Chapter 2: Talavera.
Chapter 3: Prisoners.
Chapter 4: Guerillas.
Chapter 5: An Escape.
Chapter 6: Afloat.
Chapter 7: A French Privateer.
Chapter 8: A Smart Engagement.
Chapter 9: Rejoining.
Chapter 10: Almeida.
Chapter 11: The French Advance.
Chapter 12: Fuentes D'Onoro.
Chapter 13: From Salamanca To Cadiz.
Chapter 14: Effecting A Diversion.
Chapter 15: Dick Ryan's Capture.
Chapter 16: Back With The Army.
Chapter 17: Ciudad Rodrigo.
Chapter 18: The Sack Of A City.
Chapter 19: Gratitude.
Chapter 20: Salamanca.
Chapter 21: Home Again.
Illustrations
"You may as well make your report to me, O'Connor."
Plan of the Battle of Talavera.
"We surrender, sir, as prisoners of war."
Stooping so that their figures should not show against the sky.
"She is walking along now."
"This is Colonel O'Connor, sir."
Plan of the Battle of Busaco.
"Good news. We are going to take Coimbra."
Plan of the Lines of Torres Vedras.
Plan of the Battle of Fuentes d'Onoro.
The men leapt to their feet, cheering vociferously.
"Search him at once."
The man fell, with a sharp cry.
Plan of the Forts and Operations round Salamanca.
A shell had struck Terence's horse.
Preface.
As many boys into whose hands the present volume may fall will not
have read my last year's book, With Moore in Corunna, of which this
is a continuation, it is necessary that a few words should be said,
to enable them to take up the thread of the story. It was
impossible, in the limits of one book, to give even an outline of
the story of the Peninsular War, without devoting the whole space
to the military operations. It would, in fact, have been a history
rather than a tale; and it accordingly closed with the passage of
the Douro, and the expulsion of the French from Portugal.
The hero, Terence O'Connor, was the son of the senior captain of
the Mayo Fusiliers and, when the regiment was ordered to join Sir
Arthur Wellesley's expedition to Portugal, the colonel of the
regiment obtained for him a commission; although so notorious was
the boy, for his mischievous pranks, that the colonel hesitated
whether he would not get into some serious scrapes; especially as
Dick Ryan, one of the ensigns, was always his companion in
mischief, and both were aided and abetted by Captain O'Grady.
However, on the way out, the slow old transport, in which a wing of
the regiment was carried, was attacked by two French privateers,
who would have either taken or sunk her, had it not been for a
happy suggestion of the quick-witted lad. For this he gained great
credit, and was selected by General Fane as one of his aides-de-camp.
In this capacity he went through the arduous campaign, under General
Moore, that ended at Corunna.
His father had been so seriously wounded, at Vimiera, that he was
invalided home and placed on half pay; and in the same battle
Captain O'Grady lost his left arm but, on its being cured, returned
to his place in the regiment.
At Corunna Terence, while carrying a despatch, was thrown from his
horse and stunned; and on recovering found that the British had
already embarked on board the ships of the fleet. He made his way
to the frontier of Portugal, and thence to Lisbon. He was then
appointed to the staff of Sir John Craddock, who was now in
command; and sent in charge of some treasure for the use of the
Spanish General Romana, who was collecting a force on the northern
border of Portugal. Terence had orders to aid him, in any way in
his power, to check the invasion of Portugal from the north.
Of this order he took advantage when, on the way, the agents of the
junta of Oporto endeavoured to rob him; attacking the house where
he and his escort had taken up their quarters with a newly-raised
levy of two thousand five hundred unarmed peasants. By a ruse he
got their leaders into his hands, and these showed such abject
cowardice that the peasants refused further to follow them, and
asked Terence to take the command of the force.
He assented, formed them into two battalions, appointed two British
orderlies as majors, the Portuguese officer of his escort
lieutenant-colonel, and his troopers captains of companies; put
them in the way of obtaining arms and, by dint of hard drill and
kindness, converted them into an efficient body of soldiers.
