ORDERED TO SPAIN—LANDS AT CORUNNA—MARCH TO SAHAGAN—ARMY UNDER SIR
JOHN MOORE OBLIGED TO RETREAT—ARRIVES AT CORUNNA—THE FRENCH
REPULSED—SIR JOHN MOORE KILLED—EMBARKATION OF THE TROOPS.
When war’s alarms are heard, the soldier reckons only upon short repose;
and after remaining a few weeks on the coast, the regiment to which I
belonged was ordered into winter quarters. While stationed there, we had
the misfortune to lose two of our officers, both of whom sank into an
untimely grave. One of them fell a victim to the pernicious practice of
duelling, and the other was drowned by incautiously venturing beyond his
depth while bathing. During the time we remained in the neighbourhood
the unceasing kindness of the inhabitants was remarked by us all. In the
spring of the ensuing year we were ordered to Colchester, in the
vicinity of which several regiments were quartered ready for active
service, and expecting daily orders to embark for the continent. The
anticipated directions from London, so impatiently desired, arrived in
the autumn of 1808. We were ordered instantly to prepare for foreign
service; and never, I verily believe, was an invitation to a feast more
readily obeyed. The regiment mustered in full strength, the men were in
excellent condition; a brief and hearty farewell was all we could spare
for friends at home, and in an incredibly short period we were afloat at
Harwich, from whence we sailed to Falmouth to await the arrival of other
transports. In the course of a few days the squadron had assembled, and
immediately made sail. We soon found that our destination was Corunna,
in the north of Spain. The discovery led to a variety of conjecture, and
speculation was busy in marking out the nature of our future service.
The general opinion was, that we should not suffer from idleness. Eager
for the fray, nothing was coveted save a clear stage and no favour;
victory was reckoned on as a matter of course, and as to the hardships
and disasters of a hostile or contested land, every inch of which was to
be fought for, the idea had no existence, or was dismissed as a trifle.
Happy ignorance of the future! where prescience itself, unless true
wisdom had been added, could only have depressed the mind. I am happy on
reflecting that during the whole of our march not a man was missing: no
one slinked, and in the future conduct of the 43rd, no one, that I ever
heard of, deserted his colours or disgraced his country; but out of the
many hundred of gallant fellows that then composed our honourable corps,
how few were destined to see their native land again!
Our voyage was remarkably pleasant, and we landed at the desired haven
without danger or loss. The harbour of Corunna is spacious and safe, and
the town is defended by batteries and guns mounted at all points. The
citadel is also strongly fortified, but both are commanded by heights
within a short distance. Within the houses of the inhabitants there is
little to suit the taste of an Englishman. The weather when I was there,
though cold and chilly, seldom produced the sociable sight of a cheerful
fire within doors; indeed, I never observed so much as a hearth or stove
in which to kindle one. The superstitious contrarieties and absurdities
of papacy have here an unmolested reign. While holidays were observed
with punctilious scruples, for which no sound reason could be urged, the
Sabbath, though guarded by Scriptural injunction, was violated with
impunity. The churches are well built, but the altar-pieces are
disfigured by a profusion of tinsel and ornament. The Virgin Mary is
frequently exhibited in a figure some three feet high, dressed in laced
clothing; the saints also keep her company, some being placed in niches
of the building, and others enclosed in cases of glass, with care
proportioned, perhaps, to the merit assigned to each by their capricious
and fanciful worshippers.
Without in the least entering into political detail connected with the
causes and result of the memorable Peninsular campaign, which is not
within my present design, it may be enough to state, that the expedition
in which I had sailed was planned by the British government to act in
concert with several simultaneous movements in favour of the Spanish
constitutionalists, then contending with their French invaders. Our
arrival in October, 1808, proved to be a momentous crisis; a few weeks
previously Buonaparte had entered Spain, and taken the command of the
hostile army, with the avowed purpose of driving the English into the
sea. He advanced, as usual, by marches prodigiously rapid on Madrid, so
that at the end of November his advanced guard reached the important
pass of Somosierra. This pass was defended by 13,000 Spaniards, with
sixteen pieces of cannon. They were attacked by the French under the
Duke of Belluno, and after a vigorous resistance entirely defeated. On
the 2nd of December Buonaparte arrived in the vicinity of Madrid, and in
three days from that period was master of that capital. Dispirited and
overwhelmed as the Spanish generally were by the presence of the hero of
Jena and Austerlitz, it was evident they were unable, unless assisted by
foreign allies, to resist the advances of such masses of troops as those
now within their dominions. British co-operation was therefore sought
and obtained. Its value and the fidelity of the army it employed had
already been proved in Portugal, where, with a force decidedly inferior,
the invaders were repulsed at Vimiera, with unusual loss.
