Lisbon--Trip to the Army of Lord Wellington--Montemor Novo,
O’Rodondo, Villa Vicosa, Elvas, Fort le Lippe.
I was appointed to a ship in the Tagus by the commander-in-chief,
Admiral Sir G. Berkeley, whose amiable family treated me with great
kindness and attention.
Having but little to do, I passed much time in examining the
beautifully situated, but dirty town of Lisbon. If it were not for the
scavenger dogs which prowl about and take “pot luck,” the streets would
be impassable from filth. Having a brother[I] in the 14th Dragoons,
with the army of Lord Wellington, whom I had not seen for more than
seven years, and a remount of horses arriving from England for the
regiment, amongst which was one for my brother, I thought it a very
good opportunity of going to see him.
The admiral having been so obliging as to grant me a month’s leave of
absence, on the 19th of July, I accordingly left Lisbon, placing on the
horse a pair of saddle bags, blanket, great coat, sword and pistols,
together with some hams and brandy, which I was told would be very
acceptable in camp.
After a short ride, I embarked in a Portuguese passage boat, with a
motley group of persons. A sail of three hours brought me safe to Aldea
Galega, a small town on the southern bank of the Tagus.
I was now about to travel in a strange country. Unable to speak the
language, and having no servant to take care of my horse, the troops
having gone forward the previous day, I began to fear I should be
placed in some difficulty. Before me was a march of five or six
days,--during which my steed would require that care a groom only
could bestow,--I determined, however, to push on and trust to fortune,
and my Portuguese vocabulary. Looking about the miserable town of
Aldea Galega for mules, I was lucky enough to meet with a dismounted
dragoon, belonging to the 14th, going to Lisbon, who informed me that
the detachment of his regiment, which I ought to have accompanied, had
marched from Galega only the day before, and that by my making all
haste, I most likely should overtake them in less than forty-eight
hours. I pressed this man into my service, went to a commissary, got
two mules, on one of which I put my baggage, mounting the soldier, with
three days’ rations for myself and cattle, on the other. In the evening
we left this town for a place called Pegoeus, twenty miles distant,
and after a most disagreeable ride through a long stunted wood, with a
heavy sandy soil, in which the horse and mules sank half-way up their
knees at every step, a little before midnight reached Pegoeus, a most
wretched place, consisting of three miserable dirty hovels, very much
resembling cow-houses, into one of which we entered, in order to rest
the horse and mules. Sitting down upon my baggage, I loaded my pistols,
as the house was full of ill-looking Portuguese and Spanish muleteers
and peasantry, nearly all armed, and half drunk, and making a great
noise. Some people I was informed had been robbed a few hours before of
everything, near this very place. Although very much tired, sleeping
was out of the question; I was therefore glad when daylight arrived.
While my cattle were being saddled, I was fain to undress by the
road-side, and shake off some score of fleas that were scampering over
me in all directions: then mounting my horse, a cool ride of five hours
brought me to a small village called Vendas Novas, where I remained a
short time to get something to eat, and rest the animals. Here we were
fortunate enough to get tea and eggs for breakfast, and I heard to my
great joy, that the detachment was only three hours’ march ahead of me.
At half-past nine we left this place, and after riding sixteen miles
in the heat of the day, almost broiled, reached a tolerably good town
called Montemor Novo, built on a hill. At this place are the remains of
a Moorish castle.
I joined the troops going to the army under the Hon. Major Butler, with
whom I took up my quarters, and the next day sent the dragoon back
with the mules. On the following morning at five we marched for a town
called Arryoles, where we arrived at ten.
Most of the Portuguese villages and towns in the Alemtejo are dull
and uninteresting, at least they appeared so to me. The next morning
early, we moved to a small clean town called Vemeiro, only eight miles
distant, which, losing our way, we did not reach until noon. I found it
very pleasant marching with the troops, not but that it was distressing
to put the inhabitants to so much trouble and inconvenience turning
them out of their rooms to quarter officers and soldiers in them. It is
but justice however to say that the British officers and men generally
conducted themselves with so much propriety, forbearance, and good
feeling towards the natives of the different towns where they were
billeted, that mutual regrets frequently took place at parting. God
forbid, old England ever should be the scene of warfare. Contending
armies are one of the greatest scourges with which Divine providence
can afflict a nation. Even your allies cannot avoid bringing with
them desolation for a time, by destroying crops of all kinds, to
prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy. In short, ruin and
devastation follow in the train of an army, whether friend or foe.
