifth and Seventy-Fourth, formed the right
brigade of the third division, which was posted on the right of the
army, opposite to the Seventh French division, under General Bonnet.
Lieutenant-General Picton being at this time absent from the field on
account of ill-health, the division was commanded by Major-General
the Honourable Edward Pakenham, the brigade by Lieutenant-Colonel
Alexander Wallace of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, and the EIGHTY-EIGHTH itself
by Major Seton, who had succeeded to that rank upon the death of
Major Thompson in the trenches at Badajoz. It was five in the
afternoon, when Lord Wellington rode up and desired Major-General the
Hon. E. Pakenham to move the third division forward, and carry the
heights and guns in his front. The division was at this time formed
in open column, right in front, facing a hill behind which the French
were posted, and on which were erected two batteries. The colours
were just uncased, and the bayonets fixed, when Lieutenant-Colonel
Wallace addressed a few animating words to the men, explaining their
situation, and cautioning them to be aware of the enemy’s cavalry,
which was watching them closely, and hanging on their flank: to the
officers he said, “Gentlemen, the regiment is on this day, as it
generally is on such occasions, tolerably strong, and (pointing to
the batteries which crowned the hill in front) we are likely to have
a good deal of noise about our ears. I would recommend you to place
yourselves in the centre and front of your companies, which will
prevent any mistake.”
The brigade now moved forward in one column, the Forty-Fifth leading,
followed immediately by the EIGHTY-EIGHTH; the enemy opened a
heavy fire from fourteen guns, which was replied to by a brigade of
nine-pounders firing over the heads of the advancing column. When the
smoke cleared away, Bonnet’s division was perceived advancing rapidly
round the face of the hill, as if determined to anticipate attack;
Major-General Pakenham now rode up to Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace
and ordered him to wheel the brigade into line without halting, a
manœuvre which evidently disconcerted the enemy, who nevertheless
continued to advance with drums beating and keeping up a heavy
fire of musketry. In spite of the enemy’s fusillade, Major-General
Pakenham, Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace, and Majors Seton and Murphy,
remained at the head of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, which formed the centre
of the brigade, and continued to advance steadily in line with
firelocks on the rest. As the British advanced, the fire of the enemy
slackened, and they seemed inclined to give way, when several of
their officers advanced in front to animate the men, and one officer
of the Twenty-Second, (the leading regiment of the French column,)
seizing a firelock, ran out in front of his men and shot Major Murphy
of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH through the heart. At the same moment a ball
struck the pole of the King’s colour, cutting it nearly in two,
and taking the epaulette off the shoulder of Lieutenant D’Arcy who
carried it. The men now, for the first time, became impatient, and
called out for revenge; Major-General Pakenham cheered, and desired
Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace to _let them loose_; the men rushed into
the midst of the fire, and a close and desperate, but short, conflict
took place. The deep and ponderous column, so formidable in attack,
was now completely overthrown, and at the mercy of its assailants;
many of the French were killed and wounded, and the broken column
pursued for about a quarter of a mile through an extensive but
thinly-planted wood of cork-trees. At this moment a shout in the rear
caused the pursuers to expect to have a charge of French cavalry to
repel, but they were agreeably disappointed by having Major-General
Le Marchant’s brigade of heavy cavalry to greet, instead of a fresh
enemy to resist. The French could not withstand this new attack, and
the whole column, originally seven thousand strong, was cut to pieces
or captured, together with two eagles and eleven pieces of cannon.
Owing to the previous casualties at Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz,
only four Captains were present with the regiment at Salamanca,
and of these, one (Captain Mackie) acted as Aide-de-Camp to
Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace, and when the heavy brigade charged,
joined them in the attack. Two others (Murphy, brevet-major, and
Hogan) were killed, and the fourth (Captain Adair) so severely
wounded, as to survive the effects only a few months. Captain Tryon
of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, D.A.A.G., was likewise severely wounded. The
EIGHTY-EIGHTH had also four Lieutenants (Meade, Nickle, Grattan, and
Kingsmill) wounded; one serjeant and eighteen rank and file killed,
and one serjeant and one hundred and nine rank and file wounded; the
total of casualties amounting to seven officers and one hundred and
twenty-nine non-commissioned officers and privates.
After the battle of Salamanca the EIGHTY-EIGHTH formed part of the
corps which occupied Madrid during Lord Wellington’s march to Burgos,
and on the evacuation of that capital in October following, returned
to quarters in Portugal, where it received a strong detachment of
the Second battalion, which again raised its effective strength to
near one thousand rank and file. For the first time, also, since its
arrival in the Peninsula, it was furnished with tents in common with
the other regiments.
[Sidenote: 1813]