As a temporary residence at Corunna we had been placed in a long,
uncomfortable building, formerly used as a factory or rope-walk. On the
following day marching orders were received, when the entire division
was put into motion; and leaving the coast, our route lay through Lugo,
Villa Franca, and Benevente. After halting for a short time, we crossed
the Esla, and arrived at Sahagan, where we were ordered to remain. The
light corps occupied an extensive convent built on each side of a
square, in whose immense galleries several thousand infantry were
accommodated; a numerous body of monks, with other persons of similar
sanctity, notwithstanding our heretical exterior, had also taken refuge
under the same roof. On leaving the convent, we advanced in close order
for several miles; when, from the superior force of the enemy, it was
judged advisable to retreat. A countermarch by sections was ordered, and
just before midnight we had fallen back upon the line of our former
route. Here we were directed to lighten our knapsacks as much as
possible, and divest ourselves of every needless encumbrance.
Meantime the advanced guard of Buonaparte’s army had broken up from
Tordesillas, and strong detachments of cavalry had been pushed forward
to Majorga. On the 26th Lord Paget fell in with one of these parties at
the latter place; his lordship directly ordered Colonel Leigh, with two
squadrons of the 10th Hussars, to attack this corps, which had halted on
the summit of a steep hill. On approaching the top, where the ground was
rugged, the colonel judiciously reined in to refresh the horses, though
exposed to a severe fire. When he had nearly gained the summit, and the
horses had recovered their breath, he charged boldly, and overthrew the
enemy, many of whom were killed and wounded, and above a hundred made
prisoners. The brigade o£ which our regiment formed part was under the
command of General Crauford. Just before, or nearly at the moment of our
arrival on the banks of the river Esla, the principal part of the
British forces under Sir John Moore were rapidly passing; the stores
were conveyed by Spanish mules. We were in the rear, and the enemy
pressed forward with such impetuosity, that the chasseurs of the
Imperial Guard were frequently in sight, and, unable perhaps to do more,
captured some women and baggage.
Exposed as we were to the assault of a vigilant and superior foe, not a
moment’s repose could be obtained; and it has seldom happened that
personal courage has been put to a severer test. Permit me to recite an
instance: John Walton, an Irishman, and Richard Jackson, an Englishman,
were posted in a hollow road on the plain beyond the bridge, and at a
distance from their piquet. If the enemy approached, one was to fire,
run back to the brow of the hill, and give notice if there were many or
few; the other was to maintain his ground. A party of cavalry, following
a hay-cart, stole up close to these men, and suddenly galloped in, with
a view to kill them and surprise the fort. Jackson fired, but was
overtaken, and received twelve or fourteen severe wounds in an instant;
he came staggering on, notwithstanding his mangled state, and gave the
signal. Walton, with equal resolution and more success, defended himself
with his bayonet, and wounded several of the assailants, who retreated,
leaving him unhurt; but his cap, his knapsack, his belt, and his musket
were cut in above twenty places, and his bayonet was bent nearly double,
his musket covered with blood, and notched like a saw from the muzzle to
the lock. Jackson escaped death in his retreat, and finally recovered of
his wounds.
On the 27th, the cavalry being all over the river, preparations were
made to destroy the bridge: torrents of rain and snow were descending.
The cavalry scouts of the enemy were abroad, and a large party,
following the store-wagon, endeavoured to pass the piquet, and gallop
down to the bridge. The design was perceived and defeated. Smart
skirmishing was kept up all that day; but the masonry of the bridge was
so solid, that midnight had arrived before the arches could be
materially injured. We then descended the heights on the left bank, and
passing with the greatest silence by single files over planks laid
across the broken arches, gained the other side without loss: an
instance of singular preservation, as the night was dark and
tempestuous, and the enemy almost within hearing. The mine was almost
immediately after sprung with good effect,—I mean the bridge was ruined;
while we marched forward to Benevente, where the cavalry and the reserve
still remained. Here we re-entered the convent which had given us
protection on a former occasion.
During the brief stay made here we experienced a remarkable escape from
imminent danger. The lower corridors of the building were filled with
the horses of the cavalry and artillery, so thickly stowed that it was
scarcely possible for a single man to pass them, and there was but one
entrance. Two officers returning from the bridge, being desirous to find
shelter for their men, entered the convent, and with terror perceived
that a large window-shutter was on fire. The flame was spreading to the
rafter above; in a few moments the straw under the horses would ignite,
and six thousand men and animals be involved in inevitable ruin. One of
the officers (Captain Lloyd, of the 43rd), a man of great activity,
strength, and presence of mind, made a sign to his companions to keep
silence, and springing upon the nearest horse, ran along the backs of
the others until he reached the flaming shutter, which he tore off its
hinges and threw out of the window; then returning quickly, he awakened
some of the soldiers, and cleared the passage without creating any
alarm, which in such a case would have been as destructive as the
flames. I scarcely need add that Captain Lloyd was a man of more than
ordinary talent.