Being near the town of Usagree, in Estramadura, with a brigade of
dragoons, I remember seeing whole fields of wheat, &c., cut down
and given as green food to the horses of our army. The French being
expected almost immediately to occupy the position we were then in,
the commanding officer very properly thought it better to secure the
grain for ourselves than leave it to fall into the hands of the enemy.
A poor old Spaniard came up to the gallant colonel, the late Sir Felton
Harvey, and, shaking his grey locks, implored him to spare his only
field, which was to preserve himself and family from starving, and
which he beheld our troops cutting to feed their horses. The reply was
that we were his friends; that we were obliged to take the corn, since
our horses must not starve; that, if they did not eat it, those of the
French, his mortal enemies, would. The colonel concluded by giving the
poor man an order on the commissary to pay him in dollars equal to
what had been taken away. I give this anecdote for the edification of
such of my countrymen as are apt, through ignorance, let us hope, to
malign the conduct of our soldiers in the Peninsula, and who grudge
the officers and men of both army and navy their hard-earned half-pay
or pension, a return surely not more than sufficient for averting the
horrors of war from the hearths of their fellow subjects.
The constant state of alarm and anxiety that the whole of Spain and
Portugal suffered while the contending armies were hovering about
was extreme. As long as the British troops occupied their towns and
villages, the poor inhabitants knew they had nothing to fear; but the
moment the French came, plunder and destruction were the order of the
day, and in very many cases, outrages were committed through mere
wantonness: houses unroofed, the sides of others stove in, and the
furniture destroyed. Our soldiers were the “lion and the lamb”; those
of the French, to use Voltaire’s expression, the “tiger and the monkey.”
I was informed at Villa Vicosa, by a genteel Portuguese family, of the
continual fear they lived in, and they related to me the following
circumstance:--One night the alarm was given that the French were
advancing into the town, nearly every person having gone to bed.
Immediately all the church bells began tolling to give warning;
everyone, even the sick, arose, these latter were put into cars, each
person taking what things he could carry with him--one a bed, another
articles of clothing, chairs, tables, or whatever else might be useful
in their hiding places. After they had gone a short distance, it was
found to be only a false alarm. An enemy’s foraging party had been
seen during the evening in the neighbourhood, but had, fortunately for
them, taken another direction. At this period our troops were in the
north of Portugal, and the French having a strong garrison in Badajoz,
used to send out occasionally a marauding party, which caused the above
consternation!
We left Vemiero on the 23rd July, and arrived at Estramoy the same day.
It is rather a large inland town, and once had been a garrison, the
works of the fortifications remained, but the guns had been removed,
the city being commanded by an eminence at the back of it still
higher than the hill on which it is built. Unlike most other towns in
Portugal, it is tolerably clean. On the following morning we marched
from hence to a pretty neat little village called O’Rodondo, where we
arrived at ten, and I had the pleasure of once more meeting my brother,
who had just recovered from a sabre cut in his face, received at the
battles of Fuentes d’Onor, which knocked out two of his teeth and split
his tongue.
Since we had parted in the year 1804 on the peaceful shores of England,
what trials and scenes had we both gone through and witnessed. He had
been on the expedition under Sir Samuel Achmuty, at the taking of Monte
Video, in South America; in four general actions; the two bloody days
of Talavera in 1809; the battle of the Coa, Busaco, Fuentes d’Onor,
where he was wounded, besides several warm affairs and skirmishes; and
since then he was in the battles of Llerena, Salamanca, Vittoria,
Pyrenees, Orthes, Toulouse, and numerous outpost affairs.
He has lately been sent with Lord William Russell as one of the
Lieut.-Colonels employed by our Government as military reporters
when Don Pedro returned to Portugal, the events of which period he
has published in his “rough leaves.” He at present commands the
15th Hussars, and is with his regiment at Madras, having sailed
from Gravesend, with the headquarters of his regiment, on board the
_Herefordshire_, East Indiaman, on the 4th of June, 1839.
I, too, had been tried in fire at Trafalgar, and on various boat
expeditions, etc., and had been wounded, and taken prisoner.
We remained at O’Rodondo three days, during which time I rode with my
brother to various places in the neighbourhood. On the 28th of July,
the regiment moved to Villa Vicosa, where we found some fine infantry
regiments preparing for a march to the northward to invest Ciudad
Rodrigo.