Finding that little was to be expected from Romana's force, he
acted as a partisan leader and, in this capacity, performed such
valuable service that he was confirmed in the command of his force,
which received the name of the Minho regiment; and he and his
officers received commissions for the rank they held in the
Portuguese army.
At Oporto he rescued from a convent a cousin, who, at the death of
her father, a British merchant there, had been shut up by her
Portuguese mother until she would consent to sign away the property
to which she was entitled, and to become a nun. She went to England
to live with Terence's father, and came into possession of the
fortune which her father, foreseeing that difficulties might arise
at his death, had forwarded to a bank at home, having appointed
Captain O'Connor her guardian.
The present volume takes the story of the Peninsular War up to the
battle of Salamanca, and concludes the history of Terence O'Connor.
My readers will understand that, in all actions in which the
British army took part, the details are accurately given; but that
the doings of the Minho regiment, and of Terence O'Connor as a
partisan leader, are not to be considered as strictly historical,
although similar feats of daring and adventure were accomplished by
Trant, Pack, and other leaders of irregular forces.
G. A. Henty.
Chapter 1: A Detached Force.
"Be jabers, Terence, we shall all die of weariness with doing
nothing, if we don't move soon," said Captain O'Grady; who, with
Dick Ryan, had ridden over to spend the afternoon with Terence
O'Connor, whose regiment of Portuguese was encamped some six miles
out of Abrantes, where the division to which the Mayo Fusiliers
belonged was stationed.
"Here we are in June, and the sun getting hotter and hotter, and
the whisky just come to an end, though we have been mighty sparing
over it, and nothing to eat but ration beef. Begorrah, if it wasn't
for the bastely drill, I should forget that I was a soldier at all.
I should take meself for a convict, condemned to stop all me life
in one place. At first there was something to do, for one could
forage for food dacent to eat; but now I don't believe there is as
much as an old hen left within fifteen miles, and as for ducks and
geese, I have almost forgotten the taste of them."
"It is not lively work, O'Grady, but it is worse for me here. You
have got Dicky Ryan to stir you up and keep you alive, and
O'Flaherty to look after your health and see that you don't exceed
your allowance; while practically I have no one but Herrara to
speak to, for though Bull and Macwitty are excellent fellows in
their way, they are not much as companions.
"However, I think we must be nearly at the end of it. We have got
pretty well all the troops up here, except those who are to remain
at Lisbon."
"I see the men," O'Grady said, "but I don't see the victuals. We
can't march until we get transport and food, and where they are to
come from no one seems to know."
"I am afraid we shall do badly for a time in that respect, O'Grady.
Sir Arthur has not had time, yet, to find out what humbugs the
Spaniards are, and what wholesale lies they tell. Of course, he had
some slight experience of it when we first landed, at the Mondego;
but it takes longer than that to get at the bottom of their want of
faith. Craddock learnt it after a bitter experience, and so did
Moore. I have no doubt that the Spaniards have represented to Sir
Arthur that they have large disciplined armies, that the French
have been reduced to a mere handful, and that they are only waiting
for his advance to drive them across the frontier. Also, no doubt,
they have promised to find any amount of transport and provisions,
as soon as he enters Spain. As to relying upon Cuesta, you might as
well rely upon the assistance of an army of hares, commanded by a
pig-headed owl."
"I can't make out, meself," O'Grady said, "what we want to have
anything to do with the Spaniards for, at all. If I were in Sir
Arthur's place, I would just march straight against the French and
thrash them."
"That sounds well, O'Grady, but we know very little about where the
French are, what they are doing, or what is their strength; and I
think that you will allow that, though we have beaten them each
time we have met them, they fought well. At Rolica we were three to
one against them, and at Vimiera we had the advantage of a strong
position. At Corunna things were pretty well even, but we had our
backs to the wall.
"I am afraid, O'Grady, that just at present you are scarcely
qualified to take command of the army; except only on the one
point, that you thoroughly distrust the Spaniards.
"Well, Dick, have you been having any fun lately?"