The town of Benevente, a rich, open place, is remarkable for a small but
curious Moorish palace or castle, containing a fine collection of
ancient armour, and is situated on an extensive plain, that, extending
from the Gallician mountains to the neighbourhood of Burgos, appeared to
be boundless. Here the army rested two days; but as little could be done
to remove the stores, the greater part were destroyed, of which I was a
reluctant eye-witness. I am sorry to say, that during this sojourn the
fine discipline of our corps, thus far maintained without a flaw, was
sadly broken down. Some circumstances may be urged in mitigation of the
fault, though, looking at that eventful crisis, nothing can altogether
extenuate the excesses into which numbers of the troops descended.
Exhausted as they were with privation and fatigue, it is no wonder that
they were eager in search of repose and refreshment. Unfortunately, one
of the first objects of attention was an extensive range of vaults, in
which pipes of wine were deposited. In such haste were the half-famished
men to quench their thirst, that shots were fired at the heads of the
casks, which sent them in altogether, so that the choice and heady
liquor ran in all directions, and was ankle-deep on the pavement;
besides which, and this was the most serious part of the calamity at
such a moment, the men, regardless of the potent and intoxicating
beverage, drank it like water. The result need not be told; and I have
often thought it was a special mercy that at such a juncture the
services of the men were not required. Had the enemy approached, no one
could have averted the fate of the aggressors. Unable either to fight or
fly, they must have fallen into hostile hands in all the disgrace of
impotent inebriety. It has often been to myself a source of
satisfaction, that on the occasion referred to I was preserved from the
excesses described. Not that I can take credit for possessing at the
time any extraordinary measure either of virtuous principle or religious
light; yet I was not without a strong sense of duty. The good advices of
my mother were frequently uppermost; and many a time, when hard pressed
by hunger and perilous service, my mind was supported by a persuasion
that my mother was praying for my preservation.
From the temporary mischief alluded to we soon recovered. Sobriety
marshalled our ranks as heretofore, and on the 29th the brigade quitted
Benevente, but the cavalry remained in the town, leaving parties to
watch the fords of the Esla. Soon after day-break, General Lefebre
Desnouettes, seeing only a few cavalry posts on the great plain, rather
hastily concluded that there was nothing to support them, and crossing
the river at a ford a little way above the bridge, with six hundred
horsemen of the Imperial Guards, he advanced into the plain. The piquets
at first retired fighting; but being joined by a part of the 3rd German
Hussars, they charged the leading French squadron with some effect.
General C. Stewart then took the command, and the ground was obstinately
disputed. At this moment the plain was covered with stragglers and
baggage-mules and followers of the army; the town was filled with
tumult; the distant piquets and videttes were seen galloping in from the
right and left; the French were pressing forward boldly, and every
appearance indicated that the enemy’s whole army was come up, and
passing the river. Lord Paget ordered the 10th Hussars to mount and form
under the cover of some houses at the edge of the town; he desired to
draw the enemy, whose real situation he saw at once, well into the plain
before he attacked. In half an hour, everything being ready, he gave the
signal; the 10th Hussars galloped forward, the piquets that were already
engaged closed together, and the whole charged. In an instant the scene
changed, the enemy was seen flying at full speed towards the river, and
the British close at their heels. The French squadron, without breaking
their ranks, plunged into the stream, and gained the opposite heights,
where, like experienced soldiers, they wheeled instantly, and seemed
inclined to come forward a second time; but a battery of six guns being
opened upon them, after a few rounds, they retired. During the pursuit
in the plain, an officer was observed separating from the main body, and
making towards another part of the river; being followed, and refusing
to stop when overtaken, he was cut across the head, and brought in a
prisoner. He proved to be General Lefebre. In this spirited action the
French left fifty-five killed and wounded on the field, and seventy
prisoners, besides the general and other officers. The British loss was
also severe.
_Rencontres_ of this sort had their value, as they served to curb the
audacity of the enemy, and furnished a seasonable sample of what might
be expected in the event of a general battle. Meantime the tide of
superior force, against whose overpowering number it was physically
impossible to present an effective check, came rolling on in waves of
gathering might. Napoleon had arrived at Valderas, Ney at Villator, and
Lapisse at Touro. The French troops were worn down with fatigue, yet the
emperor still urged them forward. He flattered himself, and wished to
persuade others, that he should intercept the retreat of the English at
Astorga; but the destruction of the bridge of Castro Gonzalo had been so
complete, that twenty-four hours were required to repair it, and the
fords were now impassable. After all, the emperor, with whom it was
never safe to trifle, was near the accomplishment of his design; for
scarcely had the rear of the British army quitted Astorga, when advanced
parties of French soldiery appeared in view.
