Preparations for the Field--Amusements in winter
quarters--Grand Review--Advance of the Army in pursuit of the
Enemy--Come up with their rearguard in the vicinity of Hornilla
de Camino--Skirmishing--Encounter with the 1st brigade of the
Enemy, who are beaten, and forced to retreat--Our Army advance
in pursuit--An affair between the rearguard of the Enemy and
our 4th Brigade--Vittoria--General Engagement--The Enemy
defeated--Remarks.
I begin this chapter, through the mercy and goodness of God, with
brighter prospects than any I have written hitherto; for though I was
still ignorant of the peculiar doctrines of Christianity, I believed God
was at peace with me, and, from my late dreadful sufferings for sin, I
certainly walked very circumspectly, and I believe I had also more of
the genuine feelings of a Christian, though not the knowledge; for I was
lowly in my own eyes, and loved all mankind. In me was fully verified at
this time that sublime, but seemingly ill understood, saying of our
Saviour's, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." I
now was meek and lowly, and I had friends in abundance, and may truly be
said to have possessed or inherited the earth, for I had plenty of every
necessary good, and, withal, peace and contentment. I could not enjoy
more had I been in possession of more. Alas! how lamentable is it that
chastisement should produce a better effect upon me, than love and
gratitude to God is capable of doing; for, to my shame be it spoken,
pride and selfishness now prevail much more in my heart than they were
able to do then; and I find it much more difficult now to bring my mind
down to that lowly and contrite feeling which with God is so acceptable,
and with the possession of which only He promises to dwell.
As the officer whom I have had occasion so often to mention owed me a
trifle of money, I wrote to him, in as friendly a manner as I could,
hoping, now we were separated, that his enmity would cease, and I was
desirous of being at peace with all mankind; for, as I said before, I
never yet knew why he was my enemy. He wrote back, with an order for the
money, telling me, he hoped never to hear from me again, for that he was
anxious to forget that such a person had ever existed in the world.
This, as might be supposed, wounded my feelings deeply, but I remembered
that I had myself sinned as deeply against God, and that He might raise
up such instruments for my correction as seemed good to Him. My
feelings, therefore, towards this person were more of regret and pity
than of resentment, and I think I did not forget to pray to God for him.
Poor fellow, he has a good while since been called to his account, and
that in rather an awful manner; he fell in a duel, but which (from all I
could learn) he was engaged in from the best motives, that of
endeavouring to prevent the seduction of a young female belonging to his
regiment. I hope he is at peace.
During our stay in winter-quarters every exertion was made to put the
troops in a proper state to take the field again, so soon as the season
was sufficiently advanced. While we remained here also every sort of
innocent amusement, at least generally innocent, was had recourse to,
both by officers and men, not only to pass the time of inactivity with
pleasure, but to keep up that readiness for action always so necessary
in a state of warfare. We accordingly had races, balls, plays, and every
other description of pastime our situation admitted of. We in Espija
established what was termed a _trigger_ club, each one in turn giving an
entertainment at his house, and at which, as the name would imply, as
much game was produced as our sportsmen could procure. The plays were
generally held at Gallegos, the quarter of the 43d, and which were
indeed got up in a surprising style, considering the means of doing so.
A _walking_ club was established in our 1st battalion, which was
quartered at Alamada; we were of course frequently favoured with the
company of its members, for they thought nothing of setting out, each
with a long pole in his hand, and walking twenty or more miles to
dinner. Thus harmony and a brotherly feeling was promoted amongst the
officers of the division,--a thing of great moment where regiments have
to act together, as well as pleasant to all parties. Some of our people
also occasionally had a wolf-hunt, for these animals were quite numerous
in this part of the country; nay, so bold were they when pressed with
hunger, that they did not scruple sometimes to enter our villages, and
devour whatever fell in their way that they could master. An officer of
ours had an ass or a mule torn to pieces one night while standing in the
yard behind his house. The mode of hunting them was, to have a certain
number with arms stationed at the different passes in the wood, whilst a
large party of drivers scoured the wood in line, driving every thing
before them, when the animals, coming upon the armed people, were shot;
but I do not think they were at all successful: it requires people
accustomed to the business to enable them to kill many. There is a
premium given for every wolf's head, but I forget how much it is.
I sometimes took a trip to the Azava, or the Agueda, on a fishing
excursion; but I was ill off for fishing tackle: the hooks the Spaniards
make are the clumsiest things imaginable, and would not, I am persuaded,
be made with less dexterity by the natives of New Zealand. Those which
we were forced to use for fly-hooks had a hole or eye at the top, like
the crook which you will sometimes see in a butcher's shop, intended to
be hung upon another, which was formed by turning the wire down again,
and through this they run their line; besides, they almost invariably
broke, and I have been wofully tantalized sometimes by having the hook
break off the only fly that the fish were taking; notwithstanding, I
caught some very fine trout in the Agueda, this river abounding with
them. I sometimes also caught barbel in that river; but it was literally
swarming with a sort of roach, or what some of our people called
rock-fish: they generally feed from some stuff they find on the large
stones. But as the season approached which was to call us to the field,
a review of the whole division was ordered to take place on the plain of
Espija, and which, I think, was as brilliant a spectacle of that
description as it was possible for 5000 men to make. Every regiment was
in high and complete order, the whole having by this time been fully
equipped for the campaign: the movements, too, were beautiful, and
executed with great precision and promptitude, and, as might be
anticipated, called forth the unqualified approbation of our illustrious
Chief.