"It is not to be done, Terence. Everyone is too disgusted and out
of temper to make it safe. Even the chief is dangerous. I would as
soon think of playing a joke on a wandering tiger, as on him. The
major is not a man to trifle with, at the best of times and, except
O'Flaherty, there is not a man among them who has a good word to
throw at a dog. Faith, when one thinks of the good time one used to
have at Athlone, it is heartbreaking."
"Well, come in and refresh yourselves. I have a bottle or two still
left."
"That is good news!" O'Grady said fervently. "It has been on the
tip of me tongue to ask you, for me mouth is like an oven; but I
was so afraid you would say it was gone that I dare n't open me
lips about it."
"To tell you the truth, O'Grady, except when some of you fellows
come over, there is not any whisky touched in this camp. I have
kept it strictly for your sergeants, who have been helping to teach
my men drill, and coaching the non-commissioned officers. It has
been hard work for them, but they have stuck to it well, and the
thought of an allowance at the end of the day's work has done
wonders with them.
"We made a very fair show when we came in, but now I think the two
battalions could work with the best here, without doing themselves
discredit. The non-commissioned officers have always been our weak
point, but now my fellows know their work very fairly, and they go
at it with a will. You see, they are all very proud of the corps,
and have spared no pains to make themselves worthy of it.
"Of course, what you may call purely parade movements are not done
as they are by our infantry; but in all useful work, I would back
them against any here. They are very fair shots, too. I have paid
for a lot of extra ammunition; which, I confess, we bought from
some of the native levies. No doubt I should get into a row over
it, if it were known; but as these fellows are not likely ever to
fire a shot against the French, and it is of importance that mine
should be able to shoot well, I didn't hesitate to do it.
Fortunately the regimental chest is not empty, and all the officers
have given a third of their pay, to help. But it has certainly done
a lot of good, and the shooting has greatly improved since we came
here."
"I have been working steadily at Portuguese, Terence, ever since
you spoke to me about it. One has no end of time on one's hands
and, really, I am getting on very fairly."
"That is right, Dicky. If we win this campaign I will certainly ask
for you as adjutant. I shall be awfully glad to have you with me,
and I really do want an adjutant for each battalion.
"And you, O'Grady?"
"Well, I can't report favourably of meself at all, at all. I tried
hard for a week, and it is the fault of me tongue, and not of
meself. I can't get it to twist itself to the outlandish words. I
am willing enough, but me tongue isn't; and I am afraid that, were
it a necessity that every officer in your corps should speak the
bastely language, I should have to stay at home."
"I am afraid that it is quite necessary, O'Grady," Terence laughed.
"An adjutant who could not make himself understood would be of no
shadow of use. You know how I should like to have you with me; but,
upon the other hand, there would be inconveniences. You are, as you
have said many a time, my superior officer in our army, and I
really should not like to have to give you orders. Then again, Bull
and Macwitty are still more your juniors, having only received
their commissions a few months back; and they would feel just as
uncomfortable as I should, at having you under them. I don't think
that it would do at all. Besides, you know, you are not fond of
work by any means, and there would be more to do in a regiment like
this than in one of our own."
"I suppose that it must be so, Terence," O'Grady said resignedly,
as he emptied his tumbler; "and besides, there is a sort of
superstition in the service that an adjutant should be always able
to walk straight to his tent, even after a warm night at mess. Now,
although it seems to me that I have every other qualification, in
that respect I should be a failure; and I imagine that, in a
Portuguese regiment, the thing would be looked at more seriously
than it is in an Irish one; where such a matter occurs,
occasionally, among men as well as officers."
"That is quite true, O'Grady. The Portuguese are a sober people and
would not, as you say, be able to make the same allowance for our
weaknesses that Irish soldiers do; seeing that it is too common for
our men to be either one way or the other.
"However, Ryan, I do hope I shall be able to get you. I never had
much hopes of O'Grady; and this failure of his tongue to aid him,
in his vigorous efforts to learn the language, seems to quite
settle the matter as far as he is concerned."
At this moment an orderly rode up to the tent. Terence went out.
"A despatch from headquarters, sir," the trooper said, saluting.