Upon the 1st of January, 1809, the Emperor Napoleon took possession of
Astorga. On that day seventy thousand French infantry, ten thousand
cavalry, and two hundred pieces of artillery, after many days of
incessant marching, were thus united. The assemblage of this mighty
force, while it evinced the energy of the French monarch attested also
the genius of the English general, who, with a handful of men, had found
means to arrest the course of the conqueror, and to draw him, with the
flower of his army, to this remote and unimportant part of the
Peninsula, at the moment when Portugal, and the fairest provinces of
Spain, were prostrate before him. That Sir John Moore intercepted the
blow which was then descending on Spain no man of honesty can deny; for
what troops were there in the south to have resisted even for an instant
the progress of a man, who in ten days, and in the depth of winter,
crossing the snowy ridge of the Carpentinos, had traversed two hundred
miles of hostile country, and transported fifty thousand men from Madrid
to Astorga in a shorter time than a Spanish diligence would have taken
to travel the same distance? This stupendous march was rendered
fruitless by the quickness of the adversary; but Napoleon, though he had
failed to destroy the English army, resolved nevertheless to drive it
from the Peninsula; and being himself recalled to France by tidings that
the Austrian storm was ready to burst, he fixed upon the Duke of
Dalmatia to continue the pursuit, adding, for this purpose, three
divisions of cavalry and three of infantry to his command. This
formidable pursuing force was separated into three divisions, and
entrusted to the command of Laborde, Heudelet, and Loison; so that after
leaving a considerable corps in reserve in the Montagna de St. Andre,
nearly sixty thousand men and ninety-one guns were put on the track of
the English army.
About this period of the retreat an affair took place in the rear which
excited the admiration of all who heard it, and has seldom been exceeded
for cool and determined valour under circumstances the most
disadvantageous. So rapid were the advances of the British troops on
their route to Corunna, that none but men of athletic mould and vigorous
health could keep in column. As an unavoidable result, many of the
weaker men, and some that had been overtaken by sickness, were at some
distance behind. The number of stragglers thus compelled to fall out was
nearly five hundred. They were placed under the direction of Sergeant
William Newman, no other officer being present. In addition to the
personal ailments of these poor fellows, they were little more than half
clothed, and many of them barefooted, so that but for their muskets,
which they knew how to handle, they exhibited an appearance altogether
pitiable and defenceless. Shortly after the army had quitted the village
of Betanzos, an alarm was given that the French cavalry was approaching,
when the men were instantly thrown into confusion by an eager but
fruitless endeavour to overtake the British forces. In this exigence,
Sergeant Newman pushed on a little way to a narrow part of the road. He
there managed to hasten on the most feeble of the detachment, and
detained about a hundred of the best men, whom he ordered to face about
and contest the passage. This was promptly done, and with complete
success. The little corps of invalids, consisting of soldiers from
different regiments, withstood and repelled repeated attacks of the
French horsemen. The sergeant then gave orders to retire, and when again
pressed, reformed as before, and again repulsed the enemy. In this
spirited manner they covered the retreat of their helpless comrades for
four miles, when they were relieved from their perilous situation by the
rearguard of the British cavalry. It is pleasing to add, that the
intrepid sergeant who led this spirited movement was promoted to an
ensigncy in the 1st West India regiment; besides which, by way of
putting him in gentlemanly trim, a gift was added of fifty pounds
sterling.
Thus Sir John Moore was pressed in his retreat with fury that seemed to
increase every moment. The separation of the light brigade already
alluded to, a measure which he adopted by advice of the
quarter-master-general, weakened the army by three thousand men. Fifteen
days; only had elapsed since Sir John Moore had left Salamanca; and
already the torrent of war, diverted from the south, was foaming among
the rocks of Gallicia. Nineteen thousand British troops, if posted on
strong ground, might have offered battle to very superior numbers; but
where was the use of merely fighting an enemy who had three hundred
thousand men in Spain? Sir John Moore felt the impolicy and rashness of
such an attempt; his resolution therefore was, to fall down to the
coast, and embark with as little loss and delay as might be. Vigo,
Corunna, and Ferrol were the principal harbours, and their relative
advantage could be determined only by the reports of the engineers, none
of which had yet been received, so rapidly did the crisis of affairs
come on.
It will be imagined by every person, civil or military, that the mind of
a commander, though of the firmest texture, in the situation of Sir John
Moore, must have been severely exercised; and during this stage of the
retreat the unavoidable difficulties of the army were inflamed by the
unhappy intemperance of several who ought to have known and acted
better. On arriving at Bembibre, the immense wine vaults established
there exhibited such temptations, that hundreds of the men, unable to
exert themselves, or even to stand, were unavoidably left behind. That
refreshment was needed, no one can doubt; but it is more difficult to be
temperate than abstemious; the first healthful draught led to many an
inordinate one. Confusion worse confounded was the necessary result.