A new and different arrangement was made this campaign with respect to
both officers and men in their field-equipment. Experience had proved
that constant bivouacking injured the men's health, as the mode they had
adopted last year, though very ingenious, was not calculated to protect
them sufficiently from exposure to the weather. They had last campaign
been ordered each man to have loops sewed on at the corner of his
blanket; thus, when in the field, two of these were united, and spread
over two stand of arms set up at the ends for poles, and being fastened
down at the other corners with bayonets, they formed a sort of tent,
into which perhaps four men might creep; but then they had thus only two
blankets to serve as a bed for the whole four men; consequently they
would, in cold weather, be much exposed. This campaign each company
received four tents; thus allowing about twenty men for each, and the
officers of each company had one among them, and the field and staff
officers in like proportion. These were carried on mules, which before
had carried the camp-kettles; but these being exchanged for smaller
ones, the men carried them in turns upon their knapsacks. Thus it rarely
happened that the tents were not on the ground nearly as soon as the
men; but strict orders were given always to encamp out of sight of the
enemy, if practicable, that they might not be able to calculate our
numbers. How very different from the ancient mode of encamping! each of
which being more like a town laid out with regular streets, &c. &c. But
war was a very different thing in those days, and could Marlborough have
risen to see one of our straggling and irregular mountain camps, I know
not what his feelings would have been: he would, I fear, have thought we
had sadly degenerated.
All being now ready for opening the campaign, a part of the army, under
Sir Thomas Graham, crossed the Douro low down in Portugal, and proceeded
up the right bank, while we, with Sir Rowland Hill's corps, moved
forward in the direction of Salamanca and Toro. On the 21st of May, our
division broke up from its cantonments, and assembled at the village of
St Felices el Chico, a few miles below Ciudad Rodrigo, each regiment
having had the Agueda to ford in its march to this camp. Our division at
this time consisted of the following corps:--viz. the 1st brigade, under
General Kempt, was composed of the 43d regiment, 17th Portuguese, and
the 1st and 3d battalions of my regiment; the 2d brigade, under General
Skerrit, contained the 52d regiment, 1st and 3d Portuguese cacadores,
and the 2d battalion of my regiment; one troop of horse artillery, under
Colonel Ross, was attached to the division; the whole being under the
command of General Charles Alten. On the 22d, we moved on to Martin del
Rey, near the river Yeltes, by the side of which we encamped. On the
23d, we marched to and encamped near San Munoz, where the division had,
I understand, suffered considerably during the retreat of last year,
from the French having gained ground upon them, and severely cannonaded
them from a height near this village. On the 25th, we moved on to
Robliza, having halted the day before to enable the other division to
come up with us. We next morning moved forward to the little river
Valmuzo, a few miles on the Portugal side of Salamanca, and alluded to
in my former advance. Here we halted for three hours during mid-day and
cooked, and in the afternoon advanced to the ford of El Canto, on the
river Tormes, and about two leagues below Salamanca. Here we encamped
for the night, and remained next day also. Lord Wellington, with some
cavalry we understood, had entered Salamanca, where only a small force
of the enemy's cavalry had been found, and which retired immediately;
but I believe some little skirmishing took place between the parties. On
the morning of the 28th we forded the Tormes, and advanced towards
Aldea Nueva de Figuera, which we reached late in the day, the distance
being about twenty-four miles.
While we lay at El Canto, a few of our officers visited Salamanca, in
hopes of meeting some of their old friends of last year; but not a
_viva_ greeted their ears on entering the city; a sort of suspicious
look of recognition was all they could obtain from those people, who had
received us only last summer with such extravagant demonstrations of
joy. No doubt they had been made to suffer for their former expressions
of attachment to us, for the French had in almost every place their
partisans, who doubtless would not fail to give them, on their return,
an account of the manner in which the English had been received, and the
contributions would be laid on accordingly.
We remained at Aldea from the 28th May to the 2d of June, waiting for
information from the corps under Sir Thomas Graham, it being intended to
form a junction at or about Toro, where it was expected the enemy had a
considerable force; this was distant from us about thirty miles. While
we continued here, I took a trip to Sir Rowland Hill's division, where I
had a townsman, an officer in the 28th, but had not the satisfaction of
seeing him. I had other friends in that division, however, with whom I
and my companions spent the day in great harmony and satisfaction, and
at evening returned to our camp, about four miles distant, highly
gratified.
On the 2d of June, we set off early in the morning, and arrived at Villa
Buena about mid-day, where we halted for three hours to cook and
refresh, after which we continued our march towards Toro, which we
reached in the evening, but the enemy having destroyed the bridge across
the Douro at this place, we encamped for the night in some fields on the
left bank of the river. We learnt here that the hussars attached to Sir
Thomas Graham's division had attacked a corps of French cavalry soon
after their having quitted Toro, and with whom a very smart affair had
taken place, the enemy being completely routed, and about 150 prisoners
taken from them. Our cavalry, I believe, lost an officer on this
occasion, who fell into the hands of the enemy. Nothing could exceed the
miserable appearance of the horses taken from the French on this
occasion; they appeared really half starved, although at this season
there was plenty of green forage to be had; they must either have been
sadly neglected, or have been doing exceeding hard duty.