"All right, my man! You had better wait for five minutes, and see
if any answer is required."
Going into the tent, he opened the despatch.
"Hooray!" he said, as he glanced at the contents, "here is a
movement, at last."
The letter was as follows:
"Colonel O'Connor will at once march with his force to Plasencia;
and will reconnoitre the country between that town and the Tagus to
the south, and Bejar to the north. He will ascertain, as far as
possible, the position and movements of the French army under
Victor. He will send a daily report of his observations to
headquarters. Twenty Portuguese cavalry, under a subaltern, will be
attached to his command, and will furnish orderlies to carry his
reports.
"It is desirable that Colonel O'Connor's troops should not come in
contact with the enemy, except to check any reconnoitring parties
moving towards Castello Branco and Villa Velha. It is most
necessary to prevent the news of an advance of the army in that
direction reaching the enemy, and to give the earliest possible
information of any hostile gathering that might menace the flank of
the army, while on its march.
"The passes of Banos and Periles will be held by the troops of
Marshal Beresford and General Del Parque, and it is to the country
between the mountains and Marshal Cuesta's force, at Almaraz, that
Colonel O'Connor is directed to concentrate his attention. In case
of being attacked by superior forces, Colonel O'Connor will, if
possible, retreat into the mountains on his left flank, maintain
himself there, and open communications with Lord Beresford's forces
at Banos or Bejar.
"Colonel O'Connor is authorized to requisition six carts from the
quartermaster's department, and to hand over his tents to them; to
draw 50,000 rounds of ball cartridge, and such rations as he may be
able to carry with him. The paymaster has received authority to
hand over to him 500 pounds, for the payment of supplies for his
men. When this sum is exhausted, Colonel O'Connor is authorized to
issue orders for supplies payable by the paymaster to the forces,
exercising the strictest economy, and sending notification to the
Paymaster General of the issue of such orders.
"This despatch is confidential, and the direction of the route is,
on no account, to be divulged."
"You hear that, O'Grady; and you too, Dicky. I ought not to have
read the despatch out loud. However, I know you will keep the
matter secret."
"You may trust us for that, Terence, for it is a secret worth
knowing. It is evident that Sir Arthur is going to join Cuesta, and
make a dash on Madrid. Well, he has been long enough in making up
his mind; but it is a satisfaction that we are likely to have hot
work, at last, though I wish we could have done it without those
Spaniards. We have seen enough of them to know that nothing, beyond
kind words, are to be expected of them and, when the time for
fighting comes, I would rather that we depended upon ourselves than
have to act with fellows on whom there is no reliance, whatever, to
be placed."
"I agree with you there, heartily, O'Grady. However, thank goodness
we are going to set out at last; and I am very glad that it falls
to us to act as the vanguard of the army, instead of being attached
to Beresford's command and kept stationary in the passes.
"Now I must be at work. I daresay we shall meet again, before
long."
Terence wrote an acknowledgment of the receipt of the general's
order, and handed it to the orderly who had brought it. A bugler at
once sounded the field-officers' call.
"We are to march at once," he said, when Herrara, Bull, and
Macwitty arrived. "Let the tents be struck, and handed over to the
quartermaster's department. See that the men have four days'
biscuit in their haversacks.
"Each battalion is to take three carts with it. I will go to the
quartermaster's department, to draw them. Tell off six men from
each battalion to accompany me, and take charge of the carts. Each
battalion will carry 25,000 rounds of spare ammunition, and a chest
of 250 pounds. I will requisition from the commissariat as much
biscuit as we can carry, and twenty bullocks for each battalion, to
be driven with the carts.
"As soon as the carts are obtained, the men will drive them to the
ordnance stores for the ammunition, and to the commissariat stores
to load up the food. You had better send an officer in charge of
the men of each battalion.
"I will myself draw the money from the paymaster. I will go there
at once. Send a couple of men with me, for of course it will be
paid in silver. Then I will go to the quartermaster's stores, and
get the carts ready by the time that the men arrive. I want to
march in an hour's time, at latest."