There was an heterogeneous mass of marauders, drunkards, muleteers,
women, and children; the weather was dreadful; and, notwithstanding the
utmost exertions of the superior officers, when the reserve marched next
morning the number of these unfortunate persons was not diminished.
Leaving a small guard to protect this bacchanalian crew, Sir John Moore
proceeded to Calcabellos; and scarcely had the reserve marched out of
the village, when some French cavalry appeared. In a moment the road was
filled with the miserable stragglers, who came crowding after the
troops, some with loud shrieks of distress, others with brutal
exclamations. Many, overcome with fear, threw away their arms. Many more
who preserved theirs were so stupidly intoxicated that they were unable
to fire; and kept reeling to and fro, insensible both to their danger
and disgrace. The enemy’s horsemen perceiving this confusion bore down
at a gallop, broke through the disorderly mob, cutting to the right and
left as they passed, and riding so close to the columns, that the
infantry were forced to halt in order to check their forwardness.
Nothing, in the nature of things, can be more mischievous, though it
endure only for a day, or even half that time, than such a violation of
discipline as that recorded. It not only tends to produce discouragement
in the ranks of well-ordered troops, whose resolution, founded on mutual
support, is by such means sadly assailed, but so far as it is observed,
and it can seldom be concealed, it gives proportionate confidence to the
enemy, of which, on this very occasion, there was almost instantaneous
proof. On the 3rd of January, 1809, just after mid-day, the French
general, Colbert, approached with six or eight squadrons; but observing
the ground behind Calcabellos strongly occupied, he demanded
reinforcements. Marshal Soult, believing the English did not mean to
make a stand, sent orders to Colbert to charge without delay. The
latter, stung by the message, which he thought conveyed an imputation on
his courage, obeyed with precipitate fury. The riflemen had withdrawn
when the French first came in sight, and were just passing the bridge
when a crowd of staff officers, the cavalry, and the enemy, came in upon
them in one mass. In the confusion, thirty or forty men were taken; and
Colbert, crossing the river, charged on the spur up the road. The
remainder of the riflemen threw themselves into the vineyards, and
permitting the enemy to approach within a few yards, suddenly opened
such a deadly fire, that the greater number of the French horsemen were
killed on the spot, and among the rest Colbert himself. His fine,
martial figure, his voice, his gestures, and, above all, his daring
valour, had excited the admiration of the British, and a general feeling
of sorrow prevailed when he fell. The French voltigeurs then crossed the
river, and a smart skirmish was maintained, in which two or three
hundred men on both sides were killed or wounded. Night put an end to
the combat.
The reserve at length reached Nogales, having by a forced march of
thirty-six miles gained twelve hours’ start of the enemy: but at this
period of retreat the road was crowded with stragglers and baggage; the
peasantry, although armed, did not molest the French, but, fearing both
sides alike, drove their cattle and carried away their effects into the
mountains on each side of the line of march. Under the most favourable
circumstances, the drooping portion of a retreating force indicates
sensible distress; and on the road near Nogales the followers of the
army were dying fast from cold and hunger. The soldiers, barefooted,
harassed, and weakened by their excesses at Bembibre and Villa Franca,
were dropping to the rear by hundreds. Broken carts, dead animals, and
the piteous appearance of women with children struggling or falling in
the snow, completed the picture of war and its desolating results. On
the evening of the 4th the French recovered their lost ground, and
passed Nogales, galling the rearguard with a continual skirmish. Here it
was that dollars to the amount of twenty-five thousand pounds were
abandoned. This small sum was kept near headquarters to answer sudden
emergencies; and the bullocks that drew it being tired, the general, who
could not save the money without risking an ill-timed action, had it
rolled down the side of a mountain. Part of it was gathered by the
enemy, and part by the Gallician peasantry.
After exchanging several shots with the enemy, wherever appearances
called for resistance, the army retired to Lugo, in front of which the
entire force was assembled; and on the 7th of January Sir John Moore
announced his intention to offer battle. Scarcely was the order issued,
when the line of battle, hitherto so peeled and spread abroad, was
filled with vigorous men, full of confidence and courage. At day-break
on the 8th the two armies were still embattled. On the French side
seventeen thousand infantry, four thousand cavalry, and fifty pieces of
artillery were in line; but Soult deferred the attack till the 9th. On
the English side sixteen thousand infantry, eighteen hundred cavalry,
and forty pieces of artillery awaited the assault. No advance was,
however, made; darkness fell without a shot being fired; and with it the
English general’s hope of engaging his enemy on equal terms.
This was a season of singular and almost unexampled peril. The French
were posted on the declivity of a precipitous range of mountains, with a
numerous body of cavalry to protect their infantry, wherever necessary.