The bridge having been rendered passable for the men, the division
crossed on the following morning, the horses and mules fording the
river. We left Toro immediately, and moved on in pursuit of the enemy,
and encamped that night at Terra Buena. On the 4th, we reached the
convent of Espinar, and encamped on a height just over it. It was a most
picturesque and beautiful piece of country around this convent, but
itself appeared to have been lately rendered uninhabitable. I believe
the monks had been driven away by the French, but not a soul remained to
enquire of; all about the building was desolation. We next day advanced
to the village of Muderra, and on the 6th to Amperdia, and on the 7th we
marched through the city of Palentia, and encamped outside the walls, on
the banks of the river Carrion.
Here the inhabitants evinced the same degree of enthusiasm on our
entrance as we had been accustomed to witness in other large towns, till
the French had taught them a little more circumspection, and which the
good people of Palentia would have been most probably fully taught, had
these good friends of theirs ever got possession of their city again.
Some time after we had pitched our camp, and were strolling about the
city, the lifeguards entered, and were of course saluted with repeated
vivas. One of the men, a rather country-looking young fellow, cried out,
"Ay, the folks be always glad to see we lifeguards," happily supposing,
no doubt, that they were intended as a particular compliment to his
corps alone. All the country through which we had marched for several
days past, was one continued plain of waving corn, mostly wheat of the
very finest description. There are no hedges or dikes, but, as before
noticed, only landmarks to divide the different fields, so that its
appearance is like an immense sea, stretching as far as the eye can
reach, the long corn undulating with the wind as the waves in the ocean.
On the 8th we marched forward and encamped at the village of Tamara, the
weather having, from being exceedingly fine, and indeed rather hot, set
in extremely wet and cold, and thus rendered marching very unpleasant.
We next day reached La Pena, (the name, it may be remembered, of the
Barossa Spanish hero,) the weather continuing very coarse and stormy. On
the 10th we continued to advance, and marching through the village of
Framosa, and passing over a canal which crosses here, we halted for the
night on the right bank of the river Pisuerga, near the village of
Lantadilla. In all these late movements, we had experienced a great
deficiency of fuel for cooking and drying our clothes when wet, neither
forest nor bush-wood being to be seen for days together, and indeed
scarcely one solitary tree to be met with--nothing but corn; so that we
were occasionally compelled to resort to the cruel and unchristianlike
expedient of pulling down houses to obtain the timber with which they
were built for the purpose of cooking, or we must have eaten our food
raw. This, however, was done in a regular and systematic order, the
Alcalde of the village pointing out such of the houses as were to be
doomed to the fire, and the troops taking no more than was absolutely
necessary. It is astonishing to me how the natives themselves exist for
want of this article of first necessity.
From this village we moved forward on the 11th, and crossing the
Pisuerga, marched on the town of Pallacio, which we passed, and reached
the village of Landrino, near which we encamped for the night.
From the time we left Toro, the enemy had been gradually retiring before
us, having withdrawn his forces from all the strong places on the Douro,
and seemed concentrating somewhere in the direction of Burgos or
Vittoria. Excepting our cavalry, no part of our forces ever had the
satisfaction of seeing a Frenchman hitherto during the whole of this
long and rapid march; but on the morning of the 12th, as we now
approached Burgos, it was fully expected that we should be able to get a
sight of the fugitives; and accordingly, after we had left our last
night's quarters, and marched a few miles in the direction of the city,
a pretty strong body of the enemy's cavalry was seen drawn out on a high
plain, a little above the village of Hornilla de Camino. These were
supported by a division of infantry formed in square, and occupying the
outer edge of the high plain facing the way we advanced, and apparently
observing our motions. On discovering this force, our division was
halted to give the cavalry attached to us time to ride forward to
reconnoitre, and ascertain more exactly the force before us, than could
be done while we were on the low ground.
I rode forward with our cavalry, which, passing by the enemy's square of
infantry, approached the main body of their cavalry. It not being,
however, the intention of the French to fight here, they slowly and
orderly retired before us across the plain; but as we had left the
square of infantry nearly behind us, the guns attached to our cavalry
turned in that direction, for this body seemed indifferent about the
movements of our cavalry, and it was not till our division began to
ascend the hill that they evinced the slightest intention of stirring.