In a few minutes the camp was a scene of bustle and activity. The
tents were struck and packed away in their bags, and piled in order
to be handed over to the quartermaster; and in a few minutes over
an hour from the receipt of the order, the two battalions were in
motion.
After a twenty-mile march, they halted for the night near the
frontier. An hour later they were joined by twenty troopers of a
Portuguese regiment, under the command of a subaltern.
The next day they marched through Plasencia, and halted for the
night on the slopes of the Sierra. An orderly was despatched, next
morning, to the officer in command of any force that there might be
at Banos, informing him of the position that they had taken up.
Terence ordered two companies to remain at this spot, which was at
the head of a little stream running down into an affluent of the
Tagus; their position being now nearly due north of Almaraz, from
which they were distant some twenty miles. The rest of the force
descended into the plain, and took post at various villages between
the Sierra and Oropesa, the most advanced party halting four miles
from that town.
The French forces under Victor had, in accordance with orders from
Madrid, fallen back from Plasencia a week before, and taken up his
quarters at Talavera.
At the time when the regiment received its uniforms, Terence had
ordered that twenty suits of the men's peasant clothes should be
retained in store and, specially intelligent men being chosen,
twenty of these were sent forward towards the river Alberche, to
discover Victor's position. They brought in news that he had placed
his troops behind the river, and that Cuesta, who had at one time
an advanced guard at Oropesa, had recalled it to Almaraz. Parties
of Victor's cavalry were patrolling the country between Talavera
and Oropesa.
Terence had sent Bull, with five hundred men, to occupy all the
passes across the Sierras, with orders to capture any orderlies or
messengers who might come along; and a day later four men brought
in a French officer, who had been captured on the road leading
south. He was the bearer of a letter from Soult to the king, and
was at once sent, under the escort of four troopers, to
headquarters.
The men who had brought in the officer reported that they had
learned that Wilson, with his command of four thousand men, was in
the mountains north of the Escurial; and that spies from that
officer had ascertained that there was great alarm in Madrid, where
the news of the British advance towards Plasencia was already
known; and that it was feared that this force, with Cuesta's army
at Almaraz and Venegas' army in La Mancha, were about to combine in
an attack upon the capital. This, indeed, was Sir Arthur's plan,
and had been arranged with the Supreme Junta. The Junta, however,
being jealous of Cuesta, had given secret instructions to Venegas
to keep aloof.
On his arrival at Plasencia, the English general had learned at
once the hollowness of the Spanish promises. He had been assured of
an ample supply of food, mules, and carts for transport; and had,
on the strength of these statements, advanced with but small
supplies, for little food and but few animals could be obtained in
Portugal. He found, on arriving, that no preparations whatever had
been made; and the army, thus early in the campaign, was put on
half rations. Day after day passed without any of the promised
supplies arriving, and Sir Arthur wrote to the Supreme Junta;
saying that although, in accordance with his agreement, he would
march to the Alberche, he would not cross that river unless the
promises that had been made were kept, to the letter.
He had, by this time, learned that the French forces north of the
mountains were much more formidable than the Spanish reports had
led him to believe; but he still greatly underrated Soult's army,
and was altogether ignorant that Ney had evacuated Galicia, and was
marching south with all speed, with his command. Del Parque had
failed in his promise to garrison Bejar and Banos, and these passes
were now only held by a few hundreds of Cuesta's Spaniards.
A week after taking up his position north of Oropesa, Terence
received orders to move with his two battalions, and to take post
to guard these passes; with his left resting on Bejar, and his
right in communication with Wilson's force. The detachments were at
once recalled. A thousand men were posted near Bejar, and the rest
divided among the other passes by which a French army from the
north could cross the Sierra.
As soon as this arrangement was made, Terence rode to Wilson's
headquarters. He was received very cordially by that officer.
"I am heartily glad to see you, Colonel O'Connor," the latter said.