Besides this, twenty thousand fresh troops were at the distance of two
short marches in the rear. Then it should be considered that the British
army was not in a condition to fight more than one battle. It was
unprovided with draught cattle, had no means of transporting reserve
ammunition, no magazines, no hospitals, no second line, no provisions.
In the opinion of competent judges a defeat would have been
irretrievably ruinous, and a victory of no real use. Some have suggested
that Sir John Moore might have remained longer in expectation of a
battle. That was not only inexpedient, but impossible. The state of the
magazines decided the matter; for there was not bread for another day’s
consumption in the stores at Lugo. It is true the soldiers were at the
moment in fighting mood, but want of necessary food would have deprived
them of physical energy; so that to expose an army of gallant but
starving men to the uncertain issue of an obstinate and probably
prolonged engagement would, not only have been absurd in policy, but
have amounted to a wanton and unmeaning waste of human life. An effort,
therefore, to gain a march as quietly as possible, and get on board
without molestation, or at least so to establish the army as to cover
the embarkation, was the most, if not the only, reasonable proposition
to which prudence ought to listen.
The general adopted this third plan, and prepared to decamp in the
night. He ordered the fires to be kept bright, and exhorted the troops
to make a great effort, which he trusted would be the last required of
them. The face of the country immediately in the rear of the position
was intersected by stone walls and a number of intricate lanes.
Precautions were taken to mark the right track by placing bundles of
straw at certain distances, and officers were appointed to guide the
columns. At ten o’clock the troops silently quitted their ground, and
retired in excellent order; but at this critical juncture a terrible
storm of wind and rain arose, so that the marks were destroyed and the
guides lost the true direction. Only one of the divisions gained the
main road; the other two were bewildered, and when daylight broke, the
rear columns were still near Lugo. The fatigue and depression of mind
occasioned by this misfortune, and the want of shoes especially,
contributed to break the order of the march, and the stragglers were
becoming numerous, when, unhappily, one of the generals commanding a
leading division, thinking to relieve the men during a nightly halt,
desired them to take refuge from the weather in some houses a little way
off the road. Complete disorder followed this untimely indulgence. From
that moment it became impossible to make the soldiers of the division
keep their ranks; and in this disastrous condition the main body of the
army, which had bivouacked for six hours in the rain, arrived at
Betanzos on the evening of the 9th. During the two following days Sir
John Moore was indefatigable in restoring the needful order and
discipline. He assembled the army in one solid mass. The loss of men in
the march from Lugo to Betanzos had been greater than in all the former
part of the retreat; so that the infantry then in column did not much
exceed fourteen thousand men.
[Illustration: BAY OF CORUNNA.]
As the troops approached Corunna, many an anxious look was directed
towards the harbour. _Nothing was to be discovered but the wide waste of
water._ The painful truth became evident, that contrary winds had
detained at Vigo the fleet on board of whose ships the forces sought to
embark; so that after one of the severest and most prolonged tests to
which human endurance could be submitted, and the consuming exertions,
pushed on through storm and tempest, of many wearisome days, the whole
was rendered nugatory by an event over which human foresight or power
had no control; and the point to which they had fought their way,
instead of presenting the means of effectual retreat, became a _cul de
sac_, or place leading nowhere. The men were immediately put into
quarters, and their leader awaited the progress of events. Three
divisions occupied the town and suburbs; the reserve was posted with its
left at the village of El Burgo, and its right on the road of St. Jago
de Compostella. For twelve days these hardy soldiers had covered the
retreat, during which time they had traversed eighty miles of road in
two marches, passed several nights under arms in the snow of the
mountains, were seven times engaged with the enemy; and they now
assembled at the outposts, having fewer men missing from the ranks than
any other division of the army. The bridge of El Burgo was immediately
destroyed, and an engineer was sent to blow up that of Combria, situated
a few miles up the Mero river. This officer was mortified at the former
failures, and so anxious to perform his duty in an effectual manner,
that he remained too near the mine, and was killed by the explosion.
This was followed by the destruction of an immense quantity of
combustible material. Three miles from the town four thousand barrels of
powder were piled in a magazine built on a hill; a smaller quantity
collected in another storehouse was at some distance from the first: to
prevent these magazines from falling into the hands of the enemy, they
were both fired on the 13th. The inferior one blew up with a terrible
noise, and shook the houses in the town; but when the train reached the
great store, there ensued a crash like the bursting forth of a
volcano—the earth trembled for miles, the rocks were torn from their
bases, and the agitated waters rolled the vessels as in a storm. A vast
column of smoke and dust, shooting out fiery sparks from its sides,
arose perpendicularly and slowly to a great height, and then a shower of
stones, and fragments of all kinds bursting out of it with a roaring
sound, killed several persons who remained too near the spot. A
stillness, interrupted only by the lashing of the waves on the shore,
succeeded, and the business of the war went on.