On seeing them, however, they quickly decamped, and as they had to pass
within 150 yards of the position our guns had taken up, I imagined
considerable execution must have been done upon them before they got out
of our reach. But, strange to say, I believe only one single man was
knocked down by the great numbers of shot fired at them. It must have
been owing to the relative situations of the two parties; they passed
down a hollow way which led from the high plain in the direction of the
Burgos road, and which covered them completely till they came
immediately below our guns, when it became a difficult matter to depress
them so as to bear upon the enemy's square as they passed us. However
the whole turned round and gave us a regular volley, for, as we were so
much above them, there was no danger from their firing in square; but
this, although the shots flew pretty thick about us, was not productive
of any mischief that I remember. They retired across the plain below us,
pursued by another division of ours which had advanced on our right, and
between whom and the French a pretty smart skirmish took place. So soon
as their infantry were clear from us, their guns opened out from the
opposite side of the river upon us on the height, but, the distance
being considerable, their shot did little execution. It was evident this
force was only left here as a rearguard, to ascertain our movements and
force, &c. We encamped for the night near the road by which we had
ascended the high plain; but were awoke early next morning by a
tremendous explosion which shook the earth beneath us, although at the
distance of 6 or 7 miles from Burgos, the castle of which the enemy had
blown up, and retired altogether. We soon after commenced our march,
and, leaving that city to our right, made a long march in the direction
of the Ebro, and halted for the night near the village of Tovar. The
next day we moved on to Quintanajar, and on the 15th, after a long
march, we reached the Ebro, and halted at the village of Puente Arrenas,
situated in the delightful valley of Veras. This is one of the most
picturesque and beautiful valleys in Europe, I dare say. When you arrive
at the brow of the high ground over the Ebro, a sight breaks upon you
all at once which is indescribably grand and beautiful;--a large river
rolling under you, beyond which a rich and fertile valley, laden with
the fruits of a hundred orchards, with charming villas and farm-houses
dispersed through all the lawn; a stupendous bridge, of I know not how
many arches, leading you across this magnificent river; and the whole
closed by high and beetling rocks jutting out of the high woody bank on
the opposite side. It really appeared like enchantment when we first
arrived within sight of it, from the long dreary plains we had been so
long traversing. Here, for the first time since we entered Spain, did we
meet with "manteca de vaca," or "cow butter," all the other we had been
compelled to use hitherto for want of better, was what they call
"manteca de puerco," or "hog's-lard." The women who brought it wore a
quite different dress from those we had seen in the parts we had passed
through; the women had on generally yellow stockings, with abundance of
petticoats of red, yellow, green, &c. &c., and were all very stout-made;
they were, I believe, from Asturias. Poor creatures, many of them
followed us with loads of butter, wine, cheese, &c. &c., even into
France, so pleased were they with the excellent prices their
merchandise brought amongst us; indeed, we had been so long debarred the
enjoyment of butter and cheese, that we would have given almost any
price to get them sweet and good. They carried their loads (and
tremendous ones they were) as the flesh-wives in Newcastle carry theirs,
that is, by passing a broad leather belt across the forehead and over
the shoulders, and so underneath the heavy load upon their back. They
were a civil and obliging race of beings, and apparently much more
industrious and cleanly than the rest of their country people.
We left this delightful spot on the morning of the 16th, following the
course of the river upwards for about a league, then turning short to
the right, passed through an enclosed country, and halted for the night
at the town of Medina del Pomar. This is a considerable-sized place, in
which was a nunnery, the inmates of which greeted us with hearty
welcomes and vivas, with waving of handkerchiefs, &c., through their
strongly iron-grated windows, where they more resembled criminals of the
worst description shut up in a strong prison, poor things, than people
who had devoted themselves to the service of their Maker. Next morning,
we moved forward through a country almost without roads; we were, in
fact, crossing the country in order to get nearer to the great road
leading from Madrid to Vittoria, and on which the enemy's army was then
retiring. We encamped for the night, after a fatiguing day's march, on a
woody height near the little river Loza. We took the high ground on this
occasion for our encampment, although extremely inconvenient and
uncomfortable, being among stumps and brushwood, where there was
scarcely room to pitch our tents; this was in consequence of being in
the neighbourhood of a considerable force of the enemy, which was
retreating, as before noticed, along the great road.
The next morning, the 18th of June, we started pretty early, and
calculating that we should this day come in contact with the above
force, we marched in such a manner as to be ready, when that event took
place, to take advantage of any favourable circumstances that might
offer. We had in our front a squadron of Hussars belonging to the German
Legion, and which were generally attached to our division. About mid-day
the squadron in front of us reached the village of San Millan, where the
road on which we were then marching, and the great road on which the
enemy was retreating, unite; the latter descending from a high tableland
just above the village, and passing a narrow defile between two high
rocks. Our cavalry, on reaching this village, descried the advance of
the French, composed also of cavalry; and what was not a little
singular, they also were Germans in the French service. Our brave
Hussars instantly charged those of the enemy, and immediately overthrew
the body opposed to them, and in the charge captured several men and
horses, which they brought in prisoners.
By this time the head of the division had reached the spot, (my 1st
battalion leading,) which in a few minutes got warmly engaged with the
enemy's voltigeurs, a considerable number of whom had advanced to oppose
us, in order that the main body of their division might be enabled,
under cover of their fire, to pass through the village on the way
towards Vittoria. Our people, however, pressed them so hard, that the
whole of their leading brigade was obliged to join in the action. At
this moment our illustrious Chief came galloping up; for, whenever any
thing was to be done, he was always present. He had also taken care to
have our 4th division moved so as to arrive at the village of Espija, a
town about a league in front of us on the great road, nearly about the
same time, so that, should the French contrive to get away from us,
they might fall into their hands. He immediately sent me off to the
leading company of our people who were engaged, for the guide they had
had with them, in order that he might conduct his lordship to Espija;
but that was no place for a Spanish peasant who had neither honour nor
glory to gain, and he had accordingly made his escape the moment our
folks got into action. His lordship instantly dashed off without a
guide, while our two battalions, that is, the 1st and 3d of my regiment,
kept advancing upon the enemy, and fairly drove them through the
village, being supported by the other regiments of the brigade, but who
had not any occasion to come into action.