"Of course, I have heard of the doings of your battalions; and am
glad, indeed, to have your support. I sent a messenger off, only
this morning, to Sir Arthur; telling him that, from the information
brought in by my spies, I am convinced that Soult is much stronger
than has been supposed; and that, if he moves south, I shall scarce
be able to hold the passes of Arenas and San Pedro Barnardo; and
that I can certainly spare no men for the defence of the more
westerly ones, by which Soult is likely to march from Salamanca.
However, now you are there, I shall feel safe."
"No doubt I could hinder an advance, Sir Robert," Terence said,
"but I certainly could not hope to bar the passes to a French army.
I have no artillery and, though my men are steady enough against
infantry, I doubt whether they would be able to withstand an attack
heralded by a heavy cannonade. With a couple of batteries of
artillery to sweep the passes, one might make a fair stand for a
time against a greatly superior force; but with only infantry, one
could not hope to maintain one's position."
"Quite so, and Sir Arthur could not expect it. My own opinion is
that we shall have fifty thousand men coming down from the north. I
have told the chief as much; but naturally he will believe the
assurances of the Spanish juntas, rather than reports gathered by
our spies; and no doubt hopes to crush Victor altogether, before
Soult makes any movement; and he trusts to Venegas' advance, from
the south towards the upper Tagus, to cause Don Joseph to evacuate
Madrid, as soon as he hears of Victor's defeat.
"But I have, certainly, no faith whatever in either Venegas or
Cuesta. Cuesta is loyal enough, but he is obstinate and pig headed
and, at present, he is furious because the Supreme Junta has been
sending all the best troops to Venegas, instead of to him; and he
knows, well enough, that that perpetual intriguer Frere is working
underhand to get Albuquerque appointed to the supreme command. As
to Venegas, he is a mere tool of the Supreme Junta and, as likely
as not, they will order him to do nothing but keep his army intact.
"Then again, the delay at Plasencia has upset all Sir Arthur's
arrangements. Had he pressed straight forward on the 28th of last
month, when he crossed the frontier, disregarding Cuesta
altogether, he could have been at Madrid long before this; for I
know that at that time Victor's force had been so weakened that he
had but between fourteen and fifteen thousand men, and must have
fallen back without fighting. Now he has again got the troops that
had been taken from him, and will be further reinforced before Sir
Arthur arrives on the Alberche; and of course Soult has had plenty
of time to get everything in readiness to cross the mountains, and
fall upon the British rear, as soon as he hears that they are
fairly on their way towards Madrid. Here we are at the 20th, and
our forces will only reach Oropesa today.
"Victor is evidently afraid that Sir Arthur will move from Oropesa
towards the hills, pass the upper Alberche, and so place himself
between him and Madrid; for a strong force of cavalry reconnoitred
in this direction, this morning."
"Would it not be as well, sir," said Terence, "if we were to
arrange some signals by which we could aid each other? That hill
top can be seen from the hill beyond which is the little village
where I have established myself. I noticed it this morning, before
I started. If you would keep a lookout on your hill, I would have
one on mine. We might each get three bonfires, a hundred yards
apart, ready for lighting. If I hear of any great force approaching
the defiles I am watching, I could summon your aid either by day or
night by these fires; and in the same way, if Soult should advance
by the line that you are guarding, you could summon me. My men are
really well trained in this sort of work, and you could trust them
to make an obstinate defence."
"I think that your idea is a very good one, and will certainly
carry it out. You see, we are really both of us protecting the left
flank of our army, and can certainly do so more effectually if we
work together.
"We might, too, arrange another signal. One fire might mean that,
for some reason or other, we are marching away. I may have orders
to move some distance towards Madrid, so as to compel Victor to
weaken himself by detaching a force to check me; you may be
ordered, as the army advances, to leave your defiles in charge of
the Spaniards, and to accompany the army. Two fires might mean,
spies have reported a general advance of the French coming by
several routes. Thus, you see, we should be in readiness for any
emergency.
"I should be extremely glad of your help, if Soult comes this way.
My own corps of 1200 men are fairly good soldiers, and I can rely
upon them to do their best; but the other 3000 have been but
recently raised, and I don't think that any dependence can be
placed upon them, in case of hard fighting; but with your two
battalions, we ought to be able to hold any of these defiles for a
considerable time."