The plot now rapidly thickened. Hemmed in by the gathering forces of the
numerous French corps, whose advance had been hastened by prodigious
sacrifices, both of men and means, the handful of British troops,
thinned by recent losses, and worn down by the length of a harassed and
contested march, were now cooped within the surface of a few square
miles. Negotiation with the enemy, having for its object the permissive
embarkation of the army, had been intimated to the commander by some of
the officers as a prudent step, under the continued and increasing
difficulties of the army, but was properly rejected, with that high
spirit and clear judgment which was safely founded on an intimate
knowledge of the army he commanded, and the resistance it could offer,
even in its dangerous and unfavourable position. The enemy having
collected in force on the Mero, it became necessary to choose a position
of battle. A chain of rocky elevations, commencing on the sea-coast, and
ending on the Mero, just behind the village of El Burgo, offered an
advantageous line of defence; but this ridge was too extensive for the
British army, and, if not wholly occupied, the French might have turned
it by the right, and moved along a succession of eminences to the gates
of Corunna. There was no alternative but to take post on an inferior
range, enclosed, as it were, within the other, and completely commanded
by it within cannon-shot. The French army had been so exhausted by toil,
that it was not completely assembled on the Mero before the 12th. The
same evening the expected transports from Vigo hove in sight, and soon
after entered the harbour of Corunna; and the dismounted cavalry, the
sick, all the best of the horses, and fifty-two pieces of artillery were
embarked during the night; eight British and four Spanish guns were,
however, retained on shore, ready for action. Towards evening on the
15th, the English piquets opposite the right of the French got engaged,
and being galled by the fire of two guns, Colonel M’Kenzie, of the 5th,
at the head of some companies, endeavoured to seize the battery, when a
line of infantry, hitherto concealed by some stone walls, arose, and
poured in such a fire of musketry, that the colonel was killed, and his
men forced back with loss.
The morning of the 16th at length arose. All the encumbrances of the
army had been shipped on the preceding night, and every measure that
prudence could suggest was adopted for the safe and expeditious
embarkation of the men, whenever the darkness would permit them to move
without being perceived; but about two o’clock in the afternoon every
one saw that these preparations, though skilfully arranged, would not
then be required. A general movement along the French line gave notice
of immediate action, and nothing remained on our side but to give them a
proper reception. The British infantry, fourteen thousand five hundred
strong, occupied the inferior range of hills already named. The French
force could not be less than twenty thousand men; and the Duke of
Dalmatia, having made his disposition, lost little time in idle
evolutions. His lighter guns being distributed along the front of his
line, a heavy fire was opened from the battery on his left, when three
solid masses of infantry led to the assault. A cloud of skirmishers led
the way, and the British piquets being driven back in disorder, the
village of Elvina was carried by the first column, which afterwards
dividing, one-half pushed on against Baird’s front, the other turned his
right by the valley. The second column made for the centre. The third
engaged the left by the village of Palavia Abaxo. The weight of the
French guns overmatched the English six-pounders, and their shot swept
the position to the centre. The ground about the village of Elvina was
intersected by stone walls and hollow roads: a severe scrambling fight
ensued, but in half an hour the French were borne back with great loss.
The 50th regiment entered the village with them, and after a second
struggle drove them to some distance beyond it. Meanwhile, the general,
bringing up a battalion of the brigade of Guards to fill the space in
the line left vacant by those two regiments, the 42nd mistook his
intentions, and at that moment the enemy, being reinforced, renewed the
fight beyond the village; the officer commanding the 50th was wounded
and taken prisoner, and Elvina became the scene of another struggle.
This being observed by the commander-in-chief, he addressed a few
animating words to the 42nd, and caused it to return to the attack.
General Paget, with the reserve, now descended into the valley, and the
line of skirmishers being thus supported vigorously checked the advance
of the enemy’s troops in that quarter, while the 4th regiment galled
their flank. A furious action now ensued along the entire line, in the
valley and on the hills.
Sir John Moore, while earnestly watching the result of the battle about
the village of Elvina, was struck on the left breast by a cannon-shot.
The shock threw him from his horse with violence. He rose again in a
sitting posture. His eye was still fixed on the regiments engaged in his
front; and in a few moments, when he was satisfied that the troops were
gaining ground, his countenance brightened, and he suffered himself to
be taken to the rear. The dreadful nature of the injury he had received
was then noticed; the shoulder was shattered in pieces, and the muscles
of the breast torn into long strips, which were interlaced by their
recoil from the strain and dragging of the shot. As the soldiers placed
him in a blanket his sword got entangled, and the hilt entered the
wound. Captain Hardinge, a staff officer, who was near, attempted to
take it off; but the dying man stopped him, saying: ‘_It is as well as
it is. I had rather it should go out of the field with me._’ In that
manner Sir John was borne from the fight.