The first brigade of the enemy being thus beaten, retreated along the
great road in the direction of Espija, leaving their second brigade and
all their baggage to their fate. These latter being pressed by our
second or rear brigade, and seeing us in possession of the village, and
the road they had to pass, immediately broke in all directions, and
dispersed themselves in the mountains over the village, each man making
the best of his way. This their baggage could not do, and it
consequently fell into the hands of the captors, an easy and valuable
booty; but although my brigade, by beating and dispersing the enemy at
the village, had been the principal cause of its capture, yet those
whose hands it fell into had not the generosity to offer the least share
of it to us, but divided it amongst themselves.
During the skirmish in the village, a French hussar chased one of our
officers several times round one of the trees growing by the side of the
road, and repeatedly cut at him with his sabre, and it is likely would
have cut him down at last, had not the officer seen a rifle lying near,
belonging to a man just killed; and luckily it was loaded when he picked
it up. He waited for the Frenchman, and coolly shot him through the
body, and instantly seized his horse as lawful prize; had the rifle
missed fire he was gone. We had not rested long after this brush till we
heard a firing in our front, where indeed it was expected. The troops
which had just left us, I imagine, had been attacked by the 4th
division, and we, the 1st brigade, were instantly ordered to their
support should they need it; but before we reached Espija, the enemy was
completely beaten, and had retired in the direction of Vittoria. We had
to retrace our steps and join our other brigade, and encamped for the
night in the neighbourhood of San Millan.
Our loss on this occasion was but trifling, considering the smartness of
the affair. An officer of my regiment, of the name of Haggup, a
countryman of my own, received a most dangerous wound in the abdomen, of
which it was feared he would die, but he soon after completely
recovered. An aide-de-camp of the French General was wounded, and taken
prisoner, but he soon after died, poor fellow. Along with the captured
baggage were a number of Spanish ladies, who had been attached to the
French officers to whom it belonged, but they did not appear over
faithful to their protectors, for most of them, I believe, preferred
remaining in the hands of their captors, to being forwarded after their
beaten and now ill-provided former companions; such is generally the
fidelity to be expected from that sort of people.
On the 19th we advanced by the same road the French had retired, till we
reached the town of Salinas, where there were very extensive salt-works,
as the name of the place denotes. We encamped for the night near the
village of Pobes, on a small rivulet named Bayas, I believe. Near the
end of our march to-day we had a view of the enemy's rearguard, as they
rounded the end of a mountain, which lay immediately before us, and over
which the road to Vittoria passes. After rounding the mountain, this
part of the enemy's force fell in with our 4th division again, which had
been moved forward from Espija by another road. A very smart skirmish
was the consequence, which we distinctly heard, and in which a good
number fell on both sides. The French retired from hence into their
position in front of Vittoria. During the next day, while we halted
here, it began to be whispered that the enemy had concentrated his
forces in and around Vittoria, which was distant from us perhaps about
ten or a dozen miles, and that the divisions of our own army had that
day approached nearer together, which indicated a determination on the
part of our Chief to try his hand with King Joseph, should he be bold
enough to stay where he then was.
Many, of course, and various would be the reflections which occupied the
minds of the different individuals composing the two armies; but I can
speak from experience, that those are of a much more pleasing nature
which a consciousness of superiority and a good prospect of success
inspires, than those which a retreating army are compelled to entertain.
Pretty early in the morning of the 21st, we fell in and moved forward by
the way the French rearguard before-mentioned had taken, and after
having passed the end of the mountain and descended into the valley on
the other side, we saw evident proofs that the affair between our 4th
division and the French, above alluded to, must have been pretty warm.
We continued to advance on the road to Vittoria, till, on ascending a
rising ground, the French army appeared in position immediately in front
of us. It was a noble and animating sight, for they appeared as numerous
almost as grashoppers, and were posted as nearly as I can recollect in
the following order. Immediately before us ran the river Zadora,
passing from our left and front to our right and rear. In the centre of
an extensive plain rose a pretty lofty conical hill, from which extended
to their left a sloping plain, through which the great road lay, and
terminated by a long range of mountains, stretching from Puebla de
Arlanzon, just above the river, to a considerable distance beyond
Vittoria. The city was shut out of our view by the conical hill before
mentioned, and was distant from it about four or five miles; to the
right of this hill, along the bank of the river, it appeared broken, and
not easily approachable. On the face of the conical hill, and to its
very summit, it appeared as thickly set with troops as if they had been
bees clustering together; it was also thickly studded with batteries and
other field-works. On the plain between that and the long range of
mountains, the troops appeared to stand so thick that you might imagine
you could walk on their heads. There did not appear any great force on
the mountains to their left, and what they had to the right of the
conical hill and towards Vittoria we could not discern, but it turned
out they had a strong force there. There were several small villages in
the plain and on the side of the mountains; the largest stood rather to
the right of the plain, with a wood immediately behind it; this, I
believe, is called Subijana de Alva. On the bank of the river also were
three or four villages, most of them on our side, with a bridge at each
village. The French army did not extend immediately to the river bank,
but was placed at some little distance beyond it. The river was easily
fordable.
Our army began to arrive by divisions, and was posted as
follows--General Hill with the 2d division, consisting of about 12,000
men, was on our extreme right, except about 3000 or 4000 Spaniards under
General Morillo, who were still more to the right, and facing the long
range of mountains before mentioned. In the centre was his lordship
with the 3d, 4th, 7th, and light divisions, perhaps 25,000 strong, with
the main force of artillery and cavalry. Sir Thomas Graham had been
early detached to our left with the 1st and 5th divisions and some
Portuguese, about 12,000 in all, to turn the enemy's right flank, and to
try to cut him off from the great road leading from Vittoria to France,
which ran in that direction.