Two days later, Terence received orders to march instantly with his
force down into the valley, to follow the foot of the hills until
he reached the Alberche, when he was to report his arrival, wait
until he received orders, and check the advance of any French force
endeavouring to move round the left flank of the British. The
evening before, one signal fire had announced that Wilson was on
the move and, thinking that he, too, might be summoned, Terence had
called in all his outposts, and was able to march a quarter of an
hour after he received the order.
He had learned, on the evening he returned from his visit to Sir
Robert, from men sent down into the plain for the purpose, that
Cuesta's army and that of Sir Arthur had advanced together from
Oropesa. He was glad at the order to join the army, as he had felt
that, should Soult advance, his force, unprovided as it was with
guns, would be able to offer but a very temporary resistance;
especially if the French Marshal was at the head of a force
anything like as strong as was reported by the peasantry. As to
this, however, he had very strong doubts, having come to distrust
thoroughly every report given by the Spaniards. He knew that they
were as ready, under the influence of fear, to exaggerate the force
of an enemy as they were, at other times, to magnify their own
numbers. Sir Arthur must, he thought, be far better informed than
he himself could be; for his men, being Portuguese, were viewed
with doubt and suspicion by the Spanish peasantry, who would
probably take a pleasure in misleading them altogether.
The short stay in the mountains had braced up the men and, with
only a short halt, they made a forty-mile march to the Alberche by
midnight. Scarcely had they lit their fires, when an Hussar officer
and some troopers rode up. They halted a hundred yards away, and
the officer shouted in English:
"What corps is this?"
Terence at once left the fire, and advanced towards them.
"Two Portuguese battalions," he answered, "under myself, Colonel
O'Connor."
The officer at once rode forward.
"I was not quite sure," he said, as he came close, "that my
question would not be answered by a volley. By the direction from
which I saw you coming, I thought that you must be friends. Still,
you might have been an advanced party of a force that had come down
through the defiles. However, as soon as I saw you light your
fires, I made sure it was all right; for the Frenchmen would not
likely have ventured to do so unless, indeed, they were altogether
ignorant of our advance."
"At ten o'clock this morning I received orders from headquarters to
move to this point at once and, as we have marched from Banos, you
see we have lost very little time on the way."
"Indeed, you have not. I suppose it is about forty miles; and that
distance, in fourteen hours, is certainly first-rate marching. I
will send off one of my men to report who you are. Two squadrons of
my regiment are a quarter of a mile away, awaiting my return."
"Have you any reason to believe that the enemy are near?"
"No particular reason that I know of, but their cavalry have been
in great force along the upper part of the river, for the last two
days. Victor has retired from Talavera, for I fancy that he was
afraid we might move round this way, and cut him off from Madrid.
The Spaniards might have harassed him as he fell back, but they
dared not even make a charge on his rear guard, though they had
3000 cavalry.
"We are not quite sure where the French are and, of course, we get
no information from the people here; either their stupidity is
something astounding, or their sympathies are entirely with the
French."
"My experience is," Terence said, "that the best way is to get as
much information as you can from them, and then to act with the
certainty that the real facts are just the reverse of the
statements made to you."
As soon as the forces halted a picket had been sent out; and
Terence, when the men finished their supper, established a cordon
of advanced pickets, with strong supports, at a distance of a mile
from his front and flanks; so as to ensure himself against
surprise, and to detect any movement upon the part of the enemy's
cavalry, who might be pressing round to obtain information of the
British position. At daybreak he mounted and rode to Talavera, and
reported the arrival of his command, and the position where he had
halted for the night.
"You have wasted no time over it, Colonel O'Connor. You can only
have received the order yesterday morning, and I scarcely expected
that you could be here till this evening."
"My men are excellent marchers, sir. They did the forty miles in
fourteen hours, and might have done it an hour quicker, had they
been pressed. Not a man fell out."