During this time the army was rapidly gaining ground. The reserve,
overthrowing everything in the valley, and obliging Houssaye’s dragoons,
who had dismounted, to retire, turned the enemy’s left, and even
approached the eminence upon which the great battery was erected. On the
left, Colonel Nicholls, at the head of some companies of the 14th,
carried Palavia Abaxo, and in the centre the obstinate dispute for
Elvina terminated in favour of the British; so that when the night set
in, their line was considerably beyond the position of the morning, and
the French were falling back in confusion. On the other hand, to
continue the action in the dark was a dangerous experiment; for the
French were still the more numerous, and their ground was strong. The
disorder they were in offered so favourable an opportunity to get on
board the ships, that Sir John Hope, upon whom the command of the army
had devolved, satisfied with having repulsed the attack, judged it more
prudent to pursue the original plan of embarking during the night. That
operation was effected without delay; the arrangements being complete,
no confusion or difficulty occurred. The piquets kindling a number of
fires covered the retreat of the columns, and were themselves withdrawn
at day-break, and embarked under the protection of General Hill’s
brigade, which was posted near the ramparts of the town. When the
morning dawned, the French, observing that the British had abandoned
their position, pushed forward some battalions to the height of St.
Lucie, and succeeded in establishing a battery, which, playing upon the
shipping in the harbour, caused a great deal of disorder among the
transports. Several masters cut their cables, and four vessels went on
shore; but the troops being immediately removed by the men-of-war’s
boats, the stranded vessels were burnt, and the whole fleet at last got
away.
Thus ended the retreat to Corunna. From the spot where he fell, Sir John
Moore was carried to the town by a party of soldiers. The blood flowed
fast, and the torture of the wound increased; but such was the firmness
of his mind that those about him expressed a hope that his hurt was not
mortal. Hearing this, he looked steadfastly at the injury for a moment,
and then said: ‘No; I feel that to be impossible.’ Several times he
caused his attendants to stop and turn him round, that he might behold
the field of battle; and when the firing indicated the advance of the
British, he expressed his satisfaction, and permitted the bearers to
proceed. Being brought to his lodgings, the surgeons examined the wound;
but there was no hope. The pain increased, and he spake with great
difficulty. His countenance continued firm, and his thoughts clear; only
once, when he spake of his mother, he became agitated. The fight was
scarcely ended when his corpse, wrapped in a military cloak, was
interred by the officers of his staff in the citadel of Corunna. The
guns of the enemy paid his funeral honours; and Soult, with a noble
feeling of respect for his valour, raised a monument to his memory.
Through the whole of this eventful retreat I was mercifully preserved
from grievous injury. The privations of the army were shared by all; and
to these I was no stranger. Many miles of road through which our route
lay were nearly deserted by the inhabitants, who, unknowing whom to
trust, were afraid both of friend and foe; hence arose great scarcity of
provisions. It often happened that long before we had appeared tidings
of our approach had induced the entire population of the district to
disappear, and with it all vestiges of food. Wine might occasionally be
obtained, and sometimes in profusion; but I had observed that when our
men had indulged in strong liquor, with little or no solid food, the
effect was injurious, so that on the following day, when the excitement
had subsided, they were unable to keep our pace: diminished strength
thus compelled them to drop off, and not a few were actually picked up
by the French, who hung on our rear. Another serious difficulty arose
from the circumstance that our retreat was conducted in winter. The
roads for an immense distance had been torn into deep ruts by the wheels
of the baggage-wagons and cannon, and rendered rough by the trampling of
cavalry horses; severe frost then set in, when the rough and rugged
surface was suddenly hardened into ice. Meantime my shoes were worn out,
and as they would no longer hold together, I was compelled to march
barefooted. This was severe, and the sensation produced was singularly
painful. In the frozen condition of the ground every step seemed to
place my feet on flint: scarcely able to move, and yet forbidden to
stay, the sergeant of my company, a worthy fellow, proposed to lend me a
pair of shoes, but his kindness was unavailing; on attempting to put
them on, they would not fit my feet. How it was that I was sustained
under these difficulties, I knew not then; but now I know: the Almighty
was my support, though I was heedless of His help. ‘His arm unseen
conveyed me safe’; and I feel at this moment some satisfaction, which I
hope may be pardoned, that though heavily pressed with the sufferings of
those days, I never fell out of the line of march, or impeded the public
service by imbecility of purpose or disposition to flinch from duty.
Previous to embarkation I was provided with the article needed; and,
praised be the Lord! I have never wanted a pair of shoes from that day
to this. On getting into the boat which conveyed me on board the ship,
determined to forget my former vexations, I threw my old shoes into the
sea, and there, like my past troubles, they were soon out of sight and
forgotten.