Whilst this movement was executing, and the different divisions were
getting into their several stations, we, who had arrived first, were
allowed to pile our arms and sit down. His lordship, with a numerous
staff, went down a little nearer to the river to reconnoitre the enemy's
position. I wandered down with them, and got as near as I could in order
to ascertain the opinion of the big-wigs as to the business about to
take place. One staff-officer, after carefully examining the position of
the enemy through his glass, gave it as his opinion, that we should
scarcely be able to make any impression upon so numerous an army, and so
very strongly posted; but this opinion must have been dictated, I think,
by his rather desponding temperament, for I believe it was entirely
singular.
The enemy, however, did not fail to notice this movement of our General
and his staff, and instantly detached a corps of voltigeurs, who,
rushing down to the river, dashed across the bridge at the village of
Villoses, and immediately took possession of a small woody height on our
side of the river, from whence they opened a fire on his lordship and
those that were with him. This of course could not be borne; and as my
battalion was the leading battalion of the column and nearest at hand,
we were ordered (with two companies of our 1st battalion, which stood
next to us) to take our arms, and drive those fellows across the river
again. Thus we had, I believe, the high honour of commencing the action
on that memorable day. We soon chased the voltigeurs from the woody
height, down through the village, and over the bridge, where they took
post and remained, we not having orders to pursue them any farther. We
took possession of the village, and continued skirmishing with the
enemy, a good many men falling on both sides, as the river was not more
probably than thirty or forty yards wide, and a constant fire was kept
up by both parties till the French were afterwards driven away by our
divisions crossing lower down the river.
After we had chased the enemy along the bridge, and they were fairly
clear of the village, a French battery, situated a little above the
river towards the conical hill, opened its fire upon us, from which we
suffered a good deal, one shot having taken our people, who were lining
a garden wall, in flank, and swept away five or six at a stroke; after
this we kept more under cover.
Almost the first person who fell on our side was a lieutenant of the
name of Campbell. He had, I am sure, a strong presentiment of his death,
for he had, I believe, made his will the evening before; and when we
first came in sight of the French army, and the others were all animated
with life and glee at the prospect of gaining laurels in abundance, he,
poor fellow, sat down by himself quite pensive, and seemed lost in
thought. He received a shot in the forehead which terminated his career
in a moment as it were, and plunged him into an eternity of bliss or
woe. I hope he was prepared, but scarcely dare say I believe he was. Our
duty having been accomplished by taking possession of this village, and
keeping the French from coming over, we had now leisure to look round us
and see what was going forward; and we had certainly a noble field for
observation. My commanding-officer, with the rest of the staff-officers
and myself, together with half a company of men, took up our station at
the church, which, standing high, gave us a fine opportunity of
witnessing the movements of both armies.
A short while after we had taken post here, we observed the smoke to
arise in dense columns in the direction which Sir Thomas Graham had
taken, which showed he had commenced the attack on that flank of the
enemy, and this was the signal for commencing operations on our right
and centre. Sir Rowland Hill's people, with the Spaniards, instantly
forded the river, and advanced along the top and side of the mountains
before mentioned; and as this was done in considerable force, it seemed
to disconcert King Joseph a good deal, for instantly his aides-de-camp
were seen galloping in every direction, and the troops which stood upon
the plain began to move in that direction, while those upon the conical
hill began to descend in great numbers into the plain. This was
precisely what our Chief had calculated upon; and now, by a rapid
movement, he threw the centre divisions across the river, by the bridges
of Trespuentes and Nanclara, a little below our village, and attacking
the remaining troops upon the conical hill, they were overthrown as fast
as our divisions reached them. The 2d, Sir Thomas Picton's division,
here particularly distinguished itself.
General Hill's people were by this time very warmly engaged, for the
enemy having, as stated above, strongly reinforced that point, they made
a rather obstinate defence, particularly at the village and wood of
Subijana de Alva, which latter was filled with their light troops, and
where our 28th regiment, which was opposed to them, suffered
considerably, and were not able to make much impression. The action had
now become general, and our people on every side advancing; at this
moment old Douro, who never failed to inspire confidence wherever he
appeared, came dashing down into our village, and seeing the light
troops which had been opposed to us had retired, instantly ordered us to
advance, and join our division on the other side of the river. We
accordingly moved forward, and marched with all expedition to reach our
point; but the French had now begun to retire, and our people to follow
them, so that we found it difficult to overtake them, and did not do so
till they had passed the conical hill. When we came near that eminence,
I rode up to have a peep at the field before us, and never did I witness
a more interesting and magnificent sight. A beautiful and extensive
plain lay before me, covered with the cavalry, infantry, and artillery
of the contending armies; while the noise and din, occasioned by
repeated volleys and rolls of fire from the infantry, with the rattle of
upwards of 200 pieces of artillery, almost stunned the ear. Near the end
of this plain, and to the left, arose the lofty spires of Vittoria; and
beyond that again, the smoke arising from the attack of Sir Thomas
Graham's people added animation to the scene.