"Your duty will now be to cover our left flank. I don't know
whether you are aware that Wilson has moved forward, and will take
post on the slopes near the Escurial. He has been directed to
spread his force as much as possible, so as to give an appearance
of greater strength than he has."
"I knew that he had left his former position," Terence said. "We
had arranged a code of smoke signals, by which we could ask each
other for assistance should the defiles be attacked; and I learned
yesterday morning, in this way, that he was marching away."
"Have you any news of what is taking place on the other side of the
hills, since you sent off word two days ago?"
"No, sir; at least, all we hear is of the same character as before.
We don't hear that Soult is moving, but his force is certainly put
down as being considerably larger than was supposed. I have deemed
it my duty to state this in my reports, but the Spaniards are so
inclined to exaggerate everything that I always receive statements
of this kind with great doubt."
"All our news--from the juntas, from Mr. Frere, and from other
quarters--is quite the other way," the officer said. "We are
assured that Soult has not fifteen thousand men in condition to
take the field, and that he could not venture to move these, as he
knows that the whole country would rise, did he do so.
"I have no specific orders to give you. You will keep in touch with
General Hill's brigade, which forms our left and, as we move
forward, you will advance along the lower slopes of the Sierra and
prevent any attempt, on the part of the French, to turn our flank.
"I dare say you do not know exactly what is going on, Colonel
O'Connor. It may be of assistance to you, in taking up your
position, to know that the fighting is likely to take place on the
line between Talavera and the mountains. Cuesta has fallen back, in
great haste, to Talavera. We shall advance today and take up our
line with him.
"The Spaniards will hold the low marshy ground near the town. Our
right will rest on an eminence on his left flank, and will extend
to a group of hills, separated by a valley from the Sierra. Our
cavalry will probably check any attempt by the French to turn our
flank there, and you and the Spaniards will do your best to hold
the slope of the Sierra, should the French move a force along
there.
"I may say that Victor has been largely reinforced by Sebastiani,
and is likely to take the offensive. Indeed, we hear that he is
already moving in this direction. We are not aware of his exact
strength, but we believe that it must approach, if not equal, that
of ourselves and Cuesta united.
"Cuesta has, indeed, been already roughly handled by the French.
Disregarding Sir Arthur's entreaties, and believing Victor to be in
full retreat, he marched on alone, impelled by the desire to be the
first to enter Madrid; but at two o'clock on the morning of the
26th of July, the French suddenly fell upon him, drove the Spanish
cavalry back from their advanced position, and chased them hotly.
They fled in great disorder, and the panic would have spread to the
whole army, had not Albuquerque brought up 3000 fresh cavalry and
held the French in check, while Cuesta retreated in great disorder
and, had the French pressed forward, would have fled in utter rout.
Sherbrooke's division, which was in advance of the British army,
moved forward and took up its position in front of the panic-stricken
Spaniards, and then the French drew off.
"Cuesta then yielded to Sir Arthur's entreaties, recrossed the
Alberche, and took up his position near Talavera. Here, even the
worst troops should be able to make a stand against the best. The
ground is marshy and traversed by a rivulet. On its left is a
strong redoubt, which is armed with Spanish artillery; on the right
is another very strong battery, on a rise close to Talavera; while
other batteries sweep the road to Madrid. Sir Arthur has
strengthened the front by felling trees and forming abattis, so
that he has good reason to hope that, poor as the Spanish troops
may be, they should be able to hold their part of the line.
"Campbell's division forms the British right, Sherbrooke comes
next, the German legion are in the centre, Donkin is to take his
place on the hill that rises two-thirds of the way across the
valley, while General Hill's division is to hold the face looking
north, and separated from the Sierra only by the comparatively
narrow valley in which you have bivouacked. At present, however,
his troops and those of Donkin have not taken up their position."
The country between the positions on which the allied armies had
now fallen back was covered with olive and cork trees. The whole
line from Talavera to the hill, which was to be held by Hill's
division, was two miles in length; and the valley between that and
the Sierra was half a mile in width, but extremely broken and
rugged, and was intersected by a ravine, through which ran the
rivulet that fell into the Tagus at Talavera.