I liked Villa Vicosa much better than any other town I had yet seen
in Portugal, the inhabitants were very civil, and I was introduced to
several families, and did hope we should remain here for some days; the
country round about it was pleasant, and a park full of deer, belonging
to the Prince Regent, used to furnish us occasionally with venison.
Those officers who had a regency certificate had permission to shoot in
it.
Operations against Ciudad Rodrigo having been determined upon, we only
remained here three days, during which time I visited Elvas, Borba,
Alandroal, and other places. From Elvas, I had a very good view of
Badajoz, with the river Guadiana, and the surrounding flat country.
The town and fortifications of Elvas are well worth seeing, they are
on a large scale, and built on a high hill. This being one of the
principal frontier towns of Portugal, great pains had been taken by
Count Le Lippe[J] to render the works as strong as possible. After he
had completed the fortifications, he found it necessary to erect a
strong fortress or castle, on a high hill, which commanded the best
part of them, and which is considered so strong, that it is supposed to
be impregnable; it is named after himself. Report says that a garrison
of 15,000 men in Elvas, and 1200 in Fort Le Lippe, with plenty of
provisions, would keep those places in defiance of any numbers that
might be brought against them.
There is at Elvas a very large, fine, and curious aqueduct, differing
from any I had yet seen: it has three tiers of arches, raised one above
the other, and of great height.
The French army having made a movement to the northward, orders arrived
in the evening for the 14th Dragoons to march at daylight the next
morning for Estramoy, where they halted for the night. Next day they
moved forward to Frontiera, and from thence to O’Crato, where are the
remains of an old Moorish castle. We left this town on the morning of
the 5th of August, and on our arrival at the miserable village of
Gafete, my leave of absence having expired, I was obliged, to my great
sorrow, to return to Lisbon. So, bidding my brother and friends of the
regiment adieu, I struck off for Abrantes, thirty miles distant.
Colonel Hervey very kindly sent a dragoon to escort me thither, the
road being rendered dangerous by marauding parties of the natives. I
was now mounted upon a nice little French horse. He had belonged to the
French 1st Hussars, and had been taken from the enemy in a charge by my
brother’s troop. I reached Abrantes by five in the evening, and, having
got a tolerable billet and something to eat, was glad to go to rest.
At ten the next morning I quitted Abrantes alone, the soldier having
gone back to his regiment, which was ordered to cover the siege of
Ciudad Rodrigo.
I had still eighty-four miles to ride to Lisbon, which was not very
pleasant to do alone at that period, considering the excited state and
wretched poverty of the country.
At sunset I arrived at Santarem, thirty-six miles from Abrantes. This
latter is a large, dirty town, standing upon a hill that commands the
country around it. The river Tagus runs at its foot, over which is a
bridge of boats that can be removed at pleasure. The French marshal,
Junot, derived his title from this city.
At Santarem I picked up an English soldier, who undertook the care of
my horse. This is a large town. Part of it is built on a high hill: the
remainder standing in a valley.
When here last year the French committed great devastation, unroofing
some of the houses, and staving in the sides of others, besides
plundering and destroying whatever they could lay their hands on.
My billet had been unroofed, and part of its sides were torn down.
I found a mattrass spread on the floor, but without the necessary
accompaniment of clothes. The fleas, as is usual in such places,
were exceedingly troublesome; but, having ridden all day under a hot
sun, sleep soon overcame this annoyance, and I remained unconscious
of their attacks till seven the next morning, when I arose, and,
after taking a refreshing swim in the Tagus in order to get rid of my
lively bed-fellows, ate my breakfast, and then rode to Villa Franca,
twenty-four miles. The heat of the weather being very great, and my
horse loaded with my saddle bags, it was impossible for me to go faster
than a walk, so that it was evening before I reached that place.
In the course of the day I passed through several small villages that
the French had nearly destroyed. The inhabitants were beginning to
return and put the remains of their houses in order.
At Villa Franca I got a tolerably good dinner, but was almost talked
to death by the landlady, an Irishwoman, at whose house I had put up,
and who inquired the news of the army--what they were about--whither
going--where such a regiment was, &c., &c., forgetting that I was tired
and wanted rest.
Early next morning I left for Lisbon, and, after a ride of six hours,
passing by part of the lines of Torres Vedras, at which men were still
working, I reached that city.
I had ridden, for the first time in my life, more than five hundred
miles, and nearly the whole of it in the sun during the hottest part
of the day, in the months of July and August, without its doing me the
least harm, and never feeling over fatigued.