I had not contemplated the scene before me above a minute or two, till a
howitzer-shell from the French fell close at my feet. My horse's bridle
was hooked on my arm, and I was standing looking through my glass; but
when this unwelcome visiter descended so near me, I thought it high time
to be packing. My horse, however, not having the same fear of the
consequences that I had, would not move but at a snail's pace. I was,
therefore, constrained to leave him to take his chance, and get myself
out of the way. It burst, but providentially without injuring either
horse or man, but in the scramble I lost the top of my glass, which I
could not afterwards find.
I got down the hill, and joined my people, who had by this time passed
it; and just at this juncture I observed a body of troops a little to
our right, moving in the same direction we were. They were dressed in
blue, and had caps covered with white canvass. I took them for
Spaniards; but upon consideration that no Spaniards ought to be there,
and a closer inspection, I found they were a battalion of French, and
most likely those who had been so warmly engaged with the 28th at the
village of Subijana, and who having stood perhaps too long, and
afterwards having the wood to traverse, they had been detained
considerably behind the rest of the army; for by this time our advance,
and consequently the French rear, could not be less than half a mile in
front of us. I pointed them out to one of our lieutenant-colonels; but
as we had received orders to push on with all haste, and he not liking
to disobey his orders, and withal a ravine being between them and us,
which would have prevented our closing with them, they were allowed to
move quietly off, which they did with a pretty quick but steady pace.
Before we reached our division, we had to pass a village, over against
which was a very strong French battery, and where they peppered us
considerably, but without doing much harm, I believe. We here joined our
brigade. Immediately in front of this village the enemy made one of his
longest stands. Our brigade now formed lines of battalions, and lay down
in some ploughed fields, while their artillery kept playing upon us. On
our left the 3d division was warmly engaged. In about half an hour we
moved in that direction. The 45th we found posted behind a thin thorn
hedge, with its commanding-officer poor Colonel Ridewood, whom I had
known before, lying on its right, gasping in the agonies of death. A
great many men of this regiment had fallen here. We passed them, and
continued to advance along the plain by brigades and battalions; but we
found the ground much intersected with ditches, which would have
retarded us had we wished to advance rapidly; but from some cause or
other, which we could not then comprehend, we never pressed upon the
enemy closely, but gave them time to get quietly away. We were still,
however, in expectation of their making their final stand; for at every
short interval a beautiful little position presented itself, which the
French invariably occupied in the finest style possible, forming their
lines on these little eminences with the greatest precision, and in
beautiful order; but they never stood to let us get at them, for the
moment we began to come within musket-shot, they instantly began to
retire to another, which they took and abandoned in like manner. All
this time, indeed, there was continual skirmishing going on between the
light troops of the two armies, and a constant cannonade, and
occasionally the heavy lines came in contact; but their infantry
appeared to us to leave the field in the main unbroken.
We continued these movements till near dark, by which time we had
considerably passed Vittoria, and the enemy's artillery had nearly
ceased. Our cavalry now got at them; and although, from the nature of
the ground, their movements were greatly cramped, yet they continued to
charge, and nearly captured King Joseph. We halted when we had got about
four miles beyond Vittoria, which we passed on the left hand. We thought
we had indeed gained a victory, but it appeared to us to be a most
barren and useless one; and many were not over well pleased that the
enemy had been allowed to get off so easily. But our noble Chief knew
well what he was about, for he reaped all the fruits from this that
could have been possibly gained from the most bloody battle. Indeed it
was far from being a bloodless victory, but he certainly did not
sacrifice one half the men that some in the action would have done; they
thought we should have pressed the enemy far more, and brought him to
closer action.
After we halted, I (being the only quartermaster present) was sent in
search of the baggage belonging to the division, and which had followed
as far as they could along the great road. I passed through Vittoria on
my way to the rear in search of it, and saw as I entered it several of
Morillo's men, who had descended from the mountains and come into the
town. From the vivas and other marks of gratulation which some of the
inhabitants were rendering these ragged ruffians, a stranger would have
thought that Don Morillo, with his 3000 or 4000 Spaniards, had achieved
the whole victory themselves. It is certain they are a vainglorious
people.
I passed through the town, and, taking the great road, I soon had ocular
proofs of the value of our day's work; the road being literally blocked
up with every description of carriage-guns, tumbrils, waggons, &c. &c.
which filled the great high-road for nearly two miles to the rear of
Vittoria. I found it difficult to make my way through them, but at last
fell in with the baggage; I could not, however, get it through, and was
obliged to leave it, after giving directions where to find the division
in the morning. I again passed through Vittoria in returning to the
division; but oh, what scenes had I now to witness! The followers of an
army are sometimes very numerous, and here they were abundantly so;
muleteers, Portuguese and Spanish concubines, with every description of
vagabond you can imagine. These were by this time all labouring hard in
their avocation of breaking open and plundering the carriages and
waggons, &c. that had been left by the enemy. Among these were hundreds
of soldiers, who were now beginning to feel the effects of the wine, &c.
which they had found in the enemy's baggage; and such a Babel was here
to be witnessed as is not easy to conceive.
I had some difficulty in forcing my way through the town, at the end of
which I was accosted by five or six soldiers' wives, belonging to one of
our light cavalry regiments, who wished to accompany me, in order that
they might find their husbands, as that regiment was attached in some
measure to our division. Of course it would have been cruel to refuse
them; and as they were all mounted, away we posted, but had great
difficulty to make out where the division now was. Many were the waggons
and other carriages we passed on the road, either broken down, upset, or
with people plundering them; and I did not reach the division till 10
o'clock at night. I was very glad when I found them, being then
excessively fatigued and hungry; and just as I reached my people, I
found the mess to which I belonged cooking a piece of thin mutton, which
they had cut off from a sheep that had been taken from the enemy. This
was all the plunder I got that memorable day, although, had I done as
many others did, I might have obtained a great deal both of money and
other valuables; for, as I said before, the numerous carriages I passed
gave me an opportunity which many would have rejoiced at of possessing
myself of immense wealth; but plundering never was my forte. One officer
whom I knew got, I believe, near L.1000 worth of money, and other
valuable property; and innumerable others got considerable sums, more or
less. I am glad now that I refrained from what _might_ have been
accomplished with ease and safety, but what also _might_ have entailed
upon me disgrace and ruin. One officer I heard of, who, while in the
rear, where he ought not to have been, found a box full of money, most
likely silver, but very heavy. A German dragoon coming up at the same
moment laid claim to half of it, and when this officer took hold of it
to remove it, the German also laid hold to prevent him. A sort of
scuffle ensued, when the German made use of most abusive and mutinous
language, with threats, which the officer was obliged to submit to,
knowing, as both of them did, how far he had descended from his station,
thus putting it in the power of the soldier to treat him as a brother
plunderer. Surely the mention of such an occurrence is enough to deter
any man who possesses the least spark of honour from ever putting it in
the power of a soldier to treat him so. Besides, if an officer plunders
before his men, what may not soldiers be expected to do?
In looking back upon the events of this day, I cannot help being struck
with the bad generalship of those who commanded the French army. Marshal
Jourdan, I understand, was Joseph's adviser on this occasion. He had
always borne the character of an able General, but here he showed but
little ability. Why did he so much weaken his force on the conical hill
to support his left? Had he maintained his ground there, which is strong
by nature, and they had rendered it stronger by art, he might have
completely checked us on the right; for if we had advanced too far on
that side, our wings would have been separated, which would have been a
dangerous experiment; and I think Lord Wellington would not have
hazarded it. And after leaving his first position, why did he not fight
at every one of the beautiful little positions which he afterwards took
up but never defended? This conduct is most unaccountable, for had he
made a longer stand, even although he should be beaten, which no doubt
he would have ultimately been, yet, by making this stand, he might have
got off the greater part of his materiel, instead of which he carried
off with him one gun and one howitzer only, leaving upwards of 250
pieces of ordnance in our hands. Most of his infantry left the field
apparently unbroken; for only here and there they had stood to let our
people get at them. It is true Sir Thomas Graham early cut off their
retreat by the great road to France; but what then? This ought to have
made them fight the more desperately, to enable them to get off the
better by the Pamplona road. The infantry should have stood till the
last, and not retired till fairly beaten out of the field. Nothing could
be finer than the movements of our army.
Every thing our Chief attempted succeeded to a tittle. The only thing I
did not like was the delay we occasionally made in following up the
enemy; but I could not, of course, comprehend the general movements,
from seeing only a small part of them, and I believe the victory would
not have been more decisive by being more bloody. We lost in the
village, where we first began the fight, nearly thirty men, with the
officer before mentioned as killed, and a considerable number wounded.
There was something remarkable in the fate of one of the men who were
killed by the cannon-shot I before noticed. This man was remarkably
averse to fighting, and had shown, on all occasions, a disposition to
leave that kind of work as soon as practicable. Poor fellow! his failing
was known to all; and on this occasion those about him had orders to
watch him, and keep him to his duty. They had not been in the village
many minutes when this fatal shot swept him and about five others into
eternity in a moment. It has often been remarked, that this description
of people are generally the first to fall.
It may not be generally known, perhaps, that a battle was fought on the
3d April 1367, a little higher up this river, near the village of
Novarete, between our Edward the Black Prince, and Henry the Bastard,
who had usurped the throne of Don Pedro, King of Castile. The history of
it is given by Froissart, who says, "a little before the two armies
met, the Prince of Wales, with eyes and hands uplifted towards heaven,
exclaimed, 'God of truth, the Father of Jesus Christ, who hast made and
fashioned me, grant, through thy benign grace, that the success of this
battle may be for me and my army; for thou knowest that in truth I have
been emboldened to undertake it in the support of justice and reason, to
reinstate the king upon his throne, who has been disinherited and driven
from it, as well as from his country.'" This zealous prayer was
immediately followed by the onset, the Prince crying aloud, "Advance
banners, in the name of God and St George!"
"At the commencement," says Froissart, "the French and Arragonese made a
desperate resistance, and gave the good knights of England much trouble;
but at last, when all the divisions of the Prince were formed into one
large body, the enemy could no longer keep their ground, but began to
fly in great disorder; and Henry, the usurper, perceiving his army
defeated, without hope of recovery, called for his horse, mounted it,
and galloped off among the crowd of runaways. The English pursued them
through the town of Najara, where they gained considerable plunder; for
King Henry and his army had come thither with much splendour, and after
the defeat they had not leisure to return to place in security what they
had left behind them in the morning."
There is a striking coincidence in many parts of the two actions and
their consequences, which the reader cannot fail to notice. The most
material difference, I think, in the two stories is, the offering up of
the prayer by the Prince, and the modern practice of not recognising,
publicly at least, the hand of God at all in any of our victories. This
is to be lamented.